Chapter 412 - 136: Mama! You Are All My Good Mamas

His voice was choked with tears as he spoke. He whipped his head toward Aus and roared, "Aus! Bring the sword!"

Aus, who was engrossed in his writing, jumped at the shout, and his notebook tumbled to the ground.

He pointed at himself, utterly bewildered. "Huh? Me?"

"What are you standing there gaping for!" Lynch's eyes blazed, his expression one of utter despair. "Bring the sword and cleave me in two! My left half will return to the Netherworld with Wang Ge's mother, and my right half will remain here to serve Priestess Mother! Only then... only then can I fulfill my filial duty!"

"My Lord, no!" Sea Song cried, her face pale with fright. She scrambled to her knees before the Moon Priestess, clasping her hands and pleading, "Your Excellency, the great Song of Elune, my Lord is... he's just confused for a moment! Please don't force him anymore! I am willing to accept his punishment in his stead!"

"Lady Elegy..." Avril forced herself to speak, bowing timidly to Pale Elegy. "Senior Lynch... he truly sees you as his closest elder. If you force him to make a choice, he... he'll really have a breakdown..."

The scene descended into utter chaos.

Pale Elegy glanced at Lynch's "anguished beyond measure" expression, then at the pleading, kneeling forms of Sea Song and Avril. Finally, she sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead.

She sighed. "Alright, alright... I won't bicker with you, little mouse. Forget it. I'm returning to the Netherworld."

'I need to go back and process all this.'

'It was one thing to suddenly have a son out of nowhere, but for that son to have *another* mother... and a remnant Spirit Body of a High Elf who's been dead for thousands of years, at that... This is all too messy. I need to go back and straighten things out in my head.'

The Moon Priestess gave a cold snort, and her moon-white figure began to turn ethereal. "I, too, have grown weary. I must return to rest."

She was clearly displeased as well.

'After slumbering for millennia, I thought I had finally found a "child" upon whom I could bestow my affection. I never imagined this child would be two-timing me, and that his other mother would be one of those loathsome Vampires—a Demigod of the Netherworld, no less...'

"Wait, what...?"

Lynch was dumbfounded.

'The two mothers showed up together, and now they're leaving together too!?'

'What about my plan?'

'Who's going to deal with that arrogant, domineering remnant soul of the Abyss Demon Lord in the ruins outside?'

'Rely on Baring? That would be a suicide mission!'

In his desperation, Lynch dropped the act. He shot forward and yelled, "My two mothers, wait! Please, hear me out!"

Steeling himself, he spoke in a rush. "We can't let that thing outside get away. If we allow it to remain entrenched here, it will become a grave threat in the future! By the way, Priestess Mother, do you... do you recognize it?"

The Moon Priestess, whose form was already fading, paused.

She fell silent for a moment. Her eyes, which seemed to reflect the very light of the moon, gazed out at the dark ruins beyond. A profound hatred surfaced in their depths. Even as a Spirit Body, her animosity was so tangible it seemed to make the temperature plummet.

"Of course I recognize it..." Her voice was bone-chillingly cold. "Even if it has become a phantom, I would know that filthy soul's undulations anywhere."

She slowly turned to face Lynch, a flicker of pain in her eyes. "That is an Abyss Demon Lord named Brutalus. Years ago, it was he who led the demon army that besieged the Shadow Sanctuary. I led my people in a bitter struggle that lasted for months, but we were ultimately overwhelmed. And... and I could not... get a response from the Lady of the Moon, Elune..."

Her voice trembled slightly. Clearly, the memory of that battle was so tragic that recalling it, even now, caused her immense pain.

"In the end, with the Sanctuary's supplies exhausted, I had no choice but to sacrifice my own life to activate the sanctuary's last Half-Divine Artifact—the Mirror of Elune. I guided the residual Divine Power of the Lady of the Moon within the mirror to bombard the battlefield, taking Brutalus down with me... I thought his soul had been utterly annihilated. I never imagined a remnant of that demon's soul would still be clinging to existence today."

Lynch was shaken to hear this.

'So Priestess Mother and that Abyss Demon Lord share such a deep, bloody history!'

He quickly turned to Pale Elegy, his eyes filled with anticipation. "Wang Ge's mother, you see..."

Pale Elegy, however, didn't look at him. She covered her lips with her folding fan and let out a lazy yawn. "Oh, so it's Brutalus. I've heard of him. He was a rather infamous Abyss Demon Lord back in the day. To think he'd die in such a desolate place."

She paused. Her beautiful, blood-red eyes flickered toward Lynch, a mocking smile playing on her lips. "But... what does that have to do with me?"

Clearly, she had no intention of getting involved.

Lynch, however, wasn't disappointed. On the contrary, a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes.

'In truth, his greatest fear was that they wouldn't take the bait.'

'Now that she'd spoken, he felt a renewed sense of confidence.'

He looked at Pale Elegy, his tone suddenly turning serious. "Wang Ge's mother, do you remember my previous proposal? About hunting Yenogu's remnant soul with you... Well, here we have the remnant soul of an Abyss Demon Lord, ready for the taking. Aren't you tempted in the slightest?"

Upon hearing this, Pale Elegy's beautiful, blood-red eyes narrowed slightly. She watched him with that same mocking smile. "Little mouse, you're quite the schemer..."

She mulled it over for a moment before shaking her head gently. "That remnant soul of Brutalus is too heavily polluted by Abyssal Demonic Qi. It's also been burned half-mad by the power of the moonlight. Its soul is a chaotic, frenzied mess, like spoiled food... Consuming it would do more harm than good. I'm not interested."

"I've already thought of that!" Lynch, however, was full of confidence. He took a step forward and said, "The Profound Yin Body Tempering Spell that I cultivate can refine Abyssal Demonic Qi and other chaotic energies, converting them into pure Profound Yin Qi. As long as Wang Ge's mother helps subdue it, I can purify its remnant soul. That way, all that's left will be pure Soul Energy. Wouldn't that be a wonderful meal for you then?"