This Lich Requests More Remuneration

Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Release of Restrictions Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Release of Restrictions Living Mercury possessed only three abilities.

The first was an extremely strong magic resistance that Alchemy City had somehow created, such that even a Paladin’s Holy Slash could hardly inflict much damage; the second was the devouring talent from the Slime race, except that once it became Living Mercury, it devoured only metal.

And the last one was the talent Amberser had imbued with a lot of cost and thought, from the soul level—Shapeshifting.

Living Mercury was like a newborn child, not yet adept at handling this talent, only capable of simple mimicry.

As a result, Living Mercury transformed into a mercury humanoid, looking about seventy to eighty percent similar to a Paladin, but the details were all blurry, like a candle melted halfway.

But regardless of how finely crafted the form was, it did indeed mimic the Paladin’s previous movements very vividly.

The Holy Slash swung by Living Mercury lacked the power of Holy Light, but the weight of the mercury brought a great impact, causing the Paladin, when he raised his long sword to block, to be shaken back two steps instead.

Living Mercury pressed on the attack, but it could only continue using the same move.

Raising the sword, slashing down, still as swift as thunder.

But the Paladin wouldn’t be forced back by the same moves again. With a turn of his sword’s edge, he slanted the flat of the blade to deflect, and completely neutralized the force of Living Mercury’s slash, then the Paladin took the opportunity to spin his long sword, cutting deeply into Living Mercury’s head.

The sword split Living Mercury’s head into two, a wound that would have been fatal to a human, but for Living Mercury, it might be considered a mere flesh wound.

The mercury solution writhed as it healed, even sealing the Paladin’s long sword within the mercury head, and then Living Mercury, imitating as before, spun its own mercury long sword, chopping towards the Paladin’s head. But just as the sword was about to land on the Paladin’s head, a platinum-colored aura appeared on the Paladin’s helmet.

Guardian Aura, a Paladin’s exclusive ability, formed from devout faith into a protective force that can defend against a variety of different damages.

When the mercury long sword encountered the Guardian Aura, it ultimately slid off like it had slipped, passing by the side of the Paladin’s helmet, leaving Living Mercury off-balance itself.

Seizing this opportunity, the Paladin unleashed a series of dazzling sword techniques, cutting Living Mercury into a shapeless form.

In a single exchange of moves, Living Mercury was utterly defeated, completely overpowered in swordsmanship.

But just as the Paladin withdrew his long sword and was catching his breath, the oddly shaped Living Mercury quickly recovered, and then used the same moves against the Paladin.

Amberser was very satisfied with this scene.

The soul of this Living Mercury was carefully tailored by him; Shapeshifting had to be paired with strong imitation learning ability to be effective. The fact that Living Mercury could perfectly mimic a Paladin’s swordsmanship after only one observation proved that Amberser’s efforts were not in vain.

But while Living Mercury had a powerful ability to mimic, it couldn’t possibly match a Paladin in swordsmanship.

Every Paladin’s martial skills were honed to perfection. Although the Paladin in the cell might have lacked adventure experience, his swordsmanship was undoubtedly master-class.

Sword lights flashed fiercely, the two long swords clashing continuously. Despite the same techniques being used, the Paladin always managed to avoid Living Mercury’s blade, then strike his own sword upon Living Mercury.

Even the same set of sword techniques, with minor differences in strength, angle, and twists, could tip the scales of battle into a one-sided affair. If not for the Living Mercury’s body possessing the free-splitting and recombining properties similar to a Slime, it surely would have been torn into pieces long ago.

The Paladin also saw the weakness of the Living Mercury; the creature could only mimic, yet it did not know which moves were feints and which could be altered into combinations. The Paladin could suppress it with ease.

With this in mind, the Paladin was in no hurry, nor did he use the skills of other Paladins. He treated the Living Mercury simply as a target for sword practice.

It wasn’t because he was arrogant, but because he knew that his opponent was not just the creature in front of him, but also the Lich outside the cell.

The strength of the Paladin was not limitless; if he used up all his Force of the Holy Light on one creature, how would he stand a chance against the Lich?

Therefore, while the Paladin could still suppress the Living Mercury, he restrained himself and tried to use swordsmanship to exhaust the Living Mercury’s power. He did not believe this creature could heal indefinitely, nor did he believe it could fight with high intensity without any energy loss.

The Paladin’s choice was undoubtedly the right one. Each time the Living Mercury healed itself or changed form, it had to consume energy stored within, which was converted from engulfed metals. Eventually, it would run out.

If the battle continued this way, it was doubtful that the newly born Living Mercury could outlast the rigorously trained Paladin. Before the Paladin ran out of energy, the Living Mercury would be slashed until it completely lost its activity.

Amberser couldn’t help but feel impressed. The Paladins of the Laine Empire truly lived up to their reputation; the strongest empire on the continent was not to be underestimated.

But if he lost like this, how would he continue doing business?

The Memory Crystal was still recording the video; editing it later would be such a hassle.

Therefore, Amberser couldn’t just be a spectator anymore. Through the iron gate, he called out, “Silly child, you don’t have to maintain a human shape. Why only use one sword when you’re not limited to just two hands? Unleash your imagination. Learning the enemy’s swordsmanship doesn’t mean you have to replicate it exactly!”

Upon hearing this, the Living Mercury, which was about to heal its bisected head, suddenly paused. The two halves of the head stopped regenerating and instead stretched out, transforming into two thin swords that thrust towards the Paladin.

The thrusting technique was not much different from what the Paladin had shown before, but with two swords attacking simultaneously from opposite angles, the Paladin found himself in a frenzy, his smooth rhythm abruptly disrupted.

Although he managed to block the dual sword attack and even sent a counter blow with the hilt, creating a huge dent in the chest of the Living Mercury,
it was the Paladin’s final struggle.

Living Mercury, reminded by a single sentence from Amberser, had released its restriction.

Certainly, in human form, it could not compete with the Paladin in swordsmanship, but what if it wasn’t in human form?

Slimes inherently have no shape restrictions, so why fight in an unfamiliar form?

The Living Mercury’s body writhed and twisted as many arms and long swords sprouted from it, swirling like a windmill and swinging towards the Paladin.

The Paladin felt as though he was being attacked by several colleagues, the swords wielded in the same style. He could tell from the direction of the blades where the strikes were aimed, but the problem was… there were just too many swords!