She lifted her head shakily, expecting to find the Error Bearer somewhere close, only to behold a mind-numbing spectacle.

Right in front of her, like a pillar of utter blackness, thousands upon thousands of soul masses poured out of the chasm of the Soul Sanctum, populating the entire sky like a disease.

Seer leaned her head back fully to take in the whole view. Her mouth parted slightly, and she remained dumbstruck at the sheer amount of soul masses the depths of the Sanctum held.

Even though she had held a measure of authority through the edict, she had not expected the Ossuary to possess soul masses to this extent. It was as if the very history of the sect was manifesting like a cloud of vengeful spirits.

These were soul masses with soul emanations that put even the least powerful of them at Peak Grade 1 Caretaker Rank. They poured out in thousands, their collective energy humming with a frequency that made the air itself feel heavy and viscous. The combined soul oppression was enough to still the entire battlefield to a total stop. The roar of combat died away, replaced by a haunting silence as the souls ascended.

Everyone paused. Sanguis, Sue, Madoc, and Osmund all stood like statues, staring up at the sky. The heavens were darkening rapidly as the soul masses blotted out the light in its entirety, turning the afternoon into an artificial, haunted night.

Yet, that was not the end of it. Just this alone was not enough to stop powerful figures like Sue and the Sanguis Ancestor mid-fight.

"They are running away," Seer realized jarringly. She was still on the ground, her palms pressed into the dry earth. These soul masses, each equivalent to at least a Peak Grade 1 Caretaker Ossuarist, were not actually converging in the sky to form a formation. She had originally thought they were preparing for a grand, unified strike. But the way they moved was frantic... uncoordinated.

They were spreading further and further away, blotting out the sky not to attack the Ossuarists below, but rather, to escape. They were all fleeing into the distance at a breakneck pace, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the chasm.

Seer’s head snapped downwards immediately. She looked to the edge of the chasm, her pupils dilating as she spotted the Error Bearer standing there. He looked small against the backdrop of the massive hole in the earth, yet he was the only thing that seemed grounded in the chaos.

He was looking into the abyss of the Sanctum, staring at the thing that had made all the soul masses flee in fright. He didn’t look afraid, in fact he looked excited, as if he’d just seen a worthy challenger.

The vibrations of the ground had stopped entirely at this point, and the whole battlefield was dead silent as the last of the soul masses fled to the horizons.

Then, suddenly and eerily silently, a massive, long arm nearly the width of the whole chasm clawed out to the skies. It was covered in coarse, wire-like hair that seemed to writhe with a life of its own. The arm reached high, silhouetted against the dark sky, before bringing its hand down with an earth-shattering blow.

The impact killed scores of fear-stricken, utterly frozen Ossuarists. They didn’t even scream. They were simply crushed to death, their souls extinguished in the same heartbeat.

"W—What in the hells is this abomination?" Seer whispered.

She could barely think straight. The act of simply gazing upon that long, hairy arm made her vision swim. She quickly averted her eyes, feeling her emotions roil into a violent turmoil. Her stomach twisted, and a cold sweat broke out across her forehead.

A Soul Debt backlash?!! She exclaimed internally, trying to calm her turbulent soul. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

She could feel a madness begin to spread within her. It started as a whisper at the back of her mind, a series of nonsensical syllables that threatened to overwrite her personality. Just from that single gaze, her soul foundations were cracking.

What exactly was this thing? Was this also one of the abominations held within the depths of the Sanctum? The Ossuary had given her control over the edict that bound such a thing? The realization was more terrifying than the monster itself.

She couldn’t even gaze upon it twice without risking her sanity. How would she have held control over it if the Error Bearer had not subverted her control at the last moment? She would have been the first to be consumed by the madness!

Ah... I see... I was not given control over anything, Seer realized.

She grit her teeth, her jaw aching as she battled with the madness roiling within her soul. The Ossuary had not given her control at all. They had only given her a key. She was a disposable pawn meant to turn the lock and then disappear along with the ensuing slaughter.

If for any reason she was forced to use this key, then the situation was dire enough that nothing else mattered. Survival was no longer the goal. Total annihilation of the enemy was the only objective, even if it meant the annihilation of their own people as well.

Seer had been ready to give her life in the first place. She had accepted her role as a martyr for the Sanctum. But seeing this now... seeing that it was not even a matter of choice at all, left a bitter taste in her mouth.

She knew it was petty to feel this way. She had truly offered herself up without hesitation. But now she was hung up on the details of her own expendability.

Maybe it was the corruption from the abomination affecting her psyche right now, or maybe it wasn’t. She realized it didn’t really matter. They were all going to die anyway.

Another resounding boom rocked the earth again, sending heavy tremors that shook her where she knelt.

She felt a rush of wind and the sharp groan of the air — the sound of the hand raising up for another blow yet again — and she let out a soft breath.

It’s over...

"Don’t kill it!!" A sharp cry cut through the battlefield, snapping Seer to attention in an instant.

In that same moment, a terrible pained scream was heard, the same wailing sound that was heard earlier from the depths of the Sanctum.

The ground began to tremble furiously, as if two titans were battling.

What’s going on? Curiosity deeply ate at Seer, and she eventually risked it and raised her head up...