Chapter 143: My Wife is Attacking Me?!
That summoning technique was one of the most formidable secrets of the ancient Mandalorian tribe—one of their direct sacred incantations bound to the "God of War," whose memory they revered through divine rituals. It was a spell Lucy had discovered to be a legendary magical gem by every standard, for it was not tethered to a specific skill level, but fed entirely upon the volume of mana pumped into it by the caster!
So long as you possessed sufficient mana and capability, you could draw forth and summon the soul of any entity you desired for a few fleeting minutes... with the sole prerequisite that said entity did not wield a cosmic authority leagues above your own!
Before Old Man Darren’s astonished eyes, the purple aura scattered and surged violently around Lucy’s body, spinning like a dark, destructive hurricane wrapping around the very fabric of space!
Lucy had anticipated that summoning the leader of the Smile Organization—who was at most at the Noble Level—would take no more than two swift seconds...
Yet... why was she sensing this sudden mystery and obstruction within the veins pumping mana into the spell?!
It was as if her magical feelers were utterly incapable of reaching his soul or grasping his specter! Such a thing should have been impossible... and if it pointed toward a single meaning, it was either that he was a being possessing absolute immunity making his summoning completely locked, or that he held a cosmic authority exceeding her rank by miles!
However, that final possibility was supposed to be nonexistent from the start! She stood at the Truth Level, and no entity in this entire world could match her majesty or surpass her cosmic authority... So how could he possibly outrank her?!
Lucy gritted her teeth and began pumping colossal, multiplied quantities of mana into the summoning array... more and more without restraint or count! Suddenly, a strange and terrifying sensation washed over her, as though she were attempting to pull and charge a being billions of times larger than her mind could fathom!
An abyssal, profound aura—dark to the point of uprooting existence from its very foundations!
As Lucy squeezed her spiritual energy to force the technique through, the backlash resulting from trying to drag that mighty entity caused her to drop to her knees in the void, spitting hot blood from her mouth!
Her internal organs were damaged and her internal pressure broke from merely activating a summoning spell! She, who had reached a level of power where she could summon the dead and tyrants from their graves without batting an eye, now found herself spitting blood into open space?! In the eyes of her immense pride, this was the most vile and despicable insult she had ever suffered in her entire life!
Back on Earth... Cain was in a terrible mood, stepping through dimensional gates across the planet to inspect the deteriorating conditions and deliver urgent aid to victims following the massive earthquake.
As he stood atop the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, scanning the vast expanse with sharp eyes and contemplating the horizon...
He suddenly felt an extraordinary disturbance... as if a brutal force were attempting to drag his soul and rip it straight from his body!
Cain’s brows furrowed in utter bewilderment and disdain... Who was the lunatic brave enough to attempt pulling his soul in such a manner?!
When he channeled his focus toward that oppressive energy, he discovered it originated from the grand summoning technique of the Mandalorian tribe—the ones who worshipped the God of War!
That magical signature was all too familiar to Cain; the only person in this world who possessed that specific purple aura was Lucy... But why was she using such a complex technique on him of all people?!
That summoning spell pulled a person’s soul at the absolute peak level of strength they had ever attained in their existence... and his ancient maximum level far surpassed Lucy’s current power. Attempting to drag him against his will would inevitably cause her severe harm and wring her energy due to the massive gap between their two authorities!
Cain muttered impatiently, shaking his head: "That foolish girl... Why didn’t she just reach out through our telepathic link instead of playing around like this?!"
Cain did not fully grasp her motives, but he resolved not to resist the technique; he allowed his soul to respond and flow with the pouring energy, letting it drag his specter directly across the expanse of outer space!
Cain’s soul detached from his earthly vessel and manifested in the void of space as a hyper-luminous sphere of light, radiating a legendary glow that nearly illuminated all of existence had it not been brilliantly suppressed and restrained!
Lucy finally smiled upon seeing the soul materialize before her, believing her plan had succeeded in harvesting the specter of the Smile Organization’s leader! Now came the phase of shaping a temporary body for him, so she could interrogate him and uncover the secret behind his morbid obsession with her...
Yet when she attempted to construct a physical form to contain him, she crashed headfirst into a solid, unyielding barrier of power!
Lucy fought through severe exhaustion and the accelerating drain on her energy. After grueling effort and painstaking strain, the only form she could forge for that luminous soul was a black, shadowy silhouette—devoid of distinct details, faceless and eyeless... as if it were a human figure painted with shadows of absolute blackness!
Cain—from within that shadowy vessel—attempted to speak to Lucy, who was floating before him in space...
At that moment, Cain sensed a monumental surge; the legendary power he had lost ever since Lucy destroyed Mikhail’s Gem—the power of the Truth Level—had returned to him in full! Not only that, but the "Transcendent" state and all his grand, sealed spells and abilities were unlocked within his being once more! Even though this shadowy body was merely a temporary and limited container, what Lucy had accomplished was a staggering achievement, granting him an exceptionally priceless sensation!
Cain spoke in a warm, grateful tone: "My wife, Lucy... What’s wrong? Why did you summon me like this?"
However, Cain had no idea that a severe distortion had affected the layers of his voice due to the formation of the shadow body; his words traveled through space garbled, fragmented, and mostly inaudible!
Literally, all that reached Lucy and Old Man Darren’s ears from that entire sentence was a single distorted phrase riddled with static noise:
"M-y... w-i-f-e... L-u-c-y..."
A surge of fierce, uncompromising rage struck Lucy’s face like a lightning bolt! She had no idea that this shadowy entity was her beloved husband Cain; she was absolutely convinced he was the cursed leader of the Smile Organization!
How dared this strange bastard refer to her as "My wife" without a shred of shame or modesty?!
Lucy shrieked with wild fury, her eyes blazing with absolute destruction: "You vile bastard!... You deserve to die and be crushed into nothingness!"
In a sudden flash, Cain watched as Lucy—despite her deep exhaustion and depleted energy—completely recharged her purple aura in a fraction of a second, charging straight at him while forging a destructive spell designed to erase him!
Cain’s eyes widened within his shadow, and he shouted in complete shock: "What are you doing, you crazy woman?!!"
Cain truly could not comprehend... Why was his wife attacking him with such intense malice and ferocity?!