Chapter 102: The God of Death’s Relic
October 26, 2015
Author: Zhu Sheng Fu Tu
Soren’s figure vanished into the horizon.
Only after he completely left did the other onlookers begin to relax slightly. The hesitant professionists came over to express their concerns, although it felt a bit strange given that the girl “Chan” had just signed a demon pact with Soren.
“Ah!”
A slightly deep groan broke out as the professionist closest to the girl “Chan” suddenly exclaimed, followed by a rapid retreat as if burned by something. This land was initially where Soren fought; although the battle had ended, the residual effects of his activated Flame Body still lingered, causing the sand to melt. The temperature on the ground was extremely high. This professionist seemed to lack fire resistance, resulting in his ankle turning red where it touched the heated sand.
At this moment, the others nearby also realized the ground was quite hot and stopped about three meters away.
“What happened?”
The leading middle-aged monk reached out to touch the ground and quickly withdrew his fingers, murmuring while looking at the girl in front of him, “Chan?”
The girl seemed to have noticed it too.
The ground temperature was gradually cooling down, but it was still likely above one hundred degrees. She leaned down to touch the molten sand, and the intense heat did not affect her at all. Despite the professionists being strong, they were still mortals; touching a red-hot branding iron would still hurt them, though they would recover quickly. The resilience from their enhanced physique wasn’t sufficient to fully immunize them against such high temperatures, so any changes must be related to the demon contract she had just signed.
“I think I’m not afraid of fire anymore.”
The girl gazed at her fair fingers, closing her eyes as if she could feel a force within her body, muttering to herself, “It seems there’s something else.”
Indigenous people are typically slow to perceive the powers granted by others, but the ability Soren bestowed was already starting to take effect.
………………
Soren was not a Demon Lord.
A Demon Lord’s contract could enhance the attributes of the contractee while granting them abilities. For instance, an entity like the Succubus Queen could easily boost a mortal’s attributes by two or three points. He felt he had likely granted the girl immunity to fire, but he was uncertain whether the essence of his divine nature would provide her with additional powers.
Even Soren’s clerics and believers could receive blessings from his divine powers.
In simpler terms.
Believers could access the domains that Soren’s essence governed. The most useful divine profession previously was “Wanderer,” where those who believed in Soren could gain basic ability enhancements, including stealth, lockpicking, thievery, etc. Now they could access even more domains, including “Tracking,” “Evil,” “Slaughter,” and “Shadows.”
Access to divine professions was somewhat easier; “Wanderer” and “Tracking” were the most accessible.
The others belonged to divine domains, which required devout believers to access. The “Slaughter” domain was unique in its uncertain effects, as Soren himself had yet to fully comprehend it.
The howling wind.
The time for demon summoning was not very long. Soren was uncertain how long he could stay in the Eastern Kingdom, so he directly used “High-level Teleportation Spell” to survey the nearby environment.
A desolate desert.
As a legendary being, he could sense the violent power diffusing through the air.
There were very few wizards in the Eastern Kingdom, related to these violent powers. Disasters left over from the Arcane Empire era led to the emergence of “Dead Magic Zones” and “Magical Chaos Areas,” making it easy for wizards to err and fail in casting spells. Coupled with the Eastern Kingdom’s inheritance issues, sorcerers from various families still made up the majority of spellcasters here. Very few were actual wizards.
However.
There was also a terrifying type of spellcaster here!
—The Wild Mage.
A type of wizard who could not even confirm what spells they released, they were very frightening beings. Theoretically, they were the most powerful wizards, but such combat effectiveness required an extraordinarily high level of luck.
With enough luck, a Wild Mage could use a first-level spell “Raging Spell” to substitute any spell, including any legendary spells they could master. (Note: The maximum memory capacity allows casting over twelve legendary spells at once.)
Such mages needed to cling to the goddess of luck. Otherwise, they might end up harming themselves.
The number of Wild Mages was very small.
The reason for mentioning them was that Soren seemed to have encountered one; their spellcasting light and fluctuations were very obvious, far stronger than those of other spellcasters.
A Wild Mage hiding in the desert appeared before Soren’s eyes, revealing a rather unique structure. It was unique because it was built on a broken area above ground, presumably made with “Turning Fossils into Mud.” There were clearly visible warning spell traps around.
The Eastern Kingdom had many ruins.
This area was once the core region of the Arcane Empire, and most of the locations where floating cities fell ended up in the Eastern Kingdom. Terrifying explosions caused the desertification and magical chaos here.
One shouldn’t casually disturb a spellcaster.
Especially as Soren was a demon, it would easily provoke hostility from the other party.
However, after glancing at the relic visible above ground, Soren couldn’t help but stop, slowly landing on the relic.
The relic was enormous.
The ruins of the Eastern Kingdom were typically vast because many were once cities.
However, the relic before Soren was somewhat different; on the exposed remnants of the stone walls, he saw some remarkable things.
Ancient texts!
Because his essence possessed abilities at the soul level, Soren could read and understand all scripts.
What lay before him was not from the Arcane Empire era but rather remnants from an even earlier era, preserved from weathering because it was originally a temple.
Temple of Death!
Serving the deity governing the “Death” divine profession, evidenced by the emblem representing the God of Death on the battered stone columns.
“Which God of Death’s temple could it be?”
Soren glanced at the marks in front of him, carefully avoiding the warning spells. It looked like that Wild Mage regarded this place as their own territory, and there was a possibility that both sides might come into conflict.
The exposed area above the ground was just a small part.
Soren could sense an even larger area underground. The magical fluctuations emanated from below.
“In such an environment! It seems unsuitable for a wizard to live?”
Soren scanned the surroundings, murmuring, “Could it be that I stumbled upon a Wild Mage transformed into an undead?”
Undead.
Wild Mages easily miscast spells, possibly leading themselves to be poisoned, burned, petrified, etc. Therefore, to further grasp chaotic magical power, some Wild Mages would first transform themselves into liches.
Of course, only those strong enough could become liches; the inadequate would merely become necromancers.
This serves as an additional layer of insurance.
If a self-rebounding spell were to destroy their body, they wouldn’t truly die.
Thus, this type of undead Wild Mage still exists.
The spell light suddenly intensified!
The magical fluctuations from the ground could even be easily detected by Soren due to their chaotic and violent powers; he couldn’t determine what the target was doing, only that they were continuously casting spells.
Such strong energy fluctuations should consist entirely of spells of the fifth tier or higher.
It seemed this Wild Mage had lived here for a long time. The surroundings bore simple disguises, with a sand dune nearby, suggesting that most of the structures were likely underground.
“Whose God of Death’s temple is this?”
Soren observed the relic before him, trying to find hints. He murmured, “The ancient God of Death has long since retreated, and the previous God of Death has nearly perished; the current God of Death shouldn’t have left their temple abandoned here.”
“It wouldn’t be the God of Death from the Eastern pantheon.”
“The deities of the Eastern Kingdom seem to all be part-time in the realm of death; the emblem on the stone columns implies they are a legitimate God of Death.”
The divine profession of death is widely dispersed.
No deity has ever fully mastered the “Death” divine profession. Currently, two deities hold the core domain of “Death”: one is the God of Death – Naraku; the other is the King of the Dead – Klanvor.
The relic before him likely had nothing to do with them, suggesting it belonged to yet another previous God of Death.
Going further up the timeline, it seemed to be somewhat related to Soren.
Because before that were the Three Death Deities, namely the Tyrant God (the previous God of Fear), the God of Slaughter (the source of the Son of Slaughter), and the God of the Dead (who died most tragically).
The source of the “Slaughter” divine profession is the “Death” divine profession.
Vivian’s identity as the Demon Son of Fear is, in fact, equivalent to another version of the Son of Slaughter, as the God of Fear also inherited a part of the death domain.
It is necessary to sort out the timeline here.
First, there is the God of Slaughter, whose downfall led to the emergence of the Son of Slaughter, followed by Soren’s bloodline as the Son of Slaughter.
Next is the Tyrant God, who once perished but was revived; after successfully reviving, he continued to exist for a while before ultimately dying again during the period of the Arcane Empire. This time, he died rather thoroughly, with the divine domain he once held now belonging to the current God of Fear.
The God of Fear transformed the core domains from “Tyranny” and “Conflict” into “Fear” and “Destruction.”
Thus, becoming one of the most powerful demon gods in the Bottomless Abyss!
Then he died for some reason, which Soren still did not know, possibly related to another deity. However, explaining it in detail would likely be more troublesome.
Because that deity was also a member of the God of Death system, but he was a madman, long sealed away.
People referred to him as the “God of Murder,” but he should not have emerged yet.
The most intense moments of the Saint’s Cataclysm are when he will truly appear, as this cataclysm’s outbreak helped him break free from his seal.
The Demon God of Fear has died.
Next came the emergence of the Demon Son of Fear, the source of Vivian’s power.
To some extent, Soren’s relationship with Vivian was intricate and intertwined; the Son of Slaughter and the Demon Son of Fear both stemmed from the God of Death system.
“Whose temple could it be?”
Soren fixated on the relic before him, quietly leaving a spatial marker here, as the time for his demon avatar was running out, and he might soon have to return to the Bottomless Abyss.
To uncover the secrets here, it seemed he would need his essence, as there was still a powerful spellcaster present.
However.
Soren suspected that it might be related to the last of the Three Death Deities, the God of the Dead – Milko.
Because the relics left behind by this fellow were the most substantial!
Moreover, before the Eastern Kingdom became the desert it is now, it was once the most prosperous area of the entire Material Plane. If the continental shelf had not crumbled and splintered into the Southern Islands, Amazon Jungle, Overseas Islands, and other places, then this area would have been the center of the continental shelf.
………………(To be continued ~^~)
