Ch.857Soul’s Form

The result of a plan gone awry—trying to resurrect the first Heavenly Demon by mixing the primitive regression sorcery with the condition formulas of “ancestor from eight hundred years ago” and “the strongest one.” For Meiharin, this was a development she couldn’t have imagined even in her dreams.

The true bloodline of Amin, whom she believed would inherit divine blood, was actually the bloodline of Dahamei and some unknown commoner—could it be that going back 800 years, there wasn’t a single notable warrior in that lineage?

The primitive regression sorcery abandoned the idea of summoning Amin’s ancestor, who was the core of the living corpse, and instead searched through Imelia’s bloodline, which had been mixed in to strengthen the living corpse, finding a soul of a powerful warrior who met the conditions.

The Median bloodline, tracing back eight hundred years to reach a powerful warrior.

Rotholandus, “The Unyielding.”

The superhuman leader of the Great’s Twelve Knights was summoned by the sorcery to descend into his descendant’s body.

“GRAAAAAAAA-!”

…Though he appeared to be far from his right mind.

—-

“One of the Great’s Twelve Knights…?!”

Hersella immediately recognized her opponent’s identity the moment she faced the Sword of Severance.

It was unmistakable.

The effect of the Tale of Heroes imbued in the living corpse’s sword was a space-cutting slash that perfectly replicated the final power of Durandal.

‘…So this is that woman’s ancestor.’

Meiharin, who had been confused, soon understood how her sorcery had been twisted.

‘Though different from what I expected… this result isn’t bad in its own way.’

While perhaps inferior to the first Heavenly Demon, the Great’s Twelve Knights were also legendary warriors who had achieved mythical feats. It was like expecting a dragon but getting a serpent—at least it turned out to be a lesser dragon.

Moreover, the mental technique demonstrated by the summoned being…

‘…To slice through space itself. Even Unyielding Flesh would be no more than paper before such power.’

In Meiharin’s judgment, it was a transcendent ability that could inflict fatal wounds even on an awakened Star of Death.

‘This would be true even for a body that has awakened the glory of the Star of Death.’

There was only one way to directly counter a space-cutting slash. The opponent would need to wield a similar ability that could interfere with space.

Either distort the trajectory of the slash through spatial distortion, counter it with one’s own power of spatial severance…

Or completely separate one’s surrounding space from the world itself.

All three were abilities unrelated to the power of the Star of Death, and none were easy to obtain.

Manipulating space was too advanced a miracle for human wisdom to reach.

Unless it was a “mental technique” that manifested miracles beyond one’s understanding by projecting one’s soul onto the world, it was nearly impossible.

Meiharin was certain of this.

Even Meiharin herself, who had reached the limits of Heaven’s Wall as a grand sorceress, could barely realize limited spatial distortion through teleportation sorcery. Free spatial distortion, spatial severance, or spatial isolation were completely beyond her reach.

In other words, Hersella, who couldn’t possibly wield such power, would have to avoid all attacks without exception.

The moment she allowed even a single hit, she would be cut in two along with the space around her, regardless of the glory of the Star of Death.

‘I can win…!’

That’s why Meiharin was confident in victory.

Unless there was an overwhelming difference in skill between them, how could anyone possibly avoid every attack without any defense when facing an opponent of equal caliber?

That seemed impossible even for the legendary first Heavenly Demon.

‘The primitive regression lasts about an hour. After the sorcery wears off, even a body modified into a living corpse won’t be able to withstand the backlash and will crumble…’

An hour was more than enough time to not only end the fight but even gather the corpse and hold a funeral. There was no problem.

‘What incredible fortune. If I hadn’t dug up and used that woman’s remains, everything would have fallen apart.’

Certain of victory, Meiharin sighed in relief as she thought of the dead Imelia.

‘To think she’d be helpful even in death. I should have offered a sacrifice before digging her up.’

It was a monologue full of mockery.

The woman who had cherished and protected her daughter so much in life had now become the primary contributor to driving that same daughter to her death.

How could one not laugh at such a miserable and ridiculous situation?

‘…Come to think of it, there was one more thing I couldn’t understand.’

Perhaps because she had escaped the tension of possibly being killed, Meiharin finally remembered the question she had pondered minutes ago.

The reason why a woman who received the Stigmata of Order not only fell victim to a curse but even awakened the glory of the Star of Death—the power of Vanirgand. The question about that reason.

With spirit-seeing eyes, she might be able to find the answer. With that judgment, Meiharin turned her gaze from the living corpse to stare intently at Hersella.

And then.

“No, what is that…?”

A shock comparable to the moment she discovered that the being called “Aishan-Gioro Amin” was actually “just Amin” swept through her mind once again.

It was impossible not to be astonished.

The soul of Hersella, seen through the spirit-seeing eyes that could perceive souls, was…

“…Two of them?”

Two souls emitting different lights were intertwined with each other, connected as one.

—-

It was a sight Meiharin could not possibly comprehend. Two souls dwelling in one body. Such a thing couldn’t be possible.

‘This can’t be. One should perish or both should shatter. How could the repulsive force between souls be suppressed?’

This was impossible even for Feilandria, the half-soul sorceress who could capture and manipulate human souls at will.

Even when Feilandria resurrected Valenstein by retrieving his soul, she didn’t place his soul into an empty body due to concerns about repulsive forces.

One body, one soul. That was the rule of the world.

The repulsive force between souls fighting for ownership of a body was not something that could be suppressed by human power.

‘It’s impossible. It should certainly be impossible…’

Yet it had actually happened.

What was the point of shaking her head in denial? The image of the soul reflected in her spirit-seeing eyes still showed not one, but two.

A soul emitting the light of the Ominous Star like the physical body, and another soul with a similar appearance but swirling with pure white and golden radiance instead of the blood-red of the Star of Death.

The soul emitting the Ominous Star’s light was exactly the Star of Death soul that Meiharin had expected, but…

‘So what is that? Whose soul is it?’

The opposite soul, connected by an intertwined lower body like a pair of snakes, was something Meiharin couldn’t identify.

The upper body’s form was identical to Haschal’s appearance, but everything else was completely different.

– Woooong.

A halo characteristic of divinity floated behind the head, emitting a dim light and rotating slowly.

Pure white holy light wrapped around the entire body like armor and chains, with a golden nail piercing the heart, fixing the chains of light to the chest like a wedge.

Her right arm was a fiercely burning flame itself, and her left arm, which was gripping a half-burned snake, was something destructively incomprehensible.

A form that couldn’t be believed to be a human soul.

It was as if all the rumors about Haschal had been divided in two, with everything except the power of murder karma concentrated in this form.

And.

Below such a soul—

‘…Ah.’

Meiharin gaped blankly.

She witnessed a red nebula in the shape of a wolf, bound like a prisoner by chains of pure white light extending from the soul resembling Haschal.

An enormous body that seemed to reach the heavens. A ferocious howl that sounded as if it would devour both souls entirely and leap out to tear the whole world apart.

The intense murderous intent and hunger contained within revealed its identity.

The Wolf of Devouring. The name Vanirgand.

‘The Celestial… Wolf…!’

Meiharin’s consciousness trembled with fear.

‘So this is what it meant to be the avatar of the Celestial Wolf…?!’

Until this very moment, she had misunderstood the meaning of the word “avatar” written in the ancient records.

Just as a saint who received the Stigmata in the distant past could momentarily summon a goddess into her own body, she thought the Celestial Wolf’s avatar meant a being who received Vanirgand’s authority and could summon the evil god’s soul for a brief time.

It was a grave misunderstanding.

Being Vanirgand’s avatar didn’t mean being a vessel to summon and manifest the Wolf of Devouring from the heavens.

Vanirgand was already here.

Inside the mind of the woman Meiharin had thought was a vessel. With its entire body bound by chains of light. Waiting for the moment those chains would break.

And.

【 A̸r̵e̶ ̷y̸o̵u̸ ̶a̸ ̵s̸l̸a̸v̵e̸ ̵o̸f̸ ̵Y̸o̸r̸m̵u̵n̸g̸a̸n̸d̸r̸?̸ 】

It turned its star-like eyes to look at Meiharin.

“Huk…!”

Meiharin’s heart stopped beating for a moment.

Her body, facing fear beyond its limits, instinctively chose suicide. Convulsing with the sensation that her consciousness was being torn out by the roots, Meiharin barely managed to control the mana throughout her body to forcibly restart her stopped heart.

Her lower body felt warm as her strength drained away.

However, Vanirgand’s howl had not yet stopped.

【 G̸e̸t̸ ̵a̸w̸a̸y̸,̸ ̵y̸o̸u̸ ̸s̸n̸a̸k̸e̸ ̵w̸e̸n̸c̸h̸.̸ ̵I̸ ̸d̸o̸n̸’̸t̸ ̵w̸a̸n̸t̸ ̸t̸o̸ ̵b̸e̸c̸o̸m̸e̸ ̸y̸o̸u̸r̸ ̵f̸o̸o̸d̸!̸ 】

Could the death cry of a falling star be like this? A thunderous sound like a meteorite striking the earth shook her mind.

With a silent scream at the excruciating pain as if her head was exploding with her brain, Meiharin clutched her forehead and forcibly tore out and closed her spirit-seeing eyes that were streaming bloody tears.

The sorcery shattered forcibly. The uncontrolled mana scattered hopelessly like a mirage. Meiharin collapsed with blood-flecked foam at her mouth, her forehead hitting the ground.

Though not dead, the damage was critical enough that she had no strength left to move. Both physically and mentally.

Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. In trying to resolve a suddenly arising question, she had paid an enormous price.