Fortunately, none of the Tyrants were wearing helmets. So Victor used one Dancing Star to burn one of the remaining ones, then used the Axii Sign to control the last Tyrant, and afterward performed craniotomies on the four monsters in order.
He had not seen them in the city over the past two days, so the boy had originally hoped they were the personal, privately made works of that Sapopan mage, Albert. But now, it seemed Azar had indeed reached this step too.
After finding the way to the basement, "Aard" blasted open the piled-up debris. When he pulled open the iron door and looked inside, stone stalactites in the underground cavern dripped in the darkness. After drinking a Cat potion, he stepped onto the slippery stairs and descended underground step by step.
Some time later, when the witcher finally saw firelight and walked into a spacious stone-built room, the "woman" in the center of the laboratory proved that Azar had not merely reached the Tyrant stage. He had gone even "farther" than Albert.
"Vic... tor..." Calling out the boy's name, the slightly hunchbacked, drooling "woman" before him was White Rayla, the mercenary leader he had encountered the day before yesterday when entering the city, a tall female warrior with a long gray braid and deep saber scars on both cheeks.
Rayla was still wearing chainmail now, but her skin had turned deathly pale. In the places not covered by the chainmail, several stitched-up marks and crimson cysts were exposed. Looking like a clownish living corpse, she stood in the center of the room, blocking the path forward.
The witcher sighed deeply.
Facing the mutated Rayla, although he was shocked, it was not much in itself. But the fact that she could call out his name and did not attack immediately meant she still had memory and could recognize him.
Hearing such an inhuman creature call out his name, that anger born of grieving for one's own kind made a trace of blood-red show deep within the boy's azure Sharingan.
With a thunderous sound, at the anchor point on the other end of the room, a portal opened. Then Victor saw the person he wanted to kill as quickly as possible, Azar Javed, walk out from within.
The Zerrikanian, whose face was pierced with silver rings and whose whole body was covered in tattoos, wore simple cloth clothing, with a pair of spiked clubs strapped to his back.
He gazed at the boy in surprise, his voice low and hoarse, his Common accent strange. "Hello, Victor. I didn't expect you to actually track me here." He looked at the witcher's eyes. "And you mutated into a witcher!? Truly unbelievable. It has only been half a month since our last meeting!
"Your mutation looks extremely successful. Aside from the pupils, I can hardly find any difference from your original self. But your face paint is very beautiful! Perhaps you would also like to add some tattoos. That would make you more aesthetically pleasing.
"Why do you look so angry?"
"Can't you tell why I'm angry? You're disgusting, Azar! I have a friend named Lambert. He hates mages because he thinks mages are all heartless bastards without blood or tears. I once thought he was exaggerating, but after seeing what you've done, I now strongly agree with him. Azar Javed, you must be destroyed!"
"Vic... tor..." The pale and stiff-faced Rayla repeated the boy's name.
Hearing Rayla's murmur, a hint of surprise appeared on Azar's face. "Ah, so that is how it is. You know this lady. Then your anger is understandable. But I think perhaps you have misunderstood something. You should not be angry. On the contrary, you should thank me for granting her a successful mutation, a gift of life!"
Victor crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Successful mutation? Gift of life? You really do think too highly of yourself. Although she wasn't exactly likable originally, this disgusting lump of flesh can't be considered a gift no matter how you look at it. I don't even think she still counts as alive."
The mage said indifferently, "That is why I said you misunderstood. The ones who shot her were not me, but the Scoia'tael. I was merely trying to make use of waste. And you've seen the result. As that handsome man by the sea once said, 'Life has infinite possibilities!'
"Look at Rayla now. One could say she is better than when she was alive. Strong muscles, superb combat skills, the ability to understand and absolutely obey orders, an almost perfect biological weapon."
Victor raised his middle finger. "Rather than become this kind of monster and be toyed with by a son of a bitch like you, I believe Rayla would rather have died on the spot!"
Azar began to chuckle deeply, his hands gesturing before his chest. "Heh, heh, heh, haha. As for her personal wishes, you will see them very soon.
"I apologize. In truth, I should spend a little more time resolving you right here. But I truly am too busy and cannot continue playing with you.
"Rayla, you will not forgive this filthy witcher mutant for insulting your master, will you? Be sure to let our Mr. Victor fully experience your thoughts on your new body."
From the moment he noticed the mage's casting motion, Victor dodged behind cover. Unlike last time, even if he released "Alzur's Thunder" again, the solid stone wall would definitely block it.
But this time, the target of the mage's spell was Rayla. "Alzur's Shield!" As the words fell, a transparent film appeared over the mutated female warrior.
Picking up several documents from the table, Azar vanished with a smile, teleporting away.
Sensing that the mage had left, the boy formed the Quen Sign and honestly applied a protective shield first.
Then he walked out from behind the rock wall and slowly approached the mutated female warrior. "White Rayla. Since you can recognize that I am Victor, do you still remember who you are? Do you know why you are here? Can you understand what I am saying?"
She tilted her head and smiled. "Victor...!" From beginning to now, this was the third time she had called the boy's name. Her voice had not been pleasant when she was alive, so of course it had not become soft and cute now. Worse still, she swung a sword toward the witcher's face.
"Clang!" Blazing Strike came out of its sheath and precisely parried Rayla's first sword strike. After that, the continuous ringing of iron on iron stretched on without end.
The mutated Rayla dual-wielded two-handed swords, using them as one-handed swords. The two-sword dance she swung with howling force was like a whirlwind, crushing toward Victor with fierce momentum.
The opponent's pattern was very simple and was not difficult to deal with. The problem was that her attacks were long, fast, and heavy, not at all inferior to a witcher after drinking potions. It forced Victor to grip his sword with both hands as well and resist with all his strength.
Sparks flew everywhere in the laboratory. He parried, dodged, rolled, circled, spun, and leapt with his eyes open. Unfortunately, he could not close them. At a time like this, closing his eyes for even a second would kill him.
Throughout the continuous exchange, Victor kept trying to communicate with her, but her response was always the same. "Victor." At this point, the boy could be certain that the female warrior was still dead.
The death spoken of here was death in the narrow sense, spiritual death. The fact that she could call out his name was purely an echo of past memory. The part that truly belonged to a person, Rayla, was already dead.
But even just that echo of memory brought no small psychological pressure to Victor. Although he had never fought Rayla before, judging from her age, he could roughly estimate the degree of skill she had possessed in battle.
An opponent who originally could have been dealt with in a few dozen exchanges at most had, after being modified, become a monster pressing him down.
Furthermore, Rayla had a decisive difference from the Sapopan village chief, Bowman. When Victor and Azar were talking just now, Rayla, whose pupils had rolled white, had the awareness of a lackey listening while the boss spoke. She was not in a hurry to pounce on Victor and attack.
Being able to wait until Azar gave the order before beginning her attack meant she could be considered a truly qualified soldier. From Lickers to Tyrants to this Rayla before him, the mage whose horizons had been opened by Victor's five conjectures was increasing in danger level almost vertically.
Rolling once more and pulling away slightly, the witcher curled his ring finger. "Axii!" He tried to use the Sign to control her.
At least against the Tyrant just now, in a one-on-one situation, Victor had been able to make it sink into a muddled state and lose its will to fight.
But the same move had a terrible effect against Rayla. She merely swayed slightly, then returned to normal. The echo of memory provided her with enough mental power to resist control.
The two-handed swords cut like wind. This time, Victor truly could not dodge in time. With a bang, the Quen shield was cleaved apart by the heavy sword. Fortunately, he dodged fast enough, and the steel sword scraped across his leather armor, cutting out a white mark.
"Aard!" The Sign erupted instantly and blasted Rayla away.
After the fierce battle and continuous use of Signs, once this strike was launched, Victor also felt faint dizziness. Noticing that Rayla was about to pounce again, the alchemist reached into his bag and threw out a Grapeshot and a Dancing Star in succession.
Amid the explosions, Rayla, who had been charging forward madly since the beginning of the fight, finally paused for the moment. But Victor only felt his headache double.
Alzur's Shield looked very effective. After two bombs exploded, the direct blast from the Grapeshot only sent a few fragments through the protection, causing light wounds, while the burning, sticky substance carried by the Dancing Star was slowly flowing down along the surface of the shield and dripping to the ground.
And not only was the defense unexpectedly strong, what was even more troublesome was that the witcher could feel the scattered magic power around them slowly flowing toward Rayla, replenishing the heavily damaged Alzur's Shield.
This spell was actually a fixed-duration buff-type magic.
The dimeritium bomb, of which only one remained in his bag, could not be used. No matter what, it had to be saved for Azar Javed at the very least. Besides, if possible, the boy very much wanted to save it for the person pulling the strings behind the scenes.
But even if he could not use the dimeritium bomb, he still had other anti-magic weapons in his hands, such as the Spellbreaker dagger, and this!
"What a pain. I originally didn't want to use this move!" Victor sighed softly.
White Rayla swung the two two-handed swords into afterimages and charged toward the witcher again, spinning.
But the result of this attack was entirely different. After several thunderous clangs, the swift two-handed swords were all knocked away and could no longer continue. Taking advantage of the opening, Victor kicked out and sent Rayla flying into the corner of the room.
...
Name: Dragonslayer
Type: Weapon
Quality: Epic
Attack Power: Extremely strong
Effect: Spellbreaker, dimeritium alloy, the material naturally interferes with the operation of magic within a certain distance
Traits: Power of Destruction, Stamina Absorption, Offense and Defense Boost
Enchantment: None
Note: Making a dragon-slaying weapon is not difficult. What is difficult is finding the hero who can wield me.
...
At first glance, one could hardly imagine it was a sword. It was thick, huge, and heavy, like a large iron slab, almost usable as a shield.
When it stood upon the earth, the "two-handed swords" that had once bullied hand-and-a-half swords with their weight finally learned the pain of a weight gap. All attacks that struck it were meaningless.
Dragonslayer! Bigger and heavier than the heaviest iron hammer or giant pestle, a super-heavyweight weapon jointly forged by a Novigrad master swordsmith and master armorer, made with black steel combined with silver, mithril, and dimeritium. It became an epic the moment the sword was completed, then received an enchantment from Victor's Alchemy Workshop, a glorious work produced through a powerful alliance.
Just now, when Rayla rushed over, at the critical moment, Victor had directly pulled Dragonslayer out of the herbal satchel and planted it into the ground. With only its area and weight, he shifted its angle slightly and blocked all the two-handed swords back.
"Come on!" Looking at the fierce-eyed Rayla, Victor smiled and beckoned at her, signaling that she could come at him however she liked.
White Rayla tilted her head, drool uncontrollably flowing from her crooked mouth. Instinctively, she knew something was wrong, but the echo of memory could not support complex strategic thinking.
Thus the mutated female warrior could only bare her teeth for a while before pouncing and hacking wildly, once again futilely getting kicked back into the corner by Victor.
And during this process, when Alzur's Shield on her body drew close to this giant, giant, giant sword, the spell structure began to peel away step by step. This was the natural property of dimeritium, interfering with and suppressing magic.
However, although it was useful, this weapon was also a double-edged sword. It would likewise restrict Victor's fighting style. Just like now, with this sword in his hands, under the interference of dimeritium, he could not cast Signs himself either. Even if he originally had a Quen shield or set up an Yrden Sign on the ground, they would likewise be gradually dissolved by Dragonslayer.
Victor stayed in place and did not move, not because he did not want to swing the sword and cut Rayla in two, but because with Dragonslayer's current greatsword form, he still could not lift it to attack. He did not have that strength.
To truly wield it in an attack, he needed other Void traits to work in combination.
When he first had it made, he had already thought out his future plan. Unfortunately, some traits were quite common in the alchemy world, but so far, he had not discovered them in the witcher world.
Still, he was full of expectation for this greatsword's future. If truth existed only within range, then purely based on the sword's innate Spellbreaker function and its overwhelming weight and power, this Dragonslayer could even be called the Sword of Truth.
After the same cycle of rushing up, hacking wildly, and being kicked away repeated several times, Rayla, who had been incomparably ferocious at first, finally also knelt on the ground, panting heavily. She only had one two-handed sword left in her hand. The other had fallen at Victor's feet.
The effect of Alzur's Shield had already been completely destroyed. The two recent kicks to her lower abdomen had also damaged the function of her body.
Thus, when Rayla rushed forward again and futilely broke herself against Dragonslayer, Victor turned out from behind the sword. His left fist struck her elbow joint, knocking away the female warrior's last weapon. His right hand flashed with the Spellbreaker dagger, cutting open most of her throat.
As blood sprayed wildly, the mutated female warrior knelt on the ground and covered her throat with both hands to stop the bleeding.
Circling behind her, Victor grabbed Rayla's braid, and the dagger swept again, completely cutting off her head.
The headless corpse fell to the ground and did not rise.
Doing this was not cruelty. The witcher simply did not want to take risks. Although he did not know how effective this mutation's self-healing was, from Azar's words, he knew the mutation had pulled Rayla back from the brink of death and turned her into this monster. So simply cutting open her neck might not necessarily kill her.
But decapitation, even the real T-virus from Resident Evil would be powerless against that. It would have to be the G-virus.
Walking to the side and placing the head on the table, Victor closed Rayla's eyes. "If you can't even freely control your own life, then death is better."
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