Chapter 19: Empty Head, Can’t Touch the Brain.
The enemy, mostly concealed in a tattered cloak, had Suna’s golden-flame dagger, launched from her neck tendril, lodged in its head.
The dagger wasn’t meant to kill outright. Its burning blade dissolved into golden threads, spreading like roots across the enemy’s body.
These threads, pulsing with sealing magic, hindered its spellcasting and restricted its movements.
Suna chose the restrictive [Sealing Flame Blade] because her instincts told her even a head-piercing attack might not stop it.
The enemy’s three bandaged, emaciated arms, gripping rusty daggers coated in corrupted flesh, had stabbed into Suna’s body, targeting her heart, spine, and liver.
Her sudden assault caused a brief stalemate, halting the blades’ advance.
“Radiant Rainscape.”
Amplifying the magic to her blessing, golden raindrops on the ground converged around the enemy, forming glowing golden puddles.
Within two seconds, the golden threads on the enemy snapped.
It tried to flee, stomping with bandaged feet, but the puddles exploded, sending golden droplets like buckshot.
Despite releasing thick yellow-green mist as a defense, the enemy found its three daggers stuck, unable to withdraw.
In that fatal moment, it severed the corrupted flesh connecting its hands to the daggers and detonated its legs for explosive propulsion.
But the barrage of golden droplets shredded the mist and pierced its cloaked body.
Tumbling dozens of meters away, the enemy extended one semi-intact arm to prop up its shattered frame.
“Gurgh… what a… joke! How could… you…”
Slurring through blood mixed with yellow-green hues, its lower body was gone, its tattered cloak revealing a hole-riddled torso.
Half its head was blasted away, exposing an empty skull with no brain.
“A Plague Dream Ravager, huh? Sacrificing its brain makes it tough to kill.”
As Suna spoke, the three rusty daggers in her back withdrew and fell.
Through her torn clothing, toothy maws in her flesh closed, hidden by writhing muscles.
[I surrender… didn’t expect to fail a simple mission.]
Sensing the distorted telepathy, Suna didn’t hesitate, unleashing another spell.
“Corona Stream Slash.”
A dense cluster of golden particles formed a radiant orb around her.
Searing rays shot out, clashing with the yellow-green mist erupting from the Ravager’s chest.
As the mist refracted the rays, the Ravager twisted its intact arm, snapping joints to stab its own spine, destroying a yellow-green cocoon—its core—before Suna’s rays could disintegrate it.
“Tch, one step too late. It was decisive.”
Suna felt a soul-piercing impact, grimacing as she layered mental barriers.
Bizarre, corrupted dreamscapes flashed through her mind, assaulting her consciousness.
Her [Veil of Truth] blessing auto-intensified, mitigating much of the mental shock.
[I curse your life with unrest, fear, and torment…]
A vicious curse, woven into the ancient divine pollution, erupted with the mental assault.
But the blessing repelled the curse targeting her soul, and the pollution, which would drive most mad, barely affected Suna, already resistant to such corruption.
She only felt a headache and faint, buzzing voices like a swarm of flies.
“Hm? That’s it? I might’ve overreacted. Guess this blessing is too strong.”
Muttering, Suna noted that without the blessing, the attack would’ve required days to recover from soul damage and weeks to purge the curse.
The Ravager’s ancient divine magic, tied to a star god of “plague,” was notoriously tricky.
Its plagues weren’t always physical viruses but could be curse-based, spreading through conceptual links.
Cautiously, Suna used magic to inspect her body, confirming no lingering effects.
Relieved, she reflected on the battle’s details.
“No other enemies in my perception range. Time to sort my thoughts. Its words are nagging at me.”
Sighing, she muttered, “Was its mission targeting me? If so, that’s trouble. Being hunted by both demon hunters and ancient cults? Spare me.”
Rubbing her temple, Suna felt her recent streak of bad luck was relentless.
“Maybe I should just keep running.”
Deciding her next move, she prepared to flee, wary of further pursuit.