Due to the danger of their job, deaths and departures were a common fixture in a Demon Hunter's life. Therefore, a rookie Demon Hunter either got inundated to the fact of death or become one of the death, of course, the ratio was unfortunately skewed towards the latter.
However, there would be that one or two occasional deaths that could still pierce through the scab and touch the Demon Hunter's tired heart, this was usually due to the death of another Demon Hunter or a close friend. In John's case, it was both, since Park would call John for help, this meant that they did share an amiable relationship! After giving Ye Qi the information, John rushed forward to bring down his friend's body.
Ye Qi ordered the constable and his men to disperse the crowd. As they moved to oblige, Ye Qi stood to a side with a frown on his face, a sign that he was deep in thought.
Coincidence? Warning? Or provocation?
Ye Qi squinted his eyes at the blood that pooled at the pavement.
Enemies in general weren't dangerous, dangerous were those who hid in the dark! Just like a venomous snake in the bushes, no one could tell when it would strike with its poisonous fangs showing!
"Kid, you seem to have stumbled into some trouble!"
Suddenly, the weird wolf's voice appeared in Ye Qi's ears. The young Demon Hunter was startled being greeted by the lazy-sounding voice.
Ever since their meeting, Ye Qi had called for the wolf many times but it was to no avail. If not for the increased Stat and the Vampire's Touch specialization, Ye Qi would have no trouble believing it was all dream. This time the wolf had appeared without warning and the young Demon Hunter didn't think it was because he wanted to chat, it definitely had something to do with the case at hand.
What Ye Qi needed at that moment was information, Ye Qi couldn't go on punching in the dark. Therefore, he cut straight to the point, "What are we dealing with here?"
"I guess you can say we're dealing with a human, well, he or she started as a human anyway… Now, I suppose it's a half-breed…"
"Half-breed?"
Ye Qi who had not heard that before frowned deeper.
"Hey, kid, haven't your parents taught you that interrupting other is a rude thing to do? Half-breed is how we call them, if using human language, I suppose you'll call them Demon Servant who had embraced the way of Darkness!"
Demon Servant as the name suggests, referred to those who surrendered their lives into serving the Demons. They exchanged their soul for power. Normally, they were Dark Magicians in their twilight years who turned to the dark arts to extend their lifespan. Of course, other than that, Dark Magicians had many way to reach immortality, for example, morphing into a Lich, of course, not every, if not most, Dark Magician would acquire enough power required for the transformation. In comparison, being a Demon Servant was much easier, it only required several dark rituals.
"The pair of lovers represents lust, the best friends betrayal so what does Park's death represent? Even so, grave robbing isn't part of any known Demon Servant rituals…"
With the reminder from weird wolf, Ye Qi had a new outlook on the town's various murders based on his knowledge of Demon Servants, however, he still hadn't had any clue regarding Park's death and the earlier grave robberies.
Could it be that he was looking at this the wrong way? Grave robberies had nothing to do with the murders?
Before solving the existing problem, there was a new problem. Ye Qi asked the weird wolf, "Why would this Demon Servant murder Park in such a cruel manner?"
"As sacrifice of course! If the earlier murders were rituals, then no ritual is complete without a sacrifice! Only by concluding the ritual with a sacrifice that the Demon Servant could gain power from his or her contracted Demon!" The weird wolf explained and there was a barely discernible interest lacing through his words, "Speaking of which, kid, do you care for a trade?"
"What kind of trade?"
Due to the weird wolf's earlier deception, in spite of the fact Ye Qi did end up having plenty of benefits, the young Demon Hunter's heart still chilled at the word, trade.
"I will gift you a Hallowed Artefact if you help me capture this Demon Servant's soul!" The lazy voice said leisurely.
"A Hallowed Artefact?!"
If he had an actual Hallowed Artefact to back up his Apostle identity… Ye Qi could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva thinking about the possibility he could achieve. After all, the combination of a Hallowed Artefact and an Apostle was not the simple math of one plus one equals to two. If the power of the Artefact could complement the Apostle's power then the Apostle's power could be magnified by at least double! However, there were simply too little Hallowed Artefacts to go around. The only possibility for an Apostle to own a Hallowed Artefact was if he or she came from a long line of famed Demon Hunter family or he or she was the Sacred Son or Sacred Daughter of the Church!
The opportunity made Ye Qi came to a decision after a short hesitation, "Fine! But how am I supposed to help you capture the Demon Servant's soul?"
"Very simple, you just need to kill that person!" The weird wolf was obviously happy that Ye Qi had agreed, "Now raise your left hand!"
Ye Qi sighed in relief from the synchronism of his two tasks—the Demon Servant had to be killed due to the crimes he or she had committed anyway, the weird wolf's request coincided with the goal of his quest so why not, thought the young Demon Hunter.
Of course, the main point was because there was no dark ritual involved—Ye Qi had heard from John before that capturing someone's soul required tons of dark rituals. The fact that there was no bloody rituals did cheer up the young Demon Hunter quite plenty. Therefore, he followed the weird wolf's order without suspicion.
A dark golden glow that was visible to the Demon Hunter only flashed across the copper bangle on his left wrist, then the weird wolf said in his ears, "Done! I've carried out my part of the bargain so I'll wait you to uphold yours!"
The young Demon Hunter who thought he had stumbled across an easy treasure trove, had his face dropped immediately, "You f*cker! This bangle is mine to begin with!"
Taking a closer look at the bangle the weird wolf had "given" to him, the young Demon Hunter felt a great fury burning within him. He was once again swindled by the cunning creature. However, facing Ye Qi's fury, the wolf was unfazed, "True, the stuff might be yours but you've not been able to activate it no matter how hard you tried, in other words, without my help, it was nothing more than a useless accessory! Now I have helped you activate it and the Artefact can finally be used, so in a way, I have given you a Hallowed Artefact, have I not?"
"You…"
The young Demon Hunter was rendered speechless. Frustrated, he turned to study the bangle instead.
Copper Ward (Star): Hallowed Artefact crafted from the finger of a fallen Copper Titan. Effect: Long-ranged Attack Ward, 1 per day; Copper Guardian, 1 per day.
Long-ranged Attack Ward: Caster is immune to most long-ranged attacks. Effect lasts for 1 minute.
Copper Guardian: Activate the residual Copper Titan energy to transform into Copper Warrior to protect the wearer. Effect lasts for 1 minute.
Copper Warrior: 5 metres tall gargantuan with great strength but low movement speed. Invincible to physical attack. Effect doubled when damaged by energy attack. Effect lasts for 1 minute.