Chapter 234 The After Effects

"Russell, I know what to do. See those flames? They're called the Devil Flame. I will have to use my
eyes to put them out before things get worse," Kristen said. "That will drain most of your energy,
Kristen! Are you sure about this?" Ricky questioned in concern. "Yes, I... I can do it," she answered
hesitantly. The Devil Flame began to fade away as soon as Kristen activated her power. The flame
disappeared a few moments later and the entire Black Marsh was saved from its supposed destruction.

Kristen almost passed out from fatigue after using up most of her energy. Luckily, Ricky immediately
caught her and helped her back up. "Are you alright?" Ricky worriedly asked. "Yes, I'm fine; I just need
to rest. Thank you, Russell," Kristen answered. "I should be the one thanking you, Kristen. If it weren't
for you and the power of your eyes, the Devil Flame would have continued to burn and destroy
everything in its path," he said. Ricky started to develop an interest in the Devil Flame after
experiencing its power first hand. He had realized its destructive capabilities and began to put a lot of
thought into the flame's true nature.

He also realized that the Devil Flame could be sealed off by an array deployed by a professional array
deployer. Of course, he wouldn't have known about that if it wasn't for Kristen.

"Buzz!" A faint buzzing sound suddenly could be heard as Ricky was lost in deep thought about the
Devil Flame. He realized that the noise was coming from Kristen. Her energy was still fully drained from
fending off the powerful flame and she then completely passed out.

"Maybe it would be best if we find you a place to rest, Kristen. You have to recover your strength after
all," Ricky said with a tender smile on his face. Then, he took out a robe from his storage ring and
gently wiped away the blood from around Kristen's eyes.

After that, he picked Kristen up and brought her to a safe and clean place where she could rest. He
spread his robe out on the ground and placed her on it carefully, trying to make it more comfortable for
her to lie on.



He sat down near Kristen and waited for Tyson. Tyson had gone to catch the two deputy leaders of the
Rats. As they were waiting, he started to think about exchanging something he had for a bit of Kristen's
Devil Flame.

'If I want to exchange a bit of my Heaven Slaughtering Fire for a bit of her Devil Flame, will she agree
to that?' Ricky wondered wildly. 'What if my Heaven Slaughter Fire is not worthy enough to exchange
for it? Would the Treasures from Heaven and Earth be good enough? It looks like I will have to look for
a priceless Treasure from Heaven and Earth before I can make a trade!'

His mind just kept racing wildly like that because he was so fascinated by the great power of the Devil
Flame.

Half an hour later, Tyson came back. When he returned he was carrying a man who was completely
passed out on his shoulders. Ricky guessed that the guy must be the deputy leader of the Rats. His
power was known to be at the fourth grade of Bone Reinforcement!

"Tyson, where is the other deputy leader of the Rats?" Ricky asked quickly before Tyson could say
anything.

"Russell, don't worry; he will not wake up anymore. I'm not good at handling him because he's at the
fifth grade of Bone Reinforcement. I just killed him and brought back this guy on my shoulders who's at
the fourth grade of Bone Reinforcement!" Tyson said briskly with a big grin on his face.

"Wow, you are amazing! I was concerned about you being on your own, but I guess there was no need
to worry!" Ricky said happily with a chuckle.

"How's Kristen doing?'' Tyson asked eagerly as he saw her laying on the ground, full of concern for his
team mate.



"She passed out a bit ago. It's a good thing though, so at least she can have a good rest. We should
take care of everything else so she doesn't have to worry!" Ricky said seriously.

"Oh, no! She's suffering from the after-effects of using the mysterious Devil Flame again! Kristen will
probably be blind for the entire next month! That's a hefty price to pay..." Tyson said sadly. Then, he
couldn't help but heave a deep sigh.

"What do you mean?" Ricky asked at once. He was quite puzzled after hearing what Tyson had just
told him.

"Every time Kristen triggers the power of her eyes, it causes her to go blind for one or two months
afterward. It most often happens after she uses the mysterious power of the Devil Flame. She might
even be blind for much longer this time," Tyson explained slowly in a helpless tone.

"I happened to hear our chief say that the more times she uses her bloody eyes, the shorter lifespan
Kristen will have. Her lifespan will be greatly shortened if she keeps using it so much! At least four
years each time she uses that power!" Tyson added grimly.

"What? How come the after-effects are so severe for her?" Ricky quickly asked, unable to hold back his
surprise and concern.

"Yes, it's unbelievable but it's true. I guess it's the law of balance created by the gods. Since she has
been endowed with such powerful eyes, according to the law of balance, she has to sacrifice
something else in return!" Tyson said, shaking his head in sadness.

"Can't this lifespan problem be solved?" Ricky asked, unwilling to accept the terrible truth.

He was aware that the general lifespan of a strong warrior with strong Bone Reinforcement skills, like
Kristen, was about 120 years!



Therefore, even using that power three or four times would be a heavy lifespan loss for Kristen. Using it
too many times could kill her very quickly.

"The chief also said that, if Kristen can reach the realm of innate spiritual king, those after-effects will
be reduced by a little bit. The lifespan of an innate spiritual king can reach 500 years or more, after all!"
Tyson said hopefully.

"If she can reach the realm above innate spiritual king, I hope the after-effects that reduce her lifespan
will disappear completely!"

"It would be quite difficult for anyone to reach the realm above the innate spiritual king, though!" Ricky
said anxiously.

Tyson and Ricky both signed mournfully at the thought of how difficult things would be for Kristen.

Without thinking of any other possible solution for Kristen's problem, they began to shift their attention
on the deputy leader of the Rats. A wicked smile spread across both of their faces!

"Let me wake him up now!" Tyson said.

After that, while he was exercising his spiritual energy, Tyson lifted a mass of black mud from the Black
Marsh. Without hesitation, he hit the deputy leader in the face with the massive clump of mud. Instantly,
the man woke up from his coma.

Without checking to see what environment he was in and the people around, the man immediately
knelt down and begged for mercy. He spoke in a pathetic voice and said, "Please let me go! Please let
me go! Whatever it is that you want to know, I will tell you everything!"

"Hey, Tyson, I am really curious—what on earth did you do to him to make him act like this?'' Rick
asked Tyson with a wicked smile.



"Russell, just bug off!" Tyson blurted out, pretending to be irritated. Looking at Ricky's wicked smile,
Tyson could tell that his friend was joking by suggesting he did something dirty to the deputy to make
him beg like that.

"Ha-ha!" Ricky burst out laughing spontaneously.

The Rats' deputy leader realized by that point that a lot of time had gone by since he was knocked out
earlier. He still didn't dare to stand up. He knelt down in the dirt and lowered his head to beg for mercy.

Ricky and Tyson stopped joking around and took a serious look at the guy.

"Hey, you! If you want us to spare your life, you need to take us to where your people store the
resources and treasures you have stolen from others!" Ricky ordered, getting to the point without
wasting his time again.

Although his tone was flat, it was also full of murderous intent.

"Re… Resources…" the man stuttered as he heard Ricky's words.

"So, do you want to die now!?" Tyson warned, his voice cold and angry. At once, he raised above the
man's head and threatened him with it. He waited, ready to strike if the man didn't comply.

"I have a small question for you gentlemen. How can you guarantee that you won't just kill me anyway
after I've told you about the place?" the deputy leader looked up and then asked quickly after he was
able to summon up enough courage.

After that, he lowered his head again. He trembled due to great fear as he waited for their answer.

"Well, we could say that whether you tell us or not, you aren't really worth our time to kill, so spit it out
already!" Ricky said lightly.



Ricky and Tyson were confident that the man would definitely take them to the place that stored all the
resources. It was obvious he didn't want to die yet and was very afraid to die, so the threat was likely to
work against him.

Sure enough, after a moment of trembling and thinking about his options, the deputy leader opened his
mouth and said, "I will take you gentlemen there, but you two must keep your promise not to kill me!"

"Your cowardice is just a total load of crap! Killing you won't benefit us at all, after all! Letting you be to
help us is the better idea, so lead the way!" Tyson ordered coldly. He pushed the man in front of him,
forcing him to lead the way to the resources of the Rats.

"Remember this. Don't play tricks by taking us to the marsh to try and trap us. We guarantee that you
will die faster and in a more gruesome way if you do that!"

"Please, no, I would never do that! I am quite aware of the consequence if I don't obey you!" the man
replied quickly and firmly.

"Russell, I'll give you the chance to take care of Kristen from now on. Don't let her be left alone!" Tyson
said and motioned to Ricky to look after Kristen for him.

"Tyson, you and Kristen are quite familiar with each other, so I think..."

Ricky stopped talking abruptly as he found that Tyson and the deputy leader had gone more than ten
yards from him by then. Tyson didn't seem to hear what Ricky was saying at all!

"Oh, Tyson!" Ricky protested in an unhappy tone and felt helpless. He had no way to move Kristen, but
to carry her on his back and follow closely behind them! He started walking slowly and carefully out of
the Black Marsh. He had to be careful because, if he made a mistake, he and Kristen would be left in
the nasty marsh forever.



Ricky couldn't deny that he quite liked carrying Kristen around. Her body was soft and warm against his
back as he walked. He didn't mind that he had to hold on to her thighs to support her as he carried her
either!

"Wow, it seems that I don't have to suffer at all while carrying her on my back!" Ricky murmured to
himself with a wicked smile covering his face again.


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