Only God
Chapter 310 - 268: The Price That Can’t Be Paid (Two in One)

Chapter 310: Chapter 268: The Price That Can’t Be Paid (Two in One)

Solumus was still deepening his mastery of the Angel Grace.

And the best way was to understand the will of God.

Only by aligning with the will of God could one better accommodate the overflowing light of God.

For this reason, Solumus decided to visit places God had once walked.

Holding an oak staff, Solumus slowly ascended from the volcanic slope.

The mountain towered majestically, standing on the extreme southern side of the Great Country of Leboga, with no snow on it. From a distance, only gray-black basalt rocks and sparse trees were visible, and the surface of the rocks was still slightly warm.

Around the volcano, mountains stretched continuously with various precious minerals being produced from them. Centered around the volcano, the mountains spread out with boiling magma churning red-hot in the crater.

This volcano was peculiarly shaped, its crater and base clearly stratified, as if encircled by something.

The descended angel gazed at what encircled the volcano.

It was a giant serpent.

"This is... the volcano God once saw!"

Solumus remarked sentimentally.

The angels possessed parts of God’s memories, so she recognized the mountain and the giant serpent coiling around the volcano.

Naturally, this giant serpent was not the one God had seen, but rather a descendant of its progeny.

Once, God had said,

"If someone builds a nation here in the future... they are fated to perish amidst a sea of fire."

And now,

Solumus saw a great nation standing firm.

Clouds drifted, seas transformed into mulberry fields, and the long passage of time gradually stripped the world of its barbaric exterior.

The river of time was too lengthy; countless things were washed away and sank into the riverbed and were forever lost, but only God remained, standing eternally at the endpoint of time.

The giant serpent wrapped tightly around the base of the volcano from head to tail, drawing warmth from the volcano; its scales were indistinguishable from the rocks, its head hung low, sleeping like its ancestors.

Due to its vast size, this kind of giant serpent spent most of its life asleep, only moving from the volcano for mating once a year.

And that was also when the volcano would erupt.

As Solumus reflected on the passing of time, she slowly climbed up the slope to reach the crater.

Waves of heat wrapped around her clothing.

Solumus jumped down, her feet landing steadily on the scorching hot magma as if she were on flat ground.

In the very center of the volcano’s mouth, a strangely shaped lava formation resembling a mushroom towered out of the magma, its surface indented, containing large, red-hued snake eggs.

There were eleven of these snake eggs, each immensely large, resembling small hills.

Solumus knew the reproductive habits of these mountain-coiling pythons.

Though there were eleven snake eggs here, only the strongest offspring that would coil around the volcano would later survive.

After hatching, these python hatchlings would fight each other due to hunger, in this gigantic lava cradle, starting to devour each other to determine the final victor.

And the old python would nurture this victor, and, upon its own death, allow it to consume its remains and finally coil around this massive volcano.

After all, there was only one volcano here.

Solumus was aware of the fate among these group of pythons, she looked at each of these snake eggs, and after pondering for a moment, slowly landed on the smallest egg.

Compared to its siblings, this snake egg was curiously small, only as big as a cow.

Undoubtedly, upon hatching, it would be the easiest prey in the eyes of the other snakes.

Solumus stretched out her hand, placed it on the snake egg, and began chanting the Ancient Language spell "shrink."

As her words ended, the snake egg began to shrink dramatically, from the size of a cow to that of a baby, its texture from afar looking much like a dragon egg.

Solumus slowly picked up this mountain-coiling python’s egg, stepped into the light, and disappeared from the volcano in an instant, returning to her dwelling in the forest.

She began to take care of the snake egg with great care, just like she would nurture a pet cat or dog, hoping that when it hatched, it would alleviate her boredom.

Carlo looked at the deflated water bag, her eyes bloodshot.

A long-forgotten fear gently constricted the midwife’s throat.

"Witch..."

Carlo murmured.

Her sleeping daughter slowly opened her eyes amidst her dreams, awakened by her mother’s voice.

"Mommy."

The little girl called drowsily, resting her head against her mother’s chest.

Carlo glanced and then gripped the back of the little girl’s head.

This rural midwife had naturally heard many rumors about witches.

They possessed powerful magic power, chanting spells to cast magic; those who offended them would turn into animals and they could conjure non-existent illusions; they could poison to kill their enemies, and also cast sinister curses.

And most miraculously, witches... often "liked" children.

This "like" encompassed various meanings.

Legends say witches would eat children, or use them to make magic potions, perform nefarious rituals, or even teach them witchcraft to turn them into the next wizard...

Carlo recalled all sorts of stories about witches.

Since witches liked children, and she herself... also wanted the magic potion from the witches...

Thus...

Carlo subconsciously tightened her grasp on the back of her daughter’s head, pressing her close to her chest.

Her breathing quickened.

"Mommy, Mommy..."

Her daughter called out, half asleep, half awake, she muttered,

"Your heartbeat shook me... It jumped to me."

Carlo’s expression remained unchanged; she did not release her hold.

As a rural woman, she lacked almost everything.

Lacking money, lacking food, lacking hemp fabric, lacking clothes, lacking livestock...

The fields at home provided for an ordinary life, but were far from being worry-free regarding food and clothing.

But the one thing she didn’t lack was children.

"I have six children..."

Carlo murmured.

Her daughter in her arms was just five years old, naive and ignorant, and most importantly...

This was a girl, not a boy!

Boys could help with heavy chores like farming and chopping wood once they reached twelve...

Setting aside familial love, everyone knew that having boys was beneficial for the family.

But girls were different...

Carlo looked at the shriveled water bag, her mind made up, her decision firm.

She would trade her little daughter... for the witch’s magic potion...

The next day.

Carlo took her younger daughter into the forest.

The girl clung to her mother, nervously surveying the gloomy forest ahead.

"Mom, why do we have to..."

Before the girl could finish her question, she was interrupted by her mother’s rebuke.

"Shut up!"

The girl was stunned, her eyes welling up with tears, she held her mother’s hand even tighter.

Carlo, pulling along her young daughter, moved swiftly through the Secret Forest, breathing heavily.

The impression of that day was too deep; she remembered that path and would never forget it.

Passing through layers of branches, Carlo gasped for air. Soon thereafter, a thin layer of fog appeared before them in the forest.

Carlo sensed that she was getting closer and closer to the Witch’s locale.

Her daughter’s legs ached as she looked at her mother and cried out,

"I don’t want to go any further, I don’t want to go."

Carlo glared at her harshly.

Her daughter hastened to shut her mouth, frightened.

Unbeknownst to them, time had reached noon. Carlo, pulling on her daughter’s hand, slowly entered the mist.

Not long after, Carlo saw the familiar lantern.

At last... they had arrived...

The girl sensed something and cried out,

"Mom, don’t go in there, let’s not go!"

Carlo ignored her, dragging her daughter up to the lantern.

An elderly woman tentatively called out,

"Distinguished lady..."

Before she could finish speaking.

A cold breeze blew from the direction of the treehouse, giving Carlo goosebumps.

"Carlo."

A chilly voice echoed in the elderly woman’s ears.

The latter’s hair stood on end. The young girl next to her was so scared that she fell to the ground,

"What did I once say?"

The impending question delivered with dread hammered at Carlo’s mind.

The elderly woman knelt down, her voice trembling as she defended herself,

"Distinguished, distinguished lady... I didn’t mean to disturb you..."

"I came... to offer the most precious gift, to repay you, no, to repay your aid!"

This was the phrasing Carlo had long contemplated.

Solamus stared at the elderly woman, discerning her heart under the benefit of Angel Grace.

"Distinguished lady... You are so merciful... I have nothing to offer but to dedicate my daughter to you, to let her be your eternal servant, obeying your every command."

Carlo respectfully spoke, then pushed her daughter, who had fallen to the ground, forward.

The girl was utterly confused. She could not comprehend what her own mother was saying.

Solamus sneered.

She carried her Oak Staff slowly emerging from the tree hollow.

"So... you want to hand over your daughter to me?"

Carlo forcefully pulled up her young daughter, loudly declaring,

"Yes, distinguished lady! She shall be your servant, serving you till death!"

The mother’s words caused the young daughter to shiver all over.

She looked at Carlo incredulously.

But... the latter’s harsh gaze made her feel utterly alienated.

What... had happened?

The girl was utterly perplexed.

Solamus examined the girl; she was pitifully endearing with moist, clear eyes, long, curved eyelashes, and a face still bearing traces of baby fat, looking pathetic yet charming—a beautiful creature in the making, now trembling with fear.

To think her own mother was selling her to this witch-like person, the girl couldn’t believe what was happening.

"Then let her come over."

Carlo stood up, pushing her daughter forward.

The girl didn’t want to move, but her mother drove her like a sheep, pushing and shoving her, hitting and kicking her, until at last, the girl was pushed in front of Solamus, trembling as she looked up at Solamus, then tears of fear fell.

Solamus stared at her.

The girl, frightened, promptly wiped away her tears and clamped her mouth shut.

Seeing her daughter go to Solamus’s side, Carlo hastily spoke up,

"Distinguished lady... now... I only desire one more Magic Potion... not just to aid childbirth... ideally, it should cure all diseases!"

Greed, filled her chest.

Solamus looked at Carlo with a cold sneer.

"Lady, I beg you, grant me this Magic Potion! I can bring you my other two daughters... just as long as you are willing to give me this Magic Potion!"

Carlo kneeled on the ground, pleading non-stop.

"Carlo, I told you not to disturb me again."

The cold tone chilled the woman’s heart.

But the next sentence reignited a wildfire of desire within her.

"But your child, she pleases me greatly."

Solamus produced a pale blue Potion from her bosom.

She tossed the Potion, which traced an arc before rolling onto the grass. Carlo pounced on it, clutching it tightly like a dog fighting for food.

"Distinguished Witch, praise you! You are a Divine being, possessing the noblest blood!"

For a moment, Carlo was wildly ecstatic, praising Solamus as if she were praising the Divine.

"Go back, stay away from here."

Solamus sent her off with a cold sneer.

Carlo staggered to her feet, clutching the Magic Potion, and entered the mist without looking back once.

Throughout, she never took another glance at her own young daughter.

Now engulfed in ecstasy, Carlo had obtained the all-curing Magic Potion from the Witch...

But everything comes at a price.

In her joy, she forgot that she had already disobeyed the Witch’s request.

Since she had violated the request, then she must pay the corresponding price.

That Witch’s Magic Potion,

Capable of curing all diseases...

Also represented a price she couldn’t afford.