General Genevieve was surprised by the strength displayed by Drakas's minions. There weren't many, but they proved difficult to dispatch due to their unique disposition. They appeared ethereal, could phase through physical attacks, and were immune to energy-based attacks.
—They were wraiths.
While General Genevieve and her contracted beast were preoccupied with the wraiths, Drakas had already relived all the gruesome experiences of his projected self, his body drenched in sweat. The dreadful experience nearly smothered his brain as he panted heavily, wondering if what he experienced was a mental attack by the hidden enemy.
Despite the experience having already ended, Drakas was still detached from reality. He lay facing the sky, his blurry gaze capturing the silhouettes of Genevieve and her contracted beasts engaging with his last-ditch attack, the strongest minions, prepared for the event that his ritual failed to subdue his enemies.
With great struggle, Drakas managed to awaken from the shock and regain his sanity, but fear still lingered in his mind as he recalled what he had endured at the hands of his experimental subject turned God in his Mental World. He looked around frantically to see if the subject was nearby, then heaved a sigh of relief when he confirmed he wasn't around.
Drakas then turned to see Genevieve's retreating figure when confronted with one of his minions' attacks. Witnessing her struggle, Drakas sneered, his heart full of resentment toward Genevieve. He would love to activate his ritual to finish her off for good, but unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
It was at this moment that Drakas heard a noise behind him. It was coming from where his cabin once stood. He was not far from the destruction site, where his cabin once stood.
Earlier, he had speculated that there was a hidden enemy who was responsible for the mental attack on him, but based on the dreadful memories he received, that now seemed unlikely. The true source of the mental attack was very likely his experimental subject, whom he had knocked unconscious earlier.
Before engaging with Genevieve, he had confirmed that the subject was unconscious with a weak, almost undetectable pulse. From his observations, if nothing was done within the next hour, the subject could die at any time. Additionally, he should be unconscious in the mortuary building, a considerable distance away from the mining and residential areas.
Despite recognizing this truth, Drakas still believed the mental attack was most likely his experimental subject's doing, likely placed on him during their brief exchange earlier when he bashed the subject's head with the club, and only took effect during his exchange with Genevieve. Although Drakas didn't know how his experimental subject had inflicted him with such a dreadful mental attack, he could only attribute it to some sort of mental ability awakened by the subject following his resurrection.
Thinking of this possibility, Drakas felt that it was a pity that he didn't have enough time to transform him into a Dark Creature, believing this experimental subject had the potential to become his strongest minion.
However...
If it wasn't his experimental subject, then who was responsible for interrupting his ritual? Drakas became alert and immediately stood up, putting up his guard as he wondered about the identity of the hidden enemy.
Who could it be? Who are they affiliated with?
With great apprehension, Drakas intently stared at the ruins where his cabin stood. He hoped they weren't affiliated with the Manera kingdom, though it seemed unlikely.
Unexpectedly, a familiar figure crawled out of the underground stairway, pushing away the rubble gathered at the entrance. This debris had been caused by the exchange between Drakas and General Genevieve.
...
Earlier...
Drakas had blown the thatched cottage to pieces, revealing the open stairway. But after Genevieve unleashed her destructive attacks against Drakas following the failure of his ritual's activation, her catastrophic attacks had caused debris to spread around, blocking the entrance of the stairway to the underground, making it difficult for the weakened Elias to return to the surface.
After some effort, Elias managed to return to the surface, a faint smile at the corners of his lips, but he was immediately surprised by the sudden turn of events. As far as his eye could see, he saw only destruction. Then, his gaze fell on a figure, his heart sinking.
…
Present...
—The worst-case scenario had happened.
Drakas stood not far from him, visibly cautious, and the female warrior and her contracted beast were engaged in combat with illusory entities. Elias immediately frowned at the sight of Drakas's disheveled and battered state that matched his projected self when he was tormented in his Mental Landscape.
Has the mental attack taken effect? Maybe it hasn't yet.
Realizing that this was his only chance to get rid of Drakas, Elias smiled and slowly walked toward him, hoping the mental attack would take effect at any point so he could take advantage of Drakas's vulnerable moment to deal with him.
Meanwhile, Drakas's eyes widened with each step Elias took toward him, his expression transforming from cautious to horrified.
"AHH—!"
A high-pitched scream pierced through the air. The scream came from Drakas, his expression etched with fear as he realized that his experimental subject had been the hidden enemy all along.
Elias halted in his steps at Drakas's sudden outburst. The next moment, a flicker of understanding flashed through his mind. He flashed a smile at Drakas with a casual expression. The reason for his happiness was simple.
— His mental attack had successfully taken effect.
It worked even better than he had anticipated.
While Elias was happy about his plans bearing fruit, Drakas, who witnessed his smile, was chilled to the bone. Flashes of memories of his torment scrolled through his mind. To Elias, his smile was from sheer excitement, but to Drakas, it was the smile of the devil, not human.
...
Meanwhile, General Genevievel witnessed the bizarre occurrence on the ground. She noticed that the moment Drakas laid eyes on the new entrant, he became visibly terrified.
"Was he the one who sabotaged Drakas's ritual?"
She wondered aloud, her gaze scrutinizing the newcomer with caution.
—She didn't recognize him.
General Genevieve was distracted for a moment, causing one of the wraiths' attacks to land on her. Though she was undamaged, she became enraged, deciding to take things seriously.
Although she was curious about what had been happening to Drakas and wanted to know the identity of the person able to cause a ruthless person like him to become so terrified, she had to eliminate Drakas's pests first.
From her exchanges with the wraiths, it was evident they were invulnerable to normal attacks. Realizing this truth, General Genevieve's eyes flashed with a golden glint as her flame gained a tinge of golden hue. Her flame acquired a new attribute as golden patterns manifested around the crimson-colored Thaumaturge Sigil on the back of her hand, as if blessing it with divine power.
Her crimson flame had now become flame imbued with a holy attribute, giving birth to a Holy Flame. With this Holy Flame, Genevieve easily apprehended the dark creatures, her holy flames reducing them to nothing.
As for why she hadn't used her Holy Flames earlier, it was because she had been saving her energy to defeat Drakas, as it was hard to defeat a Dark Thaumaturgist with regular attacks, similar to the wraiths she had just vanquished.
Killing a Dark Thaumaturgist often resulted in the birth of an Evil Spirit due to their resentful and corrupted soul. Many avoided killing them without proper preparations to counter the birth of an Evil Spirit. In short, although it was hard to defeat Dark Thaumaturgists, Holy Flame was the weakness of both Dark Thaumaturgists and Evil Spirits.