Elysian immediately froze; his gaze never wavered as he kept staring into the creature’s hate-filled gaze. Deep within her eyes, there was no falsehood, only fury—and madness too. Suddenly, his whole body tensed as the weight of the creature’s threat sank in.

‘She’s lying, right? Just trying to scare me so her realm won’t get destroyed.

Hmm… If this place really collapses, she’ll probably die. But I’m trapped here. Would I die along with her? I’d just return to my body, right? Yeah, that’s got to be it. Yes…

Would I risk my life on that assumption?

Damn! This place can’t collapse until I’m free. Or I might really die here. I can’t allow that to happen. I just can’t. F*ck!

Hey, Eye, you’ve heard that, right? Slow down, or I’ll die.’

Though in a dire situation, Elysian managed to maintain his smile while feigning nonchalance as he stole a momentary glance at the colossal eye. When he observed that the collapse of the realm didn’t abate but instead accelerated, his smile became strained.

‘Hey, you damn b*stard! Are you listening to me?! Stop what you’re doing! You’re going to get me killed too.’

As the Eye of Sacraeon continued to ignore him and refused to listen, Elysian’s smile quivered before fading completely, replaced by panic as his mouth hung open.

‘Hey, b*stard! Do you want me to die? Are you even listening?

Quit ignoring me, you b*stard!’

The creature noticed the change in the boy’s demeanor, causing her grin to grow wider, fueling her insanity even further.

“Where’s your arrogance now, boy?” she questioned, her malice rousing her rampage even more. “Do you think you can make me come to heel? I’m the -[Dread Monarch]-, boy. I kneel to no one, especially to a man!” she screamed, her maniacal laughter growing even louder. “You scum! I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done to me. My spite and hatred will burn for all eternity until my vengeance is sated. I’ll gladly perish if I can take you with me. Let’s die together in death’s embrace.”

‘What is she talking about? How could I have done something to her? I’ve just met her! Has she gone mad?

F*ck! It seems she’s really losing it.

Her realm is probably connected to her somehow, maybe like her mind, or even deeper, like her soul. The more it collapses, the more her mind crumbles with it. Sh*t!

This is bad. This is really bad.

Eye, for f*ck’s sake, please stop already. You’re killing her, and me along with her. I thought you wanted me to control her as my weapon. Why are you doing this now?’

When the Eye of Sacraeon refused to listen and remained bent on destroying her, Elysian finally had enough. “Hey, you bird brain. I know you can f*cking hear me! Can you stop and retreat for now?!” he exclaimed, frustration clear in his tone. Instead of his voice getting louder, it grew quieter, becoming colder and more dangerous. Any notion of him merely messing around was gone; he was deadly serious now, unwilling to be put into this precarious situation by these two idiots any longer.

“If you don’t listen to me, I will resent you. I swear it upon the heavens—I will consider you my enemy. You’re well aware that I can be quite vindictive. Eye, you wouldn’t want me holding a grudge against you. This is my final warning. The choice is yours if you want to end this relationship with me.”

The Eye of Sacraeon turned his attention to the boy, scrutinizing him for a moment. Instead of cowering under the weight of its gaze, Elysian met its stare, steadfast and unyielding. Finally, the colossal eye retreated, and the realm’s collapse came to a halt.

‘Thank you. I owe you for this one, big fella.’

Elysian could finally sigh in relief. Just as he thought everything would be fine, something worse happened.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” the woman screamed, growling like a rabid dog devoid of reason. Suddenly, the lake of blood rose like spears—one at first, then tens, then hundreds—flying upward like sparrows taking flight, homing in on prey. It attacked the Eye of Sacraeon nonstop.

‘F*ck!’

“Have you gone mad!” Elysian screamed in disbelief, noticing the insanity in her eyes taking hold. Still hoping his reason could reach her, he continued, “I thought you wanted it gone. Now, you’re attacking that giant eye? Stop already, or you’ll really die!”

The woman just ignored Elysian’s plea for reason. The number of her spears kept increasing—first, it was just in the hundreds; now, it was in the thousands. Not only that, but the darkness that dwelled within the deepest recess of her realm flowed out and seeped into the spears, empowering them even more. They glowed with gloom, ominous and dangerous, reverberating through the air with the shriek of souls she had consumed, their runes blazing as if they could pierce anything.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

‘Sh*t! That looks pretty dangerous.’

“Crazy b*tch!” Elysian spat out. His face paled, and even his vision dimmed momentarily as he witnessed the ominous spears thinning like needles, growing rigid and sharper. This reduced width allowed them to multiply, filling her entire realm with hundreds of thousands. As they ascended into the sky, they blotted out everything. The boy could only see the impending doom that was about to come. “Eye, be careful!”

The spears of blood assailed the colossal eye relentlessly, akin to a never-ending tide—unyielding and ceaseless. Yet, like a fortress of old, steadfast, and resolute, it merely regarded the onslaught as if it were naught but hay tossed by a playful breeze, dispersing before it could even draw near. The colossal eye remained indifferent, seeing the attacks as nothing but a humorous parody that underscored the difference between the divine and the beast.

Elysian exhaled deeply, seeing that the attack did nothing to the Eye of Sacraeon. Not a single spear of blood even grazed its body; instead, it just vanished into thin air long before reaching the colossal eye.

‘It appears the Eye of Sacraeon is a monster among monsters, establishing a clear hierarchy between them. Its arrogance seems justified now that it has proven its power and dominance. The question is, how strong is it?

That’s a question I cannot answer, at least for now. I’m sure it's extremely strong, and I’m glad it's on my side.

Now that I think about it, I couldn’t even see the entirety of Eye due to its size; it couldn’t even fit the entire realm of this creature. I wonder what it truly looks like. Perhaps it is just an oversized version of its artifact form. Well, that’s a question for another day. Though I have resolved this crisis, the main problem remains unresolved.’

“Come back here, coward!” the creature’s voice thundered with sadistic delight, her relentless attack showing no sign of stopping. “Do you truly believe I’ll ever forget what you and your men did to me? Never! No matter how long it takes, I will relish every moment of your torment, every drop of your suffering, until you beg for mercy that will never come. Your sins have marked you, and I am the instrument of your reckoning, thirsting for the taste of your fear and the darkness of your soul.”

‘Thank you.’

Elysian nodded in acknowledgment to the Eye of Sacraeon when it did not respond to the woman’s provocation. It continued to retreat until there was only a small hole in the sky, from which it observed the boy and the creature, protecting him like a guardian in the night.

As the creature’s realm ceased collapsing, it slowly reformed, not entirely to its former state but no longer on the verge of crumbling.

‘Damn, that was close.

Hmm… Her sanity should return any minute now that her realm is no longer collapsing.’

After breathing a sigh of relief, Elysian redirected his attention to the woman. “Hey, stop what you’re doing, and let’s negotiate.”

Instead of listening, the creature continued her relentless onslaught. Now that the Eye of Sacraeon had retreated, most of her attacks missed their mark, veering into the vast emptiness of her realm. She did not care. Instead, she was hellbent on her assault while laughing in euphoria. Sometimes she even cried and hurled curses at unseen adversaries. Her descent into insanity showed no signs of abating; if anything, it seemed to be getting worse.

‘Why isn’t she stopping? I thought now that her realm wasn’t collapsing, she would return to normal. It seems I’m wrong. She’s even getting worse.

Damn it! Why is this happening?

Hmm…

One possibility, she might have been insane from the beginning. Or on the verge of being one.

Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. Hmm…

When her realm started to collapse, it likely triggered her insanity to worsen. Now, she has truly lost her mind.

Sh*t! If this is true, what should I do now?’

Elysian was getting worried now. He had no idea when her sanity might return, and he couldn’t stay here forever. Whether the creature could potentially endure hundreds, thousands of years, or perhaps even for eternity, he knew waiting her out was out of the question.

‘How can I break free here?

One possibility is to let Eye destroy her realm, as it nearly did just now. Although I might die alongside her, it’s not certain. She might be lying, and I could survive, although I don’t favor the odds. Sigh. Should be the last resort if I exhaust all other options.

The best solution is to have Eye help me. That’s the most ideal. However, would it even help? If Eye wanted to, I wouldn’t be hanging in here. Eye is always listening to my thoughts, and it’s not doing anything. This speaks volumes about the assistance it's willing to provide. Sigh.

Are there other options available to me, though?

Hmm…

Wait, now that the Eye of Sacraeon has created a breach into her realm, perhaps I can use my aura now.’

Elysian took a deep breath, concentrating on sensing the energy within his dantian. When he felt its presence, he grabbed hold of it. With a determined effort, he pulled it out and released it outward. It worked. The energy from his dantian gradually flowed outward from this body, forming a thin layer of aura around him.

‘Finally! I hate being this powerless.’

As the aura enveloped his body, the young noble breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he now had another option without having to rely on others. However, as he continued to inspect his state, his brow furrowed when he noticed something peculiar.

‘This is strange.

I don’t possess any healing abilities, so why is my body healing now? Could it be because of aura? That’s unusual, it typically doesn’t have a healing effect unless one has a related ability.

Hmm… Perhaps it’s not aura but Qi which has some healing properties. That could be it. But I didn’t choose the lower dantian; I chose the upper dantian instead, so my regeneration should be negligible. It’s odd for me to heal this quickly, especially since I have only begun my journey into the realm of cultivation.’

As Elysian continued to observe his body, his eyes widened when he noticed that his completely destroyed legs were now starting to reform. It was as if a high-cultivator specialized in healing had extended his hand to aid him, or as if a miraculous potion from one of those snobby ancient families had done him a favor. Such a bizarre occurrence shouldn’t have happened.

‘What’s happening here?

Hey, Eye, have you done something?’

When the artifact did not respond, Elysian sighed, already expecting to be ignored.

‘This shouldn’t be Eye’s doing. If it did help me, it should’ve already barraged me with insults and then thrown it in my face that it helped me, like some arrogant prick—just like me. I fear we’re too similar in that way.

If not Eye, then who? Hmm…

Can I even call it healing? This is not my physical body but my consciousness—like a mental construct or something.

Wait… Wait, my energy is Psion, right?’