The Elusive and Mysterious Hero, Part 38

She was set down on the cold stone floor. Beneath her, a dim radiance slowly rose, and magical energies stirred in the air, gradually revealing the form of the spell circle beneath her.

Dela crouched beside her, pinching her cheek with one hand and smiling in a lewd, nauseating way.

"I heard from the High Priest that you can use some strange healing art, one that can even mend injuries caused by the gods’ forbidden spells?"

Sijiu looked at him calmly.

"Oh, right, I forgot you can’t speak." Dela tightened his fingers, forcing her to open her mouth, then fed her a pill. "That would have been troublesome if you’d started screaming just now. Now, you can talk."

As he spoke, he brazenly stroked her cheek.

A woman who could enchant even that black dragon was indeed a feast for the eyes.

The pill melted the instant it entered her mouth, leaving a bitter, bloody taste that slid down her throat. In just a few seconds, the numbness vanished, but the pain in her chest grew even fiercer.

"Did your High Priest ever tell you..."

"What?" Dela grinned and leaned closer, his hand growing even more shameless.

"Not only do I know healing arts, I also know electrotherapy."

With a crackle, electricity burst forth.

"Aah..."

Dela convulsed and collapsed to the ground, sparks dancing over his body. His hair stood on end, singed with the stench of burning.

"Thank you," Sijiu said inwardly to the system.

The system asked anxiously, "Host, your heart is in terrible condition right now. What exactly are you planning to do?"

"I want to make a grand final curtain call." Sijiu curved her lips, clearly in a very good mood.

The system: "..."

Ever since it learned that the male lead was the same person, and guessed that the company and someone else were hiding something from her, it could no longer make sense of her thoughts at all.

With a low hum, the spell circle beneath Sijiu flared to full brightness. A wave of sharp pain suddenly tore through her heart.

At the same time, Xiu, who had just pried the noctilucent pearl from the tower of Doringta under the troubled gazes of the guards, abruptly turned his head and stared straight toward where Sijiu was.

In the next instant, he flew into a rage. With a furious roar, he shot toward her location at once.

And Charles, still on the road, suddenly stopped, seized the guide by the throat, and asked, "Where are you taking me?"

The guide’s face changed at once; a flash of pain flickered across her features. Charles sensed danger immediately and, in the same instant, shifted from gripping to shoving, flinging the guide away with one palm.

But it was already too late. Just before she was pushed aside, the guide opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of black vapor.

Even though Charles held his breath and turned his face away at once, he could not avoid it completely.

In the blink of an eye, the world went black before him, and he lost consciousness entirely.

A fierce light suddenly flashed across the sky in the direction of the temple, but those lost in the revelry of the ball remained utterly unaware.

The spell circle beneath Sijiu, which had been shining only moments before, faded in sequence. By the time Xiu violently kicked the door open and stormed inside, the circle was empty; only Dela remained there, still convulsing and smoking.

Her scent still lingered in the air.

And on that vermin, too. Especially on his hands.

Xiu brought his foot down on Dela’s right hand, and the crunch of shattering bone, along with Dela’s wretched scream, rang out in the room.

"Where is she?"

"Aaah! Aaahhhh..."

Xiu lifted his foot and set it above Dela’s other hand, his vertical pupils staring coldly down at him.

Pain could not suppress his fear. Screaming in terror, he cried, "The temple— the altar—!"

Without hesitation, the foot came down again.

Both of Dela’s hands were utterly ruined. After a final scream of agony, he passed out.

Xiu’s figure flashed, and he was already outside the door. In the next instant, a pair of wings suddenly unfurled from his back, lifting him sharply into the sky as he flew toward the temple.

The noctilucent pearl in his palm gave off a幽 glow, casting his vertical pupils in an eerie and terrifying light.