Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 157: The Truth

Ethan was about to remind Leo to be careful, fearing that the magic formation might have been tampered with. But it was too late. With a loud thud, Leo’s body vanished.

Thankfully, nothing went wrong. If it had, with the force Leo had used, his head might have been smashed to pieces.

The four of them quickly returned inside the mountain, sprinting toward the altar. Leo was incredibly fast. Everyone in the group, including Ethan, was skilled, but Leo was on another level. In the blink of an eye, he had already turned the corner and entered the corridor they had passed earlier. By the time Ethan and the others were halfway there, Leo was out of sight.

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the cavern.

Ethan’s heart sank. He had specifically told Leo not to fire his weapon. The three of them hurried forward, rounding the corner to find Leo aiming his pistol at the altar.

In the ninth spot, where there should have been no remains, lay the Shadow Lynx. It was unclear whether it was alive or dead. Without turning his head, Leo said, "She was about to gut the lynx. I shot the knife out of her hand."

Ethan scanned the area with his Soul Sense and confirmed that the lynx was still alive. He glared at Celeste and said coldly, "Should I call you Doe, or Celeste?"

Celeste let out a soft, melodic laugh. Her voice, usually a neutral, magnetic tone, had shifted into something entirely different—neither her own nor Doe’s. It was unsettling.

"When did you figure it out?" she asked, her voice now carrVoidg an eerie, unfamiliar quality.

Leo, visibly agitated, demanded, "Who the hell are you? What have you done with Celeste?"

"Oh, you little virgin," she teased, her tone dripping with mockery. "Don’t tell me you have a crush on her? You’re out of luck, though. I happen to know she only likes women."

Leo’s anger flared, and he looked ready to lunge at her. Ethan placed a hand on his shoulder, calming him, and then turned back to Celeste. "You hid it well. Up until now, I wasn’t entirely sure it was you, Doe."

Celeste—or rather, the entity controlling her smirked. "Go on, then. Tell me what you think I’ve done."

Ethan met her gaze calmly. "If the story you told earlier was true, then the seven people who hanged themselves in that house, that was your doing, wasn’t it?

You wanted to create panic, to make the villagers believe the place was haunted so they wouldn’t go near it. The exit to this place is there, after all. But then the drilling team came and disrupted your plans. They hit an underground river, which I assume leads to some secret location.

To stop them from digging further, you possessed those soldiers and made them hang themselves. That secret place, I’m guessing, is beneath this altar—where you’ve been raising those Shadow Eaters."

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"Giggle... You’ve got quite the imagination, kid," she said, wagging a finger. "But you’re only half right. First, I didn’t raise those creatures. Second, they’re not just any creatures—they’re Candle Abyss."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. "Candle Abyss? Never heard of it."

Celeste—or whatever had taken hold of her, smiled, slow and knowing. "Of course you haven’t. It’s older than memory, older than language itself. The name has been forgotten, but the truth never disappeared. You called them Shadow Eaters, didn’t you? That’s not wrong. But what you’re really dealing with is Candle Abyss."

Ethan didn’t speak, waiting.

"The Abyssal Dragon once ruled this place. It had no equal, no rival—until it died. But death isn’t always the end. What it left behind wasn’t a corpse, but a seed. A fragment of itself, raw and hungry, waiting for the right moment to return. The ancients called it Drum."

Her fingers traced the altar’s surface, almost reverently. "This altar wasn’t built to worship the dragon. It was built to nurture what it left behind. They believed that if Drum was fed enough life, enough soul power, it could hatch. And from it, the Abyssal Dragon would rise again."

She let out a small sigh, almost wistful. "But when I found it, it was nothing more than a husk. Just a relic of what could have been."

A low growl interrupted her, the Shadow Lynx stirring on the stone floor. Celeste’s—no, Doe’s—smile widened. "Ah. Right on time. The Ninth Sunbirth Rite is nearly complete."

Ethan’s pulse quickened. The Rite. He glanced at the lynx just as something small and golden-furred began to emerge from it.

"You think you have time to stop this?" Doe laughed. "You’re waiting for your protector, aren’t you? Hoping he’ll break through the mist and come save you? Don’t bother. Even if he makes it through that mist, he won’t be able to enter here.

The last time he tried to scare me, I heard his voice. He sounded like some ancient, decrepit old man. The entrance barrier also requires the fire of life to open, and that old fossil’s vitality is too weak to activate it now. Even if he knows where the entrance is, trying to force his way in would only damage the barrier’s foundation, sealing it off forever."

Ethan was stunned. What was she talking about? Was this delay tactics? He was genuinely out of options here. If only she’d leave Celeste’s body, he’d blast her with his Soul Sense without hesitation. And what was this about a protector? Who was she referring to?

"You’re the decrepit one, you old hag! You’ve really pissed me off now. I was just here to enjoy the show, but fine—Ethan, kill her!"

The voice of Morzan suddenly echoed in Ethan’s mind, filled with rage.

Ethan froze for a moment, then quickly understood. This must have been related to the incident when he was gathering energy earlier. He hadn’t realized that Morzan had actually scared her before.

"Old... uh..." Ethan almost called him "old man" out of habit, but he caught himself. He needed Morzan’s help now, so he quickly corrected himself. "How am I supposed to kill her? She’s inside Celeste’s body!"

"I’ll scare her out. Once she’s out, hit her with your Soul Sense and turn her into dust!" Morzan was clearly furious, though Ethan didn’t understand why. He’d called Morzan names like "old man" countless times before. If he knew that the only reason Morzan hadn’t taken it to heart was because he was the only ’Vessel’ in existence, he might have been a bit more cautious.

"But if I use my Soul Sense, I’ll need to compress it. Why don’t you just kill her yourself?"

"If I could kill her directly, do you think I’d need you? Start compressing your Soul Sense now. I’ll open the Gate of Ascension when the time comes," Morzan instructed.

Ethan obeyed, releasing his Soul Sense and compressing it, aiming it at Celeste. As he watched the altar, he couldn’t help but think, ’You really brought this on yourself. You just had to run your mouth, didn’t you?’

"Oh my… are you planning to hit me with that tiny bit of Soul Power you’ve just recovered? Hehe... I should thank you, actually. Your Soul Power helped activate Drum! I’ve been tricking that fool Vaughn for years, but he never agreed to come back here with me.

He’s lucky—if he had, I would’ve fed his soul to Drum. If I hadn’t heard that Celeste found someone with such strong Soul Power, I wouldn’t have bothered coming here myself... Ah!"

Before she could finish, she let out a sharp cry. Celeste suddenly clutched her head, and a shadowy figure began to separate from her body. It was Doe!

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