After killing another cultist, Jiang Lin directed the crimson claw-wing's target toward the two rank-2 cultists.
The crimson claw-wing's recovery ability was too astonishing; even these two rank-2 powerhouses were somewhat at a loss against it.
While they could severely wound the crimson claw-wing, they couldn't achieve a one-shot kill.
Furthermore, neither of these two rank-2 cultists were melee classes. Their physical attributes were completely outclassed by the crimson claw-wing, so once it got close, death was almost certain.
Two magic shields appeared in front of them. The crimson claw-wing pounced, its sharp claws attacking the shields frantically.
However, a rank-2 mage's shield was naturally not something the current crimson claw-wing could break. After several rounds of attacks, it failed to pierce the shields, while its own body sustained several wounds from the opponents' counterattacks.
"Damned ghost thing, just die for me!!"
A rank-2 cultist snarled.
Now that the crimson claw-wing lacked flesh to sustain it, its recovery speed had dropped slightly. As long as the two of them kept attacking for a while longer, they could completely erase it.
Right then, several blood-light sword qi suddenly flew out from the pitch-black cave entrance, heading straight for the two rank-2 cultists inside.
Seeing that familiar blood-light sword qi, the crimson claw-wing instinctively let out a roar; it had been tortured by this stuff so much that it had developed a psychological shadow.
This time, however, the blood-light sword qi bypassed it, shattering against the shields. From the debris, several complicated and profound strengthening techniques glowing with golden light flew out.
【Strengthening Technique · Heartbeat Expansion】!
【Strengthening Technique · Lung Contraction】!!
【Jetting Aura】!!!
Various strengthening techniques with different effects were hidden within the blood-light sword qi, giving the two no time to react. In the next instant, the spells merged into their bodies.
At the same time, a halo glowing with holy light settled on the crimson claw-wing. It was the healing magic 【Ring of Holy Healing】, mending the injuries it had just sustained.
"Cough!"
Their hearts beat wildly, nearly to the point of exploding, while their lungs contracted violently, almost exceeding the limits of their physical endurance. The two coughed up a mouthful of blood, hurriedly mobilizing the magic essence in their bodies to stabilize their physical forms.
Despite their pathetic state, the two did not die instantly from Jiang Lin's strengthening techniques.
Seeing this through the crimson claw-wing's eyes, Jiang Lin couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Rank-2 practitioners really are different; they're so hard to kill!
However, their expressions soon began to sour because their sphincters were currently undergoing an exceptionally severe test.
Energy surged wildly within their lower abdomens, launching a fierce assault on their lower exits.
When Jiang Lin saw from outside the cave that the crimson claw-wing couldn't break the defense of the two rank-2 powerhouses, he realized he had underestimated the strength of rank-2 combatants. Thus, after swinging a few more blood-light sword qi into the cave, he activated 【Breath Concealment】 at full power and sprinted away.
He would leave the situation inside to the crimson claw-wing; he was making his escape first regardless.
Jiang Lin's figure darted quickly through the dark forest. Little Black extended its claws to grip Jiang Lin's clothes tightly, its body swaying violently with the whistling night wind.
In the cave behind them, the sounds of explosions, roars, and the crimson claw-wing's screeches intertwined, composing a strange movement for the thick night.
As Jiang Lin ran, he checked the situation on the crimson claw-wing's end through their faint mental link.
With his interference, the crimson claw-wing was no longer suppressed by concentrated fire. After multiple attacks, it finally broke through the defenses of the two rank-2 powerhouses.
It pounced directly on one of the rank-2 powerhouses, biting fiercely at his neck.
"Aaaaah!"
A shrill scream echoed once more.
"Boom!"
Another magic blast hit the crimson claw-wing, blowing a large hole in its body. But the crimson claw-wing acted as if nothing had happened; after swallowing a few mouthfuls of flesh, the hole healed as before, and after a few more bites, it pounced toward the other rank-2 powerhouse.
Seeing that the situation in the cave had actually reversed, Jiang Lin was instantly overjoyed. He dragged Little Black and sprinted back toward the cave entrance.
Damned cultists! How dare you hurt my summon!!
"Holy crap, what the hell are you doing!!"
Little Black gripped Jiang Lin's clothes tightly, nearly getting dizzy from the boy's sudden turns.
"I am naturally acting on behalf of heaven to eradicate these evil cultists!"
Jiang Lin soon arrived back at the cave entrance, and several blood-red sword qi flew in once more.
Seeing those life-threatening blood-red sword qi, the remaining rank-2 powerhouse was even more terrified than he was of the crimson claw-wing.
What the hell is this thing?!
Which degenerate created this?!
Because of the warmth spreading in his pants, this rank-2 powerhouse's mindset had undergone a subtle change.
He was even thinking that maybe it was better to just die; at least then he wouldn't have to suffer this kind of physical and mental torture anymore.
The creature before him was too bizarre—it simply wouldn't die and was exceptionally brutal. Four people on his side had already died under its claws.
However, he also realized that the blood-red sword qi carried 【Strengthening Technique】 behind them, so he casually released a corruption skill to intercept them.
Yet, with Jiang Lin's interference, he couldn't focus entirely on the blood-red creature.
"Crack!"
As his second shield shattered, he was completely exposed to the crimson claw-wing's attack range.
A shrill scream rang out, and the scene that followed was predictable.
Just as the crimson claw-wing prepared to pounce on the other surviving rank-1 cultists, its remaining two-minute time limit expired.
A blood-red passage suddenly appeared in the shadow beneath its feet, as if connecting to another world.
It let out an unwilling roar before its hind legs were grabbed by a surge of blood qi from the red passage, dragging it into that blood-colored world.
And Jiang Lin, who had been sharing its vision, also saw countless pairs of frenzied, vicious blood-red eyes in the instant the mental link broke, as well as tens of thousands of figures similar to this crimson claw-wing, all imprisoned within the space known as the 【Blood Realm】.
'Is that what the interior of the Blood Realm looks like?'
'Are all those creatures Blood Demons?'
For a moment, Jiang Lin felt that the difficulty of the task the system had given him was indeed quite high.
Recalling that a single crimson claw-wing had such combat power, Jiang Lin couldn't imagine what kind of hellscape it would be if all those things were released.
Meanwhile, the remaining three people inside breathed sighs of relief as if they had been granted a grand amnesty.
'Finally... are we saved...?'
"Don't be careless! There are other creatures outside!!"
At that moment, one of them reminded the other two.
They had seen those blood-light sword qi very clearly just now.
Subsequently, the familiar blood-light sword qi flew into the cave entrance once again, and this time, the targets were the remaining three.
A figure radiating blood-light appeared at the entrance, looking like a demon crawled out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. His mere appearance increased the psychological pressure on the three of them; one person's legs even went weak from the terrifying pressure.
This was the third effect of the 【Crimson Slaughterer】—【Blood Deterrence】!
The three of them tried to find ways to resist the incoming blood-light sword qi while looking toward the person.
In the darkness, they saw a pair of eerie blood-red eyes with drifting blood-light staring intently at them!
Shield-type skills were successfully cast but shattered almost instantly upon contact with the terrifying sword qi.
The sword qi slashed into their bodies, raising clouds of blood mist, and the hidden 【Strengthening Technique】 also landed on them.
"Thump-thump-thump!"
Their hearts beat violently, but they lacked the regulation ability of the two rank-2 powerhouses. Within mere seconds, their hearts burst one after another.
【Random Skill Upgrade 6】
【Designated Skill Upgrade 2】
The kills by the crimson claw-wing were credited to him.
【Slaughter Disguise has recorded the killed organisms】
At the same time, as Jiang Lin killed those three rank-1 cultists with his own hands, his heart began to beat violently.
The 【Demon Lord Seed】 etched into his heart, which had remained unchanged, actually had a reaction!
His vision turned blood-red. His hearing, touch, and reflexes were almost instantly elevated to another level. He became more sensitive to all moving objects, yet his brain remained extremely calm, entering a wondrous state.
'This feeling... is like entering a flow state?'
Furthermore, the blood qi from the three killed cultists was slowly dissipating. Jiang Lin felt that he could control this drifting blood qi, absorbing it and merging it into the blood qi on his own body.
He made a grasping motion with his right hand, and the blood qi surged toward his body, merging with the blood qi wrapped around him.
However, under Jiang Lin's careful perception, only a small portion of this blood qi merged in to strengthen his own; most of it just drifted past and continued to dissipate slowly.
Jiang Lin frowned, feeling that this dissipating blood qi was somewhat of a waste.
At that moment, he remembered the image of the crimson claw-wing devouring flesh to repair its wounds.
So, he condensed a short blade of blood-light and pricked a small hole in his fingertip.
In the next instant, the hole recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye, disappearing almost instantly.
Then, Jiang Lin cut a longer wound.
This time, the change in the wound was even more obvious.
The blood qi surged directly toward Jiang Lin's wound, repairing it at a visible rate.
Jiang Lin reached a conclusion.
It seemed that due to the influence of the Demon Lord Seed, after killing someone, he could enter a special flow state—he would call it "Battle Flow" for now. Battle Flow allowed him to be more focused in combat, made his various senses more acute, and allowed him to absorb the blood qi of killed enemies to repair his own wounds.
He didn't know yet if this state had side effects, and as for this increased blood qi, other than dyeing his holy light and slightly increasing the power of his skills, he didn't know if it had other uses.
'But why didn't the Demon Lord Seed show such an effect before?'
Jiang Lin pondered.
Although this was the first time he had killed a person since obtaining the Demon Lord Seed, it certainly wasn't the first time he had killed a living being.
Was it because it only activated upon killing humans, or because 【Crimson Slaughterer】 was active?
Jiang Lin rubbed his chin in thought.
He would look for some small animals to kill later once he was out.
Then, the state disappeared, having lasted about two minutes, and the blood qi that hadn't merged also completely dissipated.
He likely needed to complete consecutive kills to maintain this state.
At the same time, Jiang Lin began to observe the altar.
In the center of the altar were four corpses: two adults and two children. It looked like a family of four who had been kidnapped by these beasts and sacrificed to their evil god.
Seeing innocent people persecuted like this, Jiang Lin, as a modern person with a well-developed moral compass and values, didn't feel good.
If not for these beasts, this might have been a happy family of four...
However, cleaning up the scene became a problem.
Because the crimson claw-wing's methods were too brutal, blood was splattered everywhere, and the various broken body parts looked too horrifying.
Calling the Temple over was out of the question; if they had any ability to trace the origins of the incident, it would be hard for him to explain.
So, at worst, he would just destroy this place and leave the problem for whoever discovered it later.
Jiang Lin looked at Little Black.
"Do you have a way to handle this?"
Little Black, however, shook its head.
"I have the levels but no corresponding combat power right now. Do you want me to teach you 【Low-level Fireball】 so you can burn this place down?"
Hearing this, Jiang Lin's eyes lit up.
Right, Little Black was an evil god; it must know a lot of these kinds of spells. How had he overlooked such a treasure trove before!!
He would have to exploit it ruthlessly in the future!
Subsequently, Little Black began to explain it to Jiang Lin.
However, the more he listened to Little Black, the more confused Jiang Lin became.
'What the hell is this?!'
'Is this part of the fundamentals of low-level magic I learned?'
Soon, three or four hours passed. Under Little Black's hands-on guidance, Jiang Lin finally constructed a magic formula that was completely outside his cognitive system.
In the next instant, a fireball appeared. However, this fireball didn't emit a scorching light; instead, it burned with a "hissing" black flame, looking quite eerie.
【Low-level Fireball (uninitiated) → (initiated)】
Jiang Lin looked at the fireball in his hand, feeling that something was definitely wrong.
"Are you sure this is 【Low-level Fireball】?"
Jiang Lin asked suspiciously.
Little Black didn't even blink.
"How could it be fake? It's just our evil god's version of 【Low-level Fireball】. The magic circuit that constitutes this fireball belongs to the knowledge system of evil god magic."
Hearing this, Jiang Lin's face went dark.
But since he had gotten it for free, he would just make do with it for now; he just wouldn't use it in front of others in the future.
If someone discovered him using the magic system of an evil god, he wouldn't be able to explain it even with a hundred mouths!
By then, his dear gold badge knight, Lord Salas, might have to destroy his friend for the sake of justice.
He used a 【Random Skill Upgrade】 on it.
【Evil · Low-level Fireball (initiated) → (superlative)】
His mind became slightly dazed for a moment. Jiang Lin let the eerie black flames burn over the broken corpses.
Soon, scorching heat filled the entire cave.
Jiang Lin threw the broken corpse from the entrance in as well.
The fire raged, turning their bodies to ash.
After completely scattering their remains, Jiang Lin, under Little Black's shocked gaze, actually began to recite a soul-passing incantation like a priest.
And what shocked Little Black even more was that Jiang Lin was reciting the correct soul-passing incantation!
"Let holy light be the guide, the dark night the boat; lost souls, return to the place of rest..."
'Why did this kid learn this stuff? Is he planning to run funerals in the future?'
"May the other side be free of pain, may the next life be free of sin; untouched by evil, witnessed by the gods."
As Jiang Lin's final recitation ended, it seemed that the souls of the deceased were truly being transcended.
"How do you know this kind of thing?"
Little Black asked in bewilderment.
Jiang Lin replied as if it were only natural.
"To prevent the creation of vengeful ghosts, I naturally have to complete the full one-stop service of scattering ashes and transcendence.
"Otherwise, if too much resentment accumulates and they turn into evil spirits to haunt me, what will I do?"
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