Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 416: You will all die here today.

Ken stood with his hands calmly behind his back, his posture relaxed in a way that would have looked almost casual if not for the overwhelming aura radiating from him. The general stood slightly behind and to his side, his armor still bearing the marks from the brutal exchange he had shared with Lucas.

Then Celestial Ken smiled.

It was not a warm smile.

There was something sharp about it, something quietly contemptuous that made the gesture feel more like an insult than a greeting.

"So," Ken said slowly, looking from the King to Alexander before letting his gaze drift lazily toward Lucas.

"The brave rulers of Valerion have come to speak."

His tone was calm, but there was no mistaking the ridicule hiding beneath it.

"I must admit," he continued, "I expected you to hide behind your army a little longer."

The King did not react to the jab.

Commander Alexander’s expression hardened, though he held his tongue.

Ken seemed amused by the silence.

"Tell me," he went on casually, glancing briefly toward the distant ranks of Valerion soldiers standing across the valley, "are those men aware that they are about to die for a cause that has already failed?"

Still, no one answered.

Ken’s smile widened slightly as his eyes drifted back toward Lucas.

He had been studying him since they arrived.

The mask covering Lucas’ face hid his features well enough from an ordinary observer, but Celestial Ken was not an ordinary observer.

His gaze lingered there for several seconds.

Then something shifted in his expression.

The amused contempt slowly faded.

His eyes narrowed slightly as if he had just recognized something familiar.

Not the face.

The aura.

The faint distortion in the air around Lucas where spatial Qi naturally gathered.

Ken tilted his head slightly, studying him more carefully now.

"Well," he said slowly, "that is interesting."

The general beside him looked briefly toward Lucas as well, but he did not seem to understand immediately what had caught Ken’s attention.

Ken took one small step forward.

"You," he said.

His eyes were now locked directly on Lucas.

"I was wondering when I would see you again."

Commander Alexander glanced at Lucas briefly, confused by the sudden shift in the Celestial’s attention.

Ken’s earlier smile had vanished completely.

Recognition had replaced it.

Even with the mask covering Lucas’ face, Ken knew exactly who stood in front of him.

"I would recognize that spatial Qi anywhere," Ken said quietly.

Memories clearly passed through his mind as he spoke.

"The young cultivator who interfered in Lechia."

His voice carried just enough edge now to reveal that this recognition was not a pleasant one.

"You were the one who broke into the dungeon," he continued slowly. "The one who freed the captives."

His gaze sharpened.

"And the one who dragged the Empress out from under my nose after I had nearly finished dealing with her."

The general beside him stiffened slightly, finally understanding.

Ken’s eyes remained fixed on Lucas as if studying an old enemy he had not expected to see again so soon.

"I remember that day very clearly," he said.

"You nearly lost your life trying to save her."

There was a faint pause.

Then the Celestial’s expression slowly shifted back into a smile.

"And yet," Ken went on, glancing briefly toward the empty space behind the Valerion delegation as if expecting someone else to be standing there, "I do not see her anywhere on this battlefield."

His gaze returned to Lucas.

The contempt was back now.

Clear and deliberate.

"Tell me," Ken said, his voice carrying a quiet mockery, "where is the Empress you risked everything to save?"

Lucas remained silent.

Ken waited a moment.

When no answer came, the Celestial chuckled softly to himself.

"Ah."

His smile widened again, this time with unmistakable amusement.

"Perhaps she realized something that you have not yet accepted."

He looked briefly toward the distant Valerion army again before turning his attention back to Lucas.

The grin on his face sharpened.

"Perhaps," Ken said slowly, "she realized you are all fighting for a lost cause."

He let the words hang in the air between them.

Then he simply smiled.

The grin remained on Celestial Ken’s face for a few moments after his last words.

The valley was quiet again.

Wind moved faintly across the scorched ground, brushing over broken spears and fallen bodies that still lay scattered around them like silent reminders of the battle that had already taken place here earlier in the day.

Lucas stood still, his masked face hiding any reaction he might have shown.

Commander Alexander kept his eyes on Ken carefully, his posture rigid as if expecting the Celestial to attack at any moment.

The King remained composed.

Ken, however, was not done observing.

His gaze lingered on Lucas longer than necessary, as if there was something about him that refused to leave his attention. The faint distortions in the air around Lucas caused by spatial Qi were already enough to identify him, but Ken’s eyes narrowed slightly as he studied him further.

Then something else caught his interest.

Ken inhaled lightly.

It was a subtle movement.

Barely noticeable.

But his expression shifted almost immediately.

"Interesting," he murmured.

Lucas felt the change instantly. His senses sharpened beneath the mask, though he did not move.

Ken stepped a little closer, his gaze becoming far more focused now.

"You carry more than just spatial Qi," the Celestial said slowly.

His eyes moved across Lucas as though examining him layer by layer.

Then Ken smiled again.

But this time it was not contempt.

It was curiosity mixed with something darker.

"I knew that scent the moment the wind shifted," he continued calmly.

The general beside him frowned slightly, unable to follow what Ken was sensing.

But Ken understood perfectly.

His gaze sharpened on Lucas.

"Dragon fire," he said quietly.

Lucas did not respond.

Ken chuckled softly.

"Not ordinary dragon fire either," he added, his voice carrying a faint trace of amusement. "No. This is far more interesting than that."

He leaned forward slightly, studying Lucas more closely as if inspecting a rare object.

"The inferno of the Shadow Dragon. The one I placed in the abyss."

Commander Alexander’s eyes widened slightly at those words.

The King turned his head toward Lucas briefly, though he remained silent.

Ken’s smile widened as he saw their reactions.

"Yes," he said softly, as if savoring the discovery.

"It is still there."

His gaze rested on Lucas with clear interest now.

"Corrupt fire does not disappear so easily."

Lucas said nothing.

The Celestial folded his arms behind his back again, looking entirely relaxed despite the deadly weight of his presence pressing down on the valley.

"That inferno is eating away at you," Ken said calmly.

His tone was no longer mocking. It was almost instructional, as though he were explaining something obvious.

"Even now the residue clings to your core."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"It will burn slowly," he added.

"Slowly and patiently."

Lucas remained unmoving.

Ken tilted his head slightly.

"You may be strong now," he went on, his voice almost conversational. "But that fire does not fade."

The Celestial’s eyes gleamed faintly.

"It will continue eating away at your cultivation until the day your core collapses under its corruption."

A faint silence followed his words.

The general beside him glanced at Lucas with renewed interest now.

Ken’s smile returned.

"In time," he finished calmly, "you will cripple yourself without my help."

Lucas did not reply.

The King had heard enough.

His patience finally reached its limit.

"Enough."

His voice cut across the valley firmly.

Ken’s eyes slowly shifted toward him.

"We did not come here to listen to you lecture my soldiers," the King said coldly. "If you wish to discuss personal matters, do it elsewhere."

There was a brief pause.

The King stepped forward slightly, his gaze meeting Ken’s directly despite the crushing difference in their power.

"We came to speak about this war."

Commander Alexander straightened beside him.

Ken stared down at the King for a moment.

The amusement in his expression faded.

Completely.

His face became still and serious.

The shift in atmosphere was immediate.

The faint smile that had lingered around his lips disappeared as though it had never existed.

When he spoke again, his voice carried no humor at all.

He looked down at the King like a man observing something insignificant beneath his notice.

"You will die."

The words were spoken plainly.

Ken’s gaze slowly moved from the King to Alexander.

Then finally to Lucas.

"You will all die here today."

He paused briefly.

The weight of his presence seemed to press deeper into the valley as he finished speaking.

"Every last one of you."