167 Soul Wars

Haru anxiously waited for Flair to return. Ed remained unconscious, and the war was beginning to grow fiercer. The battle in the sky between Sect Leader Fang and the Seven Sect Alliance occasionally caused damage to the troops on the ground due to their powerful wide-range attacks. The elemental giants were easy to fight individually, but their numbers never seemed to stop multiplying. A small mistake could easily end a cultivator's life on the battlefield.

Suddenly, Haru spotted Flair flying in the sky. He frowned as he realized that she was alone. Soon, she landed right in front of him, an awkward expression on her face. "I'm sorry." She sighed while shaking her head. "I didn't." She choked slightly, finding it hard to get the words out. "I didn't make it in time." She felt extreme anguish and guilt at admitting it, believing it to be her own fault. After all, if she had been paying closer attention to the kids, then she wouldn't have allowed them to run off on their own.

Haru's eyes went wide as he trembled. After a moment of silence, he shook his head. "It's not your fault. We aren't your responsibility." The truth was that he really didn't blame her, however, that was only because he entirely blamed himself. 'If I hadn't gone off on my own... or if I looked out for Hina more... I could've helped her train more. I could have prevented this.' He closed his eyes in pain, wishing for it all to be a dream.

Flair reached for her waist, revealing a thin longsword. "I found this on the battlefield." She held it towards Haru.

Haru opened his eyes, and his hands shook as he took the sword in both hands. It was dark green, looking similar to a thin blade of grass. However, it was extremely hard and sharp, almost feeling like crystal in his hands. The hilt of the sword had a round gem that was a mix of white, green, and blue colors. The gem shone brilliantly upon being placed in Haru's hands. The glow felt so familiar, causing him to feel a mix of warmth, relief, and extreme guilt. "Is this..." His voice trembled. "Hina?" He asked.

"It is." Flair nodded. "I've never really talked to you about my power before." She rose her hand towards the sword, covering it in a bright white light. "The ability to scan anything and obtain information about it, with limitations based on size and how much mana the object obtains." She glanced down at the sword. "This object contains Hina's soul and mana-core in the hilt. The blade is a crystallization of her law."

Haru looked down towards the sword in his hands. "But how?" He asked. "I've never heard of something like this happening before."

"I don't know." Flair shook her head. "If it was a machine, I could probably learn to recreate it nearly instantly just from my own knowledge, but I don't deal with living things much. Maybe Ed can help when he wakes up."

"Mm." A spark of hope appeared in Haru's eyes as he turned towards his unconscious sensei.

...

Within the dark void of Ed's consciousness. His mana-core was the same as always, distributing mana throughout his body in an orderly manner. However, his golden faith energy was another story entirely, as was his soul body.

"You've made a real mess this time." Mayor Mick sighed while examining his surroundings.

"Indeed." Ed nodded in agreement. However, there was something very different about Ed. His soul body was still covered in cracks that made him look like shattered glass, but his soul body was currently less than 4 centimeters tall, and he was sitting on Mick's shoulder. Not only that, but his soul body's color had changed as well. In the past, his soul had always been an even mix of the seven elemental colors, but now, his soul was a silvery-red color. He looked towards what could only be described as a battlefield.

Throughout Ed's soul realm, 49 shattered pieces of his soul floated about randomly, including the Ed that sat on Mick's shoulder. Each one was less than four centimeters tall and radiated a different energy. Most of these shards of his soul appeared to be asleep while appearing very dim. However, there were four exceptions to this rule. The silvery-red Ed stared at a blue Ed, reddish-blue Ed, and reddish-black Ed. They seemed to be the only conscious soul shards out of the 49.

The three other Eds were separated by flows of golden faith energy that floated freely around the void. The energy was no longer bound and controlled, and the souls hidden within it were having their own conflicts. They fought each other within the energy, but it didn't seem to matter, as a dead soul couldn't die again. However, this was a very big problem for the stranded soul shards, as they may be trapped or killed upon entering the various pockets and rivers of golden faith energy.

"Mick." Silvery-red Ed said. "What would happen if my soul were to shatter again?" He curiously asked.

"I've no idea." Mick shook his head. "I'm rather shocked you're still even alive.

"Agreed." He nodded. Suddenly, a dim soul shard nearby floated towards him. Instinctively, he reached his hands out to grab it. It was as if he needed to absorb it, but upon grabbing it, nothing happened. He carefully examined the soul shard and felt a dark energy radiating from within it. The dark energy seemed to instinctively reject him. 'Is it because my current soul form is the silver path of fire, being yang in nature? The yin soul shard rejects me because of it?' He glanced at the other conscious soul shards off in the distance. 'I wonder if the blue one or reddish-black one could absorb it?'

...

Within a sea of golden faith energy, a reddish-black Ed frowned. Dozens of souls surrounded him on all sides, appearing vicious in nature. They towered over him, appearing like nightmares in size compared to his tiny soul body. He frowned and crossed his arms while slowly looking them over. "Move." He ordered.

"And what if we don't want to?" A hairy man grinned viciously. He glanced at his friends. "Maybe we can finally leave this place if we take care of this pipsqueak!"

'Tsk. Can't use my powers in the soul realm.' He slammed his fist into his palm. 'Not that it matters.' A brief moment later, screams of horror rang out. It seemed that even without his powers, the reddish-black Ed was a force to be reckoned with.

...

At another spot within the dark sea, there was a reddish-blue Ed. He too was surrounded on all sides by towering giant souls. "Wow!" He exclaimed in shock. "You guys are really big!" He looked around curiously. "Sheesh, talk about damage."

"Get him!" A woman roared as they charged forward.

"Woah!" He hurriedly jumped out of the way. "Ha, too slow!" He laughed as he weaved and dodged through their numbers, making his way towards the familiar Mayor Mick in the distance.

...

The pure blue Ed stood just outside a pocket of golden faith energy. He calmly walked inside it. Upon entering, a giant hand came rushing towards him. He easily moved out of the way, dodging by less than a fraction of a centimeter. Another attack followed, and he easily dodged again. He slowly made his way forward while having no trouble at all. Not once did his expression change, making him appear completely indifferent in nature.

...

'Ah, so they've finally arrived.' Silvery-red Ed hopped off of Mick's shoulder, floating in the void. The four soul shards stared at each other, different emotions visible in each of their eyes.

The reddish-black Ed grinned. "I wonder if this is part of how Dupe's law works?" He chuckled ominously. "Perhaps we should do some research on souls after traveling to India."

"If we can ever even wake up again." The blue Ed nonchalantly added.

"Soul research seems a bit messed up..." The reddish-blue Ed grimaced.

The three souls continued to chitter-chatter, seeming to have no concerns about their current situation.

Silvery-red Ed's eye began to twitch as he listened. He continuously tried to jump into the conversation only to be pushed back out by the talkative reddish-blue soul and perverse reddish-black soul. "HEY! MOTHERFUCKERS!" He angrily shouted. "FUCKING FOCUS!"

The other souls went silent and turned to him, shocked by the outburst of anger. The reddish-black soul grinned. "We share the same mother you know."

"SHUT UP!" He yelled. After a moment of silence, he finally seemed to calm down. 'That anger...' His eyes widened in surprise at his own outburst. He examined the other souls, thinking about their personalities. 'I see... Our emotions are being influenced by the paths. 49 shards... 49 paths? Only the four paths I conquered are even conscious at all.'

With things finally growing calm, the blue soul spoke again. "How are we supposed to wake up?" He asked.

The others frowned, unsure of what to do. "How about we gather the other soul shards for now?" Reddish-black Ed suggested. "Not like we've got anything better to do."

The other three thought for a moment before nodding. It was fortunate that they were all originally the same person, making it easy for them to agree on most things. The four souls split up, entering the various areas of golden faith energy in search of their fellow soul shards.

...

What felt like a very long time passed. The unconscious dim soul shards slowly accumulated under Mayor Mick's protection within the void. Each soul shard was a slightly different color and radiated a slightly different energy. Soon, all of the shards had been gathered, and the four conscious soul shards sat around them in a circle.

"What do we do now?" Reddish-blue Ed asked.

"I can feel it." Reddish-black Ed grinned. "Despite only being gathered together, we can wake back up upon touching the pile of soul shards."

"But which one of us will take control?" Silvery-red Ed asked in concern.

"I'm fine with whoever wakes up." Blue Ed shrugged, not seeming concerned at all.

"It should naturally be me." Reddish-black Ed replied.

"With your twisted personality?" Silvery-red Ed frowned.

"You think your explosive personality is better suited to the field of battle? Heh, I think you should take some anger management classes first." Reddish-black Ed mocked.

"FUCK YOU!" He angrily shouted in reply.

"What about me?" Reddish-blue Ed cheerfully asked.

"Hell no!" Reddish-black and silvery-red Ed replied in unison.

"Well... Let's just send blue Ed then." Reddish-blue Ed said. "At least he seems to be the calmest out of all of us."

Reddish-black Ed and silvery-red Ed glared at each other for a moment before nodding.

"Looks like I'm the one then." The blue Ed was still completely indifferent as he stood up and walked towards the pile of soul shards. He placed his hand upon it and vanished.

...

Ed's eyes flickered open. 'Feels fine other than a small headache.' He held his hand up and activated his powers, causing blue ice to cover his hand. 'Full mana-capacity. Ordinary powers are locked. Other paths are unavailable.' He forced himself to stand up. 'Looks like I'm in a tent? How much time has passed?' He walked towards the tent flap and opened it, revealing the dark night sky.

Taking a step outside, he could just barely make out the battlefield in the distance. It seemed the Purple Origin Sect's barrier was still holding on, though just barely. It was covered in cracks, and it probably wouldn't be long before it shattered.

Looking around, he saw many other tents. 'Looks like they've made a camp for the wounded... Are they still keeping the healers on the front lines like I suggested earlier? The coming battle will be easier if they get pincered between the Fire Dragon Sect and Purple Origin Sect.'

He took a step forward and activated his path of blue water. Ice sprouted underneath his feet, pushing him forward like he was surfing a wave. 'Feels weird being unable to fly... Well, I can still use the mana-batteries if I have to, but they're really nowhere near as good as my own abilities these days.'

Soon, he reached the front lines. It didn't take long before he spotted Flair flying on her jetpack. Her long blond hair was tangled and messy, and she was covered in grime. It seemed she had been fighting intensely this entire time.

Haru was nearby, and he seemed to have lost himself in a raging battle frenzy. His body was covered in enough bloody wounds to almost make him unrecognizable. Fortunately, his blue skin and chimera healing abilities made him fairly easy to spot. He wielded an odd green longsword. Every time he swung it towards his enemies, it was as if the world itself was assisting him. Vines sprouted from the surrounding grounds, binding his enemies. The sword's serrated edge easily severed his enemies and even left a trace of what looked like poison behind. Not that poison would be of any use against elemental giants.

Tao was once again in his large form. However, he didn't seem to be participating in the battle much. Instead, he was keeping a close eye on Flair and Haru, occasionally rescuing them when either one slipped up.

"Hmm, where's Hina?" Ed muttered aloud.

Hearing the voice, Haru spun around. "Sensei!" He called excitedly while rushing over. In his haste, a lightning elemental giant had almost managed to split him in two. Fortunately, Tao had immediately come to the rescue, biting the elemental giant to pieces while covering it in flames.

"Hey." He calmly replied while looking around the battlefield. "I'm guessing it's been close to 12 hours since I've been awake?"

"Mm." Haru nodded while hurriedly handing over his sword. "Sensei. Please take a look."

"Hmm?" Ed took the sword and examined it, feeling it to be full of mana. However, that was all he could tell about it. He gave it a light practice swing, but nothing unusual happened. "It seems like a good sword." He nonchalantly said while handing it back, unsure as to why his disciple had taken to using such a weapon. "Come to think of it, I've never seen a sword filled with mana before. Is it from Europe?" He asked.

Haru went speechless at the unexpected reply. Was this really his sensei that usually seemed to know everything? "No! It's Hina!" He angrily shouted. "I saved you from the horde of elemental giants when you fell, and Hina saved me." His voice quivered as he looked down at the sword. "But no one saved Hina..."

"That's Hina?" He replied in confusion, not quite believing it.

"It is!" Haru hurriedly nodded. "Please, sensei. Save her! The sword still has her mana-core and soul!"

'Since when did Haru care so much about Hina?' He wondered for a moment before shrugging to himself. 'Well, emotions are fleeting and always changing.' He shook his head. "I can't save her. Even if I had access to my usual powers, I've never done something like you want before. To create a human body? I might be able to do so with my usual abilities. But to create a human brain? It is very far beyond me, and if I used someone else's brain, then who knows what would happen."

Flair having noticed the conversation, flew over. She took one look at Ed before frowning and activating her powers. A white light covered her body and scanned Ed. Her eyes widened in shock. "Your soul split into shards? It even caused you to lose most of your powers? How does that even work?"

"You..." Haru's voice trembled. "You really can't save Hina?"

Just at that moment, a shattering sound echoed across the battlefield. Ed turned to look towards the Purple Origin Sect's barrier. 'Looks like the real battle is about to begin.'