Chapter 451: Together!

‘My soul isn’t just me anymore.’

The thought should have been frightening.

Instead, it gave him hope.

Ethan looked at the five beasts gathered around him.

Wolfy stood like an unbreakable wall, its red eyes fixed on the parasite. Talon remained poised and vigilant, its emerald wings spread wide. Spark flickered with restless energy, while Storm crackled with the quiet intensity of a gathering thunderstorm.

Tide was wrapped around Ethan’s shoulder, small and seemingly insignificant beside the others.

Yet every one of them was here.

Not because Ethan had ordered them to fight or because he needed another weapon, but to protect him and themselves.

A strange warmth spread through his chest.

‘These beasts…’

His mouth twitched despite the pain.

‘Are my fucking bros!’

The parasite seemed to sense the change in him.

Its central void contracted, and the surrounding tentacles began to writhe violently. It hurled itself towards Ethan, the darkness expanding into a giant wave that threatened to engulf everything in its path.

Ethan didn’t retreat.

He reached for the five connections.

Not with his hands, but with the part of himself the parasite had been trying to consume.

He opened himself to the bonds, allowing their presences to settle around him. He stopped trying to fight the darkness alone and instead let himself feel the five distinct existences connected to his soul.

Wolfy’s fierce loyalty.

Talon’s unyielding pride.

Spark’s boundless energy.

Storm’s quiet determination.

Tide’s curious, trusting presence.

They were all different, and their personalities, instincts, and strengths had little in common.

Yet they were connected to him, and he was connected to them.

‘We’re in this… together!’

The words weren’t a command.

They were a promise.

And as cringey as they were, it was effective, as something resonated through the spiritual space. The five presences grew clearer, their connections tightening around Ethan’s spiritual form. They didn’t merge into one being, nor did they lend him their elemental powers.

Instead, they reinforced what was already there.

The parts of Ethan that had begun to unravel steadied. The memories the parasite had been stealing returned to focus. His sense of self, battered and weakened, became whole enough to resist the darkness.

The parasite struck.

Its tentacles slammed against the combined presence surrounding Ethan.

For the first time, they failed to reach him.

The black mass shuddered as though it had struck an invisible wall. Its tentacles recoiled, only to surge forward again, twisting and lashing as the creature desperately tried to force its way through.

Ethan held firm.

He could feel the parasite’s roots embedded in his soul, countless dark tendrils that had burrowed deep into his spiritual essence. They had been feeding on him, slowly consuming him while remaining hidden beneath the mark Aisha had implanted.

Now, he could feel them.

And he could feel the bonds pushing back.

‘Get. Out. Of. My. Soul!’

The connections resonated again.

A pulse spread through Ethan’s spiritual form, travelling along every bond and reaching into the places where the parasite had taken root.

The darkness convulsed.

One root tore free.

Then another.

The parasite writhed, its tentacles thrashing wildly as the bonds began ripping its hold apart. It tried to retreat deeper into Ethan, but there was nowhere left to hide. The five presences had anchored him, making it impossible for the creature to consume him without confronting the connections holding him together.

Its central void collapsed inward.

Ethan felt one final, desperate pull against his soul.

Then the remaining roots tore loose.

The parasite was ripped away from him in a violent surge of darkness. Its vast form twisted and contracted, dragged out of Ethan’s spiritual essence by the combined force of the five bonds.

For an instant, the black mass hung before him, its countless tentacles reaching desperately towards him.

Then it was expelled.

The darkness shattered and vanished into the distance.

Silence followed.

Ethan remained motionless, almost afraid to believe it was over.

He checked himself carefully, searching for the familiar pressure, the cold sensation of something eating away at his existence.

Nothing.

The parasite was gone.

He could feel his soul was whole again, battered but unmistakably his own.

A shaky breath escaped him.

‘I’m… alive.’

His knees nearly gave way, but the five presences remained around him until he steadied himself.

Only then did the tension begin to leave his body.

Ethan looked at his beasts.

He had no idea whether they fully understood what had just happened, but he wanted them to know one thing.

‘Thank you.’

He reached out, allowing his spiritual presence to brush against each of theirs.

‘All of you. I couldn’t have done this without you.’

Wolfy moved closer. Talon lowered its head slightly. Spark circled him in a flicker of light, while Storm’s crackling presence softened. Tide swam around his shoulder, seemingly unaware of how much its arrival had mattered.

Ethan let out a quiet laugh.

He’d always known his beasts were important to him. But rather than just the source of power that had changed his life, they were also his companions, just like the people closest to him.

This had reminded him of that, and he would never take that for granted.

Yet as the relief settled, Ethan couldn’t help but notice something unfamiliar lingering deep within his soul. It was faint, like a current moving beneath still water. He reached towards it cautiously, only to find that it didn’t resemble the parasite’s presence.

The darkness was gone.

He was sure that whatever had been consuming him had been expelled, leaving no trace of its suffocating pressure. But the mark Aisha had implanted in him had left something behind, something he couldn’t ignore.

Ethan’s expression hardened.

He had survived the thing she’d placed inside him, but that didn’t mean he understood what she’d done or why.

And he had a terrible feeling that this was far from over.

He stared into the opening in this mystical spiritual space, his jaw tightening.

‘What the hell did you do to me, Aisha?’