The sphere of blue flames flew through the air, whistling the entire time as it reduced the distance between it and the shadowswarm at astronomical speeds.

All the humans looked up at it in amazement. Even some of the beasts hiding looked up at the ball of flames as if it was a shooting star, flying through the half-illuminated purple sky like a free bird flapping its wings for the first time.

For some, it instilled hope in their hearts; for others, it instilled dread. Because those who understood the power within that ball of flames also understood the destruction it might cause. However, others thought of it as the spell that would end their current nightmare once and for all.

They were scared for their families. Sure, they might not die, but the town was vulnerable.

The moment of silence and peace felt like it stretched on forever. It was long, but when the effervescent flame finally touched the shadowswarm-

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

An enormous mushroom cloud made purely out of dust and blue flames. The explosion was enormous. It was so powerful that it sent out a shockwave in every direction that turned trees into ashes and blasted the rest into smithereens.

However, before the blast, Silas had already run forward at top speed, appearing before the earth bear and creating an earth fortress around them with the remaining mana in his core and in the mana crystal he held in his mouth.

He didn’t know why he ran forward to protect the earth bear. However, his body moved independently, so he complied with it.

A sphere of light protected the warriors from the village, while a thick wall of flames erupted from below Keira’s feet, and she protected herself and Lochras from the incoming blast.

Blood dripped from where she had bitten her lip. Tears could be seen in her eyes, but her resolve was stronger. At this point, they both accepted the reality that Silas was most likely dead. Of course, this didn’t mean they wouldn’t search for his body, even though they knew it was futile.

Before everyone’s very eyes, the flames began to spin, turning into a funnel of flames that reached into the skies. It wasn’t nearly high enough to reach the clouds, but it was a spectacle that dropped everyone’s jaws to the floor.

It was beautiful. There were no other words to describe it.

The wind that had spun and condensed the flame had been so strong that it forced the explosion to spin as well. And after the main momentum of the spin did its work, the rest went along with it.

No one moved for a few minutes.

The earth within a certain radius of the flaming tornado had been scorched beyond belief, but that wasn’t what Silas focused on.

Using water magic to cool himself down, Silas peered through the earth fortress and looked at the shadowswarm that had been completely trapped by the violent winds. It was in the center of the tornado, which was not only a vacuum but also so hot and bright that it was constantly destroying the shadowswarm’s body.

Due to the winds, the shadowswarm was unable to move, constantly spinning in place while trying to let out a few tendrils of darkness.

Eventually, the flaming vortex died down while all the shields fell to the ground, crumbled, or simply dissipated.

Beasts and monsters that were too weak to take part in the fight finally came out of their hiding places. They felt like the dreadful threat of death had weakened down to a sliver, and that it was finally safe for them to come out.

Crumbling the earth fortress, Silas glanced at the earth bear and gritted his teeth.

‘I’m such an idiot.’ Silas thought before raising his hand and creating a healing spell with the remaining drops of mana left in his body.

The tier-1 healing spell quickly healed all of the bear’s wounds. The healing was far more superior than other tier-2 or possibly even tier-3 healing spells cast by normal humans since the runes Silas was using were ones from the life equation.

Silas then quickly left the leftovers of the earth fortress and strolled toward the half-dead body of the shadowswarm, only glancing back at the bear once to see if his healing had worked or not.

It didn’t take long for him to find the monster’s body. It was laying in the middle of a scorched black land, with nothing but ashes and cinders around it.

‘I see…’ Silas thought.

Now that had close to no mana left, it had taken the form of a solid creature that looked like the outline of a man’s shadow. It simply lay there, its nearly empty mana core trying its best to siphon mana from its surroundings, but it was futile. Its body was withering, so even if Silas left it there without killing it, it would die either way.

“I win.”

Silas picked up the topaz core and examined it. He didn’t want to absorb the mana inside it since his mana channels felt like they would shatter into millions of pieces if he absorbed even one more drop of mana.

Without channeling any fusion through his body, Silas simply wound back his hand and stabbed it through its head, and dug his hand into the ground.

Immediately, the body dissipated, and a screen appeared in front of him.

[You have killed an infant shadowswarm]

[Consuming one corrupted life force]

[You are evolving]

[You have absorbed the Shadow Walker’s prime-bloodline]

[Bloodlines:

Shadow Walker – 1%

Thundertusk – 23%

Sonic Bat – 38%]

“Hmm… I see.” Silas narrowed his eyes. He was a little worried about the corrupted soul, but those worries vanished the moment he heard someone’s voice call out to him from behind him.

“Oi. Who the hell are you?!” A familiar female voice roared out. His voice was shaky and quivered at every word, but Silas knew who she was.

The only thing that confused him was the fact that she didn’t recognize him.

Looking down at his body, he quickly understood why.

He was covered in blood, mud, and grime. His hair was disheveled, and in a way, he looked like some of the monsters his grandmother read to him about when he was a kid. Well, technically, he was still a kid.

He was mostly naked too, so it was a little embarrassing to be seen this way.

Looking back, Silas stared at the duo, glaring daggers at him. He could even feel killing intent seeping out of his father.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Silas asked with a calm tone that sent shivers down the spines of the two.

——————

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