Chapter 304: Shadow Clone, Spirit of the Heroic Soul, War Council

"Compatibility..."

Tang Zheng looked at the light blue, translucent "Integration Potion" in his hand, his gaze flickering slightly: "Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone Technique!"

Under the illumination of the "Everlasting Light" above his head...

... the surface of the shadow at Tang Zheng's feet began to squirm, like a mass of black liquid emerging from the shadow, condensing into shape in the blink of an eye.

A shadow clone, identical in appearance to Tang Zheng, crawled out of the shadow and stood before him.

"This aura intensity doesn't need further adjustment."

Tang Zheng examined the shadow clone he had summoned, a look of satisfaction appearing in his eyes.

Aside from the problem of existing for too short a time, the shadow clone, when used as a magic caster, could indeed be counted as a separate combat force.

After summoning the shadow clone...

Tang Zheng didn't stop. His body shook, and a divine power gathered within him, followed by a faint:

"Spirit of the Heroic Soul!"

*Swish! *

The air contracted!

A pure white figure appeared instantly, as if it had long existed, standing out of thin air in the room. A powerful pressure dispersed, instantly forming an air vortex centered on the pure white figure.

*Whoosh~*

Items in the room were blown by this vortex, causing a slight vibration.

The Spirit of the Heroic Soul stood quietly to the side, radiating a sense of divinity while also emitting powerful and sharp aura fluctuations.

Without needing to perceive it...

... one could clearly see at a glance that the Spirit of the Heroic Soul was much more powerful than the shadow clone.

After all...

... the shadow clone only inherited Tang Zheng's "Magic" and "Agility." Neither of these two values was his highest.

The Spirit of the Heroic Soul, however, fully inherited Tang Zheng's attributes, crushing the shadow clone in terms of raw values alone!

Although Tang Zheng had always used magic externally, his warrior abilities were no weaker than his magic.

"To use a trump card skill for this event is really a waste."

Tang Zheng sighed with regret, unscrewed the cap of the "Integration Potion," opened the potion bottle, and sprinkled it toward the Spirit of the Heroic Soul.

The light blue, translucent liquid landed on the Spirit of the Heroic Soul, immediately sparking pale blue light that enveloped its entire body.

The next moment!

The Spirit of the Heroic Soul rippled all over, appearing with light blue ripple-like patterns and emitting a faint shimmer.

Under Tang Zheng's control...

... the Spirit of the Heroic Soul came before the shadow clone. Its body collided directly. Instead of knocking the shadow clone away as imagined, the entire Spirit of the Heroic Soul completely merged into the shadow clone.

Following another flash of pale blue light...

... the two clones merged completely into one!

"This solves the problem of only being able to exist for a short time." Tang Zheng thought, looking at the completely merged Spirit of the Heroic Soul and shadow clone.

The shadow clone existed for a shorter time, but the Spirit of the Heroic Soul could exist for a very long time. This was the same situation as the White Mist Witch integrating the summoned angel to allow the angel to exist for a longer time.

The Spirit of the Heroic Soul and the shadow clone were both Tang Zheng's own power, so their compatibility was extremely high, and there was no need to worry about integration failure.

"The control has also become stronger and easier."

Tang Zheng had a thought.

The shadow clone immediately performed various strange movements—that was street dance from his previous life. Tang Zheng had only learned a half-baked version, but now, relying on his powerful and agile physique, he could easily replicate various complex movements.

"Go to the hilly region."

Tang Zheng took the set of clothes he had worn before from the item box and threw them to the shadow clone.

After putting them on and disguising itself as the mysterious red-robed caster, the shadow clone activated the "Teleport" magic and disappeared from the living room.

Tang Zheng closed his eyes and clearly sensed the shadow clone that had appeared in the hilly region. Controlling it had no obstacles.

It was somewhat similar to a summoned creature; after giving a basic command, it could act freely on that basis, though some details still required Tang Zheng to control personally.

"The Alliance Master's identity is currently unknown. It's uncertain whether he is from the Slane Theocracy."

"Just in case, when contacting the Slane Theocracy next, let the shadow clone show its face in front of the Alliance Master as well; that can completely isolate any suspicion."

Tang Zheng made this arrangement to guard against any possibility.

The situation in the Other World was very complex. He didn't know how many "old schemers" there were, especially those who had lived for a long time.

The shadow clone didn't need to communicate with the Alliance Master; it just needed to show up from time to time.

Tang Zheng's cooperative relationship with the Alliance Master was already on the verge of breaking, but neither side had completely poked it through yet.

"It's still a 'compatibility' issue. If that can be solved, the 'Integration Potion' might really become a possibility for a comeback."

Tang Zheng's gaze fell on the empty, transparent potion bottle in his hand, his eyes flashing with sharp light.

The angels and such that he summoned himself naturally had the highest compatibility, but when it came to integrating other demi-humans or humans, the current experimental results—there were no successful cases.

Tang Zheng had thought about it.

Whether the so-called "compatibility" of integrating angels was related to Justice Value, or related to the job class...?

Or perhaps it was some other situation.

Ainz possessed an extreme death-type build and could use special skills to create low, mid, and high-rank undead that existed forever.

He wanted to use a shortcut to achieve this, which was clearly not as simple as imagined.

The night grew deeper.

The month of the waning moon.

March 28th, 3:37 AM.

In the corridor outside the room, the sound of iron boots stepping on wooden boards, "creak-creak," reached Tang Zheng's ears.

"Looks like we have to depart early."

Tang Zheng turned his head to look at the night outside the window and whispered softly.

Not long after...

*Knock—Knock—*

A light knocking sound rang out.

Tang Zheng walked to the door and opened it. Standing at the door was a Paladin.

"Team Leader Tang, sorry to disturb you late at night."

This Paladin member first curiously sized up Tang Zheng through the slit in his helmet, then quickly spoke respectfully.

The other party was fully armed, face covered by a helmet, making it impossible to see his appearance. Only by his build and tone could one analyze that he should be a young man.

"It's fine." Tang Zheng said.

"Our Captain invites the 'Free Will' adventurer team to go and discuss the war council."

The Paladin member explained the purpose of this visit.

*Click! *

*Click! *

The guest rooms opposite and to the right of Tang Zheng's room opened their doors one after another, and the Miss Cuiye Witch and Enri walked out.

"Since you two are awake, let's get ready to go." Tang Zheng knew that neither of them had slept, especially Enri.

He could see a layer of faint dark circles under Enri's eyes, and her spirit was relatively excited, a bit too nervous.

It would be strange if she could sleep in this situation.

The location of the war council...

... was in a stronghold near the city wall of "Kalinsha."

Actually, there were more suitable locations, but to avoid causing too much of a commotion, it wasn't held in the city center.

When Tang Zheng and his party arrived, they found that a large number of elites had already gathered here, and one could distinguish the three camps at a glance.

"Paladin Order," "Priest Corps," "【Sunlight Scripture】"!

The attire of the three parties was different, making them easy to distinguish. The "Paladin Order" wore full armor with the blue national emblem of the Holy Kingdom on their chests.

The "Priest Corps" wore white priest robes with blue marks on the hem and cuffs, and also equipped with light armor on their upper bodies and arms.

Although their attire was different, one could still see the characteristics of the same lineage.

The attire of the other party, the "【Sunlight Scripture】," was even stranger. The whole body was dominated by black. Careful observation revealed that the black coat was entirely composed of special metal threads.

Under the moonlight, it reflected a cold metallic luster.

On their heads, they wore silver helmets shaped like bottle caps, revealing only a circular hole the size of a fist for breathing and vision.

These three units each stood in their own area, casting numerous gazes toward Tang Zheng and his party.

"Ninjutsu: Detection."

Tang Zheng silently activated magic detection, his eyebrows twitching slightly: "The Holy Kingdom didn't mobilize all its elites, did it?"

The "【Sunlight Scripture】" was one thing. As one of the ace units of the Slane Theocracy, the minimum requirement for joining was to be a magic caster capable of using third-rank faith-based magic.

The "Paladin Order" side was relatively normal. Even so, the minimum level was above 7.

And the average level of the "Priest Corps" was as high as 10 or above.

"So amazing."

Enri's body leaned against the evil spirit dog, her eyes carefully observing the three elite units, feeling her heart skip a beat.

The three units were currently in a state of rest.

That aura, which completely belonged to elites, still released a strong sense of oppression and a belief that they could not be countered by any enemy.

Especially this "sense of belief"—only units with a strong religious atmosphere could possess it!

*Bang! *

*Bang! *

The Paladin led Tang Zheng and his party to the location of the war council room and knocked on the big door with his armored arm.

"Please come in."

A peaceful voice came from inside the council room.

The Paladin pushed open the big door, stepped to the left to clear the way, and signaled for Tang Zheng and his party to enter.

Tang Zheng looked into the room. The first thing that met his eyes was a large rectangular table in the center of the living room, with several figures sitting around it.

The environment in the room was relatively spacious, with nothing extra. Several Paladins stood straight in the corners of the room.

Everyone's gaze followed the opening door and looked over—there was curiosity, exploration, and more of a sense of suspicion.

"I shouldn't be late, right? Everyone."

Tang Zheng had no awkwardness, speaking softly as usual, and walked steadily into this temporarily built council room.

The Miss Cuiye Witch's spirit was slightly tense. She could clearly feel that there were several people in the room whose aura was no weaker than hers.

Interestingly...

... compared to the Miss Cuiye Witch, who had few emotional fluctuations, Enri was not as nervous this time, and her expression was still relatively calm.

"Can't lose face for the Team Leader." Enri took a deep breath and kept chanting in her heart, "No matter how powerful these people are, their status isn't as high as the Kingdom's Majesty."

When she was in the Kingdom...

... she had already seen the King, the Princess, and the Prince. Thinking of this, her heart felt much more relaxed.

The aura of the strong in the council room, as long as it wasn't deliberately targeted, was not keenly perceived by Enri, who was an ordinary person.

Vice-Captain Gustavo stood sideways and raised his arm to greet them: "We just arrived a while ago, Team Leader Tang."

"The matter is urgent, sorry to trouble you to run another trip so late."

Among all the people from the Holy Kingdom present, as the official representative, he was the only one who had met Tang Zheng once, making him the most suitable candidate to greet and explain.

The young man in front of him not only possessed the strength of a "Steel-Rank" adventurer but was also a representative of the Adventurer's Guild, assisting their Holy Kingdom.

In terms of attitude, caution and seriousness were necessary.

"The undead are the enemy of all the living. No need to be polite about such a small matter."

Tang Zheng responded simply to Vice-Captain Gustavo, stating his attitude.

This sentence, "The undead are the enemy of all the living"...

... caused the somewhat subtle confrontation atmosphere in the council room to pause, and the look everyone gave Tang Zheng changed.

The Holy Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy were already at odds. Now, the Slane Theocracy not only discovered the problem in the hilly region first but also entered the Holy Kingdom's territory with a relatively high-profile attitude.

It was called assistance, but the attitude was more like a form of urging!

Tang Zheng set the tone to a relatively high level. Both sides were firm believers like Paladins and Priests.

This sentence was simply perfect for the current situation!

In the war council room, some Paladin guards standing around looked at Tang Zheng with a sense of identification.

At the same time...

... several smart people at the council table quickly perceived another layer of meaning or small intentions in Tang Zheng's words.

Sitting at the head of the long table was a girl with tea-colored hair reaching her waist, supporting her chin with one hand, her face full of charitable expression.

After hearing Tang Zheng finish this sentence...

... her light brown pupils landed on Go-Jin, whose tall and conspicuous figure was in the corner of the long table.

"Heh, heh. The enemy of all 'the living,' not just the enemy of 'humans,' huh." The girl with tea-colored hair twitched the corners of her long, narrow eyes, thinking to herself.

There were only eight people at the council table.

Except for one he didn't recognize, Tang Zheng knew who the rest were.

Sitting at the head of the long table was a young girl with tea-colored hair. Judging by her attire, she should be a priest, very similar to another woman sitting on the left wearing full armor.

Like twins.

If it were just one person alone, Tang Zheng might not have been able to determine it, but based on their appearance and attire, it wasn't hard to guess.

Kelart, the Captain of the "Priest Corps"!

Remedios, the Captain of the "Paladin Order"!

"Kelart actually came too?" Tang Zheng was somewhat surprised.

Both hands being dispatched by Holy Queen Calca showed the severity of the situation and the attitude toward this matter!

However...

... Kelart would actually agree?

Holy Queen Calca had just completed a purge of the nobles within the Holy Kingdom. Leaving at this time might not be a good choice.

Beside Remedios sat two middle-aged men also wearing Paladin armor. One was Vice-Captain Gustavo.

The other Tang Zheng didn't recognize and had no impression of. Next were Pabeel, the "Black," and "Red" Orland.

Opposite the group from the Holy Kingdom sat a man with short blonde hair, an ordinary appearance, and a scar on his face, looking serious and difficult to get along with.

The Captain of the 【Sunlight Scripture】—Captain Nigen!

Even though there was only one person, he didn't lose to the group from the Holy Kingdom in terms of aura.

Finally, there was Go-Jin in the corner.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 305 =====