Chapter 412: Peeping!!? (Subscribe Please)

When the first heartbeat sounded, the chanting throughout the entire tomb chamber paused.

Thump-thump!

All the cultists raised their heads, their faces filled with fanaticism and madness, eerie light flickering in their eyes as they excitedly looked toward the giant egg at the center of the altar.

"Praise our Lord!"

Thump-thump!

When that strong, powerful heartbeat grew ever more intense, the cultists resumed their chanting.

Their fervent voices were louder than before, nearly bursting out of the tomb chamber!

"You are the master of supreme sin, the destination of endless desire!"

Their bodies swayed ceaselessly, lips murmuring words as they recited at a frantic pace.

"Praise our Lord!"

The black robes on their bodies twisted and fluttered with their movements, like living tentacles.

"You shall lead us forward through the mortal world!"

Crack!

When that blood-colored giant egg, fully three persons tall, trembled once more—emitting a sound as though it were about to shatter—the cultists were as if injected with an even stronger dose of madness.

Buzz-buzz-buzz!

Their prayers grew more urgent, their voices rising several degrees, the fanaticism in their eyes nearly ready to ignite.

Some cultists were so激动的 they trembled all over, hands waving wildly in the air, as if welcoming some great descent.

Others even took the initiative to draw daggers and stab them into their own hearts, then fell with joyful faces onto the flesh-and-blood altar, seized by the tentacles it spread forth, sinking into the flesh and blood, becoming new cornerstones, offering up their lives and energy.

As the heartbeat gradually accelerated, something seemed to be writhing beneath the surface of the giant egg, as if the creature within were awakening, about to break free of this blood-red prison.

The aura emanating from that creature was chilling—a blend of death, despair, and destruction—as though its birth would bring endless calamity to the world.

Swallowing the light, dragging all the beauty of the world down into the abyss of darkness.

Miss Xie Shen was attempting to descend upon the mortal world once more.

Attempting once again to forge a divine vessel.

At first, Miss Xie Shen had only meant to harass the Church of the Sun a little, to vent some spite, regain a bit of face, just going through the motions.

But as the battle progressed, She discovered the other side did not seem to intend to "quit while they were ahead."

That group of fanatical madmen seemed to plan on making Her an example, ready to make capital of it, recklessly engaging Her in a frenzied divine war.

Miss Xie Shen was no fool, and had no desire to become a tool and sacrifice trampled beneath their feet.

But the problem was, a god has a god's dignity, and could not easily show weakness.

So, even though She realized the Church of the Sun intended to use Her as a stepping stone, She still had Her followers grit their teeth and hold the line.

She had been waiting for an opportunity.

Waiting for a chance to end this war in a perfectly reasonable manner.

And not long ago, the variable She had been hoping for… finally appeared.

A crimson giant dragon appeared on the battlefield, annihilating Her army of followers with overwhelming force.

At first, upon discovering Her servants had been ruthlessly wiped out by the other side, Miss Xie Shen grew angry as well.

Even a clay figure has a bit of temper.

As an evil god, how could She tolerate mortals humiliating Her like this!

Earlier there had already been one该死的 fellow who had greatly angered Her, and now there was yet another!

That giant dragon had actually dared to humiliate Her.

Unacceptable.

It must be made to pay the price!

She would use concrete action to tell the world there was only one fate for those who blaspheme the gods.

And that was death!

But at the same time, She also realized this was the very opportunity She had been hoping for.

As long as that dragon was slain, this "war" could be wrapped up ahead of schedule.

Slaying that epic-level dragon would restore Her face, and this battle could then naturally end in "Her victory," without letting the other side exploit Her any further.

Miss Xie Shen could tell that dragon did not truly belong to the Sun's Coming, but was most likely an ally they had summoned.

The Church of the Sun would certainly react to an ally's death, but absolutely not as intensely as to the loss of their own people.

For this war, it would be a perfect sacrifice.

So Miss Xie Shen did not strike back right away, but continued to hold Her followers back, keeping them low-key, even sending Her creations to their deaths directly.

Sacrificing so many of Her own people was all to lull the others, to make that crimson giant dragon let down its guard.

Had that dragon not entered Solantis directly, She would have made Her move by tomorrow.

This forcibly condensed avatar, while in certain respects perhaps not surpassing the body previously destroyed in the Shadowlands, had been specialized in another aspect—possessing enough corrupting filth to defile that dragon.

The perfect outcome would be for Her to successfully corrupt that crimson giant dragon, making it Her new vessel in the mortal world.

But for now, there was no rush to act.

That dragon had already entered the Radiant Shengcheng, so She could not act rashly; this avatar also needed to continue growing.

She still needed to wait for an opportunity.

She was like a venomous snake hiding in the shadows, watching its prey, quietly waiting for a chance to strike.

"Mortal things, heh heh…"

"You will all pay the price."

The evil god who wielded the authority of depravity laughed softly in the darkness, sneering at the ignorance and arrogance of mortals.

"I'll make you understand—gods are not to be profaned!"

……

……

After waking up, Herbert was thoroughly roughed up by the "big cat" lying on top of him.

Although nothing substantial had progressed, his face had been given a good washing by Miss Hungry Dragon's drool.

Although Valentina was very unhappy that Herbert wouldn't let her eat, she wasn't the willful sort, and in the end she obediently followed his request.

Of course, "obedient" only went so far—she still wasn't all that well-behaved.

Won't let me eat, huh.

Fine.

Then I'll kiss you!

Kissing should be fine, right!

After thoroughly giving Herbert a fierce round of kisses and satisfying her craving, Valentina finally let him go.

It wasn't that she was so easily satisfied, but that she had something more important to do.

She was hungry—time to eat.

Valentina had licked herself hungry—in the literal sense of hungry.

Miss Hungry Dragon licking Herbert had whetted her own appetite; it was time to eat something proper.

And after finally escaping the Hungry Dragon's "demon tongue," Herbert didn't rush to leave the room.

He turned his head toward the mirror and asked the "looking straight ahead, face dead serious" Miss Mirror Demon inside it: "Did you see everything?"

"……"

Miss Mirror Demon stayed silent, eyes on her nose, nose on her mouth, looking as if it had nothing to do with her.

"Speak. Don't play dead."

Herbert rolled his eyes and said irritably: "You've got the nerve to peek, but not the nerve to admit it, huh?"

"I didn't! I didn't see anything!"

Liukaliya snorted, pouted, and said: "Besides, this isn't peeping! It's clearly you two insisting on putting on a show right in front of me."

You two were showing off your love right in my face, and then you still blame me for peeking?

Do you two even have any sense of reason!

"I'm not talking about that. I'm asking you—did you see what I looked like while I was asleep?" Herbert shook his head.

"What about it?"

Liukaliya was taken aback for a moment upon hearing that, raised an eyebrow, and said playfully: "If you're asking that, does it mean you had a nightmare last night?"

"Maybe?"

Herbert shrugged and said calmly: "In a certain sense, I did have a nightmare."

Miss Mirror Demon furrowed her brow, gave him a rather odd look for quite a while, and teased: "I say, being able to have a nightmare in such a radiant place—does this Holy Knight of yours have something shady on his mind?"

What kind of place is this?

It's Radiant Shengcheng.

It's the place countless Holy Knights yearn for most in their hearts—the true land of longing.

And Herbert, this newly ascended Legendary Holy Knight, had a nightmare on his very first night here.

It's obvious that you're the one with the problem!

"Maybe?"

Herbert neither confirmed nor denied, shrugged, and spread his hands: "After all, the secrets on me aren't exactly few!"

To a certain extent, Liukaliya's teasing really was on the mark.

Herbert really did have a "ghost" in his heart—except this ghost's class was a bit on the high side, called by others Miss Xie Shen.

"By the way, you're also one of my unspeakable secrets."

"Oh, is that so? Should I thank you for valuing me so highly?"

"No need for that—we don't need to be so polite with each other."

"Hah!"

Liukaliya couldn't help but roll her eyes at this shameless man, not wanting to discuss this topic any further.

The more she interacted with Herbert, the more she understood that in this kind of verbal sparring, she simply wasn't his match.

She turned back to the previous question, thought for a moment, and answered: "Your sleeping face last night didn't look like anything special."

"There was no trace of anyone else entering the room either—well, except for that Miss Dragon."

"So, with such a serious expression, did you notice some kind of problem?"

At this moment Herbert's expression was uncommonly serious, his smile gone, his eyes narrowed as he sensed something.

After quite a while, he said slowly: "I feel… as if I'm being watched by someone, someone lurking in the shadows and spying on me."

"Uh…"

Liukaliya blinked, then pointed at herself with some uncertainty and asked: "The person you're talking about—is it me?"

You went around in such a big circle just to bring it back to me peeking, didn't you!

You—being this petty?

So boring!

"Although I don't know how you can be so brazen about peeping, this time I'm not talking about you."

Herbert waved his hand at the overly self-aware Miss Mirror Demon and said in a low voice: "I also sensed that there seemed to be a powerful existence hidden in the shadows, spying on me."

The other's gaze had nearly slipped past his perception.

Only within dreams could he, through spiritual perception, sense a trace of danger.

Last night's stupor was certainly not normal; the only one who could make him fall asleep without him noticing... was probably Nie Nasha.

Is She trying to remind me of something through this method?

"If the blazing sun signifies the Sun God, then the shadow signifies... the God of Sinful Desire?"

Herbert was not skilled at dream interpretation; he could now only roughly guess the meaning of the elements within the dream.

"Has She noticed me?"

Even if he truly was discovered, that would be perfectly normal.

Herbert had previously run rampant on the battlefield with Valentina; it would be hard not to attract the attention of the ones they had provoked.

But the problem was that he had been extremely cautious about concealing himself, wearing his battle armor the entire time and altering his own aura.

"But it doesn't really feel like it! If She had noticed me, could things really be this calm?"

Given how much the God of Sinful Desire hated Herbert, if She truly noticed Herbert, She would very likely directly descend divine punishment.

Or even descend in Her true form — that wasn't impossible either!

"Can't figure it out..."

Can the God of Sinful Desire really endure this much?

Herbert didn't think so.

"But one thing is certain: Valentina's feeling was right; someone really is watching us."

"If the one in the shadows is the God of Sinful Desire, then we'd better not leave the city for now; She is probably waiting for an opportunity in the dark."

"In any case, our time in Radiant Shengcheng should be safe."

If even Solantis couldn't be called a safe place, then there was probably truly nowhere in this world that could be called safe.

"I need to have everyone pay more attention, and it's best not to act alone."

Herbert considered carefully and pressed down the unease and agitation in his heart.

A wave of coldness welled up in his heart; his chaotic thoughts instantly became clear, and his entire being seemed to transform into a block of solid ice.

Herbert forced himself to calm down.

Calm.

The more dangerous the situation, the more he needed to stay calm.

The current situation was still far from the worst; there was no need to lose his footing just like this.

After sorting out his thoughts, Herbert walked out of the room and briefly mentioned his discovery to Flora and the other two.

"During this period, we'd best not act alone; staying together also makes it easier to escape together when necessary."

Moreover, just after Herbert briefly finished explaining his feelings, a knock suddenly sounded from outside the door.

Knock, knock.

Herbert frowned and opened the door, finding Bishop Evelyn waiting at the entrance at some unknown time.

"Lord Herbert."

She gave Herbert a slight nod, did not enter the room, and stood at the doorway, calmly saying: "Please come away with me alone."

"Alone? The others can't go?"

"That's right."

Herbert's brow furrowed, and he was about to refuse outright.

He did not wish to be separated from Valentina and the others, especially at a time when he sensed that there seemed to truly be a gaze in the shadows constantly peering at them.

But Bishop Evelyn's next words made him change his mind.

This composed bishop, in an extremely flat tone, uttered words that were quite astonishing for the entire Radiant Shengcheng.

"His Holiness the Pope wishes to meet with you privately, alone."

After speaking, Bishop Evelyn paused, then slowly said: "Additionally, His Holiness also said..."

"You wouldn't refuse a lonely old man's request, would you?"

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(End of this chapter)