boyutpedia Page 279
Page 279
……
Artemis raised an eyebrow and glanced at the vulture beside her, which was sneaking around trying to peck at her clothes.
The vulture casually opened its beak and turned to look at the sky.
"This cat is so fierce, I feel like if it scratches me, I'll owe two lives."
"Baldy, you're just a coward." A few harsh laughs came from the vulture flock.
"Damn it, I'm just a vulture. I don't even have hands. How can I arm wrestle with a cat?" The vulture, nicknamed "Baldy," retorted, stretching out its claws.
Just as it was shaking its claws, trying to preen its feathers, a sharp claw suddenly grabbed its claw.
The bald man paused, then looked up along the paw and met a pair of lake-like blue eyes.
"save!……"
It had barely let out a terrified cry when the pure magic power surging into its body shut its mouth.
"Baldy."
The enormous cat twitched her pointed ears, revealed a smile that chilled the birds to the bone, and said:
"Tell me, what exactly is this 'shared meal' you're talking about?"
……
……
Five minutes later, Ateliers floated down the roof ridge to the backyard like a light leaf, leaving a row of silent vultures staring at each other behind her.
During a friendly conversation, the vultures rambled on and on about what they knew, and although their perspective was biased from a bird's point of view, she still gleaned some information from it.
First, there's the current situation. Vultures are quite sensitive to time. In their rough estimate, the "food distribution" has been going on for about a month. That is to say, shortly after the Dragon Horn Lord died, food for the vultures began to be thrown out here.
The food, of course, consisted of the corpses of various creatures, including some humans.
According to them, there were no corpses when many civilians first broke in. It was only after the wave of looting and vandalism subsided that a group of guards sealed off the city lord's mansion and began conducting experiments in the training ground.
Arterifus immediately recalled the rumors about the current agent of Golden City. It seemed that the agent had indeed chosen to continue the Dragon Horn Lord's ritual magic on his own. She just didn't know whether he was selecting offerings or what he was doing.
rustle……
The half-elf landed lightly on a dead tree. She identified the area she was in and nodded slightly. It was still about a hundred meters away from the experimental area pointed out by the vultures. She could reach it with just two "tree leaps".
Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she was surprised to see two patrolling guards stop beside the dead tree she planned to jump from, seemingly talking to each other.
She touched her chin and immediately activated "Tree Leap," entering the dead tree in her sight.
……
"You find that person strange too, don't you?"
"Yes, that sorcerer who kept shouting that he was a goddess before he died."
"No, I mean the key that fell out of his body after he died, didn't you peek at it with me?"
"No, it's just an experiment on mid-level mages anyway, I'm tired of it."
"Indeed, I wonder when these days will end... But speaking of which, the agent seems quite interested in that key."
“The agent is interested in everything, hehe. After all, he was just a lackey of the lord before. It was only because he seized the opportunity that he was able to temporarily have power… However, the young lord will be back soon.”
"Young Lord, it's been a long time since I last saw him. I heard he's doing quite well on the floating island."
"It just seems like the agent isn't afraid of the young lord coming after him, making such a big fuss... Some people say he's got connections with the capital's powers, I wonder if that's true..."
"Who knows? Lord Uroda was once the object of many forces' currying favor, but unfortunately he died young."
"What a pity, I wonder what killed Lord Uroda... Hmm?"
The two guards suddenly felt a chill on their necks. They looked at each other and were horrified to find that there was a small hole in each other's necks. They opened their mouths, but before they could scream, they fell to the ground.
"...Dare to harm my elder brother, he deserves to die."
Artemis emerged from the dead tree, muttered something resentfully, calmed herself, and then urged the dead tree to merge the two of them into it.
Then, she wiped the blood from her fingertips on the tree trunk, bent down, and began to ponder as she selected the next tree to leap to.
"Could the goddess sorcerer they mentioned also be one of the sacrifices? The key... appeared on her body after death? How strange... I wonder if my brother knows what kind of magic this is."
After a moment's thought, she added the "related forces of the Dragonhorn Lord" to the network of forces existing in the Dragonhorn Territory in her mind.
"I've heard that Uroda was formerly the leader of a pioneering team sent by the Kingdom of Norard to conquer Dragonhorn Territory, so he likely has many related forces."
Artemis thought for a moment, but felt that she couldn't possibly figure out which factions were involved in this tangled mess of clues, so she quickly gave up on thinking about it.
"Anyway, let my older brother help me think of something! He's so capable, much smarter than me..."
She coughed lightly, feeling guilty, and then immediately calmed down. She poured her magic into the necklace "Autumn Leaves' Affection" given to her by Latis and activated "Tree Leap" for the second time, teleporting into the dead tree she had been targeting.
Just now, she had keenly noticed a figure in the tent next to the dead tree. The figure was dressed in extremely luxurious lord's robes, and she knew at a glance that this must be the "grand" agent that the two guards had mentioned!
Chapter 283 Elf Side Quest 12: Artemis Assassin Infiltration
"Did the wolves carry off their mother? And why are the vultures so noisy tonight?"
The agent stood by the lifted curtain at the tent entrance, frowning as he spoke.
A man dressed in aristocratic attire slowly walked out from behind the agent, listened to the commotion outside, and said with a smile:
"The vultures are getting restless probably because no experimental materials have been released all day. There's no need to worry, Agent."
“Sir Wilkins, you are right. There has been no progress in the days you have been away. Not to mention Vulture, I am also very anxious and wish I could go out and arrest people myself.”
The agent looked at the nobleman and shook his head. Just as he was about to say something more, a gust of cold wind blew in from outside the tent. He shivered and quickly turned around to lower the curtain.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
The nobleman, called Wilkins, laughed loudly, patted the agent on the shoulder, and said:
"It seems you've really been lacking in training since you and Uroda took over Dragonhorn Territory. Even this little bit of autumn wind makes you feel cold! Let the soldiers handle the arrests."
"Mr. Wilkins, please stop making fun of me."
The agent sighed, turned up the fur collar of his lord's robe, and said as he walked inside:
"Let's hurry up and arrange the ceremony. The young lord will be back soon, and I don't have much time left..."
"No rush, no rush. That 'sir' instructed me that as long as I bring back the corresponding experience points, that's fine..."
……
"Is Wilkins a nobleman from the capital?"
Artemis, in her "invisibility" state, silently pressed herself against the edge of the tent. She waited until the two people at the door had walked a distance before she stopped holding her breath. She glanced at the tightly closed curtain, then turned her gaze to the inside of the tent, her brows furrowing slightly.
It turned out that there was a hidden world inside the tent. Although it didn't look big from the outside, it was actually the entrance to a dungeon. However, it looked like it had been damaged and was now in a dilapidated state.
Artemis crept closer to the exposed ruins, carefully examining the remaining traces. Suddenly, a glint flashed in her eyes, and she reached out to stroke a small, broken dragon scale.
"The scales of the young red dragon... it seems to be a descendant of Miss Serfal who went missing before... Speaking of which, after Miss Serfal brought my brother and me out of the cage, she said she was going to rescue the young red dragon, but after rescuing it, she didn't care about it at all and came straight back to find us. I can only say that she truly lives up to her reputation as a female dragon..."
She withdrew her hand, looked at the two people who had already descended into the dungeon, hesitated for a moment, and then tiptoed to follow them a short distance away.
In this dungeon filled with processed stone materials, the effect of "Inquiring into Nature" would be very weak. Therefore, Ateliers did not choose to use this spell to explore the environment and could only rely on her naked eyes to discern the surroundings.
Fortunately, as an elf, her eyesight is already very strong. With the help of the "Appraisal" spell that can be activated at any time, her observation ability is even more amazing. This is also the source of her confidence in completing the mission of the Mage Association. Even if the knowledge in her mind cannot distinguish the corresponding ritual, she can record all the ritual materials that appear and then check them one by one when she returns to the association.
The magical fluctuations of "First-Circle Spell - Gain a Familiar" flickered quietly on the spellbook, and then several inconspicuous mice, guided by Ateliers's senses, entered the dungeon before her.
"These are materials from monsters, and they seem to have been repeatedly used... What's this place? There are quite a few bloodline warriors imprisoned here... but they all seem rather weak, huh?"
She sensed the faint connection between the mice and then realized that there seemed to be many magic-gathering towers that dispelled magic energy arranged inside the dungeon. This meant that mages could not connect to the magic network inside the dungeon.
However, this is a good thing for Artemis.
"In this way, even if a mage is present, it will be difficult for them to sense me through the vibrations of magical energy in the air."
She breathed a sigh of relief, bent slightly, and walked quickly into the dungeon.
……
"The rats in Dragon Horn Territory are everywhere."
Wilkins glanced at the mouse that scurried through the crack in the wall, shook his head, and waved to the guards around him, signaling them to disperse.
"But it cannot be denied that this is a very profitable territory. Uroda made his fortune here and can also use it to restrain the former king, that is, the current queen, who is too powerful, which is why he wanted to take his son's body."
The agent picked up the scroll of experimental records from the table beside the cage, pondered for a moment, and said in a low voice:
"Sir Wilkins, since you weren't here earlier, let me summarize the current situation for you."
He paused, and seeing Wilkin nod, he continued:
"Most of the offerings that Uroda prepared before are gone. Due to the destruction caused by that red dragon that appeared out of nowhere, the ritual progress has to start from scratch. We have now found substitutes for a total of eight ritual materials, and two more are yet to be confirmed. We still have the remaining ten materials, which we can continue to use."
"There are two more?" Wilkins frowned and asked.
"When I first arrived, I saw you conducting experiments on some kind of goddess sorceress. Was this one of them?"
"Yes... that mage was just talking nonsense, Lord Wilkin, you don't need to take it too seriously." The agent handed the scroll to Wilkin and explained:
"We originally intended to extract the organ with the most abundant magic essence from that mid-level mage to replace the 'spirit horse liver' used to neutralize the rejection reaction between the soul and the new body during body possession. However, we didn't expect that as soon as he died, all the magic power in his body seemed to be expelled along with that key..."
……
"Spirit Horse Liver" is taken from the fifth-circle demon "Demon Spirit Horse." This demon is extremely difficult to hunt due to its unique soul attack spells and its elusive, agile movements... Its liver is very effective in repairing hidden injuries caused by soul power and physical impacts...
Artemis recalled the basic information about the ritual material in her mind, quietly reached into her pocket, and wrote the name of the material on the quest scroll.
"I overheard the two guards mentioning the key earlier, and now this agent is bringing it up, which sounds even stranger—something that's expelled from the body after death..."
She looked thoughtfully at the key that the nobleman named Wilkins was examining, a glint in her eyes, before shaking her head in confusion.
"No useful information was identified. Is the 'Identification Spell' not effective enough? Oh well... let's ignore this unexpected situation for now. They have it, and I can't examine it closely right now. I'll just memorize all the ritual materials first."
The sneaky mouse followed Ateliefs's consciousness and began to sort through the pile of clutter to identify which materials were useful, while the half-elf herself tiptoed past the agent in the center of the dungeon and cautiously moved toward the four corners of the dungeon.
"As for 'spirit horse liver,' that's definitely necessary... How about this, I'll have someone go to the market in Senhai Territory to inquire. What else is there?"
"And then there's... the most crucial one, the 'Heart of a Higher Being' used to fuse various bloodline abilities. Originally, the plan was to use the heart of a young red dragon to accommodate other bloodlines as auxiliary materials, but it ran away, and we can't find a second one in the short term..."
"...Your Majesty, didn't you say you had a lead a while ago?"
"Lord Wilkins, please allow me to explain. Baron Sonik of Daguan had already found a very rare night elf for us and was about to send him to us under strict protection, but today I suddenly heard that he was purified by the Church of the Goddess, and the night elf has disappeared without a trace..."