NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 169
Chapter 169: Ivyst’s Weakness
At the same time, in the study.
Upon hearing Ivyst’s question, Cyrilina’s hand holding the cup paused for a moment, then she gently blew at the steam rising from her teacup and took a sip.
“Heraemius’s tomb? That ancient ruin recently discovered by the Empire in Claremont City?” Cyrilina’s voice seemed somewhat flat, “Why do you ask about this?”
The joy from the sisterly late-night chat had instantly evaporated.
Ivyst said nothing, staring silently at her.
Seeing this, Cyrilina softly said, “I don’t know much about that tomb, just that it contains something buried for an extremely long time.”
“From the style of the reliefs on the tomb, it dates back to the early Second Era.”
The Second Era, the Age of Divine Wars.
Back then, the gods had yet to establish their divine kingdoms and roamed the earth in their full forms, exercising their respective powers.
It’s hard to imagine the identity of the tomb owner who could have such a magnificent tomb in that era.
But that wasn’t what Ivyst wanted to get hung up on.
She didn’t care about the origin of the tomb; she only wanted to fulfill her long-cherished wish.
Glancing at Cyrilina’s breathtaking beauty, Ivyst suppressed her inner frustration and jealousy.
Thinking back, to be sitting face-to-face with this woman and chatting like this was already a marvelous thing.
In the past, even just seeing that face would have made Ivyst want to tear it apart.
It was once twisted into a hideous monster because of hatred and jealousy.
Fortunately, with Lynn, she had been subtly transformed into her current self.
One was the most loathsome being in the world, the other the divine darling of unmatched beauty, and they should have been incompatible.
Yet for the little puppy, she had become the most beautiful woman in the world, while Cyrilina often found herself at a loss in front of him.
So, jealousy didn’t really matter anymore.
Even if there was any, it was only directed at that woman ten thousand years later.
With that in mind, Ivyst sneered, “Don’t know much? Although you just returned from the border, that excuse won’t fool me, Cyrilina.”
“As far as I know, the grave-robber team is currently under your control, and you’re responsible for the excavation of the tomb this time.”
The atmosphere became somewhat silent all of a sudden.
Cyrilina lowered her gaze, silently staring into the light brown tea in her cup, her full chest gently rising and falling.
After an unknown amount of time, she gently set down her teacup.
Meeting Ivyst’s gaze, Cyrilina seriously looked at her: “According to my information, the Heraemius tomb is a trap.”
“As of last week, my several grave-robber teams have entered it for the eighteenth time, with thirty-six casualties, and the remaining seventy showed varying degrees of bodily distortion after returning to the surface, even developing a phenomenon known as ‘shell syndrome.’”
“It’s as if their spirit and consciousness have been stripped from their bodies, leaving only a soulless shell.”
Cyrilina said gravely.
She particularly emphasized the word “stripped.”
Hearing this, Ivyst’s eyes flickered with a hint of excitement.
This was precisely in line with the descriptions of the Sixth Saint Roland.
“I need to know what exactly is hidden inside the tomb.”
She didn’t hesitate and spoke up immediately.
Seeing this, Cyrilina softly sighed.
Though Ivyst seemed to have changed a bit since returning from the border, appearing somewhat better, when it came to matters involving her cursed mark, she still became reckless.
“Little Ivyst,” Cyrilina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “During this trip to Orlen City, did you not notice some changes in how Father and the council view you?”
Though it wasn’t very polite to talk about her father behind his back, Cyrilina decided to remind Ivyst anyway.
Ivyst frowned.
Changes?
Throughout, she had only sensed malice from those around her.
No matter whether it was the Sixth Saint Roland, those grandees from the council, or the entire Glosting.
Since it was all malice, what was there to talk about changes?
Seeing this, Cyrilina explained gently, “To them, the old you was just a tool for handling sealed items.”
“Though they were wary, it was primarily due to their greed for that mysterious authority within you.”
“But this time at the border, so much happened. If it wasn’t for a series of coincidences and Lynn’s reckless intervention, you would have long since fallen into slumber or suffered an even more severe backlash.”
“Do you know why?”
Upon hearing this, Ivyst frowned slightly but remained silent.
Cyrilina continued, “Because they are afraid of you.”
“Previously, there were the various churches monitoring you, plus several half-divines and even saints in the Empire. Even with your tremendous power, it was still within controllable limits.”
“But with this unknown source of power increasing day by day, they have discovered that you’re starting to slip out of their control.”
“They’ve always known how to handle uncontrollable sealed items; I’m sure you’re well aware of that.”
Suddenly, the atmosphere grew colder.
But Cyrilina still bore this pressure, calmly revealing the truth: “The Wishing Jar incident was one of their attempts against you.”
“Trying to weaken your power and even send you to a research facility to uncover the source and principles of this power, then wield it for themselves.”
As Cyrilina’s words faded, the room fell silent once again.
As a person involved in the situation, she was highly aware of these behind-the-scenes matters.
Or rather, even without understanding, guessing their thoughts was absurdly easy given those fools’ nature.
Afraid, attacking, clinging together, mocking, greedy.
A slight smile appeared at the corners of Ivyst’s mouth.
Though her heart burned with anger, this was also what Lynn had analyzed long before.
“Cyrilina, I’ve never paid much attention to what you said.” Ivyst crossed her legs, looking regal and cold, “Also, you seem to have gone off-topic.”
Upon hearing this, a hint of eagerness flickered in Cyrilina’s eyes.
Though she knew Ivyst well enough to understand that once she made up her mind, she wouldn’t change it, as the older sister, she didn’t want to see her going down the wrong path.
“Perhaps in hindsight, the Orlen City incident seems like their failure, but as long as you are ensnared in this ‘Saint Roland Empire,’ you will always remain a pawn, and similar incidents will undoubtedly repeat.”
“Besides, I don’t know why Father told you about the Heraemius tomb, but Ivyst, I don’t want to see you in danger.”
“Especially knowing it’s a trap.”
“Shut up.”
Ivyst’s stomach churned at Cyrilina’s concerned words.
She coldly glared at her: “Cyrilina, put away your pretentious older sister act. I’m no longer a three-year-old child.”
“We’re not some sisterly relationship where we can talk nicely now, nor will we ever have it in the future.”
The atmosphere crumbled as Ivyst shot down Cyrilina’s lengthy advice.
Cyrilina quickly felt a headache coming.
Clearly, her troublesome younger sister was still holding a grudge from a misunderstanding over twenty years ago.
Though she had explained countless times, Ivyst would only believe what was happening at the moment.
“Besides, don’t forget that I’m a Sixth Stage Half-Divine. In terms of power, even if I tied you with the other eight, they couldn’t defeat me.”
Ivyst said lightly.
If the Royal Selection ceremony had been conducted as an indiscriminate battle to the death, she would have already ascended the throne.
Unfortunately, in this invisible struggle, strength was merely one factor, barely even an important one. Moreover, the father-daughter bond between her and the Sixth Saint Roland was long gone.
She could only trust half of his words.
So her wariness towards Heraemius was far higher than Cyrilina imagined.
Ivyst was well aware that the curse mark on her face was terrifying and not something she could easily eliminate.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been at a standstill for so many years, ultimately pinning her hopes on this tomb.
“Can you tell me why you’re so obsessed with this?”
Cyrilina finally ran out of options and looked at her with slight confusion.
Reason?
Ivyst reflexively recalled the battle with the Sorceress of the End behind the Blood Gate last night.
During the fight, they had exchanged a few words.
Though most of the time, it was Ivyst asking questions while the Sorceress of the End remained cold.
Only when the little puppy was mentioned did it trigger her emotional response.
Even so, Ivyst managed to obtain the information she desired.
According to the original fate trajectory, the time of Heraemius’s tomb discovery was during the year she had been asleep.
So this matter was actually unrelated to her.
But since fate had been stirred by Lynn, everything changed.
The Sorceress of the End, in the future, would rely on her enormous power to lift the curse mark from her face.
But that would only happen after she ascended to divinity.
Currently, Ivyst was far too distant from godhood, and she couldn’t wait even a moment.
Furthermore, if this method of removing the curse mark made her feel like she had been influenced by that wretched woman, it was highly unpleasant.
She was clearly the one destined to decide the future.
So why was she gradually shifting toward that wretched woman’s image instead of making the other become what she desired?
For these reasons, she was determined to obtain the Heraemius tomb.
That was the fundamental reason behind Ivyst’s choices.
However, she certainly wouldn’t tell Cyrilina such an absurd reason of competing and being jealous.
“None of your business.”
Seeing this, Cyrilina softly sighed.
After a long silence, she finally revealed the truth about the Heraemius tomb.
“As you suspected, there seems to be a kind of ‘authority’ within the tomb, which has the property of ‘stripping’ apart things that conceptually connect. The ‘shell syndrome’ among the grave-robber teams arose due to unconscious contamination by the tomb’s rules.”
“As for whether this authority is complete and whether it can affect a Sixth Stage Half-Divine, that’s still unknown.”
“However, based on my speculation, the tomb’s owner must have possessed a status above the Seventh Stage Saint in life; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been able to exert such terrifying influence on reality even after thousands of years.”
Just as expected!
Upon hearing Cyrilina’s words, a flicker of fervor shone in Ivyst’s eyes.
She imagined her adorable little puppy lying in her arms after returning to her true appearance, prpr.
Her motivation shot through the roof.
Seeing Ivyst so full of enthusiasm, Cyrilina couldn’t help but feel worried.
“Whether the things in the tomb can strip away the curse mark from your face is still uncertain.” After much thought, Cyrilina couldn’t help but add, “Also, aren’t you afraid that they might have lured you to contact the Heraemius tomb specifically to strip some powers from you through this ‘authority’?”
Hearing this, Ivyst smiled lightly.
As they say, high risks bring high rewards.
If you’re not willing to take even a little risk, thinking that way of cowardice, how can you defeat that wretched woman ten thousand years later?
Besides…
“Just as you said, they are the ones who are afraid of me now.”
“Since they are afraid, it means they have no means to force me to comply, so I can simply do as I please.”
Ivyst stated calmly.
Seeing her sister so composed, Cyrilina hesitated.
A Sixth Stage Half-Divine was indeed incredibly powerful, even among the Empire, which was unquestionable.
But that was relative to humanity.
Bear in mind, the threats in this world don’t only come from humans; it’s often from those terrifying rules and sealed items, even some indescribable entities.
Furthermore, as she mentioned before.
As long as you remain ensnared in the “Saint Roland Empire,” you will always be at the mercy of others.
The incident in Orlen City happened because she refused to be disqualified from the Royal Selection.
And the outcome even turned out satisfactory for all.
But what about next time?
Even if no one could use coercive means to make her forcibly strip her powers and authority, what if… due to someone’s presence, she found herself forced to make such choices?
Since returning from Orlen City, Ivyst had changed a lot, which was good.
But change also meant that there were things she valued now.
To those fools in the Imperial Capital, a Sixth Stage Half-Divine was not terrifying.
What’s truly terrifying is a Sixth Stage Half-Divine that has no attachments or desires.
And once a person has attachments, they also have weaknesses.
Cyrilina hoped Ivyst would keep those words in mind.
Yet looking at her, she found it hard to voice.
Hopefully, she was just overthinking.
Cyrilina lightly sighed.
At this moment, the tea had gone cold.
Just as she was about to wrap up this late-night chat, there was a sudden knock at the study door.
“Come in.”
The next second, the mansion’s female steward burst into the room, looking flustered.
Upon seeing both princesses present, she slightly reined in her panic and hurriedly spoke, “Your Highness, we just found a male corpse in the third-floor corridor. From the clothing, he seems to be a guest at the banquet.”
Upon hearing this, Cyrilina instantly realized the gravity of the situation, her expression serious: “Has the identity of the deceased been confirmed?”
“Not yet, but he was wearing a crow mask, and we are currently investigating—”
The female steward wanted to say more but was abruptly interrupted by a sudden voice.
“What did you say?”
Ivyst had lifted her head at some point, looking at the two speaking with a tone that slightly trembled.
Cyrilina froze in place.
She couldn’t tell if it was her imagination.
In her sister’s eyes, she saw an unprecedented sense of fear and despair.
As if… the world had just collapsed.
Is this your weakness?
Cyrilina silently thought.