Chapter 157: Malice

She calls her dark spirits out, letting them roam around the empty city. To see if they find something interesting.

Today was a good haul; besides having her ritual's completion almost fulfilled, she looted a lot of money and the memory fragments of the warriors in Empire's Edge. Their martial arts, though fragmented, overlapped with each other to complete several manuals and secret techniques.

She doesn't need to be afraid of direct encounters anymore. But there is one thing bothering her...

A technique that can only be unlocked if the primary Path was Material. Something to do with the secondary heart.

Does Dawn have the same thing? Do every Material Pathstrider know about this?

Or perhaps it is a conclusion from Ideation piecing a giant puzzle together. But alas, she cannot use it without a real body.

Another gain was the rituals from First to Sixth Step of Fire and Severance.

First Step: Create a fire by any means.

Second Step: Physically hold and maintain a fire for at least a day; the longer one maintains it, the stronger one will be. 

Third Step: Be consumed entirely by fire and maintain that state for at least a day, the longer the stronger one will be.

Fourth Step: Be submerged in water while maintaining one's burning state for at least eight months, the longer, the better.

Fifth Step: Merge one's soul with the physical fire.

Sixth Step: Become fire, become a forever burning blaze.

First Step: Cut something cleanly.

Second Step: Cut a moving target.

Third Step: Cut something you would normally not cut.

Fourth Step: Master a bladed weapon to the absolute peak, capable of cutting through anything.

Fifth Step: Master cutting without the assistance of any tools, weapons, or people, the minimum result must be cutting a mountain in half.

Sixth Step: Master the very concept of cutting, to the point of cutting without lifting a muscle.

As expected, the first three rituals are relatively simple. If someone was in a rush, they could accomplish it in three days.

It seems that Material Paths are easier to ascend than Astral and Immaterial.

Would it be easier to become a demigod if her primary Path was Cloak? But that wouldn't have let her survive Dream's Grave. She would've given up if not for the intense hatred burning in her soul.

She entered the arena's seat of honor, pushed the corpse out of the middle seat, and sat down. There was a sense of majesty here, looking down at everyone.

The dark spirits returned to her, but now, five of the twenty spirits had changed color. Crimson red for Right to Slaughter, misty white for Hunter's Parade. Now another red one, but not a Sanguine Decree, a blue one, and a yellow one.

"Come back here, guys."

They entered her body, and Lea read through what these new Sagas are.

Kalasma's Festival, which seems to be a story about an ancient God of Joy. It makes the user always joyful; that was it. Not very useful for a hateful person like Lea.

Flower of Love, a poem written by Sularao confessing her love for the world. By reciting this poem, it creates a field of flowers and summons the Goddess of Madness.

And the last one, this is a jackpot if she has ever seen one.

Rule of Brimstone, a story about a kingdom that uses brimstone as punishment for crimes, feeding a fragment of the yellow rock and letting the criminal suffer. This Saga can set up a designated area and create inviolable rules people must follow; if people break those rules, they will find a piece of brimstone in their stomach.

Of course, Lea would have to obey those rules too, but her body wouldn't have any problem ingesting a rock.

This was a great Saga to own and use.

For the sacrifice of 2,566 Pathstriders of Conlun, she had gained so much. She clasped her hands together and offered a prayer to those souls she had eaten. And thanked them for giving her their memories and skills.

"Life is priceless, so it can be paid for anything.", she spoke out loud.

Hmm?

She turned around; Lea saw the entrance leading to this booth covered in flora, as if nature had invaded this place. Plants grew wherever she walked, as if creating a path for her.

Mard Awalan the Plague Garden, stood there in her humanoid form. A cute green girl made of slime, with a light on her chest and eyes glowing yellow.

"Wh...at... you said... re...minds... me... of a... fri..end...", her words dragged out.

"A friend?", Lea tilt her head.

"Lughz... Dustur... the... Enig..ma... Code..."

Lughz Dustur the Enigma Code... a Star God I've never heard of before.

"They are... sleeping... sleep... be..came... a Slave... of Destiny... punished... sleep... they... be..lieve... in the sa...me thing as you...", a smile appeared on her face, "Child... please... don't ma...ke the... same... mis..take as they... did..."

"Don't cheat... don't disappear..."

It was a genuine word of advice, don't cheat.

With a smile, Lea nodded, "I won't."

The Plague Garden nodded, then condensed back into her slime form. It bounced onto Lea's lap, then was wrapped in Lea's arms.

She was thinking about having a similar mindset to a Star God. Life is priceless, so it can be paid for anything.

This was a good philosophy for a god...

Wait, no.

Lea, think about it for a moment, analyzing this phrase closely... isn't this a bit... demented? Isn't it too generalized? Why did I think it was a good idea?

It sounded like a serial killer's motto!! Which, on a technical level, she is one. A hypocrite at that, one who slaughters in the name of justice, but it was secretly for her own gain.

Not that she doesn't pursue justice; it is just a bit twisted. Taking in a deep, airless breath, she calmed herself down...

She put it to the back of her mind for now. Lea then thought of where to go next; she could go Eastward into the Great Forest, or one of the nations to spread her faith.

But she doesn't think a being of vengeance would fit well with the Church of the Three Rings. Not the god, but the clergy.

A brutal slaughterer? That is a no-go.

She could head back to the capital and stay there. At least it is way bigger than Conlun and holds at least ten million citizens.

Way safer, and she has the protection of the Temple.

"Alright, let's head back to the capital.", she said to the slime.

"Mm!!"

She can finally relax now—

But it was never meant to be.

She sensed a living mass of bloodlust coming from the North. Something dark, something filled with so much malice it reached her detection range beyond its radius. Just a faint whiff of it outclassed her pent-up hatred; how could something this dark exist?!

She stared in horror, staring at the massive aura of malice in crimson red. She wanted to run; she wanted to run so badly without hesitation. But the people here cannot run away from it. They would get slaughtered indiscriminately, they cannot escape.

This thing had made her relearn fear.

"I should really run..."

But if all of them died, all of her slaughter would be meaningless. So for her own sake, definitely for her own sake...

She summoned Houyi and morphed herself into a bird, landing on top of the temple. In her monster form, The Faceless Twilight drew her bow. She aimed at that mass of malice; it was too big to not notice.

"Through endless Darkness, I trek on."

She chanted, filling the energy arrow with the power of Malediction and Judgement.

"I am the Light to Evil, Desecration of Virtue."

Under the Veil of lies and delusions, She is a true god. By the Light of the Jester, she is the willing blade of Order.

"The Faceless Twilight shall Silence you."

And she let go of the string, shooting the arrow of light and darkness into the sky. At the same time, she activated Hunter's Parade, summoning her storm wolves, hundreds of them...

Because this is something The Faceless Twilight cannot handle alone. Someone else stepped up.

Her chest burst open; the Mother of Light crawled out of it.

And before The Faceless Twilight, a factory of life and death bloomed. Greenery invaded the chaotic structure, bringing forth all life and decay at the same time. And the slime became a giant woman, bearing branch-like antlers with vines hanging.

A giant sixty-meter-tall woman, wearing a cloak made of flora.

"Mother of Life...

Forever Innocent... Forever Ruthless...

Born of Love and Curiosity..."

She spoke her Honorific Name, of Mard Awalan the Plague Garden. This malice was not the defiler she was talking about, but something more dangerous.

The arrow exploded in midair. But the explosion should've hit whatever was approaching. That did not happen either.

Instead, a section of the explosion caved in and rebounded into the rest. Whatever it was, it had done what was effectively parrying a physical and metaphysical explosion.

And finally, the voice of Bashie Mahzala came.

"The Weakest Lord of Annihilation! Tianzai Natil the Heavenly Slaughter!!"

Hearing that, Lea relaxed a bit.

"Oh, and the minimum requirement to join that Faction is a love for total annihilation and the capability to destroy an entire star system."

That made Lea tense up again.

"You need to stop it before its Tempo can gain enough traction. Or else, this entire world will be sliced in half."

When the dust settled, walking into view was a topless man, whose beard and hair had grown long. And he was wielding a cracked ornamental blade, with its past beauty still visible.

Tianzai Natil, the name of that god Charlotte, Novala, and another one dealt with.

The Heavenly Demon, who holds more malice than anything in the world.