There, Elric felt like he was nothing. As if he did not exist and he was just part of the empty s.p.a.ce. Floating aimlessly, not knowing the difference between reality and illusion. It was like the ultimate form of senselessness.

The curse of the blade from the Dark realm was known to be the ultimate weapon that even the Kings and other higher beings feared. An ancient artifact with a mysterious background which was the main target of Kahayag's last mission.

As the greatest warrior from the Realm of Light, she was tasked to secure the cursed knife from the evil hands of the Kings from the Dark Realm, only to end up tempted to its power which eventually leads to her current demise.

Kahayag even received a stern warning from her fellow warriors about the temptation of power the cursed knife brings, and now it was too late for her. 

As Kahayag tried to end Elric's life by pressing the knife harder, the powerful surge of her own spiritual energy happens to gave Elric a small spark of enlightenment in the middle of his helplessness. 

It was a small light that gave Elric an ounce of awakening, giving him a sense of ident.i.ty. The faint blood of Lapu-Lapu that was still coursing in his veins happens to identify Kahayag's spiritual energy which also serves as a bride for Elric to connect his consciousness back to reality.

And with the slight reawakening, Elric immediately had an idea what she was up to judging from the killing intent the spiritual energy brings.

"Not today."

It was a surge to finish Elric's soul but instead became the ray of hope for Elric to resist the killing blow.

BOOOOOOM!~

Elric's soul unleashed a fiery glow of his spiritual energy, by augmenting his essence with the help of his Authority of fire and the cleansing benefit of his Authority of water, Elric immediately broke out of the curse!

He was like a giant and brilliant ball of the fire that was slowly tearing apart the seemingly endless void.

The shadow that was covering his entire senses dissipated in no time and he tried his best to quickly took control over his body; but just when he was about to move, he realized that his body was still locked!

His senses scanned the surroundings and saw the horrifying figure of the Shadow with a crown on his head. He was currently pressing the knife behind Elric with all his power.

NO!~

With the new surge of even more powerful dark energy, his consciousness started to fall back to the deep black void. The mere essence of its darkness happens to complement the curse and Elric could not help but fall back to his sealed state.

"That's not gonna happen!"

A bigger and stronger enemy is currently pus.h.i.+ng in more spiritual energy, trying to finish Elric once and for all. But little did they knew, he was also resisting the overwhelming force by sheer will alone in his side!

"I can't unleash my full spiritual power. My spiritual senses are mostly blocked because of the curse!" Elric thought to himself as he tried to hold on against the killing internet brought by the new surge of spiritual energy.

With just one mistake, Elric could lose his senses again and fall to the curse of the knife and maybe completely collapse on it.

And the possibility of triggering the awakening of the Corrupted Ancestral Dragon might just come out again. Who knows what disaster he could bring to the world this time? Not to mention, his grandma's body happens to be laying not far from him!

Kahayag seems to have lost her spiritual gift and thus Elric has no choice but to force himself up and save her by himself.

The question is how?

The overwhelming power of the curse was something Elric did not expect. Its sheer pressure was even much stronger compared to his experience with the Soul Cleansing Pearl!

"I..must...hold...on!" Elric braced himself as the surge of the killing intent continue to pressure his senses back to numbness. Using his sheer will and a drop of his spiritual power, he was like a st.u.r.dy piece of rubber, trying its best not to snap from a sharp knife's cut!

Time pa.s.sed by and Elric was slowly losing himself again, he had fully committed his focus on staying alive and had no idea of what was happening outside aside from the overwhelming cold that seems to penetrate even his consciousness.

Whatever it was, Elric don't care. He must remained focus from the knife's continued barrage of the cursed energy.

Barely hanging on, Elric was starting to lose hope when a sudden burst of warmth came out of nowhere.

"This..." Elric was appalled at the familiar sight before him. Tearing apart the darkness that was shrouding his entire view was a unique green fire. It was like a beautiful green-flaming Eastern Dragon rampaging in his sight, it mercilessly breathed the darkness out of Elric's soul as if an angel in Dragon's form.

It danced across the dark void, slowly cutting down the unseen chain that was locking Elric in place.

The moment his eyes laid on these beautiful flash of warmth, Elric could feel his entire senses suddenly connecting.

Back in reality, like a fish finally back in the water, Elric's muscles twitched with gladness.

His eyes suddenly opened, revealing his distinct Dragon eyes painted with a beautiful green and red hue in its edges. His pale skin immediately regained its lost color and the muscles that were laying helplessly started to pump an overwhelming energy coursing through his veins.

BOOOOOOOM!~

Together with his senses completely regained, Elric immediately unleashed his fire elemental authority, covering himself with another layer of purifying fire, completely getting rid of all the dark curses lingering in his soul and physical state.

Lesse and Long watched him as if a radiant star was born out from the pitch dark s.p.a.ce.

Elric's long hair swayed according to the rampaging rhythm of his overflowing energy. His muscles glistened with crus.h.i.+ng power and his aura released a dominating presence that makes Lesse and Long unconsciously kneel towards him.

The giant bat, who happens to be just around twenty meters away before cras.h.i.+ng into Elric could not help but feel his bones wanting to leave the body right away.

The terrifying aura Elric released contained his burning desire to destroy him!

Elric was mad. The moment he regained his full control his eyes were locked at his grandma's body. Upon seeing her freezing figure, a wave of intense boiling anger quickly filled his head as he traced the source of the freezing spiritual energy.

It didn't take him long to identify his first target.

The culprit was the bat.

And as much as the King wanted to avoid the collision against Elric, his fate was basically sealed the moment he saw a long l.u.s.trous Sword of Fire blazing out of Elric's hand!

"Stop freezing my grandma!!!!"

SLAAAAAASHHH!~

With his fury behind the swing, Elric mercilessly hacked the ma.s.sive bat, which was the proud King from the Dark Realm, into two!

ZZZSSSH~

The overflowing power of his Sword of Fire did not just cut the King into two but even continued to fly high creating a crescent line of flame that could be seen even from miles away. 

Lesse, Long, and Kahayag watched Elric's power unfold before them and the bright glow of the fire was reflected in their awestruck eyes.

With the King completely overpowered, his semi-physical body started to burn increasingly from the traces of the pure fire Elric wielded. For some reason, the King realized he was unable to reconnect his scorched body!

The black ice that was covering his entire body also instantly melted like b.u.t.ter meeting an extremely hot knife. 

Against the power of the so-called Perfect-Vessel, the king was powerless. 

He tried to reform himself again intending to fight back against Elric but before he could emerge, Elric sent another barrage of ranged flaming slash, not letting him recover again.

SLAAs.h.!.+~

SLAAs.h.!.+~

SLAAAs.h.!.+~

In less than a minute, the black dust that used to linger in the area was completely cleared due to the searing blade that Elric restlessly sent.

"This is not gonna work. I have underestimated him."

The King from the Dark Realm was not able to fight back, thus he took the initiative to let go of his physical body and retreat to the spiritual realm.

But by the time he s.h.i.+fted to the astral realm, he was greeted with another heart attack the moment he saw Elric's gigantic spiritual figure, seemingly waiting for him in that realm.

The glowing orange third eye that was fully revealed in his temple sent s.h.i.+vers down to the King's spiritual body. 

He was confident that he could easily escape Elric's grasp the moment he took the battle in the realm where he excels, but it seems he forgot one of the main reasons Elric was sought after.

He was a monster, both in the spiritual and physical realm!

Suddenly, the King realized that he was unable to move. He felt as if he was stuck in his place, frozen and unable to push his spiritual senses away. He could also feel the spirit of death waving his way.

"Sh*t"