When the Wisp of Leo suddenly paused, Samantha instantly felt relief as she thought it had finally run out of mana. But the next moment, her heart trembled when its lion face, glowing with ethereal light, tilted slightly upward as if it were about to release a devastating attack.
The next moment, the Wisp of Leo opened its maw, and in front of its mouth, countless particles of white light began to gather, but they weren't ordinary beams of light.
These particles crackled with pure, destructive energy, filling the chamber with intense heat. Jacob's eyes narrowed as he recognized the deadly radiation forming. It wasn't just a simple magical attack—it was drawing from the most dangerous forms of light that could split atoms and ignite devastation. Jacob was again amazed by how perfect Wisp of Leo's control was on the light.
The light mass grew denser, taking on an unnatural brightness like the core of a star. The air around the Wisp shimmered, bending as if reality were distorting under its immense power.
In a heartbeat, the Wisp unleashed its attack.
A beam of pure, radiant energy blasted forth from its maw—a horrifying, condensed blast that resembled the shockwave of a hydrogen bomb. The air itself screamed as the beam tore through it, leaving behind a trail of white-hot devastation.
The entire chamber was bathed in a blinding light that seemed to erase shadows, turning everything to white for a fleeting moment.
'Oh no…!' Samantha's eyes widened in horror as she tried to react, but there was no time. The beam collided with her golden barrier, and the Willow Life Amber gave a desperate pulse of soul force, trying to hold the shield intact. But the force of the Wisp's breath attack was overwhelming.
In an instant, the barrier shattered, splintering into shards of golden energy that dissipated into nothingness.
The explosion of light was so intense that it left Jacob momentarily blinded, even from his hidden vantage point. The force of the impact sent waves of heat and dust spiraling across the chamber, and the sound of the blast echoed like a thunderclap.
When the light finally began to fade, and the dust started to settle, the scene was a stark contrast to the chaos that had just erupted.
Samantha stood in the center of the chamber, her armor now scorched and cracked. But what drew Jacob's attention immediately was the gaping hole in her chest. It was massive—burned clean through as if the Wisp's attack had obliterated her very essence. The edges of the wound glowed faintly with residual radiation light, and blood spilled from her body in slow, fatal streams.
Her face was frozen in a mixture of disbelief and sheer terror. Her wide eyes, glassy and filled with shock, remained locked on the Wisp of Leo as if she couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
There was a hint of unwillingness, the refusal to accept that this was the end, but no strength left in her to fight back.
Her lips parted as if to speak, but no words came, only blood. Only silence followed as her body, now devoid of life, began to slump. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the cold stone floor of the chamber, the echo of her fall swallowed by the stillness that lingered in the aftermath of the blast.
Jacob, still hidden in the shadows, watched as Samantha's lifeless body lay sprawled out before the Wisp of Leo, the massive wound in her chest testament to the sheer power of the attack. Her eyes remained open, staring blankly at the creature that had ended her life—an eternal gaze filled with disbelief and helplessness.
Moreover, she seemed to be holding something in her hand, which shimmered for a moment before it went dormant again. Towards the end, she was clearly trying to use that trump card to flee. But alas, she was too late, and the final attack of Wisp of Leo was too fast and terrifying. She didn't even manage to activate the treasure before that attack destroyed her magic core!
The Wisp of Leo stood over her fallen form, its ethereal mane still blazing with light, its golden eyes unblinking. It showed no emotion, no satisfaction, only the cold, mechanical focus of a being forged for a singular purpose: to defend its trial.
Jacob let out a slow breath, knowing now that he had witnessed not only the destruction of a powerful adversary but also the terrifying might of the Wisp of Leo. He would need to be cautious—very cautious—if he didn't get its acknowledgment.
Suppressing his emotions and a hint of fear, he stopped using stealth and came out of hiding and stepped towards where Wisp of Leo stood and not far away from the lifeless body of Samantha.
Jacob glanced at the corpse and could only sigh because the Willow Life Amber was gone. That beam attack had completely obliterated it into dust, making Jacob even warier of that final attack. Nonetheless, he was also excited because that radiation beam gave him many insights about his weapon crafting and how to proceed.
If anything, Jacob wanted to start researching many of his new theories and hypotheses instantly, but he knew his top priority was to gather the Cosmic Vestiges.
Furthermore, Jacob also saw the thing Samantha was gripping in her hand and the space ring. Although he didn't know what that thing was since she had taken it out on the verge of death, he knew it had to be a life-saving trump card that could save her life from that devastating attack, and he wanted to take it for himself.
The Wisp of Leo suddenly turned around as if it had sensed Jacob, but unlike its previous ferocity and aloof manner, its emotionless eyes flashed with unknown emotions, and Jacob instantly sensed a familiar feeling rising in his heart.
The next moment, something unexpected happened. The Wisp of Leo suddenly waved its claw-like hand, and the item inside Samantha's hand directly left her. It flew towards Jacob and stopped in front of him.
Jacob was bewildered for a moment before he looked at the Wisp of Leo, which didn't seem to have any intention of attacking. It was even giving him that thing Samantha was holding.
Now Jacob wondered if the Wisp of Leo had already known he had been here and hiding all this time and that the reason it killed Samantha was because of him. Furthermore, since he was giving him this item while completely ignoring the space ring on Samantha's hand, he suddenly felt this item was extraordinary enough to be recognized by the Wisp of Leo.
Yet the most important part was still its behavior in front of him, and this time, he didn't want to miss this chance. He stowed away the item to research it later and questioned, "Who exactly are you guys, and why are you treating me differently? Is it because of the #@*%%?!"