Chapter 203: Awakening (Part 2)

  In the dungeon, Drow slowly regained consciousness. Her entire body was soaked in the cold sweat from just moments before, and even her hair was drenched.

  In fact, to be precise, she hadn't awakened, because she had been conscious all along; it was just that all her awareness had been completely overwhelmed by the unimaginable pain. In her mind, there was nothing but pain. It was as if a thousand small blades, quenched in fire and soaked in poison, were gouging into her flesh, scraping against her bones, stretching her nerves and sinews taut until they thrummed. But this sensory overload, which had long surpassed the limits of nerve and consciousness, somehow couldn't make her faint. It was like a man whose throat was forced open and poured with countless red-hot coals, yet was forced to endure and digest them all.

  Although her fingers were broken, the damage wasn't actually very severe, and under the effect of white magic, it didn't hurt much now. It was just that under the effect of those spells, the pain, amplified a hundred times, had caused her to completely lose self-control. Jessica had to admit that compared to these highly sophisticated techniques, the bloody methods of interrogation she knew of were truly child's play. She couldn't imagine that anyone could remain unyielding in a situation that transcended limits yet prevented unconsciousness.

  If she could have surrendered, she would have long ago. But unfortunately, the purpose of the one torturing her was not focused on her.

  On the ground, the man who had made her suffer so much was now lying flat on his back, his face serene.

  "This bastard. He's made me suffer terribly." Jessica gave Ethan a fierce kick.

  Ethan on the ground showed no reaction, merely trembling slightly from Drow's kick. Jessica quickly extended her still-intact hand, pressing it against his neck to check. But Jessica immediately cried out and pulled her hand back, feeling as if she had touched a red-hot branding iron.

  Just as she was wondering if this was an illusion or a lingering effect from the previous magic, Jessica noticed that Ethan's clothes seemed to be slowly changing. The cotton clothes were actually beginning to slowly deform and scorch, then flake off his body.

  Before Jessica could understand what was happening, she discovered that the temperature in the cell had unknowingly risen considerably, and the center of this heat was right here. Ethan, lying on the ground, seemed to have become a piece of burning charcoal, baking the entire basement. She carefully extended her hand to his nostrils and indeed felt his breath, although the airflow he exhaled was now similar to that overflowing from a blast furnace.

  But Ethan himself was unaware of all this; he now only felt a slightly scorching warmth.

  If he wanted to escape his current predicament, he knew the only hope was to use the meditation technique. But once he fully activated it, he unknowingly and completely immersed himself in this unprecedented experience. Because his current state of mind and mood were also unprecedented.

  The human heart and human emotions are truly wondrous things. You may have long possessed certain things, and you may have long understood certain principles. But you must go through enough, and strong enough, emotions to enrich your heart before you can truly become one with what you know and possess. The power tempered by emotion is the source of motivation for a mature person.

  Ethan's current mood was still one of sorrow, helplessness, pain, and regret. But these emotions were no longer boiling and searing in his mind and chest as they were at the beginning. After he had completely accepted them, they slowly cooled down, settled, and sank to the deepest depths of his emotions. When a person's emotions are deeper, they can carry more things, because only then can they face more things with equanimity.

  For the first time, Ethan was able to operate the meditation technique to this extent. He could now feel not just his physical body, but also his spirit, emotions, and heart. These were not separate from the body; one could even say they were the deeper, more fundamental aspects of the body. Every bit of sorrow, anger, joy. The most subtle emotions were integrated with his muscles and nerves. This was the fusion of heart and flesh, the blending of spirit and emotion.

  He didn't know if it was welling up from the depths of his spiritual consciousness or radiating from every cell in his body. Ethan could see a warm, golden light gradually enveloping him, then slowly re-penetrating into his body and soul.

  He had felt this light a long time ago and knew it should be something latent within his body, but he had never felt it again until now. It seemed that his spirit had finally reached a certain turning point, and with the help of the meditation technique, he finally saw it again, and this time, completely captured it. He only felt a warmth. This warmth was not gentle, not the safe and tender warmth of being immersed in amniotic fluid in a mother's womb, but rather somewhat scorching and dry, like the blazing sun in the wilderness. Although a bit rough, it was filled with power.

  At the same time, a vibrant stirring emanated from his chest. Although he could not see it with his eyes, he could 'see' with his feeling an extremely tiny seedling sprouting and growing in his own chest. The life force brought by this seedling complemented the power of the golden light, slowly filling every corner of his body and soul.

  In the cell, a naked Jessica had retreated to the furthest corner, watching Ethan on the ground with a mixture of terror and concern. She had taken off her clothes, wringing all the sweat from her body onto Ethan. She had even tried to press herself against him to dissipate the terrifying temperature, but the result was that she nearly scorched the skin off her own body.

  Everything on Ethan's body that could burn had turned to ash. The entire basement had been turned into an oven by the temperature radiating from his body. But he himself seemed to have not the slightest discomfort; on the contrary, his face became more and more peaceful and serene.

  Finally, his body emitted a dazzling light.

  In the dungeon beneath the Grand Cathedral, Bishop Javi, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. His gaze was fixed on a wall at the deepest part of the dungeon.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Just now, the sensation he had been desperately seeking through meditation suddenly appeared. The look in his eyes as he stared at the wall was one of incredulous delight: "So it is here..."

  In the Grand Cathedral, Marquis had just forced his way past the guards outside and burst into the cathedral, making a beeline for the underground entrance revealed after the idol was moved.

  "Inham?" Great Priest Ryan, seeing the situation, stepped forward to block Marquis's path. "The Bishop has ordered that no one is allowed to enter here. When did you return?"

  At this moment, Marquis's face no longer had its usual calm and composure. His handsome and refined features had been twisted by anxiety into a look of killing intent and ferocity. His figure flickered as he tried to dodge the Great Priest's obstruction: "Get out of the way, quickly."

  Great Priest Ryan moved with him, still blocking his path. Although he was a priest of the Magic Academy, even in terms of physical skill alone, Ryan was no less than a squad captain in the Paladin Order. He was recognized as the number one person in the Magic Academy after Bishop Ronis, otherwise he would not have been appointed to temporarily manage it. But now he felt incredibly surprised, because with his skill, he had almost failed to block this fellow who usually seemed as harmless as a chick, and had to use his full strength to just manage to block the tunnel entrance, shouting: "What are you doing? This is the Magic Academy, and this is the Bishop's order."

  But Marquis pushed him aside with one hand and said swiftly: "I am acting on the orders of His Majesty the Pope. I have an extremely urgent matter to tell Bishop Javi. You go out and stop the others."

  "Eh? His Majesty the Pope..." Great Priest Ryan was stunned for only a moment. Marquis had already rushed into the tunnel entrance and disappeared. He considered the situation for a moment, then could only sigh and walk quickly towards the entrance of the Grand Cathedral. Although Marquis's words were somewhat hard to believe, they were not entirely impossible. And he had been uncertain about the future of the Magic Academy lately. If Celeste really did regain control of the Magic Academy, then he himself...

  In the dungeon, Bishop Javi was carefully stroking the cold wall of the cell.

  The wall was covered with damp moss, but Bishop Javi's expression was one of both amazement and satisfaction: "To think so many mechanisms were set up. It seems they even invited a grand mage specializing in illusions to arrange a permanent, sustained mirror magic outside. No wonder I didn't notice anything last time... But this time, I've definitely found the right place."

  He took two steps back, drew his longsword, and chanted a prayer in a low voice, casting all the auxiliary white magic he could on himself. At the same time, Battle Qi surged through his body. Although the mechanism was ingenious, it could be dealt with by direct destruction.

  Just as he raised his sword, gathering his strength to strike, a sharp shout came from behind him: "Stop."

  Bishop Javi turned his head to see who it was, his expression a strange mix of surprise and bewilderment as he asked: "You? What are you doing here?"

  "Of course, to stop you from doing something stupid." Marquis snorted. "Do you know what you're doing?"

  "Of course I know. I'm retrieving something that originally belonged to Diya Valley. What's wrong with that?"

  "It was Vedenina who told you about this, wasn't it? I can't believe she would instigate you to find this thing. She's just using you. Don't you understand?"

  "Who isn't using who? My teacher taught me the complete Meditations on Truth and all her life's knowledge of magic, allowing my strength to progress by leaps and bounds. In return, I promised to help her with some things on the outside. It's a fair deal."

  "You think you can play games with her with your little mind? She told you this thing exists because she was certain you wouldn't be able to resist taking it. She taught you the complete Meditations on Truth just to make you think you had a chance... I don't want to go into details now. In short, stop. You absolutely cannot touch this thing."

  Bishop Javi snorted coldly: "Strange. As a member of Diya Valley, a Necromancer inheriting the will of the great Archibald, retrieving this item for the great The Black Star is my bounden duty. You, as the Acting Guild Master, want to stop me instead?"

  "Who dares say they can truly understand Lord Archibald's prophecy? Everyone interprets it according to their own will. You are just being driven by your own desires." Marquis shouted sternly: "In any case, I forbid you from touching this thing."

  "Forbid? As the Acting Guild Master, you have no right to forbid it. You know what this thing is. As a Necromancer, not actively taking it back is already the limit. Are you trying to change a guild rule that has lasted for five hundred years?" Bishop Javi no longer looked at Marquis, but raised his longsword and slashed at the wall from a distance. A peerlessly sharp beam of light extended from his blade the instant he struck, hitting the stone wall.

  With a dull rumble, the entire dungeon shook. But after the stone chips flew, only a shallow mark appeared on the opposite stone wall, barely visible if one didn't look closely. And just as that sword light struck the stone wall, countless faint magic symbols could be seen flashing around it.

  Bishop Javi looked in surprise at the faint mark on the wall. He knew how much power was in his strike; even if it were a small hill of granite, this strike could have shattered it. But the magic runes that appeared on the wall for an instant made him even more certain that he had come to the right place. "To think it's a mixed guardian barrier of the highest-level sealing art of white magic and the Chaos Suppression of black magic, and most of the barrier's power is meant to suppress the thing inside... This must have been built jointly by Sandro and Ronis. It's now certain that thing is behind here."

  "I said stop, can't you hear me?" Marquis's voice turned cold, and as sharp and chilling as a blade. The aura emanating from him also turned equally cold and sharp.

  This voice and presence also made Bishop Javi stop his movements abruptly. He slowly turned to look at Marquis, his expression and voice also turning cold: "By what right do you ask me to stop?"

  Marquis did not answer, just looking at Bishop Javi with that cold gaze.

  "By what right? By your status as the Acting Guild Master?" Bishop Javi's voice took on a somewhat mocking tone. "Or perhaps, because you're my father?"

  "Regardless of which it is, you just need to know that you must stop." Marquis replied flatly.

  "And if I don't stop?" Bishop Javi said flatly.

  "Then I will make you stop." Marquis's voice was still cold. Although this sentence seemed no different from the previous ones, the implied stress on certain words still conveyed his meaning.

  After a long silence, Bishop Javi gave a strange smile, sheathed his longsword, and said: "Fine. I understand. I'll stop this time. Because I know if you really were to make me stop, I would truly have no choice but to stop. But in the future, when I have the opportunity and the ability, I will definitely come back."

  "I'm doing this for your own good. Don't you know? I am your father. Would I harm you?" Marquis frowned, his voice carrying a sternness he had never shown before.

  "I'm sorry. To be honest, I've always felt as if I didn't have a father," Bishop Javi said suddenly.

  Marquis was taken aback, and his perpetually tense expression dimmed somewhat.

  After a long silence, Bishop Javi turned his body, and with his back to Marquis, began to speak slowly: "Do you know? From the time I became sensible, I always resented why I didn't have a more capable, or at least a more respectable, father. No one even knows who my mother is. Everyone knows that my father has countless sons and daughters across the continent, but he specifically brought only me back to the family and announced that I was his only son... I don't know if others see this as good fortune. But at least for me, I would rather not have it. Otherwise, at least I could have lived a more peaceful life. He threw me into a world full of dreams and desires, but only gave me an identity that was scorned and rejected by others. From the time I could understand things, I lived amidst the ridicule and disdain of the family members, so I desperately sought opportunities to climb up. I wanted to reach a pinnacle where I could look down on everything, including this father..."

  Marquis listened silently, his face expressionless.

  "But then one day, when I was in utter despair, thinking I was beyond redemption, this father suddenly appeared before me again, shattering all my previous concepts. It turned out this father was so profound, unfathomable, and incredibly powerful. All my efforts, struggles, and life goals seemed as ridiculous as a puppet show before him. Then I followed the path this father gave me. This path was higher, brighter, and could lead directly to the top of the world I had never dared to dream of before... This person I called my father went from a dispensable shadow to the sky that hung over my head. But I didn't feel the slightest bit happy. I felt like I was a puppet. He first watched me from on high, observing me perform one ridiculous puppet show after another, and now he's come to control me, making me walk on the path he has already completely designed for me... I want to walk my own path, but he has blocked me. I understand that this time it's only because my own strength is not enough..."

  "I'm sorry." Marquis suddenly spoke. His eyes, looking at Javi's back, were now filled with a faint sorrow and melancholy.

  "There's no need to say that. We've always done our own things, haven't we? If you're so polite, I'll feel embarrassed." Javi did not turn around, just replied flatly.

  After a moment of silence, Marquis sighed deeply and nodded in reply: "I understand... I won't interfere with you anymore in the future. But before that, there are a few things that must be done. First is to kill that kid..."

  "No, I have already promised Teacher Vedenina that I will spare that kid's life. I will send him to Celeste. The Pope probably won't kill him, but will at least imprison him. As long as he doesn't get out and cause trouble, that should be fine."

  "Don't you understand what Vedenina is using you for?" Marquis said urgently.

  At this moment, a series of hurried footsteps came down the passageway, along with Great Priest Ryan's voice: "Your Grace, are you alright?"