Free Web NovelChapter 60: Chapter 54: Two Ways of Immortality
"BEEP—" The four tentacles on the Heart Stealer’s mouth twitched in agony. He gnashed his teeth and said, "I’m going to cripple you and make you food for the Transmuters."
The words were barely out of his mouth when he saw a dark, lumpy object tossed in front of him.
"BOOM." The Hand Grenade Fruit exploded at the Heart Stealer’s feet, knocking him to the ground.
The Heart Stealer was slender by nature, not to mention currently weakened. Although he possessed strong Magic Resistance, the explosion from the Hand Grenade Fruit dealt primarily physical damage.
"What’s wrong? I thought you were so powerful, Chosen One." Shire taunted, but inwardly, he didn’t dare let his guard down. He clutched another Hand Grenade Fruit tightly.
The Heart Stealer before him was a mess. Light blue blood trickled from several wounds on his head. One tentacle was nearly blown off, hanging on by just a shred of flesh. His body, however, was mostly unharmed; the black, high-collared Magic Robe he wore was made of some unknown material and had high defensive properties.
"Shut up, goblin! I’ll feed you to the Skull Rats." With a furious roar, the Heart Stealer floated up from the ground, hovering in mid-air. He was apparently trying to use this method to avoid the explosions.
’Another one that can fly.’ Shire pursed his lips and tossed the fruit.
"You dare—" the Heart Stealer shrieked, but the explosion went off anyway. The main brain was again severely damaged, and a long, painful ringing echoed through his own mind as he tumbled to the ground.
"Look at your ’immortality.’ It’s leaking juice," Shire said. "And where are those loyal puppets of yours?"
"Does it hurt?" He took out another Hand Grenade Fruit. "I bet it’s not as much pain as the Transmuters felt. They might be the lowest of the low in this forest, but they still struggled to survive. They had happiness and worries, too. And see? They can still pull you right out of the sky."
Seeing that his Mind Shock and Floating Technique were useless, the Heart Stealer drew the Rapier from his waist. "I’m going to cut out that damn tongue of yours."
He raised his sword and charged. Shire’s expression turned grim. Throwing a Hand Grenade Fruit at this range would mean injuring himself in the blast. If he aimed for the main brain instead, the Heart Stealer would just power through the headache and run him through.
His only option was to run. But if he left the room, the main brain would no longer be a factor, and his death would be certain.
’Guess it’ll have to be mutual destruction.’ Shire prepared to throw the Hand Grenade Fruit.
But then, in a sudden twist, the charging Heart Stealer pitched forward, smacking face-first onto the ground. For a moment, Shire thought he had simply tripped on the hem of his own robe.
But a moment later, he saw it: a grayish-white skeletal hand was gripping the Heart Stealer’s ankle. Shire acted instantly, whipping the Hand Crossbow from his back. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"THWIP."
The Heart Stealer shrieked in pain. A Crossbow Arrow was now embedded in his bald, octopus-like head.
"You know, I love eating seafood, but I hate preparing it." Shire laughed as he tossed a Hand Grenade Fruit and scrambled backward. "And to think you claimed to be human once. I knew you weren’t human the second I walked in here."
"BOOM." The Hand Grenade Fruit detonated right in the Heart Stealer’s face. With his head completely unprotected, it was instantly torn apart in a spray of blood and flesh.
Watching from a safe distance, Shire saw the creature struggle and fail to get up several times. He couldn’t resist quipping, "You’d think he would’ve gotten himself a helmet. Is it because they don’t fit on an octopus head?"
"You... I’ll..." The Heart Stealer sputtered, coughing up blue blood, his head a mangled ruin.
"Just stop struggling." Shire stood at a distance, holding two more Hand Grenade Fruits. "I’ll be sure to send you off to meet that immortality of yours."
"Oh, right, one more thing. The reason I don’t want to become a Heart Stealer is..."
"I hate being bald."
"BOOM—" The octopus head exploded.
...
"So, you’ve been following me ever since the Fearsome Claw Bear?" Shire squatted, watching the skeletal human hand in front of him write on the ground, its fingertips stained with the Heart Stealer’s blue blood.
"How’d you get mixed up with a Fearsome Claw Bear?" he asked.
"I was eaten," the skeletal hand wrote. Its penmanship was neat, a clear sign of a good education—much better than Shire’s own chicken scratch.
"I see." Shire smiled and pulled up its status panel.
[Name: Wriggling Claw]
[Race: Undead]
[Danger Level: 2, Not Bad]
[personality: Tenacious]
"Bears are scavengers, after all," Shire said with a chuckle. "So I guess all your flesh got digested, huh?"
"Yes," Wriggling Claw wrote.
"Then why have you been following me?"
"You have the same scent as my master."
"Scent?" Shire looked himself over, wondering where it was coming from. "What’s your master’s name?"
"Spencer Xi Lin." Wriggling Claw wrote the name out in beautiful, flowery script.
"Never heard of him. Is he strong?"
"Very strong. He is a Witch Demon. I am searching for him."
"A Witch Demon?" Shire’s brows furrowed. He’d heard plenty of rumors about them.
Some powerful Mages, in their quest for eternal life, would abandon their mortality to study the Necromancy of the Dark School, transforming themselves into Witch Demons. According to the encyclopedias, they seek power at any cost, making them insidious and frenzied. They are enemies of every major Kingdom and the Church. Hiding in forgotten corners of the world, they often spend years, or even decades, hatching sinister plots.
These Witch Demons were gaunt and skeletal, their withered flesh clinging tightly to their bone frames. Their eye sockets, long since devoid of eyeballs, were instead filled with two motes of green Ghost Fire.
They were typically incredibly powerful and possessed vast fortunes and troves of Magic Materials, which in turn led many High Tier Adventurers to become Bounty Hunters who specialized in hunting them.
"Is he hiding somewhere in this forest?" Shire asked tentatively.
"He is slumbering somewhere in the forest, but I cannot sense him," Wriggling Claw wrote. Shire noticed its writing motions were hesitant, as if tinged with sadness.
"Alright, how about this? You can stick with me, and we’ll look for him slowly. If you keep wandering the forest by yourself, you’ll probably just get eaten again," Shire said with a smile.
’If I can get this Witch Demon’s pet on my side, maybe we won’t have to fight if I run into him later.’
’After all, a Witch Demon is far more powerful than a Heart Stealer.’
Wriggling Claw’s index finger stopped writing and began to tap rhythmically on the floor, as if deliberating. After ten seconds, it wrote a single word: "Okay."
"Great. I’ll call you Little Claw from now on," Shire said. "Do you need anything?"
"Magic Power. A Magic Potion would also work. My own Magic Power is almost gone." After writing this, Little Claw collapsed, its bones scattering across the floor with a RATTLE.
Shire quickly gathered up all the bones and stuffed them into his bag, terrified of leaving even one piece behind.
"I’ll get you a Magic Potion in the next couple of days," he said with a smile. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Then, looking at his subordinates, who were slowly regaining consciousness around him, Shire got to his feet and walked over to the main brain oozing its white fluid.
"Now it’s your turn."
