Just as Sophia slammed Lucien into the ground with her colossal strength, the prince felt like his skull itself would be crushed by the sheer force behind it. Blood came out of the mouth, nose, and eyes. Sophia stated the words with chilling indifference, "Does it look like I give a fuck?"

The words hit Lucien like a thousand-ton hammer. His mind was already in utter disarray from everything he had to witness and hear in the last few minutes. But he was no sitting duck either. As he roared and fought back, or tried to fight back with all of his might, but alas! even with the dragon blood of the Golden Dragon running through his veins, he, who could take on more than 100 Seekers at once without even needing to switch to the Draconic aspect, felt utterly helpless.

With no choice, he switched to the draconic aspect. He got up and hurriedly backed away. Of course, just because he switched to the draconic aspect did not mean he was going to show his dragon features. No, that would spell actual doom for him. If he transformed into the partial dragon form, the rich mana signature of a dragon would remain and transform the terrain as well. No, even if he did transform, he wasn't confident that he could defeat the valkyrie if she went all out as well.

It was a disturbing factor for the prideful dragon bloodline holder to swallow that a mere otherworldly summoned human could overpower it in every possible way. But it was true nonetheless. And the reason he switched to the draconic aspect was to use the dragon's magic in their base form. The aura user aspect of him was utterly useless in front of the valkyrie.

Sophia tilted her head and waited, not attacking the prince immediately, as if giving him time. But Axel, who stood behind, sneered. He moved his lips again, and the prince could reread the words, 'Pathetic.'

Lucien gritted his teeth and looked at him with Hatred. He began to chant in magic language, using the innate attribute of the golden dragon. The properties of the gold itself imbue it with sharpness, adding to the magic. Multiple magic spells were constructed in the air, all having a specific golden hue to them. They came together forming a spear of magical formations laced golden red fire. It instantly shot towards Sophia, but her expressionless face and cold, predatory eyes only planted more fear in the heart of the prince.

The darkness crawled over Sophia's body, moving towards her right hand, much like small snakes slithering over her skin. It then began to solidify over her hand, forming a structure resembling a Sword. She slashed horizontally, and a wave of darkness went forward in a crescent shape, cutting the spear of magical fire in half and rendering it immediately ineffective. Lucien's face went Ashen. Even a mid-2nd phase Seeker won't be able to down that magic attack so simply. As for any first-phase Seeker, it would only melt them into liquid form.

Gritting his teeth, he fired more and more magic arrows. But with each of Sophia's slashes, the all-decaying darkness she wielded continued to break down and destroy all the magical power thrown by Lucien. The prince shouted in desperation, "What is wrong with you? Are you being controlled by that bastard somehow?"

"Sophia, do you not care about Lumina? Didn't you treat her like your own sister? How can you not care if she had almost died because of Axel Nomrad?"

Sophia's face turned into a grimace of disgust. How dare this bastard say such nonsense when the soul brand itself was controlling and manipulating her in ways that she herself might not know completely. The prince, using that very opportunity, fired a magic attack towards Axel. But there was no surprise on either Axel's or Sophia's face. A wave of darkness rose right in front of Axel like a tsunami that was about to crash down, and swallowed the fire magic attack.

Sophia's kick landed on Lucien's stomach, throwing him 30 meters back.

Creak….

Crack…..

Crash...

Baaam...…..

Multiple tree trunks broke one after another. But Sophia did not stop, dashing forward, her movement looked like a blur as if she was moving like a form of darkness itself. She punched him in the face, in the chest, in the stomach, proceeding to break almost every bone in the prince's body. Then she stomped on his face. Dirt and mud smeared all over the face of the prince, his dragon bloodline roared in rage at the greatest humiliation it had ever received.

But in front of the absolute power of the divine valkyrie and her affinity over the concept of the all-encompassing darkness, Lucien Suncrest, the strongest contender for the throne of the Suncrest great kingdom, remained pathetic, just as Axel Nomrad was pathetic against the prince in his weakened state.

Sophia rubbed her shoe right on the face of the prince with more precision. But each of the actions she took against him caused her more and more gut-wrenching pain. The strength in her body continued to weaken involuntarily. The amount of willpower she had to use to overcome those restrictions to be able to hurt the prince was colossal, to say the least.

Suddenly, a hand gently grabbed her own, their fingers unconsciously intertwined with each other firmly. The darkness covering the palm of Sophia receded. Axel asked her in a soft tone, "Sophia, stop. I know you're hurting. So, stop, that's enough for now."

She stopped, hearing Axel's pleading voice; yes, it was indeed hurting too much. The pain inflicted on the soul is something too sinister, which is impossible to get used to.

Bang...

She stomped one more time on Lucien's head, injecting even more of her power. Lucien went unconscious; he was bleeding all over the place. But his life wasn't in danger. As a bloodline holder, he will live even in that near-death state. Sophia obviously hid the pain she was feeling, but Axel could see how her movements had become sluggish. She was actively controlling her expression so that the pain wouldn't show.

She asked him in anger, "Now are you going to tell what this was all about? Why was this bastard trying to kill you, and why did you come into the beast forest in this weakened state? Even a stronger 1st-tier beast might kill you in this state you are now."

Axel sighed and explained the whole situation. After a 5-minute explanation, he revealed that he had created an artifact for Lumina, which, upon its use, put her life in danger, and he had no way of knowing. But Lucien continuously insisted that it was his fault. So, the prince took action by taking Heinz hostage, threatening him, and taking advantage of his weakened state.

Sophia became enraged again, "This wretch just attempted to kill you based on an assumption? An assumption based on his instinct? If not for this damn soul brand...….."

She couldn't speak again as the pain assaulted her soul again, sensing her pure desire to kill a pureblood suncrest. She grunted for a moment and recollected herself, then she directed her anger towards Axel; she even exuded her killing intent onto him, asking coldly,

"And why the fuck did you come here to save Heinz Gil while putting your own life in danger?"

"AXEL, This better not be because of BULLSHIT FRIENDSHIP? RIGHT?"

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