Beside him, the previously broken Naimes now stood up with his sword, swinging it toward Jacques.

In his despair-fueled madness, Jacques had no will to resist at all.

What right did an experimental product built upon the sacrifice of loved ones have to live in this world?

But at that moment, Naimes' sword instead swung toward those crawling non-human creatures, granting them release.

"Aren't you the one who looked down on me?" Naimes shouted his accusations at Jacques.

"Even I found the courage to rise again and report to the Church."

"What right do you have to despise me when you're just standing here waiting to die?!"

Naimes' relentless questioning stirred Jacques' ash-dead heart.

"Will you just give up like this?"

"Die with all this shame, letting the true culprit escape unscathed?!"

Images of the old priest appeared in Jacques' mind, followed by the faces of Dartmanley's elders and family heads.

A spark rekindled, and then his ash-dead heart began to beat again.

"I won't die like this...!" Jacques shouted, swinging his sword.

A power seemed to burst forth from within his body, channeling through his sword as he struck, cutting through all the surrounding darkness.

Yet as the darkness parted, no light emerged - only more darkness remained.

Only then did Jacques realize his actual situation.

He too was tied to a frame. The source of this content ɪs novel·fire.net

Black hair had grown all over his body.

Upon closer inspection, however, these black hairs turned out to be extremely fine blood vessels.

The old priest stood with his back to him on the other side, operating on something placed on the table before him.

"Don't worry, the black blood vessels on your body are the optimal bloodline manipulation tools I obtained through my research on Nest Beasts."

"It's truly laughable - the dangerous creatures around Breathspring City were basically all cleared out, so I'd never actually seen a Nest Beast before."

"Only when I came to this village and began treating Nest Beast parasitism did I discover what excellent tools their hairs make."

The old priest turned around holding a bottle of potion, his gentle expression unchanged, though now this so-called gentleness appeared utterly horrifying.

"You can understand that feeling - discovering something that could greatly increase success rates only after everything has already failed." The old priest had the particular garrulousness of the elderly.

Perhaps these matters had been buried in his heart for too many years, and having finally found someone to confide in, the old priest poured everything out to Jacques at this moment.

"Your previous experience of reliving the past was also something I arranged to activate your mind and spirit, thereby unlocking the Holy Bone's potential." Even in the illusion, Naimes' angry, encouraging words were spoken under the old priest's control.

Everything was under the old priest's manipulation.

"You're mad!" Jacques struggled fiercely but couldn't break free.

These black blood vessels pierced into his body, suppressing his power, and as the old priest approached, they even pierced his cheeks, forcing his mouth open.

"Yes, correct, I went mad long ago." Facing Jacques' words, the old priest directly admitted it.

"Back then, the research task on Holy Blood and the Holy Child was assigned by the Church. I began the research with my disciple."

"Ron Dartmanley."

"You might not know him, but you certainly know his son - yes, it's Naimes." When speaking of Ron, the old priest's eyes filled with memory and guilt.

He had no children of his own, and Ron, his disciple, was like a son to him.

He thought everything would proceed smoothly, that he could use the Holy Blood research to advance himself to Gold Seed rank.

Yet the experiment grew increasingly out of control - more and more resources were invested, but few results were produced.

From using prohibited Floating Whale materials for achievements, to using potentially gifted but innocent people as test subjects, they didn't hold out for long.

When the experiment was halted due to insufficient funds and the test subjects were sealed away, only then did they come to their senses. By then their hands were already stained with blood that could never be washed clean.

"Ron couldn't accept all this and chose atonement. He tried to kill his wife who had also participated in the experiment."

"Naimes' mother was seriously injured as a result, and Ron also failed in his suicide attempt - I saved him."

"Then they were taken back by the Dartmanley family."

"Gradually, I lost contact with them, and I chose to return to the small village where I was born to atone."

As he spoke, the old priest fed the potion to Jacques.

"Only when news came of Naimes reporting his family did I learn what had happened."

"Guilt toward my disciple made me protect Naimes."

"Then I saw traces of modifications Ron had made on Naimes, and I understood that Ron too was unwilling to give up."

"Fortunately you didn't leave, otherwise I really couldn't bear to continue using Naimes as a test subject." Though he said this, the old priest had been preparing for experiments before discovering Jacques.

Now forcibly fed the potion, Jacques only felt heat throughout his body, particularly in his bones.

"It's heating up, right? That's correct." The old priest watched Jacques' changes with fanatical eyes: "Our research back then was actually about to succeed, we were just missing one thing, just one thing!!"

"As long as I complete this final element, I can accomplish the Holy Child project."

"I can atone for my sins!!!"

Jacques could feel a power overflowing from his bones, rapidly filling every part of his body. He felt his numerical value rising quickly, along with his own number.

This power pushed Jacques to evolve from Black Stone grade toward Steel Seed.

But soon, Jacques felt the heat in his bones disappear.

"Indeed it won't work. The whale element is too scarce." The old priest now returned to 'normal,' displaying the calmness expected of a researcher.

Yet this calmness quickly disappeared again afterward.

"Jacques, you know, I was planning to give up because I couldn't obtain sufficient Floating Whale oil."

"But fate moved everything forward. God guided me."

"At that time, Whale Transformation Disease appeared in the village."

"Everything fit together so perfectly."

"Op and the others have already set out. I believe they'll soon bring back the materials I need."

"When the time comes, I'll trouble you to taste my potion for the Holy Child. Don't worry, the experiment definitely won't fail."

"You'll also gain tremendous benefits from this. Your Holy Bone is incomplete because the knowledge Dartmanley stole from Ron was not complete."

"My potion can complete it, making you a Saintly Body like the direct descendants of your Dartmanley family's founder."

With these words, the old priest turned and walked away.

Jacques struggled, wanting to say something, but could no longer speak.

Bound by numerous black blood vessels, darkness fell before his eyes as he lost consciousness.