Chapter 44: Hundred Aspects
A golden figure had appeared in mid-air at some unknown point, with gentle, non-blinding light swirling behind him, illuminating the entire Pato City against the afterglow of the setting sun, making it exceptionally bright.
Unlike the common people who only felt a warmth over their bodies, Lang En and the other Evil Cultists felt a suffocating pressure the moment this person appeared. The seemingly gentle and harmless light, simply shining on them, caused these heretics unbearable pain, as if they were being showered with diluted Holy Water…
As the newcomer gradually descended, everyone slowly got a clear view of him. He was a man who appeared to be around thirty years old, dressed in a set of silver plate armor inscribed with pale gold Holy Word. A pair of heavy shoulder pads bore the emblem of the Holy Church United and a portrait of the Dawn Goddess, respectively. A golden broken sword hung on each side of his waist, and a large mithril cross was strapped to his back. More importantly…
He also had a perfectly proportioned square face!
From any angle, this face looked every bit a Paladin, even more so than Dave’s thick eyebrows and big eyes, making him appear resolute and devout.
“I am Grimm Tirith.” He landed in front of the square, his thick eyebrows slightly furrowed: “The Dawn Great Knight of Light Capital. Now…”
Grimm drew one of the broken swords with a backhand, and with a light slash towards his right, declared: “Purge the cultists.”
A thin line of light slowly pushed forward, rapidly changing shape as it moved. Half a second later, it had transformed into a vast and dazzling golden sword light, like a torrent, sweeping across one-third of the square.
The Knight Academy instructors and Holy Priests fighting the Evil Cultists were unaffected by the passing light. In fact, several followers of the Dawn Goddess even felt slightly stronger. The civilians fleeing in all directions were also unharmed…
【Dawn Sin Cut】
Holy Light School Active Skill
Mastery Requirements: Holy Light School Level 19, One-Handed Weapon Specialization Level 15, Strength 50, Wisdom 20, Follower of Dawn Goddess, Faith Value Cap higher than 1500
Cost/Restrictions: 100 Stamina, 300 Faith Value, Must wield a one-handed weapon
Effect: Releases a wide-range slash infused with Dawn Divine Power in the specified direction, dealing massive damage to enemy targets within the user's concept and applying a Soul Burn effect. Damage is doubled against blasphemers, undead creatures, and followers of Darkness Goddess Diliya, with a 5% chance to trigger a ‘Purification’ effect. Causes no damage to friendly and neutral units within the user's concept. This skill ignores terrain and environmental effects. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
【Note: Holy Light above! Mom no longer has to worry about me hitting my own people!】
This skill, currently impossible for players to master, was extremely effective. The Evil Cultists, who had been suppressing the instructors and Holy Priests with the power of their evil god, immediately began to tremble with light emanating from their orifices after being swept by the golden sword light, without even having time to scream. They then transformed into exploding golden fireballs, their bodies and souls simultaneously incinerated into ashes by the vast divine power.
“Holy Flash…” Grimm casually lowered his sword-wielding right hand, then extended his other hand to point to the other side of the square, and said in a deep voice: “Thousand Strikes!”
His figure seemed to blur for a second, then a golden phantom lightning-fast detached from Grimm’s body, passing directly through an Evil Cultist, and immediately vanished into thin air after the latter instantly exploded.
Then came the second phantom…
The third…
The fourth…
Dozens of Evil Cultists who were about to turn and flee were instantly killed on the spot by the phantoms released by Grimm within a few seconds.
Lang En at this moment had long forgotten about delivering a few more blows to Bayes and Lei Duo, or rushing over to crush Mo Tan. Large beads of sweat streamed down his forehead, the pale white mist surrounding him was rapidly evaporating, and the omnipresent light firmly locked him in place. He had no doubt that any slight movement would immediately draw the attention of that Dawn Great Knight!
“Absolute power, indeed~” Mo Tan actually leaned over to Lang En’s side, lightly patting his shoulder: “How does it feel to suddenly realize you’ve become an ant?”
Pfft!!
Lang En, who was whispering something, whether from the pat or from anger, suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. Just as he was about to turn around and kill this kid, he found that the square-faced man, who had started by going berserk twice, had appeared before him at some unknown point, immediately scaring him out of his wits…
“You’re too late, Sir Knight.” Mo Tan slowly retreated, spreading his hands with a smile: “All those who sacrificed earlier will be accounted to you, you know~”
Grimm stared intently at this young man who had made him feel particularly uncomfortable since he appeared, and said in a deep voice: “Who are you?”
Mo Tan didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he whispered something to Bayes and Lei Duo, who had just gotten up, before looking up and smiling: “Me? I’m the one who tricked you into coming here… But you can’t really call it a trick, can you? Evil Cultists appearing and an Evil God descending upon Pato City, it’s pretty much the same thing, isn’t it?”
“I sense malice from you.” Grimm’s eyes flashed with anger, but his voice was calm as he said: “Your malicious lies even alarmed Light Capital.”
“I couldn’t help it~” Mo Tan smiled sweetly: “Otherwise, if it wasn’t ‘absolute power’ like you who came, but some cannon fodder, I’d be very troubled… But speaking of which, could you perhaps first bring this Evil Cultist, whose hands are stained with blood, to justice?”
Lang En’s body trembled, but he continued to murmur something, ignoring everything, his appearance extremely bizarre.
“As for me.” Mo Tan shrugged: “After all, telling a lie isn’t a major crime, is it? It’s fine to deal with me later, perhaps taking me to some Holy Land for a grand interrogation or something.”
Although the other party’s mocking tone was indeed somewhat jarring, Grimm still nodded. After all, ‘purifying’ Lang En, the leader of the Evil Cultists, was the top priority. As for the young man who had shocked Light Capital with false information, causing him to be ordered to rush over at the fastest possible speed, he could be dealt with later…
Moreover, it was indeed right that he came in person this time. A regular Paladin squad might not have been able to control the current situation.
So, Grimm immediately looked at Lang En, who was still muttering something, and took down the mithril cross from his back, which only Great Knights were qualified to possess, and said in a deep voice: “Speak your last words and the location of your cult’s lair, or die immediately.”
【Nobody would respond to such a ‘die or die’ statement, would they…?】
Mo Tan rolled his eyes from behind, his right hand reaching for his satchel at his waist.
“…………” Lang En continued to murmur something, staring intently at the Dawn Great Knight Grimm.
The latter gently pressed both hands on either side of the cross, frowning as he asked: “What are you saying?”
“…”
“Alright.” Grimm seemed to not have expected Lang En to answer him anyway, so holy flames slowly began to rise from his body: “Then prepare to be purified!”
“I said…” Lang En suddenly clutched his head with both hands, groaning in pain, his voice hoarse.
“Hm?” Grimm was a little confused, but still, with a sense of chivalry, intended to let the other party finish speaking: “What?”
Pfft!!
Countless bone spikes erupted from Lang En’s body. At the same time, his body began to twist, to a degree so disgusting it was hard to describe in words. Blood vessels, muscles, and bones all underwent violent mutations, all turning inside out, while simultaneously completing a ritualistic transformation, proliferating and expanding at an extreme speed!!
“I said I’m stronger than you, ah ah ah ah!” Lang En roared. His appearance at this moment no longer resembled a creature at all, but rather some kind of fleshy… slime-like being, as he furiously lunged at the Great Knight in front of him: “You cannot resist… I am stronger than you… You will lose… Ugh… Kill… You will die… Resistance… Futile….”
Grimm, however, at this moment, did not get forcibly plot-killed like most overly talkative villains or heroes. He merely let out a long sigh: “Look at yourself, look at what the entity you worship has bestowed upon you… Besides pain, there is only pain…”
The mithril cross, entwined by golden chains, gradually began to glow brighter…
…
Five minutes later, Pato City South District
A Dark Elf man in a grey robe walked up to a building that looked like it had recently been abandoned. It seemed to have once been a warehouse for storing grain, but now…
“An Evil Cultist’s lair, huh~~” He grinned, looking back at the golden pillar of light rising into the sky in the distance, and murmured to himself: “That guy is even stronger than I thought. Let’s hurry.”
With that, he glanced around briefly and then quickly entered the abandoned warehouse.
【Hundred Aspects】
Type: Special Equipment
Quality: Unique Epic
Attributes: All basic attributes +1
Trait: Allows you to freely change your appearance and gain partial physical characteristics of the corresponding race. Your temperament will change during the disguise process. No duration limit, but after canceling the disguise or changing the Hundred Aspects' form, it requires 12 hours before it can be effective again.
【Note 1: A powerful alchemical equipment refined by the genius of the Dwarf race, the Skin Alchemist Ado Hua Li, but due to some minor mistakes, this mask did not meet Mr. Ado Hua’s expectations. Although the Hundred Aspects mask allows the user to freely change their appearance and features with almost no restrictions, it can never affect their height. This greatly irritated Mr. Ado Hua, who was always mistaken for a Dwarf, and he sold it to the Elf Rogue Archer Teng for 1 copper coin.】
【Note 2: According to historical records, it is said that Archer Teng disappeared a few years later after being forcibly fed a strange reagent by a certain underground force, and the Hundred Aspects mask also went missing. However, a few months later, a young Elf boy, whose appearance was remarkably similar to a young Archer Teng, appeared by the side of Archer Teng’s girlfriend, the Elf Monk Lan. It is said that this young boy was adopted by Lan’s father, the sleeping renowned warrior Mao Li, and was almost inseparable from Lan every day. In the following years, the reputation of the Grim Reaper Sprite gradually spread across the continent.】
【Note 3: The designer of this equipment has been fired.】
That’s right, by now everyone should know that this Dark Elf was naturally Mo Tan. As for why he obtained such a powerful Epic equipment…
Does everyone remember the ‘Unique Quest’ he received earlier?
【Go to Pato City, destroy ‘Hero’ Dave; Reward???】
Just a short while ago, when that Half-Orc Mammoth Priestess drenched Dave with a bucket of Divine Water, Mo Tan immediately received a system notification:
【Unique Quest completed. Completion: 550%. Reward: Hundred Aspects, Deceiver profession experience: 1100 points】
Then this equipment appeared directly in his satchel.
This was also why Mo Tan was completely fearless afterward, because as long as he noticed something was wrong, by forcefully activating 【Escape】 and equipping this special item, he had almost a fifty percent chance of retreating safely.
As for the other fifty percent of the danger… he didn’t care~
…
Ten minutes later, in front of the abandoned warehouse
A human man dressed in a linen set ran here, panting.
Cordova stated that he was very unhappy, truly very unhappy…
One must know that logging in this time had made him hesitate for a long time, after all, his tragic and not at all glorious death from last time was still vivid in his memory!
But he ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation of Innocent World, and after making up his mind hundreds of times, he finally logged into the game and appeared in Pato City.
As a result, problems arose as soon as he started!
His guiding quest this time was to find the owner of a certain tailor shop, but by the time he finally managed to find the place, he learned that the person had gone to the central district square to watch the excitement.
So Cordova ran to the central square again…
Then… everything spiraled out of control!!
Ever since that crazy lunatic appeared on the clock tower, what was supposed to be a perfectly good baptism ceremony went completely awry. That so-called ‘hero’ died in the most miserable way imaginable!
Finally, when a large number of Evil Cultists rushed out of the crowd and started a massacre, Cordova ran away!
He ran without hesitation!
He had had enough, he didn’t want to die anymore, he just wanted to play the game properly…
And then he got lost and ended up in this place.
But it felt pretty good; this location was very remote, and it was in the least developed South District of Pato City, so theoretically it should be relatively safe. Cordova felt that as long as he hid here for a while, or if worst came to worst, logged off to grab a late-night snack, the previous Chaos should probably be over.
Then he saw an Elf man, dressed strangely and with a lot of blood on his hands, walk out of the warehouse in front of him, and then wipe his face…
Holy crap!!
Isn’t this the guy who messed everything up on the clock tower earlier!?
“Shh~” The other party seemed a little surprised to look at him, then put his index finger to his mouth, signaling him to be quiet.
Blood all over his body, a gentle smile, and a crazy demeanor—this was clearly an attempt at murder to silence him!
Cordova turned and ran without a word, shouting as he ran, today’s news truly… No, he shouted: “Help!!!”
Pfft!
His whole body trembled violently. He looked down and saw half a blade, trailing blood, piercing out of his left chest…
The familiar system prompt sounded in his ear—
【You have died】
Chapter Forty-Two: End