Ch.133128 – Soul Exchange

At the center of the sky, black storm clouds were spinning in a spiral like a top.

Purple lightning crashed with a boom, scattering sparks throughout the forest.

The vortex grew increasingly larger, threatening to eventually engulf the entire world.

[system: Run as administrator]

[system: trig/0xf29a31 has been added. (Command: RECOVER)]

[Alert: Skill – ‘Pantomime’ has been added.]

[Alert: Trait – ‘Curse of Immortality’ has been added.]

I confirmed everything promised by the administrator. Except for admin privileges, everything could be obtained directly in-game, but they were essential for saving time.

Without time to hesitate, I rushed down the Papal State stairs.

[Adella: 18km]

I could immediately see Adella’s location through the game system.

It’s fortunate that I don’t need to use magic for something like this.

The tall buildings rising into the sky disappeared one by one from the background.

A black curtain was draped over the ridge at the edge of my vision. The dense forest was being consumed by fog.

It would be appropriate to say that one world was colliding with another and being devoured.

I took a deep breath of the cold air until my insides ached, then exhaled toward what lay ahead.

[Casting: Reinforced Interference]

“Hnngh… ADELLAAAAA!”

My voice spread in all directions, and in response, crows cawed loudly as they flapped their wings.

[Adella: 395m]

[Adella: 390m]

She’s moving.

Thankfully, she must have heard my voice.

Soon, a silver cat with perked ears came running from the dark forest.

“Uuugh… Sis… SIS! WAAAAAAH!”

The sobbing girl leaped into my arms without a moment’s hesitation.

Looking at her now, she was covered in cuts and scrapes on her arms and legs, making it impossible to say she was in good shape.

“Adella.”

“I knew you wouldn’t leave me… yeah… heh… ugh… I’m scared… so scared. I don’t know what to do anymore. You… you suddenly disappeared… then the world turned all black and white… hic… and the ground is collapsing in the distance…”

Adella began to cry violently, her body trembling. Her pitiful sobs and painful groans mixed together.

She squeezed my waist tighter, as if to reproach me for suddenly disappearing.

“It’s a dream… it must be a dream… hic… Sis, don’t abandon me, I’m so scared…”

Adella confessed to me as tears dripped from her eyes.

Without thinking, my hand went to her head.

I gently stroked her hair as if handling a fragile baby, removing tangled leaves and twigs.

This might be just a game to some, but to her, it was her entire world.

I could feel the fear, terror, and anxiety coursing through her body.

Yes, just like when humans first witnessed the Corrosion, anyone would feel such emotions.

Even without Corrosion, all living things are equal in the face of overwhelming, one-sided violence like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, or hurricanes that cannot be countered.

I interlaced my fingers with her delicate hand and pulled her chin toward me so I could see her tear-filled face.

I met her vertically slit cat pupils.

“Adella.”

“We’re going to die… it’s a dream… hic…”

“Adella!”

“Eep!”

“Have I ever been wrong when you listened to me?”

“Hic… no…”

“I’ll save you and this world. But make me one promise. No matter what happens, believe in me unconditionally. Even if you think otherwise, I’m always right and always correct. Understand?”

“Y-yes! I understand…”

“We don’t have time. Follow me and don’t lose sight of me.”

[Advanced Heal Lv.2: Recovers 3000 HP over 10 seconds.]

[MP Cost: 1200, Cooldown: 45 seconds]

The power of four Laurels far surpassed real-world magic.

Instantly restored to full strength, Adella shook off the dirt and followed right behind me.

As we returned through the map we had traversed, I quickly reviewed the conditions needed for the ending.

First, find the “Laurel of Death” where Mephistopheles’ cornerstone is sealed.

The moment the Laurel of Death takes over Adella’s body would be the trigger for the final boss to appear.

So who has that Laurel now?

“Sis, ahead! There’s a wall ahead!”

“Ignore it and just run! We can pass through it right now!”

Normally, you can’t return to previous maps when transitioning from Part 1 to Part 2, or Part 2 to Part 3.

This is partly for smooth story progression, but also due to open-world limitations.

However, at this point where open worlds are colliding, such distinctions were meaningless.

Just as Jin Chronicle passed through crowds, we were like ghosts after crossing the black fog.

CRASH!

“KYAAAH! What is this? A turkey…?”

“Oh no! My dinner…!”

“Ah…! Sorry, bald mister! I’ll pay you back later… Anyway, enjoy what’s left of your food!”

Somehow we’d interacted with physical objects, causing a bald man to stomp his feet in frustration after losing his dinner in an instant.

After speeding through each region’s hyperloop device in record time, we finally reached the imperial capital.

“Where are we…?”

I slowed down and checked the mini-map, but like a broken navigation system, there was no response.

I had no choice but to rely on my memory of the full map I’d seen on TreeWiki.

“This is Abyss headquarters.”

“Abyss headquarters? Wait, wasn’t this the Imperial Palace?”

The baroque-style palace visible from Remnant Academy’s back gate. Her question was valid since we had just crossed its garden.

“To be precise, it’s beneath the Imperial Palace. The leader of Abyss is none other than the Imperial Princess.”

Abyss was the Imperial Princess’s private organization created to stop the demon-worshipping Imperial Prince.

Unable to trust either the Empire or the Papal State, she gathered talented individuals to pit them against each other, intending to find all the Laurels and remove them from this world.

But in the original story for Part 4, Gestalt, upon returning to headquarters and overwhelmed by grief at losing Adella, would have stolen the last remaining Laurel at headquarters to resurrect the demon.

The demon, having found the perfect vessel, could manifest by dwelling in Adella’s body—that was Mephistopheles.

The administrators described this as “overlaying a generation code,” and while not everyone understood, we could guess the meaning.

The Laurel of Death served as a key, and Adella as the lock.

In other words, without either one, we couldn’t meet Mephistopheles, and the world would collapse.

It seemed absurd that we needed to summon a demon intent on destroying the world in order to save it, but we had no other option.

When I reached into the triple-layered vault, the Laurel came out so easily it felt almost anticlimactic.

[Error]

[Laurel of Death]

[Synchronization comp##$%$@]

[Wh@t d0 y0u w@nt t0 d0?]

[You can now use 5th Circle magic.]

[Level: 30 → 31]

[HP: 39250 → 43750]

[system: error 0xff021a43]

Despite minor errors, there was no problem progressing the story.

The first step was complete.

“Adella, do you remember the demon who took over your body in the first playthrough?”

“You mean Asmodeus?”

“Yes. We’re going to summon Asmodeus here and now.”

“WHAT? Are… are you crazy? Sis, you can’t be serious? I must have heard wrong, right?”

In normal difficulty, there were various routes with different final bosses, and Asmodeus was one of them.

Ironically, in the Nightmare story, Adella committed suicide, causing this unfortunate demon to exit without even making an appearance.

Asmodeus’s unique skill was “Soul Exchange.”

By mixing up all souls within a designated area, players in-game would have to fight as random party members.

As if catering to players who wanted to directly experience fighting as the dark mage Giselle or ice mage Luna, the boss fight with Asmodeus was a special event in World of Arsheria.

They recycled this setting for the Nightmare story, which led to this mess.

Naturally, Adella jumped in shock.

“To be precise, I’m only going to borrow Asmodeus’s skill.”

“Skill? Haa… you scared me! But what will you do with it?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Is there anyone else here besides you and me?”

[Pantomime: Steal one of the target’s skills and use it.]

[MP Cost: 2000, Cooldown: 80 seconds]

As a Priest class, this couldn’t be used in multiplayer, but in the story, skill acquisition was unrestricted regardless of job class.

Otherwise, a pure healer would never be able to clear this hellish difficulty.

Normally, Pantomime could only be used on enemies, but now I had administrator privileges.

In other words, I could copy the code even when using it on an object like the Laurel of Life.

“Adella, I’ll entrust my body to you for a moment.”

[‘Soul Exchange’ has been stolen.]

[Casting immediately]

[Soul Exchange will occur with a random ally in the designated area.]

[Adella ⥨ NoName]

[NoName ⥨ Adella]

I was just getting used to elf ears, and now I have cat ears.

I hope the tail isn’t implemented too…