685 I Will Make Sure You Don't Die (Part 1)

[Unfortunately, Claire met with an accident while helping me and her soul was split into two parts. One part of her soul was sent to Utopia while the second part was lost into the void.]

"What do you mean her soul was split into two parts? No!...Before that, what was it that you needed Claire's help with?"

Evan was shocked to hear that Claire's soul was split into two parts. Normally, only a powerful spiritual attack can shatter a person's soul. But Claire was a phantom cat and her spiritual power was far stronger than normal core evolvers. Moreover, after refining the Rank Three treasure she became a Rank Two Core Evolver so Evan couldn't even imagine just how strong her spiritual power was at that time.

'If her soul was split into two even with such a strong spiritual power then it must have been because of someone whose spiritual power was even stronger than her' Evan thought inwardly and waited for the response of the spirit of the Tower of Ascension.

[...]

The spirit of the Tower was once again silent hearing Evan.

Evan didn't rush the spirit to give him an answer because he knew that it was thinking about whether to tell him or not.

After a full five minutes of silence, Evan felt the spirit of the Tower sighed and finally made a decision.

[Do you remember what had happened earlier?]

Evan raised an eyebrow hearing the spirit.

"You mean the scene of the starry sky that I saw earlier?"

[No, that scene was just the view of the outside of the Tower of Ascension. Currently, you are on the middle level of the Tower Of Ascension, only a step away from reaching the boundary of Utopia.]

Evan frowned when he heard the spirit of the Tower Of Ascension and suddenly thought about something.

"If you are not talking about the starry sky then do you mean the Eldritch Creature that came out of the space crack?"

[Yes... ]

The spirit of the Tower of Ascension said and it continued.

[... I needed Claire's help to defeat an Eldritch Creature for me.]

"Defeat an Eldritch Creature?" Evan was once again stunned hearing the spirit of Tower. After seeing what had happened earlier, Evan already guessed that the things regarding the Eldritch Creatures are not as simple as they seem. He even suspected that the eldritch creature he defeated in the dungeon was there for a reason.

"What's the deal with these Eldritch Creatures? How can they appear here in the World Domain?"

Hearing Evan's question, the golden orb in front of him shook a little as if it was shaking its head.

[I can't tell you anything about this matter.]

Evan narrowed his eyes when he heard the spirit of Tower.

"You can't tell me... Or is that you don't know yourself?"

[...]

Evan continued to look at the golden orb. When he did not receive any reply from it, he sighed a little and waved his hand.

"Forget it, tell me more about the Eldritch Creature who shattered Claire's soul..." Evan said and looked at the spirit of Tower with a small smile on the corner of his lips. "... If I am not wrong you called me here because you wanted to deal with that Eldritch Creature, right?"

[... Yes]

The spirit of Tower replied after a moment of silence because it really called Evan for this reason.

[The Eldritch Creature who shattered Claire's Soul is actually living in the middle of the Essence Corridor.]

"Essence Corridor? What is that?" Evan asked with a look of confusion on his face.

[Once someone uses the Tower Of Ascension, their mana will evolve into World Essence. The Essence Corridor is the place where the mana of the evolvers who use the Tower Of Ascension transforms into World Essence.]

"A place where your mana will transform into world essence..." Evan was surprised to hear the spirit of the Tower. "... You are saying there is an Eldritch Creature living in such an important place.]

The golden orb in front of Evan slumped down as if it was depressed.

[It happened around three years ago. For some reason, the space barrier around the essence corridor collapsed and a void crack appeared there. This Eldritch Creature was within that Void Crack. For the past three years, it has been living within that void crack and using its Eldritch Energy to prevent the crack from closing. Most of the time, this Eldritch Creature doesn't do anything and sleeps all day in order to preserve its energy. But occasionally it would wake up and attack the Evolvers who are passing through the Essence Corridor.]

The spirit of the Tower of Ascension paused after saying this and spoke after a moment of silence.

[In the past three years, it killed more than fifteen thousand evolvers who were passing through the essence corridor.]

Evan felt a chill running down his spine hearing the spirit of Tower.

"Fifteen thousand S Rankers who were on the verge of becoming a Rank One Core Evolver were killed by it..." Evan muttered in a shocked voice, not knowing what to say.

[Yes, I helped Claire to break free from the restrictions of the World Domain because I wanted her to kill this Eldritch Creature.]

"Can't you kill it yourself or close the void crack just like how you closed the crack earlier?"

[The Essence Corridor is located between the boundary of Utopia and the World Domain. Due to Utopia's influence, my control over the Essence Corridor is limited and I cannot close that void rift on my own.]

Evan pondered for a moment after hearing the spirit and asked after some time.

"Was there a special reason you chose Claire for this task?"

[That eldritch creature is hidden inside a void crack where normal Core Evolvers cannot easily enter. I chose Claire because I thought she would be able to deal with it using her spiritual power without even entering the void crack, but alas, things did not go as I expected.]

[Although that Eldritch Creature was a Rank One Creature, it turned out to be someone who also specialised in spiritual attacks. When Claire used her spiritual skill to attack it, she received a backlash and her soul was damaged as a result. The Eldritch Creature took advantage of her soul injury and shattered her soul into two parts using one of its spiritual skills.]

The spirit paused after saying this and spoke after a moment.

[When ger soul shattered, I used what little control I had over the Essence Corridor and sent a part of her soul along with her physical body to Utopia, meanwhile, the second part of her soul was sucked inside the void crack where the Eldritch Creature was staying. If I am not wrong, through the void crack that part of Claire's soul arrived in your world and by co incident took over the body of a phantom cat.]

Evan was stunned when he heard the spirit of the tower and looked at Hana who was in his arms in amazement. After looking at Hana for a few seconds, Evan looked back at the golden orb and shook his head.

"I understand what you are saying but... Why should I help you kill that Eldritch Creature? I mean, Claire was a Rank Two Core Evolver but she was still not able to kill that Creature. I am just an S ranker and I don't think I have enough power to kill that Eldritch Creature.

"I am sorry, but I don't want to take this unnecessary risk for no reason."

Evan is no fool, due to his fight against the eldritch creature in the dungeon and knowing about Gobu's abilities, he knows that eldritch creatures are not easy to deal with. Although he is powerful, he is not confident enough to be able to kill a creature who defeated Claire who was a Rank Two Evolver.

The spirit of the Tower remained silent hearing Evan. After a moment, the golden orb shook a bit and it said something that chilled Evan's heart.

[If you help me kill that eldritch creature I'll make sure you don't die during your core evolution process.]