After about forty-five minutes of ritual preparation, Xia Yan finally managed to infuse all the runes of the Artifact Removal Ritual into Issei Hyoudou's body.
“Not bad. It's five minutes less than before,” he said.
After the last rune sunk into Issei Hyoudou's body, Xia Yan's fingers stopped moving. He let out a long sigh of relief.
While he had been highly focused during the ritual inscription due to time pressure, there had been no errors. The results of his previous practice were evident, and all the runes were successfully inscribed without interruption.
Xia Yan was very pleased with the outcome.
As for the second step, the Artifact Fusion Ritual.
This ritual was simple and not as complex as the Artifact Removal Ritual.
Xia Yan paused for a moment, then quickly inscribed a few runes, which quickly merged into his body.
“Only one step left,” he said.
Xia Yan suppressed his excitement and began to fully activate the Artifact Removal Ritual within Issei Hyoudou's body.
After the ritual was fully activated, a faint light emanated from Issei Hyoudou's body.
“Ugh—!”
Issei Hyoudou, still unconscious, let out a pained moan, and his body began to tremble agonizingly.
In a way, an Artifact is a part of the Artifact user's body.
At this moment, someone was taking away a part of the user's body, which was like cutting off a piece of flesh with a knife.
Pain was inevitable.
Sensing that Issei Hyoudou might wake up in pain because of the Artifact being removed, Xia Yan gave him another knock-out, ensuring he remained quiet and still, with no signs of trembling.
“Buzz—!”
The air vibrated with a sound.
Red light completely overshadowed the faint glow of the Artifact Control Ritual.
The entire room was filled with brilliant, vibrant red light.
From within Issei Hyoudou's body, a ferocious, crimson gauntlet emerged, quietly floating in mid-air.
“The Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet!”
Xia Yan couldn't help but feel excited.
After all this time and effort, he had finally managed to extract this Divine Demonic Tool.
His wish had been granted, and it had all been worth it.
Without any hesitation, Xia Yan reached out and grasped the Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet. A cold, hard sensation traveled up his palm.
The moment he touched the Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet, the Artifact Fusion Ritual that Xia Yan had inscribed on his body activated. The crimson, fierce gauntlet burst into dazzling light, enveloping Xia Yan, and then the gauntlet, now the size of half an arm, instantly sank into Xia Yan's body.
“Huh? Merely merging with the Artifact slightly enhances my own strength?”
Xia Yan was surprised as he felt the Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet merge into his body.
After the fusion, the Divine Demonic Tool instantly increased his basic strength.
While it wasn't a qualitative change, it was a definite increase.
Host: Xia Yan
Race: Human
Level: Two-Star High Rank
Copy Abilities: Phoenix Fire (C), Swordsmanship Talent (C)
Possessed Items: Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet (B+)
Dimensional Points: 375793
“It directly boosted me to the next level,”
Xia Yan confirmed through his system panel.
“These Divine Demonic Tools are truly good things,”
Xia Yan naturally felt happy. After all, the mere act of merging had promoted his strength. If he further utilized the Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet's multiplicative power, he could completely compete with high-level Demon-class experts.
Xia Yan knew this was the reciprocal effect after awakening the Divine Demonic Tool.
“In a way, Issei Hyoudou really is the weakest host in history,”
Xia Yan glanced at Issei Hyoudou, who was lying on the floor, barely alive.
While this guy had incredible potential and later became the strongest Dragon Emperor, he was truly ridiculously weak at the beginning.
Compared to his predecessors as Dragon Emperors, he was far too inferior.
He even awakened his Artifact after becoming a Demon.
It was no wonder that many of the bigwigs in the Three Realms didn't pay much attention to Issei Hyoudou at the beginning, unlike his previous incarnations as Dragon Emperor.
Issei Hyoudou, lying on the floor, was getting weaker by the moment.
This was the reaction of an Artifact host after their Artifact had been removed.
The Artifact and the host are inextricably linked, their lives intertwined.
Without the Artifact, it also meant no more life.
This was the drawback of being possessed by an Artifact.
If they were targeted before the Artifact awakened and didn't have the ability to defend themselves, they would likely face this fate.
Xia Yan took out the Devil's Chess Piece.
This was the Knight's Piece he had copied from Kiba Yuuto.
However, it was now an unowned Piece.
Because the Devil's Chess Pieces are a set, with the King Piece being the most important piece among them, and the key to controlling the other Pieces.
Xia Yan had not copied the King Piece, so this Knight Piece was essentially unowned.
It could not exert the power of a Knight Piece, like enhancing speed.
Xia Yan hadn't copied this piece to make a full set of Devil's Chess Pieces. Instead, he planned to use this piece to make up for Issei Hyoudou's loss of life force due to the Artifact being taken away, preventing his death.
Xia Yan first inscribed it onto Issei Hyoudou's body, then brutally buried the Knight Piece directly into his body.
He directly used the Devil's Reincarnation Ritual copied from Kiba Yuuto to transform Issei Hyoudou into a Demon.
As the Knight Piece merged into Issei Hyoudou's body, his breath, which had become weak after the Artifact was removed, began to recover, and he started to transform into a Demon.
Soon, the Knight Piece transformed Issei Hyoudou into a new Lower Demon, and his weak vitality became strong once more.
Issei Hyoudou didn't have any grudge against him; he simply had the Divine Demonic Tool that Xia Yan needed.
Xia Yan wasn't someone who was cruel and ruthless. If possible, he wouldn't have taken Issei Hyoudou's life, instead choosing to save him.
“I can only do this now. When I find a way later, I'll restore your human identity,”
Xia Yan muttered to himself.
Of course, by then, Issei Hyoudou might have adapted to his Demon identity.
Or, perhaps, he could be killed by someone else.
After cleaning up all traces of the ritual in the room and checking for any potential oversights, Xia Yan found that everything had been dealt with and left directly.
....
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