"What sorcery is this?" the half-man, half-tentacled abomination snarled.

His once-human visage had been cleaved in two, exposing a squid-like countenance adorned with two ebony orbs for eyes and a toothy maw surrounded by writhing tentacles. From the waist up, his body retained a humanoid shape, but below, it transformed into undulating appendages that pulsed with an eerie vitality.

"I dislike this as much as you. Rest assured," Relay replied. The golden ferrox, ethereal and weightless, floated near the grotesque cultivator. "However, you have imprisoned my master, and wherever he goes, so do I."

A spear of obsidian energy, adorned with wicked barbs, pierced through Relay's spectral form, its assault in vain. Disregarding the attack, Relay moved over Kai's body.

Kai had become a macabre tapestry within the dim chamber. Shadowy tendrils impaled his flesh at numerous points, binding him tightly to the pulsating floor. The room itself had been sculpted from the twisted flesh of the malevolent cultivator.

"Pointless," Relay raised his gaze. "If you want to be rid of me, you must release him. Not even his death will be enough."

Kai was one of many bodies stitched into this abomination. The “throne” the grotesque cultivator sat on was another body stitched to him. Hundreds of different bodies, humans, and spirit beasts were held fast by the same disgusting tendrils. Outside the “room,” the bodies of his collection were forced to swim toward their home.

“Mine!” he drawled, “His body is strong. His flesh resists, but his mind is weak. I will break him like all the others.” Relay noticed the black tendrils that pierced Kai's brainstem. No doubt, how he’s able to see me. He’s able to tap into his mind at some level.

“We’re not all broken,” the near-corpse of another man opened his eyes and struggled to move. “Not yet!” The corpse was in pieces. Tendrils had pulled the organs from him and replaced their function. Relay didn’t understand how he could be alive.

“Silence!” the abomination screamed hatefully. The corpse let out a blood-curdling cry as the hooks in his flesh twisted and tightened.

“What’s your name?” Relay asked, moving before the throne. “I keep thinking ugly-squid man, but that doesn’t do you justice.”

“Impudence, annoying,” the man-squid spat, “I am Dreadweaver, the Abyssal Monarch, King of the Ocean.”

“Maybe this ocean,” Relay laughed, “but probably not even the whole ocean since you’re hiding in a hole with your crab minions. Anyhow nice to meet you, Deadweaver. My name is Galacticore Model GC 6000. As far as names go, I think you have me beat.”

Relay descended, settling into a position, easing himself into the darkness.

“Galacticore,” Dreadweaver tried out the name.

"So what’s the deal, Dudweaver," Relay questioned, his voice resolute, "you capture unsuspecting individuals and weave them into your being, manipulating them as if they were mere puppets?"

A hushed murmur pierced the air as a pale woman propped herself on her one remaining arm. Her voice trembling with emotion. "Your name is Sen Sui," she whispered, her lengthy hair hanging thin and soaked, clinging to her balding scalp. Her body quivered, tears welling in her eyes. “I was once your honored sister.”

The woman's lower limbs were absent, replaced by writhing tentacles.

"Silence!"

Relay glanced up at the Abyssal Monarch, pondering the peculiar nature of his existence. Perhaps a cultivator affected by deviant practices? His attention returned to the grieving woman before him.

"All shall merge with me, and I shall merge with all," Dreadweaver spoke enigmatically, his laughter tainted with a sickly, wet quality.

"So, Dimweaver, if I understand correctly, you were once a cultivator before devolving into this thing?" Relay pressed on.

"Dreadweaver!" the tentacles retorted, his voice dripping with malice. "The name is Dreadweaver. I was weak before, but now, fused with the Abyssal Lord, all shall fear me."

"Listen, Dunceweaver," Relay retorted, unyielding in his stance, "I understand that your appearance has confined you to the shadows. Truly, it's a lamentable sight. You might as well wear a sign that says 'end my misery' taped to your back. No judgment, of course, but a reality check seems long overdue."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Impertinence," Dreadweaver seethed, thrusting his spear-like appendage once more. It passed through Relay harmlessly, impaling itself upon his own flesh.

"He spirals further into the depths of madness," groaned another figure, half-devoured and barely clinging to existence.

"Whoa there, your tentacleship," Relay interjected, a note of amusement mingling with his resolute tone. "They cannot perceive my presence. They would deem you insane. Well, insaner. You realize you're teetering on the brink of madness, right?"

The cultivator's gaze darted about, his eyes sweeping over the subjects under his dominion. Droplets of water dribbled from his tentacled maw as he settled on his grotesque throne.

"Is it madness to seek the unity of all flesh, to forge a harmonious existence?" he pondered, his voice tinged with a distorted sense of purpose. "Is it madness for the strong to shield the weak, allowing them to partake in that strength?"

"You speak of peace and protection, yet all I witness is slavery and agony. You impose your ideals upon those who are weaker. Did your subjects willingly submit, or were they coerced?" Relay drew nearer, hovering close to the Abyssal Cultivator's head.

The woman stirred, lifting her head, her gaze scanning the surroundings until she locked onto Kai's body. The flesh of the Abyssal Lord had already begun its encroachment, engulfing his legs.

"I beseech thee, my Lord. We are spent, our lives long forsaken. Do not condemn another to this wretched fate. End us and save my brother," she implored, resisting the tightening grip of the hooks. "Release us all from this accursed existence."

"Strength is no curse. Through this strength, I shall preserve us and bestow this blessing upon all," the Dreadweaver declared, rising from his throne, his voice echoing through the chamber as he silenced his sister's pleas.

"Dumbweaker, Dregwaiver, Dillwammer. No? That’s the best I got," Relay remarked, redirecting his attention to Kai.

"You almost had me with your 'tentacleship'," Kai grinned, his eyes opening. "But a bet's a bet."

"Have you heard enough?" Relay queried.

"Yes, I believe so," Kai replied. White flames erupted around him, scorching the blackened tentacles until they were naught but ash. Standing tall, golden power surged through his being, illuminating his form with a radiant glow. A burst of golden light emanated from his chest, engulfing the grotesque throne room in a swarm of brilliant light.

"What is..." the Dreadweaver's mouth opened wide, his eyes filled with astonishment. Relay observed Kai vanish, only to reappear behind the throne. The Dreadweaver's face slackened, his head drooping lifelessly. The motes transformed into a myriad of minuscule crabs, voraciously devouring the abominable creature.

Kai approached what remained of the woman, kneeling beside her.

"It is done," he whispered, cupping her head gently.

"This humble one shall forever be grateful," she murmured, her body weakening. Serenity graced her pale countenance. Relay believed she had passed, yet after a moment, her eyes fluttered open once more.

"He was once beautiful, just like you," she smiled at Kai, her thin lips parting to reveal teeth blackened and decayed. "We both were."

Her eyes closed and didn’t open again. Kai laid her to rest. The motes devoured the room, flooding it. Kai hovered in the water. His eyes closed.

Relay focus shifted to the laboratory in Kai’s soul space. Kai carried the black soul of the Dreadweaver to the soul-splitting chamber. He deposited the soul inside and collared the container. He turned to look at Relay but said nothing, returning to start the machine. The soul shook, trembled, and exploded into a haze. Kai turned it off, and the fragments slowed.

Slowly rotating around the central chunk was a perfectly cut gemstone.

Kai removed the collar and retrieved it. He held it up and inspected it. Black as the most bottomless abyss, it glistened with an ominous brilliance akin to the boundless expanse of the cosmos. Relay glimpsed the eerie radiance reflected in the depths of Kai's eyes.

“Do you think it drove him mad?” Relay asked, “Whatever concept was inside that stone? A concept could be anything. Madness itself is a concept.”

“I don’t know,” he gripped the stone. “I can’t know.”

Relay floated beside him as he walked out of the lab to the outer deck.

“I think the method other soulforgers use is more dangerous. They don’t seem to have the same body and spirit souls concept. I think they try taking the whole soul and feeding it into their spirit soul. Who knows what that might do?”

After a moment, Kai turned to him.

“Do you think he sounded crazy? Wanting to bring unity to everything? To bring peace?”

“When you say it like that, out here, not enthroned on the bodies of those you’ve enslaved, it sounds perfectly rational. Context is everything.”

Kai smiled.

“So what will you do with it?” Relay asked, “The black soul gem, I mean.”

“I’m trying to decide,” Kai replied. “I’m conflicted. What would the concept be? Slavery? Domination? How could such ever be wielded for good?”

Kai walked to the rail and looked out into space. After a moment, he opened his hand and looked at the gem. It sparkled in the light of the stars. Relay looked into the deep darkness of the stone and saw nothing.