"Is it done?"
Yuna Ji looked at John Chou with a weary expression. She had tried more than a hundred times, not once succeeding. John Chou's face showed a hint of confusion, as if he was deep in thought.
John Chou, what's the point of this? We're just wasting time and it's sucking the life out of me.
"There's nothing I can do. This is up to you."
At that moment, John Chou stood up to leave, but Yuna Ji grabbed him.
"Hey, this isn't what we agreed on. Everyone wants to get out of here as soon as possible and move on to the next phase. I really can't think of any other way."
"In over a hundred attempts, no matter what you did, there was no difference in the process. Continuing like this is pointless. I've already told you—what were you thinking during the one successful fusion? Or maybe, what were you longing for?"
For a moment, Yuna Ji was stunned. John Chou quickly walked away, leaving the cave. Yuna Ji was left squatting on the ground, pressing her forehead, looking utterly at a loss.
After a while, Yuna Ji's expression eased a little. She leaned against the wall, gazing at the Skeletal Shade before her, her eyes somewhat dazed. She seemed lost in thought, but gradually, a trace of sorrow emerged in her gaze.
Suddenly, another Lost Soul and Skeletal Shade reacted and fused in an instant. Yuna Ji hurriedly stood up and rushed over.
As expected, the Skeletal Shade before her knelt obediently on one knee, as if awaiting Yuna Ji's command.
Yuna Ji stared in terror at her own hands, as if recalling something. Suddenly, she lifted her head, eyes wide open.
"Who? Who are you?"
Suddenly, my eyes widened. A wisp of purple-black miasma drifted from Yuna Ji's hands, gradually condensing into a humanoid figure identical to her.
"I am Battle Instinct. Or have you forgotten me, Yuna Ji? Or rather, I am another Yuna Ji. We were always one and the same."
As Battle Instinct spoke, she placed a hand on Yuna Ji's shoulder. Yuna Ji was startled, her expression shifting dramatically as if she remembered something long forgotten. She pressed her forehead, pushed Battle Instinct away, then staggered back several steps, finally collapsing to the ground, her body trembling as she leaned against the wall.
"Do you remember now, Yuna Ji? All those things in the past... Selective amnesia isn't so bad, but if you can't even admit your own past..."
No! That was you, not me.
For a moment, Yuna Ji panicked. Battle Instinct squatted in front of her, placing a hand on Yuna Ji's head.
"I did it? Think carefully, Yuna Ji—wasn't it you? When you couldn't bear it anymore, you created another you inside yourself, then threw yourself into war, killing and killing. But there were too many enemies for you to ever kill them all. In the end, you died. You did all this, and now you refuse to admit your past. The world isn't so simple, Yuna Ji."
Yuna Ji's eyes widened with fear as Battle Instinct placed a hand on her cheek.
"That's when I was born, named Battle Instinct. Only through endless fighting can all threats be eliminated—wasn't this your own belief? If the difference in strength hadn't been so great, maybe you wouldn't have died. Yuna Ji, you need to accept everything about yourself. Now you should understand what power makes those around you obey."
As she spoke, Battle Instinct looked at the other Skeletal Shades and Lost Souls on the ground. Instantly, Skeletal Shades and Lost Souls fused successfully, kneeling on one knee as if waiting for something. Yuna Ji stared in shock, her expression still grim, as if unwilling to revisit the past.
"Your nerves aren't that delicate, Yuna Ji. The past is gone, meaningless. What matters is what you've been through. Now, all you need to think about is endless troops. When you died, did you forget? Your desire for an army, for more soldiers, fully awakened me."
Yuna Ji's eyes widened. Gradually, Battle Instinct merged into her body. One of Yuna Ji's eyes turned black-green, and her expression became strange.
It's been ages since I've come out. Still the same old mess? Just let me handle all this trouble.
A long, wicked laugh echoed through the cave.
For a week, Yuna Ji barely moved, simply waiting. The thirty skeletons she had gathered for experiments had all completed fusion. It seemed she was battling something within herself, but eventually she recovered, returning to her usual cheerful self.
"It looks like you really did it."
All the Ghost Sovereigns who came over were amazed that Yuna Ji had finally succeeded. The Skeletal Shades, fused with Lost Souls and their own bones, now possessed consciousness and were delighted by this new existence. Some even began to voice their opinions—their minds were remarkably sharp.
"From now on, I want all of you to help. Find more lost souls and let my army grow stronger."
John Chou nodded, and the other Ghost Sovereigns agreed. Each began to capture the ghost energy from the skeletons in the cave, then went out to find corresponding lost souls.
More and more Skeletal Shades awakened, talking and cheering. Especially after learning about the situation in Abyssal Hell, they were deeply grateful for Yuna Ji's actions. As Lost Souls, they suffered endless torment and memory loss, so their new existence was a blessing.
Yuna Ji began sending more Skeletal Shades out from the cave to search for Lost Souls. Berziran cast illusions on them. As days passed, most Skeletal Shades in over a dozen nearby caves awakened, while those who hadn't were gathered together.
Yuna Ji also began organizing the Skeletal Shades by strength and intelligence, holding a martial contest in one cave. Only the winner could serve as the lead general—a simple method. John Chou occasionally observed, and sure enough, the Skeletal Shades, now conscious, were strong and made excellent sparring partners.
There were many underground caves in Abyssal Hell. Unlike lost souls, skeletons weren't affected by temporal dislocation, so every week they could find plenty of lost souls. The underworld guards had noticed something strange, but, perhaps due to ingrained thoughts, they dared not report it and could only search everywhere in Hell. Yet no matter how hard they looked, they found nothing.
"What's going on lately? Why have so many lost souls disappeared? We can't find them anywhere."
At a table outside the forest, seven or eight underworld guards sat drinking and chatting. Many looked helpless.
But for some reason, today was unusually quiet. A red-skinned ghost stared into the forest, sensing something but unsure. The others were drunk and paid no attention. Suddenly, the black-skinned ghost's eyes widened, and he grabbed the large knife beside him.
"Brothers, there are a lot of Skeletal Shades in the forest."
Soon, a few underworld guards laughed, but gradually, all of them glared angrily as the Skeletal Shades surged from the forest—there were countless of them, appearing from everywhere. Instantly, every guard in Abyssal Hell took notice.
Battle erupted instantly. The guards easily scattered the Skeletal Shades—though powerful, the Skeletal Shades' ghost energy was no match for the guards. Yet the Skeletal Shades wouldn't die; whether shattered or smashed to pieces, they reassembled after a while, many cursing loudly as if they had true consciousness.
Skeletal Shades filled Abyssal Hell—on the ice fields, in the forests, in the swamps, and across scorched earth. Massive battles broke out between guards and Skeletal Shades. At the volcano's edge in the center, six Ghost Sovereigns watched silently.
In just a few hours, some guards were killed. No matter how strong they were, their ghost energy couldn't recover fast enough—they were completely overwhelmed by the sea of Skeletal Shades. The bodies of four chief guards vanished into dust.
"John Chou, what exactly is that power of yours? Those four were so strong, yet you took them out so easily."
The red-haired ghost looked at John Chou in confusion, but John Chou remained silent. The battle was over—in just one day, every guard in this time-space was dead.
Yuna Ji began appointing many Skeletal Shades, instructing them to disguise themselves as guards at the entrance to welcome prisoners. The rest were told to stay away from the entrance, scattering throughout other areas, ready to fight again when the time-space shifted.
"Alright, everyone. Now we can truly hone our powers. The rest of the Skeletal Shade fusion is up to you, Yuna Ji."
Yuna Ji shot John Chou a look of pure annoyance, but every Ghost Sovereign was left utterly shaken by the power he'd just unleashed.
But John Chou said nothing, floating away alone.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what the world will be like once we've regained our strength and return to the living realm."