Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 276 If you can't beat them, then say goodbye
Roger wasn't worried that his thoughts would be noticed by those with the "Abyss" pathway, because the "Star Lord" was still under the protection of the "Secret Guardian" buff. So as long as the "Undying King's" own strength did not exceed Sequence 3, it was unlikely that he would notice Roger's thoughts at this moment.

However, there is no doubt that the "Undead King" is an extremely difficult opponent to deal with, because Roger knows very well that both Agarito and Gilchrist are just puppets controlled by the "Death Note," a self-aware sealed object corresponding to the Sequence 3 "Whisperer" of the "Abyss" pathway, using its own aura.

Therefore, if the "Star Lord" really goes to war with the "Death Note", Roger, as a demigod, can still protect himself, but the rest of his crew members may suffer.

Amidst the thick fog, in less than ten minutes, the "Death Note" carried the "Star Lord," "Moon," and "Saturn" through numerous exposed rocky areas. It seemed to know the route perfectly, always managing to find safe passages through the maze-like reefs.

After the four ships made more than a dozen turns and circled around several times, the sea area, which had been shrouded in fog and had low visibility, suddenly became clearer. Roger was also able to vaguely see a dark, mysterious island in front of the "Death Note," the island of which he could not see anything.

"Is this the place the 'Rose School' and Zatwin are trying to find?"

Roger quickly pulled out the nautical chart left behind by Zartwin and looked at it. The surrounding environment was at least 70% similar to the chart. He judged that the small island in front of him should be the destination they were looking for.

"Captain, the 'Death Note' seems to have stopped."

Philip was about to pick up his binoculars to check on the "Death Note" when Roger stopped him.

"do not look."

The latter shook his head, and the former was slightly taken aback before realizing what he meant.

When I was studying at the Naval Academy, I heard some rumors that someone had tried to observe a demigod through a telescope and ended up losing control for unknown reasons.

Roger, however, was well aware that for low- to mid-series Extraordinary Beings, a sealed artifact of the "Death Note" level could essentially be seen as a mobile source of contamination. Who knew what kind of trouble Agarito had dug by suddenly stopping the ship? If he rashly used a telescope to look at it, it would most likely not end well.

"Captain, it looks like someone has come out of the deck of that ship."

On the lookout tower of the "Star Lord," the sailor who had spoken earlier suddenly shouted.

Upon hearing this, Roger narrowed his eyes and began to observe carefully.

As expected, more than twenty crew members had appeared on the deck of the "Death Note" at some point. They all stared expressionlessly at the three ships of the "Star Fleet," with the middle-aged man at the head of the group standing out.

His skin was extremely pale, and he exuded a strong stench of decay, as if he could rot on the spot at any moment.

But this seemingly lifeless man had a strange glint in his eyes, as if they contained all sorts of violence and desire, and he stared straight at Roger.

"Notify all ships to slow down."

Roger glanced at Alger, whose expression was extremely solemn, and gave the order.

As the roar of the steam turbines gradually subsided, the rudders of the three ships slowly turned, and they finally came to a stop less than a nautical mile from the "Death Note".

Roger stood on the deck, gazing at the pale-skinned "Undying King" Agarito from afar.

Not only did Roger remain silent, but Agaritu also made no move. The two simply stared at each other, maintaining this state for a long time.

Finally, Roger was the first to tentatively speak, and the "Singer's" ability to control his voice instantly amplified his words, making them echo throughout the entire 'Blackwing Reef':
"Your Excellency, the Undying King, I have no intention of fighting you. I have only come here based on a nautical chart."

"If possible, we can cooperate to explore this island and split the spoils 50/50. What do you think?"

He didn't trust Agaritou's character, and his statement was merely a test.

However, upon hearing Roger's words, "The Immortal King" Agarito not only did not reply, but his expression did not change at all.

He simply looked at Roger with his eyes, filled with evil and lust, as if issuing a silent warning.

“Agaritu’s condition is a bit off.”

At that moment, Alger, the "Hanged Man," spoke softly beside Roger.

"Well, I can see that."

Although Agaritou was deeply affected by the "Death Note" and maintained a beautiful mental state, he was not so incapable of communicating normally with others.

After all, this was a pirate king known as the "Unbeliever," with a notorious reputation at sea. If he had difficulty even having a normal conversation with people, how could he have left behind these rumors?

Everything before them indicated that this "Blackwing Reef" was strange, and it was very likely that this strangeness influenced Agaritu, causing him to exhibit various abnormal behaviors.

"Mr. Wells."

Roger began:

"You are now in control of the 'Star Lord'. Philip and Zeus will cooperate with Mr. Wells' actions and, if necessary, withdraw the fleet and return along the original route."

Because the three ships had only been in the "Blackwing Reef" for a short time, the reef had not yet exhibited that strange movement, so a safe evacuation was still relatively easy.

"Yes, Captain."

Compared to the tension between Philip and Zeus, Alger sensed a special meaning in Roger's words.

"You wouldn't be..."

His voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"Ah."

Roger nodded, then leaped up on one foot and walked step by step toward the "Death Note".

This move made Alger's eyes light up, because the last extraordinary being he had seen who could fly for a long time was a demigod from the Church of the "Lord of Storms"!

"Do demigods all have this ability? Or is this a special ability of some soul enslaved by Mr. 'Wheel of Fate'?"

Alger guessed based on his experience that most of the demigods in the Aurora Society were Beyonders of the Mystic Path, and the ability to enslave the souls of other Beyonders and use their abilities was a characteristic of this path since Sequence 5.

As if confirming Alger's guess, Roger walked into the air, causing his long shadow, reflected in the hazy moonlight, to twist strangely.

The long, narrow shadow that covered the sea, the deck of the "Star Lord," and the mast seemed to come alive as it flowed, twisted, and coalesced rapidly, then gathered at Roger's feet like a well-behaved puppy.

The next second, the black shadow shot upwards like a flame, covering Roger's entire body, and then transformed into a heavy set of black armor!

Roger's figure also grew to nearly 2.4 meters tall. Holding a vertical greatsword, his eyes flashed with red light as he coldly stared at the "Death Note" below and Agaritu standing on it.

"This is a demigod, this is the power of Mr. 'Wheel of Fate'!"

Alger was so excited that he almost forgot to breathe. In fact, Alger had been looking forward to this day for far too long!

Soon after meeting Mr. "Wheel of Fortune" and guessing that he was a demigod, Alger had been eagerly anticipating seeing this saint make a move.

Today, he has finally achieved his wish.

"A 'Black Knight' I don't recognize, interesting. Are you a saint of the Aurora Society?"

At this moment, Agaritou finally spoke, his tone sharp and bizarre, sounding unlike that of a normal human.

In Roger's words from his previous life, it's a bit like AI-simulated speech, with emotional fluctuations and emphasis that are very different from normal human speech.

However, in any case, the "Death Scream" is not unintelligent, and its current clumsy anthropomorphism is indeed a bit too strange, looking like some kind of conditioned reflex.

"The Dark Star Saint has come to seek guidance."

As soon as Roger finished speaking, he suddenly appeared on the deck of the "Death Note"!

"The Dark Star Saint..."

As Alger silently repeated the name he had never heard before, he stared intently at the dense darkness that suddenly burst forth on the "Death Note."

However, a moment later, as the darkness dissipated, Roger's figure, holding a greatsword, appeared alone on the deck.

The "Undying King" Agarito, who had spoken with him earlier, and his crew had also completely disappeared.

"Hallucination?"

Roger stood up, his red eyes narrowing slightly as he scanned the empty deck of the "Death Note." Before Roger could even get a clear look at his surroundings, an indescribable voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

At first glance, it sounds like the rustling sound of paper being crumpled, but upon closer listening, it can be discerned to be an extremely dense whispering sound.

It was like a mentally ill person rambling on and on at an extremely fast pace, uttering seven or eight characters per second, which gave Roger the illusion that it was the sound of paper being crumpled.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that these ramblings were illogical and had no intelligible meaning, yet they were able to evoke Roger's deepest madness.

This madness was accompanied by all sorts of strange emotions and desires; all the repressed longings, fears, and obsessions surged into Roger's heart at this moment.

In that instant, Roger felt an urge to explode from the inside out.

He planted the greatsword into the deck with his right hand, clutched his forehead in pain with his left, and lowered his head, unconsciously letting out a painful groan.

Just then, near the mast, Agaritu's figure, which had previously disappeared, reappeared.

His gaze toward Roger flashed with a cold light, while his pale lips parted slightly, as if he could trigger Roger's loss of control at any moment.

Alger naturally saw this scene, and he was about to warn Roger about what was happening behind him when he saw something beyond his comprehension.

Just as Agarito approached Roger, who was groaning and convulsing, a thick shadow suddenly appeared behind the "Undying King".

The shadow, though somewhat rough at first glance, reveals a human shape, height, and is quite similar to Roger in his normal state.

Moreover, various dark red or black waves kept emerging from this humanoid shadow, like the intersection of flesh and shadow, looking extremely eerie.

Even more bizarrely, this humanoid shadow had dark green pupils that seemed to be engraved with some kind of runes, and in its hand it was holding upside down a silver-white broken sword engraved with various strange runes.

The broken sword shimmered with an indistinct light of dawn, clearly indicating that it was the "Demon Slayer" already in a semi-activated state!
For some reason, Agarito was completely unaware of the shadow's presence at that moment, staring intently at Roger while reaching out to ignite the inner desires of the "Star Lord" captain.

However, Roger, who had his back to Agaritou, smiled at that moment.

The shadow suddenly thrust the "Demon Slayer" it held in its hand toward Agaritu's back.

In an instant, the light of dawn shone on the deck of the "Deathsend" and completely enveloped the "Undying King" Agarito!
This scene made Alger's heart skip a beat. He had no idea what the shadow was or how it suddenly appeared and attacked Agaritu!

Normally, a "demon" who has entered a high sequence should be able to sense Roger's malice. Even if the shadow was Roger's summoned creature, Agarito should have been able to see it in advance!
In fact, this was a new tactic that Roger developed specifically to deal with extraordinary individuals like Agarito after he became the "Black Knight".

That is, by separating out the "shadow of depravity," one can also temporarily eliminate the uncontrollable part of oneself at the deepest part, so as to temporarily escape from the mental attacks and hallucinations of the "talker" that can drive people crazy.

Roger had also temporarily buried the "Demon Slayer" in the thick shadow beneath his feet in advance, in order to partially cover up his true malicious intentions after leaving the "Star Lord".

When the "Shadow of Corruption" was separated, a portion of the malice was also "transferred" to this shadow. However, in a mystical sense, the two are still one. Therefore, Agarito could not sense an abnormal and sudden decrease in the malice in Roger's body, while the excess, real malice was covered up by the "Demon Slayer".

This is the result of Roger's previous experiments, and there is an important byproduct in this experiment.

That is, if some flesh and blood are incorporated into the shadow that it differentiates, the shadow will simultaneously possess spirituality, vitality, and a spiritual body, and the "Demon Slayer" will recognize it as a real life form.

The "Demon Slayer" will exhibit a strong desire to extract lifespan depending on its degree of liberation. However, when this extraction manifests in the "Shadow," the "Demon Slayer" will simultaneously extract cellular activity, spirituality, and mental energy as a substitute for "lifespan."

However, for a demigod-level "Black Knight," this extraction that splits into three parts does not directly affect his lifespan. This is equivalent to exploiting a bug in the "Demon Slayer" ability. As long as the flesh and blood that Roger differentiated from did not lose its vitality, the "Shadow" could maintain its activation state against the "Demon Slayer."

Most importantly, the tendency of Roger to lose control and his mental problems that the "Shadow of Corruption" carries when it splits out can also be extracted by the "Demon Slayer". In this way, the controllability of the "Shadow of Corruption" is enhanced, and to a certain extent, it shows the control over the "Shadow of Corruption" that only the "Tri-Headed Sanctuary" at Sequence 3 level can show.

With this closed loop, Roger can almost perfectly avoid the adverse effects of "Demon Slayer". The only drawback is that "Demon Slayer" can only be unleashed to about 80% of its potential and cannot fully exert its strength.

But that's enough. Besides the destructive power of the shadow itself, the illusion isolation and the super strong restraint of the "Demon Slayer" are enough for this Sequence 4 summon to effectively kill the demigod-level "Undead King" Agaritu!
Sure enough, when the fading light that enveloped the "Undying King" Agarito dissipated, Roger also saw a large amount of flesh and blood disintegrating inch by inch in the fading light.

Along with this flesh and blood, a red blood crystal reflecting the moonlight also collapsed.

At the same time, a scream suddenly reverberated around the "Death Scream"!

Most people wouldn't be able to tell the connection between this sound and the sound Agarito had made earlier, but Roger, as a "composer," was able to keenly perceive the commonality between them.

It seems that Roger's sudden and unexpected killing of the Sequence 4 "Undead King" greatly shocked the "Deathsend" and allowed the demon ship to recover from its previous abnormal state.

In the next instant, the "Death Scream" suddenly turned around and charged towards the "Star Lord".

This made Roger, who was standing on the "Death Scream," feel a chill in his heart, because he clearly saw that, affected by the eerie scream, Alger, Philip, and the others were rolling on the ground in great pain, clutching their heads!

This means that the "Death Slayer" will directly collide with the "Star Lord"!
In his panic, he immediately carried his fallen spirit back to the "Star Lord" in a flash. Using the "Ring of the Stage" to create a strong wind, he then grabbed the main rudder of the "Star Lord" and turned the rudder wheel sharply to the left.

At the same time, the figure of Chunas Korg quickly appeared beside him. This "Fallen Earl" used "Magnification" on the wind above the "Star Lord"!
With this two-pronged approach, the "Star Lord" immediately moved a large step to the left.

At this very moment, the "Death Scream" strangely transformed into a black shadow, and while Roger was dodging, it was also dodging the "Star Lord"!
The two ships passed each other by, and the "Death Slayer" sped away along the route it had come from, disappearing in an instant.

As the screams faded into the distance, Alger and the others finally managed to come to their senses.

"My God, is this what battles at the demigod level are like? It's terrifying."

Zeus, Philip, and Alger were all visibly shocked, rubbing their temples frantically, trying to dispel the lingering effects of the deep discomfort and pain.

Roger, on the other hand, was equally bewildered.

"They ran away already? Huh?"

To be honest, he hadn't had enough of fighting yet, and he had clearly just successfully killed the "Undying King" Agaritu, who was in a bad state.

Or to be more precise, he probably didn't succeed in killing "Agaritu," because the "Death Note" seemed to have immediately found another crew member on board who took the place of the "Undying King."

Judging from the blood crystal that just fell out of Agarito's body, it was clearly the aura of the "Whisperer" used by the "Death Scream" to control the crew!

"It's very likely 'The Slaughterer' Gilchias; we didn't see him on the ship just now."

"So, Agarito wasn't actually a Sequence 4 Extraordinary, but was actually pulled up to the Sequence 4 level by the Sequence 3 'Death Note' through its own special abilities?"

Roger shook his head, pondering the matter in his mind, while looking somewhat solemnly at the strange island where the "Death Note" had just docked.

At this moment, Roger was caught in a great dilemma.

Ever since Roger obtained the nautical chart from Zatwin of the "Rose School," he had been eagerly anticipating the exploration of the "Blackwing Reef."

But when he actually arrived here and witnessed everything that happened on the “Death Note,” he began to doubt whether his choice to explore this island was the right one.

A place that can even confuse and entice the "Death Slayer" is definitely not simple!
"Could it be the legacy of some high-ranking demon on this island?"

At that moment, Roger suddenly remembered what the "ancient evil" Renette Tinicol had said earlier:

"You carry the aura of the abyss..."

Roger paced back and forth for a while, deep in thought, before finally looking up at Alger and the others and saying:
"You guys move the boat a little back to the exit, and I'll go check out the island by myself."

“That island must be extremely dangerous. I can still protect myself, but if you go there, you will most likely die there.”

Upon hearing this, Alger shook his head:
"Your Excellency, if it becomes too dangerous, we can abandon this exploration."

This expedition was made possible thanks to Roger, and although Alger, who had originally agreed to come and get a share of the spoils, had high hopes, he did not want Roger to take the risk.

Like Roger, after so much cooperation and communication, Alger had come to regard Roger as a friend and therefore did not want him to take any risks.

"I still need to go and take a look. If there are any potential problems, I'll address them here."

Roger shook his head. After all, according to Renette, since the "Abyss" had its eye on him, it must want him to explore the island.

There's a high probability that "Blackwing Reef" is affected by a corresponding force. If Roger doesn't go and check it out, it's questionable whether his group can leave this place safely.

Seeing Roger's insistence, Alger and the others had no choice but to obey. They nodded and began to evacuate the three ships, including the "Star Lord," towards the entrance of this independent sea area, as Roger had instructed.

Roger took a deep breath, leaped into the air again, and ran step by step toward the dark island!

(End of this chapter)