SOULBOUND: THE ABYSS WITHIN

Chapter 88: Clash of Titans

—Lightning Unchained—

Michelle's Soul Domain continued to roar with majesty, a cyclone of sovereign wind and will, enforcing her presence like a goddess over a divine court.

But across the broken terrain of Lafrosa's outskirts, where shattered buildings and melted stone formed a battlefield of legends, something changed.

A dark crack splintered the air beneath Muna Ikemba's boots.

It wasn't from Michelle.

It was Muna herself.

She stood straight, coat scorched at the edges, black lightning crackling from her arms to her neck, seeping into her pupils like streaks of abyssal ink.

Then—her voice, low and amused:

"Fine. Let's see if your crown holds up against thunder."

She exhaled—

—and her Soul Domain broke free.

The sky turned black.

Thunder didn't roll—it howled.

Lightning tore from the heavens like spears thrown by angry gods, illuminating the battlefield in flashes of death-white light. But this was no mere lightning storm. This was something older. Primal.

A storm womb of black lightning unfolded behind her, forming an endless realm of pressure and destruction.

Within it floated shattered relics of past battles—crumbling spears, melting swords, drifting fragments of defeated soul constructs.

It wasn't a domain of order. It was a domain of wrath.

Storm Bastion.

Muna's Soul Domain—untamed, violent, and endlessly charged.

Michelle's sky-blue coliseum clashed with it at once, the two domains pushing against each other like tectonic plates. Reality warped where they met. Spirit particles twisted in agony.

Even Elder Soulbornes watching from afar began preparing evacuation protocols for the Academy perimeter. The Council Alarm was triggered. Students, even in the 4th Year, backed away with faces drained of color.

In the sky above, two goddesses of war now clashed.

Michelle—regal, precise, her wind binding and severing like razors.

Muna—chaotic, overwhelming, her lightning screaming with soul-deep rage.

Lightning met wind. Soul constructs collided. The fabric of the space around them rippled.

At the edge of the city, Karen Lockwood along with the others arrived closer but watched at a safe distance—Leslie, Marie, Jim, and Cassandra—faces pale, auras stiff.

Even Joshua, his voice low and eyes unblinking, whispered:

"…She actually used it."

Marie swallowed. "Used what?"

"Her Domain," Cassandra answered, arms crossed, eyes unreadable.

"Looks like it's keeping up with Michelle just fine," Jim muttered.

Back on the battlefield, Muna roared.

"You think titles make you strong, Michelle? You think years of sitting on the Council means you're above me?! I'm done pretending your rules apply!"

Michelle's expression didn't flinch—but her soul burned brighter.

"I don't care for recognition," Michelle said. "But I will not tolerate anyone who harms my daughter."

"Then we agree on something," Muna snarled, lightning wings flaring behind her. "Because if your kid ever touches mine again—"

She didn't finish the sentence. She just threw herself forward, lightning compressed into a spear of judgment.

Michelle stepped to meet her, winds spiraling into a halberd of crushing force.

Impact.

The world exploded in colorless light.

And Lafrosa, that ancient capital of the Soulbornes, bore witness to a war of mothers.