Chapter 375: Fighting a Monster - Part 2

“Hey, I’m not interested in listening to your nonsense. Stop laughing like that. You are getting on my nerves.”

Seraphina tightened her grip, and the golden chains flashed brightly. The monster’s laughter abruptly turned into a scream as its body began to crack under the pressure of the divine energy.

There were even more signs of corruption mixed in this time, making the atmosphere feel heavy.

Instead, it was gathering around the wounds caused by her magic, slowly consuming the divine energy and turning it into something darker.

“Wait! Don’t use any more divine energy!”

She shouted, immediately releasing some of the pressure.

Unfortunately, Lyra had already moved.

Taking advantage of the monster’s momentary distraction, she appeared behind it and drove her claws deep into its back.

Her magic surged through the creature’s body, disrupting the flow of corruption before it could consume any more of Seraphina’s power.

“Ugh, this thing really is disgusting!”

Lyra twisted her claws before pulling them out, sending another wave of black blood splattering across the ground.

The monster staggered, and Elena immediately seized the opportunity to drag it down into the shadows again.

This time, however, she did not attempt to restrain its entire body.

Instead, she focused on its head and upper torso, allowing the shadows to swallow them until only its limbs remained exposed.

“Now, Seraphina! Find the source of its consciousness. We need to know what we’re dealing with before we destroy it!”

Seraphina nodded and closed her eyes, allowing her divine perception to spread through the monster’s body.

She had dealt with corrupted beings before, but this creature was different. Its structure was too complicated, and its consciousness seemed to be scattered across multiple layers of corruption.

Moreover, it was not even the same corruption, but a different kind of disease altogether.

It was almost as if several different beings had been stitched together to create a single monster.

And yet, there was something else buried deep within it.

Something familiar, but distant at the same time.

“Wait…”

Seraphina’s eyes snapped open.

“There’s something inside it. I can feel a familiar presence, but I can’t tell who it belongs to.”

Elena frowned.

“Can you identify it?”

“No. It’s too deeply buried. But it’s definitely not the corruption itself.”

The monster suddenly stopped struggling.

For a moment, its remaining visible eye turned towards Seraphina, and the hatred in its gaze was replaced by something that looked disturbingly like recognition.

The power tried to reach towards Seraphina, and she panicked. She knew she needed to hold herself back, but her hand moved on its own, and before she knew it, she had destroyed the core in front of her.

As soon as the core broke, the monstrous body in front of her began to fall apart, and its shell cracked.

She could make out the familiar form of the unknown female who had spoken to Elena before.

“You… are not Kael. You all… tricked me…”

The female looked resentfully at Elena, almost as if it were all her fault… and, in a way, it was Elena’s fault since she had been pretending to be Kael.

But could you blame her?

Kael was still unconscious, and there was no telling what others could do to him. That was why she had taken up this mantle and pretended to be Kael. And she was not ashamed of her choice.

“I… am… not… going to… take it… I will… curse you… for this…”

The female, withering in pain, made her promise, her dark eyes looking directly at Elena as she said those words.

Anyone else would have shuddered in fear at that threat and considered what to do. But Elena was different, and she knew it was better for her not to say anything.

After all, this cursed child in front of her was going to vanish without a trace now that her life force had been exhausted. All her anger and resentment would be reduced to zero along with her.

“I am sorry, but you are the one who made the wrong choices. But don’t blame others for your failures.”

Elena whispered as she watched the last of her opponent’s remains fade away. She did not feel anything in her heart because she had seen a lot of death and darkness.

She allowed the monster to fade completely before she activated her magic. But there was not even a single trace of the monster’s power or presence left in the vicinity.

“Ah, looks like I lost that monster. This feels annoying but expected at the same time. Dealing with the corruption is never a good feeling.”

Elena complained, but she felt much more disheartened than she was letting on. Her plans had been foiled because of this little mishap.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. There is no point in worrying about anything. Learn to relax a little.”

Lyra leaned over her, her weight pressing Elena down. But it did not feel as irritating as she had thought it would.

Instead, she decided to let the demon queen do as she wished for now. Her mind was filled with other things right now anyway,

Like how to get more information about the situation.

‘Kael, when are you going to wake up and put an end to all this? Do you even realise how much trouble you are causing us by being asleep?’

Unfortunately, the person she wanted to ask this question to was not here, and all Lyra could do was let out a sigh of annoyance.

“Well, I will drop the barrier, and we can head back now.”

She told the others and dropped her domain. She immediately saw Leon and Iris heading back inside to help them out. But it was already too late by the time they returned. The monster had been defeated.

“What happened? Did you capture the monster?”

Leon asked, and Elena shook her head.

“Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to. It died without a single trace before I could get to it.”

Leon let out a deep sigh of regret but did not press further.