Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 275: Crossing the boundary

The moment the crippled grandmaster’s final words faded into the misty silence, every gaze turned at once toward the small figure sitting quietly near Lucas’s still form.

The Ice Belle.

She was perched on the ground, her tiny hands clutching the hem of Lucas’s robe, her eyes gleaming faintly with that otherworldly light that had unsettled and awed them all before. It took only a heartbeat for the connection to click in everyone’s mind...the black mist ahead of them, the one that even the crippled grandmaster had called suicide to cross, was born of corruption. And she, the Ice Belle, carried a divine energy so pure it could scatter corruption like light dissolving shadow.

Mirielle was the first to speak. "She... she might be the key," she whispered, her voice trembling with cautious hope.

Theron exhaled sharply, rubbing his temple. "That’s madness," he muttered, though even he didn’t sound convinced. "She’s just a child."

"But her aura," Lira interjected, her eyes still fixed on the little being, "we all saw what she did back in the mountain settlement. The black mist there faded the moment she touched the corrupted soil. Not even the strongest purifying flame could do that. If we can find a way for her to hold the corruption back..just long enough for us to pass through...maybe..."

Her words trailed off, but the thought lingered in the air.

The crippled grandmaster gave a grim chuckle. "So you would trust your fate to a little creature." he said. "You overestimate purity, and underestimate how darkness reacts to light."

Nyx shot him a glare. "And what would you have us do? Sit here until the mist swallows us too?"

He didn’t answer, only lowered his head slightly as if he already knew where this discussion would lead.

The Ice Belle, sensing the sudden tension, tilted her head curiously at the group staring at her. Her tiny brows furrowed, and she made a small, almost impatient sound, like a faint hum of frost through air. Then, seeing all eyes fixed on her, she suddenly shuffled backward and hid herself in Lucas, pressing her face into his chest.

"She’s hiding," Mirielle said softly, almost amused despite the grimness of the moment.

"Of course she is," Nyx replied. "You all look like you’re about to sacrifice her."

The Empress stood a short distance away, her gaze unreadable. For all her composure, even she felt that strange pull of hope and uncertainty twisting inside her. "She’s afraid," she murmured. "And I can’t blame her. She doesn’t even understand what we’re saying."

Lira crouched slowly, her voice gentle. "Hey, little one... we need your help, do you understand?"

The Ice Belle peeked out slightly, blinking at her with wide crystalline eyes before quickly burrowing herself deeper into Lucas’s robe. A faint shiver of frost passed through the air, like a warning.

"She only responds to him," Mirielle said after a moment. "It’s been the same since the beginning. Even when she’s upset or when we try to feed her, she listens only if Lucas says something. It’s as if she... recognizes only him."

"That’s a problem," Varran muttered. "Because your precious ’key’ is hiding in the arms of a man who hasn’t opened his eyes for days."

The crippled grandmaster gave a short, dry laugh. "Then your hope lies in both the helpless and the uncomprehending. The heavens must be laughing at you right now."

His tone earned him several hostile looks, but he didn’t seem to care.

The Empress turned away from him, her gaze falling once again on Lucas’s unconscious form. The Ice Belle had now nestled completely beneath his cloak, her small, shimmering hand clutching the fabric tightly as though she could feel the faint trace of his presence even in his stillness. A faint mist of cold air rose around her, harmless yet radiant.

The sight stirred something uneasy in the Empress’s chest. "If she truly is the only one who can move through that corruption," she said quietly, "then everything depends on whether she understands what must be done. And right now, she understands nothing."

"She doesn’t even speak," Nyx added with a sigh. "The only things she knows are how to eat and how to cause trouble. How are we supposed to make her understand that she needs to save us?"

No one answered. The silence that followed was heavier than before, weighed down by the realization that their only hope was a toddler-like being of divine energy who could neither form words nor comprehend the danger ahead.

The Ice Belle stirred slightly under Lucas’s cloak, letting out a faint cooing sound before settling again, her presence radiating a soft, serene cold.

The Empress closed her eyes as if listening to something only she could hear, and when she opened them again there was a calm in her voice. "She does not need to do anything," she said, speaking slowly so everyone could follow the thought as it formed in her mind. "Her presence alone, if amplified properly, can push the rot back as it did at the mountain settlement. If I bind my celestial essence to her and weave it outward, the Ice Belle’s purity will be magnified until it blankets the whole company. She will not have to understand words. She will only need to be near Xavier and feel safe, and I will lend her the understanding of a grown divinity for as long as it takes."

Seraphine’s eyes widened and then narrowed in fierce calculation. "You mean you will channel your power through her," she said, the words tasting of awe and danger at once, "so that she becomes the focus of a protection field broad enough to carry all of us through."

"Yes," the Empress replied, her tone not boasting but measured as she weighed the consequences in every syllable, "but it will cost me. Amplifying another being’s divine energy at this scale is not a small act; it will drain my reserves and leave me vulnerable. I cannot sustain it as long as I might like, and there is no guarantee that the boundary will not react."

Captain Varran stepped forward and lowered his voice when he spoke, the commander in him insisting that the Empress grasp each tactical risk. "Your Majesty, if the Empress expends herself and the barrier only holds for seconds, we will be exposed mid-crossing. We need a plan for the worst case, and we need to time it perfectly with the scouts’ reports. If your strength wanes, we must be ready to pull everyone back to the nearest safe ground."

Nyx, who had been watching the subtle change in the Empress’s expression with quick, hungry interest, moved closer and said without hesitation, "Then we time it. We keep formation, we keep pace, and we do not slow. I will freeze any tendrils of mist that try to reach us during the crossing."

Selene added, sharp and practical, "And we will have someone watching the rear to signal if the field breaks. if the boundary surges unpredictably, we must know instantly and respond."

The crippled grandmaster, who had been cynical and distant for a while now, gave a slow nod that acknowledged both the peril and the necessity of the plan. "It is a gamble that rides on the nobility of a child and the devotion of a queen," he said, his voice rough with years and regret, "but if the Empress can bind her power in the way she claims, then this is the only chance any of us have to reach Valerion without being consumed."

The Empress turned to look at the Ice Belle, who now poked a small head out from beneath Lucas’s cloak and blinked, unsure of the sudden attention. The Empress spoke to her in a soft cadence meant to soothe, a cadence that reached for the Belle’s simple comfort. "Little one," she murmured, kneeling close but keeping her hands open to show no threat, "we need you to be with us. Stay near Xavier. I will wrap you in my light and hold you steady. Trust me for a moment, and I will keep you safe."

The Ice Belle cocked her head, emitting a small chime that sounded almost like agreement. She shuffled forward a fraction and then retreated, but not as far as before, and her tiny fingers curled around the hem of Lucas’s robe with a grip that betrayed a flicker of curiosity rather than fear.

Captain Varran, looking to every leader’s eye in turn, gave the order that framed the ordeal with cold clarity. "We mark the route now. The scouts move ahead to find the shortest crossing, they return with a signal, and then the Empress binds." He paused and fixed the Empress with a look tempered by respect and concern. "We do this once and we do this right."