Chapter 19: Chapter 18: The New Marvels
The Gladiator at the 1st Rank of the Path of Conquest had no magic resistance.
Lucius's arm suffered instant necrosis, followed by a direct rupture, and even the seasoned mercenary could not help but cry out in agony, his head drenched in sweat, unable to focus and throw the alchemical explosive.
"Warrior of the Cyart! You shall meet your death right here!"
The middle-aged Priest roared as he swung the blue axe, his entire body suddenly accelerating and rapidly rushing in front of Lucius, so fast that he appeared to leave behind afterimages.
That blue axe was a mysterious rare artifact that could "accelerate"!
His eyes fierce, he raised the axe intending to sever Lucius's head!
"Protect!"
Purple light flashed in Lucius's eyes as he let out a shout, lifting his hand that held the blade and subconsciously conjuring the mystical force contained within the runes.
He knew the runes could not be activated consecutively and that their duration was brief; he needed to seize the optimal moment.
As the blue axe came down, what should have been a fatal blow was instead blocked by an invisible repulsive force, leaving the middle-aged Priest astonished, then deciding to strike again with his axe, believing that continued hacking would eventually kill his opponent.
Karl was watching the scene unfold from the sky, and just as he decided to directly order Irene to "sacrifice her life," the situation suddenly changed.
"Great Lord of the Lost, please grant me your protection."
With calm composure, she raised the alchemical flintlock in her hand and aimed from the open window above, the next moment focusing intently as she fired off a specially-enhanced bullet.
It went wide!
Karl knew the moment the bullet left the gun that it was off course; Irene had not practiced shooting much, and even the precision-enhanced alchemical flintlock was still not accurate enough.
However, a flash of black light suddenly surged from the depths of her soul!
Karl could feel that was his own power, and in the next instant, the bullet that should have missed drastically shifted its course, striking the middle-aged Priest's shoulder with uncanny accuracy.
What's going on?
This was completely unexpected for Karl; it wasn't a distortion in space, but it felt as though the very threads of the world had shifted!
"Damn it!"
The special alchemical bullet penetrated the shoulder, blood immediately spurting out, and the Priest's offensive was abruptly halted.
He attempted to raise his axe once more but suddenly felt the extraordinary power within him being eroded by a mysterious black light.
What was happening?
Impossible! He had never heard of such a thing!
What exactly was that black light?
The Priest's face showed disbelief, realizing the Fischer family was stronger than he had anticipated, even vaguely sensing that they harbored some even more terrifying power.
Karl could feel a trickle of spirituality flowing into his own body, the black light that had clung to the bullet felt like an extension of himself, like an evil disease devouring the Priest's inner spirituality.
So that was it, anyone harmed or killed by Irene through some method would have their spirituality seized by him.
Karl immediately realized that Irene had a closer connection to him than other members of the Fischer family, almost like she was a half of his own self.
Indeed, it must be because the God Pantheon stairway she had taken was the Path of Divine Sacrifice, and her status as a God Worshiping attendant made her increasingly close to him.
Irene reloaded the bullet in her alchemical flintlock as Lucius, in front of the Priest, suddenly let out a fierce yell!
"Ha!"
Lucius swung his blade with a ruthless and cold gaze, chopping towards the middle-aged Priest, who instantly raised the blue axe to try and block.
In the next moment, an astonishing sight occurred!
The blue axe was effortlessly sliced through by the blade, and along with it, the Priest behind it was also struck, with steaming red blood pouring continuously from his chest.
"How is this possible?" He was unable to comprehend, stumbling backward trying to cover the wound, but unable to stop the relentless flow of blood.
Next to Irene, Byrne was kneeled on one knee, holding a drawing and gasping for breath, having expended a considerable amount of Spiritual Power to complete the "Speed Sketching," reducing the durability of the blue axe by depicting it, rendering its toughness no different than that of an ordinary axe once its durability was reduced by the "Speed Sketching" ability.
"Just kill me," the middle-aged Priest suddenly took in a deep breath, losing all will to fight, no longer wishing to continue the battle.
The battle had reached its conclusion, and there was no doubt that he had lost.
"However, you can only kill me, but you can't fundamentally defeat the East Coast people."
"We should be the rightful masters of this land, you Cyart people are bandits, demons. You say we are born low and worthless, but the people of the East Coast will prove you wrong!"
There was a subtle change in Irene's expression. Two years ago, that elderly priest had claimed that she and her brother were born low and their souls worthless.
The middle-aged priest's face, illuminated by the firelight, suddenly brimmed with fighting spirit and excitement.
"Remember this, the East Coast people will never be your stepping stones forever!"
Lucius raised the blade in his hand high without hesitation and plunged it with all his might into the priest's chest, rupturing his heart and lungs.
His voice deep, he said, "No matter how many words the dead have, no matter how impassioned or stirring, they're worth less than a living man's piss."
The middle-aged priest trembled, his eyes wide open in unwillingness as he collapsed for the last time.
Lucius collapsed to the ground, and quickly, Irene rushed to extend her hand.
"Hold on, Lucius."
The green light in her eyes flickered as she effortlessly healed Lucius's near-useless arm.
"Praise the great Lord of the Lost, this power is truly formidable..."
The pain diminished in an instant, and Lucius, amid his amazement, praised the Lord of the Lost sincerely for the first time. The power to save was always rarer than the power to kill.
Karl gazed silently at the sky, roughly deducing the origin of the "protect" runes. The purple finger amulet was probably just a Collectible class mysterious rare artifact.
The source of Irene's "healing" runes, the transparent bottle that he resided in, was at least a 2nd Rank "Treasure class" mysterious rare artifact.
As for the even higher "Forbidden" and "Untouchable" class artifacts, it would be hard for them to appear in the small area of the East Coast.
A patrol of over a hundred men finally appeared. Having been called away from the town, they returned to fight the fire and search and kill the jungle natives.
The scattered jungle natives, about a dozen in total, were either captured or killed, none escaped.
The raging fire destroyed half a street's worth of houses, and due to the fire and slaughter, more than fifty citizens of Nasir Town perished.
The armored sheriff, several knights from the town, and clan elders joined forces in front of the Fischer house to see Lucius emerge, holding a head and shouting out to the crowd amidst his escorts.
"The leader of the jungle natives, that priest, has been killed by me!"
The people of Nasir Town witnessed this scene, and shouts and cheers soon followed, even chanting the Fischer surname!
Lucius slowly approached the sheriff, who looked utterly surprised, and with a trustworthy smile and a cunning glint in his eyes, he spoke softly,
"Esteemed sheriff, when you report this matter to Lord Baron, please make sure to include me."
The sheriff looked as sullen as a liver, on a night when too many had died in Nasir Town, he couldn't escape responsibility as the sheriff and immediately said, "The responsibility isn't mine alone; the town chief ordered us to search for the jungle natives outside the town! Don't blame me for this!"
"Oh, so it was the town chief, was it?"
Lucius slightly bowed his head, lost in deep thought, then looked up with a chillingly cold smile.
—
Nasir Town suffered heavy losses overnight, but the rewards brought to the Fischer family were significant, not just in terms of spoils but also in terms of reputation.
Lucius himself almost became a hero of the whole Nasir Town, commanding everyone's respect, and the image of the Fischer family grew exceedingly positive in the eyes of the people.
The total value of the spoils obtained by the Fischer family amounted to about fifteen Gold Coins, mainly from the head bounties of three extraordinary exponent natives, while the blue axe, although damaged, was still a fine mysterious rare artifact after all.
After finding the right spellcaster to repair the axe, Irene knelt down solemnly and offered it to the great Lord of the Lost.
Karl finally received a portion of new Spiritual Power, although the blue axe was still a "Collectible class" mysterious rare artifact.
"No sense of the seal loosening, and still a long way from breaking the next layer of the seal," he mused.
He bestow the "accelerate" blue rune to Byrne.
The ecstatic Byrne immediately tried using the blue rune he received, discovering that every use of "accelerate" consumed a small amount of stamina, and it took roughly tens of seconds before he could use the blue "accelerate" rune again.
And in the moment of acceleration, his movement speed would reach several times the original.
In fact, the final effect of "accelerate" was a fixed value, rather than providing a better effect for faster individuals.
Days later, when Baron Hovern finally received the news and came from Fein City, he decided to launch an immediate retaliation against the jungle natives.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone