[Vol. 6] Chapter 102: No Fall, No Hate, Only Love for You
“Greed, Fear, Fall, Hatred, Love, Malice, Desire… hmm, if there are seven trials in total, the next one should correspond to [Fall], right? I wonder what will appear… Though I have to say, these trials are quite interestingly designed. I’m curious about the underlying chanism.”
After all, everyone’s experiences and thoughts differ. What they desire, fear, or admire can vary greatly. If the trials were simply designed as seven fixed stages, their effectiveness would surely be diminished.
However, the previous two trials were different. While Violet wasn’t particularly greedy for wealth, she wasn’t completely free of desires either. Compared to other random distractions, tangible riches did have so appeal to her.
The trial of [Fall] followed a similar pattern. As a priestess, Violet was always highly sensitive to gazes cast her way from unknown sources, and she cared more than most about the unknown.
It could be called prudence, or bluntly, cowardice.
So, the environnt of that trial was effectively tailor-made to target her vulnerabilities.
Still, soone like her had strengths that far, far outweighed her weaknesses.
It was only a hypothesis, but these trials seed likely to adapt dynamically to different individuals. Such a chanism wouldn’t be easy to implent. It might even involve powers tied to the very laws of existence.
As these thoughts ran through Violet’s mind, a new scene began to take shape around her.
“Huh? What’s this now?”
In the vast, boundless darkness, an expanse as silent as the void of space. Violet spotted a pulsating black light, slowly contracting and expanding, like a beating heart.
Black light might sound contradictory, but this was no ordinary darkness. It was an extraordinary phenonon, akin to the bizarre descriptions like a “rainbow-hued black” or a “colorful white.” Sothing that shouldn’t exist, yet undeniably did.
At this mont, it was the only thing Violet could see within her field of vision.
But before she could approach and examine it more closely, the light suddenly erupted!
It expanded like a cavernous maw, swallowing everything in its path!
“Ah!”
The surroundings blurred again, and when things beca clear, Violet found herself in an entirely new scene.
“…What is this ss?”
She muttered in confusion, but deep down, she had a vague realization.
It seed she had either passed or sohow skipped the third trial, [Fall]. She wasn’t sure why, but what lay before her now was likely the fourth trial, [Hatred].
The reasoning was straightforward.
Violet didn’t really harbor [Hatred] in her heart. There was no one in this world who could provoke her emotions to the level of hatred. She wasn’t soone who blad others for her problems. If she had a grievance, she would deal with it imdiately, and if sothing bothered her, she wouldn’t hesitate to rip it apart. No delays, no lingering grudges.
There was, however, one exception.
At this mont, Violet was sure these trials were custom-tailored to each individual, shaped by their inner emotions and past experiences. They even seed to draw from fragnts of the person’s mories. Otherwise, this particular scene wouldn’t have appeared.
“Beep… beep… beep…”
In a brightly lit room, dominated by white walls, the rhythmic ticking of machines and monitors filled the air. Violet stood by a bed, looking at the peacefully sleeping infant swaddled in soft blankets.
“……”
Sensing sothing, she turned her head toward the doorway, labeled [Hospital Room]. There, two figures stood, a man and a woman.
They were shadowy, indistinct shapes with their backs to her, making it impossible to see their faces. And yet, this scene was all too familiar to Violet.
“Wah! Wahhh!”
Suddenly, the newborn on the bed began to cry loudly.
The two figures outside the door hesitated, glancing back briefly. Their movents spoke of reluctance, perhaps even regret. But after a mont, they opened the door to the room.
With a soft *click*, the door locked behind them, and they walked away, leaving without looking back.
“Ah… Hatred, is it? Yes, this is indeed hatred.”
The infant on the bed was “Violet”. Violet before she beca who she is now.
And the man and woman? They were her parents, the ones she had never t since the mont of her birth.
In her past life, or on the planet she once called “Earth”, Violet had been an orphan.
From the mont she could rember, her parents had already vanished. Violet didn’t know who they were, nor did she even know much about herself. According to the records she could access, she had grown up in the care of hospitals and orphanages.
Her body had been afflicted with a congenital illness, a strange condition that prevented her from living like a normal person. She couldn’t freely roam the outside world and was confined to hospital rooms and the orphanage, like a bird trapped in a cage.
Although kind-hearted benefactors had supported her, ensuring she had food, clothing, and even access to cutting-edge experiences like [Illusory World], a revolutionary virtual reality ga…
It could never fill the void of her yearning for freedom.
That’s why Violet loved adventure and despised being bound to one place or city.
And that’s why she had once hated the parents who abandoned her without reason.
This scene wasn’t real. It was a manifestation of the countless tis, in her heart or her dreams, that she had imagined, cried, and resented.
Her parents were the only ones she had ever hated, even though she knew nothing about them. Not their nas, not their reasons, not even if they were still alive.
Perhaps this was the greatest demon in her heart.
“But… I am no longer that person.”
Violet lifted her head, her silver-blue eyes as calm and clear as a still mirror.
“The of now is Violet. This is the real world, a new life, and I have no complaints. Since that’s the case, why cling to the past and let it drag down? What’s done is done… it’s ti to let it go.”
She raised her hand and gently waved it. The scene before her rippled like the surface of a lake stirred by the wind. The vision dissolved, fading into nothingness.
[Where the wrecked boat lies, a thousand sails pass. Where the sickly tree stands, ten thousand trees bloom.]
The trial of [Hatred] was now behind her.
The scene before her shifted and reford again. By now, the girl had grown accustod to these sudden changes. She casually placed her hands behind her back and waited calmly, her posture relaxed and unbothered.
Next would be [Love], wouldn’t it?
To be honest, even Violet herself had no idea what kind of challenge this trial could throw at her. The idea of a [Heart Demon] related to love felt utterly foreign and distant. Almost laughably so.
Soon, the new scene began to take shape.
She found herself inside a tranquil castle or perhaps a luxurious high-rise villa.
The familiar glow of the crescent moon bathed the night sky, its soft light streaming in through the windows. Violet was draped in a delicate silver robe, and the trees outside, ticulously pruned, rustled gently in the breeze. Everything about the scene exuded peace and beauty.
It didn’t take long for Violet to recognize where she was.
Hmm… In a way, this could barely count as a sort of “half-ho” for her in this world.
This was Angel City, the holy capital of the Holy Empire. The villa had been purchased and renovated by Edwina in her personal na before being transferred to Violet’s na.
It was the only “property” that the priestess could truly claim ownership of in this world.
As Violet quietly reflected, she considered how the trials seed to recreate scenes based on fragnts of a person’s mories, altering them slightly to fit the narrative. Given this context, since the setting was the Holy Empire, there was no logical reason for anyone from the Holy Empire’s side to appear here. So then…
Suddenly, a voice she hadn’t heard in a long ti rippled through the night air like a gentle breeze.
“Master~”
Violet blinked in surprise and shifted her gaze from the window to the source of the voice.
The figure that greeted her was both familiar and unexpected.
It was a girl with shimring golden hair cascading down her back, a pair of adorable dragon horns adorning her head. Her wild yet practical outfit, a crop top and shorts fashioned from scales, revealed her untad nature.
She stood barefoot on the floor, and behind her, a platinum tail swayed gracefully, curling and uncurling with effortless elegance.
“…Xiao Guang?”
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