Chapter 87: Luminous-Tier Soul Stone
Gounrat veered left, while Bell took position on the right. The two split apart, and the demon tree found itself split between them.
Its roots and blade-leaves each formed into two separate groups, chasing after the two people it deemed dangerous, given their tier.
But that was only a brief distraction. The very next moment, the tree seemed to let out a low hum, every part of its body trembling wildly the instant it sensed a manifestation of Soul Essence carrying a devastating amount of destructive power directly above it.
That made the demon tree immediately shift the direction of its attack. But Bell and Gounrat clearly weren’t about to let that happen so easily.
Bell swung her chain out, blocking off as much as she could. If the demon tree could scream, it was surely doing exactly that right now, watching in agony as its roots surged upward in a desperate frenzy to protect it.
Gounrat did the same. He blocked everything he could manage, since the Coffin Nail was an incredibly precious artifact, usable only once.
Without that artifact, victory would be impossible for them. So he couldn’t let their one and only chance slip away here.
Rings of black metal floated everywhere, his Soul Essence draining away at a reckless pace. But no matter how much effort Gounrat and Bell poured into it, a few roots still managed to slip through and shield the Soul Core.
Right along with that, the searing light pouring out from the nail began to seep out, lighting up the dark day with a swirling storm.
Then, like a verdict of judgment, it fell downward. Anchoring itself firmly, striking right where the Soul Core sat.
Gounrat and Bell, caught close to that blast, went pale the instant their bodies were thrown backward by the powerful gust that followed.
The ground around them trembled violently, trees and whatever else remained getting flung everywhere. Duke Everhart and the two other Awakened fighters held their ground, bracing against the ground.
The faded, pale blue light collided with the tree’s roots, slowly spreading violent cracks, shattering every root and leaf trying to protect the Soul Core.
But none of it meant anything against an artifact built for the sole purpose of annihilation.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Explode—BAAAAAMMM!!!
The Soul Core was pierced through, cracking apart until it shattered into pieces. Every part of the demon tree’s body shook violently, then slowly went still.
Right along with that, the Coffin Nail slowly began to disperse like dust, gathering into a small cloud around itself, before vanishing entirely.
Having lost its Soul Core, the demon tree was nothing more than an ordinary tree now. Its dark trunk slowly began showing massive cracks, its rotten leaves falling away, no longer showing the same blade-like sharpness as before.
The next instant, the tree collapsed, crumbling to dust. That left Duke Everhart, standing right underneath it, going pale, forcing himself to leap clear in the very last second.
Luckily, Bell helped him out, quickly hauling him away with her chain while keeping her focus locked on the tree.
The rain still hadn’t let up, showing no sign of easing at all. Large pools of water had formed around them, the ground turning muddy and waterlogged.
The demon tree was now destroyed.
And they’d managed to kill it, but only after sacrificing something genuinely valuable. Still, it was the better choice, and one Duke Everhart would never come to regret.
Bell’s gaze fell on the wreckage of the tree. There, she spotted a floating Soul Stone, one carrying the soul of a Luminous-tier monster, corrupted, laced with demonic energy.
That was exactly the kind of Soul Stone far too dangerous to absorb, given the contagious negative influence it carried.
"Miss Bell..." Duke Everhart mumbled awkwardly from across the way. Bell blinked, glancing at the man dangling pathetically beside her.
Only then did she realize she’d been hauling him along by the back collar of his jacket.
"Could you please put me down?" Somehow, even in that state, Duke Everhart still managed to hold onto his dignity as a Duke.
"Sorry."
Bell finally set him down.
The threat had finally been neutralized.
***
At the west fortress, every Awakened monster that had proven nearly impossible to kill until now suddenly began to shudder. Their bodies froze in place, catching everyone still fighting off guard, forcing them to draw ragged, blood-tinged breaths.
The next instant, the monsters collapsed. And the dark, corrupted energy wrapped around them vanished, as though it had never existed at all.
They simply died right then, their bodies slowly crumbling into ash once the DNA of the corrupted creature within them faded away completely.
The Awakened fighters stood frozen, then one of them climbed onto a rooftop, checking on the others.
One by one, they climbed up onto rooftops, as if to confirm whether everyone was okay, and whether it was all genuinely over.
So, once they found everyone still alive, even with severe, near-fatal wounds, they all let out a long, collective sigh.
No one spoke, no one celebrated the victory. Who would, when they felt this utterly exhausted right now?
If anything, they found themselves longing for tomorrow to arrive as soon as possible. Because that was when the real celebration would happen—the fact that they’d managed to survive at all.
Elsewhere, Eiros collapsed, exhausted. His body looked genuinely wrecked, thanks to the rain, with blood still seeping through his clothes, though there wasn’t all that much left in him anymore.
He let out a light sigh, his gaze drifting to where that gorilla monster had once stood.
His lips curved into a pleased smile as he spotted a Soul Stone that had broken free from the gorilla’s corpse.
A Soul Stone from an Awakened-tier monster that had nearly reached Luminous during its lifetime. That would provide an enormous boost.
Eiros took a step forward, then tucked the Soul Stone away. His gaze then turned to a system screen materializing in the empty air.
Eiros hesitated for a moment, but then his eyes widened, a faint tremor visible as he looked at the reward waiting for him.
His face, still wearing the White Swan identity, couldn’t help but flash a triumphant, casually confident smile, even though Eiros was genuinely overjoyed on the inside.
Why wouldn’t he be?
[Mission Complete]
[Reward: x1 Luminous-Tier Soul Stone, x30 Soul Stones, x1 Stigmata Card]
He’d just received an absolutely incredible reward. Enough to flip every terrible thing that had happened, every reason he’d had to feel awful, completely on its head.
He felt like it was all genuinely worth it!
***