Lord of Mysteries: The New Black Emperor

Chapter 99: Dividing the Spoils

Utravsky had a mystical object resembling a syringe that could restore him to his peak condition for a short time. Due to its significant side effects, he rarely used it. The attack from the Sealed Artifact had dealt Utravsky great harm and shock, leaving him no opportunity to use it.

However, since the Judge didn't flee but chose to return and rescue his companions, Utravsky wasn't going to let him go. Under the Judge's terrified gaze, Utravsky once again conjured a solid greatsword, and the light of dawn on him shone brightly.

Hobert moved the Judge under Utravsky's greatsword. Although Daly hadn't fully recovered her strength, she still summoned two ghostly hands to grip the Judge's ankles. With one mighty strike, Utravsky cleaved the Judge in half.

Hobert collapsed to the ground, panting and laughing. The result of this battle exceeded his expectations. The Beyonder characteristic of a Sequence 6 alone was worth about 6500 pounds, and with a premium, it could fetch between 8000 to 8500, which was quite normal.

Daly leaned against a tree, arms crossed, resting. The damage to her spirituality from this battle couldn't be easily healed with ritual magic and would take three to four days to recover naturally.

Hobert, looking up at Utravsky, said, "Father, your final blow made a huge difference. Your debt is fully repaid."

In fact, Hobert had already planned this from the start. Regardless of the battle's outcome, as long as Utravsky did his best, Hobert would clear his debt. After all, Hobert had spent 1010 pounds on Mental Terror Candle, and with the 150 owed from the "Conquering Your Past" method, minus the 250 offset by the Apothecary potion, Utravsky's actual debt was only 910.

Hobert wasn't exaggerating, as the Mental Terror Candle was indeed worth that much.

Hobert's intention was clear. First, he felt Utravsky had repaid the debt by fighting for him. Second, he feared that after the battle, Utravsky might turn against him out of greed for the spoils, especially since Utravsky's negative persona was still active. If the battle had triggered his ferocity and Daly refused to help Hobert, Hobert would have to make greater concessions to resolve the matter.

In reality, Utravsky was still at his peak, while Daly was quite weak, so Hobert cleverly offered debt forgiveness to test Utravsky and stabilize him.

"No, as per our agreement, I've only repaid half of the debt," Utravsky said as he made his way back to the Harvest Church step by step.

Hobert smiled, "What an honorable priest."

He had no intention of pursuing the other half of the debt.

At this moment, Upton's scream shattered Hobert's thoughts. It turned out that the spirit Upton summoned, after killing the Astrologer*, had turned on Apton and was trying to strangle him.

Hobert muttered, "I told you, it's a suicidal Sealed Artifact!"

He glanced at the spirit, then grasped 2-355, moved a notebook from room 103, tore out several blank pages, crumpled them up, and tossed them at the spirit. The spirit shrieked, as if seeing the most terrifying thing in the world, and returned to the spirit world.

At this moment, the leaves of the Tree of Order began to fall, turning into wisps of black mist before they hit the ground, disappearing without a trace. The tree vanished quickly, and within ten seconds, the towering tree on the street was gone, leaving only a black ebony-like staff and a metal staff head lying on the ground.

Hobert began to use 2-355 to clean the battlefield. He "moved" the corpses of the enemies into room 103, which Upton had rented. The Baron of Corruption, previously buried underground, had already suffocated to death.

Hobert then buried the bloodstains into the ground, filled in the pits created by the Judge, and finally picked up the ebony staff and the metal staff head. From a glance, it was impossible to tell that an intense Beyonder battle had just occurred here.

However, the freshly filled pit wouldn't be as solid as the other pressed-down roads, and after a heavy rain, it might reappear. Hobert couldn't care about such long-term matters.

The Beyonder characteristics of the two Sequence 8 members who were first killed had begun to precipitate. One was a Barbarian, and the other a Sheriff.

Daly, the last to enter, said, "I'll speed up the precipitation process."

Taking advantage of this break, Hobert turned to Xio and Fors and said, "Your contributions are enough to earn you the formula for the Trickmaster potion, but you'll have to wait until I perform spirit channeling to retrieve the formula. I suggest you head back for now. Tomorrow, come find me, and I'll give you the potion formula."

Xio and Fors were still somewhat unfamiliar with the concept of Beyonder characteristics. In their eyes, the Sealed Artifact was the greatest reward tonight. They were aware of their contributions and knew they weren't entitled to a share of the Sealed Artifact. Earning the Trickmaster potion formula was more than satisfactory.

Hearing Hobert's words, Xio nodded and bid farewell with Fors.

Hobert reminded them, "Visit the church two or three times in the next week, and you'll effectively avoid divination."

Fors responded, remembering what Hobert had said earlier. Churches could effectively interfere with divination, which was valuable knowledge for them.

As Xio and Fors left, Hobert planned to summon himself later and use Distortion on the streets outside to block all divination.

Soon, Daly expedited the precipitation of the Beyonder characteristics of the Judge, the Baron of Corruption, and the Astrologer. All the spoils were gathered: one Sealed Artifact and five Beyonder characteristics.

Additionally, Upton had found 63 pounds and 6 soli in cash on them, as well as a crystal ball used for divination. 

Upton also wanted to take their rings and other jewelry, but Hobert stopped him. These items weren't valuable and were likely easy to track through the Astrologer's divinations.

Given that the enemy had an Astrologer, they needed to be vigilant about counter-divination measures.

Following their prior agreement, Hobert was the first to pick from the spoils. He chose the Sealed Artifact in the form of a black glove.

Daly chose the Judge's Beyonder characteristic.

In the second round, Hobert picked the Baron of Corruption's Beyonder characteristic, while Daly took the Astrologer's.

In the third round, Hobert selected the Sheriff's Beyonder characteristic, and Daly took the Barbarian's.

For the final round, Hobert took the cash, leaving Daly with the crystal ball.