Chapter 49: Threat on Spirit and Mortal World

"Wait!" I shouted, using my Locksmith’s Eye to analyze the spirit’s core.

Something was very wrong.

The spirit wasn’t aggressive toward Arielle. In fact, its mana threads weren’t trying to destroy her core; they were trying to attach themselves to her to stabilize itself.

And then I saw it.

Deep inside the spirit’s core, wrapping around its ancient mana pathways like parasitic vines, were pitch-black threads.

The exact same black mana threads I saw back in the warehouse.

"It’s not trying to kill her!" I yelled to the Duke. "It’s corrupted! Something else is attacking it!"

The giant spirit let out a sorrowful, echoing cry. The cold voice that had spoken inside our heads.

’Save... my... core... The darkness... is coming...’

Silvester realized the whole picture in an instant.

The Ice Spirit hadn’t gone wild naturally. It had been infected by the black mana threads from an unknown entity invading this world. The spirit was trying to merge with Arielle—the descendant of its original contractor—to regain enough power to cleanse the corruption before it lost its sanity completely.

"Arielle!" I turned to the shivering girl. "The spirit isn’t your enemy! It’s asking for your help!"

Arielle looked up from her father’s chest, her eyes wide with fear and confusion. "M-my help?"

"It chose you because your mana matches your mother’s," I explained quickly. "If you accept its power, you can cleanse the dark threads! But you have to take control, not hide from it!"

Duke Voulstridge looked at me, then at his daughter. He kneeled down to her level.

"Arielle," he said softly. "Do you trust your magic? Do you trust him?"

Arielle looked at her trembling hands, then at her mother, and finally at me.

She wiped her tears and nodded bravely. "I... I want to save it."

Arielle stepped forward, stepping out from behind her parents.

The massive Ice Spirit lowered its colossal hand toward her. The black threads on its body squirmed violently, trying to resist the connection.

"Silvester! Help her open the path!" the Duke commanded, standing guard beside Silvia to block any stray ice shards.

"Got it!" I sprinted closer, ignoring the burning sensation in my lungs.

I aimed my ordinary lockpick at the spirit’s corrupted core.

Locksmith’s Eye!

I found the lock mechanism holding the black threads inside the spirit’s mana pathways.

Open!

A golden spark flew from my key, forcibly unlocking the corrupted mana nodes. The black threads loosened their grip for a fraction of a second.

"Now, Arielle! Form the contract!" I yelled.

Arielle reached out and touched the spirit’s giant icy finger.

Pure white and light-blue mana erupted from her small body. She didn’t push the spirit away this time, she welcomed its power into her chest.

"I won’t let you hurt anyone anymore!" Arielle shouted, her voice echoing with newfound authority.

The white mana wrapped around the spirit’s body like a cleansing tide. The black threads shrieked. A sound that vibrated directly inside our minds before burning away into black ash under Arielle’s pure ice magic.

The massive spirit shrank, dissolving into a brilliant sphere of blue light. The light gently drifted downward and sank directly into Arielle’s chest.

A powerful shockwave of frost swept across the plain, but instead of hurting us, it felt refreshingly cool.

Arielle fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Floating right beside her shoulder was a tiny, floating ice fairy with glowing blue wings.

The Ice Spirit had been tamed.

"Arielle!" Silvia rushed forward and wrapped her daughter in a tight hug.

Duke Voulstridge walked over, his eyes glistening as he looked at both of them.

I let out a long sigh of relief and fell backward onto the snow, completely drained.

"Fuck... I need a vacation," I muttered to the sky.

"Get up, kid," Duke Voulstridge said, standing over me with a small, rare smile on his face. "We’re going home."

I pulled out the spatial key, pointed it at the air behind us, and turned it.

Open.

The spatial gate back to the Voulstridge basement opened smoothly. We all stepped through, leaving the frozen world behind.

We returned to the estate basement.

It’s been a week since the incident and I am here again in the House Voulstridge resting. Lady Voulstridge insisted that I should take a rest and not go back to the guild yet.

I already informed Ignatius and Master Victoria about my stay through a letter. They must have been worried since they haven’t seen me in days.

Lady Silvia’s return was kept an absolute secret. If the high nobility or the Royal Court found out that the Duchess of Voulstridge had returned after ten years in an unknown spirit realm, it would cause political chaos.

For the next few days, I stayed in a high-class guest room at the estate to recover my mana.

Duke Voulstridge paid me an absurd amount of gold coins, along with full access to his private library whenever I wanted. More importantly, he kept his promise about my non-disclosure and safety.

Arielle came to visit my room on the third day, holding a large box of imported chocolate cakes.

"Here," she said, looking away with a slight blush. "Father said I should give this to you as a reward."

I took a slice immediately. "Thanks, kid. How’s the floating fairy?"

The little Ice Spirit popped out from her shoulder, making a cute squeaking sound.

"We’re friends now!" Arielle smiled brightly. "And... my mana doesn’t explode anymore!"

"That’s good. Just don’t teleport the chef to the attic again."

"I won’t!" she pouted.

After she left, I sat by the window, staring at the golden coin in my hand while thinking about those black mana threads.

The Ice Spirit was an ancient entity, yet it was almost corrupted by those parasitic black threads. The Ice Spirit is so powerful, yet the black threads overpowered it. Questions flooded my mind.

Where did they come from?

And why did they feel so familiar?

I remembered the warehouse incident, the black thread connected to the smuggler, and now the spirit.

I am certain of one thing. There was an unknown entity invading this kingdom from the shadows, and its presence was growing stronger, to the point that it’s already invading the spirit realm.