Lord of Mysteries: The New Black Emperor

Chapter 100: The Sealed Artifact Trade

In terms of contributions, Utravsky played a greater role in the recent battle compared to Daly, but the spoils Daly received had already far exceeded 3,750 pounds.

Aside from the fact that this result far exceeded Hobert's expectations, it was also because Daly is an official Beyonder.

Splitting the spoils with Daly was akin to bribing an official Beyonder. Without the consent of the Nighthawks, Utravsky, an illegal Beyonder in the Loen Kingdom, would never have been able to fight so openly outside of Harvest Church.

It was also impossible for all the residents on the street to remain asleep, with not a single person waking in the middle of the night.

Most importantly, by splitting the spoils with an official Beyonder, Hobert's gains were now legal.

In the final round of choices, the crystal ball had a slightly higher value than the cash, but Hobert had no use for it. Selling it would require taking risks, so he opted for the cash instead.

An amusing image suddenly popped into Hobert's mind: an Astrologer from the Tamara family divining the whereabouts of the crystal ball, only to end up locating the Nighthawks' headquarters in Backlund.

Hobert couldn't help but smile at the thought of such a funny scenario.

He then examined the sealed artifact—the black glove. Suddenly, his spiritual intuition revealed the glove's abilities and its negative effects.

It turned out that this artifact wasn't related to the Corpse Collector Pathway or the Abyss Pathway as Hobert had speculated. Instead, it came from a deranged Imperative Mage.

[T/N: they gave a Grade 1 SA to a Seq 6??]

Due to its connection to the Arbiter Pathway, Hobert's special link with the Nation of Disorder allowed his spirituality to establish a preliminary bond with the sealed artifact.

The glove's ability was: "It can mimic the appearance of an Imperative Mage to intimidate enemies and use the mage's gaze to sentence creatures within its sight to death. Those with weak spirituality will instinctively obey the judgment, their bodies losing all vitality, their spirituality dissipating, leading to real death. 

For low-Sequence Beyonders, it will cause irreparable damage to their spirituality. 

For mid-Sequence Beyonders, it will cause injuries that take several days to heal. 

After using this ability, the target will be immobilized for 1 to 3 seconds."

The negative effect was: "For ten minutes after using the ability, the holder will lose all vitality and spirituality, becoming like a lifeless zombie. After ten minutes, the spirituality begins to recover, but it takes ten hours to fully return to a normal state. 

After five cumulative uses, the holder will be prone to fatal misfortunes. 

After ten uses, they will irreversibly meet their death. 

If it remains within two meters of a living being for five hours, that being will immediately die."

Hobert's heart tightened. In his very first battle since advancing to Sequence 8, he had already sustained irreparable damage to his spirituality!

However, he quickly realized that Beyonder potions or ritualistic magic could still be used to heal spiritual injuries. It might take some effort to research, but the problem shouldn't be too severe.

Hobert furrowed his brows again. This sealed artifact's power was indeed great, and it had an area-of-effect ability. However, despite its strength, it could only be used four times!

It would be much more suitable for a Beyonder organization. Klein could use it four times, and Dunn could use it four times—that's eight uses.

Moreover, it was best suited for official Beyonders. For example, the members of the Tamara family they encountered tonight wouldn't dare to use this artifact right at the start of the battle. They didn't know how strong their enemies were, and losing an important combatant right away would make them more vulnerable.

They couldn't let either of the two Sequence 8s hold the artifact, either. In the chaos of battle, they might not have the time to put on the glove before being killed.

After all, if Hobert saw someone taking the time to put on gloves during a fight, he'd immediately focus on attacking their hands. Without hands, how could they wear gloves?

Official Beyonders were different. In the Loen Kingdom, it was the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, and the Machinery Hivemind who ruled the battlefield. They could easily use the glove's power at the start, while their teammates would clean up the enemies afterward.

As for Hobert, he was still fighting alone. He didn't need this sealed artifact anytime soon.

Looking at Daly, who was carefully collecting the Beyonder characteristics, Hobert suddenly had an idea: "Madam, I believe this sealed artifact meets the criteria for a Grade 2 item, doesn't it?"

He raised the glove in his hand.

Daly nodded, "Yes, it does meet the criteria for a Grade 2 sealed artifact."

Hobert decisively said, "I'd like to trade it for half the usage rights of 2-355, an official auxiliary personnel identification, one Briber Beyonder characteristic, and two Barbarian Beyonder characteristics."

Daly was slightly stunned. The trade Hobert proposed was beneficial to the Nighthawks.

Half of a Grade 2 sealed artifact's value definitely surpassed one Sequence 7 characteristic and two Sequence 8 characteristics, and the auxiliary personnel identification was just a piece of paper.

However, because it involved a Grade 2 sealed artifact, she couldn't make the decision: "Bring the glove to the security company tomorrow morning. Our captain will give you an answer."

"Alright." Hobert felt there was a good chance this deal would go through.

To him, while 2-355 wasn't as powerful as the black glove, it was far more practical and easy to use. When paired with the "Wood of Order," its combined power exceeded the sum of its parts.

As Daly packed up her spoils and pointed to the corpses, she said, "I'll help you deal with these bodies."

"No," Hobert refused. "These are Upton's spoils. We'll handle them."

"Alright then." Daly didn't ask what they intended to do with the bodies. She took 2-355, bid farewell to Hobert and Upton, and left.

With Daly gone, only Hobert, Upton, and the five corpses remained in the room.

Hobert said, "I need a room where I won't be disturbed."

...

Far from Harvest Church, a Nighthawks squad member, holding a large and thick telescope, said, "Captain, Daly's out, and she's given us the 'no accidents' signal."

Thomas stood by the window of the bell tower, arms crossed, letting the early autumn breeze rustle his robes.

He was still reviewing the recent battle. There was no doubt this Beyonder fight had been both intense and impressive. Utravsky and Daly's performances needed no explanation—they were both experienced Beyonders.

But Hobert's performance greatly surprised Thomas. When Daly reported Hobert's role in the Henry family case, he thought it was just luck that Hobert had encountered a sealed artifact related to 2-355.

Yet tonight's battle showed Thomas a calm and collected side of Hobert, especially when he summoned that massive tree. The visual impact was striking, and even the high-grade telescope they brought couldn't clearly see what was happening beneath the canopy.

It should be noted that the telescope was a Grade 3 sealed artifact!