My Soul card is a Reaper

The energy burst forth like a flood, rushing through her being. Her body began to glow faintly, trembling under the sheer weight of power being poured into it. With her 30% conversion efficiency, she still absorbed enough to cross the vast threshold…

Within moments of her completely absorbing into her body, and started her refinement, and her legendary realm crossed and stepped into the Supreme realm.

Gasps rippled through the assembled clan heads, especially the Moon Clan guardians who tagged along.

Selene couldn't help but smile at the scene. "Now, it's my turn."

Selene took her place next, her expression composed but her heart pounding in anticipation. She closed her eyes and absorbed three of the glowing cores.

Finally, the clan elder stepped forward, hesitant but resolute. With only one core, she began to channel its energy. Her body shook violently; she was at the peak of Rank 8, and this would be a forceful leap.

"Argh…"

Unlike them, she faced difficulty while refining the energy. She screamed, trying to break through the wall that had been hindering her breakthrough for decades, but moments later, the aura around her exploded outward.

A breakthrough, barely, but a breakthrough nonetheless.

"Wow, Elder Mira has finally entered the Supreme Realm."

"Just like that, our clan gained 2 Supreme realm experts. With the Former Matriarch and two Grand Elders, we now had 5 experts. That's such a huge leap."

"Lord Garcia is indeed very generous."

"Hey, it's not over yet. Look, Lady Selene is still in the midst of refinement. She has taken three at once. If she can break through, we'll have 6…"

"But, isn't Lady Selene only 17?"

"She will no longer fall behind that Prince of Camelot."

"Hey, I heard that they were in a relationship. You know about it?"

"Yeah, I also heard the rumors that Princess Leah and Matriarch wanted to get them engaged after she turned 18."

"But, she is the next Matriarch of the Clan. How can we send Lady Selene away?"

"C'mon, our Matriarch is young. She isn't even 100 yet. The next Matriarch will come after like 5 or 6 generations."

The guards couldn't stop murmuring amongst themselves, mixing some gossip along.

However, for others, it was a painstaking moment. After all, the Moon Clan suddenly gained multiple 9-stars. Moon Clan's strength rose abruptly.

Once all three of them absorbed all the cores and sat there, concentrating on refinement, Azzy turned toward the Minamoto Clan.

With a flick of his wrist, four more rank-9 beasts collapsed to bones, and Azzy controlled those spirit cores, pushing out to Shuichi. All eyes shifted to the stoic Minamoto Clan Head as he raised his hand, stopping his subordinates from stepping forward.

"I will absorb them all," he declared, calm yet imposing.

Some clan heads exchanged looks of surprise. This wasn't a common approach; the concentration of resources in one vessel just for a guaranteed breakthrough is foolish. And also, Shuichi is already a 9-star ranker. What was he hoping for? Refining four cores will make him a demigod or something? They couldn't help but mock him in their heads.

The Minamoto Lord sat down, aura flaring. Already at the Intermediate stage, he began to absorb.

Perhaps, he is already a 9-star rank and extremely experienced. Or it might be the result of some technique. He didn't even take 5 minutes to absorb all of them and instantaneously refine them at the same time. It was too fast.

As for the result, his aura had risen, yes. From intermediate to peak stage. But he did not become a Supreme Being.

The moment passed with awkward silence. His eyes opened slowly, calm but stone-faced. No one knows whether he is disappointed or satisfied. Shuichi calmly returned to his entourage.

Meanwhile, the Kuru Clan was quite prepared for this.

They have sent four warriors, who were all at peak rank 8.

Each warrior took two cores, and the transformation began.

Unlike the dramatic surges of before, their breakthroughs were stable and efficient.

One after another, four new Supreme Realm experts were born.

Whispers stirred among the gathered elders.

"The Kuru Clan just doubled their Supreme strength…"

"They already have 5, right? Now, another four? 9 Supreme realm experts?"

"A brilliant move..."

The Kurus, pragmatic to the bone, didn't linger at all to see how others fared or try to stabilize their realm right then.

With their new powerhouses barely stabilizing, they activated their emergency escape talismans. Without even waiting to speak to others, they vanished, teleported back to their secured dimension, unwilling to risk ambush in this volatile place.

Azzy simply gave them a knowing nod as they faded out.

At the same time, Selene made a breakthrough to 9-star as expected, and Mira Moon also finished her refinement, leaving only Estella still in the state of refinement as her realm steadily rose, from beginner to intermediate to advanced and to peak…

The Asgardians acted next.

Azzy released two cores toward them, as promised.

Fjor pushed his heir, Eirindi Odinson, the one who originally rejected the policies last time, to the front. He was already at the intermediate stage of 9-star, but absorbed both cores, hoping to raise a minor realm at least. Fortunately, it managed to push to an advanced stage.

A couple of hours later;

The undead monsters were all dismissed. The new Supreme realm experts of Moon Clan have already finished their refinement, while the other clans left as soon as their bodies refined the energy. The Forbidden region was too dangerous, after all. Only two clans remained at the Null Point.

The Minamoto Clan Lord, Fujiwara Shuichi, sitting still in silent contemplation, was clearly dissatisfied but hiding it well. He was only sitting there as a spectator.

As for the Moon Clan, their newly ascended matriarch, Estella, who was actually given the spirit cores of the undead beasts of the Supreme Being stage, with the highest quality among rank-9s, managed to reach Supreme Being, but she still hasn't opened her eyes as the soul energy inside her is running wildly with the remnant energy.

It's been almost 6 hours since Estella started. She was the first to absorb the spirit cores, and only she remained in the end.

Everyone was patiently waiting.

All of a sudden, Azzy's ears perked up, his senses capturing the disturbance in the waters around the null point.

It wasn't just him. Others also sensed the same. Selene, Shuichi, and the other 9-star experts also sensed it. They were already on their toes in alert.

Then, without warning, a colossal shadow rose from the sea.

Scales gleamed with dark blue light. Tentacles the size of a tower. Its eyes glowed in scarlet as it broke the surface.

The faces of spectators ashened at once. Everyone below 9-star rank, all the guards shivered in its presence.

Shuichi stared at the beast and mumbled in a serious tone. "The Lord of the Forbidden Region, the Krakken. I wonder if Lord Garcia will be alright?"

At the same time, Azzy slowly floated into the sky, his eyes narrowing as he hovered at the creature's eye level.

"What do you want?" Azzy's voice was calm, but sharp as a blade.

The Krakken stared for a long moment before replying, its voice low and resonant, "I came to pay my respects, Lord Azrael. Nothing more."

A stunned silence blanketed the Null Point.

Some of them have a dazed look. Some of them had their eyes widened while some had their mouth open. But everyone had the same thought in their head.

"What? The strongest monster in the Arcana world is paying respects? Azrael, what are you?"

Meanwhile, Azzy gave a slight nod. "Then, in return, keep the creatures of the abyss at bay."

The Krakken bowed its head with surprising deference. "It shall be done."

Then, it slid back into the depths. The waters stilled as though nothing had happened.

The moment ended, but its impact remained.

One of the Minamoto Clan elders whispered, "Merging our village into the Death Clan's dominion… might have been the best decision we've ever made."'

This actually made Shuichi feel a little better; his bitterness from not being able to reach the Supreme Being stage slowly faded away from his mind.

Selene looked at Azzy's back, a faint blush crept to her cheeks as she muttered. "Ah, Lord Azrael is so cool. If only Orion..." She shook her head, "What are you thinking, Selene... ugh..."