NOVEL WEB Chapter 600-607
Chapter 600: Bone Breaking Screech
Weeping Sky wasn’t only for slaying Dragons; it was also a true Legendary Weapon.
Its sharpness was ranked among the best among spear-type weapons.
Marvin didn’t use Sodom’s Blades because he hadn’t fully grasped their power yet.
The Snake Witch was a very formidable enemy. If he didn’t take the advantage with this sneak attack, it would be very easy for him to fall into the predicament of fighting a powerful caster.
This would be detrimental to Marvin.
Weeping Sky was as sharp as Marvin had imagined and directly pierced through the viper’s vitals.
As the blow landed, the entire rock pile shook.
Marvin had used too much strength, and the spear pierced through the rocks.
Even though the viper was frantically struggling, she still couldn’t escape.
But the Snake Witch reacted very quickly, rolling up her tongue and then striking at Marvin’s waist.
The tongue was extremely quick, and in an ordinary person’s eyes, it was as fast as lightning.
But Marvin could even clearly see the fork in the tongue.
The tips were shaking frantically, which showed that the Snake Witch was suffering greatly from the attack.
After landing the hit, Marvin didn’t try to strike another blow, but actually let go of Weeping Sky!
He jumped away, dodging the Snake Witch’s counterattack.
“Sssss!”
An ear-piercing hiss reverberated in the small ravine, just as the sunlight happened to peek through. The poplar tree stood silently over their sudden fight.
“Woosh!”
Which a quick flash, a pair of curved daggers suddenly appeared in Marvin’s hands.
The first attack had already seriously injured the Witch. It was time to end her life with Sodom’s Blades.
Even if the Emperor’s Spirit didn’t release all of the daggers’ power for Marvin, the daggers were still the powerful Artifact used by Sodom to rule over the Underdark.
Just attacking with the flat sides of the blades would be a lot more powerful than the Azure Leafs had been. Marvin wasn’t quite used to the weight of Sodom’s Blades as he prepared to attack.
But then, the viper’s body suddenly shrank back.
The snake coiled itself into a ball, wrapping around Weeping Sky and slowly pulling herself out.
Marvin frowned. He had lost some tempo after dodging the Snake Witch’s feint.
The snake’s scarlet body shuddered and turned brown, the skin looking much older.
‘This is… Molting?’
Marvin looked at that scene in surprise.
‘The Snake Witch had that skill?’
In mere moments, the viper finished molting, and at the part pierced by Weeping Sky, the viper’s body split in two, letting her escape!
The Snake Witch had been reborn anew!
She had turned from a scarlet viper into a two-headed monster.
One of the heads had a faintly festering Human face on it!
“You have the aura of the Anzeds on you!”
“Ah! Did that group of sluts send you to kill me?”
As the Snake Witch roared, the other head spat out a green mist.
The green poison flooded the entire ravine.
Marvin’s expression changed.
Although his resistances were very high, the Snake Witch was a master of poison. Her poison would definitely be frightening.
He immediately took out the Grayhawk Staff and answered while casting, “Although I have a bit of a relationship with the Anzeds, I’m sorry to tell you that my arrival has nothing to do with them.”
“I need some of your things, but if I had asked you directly, you certainly would have definitely rejected me.”
“Thus, I looked for a way around it before deciding to kill you.”
As Marvin said that, the Grayhawk Staff burst with an even brighter radiance.
[Major Magic Dispel]!
The Grayhawk Staff was at the level of a peak Legendary Weapon, it could turn an ordinary person into a Greater Druid.
Hit with the powerful dispelling effect, the poisonous mist dispersed completely, not leaving any traces behind.
“A Great Druid?”
“Since when have the Migratory Bird Council’s people been so unreasonable?”
The Snake Witch felt shocked when she saw her poison mist slowly thinning.
She originally thought that the attacker was just a reckless Assassin, but now he was using a Great Druid Nature spell so easily.
As far as she knew, only those in Feinan’s Migratory Bird Council could perform such a feat.
She had suffered a serious injury, so she was trying to stall for time.
Of course, she had already gleaned a lot of information about that youth.
She had seen through his disguise in a glance. Marvin possessed the Disguise ability from his Shapeshift Sorcerer’s bloodline, which would work fine against most people. But in front of such a powerhouse, it was just a joke.
…
The Snake Witch’s act was pretty good. Unfortunately, Marvin had no intention of saying anything superfluous from the start.
Since the Dream God’s Divine Servant failed to assassinate him, Marvin had been provoked like never before, and he also became more aware that his strength was still insufficient.
From the Snake Witch’s point of view, she was very unlucky, having been eyed by Marvin for an unjust reason.
But this didn’t mean that he could let her could keep on living!
Since Marvin made the decision to attack, besides killing her, there wasn’t another path.
The Snake Witch was a person who knew how to hold grudges, and Marvin would not be able to sleep well if such a woman had a grudge with him.
Thus Marvin remained silent in spite of the Snake Witch’s question. He put away the Grayhawk Staff and suddenly dashed at her.
35 points, Post-Godly Dexterity!
Marvin seemed like a monster to the Snake Witch’s eyes. She didn’t have time to blink before Sodom’s Blades fell on her body.
She screeched loudly.
When he heard it, Marvin felt a strange vibration shaking through him.
His bones let out cracking sounds!
Followed by a burst of pain!
This sudden pain made Marvin unable to keep a steady hold on his daggers.
But the Snake Witch didn’t seem much better after letting out that sound.
Her eyes were full of resentment, and the scarlet body went somewhat slack. This [Bone Breaking Screech] used a huge amount of her Magic Power.
This was a type of Legendary Witchcraft that would grievously injure both sides, shattering the bones of all creatures within five meters!
Marvin’s bones were fracturing, and so were the Witch’s.
But for the Snake Witch, this was the only spell that could stop Marvin.
The next second, the Snake Witch transformed once again, losing her scaly scarlet snake skin. A shivering, naked woman walked out of the red mist.
Chapter 601: God Slaying Seal
The Snake Witch was beyond furious.
As an immensely powerful caster, she had not suffered a loss for a very long time.
In the Underdark, besides the usually silent man in the neighbouring hill, she hadn’t met any decent enemies.
She ruled over the Rotten Mushroom Swamp, and all the monsters there were under her thrall.
Any reckless intruders would end up dying in the swamp.
If someone was captured alive by her, that person would definitely regret being born. After all, an outstanding Alchemist and Poison Greatmaster needed many test subjects.
It was said that she was proficient in all the poisons in this world, so everyone who knew about her was afraid of her.
It’s been a very long time since she had felt so much pain, making her chest flood with anger.
‘To be able to enter my domain secretly…’
‘It’s must be that woman who told him.’
As she thought about it, the Snake Witch’s eyes became even more clouded.
She hated the Anzeds to the bone. As an extremely prideful person, the Snake Witch displayed shocking talent in her youth.
She knew the Witchcraft system like the back of her hand and had almost managed to control all of the Witchcraft Authorities.
But the previous Witch Queen didn’t let her become the leader of the Anzed Witches.
She was enraged by this injustice and thus, shortly after, the Anzeds faced their first major crisis since they had been established.
Although the crisis was avoided thanks to some Gods secretly helping them, it was also a huge setback for the Anzeds.
Many Witches fell, and even the Witch Queen had been mortally wounded. She had struggled at death’s door and used her last bits of power to curse the Snake Witch, but was unable to completely kill her.
She knew about her own level of power.
The more powerful the person, the stronger the disagreeable aura of death coming from them would be.
Under Marvin’s attacks, she clearly felt the dark summons from the Underworld.
This terrified her.
This man had to die!
She was completely naked after her transformation dissipated, and under the surrounding red mist, each part of her skin looked very alluring.
But at that time, a ray of sunlight landed on her.
The area hit by the sunlight began to fester and became extremely repulsive!
She looked hatefully at the courtyard.
It was all because of that damn curse!
Otherwise, with her strength, how could she have suffered a sneak attack from a little kid?
She already had an idea of what she wanted to do to Marvin.
She wouldn’t let Marvin die easily. She would slowly peel off his skin and sprinkle a soul-searing poison powder on his head.
Just the thought of this made the Snake Witch unable to help smirking cruelly for a moment.
But next second, after that red mist scattered, her smile froze.
The ravine was completely empty. She couldn’t see Marvin’s figure even with her Infrared Sight!
“This is impossible!” The Witch had a terrible expression.
She knew the power of the [Bone Breaking Screech]!
Even someone on the level of a Divine Servant would be incapacitated by that spell!
Because that Legendary Spell originally had an Authority that exceeded the Divine Laws.
It had been made from the creation of a formidable Legend Wizard of the 3rd Era, specially designed to restrain the Gods’ spells!
These types of spells had once been very popular in the 3rd Era, because of the many confrontations with the Gods after they descended to Feinan.
Some of the casters that sought knowledge and power snorted disdainfully at the Gods. They scorned those who chose to ascend to Godhood, but they still had no choice but to find some means to face the Divine Power of those New Gods.
Thus, they started researching many spells able to target the Divine Laws.
This type of spell was usually called a [God Slaying Seal].
Naturally, there were many kinds of spells that could be categorized as God Slaying Seals, and Bone Breaking Screech was just one of them. The Snake Witch, as a prominent existence from the 3rd Era, had grasped a great many God Slaying Seals, but only the Bone Break Screech could let her recover from the absolute disadvantage that she had been in just now.
She had been quite satisfied with the outcome of the spell. From Marvin’s reaction when he got hit by it, she knew that he had received a serious wound!
His bones had definitely been crushed.
Because of the God Slaying Seal, even with a recovery ability on the level of Gods, he would still need a couple of minutes to recover.
He would die within these minutes!
…
But the current situation was different than what the Snake Witch had thought.
Marvin had disappeared!
It couldn’t be Hide.
The Snake Witch still had her powerful ability to sense warmth. She hadn’t found Marvin before because of carelessness, not expecting that she would be impaled while taking a stroll in her back garden. He had also attacked before she had drawn near.
Marvin had used her relaxed state of mind to successfully land the sneak attack.
But her counterattack was definitely effective, or she would have already turned into a corpse.
‘Astral Plane? Shadow Plane?’
The Snake Witch closed her eyes, and an ancient chant came out of her mouth.
If Marvin were here, he would have been shocked to hear that the Snake Witch was chanting in the Ancient God Language.
Ancient runes floated over, forming a pale yellow array.
The air began to grow restless, as every light trail behind the runes seemed to fit together like a puzzle.
The Snake Witch’s hands opened, and her entire person seemed just like a sculpture, as her eyes turned pure white!
“Come out, Lil’ Rat…”
Then, two lines of blood burst out of her eyes!
…
Marvin was floating painfully in the endless darkness.
His bones had shattered completely!
The Snake Witch had reacted faster than he had thought she would!
The Post-Godly Dexterity was actually not able to let him escape or interrupt the instant [Bone Breaking Screech]!
The only thing worth rejoicing about was that the Bone Breaking Screech was a double-edged spell. Despite the Witch having the advantage of being Shapechanged into a snake, which would doubly mitigate the damage from the spell, it would still take some time to return to Human form.
While they were both unable to move, Marvin had resisted the pain and opened the [Eternal Night Seal]!
Eternal Night Seal’s advantage was its flexibility.
This specialty could seal an enemy in the Eternal Night space, but it could also hide himself inside.
Seeing a rogue class suddenly disappear like this, an enemy would first search the Shadow Plane and then the Astral Plane before looking for other planes’ entrances.
The entrances to these planes were very difficult to find. The Eternal Night space belonged to Marvin and had its own planar coordinates. In fact, it was equivalent to an empty Demi-Plane. Marvin didn’t have the strength to support a Demi-Plane for a long time though.
Even so, the average spell couldn’t find him or grab him out of it.
Thus, he could hide inside for now until he recovered.
‘The Bone Breaking Screech… is truly frightening. A lot more effective than the rumors had said.’
‘But she should also be weakened right now, so it should be a while before she can search for me.’
‘I have the advantage, she can’t find me…’
Marvin’s thoughts were cut short by a sudden pair of white eyes piercing through the darkness!
The Snake Witch’s delicate and crazed face appeared in front of him, covered in blood!
“Fuck!”
Marvin cursed loudly, looking at her in disbelief.
Chapter 602: Fierce
Marvin truly hadn’t thought that the Snake Witch would still have enough Magic Power left over to look for him after all that had happened.
Moreover, he’d thought that even if she did have energy left, she wouldn’t be able to find the location of his Eternal Night Seal anyways.
As the powerful gravitational force tore at Marvin’s body, trying to drag him out of the Eternal Night Seal’s space, something occurred to him.
‘That woman is far more powerful than described. The Ranger who wrote the guide must have been one of the first players who became a God, which made the encounter seem much easier from his point of view.’
‘My resistances are so strong that I can resist almost all the Witchcrafts that would inflict curses or mental effects, while also having an extremely high resistance to Seals. How could I have known that she’d have something like the Bone Breaking Screech?!’
Marvin’s awkward state was actually somewhat justifiable.
He ascended to Godhood in the game and was able to use Divine Power, so he knew many things about it. However, in the time frame just before he transmigrated, he had heard that some large guilds were researching the God Slaying Seals of the 3rd era, but hadn’t learned much about them yet.
He only saw some descriptions about God Slaying Seals like the Bone Breaking Screech, but had never had to fight against anyone that used them.
The information wasn’t complete, which could easily lead to being at a disadvantage.
Marvin didn’t manage to avoid the hit from the Bone Breaking Screech, and he was surprised as to the lengths that the Snake Witch was willing to go to get her revenge.
That woman was suffering too, but still went all-out to immediately look for him.
If that wasn’t crazy, what was it?
Despite the pain, Marvin was still quite clear-headed.
He had cursed aloud just now because had been startled by the Snake Witch’s appearance.
But that surprise had quickly turned into delight.
His loss of self-control was three parts legitimate and seven parts feigned.
He was pretending to desperately try to escape from the Snake Witch’s power, as if he was completely out of strength. Ultimately, he was slowly pulled over to the Snake Witch.
…
There was only one ray of sunlight piercing into the ravine.
The Snake Witch’s eyes were bleeding profusely, but the white irises were still staring fixedly at a specific place in the darkness.
A huge hole appeared out of nowhere, and Marvin fell out of it, landing just in front of the Snake Witch. The latter was panting, but her face was filled with arrogance and hate.
Marvin’s guess wasn’t wrong. The previous sneak attack and the Bone Breaking Screech seriously wounded the Snake Witch.
However, she was such a lunatic that she staked everything to forcibly drag Marvin back.
If she had just retreated to her cabin to make better preparations, her life would have been a lot more secure.
After all, Marvin had already used up one of his trump cards and lost the element of surprise, and her cabin was a place where she had been living for so many years, with all kinds of arrangements planned for the Anzeds, or in other words, for the Witch Queen.
The lair of a caster who had lived for thousands of years… Even if Marvin summoned all his Shadow Dragons and the Black Dragon, he might not necessarily be able to take her out.
But as was common to those who always stood above others, the Snake Witch was very conceited.
She was certain that Marvin was already an arrow at the end of its flight. All she had to do was catch him, and he would be screwed.
She didn’t have the patience to wait, and she absolutely didn’t want to give Marvin any chance to escape.
She wanted to torture Marvin now!
Only in that way could she vent the rage and fear that he had just stoked in her heart.
When she saw Marvin’s staggering silhouette appear before her, the Snake Witch showed a mocking smile. “Lil’ Rat, I don’t care who you are or where you’re from, Anzed or the Supreme Jungle. Since you wanted to kill me, I’ll let you let you test some experiments I’ve been working on!”
After saying that, she spread one of her hands open, and the fingers turned into five vines rushing toward Marvin.
But suddenly, a golden light shone!
The Snake Witch was dumbfounded as the expression of Marvin, who had been slumped on the ground, suddenly changed.
Major Shapechange – Royal Griffin!
“Snake Witch!”
“You aren’t the only one that is able to use Major Shapechange spells!”
As those words came out of the Griffin’s mouth, the wings flapped, creating a dusty tornado that engulfed everything, cutting off the Witch’s path to retreat!
The Snake Witch suddenly became pale.
When she saw this scene before her, she recalled that this guy had easily used Dispel Magic earlier!
It wouldn’t be strange for him to also be able to use a Shapechange spell.
Using Major Shapechange was like shedding one’s body. Although supposedly it wasn’t on the level of the superior ability, Ultimate Shapechange, it was enough to counter the pain and weakness of Marvin’s normal form.
His body was suddenly full of strength.
The growth of the advanced False Divine Vessel also had some consequences on the Shapechange, making the Royal Griffin become more nimble.
The two of them were too close to each other, to the point that just as the Snake Witch started using an instant spell to try to stop him, Marvin’s sharp talons had already clutched her around the chest!
An extremely bloody scene played out in the ravine.
Marvin, who had been on the verge of life and death, had no pity for the fairer sex when it was someone so insidious, and he wouldn’t make any stupid mistakes and die for it. He quickly and efficiently tore apart the Snake Witch’s chest and her heart!
The Magic Armor that the Snake Witch was wearing activated automatically, but it seemed powerless to stop the Griffin’s claws, and she was mauled to death in just moments!
This wasn’t exactly because of Marvin’s immense power, but rather because he knew how frightening a Legend caster was.
A powerful caster like the Snake Witch would likely have cast some special recovery spells on herself.
If she had been thorough enough, she might even be able to recover with only a head left.
The only way to make sure she was truly dead was to tear apart all her vitals.
In the end, the Snake Witch fell lifeless to the ground.
Marvin stood coldly next to her corpse, still in his form as a Royal Griffin, as he inspected those bloody remains with his eyes.
Small fights between Legends would often not result in any actual deaths due to their resilience, their access to special recovery techniques, and the wide variety of abilities that they could use to escape a bad situation.
But the Snake Witch had gone out of her way to give Marvin this opportunity. If she had just left when Marvin disappeared instead of spending a huge amount of her power to search for him while he was just waiting and recovering, there wouldn’t have been such a grisly result.
Marvin felt pretty lucky that she’d made such a decision.
He knew that many other Legends wouldn’t have made this kind of mistake. The Snake Witch had lived in the Swamp for a long time and had already become rather arrogant and aloof, since she was one of the strongest beings around. Marvin successfully enraged her, making her lose her rationality.
When he thought back carefully about their fight, he felt that even if it was very short, there had been many very close calls.
Marvin had also been a bit scared by the revelation of how powerful the Bone Breaking Screech was. Although his strength was fierce, this era wasn’t lacking in powerhouses.
Later on, he might look for a bit more information.
After killing his target, Marvin didn’t immediately rush to the cabin in the swamp to find what he had come for, wary of the possibility that she had set traps or other contingencies there that he didn’t know about.
He rested for no less than an hour in a corner of the ravine.
After the Shapechange ability expired, he was in extreme pain once again as his bones had been shattered. It was hard to endure.
Thankfully, because of his strong constitution and the effects from the Shapechange, under the nourishment of all kinds of power, his bones slowly regrew and knitted back together.
The Snake Witch had struck a huge blow against him, leaving him seriously weakened. He could only use 70% of his strength at most after the initial quick recovery.
But that kind of wound wasn’t permanent. With the passage of time and the use of other things to help, he should be able to recover within a week or so.
After his body recovered enough of his strength, Marvin left the ravine.
He found the wooden tablet that he needed on the body of the Snake Witch, and unhurriedly entered the tenebrous swamp once again.
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Chapter 603: Poison Drug
In the Rotten Mushroom Swamp, the Snake Witch’s will overwhelmed all else.
Marvin had deliberately made sure not to harm the wooden tablet at her waist during the fierce battle because he had known that this wooden tablet was the key to enter the wooden house safely.
Otherwise, even if he knew the path, there would still be all kinds of mechanisms and traps constantly trying to kill him.
He followed the small path on the periphery of the swamp, taking advantage of the parts of the dense fog that weren’t as thick, and quickly went in.
The path to enter the cabin was long and sinuous.
And on the way, Marvin encountered a lot of potential obstacles.
A bloodthirsty willow tree, a squirrel with an enormous tail, and also a viper nest.
These monsters were all extremely vigilant against outsiders, but when Marvin took out that wooden tablet, he was able to enter effortlessly.
This wooden sign not only helped him avoid superfluous battles, but it also was very important for actually getting inside the small wooden house.
As a brilliant Alchemist, the Snake Witch definitely didn’t have an ordinary cabin.
Although it looked like an ordinary little house on the outside, it was huge on the inside.
It was like a small Wizard Tower.
And the key to enter the Wizard Tower was that wooden tablet, which had once represented the status of the Snake Witch among the Anzeds. She had never given up on her feelings toward the Anzeds, which could be considered somewhat pitiful.
After entering the cabin, Marvin didn’t think too much and went straight for the important stuff.
He only touched what he wanted, and didn’t take things that he didn’t need.
After all, he wasn’t a real caster, so he couldn’t disable all of the Snake Witch’s magical mechanisms and traps inside.
If he was a bit careless and accidentally triggered a trap, he would definitely be in for a miserable experience.
…
The first floor of the cabin was a wide living room. A long wooden table was set up in the middle of the room, and at the end of the table there was a tall, ornate seat carved out of wood.
Seven flowers, as well as a strange moon, were carved on the seat.
‘The Anzeds’ ancient totem?’
Marvin squinted. This was his first time entering the Snake Witch’s cabin, so this was naturally his first time seeing what was inside.
There were also a total of twelve wooden chairs, with six on each side of the table. Each chair was wiped clean and shiny.
Marvin shook his head mockingly. He could even imagine the Snake Witch sitting on that moon and flower throne, revelling in her fantasy of becoming the Witch Queen, with the Twelve Witches bowing their heads to her.
But unfortunately, this scene would never happen in reality.
Marvin went past the table and went up a staircase at the end of the room.
The really good stuff would be on the 2nd floor.
Strictly speaking, the 2nd floor was the Snake Witch’s laboratory and library.
There were many precious resources in the Snake Witch’s small cabin, but without a Legendary Wizard at his side, Marvin didn’t dare to act recklessly.
He could only follow the guide from memory and take away the important items that wouldn’t trigger serious traps or curses.
Searching through the laboratory, he found a clean display case in which the Witch had set up her already finished Alchemy items.
There were four shelves on the display case, each of them packed completely full. The bottles of medicines and items were labelled in a strange language.
This was the Anzed Language.
[Burning Hot Power], [Anqima Poison], [Thunder Bless], [Major Wish]…
Each potion was at least at the Legendary level!
The Snake Witch was truly worthy of being a Legend Alchemist who had lived for a millennium. This collection of items was beyond extraordinary. Even when Shadow Thief Owl looted Diggles’ treasury, they hadn’t gotten so many powerful potions.
But Marvin could look at those things with desire.
Because he knew that these potions had very powerful Magic Arrays arranged to protect them.
Disabling them required the chant from the Snake Witch’s mouth. If he did manage to snatch something away from the shelves, he’d then have to contend with the problem that the potions could even self-detonate.
And not only would Marvin be unable to get any advantage out of it, but he would also trigger the cabin’s alarm, triggering all of the defenses and countermeasures.
He looked away from those powerful potions at the top, and his gaze ultimately fell upon a particular potion bottle on the 4th shelf.
‘This potion doesn’t have a defensive magic array?’
‘This was the latest one she crafted, so she probably didn’t have time…’
After Marvin used Earth Perception and found out that this bottle didn’t seem to be under any protective spells at all, he had an expression of pleasant surprise on his face.
He had originally looked at the display case rather casually, knowing that its contents were all magically secured. It came as an unexpected surprise that there was something useful in it that was unprotected.
Like this potion bottle called [Poison Drug].
From the label, this [Poison Drug] was the Snake Witch’s latest work, which she was very proud of. Marvin could only presume that she hadn’t gotten around to properly naming it yet.
The effect of the Poison Drug was very simple: ten minutes after taking the medicine, the user’s attributes would all raise by 10 points!
That was a very frightening number!
To Marvin who had already become a Legend, what kind of changes could an overall increase of 10 points to all his attributes cause?
He didn’t dare imagine what the Post-Godly Dexterity, which was already enough to devastate most of his enemies, could do once it reached 45! He had the confidence of being able to contend against the Mid Gods at the very least, and not be at a disadvantage at all!
With his advanced False Divine Vessel, he would at least be able to resist the power of the Gods’ Plane Law Authorities. As for the rest of the Gods’ skills, in front of his heaven-defying attributes, they simply wouldn’t be worth mentioning.
What kind of concept was 45 Dexterity?
Maybe even the Gods couldn’t reach this?
It would allow one to move at an extremely frightening speed. A Wizard’s Teleportation Door or a rogue’s Flicker simply couldn’t even beat Marvin’s simplest movement skill with 45 Dexterity! And then there was the bonus to all his other attributes too!
Having such a potion was equivalent to having an overwhelmingly powerful trump card.
How could Marvin not be pleasantly surprised about the find?
Naturally, it wasn’t all nice. The potion had been named Poison Drug because it truly was a poisonous drug!
Although it could arouse one’s potential, the potion itself was very toxic. While the potion was in effect, one could still rely on the power boost from the increased attributes and their own body’s natural resistance to fight it.
Once the effect was over, the toxic side effect would start flaring up. Even a God who took the potion might have their Divine Source corroded by the poison, falling to never rise again!
Marvin felt quite terrified when looking at this explanation.
That thing was the same as his Magic Addict Shape. It was to be used only in a very desperate situation.
Unexpectedly, it suddenly occurred to him that this bottle of poison might be suitable for use when paired with his Magic Addict Shape!
A bold and crazy plan took form in his mind, but Marvin only thought about it for a moment. It would be unlikely for him to use it in a real battle.
Unless he really needed to use it, this kind of last-chance move would stay hidden forever.
As he thought about this, Marvin put away the Poison Drug before looking at the other corners of the laboratory once again.
Chapter 604: Alchemy Box
From what Marvin remembered, one thing that he really needed to find was an Artifact called the Alchemy Box.
In the game, the Alchemy Box had been obtained by a large guild, which had used it to create the first player-made Artifact.
And that Alchemy Box was said to be hidden in the Snake Witch’s laboratory.
Marvin cautiously followed the path around the laboratory, making his way around some obviously dangerous items before reaching a small room.
This room was clearly different from the other rooms.
Most rooms in the cabin had windows and had Wizard Fire inside to light them.
After all, the Snake Witch was a Human that had been born on the surface, and it was very difficult to change the living habits of the surface.
There was no doubt about that.
But this small room was windowless on all sides without anything lighting it.
With the door closed, if not for Marvin having Darksight, he might not have been able to see the surroundings.
‘Eh? This is mercury?’
‘Smearing mercury in all the corners of the room? Why?’
Marvin felt that this was a bit promising as he realized that he might have found the key location.
He didn’t know what the Alchemy Box looked like, but it would make sense for the Artifact to be in a special location.
Could it be that the box would be harmed when exposed to light?
Marvin walked around the small room, gradually taking on an odd expression.
This was definitely a strange room.
The walls had been painted with a strange mix of medicine and mercury, and the room was sealed so that no wind or light could enter.
Aside from the small door he had entered through, there was no exit.
In the entire room, besides a small table in the middle, there was nothing else.
“This place feels like a cage…” Marvin muttered.
He slowly walked over to the wooden table and noticed some queer decorative designs on its surface.
He was a bit curious, and thus got closer so that he could inspect them.
But as he drew near, those decorative designs started hovering into the air, turning into an exaggerated smiling face!
Marvin immediately prepared himself for any possible issues!
The bright radiance suddenly spiked in intensity and pricked his eyes, making him lose his sight!
[Blind]!
‘Fuck! This is bad!’
A whistling sound passed by his ear, which he felt like was caused by something rushing for the door.
Marvin sneered.
Even if he lost his sight and the other side was very fast, he could rely on the obvious sound to guess where it was!
Marvin burst over in an instant!
That thing was fast, but Marvin was even faster!
Post-Godly Dexterity!
That shadow was appalled when Marvin managed to reach the front of the door and grab it with his right hand!
“What!”
A somewhat familiar-sounding sharp voice came out from the darkness. “You are courting death! Release me right this instant!”
“I finally got an opportunity to flee from that perverted old hag’s confinement, and now a filthy thief like you actually dares to offend the great me!”
“Unhand me now, foul knave!”
Marvin was startled.
He clearly could feel that he had grabbed something like a box, but that box apparently could actually talk!
What Marvin found even stranger was that the box’s voice sounded a bit familiar.
Although he was still blinded right now, he could already feel it.
This talking box was most likely the rumored Alchemy Box!
A treasure that could make Artifact was quite unusual, as expected!
Marvin grabbed the box in his hands and was now groping its surface.
The box had a very ordinary shape… just like a box, but it seemed to have a pair of soft wings.
No wonder that thing could fly!
However, Marvin’s actions completely infuriated the lively Magic Box. It yelled resentfully, “Where do you think you are touching?!”
“Disgusting thief! Let me go, those aren’t places that you can touch!”
“Ah… It tickles! Aaarrrghhh, I knew it! All the Humans in this godforsaken place are perverts! That old crone was like that, and now this damn thief is also like that!”
“Wuwuwu… Poor Wilson, how could I have such a bad luck!”
Marvin remained silent and stony-faced despite the complaints and sobs of the Magic Box.
He was inwardly searching his memory for where he had heard the voice before when he suddenly shivered.
After a bit of hesitation, he asked, “I wonder if you know a man that like dresses like a peacock?”
The box answered disdainfully, “I’ve lived for over a millennium, so what kind of man I haven’t seen? But… I guess I’ve never seen a man that dresses like a peacock… Who could possibly have such bad taste, anyways…”
“Hold on!” the box shouted.
Marvin clearly noticed a bit of wavering in the Alchemy Box’s voice as it inquired, “The peacock man you’re asking about, does he have this pocket with him that he can pull a lot of strange things out of?”
Marvin thought back to his time in his territory.
During the attack on Sword Harbor, the self-declared “World’s Greatest Alchemist” had reportedly taken out some strange Alchemy items from his pocket.
He was even able to freeze the surface of the sea.
That strange, nameless Alchemist.
His voice seemed to be identical to that of the Magic Box, so Marvin had decided to ask if there was a connection. It wasn’t that Marvin paid special attention to that guy, but his voice was rather distinctive, like that of a really pretentious guy.
Marvin had always felt that there was something really odd about that guy, but he was sure that the memory loss wasn’t fake, and in the end, he’d decided to let him remain in White River Valley.
He’d never expected to hear that voice again in a place like this!
It felt way too miraculous.
Marvin’s sight slowly recovered and he looked at the Magic Box’s outline.
“More or less,” Marvin hesitantly said, “he claimed that he was an Alchemist, but he seems a bit unreliable.”
“You saw him?!” The Magic Box’s voice took on a tone of pleasant surprise.
“He is in my territory. He could be considered…” Marvin frowned, not knowing quite how to describe that peacock guy, before deciding to tell the straightforward truth. “He’s basically an unreliable freeloader that doesn’t do any useful work.”
The Magic Box remained silent.
“What’s the relationship between you two?” Marvin curiously asked.
By now, his sight had fully recovered.
He could clearly see the Magic Box’s delicate outline. It was a simple cube with wings spreading from opposite sides and a silvery-white mirror on the surface.
There was a fleshy face in the mirror, just like a person’s.
The face in the mirror suddenly was choked with sobs again, and it lasted for a while.
After it calmed, it said in a rough voice, “He is my dad… Hell… I thought he already died…”
Marvin was stunned.
…
In a corner of the laboratory, Marvin was sitting next to the Magic Box as he listened to the latter’s tale of hardships and suffering. He even felt some sympathy for the little guy.
“That lunatic, do you know how crazy that old hag was? She asked me to transform Artifacts every day… Dammit! Although Wilson is a superior Alchemy Box, it’s not like I can lay golden eggs like a hen when fed!”
“She kept giving me poisons and weird things to “help” me, hoping that I would give her something good…”
“Hmpf… I just gave her a bunch of trash.”
“But she didn’t give up, she persevered and kept giving me nauseating things every day… What Bugbear liver? What Wyvern pancreas? Bat claws and eyeballs… I was going freaking crazy! Losing my damn mind!”
“The worst part was that she kept asking me one thing every day, whether she was the most beautiful woman of all… Naturally, I could only compromise…”
Chapter 605: Specter Barrier
Thanks to the Alchemy Box’s outpouring of its grievances, Marvin finally learnt everything.
The Alchemy Box itself was an extremely magical Alchemy Item.
Because it possessed its own will!
From this, it could be seen that its maker, the currently freeloading Alchemist in White River Valley, was really a successful Alchemist, despite all the signs suggesting that he was totally useless.
The peacock guy was named Will, so he had decided that the Magic Box would be called Wilson.
Will regarded the Magic Box Wilson as his masterpiece, even treating it as his son.
Marvin didn’t know if it was a coincidence or not, but he found out from Wilson’s mouth that the powerful Alchemist had lost his memory because of some ineffable causes, but he was also a powerhouse who survived the 3rd Era.
The 3rd Era, a distant era, such a dazzling Era!
Despite how much the glory of the Wizards had shone throughout the 4th Era, even after a millennium, all the corners of Feinan were still filled with traces of the 3rd Era.
That Era had some many shining stars. The Great Alchemist Will was one of them.
According to the Magic Box, Will had been known as the King of Alchemy back then, and almost everyone had believed that he could even ascend to Godhood eventually based only on his great understanding of Alchemy.
But everything faded to dust after an unexpected disaster.
And after Will disappeared, Magic Box Wilson passed from hand to hand, before eventually being unfortunate enough to fall into the Snake Witch’s hands.
The only gratifying part was that although the Snake Witch was a Greatmaster Alchemist, she was completely ignorant about the truth of the Alchemy Box.
She didn’t even know that the Alchemy Box was sentient.
The reason for the construction of the airtight room was that she had once read a book about Alchemy Boxes which claimed that such boxes could be harmed by exposure to light or too much airflow. Such exposure could increase the chances for Alchemy rituals conducted with the box to fail.
The Alchemy Boxes came from an era when Alchemy was rather well-developed, and almost all Alchemists had one.
And Magic Box Wilson was definitely at the peak of these.
Despite being tormented by the Snake Witch for so many years, it still didn’t give up hope.
Wilson had just sensed the Snake Witch’s death, and thus, when it saw the door to the sealed room open, it decided that this was the best time to flee.
It couldn’t open the door of the room by itself, so it took advantage of Marvin’s moment of inattention to blind him and try to escape.
Unfortunately, Marvin’s Post-Godly Dexterity had come as a surprise, and the little box ultimately fell into Marvin’s hands.
But after finding out that Will was in White River Valley, the Magic Box changed its mind.
It desired to return to Will’s side.
And after Marvin promised that he wouldn’t “mistreat” it like the Snake Witch did, Magic Box Wilson agreed to follow Marvin for the time being.
Although the Alchemy Box was very powerful, it had been tormented by the Snake Witch for practically an entire Era, so its strength had declined by a lot.
The previous surprise attack on Marvin and the ensuing escape attempt had used the final bit of its strength.
Thus, after both sides finished discussing, Marvin put it in the Origami Space, letting it slumber for the time being.
Once he returned to White River Valley, he would return the Magic Box to that nameless Alchemist.
If that guy really was the outstanding Alchemist from the 3rd Era, then his hunch to let this guy stay in White River Valley would have finally paid off.
…
After the encounter with the Magic Box, Marvin didn’t waste any more time and went straight for what he wanted.
His trip to the Rotten Mushroom Swamp was mainly for a certain spell of the Snake Witch.
The Dark Specters had invaded once in an ancient era, and at that time, people invented a spell to counteract them known as the Ghost Barrier.
This spell had already disappeared from Feinan, but it could still be found in two places.
The first one was the South Wizard Alliance’s final headquarters, hiding in the floating city of Esomia, among towering mountains and precipitous ridges. But unfortunately, Esomia was probably now the most dangerous place in Feinan.
After the Great Calamity, it was uncertain whether even a few Wizards might have managed to survive in Esomia. Although those in Esomia great privileges, to the point that only the highest Wizards in the entire South Wizard Alliance could access the top floor, there were still many ordinary Wizards inside.
After the Great Calamity, Esomia should have enacted their emergency procedures, shutting itself in. If so, even Dark Phoenix’s influence couldn’t have reached that Wizard Plane.
Naturally, the Legend Wizards wouldn’t be influenced by Chaos Magic Power, but all the people at their side would have turned into monsters, which would likely have struck a huge blow to the Legendary Wizards of Esomia.
Who knows what Esomia might look like now? Based on the information in the game, the floating city of Esomia was an instanced zone. This suggested that there would be enemies to fight within the city.
Although Marvin was confident, he still didn’t plan to challenge the power left behind by South Wizard Alliance.
As for the 2nd place where the spell could be found, it was naturally the Snake Witch’s cabin.
Although this place was also dangerous, it was relatively simpler to get the spell here.
The Snake Witch usually put her finished spell scrolls in the library, along with her books.
Marvin entered the library and saw a row of bookcases with old books.
There were a lot of them, and they had all originated from the 3rd Era.
Marvin also had many books in his hands, which he had gotten from the Dragon Library. But the problem was that these books were related to the Dragon Race and not about mankind.
Marvin approached the Snake Witch’s books and started sweeping them away unceremoniously without a trace of respect!
Knowledge is power!
At least in the case of Magic Books.
As he cleaned the place up, Marvin thought to himself that after this event, he would go back to White River Valley and establish a new library.
He already had a large pile of books from the Chromatic Dragon Temple’s Dragon Library, and now he had gotten many more shelves of books from the Snake Witch’s library. These books concerned Magic Power, Alchemy, and other important resources for casters.
It would help accelerate White River Valley’s inexorable rise.
…
As he swept through the entire library, Marvin found a book that he was looking for called –The Origins of Dark Specters and How to Defend Against Them–.
The book was written in an Ancient Common, which, as was evident from the characters, was the precursor to the modern version of Common.
By reading this book, powerful casters could understand the workings of the Ghost Barrier spell. Marvin checked and found out that he truly wasn’t caster material and simply couldn’t make sense of the contents…
He could only give up on that for the moment.
But at the very least, he did manage to find some flattened scrolls at the end of the book.
These scrolls were very old, certainly predating the 4th Era, but there was no damage to them at all, which could be considered rather amazing.
These scrolls contained spells that weren’t considered particularly powerful, but they had been specifically designed to counter something.
These were the [Ghost Barrier] scrolls!
Chapter 606: The Hermit
Marvin had gotten quite a rich harvest from the trip to the Rotten Mushroom Swamp, so his previous fight with the Snake Witch wasn’t in vain.
When Marvin left the cabin and made his way out of the swamp, his injuries were still aching. This made him sigh at the Snake Witch’s vindictiveness and the power of the God Restraining Seal.
But although he didn’t take the time to look through them, he still noticed that some of the books in the Snake Witch’s library were about God Restraining Seals.
These things were very valuable, and although the current White River Valley had no suitable people to use them, Marvin had a feeling that soon, that person would come back.
He had a feeling that when Wayne returned from the Wilds, as a powerful Seer who managed to survive his early years, he should be able to walk a path of Magic that his predecessors could never have imagined.
Marvin had already prepared everything for him in White River Valley. It was all only awaiting his return.
And that feeling was getting stronger, he felt sure that it would happen soon.
And once the brothers were reunited, Marvin’s workload would become a lot lighter.
Madeline and that other Legend Wizard were puppets of the Book of Nalu, so they could hardly take care of the most important matters.
Thinking of this, Marvin couldn’t help but sigh again. The Book of Nalu’s power was frightening, able to even take away the mind of a Legend powerhouse. If Marvin didn’t have the Wisdom Chapter, then he might not have dared to use the Book of Nalu even now.
…
Marvin already accomplished most of his goals in his trip to this part of the Underdark.
Sodom’s Blades were in his hands and he’d found the Ghost Barrier scrolls, so even if they didn’t manage to kill the Final Ghost Mother, they should still be able to escape unscathed.
A Boss like the Final Ghost Mother was basically world-class. It would be a very difficult proposition to eliminate her with the current power available to the Underdark.
Even with the help of Marvin and Jessica, it would be very difficult for the Underdark’s denizens to prevail. But Marvin had to try, because the invasion of the Dark Specters not only affected the Underdark, but was also linked inextricably to Rocky Mountain, and even the rest of Feinan. If they let the Dark Specters flood out unchecked, this plague would become a bigger threat to Feinan than the Evil Spirits!
Naturally, there was still one more destination in this trip to the southern reaches of the Underdark.
Not far from the courtyard was a quiet ravine.
Within the ravine was a powerful hermit, that hardly anyone had ever seen.
But Marvin knew of his origins.
He had an Oddity which was called the [Demon Subduing Sword]. It had to be known that this was translated directly from Ancient Common, which meant that this weapon’s origins were very old.
In fact, that hermit was closely related to the Dark Specters.
They had come to Feinan from the same world.
The Dark Specter clan was like a swarm of locusts wandering throughout the Universe. After finding an untouched plane, they would dig in and start unbridledly infecting, invading, and plundering, before finally swallowing the entire plane whole.
And the previous plane that they had swallowed was that hermit’s world.
The name of that plane had already been lost to oblivion, but as the only surviving powerhouse from that world, that hermit must have led his people to fight the Dark Specters again and again.
He knew the Dark Specters like the back of his hand, and moreover, it was rumored that he once fought the Final Ghost Mother hand to hand.
After the collapse of that world, the Dark Specters set their eyes on Feinan.
But they ran into some trouble when they tried to invade Feinan. The Night Monarch, who was at his peak at the time, led the people to seal the Final Ghost Mother. It was said that the hermit had come to this world at the same time as the Dark Specters and had given some nice tips to the Night Monarch, as well as his aid.
And in the battle to finally seal them away, he slashed the Final Ghost Mother with the Demon Subduing Sword and greatly injured the Final Ghost Mother, giving the Night Monarch and the other talented people the opening to complete the seal.
Thus, after several wipes at the [Eternal Frozen Spring] instance, someone speculated that the hermit was the key to complete the task.
They secured the hermit’s help through a series of clues and finally solved the enigma of the Eternal Frozen Spring instance, killing the Final Ghost Mother.
But it had been done by a team consisting of 25 Legend powerhouses, along with the specialized Demon Subduing Sword.
This was also why Marvin didn’t believe that the Rosen Strongholds’ Legend team could pull it off.
In his eyes, although the Legends in the Underdark were generally a bit better than their surface counterparts, they were far from being able to compare with the game’s players.
But regardless, he had to give it a try.
…
After passing through the pitch-black tunnel, Marvin soon reached the quiet ravine.
This ravine was only separated from the neighbouring courtyard area by a few kilometers. The Snake Witch had once invaded this place, and since then, no one had ever set foot here again.
Marvin stood at the entrance of the ravine for a bit, feeling some hesitation, but eventually started walking straight in.
He’d never heard anything strange about the hermit. Even if he didn’t like seeing others, just going in to see him shouldn’t be a problem, right?
But just as he took a step inside, a huge toad suddenly appeared in front of him and ordered in shaky Common, “Trespasser, stop.”
Marvin smiled, “I came to find Mister Hermit.”
The toad looked closely at him as if it were a Human. “He doesn’t see any visitors.”
“I need to borrow something,” Marvin explained, unconcerned with the less-than-warm reception, while discreetly checking the depths of the ravine from the corner of his eye.
Unfortunately, the quiet ravine was rather strange. There wasn’t any fog, but there was a dense layer of earthy particles floating in the air that blocked his sight.
“He doesn’t know you,” the toad stiffly insisted. “This is private property. Don’t try to snoop in, this wouldn’t work out well for you, Mister.”
“I’m not looking for trouble,” Marvin assured grimly. “If I’m not wrong, Mister Hermit should always be looking at the condition of the Eternal Frozen Spring. Well, how about now? What does he see?”
The toad immediately went silent.
After a long time, an exhausted voice came from the depths of the ravine:
“I saw destruction.”
…
In the depths of the ravine, next to a simple wooden house, that legendary hermit who had always been hidden was now in front of Marvin.
He felt a twinge of surprise.
But soon, he understood why the hermit was willing to meet him.
The players didn’t get to meet him because in the hermit’s eyes, their existence was normal.
But Marvin was different.
The hermit observed in a mysterious voice, “You are like me, not someone from this world.”
Marvin froze.
He wasn’t sure how that middle-aged man using crutches could see through his identity, but when he thought about how the other side wasn’t someone from Feinan either, he supposed it had something to do with that.
“That isn’t something important,” Marvin said seriously. “Mister Hermit, the Eternal Frozen Spring has loosened to a point never seen before…”
“Yeah, because your Gods chose to destroy a layer of painfully established Order.”
The Hermit’s expression was dark and gloomy as he mockingly spat, “I already saw the destruction that will ensue.”
“The tragedy that befell my homeland is going to repeat itself here.”
Chapter 607: Duel
The hermit looked like an ordinary, albeit injured, middle-aged man.
His legs had been lost in the battle against the Dark Specters, so he could only walk with a pair of crutches.
But this didn’t make him look weak at all.
Marvin felt a powerful aura coming from him, like a beast that had been laying dormant for a long time, one that had lost its anger but was ready to burst out with extreme power upon being reignited.
For him to be able to live from that distant chaotic era all the way until now, his bloodline from that plane must have been from a long-lived species.
Someone that had lived for a very long time would naturally see a lot of things. Even an idiot could become wise after enough time, let alone someone who was already clever.
From what Marvin understood, the Hermit had remained in the Underdark all this time to watch over the Eternal Frozen Spring’s seal.
He hated the Dark Specters to the bone because they had destroyed his homeworld.
He had no special feelings for Feinan, but he was unwilling to see the Dark Specters have free reign over yet another world.
He was now wearing a strange expression.
…
Marvin hesitated for a bit before calmly asserting, “In any case, there must always be someone that will stand up to try to prevent it.”
“I hope that you are willing to help me.”
The hermit took a long glance at Marvin. “Youth, have you ever thought that there are disasters that can never be stopped? Even if you save the world, it’s very likely that yet another crisis is imminent.”
“You can’t save everyone on your own, and furthermore, it’s not your responsibility.”
“Why don’t those guys who destroyed the Order settle this issue? If the Universe Magic Pool still existed, the Eternal Spring Seal wouldn’t have come undone, and the Night Monarch’s power wouldn’t have faded from it.”
Marvin’s expression became a bit strange.
He knew some secrets about these matters, especially after the talk with Lance that resulted from Ambella invading his dream.
He had learnt from that conversation that it had actually been Lance’s idea for the Gods to attack the Universe Magic Pool!
And based on the hermit’s sarcastic words, it seemed that he knew about it.
He was actually criticizing Feinan’s God of Creation?
Marvin frowned. “You think someone is taking advantage of me?”
The hermit shook his head. “I don’t know your origins, but only those who have faced despair can pursue such extraordinary aspirations.”
“I can lend you the Demon Subduing Sword, of course, but I can see some… influence on your body that’s hard to describe.”
“Thus, I can’t help but remind you: You might think that some things are favors, but to the others, you are merely a chess piece.”
“You should think about the meaning of your life.”
Hearing this, Marvin laughed a little. “Before reflecting on the meaning of my life, I should first focus on surviving.”
“You are right, some matters aren’t my responsibilities, but there always need to be people who stand up to take care of it, right?”
“I’m not a noble person, but in order to let the people at my side live well, I must go all-out and fight against that disaster.”
“As for the meaning of life, after everything else settles, it will naturally appear before me.”
The hermit smiled calmly, looking at Marvin and thinking of when he had been a hot-blooded youth.
He didn’t want to say too much, so he just handed Marvin a small box.
This box held the Demon Subduing Sword.
The hermit calmly explained to Marvin its uses.
This weapon had been made by gathering all the remaining power in his world before the collapse for a last-ditch effort.
It had a limited number of uses, and right now there were only two uses left. After the uses ran out, the Demon Subduing Sword would cease to be.
After Marvin understood how to use it, his countenance became more dignified.
The strict conditions to use the Demon Subduing Sword made it more challenging for Marvin to kill the Final Ghost Mother than he had thought.
No wonder the hermit wasn’t too optimistic about Marvin trying to stop it.
But he ultimately lent his weapon to Marvin anyways, which seemed a bit puzzling.
Marvin didn’t question his decision, though. After saluting the hermit respectfully, he left the quiet ravine.
Soon, only the hermit and the toad remained.
“A young fool, isn’t he?’ the frog mumbled as he watched Marvin’s retreating figure.
The hermit slowly shook his head.
“If I really thought he was a fool, I wouldn’t have lent him the Demon Subduing Sword.”
“That kid is a bit interesting. He speaks of righteousness, but that’s not necessarily what he believes in.”
“Wait until everything is settled? Nice talk. Ahh, I feel like these old bones should enjoy the story that is unfolding.”
The toad was looking at the hermit, seeming to be at a loss.
The latter chuckled gently as he continued, “Everyone wants to break through the cage.”
This world is already done for because even the God of Creation wants to destroy this world so that he can become free.”
“But he knew that he could not do this on his own, so he could only try to get support from other forces. He found that these others in Feinan weren’t suitable either, and thus he simply looked for someone from another world.”
“That kid definitely came from another world, because he doesn’t have the mark of Feinan. He is like me from that year… He is the only variable of the chess game. Lance feels that everything is under his control, but his scheme might not go as planned.”
“After all, some pawns can be shockingly stubborn, and if they keep rushing forward, leaving behind a trail of blood, they might also be able to sweep across that chessboard and become something more.”
“When the chess piece becomes the chess player, wanting to overturn that chessboard might not be that easy.”
The toad showed a very since expression as it muttered, “To be honest… I don’t understand.”
The hermit laughed, “It’s fine if you don’t understand.”
“Right now, us outsiders will just watch the play.”
…
Marvin was walking silently, but the words of the hermit were still echoing in his mind.
Those words didn’t leave him as unfazed as he had pretended to be.
Lance had definitely brought him to Feinan for some particular reason. But this reason… What was it? Marvin wasn’t too clear about it.
As the matter of being called a chess piece, Marvin could only laugh at himself. He felt that becoming a chess piece was always better than remaining a disabled person.
At the very least, he still had hope.
With hope, the possibilities were limitless.
Lance and the Gods, that layer of conspiracy, or the overt plot… All these things, he didn’t have the qualifications to think about them for now.
He was clear about one thing, though. Only with enough strength would he be able to influence the course of this Universe, and at that time, he would be qualified to think about what he was putting aside.
Otherwise, there was no point worrying about it.
The hermit’s words might have been out of kindness, but it was way too early to think like that, in Marvin’s opinion.
It would be better not to worry about all the messy things that he couldn’t affect anyways and focus on improving his strength.
Of course, not worrying about it didn’t mean ignoring it completely; on the contrary, Marvin had some very clear thoughts about it all.
Everyone didn’t act completely spontaneously. Their actions were all driven by interest.
If one day, when everything came to light, even if he had to become Lance’s enemy, Marvin wouldn’t be afraid.
Because at that time, he would have grown to a point that even Lance couldn’t imagine!
This was partially Marvin’s self-confidence, and partially his own requirements for himself.
…
A few days later, North of Rosen Strongholds.
Inside a small stronghold.
On a duel arena, two groups of people were bearing down at each other with daggers drawn.
“Raven, did you really think this through carefully?”
“Even if you win, you might not hold that seat. And obviously, with the difference in strength, it’s impossible for you to win.”
“Our Ruby Stronghold was originally a small stronghold. The things you want are far too lofty for you. Unless you consider my previous proposal…” A middle-aged Underdark Human was looking greedily at Raven and the beautiful female Drow at her side as he gulped shiftily.
“We’ll join hands, you’ll help me sit on that seat, and we’ll share everything, how about it?”
The people at his sides were all nodding and sycophantically making noises of acknowledgement in response to their leader’s words.
He had more people, at least three times more than Raven did.
This time, in order to consolidate the strength of his Ruby Stronghold, he didn’t spare any expenses to hire forces from other strongholds in order to take down Raven’s group in one fell swoop.
It didn’t seem like it should be difficult for him, because he had the Black Dragon God’s blessing, having been chosen by the God.
Raven and the others had already been discarded by their God and surely couldn’t compete with him at all.
He still decided to try the diplomatic approach first because he didn’t want the Ruby Stronghold to lose strength because of internal friction.
But Raven still didn’t say anything in response. Instead, the Drow at her side suddenly stepped forward and coldly asked, “Why do you need to speak so much nonsense?”
“We agreed to a duel, whoever loses gets the fuck out. The rest can be dealt with afterwards, can’t it? You are such a bother.”
The middle-aged man’s expression became extremely unsightly.