Elden Clergyman

So, despite completely misunderstanding each other, the two reached a consensus.

Edgar began to gather the remaining subhuman forces nearby in the name of Lord and Burke, and Lord also returned to Lake Lienia and started his exploration journey again.

What happened next can be simply summarized in one word.

"kill!"

After wandering around for an unknown amount of time and chopping off countless things, when he felt the long fangs of the hound in his hand were starting to curl, Lord finally saw someone who didn't attack him the moment he saw him.

She was a blonde girl with a hunched back and a strange look.

"Hey there, please come over here..."

After taking the initiative to call Lord over, the blonde girl spoke slowly.

"Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Laya. I'm traveling on my master's orders, but I was attacked by hooligans and I'm worried."

"Can I ask you a favor? The gangster I mentioned earlier stole my precious necklace. I'd like you to get it back. Of course, I'll give him a proper reward."

"However, he is a Faded One like you. If you are unwilling to fight your compatriots, I will not force you..."

Oh, branch line.

Lord nodded, agreed to her request, and then followed the location she pointed to, ready to go over and help her get the necklace back.

But before he had taken a few steps, the blue sky suddenly fell down, revealing a piece of crab claw in front of him.

"Look at this."

That was the claw of a big crab that Lord had killed before. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary crab claw, but after being chopped off, the "pyroxene" inside was exposed.

It was the same as the one on the Asian people in the cave before, as if pyroxene had grown out of flesh and blood.

"What's wrong with this?"

Although he had taken Teacher Serlian's basic pyroxene class and had been taught a lot of magic-related knowledge by various people later, Lord really didn't know what was wrong with this thing.

Because in his understanding, it is normal for magic crystals to grow from the bodies of humans and various creatures, and it would be strange if they didn't grow.

"That's a huge problem."

After spending some time together, Reina got used to his lack of clarity and explained.

"'So-called pyroxene is amber formed from stars'—this is what's written on the first page of the academy's pyroxene magic basics textbook."

"Even the most insane Origin Mages can only transform a part of themselves into pyroxene to peek into the power of the stars."

"But now, even this brainless crab has pyroxene growing in its body—do you understand what this means?"

And in fact, it wasn't just the crabs. Many monsters Lord had killed before had traces of pyroxene growing on their bodies. It was just that he was used to killing monsters covered with soul crystals, so he thought it was normal and didn't pay much attention to it.

And now, after Reina took the initiative to point this out, he...

"not understand."

He still didn't understand.

"Anyway, something happened, right?"

"You-forget it."

Reina took a deep breath and said, "Then let me put it more simply. I need your help. Take me to the academy. I want to find out what happened."

Although she could go there by herself and had some confidence in her own abilities, the situation was unclear now and it would always be good to have more help.

And you can also warm yourself by the fire on the way.

"Yeah, okay, we'll leave once we get the necklace."

Lord did not refuse. After all, he was originally planning to go to the academy to get the Great Rune, and it was a good opportunity to complete the side quest on the way.

During the conversation, Lord also arrived at the wooden house that Laya pointed out to him, and saw the "rogue" she mentioned.

But the gangster was not sitting there leisurely eating boiled shrimps as Laya said, but was fleeing in a panic.

Because behind him, there was a lobster that was even bigger than the green-shelled lobster Lord had seen before, with crystals growing all over its back, and it was attacking him.

The moment Lord saw the lobster clearly, his eyes widened.

"Fuck, Porsche lobster!"

Yes, what is growing on the lobster's back is not pyroxene crystals.

It was a mixture of soul and pyroxene that Lord was very familiar with.

Gem crystallization.

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Chapter 40: Why are you yelling so loudly?

It was a lobster, a very big lobster.

It is about five meters tall, and its two claws are bigger than Lord himself.

The whole body is cyan, and the translucent shell is covered with cyan crystals made of soul and pyroxene. Under the shell is a semi-crystallized body with blue liquid magic flowing inside.

There is no need to get close or engage in battle. Even if you just watch from a distance, you can realize that it is powerful enough to kill a dragon.

As for why it is to kill the dragon?

That's because there was a giant dragon corpse next to it, whose neck was obviously broken by the shrimp claws.

And it was obvious from looking at the dragon's corpse and the traces of battle beside it that the 'rogue' in front of him was not the first target of the big shrimp. It was just that the two giant beasts happened to pass by here when they were fighting, and then affected him.

As for how strong this lobster is...

When the shrimp claws swing, in addition to hitting people normally, they will also swing out a half-human-sized pyroxene arc, which will cut the gangster's house in half.

When the huge force hits the ground, in addition to the vibration of the ground, a short-lived pool of magic power will be formed on the ground, which will explode after a period of time after the impact.

As for the most famous one, which is even bigger than a sniper rifle, the high-pressure water gun that sprays out from its mouth, although it does not turn into a destructive beam of light that penetrates everything like Soul Torrent (Dark Souls Azrael), it has become a pyroxene light cannon with less power but more disgusting, and with a little tracking effect after being fired.

Add to that the leaping and slamming, the fierce shrimp wagging its tail, and the shrimp cart that curls up into a ball like a "No, buddy" shape and rolls all over the ground...

This is no longer an ordinary monster. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the strongest shrimp in the current French Ring.

Look at the shrimp claws raised high, and the look in the eyes of the little black shrimp with its head tilted to the side. Everything seems to be saying, you are the challenger.

So, facing this extremely powerful shrimp, Lord's choice is -

"This large crystal shrimp meat is different. This big meat is indeed good. The meat is good, chewy and tasty. It is juicy and not crumbly. It tastes really good."

As he spoke, Lord handed the fist-sized piece of shrimp meat in his hand to Melina's mouth.

"Would you like some too?"

Melina hesitated for a moment, looked at the shrimp in front of her, and after a moment of silence, lowered her head and took a small bite.

"Indeed... not bad."

Melina commented.

"Hey, hey, give me some too."

Seeing that Melina said it was delicious, the blue-skinned monster jumped out and took a plate of shrimp from Lord's hand. However, he ate too quickly and got burned, so he hissed and stuck out his little blue tongue.

"Anyone who likes shrimp is definitely not a bad person. I think we can get along well."

He had already been rescued by Lord, and now seeing that Lord liked to eat shrimps as much as he did, the gangster's impression of him instantly rose from a stranger to a close friend. Not only did he help to deal with the body of the crystal shrimp, he also cooked a large pot of his treasured shrimps as a thank you gift to Lord.

After eating the shrimp, Lord also talked to the other party about Laya and the necklace.

"Oh, you mean that woman? That woman is weird. She ate the shrimp and didn't want to pay. So I must get something..."

"Besides, she eats a lot. I only asked her for a necklace, which is already very cheap..."

"Well, that's okay, at least she didn't die on the roadside..."

After talking about Laya, the rogue also talked to Lord about himself.

"You are also a faded one, right? Then can you see it? I can't see the guidance of that blessing at all."

"Speaking of which, the fact that a small-time hoodlum like me came here just for guidance is ridiculous in itself."

"If you can't arrange these things, you'll be doomed long ago—I mean, that golden tree."

After eating shrimp and chatting, the gangster didn't take Rune and gave the necklace directly to Lord. After Lord got it, he went back and gave it to the strange blonde girl.

"Here, your necklace."

After taking the necklace, Laya looked at it in her hand, her eyes gradually brightening.

"Yes, this is indeed my necklace that was stolen. Thank you, you are my benefactor."

As she spoke, she raised her head and looked at Lord.

"Oh, by the way, I haven't told you my identity yet, right?"

"Then please allow me to introduce myself again. I am Laya, serving the master of the Volcano Residence, Lady Tanis."

"Inviting those with heroic potential to the official residence is my duty as a recruiter."

"You are strong, and this doesn't just mean you are good at fighting. You also have a strong heart, and you are brave enough to face off against your compatriots."

"These are the qualities my master desires. Please accept this."

[Receive the 'Invitation to the Volcano Residence']

Volcano Residence?

Looking at the words on the letter, Lord recalled and then remembered that when he was chatting with Baizhi before, the other party seemed to have mentioned this name.

However, because he blurted out a bunch of random things at the time, he didn't have time to ask in detail.

Let’s go back and ask him.

As for why you didn’t ask Laya on the spot?

How should I put it...

Looking at the blonde girl in front of him who was hunched over and speaking incoherently, Lord realized what the gangster meant when he said "that woman is weird".

Because Laya gives people a very strange feeling.

From appearance, to actions, to tone and expression, it all gave people a sense of incongruity, as if they were not talking to a "human".

And if I think about it carefully, when we were chatting before, Brother Kale also mentioned that he had met a very strange-looking girl before. She looked dull, spoke slowly, and even had a vague idea of paying for things. Maybe she was...

"Ah, it's almost time. If I don't go back, Lady Tanis might get worried."

After looking at the sky outside, Laya seemed to remember something. She said goodbye to Lord politely like a good child, and then left.

...Why do I feel like a little kid?

Looking at her leaving back, Lord thought for a moment and turned his head to look at the air to the side.

"Chaos."

The crazy yellow witch appeared and asked directly: "Who to protect?"

Lord pointed at Laya who was leaving.

"That strange little guy over there, please help me take a look at him."

Chaos first looked Lord up and down, and after confirming that the flame had become a little stronger, he nodded.

"Row."

After watching Chaos and Laya leave, Lord did not stay any longer because he had promised Reina that he would go to the academy. He took out his whistle, called out Torret, and followed Reina's instructions to move towards the Rhea Lukalia Academy.

There's not much to say about the process of advancing, it's basically just running and killing all the way. No matter if they're from the Kalia faction or the Academy faction, or the Azalea Knight or the Son of Platinum, as long as they're in the way, they all become Lord's Rune.

The only thing worth mentioning is that on the way to the academy, the pyroxene clusters that were seen when entering Lake Lienia appeared several times again. And as Lord moved forward, the closer he got to the academy, the more frequent and larger the pyroxene clusters appeared.

As for Lena, after eating the shrimp meat, she kept flying beside Lord, holding the gem crystal broken off from the crystal shrimp shell in her hand. The more she looked at it, the more solemn her expression became.

What is this...

"arrive."

Because they were not exploring a map, and Torrett's leg strength had improved after being nourished by Lord's soul, it didn't take too long for Lord and his party to arrive at the gate of Rhea Lukalia College.

But what appeared before them was not the 'Pyroxene Academy' described by Serlian, Tops and Lord, nor was it a ruined academy after the war, but an academy covered with pyroxene and crystals everywhere, with a huge seal covering the gate.