Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 200 Mission Completed: Shattered Exile

In the severed section of Mordred's body, deep purple mist was still surging, and strange blood bubbles were emerging like boiling water.

Dark spiritual threads spread from it and squirmed towards the other half of the body, as if trying to bridge the two broken halves together again.

Seeing this, Luo Xiu recalled the Burning Feather Raven and summoned the "Nightmare Wolf" at the same time.

Fenrir, covered in dark purple devil flames, appeared from the shadows in front of Luo Xiu and quickly pounced on the lower half of Mordred's body.

The moment Fenrir appeared, Luo Xiu infused it with a large amount of "Dark Erosion" spirituality through the "Mark of Domination".

This caused Fenrir's spiritual energy to surge greatly, and at the same time he radiated all of the surging spiritual energy he had been given, forming a dark and deep abyssal beast realm.

At this moment, Fenrir was like a magnet placed in a magnetic field.

The moment Fenrir appeared and released the surging dark spirituality, the spirituality that bridged the two halves of Mordred's body was completely disrupted. The spirituality that originally formed a perfect arc in the cross-section of his two halves was instantly broken and formed into several unconnected spiritual threads.

These disordered spiritual threads seemed to be scattered without an owner, and then dispersed into finer and weaker spiritual threads.

Eventually, they ran towards the darker, more original, true beast of the "abyss".

Countless scattered spirits finally gathered in Fenrir's body. At the same time, he began to greedily absorb these energies, completely digesting them and absorbing them into his own strength.

"you you……"

In the distance, Mordred, who was "dying" but still struggling, murmured weakly and feebly.

"You really are... a disaster..."

"..."

Mordred's last resort was thus divided and eliminated by the "Nightmare Wolf" Fenrir.

In the real abyss, in the purgatory where the races of the "abyss" devour each other and fight to the death, the power of "Dark Corrosion" is like this, returning to a higher point in the food chain.

Mordred was just "eroded". In the final analysis, he was not a real creature of the abyss. He was just a carrier of the "dark erosion" power of the remnants of the "Shadow of Disaster".

When Mordred was powerless to resist and unable to enslave such a surging and powerful "Dark Corrosion" spirit, the power he possessed was like a delicious delicacy and a tempting feast in front of Fenrir.

……

While Fenrir was absorbing Mordred's "Dark Corrosion" power, Luo Xiu slowly walked towards the other half of Mordred.

At this time, Mordred's feather helmet had been smashed, revealing his hideous, corroded face.

That was indeed a terrifying face. If it were placed in the real world outside, it could be used as a good way to stop children from crying at night... Luo Xiu thought to himself, while his eyes simultaneously looked towards Mordred's face, meeting Mordred's gradually blurry gaze.

At this time, Mordred's eyes had lost most of their luster, and the deep purple that symbolized "Dark Eclipse" was gradually fading, revealing his original pupil color.

It was as blue as lake water.

That was Mordred's original eye color.

When the dark purple color gradually faded, revealing the azure blue color that was originally covered, Luo Xiu inexplicably thought of the low tide. He thought of the clean blue beach without a trace of impurities after being washed by the tide.

"what……"

In those pupils that gradually turned blue, Luo Xiu felt tranquility, peace, and... relief.

Mordred, the depth in his eyes was gradually disappearing, and the darkness, cruelty and bloodthirstiness that were originally filled in his eyes gradually dissolved with the passing of life. At the last moment, he found his true and clear self.

"I should...thank you...strange intruder."

Mordred's body was no longer struggling, but was lying peacefully on the yellow sand. Blood was still gushing out from his broken face, but he no longer tried to stop it, and no longer resisted the end of his life.

"I seem to have done something very stupid."

Mordred, he murmured in a self-deprecating tone.

"I am... a knight who protects 'authority'... How ridiculous..."

"I was actually... bewitched by the disaster... and committed such a crime..."

"My king is not wrong... He is not wrong..."

"..."

Mordred's voice gradually became softer and softer, until it was so faint that it was almost impossible to hear what he was saying.

Luo Xiu listened silently, his expression as calm as ever.

He knew that the reason why Mordred did not become a "guardian spirit" with residual obsession like other "Knights of the Nation" was probably because he was bewitched by the "Dark Eclipse", that is, the existence of the "Abyss", and merged with its power.

The power of the abyss corrodes his soul, but it also allows him to survive like a monster.

He was not like Grieville and Miklos, who "died" once and then relied on obsession to transcend from the state of "death", but simply embraced the taboo and lived to this day...

As for the existence that bewitched Mordred, Luo Xiu guessed that it was most likely a "devil", and at least a demon at the "ancient spirit" level, otherwise it would not be able to do such a thing.

However, Luo Xiu did not feel the presence of another "devil" here.

Perhaps He did not establish a contract with Mordred, but simply regarded Mordred, who was only at the strength of the "Fourth Fate" at the time, as an object to be "given" the forbidden power of the abyss when He was in the mood...

Demons are indeed capable of doing such things. The higher the position of the demon, the more interested he is in things that may lead to corruption and chaos.

And the "disaster" that Mordred kept talking about... Luo Xiu also understood the true symbolic meaning behind this word.

——That is the [Abyss]! It is the Abyss Clan that was born from the Seventh Abyss and once eroded the entire world in the ancient Age of Gods!
During the Age of Gods, when the Seven Abysses had not yet been sealed and the Pillar Gods and their respective gods still walked the earth, "Abyss" and "disaster" were almost completely synonymous.

However, Luo Xiu only knew this much.

Combined with some vague knowledge about that era in his memory, he could only infer this from Mordred's words.

Suddenly, Mordred, who had been lying on the ground motionless for a long time, suddenly opened his eyes again.

The pair of azure blue eyes stared straight at Luo Xiu, his gaze fell on Luo Xiu's black-patterned puppet face, as if he wanted to see through the mask and look directly at the expression underneath Luo Xiu's mask.

"...a strange...friend."

Mordred used all his strength to make his voice as loud as possible, and said to Luo Xiu intermittently:
"Thank you...for letting me...be free..."

"It's just... I still have... something I'm worried about."

"..."

"Go ahead." Luo Xiu responded in a calm voice.

"..."

"Since you can... come here... come to the 'Land of Exile'..."

Mordred said in a weak voice: "You should have met...Grewell, Miklos, and...Arpad..."

"I wonder...they..."

"..."

"I set them free."

Luo Xiu continued to speak calmly, but his tone changed from cold at the beginning to a little gentle.

"They became undead spirits, and later became guardian spirits. I ended their fate of immortality, wandering, and corruption, and allowed them to truly rest in peace."

"..."

"That's good."

When Mordred heard what Luo Xiu said, a relieved smile appeared on his ferocious face.

"This is the destiny... of a knight..."

"..."

The voice of "The Exiled Knight" Mordred fell completely silent at this point, his pupils began to dilate, and the last bit of life he had been holding on to completely disappeared.

At the same time, a prompt popped up on Luo Xiu's panel to kill the "Exiled Knight" Mordred.

He put the reward reminder aside for the moment, took a few steps forward, leaned down, stretched out his hand and gently stroked Mordred's face, closing his dull eyes that no longer had any luster.

Afterwards, Luo Xiu stood up and summoned the "Burning Feather Raven".

The holy flame spread like golden mist, covering Mordred's body. The blazing flames lit up a bright and warm corner of the dark battlefield.

……

Until the two broken pieces of Mordred's body were burned to ashes and turned into dust, Luo Xiu walked to the burning embers and bent over to pick up the last piece of the shining "Crown Fragment of Isol". While picking up the fragments, a new prompt appeared on Luo Xiu's panel again.

[You have obtained: Fragment of King Isol's Crown (4/4)]

[Put four pieces of crown fragments together to create the "Isol Crown"]

"..."

"Isol Crown..." Luo Xiu murmured the word that appeared on the panel.

He didn't understand the function of the "Crown of Isol" yet, so for the time being he didn't do what the panel said, but walked towards the location of his "Shadow Apostles".

……

The edge of the battlefield.

Along with Mordred's death, the huge skeleton dragon's body finally collapsed completely and turned into a pile of bones.

Intis and five apostles of the Holy Abyss stood in front of the pile of collapsed dragon bones, with expressions of horror on their faces.

Before, although the "Hunting Blade" Undertaker and the "Bloodthirsty Werewolf" Boozer teamed up to successfully beat the Skeleton Dragon into a "broken" state, it still had considerable power and engaged in a fierce battle with the apostles on the battlefield on the ground.

Even after Mordred completely fell into "disaster", the power of the skeleton dragon increased even more.

However, it was eventually conquered by Index and other apostles, and completely collapsed at the moment of Mordred's death.

Luo Xiu came from the other side of the battlefield and saw his tired and injured apostles from afar.

They were all covered with scars, and the worst off was the "bloodthirsty werewolf" Boozer, who suffered the most damage and was even on the verge of death.

Fortunately, no apostles of the "Holy Abyss" were killed in the battle.

According to Luo Xiu's previous "promise", they all passed the test and were qualified to gain more power and ascend to higher positions in the "Holy Abyss".

When they saw the "Lord" approaching from afar, a strange light flashed in the eyes of the apostles.

They then surrounded the pile of dragon bones and prostrated themselves before their "Lord" Luo Xiu.

"..."

"……very good."

Luo Xiu glanced at Index and the other five apostles, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face under the mask.

The young fighters he carefully selected did not disappoint him this time... Luo Xiu was very satisfied with the result.

"I told you, this is a test."

"You have passed the test, and I will give you the reward you deserve."

Luo Xiu said this in a calm voice while observing the reactions of the apostles.

When he saw his "Holy Abyss" apostles, each with fanatical, joyful, longing, or pious expressions on their faces, Luo Xiu nodded slightly.

"but now."

"Let us return to our original world first."

"..."

The moment Luo Xiu finished speaking, the yellow sand at the edge of this ancient battlefield, which spread to the end of the field of vision, began to surge again.

The world began to shatter before his eyes. At the same time, Luo Xiu saw that his and his "apostles" bodies began to become illusory and slowly disappeared from this space.

In the next moment, Luo Xiu fell into coma and fell into the valley of consciousness.

……

When he regained consciousness, Luo Xiu found himself back in the dilapidated church at the ruins of Xifeng village in the "Promised Place".

Index and other apostles of the "Holy Abyss" also regained consciousness one after another.

This is like returning from the "land of exile"... Luo Xiu thought.

He killed the biggest boss of that "Land of Exile", and when the "Exiled Knight" Mordred really died, they who did not belong to that space were automatically repatriated.

At this moment, all the apostles were looking at Luo Xiu with anticipation, waiting for the "reward" he had promised.

Seeing this, Luo Xiu stopped waiting. He put his hand lightly on Index's shoulder and opened his task panel at the same time.

After silently reciting an evil blessing in his heart, sacrificing Connor and Anthony's ten years of singleness, Luo Xiu opened the detailed page of the hidden mission "Ruined Exile" and gave the command "Complete".

A flash of light and shadow appeared on the panel in front of him, and new content appeared on it.

[Completed the hidden mission: Shattered Exile (Hell Difficulty)]

[You have granted the "Exiled Knight" Mordred true rest. ]

[The task is being settled...]

[Completion Rewards: Basic Experience +38000, Mordred's Legacy, "Lost Royal Court" Secret Realm Key]

【…】

[“Mordred’s Legacy” is being settled…]

[In the battle with "Exiled Knight" Mordred, you learned the technique of "Dragon Thunder Burning Embers".]

[Obtain the skill "Dragon Thunder Burning Embers (Ancient Heritage, lv.1)"]

【龙雷焚烬（远古传承，lv.1）：向大范围内所有目标，施放出总伤害为1800％物理攻击+1800％法术攻击的、共计36道蕴藏“火焰”力量的龙雷。每道龙雷造成50％物理攻击+50％法术攻击的“火焰”伤害，并为命中目标施加“轻度燃烧”与“轻度麻痹”的效果。】

【…】

This was the red thunder skill that "Exiled Knight" Mordred used at the very beginning, covering a very large area.

Luo Xiu was satisfied with obtaining this "ancient heritage", which meant that his output capacity was once again strengthened a lot.

The panel was still flashing, and new content appeared in front of him.

【…】

[In the battle with "Exiled Knight" Mordred, you comprehended the essence of the ancient dragon's magic. ]

[Gain the expertise "Ancient Dragon Knight (Epic)"]

[Ancient Dragon Knight (Epic): The power of dragons is in your blood. Your health and mana are increased by an additional 20%, and you gain a new "Dragon Bloodline" effect - when casting "Ancient Dragon" related skills, mana consumption is reduced by 30%, and skill effects are increased by 30%. At the same time, you are more likely to gain recognition from "Dragonborn".]

【…】

When Luo Xiu browsed to this point, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand.

He raised his arm and looked where the stinging pain came from.

Luo Xiu then saw that on the back of his right hand, a deep mark that was glowing with a crimson light was faintly visible.

It is a mark with a dragon claw at the lower half and a sword blade at the upper half. It carries an unknown power and points to an unknown destination.

[Activated Mark: The Key to the Secret Realm of the Lost Royal Court]

When Luo Xiu's attention was focused on the mark on the back of his hand, new content appeared on the panel in front of him at the same time.

"That is... the key to the secret realm?"

As Luo Xiu pondered, he infused his spirituality into it, completely "activating" the mark.

Luo Xiu saw that the scarlet red color suddenly deepened, and the scene around him also became illusory.

Luo Xiu, and the "apostles" around him, all felt a strong sense of weightlessness at the same time.

Everyone's vision suddenly became hazy and blurred. The surrounding environment was rapidly moving away and tending to dissipate, and a brand new scene slowly formed in their sight.

……

When his vision became clear again, Luo Xiu saw a magnificent and majestic new picture.

It was an ancient and magnificent palace, and the apostles were crawling in the center of the hall.

At this time, Luo Xiu was sitting high on a huge golden throne.

……

(End of this chapter)