I entered the deepest chamber of my soul—a silent darkness illuminated only by the faint glow of my own form.
Before me stood my soul's true form: a translucent human silhouette, with a pair of wings rising from its back, gleaming dimly like moonlight on a cloudy night.
"So this is my soul's true form," I murmured softly.
But my eyes were immediately drawn to something strange—pitch-black chains wrapped around the soul's entire body, as if restraining its every movement and pulse of power.
"What are these chains?" I asked, approaching.
Suddenly, from my right, Celes's figure reappeared. Her form was pale, her eyes staring at me calmly yet piercingly.
"Those are the shackles of your soul. Shackles placed by the gods," she said in a cold voice that echoed throughout the soul chamber.
I tried to grab the chains, but my hand simply passed through them—as if they weren't physical objects, but rather an untouchable curse.
My eyes shifted to Celes, who was still standing beside me.
"Why have you appeared again?" I asked coldly, my voice laced with menace.
She stared at me unblinkingly. "I want to help you."
I chuckled sarcastically, then fixed her with a gaze enough to pierce her soul.
"Huh? After everything you've done to me? After all that betrayal?"
My voice rose, my anger radiating along with the dark aura rippling around my soul.
My surroundings began to vibrate. My soul's form slowly changed—no longer transparent, but solid, as if responding to my anger.
"I tried to stop Kravius," Celes said quietly.
I narrowed my eyes. "Stop, you say?" I replied sarcastically.
"But I wasn't strong enough to defy all the heroes who agreed," she continued, her voice heavy with regret.
At that, memories of Kravius came flooding back.
The pain that stabbed every fiber of my being, the scream that died in my throat, the iron smell of blood in the prison air.
And—most searing—his mocking smile, a look of contempt that sank deep into my soul, never leaving it.
I looked back down at my soul.
Cracks spread across its surface—cracks that couldn't be healed by normal means.
"What if I add moon magic to these cracks?" I muttered under my breath.
At that, Celes's soul immediately stirred, spreading her arms in front of me, blocking me.
"Don't do that, Niel! It'll kill you! Moon magic and demonic energy are mutually exclusive!" she cried.
I stared at her blankly, then grabbed both of her arms. With one jerk, I threw her body backward.
"Do you think I care?"
Without hesitation, I began drawing in moon magic—pure energy that comes directly from the gods—forcing it into the cracks in my soul.
Outside the house, Rena sensed a strange change enveloping the village.
Her aura immediately intensified, and dark magic radiated, enveloping the building I was in.
"What's going on? Why is the village's aura changing? It's as if something is trying to stop my lord," she muttered, her eyes narrowed warily.
The sky dimmed to pitch black. Lightning tore through the air, striking the villages one by one.
The demons swiftly activated protective magic, creating a barrier to withstand the deadly strikes.
Meanwhile, inside, I forcibly drew on my moon magic. A blue aura gathered around my soul, slowly enveloping it.
Suddenly—
An indescribable pain exploded from within.
My soul trembled violently, rebelling, as if rejecting the union of two forces that could never be united.
"This pain is nothing to me."
I forced myself to draw on as much moon magic as I could. A silvery blue light enveloped my soul, so bright that the darkness within shook.
The cracks in my soul began to slowly knit together, a searing pain that seared flesh and bone felt in every fiber of my consciousness.
But suddenly—
It was as if an invisible force had cut off the flow. The moon magic stopped flowing, ripped away.
The crack that had almost closed cracked even more, shattering in multiple places.
BLUURGGHH!
Fresh blood gushed from my mouth.
My body shook violently, my vision blurred, and the pain in my soul pierced to the very core.
Celes stepped closer, her hand outstretched, channeling light magic into my fractured soul. The warm light felt foreign in the darkness of my own.
"Why are you helping me, Celes? I already killed you," I said flatly, but my eyes were fixed on her suspiciously.
She smiled faintly, though her body trembled under the weight of the magic.
"Niel… actually, I've liked you for a long time."
I paused, shocked. The words hit me harder than the pain in my soul.
"Huh? Like me?"
Celes looked me in the eye without hesitation.
"That's right. But I never said it because I was afraid of ruining our party. And our main goal at the time was to kill the demons."
The voice sounded sincere, but deep inside me, anger, confusion, and bitterness mixed together.
I pushed aside thoughts of Celes's words. There was no point dwelling on them now.
My focus returned to the moon magic—I tried to draw it back in, forcing its flow into my fractured soul.
Suddenly—
BOOMMMMM!!!
A thunderous sound shook the entire soul space. The vibrations made the ground beneath me crack, the air seem to explode.
[MORTALLLLLL!!! HOW DARE YOU USE MY MAGIC!!!]
Suddenly, a blinding light shattered the darkness.
From the light, a silhouette emerged—tall, graceful, yet radiating oppressive power.
Her body resembled an elf's, but her aura was too pure, too divine.
I narrowed my eyes, staring straight at her.
"So you were the one who cut off the flow."
The silhouette lowered its head slightly, looking down at me like dirt on the ground.
[A lowly demon like you has no right to touch the magic of the gods.]
The silhouette turned toward Celes's soul, its eyes glinting sharply.
[WHY DID YOU HELP HIM?] its voice echoed, heavy and filled with rage.
Celes looked up, staring back fearlessly.
"I simply wanted to atone for my mistakes."
That answer further enraged the silhouette.
Its right hand rose, pure moonlight gathering in its palm, swirling like a whirlpool of stars.
The energy was so powerful, enough to wipe Celes's soul away instantly.
Without thinking, I moved.
My body slipped in front of Celes, taking the blow of the magic head-on.
The scorching moon's aura burned my soul, but I absorbed it instead.
The light flowed rapidly into my body, then I directed it into the gaping soul crack.
The crack began to glow, as if drinking in the power of my own enemy.
I stared straight at the silhouette, my low voice echoing in the soul chamber:
"You came into my soul without permission, so prepare to suffer the consequences."
Suddenly, my soul moved on its own.
Its head turned slowly, its dark eyes staring straight at the silhouette.
Without warning, the soul's body shot out like a shadow—appearing behind the silhouette and immediately embracing it from behind.
[!!!!!] The silhouette was startled, its aura trembling violently.
[LET ME GO, MORTALLLL!!!] it screamed, its voice shattering the soul chamber.
I didn't understand why my soul moved so, as if some primal instinct had awakened.
Slowly, my soul's mouth opened wider than a normal human's, and it began to devour the silhouette alive.