NOVPUB"Soul Eaters…" One of the eldest of the behemoth-sized Boundless Gorge Entities flared with ancient power, attempting to discern the strings of Fate and Destiny. "So many…! Why have so many Soul Eaters descended to the Forgotten Shores!?"
With how many were breaching through the Dimensional Walls, all of the Island Kingdoms in the Azure Archipelago would soon be overrun!
"Hmm?" Cassius arched a brow upon sensing unnatural energy readings. "Did either of you young ladies invite some more guests to our little tea party?"
Opal read his lips, and though she knew what he said, she still didn't understand what he meant by it. She looked to her big sister for answers, but it turned out that Yuna was just as clueless as she was.
"So these aren't friends of yours," Cassius said while conjuring an energy-made screen that showed the girls what was waiting outside their little mansion in the hills.
"!!!" "!!!"
Although Yuna and Opal had no idea what these things were, there were countless of them!
And most astonishing of all was the fact that they were all the equivalent of at least the 2nd Class Slayer Rank, with thousands equal to the 1st Class Slayer Rank!
There were even a few that possessed auras so immensely powerful that Yuna and Opal were left gasping for oxygen!
Waving his hand ever so casually, Cassius prevented the auras of the figures outside from affecting the girls. His eyes then narrowed as he opened up the system interface of one of the strongest among them.
{[Syphork the Bringer of Amalgamation]}
[Race: Soul Eater]
[Lifespan: 4,320/Infinite]
[Rank: Lord Soul Eater]
Soul Eaters.
Some of which were extraordinarily powerful.
But why were they here…?
"Were they attracted by my Azura Devourer Bloodline or something?" Cassius wondered with a low voice. "Then again, I don't even have that Bloodline anymore, because it was assimilated into the Origin Progenitor Bloodline."
"Well, whatever," he quit mulling, swinging Mora's wickedly sharp scythe edges over his shoulder. "If they've come to play, then who am I to send them away?"
Seeing Cassius begin to make a move, Yuna reached out. "Wait, Cass…!"
But before her soft voice could make it to him, he vanished from his spot.
Reappearing outside, he stared down the tens of thousands of Soul Eaters with an infallible will.
Worry grew within Opal's heart as she had no idea what was going on. For her, the world was silent, but watching her Savior face so many horrifying entities all by himself made waves of thunder beat loudly in her heart.
"Cass…"
Yuna wasn't faring much better.
She wasn't sure exactly how strong those entities hovering in the air outside were, but she counted hundreds who were more powerful than her father. This automatically made it pointless for her to call him for his assistance.
Not that he needed the reminder…
After all, every single Island Kingdom in the Azure Archipelago was more than aware of the incalculably powerful beings who had just broken through the Dimensional Barrier from multiple points. In fact, at this very moment, a meeting was being held by hundreds of Island Kingdoms, a lot of which were greater in military strength than the Mistalore Kingdom.
"Do none of you have any idea why so many high-rank Soul Eaters pierced through from the Netherworld!?"
The frustrated shout of a bountiful woman echoed through the wide open field they were convened at. She had a crown of wheat perched atop her head, with a Slayer Cultivation Rank of the 6th Stage of 1st Class, making her roughly equivalent to a weaker Mid-Rank Godlike Entity in the Ascension Tower.
"As far as we're aware, they appeared for virtually no reason at all—no warning, no nothing." A messy-haired man with a lean stature pushed back his glasses, a keen gleam shining within them. "However, what we do know is that this is not an invasion. At least, it doesn't look that way from how singularly distributed they are. By that, I mean that they've congregated in a single spot."
"Where!?" many asked with impatient tones.
"The Mistalore Kingdom," replied the glasses-wearing 1st Class Slayer as he looked over to a chair that seated the gruff-looking Mistalore King. "They're targeting your Kingdom, Mistalore."
King Mistalore's expression was not looking too good right about now. Gazes filled with pity being thrown his way didn't help him any either.
"But what would they possibly want with the Mistalore Kingdom?" asked the busty woman wearing the wheat crown. "To be frank, the Mistalore Kingdom is a very weak Island Nation. To amass such a large and overwhelmingly powerful force to deal with such a weak place is tantamount to wastefulness."
Many agreed with this notion.
Even King Mistalore couldn't disagree with this statement. After all, if he and his Kingdom were sufficient enough, then his wife wouldn't have been taken away by the Ashikaga Shogunate.
Speaking of that particular Kingdom…
"What could such a large army of Soul Eaters possibly want with that little man and his tiny Kingdom?"
The one who spoke up with a tone of disdain was the Midaidokoro of the Ashikaga Shogunate. Her other identity was the grandmother of both Yuna and Mistalore, as well as the wife of Shogun Ashikaga.
And most importantly, the hater of King Mistalore and everything he stood for!
"Come on now," said a kind-hearted woman in the 6th Stage of the 1st Class Slayer Rank. "We have not burned through several Spatial Stones to waste it all here picking fun at the Mistalore King. We've convened to figure out why the Soul Eaters broke through the Dimensional Barrier and what they plan to do next."
Hundreds of powerful leaders nodded, agreeing with the words of the gentle Saintess of the Seven Holy Spears Kingdom.
"Tell us, Mistalore, can you think of anything that would better help us figure out why the Netherworld decided to target your Kingdom?" asked a long golden-haired knight-like man with closed eyes, his aura pulsating at the 7th Stage of the 1st Class Slayer Rank. "The army they sent is of an unprecedented level, with a doomsday event assuredly set in stone if we can't resolve this."
Normally, Soul Eaters were very disorganized and only ever worked by themselves to devour the souls of mankind. At most, a small group might come to be.
But never had anyone gathered in the yellow wheat fields ever heard of anything like this before! 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
It was unbelievable!
Just the pressure passively emitted by the Army of Soul Eaters made any one of them fearful for their lives!
Truly terrifying…
"I wish I could tell you all something, but I just don't know…" King Mistalore sighed while disappointedly shaking his head. "They started breaking through the Dimensional Barrier some minutes ago, and without even looking at anything or anyone else, they shot toward a seemingly random location of my Kingdom. They then stopped moving, and have been so since."
FWIP!
Abruptly teleporting in was a subordinate of King Mistalore. He had to pay a heavy price to reach this private location hovering high in the sky, but the information he had with him was of vital importance.
Most of those sitting around the yellow wheat field stared down the newcomer, but without waiting around to be threatened by their auras, he rushed toward King Mistalore. After whispering something in his ear, he immediately returned from whence he came.
"What's the matter, Mistalore?" asked the Saintess from Seven Holy Spears Kingdom. "Why are you making a face like that??"
"It's… Numerous eyewitnesses have reported that a lone male figure ascended to the skies and started…"
"He started what!? Spit it out!" the Midaidokoro cursed.
"This lone figure started talking with the Soul Eaters!!"
Silence…
"Is he fucking insane!? Who is this man!??"
Even the normally calm and composed golden-haired knight from the White Stars Kingdom found himself stunned by this development.
To think…
To think there was actually someone so crazy!
"Tell us more, Mistalore! Who is this person and for what reason did he believe it to be a good idea to approach an entire army of Soul Eaters by himself!?"
"Well, I—"
Suddenly!
Immense dread washed over everyone in the fields as the whole world felt like it would break apart from all the shaking.
That was when they caught a glimpse of IT.
A huge gash in space wide enough to swallow up several Island Nations…
It was looming over the world in the direction of the Mistalore Kingdom. Energy tendrils frenziedly shot out around it, further scarring the skies.
"This…"
The absolute powerhouses of the Azure Archipelago were speechless. Even the terrors hidden within the Bottomless Gorge of the Nightmarescape had no words to describe what they were seeing.
"Guys… Where… Where did the Soul Eaters go…?"
Their life signatures were no longer anywhere!
King Mistalore stared in the direction of his Kingdom, scared to see the outcome of being in such close proximity to an attack like that. But surprisingly, not even a single blade of grass had been harmed.
"Does anyone have any idea what the hell just happened!?" An expert from the Blade Kingdom pointed at the massive gash in space. "What the fuck is capable of something like that!? Even the legends describing Transcendent Class Slayers are not so exaggerated!"
Yet, no matter how loudly he shouted, if no one had the answers to his questions, then no one had the answers.
All they could do was stand there and ruminate while reflecting on everything they did in their lives…
"Calamity is destined for this world." One of the Terrors within the Boundless Gorge stared into the truth of it all, yet found nothing but chaos and the unknown. "We need to speed things up and lure the Dreamwalker back to the depths of the Gorge. Only that way can we restore our previous strength and escape the Eternal Dream before it collapses completely..."
