Victory Over the Dark Spirit

Quaaang!

A light arrow streaked through the air, leaving a white trail as it hurtled toward the dark spirit. The dark spirit hurriedly drew up its energy to form a shield of darkness.

But—

Pujijik!

The light arrow pierced through the dark shield as easily ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as a knife through tofu.

Pukwaak!

And it didn't stop there. The arrow plunged straight through the center of the dark spirit's body.

—Grraaah.

With over 60% of its body mass obliterated, the dark spirit let out a grotesque wail. Two glowing eyes formed in what might have been its face, glaring at Jehyun with venomous hatred.

"Even after that, it doesn't dissipate?"

Jehyun was stunned that the spirit hadn't vanished despite losing most of its form. He couldn't shake the thought that if he hadn't just successfully ambushed it with the World Tree Bow (Light), he never would have won.

Puaaaak!

In that instant, the dark spirit made its final desperate struggle. The remaining dark energy surged from its body, transforming into dozens, hundreds of black spears that flew toward Jehyun.

"...!"

Jehyun was caught off guard. He hadn't expected it to have that much power left.

He quickly erected his own shield. But he didn't stop there—he summoned the wisp that had merged with the World Tree Bow (Light) and formed a shield of light.

Kuung!

Surprisingly, the light shield blocked every single dark spear. It made his own layered shields look pathetic by comparison.

"Whoa... insane."

Jehyun stared at the wisp in astonishment. Light held an elemental advantage over darkness, sure. But this was the final outburst from an advanced dark spirit. He never imagined a lowly soldier-class wisp could block it so effortlessly.

In truth, Jehyun didn't know that the wisp had just emerged from fusing with the divine artifact, leaving residual power from the bow still lingering within it.

The wisp curved its signature crescent-moon eyes into a grin at Jehyun.

Even in the heat of battle, that adorable sight brought a smile to Jehyun's lips.

"Let's finish that thing off first. Wisp! Light spears for you too!"

The wisp nodded—or seemed to—and unleashed five light spears toward the dark spirit, whose form was now on the verge of scattering.

Puk!

All five spears struck true, piercing the dark spirit's body in multiple spots. Its silhouette gradually faded until it vanished completely.

Jehyun felt his mind clear up noticeably and marveled at it.

"Oh, didn't expect mentality to go up."

And a level-up on top of that. Jehyun immediately checked his status window.

"Level 38 now."

Jehyun's eyes sparkled. Just two more levels, and he'd enter Mana Core Stage 5 while unlocking the fifth dragon legacy.

That's when he spotted something black and shiny where the dark spirit had vanished.

Jehyun leaped down to the spot.

"Came out again, huh."

It was the same spirit remnants he'd gotten every time he defeated corrupted spirits in this forest.

At that moment—

Goooooo.

An immense energy began surging from where the dark spirit had been. It was the purple energy the spirit had harbored.

"Alkasha!"

At Jehyun's call, Alkasha's cover flipped open instantly. Inside the book, a page etched with a strange magic circle appeared.

Quaaaa!

The purple energy swirled into a vortex and was sucked into the circle. This was dozens, hundreds of times more than anything they'd absorbed before. It wasn't limited to the dark spirit's energy—the purple aura throughout the entire forest was drawn in.

Flash!

Alkasha's body glowed with purple light, and a system message appeared before Jehyun's eyes.

And it didn't end there. Purple energy leaked from the corrupted dark spirit remnants in Jehyun's hand and was sucked into Alkasha.

"...!"

Jehyun's pupils dilated. He hadn't anticipated this.

No need to hesitate. He accepted the absorption immediately.

Swaaah.

As he took in the Remnants of an Advanced Dark Spirit (Loss: 82%), a dark energy filled his body.

"...!"

—Hah, Dark Attribute Spirit Affinity?

Jehyun and Alkasha were both shocked.

Creating a Dark Attribute Spirit Affinity meant that if it grew stronger, he could even contract dark spirits.

The only downside was that the affinity gain seemed low for absorbing advanced spirit remnants.

"Ah...! So that's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what the loss rate means."

Now he understood the "loss rate" appended to it. He smacked his lips in regret.

If it had been intact, wouldn't he have gained enough affinity to contract a dark spirit right away?

"Wait, could this mean...?"

Jehyun pulled out the other corrupted spirit remnants from his inventory.

"Alkasha, can you absorb these too?"

—It... seems possible.

Alkasha used its Absorption authority on the remnants, sucking out all the purple energy.

With a flood of notifications, various spirit powers seeped into Jehyun's body.

"Whoa..."

Jehyun gasped in awe as spirit powers of every attribute overflowed from his body.

But Alkasha was the most shocked of all.

—Th-this can't be. This is impossible!

Alkasha reacted more vehemently than ever before.

—Even Lord Arkanios couldn't command spirits of every attribute...

It was no wonder Alkasha was aghast. Dragons wielded supreme authority over attribute-less mana, but they didn't encompass every spirit attribute. Even Arkanios could only handle fire and light spirits. Elves, known as friends of spirits, typically managed at most two attributes.

—H-how can a... human...

Even as Jehyun gained draconic stature, his essence was still human. For one being to accept spirit affinities of all attributes was unprecedented.

And for it to be a human, not even a dragon? Gaining affinities for every spirit attribute didn't just mean handling multiple spirits—it meant mastering mana of every attribute.

"Is it really that big a deal?"

Jehyun asked with a puzzled expression, and Alkasha practically jumped in response.

—Of course it is! Even the supreme dragon, Lord Arkanios, couldn't achieve this.

"I see...?"

Jehyun's eyes sparkled. He'd felt special before, but hearing even Arkanios couldn't match this made it hit harder.

"Ah, we'll talk about that later. Let's go save Soruk first."

Soruk's pale face flashed in his mind. Hoping he wasn't too late, Jehyun turned toward the hut where Soruk was staying.

* * *

"Lady Soruk!"

Jehyun had just reached the hut when he spotted Seranti clutching Soruk's hand and sobbing.

"What happened?"

"Hic! The great..."

"Never mind that. Why is Soruk like this?"

Soruk lay there as if dead, her breathing a faint, thread-like whisper on the brink of stopping.

"S-suddenly purple light burst from her whole body and tried to envelop her, but then it vanished abruptly, and she became like this..."

Seranti babbled incoherently, but Jehyun grasped the gist.

He used Dragon Eye to examine Soruk's body.

"Holy..."

A groan escaped him as he assessed her condition. Soruk had severed all her own mana roads just before the purple energy could fully corrupt her. Better to die than be overtaken.

'Alkasha, the purple energy left in Soruk's body. Can you absorb it?'

—Yes. It should work. Wait a moment.

Alkasha activated Absorption.

Sssst.

Purple energy drained from Soruk's body into Alkasha.

"Wh-what?"

Seranti's eyes went wide watching it. The purple haze lifted from her own face as well.

Her original pure, stunning beauty shone through unfiltered. A beauty worthy of "nation-toppling." A transcendent allure no human could possess.

'Ah! No, Shin Yerim's an exception.'

Shin Yerim popped into his mind. She rivaled even the elves in beauty. Her fame wasn't for nothing.

'Anyway, not the time.'

Jehyun pulled the World Tree Bow (Light) from his inventory and summoned the light spirit wisp.

'No completion message for the sudden quest yet.'

The quest was to eliminate the dark spirit and purify the corrupted spirit forest. He'd clearly purified the forest, but the quest wasn't done.

That meant he also had to restore Soruk, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forest's guardian and caretaker.

'Purple energy's gone. So... just recover her body.'

Eyes gleaming with the plan, Jehyun nocked the World Tree Bow and aimed at Soruk.

"...!"

Seranti's mouth fell open in shock at the sudden action.

Guuuung.

Energy gathered in the bow, and Jehyun activated its special option.

Divine Artifact: World Tree Bow Trait — Recovery Manifestation.

Flash!

White light filled the hut as a pure white light arrow embedded itself in Soruk's heart.