Chapter 1620 – The Art of Skinning
The squad leader was a little displeased. They had already taken the most important head and weapon, and now they wanted to disturb the remaining body as well?
Furthermore, anyone could see that the brand on the Minotaur’s chest was likely a Divine Seal. Logically speaking, such a thing wouldn’t be very valuable. Even if they wanted to contact an Evil God, remembering the pattern and drawing it themselves would suffice.
However, doing so would lack distinctiveness. They needed to use this Divine Seal on their bodies to claim merit and rewards. If they were to cut off the Divine Seal, the value of this corpse would be significantly diminished.
But as they instinctively looked at the blood-red Divine Seal, they simultaneously felt a sharp pain in their heads, and a surge of killing intent rose within them. They quickly averted their gaze, daring not to look again.
The Blood God’s terrifying mental pollution had not dissipated with the Minotaur’s death. On the contrary, because I filtered its vitality during Life Drain, the immense corrosive energy still lingered within the Minotaur’s body. If not handled properly, it might even reanimate.
“Do you know why I suggested it would be best to scrape off this Blood God’s mark? The corpse still retains the Blood God’s corrosion, and even a portion of His mental pollution. If the Divine Seal is accidentally triggered, unforeseen events could occur,” I said.
“W-What would happen?” a soldier uneasily asked. When he glanced at the Divine Seal just now, he felt as if he saw illusions. He seemed to see a Sea of corpses and seas of blood, a throne of stacked skulls, and a waterfall of blood rivers flowing into the abyss. He could even smell that pungent Smell of Blood.
“Many possibilities, such as summoning a Demon, or planting dark seeds in your head, making you see countless Terrifying illusions, or even directly becoming a Mutated body infused with evil energy, becoming a Kin. Karina laughed. However, she wasn’t trying to scare them; these were all possible accidents.
“Alright! I understand. You can dig it out!” the squad leader said angrily. He now understood the danger of the Divine Seal. If something happened to him, he wouldn’t be able to claim rewards.
“A wise choice. I will leave the outline of the mark as evidence,” I nodded, raising the greatsword forged from Magical Beast souls.
“Then thank you, Madam. But this Minotaur’s hide is so tough, can you really cut off the mark on its chest?” the squad leader asked suspiciously.
A few soldiers had already tried to cut the Minotaur’s corpse earlier. Some were for normal work, while others were just practicing their sword skills. They found that its bronze skin was indeed Invulnerable, and no one could even leave a single pattern on it.
“Of course. If it were alive, I wouldn’t have much of a choice. But the Minotaur is already dead. Can’t I handle even a corpse?” I spun my greatsword and jumped onto its body.
From here on, I closed my eyes. This was because I was well aware of the danger of the Blood God’s mark, especially for someone like me whose sanity was already hanging by a thread. Even a glance could trigger a chain reaction leading to a complete mental breakdown.
Therefore, I could only close my eyes and rely on my senses. Moreover, I couldn’t actively perceive it with my Spiritual Sense, as that would be akin to seeking death. I could only passively feel the aura emanating from the Divine Seal, cautiously avoiding it.
To me, that extremely loathsome and intensely stimulating sensation was beneath my feet, vaguely forming an abstract blood-red skull shape. This was the Blood God’s Mark.
Finding the approximate position, I thrust my sword downwards, hitting the very center of the Divine Seal. This strike used a Murder’s Divine Spell technique, and it seemed to pierce through something. The mental pollution left by the Blood God began to overflow at high speed.
Opening my eyes, I saw the Blood God’s Mark, which exhibited countless skulls. The largest and most conspicuous, a horned skull, had its eyebrow pierced by my sword.
I had used a greatsword, yet the large but relatively blunt greatsword could easily pierce this most rigid brand. This brand’s hardness was far greater than the bronze skin next to it, and it had practically reached the hardness of some legendary weapons.
However, it had one characteristic: no matter how hard it was, it was still skin, still part of the body. Thus, Murder’s Divine Spell was still effective. Skinning after killing was one of the rituals pursued by the Murder Church.
Therefore, the Murder Church had a complete set of skinning rituals. Considering the time and danger involved in murder, they also had spells that could skin victims during the act of killing.
The Minotaur’s corpse just so happened to trigger this special attack of the skinning technique. If it were alive and its body filled with Magic Power, even the skinning technique would be useless against its Invulnerable bronze skin. But now that it was dead, the hardness of the bronze skin had greatly reduced, and the skinning technique could pierce it.
I had originally learned this move, contemplating if I could help Older Brother Jayad skin Magical Beasts, but skinning a Minotaur was the same.
I first plunged my sword into the largest skull at the center of the Divine Seal. This skull had horns and a grimace with fangs, resembling a demon’s skull. After I pierced it, the integrity of the Divine Seal was destroyed.
Not satisfied, I dug out this demon’s skull with several more stabs and tossed it aside. Now, this Divine Seal should be completely inoperable. I was terrified that the Blood God would cause trouble through this Divine Seal.
Then, I began the main task. Wielding my greatsword, starting from the edges, I painstakingly carved off this abstract skull-shaped Divine Seal.
To me, the rather large greatsword was like a Scalpel compared to the Minotaur. And with every strike, I not only employed Murder’s Divine Spell but also used the method of surgically cutting skin to peel it off.
Just as I thought, although it had mutated into a bronze body, its skin was essentially still part of its body, possessing biological characteristics. Hardness was merely a concept in Occultism; it could still function normally.
After its death, its Magic Power dissipated, and its bronze skin hardened. However, not only was it no longer invincible, but the skinning technique was also more effective through surgery.
Thus, I successfully peeled off the mark on its chest. And just as I had guaranteed to the patrol team, the outline of the mark remained on its chest. Any scholar with even a basic foundation in Theology or Heraldry should be able to recognize this symbol of the infamous Blood God.
Meanwhile, Karina had also successfully cut off its head. She used a technique similar to an electric scalpel, with her hand pressed against the Minotaur’s skin, emitting a ray imbued with Destructive Power, slowly severing the head.
Then, we loaded the Blood Axe, the head, and the damaged Divine Seal into the carriage and took them away, leaving the rest of the corpse for the patrol soldiers.
It wasn’t entirely without value. The two mutated arm blades were excellent materials for weapons, and its bronze armor could be used to make several sets of Armor, all being spiritual metal.
