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Chapter 108: Knight of Pestilence

Added 2025-08-16 02:03:43 +0000 UTC

“I don’t care. Take the paladin and restore my legs,” James said to the system. Blood spurted from his legs. He needed to heal fast.

[Would you like to modify your body? As the target is a human, your legs will be returned to the default human blueprint.]

“Yes. Take the legs from the man with the shield.” James nodded. Black motes of light began engulfing the human, consuming him and transferring the parts to James. Human legs soon grew from James’ body.

“Shit! I lost my Ratking’s legs,” James cursed. He stood up, his height much lower than he was used to. Unlike before, when he stood over 7 feet tall, he now stood under 6 feet.

[Would you like to consume other corpses with Chimera? You will gain 300 biomass in total.]

“What can I do with biomass again?”

[Biomass lets you move your organs. For example, if you wanted to move your heart to your stomach, you could spend 20 biomass to do it.]

“Why would I want to do that? Wait—can I do it during combat?” James wondered why the system would ever want him to move his organs. Then he thought of a brilliant idea. If he could move his vital organs during combat, this skill would be overpowered. Of course, the system shot it down. It wasn’t that easy to get a cheat skill.

[Chimera cannot modify your body during combat.]

“I should have expected that. Is there anything else?”

[You could stave off hunger with biomass without physically eating. Twenty biomass equals one day’s worth of nutrients. Survivor James could also heal himself using biomass; the amount used depends on the injury.]

“That’s a good start. I didn’t want to eat humans, and eating those infected creatures gives me the creeps,” James nodded. “Anything else? If I’m not mistaken, I can research body parts here, right? I should be able to grow a body part with biomass, right?”

[Currently, there is no research available for chimera. As for body parts, Survivor James can craft human body parts. Human limbs require 50 biomass each.]

“Alright. First, consume the corpse. Then sell the equipment,” James said. Black and white motes of light spread out over the knight’s corpse and their armor, consuming them.

[You have obtained 200 coins and 300 biomass]

“Wow, I have over six thousand coins now. I thought I was poor, but killing these knights sure nets me plenty of coins. I’m almost back to ten thousand coins again. Let’s see… should I upgrade my sword skill, axe skill, or my magic?”

James pondered. He regretted taking Mind Magic—so far, his original magic had been useless here. The knights had blessings from mystis, making them invulnerable to debuffs. The infected creatures were no different. They were invulnerable to pain. His plundered mana core also couldn’t be upgraded.

“Wait… how much does it cost to nullify magic again?”

[Dispel will cost 300 coins, and Tier 3 Mind Magic will cost 1000 coins.]

“Alright. Might as well upgrade it. Dispel needs the same tier of magic to actually work, right?”

[Yes. Dispel can only work with the same school of magic and at a tier the same as or lower than itself. For Survivor James, a Tier 3 Dispel will only be able to dispel Tier 3 and below Mind Magic.]

“Got it. Please upgrade.”

[Your Principle of Mind Magic has been upgraded to Tier 3. You have learned Parallel Thought. You have learned a Dispel skill.]

“Parallel Thought? Didn’t expect that to be in the magic category. Let’s try it.”

James activated his Parallel Thought ability. The world split in two, and James felt his mind divide, startling him. He walked forward, only to stumble and fall flat on the floor. The two minds in his head competed for control. He tried to get up, but his right and left hands didn’t cooperate, making him fall again.

“Shit. This magic isn’t some fire-and-forget spell. I need to train this some more,” James said. “Alright. For now, the original James will handle all body functions, and the mind clones will handle magic. I’ll call you mind clones, alright?”

“Roger,” a reply came to his mind.

“Alright. That was a bit freaky,” James said. “Let’s do a test run. Try casting an ice spear there.”

An ice spear really formed and shot out, even though James wasn’t focusing on it. Now that he had a parallel mind, an idea popped into his head. So far, James had been relying on his shark ear to detect ambushes, but he wanted something better. He had the tools, but not the mental concentration to keep it up for hours.

“Do you think you can cast mana sonar at intervals? It’ll help me avoid ambushes.”

“Done. Mana sonar will be cast every 10 seconds.”

“You are me, right? Do I speak like that?” James asked.

The voice didn’t answer. James began to grow uneasy, thinking a random ghost had invaded his mind. “System, how long can this parallel thought be activated?”

[Parallel thought can be maintained as long as you have over 500 mana and 50 magic.]

“...That’s steeper than I thought. But that’s fine, I guess. Let’s go.”

After various tests, the voice inside his head would reply if ordered. It would also report if it sensed something, but it wouldn’t answer idle chatter. It was as if the system was managing the parallel thought, not a copy of James’s personality.

The winding, dark cave ended in a room where James could see two knights in green armor by the fireplace. When they saw James, they raised their halberd and spear.

James jumped into position, his axe and sword at the ready. The spear-wielding green knight charged. It had been a while since James fought someone with spear skills. When a golden light flashed from the spear tip, James threw himself back, his axe parrying the charging spear. It blew him off the ground. James cursed. If he had his old legs back, he could have dodged it.

A halberd came charging in, pummeling James from above. James didn’t see any golden glow, so he blocked the blow. He grunted as the shock from the strike traveled through his hand. The blow was heavy, and the blade of the halberd inched closer to his face—but he stopped it.

Help came from his parallel thoughts. Multiple icicles burst from the ground, stabbing at the armored knights. Most of the icicles bounced off their plate armor, but some slipped through the gaps, drawing putrid black blood full of infection.

[You have been infected by parasitic ooze.]

“Damn, his blood is infected,” James groaned. He lit himself on fire; flames blazed before his eyes as the pestilence knight leaped back, unwilling to make prolonged contact with him. James followed up with a burst of fire breath, enveloping the knight in flames.

The knight shrieked—not like a human, but more like the screeching of tires on a runway. The spear knight of pestilence rushed in. Crouching, James countered the spear strike with a sword skill of his own.

The spear and sword clashed, both skills halted. The battle of strength was interrupted as ice spears slammed into the knight’s armor. Losing his concentration, the knight was blown back as James completed his strike.

James was about to pursue him, but the halberd knight closed in—this time, a golden glow shone from his weapon. James leaped aside, knowing he had no time to activate another sword skill to block it.

An explosion rang through the cave.

“Shit! I underestimated them,” James cursed. Arrogance had gotten hold of him. He had defeated a group of knights of Mystis, and these ones were essentially just as strong. He hadn’t realized the only reason he’d won before was because he’d caught those groups off guard.

“I just need one strike in,” James muttered. Then a purple orb of light shot at the halberd knight. James thought it would have no effect. Both infected creatures and knights of Mystis had resistance to debuffs. But it worked. Pestilence creatures were immune to pain, so Mind Flay didn’t work. However, they were not blessed by Mystis, so debuffs and sense alterations still worked.

The halberd knight that was charging toward James stopped in his tracks, looking left and right as if he had lost his sight.

James didn’t hesitate. He leaped, activating his sword skill at the green knight. His sword skill, Vorpal Lunge, drew a beautiful golden arc across the creature’s neck; moments later, the head drew another arc as it separated from the body, landing on the ground with a thud.

The spear knight had regained his stance, but now that James knew his weakness, it was easy. After another bolt of Sense Alteration, James lopped his head off with another Vorpal Lunge.

[Congratulations. You have leveled up to level 59. Your Attacker class has leveled up to level 40. You have obtained 1500 coins.]

James looked over at the knight of pestilence. Then he raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, I can get coins and EXP from these guys. Does that mean my Chimera skill can plunder them?”

[Would you like to modify your body?
- Spawn of Pestilence’s Arm (STR +10%) (Limb Memory) (Infected) (Arm Slot)
- Spawn of Pestilence’s Leg (DEX +10%) (Limb Memory) (Infected) (Leg Slot)
- Spawn of Pestilence’s Heart (Infection Resistance) (Heart Slot)]

“What does it mean by ‘infected’?” James looked over at the Chimera report. He had expected another system error where the body just disappeared. But this time, it didn’t.

[‘Infected’ means the body parts are eternally infected and cannot be purified, even with fire. Equipping these parts will render you infected. The infected part will grow even if you bathe yourself in fire.]

“That’s fatal, right?” James shuddered. After looking at the downside, he didn’t even want to consider it. “Does that mean I have to gather the heart first? but i don’t want to lose my golem heart.”

[The heart only keeps your consciousness. It does not stop the infection.]

“So will I be a conscious infected creature if I use this? And everyone who touches me might become infected?”

[Yes. And you will gain the benefit of infection. That means Limb Memory: if your limb ever detaches from your body in combat, you can reattach it. This function does not extend to your heart or your brain. Survivor James could still be killed if he was struck in the head or heart.]

“That’s a no then. Sell it.”

[Would you like to sell Spawn of Pestilence for 0 coins? Chimera does not accept infected creatures as biomass.]

“Shit! I knew it! The infected monsters are traps for Chimera users!” James cursed.

[Name]: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 58
Coins: 6400
Merit: 10
Biomass: 300

Stats:

STR: 180 (↑3)
DEX: 177 (↑2)
MAGIC: 140 (↑3)
MANA: 1240 (↑20)

Class:

Attacker (Level 40) (↑1)
- 10% bonus when attacking
- STR, DEX +1 per level

Skills:

Weapon Mastery:
- Novice Axe Mastery Lv.5 (Powerstrike, V-Slash, Boomerang)
- Novice Sword Mastery Lv.5 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge, Twin Fang)
- Novice Bow Mastery Lv.1 (Quickshot, Homing Shot)
- Beginner Dagger Mastery Lv.1
Magic (Mind Magic Tier 3):
- Mind Flay
- Sense Alteration
- Mana Sonar
- Parallel Thought
- Dispel

Shop (Level 2):

Health Potion (100 coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 coins)
High Potion (300 coins)
Antidote (50 coins)
Sell Function / Repair Function
Bullets (10 coins/round)
Grenades / Flashbang (50 coins/piece)
Arrow (50 coins/dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrow (100 coins/dozen)
Merit Shop (10 merit/skill)
Poison Dart (10 coins/round)
Body Modding: Human (100 biomass/part)

Unique Skill – Chimera Lv.3 (3 Extra Slots Open):

Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR+30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing, Mana -100, Magic -10) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Mana -100, Magic -10) (Skin Slot)
Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10 m) (Ear Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Quetzalcoatl Horn (Lightning Shot: 20 Mana/shot) (Extra Slot 3)
Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300) (Extra Slot 4)