"Time to add you to my collection," Stephan rasped, voice low and vicious, molten cracks pulsing under scorched skin.
Then he moved the blade.
The Warden, armless and broken, could do nothing. It writhed faintly under his boot, cloak tattered, spectral eyes flickering with a dying echo of hate… and fear.
Stephan's crimson gaze burned brighter. Shadows curled tighter around his shoulders, alive and seething.
"Don't worry.... I'll make it quick," he hissed, a final verdict spat through blood‑slick teeth.
The soul‑flame blade came down in a single, merciless arc.
Steel burned through phantom flesh. Black mist erupted in a ragged plume as the Warden's head was severed clean from its neck.
The mask struck stone with a hollow, final crack - rolling once… twice… before coming to rest, the azure soul‑flame inside sputtering, then fading into cold emptiness.
The ruined hall fell silent. Only the rasp of Stephan's breath remained, ragged but victorious.
He stood there, foot still pinning the corpse, shadows writhing at his feet like hungry serpents. Slowly, he let the blade drop to his side, dark aura crackling in the still air.
"Another soul claimed," he murmured, voice rough and cold as broken stone.
DING!
[Soul Resonance Detected]
[Emotion Match: Grief. Rage.]
[Corruption Level: HIGH]
[Soul Harvest Option Available]
[Purify the soul; return it to the Abyss cleansed.]
[Absorb the power tainted by grief and rage.]
[Warning: Consuming corrupted souls may alter your essence.]
"This one was a high E rank soul," Stephan said, voice low, almost amused. "It could even be stronger than Yennefer and Anna Mary."
He wiped blood from his cracked lips, red eyes flickering with hunger. "If I absorb it… does that make me stronger than them?"
A dark thrill coiled in his chest at the thought, the power, the edge it would give him over the other players.
"Hmm… there's only one way to find out."
The excitement of using the Warden's power against the others sparked something savage in his grin."This means I can keep growing stronger with every opponent I take down," he muttered, his voice dripping with dark resolve.
"Now let's see," he rasped, "how the system rewards me this time."
His gaze locked onto the flickering remnants of the Warden's soul, still twisting in the stale air, heavy with grief, rage, and ancient power.
"Consume," he commanded.
The shadows around him surged, swallowing the drifting soul in a spiral of black mist. For an instant, the cavern echoed with a low, mournful wail, then silence, as the last light vanished into him.
Dark veins pulsed under his skin, the power sinking deep, feeding the abyss within.
A low, ragged breath escaped his lips, his eyes burning hotter than before.
"Good…" he whispered, a cold smile spreading across his bloodstained face.
DING!
[CONGRATULATIONS – SYSTEM LEVEL 6 UNLOCKED]
[RANK: D - ADEPT]
[First step into death's shadow]
[NEW CAPACITY: +1 Soul Slot (Max Held Souls: 19)]
[SOUL ENERGY CAP INCREASED: 160%]
Stephan's chest rattled with a broken breath, smoke curling off scorched skin.
"Level up, huh? … D rank," he rasped, blood still fresh on his lips. "That puts me ahead of Anna… and Yennefer."
His lit eyes glimmered,"Coming to this place really paid off."
DING!
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: SOULFORGE DOMINION]
[Dominion over the fallen.]
[Allows forging Soul Servants from harvested souls.]
[Options:]
• Shadow‑bound Servant (lower cost, absolute obedience)
• Human‑form Revenant (higher cost, partial memory, limited free will)
•Cost scales with target's original strength and chosen form.
A slow, cold grin twisted across Stephan's face. "So… I don't just consume them," he murmured. "I can shape them. Make them servants."
His gaze lingered on the last coils of mist where the Warden's soul had fallen.
"Human form… could even fool the living…"
The grin deepened, feral and unkind. "But if they betray me… I'll tear them apart again."
Fingers clenched, shadows crackling with stolen power. "Level D… Soulforge Dominion…"Eyes flaring, he whispered to the broken chamber itself, "Just wait, Anna… Yennefer… wait until you see what follows me from the abyss."
[SOUL HARVEST COMPLETE]
Target: High‑E Rank - Abyssal Warden
Emotion Core: Grief & Rage
Corruption Level: HIGH
[SOULFORGE DOMINION ACTIVATED]
Options Available for forging:
[Shadow‑bound Servant]
• Cost: 3 standard souls
• Form: Featureless shadow wraith
• Traits: Absolute obedience, silent, limited will
• Power retention: -50%
[Human‑form Revenant]
• Cost: 9 standard souls
• Form: Physical, retains original humanlike shape
• Traits: Partial memory & will, can speak, mimic living behavior
• Power retention: 90%
• Risk: Higher corruption bleed‑through; potential instability
[Confirm forging path & soul allocation]
Stephan stared down at the last drifting traces of the Warden's soul, black mist threaded with pale azure sparks, twisting restlessly in the stale air.
The stolen blade hummed faintly beside his boot, still flickering with stolen soul‑flame.
"Human‑form, huh…?" he murmured, voice low, thoughtful, then darker, "That means it can talk… think… maybe even trick the others."
His hand closed into a fist, shadow energy curling between his burned knuckles.
"Or betray me," he whispered, red‑lit eyes narrowing.
A slow, cruel grin broke across his bruised face. "But it'll still be mine."
DING!
[Choose forging type:]
[1] Shadow‑bound Servant – cost: 3 souls
[2] Human‑form Revenant – cost: 9 souls
Souls currently held: 19
[Warning: Once forged, servant remains bound until death or user release]
Stephan drew in a ragged breath, eyes fixed on the restless core of the Warden's soul.
"Let's gamble," he rasped, voice cracking with exhaustion and triumph.
His shadow aura flared, blood‑dark mist swirling into the remnants of the Warden's essence.
"Create: Human‑form Revenant."
DING!
[Soulforge Dominion: Human‑form Revenant forging initiated]
[Consuming 9 stored souls…]
[Remaining stored souls: 10]
[Soul shaping in progress…]
Black mist boiled outward, then twisted back, sculpting itself around the tattered core. Stone fragments rattled across the chamber floor, as if the shadows themselves drew breath.
The Warden's shape began to reform , spectral bones knitting with coiled darkness, its broken mask remade from the swirling soul‑flame. Fingers flexed, cloaked form rippling under a ragged shroud of shadow.
And then, slowly, two pale azure lights reignited behind the mask, not fully alive, yet not truly dead.
DING!
[Soulforge almost complete]
[Servant forged: Abyssal Warden- Revenant]
[Power retention: 70%]
[Partial memory preserved]
[Bound to user's will]
Stephan stepped closer, studying his creation, breath heavy with blood and dark satisfaction. The mist thinned, shadows rolling back like dark smoke until what remained stood quietly before him.
She looked nothing like the armored horror he had fought moments ago.
Instead, a young woman, early twenties maybe, hair white as fallen ash spilling down her shoulders, skin pale like marble. Her deep blue eyes shimmered with a faint spectral light, their gaze lowered, submissive but eerily calm.
And then Stephan saw the rest of her.
The figure was full, soft curves at the chest and hips, slim waist wrapped in nothing but drifting threads of shadow mist barely clinging to her skin.
His breath caught. Heart pounding in a way that had nothing to do with battle.
For a split second, the ruined chamber felt too quiet, shadows whispering around his boots.
Then reality slammed into him.
"What the actual fuck...." Stephan said, voice cracking, heat rushing up his neck to his cheeks.
His pulse spiked, dark aura flaring uncontrolled for an instant.
Even the Soul servant tilted her head slightly, as if confused by his reaction, shadows curling protectively around her chest and hips, though still leaving enough pale skin to make him swallow hard.
Stephan dragged a shaky hand down his face, exhaling sharply. "Why… why the hell did the system make you look like that?"
[Soulforge Note:]
•Incomplete spiritual shell defaults to user's subconscious design imprint.
•User desire, fear, or stray thought may shape external form.
"My subconscious...?" he muttered, voice low, half‑mortified. "So… this… is my fault?"
"At your service… your Grace."Her voice was soft, almost musical, but edged with that haunting, spectral echo only the dead could carry. She bowed at the waist, white hair spilling forward like a curtain of moonlight, shadows folding respectfully around her.
The title hung in the broken air, absurd and heavy all at once. Stephan blinked, his mouth half‑open, heart hammering louder than the whispers of the dying soul‑flame around them.
Your Grace?
A ripple of dark energy curled tighter around his shoulders, shadows almost vibrating with the echo of her words.
DING!
[Soulforge Dominion: Servant creation complete]
• Soul‑bound Servant: Warden (human form)
• Loyalty: Absolute (linked by forged soul contract)
• Form: Human soul shell (higher cost; retains personality fragment, higher autonomy)
• Command status: Awaiting orders
Stephan swallowed, forcing his gaze away from the smooth curve of her shoulders and the pale skin barely hidden by drifting shadow‑mist.
"H‑hey… uh…" his voice came out rough, the predatory grin gone, replaced by a raw edge of embarrassment. "You… can talk?"
She raised her head, deep blue eyes meeting his without hesitation.
"Yes, your Grace," she answered softly.
"I exist now to serve you, mind, body, and blade."
For the first time since stepping into that forsaken hall, Stephan's blood ran cold for a different reason, not fear, but the weight of what he had just created.
Part power. Part weapon. Part… something dangerously close to human.
And all of it his doing.