Chapter 395 395-Shadowy Path
As Kingserp suddenly erupted into action, the conversation between Karthus and John was interrupted.
Blue Sea, naturally dismissive of Kingserp's challenge, coldly addressed Adam and John beside him, "No need to explain so much to them. It seems they're just trying to buy time."
Adam, always vigilant, didn't hesitate and once again deployed his [Divine Blessing].
A golden light descended, enveloping Adam and Blue Sea in the protective embrace of Holy Light.
John, of course, was not under the protection of the Holy Light.
After all, Adam was well aware that John's strength was formidable enough to not require anyone's protection.
The Holy Light shielded them from all the toxic fog attacks unleashed by Kingserp.
Kingserp didn't actually expect his sudden attack to be effective.
He immediately employed the innate skill of the Dark Druid, [Mimicry Transformation].
[Mimicry Transformation (unique skill): The dark energy radiating from the Dark Realm has corrupted all forms of life. Even beings blessed by the God of Life cannot maintain their original state. Mimicry Transformation allows the user to rapidly shift between different animal forms over a short period, with each transformation rapidly restoring the user's health.]
Thus, Kingserp rapidly shifted from his initial Dark Serpent form into a wild giant bear, and after a short duration, transformed into a spiritual reindeer glowing with a pale blue light.
To others, Kingserp's series of maneuvers seemed impressively skillful.
He himself believed these complex actions would successfully free him from his predicament.
However, to John, who was watching dispassionately, it all seemed like a farcical performance.
John raised his left hand and snapped his fingers in mid-air.
Immediately, a long, hollow sound reached the ears of all players present.
With the emergence of this sound, Kingserp was forcibly reverted to his normal player state.
The other members of the Dawn Guild and Shadowrealm Guild were outright killed.
"I had already guessed you would do this. All those words you spoke earlier were just to buy time. If I'm not mistaken, you decided on this course of action right after the Devil summoned by Karthus left, didn't you?" John, looking at Kingserp who was now completely trapped and at a speechless Karthus, slowly voiced his judgment.
"Actually, at the beginning, all I wanted was the Key of the Saint. I had no intention of reducing both of you back to level one."
Kingserp now realized that there was no escaping his predicament.
The strength John had just displayed far exceeded his imagination.
With this in mind, Kingserp decided to throw caution to the wind.
Speaking in a sinister tone, he said to John, "Don't think your success this time means you've completely won. Although I can't defeat you now, I can still return to the Dark Realm after reaching level one. The other powerful Devils in the Dark Realm will surely come seeking you to make you pay! And if the other Devils from the Dark Realm can't settle the score with you, the Dark Emperor definitely can!"
Kingserp's words only made John smile.
His smile wasn't just confusing to Kingserp and Karthus, but even Blue Sea and Adam couldn't fathom why John was so confident.
"Well then, I'll just wait for the other Devils and the Dark Emperor to come and settle things with me!"
John had lost all patience.
He decided to have Blue Sea and Adam continuously defeat Kingserp and Karthus until they were reduced to level one, and only then did he lift his unique domain.
Now bereft of any combat ability, Kingserp and Karthus, after John released his domain, chose to slink away in defeat.
All the equipment they carried naturally fell into the hands of John and his two companions.
Adam found the Key of the Saint, but he knew well it should be handed over to John.
Their success in this operation was entirely due to John.
Without him, they would have been defeated by Karthus and Kingserp the moment the Devil was summoned.
John took the Key of the Saint and examined it carefully.
After confirming there were no issues with it, he addressed Adam and Blue Sea,
"You two can divide the rest of the equipment among yourselves. These items are of no use to me. If you find anything unusual, let me know later."
Having said this, John was ready to leave.
He had previously arranged to meet Emma at the outskirts of Sunset Mountain in the Flame Valley, to search for items to upgrade her fire spells.
Just as John was about to teleport away, Blue Sea suddenly exclaimed, "There's a divine scroll here! And it seems like a crucial item for Dark Fiction."
Hearing this, John quickly turned and joined Blue Sea, with Adam also directing his attention to the extraordinary find.
A divine scroll from Dark Fiction was of great importance to the trio from Order Fiction, as it could contain clues about the plots of Dark Fiction.
With John now by his side, Blue Sea naturally handed the dark scroll over to him.
John then saw all the information about this dark scroll.
[Shadowy Path (divine scroll): The burgeoning power of the great Shadow Empire rises swiftly. The Enigmatic Saint requires both an opportunity and a key that will lead the profound forces back to the realm of the gods. Using this scroll summons the projection of the Enigmatic Saint. The Enigmatic Saint's projection grants the user a powerful boost to dark magic spells. (Cooldown time: 30 minutes). If the user successfully summons the Enigmatic Saint, they will gain all the skills of the Enigmatic Saint and further deepen their connection with the Dark Realm.
Note: The projection of the Enigmatic Saint will continuously erode the user. Once the erosion reaches a certain level, the user will become an avatar of the Enigmatic Saint. For players, this equates to the complete disappearance of their account.]
The description of Shadowy Path mentioned the name of the deity, the Enigmatic Saint.
John had no prior knowledge about the Enigmatic Saint.
In his previous encounters with the 72 Devils of the Shadow Empire, there was no information related to the Enigmatic Saint.
However, this did not mean John took the mention of the Enigmatic Saint in this scroll lightly.
Although the 72 Devils John had encountered so far were not overwhelmingly powerful, both the Devil trapped in the cave and the one John had just driven away lacked the ability to create a divine scroll with their own power.
This implied that the Enigmatic Saint's strength was considerably high among the 72 Devils.
Of course, all these deductions were based on the assumption that the Enigmatic Saint was indeed one of the 72 Devils.
If the Enigmatic Saint was not part of the 72 Devils, it would mean that the factional distribution within the Shadow Empire was much more complex than John had previously anticipated.
Moreover, the dark divine scroll mentioned that the Enigmatic Saint needed an opportunity to return to the realm of the gods, suggesting that the Key of the Saint, which Kingserp had bought at a high price, might be the opportunity or key referred to in the scroll.
John now understood why Kingserp had invested almost all his guild's liquid assets to purchase this seemingly unworthy equipment.
"It seems the secrets behind the Key of the Saint are far more profound than we thought. Could the treasure mentioned in the description of the Key of the Saint be the Enigmatic Saint's treasure? Should we take the opportunity to seek out the Enigmatic Saint's treasure? Perhaps it could provide us with even greater assistance."
Adam, who had been silent until now, finally seized the opportunity to express his opinion.
The clues provided by a divine scroll were almost always reliable, and completing quests based on these clues often led to substantial rewards, which was highly attractive to all players.
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