Chapter 279: Ashe and Heath |
“Mantos Cheno received the reward ‘Hemera’s Badge of Honor’.”
“Hemera’s Badge of Honor: In the Hemera region, the holder’s arcane energy recovery rate, Soul Energy recovery rate, and stamina recovery rate increase by 100%, and it grants the holder three chances to resurrect from death.”
“The Spire received the reward ‘Watcher’.”
“Watcher: This building cannot be worn down. Any creature that gazes upon this building receives a temporary stamina restoration blessing, lasting for five minutes, which can only be triggered once per day.”
Undoubtedly, ‘Hemera’s Badge of Honor’ is an extremely powerful Item, especially with the three chances to resurrect, allowing the holder to virtually dominate in Hemera. The ‘Watcher’ reward is also quite intriguing; rather than saying it rewards the Spire, it might be more accurate to say it rewards the citizens of Hemera.
However, no one in the living room felt like discussing these rewards. The city outside had also fallen into silence, as if everyone was waiting for the verdict from the Gospel.
“Art Ranking, 8th place: ‘The Demigod’s Body of the Thousand-Color Oath’”
“A Sorcerer uses up all their sanity, all arcane energy, all spirits, their unique name, and life traces to create colored ink, which they apply stroke by stroke to their own body, thus leveraging the power of the Virtual Realm to temporarily gain power beyond Legend.”
“Alifiya Kaliya”
“5623 Sorcerers use their own blood as ink, and in a single night, they draw ritual runes across the entire city, using themselves as conduits to leverage the power of the Virtual Realm to reinforce the city’s structures.”
“Paris Sastin and 5623 others.”
As Ashe and others looked through, it was one thing, but Annan and Banjeet were nearly out of breath, their expressions extremely oppressed.
The Art Ranking barely described the world fifty years later directly, but each ranked piece indirectly depicted the brutal disasters that the Gospel Kingdom had endured.
It was a cruelty that led to the death of Sorcerers, the collapse of nations, the destruction of cities, the extinction of Families, marking nearly the end of the year 1668 in the history of Gospel—a great terror!
“What exactly happened…” Miss Annan bit her finger, “If the future is destined to be like this, is there still a need for us to vie for the Divine Master’s Wish… Yes, the Divine Master’s Wish!”
Banjeet responded, “Exactly, as long as we obtain the Divine Master’s Wish, we can request the Omniscient Weaver to intervene!”
“Oh? I guess you don’t mean using the wish to save the world, do you?”
Igor tilted his head, “Mr. Banjeet probably won’t have the chance to see the world fifty years from now, and Miss Annan, after using the wish to elevate your power beyond Legend, even if you can’t resist, you could definitely escape from the Gospel to another safe Kingdom to live, like our homeland which is quite nice… There’s absolutely no need to use the wish on something grand like saving the world, right?”
Annan surveyed them, “What if I suddenly decide I want to save the world?”
“Then I’d be very happy that my employer is a good person,” Igor shrugged, “After all, I don’t have such a high Realm of thought.”
They had revealed themselves, Ashe thought.
From the beginning to the end, Annan had never disclosed why she was willing to pay such a great price just for a chance to seize the Divine Master’s Wish.
Of course, everyone wants a wish, but what to wish for after obtaining it could be worlds apart.
If Annan wished for eternal life, everlasting youth, or even to become a deity, everyone could understand and cooperate normally. However, if Annan was pursuing this plan for some lofty ideal, it would be difficult for everyone to collaborate sincerely.
Igor and Harvey are both selfish, so they know that dealing with the selfish is the most comfortable—selfish people are afraid of death.
People with weaknesses are the easiest to control.
But idealists are different; apart from death, idealists have no other weaknesses. They only have two outcomes: win or die.
Cooperation means that everyone bears a cost too great to breach, so they must adhere to the rules of winning and losing. But if one party is not afraid of breaching, then such cooperation is merely a joke; they could overturn the table and deny everything at any time.
Annan and Banjeet seemed to sense that the rift between them and their tools was widening, so they remained silent and continued to look at the Art Ranking.
Soon, the Art Ranking reached its number one spot.
Unlike the gloomy scenes before, the scene of the first-place artwork was very comforting. In the studio with white walls, soft sunlight filtered through the windows, spreading across the wooden floor. Indoor plants gently swayed, inducing a drowsy laziness at first glance.
As the camera zoomed in, the scene revealed a beautiful woman in purple attire painting. Opposite her, there seemed to be a soft chair that should have been occupied by a model, but it was empty. However, the woman continued to paint as if someone was indeed there.
As the camera slightly shifted, the face of the woman in purple slowly came into view, and then, almost everyone in the living room stood up in shock!
Although she appeared more mature and more dazzling, this painter was unmistakably the head of the Funeral Firm, Miss Annan, known as the ‘Purple Moth’!
Miss Annan seemed melancholic in the video, her hand heavy as if leaden, painting with slow, burdensome strokes. Despite the light paper, each brushstroke felt immensely heavy, making it uncomfortable to watch.
When she made the final stroke, she stood up as if finally freed, violently snapping her paintbrush and shouting loudly, “It’s over!”
Crack!
With that crisp sound, the clean studio and the soft sunlight shattered like glass.
She wasn’t in a clean, bright studio but standing amidst burning ruins. The ground around her was cracked, the sky a murky yellow-grey, indistinguishable between day and night, as if the world was being devoured by the apocalypse!
At that moment, the perspective shifted behind Miss Annan, and everyone noticed that the soft chair, which should have been empty, now had someone sitting in it!
However, because the easel blocked the view, they could only see the legs and not the face directly!
But that didn’t matter.
Because whatever was obscured by the easel, Miss Annan had already captured it on her canvas.
This is the first-ranked artwork on the Art Ranking.
In the ruins of a burning city, a man dressed in a dark red trench coat is seated on a luxurious red leather soft chair. He crosses his legs, rests his left hand on his cheek, and wears a mask. His unkempt bangs fall casually, and he gazes indifferently at the burning world, his eyes slightly squinting as if he is smiling.
A chilling shiver runs up Ashe’s spine.
Art Ranking Number 1: “Ashe Heath”
“Portrait of Ashe Heath, painted by Annan Dolan”
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