Category: The Azure Longsword

Chapter 3: Ghouls

For the Night’s Watch, outside mercenaries were a truly abhorrent existence.

The first reason was their invasiveness.

Wherever there was a hint of an undead anomaly, these outside mercenaries would flock to it.

No matter how the Night’s Watch set up blockades or violently drove them away, they always found a way to infiltrate.

However, as a global supernatural organization, the Night’s Watch paid great attention to its external reputation and couldn’t do anything as evil as directly killing these mercenaries.

The second reason was their lack of discipline.

Even if they followed the Night’s Watch, they wouldn’t listen to the commands of the Night’s Watch knights.

They would rush forward chaotically when the battle was going well, and flee faster than anyone else when the tide turned.

Sometimes they would even lure monsters to the Night’s Watch’s lines or steal their equipment, causing the Night’s Watch knights endless headaches.

The third reason was their weak strength.

This was the original sin. If these mercenaries were strong enough, the previous shortcomings wouldn’t even be shortcomings.

The Night’s Watch knights had long since reached a tacit understanding on how to deal with these outside mercenaries, which was to keep them behind, within their sight, to prevent them from running around and attracting monsters.

At the same time, they wouldn’t let them enter the Night’s Watch knights’ battle lines, to avoid interfering with their combat.

For the outside mercenaries, not being able to run around was a bit frustrating, but following behind the Night’s Watch allowed them to pick up some loot left after the battle, which was still somewhat profitable.

Of course, this model was like lions hunting in front and hyenas following behind to pick up scraps. It was no wonder that the Night’s Watch knights had a completely contemptuous and dismissive attitude towards mercenaries.

Soon, the Night’s Watch knights acted according to the orders from above. The Sun, Moon, and Morningstar knights went to clear out the undead creatures according to their assigned combat areas.

As the weakest branch, Morningstar was assigned the coastal area leading to Pyramos, where ghouls and drowners roamed, relatively easy to deal with.

Although their claws were sharp and carried corpse poison, the knights were covered in powered armor and naturally weren’t afraid of this threat.

A few hours later, Knight Commander Quasimodo, leading the six Night’s Watch knights of the Morningstar Third Squad, was cautiously advancing along the coastal road, holding their guns.

Due to the significant reduction in manpower, the team could only optimize their equipment load. The heavy rotary machine gun and RPG rocket launcher couldn’t be carried. In the end, the team chose a configuration of 4 laser rifles, 2 shotguns, and 1 flamethrower, balancing the team’s overall attack frequency, damage, and sustainability.

Seeing that they were about to approach the dangerous area on the map, Knight Commander Quasimodo quickly ordered:

“Lorant, Roger, Caris, occupy the high ground at 1 o’clock. Langres, guard the pass between the two high grounds with heavy weapons at 12 o’clock. The rest of you, follow me in a V-formation and advance towards the high ground at 11 o’clock.”

So the knights quickly acted according to the command. Someone suddenly asked:

“Quasimodo, what about those mercenaries behind us? Should we command them as well?”

“Don’t worry about them.” Quasimodo paused. “Jalevin, you stay at the back of the team and keep an eye on them. If they try to disrupt our formation, one warning shot, and if they do it again, you shoot to kill.”

“Okay.” Night’s Watch Knight Jalevin said.

At the same time, in the Azure Longsword mercenary group behind them, Asker also began to deploy tactics:

“Peggy, Mia, occupy the hill at 2 o’clock. There’s a big tree there, Mia, you climb to the top of the tree, and then let Miel out to support.”

“Eleanor, Sidlipha, you take an arc to avoid the Night’s Watch knights and go to the bottom of the hill at 2 o’clock to wait.”

“Medea, Thira, you go to the 1 o’clock direction, keeping a distance from the Night’s Watch knights in front. After they occupy the high ground there, you follow the edge at the bottom of the high ground and circle counterclockwise to the front of the high ground.”

“Nuo, come with me, the rest of you keep in touch by radio at all times. Understand?”

“Understood!” The girls responded loudly.

With one order, the Azure Longsword members quickly split into four groups and headed towards their respective target locations.

Peggy and Mia ran the fastest and arrived at the hill at 2 o’clock in a few minutes.

Although this hill was slightly lower than the high ground in front, because there was a large tree at the top, the top of the tree was actually the highest point in this area.

Peggy stopped at the foot of the tree. Mia, in the Shadow Realm, jumped between the fragmented shadows of the leaves and quickly reached the top of the tree.

She gave the signal, and Miel immediately teleported from Furnace Island, nimbly grabbing the branch next to her.

“Come here, Miel.” Mia called out to her. “This branch is the strongest, it can support the weight of both of us.”

So Miel jumped over – she had wood elf blood, and her agility in the treetops was comparable to that of an ape.

Coming to Mia’s side, she tried shaking the branch under her feet.

It was strong enough.

“Treetop team in position!” The two girls said in unison over the radio.

“Hill team also in position.” A few minutes later, Eleanor and Sidlipha also arrived at the bottom of the hill and greeted Peggy above.

“We’re actually the slowest.” Medea shrugged as they moved forward.

Thira silently stretched out her right hand from her sleeve, and the mithril circuit on the surface of her skin suddenly lit up.

Levitate.

Medea immediately felt her weight disappear. With a light push of her feet, her body could immediately leap up.

“A supernatural ability of Storm I?” She asked, turning her head.

“Only lasts for 3 minutes.” Thira nodded.

“That’s enough.” Medea sped up.

“The two Night’s Watch knights in front looked back.” Thira reminded her.

“It’s okay.” Medea said, “As long as we don’t get too close, I’ll monitor their thoughts.”

Thira knew that she was a psychic with mind-reading abilities and could sense the other party’s level of alertness, so she didn’t ask any more questions.

Seeing the two knights ascend the high ground, Thira and Medea circled counterclockwise along the edge at the bottom of the high ground.

As soon as they arrived in front of the high ground, they were startled by the sight in front of them.

On the plain below the high ground, about 100 meters away, there were at least a hundred ghouls wandering around.

Their skin was dry, their hair was scorched yellow, and their fingernails extended from their fingers like the sharp claws of beasts.

Most of the ghouls crawled on all fours, while some walked on their hind legs like wild men in the mountains, their mouths grinning to an exaggerated degree, with sickly greenish saliva flowing out.

“What disgusting monsters.” Thira couldn’t help but say in disgust.

Medea was fine. The atmosphere in the Seljuk supernatural world was relatively open. There were plenty of people who desecrated corpses and messed with demons or devils. She had seen many ghouls even more disgusting than this, so she just said cautiously on the radio:

“Asker, the front line team is in position.”

“Miel, how’s the view from the treetop? Can you see Medea and Thira?” Asker came to the hill at 2 o’clock with Nuo, met up with Peggy, and then shouted towards the tree.

“Vision okay.” Miel set up her sniper rifle and replied. “Medea and Thira are in sight, confirmed.”

“Okay.” Asker finally said, “Everyone, get ready, listen to my command!”

On the other side, the Night’s Watch knights were also in position.

Knight Commander Quasimodo, along with four other knights, ascended the high ground to the left of the pass. He looked back and saw that the people from the Azure Longsword mercenary group had all hidden on a small hill far away.

“Cowardly hyenas.” He thought contemptuously.

On the plain in the distance, many ghouls had noticed the figures on the high ground and stood up curiously.

Because of the distance and the fact that the ghouls were upwind, they were currently only alert and didn’t immediately charge towards them.

“Asker…” Seeing many ghouls standing up and looking towards them, Thira and Medea couldn’t help but feel a little afraid, and asked on the radio, “Shouldn’t we move further away? This distance… isn’t very safe, is it?”

“No, your task is to lure the monsters, it won’t work if you’re too far away.” Asker replied.

Lure the monsters? The two girls’ faces instantly turned pale.

He actually wants us, two non-combat professions, to lure the monsters!

For a moment, Thira even felt that she had made a huge mistake – she shouldn’t have joined this Azure Longsword mercenary group!

“Asker, you bastard! Are you kidding me?!” Medea roared in the mental channel. “We are an Arcane Mage and a Psychic, neither of us are professions that excel at close combat, how can we go to the front line to lure monsters! You’ll be responsible if something happens!”

“I’ll be responsible.” Asker replied.

“Can you afford to be responsible?” Medea was almost going crazy.

“I’m the captain, if I’m not responsible, who is?” Asker said with a chuckle. “At least give me some basic trust?”

“Trust?” Medea was almost speechless. “Have you ever done anything to earn my trust?”

“Yes, have you forgotten about the Conspiracy formula?” Asker said with a smile.

The Conspiracy formula… Medea suddenly remembered Asker’s slick operation, using the supernatural characteristic of the Conspiracy Sequence to sense malice and completing a classic long-distance negotiation (extortion).

Thinking back carefully, every time she clashed with this guy, she seemed to end up being ruthlessly slapped in the face.

For example, when they first met, he forced her to sign a soul contract. She pretended to write on her sleeve, but he immediately saw through it and mocked her. In the end, she could only honestly sign the contract and sell herself to him.

For example, during the first team meeting, when they exchanged esoteric knowledge, she questioned whether he had mastered the knowledge of the bloodline paths, but he casually recited a long list of potion combination information, making her look like a fool.

And for example, during the process of capturing Furnace Island, she questioned whether he could successfully trigger her frenzy, because her body would erupt in flames exceeding 1000 degrees Celsius the moment she was touched by a man.

As a result, he backhanded her with a slap and triggered her frenzy unharmed… Although it was not meant to be insulting or malicious, thinking about it now, it really hurt!

Okay, this guy was really something, almost always able to predict things, every plan achieving the desired effect.

But it was so infuriating, why didn’t she burn this guy to death with fire? Medea decided to learn from Nuo and buy a small notebook to record all the times Asker had bullied her.

“Can you cast that Levitate again?” Medea said bitterly.

“Yes.” Thira replied hesitantly.

“I need to warm up my legs and feet.” Medea began to warm up, alternately pressing her legs and moving her ankles. “Otherwise, if I sprain my ankle or fall while running away later, I’ll be dead for sure.”

“Don’t say such unlucky things!” Thira said hurriedly. “I… I’ll do it too.”

At the top of the high ground on the right, the three Night’s Watch knights, holding laser rifles and shotguns, were waiting for Knight Commander Quasimodo’s instructions.

“What are they doing?” Roger glanced at the two girls below the high ground, who were jumping and stretching, and asked in confusion, “Are they dancing?”

“Don’t mind those crazy girls.” Lorant stared at the ghoul horde in the distance and reminded him, “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.”

So Knight Roger also recited the razor principle, removing these irrelevant thoughts from his attention.

Finally, Quasimodo’s order came:

“All laser rifles, free fire!”

Instantly, the sound of electric arcs piercing the air rang out, and four crimson laser beams shot out, hitting the densest part of the ghoul horde.

It was like a spear poking into a hornet’s nest, the entire ghoul horde exploded.

Countless ghouls rushed madly towards the high ground. They were on all fours, running as swiftly and agilely as cheetahs, their mouths wide open, revealing snake-like long tongues and saliva, flicking like whips as they ran at high speed.

“Medea, listen up!” Asker said on the channel. “Use your Desire ability to manipulate the hunting desire of these ghouls and attract their attacks.”

“Asker!” Medea almost knelt down on the spot for him. It was bad enough that she had to stand here and lure the monsters, but now she had to use her Desire ability to lure them? Was he trying to get them killed faster?

“At their speed, it’s at least ten meters per second, right? If we attract them, the two of us won’t be able to escape at all!”

“Thira can use Levitate to increase your escape speed.” Asker said calmly. “We will also provide long-range support, we won’t let the ghouls actually catch you.”

“Are you really sure?” Medea said tearfully.

“Yes.” Miel replied.

“Okay!” Since the two in the team had said so, Medea no longer hesitated and said resolutely, “Thira, cast Levitate on me!”

Supernatural power flowed along the mithril circuit, and the two instantly felt their weight disappear.

At the same time, Medea spread her right hand and made a grasping gesture towards the ghoul horde in front of her.

The mental bodies of the undead were incomplete, mainly composed of the id hidden in the decaying corpses.

Medea’s Desire ability directly acted on the id, so it had an immediate and significant effect.

All the ghouls changed direction frantically during their charge, heading straight for Medea and Thira.

Chapter 2: Outsiders

“Your camp will be set up here for the time being. In four hours, we will go and clear the nearby transcendental anomaly area.” Quasimodo found an unoccupied open space outside the tent cluster for the group and said.

“Thank you.” Asker replied with an impassive face. “By the way, can we trade with the Night’s Watch?”

“Generally speaking, we don’t open trade to outside mercenaries.” Quasimodo refused.

“Since it’s ‘generally speaking,’ it means there are exceptions, right?” Asker said with a smile.

Night’s Watch Knight Quasimodo sighed, suddenly pressed hard on his shoulder, and said fiercely:

“Listen, I know you mercenaries too well. You’re like flies drawn to blood, always buzzing around the edge of the battlefield, never letting anyone rest.”

“When you encounter weak supernatural creatures, you swarm them like bees; when you encounter powerful and evil undead, you run faster than anyone else, without any honor or shame that a warrior should have!”

“The reason we let you in is not because we are willing to accept you, but because we are worried that you will cause trouble behind us, because you are more likely to mess things up than to achieve anything, understand?!”

“If you are obedient enough and follow behind us Night’s Watch, I don’t mind letting you pick up some scraps of loot, but that doesn’t mean I will tolerate your reckless behavior.”

“My patience is limited. And you definitely don’t want to see what I look like when I lose my patience.”

He left these threatening words, shoved Asker forcefully, and turned to leave.

Asker took half a step back to steady himself, then stretched out his right arm and stopped Peggy, who had already drawn her sword and was about to charge forward.

“Let me go, I’ll kill him!” Peggy turned her head, revealing her sharp little canines.

“Patience, Peggy.” Asker said calmly.

“Aren’t you angry, Asker?” Mia said angrily from the side. Not only her, but the other girls also looked as if they had been greatly insulted. They all stared at Asker, waiting to see how he would respond.

“I’m not angry.” Asker said calmly. “If you get angry now because of someone else’s contempt, will you be complacent when they turn around and worship you later?”

“You are all adults, you should learn to focus on your own affairs and not be swayed by the opinions of others, understand?”

“I understand.” Mia suddenly looked enlightened. “So you adults must remain calm in the face of both praise and humiliation. Only an underage and vengeful little girl like me can retaliate for grievances and avenge grudges, right? I’ll sneak into his tent and steal all his money and clothes!”

As she said this, she was about to walk forward, but Asker pressed her head and turned her around forcefully.

“I didn’t tell you to act up just because you’re young.” Asker said, both amused and annoyed. He put on a serious face and said to everyone, “Have you finished today’s practice? Do you still have time to be angry with others?”

“Eh!!!” The girls whined in unison, their voices full of dissatisfaction.

Back on Furnace Island.

“This is truly amazing.” Thira stood alone at the edge of the mountaintop, looking at the stretching forests, rivers, and sea below, and couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.

No matter how many times she came here, she couldn’t help but be amazed by the existence of this semi-plane. Who would have thought that this island in the ocean, no different from reality, was actually located in an independent plane fragment?

How did such a precious spatial treasure fall into the hands of the Azure Longsword mercenary group?

She sighed softly and began to calculate again in her heart.

Being a mercenary had no future. From the Night’s Watch’s attitude towards them today, one could see that mercenaries had a reputation for being unscrupulous and money-grubbing throughout the continent.

Even if her true identity were exposed one day, the fact that she had been a mercenary would definitely become a stain on her background.

However, she had no other choice. Because when she was in Constantinople, she was already under house arrest. Not only did the Orthodox Church not support her, but even the forces under her command had been almost completely purged by Zoe.

If she hadn’t agreed to join Azure Longsword, she would probably have been immediately abandoned in Constantinople, discovered by the authorities, and lost her freedom again, becoming the so-called “former Empress.”

Of course, considering that Constantinople had now fallen, her title should probably add another word: of a fallen nation.

What value did the title of a former empress of a fallen nation have? The only way out was probably to use this noble body with the Solomon royal bloodline and regain power through means such as marriage.

Even so, the difficulty of accomplishing the ultimate task of restoring the country was still as difficult as ascending to heaven.

And what Asker said that day did provide her with another possibility: using the upcoming magic tide to quickly increase her own strength.

If she could reach level 20 or above and become a demigod, then the possibility of restoring the country would be greatly increased.

With the support of the magic tide, a demigod could almost rival an entire elite army.

By then, if she returned to the Siris province, regained power with her strength, and then plotted to restore the country, wouldn’t it be much easier?

“Anyway, you have nothing to lose, Theodora, you have nothing left.” She murmured, looking at the horizon where the sea met the sky.

“Let me drown in this illusory dream…”

“Thira!” The nun’s clear and pleasant voice came from the distance. “Swordsmanship training is starting! Asker told you to come quickly!”

“Okay!” Thira responded loudly and took out a mask from her sleeve, slowly putting it on her face.

It was the mask symbolizing the hero Odysseus in ancient Siris drama.

…

In the real world, a remote video conference was being held in the Night’s Watch command tent.

“The anomaly is centered around the village of Pyramos, with a range of about 40 square kilometers.”

“From the images taken by the Eye of Mercury, a darkness with zero visibility has appeared in the center of the village, which can be confirmed as the undead curtain caused by the descent of the Netherworld.”

“We have found a large number of active ghouls on the periphery of the anomaly, with traces of soil on them. They should have recently emerged from the graveyard outside the village.”

“No higher-level undead creatures have been found so far, but it’s hard to say if we go deeper. Further reconnaissance intelligence is pending the return of the scouts on the front line.”

On the other side of the screen was the Night’s Watch headquarters in Florence. After listening to Commander Bryce’s report, the headquarters quickly replied:

“Understood, Commander Bryce.”

“Please continue to maintain cautious peripheral reconnaissance, do not rashly go deeper.”

“We have applied to access the Church’s historical database in Milan and have found another possible clue.”

“The village of Pyramos in the Siris province was once an ancient high elf port city in the First Age, called ‘Thalasso-Casados,’ which means ‘place of resurrection from the other side’ in Elvish.”

“There was an Elven transcendental organization called the ‘Other Side Cult’ here. They devoted themselves to studying undead supernatural powers, hoping to open a passage between the Netherworld and the main plane.”

“Due to the Elven extinction event at the end of the First Age, we cannot find more truth from the dusty history. Currently, we only know that in the Second Age, this area was under the jurisdiction of the human Macedonian kingdom.”

“When Alexander the Great suppressed the Siris rebellion, the army he led also encountered an undead anomaly incident here, which was eventually suppressed by Alexander himself.”

“Alexander the Great at that time was already at the peak of the Law Rank, a level 20 Destruction Warlock. According to records, he encountered attacks from banshees, wraiths, and black knights during the process of suppressing the anomaly.”

“Therefore, please be fully prepared, especially for dealing with high-level undead.”

Bryce was silent for a moment and nodded. “I’ll have the Night’s Watch be careful.”

“Stay in touch at all times, Commander. May you return safely.” The other side of the screen said finally and cut off the communication.

Standing in front of the command table, Commander Bryce folded his arms and fell into silent thought.

The current magic tide level would suppress all undead below level 5. With the current strength of the Night’s Watch Eastern Legion, they should have been able to handle it based on their original estimation.

However, according to the bad news from headquarters, there might be high-level undead inside, such as banshees, wraiths, and black knights.

Even at level 5, the banshee’s mental scream and the wraith’s possession still posed a great threat to powered armor knights.

Not to mention the black knights. As undead proficient in martial arts, even if their physical strength was not much different, a single black knight could kill more than a hundred ghouls of the same level.

This was definitely going to be a tough battle.

Then the original strategic plan would inevitably have to be adjusted accordingly.

“Raise the emergency level to S3.” Bryce finally ordered, giving instructions through the communicator.

The news of the emergency level being raised quickly spread throughout the tent cluster like wildfire. Many knights and priests showed surprised expressions.

Emergency Level S3 meant that only official Night’s Watch knights could participate in suppressing the anomaly, and all knight squires were excluded.

It also meant that the danger level of this undead anomaly was beyond imagination, to the extent that it could cause heavy casualties to knight squires.

It should be noted that the senior knight squires of the Night’s Watch almost all had more than three years of military training background, and a single armed assault squad could take down a whole band of bandits.

Even knight squires were not allowed to participate in the suppression, how dangerous would this undead anomaly be?

When the news reached the Morningstar Third Squad, Knight Commander Quasimodo immediately called an emergency meeting with his subordinates.

The Night’s Watch knights were divided into three branches: Sun, Moon, and Morningstar, their strength decreasing in that order, and the proportion of official knights was also smaller.

Take the Morningstar Third Squad for example, there were 20 people in total, but excluding the knight squires, there were only 7 official Night’s Watch knights left.

“Without the support of the squires, our knights’ firepower projection is too weak!” Knight Lorant protested. “What about my rotary machine gun? Do I have to carry the ammo box myself? Without sufficient ammunition support, the machine gun is just a pile of scrap metal!”

“And the shield blockade? Who will install and debug it? We are wearing powered armor, our fingers can’t operate the equipment flexibly! Do we have to exit the armor on the battlefield to set up the shield?” Another knight, Langres, also complained.

“This is the commander’s order.” Knight Commander Quasimodo said helplessly. “If the casualties are too heavy, even if this undead anomaly is suppressed, our Night’s Watch Eastern Legion will be severely weakened.”

“The problem now is that if we don’t bring the squires in, it will be us knights who will suffer casualties!” Lorant said angrily. “How can a seven-person squad protect themselves in an anomaly of this level? Are the commander and the staff all idiots!”

“It’s not just 7 people.” Quasimodo was silent for a moment and suddenly said, “There is a team of outside mercenaries, 9 people, they will be acting with us this time.”

“Outside mercenaries?!” All the Night’s Watch knights were shocked.

Volume Two: Fury of Arcane, A Tragic Ballad

Chapter 1: Night’s Watch

“Mercenaries?” The knight’s gaze swept over the group, lingering on Miel’s sniper rifle for a moment, his tone seemingly dismissive.

“Is there a supernatural event up ahead?” Asker asked with a smile, leaning against the roadblock.

“That’s none of your business, civilian.” The Night’s Watch knight said coldly.

“No, all adventures concern us.” Asker chuckled. “We are mercenaries.”

“I know you are mercenaries driven by profit, but this undead anomaly has nothing to do with you.” The knight said coldly. “The reason why this roadblock is here is because of a Netherworld intrusion incident in the village of Pyramos up ahead.”

“Netherworld intrusion?” Nuo asked curiously.

The knight frowned and glanced at her, sneering sarcastically:

“Ah, so not just pure mercenaries, but also scholars with overflowing curiosity?”

“Listen, the Netherworld is a secondary plane parallel to the main plane – of course, theoretically parallel, but overlaps can occur under certain circumstances.”

“At this time, the evil undead from the Netherworld will use the overlapping entrance between the two planes to rush into the main plane and wreak havoc.”

“So understand? There’s no lost wealth, legendary treasures, or super-rich nobles in distress here… only a bunch of moving, extremely dangerous corpses, and the Night’s Watch who are here to send them back to their final rest.”

“I understand.” Asker said, “Since you’ve said so, let’s be frank: we’re here for the transcendental materials.”

The knight looked surprised, staring at him for a moment, seemingly astonished that he knew the term “transcendental materials.”

“If that’s the case, then come in.” The knight sighed helplessly and stepped aside to make way.

So Asker opened the roadblock and beckoned the girls to follow.

Peggy came to his side and whispered, “Asker…”

“It’s okay.” Asker sensed her worry. “The Night’s Watch only deals with evil undead Transcendents.”

“That’s right.” The knight turned around and said, “If any of you are undead Transcendents, as long as you don’t do evil, you have nothing to fear in front of the Night’s Watch.”

The knight led the group to a hill where countless tents were pitched, the Night’s Watch banner fluttering at the top.

Guarding the mountain path were two armored knights, holding rifles and shields. Seeing the group approaching along the mountain path, both knights looked surprised.

“Quasimodo.” One of the knights said, “Are these mercenaries from outside? You should know that because of the last incident, the commander is very annoyed with mercenaries, and this time he doesn’t want any outside forces interfering in our operation.”

“There’s no other way.” The Night’s Watch knight, Quasimodo, replied. “If they really want to come in and investigate, we can’t stop them with these few people – and we can’t just shoot them.”

“Then we can’t just let them in.” The other knight said discontentedly, his gaze sweeping over the people behind him, and he frowned, asking, “What’s the name of your mercenary group?”

“Azure Longsword.” Asker replied.

The Night’s Watch knight said coldly, “Wait here.”

He turned around and went to the top of the hill to find the commander.

After about ten minutes, the Night’s Watch knight returned.

“Come with me.” He said directly.

Walking into the cluster of tents, they saw knights in powered armor everywhere, and clerks in white coats were working around the powered armor, welding frames, debugging circuits, and painting.

“My powered armor exoskeleton always makes a clicking sound when I walk.” A knight complained.

“Maybe the buffer rubber ring is aging, I’ll try replacing it with a new one.” The clerk next to him said.

Eleanor stared at the powered armor, her eyes seemingly in a trance.

Powered armor, the classic equipment of feudal knights. It could perfectly withstand sword slashes and bullet shots, and could also provide the wearer with a great increase in explosive power and endurance.

Her father had such a powered armor, with blue and white diamond-shaped heraldry paint, majestic and imposing.

Her elder brothers, Ludwig and Henry, also received a set of powered armor at their coming-of-age ceremony.

Only she didn’t.

This was also the reason why she left her family’s territory in a fit of anger to go on an adventure.

Eleanor remained silent. Sidlipha’s eyes lit up, and she almost drooled. She pulled Asker’s arm and whispered:

“Asker, can I also get a set of powered armor? If I wear this in battle, I’ll be invulnerable, right?”

“No.” Asker refused directly. “Powered armor will amplify and solidify your strength and endurance. You are still in a period of rapid growth in strength, wearing powered armor is not good for your development.”

“Oh.” Sidlipha was a little disappointed.

Quasimodo, the Night’s Watch knight who was leading the way, turned around and glanced at Asker in surprise upon hearing this.

The Night’s Watch organization was divided into two main sequences: the Knight Sequence, responsible for frontal combat, and the Priest Sequence, responsible for scientific research and maintenance. Among them, only the Knight Sequence could wear powered armor.

However, after newcomers joined the Night’s Watch, even if they chose the Knight path, they couldn’t wear powered armor before undergoing long-term military training and meeting the standards.

The Night’s Watch high-ups’ explanation for this was: “Adapting to powered armor combat too early is not conducive to one’s own strength development.”

This statement from the high-ups coincided with what this guy named Asker had explained, so Quasimodo couldn’t help but take a few more glances at this team leader.

This guy actually had some insight, perhaps he had a background in a formal military organization.

Could he be from the Purgatory’s Jailer or the Abyss’s Overseer, which were as famous as their Night’s Watch?

He shook his head and banished these distracting thoughts from his mind, because there was a famous razor principle in the Night’s Watch creed, which was:

Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.

People were used to understanding it as: Don’t overthink things if you can’t currently confirm the truth.

Arriving at the commander’s tent, the Night’s Watch knight Quasimodo had already put away his thoughtful expression, his face returning to its usual coldness, and said indifferently:

“The commander wants to see you, please put your weapons in the box outside first.”

Asker was the first to take off his sword and pistol and put them into the open empty box beside the tent.

Seeing that their leader had done so, the girls followed suit, taking off all their weapons.

Quasimodo exited his powered armor and led the group into the tent.

Inside the tent, on the huge command table, there was an electronic sand table with a topographic map. A middle-aged man with a cigar in his mouth, wearing a brown leather jacket, was staring at the topographic map intently.

“Knight Commander Quasimodo of the Morningstar Third Squad, reporting with the foreign mercenaries!” Quasimodo said loudly, placing his right fist on his chest.

“Bring them in.” The middle-aged man said.

“Yes.” Quasimodo stepped forward a few steps, turned around, and said sternly to the group, “This is Commander Bryce Glade of the Night’s Watch Eastern Legion, please mind your words and actions!”

“No need for that, Knight Commander Quasimodo.” Bryce Glade, Commander of the Night’s Watch Eastern Legion, looked up from the command table and examined these unfamiliar mercenaries.

All armored, equipped with swords and spears, they were a relatively well-equipped small mercenary group in the mercenary world.

Hmm, why were most of them women?

Bryce raised his eyebrows, his scrutinizing gaze sweeping over Miel, Mia, Peggy, and Thira in turn.

These were obviously still children, right? Underage mercenaries? What the hell?

Even the experienced commander of the Night’s Watch was now baffled by the strange gender ratio and age distribution of the Azure Longsword mercenary group.

Composing himself, he decided to follow the razor principle and not delve into these details. He just said seriously:

“Azure Longsword mercenary group, is it?”

“Yes, Commander.” Asker said gently. “We hope to join the Night’s Watch’s exploration team this time.”

“We generally don’t accept outside mercenaries.” Bryce said lightly, his sharp eyes like a hawk fixed on him. “Unless there’s a reason we have to.”

“Reason? Yes.” Asker said with a smile. “We’re strong enough.”

The tent instantly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Commander Bryce remained expressionless, Knight Commander Quasimodo looked skeptical, and the girls averted their gazes in embarrassment.

Yes, the Azure Longsword mercenary group was indeed very strong, but 99% of their strength came from their leader, Asker himself.

“Oh, how strong?” Bryce asked calmly.

“Measured by physical strength, Stamina, it’s about level 2 on average.” Asker replied.

This was actually true.

In terms of levels, there were both level 3 Transcendents and level 1 rookies in the team.

In terms of attributes, after the battle in Constantinople, the girls had digested a lot of supernatural power, and their basic attributes were far superior to those of normal adult men, even higher than those of ordinary level 1 Transcendents.

Of course, in terms of real skill, Asker’s strength was far beyond measure.

Bryce was a little surprised upon hearing this. He didn’t expect that this unremarkable little mercenary group leader would also know the supernatural term “physical strength.”

He showed a noncommittal expression and silently activated Spirit Appraisal, scanning the mercenaries in front of him.

The ones with the strongest spirituality were the team leader named Asker, the thief girl (Mia), and the red-haired beauty (Medea). The intensity of their spiritual pressure was roughly equivalent to that of a level 3 Transcendental.

In the Night’s Watch organization, level 3 Transcendents had basically graduated from being squires and could be promoted to official knights. In other words, their strength was equivalent to that of a Night’s Watch knight.

Next were the female warrior with a spear and shield (Eleanor), the girl in chainmail (Peggy), and the masked girl (Thira). These three were level 2, roughly equivalent to the strength of senior knight squires.

Finally, there were the battle axe warrior (Sidlipha), the gunman (Miel), and the nun (Nuo), who were only about level 1, their strength equivalent to that of rookie squires.

2 official knights, 4 senior squires, and 3 rookie squires. Even in the Night’s Watch, this was a sufficient configuration for exploration.

Even without supernatural characteristics, with their physical qualities far exceeding those of ordinary people, enhanced by supernatural power, they were qualified to participate in this exploration operation.

But their discipline was uncertain. If they were the type to disobey orders, they would be time bombs in an undead anomaly incident. The stronger their strength, the greater the damage they would cause.

However, most of this Azure Longsword mercenary group were girls? They didn’t look like the unruly type.

Commander Bryce pondered for a moment and said:

“Quasimodo, since you brought these people in, let them join your Morningstar Third Squad.”

“You will be responsible for anything that happens.” He made the final decision.

Chapter 71 : Volume 1 Epilogue: The Fall of Constantinople and the Rise of Azure Longsword

Author: Anna Comnena Achilles

Written in the year 6261 of the Sixth Age

…

In the year 273 of the Third Age, when Caesar crossed the Rubicon, history records him sighing:

“The die is cast.”

In fact, no one understood the meaning of this sentence better than Caesar.

Before he first became a priest, Caesar was the most seasoned gambler in Solomon City. Not only in the gambling dens, but also in the political arena of Solomon.

The Rubicon River, north of Solomon City, was his last psychological defense line. According to the ancient Republic of Solomon, any general who led troops across the Rubicon without the permission of the Senate was considered to have completely rebelled against Solomon City.

Crossing this river meant that he would either wipe out all the rebellious senators and become the supreme dictator of the Republic of Solomon, or become a traitor to Solomon and die a despicable death, despised by all.

If he chose not to cross the river, the outcome of his return would likely be assassination, or, more likely, reaching an agreement with some senators, stripping himself of his military power through a grand triumph, and becoming a “good dog kept by the senator daddies.”

In the end, he chose to cross the river.

…

According to a widespread saying: everyone has three or four chances in their life to “cast the die of fate.”

Each time, it will permanently change the person’s life.

Therefore, when many historians don’t understand why my mother chose to abandon her noble status, join a little-known small mercenary group, and leave the East, I hope that at least my dear readers will understand that she was actually just casting her own die.

Before the fall of Constantinople, the political situation in the imperial capital was already quite unfavorable for my mother.

Some nobles and bureaucrats believed that she should bear the responsibility for the Franks’ betrayal. Some records say that she went against the majority opinion and signed the treaty to bring the Frankish knights over with the Venetians alone.

Anyone with even a little common sense of imperial politics can see that if a treaty didn’t have the simultaneous approval of both co-ruling Empresses, how could the bureaucrats below follow it without any objection? The Venetians were not fools without diplomatic common sense.

The real reason for her downfall was the change in the Orthodox Church’s attitude.

Although the Orthodox Church at that time did not have the immense power of their Church brothers in the West, they still enjoyed a high reputation in the imperial capital.

At the national council meeting, facing Zoe’s coup attempt, the Orthodox Church remained strangely silent, which undoubtedly sent a signal to most neutral bureaucrats and nobles.

The Orthodox Church did not support Empress Theodora. This was the most fatal blow to my mother.

Regarding the Orthodox Church’s attitude, there were rumors that when my mother first ascended the throne, in order to seek help from the Western Church, she had considered promising to revise the classics according to the Western Catholic Church’s wishes.

I don’t think that was the real reason. Although His Excellency Alexius of the Orthodox Church might have considered this an offense to the Orthodox Church.

However, rashly deciding their attitude towards an Empress because of a casual remark that wasn’t even officially proposed was not the traditional way of doing things in the imperial political arena.

The main problem was that at that time, whether it was the bureaucrats, nobles, and priests of Constantinople, or most of the loyal citizens, they all believed that the empire urgently needed a male emperor.

Even in Solomon culture as a whole, women were synonymous with “irrationality” and “indecisiveness.”

Although the two co-ruling Empresses, relying on the political prestige inherited from the late Emperor Constantine, had temporarily achieved a delicate balance at the highest level of imperial power.

However, this balance was fragile. As long as Empress Zoe, who was already of age, chose to marry, the prestige and power would quickly gather around her husband, because that would be a male emperor in the true traditional sense.

For my mother, this was naturally the worst outcome of her downfall. And for Zoe, it wasn’t a very good outcome either, it was just changing from sharing power with her sister to sharing power with her husband.

And the latter was even more difficult to deal with than the former.

Therefore, the coup attempt launched by Zoe at the national council meeting was actually conveying an attitude to the Church and the bureaucratic aristocracy:

She was unwilling to share power with anyone, neither her sister nor her future husband.

Dear readers, if you were His Excellency Alexius of the Orthodox Church, you would definitely see the chaotic situation at that time.

When Zoe recklessly bared her fangs at the national council meeting, the delicate balance between the two Empresses had been broken.

In this situation, there could only be two outcomes: Zoe winning, Theodora losing; or Theodora winning, Zoe losing.

No matter which outcome, it would be extremely detrimental to the empire. While the Seljuks were aggressively encroaching on the empire’s flesh and blood in the East, the two Empresses were still foolishly hostile to each other.

Therefore, this political struggle had to be ended immediately.

If the Church supported Empress Theodora, then Empress Zoe would naturally be countered, or even immediately lose power.

However, my mother was only 16 years old at the time. Could an underage empress who had just ascended the throne really lead the entire empire alone to resist the grassland barbarians from the East?

Conversely, if they supported Empress Zoe, then Empress Theodora’s political life would naturally “end.”

According to imperial tradition, an emperor whose political life had ended would inevitably be eliminated root and branch by those in power.

Then, if the Church protected the deposed “former” Empress Theodora, Empress Zoe would quickly realize another fact:

Although she had won the political struggle, she was not the true victor.

Because whether in the Church or among the nobles and bureaucrats, Empress Theodora still enjoyed extremely high prestige, so much so that she couldn’t completely eliminate her sister.

Not being able to be eliminated meant that one day she might make a comeback.

Therefore, in order to consolidate her power, to offset the adverse effects of the coup and the remaining political prestige of Empress Theodora, Empress Zoe could only choose to get married as soon as possible, using her husband to strengthen the legitimacy of her rule.

Then the empire would once again have a male emperor.

A male emperor who, in the traditional sense, was more “rational,” “decisive,” and “ambitious” than a woman.

This was the result that the Church and the bureaucratic aristocracy wanted to see, and it was the real reason why they chose to do so.

…

Perhaps some readers still don’t understand the complex political logic here. Then please allow me to explain the political situation of the empire’s upper echelon at that time again in concise language:

Due to Empress Zoe’s rash hostility, the delicate balance between the two Empresses had been broken. The Church’s subconscious reaction was to quickly end this foolish political struggle and then quickly rebuild the balance.

Because my mother, Empress Theodora, was younger, the Church could only choose to support Empress Zoe, and in turn, put my mother under house arrest and protect her.

Once Empress Zoe realized that this desperate coup would not work, she could only resort to other, more stable means, such as marriage.

Therefore, if my mother hadn’t disappeared from the monastery, then according to the Church’s expectations, she would have faced several dangerous political attacks, slander, and even assassinations.

However, as a tool used by the Church to put pressure on Empress Zoe, my mother would be closely protected by the Church, and these assassinations would have no effect.

If necessary, she would even be released from the monastery and make brief appearances in the political arena to stimulate Empress Zoe’s nerves.

Until Empress Zoe gave up her attempt to monopolize power, finally giving in and choosing to get married.

Then the power would be concentrated in the hands of her husband. In the next few years, the situation in the imperial capital would be like a ship sailing dangerously in stormy waves amidst the power struggle between the Empress and the new Emperor.

As for my mother, the final outcome would naturally be losing all her cards and being completely eliminated from this game of power.

Everyone used her as a bargaining chip in the gamble, and no one would pity the fate of a chip.

Therefore, facing this extremely unfavorable situation, she chose to pick up the die of fate.

And then flip the entire table.

…

History records that when my mother disappeared from the monastery, the Orthodox Church immediately activated the Wall of the Life Cage.

This quickly caused chaos in the imperial capital. Because the Wall of the Life Cage did not allow any living beings to pass through, the inside and outside of the wall were almost completely isolated.

The Church set up twenty-eight checkpoints along the edge of the cage, allowing residents to enter and exit in queues.

Each checkpoint was guarded by at least one Church demigod, and anyone entering or exiting would be scanned with spirituality down to every cell in their body, ensuring that no hidden creatures could escape the Life Cage.

However, my mother understood that the Church couldn’t maintain the Wall of the Life Cage for long because the Franks across the Golden Horn were attacking the city.

It was absolutely impossible for the imperial capital to maintain wars on two fronts simultaneously.

Her guess was correct. Just on the fourth day, the Church was forced to remove the Wall of the Life Cage and switch to a more covert inspection method.

Many historians have various analyses and speculations about how the Azure Longsword mercenary group evaded the Church’s search and escaped from Constantinople. Here, I can only quote my actual conversations with my mother and reveal a few words here.

On a cargo ship heading for the port city of Rhaedestus, a tightly sealed box was filled with a large number of books printed in Constantinople’s printing workshops, about to be sent to Rhaedestus’ municipal library.

Because the ship was carrying too much cargo, the demigod couldn’t carefully inspect every item in every container (imagine, if a ship was carrying tens of tons of sesame seeds, would the demigod have to check every single seed?). Therefore, they could only roughly scan the living beings on the ship.

So the die of fate cast a good result. Empress Theodora briefly disappeared from the official history, and a small mercenary group named “Azure Longsword” gained a trainee mercenary who controlled arcane magic.

In the eyes of us later generations, the name “Azure Longsword” is undoubtedly already thunderous.

However, at that time, abandoning her noble royal status and choosing to join this small mercenary group and start from scratch required immense courage and decisiveness.

My mother often talks about the past these days, about her companions, about how she was full of doubts when she first joined, and even couldn’t sleep at night for a long time.

Occasionally, she would feel intense regret, but more often, it was confusion about the future, just like the thousands of people in this world holding the die of fate, hesitating and not knowing whether to cast it.

Fortunately, now that she looks back on the past, she has finally walked the path she wanted.

If my mother had chosen to stay in the empire at that time, her life would definitely have been different.

Whether it would have been good or bad, we can no longer know.

Here, I can only quote the poem by Frost that I love, to conclude this volume:

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

…

In the main storyline of the “Iron and Fire” game, players help Captain Michael of the Guard and Lady Varomina, the court official scribe, rescue Theodora from the monastery. And in this world, it was the protagonist and her companions who rescued Theodora.

Chapter 70: Leaving Constantinople

Nuo let out an “oh” and said suddenly, “Asker, so you anticipated the situation in Constantinople today? Did that prophet from the Dragon Kingdom tell you?”

Well done, Nuo! Asker nodded sagely and continued, “Indeed. He also told me that the fall of the Eastern Solomon Empire is inevitable. Even if Constantinople isn’t captured by the Franks, it will be captured by the Seljuks from the East.”

“Your sister Zoe will flee to the Siris Province and re-establish the Apollonian Empire there. There, she will marry Michael Paflagon, the most powerful banker in Siris, thus stabilizing her rule in Siris.”

“However, the Thracians and Serbians will soon revolt, so the nascent empire will be unable to recapture Constantinople. Zoe will spend her life dealing with court intrigues and reclaiming the lost territory of Macedonia, while you will be completely marginalized by her, spending the rest of your life in the deep palace.”

“Did that prophet also say this?” Theodora asked skeptically.

“Prophecies about the future are probably difficult to gain your trust right now, so let me tell you something that’s easier to verify.” Asker recalled the biographical introduction of “Theodora” on the official website and said with a smile:

“You were born in the palace, wrapped in a swaddling cloth made of purple silk. Your father even refused to let the Church baptize you, fearing that you would catch a cold.”

“Your father didn’t want you to get married because he was afraid that your husband would take away the royal family’s power. But once, he relented and privately took you to meet Romanus, the then judge of the imperial capital, and asked you how you felt about this man.”

“And your answer was that he looked like a stuffy old man, not handsome, and older than you.”

Theodora was shocked, her face almost losing its composure. The two things Asker said were indeed court secrets that had happened.

The former was only known to a few people in the court, while the latter was a private conversation between her and Emperor Constantine, with no third person present – how could he possibly know!

Could everything he said be true? Theodora thought of his prophecy about the fall of the empire again, and her heart became heavy.

Is this my fate? To flee to the Siris Province with my sister Zoe and spend the rest of my life in a monastery?

Seeing her look lost and disoriented, as if her worldview had been completely shattered, Asker seized the opportunity and said with a smile:

“Of course, there is another path before you now.”

“Being a mercenary?” Theodora said coldly.

Since the other party was being frank, she didn’t intend to beat around the bush. “I don’t think being a mercenary is a good choice. Since you know my identity, you should understand that even if I lose my political status, I can still live a comfortable life in Siris without worrying about the rest of my life.”

“What can being a mercenary offer? Money? Just the tortoiseshell hairpin on my head is enough to hire all the mercenaries in Constantinople for a whole month!”

“I understand.” Asker replied, “Your Highness, you also know that I am from the Achilles family. My parents left me two shops in Constantinople, and I got 1000 pounds just from selling them to the Church. Logically speaking, this money is enough for me to buy a manor and a title in the West and live comfortably for the rest of my life.”

“But why am I still a mercenary, recruiting people, and even trying to recruit you? Your Highness Theodora?”

“Why?” Theodora’s furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and her tone softened.

“Because the magic tide is coming, Your Highness.” Asker said gently. “You know what the magic tide means, right?”

“This world is about to be in chaos.”

…

In the year 6241 of the Sixth Age, Constantinople fell under the attack of the Frankish knights.

Without the protection of the fearless player army from his previous life, the Empire fell into decline in the first few days of the siege.

If they had relied on street fighting and fortress tactics, Constantinople could have held out for a few more days and perhaps even exhausted the Franks’ logistical supplies.

However, Empress Zoe, terrified, hurriedly fled to the Siris province by plane when the Franks reached the walls of the Great Palace.

So the defenders of Constantinople lost their will to defend the city and surrendered or dispersed under the Frankish attack.

The Orthodox Church, led by Patriarch Alexius, had to stop sealing off the city, give up searching for Theodora, and move to the Siris province along with Empress Zoe.

Although the Orthodox Church had many demigods, at the current magic tide level, no demigod was willing to fight these barbaric and numerous Franks with the mentality of mutually assured destruction.

Of course, more importantly, the magic tide was coming.

The world’s spiritual energy would rise to a level where demigods could move freely in four or five years at most.

By then, to recapture the capital, it would be enough for the Church to send two or three demigods.

Kavala, on the north coast of the Aegean Sea.

An off-road vehicle stopped on the coastal road. A young woman opened the door and got out, looking at the seaside pavilion in the distance.

She was wearing a white nun’s robe, seemingly a devout academic nun, but the metallic glint of chainmail faintly visible under the white robe indicated that she was not a weak and defenseless woman.

Under the midday sun, she took off her hood, revealing soft and fluffy brown curly hair and a pure and beautiful face.

Some malicious gazes came from the distance. They were war refugees migrating west from the Thrace province. Because of the fall of the imperial capital, the citizens near the capital were afraid of being affected and could only choose to flee to the Siris province.

The brand-new off-road vehicle attracted their attention. If they could steal a car, their journey to Siris would naturally be much smoother.

However, the nun quickly drew a sword and made a demonstrative flourish. The clean and neat movement made the refugees withdraw their gazes.

Not only were they intimidated by the sword in her hand, but also by the pistol hanging from her waist.

Another girl wearing a mask also got out of the car. She looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, her figure not yet fully developed.

“It’s over there.” The nun pointed to the pavilion. “That’s where we met the prophetic elder from the Dragon Kingdom.”

“Later, he summoned a long sword, stepped on it, parted the seawater, and flew away.”

“Amazing.” The masked girl said regretfully. “It’s a pity I can’t have him make a prophecy for me.”

After walking around the pavilion a few times unwillingly, the masked girl dejectedly returned to the road. The nun had already returned to the driver’s seat.

“Get in the car when you’re done looking, Thira.” The nun said. “Remember to fasten your seatbelt.”

“Okay.” The masked girl nodded, opened the car door, and got in.

The off-road vehicle started up and quickly accelerated to over 80 mph. The nun held the steering wheel steadily, humming a tune, and looked at the road ahead stretching into the distance.

On the right were green trees undulating along the mountains, and on the left was the boundless blue Aegean Sea.

“I’ve never been here before.” The masked girl looked at the scenery outside the window, somewhat entranced.

“I can tell.” The nun said, “You probably haven’t left Constantinople since you were young.”

“The so-called Purple Princesses are princesses born in the deep palace.” The masked girl replied. “Before being married off by my father, I didn’t have the opportunity to see the outside world.”

Her voice paused, and she said incredulously, “I still don’t know why I was so impulsive that day and actually agreed to join your little mercenary group.”

“Asker’s words have a strange persuasive power, don’t they?” The nun said with a smile.

“Your opinion doesn’t count, Nuo.” The masked girl said, “You like him, so of course everything about him seems good to you.”

“Thira!” Nuo pretended to be angry and said coquettishly, “If you tease me again, I’ll send you back to Furnace Island.”

“Then I’ll go back and tell him that you’re lonely driving alone and want him to come out and talk to you.” The former Theodora, now a girl named “Thira,” said with a smile.

“No! That will distract me.” Nuo hurriedly pleaded.

“Actually, I don’t understand why you like him either.” Thira said curiously. Since she learned about Nuo’s family background, she had been wondering why she also chose to join this unknown small mercenary group.

“Although Asker can barely be considered a noble, the difference in status between you two is too big, right?”

“That just proves that our love is true.” Nuo argued.

“Will your parents agree?” Thira asked.

“They should respect my decision.” Nuo said a little uncertainly.

Actually, she wasn’t sure either.

Just then, a roadblock suddenly appeared ahead, blocking their way.

Nuo expertly slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt just in front of the roadblock.

Turning around, Theodora in the passenger seat had disappeared, obviously having gone to Furnace Island to inform everyone.

A few seconds later, several figures appeared in the back seat of the off-road vehicle.

Asker and the girls.

“A roadblock?” Asker got out of the car to check. “A random dungeon?”

“Random dungeon?” Nuo also got out of the car and asked beside him.

“It’s a randomly generated adventure quest map, mostly related to various anomalies.” Asker replied. “Looking at the sign on the roadblock, it should be the emblem of the Night’s Watch.”

“Ah, the Night’s Watch.” Seeing the girls’ blank faces, Medea said leisurely, “In this world, the only three supernatural organizations allowed to exist openly by the Church are the Night’s Watch, the Purgatory’s Jailer, and the Abyss’s Overseer.”

“Is it the Night’s Watch? I’ve recorded their information! Let me find it.” Nuo flipped through her notebook, found a relevant page, and read, “The night is dark and full of terrors. From this day until my last day, I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children…”

“No! I got it wrong, this is the novel version.” She hurriedly flipped through the pages again and found the correct record.

“The Night’s Watch, originating at the end of the Third Punic War, is a supernatural organization jointly formed by the Italian city-states to deal with the necromancers of Carthage.”

“It has now evolved into a supernatural organization specializing in dealing with undead anomalies, mainly dealing with ghouls and skeletons, as well as wraiths, specters, liches, black knights, abominations, and some evil necromancers.”

“Indeed.” A voice came from behind the roadblock. Everyone looked and saw a knight in powered armor, holding a steel Gatling gun with a curved barrel.

There was golden paint on the shoulder armor of the powered armor, depicting a sword piercing the top of a skull.

This was the emblem of the Night’s Watch.

Chapter 69: Why Not Come With Me?

Eleanor straightened her body, her right hand slowly gripping the spear shaft, her forearm slightly raised.

She held an Eastern Solomon-style knight’s spear, about 3.6 meters long.

The spear shaft was straight and slender, forged entirely from adamantine, gleaming with a faint dark gold under the sunlight.

The spear wings were carved with a ferocious dragon head, a sharp spear blade protruding from the dragon’s mouth, extremely thin and slender.

It would be impossible to make such a thin blade with ordinary steel, as the strength would be insufficient, and a single horizontal slash from a sword could easily break it.

Only adamantine could concentrate the cutting edge within such a narrow range, making it both difficult to break and capable of piercing through three layers of iron armor with a single strike.

Asker stood opposite her, holding her original weapon – a spear made of steel, extremely heavy, not something an ordinary person could easily wield.

“Dragon Spear, Cloud Piercer, Spiral Thrust, Iron Cutter.” Asker said slowly, “These four spear techniques you’ve learned, as the foundation of a spear technique system, are like the Eight Tactical Forms for swordsmanship.”

“Dragon Spear, a grappling technique, pierce the enemy and throw them out to achieve control.”

“Cloud Piercer, an armor-piercing technique, aimed at heavily armored and shield-wielding enemies, using extreme force to pierce through their defenses.”

“Spiral Thrust, a defense-breaking technique, using the rotation of the spear shaft to shake off the enemy’s block or parry.”

“Iron Cutter, this is your family’s spear technique, mainly used against close-range enemies, forcing them back.”

“From a professional perspective, you have completed the first step, which is to master these four basic spear techniques. The next step is to use them flexibly to adapt to more complex combat needs.”

Asker turned around, aiming his spear forward, where four training dummies were placed, stuck in the ground with wooden stakes.

“First is Dragon Spear. As a grappling technique, once it hits the enemy, it will inevitably create a rigidity state, and subsequent attacks will definitely hit.”

“Of course, the enemy won’t be that stupid. You know that hitting with Dragon Spear is very advantageous for you, so the enemy will naturally be wary of your Dragon Spear.”

“Simply using the skill, any player with a little experience will dodge. Uh, you know what I mean by ‘player,’ right?”

“I know, it means warrior.” Eleanor nodded.

“Hmm…” Asker hesitated. “Let’s just understand it that way for now. So, how to make Dragon Spear hit the enemy is a matter of skill.”

He raised his spear and thrust it towards the training dummy in front of him. Eleanor saw clearly that it was just a simple thrust, but the moment it was about to hit the dummy, the spear shaft suddenly lifted upwards.

It transformed into Dragon Spear!

“Transformation. As the name suggests, it’s starting with one move and then suddenly changing to another move just as it’s about to hit the enemy, so that the enemy can’t react.” Asker demonstrated. “First, start with a straight thrust, then suddenly lift the spear shaft upwards, transforming into a Dragon Spear grapple. There’s a professional term for this, called ‘Dragon Transformation.’”

“The later the Dragon Transformation, the better. I have an old friend who uses a spear and can perform Dragon Transformation at the moment of hitting the enemy.”

“The enemy doesn’t even know why they were grabbed. They thought they were just hit by a straight thrust, and then their whole vision spins.”

He sighed, thinking that his friends from the professional circle should be showing their skills on the e-sports stage now, maybe some of them had even made it to the playoffs.

But he could only stay here and practice the basics with a bunch of newbie NPCs.

“Dragon Transformation, hmm.” Eleanor nodded, indicating that she had remembered.

“It’s the same with Cloud Piercer.” Asker continued. “Do you think a heavily armored enemy will just stand there foolishly and wait for you to pierce his armor with Cloud Piercer? Of course not.”

He turned to the second dummy, bent his knees slightly, and then suddenly sprang up, thrusting forward with his spear.

“Too far!” Eleanor exclaimed. Asker’s spear thrust had reached its limit, his arm fully extended, still about five or six centimeters away from the dummy.

Then the spear blade suddenly shot forward, piercing the dummy’s chest.

“How…” Eleanor was dumbfounded and exclaimed in disbelief.

“Pay attention to my footsteps.” Asker reminded her.

Footsteps? Eleanor then noticed that Asker’s stride seemed to have lengthened.

“Left foot behind, right foot in front, toes lightly touching the ground.” Asker demonstrated again. “When your Cloud Piercer thrusts out, the enemy will try to jump back to avoid your attack range.”

“Just when they think they have successfully dodged, your right foot suddenly steps forward, extending the attack range and hitting them.”

“This is called a two-stage attack. Whether it’s Dragon Spear, Cloud Piercer, or Spiral Thrust, they can all be used with a two-stage attack to deceive the enemy.”

“I see.” Nuo said, “Grasping the opponent’s psychology is really a very important part.”

Asker and Eleanor were startled, they turned around and saw Nuo sitting on the grass next to them, both of them with subtle expressions on their faces.

“Don’t look at me.” Nuo waved her hand. “Continue.”

“Two-stage attacks and move transformations, Eleanor, you can go practice first.” Asker cleared his throat and said.

“Okay.” Eleanor nodded quickly and then hurriedly turned and fled.

“Ahem.” Asker coughed a few more times, feeling embarrassed.

The sweet-looking girl sitting on the ground was still staring at him, with a hint of resentment in her eyes.

“Asker.” Nuo said softly, “Have you been avoiding me lately?”

“No, how could I.” Asker sat down next to her, looking into the distance. “It’s just that there are too many things to do, I’m too busy.”

He chuckled, as if he felt he was sitting too far away, so he moved closer to Nuo.

Coincidentally, Nuo also carefully moved closer, and the two ended up right next to each other.

Asker: ???

What is this awkward development? How did we end up so close?

Nuo was also momentarily stunned. The plan Medea had designed for her was to keep a distance within reach but not actually have any physical contact, that was what “keeping him at arm’s length” meant… but she didn’t say what to do in this situation!

“Oh my.” Medea’s voice sounded in her mind. “You’re so impatient…”

“Help me, Medea!” Nuo cried out in her mind. “What should I do now?”

“You can move away a little first.” Medea said. “Pretend to be angry, then act coquettishly.”

“Will he hate me if I do that?!” Nuo said anxiously. “I moved closer on my own but then got angry, he will definitely think I’m being unreasonable!”

“Then pretend that nothing happened and continue chatting with him.” Medea suggested.

“What should I talk about?” Nuo’s voice was almost crying. Asker sniffed and said unnaturally, “What’s that scent?”

“Don’t say it’s perfume!” Medea said. “Say it’s body wash or shampoo!”

“Yes, it’s the scent of body wash.” Nuo stammered, fiddling with her fingers nervously. “It’s a new brand, milk and aloe vera essence…”

“Ask him if he likes it!” Medea quickly reminded her.

“You…” Nuo’s heart was pounding. She could only suppress her feelings and asked in a voice as soft as a mosquito, “Do you like it?”

“I think it smells good.” Asker nodded. “What brand is it? I’ll go buy a bottle too.”

“Don’t answer directly, make him guess the brand!” Medea said excitedly. “He definitely won’t be able to guess! Then you tell him to smell it carefully and lean in!”

“I, I, I…” Nuo was too nervous to speak, a shy blush spreading up her neck and almost covering her entire face. Finally, she gathered her courage and said:

“Guess…”

The rest of her words turned into a startled cry – because a girl materialized from the air and landed heavily on top of them.

“Who!” Asker instantly pushed her away, then rolled to his feet, shielding Nuo behind him.

Then he saw the girl getting up from the ground, it was Theodora without her veil. His face immediately became strange.

That Mia! Asker was speechless. Didn’t we agree that she would teleport back and inform me when she found Theodora?

Why did she bring the target directly here!?

“Your Highness Theodora, we meet again.” He quickly regained his composure and said.

“Mr. Asker?” Theodora also quickly calmed down. She glanced at her surroundings and realized that the situation was once again out of her control. She smiled wryly:

“So you recognized me long ago.”

“Theodora?!” The girls in the distance were alerted by the sound and gathered around. Seeing the visitor’s appearance, their expressions were either strange or stunned.

Eleanor and Sidlipha, being from other places, didn’t recognize the identity represented by the name “Theodora.” As for Peggy and Mia, they almost blurted out “Your Majesty.”

“Yes.” Asker said frankly. “Not only do I know who you are, I even invited you to join us… Do you still have that contract with you?”

“No.” Theodora answered calmly. Although she was still a little bewildered by the sudden situation, her good upbringing allowed her to remain composed and dignified.

That contract… She had immediately given it to the chief mage as soon as she returned to the palace, fearing that there might be some malicious supernatural power on it.

“No problem, I have another copy here.” Asker took out another contract and handed it to Theodora.

Theodora took the contract, almost speechless, her heart filled with disbelief.

He teleported me from the monastery where I was imprisoned to this place just to ask about the contract?

Is he serious? Knowing that I’m the Emperor of the Empire, he still invites me to be a mercenary?

Asker said:

“Look at the pattern on the edge of the contract, are there letters in it?”

Theodora looked closely and saw that there were indeed decorative letters in the retro pattern on the edge of the contract. Nuo leaned over and took a look, reading them out: “Venice… Zoe… betrayal…”

“So I actually reminded you, didn’t I?” Asker said, “It’s a pity you didn’t notice the little hint I hid in the contract.”

Of course, even if Theodora had really discovered it, she wouldn’t have suspected her sister or overturned the established diplomatic plan just because of a hint from a stranger.

But saying it like this now made it seem like he had foreseen it all along.

Chapter 68: The Walls of the Life Cage

“Finally finished.” On Furnace Island, Eleanor hammered in the last nail and said with satisfaction.

The girls had argued a lot about the purpose of Furnace Island, but in the end, the one with the most money won – since Nuo paid for all the building materials, Eleanor and Peggy had to give in.

The prototype of the manor had been roughly decided on the design drawings, but there were some hiccups during the construction process, and they even had to rework and waste materials several times.

Finally, they had the house in front of them – a tall and beautiful wooden house with two floors. The second floor was the girls’ bedrooms, and the first floor was the living room, dining room, and entrance hall.

To the right of the entrance was the kitchen, where they could cook food. To the left was the storage room, used to store various equipment, potions, loot, and essential supplies.

From a living perspective, this two-story wooden house was enough to meet everyone’s needs.

However, in Nuo’s plan, it was just the entrance building of the entire manor.

The entire wooden house frame was completed, but naturally, there was no interior decoration. The semi-plane characteristics of Furnace Island meant that they couldn’t even think about running water, but they could consider getting some temporary power supply.

By the time the girls moved the purchased furniture into the wooden house on Furnace Island, it was already late at night.

“Asker and Mia haven’t come back yet.” Medea said with a playful tone. “Maybe they’re on a date somewhere.”

Nuo frowned silently and heard Eleanor arguing with her:

“How is that possible! How old is Mia? Don’t you think it’s childish and ridiculous to say that?”

“Ah~” Medea seemed to be deliberately contradicting her. She gently touched her chin with her fair fingers, as if pondering. “But I heard that some men just like underage girls…”

“Shut up, Medea.” Before Nuo could speak, Peggy said coldly. “Pedo*hilia? That’s ridiculous, how could Asker be that kind of pervert?”

“Oh, do you know him that well?” Medea’s purple eyes rolled, as if she was amused.

“Of course, I was the first to follow him.” Peggy said.

“What do you mean, first?” Asker’s figure materialized from the air.

He looked at the beautiful wooden house in front of him, his expression slightly stunned. “It was built so fast?”

…

At the end of the sewer, the two indeed encountered an electrified barbed wire fence. So Asker teleported back to Furnace Island in advance, while Mia entered the Shadow Realm.

Then she took out the insulated pliers she had prepared beforehand and cut the wires one by one.

Cutting the barbed wire fence in the Shadow Realm wouldn’t cause any changes to the barbed wire fence in the main plane.

Instead, the gap in the barbed wire fence cut in the Shadow Realm would gradually extend and rejoin over time, eventually synchronizing with the main plane again.

Therefore, Mia quickly and smoothly cut a gap large enough to pass through without triggering any alarms.

Passing through the barbed wire fence and climbing out of the sewer from the Shadow Realm, Mia found herself in a courtyard, the colors around her turning into grays of varying saturation.

She moved quickly in the Shadow Realm, nimbly shuttling through corridors and passages, bypassing the moonlight outside the windows and the lights projected from inside the rooms.

Suddenly, she stopped abruptly. Because in the corridor ahead, two guards were questioning a stranger, the light from their flashlights blocking her path.

“It’s me.” The stranger took off their hood and sighed helplessly. “Do you recognize me?”

“So it’s Lady Varomina.” The two guards hurriedly saluted.

Since they were sent here to guard by Empress Zoe, they naturally recognized the official scribe, Lady Varomina, who always accompanied Empress Zoe.

“Who is this behind you?” One of the guards asked, shining his flashlight behind her. The figure was also wearing a hooded robe, their face hidden under the hood, their head bowed.

“She’s a relative of mine.” Varomina replied lightly. “She suffered from a serious illness when she was young and was disfigured. So I sent her to the monastery, you’re not going to check her appearance, are you?”

“No, no, no!” The two guards hurriedly waved their hands.

In this world, one of the most notorious disfiguring diseases was noma, a bacterial infection that attacked the facial skin, causing large areas of ulceration, and the pus was highly contagious. Therefore, people generally avoided people with disfigurements.

Zoe and Theodora had an elder sister named Eudokia. Because she was disfigured due to a childhood illness, she was also sent to the monastery by Emperor Constantine.

Even a princess of a country was treated like this, let alone the children of ordinary people. Those with better conditions were sent to monasteries to serve God, while those with worse conditions were directly abandoned.

Therefore, the two guards quickly stepped aside, allowing Varomina and the disfigured person to continue.

Mia in the Shadow Realm took the opportunity to swoop and jump, crossing the flashlight beams of the two guards, and landed lightly on the ground.

“Even so, you don’t have to ‘worry’ about her.” After walking a distance, Varomina suddenly spoke, lowering her voice. “The ‘care’ she receives is very strict, there won’t be any ‘accidents.’”

“I’m just ‘curious’.” The person behind Varomina also lowered their voice and replied. “After all, with ‘that person’ watching over her, no one with ‘malicious intentions’ could succeed. I just want to pay my respects to Her Highness.”

If Asker were here, he would definitely recognize this as the voice of Michael, the captain of the guard – although this guy had long been dismissed by Empress Zoe and no longer held any official position in the court.

“Indeed.” Varomina turned her head slightly, giving him a look that said “You understand.”

Mia in the Shadow Realm listened to their conversation, completely confused. But she noticed a phrase they used, which was “malicious intentions.”

Aren’t they talking about me and Asker!

Mia had a keen intuition that these two were actually communicating in code.

Since they both had malicious intentions, maybe their goals were the same. Let’s follow them for a while and see.

Following the two deep into the monastery, Varomina and Michael came to a room at the end of the corridor and suddenly stopped.

Mia also stopped – her spiritual intuition told her that there was some kind of danger lurking at the door of this room. If she stepped in, even in the Shadow Realm, she would be exposed.

“Your Excellency.” Varomina took out an imperial edict from her sleeve. “I have come to visit Her Highness the Elder Princess under the holy decree of Her Majesty. Please withdraw your detection barrier first.”

The dangerous attention extended out, examined the imperial edict in Varomina’s hand for a moment, and then slowly retracted – the demigod from the Church didn’t carefully check Varomina’s identity, nor the hooded figure beside her.

The main reason, of course, was that the imperial edict was real.

Another reason was that he had heard that the Orthodox Church had held a cardinals’ meeting this morning. The Patriarch expressed concern about the rapid expansion of the Seljuk heretics in Anatolia. Therefore, his attitude towards Empress Zoe’s sudden palace coup had changed from initial indifference to cautious conservatism.

Perhaps the Elder Purple Princess in the room would be sitting back on the ivory bench in the Golden Throne Palace in a few days.

At this time, it wouldn’t be wise to obstruct others from meeting her with the attitude of treating a prisoner.

The dangerous spirituality was gone! Exactly as Asker said! Mia was dumbfounded. The demigod behind the scenes was really letting them through!

With a mixture of fear and luck, Mia stepped into the room from the Shadow Realm.

As Asker had said, the demigod behind the scenes maintained a minimum of respect for the person imprisoned in this room, so he didn’t cover the entire room with his spirituality.

Sitting in the room was a stunningly beautiful girl of about 17 years old. Just sitting by the bed gave people a sense of her noble status.

At this time, Theodora was not wearing a veil, only a thin nightgown. Therefore, the moment Mia saw her appearance, her eyes were firmly attracted.

What a perfect face it was, almost making Mia feel ashamed of her own appearance.

By the time she came back to her senses, she saw that Varomina and Michael had already exchanged information with Theodora quietly and turned to leave the room.

Theodora stood up from her chair and looked out the window melancholically, her expression heartbreaking.

They have left, I must act quickly according to the plan, or the demigod will shift his attention back at any moment!

This thought flashed through Mia’s mind, and her body had already started to move.

Return to the main plane!

Teleport the unsuspecting Theodora to Furnace Island!

Return to the Shadow Realm! Then run, run, run, run, run, run, run!!!

She ran with all her might as if her life depended on it. About a minute later, a spiritual storm suddenly swept through the entire monastery.

“That demigod has discovered it!” Mia thought, almost terrified, and quickened her pace.

In the main plane, Varomina and Michael were walking in the corridor when a figure in an Orthodox robe suddenly appeared in front of them.

“Stay where you are!” The Church demigod said coldly, once again activating the magical item beside him with his spirituality, frantically searching the entire monastery.

To be precise, the monastery in the main plane.

“Your Excellency, we…” Varomina was instantly extremely nervous.

If Empress Zoe found out that she had brought Michael into the monastery, then her “betrayal” would be completely confirmed.

“Shut up!” The Church demigod roared, his sharp gaze falling on Michael.

“Take off your hood, quickly!” He ordered urgently.

Michael had no choice but to take off his hood, revealing the face of the captain of the Royal Guard. The Church demigod stared at his face, scanned him from head to toe with his spirituality, and his expression suddenly became strange.

“You two stay here! Don’t go anywhere without my permission!” The Church demigod ordered, scanning the monastery in the main plane again unwillingly, but still found no suspicious faces.

His right hand reached for his waist, grasping a golden pendulum.

He began to scan the nearby sea of the subconscious.

On the other side, Mia had already returned to the sewer, passed through the gap in the barbed wire fence, and started running wildly.

A few minutes later, she finally found the entrance she had come from and climbed out nimbly.

Then she returned to the real world and flew out of the alley.

At the same time, the Church demigod’s search finally yielded results: in the Shadow Realm, his full-field scan detected something unusual underground – the electrified barbed wire fence in the Shadow Realm had been cut.

“Damn it! The enemy exploited the material synchronization delay between the Shadow Realm and the main plane!” The demigod went to the sewer location without hesitation, held and activated another magical item with his left hand – a pitch-black hourglass, and began to scan the Shadow Realm near the monastery on a large scale.

With his right hand, he took out his phone and quickly dialed an emergency number.

Just 10 seconds later, a huge, translucent circular wall formed by supernatural power suddenly appeared on the circumference of a circle with the monastery as the center and a radius of 1000 meters, completely separating the inside and outside of the circle.

No living beings, spirit bodies, or even mental bodies could pass through this wall.

Its isolation effect was so simple and crude that it immediately caused a certain degree of chaos.

On the road, a night bus was speeding, carrying its passengers and crashing into this translucent wall at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour.

The bus passed through the wall smoothly, but the passengers inside turned into lifeless mush, plastered against the backrests of the rear seats.

In a nearby apartment building, an unlucky guy got up in the middle of the night and was using the toilet when the translucent wall blocked the entrance to the toilet, trapping him inside.

He wasn’t the unluckiest one… On the circumference of the circle with a radius of 1000 meters, there were probably more than a dozen unfortunate people whose beds were located on the circumference. The moment the wall appeared, their bodies were cut in half.

If it weren’t for the fact that it was late at night and most people were sleeping at home, it would probably have caused even greater chaos.

Chapter 67: Rescuing Princess Theodora

Asker had long since become accustomed to Medea’s sharp tongue.

Of course, it could also be said that it was precisely because Asker had become accustomed to it that Medea felt comfortable being so sharp-tongued with him.

In a sense, it was actually a sign that their relationship had become closer.

Since the supernatural power in his body had reached the limit of his spiritual capacity, he couldn’t continue killing monsters for a while and could only do things unrelated to combat.

Such as training, coaching teammates, or rescuing Theodora.

The location where Theodora was under house arrest was undoubtedly a top-secret imperial matter.

However, in the game forums of his previous life, this secret had long been exposed – this beautiful NPC had a huge fan base, and when Theodora was taken out of the Golden Throne Palace, the entire fan base went crazy.

Then, the forum began to report Theodora’s location. With tens of millions of players scattered throughout Constantinople acting as informants, the imperial military’s actions couldn’t be hidden from anyone.

Theodora was imprisoned in the St. George Monastery, surrounded by cypress trees, southwest of Constantinople’s main urban area.

This monastery was famous for holding funerals for citizens, and it was near Constantinople’s largest cemetery.

In a sense, it was also a declaration of the complete “death” of her political life.

Asker took the M line subway and got off at the Kyklobion station.

Observing the surroundings, this location was quite suitable for escape. 500 meters to the southeast was the coast of the Sea of Marmara.

If he remembered correctly, there should be a demigod stationed in this monastery.

At the current magic tide level, if a demigod expanded their domain for more than 5 seconds, their spirituality would suffer irreparable loss, leading to loss of control and death.

However, if Asker was directly exposed to a demigod’s domain, he would be easily killed in less than half a second.

So the best solution was: don’t get discovered.

If he was discovered, then the second best solution was: hide again as soon as possible.

A demigod couldn’t activate their abilities for a long time to search for enemies. At most, they would activate some magical items to search, just like the demigod in the arena last time.

Of course, these artifact items couldn’t be too powerful. Demigod-level items were currently stored in the Church and wouldn’t be easily given to demigods sent out on missions.

As long as he wasn’t directly searched by a demigod-level ability, Asker could come up with more than 100 ways to hide himself.

However, when it came to hiding, Mia, who had Shadow Sequence abilities, was the most skilled.

Professional matters should be left to professionals.

As soon as Mia teleported from Furnace Island, she gave Asker a bear hug, pulling his neck hard, and shouted angrily:

“You almost killed me, you know! I drank your Dodge I potion, and my legs immediately turned into dried hams! I almost thought I’d have to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair!”

“Oh, potion conflicts are very normal, don’t make such a fuss.” Asker said helplessly. “As long as you don’t lose control, it’s fine.”

“If I lose control, I’ll die!” Mia said angrily, baring her little fangs. “Will you come with me if I die?”

What’s wrong with these girls? Every time they encounter danger, the first thing they think about is dragging me down with them? Asker was speechless and changed the subject:

“Have you digested the Dodge I potion?”

“Hmm, I’m level 3 now.” Mia was still a little unhappy. “What did you call me out for?”

“We’re going to save someone.”

“Who?” Mia perked up her ears alertly. “Is it a woman?”

Ahem, why ask about gender first? Asker was a little embarrassed and explained:

“It’s the Arcane Mage rookie who came to visit us last time.”

“Oh, that young lady with the veil.” Mia curled her lips. “What, are you adding another member to your harem?”

“Huh?!” Asker was baffled. “What harem?”

“Medea said that you’re using the mercenary group as a cover to bring everyone into your harem.” Mia said.

That red-crowned crane! She actually dared to talk about me behind my back like this!

Asker was furious, his face twitching as he said: “Mia, do you know what a harem means?”

“The court, of course I know.” Mia said, “It means making everyone your personal subjects and confidants.”

This time, Asker fell silent. He felt that he couldn’t explain it too directly to the innocent Mia, so he could only say euphemistically:

“In the country where Medea comes from, the emperor can marry many concubines, and the group of these concubines is called a harem.”

“You want to marry all of us?!” Mia exclaimed. “Make us all your wives?”

“No!” Asker was almost speechless. “This is all Medea’s nonsense! And it’s not a glorious thing, don’t go around telling other people about it.”

“If you tell other people about something that’s not true, and it causes any misunderstandings, you’ll also be responsible, you know?”

“I know, I know.” Mia said impatiently. “Of course, I also know that this is impossible. How can a man marry so many women at the same time?”

“Besides, if you marry other girls, Sister Nuo will be heartbroken.”

Asker was almost in tears… How could Medea be so gossipy? It seemed he had to design a special training plan for her when they got back.

Hmm, he was initially considering a 10,000-meter armed cross-country run.

“Let’s not talk about this.” He brought the topic back to the main point. “That rookie should be imprisoned in this monastery. Do you have any way to sneak in?”

“Let me see.” Mia took Asker and walked around the outer wall of the monastery. “The security checks at the entrance are very strict, it’s not very likely to sneak in by hiding in the cargo.”

“The wall is three meters high, and there is a tension net on top, obviously designed to prevent people from climbing over.”

“Look at the top of the wall, there are lights every certain distance! Isn’t this to guard against us Shadow Sequence users?” Mia said angrily, putting her hands on her hips. “It’s easy to get in, we just come at night, cut the power lines of the lights, and then sneak in from the shadows.”

“That won’t work.” Asker said thoughtfully. “There’s a demigod in this monastery. Something like the lights going out will definitely be noticed by his spirituality.”

“Then if he focuses his spirituality and scans, even if we’re in the Shadow Realm, there’s a risk of being exposed.”

“Then how about sneaking in through the sewer?” Mia came up with a new idea. “This monastery is quite large, there must be a dedicated sewer entrance inside for the water company’s maintenance workers to regularly inspect and repair.”

“Hmm, but their security must have thought of this too.” Asker said, “Sewers in important places usually have barbed wire to prevent entry, the kind that triggers an alarm if it’s cut.”

“Then what if I enter the Shadow Realm and cut the barbed wire in the Shadow Realm?” Mia’s eyes rolled, and she suddenly had a whimsical idea. “Destroying the environment in the Shadow Realm doesn’t affect the main plane, but the environment of the main plane affects the Shadow Realm.”

“We cut the barbed wire in the Shadow Realm, even if the alarm goes off, it’s only in the Shadow Realm. Can they really have someone stationed in the Shadow Realm?”

“If they have a high-ranking Transcendental of the Shadow Sequence,” Asker said slowly, “they wouldn’t have installed so many light bulbs to specifically guard against you. Hmm, let’s do that!”

So the two of them had a meal nearby and then went to the arcade to play games. Mia excitedly suggested playing the claw machine, but Asker ruthlessly refused.

They killed time in front of various arcade games until one o’clock in the morning, when there were almost no pedestrians on the streets outside, and then they sneaked out.

Mia skillfully led Asker to a hidden alley, where there was a sewer manhole cover on the ground at the end. Using her dagger to pry open the cover, she took the lead and climbed down.

“Don’t close the cover, let some light in.” Mia said from below. “Otherwise, in complete darkness, we might not be able to find this entrance when we come back.”

Hmm, when it came to experience in sewer diving, probably no one in Constantinople could compare to her. Asker readily followed and jumped into the sewer.

If he had to describe the smell of the sewer, it would be rotten and fermented garbage mixed with feces.

It was fine in the game world of his previous life, but in this other world, Asker really couldn’t adapt to it.

Mia led the way. With her Shadow Sequence abilities, she was like a fish in water in this dark environment, easily seeing the surroundings ahead.

“Hmm?” Asker stumbled, tripped by an old pipe that silently extended from the ground.

But his balance was amazing, and he quickly adjusted and stabilized himself.

Mia turned around, hesitated for a moment, then stretched out her small right hand and held Asker’s fingers.

“Just say it if your night vision isn’t good!” She said in a complaining tone. “I won’t leave you alone!”

“How considerate.” Asker praised her.

“Shut up!” Mia said, somewhat annoyed.

She held Asker’s right hand and skillfully walked forward along the passage on both sides of the sewer, bypassing the occasional piles of unmentionable discarded objects, constantly reminding him:

“…There’s a step ahead, be careful… There’s a puddle ahead, don’t step in it, can you take bigger steps…”

“Okay, okay.” Asker responded repeatedly.

“Hmph, I feel like I’m leading a big clumsy dog.” Mia said angrily.

“Have you ever raised a dog?” Asker asked.

“I had one.” Mia replied. “Then it was gone.”

“I guess it drowned.” Asker said.

“No, you guessed wrong.” Mia whispered. “It just ran away with someone else.”

“Ran away?” Asker was a little surprised.

“Yes, it was adopted by a noble family.” Mia said without looking back. “I found it on the street one winter. It was so small then, I could lift it with one hand.”

“I raised it to over a meter long, do you know how much effort I put into it? There was nothing to eat in the Sunken Palace. The most luxurious food was one fish per person per day, and then there was that hard black bread that could break your teeth.”

“But dogs need to eat meat, otherwise they will be malnourished. So I always saved my fish for it.” Mia said sullenly. Asker felt her grip on his hand tighten slightly. “It needed to go for walks, so I took it to the surface every day, we almost ran all over Constantinople.”

“I raised it for five years, almost treating it like family, and then what?” She said resentfully. “That family… just fed it for a month, gave it some raw meat every day… and took it away.”

“Didn’t you try to steal it back?” Asker asked curiously.

“I tried.” Mia said, “It still recognized me, but it didn’t want to come with me. I tried to drag it, but it bit me. There was nothing I could do, so I left on my own.”

“Dogs are ungrateful.” She concluded. “Many times they are close to you just because you can give them the best food.”

“Don’t be so judgmental.” Asker said, “Maybe you just met a bad dog… I’ve also heard many touching stories about loyal dogs who stay by their owners’ side and never leave them… Hmm, although I don’t know if they’re real or made up.”

“Hmph.” Mia was inexplicably unhappy. “Aren’t men just like dogs? When they meet a more beautiful girl, they will abandon their wives without hesitation.”

“Please don’t judge adults with the tone of someone who’s been through it all.” Asker said, both amused and annoyed. “Miss Mia, haven’t you even been in a relationship yet?”

“No.” Mia said, “Having experienced countless betrayals, it’s hard for me to trust anyone anymore.”

Asker sighed inwardly, hearing that she was still brooding over Maestro’s departure without saying goodbye. He could only console her euphemistically:

“Adults also have their own difficulties. Sometimes letting go is just to let the other person fly further.”

“Is that your reason for rejecting Sister Nuo?” Mia said, glancing at him sideways.

“Can we not talk about me and Nuo!” Asker said in exasperation.

Chapter 66: The Conspiracy Sequence

“You want me to drink this potion?” On the third floor of the ancestral home, Mia asked suspiciously, looking at the potion Asker had brought out.

“Yes.” Asker said. “Shadow Dancer bloodline, the next potion is Dodge I.”

“That’s not right.” Mia said. “I already have Shadow I, the next potion should be Shadow II.”

“It’s not like that.” Medea explained. “Any bloodline is composed of more than three potion sequences. The order of consumption only needs to follow from low sequence to high sequence, there is no restriction on which potion sequence to take first.”

“For example, you already have Shadow I, then taking Dodge I next will not cause any problems. Starting from the low-level potions of different sequences is called ‘The Stable Path’.”

“What needs to be noted is whether you should take high-level potions in advance before finishing all the low-level potions of all sequences.” Medea continued. “Let’s take the same example, you already have Shadow I, and the next one should be Dodge I.”

“But you choose to take Shadow II in advance. Doing so has the short-term benefit of rapidly increasing your combat power, because the Shadow II potion is more powerful than other Sequence I potions.”

“The long-term hidden danger is an increased risk of losing control. When you take Weakness I next, the Weakness I potion will have a more intense conflict with Shadow II, greatly increasing your risk of losing control. This method is called ‘The Steep Path’.”

“In the long run, most Transcendents should choose The Stable Path, first taking all the low-level potions in their bloodline, and then climbing up level by level.”

“This is the safest way. Once you have taken all the low-level potions of all sequences, the risk of losing control later will be much smaller.”

“But there are a few situations where a Transcendental may be forced to choose The Steep Path.” Medea held up two fingers.

“First, when facing imminent danger and needing to quickly increase their strength in a short period of time; second, when they don’t have a complete set of bloodline potions on hand and don’t know which other sequence to take, they can only choose to improve their strength within their current sequence first.”

“Miss Mia, which situation do you belong to?”

“Uh…” Mia hesitated. “Should I take this Dodge I potion? What does it do? Will it cause conflicts? I’m afraid of pain…”

“The effect of Dodge I is to allow you to precisely control time and distance, enhancing your ability to dodge attacks.” Asker said. “After digesting it, it will be harder for enemies to hit you.”

“Eh, then if you want to hit me in the name of training, wouldn’t the probability of me successfully dodging be higher?” Mia’s eyes lit up.

This little brat, why is she only worried about me? Asker’s face darkened. Medea smiled and said:

“Yes, as long as you take the Dodge potion, unless Asker takes a corresponding ‘Hit potion,’ the probability of him hitting you will definitely decrease.”

“Then I’ll drink it.” Mia took the Dodge I potion from Asker and went downstairs to find Nuo for supervision.

“It’s not good to lie to children like that.” Asker said euphemistically.

“I’m not lying.” Medea said with a smile. “I just said that the probability of your attack hitting her will decrease. Even if it decreases from 100% to 99.9%, I’m not lying.”

“Speaking of which, do you have any clues about my Conspiracy I formula?” She crossed her arms and asked.

“I know a guy who definitely has it.” Asker replied. “The one who is currently on the Galata Peninsula, one of the leaders commanding the Frankish knights to attack Constantinople, and also the mastermind behind this war, Doge Enrico of Venice, is a high-ranking Transcendental of the Conspiracy Sequence.”

“Hmm, then what should we do? Kidnap him and torture him?” Medea pondered. “A Transcendental of the Conspiracy Sequence, it must be very difficult to scheme against him. Why don’t we just sneak up on him and capture him? A simple and crude method might be more effective.”

“He’s probably hiding now, we probably won’t be able to find him.” Asker said.

“Why?” Medea frowned.

“Because when you try to scheme against a Transcendental of the Conspiracy Sequence, they will perceive it through the sea of the subconscious.” Asker said, “Low-level Transcendents can only feel that someone has malicious intent towards them, while high-level Transcendents can even receive specific information.”

“Like you directly saying the conspiracy out loud, he probably heard it clearly over there.”

Medea: …

“Actually, it doesn’t have to be that complicated.” Asker said, “We can just buy it from him.”

“Buy?” Medea was stunned.

“Yes, buy.” Asker said with certainty. “I know Doge Enrico has a son named Ranieri, who was publicly declared dead in the war between the Venetians and the Genoese.”

“But he actually just faked his death. He has been living in the Siris province incognito for a long time, and even married a Siris girl.”

“Say, if the Eastern Solomon citizens of Siris were to learn that the culprit behind the attack on Constantinople, Doge Enrico Dandolo, actually has a son living in the Siris province, what terrible, cruel, and inhumane things would some mobs do to him?”

Asker paused here, took out his phone from his pocket, and continued to talk to himself: “The above is the simple conspiracy I designed. Because it involves malicious intent towards you, I believe you must have already sensed it, Doge Enrico.”

“If you are willing to sell the Conspiracy potion formula, please quote your price and send it to my CM account ‘Asker.’ After I transfer the money, you can send the formula information.”

“Within 1 minute, if I don’t receive any news, then I will consider it as you giving up on the negotiation, and this simple conspiracy might be put into action.”

Under Medea’s stunned gaze, about 5 seconds later, a new friend request popped up on Asker’s phone screen.

The nickname was “Blindness_Elder.”

He can actually do this! Medea was dumbfounded. Using the other party’s perception of malice, deliberately revealing the conspiracy content to let them sense it, actually achieving the purpose of long-distance communication and threat…

This operation was too slick!

Asker clicked “Accept” on the friend request, and soon the “Blindness_Elder” on the other side sent a voice message:

“You are the sniper who killed my assistant yesterday afternoon and blocked the Galata Bridge with a sniper rifle.”

“You guessed wrong.” Asker replied quickly. “Let’s not play these games of mutual probing. You sell the formula, I pay, and your son can continue to be a teacher in Siris without any malicious disturbance, how about that?”

The other side was silent for a long time: “Conspiracy I formula, 100 pounds.”

How did he know we wanted to buy the Conspiracy I formula? Medea was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood.

Right, if I was already a Transcendental of the Conspiracy Sequence, I should know about “malice sensing” and wouldn’t say it out loud.

“Deal, give me your account number.” Asker replied.

The other side immediately provided a long bank account number and added: “The account name is ‘Giovanni.’ Eastern Solomon Empire currency is not accepted, you need to exchange it for silver marks to complete the payment.”

“No problem.” Asker replied.

After the transfer was completed, the other party sent a voice message, dictating the Conspiracy I potion formula:

-Ingredient-

• A pair of Tentacles of Crystalline Gembeetle

-Subsidiary-

• One Pituitary of Shadow Insects

• 500ml Ink of Architeuthis

• 20ml Serotonin

-Processing-
Boil the Architeuthis ink, add 20ml of serotonin, quickly cool to 0-4 degrees, then add one Pituitary of Shadow Insects. Let it stand until it returns to room temperature, add a pair of Tentacles of Crystalline Gembeetle, and drink the liquid after the tentacles are completely submerged.

“Is this formula real?” Medea expressed doubt.

“The materials are real, the processing method is wrong.” Asker replied. “If I remember correctly, the preparation of the Conspiracy I potion should be in a cold environment, symbolizing the calmness and coldness of thinking, there shouldn’t be any boiling.”

“Am I right, Doge Enrico? Maybe I should pay a visit to your son’s address, I heard that his wife gave you a grandson two years ago…”

“Hehe, I’m old, it’s normal to have a bad memory.” The other side was silent for a while, then slowly replied, “The processing method should be changed to: add serotonin to the Architeuthis ink at room temperature, cool to 0-4 degrees, then add one Pituitary of Shadow Insects, then lower the temperature to below 0 degrees, and finally add the Tentacles of Crystalline Gembeetle.”

“Is it real this time?” Medea still expressed doubt.

“It should be.” Asker said, “Don’t worry, if you lose control because of taking the wrong potion, I will definitely go to Siris to avenge you.”

Medea was in tears, can we figure out the formula first? Don’t wait until I’m dead to avenge me!

“Let me remind you.” The voice message from the other side said, “There are many reasons for losing control: for example, having undigested potions in your body, or having taken heterologous potions of a higher sequence before, or even being in a bad mood on the day, leading to spiritual instability, etc.”

“I understand what you mean, Doge Enrico.” Asker replied. “If the potion formula you gave is real, she most likely won’t lose control for other reasons.”

“After preparing the potion, you can also find other Transcendents of similar sequences to identify it.” The voice message continued. “For example, the Mind Sequence or the Desire Sequence, through the spiritual intuition of the mind, they can roughly tell whether the potion preparation is successful or not.”

“Okay, then thank you for your guidance, Doge Enrico.” Asker said finally, then blocked and deleted this friend.

“Seeing how nervous he is, the revised formula is most likely real.” Medea said thoughtfully.

“That’s right.” Asker nodded. “But we still have to be prepared for the one in ten thousand chance that it’s not… It’s okay, I remember where his son lives, the old man can run, but the young one can’t.”

“If I die, I don’t need you to avenge me.” Medea said with a straight face. “Just come down and accompany me.”

“Hmm, I remember your androphobia is a physical instinct.” Asker said thoughtfully. “In other words, it will remain in the corpse? When you’re buried, I’ll put you in the pit first, then come down and touch you, so we can even save the money for cremation.”

“No, I mean please go die.” Medea rolled her eyes.

Chapter 65: Reaching Level 3

The grand plan of fighting three hundred Frankish knights had to be abandoned by Asker because the girls were all saturated with supernatural power.

The girls were initially happy, after all, absorbing so much supernatural power could raise their physical qualities to a higher level.

However, back in Furnace Island, after listening to Asker’s “Supernatural Power Rapid Consumption Plan,” everyone’s faces turned pale.

To summarize, everyone would fight without armor, and Asker would beat them all up with a wooden sword wrapped in cotton cloth.

“Why would I be beating you up?” Asker said incredulously. “I’ll say it again, you’re the ones who are going to attack me and try to take me down.”

“What’s the difference between that and you beating us up?!” The girls cried out in unison, “Unless you swear not to fight back!”

“It’s impossible for me not to fight back.” Asker said, “On the battlefield, can you really expect the enemy not to fight back?”

“Now your levels are at least level 1, and a wooden sword can’t kill anyone. Actual combat is the fastest way to digest supernatural power. Besides, Nuo is also here, she can heal you.”

“A wooden sword hurts when it hits you!” Nuo wailed.

“It’s supposed to hurt.” Asker said, “Did you know that physical pain accelerates the transformation of supernatural power.”

“Then why don’t you let us beat you up?” Sidlipha spoke up.

“Okay, come on, come on.” Asker waved his sword. “I’m begging to be beaten up.”

Sidlipha’s eyes twitched and she stood there without moving.

“Sidlipha, don’t you always like fighting?” Asker said strangely. “Why are you acting differently this time?”

“I like to chop people, not be chopped!” Sidlipha shouted. “Every time I spar with you, I end up being knocked down by you, curled up like a shrimp!”

“Maybe you can turn the tables this time.” Asker said, “Didn’t you absorb a lot of supernatural power?”

Sidlipha hesitated, but she quickly remembered the miserable scene of being stabbed in the left shoulder and slashed in the right waist by Asker after taking her first potion, Strength X, and immediately started shaking her head frantically.

“Then forget it.” Asker dropped his sword in disappointment. “Then you can find someone to spar with each other.”

So the girls cheered and started looking for sparring partners.

Eleanor sparred with Sidlipha, one focused on attacking, the other on defending, having a great time.

Mia competed with Peggy, two agile melee fighters circling and attacking each other, their figures moving so fast that it made people dizzy.

Nuo and Medea, holding wooden swords, clumsily attacked and defended each other, making Asker think of a phrase:

Two chickens pecking at each other.

Teleporting out of Furnace Island, Asker returned to the roof and saw Miel still in a prone position, silently shooting at the distance.

“How’s it going?” Asker came to her side and asked.

“Locked down.” Miel replied.

“Locked down?” Asker was a little surprised. He understood what Miel meant, she had single-handedly blocked the Galata Bridge with just a sniper rifle.

“At first, I shot and killed more than a dozen knights.” Miel explained. “Then they tried to advance with shields, but shields couldn’t withstand my sniper rifle. So they tried a group charge.”

“The Galata Bridge is 500 meters long, and it takes them enough time to run from one end to the other for me to fire more than 60 shots. In the end, they couldn’t bear such losses, so they didn’t dare to send anyone onto the bridge again.”

“Didn’t they try to break through by driving?” Asker asked.

“I would shoot the fuel tank.” Miel replied.

“You can hit the fuel tank of a speeding car?” Asker was a little surprised.

“Shoot a few more times.” Miel replied. “On average, I can hit it once every 5-6 shots.”

“Hmm, good job.” Asker praised her.

In this world without players, Miel being able to hold back the Frankish knights across the Golden Horn for so long had already achieved his original strategic goal.

“We should go.”

“Aren’t we going to continue blocking the bridge?” Miel was a little surprised. “I can still hold on.”

“You’re out of bullets, right?” Asker said.

Miel was stunned, she removed the magazine and found that there were only three bullets left.

“Always remember your ammo capacity.” Asker said earnestly. “Besides, you can’t keep shooting like this forever.”

“The Frankish knights who have already crossed the bridge and entered the main city must have learned from the rear that there is a sniper blocking the bridge. Now they are searching the mountain. If you continue shooting, you will only expose your position earlier.”

“Impossible.” Miel said, “I haven’t let any messenger cross the bridge.”

“Do you know that there is a communication tool called a mobile phone in this world?” Asker said.

Miel was stunned again, then sullenly fell silent.

“You go back to Furnace Island and rest first.” Asker said.

After sending Miel back to Furnace Island, Asker went downstairs and left. As expected, he found more Frankish knights along the way, who seemed to be deliberately searching high-rise buildings and blocking roads.

However, for Asker, who had extremely rich experience in stealth, this kind of blockade was simply ridiculous.

He quickly went down the mountain from another direction and walked towards the 11th District.

Near the Church of St. Polyeuctus, he encountered a blockade set up by the city defenders.

After a rough but thorough inspection, Asker was finally identified and allowed to pass.

It was already 9 pm when he returned to his ancestral home.

…

Empress Theodora was placed under house arrest by Empress Zoe!

At 10 am the next day, after the Frankish knights’ attack on the main city was repelled and all the knights retreated to the other side of the Golden Horn, this explosive news suddenly spread among the defenders.

There were several versions of the detailed content in the rumors.

The first version was that the Frankish knights’ invasion was instigated by Theodora. She insisted on seeking help from the West despite Empress Zoe’s objections, which resulted in letting the wolf into the house.

The nobles and bureaucrats who suffered losses in this war launched an angry inquiry at the national council meeting in the Golden Throne Palace and found that there was only Theodora’s seal on the agreement signed with the Venetians, but not Empress Zoe’s.

This was enough to show that the two had different political stances. And the Venetians’ betrayal meant that the route of seeking help from the West was cut off, also marking the end of Theodora’s political life.

The second version was that Theodora, in order to obtain aid from the Western Church, had privately promised to revise the classics according to the Church’s wishes, which greatly displeased the current Ecumenical Patriarch Alexius. Therefore, the Orthodox Church turned a blind eye to the decision to depose the Empress at the national council meeting.

The third version was the official one, which stated that Empress Theodora, deeply regretting and apologizing for her wrong decision to the Empire and the people, voluntarily abdicated and would spend the rest of her life in a monastery.

All her supreme imperial powers were transferred to her elder sister, Empress Zoe, upon abdication.

So Empress Zoe became the sole Empress of the Empire.

Although coups and military coups were commonplace in the Eastern Solomon Empire, this blatant framing still caused dissatisfaction among the people of the capital.

What did it mean that only Theodora’s seal was on the agreement? Would the bureaucrats below dare to negotiate an agreement with the Venetians without Empress Zoe’s nod?

The matter of revising the classics did cause dissatisfaction among many Orthodox believers. However, without the Orthodox Church speaking out, no matter how exaggerated the rumors were, they were just hearsay. So the media began to engage in a war of words.

But Asker didn’t plan to deal with this for now. His second Sharp Weapon I potion had been fully digested, and he needed to take the third potion, Dodge I.

Dodge I, as its name suggested, was to let the user master the ability to dodge. From large movements like sidesteps, jumps, rolls, and slides, to small movements like tilting the head, turning the body, or leaning back, all fell within the scope of this potion.

He took the potion from the cabinet. Dodge I was completely clear and transparent, like extremely clean water, lying quietly in the bottle.

If it weren’t for the label on the outside, a normal person would easily mistake it for ordinary water.

Of course, with spirituality, one could tell it was a potion at a glance.

Asker opened the bottle and drank all the potion in one gulp, only to feel his strength instantly drained.

He slumped to the ground weakly, feeling it difficult to even breathe. Dodge I began to conflict with his existing Sharp Weapon I and Perfect Physique I. All the muscles in his body began to atrophy rapidly, and in a short while, he became like a dried corpse.

In the next ten minutes or so, it felt like countless saws and axes were cutting his bones, but he was so weak at this time that he couldn’t even let out a groan of pain.

It was not until the physical conflict gradually subsided that Asker slowly sat up, his muscles gradually swelling and filling up again.

“Phew…” His body finally returned to its original state, Asker let out a long breath. Recalling the feeling of conflict just now, he couldn’t help but frown.

Different bloodlines contained different potion sequence combinations.

Generally, a bloodline would contain at least three potion sequences, such as Nuo’s “Singer of Life,” which only had the three sequences of “Life,” “Spirit,” and “Mind.”

Bloodline paths containing 3 or 4 potion sequences were called “Focused Bloodlines.” Because they had fewer different sequences, the risk of losing control was also lower.

At the same time, the Sequence of the potions taken would also be higher.

For example, at level 10, Nuo would possess both the abilities of Life IV and Spirit IV, which meant that she would become a senior expert in manipulating living beings and spirits. No Transcendental of the same level could be her opponent in this regard.

If there were 5 or more potion sequences, then it was the so-called “Dangerous Bloodline.” The danger here referred not only to the higher risk of the user losing control, but also to the enemies of these Transcendents.

Because the more sequences you had, the more abilities you had, and the more likely you were to use various strange and unpredictable tactics.

Especially at the bottom of the supernatural world, where “below demigod, all are mortal flesh,” many times battles were not about who had stronger abilities, but about who had stranger abilities.

After all, even an ordinary person with a sniper rifle could kill any Transcendental below demigod level, so why would they need higher-level destructive abilities?

No matter how strong your destructive ability was, could it be stronger than a nuclear bomb?

On the other hand, if you possessed abilities like illusions or invisibility, it would be very easy to assassinate a Transcendental – as long as the target wasn’t a demigod.

The “Weapon Master” bloodline was one of the most dangerous bloodlines, containing a total of eight sequences: Sharp Weapon, Blunt Weapon, Projectile, Block, Dodge, Tactics, Intuition, and Perfect Physique.

Just digesting the third sequence, Asker’s spirituality was already showing signs of being unable to support it. He really didn’t know what to do with the subsequent potion sequences.

The “Iron and Fire” game had a cash shop. If a character lost control while taking a potion, RMB* warriors could spend money to eliminate the loss of control.

There were no RMB warriors in this world. Once you lost control, you would definitely die.

He could only take it one step at a time.

Asker stood up and began to digest the dodging knowledge from the characteristic.

From the Dodge I potion, he gained the ability to precisely control distance and time.

If there was an enemy in front of him, wielding a weapon and slashing or stabbing at him, he could immediately and naturally calculate in advance how far away the enemy’s weapon was from him, when he should dodge, and how to dodge the attack with the least movement.

Compared to dodging based on experience before, from now on, Asker could dodge enemy attacks based on instinct, even if his mind was blank.

The only fly in the ointment was that during the process of advancing to level 3, the Dodge I potion had replenished him with a large amount of supernatural power.

His spirituality was saturated again.

***

(RMB being the abbreviation for Renminbi, the official currency of China) on in-game purchases to gain a substantial advantage over other players. These advantages could include powerful items, high-level characters, or other boosts that would normally take considerable time and effort to acquire through gameplay.

Like “pay-to-win” (P2W)