Before the two engaged in their battle, Elias quietly left the field and hid behind a wall within the rubble, a safe distance away but close enough to observe their fight. He didn't want to miss such a rare opportunity to study how powers worked in Mystral.
Even he was surprised by Drakas's sudden transformation. He initially planned for the female warrior to seize the opportunity during Drakas's mental breakdown to end him, but his plans failed when he witnessed Drakas being slain, resurrected in a different form.
The power to regenerate was not unheard of in the Quantum Multiverse, but Drakas didn't seem to have regenerated. Instead, he appeared to have become something other than human.
From Elias's observations, Drakas had become significantly stronger compared to before. This baffled him greatly as it defied logic, unless that was causality at play.
Maybe the act of killing them was the cause, and the effect was the transformation?
Briefly pondering to himself, Elias felt that this conjecture might be the only plausible explanation.
What a miraculous world.
That was the perfect way to describe his current perception of Mystral. Being able to defy death was already something Elias found quite intriguing. Earlier, he speculated that resurrection was possible in Mystral, considering the World Overseer of Mystral didn't take action against him despite his defiance of death.
Witnessing Drakas's transformation and sudden increase in strength proved his conjecture might not be far from the truth. Elias channeled a bit of energy into his eyes, activating his Quantum Sight to observe Drakas's condition.
What he discovered left him perplexed. Drakas appeared to have lost his Dark Thaumaturge Sigil following his transformation, but he still possessed the means to channel power throughout his ethereal form.
As for where that power came from and the conduit used to channel it, Elias couldn't ascertain these mysteries fully as he was still new to Mystral. All his Quantum Sight perceived was that Drakas's new form drew power from the void, its source undetectable.
From Drakas's memories, Elias learned that the dark energy Drakas was channeling belonged to an extra-dimensional source he personally called Dark Origin, but as for the true name of this dimension, Elias didn't know, as even Drakas had no knowledge of it.
Drakas had learned to use Dark Arts through a book he purchased on the black market. The book wasn't anything special, as it was a common book shared among the Dark Thaumaturgists' circles. He only had to spend money on it because he wasn't part of any organization at the time.
Still, Elias was surprised that even his Quantum Sight couldn't detect the source of Drakas's power. All he could perceive was that Drakas's entire form was wreathed in darkness, as if blocking others from prying into its secret.
Despite the failure, Elias believed that once his Quantum Sight improved in the future, he might be able to unravel this mystery.
Hidden behind a wall amid the debris, with a focused gaze, he continued to observe the fight between the resurrected and empowered Drakas and the valiant female warrior. He analyzed their coordination, energy mobilization, attack deployment, and the Thaumaturge Sigil that glowed on the female warrior's hand.
What are those golden particles around her flames?
As he watched the battle, he discovered that Drakas was mostly unaffected by the crimson flame attacks unleashed by the female warrior, but he seemed wary of her golden flame attacks. Employing his Quantum Sight, Elias saw through the foundational state of the golden flame around the female warrior's flame sword.
In his perception, Elias noticed golden particles with unique vibrations encapsulating the regular flame manifestations and attacks unleashed by the female warrior. He tried to analyze the golden particles but felt a sudden repulsion.
It felt as if the golden particles could sense his prying eyes. A stinging sensation assaulted his eyes. However, with determination, Elias pressed on, ignoring the pain.
While he persistently analyzed the golden particles, the rancorous laughter of Drakas echoed through the sky, reaching his ears.
"Hahaha! It's no use, Genevieve! I'm immortal! Not even your holy flame could completely kill me in this state! I can't wait to slowly devour your body and soul!"
Holy flame? Is he referring to the golden particles around her flame? Yes, that must be it! So, those golden particles are a 'holy' attribute of her flame with dimensionality reduction effects, which is effective against people with Drakas's disposition.
Elias quickly understood the application of the golden particles around the female warrior's golden flame sword. This enriched his knowledge greatly as he deactivated the Quantum Sight to alleviate the pain in his eyes. His eyeballs were beginning to turn bloodshot from the strain.
Now, Elias reflected on Drakas's peculiar memories that had initially baffled him, but he hadn't bothered trying to grasp their meaning. Not understanding their significance, he had chosen to ponder them later.
From Elias's initial interpretation, Drakas had a visceral fear of people called Saints or Saintesses and refused to stay within the same area as them. The moment he learned news of their existence within the area where he lived, he would move away at once. The reason for his reaction was that they possessed 'holy powers', which terrified him.
Observing the effectiveness of the golden flame against the pompous Drakas, Elias now understood why Drakas was afraid of those with holy powers. Holy powers were the weakness of Dark Thaumaturgists.
Even Drakas' current form, which Elias now understood as an ethereal form known as an Evil Spirit, an entity born from negative emotions like resentment. Additionally, he now understood that the 'holy' attribute served as a balance and a counter to the anomalous Dark Thaumaturgists and Evil Spirits.
Throughout their exchange, the female warrior, relying on her holy flame-infused sword, slashed and inflicted damage enough to end Drakas's life multiple times, but each time, he recovered as if nothing had happened to him. From Elias's perception, the female warrior was visibly annoyed by this, seemingly feeling a headache from failing to eliminate the transformed Drakas repeatedly.
What a tough fellow! Is he truly immortal as he claimed?
Elias wondered if Drakas was truly invincible, but he quickly dismissed this thought. He had activated his Quantum Sight to observe each time Drakas was killed.
Through his activated Quantum Sight, he could detect that, although Drakas appeared to be immortal on the surface, the darkness around him became thinner each time he died. From this observation, Elias believed Drakas wasn't truly invincible.
—He was simply extremely hard to kill within a short time.
Meanwhile, General Genevieve tried to block one of Drakas's dark flame-infused claw attacks from a tricky angle with her arm braces, but her eyes widened in shock when he phased through her, aiming for her heart instead.
"Damn it!"
She cursed loudly as her Thaumaturge Sigil glowed intensely, bathing her in golden light. Drakas's high-pitched shriek cut through the air as he retreated from General Genevieve, his ethereal arm disintegrated by the golden light. However, upon closer look, the disintegrated arm was recovering at a shocking speed. Simultaneously, the darkness around his body thinned once again.
"You evil wench! I'll definitely kill you!"
Evil Spirit Drakas became enraged, his body expanding, towering over General Genevieve. Watching this transformation, a trace of concern flashed through General Genevieve's calm eyes.
We've been fighting for over 10 minutes, yet his invincible state still hasn't worn off. What's going on? Wasn't the average duration of an Evil Spirit's invincibility 10 minutes? Does he have a longer duration for his invincibility state?
Although she knew that Dark Thaumaturgists turned Evil Spirits were cumbersome and dangerously difficult to kill, she had believed with her holy attributed flame, which was the weakness of Dark Thaumaturgists and Evil Spirits, she could easily handle Evil Spirit Drakas.
However, her assumption proved wrong. She didn't expect Drakas to have so many minions prepared to drain her energy before their final confrontation.