Chapter 161: Level 58 Corrupted Dryad

Just like the Undead Knight had suggested earlier, the purification of the being sealed inside the coffin went surprisingly smoothly.

Although it constantly struggled, trying to break out of its cage and reappear in this world, the chains around the coffin prevented it from escaping its prison.

No matter how the coffin shook, the chains remained unmoved.

Large amounts of black mist were constantly produced and dispersed through the room, evidence that the purification was actually working.

As the minutes passed, the struggle of the creature inside slowly grew less and less violent.

By the end, the coffin was barely trembling. If one wasn’t paying close attention to it, they wouldn’t even notice its movements and would believe everything was normal.

With his strength, Aurelius naturally noticed this as well.

However, only half of his focus remained on this fact. The other half was paying attention to the constantly flickering notifications in his field of vision.

[Purification has reached Level 2.]

[Purification has reached Level 3.]

[Purification has reached Level 4.]

[Purification has reached Level 5.]

[...]

The rate at which the Purification progress bar moved was astonishing. Aurelius had never experienced anything like that.

Its speed was no slower than him consuming Skill Points to upgrade his skills.

In the span of a few minutes, this skill, which Aurelius had just learned, had become his highest-Level skill, reaching Level 7 and surpassing any other!

This surprised even him, who had already noticed something.

He sensed that this skill had obtained some new properties as a result of its upgrade, its power improving significantly. Unfortunately, despite the several upgrades, it had failed to trigger Divine Intervention.

Even so, Aurelius was quite satisfied with its progress.

In its current state, he even had the confidence to purify the sealed being on his own, without needing the Undead Knight’s help.

Of course, he didn’t choose to do so. He hadn’t let his guard down.

He hid most of Purification’s strength, merely keeping it at the level it had when he first comprehended it.

The Undead Knight noticed nothing strange about this. In its opinion, it was already shocking that Aurelius had managed to understand this skill so quickly.

Making any further progress would require months, if not years, of constant practice. It was not something that could be achieved in a matter of minutes.

Each with their own thoughts, the two did not communicate. Silence shrouded the underground room.

They both purified the sealed being while remaining alert to any potential changes.

Time slowly passed.

Two golden lights occupied half of the room each, with a faint movement occurring at the point where they met.

...Until finally, the struggle of the creature suddenly ceased.

The coffin finally stopped moving, while the tense chains binding it slowly relaxed.

Everything made it seem that the purification process had gone smoothly and that the two had achieved their goal.

However, Aurelius did not relax.

Not only because the Mission of the Player Panel had not shown any signs of being completed just yet, but also because his intuition warned him of danger.

The moment the Purification was "completed," a threat even more dangerous than the Undead Knight occupied his mind.

He had little time to react.

Without any hesitation, he instinctively urged the Purification skill to its fullest, causing the golden light in his hands to shine ever more brightly.

After doing that, he had no time to do anything else. He couldn’t even cast a second skill, much less summon the Sea God’s Trident to defend himself.

Moments later, the thing causing the alarm bells in his heart to ring finally showed up.

It didn’t come from within the coffin as they had expected. Instead, it came from the chains binding it.

Woosh!

Suddenly, dozens of thin black lines extended from its lock, splitting into two.

One part thrust toward Aurelius, ready to pierce straight through his body, while the other half moved toward the Undead Knight, planning to bind it.

Although they appeared to be thin lines and should have been harmless, Aurelius instantly knew they were the culprit behind the danger.

With a sudden move, he controlled the golden light to fall onto them.

The instant the two met, there was indeed a reaction.

The black lines suddenly froze before they began to violently squirm.

Then, they were cut off from the root.

Although new lines soon emerged, occupying the place where the previous ones had just been, they were also soon cut off by the light of Purification.

In an instant, the unknown enemy and Aurelius had reached a strange stalemate, with neither side being able to do anything to the other.

The Undead Knight did not fare as well, however.

"How? How could you have broken out of the seal?"

"Did you suppress her will?" A shocked voice came out of its mouth as it stared at the shadowy tentacles binding it with clear surprise.

Under normal circumstances, it should have been able to defend against such a sneak attack.

However, after the previous long-term use of Purification, it had injured itself gravely. Now, its strength was only a tiny percentage of what it once was.

It could only watch as the enemy’s tentacles bound it tightly, powerless to resist them.

Its words, though, made Aurelius raise his eyebrows.

Unfortunately, he had no time to mull over this matter.

Before he could react, another change occurred in the underground room.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Countless small cracks began to form along the surface of the black chains. They slowly grew wider and wider.

Until...

Bang!

The chains shattered into countless fragments.

The coffin they had been restraining finally broke free.

The enemy, however, did not come from within it. Rather, they emerged from inside the chains themselves.

More precisely, out of its lock.

Out of nowhere, a murky black liquid seeped from within the lock and slowly dripped onto the floor.

Drop after drop stacked on top of each other, the enemy slowly wove a body for itself.

An Undead Evil Spirit! Aurelius immediately realized.

Unlike the ones he had met outside, however, this one was significantly different.

Not only in terms of aura, with this one being many times stronger and full of resentment, but also in appearance.

The Undead Evil Spirits he and Edward had dealt with were all shadowy humanoid monsters with an indescribable appearance.

They possessed no facial features nor any noteworthy characteristics, as though they were merely empty shells storing their consciousness.

This one, though, was different.

Beneath the twisting black shadows and the murky liquid, there appeared to be a real creature.

Their true identity was difficult to make out, but Aurelius glimpsed a few of their characteristics.

He could be certain that they were a woman.

With green hair, slightly pointed ears, and two horns made of oak extending from each side of her temples, she very much resembled a Wood Elf.

However, what should have been a beautiful sight became terrifying when one stared into her eyes.

They were pitch-black, without a single emotion, with a strange ability to pull the soul of anyone who dared to stare at them toward them.

They looked like two black holes devouring everything around them.

Even with Aurelius’ high Intelligence and resistance to mental attacks, it took him several moments before he finally snapped back to reality.

It was only then that he finally had the time to look at something else—the interface hovering above her head.

The moment he did, his eyes contracted.

[Corrupted Dryad—Level 58]

The pinnacle of Rank 3!

This creature was a far stronger opponent than the Undead Knight. And judging from the skeleton’s earlier words, it was no less mysterious than it.

Countless thoughts raced through Aurelius’ mind as he worked tirelessly to understand the situation.

In reality, however, only a single moment had passed.

The Corrupted Dryad had only just broken out of its prison.

She floated a few inches in the air.

The area beneath her feet was covered in a dark, murky liquid like the rest of her body, with one side extending toward the Undead Knight and tightly wrapping around its body.

As for the other portion—

Bang!

The liquid transformed into tentacles and rushed toward Aurelius once more.

The same sense of danger emerged in his heart.

Instinctively, he cast Purification once again, the golden light forming a shield-like surface in front of him.

The moment the shadowy tentacles touched it, they instantly melted away, like metal meeting the hottest fire in the world.

Unfortunately, this was only one aspect of the Corrupted Dryad’s attacks.

Seemingly seeing that this blow had failed to kill Aurelius, she opened her mouth wide.

"AAAgh!" A high-pitched, shrill cry came out of her lips, spreading throughout the room.

Aurelius’ ears nearly burst.

His movements stopped for a brief second.

Although he quickly recovered, the Corrupted Dryad had fully taken advantage of that small window of opportunity.

Her figure blurred and flashed a few feet away from him before she stretched out her hand.

Branch-like shadows emerged from it, thrusting forward like spears.