Chapter 270: The Spiritual Anchor

On the thirtieth day, Ravian began deliberately weakening his resistance along one edge of the gray territory.

He did not abandon the area all at once. Instead, he stopped using the Law of Void at a specific point, allowing the black inscriptions to advance gradually into the space he had previously defended.

It was a calculated risk, although he had no way of knowing whether the results would justify the danger.

Now, rather than destroying another connection, he intended to observe how one was established.

If the intruder extended its influence into the area he had surrendered, the process might reveal something that had remained hidden while the network was already fully formed.

He only needed to maintain enough control to prevent that advance from reaching the center of his soul.

The intruder noticed the change after a short while.

“Oh? Are you finally getting tired?” Its voice carried unmistakable amusement. “I must admit, your endurance is genuinely frightening for a human, especially one as young as you. Anyway, thanks for the meal.”

Ravian did not answer.

His attention remained fixed on the advancing inscriptions.

At first, everything proceeded as he had expected. Black writing appeared along the exposed ground, gradually covering the small section he had ceased defending. Thin threads then extended between the new inscriptions, connecting them to the older network that already occupied most of his consciousness.

Afterward, one of the black gateways began shifting toward the newly occupied space.

A tall creature covered in small faces approached the boundary of the remaining gray territory.

Without realizing it, Ravian was confronting a manifestation of the consciousness of one of the most terrifying entities in the universe.

The pressure generated by its approach was immense.

His already exhausted consciousness struggled against the increasing force, and he was compelled to strengthen the pressure exerted by his Soul Crown to maintain his stability.

Nevertheless, he continued watching.

And as the creature drew nearer, he finally obtained what he had been looking for.

The connections supporting its manifestation became increasingly distinct.

Each change in its position was accompanied by a corresponding shift in the connections.

Most of those threads appeared to link the manifestation to the occupied territory around it, but one extended much farther, reaching into the depths of the black network.

Ravian directed his attention toward it.

At the far end of that connection, he sensed something distinctly different from the rest of the invading energy.

It was not merely another thread.

The structure was far more extensive than the minor links he had spent the past weeks erasing, and the surrounding connections seemed to converge around it.

It resembled an enormous spiritual anchor, one around which the links binding the intruder to his consciousness had gathered.

‘Found it.’

For the first time in days, Ravian felt his hope rising again.

He had finally located something that might allow him to move beyond destroying isolated portions of the invading force.

If his understanding was correct, the structure before him was connected to the authority sustaining the intruder’s presence throughout his consciousness.

Targeting it could accomplish far more than erasing individual inscriptions.

But he did not rush to attack.

The anchor was still protected by several layers of invading energy, and the connections surrounding it were far more complicated than those he had successfully removed.

Attempting to erase a structure of this magnitude without understanding its boundaries would be considerably more dangerous.

There was another problem as well.

If he attacked immediately and failed to inflict meaningful damage, the intruder would learn exactly what he was attempting.

He doubted it would give him another opportunity to approach the same connection so easily.

For that reason, he decided to wait.

Unfortunately, concealing his intentions proved more difficult than he had hoped.

The moment Ravian attempted to extend his perception farther toward the deeper connection, the intruder sensed his attention.

“What are you doing?”

The entity’s tone changed abruptly.

Ravian did not answer.

“You’re not trying to reclaim the territory I took from you, are you?”

The black inscriptions began moving more rapidly.

“No,” the intruder continued, seemingly answering its own question. “You’re looking for something else.”

Ravian smiled faintly.

“It’s getting difficult to hide anything from you.”

The intruder did not laugh.

Instead, the enormous eye moved toward the region Ravian had been observing. Several new layers of black inscriptions immediately formed around the deeper connection, obscuring parts of the structure he had only just managed to perceive.

The reaction confirmed that the intruder had recognized the danger.

It was protecting the very thing Ravian had spent nearly a month trying to locate.

“Kekeke… Very clever.”

The laughter finally returned, though it was noticeably slower than usual.

“You’ve spent all these days trying to understand how to destroy the connection that allows me to remain inside your soul.”

Ravian remained silent.

The creature covered in small faces was still nearby, and the pressure upon his remaining territory had not diminished.

“You don’t understand what you’re trying to interfere with,” the entity said when he failed to answer.

“I’ve heard that before,” Ravian replied.

The intruder did not appear convinced by his attitude.

“The connection you’re talking about isn’t merely a thread you can cut. It has become part of the structure of your consciousness. If you try to erase it by force, you may destroy what remains of your soul.”

Ravian already knew that.

The deeper connection was likely to present the same problem on a much greater scale.

He could not simply release the Law of Void against the entire anchor and hope the resulting destruction would somehow spare his own soul.

His limited comprehension would not allow that degree of control, and the consequences of a mistake could be irreversible.

But he had not spent all those days studying the difference between erasing a manifestation and severing its connection for nothing.

He understood that the problem required precision rather than brute force.

Whether he possessed enough precision to solve it was another matter.

And even if the intruder was telling the truth about the danger, that did not make surrender a reasonable alternative.

Allowing the possession to continue would eventually lead to the destruction of his independent consciousness anyway. The intruder had made its intentions clear from the beginning, and nothing about its behavior suggested that it would be satisfied with controlling only half his body.

Besides, his master had given him three days.

There was no longer enough time to continue experimenting until every uncertainty had been resolved.

Ravian kept his attention on the deeper connection, refusing to let the warning alter his decision.

“Then you’d better prepare yourself.”

The black inscriptions began spreading more rapidly.

Around the gray territory, the gateways opened one after another, and the pressure exerted by the invading force increased as additional spiritual traces began to emerge.

The intruder was no longer attempting to expand through gradual advances.

It had recognized that Ravian was approaching an understanding that could threaten the connections sustaining its occupation, and it was no longer willing to let him continue studying them.

Instead, it had decided to employ a greater portion of the spiritual traces it possessed, intending to settle the confrontation before Ravian could deepen his comprehension any further.

The change was immediately apparent.

The black network became increasingly active, and the creatures gathered near the boundaries began responding to the movement of the connections supporting them.

Ravian had observed similar changes before, but never on this scale.

What he had spent weeks examining in isolated sections was now shifting across much of the occupied territory at once, making it considerably harder to follow individual connections.

The pressure on the center of his soul continued to rise.

In the outside world, Ravian’s body bent forward over the bed as the muscles along his left side began contracting repeatedly.

A sharp pain struck his chest before spreading into his shoulder and neck.

The intruder was attempting to force his entire body to obey its will.

Ravian could feel the struggle extending beyond the spiritual territory he had been defending. The foreign consciousness had never stopped trying to strengthen its control over his physical body, but its current attempt was far more forceful than the petty movements and interruptions he had endured throughout his isolation.

He understood what would happen if he allowed it to succeed.

Even if the center of his soul remained intact for a little longer, losing his remaining physical control would leave him in an even worse position, especially with Karius’s deadline approaching.

He could no longer afford to divide his attention between another prolonged series of experiments and the growing assault.

Ravian activated Absolute Focus, directing what remained of his control toward the center of his soul.

There was no longer time to investigate another minor connection or repeat the careful tests that had allowed him to improve his understanding over the past month.

He had found the anchor he was searching for, but the intruder had recognized his intentions and begun protecting it with greater force.

Any further delay would allow his opponent to continue strengthening those defenses while exhausting what little resistance Ravian could still maintain.

If he failed now, he might never have another opportunity before Karius arrived.

And so, with his remaining consciousness under increasing pressure and his physical body struggling against a will that was not his own, Ravian prepared to begin the final confrontation.

He would have to rely on the understanding he had managed to acquire, no matter how insignificant it remained.

Whether that understanding was enough to save him was something he was about to discover.