NOVEL WEB Chapter 403: Unison
Generally speaking, souls were immune to most physical and magical attacks.
However, that was not a problem for Heroes and Demon Kings. Or, more specifically, anyone capable of casting taboos could cause damage to souls.
Most offensive taboos had incredible destructive power. They were so powerful that they could affect souls to a certain extent. Light and dark taboos, in particular, could cause devastating damage to souls.
Hence, the instant Fugallo saw Alice wielding the Hero's Sword, his expression instantly changed. Immediately afterward, he let some mana leak out of his soul, converted it into psychic power, and wrapped it around Haydn. Then, he flew into the air with Haydn and clung to the living room's ceiling.
The next moment, a huge cross-shaped beam of light cut through the space Fugallo and Haydn had previously occupied. As Fugallo and Haydn weren't there to receive the beam, the attack continued traveling forward and struck the wall opposite Alice, cutting through it like a block of tofu.
However, the cross-shaped beam did not stop after cutting through the living room wall. Instead, it continued cutting through every wall in its path until it flew out of the mansion. Fortunately, Alice had planned and adjusted the attack's trajectory beforehand, so after her attack left the mansion, it did not continue in a straight line, which would ultimately destroy the buildings around Haydn's manor. Instead, the attack curved up and disappeared into the sky.
"The Holy Cross Slash… What a nostalgic move." Fugallo lowered Haydn back to the ground after Alice's Holy Cross Slash disappeared from the living room. Compared to Haydn's pale complexion, Fugallo looked very calm despite having just witnessed Alice's Holy Cross Slash. After all, this wasn't the first time he had seen this move. "I didn't think a child so young could have learned this move already."
In reality, Alice hadn't learned the Holy Cross Slash at all. Holy Cross Slash was a move that came with the Hero's Sword. Only, unlike Heroes of the past, Alice didn't need to learn how to use it. Instead, she could outright use it thanks to her right hand's ability. Moreover, her right hand also granted her full control over the skill, which allowed her to limit the skill's area of effect and avoid accidentally injuring any of the hypnotized magicians in the living room.
As for the old magician Alice had previously woken up, he, too, was unhurt. However, he had already fainted from shock, so neither Alice nor Fugallo paid him any attention.
"It seems you have been on the receiving end of this move quite a lot," Alice commented as she looked at Fugallo with narrowed eyes. Previously, as soon as Fugallo saw her entering a stance with the Hero's Sword, he immediately fled to the ceiling with Haydn in tow. This development honestly surprised her.
This meant that Fugallo had not only recognized she was going to use Holy Cross Slash in a flash, but he had also simultaneously determined the blind spot in her attack and capitalized on that knowledge to dodge her attack.
It should be known that Holy Cross Slash's cross-shaped beam covered a significant area. Even after Alice had limited its area of effect, it still covered a significant portion of the living room. Yet, Fugallo had not only managed to find a blind spot in the attack, but he had done so before she had even launched the attack. Honestly, the combat experience Fugallo had just shown scared Alice a little.
Fortunately, Fugallo was still stuck in the state of a soul. Although he could accumulate some mana with his soul, this amount of mana wasn't enough to cast any powerful spells. At most, he could use it for simple applications such as lifting Haydn into the air. Or, he could mimic Miriya and cast basic spells such as Mana Balancing.
If Fugallo wished to cast stronger spells, he would need to rely on a medium, such as how Grant had relied on several gigantic magic crystals to cast his gravity magic. And if he wished to cast taboo-level spells, he would need to have a real body as Kristine and Andusia did.
Currently, it was obvious Fugallo had yet to reconstruct his body, so this was good news for Alice. Even if Fugallo relied on a medium to cast some spells, he still wouldn't be a match for Alice.
Of course, Alice wouldn't naively believe that Fugallo couldn't use his full strength. Fugallo obviously knew about his limitations and must have had a way to deal with this problem. After all, if Fugallo couldn't even cast a taboo, there was no way he could have hypnotized all of the magicians in the living room. Most likely, Fugallo had some method that allowed him to use his full strength.
"Haydn," Fugallo suddenly called out to Haydn. However, he did not say anything else, confident Haydn would get his point. In their current state, neither of them was strong enough to fight Alice. It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to say that they were no different than ants in front of Alice.
Haydn naturally understood what Fugallo was trying to convey, and he couldn't help but sigh. However, he didn't object to the other party's decision. Instead, he spread out his arms and gave up resisting.
Before Alice could follow up her Holy Cross Slash with an offensive taboo, she suddenly saw Fugallo's soul flying into Haydn's body. Then, to her surprise, Haydn's body started radiating an astonishing amount of mana.
Did Fugallo possess Haydn's body?
Although possession magic was a very niche type of magic, Alice had heard of it before. Or, more specifically, she had previously seen Grant possessing Heris's body. Meanwhile, seeing how Haydn's body had unleashed such a large amount of mana after merging with Fugallo's soul, it was obvious this wasn't the first time Fugallo had taken over Haydn's body.
Based on the bits of research Alice did on possession magic, Fugallo shouldn't be able to unleash any strength if this was the first time he possessed Haydn's body. He'd have to adapt his soul to Haydn's body over a long period before he could gradually use Haydn's body to unleash his soul's full strength.
I see. So this is how they used all of these taboos?
Realization dawned on Alice when she saw this scene. By the looks of things, Haydn and Fugallo had been partners-in-crime for quite some time already. Otherwise, Fugallo's soul wouldn't have such a high affinity with Haydn's body. Though, it was a wonder how Fugallo's rotund soul could fit inside Haydn's scrawny body…
Jokes aside, Alice didn't forget that these two fellows were prepared to modify the Demon King's Shadow taboo. Although she had already disrupted the Law-grade taboo they used to drain Luna's mana, she wasn't sure if they had already accumulated enough mana to execute their plan. So, Alice decided that she still needed to be careful.