Surging dark energy coalesced into a vague human shape, identical to the sculptures he had seen before. A unicorn horn, bovine hooves, wings of a demon.
Pandora, the Plaguebringer, a trophy of the Shadow Queen Christie, was also a fragment of her soul. It was because of her that the Shadow Queen Christie became a powerful being, an equal to My Lord. A chief deity embodying both shadow and plague. The sole god of the Shadow Plane, its only ruler!
“My servant, I have heard your call,” the shadowy figure sighed ethereally, gazing down at Felix, who knelt on one knee before her.
With a voice as fleeting as a phantom's whisper, she sighed, “My servant, I've always watched over you. You are unique and exceptional. Love is the greatest enemy for spellcasters on their quest for eternity. Your path should be one of eternal being, not in pursuit of so-called love.”
Felix raised his head, his eyes showing unprecedented determination, supported by an unknown force, daring to meet the gaze of the great deity he devoted himself to!
The moment he offered half his soul to her, everything about his soul, memory, and thoughts lay bare before the Shadow Queen Christie. Having given his soul, what were mere memories to him?
“One must feel passion at least once, right? Great Shadow Queen, Your Majesty,” Felix said, bowing his head again.
The Shadow Queen Christie's apparition began to sway. She silently watched Felix, her voice firm, “My servant, your soul is unique. Blessed by laws and hiding secrets of space, it might open a window for me to the origins of the universe.
Think carefully, my servant. Once I extract your soul, no matter how powerful you become, you will forever lose the chance to be a deity, even if you hold a fragment of divinity.”
Felix spread his right hand, silently contemplating the crystal in his palm. He nodded slowly, steadfast as an ancient rock, “You are my faith. Under your protection, I fear nothing! I am willing to trade half my soul for power!”
The Shadow Queen Christie's phantom stirred, her hand formed of dark energy pressing against Felix's forehead. Roaring elemental forces swept through Felendia, these divine powers swirling around Felix: “My servant, I am curious why you chose half your soul.”
Felix looked up, silently gazing at the legendary figure before him. Then he humbly lowered his head, his voice deep, “The great Shadow Queen does not need a soulless servant.”
A faint, almost imperceptible change appeared on the Shadow Queen Christie's misty face. It seemed like a smile…
“My servant, I accept your sacrifice. In the name of the Shadow God, I grant you power. From this moment, you will be blessed by the Shadow Plane!
Neither heaven nor hell will be the resting place for your soul. Neither holy light nor tainted blood can harm your soul. When your life returns to dust, you will return to my side, my servant.”
A tumultuous magical force surged into Felix's forehead, piercing like a needle through bone.
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The pain from his soul made him tremble on the ground, biting his teeth, enduring forcefully. When the pain became unbearable, Felix drew his dagger and plunged it into his palm! Blood dripped through the blade, the physical pain buffering the soul's agony.
…
All settled into calm.
Felix, wearing only a pure white ceremonial robe, came to the highest point of Felendia.
The moon, the stars, the lights of the capital city.
He slowly closed his eyes, feeling the surging magic within him like never before. He had never felt so powerful, even though the price he paid for this power was steep…
“Master, your hair,” Vivian's voice came from behind, with a hint of surprise.
The evening breeze lifted Felix's dark brown hair, which danced in the night, gradually turning grey. From grey to white, crystalline and pale, like the color of snow-covered land.
“The Shadow Queen took half my soul, and naturally, half my life,” Felix said, his face pale in the cold moonlight, almost reflecting light. He caught a strand of his hair, which turned from dark brown to grey, then to glittering white.
Both fell silent. On the observatory of Felendia, only the howling of the night wind remained.
“I need a moment alone,” Felix closed his eyes, his pale face showing more delicate features. He gripped Mammon’s Redemption tightly, looking up at the cold, clear moon in the night sky.
Vivian's face showed hesitation. But after a moment of silence, she turned and walked down from the observatory.
Raising his hand, Felix quietly observed the deep gray crystal in his palm.
The power of the elements began to gather around him, wrapping his lean figure in a slowly glowing light.
The surging elements, driven by the force of magic, started to whirl, eventually forming an elemental storm made of negative energy, with its epicenter at Felix’s palm – the deep gray crystal!
Shatter!
The magic from the Shadow Queen Christie, the pure dark energy from the Shadow Plane, began to create fine cracks on the surface of the deep gray crystal.
As the elemental storm reached its peak, the crystal could no longer withstand the erosive, immense power and finally shattered into countless sparkling particles!
The shattered particles began to absorb and assimilate the dark energy floating in the night sky, its crystalline light gradually transforming into a deep gray force. In the end, all of it completely merged into Felix’s body.
Strangely, his body slowly rose off the ground, without any elemental fluctuation, without using even a trace of magic.
His snow-white hair danced with the night wind.
In meditation, Felix's soul seemed to suddenly enter a space with a diameter of about ten kilometers. The sky was a hazy gray, with clouds formed of strange energy surging ceaselessly. As the elements within the space flowed, they morphed into bizarre tapestries.
Angels, demons, dragons, giants.
These patterns in the sky shifted continuously, as if trying to convey something to Felix. Finally, the clouds in the sky converged and coalesced into a massive human figure!
The Goddess of Pestilence!
There was no mistake, Felix was certain. That was the Goddess of Pestilence, an image he could never forget from the eerie temple, the soul-deep fear and trembling! The goddess, born alongside the Saturn giants according to legend, her origins and purpose unknown to anyone.
Only when a devastating pestilence struck the earth would humanity remember their existence.
There were three Goddesses of Pestilence, their names unknown, and it was unclear whether they were asleep or had fallen.
But their power was undeniably immense.
The clouds gathered in the sky quickly dissipated. The dreamlike scene, reminiscent of ancient times, gradually vanished, and the night sky appeared before Felix's eyes - no stars, just a dim, murky sky with a dark red moon!
This was not the original world!
Felix was stunned. He picked up a handful of soil from the ground – moist, dark red, marked with traces of elemental power.
Where was this?
No trees, no grass, no life besides himself. The entire space was eerily silent.
Flight spell!
As soon as he left the ground, Felix sensed something unusual. His body didn't consume even a trace of magic power; it was merely a thought, and he was airborne, flying. There was no consumption of magic power, no change in elemental forces. It was as if with his mere thought, he rose off the ground, flying towards the farthest edge of the space.