Elden Clergyman

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm going somewhere. Do you want to come up with me?"

He planned to go back to see Brother Kale, pick up some Rune on the way, and do some shopping.

Looking at the hand offered to her, Melina seemed a little hesitant, but among the three options of 'letting the other person out of her sight may lead to a connection with Dianhuo', 'running after Torret with her legs and not being able to catch up' and 'holding that hand', she finally chose the last one.

"And Alice?"

"She can teleport."

Lord did consider inviting Alice to join him, but as soon as he looked at her, she shook her head.

Considering that even if he fell off the cliff before, the other party did not lose him, it seems that there is really no need to ride a horse.

"Let's go——"

After making sure Melina was seated firmly, Lord patted Torret's head, raised his horse's hooves, and started galloping.

The sky gradually darkened and the sky was filled with red clouds.

Lord rode the newly raised calf, carrying Yuanxiang on his back, and ran towards the setting sun in the sky.

Although it was still a soul connection, and although the familiar feeling was very strong, until this moment, looking at the scene in front of him and feeling the warmth coming from behind, Lord realized for the first time that although the whole world might be a huge skin-changing, some things were indeed different.

He didn't know how to describe the feeling. There were zombies and soldiers everywhere, and the surface and details looked pretty much the same as before. There seemed to be a bunch of monsters and demons causing trouble, and a bunch of dead and resurrected things jumping around, but...

"The world is still alive. No matter how painful and desperate it may appear on the surface, it is at least alive and there is hope. It is not a dying ember without any redemption."

"What did you just say?" Melina raised her head.

She seemed to have heard a sigh, a sigh of despair, containing all the malice in the world, like a sigh coming from the abyss.

"I didn't say anything."

Lord turned his head and looked at her doubtfully.

"Did you hear it wrongly? Or did you mistake the sound of the wind for a sound?"

Melina didn't reply, but frowned slightly at his perfectly normal expression.

She didn't think she had heard it wrong, and she was also sure that there was no one else around, but looking at his expression, he didn't seem to be lying, so...⑵

Sigh——Si

Torret suddenly stopped.

Because she was thinking and not on guard, Melina lost her balance and suddenly leaned forward, almost falling. Fortunately, Lord reacted quickly and hugged her shoulders, preventing her from falling.

"What's wrong?" Melina raised her head and saw Lord's expression suddenly became serious.

"Find a place to hide first."

[Invaded by the 'Evil Snake' Messermo]

Looking at the text displayed on the system in front of him and the red summoning circle gradually emerging in the distance, some familiar memories began to attack him.

Okay, okay, there are invasions, right? Are there also level-reduction invasions specifically designed to kill new high-walled, salary-boosting bosses?

He dismounted, took back Torret, and asked Melina to find a place to hide. Lord took out his small wooden stick and prepared to face his first invasion in this world.

To be honest, as a Soul 5 player, Lord neither opposes nor supports invasions. He simply believes that whether invading to kill people for fun or using the Red Sun to guide supplies, it is all a normal part of the game.

But looking at the figure rising slowly from the sunset across from him, even if this was just a game, Lord couldn't help but curse.

He wore a red robe and golden armor, with two snakes wrapped around his body.

He held a large spear in one hand and a red flame in the other, and had some small ornaments hanging on his body.

Is he really the king of high salary?

Putting aside other things, this cool outfit that looks like Nezha's cosplay is not what he should have at his level.

"My friend, you're going a bit too far." Looking at the man walking towards him, Lord's face darkened.

But the other party did not answer and continued to move forward. His consciousness seemed to be unclear, as if there were two consciousnesses fighting for control of the body.

"The Lightless..."

"Chaos Fire..."

The red spirit opened its mouth, but made two sounds at the same time.

Then, it jumped up, accompanied by a burst of black and red fire, and a fireball like a snake's eye condensed in its hand, and then -

boom!

Smash it down hard.

The crimson flame storm instantly swept over the place where Lord was standing. The huge range and momentum all demonstrated the horror of this attack.

Is this something a player mod can do?

Looking at the huge attack range and the amount of blood that would be left with only a tiny amount of blood after just a slight touch, Lord's eyes popped out.

He thought it was just a normal high-level invasion, but with this range and damage...

"You changed it secretly, didn't you?"

Swah——

The spear swept across, brushing past Lord's nose, and the strong wind it brought up brought out a few streaks of blood.

Lord rolled back twice, took out the Holy Grail Drops and took two gulps, but although he had already distanced himself from the opponent, two small snakes on the opponent's body suddenly poked their heads out and bit Lord, wiping out his newly restored health and leaving only a bloody skin.

It's fast, has high damage, and attacks like a mad dog. It has a very short swing back and forth, and it has various blinding AOE effects...

Looking at the tattered soldier armor and the +0 wooden stick on his body, Lord didn't know what to say for a moment.

Seeing that Lord was about to die, a certain consciousness in the red figure seemed to be extremely excited and temporarily gained the upper hand in the struggle for control of the body.

The flames ignited again, and the cursed snake eyes stared at the weak ashes in the distance. The whole body turned into a giant snake, and a huge red fireball like the sun condensed from its mouth, carrying countless burning resentful spirits and residual fire, smashed down towards Lord.

boom--

The bright red flames ignited the sky, dyed everything around it bloody, and burned and plundered all life in the affected areas.

But, it's strange.

A look of confusion appeared in the snake's eyes.

Its instinct told it that the strange, vigorous, yet unusually weak flame could not survive such an attack.

And once he dies, it only needs to devour its ashes, and it can recover, transform, and even go further.

But the attack was clearly effective, so why didn't it feel any power flowing in? Instead...

A little upset?

Swah——

The flames were separated.

The weak flame that should have been swallowed was now standing in the middle of the red flame.

The tattered soldier armor on his body disappeared at some point, and was replaced by a black armor with a black original ring decoration on the chest.

The small wooden stick in his hand also turned into a strangely shaped straight sword and shield.

Lord stood there, slowly raised his head and looked at the snake man, with a flame on his body like burning ashes.

"Friend, you started it first."

After saying that, he raised his sword.

Fire ignited on the pitch-black blade.

That was not the remaining fire of the Fire Sword, but a symbol of the cancellation of Soul 5.

A fire that won't fail.

Chapter 8: Encountering the Fire King Mutou and the Spirit Squatting Team at the Border

Messermo was forcibly dragged to Lord's place by the 'snake'.

Originally this morning, he was still in the dark room handling the affairs of the Shadow Land, and took the time to pray to the holy icon of his mother.

But suddenly, the 'snake essence' that had been sealed by his mother and had never caused any problems, and had been dormant in his body since his birth, seemed to be attracted by something and began to stir wildly.

This was the first time that the 'Snake' had been so agitated since his mother bestowed the blessing. Although he tried very hard to suppress it, he was still taken to another world by the 'Snake' due to insufficient preparation and appeared before Lord.

Then, he sensed that in the simmering flames, Messemo clearly felt the reason for the snake's restlessness.

It was a flame, a burning ember of a flame that had never existed.

It's like a delicious fruit falling from a tree branch, emitting an enchanting fragrance.

It is a scent that cannot be resisted by anyone who possesses the power of the 'fire' element. It is a secret medicine that, if consumed, can at least elevate one's own essence.

The most important thing is that the flame seems to be unaware of its own situation. Not only does it appear in the world, it also burns openly. While the entire border area is covered and controlled by the golden law, it continues to emit light and heat.

While constantly proclaiming its existence and positioning itself to others, it also used its own light and heat to distort the golden law around it, causing even the "snake" far away in the shadow land to clearly perceive it and come through reality.

The Snake was anxious because the Shadow Land did not exist at the border, and it had noticed the flame later than the others.

After it determined the other party's position, it also sensed the breath of "mad fire" and "blood flame", forcing it to speed up its pace, otherwise if it was too late, it might not even be able to drink a sip of soup.

But in the end, when it finally arrived, not only did it not see the two flames, but the 'fruit' in front of it was also standing there intact.

If it were a normal 'snake', it would probably be aware of something by now.

But it was just the 'snake essence' in Messemo's body, and the flames in front of him were too tempting, making it impossible for him to think rationally further.

As for Messermo, although he was still fighting with the 'Snake' for control of his body at the beginning, the moment he saw Lord, he temporarily reached an agreement with the 'Snake'.

He didn't know the nature of fire, nor was he interested in knowing, but he could tell that the being opposite him was a 'Lightless One'.

Cleaning up the Lightless Ones, like cleaning up the Horned People, is one of the missions given to him by his mother.

Well, at least on this point, he and the 'Snake' were in agreement.

but......

After the flames parted, Messemo's expression grew serious as he looked at the 'Lightless One' who had suddenly changed his appearance.

Fire was clearly his area of expertise, and judging from the way the other party was rolling around just now, he didn't seem to be that strong.

But after he became like this, not only the snake, but even he felt the 'sense of disharmony'.

Snake fire is a very special flame. Its life-stealing red color not only takes the lives of others, but also has the ability to burn souls. The wronged souls that reside in it are the best proof of this, and it is also the reason why this flame can actively track the enemy.

But now, he felt it.

The fire of the snake is trembling.

It's like a low-level predator in nature encountering a top-level predator. Even if the other party does nothing, the instinct derived from its genes will make it feel fear and tremble constantly.

Mad Fire? No, it wasn't that he didn't have experience; he had even dealt with those crazy things before. But the Serpent Fire didn't tremble, and even felt a bit of disgust and contempt...

"What on earth are you?" As the snake trembled in fear, he regained control of his body and looked at it and asked.

But before Lord could reply, after a soft ding-ling sound, an illusory golden tree grew out from behind Lord, emitting a warm glow that could heal the body and mind.

"He is the one chosen by Torrett."

Melina walked out from the side and stood next to Lord, looking up at Messemo, which made the latter's expression gradually become stunned.

"elder brother."

"Ah? He's your brother?"

Lord, who had just equipped the 'Snacks' in his inventory and was about to give this underrated, secretly modified creature a good meal, turned his head and looked at Melina.

But Melina had no intention of explaining. Instead, the Red Spirit on the opposite side was stunned, and the hand holding the spear slightly tightened, and the voice sounded a little suppressed.

"He is a 'Lightless One'!"

"They are no longer called the 'Lightless Ones', but the 'Faded Ones'."

Melina looked him straight in the eyes and said calmly.

"You've been isolated from the outside world for too long. A lot of things have happened during this time that you're not aware of..."

"What about mother?"

The incident happened suddenly, and coupled with the interference of the "snake", Messemo's mind was a little confused, and he instinctively asked what he was most concerned about.

"Did she...abandon me?"

He didn't know how long it had been since he'd been able to contact his mother, and his prayers hadn't been answered. But whenever he thought of this possibility, he'd try to avoid it in various ways, telling himself that he had his own mission and must have failed to complete it, so his mother didn't respond, or that his prayers weren't sincere enough...