“Is this a takeover?” Rakna muttered as he remembered a certain phenomenon he had read in the journal of that demented soul practitioner. “Eva.”

❮◈❯ What do you mean ‘Eva’? This is not my problem. My only concern is that you come out of here alive. I don’t care about the rest. I’m returning to my duties. Good luck. ❮◈❯

She made her stance clear and Rakna rumbled. He released the full capacity of his soul power and wrapped Flavia with it. “[Soul Scourge,]” he uttered and worked on isolating the intruder. But he quickly realized that it was incomparable to anything he had done with his soul power yet.

The strength of the soul he was trying to suppress was a lot higher than what he was used to and it was about equal if not a bit higher than his. But although that did pose a problem, it was more or less manageable as long as the white soul itself didn’t fight back. However, what made it close to impossible for Rakna to do anything was the simple meaning of ‘takeover’.

“A part of Flavia’s soul has already completely fused with it,” he whispered. “I can contain what is currently spreading, but it’s impossible to get rid of the source anymore.”

“{Really?}” Higure was startled. “{I admit I wasn’t that good at it, nor did I have your instinctual control, but I was quite proficient with soul power when I was alive. Shouldn’t it be possible for you to remove the ingrained part?}”

“You’re confusing ‘fused’ with ‘mixed’. It’s not that simple. What’s happening here is a takeover; in other words, Flavia’s soul isn’t being encroached by another, it is being replaced. It’s transforming into something else.”

“{…that sounds bad.}”

Rakna gritted his teeth. “You have no idea. If I had waited for her to wake up and leave the Dungeon on her own, Flavia would already be someone else,” he said and put his hand on the ground as the floor began to quake. He clicked his tongue and looked up to see cracks appear on the ceiling.

[You don’t have much time left, Rakna.]

“I know… there’s only one thing I can do,” he responded and as his Soul Scourge leveled up, he directed all of his concentration on the white soul. He first isolated it as best as he could and then yanked it out. If he couldn’t get rid of it, he for sure was going to at least weaken it.

“Who are you?!” A resentful voice echoed in Rakna’s head as the residues of the white soul formed the hazy figure of Cuniya above the unconscious Flavia. “What do you think you’re doing!?”

Rakna’s eyes flashed red and his hand found itself clutching the neck of the witch. Red flames burst out from all around his body and very small drops of lava flowed down his skin; Obsidian Blood had reached its limit of tolerance.

❮ ◈ ❯

Volcanic Star Magic Awakened!

Attributes Swapped!

---

The curse is growing stronger

Ireful Shell has leveled up!

❮ ◈ ❯

“{Oh boy…}” Both Fray and Higure were taken aback seeing it for the first time.

“Killing you,” Rakna snarled out with his elongated fangs and his pupils that looked as if they were being filled with a cascade of magma. The output of his soul power multiplied and the normally invisible force started gaining a crimson shade.

It quickly swallowed the figure of Cuniya and she promptly screamed. “It burns! What… kind of monster are you?!” She howled and struggled to escape from the volcanic soul. “Even if you exorcize me now, it won’t save her! It’s too late! Sooner or later, I will take over!”

Rakna didn’t respond and clenched his hand. In the blink of an eye, a torrent of red aura filled the area and when it disappeared, the soul of Cuniya was gone and Flavia’s complexion had somewhat paled a bit.

❮ ◈ ❯

Soul’s Decree has leveled up!

Primal Soul Core has leveled up!

Primal Soul Core has leveled up!

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna reigned in his emotions afterward and drowned the voices of Ireful Shell. The curse had triggered itself without him even getting injured. It was apparently aligning itself with Obsidian Blood due to its dark nature.

Rakna transformed into a werewolf and picked up Flavia with one arm, positioning her so that she would be hanging from his neck. He then walked to Tyran and injected a strand of soul power into him to force him awake.

The T. Rex’s reaction was explosive. He jumped up to stand on his four legs and immolated himself with fire. He looked around before he realized what was happening when he saw Flavia carried by his master. He let out a soft growl and lowered his head in shame.

Sensing his despondence, Rakna patted his head. “It’s all right. Since you got injured to this point, you must have shielded her from the witch’s mental attacks. She probably wouldn’t have survived without you. Good work.”

Tyran nodded slowly and faintly. He shrunk to his smallest state and walked to Rakna’s feet with a bit of lingering mortification. At the same time, the Dungeon shook again and the walls around started crumbling.

The werewolf huffed. “Alexa, pull us out of here.”

[Understood,] right as she replied, the usual transfer was carried out and within seconds, Rakna was standing in front of the Dungeon Tear. He glanced at the unstable portal and squinted at how much energy it was generating since he entered.

‘As expected,’ he thought.

On raw instinct, he deployed his wings and flew off in a bright flash of silver light. Promptly after he left the vicinity, the Tear began to release a whistling noise that got louder and louder until the whole thing burst into an even more ear-deafening sound.

A strident implosion occurred and the portal closed on itself. The collapse briefly gave birth to a sort of miniature black hole that swallowed a big chunk of the desert before silently vanishing.

Rakna watched it happen and landed on the sand far away. ‘A black hole, huh?’ He said to himself and a certain idea went through his head, which he put up for later reflection. “Well, it could have been worse…” He then added out loud.

“That’s for sure,” a voice complemented and Rakna froze on the spot. He groaned internally and looked over his shoulder to see a man wearing a desert cloak, a hood, and a mask that covered all of his face except his sapphire-like eyes. He also had a folded chair under his arm.

‘This is the second time today…’ The werewolf thought. It was quite rare for him to be sneaked upon by anyone. ‘But he doesn’t give off any hostile smell and Soul’s Decree isn’t warning me… Why does he smell like the sea though?’

“Nice to meet you, Rakna Xiorra. I heard a lot about you,” the man spoke with a neutral but friendly tone. “Tai was singing your praises.”

Rakna blinked in surprise. “You mean… Tairen? Are you also…?”

“A member of the Throne? Yes,” the man nodded. “My name is Ṭirākkō Aculā Kiṅ Vāṭṭar,” he said with a very casual intonation but when he saw the bewilderment on the other party’s face, he laughed a bit. “But you can call me Tira. It’s easier on the tongue, right?”

Rakna hummed. “Have I seen you before on the Guild Chat?”

“Ah, no. I don’t speak much there. But my moniker is Azul. Feel free to say hi if you see it,” he said and glanced at Tyran before eyeing Flavia whom Rakna was unconsciously holding in a protective manner. “The lady… did something happen to her?”

Rakna recognized a bit of guilt from the emotions he was sensing and frowned. “Have you met her before?”

Tira nodded. “I was the one who gave her the location of Marie’s Tomb. At this point, I think I might just as well give her a refund,” he said lightheartedly.

Rakna snorted and conjured a soft chunk of material with Star Hearth and gently lowered Flavia onto it whilst maintaining surveillance on her soul. “It’s fine. She probably would have gotten the info from someone else eventually.”

“You’re right. But I can’t help but feel a bit responsible since it involves someone close to you and thus close to a member of our guild. We are a small group, so we need to help each other but I have done the opposite with your friend,” Tira uttered and planted his folded chair in the sand. His eyes glittered and observed Flavia’s condition.

He walked closer and before continuing, turned toward Rakna who had finished turning back into a therian. “Can I?” He inquired whilst waving at Flavia. The teen nodded at him and Tira carefully placed his hand on her stomach before closing his eyes.

Immediately after, Rakna sensed an increasing amount of soul power wash over the place as well as the smell of the sea getting at least ten times stronger. He looked wide-eyed as the white color in Flavia’s soul was being encased in a protective azure shell.

The process lasted a minute before Tira stepped back. He hummed thoughtfully. “This isn’t your regular takeover. It’s probably a unique kind of spell. All I can do is seal the intruder. If I remove it like this, it could kill her or severely injure her soul. Both outcomes are equivalently bad.”

Rakna quietly listened to him and probed the blue shell. “How long can this last?”

“Hm, technically speaking, indefinitely. But, that’s only if your friend’s soul stays like this. And it’s a no-brainer that her soul will get more powerful as she grows stronger. Inevitably, the part that is confined will also get stronger and break out. I just bought her some time. What I recommend her to do is to try and find a balance; either by dominating the alien soul or cohabiting with it.”

“Are either of those really possible?”

“Of course. The former depends on tenacity more than anything while the latter depends on how cooperative the original owner of this ‘white soul’ will be,” Tira explained. “Other than that, there is nothing I can do to repress the additional side-effects.”

“What are they?”

“At this stage, minor mood swings, harmless dreams, and irregular changes to her soul. It’s nothing serious for someone with a durable mind,” he added and tersely looked up. He gazed at something in the distance. “I recognize this aura… Gray did mention she was your shopkeeper.”

With those words, Rakna immediately knew who he was referring to. He followed his line of sight and activated Fabled Sight. He spotted a fiery dot in the distance and in only the time it needed him to blink, it had already reached their location. A cone of blue fire landed on the sand, splashing flames around as if they were liquid in nature.

The very noticeable figure of Kaelith emerged from it and the first thing she did was scowl at Tira as the flames were sucked back into her nine tails. “Draco… I see you’re still hanging in the desert doing mapping work,” she spoke neither friendly nor coldly. “I will never understand why you like an environment that is the opposite of your element.”

Tira chuckled. “I told you before; where there is none, I like to be.”

Rakna alternated sight between the two and Tyran also curiously observed them. “You know each other?” He ultimately asked and Kaelith harrumphed.

“One of the ‘suitors’ put forward by the old idiots of the council,” she said and glared at Tira.

He shook his head with a sigh. “It’s not my fault. My family also liked the idea,” he said helplessly and looked at Rakna. “Essentially, we pretended to be polite to each other during a few encounters then never talked to each other again.”

“Whatever, I know wolfy is your junior but now that I’m here, you can fuck off,” the vixen shooed him away and he snickered.

“‘Wolfy’, huh?” He reiterated with a smirk and laughed as her cheeks reddened a bit. She realized her mistake only after saying it.

“What?” She said defiantly. “A problem with that?”

“Haha, you haven’t changed at all,” he said and grabbed his chair. He put it under his arm and as he was about to go, Rakna stopped him.

“Wait, you are a practitioner of soul techniques, right?”

“Well, yes. My race is quite polyvalent. Why?”

“Do you have any advice on how to awaken a Kzanaria?”

Tira blinked. “That’s advanced stuff. Tairen was definitely not exaggerating your talent. As for the answer to your question… ‘Kzanarias are specters of yourself’; that’s the textbook definition. But it’s not truly accurate. It’s more than that. My advice would be… search beyond yourself.”

Rakna raised an eyebrow exasperatedly. “Why are you soul maniacs all so vague?”

Tira laughed. “The discovery of the soul is a journey. You learn as you march forward, not when you reach the goal. On this note, I’ll see you again,” he declared. “Take good care of Kaelith.”

“W-what is that supposed to mean?!” Kaelith shouted but he had already vanished as if he was a mirage.