Chapter 45: The Devil's Palpitation Below

  A chill, negative energy accompanied by a throbbing that only Dean could feel, emanated from it; the sensation was as if he had a block of ice that throbbed in his chest, and the feeling was absolutely unbearable for any normal person, and Dean was no exception.

  However, to conceal his true intentions, he nonchalantly removed the helmet of the bandit leader in front of him and checked if there were any other spoils - the "Devil's Dagger", a magical weapon that seemed to have a special purpose, which Dein was not willing to share with anyone else.

  After all, this dagger full of evil has a special function that is really shocking. This doomed the user to be misunderstood, no matter what purpose you have, you will not be able to get rid of the relationship with evil, and the gods will pursue and destroy such evil people or things without mercy.

  In Wabon County, however, the influence of the Shinto religion was neither the greatest nor the smallest.

  In fact, throughout Goethe's works, except for the White Nights, there will be a shadow of theology everywhere, only more or less.

  So now Dean would absolutely not choose to go head-to-head with God.

  Mutual hatred is unavoidable between them.

  But Dean still had his wits about him.

  Dein endured the chill of the energy filling his chest and abdomen, silently crouching there until the remaining militiamen inside the cave had moved all the food and supplies out. Only then did Dein drag the corpse again, choosing a corner that was completely invisible from the outside, and drew out the [Demon Blood Dagger].

  A faint crimson glow appeared on the twisted blade, as if it had a life of its own, pulsing with an otherworldly energy that made one's heart skip a beat.

  And Dean directly grasped the hilt, inserting the curved blade, like a goat's horn, into the corpse in front of him - silently and quietly, the dagger's blade went straight in.

  Then, the originally abundant negative energy was rapidly decaying at this moment, while a sulfuric breath was becoming increasingly intense.

  When he smelled that sulfurous smell, Dean was certain that this【Devil's Blood Dagger】had a connection with hell, even if it wasn't from there, it was made by some devil; after all, only items tainted by devils would have the smell of sulfur.

  As for the devil?

  These chaotic existences have an aura that is more of a cold-as-ice yet fiercely fiery feeling, in short, just like their own chaos.

  Buzz!

  In the faint hum, the【Demon Blood Dagger】inserted into the corpse seemed to wake up from sleep. The crimson color that was originally only on the blade spread across the half-barbarian bandit leader's body in an instant. Then, this corpse, which was far stronger than a normal human, began to wither at a visible speed.

  In almost just two breaths' time, all that was left was a withered skeleton.

  It wasn't just flesh and blood, but even the skin was consumed by this evil dagger - and from start to finish, Dean watched everything in front of him with such calmness.

  He had long been prepared for the devouring of 【Demon Blood Dagger】.

  As for doing so, will there be a condemnation of conscience?

  If it were someone else, Dean might have had a chance, but for this half-barbarian bandit leader, Dean was perfectly at ease.

  。

  After all, the innocent people who died at their hands are enough to make them bear such retribution.

  Of course, Dean also acknowledges the evil of 【Devil's Blood】, but in order to increase his strength in the short term, even if it is evil, Dean will not mind - he will not deliberately distort a fact, nor will he shirk for himself.

  And Dean could only do one thing: keep himself from straying from his true nature and not use the dagger against innocent people.

  【+0.02 Strength】

  After everything calmed down, a prompt appeared on Dean's character panel - As for this, Dean was not surprised at all, Seabur's power was evident to everyone, and it was not surprising that he reached the 'Knight' level, and in exchange for the 'Knight' level, 0.02 of his power was just right.

  As the prompt on Dean's character panel appeared, the "Devil's Blood Dagger" returned to normal once again, all negative energy was suppressed, and the scarlet on the blade disappeared as if it had fallen back into a deep sleep. Meanwhile, after Dean put the "Devil's Blood Dagger" back in his pocket, he forcefully trampled the skeleton in front of him to pieces.

  In fact, the skeleton of this half-barbarian bandit leader, Seabury, was as fragile as if it had been weathered for a hundred years. Dean didn't use any force to turn these skeletons into powder on the ground, and then mixed and covered them with mud from the humid part of the cave. Even the best tracker in Wobang County couldn't find anything wrong.

  Carrying the deformed helmet, Dean walked out of the cave, and at this time, the battlefield had not been cleaned up. A group of militia were still busy - in fact, the excess grain and other materials had become the focus of attention for the militia; they had simply bundled those grains and placed them on horseback.

  However, it is clear that their horses are not enough, and one-third of the grain and other materials are placed on one side.

  "Aike, abandon the excess grain!"

  Deane gave the order curtly.

  "But, Captain, this is food..."

  The thin and weak militia captain was apparently reluctant to part with it.

  "We've already ventured deep into the snowy forest's border, and although we're still an unknown distance from its core area, it can't be denied that this is a den of thieves - can you guarantee that with all those provisions on your backs, you'll be able to withstand a sudden attack? Or... do you even have the physical strength to cope? We need to return to our outpost, but it's over thirty kilometers away!"

  Deane patted his militia captain and didn't continue speaking, while the clever latter also didn't need Deane to mention it again.

  With a sigh of reluctance, the frail militia captain signaled his subordinates to abandon the grain supplies that the horses could no longer carry.

  Although the young militiamen were reluctant, they had also heard Dean's words before and after weighing their options, giving up became the best choice.

  But even if it's giving up, it's not a straightforward abandonment.

  Dean looked at his militia captain, and after hiding the remaining food supplies in the cave again, he couldn't help but shake his head - although there were many hidden places inside the cave, there were only two exits, and with just a dozen or so people searching carefully, there wouldn't be any secret places here.

  For the Snowy Forest Border, where many bandits gather, a dozen or so people are obviously not rare, and those notorious bandit groups are not needed at all. Some small bandit groups can complete such tasks.

  。

  So Aike's actions were fundamentally useless.

  But this time Dean didn't say much; after all, any matter needs to be experienced before one can understand the difference.

  When the weak militia captain had done everything and another militia captain reported no abnormalities, Dean led two teams of militiamen on their way back.

  Unlike the nervousness when they came, the militia who had just won the victory all had their own smiles, and even a few were already discussing the rewards of the baron.

  It wasn't until the voice of Xi Leng's halt order was heard that these militiamen stopped, focusing on hurrying along and being vigilant about their surroundings.

  Dean nodded in satisfaction at first, then shook his head helplessly.

  Satisfactory, naturally, for this young man with 'knight qualifications', Xi Lun.

  Helpless, it was towards the members of the Knights at this moment - they may not have any malice, but they could not become the soldiers Dean needed.

  At least, apart from a few people, most of the rest are not suitable.

  But even if it's not suitable, it's one of the few hands in Dean's hand.

  "We must replenish our troops!"

  Such an idea had occurred before, but was temporarily shelved due to Dean's subsequent plans. Now Dean thought of it again.

  It is obvious that the best soldiers in Tiel are excellent hunters.

  However, similarly, inviting them to join is absolutely not a simple matter - after all, as the best hunters, they are almost the leaders of each hunting team, although they can't be considered truly powerful, but every time after hunting, they also gain a lot.

  Simple temptation doesn't work at all.

  Is it worth paying an even greater price?

  Obviously not suitable for Dean at the moment, he needs a group of soldiers who are good at fighting, rather than greedy mercenaries; once such an atmosphere spreads in the military camp, it is obviously unfavorable to the development afterwards.

  After throwing away the excellent ones, what's left are some not-so-excellent ones.

  It will take quite a long time for these not-so-excellent ones to become excellent.

  It just so happened that Dean needed time - after all, the Blood Moon War would not wait for Dean to finish preparing before starting.

  In the end, the issue once again returned to its origin, and Dean, who was sitting on his warhorse, couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  "Time, Kimpton..."

  Dyne muttered under his breath, meanwhile in Dyne's mind, searching for a feasible plan.