Ende06 One of These Days

Foreword:

I keep reminiscing about those wonderful times.

Like collecting souvenirs.

--White Snake

[Part 1: Maintain Breathing]

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

The pain from the injury was far more severe than I had imagined.

Jason's highly beast-like wolf eyes glanced at the bloody holes in his body.

Instead of healing itself due to the strong body that had been nourished by the blood of the Azure Gold, these wounds became increasingly painful, and the injuries became more and more severe!

"Mr. Jason! Your stomach!" Daniel exclaimed in alarm. "Your stomach is moving!"

Meanwhile, the golden-masked figure from the brewery arrogantly roared.

"Jason Megan! You have been attacked by the soul power of [Desolation - Sorrowful Clouds]!"

The craftsman of Dionysus, just like his master, was arrogant and conceited, and very considerately explained to Jason the specific cause of his death.

"Your wound will begin to slowly rotate! The most important step in brewing is to evenly and meticulously grind the raw materials!"

"They will rotate in 1680-degree cycles, endlessly destroying every muscle in your body! Until your stinking wolf flesh is completely reduced to blood and gore, becoming a clean skeleton specimen!"

"How could this be?" Jason Megan's golden, beastly eyes widened. "My hands, my belly, they're wailing!!!"

Large spurts of blood gushed from the wolf's mouth. Examining Jason's scars closely, one could see the bloodshot eyes pierced by bone arrows twisting and squeezing in a bizarre manner before tearing and exploding. The newly formed wounds then slowly began to rotate, as if pulled by a blender, as if a terrifying and brutal eerie energy was controlling this body.

If you are touched by [Desolation·Sorrowful Clouds] even once, this bloody curse will slowly torture you to death!

Wolf blood almost turned Daniel into a Little Red man. At first, these penetrating wounds were only the thickness of a pen tip, but in just five or six seconds, after a round of entanglement and implosion, they had expanded to the size of a bottle cap.

In order to protect Daniel, Mr. Jason was attacked by bone arrows from the Golden Mask in both arms and his right leg. It seems that [Desolation] is just one of the many soul powers of this stitched monster - after all, this is a deformed monster formed by the fusion of three Red Flash Butterfly!

"Give up!" The golden mask continued moving towards the doorway, his movements extremely slow, seemingly due to his deformed body. "Give up sooner, and I might give you a quick death!"

At this moment, Daniel's mental attributes began to collapse. The enemy he faced had a very similar composition to the Flash Butterfly's essence. Not only him, but even Jason Megan's half-wolf body began to grow red spots with the Vita Imprint!

The boy couldn't utter a single word; his eyes were dry and sore, his intracranial pressure was rising rapidly, and he couldn't maintain his aiming posture while holding a gun—this was a very dangerous sign, and also the golden window for survival that Galahad Magic Academy repeatedly emphasized.

Once in this situation, you must immediately try to escape and not attempt to investigate further or fight back.

This is a sign of falling into the Gate of Death, a phenomenon where the Spirit Calamity index exceeds the limit of mental resistance, making it impossible to maintain rationality.

The reason why gunsmiths are so powerful--

--At least 30% of the reason is that the person possesses incredible mental strength and extremely strong resistance to spiritual pressure.

Before blood-bearing monsters and mythical creatures, no matter how powerful a warrior is, if they cannot pass the test of spiritual pressure, their combat power will be reduced by at least half, and some mentally fragile individuals will even break down and go mad on the spot.

This was also the first time Daniel had faced such terrifying spiritual pressure. He had never experienced the trials of the expedition, had never faced the Flash Butterfly, and was now frozen in place, becoming a lamb to the slaughter!

"Heh! So scared by the power of my sorrowful face that you can't run away?" The golden masked man drew closer, coming within about twelve meters of him. "Don't worry! You won't be able to run for long!"

A sickening swallowing sound emanated from behind the golden mask, from which tears streamed down its face.

"--You smell so good, bro!"

A strange laugh emanated from the monster's right shoulder and its joyful face.

In an instant, Daniel felt a burning sensation at the back of his head and a sharp pain in the tip of his nose!

Jason grabbed his hair and pulled him back sharply, allowing him to escape the deadly range of the Soul Power attack!

A grotesque, white, fleshy worm-like creature burst forth from the skull of the joyful-faced woman. These obese worms, resembling White Lady, opened their mouths full of sharp teeth, from which eyeballs emerged—

--Dozens of eyeballs emitted light simultaneously, converging into a gray-green ray, like a flashlight beam that suddenly shone brightly.

Jason, having swallowed his anger, pulled Daniel back from his dazed and confused state, which was also under the torment of spiritual pressure.

It seemed like nothing had happened, but suddenly a swallow landed in the courtyard!

The innocent little bird was struck by the ghostly aura of the joyful face, which hit half of its body. Sweeped by this eerie and dangerous ray of death, it fell to the ground and shattered. The still healthy half of its body was struggling, while the other half of its shell had become highly calcified and turned into stone!

Daniel then realized that his nose had become stiff, and with the slightest exhale, the fleshy part at the tip of his nose turned into weathered sand!

The Death Ray, with an attack radius of eleven meters, is the Golden Mask's second Soul Power superpower. It has a limited range but is extremely deadly.

"Add to that Judas's psionic abilities, Midas Touch has a 100% lethality rate," Jason Megan whispered. "Daniel, I shouldn't have brought you to a place like this. You're too young."

"Teacher!" Daniel stumbled backward, clutching his bleeding nose as he retreated to the spiral staircase in the corridor. "Are you alright? Is your injury alright? Did we step into an enemy trap?"

Jason's old wounds hadn't healed, and he was only able to stay conscious thanks to the pain from the second explosive trauma of [Desolation], but this pain wouldn't end unless...

"It's all over now." Mr. Jason, as if facing a formidable enemy, used his strong werewolf body as a shield to protect the students.

How did he manage to withstand the flesh-and-blood curse of [Desolation·Sorrowful Clouds]?

He was saved by the windmill. The golden and blue enamel-colored spirit arm quickly tapped and pounded on the wound, separating the originally broken and tattered wound into pieces of flesh and blood cubes. The wound became larger and easier to treat the flesh and blood that was cursed by the spirit energy.

His method of treating illnesses and saving lives with medicine was unbelievably fast, just as he had boasted to the two nameless brothers when he first started out.

"Don't worry about me, Daniel, I'm always a fast runner."

"This guy's second face, that smiling face, is like Medusa's head, capable of shooting out light that can turn people to stone!" Daniel warned.

"I know!" Jason grabbed Daniel and ran upstairs. The rotten flesh on his arms and legs had just begun to heal under the care of the Universal Elixir.

"Uncle Jason! We absolutely have to..." Before Daniel could finish speaking, Jason scooped him up under his armpits, seemingly annoyed by the slow movement of this Homo sapiens unit.

Daniel: "Do we really have to fight this monster? Can't we just run away first?"

"No!" Jason Megan said something completely out of character for him, "He won't live more than half an hour! Daniel!"

"Why?" Daniel, confused.

"This guy's Soul Power has an extremely high lethality! If Gloria Sebastian joins forces with him, we'll have no chance to defeat him separately!"

"This isn't recklessness! This isn't rashness! Only the two of us know this guy's soul power. If General of Tears were to face this guy at point-blank range, that idiot Bu Liuxing would be instantly killed in the first round!"

"I'm going to kill it right here!"

"And hey, Daniel! Can you feel it?"

Daniel asked in surprise, "What did you feel?"

The scenery rushing past on both sides made Daniel feel dizzy and intoxicated. Jason, the big wolf, carried little Daniel around in circles, searching for suitable medium tools to fight back.

"You might not hear me! Daniel! You can't hear me!"

"My Inspiration is far stronger than yours; I haven't taken off my Lapis Lazuli bracelet yet."

The werewolf's massive arms could no longer support the spirit bead bracelet, but the bracelet, like a ring, was fastened to the tip of Jason's Thumb. His ears stood up, and the entire wolf went berserk, entering a state of heightened combat readiness.

"There were so many voices in that workshop! So many voices!"

"There were men and women, young and old, people from East Horse Port, as well as people from Shambhala and the Nine Realms."

"They seem to have turned into a cauldron of broth! They are crying out, they are praying to Dionysus."

"They were in great pain, even children as young as five or six. Their essence merged together, becoming wine in an oak barrel!"

"I cannot tolerate this evil and deformed being living in this world! Daniel! Not even for a second!"

"That beast deserves to die! Gloria Sebastian deserves to die too!"

"What kind of depraved and vicious demon could suck human blood and eat human flesh while demanding that people kneel before this evil god, begging for gratitude and praying to the gods and Buddhas!"

"No Gloria officers are here to protect this golden mask! This isn't a curse for us! This isn't a trap! Daniel!"

Jason's intuition was very accurate.

"--This is a hero's chance! Lady Luck is still on my side!"

"What do we do, Uncle Jason?!" Daniel was almost vomiting from the wolf's swift movements.

Suddenly he turned and went downstairs. The intense feeling of weightlessness made him dizzy, and he quickly arrived at the intricate church area's front passageway.

Jason Megan's nose twitched, and her eyes darted around.

His keen Inspiration allowed him to pinpoint the location of the golden mask at any moment. In just two short minutes, he had circled the entire second-floor area, thoroughly familiarizing himself with the surroundings, yet he hadn't made a move to take Gloria's collection.

These display cases all have spell alarm mechanisms to varying degrees. Without enough time to break the spell, even if you obtain the Soul Coffin of the former Hunter King, you won't be able to take it out of this church.

He lingered on the northeast side of the dressing room, while the golden mask slowly followed the remnants of psionic energy left by the big wolf.

Jason chose this position to wait for the enemy because he wanted to confirm one thing—

"--Uncle Jason," the ever-cautious Daniel asked in a low voice, "How confident are you?"

Jason: "Five."

Daniel: "Fifty percent? That's right."

Before he could finish speaking, Jason continued, "Four."

"Three."

"Two"

"He was two seconds slower than I expected."

The golden mask appeared at the end of the corridor, but did not immediately pursue. This deformed freak leisurely avoided the bathhouse passageway, coming along the wall.

The Summoning Bell kept ringing, and Daniel had no idea what message Jason was trying to send. Given the format of the Morse code, it would take Hao Bro and his team time to decipher it.

"Go." Jason didn't stop, but instead rammed straight into the wall behind him.

[WindMills] shattered the thick stone wall, and the two retreated to the corridor staircase. Just as the golden mask caught up with them, the wall closed in the instant it blocked the writhing mass of flesh behind it.

Based on the church's internal corridor structure and Jason's mental arithmetic skills, if the monster doesn't call for reinforcements, it will take him about forty-five seconds to get back to the brewery.

[Part ②: Heroic Legacy]

Jason didn't make complicated arrangements. He didn't have much time. Unless you're a spellcaster with exceptional talent like Teacher Shali, any ritual magic requires complex chanting and incantations, and the help of a psionic catalyst.

The reason I lured the golden mask to the vicinity of the bathhouse and cloakroom was to discover this guy's weakness.

Any activation of a Soul Power requires a medium; this guy's [Sorrowful Face] is activated using his finger bones as a chiral catalyst.

[Joyful Face] is activated using light as a medium, unleashing a hemispherical petrifying ray with a diameter of eleven meters.

[Angry Face] uses a golden mask as a medium; anything that touches the mask will be decomposed by Judas's soul power [Midas Touch].

The power of [Joyful Face] can be affected by mirror reflection, which is why the Golden Mask deliberately avoids the walkway doors on the side of the bathhouse—he is afraid of mirrors.

"Can you keep fighting?" Jason asked in a low voice.

Daniel nervously replied, "I'm not sure, teacher. I can't muster the courage within me!"

Just one glance at that monster was enough to make Daniel lose all will to fight. His mental attributes were inadequate to withstand this level of spiritual pressure. If he were to come into close contact again, he would be instantly overwhelmed by the golden mask's spiritual pressure.

On the other side, little Kaycee listened intently to the message delivered by the Summoning Bell—

"Uncle Jason wants us to find a mirror. If we don't have a mirror, pure water will do. We can use it as a mirror by performing a ritual magic trick that turns water into ice."

Deciphering ciphers is one of Kaycee's specialties. In the Moon God Cup tournament, Vanguards need to use various means to convey information, including whistles, howling phrases used by beasts to communicate, and bell codes.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Hao Bro was followed by a large group of soldiers, and he was wearing a mimicry monster.

It was a delicate, small, purplish-red treasure chest with sharp teeth, which bit A Hao's buttocks. It was purely A Hao's fault for being impulsive; he was tempted by the treasure in the display case, but he never expected that this little treasure chest would grow teeth and follow him all the way.

In just forty-five seconds, the golden mask returned to the outer road of the brewery, where he happened to see Jason the wolf, who had been waiting for a long time at the first-floor pavilion leading to the spiral staircase of the corridor.

"Didn't they run away?"

The monster wanted to say a few more words of nonsense.

Jason Megan had no desire to speak, because the gunsmith's extensive experience in exorcising demons and killing enemies had also taught this older brother—

--The less nonsense, the more ingenious the tricks.

He raised his massive wolf claws, preparing for the second round of the killing process.

This time he wasn't fighting alone; the little darling whom the nameless woman had painstakingly raised was by his side.

"Berloberg! Respond to me!"

A gleaming blade flew through the air!

Jason Megan held the pure white flame tightly in her hand, and it spewed out a blazing light that illuminated the wolf's golden eyes.

Following closely behind was the vanguard sentinel, Kaycee, who dashed and leaped from the second-floor pavilion, stomping hard on the back of the golden mask, completely avoiding the radiation zone of the [Joyful Face], causing the monster to lose its balance and stagger.

Hao Bro, the penetrator, was a little later, but his heart ignited almost instantly.

--The brewery doors are wide open, and batches of blood-stained fabric hang on the assembly line. The meat dogs, tormented by [miserable faces], are the only legacy these innocent and helpless victims can leave behind.

He even saw a skeletal hand, skinned and dismembered, clutching a small shark plush toy from the Nine Realms, not even having time to let go before death arrived.

Enraged, A Hao almost lost his mind. He approached the staggering, unsteady man in the golden mask and emptied the magazine at the back of his head!

He fired fourteen shots, but couldn't continue after fifteen! The terrifying spiritual pressure caused blood to spill from his mouth and nose, but he didn't lose his fighting spirit! He forced his fingers to maintain the firing posture!

The man in the golden mask dared not turn around. The man in front of him, Berloberg, was truly terrifying. This was the weapon of Death God, the magic weapon used by the nameless man to cut off heads and take lives. He could only flap his arms and awkwardly straighten his body and twist his shoulders to deal with the young man behind him with the side of his head.

The moment the joyful face lit up with a faint glow, only three or four seconds had passed from the moment they met and started fighting to the moment they joined forces to kill each other.

Hao Bro pulled a full-length mirror from behind his shoulder strap. Before [Joyful Face] could react, the sudden surge of spiritual energy backfired, forcing him to swallow back the soul power attack he had just launched.

Almost simultaneously, Daniel joined the battle blindfolded, crouching down, holding his gun, and mentally calculating his position for blind firing.

Unlike A Hao, this kid can't use his fierce fighting spirit to resist spiritual pressure, but he has mastered the gunsmith's skills. In the dark, lightless combat environment, this attacker is least affected by the environment.

Even blindfolded, this little guy can still use his powerful memory to mentally depict the target's arm span, height, and exact location, and rely on Inspiration to capture the signs of the activation of spiritual energy.

As long as you don't open your eyes, you can shield yourself from most of the mental damage caused by spiritual pressure.

Gunfire erupted instantly. Bullets fired simultaneously from three directions—front, back, and overhead—caught Golden Mask off guard. He could continuously use his [Midas Touch] ability to counter the bullet damage, but he couldn't remain passively attacked. Even after being modified by the elixir, Judas's soul power was still Golden Mask's trump card—he didn't have the mental strength to maintain the three-dimensional defense of [Midas Touch].

Just minutes earlier, the man in the gold mask had said to Daniel that this was a "ridiculous modern weapon."

As soon as bullets can tear open his wool coat, rip open his bloodied body, and let the sunlight in—he will be reduced to ashes.

At the moment the roles shifted, the four-man team had no powerful psionic skills, only the silhouette of the gunsmith. A Death God stood silently beside the warriors, holding their handguards, pulling their triggers, bracing their butts, and keeping a close eye on the ammunition in their waistbands.

Their combat strength is not comparable to any of the attack groups on the front lines, but with Jason Megan in command, they are more than capable of dealing with lone monsters.

"Finish it off!" Kaycee roared.

The moment the bullets tore through the fabric of the golden mask, the bullets scattered like flowing water. The crossfire and the extremely short intervals of mutual cover during reloading gave the monster no chance to catch its breath.

Yes, he couldn't even speak, for fear that if he uttered the word "beg for mercy," his energy would dissipate from his mouth.

The crackling sound of exploding bullets accompanied the landing of hundreds of gleaming golden shell casings.

--A rat occasionally peeked out from the kitchen, A Hao, enraged, reacted almost instinctively by firing, aiming his gun and turning the rat into a pulp. The soldiers who followed were terrified, and upon hearing the gunshot, they retreated back to the palace area.

The moment the gunfire ceased, Jason launched his charge.

The blazing light blade drew a dazzling arc!

It severed one of the golden mask's arms! It seems our lapis lazuli brother's skills have become rusty; he simply can't maintain Berloberg's balance!

But that's not all! It's far from over!

The deformed monster revealed half of its bloodied and mangled torso, and its grotesque true form, a joyful face, emerged from its coat—a human-faced scar deeply embedded in the thick flesh of its shoulder and neck, still throbbing like a heart!

The man in the golden mask staggered, thrown off balance by the sword strike. He tried to get up again to cast a spell, attempting to unleash his soul power.

Jason raised his sword and slashed again, as if the first round of slashes was merely a test, intended to weaken the monster's resilience and break its balance.

The scorching blade ripped out the entire parasitic skull with its joyful face, ruthlessly tearing out this still-beating, monstrous fleshy sore!

As it lay dying, the scarred creature's eyes glowed with blood-red light, attempting to curse Jason to death with its petrifying rays. However, the wolf flipped its wrist and swung its sword, firmly grasping the spherical tuber of flesh and blood—the joyful face's soul power was about to shine back at the golden-masked man's body!

The freak's lower limbs rapidly calcified and lost their color, and hundreds of tiny, densely packed fingers rolled out from his coat!

This monster possesses extraordinary hand-like abilities, all thanks to these fingers, these universal spiritual mediums cut from ordinary mortals, which also makes it impossible for the golden mask to move fast.

Discarding the deformed skull with its joyful face, discarding this human-faced tumor, the wolf raises his sword and strikes again!

This scalding cut released scalding steam, cleaved through layers of broken bones, and ripped open the twisted worms inside the abdomen!

Sunlight poured into the monster's heart and lungs like flowing water, slicing and shattering Judas's mask!

Jason's sword-wielding hand remained unchanged throughout, neither trembling with fear nor distorted by spiritual pressure.

He took several steps back, moving slightly away from the golden-masked corpse, and gasped for breath. Tiny beads of blood, caused by bursting capillaries, dripped from the dark wolf eye glands.

Having regained some of his strength, he charged forward again, and Berloberg pierced through his angry face.

Changing stance, he ruthlessly annihilated the heart of the joyful-looking man on the ground!

After doing all this, Jason finally breathed a sigh of relief and began talking to his four equally nervous friends about the gunsmith's training.

"Prevent resurrection."