thefictionvixens Page 43
Page 43
As a result, some people began to covet those monsters with powerful bodies and longer lifespans.
But they want to retain the wisdom they had as humans, while also reversing their aging bodies.
Thus, a fruit of immortality called "Ascension to Demonhood" was born.
Merlin sighed as he spoke, seemingly recalling an unpleasant memory related to the Witcher:
"But there has never been a perfect fruit of immortality in the world."
The demon life form, which is advanced by stitching together the flesh and blood of monsters, retains the intelligence and consciousness of a human, but its original humanity will be gradually erased. At the same time, it will begin to have a bloodlust and will have a strong appetite for the flesh and blood of its own kind.
It can be said that once someone is promoted to a demon, as time goes by, their consciousness will be eroded and assimilated by the flesh and blood of the monsters they are stitched together, and they will eventually become a hybrid demon.
The demon's mottled demon bloodline will be rejected by those orthodox demons, and they will become their food.
Their twisted cannibalistic desires, coupled with their rejection by the human community, will lead to their expulsion and being wanted by the authorities.
After Merlin finished speaking, he raised his staff and cast some kind of levitation spell to take the item wrapped in demon skin from Arthur's hand.
At this moment, Arthur and Gawain were trying to process what Merlin had said.
The existence of the demons broadened their horizons and understanding once again.
Arthur, unable to contain his curiosity, pressed on with the question:
"Does this dangerous, bloodthirsty creature have any weaknesses?"
Merlin answered Arthur succinctly:
"The demon is adept at manipulating blood, and therefore possesses extraordinary flesh-and-blood self-healing abilities."
However, they are also limited by blood; anything that inhibits flesh regeneration is extremely effective at suppressing them.
Arthur carefully noted down the demon's weaknesses.
Now, let's get back to the main topic.
Arthur explains the origin of the item bandaged under the demon's skin:
"After learning that I needed to refine essences, the Thunder Badger Knight Lawson recommended Mr. Merlin, who lived in the neighboring Windpu Territory, to me."
He also entrusted me to deliver this item to you and to pass on a message to you.”
Merlin didn't seem surprised by Lawson's request. He regained his composure and then unwrapped the demon skin.
The demon skin unfolded, revealing the items inside to everyone through the glow of the mushrooms.
—It was still that simple-looking stone dagger.
Upon seeing the stone dagger, Merlin reached out and touched the dull-looking gem set in its hilt.
Lawson had told Arthur that the gem was also a refined elemental essence, a rare dark element with the extraordinary property of devouring other elements.
After touching the gem, Merlin quickly determined its origin, murmured to himself, and then fell into deep thought:
"Dark element?"
Soon, his thoughts returned, and he looked at Arthur:
"After Lawson entrusted you with bringing this stone dagger inlaid with dark elemental essence gems, what was the message he asked you to deliver?"
"This is the payment I'm offering."
Arthur, speaking in the voice of Lawson, the Badger Knight, reiterated his instructions verbatim.
After listening, Merlin paused for a rare moment, then said something cryptic:
"What a fearless guy."
This made Arthur frown, feeling puzzled:
"Mr. Merlin, may I ask what the origin of this stone dagger is?"
"It is an extraordinary thing, a dagger used in sacrificial rituals."
Merlin was no longer as forthcoming with information as he had been before when addressing this question.
Arthur could tell that the alchemist seemed to be deliberately restraining himself from speaking.
So, after receiving this answer, Arthur very sensibly stopped asking any further questions.
But he still secretly noted down the key words in Merlin's words:
Fearless of death, a sacrificial ritual...
Now, look at Merlin.
After answering Arthur's question, he put the ancient-looking stone dagger back into the demon skin.
Then, as he turned around, he said to Arthur and Gawain:
"Gentlemen, our transaction is basically complete. Let's leave now."
Having said that, Merlin led Arthur and Gawain out of the entrance to the stone vault.
soon.
The three returned to the main hall of Merlin's alchemy workshop.
Merlin looked at Gawain and called him by his name:
"Gawain, you should have figured out how to seal the Shadow Church altar by now, right?"
Before Gawain pulled out the fake Holy Sword, Merlin used a special spiritual means to infuse the fake Holy Sword with the final sealing method to resolve the Shadow Monster disaster.
Therefore, by pulling out the fake Holy Sword, Gawain not only gained ownership of the fake Holy Sword, but also obtained the crucial sealing method.
Gawain looked at Merlin and nodded in greeting:
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Merlin."
"No need to thank me. The method for sealing the Shadow Altar is included in the Shadow Monster information after the Lord received his advance payment."
Merlin shook his head, then looked at Arthur beside him and continued:
"So, when do you plan to deal with the Shadow Monster disaster in Qingfeng Village?"
"Mr. Merlin, do you have any good suggestions?"
Arthur actually had an idea, but he still sought the opinion of this visionary alchemist.
Merlin, without hesitation, kindly offered his advice:
"Let's do it during the day tomorrow. Shadow monsters are nocturnal creatures and don't like to be active during the day."
As long as no shadow monsters of tier three or higher appear, there's a high probability that your process of repairing and sealing the Shadow Church altar will be safe.
"Yes, I had the same idea."
Arthur's idea coincided with Merlin's.
But he was thinking further ahead, not just because daytime would weaken the Shadow Monster's aggression and strength.
More importantly, during the day, he can help Gawain resolve the Shadow Monster disaster in front of the Qingfeng villagers, thus eliminating their prejudice against him.
Chapter 50 The Power of the Counterfeit Holy Sword
After explaining everything.
Merlin waved his staff again, summoning the life-sized clay doll butler.
Merlin then instructed Arthur:
"My two guests, I'm going to my studio to go into seclusion and refine the wind element essence from the corpse of the third-tier one-eyed wolf."
This process will take about a day, so I won't personally entertain you two.
Merlin paused, looked at the puppet butler who had come to carry out the order, and gave it the command:
"During my seclusion, I must take good care of the daily affairs of my two guests and not neglect my duties."
If I discover you're slacking off, I will severely punish you after I leave quarantine.
Upon hearing its master's warning, the doll butler immediately began to tremble like a real person, and then nodded vigorously as if pounding garlic.
After doing so, Merlin looked at Arthur and Gawain again:
"Tomorrow, if you are leaving my residence and heading to Qingfeng Village, and I have not yet emerged from seclusion, you can use this token to open the barrier leading to the outside world."
The method of use is simply to stand in the flower field where you first arrived and channel your waveguide power.
After saying this, Merlin raised his free hand and opened his palm.
Looking into his palm, I noticed that two bracelets woven from tender green vines had appeared out of nowhere.
After Merlin took the bracelets from Arthur and Gawain, he didn't linger. Carrying two packages containing the corpses of third-tier one-eyed wolves, he walked through a large door on the side of the main hall.
After Merlin left, only Arthur and Gawain remained in the main hall of the alchemy workshop.
Arthur proposed:
"Gao Wen, we still have some free time today. How about we spar for a while and test the power of this fake holy sword you just acquired?"
"No problem, my lord!"
Gao Wenzheng had the same idea, so he readily agreed.
So the two of them went to a vacant meadow outside the alchemy workshop.
Arthur and Gawain walked a distance away with their backs to each other, then stopped, turned around and faced each other again.
Immediately, the two drew their swords:
"Please enlighten me!"
The voice just fell.
Arthur then took the lead in activating the "Flame Lion Breathing Technique," adjusting his life force and activating the flame wave.
He manipulated the power of waveguides, covering his limbs and torso, greatly enhancing his physical functions.
Immediately, Arthur launched the first round of attack.
Soon, he appeared in Gawain's vicinity, carrying a high-grade iron sword that had been drawn from its sheath.
Arthur gripped the hilt of his sword and launched a slash at Gawain's front.
Gawain stood ready as Arthur swung his sword directly at him.
He activated the sublimated "Solar Breathing Technique," and a surge of vibrant life force welled up within him, rapidly igniting a blazing white solar waveguide.
It is now afternoon.
With the blessing of "The Sun's Grace", Gawain maintained the temporary state of leaping two minor realms and reached the late stage of the Black Iron Rank.
In contrast, Arthur is still at the early stage of the Iron rank.
Regarding this point, the two had already made one fact clear before the battle: due to the blessing of the sun, Arthur's fire wave was far inferior in quality and strength to Gawain's.
Therefore, in this battle, Gawain did not adopt a defensive counter-attack strategy, but instead adopted a defensive posture and used a tortoise-like tactic of enduring the attack head-on.
After all, if Arthur didn't adopt a tortoise-like tactic to greatly reduce the power of this fake Meteorite Holy Sword, the fine iron sword in his hand might have been destroyed prematurely after a few rounds of head-on clashes.
With that in mind, let's return to the present.
Gawain gripped the broad-bladed armored sword with both hands, holding it in front of him, awaiting Arthur's strike.
soon.
"boom!"
With a dull metallic clang, the fine iron sword, imbued with the power of flame, struck the counterfeit holy sword.
The next moment, something happened that neither Arthur nor Gawain expected.
After colliding with the fine iron-grade sword, this fake holy sword actually drew upon the solar waveguide generated by its master, Gawain.
Gawain immediately sensed something was wrong, so he quickly tried to slow down the speed at which the solar waveguide was flowing into the fake Holy Sword.
At the same time, he called out urgently to Arthur in front of him:
"My lord, hurry! This fake holy sword is draining my aura power!"
After being alerted, Arthur's superb combat experience helped him instantly realize that danger was imminent.
Using the impact of the weapon collision, Arthur quickly retreated.