Chapter 22 The Second Fusion
Looking at the olive-sized, bright red philosopher's stone in his hand, Paladin smiled from the bottom of his heart. Decisively putting it in his pocket, Paladin began to pick up the ink absorber and wipe off the magic circle on the floor. This magic circle contains everything Paladin has, so it must be destroyed every time the Philosopher's Stone is refined. If someone else saw it and copied it, Paladin would be doomed.
Without looking at the four skeletons left on the floor, Paladin stepped onto the stairs, put on his gloves, and pushed open the door. "Ah! Father Paladin, you are finally out." As soon as the wooden door opened, he saw Northam raising his hand in a daze, preparing to knock on the door. Seeing this, Paladin laughed maliciously: "Noson, you feel at ease. There was such a loud fighting sound down there just now. Didn't you hear it?"
"I heard it, but Father Paladin has ordered that no matter what comes from inside, you can't go in." Paladin snorted, closed the wooden door with his backhand, took the key from his waist, and locked it with the lock card. Seeing this, Northam hesitated for a while before speaking: "Father, what happened to those four people...?"
"What's wrong? Northam, this isn't what you should ask. Just remember that I will destroy the Holy See." As soon as Paladin finished speaking, Northam nodded reluctantly, and then He turned around and went upstairs after saying a few words: "I have some private matters. If it's still not down at dawn, I'll tell the people who come to pray that the priest is sick." "Yes, Father Paladin."
With the sound of the door closing, Northen confirmed that Paladin had indeed entered the house, then took a complex look at the attic, then turned to look solemnly at the entrance to the basement, lost in thought.
Standing in his room, looking out the window at the fish-white night sky, Paladin sat quietly on a stool, playing with the philosopher's stone in his hand, without saying a word. He seemed to be in a daze, and it wasn't until the dazzling sunlight in the morning shined through the window and onto Paladin's hand that he suddenly woke up and came back to his senses. He silently raised his head and looked directly into the sunlight directly in his eyes. He didn't care about the pain and discomfort in his eyes at all, and stood up with a smile.
Paladin took out a huge magnifying glass from the box beside the bed. Put it in front of the window. The direct sunlight immediately passed through the magnifying glass and turned into an extremely dense beam of light, which hit the table. A burning smell immediately filled Paladin's nose. Paladin smiled slightly and sat at the table. Magnifying glasses are not difficult to buy, and in relatively affluent towns like Nurba, you can buy them at any store that sells alchemy and magic supplies and equipment.
But don't get confused. There is a fundamental difference in the positions between alchemists and alchemists from the Free Masons. The alchemists of the Free Masons' Guild firmly believe that Enos, the god of light, is just an illusion. What is above God is the invisible power flowing in the world. Law, universe, truth. You can call it whatever you like.
For the Holy See, this is simply a slap in the face. But ordinary alchemists, those who have not joined the Free Masons' Union, are talents that will not be rejected by any force or country. Unlike mages who control elements and are extremely powerful and difficult to control, alchemists do not have many lethal abilities. And they enchant, make magic props, and magic supplies. But it is a very valuable product. Therefore, as long as you are not an alchemist of the Free Masons' Guild, you can find a decent job and live a comfortable life.
anyway. Paladin took off his gloves and looked at the veins emitting a faint golden light on his wrist. He took out his quill and drew the decomposition and reorganization of the magic circle on it with great skill. The philosopher's stone is then placed on top. Then he took a deep breath. If you look carefully, Paladin is sweating profusely and swallowing saliva. In fact, it's a sign of fear.
Because he has tasted the soul-rending pain during the process of fusing light elements! A normal person would never want to try it a second time. Because of one bad move, you may be stunned by such severe pain! "What are you afraid of? This is an exchange of equal value. You have to pay a price to gain power! If the price is only pain, then why should you hesitate?"
Paladin, who seemed to be persuading himself, lowered his head slightly, and his somewhat white lips trembled: "My beautiful life and the power to dominate others all depend on you! What else should I be afraid of!" As soon as he finished speaking, Paladin's eyes turned red. Reach out. The focused beam of light immediately hit the Philosopher's Stone. In an instant, the magic circle under the Philosopher's Stone immediately moved. The olive-sized Philosopher's Stone emitted a faint red light, breaking down the sunlight that hit him and flowing into Paladin's arms. , regroup again!
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Paladin's eyes widened instantly, he raised his head and let out bursts of forced and endured shouts. The pain was like countless sharp knives perfectly piercing every pore. I felt dead, resurrected, and dead again. Repeat, never stop. Gradually, Paladin, who was clenching his teeth and shivering all over, began to drain blood from his pores, dripping on the floor, which suddenly dyed the ground beneath him red, forming a pool of blood.
Paladin felt like he couldn't bear it anymore and was about to collapse! When the last trace of sanity was overwhelmed by the endless pain, Paladin's tightly closed mouth suddenly revealed a curve, and he laughed wildly and irrationally: "Haha, hahaha! Haha! Hahahaha! Very good, not bad! Power, I can feel the influx of power! This is what I want!"
At this time, Paladin was smiling crazily, his eyes emitting a dazzling golden light. The reflection on the ceiling made this supposedly sacred golden light look gloomy and terrifying. And when the olive-sized Philosopher's Stone was exhausted, Paladin jumped up suddenly, clapped his hands and knocked over the magnifying glass. He fell into a pool of blood like soft mud and fell into a deep sleep again.
In the blank space, Paladin sat on the ground naked with eyes blank. A black-covered baby was lying on Paladin's wrist, opening his mouth and shouting continuously: "Feed me, feed me, feed me..." Paladin, whose head was blank, sat like a puppet, not paying attention to any external objects at all. Moved. His eyes were looking at the blank space in front of him without focus. However, it seems to be somewhat different from before.
In this blank space, the confused Paladin saw a strange yet familiar pattern emerging on the ground. A tree growing upside down, with branches separated from the trunk. There are ten circles painted on the branches. And Paladin saw that he was sitting in the circle closest to the leaves. There are words written on it. Paladin read out word by word, his confused eyes gradually became clear, and he finally jumped up with a bang, and lost his voice: "Material and Kingdom? Isn't this the stone slab that emerged from where Ripley's scroll is placed! No, this is Dream! The dream I had before!"
Paladin suddenly woke up and realized that he was in a dream. He had not yet come back to his senses. The tireless childish voices came into his ears: "Feed me, feed me, feed me..." "Ah!" Paladin Startled, he waved his hand and dropped the black baby, who was still on the ground. Seemingly unharmed, he lay on the ground again and yelled at the black baby who was moving towards him: "Don't come over, don't come over!"
But it was no use. The black baby ignored Paladin's questions and continued to lick his face and shouted to feed me. Paladin wanted to escape, but he suddenly found that he couldn't leave the circle under his feet that said 'Material and Kingdom'. As soon as there is any movement, an invisible barrier will immediately block in front of you, making it impossible to leave.
"Feed me, feed me!" The black baby grabbed Paladin's thigh and crawled up childishly and unfamiliarly, still repeating those two boring words. Paladin looked at the baby with horror on his face. For some reason, he felt extremely close to the baby. It's like he is one of his closest relatives. Finally, Paladin asked what he had been holding in his heart: "Who are you?"
But who would have thought that as soon as he finished speaking, this black baby who kept repeating things suddenly stopped. I was stunned for the first time. Just when Paladin wanted to ask more questions, the black baby suddenly showed a terrifying and crazy smile!