Free Web NovelChapter 258: Chapter 204: The Cost of Power (Part 2)
The Demon, which was ravenously chewing on the Flaming Sun Flying Armor, seemed to have heard Han Ning’s telepathic message. It violently twisted its body around, staring coldly at him with a pair of terrifying, slowly spinning, vortex-like eyes as incomprehensible, chaotic whispers spilled from its mouth.
Below, Fei Lin just stared blankly at Han Ning, her pupils flickering with purple flames, like a marionette on strings.
Han Ning’s heart sank at the sight.
He had already stopped activating his Spiritual Surge Talent the moment Fei Lin’s Demon phantom appeared.
Left with no other choice, he could only contact the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm inside Fei Lin’s body:
"All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, stop the Demonization! Return to my body."
"Mee... goo..."
However... the only response he received was a stream of pain and fear from the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm.
It told Han Ning that it was shackled by an invisible force, unable to move, and that the Energy within its body was rapidly draining away!
’...To obtain Extraordinary power, one must pay an enormous price.’
Han Ning took a deep breath, continuously reaching out to Fei Lin with his Spiritual Power in an attempt to awaken her consciousness.
The fact that the Demon phantom didn’t attack him meant Fei Lin still possessed a shred of sanity.
"Fei Lin, wake up! Don’t let evil thoughts corrupt your mind!"
Beyond the overwhelming tension and anxiety, Han Ning was also filled with self-blame and guilt.
If he hadn’t been so focused on defeating Fei Lie, Fei Lin wouldn’t have ended up in this state.
"Hom, Hom! Are you there? Save Fei Lin!"
The moment Han Ning shouted both Hom’s and Fei Lin’s names, two consciousnesses in the void seemed to stir inexplicably.
The next second, he saw the Demon’s ethereal body begin to violently shake and distort.
ROAR!!
The feeding Demon noticed the abnormality with its own body and began to struggle against its dissipation, letting out a series of soul-shaking roars.
Below, the struggle in Fei Lin’s eyes grew increasingly obvious.
With a grim expression, Han Ning channeled all the Spiritual Power he could muster, pouring it into the Star that represented Fei Lin in the Spiritual World, attempting to awaken her will.
WHOOSH~
In a daze, his vision began to shift.
He was back in that same pitch-black hall, shrouded in black mist.
The same ugly, pot-bellied middle-aged man from before was there again, standing right in front of him. He was brandishing a sharp, slender, silvery-white dagger and spewing a constant stream of curses.
But this time, Hom’s voice was gone.
Han Ning took a deep breath and looked down at his own body.
His Spiritual Power had improved slightly since last time, making him a bit stronger.
Meanwhile, the dense, dark mist swirling around the ugly middle-aged man was also much thicker than before.
’Now... I’m supposed to defeat you.’
He muttered to himself as fine Dragon Scales crept across the backs of his hands, his human eyes slowly transforming into the terrifying vertical pupils of a Giant Dragon.
Flame and Dragon Type bloodline powers were quite effective against this kind of special Darkness- and Undead-aligned monster. Among the Soul Beasts he had contracted, only Egg Pancake was a good fit for the job.
At that same moment, the ugly middle-aged man spotted the newly appeared Han Ning. Endless malice erupted from his vicious, triangular eyes as he brandished the dagger and charged.
With a flap of his wings, Han Ning charged forward to meet him.
...
An unknown amount of time passed.
Standing rigidly atop the Puppet Soul Beast, Han Ning suddenly erupted into a violent coughing fit.
With each wracking cough, dark blood began to pour from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
His perspective shifted, the scene changing from the pitch-black hall back to the night sky shrouded in white mist.
"Cough, cough..."
After a few harsh coughs, spitting a mouthful of acrid blood into the night sky, Han Ning felt an intense, unending pain, as if an electric drill were boring through his skull. A loud buzzing, like a swarm of bees, filled his ears.
The pain, agonizing enough to cause a lesser man to pass out, ironically served to clear his head slightly.
’So close... I almost died...’
Wiping the blood from his face, his eyes were filled with lingering fear.
Back in that Mysterious Space, he had expended nearly all of his Spiritual Power to barely manage to defeat the ugly middle-aged man.
Ahead, the towering Demon phantom had finally vanished.
The unnatural night that had enveloped the academy vanished without a trace along with the Demon.
He turned his head and rubbed his eyes, vision blurred by bloody tears. He could faintly make out Fei Lin’s body, lying still on the ground below.
Gradually, his hearing returned.
A cacophony of sounds flooded his ears.
The battle was still going on.
Together, Yin Yi and Egg Pancake were hunting down Fei Lie’s three remaining Extraordinary Level Soul Beasts with overwhelming force. freēwebnovel.com
Meanwhile, Fei Lie’s last remaining War General Level Soul Beast was already a corpse on the ground, covered in blast marks.
Like a valkyrie of the night, Yin Yi’s human-sized wooden body moved with lightning speed. Gusts of air blasted from four curved leaves as she wielded her brilliant Cyan Light Twin Swords, unleashing a relentless barrage of sword flashes and Flower Thorns that overwhelmed a hastily fleeing Earth-Split Centipede.
’Well done! Just as I’d expect from Yin Yi!’ Han Ning praised her in his thoughts.
In another direction, the dormitory area had been transformed into a sea of fire. Surging waves of flame churned in the sky above the buildings.
Below, a dense swarm of cyan moths charged endlessly into the sea of fire—quite literally like moths to a flame—to counter the fiery bombardment of the Red Centipede Race’s swarm.
Deafening roars from Soul Beasts rose and fell in waves.
Aketu, who had arrived at some unknown point with a large number of Insect Servants and swarms from the Green Moth Tribe, was fighting alongside Nia and the other academy survivors, struggling to hold off an attack from two other Insect Masters and their swarms.
A casual sweep of his gaze revealed familiar faces beneath the burning dormitory—their eyes were shut tight, their expressions contorted in pain.
A pang of anguish shot through his heart, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
’I have to end this battle as quickly as possible!’
Snapping his eyes open, Han Ning commanded the puppet Gale Butterfly beneath him to fly over to Fei Lin.
The Biological Armor had already receded from Fei Lin’s body. A tear track, not yet evaporated, still glistened on her pale, delicate cheek.
"You’ve been through a lot."
He gathered Fei Lin into his arms, a mix of self-reproach and heartache washing over him as he felt the faint life force within her.
Just then, the skin on Fei Lin’s arm twitched, and a slender little silkworm emerged. It gave him a listless wiggle.
"Quick, come inside."
Han Ning hurriedly picked up the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm and let it burrow into his body.
Then, without a moment’s delay, he recalled Fei Lin into his Soul Beast Space and commanded the Puppet Soul Beast to fly over to the Red Flame Earth Dragon.
After Yin Yi defeated the Soul Beast, she hadn’t had time to deal with the corpse before rushing off to help Egg Pancake.
He had come here because the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm desperately needed to replenish its Blood Qi.
Only after the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm was fed could its amplification ability be used to properly boost Yin Yi and Egg Pancake, turning the tide of the battle.
Otherwise, in his current half-crippled state with his Spiritual Power all but exhausted, he would be of little use.
Smelling the flesh and blood, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm extended several shriveled tendrils from Han Ning’s fingertip and plunged them violently into the Red Flame Earth Dragon’s body.
The Red Flame Earth Dragon was an insect-type Soul Beast shaped like a worm. Despite ’Dragon’ being in its name, it was essentially an earthworm in appearance.
Its massive, 30-plus-meter-long body contained abundant Fire Type Energy and Blood Qi.
Like a traveler in the desert who hadn’t had a drink in days, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm began to frantically suck the Blood Qi from the Red Flame Earth Dragon’s body.
In no time at all, almost half of the Red Flame Earth Dragon’s body was shriveled and dry.
The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, on the other hand, had returned to its formerly chubby state, its vigor fully restored.
"Go on, little one. Help Yin Yi and the others finish their battle."
KOO!
The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm gave a spirited cry, emerged from Han Ning’s body once more, and transformed into the shape of a small Egg Pancake. Then, with all its might, it plunged into Egg Pancake’s body.
Egg Pancake, who was in the middle of fighting a Sky-Breaking Bee, felt a familiar aura rapidly approaching from behind. A moment later, it felt a warmth spread from its rear as a surging Qi and Blood Power erupted from within, instantly filling it with immense Power.
SKREEE!!
The fire in its eyes blazed. A bewitching crimson flame suddenly pulsed outwards, and the intensity of its Gravity Field jumped a level, causing the fast-moving Sky-Breaking Bee to freeze in place.
Immediately after, a breath attack reeking of destruction instantly engulfed it.
