From the outside, looking at the oil painting of this temple, the temple itself was not large, so the room in front of them should be the only room in the temple.
The interior of this ancient temple was still illuminated by the eerie green light of the vines, and the Great Witch, dressed in a magnificent gown, was currently confronting a hawk-nosed man. Both of their Destiny Rings were fully displayed; Miss Sylvia’s Destiny Ring behind her was a Ten Ring, while the man’s Destiny Ring behind him was a Nine Ring.
Although the Great Witch showed no signs of injury on the surface, and even her dress showed no scratches, her Destiny Ring behind her was firmly locked by the vines clinging to the wall. Dozens of vines wrapped around her Destiny Ring from all directions, and the Ling Runes on the Destiny Ring flickered with faint light.
The blue-eyed, hawk-nosed man was now manipulating the temple, with his Destiny Ring rotating normally behind him. But his condition was worse; his face was pale, his chest heaved violently as he gasped for air, and his left arm, severed by a sharp weapon, lay beside him.
The blasphemy emanating from that terrifying plant statue, though not as potent as a true evil god statue, still made Xia De dare not look directly at it. Miss Sylvia, seeing Xia De appear here, immediately spoke to stop him from advancing further:
“Don’t come in! This is the Pantanal Temple, a sub-space projected by a Miracle created by the original faith of Pantanal. These vines will restrict all power. I am temporarily trapped now, but this man is also locked in this space by me. Find a way to shoot flames from outside, burn down that statue, and once it’s burned, we can get out.”
“I never expected this. I was hired to prevent the worst-case scenario. I didn’t expect there to be a High-Ring Sorcerer here. Madam, who exactly are you?”
The man also spoke with an almost indistinguishable Carson Rick accent, his eyes wide as he stared at the woman before him, unwilling to accept his situation:
“Who exactly are you? Why would Margaret Anjou have a High-Ring Sorcerer by her side? The Church provides protection to the royal family, but aren’t they also forbidden from casually contacting unofficial Ring術士?”
“Who I am is not important, but you are definitely dead.”
Miss Sylvia was clearly in a bad mood and turned to look at Xia De:
“Hurry up and act.”
“Don’t even dream of it! The radiance of Pantanal shines here, flames are useless!”
“Flames are useless?”
Xia De retorted, speaking quickly:
“Madam, Her Highness is missing, and we need to find her as soon as possible. I think throwing fireballs from outside might be useless; these vines are too agile. I must get close to this statue to burn it down.”
“But these plants—”
Miss Sylvia knew that Xia De was only a Four Ring, and the power of space was suppressed here, not enough to allow him to step directly onto the high platform in the depths of the room where the terrifying plant statue stood.
“It’s alright, please rest assured.”
Xia De took a deep breath, and under the gaze of the two people in the room, he stepped into the room.
The eerie green light illuminated Xia De’s face, and the roar of a massive steam whistle and bells almost shattered the eardrums of the other two. The black shadow of a Destiny Ring, shining with dazzling four-colored spiritual light, slowly emerged in the scorching steam, rotating rapidly as if it had come from the depths of the steam to behind him.
At this moment, the Destiny Rings of all three people in the room were displayed. Although all were made of brass, Xia De’s Destiny Ring appeared so unique in comparison.
But before Miss Sylvia and the hawk-nosed man could even speculate on how Xia De’s Destiny Ring was different, the surrounding vines shot out like flying arrows, instantly and deftly wrapping around the Four-Ring Warlock’s Destiny Ring.
The high-temperature brass ring tried to break free from the binding vines, but its rotation speed was still gradually slowing down.
Xia De continued to walk inward, and the vines also crawled along the floor towards him, trying to envelop him like a cocoon.
Xia De’s eyes focused on the terrifying plant statue, and the power flowing within him boiled under the stimulation of the evil object:
“May the Original Fire—”
In the palm of his right hand, which was not yet bound, a slender flame appeared. Following Sister Devlin’s teaching, Xia De clenched his fist, and the flame was completely crushed, the splashing sparks adhering to his skin, and the first fiery red crack appeared on the back of his hand:
“—protect me.”
“What?!”
To the hawk-nosed man’s astonished expression, the vines completely enveloped Xia De. But the next moment, golden cracks appeared on the surface of the green “cocoon,” and as the flames burst, burning vine fragments splattered all around.
The re-revealed Xia De continued to walk forward, and the cracks spread from the back of his right hand to his entire body; the fiery red Ashen Remains instantly seemed to ignite him.
The bursting flames dragged backward, then slowly subsided, and at this moment, Xia De’s entire body was covered in fiery red cracks. Sparks fluttered from the hem of his clothes, and fiery red footprints were left on the ground beneath his raised steps.
The fiery red cracks on his body also extended to his Destiny Ring, and the First Fire directly ignited the green plants, causing the Destiny Ring to resume its rotation. In just a few breaths, the walls of the entire room were engulfed in raging flames.
Blinding firelight surrounded the three. The man was speechless; he couldn’t understand what was happening, while Miss Sylvia looked at Xia De in confusion. She had seen Sister Devlin in the council and naturally knew about the First Fire.
His Destiny Ring spun at high speed, protecting Xia De from the influence of the strange statue.
In the firelight, he stepped onto the high platform, facing the plant statue that seemed to be wriggling:
“In the Pantanal region, there are no gods named ‘Pantanal,’ so what the Voodoo Society worships is actually the evil object sealed in the Great Swamp area?”
Although this power was extremely similar to a god’s, Xia De, who had transformed into a god twice, was quite certain that the other party was definitely not a god.
He extended his hand towards the plant statue, and even without touching it, the Ashen Remains drifting from his fingertips instantly ignited the entire statue.
Ya~
A piercing shriek came from a great distance at this moment. The momentary instinctive fear almost made Xia De punch forward. In a trance, he seemed to see the statue composed of various plant fragments in front of him wrapping around his hand, but upon closer inspection, the burning statue clearly hadn’t moved.
He suddenly turned his head, and in the void, an indescribable terrifying giant composed of various plant remains almost gazed at him from above behind him. In the extreme fear that almost made Xia De’s heart leap out of his throat, the giant’s phantom vanished in the blink of an eye.
【Outsider, you have gained insight into “plants”.】
A soft voice reminded him in his ear, and everything around him gradually faded in the firelight, as the plant statue also gradually turned into Ashen Remains.
Xia De, gasping for air, probably understood that what he had just seen was the so-called “Pantanal Evil.” Although he currently lacked divine support for his soul, fortunately, the other party was not an evil god, so the only effect it had on him was that momentary feeling of fear.
“However—”
Xia De looked around again. When he ignited the statue just now, he clearly felt that the First Fire was eager to burn down the statue’s main body. In other words, the “Pantanal Evil” was the firewood Sister Devlin was looking for, which could make the Original Fire grow stronger.
The “Original Fire” doesn’t grow stronger by burning just anything; only a few special existences are qualified. And clearly, the “Pantanal Evil” is qualified.
As the flames consumed everything around them, the scenery of the second-floor corridor of Rothschild Manor gradually returned, and the foul and decaying odors also dissipated.
Looking at Miss Sylvia again, as the vines wrapped around her Destiny Ring disappeared, she merely waved a hand, and the hawk-nosed Nine Ring 術士’s head fell to the ground. Then, she reached out and grabbed the transparent soul, which was clearly held in the angry Witch’s hand:
“Where?”
Her tone was extremely severe, and her fair right hand squeezed hard, shattering at least a third of the soul. The soul, howling in pain, began to transform into a malevolent spirit, but it couldn’t harm the beautiful lady in the slightest. The Witch’s empty left hand lightly tapped, and as a grayish-white light stimulated the soul, the tendency to turn into a malevolent spirit was forcibly halted.
“Where is Margaret? You only have one chance, otherwise, you will burn forever in the ‘Soul Ever-burning Lamp.’”
“Rooftop! On the rooftop!”
“Truth Society, what Knowledge did you trade with them to help plan today’s conspiracy?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know!”
“Hmm?”
“The possible location of the Pantanal Heart!”
The soul shouted loudly, then was casually tossed aside by Miss Sylvia, seemingly about to completely shatter.
Xia De casually drew a black crack, letting the soul fly into it as if fleeing for its life:
“What is the Pantanal Heart?”
“According to legend, it’s one of the terrifying evil objects sealed beneath Pantanal, the only remaining main body.”
Miss Sylvia said. Xia De nodded, knowing that this matter was not related to him for now, and didn’t ask further:
“There are four floors here, we need to get to the rooftop as soon as possible. We’ve wasted too much time.”
“No need to worry, they absolutely wouldn’t dare to harm Margaret, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths. Now I’ll take you directly up.”
Miss Sylvia’s left hand took Xia De’s right hand, and with a swipe of her right hand, their height, weight, appearance, and clothing immediately changed. Her right hand then lifted her skirt hem, revealing her right foot in a red high heel. She kicked the corpse, and both the corpse and the head were kicked into the open black spatial rift, completely disappearing from the material world.
Miss Sylvia led Xia De towards the window. The window, which Xia De had closed, automatically opened, and the evening breeze made the curtains flutter up and down.
“You really have the ‘Soul Ever-burning Lamp’? That terrifying sage-level relic?”
Xia De asked softly again. The Witch pursed her lips and turned to look at him, a slight upward curve at the corner of her beautiful mouth, then she answered softly:
“What do you think?”
—Extra Notes—
PS: Today’s update is sixteen thousand words.
