Chapter 474: A new card of blasphemy?
"Bang--"
Angel, who saw the enemy clearly in the dark vision at the first time, raised his "Good Luck" revolver and fired the first bullet out of the barrel after breaking the hammer.
The increased accuracy from the magical item allowed her to directly hit the first swooping blue shadow falcon, but unfortunately, it did not increase its power. It only knocked away a bunch of blue feathers, causing the "lucky bird" to scream, flap its wings, and fly levelly, quickly avoiding Angel's position.
The gunshot was like a starting gun, activating the other two Beyonders. Klein squinted his eyes at the sky and quickly locked onto the other adult giant bird in the moonlight. He raised his hands high and fired a series of "air bullets." Compared to the magician, the Sequence 6 "Faceless Man" had a greater power in this ability. Invisible bullets flew out from his fingertips one after another. Although the accuracy was not good, the quantity made up for the quality. The diving Blue Shadow Falcon was like diving into a rainstorm of bullets, and blue blood and feathers splattered in the air.
But compared with the young bird attracted by the bait pig, these two adult blue falcons had thick skin and flesh, and the bullets could not cause a fatal attack. After a brief fright, they regained their altitude, dispersed, and circled the grass, looking for opportunities to attack.
"Into the woods!"
"Hanged Man!" Alger shouted, ignoring the flashing light spots. He took the lead in running towards the dense jungle ahead, following the corpse of the Blue Shadow Falcon, which was slowly gathering extraordinary characteristics. Due to his fighting style, he only brought a scimitar that was convenient for close combat and slashing. At this time, he was helpless against the enemy hovering in the air.
But his action seemed to serve as some kind of signal. The two blue-shadow falcons that were hovering with their wings flapping under the crimson moonlight swooped down again as if they had made an appointment. They no longer advanced in a straight line, but instead flapped their wings randomly, drawing irregular arcs that made it difficult for Angel and Klein to aim. Bullets flew by with a whistling sound, leaving only a few slowly falling feathers.
Alger looked back, his eyes widening. He then realized that his escape was a sign of weakness in the eyes of these birds of prey, making him their primary target. But it was too late to regret it now, and two legs could not outrun two pairs of wings.
He gritted his teeth, turned around and stood still, his body suddenly swelled, his muscles tensed, his seaweed-like blue hair stood on end, his eyes fixed on the attacking Blue Shadow Falcon, the scimitar in his hand raised in front of him, ready to try to counterattack the moment it passed by.
"slow!"
A demonic voice condensed with countless filth was heard, and Angel's eyes turned bright yellow, with lava surging in them. The invisible extraordinary power instantly swept over the two blue shadow falcons that were rushing faster and faster with the help of gravity, making them seem to fly into a sticky liquid, and their speed instantly dropped to one tenth of the original speed. A hint of hesitation appeared in the fierceness in the gray eyes.
Good opportunity!
Alger had originally planned to trade injuries, but seeing this opportunity, he was delighted and rushed forward with his scimitar in hand. He held the handle with one hand and pressed the middle of the blade with the other, pointing the sharp tip of the blade in the direction of the first Blue Shadow Falcon's flight.
In just two seconds, the two birds of prey had broken free from the constraints of "slowness" and regained their speed, but their original target had disappeared from their sight.
“Wow—”
The leading blue shadow falcon flew across the ground at an extremely fast speed. Its soft belly hit the blade of the scimitar that had been prepared long ago, and it was instantly ripped open. It slid for more than ten meters on the grass, dragging a trail of blue blood, before rolling to a stop. The bird's claws raised to the sky trembled twice, and it stopped moving. Its internal organs flowed out of the wound and spread all over the ground.
The other Blue Shadow Falcon let out a sharp wail, but its instinct made it flap its wings quickly and fly upwards again. The short moment of "slowness" completely reversed the situation. Now it was alone, facing the attacks of three extraordinary people. Even with the pitifully small brain of a bird, it could judge the outcome of its continued resistance.
Fortunately, the sky still belongs to it...
Swish——
As it climbed rapidly, several invisible silk threads shot out from behind and entangled its sturdy bird claws.
"Pi!"
Amid its confused and frightened cries, a figure approached rapidly in the moonlight, and the bone bracelet on its left wrist transformed into a dagger, slashing across its neck at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye.
Bang! The bird's head, covered in a tuft of dark blue feathers, landed heavily in front of Alger. Its wide-open gray eyes stared at him blankly, as if accusing the culprit who had killed its family.
Subconsciously shrinking his neck, Alger looked up at the sky. The headless corpse of the Blue Shadow Falcon was spinning down. Above him, Angel's figure slowly descended under the effect of "lightness", his windbreaker fluttering, like a ghost demanding his life in the crimson moonlight.
If her target was me, at the speed just now, could I have avoided it... He was a little afraid to think about the answer to this question.
As the body of the last Blue Shadow Falcon fell to the ground, the light spots on the young birds he killed first gathered together, and six unique crystallized feathers formed on both wings.
This is one of the main ingredients of the "Wind-loving" potion.
Alger took a deep breath, sheathed his scimitar, and stopped thinking about the questions that made him uncomfortable. He walked forward and carefully plucked the feathers one by one, storing them in a delicate little box that had been prepared long ago.
Their original plan was for Angel to take the materials and then secretly hand them over to Alger later, but since there were no "outsiders" at this time, there was no need to go through so much trouble.
As for the other two feathers, Alger decided to make concessions. Although the main ingredients of each Sequence 6 potion were worth over 1,500 pounds, Angel had undoubtedly contributed the most in the previous battle. Moreover, the three of them had agreed before the operation that, except for their own feathers, all other spoils would belong to them.
Of course, the fighting ability displayed by Miss "Queen" was the key to his decision. Otherwise, he might have argued and demanded a larger share of the spoils on the grounds that he had killed two-thirds of the prey.
"This appears to be a family of three."
Walking up to the Blue Shadow Falcon whose head and body were separated, Klein looked down at its eyes, which were still open in death, and spoke after a moment.
"The last time I came here was five years ago. Back then, there was only one Blue Shadow Falcon. I never thought it would become a family now..."
Alger also felt a little regretful. Of course, it was because of the intelligence error, not because he had raided the Blue Shadow Falcon's cozy nest.
Fortunately, he had helpers by his side this time. Otherwise, even if he used spells and scimitars to deal with the extra enemies, he would still be seriously injured. Not only would he not be able to explain to the crew and the church, he would also miss the opportunity for promotion in the near future... He covered the small box that he kept close to his body, and felt grateful for his foresight.
During the conversation, crystals condensed on the wings of the other two dead Blue Shadow Falcons. After plucking a total of twelve feathers, Angel put away these precious extraordinary materials and looked at Alger, who was somewhat excited but restrained, and asked softly:
"What now? Return to your ghost ship, or continue exploring?"
Keep exploring!
Alger was already itching to get back to the Blue Avenger and carefully hide the materials he had just obtained, but when he heard Angel's question, he felt that this was indeed a good opportunity.
Five years ago, he discovered this pristine island outside the shipping lanes and carefully explored it, but chose to leave due to insufficient strength. This time, he was accompanied by Miss Queen, a Sequence 5, and German, a disciple of Mr. Fool, whose Sequence was unknown but should be quite strong. He had also increased his Sequence and obtained magical items. The team was much stronger than last time. Could he try to explore the ancient ruins that he hadn't been able to penetrate before?
Looking at the dense jungle and towering mountains deep in the island, he was silent for a moment and said:
"The island is very quiet at night. Aside from creatures like the Blue Shadow Falcon, which are not very alert by nature, most extraordinary creatures are hiding in their nests, waiting for dawn. This shows that there are additional dangers on the island that they all fear, dangers that only appear at night."
Angel and Klein didn't reply, waiting quietly for him to continue.
"Deep within the island, in the Black Forest, lies an ancient ruin of unknown age. Even the island's most ferocious supernatural creatures dare not enter. It's said that within the ruins lies something extremely precious and important, more valuable than most magical items, even... not even inferior to the playing cards crafted by Emperor Roselle."
Glancing at Klein, Alger paused.
The Emperor's deck of cards... was it the "Desecration Cards"? He was worried that Klein might know the precious knowledge circulating within the Tarot Club, so he didn't elaborate. But in fact, Klein had already seen the "Red Priest" card and learned more information from the Apostle of Desire's spiritual channeling... Angel chuckled and was about to continue asking when Klein beside him spoke:
"I heard? You're not the only one who knows about this island?"
"Yes, I discovered this island together with another person, but don't worry, he won't reveal the secret," Alger replied with a strange smile, "because that person is 'Vice Admiral Hurricane' Qilingos, and dead people don't speak."
Did the "Hanged Man" actually explore this island with "Vice Admiral Hurricane"?
Angel subconsciously glanced at Klein beside him. Although the latter's expression did not change, curiosity was revealed in his eyes.
Qilingos's death in Backlund was big news in the newspapers, which ensured he wouldn't reveal the island's secrets. But when did Alger, a believer of the Church of the Storm, get involved with Qilingos, one of the pirate generals?
Moreover, the "Hanged Man" had revealed Qilingos's movements at the "Tarot Club", trying to get everyone to assist in the investigation and pray that Mr. Fool would send his followers to kill him.
Did he intend to kill people and occupy this pristine island alone?
As if sensing Angel's confusion, Alger continued without further ado.
"Five years ago, Qilingos, who hadn't yet become a pirate general, and I discovered this island by accident. At the time, I was only a Sequence 8 'Raging Citizen' and didn't have the ability to explore deeply. However, Qilingos discovered some traces and suspected that the ruins deep within the island held a very important secret.
"But he refused to elaborate, and I could only gather the general idea from fragments. Within the ruins, there was a relatively well-preserved church. He briefly explored the underground area, but emerged less than ten minutes later, breathing weakly. He said only by reaching Sequence 5 could he have the chance to go deeper. After that... you should all know his fate."
The ending... Vice Admiral Hurricane died in Backlund before he could be promoted to Sequence 5, and it was Mr. Azik who did it... Oh, and according to the Hanged Man, he infiltrated Backlund for a difficult mission - to assassinate Duke Negan, and the reward would allow him to rival a Sequence 4 Pirate King. Could it be this item hidden in the ruins?
Wait, the Apostle of Desire who successfully assassinated Duke Negan but ultimately died at the hands of Klein and me was also acting on a mission issued by a secret organization. He would exchange Duke Negan's death for a "blasphemous card" that recorded the complete path to the potion!
So, the item in the ruins that Qilingos coveted and lured him to assassinate the Duke, which was said to be able to quickly promote him to a high-sequence level, was also a "Card of Blasphemy"?
Alger's explanation helped Angel connect the dots, and the "Blasphemy Card" containing the potion formula undoubtedly tempted her. However, she knew that even Qilingos, possessing the "Creeping Hunger," dared not explore deeply, and could only obtain it indirectly by completing "arduous tasks." Deep within the ruins, a formidable danger, nearing the level of a demigod, must exist...
"bite--"
Klein, who was beside her, stretched out his hand, tossed out a coin, caught it steadily, and opened his palm.
The relief depicts George III facing upward, gazing at the crimson moon overhead.
This means that Alger did not lie.
"Let's... go in and take a look."
"Carefully put the coin away," Klein said slowly, moving his gaze forward to look at the pitch-black, dense jungle that hid unknown dangers.
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