The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 390: [How many Nicholas are there?]

“Your Excellency Nicholas, have you made up your mind?” Bernardino’s spirit body sat on the wheelchair, tilted his head slightly, and gave Nicholas a warm and kind smile.

Nicholas II frowned slightly but said nothing.

But he still regretted it a little in his heart. When he saw Bernardino’s remaining spirit body, he knew he could not kill this old man directly.

Rather, it was too late already.

Bernardino’s limbs and head were restored. Thus, he had regained his complete form.

With the astral body fully restored, he could even exert pressure on Nicholas II, which surprised this artificial human.

After all, Nicholas II was stuck in the Gold Rank just because he lacked the Book of Truth.

In Nicholas’ memory, only five transcenders could fight against him in the entire civilization west of the desert.

The Man in the Mirror was the strongest among them, who had successfully ascended into a deity.

Then, there was the Howling White Tower Master Michelangelo, “Time Stopper Eye,” recognized as the world’s strongest wizard.

He could create artificial life forms (his stone statues) and travel through time at will. He could see the future years later at a glance and enter the timeline of the past to change the world.

His curse vessel allowed him to go back in time to a certain extent. Subsequently, he could even enter the “past” to attack enemies who were unaware and unprepared at the time and remain invincible.

It could be said that “Time Stopper Eye” was the apex of wizardry.

Only in the case of a prolonged battle would Nicholas, at his peak, have the confidence to defeat Michelangelo. In that memory, Nicholas held Sage’s Stone.

The reason for the short lifespan of a Gold Rank transcender was that if they wanted to use the elemental power, they had to burn their soul. The more potent the element was used, the deeper its awakening depth would be.

But obviously, he would not survive after the soul was burnt to crisp.

Therefore, it was necessary to replenish the soul from nightmares, rituals, and rare curse vessels or increase the awakening depth of their elements.

Sage’s Stone would not replenish the soul consumed, but it could act as the fuel to substitute for his soul. Moreover, its efficiency as fuel was superb.

A Sage’s Stone made by a Bronze Rank Wizard could replace about 1/10 of the Gold Rank Wizard’s soul. At Silver Rank, it made up to 50% of the soul. At the same time, a brief battle (3~5 minutes) usually only used about 3% of the soul.

Of course, the Sage’s Stone meant more than increasing resourcefulness.

It could quickly increase the awakening depth of all elements to 100%.

In fact, the four elements that Nicholas had awakened were raised to 100%, granting him the capability to overwhelm ordinary Gold Rank transcenders.

But when Nicholas II faced Michelangelo, he had no chance of winning.

Such was the strength of Michelangelo.

It was an old man who could fiddle with time and soul.

He was even stronger than the Venerated Skeleton and the Rotten Man.

Among the only three deities who did not rely on the Book of Truth to attain deityhood, the Venerated Skeleton and the Rotten Man were still incomplete. The Venerated Skeleton was already considered a deity to some extent, but he was missing half of the truth. Likewise, the Rotten Man could only be regarded as a half-deity.

The Man in the Mirror Michelangelo was the first deity in the true sense who did not rely on the Book of Truth and was a perfect deity.

Not only was the ritual complete and perfect, but his ritual was also sealed in the distant past. Therefore, those who wanted to ruin the ritual would have to travel to the past.

At the same time, the Man in the Mirror had the total grasp of the authority to travel back to the past in his hands.

The only difference between using the Book of Truth and ritual was that the Book of Truth existed in the body and was integrated into the soul. On the other hand, the ritual that existed outside the body was limited to a certain region.

As long as the ritual was destroyed, the related false deity would fall.

For example, the Venerated Skeleton’s ritual area was the skeleton buried in the Elegy Dukedom. As long as these skeletons were dug up and reburied, the Venerated Skeleton would lose its power and fall directly.

In this aspect, the Rotten Man was better off than the Venerated Skeleton.

His ritual was not completed yet. Thus, his power was far lesser than that of a typical deity. Even the saint who inherited the sacred bone could confront him.

However, it was hard to seek him out.

After the Man in the Mirror had accumulated a period of newly acquired truth, he might be able to ascend directly to a higher position than the Venerated Skeleton and the Rotten Man.

However, that was not the case for Bernardino.

There was no trace of this man in Nicholas II’s inherited memory. He had never heard of this person.

Originally, Nicholas II thought that this was because Bernardino was not strong and acted in a low-key manner, so Nicholas had no knowledge of him.

But now, after Bernardino’s spiritual body was restored, Nicholas II felt a distinct pressure emitting from him.

It was an entirely different power level compared to when Bernardino’s soul was incomplete.

The previous state was probably accumulating power or performing a seal on himself.

At this moment, it was definitely a life-threatening level of pressure on Nicholas.

This not only made Nicholas II doubt his memory if something went wrong.

In fact, Nicholas traveled the world for more than 100 years.

How can I have never heard of such a strong Gold Rank transcender?

Or did Nicholas deliberately erase all memory related to Bernardino?

Is it because “Father” doesn’t want procreation with Bernardino?

“If you agree, I’ll tell you the secrets about your father and your background.” Bernardino had a mysterious, gentle smile on his face.

He said slowly, “It’s something you don’t know and can’t recall.

“I swear. If you don’t know about this, you’ll regret it one day.”

“Then, if I know about this, will I still not regret it?” Nicholas II asked rhetorically. The old man just smiled and said nothing.

The suave, white-haired youth stared at the old man’s spirit body, thinking quietly and silently.

Perhaps, this is a trap.

Maybe Nicholas didn’t want me to know this man.

Maybe, that’s why…

I want to…

“I can agree to that.” Nicholas II replied, “But one of the ingredients of Hermetic Sage’s Stone is the fresh marrow of a wizard. It is not an easy-to-get material.”

Nicholas II was aware that this might stir up a massive turmoil, and even Father Stone might find out about it. Worse still, it could be Father Stone releasing his soul to lure Bernardino into a trap.

But he had a clear intuition in his heart.

If I refuse him, I will definitely regret it.

“It doesn’t matter.” Bernardino said slowly, “While we’re at it, before you tell me the recipe, I will pay you a friendly deposit. You can also use it as a gift.

“[How many Nicholas are there?].” The corner of the old man’s mouth rose slightly, “You better think about this matter.

“Think with your heart, Nicholas.”

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