บท 22: Winding Up
บรรณาธิการ: Atlas Studios
Mantha, who had turned into a Strigoi, was superior to the vast majority of humans with Awakening Levels below Level 10 in terms of combat power.
All Strigoi's attributes were higher than human attributes.
If Chen Gou hadn't used the Rocket Grab, he would have had a slim chance of winning.
Tony, on the other hand, had finished off the Strigoi giant, Shi Meng, alone.
In terms of strength, Shi Meng was superior to Mantha!
"How did you end up like this? Could you… actually be the kind of gender that exists between men and women in some Abyssal Worlds? Are you a tranny?"
Tony had seen the full process of Chen Gou's transformation into the Radiant Dawn before, but he still had all sorts of questions.
Your whole family is a bunch of trannies!
Chen Gou felt very angry, but he said coquettishly, "Yes, I love men, especially handsome blondes."
Not only did Tony's scalp go numb as he retreated wildly backward, but even Chen Gou himself was about to vomit and transformed back into his original body.
All jokes aside, the fight continued.
Then, Chen Gou and Tony helped Abraham take care of the other ordinary Strigoi that had entered the chapel.
After losing the two elites, Shi Meng and Mantha, the number of the other Strigoi gradually decreased thanks to the combined efforts of those three.
Soon, the three of them left the hall on the first floor and returned outside.
At that moment, the fight between Quinlan and the Master also came to an end.
The Master had reached the end of his rope.
He was on par with Quinlan, or rather, without the help of the army of Strigoi, his direct combat power was below Quinlan's.
Moreover, the other three progenitors were watching vigilantly from the side.
Although they hadn't made a move, they had vaguely sealed the Master's way of retreat and ensured that he could not escape.
"Let's sink into the boundless darkness together!" Quinlan roared loudly.
He had half of the Master's bloodline flowing in his body, so he was a descendant of the Master.
Once the Master died, he would also die just like the other Strigoi.
Boom!
Quinlan raised his feet and stomped on the ground, causing a tremor. In the blink of an eye, an ancient Roman Colosseum that had been condensed by a yellowish-brown flare formed outside of him.
It was only about three meters in diameter, but this small area was like a cage that imprisoned the Master.
At the moment, it seemed as if Quinlan had returned to the days when he had been invincible in the Colosseum 2,000 years ago.
What about the Master?
He was just a trapped beast.
There was endless and invincible belief in his eyes.
With a plop, the Master's ugly head was barreled down by his sword and rolled a few times on the ground toward Quinlan's feet, where it was stomped and violently shattered like a watermelon.
Was it finally over?
Of course not.
As the Master's headless corpse collapsed, a middle-finger-long red bloodworm mixed in with the mass of white slime and bloodworms crawled out of the broken neck and tried to escape.
However, this was clearly whimsical.
The three progenitors knew everything about him.
There was no way that Chen Gou would let him get away with it.
Whoosh!
A golden hand flew out of the Radiant Dawn, which instantly crossed a distance of more than ten meters and grabbed the red bloodworm along with the nearby soil.
When the hand was retracted, the bloodworm fell into the hands of the Radiant Dawn.
Battle Guardians were entirely made of the power of magic. They had no flesh or blood, so they did not need to fear being parasitized by the progenitor bloodworm entering their bodies.
At the same time, a palm-sized metal box that was made of a lead-tin alloy appeared in Chen Gou's hand.
Its only function was to imprison the progenitor bloodworm, making it unable to get out, which was tantamount to being confined.
Right from the start, Chen Gou's choice was to seal the progenitor bloodworm instead of killing it directly.
This was because if he killed the bloodworm, besides obtaining some Awakening Points, he might only be able to obtain one or two Skill Crystals or Magic Origin Crystals.
A living progenitor bloodworm was different. It was a living treasure!
The Abyssal Knight Team's research department loved subjects like that…
It was rumored that many bloodline drugs that could increase attributes and one's Awakened Level and even directly allow one to gain special skills were extracted from evil spirit bodies.
What was the origin of the birth of the progenitor bloodworm?
It had come from the body of an angel!
Therefore, it had theoretically noble and pure angelic blood in it!
This made it impossible for Chen Gou not to be tempted. Even if there was a slim chance of obtaining the power of this bloodline, he would still give it a try.
The premise was that he had to take out a living progenitor bloodworm.
Besides, even if the plan failed and he wanted to kill it, he could do it at any time.
"Give it to me. I must make it disappear with my own hands!"
Quinlan stared at the lead box in Chen Gou's hand. He could easily guess that the red bloodworm captured inside belonged to the Master's body.
Chen Gou replied in a deep voice, "It's useless for you to grind this worm into dust. He will still be reborn in the birthplace in the future."
"I will destroy the birthplace in the future. Right now, I just want to grind that worm to death," Quinlan said indifferently as he regained his grip on his sword.
Chen Gou had a huge headache.
He had borrowed Quinlan's hand to easily cut off the Master's host body, leaving him in an unprecedented state of weakness.
Now that Quinlan was insisting on crushing the progenitor bloodworm to death, it became a problem for him.
"Quinlan, is revenge the only thing left in your life?" Chen Gou asked as he cleared his throat. Everyone who knew him well knew that he was going to nag him.
"Yes, I only have revenge left in my life. Therefore, I will not hesitate to become enemies with anyone and remove them."
With the sword in his right hand, Quinlan reached out with his left hand for the lead box and moved slowly forward expressionlessly.
"You're wrong. There are more meaningful things you can do, such as resurrect your loved ones."
"Resurrect my loved ones?" Quinlan said, "They've been dead for over 1,000 years, and even their bones are gone."
"Even God exists. What's impossible about resurrecting someone who has been dead for over 1,000 years? Even if this world can't do it, it doesn't mean that other worlds can't do it."
Quinlan's eyes gleamed. "Are you trying to say that your world has a way?"
"All I can say is that there are gods in our world. Whether you can resurrect them or not will depend on your effort."
Upon seeing that Quinlan was moved, Chen Gou took the opportunity to add, "When we return this time, we will report to the head of our race to facilitate cooperation between the two races. You can enter our world to fight and pursue worthier goals."
Actually, he was just giving him an empty promise.
Given his status as an Apprentice Demon Hunter and the fact that he wasn't even an official Abyssal Knight yet, how could he have the right to decide about the relationship between the two worlds?
However, Quinlan and the progenitors weren't aware of this.
"You have to know that the Master can still be reborn in his birthplace. If you kill the progenitor bloodworm in my hand, all the Strigoi, including you, will die! You'll never have the chance to see your deceased loved ones again."
Chen Gou once again pressured him mentally for the sake of making him temporarily give up the thought of crushing the progenitor bloodworm to death.
Unless he had to, he didn't want to give up the progenitor bloodworm or fall out with Quinlan.
"Quinlan, trust him for once. There is hope as long as you're alive. You'll have nothing if you die."
The remaining three progenitors tried to persuade Quinlan, as they didn't want to experience turmoil again.
Chen Gou knew all of their secrets, so they held back from taking action against him.
Quinlan finally put down his longsword and agreed with a nod.
What kind of person was not afraid of death the most?
A person without hope.
When one was filled with hope and thoughts, one would fear death.
Afterward, Chen Gou pretended to discuss the details regarding cooperation and coexistence with the three progenitors.
Truthfully speaking, he was very serious.
After returning, he would naturally hand over everything to the higher-ups of the Abyssal Knight Team. However, the outcome would be beyond his control.
If the higher-ups of the Covenant were not short-sighted, they would choose peace instead of war.
The next afternoon, the three progenitors left for the time being to return to their lair in the underground of New York's Central Park.
Abraham also took his leave. Now that he had accomplished his mission, the old Demon Hunter was prepared to return home and spend the rest of his life there.
"Didn't you want that walking stick-sword for a long time?" Tony, who was standing beside Chen Gou, said with a smile as he watched Abraham's retreating back.
"Why would I kill him for the treasure?" Chen Gou clicked his tongue and said in a low voice, "He was still my comrade in arms just now. If I did something that vicious… I would feel embarrassed."
Tony chuckled and did not say anything else.
The ten-day period had arrived long ago, and the Void Stone in their hands had already gathered the complete coordinates of this Abyssal World.
This meant that they could go back at any time!
Before leaving, Chen Gou had found Palmer, who had managed to survive the bloody battle the previous day.
"Mr. Palmer, the essence extracted from the formula can only keep you healthy, but it won't extend your life… If you want to live longer, why don't we make another deal?"
"I'd like to know the details of the deal."
"After some time, I will return from another world with a drug that increases one's lifespan. In the meantime, you will need to collect ancient items related to mythology and religion from this world for me. The older, the better."
"May we have a smooth collaboration and a long friendship!"
Palmer, who was wearing a well-ironed suit, held out a hand toward Chen Gou as his eyes lit up. That was what ambition was like!
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