Chapter 68: Body and Soul: Sewn Spell

  “I admit I’ve fallen into your trap, but if you think everything will go according to plan, you’re dreaming!” Sila roared angrily.

  The small bottle in his hand shattered. Several black spheres flew out of the bottle. Although dark black, they were somewhat translucent, revealing numerous Devil beasts within.

  The massive amount of black spheres began to converge. Some were devoured, others devoured others, until finally, only five massive black spheres, larger than a person, remained.

  “Body and Soul: Sewn Spell." Leader Mei frowned. This time, she was truly in a difficult position. Body and Soul: Sewn spell uses a specific type of Word of Power to seal the target’s entire body and soul, along with the target's Word of Power itself, into a black soul-like mass.

  The insidious aspect of it is that the sealed body and soul will be forced to obey the users. The user can merge other sealed bodies to create a new kind of life form. The souls of the merged bodies will disappear. Only a distorted physical body and a fragmented soul remain.

  These black spiritual lumps are portable and can be released to summon sealed targets. Those who can wield this spell are essentially carrying an army.

  This spell is considered as Pale Art and forbidden in all countries. Sealing a target's soul requires not only specific powerful spiritual energy but also a significant sacrifice of lives to provide the energy for the seal. Even the vessel used to contain it must be woven from the souls of those with pure white souls—more good karma than bad karma. The more souls contained, the more resources are needed. The vessel capable of containing the souls of a First word Engraver, as used by Sila, should be woven from over a hundred pure white souls.

  While powerful, it has many limitations. If the target's soul isn't strong enough, it may crumble, leaving only a motionless corpse. Souls strong enough are rare. To date, Sila has only found six. One of them is a spiritual body with the ability to transfer its soul—Sila can repeatedly transfer this soul into the empty body.

  Yet the soul fails to merge this time, and the body doesn't fully embed itself. He has to reappear to reclaim it, leading to the current trap.

  Princess Pailin's face turned pale. She knew this infamous Pale Art well, and logically, a Second word Engraver shouldn't possess this art or vessel for it. Just the financial resources needed to acquire the souls for sealing were unimaginable, not to mention the vessels themselves.

  The five soul lumps shattered, revealing five Devil beasts radiating a powerful energy of First word Engraver. All five had brightly glowing eyes, and unique Ancient Characters were carved on their foreheads.

  One was a giant tiger, its body enormous, with two eagle heads sprouting from its back, its massive wings spread wide, and the Word of Power ‘Wing’ carved on its forehead.

  Another was a large red dog, its body enveloped in flames, yet its tail tip is frozen. It radiates both hot and cold energy at the same time. Engraved on one of their foreheads is ‘Two Side’.

  One was a small bird, no larger than an average human. Its featherless wings were spread, revealing only the bones within. At the featherless tips, a gigantic python raised its head ferociously. Engraved on its forehead is ‘Whirlwind’.

  Another was a humanoid beast, entirely green in color. Vines wrapped tightly around its body, and a large flower bloomed on its head. Engraved on its forehead is the Word of Power ‘Grow’.

  The last one, though a beast, bore the indistinguishable features of a human. If it weren't for the wide-open mouth revealing long, sharp teeth, this person would be no different from a human. Engraved on its forehead is ‘Devour’.

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  The most terrifying thing was that these five Devil beasts were all First word Engravers! And judging from their energy, they were First word Engraver who had advanced from those who had learned two or three words!

  Each of them possessed power equal to or greater than Leader Mei in her normal state!

  All of Unit 3, who were all channeling their spiritual energy into the incense to create a barrier, narrowed their pupils. Even though Leader Mei could handle Sila, it is clearly too much for her to handle those 5 Devil beasts.

  Inside were only Nitaan and Princess Pailin. One is a Learner, and the other is a Newborn.

  “I’ll go in! At least I can buy some time against one of the Devil beasts!" Napha and Gion said in unison. They looked at each other, their faces serious.

  “Me too! If I go in, at least there will only be two Devil beasts left. Leader Mei and Nitaan should be able to handle them. And there’s Princess Pailin’s treasure too!”

  “No! At least Kasa must stay here. I can’t maintain this Candle-light Curtain Incense alone! If the barrier disappears, those Devil beasts will definitely attack the villagers. We can’t let that happen!” Tawan shouted. Although Kasa was displeased, she understood that the villagers’ safety was paramount.

  Napha and Gion wasted no time, rushing into the barrier and quickly joining the battle. Both used their requested Enchanted artifacts to the fullest. Their bodies were covered by a faint energy barrier emanating from their pendants. Napha wore black gloves that radiated power, while Gion wielded two swords surrounded by wind and earth.

  Princess Pailin attempted to use her treasures more, but she hesitated as Sila's body suddenly acted strange.

  Sila looked up at the sky and let out a deafening roar. Beneath the roar, a firework shot out from Sila's mouth, exploding into a dazzling purple light. A talisman was revealed within.

  "Reversal Talisman! Sila is escaping!" Princess Pailin shouted. This talisman was an Enchanted artifact imbued with the power of high-level dimensional energy. It allowed its user to teleport hundreds of kilometers back to a previously recorded point. Her Candle-light Curtain Incense’s barrier couldn't stop it.

  Sila smirked wickedly as his face became paler. Activating it required immense time and energy. Under Leader Mei's suppression, he had no chance. The five First word Engraver Devil beasts were more than enough to create an opportunity for him.

  Napha and Gion engaged the beasts, while Leader Mei dealt with two of them. While Nitaan and Kiita rushed into the fray to contend with the last two. With Leader Mei's power, supported by Three Stage Circlet, she single-handedly subdued two of the beasts. Soon, she would be able to help Napha, Gion, and Nitaan.

  With everyone occupied, no one was able to divide their attention to disrupt Sila.

  This short amount of time was all that Sila needed. Princess Pailin, who was about to obstruct him, was instantly immobilized by Sila’s ‘Seal’. One of her rings glowed brightly, shattering the eight-pointed star covering her body. But the moment was gone. Reversal Talisman has already activated.

  As the Reversal Talisman shone brightly and began to activate, Sila quickly stepped into the circle of light. He breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he had almost failed. Even if the mission failed, he had managed to preserve his life, and that was more than enough.

  However, just as Sila was about to disappear through the circle of light, Reversal Talisman suddenly emitted a blinding red light, reversing its function abruptly. Sila's pupils shake uncontrollably. The energy from the talisman pierced his body, tearing him apart from within before erupting into five powerful forces.

  His body trembled, his spiritual energy was extinguished, and his eyes became lifeless. Those energies pierced and destroyed his body rapidly, leaving him no chance to resist.

  Sila recalled the origin of the talisman. The man who gave it to him with a smile, telling him to use it in emergencies. The man who entrusted him with the task of slandering Princess Pailin.

  The five energies continuously pierced Sila's body, giving him no chance to defend himself. The five energies unleashed a power that even a Second word Engraver like him couldn't withstand.

  "You! I have supported and respected you for a long time! I willingly performed these dirty missions for you!" Sila coughed up blood, yet he gritted his teeth and roared, his eyes fixed on the sky, on the blazing red talisman that had just pierced his body.

  "Yet you dare deceive me!" Sila screamed in hatred, his body continuously pierced by the five red energies. His life force seemed about to be extinguished at any moment, but his Second word Engraver physical and life force allowed him to maintain his last ounce of consciousness.

  "I curse you! Pri…" Before Sila could finish speaking, five bursts of red energy blasted his body into tiny pieces. Blood, flesh, and organs scattered everywhere. Second word Engraver had met his demise.

  Everything happened too quickly. They had only just begun to deal with the five Devil beasts. Sila was about to escape, but in an instant, he met a tragic end.

  Everyone watched with pale eyes. But the nightmare wasn't over yet. Those five bursts of red light shot into the bodies of the five Devil beasts. They screamed in agony, their bodies swelling, their muscles expanding, their spiritual energy flooding in like a torrent.

  When the excess energy exploded, fragments of power scattered everywhere, destroying the energy barrier covering half the village. Nitaan hid behind Kiita, who had already fortified his body. Leader Mei rushed to protect Princess Pailin, quickly grabbing Napha and Gion.

  When the dust cleared, the five Devil beasts stood up again. This time, all five of them unleashed energy that was only half a step away from Second word Engraver. Their bodies had become noticeably stronger. As the energy barrier had completely shattered, nothing stood in their way anymore.