Chapter 133: The Most Suitable Heir

Since someone has to become a waste, why not me?

Running away is shameful but useful; reality is too hard—let me run away.

"Generate another me, and entrust everything to her."

Li En stared at Shaliman, who had pulled him inside, and froze upon hearing her words.

"You… could you say that again?" Li En doubted he had heard correctly.

You, a dual cultivator of magic and psychic arts, a mythic potential with Golden Rank bloodline, you tell me that acquiring the power of the Heroic Soul comes at the cost of possible schizophrenia or even "possession," and yet you plan to use it to find yourself a life "chauffeur"?

"What I mean is, can it recreate a 'me' to handle some things on my behalf?"

The woman's face flushed red, as if slightly ashamed, yet her words were nothing less than "I don't want to be human anymore—I'm going to slack off and go idle."

"That kind of thinking is dangerous," Li En considered carefully, weighed it thoroughly, then rejected it outright.

Mental confrontations are perilous; the weak-willed naturally lose—you cannot entrust your life's safety to the goodwill of a "newborn."

If you must have dual personalities, ensure the dominant personality remains strong.

"If you insist on this idea, I advise against accepting the Heroic Soul inheritance. Without initiative, you will very likely lose yourself in the mental clash, letting the newborn seize everything you are." That, effectively, is the death of the dominant personality.

Shaliman fell silent for a moment, murmured softly, then pouted in displeasure.

Li En was utterly bewildered—his "ability" had understood it all.

What Shaliman had whispered was:

"Being possessed and falling into eternal slumber? Isn't that a good thing?"

Li En fell silent, then grew furious.

"If you want to kill yourself, slit your own throat! The power of the Heroic Soul is not meant for this!" Li En's roar echoed outside the room.

That day, rumors of the ambassador and his wife quarreling spread through the diplomatic delegation.

No one could predict what would happen when a single Heroic Soul inheritance split into seven.

But clearly, at least seven people's fates would be altered because of it.

"Phew, I hope they're easier to deal with." One of the Heroic Soul candidates had just made a choice that changed their destiny.

Victoria V. Uniel took a deep breath and prepared to knock on the door of the temporary embassy.

She was a locally renowned alchemist and a member of the Uniel family, the most hawkish faction in the region; her contact with the Surface Diplomatic Delegation was bound to draw everyone's attention.

But she had no choice— if she wished to leave the dark elf world, she needed an opportunity to interact with the delegation and give them a reason to take her with them.

The moment she stepped through that door, no matter how she explained herself afterward, she would have opposed her family's political stance.

She had never liked the dark elf world, yet taking this step was still incredibly difficult.

Ordinary dark elves might leave their families and cities relatively easily, but a dark elf noble? Especially one from a hawkish house? Fleeing would mark her as a family disgrace, inviting near-endless pursuit.

"Dark elf families can only exit through death." Dark elf deities are famously vengeful; if the shame reaches a certain level, they might even dispatch divine assassins.

But this invasion by the mind flayers gave her an opportunity.

Everyone could see that if this crisis were weathered, Mordosdilka would surely establish diplomatic ties with the cities above.

During this process, the dove faction would naturally gain the upper hand, and the hawk faction could not be ignored.

If she could seize this chance to forge a connection, whether as a "hostage" or a "sentinel" sent to the surface, it would be a legitimate opportunity for Victoria, now a marginalized member of her family, to escape their control.

"Risk is necessary—otherwise, I'll just wait here to die."

For her, the main reason she hadn't simply left was uncertainty about the future—she knew full well the reputation dark elves held among other races, and the surface dwellers were hardly saints.

Aligning herself with a seemingly trustworthy Heroic Soul heir might grant her reliable connections on the surface—something vital to her. What she most hoped for and trusted, ironically, was the very person she had first insulted: the bewildered Surface Princess.

At least, their ability and status could protect her.

That clueless princess seemed like a person who kept promises and valued fate—a "good person."

Although Victoria despised dark elf culture and customs, her own thinking had always been deeply dark elf—rational and pragmatic.

"Is Countess Shaliman available? I'm Victoria, the alchemist here to visit by appointment."

To her surprise, she saw the mushroom person and the automaton opening the door—both fellow candidates.

In an instant, she realized: these candidates had already formed a group.

Her spirits lifted further—this was a group not bound by bloodline or race, yet seemingly capable of going far.

Then, they wouldn't discriminate against her as a dark elf, would they? What Victoria feared most was truly having no "place" to belong.

"Welcome, partner." Gugu's words stunned the female elf—then she smiled.

"Partner… yes, pleased to meet you, partner."

Each seed planted by Kukus spread and sprouted; the candidates' fates began to diverge from their original paths.

Even the deities' prophecies could not have foreseen this.

After all, any prophecy involving the Hall of Heroic Souls or the Many-Faced Dragon automatically fails—as if the person never existed (if prophecies worked, the Many-Faced Dragon wouldn't need reincarnation—he'd be killed at birth).

When a fate-black hole appears, everything it affects naturally becomes impossible to predict precisely.

In truth, Victoria was overthinking—she had already avoided the most dangerous prophecy lock-in, and the ensuing dark elf assassins; even if she ran blindfolded now, she needn't fear assassins knocking on her door one day.

The traits she gained from the Heroic Soul had not yet fully awakened; as a third-circle alchemist specializing in logistics (akin to a weakened Transmutation mage), her power exceeded her age, but as a Heroic Soul heir, she was still insufficient.

Dark elves also possess the surface dwellers' occupational system (many professions and spells originated with them), along with some powerful rare vocational lineages and a certain degree of potion-enhancement system—but it falls short of the surface beastfolk's comprehensive evolution and high adaptability.

This means that at the same level, without superior physical hardware, they are generally weaker in all aspects—but stronger in certain areas (elf magic, rare divine arts, poison formulas).

Additionally, due to lacking hardware, their occupational advancement is much slower—attributes fail to meet thresholds, so they must rely on time, potions, or illegal rituals to force progress, unlike beastfolk who evolve easily and gain extra attributes and racial talents.

Even more problematic is their base attribute weaknesses—they may lack something compared to beastfolk, and their "soul abilities," born from the simultaneous cultivation of mind, body, and technique, awaken far more slowly.

Essentially, elves and dwarves must reach Grand Knight or Grand Mage (fifth tier or higher) to reliably awaken soul abilities.

Casters are slightly different; since they rely less on physical hardware, elves commonly place their spellcasters in power, and many local noble houses are led by priests and mages.

Altogether, this is why Li En could slaughter dark elf and gray dwarf attackers (combat types) at the same level.

This is also why they were driven from the surface—backward races naturally do not deserve the richest lands.

Getting back to the matter, Victoria entered the embassy and learned of the ambassador couple's quarrel—the ambassador was now locked in his room, secretly crying.

She wondered if she'd misheard. In the end, she could only wait, muttering, "Truly, a child of the surface."

"Snap." At the same time, Li En set down his glass and sighed.

The underground bar of the inn held no outsiders—he poured himself a drink alone.

He felt a little immature; just moments ago, Lord Lord Kuku had told him to lighten up, yet he'd flown into rage so quickly.

Was it because the girl disrespected her own life? Or because she abused the Heroic Soul ability? Li En wasn't sure, but he was deeply unsettled.

And at that moment, a snake slithered over.

That familiar soft warmth and sweet fragrance belonged to the little woman who had been stopped earlier.

"Drinking alone harms the body. Is there something you want to tell your sister?"

Li En turned around and indeed saw Zi Qiangwei rubbing against him, and the large snake already inside the liquor cabinet, deftly uncorking a bottle.

"Have a drink?" Li En directly handed her his glass.

"I'm not good at it… if I get drunk, don't laugh at me." The girl's face flushed red, as if embarrassed.

Li En smiled, then watched as the girl extended her tongue and licked the liquor—immediately, she grimaced, her face and skin turning bright red!

She, truly, couldn't drink at all!

"Then have some milk." Though surprised, Li En still swapped her cup for a glass of milk.

Meanwhile, the snake inside the liquor cabinet had already finished its fourth bottle in these few minutes—this had nothing to do with the Magical Girl; it was purely personal.

The mentor's snake drank heartily, Zi Qiangwei happily sipped milk, her little feet kicking idly in the chair.

Li En, rare as it was, lowered his guard and enjoyed the pleasure of alcohol—before he crossed over, he'd thought himself quite a drinker.

"You came to talk to me about her, didn't you?" Li En cut straight to the point.

"Mmm, I've never seen Miss Shaliman this angry. She's devastated—what happened?"

Li En considered. There was nothing worth hiding; if Zi Qiangwei wanted to know, she'd have known already. Her pretending ignorance so far had been enough respect for his group.

He mentioned briefly the Heroic Soul inheritance, and how Miss Shaliman disrespected her own life.

"Ah." Upon hearing this, Zi Qiangwei sighed. At that moment, Li En confirmed she'd known all along.

She set down her milk cup, pulled out a small beer, licked it, turned completely red again, and helplessly put it down.

It seemed she could no longer confide in anyone over alcohol.

But some things might only be spoken by her.

"This child has always had strong suicidal tendencies. More precisely, she has no hope for the future, and her memories of the past are only pain." Zi Qiangwei recalled the past—those days were still a scar for her.

"She's from a noble family?" Li En was surprised—he'd never guessed. Miss Shaliman looked like a naive, happy little girl.

"Her high status was the source of her nightmare."

Zi Qiangwei sighed. She'd learned all this only after everything was over.

"Her mother—my sister—was killed by her father. And Miss Shaliman personally avenged her mother." The words were brief, yet the content was horrifying.

Li En set down his glass, his face filled with shock.

The version he'd heard was that both parents died of illness, and Miss Shaliman single-handedly held the family together.

"Miss Shaliman isn't an only child. She has several younger sisters and brothers—all fathered by her father with his mistresses. Everyone betrayed her; she nearly died many times under mysterious circumstances."

This, however, was still not the full story.

"I won't say how those people died. She trusted a steward—he helped her turn things around—only to later discover he was an ambitious schemer who nearly killed her."

"Similar things happened multiple times. Now, is the Sudar family empty? How could a viscount's house have no branches, no relatives? She killed them all."

"Back then, I watched her from the shadows. She was a true venomous serpent—heartless, tearless, fearless. Too bad, after avenging herself and seizing power, with royal backing, she grew stupider and stupider—now she's become a complete fool-serpent."

As she spoke, Zi Qiangwei set down her beer cup, her tone turning serious.

"I believe you can let her receive the inheritance and awaken her second personality."

"But isn't that like letting her destroy herself?" The ones most prone to depression and suicide are often those with no hope for the future. Miss Shaliman's past was all pain—in Li En's view, she'd likely flee into self-annihilation.

Zi Qiangwei shook her head.

"Don't underestimate her. She crawled out of true hell. Some things she can't explain herself, but I've seen too much."

Zi Qiangwei smiled. The situation was far better than she'd expected—perhaps she'd see again that venomous serpent who manipulated hearts.

"She never wanted to destroy herself. She only longed for a sister, a relative who would never betray her. Give it to her—it will stabilize her emotions. Besides—"

Zi Qiangwei smiled again, but strangely.

"So much has happened—do you think her naive, sweet act is normal? Those who manipulate hearts are inevitably betrayed. She may have already split mentally. Awakening her other personality might help her live better."

(End of Chapter)