Chapter 125: The Great Reversal 2

Seeing that the mask-faced being did not object, Kent continued.

“First, there was Joko. From the way she spoke, I could tell that she had never actually seen you before. That was the first thing that struck me as suspicious.”

“Second, there was the staircase I came down earlier—the one covered in magical traps. Anyone capable of laying down that many magic arrays had to be an expert among experts.

“But that person couldn’t possibly have been above Level Ten. Once someone surpasses Level Ten, they are forced to ascend to the Sacred Realm. That is a law imposed by the heavens and the world itself.

“At the time, I didn’t think too deeply about it. Level Ten experts certainly exist on the continent.

“But later, when you made us wander through all those maze-like passageways and intersections, I started becoming suspicious again. At first, I assumed you were simply overly cautious and distrustful.

“Even so, I never completely dismissed my doubts about you.”

Kent paused briefly before continuing.

“The third point was even simpler.

“You exist as a soul. In theory, that means you should be able to move almost anywhere you please.

“And yet, from beginning to end, you remained on this altar.

“At first, I thought you were cultivating here.

“But later, you told me yourself that the magic array on this altar could protect my soul from harm.

“You had also already admitted that you were once struck by a god and that your soul was badly damaged. You desperately needed my body because you believed it could help you neutralize the damage within your soul.

“Once I put those three things together, the answer became obvious.”

Kent’s eyes narrowed.

“You weren’t staying here because you wanted to.

“You were recovering from your injuries.

“And you had been doing so for a very, very long time.”

The mask-faced being remained silent.

Kent went on.

“During all those years, your soul must have continued to weaken.

“That meant you needed fresh souls to replenish yourself.

“That is why the kobolds outside periodically captured living people and brought them here as sacrifices.

“And because you constantly released such a dense aura of necromantic energy, countless undead creatures gradually appeared throughout the surrounding region.

“But despite all that time, you were still trapped here.

“That could only mean one thing.

“The damage to your soul was far more serious than you wanted anyone to know.”

Kent gave a faint smile.

“You even admitted that yourself.”

He continued without giving the creature a chance to interrupt.

“If your soul still hadn’t healed after such an enormous amount of time, then its condition could only be moving in one of two directions—it was either improving or deteriorating.

“And judging by how desperately you rushed to temper my body, I concluded that the damage to your soul had already reached a critical point.

“That was why you didn’t dare leave this altar.

“And that also explains why there are so many Life Stones embedded in it.”

By now, Kent’s tone had become completely certain.

“So when I reached that conclusion, all I could do was gamble.”

A grin appeared on his face.

“And it turns out I guessed right.”

Kent finally finished speaking in one breath.

In truth, most of these conclusions had occurred to him the moment the mask-faced being revealed that the altar’s magic array could protect a soul from harm.

The problem was that, at the time, Kent had possessed no means of damaging the altar or destroying the array.

So he had waited.

He had endured the entire Body Tempering process until his physical strength had reached its new peak.

Even then, Kent had not been entirely certain.

That was why he had deliberately asked the mask-faced being whether he could break the floor with a single punch.

Only after hearing the answer had he finally made his move.

Yet the mask-faced being did not react with the fury Kent had expected.

Instead, it answered in a cold, metallic voice.

“Very good.”

“As expected of the most cunning of all races—humans.”

“But there is still one thing you failed to consider.”

“That is—”

Before Kent could react, the mask-faced being suddenly split in two.

Its ghostly body divided cleanly at the neck.

The upper half—nothing more than its head—shot toward Kent with terrifying speed.

The lower half of its body collapsed almost instantly, crumbling into countless sand-like particles that scattered across the altar.

Only then did Kent realize what it had done.

The creature had split its own soul.

And now the twisted, hideous head was hurtling straight toward him.

“AH! Soul Expulsion!”

Kent cried out in alarm.

Almost by instinct, he threw out a Soul Expulsion Spell.

Whatever else could be said about him, Kent’s reactions were astonishingly fast.

“Hahaha! Hahahaha! I was a necromancer to begin with! Even though I’ve split off part of my soul, it is still far stronger than the soul of a mere Level Three mage like you!”

The mask-faced being laughed wildly as it chased after Kent.

“Hahaha! My body—I’m coming for you!”

Because it had only just divided its soul, its movements were not yet completely stable, so it failed to catch Kent immediately. Even so, Kent’s Soul Expulsion Spell caused it very little actual harm.

“Damn it! I got careless! I really got careless!”

Kent cursed inwardly as he ran for his life.

Both he and the mask-faced being had been deliberately trying to stall for time.

Kent had hoped to delay things until the creature’s wounded soul deteriorated even further.

The mask-faced being, meanwhile, had secretly been using that same time to divide its soul.

In that sense, the two of them had cooperated almost perfectly.

Unfortunately, Kent was the one who had been fooled.

If he had known that the old monster was secretly splitting its soul, there was no way he would have wasted so much time talking.

Even after sacrificing part of its soul, the creature was still far too powerful for him.

The farther Kent ran, the more anxious he became.

Every step he took left a deep footprint in the stone floor.

With his newly strengthened body, a single stride now carried him more than ten meters. If not for that enormous increase in speed, the mask-faced being would have caught him long ago.

But his pursuer was still a soul without a physical body.

It did not tire.

It did not need to obey the same limitations as flesh and blood.

Little by little, the distance between them began to shrink.

Kent had no time to marvel at the incredible speed his new body had granted him.

At that moment, he wished for only one thing.

If only he could fly.

“Damn! How did I forget about that?”

After running for quite some time, Kent suddenly realized something was wrong.

His original plan had been to use Light magic against the old monster.

Yet once the chase began, he had become so focused on running that he had completely forgotten.

Kent immediately swept out one hand.

A brilliant sphere of light appeared and shot through the air.

As he cast the spell, Kent suddenly noticed that his mental power seemed far more condensed than before. His casting speed had also increased noticeably, and the flow of mana through his body felt smoother and more natural.

But he had no time to think about why.

He immediately turned his head to see whether the spell had worked.

What he saw nearly scared the soul out of him.

The hateful creature was no longer chasing him.

Instead, it was flying straight toward Daphne.

“Heh, heh! Let’s see what you do now!”

The moment the mask-faced being saw Kent turn and race back after it, it burst into triumphant laughter.

Its speed increased even further.

Daphne was now its only chance of survival.

“Stop! Stop! Damn you, stop!”

Kent shouted desperately as he sprinted after it.

“Daphne! Daphne! Move! Get out of the way!”

But Kent had already run too far.

Of the three of them, he was now the farthest from Daphne.

All he could do was watch helplessly as the mask-faced being plunged straight into her body.

Kent bit his lip so hard that blood began to flow.

Yet Daphne still did not wake.

“Daphne! Daphne!”

Kent rushed to her side and shook her gently.

He stared anxiously at her face, but there was no sign of anything unusual.

That made no sense.

A battle between two souls for control of the same body was supposed to be an extraordinarily dangerous and violent process.

Surely there should have been some outward reaction.

A grimace.

A twitch.

Pain.

Anything.

Yet Daphne’s face remained perfectly calm.

“Brother Kent...”

Her eyes slowly opened.

The moment she saw Kent, joy appeared on her face, and she immediately threw her arms around him.

“You...”

Kent stiffened.

Then he interrupted her.

“Are you really Daphne?”

Daphne froze.

Startled, she released him at once and began examining him carefully from head to toe.

Kent did not appear to have changed.

Before she could ask what was wrong, however, Kent suddenly grabbed her hand.

Daphne’s face instantly turned bright red.

She opened her mouth, about to say something—

only for Kent to release her hand again just as suddenly.

“Hahaha! Serves you right!”

Kent burst into laughter as he held up his staff, watching a mass of gray mist trapped inside it thrash about violently. No matter how desperately it struggled, it simply could not escape the Life Stone mounted at the tip.

After all, almost every mage’s staff possessed some kind of sealing function. Some could seal magical familiars, while others could store spells or magical energy accumulated over time.

Kent himself had nearly fallen victim to this very staff once before. Yet the mask-faced monster had foolishly charged straight at him without giving the staff any chance to do anything else. Before it could react, the staff had already absorbed its soul as a source of energy.

What else could that be called but bringing disaster upon itself?

Kent laughed so hard that he could barely contain himself. He was practically on the verge of dancing with joy.

And there was one more thing that made him even happier: his staff was clearly of a higher grade than the mask-faced creature itself. Otherwise, its powerful soul would have shattered the staff long before it could be sealed inside.

“Huh? What is that?”

Daphne had also noticed the strange sight inside Kent’s staff. Unable to contain her curiosity, she turned to him and asked in bewilderment.

“Hahaha! This is the bastard who brought us here in the first place! Now we can do whatever we want with him! We can...”

Kent was practically beaming with delight as he recounted the entire story to Daphne, his hands gesturing animatedly as he spoke. Of course, he took the liberty of embellishing a few details here and there, making sure to emphasize just how clever and capable he had been throughout the ordeal.

“Brother Kent!”

After hearing his tale, Daphne found herself looking at Kent with even greater admiration. In her eyes, his figure seemed to have grown taller and more imposing than ever. Once he had finished speaking, she called out to him with heartfelt affection.

Unfortunately, Kent was far too preoccupied to notice the change in Daphne’s feelings.

He had already dashed toward the altar like a gust of wind!

After all, there were still plenty of precious alchemical materials lying on the altar. Several bottles of dragon blood remained untouched, and even the empty crystal bottles were valuable treasures in their own right.

Although no one was competing with him for these items, Kent still felt that the safest place for such priceless possessions was in his own hands.

“Ah! Dragon blood! An Angel’s Heart! Soul Crystals!”

The moment Kent saw all those precious materials laid out before him, he was so thrilled that he could barely contain his excitement.

But just then, he heard a rather familiar voice.

In the very next instant, all the precious materials before his eyes vanished into thin air, leaving behind nothing but a floor littered with empty bottles and jars.

“WHO THE HELL DARES TO STEAL MY STUFF?! HAVE YOU GOT A DEATH WISH?!”

Kent exploded with rage.

He had risked his life to get his hands on those treasures. How could someone possibly dare to snatch them away right in front of him?

Anyone would have reacted the same way in his position!