novelraw Chapter 569 - 568 - Soul Battle
Chapter 569 - 568 - Soul Battle
Helena was annoyed. She had been enjoying the battle until the infuriating invader wasted her youth! She despised aging. She despised the wasting of the body.
She recalled how she used to be.
She had been pale, pimple filled, and hunched over before her skill as a Soulmancer was discovered. She had pushed the ability of Soulmancers beyond what the others did. They were fine with the physical price but she was not.
She stole from the fortunate and the blessed.
She became what she always wanted to be. A beauty without rival and the envy of all. Her own brethren were afraid of her power now. She was the desire of all who saw her but the child in front of her stripped it all away.
The dark space was not unknown to her but her form was not of her choosing.
When Soulmancers fought, they would be drawn into a soul battle. Weaving seemed to force that facet of battle on them.
She hated that she was once more the weak and broken body she had long shed but her foe was awe inspiring.
He was human and dragon at the same time!
His finely toned body had a massive sinuous dragon looming over it. It was not fair!
Why did a pathetic ascender have such good fortune?! She had seen the ascension pool and the few beings that used it were nothing special.
She tried to enforce her visage she desired but nothing happened. She frowned as her soul was much stronger than the boy in front of her, yet nothing she did changed her shape.
It was then that he turned to her calmly.
"You have been here before?" His calmness irritated her even more but she only sneered at him as sigils began to blaze around her.
Weaving was a skill of artistry as much as complexity. The more powerful a weaving was needed to be, the more complex the traces and sigils became. Putting them into shapes further enhanced the power but then things got even harder.
Unlike any other profession, weaving used souls as part of its structure. Helena was a peak grade 6 weaver but in that dark place she may as well have been a god. A pathetic 3rd circle had no chance to stop her in that place!
The sigils and traces blended together until a massive aura pressed down in the dark space. The idiot simply looked at her profound creation as it took shape.
"DIE!" She screamed as a horned beast appeared and had fangs as strong as steel close in on the boy's head! The mouth snapped shut but Helena could only feel shock as the humanoid beast man shivered and dispersed like mist!
Why?! Why did the projection fail?!
"Interesting. I never thought of using a weaving like that. Still, you rely too much on the visual and slack on the substance. You hid a mental attack inside that while looking like a physical one." His calm analysis was accurate and stunning.
He was only at the 3rd circle, how was he able to understand what she did?!
She did not let it stop her as she tried something more inline with her strengths. Tendrils of her soul lashed out like whips but that time he dodged. He looked disgusted at the dark whips but she finally felt confident again.
"Honestly, how can you do that to yourselves?" She blew off his question as more tendrils snaked out yet he continued to avoid them without any difficulty. She did not panic as he would soon learn the limits of the dark space.
As if thinking made it so, she saw surprise pass on his face as a solid wall was behind him. Still, he reacted swiftly but began to map out the limits of the space.
Helena was stunned at how easily he kept moving even as he should be getting exhausted. She had killed Sun Tiers without such difficulty but a Moon Tier was currently on par with her!
"Stop running and fight me!" She screeched at him but Lind continued to dodge until Helena finally got fed up.
She retracted all her attacks back into her. She looked a bit winded but hardly tired yet Lind was calmly staring at her as if nothing had occurred.
"You are the worst kind of man to make a woman exert herself. You shall pay for that." Her eyes glinted as the darkness around her seemed to twist and turn. It finally made Lind narrow his emerald eyes.
A soul battle was not simply a mental stage, but literally a conflict between souls. Helena smirked as she exerted her skill to command the as yet untapped energy around them.
Only weavers could manipulate souls and she was one of the best.
The space they were in was essentially passive pieces of souls. She sneered at the naive boy as he did nothing to defend himself.
He would die without understanding how!
The darkness obeyed her will but just as she was about to attack, everything stilled.
"I see. So you did gain something from your shortcut but it is still shallow. Also, you brute force all your weavings. I thought the Heaven Realm had weavers and proper teachings. What happened in this place?" His words made Helena finally feel a tremor in her mind.
How did he know the issue with their weavings?
Lind shook his head before closing his eyes. The dark space suddenly exploded with light! Helena was not only blinded but she felt her connection to her dantian dim!
How?! How was he so powerful in his first soul battle?!
"I can almost reach it but I think the Law Binding is blocking me. I thank you for showing me this place but there are probably restrictions and limits I have yet to grasp. Aside from that, I think I bought enough time." Helena suddenly felt sick and the world shattered around them.
The greens and blues of the real world blinded her but she could not seem to move her arms.
She could only move her eyes and realized only moments had passed as was normal but those moments had dealt her a massive blow. Her body was wrinkled, pustules everywhere, and weak.
She felt so heavy.
"The elixir I used on you did not harm your dantian or body. It only did one thing, it attacked your weaving ability. Every attack and defense or any weaving you maintained would only accelerate its effects." Lind stood over the frail old woman who was struggling to breathe. "I told you that you paid a price for your shortcuts."
She was losing connection to her body. She understood what was happening but could not stop it! Her weavings were broken so her life was slipping away!
She had consumed millions to keep her youth and vitality long past her lifespan! She tried to reach her skill but it was like a massive wall was between her and her ability!
She saw it then. The same azure color of the elixir was around her sun! It did nothing to the Qi but the most vital thing she needed was locked away!
"You may have long tortured and consumed souls but the price you paid was that the power was not yours anymore. All you became was a paper tiger. Your sigils and traces look and feel powerful but are just shallow constructs." Lind seemed to lose focus but then shook his head.
He looked up and saw the soldiers staring in horror at him and Helena.
"This battle is over or do you wish to join her?" She saw the revulsion on all their faces and wailed inside but the darkness was closing in. She felt terror grip her heart as she knew once it covered her sight, it would be the end!
"P-please. I don't want to die…" She barely got the words out when the world changed. The man became a dragon that stared down at her coldly and made everyone shiver in terror.
"How many screamed and wailed but you had no pity for them? How many were pulled from their bodies and prayed for pity?" Lind's reptilian eyes were cold as her fading vision widened.
She could just barely feel it when the silvery ring appeared!
"I will thank you as you showed me something that bridged the gap of my knowledge. Now, I have a lot to do and little time to do it." Helena was screaming in her mind as oblivion came for her.
Her soul was in pain as black chains suddenly appeared in her vision before she was no more!
⬧⬧⬧⬧
Lind felt the connection to his weaving break as the wasted body turned to dust. All the soldiers dropped their weapons immediately.
A Sun Tier Soulmancer had just been killed so easily by a Moon Tier!
He was about to move on when he felt something. His emerald eyes narrowed as spirit Qi began to rise from where the Soulmancer fell. It was not vile or corrupted but pure unbridled joy!
Shock crossed his draconic features as it flowed around him and into him!
[Thank you!]
It was the general sensation he felt before it all faded away yet his soul felt much stronger than before. He frowned in concern yet nothing alien was inside him. He set it aside as he had a lot to deal with first.
As he turned away a spark of black Qi flared on the remains and vanished. The last moment of Helena was missed by all as if Heaven and Earth intended it. The most vain died in the shadows and none would remember them ever again.