Ery barely had any ti to react.
Instinctively, he retaliated with a ntal attack of his own.
His soul force ignited imdiately while silvery light burst across his eyes.
[Spectral Gaze]
A violent spiritual pulse exploded outward from Ery's consciousness and slamd directly into the incoming spirit.
Although the attack failed to truly injure the entity, it still forced the creature backward several ters, causing its distorted body to ripple and flicker violently.
The result only enraged it further.
"How dare you!! You are dead!! DEAD!!"
Its screams echoed directly into the soul rather than through the air itself, carrying enough hatred and madness to make even Grand Magus cultivators feel discomfort.
Ery quickly glanced toward the others.
Archbishop Stephen continued channeling waves of holy light while condemning the creature as an evil spirit, his sacred energy spreading continuously across the surroundings in an attempt to suppress the corruption.
In contrast, the Sword Demoness hesitated. Her expression carried obvious conflict, to the point she even seed ready to stop the archbishop action.
Honestly, Ery found himself unable to completely trust the archbishop's judgnt.
Evil spirit?
What did that truly an?
Back on Planet Astiel, another church figures had used the exact sa term against him simply because of Khaos.
Cultivators like them often branded anything beyond their understanding as evil.
Unfortunately, none of that mattered right now.
Because whatever this creature truly was, its hatred was clearly directed at him.
"Why the hell …" Ery muttered under his breath.
The corrupted spirit shrieked once more before charging toward him again, its dark smoke-like body twisting wildly.
This ti, Ery was prepared.
Although he lacked powerful holy techniques capable of properly purifying spiritual entities, he still possessed the next closest thing.
Fire.
"Killgragah…"
Ery whispered softly.
Excalibur instantly appeared within his grasp as blazing dragon flas erupted across the divine sword. Golden-red fire spiraled violently around the blade while the surrounding air distorted beneath the overwhelming heat released by the dragon flas.
Then Ery swung.
The flaming sword arc tore directly through the charging spirit.
BOOOOOOM!!
Dragon fire exploded across the temple grounds as the corrupted entity was cleaved cleanly into two burning halves. The flas devoured large portions of the dark smoke instantly while horrifying screams echoed throughout the mountain.
"ARRRGHHHH!!"
For a brief mont, Ery believed the attack had succeeded.
Then his expression darkened.
Despite being severed and burned apart, the remaining dark smoke suddenly began writhing violently before rapidly pulling itself back together. The spirit reford itself almost instantly, though its shape now looked even more unstable and grotesque than before.
Then—
Multiple yellow eyes slowly opened across its distorted body.
The sa horrifying eyes connected to Parasite X
The mont those eyes appeared, terrifying ntal pressure flooded the surroundings. Ery felt his thoughts freeze montarily beneath the overwhelming gaze while even Archbishop Stephen and the Sword Demoness instinctively stiffened for a fraction of a second.
Seeing those familiar eyes only strengthened Ery's determination to destroy the creature imdiately.
His grip tightened around Excalibur while dragon flas surged outward once again. Ery stepped forward decisively and unleashed another full-powered slash—
Only for another blade to intercept him.
CLANKK!!
Dark sword aura erupted violently as the Sword Demoness blocked Excalibur directly.
Her expression remained firm.
"JUST WAIT!!!"
The force behind her sword shocked Ery slightly. Through the clash itself, he could clearly feel the terrifying power of a peak three-cosmos sword cultivator flowing through the blade.
Ery was just about to force his way through when suddenly the spirit's body flickered once again.
The yellow eyes blinked erratically before golden runes suddenly spread across the corrupted smoke like chains restraining it from within.
Then sothing unexpected happened.
From the cracked golden shell of Monk Ru Lai's body, another spectral figure slowly erged.
This spirit looked entirely different from the corrupted entity.
Golden-white light radiated peacefully from it while the familiar face of Monk Ru Lai gradually beca visible. Two massive spectral arms ford behind the monk as he imdiately grabbed onto the corrupted spirit, restraining it directly.
The dark entity scread violently beneath the suppression.
At the sa ti, Archbishop Stephen's holy arts finally began showing their full effect. Waves of purification light continuously bombarded the restrained corruption while Monk Ru Lai's golden spirit tightened its hold further and further.
Slowly, the corrupted entity began breaking apart.
The yellow eyes shattered one by one.
Its screams weakened.
Until finally—
The entire spirit collapsed into drifting particles of black ash and fading light.
Silence returned to the mountain.
The trio stood motionless while Monk Ru Lai's golden spirit slowly opened his eyes.
The old monk first turned toward the Sword Demoness, and when he spoke, his voice sounded calm and strangely peaceful despite everything that had happened.
"It seems… our fate ends here."
For the first ti since arriving at the temple, the Sword Demoness openly showed emotion.
"I'll find whoever did this to you," she said quietly. "I'll avenge you."
The old monk smiled faintly.
"Thank you."
Then he turned toward Ery and Archbishop Stephen, giving both of them a slight nod filled with gratitude before his spirit body slowly began dissipating into countless golden motes of light.
And as those lights scattered across the air, Ery suddenly saw visions.
Fragnts of mories.
The first vision showed a much younger Ru Lai standing atop the temple courtyard beneath heavy rain. Opposite him stood a young woman gripping a dark sword tightly, her sharp eyes filled with stubborn pride and challenge.
The Sword Demoness.
Both of them looked far younger than now, yet even then their auras already carried the pressure of extraordinary talents.
Their clash was not rely a duel of cultivation, but a collision of ideals.
"Self-restraint and discipline are the path toward enlightennt," the monk said calmly while standing unmoving beneath the rain.
The young woman imdiately scoffed.
"Huh… how could soone achieve enlightennt by hiding away and doing nothing? Your path is wrong."
Monts later, the duel erupted.
Dark sword energy collided against golden vajra light repeatedly, tearing apart the clouds above the mountain. The woman's sword was fierce and aggressive while Ru Lai's techniques remained calm, steady, and immovable like an ancient mountain.
In the end—
She lost.
The visions shifted again.
Years had passed.
The young woman returned older, stronger, and even more determined than before.
"I'll defeat you this ti," she declared proudly while pointing her blade toward him. "Then you'll finally admit your oath is wrong and leave this place!"
Again—
She lost.
Yet she continued returning.
Again and again through the years.
Every ti she challenged him, she failed.
But every ti she left, she returned stronger than before.
Slowly, without even realizing it himself, the monk's perfectly disciplined heart began changing. The woman's persistence left small cracks within his absolute self-restraint, creating emotions he should never have allowed himself to possess.
The seed of a demon heart.
Since then, Ru Lai no longer cultivated only enlightennt and discipline. Part of his cultivation beca suppressing the growing demon within his own heart, turning it into a tribulation he needed to overco.
Then the visions changed completely.
The atmosphere beca darker.
Colder.
A mysterious figure appeared within the city.
The mory itself seed distorted whenever he tried focusing on the figure directly. He could only make out a vague humanoid silhouette surrounded by strange darkness and drifting purple miasma.
Yet the mont the being entered the city, everyone who saw it simply stopped moving.
Citizens froze mid-step.
Cultivators halted their techniques.
Even children stood motionless with empty eyes like puppets whose strings had suddenly been seized by another master.
The figure walked slowly through the streets while countless people followed behind it silently like controlled marionettes.
Eventually, it arrived at the temple.
The monks resisted.
Prayer chants echoed across the mountain while vajra formations activated throughout the temple grounds. Even so, the elders only managed to resist briefly before one after another beca corrupted beneath that horrifying influence.
As for Monk Ru Lai—
He fought desperately.
Golden light shook the skies while enormous manifestations of holy scriptures filled the mountain. For a period of ti, the powerful three-cosmos monk successfully held back the corruption and protected the temple.
Until he saw his own disciples turning against him.
The monks he had personally care.
Their bodies twisted by corruption while horrifying yellow eyes opened across their skin.
In desperation, rather than allowing them to spread the infection further, Monk Ru Lai personally killed them with his own hands.
That act completely shattered his emotional control.
The demon heart he had suppressed for years spiraled beyond restraint, and at the exact mont his mind faltered, the mysterious being attacked directly.
Ru Lai lost badly.
Not allowing himself to beco another puppet beneath the parasite corruption, the monk unleashed a forbidden sealing technique. Using his own blood essence, spirit core, and physical body as the prison itself.
That beca the end of Vajra Monk Ru Lai.
A peak three-cosmos existence.
A cultivator only one final step away from becoming a Supre.
The visions gradually faded afterward, leaving behind only lingering sadness and exhaustion.
The Sword Demoness stood silently for a long while, staring at the drifting golden lights without moving. Ery returned to the empty city and reported everything that had happened within the temple. Monts later, Hubert also completed his divination and discovered another lead.
At nearly the sa ti, new information arrived from Supre Dunadan's group.
The trail Ayla and Dunadan had been following did not lead toward this ghost city at all.
That realization imdiately changed the entire situation.
There was another threat operating separately.
Another entity powerful enough to defeat Monk Ru Lai himself.
And after witnessing the monk's mories personally, Ery beca increasingly certain of one terrifying possibility.
That mysterious figure…
Was most likely not human.
Perhaps another higher species of the parasites.
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