This Blade of Mine is Coated in Poison

Huang Xingming might not have known what these were, but Susie, a fellow witch, certainly did.

Basic books on golems were part of the introductory material distributed 'internally' to witches by the Supreme Council.

This girl had been thrown away by Lan Qingyou earlier, so she was in the dark about the events that followed.

However, as soon as she regained control of her body outside a certain range, she rushed back, only to witness the scene where Lan Qingyou exposed the other side's secrets.

To be honest, her knowledge of golems was purely theoretical.

Golemcraft required an immense amount of knowledge; with her current levels in Potion-making and Alchemy, much of it was still out of reach.

So, seeing Lan Qingyou release about twenty golems at once gave even her pause.

Of course, it was only a momentary pause.

Since her specialty was researching poisons and antidotes, golemcraft was merely peripheral knowledge to her.

However, she was very interested in the "materialized soul matter" Lan Qingyou had mentioned.

There was no other reason for it.

It was mostly a witch's intuition telling her that this term likely had something to do with alchemy.

Snap!

While Susie was lost in thought, a crisp sound from Lan Qingyou's direction pulled her attention back.

Lan Qingyou's hand, which had been gripping Huang Wei's skull, now held an irregular, glowing green crystal. Huang Wei himself had slumped over, drooling and unresponsive, his life status unknown.

Could that thing... be Huang Wei's materialized soul?

Seeing a Soul Crystal for the first time, Susie narrowed her eyes and frowned, scrutinizing the gem in Lan Qingyou's hand.

Lan Qingyou was also a bit dazed.

This was her first time seeing such a thing as well.

After all, it was the first time she had extracted a Soul Crystal from a Blue Star person.

Compared to the pale, faint Soul Crystals she had seen before, this one could only be described as "vibrant."

This is bad!

While the two women were distracted, Huang Xingming was breaking into a cold sweat.

Looking at the motionless Huang Wei, Huang Xingming knew his son was dead. Yet, he felt none of the anger or despair one might expect.

He was only thinking about how to escape.

Lan Qingyou's display just now was a clear message: she had the means and the power to kill him.

Thus, Huang Xingming had no other thoughts left.

Although the death of his only son left him with complicated feelings, now was not the time for sentiment.

As long as he remained alive, the Huang family could be rebuilt.

With that thought, Huang Xingming turned and bolted, not even having the time to mourn his foolish son who had failed to become a member of the God Race.

Leveraging his newly boosted agility and mobility, he covered dozens of meters in just a few strides.

Of course, Huang Xingming knew he couldn't outrun someone who could fly. So, as he ran, he constantly moved in a zigzag pattern to prevent Lan Qingyou from suddenly teleporting and stabbing him like she did his son.

However, Huang Xingming never expected that while he was still patting himself on the back for his clever maneuvering, his worst-case scenario would manifest.

Squeltch!

"Urgh..."

Just as he changed direction, two long blades plunged into his chest.

"You might not believe me, but you really did just run right into my blades."

Huang Xingming looked at Lan Qingyou's watery, innocent eyes and didn't know whether to curse or cry.

I ran into them?

How do you have the nerve to say that?

Wait! How on earth did you predict my escape route!?

Huang Xingming's anger flared as he gritted his teeth. Ignoring his injuries, he lunged backward while swinging his hand like a blade, attempting to chop Lan Qingyou into unconsciousness.

He knew he couldn't kill her now.

If he could just knock her out, only the Witch of Poison would be left to chase him.

Given a witch's agility and mobility, catching him would be a pipe dream.

However, just as his hand-blade was about to strike Lan Qingyou, he suddenly felt light. His strength vanished, and he couldn't even feel his own weight.

Is this what flying feels like?

Lifted by Lan Qingyou's blade, Huang Xingming stared blankly at her grinning face below.

"By the way, this blade of mine is coated in poison—a poison that causes muscle weakness. How is it? Do you feel a lot lighter now?"

"..."

Huang Xingming was speechless.

To deal with him, she had used teleportation and even poisoned her blades. Should he be grateful she took him so seriously, or frustrated at being hounded by such a meticulous opponent?

Indeed, if he had just spent a bit more money to kill this brat back then, none of this mess would be happening now.

Squeltch!

Squeltch! Squeltch!

As Huang Xingming ruminated, the long blades in Lan Qingyou's hands didn't stop.

They thrust in and out of him repeatedly while he hung in the air.

After a dozen or so stabs, when his health was down to about one percent, Lan Qingyou used Soul Siphon.

Huang Xingming's vision went black, and he plunged into eternal darkness.

"Once a soul is materialized, does the original soul still possess self-awareness?"

That was the question Lan Qingyou had asked earlier, wasn't it?

He had the answer now, but he would likely never be able to tell her. Not that it seemed to matter much anymore.

"Phew... finally dealt with."

Having eliminated everyone there, Lan Qingyou felt a wave of relief.

Although she was weak from the previous blood loss, the Life Potion and blood-replenishing pills had restored her enough to stay on her feet.

After exhaling, Lan Qingyou looked at the empty shell of Huang Xingming on the ground.

Huang Wei and Huang Xingming—the two people who had turned her into a cripple—were finally dead.

She was genuinely happy, especially since she had even imprisoned their souls.

But a new question arose.

The evolution path of this 'Lesser Demon race' felt very familiar.

...It was just like the Dark Demon she had encountered before.

Yes, a Dark Demon.

The biggest difference between the two was likely that one had a smooth face with no features, while the other at least had a mouth.

Wait, in that case, was this Huang Xingming slowly turning into a monster too?

Thinking this, Lan Qingyou used her long blade to rummage through Huang Xingming's remains.

And sure enough!

After a short while, she actually found an E-grade monster core about the size of a fingernail!