Chapter 64: The Young Fox Amidst the Tumult of Dragons and Tigers

However, the carriage had not traveled far before Vinigo was stopped.

The ones responsible were a group of Shepherd’s Call cultists, little more than a rabble, yet the staffs they held seemed anything but ordinary.

Thirty-six staffs were planted in the middle of the road, faintly connected by rippling waves of unnatural color, forming a magical array. The thirty-six cultists themselves seemed lifeless, propped up by their staffs as if only able to stand through their support.

Vinigo squinted, a dull light flickering rapidly in his right eye. He stared at the magic array for a long time before crouching down, fumbling through his belt pouch and extracting a bone talisman and a dagger, which he began to inscribe.

Character construction… no, not yet.

Using the Mirror of Self to control his own body, Vinigo treated himself as a human copy machine. His right eye fixed on the magic array, his left eye inwardly examining himself, most of his attention focused on his right forearm and fingers, attempting to replicate the array he saw as precisely as possible onto the bone fragment in his hand.

The tiger-dragon was a creature of considerable size, so its bones included large fragments, some as big as pages, which, after polishing, resembled a bone book. Vinigo’s task was to turn these bone fragments into a magic array.

After carving the array, he would still need to embed or infuse corresponding magical elements in a specific order, which required time. Clearly, the cultists’ magic array would activate far faster than Vinigo could copy it in real time.

Thus, just as Vinigo finished the carving and hadn’t yet taken his materials kit from Lamen’s back, the magic array across the way began to howl in a deep, dark glow.

Was it the array itself howling… or was it some mysterious space connected to the array, from which strange shrieks emanated?

Soon, a massive triangular serpent head emerged from the darkness, followed by a huge humanoid body. Snake-headed, human-bodied, powerfully built, its skin was like dark purple stone, and its snake eyes flashed an uncanny blood-red glow.

As the snake-headed giant stepped out of the array, the cultists’ leader abruptly drew a massive crossbow from his pack and fired at the giant’s back.

Vinigo, sharp-eyed, saw clearly that the arrow was a hollow transparent tube, filled with black liquid, which injected instantly into the giant upon impact.

At once, the snake-headed giant erupted in a pillar of black vapor nearly ten meters high, billowing like flame. Its eyes turned a blinding purple, light flickering.

“The Solemn Serpent, a monster from another realm, specialty… assassination?” Vinigo was stunned. To hear that a muscular beast over three meters tall specialized in assassination was hard to believe.

Yet, the truth was as it appeared. The Solemn Serpent possessed strange abilities—not skilled at hiding itself, but able to channel its power through allies, enhancing their attacks from the shadows into lethal blows.

“Tch, what a troublesome creature,” Vinigo muttered.

The ability was trouble enough, but that mysterious potion seemed to make the snake-headed giant even more dangerous. Vinigo studied the monster again, and the monster in turn noticed Vinigo.

As previously mentioned, Vinigo’s Eye of Insight, when fixed upon a target, caused intense discomfort and hostility.

The beast opened its maw and spat a jet of black vapor.

Vinigo remained motionless, continuing his work. Sophie silently moved in front of him, raised her greatsword, and hewed down with force.

Krieg Stream Greatsword Technique—Hell Gate!

Where the sword struck, the black vapor split and slipped past Vinigo’s sides. Vinigo didn’t even blink, still intent on his task, carefully smearing the liquid from his small vials onto the bone talisman.

His vials were custom-made; the soft stoppers at the top held a segment of needle and a simple pressurizer. By twisting off the needle, he could use the vial as a syringe, making it easy to paint arrays.

Thus, Vinigo worked quickly, and soon had replicated the magic array.

The array itself was not overly complex, only large in scale. Vinigo engraved it on the bone talisman, using high-purity materials, though its effect would be inferior to what the Shepherd’s Call cultists used.

“Evil Summoning… hmm, with my materials and the precision of my carving, this is about the most basic level, akin to a level 10 monster,” Vinigo murmured, gazing at the bone talisman. “In contrast, their array is several tiers higher, and with the potion’s enhancement, this Solemn Serpent is close to level 50 strength. We’re roughly level 30, so by that estimate, we still have a fighting chance.”

Vinigo suddenly smiled, put away the talisman, raised his eyes to the Solemn Serpent, and bared his teeth. “But real odds aren’t determined by levels alone. Sacrificing the Serpent’s best assassination skills in favor of pure offense… ha, I doubt the mastermind expected their minion to be so rigid—using the enhancement potion without even checking what was summoned.”

“What was that potion?” Sophie suddenly asked.

“Seems designed to alter physical structure, maybe combining traits of different creatures to create a new monster—like the chimera, perhaps, though the principle is different,” Vinigo explained.

“Be careful,” Sophie warned.

“Understood :)” Vinigo grinned and stretched out his hands.

Character construction, analysis complete… reconstruction begins, template adjusted. KOF Robert, construction complete!

Robert Garcia was a master of Kyokugen karate, his body slender, and his legs as flexible as arms, delivering swift, powerful kicks with remarkable practicality.

Moreover, his agility allowed him to exploit the Skyscape’s advantages more readily than the more powerful Ryo Sakazaki.

Once Vinigo constructed himself as Robert Garcia, he possessed a pair of legs as dexterous and long as arms—an unexpected agility that made it easier to control the Skyscape’s jetting direction. In the blink of an eye, Vinigo could change direction several times midair, tracing astonishing trajectories.

The strange potion in the Solemn Serpent seemed not only to make it faster and stronger, but forcibly altered its instincts, making it more frenzied and aggressive. Thus, a stealthy assassin was transformed into a berserker.

Vinigo had little fear of berserkers.

“Hanni, Berserk,” Vinigo ordered with a smirk.

Hanni raised a finger without hesitation. For a monster whose mind was dominated by naked killing and hunger, the berserk spell was uncannily effective.

Hanni’s mind-magic was potent; one gesture, and the Solemn Serpent paused, its eyes gleaming red, before whirling and lunging at the nearest cultist, biting him cleanly in half.

Vinigo had no sympathy for foes.

He watched in silence, flexing his limbs, retrieving a bone talisman from his pocket and tossing it lightly in his hand.

The Solemn Serpent savagely treated every cultist within reach as food; under its frenzied attacks, the cultists—never strong fighters—had no chance to escape.

The senior cultist, as the orchestrator, did have a chance, but… would Vinigo let him slip away so easily?

Like a hummingbird, Vinigo silently darted to the opponent’s side, hovered above his head, and gently pressed his foot atop the cultist’s skull.

Then, Vinigo pressed down, pinning him beneath his foot.

“Now, you’re all that’s left.”

In truth, the cultists were never much use. Though they could cast some magic, their spells were rigid and weak—good for harassing militia, but useless against an opponent like Vinigo.

Thus, disposing of the cultists first was merely clearing obstacles before confronting the monster.

“Sophie,” Vinigo called quietly.

“Sever!” Sophie replied, lifting her greatsword lightly and swinging it hard.

A strange sound rang out—the sword was clearly not sharp enough to cut through the Serpent’s scales. Yet oddly, the Serpent seemed gravely wounded, howling in pain.

“Sir Temp is truly a fine teacher,” Vinigo praised.

Sophie’s technique was always simple cuts and slashes, seemingly ordinary, but only those struck head-on would know her sword’s true power.

Despite its lack of sharpness, a single stroke was more effective than the sharpest blade. The force that penetrated beneath the scales was clearly not a skill an ordinary person could master.

“Bone splits, flesh severs… so that’s it,” Vinigo chuckled, shaking his hand, stepping forward with the Skyscape’s power, and swooping to the monster’s flank, swinging both hands forward with force.

Dragon Fist!

Energy coiled like a dragon around his fists, moving slowly but with a terrifying pressure, as if mountains pressed down.

The Dragon Fist’s range was only as far as an arm could reach, yet this blow made the massive creature shudder violently.

“Attack up, defense down, more vulnerable… I suppose the intense enhancement exceeded the body’s limits. An opportunity,” Vinigo mused, launching a kick.

If fists weren’t enough, he would kick it to death!

A technical novel, no doubt—it’s the Otherworldly Designer.