Gathered around on the open field, I have all the eyes on me. The eyes excluded Bartholomew, Cormac, and Citra as I have consider them too juvenile to understand the conversation that was about to take place. With a spell cast by Kirin, they fall right back into their sleep. Nilin was the only one who slept through the whole thing. Among all of us, she has the worst waking habit. For now, it works to my favor. We left them in the red building and have our talk on the large field behind it.

"Soul Fusion?" Bemused, Engrande asks me back.

"Or merging, assimilation, whatever it's called. Is it possible?"

"It's definitely possible. There was such experiment back then but the results were never favorable."

"Like the Chimeras." Angie added.

"That's one of them but I don't consider them as souls being fused together.

"Why not?" I asked.

"The Chimeras are spliced together from different parts of monsters and beasts, their souls weren't fused. There's a huge difference. Nevertheless, the idea of splicing monster parts together did derived from the Soul Fusion experiment."

Hmm.... I'm very interested in seeing a real-life Chimera but according to Engrande, they no longer exist as they were purged for being too difficult to control and they contract disease quite easily. A weak immunity system maybe?

"Nn, relevance?" Kirin asked as she stares at me with her blank eyes. I don't know why but this taciturn Dryad is somehow overly-attached to me. I think it might have something to do with me being the Harbinger, or the Shepherd as the Spirits around here calls me. It was kinda weird for me since she looks a little bit like Nilin. Hell, even their name sounds almost the same. It's definitely creepy. If her cyan hair is in pigtails, I might end up calling her "Mia".

"Mwu, relevance." She further entreats me for something by pulling my shirt.

I don't understand what she's asking for.

[I think she wants to know what your question has got to do with your grand revelations.]

I never said it was grand but I get your point.

There is a very good reason I asked about soul fusion. Which is also why I'm having all eyes locked on me at the very moment. I have been stranger than usual recently and being the idiot that I am, I didn't do a good job of hiding my inner conflict. I tried to hide it but I failed miserably, especially on Angie and Tom. Tom is exceptionally observant of me because I am his savior and benefactor. As for Angie, she's just few steps away from being a Yandere which I find it highly unsettling --

-- until a few moments ago. When she said those three words that I would never dream of hearing, I just feel like I have to come clean with them.

I can't remember my family from earth. I know I had one but I don't remember their faces or even names. And I don't think I was someone a parent would be proud of or someone you could boast for at a party or gathering.

And along came Angie the Nephilim. All I did was freeing her from her imprisonment after two thousand years but she fell in love with me because of that. I find it hard to believe love is so simple, this isn't some romance fiction after all.

I never believed her, not completely at least. Not even after spending so many nights together in the same bed. As far as I can tell, I'm just using her for as a relieving outlet, what rotten scum, aren't I? I don't understand what she sees in me. I don't know what I have ever done to be so deserving of her obsession towards me. However, my self disillusions are shattered when she uttered those words.

Trusts go both ways. I used it on Tom and now, she used it on me. Only after some encouragement from Kai, I relented my selfish lies. For the first time, I ran out of excuses, drawing a blank at my next moves, I broke down crying from being guilt ridden, in front of the woman who put all of her faith and love into me.

I couldn't take it. I couldn't lie to myself and them any longer. I didn't lie about my well-being to protect them. I lied to protect myself. The one I didn't trust, is not her but myself. At the end of the day, the one I was worried about is no one but myself.

I was afraid they would shun me if they find out what I am. Yes, Kai and I have come to an answer of my very essence.

The sole reason of me being an asshole as of late stems from a discovery that Kai made few days ago.

"Does the fusion of souls have something to do with what you're about to tell us?" asked Engrande.

"Everything."

When I feel Kirin clenches her grip down on my clothes, I rub her head to soothe her. Looks like I'm not the only one who's nervous.

"My memories are coming back together. Although, it's all still fragmented and without an order. It is hard to make out the heads and tails."

"But?" Kirin asked with her head tilted.

"But I think I can make some rough guess from it. I have worked hard." Or rather, Kai did.

"Oho? That's good, laddie."

"Is it?" I give Engrande a look. "What if I told you all, in truth, I was just a useless boy from a very prominent household. I'm incompetent in almost every way possible."

Ah~! I feel a tight grip on my right arm. Kirin, not so.... Ah... It's Angie. She looks conflicted between being sad or angry. "That's not true and you know it." She told me with her eyes staring into my soul. I might be wrong but those are the eyes of a Yandere.

I cup my hand on hers. "I'm sorry but it is. I'm not belittling myself here without a good reason."

[Hyx, maybe it would be okay if you don't tell them that....]

Kai, shut up. I don't want to lie to them anymore and myself, not after what Angie told me....

[.....Very well.]

Now, time to tell them the base truth of my origins.

First of all, I have discerned whether I'm a reincarnate or summoned. "I am a reincarnated. I have died in my previous life in another world and reborn as Hyx Valerius in this world." Although, I still wasn't able to remember my name or how I die but I know this much, I have truly died.

Engrande's eyes shot wide open. "You are a reincarnated?" He asks as if he was familiar with the word.

"Nn?"

"You're.... familiar?" I dubiously asked Engrande.

"It was something that have been theorized a lot but never actualized."

Oh yeah, Angie said something like that too. I forgot Engrande, Kirin, and Angie came from roughly the same cycle or generation, whatever the term is.

[Era?]

Shut up.

"To think this era succeeded at where we failed. I'm looking even more forward to see what the world has become now. So, what is it like? Being a reincarnated that is."

"Well, from what I remembered and memories from a certain adventurer I have consumed, a reincarnated always retain their memories from their past lives but they don't remember about it from the moment they were reborn. The memories only awaken when they awaken their magic talent. I was not a late bloomer. I recalled my memories but I didn't awaken any magic talent and I was only ten as oppose to the normal twelve."

Silent ensues. Their eyes darting around, away from mine.

"Because I have none."

Angie grabs my chin and cocks my head to face her. I heard a snap and crack. I don't think my neck is suppose to make those sounds. "That was then, not currently."

"I'm not finished, may I?" I asked and only after I caress her cheeks, she was able to calm down. Jeez, she's so near to the Yandere borders.

"I was terrible at fighting, formulating, magic. I can't even play any instruments which is expected the least from a noble. I slipped verbally on many occasions. That's a very terrible mistake to commit, especially if you're a highborn."

"Nn. Agreed."

Angie is smiling wryly.

Engrande is nodding with assent.

Tom is having a difficult face that says "It doesn't matter if you're of highborn."

[Verbal slip is bad and makes you sound like an asshole regardless of your standing.]

Grandly, I ignored all of those. As those weren't the point.

"To make up for my incompetence, I locked myself in my room, drowned myself in books. Especially books about alchemy." I look at Kirin who is curling up in my lap.

"Nn." Kirin gave me a nod. I guess she's saying "good job" to me?

Angie, please spare me that terrifying gaze. Kirin is just a kid.

"Did it help?" Tom asked.

"Valerius. That's the name of my former household. According to Clammis' memories, Valerius household has been producing talented individuals for generations. The name Valerius belongs to a very prestigious noble line. A few books from the mansion's library ain't going to do shit."

"Ha~! Figures. So, what happened next?" asked Engrande, taking a sip from the barrel. Are you seriously drinking right now? And where did that barrel of liquor came from?

"Reincarnated or even the Summoned, they are always exceptional and absurd. I was neither. It only make sense that people would have high expectations. My clan, they knew I'm a reincarnated, I don't know how but they knew. At the end of the day or rather, when I was ten, when my memories returned, they knew then that I was a failure. I was exiled. My existence is wiped from the history of Valerius. To bury the sole huge shame of the family."

"Shame and exiled?" Tom blurted out.

"I was a reincarnated. The expectations they have for me are higher than the usual. They discovered that I'm not even on par with their minimum expectations. What do you think I would look like in their eyes?"

"A huge shame....."

"Exactly."

Ouch~! Angie, I know you're angry but please be mindful of where you're directing your anger to.

"Nothing new there, son. Been happening since my time too."

"I'm not surprised either. Such is a mindset of a highborn. Not that different from my world too."

"How young were you?" Engrande settles down the barrel and asks.

"Ten. Weren't you listening?"

"They exiled you, a ten years old, for not meeting the adults' expectation?"

"It's still a bit of a blur but I believed that's how it went down."

"You joined the Nines after that?" Angie who has loosened her grip, asks.

"Nines?" Engrande raised an eyebrow at Angie's question.

"No. Well, not directly after. To be honest...." Before I continued, I pry Angie's hand off of me. "I had considered suicide." My actions were futile as she grips tightly back on my arm. Ouch~!

Angie buries her face into my shoulder. "But you didn't jump." She looks up at me. "Right?"

"Almost. I think I was at a bridge. I was seriously considering to just jump into the rive and let it all end. Nothing went right ever since birth. I was so close to jumping."

"Why didn't you?" Tom asked. If it was anyone else who asked that, I would have sock them in the face.

"Roland. I believe that was the man's name. He found me. Took me in. Said that I have talent for other things. He said I'm meant for something greater but just not what people commonly expected. He gave me a roof over my head, a soft bed, a warm meal. He even told me that if I wanted to make something out of my life, I should consider joining the Nines."

"Hold up!" Engrande shouted. "Pardon me for asking but what is this Nines you're talking about?"

"Mwu." Kirin seems to be agreeing with Engrande.

Oh right, I told Angie but not him or Kirin.

I tell them what the Faith of the Nines is. I didn't go into details about it but just enough to let them know that the Nines is the dominating faith across Evarenan.

"This man, he just found you by chance and decided to take you in? Even kindness has limits."

[Lady Senna makes a valid point.]

Why are you telling me this through telepathy, Tom?

"I agree with Senna. Strays that get picked up on the roadside are dogs or small cute animals, I don't believe such compassion applies to human."

"I don't know either. I have yet to make sense of it but it doesn't change that he did gave me a roof to live under."

[Maybe you're just a very cute child and he could be a pedophile.]

Normally, I would disagree with you but this is another world, it is likely.

"You found a way to awaken your powers during your time with the Nines?" Angie asks, hopefully.

"Not exactly. I...."

Ah.... This is the hardest part.

[Just tell them. Or do you still not believe in them?]

"I...."

Seeing my trembling hands, Angie grasps my hands. When I look at her, she nods, assuring me that whatever I told her, she would not despise me, is what her eyes are saying.

"My powers, they belong to a Beast."

No one said anything. They are just waiting for next words.

"I might have made a deal with a very twisted beast, a devil."

Engrande remains silent and just drinks his liquor.

Tom is contemplating.

Kirin is looking at her own twirling fingers.

Angie is hugging me, whispering into my ears. "It's alright. I'm glad you told us."

"What kind of beast are we talking about here?" Engrande asked.

"I can't remember about it. I do remember how it looked, vaguely. It's bigger than an average human, black, and pulsating dark purple color all over his body. It doesn't look the least bit like a human. Other than that, I have no idea."

"What deal did you made?"

"I don't remember but whatever it is, it is the reason that I came to this dungeon. I... I descended into this hellhole to fulfill a deal I made with the devil. Look where that got me."

"Well.... if it's any consolation, it got you here, with us. If it weren't for that deal of yours, we might still be chained up." Angie assures me. I don't think she's letting me go from her hug anytime soon.

"That's what I'm afraid of. What if this is what it wants? The great power of the three of you?"

"A monster who is smart enough to make deals, is smart enough to know that it's better to harness our powers and knowledge while we remain chained up instead of just outright releasing us." Proudly, Engrande declares so but his grandeur fades when he seemed to come upon a realization "Or is there something you haven't told us."

"I said I came to this hellhole to honor the deal I made with the devil. Where do you think the devil is right now?"

When I asked them, Tom was the only one who realized the meaning behind my question.

"Nn?" Kirin can only tilt her head.

Engrande looks bemused.

Angie looked bewildered but when she recalls it, she pulls back from me. Come to think of it, neither Engrande nor Kirin knows of my true form.

I stood up and get some distance away from them. I activate [Awakening].

Kirin shrieked, which I did not expect, and scampered instantly to behind Tom. Engrande lost his grip on the barrel and spilled the liquor, leaving his mouth gaping with stuttering noises.

Standing with hind limbs, skin blackened with pulsating dark purplish veins, I stare at the two who I have shown my true form for the first time.

"By the gods, I know you're a Magic Beast but this is not the picture I have in my mind."

"Mwu...." Kirin is cowering behind Tom whereas Tom can only laugh awkwardly at the situation.

"Are you a Mimic? Or a Shapeshifter?"

"I don't believe so that I'm either one. My race said Violet Tail, Magic Beast." Violet Tail is named by Kai, mind you.

"A Skinwalker?"

I don't know what that is, so I'm gonna answer "No."

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Angie said but quite contrary to her words, she looks gloomy. I guess she's conflicted with me being beautiful or monstrous?

"Mwu."

But beautiful? I know it looks cool but where did you get beautiful from?

"It certainly is.... Wait. Don't tell me.... Boy! That deal you made, you sold your body and soul to the devil?"

Engrande, who has figured out what point I'm trying to make, suddenly shot up asking.

"The deal was to let the monster possess you?" asked Kirin, in a long sentence, surprisingly.

Seeing the trembling Kirin, I return back to my normal form. She is still wary but at least she has stop shaking. I wasn't aware of how frightening I looked but since she's only a child, her perspective might be different.

"If it was just possession, I would have known early on." Or rather, Kai would already know.

"Not possession?"

Engrande who is looking perplexed suddenly lit up like a thought hit him. "Soul fusion...." Which it did.

"Yes." It was something Kai discovered some time before adjourning into the miracle forest. The breakthrough hit him when I was practicing transmutation. He had a theory that I might have been some spliced up creature that escaped confinement like the usual monster sci-fi cliche but what he discovered was something much more massive and complicated. It's not simple splicing but fusing of two wholesome Mana Vessels. Yes, the souls of the individual named Hyx Atlas and some unknown darkly Beast, fusing into one.

It was then, more memories flood back into my mind. We knew we were on the right track then.

"This is what I am. Everything special about me is all thanks to the monster within me. Take it away and I'm nothing. If weren't for that deal, I wouldn't be here. In other words, I didn't save you all. The devil within me did."

Angie wants to retort but the truth has been spoken and it is irrefutable, Angie clearly realizes that. She's even shedding tears for me. It would be boorish of me to point out that she's being too dramatic.

"Dangerous....?" Kirin asked with her head poked out from behind Tom like a totem. I have to say, she looks quite cute like this.

"No." I answer Kirin. "For now, the Beast lies dormant in me. For some reasons, it's still asleep and for now, my mind is still Hyx Atlas but my soul isn't anymore."

"What happens if it wakes up? What happens then? What would happen to you? Would you die? Would the very being of Hyx Atlas be no more? Would you still remember us?"

Overcame with such possibilities, she bombarded me with these questions which I only have three words for a reply, "I don't know."

I noticed Engrande as been staring intently at me for quite awhile now.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Are you concealing your true stats at the moment?"

[That is incorrect. I have yet to be able to mask our information from Appraisals.]

"No." I answered in accordance to Kai's analysis.

"Oho~? Then correct me if I'm wrong, the soul fusion, it's not completed yet, right?"

[Ha, quite observant, isn't he?]

"How do you know?" I asked.

"That explains a lot actually. I never told you this but when I appraised you, the information I got from you is..... wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Well, your stats doesn't match the prowess you showed. Your stats are barren. It look like the values that one would see on a common peasant farmer. I thought you were just hiding it."

"You didn't bother to question me?"

"Like I said, I thought you were just concealing yourself. Hiding your true information from being appraised isn't an easy feat, from a level ten [Appraisal] no less, but seeing that you're not exactly commonplace, I thought you would be able to do it. Seems like I was wrong."

"What are you getting at?" asked Angie. What's with that look towards Engrande for?

"I'm seeing your original stats, your stats when you're still the incompetent human, as how you put it. I think I'm seeing this results is because the souls have yet to fully merge together. For now, the human side is in control."

I see. Besides me and Tom, other appraises can only see my stats as an ordinary human but.... on status cards, my true information is revealed, I wonder if it's because of direct interaction.

"Soul fusion.... I didn't know it was possible...."

"It wasn't?" I asked the skeptical Angie.

"When the scientists saw how powerful I, a Nephilim could be, they wanted to make more of me, Nephilims. Breeding them the natural way was too slow and the bonding between these two beings was... well.... you already know how it is. Still, they experimented on Angels and Demons. On the surface, the council forbade it but the ugly truth, they were even funding it."

"And no one knew? No one opposed?"

"People knew but no one dared go against the council. They were of the highest in the hierarchy. When it started, one idea led to another. Until they came to the idea of fusing the souls of an Angel and a Demon's directly with each other instead of, as how Engrande puts it, splicing them together. However, they didn't succeed. If I'm not wrong, I think the Chimera is one of the failures they produced."

"What happened then?"

"According to rumors, the whole thing was labeled as a failure as there were no breakthrough. And it was abandoned. No more whispers of it since then."

Engrande sighs. His heartbeat rate is increasing and he's sweating. On Kai's advice, I turn my focus at him.

"What's wrong?" Tom who has also noticed it, asks.

"There wasn't exactly no breakthrough in soul fusion. There was."

"There was?" A face full of doubts, Angie asked.

"Just not between living things."

[Ah. I see.] Kai said.

Yeah, me too. I think I know what's he talking about.

"Mondra." Kirin bluntly blurted out.

Engrande nods. "Their research data were salvaged and this was what made the idea of a certain mad bunch of researchers possible. By making use of these illegal findings, the Mondra research is approved."

"The Mondras.... they were infused with living souls, not some simple magic enchantment."

"Yes." He admitted, silently. "Since we're all being honest here, I have something to show you all."

[Well, this should be interesting.]

No shit.

As all secret room, place, or sanctum should have it, it was underground but not too far from the surface.

We followed Engrande into a lab hundred feet underground. The lab was just what I expected, nothing too elaborate. They are looked like tools from the early twentieth century although nothing runs on electricity but Mana and magic. Without the needed regular maintenance, even if I poured Mana into this tools, they could no longer function.

We arrived at a section where rows of cylindrical glass tubes are aligned. Well, tanks would be a much suitable wording as they were too large to be considered as tubes. These tanks were all shattered or broken. They certainly looked like they were used to contain something but question is, what?

Engrande, in his nine feet height has a dark look and he avoids staring at these tanks as much as possible.

"This here is where we used to keep the souls. All these souls were salvaged from the previous research."

Figured as much. "For Mondras?"

"Mondra is the main reason but there are others."

"How could you do something like this?" Angie looks toward Engrande, disgusted at him.

"Young, ambitious, and most of all, ignorant. A deadly combination. We were looking for means to create a weapon that wasn't just a piece of steel or metal. My colleagues and I, we were obsessed with creating a weapon that surpass the highest tier of weapons, Divine Weapons."

"Congratulations, you succeed." As if put on auto, my sarcasm escaped.

"I did." Engrande sighs. "I did."

We continue walking down the rows and rows of destroyed tanks until we come across two tanks that are still intact and standing, with some kind of inscribed chains and a cloth over these two tanks.

I don't feel anything from underneath the cover but I can guess that's what the covers are for.

"Didn't think there would still be two left."

"Are these...."

"Yes." Engrande answered my unfinished questions.

"Mwu~" Kirin is shaking her head like she's warding off some headache.

Ever since we descended into this place, Kirin has been acting all fidgety and she's very obvious with it now in front of these two tanks. Because of my performance moments ago, she is clinging not onto me but Tom. What's this prickling I'm feeling in my heart?

With a single pull, the frail chains shattered and the cloth is removed, unveiling the sinister underneath.

Everyone flinched at it , even me. It was not what I had expected. I have seen souls before and they looked nothing like this. Humanoid but they are of pale blue ethereal smoke of flesh. These two souls looked like some hounds have tore some part of them off. In simple words, they're in tatters. I guess even souls can rot, huh.

Mana Vessel (Human Soul)

Age: 2052

Status: Damaged (Great)

Mana Vessel (Human Soul)

Age: 2163

Status: Damaged (Great)

These were the results from appraising them.

These souls have a face of a human without flesh, basically skull for face. They are drifting inside the tank, smashing and hammering at the glass while screeching and screaming inaudibly at us. Well, it wasn't exactly inaudible. It was just on a different frequency. They sound like fading echoes and beside me, Tom and Kirin are able to hear it.

""Let us out....!""

Is what I heard from the two souls. Their voices.... is truly unsettling, just like when I was fighting Aedrox. I don't think any normal person could have remain sane after staring at these two tattered gruesome souls.

Tom was barely fazed by it since he was already hearing voices in his head, including me and Kai. Whereas Kirin is looking more disturbed than before. To the point that she's even shutting her eyes and covering her ears. She's making noises to drown out the fading screeches and her face is distorting.

I approach her. I thought she would shy away from me but she didn't. She accepts my hand. I guess she doesn't really hate me. She was just scared at that moment. After invoking [Pacify] to calm Kirin down, I ask Tom to get her out of her.

Tom nodded and carried Kirin in his arms out of this place. I'm glad Tom is someone who is able to read the atmosphere.

"Angie, you too."

"I'm fine."

"Angie, please."

"Hyx, I'm fine. Trust me on this, alright? I can't leave you alone, not when you're so conflicted."

Ah.... I have been found out. The souls do disturb me a little. I'm trying not to look like I was bothered but she said I was trying too hard. Good gods... I don't deserve her.

In the heat of the moment, I lost myself. I sprang at her and planted my lips on hers.

"Hyx?" She asked, dumbfounded as our lips parted.

"Sorry.... you were just too...."

"It's alright. I understand. Besides, I don't hate it." she said, wiping her lips while looking suggestive with her eyes.

Just when our pink space is forming, we were interrupted by the souls. They are hammering the glass harder than before. They are flattening their face on the glass like they expecting to phase through it. How rude.

Well, even if the souls didn't interrupt us, a certain giant in this room will.

"Poor sods...." He said and placed his hand on the glass tank. "Maybe I shouldn't have go through with it. Damn it. Curse my ambitions." His last lines were in whispers but I heard it with my keen sense of hearing.

With a loud ringing sound, a crack appears on the glass tank from the repeated hammering.

"What would happened if they broke through the glass?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Well, nothing much. They would haunt this place as ghosts. That's all. Trying to kill us, wander in the Mortal Realm for eternity."

"They can't move on?"

"Souls that are damaged too much can never find peace. Afterlife would be forever only a dream and fantasy to them."

Ah, I see. They have been mutilated to such point.

"What are you going to do?" asked Angie.

I flash her a wry grin as I summon black tendrils from my back, they struck at the souls like a cobra, crashing through the glasses and devouring them in an instant.

They can't move on anyways, would be a waste to just let them be.

Engrande looked mildly terrified although he supposedly already knew about my powers from the ancient Dryad. I guess seeing and merely hearing about are indeed two different things. Or maybe the Baba had left it out for whatever reasons.

[Soul Harvest (Unique): Lv. 3 increased to Lv. 4]

Hmm. Just two human souls and it leveled up. I guess human soul provides more experience?

[Spirit Magic: Lv. 3 increased to Lv. 4]

[Spirit Magic: Mini Scout - Acquired]

[Magic Melee Arts: Lv. 2 increased to Lv. 3]

[Magic Melee Arts: Arcane Edge - Acquired]

[Lightning Serration (Legacy): Lv. 2 increased to Lv. 3]

[Lightning Serration (Legacy): Storm Fangs - Acquired]

[Death Inhibitor (Legacy): Lv. 2 increased to Lv. 3]

Scratch that. Human souls do give a lot of experiences and it's even distributed to other Arcane Arts, just like the time I devoured Clammis' soul.

These two souls.... they're part of the scientists group conducting this experiment when it was still illegal.... When the lab rats ran out, they use their own peoples.... these two drew the unlucky straws. On the bright side, these two have some knowledge about the anatomy of souls. Which is nice and helpful but it comes with a lot of unsightly memories.

"Any more secrets you care to share?" I asked dryly at Engrande.

"A lot but seeing the condition of this lab, I don't think we need to worry about it. I doubt the secrets are still in any condition to be called and kept as a secret." said Engrande, looking around the decrepit lab.

"What happened after the war with the Void Demons?"

"People united under a grand cause but without that grand cause anymore, they became divided. People started waking up with knives in their backs. The gathered what they can, I suppose. As you can see, not even any documents are left. Either they hid if for themselves or they burned it, nobody knows anymore."

"Good. Things like these should stay unknown to peoples." Angie retorts.

"Well, that's everything here. What do you wanna do now, son?"

"What they should have done from the beginning. What you should have done from the beginning." I said as I stare Engrande in the eyes.

He understands what I'm trying to convey. He held his head down in shame as he walked out of this place. I gesture Angie to follow him.

"Go. I'll catch up."

"Don't be too long, okay?"

"I won't." I said and we kissed.

When I made sure she's out of range, I clad my whole body with red lightning.

[There might be something worth salvaging in this place, sure you wanna do this?]

Very much. We both know what had happened in this place. We have those memories after all.

[Yes but destroying this place won't change anything. No souls are trapped here. It would be nothing more than a pointless action.]

Pointless? Do you really believe that?

[I should warned you, Hyx. If you can't see through something till the end, don't do it in the first place. The common problem with heroes-wannabe is that they didn't do all those for some greater good nor a grand purpose, even if that's what they believed in, they do it for self indulgence, nothing more.]

I agree but I'm not playing the hero here. Hell, I'm not even a hero in the first place. I'm just some unfortunate guy who have made a deal with the devil out of desperation and on a whim, and now, I'm just someone paying the price while looking for answers to my many questions.

[Then why do you wish to destroy this place and risk collapsing this whole city? A sign of good fate for the deceased? They're dead and you have nothing to do with them.]

I don't know. Self indulgence, maybe?

[Hyx. The more you and I grew, the less I understand you.]

Funny, aren't you suppose to be the better part of me?

[Actually, I'm neither the better or the worse part of you. I'm just another you. While I do know what you're mind is going through, what you're thinking, but as I have said and told you, I do not know the reasons behind your actions and thoughts.]

Kai.... You do realize that.... maybe the next month or week, maybe the next day or even the next minute, I could be gone. We could be gone. Who's to say that the monster within us won't decide to wake up at the next moment? Do you understand that? The very essence of me could be no more at any given moment. I just want to.... do what good I can with the powers the devil have given me.... maybe also to do what I want.... leave a mark.... before I fade away.... at least.... they could have a future that is just one percent safer than before.

[Hyx.... you're not going to die or fade away.]

You know, I have always thought the scariest thing about dying is that we do not know what comes after we die but.... I was wrong. The scariest part about death is that we will never know what will happen to the ones we care for after we die.

Which is why....

I don't want to die. Not when I have just truly started living.... not when I have something to live for now....

[And you won't die. We will get through this, you hear me? Thomas, Bartholomew, Cormac, Citra, Nilin, Senna, Kirin, and Engrande. You may not truly have a family back then but now you do. We will make it out of this surface and we will find the answers we are looking for, as your alter ego and your best friend, that is my promise to you, Hyx Atlas.]

Ha.... what the hell is this.... my split personality playing Dr. Phil with me.... but he's right.

I do have a family now and they are my family.

An Oni, two Goblins, a Wyrm, a Wisp, a Nephilim, a Dryad, and a Colossus. One trait we all share, the only ones we have is each other. I can't believe I'm saying this but even Nilin too. She could no longer return to the Spirits as she has broken the oath of using her powers for harm before the mature age of Spirits, which is three thousand years old.

They are my family now and I want to protect them. And.... if I have to become the devil to do that.... maybe then, I wouldn't mind letting it take over.

[Stop joking around. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, my master. And should the devil within you awakens, you can count on me on making sure it wish it never wakes up.]

Yeah, you do that, servant.

[Now, shall we?]

Without any more words, I invoke my newly acquired spell, [Storm Fangs]. A head of a beast formed from the crackling red lightning, it swallows the whole decrepit lab up.

A piece of ceiling broke off from the ensuing destruction, falling right at me but before it could crush me flat, I was already gone when the space around me closed in.