Chapter 173: The War’s Aftermath [4] — Louis’ Growth So Far

Learning they were soon to arrive to their destination, Louis nodded and then he moved to his room to rest for the remaining time before they reached their destination.

While sitting in a lotus position on his bed, he focused inward, concentrating on his Fractured Fantasy Heart.

The Abyssal Dragon Tree of Ruin still resided there, though it remained in a weakened state. As he had suspected, recovery was difficult for this Grievance because it was fused with him.

Like Seraphine, Louis had become a “Half-Grievance” or “Fractured”—a rare type of Spiralwalker whose Fantasy Heart had shattered only partially, not completely, yet still enough to birth its own Grievance.

What fascinated him about Seraphine was that she did not merely harbor an internal Grievance. She could absorb fragments from others and cultivate them—treating them almost like pets.

“Well… aren’t I doing something similar?”

When that thought crossed his mind, Handy and The Gardener’s Memento came to mind. Both were Entities in their own right—almost Grievance Fragments, yet not quite.

“Hm… well, it’s not exactly the same… However… isn’t this a bit ridiculous?”

His eyebrows twitched as he summoned all of his Incarnations. Several appeared at once.

The Gravewalker, born from the Hollow Spiral of the Ashen Wyrm.

The Psychopath, from the Spiral of Sadism.

The Necromancer’s Fragment, from the Desecrated Soul Spiral.

The Pugilist’s Fragment, from the Self-Flagellation Spiral.

The Dark Knight’s Fragment, from the Malevolent Plotter Spiral.

And finally, the Devil Fragment, from the Spiral of Entropy.

Six distinct Incarnations—though only two were complete. The other four remained fragments yet still carried considerable strength. Through Incarnation Fusion, he could even modify them as he merged them into his body.

Fusion granted him an immense power surge, but it drained his Fantasium at a terrifying rate. He either had to constantly consume Fantasium Crystals to sustain it or rest after a few minutes.

When he fought Seraphine, he had been inside his own Fantasy Domain and had consumed large quantities of Fantasium Hearts beforehand, allowing him to maintain that level of power for an extended period.

“I have these… then Handy… this flower thing I still can’t get rid of…” Louis muttered. Handy appeared, followed by a red flower blooming on his left shoulder, staring blankly at him. “And…”

Suddenly Belladine emerged, shining brightly before him. The sight always reminded him of the Belladine from this world—who had sided with Thalor’s plan and become a traitor. He still carried lingering attachment to her, but he no longer knew how to face her.

“Maybe I should have named you differently,” he sighed.

As he studied his Incarnations, tamed Entities, and Spirits, another Spirit appeared—a glowing sword of ice radiating a cold aura. It was Niflheim’s Sword Soul Heart Avatar, which had successfully evolved into a full Spirit after her spiritualization succeeded.

“Her name is fine,” she said. “I hope this time you won’t die against The Gardener, Louis. That would be too anticlimactic.”

“I won’t,” Louis replied. “Well… this is it. Now the only thing left is to check my Soul Treasures again.”

Gungnir floated before him, followed by a series of dark red bones, a glowing purple jewel, and a crystallized red rose. He had been so busy lately that he had only examined their power briefly amid his daily duties as prince.

But now he intended to explore what else they could do—or how he could help them grow. First he inspected the gift left by the previous regression’s Zorba: the Spiral Stone of Desecrated Soul.

He had already tried consuming it earlier. When he bit into it, the stone simply reappeared inside his Soul and slowly regenerated—like any Soul Treasure. He quickly realized it could not be absorbed into his Spiral, yet it remained faintly connected to the Spiral Fragment he possessed.

Though it reacted to almost nothing, whenever he raised undead, controlled or enslaved souls, or sacrificed them while casting necromancy spells, the stone’s growth increased by a few percentage points.

As its growth rose, he always felt a faint tingling within the Spiral Fragment itself—suggesting their development might be linked.

“Could this Soul Treasure allow me to grow my Desecrated Soul Spiral?” he wondered, studying the purple stone.

“I believe it could,” Niflheim said, examining it as well. “What is its growth percentage so far?”

“Seventy percent,” Louis answered. “If I keep raising undead and experimenting with their souls, I might reach one hundred percent and discover whether it truly can do that…”

For now, he set the purple stone aside—it appeared ordinary and lacked any other obvious abilities. He shifted his attention to Mirai’s bones… They served as a catalyst for her to regain fragments of her previous life’s power, while simultaneously allowing him to awaken a Fragment of her Spiral.

He quickly dismissed them, sending them back into his Soul alongside the stone. Staring at these two Soul Treasures for extended periods was not something he enjoyed.

Finally, he turned to the most mysterious of them all: the Relic that had remained with him from the previous regression—when he, Mirai, and Soma had slain The Gardener. This was the Relic the Grievance had dropped.

“…!”

As Louis touched the crystal rose, he felt a new power awaken. Dark red vines sprouted from his hands—studded with glowing golden spines and blooming with red roses whose eyes stared blankly at him. The Gardener’s Memento reacted as well, though the two remained separate entities.

Louis realized he could manipulate these vines freely and make them grow extensively. Each blooming flower-eye could fire lasers of concentrated, mind- and soul-corroding corrupted Fantasium.

“Interesting… And I can even set it to auto-mode for protection. It’s good.”

Pleasantly surprised by this new relic, Louis’s thoughts were interrupted by Celestina’s voice.

“Master Louis, we are about to arrive at Red Leaf. Please prepare yourself. Lady Agustina and Lady Red Leaf are waiting outside.”

“Ah, we’re already there? Time really flies when you’re busy…”

Louis stood up, ready to complete this final task before dedicating the rest of the year to intense cultivation.

And of course, he had no intention of forgetting another Sinner he planned to recruit here.

“I wonder if Timothy is alright. I should go collect him once I’ve dealt with the Corrupted Field.”

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