House of Amarin

"I see..." Korvall sighed, looking at Erias, then took a quick glance at Lia, his eyes reflecting acceptance and calmness. "I think we have nothing else to say to each other."

"No. Nothing else." Lia nodded while realization dawned on Yima's face, too, but she could not form any words as fear overtook her whole being.

"Let me do something first, then!" With a speed that exceeded Lia's, Korval clasped at Yima's head, and before she could open her mouth, the girl was transformed into nothing but a ball of energy, glowing inside Korvall's half-closed palm. "She wouldn't amount to much... And she doesn't deserve to meet a painful death or be eaten by either of you." With that, he surrounded the tiny, compressed soul of Yima, letting it enter his body, but both of them could feel he wasn't absorbing her.

There was no warning of what was coming next as Korvall attacked Lia with a speed that surpassed hers. He was wielding no weapon besides his hands, using quick palm strikes, forcing Lia to back away as fast as she could but still remaining the target of his attacks. It was as if four Korvalls were facing her, his palms going past Lia's summoned fire, hitting her body over and over, hurting not physically but causing pain directly in her soul.

"Move back!" Erias's voice echoed loudly, arriving only a moment later, summoning a saber made out of pure darkness, bringing it down on Korvall's back, who dodged him without looking.

With an elegant spin, he quickly attacked Erias instead, his green eyes locking onto different body parts, striking them with deadly precision. Whenever Erias moved his blade to block, Korvall's palm somehow found a way around it, landing a hit and shaking his opponent's soul to the core. It was something that surprised Erias as he could feel Korvall's strength... it was below Che or any of the other Supreme Elders, yet his technique and movements were on par... no, he was above them all. He was making Erias back away, forgoing aggressive attacks and shifting into a defensive position.

Lia wasn't just sitting there, either. The moment she recollected herself, she jumped in, attacking Korvall's back. With a wave of her hands, she summoned wind-blades, taking control of the strong element of air around them. Yet, once again, Korvall was seemingly ready. Greenish miasma appeared behind him with a low hum, blocking the attacks like a metal wall would thwart a blade, letting out loud, metallic clangs.

"Hmph!" Lia was ready for it this time, and when her wind blades exploded, she used their presence to bolster her blue flames, sending a blazing fireball forth.

This time, when it hit Korvall's energy shield, instead of exploding, it stuck to it as if her spell was made out of slimy, swamp-like water. It wasn't acting as any fire at all, more like a burning splash of glue, sticking to Korvall's energy, freezing and consuming it simultaneously. Feeling the change, the Grand Elder knew that Lia would get through sooner or later, and he couldn't keep up the pressure for long. Erias, although he was focusing on defending himself, was not in any immediate danger. The difference between their reserve energies was significant, and Erias would last way longer than he could.

"The Sect is your home; it is where you live and die. It is better to die than to become a traitor." Korvall whispered to himself, remembering one of the last teachings of his Master before his death, letting a small, peaceful smile appear on his face.

"Damn it!" Erias yelled, already feeling what was happening, exploding with all his four elements in response. "Hide!" He cried towards Lia, who had no idea what was happening but could infer it from the change in Korvall's soul and its fluctuations.

She quickly backed off, redrawing her mana, surrounding herself with three of her elements, and layering her defenses as fast as possible. Looking at Korvall's glowing essence, it was evident he would blow any moment now. Erias was not worried about the explosion or its effects on them; he was most troubled by the fact this could be easily picked up by others. It could punch a hole into the layer itself, which would more than not alert everyone, including the Soulbound's Master.

In his last moments, Korvall let out a final sigh, closing his eyes, placing his hands on his chest, remembering his Master... and then, he was gone. With a soundless explosion, his soul was torn to shreds, shaking the layer of the dead Yuya, throwing the cocooned Lia around like a lone leaf stuck in a typhoon. Erias, on the other hand, took the explosion and rabid waves of energy with his body. At the same time, his powers were stretched to their limits, surrounding the little realm itself, containing Korvall's last attack, not letting it punch a hole through and warn the others.

The repeated shockwaves demolished the empty palace, bouncing back and forth between Erias's seal like angry rams trying to get out from a pen. Still, instead of building blocks falling to the ground as their surroundings were destroyed, they reverted back into pure energy, creating new, violent storms, amplifying Korvall's last effort and making it even harder to keep it from bursting out.

Lia couldn't really tell what was happening, but she felt like being sent spinning, making her sick and green in the face, almost throwing up pure energy from her stomach. When it finally died down, she dispelled her defenses with a moan, feeling spent and exhausted. Looking around, everything was still covered in an unnatural darkness that sometimes flickered with golden light, making the cracks in space itself visible.

"Erias?" She asked, realizing how dry her throat was as she spent all her effort protecting herself.

"I'm fine!" Came the swift reply from everywhere around her. "There are still some aftershocks; I am keeping them from going out! Damn... the old bastard was quick to decide he would go out with a bang!"

"Yeah..."

"Disappointed?"

"I don't know what I feel..." Lia answered honestly, shrugging, watching as the cracks started to mend, one by one, disappearing after a few minutes.

"He was more dangerous than Che ever was!" Her ancestor chuckled as his powers slowly returned, revealing their surroundings, which were no longer a beautiful palace but a hodgepodge of swirling clouds of energy.

"What's that?" Lia asked suspiciously, watching a miniature, glowing sphere floating near them. After a closer inspection, it turned out to be two balls of light, one layering another, and before Erias could answer, she already realized what she was looking at.

"Two souls, well one and the other is simply a protective layer above the other. Probably Master and Disciple, if you ask me. What do you want to do? Eat it?"

"No," Lia answered immediately before blinking her eyes and looking at Erias, but he just smiled back at her.

"Respecting an enemy is not a bad thing, Lia. Throughout my life, I had people I fought and killed... Yet, I respected them in a way. I may have been unable to agree with their views or methods, but I could understand their beliefs, why they were doing things, and why they stood up to me. There is nothing strange in that feeling!"

"He was... still an Undead..."

"Yes, and we dealt with him. But you learned about him, didn't you?"

"And about their past. He seemed... honorable? Somewhat." She explained the same stories to Erias while watching the floating, glowing sphere.

"I see. Well... It is different to hear it from the mouth of someone who lived through it... but don't forget that it was them who signed the death warrant of our Meriath! It was they who almost killed us all!"

"I know... I know!" She sighed, looking at Erias, who was worse for wear, and she was just realizing it. Even though he already reformed his clothes and healed his bodily injuries, he looked fragile. "We should hide, even though you managed to contain it; I bet those who live here noticed it!"

"Don't worry about that! They are long dead!"

"The explosion?"

"Nope!" He waved a hand, sitting down, groaning a little, "I arrived here and right in the middle of a meeting between those who were stuck in here. Sooo... I quickly eliminated them all before they could sound any alarms!" With a snap of his fingers, hundreds of small souls appeared, all cleansed and ready for consumption. "They will come in handy in recovering!" There was no hesitation on his part, grabbing multiple, stuffing them in his mouth, healing the injuries that were not physical but left on his soul by Korvall's last attack.

"Then we are safe... yes?" Lia asked, walking next to her ancestor, sitting down, watching the soul of Korvall and Yima.

"We should be! I contained the explosion, so there should be no problems... And I don't need to find you either, ahaha! I hoped you would blend in easily; nice job!"

"It wasn't hard; I even sabotaged them a little!" She replied with a grin, telling him about her days in Kyaranin's layer.

"Good girl! Nice thinking! Now we just need to find Somia next! But she should be alright... Maybe she will find us first!"

"I hope... but a little rest does sound nice. I feel... exhausted..."

"It is your soul. The previous explosion was more harmful to the soul than anything else. The injuries on my body were because it made the energies here rampage... what truly hurts is invisible... but eat a little! It will help!"

"Maybe... later. You need them more than I do!" Lia chuckled, smiling at him before walking to the tiny sphere she was eyeing, and instead of consuming it, she pocketed the duo.

"What will you do with them?"

"I plan to release them into No-Space. Maybe they can reincarnate one day."

"Mmmh.... maybe. I don't really know how that works! But if you think that is the correct thing to do, I will support you!"

"Thank you..."

"This is how it should be! Follow your feelings!" Erias answered firmly, looking at the back of Lia, proud to have a descendant like her, "That is what will carry you far, believe me!"

...
....
......

"....?"

In the core of the Soulbound Sect, below a giant tree, Sect Master Lumamon slowly opened his remaining eye. The injuries covering his body were healing more rapidly than ever before as countless souls were streaming into his body from the tree behind him. Still... some things couldn't be replaced, like his missing eye. His unique gift from nature itself was not something that could be recovered once lost. Not even if he remade it from the energies of the Cosmos itself. Just like souls, there were parts of someone's being that were one and only.

"What... was that?"

He couldn't help but feel something happened. He couldn't pinpoint what or where, but there was something... He felt his soul squirm for a brief moment, jolting him out of absorbing the incoming souls and using them to heal and further his cultivation.

"Golden Claw? No... it shouldn't be." The first of his thoughts was to suspect his hiding enemies to make a move, but that was quickly thrown out. They had no chance of coming here and disturbing him. They should continue hiding in the Sea of Souls and only rear their cowardly heads once everything is settled...

"Their turtle-like method will be their downfall!" Lumamon sneered, but somehow, he could not shrug off the feeling something was happening. Something dangerous.

In the end, he couldn't help himself but send a mental message to Che and Laupa to return to and sweep through all the layers with his permission and check on their state. When Che brought up Erias, he quickly shot him down and now had an even stronger feeling welling up inside his body.

"Erias... that maggot... Is this because of him? What could he do to me? His strength is inconsequential to me. No... My intuition would warn me if not for something dangerous... what is that worthless soul planning to do? And why are there so few souls?!"

With an angry grunt, he decided to mentally contact Killieth. He had enough of dragging things out... He wanted to return and wanted to do it NOW.