"Is there any way to use it without the toxic effects?" Kayden tried to manipulate the mana slightly, but within seconds, he felt the source of its toxicity—it directly affected his soul, contaminating small fragments of it with mana.
This contamination was like a residue of ink. The soul remained mostly the same, but small portions of it became intoxicated. A tiny fragment could recover after a few years, but survival became increasingly difficult as more fragments were affected.
Kayden ran several tests and found no way to cleanse his soul. He couldn’t even make it recognize the contamination—it was as if the ink didn’t exist for his soul. This rendered him unable to cleanse it since it’s impossible to clean something that isn’t perceived as dirty.
"Only if you fully understand the law of mana. But by then, you’ll be at a divine level, and this mana won’t matter to you anymore." Kayden grew more curious. Nothing was truly impossible; he just hadn’t discovered how to use it yet.
The following days were some of the worst in Kayden’s life. He spent every single moment with Athena, savoring every second they had together. It was an incredibly painful time. The universe was calm before the storm; relationships would soon dissolve, and wars would break out across every corner. Without the invisible pressure of the gods, mortals felt free to do as they pleased.
Kayden ignored everything for three weeks. For 21 days, he lived with Athena as if no other soul existed in the entire universe. He didn’t even step out to meet the artisans who had come to his planet, leaving everything in Atlas’s hands and isolating himself from the world.
"I’ve known what you’re planning for a long time. I’ve watched as you fought against it, but in the end, your mind prevailed over your soul, didn’t it?" On the day Kayden had marked as the end, Athena spoke these words.
She caught him completely off guard. They knew each other better than anyone else, every minuscule detail about one another. But Kayden believed he had hidden his intentions well. He simply looked into Athena’s eyes—one reflecting a colossal pain of acceptance, and the other a torment of doubt.
"I told you from the beginning what my goals were," Kayden replied, feeling the situation grow increasingly difficult.
"And what now? Are you going to fight me?" Athena smiled at him, seeing the person she loved most break her heart once again.
"You can’t bring yourself to attack me." The woman lowered her head and began sobbing quietly. This was the unvarnished truth—attacking one’s soulmate was impossible. She would rather have her soul shattered than do that.
Most would call it a foolish decision, but it was nearly impossible to harm a soulmate. One’s soul would rebel against such an act. Only someone utterly insane could do something remotely like this.
"Hug me?" Athena looked at Kayden and made her final request. It was the saddest sentence Kayden had ever heard in his entire life. For the first time in billions of years, he began crying alongside her.
"Are you not angry?" Kayden couldn’t understand how Athena remained so calm.
"You’ll be condemned to spend the rest of your existence feeling alone. Even in death and rebirth, you’ll feel incomplete. There’s no punishment worse than that." Athena smiled at him.
This was undeniably true. Those who had experienced the love of a soulmate would never feel complete again if it was lost. This would be a burden Kayden would carry to the end of time.
"I understand. Thank you for these years; they were truly the best of my life." Kayden smiled at his wife, listening as she thanked him in return. They spent a few more moments reminiscing about the past.
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At a seemingly random moment, Kayden began infiltrating Athena’s soul without her noticing. She had already shut off all her senses and was merely awaiting the inevitable. Kayden ensured that her final moments were the best of her life. Even though it would haunt him for the rest of his existence, these moments would replay in his memory for an unimaginably long time—likely until his last breath.
Kayden thought long and hard about what could elevate him to become a true ten-ray mage, something that would make him utterly unique, capable of challenging the ten rays. It took him an enormous amount of time to develop this plan and even longer to summon the courage to carry it out.
In all the universe’s history, it was likely that no one had ever been capable of killing their soulmate. The mere thought was insane—so much so that Kayden was sure no one would ever suspect him of it. Even if they did, they would never believe it. It was simply unthinkable for one soulmate to kill another.
Kayden didn’t say goodbye to Athena; he couldn’t bring himself to. He simply shattered her soul the moment he gained access to it. The eyes of the person he loved most in the universe grew lifeless, her body going limp and void of any signs of life. It was done—he had killed his soulmate.
Without hesitation, Kayden began pulling Athena’s soul toward his own. He slowly stripped it of all its memories and fractures, purifying it into a clean soul. The process took years. Fortunately, Kayden had already informed everyone that the two would be absent, so no one disturbed them during this time.
Kayden cried every second of the process. His mind was a chaotic mess, his soul aching at an unimaginable level. None of the pain he had ever endured came close to even 1% of what he was feeling now. If someone had asked Kayden whether he would rather endure this or live with all the pain of his entire life combined, he would have chosen the latter without hesitation.
After Athena’s soul was cleansed of memories, Kayden began to remove her abilities and everything that made her unique, the process again took a long time and he cried every second with one of the most difficult actions of his entire life.