Chapter 560: Contain the Unknown (II)
Leofric opened the Evil Chest that had been prepared beforehand and carefully catched every dark smoke that leaked out through the skull cracks.
Primrose finally let out a long breath of relief as she watched Leofric transfer everything inside the skull into the Evil Chest.
"Got it!"
Without wasting another second, he forced the lid shut, even as the remnant of the God desperately tried to keep the chest from closing.
Bang!
The lid finally slammed shut. Leofric let out a long, exhausted sigh before glancing at Edmund and Primrose one after the other.
"I honestly thought I was about to witness a divorce just now," he said.
"Don’t ever use that word," Edmund replied coldly.
The look in his eyes was so sharp that it seemed as though he wanted to burn Leofric alive on the spot.
Leofric opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, Primrose ran straight to Edmund and threw her arms around him.
The Lycan King hugged her back without a second thought, completely forgetting that there were two other people around them.
"I’m sorry," Primrose whispered. She wrapped her arms around Edmund’s neck, her feet dangling in the air as he held her close.
"What are you apologizing for?" Edmund asked gently. He adjusted his hold to support her more comfortably. "If what that thing said was true, then I was the one who made that choice. Like I said before, I have no regrets."
Primrose didn’t reply. Instead, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and took a slow, deep breath, breathing in her husband’s familiar scent. It was the only thing she needed to remind herself that he was still here, safe in her arms.
"Do you think..." she asked softly after a long silence. "...we met during the same era I saw in those memories?"
Edmund thought about it for a moment before answering. "I’m not sure," he admitted. "But for now, that’s the answer that makes the most sense."
Primrose nodded slightly before turning to look at the shattered skull. Then she frowned because she noticed that something wasn’t right.
She raised a finger and pointed at it. "Why is the skull still glowing?" she asked.
Lorelle immediately walked over to the broken skull and crouched beside it. She tilted her head for a closer look before letting out a sigh.
"Oh, for God’s sake..." Lorelle’s expression suddenly changed. "This isn’t right."
Everyone immediately looked at her. "What do you mean?" Leofric asked, his voice turning serious.
Lorelle didn’t answer right away. Instead, she carefully reached out toward the glowing fragments of the skull.
"It’s still releasing energy," she murmured. "But... this isn’t the remnant of God anymore."
Primrose’s eyes narrowed. "What?"
"The remnant was already sealed inside the Evil Chest." Lorelle slowly shook her head. "This light is coming from something else."
Without anyone expecting, the glow grew brighter and brighter until a strange pressure filled the warehouse, making everyone instinctively take a step back.
"Everyone, get away from it!" Leofric shouted.
But before anyone could move—BOOM!
The shattered skull exploded into countless fragments. Instead of flying outward, they dissolved into tiny specks of golden light that flooded the entire warehouse.
Edmund immediately covered Primrose’s face with his arms, shielding her without a second thought.
"What is that?!" Primrose shouted.
The green light suddenly rushed toward them like a living tide. It wrapped around both of their bodies before anyone else could reach them.
"Edmund!" Leofric shouted as he lunged forward. His hand was only inches away, but then the light swallowed them whole.
The moment the light disappeared, Leofric found Edmund and Primrose unconscious.
Edmund had fallen onto the floor on his back, while Primrose lay on top of his chest.
Leofric’s eyes widened in alarm. "Soldiers!" he roared. "Seal the entire warehouse! Cover every wall, every window, and every crack with sealing cloth. I don’t want even the smallest trace of energy escaping from this place!"
"And don’t open the door! I repeat, don’t you dare open the door! Do everything from the outside. You’ve already heard my voice, so there’s no reason for anyone to come inside!" Leofric shouted.
One of the soldiers hesitated. "But why—"
"Just do it! Hurry! Go! Go! Go!" Leofric clapped his hands several times, waving them away as he urged the soldiers to carry out his orders immediately.
Seeing him panic like this, Lorelle couldn’t help but ask, "Hey, what’s wrong? I can’t tell what kind of magic just exploded. It feels so—"
"Ancient?" Leofric finished for her.
She nodded.
"Yes, the energy feels ancient," he said. "But it isn’t magic."
"It isn’t?" Lorelle frowned. "Then what is it?"
Leofric took a slow breath before answering. "It’s nothing more than a fragment of the past. That skull wasn’t just a vessel for the remnant of the God. It was also proof that it had once been a living being."
"But what does that have to do with Edmund and Rosie?" she asked, unable to hide the panic in her voice. "We were hit by that blinding light too, but we’re completely fine!"
"That’s because we don’t have a strong connection to that skull, but they do," Leofric replied quickly, though the worry on his face never faded. "For them to receive memories from such an ancient past would put an enormous burden on both their bodies and their souls. Because of that, there’s always a chance their souls may try to leave this place to escape those memories."
"So, Lorelle, please... we have to make sure their souls don’t leave this place," Leofric pleaded. He looked at her with an unusually serious expression. "Who knows what terrible thing could happen if we let them go?"
"Of course it would be really, really bad," Lorelle replied, staying exactly where she was. She was so shaken by his words that she didn’t even know what she was supposed to do.
After a brief silence, she finally spoke. "Alright. We should separate them first. You watch over Edmund, and I’ll watch over Primrose."