Night Ranger
chapter-262

The Book of Nalu… Despite it being just a thin page, it contained endless power.

Soul Strip was only one of the most easily controlled Taboo Skills contained within it.

However, this power was very dangerous.

If he hadn’t been angered, Marvin wouldn’t have wanted to use this taboo ability.

The word taboo represented a lot of things in itself.

The Soul Strip ritual captured Raven as its servant through its powerful ability to influence the mind.

And Marvin, as the owner of the 6th page, became Raven’s master.

But this captivity had a price: Marvin also had to endure a powerful wave of attacks on his will.

If Marvin didn’t resist the attacks, he would also become the Book of Nalu’s servant.

Marvin assessed that with his own willpower, he should be able to control two servants at most.

Madeline was considered as one, and Raven was the second.

The Dark Elf was already one of the candidates Marvin was thinking about.

The race’s innate willpower was low, and they were easily enticed by their ambitions, unable to restrain their desires. Dark Elven society was very promiscuous, so using the Book of Nalu to control a Dark Elf was a lot easier.

Raven had quite a lot of willpower compared to the typical Dark Elf.

Marvin felt a burst of pain in his brain from time to time.

This was a sign that he used too much spirit power.

This meant that Marvin had used huge amounts of effort in the willpower checks.

‘Originally, I planned to use the Book of Nalu to control you as a last measure.’

‘But you killed Hera and drew a team of Dark Elven scouts here, so I can only do it like this,’ Marvin thought silently.

...

He and Hera were only in an ordinary business deal. Marvin didn’t feel anything special toward her.

But she was a mother of a child.

In order to give a better future for her child, she had silently suffered.

Marvin could tell that this person who was once a noble lady had kept working hard in a dangerous town like Lion for her child’s future.

She firmly decided to sacrifice herself to let Marvin escape with her child, to not become Raven’s bargaining chip.

She didn’t even hesitate.

This kind of feeling moved Marvin.

A mother is always willing to do everything for their children.

And in fact, Raven didn’t do anything wrong, only wanting her freedom.

But she also hadn’t expected that Hera would make this kind of choice to protect her child.

And now, how could Marvin fail to live up to her expectations?

He had to safely escort lil’ Guy to Hope City!

Outside the windmill, the footsteps became clearer.

This was a standard Dark Elven scouting team.

Normally, most of the Dark Elves should still be attacking Lion. This team clearly had only come so quickly because of the signal Raven sent.

"You made a mess, so clean it up," said Marvin coldly.

He gave Raven an antidote.

The numbing effect would disappear in less than half a minute.

"Kill them."

This was Marvin’s order.

She took the dagger Marvin gave her as the God of Deception’s rune flashed in her eyes, and calmly left.

...

"Lil’ Guy…"

"Your mother already died. We have to quickly leave this place, okay?" Marvin soothed him as much as possible.

Suddenly, the little boy who had been silently hugging his mother’s dead body started weeping.

This was the first time Marvin saw him cry.

Even when caught by the Azmyth, this 4 year old boy didn’t cry.

But he was now crying his heart out.

He wept in a very peculiar way. The sounds he emitted were very low, but he was taking huge breath in and out, like some kind of frightening monster!

What shocked Marvin was that lil’ Guy’s tears were faintly cyan colored!

‘Am I wrong? Is it because of the darkness?’

Marvin rubbed his eyes.

But what he saw next left him dumbstruck!

As lil’ Guy wept, his body slowly began to swell up.

His original clothes were already lacking, and due to his bones growing, they ruptured.

In an instant, he turned from a 4 year old kid to a teenager!

His youth and inexperience could still be seen in his face, but his body had already grown up.

It happened in mere seconds.

It was really too exaggerated!

If not for the fact that Marvin didn’t notice any traces of [Shapeshift], he would have thought that this was the result of a spell.

But there wasn’t the energy of a skill, nor any sign of a spell!

It was a pure natural feeling.

‘This is… Bloodline power?’

Marvin felt something wrong.

At that time, lil’ Guy gently wiped his tears.

He once again regained a calm expression.

"When I was young, Mommy told me: – Lil’ Guy, you must not cry. –"

"In fact, not only I must not cry, I must not smile."

"Some things, I don’t need to learn them. I just feel a lot of knowledge enter my brain…"

"Sir Robin, let’s go."

He slowly stood up, his expression full of sadness, but also full of resolve.

This kid was actually able to control his state of mind that well?

Marvin dazedly stared at the transformed lil’ Guy. He knew this face!

‘Hold on… Wasn’t he the most famous person in Rocky Mountain after the Three Sisters in the period after the Calamity? [Wind Knight] O’Benson.

Marvin suddenly realized.

Wind Knight O’Benson’s family name was Hera.

...

Wind Knight.

In the game, he was another legendary figure in the Rocky Mountain, aside from the three sisters.

That powerhouse wasn’t most famous for repeatedly protecting Hope City.

Or for the fact that not a single god’s avatar he fought survived his winds.

Rather, it was because of his face.

O’Benson was actually very handsome, but for some reason he never smiled, and no one ever saw him cry.

Afterwards, an expert did a hidden quest from the Wind Knight and the truth came out:

– O’Benson had a special bloodline. –

He was a descendant of some Overlord in the North, and that Overlord also seemed to have some mysterious racial bloodline, like the Hammons. They had a type of curse, but it only passed onto the males.

They couldn’t have any kind of change in mood.

They couldn’t cry, and they couldn’t smile.

If they smiled or cried once, it was equivalent to passing ten years of their life!

This was a very frightening curse, and made this clan’s men forever unable to show emotions.

Lil’ Guy had been trained by Hera to control his mood, and had never gone out of control before.

But faced with his mother’s death, he couldn’t control himself.

He cried, and lost ten years. His body grew a lot taller, and his intelligence also increased, along with his bloodline strength. In that split second, he grew to be a 14-15 year old youth.

In other words, lil’ Guy was now about the same age as Marvin.

This was a strange experience. People who had never experienced it wouldn’t be able to know how it felt.

And Wind Knight O’Benson originally was someone bad with words.

Apart from the downsides, the curse granted powerful abilities. They could control wind and have good relations with any lifeform related to wind.

For example, the [Asperi], also known as Wind Steeds, which lived in the Roland Highlands, and Air Elementals.

That was the origin of the name Wind Knight.

In the past, Marvin wasn’t very familiar with the Wind Knight. He only knew a bit about his background. His mother died to the Dark Races. He’d once talked about his first love, but that girl made him smile for the first time and then made him cry once again. He thus lost another 20 years of life.

These clansmen typically only lived about 50 years.

...

‘Seems like even if I didn’t get involved, Hera would have also died from the Underdark’s denizens.’

‘As for lil’ Guy, he would have survived.’

He gently got up and patted lil’ Guy’s shoulder. "Let’s go."

He then took out the Thousand Paper Crane and put Hera’s body inside.

This action surprised lil’ Guy, but he still trusted Marvin.

After all, this middle-aged man Robin had faced a huge risk to get him back from the Azmyth’s hands.

And his mother also entrusted himself to him.

He should be worth trusting.

The two lightly walked to the windmill’s back door.

Outside, the sounds of slaughter were gradually coming to an end.

Marvin gently opened the door. The Azmyths in the sky were already gone. They had probably been exhausted by flying and returned to Lion Town to reintegrate with the forces.

And many more monsters from the Underdark should have already completely sealed off Lion Town from Hope City.

Raven was panting roughly, and her two daggers were dripping with blood.

Six Dark Elves’ bodies were messily laying on the ground.

An elite captain’s strength really was outstanding.

Moreover, these Dark Elves would have never thought that the candidate to be the next Matriarch would suddenly attack her own subordinates!

"Master, I already accomplished your order."

A flattering expression flashed through her eyes.

But her body was somewhat stiff.

Marvin frowned.

At that time, he once again felt a burst of pain in his mind.

Clearly, Raven was still resisting. But the Book of Nalu’s power was too great and forcefully suppressed her.

In any case, Marvin still successfully controlled her.

Then, he gave her another order, having her wander around Hope City by herself.

From what Raven had said, breaking through the blockade wouldn’t be that easy.

When Marvin needed her, he would naturally call her through the Book of Nalu.

Raven left.

Marvin brought lil’ Guy and they proceeded to break out toward Hope City!

It was unfortunate that the Thousand Paper Crane couldn’t be used to hold a living person, because breaking through the blockade alone would be a piece of cake for Marvin.

Many groups of monsters could be seen ahead.

Marvin led lil’ Guy to try to bypass them.