Chapter 1022 - 425: Netherworld and Runaway_3

Chapter 1022: Chapter 425: Netherworld and Runaway_3

Hel was extremely familiar with Mercury and immediately recognized the mark on the Painter’s chest, her tone grew excited, "Mercury?"

The Painter looked at Hel in surprise, "You know that guy."

Hel said, "I signed a contract with him, I can’t defy his orders. If you have a way to help me break the contract, I can help you."

The Painter smiled and said, "Of course, there’s a way, that’s exactly why I came looking for you."

The Painter took out a stone slab from behind him, the slab looked unusually ancient, seemingly engraved with some patterns, but he covered it with a drawing paper, letting Wu Chang see only faint lines.

Looking at the stone slab, Wu Chang suddenly recalled the intel he got from the Miracle Walker during the Cursed Dungeon.

Amber was able to escape from her secret research institute because the Painter accidentally stormed into the Bright Society’s secret research institute while exploring the Middle Layer and stole the crucial item used to create Imaginary Divinity.

To escape the pursuit of the Bright Society, the Painter exposed the Bright Society’s artificial divinity, revealing the hidden Bright Society to the Four Major Organizations, thus using their conflict to escape the chase.

However, from the current situation, it seemed the Painter hadn’t easily shaken off the Bright Society’s pursuit, marked by Mercury, he was in a dire situation.

The stone slab he took out at this moment, unsurprisingly, should be the item he stole, capable of creating Imaginary Divinity.

From its appearance, the stone slab looked ordinary, showing no signs of distinctiveness. To other players, even if they saw the slab, they wouldn’t think it was an item, let alone believe it could create divinity out of thin air.

Even Wu Chang couldn’t see anything special about the stone slab, but precisely because of its ordinary looks, it exposed its significance.

Unsurprisingly, the stone slab must contain Primordial Spirit Core, supporting the Bright Society’s large-scale use, and the amount of Primordial Spirit Core it contains would never be small.

If Wu Chang were truly facing the Painter at this moment, he would definitely try to seize the stone slab from the Painter, but unfortunately, he was just a spectator in Hel’s resentment, watching everything unfold.

The Painter said, "Relax, whatever happens next, don’t resist."

Seeing Hel nod, he turned his back to her and drew something on the paper covering the slab. As the Painter’s pen stopped, Hel felt the Death Divinity within her uncontrollably leaving her body.

Her long-term training instinctively made her want to regain control of the divinity, but the Painter’s voice echoed in her ear.

"Do not resist."

Hel gave up resisting, allowing the Death Divinity to leave her body. In less than a minute, all the accumulated Death Divinity inside her was extracted.

Wu Chang sensed Hel’s change, realizing that once the Imaginary Divinity matured in a Bright Society-cultivated experimental subject, it would likely be forcibly extracted this way.

With the loss of divinity, Hel instantly reverted to an ordinary Surface Person.

The Painter then took out an Origami House, pulling out a Paperman from it, sticking it onto Hel.

The Paperman quickly morphed into Hel’s likeness, and before the Painter retrieved the Paperman, Hel’s contract with Mercury had already been transferred to the Paperman.

"Your divinity was under Mercury’s control, with them present, my Paperman couldn’t be effective. Now the contract is broken, you are no longer under Mercury’s control."

Hel felt her body lighten up; wanting to defy Mercury would now face no contract’s power controlling her thoughts to block her actions.

The Painter’s trick left Wu Chang couldn’t help but admire.

It’s no wonder he could steal from the Bright Society and still shake off their pursuit; indeed, he had his means.

The Painter discarded Hel’s Paperman to the side, and after hitting the ground, the Paperman turned into another Hel.

He then manipulated the stone slab, reinjecting the extracted Death Divinity back into Hel.

The Painter’s actions not only broke the contract for Hel but also, through the process of extraction and injection, eliminated the Bright Society’s backdoor in the Imaginary Divinity.

Originally, even if Hel possessed Imaginary Divinity, she couldn’t utilize its effects; her divinity was nearly mature but demonstrated battle power less than a Demigod, easily controlled by any formal Bright Society member.

Now things were different, freed from constraints, Hel could fully utilize the power of the Death Divinity.

The power within her advanced rapidly, transforming from Demigod to a true Lower Level God in an instant, though compared to the Hel encountered by Wu Chang, she was still weaker.

The Painter retrieved the stone slab back to his personal space and said:

"Now it’s your turn to fulfill your promise."

Feeling the Death Divinity within her, Hel gathered her Divine Power, transforming it into a black Longsword, and stabbed it into the Painter’s chest.

Her wrist twisted, brutally cutting off the double snake markings on the Painter’s chest, and swallowed it whole.

Gulp.

The blood and flesh swallowed into Hel’s abdomen, transferred the double snake marking from the Painter’s chest onto Hel’s body.

Looking down at the hole in his chest, the Painter smilingly said to Hel:

"Thank you, we’re even now."

As soon as he finished his words, the Painter changed into a Paperman with a chest hole, falling to the ground.

Under the Painter’s ability, their actions couldn’t be detected by the researchers above.

It was only after the Painter left, spotting the abnormal data on Hel, that the researchers realized something was wrong.

But by then it was too late.

Hel’s first action after freeing herself was revenge, targeting not only Mercury but also all the researchers inside the building.

The experimental subjects were already dead; now she needed no concern, having only a massacre to carry out.

Under the terrified gazes of the researchers, Hel wielded two swords, smashed through walls capable of withstanding Demigod attacks, and burst out from underground space.

The researchers inside the secret institute had trained her extensively in battle skills, pushing her to overload, forcing her to fight other experimental subjects endlessly.

Now, it was their turn to experience the battle skills she had honed.

In the face of a fully unleashed Death Divinity of Hel, the staff inside the secret institute had no resistance.

Next followed a one-sided massacre, like a cat catching a mouse.

Hel fully immersed herself in slaughter, releasing her dissatisfaction through killing and familiarizing herself with her power.

When she snapped back to consciousness, she found herself straddling a three-legged Bai Ma, holding a rake in one hand and a broom in the other, realizing that there was no one alive besides her inside the secret institute.

She canceled all her power, returned alone to the institute’s underground space, quietly waiting there.

She didn’t have to wait too long when Mercury, dressed in a full suit, rushed in through the door left by the Painter.

Facing the stupefied Mercury, she smiled, immediately stabbing a sword into Mercury’s chest.

"You finally came back."