THE RISING DARKNESS IN THE SOUL
As my consciousness reentered the depths of my soul's realm, a startling sight awaited me.
Chaos reigned supreme within, as the ominous Dagger of Night Culling prowled through the ethereal landscape, tearing asunder the very fabric of my realm. With each pass, fixtures and skies dissolved into wispy clouds, leaving nothing but desolation in its wake.
Just as I braced for the inevitable consumption of my soul, a counterforce emerged from within the swirling clouds. Like a shroud of darkness, it engulfed the entirety of my realm, pushing back against the encroaching destruction.
Within the enigmatic depths of this darkness, a figure materialized, its form obscured by the nebulous surroundings. With a gesture, the figure beckoned to the Dagger of Night Culling, commanding its obedience.
Astonishingly, the dagger obeyed, relinquishing itself to the grasp of the shadowy figure.
As the dark figure clasped the dagger, it shimmered, transforming into a silvery essence that merged seamlessly with its wielder, turning into the fragments of light within its darkness.
"Damn", I complained to myself.
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"Incarnate, you have done well. This magic will nourish me and accelerate our resurrection", the soul of the Dark Angel said to me suddenly.
The soul of the Dark Angel was no longer nascent. His soul was almost fully formed and reinvigorated.
The magic of the Dagger of Night Culling nourished the Dark Angel's soul and also the magic of the Lord Phantom in the tomb of Order. With the rush of dark magic he received, the Dark Angel would soon revive.
That was my main worry.
Initially, I wanted to use the Dagger of Night Culling to kill the Dark Angel or at least weaken him, but that scheme failed. The Dagger reinvigorated the souls of the Dark Angel within me instead.
"Yes, the sooner you revive, the sooner you should leave my realm. That is our deal", I said to the Dark Angel.
The Dark Angel did not reply to me. His many souls returned to slumber.
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"What the hell is happening here?" Ratatouille asked as treasures of gold, precious stones and artifacts were falling around me.
"I don't know but my soul realm was destroyed by the bloody dagger", I replied to him.
"Is that the reason all my treasures are spilling out into the arena?" Ratatouille asked me.
"You'll need to keep your hoard someplace else from now. The Dark Angel is about to wake up", I told him.
"You should look around you and settle this first", Ratatouille told me before I looked around me.
When I returned to consciousness, I was standing before an audience of the noble families as they watched in shock at what was happening to me.
Treasures and wealth were falling from my soul realm into my lap and drowning me.
To my surprise, the three knights who were fighting with me had fallen while I was unconscious. After my mind reached my soul realm, my Malevolent Slaves continued the fight on my behalf.
They defeated my opponents and brought to me their divine artifacts.
I retrieved all the treasures that fell from my soul realm, transporting them into my Faberge egg, together with the divine artifacts retrieved from the knights. My soul realm would no longer be a treasure hoarding house.
"You three are defeated", I said to the three knights who challenged me.
"Never, we will never yield to the likes of you", Vlassis shouted back to me.
Suddenly, one of my Malevolent Knights swung his long broadsword, cutting Vlassis into two to the shock of the entire city.
"No….," the elders of the Gamanos family screamed with fury at the killing of their strongest knight.
Both Prince Nasos and Princess Theoni fell moments later, beheaded by my golden knights.
"You don't have to kill them…", Prince Geoffraie shouted to me from the viewing gallery, but he was too late to stop my execution of the three princes and princesses.
The entire place was hounded by a sudden silence.
Nobody expected the fight would end this way with the killing of the three. They never expected violence like this even from a Bully like me.
"You are too evil. You don't have to execute those three. They are already defeated", someone from the viewing gallery accused and scolded me.
"These three never batted an eye when they tried to kill me. I am only returning to them the honor that they deserve by executing them with my own hands", I shouted to everyone, rationalizing my killing of the three.
"Actually, you already won this fight. You don't have to kill the three", Ratatouille said to me echoing the others quietly.
"If the three don't die, then the real fight won't begin", I replied to him to his puzzlement.
"I don't understand", Ratatouille asked me.
"Our real enemy hasn't shown up yet", I replied to him.
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"What happened there in the duel, I thought you would be hurt by the bitch's dagger?" Cassandra asked me.
"The Dagger of Night Culling can cull the souls of gods, but it did nothing to you, fortunately", Rinna said to me with relief.
"The Dagger of Night Culling couldn't kill the Dark Angel's soul, it would nourish it instead", Meera replied to them on my behalf.
"Damnit, you should have told me earlier, Meera", I complained to her in my mind.
"Yes, the dagger caused chaos in my soul realm but did nothing to the Dark Angel. In fact, the dagger helped revive his magic a little more", I replied to them disappointedly.
I was always wary of the soul of the Dark Angel residing in my soul realm.
The more that I think of it, our relationship wasn't a mere tenant-landlord relationship. If the Dark Angel's soul was resurrected, he might possess my soul permanently and I could do nothing about it.
When Princess Theoni sent the Dagger of Night Culling to attack me, I was initially excited about it. The dagger will kill even souls of gods and I hoped it will harm the Dark Angel's soul in me or at least evict him out from my soul.
That plan apparently didn't work as I thought. The Dark Angel's soul in me was stronger than ever.
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