Ch. 6 - The Scroll and The Inverted Tree

CW: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Gore —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At present, just before Paladin's conscience was about to overpower his desire, something suddenly grabbed his leg. Startled, Paladin looked down and saw Feng Li Er hugging his leg with one hand. Meanwhile, her other hand grabbed the scroll that fell on the ground and was about to turn and crawl away!

Right at this moment, Paladin's conscience, which had just gained the upper hand, was instantly defeated by his inflated desire. He charged forward with bloodshot eyes, pressed Feng Li Er under him, and viciously said, "Give it back to me! Give me the scroll!"

Feng Li Er ignored Paladin's rage. She instead clenched her teeth and tried to crawl towards the sealed gate in the distance with determined eyes. However, how could Paladin allow her to do so? As the saying goes, evil sprouts from within. When confronted with temptation, most people simply succumb to darkness.

"Let go, let it go! I'm telling you to let go of the scroll!" Paladin said, as he tightly gripped Feng Li Er's slender and tender neck.

"Oh, cough, cough!" Breathing was extremely difficult for Feng Li Er, who had been grabbed by the throat. Her face began to turn purplish not long after.

Reacting purely out of survival instinct, she opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue. She immediately let go of the scroll and grabbed Paladin's arm with both of her hands. Her grip was so tight that blood began to trickle down his arm. The sight of blood completely wiped out Paladin's last semblance of reason, reducing him to madness.

"Die, die, die! DIE FOR ME!"

With bloodshot eyes, he pressed down harder, putting all of his weight onto his arms. Feng Li Er's legs had previously been severed. Obviously, she’d lost a lot of blood. This was her final and last fight. The pressure from Paladin’s attack caused her eyes to almost pop out of their sockets and her tongue to loll out of her small mouth.

The hands that had clasped his arms before began to flail erratically. Shortly after, Feng Li Er died as the last dregs of her energy were depleted. Her once-beautiful face had turned hideous, and her skin had turned blackish purple. Paladin, who had descended into madness, had no intention of letting go. His hands were still clutching the broken neck.

"AHH!" Paladin let out an inhuman roar. He drew a dagger from his cuff and stabbed Feng Li Er's dead body with all his might over and over and over again!

He was no longer attacking to kill the enemy, but rather to express his deep-seated fear and resentment in his heart. Even he wasn't sure whether he had stabbed her dozens of times or hundreds of times. When his arms started to become sore, his sanity finally returned.

The next thing he noticed was that Feng Li Er, who was underneath him, had died a long time ago. Her once-pretty face and well-proportioned figure had been riddled with so many stabs that all that remained was a disgusting chunk of rotten meat. Paladin tossed the dagger away at once. The frantic and distorted expression on his face was replaced with fear.

"AHHHH!" Paladin let out a terrified cry and collapsed to the ground like a frightened rabbit. He stepped back vigorously, trying to get as far away from the corpse as possible. The corpse…. He killed her with his own hands!

"I killed her…. I killed her!" Paladin murmured. His expression abruptly changed. A wave of nausea washed over him, causing his stomach to convulse. He then lowered his head in order to vomit.

"Cough, cough, cough... Cough, cough, cough... Hahahahaha!" Paladin turned to face Feng Li Er's corpse, which was lying nearby, after the nausea subsided. His expression changed to one of morbid delight. He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

That was right, he was a slave. Someone who was looked down upon and bullied by others. He actually killed that very beautiful and powerful mentor, Feng Li Er! He killed her, murdered her so cruelly that her corpse was so unsightly!

"Yes, it's unsightly. Very unsightly!"

Paladin abruptly stood up, strode over to the corpse, and snatched the Ripley Scroll from its grasp. He then carefully tucked it away in his clothes. Seeing that time was running out, just when Paladin was about to turn his feet to leave, there was a sudden rumbling sound from the four stone statues that had originally housed the Ripley Scroll!

Paladin sharply turned his head and vigilantly observed the slightly trembling stone statue. When he found nothing amiss, he turned to leave. But then, something strange happened. The stone statues that were kneeling on the ground moved towards the surroundings as if there were pulleys beneath their feet. With the rumble, the ground began to move and split into several massive openings. Next, a massive rectangular thing slowly rose.

Paladin blinked, his mouth agape. Naturally, he took a step forward. The rumbling ceased, and a huge rectangular stone tablet was displayed in the place where the Ripley Scroll used to be. It was fifty meters in both length and width!

"Huh? What's this?"

Paladin narrowed his eyes and approached it with caution. There was an inverted tree engraved on the huge stone tablet. The roots of the strange inverted tree were on top, while the canopy was on the bottom! Strangely, the leaves took the shape of blades. Ten circles encircled the entire plant, from the leaves to the roots. There were notes written in one of the oldest human languages in each circle.

Near the roots, there was something written that could be read as ‘The Road of the Fire Sword.’ Paladin stepped forward, stroking the rough tablet that had gone through many years. The words 'Material and Kingdom' were written in the circle closest to the leaves. Paladin, who was familiar with alchemy, could quickly understand that what was written was about the current world, the material world that can be seen and touched.

Paladin couldn't help but frown when he subconsciously looked up. 'Gluttony, Sex, Laziness, Envy, Pride, Anger, Greed' was written above the seventh circle. That was right, these were the seven deadly sins human beings had committed since the birth of the Holy See's Cassily Bible!

Paladin was filled with apprehension. Why was something from the Holy See stored in the place where an alchemy scroll was sealed by the alchemists themselves? He began to feel a little regretful; he should’ve read the Cassily Bible to expand his knowledge. But, how could there be a bible in this Freemasons' Association, which was hunted down by the Holy See? That wasn’t a problem Paladin bothered to care about before.

Paladin continued to look up until he saw the ninth circle. Pure Reason' was written in the circle closest to the roots. And the word 'God' was written in the last root, which depicted the sun.

Tap!

"This…. God?! Could this stone slab be a guide on how to become a god? Such a blasphemous thing...How could it possibly belong to the Holy See?!"

Paladin visibly turned pale with fright in an instant. He took another step back. But, before he could figure it out, countless runes on the cave's floor suddenly lit up. The runes started floating and moving!

"No, the time’s almost up!" Without hesitation, Paladin turned and ran. He dashed to the sealed door, yet still couldn’t resist the urge to look back at the massive stone slab in the center.

"What’s going on with that stone tablet? What is the Ripley Scroll's connection to the tablet?"

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