Conflicting thoughts echoed in Xoese's mind
Should she really do it?
Wouldn't it be much better if he died right away?
His existence would inevitably bring a great shift in the entire nature of the Spirit Realm itself.
Yes, it was best for him to simply be dealt with once and for all!
The end and beginning of each and every era before this one was as a result of the death of the Soul King.
Each one of them were removed not by any special process.
They were exterminated, each and every one of them.
And every single King was killed by none other than the respective Shadow souls of the previous era.
It was slowly becoming something that most souls came to accept. There was always opposition to every working process in the universe and for the aging process of the Spirit World, that opposition was the very existence of the Shadow Souls.
It felt inevitable, yet Spirit Warriors trained tirelessly with the hope of defending their era and preventing a change as a result of losing their king.
Xoese had to get rid of him and seeing as Ati was about to do just that, she should've just let her go.
Perhaps, feigned an inability to spring into action. It was the perfect scenario seeing as everyone was occupied.
Yet... Yet she lunged forward in an attempt to stop her.
Why?
Why did she decide to take the decision that ended her up as a companion of the shadow soul?
There was something inside her... Something she felt gave her a far more different reason for doing what she was doing at that moment.
And it was that reason, that gave her the strength she needed to seize the moment in her hands!
.
.
.
The white-haired soul felt everything around her slow to a stop as she reached for the stage, stretching her hand as if she could somehow reach out to it.
Ati was far ahead and her senses kept kicking her to leave the area as the unstable energy fluctuations in the hall got even more erratic.
"I need to stop her", she gritted the teeth. "I... I need to be the one!"
A glittering crystal gleamed in the expanse of an unknown space and spread forth its energy. Xoese's aura burst out from within her chest and engulfed her.
She suddenly shot forward at an unbelievable speed and closed the gap in a matter of microseconds. In fact, she more than closed the gap. Her figure glitched right between the charging Ati and the still immobile Zanetor.
*Stab!*
Ati's blade made impact, causing her to stumble to a stop. She raised her head and exposed her confusion through her slightly tilted head.
What?
How did she surpass me in full evasion?
An incredible strength pushed her dagger back as Xoese''s grasp on the dagger's edge tightened. Xoese felt a sharp sting in her palms as a dark red liquid flowed down and painted the weapon's cold edge before falling to the ground.
"I'll be the one...", Xoese muttered. "...to deal with this shadow soul."
Ati shrugged off her confusion, "Tsk! GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Her mechanical form began to change again. This time, it was a descent balance between bulky and sleek. The daggers she had in Xoese's palm retracted and a great power emanated from her suit.
[Soul Drive: Full Offense]
The mechanical warrior was about to press out an attack when a sudden voice interrupted.
"EVERYONE!", the voice came from the blinding light source. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
Edem's right arm began to fracture and in the next second, it got completely blown off. Cold sweat ran down the sides of his face as his lips curled into a sarcastic grin.
"Heheh", his eyes glowed. "I kept it at bay for more than 6 minutes! That's something to be proud of, no?"
A golden circle appeared around him as the light from the expanding source got brighter and brighter.
He turned to face the others in an attempt to summon his golden circles around the others. However, now that there was no binding on the rampaging spirit energy, loud vibrations washed over the entire hall.
Every single one of his golden circles dissipated, except the one that surrounded him. Keeping that circle intact was already taking a toll on him.
"Damn it.", his voice strained. "Damn it!"
Pillars of flames erupted beneath the stage, engulfing Zanetor and Leticia. Edem's eyes widened as he followed the flame's energy source.
Kekeli's arm trembled as he kept the flames going. He shook as he struggled to breathe.
"That damned thing was laced with poison", he guilped. "I- I can't reach Xoese and Zuleika and Zoraide don't want to leave my side."
Terror dawned on Edem, "No. Xoese can't keep her spells stable in her current state. she's exhausted too much!"
Blood began to flow down the cloaked man's cheeks as they drooped from his eyes. Desperately trying to activate and maintain a golden circle around Xoese was proving to be fatal.
It didn't help
Being so close the erratic spirit energy was eroding his own energy.
'When did Bob harvest this kind of spirit energy??', he thought as he lunged towards Ati and Xoese. 'Damn it! To be able to produce vibrations that specifically counter my spells and Xoese's must've meant they were training to take us down for a long time now!'
He tried one more time to summon a golden circle, but then another wave of energy brushed over the area and a piercing pain shot through his eyes as they went blank.
'I'm out of spirit energy!?'
Xoese watched the unfolding disaster as well as Ati who activated her transformation once more.
The winds that guarded her sprang into action, building a raging wall before her. Waves of energy spread around even more frequently this time and a high-pitched sound filled the area, blowing the wall away.
She fell to her knees. She could only see her palms in her blurry vision and there was nothing she could do to control them. The pulsing waves of energy passed through her skin, causing a nasty ache in her chest.
Sweat began to flow down her face profusely as she clutched her chest and panted for air.
Edem and Kekeli watched in despair as they realised it was too late to save her. The explosion was going to crush her soul core inside out.
'D- Damn it...'
Light engulfed Edem and everyone in the hall, and what followed after could be described as an unimaginably ear-blasting explosion.
The resounding *BOOM* sent a large pillar of light into the air as well as powerful shock waves that made the surrounding trees far below the mountain bend.
An orange-white glow formed on the lower parts of the mountain as it melted intensely from the top.
Various spirit beasts of various sizes fled from the area as any soul or spirit that wondered too close had its soul core shattered from within. Tremors made the event seem like the beginning of an apocalypse and the sky gradually turned to an orange-reddish hue, just like the sunset.
The after-explosion stayed alive for almost 30 minutes before the pillar of light reduced to nothing but tiny streams of light that hovered in the air.
A deep crater formed in the mountain and fumes of smoke rose into the air from within.
Edem stumbled to a fall as the golden circle surrounding him dissipated. His body maintained slight burns and the impact from the explosion caused his blank eyes to no longer function.
He shook his head and took a while to find some strength, "X- Xoese"
The flame pillar that surrounded Kekeli and the stage dissipated as well while Ati, who had transformed into her full defense form had fumes erupting from the bulky mass.
Edem's eyes widened. His world was so blur that he couldn't make out anything at all, but he could faintly feel the vibrations emanating from everyone's soul core.
She was still existent
Xoese was still alive. He could feel her soul core's vibration.
Edem's cloaked had completely burned off and the various runic patterns on his skin was exposed. He walked closer and tried to push an unwanted thought to the back of his mind.
What if he was feeling these faint vibrations not because they were alive, but because he was sensing the residue energy that could've been released after they were vapourised?
No
He wasn't going to believe it. The vibrations kept a consistent frequency and didn't die down.
They had to be alive.
In addition to that, one of the vibrations stood out the most to him. It was a lot... louder... than the others.
He immediately recognised who it was.
Xoese slowly opened her eyes and was stunned when her vision looked distorted. It was as if she was staring at what was behind the surface of water.
She opened her mouth but closed them immediately once bubbles escaped from it.
'Am I underwater?', she calmed down and closed her eyes.
A murky presence washed over her as she tried to gain a sense of where she was. The water was imbued with a dark spirit energy and she immediately reached a conclusion.
'No, this is a result of someone's manipulation of their soul core', she stabilised herself within the volume. 'And I've had this same feeling before. I've been doused with this kind of water before.'
Xoese's instincts kicked in as the structure fell apart, exposing her to the air. A cold breeze brushed over her skin as she fell into someone's arms.
Her gaze met the face of the soul that gave her conflicting thoughts. His eyes were a pale blue and it looked like he was staring into nothing.
'Of course. The shadow soul', Xoese motioned to get off, but Zanetor tightened his grip on her.
The white-haired soul's heart began to race and a puzzled expression flashed on her face. She regained her composure almost immediately and glared menacingly at the shadow soul.
"Let go of me", she snarled.
Just then, Clicking sounds could be heard as Ati's full defense form became undone.
Edem and Kekeli felt a menace emerging from the pod and tried to move, but they were both too battered to be able to do anything.
Kekeli's gaze turned to Leticia who had fallen unconscious. Her hair reverted to their normal length and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. However, that Ati soul was incredibly annoying!
[Soul Drive]
Pressure fell down upon everyone in the space as her form changed again. She aimed her right arm at Zanetor and gathered her yellow aura around it.
'She can still use her heart's coalescence!?', Kekeli's mouth dropped wide.
Edem's eyes narrowed, 'Zanetor...'
The aura around Ati's arm drifted away, revealing a cannon that had formed around it.
"I've had enough of all of this...", Ati's voice quivered. "All the suffering has to end and it'll end once I wipe you out for good."
'She still has so much spirit energy to spare??', Xoese tried to get out of Zanetor's grasp, but it proved futile. 'WHAT DOES HE WANT!?'
Spirit energy condensed within the cannon and once it was charged, a powerful light beam shot forth from within it. The soft ground parted as the attack burst towards the shadow soul.
However...
Particles of water rose up from the moist soil and gathered into a large water sphere that flattened into a circular plane. Its rim flowed with a gentle stream of water and its interior was made out of a thin transparent film that caused Zanetor's image to distort.
The rim began to flow turbulently as the beam of energy got closer. It stopped just inches to the transparent section and began to accumulate.
Edem's eyes widened, 'Isn't that-'
Xoese couldn't believe what she saw either and Kekeli just seemed lost completely.
Ati's attack changed direction and shot back at her at a higher speed. She wasn't as energetic as before however, as the beam of energy made direct impact with her.
The force from the impact sent her flying a few feet away. She stood up almost immediately and screamed in a crazy rage.
She aimed her weapon at the shadow soul again, "Die Die Die Die DIE!"
Parts of her mechanical form shattered and her mask broke into many pieces, revealing her face. Tears rolled down her face and only pain and turmoil spoke out from her pale red eyes.
She fired another beam of energy.
But this time, the water-like mirror that appeared before Zanetor changed shape. It resembled a streamline flow of water that surrounded both him and Xoese.
'What's this?', her instincts went haywire. 'Something's not right. Is he even in control of himself??'
Edem observed, inwardly cursing himself for being unable to do anything.
'If Zanetor moved out of the flame pillar to save Xoese, it's possible that he may have been hit by a wave of energy before he could even protect himself and her', his eyes narrowed. 'There's no telling what side effect that had on him. At this point, he's clearly unconscious.'
Zanetor's eyes were pale and stared blankly at whatever was in front of him.
The energy beam froze once again, only being mere inches away from him. Vibrations rattled the beam of energy as it condensed into a sphere and suddenly began to orbit the two, lighting up the stream of water.
'He's using the energy from Ati's weapon?', Edem forced himself to take a step forward. 'First, he's not letting Xoese go... and now he needs extra amounts of energy. Three mediums... It's like that one forbidden spell.'
An expression of horror appeared on Edem's face.
That spell forcefully ripped the space around them! Of course, maybe that wasn't what he was really doing but his intuition was begging him to take that as a conclusion.
But, how would he know about a spell like that!?
The stream surrounding Zanetor and Xoese turned bright and began to rotate even faster.
It suddenly stopped and burst radially at a suddenly staggering speed. The energy spread caused the ground to wear off in its direction and forcefully knocked Edem, Kekeli and Ati off their feet.
The three rebounded off the ground a few times after the impact as the energy wave travelled for miles and miles on end until it disappeared into the distance.
'That was it!', Edem coughed as he got up on his knees. 'That was the forbidden Reality Slicer! But... How!?'
Ati had fallen unconscious and Kekeli could barely keep himself going as the poison from before slowly rendered him unable to move.
Zanetor and Xoese had disappeared from the spot, greatly irritating Edem as now he had to get Leticia and Kekeli and leave the area! It wasn't going to take long before-
The blank-eyed man paused as the vibrations of several soul cores rang across his skin from all directions. He raised his head and began to curse inwardly as he beheld the sight of Pallid Plane Spirit Warriors.
Each one of them had formidable spirit energies and they all glared down at him.
His eyes returned to level ground when he sensed one other presence. Walking towards them was an elderly person who looked to be in his late forties.
Edem felt every ounce of bad luck in the world had fallen in his hands at that point as a familiar name came into his mind.
'Commander Soren', he hid a pained smirk. 'How... unfortunate.'
This time...
There was no running for the rogue Spirit Warrior...