boyutpedia Chapter 40 "Sublimation"
Chapter 40 "Sublimation"
The firelight died down, and Tenor did not get any worse.
The magical flame acted like a buff spell, not only absorbing and expelling the remaining demonic fire from his body, but also helping him repair his spirit and the newly burned physical wounds.
He felt like he was back to before the war, back to his peak condition.
The fire demon immediately realized that the elusive Lord of Change had unleashed an unexpected surprise, and its sinister laughter abruptly ceased.
If one were a believer in another god, one would be crying out and complaining about the injustice of the gods at this point.
But it dared not express its dissatisfaction to the chief god, and had become accustomed to the chief god's randomness—a phenomenon that every Tzeentch demon and wizard had experienced countless times... The effects of Tzeentch's magic were completely unknowable.
It was already lucky that it didn't unleash a spell that could kill itself.
The faceless man stretched out his hands, making a bizarre, twisted gesture, and the blazing blue flames engulfed Tenor in the next second.
The demonic fire was weakened by the magic amulet and the lizardman's magic resistance. Although it burned away his scales, it did nothing to stop him from closing the distance to within five steps.
Seeing the lizardman suddenly unleash terrifying speed, wielding his black stone saw sword to knock it to the ground.
The demon first attempted a spatial teleportation, but as expected, its current dilapidated state was insufficient to tear open the dimensional gate.
It quickly hurled a spear made of magenta flames, a spell that could drive the target insane, or vice versa.
Tenor was hit squarely, but his movements remained fluid. The demon assumed he was already half-mad, so he unleashed another Mind Fire.
Tenor's mind went berserk due to the first burst of spiritual fire, but it did not affect his primal instincts at all. Inexperienced lizardmen often went mad in battle, let alone now that he was almost entirely controlled by his primal consciousness, so being driven into madness was nothing to worry about.
The second shot restored his mind to normal, but whether he was rational or not did not affect the weapon's sweeping attack.
The demon dodged the Black Stone Saw Sword's sweeping attack with a somersault, but Tenor instantly activated the 'Swift Pendant' and delivered a finishing blow at incredible speed.
The faceless man's neck was broken on the spot.
After losing its brain core, the body uncontrollably revealed its ugly original form. The demon did not want its body to die and be banished, so when it got up from the ground, it decisively used the remaining flesh and blood to condense the fire demon's true form.
It was a semi-solidified flame, with many teeth-gritting faces and gaping mouths making strange laughs growing on its solid fiery body, and a hole opening at the top of its arms.
The fire demon used the pink fungal folds that grew from its lower body to spray out vaporized pus, propelling itself forward by the gas before the lizardman could strike it with his third club and bite it with his big mouth.
It had only flown a little over ten meters when it was spotted by the mage tower because it was too conspicuous. A bolt of lightning struck the fire demon head-on, forcing it to scream and fall to the ground.
Tenor sprinted forward at top speed, and the storm in the sky also had a target. Dark clouds gathered above the fire demon's head, and hundreds of bolts of lightning shot down.
The fire demon had no choice but to pray nervously to the "High Warlock" for a new spell, and its omnipotent master granted its request once again.
The fire demon, as if gambling, summoned magical winds to unleash the spell.
Suddenly, a huge black hole appeared in the center of the storm, sucking back the lightning in mid-air.
A gigantic purple eye emerged from the black hole, and all the spellcasters who saw the eye and were seen by it instantly froze, stunned by the magic and unable to move. All the spells the mages were casting went out of control.
On the battlefield, this powerful magic could cripple both sides' mage squads.
The fire demon wanted to praise its wise master.
However, things turned sour when it realized that the magic was indiscriminate and that it too was stunned by it.
Because its enemies are not only human mages.
Tenor struck down the suddenly frozen fire demon with his shield. The opponent was powerless to resist and was repeatedly beaten by the lizardman with the Tranquil Shield and the Burning Sword.
Gradually, Tenor regained consciousness and realized that the hunting ritual was complete.
Looking at the pool of molten wax-like flames on the ground, he was at a loss for words—physically speaking.
Did he have to eat this stuff?
The mental anguish made his thinking much more difficult. He knew that the demon had severely damaged his mind, and if it wasn't dealt with in time, he might go half-mad.
He used up his last remaining tranquilizer, bit into the emerald, and the shattering sensation deep within his mind quickly disappeared.
The potion he had previously looked down upon saved his life.
As his consciousness gradually cleared, Tenor's heart bled—it took him a regeneration 'potion' and a tranquilizer to complete the hunt.
He first received the task.
[Mission: Complete the Hunting Ritual]
[Difficulty: Dangerous]
[Reward: 'Magic Amulet' --> 'Emerald Amulet']
Status: Completed
The magical amulet seemed to have received some kind of blessing, transforming into an emerald stone engraved with mysterious symbols, and also came with a chain made of an unknown silver metal.
Just like the power belt, it takes half an hour to charge.
Tenor put it on his right hand and used it immediately to heal his injuries.
Seeing that the demon's corpse was showing signs of dissipating, he hardened his heart, suppressed his nausea, and began to devour the food in his lizardman form.
He quickly finished eating and went back to pick up the shapeshifter's head. Before the city guards arrived, he stealthily headed towards the Black Rose Tavern.
By this time, all his injuries had healed, but he dared not end the mutation. A human stomach could not hold the flesh and blood of a demon, and he was afraid that if he ended the mutation, he would become deformed.
The tavern bell rang, and the crowd, still discussing the earlier shock, noticed Tenor, whose clothes were slightly dirty. They stopped talking in surprise and watched the big man rush upstairs with the shapeshifter's head in his arms, before a bigger discussion broke out.
"Tenor! You just came from that tavern that was on fire to the south?"
"That shapeshifter's head... is it the 'Faceless Man'?"
"I knew it, this guy asking about this tonight was never going to be good news."
"You're the one causing all this commotion in the city? Good heavens, if you keep doing this, the Black Rose Tavern won't dare hire you anymore—if you blow up the whole street one day, the Knights can't afford to pay for it."
"Well done! That thing really gave us a lot of trouble."
There was no time for pleasantries. Tenor rushed into the room, took out the shapeshifter's brain, and painstakingly measured it with the lizardman's not-so-nimble hands.
Soon, he dropped each material into the prepared container.
...300 ml of blood from Aze's stomach...a pair of Night Demon eyes...the brain of a Shapeshifter...
The Night Demon Eye and the Shapeshifter's brain rapidly dissolved in the blood, and soon the potion turned into a strange, ever-changing, translucent liquid.
He was only missing the last main ingredient, the demon flesh and blood in his stomach. He had to drink the potion and then, with his half-human physique, withstand the potion's effects and the transformation of his body.
Tenor gritted his teeth and drank the entire reagent, then the burning sensation in his stomach intensified.
The container slipped from between the claws and hit the floor with a hollow sound.
A scalding spasm exploded deep in his abdomen, his back arched, and his knuckles cracked.
Unable to awaken the primal will, the primal will has fallen into an eerie stillness.
He could only bear it all with his human reason, as clear-headed as if he were nailed to an autopsy table, every nerve screaming.
He could feel the liquid seeping in, penetrating from the mucous membranes into the blood, spreading along the blood vessels to his limbs and bones.
The blood became like molten lead, or like it had been filled with countless tiny, living thorns, leaving a burning trail wherever it flowed.
His spine began to crack, each vertebra being stretched open from the inside by something, as if an invisible hand was gripping his spine, twisting, pulling, and kneading it vertebra by vertebra.
He tried to grit his teeth.
But his jaw is deformed, the jawbone is being reshaped like melted wax, and stronger bones are replacing the old ones.
One by one, his teeth fell out, and new, longer fangs emerged from his bloodied gums. The teeth quickly melted into an unknown substance, merging into his ever-flowing flesh and blood.
He tried to scream, but only a series of low, hoarse hissing sounds came out of his throat.
In a daze, he entered another hallucination.