Chapter 112 : Chapter 112

Chapter 112. The Reason

Inside the prison of Monsa City, restless commotion was breaking out.

Seeing the disturbance, the guard on duty grabbed his whip and lashed several times through the iron bars at the prisoners inside.

“Quiet! You bastards—your execution day is only a few days away. Say whatever you want after you’re dead!”

Still unsatisfied, he whipped the outsiders several more times, tearing open their flesh.

Ailante’s face was pale. Although he did not make a sound, the guard maintained what he considered fairness and lashed him a few times as well.

These Spirit Realm excursionists had no strength left. The guards now refused to give them any food at all, only occasionally tossing them a little water.

From time to time, the guards would also come here just to whip them for amusement.

The Spirit Realm excursionists had already grown accustomed to this guard’s beatings. They knew that as long as they did not react, the guard would quickly lose interest and leave.

Sure enough, when the guard saw them silently enduring the punishment, he soon became bored.

“If you keep making noise, I’ll drag you out and let you enjoy it slowly...”

Leaving that threat behind, he walked away.

After he had gone for a while, the Spirit Realm excursionists gathered together and began whispering among themselves.

“What was that noise outside just now? It was all screams and shouting.”

“No idea. Does it even matter to us? Our trial has already failed anyway. We might as well find a way to kill ourselves and prepare for the next trial.”

As he spoke, one of the excursionists opened his palm and tried to condense a few ice crystals.

He frowned.

The spells bestowed by the Spirit Realm still depended on the user’s own condition. Right now, they were practically half-dead, so of course they could not properly cast any spell.

If he had known things would end up like this, he would have simply killed himself the moment they first arrived here. Now he did not even have the chance.

“Do we really have to do that? I think we could endure for a few more days.”

Not everyone could accept such a choice. Every death in the Spirit Realm caused them genuine agony. None of them wanted to experience that pain a second time.

Even though they all knew they would be executed in a few days, they still could not bring themselves to do it with their own hands.

“Then what? You want to sit here and accompany this young dragon lord?”

As he spoke, he deliberately mocked Ailante.

He had not been part of Ailante’s previous team but was another Spirit Realm excursionist.

From the very beginning, he had looked down on Ailante, this so-called “second-generation Spirit Realm traveler,” believing that he was merely a fool who relied on his parents’ influence.

When he learned that Ailante had led the group straight to disaster, he had laughed loudly—only to be whipped more than a dozen times by the guards for it.

“Don’t say it like that. At least he helped us obtain something...”

“Heh. And yet we’re still all sitting here waiting to die.”

He deliberately raised his voice, attracting the attention of the guards.

This time the guard stormed over angrily and began whipping them again.

Ailante listened to their argument in silence.

His heart was completely filled with despair. It felt as though his life had already ended.

He had spent enormous effort obtaining a Trial Key that suited his conditions, all so that he could gain the talent he desired in this trial.

And now everything was ruined.

Not only would he fail to obtain a good talent—he would not even pass the trial at all.

His father had placed great expectations on this trial, hoping that he would acquire a unique dragon bloodline and strengthen their family.

Ailante himself had also longed desperately for this chance. He wanted to change his father’s opinion of him, replace his older brother in his father’s favor, and receive greater support.

But now it was all over.

Setting aside whether those priests were truly responsible for the destruction of Monsa, they did not even know what the disaster actually was.

Let alone attempt to “save” Monsa City—they had not even been given the chance to try.

But why?

Why had the trial forced them to confront a First-Tier enemy?

Under normal circumstances, unless Spirit Realm excursionists did something extremely reckless, the Spirit Realm would never place a First-Tier opponent directly in their path.

If every trial had a First-Tier opponent blocking the way, then there would be no point in participating at all.

So why had this trial forced them, through circumstance, to face a First-Tier Professional?

Ailante bit his lip, unable to understand no matter how hard he thought about it.

---

At the center of Monsa City, inside the Grand Temple.

On an open space to one side, a man was suspended in midair, bound by several chains. His hands and feet were tightly shackled.

Fulan walked in through the entrance and headed straight toward the two ‘Half-Dragons’ guarding him.

“You two may leave. I need to question him.”

Upon hearing the order, they immediately departed without hesitation, leaving Fulan standing alone.

“What do you want to tell me?” Fulan asked.

“Cough...” Angmar tasted blood in his mouth and coughed twice before speaking. “Could you put me down first...? My god is no longer here... In my current state, I probably could not even defeat one of your subordinates.”

Fulan carefully examined Angmar and found that his physical condition had indeed declined significantly.

Even so, to be safe, she stepped forward and used what she had learned from Modification to tamper with him a little. Only then did she release two Wind Blades that severed two of the chains.

Angmar dropped from midair. He struggled on the ground for a while before finally rising with heavy breaths. The chains still bound his hands, forcing him to lift them with effort just to stand.

“Thank you...” Angmar said first, then sat down on the ground.

“You must want to know the truth about Monsa City—the origin of the Divine Water and the god we worship. I will tell you everything now... And there is another thing you must know. Monsa City is already facing a catastrophic disaster...”

“Forget that for now,” Fulan interrupted. “First tell me—why did you order the arrest of us outsiders?”

“The god commanded me to kill all outsiders... or at least imprison them all,” Angmar replied honestly.

Fulan did not immediately ask another question. Instead, she fell into thought.

In truth, she had already guessed the truth when the statue shattered earlier.

But by then it had already been too late.

Moreover, even if she had realized it sooner, it would not have changed anything. From the moment she entered this trial, she had already become irreconcilable enemies with the god worshipped by Monsa City.

She lowered her head and looked at the book in her hand.

It had been completely renewed, no longer bearing the worn and damaged appearance it once had.

The cover felt smooth like fine leather, and the golden patterns surrounding it made the book look extraordinarily beautiful.

Yet as she held this transformed book, she felt no joy at all. Her eyes were filled only with complicated emotions.

Now, a line of words had appeared on the cover:

【Press the book against the statue】

The golden letters flickered repeatedly, frantically reminding her.

But she had no intention of doing it immediately.

She wanted to hear everything Angmar had to say before making a decision.

Because this book—no, the god represented by this book—was the very root of her conflict with Angmar.

All the other Spirit Realm excursionists had merely been caught in the aftermath of their clash.