Chapter 97: If You Won't Do It, Plenty of Evil Gods Will (33)

【"Cough! Cough cough!"】

Things had come to this point—Miss Xie Shen knew the jig was up, so she decided to throw caution to the wind, smacked her lips and said: 【"Don't be so stingy!"】

Knowing she was in the wrong, Miss Xie Shen threw a full-on tantrum, muttering through sophistry: 【"Anyway, it's all so I can help you extract power—whoever eats it makes no difference!"】

【"Although the taste isn't great, those two drops of essence blood really did give me some power. Those vampiric abilities you got before have all been boosted by about twenty percent, I'd say."】

The more She spoke, the more worked up She got, the more She felt She was in the right.

Right, I'm innocent!

Besides, I'm a god, you know!

What's wrong with sneaking a little bit of what you offered?

Just a tiny bit!

I'm a god!

How does that saying go… no one has the right to punish me!

Who can punish me!!!

Nie Nasha's momentum surged like a rainbow, feeling she had already stood upon the peak of victory.

But at the same time, Herbert's expression hadn't changed at all.

He narrowed his eyes, stared at the empty bottle, and spoke in a low, drawn-out voice:

"So, according to what you're saying…"

Nie Nasha was wrong—Herbert's focus wasn't on this at all. He didn't care in the slightest whether She had been sneaking bites.

That stuff was prepared for Her anyway, so how it was consumed didn't matter!

What Herbert truly cared about was…

"Those materials—I actually don't have to eat them myself, do I?"

The boy gritted his teeth, feeling his pure, innocent heart had been terribly deceived.

He remembered—when he was chewing the flesh-and-blood leaf this time, he hadn't used his own fresh blood like before!

You damned old patchwork-soul thing, were you messing with me!!?

【"Hm? Ah! Uh…"】

Nie Nasha clearly panicked, explaining haltingly: 【"Um, uh, cough cough! It's just that I only just recovered a little power, before I still needed it… it-it really is true~"】

Hearing that tone of Hers, how could Herbert not guess the truth? He rubbed his brow with a slight headache.

"Sigh…"

【"Um, are you angry?"】 Miss Xie Shen asked a little cautiously, lightly poking the boy's cheek with a tentacle.

(poke poke poke)

"No."

【"Then what are you doing right now?"】

(poke poke poke)

Herbert paid no heed to the tentacle, letting it poke his cheek as it pleased, and said weakly: "I'm just tired at heart. Let me have a moment of quiet."

Being stuck with such a powerful but unreliable teammate truly made one feel inexhaustibly weary at heart.

Big sis, just how many years old are you? Can't you be a little more reliable?

(poke poke poke)

After poking for a while and seeing he really wasn't reacting, Miss Xie Shen silently withdrew her tentacle and added in a low voice:

【"Um, well, although you don't need fresh blood as a medium anymore, for the first time you obtain materials it's still recommended you eat them yourself, okay? You'll gain a more complete power."】

"…Got it."

Herbert opened his eyes and said, half-dead: "I'll eat it, alright."

It's just eating, isn't it?

If it can't kill me, I'll eat till I drop.

"Also, as compensation for being hurt by you, I want you to help me fall asleep."

Nie Nasha:?

Miss Xie Shen had originally been a bit short on confidence, but hearing this she immediately regained her usual sparkle and grew smug.

【"Ooh ooh ooh~ so this was your real aim? Aiya, why didn't you say so earlier!"】

【"My dear ally is still a little fellow who likes to act cute~"】

Herbert rolled his eyes, too lazy to retort such a helplessly facepalmy remark, and slumped weakly onto the desk.

Too many, too many things had happened today; he really was a bit tired.

"…One sentence—are you doing it or not?"

If you won't do it, plenty of evil gods will!

At worst I'll abandon darkness for darkness and find myself a new evil god.

【"Don't rush, don't rush~"】

Herbert felt a pair of cool arms gently wrap around his neck from behind, and a soft whisper reached his ear:

【"I'm coming to help you right now~ hehe~"】

Hoo~

Accompanied by a puff of breath by his ear, Herbert's consciousness blacked out once more, and he appeared again in that pure-white space.

And this time, before sinking, Herbert had a moment of clarity.

In his daze he saw a pure-white figure appear before his eyes.

Gentle as an angel, lofty as a god.

With tender affection, He gazed at him and extended a hand toward the weary mortal.

A gentle grasp, then a soft tug.

【"Come here, into my embrace."】

The next day.

"That is… Your Highness?"

Blake finally found Herbert at the Order's training grounds.

At this moment, the boy he remembered as one who loved art and disliked combat was now holding a longsword, quietly facing off against a stern-faced middle-aged man.

"Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?"

Blake had crossed paths with that middle-aged man yesterday at the gates of the monastery and knew him to be a Holy Knight of considerable strength.

Though reluctant to admit it, the man's strength was very likely greater than his own, the captain of the guard.

Is His Highness facing him off to ask for instruction?

Could it be—!

Has His Highness Herbert finally seen the light, willing to learn combat arts?

Blake was somewhat thrilled, feeling this was a great thing.

Herbert's unwillingness to learn combat had always been a great headache for him as a guard.

Because he understood well that art was merely a surface-level ornament and could never serve as a means to establish oneself in the world.

To stand firm in this world, free from the encroachments of others, one could rely only on one's own strength!

Just as Blake was getting excited, the two figures in the field moved.

In an instant Blake couldn't even see clearly, the two men's blades collided.

Clang!

The two figures touched and parted at once; the middle-aged Holy Knight stopped in place, while Herbert stumbled backward more than ten steps.

Victory and defeat were decided—the gap in technique between the two was enormous.

But this result did not disappoint Blake; on the contrary, he stared at Herbert nearly dumbfounded.

He actually blocked that strike?

He—how did he do it!!?

A month ago he was a noble's son barely past the beginner stage, and now he can block a strike from a high-ranking Holy Knight?

This has to be a joke!!?

"This…"

And just as Blake was about to step forward to question Herbert in detail, he was stopped by someone nearby.

"Uh, I am His Highness Herbert's vassal…"

But the Holy Knight merely shook his head, gesturing for him to look toward the center of the field: "Don't rush, it isn't over yet."

Not over?

What is there still to wait for?

As Blake was puzzling, he saw the two arms holding Herbert's sword light up with resplendent golden light.

Hum—

That resplendent golden light flowed, spreading from both arms onto the paired sword, tempering the entire blade into a gleaming gold.

Herbert gripped the sword with both hands, slowly raised the longsword full of golden light above his head, then forcefully brought it down in a heavy slash.

Hewing out a dazzling golden sword qi!

"——Caliburn!"

Sunday's read-through rate is higher than Monday's; well, this single chapter was posted a bit early, and I shouldn't have skipped posting on Monday out of fear of disturbing everyone—when it should be posted, it should be posted—

True reads are probably around 1700; Sanjiang is most likely hopeless.

A little disappointed in my heart, but I've more or less accepted it; my mindset is steady, and I should start working hard to stockpile chapters and wait for the launch.

As for the launch, if fast, this Friday; if slow, next Monday or next Friday—when the time comes, I'll be counting on all of you.

Last night I began preparing the上架 acknowledgment; last night, taking advantage of the夜色, I wrote furiously, and on a whim (late-night emo), I回顾 my bleak first half of life and wrote a super-long上架 acknowledgment…

7600 characters!

Challenging Qidian's longest launch acknowledgment, that much is certain.

Some of the content may be a bit too sad; I was犹豫 whether to post it, but on second thought I still hope someone will see it—those who don't enjoy reading this kind can choose to skip that part~

……

Update: plans have changed, preparing for Sanjiang!

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(End of this chapter)