Chapter 96 - 94—Abyss of Forgotten Souls..
Chapter 94—The Abyss of Forgotten Souls.
The terrifying heat and sulfurous stench of the Central Volcanic Pit faded into complete nothingness as the spatial portal at the back of the subterranean cavern collapsed.
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[WORLD SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT!]
𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
FACTION ’SOVEREIGN’ HAS ASCENDED TO FLOOR 11!
ZONE ENTERED: The Abyss of Forgotten Souls — The Undead Wastes
HAZARD RATING: TIER-SS+ (Soul Erosion & Cold-Spirit Curse)
SPECIAL RULE: Soul Decay — Non-Sovereign Entities Lose 3% Spirit & Mana Capacity Every 60 Seconds!
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When Kaelen stepped out of the rift, the environment shifted dramatically.
Gone were the towering ironwood trees and boiling magma lakes of the 10th floor. In their place stretched a vast, silent plain of bone-white sand beneath a pitch-black sky without stars or sun. Towering monolithic pillars made of dark, swirling spiritual steel jutted out from the barren earth like giant tombstones.
The air was bitterly cold—a bone-chilling, spectral frost that didn’t just freeze physical flesh but actively gnawed at the human soul core. Ghostly blue mist clung to the ground, whispering ancient, unintelligible curses of fallen warriors from centuries past.
"This temperature... it’s not physical cold," Ignis noted, breathing out a cloud of white frost. He shook his shoulders, forcing a spark of black dragon flame to swirl along his arms to ward off the chill. "It feels like something is trying to drag my spirit out of my body."
"That is the [Soul Decay] environmental curse of Floor 11," Ren explained calmly, her fingers dancing across her floating holographic screens despite the spectral frost coating her gauntlet’s casing.
"My spiritual sensors indicate that Floor 11 is an ancient graveyard realm where souls failed to ascend. The atmospheric mana is almost entirely composed of spectral necro-energy."She tapped her visor, recalibrating her tactical scanner.
"Standard physical weapons will suffer a 70% damage penalty here. Only attacks infused with high-density divine light or spatial deletion can effectively destroy entities in this realm."
"Spectral entities..."
Tsubaki murmured, emerging quietly from the shadows behind a jagged bone monolith. His crimson eyes scanned the ghostly mist with unnatural sharpness.
"My shadow scouts report that Floor 11 is governed by the Lich King Malakor, an ancient necromancer who has raised millions of fallen cultivators into an unkillable undead legion."Lyra stood gracefully at Kaelen’s side, her slender hand wrapped warmly in his dark-gloved grip.
The completed key of the Holy Grail resting inside Kaelen’s chest core resonated brightly, projecting a radiant, thirty-meter golden domain around the entire squad.
The moment the golden light touched the spectral mist, a soft sizzling sound echoed through the air as the [Soul Decay] curse was instantly erased within their perimeter.
"Your soul energy is far too pure for this rot, Kaelen," Lyra whispered softly, her bright blue eyes shining with quiet, unwavering devotion as she looked up into his handsome face.
"This dark abyss is nothing more than a shadows’ grave before your light.""A soul that refuses to fade is merely waiting for proper deletion, my light," Kaelen purred smoothly, his low velvet voice breaking through the eerie silence of the undead wastes. He gently stroked the back of her hand with his dark-gloved thumb, his dark violet eyes flashing with triple-ringed golden authority.
"Malakor thinks he rules death... but he has yet to learn what true nonexistence means."
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[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION!]
The key of the holy grail is fully active!
EFFECT: Absolute Soul Shield Active! All squad members are 100% immune to soul decay & spectral corruption!
RESONANCE: Floor 11 Waystone Location Identified!
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Suddenly, the bone-white sand beneath their feet began to vibrate violently.
SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH!
The dark, ghostly mist surrounding the monolithic pillars swirled into a massive vortex as thousands of glowing blue eyes ignited in the darkness!
Out from the earth rose an army of spectral knights clad in rusted, dark-iron armor, riding nightmare steeds composed of dark smoke and blue fire. Floating above them were flying wraiths armed with scythes forged from concentrated soul-frost!
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[AMBUSH INITIATED!]
HOSTILE ENTITIES: 1,000x Dread Soul-Knights (Level 180 Elite)
COMMANDER: Death Lord Valthor—The Soul Reaper (Level 183 Tier-EX)
OBJECTIVE: Consume the Intruders’ Souls!
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"LIVING FLESH!" Death Lord Valthor screeched, his voice sounding like two rusty blades grinding together. He hovered a hundred feet above the bone-white sand, raising a giant dark scythe that dripped with spectral ice. "HIS MAJESTY MALAKOR HAS DECREED YOUR DEMISE! SURRENDER YOUR SOULS TO THE ABYSS!"
One thousand Dread Soul-Knights raised their spectral lances in unison, unleashing a massive, wave-like beam of blue soul-fire that swept across the plain directly toward the Sovereign squad!
BOOOOOOM!
"As if several dusty ghosts could touch our Sovereign!" Ignis bellowed with a dark laugh. He stepped straight to the front, thrusting his claymore into the bone sand!
"Dragon Fire Art: Divine Sun Explosion!"A massive, hundred-meter pillar of golden dragon fire erupted from the ground, intercepting the blue soul-fire mid-air! The sheer temperature of the divine dragon flames completely vaporized two hundred Soul-Knights instantly, turning their ghostly armor to pure mana dust!
"Shadow Style: Phantom Soul-Severance!" Tsubaki flickered into the air like a dark ghost himself, his black katana coated in dark void aura. He glided past fifty flying wraiths, slicing through their soul-cores with lightning speed!
"System Hack: Spiritual Disruption Web!" Ren launched a dozen anti-spectral pylons into the sky. The pylons generated a massive laser grid that disrupted the necro-mana connection holding the undead army together, causing three hundred Soul-Knights to collapse into piles of lifeless bone dust!
Death Lord Valthor watched his vanguard crumble in seconds, his burning blue eyes filling with shock and rage.
"IMPOSSIBLE! HUMAN WEAPONS CANNOT SEVER SPECTRAL CORES!" Valthor roared, diving from the sky like a blue meteor, his giant scythe aimed directly at Kaelen’s throat!
"Death Art: Soul-Rending Execution!"
Kaelen didn’t even shift his gaze from Lyra.
He casually took half a step forward, his dark coat fluttering softly in the icy draft generated by the falling death lord.
His slender dark-gloved fingers wrapped around the hilt of the Void Blade.
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[PASSIVE EFFECT: Void Sovereign’s Eye]
TARGET WEAKNESS DETECTED: Soul-Core Anchor at Chest Cavity!
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Kaelen purred softly, a cold, elegant smile touching his lips as he unsheathed his blade by half an inch.
SHING!
A razor-thin line of pitch-black spatial deletion flared in the white-sand air.
"Void Art: Spatial Deletion—Ghost Horizon!"
SKRRRRRRRAASH!
The half-inch draw of dark steel was completely silent, yet the spatial tear expanded five hundred meters into the sky!
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[CRITICAL HIT!]
TARGET: Death Lord Valthor & 450x Dread Soul-Knights
DAMAGE DEALT: 120,000,000 (Pure Spatial Eradication)
DEFENSE NEGATED: 100%!
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[FORCE OBLITERATED!]
CASUALTIES: Death Lord Valthor & Spectral Legion (Eradicated!)
EXP RECEIVED: 22,000,000 Points!
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"ARRRRRGH!" Death Lord Valthor let out a terrifying soul-shriek as his Level 183 body, his dark scythe, and the remaining four hundred and fifty Soul-Knights behind him were sliced horizontally in half mid-air!
The pitch-black spatial cut didn’t just destroy their physical forms—it erased their very soul-cores from existence, preventing any form of necromantic regeneration!
BOOOOOM!
The severed remnants of the undead army dissolved into glowing blue experience particles before they could touch the bone sand. Within seconds, the entire battlefield of one thousand elite spectral entities was wiped completely clean.
Kaelen smoothly clicked the Void Blade back into its sheath.
CLICK!
The icy, oppressive soul-pressure that had filled the plain vanished instantly, replaced once again by the quiet, golden warmth of the squad’s domain.
"Beautifully executed, My Lord," Tsubaki said, landing softly behind Kaelen and sheathing his katana with a deep, respectful bow.
"These ghosts didn’t even know what hit them," Ignis chuckled, resting his heavy claymore on his broad shoulder while grinning. "They thought being dead made them immune to damage."
Ren monitored her tactical displays, scanning the far horizon where a giant, dark fortress made of black obsidian bone towered over the landscape—the Citadel of the Lich King.
"My Lord, the erasure of Death Lord Valthor has sent a massive spiritual shockwave directly into the citadel," Ren reported. "The Lich King Malakor is aware of our presence and is currently mobilizing his inner council."
"Good," Kaelen said smoothly, turning back to Lyra and taking her soft hand into his once more. Her blue eyes sparkled with adoration as she held his hand tight. "Let him gather every soul he has. It is more efficient to erase them all in one place."
Lyra smiled sweetly, leaning closely against his side as they began walking toward the distant bone citadel. "Lead the way, Kaelen. Another floor awaits your crown."
Kaelen purred softly, his dark violet eyes gleaming with absolute, godlike authority as he led the Sovereign Faction deeper into the dark heart of Floor 11.