Streams of black, red, and white swirl around my body, intertwining like ribbons. The Ghost Souls behind me watch silently, while Thought Ghost stares at me in astonishment.
"Impossible. Vermilion Soul should have already..."
I raise a hand and smile.
"What stands before you is reality, Thought Ghost."
With a whoosh, I move right in front of Thought Ghost. He immediately bursts out laughing.
"Right now, I still control half of your body, and the same goes for your power. I know your every thought, so your attacks..."
My hand is already pressed against Thought Ghost’s cheek. With a thunderous push, a massive force erupts, forming a pillar of black, red, and white energy that engulfs Thought Ghost. A huge fissure opens before me, the courtyard reduced to dust. I quietly watch the scorched ground as Thought Ghost lies there, his face twisted in pain.
"The power of darkness, why..."
I raise my hand, watching two distinctly colored streams swirl in my palm—one is the potent Deathbane Aura, the other is the mist-like darkness from within me.
"Light and darkness can transform into each other. Light can dispel darkness, but at the same time, darkness can devour light."
I drift slowly toward Thought Ghost. He scrambles up, raises his hands, and with a hum, a transparent stream of energy hurtles toward me. With a whoosh, I dodge the psychic blast, leaving only an afterimage.
A cracking sound echoes behind me as the space slowly splits apart and then shatters into fragments. I glance back.
"Your abilities truly are special—you can alter their thoughts, even erase mine. But now, you’re no longer my match. Surrender. I don’t want to kill you."
Thought Ghost glares at me, grinding his teeth.
"Impossible. This shouldn’t be happening. The Ninth Ghost Soul..."
The surge of power in my body feels like a rebirth. I quietly tilt my head back. In my instinctive space, I sense another power—just a trace, but it’s Rachel Lan’s, and it’s much gentler now.
Zhu Tang, originally a Sacred Spirit, successfully used the power of the living side to restore the balance I was losing—the power that makes me human. I’ve never felt like this before.
Everything has changed. Though half my power was previously under Thought Ghost’s control, the part that’s mine now is even stronger.
"Damn you, Ethan Zhang."
Thought Ghost glares at me, then suddenly sends streams of black killing aura flying toward me.