Chapter 86: Coffin Nail
The Luminous Captain serving under Duke Everhart’s command was an elderly man. His face was deeply lined, a thick white beard covering his jaw.
At the same time, he was Gounrat Everhart, Duke Everhart’s own uncle.
His gaze darted quickly, watching roots shoot out from every direction, slamming into wherever his group happened to be. Gounrat himself was caught in the same predicament.
Boom! Boom—!!
In his hand, black rings materialized, floating and circling loosely around his wrist.
"Captain! We’ve found the location of the Soul Core!"
Behind him, he heard one of the men he’d brought along for this extermination—a stigmata holder at the Awakened tier.
"Just as Miss Bell informed us, the Soul Core’s located at the very top of the tree!"
Gounrat’s gaze immediately shot toward the spot in question. From his position, spotting the Soul Core itself was difficult, but his subordinate was different—the man hadn’t been brought here without reason.
Meanwhile, Bell raised her wooden staff, producing a light whooshing sound and the clatter of her chains whipping wildly through the air.
Her expression looked dark and sharp as she leapt from one root to another, moving with acrobatic grace, spinning her body and coming to a stop atop yet another root.
Across the way, she spotted another root approaching. But she didn’t even bother to look, letting her chain shoot out and coil around it instead.
Jingle!
Bam!
A powerful blast rang out as the root got slammed deep into the ground. Her gaze then shifted to the Captain, and she flashed a weary smile.
"We’ve only got one shot at this, Mister Gounrat, so make it count. You’re probably feeling pretty sleepy too, huh? Especially at your age."
Whistle—!
A light whistling sound echoed as Gounrat raised his hand. The black rings circling his wrist shot outward, spreading wide, then encircled dozens of roots surging toward them.
Clamp—!
The next instant, the rings tightened, clamping down on the roots, freezing them in place before they collapsed as though they’d lost all their strength.
"Miss, I may be old, but that doesn’t mean I’m lazy," His voice came out hoarse and calm, yet carried a competitive spirit unusual for his age.
Bell chuckled, watching what Gounrat’s stigmata could actually do with a look of genuine amazement.
"Haha, you’re still incredibly unpleasant, old man."
But that lasted only a moment, her focus snapping back the instant she noticed the tree’s leaves suddenly falling, like it was autumn.
Jingle—!
Bell swung her staff, her chains shooting out and extending rapidly. If not for White Swan earlier, she might not have thought twice about those falling leaves.
Who would’ve guessed that a leaf could turn out to be as heavy and sharp as a blade?
Clang—!!
Jingle! Jingle!
"In that case, let’s wrap this up quickly."
Gounrat’s voice rang out once more amid the chaos. They could both sense that the demon tree was still fighting to grow even stronger. The demonic energy it carried was genuinely absurd, and combined with the corruption energy stemming from ’their’ genes, this tree had practically become a demon tree with terrifyingly dangerous potential if left unchecked.
Alongside Bell and Gounrat, the Duke himself had also come along, ready to make use of the artifact they’d brought, joined by two Awakened-tier stigmata users chosen for their versatility.
"Nice! Still fired up at your age, glad to hear it!"
Bell gave a lazy smile, though there was no denying that, amid all that overwhelming exhaustion, she was genuinely enjoying herself. Her body shot upward, deflecting every falling leaf that came her way.
Then, with so many roots closing in, Bell could easily position herself and find openings to exploit.
Her gaze caught roots approaching from every direction. Relying on her chain, Bell struck one of them, wrapping it up and yanking hard. The root proved far too sturdy to pull free, and since Bell wasn’t channeling any Soul Essence into it, she ended up yanking herself toward it instead.
Boom!
She kicked her leg upward, her body flipping over, dodging another root. That root collided with something else while Bell came out unscathed.
Even so, it was safe to say this was far from over. Because more roots kept coming, and unlike the first time Bell had faced this demon tree monster, it had grown noticeably stronger by now.
Its roots had become thicker and faster, and their sheer numbers had multiplied densely. Along with that—
Whistle!
"Tsk!" Bell clicked her tongue, tilting her head, feeling a blade-sharp leaf shoot past, nearly slicing through her throat.
Unlike before, the demon tree now had control over its knife-like leaves, making everything far more complicated.
Bell watched leaves falling from above, along with several already scattered on the ground. They trembled, then slowly began to rise.
The demon tree was now controlling all of them, in numbers too great to count, but it was safe to say it had to be in the hundreds, maybe even thousands.
Whistle! Whistle! Whistle!
Bell dodged, using her wooden staff to block every incoming leaf-blade. Her body twisted and turned, showing movements no ordinary human could possibly pull off.
That flexibility was genuinely remarkable, but regardless, the leaves would keep coming back again and again, targeting her as though they wouldn’t stop until Bell was dead.
’....What a hassle.’
Slash!
Bell’s brow furrowed, feeling a cut open across her cheek as she paused briefly in midair. The next instant, she raised her staff, letting her chain extend out like a giant serpent. Then she flung that long chain, spinning it around in a display of pure acrobatics.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of clashing metal rang out, like fireworks endlessly exploding across the sky.
Gounrat found himself in a similarly rough spot, but the man refused to let those leaves get another chance to strike him. Because every leaf he managed to catch with his rings dropped heavily to the ground.
Duke Everhart, meanwhile, was doing quite well, since his stigmata, tied to leg movement, made him almost untouchable—though even so, he’d likely burn through his Soul Essence quickly.
"Miss Bell, I’m ready!"
Duke Everhart saw dozens of leaves closing in on him. But just as they drew close, his body shot forward as though he’d blinked out of existence, reappearing somewhere else entirely.
Blink—!
In his hand, he held a nail, about the size of his own wrist, floating in the air. That was the artifact Duke Everhart had pulled out to destroy this demon.
Coffin Nail, a Luminous-tier artifact!
The nail hovered, radiating a distinct aura that turned the surrounding air genuinely frigid. It also released a dense, cold aura, seeping into Duke Everhart’s hand, leaving him feeling deeply uneasy.
Across the way, one of the stigmata users they’d brought along, tasked with protecting their "eyes"—the one capable of pinpointing the demon tree’s Soul Core—was also tasked with providing additional support at the same time.
In his hand, a cracked sun was visible, faintly radiating a shimmering light. Then, the next instant, that stigmata user poured out half of his entire soul essence, making everything around him blindingly bright and searingly hot.
That meant nothing to the group of humans, but to the demon tree, it acted like a purifying force, one that struck deeply at their tainted minds and severely disrupted the regeneration of its corruption.
Every root froze in place, but only for a moment before the demon tree unleashed its fury.
Slam! Strike!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The ground beneath them was torn apart, the earth around them trembling, kicking up clouds of dust and sand that rose slowly, forming a small tornado from the sheer force of its assault.
The wind howled fiercely, making every raindrop feel like it was piercing straight into their skin.
Bell felt a chill run all the way down to her bones, but she showed no reaction at all as her pupils flashed with a faint reddish glint.
Jingle—!
She raised her staff, and the soft, pale green light from her lantern dimmed. Unlike before, when she’d absorbed all the surrounding light, Bell now did the opposite.
She tapped into the pure darkness she kept stored within herself.
Unlike Eiros, who had no control over his own red lightning, and unlike most stigmata users in general, Bell was different—she had full control over the elemental energy her stigmata carried.
Which was exactly why she was genuinely above average, both in talent and within her tier.
That dark energy seeped out, making the already-cold air even colder. Thick darkness swallowed everything around them, and the next instant, her chains slammed into every root, shattering them all.
That darkness reached all the way to the tree’s trunk.
Then, the very next instant was...
Freeze—!
The effect that thick darkness carried was to shatter the enemy’s focus, paralyzing their awareness and mind for a brief moment.
Even though it lasted only a fleeting few seconds, that was more than enough.
Gounrat, who’d stayed quiet up until then, now revealed nearly a hundred black rings floating behind him.
Whoosh—!!
Whistle! Whistle! Whistle!
Every ring shot forward, like sheets of paper scattering, swept up by the wind. Then, as they closed in on the tree’s massive trunk, the rings merged into one, forming a giant loop large enough to swallow the entire tree whole.
The next instant, the ring clamped down, squeezing the trunk, forcing it to shrink under the pressure. The demon tree’s awareness snapped back, and it immediately realized the situation had turned dire.
No matter how powerful the tree had become, thanks to ’their’ DNA, it would still struggle against humans capable of strategy and thought, rather than simply attacking mindlessly.
Right then, both Bell and Gounrat made full use of every second they had left.
They shot upward, pouring even more soul essence into every leap and every step they took.
The Soul Core came into view. But at the same time, Gounrat’s ring snapped loose. The demon tree moved again, its roots and every one of its blade-leaves all turning, targeting Bell and Gounrat as they closed in on its weak point.
But right as the tree let its guard down, ignoring the Awakened fighters below, that blinding sunlight reappeared once more, right as Duke Everhart materialized near the tree’s trunk, his eyes glowing brightly in the darkness.
His soul essence had run completely dry.
The nail in his hand crumbled to ash.
The next instant, a devastating light burst across the sky.
***