Chapter 160: Mysteries
The heavy, ancient oak doors of the grand hall creaked softly as Roy vanished into the subterranean tunnels, taking his lingering crimson light with him.
For a few fleeting moments, the throne room returned to a heavy, suffocating silence.
The dust settled over the blood-stained marble altar, and the cold, lifeless corpse of the headless six-winged angel lay undisturbed in the gloom.
Then, the shadows in the far corner of the room began to writhe.
Sssssssss...
From the pitch-black crevices of the broken stone walls, a thick, pitch-black mist slowly erupted.
It bled into the room like liquid shadow, oozing across the floor and climbing the ruined pillars.
As the mist spread, a terrifying, high-pitched screeching resonance echoed off the vaulted ceiling—a sound like a thousand rusted needles scraping against glass.
In the center of the writhing darkness, a pair of glowing, eerie violet eyes opened, flickering with malice.
"The God of Information, Telvanus..."
A childish, yet deeply demonic voice chuckled from within the mist, its distorted cadence reverberating off the stone.
The violet eyes narrowed, reflecting a mixture of deep shock and dark amusement.
"To think a cunning parasite like you has been hiding his vessel in the depths of the mortal plane..." the voice hissed, floating closer to where the divine meeting had just taken place.
"And besides... who exactly was that golden-haired youth?"
The black mist coiled in mid-air, forming the vague, shifting outline of a specter.
"Why is a mighty, arrogant King-tier True God like Telvanus whispering, scheming, and working alongside a mere Divine Spirit? What game are the upper pantheons playing down here?"
The entity had a thousand unanswered questions burning through its chaotic mind.
Yet, as its violet gaze drifted past the shattered marble pillars, its attention snapped entirely away from Roy and Telvanus, locking onto the blood-soaked altar.
It stared at the headless, pale body of the angel, Teraxes.
The pitch-black mist suddenly froze.
Then, it expanded violently, billowing up toward the ceiling as a loud, evil, hysterical laugh erupted from the darkness, shaking the very bedrock of the palace!
"GHAHAHAHAHA! Very good! Exceedingly good!" the demonic voice shrieked with manic joy. "This celestial bastard’s divine resistance was so stubborn that its holy aura kept pushing my fog away for centuries! It starved me! It humiliated me!"
The mist coiled tightly around the altar, descending like a hungry swarm of locusts.
"But now that he is dead... now that his soul is gone and his divine sea is emptied... I can take absolute control of his vessel!" the voice chuckled, dripping with absolute insanity.
"A physical body of a six-winged angel... forged from celestial marble and divine channels! This is perfect! A magnificent vessel for my descent! Oh, I will definitely have to thank that golden-haired Divine Spirit... I’ll thank him properly by drinking fine wine out of his hollowed skull! Hehehehehe!"
FSHHHHHHH!
The pitch-black mist surged forward, completely enveloping the corpse of the fallen angel.
The possession process was a grotesque, unnatural spectacle.
The thick, violet-tinged shadow forced its way through the open, severed neck of the angel, pouring into the divine veins like black ink.
The corpse’s pale, marble skin twitched violently as the dark corruption flooded every muscle fiber, forcefully rewiring the celestial meridians to accept the demonic parasite.
The severed neck groached and sizzled; dark, abyssal tendrils wove together like biological threads, fusing the flesh back together until not even a hairline scar remained.
CRACK! SNAP!
The snapped, broken joints of the four damaged feathered wings popped loudly into place.
The charred, bloody feathers were instantly washed over by a wave of dark, violet-tinted flames, purging the dried blood and restoring the wings to a pristine, terrifying luster.
Every sword mark crisscrossing the chest and arms vanished as if wiped away by an invisible hand.
Suddenly, the black mist dissolved completely into the body.
The throne room fell dead silent once more.
GASP!
The angel’s eyes snapped open!
Instead of the pure, holy gold of a celestial herald, the irises flickered with a blazing, unholy violet light.
The six-winged creature slowly drew a deep, shuddering breath, its chest rising and falling smoothly.
With fluid, terrifying grace, it pushed itself off the blood-stained altar and swung its long legs over the edge, landing silently on its feet.
The newly revived angel flexed his pale fingers, testing the immense, celestial physical strength of his stolen vessel.
He raised his hand, sweeping his six massive wings wide, casting long, menacing shadows across the ruined hall.
A dangerous, predatory grin curled across his pale lips, exposing sharp, black-stained fangs.
"Now then...." the possessed angel whispered, his voice a horrifying blend of celestial resonance and demonic distortion.
"Why don’t we begin?"
***
Meanwhile, miles away from the deep abyss, the night air outside the subterranean cavern was calm and quiet.
Roy glided smoothly through the dark foliage of the Ouyang Forest, returning to the concealed cave hideout.
As he stepped through the narrow stone entrance, the harsh, cold dampness of the subterranean air was immediately replaced by the warm, flickering orange glow of a crackling fire.
Inside the central chamber, Eurenia and Alisa had successfully prepared their camp.
A large, roaring bonfire was set in the middle of the room, and thick, juicy steaks carved from the slain Beast-stage F-class Abomination were roasting on wooden spits over the flames, dripping savory fat into the embers.
The moment Roy walked into the light, both Martial Generals immediately paused their tasks.
Their eyes lit up with bright, loyal reverence, and they quickly rose to their feet, bowing their heads in deep respect.
"Master Jarden," Alisa greeted softly, her dark eyes reflecting the firelight.
Roy offered a small, relaxed smile, stepping closer to the warmth. "Did you two enjoy yourselves while I was away?"
Eurenia grinned wildly, tapping the hilt of her curved blade. "It was barely a warm-up, My Lord. But hunting these mutated abominations certainly kept the blood flowing."
"And we harvested the cores as instructed," Alisa added, gesturing toward a small leather pouch resting beside her gear.
A few minutes passed as the meat finished roasting.
Alisa expertly sliced the tender, cooked portions using her hunting knife, placing the roasted meat onto clean, flat slate stones to dish out their meal.
She turned, stepping forward to offer the primary, high-tier backloin portion to Roy.
Roy reached out his hand to take the food.
THUMP.
Suddenly, Roy’s movement froze in mid-air.
His golden-crimson eyes narrowed into sharp, lethal slits as his eyebrows furrowed deeply.
He tilted his head slightly toward the dark mouth of the cave, his breath hitching in his chest.
’What is that? What is this feeling?’
His divine intuition—an instinct forged by his divine existence and elevated by his Ruler-class status—screamed in absolute alarm.
A cold, suffocating wave of intense, inexplicable danger washed over his soul, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Master Jarden?" Alisa asked, pausing her step as she noticed his sudden, rigid silence. "Is something wrong?"
Roy didn’t answer immediately.
He stared out into the pitch-black night of the Ouyang Forest, his heart heavy as he realized that the peaceful lull in his journey had just come to a violent, definitive end.h