Zagreus, who had been standing a few steps behind him, tilted his head.
"You heard sothing?"
"Yes. A voice."
Zagreus didn't seem alard.
"Don't worry about it. What you heard was from a broken soul. Sotis, fragnts like that retain echoes of their old selves. It's just bits of mory, and reflexes. They speak without really being aware."
Naless Death looked at the fla again.
He could tell it had no Seed of Existence or Core inside it.
Just as Zagreus said, it wasn't alive, not anymore. It was only a piece of sothing that used to be.
He took a slow breath and stepped forward again.
This ti, he moved carefully, letting his fingers hover above the fla for a few seconds before lowering his hand into it again.
The fire accepted him quietly.
And the voice returned. It was smoother now, and more coherent.
"Neo… what happened to you? Why are you so injured?"
Despite being prepared, the voice caught him off guard. It was too warm, and soothing.
The tone had a motherly gentleness that reached into a part of him he didn't know was vulnerable.
He clenched his jaw.
'It's just a reflex. Don't think too much about what its saying,' he told himself.
It was a fragnt of soul without thought or awareness, like a muscle twitching after death. The voice it let out was an automatic response from a broken remnant.
Still, sothing about it felt real.
'Her sound is making too composed. I need to stay cautious. This might still be a trap.'
"Don't move… for a minute… I will heal you."
She didn't wait for his agreent.
The flas moved on their own, slipping into his body like threads of silk.
These threads were soothing, and gentle.
They moved, and fluidly passed through the layers of his Seed of Existence.
They reached his central layer of his Seed of Existence, and touched his Intent of Existence, and his Consciousness.
Naless Death realized imdiately how significant that was.
To bypass the wall of covering the central layer, this easily, ant that whoever this soul belonged to had once wielded trendous power.
The flas continued their work. They moved slowly, steadily, and wherever they passed, the damage inside him began to nd.
A system window appeared in his vision.
[Soul of Persephone copy percentage: 1%]
He frowned.
The na felt familiar, but he couldn't place a finger on where he had heard it.
He searched his mories, pushed through the haze, but found nothing. The only thing left was a lingering feeling that he should know the na.
Then sothing else caught his attention.
'This ssage says Soul.'
'So I'm being healed by a soul, not a technique or a Concept?'
This ant, the healing ability belonged to soul. It seed to be neither a Concept, nor a technique.
Naless Death wondered if this was a Path he was not aware of, or if it was a level of mastery of techniques he simply hadn't encountered before.
[Soul of Persephone copy percentage: 2%]
[Soul of Persephone copy percentage: 3%]
[Soul of Persephone copy…]
[Soul of…]
[…]
He watched the percentage tick upward, slowly.
The voice returned.
"What… have you done… to your mories…?"
There was a pause, then the tone shifted into sothing close to scolding.
"You've completely torn them so badly… I can't even bring them back through healing…"
He said nothing.
The flas moved across his body. Arms, torso, legs.
Wherever they touched, the scars vanished.
The voice didn't say anything anymore, but he felt its sorrow upon seeing his injuries.
He looked at himself with Intent Vision. The scars had refused to disappear, having beco a part of Existence, healed.
Finally, the flas reached his eyes.
He didn't resist them.
For a mont, it felt like he was being embraced by his mother.
Despite telling himself again and again that this could be a trap, so part of him felt safe.
Then ca the last surge of warmth.
His vision returned.
The world snapped back into sharp focus. He could now see with his physical vision, not just with Intent Vision.
[Soul of Persephone copy percentage: 100%]
[New entry in Abyss Mirror: Soul of Persephone (1/17)]
Naless Death blinked.
His eyes were healed.
Intent vision was better, but physical sight had its own charm.
He exhaled audibly. For the first ti in what felt like ages, he could see.
He looked at the notifications again. The copy percentage had hit 100%. And the second line…
'1/17.'
Just as Zagreus and he had said, the soul was just a piece.
He stared into the fire.
'This soul's healing ability is exceptional. It can repair Intent of Existence and Consciousness.'
'Now that I've copied it, I can recreate it, and use its abilities for myself.'
The thought made sense.
But what followed didn't.
A wave of revulsion passed through him.
Naless Death froze, genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected to feel this strongly about it.
'Why am I so disgusted by the idea of creating a fake copy it?'
Whatever the reason was, he couldn't make a copy.
If not copy, then maybe… devour?
If he devoured it, he would be absorbing it, then he could use the original parts and to create the new partial soul.
He raised his hand slowly. Darkness pooled from his fingers, coiling like ink in water.
Just as it neared the fla, a hand clamped down on his wrist.
"Stop," Zagreus said sharply.
Naless Death turned slightly.
"What are you doing?" Zagreus said, gripping his arm tightly.
"Let go of my arm—"
"Think of devouring that fla again," Zagreus said in a voice filled with cold, simring anger. "And I will make you regret being born."
"You're acting like this now? Earlier you spoke like these flas were worthless to you. 'Broken souls with nothing left.' So why does it matter to you what I do with them?"
"What I say and what I'll do aren't the sa. Just know that if you try to devour that fla, I will kill you."
The two stood locked in a silent contest.
Naless Death's eyes burned with pressure, but Zagreus didn't look away. He didn't even blink. There was no hesitation in his gaze. He ant every word.
Finally, Naless Death clicked his tongue and pulled his arm free.
He wasn't backing down because of the threat, but because the mont he reached out to devour the fla, disgust rose in him.
He wasn't disgusted at the flas but at himself for even coming up with such thought.
An intense repulsion warned him against eating those flas (soul).
'I can't believe I have such a huge power in front of , and I can't use it for myself because of my own thoughts, which I don't understand myself.' He clicked his tongue.
The fla flickered softly, still embedded in the plant statue.
Unfortunately, he couldn't take it from the statue either, since it would break.
He stepped back and exhaled quietly.
"I'm healed now," he said, not looking at Zagreus. "So start talking. You promised to explain the Shadow Trial."
Zagreus didn't say anything at first. Then he nodded and gestured for him to follow.
They walked a short distance through the forge.
The tension between them had lifted, at least slightly.
Zagreus led him to a raised stone platform where two oversized chairs sat, which were the seats for the dwarves.
Zagreus dropped into one of the chairs and glanced at him.
A short snicker escaped his lips, seeing how ridiculous Naless Death looked sitting in that huge chair.
Naless Death sat down anyway, ignoring his snicker.
His feet didn't quite touch the floor, and the armrests stretched too wide for comfort.
"Start talking."
"Alright. My Shadow Trial is simple, in theory at least."
He raised one hand and pointed toward the ground.
"It is to heal this planet, and return it to how it once was, free from Chaos Elents."
Naless Death frowned.
"Heal the planet? What does that even an?"
"It ans destroying the dium."
"What dium?"
"The one the Berserker is using."
Zagreus expained.
"Ambient Elentals belong to Supres. They can't exert influence in the material plane (our universe) unless they have a dium. That's why when we offer them our existence to use as a dium by using Incantations when he need their help."
Naless Death nodded slowly.
Zagreus continued,
"Chaos Elentals here are the sa. The reason they possess anyone they lke, destroy, or kill them is because they have a dium that allows them to exert their influence. When I destroy that dium, the Chaos Elentals would disappear. Healing the planet would be simple after that."
It made sense.
But sothing still didn't add up.
"You said ambient elentals are from Supres. So they need a dium to influence this world, right?" Naless Death asked.
"Get to the point, bitch."
Naless Death didn't react to the insult.
"Chaos is a hybrid elent created combining Death with Void. There is no Supre of Chaos. The Chaos Elentals here must be created by soone other than a Supre, probably by a God who once existed in the past.
"Since they are elentals of Gods, they should be able to exert influence in material plane without needing a dium."
Zagreus nodded, listening to his words.
He folded his arms, and a faint smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.
"Interesting theory. What's your reasoning behind it?"
"The Alliance told the Sites appeared due to the battle between the Monarch of Death and the Supre of Death. I think there battle created these Chaos Elentals. Maybe they mainly co from Monarch of Death. If so, they wouldn't need a dium."
"…What?" Zagreus' smirk faded. "Who fought who?"
"Monarch of Death versus Supre of Death. That's what I was told."
Zagreus muttered sothing under his breath, then glanced toward the silent demon octopus floating beside them.
Its tentacles were tucked close to its body. Its massive eye stared at the ground.
Sothing was off.
'Everyone thinks father's fight with Supre of Death is why the Sites are created? It's like everyone's mories have been tampered with.' Zagreus thought slowly.
He turned to the demon.
"Why are mories about this place so ssed up? That's not how the Sites ca into existence."
The demon octopus didn't respond.
Its reaction made Naless Death frown.
'It told everything about Devils, demons, and witches without hesitation. But it won't talk about the Sites? What are these places?'
Zagreus clicked his tongue in frustration and looked back at him.
"Anyway," he said, his tone returning to normal, "regardless of your theory, I can confirm it now. The Chaos Elentals here do belong to a Supre."
Naless Death was surprised.
"Which Supre?" he asked.
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