CHAPTER 875: 872: THE THIRD NIGHT (10)- BONUS

Corey frowned deeply. ’Replace?’

The weight of the word lingered at the tip of his severed tongue like a slow poison.

Its main goal was not to kill?

Not to corrupt?

But to replace?

Corey had a feeling that the word wasn’t metaphorical. Not in the slightest.

It was literal.

And he was beginning to see why the books had used that specific word.

Ever since the spikes had pierced into his body in that house, and that foreign energy had entered him, he had noticed something he hadn’t thought out loud.

His mana had been flowing slightly different. His thoughts had not changed, but there had been a subtle resistance when he used certain skills like the Hexagon Nova Shield and Void Force.

It was not enough to be alarming. Just enough to be noticeable.

And then there was the way his Celestial Mana Veins had reacted when he summoned the massive Earth Wall.

He had initially thought the slight strain was due to overuse, but now, as he connected the dots, he realized something.

The shadow energy had begun to interface with his core systems. It was not in a violent or forceful manner. But in the most terrifying way possible.

By blending in.

It was like a poison that pretended to be water. Like a whisper that pretended to be his own voice.

’It’s not trying to destroy me... It’s trying to rewrite me.’

His instincts had warned him not to let the shadow energy linger for long. And now, after reading those two books, he knew why.

The energy wasn’t just hostile. It was a patient usurper. And the longer it remained in his body, the more influence it would gain over his mana, his blood, his nerves, and maybe even his thoughts.

There was another dark and chilling realization that dawned on Corey after reading the two books.

His past life.

Nina had told him that he was the God of Assassins of their universe in his past life, which meant that he had been most likely using shadows to fight back then.

And for him to be a God of Assassins, he must have been extremely talented and proficient in the usage of shadows.

He must have been the best.

And this was a problem in his current situation.

’Normally, I would have been able to purge myself of almost any foreign energy that enters my body. But this shadow energy... It’s a problem.’

’It’s rooting itself far faster than it’s meant to, and its like a sponge that’s just absorbing water without stopping.’

’And I have a feeling that it’s because of my past life.’

’Maybe one of my talents as the God of Assassin of my Universe followed me to this life, so I have a hidden talent in controlling shadows, and shadow energy basically... loves me.’

’Because of that, the shadow energy is getting stronger and more difficult to remove at a speed I don’t like.’

’Even if I have a talent in controlling shadows, I’m obviously not going to test it out with the source being such a disgusting and horrifying thing.’

Corey’s eyes flashed coldly, and he didn’t waste another second.

A minute had gone by out of the three minutes he told Rhea he needed.

He shifted his full attention to the shadow energy in his body.

First, he used his void force to isolate it, not to destroy it, not to overwhelm it, but to trace its every tendril.

He could have used his mana, but shadow energy was very evasive and elusive. However, the it could not be compared to the void in terms of evasiveness and subtlety.

After doing this, he summoned mana specifically from his Water Infinity Crystal.

In an instant, a calming but sharp current of elemental water flowed through his veins. It didn’t clash with the shadow energy.

It surrounded it. It flowed around it. It cut it off.

Then came the Earth Infinity Crystal.

He circulated the mana specifically from it across his entire body, and his bones hardened and his blood pulsed slower. And like the roots of a great mountain, the energies withing him grounded themselves.

They became much more stable and unshakeable.

Now, the shadow energy had nowhere to run. No way to blend in.

It squirmed, but Corey slow down for even a split second.

Finally, he summoned the mana from his Poison Infinity Crystal.

Black greenish light erupted from within his chest and seeped into his blood. Its goal was to awaken the shadow energy as much as possible.

The shadow energy fought and tried to escape, but it was cornered.

Surrounded by water, pinned by earth, and weakened by poison.

And then... Dreamfire.

The moment the shadow energy was its weakest, Corey summoned his Dreamfire from within.

Azure-violet-silver flames surged through his internal systems, and he heard the shadow energy scream.

It was like a high-pitched keening sound only he could perceive in his mind.

It tried to cling. It tried to remain. It tried to mimic. It tried to escape.

But it failed.

In exactly three minutes, not a second layer, Corey opened his eyes.

The internal pressure had vanished. His mana flowed smoothly. His body felt sharper, and his instincts were clear.

"Rhea."

Her response came immediately.

"I don’t care if you used exactly three minutes. You owe me big time. And next time, you’re doing the flying."

Corey chuckled softly as he rose to a kneeling position on her back. His hand touched the side of her neck gently.

"Thank you. And I’m sorry."

A snort of annoyance escaped her nostrils, and her wings flapped once, but it was less energetic than usual.

He could feel it through their bond.

Her exhaustion. How depleted her energy reserves were, and the strain her body was going through.

Her had pushed her, and he knew that the main reason why she was annoyed at him was because he did not allow her to fight the colossal entity head on.

He only allowed her to dodge its attacks and counterattack. And he had his reasons for giving her such instructions.

It was not that he was worried that she would die in a fight against the colossal shadow. No. He just wanted to hide her abilities for now, because he had a feeling she might be extremely useful for him in the final fight he would have in the trial dimension.

He closed his eyes and sent her back into his mental space.

A pulse of mana surged from him, and Rhea vanished in a black beam of light that returned into the left side of his chest, where the tattoo of a raven could be seen.

And then he hovered in the sky alone.

’I might need to create a new spell.’