Rootless Soul

Facing the frenzied onslaught of the blood-colored skull, Frieren's defensive magic handled it with ease.

The scene fell into a stalemate.

Shane held his sword, hiding to the side as a safe spectator.

Facing the legendary mage who had once slain the Demon King, he truly couldn't fathom how a mere skull could possibly win.

Just as he was leisurely critiquing the battle, the skull, unable to break through, suddenly shifted its offensive and charged straight at him.

Holy crap!

Talk about fighting dirty!

In a panic, Shane drew his sword and slashed.

Crack-pop.

The longsword, wreathed in the power of thunder, whistled downward and struck the skull, shattering it into a mass of black mist. Silvery-white lightning crackled and surged within the roiling vapor, eliciting a shrill, miserable shriek.

Shane hissed; why did the sound coming from that black mist make him feel like it was actually in pain?

Before Shane could ponder further, the black mist coalesced back into a skull and rushed back to engage Frieren.

Frieren blocked the black mist's attacks with her defensive magic while unleashing tons of magical beams during the gaps in the enemy's assault.

The sky became a chaotic tapestry of black and white, back and forth, a truly lively spectacle.

Shane continued to watch leisurely.

But as he watched, he noticed something was wrong.

Compared to how he could directly scatter the black mist, Frieren, whose strength was a thousand times his own, was actually fighting the mist to a draw!

The black mist could not harm Frieren; it couldn't even break the defensive magic shield in front of her.

Yet, Frieren was equally unable to effectively damage the black mist; those precision magical attacks sank into the mist like stones into the sea, leaving no trace.

"This isn't right."

Shane's brain raced, and he instantly grasped the key.

Attack cancellation.

The black mist that the skull could retract and expand at will was its magic shield. Both of them were masters of magic, and their attacks were simply colliding with each other's shields, ultimately canceling each other out and rendering the efforts useless.

"Frieren, use Binding Magic! I'll cut it!"

Hearing Shane's shout, Frieren didn't doubt him for a second. She instantly shifted her magical formula, and a pale yellow binding chain lunged at the skull, rapidly coiling and tying it up.

[Binding Magic]

Using this magic restricts the target's movement.

Once bound, the skull lost its offensive capability. Shane seized the moment, his longsword wrapped in lightning, and struck it squarely on the head.

The force was just right.

Just like before, this attack shattered the skull into a mass of black mist. Silvery-white lightning crackled and surged within the roiling vapor, eliciting a shrill, miserable shriek.

It really worked!

"Magic can't hurt it, but lightning can!"

Frieren understood immediately. As soon as the black mist began to re-coalesce, she didn't waste half a second and cast [Binding Magic] again.

Shane's lightning-imbued sword followed right behind.

The two coordinated perfectly, leaving the black-mist skull screaming in agony.

After a few rounds, the once-massive skull grew smaller and smaller, eventually shrinking to the size of a normal human head.

"Final blow!"

Shane was high-spirited, swinging his lightning sword repeatedly and even smugly spinning it in a flourish.

Just as he thought the battle was over, an accident occurred.

He had accidentally activated another affix on his longsword:

[Flashbang (Blue-Rare)]: Swing the blade to erupt a powerful white light, blinding targets within range for 3s.

"Ah! My eyes!"

Following Shane's scream, both he and the skull were plunged into blindness.

The moment he lost his vision, Shane realized he had put this affix on the wrong weapon! Why put a [Flashbang] on a melee weapon? It would have been so much better on a throwing dart or a bow!

Well, now he didn't know if the skull had eyes or if it could even be blinded, but he knew he was done for.

Frieren's reaction was as fast as ever; the moment Shane was blinded, her defensive magic was already deployed.

But to her surprise, the skull was neither blinded nor did it launch an attack. After the flash occurred, the black mist on the skull was completely dispersed.

The entire skull transformed into a mass of gentle white mist, enveloping Shane.

"It hurts! Help me..."

"Mommy, save me, Mommy..."

"My legs, my legs, ah, help me..."

"Save me, someone save me..."

Shane could not see, but his ears caught the cries of countless people around him—men, women, the elderly, and children alike.

These voices were weeping, begging for help, filled with extreme agony.

At the same time, he heard that maddening voice that filled him with terror: "Hahaha, everything is for the final victory of humanity. Teacher, we are almost there! We are almost there!"

In an instant, he realized who those pained voices belonged to.

They were the people killed by that hooded figure, those who had been reduced to pools of blood and shattered limbs in failed experiments.

Shane's heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

If he hadn't been lucky enough, he might have been one of those pained voices himself right now.

He listened quietly to the fragmented words of those who had died so miserably:

These people had no idea what had happened; they only knew their bodies had been torn apart by magic and their souls dragged into the darkness. They did not belong to this world, and though they wanted to leave and go home, they were utterly unable to do so.

They had been trapped in a sunless magical cage, becoming ghosts wandering the mine tunnels.

Day by day, as they wandered, their souls were tainted by darkness and dominated by hatred, until they eventually lost their memories and forgot who they once were. They knew only how to obey a certain command and guard the secret deep underground.

Just a few days ago, the mine tunnels had collapsed and been destroyed, leaving them without a place to stay and nowhere to go.

The resentment accumulated over a thousand years erupted completely, leading them to possess the townspeople in a desperate attempt to use human hands to rebuild the mines.

Now that the resentment dominating them had been scattered, they had regained their individual memories.

They no longer wanted to return to the magical cage; they wanted to go home.

But a Rootless Soul could not reach the "Heaven" of soul-slumber, nor could they return to their homelands in a foreign world.

"Help us."

"Please, help us."

With countless pleas echoing in his ears, Shane slowly opened his eyes, his vision restored.

The black mist and skulls before him were long gone, leaving only a little girl shedding tears.

Her face was streaked with tears, her body, formed of white mist, flickering and thin, while the surrounding darkness waited impatiently to converge upon her once more.

She stared fixedly at Shane, then tilted her head and smiled.

Shane looked at the little girl before him, silent for a moment, before speaking in a soft voice:

"Entry Extraction."

In an instant, a pale blue speck of light was successfully pulled out, hovering before him.

The little girl's figure shattered, turning into magical particles that dissipated completely.

Obtained entry [Rootless Soul].