Chapter 165 Chapter 165: Building a Beautiful Nation (Part 1) [7/7]
With this, we ended the bonuses :3
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After Bal's death, Renji no longer had a reason to fight. He quickly undid Nova's "materialization" state, causing the flames on the Crimson Wings behind him to extinguish rapidly until the wings themselves dissolved into nothingness, replaced by the figure of the Dragoness reappearing at Renji's side.
Although Nova had always been in the form of the "Crimson Wings" behind Renji, her consciousness was not stripped away. She silently observed everything - the entire battle, the subsequent conversation between Renji and Bal, and Renji's final lie.
For this reason, Nova now looked down at the place where Bal had perished. This comrade who had fought alongside her five hundred years ago, once a fellow Vanguard at the same height as her, now couldn't even leave a complete corpse behind, only turning into mist and dust in the evaporating black mire.
Perhaps the only proof of Bal's existence was the broken flower stem beside his body…
Suddenly, Nova frowned.
She noticed something unusual. As the black mire decreased, something hidden at the deepest part of Bal's body became visible, something that didn't dissipate but was left behind.
Looking closely, it was...
'Another flower?'
Its appearance was like a blooming lotus, yet it had petals as dark as ink.
It seemed to have been born from the mud of Bal's skeletal remains, unfortunately unable to remain untainted amidst the filth like a real lotus.
But despite turning into a black lotus, it didn't give off an eerie or evil vibe. Clearly, it retained its last bit of pride, for someone had once told it that it was special, it was still beautiful.
Renji soon noticed this black lotus as well. Unlike the Nova's complete confusion, when he focused on the black lotus, a popup window appeared.
[Bal's Soul Fragment]
[Quality: ★★★★★ (Disaster Rank)]
[Rarity: Unique]
[Effect: Records some of Bal's life messages. If successfully read and used, certain memory fragments can be obtained]
'A soul fragment?'
In the game, Renji didn't remember such an item. After picking it up from the black mire residue, the black lotus in Renji's hands emitted a deep and mysterious glow. From the petals of the lotus, it seemed to reflect the shadow of a high priest, Bal himself.
With the panel description, Renji roughly understood its function, but the question was...
'How can I use it?'
The item didn't come with instructions for use, and when Renji looked to the Dragoness for guidance, she shook her head. As a Vanguard, the concept of a "Soul Fragment" was too arcane and complex for her to understand.
At times like this, Renji's thoughts would involuntarily drift to an image of a pink-haired succubus. When it came to tinkering with such things, Lena, with her "Special Ability" expertise, was likely the best at it.
'Perhaps it was a form of telepathy.'
Just as Renji thought of Lena, he suddenly felt a stir. In the next instant, an item previously confiscated from Nova in his item space jumped out on its own, floating in front of him.
It was
A book.
More precisely, a "training" manual.
Indded.
The very 'training manual' that almost made him "crawl" out of his tent when Nova 'Attacked' him that night.
The author of this "training manual," who gave it to Nova,
Was none other than Lena!
Before Renji and Nova could react, the manual seemed to have a clear target.
The appearance of Bal's Soul Fragment seemed to trigger some hidden mechanism in the manual, causing it to fly towards the black lotus. The manual then opened on its own, and a suction force emerged, astonishingly "swallowing" Bal's Soul Fragment!
Well… Not really.
Upon closer observation, it seemed more like a "reading" ability.
After "ingesting" the black lotus, the manual emitted bursts of pink light. After a few moments, it opened again, and miraculously, its content was rewritten. It was no longer about "training" but had transformed into new lines of text.
These were
Instructions for a "Cursing Ceremony"
Renji and Nova didn't need to read every word. The manual quickly flipped through the pages before them, transforming the complex and arcane text into vivid memory images in their minds. The main character in these images was Bal when he was alive.
It detailed how Bal had developed the cursing ceremony for the demi-human races, like the one Renji had seen at the ancient Wolf Clan's forbidden zone, at the skeletal altar. It also explained how Bal, with the help of his "Mother" used the vast Miasma to complete the curse on all demi-human races.
This malicious bloodline curse initiated the decline of the demi-human races, leading to the loss of their power and the disappearance of "Relic Users" This widened the gap between them and the northern humans, eventually paving the way for the implementation of the slavery system.
The memory images in the manual didn't last long, and as its light gradually faded, so did Bal's soul fragment.
Renji and Nova now had a new set of memories, detailing how to perform the "Cursing Ceremony" Clearly, Bal left this soul fragment to help them lift the curse on the demi-human races, a root cause of the current division and decay in the Dragon Nation.
As long as the bloodline curse remained, the balance of power between the demi-humans and humans would never be equal. Even if they abolished the slavery system in the Dragon Nation, it would only be a superficial solution.
True coexistence between the two races required more than political slogans; it required equal power and mutual respect.
Renji had already destroyed the ceremonial altar, halting the curse for future generations of demi-humans. However, the challenge now was what to do with the millions of cursed demi-humans still in the Dragon Nation. Relying on the natural turnover of generations to eliminate the curse was too slow.
While Renji's "Divine Healing" spell proved capable of lifting the curse, it was impractical to expect him or Suthia to heal each demi-human individually. The spell worked well on individuals, but it was insufficient for an entire race.
Now, Bal's soul fragment offered Renji an alternative method.
A reverse curse.
A 'bloodline blessing ceremony'.
Performing the ceremony again, but this time using a blessing to neutralize the curse on the demi-humans, was Bal's answer to Renji and Nova. However, both a curse and a blessing required a vast amount of Miasma.
Originally, Bal had sourced this Miasma from his "Mother" of the Old Alliance.
For Renji and his companions, the only option was for Nova, a "Calamity Rank" being, to sacrifice her power to complete the ceremony. This could lead to the true rise of the demi-human races and restore the fragmented Dragon Nation, but at the cost of potentially draining Nova's vitality.
Even serious enough to
lose some levels.
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