Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 348 - 237: Embrace (1)

Chapter 348: Chapter 237: Embrace (1)

"What happened to him?!" Cassie exclaimed, holding Engma close beside her. As a half-blood, she had no tolerance for such dramatic transformations — her greatest fear was these tangible undead.

Moreover, this was someone she knew.

"Death cyst, he’s under the control of that merciful father... He can no longer be considered human." Liu Jin looked at Zhao Konghe, who was confronting Malin, his expression grave: "What’s going on here? His father was just killed; why would he be infected by the death cyst and come here? What on earth is happening to his family?"

"So, is he dead?" Engma asked, comforting Cassie while looking toward Liu Jin and Cohen.

"He hasn’t died, he’s obtained eternal life," Cohen said and then let out a cold laugh, "This is exactly what the followers of the Evil God love. Zhao Konghe’s body is already dead, but I believe his soul is still trapped within it, harboring resentment towards Malin... There was a moment when I thought any one of the five of us could be a traitor."

"He’s still alive?" Cassie asked, looking at that... she was unsure whether she should describe it as a body or a corpse.

"Yes, death cyst. It’s a so-called ’blessing of Chaos’ unique to our world. The so-called blessed one is fortunate because they will continue to exist in this eternal form," said the child of the Vanter family with a mournful tone.

"Exist? He’s already speaking in Whisper of the Soul for God’s sake!" Cassie pointed at her former friend and whispered loudly.

"Exactly, this is the true face of the Father’s blessing. They appear to be dead, yet they exist in a state that is alive. Their bodies decompose, but never perish. This decay, yet unspoiled body becomes a perpetual prison for their souls which are tormented forever, their will continuously in agony, until one day they degenerate and are beyond redemption," Cohen said, frowning as he looked at the scene: "They’re about to make a move."

Cassie raised her head to observe the standoff between the two.

Liu Jin took a deep puff of his cigarette.

Engma noticed that his old friend’s front leg was slightly lifted, ready to move.

The next second, he sprang into action.

...........

Facing the incoming longsword, Malin raised his World Tree longsword in his hand, the blade that brushed against his arm firmly blocking the razor-sharp sword.

The next second, the sheath struck the death cyst-infected zombie on the head, causing it to shriek and retreat a couple of steps. In terms of strength, he far exceeded his friends, but to Malin, this was merely an enemy with a bit of force.

With a swift turn, Malin withdrew his sword to his waist, and in the moment he leaped and turned, the unsheathed World Tree sapling transformed into a longsword by Lorrin landed heavily on the raised sword.

The death cyst zombie shrieked as it was knocked off balance.

Malin landed and struck the recovering zombie on the head with the sheath in his left hand. Had it been a good-aligned living person, the heavy blow would have been enough to leave him dizzy and swollen for a day or two; if it were an evil-aligned person, it would be the last proof of his head’s existence in this world.

Yet the death cyst zombie blocked the blow, even though its neck twisted grotesquely. Eventually, it managed to steady its head and regain balance, ready to fight back.

It screeched and lunged forward with its longsword, which Malin parried with his right hand. Slipping his foot back, Malin, who had cast a Slippery Foot Spell Formation during his retreat, sheathed his sword and watched the jumping death cyst zombie getting farther away from him, falling to the ground due to miscalculation. Malin, now two meters away, canceled the spell effect on himself and lunged again with his longsword unsheathed, driving the blade into the skull of the risen zombie, finally pinning it to the ground.

The World Tree sapling started to purify the body, the cyst began to fade, but the contemporary lying before him was completely dead. As the World Tree sapling pierced his forehead, destroying the body’s reliability as a prison and thoroughly purifying and dispersing his soul.

"Is he dead?" Cassie asked.

Malin turned and nodded, "He’s dead, died once again."

"May the Mother Goddess forgive his fall," Liu Jin made the sign of the Goddess of Harvest on his chest, then came forward: "I always thought Zhao Konghe’s faith didn’t seem like that of a follower of the merciful father. I personally find this very strange."

"Why do you think that?" Malin asked, watching the ashes of the body at his feet and then retracting the two small branches.

"Although he was a noble like us and seemed to be a Sydneyan, his family is very traditional. The eldest sons of the Zhao family are almost all Thainan people. They wouldn’t even marry a princess if one were presented to them. The father of Zhao Konghe is a third son of a collateral line, and marrying a daughter from a Sydneyan noble family is considered heretical in their family, so Zhao Konghe was severely restricted. His faith has always been in the supreme deity of the Thainan people," Liu Jin replied.

"A pantheon?" Malin asked somewhat reflexively.

"Correct... how did you know? The religion of the Thainan people is something many of our churches don’t wish to mention because there are too many deities. To this day, I can’t fully recognize even one-tenth of them. I just remember he told me that the supreme deity is the God of Knowledge," Liu Jin said as he lit another cigarette, "Though we were rivals, now that he’s dead, I don’t want to see him die so unclearly."

"Does the True Lord have a companion?" Malin frowned and then asked.

"Yes, I think they call her the Benevolent Sage. I heard it from Zhao Konghe," replied Liu Jin.

Malin wanted to ask more, but a portal had already pulled up, and he had no choice but to close his mouth.

Watching various heroes arrive in quick succession, some starting to draw safety lines, some beginning to question these four lads, and seeing Faye’s mother approaching with people, Malin sighed inwardly.

"The portal was disturbed. We’ve dealt with the source of the disturbance, sorry for being late." These were Lady Anna’s opening words, explaining why they were late while also telling Malin that the situation was not as simple as he had previously thought.

"They’ve already revealed their real identities to me. Now I want to know—is Zhao Konghe working for someone, or is he the only one who was deceived?" Malin said quickly.

"I and my husband cannot explain this. Zhao Konghe is a Thanan, and they have their own secret societies. Although he’s just a peripheral member, the societies of the Thanans are very secretive. However, this time they must give me an explanation. Otherwise, nobody can accept the appearance of another Thanan deceived by the Benevolent Father in the heart of the Capital," said Lady Anna, with His Majesty Goethe by her side.

Relieved by this information, Malin nodded and looked at the group: "Zhao Konghe turned into a death tumor—a corpse swollen with tumors. These death tumors in my memory could either be so-called blessings from Chaos or a one-way curse from a high-ranking devotee. We must investigate his residence immediately."

"Lena has already taken a team there, don’t worry. Right now, you need to take good care of yourself," His Majesty seemed to still see Malin as a child, so Malin shook his head: "I have to go back, the girls are all waiting for my news."

"Then step through my portal; it can take you directly there," said Lady Anna, before pointing to the ground: "When I came, I sensed a Lich underground. A friend of yours?"

"We’ve just made a deal. He didn’t act when I brought up those four guys, and I didn’t act when I faced him alone," Malin spoke the truth—there wasn’t anything to hide anyway. If he said something vague, he might displease her, and that would be a loss not worth taking.

"You made a deal with a Lich?" Hearing this, Goethe sized up Malin: "I’m beginning to have some doubts about you, kid."

"Right, how could you make a deal with a Lich!" When Lady Manli spoke these words at this time, Malin felt a warmth in his heart—this really sounded like the Lady Manli he knew.

"At that time, I had two choices: either strike a deal, and we could come up safely, or the deal would fall through, and that guy would die terribly, and I would probably die in the collapse of the Underground City. At that time, I thought a transaction was acceptable, especially since he was also trying to kill it below."

After finishing, Malin retrieved the half skull he had found by the roadside.

Goethe and his Lady Manli immediately cried out in surprise upon seeing the skull.

"It’s the Flesh Ripper! This guy was in the Underground City?! No wonder we haven’t been able to find him in recent years." Goethe frowned as he spoke.

"The Lich was pursuing him? Why? Malin, can you explain this to us?" asked Lady Manli, her face no longer showing the dissatisfaction and anger from before.

So Malin recounted his encounter in its entirety, from the moment at the entrance of the Silent Hill Church to their recent encounter in the Underground City, sparing no detail.

"You mean to say, a Transcendent from an Outer Domain race of Prairie Elves had that Lich chase and kill the Flesh Ripper, correct?"

"Yes, that’s what he told me. I don’t see why a Lich would need to lie to me, especially since his behavior in Silent Hill was evidence enough that he’s not the type to stir up trouble—particularly trouble that could turn lethal at any moment," Malin said, looking at His Majesty and Lady Manli: "Is there anything else you need from me?"

"Manli, let him go," Goethe stopped Lady Manli’s inquiries and smiled at Malin: "Go on, go see my daughter. She must be very worried about you."

Malin nodded, bid farewell to His Majesty and his two wives, and stepped into the portal.

After a moment of dizziness, Malin’s foot touched down on the marble floor of the palace.

Then he spread his arms wide for Faye to jump into his embrace.

After thinking it over, Malin decided on the words he wanted to say.

"I’m back," he said.

"Welcome back," she answered.

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