Chapter 317: Continuous Level Decrease to 45Lv, the Annoyed Remedios
Undercurrent Moon.
March 29th, 11:26.
The demi-human troops, led by the "Beast General" Hector Weiss, began clearing the battlefield of its numerous undead.
Meanwhile, the human faction was positioned at the center of the battlefield, warily watching the demi-humans' every move, like a wounded lion licking its wounds.
The corpses of 51 paladins lay silently before everyone. Ten of them had already turned into undead and had to be put down again.
Enri sat not far from the corpses, hugging her knees.
The Green Leaf Witch and an evil spirit hound stood quietly to the side. A female cleric was squatting opposite Enri, appearing to offer words of comfort.
This was the same female cleric to whom Enri had previously given a handkerchief.
Tang Zheng walked over to an injured paladin and raised his hand, a soft, holy light glowing from his palm:
"Major Wound Healing!"
The paladin's injuries began to recover, and his pained, suppressed breathing gradually evened out.
"Thank you."
The paladin said gratefully to Tang Zheng.
Tang Zheng gave a slight nod and walked to another paladin, continuing to cast healing magic repeatedly.
Casting third-tier magic via XP Casting cost 150,000 experience points each time, and his level finally began to drop.
[Comprehensive Level: 52Lv→51Lv]
[Sword Saint: 7Lv→6Lv]
[Experience Bar: 1/630000]
With his experience bar emptying, each level drop left him with only a single point of experience. This meant that using any magic at all would cause him to lose another level.
As long as the experience cost didn't exceed his current maximum experience, he would only drop one level. Only if it exceeded the maximum would he drop two.
The subsequent level drops happened rapidly!
Each time Tang Zheng used healing magic, he immediately dropped a level.
[Comprehensive Level: 51Lv→50Lv]
[Sword Saint: 6Lv→5Lv]
[Experience Bar: 1/560000]
…
[Comprehensive Level: 46Lv→45Lv]
[Sword Saint: 1Lv→0Lv]
In just a few moments.
Tang Zheng's level had plummeted from 52 to 45, and the Sword Saint class had vanished from his stat panel.
"Thank you," the paladin said gratefully to Tang Zheng beside him.
"You're welcome."
Tang Zheng responded softly and stood up. A sudden pallor washed over his face, and he took a step back.
"Are you alright, Leader Tang?"
"Do you need to rest?" Seeing Tang Zheng's state, the paladin assumed he had over-expended his magic power and asked with urgent concern.
By now, the entire Holy Knight Order was filled with goodwill toward Free Will.
This was not only because of the powerful Tang Zheng, but also because an ordinary girl like Enri had braved the danger to bring back the corpses of their comrades.
"I'm fine."
The pallor on Tang Zheng's face vanished in an instant. He steadied himself and waved his hand with a smile, indicating that nothing was wrong.
*What was that just now?*
A trace of astonishment flickered in Tang Zheng's eyes.
The rapid, continuous level drops had made him distinctly feel a transient weakness as some kind of power left his body.
"It's not just weakness."
Tang Zheng focused his mind slightly, sensing his body's condition. It was as if his very life level had decreased along with his level.
"The change in my constitution wasn't that significant when I leveled up, and I've lost levels before without it being this obvious."
"Could it be that surpassing Level 50 brings some kind of invisible boost to one's life level?"
That abnormal sensation.
It reminded Tang Zheng of the feeling he'd had when he first took up the special job class, Valkyrie.
"Captain!"
"Sister!"
Panicked voices cried out from a short distance away.
All the members of the Holy Knight Order turned their heads to look, their eyes filled with worry, yet they dared not leave their positions.
They needed to keep an eye on the demi-humans' movements!
Remedios was kneeling on one knee, her holy sword planted in the ground before her. Her well-defined features were deathly pale, and her once-pink lips had turned a ghastly white.
It was a sign of excessive blood loss!
*Drip!*
*Drip!*
Droplets of red blood trickled ceaselessly from her wounds, running down the grooves of her armor to drip onto the ground.
Several clerics, along with the Cardinal, Kelart Custodio, surrounded Remedios, continuously casting restorative magic.
However.
Although Remedios's complexion improved slightly, her wounds showed no signs of healing, and the blood continued to flow.
Massive blood loss!
It was causing Remedios's aura to grow ever weaker. If they couldn't stop the bleeding quickly, no amount of healing magic would have any effect.
"How can this be!" Kelart was in disbelief, her usually calm and composed face showing panic for the first time.
"The Corrupting Sword..."
Remedios's pale lips parted.
"What?" Kelart didn't hear clearly.
"The Corrupting Sword, Crocodine," Remedios said weakly.
"One of the Four Great Demonic Swords belonging to the Black Knight of the Thirteen Heroes. The 'Corrupting Sword' is said to inflict wounds that cannot be healed."
Kelart's pupils shrank, her voice trembling.
If that was the case, it would explain why healing magic had no effect on Remedios's injuries.
But—
Watching her sister's aura weaken, Kelart's eyes began to redden. She had never seen her sister in such a feeble state.
Could she only watch as her sister died from blood loss?
"I might have a way."
A calm voice arrived with the sound of footsteps.
Kelart quickly turned her head to look, her light green pupils filled with excitement when she saw it was Tang Zheng.
"Leader Tang, are you serious? These injuries were caused by the 'Corrupting Sword'."
Kelart was a mixture of doubtful and hopeful.
"I can't be certain, but we can try."
Tang Zheng stepped forward and looked at Remedios, who could only be described as wretched and near death. He reached into the magic leather pouch at his waist and took out a potion.
"This is an undiluted regeneration potion. Drink it first."
Tang Zheng held the potion out to Remedios.
Remedios weakly opened her eyes, looked at the serious, black-haired Tang Zheng before her, and turned her head to the side. "No."
The two had argued several times before, and Tang Zheng's nonchalant attitude each time had infuriated Remedios.
What truly angered her was Tang Zheng's attitude toward demi-humans.
Whether it was the female demi-human in his party or his friendly interactions with the demi-human Gagaran, Remedios found it all disagreeable.
He was an adventurer and a citizen of the Re-Estize Kingdom; she had no right to interfere with his attitude toward demi-humans.
But—
The Holy Kingdom and the demi-humans have a hatred that has lasted for centuries.
From the bottom of her heart, Remedios disliked, even hated, people like Tang Zheng who associated with demi-humans.
And now.
To be saved by him, what was this supposed to be!
"Sister."
Kelart, however, paid no mind to her sister's inner thoughts. Seeing her refusal, she snatched the potion from Tang Zheng's hand, pried open Remedios's mouth, and poured the entire contents down her throat.
"Cough, cough."
Remedios couldn't help but cough, her voice angry and weak. "What... are you... doing."
After a few breaths.
The surrounding clerics suddenly exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "It's working! The bleeding has slowed down!"
Kelart could see this as well, but she wasn't particularly thrilled. Although the blood flow had lessened, it hadn't stopped completely.
"One regeneration potion isn't enough, it seems."
Tang Zheng observed Remedios's injuries for a moment and thought to himself, 'As expected, it's the power of a curse.'
"Your Eminence Kelart, if you don't mind, we'll need to remove Captain Remedios's armor."
Kelart nodded without any hesitation. "No problem!"
At a signal from Kelart, several high priests, ignoring the weak Remedios's protests, quickly removed her paladin armor.
Underneath her full-body armor, Remedios wasn't wearing anything complicated, just a plain white lining and trousers.
Her long, fair neck and deeply set collarbones were revealed.
The fabric of her clothes was soft and smooth, looking somewhat like sleepwear, yet it was also slightly form-fitting like a warrior's undergarment, clearly outlining her prominent curves.
The blood had stained the white lining completely red, rendering it somewhat translucent and offering a faint glimpse of the taut skin Remedios had developed from years of training.
"I'll gouge your eyes out!"
Feeling Tang Zheng's gaze on her, Remedios's tone grew sharp with anger as she spoke viciously.
She had never been looked at by a man like this before!
"Don't get the wrong idea."
Tang Zheng said flatly, his gaze shifting from her exaggerated curves to the festering wound on her clothes.
"You're older than me, you know."
"Besides, you're a paladin. Repaying kindness with malice violates the paladin's code."
As he spoke, Tang Zheng took out several more regeneration potions and handed them to the nearby clerics, saying softly, "Pour these onto the wounds. Don't use it all at once."
"Apply the potion and cast healing magic at the same time to expel the negative attribute energy on them."
"You—"
Hearing him describe her as "older," Remedios's eyes shot wide open in a glare.
Tang Zheng ignored her and gave Kelart a slight nod. "She should be fine now."
With that said.
Tang Zheng turned and walked away.
The regeneration potion had some effect on curse-inflicted wounds. He had used it before to treat Leinas's decaying face.
Although that attempt had failed.
The root cause wasn't the healing potion, but the continuous effect of the Cursed Knight job class.
The injuries on Remedios were purely from curse damage. With no source to replenish the curse power, it could be completely healed once the curse was expended.
"My, my~"
"To be able to treat wounds from the 'Corrupting Sword,' one of the Four Great Demonic Swords... you truly live up to your name as the 'Black-Haired Genius Alchemist'."
Clementine crossed her arms, tilted her head, and grinned as Tang Zheng walked over.
"Miss Clementine."
Tang Zheng looked at her. "You don't have a single injury, yet you were tied up by a single undead for so long."
"Well, it couldn't be helped,"
Clementine shrugged, her purple pupils blinking. With a flick of her hand at her waist, a stiletto appeared. She twirled the weapon, feigning a troubled expression.
"My specialty is piercing attacks. I can't use my full power against monsters like skeletons."
"Is that so," Tang Zheng replied with a smile.
"That's right, that's right."
Clementine nodded, her fluffy golden hair bouncing slightly, covering her smiling eyes.
Within this battlefield.
Although the undead were numerous, they were swiftly being eliminated by the equally numerous demi-humans.
Soon, the demi-human troops regrouped, halting a hundred meters from the human forces to make camp, not advancing any closer.
A short while later.
Tang Zheng, Kelart, Captain Nigun, and Gagaran met with two demi-humans from the opposing side, convening at a point fifty meters between the human faction and the demi-human faction.
These two demi-humans!
One was the "Beast General" Hector Weiss. The other exerted an even stronger pressure and a more imposing presence. Under the sunlight, he even gave off a dazzling, seven-colored sheen.
The other looked like a naga-type from the demi-human races, but he wasn't. He was from the extremely rare two-armed race known as the "Snake King"!
His form was similar to a Naga, yet completely different.
To be precise!
The Snake King before them was a mutant!
His entire body was covered in crystal-like scales that seemed to reflect light as if wet, emitting a brilliant, seven-colored glow.
It was none other than the strongest of the Ten Evils of the Demi-Humans—"Seven-Colored Scales" Kōkosh.
Even Tang Zheng couldn't help but stare at him for a few extra moments; the scales on his body were simply too unique.
These scales, which radiated an eerie seven-colored light under the sun, were not just for show. They were said to possess a hardness comparable to dragon scales and had high magic resistance.
This was also Tang Zheng's first time seeing this "Seven-Colored Scales" Kōkosh.
His appearance made him strongly suspect that Kōkosh might possess the bloodline of the Rainbow Dragon Lord, one of the True Dragon Lords.
Tang Zheng recalled that the Rainbow Dragon Lord was a member of the dragon race known for his extreme fondness for crossbreeding. The queen of the Dragon Kingdom was one of his descendants.
Kelart and Captain Nigun wore grave expressions. This was also their first time seeing the demi-human "Seven-Colored Scales" Kōkosh, and he was far more terrifying than they had imagined.
"What took you so long?"
Gagaran boomed as she strode forward, coming to a stop before "Beast General" Hector Weiss and "Seven-Colored Scales" Kōkosh.
"We had only just detected the undead's movements," the "Beast General" Hector Weiss said, his voice impassive, betraying no emotion.
"I am Kōkosh, known by the demi-humans of the hills as 'Seven-Colored Scales'."
"Seven-Colored Scales" Kōkosh slithered forward on his dazzling serpentine body, gave a slight bow, and spoke with an amicable tone that held a unique magnetism:
"On behalf of all the demi-human races of the Abelion Hills, I thank you humans for your assistance."
"This calamity caused by the undead is not just an enemy to us demi-humans, but a common enemy to humans as well."
His words were filled with goodwill, but the facial expressions of demi-humans differed from those of humans, making it impossible to discern his true thoughts.
That pair of scarlet, serpentine eyes was also somewhat chilling.
Tang Zheng and Gagaran exchanged a glance but didn't speak. Captain Nigun remained stone-faced, showing no intention of speaking either.
Kelart's long, narrow eyes squinted slightly, her face adopting a friendly and gentle expression. "Kōkosh, if not for your timely support, our losses would have been even greater."
"We need to rest and reorganize now. I was wondering if you could lead us to a safe place first."
Kelart deliberately presented a position of weakness.
"My dear human lady."
"Seven-Colored Scales" Kōkosh smiled. "You certainly need to recuperate after such a battle. However, I have a bold proposal."
"The enemy has also been through a battle and will need to recuperate. Is this not a favorable opportunity to press our advantage?"
"We have already located the enemy's lair. If we attack now, our chances of victory may be even greater."
As soon as he said this.
The expressions on Kelart's and Captain Nigun's faces turned cold.
(end of chapter)