Chapter 333: Soul Requiem (Still asking for monthly votes!)
"I've heard that the Charlotte Family possesses a legendary Essence Relic passed down for a thousand years, called the Soul Requiem. Is that true?"
"Y-you-you..." The question Leon asked was, honestly, quite ordinary, but the moment the words left his mouth, Hanson Charlotte looked as if he'd seen a ghost. His face turned deathly pale, and he stumbled backward, staring at Leon with a gaze full of terror and dread. "How do you know about that!"
"Huh?" Leon was briefly stunned, then realized he'd gotten the timeline wrong—at this point in history, the Soul Requiem was still unknown...
This was the Charlotte Family's secret, hidden for a thousand years...
It wouldn’t be until a century later that the true power of the Soul Requiem would shock the entire world of Northend...
But only as a component...
"Impossible, impossible..." Hanson Charlotte had no way of knowing any of this. The moment Leon uttered the words 'Soul Requiem,' Hanson Charlotte completely lost his composure, looking utterly terrified and muttering over and over, "Impossible, impossible, impossible..."
It was no wonder Hanson Charlotte was so frightened...
After all, the existence of the Soul Requiem was one of the Charlotte Family’s greatest secrets. A thousand years ago, they had acquired this awe-inspiring Essence Relic.
Yet, the Soul Requiem never brought the Charlotte Family any benefit...
It sounds almost unbelievable...
Essence Relics possess power on the level of Title Archmages. Even in the hands of an ordinary person, such an artifact can unleash terrifying force. How could a world-shaking Essence Relic like this, falling into the hands of the Charlotte Family, not bring them any benefit?
But Hanson Charlotte knew this was the truth...
For a thousand years, the Charlotte Family had done everything possible to satisfy that evil Relic Spirit.
Only those who had truly seen the Soul Requiem understood just how evil its Relic Spirit was. Nearly everyone in the Charlotte Family regretted and cursed, regretted ever provoking that wicked spirit, cursed that damned monster to hurry up and go to hell...
When Hanson Charlotte turned fifty, he became a Magus, finally earning the right to enter the Charlotte Family’s core. Only then did he first encounter the Soul Requiem, and for the first time, saw that evil Relic Spirit with his own eyes.
Hanson Charlotte still remembers it clearly...
When he stepped into the family's ancestral grounds, the floor was littered with bones and flowing blood, and the stench of blood hung thick in the air, almost as if it had solidified.
Then Hanson Charlotte saw a monster, reeking of sulfur and blood, standing among the bones and gore, grinning at him with a twisted smile...
At that moment, Hanson Charlotte was completely petrified...
Decades later, Hanson Charlotte could barely remember how he offered his sacrifice to that monster, or how he managed to walk out of the ancestral grounds soaked in blood and bones.
All he remembered was that the monster was very pleased with his offering, and amid the blood and bones, it let out a satisfied yet menacing laugh...
As Hanson Charlotte's power grew, so did his status within the family, and he gradually gained access to the highest secrets.
It was only then that Hanson Charlotte learned the truth: this terrifying monster was the Relic Spirit of the Soul Requiem. A thousand years ago, it had made a pact with the Charlotte Family's ancestors—promising to serve the family at a crucial moment, but in exchange, demanding a constant supply of fresh blood and flesh from their descendants...
For a millennium, this evil Relic Spirit was like an insatiable black hole. The Charlotte Family tried everything to satisfy its hunger—especially during the darkest two centuries after Thornton Merlin's rise, when the family was at its lowest, the Relic Spirit truly became their deepest nightmare...
During that time, the Charlotte Family could barely take care of themselves, let alone provide enough fresh blood and flesh. After three failed offerings, the Relic Spirit was enraged and unleashed a bloody storm in the ancestral grounds, nearly tearing the place apart...
In the end, the family patriarch personally ventured into the ancestral grounds to negotiate with the monster. No one knows what they discussed; all they saw was the once-vigorous patriarch emerge, looking decades older, locking himself in his room for an entire night, and by morning, half his hair had turned white.
Afterward, the patriarch issued a chilling command.
Tens of thousands of collateral Charlotte Family members were summoned. They were told there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enter the ancestral grounds, receive the ancestors' blessing, and if lucky, emerge with the purest Charlotte bloodline...
And then...
There was no 'then.'
Tens of thousands of collateral Charlotte Family members entered the ancestral grounds and never came out...
The next day, when the servants opened the patriarch’s room, they found him lying in a pool of blood—the first patriarch in Charlotte Family history to take his own life...
From that moment on, the Charlotte Family classified the Soul Requiem as their highest secret. Unless you entered the true inner circle, you would never know it existed.
This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page to continue reading the rest!
Hanson Charlotte always thought this was the Charlotte Family’s exclusive secret, never expecting Leon to expose it so casually...
The shock of that moment was, of course, unimaginable...
At that instant, the first thought in Hanson Charlotte’s mind was: it’s over—the Merlin Family knows about the Soul Requiem.
But immediately after, Hanson Charlotte realized something was wrong. The Merlin Family couldn’t possibly know about the Soul Requiem; otherwise, they would have had countless chances to doom the Charlotte Family...
Don’t be fooled by my private lessons with Hoffland—I’d snatch the Starstone for my family without a second thought, and Hoffland would do the same to target the Charlotte Family. That’s just how family wars work. It was the same with Thornton Merlin back in the day: once he reached the Sky Rank, even after the Charlotte Family surrendered, Thornton Merlin ruthlessly wiped out all their remaining strength, reducing a thousand-year-old clan to a third-rate power...
Was it because of some irreconcilable hatred between Thornton Merlin and the Charlotte Family? Of course not. The Charlotte Family simply stood in the way of the Merlin Family’s progress. If the Charlotte Family had produced a Sky Rank powerhouse, they’d have done the same to the Merlin Family.
But if the Merlin Family doesn’t know about the Soul Requiem, then what’s the real reason?
How does this young Magus, who looks barely twenty, know so much?
"Heh, are you wondering how I know about the Soul Requiem? Sorry, that’s a secret I can’t share..." Leon smiled. It really was a secret he couldn’t reveal. He couldn’t exactly tell Hanson Charlotte that the only reason he knew about the Soul Requiem was because he came from thirty thousand years in the future, could he?
Only someone from thirty thousand years in the future would know that, a century from now, the Charlotte Family will face utter ruin. That’s when they finally offer enough fresh blood and flesh, and everyone rejoices, thinking they’ll finally wield the Soul Requiem’s power.
But what they don’t realize...
The power of the Soul Requiem is completely beyond their control. Once it’s fed enough fresh blood and flesh, it becomes a terrifying monster, wielding power at the peak of the Essence Relic tier—mad, bloodthirsty. The first thing it does after leaving the ancestral grounds is devastate the Merlin Family...
After crippling its old rivals, the Charlotte Family celebrates wildly in Auckland for three days and nights. But in the midst of the festivities, the Soul Requiem suddenly breaks free and turns the celebration into a funeral. Virtually every elite in the Charlotte Family is wiped out overnight.
The next morning, when people entered the plaza, all they saw were scattered limbs and bones, the ground stained crimson with blood. A monster sat among the carnage, laughing and feasting...
It was a scene of pure horror...
From that day on, the Soul Requiem rampaged through Auckland, causing countless tragedies and devouring innumerable lives. It was a disaster for the entire city. For ten years, until a Sky Rank powerhouse finally rose in Cloudspire Tower, tracked the Soul Requiem to the Auridge Mountains, and destroyed its Relic Spirit in a great battle. The artifact itself was then brought back to Cloudspire Tower.
A few years later, this Sky Rank mage mastered the Black Death Rune. By then, the Black Death Rune was nothing like what Leon had seen before—the biggest difference being a component at the pinnacle of the Essence Relic tier.
This pinnacle-tier component possessed terrifying power. In battle after battle, it showed extraordinary might, helping the Sky Rank mage conquer realm after realm, making Cloudspire Tower’s name resound throughout Northend once again.
Centuries later, people finally learned that the pinnacle component attached to the Black Death Rune was the Soul Requiem...
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Yesterday, I actually forgot to ask for monthly votes, and as a result, the vote count dropped way below the previous two days—utter humiliation, a stain on my life. Making up for it today!!!