BOOM.
The air ruptured.
"FOIL. CAPTURE HIM."
The command did not echo.
It pressed down, heavy, absolute, as if the city itself had been ordered to obey.
The Six Sense Mantra spun violently through the air, radiating a sharp, invasive glow as it locked onto Parth.
It reacted to him.
Recognized him.
Kai moved without hesitation.
"Mission Phase One. Locked."
The mantra was seized mid-flight.
Parth's body reacted before his thoughts could catch up.
Foil form activated.
White and red layers slid over his frame like living armor as he dropped onto his hover skate. The moment his feet touched metal, he bolted forward.
Behind him, rage detonated.
"You bastards!"
The Sun Sect elder roared.
"That Six Sense Mantra belongs to the Sunheart Clan! Return it immediately, or Surya will burn your bones to ash!"
There was no desperation in his voice.
Only ownership.
Parth did not slow down.
The air screamed.
Sun Star Shoot Technique.
Blades of solar light tore past him, so close that the Foil skin scorched and hissed. Heat punched into his ribs, forcing the breath out of his lungs.
Behind him, the Darano Sword rotated silently.
One mistake.
One fraction of hesitation.
And he would be carved apart.
Then—
"Gravity Formation. Boost."
Space folded.
For a single moment, the world leaned forward instead of pushing back.
The hover skate shattered the sound barrier. Wind clawed at Parth's face, forcing tears from his eyes.
He laughed through broken breaths.
"Thanks, Commander Kai."
"Mention not, Foil."
Kai's voice was flat. Cold. Uninterested.
The Sun Sect elder surged forward.
"I will kill you—"
Sheeewww.
The sentence never finished.
His head vanished.
No explosion.
No dramatic flourish.
Just absence.
Then his body began to melt.
Skin dissolved first, sliding from muscle as if submerged in acid. Flesh followed. Bone collapsed inward. His severed head hit the ground, eyes still open, expression frozen in confusion, as though trying to understand where he had miscalculated.
Commander Kai laughed loudly.
"Fools from the Sun Sect," he said.
"Threatening the personal disciple of the Dark Lotus leader inside our city… and never even realizing when death arrived."
The laughter died.
Another voice entered the space. Calm. Heavy.
"Sun Sect,"
Raj, leader of the Lotus Sect, spoke.
"How dare you violate Abyss Sect law?"
The Sun City King stepped forward, furious.
"Mr. Raj, are you blind?"
"Those white and red robed thieves stole our sect treasure and fled!"
Raj's gaze drifted past him.
To the city wall.
To the Seven Lotus Statues.
"I see everything," Raj said quietly.
"Your army breached our walls."
"You marked the seventh petal of the Seventh Lotus Statue."
He paused.
"Explain."
Silence.
"Do this instead," Raj continued.
"Remain here."
"Send your soldiers after them."
Inside his mind, a single thought surfaced.
Meteor. Kai. Run. Return in uniform.
"Tch. As you wish, Leader," the Sun City King replied.
The white-red figures halted.
Their disguises dissolved.
True identities surfaced.
"Parth, greetings to Master and to Mr. Lawist."
"Kai, greetings to the Sect Leader and the Sun City King."
Raj smiled faintly.
"So," he said.
"You've completed Phase One training."
The Sun City leader forced a smile.
"Greetings, Young Master Meteor. Holy Son."
Then his tone hardened.
"Commander Vision."
"Pursue the thieves immediately."
"And summon the finest sculptor in the city. Heaven Lotus must be repaired."
Raj turned.
"Lawist, oversee the repairs."
"Meteor. Kai. Come with me to the Leader Shelters."
Leader Shelters
Raj studied them in silence.
"I am not impressed," he said at last.
"You allowed your presence to be revealed."
Then—
"Still… across five missions, you nearly failed and yet completed all of them."
"Two more missions."
"Kai. Inner Sect Elder."
"Parth… Holy Son."
The room grew cold.
"Mission: Soul Clan."
"Retrieve the Soul Mantra."
"Retrieve the Soul Lantern."
"The Hell Gate Domain Summoner is yours to keep."
Parth remained silent.
"You will enter God Grave," Raj continued.
"Blood Wind Wolf. Shadow Sheep. Sura Knight."
"Separate soul, blood, and body."
"No physical damage."
A thin smile surfaced.
"Devil Souls are yours."
"Understood, Leader," they replied in unison.
"Go," Raj said.
"Return alive."
"Parth… if captured, shatter the Lotus Badge."
"Kai… if the situation collapses, do the same."
On the Road to the Soul Clan
"Run…"
"And never come back…"
An old man collapsed, vomiting blood. His eyes locked onto Parth's.
"Old Master…"
Parth snapped back to the present.
"Soul Sect," he whispered.
"I have come… to collect your debt."
Foil form reactivated.
Hover skate summoned.
I don't know why Master assigns missions like this to someone like me.
Hall of Souls
Parth slipped inside.
Parasites bloomed across guards one by one.
No screams.
No alarms.
His head throbbed.
Mana… that strange energy…
It used to activate near death.
Now it doesn't.
That's why I rely on artificial treasures.
Real artifacts require mana…
Then—
"Please… don't…"
The voice was weak.
Broken.
Parth stopped.
The smell hit him next.
Blood.
Burned flesh.
Something uniquely wrong.
He peered inside.
A man was suspended from the ceiling.
His skin had been completely peeled away.
Raw muscle pulsed with every breath.
Two elders worked calmly.
One smeared a paste of chili powder, salt, and diluted acid directly onto exposed flesh. Muscle swelled. Split. Trembled.
Another approached the eyes.
A needle.
Micro-puncture.
One.
Two.
Three.
The body convulsed violently as if the soul itself was trying to escape.
Centipedes were forced into the ears.
They did not come back out.
Hands were seized.
Fingernails were torn free and dropped into an acid basin, dissolving slowly.
The man no longer screamed.
His voice was gone.
A healer stepped forward.
White light.
Skin regenerated.
Eyes restored.
Nails returned.
Only one thing remained damaged.
The soul.
An elder reached directly into the man's chest.
"Soul extraction. Slow mode."
The mouth opened.
No sound emerged.
The soul was dragged out. Burned. Then healed.
And forced back inside.
The cycle repeated.
Seven prisoners.
Parth clenched his fists.
"They're still the same," he thought.
"Exactly the same as when they did this to me."
Movement came from the next room.
Chains.
Dragging footsteps.
Parth moved forward.
And this time…
he didn't just hear.
He saw.
A man bound to a stone frame.
Half his face burned beyond recognition.
One eye open.
The markings on his body were unmistakable.
The symbols.
The cuts.
Parth's heart stopped.
Blood flooded his vision.
Then… slowly… his eyes softened.
He took a step back.
"No."
He didn't scream.
He whispered.
The Hall of Souls fell completely silent.
As if the clan itself understood—
Something had been seen
that should never have been seen.