Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 496: Chapter 495: Mysterious Wound

On the outer perimeter of the defense line, the two quickly found the body of the Chaos Beast.

However, what was different about this corpse was...

”How strange...”

Staring at the Demon Beast’s corpse before her, Tina furrowed her brows. The creature in front of her was a Demon Raven, a type of monster Tina had killed many times before and whose habits she was familiar with. However, these were not important. What caught Tina’s attention were the wounds on this Demon Raven.

They were not wounds caused by plasma bullets or light beams. Instead, the Demon Raven’s abdomen and the sides of its wings were filled with strange equilateral triangular wounds. It looked as though some kind of triangular bullet had pierced through the Demon Raven’s body at high speed, leaving its mark.

Do we have such a weapon?

”Hmm? What’s wrong, little girl?”

Seeing Tina’s serious expression, Wells couldn’t help but glance at her.

”Is there a problem?”

”Please wait a moment, old man.”

Upon hearing Wells’s question, Tina first scanned the surroundings. After making sure there were no issues, she took a couple of steps back into the protective range of the Photon Cannon and then closed her eyes to contact Fang Zheng through the Swarm Network.

”Brother Zheng, I’ve found something strange...”

To be cautious, Fang Zheng had set very strict rules for the Cursed Children when they went out, all based on his experiences from movies and games. For instance, in another world, without permission, one must not touch any life forms or plants of that world, nor bring any object back to the community without having it researched or scanned. If research on an object was necessary, the object must be placed in a Demi-Plane Space for observation and preservation... and so on. In short, he had pulled up almost every possible flag one could from movies and games.

If something still went wrong after all that, then Fang Zheng could only say it was fate.

The case with the Demon Raven’s corpse was similar, although Tina could have brought it back, according to Fang Zheng’s rules, she had to report this issue first — after all, with the Swarm Network, reporting such an issue had no delay.

And Fang Zheng responded quickly.

”I’ll be there soon.”

Before long, Fang Zheng, accompanied by Nymph, arrived at the scene. Upon seeing the Demon Raven’s corpse, he too furrowed his brows.

Fang Zheng was certain that these wounds were not caused by their side’s weapons, though if by chance one or two such wounds appeared, it wouldn’t be a problem. However, as Tina reported, this Demon Raven’s corpse was covered with such triangular wounds, which was quite problematic.

If one were to say, it seemed as if this Demon Raven had been shot with triangular bullets by some kind of anti-aircraft gun or a similar weapon.

”Nymph, how did the checkup turn out?”

Thinking this, Fang Zheng looked toward the Little Angel beside him, and Nymph nodded.

”According to the scan results, there are signs of burns on the wounds of this Demon Raven, along with faint radioactive residue, likely left by some kind of energy attack.”

”What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

Seeing this, Wells, who was nearby, couldn’t help but curiously inquire. At first, he didn’t think there was anything special about the corpse of this Demon Raven, he just wanted to keep an eye on Tina. But unexpectedly, soon after Fang Zheng also came to the scene and seemed quite concerned about the Demon Raven’s corpse. This made Wells sense that something was amiss, so he hastily started inquiring.

Facing Wells’s inquiry, Fang Zheng raised his head to look at him.

”Lord Wells, you are most knowledgeable about these Chaos Monsters, could you take a look and see if this Demon Raven is different from the ones you know?”

”Hmm? Is there a problem with this Demon Raven?”

Hearing Fang Zheng speak, Wells approached the body of the Demon Raven. He initially intended to pick up the corpse, but seeing Fang Zheng and the others maintaining a cautious distance from it, he decided against it. Instead, he just stared at the Demon Raven’s body for a moment before uttering a surprised ”eh.”

”How could this be?”

”What’s wrong?”

Seeing the Old Paladin’s expression, Fang Zheng quickly inquired.

”This body... it actually has no Chaos Aura left in it!”

This time, Wells did not hesitate; he extended his hand towards the Demon Raven’s body and then closed his eyes. Soon, Fang Zheng and the others saw dazzling Holy Light bursting from Wells’s hand, striking the body. However, when the light dispersed, the Demon Raven’s body remained unchanged.

”...May I ask what exactly is going on?”

”Here’s the situation.”

At that moment, Lord Wells’ expression became stern and somber. He turned his head toward Fang Zheng and began to explain word by word.

”As you may know, Demon Beasts are essentially wild beasts mutated by the influence of Chaos Power. Once they mutate, the power of Chaos will forever reside within their bodies. Even in death, if not dealt with promptly, the remains of these Chaos Monsters will contaminate the land.”

”That’s why you collect and burn the bodies.”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng suddenly understood. After every battle, he had noticed the Holy Knights collecting and burning the bodies of Demon Beasts; he thought they were merely preventing a plague, but now he realized he had oversimplified things.

”We must purify their bodies, otherwise, they will damage this land.”

Lord Wells spread his hands, his brow deeply furrowed.

”But... this Demon Raven’s body contains not even a trace of Chaos Aura, which is completely irrational.”

”Holy Light should be able to purify the power of Chaos.”

Fang Zheng had seen Clerics of the Sanctuary more than once treating Holy Knights injured by Chaos attacks; their Holy Light could remove the Chaos Power clinging to the wounds, so he didn’t find it strange.

But Lord Wells clearly didn’t see it that way.

”Not necessarily, Your Excellency Fang Zheng. That’s because the power of Chaos hadn’t yet penetrated deep into the body; it just remained on the surface. If the soul itself becomes corrupted by the power of Chaos, even a Devil would inevitably fall into a state of ’corruption’. By that time, even Holy Light used to dispel the power of Chaos could cause immense damage or even destruction.”

At this point, Lord Wells also pointed to the body of the Demon Raven in front of them.

”Take this body, for instance. If there had been even a trace of Chaos Power, under the Holy Light I just used, it should have completely turned to ash. But it showed no reaction whatsoever...”

”So you mean... the Chaos Aura had been cleansed from its body before this Demon Raven died?”

Upon hearing Lord Wells speak, Fang Zheng’s expression turned incredulous.

”Is such a thing even possible?”

”With the technology of the Sanctuary, it is not possible, but... ”

At this point, Knight Commander Wells hesitated.

”But... according to the scriptures, the Goddess of Order has restored the sanity of creatures corrupted by Chaos before...”

”...”

Fang Zheng fell silent as well, indeed, as Wells had mentioned, if what the scriptures described wasn’t merely a fantasy novel but reality, then surely the Goddess of Order possessed some skill that could combat, even purify, Chaos. After all, according to the scriptures, before the arrival of the Goddess of Order, the world was entirely enveloped in Chaos, and humans living in such a world were inevitably tainted, not pristine like white lotuses.

If the Holy Light of the Goddess of Order was indiscriminate like that of the Sanctuary, the entire continent might have been devastated immediately...

”Tina.”

Thinking this, Fang Zheng turned his head to look at Tina beside him.

”You mentioned that when you first spotted this Demon Raven, it was still flying?”

”Yes, Brother Fang Zheng.”

Tina nodded.

”I could confirm that at that time, this Demon Raven was still flying, but it looked like it was struggling to keep itself aloft...”

With such severe wounds, death was only a matter of time if not fatal immediately, which wasn’t surprising. So...

”Tina, activate the detector.”

Fang Zheng looked toward the dark land in the distance and gave the command.

”We need to see what is ahead.”