Chapter 314: Continuous 45lv Downgrade, the Irritated Remedios

Water Moon.

March 29th, 11:26.

The demi-human troops led by the "Beast General" Hekterwis began clearing the many undead from the battlefield.

The human side remained in the center of the battlefield, watching the demi-humans' various movements with vigilance, like wounded lions licking their wounds.

51 corpses of holy knights were laid out quietly before everyone; 10 of these corpses had already turned into undead and had to be slain once more.

Enri sat not far from the corpses, hugging her knees.

The Green Leaf Witch and the Evil Spirit Dog stood quietly to the side, and a female priest was crouching opposite Enri, seemingly saying something to comfort her.

This female priest was the one to whom Enri had previously given a handkerchief.

Tang Zheng came before an injured holy knight and raised his palm, releasing a soft, holy light from it:

"Heal Heavy Wounds!"

The injuries on the holy knight began to recover, and the suppressed, painful breathing gradually became steady.

"Thank you."

The holy knight said gratefully to Tang Zheng.

Tang Zheng nodded slightly and walked toward another holy knight, continuing to repeatedly cast the healing magic.

By casting third-tier magic through "Experience Point Spellcasting," each instance required consuming 150,000 experience points, and the level finally began to drop.

[Overall Level: 52lv → 51lv]

[Sword Saint: 7lv → 6lv]

[Experience Bar: 1/630,000]

As the experience in the experience bar was cleared, each level drop would only retain one point of experience, meaning that using magic casually would cause a level drop.

As long as the experience consumed did not exceed the current depth of the experience bar, only 1 level would be lost; exceeding the current depth would result in a 2-level drop.

The subsequent level drops became rapid!

Every time Tang Zheng used a healing spell, he immediately dropped a level.

[Overall Level: 51lv → 50lv]

[Sword Saint: 6lv → 5lv]

[Experience Bar: 1/560,000]

↓

↓

[Overall Level: 46lv → 45lv]

[Sword Saint: 1lv → 0lv]

In just a moment.

Tang Zheng's level had already dropped from the previous 52 to the 45 level mark, and the [Sword Saint] profession had also disappeared from his attribute panel.

"Thank you," the holy knight said gratefully to Tang Zheng beside them.

"Don't mention it."

Tang Zheng responded softly and stood up, his face suddenly turning a shade paler as he took a step back.

"Are you alright, Team Leader Tang?"

"Do you want to take a rest?" Seeing Tang Zheng's appearance, the holy knight thought he had consumed too much magic power and spoke up nervously.

Nowadays, the entire Holy Knight Order was full of goodwill toward "Free Will."

This was not only because of the powerful Tang Zheng, but also because Enri, an ordinary girl, had fearlessly brought back the corpses of their companions.

"I'm fine."

The trace of paleness on Tang Zheng's face instantly faded; he stood steady, smiled, and waved his hand to indicate he was fine.

What was that just now?

A trace of surprise flickered in the depths of Tang Zheng's eyes.

With the rapid, continuous level drops just now, he had clearly felt a brief weakness brought about by the disappearance of some kind of power within his body.

"It's not just weakness."

Tang Zheng focused slightly, sensing his own physical condition, as if his very life level had lowered along with it:

"When leveling up, the changes in physique aren't that intense, and I've dropped levels before, but it was never this obvious."

"Could it be that after exceeding level 50, there is an invisible improvement to one's life level?"

That abnormal feeling from just now.

Reminded Tang Zheng of the feeling he had when he first took on the special profession [Valkyrie].

"Captain!"

"Sister!"

Panicked voices came from not far away.

All members of the Holy Knight Order turned their heads to look, their eyes full of worry, yet they dared not leave their positions.

They needed to watch the demi-humans' movements!

Remedios was sitting on the ground with one leg tucked, her holy sword thrust into the ground before her; her regular-featured face was incomparably pale, and her originally pink lips had also become deathly white.

This was a case of excessive blood loss!

"Drip!"

"Drip!"

Drops of red blood continuously flowed from her wound, trailing along the grooves of her armor and dripping onto the ground.

Several priests and Kelart, the Chief Priest, surrounded Remedios, continuously casting recovery magic.

However.

Although Remedios's complexion had improved slightly, there was no sign of the wound healing, and blood continued to flow.

Massive blood loss!

Made Remedios's breathing grow increasingly weak; if the bleeding could not be stopped quickly, no matter how much healing magic was cast, it would have no effect.

"How can this be!" Kelart was somewhat incredulous; for the first time, a look of panic appeared on her usually composed face.

"Rotten Sword..."

Remedios's pale lips parted slightly.

"What?" Kelart had not heard clearly.

"Rotten Sword, Krokdabal," Remedios said weakly.

"One of the four legendary magic swords of the 13 Heroes' Black Knight, that 'Rotten Sword' which possesses the ability to inflict unhealable wounds."

Kelart's pupils constricted, her voice trembling.

If that was the case, it explained why healing magic had absolutely no effect on the injuries on Remedios's body.

But—

Kelart looked at her sister's increasingly weak breathing, her eyes reddening; she had never seen her sister in such a weak state.

Could it be that she could only watch helplessly as her sister died from excessive blood loss?

"I might have a way."

A calm voice arrived along with footsteps.

Kelart hurriedly turned her head to look, and in her light blue pupils appeared a look of excitement as she discovered it was Tang Zheng.

"Team Leader Tang, are you serious? This is an injury caused by the 'Rotten Sword'."

Kelart was somewhat skeptical yet hopeful.

"I cannot be certain either, but we can try."

Tang Zheng stepped forward and looked at Remedios, who could currently be described as completely disheveled and dying, and reached into the magic pouch at his waist to take out a potion:

"This is undiluted 'Regeneration Potion,' drink it first."

Tang Zheng handed the potion to Remedios.

Remedios weakly opened her eyes, looked at the serious Tang Zheng with short black hair before her, and turned her head to the side: "No."

The two had had several disputes before this, and every time Tang Zheng had acted indifferent, which made Remedios feel somewhat annoyed inside.

What truly made her angry was Tang Zheng's attitude toward demi-humans.

Whether it was that female demi-human in the other party's team or his friendly contact with the demi-human Go-Jin, it all made Remedios displeased.

The other party was an adventurer and also a person from the Re-Estize Kingdom; she had no right to interfere with Tang Zheng's attitude toward demi-humans.

But—

The Holy Kingdom and the demi-humans had a hatred spanning hundreds of years.

Remedios did not like, and even loathed, someone like Tang Zheng who was close to demi-humans, from the bottom of her heart.

Now.

To be saved by such a person, what was this!

"Sister."

Kelart did not care about her sister's inner thoughts; seeing her refuse, she snatched the potion from Tang Zheng's hand, reached out to pinch Remedios's mouth open, and poured the whole thing in.

"Cough, cough."

Remedios couldn't help but cough, saying angrily and weakly: "What... are you... doing."

In the span of a few breaths.

Several divine officials nearby suddenly said with joy: "It’s working, the speed of the blood flowing out has slowed down!"

Kelart could also notice this, though she didn't feel much joy; although the blood flow had decreased, it hadn't stopped completely.

"One bottle of Regeneration Potion, it seems, is not enough."

Tang Zheng observed the wounds on Remedios's body for a few moments and thought to himself: 'As expected, it is the power of a curse.'

"Lord Kelart, if you don't mind, the armor on Captain Remedios needs to be removed."

Kelart nodded without any hesitation: "No problem!"

At Kelart's signal, several high-ranking divine officials ignored the protests of the weakened Remedios and quickly dismantled the paladin armor from her body.

After Remedios was out of her armor, she wasn't wearing anything complicated, just a pure white undergarment and trousers.

Her slender, fair neck was exposed, and her collarbones were deeply sunken.

The material of the clothing was somewhat smooth, looking like pajamas, yet it was slightly tight-fitting, similar to a combat outfit, and the towering curves were clearly visible.

Fresh blood had stained the white undergarment entirely red, making it somewhat translucent, and one could faintly see the taut skin of Remedios, who trained year-round.

"I will gouge out your eyes!"

Remedios felt Tang Zheng’s gaze and spoke viciously, her tone somewhat breathless with anger.

She had never been looked at like this by a man!

"Don't overthink it."

Tang Zheng spoke indifferently, moving his gaze away from those exaggerated curves to look at the rotting wounds on her clothing:

"You are older than me."

"Besides, you are a paladin; returning evil for good is a violation of the paladin's code."

As he spoke.

Tang Zheng took out several more bottles of "Regeneration Potion," handed them to the divine officials nearby, and said softly: "Pour them onto these wounds, don't pour them all at once."

"While using the potion to heal, use healing magic simultaneously to drive out the negative energy."

"You—"

Remedios heard the description of being "older" and her eyes widened fiercely.

Tang Zheng ignored her and nodded slightly to Kelart: "It should be fine now."

After saying this.

Tang Zheng turned and left.

The effect of the "Regeneration Potion" could provide a certain degree of healing for wounds caused by curses; he had once used this potion to treat the rotting face of Renas.

Although the result was a failure.

However, the fundamental reason was not the healing potion, but the continuous influence of the [Cursed Knight] class.

The wounds on Remedios were merely simple curse damage; without the replenishment of curse power, once the curse was consumed, she would be able to recover completely.

"Oh my, my~

"To be able to treat even wounds caused by the 'Rotting Sword,' one of the four great magic swords, you are truly worthy of being called the 'Black-Haired Genius Alchemist'."

Clementine stood with her arms crossed over her chest, tilting her head as she looked at the approaching Tang Zheng, speaking with a grin.

"Miss Clementine."

Tang Zheng looked at her: "You didn't have a single scratch, yet you were entangled by an undead for so long."

"That couldn't be helped."

Clementine shrugged her shoulders, her purple pupils blinking. She brushed her waist, and a short awl appeared in her hand. Playing with the weapon, she feigned a headache:

"I specialize in thrusting techniques; I can't bring out my strength when dealing with monsters like skeletons."

"Is that so." Tang Zheng responded with a smile.

"That's right, that's right."

Clementine nodded, her fluffy golden hair swaying slightly, obscuring the pair of eyes filled with laughter.

Within this battlefield area.

Although the number of undead was large, they were being rapidly wiped out under the clearing of the equally numerous demi-humans.

Soon.

The demi-human troops regrouped and came to a stop to camp a hundred meters from the human troops, not continuing to approach.

A moment later.

Tang Zheng, Kelart, Captain Nigun, and Go-Jin met with the two demi-humans on the opposite side at a spot fifty meters between the human side and the demi-human side.

These two demi-humans!

One was the "Beast General" Hekuteweishi, and the other looked not only more imposing and powerful, but under the sunlight, it even had a dazzling, seven-colored appearance.

The other party looked like a snake-bodied person among the demi-human races, but in reality, it was not; it was the extremely rare race with two arms, the "Snake King"!

In appearance, it was similar to a Naga, yet completely different.

To be precise!

The Snake King before them was a variant!

Its entire body was wrapped in crystal-like scales, looking as if they were wet and reflecting light, emitting a dazzling seven-colored glow.

It was none other than the strongest demi-human among the Ten Great Demi-Humans—"Seven-Colored Scales" Kokeshi.

Tang Zheng couldn't help but look at the other party a few more times; the scales on its body were simply too unique.

These scales, which emitted an eerie seven-colored light under the sunlight, were not just for aesthetics; it was said they possessed hardness comparable to dragon scales and also had high magic resistance.

This was also Tang Zheng's first time seeing this "Seven-Colored Scales" Kokeshi.

The other party's appearance.

Made him highly suspicious of whether it was a descendant of one of the "True Dragon Kings," the Seven-Colored Dragon King.

Tang Zheng remembered that the Seven-Colored Dragon King seemed to be a dragon that loved crossbreeding; the Queen of the Dragon Kingdom was a descendant of the Seven-Colored Dragon King.

Kelart and Captain Nigun had solemn expressions; it was also their first time seeing this demi-human, "Seven-Colored Scales" Kokeshi, who was far more terrifying than they had imagined.

"Why did you arrive only now?"

Go-Jin spoke in a dull voice and walked forward, arriving before the "Beast General" Hekuteweishi and "Seven-Colored Scales" Kokeshi.

"We also just noticed the movements of the undead." The "Beast General" Hekuteweishi spoke in a detached voice, showing no change in emotion.

"Thank you for your arrival!"

"I am Kokeshi, called 'Seven-Colored Scales' by the demi-humans in the hills."

"Seven-Colored Scales" Kokeshi slithered its dazzling snake body, stepped forward, bowed slightly, and spoke with goodwill, its voice possessing a unique magnetism:

"On behalf of all the demi-human races of the Abelion Hills, I thank you humans for your support."

"This disaster caused by the undead is not only an enemy to us demi-humans, but also a common enemy to humanity."

The other party's words were full of goodwill, but the facial expressions of demi-humans were not the same as humans, so it was impossible to discern their true thoughts.

That pair of scarlet snake pupils also made people feel a bit cold.

Tang Zheng and Go-Jin exchanged a look and did not speak; Captain Nigun kept a cold face and had no intention of speaking either.

Kelart’s long, narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and she displayed a friendly and gentle appearance on her face: "Kokeshi, if it weren't for your support just now, our losses would have been even greater."

"Now we need to rest and reorganize; I wonder if you could take us to a safe place first."

Kelart showed a state of weakness.

"My lady of the humans."

"Having just experienced a battle, it is indeed necessary to rest, but I have a rash proposal."

"Seven-Colored Scales" Kokeshi smiled: "The enemy has also experienced a battle and likewise needs to rest; now might be a favorable opportunity to press the advantage."

"We have already determined the enemy's lair; if we attack now, our chances of victory might be greater."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The expressions of Kelart and Captain Nigun turned cold instantly.

(End of chapter)