Hero? Are You Worthy?
Chapter 526 - 368: The Holy Daughter Bathed in Blood (2)

Chapter 526: Chapter 368: The Holy Daughter Bathed in Blood (2)

The weird voice sometimes sounded like a woman who had lost her husband and children, wailing in sorrow, and at other times like a crazed beast, filled with the desire to destroy everything in rage and madness.

The voice was not loud.

Yet it kept echoing through the only passageway.

It was a chill and weirdness that even the soft glow of the Magic Lamp could not dispel.

Even though these people were all Holy Men, fairly strong in their own right, with Goddess Rose Vesper sitting in support right behind them, they still felt a tingling sensation on their scalps at this moment.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter...

The Holy Knights’ metal boots struck the stairs’ stone plate with a dull thud.

Even though the spiral staircase leading downwards seemed lengthy yet clear under the light of the Magic Lamp, without any dangerously twisted monsters in sight, every step felt burdened as if a heavy stone weighed upon their hearts.

An indescribable oppression clung tight to everyone’s chest.

The leading Holy Knight was already covered in a dense layer of sweat beads on his forehead. The deeper he walked, the more intense the fear became, and he was starting to regret showing off and trying to impress the Divine Empress by taking the lead.

Now he wanted to slip to the back, but he just couldn’t afford to lose face.

Muttering under his breath, he took another step forward.

Just as his boots hit the stair tile, the ground beneath suddenly shot out a sharp Light Saber, slicing directly between the Holy Knight’s legs with a hiss.

In an instant, his body was cleaved neatly into halves.

The poor Holy Knight, harboring fear and resentment in his heart, didn’t even have a chance to scream before he was split in two.

Thick blood splattered out, staining the walls on either side with crimson.

Blood mixed with innards flowed down the stairs, making a burbling sound.

This scene shocked the other Holy Men, causing chaos and unrest among them.

They knew this path was destined not to be smooth, but they never expected the traps to be so weird.

"Everyone, please calm down."

Just then, Rose Vesper’s voice came from behind, her gaze sweeping over the body cleaved in twain with a fleeting trace of indifference in her eyes. Triggering a mechanism had at least served some purpose.

Sorrow soon covered her fair face.

"These are the evil traps of Augustus."

"The sacrifice of Holy Knight Guluo’er will not be in vain. He has used his life to forge a path to our destination."

"The gods will witness his sacrifice, and his soul will return to the embrace of God, forever basking in the glory of heaven."

"May the Holy Light protect him."

Rose Vesper crossed her hands over her chest, praying devoutly.

With her compassionate demeanor, coupled with the faint glimmer of Holy Light flickering about her, she carried quite the aura of a God Stick.

Whether it was some sort of spiritual interference magic that took effect, or Rose Vesper’s empathetic Goddess persona that calmed everyone’s fears, the Holy Men quieted down, praying earnestly in their hearts:

"May the Holy Light protect us!"

"All Priests, please add the Magic Shield to your companions," came Rose Vesper’s voice once more, echoing through the corridor.

She was a bit annoyed—given how weird this place was, they should have erected the shields as soon as they entered.

As the deep Spell echoed around, the protective glow of Holy Light Guardian flickered on everyone.

Having augmented their shields, the group moved forward again.

The entire spiral staircase was filled with traps and Magic Restrictions. The closer they got to the bottom, the more numerous and dangerous the Magic Restrictions became, and the weird voices they heard grew stronger and stronger.

It was a woman’s screams and cries, exhausted to the brink of capacity.

Almost inhuman in their pitch.

A sense of foreboding filled Rose Vesper’s heart. Could it be her mother’s voice? Had her mother gone mad after being imprisoned by Augustus for too long?

If that were the case, it would be awful. The esteemed Goddess having a lunatic for a mother—it would be a complete disgrace.

Ever since learning of her divine lineage and Goddess status, Rose Vesper had become intensely concerned with her image, and she would not allow any blemish on her person.

She had to ensure she was always pristine.

As they neared their destination, the power of the Magic Traps intensified, and despite the Holy Light Guardian shields, figure after figure was annihilated by various traps.

Out of the original sixty-plus Holy Men, less than ten remained to reach the end with Rose Vesper.

The corridor reeked of the pungent stench of blood, which flowed slowly down the stairs.

The spiral descent of several hundred meters, with its deadly mechanisms and tricky Illusion Realm, consumed dozens of lives and took nearly a day and a half to traverse a brief distance.

Upon reaching this point, they faced a dark metal gate, behind which came hysterical screams.

Rose Vesper’s expression had turned exceedingly grim.

"Open the gate!"

Perhaps it was because of the Prohibitions and traps along the way that Augustus was confident few could reach this far, so the gate itself was somewhat less secure, with nothing but a copper lock.

A Holy Knight drew his sword, chopping at the copper lock, and a spark exploded on the door with a clang.

The bronze lock fell to the ground, and the Holy Knight pushed the door open slowly, revealing the scene within the cage fully in front of Rose Vesper.

What she saw first was not the scene inside the prison, but a foul stench that rushed toward her face.

Each Holy Man instinctively covered their nose.

Their other hand waved frantically in front of them, as if trying to disperse the strange odor from before them.

Rose Vesper’s mood sank even deeper.

Her eyes widened, gazing into the cell, and a slender silhouette immediately caught her eye, her complexion turning pale in an instant.

It was a woman with a lean and emaciated body, dressed in a pure white Saintess costume; her long, somewhat disheveled hair covered her face, obscuring a clear view of what she actually looked like.

Heavy chains were wrapped around her wrists and ankles, with the other end connected to the wall.

The weird, mad howls were coming from this woman’s mouth, her body writhing and struggling incessantly, with twists and turns so violent, they were no longer human-like.

Accompanying the woman’s desperate struggles, the chains kept making clanking noises.

Perhaps because it had been too long, at least a week or more without cleanup, filth and dirt entirely covered the woman’s body.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t seen Augustus for a long time that the woman seemed ever more frenzied, a caged wild dog completely out of control, her hysterical howls echoing in the cell, with excessive struggling that caused her originally neat clothes to become quite disheveled.

The surviving Holy Men, each with a weird look on their face, looked at each other, the shock in their eyes evident.

Is this Saintess Philis herself?

The once-in-a-millennium genius of the Holy Court, how did she come to be like this?

Was she imprisoned by Augustus for so long that she went mad?

God, the Holy Daughter has been locked up here, and for so many years, it’s unknown what sort of torture Augustus imposed on her. It’s simply too pitiful.

This woman, is she truly the mother of the Divine Empress? To dare treat the Divine Mother with such disrespect, Augustus truly is the embodiment of evil.

All sorts of whispering and murmuring quietly echoed around.

No one uttered a laugh or made any mocking remarks; these Holy Men simply felt pity for the plight of Saintess Philis.

However, the torment would end here.

Starting today, Saintess Philis would once again see the light of day, gaining her freedom once more.

Saintess Philis herself is the best piece of evidence, enough to firmly confirm all of Augustus’s crimes.

Once Saintess Philis leaves this place and receives the best care and treatment within the Holy Court, they believe it won’t be long before she recovers to her normal state.

"Congratulations, Divine Empress, on rescuing your mother, a mother-daughter reunion," a Holy Man seized the opportunity to offer his congratulations.

Others around him snapped back to reality and followed with their blessings.

But to Rose Vesper’s ears, these sounds had a completely different meaning.

Her eyes dully stared at the woman in front of her, ragged, wretched, filthy and foul, that woman was actually her mother?

No, no.

Rose Vesper refused to acknowledge it.

It’s so shameful.

Her body even seemed to tremble slightly.

Why? She is the daughter of Gods, carrying the most noble of bloodlines, so why would she have such a dirty and filthy mother?

This woman, tortured by Augustus in this dungeon for over twenty years, who knows what has actually happened?

Once the news spreads, the entire Holy Court... no, even the whole Sky Dome Continent will know she has a mad mother, this woman who was even imprisoned and toyed with by Augustus for over twenty years...

Her dignity, her nobility, will all be gone.

She might even become the laughingstock of the entire Sky Dome Continent, everyone would use this to mock and belittle her.

No... no... no... no.

Rose Vesper’s heart twisted into a knot, her eyes wide and filled with bloodshot veins.

She absolutely refuses to accept this.

She is flawless.

There can be no such stain on her existence.

The celebratory voices around her sounded so harsh and insincere at this moment.

She knew, these people were probably only offering congratulations on the surface, but deep down, they were all laughing at her, right?

Damn it, damn it, damn it...

In an instant, Rose Vesper’s eyes turned exceedingly icy and fierce, and the corners of her mouth even curled into a sinister arc.

Though there was not a breath of wind, Rose Vesper’s golden hair rose up as if alive, waving and dancing freely behind her.

The next moment, the sounds of blessings abruptly stopped.

A thick mist of blood began to swirl within the cell, and Rose Vesper’s entire figure bathed in a sea of blood.