"Everyone—regroup!" he barked.
Instantly, the five Soul Sage subordinates disengaged and leapt back, forming a semicircle around the lone woman. Their breaths were ragged; she had pushed them harder than they expected.
But now they had their leader.
Liam lifted his hand.
Martial Soul: Dark Chains
Black iron chains materialized from the ground around him, covered in sinister runes that crawled like living worms. The chains rattled violently, releasing an aura of confinement and despair, as if they dragged the weight of a thousand imprisoned souls.
The links were huge—thick enough to crush boulders—and each length dripped with ink-like darkness, twisting unnaturally, hungry for a target.
"Don't worry," Liam said, grinning."My Dark Chains will drag you down swiftly."
His soul power surged like a rising storm.Eight soul rings shot up around him—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black—each one pulsing with corrupted light.
A palpable wave of fear spread among the weaker Evil Soul Masters.
Just then—
The armored Soul Master stopped.
Her gauntleted hand reached up… and she slowly removed her helmet.
Golden-blonde hair tumbled out like a cascade of sunlight. Her skin was pale, almost porcelain-like under the morning rays, and her features were delicate—too delicate to belong on a battlefield. But it was her eyes that froze everyone.
Deep, luminous purple.And for a brief second, they shone, like a spiritual flame flickering within her pupils.
Liam felt his heartbeat accelerate.
"A young genius…" he murmured greedily. "If my Martial Soul devours her my cultivation may leap straight to ninety…"
Then his eyes trailed downward, drinking in her figure.
"And before that… maybe we can have some fun."
He whispered without looking back, "Catch her alive."
One of the Soul Sages behind him licked his lips, voice low and predatory."Thanks, Boss."
His entire focus was locked on the girl, who—strangely—showed no fear. No panic. Not even tension.
Instead, she breathed out softly and lifted her weapon.
Martial Soul: Radiant Sword
The blade in her hand, shone like a streak of dawnlight breaking through shadows.
Liam's subordinate a Soul Sage lunged forward, his Martial Soul—a serrated Bone Scythe—slicing through the air with a murderous arc.
Clang!
Her sword flicked upward. The scythe rebounded violently, the wielder stumbling three steps back.
Another soul King with Martial soul : Hell Claws rushed in from the side, activating his fourth soul skill—Venom Burst Claw—an explosion of corrosive green mist swirling around his hand.
She pivoted once.
Her sword drew a single crescent line through the air.
Slice—
The green venom cloud parted, with it the man's claw. Blood spurted out.
Two more Evil Soul Masters attacked simultaneously—one projecting chains of blood energy, the other using a shadow-type martial soul to strike from behind.
She didn't even turn.
Her sword moved like a whisper.
The shadow assailant screamed as light pierced through the darkness he hid in, and the blood chain evaporated midair.
Liam's eyes widened.
His subordinates cursed under their breaths.
The armored girl whispered—barely audible—yet her purple eyes gleamed coldly.
"Is that all?"
Her first soul ring lit up—yellow.
1st Soul Skill: Radiant Step
Light burst under her feet. As her speed tripled
Reappearing in front of one of the Soul Sages, her blade already descending.
"Not enough—!" he roared, releasing his third soul skill: Ghost shield
However her sword pierced through his soul skill made of wronged ghosts and ultimately piercing him. He fell to his knees, screaming.
Another charged from behind, roaring his fifth soul skill : Dark wisp, the skeleton like martial soul used some kind of curse beam like attack.
But the girl dodged it.
Liam watching on the side had his expression twisted from amusement… to caution… to frustration… to something darker.
"No… something is wrong with this girl."
"Everyone—use your soul skills at once! Don't play with her!"
But deep in his chest, a strange sensation began to grow—
A feeling that this young woman was far more terrifying than she appeared.
The Angel Corps soul master as if understanding his inner fear slowly shifted her stance—knees bending, body lowering, her hand resting gently upon the hilt of her sword.
An unmistakable Iaido posture.
In that moment, dawn finally broke.
A thin ray of sunlight pierced the treetops and settled upon her.Her golden-blonde hair ignited under the warm glow.
And with her crouched posture, sword angled toward the earth—
She looked like the very source of the first light of the day.
Then—
Her soul rings, once floating around her, dissolved into streams of light and flowed directly into the sword.The radiant weapon pulsed—its glow no longer gentle, but fierce, like a sunrise condensed into a single blade.
"ATTACK!" Liam roared, voice cracking.
His men surged forward.
A cold, primal chill crawled up Liam's spine.
His instincts screamed.Every cell in his body howled with the same message:
His opponent was activating something beyond ordinary Soul Sage techniques—But at that exact moment—
Crackle.
A sharp, electrifying sound ripped through the air.
The sky was clear, cloudless, the morning calm and quiet—yet Liam unmistakably heard thunder.
He blinked.
And the girl—was gone.
'Where did sound of thunder come from…?'
He didn't get to finish the thought.
Then he saw it.
His subordinates—still charging forward—
—but their heads were no longer attached.
Bodies continued running for several steps, spraying fountains of blood, before finally collapsing like puppets with severed strings.
And the girl—
The girl who was in front of them was now standing behind the line of decapitated bodies, her blade dripping with a thin, shining thread of crimson.
She straightened, lifting her head.
Her purple eyes glowed.
Pure, chilling, absolute emptiness.
Liam's vision blurred.He felt a strange weight roll off his shoulders.
His own head had already left his neck.
But the terror consuming him wasn't from dying—he had long accepted that possibility.
The inhuman, luminous purple eyes of a girl who looked like an angel of dawn yet carried the killing intent of a god of death.
Liam's final breath trembled in his throat.
Those eyes were the last thing he saw.
And then—
He closed his eyes forever.
------