"What did you say?"
Lind's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a heavy hammer hitting the silent room, making the candlelight flicker.
He subconsciously glanced at Nix beside him. The girl's amber cat eyes were filled with confusion and helplessness. Her slender fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes, and her tail swished restlessly on the ground.
Valeria's short sentence contained a wealth of information as deep as the maw of an abyss, enough to devour the reason of any mortal—the bloodline of the Lord of the Shadow Abyss and the God of Beasts? This is simply... absurd and terrifying!
Countless thoughts flashed through Linde's mind in an instant:
Nix's extraordinary affinity for shadows, her almost instinctive fighting instincts... all the details of the past seem to have found their home now, yet they point to a chilling answer.
"Isn't Nocturnus dead?"
Lind's voice was tense, without him even realizing it, and his sharp gaze locked onto Valeria's face again, trying to extract more truth from her distorted expression.
Valeria's reaction far exceeded Lind's expectations.
It was as if an invisible giant hand had gripped her throat; her pupils dilated with extreme fear, and she screamed incoherently:
"You...how did you know?! You really are the Oracle of the Lord of the Light Veins! He...He really does favor you!!"
Her voice was shrill and piercing, filled with desperate hysteria.
Linde neither denied nor admitted it.
He maintained that unfathomable calm, like cold rock, his voice deep and filled with unquestionable authority:
“Answer my question.”
This silent "acquiescence" is more oppressive than any words.
Valeria's body trembled violently, her teeth digging deep into her lower lip, blood seeping out and leaving a glaring red mark on her pale face.
Her mental defenses collapsed completely under the continuous onslaught, leaving only a desperate, almost insane light in her eyes.
She abruptly raised her head, her voice hoarse, like a broken bellows beating:
"Death? That's a lie only you fools blinded by light would believe! The Shadow Abyss has never disappeared! It flows in the darkness of the world, existing in the shadow of every living being! As long as the Light Veins endure, order will prevail, and the Shadow Abyss will remain with them, eternally intertwined! It is the master of the Shadow Abyss, the source of darkness! The more dazzling the light of the Lord of the Light Veins, the deeper its shadow! What you have killed is merely a projection of it in the material world, a shell! Its consciousness, its will, has long since merged into the boundless Shadow Abyss itself! It is omnipresent!"
Her maniacal laughter, like the mournful cry of an owl, echoed in the cramped basement, filled with blasphemous fanaticism and madness at the end of her rope.
"Darkness has always coexisted with light! The pulse of light will never perish, the Abyss of Shadows—will endure forever—!!!"
The moment the word "eternal" was uttered, a sudden change occurred!
Valeria's shadow aura surged like an oil drum that had been ignited!
Her body convulsed violently, as if countless purplish-black venomous snakes were writhing and swelling wildly beneath her skin! Her eyes were instantly filled with pure, all-consuming darkness, and she let out a agonizing scream that was not human!
"Ughhhhhh!!!"
Immediately afterward, under Nix's horrified gaze and Lind's suddenly contracting pupils, Valeria's body—starting from her fingertips—disintegrated and carbonized instantly, like a withered leaf thrown into a raging fire!
The purplish-black flames silently spewed out from her seven orifices, but they had no heat at all. Instead, they emitted a bone-chilling cold and extreme filth!
Just one breath!
The woman who was just laughing and screaming was completely reduced to a small pile of blackish-purple ashes, exuding a sulfurous and rotten smell, right before Lind and Nix's eyes!
Not a trace of flesh or bone remained, as if she had never existed.
The basement was deathly silent, save for the faint rustling of falling ashes and the slightly hurried breathing of Lind and Nix.
"whispering sound."
Linde stared coldly at the pile of ashes on the ground, which was still emitting a faint, eerie light, and spat under his breath.
From the moment she was captured, this woman never intended to leave alive. Or rather, some kind of restriction within her would automatically trigger whenever she tried to reveal the core secrets or sensed a higher level of power spying on her, thus completely "purifying" her.
"Never mind."
Linde's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible fatigue.
Although the trail had gone cold, the gains were already astonishing. He turned to look at Nix beside him.
The girl's face was paler than usual, her amber cat eyes wide open, clearly reflecting the pile of ashes on the ground, and... an unfathomable fear and bewilderment.
Her body trembled slightly, her tail was tightly curled around her legs, and her pointed ears drooped listlessly.
"Let's go, Nix."
Linde softened his voice and extended his hand.
Like a startled little animal, Nix trembled violently before timidly placing her cold little hand into Lind's broad, warm palm.
Linde gripped her hand tightly, conveying a silent strength, and led her away from the basement filled with an atmosphere of death and desecration.
Back in Linde's temporary bedroom at the castle, the atmosphere remained heavy.
Lind skillfully cast a few simple cleaning spells, and a soft light swept over the two of them, dispelling the dust and nauseating sulfur smell that had settled in the basement.
Nix's cat fur became fluffy and clean again, but she was like a delicate doll that had lost its soul, completely at Lind's mercy.
Linde threw his tired body onto the soft bed. He was about to call Nix to curl up beside him as usual when he saw the girl standing by the bed, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her clothes, her head bowed, and her pointed cat ears pressed tightly against her scalp, making her look incredibly vulnerable.
"Nix?"
Linde called softly.
The girl's body trembled again, as if she had mustered all her courage before slowly, little by little, climbing onto the bed.
Instead of finding a comfortable spot to lie down as usual, she nestled into Lind's arms cautiously and timidly, like a cub seeking shelter, burying her flushed face deep into his firm chest, leaving only her slightly trembling cat ears sticking out.
Only the sound of their intermittent breathing remained in the room.
After a long while, Lin Decai felt a faint, almost inaudible voice coming from his arms, accompanied by a heavy nasal tone and an uneasy tremor:
"Owner……"
"Um?"
"..."
Another heartbreaking silence followed, then that small voice, trembling with sobs and immense fear, cautiously began to emerge:
"You...you hate Nix the cat?"
These words were like a needle, gently pricking the softest spot in Lind's heart.
He instantly understood the source of all Nix's unease and fear.
The bloodline of gods? A descendant of the Lord of the Shadow Abyss? A son of the God of Beasts?
These identities, which are incredibly noble yet terrifying to ordinary people, are nothing more than heavy shackles that suffocate Nix.
She didn't care about power, nor the glory of being a descendant of gods. She only cared about one thing—would her master, her only chosen home, despise her, loathe her, or even...abandon her because of this?
Linde felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart, and a wave of bittersweet pity washed over him.
He lowered his head, his chin gently resting on the top of Nix's soft hair, and could clearly feel the subtle trembling of her body and the deep-seated fear in her bones.
He didn't answer immediately, but instead raised his arm and gently ran his calloused yet exceptionally tender fingers through Nix's smooth black hair, stroking it slowly and firmly, as if soothing a frightened kitten.
With his other hand, he wrapped his arm around her slender waist, holding her tighter and more securely in his embrace, shutting her out of all the coldness and fear from the outside world.
"Silly cat."
Lind's voice was deep and steady, with a rock-solid firmness, and it rang out clearly in the quiet night, each word striking Nix's heart.
“I don’t care if you are a descendant of the Lord of Shadow Abyss, a descendant of the God of Beasts, or any other god or ghost.”
He felt the small body in his arms suddenly stiffen.
"What do those messy things have to do with me?"
Linde's tone carried a hint of disdain, as if he were discussing a trivial matter.
"All I know is that from the moment I grabbed you."
He paused, then gently pinched Nix's cool little ear with his fingers.
"You are my Nix."
“It is my Lind Truk’s kitten, my shadow, my blade, and also…”
His voice unusually carried a subtle, almost imperceptible gentleness.
"...a silly cat that needs my protection."
"That's enough."
The last four words were decisive and left no room for doubt.
The trembling in my arms stopped.
Nix suddenly raised her head, her large amber eyes brimming with tears, but these were no longer tears of fear; instead, they were a torrent of immense relief and grievance, a feeling of something lost and then regained.
She bit her lip hard, trying not to cry out, and stared at Linde with her shimmering eyes, as if trying to etch his image into the depths of her soul.
Then, as if she had used all her strength, she buried her face deep into Linde's neck again, her slender arms wrapping tightly around his waist for the first time with an almost suffocating force.
Warm tears silently soaked Linde's clothes.
Linde didn't say anything more, but simply tightened his embrace, like the strongest fortress, firmly protecting the kitten in his arms, who carried a heavy fate but remained as pure as ever, under his wings.
After a long while, Nix's tense body finally relaxed completely, and her breathing became even and long. However, her arms that were holding Lind still stubbornly refused to loosen their grip even slightly.
Outside the window, the cool moonlight streamed in through the window frame, casting a tranquil patch of light on the floor.
Inside the room, only the warm silhouettes of the two people nestled together and the sound of their mingled, peaceful breathing remained.
All the raging storms and mysterious secrets of gods and demons seemed to be kept out of this small harbor.
At this moment, Lind's embrace was Nix's only anchor, and indeed, her entire world. They held each other, drifting into a weary yet peaceful dream.
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