“Bonewick, you have sorely disappointed me. You cannot even manage this trivial skirmish after the meager faith I placed in your Skyfiend Sect.”
A figure surfaced above the skull altar, no more than smoke stitched with hatred, its shape trembling, its edges fraying.
This was a mere remnant of the Soul Devourer’s soul, a hundred times weaker than his prime, yet the malice in those spectral eyes had lost none of its razor.
“Soul Devourer, at last you crawl into the light…” Jared growled. He lopped the head from a Skyfiend elder who dared strike at his back, then leveled a gaze of lightning-cold intent at the phantom, but held his ground; the thing felt more like a relay than true flesh.
“Boy, you’re incredibly lucky. The Skyfiend rabble are as worthless as I feared, but do not fool yourself; the game has only begun, and I write the rules.”
“A coward who never leaves his hole dares call this a game?” With a single thought, Jared summoned the hazy outline of the Beast-Subduing Tower above his palm; its soul-crushing resonance made the sovereign’s wisp ripple like water struck by stone.
“Beast-Subduing Tower!”
A ragged shadow, no more than the lingering will of the Soul Devourer, let out a guttural, uneasy growl. Yet, almost at once, that fear twisted into a sly grin. “Hmph! Your trinket may look impressive, boy, but I fear it not. Besides, my true body lies far beyond your reach. Find it if you can!”
The phantom clearly wanted no part in a direct clash with Jared. It hovered here only to jeer, to lure him into wasting both rage and time.
“Finding you is only a matter of time,” Jared replied, voice calm but edged with iron. “Today I sever your claws, break your crutches, and grind every minion to dust. On some future dawn, I will hunt down your true form; body and soul alike will be erased!”
“Arrogant whelp!” the shadow snorted. “I have ruled Level Nine for ten millennia; my foundation is deeper than your childish mind can fathom. Bonewick, the field is yours. Endure until nightfall, and when I recover, Skyfiend Sect shall reign over all nine heavens. Should you fail—heh, that is but the whim of fate!”
With that, the shade warped violently, melting into a single wisp of black smoke that tried to dive beneath the altar; a hidden portal or concealment array clearly waited below.
“Leaving so soon?” Jared’s eyes hardened; he would not allow such an easy escape. He needed to know where the Soul Devourer’s body was hiding. He intended to rip the answer out of the soul remnant.
“Time, freeze! Space, lock!”
Twin laws thundered outward. In a heartbeat, the altar and the air around it became a sealed capsule of stalled seconds and unbreakable walls.
The escaping remnant slowed to a crawl, as though it had sunk into invisible tar. The newly forged barriers barred every path home.
“Soul Search!”
Two fingers became a needle of blinding light. Powered by Jared’s vast spiritual soul, it shot toward the trapped wisp faster than lightning across a night sky.
He meant to ram his consciousness straight into the remnant’s memories and drag out the hiding place of the body.
“Fool! Dream on!” The shadow screeched, prepared for this very moment.
The wisp burst apart, shredding into countless near-invisible soul threads that fled in every direction. A suicidal wave of psychic force erupted, hoping to disturb Jared’s soul search.
“Perish!” Jared moved instantly.
The Beast-Subduing Tower swelled overhead, spilling silver radiance that nailed space in place. Simultaneously, his Five-Element Sword Intent swept out, erasing whole swaths of fleeing soul threads.
