Chapter 532: Soul Fusion, The Gods’ Passives

Leon glanced at the mask covering Cavin’s face before speaking.

"I thought your kind hated masks."

"I quite like this one," Cavin replied with a smile.

"Hypocrite."

Leon immediately rushed forward, unwilling to waste any more time.

Rather than attacking Cavin directly, however, he decided to target Empress while she remained unconscious, hoping to eliminate her before the fusion could become an even greater problem.

Shadow Bullets!

Dozens upon dozens of bullets appeared around Leon, each one empowered by his SSS-Level sub-talent.

They shot toward Empress with incredible speed, their concentrated power enough to pierce through the defenses of most opponents in the Higher Domains.

However, Cavin immediately stepped in front of her.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Every bullet struck his body, creating cracks across his silver scales.

The force of the impacts pushed him back slightly, and blood escaped his mouth as the damage accumulated.

For a moment, Leon thought the attack had worked.

Then, pulses of power spread across Cavin’s body, and the cracks began closing one after another.

Within seconds, his damaged scales had returned to their original condition, leaving almost no trace of the attack.

"My power and Empress’s have combined into one," Cavin explained. "It seems you still have no idea how completely outclassed you are."

Before Leon could respond, Cavin disappeared from his position.

Fwoosh!

His speed was so incredible that he crossed the distance between them almost instantly, appearing directly in front of Leon.

He raised his gauntlet-covered hands and swung them toward Leon’s head, releasing enough force to shatter the ground beneath their feet.

Leon narrowly dodged the attack and countered with his sword.

A crimson flash crossed Cavin’s chest, leaving a massive crack across his silver scales.

However, the damage began healing almost immediately once more.

Leon frowned as he continued attacking.

Eclipse Annihilation! Ice Spikes! Venom Nova!

He unleashed one ability after another, combining physical attacks with elemental damage in an attempt to overwhelm Cavin’s defenses.

Yet no matter how many times he struck, the results remained the same: Cavin simply regenerated.

Even when Leon managed to inflict serious damage, the silver scales repaired themselves almost instantly.

It was as though Leon’s attacks barely mattered.

Or at least, that was the case until he decided to use a soul attack.

Cataclysmic Soul Fireball!

Leon launched the fireball directly toward Cavin, and this time, the guild leader finally reacted differently.

Rather than allowing the attack to hit him, Cavin immediately dodged to the side.

Leon noticed the movement and smiled.

"Your soul isn’t strong enough to handle this, is it?" he asked. "Meaning that if I kill you, Empress will die as well, won’t she?"

Cavin didn’t answer.

His expression remained hidden behind the mask, but the atmosphere around him grew noticeably colder.

After a moment, he slowly cracked his fingers before spreading both arms outward.

Two weapons appeared in his hands. In one, he held Empress’s spear, its silver surface radiating a powerful aura.

In the other, a blade made entirely of silver energy materialized, its sharp edge flickering as though it could cut through anything in its path.

"Every god possesses several passive abilities, similar to talents," Cavin explained. "Some of their servants are granted these abilities, depending on how much trust the god places in them."

He raised both weapons, allowing their power to spread across the battlefield.

"In our case, we were granted a power usually reserved for those in the Eternal Domain. It’s the very first passive ability: [Soul Fusion]."

"...Whatever."

Although Leon answered dismissively, he was paying close attention to Cavin’s explanation.

This was the first time he had heard about the gods possessing passive abilities of their own, but the information made sense.

If the gods were powerful enough to grant blessings and talents to their servants, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to possess unique passives that could be shared with those they trusted.

More importantly, the fact that Cavin and Empress had received one suggested that neither of them was an ordinary servant.

Until now, Leon hadn’t encountered anyone who possessed such an ability.

That meant the servants he had fought previously had either never been trusted enough by their gods or hadn’t met the conditions required to receive a passive.

These abilities were clearly a mark of the gods’ most trusted servants.

And if [Soul Fusion] was considered the first passive, then the servants on the Eternal Battlefield might possess even more powerful abilities.

The God of War, the God of Magic, the God of Eternity, and the other gods probably had their own passives as well, some of which might have already been granted to their strongest followers.

’Damn it, this is getting more complicated.’

Leon hadn’t expected to discover another layer of power hidden behind the gods and their servants.

However, he was also grateful to have learned about it now, because understanding how these abilities worked would help him avoid being caught off guard in future battles.

’I’m guessing only a handful of servants possess these passives, though. Otherwise, I would have encountered them before. The God of Souls must have had significant plans for Cavin and Empress.’

Still, Leon had no intention of backing down.

If killing Cavin also meant killing Empress, then he would simply have to destroy both of them at once.

Considering that the two had fused their souls, defeating them together might even be easier than trying to eliminate them separately.

At that moment, a panel appeared before him.

It wasn’t a notification from Cavin, nor did it seem to come from the system itself.

Instead, it appeared without warning, displaying information about the ability his opponent had just mentioned.

[Soul Fusion (God of Soul’s First Passive): Allows two users whose souls are extremely compatible to fuse, creating a being of incredible power, though if one of the users die while fused, the other will die as well.]

[Each fusion is different from one another as it depends on the two users.]

’Hm.’

Leon stared at the panel for a moment.

Was the God of Souls himself sending him this information to show him how hopeless his situation was? Or was someone else observing the battle and providing him with the details he needed?

He couldn’t be certain, but he didn’t have much time to think about it.

Fwoosh!

Cavin suddenly swung both his spear and silver aura blade toward Leon, launching a rapid series of attacks.

Leon raised his sword and deflected them with precise movements, preventing either weapon from reaching him.

"That [Soul Fusion] just slightly boosted your stats, you’re still as weak as ever."

Then, as Cavin’s weapons passed his guard, Leon stepped forward and swung his sword toward the oni’s head.

The blade cut cleanly through Cavin’s neck, severing his head from his body before it could react.

His head fell to the ground. Leon immediately took advantage of the opening.

Cataclysmic Soul Fireball!

He launched another fireball toward Cavin’s headless body, hoping to destroy his soul while he was down.

However, even without his head, Cavin’s body moved with astonishing speed, dodging the incoming attack.

Silver crystals began growing across his severed neck, spreading over the wound and extending toward his fallen head.

Within moments, the crystals connected the two parts, pulling them together until Cavin’s head was restored to its original position.

’Immortal unless I shatter his soul, just like the Lord of Souls,’ Leon thought. ’I suppose that’s to be expected from someone connected to the God of Souls.’

At least now, he understood what he needed to do.

Cavin’s body could regenerate from almost any physical injury, making ordinary attacks ineffective in the long run.

However, his soul remained vulnerable to Leon’s strongest soul attacks, and the [Soul Fusion] passive meant that killing Cavin would also kill Empress.

It was a powerful ability, but it wasn’t invincible. Leon still believed he could win.

Ding!

[The God of Souls is watching this battle with great interest.]

Cavin immediately looked toward the notification, and his entire demeanor changed.

"Being watched by our god..." he murmured, his voice filled with excitement. "This is incredible. I must thank you for this, human."

Leon stared at him with an expression of complete disgust.

"Shut the fuck up," he replied bluntly. "You’re dying, and so will your god."

...

A/N

This battle is slightly long but I felt the need to introduce these "passives" as they become incredibly important in the future.