Chapter 357: Double Intent, Three Paths

Kael smirked beneath his shadowy mask, his silver-flecked eyes locking onto his panicking brother.

"Brother," Kael called out, his voice carrying a chilling, mocking echo through the smoggy air. "It’s painful, right? That isn’t even 0.0001% of what I’m going to do to you when I get my hands on you. After what you did to Isabella... I’m going to peel your soul apart inch by inch."

Sebastian’s face drained of all color. The dark energy from the arrow wounds was corroding his flesh, but the terror in his eyes was far more potent than the physical pain.

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Sebastian screamed at the top of his lungs, scrambling frantically. "You’re a monster! Just let me go! I’ll leave the galaxy! I’ll disappear forever! Please!"

He ran toward the rusted cityscape below.

Kael didn’t even bother to chase him himself. Clack. He calmly formed a hand seal.

Whoosh!

A Shadow Clone burst from Kael’s shadow, tearing through the air toward the fleeing Sebastian.

The bone-masked lady sneered behind her mask looking at the fleeing Sebastian. "Pathetic."

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

With a flick of her wrist, massive, jagged bone spikes erupted from the air, hurtling toward the clone. CRACK! The spikes pierced the clone, causing it to burst into a thick fog of shadows.

But before she could relish the hit, her eyes widened. Whoosh! Whoosh! Two more Shadow Clones burst out from within the fog, bypassing her entirely and continuing their pursuit of Sebastian.

Kael smirked. A little trick I learned while training in the Astral Void Realm. The clones could be layered, and their destruction only birthed more.

The bone lady clicked her tongue in annoyance, but she didn’t move to stop them. Instead, her gaze locked onto Kael, who had stopped in mid-air.

BZZT!

A core of dense, pitch-black mana formed in front of Kael’s chest. It spun violently, radiating a terrifying gravitational pull before slamming into his chest. BOOM! Kael’s aura erupted outward, his cultivation skyrocketing from Spirit Soul Rank 4 to Spirit Soul Rank 6.

After mastering the Void Core to a new degree, he had inscribed a binding contract to accelerate the formation time. However, recalling how the near-instantaneous formation had almost cost Rue her life during the fight with Draxos in the Void realm, Kael had deliberately capped the boost. Instead of the normal four-rank jump, he only allowed a two-rank surge. It was safer, and his physical body could handle the strain.

The lady watched the dark energy coalesce around him. "A temporary boost technique? How foolish. You think a mere two ranks can bridge the gap between us?"

Kael ignored her. He took a slow, deliberate step forward.

THUMP.

With that single step, the atmosphere changed.

A terrifying, blood-red aura exploded from Kael’s body. The sheer pressure caused the smog around him to distort and warp. His eyes, already glowing with the mask’s eerie silver seam, turned a deep, violent crimson.

"Wrath Intent," the lady muttered, her body tensing.

But then, a second, far colder energy bled into the mix. It was desolate, sharp, and reeked of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.

"Slaughter Intent," Kael whispered.

The lady gasped, taking a half-step back. "Double intent?!" she exclaimed, her voice laced with disbelief. It was incredibly rare for a cultivator to comprehend even one Intent, let alone two that were so perfectly complementing yet terrifyingly destructive.

Meanwhile, above them, a chaotic battle raged. ROOOAAAR! The Dark Wyvern slammed into the injured Crimson-Feathered Roc. CRUNCH! Claws tore through feathers and flesh, and the sky rained red feathers and dark blood as the Wyvern ruthlessly tore the Roc apart.

Kael didn’t even glance at the aerial slaughter. He continued walking toward the lady, the two intents swirling around him.

Then, he pulled them inward.

Heart of the Carnage Deity.

The mechanics of this technique were brutal. Instead of projecting his intents outward, Kael forcibly dragged the violent energies of Wrath and Slaughter directly into his bloodstream.

SQUELCH! BZZZT!

His blood began to boil and burn at ten times its normal density. His muscles spasmed and expanded, the veins on his neck and arms bulging with raw, crimson power. His physical limiters shattered under the immense strain of the dual intents. The reddish aura around him condensed into a tight, terrifying cloak of physical supremacy.

Kael stretched his neck, letting out a sickening Crack!

"All right," Kael said, his voice distorted and echoing. "I’m ready."

The bone lady gritted her teeth, her Peak Spirit Soul aura flaring to its maximum. She wouldn’t let this arrogant brat dictate the pace.

But before she could attack, Kael formed a one-handed seal. "Soul Weaver’s Requiem: Soul Shockwave."

BUZZZZZT!

An invisible, devastating wave of pure soul power erupted from Kael’s mind and crashed directly into the lady.

"AGH!" The lady screamed, her hands flying to her head. Her eyes widened in absolute shock. "Soul attack?!" Blood began to trickle from beneath her bone mask. Her soul was incredibly powerful, but Kael’s was far denser and backed by the Astraeon bloodline.

Before she could recover, Kael vanished.

Void Step.

He appeared directly in front of her. His right fist, clad in the Aura Amplification Gauntlet, descended like a meteor. WHOOSH!

The lady barely managed to raise a thick bone barrier in front of her chest.

BAM!

The gauntlet collided with the bone. CRACK! The barrier held, but the sheer kinetic force sent the lady hurtling backward like a cannonball. She smashed through a rusted crane and tumbled through the air, quickly wrapping herself in a massive, spherical bone basket for defense.

Such a powerful physique, she thought, her arms trembling from the impact. Is he also a body cultivator? Three paths?!

Kael didn’t give her a moment to breathe. He rushed forward, a streak of crimson and black.

The lady panicked. BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!

She fired a barrage of thick, giant bone bullets from her fingertips. Each projectile was the size of a small car, tearing through the air with terrifying speed.

Kael smirked. FWOOSH!

The Demonic Asura Lotus Flame erupted from his body, coating him in a halo of purple-black fire. He tilted his body, gracefully dodging the first bullet. The second bullet he met head-on, unleashing a burst of the Heavenly Flame that instantly incinerated the bone to ash.

He raised his left hand, a miniature Pulsar forming, and hurled it at the third bullet, crushing it into dust under immense gravity. The remaining bullets were obliterated by the sheer pressure of his Heart of the Carnage Deity aura, shattering before they even got close.

Kael closed the distance. "Sky Destroyer Palm!"

BOOM! A massive, golden palm of pure Aura roared toward the lady.

She gritted her teeth, abandoning her basket. She formed a complex seal, and a massive spear of condensed white bone materialized, thrusting forward. CRASH! The bone spear pierced the golden palm, destroying it, though the explosion sent shockwaves rippling through the smog.

This is dangerous, the lady thought, sweating profusely beneath her mask. A three-path cultivator with powerful high-grade techniques. I need to be careful.

But Kael was already looking at her. He formed another hand seal, a mocking smile visible even through his mask. "Soul Weaver’s Requiem: Mind Fracture."

CRACK!

An intense, sharp pain exploded inside the lady’s skull. Her vision went white. AHHH! She let out a muffled shriek, clutching her head. Blood poured heavily from her nose, staining her bone mask crimson. Her consciousness was violently shattered by the incomplete, Mystic Grade soul technique.

"Why are you blanking out in the middle of a fight?" Kael mocked, his voice echoing in her fractured mind.

Crackle!

Kael activated Lightning Body. His physical form transformed into a blur of pure lightning. He appeared before the disoriented lady in a flash of blue light.

BAM!

He delivered a devastating punch straight into her stomach with his left fist. The sound of ribs cracking echoed through the air.

PFFFT! The lady spat out a mouthful of blood inside her mask. Her body folded like a piece of paper before being launched downward at terminal velocity.

CRASH-KABOOM!

She plummeted into the abandoned city below, smashing through several buildings and kicking up a massive cloud of rusted debris and dust.

Below, the city’s inhabitants screamed in panic. "AHHH! THE BUILDINGS!""RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"