Chapter 174: The Human-Faced Monkey

Elder Karen couldn’t see what the creature looked like, only that it was alive.

After this incident, the group became more cautious, the atmosphere tense.

The couple, previously chatting and laughing, realized they were in the Death Swamp Ruins and needed to be careful.

As Helag and the others continued, noises came from the forest ahead, causing them to stop again.

A bipedal monkey jumped from a tree, staring at them.

Elder Karen quickly covered her face with a cloth, saying, “It’s a Human-Faced Monkey! Cover your faces.”

Confused, everyone covered their faces with whatever they had.

But it was too late.

The Human-Faced Monkey stood about two meters tall, thin as a stick.

Its face was ordinary at first, but then it began to change.

Soon, the monkey’s face became human-like.

Everyone thought the face looked familiar.

Helag realized it was his own face, identical.

Elder Karen shrieked, “It’s over! Helag! Catch it! Don’t let it escape!”

Brack explained to the confused group, “The Human-Faced Monkey is a rare creature in the Death Swamp Ruins. It copies attractive human faces. Any harm to the monkey transfers to the copied person.”

“It copied Helag’s face, meaning if someone decapitates the monkey, Helag dies too.”

Helag felt a chill. This was unpredictable and indefensible.

He was slightly late, and the monkey copied his face.

Being the most attractive, Helag became the target.

“How do we undo this?” Helag asked.

It was tricky; harming the monkey would harm him.

They needed to catch it without injury to break the face copy.

Elder Karen said, “To undo it, find someone more attractive for the monkey to target. Or, the copied person must die.”

Helag felt overwhelmed.

Finding someone more attractive?

That was tough.

Especially in the Death Swamp Ruins, where would he find such a person?

“It’s escaping! Catch it!” Karen urged.

Helag saw the monkey screech and leap into the trees.

He couldn’t let it get away.

Even without a solution, capturing it was the first step.

If it escaped, finding it in the vast, unknown ruins would be impossible.

Unresolved, he could suffer random injuries or even sudden death.

Helag moved swiftly, pursuing it.

Brack called, “Don’t go too far, we’ll wait here.”

“Half an hour, we’ll wait,” Karen added.

They wouldn’t follow; the ruins were dangerous.

Even crystallized wizards were vulnerable here, not risking their lives for Helag.

The monkey problem was Helag’s to solve.

They’d wait half an hour, then leave.

Karen’s decision was quick, prioritizing the group’s safety.

…

Helag pursued the monkey, keeping it in sight.

The monkey was fast, preventing Helag from closing in.

Realizing he’d distanced from the group, Helag activated the Thunder God Ancestor’s bloodline mark.

The mark activated, boosting Helag’s strength and speed.

The bloodline power continued to surge.

Centered on his chest, blackness spread over his body.

Previously, the wizard plane’s world will suppressed this power.

Now, the blackness spread slowly but wasn’t fully suppressed.

Minutes later, Helag’s body was covered in a metallic black sheen.

“Deep Blue, analyze the bloodline mark’s enhancement,” Helag instructed.

He felt a significant improvement, unlike before.

“Current bloodline mark enhancements:”

“Strength +25.3, Agility +25.7, Constitution +25.5.”

It was a huge upgrade, with over twenty points added to each attribute.

This wasn’t the mark’s full power; Helag sensed more untapped strength.

This wasn’t the true Abyss Plane, so the mark was limited.

Helag’s current state was the mark’s initial form, not its full form.

“Malcolm, you’d better hope not to meet me.”

Helag felt confident, ready to crush a crystallized wizard.

“Deep Blue, calculate my stats with all boosts, name this state Phase One.”

Helag had only activated the bloodline mark, not other boosts.

With all boosts, his stats would be impressive.

“Phase One stats:”

“Strength 62.5, Agility 58.6, Constitution 63.3, Spirit 52.6.”

Seeing the stats, Helag knew he could handle a crystallized wizard in Phase One.

Though powerful, this state had many limits.

Without the Death Swamp Ruins, Helag couldn’t reach Phase One.

Most importantly, he couldn’t let other wizards know about this state.

Helag exuded a strong Abyss Plane aura, a mark of abyssal creatures.

If other wizards, especially from the Land of Dawn, found out, he’d be executed as an abyssal creature infiltrator.