Rorschach’s confidence stemmed from his [Divine Exorcism Technique]. Just as he had expected, after three months of the underground device in the research building tirelessly grinding it up point by point, he had successfully raised its proficiency to the purple level.

’This AFK leveling feels amazing!’

Rorschach hadn’t yet found an opportunity to test the effects of his newly upgraded Exile Skill. No matter how uncanny the Donkey Hide was, the affliction had to be one of two things: a Magic Enchantment or a Divine Art curse. With a Reversing Beam in one hand and an Exile Skill in the other, he figured one of them was bound to get rid of the thing.

So, he wasn’t in a hurry to destroy the Donkey Hide. It was better to study it as thoroughly as possible, lest he remove the curse only to send the key figure, Valon, to his grave along with it.

The next morning, Rorschach couldn’t wait for the Great Mage to leisurely finish his brunch and "hold court." He grabbed the Donkey Hide and stormed directly into the restaurant at the Starlight Torch Tower.

The restaurant manager already recognized Rorschach and silently let him pass to find Kano.

"What’s so urgent?" Kano knew Rorschach wasn’t the type to show up unannounced just to scrounge for food.

Rorschach took out the Donkey Hide and laid out Valon’s entire story.

Kano took the Donkey Hide, his meal forgotten. "Just leaving him in the hospital isn’t safe enough. How about this... I’ll contact the Guild... no, I’ll dispatch two Mages from the Alchemy Department to watch over this general manager of yours."

Valon, lying in his hospital bed, could never have imagined he would be receiving such high-level security. Kano, having made his decision, took Rorschach straight to the research building. The Master first stopped by the Alchemy Department to pick two fellows who operated machinery by hand all day—guys whose biceps and triceps strained against their robes—and sent them to the hospital. Only then did he proceed to the research lab to observe the Donkey Hide.

"What’s the story behind this Donkey Hide?"

"I suspect it comes from Balaam’s donkey." Kano stroked the hide’s rough surface. "Legend has it that Balaam was a Prophet of the Formless God. During the conflict between the Formless God and the Lord of Order in the Kingdom of Sand, Balaam would prophesize the outcomes of battles between their followers and incite the desires of the Lord of Order’s faithful."

"When he rode his donkey before an Angel of the Lord of Order, the pure-souled animal saw the Divine Envoy wielding a sharp axe and blocked Balaam’s path three times. Balaam, unable to see the Angel, struck his mount three times in turn. In our Scriptures, it is recorded that after receiving a Divine Revelation from God, the sullied-souled Prophet repented before God and his own donkey."

Kano chuckled dryly. "But in the Land of Sand, the records of the Shanshi people say that not only did Balaam fail to apologize to his donkey, but he also killed it, skinned it, and offered its hide as a sacrifice to the Formless God."

"And so, the Prophet obtained a donkey hide capable of stirring human desires. Legend says that every one of its owners becomes fabulously wealthy before dying a violent death. The hide then vanishes, only to reappear in the hands of the next ’lucky’ fellow. To think a young lad from the Royal Capital would end up with it."

’So it’s a "Holy Artifact" with a long history?’ Rorschach hadn’t realized it had such a grand origin. "How do you know all this?"

"Because there are relatively few myths involving donkeys, and you mentioned he got it from an elderly Shanshi man, that makes it highly probable. Besides, his circumstances align perfectly with the legend."

Rorschach also sifted through his own knowledge of Mythology. "Legend says that Quilimo, the God of travel and Transformation, also rode a donkey."

At this, Kano’s expression shifted. "Quilimo was also, for a time, the god of trade and commerce." That detail lined up perfectly with the "fair trade" of "making a wish and paying with one’s life."

"A dual Divinity?" ’This Valon fellow is like the protagonist of a novel. Getting one of these Miaomiao Tools from a mysterious old man... he’s really hitting all the classic tropes.’

Kano shook his head. "A friend of mine, a Mage with a passion for Mythology, once said that every myth has a kernel of historical truth. According to him, Quilimo actually wielded the Authority of Transformation and was a Subordinate God to the Formless God. His name is more widely known in the Elven Language as ’Thoth,’ and records place his sphere of activity within the Kingdom of Sand."

"This friend of mine once made a bold conjecture: many Prophets and Angels are actually Subordinate Gods of a Main God. The existence of this donkey hide, therefore, could very well mean that ’Prophet Balaam’ and the ’God of Change’ are one and the same being."

That made this Donkey Hide, which relentlessly drained Vitality, all the more interesting. It was known for a fact that Balaam had been executed by the God of Light and Order, whereas "Quilimo/Thoth" was a Divine Spirit who had fallen dormant in an earlier age.

From Rorschach’s perspective, it seemed the Donkey Hide was making its successive owners work for it, all to accumulate Vitality. ’Could it be a contingency plan Balaam left for his own resurrection?’

"So, how should we handle it? Destroy it or study it?" In Rorschach’s opinion, this wasn’t the time to get sidetracked on a "side quest." He was more inclined to test his [Divine Exorcism Technique] on this uncanny antique.

Fortunately, Kano’s thinking aligned with Rorschach’s. "My friend is in Istani. Even if he were to teleport here, by the time he finished studying this thing thoroughly, our Mr. Valon would have probably evaporated. It’s best to break the young man’s curse first."

"Then I’ll see if I can destroy it."

"Hold on! Let’s go to the hospital first. We need to observe Valon’s condition as we work on the hide."

...

"What’s happening..." When a patient finds himself surrounded by a crowd of specialists, he might assume he’s contracted some rare disease and is being used as a live case study. That was exactly how Valon felt right now.

"Just cooperate, and don’t give up hope," Rorschach encouraged the young man, his head enclosed in a filter bubble. Besides him at the bedside were the two curious, burly fellows from the Alchemy Department and the Great Mage.

Rorschach first tried the Reversing Beam. A red ray shot out and struck Valon. Through the Caster’s [Arcane Vision], he could see the luminous mist connecting the Donkey Hide to Valon struggle and twist. Valon tried to cough but couldn’t, a heavy, constricted feeling building in his chest.

’It’s no good.’ The spell was quite draining for Rorschach, yet its effect on the curse wasn’t strong. When Kano saw [Feuerbach’s Reversing Beam], he raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Rorschach stabilized his breathing, gathered some Ether into himself, and began his second attempt, this time with [Divine Exorcism Technique]. The purple-proficiency Magic was on another level. The moment he cast it on Valon, the target of the spell let out a pained, guttural scream.

Valon felt as if his Soul was being torn apart. He was past the point of coughing, completely overwhelmed by a sense of suffocation. It felt as if his very lungs were rupturing, and thick beads of sweat burst forth from his forehead and back.

"Rorschach, stop! Valon’s body can’t take it." Kano unfurled a Healing Scroll, giving Valon a moment’s respite.

Kano sighed. "We’ll have to deal with the Donkey Hide directly." The plan they had initially discussed was to sever the connection between Valon and the hide, while keeping the "Holy Artifact" as intact as possible.

With both attempts having failed, their only option left was to apply the spell to the small Donkey Hide itself.

Rorschach composed himself and made another attempt on the hide. When the Exile Skill struck it, the hide’s rough, black surface erupted in a violent cascade of iridescent light. It didn’t exude any sublime Divinity, but rather an endless flux of Transformation, using change itself to resist Rorschach’s Casting.

His Magic Power was draining rapidly. Rorschach realized that using the Exile Skill alone was like engaging in an endless wrestling match with this small piece of hide. If this kept up, the only outcome would be him completely exhausting his Magic Power.

’It’s still not enough... I need to destroy its very essence, not just exile it.’ With this realization, the multiple Ring Tiers of his [Divine Exorcism Technique] began to spin around its core pattern in his status panel. The components for [Rorschach’s Small Dissociation Technique] and [Feuerbach’s Reversing Beam] broke apart, only to reassemble themselves within the rings of the Exile Skill.

"AHHH!" Amidst Valon’s piercing shriek, the Donkey Hide—the very one he had been unable to damage or even stretch—crumbled. Its light shifted from constantly changing to a dull gloom, and finally, the hide itself disintegrated into dust and ash.

A thin wisp of mist tried to seep into Valon’s body, but Kano raised a hand, intercepting it and exiling it to an infinite, formless void.

The Master had also cast an Exile Skill, though it was the weakened version Rorschach had submitted to the Elder Council.