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"White Mist Ghostly Soul Weapon – White Void Axe."
"White Mist Ghostly Soul Weapon – White Void Sword."
Chalk and Blank leaped into battle, revealing the true might of Noble Race mbers—far beyond what anyone had anticipated. Just as Elayne began to believe she was closing the gap with so of the Netherworld’s strongest, reality delivered a crushing blow.
Blazer, the most powerful Undead in their camp, could not even compare to Chalk or Blank. Their father was likely just as formidable. The Noble Races held an overwhelming advantage over the Undead: ancient history, enduring legacies, powerful families, vast wealth, endless opportunities, profound knowledge, and imnse lifespans.
Most Undead who arrived here were lost and confused, unable to grow independently. They often ended up enslaved or devoured by Nether Beasts. In contrast, the Noble Races had built enormous legacies in the Netherworld, not for thousands or hundreds of thousands of years, but for millions.
Chalk and Blank embodied that legacy: the accumulated power of millions of years within the White Ghost Race. They appeared youthful to outsiders from the living world, yet each had lived at least three to five hundred years, an age that would seem absurdly long to the average mortal.
As she watched them slaughter the giant serpentine Nether Beasts inside the cave—creatures that reminded her faintly of Silver, though thankfully not her—sothing clicked inside Elayne’s mind.
"I understand now why the Demon King of Death struggles so much to expand his territory here," she murmured under her breath. "The Noble Races are simply too powerful. Even after becoming ridiculously strong himself and freeing the other Demon Kings to aid him, he can only maintain a fragile balance."
Yaga, who had joined the group to sightsee alongside Lisette and the others, heard her clearly and nodded.
"Indeed," Granny Yaga said with a raspy chuckle. "The Demon Kings are formidable, and for so strange reason, the System itself backs them. Yet even that isn’t enough against the Netherworld’s deep legacy. I’d wager it’s far easier for them to conquer the Living World than this place, gyahaha!"
"Blank is so strong..." Mark whispered, eyes wide with awe. "I can’t believe it..."
For a fleeting mont, he realized that if Blank had not been such a gentleman, he could have taken Elayne from them without effort and perhaps killed anyone who stood in his way.
That raw, terrifying strength radiated from Blank, yet he had been raised to never abuse it. He always held back, remaining more courteous than anyone expected.
The thought of what might have happened if Blank were less honorable ignited a storm of anger and wounded pride in Mark. His fists clenched tightly as flas erupted across his body. He transford in an instant, summoning his heavy armor—part of his own form—and strode forward, gripping the Blazing Bone Blade, the Spirit Weapon Elayne had forged for him.
"There are plenty of monsters around here. Let’s hunt them down!" he declared, suddenly taking charge. "We have to grow stronger fast—Elayne, everyone. As you can see, we’re still nothing compared to the great Noble Races, and I hate it. At any mont, they could do whatever they wanted with us. So we must grow until that possibility disappears forever."
"Mark..." Elayne said, startled by his intensity.
She understood he wasn’t expressing distrust toward Chalk or Blank. If anything, his admiration for them had deepened.
He wanted to beco stronger—soone respectable, soone capable of protecting the woman he loved. What passed for strength in the Living World fell pitifully short in the Netherworld.
They had to surpass their forr limits, even at their peak. They needed to completely remake themselves, embrace their new forms and powers, and keep advancing along the path they had chosen.
"You’re right," Elayne agreed firmly. "Let’s go!"
She charged forward with the other Undead, swinging Asteria with fluid precision. She channeled her Spiritual and Nether Ghostly Aura, expanded her Consciousness, and summoned runes etched into her soul. Stone spears erupted from the ground beneath her, skewering nearby Nether Beasts one after another.
She moved Asteria with swift dexterity, drawing on muscle mory to recall swordsmanship techniques she no longer possessed as skills. She dodged strikes, shifted her stance, blocked, countered, and parried with relentless focus.
RUMBLE!
The ceiling suddenly shattered. Boulders crashed down as a gigantic Bone Beast burst forth, roaring with savage fury.
"A Tier 3 Bone Beast!" Blank shouted. "Elayne, stay back! It’s too dangerous for you!"
"I’m sorry, Lord Blank, but I must refuse!" Elayne roared back. She leaped forward, evading the creature’s claws as they gouged deep furrows into the earth. "If I don’t push myself in life-and-death situations, how else will I grow strong enough in ti? There are too many things I have to do!"
"Elayne...!" Blank gasped.
He watched her fight with breathtaking bravery. Even with her life on the line, she moved with majestic grace. And yet... "Beautiful..."
He admired not rely her appearance, but the profound beauty she radiated as a warrior, a mother, a person of unshakable conviction, soone determined to grow stronger, to save those she had failed before, and to protect those she could still reach.
"Brother, you’re hopelessly in love with her, aren’t you?" Chalk sighed, crossing her arms and shaking her head.
"W-What! How can you say that? Elayne is rely an Undead. I am a mber of the glorious White Ghost Race..." Blank protested, feigning offense.
His sister always saw through him. His acting was painfully transparent.
"You can’t fool , brother. Why did you even let yourself feel this way? You know she only loves Mark, don’t you?"
"..." Blank fell silent, unable to keep pretending. "I know. And I don’t intend to do anything. It’s rely... a passing thing. It will fade with ti, once she leaves."
"Hah..." Chalk sighed softly, a gentle smile touching her lips as she patted his shoulder. "It’s always like this with you, isn’t it?"
"I’m fine with it," Blank replied quietly, his gaze returning to Elayne as she battled the enormous reptile-like Bone Beast—four arms, three heads, the size of a small building, roaring with primal rage. "I sense incredible talent in her, but also a rare and wonderful heart. Sothing truly exceptional in the Netherworld. I’m grateful I could help make her stronger. I want to see how far she’ll go... even if I can only watch from afar."
"Brother..." Chalk murmured.
RUMBLE!
anwhile, Elayne’s desperate struggle against the Tier 3 Bone Beast raged on.
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