Apotheosis

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 theurgi

t 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.