The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 143 Cutting
Ferdinand said their theory is based on creation myths. Yera created humans and all things on earth by mixing the flesh and blood of dead gods with clay, so they also used clay as one of their main raw materials, along with a special process, to cultivate artificial life.

This is also the main reason why, although they are believers in the God of Truth, they still worship Jehovah.

Eric remained silent for a moment.

Artificial life cultivated from soil...

"This thing isn't some kind of superbug, is it?"

Ferdinand looked bewildered. "What is that?"

"No, it's nothing..."

Eric looked down and saw that the Cold Flame Scroll that Ferdinand had thrown down was almost completely burned out, and the light had weakened considerably. He fired an illumination ball down at the bottom.

Although there was quite a distance between them, it was still clear that the artificial life form below was a single entity.

"This is life you created, yet you can't kill it?"

Ferdinand hesitated for a moment, then said, "In the past, the life forms we created never lived more than a day. When we created it, to prevent it from dying too quickly, we added some flesh and blood extracted from the undead... It's probably this that made the difference."

Eric paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that holy attacks did indeed have an extra bonus against bosses; so that's why.

"Then why don't you just find a few priests of light?"

Ferdinand opened his mouth slightly and looked at him silently.

"...Oh, so you guys are criminals."

Artificial life is a research area explicitly forbidden by the Church of Yela. These alchemists dared not let anyone from the church know about it, which is why they reacted so strongly when they learned that he was from the church.

“We’ve lost control of it. If this continues, it might even devour this mage tower,” Ferdinand said, looking at Eric. “If Mr. Eric can’t solve it either, we’ll have to abandon this place and find somewhere else.”

"So you're just going to leave it here and ignore it?"

"...There will always be someone who can solve it."

“So you alchemists have absolutely no sense of social responsibility…” Eric looked around, “Where do I get down?”

Ferdinand said that the space below was devoured by Chaos and there was no way down, but the edges were not neat and could be clung to, meaning it was possible to climb down.

Eric peered over for a while and felt that climbing directly was too risky, so he asked Eric to find a rope long enough.

"Eric, are you really going down?" Elise asked nervously.

"Given this opportunity, of course I have to go down," Eric said. "Eating it would probably be equivalent to a month of hard work on the ancient battlefield."

This means you can monopolize the massive amount of experience from the entire BOSS.

Upon hearing this, Molly, who was standing nearby, pretended to vomit. "You're planning to eat this stuff?"

Eric ignored her and, while Ferdinand went to find the rope, circled the underground cave.

The main attack method of that BOSS in the previous life was to flip over and cover a large area. According to Ferdinand, because it had no soul, it did not have true consciousness, only the instinct to devour. It was hard to say whether it was an intentional attack or just moving.

If it's the latter, then it's much easier to deal with.

After waiting a while, Ferdinand brought out a long rope that was a little wet.

"Is it secure?" Eric pulled the rope a few times to test its strength.

"It's sturdy and soaked in the juice of the tough grass, so it's not easy to slip."

“No wonder it’s wet…” Eric found a spot above to secure one end of the rope, then dragged it into the cave. Under the watchful eyes of the three above, he cast a few divine spells to enhance his attributes, then gripped the rope and prepared to climb down.

"One last question, who gets the loot from the boss?"

Ferdinand was taken aback, not understanding. "What?"

Eric pointed down, "So, after I kill it, if I find anything, is it my spoils, or do I have to return it to you?"

Ferdinand paused for a moment, still not quite understanding, but still said that whatever they found would be Eric's responsibility.

"Just hearing that is enough."

Relying on his own strength and endurance, it was relatively easy for Eric to descend by pulling the rope. He quickly approached the top of the BOSS below and began to observe it up close.

Similar to the BOSS in his past life memories, it resembled a slime in form, but it wasn't as bouncy and smooth. It was a flat, large lump, and its body was still made of the same flesh and blood as his, making it even more bizarre in appearance.

At this close range, Eric could also hear subtle sounds that couldn't be heard from above.

There was a rustling sound, like something crawling on the ground. His intuition told him that it was the sound of BOSS Cairoth swallowing soil.

He observed for a while, then climbed up a bit more, and then unleashed a Holy Light Smite on Kael'thas below.

A holy light descended from the sky. Without even aiming, the entire ground, which was the BOSS's body, was scorched by the holy light.

Eric observed carefully, but Cairo remained in the same posture, showing no reaction.

He didn't rush down. Holding onto the rope, he threw several more Holy Light spells at the boss, burning through large patches of skin, but the boss still didn't react.

Eric guessed that it hadn't grown to the appropriate stage yet, and decided to take the risk and give it a try.

With a flick of his right hand, Eric swung his steel sword, which was then coated with a dazzling golden light. He lowered himself down the rope and landed on the BOSS.

The ground was soft underfoot, similar to stepping on damp but not mushy soil, but the thought that he was actually stepping on flesh and blood made Eric instinctively feel nauseous.

Suppressing his resistance, he didn't loosen the rope, but instead, with a wary look, he began to hack at the ground beneath his feet.

Enveloped in holy light, each of his sword strikes left charred wounds, with remarkable effectiveness.

After attacking for a while, Eric swayed and realized that the flesh beneath his feet was slowly flowing towards his wounds.

The wounds left by his initial holy light punishments have now almost completely healed, with the slowly flowing flesh coalescing together, leaving only a layer of charred black.

The Holy Light had some effect in suppressing undead monsters, but the BOSS's strong self-healing ability was clearly not just due to the small amount of undead flesh added at the beginning.

And this is the BOSS's greatest strength at this stage. Eric thought for a moment, then plunged his sword deep into the BOSS's body, preparing to cut it open.

This thing has no bones, and the flesh isn't very firm. There was almost no resistance when the sword was inserted. Once it's completely cut open, it won't heal so easily.

However, even after the sword was stuck on the BOSS, he still couldn't stab all the way through.

Eric looked around.

It's already spread out like a big pancake, yet it's still this thick?

He pulled the sword out slightly, swung it left and right, cutting a larger wound above, and then plunged it back in until half of his arm was inside the flesh. Only then did he feel the tip of the sword touch the ground.

There was no red blood inside the BOSS, but a transparent, viscous liquid was seeping from both sides of the cut flesh. Eric guessed that this was its unique blood.

"How disgusting..."

He had half his arm down there, so naturally a lot of it got on his skin. He felt sticky, but the only consolation was that the smell wasn't too bad.

His sword was far too short for the boss's body, making it very inconvenient to cut. Eric thought for a moment, then looked up and shouted, "Do you have any longswords here? The longer the better—"

Ferdinand quickly responded, "Yes!"

After waiting for a while, his voice rang out again from above, "Throw it down?"

Eric added a light orb before letting him throw it down.

Ferdinand, worried that the sword might fall and kill him, deliberately went around to the side before throwing down the longsword he had struggled to carry.

Eric could clearly see the sword's descent and the location of its fall, as the light refracted off its blade. It had been pulled from the BOSS's body and was indeed much longer than the Aran steel sword in his hand. He wondered what these mages were collecting such a longsword for.

He raised his longsword, muttering a mantra, and a golden light quickly enveloped him.

Then, pierce into the BOSS's body. When you reach the bottom, there is still a little distance between the sword guard and the BOSS's body surface.

He gripped the sword hilt with both hands and dragged it in one direction, slowly slicing through the BOSS's body, as if he were cutting a giant cake.

"What is he doing?" Molly, looking down at Eric slowly moving below, asked instinctively.

Elise glanced at her, then looked down. "They probably want to cut that thing apart."

Ferdinand, standing nearby, couldn't help but sigh. Seeing that the two of them were looking over, he quickly adjusted his expression.

"How much money are you planning to pay me?" Molly asked.

"..."

Below, Eric dragged the longsword that had pierced the BOSS's body, cutting his way through until he finally reached one end.

The sword has the effect of the Holy Judgment Blade, leaving a layer of charred marks on both sides of the cut flesh, which can temporarily slow down the healing process.

Eric quickly drew his longsword, returned to the starting point of the cut, and dragged it to the other side to make the cut.

When the sword was pulled from the BOSS's body, its massive form was split in two.

"Will this work...?"

Eric observed for a moment, but couldn't see any difference with the naked eye. He then squatted down, separated the flesh on both sides, and examined it carefully for a while. He found that one side had stopped oozing that disgusting, transparent, sticky liquid.

Is this place considered dead?

He made another cut on the seemingly dead side and found that the BOSS's flesh had completely stopped flowing and there was no movement at all. Although he didn't know the specific reason, it seemed to be effective.

Eric breathed a sigh of relief and, following the same method, began cutting the remaining half.

“Oh, he’s doing it again.” Molly looked down.

Iris didn't speak, but suddenly turned her gaze to the side, where Ferdinand had grabbed the rope, seemingly wanting to go down.

She paused for a moment, then reminded her, "If you go down, you might not be able to come back up."

Judging from his pathetic state, having been panting for ages after dragging a longsword over, Elise guessed that even if he managed to climb down, he wouldn't have the strength to climb back up.

Ferdinand paused, nodded to her as if thanking her for the reminder, then took out a bottle of red potion from his pocket, hesitated for a moment, and then downed it in one gulp.

"Well!"

Veins bulged on his forehead, his face contorted, and he clenched his fists, letting out several painful groans and trembling for a while.

Elise and Molly, who were standing nearby, looked at him and then exchanged glances.

“It seems like he drank some kind of potion,” Molly said.

"Um……"

After about a minute or two, Ferdinand finally recovered, and without hesitation, he gripped the rope and started climbing down. The two men quickly moved to the edge and watched him climb down.

Although the movements weren't very skillful, the rope was gripped quite tightly.

Molly picked up the bottle of potion he had finished drinking and tossed aside, smelled it, and frowned. "It seems to be some kind of power-enhancing potion... What was he doing down there?"

Ferdinand showed her the answer through his actions.

Eric, who was cutting up the remaining half of the BOSS, looked up and saw Ferdinand descending down the rope. He was stunned for a moment, then saw him pounce on the half of the BOSS's flesh that was already dead, touching and examining it, and whispering something.

He glanced at it a few times and then ignored it, continuing to drag the longsword. When it reached the edge, he pushed it forward, cutting the remaining half of the BOSS into two quarters.

"Which side will die this time...?"

Eric waited a moment, and Ferdinand crawled over—using both his hands and feet, he climbed over the BOSS.

“I was completely exhausted after climbing down from there…” he explained to Eric, who was staring at him.

Eric glanced at the rope hanging there. "So how are you going to get up there?"

The alchemist looked at him with an embarrassed but expectant gaze.

"..."

Eric took a deep breath and, considering the huge experience boost he had received, decided to let it go.

He looked again at the BOSS's body, which was cut in half, and was about to examine it when Ferdinand told him that the left side was the one that had died.

He checked and it was indeed so.

Why did only one side die?

Ferdinand shook his head. "I don't know, which is why I came down... We've never created artificial life this large and that has survived for so long."

Eric didn't ask any more questions, picked up his longsword, and continued cutting the last quarter.

Ferdinand then took out a small dagger, cut off a piece of the BOSS's flesh, and then carefully sliced ​​it into thin slices, examining them closely against the luminous orb above his head.

After a while, he asked Molly, who was still up there, to go and call the other alchemists over.

Molly was so bored that she didn't even ask him for a running fee and went to call someone for him directly.

Soon, several alchemists ran over.

“Nerham, bring me some bottles—”

The person above shouted down, "How are we going to give it to you—"

“Uh…you drink the quick-acting strength potion, climb down, and Mr. Eric will take us up—”

Eric roared, "Only one at most!"

The alchemist dared not force him and began to rack his brains for a solution. In the end, Nehm lifted the rope up and carefully lowered it down with several bottles tied to it.

Ferdinand filled the bottle with the BOSS's flesh and blood, and used the remaining empty bottle to collect the viscous, transparent liquid.

Eric pushed his longsword, and the BOSS, who had been flattened into a pancake shape, was now only one-eighth of its original size. He began to wonder if the thing could still maintain its life force if it was eventually cut down to the size of a palm.

But when he was only halfway through the cut from one-eighth to one-sixteenth, he felt resistance. The BOSS's flesh had become thicker and tighter, and the longsword could no longer be pushed as easily as before.

Eric drew his longsword, cut around the point where he encountered resistance, and then thrust the sword down from the very center. Before it was halfway down, he felt the tip of the sword touch something.

Is this some kind of core element of the BOSS?
He drew his sword and changed from stabbing to digging, scraping away the flesh above. The further down he went, the firmer the flesh became. He had never struggled like this before.

As the pit he dug grew deeper, a large amount of liquid seeped out from the flesh on both sides. It was no longer as transparent as before, but instead had a hint of blood.

Eric found it increasingly strange as he dug, and soon the tip of his sword touched the hard object below again, unable to dig any further.

Looking at the murky blood, he gritted his teeth and still put his hand in.

The stickiness of the liquid and the feel of flesh and blood made him feel nauseous. After groping around for a while, he finally found the hard object at the bottom, with an uneven and pitted surface.

Eric shoved his fingers into the flesh, gripped the hard object, and then, with a burst of strength, pulled it out.

A dazzling golden light suddenly burst forth, so bright that Eric could barely see. The golden light then rushed into his body, followed by a series of upgrade notifications.

[Swordsman class upgraded to level 33]

[Monk class upgraded to level 33]

[Swordsman class upgraded to level 34]

[Monk class upgraded to level 34]

[Swordsman class upgraded to level 35]

[Monk class upgraded to level 35]

……

[Swordsman class upgraded to level 43]

[Monk class upgraded to level 43]

Here's a wealth of experience to share!

Eric was overjoyed to have leveled up ten levels in one go, but he was also a little disappointed. He had thought that taking all the experience from this BOSS would allow him to directly reach level 45 and advance to the third job advancement.

It's probably because this BOSS isn't fully developed—it has no ability to resist at all, just lie there and let it dismember you. Its level is probably around level 50 at most.

Of course, he was also unable to challenge a level 100 fully evolved BOSS on his own.

As a world boss, it drops almost all types of equipment for all classes, except for fixed items. The source of these drops is other adventurers who attempt to challenge it but are instead devoured.

However, there's no point in hoping for that right now.

Only Eric himself could see the dazzling golden light. To Ferdinand, who was standing nearby, it looked like Eric had just dipped his hand into the blood and suddenly stared blankly for a moment.

Eric, having allocated his free attribute points to Agility and Faith, snapped out of his daze and retrieved the fist-sized hard object from the blood.

A Pure Heart for Life

The core of the artificial life form Chaos contains powerful life energy.

When fully charged, it can rapidly heal all wounds and completely replenish vitality.

"The power to create life no longer belongs solely to Yela."

Holding the pure heart of life, Eric paused for a moment.

In "The Thorn Soul Crown", this is also a special item that Cairo will always drop. Its effect is to instantly restore all health, which is equivalent to an eternal health potion. However, it needs to be charged and can only be used once a day.

Eric then looked at Ferdinand, who was staring blankly at him, and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

The alchemist shook his head, and just as he was about to reach out and take it, he put it away.

"That's good. As we agreed, this is mine."

"……Wait a moment!"

Ferdinand lunged forward, "At least let me take a good look at what it is!"

After he promised to return it to him after he finished reading it, Eric took out the Heart of Life.

"Go up and take your time to look around."

He pulled the already oblivious Ferdinand toward the rope, but before they had gone far, their feet suddenly sank into the ground.

Looking at the flesh and blood beneath his feet that had suddenly softened like mud, Eric realized: Cairoth was beginning to rot.

(End of this chapter)