Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby-Chapter 321: Trial of the Spear

This was the first time Eleanor had come into contact with demonic blood. She had slain many monsters during the trials, but had never faced a demon. Although nobody had mentioned demons to her directly, she had read many books related to them and the traits of demonic blood, copied by Nora from the academy library.

Demonic blood causes rapid, necrotic decay to mortal flesh and bone. It does not merely burn; it liquefies tissue, rusts metal within seconds, and turns fertile soil into barren, black sludge. Even solid stone cracks and crumbles as if weathered for millennia. If a large amount of demonic blood comes into contact with nature, the environment will be permanently altered.

Demons and their monsters are immune to the corrosion of their own blood, but it is lethally destructive to mortals. Even a mortal wielding a weapon and attacking from afar will find the weapon slowly decaying from the point of contact. If the blood splashes onto a mortal body, it will steadily eat through clothing and skin alike.

The foul stench of the blood releases a psychoactive pheromone. It is a chemical signal emitted when demonic blood is exposed to the open environment, subtly influencing the brain, altering mood and behaviour, and making mortals aggressive. Those who inhale the odour of demonic blood find it difficult to think clearly. It takes strong mental fortitude to resist its effects.

At low levels of exposure, mortals suffer headaches, nausea, and confusion. At higher levels, they experience vivid hallucinations, paranoia, and irrational rage. Cognitive function deteriorates, making coordinated defence nearly impossible. Some may even turn on their own companions.

Demonic blood attacks even on a spiritual level. When a mortal soul is exposed to the stench of demonic blood, it experiences excruciating pain... not physical pain, but a sensation of existential violation, as though one’s very essence is being scraped against a cosmic wrongness. Prolonged exposure at the soul level can lead to irreversible demonic transformation. The victim’s body mutates, and their soul is either consumed or twisted into a new demonic consciousness.

Even Ascendants are not safe from the effects of demonic blood. It can disrupt the flow of mana; breathing it in feels like inhaling sand into one’s spiritual channels. Only Saints are somewhat protected. They can dedicate part of their focus to filtering it out, though this reduces their combat effectiveness.

Eleanor was still in the Primary Term at the academy, so there had been no such subject taught during her studies. Monsters and demonic monsters were only covered in the senior years.

Understanding the situation, she hurriedly took several steps back to a safe distance from the monster. Luckily, her claws were coated in lightning, so there had been no contact with the blood.

From what she had read, only divine energy and pure lightning could counter demonic energy. Unknowingly, she had just saved herself from great harm.

There were also sacred fire and life spring water, both capable of purifying demonic taint. However, they were far too rare and too limited to be effective against such corrosion.

As she considered this, Eleanor suddenly realised something. When she had spoken with Vísenda Tveirham, Vísenda had mentioned that her world was destroyed by demons. At the time, Eleanor had been focused on the trial and had missed the importance of that detail. To transform a habitable planet into an uninhabitable one, only demonic presence could accomplish such devastation.

Earlier, she had killed monsters on the way to the temple. They had not been demonic monsters, but something twisted. Even rabbits, known for their gentleness, had become vicious. Water, trees, and animals had all changed. Which meant the demons had not spent much time in this world. They had slaughtered the inhabitants of Vanaheim and then either left or been forced to leave. What followed was the result of their lingering presence. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

She decided to ask Vísenda about it later.

Suddenly, Eleanor’s eyes fell upon a shining object nearby. It lay where she had first awakened during the trial. Cautiously, she approached and was surprised to find a gleaming spear resting in the grass.

Its shaft was a rod of smooth, heartwood-black ash, so dark it seemed to swallow the daylight around it. Set into one end was the blade. It was not bright, but made of a dull, grey-blue metal, like a storm cloud forged into a leaf-shaped point. Along its surface ran a single rune, etched with a deep lightning-bolt at its centre, seeming to crack the blade from within.

Where the wood met the metal, a band of tarnished silver bound them together, stamped with many tiny runes of various shapes. The spear felt still, yet alive with a quiet threat. Even at rest upon the green blades of grass, it hummed with a promise of thunder.

Eleanor bent down and tried to pick the spear up in her hand. At first, it seemed as heavy as a boulder. But the moment her grip tightened around the shaft, a bolt of lightning coursed through her body, and the spear became as light as a feather in her grasp. She lifted it easily and extended her body and spear forward with coordinated footwork, testing a jab.

Instructor Arrichion had taught her the basic use of nearly every weapon, because on the battlefield one could never know which weapon might be found to defend oneself. As the king of battlefield weapons, the spear had been taught in particular detail. Due to its superior reach, ease of use, and versatility, there existed many profound spear arts throughout the world. According to Arrichion, the best spear art was not the one taught by an instructor, but the one chosen by the student herself. That was why he trained only the basics, which were common to all profound arts.

Eleanor held the spear in the middle third of its shaft for optimal balance, reach, and speed. She then used a fluid, circular motion, bringing the spear down from a high position in an arc, using her body’s rotation to drive the slash.

The spear felt as though it had been custom-made for her. It was effortless to use. She happily performed an outward block, an inward cover, and a thrust in sequence several times. A satisfied smile formed on her lips as she continued.

"With this, I won’t have to go near demonic monsters if they attack me in the future," she thought.

Suddenly, a flood of information surged into her mind. She instinctively knew it was the training and battle experience of Vísenda Tveirham, the last wielder of the Lightning Spear. At the same time, the spear seemed to come alive, as if it were controlling Eleanor’s body to train her.

Unconsciously, she followed the instructions entering her mind. Her muscles screamed as she held the spear in mid-guard. Searing pulses of lightning travelled up her arms from the shaft. She grounded the pain through her feet, again and again. The process continued until her legs felt like stone and the shocks faded into little more than a tremor.

Then she began to lunge forward. She did not know how many thrusts she performed... perhaps several thousand. With each thrust, the spear’s tip glowed blue, and she instinctively knew her form was flawless: shoulder, hip, and wrist aligned in a single line of perfect force. Her world narrowed to the ache in her muscles and that fleeting blue light.

She drove her own lightning down her arm. It flowed into the spear’s tip, and the rune flared to life. Then it returned to her at the same speed. For a moment, Eleanor forgot to complete the loop by sending the lightning back into the spear. The backlash struck hard, almost knocking the breath from her. She immediately refocused and adjusted the flow. She continued the circuit, again and again, until the spear hummed steadily, no longer sending sharp pulses, and the loop stabilised with an even current of lightning.

Suddenly, the sky darkened, and clouds gathered overhead. Not long after, rain began to fall. Eleanor felt an overwhelming urge to thrust her spear at the falling drops. She began to choose her targets individually, piercing them one by one. Each successful strike was met with a satisfying snap of static. After some time, she felt her perception sharpen, and the world seemed to slow during each thrust. The speed of her strikes grew faster and faster.

While she was immersed in piercing the raindrops, a blinding bolt of lightning slammed into the ground nearby. The spear trembled in her hands as the air’s charge gathered around her, vibrating even in her teeth. Soon, several more bolts followed, crashing down around her. The spear became like a lodestone, drawing the sky’s latent fury toward itself.

Eleanor instinctively raised the spear upward, and lightning cascaded around the rune at its tip. Her hands shook under the sheer volume of energy, yet she held on, enduring the electric charge coursing through her body. She knew that if she wavered for even a moment, she would be blasted into shards.

She held the spear in a trance-like state, unaware of how much time passed. When the lightning finally faded from her surroundings, she lowered into a stance for a thrust. As she struck, a straight, blue-lit line shot forward, and the excess energy she had been holding vanished. It slammed into a large rock not far from her. Thunder cracked on impact, and the rock shattered into tiny pieces.