Sacred Souls: Genesis

Chapter 127: Chapter 126: The Cruel Otherworld (3rd update! Subscribe! Vote for monthly tickets!)

Lyla finally made a decision at Jiang Qiao’s suggestion.

She would lead a three-person elite team herself, taking Jiang Qiao and Hai Lan to track down the Magic Thieves.

The others would return to Biland Island to recuperate with the injured.

Lyla was not about to let the Magic Thieves go just because of the powerful creatures on the island, for her pride would not allow her to return empty-handed.

If she returned to the warship without having captured even a single Magic Thief, as the eldest daughter of the Ferixi family… although she wouldn’t lose all her honor, she would still be tarnished with the reputation of a defeated return.

At this stage, Lyla had never failed an imperial mission she undertook, and she would not allow herself to fail this time either.

“You’re not leading me to my death this time, are you?”

Jiang Qiao was following Lyla, whose gaze had become terrifying since a moment before.

The values of these Otherworld people were completely different from those of modern Blue Star, and Lyla was the type who held honor dearer than her own life.

Jiang Qiao did not understand the values of such people, so he refrained from judgment.

“This is just a recon mission,” said Lyla as she swung her sword to clear the shrubs blocking her path. “I need to determine the whereabouts of the Magic Thieves.”

“And then what?” asked Jiang Qiao, inquiring about Lyla’s next move and prompting her to hire the Spirits to help her track down the Magic Thieves.

“I know what you’re thinking, but capturing those Magic Thieves is my duty.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Ɲ0νǤο.сο

Of course, Lyla saw through Jiang Qiao’s thoughts. Although she had previously entrusted the Saints under Jiang Qiao’s command to capture the Magic Thieves, Lyla still believed it was her responsibility to bring them all to justice.

However, the situation on Biland Island had deteriorated to the point where Lyla’s own soldiers were unable to cope, and their very movement across the island posed a risk to their lives.

If she asked those Saints for assistance… it would undoubtedly make things a lot easier.

“Oh.” Jiang Qiao did not try to persuade her further. If getting others to do his work while he could slack off was possible, he was very happy to oblige.

Lyla was the kind of person who would feel ashamed of this, but her sense of shame could cost her subordinates their lives, so she was now very conflicted.

As Jiang Qiao thought this, a young soldier exploring ahead slightly raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.

Lyla stopped her footsteps and was about to say something to Jiang Qiao when a Fire Spirit floating beside Jiang Qiao suddenly lunged at Lyla.

A wave of scorching flames approached, causing Lyla’s pupils to dilate; she hadn’t expected Jiang Qiao to suddenly attack her at such a time.

But Lyla, who had always been wary of Jiang Qiao, saw a ring on her hand emit a light, with a barrier made of Magic Power spilling out around her.

Lyla was uncertain whether the Magic Barrier could withstand the attack from Jiang Qiao’s Fire Spirit, but the Fire Spirit’s target was not Lyla, but an elite soldier behind her.

The Fire Spirit collided into the soldier behind Lyla, with intense firelight blossoming upon him, then transformed into several ropes that coiled around the soldier.

Binding Flames.

One of the four unique skills of a Fire Spirit, a crowd-control ability that might be insubstantial against thick-skinned monsters.

But it was a disaster for the soldier; the moment scorching flames enveloped him, the high temperature instantly turned his armor red-hot, emitting a sizzling sound on his body, where one could faintly smell the aroma of roasted meat.

The poor soldier, crying out in agony, fell to the ground and kept screaming.

“You…” Lyla was about to reproach Jiang Qiao when she noticed the longsword that had fallen to the ground and remembered the events that had unfolded in an instant.

The elite soldier whom Lyla had trusted was poised to lift his longsword and strike her from behind the moment she turned her head. In the blink of an eye, Jiang Qiao had bound him with a Fire Spirit.

“It seems your team also has its fair share of traitors,” said Jiang Qiao, as his right hand clenched slightly, and the soldier writhed on the ground, emitting a sky-shaking wail.

After Jiang Qiao silenced the soldier, his gaze shifted toward the forest’s edge in the distance.

“…” Lyla lifted the hilt of the longsword in her hand and struck the bound soldier unconscious.

Lyla was not a naive and gullible girl like Hai Lan; she had realized that her own soldiers had betrayed her. Yet she couldn’t bear to see the soldier who had once been loyal to her suffer at the hands of Jiang Qiao, so she resorted to this method to alleviate his agony.

Indeed, as the soldier passed out, Jiang Qiao released the Fire Spirit’s bond and the scent of roasted meat still lingered in the air.

Just then, applause suddenly erupted within the forest.

“You arrived faster than I expected, eldest daughter of the Ferixi family. But why did you bring only these people? Were your soldiers all devoured by monsters on the way?”

A man, wearing prisoner’s garb, strolled out leisurely from one side of the forest, clapping slowly. Behind him followed more than a dozen fugitives in similar attire, accompanied by an old man dressed in religious garb.

“Denghis Puxian! Damn it…”

Lyla raised her longsword, pointing it at the man who was the most wanted criminal of the Radiant Empire and the leader of the Magic Thieves, Denghis Puxian.

But what seemed strange to Lyla was… the man and these Magic Thieves appeared as if they had been waiting for her for a long time.

It was not just her they were waiting for, but also the soldiers under her command who were the Chasers.

It was as if… they were the Hunters, and Lyla was the prey.

“Oh, little one, it seems you still do not comprehend what exactly is happening. But you need not understand; children are better off at home listening to fairy tales. However, from here on, only the Goddess of Death can tell you fairy tales,” said the man named Denghis with a mournful voice, signaling the end of all things. Lyla was stunned for a moment, but when she saw the old man in religious garb standing next to him, she instantly understood something.

“Bishop Senna, why are you here?” Lyla asked, somewhat out of control.

The bishop closed his eyes in pain and then turned his head away, unwilling to look any longer.

“Still don’t understand, little lamb?” Denghis seemed to enjoy Lyla’s confused expression.

“Er… Is this where I, the professional commentator, should step in?”

Jiang Qiao had been watching from the side for a long while. Since Lyla was part of the situation, she couldn’t make sense of it, but Jiang Qiao, as an onlooker, understood after a single glance.

“Comment on what?” Lyla asked, appearing very upset.

“The one betraying you is not this soldier,” said Jiang Qiao, pointing to the soldier Lyla had knocked out. “The ones betraying you might be the entire Radiant Empire, or to be precise, certain high-ranking officials within it.”

Jiang Qiao knew that the enormous energy on Biland Island would be too much for any human to resist, let alone these empire officials.

They must have conceived of some method to utilize the energy on Biland Island, a method… that required living sacrifices.

Lyla, as well as the Chaser soldiers under her command, was those living sacrifices!