F-Rank Soul Eater-Chapter 134: Dr Kaya Has Expectations

...Polystar gave a judging side look to Soren, which made him shut up, covering his mouth, but still giggling lowly.

Then—

Polystar’s body began to shift.

It wasn’t subtle but fast.

Bones creaked. Muscle swelled outward in thick, unnatural layers, stretching his black tunic to the point of tearing.

His frame grew broader, taller, heavier—mass packing onto him like the world itself had decided to lean in his favor.

His skin became flushed. Carrying a different color—a deep, saturated orange, glossy and faintly veined, which looked like polished carrot flesh beneath sunlight.

His arms thickened grotesquely, cords of muscle twisting into place with brutal symmetry. Veins pulsed green beneath the orange hide, carrying energy that hummed low and alive. Even his jawline sharpened, teeth flashing white against the absurd color.

For a heartbeat—

The room was silent. Soren included. "Oh Shit!" He remarked.

Then Polystar stepped forward.

Doom.

And vanished.

The floor shattered where he launched from.

He reappeared in front of the rune-laced cadet and threw a punch.

There was no technique.

No finesse.

Just mass, speed, and overwhelming intent.

The cadet punched back.

Its runes flared violently as its fist met Polystar’s—ability activating at the instant of contact.

POP.

A tight, compressed explosion cracked through the air.

Boom

Both figures were hurled backward.

They skidded across the ruined floor in opposite directions, carving twin trenches through debris and frost.

The cadet twisted mid-slide and landed on one knee.

Slowly, he looked at his arm.

Its hung wrong.

Bent at an angle no joint should allow, bone pressing grotesquely against skin like a snake that had swallowed something too large and failed to digest it.

Still—

Its face didn’t change.

The was no scream or a ahow of pain.

Just that same excited smile with a distant stare.

Across from it—

Polystar looked down at his own shoulder.

His arm was gone.

And this was not to say that it was broken.

No.

That last attack had destroyed his arm.

It was erased.

The explosion had taken everything from shoulder to fingertip, leaving a cauterized, steaming hollow where muscle and bone should have been.

His opponent could explode everything they touched.

Polystar’s arm was no exemption.

Soren, like some other instructors was surprised at the development of things.

He even wanted to step up and help, but Polystar stopped him. "I’m not done."

For a moment, Polystar frowned.

Then—

one corner of his mouth lifted.

A smirk.

He casually brought the carrot back to his lips and took another bite.

Crunch.

Green light surged through his body.

Muscle knitted itself into existence, bone forming first, then sinew, then skin—layer by layer, rebuilt in seconds. A brand-new arm flexed into place, fingers clenching once as if testing reality.

Soren’s eyes widened. "Cool."

The rune-laced cadet’s brow finally furrowed.

Slowly—

It reached behind its back.

And drew a dagger.

Soren face palmed.

These guys had been pronounced dead for a long time, and no one thought to disarm them?

The blade was dull black, but slowly, it was etched with the same shifting neuralink runes that crawled across the cadet’s body. Power gathered around it, thickening the air, warping sound.

The cadet raised the weapon.

Preparing to awaken—

its own First Form.

And then a whisper brushed against Soren’s ear.

It was soft, and secretive. "Soren..."

He turned sharply.

Doctor Kaya stood near the far wall, half-hidden by shadow, smiling like she had just remembered something amusing.

How did she get there?

She lifted two fingers and gave a lazy little wave—’come here.’

Soren hesitated. He pointed to his chest unsure.

She nodded.

Behind him, the battle thundered on—fire roaring, explosions cracking, Polystar and the rune-laced cadet tearing reality apart with every exchange, and the instructors and Red Sword Inquisitors standing guard for an opportunity to dive in.

And yet...

Something about Doctor Kaya’s gaze made it impossible to ignore.

Against his better judgment, Soren followed.

She slipped through a side door, and he stepped in after her.

The room beyond was quieter.

It had thick walls that muted the chaos, reducing the war next door to a distant, dull thrum.

Tables lined the space, cluttered with files, instruments, some sealed containers.

The air smelled sterile, like chemicals and old paper.

Soren frowned.

"Why are we here?" he asked. "The fight—"

Doctor Kaya rolled her eyes, already bored.

"Oh please," she said lightly. "I’ve seen enough battles to know how this ends. SS-rank fire power versus those... refugees? It’s already decided."

Refugees?

Soren thought to himself.

Doctor Kaya turned away from him, crouching by a metal desk. Her fingers slid open a drawer beneath it, rummaging casually.

"I came for something else."

Soren’s unease deepened.

She paused.

"Ah... found it."

From the drawer, she pulled out a black container stamped with red letters.

EVIDENCE

She opened it, and reached in.

She withdrew a slender object.

Soren tried to see what it was, but her fingers moved in such a way that it intensionally obstructed his view.

She straightened and walked toward him, heels clicking sharply against the floor. Her pace was unhurried, deliberate.

"Wait— what—" Soren started.

But she grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, trying to pull back—

—but she was already too close, and hands surprisingly too strong.

The needle plunged into his skin.

Pain flared.

His eyes snapped wide as recognition hit him a heartbeat later.

That needle.

The same one.

The one the black-clad figure had used earlier.

"What... have you... done?" Soren staggered, shoving her away.

She didn’t stumble.

She didn’t even look surprised.

Doctor Kaya just watched him with a focused, almost eager smile—like a scientist waiting for a reaction to settle.

Soren turned, trying to run.

"Help—!" he tried to shout.

The room tilted.

His vision smeared at the edges, colors bleeding together.

His legs betrayed him, and he crashed into a nearby table. Documents scattered as wood splintered beneath his weight.

He hit the floor hard.

Doctor Kaya approached, unhurried, curiosity bright in her eyes. She kneeled beside him—took his head to rest on her lap.

"Shush..." she comforted. "Don’t worry, you don’t have to struggle. It will be over in a bit. And then we can be together..."

Be together? What the hell!?

His body spasmed, as if rejecting what she had injected into him.

Then—

Nothing.

He blacked out, drowning into himself—a sea.

Within the sea, he struggled to breath, to move, but it was engulfing.

And then as realizing that he had not... or rather could not drown. He stopped struggling.

He turned facing the bottom of this sea.

And then below. A sight he had never seen before.

Giant animals, some the size of houses and some others the size of vehicles.

Their eyes shone with a brilliance.

The realization hit him. These were intelligent creatures.

However, he quickly noticed that there was something wrong with them.

Each one of them had a problem. Some where half destroyed. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Some were ever bleeding. Some looked alike, but yet different.

But one thing was common with all of them.

There stared at him with incredible malice.

It was only now that Soren finally recognized them.

These were Shades. But not just any Shades.

These were the Shades that Chronovore had consumed.

Slowly, Soren fell in their midst.

His gaze raised at them.

Maybe it was this water around him, but somehow, he could feel their pain.

Hate.

Neglect.

But more than that, he could feel their desire.

The desire to be free. It was like a weight pressing down on his shoulders, his knees fell to the ground.

It was suffocating.

And then. His Blackfield spiked. Never had it been so responsive as it was right now.

Whoosh...

He dove to the side.

Boom... The place he was standing had been destroyed.

Rocks and stone floatedoutward from the point of impact.

That attack had been from the mouth of a giant green frog.

It was a distance away from Soren. But from the way its tongue recoiled back, like a spring of a gun, preparing another bullet, Soren knew it was the one.

As if on impulse, all the others rushed for him in an attack.

He moved, dodging just before a giant pair of claws would turn him into shreds.

All of a sudden, they were in a frenzy to consume him.

At first, he mananged to dodge.

But a praying mantis creature stung his back, sending him flying and smacking into a wall.

The Bulb.

Soren felt all the bones in his body break.

Pain shot through him.

"AHHH!" He screamed, falling on the ground like a ragged doll.

The giant animal like creatures drew closer.

Soren wanted to move but his body won’t let him.

And then a rainbow license eye opened.

——

Soren jolted awake, breathing heavily.

His body felt sore, and heavy.

Although not broken, hus body felt like he had dove through a meat grinder and survived.

Slowly he controlled his breathing.

His many death experiences had let him have a different kind of control on his mind and body.

He looked around. He was lying on a table.

Cold metal beneath his back.

The room was silent.

Too silent.

No explosions.

No roaring flames.

No sounds of battle at all.

Then he remembered what Doctor Kaya had done to him.

Panic stirred in his chest as he tried to push himself up—

—and then he heard her voice.

"A Soulbound warrior with an empty Glassheart."

He turned.

Doctor Kaya lounged in a chair nearby, legs crossed, calmly chewing on a candy bar. She looked irritated more than excited now, like something had failed to meet her expectations.

She sighed.

"Cadet Soren," she said, eyes locking onto his.

"Where is your Shade?"