Dragon Tribulation of All Realms

Chapter 243 No barbecue today either
She tossed the gun over—and Wu Chen caught it casually. He weighed it in his hand; the weight was exactly the same as before. As for the wolf that had been hit, there were only bloodstains from the burst wound, no spent cartridges left.

It's still that Desert Eagle pistol with unlimited ammo.

It still possesses the power it had when the Witch's Dust first acquired it—the ability to become immune to fatal damage by firing at the source of the attack. It cannot be activated continuously, and the weapon itself has hidden, unactivated effects.

"It's so good to see you again... Senior Hera." Wu Chen breathed a silent sigh of relief and put away the gun.

"I never thought I'd see you again. I thought you were already..."

“She’s dead.” Hera tilted her head slightly, still smiling at him. “That’s true. The individual named Hera Morley perished when the time-space transfer ritual was initiated. Her soul disintegrated, and her body evaporated. In fact, the fact that I can still maintain my self-awareness now is basically all thanks to your help.”

She emerged from the shadows—her attire now came into view of Wu Chen. The primary color was black, with white as a secondary color; her hands, feet, and most of her body were covered in exquisite dark silver armor. Yet, the overall style of the outfit resembled a fantasy-inspired maid's uniform.

She is a battle maid.

It was a trophy that Wu Chen obtained from the Kingdom of Tianyu, the prototype of Xizi Delta, an expensive high-grade automaton. Wu Chen gave it to Hera as a gift, and now, the automaton's appearance and size have changed, and Hera's self-awareness resides within it.

It turned out to be the case.

The 'friend' had once subtly hinted that he would encounter some good things at the beginning of everything. And now, he knew that good thing was a living Hera.

He sensed no power from Hera.

"……How are you?"

“Not very good.” Hera shook her head slightly and pulled the short knife that Wu Chen had thrown from the carcass of the direwolf. She exchanged a glance with Wu Chen and then began to cut the fur of the wolves. Wu Chen wanted to help, but found that Hera’s movements were more efficient and stronger than he had expected.

“I have lost my soul. I am now unable to use intrinsic spells and have a severe lack of resistance to mental arcane power. Fortunately, the parameters of this automaton body are quite good, and... it can maintain its energy by eating.”

Her movements were swift and efficient—she easily skinned the wolf and pulled out its still-steaming, fresh liver. This is the most nutritious part of a common large wild animal, and when fresh enough, it's even easier to digest than other parts.

"Want a piece?" She handed the wolf's liver to Wu Chen.

Wu Chen glanced at the bloody mess, then at Hera, whose fingertips were stained with blood—his senior was as beautiful, elegant, and intellectual as ever, practically the most perfect woman he could imagine. However, the Hera he knew was hard to reconcile with the image before him.

"Aren't you used to it? But you have to get used to it. I can hear your heartbeat, your breathing, and the flow of your blood. This means that your current body has higher requirements for food than mine. And I think it's best not to light a fire right now."

Wu Chen's throat moved slightly, and he felt his nerves twitch. The vibrancy of life was clearly presented before his eyes and in his stomach at this moment. His intestines made a low growl of hunger, and before he could react, he had subconsciously reached out to take the organs.

Warm, vibrant, as if still pulsating. The breath of life flows through it, rushing away in the cold wind of this ghostly forest.

The taste was actually quite good—slightly crunchy and savory. A large amount of trace elements were incorporated, providing excellent energy. After eating a whole wolf liver, Wu Chen felt a surge of strength within him.

After one, there was another. As Wu Chen took the second liver, he saw Hera quickly cutting through the flesh of the dire wolf while putting the wolf's heart into her mouth—her movements were nimble, and she maintained elegance even in the bloody act. Large pieces of organs were crushed and swallowed in just a few seconds, with almost no extra drop of blood splashing out, only slightly staining the corners of her lips.

"Do you have the strength now?" She had already butchered two wolves. "No large beasts will be around for a while. Help me cut four long strips of wood from a tree near you. The length should be the same as your height, and the width should be the same as two fingers held together. Peel off the hide, and do it as quickly as possible." She spoke clearly without repeating herself, and she was already butchering the third wolf—while she was butchering it, she also tossed fresh wolf livers to Wu Chen, who naturally caught them and swung his sword at the appropriate branch.

One branch, two branches.

Wu Chen suddenly turned his head to look at the place where he had previously sensed a faint threat. The thing that had posed a threat to him, which had seemed to have moved away, was now turning back towards him. It was moving faster than expected, and clearly wouldn't be long before it reached him and Hera!

"Senior, over there—"

“I know.” Hera didn’t stop what she was doing. “Never mind it, focus on what we’re doing.”

The four wooden poles were successfully cut off. Wu Chen's sword was swift, and his strength had returned to full after being replenished. The parts that met Hera's needs were completed in an instant, and Hera took them without hesitation, planting the four wooden poles in the ground to support a cube with a length, width, and height of 1.7 meters. The heads of the four dire wolves were cut off, and she planted them on top of the wooden poles.

She seemed to be preparing for some kind of ceremony.

“I am indeed preparing a ceremony.” She hung one of the fresh wolf pelts on the wooden pole, and Wu Chen imitated her.

"Both you and I have lost our souls and are unable to use intrinsic magic. However, in any world, the origin of human arcane arts will always be the blood magic of savage sacrifices. By stimulating the life force of living beings, magic can be activated. This is the most basic ritual, and as long as the setup is perfect and the steps are reasonable, even individuals who are immune to magic can still use magic."

"Just like us."

She said she had successfully draped all four wolf pelts over herself. The excess flesh and blood were carelessly discarded on the ground, and she seemed to have no intention of cleaning them up.

The sense of crisis drew ever closer, yet Hera remained unperturbed. She gestured for Wu Chen to prepare his gun, while she used the still-wet wolf blood to draw interconnected runes on the snow, chanting in varying tones.

“Ah~ Ah—ah!” She had the ability; she could speak while chanting. “I don’t think I’ve ever taught you these things that would normally only appear in archaeology, but now I’m making up for it—different musical vibrations can also subtly manipulate the faint magic in the surrounding environment. And once they are activated, the corresponding rune structures can be triggered—see? The blood on these runes is changing color, which means these runes are effective in this world.”

She pointed out the runes to Wu Chen, several of which were changing color from blood to blue and then yellow. Without pausing, she continued chanting as she drew the changing blood runes on the edge of the cube.

"Number two, number nine, number thirteen. Starting from left to right, draw it from that position, connecting the beginning and end, repeating until you reach the bottom of another pole. Don't be nervous, you can do it."

“Okay,” Wu Chen replied.

As she had hoped, Wu Chen used fresh wolf blood to draw lines on the snow, connecting the base of one pole to the base of another. He knew time was of the essence; he had no time to think. Yet Hera's actions at this moment were already clearly evident to him!

This senior student of mine actually attempted to build a basic spellcasting system from scratch in a world completely unfamiliar to her. And, undeniably, she succeeded!

With the last blood rune completed, she pulled Wu Chen to stand in the center of the cube. Indistinct figures were already appearing in the distance, but she ignored them completely, simply standing in the center of the ritual and uttering a series of rhythmic, soft chants.

All the runes changed color at that moment, and the cube was immediately covered by a thin veil like mist. And in the next instant, the group of figures that had appeared beyond the woods revealed their true form!
A White Walker.

And a group of ghouls were surrounding it.

(End of this chapter)