In the center of that gigantic city stood an imposing castle. Floating above it was a strange multicolored sphere that resembled an eye. As soon as the group entered the city, their senses were immediately drawn to the sphere. At that moment, Alm and Bruno felt a dense power sealed inside it.
’That... that’s the Law of Origin!’ Bruno exclaimed, stunned.
Even existing there on the same plane as two souls, the mystical thread still connected them, and their thoughts were still linked. Alm heard those words and felt the same. They named this Law because it’s the energy that gives origin to the consciousness of living beings, something even the Queen couldn’t control. They learned to use the array to harvest this energy from their allies. (Chapter 587)
But their shock didn’t end there. Soon after, they felt a battle fluctuation. Above the castle, there was a spatial distortion, the sealed space of the Celestial Jaguars, where this race and another group of Zaoris fought fiercely.
That distortion in the sky might have been about thirty meters in a circle, but inside, it was dozens of times larger for those fighting. Focusing their gaze with the divine soul, it wasn’t difficult to see their battle.
There were two teams of a dozen fighters, each trying to win fiercely. But Alm and Bruno’s attention was immediately drawn to the two figures leading the groups. Around them were small multicolored runes, all connected to the other allies. Those runes were simple and composed solely of soul power, forming a complex array they knew very well.
’Holy shit, it really is our array,’ Bruno said, even more shocked than before.
Its name was Array of the Eternal Crown. They got it from the system ’randomly’ in a chest after a main quest. It always seemed perfect for them, who, even without understanding much about formations and arrays, managed to create the foundations of the technique using only the divine soul. It was useful in some moments in the past but never proved essential until they discovered other uses with the Law of Origin. (Chapter 82/83)
Alm focused on those runes and analyzed them coldly. ’There’s no doubt, it’s the same technique. But it’s like they’re using an advanced and superior version, while we have a simplified one.’
Bruno agreed. After creating the foundations of the technique, they didn’t focus much on developing it. But from the information they received about the technique from the system, it would only make current functions faster and easier, without making much of a difference. Yet what they were seeing seemed far superior.
They watched the battle for a few seconds. Both sides used the array, with two leaders commanding. Everyone there seemed to be the elite soldiers, much more powerful than those fighting around the city.
"Sir! These people... they have no connection to a body. They are just souls and, unlike the others, they are really dead," Kaiyka exclaimed, sensing with her soul cultivation this difference.
Alm and Bruno sighed heavily. What else could surprise them? Everything since they arrived at this ’Void Dream’ was very strange, and more and more questions arose at every moment.
"Screw it. We can’t figure it out easily, so let’s force the answers out," Alm said bluntly, turning to the two.
Bruno nodded; there were no better options. Instantly, the two dropped their Celestial Jaguar disguise. The two saw this and did the same.
"Kaiyka, where’s your sword?" Bruno asked bluntly.
She sighed, confused, since obviously, it wasn’t possible to bring her sword to that place.
"Don’t you get it yet? Since when does the Sword God’s Dao require you to have a sword in hand? He transcended that and became the sword; you should know that you are the blade and your power. The physical blade is just a catalyst to make it easier."
Bruno spoke, and her eyes widened. It was something obvious that he had realized for some time: Kaiyka still used that first katana they made when she hadn’t yet regained her memories. Even so, she never needed to replace it and kept getting stronger quickly.
"If you really needed a powerful sword, I would have just made one as good as Ruri’s. Any blade in your hands becomes unmatched. The power doesn’t come from the sword, but from you. Let me ask you again: where’s your sword?" Bruno finished slowly.
She quickly understood and clenched her fists. With a sigh, her eyes turned cold, and her aura became sharp and frigid. She spoke flatly, "I am the sword."
"Great, get ready to cut," Bruno replied, turning to Coltia.
The Silkworm flapped her wings, and her form changed. Alm and Bruno narrowed their eyes as she transformed into an almost identical image of Runula. Instead of dark skin, she was now white as snow, and the black scales that covered her body were pure white. It was as if they were sisters from opposite poles.
Coltia chuckled softly. "I can fight in human form too. I trained Runula, after all. I can’t use what I’m normally accustomed to, but I can fight like this using my divine soul. I’m older than you in this, by the way, don’t worry."
Alm and Bruno nodded, and at that moment, the two saw them radiate boundless Yin and Yang. They snorted in sync. Suddenly, as if by magic, the two figures vanished, and a single being formed.
He opened his eyes.
Immediately, the two froze and almost took a step back. To say that this new being gave off a frightening impression was an understatement. It was more like he was the embodiment of malice.
"No one here dies," the figure said flatly, turning around. "I feel like something is very wrong, and these people around us are trapped here until they die. Don’t hesitate, destroy them all and send them back."
The two listened and nodded, both feeling the same since they arrived. Whenever someone died in this battle, they simply exploded and disappeared. Kaiyka had even confirmed she could feel the connection to the body, subtle in all of them.
Moreover, everyone fighting was clearly from the nations, meaning they were all from the planet suffering from the Void Dream. The feeling was that they didn’t die, and the knowledge that everyone who fell into this place eventually woke up made the obvious clues clear to them.
"As for those over there. We’ll deal with them last; they’re different," Alm and Bruno said flatly as their figure rose to the skies.
The two snorted, aiming in opposite directions. Kaiyka waved her hand, grabbing the void; her soul split a part, then that energy molded, and an ethereal katana was created. She was the sword, so she always had a sword ready in her hands.
Coltia simply closed her eyes, and when she opened them, there was only a white, sacred light like two beacons. Her law was created after millennia of being used as fertilizer by the queen. Her soul and being were already one with the Holy Light Law.
The two roared, attacking in opposite directions. The world split with the movement of an unstoppable katana. On the other side, everything was covered in blinding beams of light. The light of that world twisted, being sucked toward the small white figure. In seconds, waves of destruction engulfed everyone on the battlefield.
Screams of despair and terror echoed everywhere. The katana’s blade created trenches wherever it passed, destroying everything that dared to live before it. On the other side, there were no screams; all were simply swallowed by the light and vanished like dust.
Alm and Bruno were still in the air, completely focused, with their gaze fixed on the distortion. Everyone in that fight was so focused that they didn’t notice what was happening outside.
Minutes passed. The two completed an unstoppable massacre on both sides, and anything alive disappeared.
When they turned upwards, it was at the same moment that the sinister figure snorted and his presence radiated an incomprehensible power.
The world fell silent, then he spoke flatly: "Fear!"
Suddenly, all the spatial laws of that sealed place froze. Everyone inside felt a pair of devilish eyes staring at them. When his words resonated in their minds, their bodies froze.
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The distortion exploded violently, creating a sharp sonic boom in the skies. All twenty of them fell violently to the ground, expelled from the place.
But none of them could move a single muscle. The figure in the sky just stared at them for a second, then waved, and their divine souls moved, trapping them. In seconds, the souls of all of them were completely sealed.
The figure in the sky sighed, and then two opposing souls appeared again.
Alm spat. "Indeed, that Emperor’s Domain from that Bastard Dragon is useful sometimes."
"The cost is high, but for dominating souls and other energies, it’s easier with it," Bruno commented, and then ideas crossed his mind.
Common laws, the tattoos could easily dominate them. But since they were souls using soul power instead of Qi, only the Emperor’s Domain could handle it. And this allowed them not to have to destroy them. Before, they got a simplified version, which is why it was called ’Medium’; maybe if they got the complete technique, they could create something even more terrifying with the help of the tattoos. (Chapter 82)
The cost was a part of their soul, but now it didn’t matter. It was worth it, and they got a good source of information.
Alm spoke coldly: "Kaiyka, get to work. Extract everything they know."