The bullet flew out of the chamber with a sharp whistling sound.
It swept through the atmosphere, stirred up storms, and broke through the sonic boom.
Char did not use his pet's attack skills.
Because high-level beastmasters have extremely keen spiritual intuition, the fleeting murderous intent when launching an attack will definitely be captured.
Likewise, Char has no ability to use elements or magic.
This is because before these abilities are activated, they will inevitably cause fluctuations in the surrounding elements and reveal flaws.
What Char chose was only the simplest gun made of mechanical structure.
Compared to those magical guns that have strengthening and acceleration inscriptions solidified on the gun body, which can greatly increase the shooting power of ammunition -
This gun is driven purely by a mechanical structure, so its power is undoubtedly much smaller.
...
...
But that also means it's pure enough.
There was no murderous intent, no elemental fluctuations, and no foreshadowing of the operation of rune arrays.
Silent, quiet, yet deadly and dangerous.
A shot pierces the clouds.
Bang!
The bullet was faster than the sonic boom, penetrating dozens of meters and accurately hitting Norton's temple.
It was a slender bullet with a dark red bullet tip, like a finely polished ruby with a blood-red glow flowing inside.
Seaweed-like red filaments spread out from the ruby-like bullet head, covering the entire bullet body like a spider web.
This is alchemical ammunition made from the "Blood of the Sage".
Char purchased twenty grams of "Blood of the Sage" from the Shadow Council, but in the end he was only able to refine and condense it into an alchemical warhead of less than two grams.
In terms of value alone, the value of this bullet has exceeded 30,000 Rhine gold coins.
After a thousandth of a breath.
Snap——
The moment before the red bullet was about to pierce through the skin and flesh on Norton's temple.
The bullet suddenly froze.
A silver film with a texture like mercury spread out in the air outside Norton's temple.
Then, all the kinetic energy carried by the bullet is absorbed in the form of fluid.
A beastmaster is different from a pet. Although he has the physical fitness improvement brought by the soul bond, he can also use some of the pet's power through the soul bond.
However, pure-blooded humans are a race that is good at intelligence but not strength. The way for a beastmaster to improve himself is to temper his mental strength. As for the physical body, how can it be possible for them to really compare with the innate racial advantages of those powerful races?
Directly beheading the enemy beastmaster himself is always the best option for a transcendent in battle.
Therefore, how to protect oneself in battle, as well as the offensive and defensive game centered on the beastmasters on both sides, is a compulsory course for almost every high-level beastmaster.
The reason is very simple. Those who faced life-and-death enemies and were still laughing and joking, thinking that the opponents would not attack the Beast Tamers like they did in the academy. They were so smart that they didn't know how to protect themselves. Now the grass on their graves is two meters high.
Norton was a ruthless man who single-handedly eliminated more than a dozen four-ring beastmasters and planned the shocking conspiracy to destroy Cang Ting. Of course, he would not make the kind of low-level mistakes that only a rookie would make.
He is also an elder of the Brunstadt family and has also contracted a silver spirit.
However, it is not Norton's main battle pet. The skills that Norton focuses on cultivating are "metal strengthening", "liquefaction" and "super hardening".
The only command he gave to this silver spirit was "self-defense".
This is an automatic spell that is directly programmed into the body of the Silver Spirit. It can be automatically triggered without the Silver Spirit's body's reaction. It guards Norton's body 24 hours a day, day and night, blocking any attack that endangers his body.
The red bullet was still spinning in the air, but it was blocked in mid-air, unable to cross the mercury barrier at all.
This is a matter of course.
If anyone comes with a mechanical gun that has not been enhanced by runes, they can instantly kill a beastmaster above the fifth ring.
The countries in the Western Continent would never spend so much energy to cultivate high-level strongmen, nor would they spend a lot of money to develop magic rune technology. Instead, they should give every soldier in the army a sniper rifle.
but.
This was also the result that Char had envisioned.
He didn't expect Norton to have no defense at all, and he was shot in the head like a fool.
Otherwise, the magazine of the pistol he named "Sea Blue Judgment" should not have been loaded with alchemical bullets made from the blood of sages from the beginning, but should have been replaced with the "Sin Armor-Piercing Bullet" specially made by the Imperial Military.
The next moment.
The alchemical bullet, which looked like a ruby, melted silently on the barrier made of mercury.
The vermilion crystals on the alchemical bullet dissolved.
Like blood, and like ink.
It split into thousands of dense blood threads, which instantly corroded Norton's silver spirit body, causing it to let out a sharp wail.
But the chain of events has not stopped yet.
On Norton's old face -
The intoxicated look of ecstasy that was about to cross the barrier between man and God was frozen.
Until this moment, Norton didn't know what was happening to his body. His heart was still immersed in ecstasy, while intense pain had spread throughout his body.
His internal organs and the neural networks throughout his body were wailing. His facial muscles twitched, giving his old face a strange and distorted look.
The dim divine power that was originally gently infused into Norton's body went out of control in an instant, violently tearing every inch of his flesh and blood.
And this is just the external part.
In a deeper place -
The soul origin that constitutes Norton's spiritual world is undergoing unimaginable collapse at this moment.
Blood spurted out from the corners of Norton's mouth and eye sockets, even earlier than his screams.
This is the "Blood of the Sage", the true value of which is sold at 30,000 Rhine gold coins per 20 grams.
A purely physical attack would not be enough to make a great sage bleed...
The only way to make a wise man suffer pain is to destroy the soul roots that constitute his essence.
It was a curse that directly destroyed the enemy's spiritual essence. After being condensed and processed by alchemical engineering, it was sealed into the bullet by Char as the core.
The bullet's physical lethality is negligible, but it can directly send commands of loss of control and madness to the soul of the person it hits.
And now, the concept of losing control directly reached the root of Norton's soul through the soul contract between the Silver Spirit and Norton, causing all his mental power to run wild uncontrollably.
If it happens on a normal day, this temporary loss of mental control is not that scary and can be healed by just meditating for a while.
But Char chose the perfect time to shoot, right at the last moment before Norton was about to completely usurp the power of Dusk and be promoted.
"Blood of the Philosopher" is one of the highest masterpieces of alchemical technology in Char's current timeline.
In the era of the historical remnant of the Cang Ting Principality, even the prototype of the "Blood of the Sage" had not appeared.
Therefore, Norton had no way of knowing about such a transcendental alchemical creation, nor could he prevent it.
Thus, the ceremony of ascension to the god came to an abrupt end just before the final moment.
Those who fail on the road to becoming gods will naturally have to endure the most violent backlash from the power of dusk.
The closer he was to the throne of God, the heavier the price of falling from the throne would be.
…
Everything happened in a flash.
From the moment Char fired the gun, to the bullet hitting the mercury barrier generated by the self-defense, to Norton being affected by the blood of the sage, the soul origin circuit went out of control, and the ascension ceremony failed.
In fact, only a few tenths of a second had passed.
By the time Sylvia came to her senses, she heard Norton's furious scream.
And, a deafening roar.
Swoosh——
Behind Char, in the dark and deep shadow, a black shadow blade suddenly slashed towards Char's neck at an angle.
Norton's main battle pet, a shadow demon born from darkness and shadow.
This race that can control shadows and even act in the shadows are natural assassins. They are also the biggest culprits for the silent deaths of the four-ring elders of the Brunstadt family.
It had been following Char in the shadows for a long time, starting from the moment Char returned to the mansion.
Norton really needs a helper who can help him collect faith after he becomes a god.
And Char has always performed extremely perfectly, without revealing the slightest flaw, so Norton has kept Char alive until now.
But with Norton's shrewd character, he never really trusts anyone, not even Char, whose life should have been in his hands. He had Shadow Fiend monitor Char early on, and would kill him if he made any unusual movement.
But Norton still miscalculated.
At the moment before ascending to godhood, Norton's ecstasy of ascending the throne of god was transmitted to each of his pets through the soul contract.
As a result, all his pets showed a moment of relaxation because of the ecstasy.
But it was this flaw, which lasted less than a second, that was keenly captured by Char.
The Shadow Scythe slashed down and landed directly on Char's neck.
This caused Sylvia, who was watching, to have a flash of horror and worry in her eyes.
Although I didn't have time to react to what happened...
But Norton's furious roar that was echoing in the underground square undoubtedly declared that there was another hidden story behind all this.
But it was just before the shadow sickle was about to strike.
The boy's figure was shattered like a dream bubble.
"Flash" is activated.
The Shadow Scythe, as furious as its master, fell into the air, and only the dark roar of the Shadow Demon remained in the shadow.
…
"Asshole! Asshole!"
"Do you know what you have done?"
"You ruined my masterpiece!"
"A great undertaking to ascend to the throne of God as a human being has been ruined!"
Norton's roar echoed throughout the square.
His old face was distorted, blood was flowing from his facial features, and the dim divine power around his body was constantly surging up and down, but it never broke free of the restraints. He suddenly suffered a severe blow.
However, Norton was able to use his overwhelming strength to suppress his out-of-control mental power and dusk power in a short period of time.
His eyes were fixed on Char, who disappeared from the Shadow Demon's scythe but slowly reappeared at the other end of the square.
"I don't know what your reasons are, though!"
"But you're done!"
"Since you have rejected the gift of becoming the Vice-King of Heaven, the Right Hand of God, then the only thing that awaits you is destruction."
Norton took out a crystal from his arms and crushed it violently.
This was the introduction to the secret medicine he had asked Char to take earlier.
In principle, as long as this medicine lead is broken, the secret medicine that Xia Ya had taken before will be activated and turned into the most powerful poison.
Norton even saw the tragic scene of Char's flesh and blood rotting and decaying into a pool of filthy pus in a few seconds.
but--
Five seconds passed.
Ten seconds passed.
Still nothing happened.
"Lord Norton, it seems that the blood of the sage has really burned your brain."
Xia sighed and said calmly: "Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"Since I have decided to betray you, can I really let you hold something against me?"
As time went by, Norton's mental power, which was being interfered with by the blood of the sage and was running out of control, calmed down a little.
And a hint of clarity flashed in those old eyes.
He recovered from the rage of losing and gaining, and falling from the clouds just before ascending to the throne of God, and regained his composure.
Secrecy and conspiracy were Norton's greatest weapons in defeating his enemies in the past.
He did come close to success, but he was far from losing.
"I see--"
"Did you use a space-related skill similar to a storage space to conceal the poison?"
"So, you didn't join my plan, see the opportunity to steal the power of God, and then decide to betray me on a whim."
"Instead, he had already plotted to infiltrate the family from the very beginning..."
A solemn look flashed in Norton's eyes.
He looked at Char, but no longer from the condescending position as before. Instead, he regarded Char as an equal to himself.
"I was able to forge your identity as an orphan and place you in the family naturally. Moreover, I never noticed any clues under my nose for so many years..."
"Tell me, which force is standing behind you?"
"The Abyss? The Lost Beast King? Or a cult?"
"The Shadow Council? The Black Tower, or the Empire, or the Alliance of Princes?"
Norton spoke out many speculations in one breath, all of which were famous monsters on the continent with legends in charge.
In his opinion, only such a behemoth could have planted a hidden player in the Brunstadt family and left him dormant for more than ten years.
"Of course, if you don't want to reveal the name of the power behind you, that's fine."
"I know that some forces that claim to be in the Order camp and value their reputation do not want to be tainted by the stigma of endangering the lives of the people by studying the evil god."
"Since I was able to plant a hidden pawn like you, I have recognized that the forces behind you are qualified to cooperate with me."
Norton's words became confident and cunning again.
"A sealed half of an ancient god who has no power to fight back."
“Even if we don’t take it all by ourselves, there are still many places that can be developed and utilized.”
"We can just open a hole in the seal and draw out the power of dusk bit by bit for our own use."
"We can also mass-produce pollutants, and then use them to secretly spread the faith across the continent, turning the power of faith into our own."
He opened his arms and walked slowly around the underground square, with a hint of temptation in his words:
"Of course, this commotion is too big, and it will probably attract a lot of attention, especially the attention of the Dawn Church."
"Such trouble may require the forces behind you to come forward in secret to sort it out."
“But this is also a good opportunity.”
"We can blame the deaths of our elders on the invading cultists. When the head of the family is also surrounded and killed, I will be the one who speaks for the Brunstadt family, and the Duchy of Cang Ting will become my one-man show."
"By then, it will be much more convenient to conduct any research."
Norton made all kinds of tempting suggestions, but his cold eyes remained fixed on Char, looking for the moment when he lost his vigilance.
How could he be willing to share the throne of God with outsiders after carefully planning it for so long?
During this time, Norton had figured out what had just happened.
The damage Char inflicted on him was caused by some special alchemical material, and it was not repeatable even if he took precautions.
Although Norton himself is in a very bad state now, not only does he have to reconcile the runaway dusk magic in his body, but he also has to distract himself to suppress the out-of-control of his soul's original mental power. His combat power is only about 50% of his peak period.
However, facing Char, who only had three rings and had not even reached the master level of four rings, he was still the one with an absolute advantage.
The only thing he had to worry about was that Char would suddenly pull out a deadly weapon from his trouser pocket, like the "Blood of the Sage" bullet he had never heard of or seen before.
However, this is not impossible to prevent. Norton's eyes are fixed on Char's hands. There are also signs of using space skills to take items. Having been prepared, he can naturally come up with a response strategy.
He still has the upper hand.
Although the ceremony of ascension to the gods was interrupted, the key is still there.
As long as he killed the young man in front of him, he could continue the unfinished journey without anyone stopping him.
But the next moment.
Snap, snap, snap——
While clapping, Xia sighed sincerely: "Elder Norton, you are really good at imagination. You have already helped me imagine the background before I even said anything."
"I think you might be better suited to writing novels than being a clumsy conspirator."
"Also, I didn't know that a sealed ancient god could be used in so many ways, even for mass production of pollutants..."
Xia stopped clapping, looked at Norton and shook his head slightly: "But, it's a pity."
"I don't have any remarkable background or identity."
"He's just a hero who does it out of interest."
"Besides, I have no interest in stealing the authority of God. I prefer to move forward step by step."
"A hero who does it out of interest."
Norton repeated the word in a daze, feeling only that it was ridiculous.
In his opinion, Char chose to stay underground because he had some plans for the power of Dusk.
Otherwise, he could have run away after firing that shot, so why did he stay there?
As if seeing through Norton's thoughts, Xia's calm voice sounded again.
"Why are you staying here? Of course, it's to wait for it to cool down."
"On the contrary, Elder Norton, what are you waiting for?"
Char's figure moved slightly.
Norton thought that Char was going to pull out his gun again, so he tensed up and focused his attention.
The shot just now was still fresh in his memory, and the injuries caused on the soul level have not yet recovered.
But Char did not make any attacking moves.
He simply walked to the girl not far away and bent down.
Sylvia suddenly felt two hands that were not very strong but had distinct joints grabbing her thighs and picking her up.
Those hands were so familiar, with a warm touch.
It was exactly the same hand that pulled her out of the icy abyss of the Grand Sea that winter night.
"Hold tight."
That familiar voice sounded.
Sylvia forced herself to raise her head slightly with her weak body, but she only saw those clear black eyes.
There was no dialogue or communication, but the moment Sylvia saw Char's eyes, she understood everything.
She wasn’t betrayed.
Even if the life named "Sylvia" is indeed a woven and manipulated script.
But, that precious memory——
And the light that penetrated the darkness and illuminated her eyes was definitely not fake.
Sylvia nodded silently, then reached out and hugged the boy's neck tightly.
After Sylvia hugged him tightly, Xia turned his head to look at Norton in the distance.
His eyes were clear and deep. He stretched out a slender finger and gently touched his lips: "BOOM——"
The next moment, Char and Silvia's figures disintegrated and disappeared into the underground square.
Norton looked in the direction where Char and Sylvia disappeared in a daze, unable to understand the meaning of Char's last gesture.
But then, his pupils suddenly contracted.
At this moment, Norton saw thousands of blazing white lights light up at the same time——
If converted into the measurement units of Char's previous life, that would be a full 500 tons of TNT equivalent of detonating clay, all detonated at the same moment.
At some point, Char had replaced all the soil in the area surrounding this thirty-meter-deep underground plaza with his specially customized detonating clay.
Along with the detonating clay, two hundred grams of holy water blessed by the bishop of the Fiery Sun Church were also detonated.
The high temperature evaporates the holy water into holy water steam.
The glow, like daylight, instantly engulfed the entire underground square, including Norton.
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