"██, ████, █████████████, ███, ███, ██████████!"
"I ██████, █ you ███ chaos █ pain, I ██ you ███, I ██ you ██, ██ power █████ you ██ lose █ me."
In the haze, indistinguishable words echoed. As the distance closed, the meaning slowly became clear to the listener.
"Closer, just a bit closer! I shall grant you eternal peace!"
The voice brimmed with temptation, like the whisper of a devil. Already dazed and delirious, Victor Wang found it impossible to resist, stumbling ever nearer to the only glimmer of light in the endless dark.
"Come, I will take away your pain!"
It was chaos itself—an amorphous mass glowing with black-violet light, shifting between sphere, rhombus, cube, and sometimes appearing as if it did not exist at all.
Barely clinging to a shred of self-awareness, Victor Wang muttered dully, "I…"
"Death! If you wish it, I shall grant it!"
"Death…"
"It is release!"
True death—the kind without resurrection. Realizing this, fear rose from the depths of his soul, instinct forcing Victor Wang to resist. "No… I don't want to die…"
The chaos froze, assuming the shape of a sea urchin, its body rippling with black light.
"Think carefully. Without me, no one else can offer you such restful death."
Victor Wang shook his shoulders. "I don't want it…"
The chaos grew restless, flashes of light flickering across its body. Then it turned into liquid, then into mist, weaving through Victor Wang's body and wrapping him tightly.
"Do you realize who you're speaking to? A true, supreme Archon! How dare you refuse?!"
With but a thought, it could erase this headless, one-armed remnant of a body.
"I don't want to die…"
The chaos stilled again, silent. After an indeterminate time, it withdrew from Victor Wang, resuming its shifting violet-lit geometric form.
"Leave this place. You've already stepped onto your own path—go, and complete your redemption…"
"How… do I leave…"
"Turn back… turn around, and walk straight."
"Thank you…"
Victor Wang turned at once, stumbling away in dull, thoughtless steps.
"You dare call yourself an Archon?"
"Hahaha! If I am no Archon, then who in this world could be?"
"An Archon without subjects? An Archon who cannot protect their people? It was you who reduced them to this wretched state—you are nothing but a sinner!!!"
"Hahaha! Haha ██! Did I ever claim █ I was █ benevolent Archon?"
"You ████, ████, ████, ███ sins, ██████████, I ████ you ██ destruction █!"
"███████, ██████████████, ███████~"
Amidst the haze, quarrels muttered behind him, self-argued voices fading as distance grew, until they were forgotten entirely.
…
"Ugh—ahhhh!"
Five-sevenths of his mind clawed free from the deathtrap of that presence. His spirit remained shattered, yet whole—whole, yet fractured. Before, rage and bloodlust had dulled the agony. Now, bound by crimson cords, the moment awareness returned, the pain surged with lethal sharpness.
["Master!"]
"You woke this quickly? Still conscious?"
Victor Wang forced his eyes open. Above him stood Little Wen, Shenhe, and Cloud Retainer, all looking down.
"Nngh!"
He clenched his jaw shut immediately.
"Hm. Still conscious, not completely broken. Tsk, tsk. Shenhe, perhaps you should knock him out again—just looking at him hurts."
Without a word, Shenhe propped up his head with one hand, her other hand forming a blade, ready to strike—but paused as Victor Wang grabbed her wrist, clearly struggling to speak.
"Wait… wait… I… can endure…"
"Shenhe, remember his face now," Cloud Retainer said, voice aged and lofty. "This is what mortals call 'saving face while suffering'."
"No…" Victor Wang forced the words through gritted teeth, shaking his head firmly.
"Mm, I understand."
Her gentle reply made him sigh in relief, though embarrassment soon followed. "But… could you let go of my hand first… it hurts."
"…"
Unwittingly, he had gripped her tightly—so tightly that his fingers sank into the stone bed beneath him. Had her arm been a wooden post instead, it would have splintered.
The moment he released his stiff fingers, thwack—her hand-blade still descended.
"Rest well. Pain need not always be borne in silence."
Time drifted while he was unconscious. When his eyes opened again, night had fallen.
A bitter taste lingered in his mouth, though the splitting agony in his spirit had eased—perhaps thanks to some elixir.
The killing urge that had plagued him for days was completely gone. Instead, he felt unnaturally calm.
Even as he saw Lumine and Xingqiu resting at a stone table nearby, Shenhe meditating, and Little Wen floating at his bedside, no emotions stirred in him. His first thought was simply to retrace the past days.
That night—when three Abyss Mages joined voices to command him—his cognition had been twisted, turning him bloodthirsty, violent, especially toward humans.
The terrifying part was that he'd remained lucid—yet failed to notice the change. He hadn't even realized anything was wrong…
Though his subconscious resisted the order, once he saw a human, the urge to kill grew uncontrollably, spilling instead upon the hapless Hilichurls.
Fragments of memory began with wind blades tearing through Hilichurls. After that—blankness.
The Eye.
Victor Wang touched the mask covering half his face.
Even when his spirit nearly collapsed, the lust for slaughter never ceased. Then, some power awakened from the extra eye—along with a gaze, watching him.
If his guess was right, his body had borrowed strength from the Abyss, drawing the attention of a Khaenri'ahn God…
Or perhaps it was the reverse—that descent of a god had brought the power. That made more sense—not every Hilichurl who yearned for strength could wield it.
His uniqueness, washed by two elements, shaped by Abyssal influence, desperate for power—that was what lured the god.
The extra eye on his forehead was surely a key.
Perhaps that god resided in the Hilichurls' collective subconscious. Or within their strange eyes. Perhaps the eyes were merely eyes—yet served as windows, letting that hidden being observe and choose when to descend.
The cost of descent was undeniably great. Whatever he had done under its influence, his spirit was now as shattered as a vase hurled from the eighteenth floor. Lucky, at least, that it hadn't been swept into a recycling grinder.
That much he could conclude.
As for why he had ended up at Mt. Aozang, or who these people around him were… Little Wen would have recorded it all.
Victor Wang turned his head. The little Seelie noticed him at last.
["Master! How do you feel now? Anywhere still hurting?"]
Before he could answer, Xingqiu, Lumine, and Shenhe all rushed over, peering down with worry.
Victor Wang, emotions muted, replied simply and evenly: "Much better. My body is fine, the pain in my spirit is less than last time, and the killing urge is gone."
["Thank goodness! So, the Adeptus really can be trusted!"]
"But… something about Victor's aura has changed," Lumine observed.
Looking at Shenhe, then at Victor Wang, Xingqiu nodded. "Yes, he feels colder."
Shenhe explained, "It is the effect of the crimson ropes. They bind not only the soul, but also suppress joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. Thus, he is as I am."
"The ropes on your neck, wrists, and ankles? They look ordinary enough."
Her words startled Victor Wang. He tried to sit up, but the spiritual pain hindered him. With Xingqiu's help, he managed.
Indeed, red ropes bound his wrists and ankles—thankfully over his clothes. Relieved, he relaxed.
Shenhe noticed, recalling Little Wen's words about his value of purity. She reassured him, "Do not worry. We did not undress you. Your purity remains intact."
Lumine and Xingqiu were stunned silent.
Victor Wang, however, spoke seriously: "Thank you, fair Adeptus, for saving my life, healing my wounds, and preserving my honor. I know not how to repay such kindness."
"Adeptus… my name is Shenhe. As for repayment, my master has already chosen—she wishes to study your cloak."
"That's fine, so long as she doesn't damage it."
"Then I shall deliver it to her at once."
Victor Wang then turned to Xingqiu. "Tell me about you two. I expected you here—but why is Lumine with you?"
Xingqiu smiled bitterly. "You vanished for three days after the Abyss Order cursed you. I didn't want to worry everyone, but it had been too long. Fearing the worst, I called on everyone I knew to search for you."
A misty voice drifted from Cloud Retainer's dwelling. "Still chatting? My mountain has never been this noisy in the dead of night."
"Chongyun and Hu Tao came while you were unconscious, but left after visiting. Now that you're awake, we too should depart. Cloud Retainer does not like too many guests lingering here."
"Cloud Retainer may speak harshly, but perhaps she simply wishes Victor to rest and recover," Lumine offered gently.
"…I will forever remember everyone's concern."
"Then we'll leave. Tomorrow, we'll have Xiangling bring you something delicious."