Chapter 525: A Gift, the Multi-colored Umbrella

Chapter 525: Chapter 525: A Gift, the Multi-colored Umbrella

Seraphina Sullivan smiled.

It was a faint smile, but a genuine one.

She had heard everyone’s thoughts.

She understood their support.

"Alright," she said. "Then we’ll split up."

"We’ll strive to find enough partners before this survival mission ends."

"And then—"

Her gaze sharpened.

"We’ll slaughter those five bastards, one by one."

They had made it this far, bolstered by the power-ups from countless event instances.

Brandon Barton and the others hadn’t been idle during this time either.

They had been searching for other Players on the outskirts of the Demonic Forest while constantly fighting and growing stronger.

The ever-present Demonic Creatures and the constant threat of danger had become the perfect whetstone to sharpen their skills.

When Seraphina saw them again, she could clearly sense a change.

Brandon Barton’s Aura was more condensed, and his every move carried an oppressive weight.

Heath Summers’s Ability as the Child of Weather had also grown terrifying. It was no longer child’s play.

Vincent Sharp’s Protective Shield was thicker, and one could faintly see Energy flowing across its surface.

"Level?" Seraphina asked.

Brandon Barton smiled. "Level 4."

Seraphina nodded.

Level 4 was already considered the upper tier in this instance.

Combined with their respective Abilities and combat experience, they truly had what it took to fight an Ancestral Witch.

Although she herself had been busy with healing, she hadn’t slacked off either.

Her Level hadn’t increased, but she had become much more adept at using her Nurse Profession, and the Effect of her Medical Soothing had grown stronger.

"It’s about time," Seraphina said. "We can’t wait any longer."

She looked at Sean Chandler.

Sean Chandler nodded silently.

The two of them prepared to set out.

Their destination: the depths of the Demonic Forest, the lair of the Blood Ancestor.

"Wait."

Just as the two were about to leave the settlement, an old voice called out from behind them.

Rosa, leaning on a staff, walked towards them unsteadily.

Her steps were slow, but each one was steady.

When she reached Sean Chandler, she looked up, a complex light glinting in her cloudy eyes.

Something seemed hidden behind her eyes, yet she clung to the thought that doing this would one day save her world.

"Child."

she said softly, then slowly raised the scepter in her hand—

the Demon God’s Pillar.

"Take this."

Sean Chandler froze for a moment, looking at Seraphina Sullivan.

Seraphina gave him a slight nod.

Sean Chandler reached out and took the scepter.

The instant his fingers touched the staff’s shaft—

a sudden change occurred!

The Demon God’s Pillar erupted with a blinding blue light!

The light, like a living thing, spread rapidly up Sean Chandler’s arm, enveloping his entire body in the blink of an eye.

Sean Chandler’s body stiffened. He tried to let go, but found his fingers wouldn’t move.

"Don’t move," Rosa’s voice came, calm and certain. "It is choosing you."

The blue light grew more intense, brighter and brighter, before suddenly contracting—

and transforming into a stream of light that shot straight into Sean Chandler’s forehead!

The next second, a forehead ornament appeared between his brows.

The ornament was pure silver, with a thumbnail-sized Blue Crystal Stone set in the center. A faint light seemed to flow within the stone.

It rested against Sean Chandler’s forehead as if it had been there since birth.

Sean Chandler raised a hand to touch it, his eyes filled with shock.

"This—"

Rosa looked at him, tears welling up in her cloudy eyes.

"Just as I thought..." Her voice trembled. "It chose you."

She slowly approached, reached out, and gently touched the forehead ornament.

The gesture was as gentle as caressing a baby’s cheek, or perhaps touching a distant memory.

"Did you know?" she said softly. "This scepter has never acknowledged anyone before. I’ve held it for so many years, yet it has always been just an ordinary scepter."

"But now..."

She looked up at Sean Chandler, and it was as if she saw another person in his place.

"It chose you."

Sean Chandler remained silent, feeling the Power flowing from the forehead ornament.

It was a strange sensation—as if something was awakening within him, or as if some long-dormant power had finally found a vessel to inhabit.

His body began to heat up, his muscles swelled slightly, and the instinct for Beastification roared within him. But this time, the roar wasn’t a wild impulse, but something more like... a resonance?

"I can feel it..." he said in a low voice. "The Power is getting stronger."

Rosa smiled, a smile filled with both relief and sorrow.

"Go," she said. "Take it, and go kill that bastard."

Sean Chandler looked at her, silent for a few seconds, then nodded solemnly.

After leaving the settlement, Seraphina walked in front with Sean Chandler following behind her.

She didn’t look back, but her voice drifted over to him.

"How does it feel?"

Sean Chandler touched the ornament on his forehead and mused, "Very strong. And... it feels familiar."

"Familiar?"

"Yeah." Sean Chandler thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "It’s like... meeting one of my own kind. But not quite. It feels much more... ancient than I expected?"

Seraphina nodded, not pressing further.

She’d had a faint feeling about this from the start.

Sean Chandler seemed to be different in this instance.

Not because of his strength or his personality, but something deeper.

He was the Beloved of the God of Magical Beasts.

And between the God of Magical Beasts and the Demon God—

’Perhaps there is some connection?’

The two continued deeper into the Demonic Forest.

Strangely, however, they encountered almost no demonic monsters along the way.

The vines that had once frantically attacked any living thing, the demonic beasts lurking in the shadows, the dangers that could appear at any moment—all of them had vanished.

The forest was eerily quiet.

Seraphina stopped and looked back at Matthew Dawson at the rear of the group.

Matthew Dawson was holding a brightly colored umbrella, its canopy shimmering with a strange luster in the sunlight filtering through the trees.

[Multi-colored Umbrella], an item he’d gotten from a Treasure Chest event.

Effect: When opened, everyone within a three-meter radius is sheltered and cannot be detected by any Demonic Creatures.

This was also how Matthew Dawson had managed to survive in the instance on his own before.

"The Effect is pretty good," Seraphina said.

Matthew Dawson chuckled. "Of course. When I first got it, I thought it was useless. I never expected it to be a Divine Artifact in this instance."

Paul Payne was beside him, holding a strangely shaped telescope and vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

This was his item—[Eye of the Scout], which could see things far away and even faintly sense a target’s Energy intensity.

"Sullivan!" Paul Payne suddenly called out in a low voice. "There’s a big one about a kilometer ahead!"

Seraphina immediately grew alert. "What’s the situation?"

Paul Payne handed her the telescope. "See for yourself."

Seraphina took the telescope and looked in the direction Paul Payne was pointing.

Through the lens, a huge figure was moving slowly in the distant forest.

It was a snake.

An absurdly large snake.

It was coiled atop a small hill, its body as thick as the trunk of a century-old tree and at least thirty to forty meters long. Sunlight reflected off its scales with a cold, eerie gleam.

Its eyes were closed, as if it were resting, but even so, a terrifying sense of pressure radiated from it, palpable even through the telescope.