Chapter 115

Soul Feast

Their power did not originate from themselves but stemmed from some supreme law.

Faced with these beings who relied on the dividends of ancient times to obtain the power of law, the wizards truly felt little reverence.

Therefore, when Fenrir revealed his identity, the soul bodies of all the wizards present lit up with excitement.

This was especially true for a few among them whose schools specialized in the mysteries of the body.

Had they not been in soul form, they would likely have already surrounded this legendary divine hound for a thorough "study."

Under such fervent gazes, Fenrir shrank his neck, once again feeling the terror of the wizarding community after three thousand years.

This terror did not stem from peak combat power like Theodosius, but from each wizard’s relentless pursuit of the unknown, magnified by their vast numbers.

If gods craved faith, then a wizard’s desire for knowledge surpassed even that.

This was the truly frightening aspect of the mighty power wielded by humanity.

"So what do we do now? We can’t possibly stay trapped on the banks of the Styx forever," Madam Vine drifted in front of Lucy, her ghostly blue soul flame flickering continuously.

Lucy gently stroked the fur on the back of the dog’s neck.

The shrunken divine hound was soft all over, like an exquisitely crafted pocket ornament.

"Actually, I already have a plan—since the God of Death wants to devour these souls, why don’t we start the feast first?"

Hearing this, Madam Vine was stunned, and asked uncertainly:

"You mean to eat the few of us?"

"No." Lucy shook her head. "All the souls. Not a single one left for the God of Death."

With only the souls of a dozen official wizards, it would be impossible to ascend to the quasi-divine level, let alone stand against the Chief Arbiter or open the Gate of the Dead to escape the realm of death.

Moreover, with over ten million souls moving sluggishly, a single ark could never carry them all.

Knowing that danger was fast approaching, the wizards exchanged only a few words before swiftly reaching a consensus.

Madam Vine extended her soul and patted Lucy on the shoulder. "You are truly worthy of Fernando's teachings. Go ahead."

"Everyone, rest assured. Soul Devour has already been verified by Senior Karen. Devouring twenty percent of the souls won't cause irreversible damage. Once we leave the realm of death, the worst it will cause is about half a month of weakness," Lucy explained.

A wizard among the crowd spoke out loudly, "We are already the dead. If we can use our souls to teach those ignorant false gods a lesson, then it's a death well worth it!"

The other wizards nodded in agreement.

"Come on, our souls are yours!"

Amid their resolute gazes, Lucy gave a solemn bow, then activated Soul Devour.

In an instant, only a dozen clusters of pure soul power remained on the riverbank.

"Inhale—"

Lucy took a light breath, and the soul power turned into white smoke that entered her sea of consciousness.

A flood of memory fragments surged in, but they were too chaotic to extract anything useful.

A terrifying wave of soul energy erupted from within Lucy.

Unlike when she had absorbed Karen, each of these official wizards had mental strength exceeding a hundred points, with some mid- and high-level wizards surpassing even five hundred.

The disparity in life tiers meant that a hundred points of mental strength in such individuals was worth hundreds of times more than the same amount in a weaker being.

As all this soul energy rushed into her sea of consciousness at once, Lucy’s mental strength began to rise at a staggering pace.

32.8, 40, 60, 100... the numbers soared like a runaway horse.

Finally, after breaking through the 400-point mark, her mental strength began to slow and stabilize.

Yet Lucy's perception kept expanding.

She felt her consciousness infinitely extending, able to perceive even the tiniest tremors of each grain of sand on both banks of the Styx.

Those once-blurry soul lights now appeared to her with finely detailed molecular structures—an intuitive leap brought on by the qualitative transformation of her mental strength.

Many witchcraft principles that had eluded her understanding back when her mental strength was in the thirties suddenly became crystal clear.

"So this is what it feels like to be a Tier-4 lifeform..."

Lucy looked down at her hands, now glowing with silver light, as tangible spiritual power flowed between her fingers.

In that moment, she suddenly understood why official wizards viewed apprentices as mere ants—this was a difference on the dimensional level.

Although 400 points of mental strength only barely marked the threshold of a mid-level wizard, the terrifying surge of power gained in an instant still intoxicated her.

"If I could surpass the 1000-point mark and reach the level of a Star Ring Wizard like Master Theodosius... what would that feel like..."

While Lucy was still immersed in the afterglow of her mental strength’s ascent, a scene on the riverbank caught the attention of many souls.

They didn’t understand the conversation between the wizards and Lucy—only that the outrageously beautiful silver-haired witch had suddenly erupted and devoured over a dozen powerful wizards.

And now, she was eyeing the millions of souls along both banks of the river with a look that suggested she still wasn’t satisfied.

Meiwa and Nure pushed through the crowd to reach Lucy.

The chubby one exclaimed in horror, "L-Lucy! Did you just... eat all the elders?!"

Lucy pursed her lips.

"Of course. It’s to fight the true god of the realm of death. Time is running out. I’ll explain everything once we’re back on the Wizard Continent."

With her mental strength now greatly enhanced, Lucy could faintly sense a terrifying pressure approaching.

There was no need to guess—that could only be Chief Arbiter Zoe, who was still hunting them.

Because many parts of the Styx lacked proper paths, this quasi-divine being’s pursuit route was far longer than the river’s.

Still, at the pace she moved, she should be arriving soon.

And according to the hound’s deductions, the one from the Sea of Eternal Slumber would likely soon learn that their "feast" had been hijacked.

At that thought, Lucy chose to hesitate no longer.

She grabbed Nure’s soul body and shoved it into her mouth amid his screams.

Beside her, little Meiwa immediately burst into tears.

Miss Lucy had eaten Nure!

When Lucy stuffed Meiwa into her mouth as well, the souls on the riverbank were consumed by fear, and panic spread like wildfire.

They screamed and scattered in all directions, but the sheer number of several million souls was far too immense.

Only those in the inner circle had actually seen Lucy "eating people."

They fled in a frenzy, but the souls further out, unaware of the situation, remained where they were, causing a massive pile-up.

Fortunately, soul bodies had no weight, so there was no risk of a stampede.

"Keh keh keh… you can’t escape the claws of the demon!"

Lucy knocked the hound on the head. "I’m not a villain—why are you doing voiceover?"

Without waiting for tearful Fenrir’s response, she cast Soul Devour once again.

With the boost of her 400-point mental strength, the spell now covered a vast area.

"Help!"

"She’s eating people—no wait, eating souls!"

At the edge of the Styx, the one-armed berserker bear Cliff turned his head at the commotion, just in time to see thousands of souls turning into green smoke and being devoured by Lucy.

His eyes widened as memories of the Tri-Tower Tournament and the terror Lucy had wrought there came rushing back.

Before being stuffed into Lucy’s mouth, Cliff used the last of his strength to shout at the other stunned souls:

"Run! The silver-haired demon is eating people! Aaaah—"

At Cliff’s hoarse, desperate cry, the souls finally snapped out of their shock.

And thus began a great escape, one doomed to fail.