Rael watched the boy, Winter, who had been so playful earlier, now utterly transformed, there was no laughter or theatrics on his face as only complete focus existed.

Winter hammered relentlessly, each strike landing with terrifying precision as the card resisted him stubbornly, refusing to bend even under his monstrous strength and yet… the process was mesmerizing.

Rael couldn’t explain it.

There was nothing flashy about it except just hammer and will but once he started watching, he couldn’t look away, each strike felt deliberate and meaningful as though Winter wasn’t merely shaping an object but arguing with reality itself.

Time slowly lost all meaning as minutes blurred into hours while Winter continued forging. Rael stood frozen, his eyes wide as he witnessed something far beyond mortal craftsmanship.

Finally after several long hours, Winter stopped as he exhaled deeply and wiped the sweat from his brow, looking at the small golden orb of swirling energy floating over his palm, pulsing softly like a living heart.

“Finally done with the first step.” He muttered as he looked at the lantern carrying his father’s soul next.

The lantern still floated in the air as Winter summoned the shell of his father’s body toward him.

The bright orange flame within the forge stirred and then it shifted, as if guided by its own will before drifting toward the body.

At the same time, the small golden orb in Winter’s hand began to move as well, drawn forward alongside the lantern carrying the soul of his father.

The flame met with the orb and lantern mid-air, right before the chest of hollow shell and then, something even more mesmerizing unfolded as countless colors burst into existence, swirling and colliding as the orb fused with the lantern and the crimson soul-flame.

Light bent unnaturally and the space itself seemed to tremble.

The fusion continued for several long minutes as Rael watched, strange runes began to appear out of nowhere around the merging energies. One by one, they multiplied, forming intricate patterns before wrapping the entire phenomenon in a cocoon.

The symbols were completely incomprehensible to him but still, just looking at them made something within him stir as if he was understanding something he couldn’t name yet.

Some kind of enlightenment…

When the brilliance finally dimmed the runes vanished and Rael snapped back to reality before looking at a completely transparent sphere floating in the air in place of a cocoon. It looked too fragile to be the container of soul but Winter’s body trembled slightly just by looking at it.

With a slight wave, he guided the sphere toward his father’s body and the moment it touched the chest, it merged inward like liquid mixed in the water.

The entire body erupted in blinding light as the veins within Eidolon’s body started glowing crimson.

But Rael wasn’t looking at that, instead his gaze was focused on Winter whose face showed way too many emotions for someone who had attained divinity.

Rael could see worry, excitement and even the unmistakable fear.

Winter wasn’t sure if it was going to work either and that once again made Rael question the complexity of emotions, seeing even divine beings unable to sever their mortal bonds completely.

Just as he was lost in thought, the light faded and his eyes immediately snapped toward Eidolon… For a moment, there was no movement.

Damn… did it fail?

Rael thought.

He looked at Winter, who was still staring at his father’s face, unwilling to give up hope.

Half an hour passed but nothing happened…

Rael got up from his chair and walked toward Winter who hadn’t moved from the same spot without even blinking.

He didn’t know what to say… afterall he hadn’t done some degree in consoling depressed gods with daddy issues but honestly, Eidolon had been dead for countless years, so Rael expected Winter to be more understanding.

But just as he walked toward Winter, something completely unexpected happened as Rael’s mana suddenly started getting sucked into something…

He looked down at his stomach and saw a golden thread extending from his belly toward the Eidolon’s unresponsive body.

What the hell is happening… Now?

His knees trembled as his body started going numb by the minute as he couldn’t keep himself steady anymore and collapsed onto the ground.

Darkness started creeping in from the edges of his vision as he saw Winter looking at him with a heavy melancholic gaze…

“This was the most important part of the process, big bro…”

He said softly, just as Rael’s vision turned completely dark and a cold feeling embraced him.

—

Within the deepest layer of Hell, Vael’runn sat upon his throne as he felt something shift in the mortal realm.

“Oo ho.” He chuckled lightly. “Did you feel that, Spectator?”

He glanced at the woman beside him, half of her features obscured by a deep, dark veil.

“Someone has attempted the Resurrection ritual… I wonder how many poor lambs they sacrificed to make it happen.” He mused. “I hope I get some interesting friends to keep me company this time.”

The woman known as Spectator let out a faint smile as she looked at Vael’runn.

“Since when did you start caring about such things?”

She muttered, her expression hidden even as she sensed the resurrection ritual from the Divine Treasury, the very place where she had sent her most trusted subordinate, the Arbiter, to retrieve an important artifact for her plans.

If that wasn’t enough, one of her true mortal bodies was currently wandering within the Treasury without the knowledge of even her own subordinates.

If that body were destroyed, it would delay her plans significantly… Still, she showed none of it on her face because she was here for an equally important task.

“In any case, like I said before… give me the soul of Lucien and in return I will offer you a soul carrying the Will of ▒▒▒▒▒.”

Vael’runn looked at the woman who had dared to enter his Hell and attempted to negotiate with him as if she knew everything about him already.

“And why would I even bother giving you that interesting soul… when I can simply make you suffer until you share every piece of information you have?” He smirked.

The woman matched his expression. “Well, you are free to do so, Vael’runn but what you destroy would be just one of my countless bodies… and let me warn you, I hold grudges quite deeply, especially against men like you.”

“So… what will it be?”

“Will you hand over the soul of Lucien or do I need to resort to slightly more violent methods… like—”

Her words cut off abruptly but Vael’runn stiffened, hearing her words loud and clear.

“How… how do you know that?”

The Spectator widened her smile. “Why don’t you take a guess?”

Vael’runn stared at her in silence for a few moments. “Fine but you will have to make a Seraphic Decree with me regarding the terms because that is the only way I can ensure it ends up in my underworld after you kill the mortal shell.”

“Sure, why not.” The Spectator’s eyes narrowed as she nodded. “But before that, I need to see Lucien and make sure he isn’t completely broken.”

Vael’runn nodded and then snapped his fingers as an orb manifested in his hand, crackling with blue lightning…

He had tried everything possible with the soul of this boy, yet he still couldn’t decipher the word the Heavenly Principles kept blurring from his perception.

So in a way, this deal was still in his favor.

The orb in his hand expanded, taking the shape of a boy with green hair and slit eyes as he looked around frantically the moment his body materialized.

“What—? Where am I—?”

Then his gaze landed on the woman standing before him, The Spectator, her smile wide and unwavering.

“Did you recognize me, huh, Lucas?”

The boy’s very soul began trembling as soon as he heard her voice. “You… you?! How?! Why?!”

He couldn’t form another word before his soul collapsed and reverted into a sphere.

Vael’runn glanced at her and then at the soul of the boy. “Hope I didn’t break him too much.”

She returned the same smile. “Nope, this will do. Give me his soul now and I will give you the soul of the one carrying the will by the end of this year.”

Vael’runn nodded. He had waited centuries to see her soul again, so what was a year more.

“Let’s do the Seraphic Decree now…”

With that, a deal which was never supposed to happen was made for a soul which was never supposed to be found so soon by Vael’runn.

—

A/N: For those who forgot, Lucien is the Transmigrator Rael Killed in Forest of Unmasked.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep