Archmage Athena

(Bonus chapter for votes)

Benson is dead.

He lost his breath in utter despair and agony.

His dark soul floated out from the corpse, trying to escape, but Qin Chu threw a spark at it, burning it to ashes.

Although Qin Chu really wanted Benson to watch over Rosweisse when he dealt with her, he didn't want to leave any potential problems behind; it was better to kill her cleanly.

In this way, even if someone wanted to resurrect Benson, it would just be an empty shell!

He dispersed the thorns, and the mangled corpse fell to the ground, motionless.

A deep despair could still be seen on his face.

After Qin Chu read the contents of the diary, this man must be very sad. The last words, especially the last sentence, and the fact that the next person, Rosweisse, pushed Benson into an Abyss, causing Benson to experience extreme pain in the moment before his physical death.

However, in reality, Qin Chu wouldn't make a move against Rosweisse so quickly.

After all, Rosweisse's identity is special. She is a saintess of the Holy Church and seems to have some connection with those beings in the Void. Unlike Benson, who is all alone, she has a very powerful force by her side. It is not an easy thing to make a move against Rosweisse.

The real targets are now two: one is the young nobleman and swordsman Ronald.

This person is very capable, and most importantly, he is cautious. If he spends more time with him, Ronald will inevitably discover some problems.

However, this person is currently in the territory of Magic Creature, so let Ramon handle Ronald's matter.

The second one is the Archmage Athena.

This person possesses extremely high magical skills, surpassing even Rosweisse and certainly no less than Natia.

Despite Qin Chu's confidence in his acting skills, there was still a risk that Athena would see through his disguise, including the panel's disguise, Saya's existence, Antia's presence, and his own true strength.

Since it's not convenient with Ronald, let's start with the voluptuous Athena.

You can't use the Love That Topples Cities spell on Athena. Athena is a master magician and has a good understanding of potion-making. Ekaterina might not be able to tell, but Athena will definitely sense that something is wrong.

The best way to deal with Athena is still with the Soul Fragment of the First-Generation Hero.

While pondering this in his mind, Qin Chu cleaned up the traces he had left near Benson's body, eliminating all clues that could lead to an investigation into him.

He also casually removed the storage ring from Benson's finger; after all, a member of the Hero's Party was quite wealthy. A quick glance revealed that Mana alone held tens of millions inside. While not as extravagant as Rosweisse's, it was still a considerable sum.

Besides Mana, there were also Benson's spare armor, weapons, magic scrolls, and potions inside, all of which were quite valuable... However, what truly attracted Qin Chu was not these items, but a box inside, carefully placed deep inside, which he felt contained something extraordinary.

Qin Chu felt there might be some treasure inside. As soon as he opened the box, the expression on Qin Chu face instantly became extremely strange.

Inside the box were some white fabric... to be precise, silk fabric...

White stockings? White skirt?

Qin Chu was startled and felt a chill run down his spine. Benson, this burly man with a full beard, actually had an interest in women's clothing? Imagining Benson wearing these clothes in his mind, Qin Chu shuddered; the image was simply too horrible.

Its power is comparable to the corruption of Evil God.

However, Qin Chu soon realized that he seemed to have guessed wrong. These white stockings and white skirt did not seem to be prepared by Benson for him. They didn't fit well. The size was too tight. Benson's figure would definitely look terrible in them.

Most importantly, Qin Chu could see some patterns unique to the Holy Church on these fabrics, which inexplicably felt somewhat familiar.

After thinking for a few seconds, Qin Chu was speechless. This... this skirt, these stockings, aren't they the same ones that Rosweisse is wearing?

As a saintess of the Holy See, Rosweisse naturally had to maintain the dignity of a saintess. Like many nobles, she rarely wore the same clothes twice, even though they were all of the same style. The clothes she took off were naturally thrown away.

Could Benson have picked up the stockings the saintess threw away?

Then, place it in a storage ring and store it carefully like an offering to a deity, occasionally taking it out to reminisce about the person.

Wouldn't this make things worse? If you're interested in cross-dressing, that's your own business, but taking Rosweisse's clothes home is a bit much, isn't it?

He glanced at Benson the ground. "Benson, you were very dishonest. You deserved to die."

Benson's body had become shriveled and dry. Qin Chu sighed and threw the clothes on the body, thinking that at least Benson could be remembered in his death. "I really am a kind and good person," he thought.

I wonder what Rosweisse's expression will be when she sees these things; it'll probably be quite an interesting sight.

He crouched down and carefully examined Benson's body. His tattered clothes were almost completely soaked in blood, with only a small patch looking somewhat clean. Even there, some traces left by Benson could still be found.

That was a word written in blood:

Two!

Heh, it seems Benson was already exhausted when he left this character. He couldn't write Qin Chu's full name, only a "two." Was he trying to allude to the Second-Generation Hero?

But isn't this guy underestimating me? Does he think I can't loot corpses?

After thinking for a moment, Qin Chu threw a small flame to burn away the marks. Then, he found a white stocking, grabbed Benson's finger, and smeared it with blood, leaving two symbols on the stocking.

A symbol of the Earth Mother Church.

A symbol of the Holy Church.

Anyway, Augustus already has enough accusations on his head, so one more won't make a difference.

By the way, also give Saint Monica a pot as a gift; she'll be very grateful.

Once ready, Qin Chu stuffed the stockings into Benson's palm and clenched them tightly.

Ekaterina watched this scene silently without uttering a word, showing no sign of sadness at the death of her former comrade.

Qin Chu waved towards the cliff, then called to Ekaterina and turned to leave.

Since the next target is Archmage Athena, preparations must be made. Although Athena is by Antia side and his strength is not inferior, the commotion caused by the battle would be too great, which is not what Qin Chu wants. Using the Soul Fragment of the First-Generation Hero is the best way to deal with her.

However, it is currently known that there are two fragments of the First-Generation Hero's Soul Fragment.

Ronald is searching for a document in the territory of the three Magic Creature princesses.

The other one is in the Storm Witch's territory.

With his current strength, Qin Chu might have a chance to fight the Storm Witch. Moreover, he also had a backup plan, so it wouldn't matter if he couldn't win and had to escape.

Qin Chu opened his control panel.

Level: 47

Class: Hero

Strength: 373

Stamina: 285

Agility: 176

Spirit: 744

Defense: 658

Charisma:6

Powers: Greed, Wrath, Forced Calm, Shapeshifting, Pseudo- Absolute Defense!

Special powers: Desire, Holy Healing

Strength and stamina have both increased significantly, especially defense, which is quite remarkable. Mental strength has increased by several hundred points due to the second glimpse into the Void, and it is still the highest among all attributes.

Level 80 is a huge hurdle for cultivators in this world. Once you break through level 80, you seem to receive some kind of blessing, with all attributes doubling and your strength increasing like never before. If you only look at the attributes, Qin Chu is infinitely close to level 80.

This attribute has given them a fairly good ability to protect themselves in this world, and they are no longer as vulnerable as before.

Most importantly, he also obtained Benson's power, Pseudo-Absolute Defense, which, although it has drawbacks such as immobility and inability to defend against attacks from underground, can be used to save lives in critical moments.

This time, the gains were truly significant.

Qin Chu suppressed his smile. All that was left was to wait for Rosweisse to discover Benson's body, and then he and Ekaterina would appear from behind. Benson's death had absolutely nothing to do with him.

As for the time in between, you can stop by the Storm Witch's house for a cup of tea...

Qin Chu and Ekaterina had already left. Benson's body lay quietly in a pool of blood, crawling with cockroaches and flies, and rats gnawing at the dry corpse.

A member of First-Generation Hero's squad, Immovable as a Mountain Shield Guard, ultimately met such a tragic end.

The starry night flows on.

The sky was overcast and gray.

A cluster of dim lights suddenly appeared at the foot of Mount Kavaniyas.

Ta-da-ta-da...

Accompanied by a rapid sound, a dark flame was rapidly approaching.

A few minutes later, the firelight broke through the thick fog and appeared next to Benson's body.

It was a warhorse, but there wasn't a single piece of flesh on its body, only white bones. It must have been a very fine warhorse in life. Even though it was just a skeleton, you could still feel the strength of its limbs. Dark red flames burned beneath its hooves, making it both sinister and eerie.

On the warhorse stood a Knight clad in heavy armor. The sealed helmet completely covered the Knight's head, and no one could see what the face inside the helmet looked like. Only through the holes in the helmet could one glimpse a pair of dark, scarlet eyes.

Members of the Hero's Party.

Death Knight Karthus!

Bonus chapter for the recommended votes! Another 3,000 words. That's it for today's update. Time to get back to writing. Thanks Tricls for the donation, and thank you for your support.

Chapter 93 Archmage Athena

(Please vote for me!)

Karthus, the Death Knight.

The most mysterious member of the Hero's Party, no one knows his origins, only that he has a strong body, long white hair, and a Bone Warhorse.

Without a doubt, this is a Knight is tainted by dark power and is not tolerated by the Skyvault Continent.

Rumor has it that he was once the son of a great noble family, with an illustrious background and noble blood flowing through his veins.

Some say he was once impulsive and proud, brave and tenacious, and had a handsome face.

Some say he once had a beautiful and outstanding girlfriend, and they were even about to get married.

Some say that after being tainted by dark power, he fell from grace, lost his mind, killed his parents, and used their souls as sacrifices to pray for greater power...

On the Skyvault Continent, beings like Karthus would be hunted down by the Holy See and judged by the Heresy Inquisition. However, for some reason, the First-Generation Hero Jello, accepted Karthus's existence and even allowed him to become a member of the Hero's Party.

In his hand lay a long, slender sword, its silver-white surface shimmering with icy blue. It was a gift forged by the First-Generation Hero himself, using various precious materials he had gathered. Furthermore, the First-Generation Hero had given this weapon a beautiful name:

Frostmourne!

Although his primary weapon was a spear, he still accepted Jello's gift. He asked Jello why he had named the sword that way. Jello didn't answer, but he still remembered that Jello's expression was very strange at the time.

Not only did they accept me, they even gifted me a precious weapon.

From that moment on, Karthus swore that his life would exist for Jello.

But in the end, he could only watch helplessly as Jello's body was torn to pieces by that vile and ugly Demon King.

In Karthus's heart, the only Hero he acknowledged was Jello. No one else could bear the title. Because the Orwell Empire and the Thirteen Sages were preparing to summon the Second-Generation Hero, Karthus Wrath left Jello empire and wandered alone in the wilderness.

That is, until he received a message from Rosweisse, learning of the possibility of Jello's resurrection.

He, like Rosweisse, loathed Qin Chu for stealing the title of Hero, but like Roseweiser, he was willing to suppress his Wrath and disgust as long as it could revive Jello.

Benson not only contacted Rosweisse but also others. Just as Qin Chu had calculated, apart from Ekaterina and Rosweisse, almost no one had time to support Benson.

Sylph, Eileen, Aili, Athena were going in opposite directions.

Ronald is in the Magic Creature's territory.

The Mad Muse is too far away.

However, what Qin Chu didn't know was that Karthus in the first timeline hadn't shown him his full power, or rather, it wasn't Karthus's power, but rather the power of Karthus Bone Warhorse he rode.

If the Bone Warhorse doesn't hold back its Magic Power and runs at full speed, it can maintain super-fast movement for a long time, although it will then enter a period of exhaustion that lasts at least three times longer.

It was this speed that allowed Karthus to reach Benson's location before Rosweisse and Natia.

But it was too late. When Karthus arrived, all he could see was a dry, cold corpse on the ground. Looking at Benson, whose body had been tortured and was covered in wounds, Karthus trembled.

Suddenly, the tall and burly Knight raised his head and let out a Wrath wail towards the sky.

Because of his identity, even within the team, Karthus could feel the rejection from his teammates. Ronald looked down on him, Athena and Irene Ellie hated him, and Sylph treated him like a plague. Only Benson the Shield Guard, the Mad Muse, and Losweather were willing to interact with him.

Aside from the Hero, Benson and Muse are Karthus's best brothers.

But now all that's left to see are stiff corpses.