Chapter 166 166: Souls

The carriage was stopped around a thousand feet away from the main entrance of the town where Yovana was supper to be.

Lilith told the carriage driver to wait here for their return and that they might take a day or more. The carriage driver agreed to wait since he had no choice in any case.

The rest of the journey was by foot. However, instead of going straight to the town, Lilith circled the entire town, casting a widespread spell around the town.

It was the longest spell she had cast, but for her, it was also absolutely necessary since it worked to stop Yovana from attempting an escape like before. The spell made sure that she couldn't use the Teleportation Portals that she could've already prepared.

Unless she had a portal formation that was used by the Franc Clan, she couldn't pass through Lilith's domain. And even if Yovana had that Formation, she needed an immense power source to power it, which was available in the Franc Clan, but not in this town.

After completing a circle around the town, Lilith and the others stopped right at the entrance of the Town.

"This should be enough. But still, we mustn't forget that they still have Atlan. So they can attempt an escape even without a Portal. That's why you two go for Atlan. I'll go for Yovana since I have a score to settle with her."

"Any questions?"

Neither Lancaster nor Atlas had any questions left. The plan was completely bare bones. There was not much to question. Now all that was left was to get the two...

****

Atlas entered yeh town with Lilith, only to get a really strange feeling. The entire town appeared to be too silent. Even though it was day time, not one person could be seen on the streets.

Even the atmosphere inside the town seemed quite strange. Just the air itself felt rotten.

"Does no one live here?" Lancaster inquired. "Are you sure Yovana is here?"

"Yeah, possibly at the center of the town. But you're right. This town is a bit too silent. As for why I have a feeling we'll get an answer soon..."

After walking for a little more, everyone noticed a person lying on the ground. After observing from closer, it was evident that he was dead, but there was no wound on his body to answer how he could've been dead.

Two trails of bloop could be seen connected to the body. One trail went left while the other went right. And both of those trails connected to another body in the distance v

"It's as if these bodies are being used as the nodes for spell points. But what spell?"

It appeared to be a massive spell that covered half the spell, but since it was such a big spell formation, just from the initial glance, Lilith couldn't recognize what that spell was. It was as if she was looking at a minuscule part of the bigger picture.

She cast a flight spell on her, Lancaster and Atlas, flying up. Even though it increased the chance of them being seen by Yovana, it was still better than jumping into a blood formation blindly.

Through the sky, the three of them had a clearer image of the entire city. They could see that there weren't just three dead bodies in the Blood Formation. There were thousands of bodies all around the city, each connected by a blood trail as if a massive web had been created.

The center of the massive formation lies in the center of the city. At the core of the Blood Formation, all the Blood Lines were connected to Atlan, who was lying unmoving. Just like others, he also appeared dead, but Lilith and the others knew better. He couldn't be killed. That meant he was unconscious or sleeping.

"Is Atlan trying to steal strength from the dead?" Lancaster inquired, feeling as if it was all Atlan's doing. "Using the dead for your strength? That's so vile!"

Lilith noticed some part of Yovana's chain visible on the chest of Lancaster. It made her understand a few things. The pendant... It wasn't with Yovana! Instead, it was with Atlan.

Right beside Atlan's body, there was lying another person. Yovana remained beside Atlan, holding his hand.

"This formation... It's not making Atlan stronger... It's another kind of formation! We need to stop it!"

Lilith flew to the core of the Formation, but before she could get there, a barrier appeared before her. Lilith clashed on the barrier, which not only hurt her but also sent her flying back.

Lilith controlled herself in mid-air, glancing at her burnt hands.

"As expected, she took safety measures! But I won't let it happen! I won't let her succeed!"

"What is this formation about?" Atlas asked, still having no idea what this formation actually did. If it was enough to make even Lilith so serious, then he was sure there was something about it.

"That Formation weakens the Soul of Atlan, binding it to the souls of all these dead. At the same time, the formation makes it possible for his body to be possessed! In essence, it's a Soul Snatching Formation! If Atlan were up or were in his senses, it wouldn't have worked, but in this condition?"

"Even I can't say if it'll work or not! But we can't take a risk. If it worked, Yovana would be possessing Atlan's body while his own soul would fall asleep. I can't let that happen! In Atlan's body, Yovana would be impossible to kill! She's essentially snatching immortality!"

"What about her own soul? Even if she enters his body, her own soul will be the same. The burden of a Progenitor's body will be too much for her soul to handle. Isn't she looking for death by sending her soul into his body?" Atlas asked, realizing the flaw in Yovana's plans based on his own experiences.

Even he was able to enter Castiel's body, even if it was unintentional. If it wasn't for Castiel's help and his protection mark, he would've been dead on the first day itself. It wasn't easy to control a Progenitor, even if one could take over the body.

"I have a feeling she already took some steps for that if she planned up to this point. Moreover, we still don't know her true identity and how strong her soul is. She's partially a Vampire, after all. As I said before, we can't afford to take this risk! We must stop her!"

"Help me! You use Heaven's Wrath! We'll both attack the barrier at the same time!"

"If this works..."

It was a massive energy drain on him to use such a powerful spell, but if Lilith was asking for it, he couldn't deny it. This did seem important.

Best

Atlas raised his hand, remembering the feeling he did when Castiel had used the spell and the words he used. He used the exact same words and followed everything to the letter.

The sky started getting covered with dark clouds slowly. The entire town was covered in the clouds. The sound of thunder was so loud that it even made Yovana open her eyes.

Yovana opened her eyes, glancing ahead to notice Atlas and Lilith in the sky.

"These idiots... How did they find me?"

She couldn't understand how Lilith was able to find them so far. She had intentionally chosen this town and made sure that it was impossible to locate them. Despite all that, Lilith was still here. That didn't make sense.

No matter how she thought about this, she couldn't understand. Whatever being the case, she knew she had to do something about it. She couldn't just change the location. Everything was already set up here now, and she was so close to it! If she failed here, it was going to be a waste.

"I need to keep them busy!"

She couldn't get up, or the entire formation was going to be affected.

As she woke up, a lightning bolt fell on top of the barrier that was her first stage of her defense. Lilith also attacked at the same time. Two attacks crashed on the barrier. It was like an overkill, but it worked. The Barrier was shattered to pieces.

Yovana didn't sit up, but she did take some action. Yovana raised her left hand. "Rise and kill my enemies!"

As if answering to her command, some bodies that were lying on the Formation Nodes opened their eyes, as if coming back to life. Their eyes still looked lifeless, but they stood up.

Amongst the thousands of bodies, only around a hundred or so woke up. The rest remained as nodes to make sure that the formation wasn't affected too badly.

All hundreds of bodies flew up to intercept Atlas and Lilith while Yovana fastened the transfer. It was slightly risky to complete the process faster, but Yovana could see that she had no time. The bodies couldn't stop Lilith and Atlas for long.