Chapter 67 - 2 Vs 1: Against Zero

Outside, at the entrance to the Seventh Trial Ground, Cecilia had kept Leah there despite Albert’s order to evacuate everyone within two kilometers.

Protected at the center by the princess and several academy instructors, Leah suddenly jerked her head upward.

"Ah!"

A genuine cry of pain escaped her lips as her right hand clutched her chest tightly and her Astral Core shook violently.

"Leah!"

Cecilia quickly caught her, but silver starlight was already spilling continuously from inside the girl’s body. Instead of dispersing into the air, every strand of starlight stretched toward the depths of the Seventh Trial Ground, as though something inside the forest had hooked onto her Astral Core and was forcibly pulling it toward itself.

The princess expression became increasingly ugly as she looked toward the depths of the Seventh Trial Ground.

"Victor... whatever you’re doing in there, you’d better hurry."

...

Inside the forest, countless crimson System warnings blinked rapidly across Victor’s retina.

[Warning!]

[Investment Target Leah Vane is experiencing long distance Astral Core attraction!]

[Source: Star Devouring Shadow Beast.]

[Attraction intensity continues to increase.]

[Target Astral Core stability is decreasing.]

The last trace of a smile vanished from his face as the woman continued staring at him.

"Do you understand now? We don’t need her dead. At least... not yet. We only need to remove her Astral Core."

They had originally believed those people were trying to prevent the Astral Spirit Envoy profession from reappearing, but that was wrong. What they truly wanted might never have been the profession itself. What they wanted was an awakened and complete...

[Astral Core.]

Leah was merely the vessel, and by personally helping her complete her awakening, Victor had effectively helped those people create the very thing they wanted.

"Good," Victor suddenly said.

The second personality paused. "What?"

"Thanks for telling me. Otherwise, I would’ve had to keep guessing."

The woman’s expression changed slightly, but Victor was already moving toward the Star Devouring Shadow Beast.

"What are you trying to do?"

For the first time, obvious urgency entered the second personality’s voice, and that reaction had already given Victor his answer. Now he was even more certain that the long distance connection between the Star Devouring Shadow Beast and Leah was being maintained through the contaminated astral energy inside its body.

All he had to do was sever it.

[Shadow Blink!]

His figure vanished, and the next moment, Victor appeared directly beside the Star Devouring Shadow Beast.

The woman abruptly reached out. "Stop him!"

The Star Devouring Shadow Beast swiftly turned its head, and its crimson claws swept sideways.

Fwoosh!

Victor, however, did not retreat because Albert’s magic had already descended first.

Bang!

A golden barrier appeared between them and stopped the claws cold. It lasted for less than a second before fading away, but that was all Victor needed.

He slammed his left hand directly onto the brightest patch of silver black markings across the Star Devouring Shadow Beast’s chest.

Whoom! 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

A massive amount of contaminated astral energy surged voluntarily along his palm and into his body. For an ordinary professional, doing something like this would have been nearly suicidal, but Victor had only one thought.

Ownerless energy was delivering itself straight to him. Who would ever complain about getting too much?

[Mana Devour!]

BOOM!!!

Black and silver energy seemed to suddenly find an outlet and poured wildly into Victor’s body.

[Contaminated astral energy detected.]

[Abyssal attribute detected.]

[Beginning forced decomposition.]

The Star Devouring Shadow Beast released a true scream.

"ROAR!!!"

The silver black markings rapidly dimmed, and the connection outside that had been forcibly pulling at Leah’s Astral Core instantly began to collapse.

The second personality’s expression darkened even further upon witnessing this. "Stop!"

Victor raised his eyes. "Getting anxious now?"

The devouring continued as the Star Devouring Shadow Beast struggled violently and the woman tried to rush toward him, but Albert was already standing in her path.

"Your opponent..." The vice dean gently raised his staff. "Is me now."

The woman stared fiercely at Victor, but suddenly, her face twisted violently again. The unfamiliar expression disappeared, and Elena’s pain resurfaced.

"Vic... Victor..." Her voice came out in broken fragments as the two personalities fought for control. "Don’t let her... get..."

She clutched her head with both hands. "Leah..."

The next second, the second personality suppressed her again.

"Shut up!" the woman screamed at herself.

It was an extremely bizarre sight, with one body containing two completely different personalities fighting each other for control.

Victor did not allow himself to be distracted because, as Mana Devour continued breaking down the contaminated energy within the Star Devouring Shadow Beast, something hidden deep inside its chest was finally exposed.

It was not a magical beast core. Instead, it was a black crystal no larger than a thumb, with large numbers of gray silver patterns wrapped around its outer surface.

[Special Artificial Implant Discovered.]

[Abyss Induction Crystal.]

Victor’s eyes lit up. Elias had said an [Abyss Induction Crystal] would be inside the northern Mana Core Badge, and now one was inside the Star Devouring Shadow Beast.

That meant someone had already begun readjusting the entire arrangement, and it was very possible that after they realized something had gone wrong at the Seventh Trial Ground, they had deliberately changed it.

Victor’s five fingers suddenly tightened as Mana Devour directly locked onto the crystal. The second personality seemed to realize what was happening.

"No!"

BOOM!!!

A massive amount of black energy erupted instantly, and the Star Devouring Shadow Beast’s entire body arched violently as the silver black markings across its chest completely shattered.

The next second, Victor forcibly ripped the black crystal out of its flesh and mana structure!

Snap.

The crystal fell into his palm.

At the same time, at the edge of the trial ground, the wildly surging starlight surrounding Leah instantly stopped. The girl’s body went limp and fell forward, but Cecilia quickly caught her.

Several seconds later, Leah slowly opened her eyes, and the Astral Core in her chest had stabilized again.

However, somewhere underground, in a space no one could see, a pair of eyes opened at that exact moment.

"The connection has been severed," someone spoke softly within the darkness. "Zero failed."

Another voice asked, "What about Leah?"

A brief silence followed before the first voice spoke again.

"Continue the plan. The complete Astral Core has matured, so she cannot die."

Within the darkness, a magic crystal displaying Victor’s image slowly lit up.

"As for Victor Alves... reevaluate him. From this moment onward, raise his threat level to the same level as Ryan Carter."