The Eldritch Files

”Calm down?”

Bai Shi laughed, his voice choked with rage. Suddenly, he roared and lunged forward:

”I’ve fucking waited four years! Do you know how many times I’ve had to shed my skin? You tell me to calm down? Go to hell!”

A moment ago, he had merely reached out to grab him. But now, his entire body seemed to expand, becoming like a giant, formless white shadow that lunged at Han Su, twisted with rage. He looked like a crazed monster.

Facing his fury, Han Su gritted his teeth as well.

’I have so many questions for him.’ Before he knew the white monster’s identity, his only thought had been to wait for it to appear and then kill it.

But now that he saw who it was, the desire to ask him questions had already surpassed the desire to kill him.

But while Han Su was restraining himself, this guy didn’t even know how to speak a normal sentence, only how to keep screaming.

’This guy is even more annoying than when he was a kid!’

Han Su suddenly roared, ”I told you to calm down!”

All this way, his Spiritual Power had endured the endless corruption of the Mother Divine Tree, like a slingshot being pulled tighter and tighter.

Finally, at this moment, his Spiritual Activity erupted in full force.

Han Su’s Spiritual Activity reached a new peak. His body shot forward, and in an instant, he tackled Bai Shi.

Although Bai Shi’s Spiritual Activity was higher than Han Su’s, and although he was raging and furious, he wasn’t doing anything with intent. He was just venting. In contrast, Han Su broke through the pressure of his diffuse Spiritual Power and pinned him to the ground.

It was a moment of pure chance, and even Han Su was stunned for a second.

But he didn’t care. He just clenched his fist and viciously slammed it into the face below him:

”I told you to calm down!”

”Calm! Down!”

”I have questions for you! What the hell happened to you in the Ancient Castle...?”

”...”

”Haha, haha...”

As the white monster was pinned to the ground and beaten by Han Su, he showed no signs of anger. His single eye was filled with self-mockery:

”What a familiar feeling...”

”You used to beat me just like this... back in the cellar of the Ancient Castle...”

”...”

”You...”

Han Su’s raised fist froze in midair. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

’Why the hell does he look like he’s enjoying this?’

Gritting his teeth slightly, he said in a low voice, ”You said you were tortured for four years. Was it the monsters in the Ancient Castle that tortured you, or was it, as you said...”

He was now desperate to have a meaningful conversation with Bai Shi, but the guy completely ignored him.

His rage simply surged, and with a jolt of Spiritual Power, he sent Han Su flying.

The next moment, Bai Shi’s body shot straight up, and his voice turned chilling. ”You want to know what I went through in the Ancient Castle?”

”Then I’ll show you what I went through, and what I gained!”

”...”

Every word seemed to be squeezed from between his teeth. Amidst a grim shout, he abruptly held out a hand.

Then, he began to chant in a low voice:

”Copper’s Will shall... in...”

”...”

As he chanted the Spell, the whole world seemed to dim. He wore an eyepatch, and the sound of scraping metal echoed all around. From the single eye beneath that patch, bright, copper-colored blood actually began to seep out.

At that same moment, Han Su’s scalp tingled. A primal survival instinct made him aware of the infinite danger.

Before, the white monster was just venting, screaming, and cursing.

But now, having uttered this Spell, it was clear he truly intended to kill him.

The feeling was like an electric current coursing through his body, making every hair stand on end. Without a second thought, while still in the air, Han Su abruptly raised his left hand. As he landed, the Cross Copper Scar appeared on the back of his hand, and he too began to chant:

[Copper’s Will shall endure in the world’s reflection!]

[...]

As he recited the Spell, copper-colored blood seeped out from the Cross Copper Scar on the back of his hand.

Bai Shi looked up in astonishment, his gaze fixed on the hint of copper on the back of Han Su’s hand. An infinite rage erupted in his eyes.

Han Su, having just recited the Spell, was equally shocked to see this kind of power in Bai Shi.

All this time, he had even considered the Cross Copper Scar on his left hand to be something that didn’t exist in reality—a power unique to the Ancient Castle, just like Pale and Ghost.

Even when he had encountered Sequences in the real world related to a power similar to ”copper,” the gap between them was too vast for him to make a connection.

It wasn’t until this moment that the copper-colored blood seeping from under Bai Shi’s eyepatch gave him a solid jolt.

It was a feeling that he had unintentionally taken a huge step forward, a step closer to the truth.

SWISH!

But he had no time to think. He and Bai Shi had started reciting the Spell at roughly the same time, but the Penetration of Bai Shi’s copper-colored blood was much faster than his own.

By the time he finished reciting the Spell, specks of blood were already floating around Bai Shi. It was the blood that had flowed from under his eyepatch, and as if gravity had failed, it now floated in the air, droplet by droplet.

Meanwhile, only a hint of copper had seeped out onto the back of his own hand.

In the blink of an eye, Bai Shi’s expression turned cold and severe. Countless beads of copper blood, like individual bullets, accelerated to a terrifying speed and shot straight toward Han Su.

Each droplet carried the power to pierce through a human body.

Without thinking, Han Su didn’t even have time to let the copper blood complete its Penetration before he switched his focus to a different Encrypted Spell.

[All Things Respond to My Will!]

Just as he had blocked bullets before, he raised his left hand and erected a Spiritual Barrier to block the attack of the copper blood. A sharp pain shot through his left hand, his arm went numb, and his body felt as if it had been struck repeatedly by a sledgehammer, forcing him to stumble backward.

Across from him, a cruel sneer appeared on Bai Shi’s face. ”A Zero Sequence Encrypted Spell?”

”Are you even worthy of such a great power?”

”...”

Amidst his merciless laughter, he suddenly clenched his five fingers into a fist.

Only then did Han Su realize in shock that all the copper blood had been blocked by his left hand and had failed to pierce his body.

In the next instant, Bai Shi raised his right hand, where even more copper blood floated. This blood seemed capable of various transformations. Like a cat toying with a mouse, he gently flipped his palm and grasped the mass of blood.

The mass of blood seemed to transform into a sharp copper blade, which he brought down directly on Han Su’s head.

Han Su had no time to think. His nerves, always taut, reacted almost unconsciously. His left hand shot out, grabbing the copper blade, and then he twisted it back.

The blade, which should have been unbreakable, snapped in two with a sharp crack. He then gripped the lower half of the copper blade and swung it backhand.

Everything happened so naturally, with perfect ease.

Bai Shi didn’t dodge or evade, allowing Han Su’s blade to slash across his chest, splitting his flesh.

Blood poured from the wound, but he seemed not to notice. His eyes were locked on Han Su as he screamed:

”Come on, again!”

”...”

With a shout, he swiped a hand at Han Su.

Han Su moved fluidly, instinctively maintaining his distance as he attacked repeatedly, inflicting several more wounds on Bai Shi’s body.

More copper-colored blood seeped from Bai Shi’s wounds. All of his blood was the color of copper.

However, it wasn’t a bright copper; it seemed to have a trace of dark red impurity.

But as countless wounds appeared on his body, Bai Shi only gritted his teeth and suddenly waved his hands as if conducting an invisible orchestra. The blood around him burst forth with an incomprehensible Activity.

Clump by clump, sheet by sheet, some of it transformed into razor-sharp shapes, while some remained liquid. It all interwove and spread out, descending upon Han Su like a tidal wave.

Han Su retreated repeatedly, dodging several extremely perilous attacks.

In the most dangerous moment, the edge of a sharp copper blade grazed his Adam’s apple. He had been a hair’s breadth away from having his throat slit.

But he could only dodge a few times at most. More copper flashed before his eyes, dense and interwoven, closing in on him. In that instant, Han Su’s resolve wavered, and he considered using the Mechanical Fragment directly.

But in that same instant, an unprecedented, sharp pain erupted on the back of his left hand. The Cross Copper Scar appeared clearly, and the Penetration of the copper blood was complete.

In the air, all the copper substances—countless droplets both near and far from Han Su—froze in place. Even the blood flowing from the wounds on Bai Shi’s body came to a standstill.

They seemed to have been influenced by a certain will, their own Activity suppressed.

Han Su also seemed to gain a sudden Understanding.

’My utilization of ”copper” is far inferior to his.’

’In fact, if ”copper” is a substance, then my own accumulation of said substance is also far less than his.’

’However, the Cross Copper Scar on my left hand holds a will that can influence this ”copper”.’

This meant that although his own strength was inferior, in the domain of ”copper,” he was superior. Bai Shi couldn’t hurt him.

”See?”

Through the haze of floating copper, Bai Shi’s expression was mocking and desperate. He pointed a finger at his own nose.

”I... am a joke!”

”They threw me out of the Ancient Castle.”

”They found me, lied to me about being an Heir or something, studied me over and over again, forced me to transform, to evolve... and then they blamed me for being useless, blamed my willpower for not being strong enough to control this power...”

”But it’s not my fault at all...”

”...”

”Those...”

Faced with the man’s madness, Han Su asked with difficulty:

”Did those monsters torture you? What... what happened later?”

”Monsters? What monsters?”

Bai Shi whipped his head around to look at Han Su. ”Those are Gods! The Gods are choosing an Heir!”

”I clearly had a chance to become the Heir of the Gods! I even thought I was the one for a time! But... but you stole the ultimate code long ago! So what was all that torture I endured for all these years?!”

”It was you...”

His expression twisted as he glared venomously at Han Su. ”Your very existence turned me into a complete and utter joke...”