Sorry for the delay, i will post another chapter after 2h as for now enjoy the chap*^
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Bang!
After smashing the head of a tainted corpse in front of him, Renji quickly shifted his position, hiding in the shadow of a corridor corner. His body was covered in blood, all from the tainted corpses. In his right hand, he clenched his only weapon: a broken water pipe he had torn off.
After distancing himself from Suthia, the contract indeed no longer counteracted him on a mental level, but he also couldn’t restrain the nun’s actions. These crazed tainted corpses roaming the sewers in search of him were Suthia’s doing.
Suthia was smart and well-understood the principle of the “Contract”; after all, she was his “first” contractor.
Instead of coming to capture him directly, the nun continuously used the tainted corpses, employing a “third party” to exhaust his already limited strength.
When he would first give in, lose consciousness, the contract would be of no use.
Renji was aware of this, so he changed his strategy. He deliberately gave Suthia the impression that he was trying to escape, but in reality, at the next corridor turn, Renji quietly changed his path. He had no intention of heading toward the exit. He wanted to use the complex layout of the sewers to continually conceal his whereabouts, engaging in guerrilla warfare with Suthia.
Note: [Guerrilla warfare is waged by civilians who are not members of a traditional military unit, such as a nation’s standing army or police force. In many cases, guerrilla combatants are fighting to overthrow or weaken a ruling government or regime.
This type of warfare is typified by sabotage, ambushes, and surprise raids on unsuspecting military targets. Often fighting in their own homeland, guerrilla combatants (also referred to as rebels or insurgents) use their familiarity with the local landscape and terrain to their advantage.]
The purpose of this delaying tactic and guerrilla warfare…
Taking advantage of the moment to catch his breath, Renji flipped his palm, and the two Brands, as relics of the ‘Emperor,’ appeared. .
‘So it was this, huh?’
From the start, upon seeing the special evolutionary method of the mutated tainted corpses, Renji had guessed what the Brands unearthed by Priest Gralon were.
[[Raise a Glass!]
[Type: Brand]
[Set Quantity: Two]
[Position: Upper, Lower]
[Rank: Danger]
[Single Effect: +10% Attack Power (Upper), +7% Critical Hit Rate (Lower)]
[Set Effect: ‘Infinite Infusion’ — When releasing ‘continuous’ skills, each unit killed during the skill duration grants an additional 1% attack power boost to oneself, with no upper limit. This enhancement effect resets after the skill duration ends]
(Here’s to those who wish to kill us!)
This set of Brands, at the “Danger Rank” level, had decent single-item stats, and the “Critical Hit Rate” attribute in the [Lower] piece was still a rare one. However, it was still considered a white elephant by Renji in the game, mainly due to the set effect it pulled down.
As a “Infusion” type Brand, the single-time bonus of 1% additional attack power was simply too low, and the value was pitiful. Moreover, to trigger the set effect, the wearer had to possess a “continuous” skill.
In short, it warmed up too slowly and started too slowly. In most cases, either all the enemies were killed before it really started, or the skill duration ended, resetting the bonus.
But the reason why Renji hadn’t dismantled this set of Brands from the beginning was that he held onto a glimmer of hope.
He fantasized about whether he might encounter someone who not only had a burst skill but also could “infinitely refill” that skill through some means, like killing enemy units.
“Eileen….”
“Don’t let me down.”
Muttering to himself, Renji shook his head and put away [Raise a Glass!]. Now, at level 7, he couldn’t equip the “Danger Rank” Brands. He needed to be at least level 40 or higher to unlock them. This was the plight of the “main character” in the early stages; everything depended on his contract Eclipse to get by.
But relying solely on a perfectly matched set of Brands was not enough. Renji’s “disappointment” didn’t refer to whether Eileen would come to rescue him but whether Eileen could “discover” the crucial clue he left for the girl in the end.
‘Almost there…’
‘It’s time to change locations…’
Renji had been trying his best to sever the connection between himself and Suthia through the contract’s sensing. Otherwise, the nun could pinpoint his location directly through the contract. However, due to the vast disparity between them, no matter how much Renji severed, the nun could still vaguely sense his approximate direction.
So now, Renji couldn’t even rest in one place for too long. He had to keep moving constantly to avoid being enclosed.
Bang!*
A loud sound came from behind in the sewer pipe, and then the pipe burst open. A hand with long bloody nails reached out from the broken wall.
“Hehehe~, I’ve found you, My Lord.”
Suthia’s figure appeared in front of Renji once again, but the nun had transformed significantly from her appearance at the beginning.
The nun’s robes had disappeared entirely, replaced by a fiery black dress that seemed to be burning. Her holy boots had been completely consumed by the flames of sin, replaced by a new pair of crimson high heels that partially covered her fair feet. The toenails exposed were the same bright crimson as her fingernails, glaringly contrasting with her still pale skin, giving her a mesmerizing and seductive appearance.
The chained hooks wrapped around Suthia’s slender arms, resembling a thorny crown of barbs, replaced the nun’s hat that had covered her hair before. This change allowed her dark red hair to cascade down like a waterfall, with the tips of her hair floating in the intense Tainted Miasma that enveloped her.
“Lord Ashen, don’t run away. Come and continue having fun with Thia.”
‘What a load of bullshit!’
Even Renji, who had always considered himself to have a good temper, couldn’t help but curse.
Suthia moved quickly, as if she wanted to grab Renji just like before. However, as her hand got closer to Renji, one thing remained unchanged—the contract Brand on the back of her neck.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
A strong burning sensation emanated from the back of her neck, extending to her mental consciousness. The feeling was like being stabbed by needles, causing Suthia to cry out in pain.
“Thia, can you trust me just this once?” For Renji, it was also not easy. Every time he used the contract to force Suthia back, the backlash’s pain was excruciating, forcing him to try to persuade the nun.
“Trust? Thia has always believed in Lord Ashen. Believed in My Lord creed of the weak. Believed that Lord Ashen will definitely abandon those useless Eclipse. Believed in Lord Ashen’s… cruelty.”
“Do you remember Pire, Coburn, Ashu, Hikaru, Sand, Madison?”
One name after another was recited from Suthia’s mouth.
Renji had no recollection of these names, but then, as Suthia used the Tainted Miasma around her to create images, he remembered who they were.
They were…
His contract Eclipse from the game.
Yes.
In a cultivation game, how could the protagonist have only five Eclipse? Whenever the protagonist reached a multiple of five level(Gained 5 more level), they would gain additional contract slots, and as they progressed further, it wouldn’t just be one by one but in increasing tiers.
When Renji Finished the game, his protagonist level had reached LV150, and you can imagine how many contract slots he had—a whopping hundreds.
However, why did Renji rarely mention the other Eclipse, and why did it seem like he only had five Eclipse?
Because in Renji’s eyes, only those five were considered “nurturing” characters.
As for the rest of the Eclipses…
They were merely tools for Renji, disposable after use.
They were just…
Tools…
….
….
The Tainted Miasma quivered, bringing to life the scenes Suthia had experienced.
It was a young man who was desperately begging.
“Sister Thia, can you please… please beg Lord Ashen for me? I’ll do my best! I’ll try to do better in the next battle! Please beg Lord Ashen not to take away my contract, not to take back my power. I don’t want to become a normal person again. I don’t want to lose everything.”
“I… I want to continue fighting with everyone!”
Watching the boy in the red mist, Renji recognized him from the memories buried in the corners of his mind, memories that Suthia’s recitation had stirred.
He recognized him; this boy was the first name in the list of names that Suthia had just recited, Pire. He was one of the Eclipse contracted by Renji during the early stages of the game, a [Vanguard]-class Eclipse with only two stars. His skill set was also quite poor. However, the reason why Renji had contracted him and brought him under his wing was because Pire had a powerful talent.
[Experience Gain Efficiency +15%]
This meant that Renji could level up a two-star “Common” class character with fewer resources during the early stages.
However, as the difficulty increased later on, “Common” class characters became less and less effective, especially a [Vanguard]-class character as overpowered as Pire. He was quickly phased out and, thanks to Renji’s ability to “reset,” the resources he had invested in Pire were reclaimed.
At the time, Renji in the game didn’t feel anything was amiss, nor did he hesitate. After all, it was a common practice for many players, especially in the early stages when resources were extremely scarce.
But the Renji of the present moment, through the images that Suthia was showing him, fell into silence.
He watched Pire’s tears, he saw the longing in Pire’s eyes to continue fighting, he witnessed Pire’s desperate pleas, and even his humble figure kneeling before Suthia, begging the nun to speak well of him in front of the emperor.
It was at this moment that Renji realized that, for him, it was just a virtual game, but for the characters in the game, his casual actions could determine their entire lives.
And the [Reset], in a world filled with monsters and dangers, was akin to a death sentence, an end to their existence.
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