The battlefield erupted again.
The moment the black portal disappeared, the beasts resumed their assault.
Roars shook the streets.
Magic exploded across the eastern district.
Fire illuminated the night sky.
Ice covered broken walls.
Darkness spread between buildings.
Light flashed through the smoke.
Kelvin stood in the middle of it all.
His body felt different.
His wounds had not completely disappeared, but the System's level-up had restored much of his strength.
SYSTEM
Name: Kelvin
Title: Soul Seeker
Class: Unknown
Affinity: Soul
Rank: F
Level: 3
EXP: 80/300
HP: 100/100
Mana: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Skills:
- Soul Perception — F
- Soul Thread — F
- Soul Shield — F
Kelvin stared at the numbers.
Level 3.
He had gained two levels in a single night.
But instead of excitement, he felt uneasy.
His eyes moved toward his friends.
Sofia.
John.
Michael.
Lydia.
The four of them were exhausted.
And the hidden quest remained in his mind.
PROTECT YOUR BONDS
Progress: 1/4
Kelvin's expression hardened.
One bond protected.
Three remained.
But he still didn't understand what the System meant by a bonded soul.
Was it friendship?
Was it proximity?
Or was something deeper happening?
He didn't have time to wonder.
A massive shadow passed over the street.
Kelvin looked up.
A winged beast descended toward them.
"MOVE!"
The creature slammed into the ground.
BOOM!
Stone shattered.
Sofia jumped backward.
John raised an ice barrier.
Michael vanished into darkness.
Lydia rolled behind a broken wall.
Kelvin activated Soul Perception.
D Rank Magical Beast.
Its soul was enormous.
Kelvin focused.
No black chain.
No artificial control.
This one was attacking on instinct.
"It's not controlled!"
John shouted.
"Then what?"
Kelvin pointed toward the beast.
"It's following the Beast Tide."
The creature roared.
Kelvin suddenly realized something.
The controlled beasts weren't the entire invasion.
The Gate had only manipulated some of them.
The rest were natural beasts drawn into the chaos.
That meant the enemy had created something much more dangerous than an ordinary Beast Tide.
They had turned a natural disaster into a weapon.
"Everyone!"
Kelvin shouted.
"Don't waste energy fighting every beast!"
Sofia looked at him.
"What do you suggest?"
"Find the controlled ones!"
Michael understood first.
"You mean the ones with those black soul chains."
Kelvin nodded.
"If we break their control, we can reduce the strength of the invasion."
John smiled.
"Then let's hunt."
---
They split into pairs.
Sofia and Lydia moved toward the eastern street.
John and Michael went north.
Kelvin stayed between them.
His Soul Perception expanded.
Ten meters.
Thirty.
Fifty.
One hundred.
His head began to ache.
He ignored it.
He could sense hundreds of souls.
Most were chaotic.
But every few seconds—
A black thread appeared.
Controlled.
Kelvin moved.
"John! Twenty meters north!"
John looked toward the darkness.
A giant boar burst through a building.
Its eyes were completely black.
Michael's expression changed.
"That one."
John raised his hand.
"Ice Spear!"
A spear of ice struck the beast.
It stumbled.
Kelvin reached it.
"Soul Thread!"
The thread pierced its soul.
He found the black chain.
Then—
He felt something on the other side.
A human soul.
Kelvin froze.
Someone was controlling the beast from somewhere nearby.
He followed the connection.
A warehouse.
Two streets away.
"Michael!"
Michael immediately understood.
"On it."
He vanished.
Seconds later—
"Found them!"
Kelvin ran.
They entered the warehouse.
Inside were three people wearing black robes.
One was holding a strange crystal.
The other two were controlling magical beasts through black threads.
The moment they saw Kelvin—
They froze.
One whispered:
"The Soul Heir."
Kelvin's eyes narrowed.
"You know who I am."
The robed figure smiled.
"We know what you will become."
Kelvin stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The figure laughed.
"You still believe names matter?"
Michael appeared behind him.
"Answer the question."
The stranger raised a hand.
Black energy exploded outward.
Michael was thrown into a wall.
"MICHAEL!"
Kelvin rushed forward.
The stranger's soul suddenly changed.
It wasn't human.
Kelvin stopped.
"Artificial soul."
The stranger's smile disappeared.
"So you've learned."
Kelvin's eyes narrowed.
"You've been creating artificial souls."
"Creating?"
The stranger laughed.
"No."
He pointed toward Kelvin.
"We are preparing them."
"For what?"
The stranger looked toward the sky.
"For the return."
Kelvin's heart tightened.
"The Soul God?"
Silence.
The three figures looked at him.
For the first time, they seemed genuinely afraid.
One whispered:
"He knows."
The leader immediately shouted:
"Kill him!"
The warehouse erupted.
---
The first attacker lunged at Kelvin.
Kelvin raised Soul Shield.
BOOM!
The impact sent him sliding backward.
The second attacker attacked from the side.
Michael intercepted.
Darkness collided with black energy.
John froze the floor.
Sofia's light burst through the ceiling.
Lydia stayed behind them, healing injuries as quickly as she could.
Kelvin focused on the leader.
The leader was stronger.
Much stronger.
Kelvin could see it through Soul Perception.
Rank: Unknown
His soul was unstable.
Artificial.
But powerful.
Kelvin attacked.
Soul Thread!
The leader dodged.
"Too slow."
He appeared behind Kelvin.
A black blade struck.
Kelvin raised Soul Shield.
CRACK!
The shield shattered.
Kelvin was thrown across the warehouse.
He crashed through a wooden wall.
HP: 71/100
He stood slowly.
The leader approached.
"You possess Soul Authority, but you don't understand it."
Kelvin wiped blood from his mouth.
"Then teach me."
The leader laughed.
"You wouldn't survive the lesson."
He attacked again.
Kelvin barely dodged.
The floor exploded.
Kelvin rolled aside.
Another strike.
He blocked.
Pain shot through his arm.
Another strike.
He ducked.
The wall behind him collapsed.
Kelvin realized something.
He couldn't overpower this man.
So he changed tactics.
Soul Perception.
The leader's soul became visible.
Kelvin saw hundreds of tiny fractures.
Artificial construction.
Not one soul.
Many fragments forced together.
Kelvin's eyes widened.
"You're not one person."
The leader stopped.
Kelvin continued.
"Your soul is made from pieces."
For the first time, fear appeared on the man's face.
Kelvin smiled.
"I found your weakness."
He extended his hand.
"Soul Thread."
The thread entered the man's soul.
The leader screamed.
Kelvin saw memories.
Laboratories.
Children.
Magical beasts.
People being experimented on.
Soul fragments being extracted.
The Gate.
And then—
A gigantic chamber.
At its center stood a sealed black door.
Behind it—
Something was breathing.
Kelvin's eyes widened.
The voice from his previous vision returned.
The Gate.
The leader fought against Kelvin's Soul Thread.
"GET OUT!"
Kelvin held on.
"What is behind the Gate?"
The man's soul screamed.
"THE END!"
Kelvin pulled harder.
The leader's artificial soul began collapsing.
"Who created it?"
The man laughed.
"You think we created the Gate?"
His eyes became empty.
"It created us."
Kelvin froze.
Then the man whispered:
"And it is waking."
His soul shattered.
Kelvin's Soul Thread disappeared.
The man's body fell.
Silence filled the warehouse.
Michael stared.
"What did he mean?"
Kelvin looked at the broken crystal.
"I don't know."
Then—
SYSTEM ALERT
[Major Hidden Information Acquired.]
[Gate classification updated.]
[Gate is not a structure.]
[Gate is a living Soul Authority.]
Kelvin's blood ran cold.
The Gate was alive.
And it was waking.
---
A scream came from outside.
Sofia.
Kelvin's heart stopped.
He ran.
They rushed into the street.
Sofia was kneeling beside Lydia.
John was standing in front of them.
Michael's darkness spread across the ground.
And above them floated a black symbol.
Kelvin activated Soul Perception.
His face went pale.
The symbol was connected to all four friends.
Four threads.
One destination.
Kelvin.
The hidden quest changed.
PROTECT YOUR BONDS
Progress: 1/4
WARNING
External Soul Connection Detected
Targets: Sofia, John, Michael, Lydia
Connection Status: ACTIVE
Kelvin clenched his fists.
"They've linked all of you to me."
Sofia looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Kelvin didn't answer immediately.
Because he could already feel it.
Something was pulling.
Not at their bodies.
At their souls.
The four friends suddenly cried out.
Kelvin stepped forward.
"No!"
His Soul Core reacted.
The black sphere inside him began spinning.
0.07% → 0.09%
The System flashed.
[Emergency Evolution Condition detected.]
[Soul Shield evolution possible.]
[Requirement: Protect a bonded soul from external destruction.]
Kelvin stared at the message.
Then at his friends.
He understood.
The enemy had made a mistake.
They had connected themselves to the four people Kelvin would never abandon.
Kelvin raised both hands.
His voice became cold.
"You wanted to test my Soul?"
The black threads tightened.
Kelvin stepped forward.
"Then test it."
The entire battlefield seemed to tremble.
Soul Shield.
A massive black barrier erupted around all five of them.
The four external soul threads struck it.
BOOM!
Kelvin screamed.
His HP dropped.
100 → 82
Another strike.
82 → 61
Another.
61 → 39
The shield cracked.
Sofia shouted:
"Kelvin, stop!"
He shook his head.
"I won't."
Another strike.
39 → 18
The shield began breaking.
Kelvin's knees buckled.
John grabbed his shoulder.
"We're with you!"
Michael placed a hand against the barrier.
"So am I."
Lydia joined them.
Sofia raised her glowing hand.
The four powers merged.
Light.
Ice.
Darkness.
Healing.
And Kelvin's Soul.
The barrier stopped cracking.
Something changed.
The System appeared.
[Bond resonance detected.]
[Five souls recognized.]
[Soul Shield evolution initiated.]
Kelvin's eyes widened.
A new name appeared.
Soul Shield → Soul Bond Barrier
The black barrier transformed.
Instead of surrounding only Kelvin—
It surrounded all five of them.
The enemy's soul threads shattered.
A tremendous shockwave swept through the city.
The black symbol in the sky cracked.
Then exploded.
BOOM!
Kelvin collapsed.
But before losing consciousness, he saw one final System message.
[Hidden Quest Progress Updated.]
PROTECT YOUR BONDS
Progress: 4/4
Quest Complete.
Then another message appeared.
[New Title Acquired.]
Guardian of Souls
Kelvin's eyes closed.
Far above Valoria, beyond the clouds, something ancient opened its eyes.
It had felt the resonance.
It had felt Kelvin.
And for the first time in thousands of years—
The Gate smiled.
"The Soul has begun to remember."