Chapter 1722 - 1019: The Indomitable Lapu (2)

He shouted loudly as he rushed in the direction away from the ruins, causing the angel to continuously turn and chase him. At that opportune moment, Leon burst out from the cover of the massive buildings and jumped directly onto the nearest tree trunk.

The winding tree trunk clung to the mountain and twisted around nearby buildings with many branches, offering a significant area for exploration, looking quite large and likely to take considerable time.

But don’t forget, only when licking the map does one need to explore properly. When combat is needed, adventurers will choose the most efficient way.

Leon released all his Fighting Qi to sense the terrain, or more accurately, to perceive the terrain’s living creatures. Just now, he used this move to judge that the Pilgrimage Angel’s true body was not in the ruins, allowing him to charge straightforwardly up the tree trunk.

Glancing back, Lapu was still entangled with the angel, appearing a bit harried after being bombarded. Leon needed to speed up his pace as well.

Finally, the Fighting Qi Perception brought him good news.

At the top of the tree trunk came the reaction of an enemy!

He immediately pushed off the ground with his legs, launching tens of meters upward, grabbed an outstretched branch, flipped, and climbed to the top, looking towards the direction his Fighting Qi reported.

Perched atop the tree trunk stood a Monster.

He wasn’t mistaken; it truly was a Monster.

That Monster was supposed to be humanoid, but its entire body of flesh and blood had turned into a standing cocoon, leaving only a deformed upper half with residual humanity. This incongruous flesh mutation was simply eyebrow-raising.

Beneath this Monster lay a long-dead Pilgrim. It stood within the Pilgrim’s broken shell, appearing as if...

As if it had emerged by breaking out of the Pilgrim’s body?

"Ah!"

From below came Lapu’s scream. After being bombarded so often, he finally seemed unable to hold on. Leon wasted no more time and rushed forward, beheading the Monster in one stroke.

Sure enough, the stronger the clone, the weaker the true body. This seemed like an unchanging law; the Pilgrimage Angel’s true body was slain straightforwardly with one slash.

From the sky came a peculiar sound; looking up, he saw the holy-looking angel twist with a crackling sound, descending toward the ground, disintegrating before touching the ground, vanishing entirely.

"It’s finally over."

Leon sighed with relief; mechanisms like these are what he disliked most now.

He glanced again at the Pilgrimage Angel’s true body, turned to Ash after disappearing, leaving behind the Pilgrim’s corpse at its original spot. As if understanding something, he saw when he turned to leave, a Half-leaf Greatsword quietly lay on the trunk below, identical to the weapon he owned.

This Half-leaf Greatsword did not appear in the form of a light point. He jumped down to pick it up; there was no description text, suggesting it wasn’t meant for his use.

Could it be?

"It was a close call; I’m glad you succeeded, and now we’re safe."

Lapu, whose armor was littered with blast marks, squatted on the ground resting without any decorum. Seeing Leon approaching, he joyfully waved from afar.

Leon couldn’t help but feel moved at the other’s kindness and cheerfulness.

The last residual shadow character to give him this feeling was the Onion Knight, and before that, Solar.

Encountering good people in this forsaken place is truly a stroke of luck!

"So now you can continue your journey, right? I’ll stay here and rest for a bit, and maybe search for some weapons, since progressing with just a Shield isn’t really feasible."

"Speaking of weapons, is it this one?" He took out the Half-leaf Greatsword in his hand.

When he displayed his own Half-leaf Greatsword, Lapu had no reaction. But when he took out the one seen on the trunk, the other showed an overjoyed expression, receiving the weapon and said: "This is my weapon. Where did you find it? Thank you so much, how can I ever repay you?"

So pure, even at this moment he’s thinking of thanking me.

Leon was endlessly touched, just about to say something like, "No need to thank me; it’s I who should thank you," when he saw Lapu point to the side.

What’s over there?

He looked over; the direction he was pointing to was where he planned to go, the initial spawn point of the gathering place.

From there, it was not very apparent, but standing at the current height, he noticed many areas still open to exploration. The place was enormously vast, making it difficult to identify a main path at a glance.

"You see over there," Lapu said, "If you follow that road, you’ll eventually see a Poison Swamp. Crossing the swamp, there lies the half-submerged remnants of a massive Mound Tower. Usually, such swamps should be avoided, but deep in the swamp, a precious treasure is hidden. It’s something no longer needed by me, so I didn’t specifically retrieve it, but for you, it should be extremely useful."

"A treasure?" Leon showed an intrigued expression. If the residual shadow mentioned a treasure, it was likely a genuine one, and hearing it from Lapu’s mouth lent it more credence.

It seemed the thanks Lapu spoke of was to inform him about the treasure’s whereabouts—

"If there’s a chance next time, I’ll help you retrieve it as thanks for finding my weapon, though if you can’t wait, you can proceed yourself. I’m sure, as a formidable warrior, you bear some mission, so utilize the treasure well to fulfill your quest."

These words made Leon’s body quiver as if struck by lightning.

His expression changed, finally looking at Lapu with an ineffable gaze and placed a hand on his shoulder, saying:

"Make sure to live well."

"?"

This was the third time a question mark appeared above Lapu’s head.

If a human affection progress bar existed, Leon would have already been swept away by Lapu.

But the more his affection grew for this simple and kind armor-clad man, the more it worried Leon, sensing an ominous sign.

The last nice guy, the Onion Knight, took his own life, and the one before, Solar, also had a future of madness. The residual shadow characters recorded in the Sain Dungeon were all good people with short lives, calamities lingering longer, so...

He was genuinely worried about stumbling upon Lapu’s corpse while wandering around the gathering place.

"Rest assured, my friend. I’ll surely live well, nothing can kill the indomitable Lapu."

Lapu gave a thumbs-up.

You’re setting a death flag for yourself with that... Leon felt increasingly uneasy.

The two sat down like long-lost friends, engaging in a direct conversation.

"Ah, by the way, I should probably let you know, I’m actually a Wandering Soul lacking Humanity. Even if I appear normal, I actually recall none of the past."

Lapu said, "Things like who I am, why I live, or my real name, I don’t remember... so if I forget you in the future, don’t blame me; what can one hold against a Wandering Soul?"

Unexpectedly, his situation was not optimistic either.

"So I’ve been searching for the city where the Dwarves who found the Dark Soul during the Initial Fire resided—the Ring Seal City. I believe it lies deep within this gathering place."

He suddenly introduced an entirely new term.

"It is said there is a Decree Stone Tablet which can cure my condition, and small Decree Stones are already ineffective for me."

"Well, it’s time to part ways. If there’s a chance in the future, we will meet again somewhere, my friend."

Leon reluctantly bid farewell to Lapu, looking at him as though seeing a best friend.

"Such rare good people, you absolutely must continue living."

In the Sain Dungeon, good people truly were few and far between.

"Achoo—"

In the Sain Dungeon’s Lake Lienia.

Maru suddenly sneezed, rubbing her nose as she muttered to herself:

"Why do I suddenly have the premonition that the boss is being lured away by someone..."