You are all my wings...

The research files on the Holy Blood School that he had obtained previously only contained research information and did not discuss specific magic. However, judging from the details, some of the magical imagery used in the experiments originated from the gods of the underworld in mythology.

So, this is the alchemy of life!

The hidden one is performing remote life alchemy on the Water-Swallowing Ape!

So what should we do next?

Should we turn the tables on them?

Or should we try to interrupt?

He had an idea.

"Lord Saint!"

At this moment, Leon shouted, "The Water-Swallowing Ape is dead. Your test should be over now. Please heal Karl and Mark as soon as possible."

Berylita, who had been standing silently in the corner, slowly stepped out.

"Don't worry, I cast Intermediate Holy Healing on them the moment the Water Swallowing Apes stopped moving."

Lyon, of course, knew that Britta had quietly intervened to save the two critically injured teammates.

He also realized that the Water-Swallowing Ape was not completely dead, but its movements were suppressed by the methods laid out in advance by the hidden one.

The reason for this is probably that being in a semi-disabled state is most suitable for the opponent to activate life alchemy.

Milo and Bovary fought fiercely, and Milo was also injured and nearly exhausted. Unable to use his ultimate move to finish them off, he could only strike at vital points one after another.

But this efficiency is undoubtedly too low. Without combat skills and stamina, it is difficult for them to inflict damage on the Water Swallowing Ape even by brute force.

Lyon is ready to do it himself.

So he said to the two men who finished him off:

"That's enough. Rest and recover your stamina and magic as soon as possible. Go stand next to Karl and Mark to prevent other monsters from attacking."

The two were indeed almost exhausted. They took out food and walked silently toward their teammates.

Lyon quickly approached Britta and subtly cast a water healing spell on Milo and Bovary.

He said:

"Holy Maiden, please cast a healing spell on me too. I think I was injured just now."

In the distance, Elizabeth paused for a moment.

Was Leon injured during the close-quarters combat?

Why didn't she seek out me, who was right next to her, to cast a healing spell, but instead went to Berylita, who was far away?

No, he just cast healing spells on Milo and Bovary, so why is he going to find Britta?

Could it be because...?

Meanwhile, as Leon spoke, he quickly moved closer to Britta, winked at her, and whispered:

"Your Holiness, the reason you haven't made a move, besides training Karl and the others, is it because you know someone is waiting for you to run out of magic? And is this training exercise also a way to lure out these remnants of the Holy Blood School who want to deal with you?"

Aside from the former extremist sects of the Astalia cult, there are currently no doubt that anyone is proficient in life alchemy.

Berylita was taken aback at first, then laughed.

[Character Brutal Rita's affection level +2, current affection level 43%]

She approached Leon, reached out and patted his shoulder, as if to help check his injury.

In reality, Leon used Shadow Leap to dodge accurately several times, so he wasn't injured.

All I heard was Britta whispering in Lyon's ear:

"As expected of the person I chose, they noticed it so quickly."

Her voice was soft and natural, and as she lowered her head, a strand of hair brushed against Leon's earlobe.

"But you don't need to panic."

"So, are we just going to wait for him to remotely cast Life Alchemy on the Water-Devouring Ape?"

Leon and Britta looked at each other.

It's fortunate that the Life Alchemy spell is difficult to cast, time-consuming, and requires various assistance; otherwise, Leon wouldn't have had the time to discuss things with Berylita and would have already run away with his men.

Brillita was surprised again.

She hadn't expected that Leon could even see through the Life Alchemy technique.

"You only gained knowledge of life alchemy because of Iris?"

Leon didn't answer, but instead asked, "Your Grace, can you interrupt his spellcasting?"

Now is not the time to dwell on the source of the information.

Brillita shook her head:

“The remote casting of Life Alchemy requires a catalyst. If we can find it, we can interrupt it, but it seems that the catalyst is hidden very deep inside the Water-Drinking Ape.”

"So, Your Majesty intends to just wait like this? Judging from their chanting, in another four or five minutes, our spoils will be transformed by the life alchemy and used against us instead."

As Leon asked, a thought suddenly struck him, and he said:

"I understand. That person is very strong, and ordinary methods won't work. The Holy Maiden plans to take advantage of the moment when the opponent relaxes during the life-transformation process and when his magic power is at its greatest, to counterattack and kill the hidden one?"

Britta paused for a moment, her eyes flickering slightly, seemingly surprised that Leon had guessed her plan so quickly.

However, she didn't say anything, but put her index finger to her lips and shook her head slightly at Leon.

[Rita's affection level increased by 2%, current affection level is 45%]

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Route to Conquer Britta

Leon now understood that the method for winning over Britta was different from that for Iris.

In the early stages of his pursuit of Iris, after changing her initial impression, he often only needed to increase the frequency of close interactions to naturally increase her favorability.

Only in the later stages is it necessary to deepen the connection and build rapport.

As for conquering Britta, it seems that it should involve demonstrating one's intelligence, resourcefulness, adaptability, and other abilities.

The evidence is that Leon gained 2 points of favorability each time he noticed and pointed out the information hidden by Berylita.

Whether or not I'll cook something delicious for Brierita is still up in the air, since the price only went up once, during the bear paw incident.

At the time, it was probably just that my appetite was being satisfied.

Or perhaps his wide range of skills satisfied Berylita.

Because Leon's cooking of other monsters did not increase her favorability.

Of course, showcasing intelligence may not always be the right approach, but at least there are precedents, and we can try to move in that direction.

Moreover, Leon also vaguely realized why Berylita's affection for him was harder to increase than Iris's.

There are probably two main reasons.

First, as the only representative of the gods in the Astalia religion, Berylita must have had a very strong faith.

It might even be a top-level belief, something that ordinary emotions would find very difficult to transcend.

Secondly, her first impression of Lyon was that he was ultimately her subordinate.

As long as Leon's behavior doesn't break out of the subordinate framework, it will be difficult for her to develop feelings beyond that.

The reason she was attracted to Leon's intelligence and wit was because she found him to be a kind of person who appreciated her. She felt that the more she looked at him, the more she liked this type of emotion.

If you want to make rapid progress in your relationship like Iris did in just one dungeon exploration, you'll probably need a key event that can change your first impression.

These thoughts flashed through Lyon's mind like lightning.

Considering that there was another opponent lying in ambush, he didn't think much of it.

That was just an instinctive thought.

Right now, the priority is still to deal with the carcass of the water-swallowing ape.

Although there is a difficult-to-find catalyst on this thing, making its danger level hard to determine and it is impossible to interrupt the opponent's spellcasting, it still has to be dismantled.

Putting everything else aside, if the Hidden One really completes the life alchemy on this thing, then being able to take some high-value parts now and weaken the opponent's life alchemy would be a good thing.

"Elise, stand back a bit and guard the entrance to the 25th floor for me, so we don't get ambushed."

Iris had just witnessed Leon and Britta's intimate interaction. Although she had a lot of questions, she suppressed the urge to ask them.

You really can't let your guard down now, because there's a high chance you'll be ambushed by other monsters or even bad adventurers right after the fight.

"Ok."

She agreed and walked to the entrance of the passage.

Leon took out the dismantling knife from his package and jumped onto the top of the water-swallowing ape's head.

The first step is to peel the skin.

Even though the Water-Swallowing Ape's skin is scarred and its strength mainly comes from its muscles, its fourth-tier fur, which has both magic and physical resistance, is still quite valuable.

During the operation, Leon reactivated Shadow Breathing and Wind Detection magic to remain vigilant against the person casting the spell a hundred meters away.

As soon as the Hermit's long chant ends, Leon will immediately jump away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

tear up.

The dismantling knife is stuck.

Lyon frowned; the feel of the material was terrible.

When the dismantling knife tried to cut through the skin on the top of the Water-Swallowing Ape's head, it couldn't cut it open directly.

Like cutting tanned, dried cowhide with a dull knife.

Helpless, he could only increase his expenditure of power and magic.

You should know that after a monster dies, its magic cannot be activated on its own, so in theory all parts should be easy to cut off.

The fact that this thing is so difficult to cut only proves one thing: the value of the Water Swallowing Ape's fur is much higher than Lyon initially estimated.

In order to cut off the vital parts as quickly as possible before the opponent's life alchemy was completed, Leon put in all his effort this time, eating the last bit of white unicorn jerky while increasing his magic output and moving quickly.

Of course, he also paid attention to the hidden man's lyrics.

Once there's any sign that the task is finished, even if there's still a little work left to do, he won't hesitate to run away immediately.

Iris noticed something was wrong.

She wondered, why is Lyon disintegrating so much faster than usual this time?

Despite her usual calm expression, seeing Leon's current state, she unconsciously became wary and began to wonder if something might happen later, something Leon couldn't warn her about for some reason.

Could it be related to the conversation with Britta just now?

Her gaze shifted abruptly to Britta, who seemed to be resting with her eyes closed in the distance, looking thoughtful.

"The secret between them is probably not what I initially thought. The atmosphere is also off. Sure enough, Lyon is not the kind of person who would casually hook up with a saintess from the Holy See. I was right about him."

She breathed a sigh of relief and mustered her energy. Her emerald yellow pupils unconsciously shone brightly, and the corners of her pink lips turned up.

At this moment, Lyon noticed the update to the panel information.

[Character Iris's affection level +2%, current affection level 86%]

Ok?

How did you increase your favorability rating without doing anything?

That's strange, really strange.

Even though saving Hamra didn't increase his rank before.

Indeed, a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea; it's unfathomable!

Although Leon really wanted to ask Iris right now what her emotional journey had just led to the sudden increase in her favorability rating, he was still eager to do so.

But right now, the priority is still the work at hand.

He sped up again.