Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 412: Reaching out to the Empress 2

Lucas held the connection for a few seconds longer.

He could feel the depth beyond that barrier.

Feel how immense she was, even in silence.

And that was exactly why he didn’t push further.

If he forced his way deeper into her seclusion, he could disrupt her cultivation. At her level, even the slightest disturbance during a breakthrough could cause deviation. Internal collapse. Permanent damage.

He wasn’t desperate enough to gamble her life for reassurance.

So he let go.

He withdrew gently, severing the extension of his consciousness before the resistance could react again. The warmth in his chest dimmed back to its usual faint pulse.

Lucas stayed seated for a moment, staring at nothing.

Then he exhaled slowly and ran a hand through his hair.

"She’s still sealed..." he muttered. No sign she would emerge in time.

That meant one thing.

If Celestial Ken stepped onto that battlefield, there would be no equal to stop him.

Lucas leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, fingers interlocked.

For the first time since the battle began, the weight of it all pressed down fully.

They had outmaneuvered an army nearly twice their size.

They had poisoned supply lines, shattered formations, killed a third-stage Sage General.

They had done everything right.

And none of it would matter if a Celestial chose to descend.

He let out a short, humorless breath.

"We’re fucked."

Unless something changed, unless she broke seclusion on her own, unless Celestial Ken chose restraint for reasons beyond strategy...

Valerion’s earlier victory was just a delay before extinction.

Lucas straightened slowly.

Despair was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

If divine intervention wasn’t coming, then they would have to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Contingency plans for buying time against a being they couldn’t defeat.

If they were going to fall...

They would at least make it costly.

Lucas rose from the mat, pain flaring through his side as the bandages pulled tight.

The tent flap opened without warning.

Henrietta entered first, Nyx followed close behind, visibly tense. Selene and Lira came together, their expressions tight with worry. The Ice Belle walked in at her usual unhurried pace. Tom slipped in last, still holding a carving knife in one hand and a half-eaten roasted bird in the other, clearly having rushed over the moment he heard.

They all stopped when they saw Lucas standing.

For a brief second, no one spoke.

Lira folded her arms tightly across her chest as if to steady herself. "And?" she pressed. "How’re we going to go about Ken, You’ve been thinking since the battle ended. You always think of something."

Lucas let out a slow breath.

"I tried reaching her."

They understood who he meant without him needing to say it.

Henrietta’s eyes sharpened slightly. "And?"

"She’s still in seclusion," Lucas said. "There’s a barrier around her cultivation. I could feel it. I didn’t push."

Selene stepped closer. "But she’s still connected to you, right? She hasn’t severed anything."

"She hasn’t," Lucas replied. "The bond is intact."

That should have been comforting.

It was not.

Henrietta searched his face carefully. "So what are you not saying?"

Lucas did not hesitate.

"If Celestial Ken comes himself," he said evenly, "there is nothing I can do."

The words landed like a physical blow.

Tom slowly lowered the roasted bird from his mouth.

Nyx’s fingers curled at her sides.

Lira stared at him as if she had misheard.

Selene’s voice came out softer than she intended. "Nothing?"

Lucas shook his head.

"I fought a third stage Sage today and nearly tore my own meridians apart doing it. A Celestial realm cultivator is not just stronger. It’s a different plane entirely. If he steps onto this battlefield and decides to act, I will most likely be killed in an instant."

They all knew Lucas.

They had seen him improvise against impossible odds. They had watched him twist the battlefield into traps and turn certain defeat into overwhelming victory. More than once, he had calmly explained how a situation that looked hopeless was actually manageable if approached correctly.

When Lucas said there was a way, there was always a way.

But when he said there wasn’t...

Henrietta closed her eyes briefly and nodded once.

"Then that’s it," she said quietly. "If you say there’s no way, then there isn’t."

Nyx did not argue. She simply stepped closer to him, her gaze steady. "Then we prepare to die fighting," she said without drama.

Lira swallowed hard. "Or we evacuate the soldiers, buy time, and live to fight another day. If you can’t win, then we delay."

Selene looked at Lucas, and there was something in her expression that hurt more than panic. It was acceptance. She knew him too well to hope for hidden optimism.

"You’re not afraid of dying," she said softly. "You’re afraid of all of us dying with you."

Lucas did not answer.

He did not need to.

Tom finally found his voice. "So that’s it? If this Ken shows up, we’re finished?"

"Yes," Lucas said plainly.

Tom nodded once. Not in surrender, but in understanding.

Then a crisp sound interrupted the tension.

Crunch.

Everyone turned.

The Ice Belle stood near the table, casually tearing another piece of roasted bird from the skewer Tom had brought. Grease glistened faintly on her fingers. She chewed thoughtfully, completely unbothered by the weight in the room.

"You are all very dramatic," she said after swallowing.

Henrietta blinked. "Dramatic?"

The Ice Belle nodded lightly. "You speak of this Ken as if he is already standing outside the tent."

Lucas watched her carefully. "He’s formidable, there’s nothing we can do right now."

"No," she replied, taking another bite. "He’s formidable but we can stop him. I think he might be interesting."

"Interesting?" Lira repeated incredulously.

The Ice Belle tilted her head slightly. "I have not fought a true Celestial."

The tent went very quiet.

Tom slowly lowered the carving knife.

Nyx narrowed her eyes. "You’re not concerned?"

The Ice Belle shrugged lightly. "Concerned? No. Curious? Very."

Selene stared at her. "He could wipe this entire valley out."

"Perhaps," the Ice Belle said calmly. "Perhaps not."

Lucas stepped forward slightly. "You’re speaking as if you intend to fight him."

She looked at him then, really looked at him, and a faint smile touched her lips.

"If he comes," she said, "I would very much like to meet him."

Tom blinked. "Meet him? That’s what you call it?"

She licked a bit of grease from her thumb, entirely unbothered. "You all assume you are alone against him. That is your first mistake."

Lucas held her gaze.

"Explain," he said quietly.

She studied him for a moment longer, then spoke without theatrics.

"You measure yourselves against him and find the gap too wide. That is correct. You cannot close it alone." She paused, then added, "But you are not alone."

Henrietta frowned. "Are you saying you can stand against a Celestial?"

The Ice Belle did not answer immediately. Instead, she finished the last piece of the roasted bird and handed the bare skewer back to Tom.

"I am saying," she replied calmly, "that I am looking forward to seeing whether he lives up to his reputation."

Tom stared at the empty skewer in his hand.

Lira let out a slow breath. "You’re insane."

"Possibly," the Ice Belle said with a small shrug.

Lucas felt something shift in the room.

It was not hope.

Not yet.

But it was no longer pure despair either.

He studied her carefully. She was not boasting. Not posturing. There was no arrogance in her tone.

Only certainty.

And that unsettled him more than panic would have.

Henrietta finally crossed her arms and looked at Lucas. "Well. Either we’re doomed or we’re about to witness something absurd."

Nyx allowed the faintest hint of a smile. "Both can be true."

Selene stepped closer to Lucas and gently touched his hand. "You said there’s nothing you can do," she murmured. "But maybe that doesn’t mean there’s nothing anyone can do."

Lucas looked at each of them again.

They trusted him completely.

And now, strangely, they were placing a sliver of that trust in the Ice Belle as well.

He exhaled slowly.

"Then we prepare for both outcomes," he said at last. "Evacuation plans remain in motion. Defensive arrays are reinforced. And if Celestial Ken steps onto this battlefield..."

He looked at the Ice Belle.

"...we’ll see what happens."

She smiled faintly, as if that was exactly what she had been hoping to hear.