Chapter 335

Jacob and the Mad God have signed a contract. Jacob made sure with the Grimoire that everything was in the right place. It still made him antsy — there are a lot of things to be worried about when signing a deal with the Mad God — but the Primordial Grimoire had given its all clear.

And so, one after the other, all his family members come back. But as soon as they are lucid, Jacob just has them disappear, sent outside the Sacred Grounds.

Then he takes a good look at Lancelot, who is carrying Marcel.

“Go.”

Lancelot hesitates just for a moment and then nods. He has the utmost trust in his Boss.

Once outside, Lancelot finds himself surrounded by the rest of the family members, including the ones who have just been liberated from the madness. He is the only one who has witnessed the deal. And apparently, the people outside have no idea what’s going on. Lancelot quickly gathers that they have seen Jacob face Asmodeus, but that the feed the Mad God had engineered for them — to witness the death of Jacob — had been cut right before Jacob could kill Asmodeus.

So Lancelot recounts the facts quickly.

And Emrys, the Ancestor, says, “Has that child lost his mind? He’s facing a god alone after he managed to fortuitously kill the incarnation of one.”

But Lancelot has gathered — from Jacob’s sword not changing drastically — that Jacob might have to kill the Mad God as well before his sword unlocks the second seal fully.

Back in the Sacred Grounds, Jacob exchanges a blow with the Mad God. Armand Valemont is stronger than Garland. Whatever the Mad God has done to his body has clearly put it just at Jacob’s level.

“You’re eager for a fight,” the Mad God says.

“I’m eager to kill you,” Jacob replies laconically. “You killed my master. I will kill you — and not just your incarnation. I will—”

Jacob feints and immediately summons the spell to exorcise the Mad God, but the Mad God retreats, now too far for his Primordial Magic to wrap him and free Armand.

“Nice try, little Jacob,” the Mad God says.

Then he turns on his heel and starts running away.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jacob shouts and jumps off the altar, following the Mad God down a snaking path.

Apparently, the Sacred Grounds start on a mountain, and below them is a path. Jacob can feel that the density of Mana there is incredibly thick, but it’s still nothing he hasn’t felt before, especially in the Primordial Dungeon. Nothing for the moment screams that this is one of Rafnov’s Trials. And if it is, Jacob wonders what the trial is going to be.

They arrive at the bottom of the mountain half an hour later, with Jacob still chasing the Mad God. They have exchanged blows a few times, but even with his powerful Heartfire and his renewed Constitution, Jacob is still not able to kill the god in one go.

“If only I had more Skills,” Jacob grunts.

He is really missing the full array of Skills that he had before. If he could summon some shadowy tendrils to stop or even just trip the Mad God, maybe he would already have been able to exorcise the incarnation of the Evil God. But as things stand, Jacob’s firepower has gone up considerably, but his utility options have been reduced to zero.

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I should have just stayed at the damn Academy, earned some more Skill Crystals, and leveled them up, Jacob laments internally.

“What? Can’t you catch me?” the Mad God shouts.

Armand Valemont has a water-based movement Skill, and the Mad God has apparently maxed it out. It’s the Dance of the Water Dragon, and it allows the man to not only move extremely fast, but also very nimbly. He’s extremely hard to catch, but Jacob only needs one touch. One attack going through, and his Primordial Spell would fire, exorcising the bastard.

Yet, after an hour of chase, with both of them tiring out, they come in front of an altar.

There are a few artifacts on it that Jacob barely glances at with his Grimoire, too focused on the Mad God.

“So, this is where your family usually gets their little gifts. These are just condensed naturally out of the ambient Mana. That’s it. That’s what your family believed the Sacred Grounds to be. Well, apart from that Ancestor who hid their true purpose.”

The Mad God had received some of Jacob’s blood in a vial, and now, before Jacob can pounce on him, he smashes the vial on the altar.

The altar is a smaller version of the one at the start of the Sacred Grounds, and now it lights up, and a portal appears. The Mad God goes through, and Jacob follows him right after.

However, what he finds on the other side surprises him.

He is in freefall several miles off the ground, so high up in the sky that he is freezing. He covers himself in Heartfire, and two wings made of fire bloom on his back. He looks around for the Mad God, but finds him nowhere.

“What the hell? Where am I?”

Jacob slowly floats down and tries to orient himself. He sees a vast coast from above, stretching for hundreds of miles beyond what his eyes can capture. And then, as he approaches the ground, he sees a sprawling city on top of a promontory stretching down.

Holy…

Jacob has his guard up, but then a sword almost kills him on the spot. Only the preternatural nature of the Grimoire saves his life from this lightning-fast blow. He is still miles out of the city, and only a sandy beach rests below. He somersaults, and as he is upside down, sees that there is a man cloaked in white looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“You’re gonna die just like your friend.”

When Jacob hears that, he immediately puts two and two together.

Holy…

Jacob looks down and sees — squinting — a corpse that is still falling and about to hit the sand. And Jacob looks back at the man. Jacob uses his Grimoire. He is called Cornelius Fuller. And most importantly, this man is at Early Adamantite Rank.

Jacob looks at him and then at the Mad God — dead, decapitated — and says, “Just wait a second, please,” and dives, using the Heartfire as a propulsion system, to reach the Mad God before this man can stop him.

He needs that blood. He won’t let it go to waste.

Jacob dives from the sky at full speed, chasing after the Mad God’s corpse, and has to dodge several blasts of light and light slashes from this Cornelius before he finally reaches the Mad God and sinks his sword right into the body.

“Wait,” Jacob says, raising both his hands. “Wait. Wait a second. Let me explain. I have to seal this motherfucker. This guy—” Jacob immediately racks his brain for a plausible lie. “He is an Evil God’s incarnation. He wanted my blood. He wanted to get here because he wanted to steal the weapon that Rafnov created. I don’t know if you ever heard of that.”

And it appears that, as soon as Cornelius hears that, he indeed has knowledge of what Jacob is talking about.

“Intruders always need to be executed,” Cornelius says slowly.

“I know, I know,” Jacob says, looking down at the sword, which is rapidly absorbing the Mad God’s blood.

He feels bad for Armand Valemont and will have to bring this news back as soon as he figures out how to go back. But then he gets an even better idea.

“I was hunting him. I have Rafnov’s blood in my veins. If you have any way to check, I would gladly show you. I am Rafnov’s heir.”

“You carry Rafnov’s blood?” The man tilts his head. “That would make you a citizen. That is not possible.”

“Yes. Do you have—”

Before Jacob can finish, the man takes a pendant from his neck and holds it high in front of him. It glows faintly. And that seems to trouble the man.

“You are indeed. But this requires further investigation and an official approval from the city’s guards. Please.”

Jacob smiles.

“Whatever. Whatever you want, really.”

He isn’t gonna fight someone an entire Rank above him like this.

So the man stows away the Mad God’s incarnation corpse — but not before Jacob has finished absorbing its blood, which has seemingly passed undetected.

And then Jacob is ordered to follow this man.