Chapter 390 - 175: Finale of Slaughter
A mummy?!
No, not a mummy!
To be precise, it was more like a "person" wrapped in bandages. The figure was tall and thin, draped in a tattered gray robe stained with filth. Its head and torso were wound in layers of white cloth strips, all covered in yellowish-green stains.
Only a pair of hollow, lifeless, ghastly white eyes and its limbs were exposed. Judging from its hands, which were covered in a layer of cracked, blackish-brown skin, it wasn’t hard to imagine what the rest of its body looked like beneath the wrappings.
Another indistinct and hoarse voice came from beneath the cloth strips. "An enemy!"
Hmm?
’The voice changed?’
The previous voice, though hoarse, had seemed sentient. But this one was vague, like dozens of voices overlapping and mixing into a noisy, chaotic mess that grated on the nerves.
Wei’en stared at the strange, bandaged creature, growing wary. "Did you kill those Keman people over there?"
"Keman people? Kill? Hrrgh..." The bandaged creature tilted its head back and let out a series of muffled laughs, as if something were caught in its throat. "All is illusion, all will perish—only slaughter will plunge us eternally into truth!"
’Only slaughter will plunge us eternally into truth?’
’A secret organization, like the Despair Sect?’
’It seems this thing—or things—killed those Keman people.’
However, before Wei’en could ask another question, the bandaged creature’s voice echoed, and the world before him abruptly dimmed, as if shrouded in a black mist.
He glanced up, his brow furrowing slightly.
’It’s not being blocked by clouds?’
Above, the sun was still bright, but its light was being distorted and repelled by a bizarre power. It was as if this small mountain had been sealed off from the outside world, and something was devouring all light within the barrier.
[You have been targeted by the killing intent of Zoltan Draculus, Shadia Newman... Evaluation: Mixed Spirit and consciousness, a single soul, and impure origins—a piece of trash, but be careful! Reward: Survival Points +20.]
’Twenty?’
Wei’en knew this meant the monster before him was at least at Henrik’s level—in other words, comparable to his own current strength...
"What are you?"
But clearly, the bandaged creature couldn’t answer. It stiffly raised a slender, wrapped arm. Accompanied by the CRACKING sound of bones, its fingers slowly curled until a sharp index finger pointed at Wei’en.
"Sir, Mino, Sevibart!" (Slaughter, Phantom Song!)
As it shrieked those words in its hoarse, chaotic voice—words in the Gonzalez language—innumerable motes of ash and blood bled out of the void in the surrounding shadows. They swirled and mixed, twisting into the forms of strange, humanoid creatures.
Their faces were just blurry outlines of ash dotted with blood, lacking any distinct features. From their constantly twisting, flowing bodies came a SIZZLING and CRACKLING sound, like something burning in a fire.
’No way to communicate, then?’
Wei’en’s brow smoothed out, his eyes reflecting the surrounding ash creatures. ’No need to overthink it, then!’
As if by tacit understanding, the two Origin sub-bodies, Secret Master and Red Heart, floated out. The Rune Brandings between his brows lit up in succession.
"Spirit Shield!"
"Stonewall!"
Two runic patterns materialized. Wei’en’s body seemed to shrink slightly as his skin took on a stony gray hue. His muscles bulged, veins popping, making his entire form more condensed and resilient.
A faint blue halo also enveloped his body, dispelling the surrounding darkness.
A level-four Spirit Shield could not only defend against attacks targeting one’s Spirit, soul, and Origin, but could also dispel and dissolve all negative effects within a four-meter radius, though it did increase the consumption of Spiritual Power.
The bandaged creature’s hollow, lifeless white eyes stared at Wei’en. It slowly spread its arms, its body going rigid, like a scarecrow standing in a field—a Guard watching over this sealed-off world.
"Sir!" (Kill!)
Immediately, the surrounding creatures of swirling ash and blood surged upward. Specks of ash scattered behind them, forming long trails as they shrieked toward Wei’en. The SIZZLING and CRACKLING grew into a cacophony, converging into a single, despairing wail.
Wei’en’s expression remained unchanged. He ignored the surrounding ash creatures, his gaze locked on the bandaged one.
’Whatever these creatures are, their attacks are just targeting my Origin, soul, and Spirit...’
[You were attacked by the Power of Slaughter Origin. The attack was blocked and dissolved by Spirit Shield (Death God). You consumed 20 Spirit Levels. Evaluation: Oh? The quality of this Power of Origin is on par with Olanier’s! Special Reward: Survival Points +20, Spirit Level +1.]
[...]
[You were attacked by the Power of Slaughter Origin... Special Reward: Survival Points +10.]
Whenever the ash creatures crossed into the four-meter radius around Wei’en, countless wisps of eerie blue mist would instantly envelop them. Gray, red, and blue tangled together before turning into a flash of crystalline black light and dissipating, leaving behind only a series of shrill cries.
Wei’en noted the system prompts in his mind. ’Power of Slaughter Origin... Does that mean absorbed killing intent transforms into a Slaughter Origin?’
’Or are the two completely unrelated?’
"Yanis!"
When the bandaged creature saw the eerie blue mist dissolving its ash creatures, the wrappings over its mouth twitched, as if in great surprise.
"So you’re an Undead Creature too?" Wei’en asked coolly.
This was the second time he’d been called a Death Master. The first time was when he had used Undead Transformation; the Liaison Officer, having been turned into a "Deadpool" zombie, had called him that right before departing for the Undead World.
"Undead? You dare compare *me* to those abandoned wretches? However, you are no different—a Death Master, abandoned by the True World!"