Chapter 391 – Anya's Withering

“This isn’t real, tell me none of this is true. Everything… is false. If I just wake up, if I just lift my head, none of this will happen…”

The setting sun had gradually sunk below the horizon, leaving only a ribbon of dusky yellow light flickering between sky and earth. Yet even this last remnant of radiance grew hazy and dim under the canopy of the Emerald Forest. By now, the light spots filtering through the leaf gaps had nearly vanished completely.

Standing in the already darkened woods, Anya wept with her face buried in her hands like a lost child. Not far from her on a patch of open ground, large pools of crimson blood remained visible. Without doubt, those bloodstains represented the passing of the person most important to Anya…

A Master-Level powerhouse was never something any Formal-Level professional could resist head-on, let alone when facing Punk – an eighteenth-level spellcaster who ranked among the elite even within Master-Level Mages. Mijia Ka’s fall was utterly inevitable, and the pitifully brief time he bought with his life only allowed the panicked girl to run twenty or thirty meters away.

Compared to Punk’s supersonic speeds, twenty or thirty meters was far too short a distance. Before Mijia Ka’s body even hit the ground, Punk’s figure was already blocking Anya’s path.

But at this moment, everything had become meaningless to Anya. From the instant Mijia Ka’s blood reflected in her retinas, the strong young woman named Anya had died along with him. For a maiden in love, the man she loved was everything – a precious existence she could never afford to lose.

Now that Mijia Ka was dead, Anya had lost all will to live. In the void of the girl’s inner world, boundless darkness and despair once again surged forth like tidal waves. And this time… Anya didn’t resist.

As darkness consumed her, the girl’s remaining consciousness, after a brief hesitation, dissolved into crimson haze that merged with the darkness. At this point, Anya’s soul had completely transformed into another kind of twisted, remade entity. Only one thought remained within the maiden’s soul – destruction!

If she stood on ground, she would destroy the ground. If she breathed air, she would destroy the air. If trees surrounded her, she would destroy the trees. If enemies stood before her, she would destroy the enemies. Destroy everything, destroy all things visible and invisible, continuing until even she herself was finally destroyed!

“AAAAAAAAAA KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL”!

After the atmosphere in the entire space briefly stagnated, the maiden who had been helplessly weeping just seconds before erupted with a roar of despair. Accompanying that furious roar like a wounded beast, the Eerie Eyeball located in Anya’s left eye suddenly widened.

In its activated state, the Eerie Eyeball – which only knew how to radiate negative emotions matching the environment – once again began releasing that bizarre energy intended to remake living souls. With no “host” resistance, this soul transformation proceeded with unprecedented smoothness for the negative eyeball.In less than a second, Anya’s soul underwent a cataclysmic transformation—a terrifying change that manifested even on her physical body.

The girl’s skin began to show chaotic red-and-blue patterns as vicious bone spikes pierced through her flesh. The muscles in her arms rapidly mutated into grotesque tentacles. Within a single breath, the once breathtakingly beautiful girl had become a complete monster.

“Killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkill DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE AAAAAAAAH!”

The monstrous Anya roared skyward, the deafening cry shattering trees and rocks across the area.

Yet Punk’s expression remained utterly emotionless. Even when the monster-Anya swung her mutated tentacle-arm at him, his gaze stayed as detached and icy as ever.

“As expected, this Eerie Eyeball is more troublesome than anticipated. Not probing it with my own psychic energy was the correct choice. Looking at its indiscriminate biological modification ability… this must be another product of some Legendary Mage’s ‘mass-produced magical creature army’ project.”

Punk stepped back lightly to avoid Anya’s wild swing. He wasn’t rushing to stop the frenzied girl—this was a rare opportunity to gather intelligence about the Eerie Eyeball. Moreover… the eerie energy enveloping Anya was clearly supplied by the eyeball. The more this energy was consumed now, the safer his future research would be. Based on this assessment, Punk decided to let Anya continue her “dance” for a while.

Several seconds passed quickly. Anya’s power seemed to have peaked under the Eerie Eyeball’s influence. Each of her attacks now generated terrain-altering shockwaves through the forest. Yet Punk effortlessly dodged every straightforward assault—such crude, slow movements were utterly primitive. With this level of combat ability, the current Anya probably couldn’t even defeat an experienced Formal-Level Mage.

Sensing the attacks that barely managed to distort space, Punk felt a predictable disappointment:

“Well, this appears to be just a failed product. While this eerie energy transformation can instantly elevate a mere third-level apprentice to possess the power of a fifteen-level Master-Level Expert… for a Legendary Expert, this mindless creation that doesn’t even rank among competent Master-Level beings—and has such limited lifespan—is completely worthless. Perhaps modifying a Legendary-Level being might yield unexpected surprises, but…”

He casually released a “Kinetic Blast” that sent the completely unguarded monster-Anya flying—she didn’t even possess the instinct to dodge. Punk shook his head speechlessly:

“The cognitive fragmentation has erased even basic instincts. Using these ‘soldiers’ that are inferior to low-tier golems for combat… no wonder only an eyeball remains of whatever created them.”With the memories of a Grand Arcanist, Punk offered a fair assessment. The already not-too-complex Eerie Eyeball had been almost fully examined by him. All that remained was for the energy within the eyeball to be completely depleted by Anya’s rampage… then Punk could safely harvest a risk-free reference of laws.

As time passed, Mila and Chikasa had completely disappeared beyond the horizon, and the silent night once again descended without a sound. In this forest shrouded by darkness, Punk, having obtained the information he wanted, had no patience to continue engaging with Anya. This time, when the girl charged at him again, she wasn’t met with being blasted away. Before the tentacles covered in eerie patterns could be raised once more, Anya’s head was effortlessly torn off by Punk using Mage Hand.

“Alright, my second apprentice, thank you very much for helping ‘purify’ this eyeball. However… you’re too insignificant. I’m afraid I don’t have time to mourn you. This is a convenient outcome, isn’t it?”

He dug out the lifeless, hollow right eye, casually stripped off the “novice Mage Robe” he had given Anya, then unhurriedly stored both the bloodstained robe and the Eerie Eyeball into his Storage Ring. Finally, after completing these actions, Punk watched as Anya’s twisted, deformed corpse and Mijia Ka’s remains were consumed by magical flames.

Now, the retrieval of the Eerie Eyeball was successfully completed, leaving Punk with only one matter left to attend to. Of course, this final task was undoubtedly the most troublesome one.

(End of Chapter)