Chapter 3 (1/2): Objective is to seize this body

Boom!

A thunderous roar erupted, as if a giant beast were turning over deep underground.

The floor, which was originally etched with defensive magic runes and had only been slightly singed after being blasted by various magical gadgets for half the day, suddenly blew apart!

Debris, soil, and fragments of runes shot out in every direction!

Lin Hong reacted quickly.

His spirit sensed it a fraction of a second in advance, and he immediately surged his mental energy, transforming it into invisible ripples that emanated from his brow.

While the invisible mental ripples protected him, they also quietly extended to the young Karl behind him.

Karl was still moving forward from his momentum.

The explosion was sudden, happening in an instant; if Lin Hong didn’t protect him, he would be blown to pieces.

With a thud, the air pressure sent both of them flying at the same time.

While suspended in midair, Lin Hong remained calm.

He spread out his perception and opened his spiritual eyes.

In an instant, he “saw” a strange, indescribable dark-red entity!

It had no fixed form, looking like a mass of blood mist yet also like a parasite, lunging out from the cracks in the blasted ground!

He was far too familiar with that aura.

Although it had changed significantly by merging with this world, it absolutely belonged to the Evil Race.

Ten years ago, in the starry sky beyond the continent, he had been gravely injured and ambushed.

His life was hanging by a thread, so he had only sensed it without having the time to think deeply about it.

But now, his perception would not be wrong!

Killing intent instantly surged in his heart.

The indescribable dark-red entity had a clear target.

Moving at extreme speed, it lunged straight for his brow.

‘Is it trying to invade the spirit sea and seize control of this physical body?’

Lin Hong made a judgment.

If the original young Evan had been here, facing this sudden explosion, he would have been severely injured at the very least, and his consciousness would have fallen into a deep coma.

At that point, his spirit sea would be wide open.

Taking over the body would be too easy, requiring almost no effort.

Once the possession was successful, if this body were used by someone with ulterior motives, there were too many things they could do.

After all, the status of being the Duke’s son was right there, offering great potential.

‘Quite the calculation.’

Lin Hong assessed himself and felt that he could handle it.

He would lure this thing into his body and slay it!

Psh!

His mental processing was incredibly fast.

He made a decision in an instant, camouflaging his mental fluctuations to a state of extreme weakness before actively opening his spirit sea to let that indescribable entity inside.

Hum!

A low hum sounded.

It was the defensive magic covering the martial arts arena activating.

It was extraordinary, reacting almost the moment after the explosion occurred, casting down two pillars of light to envelop the two flying figures separately.

With two muffled thuds, they hit the ground.

Under the double protection of mental energy and defensive magic, young Karl wasn’t seriously hurt, though he had many scrapes.

However, he was resilient; he stood up with a single roll and ran toward Lin Hong.

As for Lin Hong, he didn’t care at all.

He let his body fly, allowing the debris to cut several gashes into him as he slammed heavily onto the ground.

He rolled several times before finally stopping when he hit a pile of broken stones.

Otherwise, it would be far too suspicious if he were completely unscathed.

It was better to just endure it honestly.

By now, chaos had already broken out around the entire arena.

“An explosion! The stage blew up!”

“Is it an enemy attack?!”

“What happened to Evan and Karl!”

“Run! Get out of here!”

In the spectator stands, the students who had been watching were stunned.

Panic spread as instructors arrived to protect them and evacuate them quickly.

“How audacious! To dare commit such an act within the academy!”

At the instructors’ seating, one instructor’s hair and beard bristled with rage.

He let out a roar, and combat aura burst from his body like a furious lion as he prepared to charge toward the center of the explosion.

“Instructor Cane, wait! Maintain order first! Protect the students and evacuate them!”

Another female instructor shouted sharply.

She raised her staff high and chanted rapidly, casting waves of gentle protective magic and calming halos onto the panicked crowd of students.

“Cultists have infiltrated the academy! Student Union, Academy Law Enforcement! Seal all entrances and exits!”

An instructor growled, filled with shock and fury.

The outside world was in turmoil.

Screams, roars, and orders were intertwined.

But none of this mattered to Lin Hong anymore.

His mind had already sunk into his body, manifesting into a miniature version of himself within the spirit sea.

However, in the next instant, he was surprised.

The opponent didn’t immediately lunge for the spiritual core!

Instead, it transformed into countless dark-red threads, eroding the flesh and blood along various paths!

The dark-red threads spread rapidly, penetrating flesh and wrapping around bones.

Everywhere they passed, no mutation occurred, but a thin layer of a mark was applied, slowly but thoroughly assimilating the body.

The intruder was very confident, certain that he was currently unconscious and could be toyed with at will.

Thus, it wanted to first corrode this physical body, turning it into a nest more suitable for its existence.

‘Does it want to break my spirit by taking my body? After all, once the physical assimilation is complete, even if my consciousness wakes up, I’ll be helpless if my spiritual cultivation can’t overcome the opponent. The body will become a cage.’

Lin Hong came to this conclusion and immediately sneered.

How could he let his enemy have their way?

He performed two tasks at once.

He split off part of his mental energy, dividing it into countless strands to follow behind the dark-red threads, purifying and cleansing the flesh.

Meanwhile, the majority of his attention remained in ambush within the spirit sea, waiting for the true intrusion of consciousness.

Hum.

Suddenly, at the edge of the spirit sea, the mysterious panel that had been silent began to vibrate: [Detection: Host’s body is facing an intrusion by a fell-energy spiritual body. Mission update: Slay the fell-energy spiritual body. Reward: +100 Fate Points]

‘A temporary increase in rewards?’

Lin Hong raised an eyebrow.

‘Wasn’t it fifty earlier? This has doubled.’

‘It won’t escape,’ Lin Hong responded with his mental thoughts.

Currently, within the body, a mass of dark-red, indescribable matter was wandering about.

This was a portion of the soul of a Priest-level cultist.

Within the church, this was considered a backbone force, and it had been hiding independently in the Imperial Capital.

At this moment, it was sneering, a mix of hatred and pleasure swirling within it.

This was because the erosion of this physical body was nearly complete.

Its soul power had turned into threads, penetrating every piece of flesh and bone, remodeling this body into its nest.

It was even already thinking about how to torture the young master of the Wayne family once he woke up.

‘Wayne… Wayne…’

The entity whispered the surname, its heart full of hatred.

Because at the distant border of the empire, countless brothers and sisters of the church had died at the hands of the couple who bore this name!

There were even important figures at the Bishop level among them!

It was a debt of blood!

Filled with wails and destruction!

It must be repaid!

It must be paid in full!

To infiltrate the Imperial Capital and sneak into this academy, countless brothers and sisters had perished.

It was all for this great goal, and it was finally succeeding at this moment!

However, the priority was still to seize this body.

It had to complete the assimilation before the healing mages intervened; only then could it completely eliminate the possibility of being discovered.

Then, it would make this young master wake up only to find that his own body had betrayed him and become his prison.

Then, right before his eyes, it would manipulate this body to capture the eldest miss of the Wayne family!

It looked forward to it immensely!

Those two wretches would see their own children suffering, turned into puppets, and standing on the opposite side from then on.

‘What a beautiful scene that will be, full of despair and madness. It will be my finest meal!’

The entity whispered, trembling with excitement as if it could already see that moment.

“Well said, well said. That truly is an excellent idea.”

?

By now, the entity had completely finished its assimilation of the physical body.

All the dark-red threads reconvened, transforming into a dark-red robed figure that shot upward, lunging into the spirit sea!

It broke through!

The Evil Priest was stunned.

Why was there the sound of clapping and praise?

In the empty spirit sea, a strange young man wearing an oddly styled black robe was clapping.

His killing intent was heavy as he stared at the entity with a grim expression.

In the next instant, the young man vanished from his spot and attacked directly.

The spirit sea rioted!

Lin Hong curled his fingers into a claw, using a mental killing technique.

A ghostly glow erupted from his hand, coming within a hair’s breadth of piercing the dark-red phantom.

He didn’t have much time because he could vaguely feel that his body outside was being lifted and moved quickly.

They were likely taking him for medical treatment.

If he couldn’t end the battle before then, his abnormality might be discovered.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Two spiritual bodies collided!

They clashed within the spirit sea, setting off silent explosions.

“Who are you? How dare you occupy another’s nest and seize the body of the Wayne heir? Aren’t you afraid of retaliation?”

The dark-red figure growled, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

It never expected that there would be someone else inside this little brat’s body.

And what kind of vicious technique was this?

It had never heard of it!

There was no chanting, nor were there any soul magic runes, yet every clash was accompanied by a vibration that pierced into its soul body, constantly weakening it.

“What are you babbling about?”

Lin Hong almost laughed at the irony of being accused of what the other was doing.

In the next instant, his spiritual form vanished and reappeared right in front of the figure, pressing a palm against its chest.

With a thud, the figure screamed.

Its soul body fluctuated violently as it was sent flying, crashing against the invisible barrier at the edge of the spirit sea.

In the next moment, it actually dissipated, vanishing without a trace.

‘An illusion technique as well.’

Lin Hong raised an eyebrow.

He turned around and swiped a claw backward, creating a gust of mental wind.

“Hmm?”

Lin Hong let out a soft exclamation of surprise.