BOOM!!!
BOOM!!!
BOOM!!!
Explosions tore through the grand hall, shaking its ancient pillars and scattering chunks of marble across the floor. The entire chamber pulsed with golden light, echoing with the shockwaves of power colliding.
Yun Che darted between craters and collapsing stone, Yoru flashing like a streak of night through a storm of gold. Every swing, every clash, carried the weight of restraint.
Opposite him, suspended amid a halo of radiant energy, hovered Chu Yueli—or rather, the soul wearing her body. The golden sigils across her arms burned brighter with each pulse of power. Her movements were flawless, mechanical, driven by another will entirely.
The being inside her laughed. "You're hesitating, mortal. Still refusing to strike her down?"
Yun Che's teeth clenched. He deflected another barrage of Isu energy blasts, their impact rattling his arms.
"I told you…" His eyes glowed faintly with haki and fury. "I'm not killing her."
Ares's voice bled from her lips—ancient, male, mocking. "Such sentimentality. You're willing to die for a vessel already lost? How… human."
A burst of golden energy slammed into the floor where Yun Che stood, engulfing the area in blinding light. He flickered out of existence just in time, reappearing several meters away.
Jasmine's voice echoed sharply in his mind.
"Yun Che! Stop holding back! You know what has to be done!"
He ignored her, landing in a crouch before charging again, sword raised. His strikes were clean—measured to disable, not destroy—but Ares countered effortlessly, his control over Chu Yueli's profound energy flowing with the precision of a divine machine.
Each time Yun Che closed the distance, Ares shifted her body forward, forcing him to either strike her or retreat.
The result was the same. Every time he hesitated, Ares smiled.
"Pathetic," Ares mocked, her voice echoing in a layered tone. "You think mercy will save her? Every breath you spare only feeds me more time to consume what remains of her soul."
Yun Che's jaw tightened. The pressure in the hall grew unbearable, the air vibrating with the clash of human will and divine arrogance. His instincts screamed for a killing blow—but his heart refused.
Not her. Never her.
He slashed another wave of sword energy, but Ares deflected it with ease. The golden aura surrounding her expanded, distorting the floor and ceiling as raw power radiated outward.
BOOM!
The explosion sent Yun Che flying across the hall, crashing against a shattered wall. Dust filled the air, the scent of scorched stone sharp in his nose.
He wiped the blood from his lip, eyes burning. This can't go on.
Ares hovered above, laughing. "You cannot see me, can you? Even as a so-called Shinigami, you cannot perceive me. My essence is beyond your reach. You can't cut what you can't see."
Yun Che's expression shifted. That detail wasn't just mockery—it was information.
He narrowed his eyes, forcing himself to focus. She's right. I can't see his soul… which means it's cloaked in something—
Then it clicked.
The system interference.
The same surge he'd felt earlier when Ares tried to possess him—that was the key. The system could detect Ares's consciousness, even when Yun Che's spiritual senses couldn't.
A plan began to form, razor-sharp in his mind. He only needed one opening—a single heartbeat where Ares overextended his control or amplified too much power. That would be the moment to strike—not at Chu Yueli's body, but directly through the interference signal the system had identified.
un Che whispered under his breath as he spun Yoru in a slow, deliberate arc. I need to force him out of Yueli's body. Until then, it's all defense.
Ares replied with light and thunder. Energy bombs detonated around him, golden beams lanced like spears, and every strike was meant to overwhelm, to make Yun Che slip, to make him hesitate. The Isu wanted a body of speed and invulnerability — Yun Che's — far more than the fragile shell of the Moon Empress from long ago.
"Hmph," Ares spat through Yueli's lips. "You're as stubborn as that old witch. Let's see if your heart is strong enough to kill this bitch."
He drew Chu Yueli's sword and lunged. Yun Che met him blade for blade. Steel screamed. Sparks rained. Yun Che didn't try to cut; he used the spine and side of Yoru to shove, to disrupt Ares' balance and force him off-center. Every knockback was precise — but with each successful knock, Chu Yueli's body took a little more damage.
Ares only laughed. He felt no pain; Yun Che's strikes went straight through to the host. The Isu poured more of his essence into the body to keep moving — and every time he did, the human shell reeled inward. Mortals, no matter how cultivated, lacked the Isu's veins and genetic scaffold. Holding divine energy in a human frame was slow suicide.
Yun Che's patience thinned. He had wanted to test this being — to watch Ares grow so he could learn the limits of Isu power. But watching the thing treat Chu Yueli like a tool, like a husk to be used and discarded, lit a fury inside him he couldn't ignore. When he finally ripped Ares free, he swore the Isu would pay — regardless of the curiosity that burned in him at meeting a true member of Eden.
Ares' grin spread. "If you won't destroy your precious puppet," he said, voice soft and terrible, "then I will. I can't trigger my self-destruct without a proper vessel. But I can make this body die—and with it, crush whatever remains of your will. Refuse me a host, and I will take this shell down with me."
He rose, energy crawling along the Isu sigils on Chu Yueli's arms. The golden lines deepened, bleeding into a harsh, angry red.
=========================
[Ding… Warning.The remnant soul is charging massive energy within Chu Yueli. Host must not prolong the battle. The energy is harming the body. Host must stop the channeling process now or the body will self-destruct, killing Chu Yueli.]
=========================
Yun Che's heart dropped. "System, I don't have a method to remove him yet," he said aloud, frustration sharp in his voice.
Host must stop the channeling process now.
Jasmine's voice slammed into his mind, urgent and raw. "Yun Che — it's now or never. You have to kill her!" She hovered close, eyes fixed on the spreading red sigils.
He recoiled as if struck. "No!" He felt the temperature of his own blood. "I refuse. I won't kill her. Little Fairy would be devastated."
Jasmine's face went hard. "You barely know her — why do you care? If you can't force the soul out, she'll die anyway. Better she dies by your hand than by this monster's fuse."
Yun Che's fists clenched until his knuckles whitened. The tomb thrummed with growing heat. Red runes crawled like fire across Yueli's flesh. Ares laughed as he continued to feed power into the body, each pulse eating away at the woman within.
"Like I said, I will not kill her…" Yun Che's voice was flat, then halted as Jasmine's sudden line snagged a thought in his mind.
"What did you say?" he asked.
Jasmine blinked, puzzled. "I said—it's better for her to die by your hand?"
"No. Before that." He shook his head.
"Force—extract her soul?" she guessed, the pieces falling into place.
"Force extraction. That's it." Yun Che's face lit with a ruthless clarity. "Jasmine, you're a genius. Why didn't I think of that sooner?" He backpedaled away from Ares and vanished into the small private space of his system interface.
"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked, curiosity and alarm mingling in her voice.
"Force extraction." He paced a circle, voice tight with the thrill of a plan. "Yueli's body and soul are exhausted from those elders' attack. She's fragile—just barely clinging. If I can interrupt the conduit Ares is using and yank his essence out forcibly, I can free her without killing the host. It's risky, but the conditions are perfect."
Jasmine's silence answered him—she was following, but didn't yet see the whole picture.
Inside the interface, Yun Che navigated the system store and bought a single item he'd always dismissed as useless—until now. The price was small compared to a life. He'd never pictured using it this way, but fate loves ironies. This blade, this tool, would be a scalpel to excise a god.
Ares watched him with contempt, certain the mortal was out of options. "Now watch," the Isu sneered through Yueli's lips. "Taste despair as you see your pet die. Mortals are tools for us. You cultivate and claw at divinity, but you remain meat. After I strip your flesh, I will recover my device and tear this world apart."
Yun Che stood motionless, hat brim low over his face. For a moment he seemed to concede nothing—then he lifted his head, and the yellow Mihawk eyes slid away like a cloak, folding into the cold, crimson whirl of his Sharingan. Calm and razor-still, he spoke in Isu: "I let you run. I let you grow to test Eden's strength. But you should have killed me when you had the chance."
Ares' amusement cracked into a flash of annoyance. "Kill? Even if you stop me, the energy will detonate in her. She dies—and you die with her. If you resist, I will steal your body in the aftermath. Your mercy only feeds my victory."
He began to glow. The Isu lines on Yueli's arms flared, bleeding from gold to a furious red as the self-destruct protocol edged toward activation. Energy crawled through flesh like molten steel. The warning alarm pulsed in Yun Che's system: this was literally a countdown.
Yun Che didn't flinch. His plan was audacious, surgical—and the only way to save the girl without damning himself. He tightened his grip on Yoru, feeling the hum of the purchased tool in the system like a pulse against his palm. There was no time for hesitation. Either he could tear a soul from its host, or he would watch a human life burn to ash.
"I never actually used this before," Yun Che muttered, tightening his grip on Yoru. "But you leave me no choice."
He vanished in a flicker of light. Flash Step.
In an instant, he was in front of Ares—eye to eye with the being he had once longed to meet. He had imagined the Isu as gods of reason and creation. Instead, he found a parasite wearing human skin. Testing this one's limits had been a mistake.
Their gazes locked. His Sharingan began to spin—faster, faster, crimson tomoe whirling into a vortex of killing intent.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Dragon Soul Illusion."
The effect was immediate.
Ares's golden eyes widened as his consciousness was ripped from the mortal plane.
Reality shattered into black.
He tumbled into a void of endless night—no stars, no sound, no horizon. Just nothing.
Then, from that nothing, came him.Yun Che stood there—cloaked in shadow, Yoru gleaming faintly at his side—and behind him loomed a colossal shape.
A head—a dragon's head.Vast. Blue. Ancient as eternity.
Ares felt his mind recoil. As an Isu warrior, he had conquered worlds and slain gods of myth, but this—this was new. His genetic memories held no record of a being like this. Its eyes alone could erase civilizations.
"ROOOAAARRR!!!"
The Azure Dragon's bellow shook the void itself. Ares's composure cracked. His mind screamed for him to kneel. His body—what little of it existed in this illusion—wanted to fall prostrate. Fear. Pure, alien fear, something no Isu had felt in millennia, clawed through him.
He couldn't even scream.
Outside the illusion, Yun Che staggered in midair, barely conscious. His breathing came ragged. The pressure of the Dragon Soul Illusion was crushing him from the inside out.
"Damn it…" he hissed. His fingers trembled around the hilt of Yoru. Didn't think it would drain me this much.
He fumbled a divine water from his inventory and drank. Cool relief rushed through him, soothing the stabbing pain in his skull and the raw ache behind his eyes. His vision steadied, though his head still throbbed.
The system voice chimed in, sharp and mechanical:
=======================
[Ding… Dragon Soul Illusion activated.]
[Target: Remnant soul of Ares is now trapped within the illusion of the Azure Dragon.]
[Chu Yueli's consciousness has been isolated and protected from psychic interference.]
[Duration remaining until automatic release: 58 seconds.]
=======================
"Fifty-eight seconds…" Yun Che muttered, sweat dripping down his jaw. His whole body trembled; his eyes burned like fire. He could feel the damage tearing at his pupils—the raw strain of forcing power his body wasn't ready for.
He wiped his mouth and forced a crooked grin. "Never thought the illusion would hit this hard. Way worse than any normal Sharingan genjutsu…"
He could barely stay upright. The Dragon Soul Illusion wasn't just a vision—it was a clash of dominance. The Azure Dragon's essence demanded to be channeled through him, and his mortal body fought to contain it. He felt as if every nerve behind his eyes was splitting open.
The system chimed again, almost like a warning whisper:
===================
[Notice: Dragon Soul Illusion is classified as a Mangekyō-level ability. Current ocular level insufficient for sustained use.]
[Warning: Prolonged activation risks ocular degeneration.]
====================
Yun Che groaned. "Yeah, no kidding…"
The pain behind his eyes flared; his vision wavered. He forced himself to breathe through it. He couldn't risk slipping into unconsciousness—if he fell, he'd hit the ground hard. And if he lost focus, Ares might break free before the time expired.
Inside the illusion, Ares was already writhing, his arrogance dissolving into primal terror as the dragon's roar filled every corner of his mind. The mighty Isu's spirit trembled before something even the gods of Eden had never dared imagine.
Outside, Yun Che steadied himself, whispering between clenched teeth: "Stay down, you bastard… just fifty seconds more…"
He knew the cost of power now. He could feel it bleeding through his veins, eating at his sight.
If this is what the Mangekyō feels like, he thought grimly, then the Dragon Soul Domain would kill me outright.
He would hold this illusion—and hold Ares—in its jaws for as long as his will allowed. After that, he would have one chance left: to tear the soul free before the dragon vanished.
And this time, there would be no hesitation.
He gasped, staggering, every breath scraping his throat like fire. The world swayed for a moment before he steadied himself.
Across the hall, Ares hung motionless in midair—his golden aura frozen, his eyes glassy and unfocused. The Dragon Soul Illusion held.
Yun Che exhaled, wiping the sweat off his brow. "Guess… the trick works."
Jasmine drifted down beside him, eyes narrowing. "What did you do to him?"
She could see he was barely standing. His breathing was ragged, his skin pale. Yet Ares—no, that thing inside Chu Yueli—was locked in place like a statue. Even she, with all her divine experience, had never seen anything like it.
Yun Che straightened slowly, Yoru pressed against the floor for balance. "I used the Dragon Soul Illusion," he said between breaths. "It traps him in pure intimidation—the fear of the Azure Dragon—for sixty seconds. Not long, but long enough."
Jasmine blinked, shocked. "Sixty seconds? I thought your Sharingan illusions could last much longer."
"They can," he admitted, voice still calm in his Mihawk's tone, "but this one's different. Ares's soul is far stronger than Chu Yueli's. A normal illusion would never hold. The Isu are masters of manipulation—they practically invented illusionary warfare. Using their own weapon against them is… poetic."
She tilted her head thoughtfully. "So even their minds can't resist the terror of a true god."
Yun Che gave a faint smile. "Exactly. But it's a temporary prison. When he breaks free, I'll need to be done."
He turned his gaze back to Chu Yueli. The golden runes along her body flickered violently, pulsing like veins of molten light. The energy within her was going wild—rampant, unstable, killing her.
He stepped forward, placing two fingers gently against her forehead.
"System," he ordered, "transfer all the rampant energy from her body into mine."
A pause.
==================
[Ding… Host must release the transferred energy immediately or risk severe harm.]
==================
"I know," he said through clenched teeth. "Just transfer it."
He didn't have time for caution. The radiant power inside her was unlike anything in the mortal plane—it wasn't profound energy, nor divine essence. It was Isu-made, artificial, precise, and utterly alien. But he had an idea.
====================
[Initiating transfer…]
====================
Energy surged like lightning through his arms, pouring from her skin into his veins. His body jolted; pain seared through him as the energy tore at his life force. His HP bar, visible only to him, began to drop steadily.
"Ghh—damn… this really burns."
He forced himself to endure it until the transfer was complete.
====================
[Transfer complete.]
[New energy source detected.]
[Analyzing…]
[Result: Radiant Force obtained.]
=====================
Yun Che froze. His eyes widened. "Radiant Force… Wait—that Radiant Force?"
The system confirmed, clinical as always:
===================
[Radiant Force: The destructive light-energy unique to the Isu race. Cannot be cultivated by mortals. Essential for the operation of Isu technology and the Pieces of Eden. Prolonged contact without Isu physiology causes rapid cellular decay and soul degradation.]
===================
He looked down at his hand. Golden-white energy shimmered just beneath his skin, pulsing in rhythmic arcs of light. The power was breathtaking… and painful. He could feel it fighting his very existence, like a living flame that refused containment.
"So it's true…" he murmured. "This is what the Isu used to command the Pieces of Eden."
Jasmine's eyes narrowed. "You can control it?"
"Barely," he admitted. "The system's suppressing it before it eats me alive. But this—" he raised his hand, watching the glow ripple across his knuckles—"this explains everything. The Isu never cultivated. They engineered power. They created this… Radiant Force… to replace what we spend lifetimes trying to attain."
He clenched his fist, feeling the ache of the energy fighting against his veins. "And now that I've got even a fragment of it… I can use their own power against them."
================
[Ding… Warning: Host lacks required DNA to safely cultivate Radiant Force.][Immediate recommendation: Channel energy outward. Sustained containment will cause critical HP loss.][Current HP: 98%... 96%...]
================
Yun Che grimaced. The Radiant Force burned inside him like molten light. It was raw, divine—and incompatible. Without the Isu's engineered physiology, it tore at his veins, trying to unmake him from the inside out.
I can't keep this for long, he thought grimly. But I don't need it for cultivation. I just need to understand how it moves… how they wielded it.
He exhaled sharply. "System, release the excess energy into the atmosphere. Do it now."
At once, the golden glow shrouding Chu Yueli's body flickered and vanished. The dangerous light in her veins receded, leaving her breathing shallow but steady.
Across the hall, Ares's eyelids snapped open—his consciousness breaking free of the illusion.
The golden hue flooded back into Chu Yueli's eyes, replacing the blank stare with cold malice. The moment Ares regained control, the illusion of stillness shattered.
He looked down at his host body, saw the Isu markings fading from her skin, and his fury erupted.
"You stinking mortal!" he roared. "What in the name of Eden was that illusion?! What was that thing behind you?!"
Even through the haze of pain, Yun Che smiled faintly. "Ironic, isn't it? A proud Isu warrior—master of illusion and technology—brought to his knees by a vision. Looks like even your kind can fear something."
His calm tone sent a ripple of anger through Ares's host. The Isu's pride shattered. "You insolent—!" He clenched Chu Yueli's fists, golden light pulsing violently around her hands. "You've doomed this woman. I'll destroy her body and take you down with it!"
Swish—!
Without another word, Yun Che Flash-Stepped, reappearing right in front of him. The two clashed midair, energy and blade meeting with explosive force.
Ares unleashed a flurry of radiant bolts—Shooo! Shooo! Shooo!
Each beam seared the air, but Yun Che weaved through them effortlessly, stepping between light and shadow. He'd spent this entire battle holding back, but not anymore.
Yoru gleamed with a green aura as the Heretic Gates opened behind him—seven orbs of elemental fury circling his form like stars.
He swung.
CRACK!!!
Yoru slammed into Ares's Isu energy shield, shattering it instantly. The blast threw sparks across the grand hall. The barrier—once said to repel even divine energy—split open under the weight of Yun Che's strike.
Ares's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Impossible! My cultivation is beyond yours! This body carries the power of multiple Emperor-level beings—how can you—?!"
Yun Che straightened, eyes gleaming like a blade under moonlight. "Guess I kind of cheated," he said, his tone pure Mihawk. "Just because you're stronger… doesn't mean you can win."
He vanished again, closing the distance in a blink. The next strike wasn't defense—it was death. Yoru rose with killing intent that made even Jasmine's soul tremble.
From Ares's perspective, the blow was perfect. He's going to strike her down. Good. Let him. The moment this vessel died, Ares would slip free and find another body.
But the instant the sword came down—
Yun Che shifted. His stance changed mid-swing. His right hand pulled Yoru aside—and his left hand moved forward, glowing faintly.
"Got you," he said, lips curling into a razor-thin smile.
From his wrist, light flared. The air itself seemed to ripple around his palm as a strange, half-fingered red glove formed over his hand—its surface patterned with a fiery skull, wreathed in shifting blue, white, and black flames that seemed alive.
Jasmine's heart skipped a beat."Wh–what is that…?" she whispered, floating higher for a better look.
The glove's energy made her skin prickle—it wasn't profound energy, divine power, or even Radiant Force. It was something other. Something old. Something designed to sever the bond between soul and body.
The aura was so unnatural that even Ares froze mid-motion, sensing something ancient stir behind it.
"Now—get out of Yueli's body." Yun Che didn't wait for a reply. He pressed the glove-clad hand to Chu Yueli's forehead.
Ares snarled, eyes flashing. "What do you think—"
He never finished.
Yun Che's palm sank through flesh as if through mist. Blue light bloomed where his hand passed, and a shimmering shape was expelled from Chu Yueli's chest like a bubble of soul-matter. Jasmine's breath hitched as she watched, disbelief and awe warping her face.
"Impossible… he just force-ejected her soul?!" she whispered.
The thing that drifted free was unmistakable to anyone who'd seen a spirit out of its shell: Chu Yueli's soul, clothed in the soft white garb it wore the first time they'd met, still beautiful and fragile, a silver chain tethering it to the empty body at its feet. It floated there—helpless, luminous, human.
But something else fell out with it.
A short distance away, an old man's figure tumbled free—a bald head, a long white beard, and robes like a foreign myth: a blue sash, flowing white cloth, a strange, archaic cut. Yun Che recognized the style at once; Jasmine did not. The old man's eyes were not gentle. They were hungry and ancient.
Ares's lips split into a snarl. "You—how—" he began, shock and fury fighting for voice.
Before Ares could finish, Yun Che closed the distance in a blur. He didn't waste words. His right fist connected with the strange old visage with bone-cracking force.
POW!
The soul-figure reeled and was blasted across the arena. Souls may be incorporeal, but they respond to physical force in surprising ways—enough to send Ares sprawling. He slammed against the far wall, winded, air leaving him in a ragged cry.
Yun Che didn't hesitate. He seized Chu Yueli's silver chain, guided her soul back toward its body, and forced the tether to slip home. The moment the chain reconnected, light flared and the girl gulped air—she was alive. Yun Che scooped her gently and carried her to where Jasmine hovered, keeping his posture loose but ready.
Jasmine's eyes never left the glove on his hand. "What was that thing?" she breathed.
Yun Che's expression was half-amused, half-grim. "A Gokon Tekko. Soul Apprehension Gauntlet. It forcibly ejects a soul from its shell." He flexed his fingers; the glove's fiery skull shimmered faintly. Kuchiki Rukia used something similar on Ichigo in his other life.
Jasmine stared. "This… this is a treasure. You can remove a soul without harming the body—cut a life off cleanly. Why did you call it useless before?"
He shook his head. "Because it is mostly useless here." He crouched beside Yueli, checking her pulse while the system's quiet running notes flickered in his head. "Mortals in this world cultivate their bodies and spirits to such perfection that their souls are anchored. You can't just yank them out unless the host is at death's door—body and soul both weakened. That's why I never used it. It only works if the shell is fragile enough."
Jasmine's face fell into understanding. "So it works on ordinary humans… but not on cultivators."
"Exactly." Yun Che's gaze hardened. "Cultivators live for centuries because their bodies and souls evolve together. Even if I pressed this glove onto a high cultivator at full strength, it wouldn't even twitch their soul. But Yueli…"He looked down at her. "She was weakened after her near-death. Perfect timing—for possession… or extraction."
Chu Yueli stirred faintly in his arms, the glow of her soul chain fading as it reconnected with her body. Across the arena, Ares dragged himself up, spectral form flickering, fury etched into every motion. His strength was still formidable—but the moment of dominance was gone.
Jasmine's eyes flicked toward Yueli. "You said her spiritual body was weak before?"
"The skill restored her body, not her spirit," Yun Che replied, his tone clinical. "After a near-death like hers, the soul takes months to recover. That's why Ares could slip in so easily. But now—" He uncorked a small flask and tipped its contents between Yueli's lips. "—now that she's had this, she'll be fine."
===================
[Ding… Divine Water administered. Restoring life force and soul equilibrium.]
===================
He scanned her aura—and froze. "You've got to be kidding me…"
"What?" Jasmine asked.
"She… kept his cultivation," Yun Che muttered. "When Ares absorbed the elders' power, it stayed in her channels after I expelled him." His expression flickered between shock and admiration. "Her profound strength's at the Peak of the Emperor Profound Realm—almost Half-Step Overlord. She's stronger than Little Fairy right now."
Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "A twisted gift from that despicable thing."
"Yeah," Yun Che exhaled. "Even filth can leave behind something useful."
He adjusted Yueli's posture, ensuring her breathing was even. "The Divine Water will stabilize her spirit. She'll wake up soon."
He sighed once, softly. "If I'd known this would happen… I would've used it the moment I saved her. Could've spared her all this."
He stood then, turning to face Ares—who was just now straightening, rage simmering behind cold golden eyes.
Ares coughed, the sound oddly human. "You… How?" He pointed a trembling hand at Yun Che. "How can you touch souls? Humans can't even see them, let alone grasp one. Yet you pulled me out like a parasite. Who are you really?"
Yun Che's expression didn't waver. "Me?" He tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk forming. "I suppose I can tell you one thing."
He stepped forward, voice deepening, the tone of one who had already passed judgment. "I'm not a vessel you can steal."
His eyes gleamed crimson as he spoke the words: "I am Dracule Mihawk. A Soul Reaper."
The color drained from Ares's ethereal face. Then rage replaced it.
"Soul Reaper? Don't mock me. Gods don't exist! We come from a civilization far beyond comprehension. We are the gods!"
Yun Che's smirk vanished. "Comprehension?" he echoed softly. "Maybe. But you misunderstand one thing."
He moved—a blur of speed. In a heartbeat, his hand clamped around Ares's throat. The spectral form crackled under his touch, golden particles scattering where mortal flesh met divine essence.
Ares's eyes widened. He can touch me again?!
"You think souls are invincible?" Yun Che said, voice low and steady.
"You think god don't exist?
"He squeezed once, hard. "Then how do you explain this?"
He released him, letting Ares crash to the ground.
"What you did to that woman was unforgivable," Yun Che said coldly. "You used her body, devoured others' lives, and called it purpose. Now you have no host, no weapon, and no cultivation left to steal."
He cracked his knuckles, Mihawk calm slipping into something rawer, darker. "So let's see what you're really made of, old man."
Yoru slid back into its sheath. He didn't need a blade for this. Not for him.
Without a vessel, an Isu was little more than a remnant—a voice without a world to inhabit. They could whisper, manipulate, maybe haunt—but not fight. Not against something like him.
Ares's expression twisted with hatred. Three thousand years of patience, of hunger, of longing for a perfect form—shattered by this mortal who defied every law of life and death.
His thoughts raged: First that cursed Empress… and now this one. I will not be denied again.
"YOU FILTHY MORTAL!" Ares roared, his voice echoing like thunder through the hall. "I don't know how you touched my soul—but I am Isu! NO—GOD AMONG MORTALS! I WILL NOT BE HUMILIATED LIKE THIS!"
His spectral body surged with blinding gold as he advanced, every ounce of fury compressing into a final, desperate charge.
Yun Che merely tilted his head, eyes narrowing, Haki beginning to ripple from his body.
"Then come," he said softly. "Show me the power of your so-called gods."
Illusions blossomed like ghosts across the arena—dozens of perfect copies of Ares, each one a living mirror meant to confuse and overwhelm. Even as a disembodied remnant, he could still wield one of Eden's primary arts: Illusion Clones. The clones spread in every direction, closing like a net.
Yun Che smiled.
"Let's see how you handle my—" he began, then vanished.
He reappeared beside one clone and delivered a single, clean punch to its jaw.
POW!
No mythic aura, no devastating force—just a precise hand strike. The clone shattered like glass.
Ares's real form stuttered. The perfect illusions winked out one by one, and every time a phantom fell, the original soured with shock—because Yun Che's Sharingan didn't see mirror tricks. It watched the soul-pattern, the tremor in the true core, and zeroed in. Where the clones tried to hide truth, the eye cut through.
"This can't be…" Ares rasped, disbelief cracking his voice. The hollow man—immune time and again to mortal tricks—found himself exposed.
Yun Che shrugged as if the whole affair were merely an annoyance. He moved like a man playing at violence: counter, step, a punch that landed on the god-soul's face and made the spirit cough as if hit by a club. Every time Ares tried to counter, another blow found him. The soul's illusion clones dissolved when their original took damage—an Isu quirk Yun Che exploited without ceremony.
"Impossible. I refuse to accept this!" Ares roared, and for a moment he surged—channeling Radiant Force, the divine light-energy that had powered his earlier assaults. He struck back, the aura crackling.
But Yun Che was a hand-to-hand master. He didn't need technique-laced energy: he traded blows, slipping and weaving through the Isu's attempts, landing strikes so methodical they looked like schooling rather than fury. Punch—counter—punch—counter. Each hit landed with the casual cruelty of a master teaching a bully his place.
Guarkkk! Ares clutched his bleeding face. Another punch. Pow. Another. Pow. Another.
The god-soul could not land a clean hit. He could not hold a block. He flailed, an ancient pride unraveling under blunt, human force. This was the humiliating truth: without a body, without Radiant Force and Isu veins to channel it, the once-mighty was little more than a screaming echo—outmatched by a mortal's speed, intelligence, and precision.
Yun Che's strikes were simple but devastating: no Haki flares, no sword techniques—just fists and the uncanny property of a Shinigami who could touch and damage souls. Each impact drove the point home: isolation strips novelty; skill decides victory.
"How—?" Ares sputtered between hits. "Mortals can't touch me! How are you—"
Another punch sent him spinning across the arena. If anyone outside had watched, they would have seen Dracule Mihawk—the Great Swordsman—fighting with bare knuckles, and laughed at how thoroughly he beat a 'false god' with instinct and speed. No miracles. No relics. Just will.
Yun Che closed in, teleporting to stand directly before the fallen soul-form. He looked down at Ares with cold amusement.
"I told you," he said in a low Mihawk drawl, "I'm a Soul Reaper. To us, you're just another mortal."
Ares's madness flared. He lashed out verbally, spewing the old plan—resurrection, invasion, gateway, all the grand ambitions of a displaced god.
"HAHAHA—You can't kill me! I am a soul! I will return! My comrades will complete the gateway! My race will invade and plunder this world—if I can't have your body, you will perish with it!"
Yun Che's face didn't change. He stepped forward, calm and surgical, listening as Ares spilled the plan—nine artifacts, a gateway, an invasion. The pieces fell into place: the Isu hadn't simply been sending objects; they'd been seeding this world with souls and technology, carving footholds until the gateway could be completed. If those artifacts were united, the invasion would be unstoppable.
He let Ares speak. Let the false god-soul confess. That only made Yun Che's own resolve colder.
Above them, Ares gathered every last shred of his hatred and shape: hundreds of sword-shaped lights blinked to life and arranged themselves into a glittering dome—the hall filled with the sound of drawn steel. The phantom blades converged like a thousand rainblades, hemming Yun Che in.
"You can beat clones," Ares sneered, "but not this. Now perish!"
The swords dove.
Yun Che smiled. The smile was small and very, very dangerous. "You forgot one thing," he said quietly, voice like a guillotine falling. "When souls perish, they do not return."
He planted Yoru vertically before him.
BOOM.
A pillar of light erupted—an upward column of thunderous radiance fueled by the stolen energy he had just absorbed. Wind howled, dust screamed, and the golden swords dissolved into nothing at the edge of that column as if erased by some authoritative hand.
Yun Che's blade licked with a new light: Radiant Force, the Isu's own destructive luminance. It ran across the steel like wildfire. Even his eyes glowed with that alien light—yellow rimmed in gold—an impossible sight: a mortal channeling Isu power.
Ares froze, disbelief cracking his voice. "How—how can you control Radiant Force? You don't have our DNA—this cannot be!"
The answer was simple and cold. Yun Che had taken the Isu's own power and forced it into a shape he could wield. The system suppressed most of its corrosive bite, but enough remained to make his sword sing with another world's authority. The difference in intent and control was the real gulf: he wielded Radiant Force not to be consumed by it, but as a tool.
The radiance washed the arena. The sword-lights Ares had prayed on were but ash now. He hissed, fury replacing fear. "You will not escape! My comrades will find you. The moment I die, the gateway—"
Yun Che laughed, a sharp, cold sound. "Then they'll learn the meaning of retaliation." He let the words land like a challenge. "You came here to enslave mortals and steal Godhood. Fine. I know more about you precursors than you think. I'll take every artifact you left behind. I'll hunt your souls. Instead of you invading this world, we'll invade yours."
Ares's eyes bulged—rage, denial, and a flicker of something like dread. The proud warrior had imagined doom and dominion for mortals; he had never imagined them answering in kind with his own weapons.
The hall trembled as Ares roared—an ancient, tempestuous sound that shook dust from the rafters. Far-off, that roar might carry through the tomb and into whatever slumbering network of Isu-sentience still watched for signs. Yun Che's declaration was not a whisper. It was a target painted on the back of the precursors: come, find me. Face me.
Yun Che lowered Yoru, keeping his stance ready and his expression unreadable. The gauntlet on his hand still glowed faintly—proof the bizarre tools of other worlds could turn the tide if a mortal was willing to learn them.
"You have ambitions," Yun Che said softly, "but you chose the wrong world to make them in."
Ares lunged then—not with words, but with everything left in his soul. The confrontation resumed, but the balance had shifted. Ares was no longer a god comfortably behind his artifacts; he was a soul fighting a man who had stolen a piece of his race and learned how to use it.
The next blows would not simply decide life or death for one body. They would decide who got to write the history that followed—the invaders, or the world they'd tried to conquer.
Ares froze. The cold weight of fear crept up from his gut until it strangled his breath. That man with the golden eyes—the mortal—wasn't bluffing.
Invade their world? Impossible. Unthinkable.
Yet somehow, when Yun Che said it, the idea didn't sound like madness. It sounded like prophecy.
"You're bluffing!" Ares barked, the words trembling. "A mortal like you, challenge us? You don't know anything! We came to your world three thousand years ago—it's impossible for you to know who we are!"
Yun Che exhaled, his voice low. "I do," he said simply. "I came from a world where your kind existed, too. But you don't need to know about that."
He snapped his free hand.
SNAP.
The towering pillar of golden light pulsed once—then detonated in a shockwave that rolled across the entire arena like a divine pulse. Every one of Ares's sword-lights shattered into glittering fragments. The ancient Isu warrior's eyes widened in disbelief.
"My strongest technique—destroyed with a snap?! What is this mortal?! How is he using the Radiant Force like this?!"
Yun Che didn't answer. His aura climbed higher and higher until the ground itself began to tremble beneath his boots. Wind coiled around him like a living storm, golden currents sparking against the obsidian blade of Yoru.
He murmured softly, almost to himself: "Here I come…"
From above, Jasmine pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, this idiot… he's going to blow the entire tomb apart again."
Ares raised both spectral hands, trembling. "Wait! Wait! I know every Isu technique! Every artifact, every weapon—I can show you everything! We can work this out!"
Yun Che's expression didn't change. "No need," he said quietly. "Like I told you—I already know everything about your kind. And I'll learn the rest my own way."
He raised Yoru, the pillar compressing into a single, incandescent edge of light.
Ares stumbled back. "No… no, please—"
Yun Che's voice cut through the chaos, steady and lethal.
"Getsuga…"
A golden crescent started forming around the sword.
"Tenshō."
SWISSHHH!
The pillar collapsed into a single, concentrated slash—then expanded into a tidal wave of pure Radiant Force.
It struck Ares before he could scream.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The blast devoured the Isu's soul entirely. His final cry echoed through the collapsing arena as the wave carved a path of devastation straight through the far wall. His presence—his essence—was erased utterly, scattered into nothing.
But the wave didn't stop.
The golden torrent crashed through the vault, eating stone, light, and space in its wake. Yun Che's eyes widened. Too much power…
"Shit—too much," he muttered.
From across the hall, Jasmine shouted through the roaring wind, her voice half-lost in the blast.
"Yun Che! You'll destroy the vault at this rate!"
He clenched his teeth and slammed his palm down. "Dissipate!"
The wave fragmented—its radiant core shattered into hundreds of streams that exploded harmlessly in the air. The remaining shockwave rolled outward. With lightning reflexes, Yun Che Flash-Stepped to Chu Yueli's side, raising his hand.
Sealing Cloud Locking Sun.
A crystalline dome enveloped them both as debris and energy hammered against it. The radiant explosions blossomed across the stands, the vault walls, and the shattered pyramid above. Even reduced, the display was blinding—a storm of radiant destruction compressed into a single heartbeat.
When the light finally faded, only smoke and silence remained. Jasmine lowered her arm, blinking away the brightness. The floor was gouged open—a deep, glowing trench cut straight through the arena floor and into the far wall. Through the lingering haze, she could see daylight spilling through a new, gaping hole.
Yun Che stood at the trench's edge, Yoru still in hand, his coat whipping in the residual wind. His chest rose and fell slowly, the golden tint fading from his eyes.
===================
[Ding… Congratulations for destroying a member of the Isu race: Ares.][Experience + 100 000 SP + 7 500]
[Ding… Achievement unlocked – My World, My Own – Kill a member of the Isu Race.][Experience + 10 000 SP + 1 500]
[Ding… Rare Item Obtained.]
=======================
Yun Che blinked. "Rare item? What ki—"
A point of gold flickered before his eyes.A single droplet hovered in the air, luminous and alive, its surface ringed with floating Isu runes that pulsed like a heartbeat.
========================
[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Isu's Droplet.]
========================
He stared at it. " Droplet of the Isu Realm… what kind of item is that? "
========================
[Based on host memory: the Isu Droplet is a one-time-use item capable of altering the humanoid body into that of an Isu. It rewrites DNA, enabling cultivation of Radiant Force. Formed when a Quadruple-Helix Isu dissipates completely. Host may apply it to self or another. Single use only.]
=========================
Yun Che's jaw actually went slack. "Change the entire DNA structure? Holy hell…"
The science from his past life resurfaced: humans—double helix. Isu—triple. But the rare elites, the ones who could manipulate Radiant Force directly and wield the Pieces of Eden without being consumed, carried a quadruple helix. Those few could bend reality through energy projection alone.
And now… a fragment of that evolution floated inches from his hand.
He exhaled, grinning faintly. "So the research was right after all.
"Temptation tugged at him—to use it now, to see what that power felt like—but caution won. The droplet shimmered like molten gold before he sealed it away inside his inventory window.
"I'll keep it for later," he muttered. "No sense wasting something that rare. Besides, it only gives access to the Force, not the perks. Still—being able to wield their artifacts properly… that's something."
The golden light vanished, and the system fell silent.
Yun Che finally dismissed the Sealing Cloud Locking Sun, only to have Jasmine's voice erupt in his ear.
"You IDIOT! You went overboard—again!"
He winced, rubbing one temple. "Hey, I had to let the energy out somehow! Keeping it bottled up was literally cooking my organs."
"You could've just slashed him normally!"
"I was going to! But I didn't expect Radiant Force to hit that hard." He projected his voice through Tenteikūra, sounding much less like the composed Mihawk and more like his exasperated self. "No wonder the Isu are so dangerous—this stuff's volatile! Besides," he added, half-sheepish, half-defensive, "the Empress built this vault to absorb Radiant Force impacts. It's practically Isu-proof."
A loud crack echoed through the hall.
He glanced around, sweat forming on his brow. The walls were webbed with fissures, parts of the ceiling glowing faintly from residual heat. " …Kind of."
Jasmine folded her arms, floating nearby with a long, suffering sigh.
"I swear, one day you're going to collapse a tomb on us both."
He gave a helpless shrug. "You're the one who told me to end it quickly."
Another sigh, longer this time. "Remind me why I bother worrying."
Still catching his breath, Yun Che held up the stored holographic image of the droplet for her to see. "Anyway, this is what dropped from him."
Jasmine's crimson eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"An Isu Droplet. It lets mortals cultivate their energy—Radiant Force." He didn't bother explaining the DNA part; she'd call it nonsense anyway. "Think of it as… their version of divine essence."
Her brows rose slightly. "That means you could use their power."
He smiled faintly, the golden reflection of the droplet still burning in his mind.
"Exactly."
The hall settled into silence, the faint crackle of dissipating Radiant Force still humming in the air.
One false god was gone—but the echo of his warning lingered. Nine artifacts. A gateway. An invasion waiting in the dark.
Jasmine's eyes widened as the golden droplet hovered between them, its surface swirling with faint Isu runes that pulsed like a living heartbeat."
I… I don't even know what to say," she murmured. "We can actually use that energy you unleashed earlier?"
Yun Che shook his head, the faint gleam of the droplet reflecting in his eyes.
"Not quite. Ares spent thousands of years refining that energy. I only borrowed it for a moment. Even if we could cultivate it, it would take decades to reach his level. The Isu designed Radiant Force for themselves—it rejects mortals."
Jasmine tilted her head, still studying the droplet. "But you have that thing… and the system. Why not give it a try?"
He considered it briefly. The temptation was real, but the memory of the Radiant Force tearing through his body stopped him cold.
When he'd contained Ares's energy earlier, his HP had dropped to forty-eight percent before he could vent it. Every second it lingered inside him had felt like molten metal gnawing through his veins. The system's warning was clear: he wasn't ready. He'd need to cultivate Radiant Force slowly—start from zero, not steal another's mastery.
Still, seeing how much devastation that energy caused, even in fragments, left him uneasy.
The once-pristine arena was gone—scorched stone, collapsed pillars, and a deep gouge carved straight through the vault wall. And that destruction came only from the residual power of what he'd extracted from Chu Yueli.
He glanced toward the floating pyramid above. Its light was dimmer now, but somehow, miraculously, it still floated—untouched by the chaos below. Even the ancient statues had survived, cracked but standing. The Moon Empress had built her sanctum well.
"Man…" Yun Che exhaled. "There goes a good Isu sample."
Jasmine gave him a sidelong look. "You're grateful you killed a monster like that?"
He shrugged. "Hey, he was useful while he lasted. Besides, letting Ares absorb those elders' powers and that Minotaur paid off. Yueli's cultivation stabilized at the Peak of the Emperor Profound Realm. She'll freak out when she wakes, though."
Jasmine's tone turned dry. "So you turned her into a powerhouse by accident. Typical."
He grinned faintly. "Pretty much. Though she'll have trouble controlling that strength. The Emperor Profound Realm veins aren't kind to people who skip steps. Little Fairy had months to adapt—her sister's going to feel like she's dragging a volcano through her meridians."
Jasmine crossed her arms. "Good thing you finished Ares when you did. If it were me, I'd have killed both of them just to be safe."
Yun Che ignored the glare she shot him. "Like I said, I won't kill her. She's Little Fairy's sister. And thanks to your little 'force extraction' idea, she's still alive. You saved her as much as I did."
Jasmine looked away, muttering, "Hmph. Your care for women will get you killed one day."
He smirked. It already did, once, he thought privately, but said nothing. She wasn't wrong—his soft spot for women was both his curse and his code. But losing Yueli now would mean breaking the heart of the one person he refused to hurt.
He cleared his throat, deliberately changing the subject. "Ahem. Anyway, let's see what else the Moon Empress hid in this tomb."
He walked toward the shattered statues—relics of the first civilization, spared by luck or design. One had been toppled during the fight; he righted it carefully, setting it back into place.
Click.
A sound echoed through the hall. Then another.
Click… click… click…
The air trembled. Beneath the floating pyramid, the hidden pedestal rose again from the floor, glowing with ancient light. Its runes unfurled like blooming flowers, forming a circular platform of silver and gold. Jasmine floated closer, curiosity sparking in her crimson eyes.
Yun Che knelt and gently laid Chu Yueli's unconscious body beside the pedestal, making sure her breathing was steady. Then he straightened, stepping toward the newly risen platform.
The faint hum of Isu machinery filled the air—a living pulse, as if the tomb itself were waking from slumber.
"Well, Jasmine…" Yun Che exhaled, glancing toward the raised pedestal, its surface now pulsing with soft aquamarine light. "Last pedestal."
There was a wry smile tugging at his lips—half curiosity, half weariness. They had fought through monsters, ancient traps, and even a god-soul to reach this point. Hopefully, this was finally the end.
"Good," Jasmine replied, arms folded as she hovered beside him. "I want to see that Apple up close before you accidentally blow up another tomb."
He chuckled. "Fair enough."
Yun Che reached out and placed his palm over the pedestal.
At first, nothing happened—just a hum, deep and resonant. Then the entire chamber shifted.
WHUMMM—
Ripples of blue-green light coursed through the floor, racing up the columns and into the massive pyramid above. The structure shuddered, its runes igniting one by one until the golden-silver monument began to descend.
"What the—?" Yun Che looked up, instinctively drawing Yoru half-way.The pyramid moved with deliberate precision, lowering until it hovered just meters above their heads. The runic patterns blazed brighter, bathing the entire arena in radiant aquamarine.
He expected another illusion—maybe a memory of the Moon Empress. But instead, the light changed direction.
It focused.
Straight—on him.
And Jasmine.
A powerful pull erupted from the heart of the pyramid, like invisible gravity. Yun Che's boots scraped the stone before lifting completely. Energy wrapped around him in luminous tendrils, threads of pure Radiant Force that coiled like living ribbons.
"Okay… what is happening to us?" Jasmine's voice carried both alarm and disbelief as her soul form began to glow the same color, her crimson aura washed over with shimmering blue.
"I don't—" he started, gritting his teeth against the pull— "—know. Probably—"
Before he could finish, the light intensified, swallowing sound, color, and weight alike.
In the next instant, both their bodies erupted into twin streaks of light—one golden, one crimson-blue—and shot upward into the pyramid's radiant core.
The chamber fell silent again.
The pyramid sealed itself with a low, metallic hum. Its glow dimmed to a steady heartbeat as the energy dispersed through the tomb.
On the arena floor below, Chu Yueli lay untouched, her hair spread like silver silk, her breathing soft and even. The faint reflection of the pyramid's fading light shimmered across her peaceful expression—the only witness to their sudden disappearance.