Her voice carried a trace of laziness, concealing a hint of amusement.
Then she raised her hand again, a dark purple orb of light slowly condensing in her palm.
The orb was small, only the size of a thumb, but the power contained within was over a hundred times stronger than the "seeds" she had casually tossed out before.
A faint glow shimmered at her fingertips as the power within her body surged out in a steady stream.
As it compressed and condensed in her palm, the orb grew brighter and brighter, casting a dark purple halo over her features.
She whispered softly to the orb, her tone as gentle as if she were coaxing a child, yet laced with an obscure incantation. Slowly, a blurry image began to surface within the orb.
The face in the image bore a slight resemblance to her own, but it was blurry and incorporeal, nothing more than a faint outline.
Alexia gave an instruction to the image, pointing toward that vague direction.
With a gentle flick of her finger, the dark purple orb instantly vanished into the air.
Like a meteor cutting through the gloomy sky, it sped toward the distant human world.
Alexia reclined back onto her long couch.
She reached out to pick up the goblet she had just set down, only to find that most of the liquid had spilled.
Frowning slightly, she casually tossed the goblet aside.
Yet, a faint smile still lingered on her lips, and the amusement in her eyes grew even deeper.
...
Bai Xuan stood in place, slowly calming the surging mana within his body.
The previous strike had consumed quite a bit of mana, causing fine beads of sweat to form on his forehead, but fortunately, he had escaped without any visible injuries.
Before him, a terrifying trench stretched across his field of vision.
Starting from the center of the dungeon, the ground had been violently plowed into a deep groove, tearing through the walls and extending to the outside world, finally blasting a massive hole into the distant mountainside.
Rubble rolled down, trees snapped in half, and moonlight poured through the gaping hole, illuminating the swirling dust.
Ronid lay at the end of the trench.
His body from his right shoulder down to his left waist had completely vanished. His exposed organs were a bloody blur, and black, filthy blood mixed with visceral fragments pooled across the ground.
Yet, the powerful constitution of his demonized state kept him clinging to a final breath.
The black demonic energy at the wound squirmed in vain, trying to repair parts of his body that no longer existed.
His eyes were wide open, his pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks, and his lips trembled constantly, trying to speak but failing to form any coherent words.
The monstrous claws from before had reverted to human hands, his nails broken and caked in blood and grime.
Bai Xuan walked slowly over to him, his brow slightly furrowed.
Was the vitality of his demonized state actually this tenacious?
To still be alive even after losing half of his body.
He looked down at Ronid, his voice calm and completely devoid of emotion.
“Any last words?”
Ronid's lips twitched for a long time before he finally squeezed out a few raspy syllables, as faint as threads pulled from his throat.
“Save... save me...”
He raised his hand with great effort, trying to grab the hem of Bai Xuan's robe, but his arm felt as heavy as lead.
In the end, his fingers only clawed weakly at the ground, leaving behind a few shallow trails of blood.
Bai Xuan said nothing. He simply looked down at him, his gaze as indifferent as if he were looking at an object destined to crumble away.
“I don't want to die... save me...”
Ronid's voice grew slightly louder, thick with a heavy sob, tears mingling with the beads of blood rolling down his face.
His former refinement was entirely gone, leaving only a low, pathetic plea stripped of all dignity.
Seeing his pleas go unanswered, Ronid's gaze instantly twisted from despair into madness.
His voice became sharp and piercing, and in his hysteria, he coughed up a mouthful of black blood with every sentence he spoke.
“You think you've won? Lord Leo won't let you off! His plan isn't finished yet. Now that I'm dead, he will definitely investigate!”
He disregarded his injuries, intent only on shouting out these threats.
“When that time comes, you and everyone around you won't be able to escape!”
Several thoughts flashed rapidly through Bai Xuan's mind.
Leo?
Which corner did this one crawl out from?
The waters of this dungeon are indeed getting muddier and muddier.
No matter who it is, I'll beat them as they come. If one strike of my staff isn't enough, I'll just hit them again.
Just then, the black patterns on Ronid's body began to fade, like ink diluted by water.
His sharp claws retracted back into normal fingernails, his fangs slowly shortened, and his pale, greyish skin gradually returned to a normal human complexion.
The demonic energy swirling around him completely dissipated, and his demonized state finally faded away.
Without the protection of the demonic energy, his mangled human body could no longer withstand his horrific injuries.
Blood began to gush out in torrents, quickly staining the rubble beneath him a deep red.
He was still hoarsely sputtering threats in broken sentences when his voice suddenly caught.
His eyes instantly lost focus, his head slumped to the side, and his breath ceased completely.
This turn of events came so suddenly that Bai Xuan didn't even have time to react.
He looked down at Ronid's corpse, his face showing no emotion.
Even if he had the time to react, he wouldn't have done anything anyway.
In the next second, a notification appeared before his eyes:
【Successfully executed Crushing Blow. EXP +1400, Pleasure +109】
【EXP: 33% → 67%】
Bai Xuan was slightly taken aback. A demonized human could actually grant EXP and Pleasure.
And the amount of EXP was surprisingly generous.
He remembered that when he killed the ogre, he had only received 90 EXP. Yet this demonized human before him had actually given him 1,400.
He did some quick calculations in his head. The EXP from a monster of the same rank would be a few dozen points at most. This was easily more than ten times what a normal monster would yield.
Could it be because of the demonic power inside Ronid?
Bai Xuan couldn't figure it out, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch upward.
If more of these "EXP packs" show up in the future, wouldn't leveling up be a breeze?
Just then, the skin on Ronid's chest suddenly bulged.
A dark seed slowly floated out, hovering in midair.
The dark red patterns on its surface glowed faintly, and as if drawn by some force, it slowly drifted toward Bai Xuan.
Bai Xuan reached out to catch the seed, and the familiar text immediately appeared on his status panel.
【Magic Soul Seed (Fragment): A seed created by the Demon Race, with only a small fragment remaining. It can gather the power of the undead to generate curses, and can also serve as a consumable medium to travel to the Demon Continent.】
He froze for a moment, then couldn't help but speak.
“This thing again.”
This was already the third one.
The first one had been in Owen's hands, the second was given to Lorrain, and now, this third one had actually delivered itself right to him.
“Lorrain searched for so long without finding any, yet here I am, having them fall into my hands one after another.”
“One goes, another comes. It seems like I'm destined to go to the Demon Continent after all.”
He shook his head helplessly and stored the seed into his Space Ring.
Then, he squatted down and searched Ronid's body.
His staff had long since broken into several pieces, the fragments scattered across the ground, completely worthless.
He fished out a small coin pouch containing some gold and silver coins. A quick count revealed about twenty gold coins and a few silver coins.
Bai Xuan slipped the coin pouch into his robes, stood up, and looked around.
The battle had already ruined the dungeon beyond recognition. Rubble was piled high like small hills, and the dust had not yet fully settled. There was nothing else of value.
He turned and walked toward the crack in the mountainside where the Staff of Guidance was still wedged.
Walking up to it, Bai Xuan bent down and pulled out the staff. The shaft was completely intact, only covered in a bit of dust and black, filthy blood.
He wiped it clean with his sleeve, gripped the staff tightly, and turned to walk in the direction Carson and the children had gone.
Behind him, the ruins of the dungeon were dead silent.
The cool moonlight shone down on Ronid's corpse, illuminating the puddle of black blood that had already begun to congeal.
Rate on N.U.
