Cabrao was starting to feel relieved, arriving back at the village. From here, they could run, and Yuya would be able to bring his soul along. What he did not expect was that the moment she saw him, a hand made out of miasma reached out, grabbing Cabrao, and before he could scream, he was turned into pure energy, consumed by Yuya with one loud slurping noise.

"This should be enough for the battle." She licked her lips, looking towards the darkness of the cloudy night they were having.

She was not about to run now. She had no illusions, she knew she was going to die, but this was only a fragment of her soul. Its sacrifice for information on the current Amarins' fighting style would be a worthy price. To ensure she would get the data back to her main body, she ordered Dolores to hide in No-Space and be the anchor so that before being obliterated, she could pass the information on even if her fragment was blocked from returning.

"Here they come…" She whispered, feeling the closing in mana fluctuations. She had already ordered all of the villagers to get ready as they would act as her distractions and meat shields. Yuya could discern the many auras approaching the village to be especially young, and she knew using the mind-controlled people always stumped the inexperienced. They always hesitated to strike them down. "I may even be able to escape unscathed."

"No chance." A voice told her, interrupting her thoughts as she felt a blade go through her chest from behind.

"Teleportation? You… masked it well…" Yuya said, unbothered by the injury as miasma seeped out of her wound, surrounding Lia's blade, trying to wrestle it from her. "Oh." She flinched, feeling the flames erupting from it, burning so intensely they pushed back her miasma, scorching it away.

This finally made her retaliate in earnest. Unlike the others, she simply grabbed Lia's blade, walked off of it, and turned around quickly but calmly. By then, the wound on her chest stood closed in, and only a hole remained behind on her thin shirt.

"Your mana… one of us already met you?" She thought, feeling the girl was already seen by one of them. Her presence was familiar.

"You won't be the first Undead I kill." Lia readied her weapon, only focusing on Yuya, ignoring the rest of the team catching up and being attacked by the mind-altered villagers.

"I see." Yuya nodded, also only watching Lia. The more she felt her out, the more she liked what was before her. She wanted her. That body was simply perfect. "What do you say?" She licked her lips, "Want to join us? Become more powerful than you ever knew?"

"What about dying?"

"Ah, yes. Death is nothing. Only the beginning."

"False." Lia snorted and made her move, attacking at once, but Yuya was ready. She copied her moves, summoning a blade made from miasma and clashing with Lia as they entered into a quick-moving exchange of blows. "Or why are you defending yourself so earnestly?"

"You only met the average disciples." She smirked, deflecting one of Lia's blows and going on the counter-attack. Yuya took over their battle's rhythm at once, pushing Lia onto her back foot and into a hasty retreat. "I am not like them."

With another flurry, she was pressing on her with a savage grin, and when the opportunity arose, with a lightning-quick slash, her black, smoking blade cut along Lia's throat, leaving behind a thin line that very quickly started to bleed.

"Quick reflexes," Yuya said, watching her red blood appear with a look of a hungry predator. She was sure that she had decapitated her, yet at the last moment, Lia managed to tilt her head backward.

"I wanted to say the same." Lia shot back, her index finger drawing across her wound, burning and closing it at once. "But… can you go faster?"

With that, she teleported, accompanied by a soft pop, coming out of it behind Yuya, who had already intercepted her strike.

"Predictable. Your first attempt was good." She lectured her like some kind of 'master' would do to her disciple, "But you failed to kill me. Now, I already know about it, and everyone who can do the same…" She continued, blocking again and again, every time Lia used her skill to flash around her, "They always try to go for the back. So predict-"

But she couldn't finish her words as when Lia appeared once again, to her right, at a blind spot, something different happened. The blade that she was about to block snapped and, like a snake, flew past her own, wrapping around her whole body.

"Oh…" She exclaimed softly, but no more could leave her throat.

While Lia was in No-Space, she brought out her second sword. She was letting her first one transform, coiling it around Yuya's arm and torso like barbed wire, cutting deep into her flesh. Surprisingly, fresh blood splurted out this time, and Yuya made a painful cry, looking at Lia with tears in her eyes.

"Big sis… why are you hurting me? I… did nothing wrong… please help me! You have to save me!" She begged in a child-like voice. She expected it to halt Lia's hand at once. It always worked. Battle-hardened veterans stopped when hearing her speak like this, even if for a second. When faced with a crying, pleading child… few minds were immune to its effects. Yet it was different now. "Oh…"

Lia, the moment she heard her words, was reminded of Rose. It made her furious; her blood simply reached the boiling point, and she wanted nothing more than to kill this monster… How dare she act like this?! She was making fun of those who were dying around them right now!

With Solren's lead, the Misfits, even as their stomach shrank to that of a pinhead, had to do what was the most merciful thing possible. They were killing the villagers the quickest way, not even trying to look at them, before setting the whole town ablaze. None of them spoke, just waving their weapons, casting their spells in a numbed state, slaughtering everyone who moved, and sending them to the afterlife as quickly as possible. And now… it was Yuya's time to join them.

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Lia's second sword moved like water. It flowed, making her perform almost a half-dozen motions that looked to be only one elaborate slash. Yuya had nowhere to go or dodge, and she never even perceived Lia appearing with two swords. Her focus was solely on the one in her right hand. The fact it split apart was already a surprise, the presence of another artifact was the seal on her death warrant, and she knew that by then. The body she was occupying was not just cut into multiple pieces, shredded like tofu, but orange flames began to consume it at once, preventing Yuya from regenerating the deadly injuries.

"Time to go…" She thought, and releasing the energy of Cabrao in her body, she opened up a slit into No-space, sending her tiny soul into it.

"Lia, STOP!" Solren shouted, keeping an eye constantly on their battle as he was letting his sister gain experience but also ready to jump in if must. Seeing what was happening, he already knew his sister's thoughts; he could see it in her eyes. He also knew his words were not enough to stop her. With a puff of smoke, Lia was gone, rushing after Yuya's escaping soul.

…

…..

……

When Yuya reappeared in No-Space, Dolores was there, meditating, waiting for her. She was glad to see that her master managed to extradite her whole fragment of soul. This was the best outcome, as she probably would escape punishment later on. She held it in her hands like holding a fairy, no bigger than 30 centimeters.

"Let's go," Yuya said weakly, resisting the pull of the Sea of Souls that wanted to gobble her up and turn her into part of its endless energies. Where she should have been heading originally.

"Go where?" Lia's voice resonated as she appeared, holding her two swords, gazing at them.

"You found us? Impressive!" Yuya's tiny soul clicked her tongue, and Dolores was already getting ready to flee.

"I sensed her the moment I first teleported," Lia answered. "I am not letting any of you go. You both will die here!"

"Doubt it." Yuya answered, and her voice was filled with desire, "I like you! I will get my hands on your body, and I will transform your soul into my slave. Even more, I will turn all your family members into my puppets!"

"Try us." She spat back and flew forward, attacking, watching as Dolores tried to dodge, but Lia's sword simply extended, turning into whips, dismembering her soul, tearing off her hands that held Yuya.

"How long can you fight in here, kid?" Yuya grinned, already feeling that Lia's time, using this much power, was quickly reaching its end.

"Long enough!"

"Ah…" Yuya flinched as she felt the change, but by the time she registered it, she was dead for real.

Chilling blue flames burst forth from Lia, enveloping Dolores, who was trying to reattach the part of her dissected soul and run away with the miniature Yuya. They were turned into ice sculptures at once before being smashed into millions of pieces, swallowed up by No-Space at once. Lia couldn't make sure that everything happened as he expected, but she was confident in her full powers. She was convinced they were dead as she opened up a door, reentering normal space before her defenses failed.

…

….

……

In the separated home of the Soulbound Sect, Yuya was sitting in her gazebo, meditating, when her whole body shuddered. She felt like being thrown into the freezer as if her whole being was dosed in a spell of ice. Her eyes slowly opened, confused, and she had to stand up and start shaking her body to dispel the feeling of being frozen. She knew it could only mean one thing, that her soul fragment had been destroyed. It took her a minute to recollect her mind as she sat back down, trying to focus on the feeling. The fact that she felt the coldness meant that the tiny specks that did get back to her contained some of her memories. Getting anything out of it was hard and close to impossible, so she could only make vague connections.

"It had to be one of the top leaders…" She thought as she was trying to put the pieces together, "With a strong proficiency in ice-based spells… Berisons? Hm… Ah!" She flinched as she found a trace of Lia's mana, but for Yuya, it was only like tasting a peculiar candy. "Feels nice. Have we… encountered this one already? Who? Hm… I hope none of the others marked it as his own yet… I want this!"

With a chuckle, she stood up, hurrying away, intending to visit her brother. It was still early for them to travel to Meriath… but with the taste in her mouth, she was getting impatient.

…

….

……

Standing at the burnt village, the Misfits were not really in the mood to talk. They were simply looking out of their heads, their thoughts distant and troubled. Solren was talking with multiple, Three Ri stage Amarins, who arrived not that long ago, making extra sure, no Undead remained, and all of the land and its living beings were turned into ash.

"I feel sick." It was Keily who broke the silence in the end.

"Join the queue," Koa answered somberly, hugging her own hands.

"Get yourself together!" Simbad added with a slightly raised voice, "Did you think the old tales were fun? That they were heroes in shining armor, saving the world from the Undead while everyone was cheering them on? They were wrestling in mud, blood, and guts for survival!"

"That is enough," Lia interjected, her voice clearly signaling that it was an order. She was not looking at them, only watching Solren and the other older Amarins.

"Sorry." Simbad saluted, falling silent once again, knowing the stories of his own grandfather and what he did while serving in Reyra's group caused his sudden outburst.

"It is okay," Lia whispered, not wanting to elaborate on it. "Remain here until we get our new orders! We are on standby." She nodded at Aurora, who, just like Simbad, saluted, acknowledging her orders. Solren watched it happening from the corner of his eyes, and when Lia walked up to him, the rest of the Amarins turned towards her too.

"Good work." A blonde, blue-eyed man said, clapping Lia on her shoulders. She knew that he was an ancestor of hers, someone who was connected to her by blood yet separated by more than 2000 years.

"Thank you." She cupped her hands.

"I told them everything." Solren explained, "They just want to hear it from your mouth too."

"Sure!" Lia sighed, recounting her fight in No-Space, concluding with what she said to her brother, too, "I don't think they will know about my moves. I destroyed them thoroughly. I felt it!"

"That is the best!" The experts sighed with relief. "We have a situation here. This is troubling, and now a whole city is under quarantine!"

"Mother is already on her way," Solren told Lia, "She will be the one to judge the city and its denizens."

"Um." Lia nodded but remained silent, watching the smoking ruins as the sun was slowly coming up, bathing the land in its golden rays, ignoring the plight of the hundreds who died while it was away.

"We are going to join up with Eldest Brother."

"Hm?" She raised her head, looking at her brother, waiting for him to continue.

"With what happened here, we suspect that the sub-realm they found is linked to the Undead. We have a day to recover before we move on."

"Good," Lia said, her voice becoming strong and stern.

"Relax." The older Amarins said, looking on with concern in their eyes. "You did everything you could! Don't let yourself be lost… We have heavy and dark times ahead of us… let us, the older generation worry first!"

"Can't do." Lia shook her head, forcing a small smile on her face, "Meriath is my home too. The people living on it are my responsibility… I am an Amarin!"

"You are still young!" Solren added, placing his hand on the top of Lia's head, who just whispered, her eyes closed, remembering Rose's figure.

"Nobody cares about that… no men, no gods, and certainly not the Undead…"