Chapter 345: 10-Year Duration? An Infant? A Surprise Attack!

Tang Zheng's gaze rested on the radiant Dominion Authority, his face showing solemnity and surprise under the scrutiny of the others.

The "Four Elements" stood to one side, his pale, cold eyes silently observing the exchange between the two High Priests and this adventurer named Tang.

Sunlight from the massive glass window outside projected into this area, bathing the three people sitting at the round table.

The Dominion Authority emitted a heavy energy fluctuation, permeating the entire conical hall, its faint, fluorescent white light mingling with the golden sunlight.

The entire hall was filled with a sense of sanctity!

"Perhaps I am witnessing a historical moment,"

the "Four Elements" thought, casting a few more glances at Tang Zheng.

So young.

About the same age as the Captain, and both had black hair.

Being this close to a Dominion Authority—a high-tier angel possessing power comparable to a demon god—

the "Four Elements" felt a great deal of pressure. Even as a member of the Black Scripture, he knew his own limits.

This was not power he could contend with!

A level of power capable of easily destroying a city; within the entire Black Scripture, excluding the God-kin who had surpassed the realm of "mortals," there were fewer than two people who could stand against it.

And this adventurer before them had actually developed such a miraculous potion that allowed angels to exist for longer periods!

It was no wonder the two High Priests were communicating with an adventurer in such a solemn manner!

"It seems Tang, you don't quite understand the true effect of the 'Fusion Potion' you created."

Earth High Priest Lei Meng noticed the change in Tang Zheng's expression and spoke in a deep, serious tone:

"You have personally experienced the power of the Dominion Authority and used it to crush the conspiracy of the secret evil organization 【Zuran】, even killing the leader of that organization."

"Therefore, you should understand even better the significance of such a high-tier angel being able to exist for a long time!"

Tang Zheng lowered his gaze, looking at the two High Priests—one always maintaining a smile, the other stern-faced. "The limit for this Dominion Authority's existence isn't just half a month, is it?"

"Exactly how long can it exist?"

He now understood why the Theocracy was being so solemn, sending two of their highest-ranking High Priests.

No, they should be even more cautious!

The reason the other High Priests didn't appear was likely just a strategy to maintain the initiative while appearing to value the situation.

"As expected of a genius alchemist capable of creating such a potion, you grasped the essence of the matter immediately."

Water High Priest Xi Neiding chuckled, showing no intention of hiding anything. He lifted his withered arm and slowly raised a finger.

A month?

The "Four Elements" felt his heart skip a beat, his pupils filled with disbelief.

The greatest drawback of summoned creatures was their time limit. Especially for a high-tier "Dominion Authority," every summoning required massive amounts of manpower and resources.

For this, they even had to pay a greater price, using the super-tier item "Crystal of Sealed Magic" for storage.

If it could now exist for a month,

it could completely serve as a trump card on the battlefield. With the power of the Dominion Authority alone, it could easily dominate a war!

A month, huh.

Tang Zheng's eyes narrowed. He was both surprised and puzzled by how the Theocracy had achieved this, and he understood that a summoned creature capable of existing for a month qualified as a conventional war weapon.

This was significant for the Theocracy, which possessed the means of "Grand Magic Rituals" to cast even higher-tier summoning magic.

"Is it a combination with some special 'Talent'?" Tang Zheng pondered silently.

The Theocracy had a population of tens of millions; it was normal for humans with special "Talents" to appear.

"I don't know what number you had in mind, Tang."

"But it is likely not the number I am about to say."

Water High Priest Xi Neiding still wore his smiling expression, but a profound, chilling depth suddenly flashed in his eyes:

"Tang, it is not one month, nor ten months, nor even a year—it is ten years!"

—Silence!

The "Four Elements'" gloomy, tense face went slack, his jaw dropping. A flush of unnatural redness appeared on his face, and he instinctively took a step forward.

*Clack! *

His boot struck the polished marble floor, a small sound that shattered the sudden stillness in the air.

"This is definitely not an effect of my potion."

Tang Zheng couldn't care less about being shocked at this moment; he stared intently at the two High Priests opposite him.

"How did you achieve this!"

The difference between existing for a month and existing for ten years was not merely a matter of time!

This represented the possibility of stockpiling high-tier angels in large quantities—a concept similar to how Ainz Ooal Gown could create permanent undead using the corpses of this world!

The implications were massive!

The Theocracy's means were limited; the angels they could summon were likely only 7th Rank, perhaps 8th Rank at best.

But Tang Zheng could summon 10th Rank angels!

When he first discovered that the "Fusion Potion" could extend the duration of summoned angels, he had tried to research it deeply, but the results were not ideal.

Tang Zheng had personally fused with the angels he summoned. While the angels would not vanish once their normal duration expired, as time passed,

an increasingly strong sense of repulsion would occur!

Tang Zheng only lasted three hours before being forcibly expelled, after which the summoned angel vanished.

He had tried a few more times afterward, but the results were much the same.

"That is not the case, Tang."

Earth High Priest Lei Meng stood straight, his gaze burning as he looked at Tang Zheng:

"This is indeed the effect of your potion, but you simply do not understand the true power that the 'Fusion Potion' can unleash."

This sharp, resilient man's voice carried a hint of frustration at the end.

To have researched such a great, incredible potion, yet not even know its true effect—

and to have carelessly handed it over to those people in the Holy Kingdom was simply a waste of heaven's gifts!

If not for the disaster in the Abelion Hills,

they might never have discovered the existence of this potion. It was a massive loss for humanity!

Compared to the slightly agitated Earth High Priest Lei Meng,

Water High Priest Xi Neiding's wise gaze remained fixed on Tang Zheng. He suddenly said, "Tang, since you are a faith-based magic caster,"

"do you have a 'God' you primarily worship?"

Normal faith-based magic casters would worship a specific deity or several, wearing the corresponding holy symbols.

From the very beginning,

Water High Priest Xi Neiding had noticed that Tang Zheng was not wearing any standard holy symbols.

While not mandatory, for conventional faith-based magic casters, the stronger one became, the more "devout" their faith would be.

"Faith, you ask?"

Tang Zheng spread his palms.

"High Priest, you should know that the Re-Estize Kingdom is a nation that champions warrior culture. As for matters of faith..."

These two were the highest-ranking, most devout High Priests in the entire Theocracy. Pretending to be a believer in front of them would lead to being exposed in minutes.

Different nations had different cultural systems, and their corresponding professions varied. For example, the Holy Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy, with their theocratic systems, had a higher number of faith-based magic casters.

The Baharuth Empire had a higher number of arcane, occult, and magic-based casters.

The Re-Estize Kingdom had always had the fewest magic casters among the nations.

"That explains it."

Water High Priest Xi Neiding sighed softly, raising his hands in a gesture of prayer.

"How tragic. With your talent, had you been born under the radiance of the Gods, you would surely have achieved even greater things."

Tang Zheng chuckled, neither responding nor showing any reaction.

"Here is the research data regarding the 'Fusion Potion'." Water High Priest Xi Neiding sighed again and placed a prepared document on the round table, pushing it forward. *This old guy, after all that talk, finally brings out something substantial. *

Tang Zheng calmly picked up the document and began to read. The information was not overly detailed; the Theocracy had likely hidden a portion of it.

Being able to produce this data

indicated that the Theocracy lacked the ability to manufacture the "Fusion Potion" he had created and could only cooperate with him.

Looking at the dense information in the document,

Tang Zheng's eyelid twitched imperceptibly. He whispered, "Interpret Magic."

Pale blue magical light enveloped the document in his hand!

The readable information flowed easily into his mind through his gaze.

"The data is quite dense; this allows for faster information gathering."

Tang Zheng said casually.

A 2nd Rank arcane magic?

The "Four Elements" sensed the magical fluctuation and looked at Tang Zheng in surprise, not expecting him to be able to use arcane magic as well.

Earth High Priest Lei Meng and Water High Priest Xi Neiding were not surprised.

【Alchemist】 was inherently an arcane-based profession. Previous intelligence had already revealed that Tang Zheng could use low-tier arcane magic.

Water High Priest Xi Neiding explained patiently: "According to our experiments, the summoner finds it easier to fuse with the angel they have summoned."

"Due to the limited supply of 'Fusion Potion,' our experimental data is not very extensive."

"But we can basically confirm that once the angel's summoning duration is exceeded, the 'fused individual' will be subject to repulsion."

"However!"

Water High Priest Xi Neiding paused, letting Tang Zheng digest the information before continuing.

"If the fused individual is a devout believer, the repulsion reaction will weaken. Specifically, the more devout the believer, the weaker the sense of repulsion."

Tang Zheng noticed this part of the experimental results, a flash of realization crossing his eyes.

So that was it!

He had previously suspected whether the repulsion he felt with angels was related to his "Karma Value," as his Karma was only 20, which could hardly be considered "Good."

At best, it was Chaotic Neutral.

The Slane Theocracy was not lacking in believers, and certainly not lacking in devout ones. In game terms, there were plenty of people with high Karma values.

"This is... 'Total Fusion'?" Tang Zheng noticed another document below.

"Correct!"

"Everything has a price, unless one is a great God." Water High Priest Xi Neiding nodded, his tone darkening.

Earth High Priest Lei Meng took over, his voice indifferent: "According to our experiments, if the fused individual remains fused with the angel for too long—specifically, exceeding two days,"

"they will gradually fuse completely with the angel. Even if the angel is forcibly destroyed, the fused individual will vanish along with it. The same happens if the summoner cancels the magic."

"—This is what the document refers to as 'Total Fusion'."

"Additionally, angels fused in this manner have greatly increased resistance to dispelling magic."

Tang Zheng frowned. The information in this part of the document was sparse, but from Earth High Priest Lei Meng's words alone, it was clear that people had already died because of this.

He wasn't feeling dissatisfied because of this!

Rather, he had only given the Holy Kingdom three bottles of "Fusion Potion." The level of detail in this document was not something that could be researched from just three bottles.

"There must be more to it than this!"

Tang Zheng put down the document and pressed a hand against the table.

"The most critical information, the 'angel's duration of existence,' is not mentioned. It is impossible for the duration to be the same regardless of strength or the person fusing."

Earth High Priest Lei Meng was about to speak, but—

"Let me explain." Water High Priest Xi Neiding sighed deeply.

"This is the second price."

"The reason the summoned angel can exist for a longer time naturally involves a certain consumption, and the power consumed is the life of the fused individual."

The spiral-shaped hall suddenly dimmed as the bright light outside the glass faded.

"According to magical detection, taking the high-tier 'Dominion Authority' as an example, it consumes approximately seven years of a human's lifespan to allow it to exist for one year."

Water High Priest Xi Neiding lowered his eyelids and spoke slowly: "Of course, this data is not entirely accurate."

"Seven years of lifespan?"

Tang Zheng looked at the two High Priests sitting opposite him, his face changing.

They were being so blunt about the darkness behind it!

These two old guys...

Wait!

"No!"

Tang Zheng's face turned cold as he pointed at the Dominion Authority in front of them:

"You just said this angel could exist for ten years. Based on the lifespan calculation, that would require seventy years of life, perhaps even more!"

"A normal devout believer or a faith-based magic caster with any level of strength would not be young enough to allow a Dominion Authority to exist for ten years!"

"And—I only gave the Holy Kingdom three bottles of Fusion Potion. With this much data, it is impossible to have researched it with just those three bottles!"

His questioning voice echoed continuously through the empty hall.

Earth High Priest Lei Meng suddenly frowned as well. He, too, had discovered the anomaly at this moment, looking at Water High Priest Xi Neiding beside him in surprise.

With his keen intuition, he also sensed the anomaly in this.

"Because the one fused into the body of this Dominion Authority is an infant."

"And an infant only requires about one-third the amount of potion."

Water High Priest Xi Neiding's wrinkles bunched together as he spoke in a tone devoid of emotion:

"The purest life has a higher resonance with angels than the most devout believer."

*Bang! *

Tang Zheng slammed the table and stood up, his face grim and icy as he looked at the two opposite him: "You actually used infants for experiments!"

Almost at the same time!

*Boom! *

The massive glass wall of the hall suddenly shattered with a roar.

"Who goes there!" The "Four Elements" immediately took a defensive stance, shouting toward the direction of the shattered window.

But the next moment,

the "Four Elements'" gloomy expression froze on his face.

"Found the last angel!"

A girl carrying a black scythe, with black and white hair tied in a ponytail, stood on the shattered window frame, tilting her head and muttering to herself.

(End of Chapter)