Acedia POV:

I’d already figured out how to get Emily back.

It’s very simple, really.

The answer lay in the Devil’s words.

Just like I control this realm behind the veil of Energy, he controls his realm behind the veil of Souls.

The answer is rather obvious.

With a thought I sealed up the woman’s voice again and began slowly walking towards her still-visible white lump of a Soul.

Damien and Anna followed me, but I gestured them to stop.

“Wait here. I’ll get your mother.”

I said smilingly.

The both of them stopped following and looked at me worriedly, but I could see that they believed what I said.

It feels good to be trusted like this.

For a moment I looked at the Soul and imagined it shaking.

No doubt she was frightened, but this is what she deserves.

And now that I sealed off her screams, Damien and Anna won’t know what torture it is to do what I am about to do.

I sensed the lump of Soul in front of me and with a single thought, I froze the outer edges of it.

After this I commanded all but the outer edges to expand, making the Soul thinner and thinner in the middle, while the outer edges made sure it didn’t expand beyond it.

I smiled grimly at the sight the middle becoming more and more translucent.

As mentioned before, the closest resembles to having your Soul stretched out would be getting drawn and quartered.

But as it is the Soul of an Immortal, it is much more durable, lasting much longer than a mortal’s body or Soul ever could.

At least, as long as there is Energy in it, it will be kept together.

Perhaps, when it doesn’t have Energy in it, even an Immortal will die?

I’ve tried it on myself once and it did indeed shatter, but my soul came back.

Will the imitations last?

Are the Immortals as immortal as I am?

But, that is for later.

In front of me, I saw the Soul being stretched to its limit, and then it happened.

Just like I hoped.

It was just before the Soul would snap and become doughnut-shaped.

I reached for the Energy in her Soul, still under my command, and ordered it to pin the Soul in place.

If this was a normal Soul it wouldn’t be possible, but she endured it.

Just like Energy, the Soul, too, was made out of threads.

Unlike Energy though, these threads were normally so densely packed, you’d not be able to distinguish one from another unless you look really closely or stretch it out, just like good clothing.

And just like clothing, it is more comfortable to see while stretching it out than it is to watch it from real close.

The next thing is simple.

Just like you would make a tear in the threads of Energy to enter that dark realm, I tore the threads of the Soul, although not as much for it to become unstable.

And, once again just like with Energy, a the other realm hiding behind it was visible, albeit white this time instead of black.

I wonder how it feels to have your Soul being stretched open like this, without it snapping and falling apart?

I walked forward into the newly-created portal, feeling the gaze of Anna and Damien in my back.

It weighed heavily upon me, like a great responsibility rested on my shoulders.

But, in a way, it felt good.

It was the first time I’ve ever been entrusted something like this.

The first time in my long, long life.

With a smile, this time not grimly, but happy, I stepped into the other realm, commanding a large amount of Energy in the vicinity to follow me.

I won’t go in unarmed.

As soon as I stepped into it, an enormous weight seemed to crash down upon me, trying to eat away at me like I’m some sort of pray.

It attacked my Soul en masse, just like the all-but-last time since I entered the Energy-devouring realm.

It made me stagger and threw my senses off-balance, making the scenery seem blurry and twisting around.

But, I was prepared for this and much, much more in control than before.

I formed a tight shield of Energy around me and the effect was immediate.

Although the pressure weighing down on me was the same, it felt much less oppressive since it couldn’t attack me.

Since the only thing it could devour was the Soul, it wouldn’t be able to go through Energy.

As expected, it is the reverse of the Devil’s realm.

I looked back at the portal, only to see a mess of various colours forming a vertical puddle.

It seems you can’t look at the other side without entering it first.

I turned around again, expecting to see a never-ending emptiness without as much as a sign of Emily, but was surprised to see a semi-familiar sight.

Not far from me were two Souls,.

One without body, wrapped in chains and pinned against an imaginary wall of white, invisible to the naked eye, since even if it this Soul was visible, it would be white-on-white.

The other had both a Soul and a body.

Not only that, it had a very nostalgic and recognizable body, one I haven’t seen since long, long ago.

Light-brown hair and blue eyes while having a lean figure on the edge of being lanky.

How long has it been since I looked in a mirror?

For the life of me, I cannot remember.

It definitely wasn’t recently, perhaps even a couple billion years ago.

As far as I remembered, never during the recent few Era’s, not even with my wife.

But then again, who would care for my looks?

They’ll just hate me anyway and by the time I met my wife, I had all but forgotten the way I looked.

But seeing it like this, I was remembered my appearance for ago.

If he is an actual representation of me, it seems I haven’t aged a day.

But then again, I doubt my appearance changes as I age.

Although I was slightly surprised seeing myself walking in the distance, sometimes looking at the Soul and then continuing, it was easy to figure out who it was.

If the woman was made to be able to possess Emily, it is only reasonable that she would get comfortable with a similar body, although at my previous visit it was strangely blurry to me.

No doubt to be a fine ‘surprise’ given to me by Death.

So this guy was the person who, during my first visit here, was in my body.

Or rather, my Soul was inside his body.

I doubt he could’ve easily abducted both my Soul and body without me noticing.

But anyway, seeing as that guy was here, then no doubt the bound Soul is Emily.

Without even taking a step forward or saying a single word, I commanded all the Energy – still flowing continuously inside through the portal – turned it all into Blue Fire, making it swirl around me like I was inside a vortex of flames.

Without even adding a detail as to how, I said one thing loud enough for this whole empty realm to hear me.

“Destroy him!”

My voice echoed through the realm, simultaneously commanding to the Energy to do as I said.

The Blue Fire obeyed and uncoiled around me, launching itself forward like a continuous stream of flame aiming directly at the man in front of Emily.

My sight obscured by the flames, I sensed the man noticing the flames and trying to take a stance, but he was too slow.

Without meeting any resistance, the stream of Blue Fire slammed into the man, instantly devouring his body, his Soul and even the Energy within the Soul without leaving anything behind.

Now that I think about it, this is the first time I ever completely and surely destroyed an Immortal.

Perhaps during my last visit here I had destroyed them, but I wasn’t there to see the result and the attack was much less powerful, easily quenched if you simply starved it out of Energy for a second.

Aside from easily being able to counter it, this was the realm of Death.

Since the realm of the Devil was able to heal the wounds of Blue Fire, Death no doubt has a way too, so he must have healed them if it became to dangerous.

Well, this time there is nothing left to heal.

If he doesn’t come back, I might have to rethink the term ‘Immortal’ for these imitations of me...

Seeing the target was obliterated, I stopped the stream of flames and retracted the small amount of Energy still unused.

It doesn’t matter how much I use, the Energy still infinitely comes through the portal, albeit at a fixed pace.

I stretched out a thin line of Energy and transported myself through it, arriving directly in front of Emily.

“Acedia?! I…”

Without letting her speak, I immediately conjured enough Energy to make a body for her.

Since I still had fresh memories of her body from making Anna’s, I more or less knew how it looked and filled in the blanks as I saw fit.

Afterwards, I ripped her Soul out of the chains and attached it to her body.

As soon as all this was done, taking only a few seconds, she stood awestruck in front of me.

“T-thank you?”

I smiled a little seeing her fumbling for words.

“No problem. Now, let’s get out of here.”

Although Emily was the main goal, this was also partially intended to scout out this realm, but I’ve seen enough.

From the first moment I entered, I knew if I fight here without being absolutely prepared, I was doomed to lose.

The passively-activated devouring of the Soul against anyone who entered was in itself already able to make me feel the extreme pressure.

If Death consciously made an effort to crush me using all of his powers here, I have no hope.

At least, not now.

I grabbed Emily by the hand and bolted for the escape, feeling a very uncomfortable feeling crawling up my spine.

‘Something’s coming’, it seemed to scream to me.

Of course, I knew this was true.

In fact, I doubt running would help in this situation.

This was his realm, he surely must have noticed by now.

But I still hoped I had taken him by surprise, even though I knew it was in vain.

“Ah, Acedia, welcome again to my humble realm.”

A vain hope indeed…

“How nice for the great evil Monster himself to join us. Although, I expected you to arrive later.”

Instead of the Devil’s powerfully sweet and tempting voice, sounding as if every desire could be made possible by him, the voice of Death sounded very different.

It carried with it a ungodly amount of force, making it seem like the whole place was vibrating as if in a earthquake.

Not only that, I could picture a disgusting smile on his face, just like with the Devil.

But instead of picturing a smile that seemed like he was tricking me into accepting a deal too good to be true, the smile of Death was that of someone who had just found his prey.

It was absolutely terrifying.

“Emily, run to the portal! Now!”

“B-but..”

“I said now!”

I shouted, feeling the pressure of the situation

I had sensed his terrifying Soul-devouring power when I entered.

It had crashed down upon me like a tsunami without mercy and if I hadn’t expected it, it would have easily crushed and devoured me.

And that was just when Death’s realm was using it unconsciously, what power would he have if he used it consciously?

It send shivers down my spine and made me think.

How can I stop it?

I had brought with me Energy to defend myself, but there was no way it was enough.

He would simply pry open any shield I make and attack my Soul directly.

Not only that, I also have Emily to defend.

How can I bring this to a happy end?

How can I get Emily back home safely?

If he devours her Soul, I don’t know if she’ll survive…

Every question and thought send me closer into despair.

Think!

What can I do?

How can I defend against someone so immersed in his own power?

Then, without rhyme or reason, suddenly clicked in my mind, just like it had when trying to figure out the new knowledge I received.

It was a very simple thought, really.

I should have thought about it before, but I was too busy paying attention to the lackey inside Emily’s Soul back in my realm.

And therein lay the answer.

My realm.

If the realm of Death and the Devil allow themselves to submerge in power and exist without Soul and without Energy, then why couldn’t I do the reverse and drown myself in my power.

And so I did, and it was surprising to say the least.

Instantly and without issue, after just a little bit of focusing, I became the Energy, leaving my Soul and body behind, whom were instantly devoured and crushed by the power in this realm.

But I didn’t feel it.

My existence now lay in the Energy itself, immersed just like Death and the Devil are in theirs.

It felt as if I had just come truly alive!

Instead of the feeling I had like I was connected to the Energy, or the more recent feeling like all Energy was under my control, I felt like I was the Energy!

Using it felt the same like coordinating your arms and hands to pick something up, or using your lungs and vocal chords to talk.

No order was needed, no thought had to be spared, just simply doing and my Energy listens!

It just seemed… natural.

Is this how the Devil and Death feel when in their own realm, submerged in their own power?

Is this the way I’m supposed to be?

If so, it was wonderful!

Emily jumped slightly when she heard my voice, but as soon as she recovered, she rushed towards the portal.

“Like I’d let you! I’ve got so much stuff planned for you! The both of you!”

The white world seemed to tremble and move, converging into a maelstrom of power, aiming directly towards the dashing Emily.

However, I won’t allow it.

I moved to intercept the attack and braced myself for impact, and as I did, the Energy hardened itself like it was one with my mind.

The wave of Soul-devouring power crashed into me, but seeing as my Soul was already devoured like the shell it was, the power was simply deflected off of me.

Emily looked in surprise as a purple Energy formed around her, protecting her from the onslaught outside the sphere.

“Keep moving!”

I said, my disembodied voice brimming with power.

She once again bolted towards the portal while I was still wrapped around me in all my purple glory.

“You know?! It was that bastard from the Darkvoid, wasn’t it?! God-fucking-damnit! Once I’m done with you, he’s next!”

Another wave, a thousand times more powerful than the one before hit me from the side.

Although he couldn’t devour me, it doesn’t mean I’m invincible.

Right now, with the small amount of Energy I currently possess, I’m but a small grain of sand against the tidal waves of the sea.

It won’t destroy me, but it could easily wash me away.

And once I’m gone, Emily won’t have any protection.

With all the power I could muster, I forced myself against the tide, straining myself almost to the edge of what I could take.

It felt like I used all my muscles to swim up a waterfall.

Slowly but surely, I felt the Energy simply tire and slip away from my grasp, like one would lose control of his muscles after sprinting for hours on end.

But no matter what, I will endure.

“HOW ARE YOU STILL HERE! I WILL FUCKING CRUSH YOU!”

The closer and closer we got to the portal, the angrier he became, and this was easily seen in the way he used his power.

Before he was attacking me from one side, trying to sweep me away with the current.

But now, he attacks from every direction.

Below, left, right, above, at an angle, everywhere I could feel him trying to crush me.

But, this was a mistake.

Unlike the feeling of swimming up a waterfall, this one was much easier to deal with.

If he kept at it with his previous method, I would have no doubted at some point faltered and been swept away with the current.

But now, he is attacking me from all side, intending to crush me and Emily along with it.

But, instead of becoming harder to resist, it became easier.

Now that I was being assaulted from every side, I don’t need to consciously throw myself against his power while also making sure Emily isn’t left undefended.

Now, the only thing I needed to do was to endure.

And for almost all my life, I have endured.

All thanks to Death himself.

“WHY?! WHY! WON’T! YOU! FALL!”

More and more of his power was poured in, making the me crack everywhere like I was made of bones.

But even with the cracks and dents appearing in my shield, so long as there isn’t a gap, I will not lose!

And there it was!

Just a moment away!

Sweet release!

“I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN, YOU HEAR ME! I WILL SEND MY ARMY AND MURDER YOUR WOMAN AND CHILDREN! NOT FOR A SINGLE DAY WILL YOU NOT LIVE IN MISERY!”

No matter how threatening it sounded, no matter how much power he put behind, no matter how much anger he had...

All I could hear, was the whining of a sore loser.