"He... he cut off the Ancestor's claws?" The army soldiers gasped.

Blood leaked from the Ancestor's mouth; his eyes rolled back behind his eyelids as his arms fell freely.

"Is... is that it? He took down the Ancestor with one move?" A beast from the fox army stammered.

"Lord Aruma has subjugated the Ancestor. The rest are just ants. Kill them!" Yuta shouted, joining the battle as well.

Aruma's army roared and began dominating the fox beasts as their adrenaline surged to the maximum.

"Why don't you stop this moronic act of yours?" Aruma muttered, looking down at the fallen body of the Ancestor.

A wide, demonic smirk appeared on the Ancestor's face as his eyes rolled down. "How did you know I was acting?"

"I have already crossed blades with you once. I'm aware that you're hiding your true strength."

"Tchh, you are a sharp bastard. If you had come any closer to claim my life, I would've severed your head," the Ancestor barked before launching a barrage of claw attacks at Aruma.

His claws had already regenerated, becoming even sharper and longer.

I put all my focus into my eyes, yet I could barely follow the movement of his attacks.

And yet, Aruma not only deflected his claws with ease but also launched even fiercer counterattacks whenever the Ancestor pulled back his claws for the next strike.

For one moment, Aruma danced with his katana, twisting his body along with the blade's movement, and the next moment, the katana was dancing around Aruma's body, rotating randomly across his limbs before launching itself at the Ancestor.

It didn't feel like he was fighting—it was more like he was having a violent salsa with his katana, where the Ancestor was merely a bystander.

His silver katana began turning crimson as it spilled more and more of the Ancestor's blood.

Even though the Ancestor was the one attacking Aruma, it was also he who was getting wounded.

"From now on, this is the level of swordsmanship I yearn to reach," I declared, completely awestruck by Aruma's skills.

Realizing his attacks were doing more harm than good, the Ancestor took a few steps back.

"You cannot touch me in your base form. Transform yourself," Aruma ordered. "I will destroy you at your peak."

"This arrogance of yours will be the reason for your doom," the Ancestor shouted as the air around him grew heavy.

For a moment, the noises of clashing metal stopped. The beasts, both those who had transformed and those who hadn't, all stared into the sky where the Ancestor was floating.

His jaw elongated, his spine twisted, and long white fur sprouted across his body as he transformed into a giant ghostly fox.

"The Ancestor is standing in the air. That—that means he has become a Sacred Beast?" an army beast muttered.

"Kill the traitor, Lord Ancestor!" one of the fox beasts shouted in excitement.

The Ancestor swung his paw toward the beast that had just spoken. Waves of violent green energy erupted from his claws and sliced the fox beast into pieces.

"How dare you command me," the Ancestor muttered. Terror spread through the armies of both Aruma and the fox clan.

"He just killed his own ally?" I gasped.

"Can you only oppress those weaker than you?" Aruma said as he swung his katana sideways, whipping the blood off its blade.

"Today, I will kill you, Aruma, and end your whole bloodline here!" the Ancestor snapped and shouted,

Soul Domain

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All the noises of war turned distant. In a split second, the surroundings changed as if I had been teleported to a completely different place.

There were no more soldiers fighting, no more war cries—only hundreds of eerie trees covered in green, algae-like substances stretching in every direction. The entire space was surrounded by the same algae-like material, sealing us off from the rest of the world. Inside this space, along with Aruma and the Ancestor, Vyaghra, Gumiho, and Hana were also engulfed.

The ground had turned sticky like mud, and dark green smoke evaporated everywhere.

"So this is the Soul Domain that only High-Tier beasts can use?" Vyaghra murmured.

A drop of green algae fell onto his sleeve, dissolving his robe from the point of contact.

"What a disgraceful Soul Domain," he muttered, ripping off the sleeve.

Hana quickly drew a magic circle in the air, creating a transparent barrier around the trio.

At the front, in mid-air, the Ancestor glared at Aruma, who was standing on the ground.

"Aren't you going to transform?" the Ancestor asked curiously.

"Why bother using a weapon against an ant that can be squished with a mere finger?"

"Such arrogance!" the Ancestor roared, and the branches of the vile trees snapped, whipping at Aruma from all directions.

Aruma managed to dodge most of them, but with hundreds of branches coming from every direction in irregular patterns, a few managed to graze his cheek and hand.

His skin began corroding where the branches had barely touched him.

"Hmm, so this whole domain is poisonous," Aruma said, gazing at his burning hand. "No wonder the Soul Domain is formed based on one's character."

The Ancestor, obviously furious at Aruma's remarks, aggressively waved his claws at him, erupting the same green energy waves he had used on the fox beast, while the branches of the trees continued to strike him.

Just as the energy blade reached Aruma, a dark aura materialized around him.

Blade of Death

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Numerous shadowy figures emerged from Aruma's blade and began weeping as they moved toward the oncoming attacks. It wasn't simply a sword technique—it felt as though he had actually summoned weeping souls from hell. The moment the souls touched the branches and energy blade, they vaporized them into ashes.

Without wasting a moment, Aruma pointed his sword toward the Ancestor, preparing for another attack. His silver blade turned jade black and started trembling.

Blade of Death

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Another soul emerged from his blade, but this one was different from the previous ones. It blazed with fury and screamed with a clamorous sound as it bolted toward the Ancestor.

The Ancestor's expression clearly showed that he felt his life threatened by this attack. He commanded every tree branch present in the domain to block the calamity coming for him.

Since the soul had no physical body to begin with, it moved seamlessly through all the branches and ultimately passed through the Ancestor's body—literally pulling his soul out.

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