Chapter 163 Part 2

"What's going on with him?"

Tanaera noticed that something odd was going on with Arnold.

Arnold was standing with his head facing the sky. It was like he was in limbo, barely moving a muscle.

The wolf was thrashing around with every orifice in its body leaking blood. It whimpered and howled.

Yet why was Arnold silently standing there? Shouldn't he be experiencing the same symptoms of the curse like the wolf?

"Should we go and—" Tanaera stopped mid-sentence when Rafaela began heading towards Arnold, "What are you doing!? It's dangerous to just walk in the range of my spell while it's still active!"

Most of the curses she stacked onto her [Ultimate Death Curse] multiplier spell was airborne-type curses. Even Tanaera has to keep her distance since she had no defenses against her own spells. No, rather she didn't have the right defenses for all her curses since there are so many.

Four wings suddenly manifested behind Rafaela's back. Golden dust surrounded her as she walked. Her halo was shining even brighter than before.

"Wha…" Tanaera's mouth gaped seeing Rafaela fearlessly walking inside all that chaos.

An angel might have some resistance against curses but that doesn't mean that they can survive a multiplied spell like the [Ultimate Death Curse]. This was Tanaera's own creation. It was also her strongest spell. She only used it once when she tested it on a deer she was trying to hunt for food.

She didn't have any attack spells back then so she could only rely on curses. She could remove the curses from the animals she hunts when they're dead before eating them so curses weren't exactly all bad for hunting.

But this particular spell seemed like overkill for a single deer.

The result was a charred corpse reeking of death and disease.

Of course, the one she used this time was much stronger.

'Why is she risking it…'

Tanaera can remove the curses from Arnold's body before he succumbs to the negative effects(when he dies). She just needs to wait for the airborne curses to dissipate.

Rafaela surrounded both her and Arnold in her golden dust. She took off Arnold's helmet and tossed it aside.

Arnold's eyes were blood red and his hair white. His teeth and skin were like those of a vampire or a demon. Purple veins surrounded his face(this was a sign that he's under the effects of the curse).

'What kind of armor is that? It could resist the airborne curses like they were nothing. Huh? What is that angel doing?'

Tanaera's eyes widened when she saw Rafaela open her mouth as she closed the distance between Arnold's face and her own.

She stuck her tongue in Arnold's mouth and put her lips over his. She could make out the movements of Rafaela's tongue by looking at Arnold's cheek.

"…."

The golden light emanating from Rafaela's halo intensified the next moment. The golden dust was suddenly sucked into Arnold's body. His once grey skin and red eyes turned back to normal.

The blood coming out of his eyes, nose, mouth and ears disappeared.

Rafaela released the kiss.

Arnold fell onto his knees. His blank eyes gained back their light.

"Rafaela…? What… What happened? The tunnel… Where's the tunnel?"

He seems to be in a state of shock.

'Tunnel? What is he talking about?'

"Finish the beast." A green light surrounded Arnold when Rafaela placed her hands on his back.

He exhaled from his nose before standing up. She probably cast a [Calm] spell on him.

He grabbed the greatsword again.

◇◇◇

Arnold put his helmet back on before he brandished the wolf's greatsword.

Being exposed to the curses seemed to have robbed the item of its divine nature. It was now just a normal chunk of enchanted steel.

Arnold looked at Rafaela. She was looking somewhere else, completely ignoring him.

'I don't know how she got me out of there but if it weren't for her…'

--Then he would've been stuck in that world being tormented by the souls he killed.

A part of him felt guilty for what he did.

Was that from the morally righteous Liam or was it just the last pieces of humanity that the future Arnold had left?

Regardless of what caused that feeling, he knew one thing: He has to endure everything even if faced with the guilt of killing or causing the suffering of others.  

That's not what a hero does. It's something every human can do if they want to live a peaceful life.

The oracle, Angelica would've left him there while his body was taken over once again by Liam. He had already come to terms that he was neither Liam or Arnold, but a mixture of the two. A hybrid who identifies as both. This allowed him to adept to the situation much easier.

What would've happened if he had continued regarding Liam as a separate soul?

'The greatsword feels lighter than before. It can't be that the divinity caused all that weight from before?'

He could hold the greatsword with one hand even though he struggled holding it with both hands before. Did he grow stronger somehow? No, he didn't get a level up. Maybe his stats increased? That was certainly possible. One doesn't grow strong just from levelling up. For example, wouldn't you grow stronger physically if you do physical exercises? Your training would become stat points which are automatically distributed to your strength, agility, endurance or vitality stats.

'Judging by how my body feels stronger than before… it could be that the balance between my aura and physical body somehow improved.'

Arnold turned his back to Rafaela and began walking towards the wolf.

It was moving around in confusion as if it couldn't see.

The wolf's ears suddenly perked up when Arnold stood near it.

It lifted its paw and whimpered while backing away.

Arnold slowly coated the greatsword in his aura.

The wolf seemed too weak to even attack Arnold or defend itself. It just lowered its head while whimpering.

"Do you think I'll fall for your act?" Arnold lifted the greatsword.

If he lets down his guard then he'll be the one to die today. Divine beasts are as intelligent as humans so the wolf was probably trying to get Arnold to lower his guard.

He wordlessly swung the greatsword. The wolf whimpered one last time before its head was crushed.  

◇◇◇

·        Level up! Level up! Level up!

·        50+ stat points have been allocated into status.

·        Level 53 -> Level 58

·        Divine Beast Hunter title has been added to user's status.

Name - Arnold von Berkley

Level - 58

STR - 179

AG - 188

DEF - 186

DEX - 1706

AP - 3788

MP - 40(25)

Stat Points - 58

Arnold was silently looking at his hologram card.

'Move half of my stat points into magic power.'

MP - 69(25)

'Show my Magic Attack stat.'

·        Magic attack is currently as 80(+120%)

'Hmm, so I can't let it appear on my status board,' he looked at the hologram card, 'But it appears here just fine. Maybe the system can't add MA as a stat because of its limited interface?'

He looked at another stat after shifting his mind from his lacking skills in magic.

'My dexterity is still ridiculously high. Sometimes it feels unreal how broken Arnold is during the School Arc.'

This stat allows him to gain mastery over a variety of weapons. He can use weapons like the spear and shield even without having prior training in them. He can even skillfully adept to an opponent's weapon arts after exchanging a few blows. 

If his dexterity is this insanely high then it's possible to use more than just shields and spears. Maybe he can try using a bow? 

He looked at his aura stat.

The average person born with aura has around 250-300 AP. 120-200 for Red Aura users. Blue aura users have around 500 AP at a very young age and can go as high as 6000 AP in their old age. There weren't a lot of sources for Divine Aura so there isn't an average for them as of right now.

His aura pool has grown exponentially since the last time he checked his hologram status.

Peak Arnold von Berkley achieved 80000 plus AP when he went toe-to-toe with Hero Luke near the epilogue of the game. He wasn't even at the level cap by then.

It was believed that his power reached an all-time high when he reached level 70. Level 70 was the level where a Transcendent's potential truly shines. Their already broken potential becomes even more broken after level 70. Of course, it won't be that easy to level up to 70 once he reaches level 60. A Transcendent's progress gets slowed down immensely between level 60 and level 70. It's even slower than normal people which means Arnold will have to fight strong monsters continuously.

Arnold clenched his fists.

He remembered the "Hero" Arnold who could use thousands of [Leviathan Storms] like they were nothing and obliterated an entire army of monsters in the process.

He could definitely attain that level of power.

By the way, he gained five levels from one enemy which was insane.

Maybe the wolf had so much experience points because it was a divine beast?

He had no idea what its level was. Well, he didn't care. He gained 500000 XP from that fight alone. That's all that matters.

Arnold heard two sets of footsteps approaching him from behind. The two circled around his back and stood in front of him, looking at him silently.

"....What is it?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.

Tanaera responded:

"This armor. I recognize the leggings from that time you kidnapped me. It seems to increase your strength when you equip it. What kind of armor is that?"

"...Demon lord armor."

"…."

"…."

There was no point in hiding it from them. They'd have found out sooner or later.

"….I see. So you're a vessel for a demon. No wonder you're so strong." Rafaela guessed.

"Yeah…"  

"How did you get the soul of a demon?" she asked.

The two didn't seem shaken up knowing that he's a factor. The people of Diacree continent fear demon factors even though it's been determined already that they pose no threat to others so long as they remain under surveillance.

Every factor must go to a Temple so that their demon energy can be extracted by a priest. The point of this is to stop their factor from going out of control before they learn to use the power. Of course, there are cases where factors lose control despite the rituals that the priests do. Not every demon lord they inherit is equal. Some have more demon energy than others.

Demon energy is dumped in holy water which causes it to vaporize. Too much demon energy can cause demon portals to manifest(just like the portal that appeared near Luke's village). That's why it gets dumped in holy water.  

Getting back to the topic at hand: Maybe it's because they were from different worlds that they're so numb to it? Demon lords might've been exclusive to one dimension but they're still considered a universal threat, even to other realms. This is why every gate in the Nine Realms is heavily guarded. Yorm wasn't the only gate guardian.

"…That's complicated. It just sort of happened when I was fighting some inquisitor guy. He wanted to kill me if I didn't give him the information that he wanted." Arnold replied to Rafaela's question.

"And you beat him with this power?" Rafaela asked again.

"Well, that guy was way too strong even with this power." 

"I see."

"I have to ask, Rafaela, why aren't you shooting me full of holes with your divine rays? Your kind considers demons as enemies."

"I don't perceive you as someone who would harm others simply out of your own enjoyment. I have no reason to fear or keep my distance from you while we travel together. You protect me and I help you in battle with my spells. We're… comrades. However, my attitude towards you will change once we part ways on the 99th floor. Guiding you to the shadow world will be my last kindness to you."

"Is that so…"

Tanaera looked between the two and made a remark: "The two of you are acting as if the kiss didn't happen…"

'Kiss?' Arnold looked over at Rafaela.

"What kiss is she talking about?"

"I was simply exchanging our saliva so that my spell could work more effectively. It's much simpler and less physical than intercourse."

"It's still a kiss!" Tanaera retorted. 

"Mutual consent, is what one would call a kiss. Hmm, let's call it a ritual of sorts. It is neither sexual or between lovers, after all."

"Is this angel for real…?" 

"…If it was necessary for her to do it then it's fine. I'm grateful."

"Am I seeing things? This guy is smiling genuinely?" Tanaera had a genuine shocked expression on her face, "Your smiles make you look like you're planning on doing something heinous."

She must've gotten to know him well when she entered his mind.

"Really...? I didn't notice that… I really am grateful. Were it not for her—"

He remembered the dead souls that tried to trap him in their world. Of course, they didn't have the power to do so. The one who was actually keeping him prisoner was the Oracle of Melis from the future.

His soul experienced a curse shock back when he was hit by Tanaera's spell. The shock attacks one's mind, leaving you vulnerable to mind control or any other mental attacks.

One can even say that his mental state was stunned by the curse. It did the same thing that the abyss did.

The difference between the abyss and the curse shock was that he would've lost his real body due to the latter.

"—What happened to you?" Rafaela asked after seeing that Arnold went silent.

His eyes were blank.

"....That's not important."

He didn't need to tell anyone else what happened. He looked over at Tanaera.

He was still wondering whether or not Tanaera actually knows everything he did. She already told him that she stopped at a certain point but he was having his doubts. Entering the mind allows you to see a lot of memories, even those that last days, in a single minute in real time. He was asleep for a few hours so she would've seen quite a lot.

Arnold lifted his left arm up. Well, he used his shoulder to lift his dangling arm.

"Can you fix this, Rafaela? The potions aren't an option right now since my bones were shattered. I need you to manually regenerate my bones otherwise my arm won't go back to its original state."

Rafaela shook her head, "I can't do much at the moment. You should use the potion for now to stop the pain. Your muscles will also constrict your bone once it's healed to a certain point so that your arm doesn't rot at the point of the bone fracture. I'll heal you after it locks back into its original position."

He didn't understand the gibberish he was hearing. Then again, he wasn't a healer so it's best to follow her advice.

Arnold rummaged in his bag and pulled out one of his potions. He drank half of its contents.

His muscles in his left arm started moving on their own. It felt like his arm was shrinking, or maybe the muscles were pulling his arm into place?

Perhaps it was the latter since his arm felt stiffer than before. 

"Keep the armor on your left arm. That will protect it from being damaged further."

"Ah, right." The armor—besides the armor on his left chest and left arm—vanished.

"Can you still feel the pain?"

"Yeah. It's not severe as when the wolf bit into my shoulder."

"What? That was fast. Depending on the injury, the pain's intensity usually subsides after a few hours. Even if it subsides, there is still pain if the affected area is moved too much."

Arnold's monstrous regeneration abilities were at work again. 

He didn't know what was going on. He's had this insane vitality since he was little. Surely a normal human shouldn't have these abilities?

His Transcendent descent has nothing to do with his vitality. Even Luke or Flora doesn't have the ability to heal this fast.

"Let me check your wound before we continue further on." Rafaela approached Arnold.

Arnold took off the shoulder and upper arm piece. There was a dark hole in his shoulder. It extended all the way to his triceps.

Rafaela used a light spell to get a better look at the wound. She also took out a monocle. Judging by the mana permeating from the frame, it was a magic item.

"…Your cells are already regenerating. It's not the rate a normal wound closes. It's ten times faster than normal. Was that healing potion that effective? It can't be."

"I've had these regeneration abilities since childhood so it's not that surprising that I'm already healing."

His regenerative abilities saved him one time during his childhood when an assassin stabbed his stomach. He was able to pull the blade out without losing any blood at all.

Anyway, he only drank half of the potion's contents so it's not the reason for why he's healing so fast.

"I've only ever seen this in trolls or dragons… Are you perhaps related to  troll? Though rare, humans can be impregnated by trolls and give birth to half-troll demihumans."

"Do I look like I troll to you?"

Troll demihumans have big teeth on the bottom of their mouths and pointy ears. Besides that, they look like normal humans, albeit a little ugly. The rare few with good genes still have large bottom teeth.

There was no way he was a troll's kid with this handsome face.

"Then… are you perhaps from a bloodline that belongs to dragons?"

"Impossible. There's only one family that I know of that has the blood of dragons."

The Taelith family. They were the descendants of the Black Dragon Lord.

He wasn't adopted by Marcus and Adrianna from that family when he was young. How else would he be able to use a swordsmanship passed down by his ancestors? He also had blue hair similar to Marcus.

Rafaela muttered, "Maybe he's one of the rumored dragon soul bearers depicted in legends in my master's books…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing… I'll need to do something about your wound before it closes up completely. It'll make it harder to heal you if it closes."

Rafaela took out a scroll. She infused her mana into and then a long golden rod appeared out of it.

"We'll use this to straighten the bone back in its place."

"Are you crazy? Divine objects will only hurt me if they touch me."

He could tell by golden light surrounded it that it was made from divine power.

"It won't hurt you. These are specially made to heal broken bones. Not only will it position your bone back into place but it will heal you during the process. I'll just finish the process completely once its evaporates inside you."

"Is it made from divine power alone?"

"Yes, it's just shaped into this form. There are simple healing spells infused inside."

"Oh…"

He was just being careful with divine items. The greatsword could burn off his skin so he assumed that the golden rod could do something similar.

"It will hurt for a bit but I'm sure you can handle it. Also, I need to make an incision since the wound is too tight to fit this through."

Arnold nodded.

Rafaela placed it carefully above the hole in his shoulder. A golden light appeared at the tip of her finger. She carefully cut the wound open. It offered no resistance whatsoever.

'Even a tiny bit of divine power can cut my skin like butter. Haa… I need you to grow up already, Ceru…'

Rafaela inserted the object into the wound and pushed it down slowly.

Arnold gritted his teeth feeling his flesh being pierced by the rod.

A minute passed by. The rod was finally deep inside Arnold's arm. He could feel it inside him.

He put the armor piece back on.

"Now that that's done, we should get going, right?" Tanaera—who had been watching them silently—spoke.

"Right. Let's go."

"Mm."

The three began ascending the stairs leading up to the palace.