Chapter 1976: A Terrifying Price
The moment I finished writing, the five blood-red characters seemed to ignite. Then, my brain was hit by an invisible mental wave. Initially, I felt nothing out of the ordinary, but soon, my impression of the Knight Competition began to fade.
If I hadn’t been constantly monitoring the content in my memory, I wouldn’t have noticed that my recollection of Norton’s performance in the Knight Competition was gradually becoming indistinct. I couldn’t remember his armor, his moves, or his ranking. I couldn’t even remember if such a person existed.
Then, a strong sense of fragmentation and contradiction arose in my memory. I knew that Norton was Older Brother Jayad, that he had participated in the competition, and that he had brought me to the Lord of the City’s banquet in that capacity.
One set of memories was rapidly blurring and disappearing, while my brain desperately tried to recall them. This left me feeling incredibly confused and conflicted.
When the effect of the Memory Erasure Pen finally ended, my memory stabilized. I reviewed my mind and found that I could barely remember anything about Norton in the Knight Competition.
I clearly knew that Older Brother Jayad was Norton and that I had watched every single one of his matches. Yet, I couldn’t recall them. Even though I could clearly remember the matches of other participants, I couldn’t recall a single scene from Older Brother Jayad’s matches.
This feeling was agonizing, like finding a missing piece in a perfect puzzle, especially when that piece was so important. It was enough to trigger my OCD.
Next was the banquet at the Lord of the City’s manor. This memory had also become somewhat blurry. While I remembered the general sequence of events, Older Brother Jayad’s figure in these memories was like a mosaic, indistinct and unclear.
This memory was likely spared from complete erasure because it was my personal experience, and I knew that Jayad was by my side.
If my memories had become this way, others’ minds were probably completely devoid of any trace of him. They likely wouldn’t feel anything amiss, and if someone mentioned the name Norton Abbas, they might not even remember who he was.
I hadn’t expected the Memory Erasure Pen to be so powerful. No wonder Sherris had to erase intelligence every time she changed locations. The effect of this pen was far stronger than Sherris’s. At least back then, Sherris couldn’t alter my memories of her.
I took something out of my pocket – Older Brother Jayad’s enlistment certificate, given by the Knight Captain. Now, it had become a blank form, without even a seal, like a brand new enlistment paper. Again, I marveled at the potent effect of the Memory Erasure Pen.
“Was it successful, Saintess?” Lavias asked, stepping forward.
“Yes, it’s been completed successfully. Huh?” Just as I turned, my body went limp, and I collapsed onto the ground.
“Saintess!” Lavias reacted swiftly, and with a wave of his hand, a blood mist caught me, preventing me from hitting the ground.
But my body was limp and heavy, slumping onto the blood mist. I couldn’t even stand with its support, let alone stand on my own.
It was then that I realized that just writing those five words had consumed a massive amount of my blood energy. No wonder the people from the Murder Church said the price was one’s own blood, and it wasn’t just about using it as ink.
This memory alteration involved such a vast scope. The Knight Competition had thousands of spectators who had left a deep impression of Norton. Yet, I had to erase all of their memories, including those of many strong individuals.
This caused me to lose a massive amount of blood energy after I put pen to paper. If I hadn’t been drinking Life Elixir regularly and hadn’t absorbed a lot of life force during the Logging Camp battle to replenish my lifespan, I might have been completely drained.
“Saintess! You’re anemic, drink this blood quickly!” Lavias urged anxiously. As a Vampire, he could clearly sense the lack of blood in my body. He quickly pulled out a crystal bottle that looked like a high-end red wine bottle.
Inside was ruby-red fresh blood. I didn’t care anymore and gulped it down. The blood, carrying immense magic power, flooded my mouth.
This was Monster Blood. Because Via enjoyed drinking Monster Blood, our household had a large reserve of it. I even used it to make dishes like blood tofu or Mao Xue Wang sometimes, so I was familiar with the properties and taste of Monster Blood.
Monster Blood is characterized by its immense magic power, which is one of the reasons why monsters can be used as regular ingredients.
Glutton’s talent is to digest any form of food, and whatever you eat, you are replenished. This means anemia could truly be supplemented by drinking real blood. After a large bottle of blood, I felt much better.
“Saintess, are you feeling better? How about another bottle?” Lavias offered another bottle of fresh blood, the best part of what he reserved for himself.
“I’m much better, no need for now.” I politely declined Lavias’s offer and took a Life Elixir, downing it in one go. Instantly, a large amount of blood energy emanated, flowing to all parts of my body. I immediately felt much improved.
Purely in terms of healing injuries and sickness, my Life Elixir was much more effective than drinking blood directly. The Life Elixir I refined was top-of-the-line, capable of instantly replenishing life force.
However, even the best cook cannot cook without ingredients. If I only relied on the Life Elixir to stimulate cell division without consuming any blood, it would likely have adverse effects, possibly even shortening my lifespan.
So, I took a two-pronged approach, drinking both, which helped me recover. Although I was still a bit weak, it was indeed terrifying, with such devastating side effects for a magic apparatus that was close to being a Cursed Object.
“Alright, Lavias, I have to leave now. Thank you,” I said, standing up, though I was still a bit unsteady.
“Safe journey, Saintess. General and I will also be leaving soon after we’re done with matters here. Goodbye,” Lavias said.
“Mm,” I replied and walked out of the underground ancient castle. At the doorway, however, I saw two groups of people waiting outside. One group consisted of pale-skinned, three-meter-tall figures clad in rusty armor, their hands stained with blood – Butchers.
The other group was priests wearing black robes with skull patterns. Leading them was a figure cloaked in a black robe, their hood casting deep shadows, bearing the mark of the Black Iron Kingdom’s Undead.
It was Bane, the Lord of Slaughter, and subordinates of Milgo, the Lord of the Dead. It seemed that the followers of the other two gods of Death couldn’t tolerate Lavias running side businesses in their shared cemetery and had come to confront him.
However, they showed no obvious hostility and were in conversation with the vampires on reception. I didn’t have time to bother with them and left the Falbedy Cemetery.
