Chapter 1049: Razing the Forest of Lustful Desires
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1049: Razing the Forest of Lustful Desires
"Now, I am taking you to have your revenge."
I grabbed Lonafu by the back of her collar. Before she could even process what was happening, her vision blurred. The luxurious guest room vanished, replaced instantly by a different setting.
Still dazed, Lonafu’s restored sense of smell was immediately assaulted by a familiar, sickening stench. The odor made her tremble with instinctive terror.
This was hell!
It was the one place she thought she would never have to return to for the rest of her life.
Specifically, they were standing in the shopfront belonging to that merchant from before.
At that moment, the merchant was idly playing some sort of handheld game. The economy of the Emerald Forest game world was in a bit of a slump; customers didn't exactly come knocking every hour of the day.
Having made his entire quota for the period with a single sale a few days prior, he hadn't felt the need to hawk his wares like his competitors.
His attention remained glued to his game, and he didn't notice the two figures appearing out of thin air. By the time he did look up, he assumed the customers had been standing there for a while and scrambled to his feet.
"Ah, welcome! Customers! How can I help you today?" The merchant, naturally, did not recognize us.
The last time we met, I had been in "Player" mode with the "Mosaic/Do Not Disturb" setting active. He didn't recognize me, and he didn't even recognize Lonafu. The transformation was simply too great; she bore no scars or lash marks now. However, her terrified expression made it clear she wasn't a player.
The poor elven merchant likely had no inkling of what he was about to face.
"Help? Heh..."
I looked at the fawning merchant. I didn't see an innocent man. I reached out, clamped my hand around his throat, and slammed a Sealing Art onto him, cutting him off entirely.
Even if his power originated from the Terminal of Myriad Worlds, any transcendent power could be severed if one knew how. Having usurped a degree of authority over the Terminal, my understanding of its mechanics had reached a level far beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
"Your life is the only 'requirement' I have," I hummed softly, giving him no chance to explain.
I knew full well that even if I killed him, he would only lose a character account. The man behind the screen would suffer no physical harm.
But I was after something else.
I hoisted the merchant up and dragged him down until he was kneeling on the ground like a dog, facing Lonafu.
"Go on. Kill him with your own hands. Consider it... a farewell to your past." With my free hand, I cast a spell to summon a short blade and held it out to her.
Lonafu stared at the kneeling merchant, then looked blankly at the blade, and finally up at me.
"If you don't want to take the knife and kill him, then I'll give the knife to him instead. Want to guess what he’ll do to you then?" Seeing her hesitation, I stopped trying to coax her gently.
Lonafu had never taken a life. For her first time to be the master of a life other than her own—and a "human" life at that—was a daunting prospect.
There is a massive chasm between "thinking" and "doing." Once crossed, the illusion is shattered forever.
This was a new trial I was setting for Lonafu. If she couldn't pass it... then this was as far as she would ever go in life.
As for her Mana Source and forced Witchification?
It wouldn't matter. She hadn't ascended to become a Transcendent Witch; no Witch would care about her existence.
Just as I was waiting to see what she would choose, Lonafu, despite her trembling, suddenly exploded with a powerful sense of resolve!
She snatched the short blade and swung it at the demon who had tormented her for countless days and nights.
The blade rose and fell repeatedly as her emotions poured out. Lonafu gripped the hilt tight with both small hands, the sharp edge shredding the merchant's lavish clothes.
Through the gashes in the fabric, it became clear that despite the frenzy, she had barely nicked his skin.
It wasn't that Lonafu was being merciful; she simply didn't know how to kill.
Suddenly, a blaring alarm echoed through the shop!
Realizing he couldn't fight back, the merchant player had desperately activated his "Shopkeeper's Insurance."
To run a shop in a "Player Main City," one needed measures to deal with petty theft and player harassment. This alarm would summon NPC guards or players on duty to resolve the situation.
It was a useful system, but it cost a fee.
Naturally, such measures were useless against me.
The sudden noise, however, gave Lonafu a fright.
With a wave of my hand, a fireball exploded, destroying the alarm system. But I knew the "Emergency Quest" had likely already popped up for the nearby players and NPCs.
I only destroyed it because it was too loud.
"You won't kill him like that. Drive the point of the blade into the left side of his chest, or slit his throat. The most direct way is to shove the blade through his mouth or eye socket. That's how you kill him," I said calmly.
The explosion had silenced the noise, and my voice pulled her back to reality.
But she didn't follow my instructions immediately.
"Sister... Sister Xiao Han... outside... they're outside..."
"Don't worry about the outside. I'll handle it. You just kill him. This is the task I gave you," I said, glancing toward the shop entrance.
A crowd had already gathered. It seemed these players hadn't seen a robbery—let alone the brutalization of a merchant—in a long time. They were all hovering around to watch the show.
As for helping?
The fire wasn't burning them yet, so they were more than happy to just enjoy the spectacle. A large group was already critiquing the scene, waiting for the city guards and NPCs to come and "deal" with me, the "rogue player."
After my brief lecture, Lonafu gripped the short blade in a reverse hold with both hands. She glared at the merchant with unmasked hatred and then plunged the blade into the player's heart without hesitation.
The merchant, still held by his hair, felt a piercing agony. Immediately after, his character's "Sensory Isolation Mode" was forced active.
His character's health bar plummeted visibly.
He was merely a merchant player, unskilled in combat. Even with combat gear, he had no way to use it under the effects of my Sealing Art. He was a lamb to the slaughter, losing his most well-developed game character in the most humiliating way possible.
Lonafu wasn't faring much better. Watching a "life" fade before her eyes reminded her of the older sisters she had seen dragged away in the past. So, this was death?
"Take it in. The power to dictate life and death is built upon absolute strength."
I let go, allowing the corpse to slump to the floor. This elf, who had been dead inside for who knows how long, finally found peace on the ground.
And next...
"Who's causing trouble in the Forest of Lustful Desires! Do you have a death wish?!"
A shout rang out from a distance, hurried and angry. A player, followed by several easily identifiable NPC guards, was rushing toward the shop.
The onlookers instinctively cleared a path for them, then settled back in to watch the fallout.
"Sister Xiao Han... those people..." Lonafu looked at me with concern. She had to admit, after killing the man, she felt a sense of unreality. The feeling blunted the joy of revenge, and that joy was now being crushed by the arrival of the "Main City Enforcers."
"Let me show you... what a 'Calamity' looks like."
I grabbed Lonafu by the collar again and snapped my fingers.
Snap!
An invisible hurricane erupted, instantly leveling the shop.
In a heartbeat, the indoor lighting was replaced by the direct glare of natural sunlight. The ceiling above me, along with the several floors above it, was shredded by the sudden burst of wind and scattered across the surrounding area.
It didn't stop there. The merchant onlookers and passing players were caught in the blast. Before they could even grasp the situation, their bodies—far less durable than the buildings—were obliterated.
At the center of the devastation, Lonafu felt only a stiff breeze ruffle her hair. In the next second, the buildings on this entire street had been mowed down like grass, leaving nothing but foundations and jagged walls barely a foot high.
"Much better. More breathing room." I tightened my grip on Lonafu and soared straight into the clouds.
The clouds above the Forest of Lustful Desires were sparse. Looking down, there was nothing but endless forest.
Lonafu swore this was the most complete view of the world she had ever seen. She stared at the blurring horizon, mesmerized, not even realizing she was now ten thousand meters in the air.
From this height, everything became infinitesimally small. Even the Forest of Lustful Desires, which had imprisoned her for her entire life, looked no larger than a palm.
"Wha—?! So... so high! We're... we're..."
"Don't worry, you won't fall," I reassured her, then placed a Blessing of the Wind Element Spirit on her.
Invisible winds gently buoyed Lonafu’s petite frame, and I let go of her collar.
"Wait! Don't let go! No, no, no! Aaaaaah!"
Feeling the weight leave her collar, Lonafu panicked!
The sudden drop terrified her, drawing a piercing scream. Once she had vented her fear, she instinctively looked back, only to find herself floating level with me. She wasn't falling.
Only then did she notice the gentle wind cradling her. The phantom image of an elemental spirit appeared behind her, its translucent arms wrapped around her like a mother protecting her child.
"This is the Blessing of the Wind Element Spirit. It will protect you from attackers and help you fly. Get used to it, we—hm?"
Before I could finish, I felt several figures rising slowly from below. It was the players who had been blown away but hadn't died.
Something this massive happening in the Forest of Lustful Desires during his shift—heaven only knew how much responsibility the enforcer would have to take for this. He was beyond furious.
But as he rose high enough to catch sight of me, he was met not by a person, but by a searing ray of heat faster than his eyes could follow.
Though it was a "ray," it was wide enough to completely engulf his body. When the light faded, the player had vanished entirely.
Lonafu watched the beam, swallowing hard. A single ray, and a person was just... evaporated?
To me, however, it was like using a laser cannon to swat a mosquito.
"See? I destroyed the buildings of the Forest of Lustful Desires. I am in the wrong. They came to reason with me, but because they lack strength, they couldn't even see my face. They are not worthy of reasoning with me."
I lectured Lonafu casually, indifferent to how much my actions were warping her young mind.
"In fact, I don't think this Forest of Lustful Desires should exist at all. What they do here offends my eyes. I could level this entire place in an instant."
"Do you believe me?" I asked, looking at her.
"...Eh... Ah?" Lonafu, still in shock, barely managed to react. She looked at me, then down at the vast Forest of Lustful Desires. How could such a massive area be leveled?
Her perspective was limited by her experience; she had never imagined what a truly powerful being looked like, or what they were capable of.
Lonafu’s worldview was being utterly shattered, but in the wreckage, a brand new world was opening before her.
Because I was taking action.
"Have you ever seen a meteor shower? It's a beautiful sight, like stars streaking across the night sky. When they hit the ground, they're just as beautiful."
As I spoke, Lonafu felt a crushing pressure descend from the heavens, so heavy it nearly took her breath away! It was as if the sky itself were collapsing.
The flames of a Meteor Shower of Fire ignited the sky, staining the daylight with a hellish crimson.
The word "Calamity" took physical form in the depths of Lonafu's heart.
And the center of it all was the Calamity Witch standing before her!
Even with the protection of the Wind Element Spirit, Lonafu felt the staggering pressure, a physical weight pressing down on her.
Massive flaming boulders dragged long tails of fire through the sky, falling like rain.
One meteor streaked past her so closely that, without the elemental blessing, the sheer thermal pressure of its passage would have killed her.
And there were hundreds, thousands more.
As the meteors struck, Lonafu realized that no thunderstorm she had ever heard could match the roar of this fire raining upon the earth!
The sounds of falling, impacting, and exploding drowned out the mosquito-like screams of the dying.
The Meteor Shower of Fire plowed through the forest like a giant's harrow.
Nothing remained below. Lonafu’s shock hadn't even begun to subside before the Forest of Lustful Desires was wiped from existence by the great being before her.
Fire spread with terrifying speed, igniting countless trees. A massive patch of scorched earth appeared abruptly in the middle of the vast forest.
Under the shroud of my Body Cultivation Heart State Domain and the extension of my Five Senses, not a single living thing escaped the Forest of Lustful Desires.
Players belonged in the dirt. As for the elves... life was short and full of suffering. Rather than endure more pain, it was better for them to enter the Ley Line Soul Essence cycle early.
With my intervention, the game world could no longer harvest the Soul Essence of this world. It was better to send them into the embrace of the Main World under my arrangement. One day, they would become people of the Main World, spared from this kind of misery.
I finally understood how those who viewed life as mere grass justified their perspective.
I could only sigh... life simply isn't worth the struggle.