Chapter 175: Artificial Monster, The Legendary Descendants of a "Demon God"
As bottle after bottle of regeneration potion was poured in, the massive wound on Quinn Esai's chest began to show signs of recovery. But the injuries were far too severe; with only the slow healing effect of the regeneration potion, Quinn Esai would likely die before he could fully heal.
Tang Zheng had no choice but to cast the spell "Major Wound Healing." Under the combined effect of the potion and magic, his opponent's breathing was forcibly stabilized.
Quinn Esai's originally hazy consciousness began to sharpen under the intense pain.
*Have I been revived?*
The thought flashed through his mind.
Quinn Esai lifted his heavy eyelids, opening his deep red eyes. However, the sight that greeted him was not a familiar figure, but rather Tang Zheng, which filled him with both shock and rage.
His already pale face became even more ashen and unsightly.
"Sla..." The moment Quinn Esai opened his mouth, blood gushed out, choking back the words he was about to speak.
Thud!
Tang Zheng lifted his foot and kicked Quinn Esai in the neck, knocking him unconscious. He had no intention of giving the other party any chance to speak or make a move.
Leaning down.
Tang Zheng searched Quinn Esai's body, taking all seven of the remaining magic rings. In addition to those, there was a magic leather pouch and a necklace that was a magic item.
For now, he couldn't be bothered to check the information on these magic items, so he tossed them all into his item box.
"Analyzing the current situation, Quinn Esai shouldn't be able to actively contact the Slane Theocracy, and he doesn't seem to be carrying any magic items of the Six Great Gods."
Tang Zheng felt a sense of relief. He reached out and lifted the unconscious Quinn Esai out of the crater. The two things he had been most worried about had not come to pass.
In the game YGGDRASIL, there was a long-distance communication spell called "Message." In a normal game, this kind of ability would be nothing more than a basic means of communication between players.
However, in YGGDRASIL, it was a spell distinct from normal player communication, primarily used in special situations and locations.
For example, the Great Tomb's Floor Guardians, like Cocytus, used "Message" scrolls as a way to contact other members.
The value of these magic scrolls was not high. Since the Great Tomb had a good number of them in storage, Tang Zheng naturally suspected that the items left behind by the Six Great Gods might also include such scrolls.
Beyond that, whether it was in the anime or the light novel, there was too little information revealed, so Tang Zheng couldn't be certain if other methods existed.
This was also why Tang Zheng had only ever displayed strength at the hero-tier during his fight with Quinn Esai—it was a precaution against the worst-case scenario of his information being exposed.
From Quinn Esai's choice to actively seek death, Tang Zheng could at least confirm that he was unable to actively contact the Slane Theocracy.
That was why, in the end, he could only choose death as an indirect way to send a warning.
Swoosh!
Tang Zheng flew swiftly through the sky above the dense forest, carrying the heavily injured and unconscious Quinn Esai, before descending upon their original battle location.
The Gray-robed Mage was still unconscious, guarded by a Tranquility Archon Angel.
The Twin Witches, who had taken the opportunity to escape during the battle, had been captured by another Tranquility Archon Angel and were now huddled and trembling beneath a large tree.
Seeing the pair of demi-human witch sisters, Tang Zheng's eyelid twitched. He expressionlessly started walking over.
The Green Leaf Witch trembled all over. She immediately hugged the weakened White Mist Witch, pressing her sister's head against her chest protectively. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of expressions, including fear and dread.
In the eyes of the Twin Witches, the Gray-robed Mage was already an existence they could not resist, and the later-appearing Quinn Esai was equally terrifying.
And yet, both of them!
Both had been defeated by the youth before them, who appeared to have the weakest strength.
Aren't humans supposed to be weak?
A trace of bewilderment flashed across the Green Leaf Witch's face. Why was the strength of these humans they had encountered so terrifying?
Thump!
The footsteps paused.
The Green Leaf Witch snapped out of her daze. Seeing Tang Zheng already standing before her, she flinched back in fear.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me?" Tang Zheng asked, looking at the Twin Witches and speaking in a flat tone.
Whether it was the Gray-robed Mage or Quinn Esai, there were too many uncertainties, which made Tang Zheng feel that dealing with them—whether leaving them alive or killing them—was a tricky matter.
Of course, there were benefits as well.
It was precisely because the identities of these two were so extraordinary that Tang Zheng could also obtain more crucial information from them.
The Green Leaf Witch and the White Mist Witch both trembled.
"I'll ask, you'll answer. Understood?" Tang Zheng said coldly.
Hearing that Tang Zheng was only going to question them and not kill them immediately, the two Twin Witches hurriedly nodded.
"What race are you?"
"I... don't know," the Green Leaf Witch replied cautiously in a small voice. "In the entire Great Wetland, we are the only two of our kind."
Tang Zheng was a little disappointed by this answer.
Given the current situation, he didn't think the Twin Witches would lie about something like this.
"Tell me everything that happened," Tang Zheng asked again, his tone cool.
As the Twin Witches began to speak, holding nothing back, the entire sequence of events started to become clear. The Gray-robed Mage had arrived in the Great Wetland several years ago and had immediately taken control of the two of them.
Using a magic crucible stolen from the Lizardmen Tribe, the Twin Witches assisted the Gray-robed Mage in conducting magic research on the eggs produced by the frogmen.
It wasn't until recently that the Gray-robed Mage's research finally began to show results. The Twin Witches immediately realized that the moment the magic research truly bore fruit, the two of them would completely lose their value.
It was at this moment that the Twin Witches, through a cave lizardman under their command, discovered the immensely powerful Tang Zheng, who was fighting the entire Lizardmen Tribe all by himself.
That was why they lured Tang Zheng into the depths of the Great Wetland. Their goal was to have him fight the Gray-robed Mage, creating an opportunity for them to escape.
As for Quinn Esai's appearance, that was a complete accident and not part of the Twin Witches' plan.
After hearing their story, Tang Zheng sank into thought for a moment, then raised his arm and waved at the Tranquility Archon Angel in the distance.
The Tranquility Archon Angel moved, bringing the unconscious Gray-robed Mage before Tang Zheng. It reached into the mage's robes, pulled out a semi-transparent, egg-shaped object the size of a marble, and handed it over.
"Is this the thing he spent so much time researching?"
Tang Zheng pinched the semi-transparent, egg-shaped object in his hand, pressing down slightly. It felt smooth and a little hard.
From what had happened earlier, the Gray-robed Mage's other purpose in researching this item was to lure Quinn Esai. For an item to catch the attention of a member of the Black Scripture, its value was plain to see.
"Item Appraisal." Tang Zheng cast the spell.
***
**Item:** Artificial Monster · Frogman's Egg (Inferior)
**Level:** Lowest Grade (1-10)
**Restriction:** Can only be controlled by its creator.
**Effect:** After injecting magic power, the Frogman's Egg can be activated, allowing it to rapidly mature into an adult frogman with a level between 5 and 10. As a lifeform created through forced growth, it possesses no wisdom and can only survive for one hour before dying.
**Description:** An artificial monster.
***
Seeing the appraisal information for the "Frogman's Egg," Tang Zheng took a sharp breath, subconsciously glancing at the unconscious Gray-robed Mage.
An artificial monster?
To think he could actually create something like this!
A level of 5-10 was already equivalent to an elite soldier in any of the human nations, and yet a single, tiny "Frogman's Egg" could take the place of one.
No wonder Quinn Esai had his eyes on this thing!
A rare, grave expression appeared on Tang Zheng's face. He recalled that a single frog could lay around 3,000 to 6,000 eggs at a time. Even if the number of eggs a frogman could lay was ten times less, if all of them were made into "Frogman's Eggs," one could easily raise an elite army of demi-humans!
Moreover, because they lacked wisdom, they wouldn't have negative emotions like fear or dread of death, making them an elite force that would follow commands perfectly.
The thought startled even Tang Zheng, but he quickly realized that such an item had never appeared in the original story. The probability was high that the difficulty and failure rate of creating these "Frogman's Eggs" were enormous, making mass production fundamentally impossible.
But!
This technology—
Tang Zheng turned to look at the unconscious Gray-robed Mage being held up by the Tranquility Archon Angel. He raised his fist and struck the man in the chest.
"Aargh!" An intense wave of pain washed over the Gray-robed Mage, jolting him awake with a miserable cry.
The nearby Twin Witches, shrinking in fear, couldn't help but tremble again.
"Charm Species!"
An invisible mental magic surged into the Gray-robed Mage's brain. His pained cry stopped abruptly, and his eyes became vacant.
If he had been fully awake and prepared, he naturally would not have been controlled by a charm-type spell. But unfortunately, in his current state, he was completely unable to resist.
"State your identity," Tang Zheng said.
"I am a member of Zuranon," the Gray-robed Mage replied stiffly.
Tang Zheng was a bit stunned, then said, "Heh, it seems I have quite a history with your organization."
"What race are these Twin Witches?"
From the Twin Witches' previous answer, he had realized it was highly likely the Gray-robed Mage had sought them out intentionally.
"According to the information I've gathered, the Twin Witches have some connection to the Demon God that descended 200 years ago. It is highly probable that they are the Demon God's remaining descendants."
The Gray-robed Mage's voice sounded.
(end of chapter)