Paladin Mixed-blood

Bang!

The hand cannon roared, blasting the last knight off his horse. Armor from the old age was utterly incapable of resisting future technology. His chest was a mangled mess of flesh and blood as he struggled to pull a vial from his pouch.

His trembling hand brought it toward his mouth, but black light suddenly flashed.

Pfft!

The knight froze. The next moment, his vision abruptly tilted, and blood sprayed into the sky.

Man and armor alike were cleaved apart by Bai Cangshu’s hand chop.

Bai Cangshu did not even glance at the dead knight in white armor. Ordinary human bodies were simply far too fragile for him now.

You have obtained item: Blood Vial

Blood Vial (Purity: Low)

Quality: Common

Description: A blood product containing a trace of the Ancient God's aura. It can provide an excessive amount of vitality.

Effect 1: Greatly heals injuries upon use.

Effect 2: Causes contamination by the Ancient God upon use. Accumulated contamination will trigger beastification.

Bai Cangshu shook the item in his hand. On the other side, the Professor put away his weapon. Everywhere he looked, there were almost nothing but mangled corpses left.

Artoria’s killing prowess was tremendous. Against ordinary humans of this level, she was simply cutting through them like vegetables.

"The Church of Healing should be using this thing to beguile the masses. No, perhaps it does not quite count as beguilement…"

"According to the revelation I received, in an even earlier era, humanity truly gained the power to defeat the Dragon Clan through Blood Therapy. That was the origin of this world’s Church of Healing…"

According to the Professor’s revelation, the Dragon Clan’s rule in this world had not ended with the White King’s rebellion. Instead, in ancient times, humanity had come into contact with… the Ancient Gods!

The Old Ones—their origins were unknown. All that was known was that the predecessors of the Church of Healing, a group of human sages, had received teachings atop the Alps.

They had gained the power of Blood Therapy. From then on, humanity was no longer merely food for the Dragon Clan. Humans could use that power to heal themselves and, at a certain stage, transform into Beasts.

Afterward, another force struck Black Dragon Níðhöggr, and the age of the Dragon Clan began to end.

The information obtained through the High Priestess Tarot sequence was conveyed through fragmented images, or through the whispers and murmurs of certain higher beings.

Thus, such information depended heavily on the Reincarnator’s interpretation. Reincarnators of this sequence needed to possess a deep understanding of all kinds of worldviews.

The Professor was clearly very adept in this regard.

Almost instantly, he sorted out the truth behind this world’s distortion and chaos—beneath the two colliding, twisted worldlines of the Dragon Clan and Bloodline Curse lay a third worldline.

Those hidden Outer Gods were the ones who had truly ended the era of the Dragon Kings.

As Bai Cangshu listened to the Professor’s explanation, he had already arrived before the utterly twisted Beast.

Both of its arms had completely mutated into enormous scythes. Its flesh was warped and hardened, while its head had flattened, its eyes shifting entirely to either side.

It kept shaking its head, roaring words that no one could understand.

Tap, tap, tap…

Holding the Blood Vial in one hand, Bai Cangshu walked straight toward the farmer who called himself Duncan in his mind reading.

"Duncan…"

Buzz!

The name seemed to stimulate beastified Duncan. He let out another shrill roar and swung his scythe-like arms at Bai Cangshu.

The blood-red scythe tore through the air and fell into a slender hand.

Pfft—crack.

Bai Cangshu easily caught the mutated arm with one hand and twisted it. With a crack, the bones shattered.

He stepped forward with the motion and lightly pressed down with his wrist. The Beast, whose mutated body stood over two meters tall, dropped to its knees with a thud, utterly restrained.

Bai Cangshu pried open Duncan’s narrow mouth and poured the Blood Vial into it.

"Roar… urgh… whimper…"

The strange roars and whimpers carried far away, as though Duncan’s soul were struggling in agony.

Bai Cangshu could feel the degree of his beastification deepening. His flesh began to proliferate in an even more grotesque manner.

This growth, utterly devoid of pattern or beauty, was entirely unlike the evolution of humans or other creatures.

It was as if excess flesh had nowhere to go, condensing together and growing wildly.

Or perhaps Duncan’s soul was too weak to withstand the contamination of the Blood of the Ancient God. This proliferation of flesh was actually a manifestation of power running out of control.

Like some kind of flawed evolution.

Bai Cangshu narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Duncan’s beastification deepen, scale-like structures beginning to appear over his body.

Artoria, however, silently turned around and came to stand behind Bai Cangshu, planting her black-red holy sword into the ground.

Buzz!

A shockwave of magical power spread outward, sweeping through nearly a thousand meters. In an instant, the grassland seemed to have been completely severed, leaving behind a massive fan-shaped gap.

Bang!

A figure in a gray robe was blasted into view by the shockwave.

A Claymore at least a palm-width wide was strapped to his back, its blade over a meter long.

The Professor’s heart stirred, and he immediately spoke.

"Word Spirit: Shadow Veil. He’s a Mixed-blood!"

He was now enjoying the benefits of teaming up with monsters. Before such a dangerous enemy could even approach, he had already been exposed. The brutal Black Saber and the even more brutal Mercenary Tao gave him an immense sense of security.

Thus, the Professor could openly reveal the other party’s information without restraint, utterly unconcerned that he would draw the man’s hatred and be killed first.

Artoria drew her sword one-handed, but tilted her head slightly toward Bai Cangshu. She had not sensed killing intent from this so-called Mixed-blood.

Roar!

Duncan let out an even more agonized howl. A horn pierced out from the center of his flattened head. It had likely mutated from his skull. Through Transparent World, Bai Cangshu sensed the bizarre structure caused by the alteration of Duncan’s skull—even his left and right brains had been completely separated.

He found the combination of the Blood of the Ancient God and ordinary humans increasingly fascinating.

"You are Hunters too, aren’t you? Why torture him like this?"

"Before becoming this way, he was probably just a pitiful man."

The man carrying the greatsword pulled back his hood, revealing long golden hair. His body was powerfully built, far beyond that of an ordinary human, and he exuded an almost pungent draconic aura.

A Mixed-blood—and one with an exceptionally high bloodline concentration. He tossed aside his gray cloak, dragged his greatsword with one hand, and walked toward Artoria step by step.

"I am Etoris, knight of Saint Seraphina. I will never allow you to continue trampling upon the souls of those who suffer."

His strides grew larger and larger as he loudly praised Seraphina’s name. A fierce will began to stir within him, and Bai Cangshu suddenly turned his head.

His eyes blazed as he looked at the Mixed-blood calling himself Etoris.

Etoris took a step, and the ground split open beneath his feet.

Bang!

Etoris leaped high into the air, crossing several hundred meters in a single stride. Raising his Claymore with both hands, he unleashed an overwhelming aura and brought the sword down toward Artoria’s head.

Yet in the next instant, relying on a Mixed-blood’s exceptional physique and dynamic vision, he caught the sound of air nearly screaming as it shattered.

Then a violent blast of air rushed toward him.

Etoris’s pupils trembled. A blurred figure condensed before him, and a terrifying force reached his chest first.

Buzz—boom!

Bai Cangshu’s fist stopped one meter before Etoris. The air itself caved in, nearly liquefied by the violent force before twisting and snapping apart.

Blazing White air exploded in an instant, like an invisible giant dragon unleashing a terrifying breath attack at point-blank range.

With a boom, Etoris flew even faster than he had come, crashing into the ground.

He struggled, but the ribs in his chest had already pierced his internal organs. His strength rapidly drained away.

In the haze, he heard a voice.

"Find some Blood Vials from those knights. I have a feeling this guy will make a fine test subject."

"His heart… is very strong."

A test subject?

Heart?

These people were not Ash Hunters, nor were they that secret organization that hunted down out-of-control Mixed-bloods and Beasts…

His consciousness swiftly sank into darkness. His final sensation was the foul stench of some liquid being poured into his mouth.