Upon activation, the purple skill wisp disappeared from Vivi’s core. It didn’t dim out like Shadow Swipeor other regular skills. Death Sensedisappeared completely, breaking apart. Her second skill slot was freed, as if nothing had ever been there.

Vivi was prepared for explosions. Nothing seemed to happen. Vivi’s sword didn’t gain a coating, and nothing crumbled to bits around her. She didn’t ascend, and she didn’t gain flying daggers around her. Nothing at all happened outside her body.

The effects were all inside her consciousness. Something weird happened within her core. The skill turned into wisps of ether. Not regular wisps. These wisps were dark and ominous, radiating the same feeling that monsters gave. The odd wisps flowed within her, quickly filling her with new power.

Uundref’s attack was still coming for Vivi. He slashed at her with the katana. Vivi couldn’t see or hear it. She could feel it through a sense she couldn’t explain. She knew she was in danger.

Instinctively, Vivi called Shadow Swipeand raised her sword for the block. She parried. Uundref was holding back—he didn’t want to kill her. Somehow, defending felt easy, and her movements were swift—far more fluid than her poor swordsmanship skills should have allowed.

“Vivi…” Lucius said. “That skill… It did something weird.”

She could feel it. The ether provided by the skill was odd. Completely different from the balanced wisps Lucius used to power her.

Uundref must have sensed a change too. He stepped back and examined Vivi with a frown. This gave Vivi a calm moment to examine what the skill had done to her ether core.

Or rather, her cores

. On top of her usual core, the one thousands of ether in debt, another smaller core had appeared. It was dark and hard to examine, though its presence was surprisingly natural, as if it had always been there, just shut off and hidden from Vivi’s consciousness.

Inside, the core contained more of the weird dark wisps, around a hundred of them. They brooded in the darkness, awaiting to be called out into the world like an army of deadly assassins.

Lucius? Vivi asked. Is that… void ether?

Lucius didn’t respond. He was just as confused as she was, examining the core. Vivi struggled to read his emotions. The new core, whatever it was, was powerful. They could both tell that. But was it dangerous?

Uundref gave didn’t give her time to consider. He charged at her.

Vivi allowed more void ether to invade her body. The wisps pushed Lucius’s ether aside, overwhelming Vivi’s veins with shadows. Her eyesight worsened, and the forest around her became dark. Sounds became muffled, and the fourth level disappeared from her head.

Her sixth sense improved exponentially. It was as if a mental map formed around her. Ether visualized within that space. She knew exactly where Uundref’s blade was coming from. The concentrated ether within was a threat to her life.

So she reacted, swinging to meet Uundref’s blow.

The Steward’s expression was hard to make out. However, Vivi could feel a shift in his aura. He was cautious now, no longer emitting an air of total dominance.

Vivi found herself on the offensive. Her sword, too, had a presence in her mental map. Her sword was dangerous. Not to herself, but her opponents.

She swung, hitting Abyss Destroyeragainst the two-runed katana. The shockwave made Uundref’s clothes flutter. Her three-runed sword was far stronger than the katana. With each blow, she pushed Uundref back.

The Steward attempted to counter. Vivi sensed his attempts before they’d even started. With void ether in her body, Uundref’s intentions were clear as light. He was slowly growing concerned.

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Vivi slashed with her claws in between swings. She could imagine a grimace on Uundref’s face. He couldn’t defend.

With one last blow, Vivi hit the katana at just the right angle, wresting it from Uundref’s hands. The sword flew out of reach.

The Steward quickly pulled daggers from within his coat, blocking Vivi’s next attack. He said something; Vivi vaguely heard words in her ears. But her body was so utterly filled with void ether, she couldn’t make sense of his speech. The world around her was nearly black. Vivi merely sensed a space around her, one with danger and ether.

Uundref must have known she wasn’t listening. His movements became swift, now two daggers in hand.

Vivi’s danger signals flared for real now. The void ether’s weird death sense regarded Uundref’s daggers as the most dangerous ethereal presence in the room, even overpowering Abyss Destroyer.

The daggers came fast. Vivi knew exactly where, but they were far faster than she could move her larger sword. Uundref forced Vivi to the defensive.

She panicked, trying to block every attack at once. Uundref’s daggers were like spikes trying to pierce her from all directions. He only had two daggers, yet it seemed like three or four blows were coming at her all at once.

Uundref wasn’t a swordsman. He was an assassin. And at full force, it immediately became clear why he was the strongest of the Stewards. Her sword couldn’t reach every attack; she had to use the claws to help out. Each time she did, her left hand was blown back by the force of the daggers, and her stance wavered. Uundref’s daggers were overwhelming.

Vivi sped up her pace. I have the range advantage, she told herself. Uundref didn’t want to die, and he didn’t want to kill Vivi. Even if Vivi opened her guard slightly, as long as she had a window to kill Uundref, she’d win.

She swung, this time more fearlessly. Uundref immediately reacted to the change. His aura grew more cautious.

The bone-faced, disgusting creature… was afraid.

Vivi found herself back on the offensive, but she struggled to make progress. Uundref was as proficient at defending as he was attacking. Vivi tried to throw claw-swipes to throw the Steward off balance, but the ranged claws were too weak to cause a real threat.

The exchange continued. Vivi’s arms were starting to burn. Her perception started to come back. Blurry vision, the smells of the lifeless forest. Her attacks slowly withered. The void ether was fading. The void wisps were dimming fast.

She only had twenty void wisps remaining. It wasn’t enough to defeat Uundref. Her regular wisps were dwindling as well, and her muscles were screaming beneath it all.

She gritted her teeth. Was this it? If only she had more resources. If only she hadn’t fought a death tyrant prior to this. If she just had more strength, Vivi knew she could have defeated Uundref.

No, it’s not over.

Vivi did something stupid. Something Lucius certainly wouldn’t have liked.

She pushed her remaining void wisps into her left hand, and into his claws. The claws reacted immediately, turning black with charged ether. Lucius fell into shock.

With the void wisps gone from her body, her senses returned, though everything was hazy. Vivi could barely make out Uundref’s figure. She couldn’t feel the daggers coming for her anymore. She was back to her eyesight, which was far too slow to keep up with Uundref’s movements.

She swiped in his direction, releasing the black concentration of void ether from her claws at Uundref.

She didn’t really know what she was aiming at. All she saw was a blurry figure of bones. But she knew she had to be quick. If she lost her speed, Uundref would kill her instantly. She shot her attack somewhere in his direction.

The remaining wisps of void ether released from Vivi’s claws. The projectiles were black, concentrated with dangerous amounts of power, shooting forth with speeds far faster than Vivi’s ordinary claw-swipes.

The attack didn’t kill. But it did blow Uundref off of his feet. The Steward was blown backward, landing on the steel gratings, the back of his head hitting the ground.

Vivi threw her next attack right away. Her killing blow. An overhead swing to crush the last of Uundref’s defenses.

A portal appeared beneath Uundref. The Steward was trying to escape!

Vivi threw her sword into the portal. Venerium’s venom invaded the portal’s spectral glow. The portal became clogged. Uundref got stuck. His lower body had traversed through the portal. His upper body poked out.

Vivi summoned her hammer. She stumbled on her feet, nearly falling on her face. The wisps of void ether were totally spent. A few haphazard wisps of Lucius’s ether kept Vivi conscious, but no more was flowing in. She limped toward Uundref.

“Wait,” Uundref said, his voice surprisingly calm. “I have more to offer.”

Vivi was about to pass out. Lucius was already gone. She could weakly sense his presence within her.

“I have the power to turn you into one of the most respected beings of the lower levels,” Uundref said. “Work with me.”

Vivi gritted her teeth. Her vision blurred. Uundref’s words barely registered. She knew, the second she relaxed, she’d drop out. And the moment she wasn’t there to fight back, Uundref would change his offer.

“Listen, human,” Uundref said. “Let’s talk about this. I can—”

Vivi slammed down her hammer at Uundref’s head.

The swing barely carried any power, but the hammer was still an asmite war hammer. Uundref’s skull cracked. The glow in his eyes dimmed.

The Steward was dead. His corpse sizzled with ether. Vivi quickly collected everything the Steward had dropped, lowering her debt to 8601 ether.

Immediately after, she collapsed on the ground and passed out.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep