Super Righteous Player
Chapter 1019 - 77: One Hundred Goods, One Sin

Chapter 1019: Chapter 77: One Hundred Goods, One Sin

"In my life, I performed many good deeds and harbored one sin. At the end of my life, I committed an unforgivable crime. I would have rather died before that happened... The only thing I truly wished for was to endure the agony of my soul being scorched by fire for this one sin.

"It indeed cannot cleanse my sin, let alone clear Bernadino’s sin... but there isn’t much left of my life. All I can do is entrust everything I have to you.

"My wisdom, my experience, my knowledge, my elements... my everything.

"This is not ’love’ for you, but my own... ’final repentance.’

"If you don’t have a strong enough will, then walk in my dreams... If you have your own dreams, then strive with all your might for that goal.

"— Walk for me, Salvatore Hightower."

Hugo’s voice gradually lowered, "I have burnt out... and you are about to ignite."

With that, he bowed his head, motionless.

Around him, the radiant firelight, like that inside a forge, had also ceased to be so intense.

Though he had closed his mouth, Salvatore still stood there motionlessly, as if he had turned into a wooden stake, devoid of expression, devoid of a smile... even his eyes lost their sparkle.

It was not about transforming into a river of knowledge flowing into the brain.

Instead, he turned himself into flame, into ashes... forged the pig iron into refined steel.

He held nothing back.

Under the reflection of the firelight, Salvatore’s aura became even more somber. "Vatore" gradually shed his demonic shell... the grotesque visage of the demon gradually became delicate, his sharp claws also shed their hard keratin, becoming like those of a young girl.

It was less like a demon, more like a horned girl with a hint of demonic aura.

Her overwhelming demonic aura and malice were firmly purged by this selfless fire.

— No one could maintain their old self in such a forge.

The positions between Salvatore and his shadow were reversed.

The original Salvatore was merely a "demon’s egg." That utmost pure goodwill was merely nourishment prepared for the most evil corruption.

But now, under Hugo’s completely selfless support, what was originally used to incubate a demon—the fragile eggshell—was forged into refined steel.

Instead of the not-yet-born embryo inside, the eggshell itself became the main part.

Although still faint, a majestic and solemn aura already permeated within Salvatore’s eyes.

When Salvatore came to his senses again, his pupils suddenly constricted.

Surrounded by the weak firelight reminiscent of a sunset, he saw a gray-haired old man standing motionless in the same spot, an image nearly identical to the scene when his grandfather had died.

The firelight in Hugo’s eyes had disappeared at some unknown time.

Salvatore instinctively reached out his hand, trying to support Hugo.

But the moment he touched "Hugo," the old man’s ash-gray body silently collapsed and drifted away.

That was something already burned, unburnable now.

However, before the ashes returned to the earth, they could at least float in the air for a while...

"Teacher..."

Salvatore murmured.

He reached out his hand, trying to grab a handful of ashes.

But as his hand drew near, the floating ashes, as if sentient, avoided his fingertips and slipped through his fingers.

Yet at that moment,

A ring of black and red runes overlapped, emerging at the tip of Salvatore’s fingers and expanding into a circle the size of a human head.

Those ashes drifting in the air, as if time reversed, gathered back.

In the blink of an eye, these "ashes" of Hugo were refined by Salvatore into a crystal-clear diamond ring.

Encased within the diamond ring, flaming characters spelled out Hugo’s name.

It was a swift refinement, almost instinctive.

This must have been a craft Hugo was skilled at... Known for his clumsiness, Salvatore knew he could not achieve such rapid refinement.

Salvatore froze where he stood, gazing at the diamond ring in his palm, his thumb gently caressing it. He felt uneasy about the sudden proficiency of his transformation spell.

At that moment, he felt a chill breeze blowing from behind him.

It was then that he realized the back of his shirt was soaked through without his knowledge.

Salvatore, a bit cautious, clenched the ring tighter before turning around, only to see Annan and Isaac ascending in an "elevator."

He instantly relaxed.

"Annan..."

As soon as he spoke, Salvatore realized his voice was still choked up.

Unable to articulate clearly, he quickly covered his mouth.

He paused in sudden shock.

It was only then that Salvatore touched his face and found tear stains.

Previously, the temperature here was high enough to dry the tears on his face. He didn’t know when he had started crying... or rather, he might have been crying all along.

Annan stepped forward, stood on tiptoe, and silently wiped away Salvatore’s tears.

"...I’m so useless, Annan."

Salvatore’s voice was very soft and slightly hoarse, "I’m already over thirty... yet I am still crying incessantly."

"It’s all over, Salvatore."

Annan spoke softly.

As Annan spoke these words, new tears emerged from Salvatore’s eyes. Annan wiped them away again.

Annan gazed seriously at Salvatore, "I thought you would keep making a fuss."

"...I’m no longer young and don’t have the luxury to be petulant. I knew from the beginning that you were conspiring to bring me here. Otherwise, I would have stubbornly refused to come... I indeed have my shortcomings."

Salvatore spoke, then lightly turned his head to brush away Annan’s fingertips.

He turned his back, forcibly wiped his eyes until the tears were dried.

Then, he turned back around and took a deep breath, as if trying to remember Hugo’s last breath... What surprised him was how distinct that scent was.

"I will... forever remember my teacher’s last wish."

Salvatore closed his eyes, speaking in a low voice, "I will not disgrace my teacher—even if it’s a sin ten times heavier, I’ll personally clean it up as a token of my teacher’s kindness."

"There’s no need for that."

Annan spoke sternly, "Let the one who owes the debt pay it themselves. You cannot repay Hugo’s debt."

Salvatore’s eyes widened, and he tried to argue for Hugo, "But the teacher has already..."

He was only halfway through his sentence when he saw Isaac next to him, who was initially looking downward, suddenly widen his eyes in shock, even fear, looking behind him.

Salvatore’s heart skipped a beat.

Unlike his usual delayed reactions.

He immediately turned around, his right hand once again displaying a black and red rune circle—a new power capable of disintegrating and reconstituting everything.

But the runic circle at his fingertips was casually brushed away by a somewhat familiar hand.

There, amid the ashes, stood a completely naked Hugo, looking about sixteen or seventeen years old, gazing complicatedly at the three of them.

The only difference from the past was the silver sun rune on his chest, exactly like Annan’s.

He tentatively touched his face with his left hand, as if to confirm something... while his right hand easily countered Salvatore’s spell with a reversed transformation.

"...Huh?"

Salvatore was stunned.

He looked at the resurrected Hugo, then turned back to see a smiling Annan and a shocked Isaac. His confused mind let out a puzzled voice, "Huh?"

He looked again at the ring in his hand, made from Hugo’s ashes.

Then he looked up at the young man whose soul had completely burned away.

"...Huh??"

Salvatore’s mind went blank, and all he could utter was one syllable.