The Boss King actually disguised himself as a novice village chief?!
Chapter 444 - 373: Escort Lind Task?_2

Chapter 444: Chapter 373: Escort Lind Task?_2

"Boyd?"

Lind didn’t expect the Painter to appear here, but the two weren’t close; at most, he had painted a portrait for him.

"How is he?"

"Not very well."

"It seems I must make a trip to the Pustule Exiles’ outpost myself."

To be fully prepared, Magic Potions were indispensable, and such an exceptional asset, if not seized in hand, always felt like a waste to Lind.

"Anything else?" Lind was on his way back to his arranged room to rest, as later he still had to discuss the preparations for the next step with William.

After that, under Mico’s watchful eye, he would drink the last bottle of Magic Potion and advance to Hero Rank, tonight!

"A deserter has appeared in your team," the Crystal Mage said.

"What’s his name?" Lind frowned.

Deserters had never appeared in his team before; if defeat was certain, seeing soldiers who cherished their lives desert was normal, but at this stage, with no danger or enemies encountered, a deserter seemed rather abrupt.

"Fuller! As a sentinel accompanying us, we sent him to investigate the Pustule Exiles’ village, but he abandoned the Undead accompanying him and fled when they encountered danger, and he has not returned here."

"Fuller?" An image of someone quite shrewd who had once tried to impress him flashed through Lind’s mind.

After listening to the Crystal Mage recount the situation, Lind nodded, "I understand."

The discipline of the Expedition Army must not be compromised; he had to offer a reward for Fuller’s capture.

He had always instilled in the soldiers the belief that victory was certain, just a matter of sooner or later. But Fuller’s desertion could seed chaos among them.

It would only affect the ordinary soldiers; the Undead, on the other hand, were easier to deal with. Likely, they considered Fuller’s desertion simply as a prerequisite to some mission, now regretting missing out on that task, probably beating their chests in frustration somewhere.

"You’ve done well maintaining morale," Lind spoke, "Tomorrow, work with Wen and me; we’ll directly clear the path between the Gate of Mephisto outpost and the Exiles’ outpost."

Neither Wen nor the Crystal Mage had the capacity to command, but maintaining stability in the face of a deserter was quite an accomplishment.

Facing the unknown, soldiers felt apprehensive. Fuller’s case was the first, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

A victory that signified absolute dominance was essential to rebound morale.

William quickly returned as well, promptly informing Lind of the current situation at the outpost.

"The soldiers’ mood is relatively stable, but most harbor a fear of the Great Rift. The Undead are generally excited."

Only those who can truly die begin to fear death; those who are Immortal only find it thrilling.

"Select some of the Undead, prepare them to march towards the Abyss," Lind instructed, "We need news that lifts spirits, soon, but not just yet."

As the vice-captain of the vanguard, William’s objective was to charge to the front lines, and he certainly wouldn’t refuse such a task.

The setting sun hid below the horizon, and fragmented moonlight spilled upon the earth.

As night fell, Lind stood before the window, bathed in the moonlight that bolstered his physique.

He tilted his head back and downed the last portion of Magic Potion, for the Hero Rank along the Sun Knight Path.

The fiery Magic Potion, scorching as it went down his throat, rapidly infiltrated his body and attempted to erupt.

Before it could explode, it was restrained by each of his Crests.

Lind had never put much effort into "comprehension" – the growing number of Path potions, each demanding careful attention to the whispers of Deities as he stole their powers, would’ve driven him mad had he truly listened.

Thus, Lind always chose the simplest and most efficient method, ignoring the so-called whispers of the gods, using his talent to forcibly alter the extremely low chances of success to 100%!

Mico, standing to the side, witnessed a circular Crest suddenly emerging on Lind’s chest, piercing through his loose nightgown.

"Thud!" The heartbeat sounded as loud as a drum.

"Thud, thud, thud" with three consecutive heartbeats, three more Crests surfaced.

Lind’s torso seemed like a stalk of grass, blossoming from his chest.

As the heartbeat quickened, grew louder, and more Crests appeared, until all 13 Crests emerged and blazed fiery red in an instant.

Mico looked on worriedly; Lind had not shown such symptoms during his previous promotions.

She wasn’t sure whether this was a good or bad thing, but she was powerless to change it, as she was merely an Upper-level Witch restricted by her own talents.

Insufficient strength meant falling behind Lind’s pace, a cruel, yet undeniable reality.

Meanwhile, within Lind’s consciousness, the stunted tree suddenly began to grow.

It was finally free from the malnourished trunk and top-heavy distribution of limbs and foliage.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lind integrated the strength stored in his second heartbeat completely into his body, his skin flashed red for a moment before quickly fading back to its original color.

Whatever monster the Armand Family bloodline’s power might have turned into, it had nothing to do with Lind anymore. The power of the noble bloodline had been completely digested and absorbed. From this moment on, there was no second phase, because when he burst forth, it was his strongest state.

The first heartbeat was strong and powerful like thunder, while the second heartbeat from the "Gemini Crest" and the third heartbeat from the "Lady Crest" were barely audible.

He now had three health bars, but the other two only showed [100/100], seeming to await the infusion of two completely different systems of power.

Lind opened his eyes, and the first thing he met was Mico’s worried gaze. She leaned in, reaching out to feel around his body for a check.

"Don’t worry!" Lind held Mico’s hand, "I feel great right now!"

"Really?"

"Yes, really! Wait until I get the Epic Level "Heart of Calamity," the Storm Knight’s Magic Potion will need your cooking."

"That’s more like it." Mico withdrew her hand, huffing.

Confirming that Lind was indeed fine and not feigning strength, she relaxed a bit too.

Lind closed his eyes again to feel his own power. The most direct and noticeable change was the immense transformation within the "Supply Flame Knight" power, complimenting the "Sun Knight" power.

One represented Flames, the other revered them.

Beyond that, the physical strength had a slight increase, nothing too pronounced.

The powers of the multi-path Great Knight could stack, but not indefinitely.

If stacking were without limit, he wouldn’t need to search for more high-level Magic Potion formulas. With hundreds of Great Knight powers accrued, he could consider becoming a Godslayer.

One hundred level 10s don’t compare to one level 100.

"Did you grow taller?" Mico, standing on tiptoe, stretched her hand to gauge the height difference between her and Lind.

That’s not a piece of good news!

"Yeah, I grew taller," Lind lifted his hand to touch his head, sighing.

Even though the growth wasn’t too noticeable.

Increased strength would inevitably be reflected in one’s physique; his body harbored so much power, especially the Old Nobility’s. It was fortunate that he hadn’t turned into a monster.

He would have nothing to do with the elegance of the Nobles for the rest of his life.

The next day, he woke up to two tasks, which immediately energized the Undead.

[Escort Lind: Escort Lind to the exile’s outpost and ensure his safety on the road. Reward: 1 War Point]

[Frontline Preparation: After passing William’s test, successfully join William’s frontline squad. You will be responsible for more in-depth and dangerous tasks. Reward: 1 War Point]

With rewards of 1 War Point each, not much, but enough to excite the Undead.

The former goes without saying, having to protect Lind; stand us side by side, and who is protecting whom, after all? It’s practically a freebie.

As for the latter task, there was no reason to refuse. If it were not dangerous, they would really prefer not to get involved; they’ve had enough of the bland gaming life recently. What they desired were thrills and danger.

Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of Undead signing up for the task of escorting Lind.

In the end, it was Lind who effortlessly picked a few Undead with a high "favorability" towards him.

"Choosing based on favorability?" The advantaged Undead were pleasantly surprised.

It’s been said that grinding NPC favorability would come in handy, better treat NPCs more kindly from now on.

As Lind and the Undead escorting him left towards the direction of the exile’s outpost, Mico sought out the Crystal Mage.

"Is there something you need?" The Crystal Mage looked at the Bunny-toothed Witch with curiosity, as they had little to do with each other.

"I want to learn more knowledge." Her gaze was more resolute than ever before.