Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 554: Escaping 2

Multiple Celestials were after them. He slowed slightly, concentrating fully now.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

All moving toward them in rapid pace.

Lucas stopped walking.

Patrick nearly continued forward before realizing Lucas had halted completely. "What is it?"

Lucas looked upward briefly, though the rooftops blocked most of the sky. "They’ve sent celestials."

Patrick’s face drained slightly. "How many."

"Four."

The answer landed heavily between them.

Patricia stirred weakly in Patrick’s arms, still exhausted, still barely conscious, while the sounds of unrest throughout the city continued spreading farther behind them, but suddenly all of that felt smaller compared to the terrifying speed of the forces now closing in.

Patrick immediately looked around. "Then we move faster."

Lucas shook his head once.

"No."

Patrick frowned. "What do you mean no?"

Lucas finally turned fully toward him, calm despite the situation, and somehow that calmness made the truth hit harder.

"They’ve already locked onto us," he said. "We won’t outrun four celestials while carrying your sister."

Patrick’s jaw tightened immediately. "Then we fight together."

Lucas’s gaze remained steady. "If we stay together, none of us leave this city."

Patrick looked ready to argue instantly, but Lucas stepped closer before he could speak again.

"Listen carefully," Lucas said firmly. "Your mission changed the moment we rescued your sister."

Patrick’s grip tightened around Patricia unconsciously.

"You need to get her out," Lucas continued. "And the emperor needs to reach safety. That matters more than staying here with me."

Patrick shook his head sharply. "We can still escape together."

Lucas almost smiled at that.

Almost.

But there was too much certainty in his eyes now for hope to survive easily against it.

"No," he said quietly. "Not this time."

The pressure above the city intensified again, closer now, the celestials sweeping through districts rapidly as they searched, and Lucas could already tell they were narrowing the distance faster than expected.

There was no more time.

He stepped forward and grabbed Patrick firmly by the shoulder.

"You will rejoin the others," he said. "You will take your sister and deliver the emperor of Rus safely."

Patrick’s expression twisted with frustration and disbelief. "I’m not leaving you here alone."

"That is an order."

The words stopped him.

Lucas rarely used that tone.

And when he did, it carried weight none of them ignored lightly.

Patrick stared at him, conflict burning visibly across his face as the reality of the situation finally began settling in.

Lucas lowered his voice slightly, but it did not soften.

"You tell Bartho and the others to proceed immediately," he said. "They are not to wait for me. They are to move the emperor out of Rus with or without me."

Patrick clenched his jaw so tightly it looked painful. "My Lord..."

"If they hesitate because of me," Lucas interrupted firmly, "then everything we did here becomes pointless."

The distant pressure surged again.

Closer.

One of the celestials had clearly entered their district now.

Lucas released Patrick’s shoulder and stepped back.

"I’ll rejoin you later," he said.

Patrick wanted to believe it.

He truly did.

But looking at Lucas now, standing calmly in the middle of a city hunting him with four celestials descending upon his position, it was hard not to hear the uncertainty hidden beneath those words.

Patricia weakly lifted her head against Patrick’s shoulder, her exhausted eyes barely open as she looked at Lucas.

"Don’t die..." she whispered faintly.

Lucas gave her a small nod.

Then he looked back at Patrick one final time.

"Go."

The pressure in the air intensified violently.

No more time remained.

Patrick stood frozen for one painful second longer, every instinct in him resisting this choice, resisting the idea of leaving someone behind again.

Then slowly, painfully, he nodded.

Not because he accepted it.

But because he understood it.

"I’ll get them out," he said quietly.

Lucas nodded once.

Patrick took one final look at him, then turned and disappeared into the darkened streets with Patricia in his arms, moving toward the hidden route that would lead him back to the others.

Lucas stood alone in the middle of the narrow street as Patrick disappeared into the darkness with Patricia, and the moment they were far enough, he closed his eyes briefly and spread his senses outward, using fire and spatial distortion together to burn away lingering traces of their scent and energy trail from the surrounding area. The process was rough and incomplete under pressure, but it was enough to blur their direction and make pursuit harder. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Then he turned toward the approaching storm.

The pressure descending over the district became suffocating.

Four celestial auras swept across the rooftops before landing around him one after another, their arrivals cracking stone and shaking dust loose from nearby structures as civilians fled deeper indoors in terror, doors slamming shut throughout the street.

Lucas remained still.

He already knew this was beyond him.

Fighting one celestial was difficult enough.

Four together, especially within enemy territory, was far beyond what he could realistically overcome no matter how much celestial energy he carried within him. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

But he still had to hold them.

Even if only for a little while.

The celestials spread slightly, surrounding him with measured caution instead of blind aggression. They had clearly been warned already about the intruder responsible for the castle breach and the destruction at the holding compound.

One of them stepped forward first, a tall man with a wind aura constantly twisting around his body like invisible blades.

"So," the man said coldly, "you are the one causing chaos in Rus."

Another, this one carrying a dense earth aura, narrowed his eyes at Lucas. "Where is the emperor."

Lucas said nothing.

The third celestial, whose presence carried freezing cold similar to the one beneath the castle though not nearly as overwhelming, studied him carefully before speaking. "You are young for someone capable of this much destruction."

Still Lucas did not answer.

The fourth one, surrounded faintly by flowing water essence, took a step forward. "Speak now and your death may be quicker."

Lucas slowly raised his hand.

Fire gathered instantly.

The wind celestial’s eyes widened slightly. "Move!"

Lucas exploded forward without warning, unleashing a concentrated burst of flames directly toward the group, the attack so sudden and violent that one of the celestials was caught slightly off guard as the fire crashed into him and detonated across the street in a roaring explosion.

The shockwave tore through nearby walls and sent debris flying everywhere.

But that single moment of surprise was all he gained.

Then the retaliation came.

Wind exploded through the street first, sharp currents slamming into Lucas from the side with enough force to throw him violently through part of a building before he could stabilize properly.

The earth celestial followed immediately, raising both hands as the ground beneath Lucas erupted upward in jagged stone formations that crashed into him before he had even fully regained footing.

Lucas countered instinctively with fire, blasting apart part of the incoming attack, but water surged immediately afterward, swallowing portions of his flames while restraining his movement long enough for the ice attacks to arrive.

Frost exploded across the street.

Entire sections froze instantly.

Lucas tried to evade but the combined assault gave him no room to breathe, no opening to regain rhythm, and within seconds he was completely overwhelmed by layered elemental attacks crashing into him from every direction.

A wind blade sliced across his shoulder and sent blood spraying.

Before he could recover, a wall of earth slammed into him head-on and crushed him through another structure.

The water celestial pinned his movement for a brief second.

That was enough.

Ice spears struck immediately after, tearing into him and freezing sections of the ground around his body as the street collapsed further under the relentless bombardment.

Lucas forced himself back up through the rubble with fire erupting wildly around him, trying to create distance, but another blast of compressed wind hit him mid-motion and sent him crashing hard into the stone pavement.

The impact cracked the street beneath him.

He tried to rise again.

Earth chains surged upward and locked briefly around his leg.

Water struck him immediately after.

Then ice.

Then wind again.

The attacks never stopped long enough for him to properly retaliate.

No matter how tough he was, no matter how abnormal his endurance had become, this was beyond him.

Four celestials attacking together inside their own territory was not a fight he could hold.

It was an execution.

Within seconds, Lucas was overwhelmed completely.

His body crashed heavily against the ruined street, blood staining the shattered stone beneath him as the lingering flames around him began flickering unstably.

The celestials slowly approached through the destruction, their combined pressure crushing down over the battlefield while the district around them burned and crumbled from the aftermath of the exchange.

And for the first time in a long time, Lucas could no longer stand back up immediately. He was completely overwhelmed and the only thing he could do right now was try to escape.