Chapter 255: Checkmate
In the observation chamber, silence reigned.
Elder Morvan’s cup had slipped from his fingers, tea pooling across the table.
"Soul techniques," Elder Veyra murmured, breaking the silence. "He’s using soul techniques."
The implications hung in the air like a blade.
Soul cultivation was the exclusive domain of the Gra-Khazul tribe—or it had been, until Kael Vorn had infiltrated their territory. The elders had assumed he gathered intelligence and resources during his time there. They had not considered that he might have learned their most sacred techniques.
"He went to that territory for six weeks," another elder said slowly. "Six weeks, and he’s already mastered soul techniques powerful enough to affect a Rank 7 Mana heart cultivator in combat. The progress he’s made in such a short amount of time is... abnormal."
"Unnatural," Veyra corrected. "And deeply concerning. Where did he learn those techniques? Who taught him? The Gra-Khazul don’t share their cultivation methods with outsiders."
Clara said nothing. Her cold eyes remained fixed on the projection.
On the battlefield, Aldric made his decision.
His mana was draining. The Devouring Darkness formation siphoned his fire energy faster than Inferno Core could replenish it. The clones were empowered by his stolen power. Every second he stayed inside the darkness was a second he grew weaker.
End it in one attack.
His hands formed a complex sigil. Fire mana surged through his body, condensing into a single devastating technique aimed directly at Kael.
Then he changed direction.
"Let’s get rid of the nuisance first."
The flame blast veered away from Kael and crashed toward the three remaining clones and the wolf.
BOOOOM.
The darkness shrieked as fire and shadow collided. The clones didn’t scream—they simply ceased to exist, disintegrated along with the wolf, their forms unraveling into nothing as the technique consumed them entirely.
But Aldric’s distraction cost him.
A Dark Slash came from his blind spot—fast, sharp, aimed at his throat.
He barely dodged, the attack carving a line across his cheek and ear. Blood streamed down his neck.
Kael’s hands were already moving toward another hand sign—
Aldric’s storage ring flared.
Dozens of mana bombs launched outward, surrounding Kael in a perfect sphere. They weren’t the simple explosives he’d used before. These pulsed with an inner light that had a sickly green luminescence that made the soldiers watching from outside flinch.
Aldric’s evil smirk was visible even through the darkness.
"Survive this, Vorn! Because this set of mana bombs is different. Not even a Rank 9 Mana Heart cultivator will survive this set." His voice carried across the battlefield with manic glee. "They’re infused with Soul-Searing Fire—a compound that burns mana pathways, permanently crippling cultivation if the victim survives. One touch is enough to end a career."
The bombs detonated.
The explosion was cathartic.
A sphere of green-white fire expanded outward, consuming the darkness, consuming the ground, consuming everything within a fifty-meter radius. The shockwave hit the soldiers like a physical wall—men grabbed for anything stable, some were sent tumbling across the plain. Others dug their heels into the earth and held on for dear life.
The Devouring Darkness runes burned away like paper in an inferno. The formation that had given Kael such an advantage shattered, its structure unable to withstand the specialized attack.
Aldric didn’t celebrate.
He yanked the Inferno Core from his chest. The flaming cloak around his body dissipated as the core floated in his palm, growing larger, denser, more unstable. He was charging it for maximum output—because he was certain Kael would survive the blast.
No one survives something like that without a price. He’ll be wounded at least.
The dust and smoke cleared.
Kael stood at the center of the devastation, untouched.
A gravity orb surrounded him, microscopic gravitational rotation deflecting the Soul-Searing Fire away from his skin. Darkness coiled around the orb’s interior, providing an additional layer of defense. His silver-flecked gray eyes watched Aldric through the haze with cold amusement.
It didn’t matter. He had his backup plan ready.
"Inferno Core!"
The charged sphere launched toward Kael—a concentrated mass of fire energy compressed to the breaking point, carrying enough destructive force to vaporize a city block. Aldric poured everything remaining into the attack. His flames sputtered and died as Inferno Core left his hands.
The explosion pushed the soldiers back again. Some were sent flying entirely, crashing into their own formations. Trees bent away from the blast zone like flowers in a hurricane.
Aldric smirked. "I win."
A figure emerged from the shadows behind him.
Aldric sensed it too late.
Kael stood there with a maniac smirk, a spinning orb of compressed gravity in his hand. But his eyes held knowing amusement rather than malice.
"That’s my clone, moron."
Aldric’s blood ran cold.
The Kael he’d hit with Inferno Core—the Kael inside the gravity orb—wasn’t real. It was another Shadow Phantom, created during the chaos and left as bait.
The Pulsar orb struck Aldric’s stomach.
BOOM.
The gravitational compression punched through his fire defenses like they weren’t there. His armor crumpled. His ribs shattered. The impact sent him flying backward across the ruined battlefield, trailing blood and flame.
A shadow appeared beneath his falling body. Strong hands caught him before he hit the ground.
Vex—Aldric’s personal Pillar Knight, a Mid Spirit Soul cultivator—stared down at his unconscious master with an expression of pure fury.
Kael walked toward them, tossing a healing pill through the air. Vex caught it instinctively, his hand closing around the small object.
"Take his army back," Kael said with a smirk. "I’ve won this fight. Now he should prepare the contract, because tomorrow I’m coming for my newly acquired territory and my new slave."
Vex’s face contorted with rage. His fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked. Every instinct screamed to attack—to avenge his master’s humiliation.
But he knew better. If he was to attack now, the elders will obilirate him and his family.
Vex could only take Aldric and retreat.
"Fall back!" Vex roared at the stunned Greymoor soldiers. "Now!"
The army retreated, carrying their wounded lord, leaving the ruined battlefield to Kael’s forces.
Yuki appeared at Kael’s side, her ice-blue eyes sweeping the devastation with professional assessment.
"Congratulations, my Lord."
Kael stretched, rolling his shoulders as the adrenaline faded. His wounds were already healing—Void Body working overtime to seal the cuts and burns.
"There’s still work to do."