Chapter 6

Ruis struggled desperately, but the guards beside him held him firmly, rendering him immobile.

A black guillotine was set up in the middle of the square, and Ruis was pushed in front of it.

He was terrified, looking at Dumps beside him and pleading, "Lord Dumps, you've got the wrong person! I was just sick, but I'm better now, I really haven't fallen, please let me go."

Dumps remained unmoved, calmly watching as Ruis was pressed onto the guillotine, his neck fitting perfectly into the indentation on the platform, exposing his neck.

"In the name of the Goddess, I can prove my innocence, please let me go..."

Ruis screamed in fear, his face streaming with tears and snot.

He turned to the onlookers, calling out the names of a few familiar friends and neighbors, hoping they would plead for him, but he only saw cold faces, and no one spoke up.

In despair, Ruis turned back to Dumps, his eyes filled with hatred, "I was just sick, and I was about to get better, but you brought me here, saying you're going to judge me. You call yourselves followers of the God of Justice, is this justice?"

"My family relies on me to earn a living. If I die, who will take care of my wife and three children?"

"Do you want to watch them starve to death? Bah!"

"Why are you doing this to me!"

As he spoke, blood flowed from Ruis's eyes, mixing with his tears, making him look extremely terrifying. He began to curse Dumps and the Church madly, and eventually even hated the onlookers, cursing that everyone would meet a terrible end.

In the vast square, only Ruis's voice echoed.

Raine, standing in the crowd, felt very conflicted.

However, no one at the scene dared to speak up for Ruis. This was not out of indifference or a lack of compassion, but rather a habit.

From Ruis's condition, anyone with a bit of knowledge knew that his curse had taken effect, and he had fallen.

This curse is called the "Blood Soul Curse," which exists in the soul of every human being, a perpetual nightmare for all!

According to legend, thousands of years ago—historians have determined it was around 4,000 years ago, though the exact year is unknown—only that it was at the end of the previous era, humans somehow offended a terrifying ancient abyssal deity, and the entire race was cursed, a curse that continues to this day.

This terrifying deity is named "Yukthorn," who comes from the abyss and has existed for countless years.

Yukthorn has countless names throughout the long history of civilization, such as "Lord of All Demons," "Whisperer," "Source of Fear," "Master of the Abyss," "Thousand-Throated Demon," "Unnameable God," and humans typically call him "Lord of Darkness"!

As the leader of the four great abyssal deities, the curse he placed is impossible to remove.

The Blood Soul Curse lies dormant in the soul of every human, appearing normal.

However, when people are in a weakened state or suffer a setback that causes emotional instability, the curse will take effect, making them hear evil whispers.

These terrifying voices seem to come from the abyss, gradually driving them mad and losing their reason.

Thus, the Blood Soul Curse is also called the "Whisper of the Lord of Darkness." Anyone who falls to these whispers is no longer considered human but a "fallen one."

Their souls are tainted by the "evil energy" from the abyss. Even if they are killed, their souls will fall into the abyss, becoming the servants and minions of the abyssal deity, never to be redeemed.

When the Blood Soul Curse takes effect, it brings out the greatest evil in a person's heart, leading them to do the most疯狂和可怕的事情。

为了避免造成更大的伤害，除了杀死堕落者之外，别无选择。

几千年前，人类天生拥有强大的力量和悠长的寿命，不比精灵和矮人差多少，以聚落形式居住在偏远地区。但被诅咒后，人类开始自相残杀，短短百年内，人口锐减到原来的十分之一！

最可怕的是，血魂诅咒会通过血脉传递给下一代。

每个婴儿出生时就已经被诅咒了，婴儿意志薄弱，极易成为堕落者，即使侥幸长大，身体也很虚弱。

如此一代又一代地延续诅咒，几代过后，人类的寿命大幅缩短，很少有人能活过七十岁。

并且，人类也失去了强大的天赋，身体迅速退化，对各种超自然力量的敏感度变得迟钝，无论怎么努力都比不上其他种族，也没有出现顶级强者。

从上一个纪元结束，到新的纪元开始前，长达千年的黑暗时期，人类几乎处于濒临灭族的边缘。

在黑暗时期，人类为了对抗血魂诅咒尝试了各种办法。

最终有人发现，食用一种叫作“噬魂草”的草药，能够对抗血魂诅咒，减少诅咒发作的机会。

噬魂草本身是一种剧毒植物，毒素直接作用于灵魂，只有极少量食用才不会致死，但也非常痛苦，堪比酷刑折磨。虽然噬魂草不能解除血魂诅咒，但也阻止了人类身体的继续退化，避免了灭族。

经过千年的对抗与挣扎，人类终于挺了过来。

而后，人类因祸得福。

持续近千年的灵魂折磨，使人类拥有一种可以融合其他灵魂的天赋，获得各种野兽、异怪、魔物、昆虫甚至恶魔的特殊能力。

世上一切生命，凡是有灵魂的，都能被人类收为己用，并且修炼壮大。

通过融合灵魂的方法，组合不同的能力，人类开发出了数十种超凡职业。

大约三千年前，世界上诞生了第一个超凡者，一位以灵魂之力施法的“巫师”；而后又过了二百多年，一群信仰太阳神“革翁”的太阳骑士在“布莱克-阿菲德兰大陆”建立了人类第一个国家“拉蒙王国”！

由此，艾伦厄斯世界迎来了属于人类的新纪元，至今已有2528年。

尽管如此，无论人类创造了多么辉煌的文明，打败了多少强大的敌人，统治了多大富饶的疆域，血魂诅咒依然没有解除，像附骨之疽一样无法摆脱。

无论在人类的哪个国家，哪个城市，哪个聚落，每天都有人因诅咒发作，成为疯狂的堕落者，酿出无数悲剧。

血魂诅咒永远是人们心中挥之不去的噩梦！

Raine recalled the nightmare he had while unconscious, feeling very fearful.

At the time, he was in his weakest state. If it weren't for the protection of his phone, he would have gone mad by now.

As for Ruis in front of him, he was not so lucky. He said he was just sick and had already recovered, but no one would believe him.

Weak patients are the most susceptible to the curse taking effect, and almost half of the fallen ones are patients. Another 60% of the remaining are elderly, as they have poor health and weak wills, making them easy targets for the curse to exploit.

Therefore, there are few elderly people among humans, as they rarely live past seventy, falling before then.

"Your wife and children are already dead."

Dumps suddenly spoke, his voice echoing across the square, making everyone hear.

Ruis's curses abruptly stopped. Dumps continued, "You killed your wife last night, and you strangled your three children. Do you remember?"

"I didn't, I..." Ruis instinctively contradicted, then seemed to recall something terrible, his face showing regret and pain.

Gradually, his expression became distorted, his eyes filled with a strange blackness, and a chilling aura emanated from him.

"Ha ha ha..."

A mad laugh erupted from Ruis's mouth, a sound that made people feel very uncomfortable, causing dizziness and confusion.

"Shut up! Demon!"

Dumps's voice rang in people's ears, containing a strange power that immediately restored their normal state.

On the guillotine, Ruis struggled to open his mouth but made no sound, like a drowning person.

His body suddenly emitted a faint black mist, his limbs twisting and swelling abnormally, his flesh and bones knotting into a terrifying mass of rotten flesh, trying to break free.

Strange characters appeared on the silver chains, firmly restraining Ruis, like an invisible cage, locking even the black mist from escaping.

People watched in fear, involuntarily stepping back a few steps.

Raine was seeing a fallen one go mad for the first time. He wanted to see more clearly and activated the camera with a thought.

The scene in his view changed, everything becoming crystal clear.

Raine was greatly surprised, realizing he could see more than just super vision.

In his eyes, the heads of everyone around him became ethereal, allowing him to see through their skulls and flesh, reaching the inside, where there was a faint light.

Raine instinctively guessed, "Is this the human soul?"

His gaze swept through the crowd, and he was very sure his guess was correct, thinking, "I can actually see souls directly!"

Upon closer inspection, Raine found that each person's soul was different.

The most noticeable difference was the color of the souls, ranging from red, white, yellow, green, and blue, and constantly changing, as if reflecting people's emotions.

The size of the souls also varied, with larger souls feeling stronger to Raine, and smaller ones feeling weaker.

This was evident among the Holy Sword Servants in the square.

Each Holy Sword Servant's soul was much stronger than the onlookers, at least half the size larger, and more solid. The onlookers' souls were mostly weak, with a few already damaged, flickering like candles in the wind, seemingly about to go out at any moment.

Finally, Raine looked at Dumps in the square, and was stunned.

Dumps's soul was incredibly powerful. Compared to the Holy Sword Servants, both in size and quality, there was a significant difference.

Not to mention ordinary people, whose gap with Dumps was like that between a firefly and the moon.

Dumps's soul was a white light, and Raine felt a firm will and a calmness like still water.

Additionally, Dumps's soul had an internal structure, like an onion with layers, a total of five layers from the outside to the inside, each layer becoming stronger, with soul power surging within.

At the core of the innermost layer, Raine saw three strange abstract patterns.

These three patterns were different, two large and one small, each with its own form, like different souls, and the three souls were fused together.

"These must be the elements within the soul, each representing a different ability."

Raine felt a sense of revelation and great joy.

He clearly understood what it meant to be able to see souls directly, especially for humans who gain power by fusing souls. There was no stronger ability than this.

Then, Raine looked at Ruis on the guillotine.

Ruis's soul was different, entirely black, like smoke, almost spreading out of his head, visible even to the naked eye.

The black soul was constantly expanding, twisting, and writhing, extending knotted tentacles, like a living thing. At the center of the soul, a pair of crimson eyes flickered, twitching rapidly.

Raine felt a sense of madness and evil just by looking at Ruis's soul, almost losing his composure.

"The soul of a fallen one is truly terrifying, just looking at it is dangerous."

At this moment, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Dumps stepped forward, drew his sword, the silver blade gleaming, with characters engraved on both sides. His lips moved, as if reciting a spell, making the characters on the sword brighter.

"In the name of Tyriel, I, Dumps Bier, hereby sentence you to death. May your soul escape the abyss, redeem itself, and return to the realm of the gods."

Dumps loudly pronounced the judgment, then raised the silver sword above his head.

Raine wanted to turn away, not wanting to see the bloody scene. For someone from a peaceful society in his previous life, watching a beheading up close was too much of a shock.

However, he noticed that everyone around him was staring at the guillotine, adults, teenagers, women, and children, all with a sense of anticipation and a hint of madness, as if watching a thrilling play.

Their soul colors slowly turned red, indicating emotional excitement.

Raine realized that watching someone be beheaded was a daily form of entertainment in this world.

If he turned away, he would seem too different.

Raine could only open his eyes wide and watch as the silver light flashed, and Dumps's sword cut down at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

Ruis's head fell to the ground, blood splattering, staining the black guillotine with a fresh red. The headless body continued to twitch for a few moments before finally stopping, becoming a mass of mangled flesh, and the terrifying aura quickly dissipated.

The crowd let out a satisfied sigh, then silently shook their heads and slowly dispersed.

Raine stood there, motionless, as if stunned by the beheading.

He was indeed a bit shocked. Seeing a living person's head cut off in front of him was a disturbing and somewhat novel experience.

However, what shocked Raine the most was that after Ruis's head was cut off, he "saw" a black light fly out from the head, which should have been Ruis's soul.

It was initially floating upward but suddenly changed direction, rushing toward him like a moth to a flame.

Before he could react, in the blink of an eye, the black light entered through his eyes and disappeared.

Raine's body stiffened, almost scared to death.

Ruis was a fallen one, his soul tainted by evil energy, and should have fallen into the abyss to become a servant of the abyssal deity. Now it had entered his head. What would be the result?

What if someone noticed?

The Holy Sword Servant Dumps was still there!

Raine was terrified for a long time, not daring to make any movements, fearing that Dumps would notice something strange and strike him with his sword.

Fortunately, Dumps apparently could not see souls. He ordered the guards to burn the body, then put away the bloodless silver sword and returned to the church.

Only after most of the crowd had dispersed did Raine let out a sigh of relief, finding his back drenched in cold sweat.

He quickly checked his body and immediately noticed something abnormal.

On the virtual interface, the phone's battery had increased by eight bars, reaching 16%, and he felt a surge of energy within him, making him feel infinitely energetic, his body itchy and swollen, eager to find a place to release this energy.

Raine was both surprised and delighted, roughly guessing what had happened: "Can I absorb other people's souls to charge my phone?"