“But what-” Bai Zemin was about to curse when he used what little strength he had left to throw himself towards Ellis who had just collapsed on the ground.
Seraphina and King Philip screamed in fright when they saw their family member falling after a heartbreaking cry of pain, they both panicked when they saw Bai Zemin make a move but only sighed slightly relieved when they saw that instead of attacking he was squatting down to inspect her.
“She’s breathing.” He said in a serious voice.
Seraphina’s legs went weak, and this time no one arrived in time to prevent her from falling on her butt. However, her eyes were fixed on her sister’s body as she muttered the same words over and over again, “Thank god… Thank god…”
King Philip also sighed in relief and stopped struggling against the blood chains, which finally allowed him to be free. He walked carefully and stopped a few steps away from Bai Zemin, after a moment of silence, he asked in a serious but trembling voice, “What…. What happened?”
Bai Zemin frowned as he tried to come up with an answer, but it was difficult to come up with one that was 100% concrete. Even if the King of Gales believed that he had done something on the sly to harm Ellis, Bai Zemin had no real way of him not thinking that way and even if he did Bai Zemin probably wouldn’t bother explaining himself considering he wasn’t going to let Ellis live.
It was just then that Lilith’s voice reached him.
“I’m afraid this girl received a rebound from the Soul Contract she formed with this little Demon Lord.” Lilith said in a serious voice as she looked at Ellis closely.
She continued, “There are several types of Soul Contract, the one you formed with the Endless Blue Lotus is one similar to the one of mutual convenience like the one the humans of the Gales Kingdom formed with the mutant beasts in which both sides benefit from something. In exchange for power, you provide the Endless Blue Lotus Flame with food; of course, your contract with the flame is much more special. However, the contract Ellis formed with that Lower Existence called Ar’gon is one in which neither of them could do or say things that would betray the other’s agenda.”
Bai Zemin nodded, however, he frowned and subconsciously muttered, “But…. Isn’t the Demon Lord supposed to be dead? I even received the Soul Power properly.”
“… That’s something I don’t understand, the Soul Contract is supposed to stop taking effect when one of the parts involved loses their life.” Lilith whispered in confusion. Then, she asked, “Zemin, can you check the records you absorbed-“
Then, she stopped as she realized a problem.
Bai Zemin received the death records but had not yet absorbed them as he was in a bottleneck that did not allow more experience to enter because the current vessel was too small. Of course, this did not mean that the records waiting to be absorbed had been stolen; such a thing was simply impossible.
Lilith sighed and shook her head, “I’m afraid I don’t know what’s going on, this is the first time I’ve run into this kind of situation. Not to mention that as you well know, matters concerning souls are too complicated. In fact, it is very likely that you can find out more about it than I can.”
Actually, although Bai Zemin couldn’t see things as clearly like Kali, thanks to Soul Manipulation he could somewhat sense souls weaker than his own, and Ellis’ soul was naturally weaker so at this moment Bai Zemin could ‘see’ that there was indeed some sort of seal on her soul.
‘What a problem…’ Bai Zemin frowned tightly as he held Ellis close to him.
She wasn’t dead, but right now her consciousness was sealed and not even the gods would be able to judge when she would open her eyes again or if she would ever open them in the future.
Lilith added, “Zemin, although it is temporarily impossible to do anything about it, I think both you and I can judge that what this girl was going to say has something to do with the Demon Lord. If that wasn’t the case then the Soul Contract wouldn’t have been triggered after all.”
Bai Zemin nodded and was about to say something when his expression abruptly changed.
Rumble…!
Everyone was startled when the atmosphere in the surroundings suddenly began to tremble and for a second the soul evolvers present thought the dungeon was about to collapse.
It was at that moment that Princess Scarlet of the pixie race noticed out of the corner of her eye the demon general number 10, the weakest of all and who apparently entered the ranks of generals to replace Bel’gos, waving his magic staff.
“Careful!”
By the time everyone realized that the trembling of the atmosphere was not due to the dungeon itself but to someone releasing large amounts of Mana to activate a skill, it was already too late.
The demon general Zoganos had been under the care of only one Third Order soul evolver after the death of the other soul evolver and subsequent betrayal of Ellis, so it was not difficult for him to take advantage of the situation where everyone present was dealing with the unusual events that occurred one after the other without giving time for their minds to clear.
Just at that moment, the demon general Zoganos saw Bai Zemin who was standing next to Ellis disappear but he didn’t even have time to think of anything when his whole world turned black.
BOOOM!!!
Bai Zemin withdrew his fist after turning the head of the demon general whose level barely reached 139 into a pile of meat paste. In his heart, he could not help but rejoice at choosing Shadow Blink as his third skill to evolve through the activation of Soul Manipulation. It was thanks to Shadow Blink that he managed to avoid most of the damage he would have taken from the previous explosion as he was now able to blink into shadows up to 500 meters away every 15 seconds.
Unfortunately, Bai Zemin couldn’t feel happy for too long as something that took his breath away happened an instant after Zoganos’ head exploded in a bloody mess.
BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!…
One by one, the six remaining demon generals began to explode.
A roar of pain and fury escaped from the Wyvern of Purple Flames’ mouth as his body began to swell and after turning into a large ball exploded, causing a powerful explosion that sent several soul evolvers flying with wounds of varying scales.
Coupling the words that Ellis had failed to finish saying with the strange situation, Bai Zemin began to feel a bad premonition in his heart so he quickly charged towards the lifeless body of the Demon Lord and unhesitatingly stored the skill scroll without even looking at it in his storage ring, away from all enemy mana.
However, just as he reached out his hand to touch the corpse, it swelled up and exploded powerfully sending Bai Zemin flying backwards over 300 meters while he continuously spat blood.
Bai Zemin rolled on the ground for another 100 meters, and when he finally managed to stop he abruptly raised his head forward. Although he could no longer see anything, Bai Zemin was the possessor of the skill Blood Manipulation so it was not difficult for him to know that the entire area had been covered by a blood mist that was actually the unification of the blood of all the demon generals and the Wyvern of Purple Flame.
Bai Zemin without hesitation in his heart activated Blood Manipulation and did not bother to reserve Mana at all while trying to disperse the blood mist. However, he was very surprised to discover that it was strangely difficult, and before all the blood mist disappeared, all that Bai Zemin managed to eliminate was about 1/4th of the total.
As for what had happened to that blood mist… It was a mystery. The only thing Bai Zemin was sure of was that it definitely hadn’t left the dungeon to rebirth the Demon Lord somewhere else as happened in several light novels with the villains, it was just that he didn’t know what had happened or what would happen in the future.
“W- What was that?” Princess Dianna subconsciously moved closer to her mother as she stuttered those words.
Queen Eloise slowly stood up as she wiped the blood at the corner of her mouth and said in a deep voice, “I have no idea, but I don’t think it’s good news.”
No one had absorbed the records of the demon generals or the Wyvern of Purple Flame forget about obtaining skill scrolls or treasure orbs. It was difficult for them to comprehend the current situation.
Bai Zemin slowly stood up, and although he was also somewhat anxious, he did not let it show in his expression.
They all looked at him as he approached with staggering steps as if he was about to fall down at any moment. Finally and just before Bai Zemin really collapsed, Gu Lim and Seraphina moved out of instinct and caught him just in time.
“Big brother, are you okay?” Gu Lim asked with concern.
He couldn’t help but frown deeply when he saw Bai Zemin’s current situation.
Even Seraphina was able to see and feel that the current Bai Zemin was not much different from a weak candle flame staggering under the fierce winter weather of a snowy area.
Bai Zemin smiled bitterly in his heart. He had really forced himself this time, his physical wounds were so bad that they definitely wouldn’t heal in four or five days and the only thing that made him feel relieved was that his soul was fine even though it was warning him that if he kept it up things would get bad.
He said nothing and instead used the last 400 Mana points he had reserved for exactly this moment and said quietly, “Blood Immortal Radiance.”
A small layer of crimson light surrounded Bai Zemin’s body and under everyone’s astonished eyes his wounds suddenly began to heal far faster than before. Although his situation was far from good, at least he would not die from the wounds that riddled his body and this was all thanks to Blood Immortal Radiance multiplying the natural Health stat x3, which made Bai Zemin could sigh slightly relieved.
Even then, he knew that more problems would soon appear.
He looked at Ellis, who was being held by King Philip, and a conflicted expression crossed his face.
“Or-… Hey, Bai Zemin… My sister… She…” Seraphina seemed to want to say something, but it was hard for her to find the right words, or maybe she felt she didn’t have the qualifications to say what her heart was crying out for.
King Philip looked at the pale face of her eldest daughter and said in a hoarse voice: “I know what my daughter did is unforgivable…. But, I cannot see her die…. I am already a bad husband for not being able to protect my wife, I don’t want to be a bad father too…”
The expression of struggle on Bai Zemin’s face was getting stronger and stronger, not for King Philip or Seraphina as he was willing to be hated by both of them if he could fulfill the promise he made to the innocent Kat who died because of someone else’s selfish schemes. His fight was against himself, against that Bai Zemin who would not allow him to renege on his words.
Besides, it was clear that Ellis had important information.
Seeing his fight, Lilith thought that maybe she would be able to help him out of this difficult situation he was in.
“Zemin, you promised Kat that you would help her get revenge…. But you never promised that you would kill the culprits, did you?” She said in a low, soft voice, as tender as a mother whispering to her frightened baby. “Sometimes, the worst revenge one can give to another is not death…. Sometimes, living with remorse throughout one’s life is far crueler. If you kill this brat named Ellis here, she won’t even feel pain considering her current situation…. However, if you let her live, she will wake up someday and will definitely prefer death by herself.”
Hearing his beloved’s words, Bai Zemin was first surprised before sighing in relief in his heart. A self-critical smile appeared on his face as he muttered under his breath, “I know this is nothing but an excuse for myself… but still…”
Bai Zemin was not a perfect being, he too had his moments of weakness where he desperately needed to find his own escape route not from a battle but from himself and his self-imposed bindings.
“Let Ellis live, at least for now.” He said finally. “She seemed to have some important information regarding the demons and the strange phenomenon that just occurred, so at least until the day she wakes up, it would be best to keep her alive. Who knows if that information will save mankind from a future danger in which the demons may make their return.”
The king’s face lit up and Seraphina let out a high-pitched cry that nearly deafened Bai Zemin.
“Thank you… thank you…” King Philip murmured with tears in his eyes and held on to the practically vegetable body of his eldest daughter.
“Orc, I love you!” Seraphina didn’t know what she was saying and directly kissed Bai Zemin on the face.
Bai Zemin froze and Gu Lim coughed as he looked away.
It was then that the second Princess of Gales realized what she had just said and her blood pressure rose to the point where the world around her began to spiral.
“N- No! It’s not what you think! I only said that now as a thank you, don’t get your hopes up!” She pointed at Bai Zemin and stepped back with her face as red as an apple.
While Lilith laughed good-naturedly, Bai Zemin didn’t know whether he should join her and laugh or cry right there.
In the end, all he said was, “I didn’t say anything…”
It turned out that in the end, Bai Zemin became Ellis’ hope, the opposite of what she thought he would be…. Sometimes, fate really was a bitch.
At that moment, a large figure stepped forward, causing the earth to tremble under the pressure of his foot.
“I don’t care what happens to the human princess, but I think we should now discuss the matter of the Demigod-grade treasure.”
The eyes of several of those present, most of them in fact, lit up slightly as they looked at Bai Zemin with weird expressions.
If it was before, they would not dare to make a move against him even if their numbers multiplied after having seen his power capable of even defeating the terrifying Demon Lord. After all, there was no use fighting for a treasure if they lost their lives.
However, things were different now… Bai Zemin clearly could not continue fighting.
… and in fact, Bai Zemin no longer had the strength to fight anymore.
* * * * * * *
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
