Chapter 212: Possessed by Evil Spirits, Fighting for Life

(A brief, minor addition)

Shugein felt the demons squirming within his flesh, entities forcibly crammed into his body years ago, solely to awaken his inner potential—a state capable of adapting to, and eventually commanding, the hellish brood.

The demons were restless now, slipping beyond his control. Even as he accelerated the circulation of his battle aura, his "Wraith Possession" potential struggled to suppress the double-digit number of fiends clawing at his sanity.

"Without the Smoke Demon, suppressing these things is a stretch. Hah, but no matter. I have waited ten years for this day. Perhaps the moment they break my shackles is the moment I—or rather, they—are at our most powerful."

The shadows on his skin shuddered violently. A head forged of darkness erupted from his flesh, its mouth, a chaotic gash amidst a hideous, mismatched face, opening wide in a silent, hysterical laugh.

Shugein made no wasted movement. A limb of solidified battle aura surged from his shoulder, pinning the face down and forcing it back into the abyss of his torso.

The entities within, seemingly provoked by his defiance, abandoned their dormancy and erupted into a collective riot.

Mouths tore open across his skin; eyes blinked into existence along the nape of his neck, darting wildly. Fingernails and hair grew at an uncontrollable, grotesque rate. Strange mutations bloomed across his body—the physical manifestation of the demons’ struggle to break free.

Shugein’s state grew dire; these mutations were a heavy anchor, hindering his every move.

More limbs of battle aura sprouted, pinning the anomalies and dragging them back into the depths. His "Wraith Possession" hummed incessantly, a potential born of these very spirits, exerting its final, desperate authority over them.

"Be still. I shall likely die here today. Once I am gone, you will be free to return to your hellish plane. Do you truly think I enjoy sharing a skin with you..."

Shugein muttered to himself, his voice low. His words were not just for his own ears, but for the monsters that inhabited him.

He did not need their submission; he only needed them to refrain from sabotage until his final breath.

His words seemed to take effect. The riot subsided, and he no longer needed to bleed his aura to maintain his focus.

He snapped his fingers, channeling the power of a specific demon. Every sound he made vanished into the void.

Then, the Shadow Demon’s power flared. His body dissolved into shadow, his physical form becoming non-corporeal, slipping through the gap of the wooden door ahead.

"Welcome, Shugein Smoke. I have been waiting for you for a long time."

The shadow entered, but instead of his target, he found only a tall, armored figure standing in the room. The man leaned on his longsword, standing in silence, watching through the slits of his helmet as the shadow coalesced into a man.

The voice, familiar and capable of igniting Shugein’s fury with a single syllable, echoed from every corner of the study. It was calm, unhurried.

Shugein solidified. His stealth had been rendered meaningless.

His target had known he was coming. It was perfectly in character for the Marquis: cunning, treacherous, a master of human manipulation.

"Surprised? Don't be. It was Rudolf’s doing. He was subtle, but he told me enough. That black-clad figure killing nobles—even if it wasn't you, it was certainly tied to you."

"You are too impatient. Those nobles all had links to that past event. Once someone with enough intelligence starts digging, it is easy to connect the dots. Shugein, leader of the Night’s Edge, are you truly going to strike at me now?"

"Your father let it go. He chose to leave the capital. Though I hear his end was not pleasant, at least he did not spend these years tossing and turning in the throes of vengeance, did he?"

Marquis Enkai’s voice continued, gentle and slow, as if coaxing a child.

"You should let go as well. I can apologize for what I did. At a time when the capital is in peril, should we not set aside our hatred and work together for Alastair?"

The Marquis’s intent was clear: he had no desire to cross blades with a Great Knight, a prospect that offered him no gain.

"He did not let go of his hatred; he was simply tired. He had no desire to touch the muddy, foul waters of this capital again."

"As for me, I can let go of my hatred—on the condition that every culprit is dead first. And now, thanks to my old friends, also driven by the fire of vengeance, you are the only one left."

Shugein remained unmoved. The shadows on his skin faded, replaced by more chaotic things: withered claws wreathed in flame, jagged fangs, and various mutations. These were his demons.

But this time, they did not riot against him. They sensed the fire of vengeance that had been suppressed for over a decade, now finally ignited.

Cruel by nature, they were ecstatic. For once, they and Shugein were in accord: he craved vengeance, and they craved slaughter.

"Look at that—what a powerful form. Shugein, you still need to beg them for power to achieve your revenge. Do you not find that laughable? Why not abandon the past and put this hard-won power to better use?"

"I admit the price of such power is cruel, but that is the law of the hellish planes. One soul, one conduit for a single demon. To create a masterpiece like you, the loss of life was an unavoidable cost."

"Click..." Ignoring the Marquis, Shugein pulled out a pair of gauntlets—the same ones Wang Yu had recovered from the old knight.

Void-Blade Gauntlets. Crafted for monsters with the power of Wraith Possession, designed for close-quarters combat, and forged to the absolute limit of durability.

"Still intent on fighting me? A pity. You are merely wasting your life. Since you know I anticipated your arrival, you should realize that the preparations I have made in this mansion are beyond your ability to handle."

The Marquis’s voice echoed with feigned regret. The Great Knight standing opposite him raised his sword, pointing it at Shugein, whose body was now a canvas of demonic features.

"Yes, I know. If you knew I was coming to kill you, you would never tolerate my existence."

"You would want to seize this chance to kill me. Therefore, you would wait here. You would not go anywhere else. You are in this mansion."

Shugein spoke coldly, the murderous intent in his words almost tangible. His certainty was absolute, unshakable.

"..." The Marquis fell silent.

Shugein was right. He could not leave a Great Knight of the Night’s Edge, harboring such lethal intent, alive.

From the moment Rudolf brought him the news, he had been preparing. Shugein had to die here.

The mansion, seemingly ordinary, was rigged. The moment Shugein entered, the arrays designed to detect demonic essence had flagged him.

The carriages outside, ostensibly carrying valuables, contained the components for a grand array designed to suppress demonic power. Everything in the mansion was a trap for Shugein.

But as Shugein said, the Marquis could not let him live, so he had to be here. While the Marquis set a trap for Shugein, he had been "caught" by Shugein in return.

Hidden in a basement beneath the mansion, reinforced by protective walls and arrays, the Marquis watched Shugein’s movements through the "Mage’s Eyes" scattered throughout the estate.

"The Royal Family knows, but they don't care. They want us to settle this ourselves. They won't interfere; the kingdom needs the Night’s Edge, but nobles are, in essence, expendable."

"After I finish Shugein, I won't be able to stay in the capital. Those Night’s Edge bastards are disgustingly loyal. Finish him quickly, then leave..."

"Hmm..."

The Marquis watched the servants drag the suppression arrays from the carriages, assembling them piece by piece in the courtyard. A faint smile touched his lips.

Why had he spoken so much? To stall for time. Reconciliation? Impossible. He had been unable to sleep soundly for years, knowing that boy was climbing the ranks of the Night’s Edge.

Once the suppression array was complete, Shugein would have no chance to resist.

"Snap..." Under the Marquis’s slightly stunned gaze, the Mage’s Eye captured Shugein pulling an object from a hidden pocket: a jagged, black stone, cracked and pulsing with a faint, ghostly purple light.

"You! Stop him!"

The Marquis’s panicked voice echoed through the study. Instantly, the Great Knight lunged, his battle aura erupting as he swung his blade, a sharp, solidified arc of energy flying toward Shugein.

"How pathetic..." Shugein’s form blurred. He channeled one of the dozen demons within him.

His skin turned to stone, cracked and mottled. The moment the blade of aura struck, his body shattered into a pile of rubble.

The strange, cracked black stone fell from his hand, colliding perfectly with the incoming blade of aura.

"Ding!" A crisp, melodic chime.

The power of the Void erupted from the stone. The sorcery sealed within was released the moment its container shattered.

Much like mage scrolls, sorcerer’s spells could be stored, though the materials were incredibly rare. Only the most powerful spells were crafted into sorcery runestones.

And the one in Shugein’s hand was a runestone containing a Sixth-Circle spell.

"Dealing with the Void all these years, I’ve managed to scavenge a few things. I didn't know when I’d need them, but now is the time." Shugein charged toward the Great Knight, speaking casually.

The power of the Void manifested around the mansion. Under the shocked, vacant stares of the servants, the entire estate seemed to be erased by an eraser, slowly vanishing from the material world. Their suppression array now had no target.

Sixth-Circle Sorcery: Reflection World. It drags a large area into a boundary between reality and the Void, a place resembling a "gap." It returns after an hour and is usually used to evade large-scale attacks or hide one's presence.

Now, Shugein had turned it into a cage for a deathmatch. It was his, and it was the Marquis’s. In one hour, only one would walk out—or both would die.

"Hoo... stay calm."

The Marquis pressed his hand to his face, peering through the gaps in his fingers at the feed from the Mage’s Eye, forcing himself to remain composed.

A mere variable had emerged, nothing more; the array outside, designed to suppress the demon, was but one of his preparations—an insurance policy, a comfort for the mind. What lay within the manor was more than enough to slay Shugin.

"This is unlike you, Enkai. Though you have aged, there is no need for such tension when dealing with a Great Knight blinded by the fires of vengeance."

Erasing the flicker of unease from his heart, Enkai’s expression turned serene and cold. The "demon" of the past, who had once sacrificed an entire village for his research, had returned.

"Finish him." He issued the command to the Great Knight, who stood in the study with a vacant, hollow gaze. Though the creation was imperfect, its strength was that of a true mid-tier Great Knight.

The knight obeyed, his longsword wreathed in battle aura, and struck down at Shugin, who had just reconstituted his form from a pile of rubble.

Clang! The blade was caught firmly by Shugin’s crossed arms. The Void Blade gauntlets were cloaked in Shugin’s own aura; power clashed against power, aura against aura.

The floor beneath them fractured under the sheer force of the two warriors. To ordinary folk, the stone was solid, but to Great Knights, it was brittle as glass.

Hum! Shugin’s eyes narrowed. A strange force surged from the locked blade—vibration?

High-frequency, high-intensity tremors traveled from the knight’s sword, irresistibly surging into Shugin’s gauntlets.

The sturdy armor could deflect a blow, but it was defenseless against this resonance that shook the very metal to its core.

Crack. A faint splintering sound echoed. The insidious vibration was impossible to guard against; it bypassed the soft flesh and burrowed directly into the marrow of Shugin’s bones.

High-frequency oscillations ravaged his skeletal structure. This form of attack, lethal to rigid things, caused fine, dense fissures to spiderweb across his bones until they shattered.

! Realizing this penetrating force was the opponent’s internal essence, Shugin knew he could not meet it head-on.

While the knight pressed down with the sword, channeling his essence to pulverize Shugin’s bones, Shugin kicked out, aiming for the man’s chest.

The knight, naturally, would not grant such an opening to a peer. He raised his own leg, meeting the kick with a block.

The moment they collided, Shugin’s legs exploded into a spray of fine gravel, just as before.

But this time, the debris did not fall; it swarmed, clinging to the knight’s leg and anchoring itself.

Shugin channeled his essence, and the clinging stones exerted a sudden, violent pull, dragging him forward through the air.

He broke free from the blade’s pressure, sliding across the floor like a blade in the dark.

Shing! Another demonic power manifested. A pitch-black blade erupted from the Void Blade gauntlet, reeking of rot and decay.

They were too close; Shugin’s sudden shift in posture and rapid approach left the knight, committed to his sword’s momentum, unable to recover.

The black blade, a manifestation of some nameless demonic force, promised agonizing corrosion. One strike would be fatal...

At that instant, the floor beneath Shugin shattered. Chains of stone surged from the depths, coiling around his body.

With the collapse of the floor, both Shugin and the Great Knight plummeted into the darkness below.

Whiz, whiz, whiz! Before he could discern the room beneath, a surge of magic heralded several cyan wind blades. High-tier wind magic—far deadlier than common air blades.

Shugin manifested a shield of solid battle aura, choosing to endure the wind blades while tearing through the entangling stone chains.

Snap! The momentary distraction allowed the falling Great Knight to seize his chance, his right hand clamping onto Shugin’s lower leg.

The internal essence pierced flesh to strike bone, sending a needle-like agony through Shugin’s frame.

"Damn it!"

Shugin’s brow furrowed. A Great Knight, coupled with a manor-wide web of magical arrays—the situation was becoming dangerously untenable.