World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 277 The Ghost of King Leopold (Part 1)
The moment the spiritual portrait was released, Lin An cast a spell on Kevin's soul.

Although all the entries were ineffective against mysterious figures like Zai and Mariette who were "half-dead," Lin An still had a set of tools to deal with the "dead."

In "The Encyclopedia of Magic IV: The Dark Winds - The Black Witch, the White Witch, the Scarlet Witch and Their Allies", the witchcraft specialty is "poisoning," whether it is applied to the body, soul, or spirit.

Veneficium, the Black Witch's Art—[the sum of toad and viper skins].

Toad and viper skins were often the main source of poisons in medieval witchcraft mixtures and were also considered the culprits behind various highly contagious diseases, and could even cause mental illnesses such as delirium and weakness of will.

Lin An had just cast a spell on Kevin and then arranged for him to have intimate contact with the Countess, spreading poison through a mental image.

This legendary entry is unlikely to affect a mythical one, but Mariette's mindset wavered, so much so that she didn't notice Kevin's abnormality at first, and when attacked, she subconsciously fought back.

The red dragon, waiting for its chance, seized the opportunity and shattered Kevin's already weakened soul with a single claw.

It wasn't that He didn't understand the Summoner's meaning, but how could a demon possibly want to bring happiness to humanity?
If Lin An remembers correctly, the price for summoning the red dragon was clearly mentioned in "The Great Red Dragon".

"Fifty years from now, hand yourself over to me and let me do with your body and soul as I see fit."

Unfortunately, "Comerth" did not have a fifty-year radiation period, so the red dragon could only take the opportunity to torment humans when it manifested, bringing pain and sorrow to its summoners.

These demons, bound by the Great Grimoire, had long wished to grind the summoner to dust.

Gazing at Kevin's shattered soul, the Countess reached out tremblingly, her eyes vacant, as if she still wanted to piece him back together, while her son seemed to slip through her fingers like sand, eventually vanishing.

"No! Don't take him away from me!" she screamed in anguish.

Lin An rotated [God's One Eye] to observe the Countess's energy field, which was shaking, trembling, and shuddering violently due to excitement, and then glanced at her panel data.

Despite her "death," the Countess was, after all, a mythical figure, and apart from a 10% increase in the level of contamination, she was basically unaffected by the toxicity.

Perhaps we could start by examining the level of pollution...

In the past, when Lin An encountered some mystics whose rating was lower than his, they often tried to drive him insane by disrupting his behavior and thoughts and increasing the level of corruption.

The next moment, a phantom image of a two-headed demon with a light blue face, sharp teeth on its chest, and a lizard-like head on its head flashed and disappeared.

He had a snake-like body and wrapped his arms around Marieette from behind with two reptilian claws.

Agaliarep, in the True Book of Upanishads, is one of two demons directly under Lucifer, the other being Satanica, who manages matters related to water and provides healing and exorcism magic to summoners.

"You have betrayed the oath I witnessed!"

Seeing Kevin's soul shatter, the three heads of Nebiros beside him let out a triumphant and ear-piercing laugh, flapped their wings, and leaned forward.

"You broke your promise! Hehe, you'll belong to me forever from now on!"

Seeing this, the angel Agra raised his shield once more.

After several days of research, Lin An understood how to use this mysterious item. After activating the amulet, the Agra angel would attract enemy attacks in Lin An's place, similar to "You must attack the follower with taunt first".

When the attack exceeds a certain threshold, the angel will raise his shield to retaliate. Regardless of whether the enemy is dead or not, he will end this manifestation and wait to be used again.

Last time, the red dragon had not yet broken through the Agra angel's defenses, so He was still protecting Lin'an and blocking Nebiros's bite.

"state!"

Nebiros's three heads slammed against the shield with a piercing, crowing sound. The angel Agra stepped back, and a rousing, stirring song filled the air.

He is about to erupt.

Seeing that the battle between the angels and the demons was about to break out, Lin An cleared his throat and spoke slowly.

“Your Excellency Nebiros, I said I would return the son to Count Van Hofwegen, but I never said how long she could have him.”

"Oh?"

The demon tilted the rooster's head with interest and stopped its attack.

"Does possessing something for a lifetime count as possession, but possessing it for a second doesn't count as possession?" Lin An said.

The logic behind this statement left Nebiros stunned for a long time, blinking six pairs of eyes from left to right.

"Okay, I think your argument is valid."

"It's true?!" The silent countess finally erupted, shouting almost frantically, "That's sophistry—no, whatever he says! Punish him, Nebiros! Kill him!"

"I'm sorry, but we demons were born to serve the happiness of humankind."

Nebiros laughed ironically, his figure fading into nothingness. Although the Countess used her staff to draw demonic runes, forcing him to reappear, the three-headed bird showed no desire to attack, and explained quietly.

"The moment I leave, the previous contract becomes invalid. Do you still want me to help you make a new vow?"

The countess trembled with rage, yet was powerless against the cunning devil.

From the first day she rode the red dragon, she knew that while these demons obeyed the contract, they liked to use verbal traps to put humanity in a state of misery.

"Waaaaah, my child, my child..."

In the midst of her emotional rollercoaster, even the usually composed woman couldn't help but bend over, cover her face, and let out intermittent sobs.

“Countess, you look very distressed,” Lin An said, seizing the opportunity. “But in the Red Poppy Merchant Guild, under the rule of you Flanders, countless mothers like you have lost their children.”

"what?"

The countess suddenly looked up, her eyes fixed on Lin An.

"When you are in a corner café, you smile as you chew your food, and your smooth hands reach into the silver bowl to take the delicious food."

"The bodies were piled onto the bulldozer, like a heap of rusty, stiff scrap iron, about to be burned to prevent the spread of disease. Flames engulfed a child, his little face stiff, his mouth open like a dark, empty hole. These two things happened at the same time."

"If you want to cry, think about how many women like you have made cry."

Lin An tried to find a hint of wavering in the countess's compassionate, maternal face, which was filled with the pain of losing her son.

Although he didn't know what actions could cause the "War Emperor" to collapse, based on past experience, shaking the opponent's firm beliefs and making them doubt their own upheld culture and goals should be a way.

Under Lin An's watchful gaze, the Countess's level of contamination remained unchanged.

She merely glanced at him dismissively and began to sneer.

"Now I'm 100% sure you're not a Bantu! You fanatic of the Earthly Kingdom, why are you speaking up for them?" The Earthly Kingdom... refers to [Xion], right?

It seems the Countess has temporarily categorized me as one of Xi Yong's people.

"Let me tell you, both of these scenarios did happen, so what? The suffering of the Southern Continent people stems from their own mutual slaughter!"

She shook her head and spread her hands.

"The Patriots Front is the Hutu killing the Tutsi. The Tutsi, with no hope of boarding the boat, jump into the river, struggling against the swift current, risking attacks from crocodiles and hippos, rather than fall into the hands of the Hutu soldiers."

"The latter forced those who couldn't escape to kneel on the riverbank with their hands on their heads, and beat them to death with rifle butts and clubs. Soldiers grabbed babies and smashed their heads against concrete walls. The drowned bodies floated among the water hyacinths on the Congo River."

"Tens of thousands of refugees were killed, and many more were driven into the harsh rainforest, where they died of disease and starvation. No one ever investigated any of this, and the victims had no tombstones or even a memorial document."

"This is an internal conflict within the Bantu people. The Flanders peacekeeping forces did nothing! This place is beyond redemption because of the inherent inferiority of its people—stupidity, division, and depravity! What does it have to do with me?"

"The Hutu and Tutsi are merely ethnic concepts artificially created by King Leopold. You have divided a group of people who have intermarried for 1500 years into two factions, and you are constantly exacerbating their conflicts," Lin An continued.

"Hmph, why should I need to know anything or care about anything? Compared to my mother's love, what are they? Forest ranger, don't try to morally blackmail me."

"Because you lack morals?"

"Do I need human morality for a bunch of lowly, inferior creatures? I wish I could defile them all! I wish I could tear down their houses, brand their faces, dress them in rags, and then throw them into the rubber plantation to work until they die!"

The countess replied, pressing her hand to her chest as if trying to suppress the raging storm below.

“My son is the only purpose of my life. I have never neglected him. I have fulfilled his every wish since he was a child, and I have never been separated from him since he was born.”

Lin An suddenly realized that guilt and remorse would never arise in the hearts of arrogant Flemish people, no matter the circumstances.

For this powerful woman, "crime" only refers to the crimes committed by others.

So he immediately changed tactics, aiming the Countess's shoulder with the "One Eye of God," where a small black spot remained, not yet purified by the demon Agaliarep.

The folded, multicolored stripes lit up, and the roses, centered on the radiant lake of light, unfolded layer by layer. At the end of Dante's nine heavens were a pair of blurry eyes, shimmering like budding flower stamens.

The last time Lin An aimed his eyes at the Countess, she paused for about a second, but that was enough.

A black spot, representing the Black Witch's poison, appeared, and thoughts flashed through Lin An's mind.

"System, use the [Ptolemaic Library's Secret Treasury]!"

This entry comes from Kevin's "Black Hen," which can summon nearby fairies, water spirits, dwarves, and Rutin to continuously harass and confuse a designated target, causing them to become dizzy.

The energy transformed into a gentle breeze, swaggering past with an air of triumph.

The dwarf danced gracefully to the mournful strains of an accordion, while the fairy held up brightly colored mushrooms from which colorful smoke billowed, blooming in a flower garden at the countess's feet.

The red dragon witnessed all of this, and waited even longer than when he killed Kevin, until the countess finished writing her demonic script before spitting out flames that burned the attracted fairies to death.

It's impossible for a legendary-level being to trap a mythical-level countess, but Lin An has already achieved his goal.

Upon seeing Kevin's mysterious appearance, the Countess completely lost her mind, and her level of corruption instantly skyrocketed.

In her illusory state, her soul gradually transformed from a normal human form into a wine-red, floating book with a mouth full of sharp teeth that opened and closed, no longer feigning lies, and roared angrily.

“You stole the world that belonged to my child! God! He should have stood above all others, continuing the glory of me and his father in Bantu, continuing the noble bloodline of the Flemish people! Continuing our glorious history, and now you have destroyed it all!”

The countess's time rating was only C, but after repeated stimulation, her contamination level exceeded 50%, reaching a rather dangerous edge.

"Forest ranger, just you wait! I will take my revenge... I will avenge my successor!"

After a hysterical outburst, the Countess mounted the red dragon's back and flew into the sky.

Lin An did not stop him; he had no way to stop this being stuck between life and death.

Agaliarep has cleansed the Black Witch's poison, and no entry can lock the Countess down.

While casting [The Secret Treasury of the Ptolemaic Library], Lin An took the opportunity to place [The Little Man in the Bottle]. Watching her back, he closely observed her movements before turning and leaving.

Very well, after the pollution level increased, all she could think about was the rage of revenge.

Because the countess's direction was not Mbanbuka, she did not contact the other members of the Red Poppy Merchant Guild immediately, but instead went deeper into the rainforest.

Lin An must return to the Lion Tribe before she regains consciousness.

He needs Zay's help.

…………

Near the Tigerfish tribe, a group of people are gathering edible berries in the rainforest.

The weather was always humid and sweltering, and everyone was drenched in sweat.

All around was quiet, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Suddenly, the colobus monkeys in the trees started shrieking and shaking the branches.

"Oh! Oh! Oh?"

The team leader looked up, wondering what had disturbed them, when something gently tapped her chest.

At first she thought it was an insect, until she looked down at her clothes and saw a red dot on them.

The bright red, juicy fruit rolled onto the muddy ground.

Are those monkeys throwing berries at her?

The team leader bent down, picked it up, and squeezed it a few times.

Only then did she realize that this was not a berry; she was holding a bloody, slippery kidney in her fingers, white with red tinges, still connected to a tattered nerve.

Something unseen emerged from the rainforest.

At the last moment, the team leader faintly heard the rustling sound of pages turning in her ears, and then her consciousness plunged into an unfathomable darkness, from which she never awoke again.

(End of this chapter)