[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Auto Loot (Max Level)]
[Dependencies: ESP, Infinite Inventory]
[Type: Toggle]
[Description: Automatically collects selected items detected by ESP directly into your Infinite Inventory. Works within ESP’s detection range.]
Cipher looked at the description. Well, it wasn’t a duplicate.
The functionality was quite useful too. This would let him automatically pick up items he found with ESP and send them straight to his inventory. Looks like huge changes would be coming to the association soon. Since he’d already gotten a comprehensive list of valuables from Iris, he should be able to instantly collect them the moment he entered a gate.
Cipher noticed a new section in the cheat description. "Dependencies?" he wondered aloud.
Did this mean there were cheats that depended on other cheats and wouldn’t work unless he had the required ones first? Although this was quite useful - since it depended on ESP, he didn’t have to upgrade Auto Loot separately to increase the pickup range - it also raised a few concerns.
Was it possible to roll for a cheat without having its dependencies? And what would happen if he rolled such a cheat? Would he just have to wait until he got the dependencies?
Cipher sighed. Well, there was only one way to find out - rolling until he got one and seeing what happened. With that thought, he rolled again.
[Congratulations! ESP (Level 3) has advanced to ESP (Level 4)]
"Bruh."
Suddenly, Cipher’s expression twisted. "Oh no," he exclaimed before spinning around.
"He’s not dead yet! Follow me!" he shouted and accelerated forward.
After receiving the ESP duplicate, the range of his ESP had increased from one hundred meters to two hundred meters. It was because of this range increase that he was able to detect the Immortal King’s presence again. As he moved, he wondered what was happening.
Why could the Immortal King keep resurrecting?
He’d used Appraisal and still couldn’t find any ability that would let the Immortal King resurrect.
Could it be an item? But they’d made sure to crush him completely, leaving nothing behind. Maybe the item wasn’t on him - maybe it was stored in an alternate space like the Infinite Inventory. The Immortal King had something similar with his Necromancer class trait that allowed him to store his undead army.
Maybe he could put items in there too? But what kind of item was it? Cipher had never heard of anything like this, not that he’d ever really heard of anything all that important in the future, being a normal civilian and all.
"Do you have any ideas?" Cipher asked.
[Maybe he can’t die since he’s already dead,] the Heavenly Demon suggested.
"No, that’s not it. The other undead can be killed. And the Immortal King doesn’t have the ’Dead’ status effect but gains it when he’s killed," he said.
[The only way I can think of is through soul reconstruction. If he has a soul, he just needs some qi to reconstruct his body even if he ’dies’. But looking at him, he’s barely First Rate, so there’s no way he could have a soul,] the Heavenly Demon explained.
Cipher was deep in thought. That sounded plausible. The Immortal King had been talking about becoming a god - did he discover something about souls? Or maybe he got help from someone.
He wondered if the Immortal King was getting support from a god who was resurrecting him. After all, he and the Heavenly Demon had gotten support from the Time God, so it wouldn’t be strange if others got support from other not so good gods.
If that was the case, then how was he supposed to kill someone with a god backing them?
...
Cipher flew toward the area where the Immortal King had reappeared, his eyes narrowing as he spotted him attacking the association forces below. Without hesitation, he rushed forward - but the Immortal King instantly teleported away.
Cipher cursed under his breath and chased after him.
The Immortal King reappeared in another location, once again attacking the association’s forces. He let out a laugh as he vanished the moment Cipher caught up to him. Although he hadn’t accounted for there being such a strong individual in the association, he could still use this method to get what he wanted.
He just hoped Cipher would understand before it was too late.
The cat and mouse game continued.
Again and again, Cipher closed in on the Immortal King’s position, only for him to teleport away at the last second. Each time, the Immortal King would strike at different groups of association members - never staying long enough for Cipher to land a hit, but always long enough to cause damage.
The association forces were being worn down, scattered across the battlefield, and Cipher could feel his frustration mounting with each failed attempt.
"Damn it!" Cipher growled as the Immortal King vanished once more, this time appearing near a group of injured hunters on the eastern flank.
By the time Cipher reached them, the Immortal King was already gone, leaving only destruction in his wake. The pattern repeated itself - north, west, south - the Immortal King was everywhere and nowhere at once, always one step ahead.
Finally, fed up with the endless chase, Cipher reached into his inventory and pulled out a dagger. His eyes locked onto the Immortal King, who had just appeared near Selene, dark tentacles lashing out toward her. Without a second thought, Cipher threw the dagger with his maximum power, the weapon cutting through the air like a meteor.
But the Immortal King merely laughed. In one swift motion, he grabbed Selene with his dark tentacles and held her directly in front of him.
Cipher’s expression froze in shock as he realized what had just happened. The dagger was still hurtling forward - straight toward Selene.
Before he could even process what to do, Amélie appeared. With all her strength, she began creating layers upon layers of barriers between the dagger and Selene. The dagger tore through them easily, shattering each one like glass.
Her face twisted with strain as she poured more and more energy into reinforcing the barriers, sweat dripping down her forehead. One after another, the barriers broke - but she didn’t stop.
At the very final last second, she managed to block the dagger.
The impact sent a shockwave through the air, and Amélie collapsed to her knees on one of her floating barriers, breathing heavily and struggling to catch her breath. Her entire body trembled from exhaustion.
Cipher looked at the Immortal King. If it weren’t for his lack of a face capable of expressions, he would definitely be smiling. After all, he’d put Cipher in quite the spot. He was holding Selene hostage, his dark tentacles coiled around her, taunting Cipher.
But Cipher understood the underlying trap.
The true target wasn’t Selene. After all, why would the Immortal King bother with someone like her? The real target was actually Amélie. Now that she was exhausted and defenseless, the Immortal King wanted him to charge toward Selene - and then he would teleport to Amélie.
Cipher let out a long sigh before speaking. "Stop. Why don’t we have a talk, you and I?"