Chapter 1679 Sinful Demon? Inner Demon? <TOC> Chapter 1681 Live the Way You Want
Translator: SumTLMan
When Sharu encountered the Serpent-Tail Worm, it was undoubtedly a possessed demon. This, in turn, matched Angel’s experimental requirements.
He inquired in detail about Sharu’s battle situation with the Serpent-Tail Worm inside the House of Hearts.
Angel didn’t let any detail pass him by, because Sharu’s situation served as a reference for Toby.
By the time Sharu recounted the events several times, Angel finally ceased his questioning.
Sharu’s account slightly relieved Angel. What he feared most was that Toby, upon entering the House of Hearts and encountering the Tribulation of Resentment, would be defeated due to the overwhelming strength of the enemy, resulting in damage to his primary consciousness.
However, according to Sharu, he battled the Serpent-Tail Worm in the Stone Pillar Coliseum and ultimately met his demise in the maw of the worm. He had thought he was utterly gone, only to realize upon awakening that his previous experiences were merely an illusionary dream.
Being slain by the Serpent-Tail Worm meant Sharu was merely ejected from the House of Hearts; his primary consciousness remained unharmed. Therefore, Toby, when facing the Tribulation of Resentment in the House of Hearts, should also remain safe.
Having ascertained that the House of Hearts wouldn’t damage one’s consciousness, Angel shifted his attention to another matter.
“You mentioned earlier that you held out for five minutes against the Serpent-Tail Worm’s attack?”
“Yes, to be precise, I spent the first three minutes fleeing. It was only in the final two minutes that I battled the… Serpent-Tail Worm. However, it was too powerful. I was subdued almost instantly,” explained Sharu.
“Three minutes of fleeing and two minutes of fighting?” Freud pondered, “That seems a bit off.”
Angel nodded in agreement, “The Serpent-Tail Worm shouldn’t be this powerful.”
Freud opened a drawer in his desk and took out a stack of reports. With a casual glance, Sharu noticed that every page of the report featured terrifying monster images with dense text written below them, presumably detailing the monsters’ information.
Flipping to one of the pages, the depicted creature was unmistakably the Serpent-Tail Worm described as “head resembling a worm, ears like butterfly wings”!
Sharu was filled with doubt and wonder… Could there truly be so many of these monsters? What exactly was the origin of these creatures?
As Sharu grappled with his uncertainty, Freud had already reviewed the information on the Serpent-Tail Worm that they had previously gathered.
——The Serpent-Tail Worm is highly agile, capable of flight, and possesses ranged attack abilities.
Though these were just a few words, the implications they carried went far beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
Back then, when Knight Sabel confronted Sharu, who had been invaded and altered by the Serpent-Tail Worm, he couldn’t last long. And Sharu, whose combat capability was negligible, stood even less of a chance.
Judging by the true strength of the Serpent-Tail Worm, had Sharu faced it directly, he would have been annihilated in an instant, and it would have been impossible for him to escape for even three minutes.
“That suggests that the Serpent-Tail Worm’s actual power isn’t as formidable as its reputation. But why is that?” Angel pondered deeply, furrowing his brows. “Could it be that as a manifestation of Sharu’s inner demons, its strength is just a figment of Sharu’s imagination?”
“It’s possible, especially since Sharu hasn’t truly confronted the terror of the Serpent-Tail Worm,” Freud responded.
Having listened to the conversation between Angel and Freud, Sharu suddenly interjected, “To be honest, I don’t really know how powerful the Serpent-Tail Worm is. When it chased me, it wasn’t going all out. It kept questioning me about certain… issues. Even later, when I had no choice but to fight it, it continued to question me, which is why I managed to hold out for as long as I did.”
“What did it ask you?” Rather than being immediately concerned about the combat capability of the Serpent-Tail Worm, Freud was curious about the creature’s inquiries.
“It kept asking me… why I had abandoned it,” Sharu paused before continuing, “Master Tyson, why does it keep asking me this?”
Upon hearing this, Freud gave a cold smirk, “Why do you assume it’s questioning you?”
Sharu was taken aback, not quite grasping Freud’s meaning.
“You heard our conversation with the master. Therefore, you should understand that the Serpent-Tail Worm you faced wasn’t a genuine Sinful Monster,” Freud said, gazing intently at Sharu. “Don’t you get it yet? It’s the demon of your own heart.”
Inner demons stem from the human heart.
Much like trees, without the earth as a foundation for their roots, they cannot grow.
At that moment, Angel softly said, “Inner demons may seem distant from you. However, the breeding ground for these demons is not someone else but your own character.”
In this world, there are those who fall from the clouds, willingly mired with the hellfire of the underworld. Yet, there are also those who, even after being cast into hell, maintain their purity and innocence.
The same goes for inner demons. Some, even as they walk the abyss and witness all the evils of the world, still see the beauty in humanity and don’t form inner demons. Others, without even stepping into the abyss, just by imagining its terror, have already turned against themselves.
Sharu is one such individual. His character is timid, his heart narrow. Even after only encountering the Serpent-Tail Worm for a few days, and despite the worm not doing anything to him, he turned the worm into his own inner demon, showcasing the narrowness of his heart.
It may seem like the Serpent-Tail Worm constantly questions him, but in reality, it’s Sharu questioning himself.
Because inner demons originate from the heart.
“You’d do well to remember the questions your inner demons pose to you. Because those are also the deepest questions you ask yourself,” Freud remarked calmly.
Hearing this explanation, Sharu was taken aback.
He distinctly remembered when he was questioned by the Serpent-Tail Worm about “why he abandoned it”, he replied that it was Angel’s doing, and he knew nothing.
At that time, the response he heard from the Serpent-Tail Worm was, “That’s because you are too weak.”
Back then, Sharu felt the voice was strange. Even though it came from the Serpent-Tail Worm, it didn’t sound like its shrill voice. Instead, it sounded very familiar, but he couldn’t quite place whose voice it was.
Now, reflecting on it again, wasn’t that his own voice?
It was a voice from the depths of one’s soul, using the Serpent-Tail Worm to convey to oneself, “You are too weak…”
As Sharu stood in a daze, Freud was observing him. Sharu had been confined in the library for a long time, but even so, he outwardly pretended to comply while harboring no true remorse in secret. Yet, at this moment, Freud saw guilt and introspection in his eyes.
Were these crocodile tears, or genuine realization? No one could tell.
…
Ignoring Sharu’s thoughts, Angel and Freud continued to discuss the combat capabilities of the inner demon.
Even though Sharu claimed that the inner demon merely questioned him continuously, causing a mere five-minute delay, in reality, the inner demon is very powerful.
This might indeed be possible, but this is solely based on Sharu’s account. Rather than accepting this explanation, Angel believes that the power of the inner demon might be related to one’s self-awareness.
In simple terms: If I perceive you as strong, then the inner demon is truly strong. But how strong it exactly is, I really don’t know.
That is to say, the true strength of the inner demon might not be accurately reflected through the House of Hearts.
Unless you have a profound understanding of the inner demon.
If Angel’s speculation holds, Toby’s attempt to simulate a battle with the Tribulation of Resentment using the House of Hearts might not be fully realized.
Nevertheless, the House of Hearts remains of great significance to Toby. For it allows Toby to confront the Tribulation of Resentment directly.
Chapter 1679 Sinful Demon? Inner Demon? <TOC> Chapter 1681 Live the Way You Want