Chapter 28: The Alchemist's Fall
Jack Harper shook his head. Even with his Cosmo surging at thirtyfold intensity, he hadn't managed to inflict any real damage on the green giant. The creature's physical resilience was monstrous—and to make matters worse, he wielded refined magic with the precision of a prodigy.
But Jack wasn't backing down. He lunged forward just as the giant swung a punch. Their fists collided with a thunderous crack, sending Jack skidding dozens of meters across the ground.
Relief flickered in Jack's eyes. The feared internal damage from the Seven Wounds Fist hadn't pierced his Saint Cloth. The armor had absorbed the impact completely. That was the difference between a Saint Cloth and ordinary gear—it wasn't just protection; it had a will of its own.
Lady of the Night darted in. This time, she got close enough to strike. Blood-red claws extended from her fingertips, raking across Jack's armor. Though they couldn't pierce it, they sent his blood surging—she was manipulating his bloodstream.
"Again!" Jack roared. He knew this was his moment. If he didn't finish the fight now, the Alchemist would fortify the battlefield with magic, and the tide would turn. Even without reinforcements from Dark Oath, the situation would become ten times harder.
His Cosmo flared—thirtyfold. He launched a barrage of punches at the Alchemist.
This time, everything changed.
The sudden burst of power sent Jack's fists past the sound barrier. Hundreds of supersonic strikes rained down, cracking joints and freezing flesh. Half of the green giant's body was encased in ice. He was hurled backward like a catapulted boulder—straight into one of his own magic traps.
The trap had been reinforced to contain Jack Harper, but it wasn't designed to absorb the impact of a six-meter-tall body crashing into it. Lightning flared, runes shattered, and the array cracked like an eggshell.
Jack didn't hesitate. He swung his axe to drive Lady of the Night back, then surged forward to finish the Alchemist.
Blue-glowing fists churned the air, not striking directly but stirring the atmosphere into chaos. A storm erupted—howling winds, swirling frost, and a blizzard of snow.
From the force of his blow, a massive black-blue tornado erupted from the earth, stretching hundreds of meters into the sky, nearly touching the clouds. It swept up the green giant, along with trees, soil, and debris, into the heavens.
This was a refined version of Cygnus Hyoga's "Cold Tornado"—a high-level ice technique. It didn't just unleash frost; it compressed heat from the surrounding air into the lower atmosphere, then released it in a violent updraft. Combined with supersonic punches and the inertia of rising heat, it created a spiraling column of destruction. The force was enough to lift a hundred-ton warship into the sky—and freeze anything caught inside.
The green giant was hurled high, then slammed down like a meteor. The impact echoed with a bone-rattling thud—the kind of sound that made you wince just hearing it.
"Raaaarghhhhhh—!"
The Alchemist's vitality was beyond monstrous. He'd taken damage that would've killed most beings ten times over. His body was riddled with dozens of ice-crater wounds, half of him frozen solid. The Cold Tornado had stripped away layers of flesh, leaving him looking like a prisoner flayed alive.
And yet… he was still moving.
Groaning, howling, he clawed his way upright. His body—if it could still be called that—was healing at a visible rate. Skin regrew. Muscles reknit. Even bone reformed beneath the surface.
"Hah… hah… that was close. You nearly killed me," he gasped. "I remember Lady of the Night said your codename is Rime? You live up to it."
He coughed, then added, "Too bad. If my mutated Hulk bloodline had triggered properly, my rage would've multiplied my strength several times over. I could've crushed you head-on. But maybe it's better this way—I don't want to lose myself to fury. Now, let me show you why they call me the Alchemist. Sixfold Composite Alchemy Array—activate!"
In truth, he'd already triggered the spell. When he crashed into the trap, he'd landed inside the remaining six magic arrays he'd set earlier. Originally meant to capture Jack Harper, they hadn't activated because Jack had sent his Saint Cloth decoy into the first trap. But now, with both of them inside the array's range, the Alchemist didn't hesitate—he activated all six at once.
These weren't ordinary traps. Magic arrays were made of runes and symbols, fully under the caster's control. They didn't misfire, and they could shift shape and combine at will.
To counter Jack's Saint-level power, the Alchemist fused all six arrays into a single reinforced prison.
Jack watched the green giant manipulate the array with delicate precision—like embroidery, despite his massive hands—and chuckled coldly.
"You're still an Alchemist at heart. But you seem to have forgotten something: you're inside the array too."
"I'm the array's master. To maximize its power, I have to stay at the center. But this is also the safest spot. I can isolate myself from you. Harming me will be harder than escaping," the Alchemist said confidently. Then he turned to Lady of the Night. "Stop wasting time. Without Elise's healing, neither of us is built for direct combat. We can't kill him. Go contact the boss. Only he can finish this."
Lady of the Night was about to nod when Jack Harper laughed.
"You think you've got me locked down? Let me test that theory."
He extended his right hand. His battle axe, Sorrow of the Shadow, lying inside the array, flew back into his grip as if pulled by invisible strings.
He stepped forward, standing before the energy barrier that protected the Alchemist and the array's core.
Pure, malevolent frost surged into the axe. Though a replica, Sorrow of the Shadow was forged with the Lich King's dark power—and designed to destroy it. That same power now resonated with Jack's mutated ice energy, transforming the axe into a gleaming sapphire weapon, radiant and deadly.
To channel Cosmo at thirtyfold and still pour energy into a weapon—that was something Jack could only do after absorbing the Awakened Beings' frost energy.
Extreme Frost Infusion. Supersonic. Windcleaver Axe.
To the naked eye, Jack didn't move. He simply stood there, axe in hand. But the air twisted violently, and the deafening roar of rupturing space filled the valley.
The barrier between Jack and the Alchemist—layered, reinforced, and arcane—twisted, cracked, and finally shattered into nothing.
The Alchemist stared in disbelief. "Saints… aren't supposed to use weapons."
Then the six-meter-tall giant split cleanly down the middle. No blood spilled—his green ichor froze instantly. His body turned to ice and collapsed in two solid chunks.
The core of the array shattered with him.
Jack's Windcleaver Axe had only delivered eight strikes. But with the boost from his weapon and Cosmo, each blow carried dozens of times its usual force. When all eight landed on the same spot, even a pure energy array couldn't hold.
The death of the Alchemist—an elite Silver-ranked adventurer—shattered Lady of the Night's will. No matter how much she hated Jack, she couldn't stay. With a shriek, she burst into hundreds of bats and fled in every direction. Jack couldn't even chase her.
He simply smiled, then let his axe fall to the ground with a heavy clang. Slowly, he deactivated his Dark Gold Saint Cloth.
Beneath the armor, his right hand was a mangled mess—bloodied, torn, bone jutting through the skin.
"Guess I overestimated my body's limits. No wonder Saints fight barehanded. Swinging a supersonic heavy weapon hurts the wielder more than the target."
Jack used the self-healing techniques he'd learned on Death Queen Island to reset the broken bones, then sealed the wound with frost. Unlike Claymores, he couldn't regrow limbs—but for him, ice was life. Freezing the wound didn't damage his body—it acted like a healing salve. In two days, he'd be fine.
Once he'd treated the injury, Jack finally checked his rewards.
Jack opened his Samsara Book. New entries glowed across the page:
Battle Record: Adventurer Jack Harper (Upper Iron Rank) defeated elite adventurer Elise Montgomery (Upper Bronze Rank). Reward: 70% of target's survival points, one random card from target's Samsara Book, one random ability from target. Battle Rating +1.
Jack Harper (Lower Bronze Rank) gained 2,331 survival points. Obtained Bronze Mid-tier Skill Card: Healing Spell (from World of Warcraft). Obtained Bronze Mid-tier Item Card: Space Pouch (from World of Warcraft).
Battle Record: Adventurer Jack Harper (Lower Bronze Rank) defeated elite adventurer Li Chunguang (Lower Silver Rank). Reward: 70% of target's survival points, one random card from target's Samsara Book, one random ability from target. Battle Rating +1.
Jack Harper (Mid Bronze Rank) gained 4,235 survival points. Obtained Silver Mid-tier Knowledge Card: Advanced Alchemy (from Fullmetal Alchemist). Obtained Silver Lower-tier Item Card: Philosopher's Stone (0.1ml) (from Fullmetal Alchemist).
Two kills, both against higher-ranked foes. Jack's battle rating jumped two levels—he was now a Mid Bronze adventurer.
A new message appeared:
"Adventurer Jack Harper has advanced to Bronze Rank. You now have the right to form an independent adventuring party."
Then came the caveat:
"Due to the 'Styx Blood Vow' curse targeting hostile individuals, Jack Harper cannot initiate team missions until the curse is lifted."
Jack sighed and turned to his newly acquired cards.
The Healing Spell card was a rare gem—channeling holy light to mend wounds. In a world as deadly as Samsara, it was invaluable. Initially, it granted Lesser Healing, with stronger variants like Healing, Greater Healing, and Flash Heal unlocked through practice or heavy investment of survival points.
But when Jack tried to activate it, a system prompt appeared:
"Lack of faith. Unable to acquire this ability."
He cursed. It was the first time he realized that some abilities required personal traits—not just power.
The Space Pouch was more practical. It contained twenty compartments, each capable of storing items smaller than one cubic meter. The pouch itself could be stored as a card in the Samsara Book. Jack was pleased—he wouldn't have to lug around his massive battle axe anymore.
As for the Advanced Alchemy and Philosopher's Stone, Jack already had a plan.
"At least I managed to kill two of them. The healer and the strategist-slash-mage are gone. That's half their strength," Jack said as he returned to the inn and recounted the battle to Elliot Gray.
Then he tossed the two cards to Elliot. "As promised—if your plan worked, we split the loot. The healer's spell and the pouch are mine. These are yours."
Elliot accepted them with a smile. "We agreed to split evenly, but this division clearly favors me. You even used the Twilight Eyes to free me from the blood bat's control—you saved my life."
Jack shrugged. "We each got what we needed. Without your plan turning their ambush into a counterattack, I wouldn't have taken out the healer first. Without that, they'd have used her to control the battlefield and grind me down. I'd be dead. So no—you don't owe me. And I need your help again. They've seen most of my trump cards. Next time we fight, the outcome is uncertain. I need to be twice as careful."
Elliot raised an eyebrow. "You're willing to trade a Silver-tier item for help that might not even work?"
Jack held up a finger. "First, I've already developed my own combat style. I'm not planning to switch paths. Pure knowledge-based classes don't suit me—but they suit you. Second, I'm not just asking for help this time. I want you to join my team."
"Oh? You've figured out how to form a party?" Elliot perked up.
Jack explained the Samsara Book's update. Elliot nodded and smiled. "Temporarily unable to form a party? That's actually good news."
"How so?"
"The curse locks you into conflict with Dark Oath. If you could recruit teammates, they'd be dragged into the curse's vendetta—even though they weren't part of the original conflict. That would make the curse harder to resolve. But since the system blocks party formation, it's likely that outside interference is restricted on both sides. That means they probably can't call in reinforcements either."
Jack's eyes lit up. "I was worried that if I failed to kill them this time, they'd bring in stronger allies—maybe Silver or even Gold-ranked fighters. I'd be doomed. But if the system prevents outside help, then it's a fair fight."
"Exactly. But that only stops things from getting worse. You still have three enemies left. Their leader seems to be a martial artist, but we don't know his style. That guy named Goldflash—I have some guesses, but not enough to gauge his strength. And Lady of the Night… she didn't show much this time, but I suspect her real power is hidden. Her role in the team doesn't match her apparent strength."
Elliot frowned. "We don't have enough intel to craft a counter-strategy. And time's short—the Northern War breaks out in a few days. No time to probe their abilities. That leaves one option: strengthen you, and let stability counter uncertainty."
"But how am I supposed to get stronger?" Jack asked, frustrated.
Elliot smiled. "If I'm right, there's a way. But it depends on the specifics. For now, I need to absorb the Alchemy Knowledge. The card contains a massive amount of information—it'll take time to process. While I'm doing that, you need to handle one thing."
"What?"
"Bring back the Alchemist's corpse before they do."
"What? That guy's six meters tall!" Jack hesitated, picturing the body the size of a van.
"Cut it up. Use your Space Pouch to carry it."
Elliot's tone was disturbingly casual—like he was discussing how to pack groceries.
Jack, urged by Elliot, mounted his Death Steed and rode back to the battlefield.
Over an hour later, he returned to find Elliot still immersed in the card's knowledge. Jack didn't interrupt—he knew better.
The card's description warned: the knowledge was vast. If the user was interrupted or passed out from overload, they'd lose access to parts of it. Though fragments would remain in the brain, retrieving them would be ten times harder. The original Alchemist had only lasted a third of the process before fainting—his alchemy had always been flawed.
Jack waited seven or eight hours. Finally, at dusk, the thin youth on the bed exhaled and opened his eyes.
"That was insane. If this were books, I'd need a thousand years to read it all. I love swimming in the sea of knowledge—but this time, someone dumped the entire ocean into my brain," Elliot wiped the sweat from his brow.
He shook his head, grabbed a water jug, and drank nearly the whole thing before calming down.
Then he turned to Jack. "Where's the body?"
Jack tossed the frost-marked Space Pouch to him. "Right here."
The poor Alchemist—split in half during battle, then chopped into pieces postmortem—was now stuffed into a palm-sized cloth pouch, tossed around like luggage. And the ones who dismembered him were now planning to desecrate him further.
"I remember you said your supersonic axe strikes multiply your power—but your body can't handle the strain. That's what limits you," Elliot said, laying out the frozen green chunks in a forest clearing. "The Hulk fights purely with his body. In the Marvel universe, his durability is second only to Superman. This Alchemist's bloodline isn't pure, but if I use alchemy to extract the Hulk's life essence, I might be able to reinforce your body—so you can unleash your full power."
Jack hadn't expected that. "You can do that? What if someone else has a bloodline—can you extract theirs too?"
"Only if the body's dead but the cells are still alive," Elliot shook his head. "Hulk's cells are unique. Even separated from the body, a single cell can replicate endlessly. The character was inspired by environmentalism—he's nature's rage against human destruction. He doesn't age or die. I can still sense life in these frozen chunks. Only this kind of material works for my memory's life transmutation technique."
He touched his Twilight Eyes earring. Streams of mental energy flowed out, carving a massive alchemy array into the ground—over a hundred meters wide.
Elliot directed Jack to place the corpse pieces in specific spots. Then he pulled out a tiny glass vial containing half a drop of crimson liquid.
"The Philosopher's Stone—the pinnacle of alchemy. It creates light from darkness, hope from despair, and life from death. In simple terms, it's an alchemical amplifier. It allows the alchemist to bypass the laws of equivalent exchange and natural limits, letting them transmute anything they desire," Elliot continued, eyes fixed on the glowing red liquid. "Alchemy has two taboos: one is creating humans from ordinary elements—human transmutation. The other is the reverse—using human lives to forge a Philosopher's Stone. Fortunately, what I'm doing isn't that extreme. And with the Stone's help, our chances of success are high."
Jack raised a hand. "Wait—I don't really understand all that, but I need to make one thing clear. Don't turn me into some kind of Hulk. My Dark Gold Saint Cloth can auto-adjust its size, but only to a limit. If I grow taller than three meters, I won't be able to wear it."
Elliot chuckled. "Relax. I'm not extracting the Hulk's genetic enhancer. What I want is a byproduct of Philosopher's Stone research—Water of Life."
He placed both hands on the transmutation array, focused his mind, and whispered, "Reverse Life Transmutation Array—activate."
Crackle-crackle-crackle—BOOOOM—
Purple-gold lightning danced across the massive array. Symbols shimmered, lines twisted like living veins. Ten minutes passed before a final thunderclap signaled completion.
As the smoke cleared, the green corpse chunks had shrunk to human size and turned pale white. Above the array, hundreds of tiny green crystalline grains floated in the air. With a gesture, Elliot summoned them into his glass vial. The thumb-sized bottle was now half full.
"That's all we got?" Jack blinked.
Elliot rolled his eyes. "True life essence isn't measured by volume. Each grain contains ten times the vitality of a normal human. If the Hulk's cells hadn't resisted so fiercely, we'd have gotten less than a quarter of this."
"Wait—wasn't it called Water of Life? Why is it sand?"
"Don't be ignorant. The Philosopher's Stone can be liquid too. In alchemy, form doesn't matter," Elliot said, then began drawing a smaller array. "Alright, your turn. Step inside."
"What?" Jack looked stunned.
"How else am I going to infuse this into you?"
"Can't I just drink it or inject it?"
"Of course not. What are you thinking?"
"No, it's just… when you said 'your turn,' I got a little nervous."
"I don't care about your nerves. Get in."
"Maybe we should wait. It's getting dark…"
"Get in!" A flash of light from Twilight Eyes shoved Jack into the array.
Without another word, Elliot poured the green crystalline grains into the array and activated it: "Water of Life—Human Body Transmutation!"
Crackle-crackle-crackle—
Jack was lucky. He emerged intact.
At first, his eyes glowed faint green, but as he stepped out, they returned to their usual icy blue.
Elliot, drained from consecutive transmutations, still managed to ask, "Used up a third of the Water of Life. How do you feel?"
Jack examined his hand. The injuries from earlier had completely healed. "Let me test it."
He picked up his battle axe and gave it a few swings. "Feels lighter. My strength's definitely increased."
He assumed the Windcleaver stance.
Vmmm—
This time, Jack's Windcleaver emitted a resonant hum, just like Flora's original technique. The resulting gale tore through the forest, sending pine trees swaying violently.
"Thirty-four strikes. My stamina's tripled… Now let's test recovery."
He infused massive ice energy into the axe, turning it into a crystalline blue weapon. His Cosmo surged to maximum, and he unleashed a supersonic multi-slash.
BOOOOM—
A dozen vacuum blades stacked into one. Unlike dispersed strikes, this concentrated slash carved a trench over a hundred meters long, six to seven meters deep, and a meter wide.
"Seventeen stacked slashes. My body's starting to break down again, but…" Jack looked at his bloodied hand. The blood quickly reabsorbed, bones realigned, muscles reknit, and skin healed. In under two minutes, the wound was gone.
"My recovery isn't as extreme as a Claymore's, but for an offensive build, it's incredible."
Elliot let out a relieved breath and smiled. "Perfect. The experiment worked. Now I can safely enhance myself."
"You… used me as a test subject?"
"Of course. Scientific progress is built on experimentation."
"Then why didn't you test it on yourself?"
"If you collapsed, I could save you. If I collapsed, could you save me?"
"Damn it. I should've kept the Alchemy card for myself!"
"Sorry, but your brain can't handle even a tenth of the knowledge."
"Bullshit! I won the Olympiad math competition back in the day!"
"What's that? Sorry, I was studying math and physics at Stanford at age nine. Got PhDs in chemistry, biology, and physics by fifteen. I don't really know what middle school extracurriculars are."
"You… you monster!"
"More like you're just too dumb."
"…"