Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 414: Ken’s arrival

She lifted her hand slightly, feeling the flow.

"This will feed my domain," she said.

"Yes," Lucas answered. "And that is exactly what I need you to do."

She looked at him then.

"You finally have a plan."

Lucas leaned both hands on the table and met her gaze.

"I have a possibility," he corrected. "Not a victory."

She nodded slightly. "Explain."

Lucas pointed to the valley marked on the map.

"If Celestial Ken appears, he will not descend quietly. A cultivator of his level entering the battlefield will shake the entire area. The moment that happens, every soldier here will panic."

"That is expected," she said.

"But panic is not the problem," Lucas continued. "Time is."

He tapped the map again.

"You cannot defeat him."

The Ice Belle did not react to the statement.

She simply nodded once.

"That is correct."

Lucas continued.

"But you can stall him. If you spread your atmospheric domain and engage him directly, you can force him to focus on you."

Her eyes studied the map carefully.

"For how long do you need?"

Lucas hesitated for a brief moment.

"As long as you can give me."

She leaned slightly against the table, still studying the terrain.

"If he is cautious, perhaps a few minutes," she said thoughtfully. "If he decides to crush me immediately, then only a few exchanges."

Lucas nodded.

"That is enough."

Her gaze shifted back to him.

"For what?"

Lucas traced a line across the valley with his finger.

"I turned the valley into a trap earlier," he said. "But those traps were designed for armies. Not Celestial cultivators."

She watched him closely.

"So you intend to change the battlefield while we fight."

"Exactly," Lucas said. "But to make that easier, I have to make some preparations around the valley before he arrives. This will help you in the battle, making it easier for your domain to expand."

The Ice Belle was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"You want me to expand my domain across the entire valley."

"Yes."

"And while he focuses on breaking it..."

"You keep him occupied," Lucas finished. "You force him to commit to destroying your control of the atmosphere."

Her eyes sharpened slightly.

"And while he does that?"

Lucas lifted the second bracelet from the table and slid it onto his own wrist.

The runes flared faintly as it connected to the Core of Dominion.

"While he does that," Lucas said calmly, "I will use the Core of Dominion to rewrite the battlefield beneath him."

The Ice Belle watched him carefully.

"You are planning something dangerous."

Lucas gave a quiet breath that was almost a laugh.

"We’re fighting a Celestial," he replied. "Dangerous is the only option left."

She did not argue.

Instead she folded her arms slightly and considered the idea.

"The bracelet will amplify my control," she said slowly. "With the core feeding me, my domain will be far denser than before."

"That’s what I’m counting on," Lucas said.

Lucas did not waste another moment.

He pushed the map aside and stepped toward the entrance of the tent.

"Tom," he called.

Tom answered immediately from outside. "Yes?"

"Go find Volde and Bartho. Tell them I need them here now."

Tom did not ask questions. "Right away."

His footsteps quickly faded into the camp.

Inside the tent the Ice Belle remained where she was, leaning lightly against the table as if nothing urgent was happening at all. The bracelet on her wrist glowed faintly every few seconds as it synchronized deeper with the Core of Dominion.

Lucas used the time to go over the valley map again.

He traced several points along the slopes with his finger, calculating where the domain expansion runes would have the greatest effect. If they could create an extremely dense domain along the ridges and reinforce the ice domain across the valley floor, then even a Celestial would need to slow down when moving through it.

Not stop him...But slow him.

That was all Lucas needed.

Footsteps approached quickly.

The tent flap opened and Volde stepped inside first, Bartho following close behind. Both of them still wore the dirt and blood from the battle earlier.

"You called for us?" Volde asked.

Lucas pointed at the map immediately.

"Yes. I need both of you to move quickly."

They stepped closer.

Lucas began explaining while pointing to specific points on the terrain.

"Volde, I want your squad to place some domain expansion runes along the northern ridge of the valley. Not in one cluster. Spread them out in intervals so it’ll be effective."

Volde leaned closer, studying the markings. "That will help in the fight against Ken?"

"Exactly," Lucas said.

Then he turned to Bartho.

"You take the southern ridge. Place the domain expansion runes there, but don’t activate them yet. Leave them dormant until I give the signal."

Bartho frowned slightly.

Lucas did not bother hiding the truth.

"If Celestial Ken steps onto that field, we will need every advantage we can get."

Both men went quiet for a moment.

Volde was the first to nod.

"Understood."

Bartho cracked his neck once. "Then we’d better move fast."

"Very fast," Lucas said.

He was about to continue explaining the final part of the trap when something happened.

It started as a pressure...A sudden weight in the air.

The candle flames inside the tent flickered violently.

Lucas stopped mid sentence.

Volde looked up sharply.

Bartho’s hand instinctively moved to the weapon at his side.

Outside, the sounds of the camp shifted abruptly. Conversations cut short. Horses began stomping restlessly.

An overwhelming presence descended over the battlefield like a mountain dropping from the sky.

Every cultivator within miles felt it instantly....A Celestial aura.

Cold with terrifying authority.

Lucas’ chest tightened as the pressure slammed into him.

Volde cursed under his breath.

Bartho’s eyes widened slightly.

Even the Ice Belle straightened from the table.

Outside the tent, soldiers began shouting in confusion as the invisible weight pressed down on the entire camp.

Lucas slowly turned his head toward the entrance.

He did not need to step outside to know what had happened.

Celestial Ken had arrived, the timing could not have been worse.

Lucas felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his face. "Fuck me," he muttered quietly.

He had planned to prepare the valley first.

Lay the domain expansion runes and control the terrain.

Create the battlefield he needed.

Now the Celestial had stepped onto the board before any of it was ready.

Lucas wiped the sweat from his temple but more had already formed.

The aura alone made his instincts scream.

Even breathing felt uncomfortable under that pressure.

Volde looked at him. "What do we do now?"

Lucas remained still for a moment.

The truth was simple, they had no preparation, no domain expansion runes laid, no battlefield advantage.

Only the Ice Belle... and whatever improvisation Lucas could create on the spot.

He let out a slow breath.

"Well," he said quietly.

"That complicates things."

The pressure of the Celestial aura did not fade.

If anything, it grew heavier.

Lucas pushed open the tent flap and stepped outside, the Ice Belle moving beside him with the same calm composure she always carried. Volde and Bartho followed closely behind while Tom trailed them with uncertain steps, his eyes constantly scanning the sky as if expecting lightning to fall at any moment.

The moment Lucas stepped out into the open, the full weight of the presence pressed down on him.

It was suffocating.

The sky itself seemed darker, though there were no clouds. The wind that had been moving gently across the valley earlier had completely died, leaving the entire battlefield unnaturally still.

Every soldier in the camp had already stepped outside.

Thousands of men stood scattered across the ground, some gripping their weapons tightly while others simply stared across the valley with pale faces. Even the cultivators among them were tense, their senses overwhelmed by the sheer authority radiating through the air.

No one spoke loudly anymore.

Lucas scanned the field quickly.

From the larger command tent nearby, the King had stepped outside as well. His cloak moved slightly as he walked forward, flanked closely by Captain Varran and Commander Alexander. Both of them looked far less composed than the King tried to appear.

They were all looking in the same direction.

Across the valley.

Lucas followed their gaze.

There they were.

The usurpers army stood assembled on the opposite side of the valley, their formations stretching across the slopes and the valley floor just as they had earlier during the battle. But now the atmosphere around them was completely different.

Confidence radiated from their ranks.

Many of the soldiers stood straighter than before. Some were even smiling.

Smug smiles.

Lucas could see it clearly even from this distance.

He did not blame them.

Their formation had parted near the center of the enemy line, leaving a wide open space as if making way for someone far more important than the rest of them.

And in that space stood a single figure.

Even from this distance Lucas could feel the crushing force pouring from him like an endless tide.

Celestial Ken.

The pressure in the air was not just strong.

It was absolute.

The earth itself seemed to acknowledge him.

A few soldiers near Lucas shifted nervously under the weight of it, their breathing uneven. One young recruit dropped to a knee without realizing it, his body instinctively reacting to the overwhelming presence.