Gray placed the sharp-edged dagger at the start of the rotten part of his right arm and slashed with precision.
Slash.
Shrrraaakkk! Rrrippp!
From that precise cut, his right arm fell to the ground, and dark, clotted blood gushed out like a fountain.
The Left Guardian's eyes widened in shock. It was so unexpected that he momentarily froze before shouting,
"What have you done, young master!!!"
But Gray ignored him and did what he had planned.
'System, activate Heavenly Regeneration.'
Ding'
[Activating Celestial Authority: Heavenly Regeneration]
As soon as he activated the Celestial Authority that he got from Julius von Legolant, bones pushed out from the wounded section of his arm, and muscles began spiraling around them.
Tssssz! Skritch!
Nerves formed like silver threads, twisting around the bones and weaving through the muscle.
Then came the veins, crawling over everything like dark vines, bringing the arm back to life.
The Left Guardian was observing the healing with a puzzled gaze. To him, it looked like an invisible machine was 3D-printing the arm, ignoring the laws of nature and pain.
Even with advanced magic, this is impossible, the Left Guardian thought, mesmerized by the godly regeneration.
He knew Gray had gotten something from the isolation chamber, but for that thing to be this godly… The left guardian was completey purplezzed.
Meanwhile,
As the limbs finished forming, fresh skin stretched over them. One by one, the fingers took shape. The palm, the knuckles, even the nails formed.
Squelch. Slrrrp.
Thus, his severed right arm was completely healed. Although cut marks usually remain after healing, there weren't any marks left on Gray's arm; it was as if his hand had not just healed but been reversed in time.
After Gray finished healing his right arm, his eyes fell on the edge of the battlefield, where Lina and the Left Guardian's disciple were standing dumbfoundedly.
As they witnessed Gray's godly healing, both of their mouths were wide open in astonishment.
Seeing their expressions, Gray awkwardly rubbed the back of his hair.
"How should I explain this to them…" Gray sighed.
* * *
In a dark room, an old man stood with an angry expression.
In front of him were many shelves resembling a library. On the shelves, many boxes were placed.
The old man picked up one of the boxes and opened it.
Inside the box was a dead, centipede-like bug.
It was gu poison.
Gu poison is a type of poison that allows someone to control another person's will.
A sorcerer would place many venomous creatures (snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders, toads, etc.) inside a sealed jar.
Then they would fight and devour each other.
The last surviving creature, filled with the combined toxins of all the others, was called the Gu.
That Gu poison was then inserted into a subordinate so they could not betray the organization.
The masked man that Gray fought was part of this organization, and they had put the Gu poison on him.
The Gu poison also comes in pairs, known as Command Gu and Servant Gu. The masked man had the Servant Gu.
When the Servant Gu died inside him, the Command Gu, which the organization had locked in a hidden room, also exploded.
The old man clicked his tongue as the masked man's Command Gu had exploded. That meant the masked man they had sent after Gray was killed.
The old man then threw away the box in anger and quickly rushed out of the room.
Step... step... step...
After walking through a narrow corridor, he reached a huge door with a goat-like demon's face.
He pushed it with both hands, and the door slowly creaked open.
Beyond it was a vast chamber. On the ceiling hung an artificial crimson moon, lighting the chamber in a red hue.
At the centre of the chamber, countless women's bodies hung from the ceiling. Their hearts had been ripped out, and from those holes, blood was slowly flowing down into a pool below.
Dip.. dip...
The pool was filled with blood, and the remnants of their hearts were visible.
Countless headless women's bodies were scattered outside the pool, glowing with a red hue because of the crimson moon.
Plishhh… plop… drip… drip…
Suddenly, a naked man rose from the pool of blood and began walking toward the end of the chamber, where a throne was shrouded in writhing dark flames.
Meanwhile, after entering the chamber, the old man had slammed his head on the floor in extreme reverence for the man who rose from the bloody pool.
The man sat on the throne, and opened his eyes.
Two golden eyes opened, and one more opened on his forehead, making him a three-eyed being. He had a human body, but he wasn't human.
He was a mysterious being who had lived a thousand years.
He then looked at the old man with overwhelming presence.
Sensing his gaze, the old man started sweating and quickly began explaining why he had come,
"The Transcendent Realm swordsman we sent after the cultist Gray von Ashborn has been killed."
"...Who was it?" the Three-eyed being asked.
His voice was enough to suffocate the old man. But if he wasted time on nervousness, he might anger the Three-eyed being, so he quickly answered.
"The Left Guardian of the Ashborn Patriarch was with him."
"Left Guardian…"
"Yes, my lord. It was totally unexpected. And for the Left Guardian to guard a concubine's son meant he might truly be a higher-ranking member in the cult."
They were searching for members of a specific cult. The women lying dead were also from the cult they were targeting.
They recognize cultists through their unique dark mana.
One day, they sensed the dark mana from the Ashborn Isolation Chamber, stronger than usual. After inspection, it was confirmed that Ashborn's youngest son had entered.
But unexpectedly, after he came out of the isolation chamber, he had no dark mana. It was as if he were suppressing it properly.
Thus, they thought he might be of higher status or have great potential. So they sent the masked man to kill him, but unexpectedly, from their perspective, the Left Guardian had killed the masked man.
"…Send someone to the academy and deal with him." the Three-eyed being spoke.
"Yes, my lord."
The old man then bowed his head on the floor and left the chamber.
After he left the room, the third eye on the three-eyed being's forehead started shaking violently, and blood flowed from it like tears.
Then an eerie smile stretched to his ears in a grotesque way,
"Heaven Defier, Vanitas von Noctvain, just you wait. I'll kill your followers and the holy saintess before your awakening."
"EkekekehehehahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"