Chapter 302: It’s Over [6]

Aeshvin gulped and started drawing on every soul he had ever devoured, every scrap of power he had left, and putting it all into one last desperate attack.

’If this doesn’t work, I’m finished. But if it does...’

Aeshvin’s eyes locked onto the light, still pulsing calmly as if mocking him.

’Then everything will be mine!’

He aimed and released the attack. It shot forward, tearing through the void like a falling star and struck the light dead center. And for a single breathless moment, everything went still.

Then the whole soul space began to tremble violently.

Rrrrumble-!

’!’ Aeshvin’s eyes lit up as the light started flickering, shrinking, collapsing in on itself. He watched as it dimmed further and further, fading into a tiny dot, a dying ember about to go out. ’I did it! I finally did it!

Aeshvin clenched his fists, his chest swelling with triumph. This was it! The body, the power, everything was about to be his! But just as the light was about to vanish completely... it exploded.

A blinding radiance erupted from that tiny dot, flooding the soul space with light so intense that it even swallowed the whole black void. The darkness he had gathered around himself peeled away, scattering like ash in the wind. The light pressed against him from every side, burning away what little remained of his soul.

’No... NO!’

His body began to disintegrate, the light tearing through the very core of his being until there was nothing left to resist.

’Nooo...’

───────

’...’

’...Urgh...’

’W-What... happened?’

’D-Did I... die?’

’If so... where am I?’

’...Why can I... still... think?’

His thoughts scattered before he could hold onto them. Everything felt distant, like he was drifting through fog.

Then, slowly, Aeshvin forced his eyes open.

’Urgh... I... I can’t... see...’

His vision was a mess of light and shadow, his eyelids heavy as stones. He tried to move, but his body barely responded. He felt hollowed out, like an empty shell that had been left to rot.

’...Hmm?’

Just then, he noticed something familiar.

’It’s... that light...?’

At first, it was a tiny dot, but as it drew closer and closer, it grew larger, and its features became clearer.

’...It’s... you...’

Aeshvin recognized the figure instantly. There’s no way he would mistake it, since he had tried to make it his own just moments ago, only to be reduced to this pitiful state.

’...I failed... huh...’

Strangely, he felt nothing. He wasn’t panicked, nor did he have the desperate urge to fight back as before. Perhaps it was because he was too broken, his soul drained to the limit.

’...’

He silently stared back at the face of demise.

"Thank you for doing exactly what I thought you would." Soren’s voice cut through the silence. "I’ve been stuck at a bottleneck for a while now. You gave me the push I needed to break through."

"...I... You... used me?" Aeshvin managed to utter these words. "H-How...?"

"Well, you could say that I did," Soren replied. "But of course, I’m not some kind of genius mastermind. I just had more information on you and your group, and enough time to think and prepare. You, on the other hand, didn’t know much about me. You probably thought of me as a weak chef, lucky to have married Ethea and to have a powerful magic beast on his side. You probably didn’t even bother to check what I, my bond, and... my wife were really capable of. And that confidence... No, that arrogance of yours... it cost you everything."

’...’ Aeshvin went silent. "...I... see..."

To think he had been played from the very beginning. All his schemes, all his careful planning, all the years he had spent building his power... and in the end, he had walked right into the palm of someone he dismissed as prey.

A bitter smile tugged at his cracked lips.

’...I... I forgot my... past... my rules...’

’...How laughable.’

He had always been careful before. Thorough in everything he did, never underestimating an opponent no matter how weak they seemed. But somewhere along the way, after so many victories and so many bodies under his feet, that caution had started to fade. He had stopped seeing people as threats and started seeing them as toys.

And now...

That mistake had cost him everything.

’Haha...’

’She was right...’

He recalled what Ethea told him.

’It was already over...’

Perhaps... It would have been much better if he had surrendered... At least he would be alive that way.

’...No. It’s... too late... to regret now...’

Aeshvin stared at Soren and whispered.

"...Kill... me... please..."

"..." Soren stared back at him and replied. "I was going to do it even if you didn’t ask me."

Then, he raised his hand and flicked his fingers. A thin blade of light shot forward and pierced through Aeshvin’s remaining soul.

’!’

Aeshvin’s body stiffened for a moment, but he managed a faint, broken smile as his consciousness started to slip away.

"...Thank... you..."

Piece by piece, he scattered until there was nothing left of him.

"...It’s over," Soren whispered and fell silent.

’Hmm...’

Honestly, he didn’t feel anything at all, despite this being the first time he killed someone with his own hands.

Perhaps it was because Sevihan had been too far gone to be called human anymore. Or perhaps it was because Soren had already made peace with what needed to be done long before this moment came.

’...Let’s go back and finish the rest.’

With that thought, he closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them and found himself back in the cave.

’...Urgh.’

He noticed he was lying on the ground, with half of his body on top of Sevihan’s corpse. So he quickly tried to stand up and distance himself.

"Urgh..."

However, no matter how hard he tried, his body refused to listen.

’...The side effects must have kicked in.’

He didn’t know how much time had passed since they were in his soul space, but Limit Break’s duration was about to end in a few minutes, so this level of exhaustion wasn’t strange. Not to mention how much he had abused Amplification this whole time. His body had been pushed far beyond its limits, and every inch of him felt like it was being held together by sheer will.

Honestly, he should be grateful he was still alive and in one piece.

But...

Even through the haze of exhaustion, one thought kept pressing against his mind.

’Malakor...’ He called out in his mind. ’Is... Ethea safe?’