Chapter 378: soul breaking
Vale’s disgust was even higher than Isolde’s. The tide of fleshy beings watched him with either expressions of joy or terror, and he could feel how their souls pressed heavily in the air, leaning toward him as if to crush him.
One power Vale had not yet worked with the most was soul manipulation. It was one of the powers he was actually wary of using, as it was a very risky power to use. Even a single mistake could leave one’s soul twisted and crippled.
But as he watched Herdmaster, an idea suddenly crept into his mind and wouldn’t go away. ’..isn’t this an opportunity to test soul manipulation? I will work with the souls here!....’
The actual power was Soul Corruption, but Vale liked to call it Soul Manipulation because the former made him look like some kind of demon....in a very literal sense.
There were two attacks under Soul Manipulation that Vale could use, aside from manipulating souls themselves.
Blight of Eternal Damnation. He could infect a target’s soul with corruption, and then it could spread uncontrollably through close contact from one person to another. It could cause mental collapse, distress, breakdown, madness, and all sorts of other effects. It was a sickness of the soul.
The other was Soul Gathering. He could gather souls together and use them as fuel. To create automated constructs. Or for attack.
Of course, gathering souls wasn’t easy, as humans had inherent defenses against it. And the stronger they were, the more difficult it would be.
All of these thoughts flashed through Vale’s mind, and he instantly withdrew his flames, letting them fade away with the heat. The pressure he was feeling from the soul creatures rapidly increased, and it felt as if something heavy had been placed on his chest!
When Herdmaster saw the flames disappear, he didn’t waste time and instantly reached out to attack Vale’s soul!
Vale stiffened. He felt a wave of anger and pain deep within him! Terror and fear bubbled up, and his vision began to rapidly dim.
Herdmaster was proficient in soul attacks, and he went with his usual attack combination when fighting someone strong. He would first strike their soul and then kill or capture them with the soul creatures!
The soul creatures were not weak. Vale only made it seem that way when he killed some of them, but then again, Vale was using Hellfire with soul manipulation.
Besides, Herdmaster didn’t use his very best. He had only sent out weak soul creatures to probe him.
And now, he was beginning to go all out!
The Knight and Errant Knight rank soul creatures began to link arms, their hands molding and melting together as they formed a ring, their faces carrying a single expression of joy. Silver light bled from them and rose into the air like a wave of water.
All the waves concentrated in one position and leaned toward Vale. Although others could not feel it, Herdmaster was now using the souls of the soul creatures as footholds to attack!
The pressure on Vale increased to an explosive level, and because he had been caught off guard, he was now scrambling to put up a defense of his own, but it was hard. His soul had been disrupted, his mind stung, and his concentration broken. It was taking everything in him just to stop Herdmaster from crushing him!
Herdmaster’s face lit up, and he gestured casually. As a Master in soul manipulation, he could easily overpower a novice who had just started learning. How dare such a person engage him in a soul fight?
He sneered as he watched three soul creatures move forward. The three were at the Master Knight power level and the sum of his entire life’s work. Herdmaster had paid lofty prices to get them, not to mention refining them to this level. They were his trump card.
The three soul creatures were taller than two men combined, their limbs thin while their upper bodies were bulky. The flesh on their faces was droopy, their teeth an unnaturally shining white, and their eyes dim, milky things.
They opened their mouths as they rushed forward. "Eat! Eat! Eat!"
Different types of elemental essence covered them. Two of them used the earth element, and pieces of broken stone floated to their fists, molding around their hands. The other used lightning, and it flickered across its body.
They retained pieces of their previous power, but because their souls had been tampered with, they couldn’t use their full power. But that hardly mattered; after all, their targets were usually frozen by the time they reached them.
Vale could see them approach, but he couldn’t move. His whole power had been drawn inward to help protect his soul, leaving not a single bit behind!
His body had stiffened, and even using Demonlord’s Command didn’t help!
His eyes darkened as he realized that he couldn’t get out fast enough. He had the power, all right, but he lacked experience in soul fighting!
Currently, Herdmaster had cast his soul like a net to surround Vale’s, slowly shrinking it and keeping him contained. Each time Vale broke through, Herdmaster would quickly recast it and cover him again.
Vale couldn’t break away fast enough because Herdmaster cast his techniques faster! Although each time that happened, Vale was learning and growing stronger, it still wasn’t fast enough!
Not enough!
It was then that Vale greatly regretted not training that particular power.
He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as three figures loomed over him. The soul creatures smiled, their faces filled with strange innocence and yet so full of malice.
Then the one with lightning took a step forward. "Eat!"
It smashed its fist straight at Vale’s face.
Twack!
The punch hit like a warhammer to the face, the lightning discharge adding explosive force to it. It instantly broke Vale’s nose as his head snapped back, followed by the rest of his body as he was thrown backward like a kinetic fireball.
He rammed into the ground and skidded before stopping, his body flopping on the ground like a puppet. Blood gushed from his nose, and his eyes were red with pain. The lightning ran through his body, leaving a trail of agony that made his muscles contract.
Fuck. It was painful.
More painful still was the fact that he couldn’t do anything against it. His soul and power were already locked in a struggle, and now he had to fight those three? His body couldn’t even move!
Just how was Herdmaster doing it? No wonder the man was arrogant. The amount of training and refinement that must have gone into it!
Vale instantly lashed out at the net covering his soul, his anger and pain giving him a boost. Immediately the net opened up and allowed him to vent his anger, only to instantly close and shred that part of his soul!
Internally, he howled. It felt as if his soul had been set on fire and his flesh mixed with alchemical chemicals.
It hurt. It hurt!
Herdmaster instantly used that opportunity to shrink the net even more.
To the side, Isolde was in shock. Her eyes widened as she watched the faint tremble that passed through Vale’s paralyzed body. "He shouldn’t have engaged in a soul battle with Herdmaster! No matter what, that man is skilled in soul manipulation. There was a time he went around challenging those with the same power to soul duels only to devour them. He’s good. You should have just focused on physical fighting!"
"Eat! Eat! Eat!"
The soul creatures shouted. They reached his side again, and one of them raised its hand, its fist covered in crude stone gloves.
Bam!
The fist came down on Vale’s wounded shoulder, directly shattering the bones.
Vale grunted, but he had no way to even shout out in pain!
Then, at the same time, the three raised their hands together and began to beat him down. Bones cracked and shattered, flesh twisted, and muscles tore. It was brutal, and the three soul creatures did it with joy.
Herdmaster watched it all with a satisfied smile on his face. "How easy. This is the one who killed those two Vampire fools? I thought he was strong. I have overrated him!"
Of course, he knew that his swift victory was only because the young man chose to fight him with a skill he wasn’t used to, allowing him to trap his body, soul, and power together!
What he was currently doing to Vale was called "breaking." By holding his soul and body hostage while beating him without giving him a chance to vent, he would slowly corrode his soul and will, leaving him broken.
"It’s a shame that I’m not allowed to twist his soul." But his Master had already warned him not to try that. The main reason Herdmaster was sent, apart from his strength, was directly because of his soul power.
Who knew what benefits they could glean if they captured the one who had the favor of the Old One?
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Author here!
Thank you for the read! It’s month end, won’t you gift me ;)