Chapter 28

Chapter 28: The Azure-Scaled Ghost Snake (2)

Grant remained slumped on the ground, staring at the spot where the Azure-Scaled Ghost Snake had just been.

Thanks to the creature’s violent rampage and the energy it had unleashed, not a single tree remained intact.

Some were snapped in half, while others had been torn out by the roots.

He could even see rocks that had been crushed into powder.

Taking all of this in, Grant slowly turned his head toward Mitchell.

“Mitchell, shouldn't we get out of the Demonic Realm quickly?”

“We can't. You know the wall at the boundary between the village and the Demonic Realm, right?”

“Of course I know. It’s the barrier that all the mages of the Empire scrambled to build 200 years ago.”

“It’s probably closed.”

“…….”

Grant was at a loss for words.

He knew the barrier could close, but for the wall—which had last operated long before he was even born—to close right now, at this very moment.

“W-we won't know for sure until we go and check, right?”

“I think we can confirm it just by climbing a tree without having to go all the way there.”

The barrier was so tall its top seemed to touch the heavens.

Currently, it was hidden by the thick forests of the Demonic Realm, but it should be visible from the top of a tree.

Grant immediately climbed the tallest nearby tree.

In the meantime, Mitchell struck up a conversation with Kalia.

“Master, do we have to keep waiting here?”

[It seems that way. The more the Azure-Scaled Ghost Snake tears up the surroundings, the more the territorial shift will intensify. We must hope it hunts the Nightmare Horse quickly and returns to its original territory.]

By the time Kalia finished speaking, Grant climbed down from the tree.

However, seeing his grim expression, the result was obvious.

Sure enough, Grant spoke in a dejected voice.

“You were right. The barrier is closed. What do we do now?”

“We wait.”

Mitchell had no choice but to say exactly what he heard from Kalia.

And before long, the Demonic Realm began to grow noisy.

Skreeee— Skreeee—

Kak-kak-kak-kak—

Roaaaarrr!

Flying demonic beasts took to the sky simultaneously, their wings flapping loudly, and the cries of beasts echoed from everywhere.

Furthermore, several different types of beasts passed near the formation multiple times.

Fortunately, not a single beast managed to break through the formation.

Mitchell felt inwardly grateful to Kalia because he was at least able to sleep at night thanks to it.

The next morning arrived.

The commotion in the Demonic Realm did not subside even when the bright sunlight filtered through the leaves and shone on their faces.

Kalia listened to the surrounding sounds and let out a low groan.

[Seeing how they wander without rest, they must have come here with a firm purpose.]

Realizing they might have to stay for quite a while, Kalia called out to Mitchell, who had just finished his meditation.

[I shall teach you a new martial art.]

“Huh? Here?”

[Isn't it better to train while we're waiting anyway? If you don't want to, then don't. I'll teach you when we go back.]

“Hehe, when did I say I didn't want to?”

[You always have to add one more word.]

“I’m sorry!”

Mitchell shouted quietly, glancing over at Grant, who was off doing his own private training.

Kalia let out a smirk and continued his explanation.

[The martial art I will teach you this time is the Soul Absorption Technique (吸魂功). The Heavenly Destruction Sword is a technique I created myself, but the Soul Absorption Technique is a storied martial art that has been passed down for 500 years. However, since this technique involves directly handling souls, only those who have inherited the Sword of Death can use it.]

“So only I can learn it right now.”

[Correct. First, I will teach you the 1st form of the Soul Absorption Technique: Spirit Ingestion (吸靈). By simply allowing the energy to flow, Spirit Ingestion gradually draws in the vital energy of surrounding life to heal your body and convert it into Dark Aura.]

In short, it was a technique that healed oneself while weakening the enemy.

He could already solve the issue of filling his Aura Hole by decomposing souls, but he could do nothing about physical stamina and injuries.

‘He said "gradually," so it won't be fast, but that’s still amazing. It’s like being under the constant effect of a healing potion.’

That meant he would take less internal damage during battle, stabilize faster even if he was injured, and his bleeding would stop quickly in the case of external wounds.

Satisfied with the effects of Spirit Ingestion, Mitchell focused on how to circulate his energy.

Once Kalia finished the explanation after several repetitions, Mitchell immediately began moving his Dark Aura according to the memorized circulation method.

Swoooosh—

The energy of Mother Nature began to gather toward Mitchell.

A faint life force from the grass, the trees, and the insects everywhere connected to him.

However, the connection was too thin, and the flow of energy kept breaking.

Mitchell was about to try Spirit Ingestion again but stopped when he saw Grant sneaking closer.

He had likely come because he was curious about the new martial art.

As expected, Grant approached with sparkling eyes and a face full of curiosity.

“What is that? It looks like a martial art I’ve never seen before……”

“Soul Absorption Technique. It’s a technique that handles souls, so you can't learn it. Go over there and train on your own.”

“Why? I’ll just watch a little and leave.”

“I’m new to this too, so I can't control it. If you want to watch while your life force gets drained because you're standing close, go ahead.”

At Mitchell’s firm words, Grant backed away dejectedly.

And so, the training for Spirit Ingestion began again.

Mitchell concentrated and felt the energy around him. Each life force was etched into his mental image.

As he focused on the life forces accumulating in his mind, the circulation of Spirit Ingestion suddenly cut off.

[Hey! You aren't circulating your energy properly because you're only focused on the absorption!]

Mitchell continued practicing Spirit Ingestion while receiving Kalia’s guidance at intervals.

‘I just learned it. I have to spend time here anyway, so let’s not be impatient.’

He comforted himself that way.

The thing he was most confident in was his persistence.

He had not forgotten the stories of heroes he read in the archives as a child.

Mitchell continued to train in Spirit Ingestion with the mindset of seeing who would win.

The moon rises, and the sun sets.

The waning moon eventually hides itself, and the yellow sun shines brightly.

Despite this, Mitchell focused only on Spirit Ingestion.

He had to feel every surrounding sensation while circulating his energy.

Mitchell entered a state of self-oblivion……

By the time he finally got the hang of it, ten days had passed.

Skree! Skree!

Grrrrrr—

Grant frowned at the sounds of beasts coming from all directions.

“Just when is this going to end……”

It had already been over ten days since they were trapped inside the formation.

He was going crazy with frustration because there was no sign of the commotion dying down.

“We don't even have any food.”

Since only Mitchell could eat demonic beast meat, Grant had to find his own food separately.

However, unlike the beasts that charged the moment they saw you, wild animals were very cautious.

Thanks to that, hadn't he struggled quite a bit just to find food?

At least he could take comfort in the fact that the animals that hadn't turned into demonic beasts were quite large, perhaps due to the rich mana in the Demonic Realm.

The problem was that he had eaten all that food ten days ago when they were about to leave the camp.

Fortunately, he could fetch drinking water from a nearby stream by keeping an eye out for when there were no beasts, so he endured by filling his stomach with water, but even that was reaching its limit.

“Mitchell, how much longer do we have to stay like this?”

“I don't know either.”

“Whew…… I guess it’s not like you’d know everything.”

Grant slumped onto the ground, clutching his growling stomach as he looked at Mitchell.

Mitchell was busily tearing into demonic beast meat.

“Is that good?”

“It’s okay. Among the beasts, Red-Eyed Rabbit meat seems the best, but this is a bit tough. You want a bite since you're hungry?”

When Mitchell offered the meat, Grant looked absolutely disgusted.

“No thanks. How could I eat beast meat? Ugh…… watching you eat makes me unable to take it anymore. I’m going to step outside the formation for a bit.”

“It’ll be dangerous……”

Mitchell said with a frown.

He couldn't see any beasts nearby right now, but there was no telling when another beast might appear.

However, despite Mitchell’s concern, Grant stood up.

He wanted to follow Mitchell’s words if possible, but he was so hungry he could no longer stand it.

Having lived as the eldest son of the Lunay family, Grant never dreamed that hunger could be this painful.

“I set some traps last time, so I’ll just check those and come back. Don't worry, I won't go dangerously far.”

Mitchell nodded at those words and put the beast meat back into his mouth.

Watching Mitchell’s chewing mouth, Grant licked his lips and began to move quickly.

Watching his receding figure, Mitchell shook his head.

“He must be in a real hurry.”

[Kekeke, you would do the same if you starved for ten days.]

True, a normal person could die if they starved for about 20 days.

But Grant was currently at the halfway mark.

No matter how strong his body was and how he was a warrior who could surpass limits thanks to Aura, it was bound to be difficult.

‘I hope he finds some food. If it really doesn't work out, I can go out and hunt with him.’

Mitchell looked worriedly toward where Grant had gone.

Since they didn't know how long they would be here, food was a necessity.

Mitchell stood up, hoping a decent catch had been caught in the traps.

Regardless of his worry for Grant, he also had to train.

Mitchell activated the Spirit Ingestion he had been practicing non-stop for ten days.

Then, unlike before, the surrounding life force began to gather naturally.

A warm energy swirled through his body, filling him with vitality.

In that state, he tested his existing martial arts, such as the Heavenly Destruction Flash and Formation, and the Ghost Soul Step and Delusional Soul Movement.

Before, it wasn't easy to use Spirit Ingestion and other martial arts simultaneously, but even that yielded to Mitchell’s effort.

Huff, huff—

His breath became heavy after unfolding all his martial arts in succession.

Mitchell examined his internal state; the Dark Aura he consumed while using the martial arts was slowly filling back up.

He felt it would be better the longer the fight lasted and the more people were around him.

[You’re doing quite well after only ten days. Yes, that is how you do it.]

“It’s all thanks to Master.”

While Mitchell was smiling, satisfied with being recognized by Kalia for his achievements over the past ten days.

[Hmm? That’s the direction where that Grant fellow went…….]

Kalia carefully observed the area Grant had headed toward earlier. Mitchell also looked in that direction, wondering what was happening.

And before long.

“Mitcheeeeell!”

He saw Grant running toward him while screaming.

A mountain rabbit the size of his own torso was hanging from his shoulder.

“He found some prey. But why is he running like that?”

While the puzzled Mitchell was frowning, Kalia also shouted out loud.

[It’s the Azure-Scaled Ghost Snake!]

“What?!”

Only then did Mitchell realize the situation; he widened his eyes and looked behind the running Grant.

Due to the thick leaves, he could see a blue light flashing in the dark forest.

It was the scales of the Azure-Scaled Ghost Snake.

The creature raised its upper body and then lunged forward like a projectile to attack Grant.

Kyaaaaaa—

A chilling sound brushed past the back of Grant’s head.

“Uaaaagh!”

Grant jumped with all his might and entered the formation.

Soon, the Azure-Scaled Ghost Snake chasing him crashed into the formation and began to throw a fit.

It was full of rage at losing the prey it had practically caught.