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Chapter 574: Chaos (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

Angele dragged Fra into the cart before she could react—he helped her dodge a broken blade that was flying to her.

"Wake up!" Angele tapped the girl's cheeks to make sure that she was aware of the situation.

*BAM*

It sounded like something exploded outside; they could see the bright-red light. The intense light illuminated the whole cart.

A ball of golden flame exploded in the dark forest and quickly turned into waves of red flames. The waves were spreading in all directions and the earth started shaking after they hit the trees.

The carriages, carts, and every object around were all pushed away.

Angele's cart was pushed three meters to the left; the wheels left a trail of dark marks on the ground.

The leader of the black cloaks was in the center of the explosion, his body broke into pieces and half of his head was on the ground.

"Amber… You shall not escape…" The leader's voice was still echoing in the forest; the high-pitched voice sounded like it was from a woman.

*PA*

Heli stepped on the broken head and looked at the noble woman who was standing behind him.

The noble woman slowly lowered her right hand; there was a white ball in her left hand. There were complicated golden patterns on the surface of the ball. The woman smiled after she noticed that Heli was looking at her.

"This is a high-level holy bomb I purchased from the church. Not bad, eh? It deals great damage to ghosts and magic creatures but it won't hurt normal things."

"It's powerful, yeah." Heli looked at the white ball; he was still a bit scared. He watched the bomb explode and thought that he was going to die in the golden flames. Although he was blown away by the impact, he was not injured.

The woman was about to say something else but they heard footsteps from the forest again.

Angele raised his head and looked at the forest.

'They're from the church?' Angele's brow furrowed, he did not expect to find people from the church here. They had not bothered him for a while but they were here again.

Fra was in Angele's arms, her eyes were wide open. It seemed like she was still thinking about the battle—after she defeated the bandit by luck, she was so scared that she could barely move.

In the deep forest, a group of people in white armor were approaching the caravan. They were surprised after they saw the battlefield. Their leader was a female knight; she glanced around and her sight fell upon Heli.

"Found you, send the signal!" She talked to the knight beside her and stepped forward, drawing her sword. A thin white glow quickly covered her blade.

The female knight was moving forward without any hesitation. She started slow but her speed increased gradually. She swang the sword several times in the air, lowered her body, and charged at Heli.

"Die! Heretic!"

Angele thought the church was going after him.

Heli remained silent, however, he turned around and started running after seeing the female knight's face. The feminine man just followed after Heli but it seemed like he was not going to offer any help.

"Miss Diana, I'll see you around!" Heli shouted. Heli and the feminine man charged into the forest first, the female knight followed after them.

The ground was covered with dead bodies of guards and bandits. The noble woman just stood there with her brow furrowed, it seemed like she was thinking about something. She then looked in the direction Heli left and remained quiet.

Some of the guards that were still alive cleaned the area. It seemed like they were used to the deaths of their colleagues. Things like this were common to them.

Angele straightened his back and glanced at the noble woman, then whipped the ox once.

The leader of the guards was talking to the woman, it seemed like he was asking for additional payment.

Angele was not concerned, he did not say anything and just traveled to the forest on the other side.

The wheels of the cart spun as the cart quickly entered the forest, disappearing by the corner.

As Angele sat on the driver's seat, blue light dots flashed in his eyes. He changed the direction slightly and went around the whole area. He started heading in the same direction as Heli.

The noble woman's caravan was no longer there and the man with green eyes also disappeared.

The only things in his sight were the vibrant green trees; the golden light from the sun shined upon the cart and Angele's outfit. They could hear strange voices from random beasts.

"Where are we heading to?" Fra raised her head, she was still holding the sword in her arms.

"Find a random place and stay there for the rest of our life," Angele gave a random response.

"Huh?" Fra was confused.

Angele turned around and pinched her cheeks. "Do you really think we're going to do that? There are prizes on our heads so we should stay away from the church. We need to find a safe place to lay low, there's no way that we can follow our original plan."

"Oh, yeah���" Fra finally realized that she was a wanted criminal and the sad memories came back to her again. She wiped the sweat off her face using the sleeves; some of the potion was also removed from her face.

The black birthmark on her forehead already turned gray—the birthmark would fade away soon.

"Where should we build our camp then?" She wondered.

Angele did not respond, he just pointed in a direction.

Fra looked where he was pointing at.

In front of the vibrant forest, there was a snow mountain standing there quietly. The tip of the mountain was surrounded by white mist.

The snow on the mountain reflected the sunlight; the light almost blinded Fra.

"That's a tall mountain…"

Angele smiled and patted Fra's head.

"Check our inventory and see how long we will last on the mountain. Also, we need to feed this ox."

"Sure…"

Fra started checking the items in the cart.

Angele closed his eyes and started his daily routine. He was still searching for a way to enter the portal of the painting.

The portal he observed would change slightly every day; the color of the portal would change slightly due to the energy waves and return to normal after a while.

Angele's long research helped him to find the secret, he noticed that the energy wave was what decided if the portal would accept unknown things or not.

He tried to figure out how the energy wave worked and when the energy wave was the weakest so that he could send his mentality wave deep into the portal.

Analyzing the force field was the hardest part, there were so many waves and frequencies he needed to record. The whole process would take him a long time. The biochip indicated that only two percent of the analysis was completed. If he wanted to explore the portal using his mentality wave, it would still take a long time.

It was already afternoon when Angele opened his eyes. The orange sunlight was coming from the sky, Angele and the cart's shadows were long on the ground.

'Eight hours passed. Progress saved.' Zero's voice echoed in his ears.

Angele inhaled deeply and checked the surroundings. The tall trees had brown tree trunks and were slightly wet. The leaves on the branches were dark-green and some of them were covered with white frost.

The ox already stopped moving and its tail was swinging in the air.

The place was deadly silent, there was no insect or creature making noise.

Angele glanced around and jumped off the cart. He looked at Fra—she was sleeping in the cart with the sword in her arms.

He walked around the cart and stopped in front of a bush. He slowly reached into the bush and suddenly grabbed.

*PA*

He grabbed the neck of a young leopard and moved it out of the bush.

*Roar*

The young leopard was struggling in Angele's hand and trying to scare Angele away with its voice. It kept scratching Angele's skin using its claws but nothing worked.

"This area is terrorized by black leopards? Maybe I can follow it to…" Angele dropped the leopard and it landed safely on the ground.

The leopard stood up and ran away immediately.

Angele followed after the leopard for about two minutes and saw a small river ahead. On the other side of the river, there was an arched gate that was made of wood. The gate was built in the hill, it looked like an entrance to an underground tunnel.

There were yellow stripes on the tightly closed wooden doors. The edges of the gate were white and there were two torch stands on both sides of the gate. There was no torch on the stands but Angele could see the ash left on them.

Angele slowed down and looked around the river. The river came from the hill and was running down the forest. The river was so long that Angele could not see the end of it.

The river was around two meters wide and there was water grass in it.

"That's it…"

Angele was not concerned about the leopard. He returned to the oxcart and drove it to the gate. It took him about ten minutes to finish the process. He let the ox drink water by the river and returned to the cart. He closed his eyes and started resting.

The sky was getting darker and darker. Two gray shadows appeared by the river after a while.

The one in the front was Heli, there were bloody wounds on his face. He was carrying a weak man in gray on the back while moving forward slowly.

The feminine man was following after the two with a blank expression on the face. The white outfit he was wearing was still clean but Heli's outfit was greatly damaged.

Heli raised his head and looked at the river, he quickly found Angele's oxcart.

"Cough…"

The man with green eyes was dying on Heli's back. He spat out some blood, which splashed on Heli's shoulders.

Chapter 575: Chaos (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

"Even the healing potion from the church is no longer working…" Heli was anxious, he turned around and looked at the feminine man.

"Cynthia, is she still going after us?"

"No." The pretty man named Cynthia shook his head gently. "We traveled much faster than them. Pay more attention to the guy on your back. He'll die in a couple glass hours."

Heli raised his head and looked at the cart that was parked by the river and recalled what the strange man said to him. He realized that the man could heal them for a fee.

He quickly checked his pouch but realized that he only had five silver coins left. The coins were dirty and one of them had a part missing.

The man with green eyes woke up and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Cough… It's fine… Just leave without me…"

Heli acted like he did not hear those words. He repositioned the man on his back and slowly moved to the cart by the river.

　　**************************

*CHI*

In the cart, some green light rose from the man's back; it smelt burnt.

Angele was holding a black stick in hand—he pressed the stick on the man's back.

Heli and Fra were staring at them anxiously.

It felt like that the man with green could not even feel the pain when the burning stick landed on his skin, but there was sweat on his forehead.

"Alright, this is the last wound." Angele dropped the smoking stick and put the other sticks on the table back into his pouch.

"This is a special healing technique I developed to treat his illness. It's very effective, he only needs to rest for several more days."

"Thank you so much!" Heli was almost treating Angele like a god. "Amber saved my life once and I must pay him back. If you need my help in the future, I'll—"

Angele smiled and interrupted, "There's a fee, you know." He just looked at Heli.

Heli suddenly stopped talking and looked at Angele awkwardly. The atmosphere got heavy, even Fra knew that Heli had no money to pay for the treatment.

The man with green eyes remained silent, it seemed like he had no money too.

Angele remained calm.

"Don't have enough money? No worries. I need help with a potion that I'm studying and the only thing I need is some of your blood."

"Blood?"

"Yeah, only a little bit of blood, it won't hurt." Angele took out a glass syringe from a wooden box. The syringe had the size of an arm.

Heli looked at the syringe and felt scared.

"Will my blood work?" the man with green eyes asked.

"You're too weak. You'll die if you lose blood." Angele shrugged.

Half an hour later…

Heli jumped off the cart with a pale face several minutes later.

"I owe you one." The man patted Heli's shoulders.

"If you didn't save me from that monster, I would be dead already. It's nothing." Heli waved his hands.

"Let's go, we need to move or they'll catch up. Let's go around the forest and head to the East Empire. The church hasn't fully terrorized that area yet, the border is close."

The man named Amber nodded.

They walked to the right side of the river and disappeared into the forest. The man named Cynthia also rushed into the forest.

A dark shadow appeared in the bushes after Cynthia left—the shadow was having trouble catching up but it was still following after them.

Angele raised his head and looked at the shadow but did not say anything. He swang the glass syringe; it looked a bit purplish under the sunlight for some reason.

"Andre, what are we going to do next?" Fra questioned behind him.

"We'll stay here. This place is great I think." Angele looked at the entrance to the tunnel on the other side of the river.

"Are you looking at that wooden door? I think it's an entrance to a tomb." Fra noticed what Angele was looking at.

"I think only a weak noble family would build a tomb here but it looks old. I doubt if the noble family still exists. It seems like no one has visited the tomb for years."

"I didn't expect you to know that." Angele was surprised. He noticed that Fra was reading a novel about a legendary knight and felt a bit speechless.

"A legendary knight named Barbosa built a tomb like that and the legendary gear, Shield of Honor, was buried with him!" Fra sounded excited.

Angele shook his head and said, "Alright, we need to set up the tent here. We'll just stay by the river."

　　************************

They set up a gray tent by the river quickly.

Angele purchased the tent when he was still an apprentice and was surprised that the tent was still perfect after all those years.

The tent was perfect for two people. Fra was slim and was not worried that Angele would do anything to her so she usually slept next to Angele.

They took out dry rations and condiments from the wooden boxes. They also found some mushrooms from the forest and caught some fish from the river. Fra had no problem living here.

She would practice sword techniques after she woke up every day and thought Angele did not know what she was doing.

Angele usually used the time to study the blood he extracted from Heli.

There was a strong bloodline in Heli's blood, much stronger than the bloodlines Angele had. However, he could not extract the bloodline from Heli's blood—Heli was too weak. He only acquired some bloodline essence.

Strangely, the bloodline essence increased Angele's wizard power greatly after it was completely absorbed. The problem was that Angele already gave up the normal wizard power and became a bloodline wizard.

The bloodline essence merged into Angele's negative emotions and turned into some strange power that went through his whole body. The strange power helped him form the fourth mentality crystal.

Angele was shocked and quickly studied the bloodline essence using the biochip but did not find any valuable result. Only a third of the mentality crystal was formed; the power was not strong enough to complete the process.

He could only form three mentality crystals as a wizard due to his low talent level but this bloodline essence changed the situation. Angele's mentality was much higher than the requirement to become a rank 4 wizard but he could not do so. Also, he was just one step away from Siva State.

Heli's bloodline brought him hope. Angele immediately started thinking that maybe the bloodline would help him break the limit and enter Siva State.

Siva State had the same power level as a legendary rank 9 wizard.

　　*********************

Two months later.

*PA*

Heli returned to Angele's cart again with Cynthia in his arms. They were both covered in blood and Heli fell to the ground after he stopped walking.

"Help him..." Heli spat out the words and fainted.

Angele and Fra were having dinner by the cart when Heli arrived. Angele shook his head speechlessly after seeing Heli. He walked to them and checked their condition. Fra helped him to put them down on the ground.

Angele was checking Cynthia's condition. The pretty man was seriously injured—although Cynthia was unconscious, his brow was still furrowed. The man's long dark hair trailed on the grass and there was a terrifying wound on his body. From his left shoulder to the right leg, the wound was around one finger wide, and Angele could almost see the organs in his stomach.

There was also a bloody hole on the right side of the man's neck. There was still blood spurting out of the hole.

Also, Angele saw some white light on the left side of the man's chest.

Angele's brow furrowed after seeing the situation.

"They are both dying but they still made it here… They are trying their best to survive…" He slowly cut the man's clothes open, revealing the chest.

The man's skin was almost translucent due to the light that was coming out of his body and his heart was still pumping.

"Fra, knife."

Fra quickly handed a silver knife to Angele.

Angele grabbed the knife and slowly cut Cynthia's chest open, revealing the red flesh and white bones inside.

Through his ribs, Angele could see the surface of his heart. There was a white rune on it. Mortals would not be able to notice the light coming from it.

"That's a problem…" Angele's expression turned serious.

Heli just woke up and his face turned even paler after hearing those words.

"I think you can still save him, right? I'll do whatever you say!"

Angele looked at Heli and said, "This thing is like a bomb that was stuck to his heart. The bomb will be detonated when a certain requirement is met. The man will explode into pieces. Who did this to you? That's some incredible technique."

Heli was cold and his lips twitched.

"He was just trying to save my life…" He could barely finish the sentence.

"There's only one method." Angele stopped for a second and continued, "I need one fresh spinneret from a yellow jade spider. You must bring it back within five days or he'll die."

"I'll go now!" Heli stood up but he hesitated before leaving.

"Where can I find the yellow jade spider?" He wondered.

"There are many yellow jade spiders and random bushes in the forests but not all of them have the spinneret. You can find them at places that are dark and wet," Angele explained.

Angele was not lying to Heli, he did need the spinneret to solve the problem. However, he did not have that in his pouch or the storage and he had to stay here to keep Cynthia alive.

Chapter 576: Situation (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

"I'll leave now!" Heli picked up his damaged sword and started heading to the forest.

"I can go with you!" Fra stood up. She ran up to Heli and said, "You don't know the area well and I know a place with a lot of yellow jade spiders! I'm familiar with the area and I can lead the way for you."

There was a serious expression on her face.

Fra was moved by the relationship between Heli and his friends. It almost felt like that it was a scene in the novels she was reading. Fra was moved and excited at the same time.

Heli patted Fra's shoulders.

"Thanks, I'll ask Cynthia to buy you some delicious treats after he recovers. He's rich." Heli tried to tell a joke but no one was in the mood to appreciate it.

Fra and Heli rushed into the forest and disappeared into the bushes.

Angele crouched by Cynthia, taking out a purple needle from his pouch. The air around the needle looked a bit strange, it felt like the needle was releasing a force field.

"I don't really want to waste my resources, but…" Angele muttered as he looked at the forest. "I'd never help you if you didn't have the things I want…"

Shaking his head, Angele stabbed the needle into Cynthia's heart.

*CHI*

The needle quickly disappeared and the white rune on his start was covered with a thin layer of dark shadow. The shadow surrounded the rune and the white light coming from the rune was weakened.

Angele felt relieved and was about to stand up.

*PA*

Cynthia suddenly straightened his back and spat out some blood.

Angele was surprised, he quickly released a lot of black smoke and sent it into the wounds on Cynthia's heart. The black smoke turned into black dots and appeared on his skin.

However, the black dots were removed by some unknown things inside his body quickly. Although there were a lot of black dots, they would not last for too long.

Angele's expression turned serious. Raising his hand, he took out a golden potion from the mirror. He broke the glass tube without looking.

The golden liquid in the glass tube rotated in the air and sank into Cynthia's heart. The liquid was quickly absorbed by his body.

The heart was still pumping and only a small part of the white rune was left; the light almost faded away.

Suddenly, Cynthia's body trembled and he fell to the ground again. He released some dark light—it returned into his body before it could fully leave it. The process repeated for more than ten times and would happen once every minute. Cynthia's skin turned from pale to gray and the process finally stopped when he almost turned into a zombie.

Angele felt relieved after seeing the result.

"The holy power is so strong. I used the blood essence of a banshee but it didn't work… The church definitely has some strange power…" Angele was lucky that he made the decision quickly. He had to use a potion he crafted in Nightmare Realm. He combined more than ten ancient bloodlines with strong recovery abilities to craft this potion and only made two such potions. The potion was rare, it could even heal his refined true form when necessary.

Normal healing potions would not work on his refined true form due to the high resistance he had. Only potions with strong effects would be helpful; although Angele had many rare potions in the mirror, he still felt a bit sad that he had to use the potion.

"Finally, he should be fine for now." Angele stood up and looked at the forest again. "The only thing we need to do now is wait. Also, I need to keep him alive."

He put Cynthia down in the cart and started meditating with his eyes closed. Although the meditation would barely do anything for him, it could still help him recover his mentality. The natural mentality recovery speed was still slower than the meditation.

"Water…"

Angele was woken up from the meditation by Cynthia's voice. He had no idea how long had passed.

The man's lips were dry and he was asking for water.

The golden sunlight of the afternoon shined upon Cynthia's pale face. His sight was blinded by the light so he slightly leaned his head to the side.

Angele checked Cynthia's eyes and noticed that there were white dots in his blue pupils.

"You can't drink water yet. It'll be fine after Heli brings me the spinneret." Angele lowered his hand and checked the surroundings. He made sure that no one else was in the area.

"There are two yellow jade spider nests around. I can detect the one that's close to me but it seems like they went for the one on the other side and won't be back today." Shaking his head, Angele took out some dried fruits from a pouch and started chewing.

Angele looked at Cynthia and noticed that the man was staring at his food.

"Don't even think about it. You can't eat or drink. The thing on your heart was temporarily deactivated by me. If you eat or drink, the thing might be activated again," Angele explained.

Cynthia pursed his lips and closed his eyes. He decided not to watch Angele eat.

After the dinner, Angele took out some herbs and materials to make some more potion.

Time passed and the night arrived. They finally heard footsteps from the forest.

"Andre! We're back!" Fra's voice echoed in the forest.

Angele walked to the river and looked at the forest.

Heli was supporting his body using his crossguard sword. It seemed like his left arm was broken. Fra was walking in the front, holding some yellow objects in hands.

They walked across the river and stopped in front of Angele.

Fra carefully handed the yellow objects to Angele.

"Those are the spinnerets, right? We found two!"

Angele looked at the two objects and said, "Sadly, they are just normal spinnerets from yellow spiders, not yellow jade spiders. Yellow jade spiders are queens of yellow spiders and you can only find one of them in a whole group of yellow spiders."

The two were surprised by Angele's words.

Angele sighed. "Sit down and have some rest. You can try to find the right thing tomorrow. I would've gone to their nests by myself if I hadn't had to take care of this guy."

Heli did not say anything, he just stood there quietly.

"I'll go again now." He finished the words, turned around, and headed to the forest. It seemed like he did not want to waste any time.

Fra watched Heli, she was not sure what she should say, so she just remained silent.

Angele was not concerned, he glanced at the shadow under the tree on the other side of the river. Someone was standing in the shadow; it looked like a woman. She disappeared after Angele glanced at her.

He turned around and tapped on Fra's shoulder.

"Come and help me. I need to make some herbal medicine."

"Sure…"

　　*********************************

Four days later, Heli returned to the camp with a small ball that looked like it was made of jade.

The yellow ball was the spinneret that Angele needed. It was easy to use; Angele extracted the spider silk from the spinneret and covered Cynthia in it. He only left a small opening so he could send medicine into the man's mouth. Cynthia almost looked like a yellow rice cocoon. Two days later, Angele broke the cocoon and Cynthia was finally healed. However, he lost a lot of life energy and they could see the bones under his skin.

Angele'd extract five syringes of blood from Heli as a payment. He gave Heli one month to recover before extracting the blood. Heli and Cynthia pretty much joined the camp. Although Cynthia tried to offer Angele money, Angele did not seem interested.

*WOO*

Angele was holding a cup of fruit tea in hand and trying to cool the tea down by blowing air over it. Heli and Cynthia were also sitting in the cart.

"So, you're going to leave?" He took a sip from the green fruit tea. The tea was made from apple, it was sweet and sour.

Heli and Cynthia nodded.

There was a bitter smile on Heli's face.

"First, I don't think the food here is enough for four people. Also, Cynthia said that he wanted to buy some new clothes. We've both recovered and already paid you, so I think it's time for us to leave."

Cynthia did not say anything, but he nodded.

Fra was reading a novel on the side; she heard those words and looked at Cynthia.

"I thought you were going to teach me more sword techniques…"

"I've told you all the basics I knew over the last two months. You already found a set of great sword techniques. I could barely understand those techniques so you have to learn them by yourself. Also, my dagger skills are much better than my sword skills," Cynthia responded in a low voice.

Fra moved closer to him and they started a private conversation. Cynthia's face still looked like a pretty woman; Fra sat so close to him that their legs were next to each other. Heli's face blushed after seeing the scene for some reason.

Angele pursed his lips and glanced at Heli. During the month, Angele noticed that Cynthia shared similar characteristics as Timos—he had the body of a man but the mind of a woman. Also, he noticed something interesting when interacting with Cynthia.

It was a secret of Cynthia.

Angele sipped from the fruit tea again.

"What happened? Your face is red. Are you sick again?"

Heli's body trembled slightly and he quickly drank some water. He tried his best to calm down.

"The water is hot and the weather is hot. I'm not sick. One more thing. Andre, do you have basic healing potions? Cynthia wants to buy some healing potions from you. If we're hurt again, we can use the healing potions first before heading to your camp." He stopped for a second and continued, "We already went to many doctors before we found you, no one could heal him. Some even made the situation worse. If we hadn't reached you camp in time, he would have been…"

He did not finish, but the atmosphere got heavy.

Chapter 577: Situation (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

Angele smiled but he did not respond to Heli right away.

"Fra, can you go find us some fruits? You know the place, right? The fruits are good to eat now."

Fra pursed her lips and jumped off the cart.

Angele opened his mouth again after he made sure that Fra had already left the area.

"I don't want the kid to know too much about the church, so I asked her to leave. Alright, I have one serious question for you. Who injured Cynthia?"

Heli looked at Cynthia, Cynthia's fists tightened after hearing those words.

"Next time… I'll kill him the next time… I don't need you to save me!" Cynthia glared at Heli.

Heli was a bit speechless after hearing that.

"Huh? Heli was the one that saved you?" Angele was surprised. He looked at the old mercenary.

Cynthia pursed his lips.

"Well, this guy was… whatever…" He did not finish the sentence.

"I just wanted to help you so I ran to you and picked you up. I didn't even realize I was running with you in my arms." Heli scratched his head. "The strange holy knight didn't catch up."

The atmosphere in the cart got awkward after the conversation.

　　*********************************

In a palace somewhere far from the forest.

The clean floor in the main hall was as reflective as a mirror. The engravings on the walls were nice and beautiful. There was sunlight coming through the openings on the walls which brightened up the whole hall.

There were two groups of people in the main hall. The ones on the left were knights in silver armor and the ones on the right were black robes from the church.

The sunlight was reflected off their outfits and armors, surrounding them with golden glow.

"What's the next topic?" an old man that was sitting in front of the two groups questioned.

One of the black robes stepped forward and responded, "About the wizards in the east. We need to eliminate them."

A knight stepped forward and spoke, "Master Rayton is heading to the east, it won't be a problem."

"Master Rayton headed to the south, I believe. Also, he hasn't finished taking care of the Misfortune Scale yet," the black robe sneered. "If we need more people to go to the east, I can recommend someone to you."

"Master Rayton is the rightful owner of the eastern territory, we don't need your help!" the knight responded in a cold tone; the light around his armor was getting intense. It almost felt like that the intensity of the light would change when the knight's emotions changed.

"Well, that's the problem. We can't just let the wizards do whatever they want in the east." The smile disappeared from the black robe's face.

"I suggest that we send Bishop Angria to the east before the wizards travel to other regions."

"You never learn. Do you even remember what happened the last time? I know you and Bishop Angria are close, but…" another holy knight interrupted.

"We would've won the battle if you holy knights did your job. The Moon Plate was not sealed because you failed your mission!" Another black robe joined the conversation.

"If you sealed the plate, we would definitely stop them…"

"Well, you…"

The conversation turned into an argument and the whole hall got noisy.

"Ugh…" The old man in the seat took off his crown and rubbed his temples.

Several minutes later, the situation was getting out of control. The holy knights and the black robes almost started fighting. Pope realized that he had to stop it so he coughed several times.

The place finally became quiet again. The sounds in the area were all blocked by an invisible force field.

The holy knights and the black robes realized that they should stop. They returned to their positions and the invisible force field disappeared.

Pope picked up a sapphire scepter from the side and tapped the floor with it.

*PA*

The echoing sound was crisp and clean.

Pope put down the scepter and spoke loudly, "Alright, calm down, everyone. Master Rayton just returned to us, we can listen to his report first."

*BAM*

The heavy stone gate of the hall was pushed open.

A tall holy knight in silver armor with golden edges walked into the center of the hall quickly. He stepped on the thick fur blanket, his footsteps loud and heavy.

The holy knight was about two meters tall. There was a long silver hammer on the back of his muscular body. His arms had the width of an adult's leg. He was holding the golden helmet in the right hand, slowly pulling the metal glove off his left hand.

Strangely, there were two long tentacles on the man's cheeks. One was on the left cheek and the other was on the right cheek.

Also, his long white beard was around his chest and the long tentacles were on both sides of the beard.

The white tentacles were so long that they almost looked like part of his beard. The tentacles were waving in the air as the knight walked.

"Master Rayton, you're back…" the holy knights greeted the knight politely. However, the black robes did not even look at the knight named Rayton.

Rayton nodded, stepped forward, and kneeled on one knee. The heavy armor hit the floor and with a loud noise.

"I apologize that I failed to complete the mission." The man's voice was deep but hoarse. It almost sounded like an old man that was talking.

The holy knights were surprised after hearing those words but the black robes were happy about the result.

Pope's brow furrowed.

"So, what happened?"

Rayton lowered his head and thought for a second before responding.

"I almost killed Misfortune Scale, however, I was interrupted by a wizard with a strange bloodline and I lost them after that. Also, Misfortune Scale suddenly recovered from his memory loss. Although I tried my best to stop them, they still escaped. It was my fault."

"Recovered?" Pope narrowed his eyes. "It's not your fault, Rayton. Misfortune Scale has the ability to run and it's nearly impossible for you to stop him from escaping, the problem is we didn't expect him to recover…"

Rayton nodded. "Misfortune Scale won't be activated under normal circumstances, however, when there's pressure, he'll temporarily recover from his memory loss. We suggest that we make a good plan and ambush them."

"I'll let you handle this. You now have the right to give orders to our members in the south." Pope nodded. "Go now, you're the strongest holy knight of the church. God is watching us."

Rayton lowered his head. "God bless us."

　　*********************************

On a mountain that was covered with trees.

In a cave, a group of old men in black robes were sitting in a hall that was narrow and wet. They were all sitting on stone chairs that were white.

The yellow light from the burning torches on the walls was dim. There was a total of nine old men in the stone hall—they just sat there quietly with black leather paper in their hands. They were reading the intel that was recorded on paper. Their expression turned serious as they read through the papers, some of them almost trembling in fear.

Finally, someone opened his mouth. An old man with white hair stood up and spoke in a deep tone, "We need to relocate now! If the holy rings are here, we'll all be eliminated, just like what happened years ago!"

The old man's voice echoed in the stone hall as his word reminded the wizards of the terrifying event. The whole valley was filled up with blood and dead bodies of the wizards.

"How about the Ace shelter?"

"It was destroyed last month…" an old woman with just one arm responded.

"What about Rainbow Valley?"

"No idea. The leader of Rainbow Valley sent us a message, he asked all of us to relocate. There was a battle in the valley and I'm afraid that…"

"Yeah…" The wizard with white hair closed his eyes and he looked depressed.

The wizards remained silent for a while.

"Some say that Ace City will never be destroyed… Do we really have no way to fight against the holy knights?" The old man sat slowly; it seemed like he could not accept the reality.

"Yeah. The holy knights are too strong. The only thing they need is the holy ring. The ring turns them from mortals into wizard hunters," an old man with red hair said in a low voice.

"Also, the holy buff is way too strong, I don't even know how that is possible. Illusions, poison, curses, mind abilities, none of our attacks worked. They can recover from small injuries fast. Their strength, speed, and defense are all increased to an unbelievable level."

The wizards all agreed with what the old man just said.

"It's not the time to praise them, we need to find the next shelter as soon as possible," the old man with white hair interrupted. "The last time a knight with a holy ring found us, we lost more than ten wizards and a lot of golems. We can't let that happen again!"

He raised his scepter and a ball of white light appeared on top of it.

"Inform the leaders of other shelters, we need to find the next shelter and build the barriers. We need to leave before the church finds us. Without the barriers, we won't be able to defeat the ones with holy rings. The holy knights and black robes will crush us like stepping on insects."

"Yes, master!" The other wizards lowered their heads.

Chapter 578: Rescue (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

Several days later.

The sky was dark and the clouds were thick.

There were around ten plates made of bamboo lying on the grass beside the camp. There were black bamboo shoots, white caterpillars, animal fur, and other random items, all bathing in the sunlight.

A girl that was around 14 years old in short leather skirt and tight leather armor was picking the bamboo plates up carefully.

The chilling wind was blowing the girl's long blonde hair, revealing she had a clean and pretty face. There was a thin birthmark on her forehead but it was barely noticeable.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger. The leaves were almost flying on the branches.

"It's about to rain, hurry up, Fra!" A man's voice came from the tent behind the girl.

The man was by the entrance of the tent, watching Fra picking up all the plates.

"Another boring day…" the man said and yawned.

The man had long dark-red hair trailing over his shoulders, an average-looking face, and looked lazy. The mustache on his chin looked a bit strange. It was Angele—he rested for a while after Heli and Cynthia left.

Fra turned around and glared at Angele.

"If you're bored, why don't you come and help me?"

"You can do that by yourself, right?" Angele lay down and looked at the sky. "Fra, I think your body is growing well."

Fra blushed after hearing these words; she slowed down a bit.

The short skirt and the leather armor were both tight; she purchased them when she was 13 years old and the clothes were getting too small for her after she turned 14.

The girl's body was above average for her age—long legs, smooth skin, and slim waist. She almost looked like a well-made doll. Also, her breasts were larger than before and she had cherry-pink lips. Some of Fra's hair was flying in the air.

The girl was young but she might become a beauty after she grew up. The scene of Fra running around and picking up plates was quite interesting.

Angele was looking at the sky but he would glance at Fra from time to time.

"Your birthmark will be completely removed after you apply the potion I made for you on it several more times," he advised. "You were born with the birthmark but it can be removed."

Angele felt happy as he looked at Fra, he felt like that he was treating the girl as his daughter.

Fra was an average-looking girl and her face was covered with freckles. Her skin's condition got worse after she left the town. The sword technique training helped her build up muscles so she never looked like a cute girl from the city.

However, Angele decided to help Fra as they traveled together. He added the potions he made into Fra's diet—the potions made her skin smooth and elastic. He would also burn herbal incense during the night to help her body grow.

Fra's overall condition was improved after several months, she looked just like a girl that was cute and attractive. The only problem was that Angele used too many effective herbs and it seemed like he overdid it a bit.

"Don't you think you're much more beautiful than before? I'm the one who helped you." Angele was proud.

"What does that even mean?" Fra walked to the cart and put the bamboo plates down. "I'll become a legendary knight one day! A legendary knight's body is usually covered with scars. There's no point for me to have nice and clean skin."

Angele sighed speechlessly. "You should be more polite and gentler when talking. If you can do that, you'll be perfect."

He just assumed that Fra wanted a beautiful face and a nice body. He forgot that Fra had always wanted to become a knight.

"I've already told you that." Fra walked to Angele while breathing heavily. The bamboo plates were quite heavy. She put her hands on her waist and said, "I'm going to become a legendary knight!"

"You'll get married one day, kid…" Angele pursed his lips.

"Get married? I don't think so." Fra's expression turned serious. "Actually, we should get married. I'm your woman already, right? Also, my stomach doesn't feel well recently, am I pregnant?"

Angele shook his head. "Pregnant? No… We do sleep in the same cart but we don't even share the same blanket, how do you even get pregnant?" He put his right hand on the forehead. Angele was having trouble explaining everything to her.

"Anyway, you're the only one that would take care of me right now…" Fra looked a bit depressed. "My mother said that it was not hard to bear a child. She told me that it was just like puking. The child will come out of my mouth, right?" Fra continued.

"What are you talking about…" Angele inhaled deeply and was about to teach Fra some knowledge.

"Huh? The weather vane is pointing in the wrong direction." Fra suddenly stepped forward and adjusted the bronze weather vane. Angele was lying on the ground so he could easily see what was under her skirt.

"Come on…" Angele was speechless.

'I've lived for so long that I shouldn't find this young girl sexually attractive…' The girl's legs were right above his head.

'Well, I should probably move…'

Angele turned around and returned into the tent. He was sexually aroused for some reason but he knew that Fra would never become his partner. Fra was a mortal and Angele was a bloodline inheritor, their life expectancy was way too different.

It had been years since the last time he had sex with a woman. Angele put all his efforts into his research; he helped Fra because he was the reason why her family suffered. Although Fra was attractive to him, he always treated her like his daughter.

"That's a problem…" Angele inhaled deeply, a father should never get sexually aroused because of his daughter. He felt guilty that he had such a feeling.

"Hey, why did you go back to the tent? Our conversation hasn't finished yet." Fra's voice came from outside the tent.

"I don't want to do anything inappropriate to you," Angele responded honestly.

"Inappropriate? Well, I can understand. You're a man and I'm a woman…" Fra entered the tent as well. She moved to Angele and lay down.

"I don't mind. My mother said that virginity isn't worth a thing. However, we've been sleeping in the same tent for a long time and you never did anything to me."

Angele still felt speechless after hearing those words.

*RUMBLE*

They suddenly heard thunder rumbling. The first raindrop landed on the tent, it was followed by the second and the third one. The rain got heavy quickly and the noise was extremely loud.

The tent was perfect for two people and the entrance could be sealed. There was a white bed, some clothes, and books in the tent. There was also a small window on the wall; they could see the outside through the window.

Angele sealed the entrance so the rain would not get into the tent. He turned around and saw that Fra already fell asleep. She was sleeping with her legs and arms open, it almost looked like that it was a boy that was sleeping.

He covered Fra with a blanket and it felt like he was taking care of a kid again. Angele enjoyed living with people like Fra. Fra was a simple girl that lost her family... Angele wondered if she would seek revenge in the future. He felt relaxed when Fra was around.

Time passed. The rain was getting heavier and heavier.

Lightning flashed in front of the window and brightened up the dark tent slightly.

Angele noticed that Fra's eyes opened slowly and she was staring at him. It seemed like she was woken up by the lightning and the thunder.

"Green…"

"Huh?" Angele straightened up his back and stood in front of the window with his legs crossed. He watched the rain pour as the forest was blurred by the raindrops in his sight.

"Why did you save me?" Fra suddenly questioned. She thought a lot during the trip.

"Why did I save you? I'm afraid that I can't answer this question." Angele looked out of the window, he thought of Vivian and recalled all the things he did for the wizards.

Fra sat up and looked at Angele.

"I never understood. I asked a girl that was older than me and she taught me a lot. Also, I rethought this whole thing…" She stopped for a second and continued, "Because of me, you can't find a safe place to live, and you had to stay in this forest. We're lucky that we didn't encounter any beast but why are you helping me?" She looked out of the window as well and lowered his voice. "I have nothing to pay you back with. I think you know that."

"Well, I hired you, right? You work for me and I'll feed you. It's a fair trade." Angele smiled. "Don't overthink it, kid."

Angele noticed that Fra hugged him from back before he could finish these words. He could feel the warm body of the girl.

Fra put her head on Angele's right shoulder.

"I'm not a kid anymore," Fra responded in a low voice. "I've read a lot of novels."

She moved closer to Angele as she spoke. Her face blushed and it looked like she was about to cry.

"Girl…" Angele turned around and grabbed Fra's hand.

"You're young and there's a bright future in front of you, also…" he suddenly stopped after seeing the tears that were running down Fra's cheeks.

"I have nothing left… You're the only one that's always by my side…" Fra cried. She sounded confused and helpless.

Fra was scared. The man in front of her had a mysterious background. She thought the man was just a boss of a pawnshop in the town, however, after they traveled together for a while, she realized that the situation was more complicated than she'd thought.

Also, how Angele healed Heli and Cynthia seemed impossible to her. She thought only the God had the ability to heal wounds like that. Fra finally realized that she never knew what the lazy boss was capable of.

She had this strange feeling that Angele was right in front of her but he was from a completely different world.

Fra would wake up at midnight from time to time due to the nightmares that were bothering her. She was desperate and depressed in the endless darkness of the night.

She was scared that Angele would leave without her knowing one night. She was scared that she would no longer be able to find Angele after she woke up at midnight.

"Alright, don't worry…" Angele hugged Fra and rubbed her hair.

"I'm right beside you…"

He looked at Fra's face. The girl was still a kid, however, Fra reminded him of the two other children he had taken care of.

Fra fell asleep in Angele's arms after she got tired.

Angele started thinking as he looked at the heavy rain outside the window.

Chapter 579: Rescue (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

After the day it rained, Fra never asked the question again; she behaved as nothing had happened. Angele decided to sleep in the tent and Fra would sleep in the cart.

If Fra needed to go to town and purchase daily supplies, she would go to the tent and sleep by Angele's side.

Also, Angele finally made some progress on the analysis of the strange force field. Six percent of the analysis was completed.

Time flew. Several months passed in the blink of an eye.

Angele explored the tomb on the other side of the river—the evil souls and dead bodies were all removed by him. He used the dead bodies to feed the fish. Angele modified the tomb and it looked like just like a normal cave now. Fra also helped him clean the place.

They broke the cart into parts and covered them using the tent. They then cleaned the camp and moved into the cave.

Heli and Cynthia visited Angele several times during the time. They asked Angele for help again; their injuries were almost fatal.

Angele also saw a new face in their team, a muscular man named Van. They said that he was an inheritor of an ancient race.

They told Angele that it was a holy knight named Rayton who injured them. They were defeated by Rayton many times.

Angele could see hatred in their eyes as they talked about Rayton.

After Angele moved into the cave, they visited him several more times. Fatal injuries almost became a common thing for them.

　　**********************

In the bedroom of the cave, there was a black oil lamp on the wall. The flame in the lamp brightened up the whole bedroom but the light was a bit dim.

Angele lay in the middle of the bed; he spent four days studying the strange force field. He got so tired that he had to take a rest so he set up a simple rune circle and fell asleep.

Fra was right next to him—the girl was crying in dreams again. She was not restricted by the rune circle that Angele set up and it seemed like she was scared of living in a cave that was previously a tomb; she did not want to sleep alone so she decided to stay with Angele during the night.

*Knock Knock*

Someone knocked on the wooden door quickly. The noise was loud and deep.

Some invisible smoke appeared in the cave when the door was knocked on. The smoke quickly formed a black circle and rotated around Angele's body.

A chilling feel climbed up Angele's spine.

He opened his eyes slowly.

*BAM BAM BAM*

The noise got louder.

Fra opened her eyes as well; she was still sleepy.

"Not again…"

Angele shook his head speechlessly—he just realized that Fra was in his room again. He sat up and got off the bed, putting on a gray robe. He opened the door, walked upstairs, and unlocked the door.

The chilling air entered the cave right away. There was a heavy rain going on and he saw three people in black cloaks standing in front of the door.

"Sorry, we have to visit you again…" The black cloak in the front raised his head. It was Heli, his face was covered with blood.

*PA*

Heli suddenly leaned forward and fell to the ground. He rolled down the stairs and stopped after hitting the floor. Heli's eyes were barely open, his hands were trembling, and he could not even get up.

"Andre, you know my sister, right?"

The other two people almost fell to the ground as well. Angele supported them with his arms and checked the situation outside. The sun was still rising and there was no one else around. He helped them get inside and quickly locked the door.

He dragged Cynthia and Van to Heli. The three lined up on the floor.

Angele crouched and questioned, "What happened to your sister? I assume it's Rayton again."

"Yeah, they captured my sister… Can you help me?" Heli responded. He wanted to grab Angele's hand but he could barely move.

"I'm not severely injured this time, I'm just tired." It seemed like Heli finally learned the truth. "I didn't know that my sister had always been protecting me until today…"

Angele smiled. "So, your sister asked you to come to me?"

"Yeah." Heli stared at Angele, looking confused. "I don't understand why he doesn't want to meet you. I'm always the one that does the talking. However, he said that if you can help me this time, he would consider talking to you face to face."

"He said he would consider?" Angele shook his head, he was not concerned. "There's one thing that you didn't get right. I helped you because of you and your sister, not him. Also, maybe it's an honor for others to meet him in person but I don't care. It won't make me feel better if I can talk to him in person."

Heli looked at Angele. He was not sure how he should respond.

"So, you already know who he is?"

"It's not important," Angele interrupted. "How should I help you?"

"I don't really know." There was a bitter smile on Heli's face. "What can you do?"

Angele rubbed his chin and thought for a second.

"Have some rest and talk to me later." He stood up and headed to a room on the other side.

Heli lay on the ground.

"People all have things they want, all of them! I'll meet him if he's honest." A cold voice echoed in his ears.

"Andre helped us so much, don't you think he already met the requirements?" Heli was speechless.

"No," the voice responded, "I said I might meet him in person because of you… Unless…"

"What? Just tell me. I'll fulfill your request if you can meet Andre face to face." There was dedication in Heli's eyes.

　　*************************

Half an hour later…

In a room with basic medical equipment.

The stone bricks and the floor in the room were all yellow. It was a small room with four white beds for the patients. There was a counter, a table, and some chairs beside the beds.

Heli was sitting by a bed. He glanced at Angele and looked at the brown surface of the table.

There were white scissors, a silver ball, a red triangular card, and a brown metal ring on the table.

"The situation is complicated this time, we need to rescue the hostage from the church. You're a nice guy, Heli, so I'm going to give those items to you…" Angele pointed at the four items on the table.

He grabbed the white scissors. It almost looked like the scissors were made of plaster.

"This is a special tool that can fix one's damaged muscles but it can only be used twice. When I locate the damaged muscles, I'll stab the scissor into the muscle, and the scissors will fix everything for you quickly. Also, if you're severely injured, I just need to stab the scissors into your heart slightly, and you'll not take any damage for one glass hour. All the damage you take during the period will be reflected after the time passed so you must be careful when using it."

*KA*

Angele moved the scissors slightly and made some noise.

"It's an incredible item…" Heli looked at the scissors, a hint of greed in his eyes.

Angele picked up the second item: an egg-sized silver ball.

"This is a special explosive I created, I only have one. Hit the ball on something hard and throw it at your enemy in three seconds. I modified this thing so it shouldn't hurt the one who throws the ball, however, you still need to be careful as it's very powerful…" Angele put down the ball carefully.

Heli was not impressed. He had seen many strong explosives but he knew that he could still use the ball when retreating.

Angele noticed the change of Heli's expression and laughed inwardly. When Heli found out that the effective range of the explosion was over 100 meters and the explosion could deal over 1000 degrees of damage, he would be shocked.

Normal holy knights would be killed instantly if they were caught in the explosion. Angele had fought against a legendary knight; without the holy light, a legendary knight would still be hurt.

Also, Angele already learned that Victor was just an average legendary knight and was slightly weaker than Rayton but the ball would still work on normal holy knights.

"Alright, the third item… This and the ring." Angele picked the two items up.

"They are two items, right?" Heli was a bit surprised.

"You can use them together." Angele chuckled. "If you ignite the card, the smoke from the burning card will double your speed and strength. The effect will last a fifth of one glass hour. Also, if you have the ring with you when burning the card, the smoke will double the recovery speed and defense ability of the people around you. The effective time will also be extended to three glass hours."

Heli's sight locked onto the ring and the card after hearing Angele's explanation.

Angele carefully handed the four items to Heli.

"They are yours now. Rest for a couple days and you can start the mission."

Heli grabbed the items carefully and stood up.

*PA*

He suddenly kneeled in front of Angele to show his gratitude. "Thank you for your help!"

Angele did not expect Heli to do that, he quickly helped Heli to get up.

"I have my purpose. If you succeed, please let me extract some more blood from your body. I won't do that this time so you can save your strength for the mission.

He looked at Heli and scanned the man's body using the biochip.

Heli's bloodline was much stronger than before. Angele already created the fourth mentality crystal after he absorbed the bloodline essence the last time. However, he had not engraved any spell onto the crystal and the bloodline essence no longer worked after he created the crystal.

Angele guessed that maybe Heli's bloodline was still too weak.

What improved his bloodline was combat—his bloodline would be strengthened every time he survived a battle. Also, Angele noticed that Heli's bloodline was about to break the limit.

The "He" Heli talked about was the other persona inside his body, it was a combination of his memory and personality. The persona was called Misfortune Scale, however, Angele was not interested in it. The only thing he wanted was Heli's strengthened bloodline after Heli broke the limit.

He took out all the items that Heli could use from the mirror so the rescue mission would succeed.

"I'm going to have some rest for now."

"Sure."

Heli packed the items up, turned around, and left the room.

Angele sat in the chair. The blue light dots were still flashing in front of his eyes.

"It's about time… If he can survive the mission, it's highly likely that he'll break past the limit…"

Chapter 580: Breaking the Limit (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

Heli's team rested in the cave for a while and left when the night fell. They were still wearing the black cloaks. They quickly disappeared into the forest with the items Angele gave them.

Angele stood by the entrance of the tomb and watched the group leave. He returned to the cave and closed the door after seeing something silver flashing on the far side.

He was about to walk down the stairs and noticed that Fra was looking at him.

"Andre, they are going to do something important, right? I asked them but no one said a thing…" Fra was worried.

"Don't worry. You're too young for that. Their mission can only be completed by adults," Angele mocked.

"Whatever!" Fra's face blushed and made a face at Angele. She then turned around and went to the kitchen. It seemed like she wanted to make some food for the night.

Angele walked down the stairs slowly.

'Should I follow them to the destination…?' Angele was wondering.

Angele thought the situation was much more complicated than they thought. He was a sealed form and had the power level of a rank 8 wizard, however, the church was funded by one of the strongest beings among the realms. The wizards in this area had no way to fight back and the root of the world probably already knew the situation. It was possible that they had a secret agreement.

He assumed that the church had the power to fight back if he decided to join the battle. Sealed forms were strong in weak realms but there were creatures who were stronger than them in other realms.

'A life-threatening experience will make their minds stronger… They should be fine…'

Angele kept walking and peeked into Fra's bedroom unintentionally. He noticed that the girl was hiding something under her pillow.

It was a book with brown cover. There was a line on the page.

Angele's eyesight was much better than mortals' and he could easily read it. His expression changed slightly after reading the line. He turned his head around and glanced at Fra, who was singing while cooking.

"Well, I guess it's understandable since she's a teenager now…" Angele shook his head and headed to the living room.

The line written on the book under Fra's pillow said, 'He was kissing Alice's lips like crazy and his hands were sliding down...'

The book was an erotic novel.

"Wait!"

Fra noticed that Angele was looking into her bedroom and screamed. She realized that Angele might've already found her secret.

"Why are you screaming… Have you finished preparing the food?" Angele sat in the chair with his legs crossed.

Fra stopped yelling and walked to the living room slowly. She sat down in the seat opposite to Angele and put down the food on a wooden table.

The girl was growing fast and the birthmark on her forehead had been completely removed by the potion. Her skin was also nice and clean. She was wearing a pair of tight white pants and a long white shirt. The size of her outfit fitted her body well, her long blonde hair and slim waist made her quite attractive. She looked just like a girl from a noble family in the chair.

Angele glanced at Fra.

"Well, it's common for teenagers at your age to read erotic novels." He grabbed the wine glass from the table and sniffed at the wine. It was refreshing and fruity.

Angele's long red hair trailed over his shoulders, he looked lazy and tired. He leaned against the chair and sipped some fruit wine.

"Marry me, Andre."

"What?" The wine spewed out of Angele's mouth and he quickly put the glass down.

"What did you just say?!" he questioned.

Fra straightened her back.

"Marry me, I said. Am I not attractive to you? I'd rather marry someone I know than a random stranger…" Her face blushed and she sounded shy.

"Aren't you going to become a legendary knight and avenge your family?" Angele almost choked on the wine.

"My targets were all dead… I heard about them a while ago, they were killed by someone in a forest by my town and none of them survived…" Fra was happy that those who killed her family were eliminated, however, she was a bit depressed that she did not get the chance to do it herself.

"I say I'm going to become a legendary knight all the time… But I know it's just a dream…"

Angele looked at the girl, he still remembered the days that the girl dressed like a boy but the situation was completely different. The girl almost had the mind of an adult.

"I've never thought of getting married. Also, it'll be dangerous if you stay with me all the time…" Angele calmed down and explained, "You know that I'm doing random research, right? The explosives I make might blow both of us into pieces."

"You're the only thing I have now… Also, we've slept on the same bed countless times, and I don't think other people will marry me after learning about that," Fra spoke in a low voice.

Angele's brow furrowed, the customs in this area were a bit strange due to the restrictions set up by the church. If Fra decided not to keep her experience secret, it would be hard for her to get married.

Some of the girls here treated their virginity seriously and the situation was totally different in the central continent. The ruler here was the church but the wizards had the power in the central continent.

Angele used to live in a remote area and learned more about it after they escaped the town. They met many people during the trip and acquired more information.

They sat opposite each other; the atmosphere got heavy.

They remained silent for a while. Angele grabbed a bowl of potato soup and took a bite on the walnut bread.

Fra started having food as well.

The only noise in the living room was made by the forks and knives.

Time passed.

Fra cleaned the table after the dinner, she then returned to the living room and stared at Angele. It seemed like she was still waiting for the answer.

"Fra, you're still young…" Angele did not want to hurt Fra's feeling. "You should think twice before making an important decision."

"I don't really care, the only thing I know is that I would be dead already without you. I might die just like my mother." Fra stared at Angele in the eyes, she did not even blink.

In Fra's opinion, Angele was a mysterious man—he was knowledgeable and it felt like that he came from a noble family. All the things he said were reasonable and it felt like that Angele was a perfect person. He was like the main character in a romance novel to a girl that grew up in a small town.

Fra wanted to get married to Angele because she was afraid that the man would leave her without her knowing. She had this feeling that if the man left her, she would never be able to find him.

"We can discuss this after you grow up…" Angele rubbed his temples, the girl was giving him a headache. He knew what Fra was thinking, however, Angele was doing dangerous experiments and releasing radiation energy all the time. It was fine under normal circumstances but he was afraid he would kill Fra by accident if they engaged in a battle.

Angele thought of modifying Fra's body using his bloodline but he was not sure if the method would work. Fra was a mortal, after all: it was possible that her body would be permanently damaged by a strong bloodline.

He needed to find a woman that could handle his bloodline if he wanted to reproduce.

"Alright, let's talk about this later." Angele stood up, turned around, and headed to his room.

Before he reached his room, he heard some loud noise from the entrance.

"Andre!" It was Heli who was shouting anxiously.

Angele's expression changed, he walked to the door quickly and opened it.

Heli was standing outside the door with a fainted woman in black on his back. Heli lost his left ear and right eye. There were several bloody holes on his face and blood was dripping down his chin.

Fra saw Heli's face and screamed.

"Come in, hurry!" Angele stepped to the side and asked them to enter the cave. He noticed that the woman on Heli's back was still bleeding—they left a trail of blood on the ground.

"Go to the medical room, hurry!" Angele shouted.

Heli rushed into the medical room right away and carefully put the woman down on a bed.

"Andre, hurry, my sister is dying!" he shouted anxiously.

Angele put on a pair of white gloves and walked to the masked woman. He checked the woman's condition and gasped.

There were three long wounds on the woman's breast, waist, and stomach. It looked like the wounds were made by a long blade. Her bones were broken and it felt like her skin could fall off her body at any time.

If the woman took one more hit, her body could break into three parts. Her wounds were connected by some white strings and that was the reason why her body was still in one piece.

Heli quickly explained, "I used the white scissors you gave me; otherwise…"

It sounded like he was about to cry.

"I need to check her wounds first!" Angele spoke in a deep tone. He cut the woman's outfit open using a pair of silver scissors and revealed her body, which was soaked in fresh blood.

Chapter 581: Breaking the Limit (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

There was a long and clean cut on the woman's stomach.

Angele could see that her intestines were cut into pieces through the wound; the only thing keeping her alive was the effect of the white scissors.

He reached to the wound and tried to touch it.

*BAM*

A ball of white light exploded at her wound and blocked Angele's hand.

"Damn it! The holy power of the church." Heli saw the light as well, and his face twitched due to the hatred and pain. He clenched his fists so tight that his nails almost stabbed into his palms.

"The injury is severe and this holy power…" Angele was a bit depressed. "Sorry, Heli, her organs and heart were cut into pieces and I can't do anything because of the holy power…"

*BAM*

Heli collapsed after hearing these words.

"There must be a way… There must be…" he kept repeating. His eyes almost looked soulless.

Angele suddenly took one step back after seeing Heli's changes.

His short black hair was growing at full speed and quickly turned to silver. Bright-green light came out of the man's eyes and two green lines appeared on his face. They almost looked like a tattoo. The man's body was changing every second; the scene was quite strange.

"She's my sister. I won't let her die like this…" Heli slowly stood up; his voice sounded like it was from a different person.

Raising his hands, a small scale that was made of white rocks appeared on his palms.

"Scale of Rules… Judgement!" Heli spoke calmly.

*Chi*

The green light in the room got even more intense.

Rays of green light that looked like arrows landed on the woman's body.

The wounds on the woman's body started healing at full speed, including her organs. The holy power was slowly expelled from her body—it seemed like the holy power could not resist the green light.

The scale in Heli's hand slowly leaned to the right side.

*PA*

Blood spurted out of Heli's mouth as he kneeled.

Strings of green lines slowly spurted out of Heli's skin. The lines looked like hair and started growing right away as they surrounded Heli's body.

About ten seconds later, Heli was turned into a large green cocoon.

Angele stood on the side and waited until the green lines stopped moving. He walked to the masked woman and started checking her body using the biochip.

"Her heart is pumping again and everything looks fine. That's unbelievable…" Angele was surprised.

"Her injury was severe but she still survived. The life energy was at the same level as my true form… Also, the best ability of their bloodline was not recovery…"

Angele's sight fell upon the cocoon.

"Scale of Rules… I thought it was Misfortune Scale. I can see that his bloodline is getting strengthened…" Angele was excited, he could feel that his body was trembling in excitement due to this bloodline. It was like fish in the water.

"The fatal injury helped him break the limit… After the cocoon breaks, the process will be completed and I can extract the blood from him…" Angele did the analysis, he was certain that the bloodline of Misfortune Scale would aid him; the proof was that the bloodline essence helped him rank up as a wizard.

"The only thing I can do it wait. I shouldn't interrupt this process…"

The cocoon was weak. However, the thing that was going on inside was complicated and it would be stopped by a simple strike.

"Huh?" Angele suddenly looked to the right. His eyes were surrounded by a red glow—he could see through walls and trees. He was looking at something far from here.

　　********************************

In the forest.

A team of knights in silver armor was traveling through the trees at full speed. Their horses were also fully geared, their eyes surrounded by green glow.

There were around ten knights in the team. The leader was a young woman in golden armor.

"How far is the destination from us, Morin?" the female knight questioned in a loud voice.

"We're almost there, we just need to go over that hill!" a male knight behind her responded.

"We've just finished off some wizards and now we have to deal with those people with bloodline abilities. The wizards are like insects and those people are like rats. Without the barriers, they are nothing to us. I wonder how they protected their inheritors from us," another female knight complained.

"They have ways to survive even if they are rats," the leader responded. "Be careful, everyone, wizards and the people with bloodlines are weak but we need to work in groups. If you're surrounded by more than five people, it'll be a problem."

"What are you afraid of? They can't do anything to us." The female knight snorted. "They will try their best to run if they see us."

"Just be careful." The leader glanced at the female knight. She was not concerned.

"Master Rayton is coming with us this time, there's nothing for us to worry about."

"Those rates are good at running around but they can't do anything to us."

"Let's make this a competition, what do you think? I could've won the last time if you didn't start first, Max."

"Well, you would lose anyways."

The knights were chatting and chuckling.

"Quiet!" The female leader raised her hand and the team quickly stopped talking.

The flames on their torches were waving, they looked like red silk clothes in the air. The only noise left was made by the hooves.

Several minutes later, they found a camp with burning campfire ahead. A tall man was sitting beside the fire; he heard the noise and a surprised look appeared on his face. The man quickly rolled to the side and disappeared into the bushes.

The female leader drew the scimitar and shouted, "A bloodline inheritor! Don't let him go!"

"Go! Hurry!"

The knights shouted and charged into the bushes.

Sadly, the man was just a distraction, he was trying to lead them to the wrong path.

　　*****************************

On the other side of the forest, there was a small team led by Rayton. There were five knights in the team, going after the black shadow ahead.

They were far from their original destination.

"Wait! It's a trap!" Rayton's expression changed as he quickly stopped the horse. "Halt!"

The armored horses slowed down and the team was stopped.

"What happened, sir?"

"We should've continued. We were so close to that guy!"

Rayton raised his hand and stopped the knights from complaining.

"That guy was leading us in the wrong destination, we need to change our direction and head to our original destination as soon as possible.

"Understood!"

The knights agreed, turned around, and started heading to their original destination.

　　***********************

Inside the cave.

Angele was no longer checking the situation in the forest.

He stepped out of the room, closed the door, and slowly took off his gloves.

"I guess Heli's plan failed. This is important to me so I'll have to handle them myself…"

He walked to the door of the cave and gave Fra his gloves.

"Kid, I need to check the situation. I'll be back soon. Just stay in the room."

"Sure." Fra knew that Angele was not playing around so she did not say anything else. She knew how bad Heli and his sister were injured. Fra's face was pale and she was vomiting in the washroom.

Angele opened the door and tightened the black cloak he was wearing. He quickly checked the surroundings.

"No one shall interrupt Heli's progress…" A red glow surrounded his eyes. He closed the door and disappeared into a ball of flames.

　　************************

In the deep forest, a white shadow charged to the Vienna Valley like a white string.

The shadow traveled through the stones, trees, and bushes like they were nothing. The shadow did not make any noise and almost looked like an illusion.

The shadow was a tall knight in white armor; he lowered his body and he was traveling at full speed. There were two long white tentacles on his chin, the chain sickle on his back was also white.

That knight was Rayton, he left the team after he realized that they were tricked because his teammates were way too slow. He was heading to their original destination.

"You chose a path that passed by the base of the church, do you really think I can't track you down?" Rayton sneered.

Suddenly, the knight stopped and grabbed his chain sickle. He looked at a bush in the front with his eyes narrowed.

Angele stepped out of the bush slowly, he was wearing a black robe and his hands were hiding under the sleeves. There was a gentle smile on his face.

"Sorry, I can't let you pass. There's something important going on ahead. Also, this is my territory."

A ball of black smoke appeared behind him, the smoke turned into a black scorpion and started making noises.

"This power… It's similar to the one the scale has… You're also a bloodline inheritor?" Rayton's expression turned serious. "You're nothing but a rat. I don't think your weak bloodline power can stop me."

"Stop you? I'm not just going to stop you…" Angele sneered. "Arrogant bastard, I'll show you the true power of bloodlines!"

Raising his hands, he gripped forward. The black smoke gathered in his hands and turned into balls. It almost looked like that something terrifying was about to be released from Angele's hands.

"How's that even possible?!" Rayton's pupils retracted.

*WOO*

White flames appeared around his body, Rayton opened his mouth and released flashing white light.

Chapter 582: Test (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

*CHI*

The white light released from Rayton's mouth turned into a light arrow and flew at Angele's head. The noise almost sounded like thunder.

The trees and grass around were all brightened up by the light.

However, the light arrow landed on a palm.

*BAM*

The white light dots splashed in the air.

Angele lowered his left hand and the black ball on his palm started expanding.

He raised the black ball and the air around him started twisting. There was black smoke coming out of his ears and mouth, merging into the black ball.

"Go now…"

The black ball floated in the air as it kept moving up and down.

*WOO*

The black ball soared into the sky.

*BAM*

After the loud explosion, the black smoke expanded in all directions and covered the crescent moon. There were countless shadows under the clean moonlight.

The whole sky above the mountains was blocked by the black smoke and there was no light.

A strong and evil power was moving in the darkness. It felt like the whole area was soaked in black ink.

*Neigh*

The horses under the knights started neighing and panicking. Although the knights tried to calm them down, the horses were still trying to escape.

"The moonlight faded away…" The female leader raised her head and looked at the black smoke.

　　**************************

In a mountain somewhere far from the area.

"A wizard… This is the true power of a wizard!"

The old wizards trembled and kneeled. Their vision blurred and they were all staring at the black smoke on the far side.

"The ancestors haven't given up… they haven't!" someone shouted.

The wizards cried in happiness and the shelter got noisy quickly.

　　**************************

In the snow covered mountains.

"What's going on?"

"There are dark clouds in the sky. It might be the wizards again!"

In the forest, a knight rubbed the ring on his hand. White light flashed on the surface of the ring but faded away almost instantly.

"Wait, there's something wrong with my ring. Did the people from Holy Armor give me the wrong thing?"

"My ring has a problem too!"

"Leader, mine too!"

The knights tried to activate their holy rings; however, the rings were not effective at all. The knights got nervous, they kept trying to activate the rings but nothing happened.

The female leader raised her head and looked at the dark clouds. She suddenly recalled the words an old wizard she slain said.

'You don't understand… A legendary wizard's power is much stronger than your holy power! Only the power you can control is the true power… The true power can change rules of the world…'

"Someone prevented us from communicating with God!" The leader lowered her head. She could feel the pressure coming from the source of the dark clouds. "The power is so terrifying that it's changing the rules of this world! Everyone! Follow my order! We need to move!" Raising her hand, she pointed at the source of the dark clouds.

　　*********************

*BAM*

Rayton was blown away. He rolled several times on the ground, leaving a trail behind. He tried to support himself with his hands and get up.

However, Angele's feet already landed on his back.

The black smoke kept coming out of Angele's body as he was standing on Rayton's body.

"Without the protection of your god, you're nothing…" He looked at Rayton and noticed that the man was still trying to activate the holy ring.

"Don't waste your time." Angele's face was covered by the black smoke. "I can easily deactivate this thing, it's not your true power."

"You… Who are you?!" Rayton inhaled deeply and shouted, "You're no wizard!"

His eyes were wide open, his armor and bones were making noises under Angele's feet. It felt like there was a mountain on his back and he could barely breathe under the pressure.

Rayton tried his best to breathe, however, his sight blurred due to the lack of oxygen. Without the holy power, he had no way to fight back.

"You'll be punished! You heretics!" he shouted like crazy.

Angele heard the word and chuckled.

"Well, what if I'm a god too…"

*Crack*

Angele's boots pierced through Rayton's back. The man's flesh and bones broke into pieces. His blood leaked out of his armor and splashed on the ground.

The light faded away from Rayton's eyes. His muscles loosened and he looked like a pile of mud. Rayton was eliminated.

"His soul is gone too… How pathetic…"

Angele looked to the left and jumped forward. He quickly disappeared into the forest.

Several minutes later

Two people stepped out of the bushes on the left. The one on the left had a strong body and the one on the right was slim. They were Van and Cynthia.

"I've never seen a sky like this. I wonder what happened. It's weird," Cynthia spoke in a low voice.

"I guess it's about to rain," Van responded. "It's common in my hometown…" He suddenly stopped talking as they saw a dead body of a holy knight on the ground. The light from their torch illuminated the dead body.

"Wait… That's Rayton…" Cynthia would never forget the knight that injured him numerous times.

"It can't be. It's probably a random knight that had a similar face…" Van was suspicious.

"Rayton is like a monster that never dies. He is fast and strong. There's no way that he would die at a place like this."

"You might be right…" Cynthia agreed.

They walked to the dead body and observed it carefully. They found two long tentacles on his chin.

"Maybe Rayton had a brother?"

"Unlikely…"

They exchanged eye contact and their faces turned pale. If someone could kill Rayton, he would be able to kill them easily.

Suddenly, they heard noise coming from the bushes and a team of holy knights appeared. They were holding torches in their hands and their leader was a female knight.

The knights saw the dead body of Rayton immediately, however, they could not believe that Rayton was dead.

"Rayton?" The female leader confirmed the dead knight's identity through the ring on his finger.

"How's that even possible!" she shouted as fear filled up her mind.

*KA*

She drew a scimitar and stared at the two people standing by the dead body.

The knights all drew their scimitars in fear. They were not here to find the one who killed Rayton, they just wanted a way to relieve their stress.

　　***********************

Angele was traveling in the dark forest, heading back to the cave. Most of the smoke had disappeared from his face and the smoke in the sky was also returning into his body.

He passed through the trees and quickly found the wooden door in front of him.

He walked to the wooden door and pushed it open.

*CHI*

The wooden door slowly opened and the dim yellow light illuminated Angele's pale face. All the dark smoke returned into his body; he walked into the cave, stepped down the stairs, and headed to the medical room.

The room was by the end of the hallway. When he arrived there, Fra was having a nap in front of the door.

Angele did not wake Fra up; he carefully pushed the door open and entered the room.

Inside the room, the green cocoon was much smaller than before and Angele could see the shape of Heli's body. The room was filled up with green smoke—the smoke was from Heli's strange but weak bloodline power.

Angele checked the smoke and noticed the power of an ancestor in the weak bloodline. Also, the power was much stronger than the power he detected before Heli broke the limit.

He walked to the cocoon and sat down with his legs crossed.

Closing his eyes, Angele started absorbing the essence of the ancestor's bloodline slowly.

In Angele's mind, he could see the four mentality crystals in an area that was surrounded by black smoke. The fifth mentality crystal also started solidifying. The fifth mentality crystal was colorless and translucent.

Several hours later.

Angele opened his eyes slowly, but he looked a bit confused.

"It seems like I've found the source, but… The fifth mentality crystal started solidifying but this is not the result I wanted." He felt that he was getting closer to Siva State but he did not know how to proceed. Angele already figured out what the ancestor's bloodline essence was—it was a power that was stronger than his black smoke.

However, the essence had nothing to do with the ancestor's eternal power.

"Ugh…"

Heli's body suddenly moved. He used his hands to pull off the remaining green cocoon on his body and sat down on the bed. "What just happened…"

"Your bloodline has awakened." Angele shrugged and stood up. "Your sister still needs some time to heal and your friends should be fine too. Alright, let's talk about the payment. I need some of your blood again."

"Again…" Heli put his right hand on his forehead, his face was still pale. "I didn't use all your items. Can you take it back so you don't extract too much blood from me?"

"No, it's yours already," Angele refused. "Have some rest now, your friends will return to the cave soon I think. Also, I have a good news."

"What?" Heli was a bit speechless.

"Rayton is dead."

"Good… Wait, what? Say that again!" Heli finally understood what Angele just said.

"Rayton is dead. The legendary holy knight of the church," Angele repeated.

"Are you sure it's Rayton? Not his brother or something?" Heli was shocked. Angele nodded and Heli felt like that he just lost his goal.

"Wait a minute, I need some time…" He stopped Angele from saying anything else, it seemed like he wanted to make sure that he was not daydreaming.

Angele smiled, walked to the door, and looked at Heli, who was still in shock.