Chương 1551: 1549. Ice Breaker

Soon after she left, cracks appeared in the cursed ice. It was unable to stall for long. Moments after the cat assassin vanished from the cavern, the frosty shell exploded, sending shards with the strength of steel in all directions. The shadow silhouette looked around the cavern for a moment before vanishing through cracks in the bedrock. In the temple above, Jiu Yuu Ying could feel its shadow thralls failing to resist the floral invader.

Expanding its perception, it could see that a humongous tree had appeared above the gorge in which it resided. The plant was greedily depleting the land's spirit vein to become even bigger. The shadow didn't care. It felt no more attachment to this place or its servants. Everything was pushed to the back by the tsunamis of pain and wrath raging through its body.

This was the first time the shadow truly understood the concept of pain and the existential fear of suffering, a suffering that didn't seem to end or weaken. The hot seething wrath was also a first for the creature that saw itself above the vermin crawling the earth, bound to decaying bodies and a finite fate. How could a creature so backward dare deny their mercy, resist, and... hurt it? Another shiver shot through the shadow as the pain hit once again.

Frozen in place, enduring the torture of foreign energy wrecking his body, it only served to increase the wrath burning inside. Jiu Yuu Ying had lost so many of the souls it had saved. Jiu Yuu Ying was suffering torments it had never faced. All because of her. Where was she? She had to pay! Its thoughts were muddled and kept constantly looping, feeding the rage, allowing it to endure the pain. Jiu Yuu Ying wanted to find her, to crush her. But the shadow figure couldn't find her. The target of its wrath was gone.

The dark consciousness swept over the whole valley, once, twice, and then she suddenly appeared at the foot of the tree. Did she think she was safe? Its existence was vibrating from pain and excitement Jiu Yuu Ying appeared at the foot of the tree.

"Did you think you could escape!" the shadows roared and struck her down. The sharp, angular claws cut through her body like it was mist, and a moment later, her corpse dissolved into wisps of shadows. It was a decoy! Jiu Yuu Ying had jumped into the daylight and instantly struck her down, only to find himself surrounded by a forest of roots and vines binding its body and draining its life force. Now, even this waste tried to pick a fight.

At this moment, the shadow abandoned itself to this raging, hot, foreign emotion. Like a beast, it ripped and tore through the never-ending ropes that dared shackle it. No thoughts, no schemes, only a whirlwind of claws battling a sea of tree. It released its rage and pain in a massive explosion that shook the whole valley. The claws of compressed shadow began releasing beams of darkness that cut away vast swaths of vines and roots, buying it some time.

Then it swelled, becoming the center of a vortex of light, as all darkness in the area was sucked into it and compressed into a tiny sphere. Breaking out from the sphere was a beam of absolute darkness, like the breath of an eldritch dragon living in an abyss beyond the absence of light. The beam tore through roots and vines and the earth itself and created a deep ravine on its path. With the thicket burned away, the view was open at the giant trunk in the distance in front of Jiu Yuu Ying.

It was pierced without any resistance and then... Even more roots ascended from the ground, and even more vines descended from the crown. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Nothing. Its attack had burned a hole through the foot of the tree, but it meant absolutely nothing to the plant. As Jiu Yuu Ying was drowned in the malicious underbrush, it even saw the gap of its attack slowly closing!

The sight of the tree not even flinching at its attack. The incessant tendrils were tearing into its very being and drawing out its life. The debilitating pain coursing through its body. This very moment taught Jiu Yuu Ying another emotion it had never truly felt. Powerlessness. Doubt. Could it have beaten this tree when it was in a pristine state? It couldn't imagine it.

As this new heart demon gnawed away at the rage and confidence of centuries, it was losing more and more power, now unable, or rather, unwilling to resist the roots drowning it. Mina looked on from above. Had Jiu Yuu Ying been in a clear state of mind, it might have used the weird Yin Fire it had tried on her earlier. Mina was unsure whether the Guardian Tree could have resisted that attack, thanks to the <Blessing of Andras>, the great shadow was in no condition to think clearly.

It was one of the few curses that had managed to stick. Now in safety, Mina finally calmed down a little. Seeing the shadow creature drown in the tree's assault, she suddenly remembered something important and hurriedly put on the bracelet Seth had given her before the three of them split in different directions. The blacksmith had explained that it was a prototype, but it was a consumable item that could trap the soul of a recently killed being.

Seth said it was based on the magic Tano'Mol used to collect souls on battlefields. Mina wasn't really privy to this business, but she understood the important stuff. This allowed her to capture the soul of one thing she killed, and Seth would be able to use that soul for crafting later on. If there was any soul worth capturing, wasn't it that of Jiu Yuu Ying? The thing had almost managed to kill her. If it wasn't for the life-saving enchantment of her armor, she may have been a goner.

Hopefully it even had a soul.... Still invisible, the wife of the tower master descended from the Guardian Tree to get a little closer to the bundle of roots and vines, strangling the master, or rather, the essence of the Dark Assassin Valley. At this point, the tree had formed a burl around the shadow creature, completely locking its figure in place. Mina questioned why it didn't return to its previous form, which was immune to physical attacks, but it seemed like the creature had lost all will to resist.

<Target Assessment> showed her that the last quarter of its life was slowly ticking away. The health bar was shrinking at a visible speed, but it seemed to be slow, as the tree was actually focusing on ending it. This, once again, showed the broken potential of Asclepius' Needle. The right disease could absolutely cripple even the strongest opponent. Although Mina had fought it in <Nyx>, seeing the tree struggle with the defenseless beast, she didn't dare take credit for the already missing 75% of health.

There was no doubt that the <Plague Strike> did the lion's share. If only it worked like that every time, the dagger would have long since ranked up and become a legend.... A couple of minutes later, the health looked almost empty; only 1 percent was left. Jiu Yuu Ying had lost all substance and turned into a transparent shade. She could have just watched on for a couple more seconds, and the shadow would have died on its own. But she didn't want to.

<Executioner's Grace> The Shard of Biting Ice descended onto its head and lodged deep into the shadow's skull. <Ding! You have killed the Divine Beast Jiu Yuu Ying lv. 202, and absorbed part of its legend. > <Ding! Your level has risen...! > <Ding! Your level has risen...! > <Ding! Your level has risen...! >... She felt the incredible power flow into her, strengthening her whole body and skill as her levels shot up. Immediately after the notification, she could see the bracelet light up. The victory was hers.

The experience was hers. The soul was hers. In a single move, her level had jumped to 121. It was really over. With this thought, tension left her body, and she flopped on the ground to rest. This was a close shave. At that moment, Mina decided that she definitely would not tell the others how close it was. She didn't want Seth to worry... Tired, she used the message stone to signal that she had finished.