Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 278: The abyss 2

The crippled grandmaster watched the storm with a grim expression, his old eyes reflecting the flickering light of distant lightning. "It feeds on memory," he muttered, half to himself. "Every soul that looks back too long is swallowed whole."

At that, Seraphine looked at him with slight disgust. "Then we keep our eyes forward," she said. "No matter what lies inside."

The Empress glanced at her briefly, offering a faint nod of approval, and then raised her hand. The divine dome pulsed in response to her movement, its light brightening until the air hummed with celestial resonance. The mist hissed again, recoiling violently from the radiance. Then, with a single step, she crossed the threshold.

The instant her foot touched the blackened ground beyond the boundary, the storm shuddered. The dark winds howled and clashed against the dome, but the divine barrier did not falter. It expanded outward in a luminous arc, parting the raging mist, forcing apart the very fabric of corruption itself. The light and darkness collided, a deafening roar filling the air, but the path ahead cleared.

"Move!" Theron called, and the group followed close behind the Empress. The dome advanced with them, pushing the boundary’s fury aside.

Inside Lucas’s cloak, the Ice Belle stirred again, and for a moment, her soft glow intensified. The divine energy strengthened, and the dome responded by shining brighter, its edges sharp and clear against the darkness.

They pressed forward, eyes fixed on the faint glow ahead that marked the direction of Valerion. The storm screamed around them, clawing at the dome, but it could not pierce it. The divine energy held firm, separating corruption from purity.

The divine light of the dome shimmered softly, a fragile veil of brilliance within an ocean of darkness. Beyond its faint glow, there was nothing but the crackling bursts of lightning that tore through the void like veins of fury and the roar of the tormented souls.

Each flash of the lightning illuminated the twisted landscape around them...broken earth, writhing shadows, and distant silhouettes that looked almost human before vanishing into the mist again. The contrast between the celestial glow and the consuming blackness was enough to make them uneasy.

No one dared to imagine what it would feel like to step into that abyss without the protection of the divine light.

Nyx and Selene stayed close to Mirielle, their hands resting gently on her shoulders as she trembled. Her eyes were red from crying, but she kept them fixed on the faint outline of the Empress ahead. Nyx murmured softly, "Don’t look at what’s outside, Mirielle. Keep your gaze here...on the light. Nothing can reach us as long as we stay together."

Mirielle nodded weakly, clutching Selene’s sleeve. "I can still hear him," she whispered. "My father... I can hear him calling."

Selene’s face softened. "That isn’t your father anymore," she said quietly. "The darkness uses their voices. Don’t listen to it."

The younger girl took a deep breath, forcing herself to nod again, though the sound of the storm made her heart ache.

A few paces ahead, Lira walked beside the two Valerion guards who carried Lucas. The makeshift carrier swayed slightly with each step, but they kept their movements steady, careful not to disturb him. The Ice Belle peeked briefly from beneath his cloak, her wide eyes glowing faintly like a small blue star before she ducked back inside, clutching the fabric close around her tiny body. Lira watched the movement with quiet worry, her thoughts heavy but her expression calm.

Captain Varran and the Empress led the group from the front, their figures outlined by the shifting glow of the dome. Varran’s sword was drawn even though it would do little here; it was a habit he couldn’t let go of. Every few steps, he scanned their surroundings, though there was little to see beyond shadows twisting and dissolving in the light. "The storm thickens the further we go," he muttered. "Are we certain this path will hold?"

The Empress didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes were closed, her focus locked on maintaining the dome. A soft hum emanated from her fingertips as the divine energy pulsed outward in rhythmic waves. Finally, she said, "As long as the Ice Belle’s presence remains steady, the light will endure. But we must not stop. The darkness senses us...it presses harder the longer we linger."

Varran nodded, tightening his grip on his sword. "Then we keep moving."

Behind them, Seraphine and Theron guarded the rear. Seraphine’s eyes flicked toward the edges of the dome now and then, where flickers of movement teased her vision. "They’re watching us," she murmured.

Theron adjusted his cloak and grunted, "Let them watch. So long as they stay out there."

The loyalists moved in the middle of the formation, their faces pale but resolute. Some whispered prayers under their breath, though none truly believed it could help them here. The faint shimmer of the divine light reflected off their weary eyes, uniting them in shared fear and fragile hope.

______

They walked without a sense of day or night, for within that abyss, the concept of time had lost all meaning. The path ahead was a blur of endless shadow and twisted echoes, the black mist pressing close on every side. Their feet dragged across the ashen ground, their breathing shallow, their faces pale and hollow.

The Empress still led them from the front, her poise unbroken though her stride had slowed. Her once radiant eyes now shimmered with exhaustion, her hair clinging to her temples beneath her veil from the ceaseless pressure of the corrupted air. The light of the divine dome that surrounded them flickered like a dying flame, trembling every time the darkness surged against it. Yet she refused to let it go out. She had long stopped speaking, conserving every breath for the energy she poured into keeping them alive.

Behind her, the loyalists were in pitiful shape. One stumbled and had to be caught by another before collapsing. Their bodies trembled from hunger and fatigue, their eyes dull and glassy. They looked like wandering ghosts more than men.

Captain Varran’s voice was hoarse as he murmured, "We’ve been walking for... how long now?"

No one answered. Even the echo of his voice seemed to vanish into the gloom, swallowed by the suffocating darkness.

Seraphine wiped her face with a trembling hand. "It feels like we’ve been here forever," she whispered, her tone empty of strength. "There’s no end. No direction. Just walking... always walking."

Nyx looked around, her own face pale and drawn. "We can’t stop," she said quietly. "If we stop, it’ll find a way in." Her voice cracked, and she pressed her lips together to stop them from trembling.

Theron tightened his grip on the sword at his side. "Better to die moving than be devoured standing still," he muttered, though even his defiance sounded weak.

The Empress turned her head slightly. "We will make it through," she said softly, almost as though reminding herself as much as them. "We have to."

Two of the Valerion guards carried Lucas still, their steps faltering but steady. The Ice Belle nestled beneath his cloak remained serene, her faint glow pulsing in rhythm with the dome’s light. She had not moved for days...if days even existed here...but her presence was the only thing that seemed untouched by the despair around them.

The crippled grandmaster suddenly spoke. His voice rasped against the stillness, heavy with truth. "It is only by her divinity that we live," he said, nodding weakly toward the small creature hidden on Lucas’s chest. "Had it not been for her purity, the abyss would have consumed us long ago."

A long silence followed his words.

Theron’s jaw tightened. "Then let’s pray she never stops glowing," he said under his breath.

The Empress’s gaze lingered on Lucas’s still form. The faint blue radiance that leaked through the cloak shimmered weakly, almost fragile. "She won’t," she murmured. "Not as long as he breathes."