"Didn't know you could do that," Leo noted as he approached the Soulflame's body. Nyx's attack cut through it like a hot knife through butter and chopped it into four uneven pieces. The Voidling died on the spot.

The feline shrugged, her tails swaying wildly. 'Neither did I. This was the first time I tried this. Happy it worked. Going to need some work, though. For the amount of Essence I put into this technique, it just barely cut through. I have some ideas, but could you also teach me Kiss of Death?'

He furrowed his brow, searching for the connection between the two. "You want to combine your affinity and skills?"

'I would like to,' she tilted her head. 'Why? Do you think it's impossible?'

"No. Not at all," he shook his head, thinking of his own attempts to improve True Stealth. "Just surprised. Besides, we know it's possible. I’ve already used Devour with shadows."

Nyx perked up. 'So will you?'

Leo chuckled, giving the feline a quick scratch behind her ear. "Sure, why not? We can even experiment together. Honestly, I never considered using Kiss to strengthen my constructs. I only cared about stealth."

'Great,' she purred before motioning to the slaughtered corpse. 'What about this one?'

"Standard treatment," he said and stabbed the two parts of the body with his claws while his tails went for what remained. "I still haven't gotten any notification about the nest. Might as well see what happens."

Devour.

All the slime pieces jerked at once, their mass shrinking with each second as Leo consumed their remaining Essence. Unlike with any other Voidling, there was no dust left behind. The Soulflame slowly popped out of existence like it had never been there in the first place.

Only it wasn't completely true. The Voidling left something behind.

Nest Core:

Destroy it to neutralize the Nest of Soullings. This item has no other known uses.

Huh. That's a unique description.

Leo arched an eyebrow, picking up the glowing baseball-sized blue orb. Its texture didn't feel much different from ordinary glass, and he could bet it would shatter just as easily.

He glanced at Nyx. "Any idea what will happen if we just take it."

'No,' the feline shook her head. 'Why would you even want to do that? It says there are no other uses.'

He shrugged. "Curiosity. You're a cat; you should know something about that."

Nyx blinked, her large eyes questioning. 'I don't get it.'

"Of course you don’t. Why am I even surprised?" he sighed, applying some pressure to the orb. "Anyway… Aren't you at least a bit curious about what will happen to the nest if we take its core far, far away? I definitely am."

'Not really?' She replied, giving him a weird look. 'What's the point? If we don't destroy it, we don't get the reward. Simple.'

Hard to argue with that logic. But still...

Leo glanced at the core and, with a heavy heart, closed his fist, shattering the orb into pieces. The blue Essence, or whatever it was inside, escaped between his fingers before fading away like smoke. At the same time, the entire church shook, small bits of Vetilim all around withering.

The Nest of Soullings has lost connection to its core. Partial cleansing in progress. Beware falling objects.

Right, similar to what happened with the Shadow Tails. The labyrinth and Nesting Gate were gone, but Vetilim remained here and there. He noted, watching the process slowly come to a stop.

Congratulations, Nest of Soullings conquered. Do you wish to destroy this instance completely or prepare an Ether tower? Choosing the second option will result in the loss of bonus rewards. However, a Safe Zone may be created later on using the tower.

"And here it is," Leo muttered. "Doubt the reward will be any better than the one from Ameists, but let's see. System, destroy this."

Acknowledged. Distributing full rewards. Please leave this instance immediately. Complete collapse will commence in 5 minutes.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Bonus experience and 900 Ether gained. Rare quality item has been delivered to your Soul Well. Survivor reward: +1 Soul.

A weak grimace spread over his face as the additional weight landed inside his soul. There was still some space left there, but if he continued getting items like that one after another, this might change soon.

Though, maybe not that soon. Leo let out a bark of laughter when another notification appeared.

You have reached level 27. Class and Racial attributes have been distributed. Please assign your 3 free attributes.

Back to the usual stuff, I guess. All into Soul. He ordered, and instantly, the pressure inside him lessened. "Nice... Come on, Nyx. Apparently, we shouldn't stay inside here."

The feline nodded and followed him outside. As they walked, Leo fired off an Identify at Nyx, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Twenty-four. He smiled. Good. You got a level up, too. Right in time for the next part of our plan.

"Should be far enough," he said, stopping in the middle of the road. "Still over three minutes left. Might as well take a look at what we got this time."

'Another weapon?'

"No idea. It didn't say," Leo shrugged, reached into his soul, and pulled.

A crimson flash was all it took for a large, dark-as-night item to land in his hand. He quickly flipped it around to get a better grip and frowned when he realized what he was holding.

A full chestplate with shoulder pads? His frown deepened as his claw traced the unknown material. Boiled leather? Seems like it.

Zakorian Chestplate (Rare):

A chestplate crafted by an experienced Armorer. It's made out of boiled leather from a Zakorian, thus offering moderate protection against F ranked enemies. Thanks to its natural properties, this leather will slowly repair itself unless critically damaged. Additionally, this armor has been enchanted to shrink or expand to fit most users.

Not bad, but... Leo looked down at his chest and then at the spikes on his back. Ain't no way this will fit me even with the enchantment. I will destroy it if I try.

'Useless?' Nyx asked, seeing his expression.

He nodded, consuming the chestplate. "Useless."

As he said that, the earth beneath them shook once. Instantly, their eyes snapped to the church that, unlike the earth, didn't stop trembling. Stone and Vetilim broke off its walls while the broken Crimson Mirage on top withered.

In a matter of minutes, the entire structure collapsed into ruin, just as the System had promised. Leo waited for another message, maybe something about the Vetilim plant, but nothing came. Either the Crimson Mirage was a vital part of the nest, or there was no reward from it.

"So that's it," he snorted. "The last known nest in Wolford is gone. I can't tell if Holden will be happy, angry, or just completely done with it."

Nyx huffed. 'He is still a human. His opinion doesn't matter.'

Leo dragged a hand across his face.

Of course, it doesn't.

----------------------------------------

'Are you sure about this?' Nyx asked as they stood in front of the opening leading into the Graveyard. 'We can wait for your bloodlust to return and then go in.'

Leo shook his head. "It will be fine. Even if they wake up, we can outrun them easily this time. I'm stronger than them... And I have the improved flares."

As risky as a trip into the Graveyard seemed, unlike the last time, there was not much to worry about. Now, he knew the exterior of the building, possessed flares more effective than the common ones, and, like he told Nyx, he was stronger. His status only proved that.

Name: Leonardo Brown

Title: Nikra's Legacy

Evolution Stage: II - Prime Night Hunter

Class: Nightblade | LVL. 27

Job: Hunter

Rank: E

Might Tier II (38) | LB: 43

Grace: Tier II (147) | LB: 44

Vision: Tier II (20) | LB: 42

Mind: Tier II (40) | LB: 0

Soul: Tier II (56) | LB: 28

Yeah, we will be fine. Leo grinned, and he would swear that for a moment, he had felt a spark of bloodlust igniting in his mind. Not there yet.

'So be it,' Nyx finally said, snapping him back to reality. 'Just promise me we're getting out the moment Nightmares wake up. I want to fight them too, but not inside their nest. That's a suicide, even for us.'

"You have my word."

'Thank you,' she sighed before pointing at the Soullings floating behind them. 'Now, can you finally tell me why we are dragging those two with us?'

Leo nodded as he summoned his cloak and put on the cowl.

It's simple, really. He spoke through their link. They are invulnerable to physical attacks and can kill anything that doesn't use Essence for defense. I want to see how they fare against Nightmares. If it works, great. If it doesn't, then at least we know they can't one-shot creatures much stronger than them.

Nyx hummed. 'Interesting idea, even if I doubt they can kill a Nightmare.'

Me too, but that's why we are here. To learn. Come on.