Ende Bloodstone
Foreword:
I stood alone in the darkness; winter always comes especially quickly.
My memories drift back to childhood, when happiness was a very simple word.
--Lingyun
[Part 1: Rescue Soldiers Arrive]
Amidst the gray-black waves, the phantom of the Original Seed could be faintly seen, along with a series of iron-nickel tentacles bursting with golden lightning. Driven by the medium's artifact, they gradually coalesced into the illusion of the War King.
"Sister Katusha," A Hao, unable to withstand this level of Inspiration Pressure, quickly advised, "I feel something's wrong! We don't know the specific situation on the beach, should we take a break for now?"
The Lingyun team alone was no match for the Flash Butterfly. In order to ensure the students' safe evacuation, Jason Megan chose to face the fairy embryo alone—ultimately finding himself in an embarrassing situation of defeat and near death.
Katusha couldn't catch up with the flying monster either. She had completely lost her mind and was about to use source magic to summon the illusion of the War King.
"I don't care! I don't care!" The chubby girl leaned against the railing of the seaside street, almost running to the breakwater. She grabbed the War King's withered, fleshy hand, stabbing the BOSS's old teeth into her fingertips, and screamed hysterically, "Shut up, you brat! The people who care about you and love you aren't in any danger, how could you understand my feelings?"
"He chose to face the brewery monster alone to protect you little ones!"
Katusha knew all too well how vulnerable her employer was.
When it comes to escaping, Jason Megan is second to none.
If it weren't for covering the retreat of the young members of the Spirit Cloud Squad, this Blue Stone People would never have stayed behind to dismantle the psionic bomb, nor would he have become the wolf skull lantern in the hands of the Flash Butterfly.
Katusha was never a rational and calm servant. Under such spiritual pressure, no one could control their emotions, and maintaining rationality had become a luxury.
The only trump cards the boss gave Jason Megan were the War King's Broken Hand and five teeth.
--They can cast Origin Magic, pulling the War King from the Pandemani Spirit Realm to the material plane, using the primordial essence of the Original Seed as a vessel to deal with powerful enemies that are difficult to defeat with conventional force.
Katusha saw this as her last lifeline; why not use it now, or save it for Mr. Jason's funeral?
However, this origin ritual has many uncontrollable side effects and many complex effects that have not been fully explored.
No one can guarantee that the War King who escaped from the Dream Spirit Realm will listen to a single word of human speech—she is almost a special individual who is beyond any control and does not obey any orders.
Without the gunsmith present, no one could guarantee what this War King, who appeared as a dark horse knight, would do.
Another effect of unknown significance is the spiritual pressure disaster brought about when Origin Magic is activated. The elemental substance that constitutes the War King's illusion is part of the Original Seed, and its spiritual pressure can cause people to "bloom" on the spot. The closer one is to the summoned creature, the easier it is to be assimilated by the Original Seed and turned into a mindless flesh and blood creation—similar to the Soul Power [Grim Art] that John Borg obtained from the Original Seed.
At this very moment, Katusha is doing something extremely dangerous.
Compared to the Flash Butterfly, or high-value targets like Fret and Gloria who possess great supernatural powers, the War King illusion summoned using Origin Magic is far more dangerous—this is also why the BOSS has explicitly forbidden research into the Original Seed's psionic energy.
This time, however, the situation was special. On the eve of the Southeast offensive, Jason Megan, as part of the rescue team, obtained the casting requirements for Origin Magic.
When Fret Caesar saw the detection report for [Origin Magic - Summoning the War King], the great demon from the Netherworld turned pale and his teeth chattered in fear—enough to prove the disastrous nature of this forbidden technique.
As the electrified tentacles of the rising and falling tide slowly crawled onto the beach, they writhed and moved slowly amidst a golden lightning flash, emerging from a clump of gelatinous mud. The woman poked her head out again, gradually taking on a human form from her chaotic and indescribable state.
The moment Glory's phantom appeared riding a black horse, Katusha's face turned extremely ugly—as the presiding priest of ritual magic, observing the Original Seed from a distance of only eighty meters, the spiritual pressure almost drove her insane on the spot.
Her eyes began to produce multicolored spots, like the phantoms of red butterflies that appeared in her eyes. Her intracranial pressure rose rapidly, her breathing became rapid and she had intense tinnitus. Her brain began to fatigue and shut down, and blood began to flow from her eyes, ears, mouth and nose.
Xiao Hao is the same. As a psionicist who has reached the cocooning stage of the transformation process, these "insects" are extremely sensitive to spiritual pressure environments and have no resistance to them. Just like babies in a pregnant woman's womb, even if the mother eats a few more spicy meals, they will be greatly affected by capsaicin, and their metabolic rate will increase dramatically.
The War King's illusion didn't detect the enemy at first. The black horse knight was like a viscous tar, patrolling aimlessly on the beach. As the ritual spell continued, the outline of her mount became more and more concrete, unlike the previous time when it only popped its head out and scared away the Soul Artifact Dad, which was so abstract.
The horse's forelimbs gradually took shape, the saddle on its back gradually took shape, the War King's hair completely separated from the iron-nickel core, and it had a complete neck, shoulders, and half-body armor, with leather clothing and all the necessary materials.
However, she was still not free from the control of the Original Seed. The hindquarters of the horse sank deep into the huge tentacles beneath the seabed, like a beautiful mermaid illusion created by a pufferfish to lure its prey—this was merely a hair of the Original Seed.
In this environment of spiritual pressure, Katusha couldn't even utter a single word.
She tried to control the summoned creature using the "command spell" that Mr. Jason had taught her, but ended up coughing up blood and then screaming insanely after losing her mind.
She collapsed to her knees beside the breakwater, screaming in terror, her mind completely shattered. Crushed by the spiritual pressure of the War King and the Original Seed, her body throbbed with pain and swelling, and her fingers began to react, becoming inflamed and ulcerated.
"This isn't fun!"
Wood Plark pulled a set of spirit clothes from his bag and quickly wrapped it around Katusha's body.
With lightning speed and agility, he pulled out the teeth from the tips of his withered fingers and snatched the dangerous psionic catalyst into his arms. In the blink of an eye, the War King's illusion, which had been looking around on the beach searching for enemies, retreated back into the sea and disappeared.
Katusha collapsed to her knees, leaning against the grassy bank of the earthen embankment as she began to vomit, bringing with her fragments of ulcerated gastric mucosa. The moment her bioelectric system collapsed, her abdomen spasmed, causing severe internal injuries.
She coughed up large amounts of blood and had lost the ability to speak.
Hao Bro wasn't much better off. When War King appeared, the kid grabbed the railing and frantically banged his head against it, creating a deep dent between his eyebrows, and completely passed out.
Daniel, Kaycee, and Xiao Min were inspecting the brewery and narrowly escaped this disaster.
Wood Plark cleaned up the mess, took the two delirious guests back to the Church of Dionysus on Que Mountain Street, fed them some Universal Elixir, and hung them on a donkey so the boatmen could run away at any time.
After doing all this, the old professor from the Magic Academy decided to return to Huacheng Bay to help Meteor finish the final battle.
[Part ②: The North Wind Creates Heroes]
A strong sea breeze blew from the beach all the way to the residential buildings in the industrial area, and everyone was waiting—waiting for the General of Tears and the Flash Butterfly to settle their score.
Gloria was unwilling to immediately join the melee. In her Flash Butterfly form, she couldn't distinguish friend from foe, and if she were to stumble in the chaos, it would be too unjust for her to die.
The same was true for Fret Caesar. He didn't want to leave the workshop to fight. Teasing the General of Tears in the hotel would be much more effective than taking the risk of entering dangerous territory to protect Judas's womb.
Both demons were waiting for their chance. The Flash Butterfly was still holding the lapis lazuli head, and the General of Tears was currently in a very powerful state, but he had not yet delivered a fatal blow—simply to save Jason Megan's life.
The Flash Butterfly can lose many times, but the Bu Liuxing cannot lose even once.
For mythical units, the flesh and blood of the General of Tears is the best tonic. As long as they can get past the barrier of the psionic armor, this monster can absorb the flesh and blood as easily and naturally as a Crazy Thursday special meal or a straw into a Coke cup.
The battle became increasingly intense, but the Flash Butterfly's movements grew more and more stiff.
As time passed, the battle between the General of Tears and the monster became increasingly clear.
"Not a single mistake?" Fret murmured, the pressure mounting under his breath.
Gloria: "That kid..."
In the past, the cadres of the Guiyi Sect and the members of the Immortals Alliance were amazed by the gunsmith's on-the-spot reactions and tactical strategies, as well as his amazing learning ability, but they often overlooked the General of Tears's adaptability.
In the combat scenario, both of the nameless brothers actually had a thirst for knowledge; one simply memorized by rote, while the other memorized by rote.
Meteor and the Flash Butterfly pursued each other from the southwest side of the beach all the way to Blue Peak Wharf. After a fierce battle of over 800 meters and more than 40 rounds of suppression and counterattacks, the Flash Butterfly had already used every trick in the book for the General of Tears, who was firing at full power. This mythical unit had used almost every underhanded trick and sneak attack it had to manipulate flesh-and-blood shapeshifting weapons.
During this process, he gradually adapted to the speed and strength advantages brought by his half-wolf body, while constantly applying wolf swordsmanship, repeatedly adapting to the behavior patterns of his new body, and reintegrating into the Pankrasin.
From the very beginning of the battle, the Flash Butterfly was unable to kill the General of Tears, so this kid will only get stronger as the battle progresses.
When Wood Plark arrived on the battlefield on horseback from the governor's mansion, the tide of battle had turned, a crucial moment of life and death.
At almost the same time, Gloria and Fret also discovered this uninvited guest.
Fret Caesar was instantly blinded by hatred. Seeing the authority that was so vital to his life, the mortal enemy he had to defeat, he didn't even think about discussing tactics. He directly summoned his soul power, spread his bat wings, and his two large horns pierced his forehead. He transformed into his demonic form and jumped off the building!
"Attack!" Wood tightened the reins on his horse, spurring it off the beach and galloping straight toward Mercedes-Benz: "I have a way to save Jason! General of Tears! Finish this beast off!"
Berloberg sings the song of courage once again--
--As the sword-wielding stance stirred up the wind and clouds, the exhausted Flash Butterfly was already covered in wounds. Its originally invulnerable immortal body was being repeatedly forged and burned by the flowing flames, like a heated iron body about to receive its final blow!
The moment the sword and shield merged, the White Wolf Knight drew his sword back and Dragon Slayer tightly, unleashing a torrent of fiery energy from the blade!
"Alas!--"
Seemingly sensing the threat of death, the Flash Butterfly's body revealed a complex expression of sorrow, contempt, and resentment throughout its throat, eyebrows, and eyes. It pawed at the sand with all four limbs, turned its back completely to the enemy, abandoned its defensive posture, and tried to flap its wings to escape from this place!
In the blink of an eye, the heavy iron block unleashed a dazzling sword wind, almost splitting the Flash Butterfly in two!
This incredibly powerful slash severed a bloody, mangled thigh, cut open the hip and torso, and left scorching spiritual energy between the winged half of the body, burning the scales red before blasting into the chest and lungs, leaving the monster's body through the left shoulder.
Without a chance to catch its breath, the Flash Butterfly sword wind locked onto it firmly! The pressure difference caused by the fluctuating airflow prevented it from taking off. After losing a wing, before it could even fly two meters, the sound of its wolf-like steps digging through the sand sounded like the death knell of the underworld scratching at the gate!
A straight vertical slash sliced open the back of its head and shattered its spine!
With just those two sword strikes! The clean, swift slashes were completed the instant the knight's arm armor, formed from the spirit armor, caught the head of the wolf, which had lost its senses amidst the carnage.
--He threw Jason Megan's head violently at Wood Plark.
"Professor! Help! Save him!"
At this moment, the broken limbs and wings of the Flash Butterfly had just landed and gradually transformed into countless Red Flash Butterfly fluttering around the fishing boats at the dock.
Mr. Wood took the lantern-shaped half-wolf head and stared at it, and was terrified.
"Fuck."
"This artistic style is too avant-garde; it's too early for my little baby, but there might still be hope."
Twenty-four Lapis Lazuli, acting as Flash Butterfly relays, were completely embedded in Jason Megan's spine, which served as the human nervous system and also became the controller for the lantern. The Flash Butterfly used biomass components to control Jason's head in reverse.
Many pinkish granulation tissues were still attached to the spine, with hair and skin remaining on the back of Jason's neck. Below the ninth vertebra, there were clumps of swollen, yellowish granulation tissues, which were the complex nerve ganglia of the Flash Butterfly, forming alarming little mounds.
Give me some time.
Woodler stopped, preparing to perform neurosurgery on Jason.
"But damn it, it seems like there's no time left."
He glanced at Jason's injuries briefly; many of the Lapis Lazuli were completely cracked, Flash Butterfly's essence was very active, instinctively wriggling towards Jason's brainstem, trying to find a suitable host to continue parasitizing him.
"Take it back!" Wood quickly pulled out the Universal Elixir and gently stroked Jason's spine—
With his other hand, Jason swiftly struck the "detonation switch," blasting the excess matter beyond the nine vertebrae into dust. This radical operation, which severely damaged bones and destroyed the central nervous system, was far too drastic and would likely require Jason to spend at least a month or two in a nursing home to adapt to his new body.
Bone fragments scattered everywhere, and some foreign objects even left scratches and abrasions on Professor Wood's face.
He didn't have time to hesitate. Not to mention how long Jason could live without the support of his Flash Butterfly essence, the strange whistling sounds coming from the sky and that nauseating spiritual pressure were all telling him to quickly resolve this small problem.
"Watch out! Professor!" Meteor exclaimed.
Wood Plark had just finished feeding Jason his medicine when he threw his head back at the meteor, tossing out Universal Elixir reserves from his doctor's bag, leaving a trail of syringes on the ground. "This kid only has a head left! He needs at least 250 milliliters of Universal Elixir to replenish his essence! Administer it in doses every six minutes! Carefully examine the Lapis Lazuli in his spine; if infection or parasitism occurs, immediately cut off the Flash Butterfly's essence, General of Tears."
Before he could finish speaking, Fret Caesar's lower limbs transformed into the sharp claws of a monster, piercing Wood's shoulder and swiftly lifting him into the sky!
In a panic, Meteor caught Jason Megan in his arms. Seeing his comrade's limbs slowly healing, it seemed her injuries were easing, offering a sliver of hope for survival.
But fate wouldn't allow him a moment to breathe.
Gloria Sebastian, accompanied by her six Wings of Light, gradually approached the dock.
The ground beneath our feet receded further and further away, rising to a height of over three hundred meters, nearly the height of a hundred-story building.
Fret Caesar revealed his true demonic nature, his mouth full of sharp teeth, his features distorted, and his eyes bloodshot as he triumphantly recounted devilish truths to his adoptive father.
"My father!"
"Open your eyes and look! I am so powerful! So beautiful!"
"I have become Death God! The destroyer of the world!"
Wood's shoulders were pierced by sharp claws, rendering him completely immobile, yet he didn't utter a sound of pain, like an iron man.
"This quote comes from the Indian epic poem, the Bhagavad Gita—you've probably heard it if you've read Oppenheimer's works."
"Shut up!" Fret yelled. "Shameless vermin! Trash! Inferior life!"
Wood tried to struggle, but the fascia in his right shoulder tore completely, and his arm was completely unresponsive. "You sound like you're quite satisfied with your life, with your current situation?"
Fret grinned. "Humans have killed all intelligent life on this planet, and they continue to destroy themselves based on race, skin color, language, and customs—they have dismembered most of their natural enemies and turned other creatures into pets or food."
"Then the same principle and the same logic apply to a transcendent being like myself, who is immortal and undying."
"I will wipe out all the dominant creatures, or lock them in cages and enslave them. Then I will be the ruler of the new world, and in the new mythology told in the Bhagavad Gita—I will become a god. And what about you?"
"Wild beasts once roamed here; they were moving mountains, breathing heavily and moving slowly."
"You, like them, will become oil and coal, weathered bones, and beautiful amber."
Wood tilted his head, pulled a plastic bag from the collar pocket, bit open the seal, and drank fifteen milliliters of the Universal Elixir.
"All these years have passed, and you still haven't shown any intention of getting treatment for your bipolar disorder?"
"This is a very simple problem; it's clearly between the two of us—"
"--You like me, but I don't like you."
"That's all there is to it—a failed attempt at courtship. It's a private matter between us. If you're not satisfied, you can ask me a few more times—though the answers will probably be pretty much the same."
"Why must this be elevated to a mystical topic concerning all of humanity and the world? Does it concern anyone else?"
At this point, Fret Caesar broke down completely. He was determined to take revenge on Wood Plark, but when the real culprit appeared before him, he was like an unshakeable mountain, which made him furious and enraged.
"I hate you! Your selfish, arrogant, and haughty attitude disgusts me!"
"Why must I live? Why must this syphilis-ridden bastard be left to eke out a living in this world?! Why? Why must I, this prisoner in the cave, stare at the shadow on the wall? If I see real sunlight, I will go mad!"
The original meaning of this passage comes from a discussion between Wood Plark and his adopted son about philosophy, using Socrates' "The Shadow in the Wall" as a starting point. It discusses how a group of primitive people, if they lived in underground caves from beginning to end and never saw real sunlight, would only see shadows on the walls, and only the shadows would be real to them.
Over time, they become unable to accept the outside world.
These words were of great significance to the father and son. Wood Plark had never been a person of this universe, and Shambhala was a dark and lightless cave to the Nine Realms.
The knowledge his adoptive father imparted to Fret instilled in him a deep longing for the outside world and for the life of a normal person. This yearning led him step by step toward becoming Pher Grey Butterfly, and made him genuinely admire the absolute authority in life.
The Universal Elixir caused the flesh and blood of Wood's shoulders to bite into the devil's claws.
He struggled to raise his arm and press it against Fret's ankle joints.
"My youngest son, it seems like you've never grown up."
"The curse that the Goddess Aio cast upon me was so terrible that none of my children escaped its punishment—either their hearts were fragile or their souls were corrupted."
"You and your overly naive philosophical ideas make me laugh, and they chill me to the bone."
"How long has it been since you felt the weight of a father's love?"
"Come on, let's have a magic duel!"
"Sex Sexy Bomb!"