SOULBOUND: THE ABYSS WITHIN

Chapter 76: When Lightning Strikes

Soul Island — Outer Ridge of the Hawthorne Estate, Evening

The skies above Lafrosa darkened prematurely, roiling with unnatural clouds. Thunder cracked in the distance—but it wasn't from nature.

It was Muna Ikemba.

She descended like a wrathful comet into the front courtyard of the sprawling Hawthorne estate, surrounded by terrified staff and confused guards. The moment her boots hit the soul-tempered stone, arcs of black lightning split through the sky and hammered into the ground, shattering tiles beneath her feet.

She didn't bother with subtlety.

She didn't knock.

She stormed in.

"MICHELLE!" she roared, voice amplified by her aura. "COME GET YOUR CHILD BEFORE I TURN HER INTO A SCORCHED MEMORY!"

Guards emerged. Soulbornes of mid-tier training tried to form a perimeter. Useless.

One step from Muna—just one step—and the entire courtyard went dead with pressure. Her soul energy coiled like a storm dragon, and that signature black lightning danced along her arms, crackling and warping the very light around her.

From the upper level, Michelle Hawthorne appeared—poised, composed, dressed in tailored midnight-blue robes, her brown hair tied in a dignified braid, blue eyes glowing faintly.

"Muna," Michelle said calmly. "You're trespassing on Grand Council grounds. This isn't the slums."

Muna raised a single hand and pointed at her. "I told you to keep your daughter away from mine. You failed."

Michelle sighed. "This again. Look, Mira is… intense, but—"

"She STOLE A KISS FROM CASSANDRA!" Muna thundered, her hair rising as sparks of black lightning crackled violently. "She's obsessed. She's following her. TOUCHING HER DOORS. Whispering like a lunatic. And you want to sit there and act like it's just 'intense'?!"

Michelle's expression thinned. "Cassandra isn't a child, Muna. Perhaps if she were less cold, she wouldn't attract—"

Muna blurred forward—teleport-speed, black lightning flashing—stopping inches from Michelle's face. The mansion behind her shuddered under the shockwave of her movement.

"I don't care if you're a Grand Council rep. Say another word about how my daughter 'attracts' your stalker, and I will slap your jaw into the Ethereal Plane."

Guards tried to approach. Muna didn't even glance at them. They froze.

Michelle didn't flinch either. "I won't tolerate threats."

"I'm not threatening," Muna growled. "I'm educating. Your daughter touches mine again, and I won't just visit. I'll drag her back to you in a glass box."

For a moment, the power of two High Soulbornes clashed invisibly—Michelle's calm aura like icy steel, Muna's like a raging lightning storm.

"Then Cassandra should report it through proper channels," Michelle said, turning away. "Not send her rabid dog of a mother to bark at my gate."

CRACK!!

A bolt of black lightning struck a nearby statue, splitting it clean in half.

Muna's voice dropped to a whisper, dangerous and tight. "No. Cassandra doesn't report. I do. And this is your final warning."

Michelle turned halfway. "Get off my estate."

Muna smirked. "Happily. But next time... I won't be polite."

She stepped backward, eyes never leaving Michelle's, and then vanished in a flicker of electricity.

As the silence settled, several soul-tech wards around the estate were still flickering from the interference. Michelle exhaled quietly and turned to one of her advisors.

"Double security," she said. "And tell Mira to stay out of sight. For now."

And deep within the Hawthorne estate...

Mira sat alone in her room, staring at an old holo-image of Cassandra—expression unreadable, lips parted.

She whispered:

> "Even your mother can't stop me."

But somewhere else, Ramses watched from afar, golden eyes glinting.

> "Now it begins."