Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 595: Back to life 2

The final folds of the ceremonial burial cloth were carefully arranged.

The attendants stepped back in respectful silence.

Lucas now lay fully prepared according to the ancient funeral rites of Lechia.

The sarcophagus had already been brought into the chamber.

Carved from pristine white stone and adorned with the imperial crest, it rested only a few paces away, its lid standing open.

The guards assigned to carry Lucas approached solemnly.

One of them bowed his head.

“For the hero of Valerion, Lechia, Rus, Blackmare and other kingdoms…”

he whispered.

The chamber fell into complete silence.

Then…

Lucas’s chest suddenly expanded.

He drew in one enormous, desperate breath.

“GHHHAAAH!”

The sound shattered the silence.

Every candle in the room seemed to flicker at once.

The attendants froze.

One of the guards stumbled backward so violently that he fell onto the floor.

The elderly servant preparing the final rites nearly dropped the ceremonial vessel from his hands.

Every pair of eyes snapped toward the table.

Lucas’s chest rose.

Then fell.

Rose again.

His fingers twitched.

His eyelids trembled.

“…”

No one moved.

No one even breathed.

It was impossible.

He had died.

They had witnessed it.

His neck had been broken before the eyes of an entire empire.

The bond the girls had shared with him had vanished.

Even the healers had confirmed there was no life left within him.

He had been dead.

Dead.

And yet…

His eyes slowly opened.

A sharp gasp escaped his lips as though he were breathing for the very first time.

He stared blankly at the ceiling.

His pupils struggled to focus.

The chamber remained frozen.

An attendant whispered with a trembling voice,

“…Impossible…”

Another servant made the sign of blessing instinctively.

“No…”

he muttered.

“This cannot…”

One of the royal guards slowly took a hesitant step backward.

“I watched him die…”

The words barely escaped his lips.

“I watched him…”

Another simply stood rooted to the spot.

His sword slipped from his trembling hand and clattered loudly against the floor.

No one even looked toward it.

Their attention remained fixed entirely upon the man who had returned from death itself.

Lucas slowly blinked.

Air rushed painfully into his lungs again.

He coughed violently.

His body instinctively tried to sit upright.

That single movement finally broke the paralysis gripping the room.

“Xavier!”

Lira screamed.

It was not a cry of grief this time.

It was one of overwhelming joy.

Without a second thought, she threw herself toward him.

Selene was right behind her.

“By the gods…you’re alive!”

Princess Nyx’s tears became tears of relief as she rushed forward.

Henrietta laughed and cried at the same time.

“I knew it!”

“I knew you wouldn’t leave us!”

Even the Ice Belle abandoned every trace of her usual restraint.

She reached the table almost as quickly as the others.

The five of them surrounded Lucas before anyone else could react.

Lira gently supported his shoulders as he struggled to sit upright.

Selene wrapped an arm around his back to steady him.

Princess Nyx cupped his face with trembling hands as if reassuring herself that he was truly there.

Henrietta was already pulling away the burial cloth.

“Get this off him!”

she exclaimed through happy tears.

“He’s alive!”

The attendants remained too stunned to object.

The ceremonial wrappings that had only moments ago been prepared for a corpse were hurriedly loosened and removed.

The white burial cloth slipped away from Lucas’s shoulders.

The ornate funeral bindings were untied one after another.

The girls worked frantically, almost laughing through their tears.

“No more funeral clothes!”

Henrietta declared.

“We’re never letting you wear these again!”

Selene continued crying openly.

She kept touching Lucas’s arm, his shoulder, his face, terrified that if she stopped, he might disappear again.

Lira buried her face against him.

“You idiot…”

she sobbed.

“You scared us…”

“You scared all of us…”

Princess Nyx could not stop smiling despite the endless tears flowing down her cheeks.

“You came back…”

she whispered.

“You actually came back…”

The Ice Belle quietly rested a trembling hand over Lucas’s heartbeat.

She closed her eyes.

There it was.

Strong.

Steady.

Alive.

For the first time since the arena…

She could feel him again.

The bond that had vanished had returned.

It was unmistakable.

She slowly opened her eyes.

A faint smile—small, genuine, and filled with relief—appeared on her face.

Around them, the servants and guards remained speechless.

Some fell to their knees.

Others stared in open disbelief.

One elderly attendant whispered with tears streaming down his face,

“A man…”

“…has returned from death.”

The words spread through the chamber like wildfire.

No one present could explain what they had witnessed.

No scripture.

No legend.

No historical record spoke of a man who had truly died…

Only to awaken moments before being laid to rest.

The impossible had happened.

And every soul in that room knew they had just witnessed a miracle beyond mortal understanding.

The moment Lucas’s heart began beating once more…

The bond returned.

It did not return gradually.

It came all at once.

Like a brilliant flame reigniting after being thought forever extinguished.

Elsewhere in the Imperial Palace, the Empress remained seated alone in her private chamber.

Her eyes were swollen from endless tears.

She had not moved for what felt like hours.

Her hands rested weakly in her lap as she silently stared at the floor.

Then—

Her body suddenly stiffened.

She felt it.

The bond.

For a single heartbeat, she thought her grief had driven her into madness.

She slowly raised her head.

“No…”

she whispered.

The warmth she had mourned only moments earlier was there again.

Faint.

Yet unmistakable.

Lucas.

She could feel him.

The familiar connection that had vanished in the arena now pulsed within her heart once again.

Her eyes widened.

“Impossible…”

The bond grew stronger.

Stronger.

Until there could be no doubt.

Tears instantly filled her eyes again.

This time…

Not from grief.

Without another thought, she vanished.

BOOM!

The floor beneath her feet cracked as she accelerated.

She shot through the palace corridors with such unimaginable speed that servants only felt a violent gust of wind rushing past them.

Many never even saw her.

Doors flew open before she reached them.

Curtains billowed violently in her wake.

Royal guards barely had time to bow before she had already disappeared around the next corner.

Only one thought remained in her mind.

Xavier.

Moments later—

The doors to the chamber burst open.

BANG!

Everyone instinctively turned.

The Empress stood in the doorway.

Her breathing was uneven.

Her eyes searched frantically.

Then…

She saw him.

Lucas.

Sitting upright upon the stone table.

Alive.

Speaking weakly with the girls gathered around him.

For a moment…

She simply stared.

She couldn’t move.

She couldn’t breathe.

She feared that if she blinked…

The vision would disappear.

Lucas slowly looked toward the doorway.

Their eyes met.

He gave her a weak smile.

“Your Majesty…”

That was all it took.

The Empress rushed forward.

She closed the distance in an instant.

Without caring about protocol.

Without caring about the countless servants watching.

Without caring that she was the ruler of an empire.

She threw her arms around Lucas.

Holding him as tightly as she could.

Her entire body trembled.

Fresh tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks.

“You’re alive…”

she whispered.

Her voice broke.

“You’re alive…”

She repeated the words again.

And again.

Almost as though saying them would make them more real.

Lucas slowly returned the embrace.

“I’m sorry…”

he said softly.

“I worried everyone.”

The Empress immediately shook her head.

“No.”

Her voice trembled.

“No.”

She pulled back just enough to look at him.

Her hands gently held his face.

As if reassuring herself he truly existed.

Her fingers traced his cheeks.

His forehead.

His shoulders.

Searching for proof.

Warm skin.

Steady breathing.

A living heartbeat.

She laughed through her tears.

Then, overcome with relief, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

A simple gesture.

One born entirely from overwhelming emotion.

“I’m so grateful…”

she whispered.

“I truly thought…”

Her voice failed her.

Lucas gently smiled.

“I’m back.”

The Empress closed her eyes briefly.

For the first time since the arena…

She finally allowed herself to believe it.

Outside the chamber, astonished servants were already running through the palace.

“The Champion lives!”

“Xavier is alive!”

“The Hero has awakened!”

The words spread like wildfire.

Guards abandoned their conversations.

Maids gasped in disbelief.

Officials rushed from their offices.

Within moments, the entire palace buzzed with a mixture of shock and hope.

The news quickly reached the rulers’ meeting chamber.

King Highmoor abruptly rose to his feet.

“What did you say?”

The messenger could barely contain his excitement.

“Your Majesty…”

“Lord Xavier Alder…”

“He’s alive!”

For a brief moment, absolute silence filled the room.

The Emperor of Rus blinked.

“Alive?”

The King of Blackmare frowned.

“That cannot be.”

The messenger nodded repeatedly.

“We’ve all seen him!”

“He woke!”

“He is speaking!”

King Highmoor did not wait another second.

“Go.”

The three rulers left immediately.

Their dignified composure vanished as they hurried through the palace corridors.

Even they found themselves moving faster than protocol permitted.

When they reached the chamber…

They stopped at the doorway.

Inside…

The girls remained gathered around Lucas.

The Empress still stood beside him, one hand resting gently upon his shoulder as though afraid to let him out of her sight again.

Lucas looked toward the entrance.

King Highmoor stared at him.

For several long moments…

No one spoke.

The King’s eyes slowly reddened.

He took a step into the room.

Then another.

A smile, filled with immense relief, finally appeared on his face.

“You stubborn boy…”

he said quietly.

“You’ve done the impossible once again.”

Behind him, the Emperor of Rus and the King of Blackmare remained speechless.

They had witnessed many miracles throughout their long lives.

But this…

This was something else entirely.

Before their own eyes stood a man who had been declared dead…

A man whose funeral preparations had already begun…

A man who had returned from death itself.

And none of them could begin to explain how.

“…”