The Box of Torment
"Not open."
A voice came from inside, breathing heavily but unusually stubborn.
The leader was taken aback.
The next second.
A dark shadow flew out from the crack in the door.
He reacted quickly and grabbed it! He unfolded it and took a look.
It was a brand new Divine Art Badge.
"Retreat 100 meters."
"Keep a close eye on the Slums."
The panting sound was a forceful roar.
"I see."
The leader waved his hand decisively.
The Battle Skirt Warrior quickly retreated.
A short while later.
There wasn't a single person to be seen in the open space outside the old church.
Inside the church.
The boys had already fainted from the recurring pain.
On the floor.
Two semi-transparent hands pressed down on the two halves of the "Painful Maiden" from the left and right.
They kept struggling to merge together.
But the Floating Cloud Palm stubbornly stopped it.
Instead, they were separated further and further apart.
The rough oysterstone floor was already covered in red paint.
The center of the two separate parts.
It was a head that was isolated and helpless.
Roger had already chopped off the Painful Maiden's head, thrown it on the ground, and was repeatedly striking it with the back of his axe.
She tried rolling over on the floor.
But Roger always managed to smash it in the fastest time.
Brain matter was scattered all over the floor.
Aside from wailing, the Painful Maiden seemed unaffected.
Her vitality is terrifyingly strong.
In less than half an hour.
Roger has smashed her skull more than 50 times.
After each time he smashed it, he would repeatedly stir it with the Phantom Axe—
They smashed his head into pieces like a mortar and pestle.
This movement is quite physically demanding, and coupled with the need to maintain the Floating Cloud Palm technique, he was indeed finding it rather strenuous.
And it won't be long.
The Painful Maiden's head would quickly swell up, and her brain, blood, brain matter... all parts would Quick Resurrection! Fortunately, Roger did not give up.
He was just diligently repeating that mechanical work.
Under the influence of "Qi Divination Technique".
The state of the Painful Maiden's clone.
He saw it all clearly.
"The Doppelganger (Head) of the Painful Maiden"
"Status: Near-Death State and in the ecological cycle"
"Remaining restoration attempts: 41"
"Original state of being: Unstable"
Roger knew it very well.
The Painful Maiden is a true ascendant.
Although not nearly as powerful as the Queen, she was still a formidable figure of her own.
This clone contains a portion of her original personality.
Based on this alone.
Conventional methods cannot completely kill it.
At most, we can bring it to Near-Death State, like it is now.
She will continue to regenerate in this way until the divine power stored in the "Origin of the Person" is exhausted.
That's what makes Ascended beings so fearsome.
Even if it's just an avatar, we can't be careless.
fortunately.
Roger knew the woman's identity from the very beginning.
When the two sides were in a standoff.
He didn't give the Painful Maiden any chance at all, and directly used the Floating Cloud Palm technique to catch her off guard.
And now.
Roger only needs to use up her recovery count little by little.
"There are only 100 times in total."
"I can afford to wait!"
At present.
Roger patiently fed the axe to the Painful Maiden's head.
Just treat it as a game of hitting watermelons.
Thud! Thud! Thud! The muffled thuds echoed through the old church.
The Painful Maiden's curses grew increasingly intense—
She had never seen such a bizarre move before.
Those two large hands held her down tightly, and apart from passively recovering, she could do almost nothing! A long time passed.
She then realized that cursing wouldn't distract Roger.
So she began to change her approach:
"If you stop, they can still be saved; if you continue, they are doomed."
"After I die, the pain I'm suffering now will be transferred to the people in the Slums, doubling the amount. Do you want to see them suffer like that?"
Aren't you curious why I did this?
"Who exactly are you? This isn't divine magic..."
However.
The Painful Maiden's question was like a stone thrown into the sea.
Roger didn't bother to reply to her.
He was just focused on chopping off heads.
"Quinan's enemies are still of a lower level."
If it's in Mystra.
Anyone who can reach this level must be a master cunning old fox with a million schemes at their disposal...
He chopped as he went.
He silently sighed in his heart.
He's not some saint.
These words have no effect on him whatsoever.
If people in the Slums really die because of this, then she was the one who died first.
not to mention.
Such an obvious lie is a joke in the face of Sixth Sense.
that's all.
Roger maintained a good pace in chopping off heads.
On the data panel.
The Painful Maiden's healing abilities were being rapidly depleted.
Another 10 minutes passed.
She had only 25 recovery attempts left.
The mangled skull finally underwent a strange transformation! In an instant.
It swelled up like an inflated balloon.
Fine bone fragments grew out from inside the shattered skull! Roger grabbed its head and threw it forcefully out the window!
With a bang, the head exploded in mid-air.
Countless bone fragments scattered in all directions like stray bullets.
This scene made the hearts of the Battle Skirt Warrior skip a beat.
They finally understood why the people inside had told them to evacuate 100 meters!
Inside the old church.
Roger concealed the Floating Cloud Palm.
On the data panel.
"Warning: The Painful Maiden chose to self-destruct."
"Notification: The last remaining essence of the Painful Maiden has summoned a projection."
The next second.
A twisted and towering shadow stretched down from the top of the church.
Darkness enveloped the entire church like a night sky.
"I'm going to make you experience real pain!"
A cold, icy voice rang out.
In the darkness.
One after another, scarlet eyeballs lit up.
Each eyeball was covered in blood vessels, as if it might burst at any moment.
Looking at this scene.
Roger remained silent.
"Another self-destruction..."
Vilan too.
The Painful Maiden is one of them.
He really wanted to tell these (potential) Ascended beings: 'In Mystra, only the Corpse Demon are still playing the self-destruct game...'
But I don't have time for that now.
The Painful Maiden abandoned her clone and summoned a projection, certainly not to discuss life's lessons with him! In fact...
Just as he was speaking.
The shadow of pain had enveloped the entire church! "You have no chance."
A low laugh came from the darkness:
"Here's something even more interesting: if you had kept that Divine Art Badge with you, you might have survived."
"After all, this place is closer to that basilisk's divine realm..."
Accompanied by her laughter.
Roger's skin had begun to feel a slight tingling sensation.
This is the "pain aura" taking effect.
At present.
He dismissed the strange idea of 'whether or not to try on ' Nuo Ou's Binding Chains '.
Then he quickly pulled something out of his breast pocket.
The next second.
Roger felt the pain suddenly double.
From the darkness came the incredulous moan of Painful Maiden:
"A 'High-Level Divine Art Badge '? Didn't you just throw it away..."
Roger calmly replied, "Who told you I only have one Divine Art Badge?"
"Besides, you wouldn't dare summon a projection if I didn't throw away that low-level Divine Art Badge, would you?"
My rank is too low...
He silently added a sentence in his mind.
The next second.
Roger raised the badge in his hand and shouted:
"Queen, save me!"
The words fell.
The advanced Divine Art Badge immediately became scorching hot.
A faint white light appeared on it.
Then it became incredibly intense.
Between breaths.
A pure white, serpentine dagger emerged from the badge and easily pierced the projection of the Painful Maiden!
"Hint: The Sea Serpent Queen severely injured the projection of the Painful Maiden with the 'Spirit-Slaying Blade'."
"Ah..."
A scream rang out.
Roger quickly followed up with the Extermination Order and the Hunter's Mark.
Then detonate the latter to deal some damage.
no way.
His methods of attacking consciousness entities are relatively limited.
Things like projectors.
It would be more convenient for the Queen to take action herself.
The next moment.
The daggers stabbed into the darkness one after another.
Not long after.
It completely tore away all the darkness of night.
Amidst the curses of the Painful Maiden.
The darkness gradually faded away.
On the data panel.
A flood of information flashed by.
"You killed the projection of the Painful Maiden (Transcendent/Elite/Consciousness)."
"Failed to claim the Extermination Order reward..."
"Hint: You have gained the Sea Serpent Queen's approval; you have received 'Divine Grace'."
"Divine Grace: You have gained 0.01 Pain Rank (from the Painful Maiden's Rank Origin)"
"Praise the Queen!"
Roger shouted devoutly.
The next second.
A warm current flowed into his body.
"Hint: Your praise pleased the Sea Serpent Queen, and you have received 'Divine Grace'."
"Divine Grace: The Queen has raised your Hidden Hero Rank to LV46."
"Divine Grace: The Queen has raised your Hidden Hero Rank to LV47."
Roger immediately fell silent.
He wanted to slap himself twice!
I didn't expect the Queen to be so straightforward, directly lowering his rank...
Anyone else would probably be overjoyed.
But Roger couldn't muster even a smile!
"Hint: Your emotional changes have puzzled the Sea Serpent Queen, who has stopped bestowing divine favor upon you."
"Sixth Sense: You perceive that the Queen seems somewhat aggrieved."
"It's good that we're not upgrading."
Roger managed a stiff smile.
Fearing that laughing too much would cause the Queen to lower his rank again, he was afraid that if he laughed too much, she would start pulling him down in rank again.
Inside the church.
Roger silently opened the data panel.
Examine the situation of the painful position.
"Pain Persona: You have an extraordinary capacity for understanding, feeling, and learning about the realm of pain."
You can draw strength from pain.
You also gain extraordinary power from inflicting pain on others; you acquire the random rank feat - Painful Box.
"Painful Box: You can passively collect painful emotions."
Once the box is full, you can actively release these emotions.
The target can be an individual or a region.
In extreme cases, intense pain can directly lead to a person's death.
Painful Box is a good specialization.
It's perfect for someone like Roger who likes to ambush—no, to strike first.
But the Painful Position is just so-so.
Firstly, Roger disliked self-torture and had little opportunity to draw strength from pain.
Secondly, he is not a cruel person.
He usually killed people by cutting them in two with a single, painless stroke.
"Just consider it an extra bonus."
"Having dealt with the Painful Maiden's clone and projection for the Queen this time greatly increases our chances of seizing the treasure later."
"The Painful Maiden is probably not an isolated case; most of the astute individuals in the 'Divine Kingdom' are already itching to make their move..."
While pondering.
Roger walked out of the church.
The leader of the Battle Skirt Warrior immediately came forward.
Roger calmly handed over the reins to them.
Not long after.
The boys were sent to the Sbalon Family's castle.
"How are things in the Slums now?"
Roger asked.
The leader opened his mouth as if to answer.
Suddenly.
Both sides looked south with a tacit understanding!
On the sea surface.
A scene resembling hell on earth slowly emerges! Inside buildings engulfed in Big Fire.
The Sea Wolf Army is wreaking havoc with a frenzied slaughter!
On the data panel.
"Hint: You witnessed the strange phenomenon of the Sea Wolf Army slaughtering South Scratch Island, and you sense that the Sea Wolf Army is heading towards Sea Beast Bay."
"Gods War Mission Chapter 2 (Special Campaign Mode) is now open!"
Current Faction: Sea Beast Bay (Sbalon Family /Other Factions in the Interstellar Sea) (Cannot be selected)
"Campaign Bounty: Storm Rear Admiral Cruz"
"Reward: 50,000 Honor Points; Evil Veil (one of the Evil Set items)"
"Battle Bounty: Lightning Rear Admiral Petrus"
"Reward: 50,000 Honor Points; Evil Knee Pads (part of the Evil Set)"
"It's finally here..."
See here.
Roger held his breath and instinctively grabbed the "Evil Armband" on his sleeve.
"For the sake of the ' Intelligence Reduction Hand '!"
The next moment.
His gaze gradually sharpened.