Execution Threshold

The gray, misty sphere seemed to be the key to this Soul Barrier.

Lister instantly felt the soul power that constituted the entire space begin to become unstable.

The soul energy within the barrier began to surge, and the sense of calling to and belonging to it grew stronger.

A strange smile flashed across Vidal's face.

In the next instant, endless soul power erupted violently, surging and eroding Lister.

"Notification: Congratulations! A massive amount of soul power has been detected. Absorption is in progress..."

"Judgment invalidated; the soul power has been sealed and cannot be absorbed."

"Your soul is being eroded. The Robust Soul has been activated, your judgment level has been increased, and you are now immune to the erosion effect."

Endless spiritual power surged into his body and entered his soul space.

The space, which was originally filled with gray mist, was suddenly filled with the power of souls.

The Saber Soul, seated cross-legged within, began to tremble with its crimson longsword before finally being engulfed by the power of its soul.

Outside, Vidal was not disturbed by any soul energy within the barrier.

He simply stood quietly not far away, watching as the power of the soul continuously invaded Lister's body.

Until one moment, the gray, misty sphere suddenly flashed.

The soul power within the entire space rapidly surged, but in the next second it returned to nothingness, beginning to recede like a tide.

The same applies within Lister's consciousness space.

All the soul power was completely integrated into the "Saber Soul" within his body in an instant, and then, in the next instant, it began to be drawn out of the "Saber Soul" like sand being squeezed in his hand.

To Lister's surprise, the merging and detachment of this soul power did not cause him any harm.

There wasn't even a notification, and all the soul corruption was passively immune to by the Robust Soul.

Lister didn't rush to continue, fearing that the side effects of the soul power would eventually surface.

However, this continued until the power of his soul was completely extracted from his body.

After returning to that space and stabilizing again, he showed no signs of anything unusual.

He looked at Vidal across from him with a puzzled expression. Could it be that the other man was joking with him?

In contrast, Vidal's face instantly turned ashen, and he pointed at him with a trembling hand, looking utterly incredulous.

"This... how is this possible?"

"How could you possibly emerge unscathed after having your soul power stripped away!?"

His eyes were wide open, and his voice trembled slightly as he finally roared out the last word with all his might!

A mix of emotions including confusion, doubt, dissatisfaction, and jealousy.

"This is impossible... this is impossible!"

"No one Hegemon the Galactic Federation is immune to the influence of soul power!"

"Unless..."

Vidal, as if his understanding had been shattered, began to speculate rather neurotically.

"Unless what?"

Lister knew there was something wrong with this space.

At the same time, the recent surge of soul power was clearly no joke.

Rather, it was for some reason that it did not have any effect on them.

Could it be because his Robust Soul's level is high enough that he's immune to attacks?

Or is it because he himself is Soul Saber Grandmaster, and his soul has been transformed into Saber Soul spirit, making certain soul-type attacks unable to take effect?

Of course, compared to these things, he was more curious about the information revealed by the other party.

The reason why none of the Hegemon of the entire Galactic Federation could escape the influence of the soul power just now!

"Unless... you... you didn't use the special resources from the Federation Military District's recruit camp?"

"That special resource?"

"Could it be... that there's something special about it?"

Having already exchanged a brief, tentative blow, Vidal posed little threat to him.

Lister was in no hurry to continue the fight, since one of them was destined to die today.

Before killing the opponent, try to extract as much information as possible to learn some of the secrets of the Galactic Federation.

"That special resource's main ingredient is Soul Crystal, and it has been specially marked by the Federation Military District."

"It can enhance a person's soul energy, indirectly improving their various aptitudes and enhancing their comprehension and upgrading of certain skills."

"All players who have used special resources will inevitably be marked with a special identifier."

"Once you enter this soul space and are eroded by soul power, the portion of soul energy that was previously enhanced, along with some of the assimilated areas, will be stripped from your soul, with interest!"

"You definitely didn't use it back then! Right!?"

Seeing Vidal's crazed expression, Lister's face also became serious.

He did use that special resource, but he was different after all; he had the game panel behind him.

At that time, the game panel purified that special resource and applied it directly to itself.

The risks and mortality rates are higher, but the rate of increase is greater.

Back then, because of the desired enhancement effect, Lister naturally chose to purify the item before having the system arrange for the injection of Soul Crystals to improve it.

Unexpectedly, this hidden danger was eliminated early on by sheer luck?

At the same time, I gained a deeper understanding of the core of the Galactic Federation.

The entire Galactic Federation probably has no way out from the very beginning.

Ordinary people compete with the Federation Government in terms of their civilization, but the only Federation Military District that doesn't discriminate based on origin is actually a bloodsucking scam.

It's likely that for those with talent, the higher they climb, the bigger the pie becomes for the rulers of the Galactic Federation.

Roland knew exactly what he was talking about, except for one thing he hadn't considered.

It turns out that the source of the Federation's special resources is the advanced life forms of various civilizations. In reality, these special resources are not a reward, but rather a marker of an even higher level.

"Which colonel was in charge of your resources? How could... how could such a mistake occur!"

"Without using special resources, one can still rise to the level of a true Hegemon!"

"Your talent seems... to be even greater than I imagined!"

Vidal on the other side is still agonizing over this matter, and even plans to settle scores after today's battle.

But they hadn't considered whether he would actually be the one to leave this space!

"Since the Soul Barrier is ineffective against you, then I will crush you with my true power!"

After speaking, Vidal suddenly sprang into action, the spacetime runes on his gauntlets lighting up abruptly, causing the entire Soul Barrier to tremble.

The void beneath their feet suddenly turned pitch black, and the next moment, terrifying energy from the abyss arrived, emanating a chilling aura of Destruction.

A giant, deep purple hand slowly emerged from the abyss.

The giant hand started slowly, then expanded rapidly, its speed increasing as it lunged at him!

Seeing this, Lister swung his sword.

The silver-black blade, carrying extreme killing intent, slashed at the giant hand.

In an instant, the blade slashed into it, leaving a huge, gaping wound on the back of the giant hand.

Deep purple energy flowed from the wound, dripped, and fell into the abyss below.

This surprised Lister, who had assumed the giant hand was simply an energy entity.

Judging from this slash, it seems to be a life form from the abyss.

I tried scanning with the player panel, but it didn't yield much useful information.

"Notice: This giant hand is a special projection of an abyssal life form; its attacks can affect the current plane, and it can also be attacked by the current plane."

"Because they do not belong to the same cosmic plane of existence, they cannot be scanned and detected."

The giant hand, having been cleaved in two, could no longer expand.

Because of the pain from the knife wound, it gradually retreated back into the abyss.

However, the attacks from this Abyss Plane are far from over.

As expected, it was the same as the previous attack.

At this moment, two giant hands emerged from the abyss, and these two giant hands seemed to have been upgraded, with chains of black mist wrapped around their palms.

Seeing this, Lister swung his sword again.

The chains snapped under the sharp blade's strike, and the giant hand's expansion slowed, but this time it did not retract back into the abyss.

That was enough for Lister, who immediately Flash forward, closing in on Vidal once more.

Lister had to admit that while Vidal's strength was average, his ability to connect to the Abyss Plane was indeed extraordinary.

"Bang bang~!"

The blade collided with his gauntlet, and as the giant hand drew closer, Lister subtly quickened his attack.

In the close-quarters exchange, Vidal was struck again.

Health points immediately dropped by 10 million.

"Hmph!"

With a muffled snort, Vidal seemed to be defiant.

He unleashed his fighting skills once more, but unfortunately, they were no match for Lister's swordsmanship.

In particular, this fighting style seemed to be derived from the Federation Fighting Technique, which was very familiar to him.

The blade grazed the boxing gloves as both sides exchanged a coordinated elbow strike.

In terms of pure strength, Lister was at a slight disadvantage.

However, in terms of the damage inflicted on both sides, Lister's Robust Soul, which adds a percentage of true damage to all skills, caused Vidal to suffer a silent loss.

Seeing that his opponent was about to deliver another Knee Strike, Lister quickly responded with his own Knee Strike.

The next moment, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up, which surprised Vidal on the other side.

It wasn't until their knees collided that Vidal immediately realized something was wrong!

His Knee Strike felt as if it had hit the highest level of the Nen Guard.

Not only was it impossible to kick, but it also sent a tremendous impact and a pain from the depths of one's soul.

This made him question his existence; it was just a Knee Strike... and when he came to his senses, he was already flying through the air.

"Damage suffered: -2201 points of damage ignored defense,..., immunity to stun effect has been granted."

"Attack: Deals a total of -289,998 true damage. The Robust Soul tier effect has been applied. The opponent's immunity is ineffective. Knockback, stun, and stun effects have been triggered..."

Now that it's a fully upgraded A-grade Knee Strike, with the support of the Robust Soul, a single Knee Strike can deal nearly 300,000 damage.

In the next instant, Lister Flash and appeared to the side of Vidal midway through his flight.

The giant hand beneath him was incredibly close; the entire abyss was no longer visible, only the enormous hand that blotted out the sky and was about to engulf him.

"Notification: Merrick's Tyranny Bracers have been activated. For the next 60 seconds, all four main attributes will be increased by 55. Remaining cooldown: 4 days."

At that moment, another surge of power welled up from his wrist guards and finally coalesced on the blade.

He held the knife with both hands and stabbed it downwards with a sudden force.

While frozen in a state of paralysis, Vidal could only watch helplessly as the Shadowless Blade pierced his chest.

A sharp pain shot through my chest; it was not just physical pain, but a pain that pierced deep into my soul!

Tens of thousands of years have passed since he became Hegemon, and this is the first time he has ever felt such pain!

However, he was powerless to do anything until the series of control effects, such as the freeze, ended.

I felt myself plummeting downwards, following the force of the stabbing blade.

"Boom!"

Vidal felt as if he had collided with a planet, and at the same time, the pain in his chest returned.

Lister's eyes were resolute at this moment, and he held the knife with both hands at the same speed.

The blade, under his control, extended rapidly, piercing through Vidal and simultaneously cutting into the already fully expanded chained giant hand.

The giant hand, which had been outstretched, immediately froze and began to tremble slightly under the same intense pain.

Lister pressed down again, and the giant hand ultimately could not withstand it.

He forced it to land, and it eventually sank into the abyss.

Before the new giant hand could extend again, Lister seized the opportunity and slashed at Vidal's head once more.

The negative effects of the Knee Strike on the opponent have now subsided.

But at such close range, he had no way to avoid Lister's blade.

Another deep knife wound appeared on his head.

A pain far more intense than before exploded in my mind once again.

The tremor of the soul was transmitted to the body.

Attack: Total true damage dealt: -4,053,339 points.

[Target: Vidal Martin (in the Abyss Link)]

[Health: 2,733,298/15,090,331 (Regenerating rapidly)]

These two extreme strikes brought Vidal to the brink of death.

Their bodies began to change, and the abyss beneath their feet, which they could only see with their eyes, became untouchable.

But at this moment, Vidal was able to truly touch the abyss, with dark purple energy constantly surging in.

Seeing this, Lister quickly drew his knife, lunged forward, and slashed at the man's neck.

Vidal, in his Abyss Link state, reacts extremely quickly.

He crossed his arms to block in front of him, and the deep purple energy acted as a barrier, managing to stop his attack.

"Attack: Deals a total of -4,123,876 true damage (of which 2,987,474 damage was dealt to the Abyss)."

[Health: 1,597,256/15,090,331 (Regenerating rapidly)]

Lister never imagined that his true damage could only be distributed and offset in this way.

Seeing that the power of the abyss was still gathering, Vidal's health began to recover rapidly.

With a single, decisive strike, he lightly tapped his feet to gain momentum and leaped into the air.

With another burst of power, he flipped in mid-air and delivered a clean, straight downward slash.

At that moment, Vidal reacted swiftly, turning around abruptly.

His eyes suddenly lit up, his pupils were already a deep purple, and his once short hair had turned into long, dark purple hair.

An ordinary face, yet it appears eerie and alluring in this era.

"Hehe~! The battle has only just begun..."

Infused with the power of the abyss, his face was filled with confidence. He gathered power in his right fist and, with the power of spatial manipulation, threw a punch at the opponent.

Upon seeing this, a faint look of disdain appeared on Lister's face.

With that much health, can you really tank this attack?

"Boom!"

The blade made contact with the gauntlet once more.

The aftershocks of the power even stirred up ripples in what was once a calm abyss.

A sharp pain shot through Lister's body, originating from the blade and spreading throughout his entire being.

After enduring the pain, he confidently withdrew his knife.

"Attack: Since the opponent's health is below 7.4%, Merrick Saber Technique is in the kill check, and the kill has been successful."

Vidal's face was completely frozen, frozen in place.

A fear of death welled up from the bottom of my heart, and then amplified endlessly in the next moment.

Under the critical strike judgment of Merrick Saber Technique, even abyssal energy is difficult to withstand.

The abyssal energy that had just been connected began to drain away at this moment.

As the last wisp of energy vanished, the light in Vidal's eyes finally went out!