*3 minutes later*

Eridel had already dispelled his avatar and was waiting for his third Soulmate’s birth in his most natural state. His every instinct was taut and he was ready to act at a moment’s notice, which inevitably caused the way he saw the World to slow down to agonising levels of slowness, but in this moment he certainly didn’t mind.

He looked at everything that he was capable of looking at and made thousands upon thousands of calculations on points of weakness that he made sure would not be a problem (at least in that moment) if they suddenly developed into worst case-scenarios.

Of course, even if that DID happen -which was too unlikely- he would only care if it happened to take place near his third Soulmate, or any other of his Soulmates for that matter. If not, then it better be something that he could sort out in simulation to the birth of his Soulmate because otherwise it could wait.

Now, he knew that he was statistically overreacting.

His third Soumate was about to be born, not undergo a 1/1,000,000 chance of survival evolution like his second naughty Soulmate. Technically, he shouldn’t have to do ANYTHING. The amount of times he had needed to interfere with someone’s birth could be counted with a crippled hand, which is to say, zero.

But there was a first time for everything and Eridel was a firm believer in being ready so that he didn’t need to get ready.

Besides, Fate worked in strange ways. Perhaps, his third Soulmate would cause an unfortunate commotion during her birth, requiring his assistance if she wanted to live longer than a month, and if Fate had plans for her, which was all too likely to be true if she was going to come close to him in potential, then maybe Fate was putting paranoid thoughts in his brain, warning him about something that was to come so that she could survive until it was done with her.

It could be something as simple as her mother dying after giving birth when the father was already gone, something which would spell doom for any new-born lifeform in an era like this. Or it could be something as annoying as her birth causing a commotion on the level of a Sin Coronation. Or maybe she would be born with a special Constitution that required a special resource to sustain that only he could create for her. There were many possibilities, even if they were all unlikely.

He had already scanned all pregnant bellies and saw nothing special. Well, nothing special in comparison to him. So whilst that was a little worrying, at least it narrowed the possibilities of death upon birth. Only natural life-forms faced countless threats like that.

As for his Soulmate? It was becoming increasingly likely that it was ANOTHER Anomaly, or something similar. But which one this time? It was impossible to guess. All he could do was wait.

It was unfortunate since in the state he was in he could almost count in the zeptoseconds, but it was better than the consequence of not doing so. Conclusion: Nothing changes, keep waiting.

And so he did.

It was after a minute had passed -specifically 67.9327498324238 seconds- that he suddenly felt something in his Soul, something familiar. A certain connection had locked into place and with it came an inexplicable feeling of bliss. He absolutely knew this feeling. All of a sudden, his third Soulmate had been born and had already established a connection with him…

He had not seen any special baby enter the World and there was no new Anomaly either, at least not within his vision, but apparently his third Soulmate was currently alive and out there…

He didn’t even bother to recite how impossible it was that he could have missed such an event, all he had to do was look through his new Soulmate link and see who was on the other side. And to be honest, he had strong suspicions of her identity considering what had taken place at the same time of the Soul bond… but if it was really ‘that thing’, then he really needed to reevaluate himself when it came to his apparent tastes in women.

The first one was an uninhabitable gaseous planet that was so hazardous that it would reduce most lifeforms that got close to it to dust.

The second one was an Apocalyptic Abomination that had not only become a Chaos being but also the Sin of Gluttony. The amount of lives it had casually harvested when it was just an Abomination spoke for itself.

As for his third one? It was….

Aha. Ahaha.

Of course.

It was none other than a Horseman of the Apocalypse. The Horseman of Death, to be exact.

The Horseman of Death had finally devoured enough Souls to complete her own, something that he had been looking at (like everything else) but ignored, opting to keep focusing on the birth of his ‘more important third Soulmate’.

But as it turns out, as soon as Death’s Soul had been completed, it had gained the ‘blessing’ of he, the Eridius World, something that every other Soul in this World had. Which is to say, the System, the Soulmate link and other smaller things…

Who would have guessed that that Soulmate would tie to him?

Eridel was rocked. Once again, he had failed to predict the identity of a Soulmate that had been right under his nose. But how was this possible?

The Horsemen were powerful, but none of them could match the potential of the Slime Abomination, talk less of him. So how could any one of them become his Soulmate? It didn’t make much sense.

…But that was only if you looked at it without considering future possibilities. Eridel didn’t even need to think too much to guess just how the Horseman of Death, his third Soulmate, was going to match him in future.

He could already think of a very important position within his own World that would greatly augment her potential if it was to be claimed by her.

Thing is, he had been planning for that position to be given to someone else, the Wraith King to be specific. He had never considered giving that position to be given to the Horseman of Death despite her affinity, because as a Horseman, her job was to be outside his World, roaming the Universe and marauding for opportunities. Not sitting down to govern ‘that place’.

But honestly? It’s not like she cooouldn’t do both, it’s just…

Haaah…~

Eridel would facepalm if he could right now. What a nuisance. His 3rd Soulmate had just been born but was already affecting his plans. He could only hope that the Soulmate system would truly do its job, and make her an upgrade to his life, not an anchor.

Either way, nothing was set in stone. Right now, he would much rather loosen his thoughts and just watch his new Soulmate for a while, even if she was a multi-wolf-headed death ball. A giant, multi-wolf-headed death ball.