“You should go and beg her.” The family’s Soul Hall was located at the very top of the castle.
All the pure-blooded Trandy clansmen had their lifebound soulfires enshrined here.
Among them, the stronger the soulfire, the more vigorous it burned, and the stronger the life force; the weaker the soulfire, the more fragile the life it represented.
On the highest step of the Soul Tower, Xue Lei’s soulfire flickered so faintly it seemed a single gust of wind could extinguish it at any moment.
Xue Lei stood before the soulfire, with Ming Xi supported behind her by Antonella.
Xue Lei stared fixedly at that faint flame, and her heart seemed to beat anew.
It was an ecstasy beyond measure that arrived after enduring the deathly silence of absolute despair.
The whiplash of emotions rising and falling so drastically nearly caused her already weakened body to faint once more.
“Don’t rejoice too soon.”
San Zhanglao poured cold water on her without a trace of emotion.
“The blood curse in her bones isn’t something you can shake off just because you want to. Given her current state, I had thought she would grow to be as ruthless as the Grand Duke, and that it would take half your own life to save her.”
San Zhanglao turned around, those murky yellow eyes boring into Xue Lei: “The only reason she can temporarily break free of the blood curse in her veins is because of you.”
“Tell me, what exactly must I do to save her?”
Xue Lei’s face was as pale as paper as she asked in grief.
“Please, tell me.”
San Zhanglao let out a deep sigh, her voice laced with helplessness: “A curse is always a curse. Defying instinct demands a terrible price. Only that cold-blooded Camilla—only the Grand Duke herself personally undoing the sealing barrier—can save her.”
San Zhanglao gazed toward the Main Hall deep within the castle.
“Go. Go and beg her. Perhaps there’s still a sliver of hope. The Elder Council members just requested an audience in the hall, but the Grand Duke’s personal guards blocked them at the door. The Grand Duke refuses to see anyone.”
Left with no choice, San Zhanglao had come to Xue Lei instead.
Perhaps, as the daughter of the Grand Duke’s deceased sister, she would be the one variable…
After all, the two sisters had gotten along quite well back then, and when she was little, the Grand Duke had treated her like her own child. What a pity…
Without any hesitation, Xue Lei turned to Antonella, who was supporting her, and said:
“We’re going to the Main Hall.”
The pressure surrounding the Main Hall was several times more terrifying than ever before.
The materialized blood mist saturating the air had even merged with the clouds in the sky.
From a distance, the entire Main Hall looked like an ancient demon roaring in fury.
Had it not been for Antonella, who possessed ancient dragon power, forcibly expanding her battle aura shield, Xue Lei could never have made it to the Main Hall’s massive doors, tens of meters tall.
Merely approaching within a hundred meters felt like being trapped in quicksand, unable to take a single step forward.
Antonella stepped forward and called out loudly:
“Honorable gatekeepers, we request an audience with Her Grace the Grand Duke!”
The high-ranking female officer guarding the door shook her head coldly: “The Grand Duke has ordered that no one may disturb her.”
Xue Lei walked forward weakly, gasping as she asked: “When can we see the Grand Duke?”
The female officer shook her head again: “I don’t know. Please, both of you, return. The Grand Duke said she will see no one.”
“Is it truly impossible, no matter what?”
“Absolutely impossible.”
A trace of deep sorrow flickered deep in Xue Lei’s eyes.
At a time like this, that cold-hearted matriarch wouldn’t even deign to see her.
“Antonella, put me down.”
“Oh, okay!”
Antonella, who had been holding Xue Lei in her arms like a princess, carefully set her down on the hard floor.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Xue Lei, without a second thought, fell to her knees stiffly before the tightly shut doors of the Main Hall.
She shouted with all her might, her voice desperate:
“I beg the Grand Duke to act and save my sister’s life!”
Her voice was so hoarse and shrill it sounded as if she would cough up blood at any second.
“BANG!!”
She bowed her body fiercely, her forehead slamming heavily against the solid ground.
With just that single impact, a large, glaring red mark appeared on her smooth forehead.
The two female guards exchanged glances, a flash of reluctance in their eyes, and quickly urged:
“Second Miss, the Grand Duke absolutely will not see you right now. Please get up, don’t hurt yourself.”
“I beg the Grand Duke to save my sister’s life!”
Xue Lei paid them no mind and slammed her head down once more.
The second time, the skin on her forehead split open, and blood streamed down the bridge of her nose.
As long as there was even a sliver of hope, she would fight with everything she had to grasp it.
Her utterly unwavering and resolute appearance deeply shook the hearts of the two hardened female officers.
She was the only person in this world who would love her with her very life.
They had watched these two sisters grow up, and it would be a lie to say their hearts didn’t ache. When they learned the Young Miss had fallen into dire peril trying to save someone, they too were frantic with worry.
But the Grand Duke’s orders were absolute iron law.
Without permission, they could never let anyone inside.
Antonella stared blankly at Xue Lei, whose forehead was already a bloody mess yet who continued mechanically bowing her head.
Then, on that chubby little face of the loli, an unprecedented determination appeared.
Antonella also dropped heavily to her knees.
Imitating Xue Lei’s actions, she too slammed her head down hard.
But just how terrifying was her berserker physique!
With that single, seemingly light bow, the flat, hard Obsidian Floor was instantly cracked into a web of spider-like fissures!
“BANG!”
“I beg the Grand Duke to save Elder Sister!”
“I beg the Grand Duke to save my sister!”
And so, two young maidens—one big, one small—knelt before the majestic and imposing doors, bowing their heads again and again in desperate supplication.
Their figures seemed so tiny before the gates, yet they radiated a shocking power that stirred the soul.
Even the churning blood mist above the Main Hall’s dome seemed moved by their perseverance, its roaring gradually calming.
No one knew how long passed…
Xue Lei’s forehead was now completely torn and bloody, the blood staining the stone slabs before her.
Until, from blood loss, her consciousness began to blur and her body swayed precariously.
She refused the healing magic the two female officers tried to cast on her.
If Camilla wouldn’t agree, then she would kneel here and knock herself dead!
An extremely heavy scraping sound rang out.
The tightly shut doors finally began to open inward, revealing a narrow gap just wide enough for one person to pass.
“Enter.”
A voice, ethereal and languid, yet carrying boundless pressure, drifted out from the depths of the dim hall.
The two female officers sighed with relief and hurriedly stepped forward to help Xue Lei up, saying excitedly:
“Wonderful! The Grand Duke has agreed to see you! Second Miss, stop kneeling and go in quickly!”
Xue Lei gritted her teeth and struggled to push herself up from the ground.
Blood covered her entire face, but her brow did not furrow even once.
Antonella was left outside the door.
Xue Lei dragged her unsteady steps, one foot after another, into the dark Main Hall.
Blood mist filled the hall, as if she were walking through purgatory.
The air was thick with a crushing pressure that made even her bones tremble.
Xue Lei reached the end of the great hall and saw the massive scarlet gauze bed floating upon the High Platform.
She also saw the figure hidden behind layers of drapes—one that felt unfamiliar and fraught with a sinister, oppressive aura.
Xue Lei dropped heavily to her knees once more, ignoring the blood dripping down her face, and cried out at the top of her lungs:
“I beg Aunt to act and save my sister!”
A faint rustling came from within the gauze bed, and a pale, jade-like hand slowly parted the heavy drapes.
Xue Lei’s entire body went cold.
She felt as if she were being stared down by an ancient beast lurking in the Abyss.
From the gap in the drapes, a pair of cold, ruthless crimson eyes were revealed.
Yet, what utterly astounded Xue Lei was that beneath the corners of those cruel blood-red eyes were two shocking trails of scarlet tears!
As if this lofty, merciless Grand Duke had just been weeping silent blood here as well.
From within the gauze bed, Camilla’s voice carried not a trace of fluctuation:
“She is trapped in the abyss furnace, struggling against the rampaging abyssal holy artifact. The hidden killing intent within that Sword Furnace could shred even a Demi-God; there is hardly any chance she survives.”
Xue Lei’s heart twisted in agony as she sobbed and begged:
“As long as Aunt is willing to act, with your supreme power, you can definitely save my sister!”
“I am bound by the family’s blood curse; my true body cannot leave this Main Hall by even half a step. Nor would I, for her sake alone, place the entire Trandy Family in the mortal danger of a holy artifact going berserk.”
Xue Lei sniffled softly, clutching at the last thread of desperate hope: “You… you must have another way, right?”
A brief silence fell within the gauze bed, then a single word emerged:
“Yes.”
Xue Lei jerked her head up, a startling light blazing in her eyes:
“As long as I can save my sister, even if it means trading my life for hers, Xue Lei willingly accepts!”
From within the gauze bed, Camilla let out an extremely complex, soft hum:
“Hmm…”
After Xue Lei nodded, the voice came again:
“You’d do anything—are you truly certain of your decision?”
“To save her, the only way is for you to throw yourself into the furnace and sacrifice yourself to the sword, thereby quelling the holy artifact’s resentment. You must wield the sword and sever the shackles. Only then might there be a chance to trade for her survival.”
Tears streamed down Xue Lei’s face, yet at the corners of her lips bloomed a breathtakingly beautiful smile—one of utter sorrow, yet perfect peace.
“Xue Lei willingly sacrifices herself to the sword!”