Vol18: The Broken Holy Sword

"Hehehehehe!~"

Saint Josh Joris has completed the possession.

--The hunters were just stumbling around in the meeting hall, and that strange priest is already trapped in the Nine Hells. Without the quartermaster's command and coordination, the soldiers at the outpost are a bunch of useless idiots.

At this moment, Saladin had turned this place into his hunting ground, like a steaming feast of human flesh. He would use Liliya's body to savor as many dishes as possible!

He manipulated Liliya's twisted body, emitting eerie howls, and the psychic energy emanating from this demon caused part of Moon River Lake to freeze.

Ek Maddens was completely terrified. He couldn't understand what terrible changes had occurred to his mother's body. Never before had such a terrifying demon come knocking during his previous psychic rituals.

The young man, protecting his fiancée, frantically fled through the room.

He tugged at Sophia's clothes, grabbed his wife's waist, and shoved her toward the door. Inside, blood shimmered, and the grotesque form that Joris had created using Liliya's physical essence began to fly up and down, attacking its prey inside the house.

These bizarre, bony toes could easily tear through Ek's skin and muscles; the monstrous strength they contained was as terrifying as that of a bear, wolf, tiger, or leopard.

Ek had only managed to escape two or three steps before managing to shove Sophia out the door. He was entangled and fighting with this unfamiliar mother, and didn't feel the pain for a moment. When he came to his senses, he realized that he had several deep, bone-revealing wounds on his calves and upper arms.

"Alas!--"

Ek's face was pale, his pupils were constricted, and he was trembling with immense fear.

His shoulders and neck lost their strength, and his body became unbalanced under the pursuit of the demon. His body, which was trying to escape outside, leaned against the door, and he dared not breathe as the blood-red eyes in the darkness stared at him.

His leg was gripped again by a bloody, monstrous claw, pulling him further into the house. He struggled to survive, and with the slightest effort, he felt an excruciating tearing pain in his ankle. A clump of yellow, gelatinous substance came off the joint—upon closer inspection, it was clearly flesh, tendons, and bones ripped apart, and his foot and shoe fell off together!

Ek had lost his left leg. He crawled out, kneeling and screaming, but dared not reach for his wife with his arms, for fear of dragging Sophia back to this hell.

"Sophia! Run! Run! Run!"

Seeing her fiancé trapped, Ms. Sophia hesitated, unwilling to abandon him in the face of disaster.

--Knowing that this boy was the most important person in her life, Mrs. Sophia was completely stunned, overwhelmed by the immense mental shock and the Inspiration Pressure.

She watched helplessly as the monster drew ever closer into the darkness of the house.

Aunt Liliya's upside-down head rested on Ek's vest, her long tongue licking Ek's wounds, slowly cleaning away the blood, and then using her sharp bony toes to poke out new wounds.

Fresh blood gushed from Ek's mouth and nose. He clung to the doorframe, desperately trying to escape this hell, too afraid to speak, lest he lose his last strength. But no matter how hard he tried, this ordinary man was no match for the devil.

"Run"

He just wanted to wake his wife so she could take their unborn child and flee.

The next second, Ek Maddens was dragged into the darkness by Saint Josh.

Meanwhile, Holly was rushing to the inn to find Father Zhang Congfeng's personal keepsake. If she couldn't find anything useful, according to Mr. Oscar's description, the priest's soul would truly have to fight its way through the Nine Hells, crossing the eight great hells of lust, gluttony, greed, anger, perversion, violence, deceit, and rebellion, plus the nine dimensions of Limbo, before it could return to the material plane.

Those researchers who went to explore the land of the dead in Niflheim were well prepared, leaving a back door for calling back souls. Since ancient times, there have been very few epic heroes who have truly traversed other worlds and returned to the human world. Oscar never thought Zhang Congfeng had that ability.

At the intersection of South Second Road, where Moon River Lake is located, the roe deer girl and Benni bumped into each other.

Benni was guided by some unseen force. Her extraordinary Inspiration allowed her to sense the crisis facing the gunsmith in her dream. She saw Fragrant Dream fighting the gatekeepers of hell with her bare hands, so she wanted to deliver the sword. However, she didn't know where the gates of hell were, let alone how to deliver this broken sword to the warrior. She wandered around the town like a headless fly.

Holly, that silly girl, had no other skills, but she was incredibly fast. She bumped into Benni, the bird demon covered in feathers, and both of them were seeing stars and were disoriented. For a moment, they mistook each other for monsters and started fighting without saying a word.

At this very moment, our protagonist remains trapped in Limbo.

Whenever Xue Ming wanted to return the way he came, using the movement ability of Fragrant Dream to fly towards the funnel above his head, and cross the narrow path above the slope to return to the human world through the Demon Pool, a tremendous force would press him firmly back towards the boundary marker.

The three-headed gatekeeper apostle of Hell died and died again, each time being brutally killed by the monstrous strength of Fragrant Dream, only to be reborn again in just ten seconds by borrowing flesh and blood from Limbo.

Jiang Xueming's experience points from hunting Apostle units were increasing rapidly, while on the other side, Maquire had just finished the investigation at the military station and was preparing to ride his electric scooter home to sleep.

A cloth bag flew into Maquire Copenhagen's arms, which was nothing unusual. He took it as a prank by the residents of the Moon River Lake Resort. Saladin was a place of simple and honest people; it was lucky if you weren't hit by a condom while out for a stroll late at night.

The next moment, the cries for help from Maddens' family put him on edge.

"Someone's shouting for help?! Did I hear that right? Or..."

Old Ma immediately focused his attention on the sounds coming from the tree-lined path.

From a very distant place, a chilling current of air emanated—

--The surgeon had lost Berloberg's spirit, and he thought he could return to a peaceful life, face trial at the outpost, and serve his sentence in the assault team.

He had no Inspiration, but he knew that these strange chills were signs of psychic activity, far colder than Saladin's winds.

"That's right! Someone is calling for help."

Without the slightest hesitation, he dropped his cloth bag and drove off onto the tree-lined path, determined to see this meddlesome matter through to the end.

But Doctor Maguire was too careless. What he didn't notice was that the cloth package had fallen onto the road, the strips of cloth tangled with the mudguard of the electric scooter's rear wheel, and had gone into the wilderness with the scooter. When he slowly unpacked the package, the hilt of Berloberg's sword was revealed inside.

Upon arriving at the lakeside cabin, Maquire's pupils dilated violently; the pungent smell of blood and excrement drove him to madness.

"Who is it? Who is still committing murders by Saladin?! Who is it?"

"Isn't Saint Josh Joris already dead?"

He stopped his electric bike, slowly approached the fence of the hut, and as he walked to the wooden wall, he tried to take out his phone to contact the people at the military station.

"No signal!?"

At this moment, Doctor Maguire suddenly realized that he had lost Berloberg's protection, and the Spirit Calamity here was clearly beyond his ability to deal with!

A slimy, fleshy worm, at least three feet long, crawled out of the dark mud and grabbed Maquire's leg tightly.

"--Pfft!"

Maquire momentarily lost his composure, and his communication device fell into the dark flowerbed. A cold light shone through the grass and trees, and Maquire felt his calves go weak, as if something had bitten them. He looked down and was so frightened that he almost lost his mind!

That's Ms. Sophia from town!

Sophia's arms and legs were gone! It was as if they had been cut off by some sharp weapon! Completely vanished!

The woman's eyes rolled back, her scalp was ripped off, and she had completely lost her mind!

She's eating my flesh! Has she been possessed by a monster?

Poor Sophia couldn't escape the clutches of Saint Josh Joris; the whole family became prisoners of the devil, mindless walking corpses.

Without the support of the Magic Pool, in order to gather enough primal essence, Saint Josh Joris needs to materialize these people and reshape his demonic body.

Look! Who's here?

A series of sinister, maniacal laughs escaped Mrs. Sophia's lips.

"Hehehehehehehehe! Maquire Copenhagen! You ungrateful bastard!"

Maquire pulled back his injured right leg and retreated extremely quickly. After being shocked in the first round, he quickly regained his composure and transformed from extreme shock into extreme anger!

"Joris!--"

A mass of flesh and blood emerged from the doorway of the lakeside cabin. It was Liliya's mother, Ek, and the remaining two participants in the psychic ritual. Their bodies were pressed together, revealing a mangled, skull-shaped tumor—the face of Saint Josh Joris.

"I helped you heal your heartbreak and defeat your inner demons! I gave you advice and strategies! I helped you kill Alfons! And you want to help an outsider!? We could have been friends!"

Old Ma had no intention of heeding the devil's slander. He felt that he was missing some muscle in his right leg, making it difficult to even stand—but he did not back down and quickly thought of how to fight back.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Maquire? What's wrong? What's wrong?" Saint Josh yelled, "Why aren't you saying anything? That look in your eyes is disgusting! Do you want to fight me? You think you can?"

"I can feel it— Berloberg's spirit is no longer by your side."

"You're just an ordinary person now; the game of playing the gunsmith is over!"

"If you know what's good for you, why don't you take me to the morgue at the infirmary, help me complete my transformation, reclaim my demonic form, and then kneel before me and kiss my toes—maybe I'll spare your life! I'll even teach you how to cook!"

"Maquire, I almost cried because of my own kindness."

Veins bulged on Old Ma's forehead, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and the wind and snow lashed his face like resounding slaps. He couldn't tolerate the arrogance of this devil among humans—he had once shared a table with such a creature, eating human flesh, which made him feel utterly ashamed.

Overwhelmed by intense shame and rage, he lost control of himself and nearly went insane.

He rushed forward, pulled out the thick wooden fence, almost forgetting how he even got moving—

--The injuries to his legs and feet seemed unable to stop him, even with a piece of flesh missing.

"Foolish! You're courting death! Since you're so eager to die, I'll..." Saint Josh was just worried about not having enough human flesh, and Maquire, this group of fresh-faced men trained in knightly combat, offered himself up. Of course, he was going to accept it generously, but things didn't go as he expected.

The plan was to use Sophia's ambush to attack the old horse's hind legs and slow its pace, but the simple bites had no effect whatsoever.

--Why?

Seeing Old Ma charging towards them with the wooden fence, his vigorous and spirited appearance somewhat reminiscent of the General of Tears, every step he took was solid, and every advance and charge was made with full force!

This caught Saint Josh completely off guard. Why did this guy seem uninjured? His leg.

Looking into the eyes of the Maddens family, Saint Josh finally realized what was happening.

--This kid has awakened his psionic powers!

On Old Ma's injured leg, a thread-like spirit was shimmering. The surgeon's superb suturing technique had taught the spirit the art of stopping bleeding and stitching. Dense strands of spirit silk wrapped around the rotten flesh from the bite wound, supporting his tall body.

But it doesn't matter— Saint Josh thought to himself, manipulating these puppet bodies, turning their bony claws into serrated blades, while Maquire's weapon was nothing more than a damp, soft wooden fence.

In the garden of the wooden house, near the porch by the gate, Old Ma raised the "little wooden sword" in his hand and began to fight the monster.

Saint Josh was so shocked he couldn't close his legs. Are Homo sapiens all curled up like this now?!

The wooden sword in Old Ma's hand seemed to be imbued with divine power, its surface wrapped in spiritual threads. The richness of its spiritual essence and the resilience of its soul far exceeded the devil's imagination. The little devil was forced to retreat repeatedly, and the puppet's bone knife bore numerous callus wounds. In just over ten rounds, Maquire suffered no new injuries; instead, his attacks grew increasingly fierce.

He forced the monster into the house, and in the meantime, he condensed a cluster of spiritual silk. Sophia, who came to attack from the side, was kicked by him and flew from the door to the road. Without the help of her hands and feet, Sophia could only twist her body and continue to climb back to the wooden house.

Old Ma's eyes widened, and he continued to attack Saint Josh's flesh puppet with fury, wanting to send this demon back to hell. The threads on his body were beginning to show signs of gathering into clumps.

Saint Josh watched in horror, never expecting that this surgeon would become more and more courageous in battle, actually breaking through in the face of the enemy, transforming from a nymph to a pupa, and continuing to grow out of control and at an accelerated speed towards becoming a cocoon!

"How is that possible?"

This was beyond Saint Josh's comprehension. He had been searching for the power of the Phosphorus Butterfly for so many years, and only after failing to obtain it did he embark on the path of seeking demonic knowledge. Yet, there was a rapidly transforming example right before his eyes—he could not comprehend this change.

"Die! Die!"

From the flesh golem's body spewed forth piles of bone nails—

--Maquire raised his arms to cover his face, and the spiritual silk quickly transformed into two strong arms, then in an instant into soft cloth, like two giant Band-Aid, steadily catching the throwing knives with initial velocities exceeding 100 meters.

At this moment, Old Ma still showed no surprise; he had only one thought in his mind.

Kill this demon! We must not allow Saint Josh Joris to cause any more human tragedy!

He had entered a state of complete absorption, immersing himself entirely in the flow state of the <Knight Combat Technique>.

Jiang Xueming and Bu Liuxing under the spiritual pressure of the transformed beast had undergone rapid transformations. The same was true for Maquire. The spiritual pressure emanating from the demon Saint Josh Joris meant that, for psionicists in close contact with such entities, as long as their fighting spirit remained undiminished, their growth rate was astonishing—overcoming fear through repeated near-death experiences and transforming into a morpho butterfly was not impossible.

"You think you're so tough?!" Saint Josh climbed back onto the ceiling, trying to hide in Maquire's blind spot. "What's the use?! I still have five lives in my hands!"

"Maquire! They're not dead yet! The harder you hit me, the more pain they'll feel!"

"Liliya, Ek, and Sophia outside the door! They're still alive, but if you want to shatter my demonic incarnation, you'll have to kill them all!"

"You're going to become a murderer! You murderer! Shameless! Unscrupulous bastard!"

Saint Josh didn't rush into action; he wanted to defeat Maquire on a psychological level.

This kid once possessed Berloberg, and after awakening his psionic powers, his combat strength should not be underestimated.

If this continues, Saladin might actually gain another Morpho butterfly.

"What did you say? They're not dead yet?"

Old Ma awoke from his dazed state.

Saint Josh clearly didn't understand what it meant for a doctor to have a wounded patient still alive.

This burning will to survive and the sense of responsibility of a nurse caused a dramatic change in Maquire's heart.

A magnificent, robust humanoid half-body suddenly burst forth from Maquire's back—

It wore a sharp white suit with two sleeves, its features and skin were sculpted from purplish-red crystals, its arms were crossed in front of its chest, and the deep V-neck of its suit was almost bursting out of its muscular chest, proclaiming its terrifying destructive power.

The ruby statue suddenly opened its eyes, its azure soul fire burning quietly, and revealed a set of steel teeth made of platinum.

Saint Josh, who was still observing from the ceiling, was stunned and let out a blasphemous exclamation that seemed to blaspheme the devil's camp.

Oh my God!