Super Righteous Player
Chapter 867 - 404: Storm and Heart’s Canticle

Chapter 867: Chapter 404: Storm and Heart’s Canticle

Atalante didn’t remain silent for too long.

It seemed that she used some method to confirm that she was indeed in a nightmare or that she was truly dead in the future.

So she closed her eyes slightly... and when she reopened them, she nodded slowly.

"...I understand now."

Atalante took a breath, "It seems I have failed in the end. Then I will try my best to tell you everything I know, that’s the purpose of the specimen storage technology.

"However, there’s at least one thing you guessed correctly... ’Storm and Heart’s Canticle’ is indeed incomplete."

She sighed softly, speaking in a gentle voice.

As expected.

Lin Yiyi and Jiu’er exchanged glances, seeing a glint of excitement in each other’s eyes.

It looked like this time, they really had the chance to achieve a great feat!

If they brought back this important intelligence, it could be considered a main quest progression level of achievement... Perhaps it’d be entirely possible for Winter to become a high-ranking official or even be granted a noble title directly!

Lin Yiyi said softly, "Please tell us more."

"I don’t know how much you understand, so I’ll start from the beginning," sighed Atalante with a touch of sadness, "I had finally collected the entire ’Storm and Heart’s Canticle’, only to discover after completing the collection that it was still incomplete.

"The title page is the ’Chapter of the Gale’, which is also its foundation. Controlling the power of the wind is not something new to me... but it is the root of the word ’storm.’

"Then the gale swept up dark clouds. Its second page is the ’Chapter of Thunder’, and only after obtaining this page does one truly possess the power of a demigod... It allowed me to summon thunder on a whim.

"When dark clouds gather, a storm is coming—the third page is the ’Chapter of the Storm.’ The storm referenced in ’Storm and Heart’s Canticle’ is not a huge typhoon that levels everything in its path but refers to the storm that rises in the ocean, as if to destroy the entire world."

Atalante earnestly explained her Book of Truth: "Sailors or fishermen in the depths of the ocean cannot reach the most solid and steady earth. So for them, the boat beneath their feet is the entire world they can reach.

"In such a situation, gales, thunder, and storms to them are the incarnations of invisible demons about to destroy their whole world. They represent an obstruction that is completely insurmountable, inescapable, and uncontestable.

"Therefore, its fourth page seems completely off theme at first glance..."

Atalante gave Lin Yiyi and Jiu’er an answer they hadn’t anticipated at all: "It’s the ’Chapter of Victory.’"

"...Victory?"

This left Lin Yiyi stunned.

Why would there be victory after gale, thunder, and storm?

"All the lords are the pillars of this world. Their existence is not to bring doom and chaos to the world, but to be its guardians—"

Atalante spoke earnestly, "Even the Red Knight wouldn’t want to start a war. So if ’Storm and Heart’s Canticle’ did not have this fourth page, it could not be a Book of Truth.

"Because it is filled with obstructive powers of destruction...

"Imagine... if you were alone in a small boat amidst an endless sea, first facing the fierce gale that’s hard to resist, then covered by dark clouds and booming thunder, followed by a storm that seems to destroy and drown everything. When all this passes... the moment you see the rainbow is the time of ’Victory.’

"The endless destructive force it contains is essentially the tribulation before the ’rainbow of victory’ appears."

Compared to the storm, the rainbow seen after the storm is the true essence of the book.

"Then, that ’heart’..."

"Yes," nodded Atalante, "The ’heart’ referred to here is exactly the perpetual will that never stops and never admits defeat.

"Without this will, the bearer of the destructive power would ultimately be destroyed by their own desire for destruction. And in the ’Chapter of Victory,’ it is required that those who ascend with this book must utilize a perpetual mechanism related to ’heart’ in the ’Cycle of the Four Wheels.’"

"So, that’s why you—!"

Jiu’er suddenly exclaimed.

She instantly understood why Atalante had sought the ’Heart of Justice.’

As a type of sacred relic, the Heart of Justice itself could act as a superior replacement for a storage medium. With the Heart of Justice, there would be no need for another medium... and all the old Curse Bindings obtained during previous advancements could be discarded.

— Using a sacred relic as a perpetual mechanism seemed somewhat forced, but it appeared to be a plausible explanation.

"A long time ago, the elder Storm Sister Altas Frostword failed because of this."

Atalante explained earnestly, "When I acquired this Book of Truth, I had studied this. The reason Her Highness the elder Storm Sister failed in her ascension may be that she obtained the ’Cycle of the Four Wheels’ too early, which did not meet the requirements of ’Storm and Heart’s Canticle’, or it’s because her life was too smooth, failing to fulfill the ’Victory’ truth of ’seeing the rainbow after the storm.’"

"Is there really no other missing page in this Book of Truth?"

Jiu’er asked somewhat reluctantly.

"This question you’re asking, my teacher and I have already considered it."

Atalante said very decisively, "After the elder Storm Sister’s failed ascension, we had pondered whether the pages of the Book of Truth were incomplete. After all, we don’t feel whether the pages of a Book of Truth are complete...

"However, we can be certain, even though the pages of this Book of Truth seem few, there are no other pages. Because these four pages form a complete cycle—thrice suffering followed by rebirth, which also has the support of ritual concepts.

"The issue is not with the Book of Truth itself, but with other requirements. Many Books of Truth have additional demands concerning the other conditions of ascension... for example, ’Storm and Heart’s Canticle’ emphasizes ’heart’, needing a ’soul reborn from the storm.’"

She said this and sighed, "I originally thought that the ’Heart of Justice’ could meet this requirement—since it is related to ’heart’ and could also act as a perpetual mechanism.

"But from the news you’ve brought, it seems I’ve still failed in the end... so it should be a wrong answer. However, this is generally a good thing, after all, it can eliminate a wrong option, so my death is not entirely meaningless—it can also be said to be a kind of ’death for the greatest good.’

"I’m very sorry, children of the future... that’s probably all I can tell you."