Lord of Cinder in American Comics

The towering forest trees obscured everything; if it weren't for the campfires burning everywhere, you wouldn't be able to see anything at all.

But Geralt always managed to find something different, and he led Hill up the stairs on the right.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Hill saw that it was a collapsed building, and apart from its empty shell, he could not discern its purpose.

Passing through the ruins of the buildings, there is a stone bridge behind it, old and dilapidated, overgrown with weeds.

However, at this moment, some creatures are squatting nearby, slowly processing it. If something that looks like an king oyster mushroom and can move is considered a creature, then...

These mushroom-like beings with red caps squatted on the ground, slowly tending to the weeds and throwing them off the bridge. Meanwhile, other mushroom-like beings below the bridge were picking up trash from the swamp and taking it elsewhere.

These mushroom people look so cute, you almost want to tease them.

At this moment, tiny mushroom people chased and played around, bumping into each other and causing minor injuries to their little friends with their round hands.

Hill looked at this harmonious scene and felt a little tempted to touch these adorable little creatures.

However, the little guy missed his friend and instead slammed his round hand directly onto the ruins.

Hill almost called out to warn the unfortunate little guy.

However, the seemingly cute round hand smashed through the stone wall, causing the little guy to pause, stuck inside.

Pulling his hand out from the wall, the little guy dusted himself off and went back to playing happily with his friends.

Hill looked at the huge hole that looked like it had been punched by an RPG, and reached out to touch the rock at the entrance. The sharp, broken edges of the rock told her that this was no tofu.

Taking a deep breath, Hill carefully dodged the mushroom men weeding the bridge and followed Geralt closely, afraid that something might go wrong.

As if to reassure Hill, Geralt picked up a little mushroom-man, lifted him up and circled him twice before handing him over to his parents.

"These are the ancient inhabitants of Farron Fortress. They are responsible for maintaining and cleaning the current fortress. As long as you don't show them hostility, you won't be harmed."

As Geralt spoke, he noticed a giant tree in front of him had been blown open from the bottom, and the entire tree was falling towards him.

Geralt quickly grabbed Hill and jumped away, while the other mushroom-men who couldn't dodge in time swung their fists upwards.

A powerful shockwave emanated from the mushroom-man's fist, blasting the entire giant tree into dust.

Wood chips filled the air, covering the area. The mushroom-like creature brushed the wood chips off its body and made a warning sound towards the giant tree.

Where the giant tree once stood, a mushroom-like creature waved sheepishly as if apologizing.

Although it was communication based solely on tone of voice, everyone who heard it could understand its meaning.

Geralt pulled Hill out from behind the wall, and Geralt waved to the mushroom-like creature in the distance.

"Look, aren't they adorable!"

Looking at the tree stump, over two meters in diameter, at the feet of the mushroom man, and then at the wood chips drifting in the wind, Hill insincerely chimed in, "Yeah, it's cute, hehe..."

"Don't worry, their threats are only directed at hostile people. They are natural barriers and environmental architects. If you ask Clint, you'll know that when he came here, this place was a poisonous swamp. It was thanks to the environmental reconstruction by these mushroom people that we have the clear water we have now."

Listening to Geralt's explanation, Hill gained a better understanding of these adorable giants, but after witnessing their fists that rarely left intact, Hill still felt it was safer to stay away.

Just as Geralt was about to continue forward, a mushroom-like figure blocked his way.

"Huh! Oh? Girl!"

Hearing the mushroom man's words, Geralt patted his strong arm and said, "It's nothing. I was just going to find those things. Thank you for letting them stay."

The mushroom man stopped Geralt from speaking, and somewhat worriedly stepped aside, but continued to murmur and advise him.

After leaving the mushroom man, Geralt arrived at a place with jagged rocks, a completely different environment from what he had just seen.

The jumbled rocks separated everything here, revealing a swamp still bubbling with malevolent energy. And inside, swarms of frogs with large eyes were hopping around haphazardly.

After navigating around the boulders, Geralt led Hill up a rocky hill. From there, with the walls of Farron Keep behind them, they could clearly see everything among the boulders below.

Hill looked up and saw the uneven colors on the city wall; it was clearly the hole Geralt had mentioned forgetting about repairing.

Counting the number of creatures below, Geralt drew a long whip from his waist, preparing to pick out one he liked like a cowboy.

However, after the whip had already been lashed out, Geralt turned to Hill and asked, "By the way, did you bring any ranged weapons?"

## Chapter 294: Geralt's Death

Ranged weapon? Hill took out the pistol he carried at his waist and showed it to Geralt.

However, Geralt shook his head and said, "Do you have one that's even more powerful, preferably one that can kill an elephant with a single shot? Do you have an elephant gun?"

Hill frowned and said, "What on earth would they need this weapon for? I'm just here to be a recorder..."

Geralt pursed his lips and said, "Get to the point, shall we...?"

"Have……"

Hill reluctantly took off her short-heeled shoes, pulled out two special bullets from the soles, and then removed the heels to assemble them into a special launcher.

After loading the bullets and showing them to Geralt, Hill said, "Full-power rounds, loaded with tungsten-core armor-piercing discarding sabot rounds. The tungsten alloy penetrator inside can penetrate 50mm of homogeneous armor. The projectile has an inertial fuse at the bottom, which can adjust the detonation distance. The power is quite good..."

Geralt nodded in satisfaction after hearing this, but just as Hill was about to hand him the weapon, Geralt refused.

Hill asked, somewhat puzzled, "Don't you need this weapon?"

Pointing to the cursed frogs hopping among the rocks below, Geralt said, "I'm going to catch one. You have to kill it the instant I die, but remember one thing: absolutely do not touch the cursed poison mist it releases. Can you do that?"

"Yes...but you..."

Hill nodded, somewhat taken aback. Before she could ask why, Geralt lashed out with his whip at the cursed toad below.

Under Geralt's control, the whip's tip precisely wrapped around a reluctant cursed toad. The toad's enormous dead eyes became a hindrance, preventing it from escaping the whip's snare.

Pulling the unfortunate cursed frog out of its cage of rocks and tossing it onto the ground, Geralt solemnly repeated to Hill, "Remember, whatever you do, do not touch the mist, and do not rashly break its dead eyes..."

"But you haven't said it yet..."

Geralt jumped down, leaving Hill speechless as she watched Geralt approach the terrifying cursed toad step by step.

The cursed frog, agitated by its new environment, kept jumping back and forth, trying to rejoin the cage among the rocks, where it felt most comfortable.

Upon seeing Geralt approach, the Cursed Frog puffed out its large cheeks, issuing a dangerous warning to Geralt.

However, Geralt ignored the warning, took out a ring from his pocket, put it on his hand, and then charged at the cursed frog with a loud shout.

The scream and the rushing rush caused the curse frog to react quickly, spraying out the curse mist from its body.

Meanwhile, the cursed frog continued to leap around Geralt, making the deep yellow mist spray more evenly and cover every area.

Hill stood on the hillside watching the farce below. In her view, Geralt's so-called death was just a euphemism, perhaps some kind of signal.

Geralt's constant display of confidence led her to believe that no one could kill the hunter, not even a god, and besides, even if he died, there were still the Farron Undead Legion of madmen.

However, Geralt, enveloped in the mist, became painfully muffled. Even his previous battles against vampires and hell had not injured the hunter, but now, with these muffled breaths, Hill instantly thought of the pain-relieving breathing technique used after torture.

Geralt was clearly in immense pain, and the pain was intensifying; Hill saw black crystals protruding from Geralt's joints.

These crystals first protrude from the joints, piercing the skin and then extending into other parts, fixing Geralt's entire body in place.

At this moment, Geralt was curled up and kneeling on the ground, his arms stretched outward by the crystal, as if he were praying for hope of survival.

Hill was somewhat incredulous; she longed for Geralt to suddenly stand up, dust himself off the crystals, and say to her, 'Ha! You've been tricked!'

However, this pose was fixed in place, and Geralt became a sculpture solidified by black crystal.

Upon seeing that Geralt was dead, the Cursed Frog stopped indiscriminately spraying its deadly poison mist. It quickly returned to the rocky cage, attempting to return to its more suitable living environment.

Suppressing his anger and doubt, Hill aimed his weapon at the cursed frog beside the rocks and pulled the trigger.

A bullet flew out, and Hill didn't wait at all, quickly firing in quick succession. Only two shots from the special weapon hit the chosen cursed frog in milliseconds.

However, the cursed frog that was hit did not die immediately, but instead turned to look at Hill on the hillside.

Whether it was the steepness of the hillside or the fact that the cursed frog had lost most of its strength, the cursed frog could only struggle against the rock wall at Hill's feet, spraying the cursed poison mist everywhere.

Determined that she wouldn't be affected by the yellow mist, Hill took a few steps back, removed her hairpin, pressed the crystal on it, and then threw it down.

The hairpin with the timer device exploded with azure shockwaves after falling into the fog. These shockwaves quickly spread over a range of several meters before suddenly recoiling.

Finally, a large crater several meters wide appeared where the cursed frog had been. Everything within the crater was decomposed into dust, which densely covered the entire area.

But at the very center of the pit, a pair of enormous eyes were left behind.

Hill didn't rush to check the remaining items; instead, she hurried to Geralt's side to check on his condition.

Only now did Hill truly see that the black crystals were growing from Geralt's body, and that in some of the thicker crystal sections, one could even see Geralt's white bones and muscle tissue.

This injury really fits Geralt's account of what happened after he died, but how can he possibly come back to life?

Hill hates this uncertainty the most; the uncertainty and emptiness only make her feel disappointed with reality.

"What a fucking bastard..."

She cursed under her breath and kicked at the grass, ignoring the discomfort in her shoes. Faced with this unclear situation, she dared not approach Geralt rashly.

Just as Hill was cursing, a crisp cracking sound came from Geralt.

It sounded like the crisp clinking of steel, or the shattering of porcelain, presenting Hill with a magical scene.

A cloaked goddess appeared behind Geralt, holding an infant in her arms. She bent down and placed the infant into Geralt's body.

After placing the infant into Geralt's body, the goddess tenderly stroked Geralt's white hair.

Hill could vaguely see the goddess's black hair beneath the cloak, and she seemed to see the goddess nodding and smiling at her from beneath the cloak.

The goddess before him loved Geralt as if he were her own child, and a purplish-red mist gradually emanated from her body, enveloping Geralt completely.

Obscured by the fog, Hill saw nothing, only catching a glimpse of the goddess's departing figure before the fog finally dissipated.

As the fog dissipated, the black crystals on Geralt's body began to break off cleanly, and he resumed his normal activities.

Geralt, disregarding his image, opened his mouth wide, poked his throat, and vomited out clumps of black crystals.

Geralt smacked his lips, feeling a bit better, before asking Hill beside him, "Where's that cursed toad? I need to deal with it quickly, or it'll be too late..."

"Is that disgusting creature still useful?" Hill said helplessly, pointing to the deep pit on the other side. "All that's left are its two big eyeballs..."

"Perfect, saves me the trouble of peeling them..."

Geralt happily retrieved the dead man's eyes, then packed up the crystals that had fallen from his body.

Hill looked at these things, and even though it had only been a few hours, her experience as a secret agent made it hard for her to suppress her curiosity.

Hill asked, "What is this? What's the use of this disgusting frog? Who is that magical goddess? And what is this ominous-looking crystal?"

"You actually saw the goddess of sin?"