Jason, Veronica, and Linda arrived at the location the Purple-Gold Rat King had indicated.
The bare little hill was clearly affected by the power of the death and darkness elements. More than a hundred rat corpses lay around it, all of considerable size. They appeared to have been Shadowmice or Stone-Eater Rats of at least the seventh rank when alive.
The Shadowmice were darkness-attribute, while the Stone-Eater Rats were earth-attribute.
Strictly speaking, Stone-Eater Rats were also mutants, because God-Eater Rats were darkness-attribute, while Stone-Eater Rats were earth-attribute.
The first Stone-Eater Rat, as a descendant of the Purple-Gold Rat King, had indeed inherited the Purple-Gold Rat King's formidable defense, which Shadowmice lacked, and so had not been expelled from the Beirut Family-the most fundamental reason being that the first Stone-Eater Rat was Beirut's own grandson.
But Jason's target this time, a mutant Shadowmouse with both darkness and death attributes, had not been so lucky.
The Beirut Family had reproduced for hundreds of thousands of years, and Beirut's affection for his descendants had grown very faint. There were also too many mutants, so they were generally expelled from the family once they reached adulthood.
(In the original work, Adkins had inquired about Beirut's age and learned that he was over a million years old. Assuming Beirut had only married and had children after becoming a Highgod, the three Purple-Gold Rat Kings should have been hundreds of thousands of years old.)
Jason did not fly overhead, but stood shoulder to shoulder with Veronica. He let his aura show, instantly alerting the mutant Shadowmouse inside the cave.
"Squeak!" A shrill rat cry rang out.
A rat the size of a gray wolf walked out, its gray-black fur standing on end. Its blood-red eyes stared fixedly at the two humans and one beast who had rashly entered its territory.
"I'm Jason Rhine, a Saint-level expert of the Rhine Empire. I've heard about you. Would you be interested in signing a contract with me and leaving the Dark Forest?"
"Squeak!" After a cry of unclear meaning, the Power of Death surged.
Linda said quietly, "She didn't refuse outright. She probably wants to test your strength."
A spatial gate connected to the Netherworld rapidly formed, and a squad of Dark Knights rode out on skeletal warhorses.
Jason smacked his lips. Before breaking through to the Saint level, Dark Knights had been a type of undead he had desperately wanted to obtain. They cultivated both magic and martial arts, lived in groups, were powerful, had mounts, and looked incredibly cool. Unfortunately, even after reaching the Saint level, he had never managed to subdue one, something Jason had always regretted.
Jason drew his saber and charged at his opponent on foot.
With his Battle-qi suppressed to the ninth rank, Jason relied mainly on his Profound Mysteries to fight. Even so, he easily cut down the entire squad of Dark Knights, knocking them from their horses one after another.
Jason sensed that his opponent probably had other powerful undead, but instead of continuing to summon them, she turned into a black shadow and charged at him.
She's a little slower than a ninth-rank Shadowmouse, Jason judged.
Sharp rat claws struck the back of his saber, and Jason easily parried them.
"Huh?" Jason felt that the color of his weapon seemed to have darkened slightly, which made him very uncomfortable. The Battle-qi that had once flowed smoothly through the weapon seemed to be obstructed. "Curse?"
Curse was a darkness-attribute profound mystery that combined physical and soul attacks. It was subtle and bizarre, its effects changing according to the user's individual application. It was also generally a sustained attack, and at advanced levels could even take effect without contact with the enemy.
This was the first time he had seen the profound mystery of Curse.
Jason briefly released his lightning-attribute Battle-qi, instantly dispelling the darkness-attribute influence lingering around him.
The Lightning Element was the most overbearing, and its ability to dispel abnormal influences was even stronger than that of the light element.
Indigo flames rose around the mutant Shadowmouse, and she once again turned into an afterimage and charged.
Soulfire was a very common ability among the Edicts of Death. There was no distinction of superiority among the Four Edicts, and even a very common ability had to be treated with caution.
Jason displayed all of his Profound Mysteries.
Against an opponent who had comprehended Profound Mysteries, rank, Battle-qi, and spiritual power were no longer things worth boasting about. Only by matching Profound Mysteries could one earn an opponent's respect.
Empowered by the Lightning Element Profound Mysteries, Jason was a little faster than his opponent. His water-element Battle-qi shield blocked every one of her attacks, and her Indigo flames could not get anywhere near his body.
What could still affect Jason was the bizarre profound mystery of Curse. Merely touching his Battle-qi shield with her foreclaws was enough to steadily thin it, forcing Jason to expend a great deal of Battle-qi to eliminate the effect.
Jason stopped using the Battle-qi shield altogether and relied solely on his weapon to block.
The Profound Mysteries of Ice sent the surrounding temperature plummeting. A bone-piercing chill traveled through the blade into the mutant Shadowmouse, and even the Indigo flames around her showed signs of going out.
Jason, in turn, felt the soul burn caused by the Indigo flames spreading to his body.
Jason's Power of Death surged out, catching the mutant Shadowmouse off guard and enveloping her in its corrosive force. Her fur, once like steel needles, instantly went limp.
Though she knew it was dangerous, the mutant Shadowmouse seemed to react a step too late. Only when blood seeped from her body did she belatedly retreat.
Final Destination of the Edicts of Death was Jason's strongest soul attack. Even a Saint Magus with a powerful soul could not withstand it.
Jason tried to seize the initiative, only to see a stream of black liquid shoot from the rat's mouth. He pulled back his saber to block, but that also allowed her to open the distance.
Looking closely, he saw that his straight saber, Leiming, which had been through many fierce battles, had actually been corroded, leaving a notch in its blade.
"Is that an innate ability or a profound mystery?" Jason could not tell for the moment, so he raised his Battle-qi shield again. Although it consumed a little more energy, it was better than being splashed by the black liquid. His body was not as hard as the saber in his hand.
The mutant Shadowmouse crouched low, seemingly preparing for a final strike.
The Indigo flames blazed brighter, and an ominous black aura curled around her claws. She lunged, shooting forward like a cannonball.
Jason also increased his speed to the utmost. His Battle-qi shield rose again, and his straight saber swept down diagonally with a bone-piercing chill.
The human and the rat passed each other.
The mutant Shadowmouse lay on the ground. Jason had not held back just now, and a huge wound ran across her body. She had almost been split in two, and blood gushed out.
"Squeak... squeak... squeak." A faint sound came from her throat.
Linda flew over and translated, "She says that if you accept an Equal Contract, save her. Otherwise, just let her die."
Jason nodded and took out a healing scroll.
Milky-white light spread over the mutant Shadowmouse, and her wound rapidly healed.
"Squeak." She nodded.
Jason cut his finger, drawing some blood.
A stream of blood also rose from the blood beneath the mutant Shadowmouse. The two streams formed a magic array, which split in two and entered their respective bodies.
"Squeak." The mutant Shadowmouse was not yet accustomed to Soul Transmission.
"My name is Jason. This is my wife, Veronica, and this is her contracted partner, Linda."
"My name is Clear Spring." The mutant Shadowmouse's soul voice was that of a cool-voiced young girl.
"That's a strange name."
"I chose it myself. My parents didn't give me a name."
Jason sighed. "We'll take you out of the Dark Forest. Is there anything you need to gather?"
"No. You can take the magic cores from these corpses." Clear Spring meant the hundred-odd rat corpses.
Jason did not dare dig out the magic cores of Shadowmice and Stone-Eater Rats in the Dark Forest, but he did not bury them either, out of consideration for Clear Spring's feelings.
"Magical beasts have their own customs. Let's leave them for the rats of the Beirut Family to handle. We can just leave."
The two humans and two beasts soon reached the northern edge of the Dark Forest.
"Little one." Three Purple-Gold Rat Kings suddenly appeared.
Clear Spring watched her three ancestors warily.
"Don't look at us like that. We've heard about what happened to you. Your childhood was miserable, but at least your life was never in danger, while those Shadowmice and Stone-Eater Rats you killed lost theirs. From now on, you and the Beirut Family are even," one of the Purple-Gold Rat Kings said.
Clear Spring was silent for a moment. "That violent mutant Shadowmouse from before has already been killed by Jason. Now I'm a Nethercurse Rat. Yes, from now on, my race will be Nethercurse Rat, and my name is Clear Spring. I have nothing to do with the Beirut Family."
The three Purple-Gold Rat Kings nodded. Without another word, they flashed away.