Ravaging Void Soldiers

As Ye Yang and Mash clashed in a god-and-demon duel in the distant skies, an ominous shadow quietly descended over the Royal Capital.

The earlier collapse and tremors of the arena had already left the residents as skittish as startled birds. When they saw the gray Spirit Bodies sweeping down from the sky like a plague of locusts, shrieking miserably, their pent-up terror instantly erupted into widespread panic.

"Wh... what kind of monster is that?!"

"Divine punishment! The emperor must have offended the gods, and this is the punishment they've sent down!"

"Run—!"

Crying, screaming, and desperate prayers merged into a deafening roar. The negative emotions of hundreds of thousands of people swirled like an invisible vortex above the Royal Capital. And this feast of despair was precisely the food the Void Spirit Bodies craved most.

They let out delighted shrieks. Like sharks catching the scent of blood, tens of thousands of gray Spirit Bodies dove down at once, ignoring brick walls as they passed directly through fleeing human bodies. With every pass, they forcibly tore a warm, radiant ball of white light from within their victims—the essence of life and Soul Energy.

Those struck froze instantly, the light vanishing from their eyes and leaving behind only emptiness and despair. Like puppets with their strings cut, they collapsed limply to the ground. They did not die at once, but all vitality and hope had already been drained from them.

"Watch out! Don't let those monsters touch you!" Erza's sharp cry tore through the chaotic din. She had instantly changed into her sturdiest defensive armor, and her sword gleamed with magical light as she cleaved a Spirit Body lunging at a child in two. The Spirit Body let out a wail and dissipated.

At her warning, the companions scattered throughout the