After silently looking at the goats and white rabbits for over ten seconds, Klein closed his eyes and lightly tapped his right index and middle fingers, as if pressing invisible piano keys.
Nearly a third of the puppets abruptly collapsed, losing the feeling of being alive.
Klein's expression instantly contorted, as if struck thirty-three times in a row by a colossal blade.
The familiar yet excruciating pain raged through his spiritual body, causing faint pale granulations to emerge on his skin, each seemingly ready to spawn a transparent worm.
This was the backlash from killing thirty-three "Spirit
After the pain subsided for nearly a quarter of an hour, Klein began his second attempt and killed another third of the puppets.
The same pain, the same rest, the same operation repeated again, and Klein finally eliminated this batch of cursed puppets entirely.
He couldn't do it all at once, because the harm from the simultaneous death of a hundred "Spirit Worms" could push him close to losing control, and being cursed meant he couldn't simply solve the problem by reclaiming the characteristics.
Actually, this was the level expected of an "Ancient Scholar" who had just advanced, not the performance of an "Ancient Scholar" who had nearly digested the potion.
— At his level, only the loss of more than half of the "Spirit Worms" could risk losing control.
By the time he fully digests the "Ancient Scholar" potion, even the death of nearly five hundred "Spirit Worms" at once could be recovered from; even if all the corresponding Beyonder characteristics were lost and did not return, his rank and level would not drop, and he could gradually restore his strength by absorbing characteristics from the "Seer" pathway.
Having finished this and calmed down, Klein walked out of the half-collapsed tower-like building and fetched several white rabbits and a goat from the darkness outside.
He now realized that the darkness in the God-forsaken Land was not as dangerous as Little "Sun" had described, and most monsters were so weak.
No, to be precise, the dangers hidden deep in the darkness, aside from the ability to make one vanish into thin air, were completely incomparable to the guy named
After some hustle, Klein lit a campfire, set up a grill from history, placed a rabbit on it, brushed it with basil, cumin, salt and other seasonings from the seasoning set, and kept turning it.
By then, the historical delicacies he had eaten earlier had already disappeared due to lack of maintenance, and his body and soul were crying out for replenishment.
A tempting aroma gradually spread. Amon twitched his nose slightly and said: "You really going to eat that?"
Without waiting for Klein's answer, the "God of Mischief" continued on his own: "Their essence is monsters' flesh and your 'Spirit Worms'. Are you sure you want to eat it?"
"A transformation curse at the Angel level cannot be lifted without equal-level resistance or the correct method. If something looks like a rabbit, smells like a rabbit, and tastes like a rabbit, then it is a rabbit," Klein said with a self-deprecating smile while earnestly roasting the rabbit. "Moreover, to escape from you, I have to be in the best condition possible. For that slim hope, I can only challenge my psychological endurance."
This is called enduring humiliation to accomplish a mission! Klein silently added to himself.
At the same time, he marveled at the transformation curse of the "Ancient Evil".
It was many times stronger than the similar curse of Sequence 3 "Silent Apprentice"!
The duration had almost no upper limit... Ordinary animals that became his puppets could use all his Beyonder powers through the "Spirit Worms", but puppets afflicted by the transformation curse could not... This was an Angel-level curse... Besides equal-level opposition, the correct method could be used to try to remove it; no curse was absolutely unsolvable; there were always loopholes... Heh, kiss this rabbit and it would turn back into Gehrman Sparrow? Klein adjusted his mental state, half self-mockingly and half analytically.
After hearing his answer, Amon, wearing his monocle, smiled and nodded.
"Very good. "This is indeed the proper determination."
Klein did not respond and continued with his roasting.
Before long, with the help of the "Flame Control" ability, he roasted a rabbit and a lamb leg, and taking advantage of the opportunity before the spices disappeared, he ate them, washed down with sweet ice tea summoned from the historical voids, savoring the aroma and feeling refreshed. This effectively alleviated the oppression, despair, and anxiety caused by being "kidnapped" by Amon.
During this process, Klein occasionally thought of the disgusting appearance of the monsters and the fact that the "Spirit Worms" were him, but he managed his feelings well.
After filling his stomach and recovering his energy, Klein turned the remaining ingredients by the fire into dried rations, making it seem like he was stockpiling food for the journey ahead.
Watching him prepare slowly but methodically, Amon suddenly adjusted his monocle and asked with a slight smirk: "You're stalling for time, trying to prolong the journey to the true destination, aren't you?"
Klein's hand movements paused slightly before returning to normal. He smiled and said: "Yes, I'm waiting for help. "Who do you think it will be?"
Amon did not answer directly, but smiled and said: "I look forward to it."
... Klein continued his tasks until he prepared dried rations for three or four meals.
He thought for a moment, then, in front of Amon, he plunged his hand into the void again, failing repeatedly and trying again, as if wanting to summon something, as if testing whether Amon dared to steal.
Amon watched for a few seconds, then smiled and shook his head, slowly stood up, and walked outside the half-collapsed tower-like building.
Klein's right hand froze in mid-air, then he withdrew it and rubbed his forehead.
He muttered in confusion: