Why is there a rocket launcher here?
Did the people of The Manor make it? No, there are only a few people in Country C who can manufacture a rocket launcher from scratch. And that weapon looks very old, with no trace of modification.
So, was it found in this world? But the most advanced weapon here is a cannon. Firearms are rare, let alone such high-end thermal weapons.
'Where did you get your weapons?!' Nol asked sternly.
"Of course, our leader gave them to us," the ghost replied in a flat tone. "Without weapons, we can't sleep… can't sleep… ah ah…"
She swung her knife at Nol again, expressionless, her lips trembling uncontrollably.
In Paradise, the neighbors were thriving, not lacking food or clothing. They even gathered to make dumplings and chat, their spirits still relatively stable—compared to them, the two neighbors in front of them were on the verge of madness.
Nol tried asking a few more questions. The answers he got were all repetitive nonsense, piecing together no useful information. The only thing they could ascertain was that all of this was bestowed by the "Lord of The Manor".
What exactly is going on with the Lord of The Manor?!
The ghost clumsily but tirelessly hunted the two. Teest was agile like a leopard, slowly pursuing step by step. Once they lost sight of their quarry, the lizardman carrying the rocket launcher would always fire at their hiding place, guiding their direction.
A total war of attrition.
They ran around the castle several times. Even during the day, the interior of the castle was eerily quiet, like a deserted city. The absence of reinforcements was both a relief and a source of immense anxiety for Nol.
What exactly were those monsters he sensed earlier doing?
Nol's hand lingered for a moment on the "Bad News" letter opener but ultimately didn't use this deadly weapon. Teest withdrew his gaze and frowned.
"I'm tired," Teest said. "Do you still want to run around the castle? I've memorized the terrain. If it's inconvenient for you, I can take action for you."
After saying this, he paused meaningfully. "This isn't your fault. They were the ones who acted first. You just wanted to survive, so you sent out your loyal and faithful knight—"
Nol interrupted him. "I need a large bucket of clean water and half a bucket of olive oil."
"Ah…?" Teest was choked by his own words.
"You should have these in your waist pouch." Nol said, "A full bucket of clean water, half a bucket of olive oil… other vegetable oils will do too—just not solid fats."
Teest looked curiously at the ghost, then at the lizardman.
"Fried lizard isn't tasty." Though he said this, he still obediently took out the water and oil Nol requested.
This area was remote, yet still affected by the anti-magic crystal. Only very weak magic like telekinesis and fire-starting could be used—but as long as his magic worked here, it was a "game problem".
Nol raised his hand, skillfully using telekinesis.
The golden olive oil gathered into a perfect sphere, rotating around Nol. The large bucket of water split into four water masses, twisting into the shape of mirrors.
They floated and moved in the air, quickly adjusting their positions. The focal point of the sunlight relentlessly followed the ghost's weaknesses, burning her heart and forehead with concentrated light, causing the ghost to emit a sharp scream.
Teest: "..."
What was this? It seemed like light magic, but it felt a bit subtle…
Nol bit his lower lip, but his hands remained steady. The ghost's skin began to curl like burnt paper, but he didn't stop. The four water mirrors spun dazzlingly, focusing on the ghost from all directions.
The ghost gradually couldn't stand. The hem of her skirt fluttered, and she fell to the ground like a wilted flower, dropping her dagger that clattered on the ground. With his teammate injured, the lizardman hurriedly approached, aiming at the dazzlingly white Teest. In the crosshairs, Teest stood alone, shrugging helplessly at him.
But wait, that demon was just by his side!
The lizardman hastily adjusted his view, only to see a large mass of gold rushing towards him. It smeared over him and his rocket launcher. The lizardman instinctively pulled the trigger.
The rocket was fired, then the weapon buzzed, flames suddenly igniting. The oil on the lizardman's body burned fiercely, and the intense heat instantly incapacitated him.
Nol withdrew his gaze, continuing to burn the struggling ghost with sunlight.
The ghost's cries of pain, screams, and nonsensical babbling filled Nol's ears. But he forced himself to watch until the ghost weakly closed her eyes, completely losing consciousness.
Nol opened "The Complete Recipe Book". The page he turned to sparkled a bit of gold in the sunlight.
It was a complex magic circle with a core stuck to a Player's earring.
After rescuing Little Piel, Nol reclaimed the earring used as a prop. Using it as the core, he turned "system custody" into a fixed spell.
Nol called it [Soul Seal].
The magic sounded powerful, but it had significant limitations. It required the target to be unconscious and unable to resist throughout, and the caster must have physical contact with the target.
But as troublesome as it was, it was better than killing one's kin.
Nol held the book in one hand and placed the other on the ghost's forehead, pouring his magic power against the influence of the anti-magic crystal.
Just like the unconscious Little Piel, golden light quickly spread over the ghost's body. Her form dissolved into countless brilliant particles in the sunlight.
"Ah, there's this trick too."
Teest stroked his chin, glancing at the still burning lizardman in the distance. For some reason, his tone was a bit regretful.
[….Execution error occurred…]
Just as Nol was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the system's static voice entered his ears. At the same time, the cluster of light particles stiffly danced in place, unable to dissipate quickly.
[….Target contains abnormally formatted messages. Unable to be properly custodied…]
[…Do you want to clear the abnormally formatted message content?]
Abnormal?
The only thing that could be called abnormal about the ghost was the corruption spread all over her body.
It seemed the system was completely incompatible with the Demon King's corruption. Nol wiped away cold sweat. "Yes."
[…Forcefully clearing the abnormal message will significantly weaken the target's attributes. Do you wish to continue?] the system warned again in a staticky voice.
"Yes!" Nol replied without hesitation.
It was okay if the attributes were weakened. These neighbors were really not right, and Nol didn't want to release them right away. Until the situation was clear, they could sleep in the system.
[…Execution completed…]
[…Looking forward to meeting you again...]
The lingering light particles finally scattered. Several hundred meters away, the lizardman finally couldn't endure the intense heat and fainted as well. Nol, without even closing the book, walked forward with "The Complete Recipe Book".
The sunlight pierced through the mist, sparkling gold, and then quietly extinguished.
...
Teest fried some potato chips and potato pancakes with the remaining olive oil.
He seasoned them with plenty of pepper and coarse salt, eating to his heart's content. While enjoying the potatoes, he boiled water again, making a pot of cabbage and salted meat soup.
After lunch, Teest wiped his mouth contentedly and sighed.
"It seems the neighbors' relations with The Manor are average."
He licked his lips, fiddling with the newly acquired alien rocket launcher. "We took care of two people, and there were no reinforcements from The Manor."
But the air wall didn't disappear.
Nol bit into a potato chip bitterly. From the game's perspective, they had just dealt with a "regional boss". Surely, no new enemies would be refreshed.
But did the Lord of The Manor need to go this far? Or did that person have other concerns…
Bang!!!
Teest successfully fired the rocket launcher, but he had no estimate of the recoil. The barrel trembled, sending the soup pot flying. The shell exploded behind Nol, blasting through the thick stone slabs and sending soil flying.
Nol, holding the half-blown spoon: "..."
Teest slowly put the rocket launcher on the ground, looking aggrieved, as if the launcher had just punched him. "This thing is too hard to control."
Nol poked the rocket launcher. The energy source, a black and red crystal, had dimmed, probably having been consumed quite a bit in this battle… but the aura emitted by the crystal felt somewhat familiar to him.
Nol pulled out the dagger dropped by the ghost. It also had a black and red crystal embedded, identical to the rocket launcher's energy source. He frowned, sniffed, and started digging in a nearby pit.
Digging out a small dish of soil, Nol lined up the rocket launcher, dagger, and soil, extending his hand to Teest. Teest looked puzzled at Nol's palm for a while before placing his hand on it.
Nol held back a laugh and patted the back of Teest's hand. "Do you still have the monster's body parts from before?"
Teest hummed. "A good chef always keeps precious ingredients."
He subtly withdrew his hand, pulling out a piece of monster meat and slapping it into Nol's palm. "Here."
"Do you have any purification herbs?" Nol didn't withdraw his hand.
"..." Teest rummaged for a moment, reluctantly pulling out two semi-transparent herbs. "You're asking for offerings quite frequently, you know. These are good for stewing meat."
"I will increase your mission reward," Nol promised generously.
"Deal." Teest perked up.
Nol filled a cup with water and stewed the purification herbs and monster meat together. After about ten minutes, the Demon King's corruption in the monster meat was purified. It floated on the water's surface, forming a black layer with a barely perceptible deep red halo.
Nol had never closely examined pure contamination before. He isolated it in a test tube and placed it alongside the other items.
The black and red crystal, black and red soil, black and red corruption.
They all emitted the same aura, albeit with varying intensities.
On closer inspection, their power fluctuations were identical. Nol tasted a bit with a spoon; even their flavors were exactly the same.
Nol pressed his knuckles to his lips. The power, weapons, land, and buildings here might all belong to that mysterious "Demon King"… The one said to spread corruption and hatred towards all living beings.
The Demon King not mentioned in the "Tahe" game setting.
According to lore, it slumbered on Desolation Island, also not existing in "Tahe".
"How about it? Did you find what you were looking for?" Teest asked curiously.
"All these are remnants of the Demon King," Nol asserted. "Teest, you're familiar with the information on the Temple of Life and the Eternal Church, right?"
"Ask away."
"And both religions see the Demon King as a common enemy… 'The darkness suddenly descended upon the land, and the Demon King awoke from the depths of filth'… Is this 'descent of darkness' a general statement, or is there a specific time?"
"The Dark Ages, probably over two thousand years ago," Teest answered crisply. "It's not just the ravings of two groups of fanatics. There are many historical records from the Dark Ages, and the Demon King's influence was much greater back then."
Over two thousand years ago.
Nol's fingertips touched the ancient, tarnished rocket launcher, feeling its cool smoothness. A subtle, uncomfortable suspicion arose.
Could it be that his "Tahe" was actually the newcomer?
Seeing Nol silent for a long time, Teest paused and turned to look towards the center of the castle.
"According to the records of both sides, for thousands of years, the Demon King was just a mindless destroyer, and its corrupted monsters rampaged senselessly," Teest said softly. "I don't know what you think, but in my opinion, the Lord of The Manor can't be the 'Demon King'—that's a powerful entity that even the combined gods couldn't eradicate. It has no need, nor the ability, to play these roundabout games with us."
"True, we're no match for a 'god' who can casually throw meteors." Nol put away the rocket launcher, barely managing a smile. "I also don't think the Lord of The Manor is the 'Demon King'."
As the two left the campfire, Nol casually said, "If it really was the Demon King from thousands of years ago, it wouldn't be so adept at the tricks of games from other worlds."
Teest's steps slowed.
"Really?" Teest replied just as casually. "But you're also very familiar with these things—Master Nol, you're now the leader of the monsters. To some who don't know the truth, you're qualified to be called the 'Demon King'."
Nol shrugged it off. "What are you talking about? The real Demon King is from thousands of years ago…"
Teest tilted his head in confusion. "Aren't you from two hundred years ago?"
Nol stopped in his tracks.
That subtle, uncomfortable feeling grew stronger. The will conveyed by [Lost Last Wish] resurfaced from his memory.
I'm scared. Save me…
I don't want to die like this… My family…
...
Don't hurt me… Save me… Save me…
Save me…
...
The information he received from [Lost Last Wish] hadn't changed much. He heard cries, sobbing, and repeated desperate pleas for help.
When he was in Eternal Day City, Nol thought it was the wish of the corrupted old lady. But the last time he used the skill, it targeted only the pure corruption in The Manor, which had no hosts.
So, whose last wish is it…?
[Regrettably, the cries for help have vanished, and you can only chase the echoes. This skill has no effect and holds no value.] Initially, the system defined [Lost Last Wish] in this way.
"Teest, this time I must meet the 'Lord of The Manor'." Nol stopped moving, and his voice became frighteningly stiff. "I must find out what that person really knows."
"Of course, I will follow my God." Teest, walking ahead, turned around, his long hair lifted by the wind.
"…As long as we're always ready to flee." In the sunlight, he winked at Nol.
Nol wanted to return a smile, but he found his mouth too stiff to do so.
...
Black Forest, Lost Tower.
"Xiao Xu hasn't contacted us at all." Uncle Ma vigorously mixed the dumpling filling, which made his muscles bulge.
"He helped me place surveillance dolls in Eternal Day City. They're all still functioning."
Lynn bit into a freshly baked bun, vaguely looking at the screen. "If something happened to the caster, the magic would react."
"A couple of days ago, he said he was going to visit The Manor?" Uncle Ma pondered. "I heard it's all neighbors there. As long as you can talk, there shouldn't be a problem—how good is our welfare here? Isn't it better than suffering outside?"
Lynn paused for a moment.
"Not necessarily." Her tone was a bit heavy. "We're right under human eyes, and we're only fine now because everyone's kept quiet. Once there's a conflict, it's hard to say."
"There's nothing we can do. To save people, Xiao Xu had to expose himself. Who knows how many unlucky people those two churches are holding." Uncle Ma clicked his tongue.
"That's just because Mr. Xu is too kind-hearted." Lynn finished her bun, wiping her hands thoughtfully. "If it were me, I'd only want to save my sister. If it weren't easier to find people here, I might not have stayed."
"Moreover, Xu Yue's understanding of 'saving people' includes good food, comfortable living, medical and entertainment support. Not many people can achieve this."
Uncle Ma wasn't a greenhorn. He fell silent knowingly upon hearing this.
"Haa, if I had to take over this ridiculous mess, I would have only one thought—"
After a long while, Uncle Ma sighed heavily.
"Staying alive, being able to keep people alive—that's already remarkable."
The author has something to say:
Slowly revealing the worldview XDDD
————————
Nol: (extends hand)
Teest: (covers)
Is this:
A) A dog shaking hands
B) Cat's paw on top principle