Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 214 - 190 The Source of the Murder

Chapter 214: Chapter 190 The Source of the Murder

The deeper she plunged into the sea, the more palpitations Farosa felt. She knew the deep sea wasn’t a safe place even before the departure, but this form of crisis revived an ancient fear.

"Wench of Aquilia, how dare you plot to murder me." The god’s voice thundered and resonated in Farosa’s mind for a long time.

She was jolted awake by the voice from her seat on the shuttle machine. Farosa was disoriented, having been excited about her youth just moments ago, now a trace of fear crept in. The shout from the deity seemed like an illusion, yet as if it were just beyond one compartment.

Listening intently, the voice was intermittent, the only clear thing she could hear was the engine of the Innovation, the modified propellers turning at high speeds, trailing two bubble-like wakes behind the ship, like a bifurcated long tail stretching out hundreds of meters. The young Ocean Descendants around her communicated non-stop, constantly making sounds, but in the isolated deep sea, they were indistinct.

Their swimming trajectories past the windows became more chaotic, as if stimulated by something.

Yes, the deity was here, neither far nor near. Sailing through the deep sea was like traveling through the god’s blood vessels, like a droplet of blood flowing within the body of the giant deity, with the ocean being the deity itself. This colossal god, whose body covered 70% of the planet’s surface, controlled the Throne of God a thousand years ago, deterring any other power from acting rashly.

It was still roaring; the ocean was its domain. Farosa curled up in her seat, kneeling on the leather padding. She bent forward, hoping to feel a bit better, her body shaking incessantly. Then she felt oppressed, lying on the side-by-side leather seats beginning to run a fever, her forehead burning.

"You did wrong, Farosa de Aquilia." The deity’s reprimand boomed inside Farosa’s head, "You have made a mistake. Death for me is just a symbol of disqualification, not a state of change."

Noticing Farosa’s unusual state, Xu Yang was very anxious.

"Are you sick?" Xu Yang rushed to touch Farosa’s shoulder, "Farosa?"

She was groggy, even Xu Yang’s voice sounded distant to her.

"No..." Farosa moaned.

"You killed me," the deity’s voice grew increasingly grating, "You changed the course of the world, you caused countless Witches to suffer, you allowed your kind to be slaughtered by humans, order became chaos, you triggered all of this, you are the criminal of history. Count all the bloodshed and violence in the world today, all sins are connected to you; endless pain and torment, all because of you. Farosa, you are a person of great evil."

Xu Yang held Farosa tightly in his arms, she was silent, her breathing became rapid.

"Are you okay?" Xu Yang pressed his forehead against Farosa’s, "I’ll get you some medicine."

He had never thought that Farosa could fall ill, and seeing her in this state, he could almost feel her pain as his own. He laid Farosa flat on the seat and went to find the shuttle machine’s medicine cabinet.

"No need," Farosa whispered faintly. She opened her eyes, revealing a tired expression, tried to smile, but she couldn’t; she covered one eye with her hand. As soon as she opened her eyes, she was confronted with the tumultuous history and burning world, making it difficult even to think.

"Shall we go back now? The sea is not a friendly place," Xu Yang said in a low voice, doing his best to comfort Farosa.

"The deity is dead," Farosa said softly.

"It has long since departed," Xu Yang consoled her.

"I heard Its voice, there must be a source nearby," Farosa said, propping herself up to sit. Dead humans and slaughtered Witches still haunted her vision.

Lila released magic power to scan the surroundings and quickly detected something strange buried not far beneath the seabed.

"There is an unknown obstacle; we need to avoid it," said Lila as she prepared to steer the Innovation to avert it. The engines roared in the deep sea.

"If we don’t take a look," Farosa sighed, "it will continue to affect me, to roar at me from deep in the sea, regardless of the offerings or whatever we do... We have to take a look."

She didn’t want to evade.

In pursuit of the source of Farosa’s psychic influence, the Innovation sailed directly over the blurred dead object and turned on the searchlights.

The closer the distance, the sharper and more intense the piercing curses and screams in Farosa’s mind became. She staggered to the edge of the ship, her body tilted, then she pressed against the window of the shuttle machine, staring intently at the ancient object lying on the seabed.

Xu Yang also came to Farosa’s side to observe. The bright lights from the Innovation’s main lamps pierced the black waters, illuminating the mysterious object beneath them.

Most striking was the black arrow-shaped large segmented missile, hovering over an astonishingly contoured and terrifying carcass. The missile was broken in the middle; the front part was the warhead, which had detonated and was nowhere to be seen, creating a deep crater about 20 meters in diameter in the giant body’s chest. The latter half was gripped by a dead tentacle, almost as if the blade had been thrust into its own body.

The Ocean Descendants guarding the Shuttle Machine on both sides surged excitedly towards it, swimming around the colossal creature. Its body, a hybrid of a spider and an octopus, boasted limbs much longer than its torso, segmented into 7 or 8 parts, with most parts buried under the sea’s fine sandy bed.

The giant lifeform was covered with thick, tough spines. A missile had damaged its chest, and near the broken ribs, one could vaguely make out numerous dark, writhing unknown worms. They clung there, swirling with the muddy water, shaking like tufts of hair vibrating constantly. After observing for a moment, Xu Yang realized their movements were not random—they were swaying rhythmically, almost as if communicating with the Innovation in some sort of code.

The light moved upward, illuminating the head of this deceased creature, the most horrifying face Xu Yang had ever seen in his life, a non-human visage. Long tendrils grew from both sides of its cheeks, and its pitch-black eyes were disproportionately large, like dual abysses. The small mouth and nose contrasted starkly, and the dark orbs still quivered, whether due to the water currents or because the creature hadn’t actually perished.

Xu Yang examined the black missile that had pierced the giant creature’s chest once more, almost picturing the battle scene. It must have been active on the sea’s surface but was detected by an unmanned missile drone. It instinctively tried to grab the missile with its tendrils, yet the projectile still pierced through and exploded inside it, causing it to sink down to the ocean floor.

"I spent some time in fealty to It," Farosa said, placing her hand on the glass.

"Is this... a Divine Fragment?" Xu Yang gasped.

"A part of a god. It has many different faces, a multitude of avatars and ’flesh pieces,’" Farosa took a deep breath.

The closer Farosa got to the Divine Fragment, the more panicked she felt, but it was a good thing that Xu Yang was by her side. Lila had also aimed the weapon systems at the Divine Fragment, and a calm, reassuring sound of arms loading echoed from within the Innovation.

"It’s been wounded by human missiles," Xu Yang discerned the missile’s design, likely produced under a standard template, possibly a wartime achievement during the Corporate Alliance’s global suppression of the Mystics.

"How ugly," Lila muttered.

"What a disgrace!" the Ancient God rebuked Farosa, its voice echoing in her soul over and over, "Your betrayal has caused me to fall from my noble form and subjected me to this defamation. Now, nothing but offering your soul and body as penance can absolve you!"

Farosa closed her eyes and pressed her forehead.

"I have a special way to pay homage to the divine, and that is by consuming the remnants of the god," Farosa said, turning to Xu Yang, "It might be hard to understand, but its fresh remains grant me substantial benefits."

"Won’t that upset your stomach?" Xu Yang was curious.

In that moment, a piercing sound burst through Xu Yang’s skull, stabbing into his soul as if a wet tendril had suddenly pierced under his left rib and wound itself around Xu Yang’s heart.

"Mortal!" a stern voice of authority rang out, "I will bestow upon you eternal life and infinite wisdom, surely a trivial grant for my supreme authority, but to you, it shall forever alter your destiny. You will become the Progenitor and Chosen of Orcian, contributing a share of your power for His revival."

"Something is talking to me," Xu Yang told Farosa, "It mentioned a gift."

"No, don’t talk to that monstrous woman," the voice persisted in Xu Yang’s head, "She’s brought endless calamity to this world, the very incarnation of an eternal disaster. Her existence harms the world, and no one devoted to the justice and peace upon this earth should allow her to live."

"It’s the Divine Fragment talking to you, not a generous master," Farosa said, "Don’t believe its promises; I may have learned half of my temperament from it."

"It mentioned the name ’Orcian,’" Xu Yang said thoughtfully.

"The god is dead, so it has become Orcian," Farosa explained, "That was the name it used before becoming a deity, rare and unfamiliar to me. It once stood as an equal among other Ancient Mystics, until it ascended to the Throne of God, towering above all other lifeforms, and bestowed Power upon the Witch, earning her allegiance... But now, it has reverted to Orcian again, revealing such an unsightly original form."

Farosa looked coldly at the Divine Fragment on the ocean floor, the waters her realm, now and forever, her voyage into the depths entirely justifiable.

"The ocean depths are always full of wonders," Lila recorded this interesting find, "Now we know what’s influencing your mind. Should we blow it up?"

The lifeform attempted to influence Lila, finding it extremely strange as she looked like a human, spoke like one, and even thought like one, yet its attempts to communicate failed; she was not a living being.

Xu Yang pondered; dealing with this so-called Divine Fragment was nothing but dangerous. And this was while they were on their way to find Yan Duo; it’s better to have less trouble than more.

"You dare to refuse!" The roar exploded, as over a hundred bells struck all at once.

Merely the thought had agitated the gigantic creature on the ocean’s floor.

All the tendrils burst out of the sand, like dozens of great whips slashing through the water, rumbling as they reached for the Innovation. The black abyssal eyes suddenly widened, emitting an infinite pull. Lila tried to steer the Innovation to escape, but the power gap was immense, and the engines overloaded in an instant, extinguishing, causing the whole machine to shudder violently.

"You will learn your lesson——" the voice of the god resonated within Farosa, "Just like in the past!"