Chapter 480: Soul Chains, End of the Monster Tide

With that new Blood Heart blessing on his Soul Armor, not only would damaging him be extremely hard thanks to the armor’s constitution, but even if they did by penetrating the armor, it would regenerate fast enough to make it irrelevant.

Leon stored the rest of the items, only keeping the Soul Chain skill book in his hand, then he turned toward Emilia and Violet, his expression softening.

Both of them still held the Soul Shard in hand, slightly fearful of what could happen, their eyes filled with uncertainty.

"Its not gonna cause you any pain... I think, its not like the essence I consumed," Leon reassured them, his voice gentle.

"Why don’t I get one?" Celeste looked at Leon with a pleading puppy expression, her eyes wide.

"Well..." Leon scratched the back of his head, "I only have two, and you’re the only one in our group able to wield something related to souls, so I thought you could protect yourself... but trust me, as soon as I get something that boosts the soul, it’ll go to you."

Celeste seemed to cheer up and nodded, her expression brightening.

Then with a heavy sigh, Emilia and Violet both consumed their Soul Shard at once, the crystals dissolving as their power flowed into them.

And a panel appeared before them, the notification glowing with power.

Ding!

[Your soul is getting stronger.]

In contrast to the Soul Soldier’s Essence, the moment they used the Soul Shard, its effects instantly strengthened Violet and Emilia, their bodies glowing with power.

There was no long sequence, and they didn’t have to go through anything painful or drawn out.

The exact moment they consumed it, their souls started glowing within them as they got stronger, the light spreading through their bodies like warm sunlight.

And after a few seconds, the process was done, the glow fading as the power settled within them.

With that, even a basic attack targeted at the soul wouldn’t outright kill them, though it might injure them.

’Need them to be much stronger,’ Leon thought, ’But for now, its fine.’

He turned his gaze toward the last item: the skill book in his hand, its cover gleaming with divine energy.

[Soul Chains (Divine): Using the power of your soul, summon up to three chains that can do whatever you wish them to do. These chains can bind, restrain, block attacks, or even tear through your enemies with the power of your soul behind them. They are as fragile as their user’s soul, but their strength is unmatched when wielded by a powerful one.]

"Good enough," Leon nodded before pouring his aura into it to learn the skill, the knowledge flowing into his mind.

Ding!

[You have learned "Soul Chains (Divine)"]

This brought the amount of skills he learned in the Monster Tide to a staggering four, making him much stronger.

This also meant that he had now two divine skills, increasing his power even more than before, a feat few could claim.

After that, Leon and the girls spent the next few minutes just talking about what to do next, their voices relaxed.

Since Violet, Emilia and Celeste were now all level 100, all they could do was wait for Leon to level up before heading to the Eternal Battlefield.

They could of course simply head there directly, but they didn’t feel like it, their fates tied to his progress.

Thankfully, unlike him, they could stay in the Higher Domains for as much as they wanted, so they didn’t mind waiting for him to catch up.

And eventually...

[Remaining Time: 2 seconds... 1 second...]

Ding!

[All rifts and monsters from the "Final Wave" have disappeared.]

[Congratulations, the Monster Tide has been completed.]

Ding!

[The "Requiem Stronghold" has been upgraded from Level 5 to Level 6, it will take 250 Stronghold Crystals to attempt the Level 7 Monster Tide.]

"Hell fucking no," Leon shook his head, his eyes widening at the number.

If it took the Requiem Guild so long to get just 100 Stronghold Crystals, he knew for a fact they would never attempt the Level 7 Monster Tide, the challenge far too great.

Plus, more than anything, now that the stronghold was Level 6, it meant they had completed their objective, whatever that was, their goal finally achieved.

Ding!

[Congratulations, you have obtained 50 Reputation Points for completing the Level 6 Monster Tide.]

That was a reward given to everybody, meaning that Leon’s reputation points now reached 800, a significant milestone.

"Almost 1,000," he thought, "I never managed to reach that in my past life, so I really wonder what it will bring."

The past few giant milestone rewards for reputation had both been linked to the Celestials, so Leon didn’t know if the last one would be the case too, the uncertainty gnawing at him.

Either way, everything around here was done, the Monster Tide finally over.

In fact, Leon actually felt ready to take on the Requiem Guild and any of the other threats he knew about now that he was this strong, his confidence at an all-time high.

They couldn’t even break his soul since it was too strong anyway, so he didn’t fear that any longer, the tables finally turned in his favor.

After a few seconds, Leon sensed many figures rushing toward him and prepared for battle just in case, his body tensing.

Cavin, Empress, Granite, Mortis, Yanzi and many of the other Requiem Guild members appeared around him and the girls, all gazing at them with expressions of curiosity and suspicion.

"Where’s the Soul Soldier? Who killed it?" Cavin asked as he stared at Leon, his eyes narrowing.

He didn’t believe for a single second that Leon and his group were the ones to kill it, after all, they were simply too weak in his eyes.

Just before the start of the Monster Tide, they knew they could toy with them as much as they wanted, their power far exceeding Leon’s group.

So Cavin, Empress and the others couldn’t even imagine for a split second that they somehow got this strong in these last hours, the idea too absurd.

It literally didn’t make sense, also the Soul Soldier was a being with 34 million Combat Power, nothing in this higher domain should be able to defeat it.

And so as a response, Leon simply gazed directly into Cavin’s eyes, his expression not moving an inch.