Interconnected: Spliced Souls

Sakdu wasn’t so much distraught as he was unimpressed by his soldiers when the ground violently shook. He knew the witch and her allies sprang into action, and they wouldn’t let Servi emerge from that enclosed area alive.     

Wielders of the [Forbidden Skill System] could not be measured against those on the [Warden Skill System]. The two were incomparable. He wondered if the witch’s weakening aura was spread too thin. But even if it was, the reports of the skeleton walls erupting into flames proved the holy magic was working.    

But why didn’t it more severely impact Servi? Just what fueled her insane regeneration? And how could a necromancer recover from having their entire body blown to bits by lightning?  

And why couldn’t his overwhelming force simply kill her? He had amassed so much firepower. And in the end?   

He had to leave it to a witch to do what ten thousand couldn’t.    

Sakdu kept a calm face, which reflected his internal thoughts. Truthfully? He cared very little about his soldiers. They were tools to bring about his revenge. He never harbored any fondness for them.  

He looked at the odd singi, and her expression hadn’t changed as he had expected. Was she...proud? Her upturned lips suggested it was that. But like Sakdu, she wasn’t hysterical. Olga was still fast asleep. The distant explosions and faint screams hadn’t awoken her from her deep slumber. The world could end, and she wouldn’t move an inch until her body had rested enough for a lifetime to recover from her recent traumatic events.    

The Kaisaku Syndicate’s leader thought about activating the guillotine collars…   

Did he need pack mules? The slaves were to push the wagons and siege weapons. They’d then be killed upon arriving, but why not eliminate them now and cease any uprising? And why not send the order to move out now? To begin the sortie upon a town he hated so much—one home to the family of a man who had uprooted his entire life.     

Sakdu could not have cared less about his soldiers. They merely needed to fight and kill, and they could do that. He’d treated them strictly and fairly and instilled a sense of belonging. They’d do anything he ordered—even die for him—so marching with little food —with the promise of inheriting everything they could from ravaging Canary, would make up for a week of discomfort and hardships.     

Sakdu grew tired of Momo's look.  Those eyes annoyed him to no small end. How could she continue to harbor that much faith in Servi?    

“You,” he pointed to a mage. It was time to make his move. “Make her blind and deaf.”   

“Of course, sir,” said the spell weaver. Momo didn’t react to having two senses stripped from her.    

Sakdu then looked at the gaggle of slaves nearby. They’d have to remain as warnings, so he didn’t trigger their collars. And Momo’s was attached to Sakdu’s most loyal guard.    

But the others? For every other slave assigned to Sakdu? His raised fist marked the end. Hundreds of collars activated simultaneously.   

“Deliver another message,” he told a nearby spirit mage. A whimsy bird sat perched on their shoulder. “Tell the soldiers to regroup and move out without delay. It's fine to leave some supplies behind. It’ll be their toughest march, but promise them all the riches, women, and food they’d ever want once we ransack Canary. The entire city will be their reward,” said Sakdu. He didn’t care. If the city burned, and he wasn’t there?  

That was fine.  

If that damned woman and her children were tormented like his family, and he wasn’t there?  

That was fine.   

“As you wish, sir!” The spirit mage gave the command, and the bird flew away, telepathically communicating the order with the other spirits linked to it.     

A minute passed.    

Then two.    

Then four…   

Then ten…   

And…   

The ground shook, but what happened wasn’t what Sakdu expected. But still, why did he feel so calm in the face of such a violent monster?   

It almost felt like some invisible force or feeling in his body knew this was a possibility. But even if he should meet his end here…   

The command was given. The soldiers were leaving as soon as possible.  His strongest bodyguards were behind him. Momo’s life was in his hands.    

Even if he wasn’t there to personally see that woman and her daughters split open on a pike while fire roasted their innards… They would still die.    

Likewise, Sakdu could still cause irreversible horror on the one who denied him his rightful vengeance.     

Sakdu knew he’d lose his life, but he’d win the war. He’d be victorious.  Sakdu had plans to force the king to recall the duchess and her bodyguard to the capital a day before he arrived. His informant in Canary awaited the signal, and he’d send a message to their spy in the capital. So, even if he wasn’t there to lead his men, Canary’s paltry forces could not stop the inevitable.   

And all this planning…and all this torturing…and all this killing…would’ve been entirely worth it.     

---

The wall lowered, and I saw Sakdu. I couldn’t confirm it, but he was a kobold—the tallest one—standing in front of a unit of soldiers wielding nadrium-clad weaponry. 

That must be his honor guard. 

He emitted this aura—no, it was an oppressive atmosphere. 

They’re probably regrouping, Servi. We may be surrounded soon.    

“You’re something I’ve never encountered.” His voice was raspy, but he didn’t seem afraid.  “You’re a necromancer, but you’re much more… Tell me, what are you? Are you even human?”  

I ignored him and called out to the pink-haired woman standing thirty feet away. It was faint, but the taller, fluffier ears and tail resembled that of her lookalike. They were overlayed like a hologram or illusion.     

Momo held a child close to her chest, but…   

She looked at me, but her eyes…didn’t see me?   

“Momo! It’s me!” I called out to her.    

“A spell has temporarily rendered her blind and deaf. She doesn’t even know you’re here.”   

“Stay right—”   

“Don’t be so hasty. See the collar?” Sakdu lifted his hand and formed a fist. Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched noise. Itarr told me to look to the left.  I saw five gagged and bagged slaves. Two desperately grabbed their collars, but the spring inside activated. Breaths later, two heads rolled away as their bodies dropped. The three survivors shivered and shuddered. I didn’t need to look at their faces to know the dreaded expression they harbored.    

“Do you want the same to happen to her? Destroying my heart won’t work, so don’t try it. All collars linked to me will activate when I die.”    

“You… You bastard…”   

“Do not place the blame on me! This is your fault! You stole my destiny! Fisher Jin was mine to kill! He was not yours!”   

“You can’t be mad at me for that! Has it ever occurred to you that I might have hated him as well?! That son of a bitch didn’t do anything but watch children die! He watched me die! He was a coward—through and through!”    

Shit! What can I do… I don’t know if I can reach her before it goes off, but how do we get out of here? Do I give Momo my blood? Is that the key? How long can you last with no head? Shit! Shit! Shit!   

“But you still live.” Sakdu’s voice growled low like the rumble of an engine. “You draw unholy breath. You still taste the air. You have a chance to live, no matter how depraved your existence is. But my family has been denied that right. My wife… She is gone. My daughter is no more. The village… Everyone I knew was taken. I live for my revenge! It was for them! And you have denied me the right owed to me!”   

Suddenly…   

It hit me.   

Sakdu was a kobold consumed by hatred. It dictated his life, and…that was the key.    

I had enough SP to buy another revenant slot. And Fisher’s body was still in my ring because Harold never asked for it back.   

But would that work? Having something he desired be taken away… Then...a chance to earn it again… Sakdu would jump at it, right?   

If he could fall victim to his wrath and give me the few seconds I needed to reach Momo… And if she drank my blood…   

That had to be our way out…because it wouldn’t matter what happened, right? She’d be immortal, like me, and wouldn’t die.   

That’s our only option, but what about a ring? Will she get one?  

She had to, right? She had her lookalike, and there was something special about her. And if the lookalike was a goddess who needed a little help, then… What if Itarr was vital to giving the lookalike her divine powers? Or if her blood enabled her to speak? What if obtaining a ring was the key to those things?  

This had to work… It just had to.   

I texted Itarr the plan, and she didn’t talk me out of it. While she felt like Fisher was a victim, it didn’t excuse his actions. She’d trade his soul for Momo’s life any day of the week.     

Okay… Come on, Servi… You can do this… Choose your words carefully… Control the conversation…  

“I presume you killed Cassidy? Did she tell you my location?”   

“Does it matter? She’s dead. She was a coward to the end. A pathetic mess who blamed it on me because I should’ve killed her earlier. If she had died in Fisher’s attack or had the courage to end her life, we wouldn’t be here! That damn pill would’ve perished with her.”   

“Don’t underestimate my will to survive. The anger aflame in my heart would’ve kept me alive if she had perished from the start. I would’ve pursued other avenues for my revenge until my dying breath. But her death changes nothing. Others know how to manufacture monotonia. Phrine isn’t complete, but its disappearance won’t hurt. Monotonia is a poison. It cannot be stopped. There is no cure. The disease will spread everywhere until it’s as natural as the common cold.”    

“What if… What if I can make it up?”  

Please, fall for it…   

“I can return Fisher to life if I turn him into my revenant. You can vent your frustrations upon him. When you kill him, he won’t die. His soul will burn its flame and revive him, and you can repeat it until it’s extinguished. I’ll give you your revenge if you free Momo, that girl, and let us go.”  

“A revenant? So, a necromancer without a necromancer’s weakness? But do you think I was born yesterday?  A revenant is without their memories or sense of self until they acquire [Soul Remembrance]. Killing Fisher like this won’t quench my anger. Do you even have his body and soul?”  

“I do. I’m unlike any necromancer you’ve ever seen because my blood is special in more ways than one. It returns a revenant's psyche to them, granting them the consciousness they had before dying.”  

Fisher’s body appeared on the ground. I kneeled, willed his soul to my hand, and then forced it into the corpse.     

This man… Gods, I couldn’t even begin how much heartache could be traced to Fisher’s actions. He was responsible for all of this! But… There was no other way. I’d trade his everlasting soul to save Momo.     

Sakdu hadn’t said anything about agreeing to the deal, but if he did, that would’ve been a lie. He’d go back on his word. He had no plans to let me, Momo, or that child escape alive.  

I just need to get close… That’s it… We’ll win once Momo drinks my blood. We’ll protect that little girl. 

Like with Albert, the skin dissolved to reveal a mere skeleton as it sat up. Fisher didn’t react until I poured my blood in his mouth and used [Ichor’s Blessing].    

And…    

“I’m…alive?” he whispered after the two green flames in his eyes burned brighter. His bony hand didn’t have a ring. He blankly looked at Sakdu and faced me. “Servi? How? What—”   

“Be quiet,” I whispered, explaining what I wanted him to do. “Piss him off. Make him angry. Remind him of that night so I can reach Momo. You want redemption? Do you want to do something selfless? This is it.”    

He looked up and held an arm to the moon, staring at his bony hands. “Even in death I cannot escape from my past… But so be it… A man like me can never escape his sins. Servi, if…I do this…”    

“There’s no if, Fisher. You will die to Sakdu. He will kill you. And again. And again. Until your soul burns itself away if that’s what it takes,” I said. “There is... There is no other choice.”   

Fisher looked at Sakdu. Years of hatred… His reptilian eyes had long since lost the ability to feel anything but. Even though Fisher was a skeleton, his demeanor changed.  “The years have passed, but I will never forget that look. You still have it—the grimace of a man who saw his family die. How does it feel? Living without them? While the one responsible went on to have a loving family of his own? Does it sting, kobold? To see me enjoy what you’ve lost. Tell me… When was the last time you hugged Saku?”   

“Shut up, you damn devil!” Sakdu bared his teeth. He held his warhammer hard enough to crack the shaft. He stomped forward and roared. The look of incredible bloodlust revealed his true feelings. “I’ve waited… And waited… I’ve killed so many humans to get to the point…” Sakdu stomped again, closing the distance by a kobold-sized footstep. “Their blood is on your hands! YOU TOOK MY WIFE!!! YOU STOLE MY DAUGHTER!!! YOU TURNED ME INTO THIS!! YOU MADE ME INTO THIS MONSTER!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!!” Sakdu leapt into the air and raised his hammer, bringing it down on Fisher’s head, splattering him into bone dust. He returned to my ring when his bones dissolved into blood, but I brought him back out after breaking a blood crystal.   

“Don’t look at me. I need you to do this.”    

Fisher nodded and walked to Sakdu, ready to face his fate once more as the taunting continued.     

“You’re still afraid. I feel it in your strikes. You still have nightmares. Do you still hear the screaming? Does it keep you up at night? Are you tormented by Kai? I bet you wish you could feel her lips—"   

Splat   

Another death.     

But it wouldn’t be the last. Fisher emerged again and continued his part of the plan. It hurt him--relieving those nightmares that were seared into his mind like the brandishing of a cow—but this was his sin.    

This was his price to pay.    

It wasn’t anywhere close to redemption, however. I knew Fisher knew that.     

I wanted to run to Momo.     

I really did.     

But it wasn’t time. Moving even a muscle could’ve tipped off Sakdu.     

“Momo!!! Come on!!! It’s me! Servy!!! Momo!!!” I knew my words wouldn’t make it to her ears. Her eyes were darkened. It looked like she barely breathed.  “Momo!!!!! Please!!! It’s me!!!!” I screamed. Louder and louder, I stressed my vocal cords and shouted, hoping it would breach the spell preventing my voice from reaching her. 

---

It happened after Sakdu had his men seal the vixarian of her sight and hearing. She returned a portion of her essence to her soul world and found herself standing near someone she knew very well.     

Momo didn’t react. She refused to extend a hand.    

She didn’t even drop to her knees and cry.    

She just stood there—unmoving, not breathing—with eyes that harbored no light. It wasn’t just the betrayal that trapped her in the abyss of her mind-- it was the sudden onslaught of memories and feelings better left forgotten in the past that rushed to Momo’s mind like a horde of locusts.    

The vixarian approached, grabbed Momo’s fragile hands, and held her head to hers.    

And then…   

The Curse of Silence took hold, preventing her angelic voice from saying the words she desperately wanted to say. So, she thought about them. That was the most she could do.    

Listen to me, Momo. Her thoughts bloomed a field of flowers around them. I know it’s hard. You cannot…hear me…but I pray these words will reach you. It’s…almost time.    

A woman had arrived. Although her sight and hearing were sealed, that didn’t account for the vixarian when she observed from the depths of their soul. She saw those strikingly red eyes as clear as day. While she didn’t know Servi as well as Momo, the vixarian knew the Primordial Goddess sharing her soul.     

How could she not? The two were intertwined—compelled to remain apart, yet together, and together, yet apart.  A sharp pain pierced her heart. She held a hand to her chest and winced because…   

It was time for her to go. What was about to happen…would cause Servi so much heartache…but she had to do it…because it would only be temporary. That was the only way for the unwinnable situation to be winnable.     

The vixarian knew Servi’s plan when Fisher's corpse appeared, but it wouldn’t work. Sakdu had said all collars linked to him would activate if he died, but the one clasped around her neck was registered to someone else. Someone who had orders to trigger it if Servi attempted something.     

Momo, sweetie… The vixarian’s mirror appeared behind her. It quivered like it knew what was happening. And it remained steady as the vixarian shattered it with a mere flick. She grabbed the sharpest fragment, placed it in Momo’s hand, and gently folded her fingers around it…because she had to act. The conditions for Itarr’s [Goddess Manifestation] had never been more optimal.   

Likewise, there was no better spot for the evolutionary ritual the vixarian had initialized to finish.    

She really couldn’t have asked…for a better situation. And the vixarian knew how that made her sound. The resulting explosion would be catastrophic. Who knew how the cities and countries of this era would receive it? Everyone was about to die.    

No—not necessarily everyone. Servi would endure it. And Itarr, too. And Momo would emerge unscathed from bodily harm. Little Olga wouldn’t perish. She’d be close enough to stand in the eye of the storm and avoid certain death.    

The others? The few slaves that hadn't been killed by the guillotine collars?   

Their story would end here.  Their souls would be erased.     

But… There was no other choice. This had to be done.     

You know what you must do. Even if you’re not there… Even if you’re… The vixarian’s eyes were full of tears. I know you feel it. The instinct of a vixarian. The call of your hidden evolution… That fluffy fox tail hung sorrowfully between her legs. Her soft ears folded flat against her ears because she always hated this part…   

In her eyes, this was the worst part of the curse. Even if it granted her a few precious seconds with the goddess she loved more than anything else before violently stripping her away…    

She was being teased with what she desired the most, yet she was forbidden from doing anything other than stand in her presence.  And the heartbreak that came with parting…    

Oh, the gods and goddesses were cruelty incarnate to suffer their mother—the Primordial Goddess—to a never-ending fate of despair.      

I’ll—I’ll help you. The vixarian's unsteady thoughts stuttered as she escorted Momo’s hands to her neck, where the glass shard rested against her soft skin.    

I’m sorry… I’m so sorry you must bear this pain. But… For us to be free, Momo… You must fight. It isn’t right for this fate to be forced upon you. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, my sweet Momo. But please… I need you to survive… I need you to be victorious…   

Slice!   

The glass shard danced across Momo’s throat…and the same wound appeared on the vixarian.     

The two collapsed to the ground as energy leaked from the cuts.    

The vixarian knew this would be the end of her time here. She only had about a minute left. If Servi didn’t reach Momo and pour her blood down her throat…this attempt would be lost.     

It’d take an eon or two for the Primordial Goddess and vixarian to have new hosts—totally unrelated to Servi and Momo.    

But regardless, the vixarian would eventually cease to exist once her power morphed with Momo’s life energy—as she had done a thousand times before. Whenever a new round began, she lived to die—to be the initial fuel to encourage her host to undergo an evolution that would offer them a slight chance of emerging victorious from a rigged game while simultaneously being the key for the Primordial Goddess to achieve [Goddess Manifestation].   

Little by little, the vixarian faded away. Her feet and legs became translucent, and the same fate befell her stomach and chest.     

Before her head disappeared and joined the floating orb of energy, she internally monologued one last proclamation of love to the Primordial Goddess who had captured her heart so long ago.   

Itarr… This time… We’ll win… I…know…we…will. Please...forgive me--    

The vixarian couldn’t finish it. The curse kept the vixarian's one true love away, yet because of the nature of it, she was often mere inches away, but she would never touch her.      

She wouldn’t ever kiss her again.     

She wouldn’t cradle her in her arms or whisper sweetly while under a moonlit night.     

Before she faded away…she shed one final tear for the love that wouldn’t ever blossom again.     

---

Ten minutes had passed.  

Everyone was silent—no one moved a single muscle. Sakdu’s intense wrath and thirst for revenge had spread across his soldiers, and it felt like they were compelled to remain quiet and watch a kobold get his long-awaited revenge.    

“Does this make you feel strong, Sakdu? Does it make—”  

Smash!  

Fisher died again, but I brought him out.    

“You could’ve moved on. I know I did. I found a woman who loved me—”  

Smash!  

I brought him out again.  

“My daughters are my whole world. They’re my everything—”  

Smash!  

 It took longer and longer for Fisher to revive.  His bones had turned from white to black, and he limped slower towards his fated death while continuing to taunt the kobold with malicious lies about his genuine feelings.    

He was an unstable mess, and I knew his soul was close to burning out. The green flames in his hollow eyes were smaller than a candle’s ember. They were weak and unsteady.     

But Sakdu found joy. He loved finding new ways to torment Fisher before killing him. Nothing else existed for the revenge-focused kobold.   He was lost in his little world—driven mad, delirious, and maniacally laughed.  

He was losing it.   

Badly. Concern showed in the faces of his honor guard, but no one dared move. They were disciplined.    

But Fisher didn’t have more than one or two revives left, and I think he felt it.    

“Do you feel like a big man? Does this instill you with power? There’s nothing but darkness after death. You think extinguishing my soul will hurt, but it won’t. I’m already dead. Does it matter if I die again? It won’t bring back your family. They’re dead. Dead as hell. Buried amid the rubble and flames as ash. You can’t speak to the dead. You can’t hold the dead. You can’t grow feeble and pass from old age together.  You’re alone. You have nothing. I was your reason for living, wasn’t I?” Fisher forced his deformed body to stand straight.    

It's almost time, Servi. I don’t think we can miss this chance. I don’t have many, but there are more ravenwatchers with bombs if we need to cause chaos.    

“You have this power. You lead these men. But why delay your strike? It’s because without me… You have nothing. Nothing at all to your name. I was your drive. And my death sent you over the edge. But guess what… I haven’t thought about you at all. It was just another day of the week. Another village of pests that needed extermination.”  

How much anguish did Fisher's heart feel when he said those awful words? 

“RRRAAAHHHHHHH!!!!” Sakdu threw his weapon aside and jumped on Fisher, pinning his body. He hammered his thick, armored fists into his skull, grabbed a fragment, and cut deep into the rest of his bones. He was an animal driven mad by his wild urges.   

He didn’t even stop after Fisher returned to my ring. Nothing was there except a pile of bloody bone dust, but Sakdu’s eyes were glazed with madness as I forced Fisher to come out for what I felt was the final time.   

His bones were rotting. They oozed blood, and his eyes barely flickered with verdant flames.   

“Do it,” I whispered. “Make it last. Turn Sakdu away from Momo.”  

“Please… Save her… Let me…rescue someone…for the first time…in…my life…”   

I gave Fisher a supporting push. He called out to Sakdu and traveled counterclockwise to his back to make him turn away from Momo.   

And then I sensed movement from the right. It was Momo.  

But why was she… Where did that mirror come from? And why was it fractured? And why was it nearing her neck?  

"NO—”  

I was too late.    

Momo plunged the shard between her flesh and collar, the blood spewing like a spraying geyser.     

My world went upside down…   

And I couldn’t stop her.    

It happened in slow motion… But it was too fast. My mind couldn’t ever perceive a moment in which Momo would…   

…try to kill herself…    

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! MOMO?!”  

Use [Ichor’s Blessing]! It’s the only way! Run, Servi! RUNNNN!!!!  

“Don’t you dare approach her! Lord Sakdu told me this might happen!!” Someone somewhere shouted a command, and the collar began beeping…triggering the spring-powered guillotine.   

But the glass shard had damaged it. It was long and wide, the tip slipping into the mechanism to prevent the blade from fully activating.   

I ran like hell and bit my fingers, dousing her mouth with my blood while helping her stumbling body to the ground. She refused to let go of the girl. Itarr absorbed the trap around her neck.       

“Swallow it!! Please!!! Momo!!! You can’t die on me! You can’t! Momo!!”   

“RRRAAAHHHHHH!!! KILL THEM!! KILL THEM ALL!!!!” Itarr said Sakdu slammed his hammer on Fisher’s blackened skull, killing him for what might’ve been the final time.   

But I didn’t care.   

His warriors reacted to his demands and flew into a frenzy. They charged without restraint, covering the distance between us with powerful leaps aided by magic.    

Itarr unleashed our bomb-strapped ravenwatchers, and they flew like autonomous drones. Explosions littered around us. Sakdu stomped angrily and roared. His armor was covered in Fisher’s essence. His eyes had lost all reason.    

“Guuuuurgggllll.” The blood was choking Momo.  I panicked and tried to rest her on her side. But I couldn’t delay it anymore. I stood and readied my scythe and acid launcher and prepared for the fight—   

But then Momo suddenly grabbed my leg…and everything ceased to move.    

There was no sound.     

There was no smell. It was like someone hit the pause button on the world, but it didn’t affect me. Somehow, I could move. I kneeled and held Momo’s fingers within my own.    

Her body began to glow. The pink glimmer shimmered and encompassed everything in my vision until it was the only thing I saw.        

---

“Servi?! What’s going on?! Everyone’s stopped moving!” Itarr looked at the darkened sky in their inner soul world and shouted.   

There was no response. The goddess felt her heart twist and churn when a pink light radiated from Momo. She never expected that same scintillating glow to emerge near her fountain.    

Itarr slowly approached the mysterious light, an uneasy nervousness creeping further into her immortal heart.   

Her breath ran cold.   

Her hands felt heavy, sweaty, and frigid—that should’ve been impossible.  

She felt a dichotomous number of oxymoronic responses to having her haven invaded for the second time while knowing— somehow knowing she didn’t have to be afraid.   

But then the light faded, revealing a single person.   

She was naked, with the pink ears and tail of a fox, while having the same cherry blossom-like hair and bright blue eyes as Momo.   

But it wasn’t Momo.   

“You?! What are you doing here?!” she demanded of the trespasser. “Momo needs you!! Please help us! I can’t do this myself!! I don’t want her to die!” 

But that saddened smile…with lips that would never part again and speak… 

Those soft eyes… 

The way that tail wagged…  

The twitching ears…  

Itarr held a quivering hand to her heart.   

“I… Why…” The words were stuck in her throat. Before she knew it, she was crying. “You… Why? It…hurts so much… I don’t get it… Why do I feel like this?! Uughh!”  

A sharp pain flowed through her chest. She dropped to one knee and felt like she was suffocating—something that should’ve been impossible.   

Every little molecule making up her body screamed in unison.   

“GGGAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” Itarr screamed loud enough to shatter the skies. She forced the dark clouds to spread to the outer reaches of her soul world. The rampaging blood ocean slammed mercilessly against the island.   

“Tell… Tell...me… Who are you?!” Itarr failed to stand. The strength in her legs left her, and she had no choice but to crawl towards the vixarian. For every inch the goddess gained, the mysterious woman retreated an inch.  

“Why do you look sad?! Why are you crying?! Do you know me?! Do I know you?! Tell me! Please!!! I…need to know!!” 

The curse at hand was so brutal. The vixarian wanted nothing more than to embrace her one true love. It killed her deeply to be received as an enemy—and it hurt her much more when Itarr struggled against the beginning stages of [Goddess Manifestation].   

Itarr continued to beg, and the distance she crawled decreased with every passing second until her body felt like it was splitting itself apart.   

Suddenly…  

Her skin cracked. It flaked like shattering glass, revealing her crimson, divine essence buried underneath. Tremendous rays of energy were spread to all corners of her soul world, and it inevitably consumed the tearful vixarian, marking the end of her time. 

Oh, how much she wished she could take her lover’s hands in hers—to feel the touch of her lips for the first time in countless eons.  

But no…  

The curse that affected the vixarian was cruel.   

It was so very, very cruel.