The Eldritch Files

Although his wildly surging Spiritual Power had yet to burst from his right eye, Han Su’s tumultuous power had already drawn the attention of the bizarre truck.

As the engine’s roar grew louder and louder, the bizarre, colossal truck seemed to gather an even greater strength. It appeared to recognize the danger Han Su posed and began to turn, shifting its focus from Xu Ji to him.

It was a scene straight out of a racing video: the car revved its engine, and in the next instant, it would unleash an unparalleled burst of power.

’Is this thing dead? Or alive? A Ghost? Or some kind of machine?’

Han Su had never encountered anything so bizarre before. Yet, deep down, he felt a strange sense of nonchalance.

After seeing so many bizarre and powerful monsters in the Ancient Castle, encountering this twisted thing in the real world for the first time actually felt... fresh.

The sharp pain in his right eye had not yet faded. With each successive surge of Spiritual Power, the agony rolled over him in waves. But instead of debilitating him, the pain only made him feel more and more excited.

’Bring it on! Let’s do this!’

”I say...”

He faced the nightmarish Ghost Truck and the spectral shadows looming within the dense fog. Taking a sharp step forward, he channeled the agony in his right eye and roared:

”Sic erat in abysso!!”

His voice sounded even more mystical. Due to some strange tonal distortion, the words were warped into something unintelligible to the common ear. It sounded more like some incomprehensible language, one that felt merely mysterious and ancient.

As he recited the Spell, the surging Spiritual Power in his mind immediately grew more frantic, boiling over.

WHIRRR...

The truck seemed to be observing him, its two blinding headlights fixed squarely on Han Su. When it determined that his power wasn’t as great as it had first imagined, it lunged forward.

Before the truck, Han Su and Xu Ji looked like simple, helpless prey.

At that exact moment, as the Spell left his lips, Han Su felt the surging Spiritual Power in his mind slam into his right eye with several times its previous force.

The power output had magnified exponentially.

Beside him, Xu Ji let out a terrified scream as the Ghost Truck charged toward Han Su. But he never could have imagined what happened next. As he faced the Ghost Truck, Han Su’s right eye—blind for ten years—suddenly cracked open.

At that instant, a sliver of clandestine light shot from his right eye, threatening to pierce straight through the dense fog.

Spiritual Power could influence reality, but it could not directly enter it.

But now, on Han Su’s third attempt, driven by his ferocious Spiritual Power and will, the breach in his right eye allowed his power to shatter that limitation.

A sliver of power seeped out from his right eye.

Furthermore, influenced by something within his right eye, it flowed from the socket in a bizarre form.

The Ghost Truck, charging forward with insane momentum, suddenly slammed into this sliver of Spiritual Power. An invisible force instantly crushed down on it, pressing it to a dead stop.

Even the pervasive fog was compressed by this invisible force, blasted outward.

The mechanical grotesquerie, accompanied by its countless Chong Ghosts, was once again stunned by the invisible force. Its massive headlights seemed to hold a look of utter confusion.

The expressions on the Chong Ghosts beside the colossal truck seemed to turn strange. The knees of many of the weaker ones even began to twist.

A grating screech of twisting steel pierced the air. The surrounding fog and the truck’s massive chassis seemed to be held in place by some power. An immense force intertwined around it, crushing and tearing at it.

It was even dismembering it!

”I...”

Xu Ji was reeling from the shock of the scene. He saw a soul-stealing light shoot from Han Su’s long-blind eye.

”My brother is actually an Immortal...”

”...”

He watched in disbelief as the Spell and the truck’s roar clashed like two opposing waves—or perhaps, two dueling roars.

The next moment, something even stranger happened. Amidst this standoff of invisible forces, the truck’s headlights grew brighter and brighter as it gathered more and more power.

But gradually, under the stare of Han Su’s right eye, the truck’s frame—though caked in rust and blood—began to distort strangely. Its hardness vanished, replaced by a bizarre softness.

The front of the truck sagged as if it were deflating.

The bizarre flesh clinging to its body began to turn a ghastly white, melting and dripping to the ground bit by bit.

It was actually melting.

This monster, a fusion of steel and bizarre power, was losing the properties of steel. Or rather, its properties were being twisted, until it became soft as dough.

The transformation was so shocking that even the nearby Chong Ghosts were stunned. Gradually, their expressions shifted to terror, their twisted, ferocious faces going slack with a dazed horror.

’So something really was left inside my right eye...’

At this, Han Su’s spirits soared. He finally understood.

’So this is the Pale monster’s power...’

”...”

An image flashed through his mind: the Pale monster in the hallway, melting into a puddle of flesh and blood in its rage. A strange realization dawned on Han Su. He had assumed it was just a trait of the monster.

A product of a nightmare.

But now he realized it was a power. A power left behind in his right eye. A power that could be unleashed through his gaze to melt anything.

He could feel his own Spiritual Power reeling from a massive shock, being drawn out of him again and again, like water from a well.

He was reaching his limit, but the monstrous truck was still locked in a stalemate, seemingly on the verge of gathering its strength again.

Han Su couldn’t take it anymore. His expression turned grim, and the eye that had been wounded by the monster in the Ancient Castle now radiated a chilling malice.

”I say...”

He roared for the third time: ”Gods, send down your decree!”

’Riding the wave of crazed agony and release, he decided to push it even further.’

’Too much pain becomes catharsis!’

With the Spell, he even surged forward a step, his palm extended, about to press against the front of the truck. His resounding voice spread through the dense fog, carrying a profoundly impactful and mystical weight.

RUMBLE!

Finally, the instant the words left his mouth, an indescribable pressure swept out in all directions.

The thick fog dissipated completely, as if scoured away by a gale.

As for the giant, grotesque truck, its chassis seemed to shudder the moment he spoke. The roar of its engine died down, turning into what sounded like a mechanical whimper.

A machine is not human, yet even a machine as grotesque as this one seemed to be expressing a human emotion.

It didn’t wait for Han Su’s palm to actually touch its hood. In fact, it displayed intense resistance and fear. Before his hand could make contact, the truck shot backward.

In a contest of Spiritual Power, it was likely far stronger than Han Su. But the power in his right eye terrified it.

It retreated a full three meters, backing into the remnants of the fog. Now at a safe distance from Han Su, its front end drooped low and its headlights dimmed, as if it were bowing in deference.

The next moment, even the surrounding, swirling fog vanished, melting away into the night sky.

All around, every sound—even the night wind—suddenly returned to normal.

”Xu Ji, Xu Ji...”

”Eldest Young Master Xu...”

”Oh my God...”

”...”

In the distance, panicked shouts and the sound of approaching vehicles arose. Countless people were rushing over to find them.

WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO!

Further in the distance were police cars from the city, sirens blaring as they rushed to the scene.

Only then did Han Su let out a soft breath. He looked down at his palm and saw that it was trembling.

Reciting the Spell for the third time had caused his Spiritual Power to gush out of him, leaving him nearly drained. An indescribable exhaustion washed over him; his mind felt blank, and he was on the verge of collapse.

But an indescribable sense of elation and excitement still sustained him, making his eyes shine all the brighter. ’After being chased by monsters for so long, I’ve finally become a monster myself!’

...

...

”Tsk, tsk. What a pity. Such a waste...”

At that same moment, on the other side of the city, on a desolate hill far from the city’s edge.

A tall transmission tower stood stark against the night sky. Beneath it, holding his silver briefcase, stood Song Chushi—the man Han Su had just met.

A teasing voice began to emanate from the silver briefcase.

Song Chushi didn’t answer. He simply gazed toward the city, sensing the fluctuations emanating from beneath the endless lights. It was as if he could feel a series of changes beginning to ripple through the vast expanse of Qinggang City, like a line of falling dominoes.

Fully armed personnel were surrounding the wonton shop where he had spoken with Han Su. Figures in black trench coats, their expressions varied, were appearing on every street corner he had just occupied.

The whole of Qinggang City had been like a stagnant pond, but now, that stagnant water showed signs of beginning to boil.

”To think of all the Forbidden Domains I’ve crossed, all the contamination I’ve endured, all the dangerous people I’ve dealt with... just to find one S-Class Spell...”

When Song Chushi remained silent, the monster in the briefcase spoke again, its voice tinged with wistful regret. ”You, of all people, should know the value of this Spell. And you should know that it requires a one-of-a-kind spiritual signature.”

”And yet, not only did you not claim it for yourself...”

”...you gave the Spell to some clueless kid?”

”Doesn’t that sting, even a little?”

”...”

”Through the narrow gate, seek the fissure in fate.”

”The Abyss is here; the wheel begins to turn.”

This time, Song Chushi finally spoke, though not in answer to the voice from the briefcase. His words seemed to resonate with the vast, boundless night.

Deep and mysterious, he said, ”I didn’t give him this path. It was the one he was always meant to walk.”

The voice from the silver briefcase sounded exasperated, its tone growing anxious. ”You don’t actually believe that load of bull about monsters kidnapping them, do you?”

”Believe me, this world may have been subjected to Penetration, and it might spawn plenty of grotesqueries, but it hasn’t gone so insane that it’s birthing actual monsters who go around kidnapping children!”

”Monsters, really?”

The unknown entity inside the fifty-by-sixty-centimeter silver case knocked contemptuously against the walls, producing a sharp THUMP-THUMP. ”If there are such real, tangible monsters, then bring one out and show me!”

”The Spell activated for him.”

Song Chushi’s voice was laced with a cold resolve as he slowly turned and walked down the hill into the endless darkness. ”Which proves he wasn’t lying. So, my gamble paid off.”

”That kidnapping case... there’s much more to it than meets the eye.”

”But no matter the cost, and no matter what it might attract, I know one thing: the truth can’t be hidden forever!”

”Twenty-six children can’t just vanish from this world without a trace.”

”Especially when my sister is one of them!”