Chapter 668: Might of The Soul Lantern.

The Soul Lantern of Eternal Crypt floated silently before the mourner, its ghostly flame flickering as it cast a pale light across the mourner’s dark cloak.

For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then, the Soul Lantern moved forward.

To his astonishment, the illusory lantern passed straight through the mourner’s body with surprising ease, as though the skeletal figure did not exist in the physical world.

There was no resistance, no collision, and no visible reaction until the lantern emerged from the other side of its dark cloak.

The entire process happened so naturally that Thoren initially wondered whether the lantern had simply passed through an empty space.

However, the next instant shattered that thought.

Shriek!

A soul-rending shriek erupted inside the Hall of Tallies, shaking the entire chamber with a terrifying force.

The sound was unlike anything Thoren had ever heard.

It was not the roar of a beast, the scream of a dying human, or the cry of some wounded creature.

It sounded as though something had been torn apart at the very core of its existence, releasing a scream filled with unbearable agony and hatred.

The piercing noise swept through the chamber, striking Thoren like an invisible hammer.

His entire body trembled violently, and he instinctively clamped both hands over his ears.

Yet, even that desperate reaction failed to protect him from the dreadful sound.

The shriek penetrated his hands and seemed to drill directly into his skull, sending waves of pain through his head.

His vision blurred, and his knees nearly buckled beneath him as he struggled to remain standing.

Warm liquid trickled from his ears.

Blood.

Before he could even understand what was happening, another thin stream of blood ran from his nose and dripped onto his clothes.

His face twisted in pain, and his breathing became ragged as he desperately tried to endure the soul-rending shriek.

The sound seemed to shake not only his body but also something deeper within him, leaving his mind momentarily blank.

Even the black water covering the floor rippled violently beneath the force of the sound.

Thoren gritted his teeth, forcing himself to keep his eyes open despite the pain.

"What just happened?" He blinked, his eyes filled with confusion.

He had witnessed the Soul Lantern pass through the mourner, but he had not expected such a terrifying reaction.

What made the situation even more unbelievable was that the lantern had not struck the creature, nor had it released any visible attack.

It had simply passed through its body, and yet the result was a shriek powerful enough to injure him from a distance.

Before Thoren could wrap his head around the shocking scene, something even more astonishing unfolded before his eyes.

The mourner began to dissolve.

First, the edges of its dark cloak started breaking apart, turning into countless tiny particles that drifted through the air.

The robe did not burn or tear.

Instead, it disintegrated as though an invisible force was erasing its very existence.

Within seconds, the cloak had lost its shape, and the skeletal figure beneath it began to suffer the same fate.

Its bones crumbled into fine dust.

The skeletal hands disintegrated first, followed by its arms and the rest of its body. It vanished, leaving no trace of the mourner.

Everything dissolved so quickly that Thoren almost questioned his own eyes.

One moment, the mourner had stood before the Soul Lantern, radiating that terrifying aura. The next, it was gone, reduced to a cloud of dust that slowly scattered across the black water.

Thoren remained frozen, staring at the empty space where the mourner had stood.

His hands gradually lowered from his ears, though the pain in his head had yet to subside.

Blood continued to trickle from his nose, and his heart pounded heavily against his chest as he tried to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

Thoren’s lips parted, but for several moments, no words came out.

"My..."

The shocking scene continued to unfold before Thoren’s eyes.

The Soul Lantern of Eternal Crypt, which had previously emitted a faint, ghostly glow, suddenly began to grow brighter.

Its pale flame flickered violently, and an eerie light spread across the Hall of Tallie.

The lantern’s flame grew brighter still, and its light became increasingly intense, forcing Thoren to narrow his eyes as he watched.

Then, without warning, the Soul Lantern vanished from its position.

Whoosh!

Before Thoren could determine where it had gone, the illusory lantern appeared directly before another mourner.

Its ghostly flame flickered once before it passed straight through the creature’s body, just as it had done to the first one.

Shriek!

Another soul-rending shriek erupted throughout the chamber.

The mourner trembled violently beneath the lantern’s light before its dark cloak, skeletal frame, and everything else that made up its existence dissolved into nothingness.

A cloud of dust scattered across the black water, leaving no trace of the mourner behind.

However, the Soul Lantern did not stop there.

One after another, the Soul Lantern phased through the mourners, and each time it did, the targeted mourners turned into nothingness.

Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!

The terrifying screams overlapped, filling the Hall of Tallies with an unbearable sound.

The mourners that had slaughtered Thoren’s undead legion with effortless touches were now being destroyed just as easily.

As for Thoren, he watched the scene with his jaw practically dropping to the ground.

He had spent so much time struggling to find a way to fight these creatures that he had nearly lost hope of surviving the encounter.

Yet, the moment the Soul Lantern began moving independently, the situation changed completely.

Thoren could hardly believe what he was witnessing.

His eyes followed the lantern as it vanished and reappeared across the chamber, while his mind struggled to catch up with the shocking turn of events.

Thud! Thud!

The sound of heavy splashing suddenly drew his attention away from the lantern. And to his astonishment, the remaining mourners were fleeing.

The mourners that had stood so calmly moments earlier were now rushing toward the edges of the chamber.

Their dark cloaks flapped wildly as they desperately searched for a way out. Their movements were no longer composed or mysterious.

They stumbled through the shallow black water, collided with one another, and stretched their skeletal hands toward the darkness beyond the hall.

It was as though they had encountered their natural nemesis.

However, no matter how desperately they tried, they could not seem to leave the chamber.

Every time a mourner approached an opening, an invisible force appeared to stop it.

They were like beasts trapped inside an invisible net, struggling desperately against a force they could neither see nor overcome.

Yet, their efforts were futile.

The Soul Lantern continued its relentless pursuit, appearing before one fleeing mourner after another.

"Am I the Grim Reaper or..." Thoren couldn’t help but mutter.