Book 5 Chapter 5.7 - The Light Before Dusk
"I'm fine. Cirvanas, leave us alone for a bit." Su said.
Cirvanas was a bit unwilling, but he couldn't defy Su's orders. In the end, he still withdrew.
Madeline nodded. The nucleus connected her even more intimately with Su, but this was the first time it surged with such powerful energy, to the point where her constitution almost couldn't hold on. Moreover, this type of energy possessed mysterious power, as if it could make all matter of common origin resonate, disregarding all distance, close or far. This was a terrifying energy that carried spatial attributes, and even more importantly, if there were other substances in this world similar to the Heart of Darkness or nucleus, then they might also sense the Heart of Darkness' pulse.
After all, in Frozen Throne's research records, it was clearly written that there were other similar research projects in the olden era.
Su looked at the puddle of black blood on the floor, and then said, "You should go and prepare yourself, we might have to… leave again."
Madeline nodded, sensibly staying silent, turning around to leave the room. She understood Su's intentions, not rejecting this type of life, instead feeling a bit excited. Many years ago, her memories only consisted of following Su everywhere, no finish point, nor any starting point. However, any place with Su, was a place with sunshine.
Waves of pain tore through the insides of Su's body. He knew that these were from the injuries left behind from the cleansing of energy just now. Right now, his body's regeneration ability was already completely started up, and soon after, these fine wounds would completely close, only, this process would be itchy and painful, bringing him indescribable suffering. These were all small matters, however. After absorbing a portion of the Heart of Darkness' energy, his genes in all Ability Domains seemed to have become lively. If he invested enough evolutionary points, he could produce a corresponding ability. Unlike Madeline, the energy surge actually brought Su large amounts of evolutionary points, so he was already close to producing a new ninth level ability.
The abilities Su could choose from was nine levels of Perception Domain, nine levels of Combat Domain, three levels of Magic Domain, five levels of Mysterious Fields, or three levels of Mental Domain. The one that would directly increase his combat prowess the greatest was naturally the Combat Domain, but if we were talking about the ability to deal with various situations, increasing both Magic and Mental Domain directly to eight levels might be an even better choice. The effects of the Mysterious Fields were unknown, while nine levels of Mysterious Fields would bring him more scouting and warning uses.
Su's brain began to quickly operate, assembling and deconstructing and then reconstructing all abilities, trying to find the optimal choice. His brain's data processing ability was already close to that of a small scale intelligence system, but if he wanted to calculate this many combinations, he still needed at least a few days of time. If he were to try and test the effectiveness of different combinations of abilities in actual combat environments, then not even a few years would be enough. Meanwhile, Madeline's thoughts were much simpler, not using much time at all.
When dealing with a difficult choice, something that has perplexed humans from past to present, often times, intuition was more useful than logic.
At this moment, in a mysterious space northside, a dazzling beam of light descended from the sky, scattering the eternal darkness. This pillar of light was at least a kilometer in diameter, the height completely immeasurable, something that connected heaven and earth! The light it released burned fiercely and wildly. Even if it was steel, upon approaching this light, it would melt.
This was a place of nothingness, yet it wasn't completely empty. The natural laws that made up this space were entirely different from that of the true world.
This was a divine country whose existence was unexplainable, and the pillar of light represented the will of the apostle. At this moment, a roar swept through the great earth like thunder, rumbling and shaking up every corner of this boundless space. From the roar, one could sense the apostle's great fury, and all of the anger was directed towards an elegant young lady that was floating in the air.
It was Pandora.
Her naked body was perfect, helplessly drifting in the void like duckweed in water. Her black hair scattered about like clouds, the expression on her face appearing to be peaceful as if she was sleeping. However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that her eyelashes were trembling slightly, and her eyebrows vaguely twitching as well; it looked like she was experiencing indescribable pain.
The radiance illuminated her white jadelike soft skin. Faint flames were being released, the high temperature immediately burning her skin until it was charred black, cracked apart, and then separated off. However, in an instant, new skin cells would grow back, replacing the burned injuries. However, the new skin would, in the blink of an eye, once again be burnt by the heat of the light rays, once again cracking and falling off. This type of cycle continued endlessly. The radiance didn't seem to be restricted by the laws of physics at all. Even though the radiance originated from the distant pillar of light, it still ruthlessly lit up Pandora's body from every angle, burning her mercilessly.
Pandora already lost control over her body, but she still retained all feeling. Meanwhile, this body that was floating in midair, within the Black Flame Seal, possessed perception far exceeding that of an ordinary person. It was unknown how much endurance the consciousness of Pandora within the Black Flame Seal held, but this type of suffering was not something a human could handle.
The suffering Pandora displayed seemed to somewhat satisfy the apostle. The roaring fury gradually faded, and a dignified voice rang through this entire place. "Pandora, do you understand your crime?"
"... I do." An extremely weak consciousness replied. Even the apostle had to exert quite a bit of effort to hear her. However, Pandora's weakness clearly made it even more satisfied, as it meant that the intensity of discipline was enough.
"This is the result of deceiving me! I didn't focus my attention on you, but that doesn't mean that you can continue fooling me without being discovered! The Black Flame Seal is the source of your power, as well as the cage that imprisons you. All of your power comes from the Black Flame Seal I personally created, so do not vainly try to deceive me. I will give you one last opportunity. If you cannot satisfy me this time, then all of your consciousness will turn to nothing under the Black Flame Seal!"
"... understood." A weak consciousness replied once again.
This respectful attitude made the apostle even more satisfied, the anger in its voice decreasing a bit further. "That lamb's luck isn't bad, finding the Limitless Heart, and was lucky enough to even start it up. However, this has exposed him once again in my line of sight. Pandora, you are my sword, find that lamb and kill him, as well as bring back the Limitless Heart!"
"... as you wish." Pandora agreed.
The radiance released by the pillar of light finally turned back to becoming gentle, and the undying flames on Pandora's body gradually stopped burning. The apostle's dignified voice sounded again. "Pandora, my eyes will follow you from beginning to end. I hope that this time, you won't do any foolish things, bringing destruction onto yourself. Forging swords isn't an easy task, but I will not tolerate swords that won't obey orders, this is something I hope you can understand. In addition, it is not just yourself. Your mother and father's fates are linked to you as well!"
After giving Pandora this warning, the apostle's voice became cold. "Pandora, release your consciousness. I am going to enter and establish my presence in your body. Before you leave, I am going to use your body to give that lamb a few small gifts. If he cannot deal with my gifts, then there's no need for you to head out to battle."