Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

1898  Castle Depository

Shaai had light wounds on her body that were slow to heal for some reason, despite her S-Ranked status.

"Hehe. There are not going to be any Empusas, Shaai. At least not here.

They won't come unless the castle mechanism summons them back, which can't happen because… well… we destroyed it."

Yona replied, not too far away from where Shaai was. She was practically unscathed, save for a light injury on her left arm.

One could see that Yona had not exerted as much strength as Shaai.

However, there were beads of sweat on her forehead, indicating that neutralizing the Empusas wasn't really a walk in the park for her either.

"Hmm? You are hurt. That can't be good," Jolly appeared like a ghost beside Shaai and half-embraced her, feeling her body up close.

"Oh! This might tingle your skin a bit but bear with it."

Jolly said before placing his right hand over her head. He closed his own eyes and agitated the Elder Ichor bloodline within him.

In the next moment, the corrupted form of Lust Mana that the Empusas had left behind started getting expelled from Shaai's body through her wounds.

Some black blood seeped out before Shaai immediately started feeling better. Within half a minute, her wounds started healing normally, and she felt as good as new, save for the nearly depleted mana reserves.

More than the physical relief itself, Shaai was pleased with the way Jolly showed his affection towards her. She let him cure her of the demonic corruption while enjoying their proximity.

The married S-Rank Elementalist also looked at Yona, giving her a slightly smug look. Too bad, the witch goddess' incarnation wasn't really in the mood for competing with her to have Jolly's attention. At least not at this point.

Jolly's physical condition was fine except for the almost depleted mana reserves. However, he was mentally fatigued, and his soul felt as if it had been stretched from multiple points because of him having to deploy the Sin Series Domain two times in a row, as well as maintain them for so long.

As such, the trio took some time to catch their breaths. They made use of the potions and perks available at their disposal to get themselves in optimal condition.

***

After a few minutes.

"Let's go. We have a lot to do."

Yona suddenly got up from her seated position. She took a deep breath before she started walking through the debris with solemn expressions on her face.

Shaai and jolly looked at each other. A silent understanding was shared between the two before they decided to follow Yona closely behind her.

Yona waved her hand and in the next moment, a mass of debris was parted to either side, revealing a passageway that led underground. The witch didn't think for too long before stepping into the passageway, descending into the depths of the castle one step at a time.

It didn't take long for the trio to get to the core part of the underground dungeon-like facility of the castle. There they saw a spacious underground hall that featured a giant demon magic circle that was supported by numerous smaller circles. The air was thick with the scent of dampness and age.

"What kind of Array Formation is this? It looks so ancient and powerful," Shaai commented as she looked at the demon magic circles with a certain curiosity and fascination. They looked different from the layout that was usually used in Labh Salem.

"Hehe, not all ancient formations are better than the formations we use these days. You are clearly underestimating the talents of thousands and thousands of practitioners who have contributed to the field of magic in their own way. Their collective achievement is bigger than the research conducted by most Immortals as well," Yona commented as she examined the primary demon magic circle carefully.

"Take this formation, for example. This is what you can call an automated Empusa summoning formation. It summons a fixed number of Empusas per day whenever they drop down below a certain threshold.

But it relies too much on the supporting formations. The Array Formation layouts we use now can allow practitioners to integrate multiple formations together to get rid of some of their individual weaknesses.

The ancient formations can't do that. They can easily get damaged due to external factors. That's why this formation stopped producing the Empusas after we destroyed the castle," Yona explained as she scrutinized the runic details of the demon magic circle carefully.

"Hehe. Found it," Yona said with a bit of excitement as she walked ahead and entered a particular section of the demon magic circle. With a confident gesture, Yona raised her hand and summoned forth her elemental power, channeling it into a concentrated burst of energy.

The demonic symbols within the circle began to tremble, their once steady glow flickering erratically as Yona's magic surged through them.

With a sudden burst of power, she unleashed a torrent of elemental force, sending shockwaves rippling across the stone floor.

The demon magic circle groaned and shuddered under the onslaught, its ancient wards faltering in the face of Yona's relentless assault. Cracks spiderwebbed across the surface, glowing with a sickly green light as the circle struggled to maintain its integrity.

With one final surge of energy, Yona unleashed a devastating blast of Spirit bloodline magic, shattering the demon magic circle into fragments. The pieces of the broken circle scattered across the floor, their dark magic dissipating into the ether.

Yona stepped forward, her gaze fixed on the newly appeared corridor that had been revealed at the other side of the spacious hall, which wasn't visible before.

The stone walls seemed to stretch endlessly into the darkness. The trio soon walked into it, their footsteps echoing through the corridor.

"Don't forget our agreement," Jolly spoke as he looked at the end of the corridor with some expectations.

"Hehe. don't worry. Whatever you find in the depository will be yours except for the key-fragment I'm looking for," Yona assured.

The trio soon found themselves in the very room they wanted to find in the castle.

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