Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 498: I won’t be modest anymore

Lucas’ expression hardened. "A kingdom falling isn’t enough."

"No," she replied. "To them, that is still within the natural order. Wars, destruction, even the fall of nations... these things do not warrant their intervention."

Lucas’ gaze sharpened further. "So the world has to be on the verge of ruin before they act."

She nodded once. "Yes. Only when the balance of the entire realm is threatened do they step in."

A silence followed, heavier now.

Lucas let out a quiet breath, his voice steady but edged with resolve. "Then we’re on our own."

The empress watched him, her expression calm, though there was a faint weight behind her eyes. "For now," she said.

Lucas looked back at her, his gaze unwavering. "Then we don’t wait for them," he said. "We move with what we have."

She held his gaze for a moment longer, then gave a slight nod. "That is the only choice you have."

Lucas’ voice lowered slightly as he spoke again. "If you create that barrier, even for a short time... it could give us what we need."

The empress did not answer immediately, but her silence was not refusal, it was consideration.

And in that moment, both of them understood the same thing.

Time, even a little of it, might be the difference between losing everything... and changing the course of the war.

The empress’ expression shifted slightly as the silence settled between them, not into uncertainty, but into something more restrained, as though she had reached a decision she could no longer postpone. Her gaze remained steady on Lucas as she spoke again, her voice calm but carrying a weight that changed the tone of everything she had said so far.

"I do not have much time left in the mortal world," she said.

Lucas’ eyes narrowed slightly, not interrupting, only listening.

She continued without hesitation, her composure intact. "My presence here is temporary by nature. Even now, I am already sustaining more than I should. This world cannot fully contain what I am, not indefinitely."

Lucas’ tone stayed even. "How long."

Her answer was honest, without embellishment. "Not long enough for prolonged war."

A brief silence followed, heavy but controlled.

Then she added, her voice lowering slightly, "Which is why I cannot afford to leave things unresolved."

Lucas studied her for a moment before speaking. "You said you can still act."

"Yes," she replied. "Even with only a fraction of my power, I remain the strongest being present in this world right now."

The empress continued, her tone steady but more deliberate now. "That strength is not meant to be idle. I cannot stay here, I have to correct what has gone out of balance."

Lucas’ gaze sharpened slightly. "The usurpers."

"And more," she said. "The abyss is only one consequence. The instability in this region, the fragmentation of kingdoms, the corruption that allowed forces like the usurpers to rise, all of it is connected."

Lucas remained silent, letting her continue.

Her eyes darkened slightly, not with anger, but with purpose. "Lechia is part of that imbalance," she said. "And it will not remain as it is."

Lucas understood immediately what she meant.

"You want to retake it," he said.

"I want to restore it," she corrected calmly. "Lechia belongs to its rightful order, not to those who exploit chaos."

Lucas did not respond immediately, his mind already moving through the implications, alliances, resistance, timing.

The empress’ gaze shifted slightly as she added, "But I cannot do this alone."

Her voice remained even, but there was clarity in it now.

"I will need the support of the remaining Valerion army," she said. "And I will need Blackmare."

Lucas’ eyes narrowed slightly at that name.

She noticed, but did not pause. "Valerion will follow because they have already seen what they have lost. Their loyalty is not in question. Blackmare is the variable."

Lucas exhaled slowly. "They still haven’t agreed to meet."

"No," she said. "And until they do, everything remains suspended."

A brief silence passed between them.

Lucas spoke quietly. "They believe they can stay behind their walls and survive what is coming."

"They believe many things," the empress replied, her tone calm. "Whether those beliefs hold or break will decide what comes next."

Lucas’ gaze remained fixed on her. "And if they refuse."

The empress did not hesitate. "Then they will isolate themselves from what is about to happen, and isolation will not protect them."

Lucas nodded slightly, understanding the implication without needing it spelled out.

The empress continued, her voice steady again. "For now, we wait for their reply. A meeting must be arranged. Not for persuasion alone, but for reality to be placed before them without distortion."

Lucas looked past her briefly, toward the direction of the command tent, toward the unfolding decisions of kings and commanders.

Then he returned his gaze to her.

"So everything depends on Blackmare’s answer."

Her reply was simple. "For now."

And in that single word, both of them understood that whatever came next would not remain confined to discussions for long.

Two days passed in a tense stillness that felt more like waiting for impact than actual time, and when the messenger finally arrived, the entire camp seemed to notice before the words were even spoken aloud. Lucas received the sealed reply first, his expression unreadable as he broke it open and read it to the king, and the moment he read through it once, then a second time, the answer was already clear without needing confirmation.

"No."

That was the response.

Not hesitation, not negotiation, not even conditional refusal.

Just rejection.

Blackmare had chosen indifference until consequences reached their borders.

Lucas closed the letter without reacting outwardly, though the air around him seemed to tighten slightly as he turned and made his way toward the empress without delay.

When he found her, she was already aware something was wrong.

Her gaze lifted the moment she saw him.

"Blackmare replied," Lucas said simply.

She did not ask what the answer was.

She only waited.

Lucas handed her the letter.

The empress read it once, her expression still composed at first, then a second time, slower, as if confirming that the meaning would somehow change if examined again.

It did not.

Silence followed.

Then her gaze shifted coldly.

Lucas noticed it immediately. "They refused the meeting," he said quietly.

The empress exhaled slowly, the breath controlled, but the stillness in her posture had already changed.

"They refuse," she repeated, her voice calm, too calm.

Lucas watched her carefully. "They said they will remain indifferent until the war affects them directly."

For a moment, she said nothing.

Then her eyes lifted slightly, and the pressure in the air subtly changed.

"They will remain indifferent," she said again, more slowly this time, as if testing the words.

Lucas did not interrupt.

The empress closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, the calm was still there, but now it carried something sharper beneath it.

"Valerion is down," she said quietly.

Lucas nodded once.

"Lechia is fractured," she continued.

Another nod.

"And Rus is caught in the same web," she added, her voice tightening just slightly.

Lucas’ gaze remained steady. "Yes."

The empress finally looked directly at him. "And Blackmare chooses indifference."

Lucas did not respond.

The silence that followed was brief, but heavy.

Then her expression shifted fully.

Not outward rage in the uncontrolled sense, but something far more contained, far more dangerous, like pressure building behind a sealed barrier.

"So while kingdoms fall," she said quietly, "they hide behind walls and call it survival."

Lucas’ voice was calm. "That is their decision."

Her gaze sharpened instantly. "It is not survival," she said, her tone still controlled, but edged now. "It is arrogance disguised as caution."

Lucas said nothing.

The empress turned slightly, looking past him as if seeing beyond the camp, beyond the land itself, toward Blackmare’s distant capital.

"They are not aware of what stands before them," she said.

Lucas replied evenly, "They do not believe it concerns them."

That earned a faint, humorless exhale from her.

"No," she said softly. "They do not."

Her gaze lowered briefly, and when she spoke again, her voice was quieter, but firmer.

"Valerion suffers under the abyss," she said. "Lechia is already destabilized, and Rus is weakening. And still they choose distance."

Lucas watched her carefully. "What are you going to do."

The empress looked back at him.

And for the first time since he had known her, there was no restraint left in her tone, only clarity.

"I will show them," she said.

Lucas did not react immediately.

She continued, her voice steady but absolute. "Not with words. Not with requests. Not with diplomacy."

A brief pause.

Then she added, "With power, i will breach their defenses effortlessl. I won’t be modest anymore."

The air around her shifted faintly again, as if responding to something deeper stirring beneath her composure.

"They will understand," she said quietly, "what it means to stand on the wrong side of a collapsing world."

Lucas studied her for a moment, then spoke carefully. "And if that pushes them further away."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"They will fold and succumb to my wrath," she said with visible anger.