Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 531 Devouring Dragon: Dead Dragon Cocoon
The "Resurrection Ceremony" of the True Name Devil!
Luo Xiu could almost recognize at a glance what kind of forbidden ritual was being "carried" on the altar that enshrined the dragon corpse.

The dark spiritual energy was deep and rich, and it gave Luo Xiu a strong sense of déjà vu.

He felt somewhat familiar with the aura coming from the dragon corpse...

A violent and fiery spiritual energy was emanating from the dragon corpse enshrined on the blood-blaspheming altar.

And that was not just the spiritual aura of the [Abyss], it was also mixed with the scent of the [Red Lotus]—

[Devouring Dragon·Dead Dragon Cocoon (hatching has stopped)]

When Luo Xiu detected the dead dragon's body on the altar through the panel, this name appeared!
Among them, Luo Xiu quickly captured the most critical one.

——That is the "Devourer Dragon"!
This was the first time that Luo Xiu had discovered traces of the "Devourer Dragon" through panel detection.

That might be the original demon that "coexists" with Fafnir. What appeared under the deep cracks of the "scar" was the "dead dragon cocoon" that could revive Him!
According to what Luo Xiu knew about the resurrection ceremony of the "True Name Demon", the highest-level demons who had obtained their true names in the River Styx would generally prepare one or more "containers" in which they could be resurrected.

The "devil's cocoon" is one form of resurrection container, but it has stopped hatching.

And that only shows one thing—

This shows that the "Devouring Dragon" has actually completed its "resurrection" in other places.

And in the "scar" of the Val Fortress, this "dead dragon cocoon" has been abandoned by Him, or regarded by Him as a "container" for reuse in the next resurrection!
"..."

"Fafnir..."

Almost subconsciously, Luo Xiu's lips moved and he murmured.

There was a deep light in his eyes, and his gentle expression faded into a thoughtful one.

It's like finally being able to confirm something.

In the previous "Divine Revelation" ceremony on the Val Fortress and the "Devourer Dragon" Fafnir,

From the oracle picture of the Great Sun, we can see that Fafnir, who "fell" or "ascended" to the "Original Demon", rose to the sky from the ruins of the Val Fortress in his new demonic form.

Now it seems that if he had not intervened in the siege of the Val Fortress, Fafnir would have been upgraded to the "Original Demon" and the demon cocoon he chose to resurrect would be the one he saw now.

But now, I really don’t know where the resurrected “Devourer Dragon” Fafnir has gone...

"..."

These were the things that Luo Xiu was thinking about.

And the spiritual aura emanating from the "Dragon of Justice" Quesanx beside him also suddenly became stronger!

"--Roar!!!"

[——Fafnir!!!]

"The Dragon of Justice" Quesanx has also felt it. From the deep crack at the bottom of the "Scar" and from the dead dragon "worshipped" on the blood-sacrificing altar, the breath of "Fafnir" is emanating!

But that aura had already changed and was corroded to a deeper level.

"...Quesanx."

Luo Xiu stared at the dragon corpse at the bottom of the huge pit, which was still emitting a deep aura. He slowly raised his left hand and lightly pressed his palm on the smooth but cold giant scales of Quesanx.

"Maybe, I mean maybe... I have a guess."

At this point, Luo Xiu could finally speak out what was going to happen next without any reservation.

"I think Fafnir might not be dead."

He said:
"If he was contaminated by some taboo... such as the shadow of disaster that appeared in your once glorious age of gods, then... he may have been resurrected in a very blasphemous life form."

"..."

"……Roar."

[…Maybe that’s the case… Luo Xiu.]

Luo Xiu could hear that this time, the dragon roar of the "Dragon of Justice" Quesanx became particularly low.

He had witnessed it with his own eyes before, witnessing the "Dragon of Destruction" Fafnir being completely destroyed by such a terrifying torrent.

However, Quesanx has now realized that he may have... indeed missed something somewhere.

The uneasiness that had always been in his heart finally showed up.

——Fafnir is not dead.

This is definitely not a good thing for Quesanx——

His vengeance is not over yet.

Even... maybe it will become more difficult because of his and Luo Xiu's new discovery.

While Quesanx's dragon eyes were blazing as he stared at the dragon corpse enshrined on the blood-blaspheming altar in the huge pit of "Scar", beside him, he heard his contractor, the "Archbishop" Luo Xiu, whisper to him:

"I plan to seal this place first, Quesanx, and I hope you can help me guard it here."

"This is an important discovery. At least we won't neglect the deadly threat because of it, but we also need to be careful that someone might want to use it to do something."

"Well... there is one more thing. You told me before about the real source of Fafnir's power - about the 'Devourer Dragon' Fafnir Ramsanx.
I hope you can stay here for now and help me analyze this dead dragon to see if there are any spiritual remnants of the 'Devourer Dragon'."

"..."

"……Roar."

[…I understand, Luo Xiu.]

Quashanks growled again.

He seemed to want to say something more, but he swallowed it back in the end. He just lowered his huge dragon head, and his three-colored dragon pupils never moved away from the dead dragon on the blood-defiled altar.

After a while, He spread out His pair of dragon wings that covered the sky and the sun, and His huge dragon body soared into the sky, then flew into the huge deep pit that He had blasted.

Luo Xiu stared at Him.

Until Quesanx flew to the blood-stained altar, his huge dragon body was like a barrier, hovering on the edge of the altar and the dragon corpse.

Then, He lowered the dragon's neck and fell into a deep sleep, and His spirit began to connect with the dead dragon, analyzing the spirit in it that was of the same origin as Himself.

At the same time, Luo Xiu took out his [Holy Grip] from his bracelet.

He then raised the golden sacred scepter in his hand high up, and his own spiritual [Glory] was filled to perfection, with strands of brilliant golden light gushing out from the tip of the scepter.

As he prayed in Sanskrit over and over again, the golden barrier began to be constructed, and soon the entire exposed "scar" along with the cracks and holes that emitted a faint and profound aura were re-sealed.

Quesanx is also under seal.

That was a double guarantee - as long as He was guarding the seal at all times, the outsiders would not be able to enter, and the abyss beasts and demons that continued to pour out of the cracks in the "scars" would not be able to get out. This was the highest level of "security" - before the Saint Franya arrived at the Val Fortress, Luo Xiu needed this kind of guarantee.

……

Afterwards, when the seal of the "Golden Barrier" was completely constructed, Luo Xiu took back the scepter.

He then confirmed that there was no problem with the seal of the barrier, that it was stable and there was no possibility of being breached; he then confirmed that there was no problem with the condition of the "Dragon of Justice" Quesanx guarding the seal.

After confirming that some other details were correct, Luo Xiu turned around and walked towards the edge of the "Scar" restricted area.

A few minutes later.

Luo Xiu has arrived at the outskirts of the restricted area, and the Throne Knights, the Royal Guard Knights, and the specially selected elite clergy stationed there appear in his field of vision.

It seemed that the number of garrison personnel had doubled compared to when he first entered the restricted area... They seemed to have been urgently recruited, and the air was filled with an atmosphere of anxiety and worry.

As Luo Xiu gradually returned to the edge, he also saw a few old acquaintances -

"Thunder General" Albert and "Sky Ring Paladin" Davild, they appeared at the edge of the restricted area at the same time.

They were not far away from Luo Xiu, and when they saw Luo Xiu, they also walked towards him quickly.

Soon, Albert and David arrived in front of Luo Xiu.

"…What happened just now, Luo Xiu?"

Straight to the point, Davild skipped the greetings and asked Luo Xiu directly.

The expression on his face was complicated, even a little weird. Albert beside him had the same expression on his face, as if he was constipated.

Luo Xiu probably understood.

Just now, I had the "Dragon of Justice" Quesanx blast out a surge of destruction into the "wound", which indeed caused quite a stir.

Suddenly, twice as many throne knights, royal guards, and clergy were called in. It should be... probably for this?
"It's just that we used some relatively efficient investigative methods, and it seems that we made quite a stir."

A smile appeared on Luo Xiu's face as he looked at the two high-ranking members of the expeditionary force in front of him.

He saw that Albert and David's faces were a little tense, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief when he said this.

It was an inexplicable feeling of relief - relief that the one who caused the huge commotion before was their "Archbishop" Luo Xiu, and not a few more 'True Ancestor Demons' breaking out from those "wounds".

The tense atmosphere seemed to begin to ease.

"...I found something...not so good under the 'scars'."

Luo Xiu changed the subject and a serious look appeared on his face as he spoke to Albert and Davild.

He then looked at Albert, his eyes hinting at him. Albert also looked serious, knowing that something "not so good" coming from the "Archbishop" must be a serious matter.

Albert understood, and although he was still a little worried, he nodded slightly to David and Luo Xiu, then turned and left.

Until within twenty meters, only Davild and Luo Xiu were left.

Luo Xiu whispered:

"That is the resurrection cocoon left by the 'Original Demon'."

"Although it has not been truly hatched, that is, the 'Original Demon' has not been born. But... it still has a very strong aura belonging to the 'Dragon of Destruction' Fafnir attached to it."

"I have a suspicion... just a suspicion. If the 'Original Demon' is Fafnir, then he may not have died... in such an intense battle before."

"Instead, after completing the resurrection, it is watching us from somewhere in the dark that we don't know about."

"..."

"……Varied……!"

When hearing Luo Xiu speaking such explosive information in a low but calm voice, even the "Sky Ring Paladin" Davild couldn't help but open his mouth and let out a half exclamation.

But soon, Davide became aware of his own emotional fluctuations, and he held back the second half of his cry of surprise, and his expression became more tense and complicated.

While telling Davild this information, Luo Xiu was also observing Davild's reaction.

His reaction was correct, and it was what Luo Xiu was happy to see.

Before, all the high-ranking members of the expeditionary force, including Davild, did not know that "Fafnir" was actually the "Original Demon" seen in the divine revelation.

This was the only information that Luo Xiu knew, and it was also the fragment that Luo Xiu planned to organize and "report" to the saint.

He told all this to David first, in order to give this "Sun Knight" a little devilish shock!

And now is indeed the best time to make this information public.

"I have resealed the resurrection cocoon of the 'Original Demon' and left the 'Ancient Dragon' Quesanx to guard it."

Luo Xiu then said to Davild:

"Until Her Highness the Saint arrives, I will completely block any news about the 'Devil's Cocoon'."

"But because it concerns the Abyss and the 'Original Demon', I will first tell you what is deep in the 'scar', Davild."

"I need your assistance in redeploying the troops. Perhaps I need to borrow your 'Shining Knights' to go to Fafnir City to investigate whether there are any demon cocoons left by the 'Devouring Dragon' in that city. Also, try to prevent the news that 'Fafnir is not dead' from spreading."

"..."

"I understand, Luo Xiu."

Davild nodded.

In Davild's mind, there were things that Luo Xiu had just mentioned - Fafnir was not dead; Fafnir was the 'Original Demon'; the 'Original Demon' had completed his resurrection. Any one of these three things alone was enough to make the high-ranking officials of the expeditionary army hold a supreme emergency meeting.

Putting these three things together, even though the expeditionary force has now truly captured the Val Fortress, Fafnir, who has transformed into the "Original Demon", will still be like a thorn in the flesh, posing a hidden but deadly threat to the expeditionary force at all times.

As the final battle approached, Davild knew deeply that he must not ignore this threat.

"I will take what you said seriously, Luo Xiu. Before Her Highness the Saint arrives, no matter who asks, I will remain silent."

Davild looked at Luo Xiu and said solemnly:

"And, I will send Elias... no, I will send Elias and Pasiot together to Fafnir City to investigate what you said."

"If there is also a 'Devil's Cocoon' under Fafnir City... Haha. Although it is difficult for me to remain optimistic under such a threat, we have undoubtedly cut off one of His escape routes."

……

(I am traveling and should be back around the 22nd. If I have a draft saved, I will post it at am. Normally, I will post it in the evening if I have the code ready on the same day. =w=)

(End of this chapter)