Volume 6 Chapter 161
by Golden DragonVolume 6 + Chapter 161: The Beast of Greed
“The Authority of the Beast, Greed…”
Before Xia Yi, Eve unleashed the miasma of calamity and invoked the Authority of the legendary beast!
The plants around them stirred as though endowed with sentience, transforming into savage colossi that lunged at Xia Yi in unison.
“Ugh!”
Xia Yi was pinned to the ground, the vegetative behemoths atop her forming a mountain of living weight that pressed her down without mercy. Their branches and tendrils writhed like grasping tentacles, greedily draining her mana and life force.
Her body grew colder by the moment.
“Eve, how can you wield the Authority of a legendary beast?!”
“Xia Yi, it seems you are quite familiar with the legendary beasts,” Eve replied, a note of surprise in her voice. “I can sense a similar presence within you as well.”
Xia Yi’s mind flashed back to past encounters, the priestess in the deep sea, the witch of the Laurel Academy…
“Eve, could you be an apostle of calamity?”
“Your knowledge of calamity is indeed extensive, but your wording is inaccurate, Xia Yi. I am fundamentally different from the apostles of calamity. They are merely messengers blessed by the legendary beasts, incapable of wielding their Authorities.”
Eve explained patiently, as she would only ever do for Xia Yi. Had it been anyone else, she would have already flooded them with black mud and turned them into a calamity beast.
“I am an Agent of the legendary beast, having received its Authority to act on behalf of that great existence and annihilate all life in this world.”
“An Agent of the legendary beast?”
Xia Yi repeated the term, and a memory surfaced.
In the age of myth, a human once forged a covenant with the Beast of Sloth, Belial, gaining its Authority and, with the seventy-two demonic pillars, carved out a civilization of unparalleled splendor.
Even though humanity was no longer an upper species, none among the upper races could stand against the Authority of a legendary beast…
That human was King Solomon.
And now, Eve stood as a being akin to Solomon in that era, an Agent of the legendary beast, wielding the Authority of Greed.
“The Beast of Greed, Mammon…”
“The Authority of Mammon can bestow infinite ‘wealth’ upon this world, and it can also plunder everything within it.”
Eve looked down at Xia Yi by her feet.
“You should know very well, Xia Yi, that the very purpose of the legendary beasts is to extinguish all life. My plan can efficiently erase conventional life, and thus I earned the recognition of the great beast. It allowed me to become its Agent and use the Authority of Greed to carry out its will of destruction.”
At last, Xia Yi understood.
The World Tree had grown to a tree age of hundreds of thousands of years in such a short span precisely because of the Authority of Greed.
The transformation of the surrounding plants, too, was Eve’s doing, by invoking the bestowing aspect of Greed, she had forced them to grow into monstrous proportions.
The legendary beasts were creations of true gods, which was why their power could manifest miracles that bordered on the impossible.
“The anti-World Tree’s pruning function, you rewrote that using the Authority of Greed, didn’t you!”
“Xia Yi, you are remarkably perceptive, grasping the situation instantly,” Eve responded. “Yes. As the miasma of calamity continues to erode the anti-World Tree, the day it fully inverts will mark the end of all life.”
“Eve, you are utterly wicked!!”
Xia Yi was genuinely enraged.
She could now say with certainty that Eve had become her enemy through and through.
Eve had chosen the side of the legendary beast, which meant the former elven princess had set herself against every living being in existence.
Whatever her reasons, Xia Yi knew she had to put a stop to her.
“I am so happy, Xia Yi. I can feel your fierce emotions toward me, that is exactly what I love.”
Eve’s eyes shimmered with feeling.
“Only you can give me this sensation. No one else comes close.”
“You are absolutely beyond reason!”
Xia Yi no longer wished to converse with Eve.
She remained pinned by the plant beasts, unable to move.
But that did not mean she was entirely helpless.
Silver Dragon Royal Bloodline, Activate!
Chantless Incantation, Engage!
Fireball, Release!
A colossal sphere of flame coalesced in the air, its searing heat roaring as though to reduce every plant in the vicinity to ash.
“It is futile. Resistance is meaningless now, unless you can match me with power of the same caliber.”
Eve raised a finger and traced a small circle in the air, as if lassoing the blazing fireball within its arc.
In the next instant, every tongue of flame vanished.
“My magic?!”
“Xia Yi, even your Fireball spell has been plundered by my Authority of Greed,” Eve said with delight. “I know you can cast magic instantaneously, but without mana, no spell can take form. Any attack you launch against me will naturally come to naught.”
“Nngh… ah…”
Xia Yi felt her body grow ever colder, the tendrils of the plant beasts truly draining her dry.
Eve crouched down and reached out her hand toward Xia Yi.
Xia Yi’s vision blurred, her strength failed her, and she sensed death drawing near.
Eve could easily erase her now with the Authority of the legendary beast.
But then, something unexpected happened.
The black-haired elf did not kill the silver dragon girl. Instead, she ordered the plant beasts to withdraw.
Then, cradling Xia Yi in a princess carry, she lifted her up.
“Xia Yi, do you remember our very first meeting?” Eve asked softly.
“Ugh…”
Xia Yi had no strength to speak, but she remembered, it was at the conference on the Pear Islands, where they had first laid eyes on each other.
“In truth, even before the Pear Islands, I had learned about you through Ella. She told me so many things about you that I grew curious. From that moment on, I kept my eyes on you. And sure enough… you are a truly special silver dragon.” Eve gazed at Xia Yi with adoring eyes, seeing only her.
Damn it, so this was all that useless succubus’s fault!!
Xia Yi wanted nothing more than to stuff Ella full of cream puffs again, three times over.
“Xia Yi, you may go and wait for me anywhere you like. After all, the apocalypse will arrive before long, and nowhere will make any difference. Everyone else, except you, will meet the same end.”
Carrying Xia Yi, Eve walked back to the tree where they had first begun.
She set Xia Yi down, leaning her against the trunk, and gently placed the flower crown back upon her head.
“…”
At last, Xia Yi could hold on no longer. Her eyes closed.
Just before she lost consciousness, she heard Eve whisper by her ear, uttering her final words:
“When only you remain among all life on this land, I will come find you…”
[Translator’s Note: There be slower updates because I need to focused on the eBooks for my 2 Projects.]
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