Unseen tensions began to rise as the one-winged silver-haired warrior gazed upon the three souls standing before her.

Zanetor's mind fell into a turbulent state, waves of negativity streaming out from his soul core. His thoughts turned black as he confronted the very spirit warrior who had nearly ended his existence.

She dared to appear before him again.

She had the audacity to look down on him again.

He wasn't going to let her go.

No, not this time.

This time, he was going to get rid of her once and for all.

"Well, well! What a pleasant surprise," Edem placed his palm on Zanetor's shoulders, stealing a sharp glance at him.

A chilling sensation went down the shadow soul's spine as he met the cold gaze of his teacher.

Edem's eyes then turned to the silver-haired girl, his stern expression quickly fading away.

"Xoese, unfortunately, we can't stay around for as long as we like," he smirked. "You see, we're quite busy."

Xoese's surreal appearance began to fade away. Her wings slowly dissipated into tiny flecks of light, and the white aura surrounding her body also faded, returning her to her usual look.

Gentle winds surrounded her, carefully helping her to her feet.

She hesitated briefly before attempting to speak, "I-"

*SCREECH!*

A strained cry interrupted the silence of the scene, stealing everyone's attention.

Xoese glanced back with fierce, narrowed eyes.

"A- Are you kidding me!?" Kekeli smiled sarcastically. "This thing isn't going to die!?"

A red orb hovered above the souls present. Corrupt energy crackled around it as it began to emit an intense glow.

"It's condensing a large amount of spirit energy," Leticia muttered, horror-struck.

Just then, large gusts of wind descended upon the area, a particular flow of spirit energy gracing the surroundings.

"Could you…" Xoese began. "Could you refrain from interrupting us?"

The raging winds amalgamated into a violently rotating drill and blasted towards the large red core. Sparks flew as the wind gradually pierced through the orb.

"It's irritating," her eyes gleamed.

*CRASH!*

A pained groan emanated from the orb as it shattered into countless pieces. The shards fell to the ground, and from the rubble, something seemed to poke out.

"What's that?" Leticia's eyes furrowed.

Everyone's gaze fixated on the rubble as a white creature with blue lines adorning its body emerged. The creature was small, almost the size of an average human's palm. It had eight legs and a cylindrical body with a single eye that appeared to peer into everyone's core.

Kekeli's brows rose, "Is this like a mini version of that monster or something?"

The creature, upon noticing that it was surrounded, attempted to flee. However, a wind sphere surrounded it, rendering it motionless.

"There have been recent cases of spirit beasts being transformed into opaques," Xoese uttered as the captured creature levitated towards her within the wind sphere.

"Spirit beasts transforming into opaques?" Edem raised an eyebrow.

The silver-haired warrior nodded, "It's happening in almost all the planes, except the crown. The situation is becoming worse every single day."

"That explains why there were so many spirit warriors attempting to defeat it," Kekeli blurted out.

"There are spirit warriors in the mountains?" Edem turned to Kekeli. "Why didn't you say so earlier? We shouldn't be here any longer if that's the case."

Sweat began to run down the sides of Kekeli's face. "Ehehe, I don't think you have to be worried about that. That thing completely wiped them all out."

Xoese sighed, "The problem's getting out of hand. Reinforcements would be arriving soon, however."

"Wait," a familiar voice interjected, calling everyone's attention.

Leticia stepped forward and fixed her eyes on Xoese. "Why are you telling us all this? Aren't you supposed to be hunting the shadow soul down?"

There was a brief silence as everyone seemed to wait for an answer.

"No," Xoese answered. "I'm not here to hunt him down."

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Expressions of surprise emerged on everyone's faces, except Zanetor and Edem. The look on Edem's face slightly turned serious, and Zanetor seemed completely removed from the situation.

His thoughts were growing more and more turbulent.

She was there.

She was standing right before him.

Why was Edem stopping him!?

There was a reason. One that he knew made sense to him, but the urge to kill that girl was beginning to override his resistance.

"Then, why are you here exactly?" Edem smiled lightly.

Xoese nervously grabbed her arm as she looked away. "I'm abandoning the Spirit warrior corps."

The cloaked man's brows furrowed. "Sudden. Why are you making this decision all of a sudden?"

"I only stayed behind because the Soul King made me believe he could help me find her," Xoese's expression turned serious. "However, it turns out he has no interest in helping me."

"Hmm? And why is that?" Edem tilted his head. "Also, by 'her' do you mean…"

The silver-haired girl nodded and then pointed to her forehead. "The only thing the King wants is the stone's power. Hence, I made the choice of leaving the corps once it awakened."

Kekeli folded his arms. "Huh. Then why did you come to us? I doubt you're willing to tolerate the presence of a shadow soul regardless of the circumstances."

"I'm only here to see Edem," she began, her eyes lowering. "Since I don't know anyone else I could go to."

Zanetor twitched, and Edem immediately felt something was amiss.

His eyes narrowed, "Xoese."

Xoese's eyes rose, "Y- Yes."

"You should leav-"

*BOOM!*

An explosive force sent debris blasting high up into the air, the instant a blurred figure zipped past Edem.

"W- What happened!" Kekeli blocked the debris from reaching his face as Jackie leaped out of the way, grabbing Leticia with its mouth.

Edem turned to his right, a horrifying realization dawning upon him as the heap of snow threatened to bury him.

"Tch, damnit!" he sprung into the air and onto one of the nearby branches. "He couldn't fight the urge."

The snow finally returned to the ground, revealing both Zanetor and Xoese. The shadow soul had both his hands around her neck, gradually tightening his grip. He had lunged at the spirit warrior with deadly speed and precision, and a faint dark aura could be seen emanating from his body.

"Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill," Zanetor chanted in a trance-like state.

Kekeli helped Leticia get on Jackie's back as he witnessed the scene. "It's just like back then."

"Huh?" Leticia comfortably positioned herself on the cat's back. "What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about the battle that ensued between those two," Kekeli answered. "Back in the Great Eye city."

Leticia remembered what he had told her about the battle when she had fallen unconscious back then. It made Leticia feel a bit worried. If Zanetor were to rage here, then it would mean that everything in his path was going to be destroyed.

Not just that.

If his negative energy got any larger, it would bring calamity to the spirit realm.

Then… the tragedy she experienced back then would…

"Don't go any further," she muttered. "Else, you'll cause more hatred and pain for no reason."

Kekeli's expression saddened as he listened to the girl talk to herself. He was a part of the anguish she felt whenever she thought about the last calamity that befell the Spirit realm.

'Even if anything were to happen,' the flame warrior thought, 'I'm not letting you go this time.'

Meanwhile, Xoese struggled to breathe as the grip on her throat grew increasingly unbearable.

Edem had wanted to intervene, but the dark aura that surrounded Zanetor made it impossible for him to get any closer. It had grown too potent in such a short time. At this point, the only thing he could bet on was Xoese.

If she still had that ability, then she could probably deal with the situation.

"Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill," Zanetor cracked a crazed smile. "I'll kill you, then there will be no problems."

Xoese displayed no sign of pain or fear on her face. She simply strained to part her lips as she attempted to speak.

She forced her voice out, barely managing to utter a few words.

"Ah, I- I see," she held Zanetor's wrist. "You're lonely too, aren't you?"

The Shadow soul's grip suddenly loosened.

"You've had to deal with so much," she continued. "The pain is stifling, isn't it?"

"SHUT UP!" Zanetor violently tightened his grip once again.

That didn't stop Xoese from trying to get her message through, however. The silver-haired girl mustered up all the force she could summon and slowly loosened his hold on her throat.

She didn't want to call the winds to her aid, lest he replied with an even greater aggression. Xoese was fully aware of what could trigger the berserk state of a shadow soul, and she wasn't thinking about being the ultimate catalyst for it.

"You may deny it, but your heart desperately whispers its secrets. You're not the only one who feels pain," she muttered. "We all do…"

Zanetor continuously tried to get his grip on her throat as she spoke.

"And if that's the case…" she continued. "Then it means you're not alone."

Xoese lost her grip on Zanetor's wrist, allowing him to grab her throat once more. He wanted to see her suffer before finally crushing her soul core!

Who cared about what she had to say!?

The threat HAD to be annihilated!

"I…" Xoese strained. "I'm s- sorry you had to l- live such a life."

Zanetor's grip loosened completely as the last thing she said caused a blurry memory to appear within his mind. He could see himself in a bed, surrounded by three people.

Whatever this memory meant, it seemed to dispel the darkness in his mind. The shadow soul's eyes dimmed, and the dark aura surrounding him dissipated.

"Perfect!" Edem landed on the bluish-white snow and rushed to the two. Jackie did the same with Kekeli and Leticia on its back.

The cloaked man got to the scene and immediately helped the shadow soul up. Zanetor weakly gazed at Xoese and couldn't feel any kind of resentment at the moment.

"Do whatever you want," he muttered, his voice barely audible. "But, if you ever try to stop me from achieving my goal, I won't hesitate to wipe you out of existence."

Edem stared at the boy in his arms and thought, 'I'll have to work more on getting him to control his spirit energy.'

The silver-haired girl stood on both feet as she rubbed her throat, "You don't have to worry about that. I'm willing to lend a hand as a contribution to our agreement to work together."

"Hmm?" Edem raised an eyebrow.

"That is, if you're willing to help me find who I'm looking for," Xoese adjusted herself and fixed her composure.

There was hesitancy in the air for a brief moment.

Edem smirked, "Fine then. However, I have a request pending already."

"You're headed for the higher planes, correct?" she held her waist. "Then there's no problem. But then, the spirit warriors get stronger from here on out."

"We'll be keeping a low profile," Edem said.

"It won't be possible for long. The shadow soul's energy is growing exponentially. You know that very well."

"So what do you suggest?"

Xoese paused for a moment, intensifying her gaze and taking a deep breath.

"Forced Spirit Evolution," she coldly muttered.

Everyone's expression displayed surprise upon hearing the silver-haired spirit warrior.

Edem pondered for a bit. Forced Spirit Evolution was a big risk. If executed correctly, it would exponentially boost the energy assimilation of the participant. But then, in the case of Zanetor, whose spirit energy was currently in a phase that easily caused it to spiral out of control…

Still, there were little to no options, and Edem himself wasn't too patient to wait for Zanetor to grow stronger on his own.

Xoese knew the characteristics of a shadow soul's core. If she suggested Forced Spirit Evolution, then it meant she had a way of making it relatively safe.

Edem sighed and closed his eyes.

"Tell us more."