Monster Tamer is the Worst Class-Chapter 46: A Living Memory

The runes on the columns, now faded, left the hall shrouded in a cold twilight, pierced only by the residual glow of Morwynn’s webs and the gentle luminescence of Nyssa’s liquid form.

Kaela, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths, kept her claws flexed, her golden eyes fixed on the spot where Sylha had vanished into the mist.

Eren, at the center of the circle formed by his monsters, felt the weight of the moment.

The system, ever-present, flashed in his vision:

[Exploit Stabilized. Threat Temporarily Neutralized.]

But he knew the battle was far from over.

Sylha had not been defeated.

She had retreated, yes, but not out of physical weakness.

Her presence still lingered in the air, a low hum that made the hairs on Eren’s neck stand on end. He sensed the entity somewhere, not in the temple, but within him—or perhaps within the system itself.

"She’s not finished," he murmured, more to himself than to the monsters.

Kaela turned, her tail swaying with unease.

"Then why did she flee?" Her voice still carried traces of the fury that had consumed her during Sylha’s illusion, but now there was clarity in her eyes. "We cut her. I felt my claws tearing something."

Morwynn, adjusting a broken web with precise movements, raised her faceted eyes.

"It wasn’t flesh. It wasn’t matter. Sylha is not like us." Her voice was cool, analytical, but there was a note of curiosity. "She is an echo. Something that should not be here."

Nyssa, always the most sensitive, approached Eren, her liquid form gently undulating against his arm.

"I felt... sadness," she said, hesitant. "Not anger. Not hatred. Something trapped."

Her voice trembled, as if she were trying to understand what she had sensed in Sylha’s presence.

Eren closed his eyes, letting Nyssa’s words echo in his mind. Sadness. Trapped. He had felt something like this before, in the deeper layers of his bonds with the monsters.

The system, with its exploits and cryptic messages, seemed to hide more than it revealed. And Sylha... she was not just an enemy. She was a key.

"She is tied to the Order of Ancient Tamers," he said, his voice firm. "But not as an ally. She is bound to them. Trapped in the past."

Kaela growled, impatient.

"Past or not, she tried to manipulate us. Tried you." There was a fierce jealousy in her voice, but also unwavering loyalty. "If she returns, I’ll tear every tentacle from her."

Eren placed a hand on Kaela’s shoulder, feeling the tension in her muscles.

"It’s not that simple. She doesn’t want to destroy us. She wants... something she lost."

He didn’t know how to explain the intuition growing inside him, but the bond with his monsters—and the exploit he had discovered—seemed to amplify his perception.

Sylha was not just an entity. She was a living memory, a fragment of something greater, trapped in a cycle he needed to understand.

The temple trembled, and the air grew dense again. The runes on the columns began to glow once more, but now in a crimson hue, like blood pulsing through veins of stone.

Sylha’s voice echoed, not from a specific point, but from all around, as if space itself were speaking.

"Do you think you know me, Tamer?" There was a tone of challenge, but also a vulnerability that Eren hadn’t noticed before. "You, who toy with bonds you don’t understand? Who defies the universe with your sins?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Eren took a step forward, ignoring the instinct to back away.

"You’re not the universe, Sylha. You’re something it left behind."

He felt the weight of his words, as if each were a piece of a puzzle he couldn’t yet see fully.

"You’re here because you can’t move on."

Sylha’s laugh was sharp, but there was a crack in it, a flaw that hadn’t been there before.

"Move on? You speak as if the past can be abandoned. As if I could forget what I was."

The mist returned, but this time it wasn’t sensual or deceptive. It was dense, laden with fragmented images—visions of ancient rituals, hooded figures chanting incantations, an altar where blood and magic intertwined.

Eren saw, in flashes, the Order of Ancient Tamers, their faces indistinct, their hands raised in offerings to something greater.

The monsters reacted instantly.

Kaela charged forward, her claws shimmering with energy, ready to strike at the mist.

Morwynn raised a defensive web, strands of bright silk crossing the air like barriers. Nyssa formed a liquid shield around Eren, her form trembling with tension. But Eren raised his hand, signaling them to stop.

"It’s not a physical fight," he said, his voice calm but laden with authority. "She’s showing us something. Let her speak."

Sylha appeared in the center of the hall, her true form oscillating between the ethereal and the grotesque. Translucent tentacles writhed, but her eyes—those points of starlit brilliance—seemed fixed on Eren, as if seeing him for the first time.

"You’re not afraid," she said, almost surprised. "Why?"

"Because I know what it’s like to be trapped," Eren replied.

He thought of the days he was just a worker in Korea. His hobby was discovering exploits in his favorite game, but now he was just an ordinary Tamer, undervalued, purposeless.

He thought of his past life, not as Eren Vale, but as Lee Min-Jae. A completely cold person who only thought of himself. And who still continued to think. He knew very well what it was to abandon a past life and give birth to a new one.

"You’re clinging to something that no longer exists. What you were... is gone."

The mist trembled, and the images changed.

Eren saw a young woman, not much different from Sylha’s initial form, standing at an altar.

She held a gleaming orb, and around her, hooded figures chanted words he didn’t understand.

The young woman seemed at peace, but there were tears in her eyes.

"I was the bridge," Sylha said, her voice now singular, almost human. "Between the Tamers and the spirits. I was the balance. But they betrayed me. They trapped me here."

Eren took another step, feeling the weight of the system in his mind. A new message appeared:

[Ancient Protocol Detected. Bond Analysis Initiated.]

He ignored the window, focusing on Sylha.

"You are no longer a bridge. You are a chain. And you are binding yourself."

The entity hesitated, her tentacles retreating slightly. Kaela, still tense, growled softly but did not attack.

Morwynn watched in silence, her webs vibrating as if sensing something beyond sight. Nyssa, beside Eren, whispered:

"She’s afraid, Eren. She doesn’t know how to let go."

The battle that followed was not of blows or magic, but of wills. Sylha projected more visions, memories of her creation, of her bond with the Order. Eren saw altars crumbling, Tamers being hunted, spirits being sealed.

He felt Sylha’s pain, not as an enemy, but as something he could understand.

"You can choose. Stay here, or move forward."

Sylha screamed, a sound that made the temple tremble.

The mist intensified, and her tentacles whipped the air, but not against Eren or his monsters. It was a gesture of despair, not attack.

"Choose?" she roared. "Do you think they gave me a choice? They made me what I am!"

"They’re not here anymore," Eren retorted, his voice cutting through the chaos. "But I am. And I see you."

He activated the bond, feeling the presence of Kaela, Morwynn, and Nyssa by his side.

The system responded:

[Soul Resonance Amplified.]

He didn’t need his own abilities — his monsters were his strength.

Kaela stepped forward, not to attack, but to stand beside Eren, her presence an anchor.

Morwynn wove a web that glowed with magic, not to trap, but to stabilize the space. Nyssa enveloped Eren in a liquid shield, her energy pulsing with calm.

"Sylha," Eren said, looking directly into the entity’s starry eyes. "You are no longer theirs. You can be free."

For a moment, the temple was utterly silent.

Sylha’s tentacles stopped, and her form began to unravel, as if reality itself were dissolving.

"Free..." she murmured, her voice weak, confused. The runes on the columns faded completely, and the mist retreated, taking the visions with it.

Sylha vanished, not with a scream or an explosion, but with a sigh, as if she had finally found something she couldn’t face: the truth.

Eren fell to his knees, exhausted. Kaela immediately crouched beside him, claws retracted, face full of concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice hoarse but steady.

Morwynn approached, her webs retracted.

"She wasn’t destroyed," she said, practical as always. "Just... withdrawn."

Nyssa, still in her liquid form, touched Eren’s shoulder.

"You reached her," she said, almost a whisper. "You made her doubt."

Eren looked at the center of the hall, where Sylha had been. The system flickered again:

[Ancient Protocol Deactivated. Anomaly Temporarily Contained.]

He didn’t know if Sylha would return, but for the first time, he felt he understood something greater. The Order of the Ancient Tamers, the exploit, the system itself — everything was connected. And he, somehow, was the key.

"Let’s go," he said, rising. "We still have a long road ahead."