Hero? Are You Worthy?
Chapter 118 - 94: The Fall of the Divine (Please Vote for Recommendation and Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 118: Chapter 94: The Fall of the Divine (Please Vote for Recommendation and Monthly Tickets)

This is the Witch’s invitation.

Shaye’s little head shook like a rattle-drum, hoping Qin Chu would decisively reject it.

But Qin Chu merely smiled and said to Violet, "It would be my honor!"

Violet also smiled gently, leading Qin Chu and the others towards the Witch’s castle... or gliding? Throughout the process, her jade foot never touched the yellow sand on the ground; instead, it was Qin Chu and Catherine who left four clear sets of footprints in the dust.

The sand was soft, and one couldn’t hear footsteps upon it.

Unable to resist, Shaye opened her mouth and bit down on Qin Chu’s ear.

Well, Shaye was currently in spirit form anyway, so it didn’t hurt—it just felt a bit itchy, which was really strange.

"Why did you agree to her? She is the Storm Witch, have you forgotten what I told you before?" Shaye was unhappy.

Qin Chu gave a wry smile, "Please, could I really have refused?"

Some things truly couldn’t be refused, unless one wanted to start a fight with the Storm Witch right here and now.

Qin Chu naturally had his own plans. Violet didn’t seem to harbor much malice, and he didn’t want to completely fall out with her. Moreover, he was very interested in the soul fragments of the First Generation Brave.

With that in mind, what harm was there in following the Witch for a little while?

Nine tornadoes still ravaged the desert. Violet, walking in the front, waved her hand gently, and the ferocious tornadoes obediently parted to each side, leaving a passable path open.

They passed by piles of bones, which looked even more weird up close.

Among the scattered bones, there were even some pieces of armor.

These armors hadn’t decayed with the passage of time; they still shone brilliantly.

Catherine’s eyes suddenly twinkled, as if she had discovered something within the armors, and she quietly tugged at Qin Chu’s sleeve.

Following the direction of Catherine’s pointing finger, Qin Chu’s pupils also narrowed slightly.

Despite some subtle differences, the resemblance was too high, most importantly, one could even see the unique emblem of the Holy Knight Order upon the armors.

Could it be that the human remains in this desert maelstrom, their true identity was that of the knights of the Holy Knight Order?

What exactly had transpired here, a long, long time ago?

Could it be that the Holy Court was on a crusade against the Witch?

Impossible.

Based on Qin Chu’s understanding of the Holy Court, they would be too lazy to crusade against a Witch unless there were sufficient benefits.

After a long time, they finally crossed the small desert, and the Witch’s castle loomed before them.

Up close, the so-called castle was actually a church.

Majestic and imposing, one could see from the surviving marks that it once was a place of bustling faith, now in ruins and disrepair.

Pels of walls had collapsed from violent impacts while the once burned and now charred ruins of buildings hinted at either blood or some other substance that, after a long period of time, turned a dark red...

Being here felt like standing on a battlefield a thousand years ago.

The sounds of slaughter, screams of agony, the clashing of weapons, the gasps of the dying seemed to still echo by one’s ear.

The sacred church now only emanated weirdness and gloom.

"Sorry, my place is a bit rundown," apologized Violet, seemingly embarrassed at not having a more elegant and noble hall to entertain her guests.

The place was quite dim, and because of the covering above, the interior of the church was even more gloomy.

In the hall, one could see a long table laid with various utensils and scrolls, next to it were chairs, and a large candle burned halfway gave off a flickering dim yellow flame. Under the unstable light, the objects on the table seemed as if they could move in a weird way.

"Please, take a seat," she said.

With his gaze scanning the surroundings, Qin Chu pulled back a chair and sat down. Although it looked dilapidated, the table and chairs were clean and tidy.

In the depths of the church, there was a Divine Statue.

But the head of the statue had been blasted off, and only half a body remained, appearing rather pitiable.

Qin Chu pondered to himself that it was more like a god war born out of faith than a crusade against the Witch. It seemed like the Holy Court had left many corpses but had ultimately won the victory.

The deity worshiped here, on the other hand, had lost all faith.

Wars over conflicting beliefs were probably the most common, right?

Antia and Catherine sat silently on both sides of Qin Chu, neither of them speaking. However, it was clear that the weird atmosphere had a strong affect on both of them.

Only Shaye frowned deeply. While she was quite old, she was nowhere near as ancient as the Storm Witch; what exactly happened a thousand years ago was not very clear to Shaye.

However, the actions of the Storm Witch were indeed different from those Witches Shaye had encountered before.

She had killed four Witches—the Time Witch, the Greed Witch, the Strong Desire Witch, and the Fury Witch. She did not actively go out to kill them, but upon encountering them, and even before she could greet them, they would launch an attack.

But the Storm Witch was clearly different.

It didn’t take long before Violet’s figure approached from behind, her slender fingers holding a tray with several cups of tea. Dried cactus flowers, specially processed, floated on the water’s surface, emitting a faint fragrance.

Violet placed the tea cups in front of everyone, two in front of Qin Chu, as the Witch Shaye leaned on Qin Chu’s head.

"Sorry, there isn’t anything particularly good here to entertain guests with," said Violet with a hint of apology.

"Miss Witch jests. To enter the Witch’s House is an enormous honor in itself; how could I dare ask for more?" Qin Chu said with a slight smile.

He picked up his teacup and gently took a sip, showing enough trust in Violet.

Violet nodded slightly, pleased with Qin Chu’s demeanor.

With the Holy Sense within him, even if the tea was poisoned, Qin Chu feared nothing.

Violet also took a sip before setting the cup down, her gaze turned toward Qin Chu but her eyes drifted to Shaye above his head.

Shaye could hardly contain herself. Maintaining her pose with her arms around Qin Chu’s neck and her chin on top of his head, she asked Violet, "Storm Witch, why haven’t you attacked me?"

This was Shaye’s biggest question.

Violet, somewhat surprised, counter-asked, "Why should I attack you?"

With that, Shaye didn’t know how to respond, since in her recollection, witches were such that they could hardly look at each other without wanting to fight within three seconds of meeting.

Violet seemed to understand Shaye’s confusion and laughed somewhat desolately, "How much do you know about witches?"

Qin Chu pondered for a moment, "Not too much."

"Witches are masters of magic, Magic Arrays, Magic Potions, and are powerful, but they are often eccentric and bloodthirsty?"

Qin Chu voiced his own impression of witches and was promptly bitten by Shaye.

Clearly, Shaye was quite dissatisfied with Qin Chu’s description of her as eccentric and bloodthirsty.

She was nothing like that sort of witch. In fact, whether during the first week or now, she hadn’t really done too much evil, except for stealing a few Super Order Magic Spells from the Holy Court’s secret archives, and the gem from the Pope’s crown... Indeed, the gem on Augustus’s crown was actually a fake.

And she had stolen the Holy Bone Relics, considered sacred by the Earth Mother Goddess Church, ground them into powder for concocting Magic Potions, severely injured the Pope from two generations before when confronted and he died not long after returning, caused the Holy Daughter from two hundred years ago to become reclusive after beating her, eradicated a few thousand knights set on eradicating witches and then crafted their souls and corpses into Evil Spirits and Walking Corpses, used Demons as experimental subjects for transformation, and caused a little trouble for human armies...

Actually, she hadn’t really done anything that terrible, right?

So, calling her eccentric and bloodthirsty, wasn’t that a bit too much?

Violet did not feel offended and glanced at Shaye, "I actually admire you quite a lot..."

"Every witch has their own Divine Entity they worship, from which they receive their Authority..."

"These Authorities are far more powerful than ordinary powers, and a witch can derive near invincible Strength from them, and almost every witch does."

This was another bombshell: witches’ powers are bestowed by Divine Entities, so why does the Church Court consider witches heretics? Could it be that the witches actually worship Evil Gods?

"But acquiring these powers is not without cost; the knowledge of Gods is not something ordinary people can handle. Witches, with the knowledge of Gods, gain immense Strength, and this increase in power makes witches overlook other risks."

"Their minds and souls are eroded unconsciously, although the Divine Entities that bestowed these Authorities might not have any malicious intent."

"The stronger the power one has, the more severe the erosion becomes, until at last, a witch turns into..."

"A madwoman!"

Qin Chu felt a shiver run through his scalp.

Witches and madwomen.

Is this the price of power?

"The stories of witches being eccentric and bloodthirsty stem from this fact. They were normal at first, but as the erosion deepens, their personalities become more and more peculiar, more and more cruel."

"The reason witches attack each other on sight is also due to this. They feel the similar power in one another and want to devour each other."

"Devour?" Qin Chu arched his eyebrows.

Violet simply answered, "Literally."

Thinking of such scenarios, Qin Chu shuddered.

"Witches are lucky, for they have been chosen by Divine Entities to gain great power."

"Yet, witches are also pitiable, for they will ultimately be consumed by these powers, losing themselves."

"The power of Gods is the seed of hope as well as the root of despair."

The howling wind outside the hall seemed to grow fiercer, making a woeful sound.

The dilapidated windows rattled loudly in the fierce wind.

Qin Chu took a deep breath, calming the turmoil inside him as he tried to keep his tone level, "Then, Miss Violet, which Divine Entity do you worship?"

Violet looked towards the broken Divine Statue behind her with a gaze that was reverent yet complicated.

"The Lord of Storm!"

"A Divine Entity that has long since fallen!"

Qin Chu felt as if struck by lightning, his eyes trembling as though shaken by an earthquake.

Even Compulsory Calmness could not quell the emotions rising within him now.

The Lord of Storm had already fallen? Then... who is being worshiped inside the Holy Court?