The divine being seemed to be rather amused with what she had found within this abyss.
"Tis' is my sixth encounter with a Disgraced, a little tad pity for one to encumbered such a fate to begin with."
After a mere glance, she ignored the tormented soul and retained her gaze to the front.
Her smile faded a little as she kept moving forward past the sentient lump of darkness within the already inconceivable space.
"I deeply apologize, little one, may you gain salvation in darkness and despair. Always take the good from the bad, and your vassal-less state shall be an utter blessing for you."
Twenty steps away from the corroded soul, the divine being felt an extreme amount of intent gushing from the direction of the tarnished soul as if it was pleading, reaching, and asking for help. Her smile immediately faded as she shifted her body and gaze to the source of that intent.
"S-such an atypical occasion, a great progress of discovery!"
What surprised her more, was the fact that the intent she felt from Kivas' soul was a pure willpower, despite his state of mind having already passed the point of no return.
Which meant that the state of the subconscious mind was still somehow preserved, presumably due to the maintained willpower that further preserved the state of upper consciousness from the bottom of his soul.
Her smile widened. She seemed to be more happy, even though there weren't a lot of facial gestures that showed a significant change in mood from before.
"Fufufu. When humans sin, they hold a certain karmic value that will be kept throughout their journey of life." Slowly, the divine being began to approach the tarnished soul, carefully, and delicately. "By the fire, their soul can be cleansed, in exchange of pain and suffering in both mind and the body.
"Heat is the source of redemption, whether it's a metaphorical heat, like the fire of bravery, or a literal heat such as the fiery liquid of an angry mountain.
"But like all things in the world, too much is never a good thing, so is an excessive amount of heat.
"Many souls of the dead will receive the needed fire to keep themselves stabilized in hell or purgatory, where everything has been tinkered to expel and challenge the sins of the former livings.
"But for those who died because of an excessive cleansing, like being thrown to the core of a star in a solar system, for example—shall have their soul burned to the core of their existence, to the most bottom wonders of their delicate lifeline.
"These souls then became the embodiment of impurities.
"Their consciousness will be ultimately preserved by nature, yet all kinds of their perception will be rendered faulty—sealing them in an eternal torment that's blind to the good and the bad.
"Hence, there's also no gods nor higher beings that's willing to adopt them to their world.
"Of course, there is no cure whatsoever. Fufufu.
"These tarnished souls have their perception forever cut off from them, even when they manage to get reincarnated in one way or another. Not even the slightest sight, sound, nor touch could be felt by them for a limitless amount of time."
With the joy of discovery, the divine being crouched down, so that she could see the tarnished soul closely. The flickering of the torch's fire became clearer in the perception of Kivas' dead consciousness, that was, if he could still muster a mental power to perceive any information into his preserved mind.
"Those poor souls who have their right to an afterlife taken away from them, are forever referred to by the universal tongue as the 'Disgraced', a soul stripped of identity and future, eternally crippled and unwanted from life and death.
"Alas, it seems like your consciousness has stopped perceiving. Otherwise, you could clearly perceive me because of this 'Torch of Blight', as the illumination it provided is very compatible with an impure being like the Disgraced."
With her left hand, she then reached her black-nailed index finger to Kivas' soul.
"Well then, show tis' humble deity of your history, 'O pitiful Disgraced!"
A jolt of sensation had finally entered Kivas' consciousness after a horrendous amount of time. Despite that, it wasn't enough to fully stimulate his soul into normal.
For a second, the smile that the deity wore had faded. Instead of replacing it with a normal kind of smile afterwards, she put on a caring and gentle smile.
"Kivas Chariot, you lost your father at the age of seven because of a car crash incident, you also lost your mother at the age of twelve in a hit and run when she was on her way to her workplace.
"For the rest of the year until graduation, you took care of your sister who bore an incurable disease for eight years.
"Not much wealth in possession, you sacrificed your youth of discovery and exploration of experience, relationship, and your passion to keep your sister's heart beating until her last breath.
"At the age of twenty five, you noticed that you had so few friends and significant others, as you had your utter focus on your education and kept on working relentlessly on your youth with so little wealth support.
"With the will to live and honor, you became an entrepreneur. Things went stable for a while as you found your soulmate in your journey of business, you married your truly beloved, a tall and smart worker at the same age as yours that is really helpful to your business.
"You finally found joy after a long time, she was your everything. Am I wrong?
"Eventually, your company got consumed by a bigger fish.
"In a state of depression and desperation, you went for the army after the raised life expectancy and income possibility from the campaign made by the government. Just at the time of the preparation of a lukewarm war. In the hope of feeding your family, you embarked.
"After you finished your six months program, you received a call from your wife that she had been pregnant for seven months.
"Elated, you put your passion in the army. Two months later, you had a new daughter. You were content and elated for the next three years. Beyond the happy timeline, however.
"The rest is a tragedy."
With respect, the divine being closed her eyes as she placed her right hand in front of her chest.
"Yet despite all of that, you wanted to keep your life meaningful. You motivate youngsters to be ambitious and to be attentive in taking care of themselves.
"You shared your wisdom and kept your place away from the troublemaker who secretly recorded and posted the videos of newbies without their consent for the sake of chasing the clout on the internet.
"Even in your end, you put a hope that there might be something that can change your existence and many others around you, a hope and willpower that allows you to keep counting for billions and billions of years."
Ascending her gaze, the divine being let out a playful and amused giggle.
"Most Disgraced would have completely broken after one hundred years or so, yet you preserved until the death of the universe."
The divine being raised her Torch of Blight. The fire flickered more ferociously than before, letting out true warmth that Kivas should have felt within the lifespan of his fickle life.
Her abyss-colored eyes began to shift its color into gold. The double concentric white circles inside her iris glowed even brighter than the gold.
"'O, Kivas Chariot, now that you have made me take a peek at your existence, I shall not condemn such a failure of the love story between you and your potentially-beautiful life."
The unknown symbols on her ancient dress were peeling themselves out of the smooth fabric, as it began to flutter and waft in patterns surrounding their master.
Golden roots began to grow below her feet and beyond, creating an immaculate platform that ascended the abyss beyond time and space.
Everything suddenly became lively. Kivas didn't know what was happening, and he would never know. But the warmth and the soothing light that heals his soul would be never forgotten as it was engraved deeply within his memory.
"My dear child, you might never have the recollection of this event ever happening, but you shall remember me by the glint of vague memory within the corner of your soul as your new mother.
"Or in another word, the knowledge that I have adopted you.
"You will also soon realize that I'm neither benevolent, nor wicked. I'm neither as almighty as the Amaterasu-Omikami, nor as welcoming as the Izanami-no-Mikoto.
"Yes, I'm your new mother from tis' moment, I want you to struggle to acquire an even better possibility in your life. After the fire, come the river! With experimentation and exploration, come discoveries and meaningful encounters.
"Seeks it and you will savor your time. Realize that life is truly a wonderful existence. Go climb that mountain! Go enter that cave! Open that door of vines to a forest of spirits! Open your eyes to perceive that wonderful landscape of fluttering sakura!
"Indeed, tis' are my woes and hopes. As I, the Deity of Discovery and Exploration, the one who is known by the name of Sae-no-Mitama, shall give you the second chance to acquire what you truly deserve!"
Many of the floating golden symbols stopped moving, before dispersing into numerous glowing critters, fluttering away in every direction and spiraling as they ascended to the never ending chime of the universe.
Slowly, his true state of consciousness was able to rest. Bit by bit, he was finally acquiring the healing rest that he wanted after an inconceivable amount of years.
"I'll be sending you to a brand new world that my friend had cultivated until now.
"A world that is a thousand times bigger than planet Earth! A world full of danger and wonders! Diverse in cultures and technologies! A world that will make you want to stay awake even when you fall asleep!"
With every word, Sae could imagine the fun and discoveries of the world that she preached. While she was older than the universe, her mind was that of a child that was brimming with imagination.
"Albeit, just like every life born on Earth, It will be harsh at the beginning, but I know that you will persevere!
"In your new life, you shall have my Torch of Blight so that you can see the beauty of that world.
"Fufufu, your fire might be weak at first, but with every discovery milestone, you can choose the selectable 'Boons' that I have acquired throughout my endless adventure throughout countless worlds."
Sae raised both the index and middle finger of her left hand, drawing a formation of incantation to begin the process of repair and reincarnation of the consciousness of her son.
While the crippled state of being a Disgraced cannot be lifted, the mental degradation by the long game of waiting was possible to be healed. With this, Kivas should awake with the same state of mind as when he first found out that he had died.
"It is also thanks to you, my child, that I have acquired a new motivation.
"To help every Disgraced that I meet and send them onto this new world I'm talking about, giving them the same chance as you.
"Though, I have no plan of having more than one child, so instead of siblings, you shall meet with what will be referred as my 'followers' instead, if you happen to perceive them having the same Torch of Blight in their hand, please guide them to your judgement, humu humu."
Sae closed her eyes, believing in the bright future that his adopted son would acquire. Thinking about all of the possibilities, she couldn't help but to give her widest smile.
"With all of that preached, farewell, my son. Take your faithful rest as much as you want before you awake in your new life."
The dead universe became so bright that a random passing divine being would think that there was a new heaven in the making.
The glowing critters carved their own path as they began the search for the rest of the Disgraced. They glow gently brighter with the light that was strong enough to reach extremely far away, while not able to blind anything, like a swarm of floating lanterns.
The next world would soon face the beginning of the age of exploration, the era of the Blight.
Upon its enactment, the dead universe was temporarily awakened.
Even if Kivas were ought to be able to perceive at this moment, he wouldn't and never believed his eyes.
That ten million fireflies.
Lit up the world as he fell asleep.