Chapter 105

In his rage, he seemed to undergo some peculiar change; for instance, the spells that had previously left him paralyzed and unable to move lost their effect upon landing on him again.

He was reveling in his mindless self, transforming into a frenzied beast breaking out of its cage.

The Dragonborn Kobold body transformed by Different Dragon Blood granted excellent self-healing ability, and this was one of the trump cards he relied on for this reckless experiment. Since the Demon Body once had this tendency, he would borrow this opportunity to see just what kind of influence it would ultimately bring.

Even before the Shadow Cage shattered, people had already begun to flee; the instant Luge burst out of the cage, he instinctively rushed at the person running toward the door.

Suddenly, a lethal sense of crisis drove Luge to retreat frantically on instinct; as he fell back, he watched helplessly as his nearly secured prey distanced itself from him. The rage in his chest churned as if made tangible, anger flooding every drop of blood, every nerve, even every hair on his body.

He discovered he might have played things too loose; this sudden change actually made his rage a bit uncontrollable.

Those nearby who hadn't managed to flee far all became targets for his venting.

He pounded the castle floor with both hands, trying to calm himself down.

"Powerful Demon Wu Xue Da Ren, please extinguish your rage before matters become serious."

A withered old man wearing a silver-trimmed standing-collar servant's uniform, clutching a glowing stone in one hand, appeared at the Hall's closed Main Gate.

It was precisely that small glowing stone in the elder's hand that made Luge's Spirituality sense a threat of death.

"You... are threatening me?" Luge twisted his neck, voice hoarse.

Rage scorched his brain; upon seeing this elder bore no strong Malice, he subconsciously unleashed the Foul Skin's long-unused first form. For a moment, intense stench spread out; he seemed to have turned into a legendary Stench Demon. That miasma coiled and trembled around him like tongues of flame following the rage in his heart, spreading outward. Though the stench's speed wasn't fast, it already had the momentum to fill the entire Hall.

Edgar's head, bearing a shocked expression, was thrown out by the elder and rolled to a stop at Luge's feet.

The elder offered no further explanation, simply raising the glowing stone in his hand.

"In Wu Xue Da Ren's place it has a beautiful name, but we prefer to call it Sun Stone. It was only bestowed by Wu Xue Da Ren at the city's founding, a few pieces divided among the founding Families. It is our sacred relic, also representing infinite authority," the withered elder said. "It can mobilize the Star Dome Light Stone's power to send down irresistible punishment, so it is extremely precious. I do not wish to waste it here."

"You can try." Luge said hoarsely.

"Your Excellency's power was beyond our anticipation; this is the Fendis Family's mistake. I believe we have already paid the price."

The elder spoke slowly, shaking his head, seemingly discomforted by the pervasive stench.

"Moreover, this matter was not orchestrated by the Fendis Family. You should go back and ask your friend from the Fanxing Family..."

The elder's words struck precisely at Luge's earlier conjecture.

Luge's rage inexplicably surged; the spiral markings long present on his body gradually deepened in color.

Two people grinning broadly, one man one woman, walked out from the shadows, seemingly unafraid, stepping one step at a time toward the raging Luge.

"How could there be Atoners here!"

The old man holding the Light Stone cried out in alarm.

"Finally lost his mind..." the grinning man said.

"Really tough, condensed Spiritual Power, truly annoying." the grinning woman complained.

"Yeah, annoying, drained my Spiritual Power."

Both kept their broad grins while speaking, and didn't turn to acknowledge the Fendis Family elder.

Luge abruptly adjusted the Foul Skin back to its second form.

"Redemption!"

"Redemption."

The two grinning people still approached one step after another.

"We've come to help you, to bestow Redemption upon you." The two spoke in unison.

Eroded by anger, Luge had already reached the edge of losing his mind; he suddenly lunged with one fist after another, smashing the grinning man to the ground until he was pummeled into two halves. The man kept smiling throughout; the more Luge pounded, the more his fury rose.

Both fellows were knocked to the ground by him; a slap erased the mouth and nose from their faces, another punch and the eyes vanished too.

Luge suddenly froze in place.

He let out a long breath, discovering he had actually appeared in his Spiritual Power Space, where he once again regained his composure and calm.

"Finally got in! Your Spiritual Power Space is really beautiful!"

"No wonder it's so condensed."

Two slightly illusory grinning figures appeared on the surface of his Mental Power Sea.

Having regained his reason, Luge quickly ran through the matter in his Memory.

"What do you intend to do?" he looked at the two calmly.

"Save you!"

"Wash away your sins."

The two said with broad grins.

"I have no sins, and don't need anyone to save me." Luge said with a smile too.

Luge's words seemed to infuriate the two, directly making these two who had been grinning nonstop stop smiling.

"We could originally have bestowed Redemption on many more people."

"But, to save you, to wash away your sins, we both discarded our bodies, gave up our lives. This is our final mission, our final Redemption."

The two fellows started laughing again; as they turned grinning, their faces both became Luge's face, but the next moment they had no features at all, repeating this back and forth, shifting many times with every sentence spoken.

The two weird fellows spoke as they began drifting vertically upward.

"From now on, you are me."

"I am you."

"You are also a Faceless One."

"A Faceless One is also me."

"We are all Faceless People."

The two chanted in unison, their bodies constantly shifting back and forth.

Luge watched them, feeling inexplicably not a shred of panic in his heart, his Spirituality showing no fluctuation. He thought carefully; it might be because a familiar Breath emanated from them. It was the thing the Magic Mark attracted during his daily Meditation recovery. The first time he went out alone on a long trip to retrieve an Inheritance, he had encountered a similar phenomenon — a strange object that cracked at a touch; after it shattered, it also burrowed into his brain.

Ultimately how it is, one try will tell.

He immediately began meditating in the manner of recovering Spiritual Power; by now he was different from before — three Magic Marks, each larger than the last, were arrayed above the Spiritual Power Space.

Even without meditating, those two fellows already showed signs of being drawn over, just like those Spell Models that kept rotating around the Magic Marks.

Every time he used a Spell from a Temporary Spell Slot, he had a feeling that the Spell Model projection stored inside was eaten by the Magic Mark.

As the Runes corresponding to the Magic Mark kept being outlined, the two figures who had been grinning and muttering nonstop instantly fell quiet.

Then, in Luge's perception, they turned into countless Debris; unlike the experience last time, they actually began to struggle, trying to flee in all directions.

Luge paid them no heed, simply meditating single-mindedly.

All the Debris turned a pallid color, gradually losing strength as if exhausted, and all plunged into the Magic Mark; in the blink of an eye every foreign thing had Disappeared.

Luge, for his part, had Prepared to see all sorts of images like last time; Pity, there was nothing.

He Swish—opened his eyes.

Still the foul-smelling Hall; he still maintained the posture of his Two Hands smashing down, only the anger in his heart had already dissipated.

The old man holding the Light Stone in the distance was observing him with a solemn face.

(Chapter End)