Again he confronted Butler Enrique.
And of course, Mora.
Bloodshine and Mora began their battle... Again.
And of course, he showed up.
The Caretaker.
He stood on the high top, as his soul pressure like an invisible wave, spread outward.
It silenced the battlefield.
Soren stood,
a dagger at Enrique's neck. "If you move, ill kill him." Soren threatened.
Soren could not see the man's face, but his eyes... all six of them—said a lot.
Instantly, the last time, the care taker shot out his soul pressure.
As he did, it blasted Soren against the wall.
Soren fell to the ground, bleeding from his eyes, mouth, and other orifices.
The Caretaker frowned. "You are more tenacious than I thought you were." And this was a compliment.
The reason was because he expected that Soren would be smashed and turned into meat paste.
Bloodshine on the other hand, was fixed in place, struggling to hold her own against the pressure.
Her blade was still up against Mora.
The Caretaker turned, a hand waving for Mora to follow.
However, she didn't.
—not immediately.
She had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.
She had dreamed of the day yhat she would tear soren, like he did to her fathers.
She wanted vengeance. When next she would see him, she did not know, but right now, she had her pret before her eyes.
"Master..." Mora called for the Caretaker, as she motioned with her eyes for Soren.
Words were not needed. He could clearly see her desire.
He gave a light nod.
Mora walked towards Soren, steps echoing against the rocks, a purposeful announcement of his end.
Mora wanted to be the last thing Soren thought of.
The last thing he saw, felt, and heard before she sent him to the after life.
She stopped him—facing into his eyes "For my fathers..."
Her knife carved a beautiful arc for his neck
Whoossssh!
However, the familiar sensation of blade cutting through meat was not there.
She tried again and again.
Confused as to what was going on.
Then the image of soren flickeredike static.
Mora's eyes shot open.
But she was not the only one.
Another static...
The Caretaker looked below. It was from the box under his armpit.
Then a scream came.
"Soren I cannot nøt hold it any longer."
The Caretaker and Mora turned together.
High up, at the entrance of this tunnel was Bloodshine.
Mora turned to the Bloodshine close to her. To her surprise, this one did not move, and the image flickered.
The real Bloodshine suddenly fell on her knees, unable to hold it any more.
And then the world changed.
The real Soren was revealed.
He was running across the the rocky land as fast as he could.
And under his armpit, was the box.
The Caretaker saw this and screamed. "YOU TRASH!"
—genuinely feeling insulted.
After all, the box had been taken from underneath his armpit without him knowing.
This was an insult to his calibre.
Even worse, he would have not know if Mora's desire for revenge had not made her go for Soren's neck.
How it had happened was unknown, but instantly, his soul energy flared, as it rushed like an arrow for Soren.
However, before the blast would reach Soren a figure suddenly appeared—passing by Soren as he retreated.
Cynthia.
Her hand moved as she unleashed her signature sonic punch.
Unlike the last time, she did so with soul energy.
Boom!
The beast's from both forces collided in mid air, blasting the ground open as a mixed waved of soul energy and and ectoplasmic goo shit out in all directions.
A painful screech was heard.
—The wail of an Eldritch creature mixed with the screaming of a man.
Green mist rose in the air, obstructing view.
Soren arrived next to Bloodshine. She was bleeding from her nose.
He grabbed her by the arm to help her up. "Good Bloodshine. You did very good."
This plan had been a very crazy one. So crazy that Soren had repeated 23 times already.
The most difficult part of the plan was the fact that that since he alone could go back in time after his death, only he could plan and time it just right.
The plan had not been simple.
After the first time Soren died here and he noticed Bloodshine had also unlocked her Second Form, the plan began to form.
Soren had noticed that when Bloodshine activated her second form and became three people, Mora had become confused in the fight.
Mora's Second form allowed her the ability to read people's minds.
If Bloodshine was merely giving out illusions, Mora would have still known which was real and which was fake—simply because she was reading
Bloodshine's mind.
But she did not.
That was when Soren thought about it again and again, and arrived at a terrifying possibility.
That all three clones Bloodshine had released were actually real.
Or to be more precis, Mora thought them to be real.
During one of their sparing sessions, Soren had asked Bloodshine about it.
Obviously, like most Soulbound warriors, she did not want to give away how her ability worked.
But she had a weak spot for Soren, and spilled a part of the beans.
When Bloodshine activated her First Form, her illusions only affected one's eyes.
But in her second form, it affected more that the eyes.
This time around, the illusion attacked a person's sense of touch.
This was the reason Mora had been confused in that battle.
Every hit from the three Bloodshines, made her believe it was from the real one.
Her sense of Touch, had been deceived.
This was it. This was Bloodshine's ability.
On hearing this, Soren could not help but yet again look a Bloodshine in a different light.
This girl ranked D, had more potential than she was given credit for.
In total, it is said that they were Nine Forms.
Clearly, her illusions made one believe they were real the higher the form.
Didn't that mean that at the Eighth or even Ninth form, her illusions would become indistinguishable from reality?
Soren's eyes widened at this thought.
He coukd not help but remember that passage he read
in the book about Shades.
While the Color of the Shade matters the quality of bond made with the Soulbound warrior, it does not fundamental mean the Shade is weaker or stronger.
It just means the extent to which a Shade's power may be utilised by its Soulbound warrior.
Meaning that in theory, a D–rank
Soulbound warrior can produce as much power as an S rank, or an SS–rank warrior if they had quality bond with their Shade.
Spren had thought of how incredible it was and thought of a very bold and unimaginable plan.
Since he already knew where and when each person would show up, he knew the best cause of action to take in respect to their arrival.
All Bloodshine had to do was activate her Second form.
—not in the middle of the fight, but from the very beginning.
And at the time the Caretaker had released his Soul pressure, Soren had already been standing behind him.
Soren had his own soul pressure to protect his body, but the truly incredible thing was stealing from the Caretaker.
Bloodshine had to ensure that the Caretaker continually felt like he was holding the box.
The Caretaker was a powerful foe. It was the reason Bloodshine did not make her image and that of soren have as much realism as needed.
Once the box was stolen, all they had to do was escape with it.
Soren had tried this exact part 10 different times, and quickly came to one conclusion.
If the plan was to succeed, then they needed Cynthia's help.
And now, it happened.
The Eldritch had woken up.
Instantly, the ground began to split open, and those twisting vines became to pop out.
Creatures that looked like closed fists with rows and rows of sharp teeth rushed out.
Soren knew that they coukd not stay. Not anymore.
Luckily, the Caretaker was closer to the Eldritch and attacks were focused on him.
Soren watched as it looked at his retreating figure.
All six eyes staring at him like they would devour him, but it did not give pursuit.
By now, even Soren could guess it.
The Caretaker was not human.
The Eldritch minions attacked the Caretaker from all sides, but even before they reached him, they were crushed to paste by his soul pressure.
Soren did not look back again. "Cynthia!" He called.
She was already approaching fast behind him.
Soren could only hope in his heart that somehow, the Caretaker and the Eldritch soul engaged in some kind of battle.
If they did, then it would Increase the possibility of surviving.
But even that was wishful thinking.
This was a problem he had to solve by himself.
Soren, helping Bloodshine, and cynthia following behind— they hurried to leave the town.