Chapter 191

191: Falling

A familiar middle-aged male voice came from behind. Lina instantly went on alert. She turned and threw in one fluid motion. The Black Key in her hand shot forth like an arrow loosed from a bow, flying directly toward the person behind her.

"Haha, long time no see, my dear daughter. Is this a welcome gift for your father?"

Howard smiled as he tilted his head to dodge the lethal attack, then asked Lina in a joking tone.

"You're not my fa... ack! You're not Howard. Tell me who you are."

Lina subconsciously started to address Howard as "Father," but she immediately remembered what that man had done to Jasmine. Without hesitation, she changed her words, her tone filled with coldness.

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"First, Howard almost never addresses Jasmine or me as his daughters. He always calls us by our names directly."

"Second, and most importantly."

Lina looked at the "Howard" before her and revealed a mocking smile.

"As his teacher, aren't you aware that Howard has always been a serious man who rarely smiles? How could he possibly speak in that tone? My dear Cardinal Zophi?"

"Hehe, not bad. I thought only Jasmine would give me a bit of a surprise."

"Howard" smiled faintly. The next moment, golden threads emerged from beneath his skin and gradually covered his entire face.

In the blink of an eye, his face transformed into Zophi's appearance.

"Congratulations, my beloved daughter. You have found the location of the [Gate] within [Genesis]."

"So next..."

Zophi smiled as he raised his hand. A crimson light, red as blood, lit up in his palm.

"Comes your trial!"

Lina looked coldly at Zophi, who held [Longinus], and asked in what seemed like a casual tone.

"I'm still inside the illusion, right? So... the one standing before me now is a projection of your consciousness?"

"Not exactly. I am merely a remnant image left behind by my main body within [Genesis]. In other words..."

"Just a lifeless thing."

When Zophi said this, his expression was quite relaxed, as if he were simply chatting with Lina.

"Hehe, so…"

Lina suddenly looked at Zophi with a teasing expression and asked in a nearly rhetorical tone.

"Your main body isn't even here, and you want to throw your weight around?"

In an instant, Lina's figure vanished from where she stood.

At the same time, several chains woven from God-given Magic emerged without warning from beneath Zophi's feet, locking his limbs with blinding speed.

"Swipe!"

A silver-white blade flash cut through the air, heading straight for Zophi's neck.

"Hm, quite decisive."

The smile on Zophi's face remained unchanged, as if this were nothing more than a casual spar to him.

An ominous feeling quietly rose in Lina's heart.

"Clang~~~"

As a long, resonant sword ring echoed, the Black Key in Lina's hand came to a steady stop less than a centimeter away from Zophi's neck.

If one were to carefully observe the blade of the Black Key near Zophi's neck at this moment, it would not be difficult to discover that the blade had not simply stopped in midair. Rather, it was being blocked by a subtle, nearly imperceptible spatial ripple.

"Bye bye~"

Zophi smiled knowingly. Then, under Lina's shocked gaze, he casually waved his hand and effortlessly sent her tumbling down into the canyon.

"Not good..."

Looking at the abyss of Black Mud churning below like a quagmire, Lina felt her scalp go numb. Fortunately, in the moment before she was about to fall into the Black Mud, she drove her Black Key into the rock wall before her, using it to suspend herself from the cliff.

"Quite quick-witted. Not bad, not bad."

Zophi casually tore off the chains wrapped around his body and walked straight to the edge of the canyon. He looked down and happened to see Lina hanging on the precipice.

The two locked eyes. Words failed them.

"Bye bye~"

Zophi smiled faintly and gave the [Longinus] in his hand a light wave.

In an instant, the Black Key in Lina's hand snapped cleanly.

"Damn it! You (Church profanity)!"

"Good children shouldn't use such language~"

Zophi simply watched as Lina fell into the Black Mud. The smile on his face only faded after she was completely submerged.

It was replaced by deep helplessness.

His facial appearance began to change once more.

Deep, wicked black eyes. A refined and handsome face. This person was unmistakably the Cult Leader of the Descent Faction.

"Brother Zophi, I can only help you this far."

"Don't blame me for meddling. [Fate Sight] tells me that to achieve our goal, your two precious daughters must be completely reconciled."

"Sigh, but then again, His Black Mud truly does require the power of [Love] to activate. How did I not think of that back then?"

Talking to himself, the young Cult Leader gave a self-deprecating smile.

"No wonder. The curse ([Fate Sight]) on us still shows no sign of lessening..."

"Praise be, my Lord..."

……

What... was this feeling?

Lina, having fallen into the Black Mud, did not feel any discomfort.

The Black Mud was not as terrifying or cold as she had imagined. Instead, it had an inexplicable... warmth.

Lina felt herself slowly sinking, but she did not know where the destination lay.

Nor... did she want to know.

Ah, it feels like... just sinking like this wouldn't be so bad...

That Jasmine, having such a wonderful thing and not telling me...

So angry, so angry, so angry...

That girl, actually...

Just as Lina began to lose herself in random thoughts, she suddenly felt a burning sensation on her neck. She subconsciously reached up to touch it, but felt nothing.

At the same time, her consciousness, which had been somewhat hazy, gradually became clear.

What... was that feeling just now?

Why would I feel angry at Jasmine over something so trivial?

Lina's heart startled.

This Black Mud had the effect of subtly influencing one's mind!

No. She could not stay here long!

Lina struggled to float upward, but the result was like being trapped in a real quagmire. Not only was there no sign of rising, but the more she struggled, the faster she sank.

At the same time, the comfort she had felt earlier vanished completely, replaced by all sorts of eerie whispers and murmurs that filled Lina's brain.

"Hate hate hate hate hate…"

Inexplicable resentment quietly rose in Lina's heart.

Yet she did not even know what she was hating. She only knew that this massive hatred locked onto her heart like chains, making her heart ache as if it were being cut by a thousand blades.

It hurts so much...

Lina gritted her teeth tightly. If she could see her own face at this moment, she would be shocked to discover that her cheeks were now covered with the same pitch-black patterns that appeared on Jasmine when her condition flared up.

Jasmine... had she been enduring this pain since she was eight years old?