Chapter 121: The Sigil of Precognitive Danger

Vinigo tossed a firework into the air, where it exploded into a massive triangular pattern, the seven-colored sparks flashing in sequence—the signal of the Prism Mercenaries. Before long, the mercenaries still lingering at the edge of the swamp converged upon him.

Yuri was the first to arrive. Relying on his superhuman explosive power, he swung a heavy wooden club he had scavenged from somewhere, carving a path through the skeletal horde to reach his leader.

"My lord, you..." Yuri began, but Vinigo waved a hand, cutting him off.

"Form up. We are camping here. Set a perimeter," Vinigo commanded. "That’s enough, keep the sentimental talk to yourself. I know what you mean. Get to it."

Yuri chuckled, bowed, and retreated. He barked orders at his subordinates, and they quickly utilized the ruins of the Silver Rudder camp to establish a defensive perimeter.

Soon after, Iru arrived with his own silent squad.

"How is it?" Vinigo asked, knowing that if he didn't inquire, Iru would likely say nothing at all.

"Southwest, cleared," Iru replied languidly. "Next, the northwest."

Vinigo nodded, and Iru, maintaining his slow and deliberate pace, led his men to march toward the northwest, methodically shattering every bone pile they encountered along the way.

"A truly reliable man of action," Vinigo remarked with a dry chuckle.

Turning around, he found the Wolf-Girl’s delicate face mere inches from his own. She was pouting, her red eyes fixed on him with simmering indignation.

"Alright, alright, I know. I’ll leave the next target to you," Vinigo said with a smile, patting her head. "Even if there were twice as many opponents, you wouldn't be satisfied."

The Wolf-Girl relented with a huff, jumped down, flicked her tail, and ran off. She headed in the direction of Iru’s squad, intent on venting her boundless energy on the skeletons.

Vinigo tapped his head, dismissed his current character construct, and rested for a moment before shifting into the "Scavenger Meow" template to begin his search for loot.

The Swordmaster had carried a decent longsword, but given Vinigo’s current assets, such "ordinary" goods no longer caught his eye. However, the men who were clearly fodder soldiers held a few surprises.

Each of these swordsmen carried a simple leather pouch containing items that clearly did not belong in their possession—a fragment of a holy emblem, a statuette, and several dull, fist-sized stones...

They were inconspicuous, but Vinigo knew their worth.

The holy emblem fragment was what the Sovereign of Prayer, Sophie, required to help the young goddess ascend further toward true divinity. The snake statuette contained the divine power of the God of Intrigue—faint, but enough for Vinigo to use as a conduit for divine infusion. As for the dull stones, they were rare pieces of Scandia ore from the Ethereal Plane, a special material used to craft top-tier magical artifacts.

To think these were found on mere Silver Rudder grunts!

Vinigo surmised that this was the purpose of the Silver Rudder’s blockade of the river. Based on information from Nazadi and his own findings, the Silver Rudder had excavated an ancient ruin via the waterway. These items were a small portion of their haul; caught in the attack before they could be transported out, the fodder soldiers had been tasked with smuggling them through.

It was Vinigo’s gain.

It was time for prayer. As Vinigo prayed devoutly, the cheerful voice of the young goddess Sophie echoed in his mind.

"Oh my, my, my, my little darling has been quite diligent lately. Tell me, what do you want this time? I’m in a good mood today," Goddess Sophie chirped.

"Can you grant me the ability to foresee danger?" Vinigo asked. "You know, as an ordinary human, being ambushed is quite risky for me."

"That’s true. Although the Eye of Perception gives you insight beyond that of a mortal, your body is still just human; your reaction speed can't keep up with your eyes... Oh, wait! Yes, I’ll give you that..."

As Sophie giggled, Vinigo felt a sharp, searing pain at the top of his head, as if a dull blade were slowly and incessantly carving an intricate pattern into his skull.

Skulls shouldn't feel pain, yet this agony seemed to etch itself from the bone deep into Vinigo’s soul—this was typical of Goddess Sophie; every gift of hers made Vinigo wish he were dead.

Of course, he wouldn't die.

She had inscribed an ultra-fine magic circle onto his skull to store divine power—a divine art constructed from her prayer power, equivalent to a "Danger Pre-cognition."

Because Goddess Sophie’s Wish spell was limited, this premonition only reacted to dangers directly threatening Vinigo, and it was neither long-lasting nor particularly clear.

Two seconds. A vague, intuitive warning, and nothing more.

But it was enough.

"The Crisis Rune, that is my gift. Be a good boy and keep working hard, young man." Goddess Sophie vanished with a laugh, leaving Vinigo looking pale.

It hurt.

The pain faded quickly, leaving one to wonder if the young goddess was just teasing him. However, Vinigo knew that this youthful deity had a sense of professional integrity; if she said he could foresee danger, he certainly could.

Suddenly, Vinigo’s heart skipped a beat. He turned his head toward the northwest.

From that direction, the Wolf-Girl was charging toward him at high speed—evidently intending to use Vinigo’s face as a landing pad.

"So that's how it is. Even if it's only two seconds, being able to see this much is quite good." Vinigo stepped back half a pace, narrowly avoiding the Wolf-Girl’s rapid dash, and watched her land on the ground before jumping up as if nothing had happened.

"You actually dodged it!" the Wolf-Girl complained unhappily.

She wouldn't have actually hurt him, of course—but if a danger of this magnitude could be foreseen, then Goddess Sophie’s gift was indeed useful. Although Vinigo hadn't fully predicted her exact move, he had vaguely sensed that taking a half-step back would allow him to barely evade the attack.

"Aside from the pain, I really have nothing to complain about," Vinigo sighed.

He pulled out the statuette again. It was small but heavy—a snake statuette.

The Serpent of Deceit.

The god of intrigue and assassination naturally possessed divine power linked to those domains. Vinigo held it, siphoning the energy to inject into his character construction.

The Demon Warrior system: Jedah Dohma. One of the three lords of the Demon Realm, his surging demonic power and liquid body granted him bizarre and unpredictable combat styles—clearly a perfect match for the divine power of the Serpent of Deceit.

With his scissor-like headpiece, matching scissor-like cape, pale face, and tangible aura of darkness, this was Jedah.

In his hand, a scythe formed from his own blood rotated gently. With a casual flick, he sent it spinning through the air, where it hovered as if gravity no longer applied to it.

"If I can achieve this level... it seems my strength has improved once again," Vinigo muttered. "Jedah, one of the three lords, a character who can turn blood into weapons and possesses the advantages of high speed, flight, and levitation. To be able to construct such a character, my abilities must be approaching a new bottleneck. I wonder how I shall break through it this time..."

BOOM!

As he was thinking, a deafening explosion echoed in the distance. If he wasn't mistaken, that was the Prism Mercenaries using the Blast Bomb S he had crafted.

A specialty of the Nanoca Workshop: once the safety is disengaged and it is thrown, it explodes within five seconds. It could blast through rock and melt iron—but because Nanoca's invention capabilities were somewhat randomized, the success rate of manufacturing was low, making them quite costly.

Consequently, only these two squads of the Prism Mercenaries possessed a small inventory. For them to be forced to use it, they must have encountered a formidable opponent.

"Akana, go help," Vinigo ordered. Maintaining his still-active conceptual construct, he flew toward the sound at high speed.

December 6, 2012.

In the swamp, a squad of mercenaries was locked in a bitter struggle.

Their enemy was not overwhelmingly powerful, but in this swampy terrain, the opponent’s unique traits had given them the upper hand.

Hovering movement.

"Oh? A vampire?" Vinigo chuckled. Vampires in this world were not particularly hindered by sunlight; they possessed special innate abilities, such as blood-draining self-healing, hovering, or mist-form. A few were said to possess even rarer gifts.

Hovering movement... to be able to use such an ability, the petite figure hidden under those black rags clearly possessed no small amount of strength.

The Prism Mercenaries were no slouches, but their movement was restricted in the swamp, making them no match for this hovering, lightning-fast little vampire.

Vinigo smiled deviously and flicked his wrist. A scythe made of blood appeared silently in the little vampire’s path. She nearly collided with it, but thanks to her agility, she managed to slide past just in time.

*Rip...* The scythe tore through the vampire’s tattered outer robe, revealing her true form.

A little girl? Vinigo stroked his chin. It seemed he had developed a habit of clashing with little girls.

From Honey and Sherry to the little Wolf-Girl Akana, why were all the people he encountered so young?

Perhaps Goddess Sophie herself was essentially a little girl at heart.

The young vampire let out an angry shriek and pointed a finger. An invisible ray struck a mercenary, instantly causing a ripple of crimson blood to erupt on his body.

Blood-draining self-healing... the area grazed by the scythe healed instantly, while a horrific wound appeared on the mercenary instead.

"Stand down," Vinigo commanded. Before he could act, the Wolf-Girl, unable to restrain herself any longer, charged forward first.