A vast underground city, with houses built entirely of stone standing on the ground, their shapes somewhat resembling Egyptian obelisks. If one were to look down from above the city, onewould find that they seemed to be arranged in a specific pattern.
In the center of the city, a giant statue stood tall.
The statue was over ten meters high, depicting a man holding a scepter and wearing a crown, exuding an awe-inspiring deterrent power.
Thump, thump, thump!
Light footsteps echoed through the silent city; it was the sound of high heels on the stone-paved ground.
"How narcissistic and insecure, building such a magnificent city underground and even erecting a statue of himself. Who is supposed to admire it?!" Clementine, with her hands behind her head and still in her tattered formal dress, looked at the man walking in front of her and said mockingly.
Lock turned his head to glance at her and said, "You should feel honored. Since this city was built, you are the first person to set foot here besides me."
Clementine raised an eyebrow, chuckled noncommittally, "So what? Why did you bring me here?"
"Why? Of course, because you are too weak!" Lock's footsteps suddenly stopped. The two had arrived beneath his statue. He slowly turned around, "As you are now, nothing you do can succeed. Especially not proving that you are superior to Quein Esei."
"What exactly do you want to say?"
The smile on Clementine's face immediately vanished. Having lived under her brother's shadow since childhood and not receiving her parents' attention, she was always particularly sensitive about anything related to Quein Esei.
Lock looked at her with a faint smile and said, "You are very fortunate to become my subordinate. And my subordinates will not be inferior to anyone!"
"You…"
Without giving her a chance to speak, Lock directly activated the power of the Soul-Consuming Curse Mark, controlling her body to slowly kneel, like a devout believer.
"Next, I will infuse a certain power into your body using a special magic, but this will bring an immense burden to your spirit and flesh. If you endure, you will become stronger than Quein Esei. If you don't, you will turn to dust and disappear forever. Now is the time to prove your worth to me!"
Lock's expression gradually turned cold, and he slowly floated up, flying to the forehead of the stone statue.
He took out a circular disk embedded with a large ruby from his embrace and placed it into the groove in the center of the stone statue's crown. In an instant, the crown emitted a brilliant light.
At the same time, Lock raised the staff of light high, and the magic power within him surged out, illuminating the entire underground city like a sun.
Wherever the spear of light reached, all the houses were connected by bands of magic-infused light, forming a giant Magic Circle with the statue as its center.
As the formation took shape, the crown, using the central disk as an outlet, shot out a pillar of light that completely enveloped Clementine, who was kneeling before the stone statue.
Ah!!!
Even though Lock used the Soul-Consuming Curse Mark to control her body, Clementine couldn't help but let out a tragic wail that echoed throughout the entire city.
She felt a vast power being forcibly crammed into her body and soul, as if it were tearing her apart.
In her dying moments, Clementine suddenly recalled her entire life, having experienced the neglect of relatives, the humiliation of enemies, and the death of companions.
She seemed to see Lock's figure before her.
"Do you want to surpass Quein Esei?"
Surpass him! I must surpass him! I am Clementine! Not the remnants left behind by Quein Esei!!!
Holding onto this thought, Clementine gritted her teeth, enduring the tearing force with a distorted expression.
Lock, holding the staff of light, looked at Clementine within the pillar of light and couldn't help but reveal a slight smile.
Tier Ascension Magic, an original magic created by combining information from various evil forbidden techniques in Yggdrasil, blessing rituals, and the essence of various class-changing items.
This was the crystallization of Lock's continuous research over more than ten years, capable of directly strengthening the potential of natives to their maximum endurance, achieving rapid level increases.
He had only experimented with it on his own Knight Order before. At that time, due to a lack of power sources and an immature version, the increase was smaller and had an upper limit, but the safety was high.
What was being used on Clementine now was an excessive Tier Ascension Magic, released with the World Item, caloric stone, as the power source, and the entire city serving as an amplification Magic Circle.
The weakened Tier Ascension Magic previously used on the Knights could rapidly increase their levels from LV3 to LV15.
Lock didn't know how much of an increase this time would bring to Clementine. The key now was whether she could endure it. If she couldn't, she would be crushed into fragments by the powerful energy of the amplified World Item, caloric stone!
The reason Lock used the Soul-Consuming Curse Mark on Clementine was not only to control her but also to help her bear some of the immense energy during this Tier Ascension ritual.
"Hold on, or all my hard work will be in vain," Lock said calmly.
As if Lock's expectation became reality, after an hour and a half, the pillar of light enveloping Clementine disappeared, and the ritual ended.
Lock retrieved the caloric stone from the statue and slowly descended to the ground.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh ~
Clementine was gasping violently, drenched in sweat, and her already tattered ordinary formal dress had long since burned to ashes under the powerful force of the energy pillar.
"Congratulations, you have been reborn," Lock said with a smile, taking out a black cloth and throwing it to her, watching the transformed Clementine with satisfaction.
"It's truly amazing. I feel a powerful force surging within my body, as if I've become different." Clementine wrapped her fair skin with the black cloth, looked at her palms, her face showing an incredible expression, then looked up at Lock, "Who exactly are you? A god?"
"You can consider me a god, it's fine, I can handle it," Lock said without any trace of embarrassment, generously admitting, "Next, you will need some time to fully integrate this power. Let's go, I happen to know a suitable person who can be your sparring partner."
Outskirts of E-Rantel
Raymond and the Black Scripture group were at the edge of the forest, observing the entrance to a distant cave.
"Lord Raymond, how long do we have to wait here?" the God-kin Captain asked Raymond.
They had been waiting here for nearly two days. According to information from the Sunlight Scripture, this was the lair of a mercenary group that also worked as thieves. Besides that, the only special thing was that the Kingdom's famous swordsman, Brian Anglaus, was also here.
It was no exaggeration to say that any one of them could easily eliminate these fake thieves, even including Brian.
Could such a group truly attract the attention of the monster Lock spoke of?
Yes, they were waiting here according to Lock's instructions.
"Calm down," Raymond said, his hands behind his back, calmly looking at the distant cave, "According to another report from the Sunlight Scripture, the previous operation of the Sunlight Scripture was not leaked. Those Kingdom nobles who have connections with us have never had contact with Lock Kote Albert. So, I have always been somewhat puzzled as to how he knew about our operation and then rescued Nigun from the mysterious Magic Caster, Ainz Ooal Gown."
"Until earlier, after you fought him, Lock Kote Albert displayed such strength, and I had a guess. With his level of magical cultivation, could he have mastered some form of precognition?"
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