Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 361: This is bad

She took a slow breath, drawing her Qi inward as power surged through her meridians, and her presence changed instantly, the air around her becoming dense and oppressive as her cultivation flared without restraint.

"This is where I step in," she said, her tone resolute and unyielding as she unsheathed her weapon and began walking forward, placing herself squarely between the injured ice belle and the approaching dragon. "She’s done enough. The rest is on me."

Behind her, the soldiers obeyed without hesitation, resuming their desperate push toward the portal, while Henrietta advanced alone into the shadow, fully aware that from this moment onward, she would be the one standing against the fury of the abyss.

Henrietta broke away from the formation without hesitation, her body lifting from the ground as flames spiraled around her feet and carried her into the air, her eyes locked onto the massive shadow dragon that was already surging forward with murderous intent toward the fallen ice belle.

The distance between them closed rapidly, yet no matter how fiercely Henrietta pushed her Qi, she could feel it immediately that she was being outpaced, the abyss itself responding to the dragon’s presence and granting it a terrifying advantage that no amount of willpower could fully overcome.

"So this is your domain," Henrietta muttered under her breath, her jaw tightening as she strained forward, the oppressive darkness pressing against her senses like a living thing that resisted her every movement. "Then I will burn through it."

She drew both hands together, her cultivation roaring to life as fire Qi condensed violently between her palms, the heat distorting the air around her as the flames grew denser and brighter, swelling until the blazing mass became the size of a massive house and illuminated the abyss in furious orange light.

Henrietta thrust her arms forward and released the attack with a sharp exhale, the massive fireball screaming through the air and colliding directly with the dragon’s torso, detonating in an explosive bloom of flame that briefly swallowed its shadowed form entirely.

For a heartbeat, the surrounding trembled.

Then the flames dispersed.

The dragon emerged from the inferno unharmed, its scales barely scorched, its massive body cutting through the dying embers as if they were nothing more than warm mist. The impact had not wounded it, nor even slowed it, but it had succeeded in something else. . It had enraged it.

A deafening roar tore through the abyss, the sound vibrating through bone and spirit alike as the dragon turned its massive head away from the ice belle and fixed its gaze squarely on Henrietta, its single unblinded eye burning with violent intent.

A low, rumbling growl echoed from its throat, filled with fury, as if offended that a mere sage realm cultivator had dared to interrupt what it considered a personal reckoning.

Henrietta felt the pressure immediately.

The dragon’s aura crashed into her like a tidal wave, forcing her to grit her teeth as her flames wavered under the sheer weight of its presence, and in that instant she understood the harsh reality of her situation with chilling clarity.

Even at the Sage Realm, even with her mastery over fire, she was fighting on hostile ground against a creature that had ruled this abyss since it was created, and in its own domain, the advantage it held was overwhelming.

"This won’t be easy," she said quietly, her voice steady despite the danger as she raised her guard and positioned herself between the dragon and the injured ice belle. "But I won’t let you reach her."

The dragon answered her resolve with another furious roar, its wings beating violently as it prepared to strike, and Henrietta knew without illusion or pride that while she could fight it, and perhaps delay it, she was standing against an opponent that could very well overpower her here.

Henrietta pressed on regardless of the growing imbalance, her body moving through the air with fierce determination as she hurled wave after wave of blazing fire toward the shadow dragon, each attack born from sheer will rather than confidence of victory, because she already knew she was being pushed steadily toward defeat.

The dragon answered her defiance by drawing in a deep breath, the darkness around its maw compressing unnaturally before erupting outward as a torrent of blue inferno fire that carried an alien chill within its heat, a flame that did not merely burn flesh but gnawed at Qi itself, eroding her defenses the moment it made contact.

Henrietta screamed in pain as she twisted aside, the edge of the inferno grazing her shoulder and ripping through her protective aura as if it were paper, the searing agony forcing a gasp from her lips while the fire clung to her like a curse that refused to be extinguished.

She tried to suppress it with her own flames, forcing her fire Qi outward in desperate bursts, yet every attempt only confirmed the horrifying truth that her element was being devoured, overwhelmed by the dragon’s inferno as though her cultivation was being mocked by something far older and far more terrifying.

"So this is how it feels," she muttered through clenched teeth, sweat and blood trailing from her body as she steadied herself midair, her breathing ragged while the dragon circled her slowly, confident now, savoring the hunt. "To be completely outmatched."

Another surge of blue fire came crashing toward her, and this time she barely managed to shield herself, the impact sending her hurtling backward through the abyss until she slammed into the ground with bone shaking force, the pain exploding through her body as cracks spread beneath her feet.

She struggled to rise, her vision blurring as her cultivation wavered dangerously, the realization sinking in that she could not endure much more of this, and yet her eyes flicked instinctively toward the distant form of the ice belle, still down and vulnerable, and that alone forced her back into motion.

At the other end of the abyss, far beyond the portals and the frozen tunnels of passage, Lucas suddenly staggered in place, his heart lurching violently in his chest as a crushing wave of panic and pain surged through the bonds he shared with them, so sharp and vivid that it stole his breath.

His expression changed instantly, color draining from his face as he pressed a hand against his chest, his mind filling with flashes of burning blue fire, overwhelming pressure, and the unmistakable sensation of the ice belle’s life force wavering alongside Henrietta’s rapidly weakening resolve.

"No," he whispered hoarsely, his voice trembling as he steadied himself, dread flooding his senses. "This is bad."