The Adventurer's Mission Log

Chapter 41 The Mark

He saw a lizardman temple guard wearing a bone helmet, his back tinged with the orange-red hue of the sun.

The guard stood before the meditation pool, surrounded by the corpses of countless demons, with a demonic toad priest chanting a grand incantation behind him.

The city is about to fall; it is the last lizardman to guard it.

It must ensure that the Lord of Slan can complete the spell, whether that magic brings destruction or rebirth; its duty is to prevent any unauthorized entity from entering the observatory.

Another group of high-ranking demon warbands attempted to storm the observatory, but it was like an insurmountable wall. Every strike brought forth the light of the sun, and the whirlwind of slaughter continuously built rivers of blood and piles of flesh on the ground.

The brilliance of magic flashed by one after another, but it was like a gentle breeze in its presence; no magic could harm or overcome it.

With its long saw-like sword, tail, sharp teeth, crown, and spikes on its back, it unleashed a full-scale slaughter, tearing apart and cutting down any demon that dared to cross it.

It alone blocked the entire passage.

The first wave, the second wave... this continued for countless rounds of attacks, and all sorts of demons could not get through.

This terrifying, demigod-like monster remained standing, with demon corpses piled up around it, forming a mountain of flesh that could block the way.

Demon flesh and blood would gradually dissipate in a low-magic environment, but the spell prepared by the demon toad was so grand that the magical winds were so dense that the demon flesh and blood could hardly dissipate.

The toad's spell ended as a giant, winged demon charged toward the guard.

The demonic toad transformed into a pure pillar of energy, which continued to rise upwards, eventually ascending to the height of a star descending from the heavens.

An apocalyptic flash engulfed everything; everything was evaporated in an instant, and the entire city and countless demon legions attempting to rush towards the central temple were completely melted away.

A massive, abyss-like scar appeared on the earth, and shimmering energy filled the air, like miniature suns that blinded people and remained there forever.

Tenor awoke from his hallucination; his ascension was complete.

His altered state can last for 3 hours at a time, and he only needs twice as much time to recover.

Besides the basic improvements in strength, physique, and protection, he observed his back through the mirror in the room and discovered that he also had the same orange-red mark as the lizardman in his vision.

According to inherited memories, this is the "blessing of the ancient saint Kotego," a sign of divine protection.

Of course, more realistically speaking, this mutation has given him an affinity for fire, allowing him to actively activate the 'Kortag Mark', imbuing each attack with high temperature and purification effects.

This effect is much stronger than the Burning Sword; many purely physical defenses cannot resist its fire attacks.

In addition, his immunity to fire has been greatly enhanced. When he returns to the hunting ritual, the demonic flames of the fire demon will at most burn him, but will not be able to drive him to the brink of death.

Ordinary fire spells? He can ignore those below the fourth rank; the effect will increase in sync with his rank.

If he could reach the level of the lizardman guards in the vision, he would find bathing in the fire demon's flames too cold.

When Tenor ended his transformation, he found that he had only gained a few more scales and was almost unchanged from before. His emotions had not been corrupted by the cold-blooded mindset of the species.

But the internal changes are unavoidable—those scales just haven't surfaced yet; you can feel them under the skin.

Unlike warriors who have achieved "Will Awakening," half-humans' combat power is concentrated on their mutation. They lack the explosive power of "Will Awakening" but are more enduring.

Tenor estimated that his physical strength was comparable to that of a regular dwarf like Gotley.

After checking the changes in herself, Tenor cleaned up the bloodstains on the floor. A moment later, there was a knock on the door.

Upon opening the door, the stern-faced knight inquired solemnly, "Are you Lord Tenor?"

"Yes, uh..." Tenor looked at the bloodstains on the ground and had the illusion that a thief had been caught red-handed by the police.

"Please wait a moment." He tried to remain calm and continued cleaning up the bloodstains.

The knight's gaze swept across the room, focusing on the shapeshifter's head.

"Did you kill it? Someone witnessed a half-man fighting the 'Faceless Man'."

"If they're not mistaken, that should be it." Tenor wasn't sure what the knight had come for.

There are three major knightly orders in the city. The Knights of Nomo are shared by all cities in the empire because the Nomo are the spiritual ancestors of the people of the empire.

The Temple of the Sun of the Benevolent Lord was influential in Laghettia, and the Knights were stationed there.

Many of the followers of the Winter God Angela are in the military, serving directly for the army, and Governor Crotos is a follower of the Death God Mor, so their budget was allocated to the 'Black Rose Knights'.

Although these Templar Knights are independent, they are all semi-official.

Tenor was afraid that the other party was going to arrest him and detain him.

"Please don't be nervous, I am a knight on duty from the Black Rose Knights." The knight's gaze left the shapeshifting monster's head, and his tone became formal and assertive:

"According to the bounty order jointly signed by the Governor's Office and the Knights, the 'Faceless Man' and the demon behind him have been causing trouble for a long time. They recently killed 81 civilians and have repeatedly escaped capture. The bounty is thirty gold coins."

"You have eliminated the murderer, removing a major threat to the city. As confirmed by Vice-General Theodore and the Grand Master, this bounty is rightfully yours." The Temple Knight took out his purse, revealing thirty gleaming gold coins.

"Ah, so the lieutenant general would actually give the full reward." Tenor still harbored resentment towards Anthony for the reduced reward due to the difficulty in finding his remains.

But at least this time they gave us enough.

The knight, unaware of the daytime feud between Tenor and Theodore, smiled politely, said nothing, gave Tenor the money, exchanged pleasantries with him for a while, and then left amidst the commotion of the various Chaos cultists in the city.

It sounds like the Beastmen might attack the city at any time with the help of insiders. Well, at least he has the ability to protect himself now.

However, it's all for the best; killing chaotic creatures will help deepen his affinity with his bloodline.

Tenor began planning ahead for the next ceremony.

The main ingredients for the fifth-tier potion require the heart of a Wendigo (which can be replaced with sandworm eggs), the tongue of a Siren (which can be replaced with mandrake), and the embers of a Mokoi (if using mandrake, the inner eye of an Evil Eye must be used instead).

Finding sirens requires going out to sea, and these monsters are very cunning and will avoid powerful professionals. Actively searching for them may yield no results even after several years.

Since Ternor doesn't often operate at sea, it's more cost-effective to use mandrake as a substitute unless it can be bought. Although this herb is rare, it can be found almost anywhere.

The sandworms live in Silhani, and Tenor doesn't want to go there to die, so he has to go to Wendigo.

Wendigos are monsters from the north, and they're probably hard to find in Lagetia. You'd have to go to the Grand Duchy of Valentin... or ask a friend to try their luck there.

The Evil Eye is a terrestrial creature; perhaps the dwarves have a clue? They always like to dig down.

Let's take a step by step.

After tidying up the room, Tenor fell into a deep sleep. In his half-awake state, he was restless and had a vague sense of something sinister.

He couldn't help but stand up and look around warily.

As he walked to the window, the feeling of unease intensified, and he turned his head to look.

A unicorn leaped over the roof of the opposite building.

Terno was stunned.

Where did he get this? Is this still Laghettia?