Chapter Seventy-Three: Godslayer
(Preparing for a peak battle, a groundbreaking attempt; the foreshadowing has almost all been touched upon. Hope to finish it all in one breath before the end of the month. Please look forward to the true power of the Arcane Empire!)
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Puff!
A spurt of bl**d gushed out.
The beastman bear let out an angry, painful roar, slapping backward with a massive palm, the tremendous force stirring up a whirlwind, and a stone slab the size of a grinding wheel was instantly shattered. Soren’s figure leaped, and the Curved Blade “Ice d*ath” once again sliced through the gap in his opponent’s arm, accompanied by a cold glint, adding another wound to the beastman bear.
Great power, sluggish movements, and not a particularly clever mind.
For Soren, who had already ascended to legend, dealing with this kind of enemy was actually quite simple, because it was far too difficult for the beastman bear to hit him. If it weren’t for the beastman’s high physical constitution, the initial backstab would have likely resolved the target. However, the beastman bear was also heavily wounded; bl**d was pouring out from its back, and although its massive body seemed incredibly ferocious, each attack landed on empty ground.
If it were a highly threatening beastman tiger, perhaps it could have touched Soren’s body, but there was no need to think too much about the beastman bear.
Thud!
A dull thud sounded as it fell to the ground.
Soren slowly retracted the curved blade, gazing at the deceased bear man’s corpse on the ground. After losing the vitality of life, its body gradually shrank, eventually turning into a human man with dense hair all over. His face appeared rugged, and he looked almost like a savage; it wasn’t until after d*ath that he transformed into human form. The side effects of the beastman disease were severe; if one’s innate strength was insufficient, one could end up like the beastman bear before him, remaining an ignorant beast for life, with only d*ath allowing him to return to his true form.
Additionally, there was another very dangerous aspect to beastmen.
Lowly beastmen like the one before carried some kind of terrifying virus, which had about a one in ten chance of infecting those they injured with the beastman disease.
At this time, a mandatory saving throw must be made.
Otherwise.
One could potentially contract the beastman virus, undergoing a painful transformation process, possibly turning into a beastman on some full moon night or whenever.
During the transformation, there would also be a mandatory constitution check; failure could lead to madness or even d*ath.
Beastman viruses are mostly carried by low-level beastmen.
They possess the most primitive virus; if the offspring are born from beastmen, such as Lulu (the rare existence), the beastman virus would transform into their own genetic bloodline. Lulu’s main form is still that of a human. No instances of her transformation have been discovered, so it is highly likely that one of her parents is a purebred human. (Note 1: “On the Variants of Beastmen and the Mutations After Inbreeding,” Chapter 6.)
(Note 2: “On Reproductive Isolation and the Probability of Cross-Species Breeding in Beastmen,” Chapter 3, Hybrid Werewolf Research Report.)
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Soren naturally had no reason to fear these viruses.
Whether it be the beastman virus or the undead corpse poison, attempting to infect him through his current resilient constitution saving throw or will save was simply a wishful dream. Unless Soren were to be infected while in a state of d*ath, he could basically ignore them.
“Come out.”
Soren swung the blade to cut open the cage beside him and said to the imprisoned grey dwarf inside, “Where are you from? Do you know the nearby terrain?”
Bang.
Just as Soren opened the cage, the nearby bear goblin suddenly charged out, running towards the swamp without a word. It was unclear whether it had lost its mind, thinking it could escape Soren’s grasp. Awaiting it was a cold flash of the blade; Soren directly swung down, beheading the bear goblin, and the spurting bl**d splattered all over the grey dwarf. The grey dwarf involuntarily shivered. Then, he stammered, “Y-Your Excellency! D-Don’t k*ll me!…”
“I can tell you everything I know!… Please don’t k*ll me!… No matter where you plan to go, I can guide you!… ”
Light footsteps sounded.
A little girl stealthily approached from outside, and upon seeing the corpses on the ground, she immediately clapped her hands and strutted over, pouting, “Soren! I’m so bored! This place is disgusting! Why don’t we go outside first?”
As a brass dragon dwelling in the desert, she was naturally averse to the swamp environment.
“Mm.”
Soren nodded lightly, retracting the curved blade, his cold gaze fixed on the grey dwarf in front of him as he said in a deep voice, “Lead the way! There should be a road leading to Glax City nearby; take us there first.”
The grey dwarf timidly moved forward.
Soren followed expressionlessly behind, while the little girl still appeared carefree, just very unhappy with the environment.
…………
About a thousand meters away from Soren.
A slender, masked woman stood in the darkness, her eyes faintly glowing, as if containing some kind of mysterious power. Around her body seemed to be an invisible energy field, isolating everything that approached her, even the wind. She was observing Soren’s position, her gaze seemingly piercing through space, directly locking onto his figure.
“d*e!”
Heavy footsteps echoed, and a massively built man appeared behind the slender woman, gripping an impossibly heavy battle axe with one hand; the terrifying muscles seemed to contain boundless strength, with a golden sheen mixed with an indescribable power. Just a glance revealed the immense lethality contained within. This was a very terrifying barbarian; without any need for guesswork, it could be determined that his strength was already above legend.
He spoke an ancient common tongue, a language used thousands of years ago, composed of 36 glyph letters.
This name was quite special.
But transformed into today’s syllables, this masked woman could be referred to as ‘d*e.’
The barbarian slowly walked up behind her and said in a low voice, “What are you doing?”
Giggle.
A light laugh sounded as the masked woman turned to look at the barbarian, a slight arc forming at the corner of her mouth as she said lightly, “I accidentally discovered a good wanderer; he’s quite an interesting little guy! And he is accompanied by a brass dragon that has transformed into human form; such a combination is rather rare!”
Upon hearing this, the barbarian frowned, saying coldly, “Don’t complicate matters!”
“We did not come out of the City of Imprints (Note 1) for fun! This is the first official operation of the Godslayer, and our bait has already attracted the target; the Spider Queen’s gaze has shifted to the bait.”
“Dealing with this terrifying existence, I believe you understand that the consequences of failure will be severe!”
The Spider Queen!
The supreme being of the Underdark! The queen of the drow! The ruler of the Abyss!
A terrifying deity with strong divine power!!!
d*e’s expression grew serious; she withdrew her gaze, slowly saying, “I can distinguish between priorities and won’t delay the main task! However, this little guy’s mind is quite special; I have never seen such mental power.”
“Darkness, cruelty, ruthlessness.”
“But there is an indescribable brightness; I even see the radiance of sacrifice!”
“Truly intoxicating!”
The masked woman chuckled mischievously, then slowly spread her palm, her voice turning cold, “Activate War Chess (Note 2) simulation! Enable [Arcane War Chess] scanning mode!…”
A pure energy orb appeared.
Immediately, the invisible energy field spread outward in all directions.
“Spiritual Energy Field open!”
“Mind scan activated!… Enabling terrain simulation!… Scanning terrain within one hundred kilometers nearby!…”
“Tower Spirit No. 7 taking over war chess system command!”
“Start synchronizing terrain simulation!… Tactical map under construction!… Scanning nearby spatial nodes!…”
“Spiritual Energy Field spreading!”
“Activating mind resonance!… Establishing synchronous mental transmission!… Calculating spatial markers!… Half-plane synchronizing lock!… Extradimensional teleportation channel simulation!…”
“Establishing teleportation node!…”
“Arcane Power Armor (Note 3) on standby!… Tower Spirit No. 6 taking over spatial marker command!…”
“Godslayer plan initiated!”
“Target—Spider Queen [Rose]!”
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Note 1: The City of Imprints is a very mysterious existence in the multiverse; legend has it to be an important node of the multiverse, possessing portals connecting countless planes. The Lady of Pain is the absolute ruler of the City of Imprints, wielding terrifying power beyond mortal imagination. However, the City of Imprints closed long ago, and now very few beings can enter. The City of Imprints rejects any deities, even those with strong divine power, cannot easily tread this place.
Note 2: Arcane War Chess is a type of tactical simulation game that originated from the Arcane Empire period; this special technique has been lost, with only a few wizard organizations mastering partial simulation abilities. When Soren was searching for the second elemental crystal, the elemental giant he encountered mentioned this “war chess”; the monsters he summoned were based on the rules of the Arcane War Chess.
Note 3: Arcane Power Armor is a terrifying war machine from the Arcane Empire period, referenced in all previous materials.
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(To be continued ~^~)
