I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 325: Talent: Encountering Evil Hour

The change in the little wolf-dog was not only noticed by Gauss; the large wolf beast also cast its gaze over."Activate Sturdy Scale Bloodline."

The emerald color in Gauss's pupils faded, replaced by a noble shade of gold.

The wolf beast took a slight step back.

It felt that the aura emanating from the small enemy in the distance had changed again, a change it could not comprehend.

Gauss mobilized his innate talent, Flight Instinct. After his Fly spell was fully enhanced, it instantly erupted with astonishing speed, propelling him through the air at breakneck pace.

This was the first time Gauss had driven the Fly spell at full power since obtaining this talent.

The mana consumption rate was much greater than normal flight. The mana within his body seemed to ignite like lit diesel, burning fiercely.

In his field of vision, all sorts of scenery were being left behind at a terrifying speed.

He casually slashed apart the small wolves along his path.

He charged straight for the main target!

The wolf beast's form rapidly enlarged in his eyes.

He could even see his own reflection in its dark green pupils.

"BOOM!!!"

Gauss swung his Water Sword down from above.

The sacred water in his hand seemed to sense the inherent incompatibility with the evil power emanating from the wolf beast before it, its glow becoming even more dazzling.

"Shiiing!"

The slender water blade, shimmering with Light Cantrip, struck the wolf beast's head.

Gauss immediately felt the heavy force transmitted to his hand.

The wolf beast's entire body seemed to be ignited.

The wolf beast released its bloodthirsty power, engaging in an energy clash with the sharp, cascading water.

One blue, one red, two forces wildly impacted each other.

Gauss's hair and magic robe fluttered noisily due to the surging air currents. That evil chaotic flow forced the protective field on his body to continuously release power to resist it.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a slight stinging pain on the side of his cheek, but he did not dodge because of it. Instead, the downward pressure from his hand intensified a few more degrees.

On the other side, the wolf beast's condition was not exactly good either.

Its teeth were clenched so hard they seeped blood.

The water blade pressing down on its head was still continuously increasing in force. That aura made it instinctively feel fear.

The near-immortal regenerative ability it relied on seemed to be suppressed under that power as well.

The ground beneath its feet cracked inch by inch.

It wasn't that it didn't want to launch a claw strike or bite at Gauss who was so close.

It was that the water blade above its head forced it to mobilize its entire body's strength to resist. If it diverted even a portion of its strength, it would likely be cut down by Gauss before it could even attack him.

Gauss noticed his water blade was still continuously cutting through the protection on its body, slowly slicing into its flesh and blood.

The crimson energy in the air also surged toward the wolf beast's body with all its might during this process.

The sacred water indeed countered demonic power, but it could only suppress it, not achieve the effect of killing the enemy outright with one blow.

Firstly, this portion of sacred water was only a small part of the lake god's origin, separated as a gift, not the lake god's personal presence.

Secondly, the power a weapon can unleash ultimately depends on the wielder.

That he could resist the power from the Demon Lord Yeenoghu at level 5 was already extremely difficult, the result of being stacked full of buffs. Even a Master-level professional wouldn't gain much advantage here.

They would only perform even worse when facing this kind of evil power.

Because for the vast majority of humans who have never encountered it, this kind of alien power is like a deadly poison. Being able to exert fifty percent of one's strength is already a rather optimistic estimate.

"It is indeed a bit tricky."

Gauss now also dared not suddenly withdraw his force to make other adjustments.

When the degree of force confrontation reaches a boiling point, any side that is not resolute enough will suffer a fierce counterattack from the other.

"Shiiing!!"

The sacred power in Gauss's water blade was continuously being consumed, forcing it to act like a water pump, constantly drawing mana from Gauss.

And the wolf beast was the same.

The surrounding killing Blood Mist slowly changed from deep crimson to light red. The energy around its body even turned a faint pink. Blood Mist from further away was continuously surging toward this area, trying to fill this "vacuum" zone.

Just as the entire Bloody World was being stirred into a turbulent storm by the two of them.

Suddenly.

A sound like thunderclaps rang out in the sky.

The originally blood-red sky cracked open in an instant.

Gauss couldn't spare the energy to look at the changes in the sky, but he could feel that this Bloody World had undergone some drastic change.

A flicker of panic flashed deep within the pupils of the giant wolf beast before him.

"Hmm?"

Gauss's water blade quickly chopped down another two or three blade-widths deeper.

The enemy weakened?

"Woooo—"

The wolf beast gritted its teeth, wanting to launch a final counterattack.

But the drastic change in the world clearly affected it.

The power within its body was rapidly draining away, and the human enemy before it seized this opportunity to beat the drowning dog. That water blade had already completely sunk into its body.

The surrounding Blood Mist was rapidly dissipating. Having lost the environmental support, it also lost the capital to wrestle with Gauss.

Beyond saving.

A flash of unwillingness passed through the wolf beast's eyes.

"Shiiing!"

The slender, azure water blade in Gauss's hand cleanly split its head in two from top to bottom.

Countless black auras erupted from within.

Gauss used the recoil force from the water blade striking the ground to stabilize his posture.

Then he quickly swung the water blade, striking once, twice, three times... ten times.

Over a dozen bright sword energies materialized before him, striking the still-trembling body of the wolf beast.

Each sword energy caused its body to rapidly dissolve, the black auras annihilating in the air.

When the final sword fell, the originally hill-like wolf beast seemed to have evaporated, leaving no trace.

Only a handful of faint gray dust remained on the ground.

"Win... won?"

Gauss blinked.

He warily examined the empty space where the wolf beast had been, confirming no other power emerged, then let out a sigh of relief.

He looked at the surrounding environment.

The scarlet was rapidly fading away.

The green symbolizing life and the icy blue of frost and snow were gradually occupying his vision.

Back... to the real world.

"Gauss!"

"Lord Gauss!"

"Captain!"

Several voices filled with pleasant surprise called out from behind.

Gauss turned around.

It was Aria and the others quickly running over.

Albenia charged at the front, picking Gauss up from the ground.

"Ge... gently."

"First... first, put me down!"

After his burst of power, the somewhat exhausted Gauss hurriedly called out a few times.

Albenia, her face flushed red, quickly put down Gauss who was almost out of breath.

"Are you alright, Lord Gauss?"

"Cough, cough."

Gauss opened his mouth and took a few breaths of fresh air.

He felt like he had finally come back to life.

"Gauss, where did you go just now?" Aria asked curiously.

"After we arrived here, we couldn't find you anywhere."

"In the end, Shadow found a glowing altar in the gnoll camp. We thought it might be related to you."

"That's why we destroyed the altar."

Hearing their overlapping explanations, Gauss also understood why the drastic change occurred in the Bloody World just now.

It should have been the result of them destroying the altar.

Unfortunately, the speed at which the demonic power dragged him into that strange world was simply too fast. After he entered there, he could no longer find any trace of the altar.

"Then you helped tremendously."

Gauss briefly recounted what had just happened.

"There really was demonic power?"

"And you personally slew a demon in that strange space?"

Gauss nodded.

His gaze then turned to the Monster Encyclopedia.

"Commander-level demon Desolate Wolf slain."

Indeed.

With the strength of that wolf beast just now, how could it possibly still be an elite monster.

In fact, Gauss felt that in its peak state, it was probably among the stronger ranks even among Commander-level monsters.

The reason he could contend with it was still by borrowing the suppression and countering ability of the Water Transformation Armament's sacred aura against it.

Most Master-level professionals, alone in that scarlet world, would likely find it difficult to sustain a fight against that demonic Desolate Wolf.

"Path of Command Progress: Slay 5 types of Commander-level monsters (5/5)."

To his pleasant surprise, this demonic wolf beast finally pushed the final step of the Path of Command.

As a reward, Gauss, having cumulatively slain five types of Commander-level monsters, could randomly draw one talent from these five types of Commander-level monsters.

"Monster Encyclopedia Commander-level monster types reached 5: Goblin Chieftain, Gorgon, Dragonborn Goblin, Brain Transferer Witch, Demon Desolate Wolf."

To be honest, Gauss could accept the talents from any of these five Commander-level monsters. The Gorgon's talent might be slightly inferior.

But if he could draw its petrification ability, that would also be a nice reward.

Of course, what he could draw specifically was not for Gauss to choose.

"Let's begin..."

He looked at the panel continuously flashing with text.

"Give me a good talent."

"Give me a good talent... I can accept anyone's."

He kept thinking in his heart.

"Randomly drawing racial talent ability, and modifying and adapting it for Constitution..."

...

The panel showed no change for a long time.

This draw was the longest Gauss had ever experienced.

It went on so long that he even distracted himself to instruct his companions to check the vicinity for any remaining monsters and clean up the battlefield.

Only when he refocused his attention on the panel, using the excuse of recovering stamina, and silently waited for quite a while longer, did a change finally appear.

"Drew..."

"From Commander-level monster..."

"One of the random talents of the Brain Transferer Witch, Host Master."

"Modifying and adapting into racial talent [Encountering Evil Hour]."

A purple halo flickered from the entry, a dazzling color.

Exceptional Quality Talent [Encountering Evil Hour] (Initial Level): When the host faces evil creatures, their own [Spirit] state increases by 20%, making it easier to perform beyond normal capabilities.

When enemies feel fear toward you, their comprehensive strength will decline by a greater margin.

Furthermore, when the host kills evil creatures, there is a tiny probability of plundering power from their bodies, converting it into corresponding [Skills] and proficiency for oneself.

This was the first purple-quality racial talent Gauss had mastered. Its effects were very straightforward.

Overall, when facing evil creatures, it boosts oneself, intimidating the enemy can weaken them, and the most important point is...

Gauss could, through killing monsters, plunder their power and convert it into his own skills.

Although it also indicated it was a tiny probability, it couldn't hide the strength of this racial talent.

After all, Gauss would continuously kill monsters in the future. No matter how small the probability, as long as the kill count is large enough, it would trigger a few times eventually.

This talent [Encountering Evil Hour] would also, along with his growth and adventures, continuously provide more benefits.

"Next racial talent draw: Monster Encyclopedia Commander-level monster kill types reach 20."

"Subsequent kills of Commander-level monsters will award Commander Points, used to advance certain talents."

"Not bad, not bad..."

As for the target being evil creatures, Gauss had no dissatisfaction either.

Most monsters could hardly be considered benevolent toward humans.

His Adventurer's Manual, personal abilities, and specialized methods were born to deal with monsters.

Gauss closed the panel.

The others in the team had already returned from patrol.

But his attention was quickly drawn to Aria and the silver wolf not far away.

He saw Aria trying to pry open Silver Wolf Ulfen's maw full of fangs, anxiously saying repeatedly.

"Ulfen, hurry up and spit that thing out!"

Ulfen wore an innocent expression, the corner of its mouth still stained with a smear of yellow dirt.

"What happened?"

Gauss walked over and asked curiously.

His attention had been entirely on his Adventurer's Manual just now.

"Ulfen... it ate the demon ashes on the ground."

Gauss followed her gaze to the empty ground not far away.

That empty spot was where the Desolate Wolf finally died.

In theory, a small pile of ashes should remain there.

At the moment, there was only a small pit.

Combined with Aria's tearful expression, it was clear it had swallowed the ashes along with the soil.

"Ate... ate it?"

A flash of helplessness passed through Gauss's eyes.

No matter how you looked at it, those ashes just now didn't seem like food, right?

Besides, Ulfen was usually quite well-behaved, generally only eating the food they gave it or hunting prey in the wild itself. It didn't have any pica.

So...

Was there something special about those ashes that attracted it?

Just as Gauss was lost in thought.

Aria seemed to have made up her mind.

"If it really comes to it, we'll have to perform surgery, find a way to take those dirty things out of its body?"

Hearing her mutter to herself.

The silver wolf Ulfen, who had been pretending to be innocent, instantly clamped its tail.

One step, two steps, three steps, it backed away.

"Ulfen! Don't blame me, I'm doing this for your health. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too greedy, eating any dirty thing you find."

Seeing her expression didn't seem like a bluff, Ulfen hurriedly looked up at Gauss.

It knew who could make the decisions in the team.

The only one who could stop its owner's idea now was Gauss.

"Forget it, Aria."

"Since it's already been eaten, let's just observe for now?"

"Although it's a demon's remnant, I just used the power of the Lake God's Blessing to purge its evil aura. It might not be an ill omen."

Gauss also didn't agree with performing surgery to remove the ashes.

If it were truly harmful, with demonic power, it would have probably started harming Ulfen's body already.

The "tier" gap between Ulfen and the Desolate Wolf was quite large.

Moreover, although he was distracted by the system reward, he vaguely felt earlier that there wasn't any evil aura on that remnant.

The sacred aura of the Water Transformation Armament had already "purged" the evil from the wolf's body.

He originally wanted to collect it and have someone study it.

Now that it's been eaten, it doesn't matter.

"Why don't you and Serlandul examine its body together? See if there are any adverse effects."