Aria's POV
Night fell like a curtain.
I stood in the center of the abandoned warehouse, purple energy crackling around my hands. Kael had spent all day teaching me one thing: how to survive.
"They'll come at sunset," he said, shadows gathering around him. "Master Tamers don't waste time. They'll want to eliminate you before you get stronger."
"How many?" My voice didn't shake. Good.
"Five." Kael's red eyes glowed in the darkness. "Each one contracted with legendary spirits. Phoenix, Dragon, Leviathan, Cerberus, and Phoenix Rider. They're the Council's elite strike team."
Luna paced by the warehouse entrance, her Kitsune spirit manifested beside her. "This is insane. Aria's only been training for one day! She can't fight five Master Tamers!"
"She doesn't have to fight them." Kael's smile turned predatory. "She just has to make their spirits betray them."
My stomach twisted with nerves, but I forced myself to breathe. I'd practiced all day. Touched hundreds of souls without consuming them. Commanded dozens of spirits without enslaving them.
But those were weak spirits. These were legends.
"What if I can't do it?" I asked quietly.
Kael appeared right in front of me, his hand cupping my face. "Then I'll slaughter every single one of them before they touch you. But you won't fail. I know you won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because you're her. My storm. The woman who once commanded armies of spirits with a whisper." His thumb brushed my cheek. "That power is in your blood. In your soul. Trust it."
Before I could respond, Luna's Kitsune growled.
"They're here," she whispered.
Five figures appeared at the warehouse entrance, silhouetted against the moonlight. They walked with the confidence of people who'd never lost a fight.
The leader stepped forward—a tall woman with white hair pulled back severely. Her eyes were cold blue ice.
"Aria Nakamura," she said. "I am Master Tamer Hikari Sato. You are charged with unlawful possession of forbidden power and resisting Council authority. Surrender now, and your death will be painless."
"Death?" I let the word hang in the air. "Not capture? Not containment?"
"Soul Dominion cannot be controlled." Another Master Tamer spoke—a scarred man with a massive sword. "Only destroyed. We learned that lesson a thousand years ago."
Kael laughed darkly. "Did you? Because I seem to remember it taking fifty of your best tamers to seal me away. And even then, you couldn't kill me."
Hikari's eyes widened. "The Demon King. So the rumors are true. You contracted with the very monster we've kept sealed for a millennium."
"I prefer 'partner,'" Kael corrected. "And if you're smart, you'll turn around and leave. Because what's standing in front of you isn't some girl you can bully. She's the reincarnation of—"
"We know what she is," Hikari interrupted. "That's exactly why she must die. Tonight."
She raised her hand. "Council Executioners, eliminate the target!"
All five Master Tamers summoned their spirits at once.
The warehouse exploded with power.
A Phoenix made of golden fire screamed into existence, its wings spreading twenty feet wide. A Dragon with scales like midnight coiled through the air, lightning crackling between its teeth. A massive Leviathan emerged from shadows, its serpent body filling half the warehouse. A three-headed Cerberus materialized, each head dripping with spectral flames. And riding another Phoenix was a warrior spirit in ancient armor, a spear of pure light in his hands.
The combined power made the air itself scream.
Luna stumbled backward. "Oh god. Oh god, we're going to die."
I should have been terrified. These were the most powerful spirits I'd ever seen. Each one could level a city block.
But I wasn't scared.
I was angry.
"You came to kill me," I said, my voice eerily calm. "Just like you killed her. The original Aria. The woman who only wanted peace."
Hikari's expression didn't change. "She was too dangerous to live. Just like you."
"Then let me show you dangerous."
I raised both hands, and purple energy exploded from my body like a bomb.
The warehouse shook. Windows shattered. Metal groaned and bent.
And every single legendary spirit froze.
"What—" The scarred man's eyes went wide. "My Dragon isn't responding!"
"Neither is my Phoenix!" another Tamer shouted.
I felt it—the moment their spirits recognized what I was. Felt their souls reaching toward me like flowers toward the sun.
"I am Soul Dominion," I said, and my voice echoed with power that wasn't entirely human. "I am the Original Bloodline. And you..." I smiled. "You brought your spirits right to me."
I didn't force them. Didn't enslave them. I simply... asked.
Will you bow to me?
The Phoenix screamed—not in anger, but in joy. It dove from the sky and landed in front of me, its massive head lowering in submission.
"Master," it whispered. "We've waited so long for your return."
"No!" Hikari's face went white. "Phoenix, I command you to—"
"Your command means nothing," the Phoenix said gently. "Not when the First Master calls."
One by one, they came to me.
The Dragon coiled around my feet, purring like a cat. The Leviathan wrapped its body in a protective circle around me. The Cerberus sat like a loyal guard dog, all three heads watching the stunned Master Tamers. Even the Phoenix Rider dismounted and knelt, his spear laid at my feet.
"We serve the Bloodline," they said in unison. "Now and forever."
The five Master Tamers stood frozen, their faces masks of horror.
"Impossible," Hikari breathed. "You can't just... spirits don't betray their contracts!"
"They didn't betray anything." I walked forward, the legendary spirits parting to let me pass. "They recognized their true master. Me."
The scarred man drew his sword. "Then we'll kill you without spirits!"
He charged.
Kael appeared between us so fast he was just a blur. His hand caught the man's throat mid-charge and lifted him off the ground.
"I don't think so," Kael said pleasantly. Then he threw the man across the warehouse. The Master Tamer crashed through a wall and didn't get up.
"Anyone else want to try?" Kael's red eyes swept across the remaining four. "Because I haven't killed anyone in a thousand years, and I'm feeling nostalgic."
"This isn't over," Hikari snarled. But she was backing toward the exit. "The Council will send everyone. Every Master Tamer in Japan. You can't fight us all!"
"Watch me," I said.
Purple energy pulsed from my body. The spirits around me roared their agreement.
Hikari and the three remaining Master Tamers ran.
Actually ran.
The elite strike team, fleeing from a girl who'd been training for one day.
The moment they were gone, my legs gave out.
Kael caught me instantly. "Easy. You just commanded five legendary spirits at once. That takes power."
"Did we... did we win?" I gasped.
"You won." He sounded amazed. "You actually did it."
Luna ran over, her face a mixture of terror and excitement. "That was the most insane thing I've ever seen! You made a Dragon purr! A DRAGON!"
The spirits were still gathered around us, watching me with adoration.
"Master," the Phoenix said. "We've been waiting for you to return. The tamer world has fallen into corruption without the Bloodline to guide it. Will you restore balance?"
I looked at these massive, powerful beings who'd just chosen me over their contracts. Over everything they'd known.
"I will," I promised. "But first, I need to get stronger. Much stronger."
"Then let us serve you," the Dragon rumbled. "Merge your contract with ours. We will lend you our power."
"Merge contracts?" I looked at Kael. "Is that possible?"
"For someone with Soul Dominion? Yes." His expression turned serious. "But Aria, if you do this, there's no going back. You'll be bonded to five legendary spirits on top of your contract with me. That much power flowing through you constantly... it could burn you out. Kill you."
"Or make me unstoppable," I said.
"Or that." He smiled slightly. "Your choice, little storm."
I looked at the five spirits. At Luna, who nodded encouragingly. At Kael, whose red eyes held both worry and pride.
The Council wanted me dead. My family had thrown me away. The entire tamer world would come for me eventually.
I needed every advantage I could get.
"Do it," I said. "Merge the contracts."
The spirits moved as one. They surrounded me in a circle, their energy building until the air itself crackled with power.
"This will hurt," the Phoenix warned.
"Everything worth having does," I replied.
They touched me—claws, scales, fire, light—and power exploded into my body.
I screamed.
It felt like being torn apart and rebuilt at the same time. Five massive souls merging with mine, their ancient power flooding through my veins. My body glowed so bright I couldn't see anything else. Just light and pain and power.
Kael's voice cut through the agony. "Aria! Stay conscious! If you pass out now, the merge will fail and kill you!"
I gritted my teeth and held on. Held on through pain that felt like dying. Held on as my soul stretched to contain five legendary beings. Held on because I refused to be weak ever again.
And then, suddenly, it stopped.
The light faded.
I collapsed into Kael's arms, gasping for air.
"Are you okay?" Luna's voice shook. "Aria, say something!"
I opened my eyes.
The world looked different. Clearer. I could see every soul in the city—thousands of them, glowing like stars. Could feel the spirits merged with me, their power now mine to command.
I raised my hand. Five colors of energy swirled around my fingers—gold, black, silver, crimson, and white. The power of Phoenix, Dragon, Leviathan, Cerberus, and Phoenix Rider.
Plus Kael's dark red demon energy.
And my own purple Soul Dominion.
"I'm okay," I whispered. "I'm more than okay. I'm—"
The warehouse door exploded inward.
Not from an attack. From pure spiritual pressure.
A figure walked through the smoke. Old, dressed in traditional robes, leaning on a wooden staff. But the power rolling off him made every spirit in the warehouse bow their heads.
"Impossible," Kael breathed. "He's supposed to be dead."
The old man's eyes—pure white, glowing with ancient power—locked onto me.
"Aria Nakamura," he said, his voice like grinding stones. "Or should I say, Aria the First, returned to the world of the living. I am Grand Master Takeshi Yamamoto, leader of the Tamer Council. And you..." He smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "You are the girl who killed my granddaughter a thousand years ago."
My blood turned to ice.
"What?"
"The original Aria." His smile turned cruel. "She murdered my ancestor's daughter during the Great War. Ripped her soul out and consumed it. So you see..." Power gathered around him, so strong it made my bones ache. "I've been waiting a very long time for you to come back."
"So I could finally make you pay."
Kael moved in front of me, every muscle tense. "Grand Master. You don't want to do this."
"Oh, but I do." The old man's staff struck the ground, and reality itself seemed to crack. "I've spent a thousand years preparing for this moment. Learning every counter to Soul Dominion. Every weakness of the Bloodline."
He raised his staff.
"And now, little girl, you're going to learn why they call me the God Slayer."
The warehouse filled with light so bright it burned.
And I realized something terrifying.
I might have just won against five Master Tamers.
But this man?
He was something else entirely.