Chapter 53: The Beast

"Do not spread it, do not know it, or disaster is destined to descend from the heavens."

"Do not understand it, and do not borrow its power, unless you desire to become it."

"Pray, if you truly encounter it by chance, pray that its massive foot does not happen to trample you. Pray that its beast tide does not pass through your homeland. If you are truly forced into a narrow encounter, the Fool takes up a sword and fights to the last moment, while the Heroine simply grants herself a quick end; the latter is better for you and your kind."

Among the materials Li En obtained were admonitions left by the earliest batch of researchers.

It is said they heard certain rules from the Ancients, iron rules that must be mastered when studying the Beast.

But clearly, later researchers did not take them seriously.

"It is our source, it is our ancestor; if it is truly that dangerous, what are we?"

"It can bring longevity and power; can you truly resist? What reason do we have not to become more excellent?"

"It is so loving, so generous; ah, becoming part of it might be a good choice."

Even that ancient research record ultimately descended into madness, accompanied by self-contradictory whispers.

As for the other few records, they showed not a shred of hesitation, simply stomping the gas pedal to the floor.

Perhaps, in their eyes, this thing had caused no problems for hundreds of years, so it was just an "open-pit oil field" to be developed at will, naturally available for casual use.

"The predecessors played this way, they didn't cause major disasters; what's wrong with us using it casually?"

It was roughly similar to the feeling of a "climate crisis" or "industrial pollution."

Everyone knows such reckless behavior will eventually cause a huge mess, but judging by appearances, this bomb won't explode in their own era, so just play around.

Time was limited; Li En only read the summary made in elegant handwriting and the highlighted key points after the underlining, yet he already felt extremely ominous.

"After all, I know it will really explode, and it will explode very soon."

The Evil God Elsenar; Li En had truly heard this name.

If his Heroine's Grimoire hadn't deceived him, this super bomb would explode right on schedule in two years.

From the data, that bomb, at a minimum, would directly wipe out the City of Radiance and turn the kingdom into a primitive wasteland.

Then it would evolve into secondary disasters, beginning to affect other regions; if not handled well, start the civilization of the next epoch.

"Why does it always turn into a world-ending crisis?!"

Li En truly didn't expect that he was just casually handling a case of eliminating a serial killer, only for it to ultimately turn into the main storyline of "Elsenar."

"Is this the consequence of borrowing the Beast's power?" Without the repeated emphasis of the underlined phrases regarding his seniority, Heike's madness, and Dina's despair, all left an overly deep impression on Li En.

Just like those ancient maxims, borrowing the Beast's power is a one-way street with no return.

A Beast-Walker is one who walks with the Beast, an individual after assimilation with the Beast, where their humanity and bestiality are always in struggle and fusion.

If there is a bit more on this side, there is less on that side, but how can humanity possibly defeat the infinite "Source," a small fire unable to burn out the boundless sea?

No matter how they struggle, no matter how much wood they add to the fire, in the end, the fate is destined to be assimilated by the "Sea."

Or, choosing death before completely going mad is the only way to find relief, just like "Haiya."

What happens after assimilation?

The Beast has only instincts, and an individual with only instincts...

"A monster without a heart, without emotions."

Stepping into the cave, Li En saw Maria smiling immediately.

Why could she still disguise herself as an ordinary person?

In the notes, Li En saw that the modifications she underwent as Experiment No. 113 were many times greater than those of an ordinary Beast-Walker.

She even performed outrageous operations on top of the modifications that left the experimenters dumbfounded, which is why she was listed as a key research target.

No matter how you look at it, she should have lost all traces of humanity long ago.

"Long time no see, my lord."

The intact severed head of the Third Master of the Slave Market had been discarded on the ground.

Half had been burned to dry bones, half had been crushed into a bloody mess, yet no one present cared.

Reconnecting to the female head on the nun's body, there were obvious suture lines.

All along, her recovery ability seemed subtle... or rather, completely within her control.

But looking at the nun currently clasping her hands in prayer and bowing to him, Li En remembered their first meeting.

That woman in the orphanage who always watched the children play gently, who welcomed him and Larry in the same way every time.

"You..." Li En's mood was complex, just about to speak.

"You, you actually dared to deceive me!!"

But the hoarse roar came from the side.

Li En glanced over and revealed a subtle smile.

On one side of the cave, the half-destroyed 'Roar of the Volcano' Kverduff was gasping for air; his appearance was quite miserable.

His right arm was gone, the magma boiling around his body had cooled, one eye was blind, and the remaining one stared fixedly at Li En.

His entire body had completely sub-dragonized; lying there, he looked like a deformed little tyrant with a grotesque human head, his body covered in scars.

That broken tail, at this moment, seemed even more ironic.

The powerful First Master faced Li En, his mouth wide open, struggling to stand up, yet seeming to have no strength.

And the opponent who made him like this was also about as miserable.

The last Beast-Walker lay here, the heads of one human and one beast on his left and right shoulders both hanging low, his whole body emitting a scent of roasting.

He was Tian Ba (Eight), the Beast-Walker leading the team, and also the Sky-class (SKY) who had completely transformed from human to beast.

Elsenar is called the boundless giant beast controlling the horizon between the sky and the sea; Beast-Walkers also use "Sky (SKY)" and "Sea (Sea)" to divide their completion levels, and only the completed Sky-class are worthy of having numbers.

This name also implies that the cult has cultivated at least seven more.

And unlike Heike, who forcibly evolved and had to actively bite off his secondary head, Tian Ba's two heads are both him... a being that grew a beast head from nothing again, meaning he has completely completed the "evolution" from human to beast.

The data mentioned that such monsters are not on the same level as newly born Beast-Walkers.

Li En didn't want to know how strong he was, but now, with the strategy of driving wolves to swallow tigers seemingly successful, there was no need for him to know how strong the other was at his peak.

The unlucky soul, equally screwed over by Li En, could now only stare fixedly at Li En.

He was left with only his upper body; his lower half still lay in the magma. His entire form consisted of half a shoulder, two heads, and one hand, yet he still hadn't died.

"Isn't this young master Carlo Hilda? Do you know your family is gone?"

And Li En directly returned the favor with the newly acquired intelligence.

"Roar roar roar (My family? What happened to my family?!)," the beast seemed to retain some sanity, and upon hearing this, actually grew anxious.

"Truly pitiful, can you not even speak anymore?" Li En, who clearly understood beast speech, pretended to understand nothing at all.

Li En didn't even look at him; his gaze turned to his old acquaintance, Kverduf, who had nearly driven him to desperation just two days prior.

"How could I lie to you? We are on the same side. The Hilda family has been deemed a cult of rebels and has been purged by the Radiant Guard. These cultists are enemies of the entire Radiant City. How can you believe what an enemy says?"

Li En smiled and walked over, as if to lend a hand to his ally.

Kverduf remained half-skeptical, his single eye still holding vigilance.

But in the next instant, his eyes could not look away.

"This, a small gift."

A bottle of moderate healing potion, perhaps exactly what Kverduf needed most at this moment.

And the other item made his eyes go straight.

It was a red gemstone, like blood, like a heart, radiating brilliant light.

"Blood of the Hero!"

With the treasure before his eyes, the dragon's greed immediately blinded his vision; his gaze followed the gemstone as it was tossed over, moving up and down.

"With this, not only can I complete the task, but by tearing off a part, I can evolve!" For a pseudo-dragon like Kverduf, who could not integrate his own abilities, the Blood of the Hero to supplement his foundation was truly too important.

In fact, if he didn't urgently need it himself and hadn't planned from the start to keep a portion for private use, there would be no need for him to enter the fray personally.

He didn't even care about the healing potion tossed over similarly; knowing the other was willing to cooperate with him was enough.

His single arm had already risen urgently, ready to catch the gemstone in mid-air.

"Judgment of the Sin Domain." A whisper, yet a murmur.

"Detect Evil." Red light rushed toward his face.

"Evil-Cleaving Slash."

But accompanying the gemstone came a calm "declaration of war," and the silver light of the slash.

Who knew how much sin and evil Kverduf had accumulated? At this moment, the evil once again刷新ed the historical record witnessed by Li En.

And the Evil-Cleaving Slash, which had merged with the War Sword: Armor-Eroder, naturally unleashed its maximum power.

"You..."

Even at this moment, Kverduf, with a face full of surprise, completely failed to understand what had happened.

Why cut me? Why not cut the one opposite?! Didn't you say we were on the same side? Don't Paladins not lie?

He widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief and incomprehension.

His throat and half of his chin had already been slashed open; only the back of his neck and the bone membrane remained attached.

Li En's sword was thoroughly dyed red; he was also somewhat surprised. You, Kverduf, do not possess the regeneration ability of demons and monsters; even this cannot kill you or sever you.

"Evil-Cleaving!" Then, just cut a few more times.

"Stop! I..." The powerful slave trader boss actually tried to reason!

And at this moment, the noble Paladin, before the eyes of all, behaved like an old-time bandit.

One slash, then another, just like a happy lumberjack; the joyful Paladin slashed harder and harder.

"Crack." Accompanying the sound of shattering, the final bone membrane and bone were also severed.

"Volcano Dragon." The iron-hard skull was finally severed; even now, the expression on his face, which refused to close its eyes in death, was full of shock and incomprehension.

"Why kill me?"

"Are we not of the same gang? Do we not have no grudge?"

"Why!!!"

But no one would answer him.

Even at the moment of his death, his only arm still tightly gripped the red gemstone.

In fairy tales, powerful evil dragons often die due to greed, arrogance, and underestimating the enemy.

This death for a pseudo-dragon was perhaps quite fitting.

Li En looked at the corpse no more, turning his gaze to the remaining two "beasts."

As for Kverduf? Just like Eugene, he was important while alive, but after his death, no one would care.

And the slave market, having lost the third master in charge of equipment sales, the fourth master in charge of accounts, and now the first master in charge of everything, had lost its leader.

Predictably, the remaining second master, who was merely gilded (monitoring), could not control the situation; the slave market would fall into chaos and turmoil for a considerable period.

In this process, merely maintaining their business and trade network would be quite difficult for them; naturally, they would have neither the time nor the mood to care about the changes in the dock district or those rising powers.

While he lived, he was always a major trouble; but now that he was dead, it was a good thing for Li En and the entire dock district.

So, he was killed.

"Now that he is dead, Dem and I will find it much easier. Taking advantage of the internal turmoil in the slave market, we will engage in some legitimate business in the dock district. The lives of the people there will improve significantly, especially the children; when they grow up, they will have a proper livelihood..."

Li En calmly stated his criminal motive, and to the onlookers, the scene was异常ly absurd.

The condemning Paladin explained his reasons for murder to a serial killer villain.

And Maria, who had been silently watching, still only smiled.

"I knew it; you don't care."

Li En sighed; he had no intention of persuading his opponent, nor was it possible.

Perhaps, he was only saying what he wanted to say.

Perhaps, he was saying it for the "Holy Mother" Sister Maria who once was.

Now? Before his eyes was only a false person whose body had been occupied by a demon.

The original person was long gone.

But perhaps, one could regard it as a tombstone, a cenotaph?

The present Li En was, in fact, sweeping a grave.

"Aaaaaah!! (Damn it!)"

And at this moment, the Tianba whose attention had been drawn was also pierced through by a wooden short sword, which still carried a faint flame upon it.

From around the wound, the flesh-and-blood body rapidly turned to wood; the formidable demon had long been at death's door, and this strike from an ability that countered it swiftly transformed it into an ugly, struggling wooden sculpture.

This was, in the literal sense, pine resin — a calming incense.

It is said that, in the Era of Beasts, Elzena liked to lie at the edge of a pine forest scorched by great fire, breathing in the pine resin and falling into a peaceful sleep.

And precisely because of this habit, when its beast factor came into contact with pine resin, it would become extremely sluggish and enter a state of slumber.

And those unlucky souls who had been implanted with the beast factor would likewise be dragged into a long slumber within their wooden flesh.

For beasts, this was an aid to hibernation; but for ordinary folk who had taken in the beast factor, it was destined to be an eternal sleep.

A mighty Heavenly Beast was thus killed in a single strike, still struggling.

Even Talia, the one who had delivered the thrust, wore a face full of shock.

This was the advantage of intelligence, and it was all thanks to Miss Shaliman sending this wooden blade via her magical pet — a tremendous help.

Li En had no desire to see what other tricks the Heavenly Beast still had up its sleeve.

"You — is there nothing you care about?"

What answered Li En was still that false person's smiling face.

She had watched from beginning to end — even as the false dragon died, even as the Great Horn disciple was assassinated — still smiling as she watched.

Li En sighed and drew his sword once more.

And at this moment, the Heroic Soul Codex, which had been silent all along, suddenly offered a prompt of its own accord.

【Detected evolution material: Shattered False Dragon Soul (Gold). Absorb?】

(End of chapter)