Chapter 501: Sliver of Will

"Weirdo. There's nothing interesting about this. You can have it back." Lumi failed to find any point of interest from the emerald ring before tossing it back to Leon.

However, Leon dodged the ring like it was a plague, causing it to fall to the ground some distance away from them.

Lumi glanced at Leon suspiciously before she asked, "Why did you avoid the ring?"

"Ahem, it's nothing. Don't think too much into it." Leon coughed before returning his attention to the Elf King's transmogrified body.

Seeing Leon unwilling to explain, Lumi could only shrug it off.

After Leon locked onto the Demonic Energy with divine sense, he began pulling them out with his Divine Will. 

However, something unexpected happened. 

The moment the invisible mental power of Leon's Divine Will contacted the accumulated Demonic Energy inside the Elf King's transmogrified body, the Demonic Energy became active like it was sentient. 

It followed the traceless mental power coming from Leon's Divine Will and rushed out of the Elf King's body before invading his mind!

"What?!" 

Leon was caught unprepared as the Demonic Energy poured into his mind through his seven orifices, rushing straight towards soul core!

"No!" Leon tried to resist their advances with his Divine Will. However, the Demonic Energy was like slivery snakes that could not be caught by his Divine Will!

There was a stronger existing will within the overbearing Demonic Energy that could negate the power of his Divine Will!

Leon's eyes immediately turned red as he exerted his Divine Will to the max! 

At the same time, he willed the power within his Black Vortex to form a protective layer around his soul core to ward off the Demonic Energy and prevent them from trying to corrupt his mind!

However, another unexpected situation took place in the split second the Demonic Energy invaded into the region of his sea of consciousness!

Before the Demonic Energy could even come close to his soul core, they suddenly lost all sense of versatility before getting pulled in by the Black Vortex's powerful attraction!

Crunch!

The strips of Demonic Energy were crushed and grounded down within the Black Vortex until the sliver of sentient will hidden inside the Demonic Energy was destroyed! 

Shortly after, everything was refined into raw power that Leon could manipulate before joining the grey ring of energy and circulating around his soul core. 

Moments later, when everything seemed to have calmed down, Leon could still be seen trickling in cold sweats. 

The situation had come too abruptly. And before Leon could do anything, the domineering Black Vortex inside his sea of consciousness had resolved everything for him—even granting him a boost in power.

"Are you alright, Leon?" Lumi asked with concern. She had witnessed the Demonic Energy flooding into Leon's head but was helpless to do anything to stop it. 

Everything had happened too quickly for her to react.

"I-I'm fine… probably," Leon replied unconfidently. 

"Probably? So, are you fine, or are you not?"

"I'm not completely sure yet. Give me a moment to check."

Shortly after, Leon performed an introspection on himself and visited the grey ring of energy within his Black Vortex. 

Few red strips of Demonic Energy could be seen following the circulation of the grey energy revolving around his soul core like the asteroid belt in orbit around the stars due to gravity.

However, Leon could no longer sense any overbearingness from the Demonic Energy. 

In fact, they have become so tamed and docile that he felt they could be manipulated easily like any other forms of elementary energy.

Shortly after, the Demonic Energy was pulled away from the grey ring of energy and moved around within the Black Vortex Space accordingly to his will. 

His doubts were confirmed to be true. 

He did not expect to be able to manipulate Demonic Energy so freely like he was manipulating Spirit Energy, even though he did not practice the demonic path.

'What on earth was that sliver of will, though? Who did it belong to? A Great Devil? No, that should be very unlikely.' Leon furrowed in thought. 

No matter who it belonged to, it was not on his side since it tried to invade his mind and possess him. That was for sure.

'No wonder the Elf King did not go berserk with such quantity of Demonic Energy inside him. The Demonic Energy was special—in possessing the sliver of will from some being…'

Leon began to reconsider his plans. 

The trip to the subterranean world might be proven to be far more dangerous than he had previously anticipated. 

If the sliver of will from some being was already strong enough to overpower his Divine Will, then that goes without saying that the said being was most likely more powerful than him as well—and this was not by a small margin. 

He would just be a sitting duck if he ran into such a powerful being. 

'However, I am only scouting the situation of the subterranean world in this area… there's no need for me to venture too deeply. Perhaps, I won't run into such a being.' Leon began to contemplated. 

If he could find the source of the Demonic Energy and put an end to its production, then that would be for the best—provided that the Demonic Energy came from an ancient relic's malfunction, responsible for producing artificial Spirit Energy.

However, if his theory was proven wrong and that the source came from the powerful demonic being, he would be f*cked if he ran into such a being even if he had nine lives. 

After a bit of back and forward thinking, Leon ultimately sighed mentally, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Furthermore, dangers and fortunes come hand in hand. As I thought, I should still take a look."

Suddenly, he noticed something shined for a brief moment while his divine sense was still inside the Black Vortex. 

A few transparent objects were floating outside the grey ring of energy. He had nearly missed it if not for the slight gleam that came from the soft refraction of light.

'Is that…?" Leon began to gleam with realization. The destroyed sliver of will had actually left behind some law fragments for him to comprehend!