F-Rank Soul Eater-Chapter 182: The Grand Plan For Freedom

The scene changed again...

And this time around, Little aegon looked at his fingers—all filled with wet sticky blood.

His breath hitched.

Chest tight.

Vision—alternating between clear and blurry.

He looked around him.

There.

In the center of it all, an Eldritch soul the size of a house. It had a single long horn in the middle of its three heads.

Aegon’s breath seized again.

All around him were corpses.

Some bitten half way, blood and organs like a monkey’s banana feast—painting the earth a colorful red.

Dead. They were all dead.

The bullies from earlier were no exception.

All except.. at a corner, a whimper. A little girl.

Mimi.

Aegon staggered to her. Voice cracking as he did. "I’m... sorry. I... didn’t..."

"I... didn’t mean to."

His fingers subconsciously stretched for her...

But she pulled back.

Then he remembered his mother. A kind of dreadful fell on him.

....

The voices all around him resumed the moment.

"Boss Aegon. Boss..."

"Are you okay, Boss?"

"Talk to us..."

Aegon could still not see. As one that once had vision, blindness felt different.

It was not darkness.

No. Not that. Its more like the inability to swe your elbow without a mirror.

Or knowing what was at the other corner of a house.

Yes.

Even though he knew what sight was, he could not acknowledge its existence—simply because his body no longer recognized it.

And yet, something was there. A different kind of light.

Like tiny stars trying to reach him.

They called for him.

Of course. What was he doing?

It was not over. Not yet. He still had... his mother.

He still had that.

However, the truly incredible thing was that all these things.

The memories and flash backs Aegon had seen were actually expressed through...Soren’s eyes?

Soren fell on the ground breath hitched.

It was not yhe pain in his chest this time around.

No, it was the resumption of his own reality.

It was as if his mind had been slammed back into his body.

Cynthia and Bloodshine hurried to him thinking some kind of lash from the battle had reached him.

While not physically, it had.

What was that? How was it able to see all that? Was that senior Aegon’s memories?

His thoughts were in confusion as to how seeing such a thing was possible.

Was it chronovore?

Soren shook his head. It couldn’t be. He had been with the unwilling serpent for far too long, abd coukc boldly say that he understood the Thief a great deal.

Even though it had reacted when Li’s shade had shown itself. This could not be it.

While he was thinking it might be a shade’s ability he never knew he had, his eyes suddenly dropped to his feet.

There was a tail with edges like living haie attached to his feet.

He immediately panicked pulling away.

Eyes tracing the source of it.

Buttermint’s Butler!?

His shock was apparent. Soren had not been the only one to have noticed the tail.

Bloodshine immediately took our her dagger, taking a fighting stance in front of Soren, like an over protective duck mother.

However, the tail appendage had retreated in a hurry back to the body of Scholar.

The smart dressed butler seem to sigh.

However, Buttermint mint immediately raised a hand, protecting his butler, "please forgive Scholar. Things are not as you think they are?"

"You tried nøt to hurt my husband." Bloodshine stated, eyes darting around—as if about to attack but weighing in her environment.

Of course. The other members of the tea party that had their eyes on their Party leader.

Buttermint trued to explain again, "like I said, please forgive Scholar. Trust me. He can’t help it even if he wants to. His Shade chooses who it allows get glimpses." His teeth shone as his gazewent past Bloodahine to Soren behind. "You did get glimpses didn’t you?... Of the future."

"Future?" Soren and Bloodshine echoed at the same time.

Shocked.

Although for different reasons.

Soren had not seen the future. In fact, seeing aegon now, he qas most confident that what he had seen was the past.

But buttermint continued. "Scholar is the major reason I sort to recruit you into my party as his Shade has been wanting to meet you."

Those words were more profound than they were simply uttered.

After all, what it meant was that the Scholar’s shade was not only not controlled bu the Soulbound warrior, but could actively make decisions that influence the human world. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

What kind of shade was that?

Again, Scholar stepped forward and gave s deep apologetic bow.

"Forgive me dear juniors, My Shade is quite a mischievous fellow. It acts strictly in the manner that greatly favours it."

From the way Scholar apologised, Soren could tell that this was not the first time the Shade had acted in this manner.

But the idea that the Shade operated for its benefit greatly disturbed Soren. It reminded him of Chronovore.

At such a time, a scream was heard.

"LI!!!"

He shoved aside the members of the Mohawk Party who had gathered around him.

Hands grabbing at his shoulders.

"Boss—!"

"Boss, stop—!"

But Aegon pushed them away violently.

He staggered forward.

Blind.

Yet walking with a terrifying determination.

Blood had dried around the place where his eyes once existed. The skin there remained sealed, smooth and horrifying—as though nature had decided that eyes were never meant to exist there at all.

And yet—

He walked.

Step.

Step.

Step.

His breathing was ragged.

But something about him had changed.

The air around Aegon began to tremble.

At first faintly.

Then stronger.

A strange green shimmer flickered along his skin.

Like embers awakening beneath ash.

His mohawk also glowed.

Li noticed it immediately, his brows raised slightly.

"Oh?"

The arrogance in his eyes did not fade.

But interest appeared.

Behind him, the faint blue serpent image of his soul energy coiled lazily like a bored god watching a play.

"Still standing?" Li muttered. Then his gaze sharpened. "Interesting. But you are not enough. Without your eyes, You are useless."

Aegon stopped a few meters away from him.

His head tilted slightly upward.

Even though he could not see.

His chest rose and fell.

Slowly.

The green shimmer around his body began to intensify.

Veins—thin and glowing—spread from his temples down toward his neck.

Like roots drinking from a kind of poisoned soil.

Buttermint’s smile slowly disappeared.

"Something is not right."

He murmured under his breath. "That... shouldn’t be happening."

Soren was still kneeling on the ground, chest rising and falling as he struggled to steady his breathing.

But when he saw the green light—

His pupils shrank.

"I am Richnic Aegon, and I am the best!" He kicked against her ground launching forward like a blade.

The mohawk on his head suddenly unravelled to reveal a green glowing horn.

Li tried to back off.

However, Aegon had a slight smirk on his face.

He threw himself forward.

As he did, the coiled serpent behind Li also leaped forward.

Instantly —

Boom.

Cynthia immediately wrapping around Soren like a foil paper.

The ground shook, and at first it came in waves.

And then a green mushroom cloud a kilometer wide all the way to the clouds.

Soren, within Cynthia’s embrace felt the shake and then.

Crack

Multiple parts of his bones broke. He felt it clear as day.

Cynthia also felt it, her red soul energy rushing to surround Soren’s body.

Silence...

It must have stretched for hours.

Soren opened his eyes.

He felt... confused.

"Cynthia..." he called for her.

No answer.

"Cynthia. " still no response.

Only smoke in the air. And then her helmet, half of it by his side.

Red paste leaking slimy on his face.

Only now did he realize that he was looking at the outside world through her body.

Yes a huge hole had torn through the entire left side of her body.

Yet, most of the explosion had made the entire place turn to stone.

The shock of what had just happened was a lot.

Barely, with mich difficulty, he managed to push her remains aside.

A part of her bones had shot into his body. Soren could tell, he was dying.

"Shit." He cursed.

And then he looked ahead.

Everyone, was either dead, or half way to it.

Buttermint, kiva, Bloodshine.

In the distance a figure approached. It was Li. He was missing an arm, his body threatening to give up as stone slowly crept up his body.

How he had survived such a thing was beyond Soren.

But not for long.

He fell to the ground.

He moved no more.

Dead.

And then another figure walked from behind him.

On seeing him, Soren’s eyes widened. There were glowing white runes all over his body.

This was it.

The Shade Stealer.

By its side was a Triplex Rot Hound.

It hurried over to drop a glassheart by his side.

The Shade Stealer patted it, "good job boy. It went according to plan. All like taking candy from a baby."

Soon other hounds also approached dropping glasshearts by his feet.

One came to Cynthia’s body taking her Glassheart and leaving with it. And then dropping it at the shade Stealer feet.

It chuckled. Lightly, eyes turning towards soren.

It frowned. "Waterfell..."

Maybe it was its whitened eyes, or entire body covered by those glowing white neuralink runes. But a strange realization suddenly dawned on Soren.

It was all planned. Everything so far... all planned?

But before he could think more, his vision faded.

He staggered, and fell to the ground.

[You Died]

(Author’s note: finally, we have reached it. You guys tell me if you figured it out. Also, i doubt I will write such a long arch again. Back to the short ones.)