Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 133 The Most Suitable Successor

If someone has to be a failure, why not me?

Escaping is shameful but useful; reality is too hard, so let me escape.

"Create another version of myself and entrust everything to her."

Rean stared in disbelief at Sallyman, who had pulled him through the door, and her words.

"Could you say that again?" Rean wondered if he had misheard.

You, a dual practitioner of mage and mind mage, a mythical potential user with a gold-level bloodline, tell me that you are willing to pay the price of acquiring the power of heroic spirits, even at the cost of possible mental breakdown or being "possessed," just to find yourself a "substitute" for life.

"What I mean is, can it recreate 'me' and let it handle some things in my place?"

The woman blushed, seemingly a little ashamed, but what she was saying was, "I don't want to be human anymore, I'm going to quit and go AFK."

“Your idea is dangerous.” Rean thought about it for a moment, considered it carefully, and then rejected it.

The battle of minds is fraught with peril; those with weak wills will naturally lose. You cannot entrust your life to the kindness of a "newborn."

If a dual personality is absolutely necessary, then the dominant personality must be ensured to be dominant.

"If you insist on this idea, I don't recommend you accept the inheritance of the heroic spirit. Without initiative, you are very likely to lose yourself in the battle of wits, allowing the newborn to take over everything you have." This is tantamount to the death of the original personality.

Sallyman paused for a moment, muttered something under her breath, and then pouted in displeasure.

Rean was completely dumbfounded; his "superpower" understood everything.

What Suliman murmured was...
"To be occupied and then sleep forever? Isn't that a good thing?"

Rean fell silent, then he became angry.

"If you want to commit suicide, slit your own throat! The power of the Heroic Spirits isn't for you to use like that!" Rean's roar carried directly outside.

On that day, news of the ambassador and his wife arguing spread among the diplomatic corps.

No one could have predicted what would happen when the legacy of a hero was passed down to seven.

But clearly, the fates of at least seven people will be altered as a result.

"Phew, hopefully they'll be easier to deal with." One of the candidates for the title of Heroic Soul had just made a life-changing decision.

Victoria V. Unier took a deep breath, preparing to knock on the door of the temporary embassy.

She was a locally renowned alchemist and a member of the Yunier family, the largest hawkish (war radical) family in the area. Her contact with the Earthling delegation was destined to be seen by everyone.

But she had no choice but to come. If she wanted to leave the world of the Dark Elves, she needed an opportunity to contact the ambassadorial delegation and give them a reason to take her away.

Once she stepped through that door, no matter how she explained it afterward, she had already gone against her family's political stance.

She had never liked the world of dark elves, but taking that step was incredibly difficult.

An ordinary dark elf might be able to leave their family and city relatively easily, but what about a dark elf noble? Especially a war-loving noble? To run away would be seen as a disgrace to the family, and they would face almost endless pursuit.

"The Dark Elf family can only be withdrawn from through death." The Dark Elf gods are notoriously vengeful, and if the humiliation reaches a certain level, they may even send out divine assassins.

But this mind flayer siege gave her an opportunity.

It's obvious to everyone that if they can weather this crisis, Mozordirka will definitely establish diplomatic relations with the cities above.

In this process, the doves naturally gained the upper hand, but the hawks could not be ignored.

If she could establish a connection, whether as a "hostage" or as a "sentinel" sent to the ground, it might be a legitimate opportunity for Victoria, now on the fringes of the family, to break free from the family's control.

"Taking risks is necessary; otherwise, we'll just be waiting to die here."

For her, the main reason for not leaving immediately was the uncertainty about the future. She was well aware of the reputation of dark elves among other races, and the people on the ground were not necessarily benevolent people either.

Being able to connect with a seemingly trustworthy inheritor of a heroic spirit might give her a reliable network of connections in the mortal world, which is extremely important to her. The person she most expects and trusts is actually the one she initially criticized, the mortal princess who was stunned at the time.

At least, their abilities and status should be enough to protect them.

That silly princess seemed to be a "good person" who kept her promises and valued fate.

Although Victoria disliked the culture and customs of the Dark Elves, her way of thinking was actually very Dark Elf-like—rational and realistic.

"Is Viscount Suliman here? I am Victoria, the alchemist I have arranged to visit."

To her surprise, she saw the mushroom man and the robot, who were also candidates, open the door for her.

She suddenly realized that these candidates had probably already formed a group.

She became increasingly energetic; this was a group that, regardless of blood ties or race, seemed capable of going much further.

So, they probably wouldn't discriminate against her because she's a dark elf. What Victoria fears most is actually not being able to find a "home".

"Welcome, partner." Mushroom's words startled the female elf, but she then laughed.

"Partner. Hmm, it's nice to meet you, partner."

The seeds that Kuku sowed are sprouting one by one, and the paths of the candidates' destinies are beginning to deviate from their original course.

Even the parables of the gods could not have predicted the occurrence of all this.

After all, whenever the Hall of Heroes and the Thousand-Faced Dragon are involved, all prophetic abilities automatically become ineffective, as if they don't exist at all (if the prophecy were effective, the Thousand-Faced Dragon wouldn't need to reincarnate; he would have been killed at his birth point).

When a black hole of fate appears, the parts that it affects and impacts naturally lose the possibility of being accurately predicted.

It could be said that Victoria was overthinking things. She had actually avoided the most dangerous prophecy lock and the subsequent assassination attempt by the dark elf assassins. Now she could run away with her eyes closed and didn't have to worry about being targeted by assassins one day.

The traits she acquired from the Heroic Spirits have not yet been fully awakened. As a third-ring logistics-oriented alchemist (who can be considered a slightly weakened alter morph mage), her strength exceeds that of a normal age, but as the inheritor of the Heroic Spirits, it is still insufficient.

Dark Elves also have a class system similar to those of the Earthlings (they are the original versions of many classes and spells), as well as some very strong rare class heritages. They also possess a certain degree of potion enhancement system, but it cannot compare to the comprehensive evolution and high adaptability of the Earthlings.

This also means that, at the same level, without the support of powerful hardware, they are weaker in all aspects, but stronger in certain areas (elf magic, rare divine spells, poison recipes).

At the same time, due to the lack of hardware, their career advancement is much slower. If their attributes don't meet the standards, they can only grind them down over time or forcibly improve them using potions or illegal rituals. It's not as easy and convenient as evolving into a beastman, which also brings additional attributes and racial talents. What's even more troublesome is the weakness in their basic attributes, or perhaps they lack something compared to beastmen. Their "mind-soul ability," which is developed through the combined development of mind, body, and skills, also awakens much more slowly.

Basically, both elves and dwarves need to be Grand Knights or Archmages (rank 5 or above) to stably awaken their Soul Abilities.

The situation of spellcasters is slightly different. Because they are less dependent on hardware than combat-based spellcasters, spellcasters generally hold power among the elven race, and many of the local nobles are priests or mages.

In summary, this is the reason why Rean can easily defeat Dark Elves and Grey Dwarf Raiders (Warrior-type) of the same level.

This is also why they were driven off the ground; a backward ethnic group naturally does not deserve to possess the most fertile land.

Getting back to the point, Victoria went into the embassy and heard the news that the "ambassador and his wife" were having a fight, and that the ambassador was now secretly crying behind closed doors.

She wondered if she had misheard. In the end, all she could do was wait and sigh, "Truly, they are worthy of being earthlings."

"Snap." At the same time, Rean put down his wine glass and sighed.

There were no outsiders at the hotel's basement bar, so he poured himself a drink.

He felt he was being a bit immature; just moments ago, Kuku had told him to take it easy, so why did he suddenly get angry?

Was it because that girl didn't cherish her own life? Or was it because she abused the power of the Heroic Spirit? Rean didn't know, but he was just quite annoyed.

At that moment, a snake crawled over.

That familiar warmth and sweet fragrance belonged to the little woman who had been stopped earlier.

"Drinking alone is bad for your health. Is there anything you want to say to your sister?"

Rean turned around and, sure enough, saw the purple rose rubbing against him, and the large snake that had already crawled into the wine cabinet and was deftly opening a bottle.

"Want a drink?" Rean handed him the glass directly.

"I'm not very good at it. Please don't laugh at me if I'm drunk." The girl blushed, seemingly feeling a little embarrassed.

Rean smiled, then watched as the girl extended her forked tongue, licked the wine, and immediately made a face, her face and skin turning bright red!

She really doesn't drink alcohol!

"Then have a glass of milk." Although a little surprised, Rean still gave her a different glass.

Meanwhile, the snake in the liquor cabinet had already downed its fourth bottle in just a few minutes. It seems this has nothing to do with the magical girl; it's simply a personal matter.

The mentor's snake began to drink heartily, while Purple Rose happily drank her milk, kicking her little feet as she sat in her chair.

Rean also let his guard down for once and enjoyed the pleasure of alcohol. Before he accidentally drank too much, he actually thought he could drink quite a lot.

"You're here to talk to me about her, right?" Rean asked directly, not bothering with beating around the bush.

"Hmm, this is the first time I've seen little Sallyman so angry. She looks very upset. What happened?"

After thinking it over, Rean realized there was nothing to hide. If Purple Rose wanted to know, she would have known long ago. Pretending not to know was already showing enough respect for his group.

He briefly mentioned the matter of the inheritance of heroic spirits and also mentioned Suliman's disrespect for her own life.

"Sigh." Upon hearing this, Purple Rose sighed. At this moment, Rean was also certain that she had indeed known all along.

She put down her milk glass, took out a little beer, licked it, and it turned completely red. Helplessly, she put it down again.

It seems she's no longer able to have heart-to-heart talks with people over drinks.

However, there are some things that perhaps only she can say.

“This child has always had a strong tendency toward suicide. To be precise, she has absolutely no expectations for the future, and all she feels when she recalls the past is pain.” Purple Rose recalled the past, which is also a scar for her.

"She must be a high-ranking noblewoman." Rean was a little surprised. He really couldn't tell. Sallyman looked like a naive and happy girl.

"Her high social status was the cause of her nightmares."

Purple Rose sighed. By the time she learned all this, it was already all over.

"Her mother, my sister, was killed by her father. And Suliman avenged her mother with her own hands." Though the words were short, the content was quite horrifying.

Rean put down his wine glass, his face full of surprise.

The version he heard was that both of them died of illness, and Suliman supported the family alone.

“Saliman is not an only child. To be precise, she has several younger sisters and brothers. All of them were betrayed by her father and other women. She almost died several times without knowing why.”

This is still not all.

"I won't go into how those people died. She trusted a butler who helped her turn the tables, but it turned out he was also an ambitious man who almost killed her."

“Similar things have happened several times. Is the Sudar family now very empty? How could a viscount family not have any branches or relatives? They were all killed by her.”

“I observed her from the shadows back then. She was a true viper, heartless, tearless, and fearless. Unfortunately, after taking revenge, seizing power, and gaining royal backing, she grew increasingly foolish, and now she has completely become a foolish viper.”

As she spoke, Purple Rose put down her beer glass, her tone becoming serious.

"I believe you can help her inherit the legacy and awaken her second personality."

“But wouldn’t that be tantamount to letting her die?” Those most prone to depression and suicide are often those who have no expectations for the future. Suliman’s past is full of pain, and Rean thinks she might really escape to her death.

Purple Rose shook her head.

"Don't underestimate her; she crawled out of real hell. There are some things she can't explain herself, but I've seen it all."

Purple Rose smiled; the situation was much better than she had expected. Perhaps she would see that venomous snake that manipulated people's hearts again.

"She never intended to commit suicide; she just longed for a sister, a family member who wouldn't betray her. Give her that; it will stabilize her emotions. Besides..."

Purple Rose smiled again, but her smile was a little strange.

"After all that's happened, do you think it's normal for her to act so naive and innocent? Those who manipulate people's hearts will always suffer the consequences. She might have already developed a mental disorder. Awakening her other personality might help her live a better life."

(End of this chapter)