Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 579 - 578: The Depths of Distortion

Within the deep and dark underground palace, the humming sound of magic suddenly broke the silence in the air.

Stable magic power was infused into the crystals, and the magic crystal lamps embedded in the walls lit up one by one, illuminating a vast hall.

The floor of the hall was covered with shimmering magic symbols and lines of magic power, and numerous columns, seemingly entwined with a mix of flesh and plants, stood on both sides of the hall. The surface of those columns was uneven, and in the recessed gaps, blood with a faint dark red glow seemed to flow. Vines or vein-like "biological cords" grew from the top and base of the columns, winding into the ceiling and floor’s rune matrix. Behind those columns, rows of crystal ball-like transparent containers were neatly embedded in the dark red walls.

Inside those crystal balls floated creepy biological tissues, soaked in a thin red biological solution, squirming and swelling unconsciously like eggs of demons in slumber.

And at the end of the hall was a massive fissure—not a wall but a corner of some underground rift, outside the fissure lay a vast space shrouded in dim red light.

The sound of footsteps approached from afar, and a tall, slender figure in black robes walked into the hall.

He walked leisurely past the lightly trembling "columns," his gaze sweeping over the surface of each column as he patiently and meticulously checked the status of those "embryonic containers." A hoarse, low voice came from beneath the hood—

"Good, really good... growing fast... my preparations for you with those biological materials were not in vain..."

A cold female voice suddenly interrupted the black-robed man’s soliloquy: "Xidon, you become increasingly disgusting when you’re with those embryos."

The black-robed man didn’t turn his head: "Beltira, have you forgotten the courtesy of knocking at the door?"

Accompanied by the sound of roots dragging on the stone floor, Beltira, half-human, half-tree, wearing a green priestess robe, emerged from the shadows at the hall entrance. She glanced at Xidon not far away: "What a pity, this disgusting hall of yours has no door."

The black-robed man turned around, removed the hood from his head, revealing a pale and emaciated face. He looked coldly at Beltira: "When cultivating the first batch of divine evils embryos, you didn’t say they were disgusting."

"What’s disgusting is your aesthetic in decorating the hall, not these embryos," Beltira frowned as she looked at the neatly arranged "columns" and the crystal containers embedded in the walls on both sides. "Couldn’t you have used some less disgusting methods to design these biological sacs and artificial eggshells? Or at least wrap them in something... your place here looks like a rotting slaughterhouse, not an advanced laboratory."

"It’s regrettable that you don’t appreciate the beauty of flesh art, but I’m willing to understand," Xidon remarked offhandedly, "If you stayed a few more days in the Flesh Abyss, perhaps you’d also appreciate the beauty contained in these primitive biological tissues..."

Beltira directly interrupted Xidon’s slightly neurotic speech: "Enough, I’m not interested in what ’gods’ whisper twisted and bizarre knowledge into your head. I’m just here to check on the growth of the divine evils embryos—the Archbishop needs confirmation that the divine evils factors in these embryos are successfully activated, and the effectiveness of the fake god’s body on them."

Xidon grinned, a hideous smile appearing on his somber face: "Certainly, as you can see, life is thriving here—divine evils factors within the human genetic code have been inherited for centuries and remain robustly present in every human being. With appropriate mutation triggering, everyone can become divine evils... We should thank our brethren in the wastelands, their recent data is timely and effective, all embryos are developing in the anticipated direction."

Beltira nodded slightly, walked unhurriedly to one of the "columns," and reached out to feel the slight tremor and warmth deep within the "column." These seemingly stationary pillars were alive, and she could feel the rhythmic pulsation hidden beneath the rough epidermis, stable and powerful like a heartbeat.

...Is this the future of mortals, so unbearable...

For a fleeting moment, such a brief question flashed through Beltira’s mind, but she immediately refreshed and reset the brain tissues and corresponding hormones that generated this question—this shallow inquiry could not originate from herself, it was likely the remaining thoughts of an assimilated devourer trying to influence her judgment. Similar incidents were not happening for the first time.

She cared not the least.

"Good, the Archbishop will be satisfied," Beltira nodded slightly. "Ensure these special ’starter’ divine evils quickly enter the maturation phase; this is a command from the Archbishop."

Xidon calmly gazed at Beltira from behind, slightly annoyed at this woman’s arrogant attitude, annoyed at her using the Archbishop’s name to act so imperiously before him, yet he was powerless.

Beltira was the most senior Archbishop in the Oblivion Association. This seemingly human woman has extended her life by seven centuries using forbidden spells—by devouring and extracting other life forms. She is nominally still of the "Archbishop" rank, but in reality, her status lies between an Archbishop and the Archbishop.

Only she could pass unharmed through the deepest corridors of the underground ruins and linger in the Archbishop’s chamber for a long time. The whispers of malicious gods wouldn’t drive her insane, nor would staring directly at the blood and flesh of gods pollute her soul. This incredible capability made her position in the evil-cult unshakable.

Xidon maliciously thought that perhaps Beltira’s secret to resisting divine will’s corruption deep in the underground lies in her being warped into a monster, or she was a monster from the start, her soul and flesh already decayed and mutated, only twisted into the form of a human.

Beltira faced away from Xidon and said without turning her head: "Archon Xidon, I don’t mind you looking at me with a disrespectful gaze, but you’ve been staring for too long."

Xidon responded with a cold snort.

Beltira paid no mind, she simply turned around and said unhurriedly, "I wonder if you’ve heard the news—the Anzu have already started to repair that barrier, and Gawain Cecil... has personally gone to the southern borders."

"I’ve heard, that Gawain Cecil actually found a way through the Dark Mountain Range, directly into the Black Forest," Xidon said offhandedly, "However, our sentinels haven’t brought back more information."

"Several sentinels died unexpectedly, and the remaining sentinels dare not venture closer," Beltira looked into Xidon’s eyes, "One of the sentinels sent back a nearly hysterical report—he called the Cecil Clan lunatics and demons, don’t you find that interesting?"

"...Interesting, for that title has always been given to us by outsiders," Xidon raised an eyebrow, "It seems that sentinel has lost his mind. What exactly did he encounter?"

"The Cecil Clan is using powerful magical devices to develop territory as they please, they’re even bombarding wasteland with those magical devices meaninglessly, and that unfortunate sentinel... he and a few other sentinels were just nearby," Beltira shook her head, "The key issue now is, it seems that Cecil has not developed as we intended, they’ve become an uncontrollable factor..."

"Uncontrollable..."

Xidon murmured softly and then let out a contemptuous laugh.

He approached the nearest pillar, waving a hand to activate the biomass shell of the pillar—

"Just a bunch of mortals who can only fight using magical supplies, the power of ’divine evils’ is hardly something a few explosive supplies can counter!!"

Dark red biomass started writhing violently, immediately withdrawing like frightened magic vines to the ceiling and floor, and after this eerie "shell" retreated, the scene inside the pillar was revealed to Beltira—

A mutated humanoid creature floated quietly in a translucent tubular container, its height almost twice that of a human, it had dark skin and large swollen joints, countless crystal cluster-like proliferations covered its limb surfaces, delicate energy sparks flitted incessantly between those crystal clusters, indicating the giant not only possessed a formidable body but also an extraordinary magic power.

Xidon gazed up at that hideously terrifying mutated giant, a smile emerging on his face: "Nothing is stronger than great evolution, Preceptor Beltira, don’t you think so?"

Beltira quietly watched the "divine evils" inside the tubular container, her face calm: "Restrain your enthusiasm, no one understands great evolution better than I do—you better seal the biomass sac before this mutant awakens out of control, you know, activating this first batch of divine evils cost quite a few good corpses."

After finishing this sentence, the Preceptor no longer paid attention to Xidon, instead she stepped towards the end of the hall.

She arrived at the giant crevice at the hall’s end, staring into the vast space outside the crevice.

A wide underground gorge stretched across the view, massive cableways, bridges, and natural stone beams connected the cliffs on either side of the gorge, on those dizzying bridges, countless zombie-like figures stumbled forward under the supervision of heavily armored church overseers.

At the gorge’s bottom, there lay the "blood river," emitting a crimson glow, with countless heavy chains crisscrossing above it, anchoring an indescribable mass of flesh, amid the blood river’s steaming vapor, that mass of flesh pulsated like a heart, each beat stronger and more forceful than the last.

This is the Flesh Abyss.

The entire underground ruins were constructed atop this gorge of the Flesh Abyss.

Those zombie-like figures were slaves, victims seized from various places—mostly the poor, a smaller portion being wandering warriors and mercenaries lacking in strength.

In this era, it wasn’t difficult for aristocratic territories to secretly capture some commoners as slaves, especially during times of famine and war, the disappearance of a few peasants wouldn’t draw any attention.

But now the situation has changed slightly: the Cecil Principality has risen at a stunning speed, they have crafted a complex and tight surveillance system, where even a commoner’s disappearance would draw security personnel, and more and more magical surveillance devices within the Cecil Principality make unauthorized spellcasting exceptionally dangerous, recently, capturing people from the southern borders has almost become an impossible task.

Yet slaves captured from outside the southern borders can still meet the needs of the Flesh Abyss—the Anzu Civil War brought not only abundant flesh but also plenty of slaves.

Beltira watched the slaves stumbling forward on the passages, then her gaze shifted beyond those destined to die as sacrifices, to the mass of flesh anchored by chains at the gorge’s bottom.

Nourished by a vast amount of human biomass, under the amalgamation of countless "divine evils" Factors, that mass of flesh had grown increasingly mature.

The awakening of the "body of the fake god" is imminent.