Chapter 136: An Extravagant Hope

Chapter 136: Chapter 136: An Extravagant Hope

Nyxfrost was considered entirely abandoned. Whether Griffin would punish them for failing the objective was no longer important. Having just dragged themselves back from death’s door, gambling their lives again would be sheer madness.

But even giving up the objective, they couldn’t leave immediately.

The secret realm gate opened randomly.

The only way to leave this place was to wait until it automatically opened again and forcibly pushed them out.

Griffin had locked in three months, so they would stay here for at most three months.

Besides the Caelum Jade and Nyxfrost, this secret realm wasn’t devoid of other serendipitous encounters. Once their injuries healed, as long as they avoided the crowd chasing the Caelum Jade, who knows, they might scoop up quite a bit.

The tactile sensation from his waist was incredibly clear. Jeremy retracted his gaze, looking down at the fox tail still wrapped around his waist.

It tightened a bit, then loosened again, perfectly in sync with its master’s breathing.

To be honest, right now he felt that compared to a fox, Lucius resembled a snake that liked clinging to people more.

Since the day he sprouted a tail, that guy had never stayed put.

Considering that even if he removed it, it would just wrap around again, Jeremy decisively ignored it, closed his eyes, and began to adjust his breathing.

Whatever happened, he only hoped the coming days would be a bit less turbulent.

If Jeremy had closed his eyes a moment later, he would have seen the blood hue in Lucius’s eyes spread out once again. The coldness within was also unlike his usual self.

When the others looked over, Lucius closed his eyes, cutting off all lines of sight.

His whole body seemed drained of strength; he drew up his knees, his back leaning against the ice wall, head tilted back slightly, raising a hand to cover more than half his face.

...Even though he was sitting right next to Jeremy, the screaming voices in his head still refused to stop.

Every word, every sentence was like being carved into his soul with a knife, never fading.

"You deserve to die! A a a a!" All kinds of curses mixed with gut-wrenching screams. "Devil! Vile spawn! I curse you to burn in karmic fire for all eternity, your soul scattered, forever with no place to belong!"

Words stained with venomous resentment, every single word ruthless.

Just as this voice ended, another hoarse curse plunged straight into his soul, more vicious, louder.

"A devil intolerable to heaven and earth. Destined to suffer endless agony for all eternity." The sound of tearing flesh accompanied a bizarre laughter, mixed with foul words. "We want to gnaw at your soul, tear your flesh apart, we want to crush the very source of your soul to dust, subject you to lingering execution for ten thousand generations, your soul scattered to the wind!"

"We curse you to fall into Avernus, forever without a day of peace!"

"Reduced to ashes! A horrible death!"

"Unforgiven by gods and demons! You lowly vile spawn deserve to be pierced by Soul-Devouring Nails, imprisoned for ten thousand generations, your remnant soul squeezed dry, you deserve to..."

Countless curses, agonizing cries, and bitter insults intertwined.

Chaotic, rising and falling, connecting endlessly.

All poured straight into his consciousness, not leaving a single second of respite.

Every word was like a poisoned worm crawling all over his brain and body. The pain they brought made his head feel like it was being smashed by a hammer. Soul and body were simultaneously sliced bit by bit by sharp blades and then crushed. That feeling of wanting to live but unable to, wanting to die but failing, was so intense it was hard to breathe.

The rolling killing intent within those countless voices was like a physical entity of cold air invading his entire body, making him feel as if thrown straight into an ice cellar, his consciousness sinking into chaos.

In his head now, only curses remained. His eardrums were muffled thick. His mouth and nose felt stuffed with waterlogged cotton; even breathing became dry and arduous.

His vision went dark. The pain pounded incessantly throughout his body and soul.

Lucius suppressed his panting. The cold sweat densely beading on his forehead showed his condition was far from fine.

Damn it... can’t you just stay quiet and behave for a bit.

Originally, every time he got close to Jeremy, these voices would shut off for a period.

But since meeting again on the first day of the semester, that scent seemed to have lost its effect.

Over the past few days, he had been using magic power to suppress it, so he could still endure. But earlier his magic power was drained dry, compounded by injuries, now he had completely lost control.

The seal that had been suppressed for so long completely broke open.

His thoughts were so chaotic he couldn’t calmly push them aside.

It hurts so much... it’s so noisy.

Beneath the hand covering his face, his gaze had already shattered. Reason was torn away chunk by chunk. His fox tail instinctively gripped tightly onto the existence that had once been his antidote.

But over the past few days, no matter how hard he tried to get close, it was of no use.

Why?

Was it because he swapped physical bodies?

The scent was clearly still there...

Yet it had lost its antidotal effect.

Before Lucius’s eyes, he could no longer see clearly. Frustration and irritability intertwined. The tail wrapped around Jeremy felt somewhat unreconciled.

He didn’t believe it. That the lifeline allowing him to breathe for a few beats could lose its efficacy so easily.

But these past few days, no matter how close he snuggled, it couldn’t reduce the pain anymore, nor did it silence the screaming voices like the months before.

Suddenly, another voice overwhelmed all the wailing, piercing straight into his soul with a chilling coldness.

"Can’t even handle this much?"

"Truly a piece of trash..."

"How about letting me take control of the body? Just sleep obediently, I’ll bear it for you..."

"Scram." Lucius closed his eyes, using his will to spit out exactly one word, slicing off the other’s sentence.

The other gave a cold sneer, then fell completely silent.

"..."

The wind on the snowy mountain peak grew increasingly biting, making it hard to feel even a fraction of vitality.

"Hmph..."

From Lucius’s throat spilled a chuckle so light a single gust of wind could scatter it.

It was self-mockery. It was sarcasm. It was also helplessness.

He shouldn’t have dreamed of something called salvation.

Those few months of peace... were perhaps the final gift the heavens were willing to bestow.

He had demanded too much.

A very long time later, he retracted the tail wrapped around the youth’s waist.

By the time he lowered his hand from his face, his expression was no different from a normal day. Still that calm, collected demeanor, making it very difficult to catch a single point of instability.

That fake, gentle, harmless facade had long been a mask acting as shackles. While the void inside was only filled with endless pain.