The crimson ribbons of vitality drained from the two slaughtered mercenaries floated across the air, sinking straight into the spirit's exposed chest.
Under Alex's watchful eyes, the rotting grey flesh along the Evil Spirit's neck and jaw began to twitch and knit together, turning slightly fresher, smoother, and terrifyingly human-like.
Its spirit's aura exploded outward, sending a crushing wave of dark, corrupted mana that made the blood-red sky of the entire Ghost Domain shake.
Alex didn't wait. His dark pupils contracted into sharp, vertical golden slits as he instinctively triggered his skill.
[ Target Appraisal Successful ]
[ Entity: Ashen-Bone Wraith Lord (Newborn Evil Spirit) ]
[ Rank: Level 3 B-Rank (Half-Step A-Rank) ]
[ Domain: Spectral Graveyard ]
[ Special Trait: Legion Summoner (Can command hundreds of vengeful ghosts within its domain) ]
[ Skills:…]
[ Status: Consuming living essence to reconstitute true flesh. In the middle of evolution from Ghost Spirit to Evil Spirit.]
"Peak B-Rank... practically a half-step Master, and it still hasn't even evolved completely… not to mention Evil Spirits are born with abilities like Ghost Domains, that only S Rank or above Professionals could comprehend!" Alex's breath hitched in his throat.
Even though the Evil Spirit's true strength hasn't reached the A Rank yet, its combat power is nothing short of true A Rank professionals or higher.
Alex was still hidden, cloaked under the optical illusion of his Advanced Mirage Scale; the Evil Spirit's crimson gaze pierced straight through the empty air, locking directly onto Alex's hidden figure!
To an Evil Spirit, the radiant, boiling fountain of pure Yin energy and the intoxicating, sweet smell pouring from Alex's body were like a blazing beacon in the dark!
"Fuck it… First that Evil Spirit inside that bitch Clara, and now there's another Evil Spirit that came after me!" He already guessed that it was his stupid pheromones that attracted this Evil Spirit that hadn't finished its evolution to come out and target him.
The evil spirit's gaze- the pressure increased on his shoulders was heavy enough to spike his heart rate, and with that sudden spike, the thin balance of his Pheromone Control completely collapsed!
Whoosh—!
A concentrated, suffocating wave of raw female arousal blasted outward, cutting right through the decaying smell of the surrounding fog.
The Ashen-Bone Wraith Lord's crimson eye-flames suddenly intensified.
The creature froze its movements, as its newly formed lips pulled back over yellowed fangs in an expression of wild ecstasy.
"What is this smell...huh?!"
"What a Pure Yin Vessel!" The Wraith Lord roared, the sound vibrating the tombstones until they cracked.
"If I take your virgin Yin and devour your soul, I won't just speed up my evolution into Master Rank; I will become a True Evil Spirit King!"
The monster raised its large, half-rotted musculoskeletal hands toward the blood moon, letting out a gravelly roar that rattled the surrounding tombstones.
"My loyal slaves, heed my command! Strip her and drag her to my chambers… I'll take her as my Ghost Bride…!"
With heavy, thudding steps, the Ashen-Bone Wraith Lord closed the distance, stopping barely a pace away from where Alex was standing.
Looking down at the empty space, the Evil Spirit waved a massive hand.
Crack!
A shockwave of corrupted mana shattered the optical cloaking of Alex's Advanced Mirage Scale like brittle glass.
The sudden dispelling effect revealed Alex's slender, trembling figure, his fair skin glistening with cold sweat under the crushing weight of the Evil Spirit's pressure.
Alex watched helplessly, paralyzed by the spiritual suppression, as the creature extended a decayed, skeletal finger.
The yellowed bone scraped lightly across Alex's soft cheek, trailing down to his chin before forcefully tilting his head upward, forcing Alex to meet its ghastly, flaming eye sockets.
"Be obedient. Tomorrow I'll tie the knot with you and completely make you mine… Hehehe…!"
With a chilling chuckle, the Wraith Lord turned around and strode into the swirling, blood-tinged fog, vanishing deeper into the core of the Spectral Graveyard.
He didn't think Alex, with his current strength, could escape his Ghost Domain.
'You ugly asshole, I'm a fucking guy…!' Alex wanted to roar at the top of his lungs, but his vocal cords were completely locked under the lingering soul suppression.
Groaaan—!
Heeek... eeeek!
The moment the powerful Evil Spirit retreated, the frozen, frost-bitten shadows beneath their feet convulsed violently.
From deep within the shadows came hundreds of rotting hands, bleached skeletal arms, and jagged translucent claws that burst toward the surface.
Within seconds, the silent alleyway was completely overrun by the Ghost domain's nightmarish reality.
Over three hundred lesser wraiths, armored skeleton warriors gripping rusted halberds, and screeching banshees dragged themselves out of the shadows.
Their hollow, burning eyes locked onto the living prey trapped in their midst with unbridled bloodlust and perverted hunger.
"Sid! Run!" the last surviving mercenary screamed in absolute terror.
He scrambled toward where the alleyway entrance used to be, only to slam violently against a solid energy barrier that flung him backward deep into the monster horde.
As the Wraith Lord's direct pressure began to lessen, sensation returned to Alex's limbs.
Pure adrenaline surged through his veins. 'Damn it, is this the true difference between a B-Rank and an A-Rank…?'
'Hey, Empress! Wake the hell up.. Why are you so silent?!'
'There's an Evil Spirit locking me inside a Ghost Domain!'
'Help me tear through this spatial boundary!' Gritting his teeth, Alex focused his chaotic thoughts, frantically trying to reach deep into the quiet soul space within his sea of consciousness.
However, it was absolute, dead silence that answered him.
The Silver Serpent Empress, still deeply sullen and resentful after her soul-possession attempt failed, refused to give even the slightest reaction.
She remained dead silent in the deepest, darkest corner of his soul space, deliberately leaving him to face the disaster alone.
'Empress?! You damn crazy snake, that rotting corpse wants to use my body as a cauldron! Answer me, damn it!'
Still nothing. Not even a sarcastic scoff.
"Damn you, selfish bitch, I know you can hear me!" Alex cursed aloud; his voice sounded far more like a desperate young woman than the tough guy he felt like inside.
"Fine! I'll break out on my own… Even if it means I'll die here!"
'If the wedding is tomorrow, I still have time… I'm not the same helpless boy anymore!'
Clang—!
With a crisp metallic ring, Alex summoned his Blackiron longsword from his system storage.
The moment his slender fingers wrapped around the hilt, the liquid mana in his mana circuits began to act, his Yin-Mercury Body Art activating instinctively.
Shhhk!
"Mercurial Frost Sword Art—First Form: Glacial Ripple!"
Alex lunged forward. Thanks to his Level 3 Serpentine Musculature, his hips and spine moved with unnatural, fluid elasticity.
He pivoted on the balls of his feet, his slender body blurring as he slipped beneath the sweeping blow of a rusted greatsword.
Whoosh—!
A blinding, crescent wave of sharp mana erupted horizontally from his blade.
The deep slash ripped through the front line of charging ghouls, flash-freezing twenty spectral bodies into brittle statues of dark ice before smashing them into glistening dust.
Clang! Slash! Shatter!
Alex danced through the horde like a silver phantom.
His flexibility allowed him to twist at impossible angles, dodging serrated claws and bone spears by millimeters while returning lethal counters with cold precision.
Every swing of his sword carried the crushing weight and freezing bite of liquid mercury, cleaving through armored skeletons and dispersing wraith mists with terrifying efficiency.
His pure Yin-attributed mana acted like a strong purifying agent across the lower-level ghosts.
Within moments, another thirty lesser undead lay shattered at his feet, each with strength no less than D Rank or C Rank professionals.
Yet, despite his flawless sword technique, Alex's heart sank.
"Hahaha…!" The Wraith Lord's mocking laughter drifted through the blood-red fog from somewhere deep in the graveyard. In my domain, the dead are eternal!
The black mist rising from the shattered ice statues did not dissipate into the air.
Instead, it sank back into the frozen ground, and with a series of wet, cracking sounds, it continued again.
The destroyed skeletons and wraiths clawed their way back out of the shadows, fully reconstructed and screaming louder than before.
'Damn it, ordinary sword arts can't kill them when the domain's laws keep recycling their spiritual power!' Alex gasped for air, his chest heaving heavily.
"Fuck, even my pure Yin attribute can't do much damage inside the domain…!"
As the fight continued, unknowingly… The intense exertion from every rapid breath pumped more of his sweet, intoxicating Yin pheromones into the frigid mist.
Ssssshh—!
Suddenly, three agile B-Rank shadow-wraiths materialized from his different blind spots, attacking at the same moment with their sharp claws slashing across his torso and back.
Rrrrip!
While his Scaled Dermis absorbed the physical trauma and prevented deep wounds, the razor claws shredded multiple parts of his shirt, leaving claw-shaped openings behind his back.
"Shit," while also ripping the back strings of the sports bras that held his breasts tight.