NOVEL NEXT Ch. 105
Chapter 105
Not a Savior
"Master, it looks like it's about to die," Lucy said, staring at the barely-breathing test subject.
The silver wire in Theodosius’ hand glinted coldly. "Don’t worry, with me here, it won’t die!"
"Can I just say—no wonder it was once a Tier-5 lifeform. The complexity of the magical patterns is beyond anything I imagined..."
"Strictly speaking, it only brushed the threshold of quasi-divinity by borrowing the power of laws," Theodosius corrected, lifting a glowing blood vessel with the silver wire. "It’s still far from a true Tier-5 lifeform."
Lucy was astonished. "Its blood vessels actually look like that!"
"Fascinating, isn’t it? That’s exactly why I love to travel. Heh heh heh..."
"It’s an honor to learn under your guidance, hee hee... Oh right, Master, I’d also like to ask you about the knowledge of flesh constructs."
In high spirits, Theodosius responded with grandeur, "Go ahead, let’s hear it."
"My flesh construct didn’t evolve according to my design. Instead, it inherited the abilities of each enchanted organ separately. That’s thrown off the entire direction of my research."
As she spoke, Lucy summoned Lucifer from the Abyss of Nightmares.
"My construct’s evolutionary path has veered completely off course. It was supposed to become a perfect killing machine, but now it only mindlessly devours."
"The issue lies in organ compatibility," Theodosius immediately diagnosed. "Each enchanted organ has its own unique 'personality'. You need to establish a hierarchy—dominant and subordinate—not just pile parts together."
Then, Theodosius reached out and tore off the angelic skin.
One by one, he removed the ‘fluorescent cecum’ and the ‘digestive cavity’ from the abdominal cavity.
"So what should I do?" Lucy asked.
"I can give you a demonstration."
With a flick of his hand, Theodosius used the silver wire to extract a row of teeth from the Horseman of Famine.
He had no intention of modifying Lucifer. Instead, he began crafting an entirely new construct.
"The ‘fluorescent cecum’ and the ‘digestive cavity’ both possess devouring and digestive awakening properties, so I’ll add another attribute on top of those—hunger."
As he spoke, Theodosius embedded the Horseman of Famine’s teeth into the Star Dew Grass’s digestive cavity.
"Now, take a look at what other treasures this fellow has to offer..."
Knowing Master Theodosius was testing her, Lucy quickly opened the system and locked onto all the enchanted organs on the Horseman of Famine.
Eyes, tongue, throat, heart...
Her gaze finally stopped on the liver.
Indeed, strictly speaking, the liver also belonged to the digestive system.
It not only secreted and excreted bile to aid fat digestion and absorption, but also handled metabolism, transformation, and nutrient storage.
When Lucy mentioned the liver, a satisfied expression appeared on Theodosius’ face.
"Fernando taught you better than I expected. Then I’ll let you carry out the next step of this flesh construct."
"Yes, Master!"
As Lucy extracted the Horseman of Famine’s liver, the last traces of rage and bloodlust finally vanished from his eyes.
What replaced them was despair and regret.
Why had he chosen this moment to break the seal? If he had known, he would have preferred to remain imprisoned underground for another five thousand years.
At that moment, the girl who had been clutched in the Horseman of Famine’s hand, treated as no more than air, turned pale and trembled all over.
At first, when the Horseman of Famine was suppressed, Lia thought she had been saved by a messiah.
But as events unfolded, the development of the story strayed completely beyond her expectations.
This wasn’t a savior—it was a demon…
No—they were tormenting a demon. They were more terrifying than demons themselves.
Lia wanted desperately to remind the two of something they might have forgotten, but the longer she hesitated, the more afraid she became to speak, terrified that she too might end up dissected like a specimen.
Heaven have mercy.
The terrifying entity that had brought down a temple and caused the high priest’s gruesome death was no more than a powerless insect before these two.
She even saw tears of regret fall from the corner of the Horseman of Famine’s eyes.
Perhaps he regretted crawling out of his seal...
Three days later—
The Horseman of Famine, who had been almost reduced to scraps, finally took his last breath in endless agony.
When the final spark of his soul was extracted, a strange serenity appeared on his twisted face, much to the discontent of Theodosius and Lucy.
"This guy’s actually smiling!" Theodosius removed the soul flame. "He’ll probably end up on the Avenue of the Sages. Maybe I should dissect him again when he gets there..."
Lucy couldn’t respond—she was too engrossed in testing the devouring capabilities of the new construct.
Although Lucifer had once again been dismantled into parts and stuffed back into a glass jar,
Under Master Theodosius’ guidance, Lucy had successfully completed her second flesh construct.
This construct took the form of a one-meter-tall chubby simpleton, with mung-bean-sized eyes and a mouth as large as an ordinary human’s head—when it smiled, one could practically see its stomach at a glance.
Built around the Horseman of Famine’s teeth, it was composed of fifteen organs with digestive and devouring properties.
Lucy defined its function as “devour” and named it Beelzebub, nicknamed Bub.
This chubby creature, with teeth at its core, opened its massive mouth and instantly swallowed half the laboratory.
Compared to Lucifer’s precision, Bub resembled a greedy black hole.
While they were tidying up the dissection site,
Lia, who had finally been released, led the surviving dozen or so Holy Knights toward them with utmost respect.
As they drew near, everyone’s knees buckled—they knelt and kowtowed.
"We thank both lords for all you’ve done in the name of the Lady of Harvest. Not only have you protected our safety, but you have spared this land from the suffering of famine."
"On behalf of all the Lady of Harvest’s followers, I offer our deepest gratitude."
A group of devout followers of the Old Gods kneeling to a pair of wizards!
If only they knew that the very Lady of Harvest they worshipped had fallen because of the ancient wizards—who knows what expressions they would wear?
Theodosius chuckled darkly.
"According to the traditions of the Old Lands, isn’t offering tribute the basic rule when giving thanks? Where’s your tribute?"
Lia clenched her teeth. "What would the two lords desire? So long as the Harvest Church possesses it, we shall offer it with both hands."
"Your temple has already collapsed. The divine artifact, the Sickle of Harvest, has been broken in two. You’ve lost your means of survival in the Old Lands. Why not offer the broken artifact as tribute?"
"What?!"
Lia and the Holy Knights were shocked.
This hero who had saved them… actually wanted the artifact!
"What’s wrong? Unwilling?"
Theodosius narrowed his eyes slightly. A pressure far more terrifying than the Horseman of Famine radiated from him.
The Holy Knights immediately stood and drew their weapons. A battle was on the verge of breaking out.
"Stop! Don’t!"
Having witnessed their horrifying methods, Lia quickly stepped forward to stop them.
With their strength, even if they decided to rob her outright, she’d be powerless to resist.
Moreover, as Theodosius had said, the last divine power of the Lady of Harvest had perished along with the temple.
Even she, the High Priestess, could no longer sense a trace of the goddess’s will. From this moment, the Harvest Faith was completely gone.
She drew the broken sickle at her waist and handed it to Theodosius with both hands.
"Please accept our tribute, my lord."
"Little Lucy, take it."
Lucy, who had been lost in her own thoughts, snapped out of it in surprise. She hadn’t expected Master Theodosius to give the artifact fragment to her.
She quickly stepped forward and accepted the sickle, about the length of a forearm.
"By the way, your temple must have quite a collection of tomes. Bring those out too. You won’t be needing them anymore."
Shame and resentment flashed across Lia’s face, but ultimately turned into helpless resignation.
Before absolute power, she had no right to bargain.
At this moment, she was certain: the two before her were no saviors—they were two even more powerful demons.
When the two of them left the ruins of the Lady of Harvest’s temple, Lucy’s Abyss of Nightmares held several thousand more tomes from the Age of Old Gods.