Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Chapter 996- Hidden Quest (4)

Vincent and Itherion wasted no time. Vincent nodded at Simon's directions, his silver blade glowing faintly as he prepared to strike.

 "Got it. Let's end this"... n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The two heroes burst forward in perfect unison, their auras blazing as they surged toward the location Simon had pinpointed.

[Impossible! How did you—?!]

The spectre's laughter faltered as it sensed the approaching threat. Before it could finish, Itherion's golden blade cleaved through the twister, the sheer force of his strike obliterating the murky energy surrounding the spectre.

"Your tricks end here," Vincent's words were as sharp as his sword. He gave no time for the spectre to react and plunged his sword directly into its head.

BOOM… the next second with a wail, its entire head blew off. Green puss along with what looked like pieces of a brain, splattered everywhere.

THUD… The spectre's grotesque body having lost its life, fell down from the sky with a lifeless thump.

The battle was over or so it should have been. Itherion and Vincent who had just finished their opponent, didn't relax their guards immediately and continued to observe their surroundings with grim expressions.

"Why isn't the formation coming down?" Vincent muttered with a grimace.

Itherion's expression mirrored Vincent's concern as he scanned the surroundings. The barrier of the formation was still intact and the dark murky green energy surrounding them showed no signs of fading.

As he had explained earlier, to break a formation one needed to destroy its core or in other cases, defeat its caster. That way, with no one to operate it, the formation would come undone on its own.

They didn't destroy the core but they did defeat its caster. Going by the flow, the formation should come undone by now… so why was it not?

Itherion could only think of one reason. That is the formation wasn't set up by the spectre. However, the enemy boldly acknowledged the formation as its own work, there was no reason for it to lie at that time.

Itherion's gaze dropped to where the spectre's body lay, a growing suspicion gnawed at his mind. If the formation was indeed set up by it, there could be only one reason the formation didn't break.

That is unless the caster was still alive.

The thought just arrived in his mind when a garbled laughter echoed around them.

[Kfufufufu… You thought you had won? Pathetic insects, I will show you how futile your struggle is.]

The spectre's voice was so twisted that it sent chills to anyone who heard it. Then all of a sudden, even without a head its 'corpse' started to twitch unnaturally.

It levitated off the ground, its body swelling to epic proportions. Its limbs bloated, body bulged, like an overfilled sack of flesh the entire figure expanded rapidly, growing to the size of a house.

The spectre's body distorted further as the dark murky green energy of the formation flooded into it.

"This thing... it isn't just feeding off the formation's energy to get stronger," Itherion muttered, his face grim "It's trying to self-destruct!!"

 "What?!"

Vincent's eyes widened, and in an instant, he and Itherion burst forward in an attempt to stop the enemy before it could finish its transformation but it was too late. The spectre had already absorbed all the energy it needed.

[Kfufufu… You will die here. Feel despair, insects! This is your end! But do not worry, I will torment your souls in my Wailing Cradle for all eternity, [Brood Rupture]!]

Its monstrous body swelled to its limit, the murky green energy within it compressing and pulsating dangerously as if ready to explode. The ground around the spectre cracked, and the air warped with the sheer density of energy.

But then when all seemed hopeless… nothing happened.

[Kfufu.. fu.. ?] The spectre's laughter wavered. [DIE!!!] Its bloated body trembled intensely as if ready to detonate but then nothing happened again. Seconds stretched into an eternity, the spectre remained frozen in its grotesque, overinflated state.

[What… What's happening?! Why won't it activate?!]

The spectre roared in panic. It tried again and again, its energy spiking erratically, but the result was the same. No explosion, no destruction—only stillness.

In its desperation, the spectre probed its body through its consciousness, that's when it realized the horrifying truth.

 It was no longer in command over its own energy.

[This… how can this be?! Why won't it listen to me?!]

The realization rattled it to its core. The murky green energy, the essence of its power and existence—the very "Wailing Energy" that formed the lifeblood of the formation had rejected its control. It was foreign now, unresponsive, and alien.

[No, it can't be] The spectre struggled harder, its distorted limbs flailing wildly as it tried to assert its will on the wailing energy once again only to fail in the end.

Then it stopped, frozen in dawning horror. Its repeated attempt finally made it realise… [Someone else is controlling the Wailing Energy… But who?!]

This fact alone should be impossible but what truly opened its eyes was when it realised that the other party was not only controlling the Wailing energy, but they were in complete control of it as if they were its master.

[How?! What? This?! Who can control the Wailing Energy here other than me?]

The spectre scanned the space frantically, its headless neck swivelled wildly. It was then it landed on the demon.

The latter stood there unmoving, eyes closed and in intense concentration. His aura was suppressed to the point of near invisibility and he looked like he was out of touch with everything that was happening outside.

Neverhtless, the spectre just knew that it was that demon who was messing with the energy here.

[Impossible! The Wailing Energy belongs to me! How can this insignificant creature command it as if it were his own?!].

The spectre wasn't the only one who was flabbergasted, Itherion and Vincent were too. They stopped in their tracks in the sky and looked at the spectre with incomprehensible eyes. Just a moment ago they were preparing themselves for the inevitable. But now here they are looking at the Spectre's incomprehensible antics.