The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1222: Soul Master’s Absolute Power

After hearing Vaan’s opinion, Empyrean Oceanheart also agreed.

The state of the Corrupted Beings truly shocked her; they were an unkillable locust army, a parasite with overwhelming numbers, spreading destruction and death wherever it went.

Truly apocalyptic.

Such a cursed existence required their understanding, and the local survivors should be able to provide the information they seek.

However, just as Empyrean Oceanheart prepared to take action, Vaan motioned his hand to stop her.

"There’s no need for Empyrean Oceanheart to take action personally. Seraphina and I should be sufficient to deal with this level of threat. You should conserve your energy."

"You have a point. In that case, I’ll hold the fort from a distance."

Empyrean Oceanheart paused for a moment, giving some thought to Vaan’s suggestion, found it logical, then agreed.

The top-level threat among Corrupted Beings peaked at the Divine Lord Rank.

With Seraphina and Vaan’s level of cultivation, they were indeed more than sufficient to deal with this level of threat.

However, the most tricky part of the advanced-staged Corrupted Beings was their undying element. Such a powerful and complicated ability was best left for a Soul Master to counter.

In fact, Vaan’s intention was just that.

Having spent a significant amount of time cultivating in the Astral Soul Realm to raise his Soul Cultivation to the Divine Lord Rank, he needed an opportunity to test the extent of his Soul Master Abilities and stabilize his realm.

Coincidentally, the advanced-staged Corrupted Beings in the distance happened to provide that opportunity.

"We’ll be quick, Great-grandmother," Seraphina assured.

Swish!

Within moments, Vaan and Seraphina took off, heading directly toward the distant battlefield like two streaks of flying comets.

Although they could see the ongoing battle, the distance was still several hundred thousand kilometers. Thus, it would still take them some time to reach their actual destination unless they had Empyrean Oceanheart’s capability.

...

Boom boom boom!

Brilliant sparks of explosions continued to emerge in quick succession around the surface of the large star fragment as the survivors defended their shelter from the corrupted raiders. R̃á𝐍ọ𝖇ĚS̩

Although the defending survivor’s retaliatory attacks had decreased in intensity and frequency, their desperation was clearly at an all-time high.

"Hold! Hold them all back! We must not let these accursed fiends breach the shelter! The consequences would be unimaginable!" a Divine Lord cried with utmost urgency and desperation.

Countless fiery spells were fired from his body in unending streams, contributing a great deal to the suppression of the Corrupted Beings’ advancement. One might think the Divine Lord had a limitless reserve of magical power based on his extravagant consumption.

Only the Divine Lord knew that his reserve of magical power was being rapidly depleted.

Even so, the Divine Lord could not afford to lower the intensity of his attacks. He was one of the very few Divine Lords in the survivor shelter. His reduced contribution would greatly elevate the pressure on the nearby survivors, which he could not afford.

The consequences of such an action would be unimaginable.

The lower-ranked survivors could barely hold on. As such, the defensive line would quickly collapse if the pressure on them suddenly increased any further.

"Lord Vaelith, we can’t hold on forever! The Undying Fiends can’t be killed or exhausted! Stubbornly holding our ground will lead to the annihilation of our entire shelter! We must evacuate everyone at once!"

"We don’t have enough ships to accommodate everyone in the shelter! A complete evacuation is impossible, and neither can we outrun the Undying Fiends! They do not tire or die! They will eventually catch up and kill all of our young and weak!"

"We can’t stay! We can’t flee! Then, what are we supposed to do?! Do we have to abandon the others and escape by ourselves?!"

The Divine Knight Survivor’s desperate cry stifled everyone’s hearts with oppression and despair.

Everyone knew that it was impossible to save everyone. Yet, they also refused to abandon everyone else in the shelter!

If they lost their loved ones, what meaning would they have left in living, even if they were to survive?

...

In the distance, Vaan and Seraphina approached the battlefield.

The survivors’ desperation hit them instantly, rousing their emotions of sympathy. It was as if they could completely experience the survivors’ feelings.

After countless years of fleeing one shelter after another, abandoning comrades and kins repeatedly, the heart of the survivors had long grown weary and tired from the constant loss.

Now that they had settled down and flourished for the past hundred years, they couldn’t accept returning to the previous life of fleeing on their own.

"Lady Seraphina, please assist the survivors. I will handle the mass of Corrupted Beings," Vaan instructed.

Without waiting for Seraphina’s response, Vaan immediately took off, heading toward the largest corpse mass in his field of vision.

After repeated fleshly destruction from the survivors’ retaliatory attacks, the bodies of the Corrupted Beings had long turned to mush. Not a single intact corpse remained, not even a recognizable limb.

It was as if the entire Corrupted Being Army had been thrown into a blender, ground into fine meat paste.

However, this allowed the Corrupted Beings to assimilate into a singular, larger fleshly mass.

Naturally, the threat level of such a fused existence was also greater.

"This Abomination doesn’t seem to possess a shred of intelligence," Vaan quickly noticed from his observation.

However, he had clearly seen the Corrupted Beings using battleships to fire on the survivor shelter’s location. If no intelligence were involved, they wouldn’t have been able to carry out such complicated commands.

"These advanced-staged Corrupted Beings are like corpse puppets, controlled by another being."

Vaan narrowed his eyes in realization.

He quickly realized the Edge Sweeper and the Hyperion Shards weren’t the only great threats in the Umbral Edge’s shattered star region. There was also something else behind these advanced-staged Corrupted Beings that was just as threatening.

No, it might even be more terrifying than the Edge Sweeper and Hyperion Shards.

Originally, Vaan had a positive, hopeful outlook on the region with the high concentration of survivor shelters, believing it was a safe haven for survivors

However, after witnessing the Corrupted Beings raiding the survivor shelter, he changed his mind. The supposed safe haven was more likely to be the complete opposite; he could shake the feeling that it was actually a terrible den of death.

After all, in the Astral Soul Realm, this high concentration of survivor shelters was actually hidden within one of the large masses of dark clouds.

Indeed, he couldn’t underestimate the hidden dangers of the dark clouds. Each one could potentially hide something truly terrifying.

Roar!

Sensing Vaan’s approach, the large fleshly mass changed its target, focusing its hostility and killing intent on him. In that instant, he felt as if thousands of eyes were glaring at him along with thousands of despairing wails.

Vaan briefly paused.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the souls eroded by corruption didn’t truly disappear but were instead forcefully transformed into a different, imperceptible state that was still alive yet worse than death.

Nevertheless, Vaan didn’t think too deeply for the time being. He had to deal with the threat at hand.

At the moment, the fused fleshly mass had already exceeded the threat level of a Divine Lord and entered the ranks of Divine Kings. Moreover, its threat level continued to increase with each additional assimilation.

Strangely, the large fleshly mass froze upon reaching a certain distance from Vaan, unable to advance a step further. It was completely immobilized, like it had been petrified into stone by his gaze.

Even the killing intent and invisible wails disappeared.

Absolute Isolation!

With a thought, Vaan surprisingly managed to silence the Divine King-level large fleshly mass’s movement and wailing voices.

Indeed, the large fleshly mass might have grown stronger, being capable of exerting the destructive power of a Divine King.

However, it was ultimately composed of Divine Lord-rank fleshly substances, or weaker ones. As such, it couldn’t escape the control of his Soul Master Ability - Absolute Isolation!

This was also the first skill he learned in the Astral Soul Realm, simple yet effective!

Nevertheless, silencing such a large fleshly mass consumed significant soul power. Over time, it would still deplete all of his soul power.

Poof poof poof!

As Vaan silently gazed at the large fleshly mass, numerous sharp chunks of its fleshly mass disappeared one after the other, as if something sharp had repeatedly pierced straight through its huge body.

However, the missing chunks of fleshly mass weren’t scattered to the battlefield; they were completely obliterated from existence.

Even their strong, undying ability couldn’t prevent Vaan’s deletion.

Delete, delete, delete!

Keep deleting! .

Vaan continuously hurled Annihilation Arrows at the immobilized fleshly mass, imperceptible to the naked yet containing the power of nihility.

Indeed, Soul Masters could wield the Power of Nihility with their Power of Thought, even if they had not comprehended the Nihility Law. It simply consumed more Soul Power to do so.

However, Vaan had comprehended the Nihility Law to some extent. Thus, it did not cost as much Soul Power.

Absolute Isolation and Annihilation Arrow!

With just these two abilities, Vaan was already put into an undefeatable position. His opponent had no chance of resisting and could only helplessly await destruction.

Indeed, the renown of Soul Masters was not the least bit exaggerated.