Chapter 419 - 399: Fiends and the Shriek (2)

"It's done."

The words had barely been spoken. ⅇ

SPLASH!

A massive figure burst from the water.

Stuka stood in the center of the pool, soaking wet. Its once-white feathers were now stained a dark crimson.

It slowly opened its eyes.

Its golden irises had contracted until the pupils were black pinpricks.

It lowered its head, looking down at its chest.

It could feel it.

What flowed through its veins was no longer warm blood, but searing magma. Every heartbeat was like an explosion, pumping endless power to the tips of its wings.

'Hungry.'

Stuka opened its beak and exhaled a puff of white steam.

'I want to eat. Now.'

Ola collapsed onto the ground, a pained grin stretching across her face that looked worse than crying.

"More than you can eat!"

...

The door to the lounge was thrown open.

Valerius walked in, panting as he carried a heavy metal box.

He slammed the box onto the table with a loud CLANG.

"Freshly brewed."

The old Alchemist said, opening the lid.

A sharp, acrid smell instantly filled the air.

Inside the box, five glass test tubes were neatly arranged. The liquid within was an ominous, deep red, as viscous as coagulated plasma.

"The Icarus Potion."

Valerius picked one up, holding it to the light.

"It's based on a predecessor's theory, combined with my own improvements on the Ogre's Frenzy Potion."

He turned to face the five elite Flying Knights sitting in the room.

"Stuka's heart modification was a success. It can now fly at speeds you couldn't have dreamed of before." Valerius pushed up his glasses, his tone serious. "The problem is, you can't."

"Performing maneuvers at such extreme speeds would generate G-forces that would instantly turn your internal organs to mush. Your brains would be starved of blood, your eyes would hemorrhage, and your eyeballs might even pop right out of their sockets."

The Knights exchanged glances, shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

"And drinking this stuff will let us handle it?"

Barton stood up. His gaze was fixed on the potion with an unusual intensity, a stubborn glint in his eyes.

"It will. It will temporarily harden your blood vessel walls to be like iron and triple your neural reaction speed." Valerius handed the test tube to Barton. "But the price is excruciating pain, as well as extreme ocular hemorrhaging for the duration of the effect."

The old Alchemist paused, his tone growing heavier. "For a few days, the whites of your eyes will turn scarlet. You'll look... like monsters. What's more, once the potion wears off, the side effects will hit. You'll enter a period of extreme weakness, possibly unable to even lift a finger. There's even a risk of sudden death."

A brief silence fell over the lounge.

'Becoming monsters? And extreme weakness afterward?'

Barton took the test tube, his large, rough hands gripping the glass tightly. He didn't drink it right away. Instead, he turned to the four brothers-in-arms standing behind him, men who had faced life and death by his side.

"I'm a simple man. I don't understand any of that high-minded reasoning."

Barton's voice was deep and resonant, carrying a simple, unquestionable strength.

"All I remember is that when my mother was on her deathbed, it was Lord Velin who gave us medicine and food. This life of mine, and my mother's too, belongs to the Lord."

He pulled out the cork stopper, the acrid smell rushing into his nostrils.

"That bastard Hector is a menace; he wants to kill us all. Now, the Lord has given us a blade that can win, and even if that blade burns our hands, we have to take it."

Barton scanned the room. There was no hesitation in his eyes, only the grim resolve of a man willing to risk everything to repay a debt of gratitude.

"If you're scared of the pain, scared of getting ugly, then get out now. Go home to your kids. Those who stay, we're going to fight to the death with the Lord."

With that, he tilted his head back and, without a moment's hesitation, downed the viscous liquid in one go.

GULP.

A few seconds later.

"Ugh..."

The empty test tube in Barton's hand shattered, the glass shards digging into his palm, but he didn't seem to notice.

He dropped to one knee, his teeth grinding audibly. His hands clawed at the ground, his nails screeching across the marble floor.

The veins on his neck bulged instantly, turning a purplish-black, like grotesque earthworms writhing madly beneath his skin. The intense heat caused steam to rise from his body, as if he were being forged in a furnace.

"ROAR—!"

Barton let out a low, suppressed roar and snapped his head up.

His once simple, resolute eyes were gone.

In their place was a field of scarlet.

No whites, no pupils. Only two roiling pools of blood.

But he grinned. Though his blood-filled eyes made the smile look demonic, it still held a reassuring, honest simplicity.

"It's nothing... I'm not gonna die."

Barton gasped for air, his voice hoarse but laced with a fierce energy. "This stuff is potent. I feel like... I could punch a hole in the sky."

Seeing Barton in this state, the remaining four men no longer hesitated.

"The boss drank it, so what the hell is there to be afraid of!"

"For the Lord!"

A series of muffled grunts and the sound of shattering test tubes followed.

Five minutes later.

Five "demons" stood in the room. Barton wiped the sweat from his face, looked at the monstrous yet resolute faces of his brothers, and nodded grimly.

...

「Three days later, at dawn.」

Stuka stood at the edge of a cliff in the Newly Cultivated Land, its talons dug deep into the rock.

It had changed.

Its once-streamlined body had become more powerful, its chest muscles bulging like a slab of hard granite.

A streamlined piece of blackscale iron armor had been fitted to its chest, extending down to its abdomen.