[Eyes of Divine Clarity] activated, and Reinhardt was finally able to peer at the thing that was eluding him.
It was a... fragnt, ominous, ancient, and alive. Like a black star, it pulsed with darkness, with spreading tendrils that seed to be able to twist the fabric of the realm.
The space around it was severely distorted, and even reality was being bent inwards as if being pulled by its powerful gravity.
The star gave off no sound; instead, it released a powerful pressure that echoed across the foundation of creation like a heartbeat. Even from afar, Reinhardt felt every ounce of divine energy within his body rebel at the face of it.
This instinctive action made it seem almost like it was facing its natural enemy. This fragnt... it shouldn’t exist on this level of plane. This was the only thought he had.
Seeing his reaction, Minerva explained, "You are not wrong. That fragnt is our power. It is also what the people of this era call demonic energy. That is what was placed inside our soul from the beginning. And that is what must be sealed again."
Reinhardt followed her words. However, his eyes refused to veer away from the fragnt. The thing in front of him was so incredibly tainted that it couldn’t be compared to the demonic energy he had felt coming from the demons he faced until now.
To put it in simple terms, if what he felt from the demons was just faint traces of smoke, then this here would be the crystallised essence ford over hundreds of thousands of years.
Reinhardt’s hand subconsciously tightened. His divine light stirred restlessly within him, reacting to the fragnt’s very existence: pure opposition, natural enemies, light and abyss.
His power was instinctively telling him to destroy that thing; it was overwhelming. It took great effort from him to stop his wildly running thoughts and tear his eyes away from it.
The mont he did, Minerva and the Queen stepped towards him.
"Now you know everything. The decision will be left to you."
Saying that, she laid out his options. "This fragnt is not a simple shard of power. It is a part of us now, a container that was shaped to harbour two souls within it with two different and complete consciousnesses. You should already be aware of how powerful it is and what kind of calamity it is capable of bringing."
She stopped there, letting the idea hang in the air. Reinhardt did not speak; his mind contemplated her words.
Just like she said, the fragnt in front of him was extrely ancient; its origin untraceable. It was so powerful that it was in a realm of its own.
Comparing it to the Heavenly Kings he had t so far would be like insulting it. What’s more, letting it roam freely despite knowing it would bring calamity on a scale beyond anything would be foolish. It must never be allowed to surface, never.
As if seeing through his mind, Minerva put out her first option.
"That is your first option. End it. Destroy the fragnt and everything attached to it. Doing so, you would be getting rid of an extrely dangerous threat from this world. The price you need to pay for that is inconsequential when you consider the world."
"What is the other option?" Reinhardt questioned.
Minerva extended her second finger. "Seal it. To bind the fragnt, one soul is required to watch over it. Kind of like a sentinel who anchors the seal so it cannot tear free. Since I lost the bet, I will be that sentinel"...
"I have been closest to it my whole life; my essence is sothing already compatible with it. If I remain, the fragnt cannot awaken easily. The Queen, her half, will return to the world. The people will wake, and the fragnt will be hidden again."
In short, everything will return back to how it was.
"Now make your decision."
Even though their deal was to return the Queen while she goes back to sleep, Minerva gave him another option. One that permanently removed a risk factor from the world.
At this mont, the inside of Reinhardt’s body was a ss. Every bone, every cell, every thread of divinity in him was whispering one command: destroy it.
Erasing that thing would clean the world of its corruption. Every rule he had ever sworn by, every law of light that pulsed through him, scread at him to strike and be done.
The urge within him was like a physical sickness, a divine compulsion to purge evil before it could wake. Nevertheless...
"I choose the latter." He did not take ti to give his answer.
A flash of surprise crossed Minerva’s face. It was the sa for the Queen.
"Do you know the consequences of your choice? If you pick the first option, you can destroy the fragnt, especially now when it’s in its most vulnerable state. You will be freeing this world of a powerful threat. Yet you still wish to choose the other option?"
Reinhardt nodded without hesitation.
True, destroying a power as great as that might not be easier next ti. However, picking the first option would also an that the Queen’s soul would disappear. That result was unacceptable to him.
The Queen, the most beautiful and benevolent woman in the kingdom, who worked tirelessly for the nation, protecting the weak and the helpless. A ruler like her was difficult to co by in hundreds of years.
She was not only royalty, but the heart of this kingdom that every person revered. Reinhardt had no doubt that if it were her, she would be able to completely change this kingdom. That reason alone was enough for him to weigh her life greater than the risk of the fragnt.
Besides, there was also that divine oath of his: to make her his priority, over his promise, over his duty, and everything else. Reinhardt planned to stand true to it. He would stand by her side even if the entire world was against her. Because she was his woman now.
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