Chapter 158: Flame Spirit Spear

Chapter 158: Flame Spirit Spear

"Ghost Frog!"

A roar filled with anguish and fury echoed through the night.

The ground trembled.

A towering figure wielding a colossal hammer, accompanied by a howling gust, charged forward.

The handle of the hammer was over two meters long, adorned with mysterious runes and totems, while the head of the hammer was truly terrifying, resembling a small mountain. Each groove on its surface exuded a profound and powerful aura.

Under the night's glow, the trembling grooves seemed to flow with silvery radiance, emitting an air of authority.

A hereditary magic artifact!

Hammer-shaped hereditary artifacts were rare, and one could only imagine the pain it would inflict if it struck someone.

Karl attempted to dodge, but to his surprise, he found his feet entangled in some black substance.

It was creeping up his legs.

First Circle Spell - Shadow Tentacles!

It was evident that, apart from the bloodline wizard charging with the giant hammer, there was also a formal wizard nearby.

"Die!"

The bloodline wizard leaped high, and the massive hammer descended from above, slamming down towards Karl's position with full force.

This was their usual tactic: using the ghost frog to create illusions to distract their target, while the shadow tentacles restricted their movement, and then finishing them off with the hammer.

This strategy had never failed them.

Even a mid-stage First Circle wizard, without any life-saving abilities, would meet their end at their hands.

Although the ghost frog had died from the mental backlash, the outcome of this encounter remained unchanged.

"Whoosh!"

A stream of water appeared out of thin air and instantly transformed into a massive water ball, blocking the path of the hammer.

First Circle Spell - Tidal Force!

"Hmph!"

With a disdainful snort, the hammer continued its descent, shattering the water ball with an invisible shockwave.

Karl's eyes widened, and he extended his hands, each holding a broadsword that crossed in front of him.

Battle Technique - Guard!

His raging battle qi surged in a rhythmic pattern, forming a protective field around him.

"Boom!"

At the moment of contact,

The two broadswords in his hands shattered, the battle qi shield collapsed, and his arm bones snapped instantly.

His body struggled to withstand the impact and was forced to lean back.

However,

Despite the heavy interception, the mid-stage First Circle physical body endured the ferocious strike.

"Hmm?"

Seeing that Karl wasn't instantly killed, his opponent was momentarily stunned.

But soon, a cruel smile appeared on his face, and he raised the giant hammer again, preparing to strike Karl once more.

Let's see how you handle this!

To prevent Karl from casting spells, the opponent opened his mouth wide, unleashing a roar of bloodline power.

Intimidation!

This innate ability directly assaulted the target's mental state, and it was the reason this person dared to engage in close combat with others.

"Roar!"

The sound waves reverberated in Karl's eardrums, but his expression remained unchanged, his eyes cold and unyielding.

With the Fear Aura and the Battle Angel's Spear, mental attacks of this level had no effect on him.

"Swish!"

The broken arms trembled slightly, and in an instant, they transformed into two tentacles covered in suction cups, piercing their target.

"Boom!"

"Puff!"

The hammer and tentacles struck their target simultaneously.

Karl's head jerked, and his skull shattered, an injury that would have been fatal for a normal person.

But,

He remained calm and composed.

On the other hand, the opponent stared in shock at their chest, where two tentacles had pierced, frantically draining their life force.

Inherent Ability - Devour!

"Rumble..."

As life force flowed into Karl, his wounds visibly healed before their eyes.

"Swish!"

With a swift motion of his 'hands', the opponent was torn in half.

After dispatching one foe, Karl dashed sideways, and in midair, he spotted three figures.

One of them held a serpent-shaped staff, their face contorted in fear, shouting at the other two.

"Stop him!"

As for himself, he turned and fled.

"Hmph!"

Karl snorted, and an invisible psychic wave enveloped the entire area.

Fear Aura!

The Second Circle Fear Aura caused the fleeing individual to stiffen, but the other two remained unaffected.

"Puppets?"

Karl's eyes narrowed, and a rapier appeared in his palm.

Sacred Technique - Angel's Spear!

Countless blade shadows filled the air, slicing through the void with a piercing sound, and then they converged.

"Boom!"

Two puppet bodies, comparable to Great Knights, exploded, and Karl's figure appeared behind the wizard.

He held the sword, its tip stained with blood, and the wizard's body swayed before collapsing to the ground.

Close Combat!

Karl was undoubtedly more adept at the knight's path, especially against a wizard who had lost their fighting spirit due to fear.

Sheathing his sword, Karl secured the corpse and turned back to retrieve the giant hammer.

Before anyone else noticed the commotion, he vanished into the distance.

Soon after,

In the Divine Realm.

Karl squinted as he reviewed the assassin's memories, his expression peculiar.

"The Shadow Fortress?"

"The Andrew Clan probably isn't aware that the force they've cultivated as their dirty hands has joined the Shadow Fortress."

"Interesting..."

The Shadow Fortress is the largest dark wizard organization in the Magic Forest, rumored to aim for its unification.

The assassin was indeed hired by Vincent.

He belongs to an organization called 'Blood Claw'.

In the assassin's memory, the Blood Claw organization has been secretly funded by the Andrew Clan, helping them deal with troublesome matters that they couldn't handle directly.

The recent decline of the two major families at the market is linked to them.

However, the leader of Blood Claw is clearly not content with being a puppet for others and has secretly joined the Shadow Fortress, hoping to gain power and become a Second Rank Wizard, thus freeing themselves from the Andrew Clan.

"Hmm..."

Karl stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Their base?"

Blood Claw has a base near Leipzig Market, and according to the assassin's memory, there are some valuable items there.

"Forget it!"

"Even without the leader of Blood Claw, there are two First Rank Mid-stage Wizards. It's too risky for me to go alone."

"I'll remember this grudge and settle it when I'm strong enough!"

Karl muttered to himself as he began to tally their gains from this trip.

Both the hammer-wielding bloodline wizard and the other control-specialist had impressive skills.

Unfortunately for them, they encountered Karl.

"Just a few items on two official wizards? Not even carrying magic stones or spellbooks when they go out?"

Karl tossed a few runes aside, feeling exasperated.

But this was normal.

Assassins and killers usually only carry essential weapons, as other items would only burden them.

Having extra items on them could also lead to failure and benefit their opponents.

However, there were some gains. At least the weapons and staves they had were heritage artifacts.

Gravity Hammer!

A heavy weapon weighing several tons, it was imbued with spells like Law Breaking, Shockwave, and Gigantism, making it incredibly powerful.

Especially the Gigantism spell, which could increase the hammer's weight by several folds, enhancing its might.

At its strongest, it could multiply the weight tenfold!

But this also put immense pressure on the wielder, even the current Karl would struggle to wield such a heavy weapon in combat.

The Shadow Serpent Staff!

A staff that significantly boosts the power of shadow-based spells and comes with a First Circle Spell, Shadow Tentacles.

Together, these items could fetch several thousand magic stones easily.

The Other World.

The Dark Market.

When Karl arrived, several people had already gathered for the small gathering hosted by Meren.

"Sir!"

Upon seeing Karl, Meren's eyes lit up:

"You've finally arrived."

He had already spread the word, but Karl had gone missing for the past few days, which worried Meren.

If Karl had truly disappeared, certain people would have torn him apart.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"Yes."

Karl nodded indifferently:

"Is it about to start?"

"Soon." Meren scanned the room:

"There are still a few more guests to arrive, and we'll begin once they're here."

Karl surveyed the room, his hidden mental waves quickly scanning the area, and his eyes flickered slightly.

Four Legends!

There were actually so many? The path to becoming a legend in the Other World was almost severed, and this time, there were four legends, which was extremely rare.

Hmm? A gaze filled with warning made Karl's heart tremble.

Using a wizard's methods to probe others, apart from being discovered by the blacksmith Gando, he had never failed in this world.

This time,

he was actually discovered.

The person who sent the gaze was a woman wearing a thin veil, sitting inconspicuously on the outskirts of the crowd.

But in Karl's perception, this person was one of the four legends, and her aura was extremely strange.

'Death, corruption, somewhat similar to the Death City's, could it be a Death Knight?'

'I've never heard of a female Death Knight!'

The demigod blood granted by the Death City's ruler, Mevia, was limited, and the few Death Knights guarding her also had great reputations, none of which were female.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

Just as he was deep in thought, the guests had all arrived, and Meren began to speak:

"I'm delighted to invite friends from all over. This gathering is merely to facilitate some business..."

"I have a skull. With a kiss on its forehead, you can summon a gale."

After the small talk, he took out a skull from behind him and placed it on the table:

"It only requires two thousand pounds of lean meat to take it away!"

Oddity!

Items with various special functions are called oddities, and no one knows where oddities come from.

It is said that,

they are toys created by the gods in their leisure time.

Others say that they are imbued with unknown energies, thus gaining their unique functions.

Of course,

there are also speculations that oddities are related to curses, as those who frequently use oddities often struggle to live long lives.

"A gale?"

A one-eyed man chuckled:

"Meren, the wind summoned by your skull can only blind someone's eyes, it's not very useful."

"It's not necessarily so." Someone spoke up, "On the sea, it still has some effect. As long as you keep kissing, the ship will continue to sail forward."

"Haha..."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Even if its use was limited, it was still an oddity, and some people were willing to spend money to collect and treasure it.

Soon, someone offered to buy it.

"I also have an oddity here, which is a pen."

An elderly man stood up, took out a steel pen from his pocket, and gently caressed it as if it were a lover. His expression was filled with reluctance:

"The story written by this pen will turn into the dream of the writer, appearing in their sleep that night."

"In other words..."

"You can create your own dreams, and the wealth, power, and beauties that you cannot obtain in reality can be realized in your dreams."

Seeing everyone's astonished looks, he spoke again:

"However, the ink this pen requires must be the writer's blood, and the more it is used, the more real the dreams will become."

"Real?" Someone laughed, "Isn't this a good thing? The illusory dream has no reality."

"Hmph..." The old man with the pen shook his head, "When you can't distinguish between dreams and reality, you won't think this is a good thing anymore."

"Anyway!"

"I want to exchange it for thirty thousand pounds of lean meat!"

The hall fell silent for a moment, and then someone raised their hand, "I'll take it."

Those who attended the gathering in the Dark Market were elites from various places, and ordinary pleasures rarely attracted them.

The party continued.

One by one, attendees brought out various supplies, most of which could be exchanged for lean meat.

A small portion had special requirements.

Karl had not made a move, merely observing quietly, but he could still discern certain things.

'The Dark Market has already gathered the top experts in this world. The traded items are still mostly ordinary goods and first-rank items, which means...'

'Due to some special reasons, not only knights and anomalies, but even ores, spirit objects, and sorcery materials in this world do not reach the second rank.'

'What a pity!'

"It's an honor to be invited by Mr. Meren."

A knight in armor stood up, bowed politely, and then took out a book from his body:

"What I want to sell is a sacred technique passed down by the Flame God, called 'Flame of Flame'!"

"The price..."

"Two hundred thousand pounds of lean meat!"

Karl straightened his body slightly.

He had never met a knight but knew the person's name and background—Flame Knight Graindek.

It seemed Meren had indeed called him back from the Port of Freedom.

"Two hundred thousand pounds of lean meat?"

"That much!"

"What is a sacred technique?"

"..."

Not everyone at the gathering knew the true purpose of the meeting, and many didn't even understand what a sacred technique was, so there was a lot of whispering.

After all, this was two hundred thousand pounds of lean meat! Sacred techniques were rare, but that didn't guarantee a high price, as not many people were qualified to cultivate them.

And those who were qualified to cultivate often already had sacred techniques. The more sacred techniques one had, the better, so even when they were for sale, they usually didn't fetch a high price.

"Flame of Flame?"

Karl spoke slowly, "Can I take a look first?"

"Of course."

Flame Knight Graindek nodded respectfully and placed the book in front of him on the table:

"This is the first half of the sacred technique; the second half is memorized in my mind."

Karl smiled.

The things memorized in your mind might not be secure, but I'm not a ruthless demon after all.

He waved his hand lightly, and the book flew out and landed in his hand.

The hall fell silent.

No one spoke, all waiting for him to flip through the book.

It was only then that some people snapped out of their thoughts, and they looked at Karl with contemplative eyes.

It turned out that the protagonist of today's gathering was him!

Karl quickly finished reading the book, his expression calm, only gently tapping the table with his fingers.

The Flame of Flame was indeed a sacred technique, and through cultivation, one's physical body could erupt with the high temperature of molten metal, and their hands could release flames that could burn mountains and boil seas. But... it was almost useless to him.

Firstly,

The best way to cultivate this sacred technique was to match it with a corresponding respiration technique, and the most suitable was the one passed down by the Flame God. The Colossal Breath Technique was not a good fit.

Secondly,

The rank of this sacred technique was not high, and cultivating it required auxiliary materials of various kinds. From this perspective, it was even less desirable than Angel's Spear, and it wasn't worth revising the respiration technique for it.

However...

A thousand gold for a horse's bones! "Two hundred thousand pounds of lean meat."

Karl spoke slowly, "I'll take it!"

As he spoke, several people's expressions changed, especially the woman with the thin veil, who stared at him intently.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end