"Tie her up securely, take her sword, and don't let her use Originium Arts—damn it, guys, how did you even catch her?"
When they saw the Sarkaz girl with hair like fire, the entire mercenary team became highly vigilant.
Having just gone through a life-and-death struggle, they were already filled with anger, eager for battle and slaughter. Seeing the girl before them, they all raised their guns and crossbows.
"How should I know? She came and burned our tents. We thought we were done for, but then she just fainted—it's really hard to do a job. Liskarm and Franka even said they wanted to come along. Good thing we didn't bring those interns."
"At least we're all still alive, stop complaining. The contract's signed, so let's just get to work—can we put her down? She's, well, you know, a little hot to handle."
However, the two Blacksteel mercenaries, a man and a woman, merely shrugged, propped up the Sarkaz, and looked at the several black-and-red Originium crystals on her body with a hint of fear.
Although scientific research shows that oripathy patients do not transmit the disease from person to person unless crystallization occurs after death, ordinary Mortals on Terra are still afraid of direct contact with oripathy patients.
"It seems this trip to Sargon is now a Perfection. We've also obtained the 'sword' we wanted earlier."
A hint of surprise appeared on Parvis's face, and the feathers on his head twitched twice. He waved his hand, instructing his retinue to extinguish the fire and arrange the treasures found in the temple.
"Seal that Sargon relic. It's important Materials for our experiment."
This scientific expedition could almost be called a great success. Even the usually calm Parvis was in a good mood.
Although a few mercenaries died and one researcher was injured, such losses were within an acceptable range; even a few more deaths wouldn't matter.
For Rhine Lab, the most important thing was a Genius mind, like Parvis's students, especially Olivia Hermer.
As for these mediocre people who only knew how to fight and struggle, enjoying immediate pleasures, they would forever remain stagnant, becoming stepping stones on the path to truth.
This also included the Sarkaz thief in front of him.
The Ifrit Project was Rhine Lab's most important project currently. The data used in the Early Stage experiments came from the Sargon relic Mulla Pasha provided to Rhine Lab.
Thus, Parvis's trip to Sargon and the impromptu experiment at the border came about.
Half a month ago, in another temple, Rhine Lab had already discovered an ancient relic needed for the experiment.
An ancient sword, initially estimated to be at least a thousand years old, contained ancient and powerful Spell models. The caster who attempted to use it instantly fell into a coma.
Originally, the research team was satisfied and ready to return home, but who knew, this Sarkaz thief suddenly burst into the temple, grabbed the sword, and ran off, impossible to catch.
However, it seemed that good things always came in pairs.
"Perhaps by the time I return, the first Flame Giant will have already been born in Olivia's experiment."
Thinking this, Parvis nodded and instructed those around him.
"Wake her up. I have questions for her. This Sarkaz subject has excellent compatibility with this sword. If she doesn't have any legitimate official identity, perhaps we can have a chance to explore her secrets—our experiment doesn't mind adding another Sarkaz participant."
In other words, if this female Sarkaz in front of him had no Kazdel royal background, then she would gloriously become another "experimental volunteer" for Rhine Lab.
"No trouble at all, Mr. Parvis. Don't worry, I have a way of dealing with infected people like her."
At this moment, Elwin, who had been constantly terrified and hiding behind the Vouivre / Wyvern Blacksteel mercenary, not daring to move an inch, suddenly jumped out.
Under the mercenaries' furrowed brows, he stopped the Blacksteel mercenary who was about to use "interrogation techniques" and ran to the red-haired Sarkaz woman, raising his arm directly, intending to slap her awake.
Immediately after, his hand was directly squeezed by a large, pincer-like hand.
"Ha, not even as good as Quintus... She's very hot, Mr. Elwin. I have a way to wake her up, so I won't trouble you."
Without even saying another word to the disgustingly snobbish little man, Goki casually waved his hand and gave a gentle kick, sending him flying a meter away, where he landed hard on his backside.
Although in typical web novels, such minion-level clowns are always there to be trampled by the protagonist.
But how to put it, for Goki, a Hunter who had even slain a god, speaking another word to such a person would be a bit of a downgrade.
What he cared more about was the constantly rising temperature and heat in the surrounding air.
"You, you, you, what do you want to do? I'm Hyde Brothers—what are you looking at? This man attacked me! Manticore!"
Elwin was both shocked and enraged. The anger that had been building up since they were underground now intensified, filling his heart.
Originally, he had only considered Goki a common country bumpkin from the Rainforest.
However, in the underground temple just now, the terrifying strength displayed by him and the three women beside him made Elwin's contempt directly turn into fear.
After all, this tall, thin man with a perpetual smile could skillfully cleave through enemies that even the mercenaries found difficult to handle, using a flaming blade.
And the white-haired girl who had been watching from the sidelines, with little presence and appearing to be an ordinary girl, could actually smash his head with one slap, turning bone into bone fragments!
"I apologize, Mr. Elwin. This kind of service falls under extra charges. I am only responsible for protecting Mr. Parvis's safety, not for handling the trouble you brought upon yourself."
Suddenly, a fluent and sharp statement came through the air.
For some reason, Manticore, who always stumbled over her words when speaking to people, although still a bit shy when facing Goki, suddenly regained her confidence when speaking to others.
Perhaps it was because she could truly be seen now.
"Considering the difficulty of the task, I believe that no matter how much you pay, you cannot purchase this service from a Blacksteel Operator—am I wrong?"
Although Manticore was nowhere to be seen, the Blacksteel squad leader still couldn't help but nod.
"Mr. Elwin, we will not intervene in your conflict until Mr. Goki genuinely threatens your Life Qi."
If it were an ordinary, kind employer, the mercenaries might have already started threatening Goki with their guns.
But when faced with such an annoying and troublesome employer, the Blacksteel mercenaries would use the wording in the contract to turn a blind eye.
As for Mr. Goki, his displayed Battle Intent was clearly on par with a top mercenary.
His nimble movements through the sea of monsters made many mercenaries envious, and his left hand constantly reaching for his waist indicated that he was also an excellent firearms user.
And Miss Skadi... even as one of the continent's foremost races with powerful physique and strength, and having received professional mercenary training, the Vouivre / Wyvern mercenary did not believe he could have shattered that desiccated corpse as she did.
This seemingly frail white-haired girl was actually terrifyingly strong—whoever provoked her would die. Blacksteel mercenaries weren't idiots! If the employer died, they'd at most lose some wages; if they died, everything would be gone!
Already seething with anger from the underground, the mercenaries were now even more furious with Elwin and had no intention of interfering.
"You—that's enough! I'm sick of this Rainforest! You cowards! Useless trash! Scum destined to die on the battlefield! I'll kill you all! Kill you!"
Finally, ignored and scorned, the anger in Elwin's heart completely erupted. He began to curse loudly on the spot, stomping his feet incessantly.
Goki, however, ignored all of this, brought Skadi and the others to Surtr, and turned to look at Parvis.
"Still the same words. I'm warning you for the last time: you are unleashing a power you neither understand nor can control—including the girl in front of me."
Compared to the exasperated Elwin, who would collapse at a touch, Parvis was more hateful and more terrifying.
"I will be responsible for my choices, Mr. Goki. You are an excellent Hunter, but do not let legends make you fear the pursuit of truth."
Adjusting his glasses, Parvis was unmoved, but a hint of anger seemed to appear between his brows.
Originally, he wouldn't say another word to such a mediocre person, but today, for some reason, an unnamed fire drove him to say a few more words to these people who didn't understand the greatness of science.
"Fools will not understand that what I represent is this world's step into the unknown. Once successful, our understanding and application of Originium will enter a new era! Instead of continuing to rot in this backward region! Alive or dead, you are worthless!"
Finally, Parvis snorted, looking as if he were a rocket expert and Goki were an idiot telling him to burn anthracite for the rocket.
"If you can wake this Nona, then please proceed."
Seemingly realizing his impropriety, Parvis adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath of the somewhat warm air.
"Ha, how great—"
Goki sneered, suppressing the anger in his heart—an abnormal anger, not human anger.
Just as he had said before, Parvis was more detestable than Elwin.
Elwin merely, as a "city person," despised the "country bumpkins" with whom he was forced to coexist.
Parvis, on the other hand, despised and scorned everyone except himself.
He was a scientist, believing himself to be the smartest scientist in the world, a wise Genius; anyone who didn't understand his research was a mediocrity and an idiot.
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This kind of arrogance was even more terrifying. The former might only harm a group of people, while the latter... just look at the areas of Yharnam, each with different styles, different monsters, yet almost equally tragic: beast-like citizens, children turned into big-headed dolls... such self-important scholars often cause the greatest tragedies.
Calamities caused by the wise are often more terrifying than those caused by the foolish.
"I do know a saying: if the path is wrong, the more knowledge one has, the more reactionary one becomes—this saying describes you perfectly."
Goki nodded to Parvis and took out the small bottle of activated flame from his pocket.
"Oh, and another one: 'Whoever represents me gets 4000+.' I think no normal human would authorize you to explore such uninteresting truths."
He opened the stopper, and the flame instantly flared up. He waved it in front of Surtr, but then Goki's finger gently blocked it, and it obediently shrank back.
"Hmm—you! I remember you, sword, where is my sword!"
Surtr's purple eyes instantly snapped open. She had just emerged from another coma and instinctively reached for her sword, only to find nothing. Her expression immediately became anxious.
"I've seen you, I remember you. Listen to me, that sword is the key to the Seal of Ifrit. I must get it to—"
Before Surtr could finish, she met Goki's eyes, which glowed with a pale halo, and her mind briefly cleared.
"No, I can't let the sword get close to its limb, absolutely not. That sword is influencing me. What I told you before was a lie—"
A hint of panic, even fear, appeared on Surtr's face as she suddenly realized something was wrong.
Boom—
Just then, a wave of heat erupted from behind them.
"Bumpkin, I'll make you pay—"
Beside him, Elwin, with bloodshot eyes as if burning with flames, uncontrollably pushed away a researcher, snatched the heavy greatsword he could barely lift, stumbled a few steps towards Goki, and, by coincidence, approached the cryogenic chamber containing the pitch-black severed limb.
The mercenaries noticed their employer's abnormality, but no one acted rashly. Only the Vouivre / Wyvern mercenary from earlier intended to stop him, but Goki pulled him back from behind.
Then, a burning, pitch-black arm pierced through the cryogenic chamber and grabbed the slender Demonic Sword out of thin air.
"See, now neither of your two experimental tools belongs to you."
Goki shrugged, smiled slightly at the somewhat surprised Parvis, and then waved his hand at Elwin.
From the moment he entered the temple and witnessed Gavial's abnormal state, Goki had already guessed that the god sealed here possessed the authority to ignite the rage in people's hearts, making them almost lose control.
After an unknown number of deaths in Yharnam due to the frenzy, Goki had grown accustomed to and developed his own methods to adapt to and resist such mental influences.
But besides him, even Skadi felt somewhat irritable and belligerent.
The most deeply affected, naturally, was Elwin, this narrow-minded fool. If it were anyone else, Goki might have considered saving him, but since it was him... this sealed Divine Power would eventually control someone, making them lose control and help it escape.
Considering that behind Goki was a Sarkaz sister who had long suffered from amnesia, her background was extraordinary, and she traveled with laevatein, constantly searching for her origins even after joining Rhodes Island, wandering all over Terra.
Goki suspected that she was the one chosen by this god to unseal its power in the future.
Perhaps, ten years from now, a young woman pursuing the secrets in a notebook, coming to Sargon to seek memories, would accidentally release something terrifying.
And by then, it was unknown whether the Rhodes Island Doctor would have the ability to solve this problem.
So, it would be better for Goki to directly help It choose a better unsealing target and release a part of this old bastard in advance.
After all, a part of Goki's power was still within his body!
"Gao—ah!"
With only a single wail, Elwin, the respectable man from Columbia, turned into dust before Goki's eyes.
"Found—you—little—bug!"
The next second, a joyous and fanatical roar, accompanied by the buzzing of the Geiger counter, exploded in the air like thunder.
The arm, indistinguishable from a human's, instantly spewed endless flames the moment it touched laevatein.
Almost in an instant, the arm and blade were magnified countless times by the flames covering them, even outlining the body of a Giant.
This was more than twice as large as the Flame Giant on the Sargon border, standing over twenty meters tall, with its colossal blade even larger, towering above the distant dense forest.
The illusory body was not merely composed of flames but seemed to have some substantiality, like armor cast from brass.
"Moon, I will burn every one of your followers, incinerate everyone around you, and finally hunt you down, starting with—"
Behind It, in the collapsed temple corridor, many burning human figures finally broke through the rubble and rushed into the sunlight. Their bodies were no longer charred but ignited with raging flames, emitting roars.
Finally regaining freedom, this small portion of the god's power let out a hearty laugh, brandished the World-Burning Sword in its hand, and prepared to kill its second victim.
"—Hmm?"
But the next second, this massive flaming humanoid let out a surprised sound.
It suddenly discovered that all the Life Qi it had sensed nearby had now suddenly vanished.
"Phew—so tired, those Wyvern are super heavy!"
Immediately after, accompanied by a sonic boom, Skadi's figure appeared beside Goki. She pitifully leaned on his shoulder, breathing softly.
Carrying so many people at once had made the Little Orca a bit tired.
"Gavial and Tomimi have also gone to evacuate the tribe members. She said she'll be back with people to fight soon! We'll unite and fight together!"
Looking back at a spot dozens of meters behind him, Goki saw that all the non-combatants had already been carried to the edge of the dense forest behind them.
Upon reaching the surface, Goki immediately assigned tasks to the girls, preparing for the upcoming battle.
Meanwhile, the bewildered mercenaries, caught in the sudden heatwave, instinctively ran towards Goki.
"Yes, I've finally been waiting for you, Mr. Thief—Mr. Parvis, I've found my prey. I don't suppose you'd mind if I butchered him, would you?"
Looking at the overly tall Giant, Goki rubbed his slightly sore neck, glanced at the somewhat small retractable scepter he was currently holding, and shook his head.
"This is more suitable."
"Wow—that's so cool!"
The next second, under Skadi's starry eyes, Goki hoisted a two-meter-long giant stone hammer onto his shoulder.
"Goki, we're here—whoa, that guy is huge! I'm fired up!"
Immediately after, Gavial's voice also sounded beside Goki. Goki turned his head and saw the alligator sister, brimming with Battle Intent under the sunlight.
Her golden pupils were fully vertical with tension and excitement. Gavial raised the staff in her hand—well, it was now completely wrapped in wire.
"There's no better way to elect a Chieftain! Tiakau people, whoever defeats this monster last will be our Chieftain!"
What followed was the earth-shattering war cry of hundreds of Tiakau people—it seemed Gavial hadn't successfully evacuated anyone.
"Tiakau—waaaagh!!!"
Seeing this, Goki could only sigh helplessly.
He had originally intended to deal with this Giant by himself, with Skadi, just like last time they faced the giant Seaborn.
But now it seemed even the mercenaries had no intention of leaving, so they could only unite.
Taking a deep breath of the scorching air, Goki curled his lips and pulled out a larger, thicker, silver firearm with a revolving cylinder.
"Alright, now, Miss Doll, help me allocate all the remaining attributes... The hunt begins!"
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