Whale-ification Disease

After the Village Guardian fell, he grabbed a branch and swung himself toward the other side.

But in the next instant, he sensed an unprecedented crisis. Something deadly was rapidly approaching, making every hair on his body stand on end.

He turned his head slightly and glanced toward the source of danger, only to see an ordinary knight's sword slashing diagonally toward him at tremendous speed.

Faced with a life-or-death threat, the Village Guardian immediately threw away his bow, drew the short sword at his waist with his dominant hand, and raised it before him to block.

The blades collided, sending sparks flying.

The Village Guardian was knocked backward, tumbling across the ground and carving a trail through the dirt before crashing into a tree.

"His value is probably between six and seven." Naimus slightly lowered his sword, reining in his strength before slowly approaching.

With strength beyond the limits of the Black Stone Breed, even though Naimus had held back, the Village Guardian could not withstand it at all.

He only felt his arm bend grotesquely as the bone fractured. The broken blade had stabbed back into his arm, and his entire body ached terribly.

The bloody taste between his mouth and nose reminded him that he had suffered severe internal injuries.

Looking at the approaching Naimus, he let out a beast-like roar. Then black spots began to appear across his body.

As the black spots spread, the broken blade lodged in the Village Guardian's arm was squeezed out. He then forcibly straightened his twisted limb, and his injuries rapidly healed.

"Whale-ification?!" Naimus froze for a moment, then smiled with interest.

Sky Whales were products of a special era, created by The Gods.

Yet Sky Whales were not carefree sanctuaries either. Special beasts such as Nest Beasts were unique products of Sky Whales.

Furthermore, after living on Sky Whales for long periods, some people developed illnesses related to them.

Whale-ification was one of the most well-known.

Those afflicted with this disease first developed black spots on their bodies, then gradually lost their human reason and became more like beasts.

During this process, Whale-ification patients gained great strength and began devouring human organs.

Most fatal of all, this disease was contagious.

In its later stages, Whale-ification patients grew a whale's vocal organ, allowing them to produce Whale Calls. These Whale Calls altered living beings and spread Whale-ification Disease.

Therefore, once patients were discovered, most people chose to kill them in the early stages.

But the problem was that Village Guardians were generally immune to Whale-ification Disease!

The key to the lock had to be the one who tied it. Whale-ification Disease was not completely without a cure—for example, the Deep Well Water needed to become a Village Guardian.

Ordinary village wells were not particularly deep. Only deep wells could pierce the surface and come into contact with the flesh and blood of Sky Whales.

Such Deep Well Water could grant people resistance to Whale-ification Disease.

However, Deep Well Water was a controlled resource, used only when creating Village Guardians.

It also came with certain side effects.

Thus, Whale-ification Disease was already considered an "incurable disease."

What made things interesting now was that someone resistant to Whale-ification Disease had willingly entered a state similar to Whale-ification infection.

"If the White Whale Church finds out about this, they'll probably go insane!"

"I just wonder what the cost is," Naimus asked.

But the Village Guardian did not answer Naimus's question. Instead, he charged straight at him.

After entering the black-spotted state of Whale-ification Disease, the Village Guardian's strength increased enormously.

That was hardly surprising.

Patients whose Whale-ification Disease had fully developed to its extreme could even increase their own value and transform into whales, becoming Steel Breeds.

"But it's still not enough..." Naimus raised his sword diagonally and slashed directly at the charging Village Guardian.

Yet the sensation was completely wrong.

It was as though he had struck a rubber tire.

Some kind of cushioning force absorbed and dispersed the power of Naimus's blow.

Then the Village Guardian was directly "bounced" away.

And that was the Village Guardian's escape route.

He had prepared for it long ago. Curling his entire body to accelerate his backward flight, he darted to the side the instant he landed.

At the same time, sharp claws had grown from his once-normal hands. As he rushed away, he slashed with both hands, felling several large trees to block the path.

The Village Guardian was far more familiar with the terrain here.

With the advantage of moving first, he quickly left Naimus's field of vision.

Naimus did not rush to pursue him. Instead, he stood atop a fallen tree and watched the moon gradually rise high overhead.

Downs and Pur arrived behind him.

Delighted to no longer be obstructed by trees, the moonlight fell upon the three men and drew out several shadows.

"Lord Nigel, aren't we pursuing him?" Downs asked, somewhat embarrassed and angry.

In this encirclement, aside from getting shot by an arrow, he had accomplished nothing. That sense of helplessness infuriated him, especially now that he had gained power and believed himself superior to others.

"When a beast is wounded, it chooses to return to the place it believes is safe and lick its wounds."

"His value is different now. We need him to lead us to where the treasure is buried!" Naimus glanced at Downs but said nothing about his somewhat flustered appearance.

Naimus's expression shifted slightly. His shadow began to writhe, as though something beneath the human shell of his body was stirring restlessly.

A trace of demonic aura erupted from Naimus. Downs felt as if he had fallen into some hellish illusion.

The hierarchy among Demons made Downs tremble all over.

Pur on the other side also began to tremble, but from excitement. This presence, this feeling—this was his Abyss!!

Naimus raised a hand and fluently chanted in Demon Tongue. A wisp of shadow emerged from the ground, then transformed into a canine demonic creature.

Demon Spell: Summon Demonic Creature—Shadow Hound!

Under normal circumstances, Naimus was unwilling to use the power of his true body.

Demonic power was corrosive. It would leave an uncertain mark upon this "clean" body, and when facing experts from The Church, that could easily expose a flaw.

But now, Naimus believed the Village Guardian was worth making an exception for!

The pitch-black Shadow Hound swiftly picked up the broken blade in its mouth, then ran through the forest in pursuit of the Village Guardian.

Naimus and his two subordinates followed behind at an unhurried pace.

Sure enough, Whale-ification Disease had not completely eroded the Village Guardian's mind. After running far away, he began circling around.

Only in the latter half of the night did he stop doing so and head toward a certain area.

What he did not know was that, within the shadows, a Shadow Hound was trailing far behind him.

This time, his intuition had been disrupted by his chaotic state of mind.

He failed to notice danger approaching.

Not long after the Village Guardian entered a cave, Naimus followed the Shadow Hound's trail and arrived there.

But then Naimus frowned. A sound too faint for ordinary people to hear came from within the cave.

Whale-ification: Whale Call!

Thank you to all readers for following along. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments; Xu Ming will do his best to take them into consideration.