Morana, using her divine privilege, reached for an ability that allowed her to extract the remnants of a fallen person's shattered soul to learn the circumstances of his death. It was not the true soul of the deceased, but only an echo of it.

< Death's Domain: Summoning the Fallen >

A black mist began to surround the sorceress's corpse, and when it completely covered it, the mist lifted, forming a cloud that resembled the body lying beneath it.

“Tell me, Kanra, what were you doing here and how did you die?” Morana asked, with a loud dragon voice.

Kanra's echo bowed to Morana and began answering her questions.

“We were sent out as a reconnaissance group to investigate what causes the monsters in this forest to migrate outside its borders. During our expedition, we came across a troll. Our leader decided that he must be the mentioned culprit, and decided to attack,” replied the echoing Kanra in a monotone voice stripped of any emotions.

“So you all died through your own fault?”

“Yes. We did not properly assess the threat posed by the troll, which ended in the deaths of the leader Mirek, and the hunter Neitor. The priest and I tried to take cover in the ruins, but we failed to escape the troll,” the echo replied in one breath.

“Another reckless amateurs. Leave,” ordered Morana, and the cloud dissolved into the air, with no trace left behind.

The dragoness looked around the square in front of the ruins, where the fight with the elf group had taken place. Not spotting the troll's corpse anywhere, she looked at the rammed entrance.

“They dragged you inside? You should know that's a bad idea,” Morana commented, lecturing the troll. “We'll have to go inside.”

Of course, in her dragon form, Morana was too big to fit through the narrow corridors.

Her body began to blur as if disintegrating into finer particles, forming a cloud. Once all of it was covered in a black fog, she began transforming into human form. This was an extremely rare ability; only dragons at the very peak of power could adopt human form.

When the fog descended, her figure appeared. Glistening black hair with purple accents fell to her exposed shoulders. Two thick braids, forming at neck level, dangled freely, reaching past her waist. Loose bangs, with single strands falling over perfectly shaped black eyebrows, covered her forehead. The cold, judgmental gaze of her violet eyes, highlighted by black makeup, pierced through soul and body. Fine lips, accented with dark purple lip gloss, added to her mysteriousness. Her pale, delicate facial skin looked very young, and her short height, not exceeding 170 centimeters, did not reveal an age counted in thousands of years.

She was dressed in a high-quality gothic court dress with a corset and a deep-cut neckline that clearly emphasized her abundant breasts. She wore an ornate necklace of black silk, also in the Gothic style, which wrapped around her entire neck. Long wide sleeves draped over her arms, ending mid-shoulder, but not merging with the dress. The whole look was complemented by black leather, heeled shoes.

“Shall we go?” Asked Morana, turning to the accompanying ball of light that led her inside the fortress.

Following the troll's soul, Morana looked around, remembering how powerful this fortress was 250 years ago when a garrison of Salnian troops was stationed here. The mighty walls and solid reinforcements were filled with followers of the ancient Salnian pantheon, in which Morana played a key role, worshipped by all social classes.

“Ah, those were the days,” she sighed as the nostalgia of years gone by overwhelmed her.

'I'd like to get it all back someday,' Morana thought, feeling weakened after losing many of her followers.

Her former power faded away when the Salnian Kingdom was conquered by the Newigdon Empire, and the truce terms adopted a new religion within the kingdom's borders.

The ball of light passed the main hall and stopped at the corpse of a troll that lay next to the exit of the corridor leading to the dungeons. He was lying in a pool of stagnant blood that had drained out through a large wound on his back. Interestingly, he also had a deep cut on his neck, as if someone had tried to decapitate him, but the blade had stopped at his spinal cord.

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“Interesting. Do you want to tell me how it happened?” Asked an intrigued Morana.

“They. Cheated. Me,” she heard in reply as the bullet flashed by.

“They cheated?”

“Don't know. Don't understand,” the sphere replied.

“That's too bad because I'm really curious about it. I think I need to use my power again.”

Morana approached the troll's corpse, placing her right hand on its head, and summoned a thick book with her left hand.

< Death's Domain: Life Review >

The book opened, and a strong light swept Morana along with the troll's soul into another reality. It was an artificial dimension, created as a record of all the experiences of the fallen troll's life, which were preserved in the form of a book. Morana, as the goddess of death, could open this book and relive his last moments with him.

“We'll start from the beginning,” Morana said, rewinding the scenery to when the troll emerged from the forest, heading toward the ruins of the stronghold.

A group of adventurers began walking toward him. The troll was attacked, and although they posed no threat to him, the extremely severe fire spells cast by the sorceress Kanra only enraged him.

“It must have hurt, right?” Morana asked.

“Yes. Hurt. A lot,” replied the ball of light.

The leader of the group died trying to control his rage. The troll tore apart his body in one fell swoop, then dashed toward the sorceress.

“Okay, we know how it started. Go on...” acknowledged Morana, scrolling forward through the events.

She saw that after killing the hunter who stood in his way, the sorceress and the priest began to flee, but the troll caught them at the walls of the fortress. Then an archer from the tower called for help and started shooting at it. In a moment, others appeared.

Morana watched the events with great attention until an elf finally appeared on the scene. Then she understood why the troll was afraid to admit to Sybil why he had lost his temper.

“I don't blame you. I have to admit that she is really beautiful. Many would probably go crazy over her,” Morana stated.

“Me. Stupid.”

Moving in pursuit of the elf woman, he ran inside and, meeting the other woman, changed his target of pursuit.

“Hmm? And why is that?”

“Black. Like fur. My female” recounted the troll soul.

“I see. You were reminded of your partner.”

“But this one. Do not want.”

The elven woman, changing her appearance, dragged the troll to the dungeons, where he was locked up with two men who also died by his hand. When he finally freed himself after being stuck in the bars, he went back upstairs after the scent. The thick door, however, proved to be a difficult obstacle, and it took him a long while to force his way through.

He finally managed to get out of the dungeons and stood in the corridor. At the end of it, the elven woman was already waiting. The troll roared and dashed off to charge at the woman. The end of the corridor seemed to be moving away, which Morana noticed, but the troll ran at full speed on four paws.

*Bang*

The beast hit the wall with momentum and, stunned, fell to the ground.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the depths of the room, calling the troll. Turning in that direction, he saw a black-haired priestess.

*Bang*

The troll banged his head against another wall with all his might. Morana, looking around, noticed that the elven woman was circling the hall, changing her appearance like a chameleon among the flora. She entered the corridor from which the troll had just run out and set up another illusion there, then called out to him, attracting his attention.

“Don't tell me you're going to fall for it again?” commented Morana, in disbelief.

“...”

The troll sluggishly rose from the floor and ran toward the illusion, hitting the wall once again. Stunned from the impact, he fell on his stomach. The elven woman called out to the man for help, and he, running up to the troll, slammed the axe into the troll's neck, paralyzing his body as the spinal cord was severed.

The elf woman walked up to him and put her hand on his back. At this time, a second woman appeared and handed the elven woman a sword covered with a strong magical aura. The elven woman pressed the sword against the troll's body, trying to target a specific spot, and then, in one swift movement, sank the entire blade into his body.

“So that's how you died. I understand. They must have destroyed your magical core responsible for regeneration and taken advantage of your weakness for womens to achieve this. An interesting strategy. This elf... is an interesting case,” Morana stated.

“Elf?”

“She is a pure-blooded elf. An extremely rare race these days. But she is incredibly, hmm, weak. I can't say more. What we've looked at are only memories. I can't see through her body or soul to get to know her better. It remains for me to meet her in person,” she decided, closing the book, which brought them back to reality.

Morana stretched and yawned.

“This session was very demanding. I think I'll take a nap for a while,” she said to herself, noticing a bed in the corner of the room.