Chapter 2798: Chapter 2798: An Outsider

A sharp, snapping sound cracked through the air.

A purple ribbon lashed out at Zen, sending him flying with the force of the blow.

Flamine rushed up to Elvinia and held her in her arms, looking worried.

Zen steadied himself midair and landed cleanly on the ground. He stood up unharmed, giving Elvinia a strange look.

In theory, as soon as the demonic eye stopped releasing the power of fear, then the imposed fears of the opponent would vanish.

Zen had released the power of his demonic eye to frighten her, but even now that he had stopped, Elvinia remained in a state of deep fear. She seemed unable to shake off her terror.

The divine flames of the Sun Crow race were gradually burning themselves out. Soon they extinguished, surrounded by the black, charred remnants of everything burned by the flames.

In the arms of Flamine, Elvinia still trembled and shuddered with fear.

Flamine raised her hand and gently touched the spot between Elvinia's brows. A soothing aura passed through her fingers and flowed into Elvinia's body, until she began to calm down.

Flamine turned to Zen. “Did you use some trick to cause her such fear?” she demanded.

The Truth of Goodwill and Malice was a rather unpopular Truth of Godly Way in the Oneness Sky Palace, but Flamine still recognized it immediately. What she didn't know was that Zen had used the power of the demonic eye.

“Yes,” said Zen.

Flamine sighed. Instead of blaming Zen, she said guiltily, “It's my fault... After she was born, she was put through a series of very cruel tests in the Divine Lair. Your trick has brought back those terrible experiences to her.”

Many people imagined that a demon woman of the Divine Lair would grow up in an environment of love and care just like humans. In truth, it was nothing like that.

Elvinia, for instance, had been considered a front-runner in the quest for the Divine Lair's next leader from the moment she was born.

To establish her right to become the leader, she had been forced to compete from a very early age with other demon women of the Divine Lair in fights to the death. Countless young girls like her died at her hands, while she herself sustained various injuries and traumas. She grew up exposed to cruelty, death, and suffering. When Elvinia was six years old, Eastern Emperor Taiyi fought his way into the Divine Lair and took her under his care. If not for his intervention, Elvinia would have become the leader already.

Although Elvinia spent the next several years in the relative safety of the Phoenix Palace, the memory of her childhood was indelible. Flamine had needed to use a special method to seal Elvinia's traumatic memories in the depths of her soul.

However, there were some theurgies of the Truth of Goodwill and Malice that could still trigger her and stir up her childhood memories.

Elvinia's bouts with panic and fear were particularly unsettling because she had otherwise developed a facade of indifference and detachment. It was the only way she could survive the brutal experiences of her childhood.

“Then why didn't you stop us just now?” Zen admonished, frowning.

Zen hadn't expected that he would have to fight Elvinia with Flamine on the sidelines, watching the battle the entire time.

He felt anger rising in him. He had needed to force Elvinia to release Laquisha, Nelly and Lavender.

Flamine continued to rub the spot between Elvinia's eyebrows, sadness appearing in her face. “I made a mistake. I wanted to see how far she had come, by seeing how far you could push her...” ꞦΑɴộᛒË𝐬

Upon her return to the Phoenix Palace, Elvinia had been mostly laconic and indifferent to everything going on around her. Flamine spent as much time with her as she could, often staying by her side throughout the day, but there seemed to be little to no improvement in Elvinia's disposition. As a mother, she couldn't help but feel desperate for anything that could shake her daughter out of her apathy.

But Flamine's efforts were in vain. Nothing she did succeeded in changing her daughter's attitude. Elvinia's heart had been shaped by fear and cruelty, and she now used indifference as a wall to guard against everything and anything that could do further damage to her psyche.

“Wouldn't it be more painful for both of you if I kept pushing her?” Zen asked with a sigh.

Flamine gave him a small smile. “No. When she is with you, she seems to be feeling things more deeply. Her emotions are richer. I am her mother and I never saw her that angry, but today I even saw her cry...”

When Flamine first brought Zen to her, Elvinia was indeed indifferent to her mother. She was apathetic towards everyone, really.

Zen wanted to roll his eyes, although he resisted the urge. This was too strange for him. He couldn't help feeling like this Flamine and Elvinia were a matched pair of lunatics. Should he scare Elvinia occasionally to satisfy Flamine?

“The Soul Fire Swirl is not a punishment. It's actually a cultivation method. Even the direct line of the Phoenix Palace would cherish this kind of cultivation method. The people you want to find should not be in danger,” Flamine said.

Zen was stunned for a moment. To himself he thought, with a trace of exasperation, 'If you two had made that clear earlier, we could have avoided the fight entirely.'

After a while, Elvinia finally awoke, and she found herself lying in her mother's arms.

She saw Zen nearby and glared at him. Breaking free from Flamine's arms, she hurriedly got up and started to leave the place.

“You lost to me,” Zen said behind her.

Elvinia stopped in her track and asked coldly, “So what do you want?”

“Take me to find them,” Zen said calmly.

Flamine watched their exchange without comment. Elvinia hesitated, looking torn, then she seemed to make up her mind. “Follow me,” she told Zen.

Zen glanced at Flamine, who nodded her assent. Elvinia marched out and Zen followed her as she made her way to the Fire Bearing Hall.

Flamine watched them leave, gazing at Zen's tall figure from behind. She smiled to herself, and murmured, “He's not afraid of the divine flames of the Sun Crow race, and his strength is greater than Elvinia's. I think they could be a good match...”

Streams of hot, intense auras reached Elvinia and Zen as they drew closer to the Fire Bearing Hall.

The walls of the hall were strung with glowing, red-hot chains, which drooped down like noodles as the metal of the chains softened in the burning heat. When Elvinia and Zen glanced up at the beams supporting the chains, they could see the tongues of flame licking at the pillars and eaves. When they looked down at the floor, which was also emanating heat, they could see the same burning flames in the cracks.

Zen was curious and would have liked to hear what people were cultivating in the Fire Bearing Hall. But, catching sight of Elvinia's stony, sullen face, he decided it would be best to stay quiet for now.

The two of them walked silently down a long, narrow corridor, then Elvinia abruptly turned and entered a side hall. Zen followed.

Zen instantly sensed a soul aura within the scorching, intense heat of the side hall.

His eyes lit up with excitement. This aura was quite similar to the aura of the soul pills. It was similar to that of the starlight that had landed outside Dragon City. And yet, the aura here was far stronger than either of those. Indeed, the aura here was at least ten times stronger than that of the soul pills or the starlight.

There were three people seated cross-legged in the center of the hall. Lavender, Nelly, and Laquisha sat beneath several red-hot chains. There were small swirls of flame burning under each chain, and these seemed to be the source of the powerful soul aura.

It was the first time Zen had seen a soul cultivated in such a manner. He was surprised and interested.

“Is this the Soul Fire Swirl?” he asked.

“Well, what else would it be?” Elvinia snapped, still angry with Zen.

Zen looked mildly embarrassed. “Ah, I thought it was a kind of torture for a moment...”

Elvinia's indifference was giving way to anger as she stared fiercely at Zen. At that moment, Nelly opened her eyes, and the flame swirling over her head immediately dissipated along the chain above her. Nelly saw Elvinia and grinned. “Little Master, I feel my aura has improved again! Eh? Zen?”

Zen, watching Nelly, was puzzled by her reaction.

He had not expected her to treat Elvinia as though she was an intimate, and he was surprised to feel like somewhat of an outsider.

Laquisha and Lavender also opened their eyes. When Laquisha saw Zen, she showed no sign of distress or worry. She only smiled sweetly and said, “You finally found us here!”

“Little Master said that you probably wouldn't be able to enter the Phoenix Palace,” Lavender said, also favoring Zen with a smile.

Zen was nonplussed. He had fought so hard to find these three, but now they were acting as though they hadn't been in danger at all. He realized that they had not been imprisoned. They were never in any kind of peril, and they had not been worried about anything.