Chapter 528: Unexpected Pleasant Surprise

Chapter 528: An Unexpected Blessing

Elizabeth handed the soul vessel to Levi.

Levi hesitated to take it—he did not wish for Elizabeth to pay such a heavy price for Monise.

Saving Monise was entirely out of respect for Gusewei.

Otherwise, if one desired power and also sought to kill the woman Gusewei favored...

Levi would never have bothered to save her.

Elizabeth was different; from beginning to end, she had stood firmly on Levi’s side, supporting him unconditionally.

Though part of that loyalty stemmed from her being a legendary lich, in Levi’s eyes, Elizabeth was undoubtedly more important than Monise.

Gusewei glanced at Levi but said nothing.

She understood well enough how Levi felt about Monise.

Had Monise fully succumbed to corruption yesterday, Levi would have been the first to strike.

He held no affection for her whatsoever.

Elizabeth turned and passed the gem-encrusted soul vessel to Gusewei.

With great inner turmoil, Gusewei accepted it and sincerely said, “Thank you.”

A pang of guilt stirred within her—how could she have doubted Elizabeth, such a noble spirit, just yesterday?

Elizabeth smiled faintly without reply.

Gusewei added, “I will return a better soul vessel to you.”

She looked toward Levi and asked, “What do we do now?”

At this point, Levi could only accept what had come to pass.

Elizabeth willingly gave up the gemmed soul vessel, which Gusewei accepted, even promising repayment.

Any further words from Levi would be superfluous.

He wasn’t the type to dwell on sentimentality.

Everyone had their own choices, and he wouldn’t interfere excessively.

Levi said, “Leave the rest to me.”

He took both the soul vial and the gemmed soul vessel from Gusewei.

The gemmed soul vessel inherently possessed the ability to protect souls and link with external bodies—

this was the most basic function of a lich's soul vessel.

Although Elizabeth was not a lich herself, the soul vessel she prepared for herself retained all its functions intact.

This spared Levi much trouble.

All he needed to do was transfer Monise’s soul directly into the vessel.

Then, the three made their way into the prison cell.

Levi sliced open Monise’s body and placed the soul vessel inside her.

Infusing a thread of magical energy to activate the vessel, he guided Monise’s soul force through the engraved formation within the soul vessel to establish a connection with her body.

Separated by the protective layer of the soul vessel, Levi needn't worry about Monise’s soul being eroded by the demonic seed’s power.

In this sense, liches seemed naturally immune to parasitic possession by demonic seeds.

However, the Demon God appeared to have no interest in undead either.

Demonic seeds required living hosts—be they human, animal, or plant.

Life itself was the primary criterion for demonic infestation.

Undead clearly fell far outside the Demon God’s developmental ideals.

Once these steps were completed, Monise’s body trembled slightly, her eyelids fluttered, then slowly opened.

She gazed upon the three figures standing beside the bed—Levi, Monise, and Elizabeth.

Her red eyes revealed clarity.

Under the influence of the demonic transformation, Monise’s pupils had turned crimson.

Though removing the corrupted portion of her soul couldn’t reverse the physical changes already wrought, at least her mind remained lucid.

Levi stepped back and said, “That’s enough. But remember—you must replenish your magic energy regularly to keep the soul vessel functioning properly.”

Monise wasn’t a mage; her strength lay in martial energy rather than arcane arts.

Unable to sustain the soul vessel using her own powers, she would require external sources of magical energy.

Gusewei approached and applied ointment to Monise’s wounds to accelerate natural healing.

Truthfully, there was no real need for salve.

After undergoing demonic transformation, Monise’s body already possessed formidable regenerative capabilities.

Enhanced self-healing seemed to be a common trait among those transformed by demonic forces.

Sitting upright, Monise looked coldly at Levi and said simply, “Thank you.”

Levi chuckled lightly. “If you want to thank anyone, thank Gusewei.”

Monise said nothing, merely staring silently at him.

Gusewei embraced Monise tightly. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”

Monise gently pushed her away. “My lord, perhaps you shouldn’t get too close to me. Even though I can maintain my sanity, my body has been corrupted—I might inadvertently affect you.”

Gusewei laughed softly. “I’m not afraid.”

Yet Monise preferred to avoid prolonged contact with Gusewei.

Glancing down at her hands, she saw her once-smooth, carefully shaped fingernails—perfect for gripping a sword—had become long, sharp claws like those of some monstrous beast.

Monise’s level of demonic transformation was still relatively mild.

In later stages of corruption, even one’s original species form became unrecognizable.

Suddenly, Monise’s expression changed drastically as she lifted her head sharply.

“They’re coming—many corrupted ones are approaching!”

Upon hearing this, both Levi and Gusewei were startled.

Frowning, Levi asked, “What do you mean?”

Monise replied, “I can feel it—numerous corrupted beings are drawing near.”

“This place? Freyred City?” Levi questioned.

Monise shook her head. “No—it’s the corrupted individuals already within the city who are heading toward the Ice Jade Palace.”

Boom!

Without warning, a tremendous crash echoed from outside.

Liwei unleashed his spiritual perception at the very first instant.

He sensed a multitude of demonized entities materializing within the Ice Jade Palace.

Most of them had already progressed to the mid or even late stages of demonization.

Under the onslaught of the demonized, the guards and Valkyries of the Ice Jade Palace were in full retreat.

They were simply no match for professionals who had undergone demonization.

Liwei found it exceedingly strange; how had so many human demonized entities suddenly emerged?

A thought stirred in his mind: could they be the human rebel army whom Aguru had previously implanted with demon seeds?

Exactly how many people made up the rebel army was something even its own members could not articulate clearly.

Furthermore, Aguru had been instantly killed by Liwei in a single strike. Aside from Aguru himself, it was likely no one knew just how many demon seeds he had sown.

Turning on his heel, Liwei strode outward, prepared to deal with the demonized that had appeared within the Ice Jade Palace.

He also found it somewhat peculiar; why had these demonized entities suddenly launched an assault on the Ice Jade Palace?

Could there be something here that drew them?

Elizabeth fell into step behind Liwei.

Guthrie also prepared to go out and face the demonized.

Monice suddenly called out to the turning Guthrie, saying, "I want to fight as well."

Guthrie paused, casting a backward glance at Monice, seemingly in hesitation.

After a moment's wavering, she chose to trust Monice.

"Mm, alright."

Guthrie cast a spell, dispelling the sealing technique upon Monice's body.

As Monice felt power surging back into her frame, the crimson glow in her eyes deepened significantly.

Clang, clang, clang!

A guard brought over Monice's battle armor; Monice donned the armor and took up her weapon.

Following behind Guthrie, she stepped out of the cage.

She glanced at her hands, which could no longer fit into her original metal gauntlets.

She could not even grip her sword properly.

So she simply strapped the sword to her back, choosing to fight barehanded.

She could feel that the sharpness and sturdiness of her ten fingers were in no way inferior to metal weapons.

These were weapons belonging to a demonized entity.

Bang! Crackle and pop!

A demonized entity was struck by Liwei's fireball, instantly ignited, and reduced to ashes in a mere dozen seconds.

Sensing the aura behind him, Liwei cast a glance over his shoulder.

Seeing Monice appear, he felt a touch of surprise.

Upon her arrival, Monice immediately intercepted a demonized entity charging toward Guthrie.

Rip!

At the very first encounter, the demonized entity was torn in two by Monice.

Blood and viscera scattered across the ground.

Incredibly bloody.

The demonic patterns on Monice's face seemed to grow more profound.

Liwei noticed that after Monice killed the demonized entity, the demonic energy upon her body seemed to grow stronger.

He observed that she still maintained her sanity and composure, though her combat style had become brutal and unrestrained, tearing apart the enemies' bodies and ripping off their limbs at every turn.

Following her demonization, Monice's strength had already reached the peak of the sixth rank.

These ordinary demonized professionals were simply no match for her.

Before long, the demonized entities attacking the Ice Jade Palace were slaughtered to the last.

Liwei had originally wanted to leave one alive to interrogate for information, but all the demonized had lost their minds, rendering speech impossible.

Thus, he simply killed them all.

After the slaughter, Liwei deliberately burned all the corpses to ashes.

This was to prevent any residual power of the demon seeds.

The wounded Valkyries and guards were also isolated separately for treatment.

Monice stood at the grand entrance of the Ice Jade Palace, motionless, like a statue erected in the ice and snow.

Beneath her feet was a pool of blood, entirely composed of the lifeblood of the enemies she had slain.

Guthrie approached her with some anxiety, "Monice, are you alright?"

Monice replied coldly, "I am fine, very well."

Liwei walked over, casting a look at her.

As expected, it had not been an illusion earlier.

After Monice killed the demonized entities, she had absorbed the demonic energy from their bodies.

The degree of her demonization had deepened.

Monice's face was now almost entirely covered by black demonic patterns, her eyes blood-red.

Her forearms were almost completely demonized, and the portions below her calves had also undergone demonization.

Yet she still appeared remarkably lucid.

Monice turned her head toward Liwei and said expressionlessly, "I felt a calling."

"A calling?"

Liwei asked, furrowing his brows.

Monice said, "Those demonized entities only came to the Ice Jade Palace because they answered a calling."

"Who is calling you?" Liwei asked.

Monice shook her head and said, "I do not know."

She lifted her gaze to the sky, stating with uncertainty, "It seems to come from the sky, yet it also seems to come from all directions."

Liwei pondered for a moment, conjecturing that the "calling" Monice spoke of might be the very culprit driving the demonized to slaughter.

If so, the source of the calling was highly likely to be the Demon God.

Monice said the calling came from the sky.

That made it very easy to understand, for after all, the Demon God resided beyond the Astral Realm.

Li Wei gazed at Monis, and if she could remain conscious, there might be hope of unraveling the mystery of the demon seeds.

Monis looked down at the city of Furleid below, its lights scattered like stars across the mountainside.

She said, "I can feel it... there are many demon seeds down there..."

At her words, Li Wei's eyes widened sharply.

"What? You can sense the location of the demon seeds?"

Monis nodded.

Li Wei turned his head and found that Gusewei was also looking at him.

The two exchanged glances, both realizing the significance of this revelation.

Li Wei had been troubled all along about how to find the carriers of demon seeds hidden within the city.

Because before the demon seeds sprouted, they were completely undetectable.

He never expected that Monis could actually sense the dormant demon seeds.

What a fortunate surprise.

(End of Chapter)