"So you want to kill me then?" Shiro chuckled as she looked at Jasmine who was clearly ready for a fight.

  "If you stop me from getting souls then yes." Jasmine nodded her head as her shadow seemed to twist behind her.

  "Well then I suppose fighting can’t be avoided. Why don’t we talk for a bit first? I’m curious about your Queen after all." Shiro smiled as she made a small table with some chairs.

  Tilting her head, Jasmine was a little confused but her aura settled down. Walking over to the chair, she sat down with an excited look on her face.

  ’Seems like I can get some good information from her.’ Shiro thought with a smile and also sat down.

  "Do you want tea or juice?" Shiro offered.

  "Erm…… juice." Jasmine replied as she kicked her legs back and forth. Her shadow had returned back to normal so Shiro understood that she’s not preparing to fight.

  "Good choice. So why don’t you tell me about your Queen then? You must look up to her a lot." Shiro smiled as Jasmine nodded her head.

  "Mn, her highness is very nice. She saved my life so I’m helping her." Jasmine nodded as she brought the cup against her lips.

  Since her mouth was sewn shut, it was difficult for her to drink but despite that, not a single drop was spilt.

  "Oh? How did she save you?" Shiro asked as she was going to probe for information little by little.

  "Well I had an unstable soul. If it was left unchecked, I would have died. She helped me by giving me pieces of souls to stabilise me. Though the first few did hurt my body but I’m alive now so I’m happy." Jasmine smiled as the stitches stretched painfully.

  "I’m guessing the group of souls attached to you is what helped you stabilise your soul then?" Shiro smiled as she narrowed her eyes and a green glow washed over her pupils. Looking at the assembly of souls crying out for release, she couldn’t help but pity them.

  "You can see them as well? Aren’t they just adorable?" Jasmine said in surprise as she roughly grabbed one of the souls that was extending out more than the others.

  "This one is Fred. He’s a little naughty and likes to run away a lot. I have to bring him back otherwise the other’s will be sad." She smiled softly while grabbing the soul named Fred by the neck and held him up to the mass.

  Suddenly, hundreds of arms reached out and dragged him back as he could only look at Shiro, begging her to help him as tears flowed out of his eyes.

  "See? He’s even crying from happiness since he knows the others miss him."

  "I see." Shiro nodded.

  As the tea party that was being held in the middle of the ghost city of Tokyo continued, Shiro started to gather more information about the Ghost Queen.

  Her name was Olora and she was level 650. During the first day, she was able to kill lots of monsters and gather souls due to the high casualties and her level and power increased. Even though her level was 650, her capabilities are far higher considering how many souls she had gathered.

  According to Jasmine, Olora was able to siphon out the potential from these souls and empower herself. She is also able to make use of their skills if she wanted. There wasn’t much else that Jasmine knew since she was only recently helped by the Queen.

  Upon hearing this, Shiro was a little surprised since she was level 600. She most likely didn’t have EXP buffs like what Shiro had so it was almost impossible for her to reach this level.

  "Mn, she helped me during the first day the world crumbled. She found me buried under some debris and helped me stabilise my soul. After giving me all of these friends, she said I had become very powerful so I can help her do some missions." Jasmine smiled happily.

  ’So the ghost queen is able to make level 600’s? From Jasmine’s disposition, she seems quite young and naïve hence why I got so much information. It’s either that or her intelligence has been reduced due to all the souls connected to her.’ Shiro thought with a frown as Jasmine stood up.

  "Ah she’s telling me to hurry up now, I need to get some souls for her."

  "Well I guess our talk ends here then. It’s been enjoyable and you have indeed proven to be very useful." Shiro smiled as her body disappeared.

  Appearing behind her, Shiro summoned Silvanis and pierced her body.

  Widening her eyes, Jasmine looked back at Shiro as her shadow transformed and her aura went berserk.

  Suddenly, hands erupted out of the shadow as it grabbed one of the souls in the cl.u.s.ter and overlapped it with Jasmine’s body.

  Summoning her own sword, she twisted her body and slashed back while Shiro’s sword was still stuck in her.

  Bending her body back, Shiro was able to dodge the sword as she grabbed Jasmine’s ankles. However, a ghastly limb broke apart the stitches near the ankles and several limbs holding daggers slashed towards Shiro.

  "Tsk!" Clicking her tongue, Shiro rolled back as she raised her sword and tried to guard against Jasmine’s slashed.

  *BANG!!!!!!!!

  The force of the slash caused her to kneel down as the ground shattered beneath her. Thankfully, Silvanis was indestructible so Shiro didn’t need to worry about losing it but it was another matter when thinking about how much damage her body could take.

  "How dare you trick me!" Jasmine shouted out despite her mouth not moving.

  A dark purple aura exploded out as Shiro instantly felt her body turn sluggish.

  Seeing purple rashes on her body, she realised that she was being poisoned despite her high resistances.

  Covering herself with life fire, the purple rashes started to fade away.

  ’Her base stats are much higher than what I expected.’ Shiro thought to herself since Jasmine’s strength was able to force her to kneel down.

  Flicking her wrist, Shiro opened Jasmine’s guard as a luminescent green fire surrounded her blade. It was a different fire to her life fire and Jasmine noticed her souls becoming unsettled. Wanting to move back, her shadow arms overlapped a different soul over her body as she managed to kick Shiro’s wrist, preventing her from slashed at her.

  Unfortunately for Jasmine……

  Silvanis effect 3, Space Shift.

  Appearing in front of Jasmine’s neck, the sword slashed through the bones without any form of resistance as the head was separated from the body.

  Turning around, Shiro wanted to deal the finishing blow but a black tendril shot out of her neck like a web that threatened to consume her.

  Furrowing her brows, Shiro jumped into the rift and created some distance between the two of them.

  Watching Jasmine reconnect her head, Shiro wondered if she should use her soul powers. The only problem with that is since Jasmine is the Lord of Hallows, there was no guarantee that using her soul powers could be beneficial for her. If anything, there was a chance that Jasmine could possibly do something to Shiro’s soul so she had to proceed with caution.

  ’One step at a time.’ Shiro thought to herself.

  During the last short exchange, she had coated her sword with soul fire and she was able to cut free a few of the souls connected to that mass. This wasn’t a confirmed thought but Shiro figured that if she got rid of all the souls in that mass, Jasmine might lose a large portion of her powers.

  Suddenly, black hands appeared behind Shiro as she instantly felt danger behind her.

  Activating boundary, she cut apart all of them at once but a single finger managed to brush past her hair.

  [You have been tainted slightly.]

  Seeing this notification, Shiro widened her eyes as she jumped into the sky.

  Next to Jasmine, Shiro noticed a puppet of sorts who’s figure was reminiscent of her own.

  ’Is she trying to take my soul?’ Shiro thought with a frown since that moment of contact sent chills down her spine.

  Clicking her tongue, Shiro activated Force of Elements and infused it with a mixture of Lightning, Fire and Light.

  Piercing through the veil covering this city, a giant golden sword shot down as Jasmine could only look up in shock.

  Several souls were forced out of the cl.u.s.ter and collided with the sword.

  *BANG!!!!!

  Breaking the sword apart, a wave of souls cried out towards her as Shiro slammed her hand down and summoned her lantern.

  Raising it up, the wave of souls was taken away without exception.

  "What the hell!! At least warn me if you’re going to bring in a sh*t ton of these ankle biters! I was watching a show dammit!" The ancient terror complained as the lantern started to shake.

  "Shut up and help me deal with them." Shiro replied as she dismissed the lantern and stomped down. Dashing towards Jasmine, a golden fire lit up on her sword.

  Ripping apart the stitches around her mouth, a black liquid started to flow out of her mouth as it soon covered a large section of the city.

  Before Shiro could reach Jasmine, hundreds of eyes opened up as Shiro could feel something tugging at her soul.