Archer's Adventure Manual

Chapter 171 The Deal with the Evil God

Loran thought about it carefully and realized that it did make sense. He had already killed the goblin bear and the flower of flesh and blood had appeared, so the result was not really the fault of the big-eyed man in front of him.

However, he still said helplessly, "Even if you say that, there must be a price to pay, and I don't think I can bear the price you bring me."

The Eye of Flesh and Blood grew anxious. He hadn't expected this guy to be so indifferent to his own body. He quickly explained, "There's nothing wrong with cooperating with me. You'll gain some of my power."

"Trust me, kid. Without my power, you can't fight against that Grim Reaper's power at all. Only by cooperating with me can you restrain him."

"I've said everything. As for whether or not to cooperate, that's up to you."

The Eye of Flesh and Blood didn't seem to want to say anything more and also entered a state of stagnation.

Loran thought for a moment. Of course, he didn't really want to reject the Eye of Flesh and Blood. He was just using his indifferent attitude to increase his bargaining power and alleviate the predicament of having this as his only option.

Now, Loran began to talk to him slowly.

He looked thoughtful and said with a forced tone, "Hmm... I think there's some merit to what you said, but I'm still worried that you're far more dangerous than that Grim Reaper."

The Eye of Flesh sighed and said slowly, "You can trust me. We are just cooperating, and I cannot directly cause your death. Doing so would not benefit me at all."

"Oh? Based on what you just said with one eye? That's way too unreliable." Loran sneered.

"No, it's not just that. We can draw up a contract, using the power of worldly oaths to maintain our relationship. With a contract in place, do you think I'm unreliable?"

Compared to the empty talk before, the Eye of Flesh and Blood gave a reliable answer this time, and it was the first time Loran had learned of the existence of such a contract.

After the Eye of Flesh finished speaking, a huge page appeared in front of Loran, with the contents related to the contract written on it in the common language of the Solot region.

Basically, it has no right to actively harm Loran; they have a cooperative relationship, and of course, Loran also needs to regularly provide some benefits to the Eye of Flesh and Blood.

The benefit, of course, is the flesh and blood of some animals, preferably those of large monsters, which is equivalent to a labor contract relationship.

This was acceptable to Loran. He had previously needed the power of the Eye of Flesh to escape his predicament, and the price was bearable. He would always have such an opportunity to submit flesh and blood, even if he took risks.

However, since it was ultimately a matter of dealing with an evil god, Loran still consulted the adventure manual.

"Is the manual and the contract in front of us reliable?"

"Survival Guide: Contracts are based on the rules of the world and have a binding effect. Violators will suffer severe consequences."

It seems the contract is real, and this flesh-and-blood eye in front of me looks quite sincere.

But... why is this eye so determined to cooperate with me? Loran doesn't think this guy has few followers; for example, that goblin bear is one of his followers.

That goblin bear kills at least as many animals as Loran every day, so it's quite unusual for this big-eyed being to go to such lengths to sign such a relatively fair contract.

This only proves that this guy has other things he's after...

But Loran couldn't refuse the contract because of such thoughts. He had already studied all sorts of things in the dream, and he simply couldn't regain control of his body.

He had no choice.

After pondering for a long time, Loran negotiated with the Eye of Flesh and Blood again, such as the amount of flesh and blood to be handed over, and finally reached a contract with it.

"Battle Guide: Congratulations on unlocking the skill - Blood Demon's Touch"

"Battle Guide: Congratulations on unlocking the skill - Blood Explosion"

"Combat Guide: Congratulations on unlocking the talent - Flesh Nourishment"

"Combat Guide: Congratulations on unlocking the ability—Flesh Sacrifice."

Skill - Blood Demon Touch Iv.1 (0/20): Transforms the arm into a powerful weapon, "Flesh and Blood Touch," which can be used to pierce powerful enemies.

Skill - Blood Explosion Iv.1 (0/20): Consumes the user's life force to create a powerful blood explosion around the user.

Talent - Nourish Flesh Iv.1 (0/20): You can continuously nourish your body with flesh and blood, recover from injuries, and enhance your physical attributes.

Ability - Flesh and Blood Sacrifice lv.1 (0/20): Sacrifice a dead creature, and you will receive enhancement and nourishment based on the creature, while the creature's body will bloom into a magnificent flower of flesh and blood.

"A wise move... Let me help you regain control of your body, but I need to wait for an opportunity, when that guy's strength is at a low point. That will be the time for us to strike back." The Eye of Flesh sneered.

Loran nodded. "Okay, I'll be waiting."

"Don't worry, that moment won't last long."

"Buzz!" Loran suddenly opened his eyes. His right eye was completely covered by the red root substance, turning into a ferocious pupil.

A flood of memories rushed into his mind. Looking at Paul in front of him, Loran's amazing thinking ability allowed him to instantly analyze the current situation.

"The touch of flesh and blood!"

His arm transformed into a twisted, grotesque spike in an instant.

"Boom!" A strange blood mist exploded, instantly freeing Paul from the vines he had created.

The flesh-and-blood touch instantly reached Paul, about to pierce his body!

In the blink of an eye, Paul was caught off guard and unleashed a powerful gust of wind, shoving Lorraine away.

Before he could push him away, Loran's arm, which had transformed into fleshy spikes, pierced his chest. A fierce wind arose, and Loran was blown away.

Paul looked down and saw a horrifying wound on his chest.

He hurriedly applied a powerful healing potion to the wound, but found that the healing effect was not as good as before, as if something was inhibiting the potion's effect.

Paul's aura became much weaker. He certainly noticed the subtle change in Lorraine's face. He didn't know what it was, but it was definitely not something good.

"Mr. Paul!" Some of the adventurers who had been watching the drama couldn't sit still any longer.

They were members of the local adventurers' guild. Paul, being a relatively prestigious figure, had originally wanted to witness his fighting prowess, but now they had to step in and help him.

Paul also considered giving up. Although he was a very powerful magic warrior, Loran was just too strange.

But the next moment, a ghostly figure appeared again, and Loran was in front of him once more!

Paul reacted, his veins bulging. He pushed out a violent hurricane force with both hands and leaped backward to create distance.

But a strange scene unfolded: Loran was running wildly in the hurricane field, and he managed to keep running in the raging wind without being blown away!

Paul looked horrified. "How is this possible! How can you have such physical abilities?!"

Loran, staring at a menacing eye, paid no attention to Paul's surprise and continued running.

Paul, who was standing before him, knew his identity and saw his terrifying eyes. To outsiders, he was just a mysterious Grim Reaper, with not much information about him.

Paul will inevitably associate himself with the evil god, but the power of the Plassen Adventurers' Guild is too great; they will not tolerate the existence of such a heretic.

Therefore, even though Paul was a relatively important member of the Adventurers' Guild, he still had to be killed.

This was not Lorraine's true intention; Paul's actions had forced him to this point, and failing to make this decision would only lead to endless trouble.

With the blessing of the Blood Demon Eye, Loran's speed and strength were greatly enhanced, and with the Blood Demon Eye's own approval, his strength skyrocketed.

Even when faced with such a powerful hurricane-force wind, he was able to run through it without being affected, thanks to his extreme speed.

Under such a powerful hurricane force, the adventurers who wanted to help Paul were powerless to do so; they simply could not run inside unaffected like Loran.

Casting such magic was extremely taxing on Paul's mental energy, and his chest wound was worsening, with blood constantly flowing from his body. His condition was deteriorating, and his lips were turning pale.

Finally, he could no longer hold onto the powerful hurricane force. The moment Paul stopped, he released a powerful electric current, intending to kill Loran instantly.

He knew that if he didn't use his full strength now, he would be the one to die, and he no longer cared about the impact Loran had on the overall situation in the region.

But just as the lightning was about to strike Loran, Loran vanished from his spot and disappeared into the Shadow Realm. When he reappeared, the flesh spikes had already pierced Paul's heart.

Loran instantly activated his Sacrifice ability. The instant Paul's heart stopped, a magnificent flower of flesh bloomed from his body. The next moment, Loran once again vanished into the Shadow Realm, disappearing into the vast forest with Brian without a trace.

Everyone stared in stunned disbelief at Paul's gruesome death. What... what had just happened? Was the legendary Grim Reaper really this powerful...?

They stared in horror at the flower of flesh blooming on Paul's body; it seemed more like the work of some evil god than the Grim Reaper... only none of them had ever seen anything like it before.

The members of the dog-dagger squad, having recovered their senses, were also stunned by what they saw... Of course, they had seen similar scenes before; it was exactly how the bear goblin had died that day.

They never expected that Lorraine would cause Paul to die in such a way. It is clear that Paul was not a follower of the evil god. Could it be that Lorraine was a follower of that evil god?

At this moment, the members of the small team had different feelings and doubts.

Members of the local adventurers' guild quickly arrived at the scene and began their investigation.

The gnoll attack was already extremely serious and had caused severe damage to the town. Now, this latest incident has only added to the panic among the townspeople.

There were many adventurers who witnessed the incident, and the investigators were able to reconstruct what happened in great detail based on their descriptions.

It is particularly noteworthy that the Dog Dagger Squad protected the mysterious Grim Reaper, and during this time they tried to stop Paul from harming the Grim Reaper, which was quite unusual.

Naturally, Lin Wen and his two companions were placed under investigation by the Adventurers' Guild.

When asked why they helped the Grim Reaper, all three gave ambiguous answers, and when asked if they knew the Grim Reaper, they also gave a negative answer.

In the heat of the moment, most people didn't hear Lin Wen and Paul's conversation, and they were unaware of the three's relationship with the Grim Reaper.

Furthermore, many people recalled that they did not see the face of the Grim Reaper clearly, as it was very blurry. Therefore, the identity of the Grim Reaper could not be determined, which posed a great challenge to the Adventurers' Guild.

Worse still, there is now a much more troublesome problem than this Grim Reaper: the gnoll attacks.

Miss Clara from the Elf Guild was utterly shocked upon receiving the news; she never imagined that Mr. Paul, whom she had only recently been negotiating with, would now be dead...

Over the long years, she witnessed the death and decline of countless creatures, but her emotions did not fluctuate too much. She was more interested in investigating what had happened behind the scenes.

Paul had collaborated with the Elf Guild on many occasions, during which he shared some important information with Kra.

Here, Clara can also access some of the information Paul provided, which concerns the survivors of Rockfall.

She carefully examined the information about Lin Wen and the others. Although it was not comprehensive or complete, the clever girl was still able to vaguely guess some things.

Then someone else described Paul's state of death to her.

As an elf who had lived for many years, she had seen and heard a great deal. She had witnessed such a state of death before, by some evil god of flesh and blood.

After learning the general situation, Kra arrived at the Adventurers' Guild.

At the same time, she also saw Lin Wen and the others being interrogated, and overheard the interrogation process.

Lin Wen and the others all denied knowing the Grim Reaper and had no idea about his motives.

Kra also chimed in at the opportune moment: "This is indeed none of their business. Such methods are related to evil gods. If we can prove that they are cultists of evil gods, then perhaps they are innocent."

"The Elf Guild has their information from previous investigations. That Death Imposter is very likely their former teammate. I can understand their feelings."

"A former teammate has become a follower of an evil god, and before that, he seemed no different from any other normal and harmonious teammate... Anyone would be incredibly surprised and saddened by this."

The guild investigators were all somewhat shocked upon hearing Clara's words. "Miss Clara, do you mean that the Grim Reaper imposter was one of these three former teammates?"

"Indeed, their expressions are very complex. Their eyes have already told us the answer. On the one hand, they cannot accept the depravity of their teammates, and on the other hand, they feel that there is still a glimmer of hope... They don't want us to completely destroy them."

The elven Kra looked at the group and grinned, "You agree with me, don't you?"

Lin Wen's body trembled slightly. She didn't think so. Loran must have been passively controlled... But in the current situation, Plasson's side definitely couldn't tolerate him anymore.

Finita and Noah could only close their eyes silently, without saying another word.