The crystal ball shattered into pieces, and the soul that had been flickering inside shot out like an arrow, piercing the ceiling and disappearing. It was returning to its vessel, as per the natural order. Simultaneously, the voice that had been resonating in the air was abruptly silenced, as if cut by a knife.0

Shwaa—0

Ian slid to a stop past the altar. The flickering spell circuits in the chamber calmed and went silent, like a broken fluorescent light finally dimming. With the controlling entity gone, the circuits seemed to have switched to a standby mode.0

At least there won't be any more chaos.0

Ian stood up and took a deep breath, looking at the pedestal. The ominous purple void mark glowed in the center of the stone. Despite having used a significant amount of power, the mark still radiated a formidable force. It created an illusion that seemed to draw one into the mark. A normal person would have been ensnared by it—one of the basic traits of void magic.0

"...."0

A deep resonance echoed from within Ian. The fragment of chaos was resonating, urging him to absorb that power.0

Not yet.0

He muttered inwardly, reaching into his pocket dimension instead of the mark. Soon, he pulled out a small, square wooden box, slightly larger than his palm. It was the storage box that had once held the dark relic, the Skull of the Rift Walker, possessed by the Vampire Empress....0