Chapter 601 - Confused Heart (IX) (1/2)

As everything had happened in the mental world, no one was hurt physically. However, their minds were drained extensively—especially Lize’s. After experiencing that many stimulations in the mental world, her consciousness almost couldn’t hang on any longer. The threats surrounding Emerald Valley appeared to have vanished after the elimination of the Mind Devil. Rhode wasn’t in a hurry to continue their journey and he brought Anne and Lize back to Blackberry Town for the time being.

Anne was seemingly obedient of Rhode’s advice. He told her not to take the fake Lizes’ words to heart and she threw the troubling matters to the back of her head. She looked after Lize along their way back as though nothing had changed. On the contrary, Lize was having a tough time responding to her concerns. Even though it wasn’t her actual self in the mental world, it was still part of her consciousness. It felt as though a drunk blabbered bravely and after he sobered up, he couldn’t wait to hide in a hole after realizing the embarrassing things that he had said. The situation was the same for Lize now. Although Anne believed that it was the monster’s fault, Lize knew it was otherwise. However, she was at a loss in responding to Anne’s genuine comforts, and it was almost as painful as when she was interrogated in the mental world.

Rhode watched from the side and let out an inward laugh. No matter what, the main cause of this situation was that Lize disobeyed his orders and came to Emerald Valley. Therefore, she deserved a small punishment and since she currently wasn’t fit for ‘physical punishment’, it was best to let her reflect upon herself using this ’emotional torture’.

After returning to Blackberry Town, Rhode made Anne and Lize return to their room, while he informed the inn owner about the situation in Emerald Valley. The inn owner was delighted that the troubles had been eliminated. He received Rhode passionately and sent out men to check on the place. However, Rhode didn’t accept the inn owner’s cordial reception because he had something more important to attend to.

And that was to check on the spoils of war.

After leaving the mental world, Rhode received the corresponding system prompt for the mission accomplishment. After the Frozen Lake battle, Rhode had reached level 43. As his level increased, the EXP requirement for the next level also increased. Moreover, he had often led his team to accomplish lower-level missions in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices of men, which led to him receiving insignificant EXP. Although the completion of this mission only increased his level by one, the additional EXP from defeating the Mind Devil was rather rewarding. In the end, he increased his level by two and reached level 45.

Got to say, the Mind Devil was really ‘useful’, apart from its annoying and lethal mental attack. If Rhode was immune to its mental attack, this monster would be nothing more than a level 30 BOSS, which was the best EXP grinding tool for players. Rhode would surely grind out the Mind Devil’s nest by himself for up to five days if it existed and perhaps he might even break through level 60 and transcend into the Legendary Stage.

But it was a pity that the Mind Devil’s nest didn’t exist.

However, Rhode wasn’t concerned about these small details at the moment. He extended his arm and two black cards emerged in his palm. They were the ‘presents’ that Celestina had given him. They had the same black background and red borders as Celestina’s card. However, the pattern was totally different. One of them had a massive steel coffin and it appeared to be a medieval torture instrument. Its cover was opened to the left and right sides and revealed densely packed razor-sharp thorns within. Rhode turned the card around and a line of system prompt emerged before him.

[Received the Seven Sins Deck 1/7. Artifact Card. Spell Card — Lustful Maiden]

[Lustful Maiden (Artifact Card Attribute): Use on one target. Infusible. Mental Elemental Attribute. Seven Sins Materialize. Holder can specify an individual target and summon the Lustful Maiden to restrain and extract the target’s spiritual powers. Inescapable. Unavoidable. Can be dispelled]

[Extraction of Greed: Nothing can compare to the craving for greed (Extracts spiritual powers)]

[Fearlessness: Endless desires do not require restraint and reasons (Ignores level and defense. Unlimited duration)]

[Self-Destruction Tendency: Any attempt to recapture will be deemed as suicide (Automatically explodes when dispelled. AOE Spiritual Attribute Attack. Power is based on the value of the spiritual powers extracted)]

[Undaunted By Dangers: The greediest snake can’t swallow an entire elephant (When the target’s level surpasses the holder’s, the dispelling effect will deal equal damage to the holder)]

Rhode blew a whistle. He scrutinized the card in his hand, at the same time looking at the tightly shut door subconsciously. He realized that this card was summoned by Celestina using Lize’s personality fragments. But… Rhode fell into deep thoughts.