Chapter 162 Chapter One Hundred and Sixty: Grudge
In the Great Benefactor’s house, in the main hall.
On the long table, the bodies of nobles lay sprawled, their throats slit, blood splattered across the walls, spelling: “This was done by Old Man Shadow King Akannis!”
Fire clung to the wooden table, spreading everywhere. The house was shrouded in gray, and a muscular man remained devotedly searching for the missing Jima while coughing intermittently.
A group of muscular men was each searching through the bodies of the nobles in the hall, checking whether they had horns on their heads.
No one noticed. Under the long table, Jima crawled out quietly on all fours like a little mouse. Once outside the hall, she stood up and ran back the way she came.
“A bunch of dim-witted fools.”
She muttered to herself as she reached the front door, pushed the gilded doorknob, and upon opening the door, saw two muscular men staring at her with cow-like eyes.
Jima quickly touched the silver ring on her arm, a gift from George, coughed a few times, and said, “Keep watch, don’t slack off.”
After saying that, she pretended everything was normal and walked out the door.
The two muscular men exchanged glances, dropped their axes, and were about to hug Jima.
Jima swiftly activated her ability, dragging the two dim-witted muscular men into a dream. They looked at her on confusion. In their dream, Jima suddenly transformed into the Great Benefactor, and the two stammered:
“Ma.. Master.. why are you…”
At that moment, heavy footsteps approached from behind the door, and Jima, with her hands behind her back, cleared her throat seriously and said:
“The enemy is coming! You two, quickly block the door, grab your axes.”
One muscular man picked up his axe and wedged it against the doorknob.
The footsteps drew closer, and with a loud bang, a roar came from behind: “Open the door!”
“Very clever,” Jima complimented him.
The praised muscular man puffed out his chest proudly, as if blocking the door with the axe was an extraordinary achievement.
“You, keep blocking the door. You go move things and barricade the door.”
“Okay, clever, clever.”
It seemed the muscular men really liked being called clever, their faces flushed with excitement. Following Jima’s orders, they didn’t perceive anything wrong.
“Now your top priority is to block the door and prevent the enemy from coming in,” Jima said, “Even if you encounter a succubus girl, don’t make a move.”
“Understood!”
With that, Jima swaggered down the stairs towards George, who lay unconscious on the ground.
No one was moving him; he lay there, his golden short hair stained with Jima’s bright red blood. Jima bent down to check on her tool. The cracks on George’s face had already mostly disappeared, leaving only a few fine fissures. Jima slipped her arms under his armpits and used her knees to push up.
George was too heavy; although he only had a piece of breastplate left, it was extremely thick.
With her knees buckling, Jima sat down hard on the ground, George’s upper body resting against her chest.
“We can’t escape together,” Jima murmured, glancing back at the entrance of the Great Benefactor’s mansion.
Behind the railing was a group of dispersing soldiers. Behind them were torches lighting up the street, angry slaves shouting slogans as they charged towards the Great Benefactor’s residence.
Jima quickly raised the spear bearing the banner of the Holy Hall, grabbed George’s hand and had him hold on. Surely, as long as they were not completely idiotic, no one would dare to mess with them.
I wonder how the fight between the Great Benefactor and the Shadow King is going?
Jima lifted her head, looking at the luxurious four-story mansion of the Great Benefactor, but there were no shadows of the two on the terrace. She listened attentively; the place was filled with shouts of battle, but she couldn’t hear any sounds of their fight.
“I hope the Blood Horn Cup can trick the Great Benefactor; I wonder if my lucky time has passed since I threw the horn cup.”
Generally speaking, after consuming luck accumulated from a lucky ring, misfortune often follows. Not fatal but lasts a long time.
At this moment, a sound like a bull or horse’s roar came from the rooftop.
Jima smiled slightly, gently sweeping her fingers over George’s head, saying: “Gotcha.”
The Blood Horn Cup can’t be consumed more than three times in a short period. After three sips, due to excessive vitality, one would grow into a monster and easily go out of control. One must wait at least twenty-four hours before drinking again.
And Jima had given the first sip of the “Blood Horn Cup” today to George. When she decided to go back and help George as a gamble, she considered her own weak strength and the risk of extraordinary items being stolen, so she discarded one cup. Therefore, by the time she was preparing to jump from the treetop, she was drinking her third sip.
As far as I know, the Flesh Mechanic profession can cultivate the organs of other living beings and transplant them into one’s own body. I wonder how many organs the Great Benefactor has transplanted into himself? What kind of “chimera” will he become?
At this moment, George, in Jima’s arms, muttered:
“…Jima… wait for me… justice… must win…”
As he spoke, the veins on his forehead bulged, and the cracks on his face continued to spread.
Jima lowered her head, her black hair brushing against George’s face, and she whispered:
“Relax, George. The Great Benefactor is down.”
At that moment, another inhuman roar sounded from the rooftop.
Jima softly scolded, “He’s about to die; rest well.”
With that, she gently smoothed the bulging veins on his forehead with her fingers.
George calmed down, quiet as a baby sated with milk.
…
…
On the rooftop, the Shadow King was hit against the wall again by a huge force, causing several bricks to loosen and fall.
“Don’t block me!”
A monster in the distance roared at the Shadow King. The Great Benefactor Blanxi was now reduced to a humanoid form; his eyes bulged out, taking up half of his face, bulging into a semicircle. His eyes had turned into something resembling fly compound eyes, filled with countless tiny eyes. Long insect-like hairs covered his entire body.
His body had grown massive, his belly and chest inflated; he had already shed his armor, or his belly would have burst open long ago. Bird-like lungs grew continuously in his chest, with a small portion squeezing out from the wound under his armpit, resembling a pink balloon, expanding and contracting.
The only thing that proved he still possessed human wisdom was the bone sword that was almost fused with his right hand. The Great Benefactor Blanxi was exerting effort to slice open his own belly with the bone sword, using what still barely belonged to a human hand to search through a pile of living organs for a gold coin.
Earlier, the Shadow King Akannis had risked his life to force the “Death Gold Coin” into his belly through a wound on his side.
The Shadow King staggered to his feet, disappearing into the shadows.
The Great Benefactor Blanxi felt a sense of relief. Although he had become a monster, he possessed powerful vitality that could threaten the Shadow King.
“Whoosh!”
A flying dagger flew toward him from behind.
The Great Benefactor had to maneuver his bloated body to avoid the dagger as his rotund belly shook. The gold coin he had almost touched with his finger slipped deeper due to the sudden movement.
“Are you trying to die?” the Great Benefactor roared angrily, rushing toward the shadow where the Shadow King hid. “I’ll kill you first!”
“Let you go nicely? Do you think I’m a fool?”
The Shadow King immediately shadow-leaped, weaving in and out with the Great Benefactor Blanxi. He had overexerted his extraordinary powers tonight, and coupled with his injuries, felt particularly dizzy, his body began merging with the shadows.
“You block me, and you won’t survive either.”
“Why should I live?” The Shadow King, seeing the Great Benefactor not pursue him, threw another dagger. “If you don’t let me live, your nobility won’t live either; all must die!”
“You disgusting lunatic!”
The Great Benefactor’s eyes widened in furious indignation.
Now it was impossible for the Shadow King to let the Great Benefactor go. Even though he had turned into such a monster, regaining his former self was practically impossible without losing control. But the Shadow King didn’t want to gamble on that impossibility; the Great Benefactor was a Flesh Mechanic, and as long as he still had his wits about him, he had time to revert to his human form.
Most importantly, the Shadow King Akannis had no intention of living.
Years of grudges burned within his chest; he even felt no pain in his body.
Thus, the Shadow King Akannis laughed, “Let’s die together! Let’s die together!”
The Great Benefactor Blanxi turned to run, and just as the Shadow King was about to leap into the shadows, he found his foot caught in the shadow and stepped into an empty space, the shadows already beginning to consume his limbs. He could no longer use any extraordinary powers related to shadows.
Now, he had no ability to stop the Great Benefactor Blanxi from escaping.
Watching the Great Benefactor Blanxi about to leap off the rooftop, the Shadow King Akannis shouted:
“Do you think your daughter Lis is safely riding in a carriage, escaping through the west gate?”
The Great Benefactor Blanxi paused; he had secretly arranged for someone to take his daughter through a secret passage to escape west while calming the nobles. He turned back to look at the Shadow King Akannis.
The Shadow King Akannis comfortably lay on the edge of the roof, far from the two thrones, saying:
“I’ve long known about your secret passage. I even specifically arranged a group of over forty beggars, sailors, and mine slaves to overturn your daughter’s carriage and strip her of her clothes, expressing their love for you on her body. All three openings were filled with white liquid.”
“You’re lying!”
The last bit of reason in the Great Benefactor Blanxi wavered. The hope that sustained his escape and the gamble that his control wouldn’t slip was for the sake of his family.
“In the famine you created before, I became fond of the taste of roasted arms, especially the part called the ‘biceps,’ I specifically asked someone what it was called.”
The Shadow King Akannis said, pulling out a half-burned hand from his side bag. It was a woman’s hand, elegant in shape, adorned with an expensive green gemstone ring.
The Great Benefactor’s eyes nearly popped out of his head; he remembered that was the birthday gift he had given Lis.
The Shadow King Akannis opened his mouth, tearing off a piece of meat with enthusiasm, saying:
“So delicious!”
“No!”
The last bit of reason in the Great Benefactor Blanxi shattered as he transformed into a complete monster, throwing back his head and letting out a nonsensical roar, charging at the Shadow King Akannis.
The Shadow King Akannis dropped the hand and charged forward; they collided. The Shadow King Akannis severed the head of the Great Benefactor Blanxi, but the Great Benefactor had no intention of dodging. He embraced the Shadow King Akannis, and they fell from the building into the blazing inferno below.
The Shadow King Akannis was immobilized; he watched the flames filling his view and couldn’t help but recall that winter when he stood amidst the ruins, gazing at the fireworks above the noble district.
So beautiful!
He let out a mad laugh as he and the Great Benefactor Blanxi fell into the fire.
The grudge was settled.
