As the group drew closer to their destination, the air grew heavier, thick with an oppressive energy. Eventually, the vessel slowed to a halt, hovering just before the wall of encroaching miasma that stretched endlessly before them.
The Moonlight Maiden rose from her seat and stepped off the edge of the boat, her figure floating effortlessly through the air. Below, the scouting squad she had sent ahead was already waiting. They knelt as she descended.
"Report," she commanded.
"Sect Master, the demon army lies just a few miles ahead," the lead scout began, her voice tense. "However, the miasma is extremely dangerous for low-level cultivators. We didn’t dare venture too deep, so there may be traps we failed to detect."
The Moonlight Maiden nodded calmly. "No matter. You’ve done well."
She turned and gestured for everyone to deboard the flying boat. Once the last disciple had stepped off, she waved her hand casually, and the massive vessel vanished, stored away in an instant.
Then her hands began to move, performing a set of strange hand signs.
The world around them instantly turned dark. Then, above them, a massive moon materialized - brilliant and impossibly close - illuminating everything under it for a single moment before fading into nothingness.
When the light vanished, a thin layer of energy now coated every person present, shimmering faintly against their skin and robes.
"The demonic miasma shares certain properties with our sect’s yin-related methods," the Moonlight Maiden explained. "This blessing should protect you from its erosion. However, if you sustain serious injuries, the shielding may break. Be extremely careful."
The disciples nodded solemnly.
Her eyes hardened. "Move forward. Leave not a single demon alive."
Lyra raised her hand, examining the thin energy coating her skin. It was quite an interesting ability, she thought. Then she clenched her fist, and the protective layer shattered instantly around her. For someone like her, demonic energy was more like a good snack than a corrosive poison.
Beside her, Maya’s right eye began to glow golden, the clock within it spinning faster and faster. A system notification appeared before her, and a smile spread across her face.
I learned a new spell. This will help me protect Cipher. Hehehe.
Lyra glanced at her sideways. She sighed and shook her head.
With that, the group advanced into the miasma.
...
Inside the area encroached by demonic miasma, the disciples wore grim faces. Even with the Sect Master’s blessing wrapped around them, the aura was still revolting. It was yin-related energy, yet they who practiced yin techniques felt this level of disgust from it.
Lyra, on the other hand, extended her hand and condensed the miasma around her palm. She crushed it casually.
How interesting, she thought. This energy was really good for her. She wondered what kind of creature this so-called Evil God was to create something like this.
Maya beside her was also playing with the miasma, letting wisps of it curl between her fingers. "What an interesting mana structure. I wonder what I’ll learn if I can decode it fully."
At that moment, movement stirred within the dark fog.
Demons began rising from the miasma itself. They started as wiggling blobs, before molding into humanoid shapes. Once their forms solidified, they charged straight toward the group without hesitation.
"This is one of the Evil God’s abilities," the Moonlight Maiden announced.
"The good news is that these soldiers are relatively weak. Forming them consumes the miasma, as you’ve just witnessed. As long as we kill them, we can clear the corruption."
Her hand swept forward.
"Attack!"
The disciples surged toward the monsters.
...
The battlefield erupted into chaos. Attacks flew in every direction - blades of moonlight, arcs of spiritual energy, and bursts of yin techniques tearing through wave after wave of demons. Disciples fought in coordinated formations while the miasma churned around them like a living thing.
Amidst all this, Lyra stood perfectly still at the center of the carnage.
Her void sword was stabbed into the ground before her.
The demonic miasma was dark - impossibly so - but when placed next to the void sword, it seemed almost bright by comparison. The blade devoured any and all light around it, creating a sphere of absolute blackness that made the corruption look pale.
Demons charged toward her from all sides, their malformed bodies scrambling over one another in their frenzy.
The Moonlight Maiden noticed. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to shout a warning...
But the moment they crossed within ten meters of Lyra, they simply ceased to exist. No explosion. No resistance. They disintegrated into nothingness, as if they had never been there at all.
The Moonlight Maiden closed her mouth. A small, embarrassed smile tugged at her lips.
I suppose there’s no need to worry about someone who can kill a Demon Lord.
Then, something strange began happening at the base of the void sword.
The miasma nearest to the blade started to stir. Slowly at first - just a faint current circling the point where metal met earth. But gradually, the movement grew stronger. The dark energy began spiraling inward, drawn toward the sword like water into a drain.
Faster now.
The spiral widened, pulling in more and more of the surrounding miasma. What started as a small disturbance became a full on vortex, and then a full whirlpool of darkness spinning violently around Lyra’s position.
The effect spread outward. Miasma from dozens of meters away began flowing toward the sword, caught in the pull.
"What is she..."
The disciples broke formation, taking to the sky to escape the phenomenon. They hovered at a safe distance, watching with wide eyes as the whirlpool intensified below.
The Moonlight Maiden floated among them, her expression unreadable as she observed.
Lyra looked at the swirling mess before her calmly.
Back when she had used First Sword for the first time, the void sword had been damaged. She had recovered it somewhat, but it got damaged again when she used First Sword against the Crimson Demon. While that usage was nowhere near the level of the First Sword she had unleashed at her peak, it was still a burden on the already weakened blade.
She had been lacking in energy to repair it completely.
But with this seemingly endless supply of concentrated demonic energy... wasn’t this just handing her exactly what she needed?
The whirlpool’s intensity doubled. Then tripled. The Moonlight Maiden watched on curiously, wondering what Lyra was attempting, but she kept her distance nonetheless.
Then, all at once, the swirling mass of darkness collapsed inward.
Every wisp of miasma spiraled into the void sword and vanished completely, devoured without a trace.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
The Moonlight Maiden and the disciples stared in shock. Within a massive radius around Lyra, the dark miasma had been completely cleared. The ground was visible. The air was breathable. It was as if the corruption had never touched this place.
The Moonlight Maiden flew down to Lyra’s side.
"I didn’t know you could do that," she said.
Lyra pulled the void sword from the ground and examined it. "Yeah. I just figured that out too."
She studied the blade carefully. Her expression grew serious.
Not much repairing had been made. The damage was still there, barely touched.
She needed more miasma.
Her gaze lifted to the horizon, where the encroaching wall of darkness still stretched endlessly before them.
A smile spread across her face.
Luckily for her, there seemed to be an endless amount ahead.
With that, she shot forward into the miasma.
The Moonlight Maiden and the others followed her lead.
...
Inside Cipher’s spiritual sea, notifications flooded his vision.
Monster kills. Experience gains. Level ups. Cheat points flowing in.
He smiled to himself. He was quite the genius, if he said so himself.
With Lyra carrying him - both figuratively and literally - he could amass massive amounts of cheat points and roll for all the cards he wanted, all while generating infinite mana thanks to his mana recovery skill. Since Lyra was the one in combat and he himself was technically sleeping, the mana regeneration still functioned perfectly despite him being in the middle of a battlefield.
A flawless strategy, really.
That being said...
He watched another level up notification flash before him.
She was killing the monsters way too fast. She wasn’t giving him the chance to take full advantage of his strategy.
He sighed and opened the cheat shop. Well, he needed to work with what he got.
The cards on display were Optimize, Class, and Merge . He quickly bought all of them before the shop could reset.
The packs available were a single Mod Pack and a Code Pack. He opened the Code Pack. Inside were Debug, Delete, and Commit
He rerolled the shop. The new cards were Optimize, Malware, and Exploit . He quickly grabbed Exploit and Optimize.
He was just about to roll again when he leveled up and the shop reset on its own.
He was already used to this. He quickly recovered and checked the new selection. The cards were Import, Patch, and Exploit . He bought all three.
The packs were a Mega Mod Pack and a normal Code Pack. He opened the Code Pack. Inside were Debug, Optimize, and Export . His luck with Optimize had been quite good lately. Now he just needed three more for his grand plan. He picked Optimize.
He rerolled. The cards were Refactor, Patch, and Malware . He picked Patch and rerolled quickly.
The new cards were Patch, Optimize, and Delete . He snatched all of them just a second before the shop reset again.
The cards were now Export, Patch, and Merge . The packs were all Mega Mod Packs. He bought all the cards and rerolled.
Rework, Export, and Import appeared. He took all of them and rerolled.
Import, Delete, and Exploit. He grabbed them and rerolled again.
Now the cards were Optimize, Fork, and Patch.
He had finally hit a Fork.
And for Optimize - this was like the fourth one. He was really on a roll. Now he just needed one more.
He quickly bought all the cards.
The shop reset.
The new cards were Fork, Commit, and Seed.
Another Fork so soon?
Don’t mind if I do.
He bought everything. The packs available were a normal Code Pack and a Mega Code Pack. He opened the normal Code Pack.
Inside was Debug, Merge, and Optimize .
He had finally hit the final Optimize he needed.
He took it.
...
A/N: Yes, me know cipher count the optimize wrong. This should be 6th. I realized when editing and decided to just leave it there.