“What on earth do you mean?!”
Elias shouted into the infinite darkness.
Except, he made no sound at all.
This mysterious space of consciousness was collapsing at an unprecedented speed.
He could clearly feel his soul being forcibly pulled away by a tyrannical force.
His vision was once again swallowed by pure darkness.
The next second.
The sledgehammer of reality slammed mercilessly into the crown of his head.
That stinging pain originating from the depths of his soul surged back into his perception once more like an overwhelming tide.
The reckoning of ten stacks of Soul Screams had not weakened in the slightest.
Pain.
An excruciating agony that could not be described in human language.
He tried his best to force open his eyelids, which felt as if they were stuck together with glue.
However, all he saw was still a thick, impenetrable, deathly darkness.
His retinas had completely lost their function.
In his ears, a continuous, high-frequency ringing sound blared.
Aside from that, all external sounds had ceased to exist.
No sound of wind, no aftershocks of explosions, no shouts from investigators.
His head felt like a watermelon stuffed with alchemical explosives, ready to split open with a bang at any moment.
The muscles and nerves of his entire body had completely disconnected; he could feel nothing.
Elias didn't even know what posture he was in as he lay on the ground.
Was he face down in the mud?
Or facing the sky?
He had no idea.
To be honest, at this moment, he actually felt a bit of nostalgia for the brief time he had spent chatting with that riddling man in black armor.
Although the other man was a master of suspense who only spoke in half-sentences.
At least in that space, he didn't have to bear this inhuman torture brought by ten stacks of Soul Screams, a fate worse than death.
“Ugh...”
He instinctively opened his mouth, trying to take a breath.
Unfortunately, his vocal cords could not produce any sound.
Just as he thought he was about to be driven insane by the pain.
That sliver of residual spirituality, nearly exhausted from resisting the Soul Screams, suddenly captured an abnormal fluctuation in the darkness.
A vibration.
Footsteps.
Though he couldn't hear them, the tentacles of his spirituality were extremely sharp, sensing that someone seemed to be walking slowly beside him.
Moreover, they were extremely close!
Elias's heart instantly leaped into his throat.
Who could be walking right now?
As he frantically speculated whether the other party was friend or foe.
Panic spread uncontrollably.
Please don't let it be an alchemy puppet.
Or... that damned Luke?!
The physical agony and the extreme psychological unease turned into two jagged blades, simultaneously tormenting his taut nerves.
However, just as he was preparing to die.
A wave of extreme warmth covered his entire body.
His body suddenly felt light.
It was as if he had been fished out of the bone-chilling deep sea and thrown into a therapeutic hot spring of the perfect temperature.
This was pure life force.
His deadened vision was instantly restored, and the darkness before his eyes receded like a tide.
The high-frequency tinnitus stopped abruptly, and the noisy sounds of the outside world returned to his ears.
Most importantly, the blood constantly gushing from his seven orifices miraculously stopped.
The physical pain also rapidly subsided along with it.
“Huu—”
Elias took a sharp, deep breath of cold air, his chest heaving violently.
“This should do it.”
A gentle, steady male voice sounded in his ear.
Elias struggled to turn his eyes.
What entered his vision was a middle-aged man wearing rough burlap robes.
The man's gaze was exceptionally bright and compassionate.
A trace of soft white light was still slowly dissipating from his hand.
A Life Scholar!
Or rather, a member of the clergy from this convent.
Elias let out a long sigh of relief in his heart.
He had truly been dragged back from the gates of hell.
A literal lifesaver, Doctor!
His gaze moved past his savior to the side of the man in the robe.
There stood another robust middle-aged man.
This man wore a jacket that was clearly ill-fitting, the muscles on his chest stretching the fabric so tight it looked ready to burst.
Elias stared at the man's rugged, bearded face, momentarily stunned.
He didn't recognize this face.
But that irritable and wild gaze felt exceptionally familiar.
“You are?”
He opened his mouth.
He found that his vocal cords had finally resumed working.
However, while that life energy had healed his physical body.
The stinging pain on the level of his soul still lurked deep within.
This caused his voice to sound quite weak.
“It's me, Guss!”
The robust middle-aged man glared with his ox-like eyes and lowered his voice, speaking irritably.
“?”
Elias slowly formed a mental question mark, giving him an extremely confused look.
Guss?
That three-meter-tall infernal demon who looked like a small mountain?
This rugged man who looked like a pure-bred human no matter how you sliced it?
Is this cross-species transformation for real?
However, this brief moment of shock also allowed Elias to fully clear his mind.
He began to turn his stiff neck, surveying his surroundings.
He only then realized that he was not in the center of that muddy cemetery battlefield.
Instead, he was lying inside a temporary camp.
It had likely been established by the investigators.
Above him was a simple windproof and waterproof shelter.
Beneath him was a layer of dry, thick blankets.
Directly in front, a bonfire was burning brightly, dispelling the lingering chill of the cemetery.
Beside him, other injured investigators lay scattered about.
Everyone was wrapped in blood-stained bandages, and the air was thick with the smell of strong potions and strong liquor disinfectant.
Elias turned his head and saw a familiar face not far away.
Well, what do you know—Henry was also lying on a blanket nearby, his face pale.
It seemed that by lying here with these unlucky bastards, he had been categorized into the intensive care area.
Still, since he was lying here.
With professional medical staff looking after him, he was considered completely out of life-threatening danger for the time being.
Beside him, Guss, disguised as a rugged human, saw Elias's confused gaze that looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
To avoid blowing his cover.
He turned his head, pointed at Elias, and said to the middle-aged man in the robe:
“Mr. Bishop.”
“Why don't you check his head?”
“I'm afraid something's gone wrong here.”
As he spoke, Guss pointed to his own temple.
The middle-aged man in the burlap robe smiled slightly upon hearing this.
He shook his head.
“There is no need for that.”
The Bishop's gaze fell upon Elias, carrying a hint of all-seeing wisdom.
“He has likely suffered a severe backlash from some high-level supernatural trait.”
“Fortunately, this young man's soul's base color is unexpectedly powerful.”
The Bishop's tone carried a bit of admiration.
“Any other transcendent would have been obliterated by such a terrifying backlash, or at the very least, turned into an idiot.”
“The fact that he could withstand it is already a miracle.”
With that, the Bishop stood up and straightened his dust-covered robe.
“However, for the coming period of time.”
“The extreme weakness of his soul will cause the spirituality in his body to be consumed uncontrollably to fill and repair the damaged soul barrier.”
“This process will be very exhausting.”
The Bishop looked down and earnestly instructed Elias.
“For now, it is best if you do nothing and ensure you get absolute rest.”
After saying that, the man addressed as the Bishop turned and left to check on the condition of the next seriously injured person.
In the corner of the camp, only Elias, lying on the blanket, and the human version of Guss remained.
After confirming that no one else was eavesdropping for the moment.
“Are you really Guss?”
Elias lowered his voice, staring into the other's eyes to confirm once more.
A demon could actually disguise himself as a human and even brazenly mingle in the Seventh Agency's medical camp.
This level of professional competence was truly off the charts.
Guss didn't waste any words, crossing his arms and looking down at him.
He spat out a few concise words:
“Your Excellency, settle the bill.”
The professional ethics of a wage-earning demon were displayed vividly at this moment.
The fight was over; it was time to cough up some gold coins.
Elias lay on the blanket, his eyes darting around.
“How can you prove your identity?”
He put on a face of strictly professional skepticism.
“What if I settle the account and then the real infernal demon comes asking me for money?”
“When I do business, I always recognize faces, not people.”
“...”
Guss stared intently at Elias's punchable face, his mouth twitching violently.
Is this something a human can even say?
He was half-dead just a moment ago, and now he's already starting to default on his debts.
The demon thought to himself that the Bishop of Lily of the Valley Convent was indeed impressive.
High-Scale spell effects were truly effective.
This guy was barely clinging to life a moment ago, and now he could immediately start talking nonsense.
Earlier, when Guss saw Elias lying in a pool of blood, he was genuinely panicked.
He wasn't worried about Elias's life.
He was afraid that if this guy really died, the Moon Lord might hold him accountable!
It wasn't worth losing his life for this measly bit of money.
But now it seemed he had worried for nothing.
This guy was not only as stubborn as a rock in a latrine, but his thick-skinned nature was appalling.
“Mester's Treatment Room.”
That was where they had signed the contract, and it was their only secret code.
“Soul coins, half for each.”
“Is that enough?!”
Guss said, suppressing his patience.
“Enough, enough.”
Elias quit while he was ahead, letting out a chuckle.
He struggled to lift a hand and patted his chest.
“One can't be too careful!”
“There are too many scammers these days; one has to be on guard.”
As Elias spoke, he made a show of reaching toward the pocket at his waist.
He intended to pull out the money, but his movement suddenly stopped.
He looked around vigilantly.
Not far away, several Seventh Agency logistics personnel were moving supplies.
Patrolling investigators also passed by the edge of the camp from time to time.
Too many eyes and ears.
Immediately, Elias withdrew his hand from the pouch without hesitation, exactly as it had gone in.
He even smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes.
“Let's wait a bit.”
He looked at Guss and sighed with deep sincerity.
His gaze was as earnest as if he were looking out for the safety of the other's property.
“Guss, my good brother.”
“As the old saying goes.”
Elias lowered his voice, looking like a thief with a guilty conscience.
“Keep your riches hidden.”
“You're an infernal demon; do you have a death wish, parading around with a handful of soul coins?”
He patted the blanket beneath him and gave the final solution.
“Let's wait until no one's around to settle the bill.”
“Safety first.”
Hm?
Guss's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this.
Withholding wages?!
But...
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his internal irritation.
Forget it.
He silently comforted himself in his heart.
The man has a powerful background, with an untouchable existence standing behind him.
What else could he say?
Rate on N.U.
