Chapter 214: Chapter 187 Meiwa and Eternal Damnation Chapter 214: Chapter 187 Meiwa and Eternal Damnation “Although the good cop, bad cop negotiation tactic is indeed very practical, your performance was quite poor, and you seem a bit reserved.”
The experienced Swindler commented, “If that Elf girl could put a few holes in my companion, we might feel some tension, but your conversation is so restrained, you’re not even willing to spice it up by giving my partner a hard time, just having a dry chat—it actually makes me feel somewhat at ease.”
“I shouldn’t be your partner, should I?” Ash asked.
“Definitely not mine,” Harvey said somberly. “My companions don’t breathe.”
Not to mention Igula, the scam artist who thrived on taxing the credulous, and the Necromancer who grew up in the underworld, steeped in bloodshed—even Ash, the young innocent, saw through their act at a glance. How could they be fooled?
Tears streamed down Cleos’ cheeks: “It’s one thing not to catch Selena… but to be mocked by a few people from the Exotic Realm… sob sob…”
Ash was dumbfounded, “It’s not that serious, sister, and could you raise the gun muzzle a bit when you cry? I’m worried you might lose your grip…”
The girl in purple smiled, “Quite bold, aren’t you? But if it were me, I’d feign gratitude and blithely sign the contract—your lives are in my hands, do you think you have any bargaining power?”
Igula said calmly, “Although I’m not sure of the specific value, you undoubtedly need us ‘people from the Exotic Realm’. If I’m not mistaken, we’re quite rare here, and the three of us might just be the only leverage you can get hold of.”
“In other words, what we have is priceless—if you want to use us, you must take our opinions seriously, otherwise, you simply can’t find a substitute.”
“Forget about that type of slave contract, tell us what you really need.”
“Cleos is right,” the girl in purple laughed, “people like you, who can quickly understand the situation yet haven’t been groomed with the Gospel from childhood, will become a huge threat sooner or later.”
“Thank you for exaggerating.”
“But you seem to have forgotten one thing.” The girl in purple revealed a wicked smile, “I do need people from the Exotic Realm, but now I have three—I still have the right to choose—”
She pulled out a Contract Paper Weaving, tearing it in half, “I think I only need one new slave who’s not so clever. Pretty girl, you’re out of the game.”
Igula was so angry his lip twitched, “I’m a man!”
“Well,” the girl in purple drew out another Contract Paper Weaving, making a gesture as if she were going to tear it. “Although I only need one new slave, I don’t mind having two—if someone is sensible and knows his place.”
Still, no one responded.
Ash and Harvey calmly watched her, their faces void of any fear, as if they were watching a poor play. Even the girl in purple couldn’t keep her Expression Management in place, gritting her teeth, “Are you some sort of brothers-in-arms, ready to die for each other?”
“They’ve simply seen through your bluster,” Igula said quietly. “If you really only needed one person from the Exotic Realm, why not let that Elf blow off the top of my skull with a gun bullet to see what it’s made of?”
“I agree with that,” Ash said. “I’d like to see if his brain is dark enough to ooze out.”
The girl in purple looked at the three of them coldly, her exquisite face full of icy hostility, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense. Just when Ash thought she was going to fly into a rage and lash out to save face, the crying of the rescued children broke the silence.
She sighed, “What sort of Fallen Kingdom could cultivate such sly demons as yourselves?”
“I prefer to call it Wisdom,” Igula stated indifferently.
The girl in purple took out another intact piece of Contract Paper Weaving, tapping it gently to reveal lines of text.
“This is my final offer,” she said. “Sign it or die here.”
Cleos fired thrice rapidly, removing all the Miracle Chains from Ash and the others without causing them any harm.
The stowaways showed no intention to resist, not to mention the dozen or so Red Hats surrounding them; they still wore the Locking Technique collars on their necks, and the sight of the weeping Elf female alone was enough to quell any bold ideas they might have—although she hadn’t caught Selena, it was highly probable that the Elf was a Three-winged Holy Sanctuary Mage!
With cult leaders like Ash having Gerard as their escort, Selena was obviously on a higher level in all aspects compared to Ash, meaning that Cleos, tasked with capturing Selena, couldn’t possibly be inferior to Gerard. Moreover, Cleos was ranked tenth on the “Red Hat Total List”, so it was strange that she didn’t possess Seven-colored Wings.
As for why a Three-winged Mage couldn’t catch a seemingly weak cult leader… with the clear example of Ash, Igula and Harvey considered this to be normal.
They obediently looked over the contract, their faces instantly showing perplexed expressions, exchanging glances without speaking.
This time, the girl in purple really got angry; her green pupils almost became a vertical line filled with Killing Intent, “Are you still trying to push your luck?”
Ash raised his hand and said, “No, we just have a modest request.”
“Could you give us a dictionary?” he lifted the contract, “There are some words here we can’t understand.”
In reality, not understanding some of the words was an understatement from Ash—almost half of the text was completely gibberish, akin to the difference between modern scripts and Martian texts, not just the simple and traditional characters!
However, the other half of the text was identical to the writings of the Kingdom of Blood Moon.
After all, nations that hardly interact, even if their characters and language are of the same origin, will surely evolve into distinct systems given enough time. Ash and his companions were fortunate enough to be able to understand the language here, and it was only natural that they could only understand half of the written words.
Ash suddenly remembered that the Sword Maiden had a bit of a strange accent, but later learned she was from the countryside and thought it was just her character’s charming point…
“Ah, sorry, that was my oversight.”
The girl in purple snapped her fingers, and a lavishly bound amethyst book appeared before her. Perhaps due to having heard many tales today, or maybe because of the book’s strange allure, the moment Ash and his companions saw it, they knew its name—the “Gospel Book.”
“One point per piece, consider it my treat.”
The girl in purple tossed three golden sunflower seeds to them. Igula fiddled with one, which felt like it was made of jelly, “What is this?”
“The Gospel for mortals, the medium of knowledge, the foundation of the all-knowing, the bane of the blind and foolish, the seed of wisdom.”
The girl in purple explained with a smile, “They’re wisdom sunflower seeds. Eat one, and you’ll immediately master our language.”
Kingdom of Blood Moon, the outskirts of Kaimon City.
“It’s a pity we can’t go up to the waterfall…” Adela sat on a small stool, staring at the blood-red waterfall under the light of the Blood Moon, her face full of regret.
“Isn’t it the same to camp around here?” Freyja was much more open-minded, using tongs to lift the lid off a pot and said, “The river delicacy pot is ready! I’m starving, it’s all Adela’s fault for not being able to catch fish…”
“It’s clearly because you can’t make a fire!”
The two bickered but served the food without hesitation, blowing on it vigorously before putting it into their mouths and letting out a satisfied moan.
It was obvious that the two were camping. However, this method of camping wasn’t quite right. The proper way to camp was actually to do it alone, as it was a part of a mage’s preliminary training.
Upon entering the Void Realm, mages need to travel the Sea of Knowledge alone, facing challenges like loneliness, fear, and silence. As humans are social animals, apprentice mages often take time to adapt to the adventures in Void Realm. To forge a mage’s will in advance, apprentices can engage in various activities in reality to simulate the experiences of the Void Realm.
Camping is an excellent way to gain such an experience. Outdoor survival is already very similar to Void Realm adventures, and it is almost a given for university students to go camping to feel the independent survival. Hence, the probability of encountering bad people and even wrongful death is not low.
But this is one of the essentials of camping: if there is no danger to life, there is no experiential value!
Therefore, the camping of Freyja and Adela was mistaken—they couldn’t possibly venture together in the Void Realm, so camping together had no training value whatsoever!
After Adela had eaten her fill, she still looked towards the waterfall’s upstream with curiosity, “What happened up there? Why was it sealed off as a forbidden area?”
They had originally intended to camp upstream of the waterfall, where animals like bears, wolves, and wild dogs roamed, presenting real danger. Adela, who loved gambling and thrills, had prepared hand cannons and various weapons, looking forward to playing the ‘Who is the hunter’ game with the animals overnight. However, upon their arrival, they discovered the entire area had been sealed off by the Crime Hunting Hall, forbidding any strangers from entry.
“Could be a portal to the Void Realm,” Freyja suggested as she began to undress.
“…Have you started wanting it just because you’re full?”
“No, I’m just going to take a bath,” said Meiwa, indicating the river beside her. “Don’t worry, I can handle a night or two.”
“What about three nights?”
“Can you go three continuous days without gambling?”
“You’re really strong, you know,” Adela exclaimed. “I can only manage to not gamble for a day at most.”
Watching Meiwa cutely jump into the crimson river to play, Adela let out a soft sigh.
She had originally wanted to invite Freyja to relax a bit, but it turned into a relaxation trip for herself, feeling a bit guilty about it. However, seeing that not even beauty could tempt Meiwa, Adela was more convinced that Freyja had some serious illness.
Thinking it over, Adela decided to bring her out camping to experience nature, as the reason was very legitimate—dealing with the harassments or even murders by vagrants was a part of university life that one couldn’t avoid.
Wait, she’s gone to bathe, so who’s left to wash the pots and dishes?
Muttering under her breath, Adela still obediently picked up the utensils and went to the river ahead of Freyja’s bathing spot, planning to disgust Meiwa with greasy dishes. Spotting this from afar, Freyja swam over, trying to appease her, “Oh, let me help you wash a bowl—”
Both turned their gazes towards the waterfall. Adela asked, “Did you hear that?”
“I did,” Freyja nodded. “Sounds like something fell into the waterfall. A stone, maybe?”
“I don’t think it was a stone…”
As the two watched intensely, a pitiable figure in a black dress, small and delicate-looking, emerged with the flow of the water, like a child abandoned, before the women.
“Kind big sisters, merciful big sisters,” the drenched doll-like girl pleaded pitifully. “Can you save Selena?”