Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 182 Bloodline Analysis

Shadow Priests, skilled in negative magic, are notoriously difficult to deal with. They move between light and darkness, and are the most unorthodox combat class in the Temple of Light.

Granville was heartbroken; these were his most prized men. But things had come to this point, and there was no way to let it end peacefully. He would have to kill these two, even if it meant sacrificing his own life!

Another soldier fell, and those around him frantically unleashed their sword skills, but all were either parried or dodged. One soldier made a slightly overzealous movement, and Iser seized an opening to pierce his heart. His armor offered absolutely no resistance, and the Watcher's blade easily penetrated it.

The soldiers panicked. The enemy's equipment was ridiculously good, and their combat skills were also powerful. What kind of hellish joke was this?!
But Iser also found it difficult. These soldiers were highly skilled, and some could even roughly sense her location; if she wasn't careful, she would be counterattacked.

She had to patiently fight back.

On the other side of the battlefield, Granville, his heart hardening, charged forward and slashed at the Shadow Priest. Gerus blinded him with a blinding spell, slipped through the gaps in the light and shadow to get behind him, and ran towards Iser.

A soldier's splattered blood stained Iser's armor, revealing her figure. Gerus, rushing forward, unleashed a burst of radiant light, using a slowing spell to restrain the soldier, giving Iser the opportunity to break free of the encirclement.

The two girls met eyes and nodded to each other.

Granville, freed from the blinding spell, turned and chased after her, raising his sword again to strike Gerus. Gerus parried with her scepter, but Granville flicked his wrist, his longsword darting around the scepter in a dazzling arc, striking Gerus's shoulder and piercing her shield, causing a significant wound.

The priest's scepter only struck his armor, leaving a dull ache.

Granville was about to continue when he realized he was moving too slowly. As the scepter touched, Gerus seized the opportunity to inject a large amount of dark light into him.

"So many tricks!" Granville cursed inwardly, cautiously taking a few steps back. Behind Gerus, Iser's blood-stained phantom was once again surrounded by soldiers.

He held back no longer, unleashing his battle aura and dispelling the negative effects. He held his longsword upright, activating the enchantment array on it, and golden light immediately enveloped the blade.

Once you kill the Shadow Priest in front of you, you can join the gank on the Warden and easily end the battle!
Granville was about to unleash his combat technique when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, accompanied by the sound of his armor being pierced. He looked down and saw the tip of a longsword protruding from his chest, with blood gushing out.

It was Iser; the girl had somehow circled around behind him. He looked up, and at the spot where the Watchers had previously fought, a phantom figure was found by the soldiers and shattered upon being struck.

Illusion?
Granville finally realized on his deathbed that Iser's previous bloodstains were intentional. When Gerus unleashed a wide-range entanglement spell, Iser, under the cover of the radiance, simultaneously activated an illusion, purifying his blood and hiding himself.

The surprise attack was ultimately achieved.

The captain fell to the ground unwillingly, and Isher's supple figure disappeared from everyone's sight once again.

With seven men killed in quick succession, including their strongest captain, the morale of the remaining soldiers collapsed instantly.

Jelus paid no heed to her injuries. She glanced at the panicked soldiers around her, her lifeless eyes growing even darker. "Welcome to the Land of Punishment!"

****
Ten minutes later, the situation calmed down again.

Iser leaned against the snow, panting heavily. She also had several small wounds on her body; considering the cost of fighting an elite squad, this was a small price to pay.

Two months ago, during the battle at sea with Elisa, Elisa used illusions to mislead her judgment, showing her how illusions can be used to deceive information on the battlefield, rather than just being a simple matter of reality versus illusion.

She spent a lot of time researching during this period and finally succeeded in actual combat.

Although the two girls successfully outmaneuvered their leader Granville and instigated a rout, chasing so many scattered soldiers and dealing with their desperate counterattacks was still a considerable drain on their resources. She might have only stabbed a few people, but she ran at least ten kilometers round trip.

Gerus landed beside her. Besides the wound on her shoulder, she also had a scar on her forehead, and a patch of her hair had been shaved off.

The priestess remained calm, but as the gray in her eyes faded, she suddenly clutched her shoulder, which Granville had slashed, and knelt on the ground, her face contorted in pain, and groaned.

"Are you badly injured?" Isher asked quickly.

"So-so," Gerus replied after a moment's hesitation. She focused her mind and used a healing spell on herself. Iser also helped treat and bandage her wounds.

After a while, her pain subsided, and she began to heal Iser again. As she cast the spell, she glanced around and, sure enough, saw corpses scattered everywhere.

"Sorry, I didn't leave any survivors." Gerus rubbed her cheeks, quite annoyed.

Jelus chose the Shadow Form, a relatively uncommon cultivation system within the Temple of Light. It combines the powers of light and darkness, making it particularly suitable for battlefield combat.

However, Gerus is a special case. In her shadow form, she is completely out of control and can even shred the souls of her enemies in one go. She can also absorb the dissipated spiritual energy and amplify the power of various negative spells.

Iser frowned; his friend's condition was worsening. If anyone else saw this, Gerus would definitely be branded a heretic or cultist.

“It’s a problem with the Mirror Soul Technique. We’ll deal with it when we get back.” Jelus knew what her friend was thinking. She scanned the battlefield again. “These people are strong and disciplined, unlike ordinary noble armies.”

Iser summoned the backpack and cloak he had previously discarded to his side and draped them over himself and Gerus. “Judging from their fighting style and equipment, they are somewhat similar to the White Scatter Cavalry of the Cold Mountain Kingdom.”

But then she shook her head. The White Shot Cavalry were special forces. By their standards, these men weren't qualified.

After Gerus finished treating the wound, she helped Iser to his feet. "We need to find a place to rest and treat the injury further."

Iser was about to agree when she suddenly looked up. She sensed something, a hint of surprise on her face. "It's my tracking crystal—how did Graves get here?"

"Who?"

“We’ve seen him twice, that dark-haired youth with the gun and alchemy,” Iser said. She climbed to the top of the snow slope and looked ahead, but saw nothing.

Gerald caught up. "Is he the one who assassinated the lecherous Benny Finn—was he also involved in the assassination of Lady Catherine?"

This is not surprising; mercenaries operate in the gray area. He might help a group of kidnapped girls he encounters, or he might unconditionally assassinate a target designated by his employer for money.

Iser shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. Graves found Acosta by following the lead of the kidnapping of the girl. He rescued Princess Daphne, which led to the exposure of the incident."

Gerus pondered for a moment, "Indeed—but why was he so fast? How did he get here before us?"

Iser couldn't understand it either. After parting ways in Ries City, she and Gerus traveled day and night without stopping to get here.

Following her senses, the Watcher girl quickly located the tracking crystal she had placed on Su Ming when they passed each other. It was carefully wrapped in a piece of velvet and buried shallowly in the snow.

Iser opened it, and there were words on the strip of cloth that read, "Catherine is in my hands."

"The handwriting is awkward; it seems the person isn't very good at writing standard written language," Gerald analyzed. "This person—"

Before she could finish speaking, Iser had already turned the strip of cloth over; on the other side was another line: "Do not worry, it will be returned soon." Iser immediately sat down on the snow, tears welling up in her eyes and freezing quickly in the cold wind.

Gerus breathed a sigh of relief. She planted her staff in the ground, creating a semi-circular protective shield. Then she swirled up the surrounding snow, allowing it to accumulate layer by layer along the outer edge of the shield, compressing it tightly, thus creating a simple snow shelter.

The blizzard was blocked by the snow wall. The priest opened her backpack, took out a waterproof blanket, and spread it on the snow. She then took out a small can of kerosene and lit a small fire.

After the two girls treated each other's wounds, they snuggled together on the blanket and fell asleep.

****
The next morning, when Su Ming got up, she saw the scholar in a flustered state. In front of her was a little bundle of joy, naked from the waist down, kicking its legs wildly, and next to it was a pile of dirty scraps of cloth and clothes.

"Why does baby poop smell so bad!" Violet's face was grim as she threw the tissue in her hand into the trash can. "And he's not cooperating at all—I really owe Catherine a debt!"

Faced with pursuers of unknown strength, Su Ming was eager to try his luck, but his defenses crumbled after only a short time with the child. Su Ming almost laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Violet said, clearly displeased. "I can't just ignore it, and I can't leave everything to you alone. I'm in a difficult position!"

Su Ming filled a basin with warm water, washed the little dumpling clean, applied skin care oil according to Miao Xin's instructions, and then sent over the new baby clothes she had bought, which she then dressed the baby in.

Unfortunately, the materials for diapers are not available in the other world, so crafting them is not cost-effective; otherwise, things would be much simpler.

"You have such a good temper," said Violet. She took a small blanket, wrapped the cleaned-up child in it, and held him in her arms. But she didn't wrap him properly, and the little dumpling struggled a bit, with one hand sticking out.

Su Ming put the little dumpling's hand back and straightened the blanket.

He was about to take the child to the workshop when Violet stopped him. The scholar led him to another carriage, where there was a magic circle set up, and gestured for him to place the child in the center of the circle.

Su Ming had never seen this type of magic array before; it was a completely new type of rune.

"What is this for?" he asked Violet.

“Bloodline analysis,” Violet replied. She activated the magic array, and light flowed, quickly displaying a series of colorful images.

The scholars examined it carefully and quickly confirmed that there were no duplicate parts. "It turns out, it really isn't her and Charlotte's child."

“Then the kidnapping plan is completely unworkable,” Su Ming sighed. Being merely a nominal crown prince meant he could be abandoned by the enemy at any moment. “We’ll have to seek cooperation with Catherine. Is she reliable?”

“I’ve never seen her break her promise,” Violet said. “However, we can bind Catherine through a deep contract. We share the same roots in the study of doctrine, so she can’t play tricks.”

****
The two entered the workroom and found that Catherine had already gotten out of bed. Kira and Hanster were also there, having just prepared breakfast.

"Is only the driver's seat left for the Gospel control?" Su Ming asked.

“With the Cardinal Access Card, there’s no need to worry about it disobeying,” Violet explained. “Yunir is still here.”

After breakfast, everyone began their respective tasks.

Su Ming checked the train's location, assessed its progress, and planned the route. The Youth Civilization Train was currently traveling at 400 kilometers per day, but they were about to enter the Nuoxia Lake area of ​​the ice field, where they would have a relatively flat stretch of ice to travel on.

The scholar sat beside him, flipping through books related to contracts.

Catherine lulled the baby to sleep, put him in the cradle, and then sat down opposite the two of them.

"Please don't feed him so much milk, leave some for me to breastfeed." The Star Queen and the Summer Island Deacon of the Temple of Light raised the most important matter first.

"You've recovered quickly." Zi Jin closed the book in her hand. "If there are three of us, you can take care of them during the day, and Su Ming and I will take turns at night."

"Thank you," said Catherine.

With the top priority resolved, both parties moved on to the next topic.

"The Temple of Light has already thoroughly investigated the Spirit Cloud Project," Catherine stated bluntly. "The mastermind is the Church of Truth of Calamity Bell, and the vast majority of necromancers and scholars have been framed."

"Why is it the Bell of Calamity again?" Zi Jin exclaimed in surprise. "They caused the sea monster incident and even planned to storm the Divine Might Prison. What exactly is this organization trying to do?"

"They're going to break into prison too?" Catherine was equally surprised. "Does Divine Might Prison look so easy to break into?"

"To be precise, the information we have about the Holy Mountain Divine Might Prison was all seized from them," Su Ming replied. "However, we did not obtain the specific action plan."

"What a bizarre organization!" Catherine exclaimed angrily. "These people just appeared out of nowhere, hiding in the corners of this world, and their doctrine makes no secret of their desire to destroy the world—I really don't know what people who join are thinking!"

"Did you add the world-ending effect?" Su Ming asked, his expression unchanged.

"Yeah, otherwise how could we make these big organizations so angry?" Violet replied. "Don't you think it suits their names perfectly?"

"Destruction is imminent. Believe in my Lord to be spared from calamity and be reborn into the eternal kingdom." Su Ming coughed lightly. "This kind of rhetoric is idiotic and outdated, but it works."

“I often lament how easily the public is fooled and blindly follows others,” Katharine said with some emotion. “Although we also benefit from this.”

"Now that we know the truth about the Lingyun incident, why hasn't the Cardinal Council lifted the arrest warrant for the necromancer?" Su Ming questioned.

“The temple’s leadership is already facing a crisis of faith because of what you’ve done, and has been forced to revise its doctrines,” Catherine explained. “If it’s revealed that this incident was a mistake, the prestige of the Covenant will plummet.”

"So you're just going to make the best of a bad situation?" Su Ming clenched his fists.

“Anyway, there aren’t many necromancers left who are on the run,” Catherine said, spreading her hands. “All we need to do is kill the two of you, and things will be ‘perfectly’ resolved.”

“Perfect, huh!” Violet sneered. “Are they sure they can do it?”

“It is very troublesome,” Catherine replied. “You dealt a heavy blow to the Cardinal Council at the Battle of the Agate. But most of the cardinals, including the Speaker, remain stubborn and determined to crush you to dust. I even suspect that this may not have been the original intention.”

"Is the hatred that deep?" Su Ming looked at the scholar beside him with some surprise. "Have you done anything else?"

Zijin turned her head away, pretending not to hear.

Very well, there's no doubt about belladonna's ability to cause trouble!
From an angle that Su Ming couldn't see, Catherine's expression was also somewhat indescribable.

(End of this chapter)