Shire found that the church can not be described as difficult, it is simply difficult to ascend to heaven.
There were 63 gold coins on hand, many of them from Rocher. With his money, he fully expected to find some masons to repair the broken walls, so that thieves could not cross them, but the men of the Guild shook their heads faster than anyone else when they heard that they were working for the Hunter's Chapel.
"Don't frighten me," complained the workman to Shire, "your Great Chapel is a beautiful devil's den." Anyone who dares to repair there will have a long life."
"I'm a demon hunter." Shire said firmly, hoping to convince them, "I can guarantee your safety."
"Hutty." The worker refused, "Give us three or four times the money also do not do, life is gone, what is the use of taking money?" Everyone saw demons flying out of the sanctuary. It was terrifying."
So what should we do? If no one fortifies the walls of the church, sooner or later another thief will break through. The wall was bare and undefended, hunters had been left behind in the past, and now Char could not rest assured if the wall remained so slack.
He had seen rich people fill the top of their walls with spikes, which they could not climb, to guard their property. If the walls of the church were also lined with patterned copper spikes, thieves would have a hard time sneaking in.
"If the wall cannot be repaired," sighed Shire, "thieves will come here."
"Why not give some protection money to the thieves' Union?" 'asked the worker.
"They've already stolen the church." Shire had probably heard that thieves in various cities would spontaneously band together to take care of each other's business and "steal everything of value from the sanctuary." I was preparing for their next visit."
"It's terrible." The worker shrugged. "I think there must be a lot of valuable things in there, and now it's all gone?"
"It's all gone." Shire is very helpless, "more than a dozen generations of hunters handed down treasures, collections, ornaments... It's all been stolen."
Every time I think of this part, Shire feels very sad.
"Oh, that's true..." The worker hesitated. "If you can make sure everything is safe in the church, we will still consider... I thought about helping you."
"Thank you." Shire saluted the workman. "You remind me, too, that thieves have a union."
"What do you want?" The worker was a little surprised, "Don't mess with them."
"They messed with me first." Shire had made the thieves' union his target, and as soon as he got the chance, he would settle accounts with them.
He left the masons' Association and returned in the direction of the Church, which was now so poor that the body of a winged demon was not afraid to steal it, and he had no fear of loss outside, so he walked at a leisurely pace.
There were guilds in the various cities of Loman, which formulated local rules, unified and coordinated the work of artisans, thereby regulating the quality of products and avoiding vicious competition among artisans. The masons, the weavers, the blacksmiths, the thieves, the demon hunters, all had their own unions, with distinct hierarchies within them, solo masters, accomplished assistants, and novice disciples.
There's just so few of us. Char sighed. There were at least a hundred skilled plasterers in the Masons' Guild, and perhaps a few hundred thieves in the Thieves' Guild, except for the Hunter's Chapel, which had never had more than twenty, and which had had eight a month before, and which now had Shire alone.
"And me." Gladius muttered, "I am a demon, bound by hundreds of demon hunters, and cut off thousands of demon heads with one knife."
"If there really are thousands of demons out there waiting to be cut down, it's probably the end of the world."
"There is no hurry, just one big invasion, and the opportunity will come."
"The Great Invasion?"
"The door demon is our most reliable partner." Gladius was eager to try, "Open the door The demon can open all doors, including the doors between worlds. It is opening the entrance from hell to this world, and when it succeeds, our race will pour into this world."
Shire shuddered.
"Really? How long before it opens the entrance?"
"We have conquered many worlds." Graddiu slowly described the terrible scene to Charles, "those worlds covered with vast oceans, the climate is wonderful for all kinds of creatures to thrive in the world, civilized cities covering half the continent, the world of living creatures in the hanging city... We have swallowed them up, and they are dead places without life. We ate and drank enough to return to hell through the gate that opened the devil's door."
"The hanging city? What is that? How does it work?"
"I can't figure it out with your brain." Graddiu complained, "I remember having this thing, but your brain is not enough for me to think about its nature. Why aren't you born smarter?"
"No, if you had analyzed it before, you would have remembered its essence by now, and not just now in haste to analyze it with my powers of thought." Char pointed out the flaw in Graddiu.
"What does it matter what technology exists in that world when you can't be governed by the rules of that world?" "At any rate, this world is still very new, this world has not been born long enough for us to think slowly, to think about how to eat this place."
"That's right." Shire thought again of Alicia's fable about the sheepfold, "I will fix the fence so that you cannot enter this world."
The thought of Alicia made him want to turn to the brothel and ask about her whereabouts, and Shire and the old Hunter had visited the nearby brothels, knew their locations, and were even familiar with their prices. Some are for dignitaries, others for the poor. I told you I was gonna get Alicia out of there.
"Hey, save your brain. You're better off thinking with your genitals." Graddiu complained.
After returning to the Chapel, Char disposed of the body of the winged demon.
"You said you could turn it into something good."
"It's more than good stuff. Do you know what these things are?"
Charles pulled back the white linen, and in the sky he saw the ugly face of the winged demon, the head pierced with a lance, the throat cut, the outer shell solid, the inner structure rotten, the wings full of cracks, the hands and feet were huge, and the body was covered with a black, scaly substance. One thing that is particularly unique is that there is no smell, you can't smell anything.
"Demonic substance? Solidified soul?"
"The soul is solid. It can't be solidified." Graddius whispered, "Rather purification, from soul to condensate, then to essence precipitate, and more..."
Before Shire's eyes, one of the winged demon's arms suddenly began to twist and deform, the palm wriggling inward and rebounding, the rigid structures overlapping and merging with each other, and the demon's body began to compress.
"Can you influence outside things?"
"Of course, my strength is coming back more and more."
"..." Char was nervous that one day, when he could no longer bind the Blade Demon, he would have to light the Flame of Yafen and die with it.
"You are well aware of my weakness; I am stuck in your soul, half fused with it."
"That's all your word. Maybe you're planning to devour enough souls to regain your strength and flee."
"Let's focus on what's in front of us." Graddiu did not deny, "Human life is short, why all the time doubting, you are alive is enough to satisfy."
"I'll lock you up. I promised someone."
"You have promised so many things, why don't you forget some?" "Charles, I need you, and you need me, at least for now."
Shire folded his arms to his chest and watched in silence as the body of the winged demon shrank, the black demonic substance slowly compressed, and the ugly face of the monster became indistinctly wrinkled.
"Put your hand on it and burn it with the flame of Yafen." "Graddiu said.
Charles, according to Graddius, uttered the incantatory words, and a turquoise flame gushed out of his palm and soon covered the surface of the demonic substance, enveloping it as flames engulf trees, and bursting into flames. After burning, the demonic substance sizzles, becomes soft, and becomes more shiny. Soon, all the bodies of the winged demon floated astonishingly high, forming a loose black liquid in midair, swirling slowly in a whirlpool under the control of some strange force, while the cart was empty.
"This is..." Char opened his mouth, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"The devil devours the soul, the soul is the energy that drives the devil, and the devil transforms the soul into something they can use." It's our instinct. We come from hell, where there is nothing, and if we want to survive, we must eat each other and use each other." "Said Graddiu slowly.
"It's not the same as before." Char stretched out his hand, and his fingers went deep into the dark vortex, feeling the sensation of running water.
"After being burned with a special flame, it returns to its original form, beautiful, isn't it?"
"Can demons understand beauty?"
"I know a prince of demons who chases beauty and changes seven different clothes every second."
Graddius manipulates this fluid-like black material, peeling off a sizable chunk and slowly shaping it like clay.
"Do you prefer heavy armor or light armor?"
It's a tough choice. The heavy armor is stronger and has more powerful defense, which can save him from the pain of the wound. Light armor does not affect the action, so that he can move freely, even if running and rolling without hindrance.
"Naturally..." Shire thought for a moment, "It provides a very good protective effect, but also very lightweight."
"Take off your clothes."
Shire took off his clothes, and the demon extracted a narrow stream of fluid from it, dividing it into layers and stacking them on top of each other to create a subtle, flexible buffer between the armor plates. They clung to Shire's body and fitted him so perfectly that no craftsman could have made a better fit of armor, while still giving his limbs enough room to move around without his breathing being affected.
The flowing black liquid quickly solidified into a metallic texture, and on the surface of the armor, Graddiu drew a picture of more than thirty intertwined swords cutting each other, each blade so sharp that just looking at the carvings would give the illusion of cutting.
"You have such a narrow aesthetic." Char complained, running his finger over the sharp notch on his breastplate, which was soon punctured and bleeding.
"Fool, this is the greatest design of all, you see, a piece of armor that can cut through a man."
Graddiu added after a pause.
"You are witnessing history."
"What?"
"After your death, this armor will still be passed down through the ages, people will spare no effort to fight for it, and it will bring endless power and power to all who wear it, and an artifact will come to the world, causing showers of blood and endless legends." I did it, after all."
"I didn't die that early." Char stroked the demon armor, which was light and strong, giving him the illusion that he was invincible.
"What do you call it?"
"The Black Armor."
Just then he heard a clear knock on the door outside the wing.
He dressed himself again and went to answer the door, puzzled.