Is this some new type of Aberration plant?
Willow looked at the swaying "man-eating flower" that seemed ready to tear apart anything in front of it and asked in confusion.
Realizing the other person clearly didn't get the joke, Ed regretfully put away the experimental Chomper and instead asked:
How is Muller's form?
"There are still voices inside the golem, so it must not be dead... completely."
"Good."
Ed stretched his hand forward, and the vines on the ground quickly formed a bathtub-shaped container.
After signaling Willow to release the alchemical golem from its solidified state, Ed tilted the golem little by little, like pouring tea, and poured the Müller-chan inside into the bathtub.
The situation was better than he had imagined; Muller had not completely turned into a ketchup-like state, but was still alive in a jelly-like mass of meat.
After emptying the alchemical golem, Ed saw a flesh slime devouring everything in the bathtub.
As it ate, it shed its skin, shrinking to only one-third the size of a human, and its human features had disappeared.
Ed shook his head, recalling Muller's recent triumph as he manipulated the body of a worm several meters long.
He reached out his hand towards the bathtub—vampires were hateful, but at least they were cost-effective to use.
A counterintuitive fact is that, although Muller looks fierce, he actually killed fewer players than Bennett...
A faint Psionic Energy of blood permeated the room, Ed's outstretched right hand seemed to be infected, becoming thin and pale at a visible speed.
His arm was tinged with a grayness that no living person should have, like a marble statue covered in dust.
His veins turned black, and his nails became sharper. Ed's right arm had entered vampire mode at this moment, and it was almost High Tier vampire.
Although his physical body had not reached High Tier, Ed could still feel the connection between himself and Muller in front of him thanks to the Grand Duke's True Blood that he had absorbed.
Having been Incarnation a slime and completely losing his ability to speak, Muller naturally could not resist and allowed that power to control his body.
Rosalind, far away in the Demon Realm, could certainly sense Muller's presence, but she wasn't as close as Ed.
In other words, Ed is currently posing as Grand Duchess Rosalind, attempting to dig Muller out of the other's lineage and into his own.
As the last thread of connection was severed, a roar of resentment erupted from the depths of the distant Demon Realm.
In Valhalla's laboratory, the flesh slimes gradually stopped feeding, and their flesh ceased to die off rapidly.
Muller's prayers worked, and exactly fifteen minutes had passed since Ed began absorbing the True Blood.
Maintaining his half-vampire state, Ed slowly extended his left hand.
The vines on the floor gradually grew a lid from the bathtub, eventually closing completely like a pressure cooker.
What are they doing?
Willow asked Ed, puzzled.
"Give him a massage."
"... You're really good at this."
The lich shrugged.
"I guess that's all for me here? You'll probably be talking to him next, but I don't really want to talk to the Blood Corpse. Just keep me updated on the information later."
"No problem."
The Lich and Ed exchanged a glance, then turned and left the laboratory area.
The vampire marquis opened his eyes. Just a few dozen centimeters above his head was a wooden lid, which reminded him of the time he was sealed away. Two figures, symbols of ancient terror, flooded his mind.
My memory seems to be incomplete; I vaguely remember something like a prayer, but then I can't recall anything else.
He felt that smooth yet firm sensation beneath him again; this place... felt more and more like a coffin.
His gaze shifted downwards, Muller noticed he was wearing a coat woven from plant material, its overall color somewhat whitish...
This place, these clothes... could I really be dead?
But the hunger was real... Thinking this, Muller suddenly sprang to his feet, slamming his head hard against the wooden lid above.
With a thud, Ed turned his wrist, causing the wooden bathtub, now resembling a coffin, to open, revealing the vampire marquis inside.
Muller sat up and immediately saw the harmless-looking boy, successfully awakening some recent fears in his heart.
"Ah!!!!!!"
"Shut up!"
Muller fell silent instantly, then couldn't help but ask:
"My lord, are you... are you dead too?"
I think you're the one who's dead...
Ed suddenly realized he shouldn't have massaged his body, at least not his vocal cords.
If Ed didn't still have questions for him, he would have loved to mute him right now.
However, considering the other party's arrogant behavior in the cave, it's not hard to deduce that Muller is a guy with very little emotional intelligence.
" Muller, let me explain the current situation to you."
Ed found a chair and sat down, saying jokingly:
" Rosalind doesn't love you as much as you think. I only had a brief conversation with her, and she agreed to give you to me as an adopted child."
As he said this, Ed displayed his pale, dark, Blood Corpse arm, extended his index finger and pointed it out from a distance, instantly relieving most of the unbearable hunger in Muller's stomach.
This is a higher level of power within the same lineage!
Muller immediately realized this, even though he was already a marquis.
The young man before him was clearly at a higher level, possessing power at least at the level of a duke from the Rosalind Lineage.
"How is this possible..."
Seeing Muller's utterly astonished expression, Ed continued, half-jokingly:
"Why not? What do you think I want from you by asking for Rosalind's True Blood? I just want to discuss this matter with her. I can use that drop of blood to establish communication with her."
As he said this, Ed's Blood Corpse arm tightened slightly, and Muller immediately felt a sense of impending destruction, as if every part of his body was about to turn into fleshy worms and disintegrate.
Realizing that his life and death were now entirely in the other party's hands, Muller's expression couldn't help but show awe.
He slowly lowered his head, waiting for Ed to continue.
"Since Rosalind has abandoned you, you'll be with me from now on. Your new name will be... Müller-chan."
"I will use my powers to strip you of your ability to infect others, while preserving your other powers, and assign you a suitable job."
"In return, you will serve me for the rest of your life, but there's no need to make our relationship so strained."
Ed thought for a moment and said:
"My Ed Adrian, and from now on my lineage will be called the Adrian Lineage."
"As a member of this lineage, I believe the most appropriate way to address me is..."
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, Muller crashed to the ground in front of Ed, landing face-first on the floor.
He lowered his head, and with no trace of acting in his voice, recited aloud with pure emotion:
"Father!"