Chapter 127 Night Curtains

The hunchbacked old man in black used his umbrella to block Soren's blade.

Both immediately disengaged, creating some distance between them.

As the old man retreated, he retracted the umbrella and his fingers moved with dizzying speed. Almost simultaneously, the sorcerer's seal was already condensed.

Just by this reaction, Soren knew he was dealing with a tricky opponent.

The black-clad old man looked at Soren straight ahead, but his peripheral vision caught the figures of Yuta and the others in the forest.

Clearly, he had no intention of letting them go.

The sorcerer's seal was instantly completed, and he slammed a hand on the ground. "Summoning Contract: Hellhound!"

When Soren saw this guy's sorcerer's seal, he knew it wasn't a conventional elemental spell incantation, and he was on guard. But he never expected it to be a summoning spell!

Summoning professionals are very rare in the Alchemist field, even rarer than puppeteers.

They usually use some ancient contract, sacrificing offerings, equivalent exchange, in order to obtain certain creatures from other dimensions to help them in battle.

As soon as this technique was activated, a black heptagram formation pattern suddenly appeared under the black-clad old man's palm.

The formation was like opening a space channel, and Soren immediately felt a strong aura of death coming.

This aura would make others dizzy and nauseous, but he felt very close to it.

"Did this contract summon a creature from a certain undead dimension?"

The thought flashed through Soren's mind.

Before he could guess any further, after a flash of black light from the summoning array, five ugly giant dogs emitting black fire suddenly appeared.

[Hellhound]

Detailed explanation: A third-tier hell creature with a weak mythical bloodline in its body; excels at dark fire spells, tracking, and has amazing bite force.

Soren looked at these headless hounds, knowing they posed no threat to him.

This guy clearly wanted to chase Yuta and the others.

Sure enough, after a burst of frantic barking, the hellhounds darted into the dense forest like lightning.

Soren wasn't too worried. Yuta and the others weren't weak, and they wouldn't be in danger any time soon.

"This is the foundation of the royal family..."

Soren sighed inwardly.

The hunchbacked old man in front of him was on a completely different level than the fourth-tier he'd encountered before.

However...

The other party had means, and his own weren't bad either!

While the old man was forming his summoning seal, Soren also took out a black and white chessboard.

Who knew what weird abilities the enemy would unleash? He didn't intend to let anyone run away.

With a flash of light, the two appeared in the chessboard space.

.......

"Eh..."

The hunchbacked old man felt the surrounding space change, and let out a soft exclamation.

Instinctively, he immediately raised the black umbrella in his hand.

Soren didn't hold back. He wielded the Zanjutsu Blade and charged forward.

This guy could block a blade strike, so his close combat ability was indeed not weak.

But how could a physical body compare to machinery at the same level?

It would be great if he could kill him with the mecha, or test out some other methods.

But the old man was also extremely decisive. After only a few exchanges, he knew that even if he didn't lose, he would never be able to break through the mechanical armor.

While dodging, Soren watched him unhesitatingly take a piece of meat, put it in his mouth, chew it, and swallow it.

Soren's eyes twitched as he looked at the dark lump of meat.

[Cursed Corpse Chunk]

Detailed Explanation: A piece of rotten meat that is over three thousand years old, specially marinated, it possesses magical power; after taking it, it can greatly enhance affinity with the undead system and increase the ability to withstand some undead curse backlash; high probability of corpse poisoning.

To be able to swallow a piece of millennium-old rotten meat without changing his expression, Soren understood why undead professionals weren't so popular.

But being cruel to oneself naturally has excellent effects.

After the old man swallowed the rotten meat, black energy surged from his body, and his aura suddenly changed. The black energy lingered, making him look extremely terrifying.

The aura of a living person instantly disappeared from his entire body, and in the blink of an eye, he looked like a ghoul crawling out of a graveyard.

Soren immediately guessed what the guy was going to do, and felt a sense of novelty at gaining more knowledge.

"So, you can use this unorthodox method to avoid some curse backlash?"

In an instant, he wondered if he could use this method to temporarily suppress himself if he ever heard whispers again that he couldn't control?

However, eating rotten meat... seemed a bit unpalatable.

The thought flashed and disappeared.

This guy clearly knew he couldn't kill him, so he was going to use the power of that umbrella.

However, now that he had identified the attributes of that human skin umbrella, Soren also had a certain degree of confidence.

He also wanted to try and see if his guess was correct.

If he was right, this guy was dead!

........

The hunchbacked old man was decisive. He was not to be underestimated for using this trick even if he had to endure the curse backlash.

After eating that piece of meat, the sorcerer's seal in this guy's hand changed rapidly, and he quickly condensed an incantation that Soren had never seen before. He whispered, "Chimera: Release!"

At this moment, a pair of wings condensed from blue phosphorescent flames suddenly appeared behind him. He soared into the air, and his figure became even more ghostlike.

Soren's eyes twitched as he looked at the chimera. "Golden quality chimera, wings of a Ghost-type 'Nether Phosphor Finch'?"

This time, he really witnessed the wealth and influence of the Luying royal family.

This foundation was simply unbelievable...

Soren himself had gone through many life-and-death situations before he had these few sealed objects.

This guy's cursed objects, chimeras, and cultivation methods were all top-notch, making people's eyes turn red with envy.

This chimera not only amplified movement speed, but also increased his affinity with the undead. The attributes and abilities of the chimera were very well integrated, and his aura became even stronger.

Moreover, the blue phosphorescent fire on the wings also had a very good burning effect on Soren's fourth-tier law-condensed threads.

Now, Soren's plan to kill the other party with just the mechanical armor had also failed.

With these wings, at least in the short term, he couldn't kill that guy.

The hunchbacked old man used these wings, not just for displacement and life-saving.

But to allow him to cast that spell in peace.

Soren didn't use a big move to stop him.

First, he wasn't sure he could definitely kill him.

Second, he naturally planned to let him use that sorcery.

After all, once it was used, the burden on this guy would be very heavy.

Only then would he have a chance to kill him.

And that spell, if nothing unexpected happened, wouldn't have too much of an impact on him.

.......

Soren's [Lieutenant Colonel-Class Zanjutsu Type 9 Mechanical Armor] had a helmet made of invigorating alloy, so ordinary mental spells had no effect on him.

The hunchbacked old man was obviously aware of this, which was why he so decisively used that cursed black umbrella.

Soren gave him the opportunity, and this guy finally used it.

That set of complex sorcerer's seals formed, and that guy's aura suddenly rose several levels again. He made a low, ghostly sound, "Dark Domain: Night Curtains!"

As soon as this move came out, the huge black and white chess space was instantly shrouded in pitch blackness like asphalt.

Soren's eyes seemed to be covered by the night, and his vision went completely black.

Not only was his vision stripped away, but his hearing and touch were also gone.

He couldn't even feel his own body, as if only a lonely soul was left there, lost in wild thoughts.

The facts proved that fear is amplified a hundredfold in an absolutely dark environment.

If a person is in that state for a long time, their spirit will become uncontrollable until it collapses.

But Soren was unusually calm.

This feeling was much easier than controlling negative emotions.

He even had the leisure to carefully experience this deprivation of the five senses, and pondered in his heart: "Using the cursed object to display a domain similar to what a seventh-tier professional can use? Tsk tsk, what a magical technique. With this move, I'm afraid most professionals will be in the dark. If my chess space also had such a move, close the door, turn off the lights, it's a perfect match..."

Shielding the five senses would make most people a lamb to the slaughter.

But Soren had soul perception, and he clearly sensed the other party's soul fire, so he didn't panic at all.

But what made him strange was that the old man's soul fire form had changed from the humanoid shape to an image with horns on its head and fleshy wings behind it.

"Mythical talent, [A-029-Hell Messenger]? No wonder he dares to use this black umbrella with such a strong curse backlash..."

Soren saw the origin of the phantom, but wasn't surprised.

The population of the Valley </span> Luying Empire was unknown, and even if the awakening rate of A-level talents was one in a million, there would still be quite a few.

Moreover, professionals who awakened rare talents mostly gathered under the hands of major nobles.

It wasn't strange for the royal family to have these A-level and B-level talents.

But if that was all, Soren, who was protected by mechanical armor, wouldn't have a big problem either.

He couldn't sense the other party, so he couldn't attack, and the other party couldn't kill him either.

Obviously, the efficacy of this black umbrella was far more than that.

When darkness descended, Soren suddenly heard wailing screams in his ears.

He clearly shielded his hearing, so where did this sound come from?

Soren immediately understood that this was a spiritual attack from the wraiths.

The more than 80,000 wraiths imprisoned in that human skin black umbrella were attacking his spirit.

This made Soren feel like he had fallen into an abyss paved with wronged souls. The hands of ghosts wanted to drag his thoughts into the endless abyss.

This had the same effect as the sonic attack of his [Nightmare Doll].

The range was released, and even if he didn't get hit in a short time, the longer the time, the more confused he would become, and sooner or later he would fall into mental collapse.

And what made Soren even more curious was, did this technique actually penetrate the helmet made of invigorating alloy and affect his body?

Tsk tsk... Interesting.

"It should be the 'Undead Magic Penetration' attribute of the black umbrella, so strong. Doesn't this mean that even if I don't use the black scythe, I have a way to kill mechanical warriors in the future?"

Thoughts flashed through Soren's mind.

He had already regarded the black umbrella as his trophy.

Now, he had roughly figured out the efficacy of this cursed black umbrella.

The probing was almost over.

It was time to end it.

Moreover, after using this move, the old man's aura had obviously weakened a lot.

The consumption of this "Night Curtains Domain", as identified, was huge!

If this domain continued, it could probably directly drain the hunchbacked old man dry.

But Soren himself couldn't hold on until that time.

The spiritual attacks of those wraiths were getting stronger and stronger, and even if he suppressed it, he felt restless.

At this moment, his expression suddenly became solemn, and he decided to try one last time.

If his guess was correct, it would also mean that he might be able to control this cursed black umbrella!

.......

The hunchbacked old man seemed to see that Soren had fallen into the control of [Night Curtains], so he walked over with peace of mind.

The old man got very close, probably wanting to see what flaws there were in the mechanical armor.

But at this moment, the change suddenly rose!

His eyes suddenly sharpened, and he watched a phantom of a cloak and scythe emerge behind the mecha.

It was the Reaper phantom of the Second-Stage Harvester!

"This!!!"

Seeing this, the hunchbacked old man was instantly terrified. It was a fear from the depths of his soul.

Others might not recognize what this vision was, but he was an undead warlock, and obviously knew more about the taboos of death!

He recognized the origin of this phantom, and his eyes were dull. "This is an S-level talent [Death Harvester], or a Second-Stage Awakening? This... how is this possible!"

Wraiths were just little ghosts. Wouldn't they tremble when they saw the arrival of the God of Death?

As soon as the phantom of the God of Death appeared, the tens of thousands of wraiths in the Night Curtains Domain were like cats whose tails had been stepped on, and each of them changed shape in fright. They had been greedy for human aura before, but at this moment they were so frightened that they drilled back into the black umbrella floating in the air like lightning, and dared not show their heads again.

Soren's five senses also instantly recovered, and his eyes were clear.

"Pfft~"

Seeing that his spell was broken, the hunchbacked old man's face turned red, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

The spell was forcibly broken, and the curse backlash instantly hit him several times over.

And just when he hadn't recovered from that mental trance, Soren wouldn't give him a chance to catch his breath!

The threads that hadn't appeared before now condensed into a tangible entity, covering the sky and the earth.

"Silk Control Secret Art: Bird in a Cage!"

Soren had already locked onto the other party, and once he made a move, it would be a thunderous strike. He wouldn't give him a chance to turn over at all.

A large number of threads controlled the field, and before they could be burned through, a mechanical arm grabbed the neck of the hunched old man like lightning, and locked him in place like an iron pincer.

There was a crisp sound of bone cracking.

The shocked expression on the hunchbacked old man's face hadn't dissipated before he completely lost his vitality.

His body drooped down and became a corpse.

Soren looked at the gray mist floating out of the corpse in his hand, and conveniently picked a few that he was interested in and devoured them.

[You have stripped the soul of 'Roche Ruviere' and acquired some 'Dark Law Fragments' and 'Space Law Fragments']

[You have learned some usage details of the Rune Human Skin Umbrella]

[You have acquired knowledge of specific Contract Summoning Arts]

[You have acquired a large amount of knowledge related to 'Undead Spells' and 'Undead Runes']

[You have mastered some information: 'Information about the strong men of the Divine Judgment Legion...']

[You have obtained some 'Luying Royal Family Secrets']

[Mental Strength +6.3]

Soren digested the information he had extracted, and his eyes sparkled. "Heh... the people of the Luying Royal Family really have an extraordinary amount of knowledge!"

This guy was definitely the highest-quality fourth-tier professional he had ever stripped, and his understanding of the laws was much more solid than the half-baked pirates he had stripped.

Soren's thoughts drifted.

Many ideas have also changed greatly.

Don't look at Luying as a decadent empire, but judging from some of the "Royal Family Secrets" he had stripped, there were many, many experts of Roche's level in the Luying Royal Family.

Moreover, the information this guy knew was just the tip of the iceberg. The entire empire was a huge, terrifying "old monster".

"The strength of the Luying Royal Family is really not to be underestimated..."

Soren sighed inwardly.

Moreover, after digesting his memory, he realized that Roche's methods weren't that simple.

It was just that he happened to encounter Soren's "Death God Phantom", which restrained him.

Otherwise, even if he encountered a fifth-tier professional, this guy would be able to fight well.

What a pity.

This also made Soren more convinced that an alchemist must be erudite.

It was never wrong to learn more things, and the probability of being restrained was smaller.

......

Just as Soren was digesting his memories, two luminous objects slowly condensed on the corpse.

One was a crystal skull, a silver job-change material of the dark system, which could greatly increase the understanding of the laws of darkness after advancing.

The fourth-tier gold chimera [Nether Phosphor Finch Wings] was also condensed.

If Soren didn't have a better choice, these two materials would still be a decent match for his profession.

Even if he didn't use them, he could sell them for a good price.

The items were all high-level, which was the biggest reason why this guy could use the black umbrella and withstand the curse backlash.

Thinking of the black umbrella, Soren turned his attention to it again.

He took the umbrella in his hand, and a cold, eerie aura shot straight into his head.

But there was a strange sense of intimacy.

The death aura on the black umbrella seemed to like Soren's laws of death very much.

Just by getting his hands on it, Soren noticed the difference and was delighted: "The range of soul perception has expanded nearly five times with this thing in hand!"

Leaving aside other functions, just this effect made it an extremely practical cursed object for him!

He had already had a faint guess in his heart just now, and now that he had it in his hand, perhaps it was really feasible.

His understanding of the laws of death meant that the negative cost of curse backlash would be very low when using this black umbrella!

For Soren, this was definitely a cursed object that he could use as soon as he got his hands on it!

There were still many materials, potions, and classics in the storage ring.

However, now was not the time to carefully experience it.

If nothing unexpected happened, someone should be chasing after him!

Soren collected his things and dissolved the chess space.