Pastor's Tantra

Chapter 488 The man with blood on his hands

The stranger felt dizzy and lay on the ground with his eyes wide open like a corpse.

The night sky was red with flames, and gargoyles made shrill sounds and flew by like swarms of bats.

It wasn't because he wanted to pretend to be dead to escape the attack, but because his limbs felt cold and numb, and he couldn't use his strength.

——Besides, under his beloved creation, there is no point in pretending to be dead.

The shell of the gargoyle is the product of amber craftsmen. Its essence is the same as that of a hellhound, with the soul of the familiar inside. It's just that the magic-resistant stone statue made by amber craftsmen is stronger and more reliable than the rusty scrap iron.

Whether based on the Dusk Path or the Transcendent Path, he is particularly good at operating the soul. The gargoyle's enemy-seeking mode from the very beginning points to the soul, so no matter whether it is stealth, disguise or suspended animation, it is useless.

Now that Stranger is lying here, he feels a bit like giving up on himself.

His brain was in chaos now... If he was shot directly to death by the gargoyle, maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing.

But strangely, those gargoyles did not attack him.

They just hovered above them, constantly making sharp monkey-like screams; alchemical bombs were thrown down, making continuous explosions.

An explosion was even close at hand - the blown soil flew up and fell on him. Perhaps because of the explosion, or perhaps because of other reasons, Stranger felt tinnitus in his ears and an increasingly strong sense of dizziness in his head.

In a daze, he seemed to have passed out, but also seemed to be still conscious. It seemed like a long time passed, until the blood on his body cooled down and became as tight as mud against his skin, and he finally heard other sounds.

It was a group of soldiers wearing black military uniforms.

The man at the head was a captain. He looked to be about thirty or forty years old, with firm eyes and a beard. The officer's uniform he wore looked looser than the others, with a silver star-shaped metal badge on his chest and white gloves special for alchemists.

That represents his identity - an alchemist.

"...Long time no see, teacher."

The captain lowered his head and stood at attention respectfully, looked at Master Nobel lying on the ground, and said in a deep voice.

The stranger had a straight face and didn't respond at all. It's like he didn't hear anything.

"The association has specifically mentioned to us that we must ensure safety if we see you."

He seemed to know that Master Nobel would not say anything at this moment, so the captain said to himself: "We will escort you back to the country next.

"Welcome back to Star Antimony, teacher."

"……I ask you."

Even though he knew he shouldn't be like this, Stranger still couldn't help but feel the surge and sadness in his heart. He stared at the officer who was nominally his student, but whose name he had no idea about, and asked in a low voice: "Why attack civilians?

"——The queen is dead, the princess is on the run, Avalon's army cannot stop our army, we have already won! What's the point of letting gargoyles bomb villages and kill civilians now?!"

He subconsciously thought of himself as a Star Antimony man.

Fortunately, Nobel did have Star Antimony blood, and because of this, the captain laughed instead: "You really still think you are a Star Antimony person..."

"-Answer my question, Captain! Is this an order from your superiors?!"

"Yes, this is the order I received."

Captain Xing Antimony said calmly: "Because we want to rest here and replenish energy."

Hearing this, Stranger was stunned for a moment.

His mind felt dizzy and he suddenly realized something.

These overwhelming gargoyles that act autonomously... are naturally not vegetarians. And if mana is to be used to support it, this requires a large number of spellcasters to act as mana batteries close to the front line. But in Star Antimony, both alchemists and demonologists have high status, and it is impossible to bring so many spellcasters to participate in the war.

After all, the essence of this war is that these spellcasters demand higher treatment to no avail. Therefore, Valentine VII tried to divert domestic conflicts and open up new markets. If the war itself requires the high-intensity participation of these gentlemen, then it will be a waste of time.

Since gargoyles are essentially familiars, they, like other demons, can regain their mana by eating human souls and flesh.

The familiar itself doesn't require much mana, so it doesn't even require the soul of a transcendent.

Just killing one civilian can supply at least six gargoyles to fight continuously for more than 20 hours.

……but.

but……

"I remember that the army should have a device for healing gargoyles..."

The stranger said subconsciously: "It shouldn't be necessary..."

These gargoyles are genuine "stone statues" before they give orders. They just sit on those devices and stay there as long as they are not activated.

Hearing this, Captain Xing Antimony just smiled indifferently: "That's the traditional gargoyle you're talking about, teacher. That kind of gargoyle is of no use at all. It can only be used to harass soldiers or throw explosives. And Once you enter the priest's sanctuary, you will immediately lose the ability to move.

"This new type of gargoyle is immune to the dispersal of priests, which makes up for its biggest shortcoming. The bishops who tried to stop us were all torn apart by machine guns. However, because this kind of gargoyle needs to bear the weight of weapons and metal armor, it consumes energy It will also be much higher... If you use a 'stake' to go back and forth, I'm afraid it will take five or six hours to charge and drive for less than half an hour, and you have to go back as soon as you start flying.

"The Griffin Legion is fully organized. We may have a head-on conflict with the Griffin Legion in the future, so we can't do it without replenishing our mana in advance. Moreover, the corpses we have used can also be used to provide materials for the subsequent ritualist team. You can kill them after Achieve the best possible results with as few numbers as possible.

"——Of course, in order to escort you, our team will not go to the front line to participate in the battle. Let's go directly to the port."

……Because of me?

They attacked civilians because the gargoyle I invented consumes too much energy... so they had to attack civilians?

Such thoughts appeared in Stranger's mind, and his scalp felt numb.

Gargoyles in a laboratory environment will naturally not lack energy. He didn't consider the usage environment at all.

Hearing this, Stranger felt the dizziness getting stronger and stronger.

"...Who invented this special gargoyle?"

He forced himself to sit up, maintaining his last bit of rationality and luck, and tentatively asked.

"Actually speaking, this is considered a military secret. But after today it will be the declassification period, and we can't hide it anyway... It's okay to tell you."

The captain showed a very friendly smile: "After all, the association specifically said that we must respect you enough and try our best to meet your needs. Star Antimony needs your brains and skills.

"The person who developed this 'Armed Gargoyle' was the well-known genius 'Albert Lorey'. He was the young master of the Lorey family... You left early, so you may not know it. He is only in his early twenties now. , is already a disaster splicer, and even the path of balance has reached the third level. He is now a famous star in Star Antimony and a leader of the younger generation.

"I heard that he has been nominated to join the Wangli Alchemy Association, and he should be able to get the Star Antimony Medal after the war. It is said that he has a chance to contact the fifth level before he is thirty!"

The more Stranger listened, the more dizzy his brain felt.

Never before had he felt so disgusted with his hobby of developing necromancy technology.

He only feels that this is an art and a technique.

An art that transforms the ephemeral into eternity, a technology that brings life back to the dead.

But now, he finally realized that this was a sin.

When he conducted research and development for the sake of efficiency and put it into mass production...even if he had never killed a person with his own hands, his hands were already stained with blood.

...Fortunately, all this is false.

In his world line, the armed gargoyles have not yet been put into production.

He is still under development and is updating versions...

He thought to himself.

But soon, he realized another problem.

Even if I stop researching and developing these armed gargoyles that are driven by killing civilians, won’t someone take over and continue to develop them?

He has opened the magic box.

But it can't be closed anymore.

"——Teacher should also join in the future and work with that genius to develop stronger gargoyles!"

At this moment, it seemed as if he wanted to laugh at him.

The right sound of ridicule sounded in the stranger's ears.

The sharp ridicule, the laughter was almost hysterical, and the laughter was so breathless. It was obvious that a competitor had withdrawn, but Stranger couldn't arouse any interest. He only felt that the laughter was mocking him.

He suddenly heard the sound of biting and chewing.

Looking back subconsciously, Stranger saw the scene of those gargoyles gathering together to eat.

- Of course he had seen gargoyles eating corpses. Pure stone has no digestive system, yet demons can eat humans.

He would even feed used corpses to gargoyles to destroy experimental supplies. The gargoyle is very well-behaved and will not reject anyone who comes. He kept a gargoyle in his own laboratory, and even gave it a ruby ​​body to make it look more beautiful.

But for some reason, he suddenly felt nauseous.

He saw the gargoyle turn around as he felt his gaze.

Looking at the blood-red mouth, Stranger finally couldn't bear it anymore and passed out completely.

There was only one vague thought left in his mind——

——I never want to invent this kind of "weapon" that exists only for more efficient killing.