Chapter 67: Isn't It Tempting?

In battle, Carona completely suppressed the fourth-rank demon before her.

If she weren't observing Gune's fight, she could have swiftly slain this fourth-rank demon.

When she saw Gune being chased frantically across the ocean by the fourth-rank demon,

Carona's eyes twitched slightly, and she almost wondered if the rumors were wrong.

"This is the super caster?"

"Though this fourth-rank demon is powerful, you, a super caster, being chased in panic by it—isn't that a bit too weak?"

"Fortunately, you're fast enough, or the demon would have torn you to pieces by now."

At this point, Carona had even lost hope for this battle against the demon lord.

But gradually, she sensed something amiss.

Though the demon fiercely pursued Captain Jack,

the fourth-rank demon never inflicted a single scratch on him.

If those long-range soul attacks landed on her, she would have to resist them seriously.

But Captain Jack completely ignored the demon's soul attacks, still fleeing swiftly while casting spells.

Instead, the fourth-rank demon seemed to slow down, its soul aura weakening.

When she saw Captain Jack shatter the demon's mental barrier a second time without launching an attack, instead seemingly casting some control-type spell,

Carona finally calmed down a bit.

She could roughly guess what the super caster Captain Jack was up to.

This guy was adapting to the demon's abilities while using some means to prevent it from escaping.

About two minutes later,

on the sea, Gune and the fourth-rank demon leader Pius also entered the late stage of battle.

"This guy's tricks should be about all there is," Gune thought to himself.

"Overall, this fourth-rank demon leader is indeed quite ferocious; any fourth-rank human transcendent would struggle to gain an advantage against it."

"Even without soul defense means, one would be slain by this fourth-rank demon in a single encounter. Its soul attack methods are indeed something."

"Unfortunately, it's still a bit weak before me; it can't even force out some of my powerful techniques."

"Just using these high-level spells and instant-cast abilities is enough to kill it."

"Time to end this."

With that thought, Gune gently pulled with one hand.

The fifty or sixty puppet threads on the demon leader instantly pulled taut.

The demon leader, about to pursue, was instantly immobilized in the air.

Then Pius saw a terrifying sight.

Dense purple lightning, roaring like thunder, surged toward him.

His mental barrier was nearly shattered, and now he was immobilized, unable to flee.

"Damn!"

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

In less than a second, twenty-five or six terrifying small Thunderflame Curses rained down on Pius.

The first three broke his barrier, and the remaining twenty-plus struck his body.

Already heavily injured, having lost a fifth of his soul, Pius was directly shattered by this fierce burst.

If that were all, he could still reassemble his soul fragments and revive.

But the puppet threads, fully permeating his soul body, directly pulled out his origin soul.

The origin soul—that was his core power.

The annihilating thunder's strong soul-paralysis effect left his soul numb and powerless to resist.

Then he felt a terrifying suppression force envelop him.

Pius had no room to resist.

Amid terror and rage, Pius fell into a suppressed slumber.

Having probed the enemy's strength, Gune took them out in a single burst, leaving no chance to fight back—the whole process was smooth and effortless.

On the sea, after sealing the fourth-rank demon's "origin soul" with a sealing scroll,

Gune put it away with satisfaction.

"A perfect fourth-rank demon leader's soul—a nice gain."

"If I really can't get the lord's soul, this leader's soul will do. After all, given my reincarnation function's traits, this leader-level secondary soul should be able to ascend to a lord-level soul, though it'll take more time."

"But if I can get the demon lord's soul in one go, that would be even better."

This burst from Gune naturally fell into Carona's eyes.

The terrifying, dense spell burst left Carona shaken.

If all those terrifying thunderbolts landed on her, she'd be in trouble, possibly severely injured or even killed.

"Indeed, this guy has been hiding his strength; he probably hasn't even used many of his powerful techniques."

Thus, Carona no longer doubted Captain Jack's identity as a "super caster."

Seeing Pius easily sealed, the fourth-rank demon "Alfons," beaten back step by step, was shocked.

Earlier, he had hoped Pius would kill the "panicked fleeing" human and then help him take down the angel.

Instead, Pius left before him.

"Retreat!" He immediately tried to flee.

But as he turned to escape,

he felt a terrifying light power erupt from within.

"Ah..."

With a miserable scream, Alfons was completely purified from the depths of his soul by Carona's light power, even his origin soul vanishing.

"The fluctuation of Light Essence."

Watching this, Gune raised an eyebrow.

"And quite a rich, dense fluctuation of Light Essence."

"At the level of runic spells, one can already integrate the runic essences one has comprehended."

"With runic essences integrated, spell power increases significantly."

"Far more powerful than mere energy-based runic spells."

"My Deathbeast energy is so potent because it contains Dark Essence."

"My spells' precision and stability come from my alignment with World Essence."

"The path of spell essence is indeed the path of the strong."

Having killed the fourth-rank demon, Carona flew toward Gune.

"We've killed these two demon leaders; the demon lord should have sensed it."

"It's likely heading this way."

"Check the sealed demon's soul to see its rank."

"Late fifth-rank peak." Gune had already probed lightly with puppet threads while sealing.

After all, such minimal information, not a major secret, was easy to probe.

"Late fifth-rank peak—worth a try." Carona nodded.

"Indeed."

If it were sixth-rank, they might struggle to defeat it together.

But if only fifth-rank, there was some hope.

But only some hope.

After all, if its techniques were formidable and its Dark Essence comprehension deep,

the two might end up fleeing instead.

Then both turned to look at the demon altar on the small island, where blood light surged into the sky.

"Let's go!"

They both swiftly headed toward the island.

This altar island was a reef island.

Not large, about a square kilometer.

In a nearby reef cave, dense blood energy pierced through the cave's top into the sky.

"Let's destroy the altar first, or the demon lord will use its power and put us at a disadvantage."

Saying this, Carona was about to fly into the reef cave toward the altar.

"No need." Gune suddenly spoke.

"Huh?" Carona looked at him, puzzled.

"I feel this sacrificial blood energy suits me well." Gune said slowly.

Carona was taken aback, then her eyes filled with surprise.

"You..."

"Using the demon's altar to boost my power—isn't it tempting?" Gune laughed.

Carona frowned.

"But this bloody, eerie power is bizarre, filled with darkness and evil. Are you sure your soul, body, and source energy won't be corrupted by such power from an entity?"

"And such sacrificial advancement will greatly reduce your future potential."

Gune chuckled darkly.

"My source power is also quite eerie and bloody; who corrupts whom is uncertain."

"A big drop in potential is no problem; my potential is already too strong—losing a bit doesn't matter."

"You... are you crazy?" Carona was stunned.

"To gain more fearsome power, one must pay a price—that's only natural." Gune said meaningfully.

"It's settled."

"You guard outside. I'll go in and see; if possible, I'll offer some sacrifices to complete the ritual and enjoy the results."

"If not, I'll destroy the altar."

With that, before Carona could say more, Gune entered the altar.

At the reef cave entrance, Carona watched Gune's disappearing back, frowned, then relaxed after a moment.

"This guy is always steady. Since he dares to do this, he must have his reasons. Maybe my worry is unnecessary; I'll just wait and see."

"Being a super caster, he's not as simple as he appears."

Carona thought to herself.