The death of Commander Eleven lasted less than a second.
One moment he had been sitting inside his command chamber and the next his existence had collapsed into a cloud of dissipating soul force that scattered throughout the room. A portion of that energy naturally flowed toward me, merging with my own reserves before the remainder dispersed into the environment.
For a brief instant the armada remained frozen. Then the realization spread.
The response was immediate.
Alarms erupted across the fleet in a synchronized chorus that rolled through the Soul Sea like a warning bell announcing war. Crimson lights ignited atop vessel after vessel while enormous defensive formations awakened throughout the armada. The calm silver waters beneath the ships became illuminated by countless runes appearing along the hulls, and streams of soul force surged through the gigantic vessels as their combat systems came online.
The surrounding fleet moved with surprising efficiency.
Massive barriers rose around individual ships and then connected together with neighboring vessels, forming overlapping layers of silver shields that stretched across large portions of the armada.
At the same time, armored sections along the sides of the ships unfolded outward, revealing rows upon rows of enormous soul cannons whose interiors glowed brighter with every passing second as condensed soul force gathered within them.
My perception swept across the battlefield.
Above nearly every commander vessel, powerful signatures began rising into the air.
One after another, the commanders emerged from their respective ships and floated upward until they stood suspended above their fleets. Silver soul force flowed around every one of them like living armor, creating luminous cloaks that drifted through the air behind them.
Their attention immediately converged upon me. More specifically, it converged upon the place where Commander Eleven had ceased to exist.
I looked around once before sighing softly.
"Ah... so much vibration."
The soul force throughout the entire armada continued rising.
"But it doesn’t really matter."
I slowly raised my hand and pointed toward the distant formation. My perception had already located the remaining targets.
Commander Twelve and Seventeen.
Soul force began gathering around my fingertip.
Unlike the violent displays surrounding the armada, the energy accumulating before me appeared almost calm. The surrounding currents responded naturally as silver-violet soul force flowed outward from my body and mixed with the environment itself. Layer after layer compressed together before my hand until a small circular formation appeared at the tip of my finger.
The formation rotated slowly at first. Then faster. Then faster still.
Soon dozens of overlapping rings were spinning around a single point while the surrounding space began bending under the pressure. Several commanders noticed immediately.
Their expressions changed. Some shouted warnings. Others launched attacks.
Several moved toward the beam before it had even fired.
None of it mattered.
The formation completed itself. A thin silver-violet line erupted forward.
The attack crossed the battlefield so quickly that it barely resembled movement. It simply appeared wherever it needed to be, passing through layers of defensive barriers and formations without slowing. Every shield standing between me and Commander Twelve collapsed instantly upon contact, disintegrating into fragments of soul force before the beam continued forward and reached its target.
Commander Twelve barely had enough time to react. The beam pierced directly through his forehead. His body froze. Then his soul shattered completely.
The attack never stopped.
Instead the silver-violet line curved slightly through the sky as though guided by an invisible hand. Several commanders attempted to intercept it while others poured soul force into emergency barriers, but every obstacle dissolved the instant it touched the beam.
Moments later it reached Commander Seventeen.
The outcome was no different. His defenses lasted only an instant before his existence collapsed beneath the attack.
When the beam finally vanished into the distant horizon, two more commanders had ceased to exist. The armada fell silent.
But because every soul present had just witnessed the effortless death of three commanders.
Then a new pressure descended upon the battlefield. My gaze shifted toward the front of the formation.
Atop the largest vessel in the entire armada, a figure slowly rose into the air.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
The surrounding commanders unconsciously gave way while the soul force throughout the region began gathering toward a single point. Even the ocean below seemed to react as silver waves rose higher and higher around the flagship.
A Saint.
A small smile formed on my face.
"Finally someone interesting."
The aura rolling from the figure spread outward like a storm and washed across the battlefield.
A silver streak shot forward from the flagship. My perception locked onto the approaching figure.
A woman with long silver hair surged across the sky while streams of soul force spiraled around her body. The pressure surrounding her was unmistakable.
Unlike the others, she wasn’t interested in observing. She had already decided on violence.
I watched her approach for a moment before smiling.
Then I stepped forward.
The deck beneath my feet exploded.
My body shot through the air toward her while the surrounding ships became blurs of color and light.
She saw me coming.
I saw her preparing.
The distance separating us vanished almost instantly as both of us accelerated toward each other without the slightest intention of changing course. I could see the soul force gathering around her fist, silver currents spiraling across her arm and condensing into a density capable of crushing mountains, while silver-violet soul force flowed around my own hand and merged with the surrounding environment.
Neither of us attempted to evade. The entire battlefield seemed to narrow down to a single point existing between us as our fists finally collided.
The impact sent a deafening roar across the Soul Sea.
A violent wave of force exploded outward from the point of contact and spread through the surrounding space, distorting the air and soul currents alike as though reality itself had suddenly been struck by an enormous hammer.
The nearby ships were caught in the expanding shockwave first, their massive hulls groaning under the pressure while defensive barriers lit up across their surfaces.
Several vessels were physically pushed sideways through the water despite their immense size, and countless souls were thrown from their feet as the armada’s carefully maintained formation broke apart under the force of the collision.
The Soul Sea responded no differently. The silver waters beneath us collapsed inward for a brief instant before surging back with terrifying force, creating an enormous wall of water that raced outward from the battlefield. The rising waves stretched toward the heavens while entire sections of the ocean appeared to lift into the air, transforming the calm surface into a chaotic storm of silver currents and crashing soul force.