“Impossible!!!”

Dumo shouted in disbelief, his face twisted in fury.

But just as he cried out, his expression shifted into a satisfied smile. Clearly, An’s consciousness had already begun to influence his movements.

“Impossible…” Dumo seized back control of his soul body again, but he could feel An slowly eroding the stronghold of his consciousness.

“Why? My soul body is clearly far stronger than yours… I even have Andasonia’s help…”

The next moment, Dumo spoke in a completely different voice.

“So this is the inside of the Inverted Tree—what a massive tree. Called Andasonia? What a strange name.”

Now Dumo was truly panicking. He realized his sister had already started accessing the memories within his consciousness.

“This can’t be happening! I was supposed to devour you!”

“That’s why you shouldn’t split your attention while studying,” An still had the mood to joke. “You forgot something important: whether one consciousness can devour another isn’t determined by the strength of its soul body, but by the stability of its awareness.”

But that only confused Dumo further.

“Of course my awareness is more stable! I died later than you. You’re just a soul body driven by a lowly little wizard, and my master is—”

He cut himself off, clearly unwilling to reveal his master’s identity.

But even without Dumo saying it, An had already read it from within his consciousness.

“So your master is a Third Rank wizard. But Dumo, you’re wrong again. The stability of a consciousness isn’t completely dependent on the power of its master. What really matters is the preservation method. Clearly, this Inverted Tree Andasonia you’re bound to is far inferior to the preservation vessel used by my master.”

Dumo didn’t want to believe it, but he had no choice.

Because as time passed, his sister had already read more and more of his memories, while he couldn’t glimpse even a shred of her consciousness.

At this rate, he truly would be completely devoured.

“Master, Master, please save me!”

Dumo cried out to the unknown existence.

But after calling several times, no one answered.

“It’s Dumo’s fault. Dumo shouldn’t have acted on his own. But Dumo only wanted to recapture his sister’s soul body—I didn’t even lay a hand on that wizard! Please, for the sake of the century I’ve served you, save me!”

This time, the great tree finally reacted. Dozens of pale roots sprouted rapidly from its smooth, jade-like trunk and twisted around, aiming straight at the human face.

As the roots pierced into the face, a male and a female voice screamed out from within.

The man cried out in terror, begging for mercy, “No! Master, no!”

The woman laughed wildly through the pain, “Hahaha, looks like your master has given up on you. That’s fine—before you vanish, I’ll chew you up piece by piece!”

Those roots weren’t here to save anyone!

They were like sharp blades, shredding the two entangled soul bodies into pieces.

What was more terrifying than pain was watching oneself slowly fade away.

But An had no regrets.

When she chased Dumo’s bait into the underground, she already knew she might not return alive.

But she had to go—this might be her last chance to avenge her people.

If she let Dumo escape today for the sake of survival, she might never get another chance to kill a wraith with a Third Rank wizard as its master.

Though An firmly believed that Saul, who held the diary, would one day become a Third Rank wizard, she couldn’t be sure she’d survive until that day.

A wizard’s journey was never without danger.

She could vanish during any expedition, just like the other lost black pages.

So the bait Dumo laid was, in her eyes, far too tempting—a lure she couldn’t resist!

Even as she felt the Inverted Tree Andasonia’s power eroding her soul, she never gave up her devouring of Dumo.

Even if it meant death, obliteration—she would tear this bastard apart first!

“Sorry, Master…” After devouring the final piece of Dumo’s consciousness, An released her own defensive shell.

Just as Dumo’s voice was fading into silence and An’s awareness was collapsing under the tree’s immense power, a black blade shadow suddenly condensed out of the void. It formed a shadowy slash and sliced at the roots from outside the tree at lightning speed.

As the slash landed, the originally tenacious roots were severed in a single stroke.

Then, a transparent tendril reached into the tree’s core and yanked out the near-shattered soul body.

More roots extended from the vast trunk, so large their original form couldn’t be seen. They stabbed toward the one who had snatched away their prey like arrows.

Saul pulled back his hand, and the soul body gripped by the tendril instantly vanished.

He didn’t tangle with the roots.

Saul still remembered the diary’s warning—not to let any of those roots take even a fragment of him.

So he turned and ran—still in soul form—soaring freely through the void.

The severed roots quickly regenerated new tips, extending infinitely as they gave chase.

Saul darted through layers of the massive mystical space formed by a grand magic formation and returned to the underground.

The roots followed without hesitation.

But just as they surfaced through the soil, another black blade shadow fell, cleanly severing the leading root.

Then came a second slash, a third…

The fierce, aggressive roots were cut up like vegetables.

At last, the pursuing roots recoiled in fear and halted, no longer giving chase.

Saul turned back and dismissed the blade shadow.

This black blade shadow was the Shadow Soul Blade that Saul had inherited from Jassim.

The spell was incredibly mysterious—its power couldn’t be classified by the magic it contained.

Because the strength of the Shadow Soul Blade depended on the caster’s magic and mental power.

And it was far stronger than Saul had anticipated, offering overwhelming offensive capability.

Those pale roots, which had been nearly impossible to escape using other spells, were sliced apart like scallions under this spell.

Because the knowledge of the Shadow Soul Blade had been directly projected into Saul’s consciousness by Jassim, mastering it came easily.

It took far less time than learning a normal Third Rank spell.

So once Saul confirmed the knowledge was safe, he quickly mastered it.

If not for this spell, Saul might not have dared to risk saving An.

When Saul returned to the surface, Agu immediately shielded him and guided him back into his meditating body.

Before going to save An, Saul had returned to his room to pretend he was meditating.

Now, as he opened his eyes again, the first thing he did was check the diary in his mind.

Before entering the underground, the diary had warned him: if he was too slow, he’d be dragged back and eaten. That was why, after rescuing An, Saul hadn’t stopped for even a moment as he fled.

Now that he was back in his body, and the diary gave no new warnings and had closed again, it meant the crisis had passed.

“Master?”

“She’s back,” Saul said coldly.

Though he’d rescued An, that didn’t mean he’d forgiven her for acting on her own.

If she hadn’t been a black page, one that had greatly helped Saul study magic and stayed loyal in past battles—then even with the diary’s presence, Saul wouldn’t have risked himself for her.

Now that she was back, punishment was necessary.

Otherwise, the other soul bodies might think the price of disobedience was too low and make the same mistake.

[Master, I was wrong.]

An had just regained consciousness inside the diary and didn’t try to justify anything. She admitted her mistake sincerely.

But Saul ignored her.

“Morden’s still outside?”

“Yes, Master. A few official wizards from Bayton Academy came by to take charge of the corpses outside. They’re discussing how to transport them. Morden is guarding the door to make sure no one disturbs you.”

(End of Chapter)

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