Azriel clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to gape.
‘Crazy monkey… What the hell was that punch?!’
Another sharp whistle sliced through the air. This time, it came from his left.
The nightstrider hawk was charging toward him, its beak aimed to impale.
“Tch. You’re too weak to play here.”
Clicking his tongue, Azriel raised his left hand.
Before the bird could close the distance, a spike of ice erupted from the ground. It pierced the hawk’s body clean through, stopping it dead in its tracks.
The creature’s lifeless body hung suspended for a moment, black blood oozing down the glistening spike.
Azriel smiled, a wicked edge to his expression.
“Now I’m in the mood for chicken wings.”
The ice shattered, letting the hawk’s corpse crash to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Then, a wave of euphoria washed over Azriel, making his eyes widen.
‘Ah… I forgot about [Core Reaper].’
It had been so long since he last felt its effects.
The ebonclimber lumbered forward, stepping over the hawk’s corpse. Azriel watched it curiously.
‘I could use aura… but revealing how much I can use might be unwise. Besides, this is just a test.’
The gorilla sniffed the dead bird, then turned its gaze to Azriel.
Its glowing yellow eyes locked onto his, and he tilted his head slightly, intrigued.
In the next instant, the slits in its pupils expanded, and Azriel’s mind was suddenly assaulted by a sharp, piercing pain.
“…!”
His eyes shot open as realization struck.
The ebonclimber was trying to control his mind.
But instead of panic, a dark grin spread across Azriel’s face. He let out a low, mocking laugh, spreading his arms wide with Void Eater still in his grip.
“Ah, how cute! Truly! If you want to take over my mind, you’ll have to try harder than that. Considering you’ve been controlling the others and only now decided to use this trick on me, I’m guessing there’s a limit to your power, huh? Why not release those other creatures and focus everything on me? Let’s see what you’ve got!”
His words carried through the battlefield, reaching the ears of his teammates. They glanced his way, horrified by what they saw—a crooked grin plastered on his face as he taunted the monstrous ape.
They looked at Azriel as if he had lost his mind.
But he didn’t care.
‘…you can understand me, can’t you? Or maybe you understand in some other way?’
He was curious. How far could this creature go if it used all its power to control him?
Would it succeed?
Impossible.
Azriel was certain of one thing.
The ebonclimber didn’t stand a chance.
Its attempt to control his mind was almost… adorable.
…Azriel was right.
The Ebonclimber somehow managed to understand what Azriel had said, and without hesitation, it released its mind control over the void creatures his teammates were fighting.
The void creatures froze for a split second, but as the scent of their prey filled the air, they attacked once more, this time with even more madness in their movements.
Then the vertical slits in the Ebonclimber’s eyes expanded again, and instead of feeling a single knife piercing his brain, Azriel felt as if dozens of knives were stabbing into his skull from all sides.
It was clear that if the Ebonclimber could take control of Azriel’s mind, it would gain a far more valuable servant than any of those void creatures.
Azriel’s head twitched slightly, and the smile on his face vanished. A frown settled in as the ape, seeing Azriel’s expression, curled its lips back, revealing its long fangs.
‘…Is this all it can do?’
Azriel couldn’t hide his disappointment this time.
Sure, the Ebonclimber was restricted from using the full power of a grade 3 demon’s mind control, but Azriel had expected more. He had thought that at the very least, the mind control of such a powerful creature would be… stronger.
It wasn’t.
Azriel sighed, shaking his head.
“Nevermind. It was a stupid experiment. If it weren’t for that damn mana collar, maybe we could’ve had a real mind battle.”
Hearing Azriel’s words and seeing the disappointment on his face, the Ebonclimber froze, its eyes widening in disbelief. Then they narrowed, and it roared at Azriel in fury.
With terrifying speed, it charged toward him on all fours, crushing the Nightstrider Hawk beneath it.
Azriel raised his left arm, and another ice spike erupted from the ground. But this time, the Ebonclimber reacted. It stood on two legs and brought both fists down with such force that they crushed the spike before it fully formed.
Azriel stared, astonished, as the demon rushed toward him.
As the Ebonclimber neared, it stood back on its legs again, raising its left leg and sending it down toward Azriel with immense force. Azriel leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack as the foot crushed the ground beneath him, creating another small explosion.
The gorilla didn’t stop. It raised both arms again, fists poised to strike, and slammed them down toward Azriel. Once again, Azriel dodged.
His face grew colder as he glared at the creature.
Three more ice lances shot out around Azriel, heading straight for the Ebonclimber. But to his astonishment, the gorilla grabbed both of them without effort, crushing them as if they were twigs. The final lance, aimed at its face, was smashed with its teeth as it growled ominously at Azriel.
Then it raised both arms, slamming them into the ground, sending a cloud of dust obscuring Azriel’s vision.
A shiver ran down Azriel’s spine as he tapped the ground with his feet. Four walls of ice emerged in front of him as he leaped backward.
The Ebonclimber burst through the dust, smashing its head into the ice walls. They shattered like glass as it charged toward Azriel once more.
Azriel’s mind raced, preparing for the next move, but the Ebonclimber did something he hadn’t expected.
It raised its left hand, scooping up a pile of dirt that had been buried in its massive palm. Before Azriel could react, it threw the dirt at him, crushing it into a cloud of dust. Azriel had no time to find a gap in the cloud as it engulfed him.
Instinctively, Azriel closed his eyes to protect them from the dirt. But the plan worked. The Ebonclimber was right in front of him, and he had no choice but to force his eyes open, despite the burning sensation.
He jumped back, but it was too late. The Ebonclimber slapped him with its massive right hand.
“Uhk!”
Azriel’s body shot through the air like a bullet, crashing through a tree before finally stopping against another. He slumped to the ground, a cough of blood escaping his lips.
“Ugh… that stung.”
Dazed and lightheaded, Azriel raised his eyes to see the Ebonclimber walking toward one of the broken trees. He touched his head, looking at his blood-covered hands, his lips pressed into a thin line.
If not for his Soul Armor, Azriel knew that his body would have been in far worse condition. [Soul’s Crucible] had helped him stay focused, numbing most of the pain.
At least he learned something from this fight… He could definitely still feel pain.
Even though his senses were dulled, Azriel staggered to his feet, still lightheaded—something that even [Soul’s Crucible] couldn’t entirely help with.
Glancing at his teammates, he saw they were still fighting the void scorpions. Dozens of arrows were embedded in their bodies, but neither had fallen. The good news was that Celestina seemed to be almost done with the Shardling Giant, which had cuts all over its body, kneeling on a single leg.
‘I’ve been trying to conserve mana so I could keep [Soul’s Crucible] active for them… but I underestimated it.’ Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire
Azriel turned back to the Ebonclimber, who had begun ripping the wood from the trees. Despite the mana collar, Solomon had failed to mention that the creature still possessed the physical body of a grade 3 demon.
A scowl spread across Azriel’s face as he glared at the Ebonclimber.
The creature had crushed the wood, trying to shape it into a pathetic semblance of a spear, all while wearing an obnoxious grin that exposed its sharp fangs.
Azriel gripped Void Eater more tightly with his right hand, his left rubbing the back of his neck as his face darkened.
“…Fine. I’m really going to make you regret playing with me.”