Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 1107

The emergence of [Bone Heart] had triggered the evolution of [Contact with Death], and now the appearance of [Embrace of Death] elevated [Bone Heart] in turn.

Golden, red, and yellow lights flashed before his eyes in succession as the ability born from [Embrace of Death] finally coalesced into the gleam of a spell:

[Bone Heart (Red Martial)] → [White Bone Body (Yellow Spell)].

Unlike [Embrace of Death], whose function he completely failed to grasp, the moment [White Bone Body] manifested, a surge of information flowed from the White Bone Holy Sword, and Jenkins immediately understood its purpose.

"Still, isn't this a bit much? I'm not supposed to be the villain here."

He thought with a sense of resignation, then, clutching his cane, he leaped back, completely abandoning any notion of fighting the mechanical monstrosity with the power of life.

The moment he landed on the beach, he summoned the White Bone Holy Sword. He assumed a ready stance, feet slightly apart, gripping the hilt with both hands and plunging the blade into the ground before him.

An ancient incantation surfaced in his mind. Jenkins took a deep breath, his resolve hardening, and began to chant the words in a language even he could not recognize. Fortunately, while the origin of the script was a mystery, its meaning was perfectly clear. If life could not overcome the machine, then he would turn to the power of death:

"Life and death follow their order; all that lives is destined to die. I pay homage to death! Let bone be my vessel, and let all the living be my foe!"

The ability consumed a negligible amount of spirit, barely worth mentioning even in Jenkins's current weakened state. However, it was a spell that demanded an immense quantity of material components—and those components, naturally, were bones.

Heeding the call of the incantation and drawn by the allure of the White Bone Holy Sword, countless bones flew from the seabed toward Jenkins. They were skeletons washed up from the ocean's depths and the remains of those who had lived and died near the coast.

Beneath the soft seabed, the city's shifting history and the rise of darkness had buried countless souls, both pitiful and otherwise. From the young man Laurel Lindsay had sunk into the depths during the séance incident to the skeletal remains and fragments buried along this coast for centuries, all of it now converged at impossible speeds behind Jenkins.

The incantation continued. The price for its immense power and low spirit cost—besides the material components—was, of course, its ridiculously long chant.

As he recited the lost tongue, the yellowed bones behind him began to knit together. Skeletons from different classes, ages, and even races fused into one another, finding an eerie equality in death.

Starting from the feet, a colossal white skeleton was constructed in a remarkably short time, the swarming bones assembling themselves with an unnatural orderliness.

Just as the colossal gear-creature, now airborne, shot its first metallic tentacle toward Jenkins, the bone giant behind him—a titan nearly equal in height—let out a silent roar. It raised a bleached arm, its ghastly visage announcing its arrival, and took a thunderous, ground-shaking step forward.

The metallic tentacle shattered the giant's right arm on impact, but the giant seized it in the same motion. A dense swarm of more tentacles shot out, wrapping around the bone titan like ropes and dragging it toward the flying, animate machine.

The giant bellowed and thrashed, but its struggles were in vain. It was dragged helplessly across the beach, its feet carving two deep trenches in the sand.

It couldn't be helped. The purpose of [White Bone Body] was to summon nearby osseous material and assemble it into a combat golem. In theory, the ability was most effective when used near a cemetery. While the initial casting cost little spirit, and more bones meant a more powerful giant, animating the golem still required a constant infusion of spirit from the caster.

By tapping into the vast reserves of bone near Nolan's coast, Jenkins had summoned a golem of titanic proportions. In truth, however, he was in no state to unleash its full power; his condition was simply too dire.

But it was enough. His faint trickle of spirit was sufficient to sustain the battle between the golem and the gear-machine. The clash between these two lifeless behemoths was like a scene torn from an age of myth.

Under the gloomy sky, the two colossi swung their fists. The impact of bone on gear sent showers of sparks flying, and their roars echoed like the bellowing of prehistoric beasts.

Jenkins seized the opportunity to retreat, scooping up his cat—who seemed reluctant to leave the spectacle—and soaring into the sky on a unicorn.

Looking down from the sky, he saw the bone giant being dismantled piece by piece. At that very moment, however, a trident shot forth from the direction of the Church of Ocean and Exploration, quick as lightning. Wreathed in the power of the sea and the divine, it pierced the steam colossus's left chest like a bolt of light.

High in the air, Jenkins breathed a sigh of relief. He cast one final glance back at the coastal battlefield, then, without turning again, flew into the distance with his cat.

This was likely the first time the Church had ever been truly grateful for Nolan's notorious fog. Thanks to the thick mist, the city's residents saw nothing of the battle that had transpired on the coast.

In fact, still shaken by the devastating dock explosion from the previous week, the people near the now-dismantled ship had already started to scatter at the first thunderous boom from his [Twin Demons] ability.

By the time the tentacles of wood and gears pierced the ship's hull like colossal iron spikes, the area was completely deserted.

The first part of the battle on the coast went entirely unnoticed. While Jenkins didn't know if the trident he'd seen had delivered a killing blow, he knew the Church had arrived. Even if they couldn't destroy the nascent Cursed Item, they could at least contain it and keep its influence from spreading into the city.

But now, having resumed his normal identity and carrying a bag of bread, Jenkins found himself still pondering one question as he walked toward the church: What exactly had the Gear Artisans' Association uncovered deep underground?

Earthquakes had become a frequent occurrence in Nolan over the last six months, but most of them weren't natural. From the time he'd followed Mason Pisco's 'final words' to reinforce an underground seal—an endeavor that nearly got him buried alive before he turned into a mouse—to now, most of the tremors had been caused by someone stirring up trouble deep beneath the city.

"But what in the world could it be? I bet that machine Mason Pisco had me seal, the one that called itself the 'A4-Type Arithmetic...' something, would know. But the passage collapsed. I have no way to reach it now..." Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveI(F)ire.net

Lost in thought, he looked up and turned onto the street where the church stood. He glanced one more time toward the docks; the dark, spiritual aura of the Cursed Item was already being suppressed.

"I knew it," he murmured to himself. "Even without me, the Church can handle this mess. I just hope they don't pin the whole thing on the 'Believers of Lies'..."