The other Djinn shouted, its voice a guttural, infernal roar that reverberated through the room. It struck Alva with a swift kick to her chest, sending her flying across the chamber. She slammed into the far wall with a sickening thud, crumpling to the ground unconscious.
Ludwig’s Mask immediately activated the moment the man’s body flared out of his form from rage. He took his human form albite for a second and back to his infernal form. But that was enough for Ludwig’s mask to give him a piece of well-needed information.
The Djinn flew at Ludwig with incredible speed, coupled with the fact that this notification showed up, which would in all cases mean that Ludwig was going to die.
{[Galvanize] duration has ended!}
Ludwig’s body felt a wave of weakness run through him, but that didn’t stop nor wipe the grin that showed up on his face.
“Sham-Har-Roush! STOP!” Ludwig shouted. It was the same name of the Djinn that Ludwig identified back at the chess event. The same ‘True’ name.
As if the world for the Djinn had stopped he couldn’t even move as his burning hand stopped a few centimeters from Ludwig’s face. The look on the Djinn’s face was obvious. But he couldn’t even say it.
“You must be wondering how I know your True Name,” Ludwig said.
Ludwig’s grin widened. “Keep wondering,” he said coldly, his scimitar flashing as he swung it with all his might.
The blade cleaved through the Djinn’s neck, extinguishing its fiery form in a single, decisive blow. The room fell eerily silent, save for the sound of the blade hissing as it cooled.
[You have obtained X4 Weak Souls]
Ludwig examined the scimitar, its once-sharp edge now melted and cracked. It had served its purpose, but it wouldn’t survive another battle. With a flick of his wrist, he discarded it, scanning the room for another weapon, and picked up a couple from the many littering the floor. One he placed in his ring for storage and the other carried with him since he’ll be needing it soon.
He then went to check on Alva who was unconscious all the way on the other side of the room.
He moved her, but she didn’t wake up, she was lightly bleeding from her head.
‘Concussion,’ he said as he checked her pupils.
He sighed. Though she was a good help, she still never fails to be a liability at the end.
He had no option but to get inside the room and see what’s going on, but before that, Ludwig waited at the entrance of the room for a bit.
The sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer, and just when the person walked through the room saying, “What’s going on here? There was an intrud…” the realization of the Djinn was too slow as Ludwig pierced him with his sword ending his misery as fast as possible.
‘That’s done,’ Ludwig said as he looked at the door.
“Time for the boss,’ Ludwig said as he moved forward, all of his robes were charred, tattered and blood-covered. The blood of the djinns was hot but it was still red nonetheless.
Ludwig placed his bloodied and burnt arm on the door and pulled it to the side.
“You got the girl, surely she isn’t too harmed,” Ludwig heard from the other side of the room. The man was too preoccupied with the tree than looking at who entered the door.
“Yeah, she’s not too harmed, unconscious though,” Ludwig replied.
The man realized that the voice didn’t belong to any of the servants he had on him.
He turned to Ludwig and said, “You got some skill I see…”
“Let’s see what you can do against this then!” he said and rammed both his hands against the bloodied chains that were wrapped around the tree.
The spike pierced right through his palms absorbing some of his blood in the process, making the man groan in pain. But it was a disgusting-sounding groan…almost as if he was enjoying it.
Ludwig didn’t hesitate a second as he threw his scimitar as fast as possible at the man.
There was no way Ludwig would ever, EVER, allow a villain or foe to power up. Screw the powerup agreement in all the novels and shows he saw before, this was his life.
The man panicked as he saw the swirling sword coming his way and hastily pulled his chain-gripping arm up.
The sound of a powerful clang echoed as the scimitar, unfortunately, missed its target and hit the chain.
“Curse you, BOY! I’ve yet to fully use up the blood and souls!” the man cursed as he wrenched the chains free.
The chains manifested a heavy cuff that slammed tight around his wrists. Two sets of chains dangled on the ground, heavy and spike-covered.
He then began spinning them, “Now, Boy, show me this bravery of yours!”
***
Name: Hasbul Hani
Title: Sheikh
Level: 40
HP: 4,000
Status Effect:
[Soul Saturated] [Ritualistic Binding] [Half-Mortal]
[Soul Saturated] The soul of the bearer has been inflated with foreign souls. Increase in Mana Capacity and strength on the expense of sanity.
[Ritualistic Binding] the bearer cannot leave the area of the Ritual lest all the souls he ingested will leak out before he is able to digest them.
[Half-Mortal] as long as the bearer is within the domain of the ritual, he cannot die. Whenever the bearer receives mortal damage, one of the bound corpses will receive the wound instead. Allowing the bearer to remain alive.
Lore:
Hasbul Hani was once a prominent figure in the kingdom of the sands. Yet after contacting one of the Apostles, he sought to obtain similar powers to them. To seek immortality and soul power. Yet he was never approved by Necros, thus he sought nefarious and darker means. If he couldn’t be blessed by Necros he believed that his foe would aid him. The Gluttonous Death had thus given him the means to reach pseudo-immortality but only if he pays tribute in the form of The Soul Ritual.
***
[Quest Update!]
You have figured out that the Gluttonous Death is responsible for the ritual.
Kill Hasbul Hani and take away his Soul Shackles. Let them be your strength!
***
Ludwig’s eyes shone, “I always thought I had no reason to get myself into this mess, but now…things seemed to have changed.”