Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

As she spoke, she turned to look at Niyan, her expression one of dissatisfaction and unfulfilled desire, and said:

"Unlike you, you hesitate even when it comes to recruiting a stone man."

“They are my friends, not stone men,” Mudrock retorted coldly, but soon she shook her head helplessly. “Fine, we’ll make an exception this time.”

Mudstone raised his hammer and slammed it heavily onto the ground. The rocks surged like ocean waves, gradually combining, piecing together, and expanding, accompanied by Mudstone's chanting-like calls.

"The lifeblood of the barren soil—a gift from the fertile land."

Like the concluding words of a prayer, Mudrock spoke softly, tilting his head back to look at the colossal mudrock statue before him, thirty meters tall, far exceeding the height of the city hall. He reached out and gently stroked its sole, then turned to Surtr and said:

"It's up to you, Surtr."

More than half a year has passed since he last saw the mudstone colossus. Finally, he had another chance to show off his skills, and Surtr's eyes lit up as he eagerly drew Levadin.

"Of course, it's up to me! Levadin!"

The phantom of the Flame Giant appeared behind Surtr. Leivadin, who housed fragments of a god, acknowledged Surtr as her master, granting this innocent Sarkaz girl power beyond anything. In response to Surtr's shout, the massive sword in her hand, almost as tall as herself, suddenly erupted with scorching flames. These flames spread and engulfed the mudstone giant, transforming the rock and earth giant into the Flame Giant King from mythology—Surtr, the one who burned the World Tree.

Surtr stood high atop the lava colossus, looking down down at the now minuscule crowd. His thirty-meter stature and the raging flames made him a sight to behold throughout the city and beyond, but that was exactly the effect Surtr wanted.

Higher, bigger, stronger Surtr! Only that matches Surtr's expectations of herself! She stood on the shoulder of the lava colossus, flames covering her arms, yet they did not harm her delicate skin in the slightest. They were like tamed beasts, darting about on Surtr's arms and in her hair, until Surtr's pale purple pupils, as if ignited, completely turned crimson with flames. The girl raised her arm and thrust down the dark red greatsword, which was as tall as a person!

"Leivatin!"

"Den-"

This was a savage roar, and a solemn pronouncement! Along with Surtr's voice, the lava colossus engulfed in flames beneath her feet simultaneously raised its hand. The flames coalesced and shaped in the lava colossus's hand, finally transforming into a molten blade identical to the forged greatsword in Surtr's hand. The blade was drawn, carrying immense force as it smashed towards the City Hall!

Kal'tsit, who was stunned, snapped out of her daze and immediately summoned mon3tr, shouting "Command: Defense!" to protect Frostnova and Mudrock under the Originium Beast, ensuring that they would not be affected by the exploding flames.

Only then did Ascalon, who had been protecting Kal'tsit from the sidelines, and Frostnova, who had completed her spell, truly realize the source of Surtr's pride and confidence. And what did she really mean by her pre-battle statement, "Mudrock and I are enough"?

Chapter 118 Those who harmed Theresa should be eliminated.

As the smoke cleared, the layout of the city hall had been completely altered. The once relatively intact building was now only half intact, with the first and second floors completely empty. This massive raid had clearly achieved its intended effect; the enemies lurking within had no time to react before their hideout collapsed, burying them under the rubble.

Unlike the first-floor assault team, the members of the investigation teams led by Wayne and Theresa were not on the front lines. Instead, while everyone's attention was drawn to the Patriots' charge and the thirty-meter-tall lava giant, they circled around to the back of the city hall and, with the help of the support team members Kroos, Warfarin, and Logos, entered the second floor from the outside.

Like most office floors, the second-floor corridor was filled with various offices. Surtr's lava colossus had shattered the outer wall, drawing away the unicorn troops that were originally on the second floor. Wayne was able to quickly and unimpeded investigate the situation in each room.

At this moment, he greatly envied the magic of the Reeds and Celts. They could use the burning flames of life to determine where people were and where they weren't, making it an invaluable skill for infiltrating and searching. Unfortunately, that ability was a racial trait, and Wayne couldn't imitate it.

After opening three doors only to find cold corpses inside, Wayne received a call from Theresa.

“Mr. Bruce, over here.”

Theresa stood before a door, holding a spiral-patterned longsword. The sign on the door read "Architecture Department".

"There's something inside. I can feel it, the emotion emanating from it... it's anger..."

Theresa's voice abruptly stopped. Under Wayne's questioning gaze, her pupils contracted sharply, and she shoved Wayne backward. The next second, almost brushing past him, a pair of jet-black fists shot out through the doorway, the force of the punches creating a small crater in the nearby wall. Seeing that the first strike missed, the person inside quickly withdrew their fists, then unleashed another barrage of punches, like a storm, raining down on the wall. The blows shattered the stone wall, heading straight for Wayne and Theresa outside.

After shoving Wayne to the ground, Theresa didn't have time to think. She immediately drew her sword, turned around, and raised it to try and block "Zu's" punch. Incredibly, the spiral-patterned black longsword, when facing a fist that was clearly made of flesh and blood, produced a metallic clang and a grotesque cracking sound. In just a few seconds, hundreds of punches landed, leaving a hole in the wall like a howitzer shell had breached it. The already crumbling wall finally couldn't withstand such massive destruction. After being hit by the final punch in the center, the entire corridor collapsed with a deafening roar. The collapsing ceiling kicked up dust and smoke, causing the third floor to collapse as well, burying Wayne, Theresa, and Zu, who had no time to dodge, completely.

"Cough-cough-"

Wayne was the first to react. Although he might be the weakest of the three physically, it depends on who he was being compared to; from an ordinary person's perspective, Wayne's body was definitely robust. Before the wall collapsed, he moved in time to avoid being buried under the collapsing ceiling and falling directly to the first floor. After the collapse ended, he was also the first to climb out of the rubble.

Despite having multiple cuts all over his body, Wayne didn't care. He bent down and dug out Theresa, who was not far away.

Compared to Wayne, Theresa's situation was far more dire. The Ancestor was a god renowned for his physical prowess, and even as a fragment possessing an incarnation, the power he unleashed was far beyond what Theresa, unskilled in combat, could withstand. Moreover, Theresa was caught off guard, forced to use a rapier to directly confront the god's attack. As a result, the spiral sword constructed from her spiritual energy shattered, and she didn't even have time to escape the center of the collapse.

"Both hands are injured, multiple cuts, and mental energy is severely depleted. Fortunately, he's just unconscious. Whew—"

Wayne quickly checked Theresa's injuries and breathed a sigh of relief. Most people would have been helpless in this situation, but fortunately, Wayne had no shortage of mental energy.

His pupils turned gold. Wayne, disregarding Theresa's current mental energy limit, could only estimate and cast a spell to replenish her mental strength. But time was of the essence. Just as Wayne was about to continue healing, a sound came from beneath the distant stone slab.

“Well done, Wayne Bruce. Your abilities have surprised me somewhat.”

The dark giant, rising calmly from the ruins, spoke. His deep-pool battle robe was torn in many places; being at the center of the collapse, his physical injuries were the most severe, revealing mangled skin and muscle beneath his tattered clothes. The splinters of wood and glass embedded in his skin were gruesome even to behold. But the dark giant seemed unmoved by it all. His voice was flat and mechanical, each word deliberate and unhurried as he introduced himself:

"Nice to meet you. I am Zu, the chieftain of the two-horned beast clan, a god. My purpose in coming here is to kill you."

“Now, your guards are tied up by the unicorns, and your friends and family are unconscious. I have ten minutes to kill you. Plenty of time.”

He gazed at Wayne, who was holding Theresa in his arms, and a faint, inorganic smile appeared on his face:

"Don't worry about your woman. I won't do anything to her. My only targets are you and those traitors of my people who aided and abetted the evildoers. So, now, come and fight me, or kneel down and wait to die. A long or short pain, the choice is yours."

“Ten minutes is enough for me to take you down.” Wayne didn’t say anything more, took a deep breath, and put Theresa down. He took off the ring from her hand, put it on his own, and assumed a fighting stance.

Whether it's a two-horned beast or a god, he doesn't really care.

His only thought right now was to kill the guy in front of him who had hurt Theresa.

P.S.: As a transmigrator, Jiang Lu, who acts recklessly in an attempt to activate the system, has his own set of principles for doing things.

"I stole the Romani Ring, and if the organization dares to give me credit, I'll steal their arrows!"

"The Tokyo Public Security Bureau's demon hunters are all afraid of death, so I'll kick them all to the demons one by one!"

"If the editor-in-chief of Yaedo dares to keep urging me to write, I dare to stop updating and stop writing altogether!"

"The Victory Flying Swallow No. 1 was quite comfortable to ride in, so I drove it away!"

"Rita said I stole Durandal's heart, that's definitely nonsense, otherwise why didn't the system let me ascend...wait, how did I actually ascend in broad daylight!"

"All of this has led to a rapid increase in the system's unlocking rate!"

...

All the great achievements, all the connections.

The full amount will be refunded once the chat group is opened.

Romani Archiman: I understand the logic... Look at my bare fingers, are you missing a ring?

Gojo Satoru: Oh my god! Isn't this Jiang Lu, who was posthumously awarded the rank of Special Grade? Why does he look so weak after just a few days?!

Kurumi Tokisaki: Oh my god, he inexplicably stole someone's heart (physical). What a scoundrel!

...

Jiang Lu: ...

Chapter 119 Shut up, or I'll tear you to pieces!

Spouting laughable empty words and wearing a mocking smile, the black giant seemed to have Wayne completely under his control, not even bothering to make a full-force fighting move.

The Aslan people originated in the Sargon region. Ever since the first Aslan king rallied his allies and launched the landing operation against Victoria, the throne has been firmly in the hands of the Aslan clan. The Aslan believed that they had defeated Drak and become the undisputed emperor of Victoria, but Drak and his allies never believed that they had been truly defeated.

Aslan's lifespan was shorter than Drak's, and his strength was less than Drak's. To countless people, including Drak himself, their victory was merely a coincidence, an accident caused by a multitude of factors, including the then incompetent and weak King Drak's concessions. This also meant that Victoria never lacked supporters of Drak, from corrupt nobles to a few remnants of the old regime, whose favorite pastime was to leech off Victoria's massive body while flirting with rebels and bandits.

It was probably this political climate that gave the bicorns the confidence to return to the vast stage of Victoria, to these immortals and gods who had been banished to the North and forced to coexist with demons. And Vayne, who had played a crucial role in countless events, became a thorn in their side, the biggest obstacle to their return to the Empire.

"After I kill you, I will return to Londinium, kill that vain empress, cleanse the bloodline of Aslan and the bastard offspring of the unicorn, and welcome the return of the true emperor. Victoria will enter a new era, the flag will no longer bear the emblem of the lion, and the red dragon and the unicorn will control everything. Before that, I express my gratitude for your many efforts in pacifying Victoria."

Zu became more talkative, as if he had opened a floodgate after meeting Wayne. When he expressed his gratitude, there was not a trace of emotion in his expression; his fake smile and affected words made Wayne feel nauseous.

Wayne slipped the Ten Rings onto his fingers one by one, each ring accompanied by a burning, stinging pain. These were the Ten Rings, imbued with the will of the Demon Lord, the Sarkaz's supreme beings' rejection of foreign bloodlines. The Demon Lords of each generation clearly refused to be commanded by a stranger. Wayne knew the safest method would be to obtain Theresa's bloodline and inject it into himself, becoming a chimera like Amiya. But Wayne had no intention of doing so.

The mutation of the chimera cannot be as simple as just injecting blood. Otherwise, if Theresa could just periodically draw some blood and distribute the ten rings, the Sarkaz could simultaneously possess the combat power of ten Demon Lords. If Wayne is not mistaken, according to the principle that Demon Lord magic relies on creating objects from the mind, then the key to the chimera mutation should be to strip Theresa's mind and then implant it into the body of someone else.

A cruel experiment that Loken Tank had attempted but ultimately failed at. Wayne wouldn't risk Theresa's life, so...

Now that things have come to this, since we can't open the door with the key, we have no choice but to kick it down.

Vayne transformed into a golden light, the overflowing Originium Arts radiating a glow that even coalesced into a ethereal, almost tangible thread at the corner of his eye. Simultaneously, with the full release of his spiritual power, the Ten Rings on Vayne's fingers began to flash with an astonishing red light. This was the limiter of the [Demon Lord]. Each Sarkaz king had entrusted their will to the rings, leaving behind astonishing spells, and their thoughts were also deeply embedded within the Ten Rings. Each time the seal of a ring was broken, the will contained within would be released, becoming part of the current Demon Lord along with the spells.

Willpower is aggressive. Whether the previous Demon Kings were willing or not, their will would have an irreversible impact on the current Demon Kings, subtly changing their thoughts and habits. Theoretically, no Demon King could bear the cost of opening the Ten Commandments at the same time, unless they were willing to "sacrifice themselves".

But Wayne was unaware of this hidden danger, and even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared.

Even if it were just the combined will of ten people, what difference would it make? Could it shake Wayne's will even slightly?

Wayne raised his head, looked at the indifferent-faced god not far away, and revealed a disdainful smile.

"First of all, Queen Victoria is not just a figurehead. Vina has been working hard and she is now a qualified monarch. At least in my eyes, she is more qualified than most monarchs of Terra."

"Secondly, there is only one true emperor, and that is me, Wayne Bruce. My position remains secure."

"Finally, what made you have the illusion that you've already beaten me?"

Villains die from talking too much; it seems you don't understand this principle at all.

Wayne raised his right hand, the ring on his index finger emitting a dazzling light before suddenly exploding into countless golden rays that converged in his hand. The Originium Arts of the Demon King, forced into operation by the relentless and unrestrained mental power, began to take effect. Unlike Theresa's pure white or Amiya's chaotic black and red, Wayne's spell displayed a bright, sun-like gold. The power of weaving and constructing swirled in mid-air, and behind him, the mysterious rhombus symbol representing Originium, which had been witnessed by the Northern Plains Demon, appeared as a tangible tombstone.

Recorded as the weapon of Quiron, the most valiant and warlike king of Sarkaz, the blue flames transformed into a heavy icy sword with an ice-blue exterior.

This is an extremely cold masterpiece, so exquisite that even the most outstanding swordsmiths of Longquan in the Great Yan Dynasty had to marvel at the ingenuity of the forger in creating this sword. The wielder of this sword has their thoughts magnified within it, their soul reborn from depravity; the one who wields it will be swept away by an unstoppable flood of sorrow, leading only to destruction. It is as light as a feather, as cold as ice, approximately five feet two inches long, and weighs about 3 kilograms. The blade reflects the arrogant phantom of a distant god, the reflection positioned precisely at the god's neck, slicing him cleanly in two.

This sword has a beautiful name in another world—Frostmourne.

A prince, leading a scourge of the dead and nearly flattening the entire land, wields a sword inhabited by a fallen soul, harboring ambitions to ascend the Frozen Throne. In its conquests, countless heroes fall, countless kingdoms crumble, and even the protection of the gods cannot escape its wrath.

Wien, sword in hand, walked step by step toward the giant of the two-horned beast.

"Oh? Instead of running away, you're walking towards me?"

"Hehe. Haha, let's go then!"

Zu raised his arm, a storm of punches about to land. Wayne abruptly raised his head, his golden pupils staring directly at the god:

"Shut up, or I'll tear you to pieces!"

Chapter 120 How could anyone possibly dismember a god!

The first King Aslan possessed a unique Originium Arts called "Heavenly Mandate," which he used to select a group of powerful and loyal subordinates, thus successfully completing an expedition from Sargon to Victoria. From then on, Heavenly Mandate became the symbol of Aslan's imperial power, and as a bloodline power, it was passed down in the bodies of every Aslan.

Wayne awakened to the Mandate of Heaven, and the King of the North, by chance, gained the approval of Reed. He was willing to instigate a rebellion to place Wayne on the throne because he knew that once Wayne displayed his magic, coupled with the approval and support of the Daughter of Drak, he would be the most legitimate emperor in Victoria's history, regardless of the source of his throne. Therefore, rather than letting Wayne, who had no interest in power, waste the power of the Mandate of Heaven in the future, the King of the North decided to personally pass the throne to Wayne.

But he clearly hadn't anticipated that the changing times had subtly influenced the ancient empire of Victoria. From the already-extinct Gaul, and spreading through the flourishing Colombia, the idea that a monarch was not a necessity for a nation had already taken hold across Terra. The days of ruling the land solely through divine pronouncements and the bloodline of being born king were gone; to secure the throne, one needed to be the king of the people.

The King of the North's obstinacy in not understanding this rule might ultimately lead to an even greater tragedy.

Undeniably, the King of the North was not alone in failing to grasp the changing times and shifting rules. Ancestor was one of them. The alliance between the unicorns and Drak suffered a crushing defeat against Aslan. Ancestor, as a god, had been researching methods to counter Aslan's trump card, the "Heavenly Mandate." Modern technology provided him with immense inspiration—thanks to the Ursus Imperial Academy of Sciences, the research base where Kal'tsit once served. During the golden age of the Ursus Empire, it produced countless groundbreaking inventions; or rather, it was the Academy's boundless imagination and tireless innovative research that led Ursus into that golden age.

During the Ursus-Laetania War, Emperor Uman the Great of the Ursus Empire, in order to counter Laetania, known as the "Land of Mages," ordered the Imperial Academy of Sciences to develop a weapon capable of large-scale countering of Originium Arts. This was not the first attempt in history; many ancient and now-vanished empires had tried to create such weapons, but all had failed. As the foundation of Originium technology, Originium Arts, transmitted and reacted upon by Originium, would undoubtedly hold the lifeblood of all nations in its grasp if it could be countered.

However, Ursus succeeded, at least to a certain extent.