Chapter 5: Demon Soul Wraith

It’s here!

Faced with the sudden attack, Julian didn’t panic. He casually tossed away the torch in his hand, then drew the longsword from his waist. It traced a beautifully curved arc, slashing towards the target behind him.
His hand met emptiness, but through the blade forged from Darknight Mithril, Julian immediately felt the entity existing in the void.

The surrounding shadows suddenly contracted, quickly retreating and melting as if struck by something. They intertwined and merged, then transformed into a vague human shape.

The clear moonlight shone down, bringing a glimmer of light to the dark bottom of the well. With this faint light, Julian could clearly see the human form before him. Its body was formed from rolling black mist, two bright red points of light appeared from its head, mixed with unparalleled killing intent. Apart from these points of light, there was no trace of any facial features. Mixed with snarling roars emanated from its body, even Julian felt his body go slightly numb.
This is a Demon Soul Wraith!

Seeing the attacker clearly, Julian raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Demon Soul Wraith, a wraith transformed from a soul filled with powerful magic. This kind of wraith is very rare, because those filled with powerful magic are almost all mages, and they have many ways to avoid death. Moreover, even if they unfortunately die, they rarely remain in this world, but instead return to mana, back to the world. So even Julian had only encountered such beings three times. Although Demon Soul Wraiths don’t possess the complex and diverse magical attacks like mages, they are filled with terrifying magical power. In other words, ordinary weapons simply cannot withstand their attacks. Even those weapons filled with positive energy would be greatly diminished due to the magical power possessed by the opponent.

The terrifying aspect of Demon Soul Wraiths is not just this. It should be known that once they become wraiths, they have almost no intelligence to speak of. In other words, any enemy that appears before them will be completely annihilated by the Demon Soul Wraith – by any means, without considering any losses.

Imagine if a madman holding a nuclear bomb and never caring whether it would explode was standing in front of you, and you can understand the feelings of those fighting against Demon Soul Wraiths. Once a Demon Soul Wraith bursts out without regard for consequences, even this castle would be completely reduced to ashes.
There’s no choice.

Thinking of this, Julian’s face sank, and he flipped the longsword in his hand. Then, blue light immediately emerged from the complex and elaborate patterns on the blade. However, their luster was not only dim but also somewhat intermittent.

The Darknight Mithril longsword that hadn’t been sharpened could only do this much.
Stimulated by this longsword, the Demon Soul Wraith seemed to have locked onto the enemy before it. It roared wildly, then stretched out its hands and pounced.

“Clang!”

Faced with the opponent’s attack, Julian swung his sword, barely blocking those thick and illusory arms. If it weren’t for the special nature of Darknight Mithril, an ordinary iron longsword would never be able to block an illusory soul attack.
However, at the moment of blocking, Julian was slightly stunned.

The opponent’s strength wasn’t as great as he had imagined. Although filled with magic and killing intent, this Demon Soul Wraith’s power was still not strong. In the past, when Julian confronted Demon Soul Wraiths head-on, at most it would be a draw, with neither side gaining the upper hand. But now, Julian suddenly realized that the opponent’s power was clearly not as strong as his own, and he might even be able to overpower it.
Could it be that this Demon Soul Wraith hasn’t fully matured?

Despite these thoughts, Julian didn’t become careless because of this. Although Demon Soul Wraiths are monsters without thoughts, fighting on instinct, who knows what their instincts really are? Thinking of this, Julian immediately retreated, and the black shadow obviously had no intention of stopping its attack. It pounced forward again with a roar, but was still blocked by Julian, unable to get close. After several exchanges, the unsuccessful Demon Soul Wraith obviously became a bit impatient. Its roars were also filled with anxious emotions. Then Julian immediately felt that the surrounding shadow energy was moving towards it. And with the gathering of energy, the originally thin black shadow gradually became filled with power.

So that’s how it is!

Realizing the truth, Julian immediately took action. He no longer waited for the opponent’s attack as before. Instead, Julian stepped forward twice, actively launching an attack on the Demon Soul Wraith.
“Hiss————!”

The well bottom was small. In just two steps, Julian had rushed to the side of the black shadow. Faced with Julian’s attack, the black shadow let out an impatient screech. Its two black arms shot out like thrusting swords towards the man rushing towards it, trying to pierce through him. However, the black arms didn’t achieve their original purpose. Julian’s longsword traced a blue circle of light, firmly pressing down on the black shadow’s arms, forcing it to change its attack direction. Then he slashed horizontally along the opposite direction of the opponent’s arms, easily piercing into the black shadow’s body.

The clash of soul power was happening here. Wounded by Julian, the black shadow burst out again. It frantically waved its arms, trying to repel the enemy that had harmed it. Julian, who had already anticipated this, didn’t panic. Following the black shadow’s movements, Julian leaped back, barely avoiding its counterattack. Then he swung his sword to block, once again keeping the black shadow’s attack at bay.

Just as Julian was bringing his sword back to block, that strange black shadow suddenly stopped moving. It stepped back twice, the light in its two bright red eyes intensifying. It raised its hands, tightly hugging its head, while Julian cautiously brought his sword back to protect his body, curiously observing the opponent.
But at this moment, the black shadow suddenly stopped moving. It raised its head, and a hoarse, unpleasant voice came from its body.

“You… you are… who…?”

It can still speak?

Julian was increasingly confused about the situation before him. However, after thinking for a moment, he finally decided to answer the other’s question.

“Hello, my name is Julian, Julian Felix.”

Having made up his mind, Julian withdrew his longsword, and at the same time, an elegant and gentle smile immediately appeared on his face. Since the other could speak, why not try to communicate? Although the Demon Soul Wraiths Julian had encountered before couldn’t speak, there are always exceptions, aren’t there?

“You… you… you…”

Seeing Julian’s actions, the black shadow seemed to have been stimulated by something. It called out softly, as if remembering something, or as if thinking about something.

“You… are… human…?”

“Of course I’m human,” Julian shrugged, then looked at the black shadow.

“Who are you?”

“I… I…”

Hearing Julian’s question, the black shadow became agitated again. It waved its two slender arms, up and down, occasionally hugging its head, then putting them down, then hugging again, as if the question Julian posed was something even it couldn’t resolve.

“My… my…”

The black shadow’s movements became faster and faster. It seemed to be searching for something, but couldn’t find anything. It desperately tried to remember, wanting to answer Julian’s question, but it wasn’t so easy to succeed.
Julian didn’t say anything more. He just quietly looked at the black shadow, while cautiously keeping his hand on the sword hilt. Although the Demon Soul Wraith in its current confused state no longer posed a threat to Julian, and he could easily kill it, Julian didn’t do so. It was rare to encounter one that could speak and had rationality, so it wouldn’t be too late to see the situation before fighting – anyway, even if the other attacked again, Julian had enough strength and confidence to destroy it.

“My name… my name… name… is…”

The black shadow began to tremble, the surrounding shadow energy also slowly contracting and condensing with it. Then, the black shadow seemed to remember something. It raised its head, its bright red eyes staring straight at Julian in front of it.

“My name is Ophariel Wester.”

A clear, melodious voice rang out. With these words, the black mist that had been surrounding the shadow, forming its body, suddenly burst open.

Then, the figure of a young girl appeared from within. She quietly looked at Julian, her eyes sparkling with bright light.

“This is… my name.”