Hero? Are You Worthy?
Chapter 434 - 286: A Hair on the Divine’s Right Hand (3)

Chapter 434: Chapter 286: A Hair on the Divine’s Right Hand (3)

The passageways leading to the underground chamber were covered with dense layers of prohibitions, with at least a hundred in total.

Each prohibition and trap was lethal enough to kill.

Even Wozworth had to tread carefully when he wanted to pass through this tunnel.

It was unknown how much time had passed when Wozworth finally arrived at the deepest part of the underground, a vast area akin to a massive plain that spanned the entire Imperial Palace, and perhaps even the Imperial City.

So many people lived above the Oville Empire Imperial City, who could guess that the ground beneath their feet was actually hollow?

In the middle of this underground space was a huge, semi-transparent barrier.

That was the last of the prohibitions. This one didn’t have much lethal power; it purely served to isolate the overwhelming aura emanating from the gigantic entity within.

Were it not for the barrier’s seal, the mere aura this thing emitted could turn into a tempest, reducing the entire Imperial City to dust.

Whilst Wozworth had seen this object before, the oppressive force that hit him upon seeing it again still made a profound impression.

Thump... thump...

He could even feel the violent beating of his own heart in his chest, caused by fear and shock.

It was a huge arm... A right hand!

It was said to be a remnant of a god.

Wozworth’s body was tall and robust, but before this colossal relic, he was smaller than even one of its fingernails, hinting at the sheer scale of the arm.

A thousand years ago, this right arm suddenly fell onto the Oville Empire’s Imperial City, piercing straight through the earth.

A large portion of the Imperial City was destroyed, countless nobles and civilians died or were injured, and it was said to have had the destructive power of a meteorite.

The ancestors of the Abshen family sealed off the location where the arm fell and built the current Imperial Palace right on top of it.

Furthermore, they silenced everyone who knew of the arm, turning it into a secret held only within the Abshen family.

They could sense the boundless energy contained within the arm, and they believed that if they could harness the energy within the arm, they would become invincible.

And that’s not to mention just on the Sky Dome Continent.

Even becoming a deity high above in the heavens didn’t seem out of reach.

This secret was passed down from generation to generation, only to be known by the Emperors of the Empire.

In the thousand years that followed, the Oville Empire saw dozens of emperors, nearly all of whom were of extraordinary talent, whose gifts and strengths were among the best on Sky Dome Continent.

To absorb and utilize the energy from the arm, they conducted countless studies on it.

But the results were ultimately tragic.

More than ten emperors lost control of their own consciousness and went completely mad while attempting to absorb the arm’s energy.

Three emperors perished due to their inability to withstand the overwhelming explosion of energy.

There were even two unfortunate souls who died in the traps on the way to this arm...

After becoming emperor, Wozworth began to examine the research results left by his ancestors.

He originally did not plan to contact the arm so soon. Even from behind the prohibition, he could feel a pressure like a tsunami surging from the arm... but now, Wozworth could no longer wait.

The Hero had displayed an absolutely formidable strength and a rate of progress so alarming it drove people to despair.

There were too many secrets hidden in this Hero; Wozworth could sense that once all the Demons were eradicated, this Hero would become his greatest enemy.

By then, his own strength would probably be less significant than an ant in front of the Hero.

```

He wanted to make himself stronger.

Taking a deep breath, Wozworth pressed down the violently throbbing heart and waved his hand to disperse the prohibition in front of him.

Hum...

An intense pressure hit him in the face.

Wozworth’s legs gave way, and he knelt directly on the ground.

He could be said to stand at the pinnacle of humanity, but at this moment, even Wozworth could not bear such pressure, far less than that of the Demon King Nage of the Demon King Palace.

Pain covered his face, the fluctuating breath prickling Wozworth’s eyes like steel needles, as blood continuously rolled down from the corners of his eyes.

In his blurred vision, he seemed to see the arm come to life.

Even after a thousand years, that arm showed no signs of decay.

Hairs on the arm fluttered as though they were still alive.

It was as if the arm could break through the layers of prohibitions at any moment, shoot straight to the heavens, and bring destruction to the Sky Dome Continent.

His body half lying down, Wozworth let out a roar, clenched his fists tightly, and propped up his own body.

He exerted all his strength in an attempt to rise from the ground, but the heavy pressure weighed down on his back, preventing any movement, and his head kept lowering, almost touching the cold stone plate.

Crack...

Under the invisible pressure, the floor beneath his knees cracked.

He did not want to submit under this pressure and still wished to proudly raise his head.

He was even making a great effort to move his knees, inching closer to the Divine’s Right Hand.

Thud... Thud... Thud...

Each time his fists and knees contacted the floor, a dull sound could be heard.

With each bit closer, the pressure crazily increased.

Finally, he approached.

He reached out his right hand greedily, with fingers trembling uncontrollably.

Crack, crack...

Unable to withstand the impact from the Divine’s Right Hand, Wozworth’s finger bones snapped, one after another, with a crisp sound.

But Wozworth showed astonishing willpower; he seemed unaware of the pain in his body, desperately stretching his arms, and emitting roars like a wild beast from his throat.

Finally... he touched it.

He grabbed a long, finger-thick hair and exerted all the strength in his body.

Pop—the hair snapped off.

Then, Wozworth began to retreat.

He did not aspire to study the entire Divine’s Right Hand; even just a single hair, with the energy and knowledge it contained, might suffice for a lifetime of study.

After he moved a certain distance away, Wozworth reactivated the prohibitions.

The pressure that assaulted him dropped instantly.

At that moment, Wozworth could no longer hold on and opened his mouth to spew a large pool of blood clots right in front of him.

```

His entire body seemed to have completely lost strength, lying on the ground and greedily gasping for air.

Only then did Wozworth realize that his body was already drenched in blood.

Almost all the blood vessels throughout his body had burst under the immense pressure, and nearly all his bones had been shattered.

Was this the power of the Divine? Even before a mere broken arm, the existence of humanity still appeared as trifling as ants.

However, Wozworth’s eyes were filled with intense excitement; he looked down at the palm tightly clasping a single strand of hair, his face bearing a mad smile.

If only... if only he could absorb the Strength within this strand of hair... he would become the eternal ruler of the Sky Dome Continent.

...

On the other side!

The old chapel of the Earth Mother Goddess Sect.

The goddess hair confined the Evil Baby.

The Little Tree Seedling transformed into a towering tree that absorbed the Evil Baby as nourishment.

The Energy within the Evil Baby was too abundant, and it seemed it would take some time for the Little Tree Seedling to completely digest it.

Qin Chu slowly walked towards Mevis, who was still writhing on the ground.

This so-called Divine Mother was nearly unrecognizable from her original appearance; her entire body was charred black.

Yet she was still slowly wriggling her body, crawling toward the location of the Evil Baby.

"Give up," Qin Chu said with furrowed eyebrows and a sigh.

Mevis’s body trembled slightly as her empty eyes fixed on Qin Chu and she opened her mouth, her voice hoarse and dry as if metal scraping metal, "You’ve already killed Lance... and now you want to kill my child too."

"Why?"

"I just wanted a child, a home – that’s all."

"Why must even that hope be stripped away?"

Mevis was truly pitiful.

This was the fate of a woman from the Ice Duchy’s Royal Family.

For a thousand years, once chosen by the Empire, they had no choice but to marry a man they didn’t know, and live in a foreign land for a lifetime.

If they were lucky enough to meet a husband who treated them well, that was still considered fortunate.

Regrettably, though, every Emperor of the Oville Empire was wary of the Empresses from the Ice Duchy, granting them exalted status and generous treatment.

But they would never invest any emotion.

Even the social interactions of the Empresses were strictly limited, not allowing them to expand their influence.

Once the Prince was born, they would never again touch the exquisite Empress, forbidding her to have any more children.

The only end for these women was to live in isolation like widows and die alone.

To the Emperors of the Empire, those women from the Ice Duchy were merely tools for producing powerful offspring, nothing more.

Mevis’s voice was filled with sorrow and pain.

Qin Chu silently watched Mevis and after a long while, he slowly spoke,

"You are indeed pitiful, but what has that got to do with me?"

Truly, a heartless individual.

"That is not a reason for you to hurt Angelica."

"And besides, you have chosen the wrong object for your hatred. I have never provoked the Prince."

"The duel was something the Prince himself proposed."

"I did not force him to dabble in the power of the Evil God."

"Even the execution of the Prince was not my doing—it was Wozworth. Hence, there is no reason for you to hate me."

"The execution of the Prince was Wozworth’s doing, but don’t you really know who truly led the Prince to his death? It was the father of this second child of yours, he who eroded the Prince, turning your son into an irrational monster."

Mevis wanted to cry, yet no tears came out.

Out of loneliness and suffering, she indulged in Desire, devoutly worshipped the Divine beings of the Void, believing that these great entities would bring her salvation.

Yet now, the Hero was telling her that it was precisely those great entities that had killed her eldest son?

What, then, was the purpose of her years of indulgence and degradation? Her faith was collapsing.

"I made a promise to Antasia to give you a dignified death," Qin Chu continued.

"Antasia?"

Contemplating the name, Mevis appeared to smile after a long while, "I held her when she was little..."

"It seems Antasia has had better luck than me."

Qin Chu shook his head slightly, "No, it’s not that she’s luckier than you; she’s just stronger than you."

"Is that so..." Mevis suddenly let out a long sigh, her hollow gaze shifted towards the position of the Evil Baby, and after a long while, she closed her eyes.

Qin Chu knew that the time had come.

"One last question, who is the president of the Witch Association?"

"I don’t know!"

Without further questioning, he severed Mevis’s neck and covered the corpse with silver flames.

Turning to ash might be the most dignified death for Mevis; at least her body wouldn’t be dragged out by Wozworth for condemnation, sparing others from viewing the Empress’s tragic death.

The Holy Fire burned away all impurities.

It carried away the life of this pitiful woman filled with sadness.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Evil Baby also reached its end, its wailing abruptly ceased.

The goddess hair was retracted, and the towering tree reverted back into the Little Tree Seedling.

One more leaf grew on the tree, but this leaf was a weird purplish-red, hinting some ill omen.

The Little Tree Seedling might need a long time to completely purify the evil absorbed this time.

This commotion also caught the attention of everyone in the Imperial City.

At the doorstep of the Earth Mother Goddess Sect chapel, Saint Monica watched intently in the distance, her expression extra solemn!