Chapter 118: Returning Fully Laden

“No———!!”

Watching the long sword piercing through her chest, Rose let out a desperate scream. She opened her mouth, attempting to cast a final curse upon the enemies behind her. But Zane did not give her that chance. Suddenly, fierce flames erupted from the blade, surging into Rose’s body. Soon, the flames melted her eyes and vocal cords, scorching her tongue. From the dark, hollow sockets, the fire burst forth, and before long, Rose’s entire body was engulfed in flames.

This time, Zane showed no mercy. Gripping the sword tightly, he focused all his magical power into the fire. Killing a saint was no easy feat. Though Rose’s inherent suspicion meant she had not granted his clone much strength, he had to be wary of any lingering curses or schemes. Without hesitation, Zane poured all the dungeon’s absorbed magical energy into the flames, breaking through Rose’s defenses with overwhelming force, mercilessly burning every inch of her body.

In the blink of an eye, Rose’s body turned into a pile of blackened charred remains amidst the fire. But this was not the end. As the flames completely consumed her corpse, Zane shook his sword once more. With his motion, the enormous, blackened body twisted and spun, then was sucked into the crevice of the dark magic sword in Zane’s hand. It was like some monstrous creature opening its maw to gulp down water. Moments later, Rose’s body vanished without a trace, leaving only the dark, ominous sword reflecting an eerie, chilling gleam under the firelight.

“Phew…”

Only then did Zane exhale in relief. He raised the sword and carefully examined the blade. The once black blade now shimmered with an ethereal radiance. The soul’s brilliance flickered in the darkness, dispersed, then reformed into Rose’s agonized face. She opened her mouth and stared at Zane, her expression twisted and contorted. But in the next moment, that distorted, fearful visage shattered like a statue crashing to the ground, breaking into fragments that drifted within the sword’s darkness, then dissolved like salt in water.

When Zane lowered the sword again, it had resumed its disguise as a staff. On the surface, it looked like a somewhat old, slightly worn walking stick, with no hint of its true nature as a divine weapon. But only Zane knew just how terrifying this magic weapon truly was.

The magic sword “Cybras” — once one of the ancient relics rumored to exist in the lower realms. Its previous wielder was said to be an ancient demon lord. For reasons unknown, the demon lord fell completely, and the sword, without its master, fell into new hands. As a magic sword, Cybras’s power was unquestionable. It could devour the souls of those who fell beneath its blade, growing ever stronger. Moreover, it had a unique ability: it could invade the bodies of those it wounded with magic, driving them utterly into the depths of darkness and evil.

In fact, during the first Great War of Heaven and Earth, a human from the prime plane accidentally obtained this sword and used it to build a loyal legion of demonic creatures. Unfortunately, evil can never triumph over justice — perhaps only temporarily. Eventually, that human’s demonic legion was crushed by surface forces, and the sword was shattered by a god, ending its reign. The demon clans later retrieved the fragments, attempting to repair the sword but never succeeding. They gave up, discarding the remnants into the trash heaps.

Ultimately, it was Zane who collected the shards and painstakingly reconstructed and modified the sword. As the weakest among the demon royal family, Zane was not entitled to claim the more potent magic weapons. He knew well that if he shamelessly sought such treasures, he would become a target for assassination and theft. So he chose this forsaken sword, devoted immense effort to repairs and improvements, and finally restored it to a usable state.

Sadly, even after restoration, Cybras did not regain the formidable magical power Zane hoped for — likely because its reserves had been exhausted in past battles. Now, in Zane’s hands, Cybras was a powerful “magical weapon,” but not a true “magic relic.” Outwardly it seemed formidable, but against other magic relics, its weaknesses would soon be exposed.

Feeling the surge of soul energy pulsing through the staff, Zane nodded with satisfaction. The soul power of a saint like Rose was a great boon to repairing his magic weapon. He sensed that after absorbing her soul, Cybras’s strength had grown significantly, though it still needed time to fully restore its former glory. With its current power, it was more than enough to handle a saint. But if a true god descended, this sword would be little more than scrap metal.

With that thought, Zane withdrew his focus and landed back on the ground. Enoia and Patilina were already by his side, and even Verna and Elise, who had kept their distance, cautiously approached after witnessing the battle’s end.

“Master? How was I? Did I do well?”

The first to rush to Zane was the ever-cheerful Patilina. She threw herself into his arms, then looked up at him with an innocent, radiant smile, like a loyal dog wagging its tail, awaiting a reward. As a responsible master, Zane did not forget to praise his faithful and dependable subordinate.

He reached out quickly, stroking Patilina’s head, and nodded.

“You did very well. Thanks to you, this battle was much easier.”

Zane’s words were true. His forces lacked troops capable of inflicting wide-area damage. The alien soldiers were elite fighters but faltered against overwhelming numbers. Elise, a mage, knew many advanced spells but was still outmatched by legendary adversaries. Patilina, however, posed no such problem. Her area attacks dealt maximum damage to Masobris, and during the fight with Saint Rose, her firepower suppressed Rose so heavily that Zane and Enoia could ambush successfully. Otherwise, defeating the venomous mother spider would have been nearly impossible.

“Hehe…”

Feeling Zane’s touch, Patilina squinted proudly and chuckled softly. Then she skipped aside like dancing, shooting a triumphant glance at Verna and slyly making an obscene gesture with her right hand. Clearly, Patilina held no fondness for the coward who hid and watched from the sidelines.

Verna, faced with Patilina’s provocation, feigned ignorance. She noted that this little brat acted like a model subordinate around Zane but was arrogantly overbearing toward her. To avoid giving her a reason to punish her, she decided the best approach was to pretend not to see it and avoid trouble.

Compared to the dark elf matron, Patilina was relatively “friendly.”

“What shall we do next, Master?”

After Patilina left, Enoia stepped forward to ask. Zane paused briefly, then a slight smile curled his lips.

“Next… naturally, it’s time to clean up the battlefield.”

For Zane, this expedition had been highly profitable. The dark elf family of Masobris had been utterly annihilated in the cataclysmic disaster. Their treasures lay buried beneath the ruins, waiting to be unearthed. This posed no problem for Zane. Goblins busily wielded their mining picks, clearing debris and collecting various treasures, sending all the spoils back to the dungeon through portals.

Most dark elves had perished in the calamity, but a few survived for various reasons. Zane ordered Verna to recruit them. Fortunately, those who survived were mostly robust dark elf warriors; very few priests had made it through. These dark elves showed no resistance to Verna’s recruitment — hardly surprising, since they had witnessed Zane’s battle with Saint Rose and her ultimate demise. This shattered their faith. The warrior dark elves had never enjoyed Rose’s favor and were less loyal to her than the priests. Moreover, their nature was to serve the strong. Thus, they accepted the one who defeated Saint Rose without much hesitation. Besides, Masobris was destroyed; staying meant becoming prey to the monsters of the shadowy lands. With no other dark elf cities nearby, accepting Zane’s rule was their only path to survival.

Therefore, when Zane returned to the dungeon, he brought back countless treasures and thirty elite dark elf warriors.

For Zane, there was no greater reward than this.

(To be continued.)