Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 26 - 18: Contest in the Dark

At 11:30 p.m., Aske, accompanied by Nora, arrived at the poor district's Duloc Road.

"Could there be danger?" Nora whispered nervously as she looked at the pitch-black streets and the homeless man sleeping in the alley, covered with cardboard boxes.

"Nora, there's danger anywhere," Aske said indifferently. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have come with you."

"Okay," Nora nodded, still feeling a bit uneasy.

When they reached the doorstep of house number 44, she reached out to knock but was stopped by Aske.

Aske raised the hilt of his sword and knocked on the door.

Was he worried about traps with extraordinary power on the door? Nora suddenly felt an urge to take notes.

The door opened into darkness, with only a vague figure visible sitting on the bed. Aske sneered inwardly, sure enough, it was an enemy.

Peering cautiously inside, Nora suddenly felt a chilling sensation as if something had invaded her body, contesting for control. Her thoughts slowed, her senses dulled, breathing became difficult, and she wanted to scream, but found her vocal cords unresponsive, unable to make a sound.

Aske faced a similar situation, except he was already Level 1 with much stronger spirituality than Nora, so he managed to move slightly. As his body increasingly defied his commands, he maintained composure, slowly twisting his wrist to aim his handgun at the darkness to the left.

Bang! The roar of the Imperial Eagle echoed, and Nora felt as if she had been hammered in the face, blood nearly seeping from her ears and nose... At the same time, her body quickly returned to normal. Stumbling against the doorframe, she saw Aske light a tinder, illuminating the room.

It was a shabby twelve-square-meter flat. A young man in a yellow priest robe sat on the bed, eyes rolled back, face purple, clearly dead. Another corpse lay in the shadow behind the left door, a thirty-something man in a black robe, chest blown open by an elephant hunting bullet, bloodied and limp on the floor, his face still showing disbelief.

"That is a Transcendent of Spirit Body II," Aske quickly approached, beginning to search the young man's possessions. "Spirit Body II can freely manipulate nearby spiritual bodies, letting them attach to inanimate objects—for instance, attaching to a handgun to fire it. Or it can invade a life body to compete for control with the resident spirit."

"Of course, it's not omnipotent." He pointed to the corpse in the corner and added, "The higher the sequence of the Transcendent, the less likely their spiritual body is to be successfully possessed. From the moment I entered the door, I was gripping the handgun inside my Cotton Armor arm guard. Just pivoting the wrist and pulling the trigger is still feasible even while resisting a spiritual invasion."

"So that's how it is," Nora felt somewhat ashamed. At the moment of opening the door, Aske had already prepared to counter with his gun, whereas her instinct was to peek inside—an enormous gap in combat experience.

And even if she was on alert, her immediate reaction would have been to consider the corpse on the bed as the enemy, rather than suspecting the real enemy hidden in the darkness to the left. Right, how did Aske know?

"You got lucky, Nora," Aske said, pulling two recipes out of the sleeve of the corpse on the bed, "Life I and Radiance I. This was a Transcendent from the Life Sect trying to ascend to Level 2, but unfortunately, he died here before he could act on his plans."

He lastly took off the ring with the Yellow Crystal Stone emblem from the finger of the corpse, glanced at it, and turned to search the other corpse. Nora, unnerved, bit her lip hard: "So... the invitation to come here was actually a trap?"

"Perhaps," Aske replied. "Maybe the Life Sect learned at the gathering that someone was looking to buy the recipe for Life I, so they lured you in to recruit you, only to be ambushed by the Spiritual Body Sect. Or maybe the ambush happened before the gathering, with the Spiritual Body Sect suspecting that you wanted to join the Life Sect, leading them to draw you into this trap."

"I think it's the latter. If the Life Sect wanted to recruit you just for seeking Life I, that would be too rash." Aske analyzed as he finally found his targets: the recipe for Spirit Body I, the Life I extraordinary trait belonging to the corpse on the bed, and the extraordinary trait of Spirit Body II belonging to their assailant.

This haul was huge! Aske thought with satisfaction. Three Sequence I recipes and two extraordinary traits (Level 1 and Level 2), plus the ring of the Life Sect, were worth at least 600-700 pounds. The gaming forum players always say, "Murder and arson bring wealth, while farming and development fall behind" were not just making it up. The difference between the prices in the Mysterious Realm and the Mortal World was simply too great; his two shops in the Imperial City were worth just over 1200 pounds, and now he had recouped half of that by taking down a Transcendent.

"Let's go," he said, pulling Nora away from the scene.

"Are the Life Sect and the Spiritual Body Sect mortal enemies?" Nora asked curiously.

"The Life Sect, also known as the Druid Sect, originated from the ancient Kate Nation, controlling the 'Tree Shepherd' bloodline, with main sequences being 'Life' and 'Radiance,'" Aske explained. "The Spiritual Body Sect came from the people of Ancient Sirius, holding the 'Spirit Witch' bloodline, with main sequences being 'Spirit Body' and 'Undead Spirit.'"

"The two sects were close allies during the Third Epoch. Back then, the Ancient Solomon Republic's military might nearly conquered the entire continent, forcing the Siriuns and Kates to submit to the Solomon people, thus they also had a common cause to jointly resist. 'Life Songster' bloodline was the product of the honeymoon period between the two sects," Aske detailed. "Later in the Fourth Epoch, with the Solomon Empire divided between east and west, the Siriun people completely integrated into the East Solomon Empire and began identifying as Solomon people, while the Kates were overtaken by the Jiamani people. With diverging ideologies and cultures, the two sects eventually broke apart."

"And what's worse, due to their close association in the Third Epoch, each sect knew and possessed many of the other's secrets. After the split, both sides couldn't wait to destroy each other," Aske said leisurely. "The proverb that 'the deepest hatred is between those who were once close' probably refers to this."

"Is that so?" Nora immediately let her imagination run wild, starting to romanticize the thousand-year-long, entangled love and hate story of the two sects.

...

The next day, Aske woke up on the study's bed and saw the third-floor window wide open. There was a plump package on the desk with a note attached, written in delicate handwriting:

Cash on delivery

M.C. (Abbreviation for Mia Xinkuimani)

P.S. There's a church spy at your doorstep

"Aske! Aske!" Nora rushed in hurriedly, crying out in panic, "Our house has been burglarized! I just tallied up our possessions and found that 210 pounds are missing! The thief even left a note saying it was payment for goods..."

She stared blankly at the package on the desk while Aske held his forehead in resignation and said:

"Yes, your spiritual materials have arrived. She also took the money."

"The goods have arrived?" The other three girls hurried over upon hearing the news.

Unpacking the package on the table revealed a dazzling array of spiritual materials. Garr Valley river water was stored in mineral water bottles with the labels torn off, about 400 ml in quantity; Eden Fruit was a type of fruit resembling apples in light green color, wrapped in plastic film—three of them; Corfu Island Olive Oil was filled to the brim in a glass jam jar.

The feathers of the Valar Eagle were bound with hemp twine, at least six or seven of them; Basnia Bay Elephant Clams were housed in plastic bottles; the mush of gold-striped leeches was stuffed into an empty makeup foundation box, with a label attached that bore a large handwritten word: Stench.

The Thief Guild's service was truly too meticulous; they even delivered more than ordered for each item on the list, obviously having done business with Transcendents before, taking into account the loss of materials from failed Magic Potion preparations... Aske thought to himself, then said:

"Now that we have all the materials, let's start preparing the Justice X Magic Potions."

"What about my Life Stealing I?" Peggy protested, having collected all the materials for her Magic Potion Recipe.

"You?" Aske glanced at her, "Have you fully digested the Flesh I's Extraordinary Trait yet?"

Medea chimed in, "Taking level 2 Magic Potions without fully digesting level 1 Magic Potions is very dangerous. If the original Magic Potion in your body hasn't been 'tamed,' consuming another Sequence's Magic Potion can easily lead to a 'burst,' significantly increasing the risk of spiritual disorder."

Seeing Peggy unable to speak out of frustration, Aske helplessly waved his hand: "Let's just do what we can for now."

Eleanor immediately set up the crucible with excitement, assisting Aske. She measured out 100 ml of Garr Valley river water with a beaker, poured it into the crucible, and ignited the fire. Four minutes later when the water boiled, Aske took out a pair of Shadow Insect Beast's Eyes and carefully placed them in the center of the boiling water.

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With a 'puff,' the eyes of the Shadow Insect burst open in the boiling water, black ink-like liquid flowed from the cracked eyes, quickly turning the entire water black. The originally boiling liquid also oddly calmed down, showing no reaction no matter how much the flames below heated it.

Aske took out a bag containing Diamond Powder and poured it in. The powder dispersed in the liquid, seemingly dissolving rapidly. Finally, he took out the feathers of the Valar Eagle, placing them in one by one.

Specks of light appeared in the pitch-black liquid, like the Star River in the night sky, giving a profound feeling. Aske sniffed the aroma to confirm there were no problems, then poured the contents into a beaker and handed it to Eleanor.

Holding the beaker with the Magic Potion, Eleanor's throat moved slightly before she closed her eyes and drank it down in one gulp. Then her skin began to emit light. Her golden, splendid curly hair suddenly turned silver-white, and her tender red lips also shifted to pale pink. She opened her eyes blankly, her pupils now a cross in golden color, with faintly rotating patterns within them.

She opened her mouth and let out a long, meaningless sigh, and her whole body slowly returned to normal.

"How is it?" Nora asked with concern.

"I'm fine," Eleanor looked at her body, "I feel like I've had a sunbath, all warm and cozy."

"Has your temperament changed at all?" Aske frowned and asked, "There are many records in history indicating that Transcendents who have consumed Justice X will distinctly feel their darker human nature being crudely stripped away, leading to temporary psychological discomfort."