Grand Lust Sovereign-Chapter 118 : Holy Land

Defeating the ghost was immensely successful. The trio gained a lot of experience points and leveled up quickly.

Jackie and Amelia were close to breaking through to Rank 3 while Julien was close to being Rank 2.

After obtaining the soul stone, they entered the Haunted Hall of Hundred Altars.

Finding a rueful soul wasn't difficult. All they had to do was listen to every soul's blabbering until they found the right one.

Once found, Amelia used the items on her along with her skills to trap the soul into the soul stone.

The soul stone was then sacrificed and the trio heard a notification as a bright flash of light filled their vision.

[Floor 26's Main Quest #1 — Cleared!]

[Entering the Holy Lands…]

The sunless sky had an everlasting twilight.

The endless expanse of land possessed ruined cathedrals and worn-down shrines.

Toppled statues with missing faces littered the ground as did the crumbled stone chapels with broken glass windows.

This was not what Julien had expected when he heard about the Holy Lands.

Amelia could not see the post-apocalyptic landscape, but she could feel the eerie and somber feeling.

To her, this place seemed more like a graveyard than a holy land.

"Master, are you sure we're in the correct place?" Amelia asked as she kneeled down to feel a handful of soil.

"It is. This is the holy land indeed." Julien said.

If it weren't for Players rummaging through the ruins and roaming around the area, Julien wouldn't have guessed that these were the holy lands.

[The constellation 'Demonic Inquisitor' questions the naming of this floor.]

[The constellation 'Sovereign of Shadows' swirls their wine as they gaze upon a certain broken altar on Floor 26.]

[The constellation 'Eternal Flame of the Sky' volunteers to add a sun on Floor 26.]

[The constellation 'Light of Primordial One' reminds the other constellations about something.]

[The constellations are wondering what it is.]

[The constellation 'Light of Primordial One' is hinting at the floor's main quest.]

[The constellation 'Demonic Inquisitor' clasps their hands.]

[The constellation 'Sovereign of Shadows' shakes their head.]

[The constellation 'Eternal Flame of the Sky' is yawning.]

[No coins have been sponsored.]

Julien saw a series of notifications. He could make out what the indirect messages from the constellations stated.

They were talking about his party's quest clearance.

The constellations did not find it amusing and were sort of bored.

Julien had simply slashed at the ghost and it kept dying again and again, until it dropped loot. This was how it looked in their eyes.

If they weren't entertained, they wouldn't drop any coins. That was how it was.

Unlike Julien, Jackie and Amelia did get coins. It was from their constellations and was a gesture of approval and appreciation for what they had done.

Julien did not have a contracted constellation and did not get such benefits.

Moving on, Julien's journey was towards the pilgrimage route.

At the end of this was the Stairway of Ascendance.

The route was slightly difficult to find with everything being in ruins.

The best guess Julien had was to move towards places with more concentration of Players.

Following such a route led him to the center of the Holy Lands where lay an open cathedral.

It was in ruins without a doubt, and within it, one could see a broken altar.

Julien raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw this altar.

"Let's go there."

He went to the center of the cathedral with his party.

As there was no quest or reward available, Players usually skipped this area.

But Julien did not.

As the altar in the middle of this cathedral seemed quite familiar.

Standing right before it, Julien frowned and thought, 'Isn't this the same altar where d'Arc was given a choice?'

It indeed was.

"It feels strangely familiar…" Amelia touched the altar and said softly, confirming Julien's thoughts.

"This is the place d'Arc was last at before becoming a ghost." Julien briefed, enlightening the two.

"Oh… no wonder…" Amelia nodded in understanding.

"Amelia, what do you feel about this place?" Julien asked his lady, getting closer to her.

Amelia clasped her hands. "I can feel sadness, pain, and helplessness here. May the lord bless these poor souls and help them in their afterlife."

'Indeed. d'Arc, he spent his final moments here before becoming a ghost. I do have many questions about this, but well, dwelling upon it may not do me any good. d'Arc and stuff related to him is limited to this floor. This place is already cleared so going deeper into the rabbit hole won't do me any good. Let's move on.'

With such a thought, Julien left the cathedral to find the pilgrimage route.

…..

In a distant world where the sky was blood red, enormous statues lay embedded within the earth. They were visible as giant crevices formed, and on one of the statues, the hard covering seemed to be chipping off.

It was a little piece at first, but with each passing second, a bit more fell off.

…..

In a holy cathedral, light seeped through the colorful glass windows and created a serene ambience.

A divine being kneeled before an altar wearing a golden robe. Behind her were many priests and priestesses, kneeling as well.

A few moments passed.

The divine being stood up and turned around, clasping her hands while bowing her head.

"A subtle shift in darkness looms but we are still undergoing the golden age. Continue your devotion and do good, the lord is always with you."

The divine being raised her hand and a bright ray of sunshine erupted from within, enveloping everyone and making them feel warm.

"Glory to god!" The crowd exclaimed in unison.

…..

On one of the higher floors of the Tower, a vile demonic being sat on his throne, his face shrouded in a veil of darkness.

His hand supported his face as he leaned at the side.

A faint bloody smirk could be seen as if he found everything amusing and worth a chuckle.

"Something interesting is going to happen…" the demonic being stated and stroked his chin.

…..

Garden of Eden.

An angel being sat on a swing with its ends attached to a giant arch made of clouds.

The swing swung over the most beautiful pond in all of Eden.

Seated on this swing was an angel being, watching something on her tablet screen.

A beautiful petite angel, flapping her pair of feathery white wings flew close to this lady.

She circled her and said, "There are some strange movements going on."

The lady on the swing extended her hand up and waved it.

"It appears to be serious as Michael is the one who said it."

The lady stopped waving her hand. Her eyes were still fixated on the tablet screen.

The petite angel flapped her wings and circled her once again.

"He also stated it isn't worrying, for now. If there is anything, a meeting will be held."

The angel on the swing nodded her head.

The petite angel flapped her wings and began flying away.

Before she left, she said, "Please meet Michael once before going into your slumber."

A wave of hand came in response, and the angel on the swing went back to entertaining herself by watching her tablet screen.

…..

Floor 26.

As Amelia walked beside Julien, she couldn't help but feel a subtle change in the surroundings.

It was a somewhat uncomfortable feeling, but she couldn't really tell why it felt this way.

When she moved closer to Julien, this feeling would go away.

It was quite strange and fascinating.

Julien on the other hand did not feel anything. He treated this floor just like any other.

There weren't any worthwhile challenges and whatever good ones were there were taken or cleared.

Finding hidden quests would consume a lot of time, and in that time, he could work hard to improve his stats instead.

From Celeste, he got a list of hidden quests in the higher floors. There were none on this floor, so he was hurrying to reach Floor 27.

It took half a day for the trio to find the Pilgrimage Route.

It was difficult, but only initially.

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Some past Players had placed wooden signboard at the start of the route, stating it was the Pilgrimage Route. To reach this place was difficult, but once here, the journey ahead was smooth.

The three saw many Players on this route.

Some tried to strike a conversation, but Julien was in a hurry to reach Floor 27.

There were some nice hidden quests and he wanted to complete them as soon as possible.

His job on Floor 26 was done, that's what he thought.

It took a few hours of walking to reach the stairway.

The majority of Players on this route did not rush to ascend. Instead they moved around to find hidden quests or resources.

It was to each their own.

Julien's priority was ascension, and here was, about to ascend.

He glanced at the Holy Lands one final time, then climbed the stairs and made his way to Floor 27.