Chapter 346 346: Peaceful Hair Strands - The Price of Survival!
Luke looked at the mess in his hands and frowned.
On one side, Nyx was lying on the ground, electrocuted, her wings and legs twitching, a Worm of Time lying close to her, letting out the thinnest trail of smoke.
On the other side, covering a crater dozens of feet wide, were… mushrooms.
Hundreds of thousands of them. Perhaps, even more. The top layer of these mutated mushrooms was bursting like bubbles before even more took their places, all still chanting the same words, praying to Mr. Fool.
For Mushroom-nimi to continue doing so meant that the cyborg had truly lost all control, being incapable of returning to its original appearance.
This… was a disaster.
Still, first things first, Luke thought. "Miss Justice?"
The System scanned his immediate surroundings, including the entire mutated cyborg, and finally let out a sigh of relief in his mind. [It's safe…]
"Tell me," Luke said, walking toward Nyx and checking up on her.
Then, Miss Justice unblocked her memories related to Luke's plan and told him everything, as his memories about the preparations he had made against Amon's eventual arrival were already lost permanently.
"I see…" Luke said, color draining his face.
Things could have gone so wrong… so fast.
What if Amon had succeeded in using Descorrer to bypass the Boundary, letting His true body enter the world?!
What if Amon had succeeded in permanently parasitizing Nyx?!
The more Luke thought about the consequences of what could have happened if things had gone Amon's way entirely, the more his stomach became a pit, his heart booming in his chest.
But saving Mushroom-nimi was the priority now, he remembered, nodding to himself.
As it was Luke who had ordered Mushroom-nimi to use their innate mutations to counter Amon's Theft, he had naturally planned for the cyborg's irreversible state as well.
And this plan… didn't require him to give any command or literally do anything.
A ringing whoosh echoed in his ears as a stealth jet materialized out of nowhere over Luke's head. It had the shape of a half moon, and several tiny thrusters were mounted on its concave posterior. The thrusters swiveled, and the jet came down slowly, raising clouds of dust.
When it landed fully and killed the thrusters, a tiny, glassy bump became visible on top of it.
Throwing the cockpit open, Apostle Shield came sliding off the jet and looked at the scene, her heart skipping a beat.
"We don't have time," Luke reminded her, knowing she must have locked onto Mushroom's location to come here. "Use it."
"Wha…" Melissa stared at Leader, but then couldn't ask anything, his sick appearance making her decide otherwise.
Instead, she hurriedly reached into her large pockets and took out a pristine box, radiating Spirituality.
Being the Manager of Apostles of Mr. Fool's Headquarters, Dr. Blessed had given the duty of keeping the Faux Sealed Artifacts safe, including managing their distribution and return, to none other than the brilliant engineer, Melissa Shield, who had recently advanced to become a Clown.
The Seer Pathway always boasted heavier and larger Spirituality reserves than the other two Pathways anyway.
In the worst-case scenarios, she could use both Faux Sealed Artifacts by herself, providing timely and crucial assistance.
However, from the look on her face, it became clear that she had never imagined the worst scenario Dr. Blessed had prepared her for would come so… soon.
As Melissa opened the ancient box sealing Mr. Fool's blessing, Luke recalled the information that Miss Justice had shared about it.
…
[
Faux Sealed Artifact: Peaceful Hair Strands (Grade 3)
Specification: It has abilities that resemble the Sequence 6, Soul Assurer of the Darkness Pathway.
Appearance: A simple decoration formed with many strands of black hair.
Powers: Direct physical contact with its strands of hair causes one to lose all desires and emotions, becoming silent and immobile.
Negative Effect: Affects anyone who comes into direct contact with them.
Tip: The user can avoid direct contact by wearing gloves.
Warning: Peaceful Hair Strands will dissipate after 30 minutes of total usage
]
…
After upgrading again, Miss Justice began restructuring how she showed these details as well.
For the time being, she had decided to name these artifacts as Faux Sealed Artifacts.
Compared to the first Faux Sealed Artifact that Mr. Fool had blessed him with, the Grade 2 Judge Button, which had four different abilities, each better than the last, the Grade 3 Peaceful Hair Strands didn't look like much.
However, where it was needed, it became a true lifesaver.
Miss Justice had told Luke that this particular Sealed Artifact had once contributed to preventing the descent of an evil god in Mr. Fool's world!
Also, it's original version had severe negative effects.
But, because of the limited time they could use it in this world, those negative effects didn't really matter much here.
Still, according to Miss Justice, there was no such thing as a good or bad Sealed Artifact, only how much an Artifact suited a particular situation.
Situation… like this.
Melissa, donning proper gloves as part of her clown getup, took the strands of hair out of the box. Despite wearing gloves, Luke saw a queer sense of calmness flashing across her panicked face, making her take a deep breath.
Then, pouring her Spirituality into it, Melissa whipped them toward Mushroom-nimi.
The strands of hair lengthened unnaturally, instantly covering the entire mass of mutated mushrooms.
Suddenly, all the raving chants of hundreds of thousands of pus-like mushrooms died.
Slowly but surely, the mutation began receding, finally revealing the hint of the crater that they had occupied.
After only five minutes, Mushroom-nimi returned to their original appearance.
Then, they stumbled back and fell with a loud thud… carrying a strange hint of a smile on their face.
Melissa calmly put the Faux Sealed Artifact back into the box, sealing its effect.
Instantly, the panic returned, and she bolted toward the crater, checking up on the cyborg, putting the high-tech mask on her face.
Luke, holding Nyx in his arms, stepped down into the crater and loomed over her. "And?"
Melissa sighed, taking off the mask. "40 kt…" she said, with a deep, saddened expression. "Mushroom-nimi lost 40 kilotons worth of energy… permanently."
Luke's mouth flattened into a thin line before… slowly arching up, becoming a clownish smile.
"That's a small price… Ms. Shield," Dr. Blessed said, looking up at the sky, lampooning. "Surviving Angels and Gods… is not easy, you know."
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