"Do you know what this is?" An elderly man held a bloody flower with a soft expression.
"The bloody Marek, right Grandpa? I heard it could extend lifespan in your notes..." A girl, who appeared to be around 15 years old, answered innocently.
A smile graced the grandpa's face, however his eyes grew colder by a level.
"That's right....my little darling. However there is a side-effect, taking it as it is, my body would be permanently paralyzed. That's why I experimented on the villagers around here..."
The grandpa's voice kept getting colder, not caring about such subtle detail, his granddaughter's eyes glowed.
"I see! So did you find any....?" For some reason, the girl's body began shuddering.
Her grandpa slowly hugged the girl: "Yeah, I was able to obtain it after killing every family in the village. I truly wanted to find another method but…My life is reaching its limit...so please forgive me!"
The grandpa tightly strangled the girl's throat and forced the bloody marek into her mouth.
"No...! Grandpa, wait! Please stop...! Ugh!" The girl's voice was latched with terror and despair.
The grandpa's face grew darker by the second, but he didn't stop his action. He began chanting God's words in his mind while bringing out all his divinity.
The divinity that began to move into the girl, through the grandpa's hand was so hot – that her skin began to burn up visibly to naked sight.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!" Tears began falling down her face instantly, dyeing her beautiful appearance with despair and suffering.
The grandpa clutched his hand tighter around her neck as if to not hear her screams.
".....Die and become one with me, my little darling." The flame consumed both of them.
...
The ceiling with multiple black roses greeted Veren, his face was hidden by the mask – but on closer inspection, his eyes showed his current emotions. He was currently lying on the ground, which made his body quite stiff.
Two weeks....for two whole weeks, he has been having nightmares of the souls that he absorbed in the short time he used the black eye's ability.
According to the servants' gossip, this eye was called the solace.
This eye gave Veren the ability to absorb dead souls, with the price of going crazy, which was a big no. Leaving that aside, he could command them to a degree too, not anything complex.
Absorbing the soul improved both his divinity and soul.
Another perk this eye provided was self-strengthening. He could absorb souls into a certain part of his body and strengthen it temporarily. He could curse weaker beings by commanding the souls too.
'...It's worthy coming from a demi-god, but its side-effects are not something I can deal with by myself at the moment...'
Two weeks ago, when Veren tried to absorb around a hundred souls, he hadn't found any changes in his mind. However, as time went by, he was clearly becoming aware of the changes.
The past habits of the dead soul, whether small or huge, would be amplified and given to Veren.
For example…
Crunch!
Veren bit into his fingernail, directly ripping it off from his finger, and spat it out on the ground. Blood dripped down his finger, but he didn't show any emotions on his face.
'...I'm becoming crazier by the second. I can't even get rid of this habit, I have to rip off at least one nail every hour, or my body starts to itch everywhere. My mind will lose its concentration too.'
Still, the sight of bloodied black nails gathered at the corner of his room brought disgust to the onlookers.
Veren didn't want to imagine what kind of crazy habit he would have picked up if he had absorbed any more souls.
'...I sometimes have the urge to rip off my fingers itself, But I can only control it.'
If it were only a nail, Veren could heal it with his divinity, however, it would be different for a whole finger.
Getting up from the ground, Veren headed towards the cellar. Duke Walprus had prepared monster bodies after knowing about the black mask entering the third phase.
Picking up the body of the monster, which had half the body of a human and the other snake, Veren began munching on its huge tail.
'Normally, my body would have started to mutate by now. Thankfully, I can cancel such a thing out by actively resisting using holy divinity. Though the clash of two energies brings upon another round of pain, I can deal with it.'
'There is nothing to worry about shortly for now....'
If Veren had something to complain about, it would be this monster meat before him, which kept absolutely bonking his tastebuds for a while. He couldn't get used to the disgusting taste no matter how much he tried.
The two items that he demanded from Helvry had been delivered in these two weeks. The poison's content was just a small vial, nevertheless, Veren felt his mood improve to a level.
In the formula Veren provided, he had asked Helvry to use his daughter's blood, not explaining much.
"This poison's main ingredient is god's blood after all..." Veren muttered in satisfaction.
He had a strong card in his hand, whether he used it to kill himself or his enemy, it was good. If in the end, Veren failed in dealing with the descending demi-god, he planned on drinking this poison.
If he can't live on, why should he leave his body for some demi-god!?
It was a poison that affected the soul too, so he looked forward to it.
'Mutual destruction it is, If I can't have my freedom.' Renewing his determination, Veren headed back to his room.
He would be leaving in a week, so he had to prepare for necessary events.
As for Vousenne…
Truthfully, Veren could look through her very easily. He had spent around two years with her, his understanding had grown immensely.
'She will probably look for a way to save me from the demi-god. I don't have any expectations, but I guess it's never bad to reject free service. She tried to hide her actions, but I can tell by the amount of training that she did every day.'
Veren's soul had grown immensely, hence he could subtly tell the condition of another's soul, which was weaker than him.
He didn't plan on working together, but he waited for the result Vousenne brought.
Trusting only himself and no one else, that was one of Veren's promises to himself. Even if this promise led to his fall, he could happily accept the result. He had after all given his all for himself!