Chương 12: Rootless Soul

Despite the frenzied attacks of the blood-red skeleton, Frilian's defensive magic handled the situation with ease.

The situation reached a stalemate for a moment.

Xia En, carrying his sword, stayed to the side, observing safely.

Facing a legendary mage who had once slain the Demon King, he simply couldn't imagine how the skull could possibly win.

Just as he was leisurely assessing the battle situation, the skull, which he had been unable to defeat for a long time, suddenly changed its attack and headed straight for him.

What the hell!

Don't talk about martial arts!

In a panic, Xia En drew his sword and slashed.

Crackling sound.

The longsword, imbued with the power of lightning, whistled down and shattered the skull into a cloud of black mist. Silver-white lightning crackled and darted wildly within the churning mist, eliciting piercing screams.

Xia En hissed, and for some reason, the black mist's cry sounded a bit painful.

Before Shane could finish his thought, the black mist condensed into a skull again and ran back to confront Frilian.

While using defensive magic to fend off the black mist's attacks, Frilian unleashed tons of magical beams during the gaps in the opponent's attacks.

For a moment, the sky was a mix of black and white, with light and shadow flashing back and forth, creating quite a lively scene.

Xia En continued to watch leisurely.

But as he looked around, he noticed something was wrong.

Compared to his ability to directly shatter the black mist, Frilian, who was a thousand times stronger than him, actually fought the black mist to a draw!

The black mist could not harm Frilian, nor could it even break through the defensive magic shield in front of her.

However, Frilian was also unable to effectively kill the black mist. Those precise magical attacks entered the black mist's body without a trace, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

"That's not right."

Xia En's mind raced, and he immediately grasped the key point.

Attack negated.

The skull's freely controllable black mist is its magic shield. Both of them are proficient in magic, and their attacks hit each other's magic shields. In the end, the attacks canceled each other out, becoming futile.

"Frilian, use binding magic, I'll cut it down."

Upon hearing Shane's shout, Frilian had no doubts and instantly changed her magic spell. A pale yellow binding chain suddenly shot up the skull, quickly wrapping around and binding it.

[Binding Magic] This magic can restrict the opponent's movements.

Once restrained, the skull lost its ability to attack. Xia En seized the opportunity, his longsword crackling with lightning, and delivered a powerful blow.

The force was just right.

As before, this attack once again blasted the skull into a cloud of black mist. Silver-white lightning crackled and darted wildly within the churning mist, eliciting piercing screams.

It really works!

"Magic can't harm it, but lightning can!"

Frillie understood immediately. As soon as the black mist reformed, she didn't waste a second and used the [Binding Magic] to bind it again.

Shain's lightning sword arrived shortly afterward.

The two worked in perfect harmony, striking the black mist skull repeatedly, causing it to scream in agony.

After several rounds, the originally enormous skull shrank smaller and smaller until it was the size of an ordinary human head.

"The final blow!"

Xia En was in high spirits, swinging his lightning sword continuously and even proudly performing a sword flourish.

Just when he thought the battle was over, an unexpected incident occurred.

He accidentally activated another entry on the longsword: 【Flashbang (Blue Excellent)】: Wield the sword and unleash a powerful white light that blinds within range for 3 seconds.

"Ah! My eyes!"

With a scream from Shane, he and the skull simultaneously went blind.

The moment he lost sight of her, Shane realized he'd misplaced the item! Melee weapon? Why put "flashbang" on it? Throwing darts or arrows would have been much better!

Now, he doesn't know whether the skull has eyes or whether it will cause blindness, but he does know that he is about to be gone.

Frillie reacted as quickly as ever, casting her defensive magic the instant Shane was blinded.

To her surprise, the skull was neither blinded nor attacked. After the flash, the black mist on the skull was completely dispelled.

The entire skull transformed into a soft white mist, enveloping Shane.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"It hurts so much! Help..."

"Mommy, save me, Mommy..."

"My legs, my legs, ah, help..."

"Help me, someone please help me..."

Xia En was blind, but he could hear the shouts of countless people around him—men, women, the elderly, and children.

These voices are crying out for help; they are in extreme pain.

At the same time, he heard that terrifying, crazed voice: "Hahaha, it's all for humanity's final victory! Teacher, we're almost there! Almost there!"

In an instant, he realized who those painful voices were.

They were all killed by that hooded figure, people who turned into blood and had their limbs torn apart in those failed experiments.

Xia En felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer.

If he hadn't been lucky enough, he might have been one of those suffering voices right now.

He listened quietly to the scattered words of these tragically deceased people: These people had no idea what was happening. All they knew was that their bodies had been torn apart by magic and their souls had been pulled into darkness. They did not belong to this world. They wanted to leave and go home, but they could not do so.

They were trapped in a dark, magical prison, becoming ghosts wandering the mine tunnels.

Their souls, wandering day after day, were tainted by darkness and dominated by hatred. Eventually, they lost their memories and forgot what they were originally like. They only knew how to obey a certain command and guard the secrets deep underground.

Just a few days ago, the mine tunnel collapsed and was destroyed, leaving them homeless and with nowhere to go.

The resentment accumulated over thousands of years finally erupted, and it possessed the townspeople, wanting to rebuild the mine with the help of humans.

Now, the resentment that had been controlling them has been dispelled, and they have regained their memories.

They never wanted to go back to the cage of magic; they wanted to go home.

But rootless souls cannot reach the "heaven" where they rest, nor can they ever return to their foreign homes.

Please help us.

Please help us.

With countless requests echoing in his ears, Xia En slowly opened his eyes, and his vision returned.

The black mist and skull in front of me had long since disappeared, leaving only a little girl with tears streaming down her face.

Tears streamed down the little girl's face, her body, formed from condensed white mist, was thin and frail, and the surrounding darkness seemed eager to gather back onto her.

She stared intently at Xia En, then smiled and tilted her head back.

Xia En looked at the little girl in front of him, remained silent for a moment, and then said in a very soft voice:

"Entry stripping".

In an instant, a pale blue dot of light was successfully extracted and appeared in front of him.

The little girl's figure shattered, turning into magical particles and vanishing completely.

Obtain the entry "Rootless Soul".