Magical Soul Parade - Chapter 298: He Has Arrived

Chapter 298: He Has Arrived

The gravity on Althea doubled instantly. Althea let out a heavy grunt as her body was forced down, her face nearly touching the dirt. Odette squatted next to her and leaned in close, her lips right at Althea’s ear.

“You mention the Harvester cult as if they are a bunch of lunatics,” she whispered. “But I think it’s all a matter of perspective…”

Althea immediately frowned, her brows furrowing despite the pressure she felt. She strained to keep her eyes focused on Odette, who now had a chilling smile on her face.

“When you get to my level of power, you see things for what they truly are. Law and order in this world is fickle. It is just a matter of who is in control. Whoever holds the power gets to decide what is right and what is wrong. They get to decide who is crazy and who is sane.”

“A reshuffling is happening in this world. Just as the Ossuary is moving, the Harvester Cult is moving too… and their might is not a small thing,” her voice was solemn, as if even she was coming to a realization as she spoke.

Then with a sudden vigor, her demeanor changed and her voice firmed.

“I have given this a lot of thought for a long time, but it is only now that I have decided. Hearing my own words aloud has helped me realize my true convictions.”

She nodded to herself then leaned in closer, whispering directly into Althea’s ear:

“My perspective no longer aligns with the Ossuary… They are too shrouded in secrets and hierarchies and stiffness. I am moving to the side that supports my perspective… I will grasp this moment of change, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that their way becomes the norm. I will make sure their ideas are no longer called crazy…”

“And you, Althea,” she pulled back and met Althea’s eyes, looking at her like she was a prize, “are the perfect offering. The Ossuary wants you for reasons even I do not understand, and that makes you the perfect gift to guarantee my place among the Harvesters.”

She reached out her hand toward Althea’s shoulder, ready to seize her while Elias was fully occupied with the Husk…

But just as her fingers were about to make contact, Althea let out a dry, rattling chuckle.

Out of nowhere, her grey eyes began to glow with an intense inner light. An ancient feeling emanated from her body — a presence that was heavy, ordered, and oppressive. It pressed outward in every direction without aggression, without spectacle. Simply present. Simply enormous.

Odette’s eyes widened and she launched herself backward, using her gravity magic to put multiple meters of space between them in an instant. The gravity hold she had placed on Althea shattered. The crushing pressure vanished and was replaced by a perfect, absolute stillness that reigned over the surrounding area.

Althea’s laugh died away. Her expression flattened into a cold, terrifying calm as she stood up slowly and leveled her gaze at Odette. The Preceptor was frowning deeply now, her earlier confidence replaced by genuine concern.

“A manifestation?! I thought she only possessed a greater fragment of Order,” Odette muttered to herself, her voice carrying a faint tremor.

From her words, it seemed only bearers of core fragments could manifest the consciousness of the original fragment holder. Odette looked genuinely shocked coming to the realization that Althea was a core fragment bearer. Her position in the Ossuary’s hierarchy allowed her to know just how rare and how important core fragment bearers were.

For a moment, it looked like Althea… or rather, the Order fragment holder she was manifesting, was going to do something to Odette. But contrarily, Odette was entirely ignored.

Instead, Althea turned her head and looked up at the sky. The battle above had come to a sudden, mutual standstill. Both Elias and the Husk had felt the shift in the atmosphere far below and immediately pulled away from their clash, locking onto the threat they felt radiating from Althea.

Althea closed her eyes and took a deep, steady breath, as if savoring the taste of air after a long time. She stood loosely with her arms at her sides, looking wide open and easy to attack. Yet despite the opening, none of the three powerhouses watching her made a move. Even the Husk, which seemed to operate on instinct more than intelligence, knew enough to stay completely still.

“This means he has arrived,” Althea whispered. A rueful smile touched her lips as she opened her eyes.

Odette’s brows furrowed deeper as she watched Althea vigilantly. She looked confused by the statement, but high above, though, Elias seemed to understand exactly what Althea meant. His gaze flickered with a wild urgency and he began scanning the sky and the horizon with vicious intensity, searching in every direction. He saw nothing. But his agitation only grew.

The Cruor Mortis in his hand began to groan and tremble. A sound of eagerness and defiance. The sword had recognized a powerful threat in Althea and it desperately wanted to draw her blood. Elias’ attention snapped back to the weapon in his grip. He struggled to hold it steady, straining against the might of the soul mass pulling against his control.

He looked back down at Althea and saw that she hadn’t so much as glanced at the legendary sword, and slowly, even he began to feel the same defiance the sword felt. He felt the urge to put Althea in her place. To rid himself of this weird feeling he got from her. No matter if she was a core fragment holder or not, she was still Althea!

With a flicker in his eyes, he loosened his grip and let the sword go.

The Cruor Mortis immediately let out an audible cry of elation. It streaked toward Althea like a red missile, trailing a dense cloud of bloodlust. It slashed down through the air with the absolute certainty of something that had never failed to kill what it was aimed at.

Althea did not move her head or flinch. She simply turned her glowing grey eyes toward the incoming blade and raised her hand in a smooth, slashing counter-motion. And as she did, her plain black sword soul mass materialized in her grasp.

But unlike before, the moment the sword appeared in the world, it was no longer the plain black weapon it had been.

Its body was glowing with a vibrant green light that grew brighter with every passing millisecond, deepening in color and intensity, as if the weapon were waking up from a sleep it had been waiting a very long time to end.

Odette’s eyes widened with horror. She used her gravity magic to launch herself backward for the umpteenth time, desperate to put as much distance between herself and that… thing as possible. In the sky, Elias’ face darkened and his body went rigid on his floating sword.

He tried to call the Cruor Mortis back, but the sword cried out even louder as it closed the final distance. Its ego was far more prominent than any fear of what was coming.

Althea swung her glowing green blade down to meet the strike.