A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 204 Black Knife
【Ding--】

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[Black Knife]

[The short sword used by the Templar Assassins to kill John the Apostate on the last day of the Cataclysmic Era.]

Through ritual, the winding, peculiar blade acquired the power of the sin of rage. After the wielder's death, a transcendental attribute recognized it as a new host.

"Until the very last moment, John understood the meaning of faith. The light before our eyes was useless to all beings; that light must reside in our hearts. So the apostate, turned into firewood, embraced death. From that moment on, he no longer wavered."

The knife in Quinn's hand was completely black, winding like a beast's claw. At first glance, it had nothing unusual about it. If you placed it in a corner of the living room, you might even subconsciously forget that the knife existed.

Quinn understood that this was probably the embodiment of the Assassin's extraordinary characteristics on the blade—the stealthy nature of concealing one's presence, just like that of a thief or burglar.

It appeared quiet and not dangerous. Quinn had already raised his guard to the highest level before opening the package, and had activated the Demon King's Eye early on, but he did not find any signs of instability in the black knife.

However, the "John the Apostate" mentioned in the encyclopedia system gave Quinn a strange sense of déjà vu, like that of an old friend.

He was quite certain he had never heard of the name.

Quinn paused to think for a while, but couldn't come up with any clues. However, the system revealed some historical information. According to the description, the death of this "John" ended the Great Cataclysm, which was something that had never been recorded in archaeological documents.

The people of Taimuran know very little about the history before the Common Era. From the stone tablets unearthed through archaeological excavations, they can only confirm that this world has experienced five eras: the first era, the Age of Gods; the second era, which ended the Age of Gods; and the third era, which is recorded as the "Great Cataclysm."

Although the Fourth Age is adjacent to the Fifth Age, the Age of Gods, there are fewer traces of civilization from this long history than in the Third and Second Ages, hence it is called the "Lost Age".

Quinn had no interest in archaeology in another world. After confirming that the black knife was safe, he planned to smash it with a hammer as instructed by Hermes and absorb its extraordinary properties.

But after taking only two steps, he suddenly stopped, his gaze turning serious as he looked at the quiet little knife in his hand.

I had been lost in thought for just a moment and had subconsciously forgotten that I was still holding the knife.
If I hadn't repeatedly warned myself to be extremely careful, I would have taken the black knife out of the cleared area.

Although he didn't understand why Hermes had made him naked and clear all the items around the black knife, he knew there must be a reason. Quinn carefully placed the black knife in the center of the open space, then expanded the space by half a circle, even moving the sofa and table to the corner, before picking up the small, square hammer and walking towards the black knife.

"Hoo," Quinn took a deep breath, bringing his mind and body to their most stable state.

Then, raising his right hand, which was holding the hammer, he brought it down with all his might!
With Quinn's strength, a single blow could smash a person's head, collapse a wall, and even if it was a heavy iron ingot, a single blow could cause visible deformation.

But after the astonishing sound of wind breaking, the black knife on the ground was completely undamaged. It wasn't that it was too hard, but that Quinn hadn't hit it at all!

How can it be?

He frowned, wanting to try again, but halfway through his hand he suddenly realized, "Where's my hammer?"
The hammer he was clutching in his hand vanished without warning, as if it had been stolen!
Quinn looked around but couldn't find the hammer. He quickly took a step back and stared intently at the black knife on the ground. He was no longer a clueless materialist novice. In this mysterious world, there were no coincidences. Whatever looked the strangest was most likely the culprit!

The air trembled slightly, and several blinding golden lights exploded along with the sound of the mirror shattering. Quinn saw the hammer made by the research department again. The tip of the black knife was pressed against the joint of the hammer. With just a flick upwards, the hammer would smash into Quinn's head.

But with a violent tremor of the hammer, a high concentration of mana surged forth from the hammer's texture, destroying the aura that had been concealing it. The black blade was also thrown away, flung half a meter away. This time, Quinn finally saw what had happened.

After the black knife was knocked away, a strange gravitational wave rippled outwards and pulled towards it in a circle. It was the thief's "steal" skill, with a gravitational radius of about one meter. However, since Quinn had already cleared the surrounding area, the black knife was unable to steal anything this time. The only thing it could reach, the hammer, was protected by arcane magic. The golden light and the gravitational wave canceled each other out, emitting a muffled hum once again.

The black blade, now fused with extraordinary properties, finally ceased its concealment. In Quinn's demonic eye, an invisible "hand" gripped the hilt. It was no longer ordinary; every line on the blade seemed to gleam with a ferocious light, its sharpness fully revealed as it thrust straight at Quinn.

How could Quinn be stabbed by a small knife? After all, the black knife had no master and relied entirely on its own strength. Its speed was at most a little faster than that of an ordinary person, but it was only at the level of a Sequence Nine thief. Quinn nimbly dodged with a roll, and the black knife that missed its target fell crookedly to the ground.

Quinn didn't give it a chance to show off any more amazing skills. Using the high speed boost from Shadowfall twice, he grabbed a hammer from the ground and smashed it down on the black knife. All the black knife could do was deflect by an inch, trying to block the blow with its blade. But Quinn, remembering the precautions, flipped his hand at the same time, and the hammer turned slightly as it fell, ultimately hitting the black knife's blade perfectly!
With a flash of golden light, Quinn saw the spell activated on the hammer, and a nail-shaped arcane spell was hammered into the black blade.

Bang—Buzz—

The expected crisp shattering sound did not occur; instead, there was a dull, sigh-like low thud. In the blink of an eye, the black blade shattered into several fragments, along with wisps of blood-red mist. In the gray-white vision of the Demon King's Eye, these specks of mist were as conspicuous as blood stained white paper.

Is this the extracted extraordinary property?
Quinn breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected that the black knife would have self-awareness. Like the revolver Mista, it was a "living" thing. Its self-awareness was obviously much higher than Mista's. It could judge danger and even take action on its own.

This is only Sequence Seven, right? Rumor has it that those containment objects that have fused with high-sequence extraordinary characteristics are at least "A" grade, and are contained by the Church with all its might, buried in places where the sun never shines.
For no apparent reason, a surge of anger welled up in Quinn's heart. If he hadn't been careful enough, would he have died here without even bringing the Undying Totem?
I just lost my virginity, you motherfucker, why didn't you write the characteristics of this damn knife more clearly?
He grew increasingly enraged, his breathing becoming erratic. A destructive urge surged within him, veins bulging in his arm gripping the hammer, the wooden handle creaking under the weight. His eyes reddened as he looked around, still not satisfied with the shattered fragments of the black knife, he immediately raised the hammer, ready to smash those damned pieces to dust—

He paused in his hammer-wielding motion, and his eyes regained their clarity.

He heard a burning sound coming from the depths of his soul. As if by illusion, the extraordinary characteristics of Sekiro, the hero's destiny, seemed to ignite a spark, burning away the crimson mist he had inhaled.

What's wrong with me?
Quinn paused for a moment, then chuckled and put down his hammer. How had he suddenly become such a superhero? It was normal that Hermes hadn't written it clearly; these were contained objects. Even with years of use, one might not be able to fully understand all the characteristics of these strange items. The taboos were listed in great detail; if something still went wrong while he was constantly on guard, it would be too pathetic.
But why am I suddenly so angry?
An uncontrollable rage erupted, even when he learned who was responsible for his parents' deaths. Maintaining composure and trying his best not to let his thoughts be swayed by his emotions was his consistent style.

This is by no means unusual.

Quinn pondered for a moment and quickly identified the possible reasons for his emotional fluctuations.

In the system's description of the black blade, there is a sentence: "The winding and peculiar blade harbors the power of the sin of rage." 'Rage' clearly refers to one of the seven deadly sins of the abyss. Could it be that the red mist that just dissipated was the power of the abyss?
Even a very faint amount, like the amount exhaled after taking a puff of a cigarette, would enrage Quinn. Any more, and he even wondered if he would instantly lose his mind.

Why would ancient artifacts be associated with the abyss?
Could it be that thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago, the abyss was already like that doomsday Earth?
Quinn had been controlled by the greedy merchant before and knew that this state was not easy to get rid of. Just now, it was obvious that the hero's extraordinary characteristics saved him, burning away the power of "rage" with fire.
Fire. From "Useless Man" to "Sekiro," Quinn was unaware that the Hero's Fate possessed abilities related to fire.

After observing carefully for a while, the dissipating red mist had disappeared. It seemed that it could not remain for long after losing the black sword as its vessel. This was the academy's dormitory, and its mysterious layout could easily be used as an arcane workshop. There was no need to worry about Xia Daier in the room hearing the sounds or being affected.

After observing several times and confirming that his emotions had completely returned to normal, Quinn finally deactivated the Demon King's Eye.

A translucent, scar-like, slender object floated silently above the black knife fragments, with several malevolent tentacles swaying faintly on either side of the scar, like hands reaching out from it.

The thief trait fully integrated into Quinn's soul emitted an intense sense of longing, like soil craving nutrients. Quinn's instinct for attraction to his kind made him realize that this was the extraordinary characteristic of an assassin.

After gazing at it for a moment, Quinn reached out his hand to it.

(End of this chapter)