Alvin's own body, just above Teyat, felt a deep sense of panic all the way down to his bones.
His eyes were wide open in shock, trembling with fear.
"W-what?! How? How can his soul resist mine? I don't understand, I don't understand!"
As if changing his mood, his facial expression suddenly shifted from fear to great anger, and just as quickly, it shifted back from anger to fear.
It was as if his soul was changing. As if his soul, through the body, was trying to stop something. As if it didn't want what was about to happen. It didn't want to do it.
And when his expression shifted back to fear, his eyes trembling with shock, he whispered quietly, in surprise.
Alvin couldn't wait, and in fact, he didn't. Because there was no time to wait. Teyat's soul had already begun to show signs of overcoming, of escaping the effects of manipulation, and of slowly starting to use its powers.
To fulfill the mission of offering the 'Soul of Darkness' to the unknown, he took the final step to make the last move.
And then, from the small mirror that hovered steadily just above the center of his slave friend Teyat's chest, a terrifying hand with long, black claws and slender, bony fingers emerged.
The hand seemed to have seen something intensely, and suddenly, as if overwhelmed with great desire by what it saw, it couldn't remain still, twisting madly from side to side as it yearned to reach Teyat.
Of course, the hand of the Unknown Being was eager to seize the soul of the mighty child of the Dark God.
Then, around the hand that had emerged from the mirror, six chains, gray and wide enough to fit within the mirror, appeared.
Yes, they emerged from that black sea-like substance, which was composed of certain souls belonging to the Unknown Being.
It merely resembled the sea in appearance.
And that hand, too, was crafted from souls.
That black sea-like substance was the place where the functional techniques required to imprison a soul within the Soul Mirror were formed.
In other words, the black hand that emerged from the small mirror was the technique designed to tear apart the soul of the heir.
And the six chains that followed were the technique designed to capture and imprison the soul.
These two techniques were unique to the 'Soul Mirror' weapon.
Alvin's plan, before Teyat's soul began to gain the upper hand, was to imprison the soul, and then, after imprisoning it, plunge that black hand directly into the dark portal that would open in the center of his chest as the soul was captured.
There's also this: that dark portal was a portal that opened to the personal domain Teyat possessed thanks to the inheritance he received.
It was a portal to the realm where his soul and a few other things resided...
This domain was exclusive to Teyat's inheritance.
Alvin's plan was completely disrupted by the fact that Teyat's soul was starting to gain the upper hand.
Because what he intended was to send his own soul into Teyat's domain, using the two techniques of the Soul Mirror to imprison his slave friend's soul through the portal without putting himself at risk.
But nothing went as planned.
And given the current situation, neither the chains nor the terrifying hand could imprison or tear apart Teyat's soul.
He had to get personally involved.
That's why Alvin had to personally send his soul into that domain, to confront the 'Soul of Darkness' that was slowly gaining the upper hand, and to personally imprison his slave friend's soul — or more importantly, Teyat's soul — and offer it to the Unknown along with the hand of the Unknown Being.
But deep inside, there was a feeling that stubbornly rejected what he was about to do. That feeling belonged to him...
•
Alvin lifted his left foot off of Teyat's face and stepped back, severing all physical contact with his slave friend, who was writhing in the immense and horrifying pain, screaming in agony with blood streaming from every hole in his face. He then straightened his half-standing body fully and stood right in front of Teyat's feet.
After standing tall, he took a deep, slow breath and exhaled calmly. He repeated this diaphragmatic breathing three times, deeply inhaling and exhaling.
And his eyes — yes, his eyes, which bore pupils of a vivid purple hue — slowly and calmly closed as if his soul had found peace.
But the stone wall, covered entirely in stone, was suddenly filled with a strange silence.
The weak, hoarse voice of Teyat, who was screaming in agony and writhing from the torturous pain, abruptly vanished.
Because his soul had finally disconnected from his mind and body.
Yes, Teyat's soul was resisting and had even started to gain the upper hand against Alvin's soul, but the more it resisted, the more it was slowly being exhausted.
Alvin, with his eyes closed in peaceful calm, opened them slightly and cast his gaze toward his slave friend, who lay motionless on the ground, covered in blood, flat on his back.
A slight smile appeared on his face.
"Oh wow, what a stubborn soul."
He silently whispered these words to himself.
And he ignored the deep-seated feeling of rejection.
Then, the black hand and the six gray chains he held in his hand, which had emerged from the mirror and seemed terrifying in appearance, retreated back into the mirror as if giving up on something.
On both sides of the small mirror, a void of gray tone appeared.