I want to be a faded person for life

"Then let's go back to the Church of Eile."

Melina was a little surprised. She had thought that the Faded One would rush to the city lord's tower to challenge Greg without saying a word.

Seeing the doubt on her face, Xiangzi explained.

"I definitely can't defeat Greg in my current state. I need a day to let Pumpkinhead and Wolf's spirits recover—this way of calling them names is too troublesome. I should have given them names a long time ago. I'll do it when this is over."

The girl felt that she had come up with some particularly good names.

"I'll use this time to get stronger. I've accumulated quite a bit of runes from the outer wall of Stonewell to here."

Xiangzi saw the Band-Aid in the palm of her hand again. The girl's expression almost collapsed for a moment, but she finally maintained her composure.

She tore off the protective film on the Band-Aid and put it on the side of her face.

The penguin Band-Aid will be blessed and recorded as a part of the girl's body. Even after she dies and walks out of the blessed light, it will continue to remain on Xiangzi's face.

That way, it will never be lost.

"Melina, help me transform the runes into magic power. Leave a portion for me this time—about one-fifth will be enough."

-

Without rushing to hand over the remains of the Pupa Group to Roderica, Xiangzi used the blessing to return to the Church of Eile directly.

He replenished the necessary supplies from Kale and, following his advice, re-enchanted the King's Straight Sword.

It is said that the cold attribute enchantment can slow down the enemy's movement speed to a certain extent, and may be of some use when facing an opponent with a huge difference in strength.

After bidding farewell to Kale, Xiangzi rode his torrent to a place he had not been to for a long time.

"Teacher Se Lian"

In the basement of the Post Street ruins.

The witch wearing the plaster helmet put down the parchment book in her hand.

"Ah, it seems like it's been a while since we last met, perverted disciple."

Unlike what Se Lian had imagined, Xiangzi simply bowed as a disciple, then walked directly into the basement, brought over a chair and sat in front of her.

Not seeing any embarrassment on Xiangzi's face, the witch complained a little disappointedly.

"You're not cute anymore, what happened?"

Se Lian bent down and stroked the two tiny grains on Xiangzi's cheek with his hand.

"It finally worked... Let's talk to your lonely teacher about what's been going on lately."

Xiangzi's nose felt a little sour, and the warmth of the witch's hand reminded her of her long-passed mother.

But she quickly suppressed the slight bit of cowardice that had been revealed and spoke calmly.

......

After hearing the story, Seren put his hand on the hooded man's chin.

"Um...Grek, Grek—that old, ugly demigod."

"I really want to help you, but unfortunately... my body isn't here. I can't leave this basement in my current state."

Xiangzi was stunned for a moment, unable to understand what Se Lian said.

"Why isn't your body here?"

The body temperature I felt just now was not fake, and Seren's condition was different from that of spirits like Melina or Kulala.

"This is the magician's method. My true form, the Source Stone, is now imprisoned. I can only find a way to continue my magical research in this form."

Selian tilted his head to one side, but the heavy hood made this otherwise endearing gesture seem top-heavy.

"Have you felt the wonder of magic? Although I can't perform any magic, I can still teach you some new magic."

"Although I used some tricks, your life has become closer to the essence of the starry sky than the last time we met, so shall we begin the class now?"

The witch stopped joking and became serious. In this state, Se Lian exuded an extremely dangerous aura.

"I will teach you—the so-called demigods are not invincible."

Chapter 33: The Eternal Doll Chasing Haruhi

A day later, Shoko Toyokawa returned to the chapel in Stonevale through blessing.

The shortest route to the City Lord's Tower is directly through the banquet hall from here.

Considering that he had just killed a limb-transplanting noble here not long ago, it might be dangerous to rashly enter the banquet hall now.

but......

"It's still a little too quiet."

Xiangzi observed the surrounding environment and saw only crows circling in the sky of the city.

He had burned the wine cellar and tower a day before and killed a noble in the city.

But there was no sign of martial law in Stonewell. There were no patrolling soldiers on the city walls, and the expected situation of being surrounded as soon as they emerged from the blessing point did not happen.

Even the body of the Lost Home Knight was still lying in the same place without moving. No one was collecting the body, and there was no sign of the zombie standing up and moving again.

Xiangzi stopped in front of the knight's body for a moment and used the power of blessing to collect the other's broken armor and weapons.

The knight's full set of plate armor is well-made, but unfortunately it is a bit too heavy.

"Where have all the people in the city gone?"

With such doubts, she decided to check the situation in the banquet hall first.

Leaning against the wall outside the banquet hall, Xiangzi heard people whispering.

"...It's useless... This one too... This one is just as dry."

Xiangzi frowned, she recognized the voice.

—It was the registrar.

She quietly entered the room and made sure she was not discovered this time.

"...After all, he's not a presentable guy."

The girl hid behind the railing of the second-floor wooden platform and looked sideways down.

The eerie registrar was rummaging through hundreds of remains, including the body of a limb-jointed noble that had been split in two vertically.

"...He was killed here. It seems Greg has very poor judgment."

He suddenly smacked his lips in dissatisfaction.

"Oh, this one is too thin, almost like the one on the imp... It's a pity that the fader was let go."

"Even though she's just a brat, her arms should be good enough..."

Suddenly, two long swords came from behind like scissors and strangled his neck.

"Alas!"

The registrar was so frightened that he trembled all over and subconsciously tried to stand up from the ground.

"Do not move."

A girl's cold voice came from behind him, and the two swords around his neck suddenly emitted a blue-green fluorescence.

This is one of the two magics taught by Seren. [Magic Weapon] can add a magical effect to weapons or shields, increasing the strength of the weapons.

"Even if your body is stronger than the average person, I can still chop off your head in an instant...would you like to give it a try?"

The registrar remained in this half-rising posture, not daring to move.

Cold sweat dripped from his upturned forehead and froze into ice on the edge of the sword.

"It's... it's you! I was really scared, don't be so scary."

"Hey, listen to me, there might be a misunderstanding between us."

Xiangzi sneered.

"Huh, what misunderstanding?"

The registrar's voice became a little sharp as he tried desperately to think of how to explain it.

"I, I'm not doing anything, I'm just cleaning up the bodies."

"Think about it, if we leave it alone, it's going to smell really bad... Oh, it's okay, don't worry about it, because cleaning up is my job."

The sword edge tightened inwards a little, and had already shallowly cut the guard's pale skin.

"When did you change from a registrar to a cleaner? Didn't you just say it was a pity to let me go and that you wanted to graft my arm onto yours?"

"Hey, did you hear that!?"

The voice of the little devil behind him was terribly cold. The body of the noble, which had been cut into two pieces vertically, lay beside him. The registrar had no doubt at all that the other party could easily cut off his head.

"No, no, don't do it—I can help you, yes, I can help you find Greg!"

"You Faded Ones entered Stonevale just to kill him, right?"

"All of Stonewell's remaining soldiers are guarding the city's tower. It's impossible for you to charge in head-on. But I know a small path!"

In order to survive, the guard spoke this long sentence almost in one breath, throwing out all his chips.

His cloudy eyes rolled in their sockets, and then met the girl's empty, glassy eyes.

The huge fear made him tremble all over. The last person who frightened him so much was the mysterious wizard who appeared on the outer city wall, although he had now turned into wreckage.

"So who are you, anyway? You can use the limb-reattaching ritual, and you know so much about the city—you're not just an ordinary gatekeeper, are you?"

Under great fear, the registrar dared not hide anything.

"My name is... my name is Gotok, son of Gorek."

Xiangzi raised his eyebrows, feeling a little bit unbelievable about this answer.

"You said you were Greg's son?"

"Yes, I am the son of that damn slug!"

An expression of resentment appeared on Gotok's face.

"How dare he demean me, demean the arm I offered—saying I wasn't worthy of being used in a limb graft."

"I...I hate him, Greg, damn weak king!"

The feeling of resentment was quickly replaced by fear.

"So...there's no direct conflict between us, right? It was just a small misunderstanding before, and I didn't actually cause you any harm."

"you're right."

"That--?"

Surprise flashed in Gotok's eyes, and then remained fixed on that expression forever.

Xiangzi slashed with his swords, and the guard's head flew up into the sky, then fell to the ground and rolled several times like a ball, facing up.

His headless body swayed a few times and fell to the ground, mixing with other debris.

"But I've made you into ashes—and you'll have to lead the way just the same."

Xiangzi shook off the blood on the sword blade and returned them to the scabbard in a cross-shaped manner.

She trembled as she picked up the thin arm that Gotok had thrown away from the ground, an expression of extreme sadness appearing on her face.

The girl held it tightly in her arms and pressed her face against it, but the severed hand had already lost all its warmth, and even her body temperature could not warm it up again.

After a few seconds, Xiangzi wrapped up his severed hand and wiped the corner of his eyes vigorously.

No despair, no stopping.

"Wait for me, I will restore the Golden Rule—and become the King of Elden."

What are the chances of success, one in a hundred thousand, one in a million, or one in a billion?

Even if hope only exists at the end of infinity, it is enough for her.

Melina appeared behind the girl and sighed softly.

"You finally made up your mind."