Without chanting the first word of his soul edict, Finn pressed his will outward, declaring his authority. His soul density spiked, radiating his presence till it filled the chamber.
He spoke the next word.
"Anchor."
His position locked in place.
The creature noticed its mistake and reacted quickly, changing trajectory and tactic, it tried to make him doubt his own anchoring. Tried to inject uncertainty into his soul, making him question whether his presence was truly grounded or if he'd made a mistake in the edict's execution.
Finn snorted at the attempt.
"Focus."
His concentration narrowed, but the malevolent consciousness didn't relent. It kept probing, kept searching for cracks in his mental defenses. Finn could feel it now, the nature of what this creature had been.
A predator that had hunted not just bodies but minds. That had tormented its prey psychologically before killing them. That had found pleasure in breaking others' will to live before ending them.
