Ethan reached the Queen and pressed his palm against the cold, damp chitin of her head. He felt nothing but a hollow, echoing void from the beast—no malice, no hidden intent. As his spiritual power seeped through her armor and approached her brain, he felt her sheer, paralyzing fear.
As his energy brushed against the core of her mind, the massive creature let out a tiny, whimpering sound, her entire body shuddering. She didn’t even dare to recoil from his touch; she simply lay there, a broken queen before her god.
Ethan’s grin widened. He pushed his spiritual power deeper, reaching the glowing core. As he made contact, the surface of the beast’s soul began to crack and reshape, as if he were carving his na into wet clay with a jagged knife. The Queen wept in agony, but she remained perfectly still, offering her very existence to him.
Slowly, a brand began to form upon the Queen’s forehead. It glowed with a haunting violet light: a stylized eye surrounded by jagged lightning bolts, with a deep, black dot at its center—the Void.
"An eye... lightning... and the void," Ethan muttered, staring at the mark. "Is that a coincidence?"
[ No, Master, ] Crul responded, its voice carrying a new level of reverence. [ That symbol represents the depths of your being. The Athyst Eye, the Void Body, and your primal affinity for lightning. That mark is the ultimate representation of your essence. You have not just tad a beast; you have claid her soul. ]
Ethan felt the world of the cavern dissolve. The cold dampness of the stone and the heavy weight of the Matriarch in his arms faded into a vast, silent expanse of white light. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a boundless void. Before him, the massive Worm Queen had been reduced to a miniature figure, barely the size of a kitten, trembling on the translucent floor.
As he reached out a hand to touch her, a shrill, frantic voice erupted in his mind—the voice of a terrified little girl.
"Please! Don’t hurt ! I will be obedient! I am sorry, Master! I didn’t know... I didn’t know it was you! Spare !"
Ethan pulled back, his brow furrowing. "You... you can talk to ?"
The miniature Queen looked up at him with disbelief. Ancient beasts were born with the genetic mories of their ancestors; they knew the hierarchy of the world. Was this nightmare sovereign truly different from the legends? she wondered. Why does he speak as if he doesn’t know his own nature?
Before Ethan could process the Queen’s shock, a shimr of light appeared beside him. A young girl with sharp, analytical eyes and a composed deanor stepped forward.
[ Welco to your Soul Space, Master, ] Crul said, her voice echoing with a clarity he only heard in his mind. [ It is a rare fortune that you have unlocked natural access to this realm so early. ]
The little Worm Queen recoiled, her bristles twitching in caution as she looked at the new arrival. Ethan, anwhile, looked down at himself. He saw his own presence as a formless, swirling ball of brilliant light—a third-person perspective of his own essence.
"In this space, you are the architect," Crul explained. "Imagine your form, and you shall beco it."
Ethan focused, visualizing his own silhouette. The ball of light expanded and solidified into his human likeness, though he stood completely nude in the white expanse. The Worm Queen stared at him, her confusion deepening. He didn’t look like a Nightmare Claw at all; he looked like a hairless, fragile biped.
"Wait, Crul," Ethan said, looking around. "Why are the three of us here together? I understand the contract with the worm, but you... you aren’t my slave."
[ But I am, ] Crul responded simply.
Ethan stood frozen. "What? How?"
[ When the previous System perished and I was initialized, I was granted to you in total. I cannot yet reveal the full nature of this bond due to specific protocols, but Lord Athyst himself placed this restriction. Every artificial embryo must be bound to its master by the Celestial Law—!!"$!% ]
Suddenly, Crul’s voice distorted into a violent, screeching static. Ethan winced, clenching his teeth and bracing for the agonizing headache that usually accompanied the ntion of forbidden knowledge. But the pain never ca. He opened his eyes, confused, finding the Soul Space perfectly still.
"Let’s not talk about the Laws," Ethan said, his voice tight. "The last ti I tried to dig into that, it almost killed . I’m not ready to die yet."
[ Forgive , Master, ] Crul said, bowing her head. [ I shall not ntion them again. ]
If the Worm Queen had been afraid before, she was now utterly paralyzed by terror. She, too, had felt the sudden, crushing descent of the Celestial Laws during Crul’s distortion. For a split second, she felt as if the entire universe was about to flatten her like an ant. Whatever doubts she had about Ethan not looking like a Nightmare Claw vanished instantly. In the presence of these two beings, her own ancient existence felt like nothing more than a speck of dust. She had no intention of ever rebelling; staying alive in their shadow was the only goal she had left.
Ethan looked around the vast, quiet expanse of his Soul Space. "The last ti I was pulled into a place like this, it felt like I was being dragged by my throat. This ti... it was different. I just followed a strange sensation in the back of my mind."
[ That is because you have matured, Master, ] Crul explained, her form shimring slightly in the white void. [ From this mont forward, you may enter this space at will. Within your soul, ti and external distractions are dampened. It is the perfect environnt for deep ditation and achieving a state of Total Concentration. There are several advanced ntal techniques I can provide to accelerate your growth here... however, they require a significant expenditure of Lux Points. ]
Ethan let out a long, weary sigh, rubbing his temples. "Lux Points... of course. Lately, I haven’t been able to farm nearly enough. Between managing the kingdom and this expedition, I’ve had to keep too low a profile to pull off the kind of chaos that generates big rewards. I can’t exactly go around blowing up marriages just for the points anymore."
Crul tilted her head, a small, knowing glint appearing in her analytical eyes. [ That is true, Master. Generating points through external conflict is becoming inefficient given your current social standing. However, there is now an additional thod available to you... ]
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