I Refused To Be Reincarnated

Chapter 182: The Third Trial: Malevolent Symphony

After enduring the collapsing pillar, colliding bullets and dagger's slicing, he had total confidence in his body, believing nothing in the world could breach it, not even plasma cannons. Realising this, his malevolent traits resurfaced. He liked nothing more but to see others fall into despair, their cries of sadness akin to music to his ears as he savored the collapse of their psyche.

Just imagining the creature's supplications after trying everything but failing thrilled him beyond measure. With his signature smile and an exaggerated gesture, he taunted, "Come! Attack me!"

As his words echoed in the room, and Adam's eyes blazed with ridicule, Shepard's worried voice lingered in the college's tower.

*****

"How can we help you, Morgane?" He asked earnestly, wishing nothing more but to save his last disciple from his desperate transformation.

With her emotionless blue eyes, the girl answered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Distribute the essence evenly and infuse it into his soul."

With a nod, Shepard took the tier-six ghost essence from Julius' hand. Then, using his mana control, he meticulously dispersed it evenly into Adam's soul.

After five minutes, he scanned the ghost with his grey eyes as sweat dripped from his forehead. Confirming his work was flawless, he proceeded with the infusion by gradually making the foreign essence resonate with Adam's.

The operation drained him despite his quickness, requiring precise movements because of the delicate nature of souls. The slightest mistake in the process could cause it to collapse, resulting in his disciple's death.

Five more minutes later, he stepped back, his mana reserves half empty and his forehead glistening with sweat. "I count on you, Morgane." He said tiredly, looking at her with hope.

The girl's red hair fluttered in the wind as she stepped towards Adam.

Without a second's delay, she placed her hand on him and used her affinity to meld the infused essence with the ghost's.

Minutes slowly passed by as the red color of Adam's mist gradually shifted back to grey. Once every limb returned to normal, she sighed in relief before focusing on the last step: the head.

However, her brows swiftly furrowed as her attempts proved futile, and panic crept across her face. With a trembling voice contrasting her usual taciturn behavior, she said, "He consciously refuses to return to normal."

A deafening silence echoed her words as everyone paled in disbelief. A single collective question thundered in their minds; What was he doing that compelled him to refuse to recover?

*****

Half an hour ago...

Adam's eyes blazed with ridicule as he heard Ignatius' taunts, his mad chuckles escaping him.

"HAHAHA. FoOl. I'lL TaKe YoUr BodY." He said, jumping back to create distance and re-materialising his destroyed mage's hands. Then, he placed his dagger on the right and summoned the hateful spear on the left.

As the spear appeared, sizzling sounds echoed, and light attacked the red hand, trying to burn it. Worse, the stubborn weapon refused his energy, purifying it upon contact and frustrating him. Yet, this time, he would use it as a secondary weapon.

Under Ignatius' arrogant gaze, white steam emanated from the dagger as he imbued it with a terrifying amount of negative energy. After all, this madness-filled place didn't lack it. The only price he had to pay to use it was his sanity.

Then, locking his maddened, glowing eye sockets with Ignatius' eyes, he used his mana to collapse the atoms behind the two weapons.

BOOOOM

The air exploded as terrifying flames propelled them towards the chimaera, one before the other. But he wasn't done yet.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Three more explosions rocked the ground, sending rubbles everywhere as the hands slowly detonated, increasing the weapons' speed further until they disappeared from his eyes.

An icy shiver ran down Ignatius' spine as doubts assaulted him. The velocity was just too high. Even he lost sight of the weapons. In a split second, he instinctively erected two tentacles before him like thick meat walls, positioned to defend himself.

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His swift thinking and movements were almost simultaneous, yet the spear already collided with his defence.

BOOM

An explosion of blinding light raged against the tentacles as the crystalline spear lodged itself half a centimeter into one. Then, amidst freezing air, the dagger followed, its blade dodging the spear by a hair's breadth to lodge itself into the wound and releasing its soul-chilling frost into the mad scientist's body.

"ARGH!" Ignatius screamed in a mix of shock and pain. Despite its shallowness, his perfect body had been wounded by mere cold weapons! How was it possible? His mind failed to understand it.

But that was nothing compared to the incomprehensible pain he felt. Gritting his teeth, he lashed his tentacle, sending the weapons flying before scrutinising it.

"Only a thin line of frost covers it, and there is no sign of frostbite." He muttered in confusion before his face turned pale in fright, and he yelled, "Mental attacks!"

With his new understanding, he couldn't afford to be careless anymore and had to end things not to suffer from irreparable damages. After all, the mind was delicate, and he broke sufficiently of them to know recovery was seldom possible.

"Playtime is over." He solemnly said as he lunged into the air, using his wings to circle the room and gain momentum under Adam's echoing mad laughter.

When his speed peaked, he dived like a Peregrine Falcon, his sharp talons reflecting light and aiming for the kill.

However, disbelief covered his face as one of his tentacles entangled his right wing, causing his course to deviate and his body to crash into the frozen pillar.

"HAHAHAHA. FoOl." Adam roared as he used his negative energy to manipulate the pillar, forming an ice block encasing Ignatius.

Since the fight's beginning, every move and every attack aimed to use his evil ghost's trait to destroy his opponent's soul. With his adversary trapped in his ice block, victory was guaranteed.

As his smile widened, the frozen Ignatius focused on scanning his body, enduring the cold invading his soul, or rather Misha's. After all, he was only a consciousness parasitising her body.

'What is happening?' He thought after his analysis. His body was in perfect condition, so why? Why did his tentacle suddenly move?

As his questions thundered in his mind, a hate-filled voice suddenly answered him.

"I won't let you win!"