Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

So he paused for a moment and said, "Theo, you know I'm not a picky eater, and besides, humans are omnivores."

Elliott and Theo shuddered, feeling as if the problem had returned to square one.

"Wait, animals have other hobbies too. For example, dragons love treasure and can't resist money." Theo had another new idea.

Without further ado, Theo pulled out a gold flower, two silver snakes, and a dozen copper coins from his pocket, and presented them to Aaron, asking, "Would you like them?"

“I want it.” Aaron took the coins from Theo and put them in his pocket. Theo paused, then turned to Elliot and said, “Is he a dragon?”

"Whether he's a dragon or not, I can't say for sure, but you're definitely an idiot," Elliott sighed.

"Well, if you want to know the exact answer, you should ask the people at the Church of Nature. They have experts in spirit beasts, so they should know the answer."

“But if the people from the Church of Nature find out that we can’t even answer such a simple question, they’ll definitely laugh at us,” Theo said, somewhat displeased.

“There’s nothing we can do about being laughed at. Aaron’s matter is more important. Let’s go ask them. They might need to examine Aaron’s physical and spiritual health. They’ll be closed by the time we get there,” Elliott said helplessly.

Upon hearing that he needed to have his physical and spiritual health checked, Aaron immediately said, "I don't think we need to bother the people from the Church of Nature."

"But……"

“Mr. Elliott, could you get me a mirror? I want to see what’s changed in my eyes,” Aaron said.

Elliott borrowed a mirror from the church and handed it to him. Aaron looked at himself in the mirror and saw that his face was still the same, but the difference was that his signature black eyes had disappeared and been replaced by double eyes that seemed to hide flames.

The moment Aaron saw those pupils, he thought of the snake's eyes again, and his body reacted violently for a moment, but he restrained himself, handed the mirror back to Elliott, and said, "I understand now, thank you, Mr. Elliott."

"You're welcome..." Elliott took the mirror, sensing that Aaron's condition was a bit strange.

Then Aaron said in a curt tone, "It's getting late, I'll head back now."

"Oh, okay... then see you tomorrow."

Before Elliott could finish speaking, Aaron had already turned around and walked straight out of the church. His movements were stiff, but his speed was unusually fast, making it look like he was running away.

Elliott was somewhat worried. Although the priest said the blessing had gone very well and there shouldn't be any problems, Aaron's behavior was rather unusual.

For example, Aaron did not change his posture from beginning to end, and when he left, his body posture did not change either; he simply lifted his foot and made the walking motion.

“Elliott,” Theo suddenly called out to him.

"What's wrong?" Elliott turned his head.

"Aaron is gone, what are we going to do with all this food?" Theo asked, pointing to the large platters of food surrounding them, his face serious.

Elliott: "…………"

*

On the streets of Birmingham, a man suddenly stumbled into the crowd, running wildly through the streets. He didn't apologize when he bumped into people, he just kept running away. The people on the street saw him as if they were seeing a madman.

That's Aaron.

Only Aaron knew what he had gone through. Running out of the school had exhausted all his strength. He could only try his best to suppress his screams, but he couldn't stop the increasingly outrageous hallucinations in his mind.

Chapter 171 The Truth

The hallucinations that had blessed him did not disappear; instead, they became more severe. A flood of unfamiliar images rushed into his mind. Some were the terrible hallucinations he had experienced during the blessing, while others were like real and terrifying memories. The details in those memories were so real and terrifying that they almost made his whole world tremble, and he was desperately trying to escape.

No matter where he ran, it was no use; the hallucinations continued to haunt him. Images from countless past experiences flashed through his mind, and he felt as if he had become completely insane. A sense of rejection permeated his entire body. Every ray of light on the street was blindingly bright, like lightning; every touch felt like sharp, rusty thorns; every shrill sound seemed to pierce his eardrums. He felt intense discomfort, a profound unease with this world. Where was he truly suited? Hell?!

He felt that the sensation the snake had given him hadn't disappeared. It was as if he had transformed into the snake, and something terrifying was growing on his body. No matter how much he scratched or clawed, it was no use. He felt as if he had transformed into a tree, and his back seemed to be covered with scales and moss. It was as if countless branches and leaves were breaking through his skin. Those things were growing uncontrollably on his body, as if they were going to grow into a towering tree. He couldn't imagine what others would see of him. He was simply a complete monster.

But what was even more terrifying were the memories that surfaced in his mind. He could no longer distinguish between illusion and reality, or where he was. He felt as if he were plummeting from heaven to hell, and then crashing from hell into the depths of the earth's crust. He felt as if he were in a hallucination one moment and in reality the next. He even felt as if he were in the sky. When he came to his senses, he found himself stumbling back to the campus, with the university's victory monument standing beside him.

That was a memorial wall commemorating those who died in the war, engraved with their names and ranks. Did I kill them? Are they related to me? Aaron jerked his hand back as if electrocuted, because he was suddenly horrified to see the blood seeping from the memorial. The black blood seeped into the gaps between his fingers. He desperately shook his hand to get rid of the blood, and the faces of the people he had killed in that war suddenly flashed into his mind, clearer than ever before!

Aaron fled in terror. Eventually, someone noticed him and stopped to call out to him. But in Aaron's eyes, his face overlapped with the faces of the dead. Countless forgotten faces flashed back into his mind like a revolving lantern, as if they had come back to life. He could recall every tone and sound of their voices.

He had gone completely mad. Every place he went reminded him of something, and every object he touched triggered something. The airplane monument outside the engineering school reminded him of a terrifying humanoid figure, and he could clearly remember the texture on its body. The rows of dusty scrolls in the library reminded him of a mad king sitting on his throne. Suddenly, all the chaotic and unconnected things in his mind, all the details he couldn't remember, turned into a huge and terrifying image: on the throne, a king who was willing to burn the world to ashes was roaring.

Unwittingly, he stumbled into a gloomy church. The church was extremely dilapidated, and terrifying statues sat on the altar looking down at him, yet he felt that this was the only safe place.

"Imagine a king who possesses an omniscient book and wields almost the greatest power in the world, yet he's willing to wage war and commit such insane acts to obtain something. What could it be?"

Despite the image of the Mad King, Professor Elwood's voice echoed in his mind, a deafening voice that seemed poised to deliver the final blow to his world.

"It can only be something equivalent to the Book of Omniscience."

He stopped, and the world finally collapsed completely.

Aaron knelt on the ground, clutching one of his hands. Pain and hallucinations had reached their peak. He barely managed to lift one eye from his arm and stared with fear at his hand, which could no longer be called human.

Yes, that hand no longer belonged to him. It wasn't an illusion. He watched as moss-like black scales grew on that hand, spreading all over his body. And below his wrist, it had transformed into a black claw that looked like a demon.

Is this the consequence of receiving a blessing? Due to the negative effects of choosing two blessings, uncontrolled power grew wildly within his body, turning him into a monster.

The reality was already so terrifying, but the horrific memories still lingered in his mind. The intense pain was like a sharp axe splitting open his brain, as if forcing him to recall them.

It was no longer a memory of the blessing; he had returned to that place, but this time the battlefield was different from what he had imagined—a scene he had never seen before.

The world was ablaze, the city was a scene of ruins and flames, a third of the city was destroyed, countless plumes of smoke spread through the city, and even the sky was shrouded in mist.

This city, once a dream of the Lucerne people, is now engulfed in flames. The city that once held the dreams of the Lucerne people is now ablaze with fire. This place, which carried the dreams of the Lucerne people, had a brilliant history, and was hailed as a temple of art, has now been replaced by vast stretches of black ruins. Everywhere you look, there are terrifying sounds, and the black smoke that cannot be dispelled fills the sky of the entire fashion capital.

The man in the black robe kicked aside the log in front of him, then raised his foot, sword in hand, and stepped onto the burning stake. He gazed intently at the ravaged world under the setting sun and murmured, "How will this city be rebuilt?"

His tattered black robe was mixed with mud and blood, and a nicked sword lay beside him, its blade still covered with a black liquid that was hard to tell whether it was blood or oil. Yet, when the wind blew, a smile appeared on his face.

Someone behind him looked at him in surprise.

Behind him were war survivors, their bodies battered and bruised, some still severely wounded, limbs severed and eyesight lost everywhere. Yet, their faces showed little sorrow; instead, some wore bitter smiles upon hearing his words.

Because they won.

They won the war.

They stand here, even though the city behind them is half-destroyed; the fruits of their victory will ultimately belong to them.

This should have been an incredibly glorious story, but Aaron's perspective suddenly shifted, as if what had already happened was inevitable. The perspective on the ground no longer focused on the man named Aaron, but began to delve deeper underground. Then it turned around and looked at the entire sky.

It had been lying dormant underground, absorbing enough nutrients to awaken. Its recent gaze was merely a passing fancy, for it was observing its host, the ultimate victor.

Finally, something awakened on the surface of the earth. The nourishment of war had awakened it. It was like a monster that had been starving for a long time, and the first thing it wanted to eat after waking up was the whole world.

Countless whirlpools began to appear on the sand. The wounded people were unaware of this, but the whirlpools grew larger and denser. They were still dreaming, but at this moment they were like a small boat on a vast sea, with terrifying monsters appearing beneath them, yet they were completely oblivious.

And so everything was frozen in that moment forever.

The enormous vortex transformed into a gigantic maw that swallowed the world, opening wide to engulf everyone on the ground. The last person swallowed remained staring blankly at the narrow sky, while his ears were inevitably filled with a voice, a consciousness, or perhaps a divine revelation.

At that time, he did not understand the meaning of this divine revelation. It was not until many years later that he understood the significance of this moment. He understood that this was a trial, and even war was part of this trial. The ultimate victor was neither the Mad King nor the kingdoms of the Seven Kingdoms. The only victor of the trial could only be the one who survived to the end on the battlefield.

Its ancient name had inevitably reached his ears.

In Chernobog, it is the "Night Demon"; in Linde Island, it is the "Stranger"; in Orange, it is the "Lion of the Night".

At this moment, it transformed into an invisible giant maw on the earth, announcing its return to the world with a grand gesture of devouring the world.

Years later, when that enormous maw shrank countless times and appeared on Aaron's wrist, Aaron, who had experienced all of this, finally went completely insane.

Aaron looked at the world-devouring symbol on his wrist and finally understood everything.

The next moment, Aaron's face slammed heavily to the ground, his pupils became extremely bright, and blood light almost burst out of his eye sockets.

He let out a painful roar, the power within him completely spiraled out of control, his face became terrifying and ferocious, and something horrific struggled to burst out of his body.

That wasn't his imagination. The moment the dark symbol appeared on his wrist, countless violent branches burst forth from his back, as if a mad and terrifying monster was lurking within him. At that moment, those things were trampling his body like rags under their feet, crushing even his soul.

He couldn't control that power at all; the crazy changes behind him were unstoppable, and he could only let that power dance wildly within his body.

Seconds later, on the church screen wall, the person who had just been wailing in pain on the ground had now grown into a terrifying monster. As Aaron roared, it also roared in the church, with violent branches constantly bursting out of its body, as if even its bones were being pulled out. Then it expanded several times its original size, turning into tentacle-like spikes, dancing wildly in the church like a monster from the sea.

It was clearly mindless; madness was its only will. It roared and trampled on the ground, as if a demon had been reborn on earth. A groove grew on the top of the branch, and the head was the only part left to be fully formed.

This is a terrifying sight. If this were the climax of a play, its interlude title would be "The Birth of the Monster." At this moment, the most terrifying monster in the world may have been born.

But at this terrifying moment, whistles and jingling bells rang out from inside the church.

It was a bizarre sight. Aaron had regained some of his senses because of the whistle, but he was still powerless to resist and could only watch the monster grow. With his last remaining sanity, he saw a person walking towards him through his narrow vision.

She whistled softly, the bells on her body jingling, creating a scene that was both eerie and elegant.

Following his instincts, Aaron tried hard to see the person walking towards him, but his view seemed to be blocked, and he could only see the other person's lower body.

He strained to look up, but could only see a pair of feet, and above that, a pair of straight legs.

She hummed a song, her dress hem light and thin, her smooth, jade-like feet stepping carelessly on the bloodstains on the ground, letting the blood splatter onto her legs and stain her heels red.

It was a horrifying sight, but none of it diminished her allure. Even though Aaron couldn't see her face, he could almost picture it from her flawless feet... Her feet were dripping with crimson liquid, and they seemed so tender they could drip water. The blood was his blood. Instead of lessening her allure, the liquid fueled her almost manic fervor.

At this moment, he had almost been assimilated by the monster, his heart filled with violent desires and a thirst for killing. Although he could not see himself, he had probably become the ugliest and most terrifying monster in the world. No one would dare to approach him at this time, and even the person who loved him the most would scream and run away.

But the girl was an exception. Her slender feet stopped in front of him, and then, like a shy girl, she stood on her tiptoes as if she wanted to kiss him.

They finally embraced, the grand drama came to an end. Amidst the raging instincts and the veil of the world's shadows, the sounds of muscles tearing and bones being severed, the monstrous roars of monsters, and the girl's joyful laughter alternated, presenting the final chapter of the grand drama.

In the afternoon, the air was scorching hot, and the unobstructed sunlight shone down on him through the cracks in the ruins.

The afternoon temperature was very high, and the sunlight in the air had a dazzling quality. In this afternoon, when the air was so hot that it was almost blurry, a person lay half-naked on the ground.

Only his trousers were intact; the rest of his body was covered in tattered cloth, and one could vaguely tell from the connecting parts that the shirt had been a complete shirt when he was alive.

It's hard to imagine what exactly happened. It's like the shirt rolled around on a roller, but what's even more surprising is that the rag is still on him, yet the skin exposed from it is as smooth as if it were new, and it glows red in the sunlight.

When the sunlight finally fell on his face, he finally woke up. He got up from the ground like a walking corpse, his eyes glazed over, his face unshaven, and the sunlight in the church was so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.

Chapter 172 Buying a Knife

He followed his instincts and walked out of the church, not forgetting to tuck his coat into his hand. If he had noticed, he would have seen that what was a church yesterday was now a ruin. The building had been completely destroyed, and the ground was covered with exaggerated scratches. Huge stones had been cut into pieces with smooth, mirror-like surfaces, scattered throughout the church like an ancient pile of rubble.

But Aaron wasn't thinking about any of that at the moment. He was still in a daze, with only one thought in his mind: to get to a place where there were people.

He went outside wearing his coat and walked for a long time in the drowsy sunlight. Aaron's body finally began to recover. At this point, he found that he was not only dizzy and lightheaded, but also extremely thirsty, as if he could swallow a whole cow.

Aaron stopped and looked around. He realized he had just entered the town's commercial street. There was a coffee shop on his left, and right next to him was a beef restaurant. Customers in the window were eating beef with pickled onions and cheese. Seeing how much he was enjoying his meal, Aaron's stomach started to protest loudly again.

*

Half an hour later, the restaurant door slammed open, and Aaron walked out, burping and letting out a heavy sigh. His stomach had been rumbling when he went in, but it looked much bigger when he came out.

Even his clothes were brand new. He paid the shop assistant to change them for him. The shirt looked like it belonged to the assistant; it was a bit old, but it was very clean and fit him perfectly.

Now that he was full and satisfied, he felt quite relaxed. If he hadn't remembered that he had important things to do today, he would have gone to the coffee shop across from the restaurant to sit for a while, leisurely enjoy his coffee, admire the scenery outside the street, and then have some snacks when he felt hungry.