My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 286 Oh no, the artifact spirit has taken over!
Let's skip the internal strife within the demon race for now.

This unknown storm will unfold with unexpected results as time goes on.

In short, Roland seemed to have a few more days of rest before the arrival of the great sages of the Academy.

He was not sure why the great sage had arrived so late.

The headquarters of the academy is clearly located within the empire, in a city-state known as the City of Truth, which has autonomous rights and is even connected to the empire's magic train.

From there, you only need to transfer twice to reach Isfar, which is an incredibly convenient way to get there in this world.

Not to mention that the other party could easily use the teleportation array of the association's branch to come over.

Thinking about it this way, this guy should be the first one to arrive, but now we're only waiting for him.

Oh well, Roland doesn't really care anyway. The fact that this guy is late actually gives him more time to rest.

The fusion of the magic circuits went very well, with no adverse reactions or problems in use.

But since it's a brand new product, even though I did everything myself from functionality to installation, it still takes some time to get used to using it.

Wind King's Barrier and Time-Limited Control are two skills that Roland is currently willing to use because they are simple to use, easy to learn, and powerful.

However, if the timed control consumes more than two seconds, it becomes a mana-intensive drain, similar to the protection of the World Tree.

Although the Wind King Barrier consumes relatively little power, the Wind King Hammer, used for attack, is no longer a one-time skill, but it still requires a certain amount of time to accumulate magic power in order to unleash its maximum power.

If the Wind King's Hammer is fully charged, its maximum power will be comparable to that of a powerful spell that requires a specific rune array to unleash.

It is a magical attack second only to forbidden spells.

In addition, its concealed nature makes it suitable for use as a trump card.

Not to mention the permanent Wind King Barrier effect, which can help you hide your weapons as well as yourself.

But these two skills are ultimately trump cards for crucial moments. Even when Roland was designing them, he never thought of using these two skills, which require magic power to use, as the main idea for his modifications.

Physical enhancement and magical amplification, along with the runes that control the flow and concentration of magical power, were Roland's initial plans.

This was Roland's initial idea before he began to learn bio-alchemy from Russell.

In Roland's conception, physical enhancement would be achieved through magical amplification.

Unlike other body enhancement spells, it does not require mana to cast and has a duration.

This special enhancement rune that Roland learned from Russell is essentially a permanent enhancement effect achieved through the concentrated enhancement of magic power, without consuming any magic power.

Essentially, this enhancement effect is similar to the effect warriors achieve by tempering their bodies with magic.

It's just that the methods are different.

The warrior's training method is to treat magic as a whetstone to polish the physical body, and at the same time, use the penetrating effect of magic to strengthen the body itself.

The physical body of a warrior at the ninth-ring legendary level is usually difficult to damage effectively without the use of spatial cutting spells.

However, the enhancement rune developed by Russell was not intended to enhance the physical body itself at all.

This method is more like an infusion method, using the magic flowing within the body to achieve normalized physical enhancement techniques.

Essentially, this enhancement method is equivalent to making a physical enhancement technique permanent.

But if it were really that simple, then Russell wouldn't have been able to fight the prototype of the Lord of the Royal Court and the Demon King's Hand head-on with his iron fists.

Roland did not witness the entire battle that day.

But at the last moment, the heavy punch Russell delivered to the Blood Lord showed no sign that Russell was merely an alchemist and mage.

Yes, although he is skilled with a pair of unparalleled iron fists, Russell is essentially a magician.

She simply found casting spells troublesome and inefficient, preferring to just swing her fists and punch people—it was much smoother and more convenient.

This is something Roland learned on his way back to Isfar.

Russell's modified rune set, in addition to its permanent enhancement effect, also comes with a mana conversion function.

Simply put, it means using the magic power within the body to perform fully automatic physical enhancement.

Although the intensity is not as good as that of a properly trained fighter, it is still about 70-80% of the level of a warrior of the same rank.

Not to mention that this effect is not affected by other body enhancement techniques and can be stacked.

Although Roland couldn't continue modifying Russell's modified version, he created a triangular loop with the physical enhancement runes by using two other seemingly independent but actually interconnected rune sets.

This inspiration came from a technique he had memorized while watching Death before he time-traveled.

I just didn't expect this trick to actually work.

Although under normal circumstances, the theory of dynamic/static blood armor can only be realized with dynamic blood armor, and this way of accelerating the flow of magic power will also greatly damage the small source of energy in the body.

But with the help of the magic circuit, everything became possible.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Roland didn't rush to sleep.

After testing the functions of the magic circuit and training some skills other than the Wind King's Hammer, he finally lay down on the bed and went to sleep.

Alright, I've finished my work in the real world, time to meet my acquaintances in my dreams. With that thought, Roland closed his eyes and instantly drifted off to sleep at a speed he'd never experienced before.

After Roland's mental will told him that he could sleep, he was in another space almost instantly.

Even after mastering the forbidden spell of the Emerald Mirror, Roland knew very well that he was in a dream, but he was still shocked by the scene before him.

Isfar.

To be precise, it was Isfar, which belonged to the Kingdom of Plataea three hundred years ago.

The streets were deserted, with only the cold moonlight shining on the empty lanes.

Roland stood on the street, looking around.

Um... I don't know him.

Three hundred years of changes, plus the reconstruction after the disaster.

At this point, Isfar's layout and structure had completely changed.

Of course, Roland wasn't left out for long; soon, the uniquely elegant silver-haired girl reappeared.

"I'm so glad to see you solved the problem so quickly," the girl who called herself Elena said expressionlessly.

Roland found these words rather strange. After all, it would only make people wonder if he had offended the other person in some way if someone claimed to be happy while expressionless.

But for some reason, Roland felt that this performance was exactly as expected when it was manifested in Elena.

"It's been a long time. What brings you here this time?"

“…I just wanted to see you.” After a brief silence, Elena said this.

After saying that, Elena looked up at Roland: "If you are troubled... I will send you back to a peaceful rest."

After saying that, Elena lowered her head, looking somewhat disappointed.

I haven't said anything yet...

Roland thought to himself, then opened the system space that he could still use smoothly even in his dreams, and took out the gray spear.

Actually, I had wanted to ask Elena a few times before if she knew the origin of this spear.

After all, according to the system's description, this thing seems to be related to the messenger of death, and perhaps this girl who has a close relationship with death will recognize it.

But before Roland could even ask a question, Elena's previously calm pale purple eyes widened slightly when she saw Roland take out the Gray Spear.

Well, it seems there's no need to ask anymore.

Irena instinctively reached out towards the spear, but then withdrew it after realizing it belonged to Roland.

He started muttering some strange things.

"Wasn't it lost? Why is it in this sir's hands..."

"It's been lost for thousands of years, why, why is it reappearing now?"

"Things that have sunk to the bottom of the River Styx should not be brought up again!"

Listening to Elena's rambling, which she made no attempt to conceal, Roland seemed to understand the origin of this thing and Elena's identity.

It seems... the other party is the messenger of death.

And since the River Styx was mentioned, and it was said that the spear was originally lost at the bottom of the River Styx... Could it be that Elena is the ferryman on the River Styx in mythology?
That greedy ferryman who made sure to cover the eyes of all the dead with two copper coins as travel expenses.

Wasn't she supposed to be a tall, thin skeleton soldier over two meters tall? How did she turn into a beautiful, emotionless girl?
"Irena, do you recognize this?" Although he had already roughly figured out the answer, Roland still intended to ask as a formality.

Elena nodded somewhat hesitantly: "Well... it's the spear that I accidentally dropped into the River Styx. Since I lost it, I've switched to using the scythe that Lord Death gave me."

Roland maintained his smile: "Here, take it back."

“No… Since it was destined to be lost, it proves that my relationship with this thing ends here. Now that it has come into your hands… it belongs to you.”

Although there was some reluctance in Elena's eyes, she resolutely pushed the things back into Roland's hands.

Now it was Roland's turn to be stunned.

Wasn't it supposed to have miraculous uses? So returning it to its original owner isn't the correct way to do it?
But since it's a tool in the hands of the ferryman of the River Styx, it can't be that it has no other characteristics besides being indestructible, right?
Sure enough, in the instant Roland was stunned, Elena turned her head slightly, and her hands, which were placed in front of her, began to rub together incessantly.

"Although the Dark Spear is now yours, it was originally my weapon. Without my help, it cannot unleash its true power."

“Um… if you don’t mind, I can store a portion of my power and consciousness in the spear.”

"This way, it will be easier to talk to you, and it will also activate this weapon, making it an aid to you in the future."

"Of course, if you have any questions for me, you don't need to ask them in a dream."

"It's fortunate that this weapon appeared in the mortal world, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to bring its power down to the mortal world."

"You see?"

(End of this chapter)