Chapter 164: Seal of Adaptation

Chapter 164: Seal of Adaptation

He went away again... sigh.

Serena slowly removed her hood, her fingers brushing over the edges as she exhaled softly. Her eyes turned toward the clone still seated beside her, pretending to read and study like usual.

Without hesitation, she canceled the clone. As the illusion faded, she quietly took its place and leaned back into the seat, her thoughts beginning to drift again.

I now know life magic. Although my mastery isn’t that high yet, and there are still many more spells I need to learn... with time, I believe I can learn them all.

But even as her confidence in her magic grew, one question continued to echo in her mind—the one thing she couldn’t shake no matter how much she tried.

Who was the masked man that had been helping her?

Why was he going out of his way to help?

She had spent nearly a month at his side. Yet, no matter how closely she observed him, no matter how much time passed, she couldn’t figure out what he truly wanted. Aside from reading books in the library, he never seemed interested in much else.

Wait... could that really be all he wanted? Just access to the library?

She frowned slightly and shook her head.

No, that doesn’t make sense. With the kind of power he has shown, if he truly wanted to, he could have read those books without anyone noticing. There was no need to help me for that...

A sigh escaped her lips as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and cradling her chin.

"Looks like thinking about it won’t get me anywhere."

I will ask him tomorrow... after we save the Great Mother. I believe he’ll at least give me one clear answer then. Just one.

With that thought, she closed her eyes for a moment, letting her mind settle in the silence, waiting for what tomorrow would bring.

Next Day

"Do you remember the plan?" Ash asked in a calm tone, his eyes watching Serena carefully.

"Yes, I do," Serena replied, her voice steady but holding a trace of tension.

Ash nodded at her answer, and without wasting any more time, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder. In the next moment, the space around them shimmered faintly as they were teleported together.

The moment they arrived inside the isolated space, Ash disappeared without a sound, leaving Serena alone in the vast, tainted space under the World Tree.

But he hadn’t truly left.

In truth, Ash had concealed himself near the wall using his absolute concealment skill, blending into the background like a chameleon.

His presence was hidden so completely that even the demonic spirits didn’t notice him. Their focus was entirely fixed on Serena, who now stood alone in the middle of the corrupted battlefield.

It’s all up to you now, Serena...

Ash watched her quietly, his gaze resting on her figure. She held a wooden staff in her hands, carefully carved and shaped from the sacred wood of the World Tree itself.

At the top of the staff sat a large green mana stone, glowing faintly with condensed energy. Stones of that size and quality were incredibly rare—only dropped by Mythical Rank monsters

Doesn’t it feel like the demonic energy is thicker than before?

Serena thought as her eyes were soon drawn toward the roots of the World Tree, and what she saw made her grip tighten slightly.

The corruption had completely overtaken the roots. A thick, dark aura now surrounded them, and the Demonic Heart pulsed violently at the center, spreading waves of energy that seemed to twist the very air.

The number of spirits gathered around it had grown—too many to count at a glance.

She focused and started calculating with sharp precision.

There were roughly a thousand low-rank spirits, about seven hundred mid-rank, three hundred high-rank, and a full hundred of the Peak rank.

The numbers were staggering.

But what disturbed her most was something else.

None of the original spirits—the ones that had once tried to resist the corruption—remained.

He was right. The spirits who originally protected the World Tree must have all perished. Most of them probably couldn’t survive the forced conversion into demonic spirits. Only a small number lived through the change...

But even this small number... it’s still too many for just me to face.

Still, she held her ground, and her thoughts continued.

Still, she took a deep breath and steadied herself. At least the Spirit Kings weren’t here—those have already formed contracts. If they were present, there would have been no hope left.

If even they had been corrupted, everything would have been lost already...

Her thoughts were cut short when the demonic spirits began to move.

Corrupted spells—twisted fire, black lightning, tainted wind, and dark ice—rushed toward her in waves. The first attacks came from the low-rank spirits, but their coordination was terrifying, a tide of death hurtling straight toward her.

Serena held her ground.

I must not falter. I am the Queen. I have to be someone others can rely on. I must be strong enough to face this.

"No," she said quietly to herself, straightening her back. "I am powerful."

Her voice was calm, but her conviction was unshakable.

She raised her staff, pointed it toward the swarm of spells, and muttered under her breath with unwavering focus,

"Verdant Aegis."

As the spell activated, the mana stone embedded in her staff glowed brighter, drawing power directly from it, rather than from her body.

In response, a large green lotus began to bloom around her. Its petals opened one by one, forming a wide, dome-like shield that pulsed with life energy.

The corrupted attacks slammed into the lotus barrier.

-Boom.

-Boom.

-Boom.

Each impact was met with soft ripples of green energy. The shield remained intact, refusing to give way. But this was only the first wave. These attacks came from the low-rank spirits.

She barely had time to breathe when the next wave began.

This time, the mid-rank spirits joined in. Their spells were stronger, faster, and more refined. They didn’t attack blindly.

Instead, they coordinated, stacking the power of their elements and launching complex spell patterns in unison.

-Boom.

-Boom.

Explosions echoed all around her.

But still, the green lotus stood firm.

Serena stood inside the lotus bloom, her grip on the staff tight, her heart steady.

I can do this... I must do this. For the Great Mother. For the spirits who gave their lives. For the future of my race

Her resolve only grew stronger with each attack.

And from the sidelines, Ash looked at the spirits with his cold, emotionless eyes. Even though his emotions had returned, after being flooded with six hundred years of memories, he found that staying cold and rational brought him peace.

It was easier that way. Emotions clouded decisions, and right now, he needed clarity.

Why are they gathered so close together...?

Previously, when Ash had attacked, the spirits had been scattered across the entire space. That allowed him the room to maneuver and approach the heart without being overwhelmed.

But now, things were different. The spirits stood shoulder to shoulder, almost like soldiers standing in formation, guarding the heart like it was a sacred relic.

Is that heart... alive?

It was entirely possible. After all, this was a world where logic bent and magic ruled. There was no universal law that said something like a heart couldn’t develop sentience or defense mechanisms.

And if that heart truly was alive—if it had learned from its previous encounter with Ash and adapted its defenses—then everything would change from this point forward.

Looks like it’s time to go with Plan B...

Plan A was straightforward. While Serena acted as the bait, holding the attention of the spirits by drawing their aggression, Ash was supposed to use that distraction to silently appear in the middle of them, cause enough chaos, and make his way to the heart. Once there, he would seal it.

But now that the spirits were standing so tightly packed, almost like well-trained soldiers guarding a sacred core, there was no way to infiltrate without being overwhelmed by the attacks.

The original strategy was no longer viable. After all, even his healing would slow down whenever demonic energy was involved, and that fact alone was enough to change everything.

Letting out a quiet breath, Ash reached into his space ring and pulled out a small dagger. Its blade shimmered with a soft greenish-white glow, laced with delicate golden threads that ran along its edges like veins of light.

‣ Weapon Name: Seal of Adaptation

‣ Rank: EX (Demi-God)

‣ Description: A sealing dagger that adapts itself to the nature of the target. By infusing the opposite energy to that of the enemy, it creates a sealing field.

‣ Duration of Seal: Depends on the amount and type of mana infused. The seal can be extended with additional energy input.

‣ Limitations: Cannot seal entities whose rank exceeds that of the dagger.

This dagger was something Ash had taken from the Dragon Treasury. And since no one monitored every artifact on a daily basis, he considered it his personal treasure now.

Of course, he planned to take everything eventually—once he had a secure space to store things beyond just a ring.

Because if there was one thing he had learned from his time as a prisoner of the dragons, it was that space rings could be taken. Nothing inside was ever truly safe unless hidden in something more personal.

I was hoping to seal the heart without needing to fight much, but it looks like that won’t be happening...

The dagger was supposed to seal the heart for even a short amount of time, and once the World Tree regained its consciousness, it could then use its own life mana to seal the heart itself.

The dagger had been infused daily with both his and Serena’s life mana. On top of that, Ash had also paid visits to people who possessed light affinity—offering them generous amounts of gold in exchange for channeling their mana into the blade.

They agreed without much resistance.

Money was never a problem for Ash.

He had more than enough gold already, and when paired with the treasures from the Dragon Vault, his reserves were overflowing.

As far as he was concerned, if wealth could buy him power or options, he would gladly spend it all.

And now, it was time to put that investment to use.