What were you doing before the end of the world? Are you going to be an assassin?

In order to have the possibility of returning to the divine world in the future, Aqua plans to destroy the cause of Axel's curse before Eris does.

after all……

What the high priest who complained to Aqua saw was almost the same as what the goddess Eris herself saw.

The group passed by the administrative office, which was now deserted, as everyone had fled to other places due to the flood.

The ground was littered with gift boxes and wrapping papers that had been soaked by the flood. In the corners, you could see pearls scattered in the cracks between the stones. You could even see hibernating toads squeezing out from the cracks in the stones, frozen to the ground by the cold weather.

Lord Alderp's hiding place was easy to find. When he saw his son Barda coming back from outside, he took the initiative to show up with a broken arm, and sternly asked Barda to lead the adventurers to fight the devil.

Connor signaled that it was Barda's turn. The matter between the gods and the devils had come to an end, and what remained was the conflict between the mortal nobles, or simply put, the internal power transfer of the Alexei family. Giving the position to Barda, Connor went around Alderp's back and stared at Alderp at an acute angle with Youyou.

Kazuma and Aqua went to collect evidence of Lord Alderp's crimes to cooperate with Barda's finishing work and to get some black material about the blind date that was no longer so important; Megumin held her magic wand, ready to cast the explosive magic in her hand at any time.

Barda took a step forward and looked directly at Lord Alderp, who looked miserable.

"The great devil has been driven back to hell, so why don't we talk about the real devil now?"

The lord's son suppressed his anger. Some memories that he had deliberately buried came back to him after he saw the fat Lord Alderp.

Why are you still pretending? Don't you feel any regret or guilt for what you did before?

They are the subjects of the noble territories, living people!

As an imperial knight, Barda felt guilty for not being able to recognize the existence of the devil in time because of the oath he took when he was awarded the medal.

"A real demon?"

"I don't understand what you are talking about!" Lord Alderp rolled his eyes and habitually stroked the pendant on his chest with his barely movable arm.

Barda asked angrily, "Don't you know what's going on now?!"

"My child, we are not sure what the truth is. Can we talk alone?" There was a longing look in Aldap's eyes, and his tone became less condescending, and instead sounded like he was entrusting his son to someone else.

"At this point, I just want to pass on the Alexei family. I swear on the noble honor and ancestors!"

Lord Alderp shook his head sadly. "I just want to give it to you before it is completely tainted. Please trust me again! For the sake of me raising you for more than 20 years..."

Barda hesitated. When Alderp spoke and he did not draw his sword immediately, he hesitated obviously.

"Just give me your body, and I will use it to live well."

Lord Alderp lowered his voice and spoke horrifying words at a volume that only he and Barda could hear clearly.

"God, what do you mean?" Barda was stunned. He looked at Lord Aldap, who was covered in cold water mixed with turbid blood and had multiple fractures on his body. Wasn't he talking about the noble family?

Lord Aldap's expression, which was originally as terrified as a stray dog and only thinking about arranging his funeral, instantly turned into joy, and his cold eyes pierced straight into Barda's eyes.

"You... won't understand, and you don't need to understand. This is a noble, my son." Lord Aldap stammered, and his speech seemed unclear due to broken ribs that injured his lungs.

The lord showed his adopted son a confident smile: "Son, my dear son, don't you understand yet? If I want something, you can't kill me! If I want something, I can get it!"

Lord Alderp's voice was low and hoarse, and even Barda, who was closest to him, had to work hard to hear the general idea.

The lord held Balda's hand, and the pendant she placed on her chest secretly glowed with a silver light.

The pendant is a delicate and small scale, only as big as a peanut. It seems that some magic is pulling it, freeing it from the earth and floating in the air.

Barda seemed to be choked by the cold water vapor. He wanted to struggle and roll over, but from beginning to end he could only behave like an heir who was listening to the lord's last words.

Lord Aldap stared coldly at his adopted son. Adopted son, adopted son, isn’t it just to be used that you have raised him for so many years?

He couldn't wait to get rid of this rotten body and enjoy the vital body of his adopted son.

By then, I will be the youngest knight of the empire and a lord with an excellent reputation!

Come on, exchange bodies with me!

Child, the artifact is not only able to summon demons, its essence is replacement!

For a divine weapon that can replace the demons from hell, exchanging our souls would be a piece of cake!

Relax, it won't hurt. After the exchange, I will send you to hell cleanly and make you pay my price!

Lord Alderp opened his mouth, and a dim white light burst out from his mouth.

【Change】!

Cuckoo——

A toad that was soaked out from the cracks in the rocks by the flood appeared inopportunely between Lord Aldap and Barda.

"Excuse me, I thought I heard someone shouting [lonely], and it irritated me."

Connor clapped his hands, as if he hadn't thrown the toad.

133. Two Artifacts

Artifacts. In this world, there exist super powerful equipment and magic items called artifacts.

Since they are called divine artifacts, those things are naturally not so easy to obtain.

However, those who possess those divine weapons have one thing in common, that is, they are all reincarnated heroes.

When coming to this world to clean up the mess, the chosen reincarnated hero will receive an item that can be called a cheat from the goddess Aqua.

Although we don't know exactly what happened, he might have died in a battle with monsters, or his sword might have been sold to Kazuma like the sword-controlling hero. In short, the artifact will end up in the hands of someone from this world.

Only the recipient can unleash the original power of the artifact. The magic sword that can split anything becomes an ordinary sword; the magic staff that can trigger infinite magic power will become a staff that speeds up magic power recovery.

The people of this world know about the artifacts, but there are still those who are keen on and capable of collecting them—the Adventurer's Guild, which preserves adventurer relics, the Church of Eris and the Church of Axis, which are aware of the situation and are responsible for sealing the lost artifacts; and the nobles who want to use the power of the artifacts.

At this moment, the necklace that Connor took off from Lord Aldap's body is a kind of artifact. He confirmed and collected it from various channels.

This necklace is a magical tool that can exchange bodies with others.

If it were to fall out of the hands of that exclusive reincarnated hero, the effect would be greatly reduced, from a permanent exchange of bodies to an exchange with a time limit.

With one hand he was holding the toad, which was now the soul of Lord Alderp; with one foot he was stepping on the body of Lord Alderp, which was jumping around, and now he was just a toad that looked like a human.

Although this exchange will not last forever, if one of the exchanged individuals dies during the body exchange, it will be irreversible.

If used properly, one can even gain eternal life. As long as one's body begins to age, one can simply swap bodies with a young and healthy person and then kill the other person.

It would be safer if you handed over your property to the other party before exchanging bodies.

Fortunately, the reincarnated hero was not as bold as Kazuma to send such a dangerous thing out, otherwise Aqua would have been replaced long ago.

This world has become so chaotic that people are unwilling to be reincarnated here. Aqua is at least 80% responsible.

Looking at Lord Aldap lying on all fours in the courtyard, making gurgling sounds non-stop, and even moving like a toad, Barda felt a cold fear rising from his tailbone to his forehead.

My adoptive father, Lord Alderp, wants to use this thing on me?

"This thing is too evil. I'm going to put it away first and ask the goddess to seal it later. Barda, you'd better forget about things related to demons, otherwise it will easily attract demons."

Connor said righteously, stuffing the necklace into the pocket inside his clothes.

After these words were spoken, not only Barda, but also Yunyun and Huihui from the Crimson Demon Clan, magicians who were proficient in magic and the making of magic items, nodded very seriously.

Although they didn't know the specific function of this thing, the mere fact of exchanging bodies allowed the three quick-thinking people to roughly guess the function of the artifact.

Once it is known, nobles across the country will covet this super powerful item. There is no doubt about it. Even the royal family will try their best to take the artifact for themselves. The more powerful a person is, the more he wants eternal life.

With the identity of an "Axis cultist", the two Crimson Demon girls did not have any doubts. What's more, there was also a member of the Axis cult, Aqua. The church's internal affairs should be resolved within the church.

The Crimson Demons and the Axis Cult, these two forces are synonymous with "danger" throughout the world, but they do not want to have too much contact with each other internally.

Unable to be seen by Youyou and Huihui, an unknown change was taking place in Connor's pocket.

His Master Assassin's Suit was read by the [Precursor Apple of Eden], which was essentially an extension of the Golden Apple. When it came into contact with the artifact, the Golden Apple showed more intense fluctuations than when it saw the Corona Ore.

The clothes on both sides of the pockets gradually climbed up the necklace chain like tiny tentacles and moved towards the small scale.

Prism: High-energy unit detected, analyzing—

Prism: Was it swallowed by the [Precursor Apple of Eden]?

Connor chose no, and let the prism just read the artifact like reading the information of an imperial weapon.

This thing has been seen by the public. Barda, Yunyun and Huihui have all seen the necklace. If it is swallowed by the golden apple, he will not be able to find a replacement to report to Aqua.

Now it is Aqua who is following Kazuma to collect evidence of the lord’s crime, otherwise how could a goddess fail to recognize the fluctuations of the artifact?

Connor's target was not this artifact that could exchange bodies, but another artifact that was also in the hands of Lord Alderp.

A divine weapon that can randomly summon monsters and command them. It does not require any compensation or cost to be used by the reincarnated hero.

Connor vaguely remembered that it was a round stone.

If Connor could find the stone before Aqua, he wouldn't mind letting the golden apple eat it.

The reason why Connor readily agreed to come with Makoto to collect evidence of the lord and ruin the blind date between the Alexei and Dustinis families was that he was aiming for the artifact occupied by Lord Aldap from the beginning.

He had a feeling that after the golden apple ate the stone, his trump card skill [Summon Force] would also change accordingly.

Even the golden apple itself, after absorbing the artifact, has the possibility of further advancement due to its evolving instincts.

"I'll stay and look after him. You guys go in," Connor said. "Balda, there must be something you want to know. Maybe it's all in the lord's diary."

Barda nodded sullenly, still immersed in the fear just now and unable to extricate himself, and walked into the building like a walking corpse.

“Youyou, Huihui, go take a look at the front building. The information there is very valuable. The more we can save, the better. Maybe there is some lost magic or knowledge.” Turning around, Connor said to the two Crimson Demons who had long felt bored.

"This is not a good idea..." Youyou said hesitantly, apparently still having a very high moral standard which was very rare among the Red Demons.

"What's the matter? We are here to rescue people from disaster! The new lord will thank us!"

Huihui held Youyou back and said, "If you don't go, I'll win this game!"

"Don't think about it!"

Youyou stomped her feet, relying on her physical strength which far surpassed Huihui's, and dragged Huihui towards the library.

After sending everyone away, Connor used his Eagle Vision to check the surroundings and the sky. After finding no other signs of life, he squatted down.

Cutting open the lord's silk clothes that were soaked in water and stained with blood and dust, Connor found the bag protected by the magic barrier.

134. Take action first and then express your feelings

While no one was around, Connor carefully opened the bag with magic barrier on the lord's body and took out a round stone with a faint glow.

This stone is more rounded than the other round stones, but other than that there is almost no difference to the naked eye.

What can truly demonstrate the power of a divine weapon is the magic power contained within it.

Although Connor didn't know how the devouring ability of the Precursor Apple of Eden should work, nor how it should evolve, he had seen the scene of the golden apple eating the corona ore.

Holding the golden apple in his hand, Connor tried to place the round stone-like artifact on the golden apple, trying to establish a connection between them.

The golden apple didn't react at first. Just when Connor thought that Lord Aldap was being cautious and used a fake to carry with him while hiding the real one, the golden apple suddenly began to slowly become brighter.

Rather than saying that the Golden Apple had no reaction at first, Connor could probably guess why from the desire and excitement revealed in the Golden Apple.

Artifacts are not like corona ore. Corona ore radiates energy all the time, so that the golden apple can clearly distinguish the energy level; but artifacts are different. It takes some time for the golden apple to distinguish the artifacts that can protect itself.

buzz~

The temperature of the golden apple rose and it vibrated slightly in Connor's hand.

Prism: Detected that a qualified person provided an artifact for the evolution of the Golden Apple. Are you sure?

This familiar feeling made Connor blurt out: "Why is there a second reminder to unlock the valuable items? Do we need to come up with an unlocking password?"

Prism: "In order to prevent unnecessary waste caused by accidental touches, Prism has the obligation to remind qualified users to operate with caution."

"Pretty thoughtful, sure."

Faced with the increasingly human-like divine intelligent prism, Connor decided to feed this artifact to the golden apple. Compared with the artifact that cannot be seen in the light and will eventually be sealed by Aqua, it is more reasonable for his own golden apple to be strengthened.

Since swallowing the Corona Ore, the Golden Apple has been using its evolutionary power to feed back Connor.

Even though it was winter and Aqua had brought floods, Connor still didn't feel cold. Even the toad in his palm croaked because of the heat.

In addition to warmth, Connor's physique was also slowly being affected by the evolution driven by the Corona Ore. In the trait of [Adaptive Evolution], Connor also gained permanent resistance to fire and explosions, although it was not high, it could still be slowly added up.

Strengthening the [Forerunner Apple of Eden] is also strengthening himself.

Gradually, the golden apple became brighter and brighter, and Connor himself had to use his hands to block the light of the golden apple.

When he withdrew his hand, the round stone-like artifact had disappeared, and his hand was empty.

"Is this... a world of fire and brimstone?"