One-Eyed Monster

The voice came from right beside his ear, as if it were speaking right next to him.

In his mind, there was only one possibility for a voice in his ear like this: Kuyi Tulan’s consciousness had seized a foothold again.

”How you achieved Transcendence, I don’t have time to argue those differences with you right now.” That was the Spirit’s tone toward Kuyi Tulan—lofty, condescending, carrying a strong sense of oppression.

”I’m not the one talking, you bastard!” Kuyi Tulan had been silent for a very, very long time; his body had been tortured by this Spirit for so long that he was already seething with rage.

”Not you!” That answer shocked the Spirit. Who else could exist in Kuyi Tulan’s Inner World? It was practically inconceivable.

Could it be his old partner returning? If so, that would be wonderful.

But that should be impossible. A soul that has been completely Devoured will never reappear. His partner had already scattered; there was no coming back.

Then it was strange. Who else could have gotten in besides Kuyi Tulan?

”So it is just as I imagined. Kuyi Tulan has indeed been taken over by someone.” That voice rang out again, and it felt somewhat familiar.

”Is it a Soul Devourer, is it that power that kept showing up?”

”Doesn’t seem right. This power is far stronger than what showed up before.”

The Spirit found it hard to imagine someone actually talking to themselves so casually in here. It was just too arrogant. This was his own world—how could he allow someone to speak so freely?

Yet he couldn’t locate where the other party was at all; it was complete confusion.

”Who the hell are you, rampaging around in here!” He was furious. The outer world was aggravating enough, and now even his own domain was being disturbed.

”Me? You’re asking who I am?” The voice sounded very surprised; it obviously hadn’t expected anyone to directly come looking for him here.

”Who exactly are you?”

”Oh, oh, me? I’m Igor, someone who’s going to become an Adventurer.”

”I don’t care what you’re called. I only want to know how you got here, and what your purpose is.”

”I knew it, there’s no way an Alchemist would have that much magic.”

Igor was still muttering to himself; here he simply didn’t feel any pressure.

His attitude made the Spirit extremely displeased. Its agitated mood was Leveling up, gradually boiling into anger.

”He’s being suppressed for the moment, and seems pretty pissed off about it.”

The Spirit’s anger had reached its peak. It needed to vent.

”Answer my question!”

The roar cut off Igor’s self-talk and blew apart a clump of mist. At that moment, Igor appeared before the Spirit.

Igor had his hands tucked in, body leaning back, clearly startled by that shout.

The Spirit had no form, but in Igor’s eyes it did. Because Igor could imagine this world as he pleased—this world was originally his own mental construct. In his vision, the Spirit was an enraged monkey.

”Who exactly are you, and why did you come here?” Although the Spirit could now see the uninvited guest in front of it, it still had to ask. This guy was the so‑called ’master’ described by those few Spirit Books. It hadn’t believed it before, but seeing this figure now, it finally understood: this boy was the master the Spirit Books spoke of.

But who on earth was this boy, what kind of existence was he, that he could enter its world?

”Didn’t I just say? I’m Igor. As for why I came here, do I really need to spell it out? Of course it’s to stop you.”

”Stop me? With just you?” The Spirit couldn’t even be bothered to take that seriously.

”Uh, that question… I don’t really know how to answer. I guess I’ll have to give it a try to find out.” Igor scratched his head; he felt this problem was indeed tricky.

”Hmph. Have you seen him? He counts as one of the strong in your world, and he’s still nothing but my Puppet. You’re even weaker than he is.” The Spirit sneered at Igor’s response. Stop? Try? It thought these people were telling jokes—pure fantasy, all of them dreaming!

These guys always like to throw eggs at stones, overestimating themselves, being endlessly ridiculous.

Why can’t they see their own strength clearly and face reality with some rationality? Why this stubbornness, why waste time like this?

Low‑level, feeble races ought to be exterminated, ought to vanish! Yet these annoying creatures kept showing up in front of them, wobbling around, flaunting themselves.

Take Igor right in front of it, for example—who knew where he got his confidence.

”Why are you still getting mad in here? Don’t you care about his body? What if his body gets wrecked, then what?” Igor looked at this furious monkey, having no idea why it was still so enraged. He didn’t know that outside, they were concentrating fire on him—uh, no, on his physical shell.

”You think I’m like you lot, able to watch the inside but not the outside?” the Spirit snarled, stepping toward Igor, seemingly about to attack him.

”Ah, so that’s how it is. You can handle both at once. In that case I really need to learn from you. Every time I enter the Inner World, I can’t take proper care of my body. If Kadi weren’t guarding it, I’d probably be just like a lot of my seniors, Devoured by you Soul Devourers!” Igor wasn’t nervous at all; he kept chatting with the monkey. No matter how twisted that terrifying face looked, his emotions didn’t ripple in the slightest, as if nothing in the world could shake him.

”So shameless.” The Spirit raised its hand in rage, and instantly a wave of Energy Fluctuations rushed straight at Igor!

”Playing with Energy in the Inner World—don’t you think that’s a bit low‑tier?” Igor scratched his head; he didn’t care about the attack at all, as if he had long since made preparations.

Suddenly, a series of frames appeared in front of him, and in every frame there was a figure holding a weapon.

”This is my Inner World. I do whatever I want in here.” Igor shrugged, utterly unconcerned with the Spirit’s anger.

Rumble! The frames shattered in an instant, and the people inside sprang to life. Some wielded great axes, some hefted massive hammers, some carried whips—without a word, they charged forward!

”Let me introduce you: the Mos Brothers, Shana, and Old Man Redding. They’re all Resistors; they should’ve tangled with you Soul Devourer bastards before!” Igor said. In the Inner World he was completely at ease, not revealing a single weakness.

This scene baffled the Spirit. How could such a situation occur in its own world?

Why would this kind of concretized Illusion appear here? The Energy here could pulverize anything—so how could illusions like this exist!