Chapter 38: Releasing Evil

Shortly after the Dark Claws left the large house, the two demonized beings killed in the room quickly shriveled into ashes, revealing Neo beneath his bodysuit. While packing the ashes in a large bag, Neo kept pricking up his ears and sniffing the air. Confirming that there were no Dark Claws nearby, he quickly left the house and returned the same way.

By now, Neo was in his human form, light and agile. He often used the footprints left by the Dark Claws in the snow to conceal his movements as much as possible. The Dark Claws he killed along the way were thoroughly drained of their life force by Neo, who packed them up to take with him. To hide the secret of “life absorption,” it was worth taking risks and delaying time.

Returning to the original battlefield, Neo not only drained Tim, who resembled a gorilla, but also dealt with several wounded Dark Claws—those injured by Liz. They never expected Neo to return, and they were all cruelly killed.

“Kill me! Kill me!” Vladimir, whose core had been removed, was not yet dead. His brain core provided energy—a special privilege given by the demons to their favored puppets, though it could also be seen as a form of torture.

From Vladimir’s eyes, Neo could tell that, as his demonic influence weakened, the remaining self in his consciousness had taken control.

While continuing to use “life absorption” on Vladimir’s body, Neo also applied the Touch of Life to his head. As expected, despite Vladimir’s body severely shrinking and withering, his self seemed to recover further. Of course, with his body so damaged, his consciousness couldn’t last long.

“Vladimir, open your heart to me. Let me see what you see and learn more secrets about the dark forces. I swear by my faith that I will avenge you and your brothers from the Wild Clan who died at the hands of the demons.”

Vladimir nodded weakly. “Th-thank you!”

In truth, Neo was merely using the shaman’s “spiritual resonance” to establish a mental bridge with Vladimir’s consciousness. It was Nancy who was actually responsible for gathering the information—her efficiency was 100,000 times that of Neo’s, and she didn’t have to worry about external memory surges harming her own consciousness.

“From the world, and ultimately returning to its embrace—your body will merge with the earth, and your soul will return to nature. Carrying the will of nature, experiencing its various aspects, and bringing back insights from the heart. One journey of life ends here, while another begins to take shape…” The shaman was a spiritual leader, and conducting rituals was an important part of daily life. Although it was Neo’s first time leading a death ritual, his devotion to faith made him calm and composed. He spoke without effort, and his words naturally became prayers.

A flying knife pierced Vladimir’s jaw and entered his skull. Vladimir died. Neo could feel his life vanish completely as his soul left. His last expression was peaceful, with a faint joy, his gaze distant yet eager, as if he were seeing someone or something familiar. This image was etched into Neo’s memory.

“Vladimir is dead!?” By the well, Fad turned to look in Vladimir’s direction. Equally aware of this was Eirith, the necromancer who had originally established Vladimir’s brain core supply system.
The battle between the Red and Blue Ghosts had not yet ended.
After Black Knight Fad led his followers into the fight, Blue Ghost leader Dorgi had already considered retreating. However, Blue Ghost reinforcements arrived just in time—a separate raiding party of over 1,200 Stonebeast creatures. Moreover, Fad, who Dorgi feared the most, left the battlefield, restoring Dorgi’s confidence and the Blue Ghosts’ courage. They regained control of the battle, surrounding the Dark Hand minions in large numbers and causing significant casualties among them.
Although Eirith kept casting spells, the Blue Ghosts had two priests, also spellcasters. Though their spells were not as vicious or powerful as his, they still severely weakened his own magic. This made Eirith angry and anxious. He knew well Fad’s tendency to focus on outcomes rather than processes—no amount of excuses could fully justify failure.
Just then, Vladimir died.
“Who freed Vladimir’s soul?” This question quickly filled Eirith with speculation. A vague premonition, along with the desire to find a way to calm Fad’s anger, drove him to lead the four Undead Guards and Soul Armors who hadn’t fought yet. Spewing thick black smoke, he rushed to Vladimir’s death site first.
“The scent of natural energy…” Eirith took out a handful of black-gray powder from his leather bag, drew spell patterns in the air that the wind couldn’t disperse, and shook his hand sharply. The powder turned into swirling black smoke, which swam like countless worms, depicting in the void the scene of theNeo gang freeing Vladimir.
“Hehe!” Eirith looked pleased. Just as he was about to continue casting spells, he paused, then released Blood Hell Flowers.
A few minutes later, Fad arrived with a gloomy expression. At a glance, he saw the three-dimensional image formed by the magical smoke and immediately realized what had happened.
“My lord, I was inadequate. Please use your tracking skills,” Eirith said respectfully.
“Cunning bastard!” Fad gritted his teeth. His hand glowed, and a dark flag unfurled in the void.
As the flag gathered all the Dark Hand minions, including those fighting the Blue Ghosts at the front lines and William, who was watching from by the well, they rushed toward it. Before leaving, William naturally didn’t forget to inform his colleagues below in the well.
At the bottom of the well, in a dark, narrow, slippery environment with icy and rapid currents, a fierce battle was underway.
Gordon was still missing. Imorton and the others suspected he had been injured and swept away by the strong currents. But they were too busy to worry about Gordon’s fate.
Ah…
Another Mutant died in a scream. The agonizing sound sent chills down everyone’s spine, including Imorton. As members of the darkness who associated with evil and demons, they had seen many evil things, but such a terrifyingly evil existence like this was something they had never encountered before.

Firstly, this guy seems to have an immortal body. In this narrow space, it’s extremely difficult to evade him. Imorton and the othermagic changers andmagic changerss have launched various attacks using dark evil energy at him, and these attacks do have an effect—making him scream in pain as flesh and blood fly everywhere. Yet he’s not only tough but also recovers at an insane speed. Even after being torn to shreds, he still doesn’t die and keeps attacking. Three members were successfully possessed by him by taking advantage of this situation.

Yes, possession—is one of this guy’s evil abilities. He uses flesh as nourishment to reproduce himself and heal his wounds. Imorton and the others watched helplessly as several members gradually withered away amidst screams, with countless hook-like black thorns bursting out of their bodies, leading to a horrible death.

Another evil ability of this monster is that its limbs have no distinct front or back, and they can grow longer or shorter. Or rather, its limbs are sometimes just meant to deceive people. In reality, whenever needed, any part of its body can grow new limbs. Trying to deal with it using common sense will only lead to disaster.

Additionally, another of this monster’s evil skills is singing—well, not really singing, but rather some kind of humming and groaning, somewhat similar to a woman’s moans, but a hundred times more intense. It’s extremely disturbing, and even covering one’s ears doesn’t help; it makes it impossible to concentrate. A fewdemon cultivators even lost control of themselves and willingly sacrificed themselves, only to be cruelly eaten by this guy.

Its face is also mind-bending—constantly twisting and changing, emitting a faint light that makes it stand out even in darkness. It appears pitiful, terrifying, frenzied, or deeply mysterious… With countless faces, each with its own charm, it draws people’s gaze irresistibly, affecting their emotions unconsciously. Extreme stimuli like pain are needed to awaken them, provided they haven’t been deeply bewitched.

“Damn it! Fight to the end! Everyone, follow my orders—release all your combat energy at once and blow this bastard to pieces!”

Under Imorton’s leadership, the dark evil blades slashed through the water-filled passage. The monster had nowhere to hide and roared in agony as countless branches broke off. The Dark Claws members also suffered—there was no way for them to stand side by side in the narrow passage. Those at the front took more hits from the surrounding attacks, and the rushing water affected them too, even risking them being swept deeper into the passage, which was extremely dangerous.

“Do it again!” Seeing the results, Imorton seized the opportunity. The Dark Claws members also fought desperately as the combined blasts of dark evil blades surged forward, cutting through rocks and pushing back the turbulent water, striking the monster. Countless cutting sounds merged into one deafening roar, and finally, the monster shattered into countless fragments, swept downstream by the rushing water with even greater force.

“Hold on tight!” Imorton roared as he swung his claw again, digging deeper into the rock wall.

“Ah!” An injuredmagic changers was swept downstream by the current. In panic, he grabbed hold of anothermagic changers, and the two were carried away together.

“Ah…” Another scream echoed, this time closer to Imorton. Imorton turned to look clearly and saw one of the monster’s giant claws tearing through the chest and abdomen of amagic changers. The arm connected to the claw coiled back like a snake, merging with the claw to form a tight grip. With a crunching sound, countless ribs of themagic changers were broken; blood gushed from his mouth as he lost grip and was swept away by the current.

He had barely escaped death, but before he could catch his breath, he heard thuds from deep within the water channel—seemingly some large, multi-legged creature moving against the walls.

“Hurry, get out of here!” Imorton shouted hoarsely, struggling against the current as he climbed toward the light shining from above the well. The water was too fast; he could hardly use his feet, so he relied solely on his arms. Themagic changers andmagic changersers behind him also knew the monster was likely still alive and would gather again downstream and return.

“Damn it, hurry up!” All of Imorton’s dark minions struggled to climb forward.

Thud, thud, thud! The sounds grew faster and louder. That eerie moaning sound appeared once more, and countless black thorns shot out like spider silk, entangling the lastmagic changerser.

“Ah!” The torture of being pinched and skinned left themagic changerser’s flesh torn apart; his body was completely covered in wounds. With the current washing over him, the pain was unbearable.

Sssss! Anothermagic changers was entangled. His face contorted in agony as he clung desperately to the rocks, but it seemed as if an immense force was pulling him backward. His grip weakened gradually, and with a desperate scream, his hands loosened.

“Hurry! Hurry! We must hurry!” Imorton used every ounce of his strength, but the light ahead still seemed so far away. “Hurry!” With bloodshot eyes, he roared wildly. His arms, filled with energy, were covered in blood, yet he felt no pain.

“Ah!” Anothermagic changerser was caught. In desperation, he resolved to die with them. Letting go, he prepared to explode. Boom! A violent explosion sent a powerful shockwave upward, pushing water back more than ten meters.

However, the explosion only temporarily stopped the monster. A few seconds later, the thudding footsteps returned…

In the end, only Imorton made it into the vertical shaft. The monster reached the mouth of the shaft. With the light, he saw the monster’s true form—a hybrid of an octopus and a spider. Its body resembled layers of nets, entangling all the captured dark minions into bundles that gradually became fertilizer.

Sssssss! With sounds like arrows, wire-like black thorns shot upward. Imorton climbed with all his might, but the thorns failed to stop him. The longest thorn was less than 30 centimeters from his feet—utterly perilous.

Aaaah…

The monster tried several times to climb up, but its massive size and the extremely hard, slippery walls prevented it from succeeding. It could only roar below. After two roars, its voice turned into the whimpers of a crying girl. Imorton looked down and saw a pale girl’s face in the darkness, crying heartbreakingly, making one want to rescue and comfort her.

“Tch! Damn you!” Imorton spat viciously downward, then rushed upward without looking back.
It was a highly ironic scene—the Dark Handlers played the role of those who had endured hardships yet remained committed to light, while the monster behind him was hard to classify…
That monster was “Polyface,” a vile creature created by Neo based on his instincts. When it pretended to be Neo and entered the sewers, it had already undergone two enhancements. The first time was when it took advantage of Neo and Valentina being busy to scout the entire castle, even making a detour to the graveyard, gathering more unwilling souls and devouring the spirits of many dead humans and beasts. The second time was in the wine cellar, where Neo poured into it the excess power absorbed from the Dark Handlers, especially those evil elements stripped away, and to suppress this power, he injected life force equivalent to two uses of the Life Wave, also influenced by the power of the Tree of Creation.
With life force on one side and death force on the other, unable to live nor die, “Polyface” became further distorted under extreme pressure, resulting in its current state. Later, fierce battles intensified its evil nature, endowing it with various terrifying abilities.
While “Polyface” dominated the sewers, its master Neo was sneaking toward an “exit.” The Red Ghosts were finished; the Blue Ghosts had arrived, and their patrol team had begun taking control of Wattsburg, preventing Neo from rushing directly to the suitable well for escape.
The cold was rampant; the blue sky had turned gray, and the sun in the sky seemed weak, offering no warmth at all. Neo threw away his damp underwear and put on his leather jacket to lure enemies, leaving him in just tight clothes. From a thermal perspective, it was hardly any better than being naked. He could clearly feel his body heat draining away, his limbs stiffening. Even though he kept moving, the effect was limited. To his frustration, a squad of Blue Ghosts stopped near the road, and a slender-hued hound seemed to have noticed something and was peeking in their direction.
Neo faced a choice: wait passively for the Blue Ghosts to leave or fight his way through. He made his decision quickly—fight!
A flash of cold light, and a flying knife shot out, striking the hound’s head. The immense force lifted its body, sending it flying several meters before it crashed to the ground, dying before it could even bark.
The Blue Ghost with the hound instinctively looked to see what had happened. By the time he realized, Neo’s sword was already there, severing head from body with a glint of the blade.
Another Blue Ghost nearby had just started to shout when he raised his battle axe, but before it could fall, Neo’s right hand, glowing with black light, grabbed its neck. Tightening and tearing, blood, flesh, trachea, and esophagus were ripped away. A fist-sized blood hole appeared on the Blue Ghost’s neck. Throwing down his weapon and covering his neck with both hands, the Blue Ghost tried to say something, but it was already a luxury he couldn’t afford.

The other Blue Ghosts were both shocked and enraged by what they saw, raising their weapons to attack. One of them picked up a horn around his neck, ready to blow, but another of Neo’s throwing knives arrived. The Blue Ghost dodged frantically, avoiding vital spots, but was pierced in the cheek, causing him to lose air and be unable to blow the horn for now.

As the first axe swung down, Neo rushed forward, dodging the blade but taking a severe hit to his shoulder from the axe handle. Yet the Blue Ghost who swung the axe paid with his life—Neo’s sword pierced through its arm, under its armpit, into its chest, passing through its right lung and splitting its heart.

With a sudden lunge forward, Neo pulled his steel sword free. A spear grazed his head, leaving a wound about an inch long above his temple, spewing blood. But Neo’s right claw had already pierced straight into the heart of the spear-wielding Blue Ghost. He knocked the sword away and deflected a flying axe with his blade, but was then hit by an arrow in his right chest. Pulling his right hand free, he threw the heart at a Blue Ghost’s face, leaped into the air, and collided heavily with another Blue Ghost charging at him. He wrapped his left arm around its head and neck, leaned forward, twisted, and sliced across its throat, cutting it in half.

As soon as he landed, another Blue Ghost swung its machete at him. He narrowly dodged it and, at the cost of taking a punch, pulled out the arrow from his right chest and thrust it into the other Blue Ghost’s left eye. As another arrow struck him, his left steel sword slipped from his hand and sank into the head of the archer, with the tip emerging from the back…

All of these moves were the most direct and concise—using injury to exchange for death. Every Blue Ghost in the squad was killed upon first contact. A squad of 11 members was wiped out in less than a minute. Neo drew his sword, shook it off, took a deep breath, cast a life-restoring spell on himself, and strode toward his target. Behind him, the revived Death Vines began to work again. A faint green glow surrounded Neo. Though his wounds healed more slowly than when he was in werewolf form, the bleeding stopped within seconds, and after another dozen seconds, his wounds were almost as healed as those of an ordinary person after a dozen days of recovery.

Neo fled, while Fadde used dark magic to summon a Hellhound spirit wrapped in black smoke. This creature could track its source through the lingering energy. After absorbing the remaining natural energy in the air and determining the direction, it headed straight for Neo’s location.

“Follow me! Tear apart any enemy who dares to stand in our way!” Fadde shouted, leading his followers closely behind the Hellhound spirit in pursuit.

Meanwhile, the battle between the Blue Ghosts, Red Ghosts, and their dark minions was coming to an end. Seeing Fadde and his men charging wildly, thinking they were targeting them, Doge and another Blue Ghost leader bit their teeth and called upon the strongest warriors above the rank of centurion to take the lead and confront them head-on.

“Foolish!” Fad’s strength was even greater than that of a Level 15 Grand Knight. The ‘Chaotic Blade Slash’ unleashed by his Dark Rune Spear created a meat grinder-like scene in front of him, with over a hundred sharp blades at work. His dark minions also went all out, swinging their Dark Evil Blade Slashes. In no time, Blue Ghost’s body was torn to pieces, with corpses piling up as a path of blood was carved out.

In the distance, dark evil energy surged into the sky and rushed toward them at high speed. Nio sensed it, glanced in that direction, and without hesitation, jumped into the well. He realized that his dark minions had other ways of tracking him, and escaping this time would likely not be easy.