Reign found himself in a state of bewilderment, his mind struggling to process the revelations he had witnessed. Hades, the god of death himself, had been involved in the events surrounding the death of the so-called Holy Saint, which Reign now knew was a demoness with the power to control light, and it raised a multitude of questions and concerns.
It was clear that the demoness had wielded incredible powers, and her ability to manipulate light and souls was a unique and dangerous combination.
As the seconds ticked by, Reign's thoughts began to coalesce, and he considered the possible motivations behind Hades's actions. It was evident that Hades had intervened to stop the demoness's reign of destruction and had sealed her soul fragments, preventing her from returning.
Reign's thoughts then turned to the demoness herself. Her existence as an outcast among demons, her relentless battles, and her eventual rise to power intrigued him. She had created artifacts imbued with her soul manipulation, including the Soulweaver's Monolith. It made him wonder if there was a deeper connection between her and the artifact.
'Was I given this challenge because I do have a connection with Hades, after all, I am the person his younger brother has marked, not to mention that I also wield the power of darkness like Shadow, which is counter to the demoness's powers of light.'
Reign then stared at the scene in front of him as he saw how the fragments flew around the universe for an untold number of years. They flew around, some landing on people, some on other beings, some even going inside monsters and demons.
The vortex, a prison that Hades had created for the demoness, had escaped Hades, a last-ditch effort from the demoness to survive and one day come back. The reason the souls were latching themselves on people who had the fragments in them was, as they had told Reign, in order to get the fragments back.
But they lied about one thing.
They could in fact get the fragments without the person whose soul was fused with them dying. If they wished to, the souls could use the pillar of light, which was the remains of the demoness's consciousness and the fragments they had gathered, to force the fragments to separate from the soul and come to them.
'It's good I planted those souls in the vortex, it should give us a bit more time to take control over the artifact, with the artifact with her, Liara should be able to withstand the power of the vortex, after all, those guys are severely weakened, the artifact will give her enough power and control over her soul to keep them in check.'
'It is a shame though, that means I won't be able to use it, it's either that or sacrificing Liara, and I don't wish to do so.' Reign shook his head as his surroundings changed. The scenes from before all disappeared as he was left with nothing but pure darkness around him.
Reign took a deep breath and stepped forward, the darkness around him twisting and turning.
'I have made contact without being fused with the fragments, with them in my consciousness, I have managed to somewhat fool the artifact into believing I was one of the people who have been fused with them as well.'
'Without the fragments in my soul to keep me in check, even the artifact, which has also severely weakened compared to its peak, can't do what it wishes and I was able to see everything, I was able to learn of what the Saint truly was, and what truly happened in the past.'
"Without the fragments and the vortex to hold me down, you cannot stop me from doing what I wish to do." Reign suddenly said as he spread his arms.
"If I so will it, the darkness will be gone, and there will be light," Reign said as a wing made of the light appeared behind him, shining brightly and keeping the darkness at bay.
"If I wish for it, any light shall be devoured and darkness will take over," Reign stated as a wing made out of darkness appeared on his left side, forcing the darkness around him to twist and fuse with it.
"Not even souls will be spared, if I so will it, death will only be the beginning," Reign's eyes turned purple as soul power appeared around him, making him sense everything and allowing him to notice where Liara was.
"And if I so will it, anything in my way shall be destroyed with a thunderclap." Lightning flickered around Reign, destabilizing the surroundings as Reign smiled savagely, allowing all four of his abilities to show off their full powers and run rampant in the area.
The darkness dissipated, showing light that soon stopped shining and became weaker and weaker. A dull gray floor appeared beneath Reign as he walked forward, causing the place he was in to shake heavily and show itself.
About 100 meters in front of him, he was able to see Liara who was bound by chains as an illusionary figure stood in front of her. The figure was now staring at Reign, slightly shaking from the power he was displaying.
"Impossible, a person that is not fused with the fragments should have never been able to come here!" The phantom, which was a small part of the artifact's spirit, shouted in anger and fear as he stared at Reign.
"I see, it seems whatever happened in the past heavily weakened the artifact, even you, its spirit, were forced to be outside and slowly regain the power of the artifact, even now, you have only managed to retake a fraction of its true powers." Reign said as he walked forward, all four of his powers manifesting around him.
"You made one mistake, however, and that was allowing me to come here, you should have done everything in your power to stop me, not merely try and trick me."
"This is game over for you." Reign said as he stood only 5 meters away from the spirit who was shaking in fear. All four of Reign's abilities were placing a great strain on it, and without any help, it would soon be destroyed by Reign's mere presence.
"You … you are a Nephilim." The spirit said as it suddenly stared at Reign.
"Of course, how did I not realize it sooner, your powers, it was so obvious, why … why was I unable to figure it out earlier?!"
"Why are you against my master, she is a being created out of chaos, and yet she wields light and souls, she is a being that is infinitely close to you Nephilims, possessing similar powers to you!"
"She had never had any clashes against you in the past, none of you attacked her, you deemed her as worthy enough to exist, even if she was a demon!"
"So why, why attack now, why stop this?!"
"Worthy enough to exist?" Reign said with a sneer present on his face.
"A demon?"
"A demon was said to be worthy enough to exist in the universe by some Nephilims?"
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Huh?" The spirit stared at Reign who smirked at him.
"I am a Nephilim, and that is where my connection with them ends."
"Nephilims are allowed to make their own decisions on matters, and right now, you are trying to harm a person I don't wish to see harmed, not to mention the fact that filthy demoness had placed her fragments in another person I cared about in the past."
"Hades might have started this, but I am going to end it, that 'Saintess' of yours, I will make sure she will be gone forever in the future." Reign said before pushing his palm forward, causing his four powers to go forth and hit the spirit, destroying it in an instant.
He then grabbed the chains that bound Liara and destroyed them before freeing her and making her wake up.
"Come on, we need to take control of the artifact." Reign said as he stared above before flapping his wings and flying up with Liara in his arms.
'Wait … what happened, I … I don't know what-"
"The spirit had a part of him inside, he tried to use you, that was why they wished for you to make contact with the artifact, it was so they could take control of both the artifact and your body, making you nothing more but a puppet of those souls inside of you."
"They didn't consider what I would do, however, nor what powers I had, otherwise they would have tried to do something else, well … I guess those are good news for us." Reign said as he smirked before they arrived at the ceiling that stood a couple of hundreds of meters high.
Reign continued flying up as his abilities flared up and went forward, hitting the ceiling and creating a hole through which he flew out.
Liara's eyes suddenly widened as she stared at what was in front of them, "This … this is the core of the artifact?"
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆webnovel