Langlois Prefecture.
Viscount Warren’s manor.
As soon as Gu Qing Shan arrived, he was invited into the Viscount’s study.
Viscount Warren was a middle-aged man with a kind face, if not for the cloak that gave off spatial fluctuations on his body, he would be no different from an unassuming bystander.
Right as he saw Gu Qing Shan, the Viscount welcomed him with a hearty bear hug.
“Time really flies, in an instant, our Langlois Prefecture will have gained a handsome new Baron” Viscount Warren said.
“Thank you for your kind words, I will do my best” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Very well, let us take a look at the bodies first” Viscount Warren said.
Following his orders, the corpses of the two wraiths were brought forward.
They still had normal human faces, but their bulky bodies, their greatly elongated extremities, as well as the carapace that covered their backs had proven more than enough that they had been altered by something.
“Seal the study, let nobody in or out” Viscount Warren ordered.
“Understood”
Everyone quickly left the room, leaving only Gu Qing Shan and the Viscount.
“Rhode, what do you think happened to these two men from the Wraith realm?” Viscount Warren asked.
“Viscount sir, I suspect that they were struck by something, or rather, infected by something” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Really? If you don’t mind, I’m going to collect their souls and see what’s going on” Viscount Warren said.
“Of course not, sir, please” Gu Qing Shan replied.
Viscount Warren walked up to the two corpses, opened his palm, and muttered: “Dead souls return”
Masses of grey fog appeared from his palm and slowly entered the two corpses.
But they remained still.
“Their souls aren’t here, most likely returned to the Wraith realm, however——-”
Viscount Warren put up one finger and gestured backwards.
As if a string was pulling them, faint light began to exude from the two corpses.
“Come, let us see what they saw in your territory”
Viscount Warren quickly chanted the incantation.
The faint light scattered and formed a screen.
The two wraiths crouched in the wilderness, looking down at the large wolf’s corpse.
“This is the monster Rhode killed” one of them said.
“How strange, we’ve recorded all the beasts and exotic creatures of the Saint Spirit World, even legendary monsters and divine beasts, but have never seen this type of wolf before—— could it be a new species?” the other wraith replied.
Neither of them noticed that the void of space had silently opened up behind them, a rotten finger then reached out to press against their heads.
When the rotten finger pulled back, the void of space silently closed back up.
The two wraiths remained silent for a second before abruptly collapsing on the ground, their bodies undergoing drastic change.
『 AARRRRGGH! 』
With a curt screech, they quickly became monsters.
Viscount Warren narrowed his eyes.
Gu Qing Shan already knew everything after that.
The monsters ran into Ramon village, eating everyone in their sights.
Gu Qing Shan brought Crow and the Viscount envoy to the scene, slaying the two monsters at the same time.
Watching everything, Viscount Warren pondered:
“It seems someone else was behind this…”
Gu Qing Shan added fuel into the fire: “Sir, I suspect that that finger didn’t belong to our world”
“Oh? What proof do you have of this?” Viscount Warren asked.
Gu Qing Shan replied: “I remember that the Wraith realm had a lot of protection techniques, and they also knew our Saint Spirit world very well, so they must have prepared appropriate countermeasures for such attacks, unless—-”
“Unless that was something they had never seen before, capable of altering them silently and unknowingly” Viscount Warren finished his words.
He had clearly become more cautious, walking up to a nearby wall to take a small gavel, which he used to tap the clock on the wall.
“Esteemed military minister, the Hand of the Empire’s Cavalry, Count Heath, I would like to request a meeting with you, right away” Viscount Warren respectfully said.
A few moments later.
“…Come, I also wanted to contact you”
A deep voice replied from the wall clock.
Viscount Warren pointed at the ground with his finger.
The two monster corpses disappeared right away.
“I will be in a meeting with the Count to report the situation to him, Rhode, you may enjoy yourself at the banquet” Viscount Warren told him.
“Understood, sir” Gu Qing Shan replied.
My job should be done here.
The cavalry captain, Moore, belonged to Count Heath’s 2nd cavalry troops, so he must have reported everything that needed to be reported.
Coupled with Viscount Warren’s follow-up report, this matter would not be glossed over.
As a Baron who hadn’t even been officially conferred, this was the extent of what Gu Qing Shan could do.
Fortunately, the people of this world are all considerably powerful, which should also extend to their discerning abilities. They should be able to tell that this was a hint of the Apocalypse.
At that point, I will have accomplished the world spirit’s request.
Viscount Warren’s figure melted into the void of space and disappeared, then quickly returned.
He carried a black bow with him, telling Gu Qing Shan:
“Rhode, I heard that your bow was lost, try using this bow instead”
“Sir, this is too precious, I can’t accept it” Gu Qing Shan tried to refuse.
Viscount Warren casually replied: “I have seen your combat. Regarding pure archery skills, you certainly do not qualify for this bow, but you carry with you the power of lightning, capable of separating a monster’s soul from their body; furthermore, with your identity as a Condemner, your foundations were very well-established”
Viscount Warren then tossed the black bow to Gu Qing Shan and continued:
“As avatars of Deities on this mortal plane, our strength determines our peerage”
“And I can tell that you shall be more than qualified as a Baron, Rhode”
Saying so, Viscount Warren disappeared again.
Gu Qing Shan held the black bow and stood still for a bit.
Strength… determines one’s peerage?
Viscount Warren faith lies with the Slumbering God, a powerful Deity.
Right in front of me, Viscount Warren was able to casually summon souls, and when that failed, he was even able to use the corpses to see what occurred in the past.
These are already unimaginably powerful abilities, more than qualified to be considered Divine Skills.
Then, how strong would Count Heath be?
——and then this thing.
Gu Qing Shan looked down at the black bow in his hand.
The bow carried with it a frigid sensation, it felt a bit like metal but also exuded a stench of blood.
Lines of glowing text quickly appeared on the War God UI:
[Soul Artifact: Bow of Blooming Death]
[This bow has the ability: Flying Shadow]
[Flying Shadow: Fixed ability, any arrow you fire using this bow will have its flight time decreased by 1 second]
Skimming through, Gu Qing Shan exclaimed: “Great bow!”
From a surface level, this seemed like an ability to speed up arrow flight speed, but it actually wasn’t.
This was an ability to alter a fixed amount of flight time that could activate at any point during the arrow’s travel, causing an enemy to easily misjudge its path and miss the timing to avoid it.
——a weapon made to deceive enemies.
Who would have thought Viscount Warren would be so generous, easily bestowing such a bow during our first meeting?
Gu Qing Shan left the study.
Crow was waiting in the hallway outside with a duck plushie in her hand.
She was happily manipulating fire to form a rose, then control the rose to turn it into a flame rapier.
“Did you notice?” Crow asked.
“What?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“Not only could this world endure our full strength, but it could also aid us in our advancement—– because the Laws and Origin of the world here are simply exceedingly powerful” Crow excitedly said.
Gu Qing Shan was surprised.
Then——
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Spirit energy immediately rushed towards him.
The entire world felt like a giant super spirit energy funnel.
At this point, a butler arrived, bowing to greet Gu Qing Shan and Crow.
“Esteemed guests, the banquet has begun, please follow me” the butler said.
Gu Qing Shan and Crow exchanged glances.
Crow was excited for a brief second before lowering her head, muttering in irritation:
“A ball… this one really doesn’t want to accept those men’s invitations…”
The butler glanced at her, then at Gu Qing Shan, silently giving him a thumbs up.
Gu Qing Shan really didn’t know what kind of expression he should be making right now.
The duck plushie’s voice suddenly resounded in both Gu Qing Shan and Crow’s mind:
“Enjoy yourselves, no one is going to invite a duck to dance”
Crow immediately felt sympathetic towards someone in the same circumstances.
Gu Qing Shan also felt a bit of pity.
He held the duck plushie in his hand, whispering: “Should we find some sort of transformative technique to turn you back into human form?”
Before the duck plushie even replied, a female voice called out from next to them:
“Ah, that plushie looks so cute! Can I hold it for a little bit?”
Gu Qing Shan looked back.
Only to see an aristocratic young girl standing next to him, her eyes focused on the duck plushie in his hand.
“That is… I’m sorry…”
Just as Gu Qing Shan was about to refuse, the duck plushie’s resolute voice resounded in his mind:
“Tell her yes!”