Primordial Villain With A Slave Harem - Chapter 568

Chapter 568: Reaping the Souls of the Damned
Thanks to my [Voltstep] and heightened Agility stat, I managed to enter deep into their midst. Thus, instead of me being trapped, they just allowed a ticking time bomb to comfortably etch himself into the middle of their ranks. “[Magma Burst]!”

Immediately upon my casting the spell that ruined Kael’s ice bird summon, Anivia, molten energy roared from my body in all directions, spewing out like volcanic fury unleashed from the depths of hell itself. The lethal wave of liquid fire instantly claimed the lives of the four lion-kin closest to me.

Their muscular and towering frames that were the natural advantage given to these apex predators of the beast-kin races disintegrated into ash and bone. Screams of agony pierced the air as flesh melted off their bodies like wax under a flame. Skin blackened and sloughed off, revealing muscle and bone beneath before both dissolved in the molten onslaught.

Several lion-kin who were lucky enough not to be right next to me during the moment of eruption, unlike the four who died immediately, staggered back and whimpered when they noticed their fur getting ignited by the blast. They turned their backs on me before jumping far away using their immensely powerful legs, after which they writhed on the ground, desperately attempting to smother the flames.

Lava sizzled and pooled at my feet as the eruption subsided, leaving only death and destruction in its wake. The once-mighty horde carefully surrounded me, afraid to take even a single step in my direction. These brutish creatures were used to magic spells being cast on them, but my battle arsenal had visibly frightened them. I used electricity and then magma; they likely only heard tales of these elements and I even used two in quick succession!

[You’ve slain level 29 Havros. You’ve gained 2,158 XP.]

[You’ve slain level 32 Caelis. You’ve gained 3,085 XP.]

[You’ve slain level 24 Dazhira. You’ve gained 1,428 XP.]

[You’ve slain level 30 Rhaegar. You’ve gained 2,510 XP.]

[31,640 -> 40,821]

“He has similar spells to the accursed human queen! We need to be careful!” One of them shouted with a terrified voice, letting me know just how much mental trauma Queen Morgana put the beasts through.

“The bitch is a mage, but this fucker is just strange!”

“Damn it! If only the bosses weren’t occupied with their own fights…!”

“We’re mighty lions! We fear no enemy!”

Many such sentiments rippled across their group. They were all scared, but their racial pride would not allow them to make a run for it. Instead, they used herd mentality to bolster each other’s confidence.

I momentarily listened to the fight of my girls happening behind me; they were dealing with the frontline of the group while I deliberately entered their midst, creating two battlefields. By the sounds of the many mighty clangs and male whimpers, I could guess they were holding on rather well.

It was time to refocus on my part. Since they were reluctant to approach me, I decided to study something I was curious about, namely, how I could best go about collecting the souls of my slain enemies.

To do so, I had to cast my Soul Reaper’s imbued ability, [Eternal Damnation]. It didn’t have a cooldown, nor did it cost mana, but casting the spell after every kill would’ve been counterproductive to an efficient combat style. However, if the souls left the bodies of my slain enemies within a few seconds, I had no choice but to keep casting the spell.

Since my opponents were already terrified of my combat abilities, I decided to be a bit theatrical by letting go of my saber and commanding it to hover above my head while I parted my arms wide apart before declaring in a deep, authoritative tone.

“Those who dare oppose me shall find no salvation, for the only future awaiting them is one of [Eternal Damnation]!”

Above the three beasts I had slain with my saber while rushing at the group, ghostly blue flames nestled themselves atop their skulls. The flames neither consumed nor scorched their flesh but remained attached like brands.

When I cast the spell, the blue flames surged to life, spiraling downward and fully engulfing the skulls of my slain foes.

The spectral blaze didn’t burn, however; it claimed. The three blue flames ripped the essence of the lion-kin free from their flesh prisons. Their ethereal forms were wrenched from their mortal remains, drawn toward my Soul Reaper hovering high above me, acting as the catalyst of it all.

The saber pulsed with malevolent hunger, devouring each soul as the flames dragged them into its abyss.

For the four who had perished in the molten eruption of my [Magma Burst], there had been no flames atop their lifeless forms. Their charred corpses lay barren of any mark.

Yet upon casting the spell, four ethereal flames detached from the saber, and instead of going for the desecrated corpses, they ascended high into the skies like a rocket until they abruptly stopped and attached themselves to something that was previously entirely invisible to my eyes – the ascending souls of my departed enemies.

The intercepted spirits tried to escape my reach, but the Soul Reaper refused to grant them passage, forcefully dragging them back down from their journey to the afterlife.

Each flame coiled around a soul, capturing them in a grip they had no chance to escape from. One after the other, the flames dragged the captured souls down, spiraling toward the hovering blade.

When they reached the saber, a burst of blue energy radiated outward, accepting the new souls into its storage made to house the damned.

Mortality had been defied, and the boundary between life and death shattered by my will. The Soul Reaper hummed with satisfaction, audibly happy with the meal it had been granted.

Based on what my eyes had shown me, I deduced that my saber would assist me in my quest to collect souls by locking onto souls I’d killed with the blade, forbidding them from even attempting an ascent to the afterlife. This allowed me to not worry about those souls, for they were jailed, forced to wait for me to claim them. The souls of those I didn’t kill with the Soul Reaper were a different matter, however, as the weapon didn’t lock their souls down with its lingering blue flames. I had a certain amount of time to cast [Eternal Damnation] until they would leave the range of the saber’s reach.

My Harbinger of Ruin subclass of the Primordial Villain main class allowed me to unlock necromancy after completing some requirements. Part of the reason I elected to fight away from my girls was that kills I didn’t secure by myself didn’t count.

Capture the souls of 1,000 level 20+ entities. 0/1,000

Capture the souls of 50 level 30+ entities. 1/50

Capture the souls of 1 level 40+ entity. 0/1

Thus far, Eve, the guard who protected the twins with her life, was the sole resident of my Soul Reaper. That has changed.

Capture the souls of 1,000 level 20+ entities. 5/1,000

Capture the souls of 50 level 30+ entities. 3/50

Capture the souls of 1 level 40+ entity. 0/1

My plan was working – necromancy was within my reach. It would take some grinding, but I was sure the Beastman Confederation was happy to make some generous donations, for I would not stop shedding their blood and damning their souls until I secured my in-laws and meted out justice in their name.

To that end, I commanded my blade to descend into my raised right arm, took up the stance I developed over months of devoted duels and training with my beloved samurai, and lunged at my enemies – it was time to reap.