Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 065
Chapter Title: The Immortal's Soul
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"..."
The house had truly become a pile of rubble now.
Kyle tapped his forehead upon seeing it.
"Well, sure, I was planning to move out anyway, but..."
He hadn't intended to demolish his home full of memories like this.
He scratched his head.
'Well, what's done is done.'
At least he'd saved on demolition costs.
With that thought, Kyle stepped out through the collapsed ceiling into the open air.
At the same moment, the remnants of the roof exploded upward with a KABOOM!
A short-haired beauty burst out from amid the debris. Kyle shook off his hands briefly.
"Looks like one hit wasn't enough after all."
"You...!!"
The woman, covered in dust and glaring murderously, twisted her face in rage.
"Tell me!!"
She shouted.
"How did you destroy the possession spirit that the Princess crafted herself...!"
But what came back wasn't words—it was a fist.
"?!"
She dodged the lightning-fast strike by a hair's breadth this time.
But at the same moment, a barrage of solar-bright lightning shot from Kyle's other hand.
As if anticipating her dodge, the vicious bolt swung around and struck her side.
KABOOOOOM!
"Grahhh!?"
Residual electricity burst outward with the thunderous roar.
But it didn't end there—another lightning stake plummeted from above, forcing her to leap back.
Flash! KABOOOOOM!
With a chilling whoosh, Kyle turned what was already rubble into dust and tilted his head slightly.
'Hmm? What's this?'
For some reason, the magic's charge speed felt subtly faster than before...
'Ah.'
Then he remembered the enhancement from [Dragon's Manifestation].
'I see.'
Increased charge efficiency meant faster charging too.
Kyle shook off the overflowing lightning and curled his lips.
'Not bad at all.'
"Grrgh...!"
He looked up to see the beauty clutching her side and staggering.
"Urk!"
She spat a mouthful of blood and muttered irritably.
"I really liked this body...! And now it's ruined because of you!"
"Hmm."
'Possession spirit, this and that.'
Her tone made it sound like it wasn't her body at all.
His sharpened instincts prompted Kyle to ask.
"You wouldn't happen to be some kind of possessing spirit, would you?"
"I don't know why the possession spirits dissipate the moment they enter you. Whatever, doesn't matter."
A blue chill swirled over her eyes.
"The Princess's orders are absolute anyway."
"Look at you, only talking about yourself."
"You didn't answer me either!"
"Fair enough."
"Argh...! You really piss me off!"
"I'm not exactly thrilled with you either."
It was absurd—she had attacked first, and now she was annoyed?
Kyle gave her an incredulous look.
She spat out the blood pooling in her mouth and said.
"Fine! You arrogant human! Since it's come to this, I'll tear you apart with my own hands!"
She clutched her face with both hands and vented her frustration.
"Agh! Seriously, I hated bringing out this ugly form!"
At that instant, a crack! echoed as something wormed its way out from her back like a molting larva.
It was translucent and grotesque, resembling a skeleton stripped of flesh.
But that lasted only a moment.
The thing, initially human-sized, began swelling rapidly, forcing Kyle to furrow his brow.
"...And what the hell is this?"
Soon, the wraith's shadow exceeded 10 meters.
Finally, it flung open its ribcage wide, and hundreds of skulls erupted forth, each shrieking in unison.
[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!]
"Whoa."
Kyle looked up in amazement and admitted.
"Yeah, it's pretty damn ugly."
[SHUT UP!!!]
At the same time, in a bar not far from the slums.
This place had once been run by the cantankerous old broker. After his death, it had been left abandoned and shuttered.
Following broker network protocols, young broker George Brocket had come to dispose of it. He muttered in disbelief.
"Well, damn. You sure made a mess of things."
What he was looking at was the old man's personal PC.
Brokers typically hid offline personal PCs somewhere in their shops, per standard security protocols.
In this case, it was cleverly stashed in a secret compartment under the bar counter.
As he powered it on and scanned the ledger, George let out a hollow chuckle.
"I'd heard rumors he sold info he wasn't supposed to as a broker, but..."
Not to this extent.
George's eyes lingered on the last name in the ledger.
'Lena Clark.'
"So she's the Butcher's sister."
Mafia Butcher.
The moniker of the rookie who'd comet-like appeared and achieved absurd feats in record time.
Rumors of demons and dragons were dismissed as police propaganda by some, too unreal.
But as a broker and info merchant, George knew.
Those feats were real.
"That's why I'd love to meet him personally sometime."
His gaze returned to the ledger.
"Clark, huh."
'Clark, Clark.'
Something felt off. George let out a small groan.
"Feels like I've heard that name before."
When was it?
Right then, the shop door burst open. A petite woman called his name.
"George!"
"What? What's up?"
Mickey, who often helped George, pointed outside.
"R-right now! Outside!"
"Outside what?"
"I mean...!"
Catching her breath, Mickey shouted, her face pale.
"A massive wraith just appeared outside!"
"!!"
George shoved the PC back under the counter and bolted out.
A chilling roar echoed in his ears like a reverberation.
[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!]
Startled, he looked up. A colossal wraith loomed over the nearby slums.
"That's..."
George recognized it at a glance.
That size.
The pressure even from afar.
He muttered in bewilderment.
"Why is a wraith that belongs in the lower levels up here on the surface...?"
He whipped around to Mickey and yelled.
"Mickey! Launch a drone that way! Right now!"
Meanwhile, at the nearby cyber mausoleum.
Marie Fleetwood, waiting for Kyle as promised, grumbled.
"This is really the meeting spot?"
"Miss, I'm telling you, it is."
"But I was knocked out back then."
Recalling the mana drain, she pouted.
"Lizzie, you got to watch Mr. Clark's magic show while I was out."
"...You're still hung up on that?"
"I wanted to see his magic battle too!"
The freckled Lizzie gave her an exasperated look.
"...Someone might think I knocked you out."
"Ugh."
At a loss, Marie glanced at the dingy booths.
"But seriously, he wants to meet in a dump like this?"
"How many times do I have to tell you?"
"No, it's just..."
She kicked the hard floor lightly and muttered.
"He didn't show last week."
"He must've been busy. Like I said, he mentioned he might not make it."
"True, but..."
Right then, an ominous mana surge rippled through the air.
"!!"
Both looked up simultaneously as the wraith's screech reached them.
"This is...!"
Eyes wide in shock, they rushed out of the alley. Crowds had already gathered on the main street, murmuring toward the slums.
"W-what the hell is that?"
"Shit, that's a wraith."
"No way a wraith is that big..."
"Why would something like that show up here?!"
"Shouldn't that be stuck in the lower levels?"
"What the fuck is going on?"
Suddenly, a lightning spear shot up from the slums, cleaving the sky.
BOOOOM!
The crowd erupted in gasps and cries of alarm.
"Holy shit!"
"What the hell was that?!"
"This ain't a joke!"
"Magic?"
"No way someone's fighting that wraith down there, right?!"
"Insane..."
"What kind of lunatic heretic mage..."
Someone muttered.
"That magic... looks familiar, doesn't it?"
"Familiar how?"
"You know, like that thing in Sector 5?"
"Sector 5? Oh, that lightning?"
"Wait, if that's the case..."
The man continued.
"You think the Butcher's down there?"
"...!!"
Marie tore her eyes from the massive wraith and called to her longtime friend.
"Lizzie!"
"Yes!"
They dashed toward the slums.
KABOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Kyle swiftly dodged the flying skulls and readily admitted.
"Yeah, looks that way."
Even hurling lightning spears inflicted only localized damage.
As a bodiless wraith, it wasn't fazed by electrocution, and its translucent form regenerated damaged areas almost instantly.
'...Using the energy from all the souls it's absorbed so far, huh.'
To kill it with magic, he'd probably need a massive lightning strike to vaporize the whole thing.
Unfortunately, he hadn't mastered spells of that scale yet.
'And since it's a true wraith, physical damage is tough too.'
Kyle glanced at the skill tree in front of him.
'Guess this is the best option for now.'
Specter Hunter's Swordsmanship
His swordsmanship wields immense power against spectral races, monsters, beasts, undead, and the like—the natural predators of wraiths wandering the nine heavens.
His gaze shifted to the first skill.
The wraith's voice grated unpleasantly in Kyle's ears.
The hundreds of skulls laughed along.
She continued.
The wraith snorted, its eyes gleaming murderously.
The surrounding air shifted abruptly.
Sensing something ominous, Kyle looked up.
The wraith's colossal skeleton began emitting a bluish glow from its right eye.
Her eerie laughter echoed in his ears.
Time seemed to freeze as her consciousness peered into Kyle's soul.
This was the power of the 'Soul Eye' bestowed by the Specter Princess.
Beyond materializing the intangible soul of the living, it could even interfere with it.
But contrary to expectations, his soul was pure white—utterly ordinary. She showed disappointment.
The wraith spoke incredulously.
Tsking briefly, she extended razor-sharp claws.
Ripping out the soul entirely...
Her claws shot forward, brutally piercing Kyle's soul.
[?!]
As if waiting, an immense surge of energy erupted from the wound like a waterfall.
KABOOOOOOM!
Stunned by the unprecedented situation, the wraith looked up at the incomprehensible entity manifesting before it—and recoiled in horror.
It was a dragon.
Or rather, a basilisk, Nebras, dark hunting hound.
A storm of lightning, flames, wind, curse, crimson blood, and black-and-white icon—all at once.
Overwhelmed by the bizarre, indescribable energy, she found herself utterly dominated.
-Fear not.
A massive wolf silhouette peered back into her Soul Eye and spoke prophetically.
-You will soon become one with us.
Crack!
[AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!]
The wraith clutched its eye and let out an agonized shriek.
Kyle narrowed his eyes.
"What bullshit did you just pull?"
That eerie eye earlier was one thing.
But in that split second, he'd felt himself die once.
Blood tears streamed from her right eye socket as she screamed.
Hundreds of skulls rained down.
The indiscriminate specter barrage was about to engulf him wildly.
But a quiet sharpness whirled like wind, slicing the specters before him in a straight line.
Shing!
[?!]
As if on cue, an intangible aura exploded outward with a KABOOOOOM!
[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!]
The specters vaporized with horrific shrieks. Her hollow gaze trembled.
The wraith's voice quivered.
At the end of her gaze flickered a blue, intangible sword qi.
Coiling around his hand like a whirlwind—it was etched in her memories.
Once, the Wraith King of the vast Great Lakes, said to have birthed the Specter Princess.
His ironclad empire fell to a single man's sword.
That intangible sword qi shimmered with azure light, cleaving even specters.
The soul monsters dubbed its wielder, in fear and awe:
A familiar message appeared before Kyle's eyes.
Witnessing the recreation of a legendary sword qi from centuries past, the wraith's hands trembled.
The Specter Princess's own possession spirits failed.
His soul, glimpsed via Soul Eye, was an abyss.
And now, the ancient Specter Hunter's sword qi.
Was this even possible?
In disbelief, she shrieked.
Their eyes met as Kyle opened his. She felt chills rack her entire being.
[...?!]
In response, soul energy whipped up violently.
It formed the clear shape of a blade.
Growing endlessly in momentum, it reminded her.
-You will soon become one with us.
In desperation, her colossal shadow lunged at him.
[NOOOOOO!!]
Kyle frowned and said.
"What the hell are you blabbering about? Shut up already."
Gripping the explosively surging blade, Kyle unleashed his sword qi at the charging wraith.
A colossal shockwave cleaved the hazy city sky in a straight line.
KABOOOOOOM!
[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!]
Near the alley leading to the slums.
"R-run!!"
"What the fuck is this?!"
Amid the fleeing residents, George Brocket and the onlookers who witnessed it clearly gaped in shock.
"......"
"......"
"......"
Silence stretched, words failing them.
Finally, someone muttered absently.
"...This is fucking insane."