...
Although Le Le'er was anything but a stranger to him, Cheng Shi had never imagined he'd one day stand before her.
This colossal tree had inherited every aspect of her mother Prosperity's style — imnse, "lush," and festooned with terror demons dangling like fruit alongside their "eyes."
The only difference was perhaps that the terror demons hadn't fused into the trunk, and the lushness was a thing of the past.
Le Le'er had clearly withered by now. Not a single green leaf clung to her gnarled branches. Her gaunt limbs resembled Decay more than Prosperity — much like her brother Dizel, rotted and twisted.
Of course, rather than scrutinizing Le Le'er, the very first thing Cheng Shi did upon regaining consciousness after that peak of terror was what he considered the wisest possible move — he hid the ring on his finger, the one that had collected Le Le'er's fear, away into his personal storage space.
'I don't dare guess what attracted her gaze, but at least right now there's no lost divinity of yours on . You can't still hold that against , can you?'
Cheng Shi consoled himself with that bit of self-deception, but to his surprise, Le Le'er had only glanced at him once and made no further move afterward.
Having savored the freshest fear, her attention returned to the protagonists of this mory-dream.
Keinlaur was still pressing forward. Though his constantly trembling body made it clear that the terror in his heart had reached its limit, he gritted his teeth and persisted — until...
He raised his hand. Directly beneath the withered canopy of the Mother Tree of Fear, he picked up a massive branch shaped remarkably like the body of a bow. Then he hoisted it above his head and roared with every ounce of strength in his body:
"All for... a new Order."
The mont the words left his lips, Keinlaur planted the wood as a bow, twisted fear into a string, and fired an arrow nad Terror at Lid Yara — the woman who had trekked alongside him for so long.
Lid Yara had still been waiting for an explanation from him, but the instant she heard the bowstring sing, she knew she'd been wrong.
Keinlaur hadn't brought her here to show her the truth. He'd brought her here to make her a stepping stone for his embrace of desire.
She was a Hunter — no one understood better how to string a perfect hunting bow. If this colossal bow, drenched in the aura of fear, could fell "Order," then the entire nation might be engulfed in the terror of Order's absence.
Keinlaur had beco Corruption's lapdog after all!
That was Lid Yara's final thought. The next second, she scread and died — consud by the ultimate terror.
Witnessing this unimaginable scene, Cheng Shi's pupils contracted sharply and his scalp went numb. His thoughts mirrored Lid Yara's — he'd never suspected Keinlaur's invitation was a trap.
The Master of Deception had told him Keinlaur was speaking the truth, but the problem was that what Keinlaur had said was rely an invitation for Lid Yara to co and see for herself. As for what she'd see...
The slain Lid Yara, on this land belonging to Corruption, instantly dissolved into a strand of terror so dense it was nearly solid, flowing toward the canopy of the Mother Tree of Fear. Before long, a new, infant terror demon sprouted among the dense clusters already hanging from the branches.
The scene was grotesque beyond words — yet even that grotesquerie paled beside Keinlaur, who stood beneath the tree laughing like a madman.
The massive branch, after drinking blood, began to pulse with crimson veins. Its shape grew ever more akin to a bow's body. Keinlaur leaned against the great bow, running his fingers reverently along every inch of its grain, and spoke with deep emotion:
"To restore Order with this bow, one must first string it with 'the blood of order.'
"My blood still has its uses, so Lid Yara — I'm afraid you'll have to be the one to offer yours.
"You were always prepared to sacrifice yourself for Him at a mont's notice, weren't you?
"You'd already resolved to die before you even ca here, hadn't you?
"Since that's the case — since death was inevitable either way — then dying beneath this Startled Bow is, at least, an offering of your last shred of devotion to a new Order.
"I won't forget you. The new Order won't forget you. And the world certainly won't forget you."
With that, Keinlaur picked up the refined iron arrowhead that had fallen onto the mudflat, gripped the great bow, and slowly faded from Cheng Shi's view.
And the mont the Supre Inquisitor's silhouette dissolved, Cheng Shi's expression hardened, cold sweat erupting down his back in an instant.
'Don't forget — this is only an enlightennt from mory. If the vessel of this mory has vanished, then why is the observer still here?'
'Who kept
behind?'
Facing this scene, this tree, this sea — the answer seed self-evident.
Cheng Shi was terrified. Seeing that he hadn't been teleported out, he tried stepping backward, hoping to "go back the way he ca" — at the very least, to leave the Mother Tree of Fear's line of sight and stop her from intensifying his terror.
But just as Cheng Shi lifted his foot to retreat...
"Hummm—"
A strange radiance cascaded down from the Mother Tree of Fear's canopy, rging irresistibly into Cheng Shi's body. The next second, the ever-cautious Clown lost... all of his fear.
Cheng Shi suddenly stopped. He raised his head, staring directly at the heaven-piercing colossus before him, and the first words out of his mouth were:
"Le Le'er, are you dying?"
The mont he spoke, the countless terror demons dangling from the branches opened their crimson eyes in unison, swiveling to look at him. But Cheng Shi paid them no mind — he even furrowed his brow in disgust and added:
"Your children are hideous. If you have sothing to say to , make them leave.
"I'm about to have a trypophobia attack... No, wait — why call it a phobia? I don't feel any fear. I just feel disgusted."
"..."
After hearing Cheng Shi's words, Le Le'er showed no anger whatsoever. She rely swayed her withered branches and uttered the first words a mortal had heard from her since she'd plunged into the Sea of Desire.
"Garuda — is that you?"
"..."
Cheng Shi froze.
She'd still sensed her own divinity — but she believed it was still on Garuda.
'Except our dear Garuda was already devoured by your mother. And now you suddenly rember him?'
'Isn't it a bit late for that?'
Cheng Shi had no idea why he'd lost all sense of fear — or rather, he hadn't even realized his fear was gone. He simply felt there was no danger here whatsoever, which was why he dared to run his mouth so recklessly.
"Sorry, there's no Garuda here. The dagger in which you two were buried together has been dismantled.
"That Lord said the two of you weren't a good match. Our Garuda was too upright — he deserves an innocent girl.
"As for you... forget it. Just stop looking. Spare a couple of families the heartache."
The colossal Mother Tree of Fear showed no emotional shift at any of his words — except when she heard the word "buried together," a faint aura of sorrow drifted from her.
"He died..."
"That's right. While you were gulping down fear and partying in the Sea of Desire, he was treated by your mother, the Prosperity Mother, as compensation for your rebellion — and devoured.
"You should understand your mother well enough. Otherwise you wouldn't have been born fearless."
...
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