Lying quietly behind the mound of earth, Leon and Azeryan endured their rapid panting. They had run until they were almost out of breath, but fortunately, they could no longer hear Lokhak's crazed roar; it seemed he had already gotten lost in the chaotic forest.
If Lokhak had merely been confused in his mind, Leon and Azeryan might have been able to find a way to subdue him.
But seeing the terrifying strength with which he could cleave thick tree trunks with a single sword strike and the eerie state of recovering severed limbs, they knew this was not a force they could confront head-on.
"Lokhak... how did he suddenly change like that?" Azeryan swallowed his saliva, still feeling the shock.
"...He's been... possessed by a Demon..."
Leon, nearly dead on his feet, braced his hands on his knees and gasped for air: "...huff... huff... I don't understand the specifics, but you... ha... better not fall under the same curse. I can't run anymore. If you get possessed too, remember to give me a quick death with a single blow."
"...I'll... try..."
Azeryan pulled a stiff smile, but he really couldn't bring himself to smile at his companion's jest, recalling Lokhak's terrifying face streaked with blood and tears, which sent a chill down his spine.
With strict control over his wild thoughts, Azeryan clasped his hands and began to silently pray to the glorious Holy Sun, his faith becoming more devout after surviving danger.
Leon flopped over on the ground, his chest burning with pain as raw as fire; the continuous escapes and encounters had left him without the strength to even rise.
"Be grateful, it should be an Angry Demon controlling the boy. If it had been a Desire Demon or a Pride Demon, you probably wouldn't have been able to escape," the girl's voice teased.
"There are different types of Demons?" Leon remarked, amazed.
"Of course... but now's not the time to discuss that. You don't have time to waste. The longer you stay in this domain, the more likely your spirit is to be eroded by a Spirit Realm Demon. Besides, that boy Lokhak is just an ordinary person; if too much time passes, he'll be beyond saving," the girl's voice reminded him.
"What can we do to make Lokhak regain consciousness?"
Leon pushed himself up and looked around. It was still a gloomy forest with layers of eerie shadows. The stream they had finally found after struggling to discern the direction was now unreachable, a pity since he had spent so much effort following the girl's instructions to draw the Magic Array.
"Right, we've lost Lokhak, but doesn't that make it difficult to find him again in the forest?"
"No need to go looking, I will make that Demon come to us," the girl's voice continued: "Remember that rune formation I taught you to draw earlier?"
"I roughly remember it, but didn't you say it was used to gather Wandering Souls and capture the Undead? It can also be used to exorcise Demons?"
"As long as the formation is slightly modified, the original ritual that draws Undead can also attract beings that covet souls, and Demons are among those. Luckily, it's an Angry Demon we're dealing with; fooling it into a trap shouldn't be hard. However, the original plan to mimic Earth Vein Spiritual Power as a lure must be changed; it has no appeal to a Demon."
After a moment's contemplation, the girl's voice quickly came up with a plan and instructed Leon: "Next, I will teach you how to inscribe a Demon Exorcism Array and the complete spell. Once the ritual begins, since you don't know how to use Magic Power and elements, I must use my Spiritual Body to harness the Chaotic Energy here as the ritual's core and bait.
By then, I won't have the strength to verbally guide you to recite the spell. You must memorize every part of the spell in advance. Got it?"
"Understood." Leon nodded affirmatively, confident in his memory.
"Don't take it too lightly, though. Haven't you noticed that I'm not using the language you're familiar with when I speak to you?
...That said, you've consistently been speaking a language that's not Felu Language as well, which is quite surprising. I can't believe there's a language in this world that I haven't heard of... is it a newly-born language that came after..."
Musing, she began to murmur to herself, her voice growing fainter.
Caught off guard by her words, Leon realized only now that he had been conversing in Chinese with the girl's voice because, instinctively, he used his mother tongue when talking to himself.
"Back to the point, my Magic Technique requires chanting in the ancient Lorelette language; if it's translated into Felu Language or your unfamiliar language and then recited, it won't work. You must recite the original pronunciation of the spell exactly.
If it were me doing it, it wouldn't be such a hassle, alas. Listen well, rest to recover your strength now; I will recite it several times for you to hear. You must remember it…"
"You go ahead, I'll listen carefully."
Leon perked up, taking on the same determination he had for those grueling listening exams in the past, and listened quietly to the Magic Spell being transmitted.
This time, he wasn't just trying to understand the meaning behind the words but also focused on the girl's pleasant intonations and echoed them softly out loud in the real world.
The spell, called "ancient Lorelette language," wasn't too lengthy and was quick and concise when spoken, but Leon noticed upon careful listening that even seemingly simple and clear phrases had five or six minor and quick variations in tone.
Although the girl's recitation sounded melodic, like singing poetry, when Leon tried to repeat it, his mouth stumbled as if tied up in knots.
"...It's okay if you recite a little more slowly, just make sure the hesitation between words doesn't exceed the time of three breaths. The spell will still take shape, but you can't make a mistake. If there's an error, you must start over, and we don't have many chances to do so," the girl's voice guided him patiently.
Time ticked away, and as Leon gradually regained his strength, he also roughly memorized the beginning and ending parts of the spell—one to activate the Summoning Spirit Formation, and one to activate the Demon Exorcism Array.
The girl's voice continued to instruct Leon on how to operate and set up the ritual and also explained exactly how to wrestle Lokhak's consciousness back from the Demon.
Lokhak's soul hadn't been completely devoured by the Demon, and before the situation became irretrievable, they needed to rearrange the modified Summoning Spirit Formation. However, instead of the original core of the formation used to lure the Undead, they would replace it with a Pseudo Soul simulating the emotions and desires of intelligent life, but with a spiritual fluctuation intensity dozens of times higher.
"Based on what you're saying, wouldn't that attract even more and more terrifying Spirit Realm Demons?" Leon asked doubtfully.
"Relax, the Pseudo Soul we're simulating is ultimately a fake constructed of Magic Power. It won't project in the Spirit Realm like a real soul, so it will only trick the Angry Demon that has already appeared in the Spirit-like Field."
"So we just need to lure Lokhak, possessed by the Demon, into the Array?"
"That's the first step. Once the Angry Demon controls the child to enter the range of the Array, you need to coordinate with me to complete the final step."
The girl's voice paused briefly before continuing, "We can also make use of the Spirit-like Field's property of isolating the Life and Death Law. I will first activate the Spirit Repelling Rune to completely extract Lokhak's soul from his body. Without a complete life to cling to, the Demon itself attached to the soul will be exposed. Then, you will..."
Leon was greatly shocked. "Wait, extract the soul from the body? If you don't mind me asking, won't Lokhak die?"
"Generally, he would," came the girl's voice as a matter of fact.
"Ah?"
"Don't panic. If we were in the outside real world, his soul would indeed be immediately cast into the Dead Sea after being extracted. But we are here in a Spirit-like Field, isolated from reality. Even if life perishes here, the soul cannot dissipate. As long as you chant the spell to activate the Demon Exorcism Array immediately afterward and complete the ritual to banish the Angry Demon back to the Spirit Realm, once the dust settles, I can help you stuff Lokhak's soul back into his body. After all, the Spirit Repelling Rune only extracts the soul; it won't harm Lokhak's physical body..."
It took Leon quite some time to barely understand the flow of this method.
Under the guidance of the girl's voice, he had to set up the "Summoning Spirit Formation" and "Demon Exorcism Array" to form a connected series of magical rites.
Next, she would cast a spell in the Array to create the "Pseudo Soul" and lure the Angry Demon possessing Lokhak into this magical rite.
Then, through his chanting, the girl's voice would activate the "Spirit Repelling Rune" in the Summoning Spirit Formation to peel Lokhak's soul from his body.
Finally, Leon must rapidly and timely chant the incantation against the exposed Angry Demon, initiating the Demon Exorcism rite to send the Demon back to the Spirit Realm.
"What do you think? It's still not too late to change your mind. The risk involved in this process is not small. Once the summoning rite is started, it will attract more than just that Demon. The surrounding Wandering Souls will also be drawn in, but before the Demon is tricked into the Array, we cannot release the Spirit Repelling Rune to restrain those invading Undead prematurely, or else all our efforts will be in vain.
If the premature arrivals were merely Living Corpses of wild beasts, you might be able to deal with them, but if more powerful Undead emerged...
You know, even if you give up on rescuing him, no one's going to criticize you. After all, if it weren't for the spell you and I released that day, the child wouldn't have survived until now, so you don't owe him anything," said the girl's voice, making the stakes clear for one last time: "All the necessary materials are prepared; making a guide instrument to escape this domain and back to reality as soon as possible would be the wise choice."
Owe nothing...
Leon weighed the potential outcomes of attempting to save Lokhak, scratching his head in anguish, somewhat lost in thought.
He initially thought that he didn't want to feel indebted to a comrade, as on that day, Lokhak and Azeryan had not abandoned him when he was unconscious, and instead risked carrying his burden.
But on reflection, just as the girl's inner voice had said, he owed Lokhak nothing, as he had already saved his life.
So why did he still not want to abandon Lokhak? Was it because he was essentially a good person?
Leon didn't deny the goodness in his character, but that was just the sense of morality an ordinary person should have, not so good as to be altruistic and disregard his own life's safety.
What then, was the reason for still being willing to take the risk?
...After much contemplation, his confusion gradually cleared.
"Let's put it this way; fleeing north was my idea, but I don't feel responsible for Azeryan falling into peril now, because he had also thought it through before agreeing to it. We are co-conspirators in our current situation."
Leon spoke with relief, "However, Lokhak is different. He was just following and trusting my decision. I do feel responsible for his current predicament. You've said that a soul devoured by a Demon is a more miserable fate than not resting in peace after death. Then I have even more responsibility to rectify my mistake. Otherwise, if someone's soul is doomed because of my decision, I won't be able to sleep well for the rest of my life, even if I survive."
He stood up and patted Azeryan, who had been praying with closed eyes and resting: "I'm going to rescue Lokhak. The risk is great, and I might die."
Azeryan opened his eyes, puzzled. He couldn't hear the inner dialogue in Leon's heart and was quite confused.
However, once he understood what the other person meant, Azeryan's brows furrowed slightly.
"From the beginning of our escape, has there been any situation we've faced that wasn't high risk?"
He grasped Leon's outstretched hand, swaying to his feet with his legs weak and sore: "I can't get out of this place alone. Besides, descendants of the Flarrell Family never abandon their friends."