CHAPTER 69: SOUL DOMAIN

An island hung mid-air and drifted slowly in the wind among clouds and birds.

This place was one of the few magical lands in the world but for that day in particular, it would serve as a battlefield for two titans.

Emperor Kai floated steadily in the air and opposite Soul King.

"You are an S-rank mage of one of the rarest affinities, yet you don’t know how to use your mana domain?" Emperor Kai spat out.

"And so today, I’m going to force your domain out of you." He completed as arcs of lightning flashed across his forearm.

Looking at the emperor, Soul King found itself fairly surprised.

"You want to help us get stronger?"

"What do you stand to gain?" Its head tilted to the side.

The electric arcs intensified. "I plan to use you to kill one of the Royal Magic and, as such, need you to be stronger." Emperor Kai revealed with no hint of deceit.

Grey energy started to swirl around Soul King and wind around Emperor Kai.

And then they began.

Kai disappeared.

Or so it seemed.

One second he was floating with that calm and slightly annoying smirk, and the next, he was right in front of Soul King, arm drawn back with a fist wrapped in condensed wind and lightning.

The air cracked as he threw his fist forward.

BOOM!

The strike connected, not to Soul King’s body, but to an invisible barrier.

Ripples spread through it like someone had thrown a stone into a lake.

Soul King blinked and took a step back, the shockwave still tugging at its dark robes.

"Your reaction time is good," Kai noted with his voice unbothered.

"But that defense won’t last."

Soul King raised one hand. Grey tendrils slithered out like snakes and lashed toward Kai in a blur.

He spun, wind curling around him like a cyclone, slicing through the tendrils before they could land.

He flicked his fingers, and a wave of lightning pierced through the air toward Soul King’s chest and it hit.

The blast cracked the air and scorched the sky.

Soul King staggered but remained afloat.

Smoke hissed from its chest, revealing dark skin beneath the robes but no blood, no burn.

Instead, a thousand faces underneath the skin were all screaming out in agony. This was Soul King’s real body.

"You’re not playing around," Soul King whispered.

"I told you," Kai’s eyes sparked, literally. "I’m here to push you to your limit. Or kill you trying."

The winds swirled and rumbled.

Kai shot forward again, spinning in a vortex of wind that formed a drill, lightning crackling around him.

Soul King raised both hands this time, grey energy forming thick chains that snapped forward like snakes and clashed against the lightning-drill with a force that sent shockwaves outwards.

CRASH!

The impact knocked both combatants backward.

Kai flipped mid-air, landing on a chunk of floating debris. His boots slid a bit from the momentum, but his grin stayed.

"You’re improving."

Soul King tilted its head, eyes flickering.

"You are relentless."

Chains of soul energy writhed like worms around Soul King.

Each chain carried memories, regrets, and emotions. They were the weight of countless lives taken, seen, or endured.

They weren’t just weapons but rather burdens sharpened into blades. They were his newest soul attack.

Kai wiped a smear of blood from his cheek, the static from his body hissing as it cauterized the cut.

"Good. Now try harder."

He slammed both palms together.

BOOM!

The storm above thickened, responding to his mana like a living thing.

Wind howled as a spiraling tornado formed around him, dragging debris and thunderclouds into his orbit.

In the center of it all, Kai floated like a focal point, his eyes glowing with wind-infused lightning - a strange orange-yellow mixture.

"You want to survive this? You better open that damn domain."

He hurled a spear of sharpened wind wrapped in crackling thunder.

Soul King raised both hands and for the first time... screamed back.

A shockwave of pure grey soul energy erupted from its core.

The spear collided with and exploded.

A grey pillar of energy left Soul King causing Emperor Kai to shield his eyes.

But when the smoke cleared, he saw it.

Soul King’s robes were torn. Its form glowed with a pale and shifting energy.

The energy around Soul King was different now. It felt thick, imposing, and heavy.

Its domain was forming.

A pulse ran out, then another, and even another until something changed.

Colors vanished and all noise faded. The floating island, the clouds, even Kai’s storm all turned to different shades of grey.

Now floating amidst floating grey energy, Emperor Kai knew what had happened.

"You’ve done it," Kai muttered. "You’ve manifested your domain."

Soul King appeared across from him, its body now brighter, more defined. The thousand faces had stilled, harmonized into one.

"Welcome to what we are."

Kai cracked his neck.

"You finally stopped hiding. Now let’s see who survives."

And they clashed again.

In this soulscape, every strike from Kai sent echoes of his past rippling through the grey. His childhood. His betrayal. His triumphs. Every time he gritted his teeth and kept moving.

Soul King met him blow for blow. The soul chains now moved swiftly, no longer still in their movements.

They slithered around him like sentient worms, striking not just his body but his memories, trying to unravel his convictions.

But Kai was the storm.

He unleashed a scream of pure wind magic and tore the energy beneath their feet.

They fell, clashing in mid-air, a mess of lightning, chain, and spectral force.

And somewhere in that chaos, Soul King laughed.

Emperor Kai froze for half a second. "Did you just-"

"We understand now," Soul King said.

Another pillar of energy left Soul King, but this one was far stronger than the last, as it conveyed something else entirely.

The energy released flew back into it and was absorbed only for the cycle to repeat itself again and again.

But each time, the energy that came out had a density significantly higher than the last until no more pillars came out.

Now Soul King hovered in the air with glowing grey wisps around him.

He was now an SS rank mage.