The Wizard's Pursuit of Truth

Chapter 282: Chapter 180: Unknown Substance, Erasing the Soul

After returning to the Dark Land, the two went their separate ways to handle their respective affairs.

This trip had taken about half a month.

As for the matter of the Black Sun Ruins, they needed to gather at least four Extreme Wizard Apprentices, or individuals with comparable Power.

Wang Ya shared his thoughts with Kaze Antuun, who said he needed to return to his clan and consult with others before giving a definitive answer.

However, he would most likely agree.

Including Kaze Antuun, the Antuun Clan had two Extreme Wizard Apprentices.

They had a fair number of Level 3 Wizard Apprentices, but with so many people involved, things could get complicated, and it was highly likely that the news would be leaked.

Hades could be brought along. His Power was considerable, and after ten years, it should have stabilized.

As for Zack Antuun, Wang Ya didn’t even consider him. Although Puppetry Witchcraft excelled at swarming tactics, Zack’s own raw Power had not reached the level of a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice, so he wouldn’t be of much use.

Besides, Wang Ya had Harak. With the Infectious Deep Touch Ability, he could control a massive number of Extraordinary Creatures. While this type of swarm tactic might not match Puppets in terms of individual strength, it would absolutely overwhelm them in sheer numbers.

Harak could infect and control as many Extraordinary Creatures as were available, completely eliminating the need to spend time creating Puppets.

The advanced version of a Black Servant could even mass-produce Level 3 Wizard Apprentices, provided one possessed the right kind of Black Soul.

Of course, against an Extreme Wizard Apprentice, swarm tactics were no longer very effective.

Only a group of Level 3 Wizard Apprentices could pose a threat to an Extreme Wizard Apprentice and hold their ground for a time.

Wang Ya recalled the White Bone Lineage Wizard he had encountered in the Black Earth Kingdom. That Wizard was an Extreme Wizard Apprentice who, single-handedly, had brutally slain nine Level 3 Wizard Apprentices.

He had even cleaned up all the loose ends flawlessly.

The subsequent internal investigation and the defection of Denno Wizard seemed to confirm that person’s identity… He was part of a beneficiary group called the Illuminati, whose goal was apparently to kill witnesses and silence them.

In the end, their plot was exposed, and the entire Illuminati was annihilated.

The Dark Land never tolerated such cancerous growths that fed on its rules.

Denno Wizard was executed by Wizard Yi Si, and his body was brought back to the headquarters.

Many Wizards from the Berkeley Clan were still on the run.

Beta Berkeley was hiding somewhere within the Dark Land’s territory, a thorn in the side that infuriated many Law Enforcement Wizards.

For ten years, they had failed to capture a single wanted Wizard.

It was a disgrace.

「In the Three-Layered Space.」

Wang Ya changed into a white lab coat, tightening the cuffs on his sleeves and pants. Filled with curiosity, he took the Rusted Cross Longsword out of his Wizard’s Ring.

It looked no different from an ordinary Cross Longsword. In fact, due to wear and rust, the blade was nicked and dilapidated. Its pitted surface was covered with indelible black stains, like the marks left by dried blood.

The hilt was also crudely made of wood, covered in splinters and scratches.

‘According to Rilis, this Cross Longsword has a lethal Trait. Anyone struck by it, even if it’s just a scratch that draws a little blood, will be forced into an unavoidable death.’

The analysis from the Eye of Truth was somewhat similar to the one he had received when he first obtained the golden pocket watch.

[Prompt: The material of this Cross Longsword is ordinary iron. The handle is made of wood. The marks on it were caused by clashes with other metal weapons, which have evolved into their current state over a long period of time.]

An image appeared in Wang Ya’s mind: a Mortal Knight wielding the Cross Longsword, fighting on a battlefield. All those wounded by his blade were reduced to corpses and lost souls.

[Prompt: A special, indefinable substance exists on the Cross Longsword, imbuing it with a lethal Trait. Addendum: It is unknown if there are side effects from use. The specific Effects are also unknown and require practical testing.]

A thoughtful glint flashed in Wang Ya’s eyes. It seemed that as his Power had increased and the Eye of Truth had transformed, its analytical abilities had grown as well.

When he had analyzed the golden pocket watch, he hadn’t received this much information.

‘An unknown substance… indefinable…’

An unprecedented curiosity bloomed in Wang Ya’s heart. Since obtaining the golden pocket watch, he had never really studied its specific functions.

Now that a similar Abnormal Item had appeared, Wang Ya felt an urge to study them.

But that would have to wait until after the Black Sun Ruins plan.

Leaving the laboratory, Wang Ya teleported to the Witchcraft Testing Ground via the fluctuations of a Witch Array.

Wang Ya had captured an unremarkable wild monkey to conduct a preliminary test on the Abnormal Item’s effects.

The golden pocket watch was used by writing the relevant information, placing it inside the cover, and turning the hour and minute hands to reverse an individual’s temporal State.

As for whether there were any side effects, none had been discovered yet.

Wang Ya rarely used it.

Recalling how boldly he had used the golden pocket watch when he first got it, the corner of Wang Ya’s mouth twitched. ‘Everyone has their youthful moments.’ If it were him now, he would never use it so recklessly.

However, he could confirm one thing.

Even if there were side effects, they would be borne by the individual whose temporal State was being reversed.

As for how to use the Rusted Cross Longsword… Wang Ya recalled that the only way seemed to be gripping the hilt and stabbing it into an enemy’s body.

Harak spread its wings, and a fleshy tendril shot out, piercing the neck of the trembling monkey. As the tendril pulsed, some of its Bacteriophage was implanted into the monkey’s body.

Three minutes later, the fully infected monkey stood up under Wang Ya’s mental control and drew the Rusted Cross Longsword with both hands.

A gate in one of the testing ground’s walls opened, and a boar-like Low-tier Extraordinary Creature burst out. It let out a furious roar, its blood-red eyes fixed on the small monkey standing before it.

It stomped the ground, its slightly curved tusks dripping with slime… The monkey gripped the Cross Longsword with both hands. In its pupils, the charging Extraordinary Creature didn’t seem as fast as expected. It could clearly see the rise and fall of its neck, the beating of its heart, the contraction of its muscles, and even the grinding rotation of its joints.

This was all because Wang Ya was in control. The Rusted Cross Longsword in its hands thrust out along a predetermined trajectory.

The Extraordinary Creature seemed to deliberately run into its own death, taking the blade straight through its neck. The sword pierced its throat, and blood sprayed everywhere like a fountain.

Something bizarre happened.

Normally, with this fierce boar’s Life Force, it would have taken at least ten minutes to bleed out, its powerful heart providing astonishing vitality.

But at this moment, its very body seemed to be controlled by an invisible force… The beating heart, the spurting blood, the living flesh—none of it could prove that the fierce boar was still alive.

The fierce boar was well and truly dead!!

It was because its soul had vanished, undergoing Silent Extinction.

“Vanished like smoke” wasn’t even enough to describe it.

Its Spirit, along with its soul, had disappeared completely.

Wang Ya’s pupils contracted. Even he hadn’t detected a single clue as to how it happened.

It was incomparably strange.

CHEE CHEE!

The monkey let out a piercing shriek. Without Wang Ya’s conscious control, it reacted with instinctual fear and panic when excruciating pain flared up.

It was the Rusted Cross Longsword. Its hilt was wooden and had some sharp splinters, but they were so small that one could completely ignore them unless their skin was very delicate.

At this moment, those splinters seemed to come alive, piercing directly into the monkey’s hands and forming a sort of tiny, wooden Thorns that wrapped around its palms.

A large amount of blood flowed out and onto the hilt. Wang Ya, his consciousness still within the monkey’s body, felt a heaviness in its hands and unconsciously let the Rusted Cross Longsword droop.

‘So this is the price!’

Wang Ya’s pupils flickered. ‘Everything is a matter of conservation, of Balance… There can’t be an effect without a price, and Abnormal Items are no exception.’

It was like some kind of immutable law.

Just like how the brain’s hidden, immature neurons are prompted to disappear by the human body’s own genes.

This leads to memory decline and a lower State of Spiritual Power… as if nature itself suppresses the existence of long-lived, intelligent beings.

The monkey’s hands were completely ruined. Not a single trace of blood or flesh remained—they were nothing but skin and bones.

The thorny wooden strips on the hilt were still wrapped around its hands, having pierced through the Finger Bones.

The rest of its body, including its brain tissue, showed no abnormalities.

The Bacteriophage was powerless to stop this from happening. It had come on so suddenly—the flesh and blood in that area had simply vanished… Just like how the fierce boar was killed: the blade struck a physical body, but what vanished was its Spiritual Power and soul.

This was an antithetical and fatal effect. No wonder Rilis had said that any enemy wounded by it would absolutely die. If Wang Ya were to be struck and his blood was drawn, he would most likely suffer the same fate as the fierce boar.

A wary look appeared on his face. An Abnormal Item like this was too illogical; it simply made no sense.

If he didn’t possess the Illusionary Thought Transformation technique, he would have probably died by this peculiar Rusted Longsword.

However, its limitations were also quite severe.

If it couldn’t strike an enemy, it would have no Effect whatsoever.

If the opponent had a technique like Wang Ya’s Illusion and Reality Transformation, it would also be unable to achieve its Effect.

The Rusted Cross Longsword itself was just an ordinary cross longsword forged from iron. The sword could only inflict physical damage and had no Extraordinary Traits of its own. To produce that terrifying Effect, it first had to strike and draw blood, only then would a “check” be made.

That’s right. Wang Ya believed it displayed its Extraordinary Properties in the form of a “check.”

It was just like the Nightmare Potion he had once taken, which subjected him to a trial based on a spiritual will check.

Passing the check resulted in an enhancement; failing it meant suffering the side effects.

The Rusted Cross Longsword’s Effect was produced, so naturally, the side effect also descended.

This situation, this display, inexplicably brought to his mind memory fragments of Evil God Gendas.

He remembered that shocking, indescribable battle, and the ‘Book of All Things’ in the hands of the Deep Blue Great Wizard.

Wang Ya uttered two uncertain words, “The Rule!”