The instant Ruvian invoked [Soul Expulsion], the Psionic Mana gathered around his hand suddenly vanished from sight.
Then, a strange pressure immediately gathered behind his eyes as the spell penetrated Julian’s body; his vision suddenly changed.
The world surrounding Mamveth became blurred and indistinct. His flesh, bones, blood, and mana gradually peeled away from his sight.
Narrowing his eyes, he saw two distinct presences dwelling within the same body.
One was frail and buried deep within, like a dying ember nearly smothered beneath an abyss of darkness.
The other was immense, vicious, and coiled around that tiny flame from every direction.
There was no need for Ruvian to guess which one belonged to Mamveth. The demon’s soul resembled a seething mass of blackened fire, violently compressed into the crude shape of a living being.
’That thing... is his soul?’
Ruvian clenched his teeth as another vicious surge of pain tore through his skull. Then, he activated [Bookmarks] before selecting the character inspection on ’Julian Rozenberg’.
[’Julian Rozenberg’ is struggling to take back control of his body.]
[’Julian Rozenberg’ is starting to believe he cannot win. No matter how hard he fights back, Mamveth overwhelms him.]
[’He’s too strong... I... I can’t fucking push him out. Damn it, this is my body, so why the hell can’t I take it back?! ]
Ruvian’s brows immediately drew together as he read those thoughts.
’Come on, bastard, you have to fight back harder, I already opened the chance for you. Don’t you dare waste it now.’
Of course, Ruvian knew this alone was nowhere near enough. He still needed Ophelia to make her move, but she was taking her damn time dissecting the structure of his spells.
Even so, Julian had to keep fighting, because no matter what Ruvian or Ophelia did from the outside, Julian himself remained the true linchpin of this entire plan.
Just then, Ophelia’s voice suddenly echoed inside Ruvian’s head. Her tone was composed, but there was a restrained urgency beneath it.
—"Scholar Ruvian, change of plan, I cannot fully decipher the other two spells, only the one separating their souls."
Hearing that, Ruvian’s expression hardened slightly.
Ophelia continued:
—"I can assist you with that part, but you will have to reinforce the other two spells yourself. I have a way to help you with that, I will channel some of my mana directly into you, so all you need to do is seize control of it and force it into the spells."
Ruvian frowned inwardly.
’Hah? Will that even work? No, wait... is my B-Rank Mana Control really enough to handle that much mana?’
He was just about to voice that concern when Ophelia continued, almost as though she had already anticipated exactly what he was thinking.
—"There is no need to concern yourself with your Mana Control, I will supply you with enough Mana Essence that some waste will not matter. Furthermore, we are running out of time, I cannot sustain two spells of this magnitude for much longer at the same time. You need to do this quickly."
Slowly, Ruvian drew in a deep breath and steadied himself.
—"Sure, let’s go with that."
A moment later, one of Ophelia’s clones moved behind Ruvian and pressed her palm against his back. In the next instant, a torrent of mana surged directly into his body.
Ruvian’s body jolted as his eyes widened. The sheer amount of mana rushing into him was far greater than he had expected, flooding through his body before steadily pouring into his Spellcore.
’That’s... a lot.’
But more mana also meant more mana he had to control.
Ruvian was already pushing himself dangerously close to his limit just maintaining the spells, and his mind felt damn near wrung dry.
Then, the crushing pressure suddenly eased.
It felt as though another pair of hands had joined his own, taking hold of the unruly flow of mana and guiding it alongside him.
A faint smile slowly formed on Ruvian’s face as he realized he had almost forgotten that he was never carrying this burden alone.
As Ruvian stretched his arm toward Mamveth, he almost had the illusion that Morvayne was standing close beside him, reaching forward together with him.
[Child, leave the task of controlling and directing the excess mana to me. I shall ensure that it obeys you.]
Ruvian nodded faintly despite the strain.
He replied lightly, "Yeah, I was about to."
Deep within his soul, Morvayne answered with a smile of her own.
Ruvian slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, both eyes blazed with a cold blue glow, and a vast tide of Psionic Mana surged from his hand.
The mana flooded into Mamveth’s body at once, driving deeper between the two souls and wrenching them farther apart.
"GRAAAAGH!"
Mamveth’s scream tore through the air as the chains around him rattled violently. His body convulsed against the bindings while black flames erupted wildly from his skin.
Gritting his teeth, Ruvian scraped together what little strength he had left. Then, a crooked smile slowly crept across his face. "Hey, you spineless cur, how the hell are you losing a battle inside your own soul?"
"Are you really that weak-willed, the so-called firstborn of Rozenberg? Is your tale really going to end with you dying while possessed by some wretched, hideous parasite with horns?" (+1,000PP)
Ruvian chuckled under his breath, though the strain carved across his face never faded.
"I already know you’re a pathetic bastard, but do you know what I despise even more than some useless noble who is good for nothing?"
His smile slowly vanished, and something far colder settled into his eyes.
This time, when Ruvian spoke, every word dripped with venom, the hatred behind them cutting far deeper than before.
"Someone who made a promise to his mother, yet cannot even keep it. Do you not realize that if you let that bastard keep your body, you are going to die here?"
"And what about your siblings, do you not care that they could fall into the hands of demons and be used as nothing more than subjects for their experiments?" (+1,000PP)
[’Julian Rozenberg’ is seething at your words, but the fear crushing his resolve is beginning to fracture.]
[’I know, bastard... I’m painfully aware of that...’]
"Then fight back harder, you bastard, or do you want me to drive another blade through your chest!?"
Ruvian snapped, his grin returning despite the agony twisting across his face.
"Because I swear, I will fucking do it!"
[’Julian Rozenberg’ is forcing himself to resist with renewed conviction.]
[’Ruvian Castelor... one day, you are definitely going to die by my hand!’]
Mamveth suddenly screamed even louder as his entire body convulsed against the chains.
At the same time, fractures raced across Ophelia’s bindings before the glowing chains finally shattered apart and dissolved into nothing.
—"Scholar Ruvian... I can’t maintain the chains any longer," she warned through [Telepathy].
Her spell had finally reached its limit.
Even so, Mamveth still could not move.
His right hand, however, had begun to tremble.
Slowly, painfully, the fingers curled inward against his will. Mamveth’s eyes quivered as he stared at the hand that no longer obeyed him.
"Impossible..." he muttered.
Then, Julian’s right hand suddenly moved.
A ripple distorted the air beside him as his blade emerged from dimensional storage, and his fingers locked around the hilt. Before Mamveth could stop him, Julian drove the blade straight into his own thigh.
"GRAAGH?!"
Mamveth’s body jerked violently from the pain. Julian immediately released the sword, drew his arm back, and smashed his fist straight into his own face.
Ruvian stared for a brief moment before a chuckle slipped from his lips. Even now, that bastard still found a way to fight back in the most reckless manner possible.
His grin widened as the pressure surrounding Mamveth’s soul began to tremble.
Julian’s lips twisted as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His right eye quivered, but the hatred burning within it no longer belonged to Mamveth.
"Get the fuck out... of my body."
The words came out low, venomous, and utterly vicious.
At the same time, the frail presence buried beneath Mamveth’s soul suddenly flared with renewed strength. Julian was pushing back with everything he had left.
’That’s it, you bastard... finally.’
Ruvian clenched his teeth and forced even more Psionic Mana forward. The black mass wrapped around Julian began to peel away.
Mamveth roared.
"No... NO!"
His soul twisted violently as if trying to sink back into Julian.
However, Julian pushed from within while Ruvian dragged from the outside, crushing Mamveth between two opposing forces.
There was no doubt anymore, the demon was losing his grip.
Then, Ruvian caught sight of a thin black thread stretching from Mamveth’s soul and vanishing far beyond Julian’s body.
It pulsed with dark mana, sustaining the demon from somewhere Ruvian could not see.
’So that’s the connection.’
Ruvian’s glowing eyes narrowed.
He gathered the remaining mana into [Soul Expulsion] and drove it straight toward that thread, forcing everything he had into severing it.
Under the mounting pressure, the black thread stretched taut before finally snapping apart.
A violent shockwave erupted from Julian’s body as Mamveth’s soul was violently ripped away from him.
The black mass tore free with a deafening scream, while the dark mana surrounding Julian scattered wildly in every direction.
The connection binding the demon to Julian from afar was completely severed.
"NOOOOO!"
Mamveth’s scream thundered across the realm as his soul was hurled away from Julian.
At the same time, Julian’s body went limp as the demonic features across his face began to recede one after another. The horns splintered apart, the black veins faded beneath his skin, and the darkness clouding his eyes slowly withdrew.
Ruvian kept his arm raised, breathing heavily as sweat traced down his face.
His glowing blue eyes remained locked on the demon’s exposed soul.
"Got you...."
Mamveth’s exposed soul shuddered violently as fractures spread across its blackened form. A moment later, it shattered into countless dark fragments and dispersed into nothing.
The blue glow in Ruvian’s eyes slowly faded.
Then, every last trace of strength abandoned his body, and his vision blurred as the world lurched beneath him.
Before he could even steady himself, everything collapsed into darkness.
...
...
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[Chapter 330: Get Lost]
Plot Points= 74,000 PP
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