It could not be said to be a special trait, but whenever Michael knew there was not a high chance sothing could kill him, he beca far bolder than his cautious self.
From the mont Michael saw that this supposedly Rank 4
reincarnate was only a severely weakened version, he felt confident. He had done nothing but kill similarly suppressed Rank 4 existences back to back.
Unfortunately, there was no way for Veyrion to know of that history. However, even without understanding Michael's outrageous past, it was self-aware enough to recognize a freak when it saw one.
Michael turned, expecting to see Veyrion standing where it had stood, but instead, he watched the pale figure shoot away at high speed.
Veyrion was so fast he beca a streak of translucent light against the endless twilight.
Michael blinked.
For a mont, he genuinely thought he had misseen it.
Then his lips twitched.
"Running?" he muttered, stunned. "Where did the dignity of a Rank 4 go?"
Sure, it was weakened now, but damn.
It was not even a tactical retreat.
Michael's eyes narrowed as he switched to Wisdom state.
His aura shifted instantly, turning sharp.
In a single breath, he closed the distance.
He appeared beside Veyrion as if he had always been there.
"So where are you running to?" Michael asked, his voice light, almost amused.
Veyrion's head snapped toward him.
For the first ti, the calm mask slipped.
Its black eyes widened enough for Michael to catch the shock.
This speed did not make sense to Veyrion.
Though it could not see through Michael, its perception was still
enough to feel the youthful energy inside him.
Including the restriction that only those below thirty could enter this
space, Veyrion knew Michael was young.
Were youths these days this terrifying?
Veyrion's expression tightened.
Its body shifted, trying to pull further away.
Michael did not give it room.
He reached out and drove a punch toward its ribs, his intent to stop the escape clear.
The fist was fast enough to crack the air.
Veyrion's eyes sharpened.
Then it vanished.
One mont it was beside Michael, the next it was simply not there, leaving behind a faint distortion that rippled through the air like heat.
Spatial travel.
Michael's fist cut through empty space.
He did not chase blindly.
He had beco cautious about that ever since his accidental use of spatial travel in Hell.
But caution did not an fear.
Especially not when he had just watched soone use it cleanly.
That alone told him the space here was stable.
Or at least stable enough.
Unfortunately for Veyrion, Michael had already expected this to
happen.
The mont he saw Veyrion flee, Michael had already decided that if Veyrion could not overpower him, it would try to escape.
And if it tried to escape, it would use space. After all, that was the obvious feature of those at this level.
Michael's aura sharpened again.
Wisdom state tightened around him like a second skin as his senses
widened.
Veyrion had reappeared at a distance far from him, and it seed it was already preparing to vanish again. But the mont it reappeared, Michael was already there.
A blur snapped into place before Veyrion could stabilize its footing.
Veyrion froze.
Its pupils did not exist, but the depth of its gaze shifted.
Disbelief.
"How?"
It still could not understand how soone so young could already grasp the mysteries of space.
Michael did not answer.
He simply raised his hand and reached forward, palm open, not a
strike this ti, but a grip.
Veyrion jerked backward and vanished once more, space snapping
shut like a mouth.
Michael's hand closed on nothing.
He clicked his tongue softly.
Veyrion reappeared far ahead, but before it could react, Michael
appeared beside it instantly.
Veyrion stiffened.
Its body flinched in a way it could not control.
For the first ti, its breathing changed.
A shallow inhale, sharp and involuntary.
Michael's fist was already moving.
A direct strike to the side of Veyrion's abdon.
The punch connected.
Veyrion's body folded inward.
A deep shock traveled through it, rippling across the crystal veins
beneath its skin.
Then the creature descended aggressively.
Veyrion hit the ground.
The impact cracked the crystal-veined stone, sending a shockwave
outward. A crater ford instantly, and jagged fractures raced across the terrain like spiderwebs. Shards rose and hovered for a split second before dropping back down in a harsh rain. anwhile, Michael's mana surged toward the two bodies still in
midair.
The tenth prince and Renn hung like puppets on invisible strings, their limbs loose, their faces slack with unconsciousness.
Michael floated down with them.
He descended smoothly, boots lowering until they hovered a breath
above the ground.
The prince and Renn remained at his side, held aloft by his control.
'Finally, this should be able to put it down, right? However, even if it's
down, how do I get what I need to heal my soul?'
Michael felt conflicted.
Surely he was not going to need to use Lily's law to devour another
living being.
From the records he had read in the academy library, Michael was
aware baby supernaturals had done far worse for power. Even the so-called good ones differentiated themselves from demonic supernaturals, but Michael did not think he was quite at that level yet. But then again, even if Veyrion was the main source of the infection
and Michael was reluctant to devour it in its current state, he should be able to condense all the faceless monsters in this realm for his use.
Michael had no plans to let Veyrion go free, but he felt the alternative toward healing his soul was acceptable for now. However, before Michael could even move, his vision blurred.
He was confused at first. Then he recognized what was happening.
Michael's mind went cold.
Soul intrusion.
A pressure slid into him without touching his skin, cold and invasive, like an icy needle pushing through the cracks of his consciousness. It was subtle, almost silent, but the mont it touched his core,
everything inside Michael scread.
His instincts exploded.
"Get out!" Michael roared, rage tearing through his voice.
The air around him trembled as his aura flared. His mana surged, but
the invading presence was already inside. It moved like mist, seeping
through barriers, searching, probing, trying to find a place to anchor
itself.
Michael did not know how Veyrion had done it.
Michael's teeth clenched hard enough to ache.
His mind shook.
Images flashed at the edge of his perception. Not his mories, but
fragnts of sothing foreign pressing against his senses. Veyrion's will.
Michael felt it searching for his soul space.
Michael's heart hamred. His breathing turned heavy, but he forced
himself to stay conscious. He pushed back with everything he had, compressing his ntal force into a single point, trying to stab the
intruder out of his core.
For a mont, it worked.
The pressure hesitated.
Michael felt it recoil slightly. Then it surged again, stronger, sharper.
Michael's knees almost buckled.
His vision darkened at the edges.
The crystal-veined world faded into a tunnel of shadow, and the
sound of the ruin beca distant, muffled, as if he were sinking underwater. Even with his mana supporting the floating bodies of the tenth prince and Renn, his control trembled, the two unconscious
youths swaying slightly in midair. Michael's fingers twitched. His jaw tightened until it hurt.
No.
He could not allow this.
But the truth was brutal.
Even weakened, this thing had once been Rank 4.
Its comprehension, its will, and its soul strength were not sothing
he could casually resist. Michael was at a disadvantage in one
battlefield that mattered most. His sight dimd further. Darkness crept in like a tide.
Michael's breath hitched as the invading presence dug deeper.
And for the first ti since entering the ruin, Michael felt genuine alarm cut through his confidence.
If this continued, he would lose more than a fight.
He would lose himself.
Veyrion's consciousness slipped through the last layer of resistance
like a needle piercing skin. The crystal-veined ruin vanished.
In its place was a strange, dark space where sound did not echo and
distance felt aningless. There was no sky, no ground, only a suffocating void that swallowed light.
Veyrion understood imdiately what it was.
A soul domain.
The youth's soul.
It expected fragility. Even talented geniuses had soul spaces that were
bare, unrefined, or unstable. A person's power might be terrifying, but
their inner world was often simple. However, Veyrion froze at what lay before him.
In the darkness ahead stood a magnificent cauldron.
Beside it stood a spear. Long, straight, and cold.
But the cauldron was different.
The mont Veyrion's perception brushed it, sothing inside him
stirred violently. A buried instinct. A warning. And beneath the
warning, a hunger so deep it nearly made his will tremble. Treasure.
And it was not a simple treasure. Veyrion's breath caught.
And then he saw it.
Far below, half subrged in the darkness like an abyssal monunt,
was a coffin. It was huge.
It lay there like a sleeping beast, heavy enough that the very soul
space seed to bend around it.
*
A/N: I thank everyone that greeted on my birthday! Thank you so
much for the well wishes, support, and gifts. Happy new month
everyone!!!!
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