Chapter 245: A Shifting Nature

From Marcus’s hidden vantage point, the pink mist released by the eight Vixen Spirits looked like a tightening web, slowly closing in around the woman in white.

Encased within the vibrant green barrier created by her bamboo staff, she remained clearly visible even as the peach-colored haze thickened around her. The contrast was striking. She stood there like a solitary emerald orchid blooming in the middle of a sea of pink, calm and unmoving despite the chaos pressing in from every direction.

Whenever the mist touched the verdant glow of the staff’s barrier, it dissolved instantly, fading away as if burned by sunlight.

It was obvious that the staff’s green energy perfectly countered the necrotic nature of the vixens’ mist.

The battle itself had already reached a feverish intensity.

Yet it was equally obvious that the woman in white possessed no real combat ability of her own. The only reason she remained unharmed while facing eight Three-Tailed Vixen Spirits at once was because of the power contained within that translucent bamboo staff.

’What kind of treasure is that?’ Marcus wondered as he studied it carefully. ’Holding off eight of them at the same time… that has to be at least a Divine Artifact.’

The thought alone sent a thrill through him. Divine Artifacts were the kind of legendary items players dreamed about finding.

Unfortunately, the woman herself seemed unable to do anything but maintain the barrier. She stood firmly in place, both hands gripping the staff as she continuously channeled its energy to keep the protective light active. If she had possessed even a single offensive technique to pair with such a treasure, those seductive fox spirits would have been swept aside long ago.

’A truly extraordinary artifact’, Marcus thought with quiet admiration. It was a perfect bane for creatures like them.

Because of the staff’s protection, the eight vixens could do little more than circle her and press the attack from all sides. Despite their relentless efforts, not one of them had managed to land a single effective strike.

The vixens themselves were beginning to lose patience.

Each of them had lived for nearly three hundred years, and yet here they were unable to break through the defenses of a young woman who clearly lacked any combat skill at all. Their irritation was gradually being replaced by naked greed as their eyes lingered on the glowing staff in her hands.

With shrill bursts of mocking laughter, the eight vixens suddenly began to dance more wildly around their prey.

Their movements grew faster and more provocative, thin silk robes fluttering around their bodies as they spun and twisted with deliberate grace. The fabric slipped and swayed with each motion, revealing flashes of pale skin while they worked themselves into a feverish rhythm.

As their strange dance reached its peak, the expressions on their faces became even more intoxicating.

Then, almost simultaneously, each vixen opened her mouth and spat out a glowing pink orb.

Their Essence Cores.

’They can use their cores as weapons?’

Marcus felt a jolt of alarm run through him. If he had not been wearing the Ring of Resurrection as a safety measure, he might have seriously considered using a Town Portal Scroll to retreat back to Dragon’s Peak Citadel right then and there.

These were not ordinary monsters. They were Three-Tailed Vixen Spirits, creatures far beyond the level of most enemies players encountered. Under normal circumstances, Marcus knew that even fighting one of them alone would be a difficult challenge.

The glowing pink cores drifted through the air like small stars before dissolving into the surrounding mist. The fog immediately darkened, shifting from soft peach to a deeper, almost crimson shade that pulsed with unsettling energy.

Within seconds, the mist thickened into something far more oppressive.

A chorus of teasing laughter echoed from every direction inside the fog, soft and seductive in tone yet strangely disorienting, as if meant to undermine the target’s focus and clarity of mind.

Empowered by the Essence Cores, the crimson mist surged forward again, slamming violently against the woman’s green barrier. The scent carried within it became heavier as well, thick and cloying enough to make the air itself feel suffocating.

’She’s in trouble’, Marcus thought as he watched the scene unfold.

Between the monsters and the NPC, his loyalties naturally leaned toward the woman. Helping a high-level NPC usually meant a potential reward afterward. Still, his reaction was not entirely based on practical thinking.

There was also a strange instinctive pull toward her.

’I’m becoming a real predator,’ Marcus realized suddenly.

Whenever he encountered a woman who caught his attention, a possessive impulse seemed to rise from somewhere deep within him. It was not simply attraction. It was a fierce desire to claim her attention, to protect her, to pull her into his world and keep her safe there.

The realization made him pause.

This kind of thinking had never been part of his personality before. In the past he had never been particularly greedy, nor had he ever been this bold or shameless about what he wanted.

What Marcus did not fully understand was that ever since he began practicing the Human Rock technique, his personality had been slowly changing under its influence.

At first the shift had been so subtle that he barely noticed it.

But things were different now.

After sharing a Harmonic Union with Lily, the moment when he had guided her past her lingering shyness and helped her fully embrace adulthood, his progress in the Human Rock technique had advanced dramatically. Reaching the Champion stage of the technique had accelerated that transformation even further.

Now the changes were impossible to ignore. Even Marcus himself could feel the difference.

The clearest sign of this shift was the way his once-exclusive devotion to Snow had softened. During his college years she had been the only woman who existed in his eyes, the center of his entire emotional world.

Now, however, his resistance to women had weakened considerably. In its place, that instinctive and possessive side of him had begun to surface more and more often.

When it came to women, his self-restraint had become dangerously thin.

Sometimes he felt less like a calm and rational person and more like a hungry wolf roaming the wilderness, drawn instinctively toward every woman who stirred his heart, wanting to gather them close and protect them within his territory.

If not for this shift, the place Snow held in his heart might never have made room for anyone else. He likely would never have grown close to Lily, and he certainly would not still find himself thinking about Anya even after she had already rejected him.

Of course, only his temperament had changed.

His feelings for Snow remained deep and unwavering. She was still the most precious person in his life.

Just thinking about her stirred a sudden, fierce determination inside him.

He was going to win Snow back.

No matter how difficult the path ahead might be, no matter who tried to stand between them, he would not allow their story to end in regret. He would bring her back to his side and make sure she never had to face hardship alone again.

’I’ve changed,’ he admitted quietly. ’But I think I actually like this version of myself.’

There was something liberating about abandoning hesitation.

’I like being this shameless.’

Marcus’s thoughts returned to the battlefield.

As he looked at the eight Three-Tailed Vixen Spirits, he felt no attraction toward them at all. Instead, a cold and growing desire to eliminate them settled firmly in his mind.

Their movements were seductive and their bodies alluring in a superficial way, but their faces were nothing remarkable. Beyond their exaggerated gestures and revealing clothing, they failed to spark any real interest in him.

Legends often claimed that vixen spirits were unrivaled beauties.

Compared to the woman in white standing calmly within her green barrier, however, these three-tailed spirits seemed ordinary at best.

They could not even come close to matching her quiet grace.

’I suppose the stronger they become, the more beautiful they look’, Marcus reasoned. Perhaps these three-tailed spirits simply lacked enough strength to reach that legendary level of beauty. Maybe a five-tailed spirit or higher would be impressive enough to draw his attention.

After all, if he was going to admire something, he preferred only the best.

Quality mattered, and these vixens simply did not measure up.

As his thoughts wandered to higher-level spirits, Marcus’s gaze drifted past the woman in white and the eight dancing vixens.

Then his eyes froze. Further a way from them stood a Seven-Tailed Vixen Spirit.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep