The Wraith Abomination was a wizard-created creature that Leilin had read about in ancient texts.
Its exact origins were no longer clearly recorded, but Leilin remembered well that in that ancient volume, the abomination had been described outright as a demon.
This creature possessed not only an extremely powerful physical body and life force — what was truly terrifying was that it constantly emitted spiritual contamination.
This plague of the soul was something ordinary people had no way to resist. When it struck, entire swathes of people would die at once.
Thus, whenever an abomination appeared, it usually signaled the destruction of one or even several ordinary human cities.
The worst incident involved an army of over a hundred abominations appearing at once!
This horrifying legion had even forcibly breached the headquarters of two ancient wizards, killing more than twenty percent of the South Coast's entire ordinary population!
In the end, it took an unnamed ancient Morning Star
"To think that these abominations were actually created by the ancient Soul Slaughter Cult! Well, the timeline does add up!"
A look of understanding surfaced in Leilin's eyes.
According to the recorded history of the Wizard World, after the Abomination Calamity had passed, the Soul Slaughter Cult had fallen into a strange state — first proclaiming that their supreme deity Gegewu would descend and rule this world, then conducting several massive blood sacrifices before disappearing entirely from the wizarding world.
Now it was clear that the Soul Slaughter Cult, having drawn the wrath of all, had been jointly eradicated by the entire South Coast wizarding community!
Just then, the approaching abomination spotted Leilin.
Its two eyes, one large and one small, radiated a bloodthirsty gleam, and even its bloated, grotesque body trembled slightly with excitement.
A thin green mist spread across the entirety of the garden ruins.
"Soul Plague!" Leilin's expression tightened as he recognized the most feared aspect of the abomination.
"Scales of Komoyin!"
With a thought, Leilin's entire body was immediately covered in a layer of fine scales. The scales were black, densely covering his arms and hands, not even sparing his face.
Encased in the scales, Leilin's appearance had transformed dramatically — even his eyes had taken on a faint amber hue.
Yet these scales did not lend him a fearsome look; instead, under the bloodline charm of a warlock, they made him appear even more fluid and aesthetically striking.
Even an ordinary person would perceive him as exuding a kind of wild, bestial beauty.
In fact, if Leilin were among the serpentine races of the Beastkin, he might even be presented as a precious tribute to the Serpent Mothers of each snake tribe — though Leilin would certainly be unwilling.
After instantaneously activating his innate wizardry defense, Leilin was not satisfied. He brushed his hand beneath his neck.
A burst of dark crimson light erupted from beneath his neck, spreading across his entire body and vaguely forming the shape of a suit of armor.
Facing the terrifying Soul Plague, Leilin took extra precautions — not only did he fully activate his innate wizardry, but he also triggered the Pendant of the Fallen Star, his ace trump card.
The strength of an ancient abomination was absolutely far beyond that of an ordinary First-rank Wizard, and who knew what twisted abilities the Soul Slaughter Cult's wizards had layered onto it, making it even more bizarre and difficult to deal with.
Leilin had no desire to bring upon himself inescapable trouble through a momentary lapse — problems of the soul were absolutely harder to heal than physical injuries!
And now, in addition to the original crimson light barrier, his body was protected by two additional layers of defense: the Scales of Komoyin and the Pendant of the Fallen Star.
Just as Leilin finished his preparations, the pale green mist enveloped his area.
Hum!
The instant the mist enveloped him, Leilin felt his head go dizzy. Then the crimson glow in his consciousness sea rippled, and the crystal at its center emitted a pulse of spiritual power, instantly dispelling the dizziness.
Hiss!
At the same time, Leilin's outermost scarlet light barrier, the moment it came into contact with the mist, emitted the sound of something being corroded. After a few seconds, it collapsed entirely.
Then the phantom armor formed by the Pendant of the Fallen Star began to emit sounds of strain, its energy reserves being continuously depleted.
"This is without even breaking through the defense — just the residual effect of the spiritual contamination, and it's already having this kind of impact!"
Leilin hissed through his teeth as he stared at the approaching abomination, the wariness on his face growing more pronounced.
"ROAR!!!"
Two more thick arms suddenly sprouted from the abomination's back, bracing against the ground!
Using this burst of force, the abomination's speed skyrocketed as it charged directly at Leilin. The axe in its left hand slashed fiercely toward his waist!
The tremendous force, before even arriving, seemed to compress the surrounding air into solid crystal as it surged toward Leilin!
A blue flash flickered in Leilin's eyes. His body twisted at an impossible angle as he slipped through the gap in the axe's arc.
"Shadow Fireball!"
After evading the attack, Leilin surveyed his surroundings. The garden on all sides was blocked by the green mist — without killing this abomination, there was no way through.
Furthermore, Leilin did not believe that the ancient wizards would have let him leave so easily.
Therefore, he launched a fierce counterattack, opening with his most powerful wizardry!
Boom!
As rapid, clipped syllables rang from Leilin's lips, numerous black fireballs suddenly erupted from the abomination's shadow!
The fireballs instantly merged into a single sphere, swelling dozens of times in size before detonating on the abomination's surface.
Black flames instantly engulfed the abomination's entire body, blowing off many of its slender arms.
Even a tiny spark of black flame landing on the ground would leave a small hole of bottomless depth.
"Attack struck the target! Shadow Fireball power: 51 degrees! Spiritual power elementalization bonus: 21 degrees! Target's surface defensive field breached! Data acquired!"
The Chip's notification sounded in an instant.
As the wizardry on Leilin's side that was currently second only to the Petrifying Gaze in power, the Shadow Fireball, under the full boost of his spiritual power elementalization, had reached a terrifying 51 degrees!
Even a creature as infamous as the abomination, this ancient horror, could only tremble beneath the flames!
"Ding! Wraith Abomination — Strength: 34, Agility: 19, Constitution: 40, Spirit: 25. Special Abilities: 1. Soul Plague: A Soul Plague cast by ancient wizards perpetually clings to the abomination's body surface. Once it contaminates a living soul, the creature will be placed under an eternal curse, and the soul will gradually perish! 2. Devour — The Wraith Abomination can heal its injuries by consuming large quantities of fresh flesh and blood. Additionally, absorbing a large number of spirits can cause the Wraith Abomination to evolve into a more powerful creature."
Studying the data on the Chip, Leilin gazed with some amazement at the monster still wailing within the black flames.
"This level of power is at least comparable to a semi-elementalized wizard. If they formed a legion with an even more powerful leader, many wizard organizations would indeed be unable to handle them and would need to flee…"
Musings aside, Leilin instantly launched another Shadow Fireball.
Countless black fireballs emerged from the shadowy crevices all around, continuously rushing into the enormous torch of black flames and making the dark fire blaze even more fiercely.
Though Leilin was quite interested in this Wraith Abomination, he only intended to collect some tissue fluid for study after it died — he had no thoughts of capturing it alive.
Thus, seeing that the Shadow Fireball was effective, Leilin instantly unleashed another volley of black fireballs, determined to finish off the Wraith Abomination in one decisive blow!
"ROAR!"
The abomination trapped within the torch of flames let out a tremendous, horrifying cry. The numerous slender arms on its body began to melt and fall off, twitching on the ground.
BOOM!!!
The black flames burned through the abomination's bloated belly. In an instant, a massive number of spirits poured out from inside.
These spirits bore faces of men and women, old and young. Moreover, many of the spirits were grotesquely misshapen — some with an extra hand growing from their faces, others with three extra legs protruding from their stomachs, and some covered entirely with various organs and body parts, bearing a striking resemblance to the abomination itself.
What all these spirits had in common was that their eyes were filled with a vacant dullness, as though all intelligence had been drained from them.
"Could it be… that this is an ancient Soul Slaughter Cult facility for creating abominations?" Seeing this scene and comparing it with his earlier speculation, such a thought involuntarily arose in Leilin's mind.
These spirits drifted aimlessly around the Wraith Abomination, paying no heed to the black flames burning on its body, weaving in and out of them — the sight made Leilin's expression tighten.
"These things! Could they be trying to—" Leilin shuddered as a sudden realization struck him.
Immediately, he hurled several more potions, even mixing in Pink Pearls, which had some damaging effect on spirits!
But he was a step too late.
With the Wraith Abomination's piercing shriek, the spirits surrounding it detonated one after another!
BOOM! BOOM!!!
It was as if the old witch's Soul Detonation technique were being repeated all over again!
But this time, dozens or even hundreds of spirits were self-detonating simultaneously — the power far exceeded what the old witch had unleashed last time!
Amid the explosions, the black flames on the Wraith Abomination were directly extinguished.
And a terrifying shockwave from the blast struck Leilin head-on.
Pfft! The defense from his Pendant of the Fallen Star flickered once before bursting apart like a soap bubble.
Leilin was sent flying backward as if struck head-on by a locomotive, crushing several structures along the way and carving a long trajectory scar across the ground.
"How did the scan not detect such a terrifying ability?!" Leilin was both shocked and furious.
"Detected a secondary defensive field within the target's abdomen — Chip scan experienced interference!"
The Chip's notification rose before Leilin's eyes once more.