Volume 6, Chapter 62 – A Will Set Free

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In that moment, Bai Lianyue could feel the power within her draining at a terrifying rate — not the controlled expenditure of the self-detonating core, but a forcible plunder, seized by a domineering suction that brooked no resistance.

Her ice-blue curse power hemorrhaged outward like a dam giving way, surging along that invisible pull in an uncontrolled torrent. Even the purifying power of the Heart of the World could no longer hold — it too was swept up and drawn into the unknown vortex.

“What… is happening…”

Deep confusion surfaced in Bai Lianyue’s eyes.

In a thousand years, she had never encountered anything like this.

As her power continued to bleed away, her body began to fall uncontrolled. The bellflower mark on her forehead dimmed rapidly, its light almost swallowed back beneath her skin. The elven girl fought to hold on, but it seemed she could only slow the process — she could not stop it.

The agony of the corruption’s erosion had not yet faded, and now the hollow weakness of power being stripped from her came crashing in on top of it. Battered by both at once, her consciousness flickered. She clenched her jaw and whispered with bitter fury.

—”Damn it…”—

And as the curse power within Bai Lianyue weakened, the black mud binding the two evil gods began to crack and dissolve. The black briars lost their earlier resilience, their thorns going soft, the hold on both figures gradually loosening.

“Hehe… heheheh…”

A deranged little laugh drifted over from nearby.

Bai Lianyue turned her head with great effort, and saw Ulutiel — still held in the weakening bonds — lifting her head. Her deep-blue eyes were filled with gleeful satisfaction. Her bare body swayed slightly as the restraints loosened, and the bloody lacerations across her skin were slowly closing, nourished by a returning trickle of curse power.

“It looks like things went smoothly over there~”

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Ulutiel’s voice carried the bright clarity of a child — layered beneath it was a malice that made the skin crawl.

She had clearly noticed Bai Lianyue’s sudden flinch.

“You… what did you do?”

Bai Lianyue’s expression was ice-cold as she demanded an answer.

“Elder Sister, don’t look at me like that~ I didn’t do anything~”

Ulutiel stuck out her tongue, flashing a playful, knowing smile.

“At most… I just sent that child along on her way~”

As she spoke, the white-haired girl cast a meaningful sidelong glance toward the distance — and then, like someone who had said all they intended to, fell cryptically silent.

She hadn’t explained herself clearly, but when Bai Lianyue followed that gaze toward the horizon, her eyes contracted sharply.

“You… don’t tell me you’ve—?!”

For the first time, a look of panic and dread broke across the elven girl’s flawless face.

She wanted to rush to Robusta Wildwood canyon.

But as her curse power continued to drain, the force restraining the two evil gods fell apart completely. Polana ground her teeth and ripped the briars wrapped around her bare body apart through sheer force.

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Pale-white flames ignited around Ulutiel as well, burning away the vines and black mud binding her body until they were ash.

Freed, Ulutiel raised a hand and swept it through the air. Deep-blue curse power rippled around her, weaving itself back into a white sundress.

“Elder Sister — were you thinking of running off to that canyon?”

“…”

“That won’t do~. After all… Elder Sister still needs to keep playing with us for a while longer~”

She pressed a finger to her lips, her smile absolutely radiant.

On the other side, Polana, having torn herself loose, wrapped a length of grey cloth around herself and descended slowly to position herself behind Bai Lianyue.

“Never thought that green-haired little brat actually told the truth… I’ll give the little wretch credit where it’s due.”

After casting a grudging look of approval toward Ulutiel, Polarvitan redirected her full attention back to Bai Lianyue.

“Old hag — you had a fun time just now, didn’t you? Even tied me up in such a humiliating position… Hmph. Let’s see how I deal with you next. First I’m stripping you down!! Then I’m stringing you up and beating you!!”

Before the words had even finished, Polana planted a foot against the air and flashed forward in an instant, a clawed strike crashing down toward Bai Lianyue’s body—

—Slash!!—

Blood scattered in all directions—

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At the same time —

Western reaches of The Veiled Domain. Robusta Wildwood canyon.

This was the place where corrupt curse power ran thickest in all of The Veiled Domain — and the place where Bai Lianyue’s mortal body had fallen in ages past. The canyon walls on both sides were black as ink, veined throughout with strange curse power markings. A nauseating, rotting stench hung in the air. The black mist was dense enough to feel solid, visibility barely reaching three feet.

Deep within the canyon, the black mist churned with mounting violence. Countless threads of black curse power gathered like swarming serpents, pouring into the mist’s core.

—Hmm—

A low, resonant thrum rang out, and the black mist parted abruptly to either side, carving a straight passage through its heart.

“Click… click…”

Clear, measured footsteps followed.

Moments later, a slender figure stepped slowly out from within the mist.

It was a girl in a scarlet formal dress. Silver hair cascaded like a waterfall to her waist, forming a stark and unsettling contrast against the deep red of her gown. Her eyes were no longer their original orange-red — they had become a deep, blood-soaked crimson, devoid of any warmth.

Most disturbing of all was something on her dress itself. Sewn to the right shoulder of the gown was a crimson eyeball the size of a fist. Its surface was laced with fine, dense blood vessels; its black pupil contracted and dilated in a slow, living rhythm, fixed in an unblinking stare at the void ahead. Occasionally it would blink — languidly, deliberately — secreting a viscous dark-red fluid that slid down the gown and left scattered scarlet stains on the ground below.

The girl raised her head slowly. Those crimson eyes swept across the canyon, and a cold smile curved at the corners of her mouth.

“With this power… Mommy will never abandon us again, will she… heh. Heheh. Heheheh.”

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Her voice was no longer the soft, sweet sound of before. It was hoarse — like something that had been suppressed for a very long time and was finally, at last, being released. A flash of relief passed through those crimson eyes, but what lay beneath it was far greater: greed. Madness.

If Octopus Sister had been present, she would have recognized with a jolt of shock that this girl with the deranged expression on her face was none other than little Weiya.

Under Ulutiel’s guidance and assistance, Weiya had come to Robusta Wildwood canyon once more. This time she had not drawn from the core buried in the black mist’s depths in careful, measured amounts as she had before — she had consumed it all, greedily and completely.

When that energy fully merged into Weiya’s small body, her power climbed to an entirely new height.

Feeling the immense force surging within her, Weiya clenched her fist, trembling with excitement.

But as the silver-haired girl stood immersed in that overwhelming power, the eyeball on her chest — the one that moved as though it were alive — suddenly rotated.

It swept across everything around it. And from within those crimson pupils, a deeply chilling gleam began to seep free.

I —

I’m finally out…

So this is what freedom tastes like?! Heh. How wonderful.

Bai Lianyue, you little wretch! How dare you keep me locked away all these years! Today is the day you pay for it!!!

Heh.

Haha. Hahahahahahahahaha!!