Chapter 100: The Soul Mark’s Blade

Chapter 100: Chapter 100: The Soul Mark’s Blade

Jeremy acutely caught the intention to surrender in the depths of Aina’s eyes.

He lightly flipped his wrist; the pitch-black Scythe of Death instantly dissipated into countless elemental light specks, retracting into the void. His deep, masculine voice rang out, calm yet absolutely resolute: "We will naturally go all out. Exactly the way we just crushed this match."

"..."

Aina quietly recalled her destined Sacred Weapon. She lowered her eyes, remaining silent for a long heartbeat, ultimately still casting aside her usual arrogance to utter a fair statement: "At the opening of the match, my attitude was indeed somewhat offensive. I hope you can forgive me."

The end of Jeremy’s brow raised slightly; the corners of his lips curled into a half-smile tinged with a heavy mocking hue: "Saying it like that... those words earlier were indeed intentional provocation?"

"...Let’s just consider it that way." Aina didn’t bother beating around the bush finding excuses. She mocked herself, her voice laced with bitterness: "But currently, that superior attitude can be considered to have been slapped face-first into the dirt by my own arrogance."

Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest, not replying, merely looking at her silently.

Aina took a deep breath, straightening her back to continue: "Your strength is absolutely not inferior to any proud genius in this cohort. In the future, if there is a chance, I hope we can have a fair and square rematch."

"If there is a chance, I will definitely oblige." Jeremy gave an ambiguous reply, a perfect diplomatic statement, neither refusing outright nor actively accepting the challenge.

The corner of Aina’s eyes caught her three remaining teammates staggering, intending to step forward to support her. She decisively raised her hand, signaling to force them to stand still, absolutely forbidding any thoughtless actions that could invite further humiliation.

Retracting her gaze, Aina turned to face the referee spirit beast hovering in the air, clearly declaring: "I concede."

As the two brief syllables dropped onto the marble floor, the entire Star Realm Arena stands instantly erupted into a boiling cauldron.

"What... what the hell is happening before my eyes? Is this really reality?!"

"So the Lunar Eclipse Team actually won?! Damn it, my fortune of merit points is completely wiped out!"

"Hahahahaha! You fools didn’t expect this, did you? I bet my entire fortune on the Lunar Eclipse Team winning! Indeed, wealth must be sought amidst danger!"

"This cohort of freshmen... their aura is too explosive."

"I just hope if they open cross-level challenge tournaments in the future, by all means, do not draw this bunch of freaks."

"Haha, I am the opposite. My hands are extremely itchy wanting to face off against these brats. When the time comes, I will definitely use the strength of a senior to teach them a proper lesson about respect."

"Careful, lest you get torn apart by them and taught a bloody lesson instead."

"Scram, scram, scram!"

Ignoring the conflicting streams of public opinion screaming in the stands, the referee spirit beast happily flapped its wings, its eyes narrowing into slits, using magic to amplify its clear voice: "I officially announce the results of this internal Anima department tournament! The Lunar Eclipse Team of Class 659... claims the overall victory!"

Following the announcement, the entire arena shook with resounding cheers and relentless, thunderous applause.

The internal department finals finally closed in a feverish, suffocating atmosphere.

According to standard regulations, the moment the arena barrier was lifted, the academy’s medical team would immediately flood in to conduct emergency aid and treatment for the students. Considering the brutality and horrifying slaughter intensity of the two teams just now, a squad of high-level healers was already on standby right outside the red line.

However, a ridiculous scene unfolded. After the members of the two teams gave cursory nods of formal greeting, they absolutely did not lead each other towards the medical area. Instead, each person decisively turned sharply in a different direction, their silhouettes scattering everywhere exactly like lone wolves refusing to share a pack.

Several exclusive healers of the Anima department stood rooted to the spot, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Speaking practically, they had almost never had the chance to interact directly with the members of the Lunar Eclipse Team right on the competition field. The rare times they encountered this rogue group were when they dragged themselves to the infirmary in a crippled, bloodied state, with only half a life left.

A healing mage pushed up his glasses, asking in confusion: "...Do they not know we are standing by right here precisely to clean up the aftermath and take charge of treating their injuries?"

His colleague standing next to him shrugged, speechless: "...They probably know it all too well."

"Just drop it, no need to bother tiring ourselves out. That bunch of arrogant brats, wait until the pain is too much to handle on their own, they’ll naturally drag their faces crawling to the infirmary to find us anyway."

"That’s true."

---

Outside the stone corridor leading away from the competition stage.

Jeremy halted his steps, turning around to glance over his four battered teammates, frowning as he asked: "Are you guys not planning to find a healer to treat your wounds?"

Evelyn crossed her arms, her flat face not revealing half a speck of pain, her tone cold: "Superficial flesh wounds, nothing serious. Later, self-regulating magic power will heal them."

Phoenix, the one most thoroughly covered by Leon and Lucius throughout the battle, was obviously the person with the fewest injuries. He merely gave a silent nod, implicitly agreeing with Evelyn’s self-reliance approach.

As for Leon, on his firm abdomen and arms sticky with deep, bleeding slashes, he nevertheless displayed a nonchalant demeanor: "These few scratches, chugging a recovery potion and the flesh will knit itself back together. Crawling to those doctors to listen to their nagging is just a lazy waste of time."

Jeremy shifted his gaze, pinning straight onto the silver-haired young man who had remained silent without uttering half a word since earlier: "And you?"

In the battle just now, Lucius was the one who directly took the full brunt of Aina’s explosive attack to create an opening. The injuries on his body, carefully calculated, were definitely the most severe among the five people here.

Lucius blinked his phoenix eyes slightly, the reddish corners of his eyes curling into a harmless smile, his clear voice rising weightlessly: "Don’t worry, Captain, I absolutely don’t feel any pain at all."

"?"

The corners of Jeremy’s lips twitched slightly; a green vein popped on his forehead: "I wasn’t asking you about this."

Whether this sly fox was in pain or not, could he really not know? That damn Empathic Blood Contract Curse that the jellyfish-head Griffin had established on their souls hadn’t been lifted yet! Jeremy’s own nerves were currently throbbing with dull aches reflecting the tearing pain from Lucius’s injuries.

Seeing Jeremy didn’t take the bait, Lucius took a half-step forward, narrowing the distance, his deep, warm voice carrying a hint of ambiguity and demand: "If the captain is hurting for me so much... why don’t you accompany me to the infirmary for a trip?"

Jeremy was just about to open his mouth to expose the fact that there were already healers available right next to the arena, when his gaze swept over and he discovered that, due to their dawdling delay just now, the medical mages had packed up and left since who knows when.

"..."

Jeremy was thoroughly speechless. But he absolutely had no habit of indulging this spoiled young master’s haughty temperament. He decisively turned to Leon—whose tragic, bloodied appearance wasn’t much better—jutting his chin to order: "Leon, escort this guy to the infirmary and get him treated properly."

Being pushed off to his sworn enemy, although both Lucius and Leon furrowed their brows tightly, their faces clearly written with the words "unwilling", facing the cold pressure from the tyrant captain, they ultimately still had to obediently turn on their heels, reluctantly walking together.

By the time all five had thoroughly dealt with the aftermath and dragged themselves back to the Anima department tower, the light outside the window had faded into the colors of dusk.

Tomorrow would be the time for the official opening of the Alliance Great Battle Tournament between the five major academies.

And the day after tomorrow, right after concluding the chain of death matches, would be the school-wide semester closing ceremony.

That meant, the afternoon of the day after tomorrow, they could finally pack their luggage and step out of this hellish cage to enjoy the vacation.

Stepping out of the magic elevator cabin, the five youths, without needing to be told, immediately dispersed, each forcefully returning to their own private rooms.

Jeremy took a quick cold shower to wash away the stench of blood and smoke. Wearing thin, light loungewear, he threw himself sprawling onto the suede sofa in the middle of the living room, his chest heaving to regulate his breathing.

Glancing over unintentionally, he noticed the bizarre veined patterns imprinted on the back of his right hand were showing signs of fading slightly. Jeremy lifted his arm, narrowing his eyes to observe carefully.

This pattern was indeed identical to the ancient totem carved on the wall of the ruined tower at the bottom of the sea that day.

The central core of the totem bore the shape of a dragon coiling around a brilliant Ashlife Flower; the outermost border was lined with intricately overlapping magic runic matrices, overall crisscrossing to form a closed hexagram strongly characterized by forbidden traits.

Because it had been carved into his skin for quite a long time, the bumpy, burning sensation like red-hot iron from the beginning had completely disappeared. Currently, it had merged entirely with his flesh, flat and smooth exactly like an artistic tattoo.

But perhaps because the so-called "guidance according to the matrix creator’s dying wish" had remained completely silent until now, the color of this totem block only maintained a gloomy, dreary gray, lacking the vitality of magic power.

Jeremy frowned, recalling the sharp analysis Phoenix had uttered deep under the sea that time.

If this bizarre thing was truly a form of "Soul Mark", then that meant this curse-natured totem block wasn’t staked into the physical body at all, but rather used chains to pin directly into the root of the soul.

Even if he discarded this physical vessel to possess another body, this mark would still relentlessly cling to the soul and transfer along with it.

Speaking practically: the intention to use magic power violence to forcibly remove it was basically an illusion, utterly hopeless.

The only way out to dispel the Soul Mark was to obediently fulfill the absurd dying wish of the one who had established this matrix.

According to Phoenix’s judgment, the moment that dying wish manifested relied entirely on random probability.

But the damn thing was, it had been quite a long time since they survived and returned from that desolate world, yet the totem block on his hand remained as mute as a clam up to this very second, not emitting a single trace of reaction or magic power fluctuation.

What if it dragged on until he graduated before it decided to appear? Wouldn’t his future trajectory be twisted into an even more troublesome mess?

A flash of irritation darted through his golden eyes. For a pragmatist like him, this indefinite waiting was no different from a blade hanging over his neck. Letting this ambiguity drag on forever, the Soul Mark was no different from a ticking time bomb. Regarding his plan to live a free, unbound life after graduation, there was no need to rack his brain to know how fatally disadvantageous it was.

Jeremy exhaled, calculating silently in his head. He hoped that at least before the time came to hold his graduation certificate and leave the school, this Soul Mark would quickly activate that damn dying wish, so he could decisively resolve it smoothly and conveniently receive the inheritance portion.

Having traded freedom to shoulder risks, that inheritance portion had better be things with high practical value, like strength-enhancing secret techniques, or a treasure trove full of crystal stones... yeah, he hoped the reward would be worth it.

Staring at the back of his hand for a long while longer, Jeremy irritably lowered his arm. He reeled in his drifting train of thought, stood up straight, taking long strides toward the breezy balcony, casually grabbing an energy crystal core to insert into the core of the automated watering magic tool.

At the beginning of the school year, when thrown straight onto the deserted island by the crazy Griffin—the place where the phantom Yusha’s corpse was buried—he hadn’t missed the opportunity, sweeping up countless valuable loots under the dragon cave at the bottom of the cliff.

Besides the three saplings of the extremely rare Star Marrow Fruit species, he had also scavenged quite a few seeds and saplings of other high-tier spiritual flora. Bringing them back to the dormitory area, he had personally planted all of them in the magic soil pots along the balcony.

The only catch was, the growth cycle of these spiritual flora was so long it challenged human patience. Despite being supplied with magic power nutrients for several solid months, the size of these plants remained stunted, barely any larger than when they were first planted in the dirt.

Finishing the task of reloading the crystal core, Jeremy turned on his heels, intending to return to the bedroom to catch some sleep and recover his strength.

However, right the moment he turned around, the sharp corner of his eye unintentionally caught an anomaly.

The sapling with pale yellow leaves forgotten in the darkest corner of the balcony... yet right at this moment, it was silently emitting a pale blue, fluorescent halo, quiet yet incredibly bewitching.