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{Chapter: 389 Great Tonic}
William's hand shot forward like a striking serpent, grabbing Algrim's shoulder with a crushing grip. From his palm, a luminous white substance surged out—liquid light made of raw soul-force—and it spread like wildfire across Algrim's dark red form. It wasn't just an attack. It was consumption.
"AHHH!" Algrim screamed, thrashing as the white spiritual energy crawled over his chest and began to snake around his throat, his once-proud energy now twisting in agony. "STOP! STOP! WHAT IS THIS?!"
William's grin grew devilish, his eyes glowing with an unnatural light. "Too late for begging now. You tried to steal my body. Now you'll pay the price—complete erasure."
The white spiritual energy surged again, consuming more of Algrim's corrupted form like holy fire devouring rot. The once-mighty dark elf, who had defied gods and kings, now screamed like a child before the monster under the bed.
"STOP, PLEASE!" Algrim cried, voice cracking. "I YIELD—I YIELD! Let me go, I'll be your servant—I'll be your DOG!"
At that moment, the light halted.
A slow, dramatic pause.
Half of Algrim's body was covered in the creeping white energy, frozen mid-devour. One of his eyes still glowed with fury, but the other was wide with naked terror. He panted, trembling, like a prisoner offered one final chance.
William leaned in, smirking like the devil himself. "Oh? Now that's interesting."
"YES! YES!" Algrim barked quickly, desperation spilling from his lips like blood from an open wound. "Just give me a chance—let me serve you! I swear it! I'll tear apart anyone who even looks at you the wrong way!"
William stroked his chin theatrically. "Mmm... the loyalty of a former villain, the fierce bite of a broken war dog. Not bad, not bad. But…"
He paused, tilting his head. "Something about the way you're begging... the groveling tone, the hollow obedience in your eyes—it's perfect. Like watching a fallen emperor beg for scraps."
"You... you enjoy this?" Algrim asked in horror.
William's grin grew wicked. "Oh, absolutely. Weren't you always so high and mighty? Talking about purity, about ruling with power, about dominating lesser beings? Now look at you—whimpering, licking boots before they even step on you."
Algrim tried to muster some dignity, but his half-destroyed form quivered under the weight of William's glare. "I—I only want to serve you. Master William…"
William's eyes gleamed. "There it is again. That tone. Like a cur begging for table scraps. I should bottle that and sell it to broken souls."
"I am your most loyal servant. Your blade. Your hound." Algrim whispered, voice barely audible. "Let me prove it…"
"Such devotion," William chuckled mockingly. "But I've got to ask... do you really think I'm that stupid?"
Algrim froze. "W-What?"
William stepped back, white energy flaring like wings behind him. "Do you honestly believe I'd spare the thing that tried to hijack my body from the inside? That," he snarled, "is a line you don't come back from."
"B-But I—" Algrim stammered.
"Save it," William snapped. "You wanted to kill me. Wanted to become me. And now that you've failed, you want to serve me? That's not loyalty. That's cowardice."
The soul-light surged again, this time without mercy.
Algrim screamed. "NO! NO, PLEASE! I CAN STILL—"
"WILLIAM!" Algrim roared in fury, his voice echoing across the dying spiritual plane like the last howl of a defeated beast.
William tilted his head, his expression smug and cruel. "Oh, don't bark so loud. I already told you—I don't lack dogs. You think earning a spot at my feet is easy?" He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a hiss. "It's not. Especially not for a treacherous mongrel like you."
Algrim thrashed against the white soul-substance consuming him, but it was useless. It had already enveloped his chest and arms, rising to his throat like divine quicksand. "I will rip you apart!" he howled.
"Tear me apart?" William laughed, throwing his head back. "Please. All you're doing is entertaining me. It's like watching an idiot stumble around in the rain while I sip wine in a tower." He paused, grinning wickedly. "But you wouldn't understand that... because you are that idiot."
Algrim's remaining eye glowed with venom. "I swear I'll wait for you in hell. I'll drag your soul down when the time comes!"
William's expression sharpened, cold and deadly. "You must've forgotten already." His voice thundered. "I'm not welcome in hell. Even the Devil closes his doors to me."
With that, he pushed forward—his will manifesting as a wave of pure white energy that surged over Algrim's body like a devouring tide. Only half of Algrim's head remained now—mouth twisted in agony, his voice a rasping scream.
"Ahhhhh!"
"Shhh…" William sneered, eyes glowing with devilish amusement. "Time to be good. Time to become what you were always meant to be—a supplement."
With a final cry, Algrim shouted, "I curse you! May your power consume you! May you die a death more miserable than—"
"Shut the hell up." William snarled.
The white spiritual energy surged, covering Algrim's mouth mid-sentence. Silence fell—heavy and complete.
And then, all that remained of the once-mighty dark elf was a trembling, warped white shell. It twisted, warped, pulsing like a malformed heart—until finally collapsing into a lump of glowing white essence, a formless "dough" of condensed consciousness.
William cracked his knuckles and approached the spiritual mass with a satisfied smirk. "That's that." He lowered a hand over the spiritual "dough," eyes sharp with hunger. "Time for my reward."
He pressed his palm against it.
The glowing mass began to shrink, sucked slowly into William's form. White light coursed along his arm, into his chest, down his spine. Every fiber of his spirit seemed to vibrate with energy. His aura swelled and flared—first faint, then blinding. The entire spiritual space began to pulse like a living thing.
"YES..." William shouted, his voice echoing like thunder. "This is what it means to evolve!"
The spiritual plane, once split between white and dark red, had now transformed into an endless, brilliant void of white light. Clean. Uncorrupted. Pure.
Two shimmering lights emerged behind him—Alice and the White Queen, their spiritual forms stepping out from the luminous void, their eyes wide as they looked at the new William.
William turned slowly, flexing his hand as if rediscovering its power. "Do you feel it? This rush? This purity of strength?"
Alice nodded slowly, her gaze steady. "Yes. We felt it the moment you absorbed him. That thing... that creature—he's gone. And what's left of him now fuels you."
White Queen folded her arms, her usual cold confidence touched with awe. "And not just you. Alice and I were inside your consciousness during the devouring. Our own spirits absorbed fragments through the connection. Your victory was our gain too."
William arched an eyebrow. "So you're saying I'm generous."
"No," White Queen deadpanned. "I'm saying you're a dangerously effective parasite."
"Hmph. I prefer apex predator," William replied with a smirk.
White Queen chuckled softly. "Well, apex or not, your soul is now thrice as powerful as it was before. And mine and Alice's … enhanced. Refined by at least half."
Alice stepped forward, a quiet light in her eyes. "I felt a shift. Not just in power. In clarity. We didn't just destroy Algrim—we cleansed him. That twisted will won't haunt this realm again."
William looked around the empty white space, breathing in deeply. "No more shadows. No more echoes."
He lifted his hand, flexing his fingers as they glowed with radiant light. "His soul power. Now it's all mine. But stripped of poison. Refined into something greater."
The entire spiritual world shimmered, responding to his will. For a brief moment, it felt like the soul of the universe held its breath.