Pirate Kingship

Chapter 442 - 348 Each’s Growth (4400)_2

Chapter 442: Chapter 348 Each’s Growth (4400)_2

Then he roared and continued to pounce.

The others only encircled the other black Minotaurs, not attempting to snatch the Sailor Chief’s prey.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!...

Thunderous rumbles echoed continuously as Eight Fingers fought with increasing ferocity.

After activating his Second Order Class ability, ’Bloodthirsty Berserker,’ he could use his First Rank ’Superhuman Endurance’ as a foundation to greatly enhance his physique, Power, reaction speed, primal intuition, and Recovery Power. While it blocked out pain, his resistance to various abnormal states was also greatly enhanced. Curses, acid, Fire, and penetrating wounds—any of which could be fatal to an ordinary person—were merely minor injuries to him, only slightly hampering his combat effectiveness. Even when he didn’t activate his transcendent abilities, his physical constitution would continually strengthen.

Eight Fingers’ stature had already grown to a full two meters and thirty centimeters, making him resemble a small giant. More importantly, he dared to trade wound for wound, life for life. Even when his flesh was torn open and blood streamed down his body, he wouldn’t retreat a single step, prompting the White Bull King opposite him to exclaim repeatedly, "Madman! Where did this lunatic come from!"

While Eight Fingers fought, his injuries also healed at a terrifying rate. Not a single drop of his gushing blood fell to the ground; instead, it flowed and coalesced in his other hand, forming a black-and-red, double-edged Battle Axe. As the axe swung, even the air seemed to shriek.

Clearly, he was no longer the simple Berserker he once was. After receiving the First Embrace from Byron, he had transformed into an enhanced Berserker, a Half-Night Devil. He inherited only two abilities: the ’Half-Night Devil’s Body,’ granting him physical prowess comparable to five men combined and astonishing Recovery Power; and the ’Fighting Blood Technique,’ which used blood as a combat medium! This greatly mitigated the Berserker’s typical weakness of a short lifespan.

Eight Fingers looked at the wild bull warrior. Though the warrior’s injuries were lighter than his own, his recovery speed was much slower. A cold smile touched Eight Fingers’ lips, revealing chillingly white teeth, as he once again swung his Battle Axe and lunged forward.

"I swear in the name of the Captain, whether it takes a hundred axe strikes or a thousand, today only one of us will leave standing!"

The advancement for a Bayfolk Berserker was even simpler and more direct than for a Pirate: just "kill, kill, kill." The requirement was to survive one brutal, bloody deathmatch after another—against five opponents, then ten, then twenty. Achieving the feats often spoken of by Swordsmen—the ’ten-man kill,’ ’hundred-man kill,’ or ’thousand-man kill’—allowed one to advance, treading upon the corpses of enemies.

The additional benefits from Byron’s First Embrace also gave Eight Fingers the capital to initiate a rank-advancing hunt.

A few more minutes passed. Even when Eight Fingers unleashed his full strength, he still couldn’t overwhelm his opponent. It was then he unexpectedly discovered that a layer of bull-shaped white light constantly enveloped his opponent. Although the opponent’s physical Recovery Power was poor, this light continually replenished his Spirituality. He finally realized that this King, in his flight, had even managed to bring his own Guardian Spirit along.

Decisively abandoning his original hunt-for-advancement plan, he bellowed, "Gus, this prey is half yours!"

The next moment, the White Bull King heard a light chuckle from behind him. "I’ve been waiting for you to say that. My ’Third-Level Relic: Butcher’s Blade’ has long been thirsting for action. This knife is twenty centimeters long, made from the most common iron with a wooden handle. Yet, because its owner understood bovine anatomy as if it were an open book, carving an ox with it was effortless. For decades, it remained as bright as new without sharpening. It has even inspired a beloved folk tale."

The White Bull King turned his head and saw a young man of utterly unremarkable appearance and build standing behind him, who had appeared there at some unknown moment. His only distinguishing feature was a pair of blood-red eyes, just like the Berserker’s. Indeed, he held a butcher’s knife. A single glance was enough to make one instinctively feel that its chilling glint could pierce to the bone, freezing the very marrow.

Instantly, the two attackers—one in front, one behind—pounced. As the King waved his arm to defend, it suddenly flew off. Hide, joints, fascia, muscle... none of it offered the slightest resistance to the blade. He didn’t even feel a trace of pain.

Only after a moment did he realize what had happened. An earth-shattering scream tore from his throat, "AH—! Don’t kill me!"

But he was quickly dismembered by the Fighting Blood Technique and the ’Butcher’s Blade.’

After the battle ended, one look at Gus’s hand revealed no ’Third-Level Relic: Butcher’s Blade’—only an utterly ordinary dagger.

It had all been an illusion!

Only a Third Order ’Fantasia Armory’ had the ability to manifest Miracles and Sacred Relics; Gus did not yet possess this power. But as long as he could deceive an opponent’s senses and make them believe the item was real, he could truly bring forth the wondrous effects of such a Sacred Relic.

Gus, after becoming a Half-Night Devil, had inherited a core ability from Byron: ’Beguile Humans.’ Combined with the Phantom Blade’s ability to dominate the five senses and blur one’s presence, he had achieved the extraordinary effect of impersonating the fabled Sacred Relic, the ’Butcher’s Blade.’

The slaughter, an act of ’Pretending to Be Gods,’ concluded. Although the two had not yet advanced to the Third Order, their Spirituality had increased another notch. They only needed one more sufficiently challenging opponent as a sacrifice to complete their advancement.

Classes from the ’Ladder of Glory’ could advance quickly, provided they had enough opportunities to perform their primary duties. Much like a Berserker, an assassin’s path to advancement involved relentlessly carrying out assassination missions, committing one homicide after another, and initiating one ’Phantom Assassin’s Serial Murders’ after another.

To be fair, although they held grudges against the Traditional Factions within the Church, this behemoth had indeed made an indelible and outstanding contribution to the stability of the Continent.