Chapter 288 - 279: Duel

Chapter 288: Chapter 279: Duel

Each of the hexahedron’s six faces reflected Lloyd’s own face, displaying various expressions of joy, anger, sorrow, and grief. The faces were constantly changing and seemed extraordinarily lifelike, as if presenting every facet of his life.

Lloyd had only taken a single glance when a panel notification sounded in his ear:

[Ding~ Please maintain mental clarity.]

The next second, he felt a massive wave of Spiritual Contamination, almost tangible, wash over him like a terrifying storm, completely engulfing him.

’Faced with this tsunami of Spiritual Contamination, I’m nothing more than a fragile boat...’

’No, that might not be accurate. More like a single fleck of duckweed on a boundless sea...’

Lloyd felt a slight, sharp pain in his brain and eardrums.

It was only for an instant, not a continuous, searing pain.

But then, he fell into a state of numb senselessness. It was as if he’d completely lost his perception and ability to think, leaving him to stand motionless and let the tsunami of Spiritual Contamination completely drown him.

Normally, he should have fainted right then and there.

But thanks to his level-six [Dizziness Resistance], even though his consciousness was fading, he barely managed to stay awake.

He just couldn’t hear the panel notifications in his ears anymore...

[Ding~ Madness Value +10,000]

[Ding~ Madness Value +10,000]

[Ding~ Madness Value +10,000]

This Spiritual Contamination was incredibly pure. It contained no fragments or knowledge, just raw, unadulterated malice pouring down on Lloyd.

In fact, ’malice’ wasn’t the right word. It was more like a tiny flicker of displeasure.

Like someone frowning in annoyance after being interrupted.

But for Lloyd, it was an apocalyptic spiritual storm. He was completely unable to resist and could only endure it in silence.

Until, all of a sudden, he felt someone take his hand.

A warm, soft, and delicate little hand, its fingers tightly intertwined with his.

The warmth from the palm brought a sliver of clarity to Lloyd’s lost consciousness.

It was still hazy and blurred, but he could at least instinctively activate his skills.

However, he still couldn’t regain control of his body. His limbs and the Spiritual Power within him felt completely unresponsive, as if he had lost all command over them.

He could only hear Kading’s roar in his ears:

"Don’t blame me!"

Then, he felt a searing pain on his hand, as if something had sliced a long, narrow gash into it.

Spurred by the pain, Lloyd’s mind snapped back to clarity. He finally regained control over his limbs and the Spiritual Power within his body.

He was still looking up, staring directly at the hexahedron, and slowly raised his bleeding left hand.

But for him, even this tiny movement was incredibly difficult and slow.

Then, he felt a gentle force coiling around his arm, like a pair of soft hands helping him lift it.

Next, he felt a familiar warmth from behind, gently embracing his body.

Her presence wasn’t as gentle and firm as the force on his arm; it was more tender, seeming much weaker, yet it still sought to offer him comfort, to provide him Shelter.

With the help of these two forces, Lloyd felt the Spiritual Power in his body begin to boil and surge. It was as if it were brewing its own storm, ready to clash with the tempest of Spiritual Contamination before him.

And so, he spoke in a low voice:

"The great cannot be gazed upon directly."

He had spoken the words in his heart subconsciously.

He didn’t notice, however, that the words he had just blurted out were not in any human language.

Instead, it was a stream of fragmented whispers that even he couldn’t understand...

The hexahedron atop the statue flickered faintly. In unison, the reflections within it shifted to expressions of astonishment and surprise.

’It was as if it couldn’t understand. Why would a tiny ant still struggle and try to resist?’

But Lloyd’s face was now a mask of resolute, emotionless determination.

The next second, a fine crack appeared on the hexahedron’s crystal-clear, smooth surface.

It gradually spread and spiderwebbed until the entire hexahedron was covered in a network of fine cracks, on the verge of shattering.

The reflections of Lloyd on its surface couldn’t help but reveal expressions of confusion and disbelief.

’It was as if it couldn’t understand. How could a tiny ant pose a substantial threat to it?’

A second later, with a crisp sound like shattering glass, the hexahedron exploded. It scattered into a shower of glimmering motes of light, which were instantly devoured by the surrounding darkness.

Immediately after, the sound of shattering glass echoed out of thin air, not just from the statue, but from the entire Alternate Space that Lloyd and the others occupied.

Then everything scattered into a chaotic mess of fragments.

Lloyd’s vision blurred for a moment before quickly coming back into focus.

The strong smell of lumber, mingled with a hint of rot, flooded his nostrils.

Although he was still in the Cult’s Holy Land, he could clearly feel that he had left the Alternate Space.

To be precise, it was more like the Alternate Space had collapsed back into the real world.

"HUFF... HUFF... ’That was absolutely terrifying...’"

Lloyd took a few deep, ragged breaths, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and quickly patted his chest and stomach, as if checking for any missing parts.

Thankfully, aside from the long gash on the back of his hand, he was relatively ’unscathed’.

’I’m not even that tired. My physical condition is actually pretty good?’

His head was just a little dizzy, so he stood there in a daze for two or three minutes before starting to move again.

Lloyd first glanced at Kading and the two investigators he had fought so hard to save.

’Okay, they’re alive. Their mental states aren’t great, though. They’re all in a state of [Moderate Madness], and the status is flashing, which means they’re on their way to [Severe Madness].’

Lloyd quickly released a bit of his inspiration and Spiritual Power, letting it touch them just as he had done with Elolo.

[Ding~ Madness Value +100]

[Ding~ Skill Fragment +1]

[Ding~ Madness Value +300]

[Ding~ Knowledge Fragment +1]

Lloyd ignored the successive panel notifications and hurried over to the spot where the statue had been. He bent down and picked up one of the fragments.

It was emitting a type of Spiritual Energy that Lloyd couldn’t comprehend.

’If Extraordinary Materials were graded like Holy Artifacts, where the lower the number, the higher the value...’

’Then these fragments would have to be Grade 0, right?’

’They belong in the extremely rare category.’

But the fragments themselves were mostly just common, worthless bronze.

Their true value came from the bits of flesh mixed into the metal—

the flesh of the mysterious being behind the statue...

As for this mysterious being, Lloyd didn’t know what it would be called in this world. But if he were to judge it by the standards of novels from Earth, it would have to be an—

Evil God’s Offspring...

This was what the *Book of Truth* had told him.

A new page had appeared in the quaint old book. On it was a drawing of the statue and the hexahedron that had been on its head.

There was no descriptive text, only a name:

[Offspring of an Unknown Existence]

Perhaps because Lloyd had only briefly clashed with this offspring from afar and had not seen its true form, the *Book of Truth* could not record much information.

Right now, however, Lloyd had no time to ponder these things. He was busy picking up the scattered bronze fragments while simultaneously helping the three investigators by siphoning off their Spiritual Contamination.

He didn’t actually know what use the fragments had, only that their rarity was maxed out. Collecting them first couldn’t be a bad idea.

So he meticulously combed the area, not missing a single speck of bronze. He gathered it all and placed it on a sheet of oilcloth.

As soon as the scattered fragments were brought together, they seemed to come alive. Taking on a mercury-like quality, they began to merge and fuse, finally coalescing into a palm-sized bronze disc.

The original statue had been over two meters tall, yet the only valuable part left was this small piece.

Lloyd wrapped the small bronze disc tightly in oil paper and tossed it into his Storage Bag.

Just then, the three investigators’ conditions stabilized. Their mental states had recovered to the level of [Mild Madness].

’That wasn’t a huge problem. In their line of work, everyone was a little crazy anyway. [Mild Madness] might as well be [Normal]...’

’Next, I need to figure out how to clean this up, and then take stock of my gains.’

But in this remote mountain village, all the villagers had been brutally murdered. Lloyd was the only one left who could still move.

He had no choice but to rummage through a nearby pile of lumber, planning to build three stretchers to drag the three of them away.

Fortunately, before he could start, Lloyd heard the sound of a steam-powered vehicle in the distance.

It was followed by a series of urgent footsteps.

A Knight Commander he didn’t recognize, leading more than thirty Crusaders, arrived at the logging camp just in time.

If he had to guess, they must have come from the forward camp he’d seen earlier—the one the logging camp supplied.

’But how did they get the news and arrive so quickly?’

Lloyd didn’t have the energy to think about it. He simply lay down on the ground and started playing the part of a casualty, waiting for someone to carry him away on a stretcher.

He also took the opportunity to summon his panel, glanced at it, and nodded.

’I’ve leveled up a lot...’

’75 Attribute points to spend.’

’This wave was a little dangerous, but high risk, high reward, as they say. The gains are quite substantial.’

’And this is just a small part of my haul...’