Chapter 470 – Spoils of War – Staff and Vector

Item Name: Staff of Lament and Hatred (as told by Bird of Filth)

Item Type: Two-handed Staff (can be wielded one-handed if you’re strong enough)

Item Tier: Master-Level

Crafting Purpose: Combat (this “weapon” was forged for battle—even used as a blunt instrument, it rivals a sturdy club)

Craftsman: Presumably self-made by Sorsend

Creation Time: Approximately 2,600 years ago

Primary Materials: Core branch of a Lamenting Tree, defiled luminescent stone, nightmares corrupted by Abyssal energy, materialized extreme hatred, souls of hundreds of thousands of innocent, benevolent beings.

Master-Level Spells Embedded:

Master-Level Enchantment Magic – Master-level Fortitude: The staff is now extremely durable, capable of withstanding two or three strikes from a warrior-class combatant.

Master-Level Enchantment Magic – Reduced Mana Cost: Reduces mana consumption of Master-Level spells cast by the wielder by 5% (up to 25% maximum reduction).

Master-Level Advent Magic – Lamenting Howl: Creates an expanding, sustained area of lamentation. Beings within the range suffer continuous, high-intensity mental assaults on their souls. (Requires 24 magic hours to recharge; can be used three times per full charge.)

Master-Level Advent Magic – Touch of Chaos: Extends a conceptual tentacle of chaos several meters long. Anything it touches suffers chaotic destruction. (Usable only by chaos-aligned beings; requires 24 magic hours to recharge; can be used once per full charge.)

Without a doubt, the Staff of Lament and Hatred is an excellent piece of Master-Level magic equipment—far superior to the Formal-Level Emerald Staff Punk previously used. After advancing to Master-Level, his old Emerald Staff had often been reduced to a mere prop. Now, with Sorsend’s Master-Level staff in hand, he could wield a genuine Master-Level artifact, enhancing both his deterrence and his appearance.

Satisfied, Punk slung the Staff of Lament and Hatred across his back and stored the former “Emerald Staff” in his Storage Ring.

Yet, the inspection of spoils was not over. Another precious Legendary magical creation obtained from Sorsend—the Magical Raven Vector—had yet to “awaken.”

Wordlessly, Punk readjusted his hood, which had fallen open, ensuring the shadows concealed most of his azure hair and all of his pointed ears. He let out a slow breath, then began shaking the Magical Raven Vector he’d been holding like a duck.

“Hello, Vector? That is your name, isn’t it? If possible… I suggest you wake up. After all, pretending to be unconscious won’t solve anything, will it?”

Bound tightly by sturdy, invisible magical restraints, Vector resembled a stuffed dumpling. A faint smile crept into Punk’s cold eyes.Perhaps Vector’s unconsciousness was a fact at the beginning. Until Punk confronted Kane, this severely overdrawn magic raven truly hadn’t awakened. However, Vector was, after all, a Legendary-level magical creation. Remaining unconscious after Punk’s continuous running throughout the afternoon would be rather abnormal.

Therefore, even though Punk couldn’t determine from surface observations whether Vector – with its Legendary material properties blocking detection – was genuinely unconscious or pretending, he didn’t mind suddenly speaking up to startle this foolish bird. Regardless, as the saying goes… a wise spellcaster can always utilize various methods to achieve their goals.

And now, Punk had successfully achieved his objective.

Vector’s intelligence ultimately wasn’t high enough, and it failed to realize Punk’s intentions. When it heard Punk say “Stop pretending to be unconscious,” the black raven simply thought it had been discovered somewhere, never considering the possibility of being tricked.

Its eyeballs rolling around, knowing it could no longer maintain the pretense, Vector could only slowly open its eyes with a faint sigh.

Then… it saw a pair of azure pupils hidden in the shadows – those ice-cold eyes were absolutely not something a half-mad mage like Sorsend could possess.

Suppressing the trembling brought by fear, Vector – being held upside down by Punk – almost whispered in a trembling voice to the mage before it:

“Haha… ha, hello there… um… is the battle over? Looks like my former Boss lost badly this time… but debts have their creditors, all those things were done by that evil bastard Sorsend! I… I was just forced to go along, right? Perhaps you… could find it in your heart to let this humble one go?”

Clearly, someone who could follow Sorsend for thousands of years definitely wasn’t any good person. Upon discovering its Boss had been killed, this cowardly magic raven showed not the slightest intention of loyal retaliation. While secretly struggling against the magical restraints binding it, it tried to blur the lines and distance itself from Sorsend.

Of course, its struggles were destined to be futile. Although this magic raven was a genuine Legendary creation, it was merely a “practice” work by a Legendary Mage. Apart from a mediocre “Directional Interference” spell, its creator hadn’t equipped it with any other offensive or defensive capabilities. Therefore, Vector’s direct combat power was probably only equivalent to a Formal-Level combat professional. Trying to break free from Punk’s carefully arranged magical restraints with such meager strength was obviously completely impossible.

Puck didn’t care about Vector’s loyalty situation, nor did he intend to bother with this raven’s personality and alignment tendencies.

In a sense, the magic raven Vector’s personality was predetermined by its creator. Dwelling on such unchangeable aspects would only bring unnecessary trouble.

Punk’s purpose for taking Vector was simple – he purely valued the magic raven’s powerful auxiliary magic.

In Punk’s view, the assistance Vector could provide to a spellcaster might be greater than that of ordinary Legendary Equipment. This could be confirmed by observing how Kane could only dodge without counterattacking under Sorsend’s assaults.After all, that was a powerful Master-Level Knight whose entire offensive capability had been completely neutralized by just one spell—”Directional Interference.” How could Punk possibly let go of such a precious and powerful tool?

Therefore, no matter how relentlessly the Magical Raven Vector spouted nonsense about not wanting to become someone else’s tool, Punk remained firm and composed. In an icy tone, he clearly stated to Vector:

“Magic Raven—Vector! I now require you to unconditionally open the core permissions of your virtual soul. This is not a request, but… an order, one that allows no rebuttal”!

“What”?

The instant he heard Punk’s unequivocal “demand,” Vector’s voice shot up an octave from the cowardly and timid tone of just a moment before. Although a trace of unmistakable fearful tremor in his voice still betrayed his inner feelings, at least for now, Vector’s tone was far more resolute than before:

“What… what are you saying, you bastard? You just killed my ‘deeply indebted’ Boss Sorsend and now you want to enslave me? You… you want to become my new boss? Are you dreaming?”

(End of Chapter)