Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: The Demon of Level -5

By the time Lloyd had deftly finished combing Evelor’s hair, she had finally swallowed the last piece of cake. She then jumped up in a hurry and started changing, completely ignoring that her little brother was still in the room.

Lloyd quickly ran out of the room and started getting his own things ready.

Evelor, for her part, quickly and deftly changed into a simple, elegant, light-colored long dress. She then put on a small, domed hat adorned with a bow. She looked intellectual and graceful, like a cute, youthful girl from a literary novel.

"Yi, give me a hug~ I’m leaving now."

Evelor hastily gave Lloyd a hug, jogged out the door, and hailed a taxi on the roadside.

Lloyd also jogged out the door to catch the ’subway’.

Although it didn’t matter if he was late or left early for his job, he was afraid Weiya would get tired of waiting and he wouldn’t get to see her.

He was also worried Meditis might show up and try to snatch the keys from him...

Fortunately, none of that happened. Weiya was still waiting for him at the subway entrance, and Meditis didn’t suddenly appear, panting for breath.

However, on today’s notice board, a different kind of key had appeared. A crowd of people had gathered around it, chattering away.

When these people saw Lloyd approach, they quickly parted to either side, showing him a considerable degree of respect.

"-5th floor? That’s in the high-risk Demon category, right?"

Lloyd glanced at the unusual key on the notice board. It was hanging on the lowest rung.

’The deepest key that gets hung on this board is for the -5th floor. There’s nothing lower. They probably don’t expect any Executors to handle the -6th floor, huh?’

’But generally speaking, if it weren’t for me ’hogging all the monsters,’ hardly anyone would even take the -2nd floor keys, let alone the deeper ones.’

’That’s why I’ve always felt this system is rather unreasonable...’

’Why not just send all the keys directly to my office?’

He had asked Weiya about this before, and her answer was to ’respect tradition.’ Moreover, it was a tradition passed down from the Eternal City and the City of Order, one that had existed for many, many years, dating back to a time when human civilization was on the verge of collapse.

"That was humanity’s most dangerous era. Demons were rampant, and Extraordinary Beings were few. Fighting Demons was everyone’s duty and responsibility. Back then, ordinary people would eagerly help Extraordinary Beings bear the Spiritual Contamination, viewing it as an honor..."

"That’s why this tradition has continued to this day, aiming to awaken the sense of responsibility and courage in everyone’s hearts."

That was how Weiya had explained it.

Lloyd couldn’t really say anything more to that. He just thought of the previous Executioner here, Meditis. ’Before I arrived, she must have had a pretty tough time...’

But things were easier now. Even for the -5th floor, Lloyd didn’t hesitate, taking the key without a second thought.

While he was at it, he took both keys for the -3rd floor as well.

Then, he heard a clamor from behind him.

"He took it! He took it! I won! Pay up, pay up!"

"As expected of ’Lloyd, Hater of All Evil.’ A bet’s a bet."

"Does he really not have any bottlenecks or limits? Why is the gap between people so huge? I don’t even dare to kill on the -2nd floor. Just looking at them gives me chills..."

"Haha, it’s just as they say, the Eighteenth District is the safest in the legends. Being an Executor here is too cushy, isn’t it? It was worth all the trouble and expense I went through to get transferred from another district."

’What are these guys up to every day?’

Lloyd complained silently, slowing his pace slightly and straining his ears to catch more of the gossip.

"Huh? What do you mean by that? Is the Eighteenth District really that popular?"

"Hasn’t it always been popular? Becoming an Executor is a direct path to promotion as a Priest. Isn’t that way more comfortable than joining the Crusaders? Do you want to go out to the barren wilderness and watch Demons bare their fangs at you all day?"

"I get the logic, but the Eighteenth District isn’t the only one that trains Executors. The Sixth District, Zone Nine, and the new Twenty-Third District all train rookies, don’t they?"

"It’s still not the same. I was in Zone Nine before. I had to execute Demons every day. Sometimes I even had to bite the bullet and handle the -2nd floor. I’d be dizzy and sick all day, with no way to study at all. I felt like I was just a disposable tool..."

"Later, my family pulled some strings to get me transferred to the Eighteenth District. It’s so cushy here. Thanks to Senior Lloyd, it feels like I’m back in college. I get to enjoy a relaxed and happy student life every day, and it’s incredibly free."

"All that freedom isn’t necessarily a good thing. If you can’t pass the final assessment, you’ll just end up as a grunt, won’t you?"

"You don’t have to worry about that. My family hired a private tutor... Oh, right, you probably don’t know, do you? In the latest Executor assessment, the Eighteenth District’s pass rate was among the very best, beating out old districts like the Sixth and Zone Nine."

"Sigh... I’m so jealous of a rich kid like you... If only Senior Lloyd were willing to teach a few techniques to Eradicate Spiritual Contamination, or maybe offer a dissection class."

Listening to their conversation, Lloyd couldn’t help but smile.

’I’m earning experience and bounties, and they’re getting a good study environment. It’s a subtle kind of win-win, isn’t it?’

’That’s great. As an enlightened young man with a higher education, I love a win-win.’

’Perhaps this is also part of the reason the Chief Judge holds me in such high regard?’

* * *

After Lloyd walked into the -5th floor cell, he was greeted by his favorite thing:

[Ding! Madness Value +1]

[Ding! Madness Value +1]

[Ding! Madness Value +1]

’It’s been a while since I’ve experienced this feeling of getting stronger just by breathing! My mood instantly improved.’

’Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. After a minute, the Madness Value in the air was gone...’

With his current 100 points of [Rationality], he could quickly adapt to this level of minor Spiritual Contamination. It basically just served to improve his mood.

Lloyd then took a look at the ’guest’ in the cell—

’A flower with a somewhat humanoid silhouette that’s growing on a tree?’

The whole thing looked like a withered tree with a slightly humanoid shape. Its surface was old and dry, and a flower larger than an adult’s face grew from its ’chest’. The flower was a deep, mysterious purple, giving it a somewhat delicate and enigmatic look.

This was the first time Lloyd had encountered a plant-type Demon Ghost.

So, he didn’t make a move. Instead, he picked up a reclamation list posted on the wall.

’This thing looks huge, nearly two meters tall, but its only valuable part is a single tongue?’

This ’Flower Demon’s Tongue’, after subsequent processing, would become a very valuable Transcendence material, the ’Chattering Tongue’. It was said to be a core material for advancing to Tier Five in the [Law] system, with a market price starting in the seven figures.

Black War Chariot Goldrinn was so worried precisely because he couldn’t afford this ’Chattering Tongue’.

And Lloyd’s bounty for retrieving it was only two thousand Universal Coins...

But he didn’t feel it was unfair. After all, he hadn’t captured the Demon himself. He was just collecting the ’raw material’. The real value was added during the subsequent series of complex processing and handling.

’If only I could process these materials too...’

An ambitious thought surged in Lloyd’s mind.

But he immediately returned to reality and shook his head.

’I really shouldn’t even think about that...’

According to what he had read in books, processing Extraordinary Materials was a complex, precise, high-investment, high-risk process. It involved so many different aspects that basically only large, official organizations like the Saint’s Favor Court could handle it.

And the sale and distribution of these materials was also one of the Sect’s major sources of funding.

Some qualified private organizations might be able to handle the relatively simple parts, but they definitely couldn’t touch the higher-level, more difficult work.

The extremely low production capacity was probably a major reason for the distorted pricing of high-end materials.

After realizing this, the ’Dream Theater’ suddenly became even more mysterious in Lloyd’s eyes.

’They’re very likely capable of processing these kinds of materials and have a stable source of raw materials. Otherwise, being able to redeem items just by playing games would be inexplicable from a production capacity standpoint alone.’

’No wonder so many people flock to it, offering high-priced commissions...’

Lloyd mulled over these things as he walked up to the Tree-like Flower Demon.

He completely disregarded the danger level 5 Demon.

The Tree-like Flower Demon noticed someone approaching and immediately began to struggle. Its texture, which had originally resembled dead wood, started to fill with blood, becoming like skinless human muscle. Inside, some dark red liquid could be faintly seen flowing.

The purple flower on the humanoid trunk’s chest immediately contracted its petals, reverting to a bud.

But it immediately bloomed again, revealing a human-faced pistil in the center that looked like a person with blurred features screaming and wailing.

A weak cry for help immediately reached Lloyd’s ears:

"Help... I’m begging you, save me..."

The voice sounded cute and childish, its timbre somewhat similar to Evelor’s.

As expected, Lloyd received a system notification:

[Ding! Madness Value +5, Skill Fragment +1]

’Hmm?’

’A bit on the weak side, not even as good as riding the ’subway,’ but it actually gives skill fragments?’

Lloyd was pleasantly surprised, so he didn’t rush to act, patiently listening to it clamor for a while longer.

Unfortunately, the creature didn’t seem capable of forming its own sentences; it could only repeat itself endlessly:

"Help... I’m begging you, save me..."

"Help... I’m begging you, save me..."

’It’s certainly learned the essence of humanity...’

Lloyd continued to wait patiently until the system prompted:

[Ding! Sufficient skill fragments acquired. Skill level up. Aggressive Speech LV2→LV3]

He then waited a few more seconds. Seeing that he wasn’t getting any more skill fragments, he finally unleashed his inspiration, activated his Spiritual Vision, locked onto the tongue hidden beneath the human-faced pistil, and thrust his sword forward.

Then, he deftly severed the surrounding muscle tissue and fibers, extracting it completely intact.

The pleas for help in his ears vanished without a trace.

But the Tree-like Flower Demon did not die immediately. Lloyd wasn’t in a hurry to kill it; he had other uses for it.

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