Every creature has a Soul Realm. Even the Soulbornes have a Soul Realm.
Just like Mages have their magic circles and swordsmen have their martial realms, Soulbornes have Tier Realms.
There are a total of 10 tiers. Tier 1 is the weakest, and Tier 10 is the strongest.
Tier 1: Hollows
Tier 2: Whispers
Tier 3: Wretches
Tier 4: Reavers
Tier 5: Revenants
Tier 6: Aberrants
Tier 7: Archfiends
Tier 8: Voidborn
Tier 9: Oblivion Lords
Tier 10: Nihil Sovereigns
After Tier 10, Soulbornes are classified in a different power system. That system is similar to the Life and Death Realm and the Realms of Celestial Beings.
A Soulborne with a high enough Soul Realm can reach the Celestial Realm. Those who do are called The Devils, just like Demon kings.
The Soulborne Aether is fighting is at Tier 7, which is similar in strength to a low-stage Transcendent or a 7th circle Mage.
* * *
Zaap! Zaaaap!
Lightning kept striking down from the sky, aiming straight at Aether.
He barely managed to dodge each bolt.
At the same time, the Soulborne was charging at him, throwing powerful punches again and again.
"Tsk" Aether clicked his tongue in frustration.
He wasn't getting any chance to fight back. If he kept dodging, it was only a matter of time before he exhausted himself. The best course of action was to use his most powerful attack and finish it in one go.
However, He could only rely on the Noctvain Sword Art for now.
But in his past life, after learning and mastering many sword techniques, he created a sword technique of his own.
A sword technique born from experience, pain and growth.
He named it 'The Sunless Sword Art'.
It was the sword technique that made him the strongest in his past life.
But right now, he was only at Sword Master mid stage. He couldn't bring out the full power of the technique.
Still, he could try to mimic it. But there was a problem.
Even if he only mimicked the Sunless Sword Art, his whole body would be a mess.
The technique was too powerful for his current level. His muscles, bones and organs would take heavy damage. And if he used his Regeneration skill too much, he'd end up bedridden for days.
Still...Aether took a deep breath.
'Well... let's try it first.'
As Aether was lost in thought, his body moved on its own. He kept dodging the lightning strikes and stepping back, avoiding both the thunder and the Soulborne's attacks.
Then Aether suddenly changed his movement.
Instead of dodging back, he dodged to the side and charged straight at the Soulborne.
As the thunder was artificial, created by the Soulborne. it was slower than real lightning.
That small delay was enough.
Aether took the chance and moved in.
'Noctvain sword art sixth form'
A dark green aura glowed around Aether's body as he charged toward the Soulborne.
Whoosh Fwoom Thud! thud! thud!
Dodging the thunder, he closed the distance and in seconds, he was face to face with it.
But just as he was about to strike, a bolt of lightning crashed down right in front of him.
Krrrraaaaack
Aether quickly stepped back, avoiding the blast just in time.
Just then, a spell was cast on Aether.
"Hmm?" He turned to look at the source.
It was Thalia's maid, Kelly.
She cast a spell that reduced the thunder attacks by seventy percent.
That meant Aether had a better chance to get close to the Soulborne and fight properly,
instead of having to worry about the lightning.
"What are you doing here?" Aether asked narrowing his eyes.
"It's my lady's order." The maid looked calm as she replied.
Step..step..step!
Thalia also came up to Aether.
"I want to help too." Thalia's voice was full of determination.
She also sent her escorts to help the Iron Fang squad of Noctvain family.
She wanted to fight the undead herself, but fighting the weak puppets didn't mean much. So Her target was to face the hooded men's leader, who was fighting the Left Guardian.
However, that fight was beyond her abilities, so she decided to help Aether instead.
One year ago, Thalia and her older brother were attacked by the same kind of undead and hooded men.
The hooded men's leader Franklin, who is now fighting the Left Guardian, is not the same leader who attacked them back then.
But the undead monsters are definitely the same.
That means they all belong to the same organization.
Thalia also felt anger toward her personal maid, who had hidden the undead's appearance. Even though the maid was only following her mother's orders.
Thalia's mother had ordered the maid to avoid the organization and never let Thalia try to track them.
But Thankfully, the Noctvain family was here to help.
And from their point of view, Aether and the Left Guardian,who were mercenaries were also very strong. So the maid let her join the fight otherwise she would have knocked her unconscious and run far away from the hooded men.
"Hmm. Why are you here? You should be evacuating." Aether said narrowing his eyes.
"Let me fight beside you. They're the reason my brother is suffering. They attacked us a year ago… and he's still unconscious because of them."
"…....Suit yourself." Aether could sense the sincerity in her voice. He too, carried regrets about family from his past life. so he didn't bother stopping her.
Aether then ran toward the Soulborne. A bolt of lightning came down from the sky, but he didn't dodge it. He let it hit him.
Because of the maid's spell, the power of the lightning was reduced by 70%. That meant he only had to take 30% of the damage.
'And if I use my Regeneration skill right after getting hit, I can keep fighting without worrying about the thunder at all.'
Fortunately, Thalia's maid was a 7th circle mage, about the same level as the Tier 7 Soulborne, Grovul.
Since the Soulborne was creating lightning with his power, his attacks were as strong as a Tier 7 being. And because Thalia's maid was also at that level, her spell worked well and reduced 70% of the damage.
If the Soulborne's Soul realm was at Tier 8, her spell would only reduce 40 to 50% of the damage.
Aether now stood before the Soulborne, his eyes blazing with fierce determination.
He raised his sword with all his strength, ready to sever its head.