Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 438 - 437: The Pursuer of Eternal Life

Chapter 438: Chapter 437: The Pursuer of Eternal Life

The Death Mage appeared to be over fifty years old, his complexion as white as a corpse, his body as skeletal as a skull. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and the murky orbs within constantly shifted, worrying one that they might fall out. Yet the occasional spark of sharpness that shot from his eyes was enough to inspire dread.

The Death Mage’s hands were waxen yellow, as if soaked in a caustic solution, with various brown burn marks scattered across the skin, some caused by flames, others by corrosive liquids. His fingernails were black and elongated like those of a zombie, and crammed with dark grime within the crevices, a nauseating sight. Yet it was these hands that were incredibly agile, and at this moment, they were busy manipulating a vast array of bottles and vials on the Stone Table.

While he was fiddling with the containers, the footsteps of the Divination Woman entering were heard. The Death Mage turned his head toward the door and immediately saw a beautiful woman struggling violently in the hands of the Sewing Monster. Narrowing his eyes, the Death Mage let out a sinister chuckle and said to the beautiful woman, "Ah, my test subject, are you frightened? I tell you, there’s no need to be afraid; I shall send you into slumber soon, and you will feel no pain at all. Come, drink this."

With those words, the Death Mage picked up a bottle of brown potion from the Stone Table, walked in front of the Grey-skinned Stitched Monster and poured it into the mouth of the beautiful woman.

"Mmm—" The beautiful woman, having been forced to drink the mysterious potion, first let out a terrified scream, but soon her voice weakened—growing fainter and fainter; even her struggling ceased, until at last her head lolled to one side, motionless.

"Heh." The Death Mage watched and chuckled ominously again, instructing the Sewing Monster to place the woman on one end of the enormous Stone Table.

It was then that the Divination Woman looked towards the Death Mage and spoke out, "Hey, we had an agreement before; this woman is mine. You promised to take off her face and give it to me, don’t you go back on your word."

"Hmm?" The Death Mage uttered, his gaze turning to the Divination Woman, questioning with a doubtful tone, "When did I ever agree to such a thing? I do not remember this."

"You!" The Divination Woman was enraged, throwing back her cloak’s hood and veil, revealing a face full of wrinkles, glaring at the Death Mage, and shouted, "Old monster, I’m telling you, don’t think your feigning ignorance will work on me now!

I’ve already mentioned to you before that any captured people, I should have my pick of all the women, to use their parts for replacing my aging ones. It’s precisely because of this that I’ve been working so hard for you. Hmph, if it wasn’t for me informing you about the ship, could your Ghost Ship have been able to pursue the vessel so efficiently?"

"Enough, old woman, the information you gave me was mostly useless! Take this instance—you knew full well that Ghost Ship would take two days to reach the seas near Hai Ya. What use was it telling me the vessel’s information in advance?

Furthermore, you kept mentioning that there is someone you’re very interested in, wanting his eyes to replace yours, urging me to make the Ghost Ship hasten its chase. But after the pursuit, that person was nowhere to be found on board. I really don’t know how much of what you say can be believed!"

"Of course what I said was true! As for why the individual wasn’t on the ship, who knows what happened? Perhaps he was blown into the sea by the night wind.

But then again, I did give you the information in advance this time. Didn’t I also exert a great deal of effort to delay the ship’s voyage for you?

Though I didn’t complete the delay until Ghost Ship caught up, without my efforts, Ghost Ship wouldn’t have seen a shadow of them. Thus, the success this time was all thanks to me! This woman should rightly be mine!"

"Hmpf." The Death Mage looked at the Divination Woman and sneered, "Thanks to you? You merely relied on the necklace I gave you to drive people mad, thereby delaying the ship. Without my necklace, you are nothing. How can you attribute the credit to yourself?"

"Slap!" Driven by urgency, the Divination Woman yanked off the necklace in her hand and slammed it onto the Stone Table, yelling loudly, "If that’s the case, why don’t you operate the necklace yourself, why insist on having me do it?"

"Hmpf, I just fear the side effects," the Death Mage muttered under his breath.

"What?!" The Divination Woman heard the muttered comment, her eyes suddenly widening in shock.

"Ah..." Realizing his slip, the Death Mage quickly added, "I suspect! Yes, I suspect this necklace that can influence a person’s mind may have side effects on the wearer, but I have no confirmation."

"No confirmation, yet you still had me use it?!" The Divination Woman was fuming with anger.

"But haven’t you been fine thus far, using it up till now, all without issue?" the Death Mage answered, his tone slightly weaker.

"The lack of harm, that’s not true at all, I just haven’t told you," the Divination Woman roared back at the Death Mage. "Let me tell you, every time I use your damn necklace, I suffer from severe headaches and endure long, terrible nightmares. Most importantly, using this necklace isn’t always successful, and when it fails, the consequences are even worse."

"That’s because you failed to clearly remember the other person’s face, whose fault is that?!" the Death Mage said. "How many times have I told you, you must firmly memorize the target’s appearance for it to work!"

"Shut up, you!" the Divination Woman raged, "Old monster, I tell you, dealing with some people, like that Female Knight from long ago or the young lad I targeted, no matter how clearly you remember their faces, it won’t succeed.

But this time with the abducted ship, I merely glanced at a few people on board and succeeded. So, what you’re saying is all wrong, you don’t understand this amulet at all! Without me, the abduction of the ship would have been impossible!"

The Divination Woman became self-righteous, "I have paid a heavy price for all your research, so you must compensate me!"

"Haven’t I already compensated you?" replied the Death Mage, his voice tinged with irritation. "The Captain’s daughter on that merchant ship before, I cut off her living hands and used many precious materials to replace your old and ugly ones, still not enough for you?"

"Not enough, far from enough!" the Divination Woman approached the Death Mage, grabbed his collar, and shouted, "I want a beautiful face, bright eyes, delicate skin, I want..."

"You want too much!" the Death Mage interjected, trying to struggle free from the Divination Woman’s grip, but to no avail. Annoyed, he snapped, "You need to know when to stop, don’t be too greedy."

"Greedy? Am I really greedy?" the Divination Woman retorted, "Eternal Life! Youth! These were what you promised me in the beginning, but you haven’t fulfilled a single one. And you call me greedy, what about your broken promises?"

While speaking, the Divination Woman continued to grasp the Death Mage’s collar with one hand and frantically scratched at his face with the other, quickly leaving several bloody marks.

The Death Mage grew furious and violently pulled back his cloak.

One pull! Two pulls! Three pulls!

With a "rip", the collar tore, the Death Mage caught unprepared, and he tumbled to the ground with a "thud."

As he fell, the muscles on the Death Mage’s face twisted in pain, but he quickly resumed a normal expression. Then, he swiftly got up, maintaining a wary distance from the Divination Woman.

Straightening his clothes, the Death Mage looked at the Divination Woman and exhaled, "Alright, alright, Anna, suppose I broke my promises, but it wasn’t intentional! Do you think eternal life and youth are easy to achieve? If they were, Wizards wouldn’t die at all! And I’m not even a Wizard yet!

So I need to research, keep researching to possibly succeed. Research requires a lot of materials. If I use the captured people to replace your body this time, the research will undoubtedly be delayed, understand? Therefore, you must sacrifice a little, let me use these people for something serious.

Once my research is successful, the eternal life and youth I promised you can be fulfilled. Then, you can transform into whatever you want."

"But how long will it take for you to succeed? How many more people will have to die?!"

"I don’t know! Maybe I need to capture one more ship, two, or ten! In any case, a lot of people! What, are you scared?"

"I’m not scared! I don’t care if countless people die, I’m just anxious! What if I’m nearly dead from old age and you still haven’t succeeded?"

"Simple, I’ll transform you into one of these things first." The Death Mage pointed at the grey-skinned stitched monster beside him. "See, they live just fine, and if I wish, they really can live forever. That’s eternal life."

"I’d rather die than live like that!" the woman exclaimed.

"If that’s truly what you believe, then you shouldn’t be disturbing me right now, but letting me focus on my research," the Death Mage said, taking a small knife from a nearby rack, and announced, "Alright, I’m really going to do some research now, prepare to cut open this unconscious woman’s body, are you staying to watch?"

After hearing the Death Mage’s words, the Divination Woman’s eyes flickered and she spoke, "Forget it, watching you do this disgusts me, you do it on your own."

After that, the Divination Woman quickly donned her hooded cloak, covered her face with a veil, and left the Stone Building.