Super Righteous Player
Chapter 383 - 380: The Soul of the Horseman (3rd Update)_1

Chapter 383: Chapter 380: The Soul of the Horseman (3rd Update)_1

With the severing of those black threads, Bernardino’s flame of life gradually extinguished.

The spiritual bodies bound by the Paper Princess would probably soon perish and shatter as well.

...In that case, why not let them fully exert their remaining value?

After a moment’s thought, Annan raised his right hand and chanted softly.

"Frost for the wheel... spiritual bodies for the road."

As Annan’s chanting ended, five clusters of blue crystal-colored transparent flames flickered to life at his fingertips and then died down. A hollow and ornate Wheel of Frost flew out from his palm like a frisbee and rapidly expanded in midair.

Accompanied by the crackling sounds of ice axles breaking and immediately regenerating, the Wheel of Frost landed, leaving behind tire-like white frost marks on the ground.

After leaving his hand, the wheel returned and struck one after another against the spiritual bodies trapped in the cages.

Because the more powerful spiritual bodies had already been burned to death by the Paper Princess at the first encounter—such as that elf, demon, and various silver-tier Transcendents with condensed souls... as well as the rare stigmatized gold-tier souls.

The remaining spirits that were bound were all bronze-tier Transcendent souls, except for one silver-tier horseman.

—This was also Annan’s first encounter with a horseman.

From the state of the soul, one could see that in life, he must have been a muscular young man with wheat-colored skin—he had an upper body similar to a human male, with a completely flat chest without any protrusion, stronger muscles than humans, and shiny, oily skin, like a bodybuilder who had rubbed oil on himself.

From his waist down, he was almost entirely a horse. The skin of the horseman’s lower body flickered with the same brownish sheen as the upper half, devoid of horse-like fur.

His clothing looked strange—covered in something like chain mail over his horse body that also resembled a mat or carpet. Dangling down on both sides for some distance were rows of dark-colored metal spikes, like shurikens, serving as decorations or counterweights.

He wore no shoes, his hooves directly touching the ground. His upper body was clad only in a leather vest—split into a V at the back, while the front hung straight down, nearly covering his equine belly.

Though he wielded a bow and arrow, he did not attack Annan.

He simply wore a complex expression, calmly watching as the Wheel of Frost tore him apart.

The reason the Paper Princess didn’t kill him was simple—because horsemen don’t attack others on their own initiative. Even if attacked, they might not retaliate if they can clarify the situation.

Horsemen don’t misunderstand others. In the instant they are attacked, or even before that, they can see how to respond to resolve misunderstandings, how to turn enemies into friends... and which enemies are beyond explanation no matter what.

Only those enemies who cannot be explained in any way would be attacked by them—and that, too, only in situations where escape was ineffective and they had to counterattack.

Because compared to a certain future, the contradictions of the present are meaningless, and whatever is already lost is dispensable. If one looks further ahead, even one’s existence is inconsequential... because throughout their lives, they are unlikely to contribute much or accomplish significant feats.

In this sense, horsemen are silent lunatics.

—They clearly see through their own mortal nature, and therefore go mad.

This character trait persists even after their death.

It is a silence etched deep into their souls.

Even when slain by Annan, he did not try to resist. Perhaps it was because of the Paper Princess, or perhaps he saw something... He simply silently, with a smile, watched Annan while letting his left hand holding the bow and arrow hang down. He didn’t even reach behind his back for an arrow with his right hand.

The Wheel of Frost thus rolled over these souls. After being caught by the wheel, they were violently smashed against the cages. But they could not escape, instead being carried forward, their spiritual bodies gradually frozen by the chilling curse, and then shattered under the turmoil of the wheel, leaving behind splattering white ice dust in the air.

[Killing bronze-tier enemies in battle, you’ve gained 300 public experience points.]

[Killing bronze-tier enemies in battle, you’ve gained 300 public experience points.]

[Killing bronze-tier enemies in battle, you’ve gained 300 public experience points.]

...

The next moment, the experience notifications appeared neatly in front of Annan.

Perhaps because they were only souls, these spiritual bodies gave Annan only half the experience.

However, the last notification that emerged, belonging to the horseman, took Annan by surprise:

[Killing a silver-tier enemy in battle, you’ve gained 1850 public experience points.]

...Why is this experience so abnormally high?

Even though it was in a soul state, the experience it provided was higher than any silver-tier Transcendent Annan had slain to date.

Is it because... he was a horseman?

Do horsemen grant so much more experience than the people of Aesirland?

For some reason, Annan felt as if there was a story in the horseman’s gaze towards him... as if there was some kind of expectation.

—Did he see his own future?

But that’s impossible...

The essence of the Prophet’s spell is to receive information from "future selves." Until death, no further information will be obtained.

If he died here, he supposedly couldn’t continue to acquire any more information...

...Could it be that he knew Annan?

An idea popped into Annan’s head.

What on earth did the first-cycle Annan do...

Knowing a bunch of True Gods and False Gods was one thing, but to reach the centaur tribes that avoided interaction and even used the Prophet’s spell to circumvent strangers was another.

How did he manage to do that?

Did he spend a year traveling the world?

"...Never mind."

Annan withdrew his gaze.

After he advanced to silver, the experience required for further growth had dramatically increased.

But this experience was enough for him to level up again.

However, at this time, Annan didn’t plan to continue leveling up.

He planned to save some experience... and finally pump his attributes by using the experience to buy Frostspeaker profession levels, directly pushing his perception attribute over 50.

As for Bernadino’s experience... Annan wouldn’t even consider it.

Rather, it was fortunate that he hadn’t killed him just now.

If Bernadino really could have gained Annan’s memory and knowledge—he was referring to his previous world’s memories, not those generated in this world—maybe Bernadino could really align with the Book of the Celestial Chariot.

Although to this date, Annan still didn’t know the domain of truth that the Book of the Celestial Chariot belonged to.

But as it stands, two domains, "immortality" and "ascension and transformation," had already been created, and as Annan continued to collect, it would generate the remaining four domains. If Annan were to ascend to godhood in the end, he would have to choose—or randomly select—two of these domains.

And for now, "immortality" and "ascension and transformation" are both related to the player’s part.

This might just be the reason why Annan, as the main planner, was able to align with the Book of the Celestial Chariot...

...And besides, Bernadino’s experience probably wouldn’t satisfy Annan.

With only one-third of his soul, the most experience he would get from killing him would also only be one-third.

Can it be said to be no surprise he was once known as a Soul Reaping Wizard, a necromancer in the traditional sense?

This advancement is almost like that of a lich...

"He believed in the wrong god."

Looking at Bernadino’s lifeless corpse, not a trace of sarcasm could be seen in Annan’s eyes, and one could vaguely detect a hint of pity.

"What?"

Paper Princess turned to ask.

In the vagueness, she almost felt a saint-like aura emanating from Annan...

"As the Pope of the Bell Ringers... he took the lead in avoiding death. He will surely be judged."

Annan said calmly, "Of course, before that happens, we have another thing to be wary of."

"Nicholas?"

"Right."

Annan nodded, proposing a hypothesis: "Even if Nicholas truly is under the Stone Father’s control... what about Bernadino?

"If he obtained the power of the Philosopher’s Stone, the unlimited Elemental Power, and extended his lifespan, who could control him?

"Would Nicholas... grant his request?"

——I think he would.

Annan said in a heavy voice.

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