Chapter 500: Soul Tutorial, Watching The Others
’Wow, it’s not strong at all.’
Leon paused. Then he immediately shook his head.
What the hell was he thinking? Twelve million combat power was extremely high.
It was only because Leon had spent so much time fighting opponents who were overwhelmingly powerful that he had nearly forgotten what a normal monster was supposed to look like.
And the Lich of Souls wasn’t even normal. It was extremely strong.
And there was one very specific reason why it was so dangerous.
Fwoosh!
The moment Leon appeared in the chamber, the Lich raised its staff.
A gigantic blue fireball immediately formed above it before being launched directly toward Leon.
Leon quickly swung his sword.
Slash!
The fireball was cut in half. However, the moment Leon cut through it, the blue flames suddenly seeped into his body.
They didn’t burn his flesh. Instead, they moved directly toward his soul.
[Foolish,] A system panel appeared before Leon, [Do you not remember? Every monster here targets the soul.]
If an ordinary person had been hit by that fireball, their soul would have been scorched from the inside, and they would likely have died instantly.
But Leon didn’t even move. The blue flames reached his soul and simply failed to do anything.
His soul was far too strong. The Lich of Souls seemed puzzled. It raised its staff again.
Another attack was about to be launched, but Leon didn’t give it the opportunity.
Fwoosh!
His body disappeared from where he stood. In an instant, he appeared directly in front of the Lich.
Slash!
His sword flashed. The blade cut straight through the Lich’s body.
The creature froze before its body collapsed. The soul energy surrounding it disappeared along with its life.
Leon lowered his sword.
’It seems like we don’t need to target the monsters’ souls to kill them either, they can still be killed normally.’
Ding!
[You have killed "Lich of Souls" and gained...]
[100% Drop Rate has triggered...]
"Nice."
Leon nodded with satisfaction. The first monster had been defeated far more easily than he had expected.
However, Leon wasn’t the one who was most surprised by what had just happened.
Somewhere within the Tower of Souls, the Lord of Souls was watching. His attention was completely focused on Leon right now.
[Your soul...] The voice echoed through the chamber, [I believed I was wrong after so long, but it truly is incredibly powerful.]
The voice continued.
[It will make a fine addition to my collection~]
Leon smiled, "Sure thing," then he tightened his grip around his sword, "So come fight me."
There was a brief silence.
[I will, once you prove yourself worthy.]
’Alright.’
Leon looked around the chamber but there was no way out, it seemed that he had completed the first test, or perhaps what the Lord of Souls considered the "Tutorial."
However, Leon wasn’t celebrating yet. His thoughts immediately returned to the three girls.
He had no idea where Emilia, Celeste, and Violet had ended up. More importantly, he had no idea what monsters they were facing.
Leon tightened his grip on his sword, ’Hopefully, they’re doing fine.’
Ding!
[Please wait until the other players succeed or fail, and we will continue.]
[You may observe them until then.]
"Oh!" Leon was pleasantly surprised, "Good!"
Three panels appeared before Leon, each one displaying another chamber that looked identical to the one he had just entered.
In each of them, Violet, Celeste, and Emilia were facing another Lich of Souls, the same kind of monster Leon had just defeated.
Their opponents stood in the middle of their respective chambers, blue flames burning inside their empty eye sockets as they prepared to attack.
...
Fwoosh!
As soon as Violet entered the chamber, she instantly activated [Sub-Zero Zone], causing an overwhelming wave of cold to spread through the entire room.
Frost rapidly covered the floor, walls, and ceiling, freezing almost everything within the chamber before the Lich of Souls could even react.
The monster was completely frozen before it had the opportunity to launch its attack, leaving Violet with an easy opportunity to finish it.
A moment later, the frozen Lich shattered under the overwhelming power of the ice.
’Good job, Violet,’ Leon thought with a small smile. ’Quick thinking.’
Unlike him, Violet had taken no unnecessary risks.
She had immediately recognized that the monster was dangerous and attacked before it could even make its move, allowing her to eliminate it without giving it the opportunity to use its soul-based abilities.
Leon was pleased to see that she had handled the situation so efficiently.
...
Right after Violet, the next panel showed Emilia. She did not attack immediately.
Instead, she raised her scepter and began charging [Heaven’s Wrath], allowing an enormous amount of energy to gather around her.
The Lich of Souls noticed what she was doing and immediately raised its staff, launching a massive blue Soul Fireball toward her.
Emilia continued charging her attack without showing any signs of panic.
The Soul Fireball flew toward her at terrifying speed, but just before it could reach her, Emilia released [Heaven’s Wrath].
A brilliant beam of overwhelming power erupted from her scepter and completely vaporized the Lich of Souls in an instant.
However, the Soul Fireball had already been launched. It struck Emilia directly.
Leon watched carefully, expecting at least some reaction from her. There was none.
Emilia simply stood there as if nothing had happened, completely unharmed despite having been struck by the soul-based attack.
’Huh?’ Leon thought, slightly surprised. ’Did the skill lose its power because the Lich died?’
That was the only explanation he could think of at first, although it did not make much sense considering the Soul Fireball had already been fired before the Lich was destroyed.
Even if Emilia had avoided most of the damage because her soul had already been upgraded, Leon still expected her to suffer at least some minor injury from the attack.
Yet there was nothing. She looked completely fine.
’Oh well,’ Leon thought, deciding not to dwell on it. ’It’s good for us.’
As long as Emilia was safe, there was no reason for him to complain about how she had survived.
Then Leon’s attention moved toward the final panel: Celeste.
Of the three, she was the one Leon was most worried about.
Not only did Celeste have the weakest soul among them, but Leon had also noticed that she seemed more uncomfortable whenever she encountered these soul-based monsters.
Being trapped inside a confined chamber with a creature specifically designed to attack the soul only made things worse.
The moment Celeste entered the chamber, her body trembled heavily.
The Lich of Souls immediately noticed her hesitation. It raised its staff and launched a Soul Fireball directly toward her.
’Damn it,’ Leon thought, his eyes widening. ’Come on, Celeste!’
Celeste was still the only one whose soul had not been directly upgraded.
The blue fireball rapidly approached Celeste.
She gripped her spear tightly and swung it with all her strength, cutting directly through the incoming attack.
For a brief moment, it seemed like she had successfully stopped it, but much like Leon, one couldn’t just cut through an attack like this.
The blue flames seeped through the spear and entered Celeste’s body.
She immediately dropped to her knees, panting heavily as her body trembled from the attack.
The Soul Fireball had already reached her soul, and the blue flames began spreading across it, attempting to burn through it completely.
’Come on, Celeste, I know you can do it!’