In the end, Snuggle stayed — for a few more days, according to her. She was recovering from the wounds received in the battle against the Great Beast splendidly, but somehow, she still seemed downcast.

“A Great Nightmare Creature back home. What a Nightmare!"

The shadow could hear her grumbling from time to time.

“How many of these horrors are out there, for me to slam into one right away? Brrr. Scary!"

Actually, a Great Beast was already a rarity in this era. The Age of Heroes was in full swing, after all. In fact, it had probably passed the halfway mark already, and the vague shape of the Golden Age — the Age of Humans — could already be seen far in the distance. The shadow wasn't quite sure, considering how rarely news of the outside world reached him.

There were still some Great abominations around, and even those who were far more powerful. But meeting one randomly was uncommon — it was just that the realm where the shadow dwelled was quite special in that regard, like a preserve for eldritch horrors.

That was because the heroes of the modern era had not gotten here yet, and the most powerful noble creature who resided in these lands — the shadow — did not feel inclined to go out of his way to battle these abominations. As long as they knew their place, he simply left them alone.

However, he did not feel the need to explain that to the downcast doll.

“What about you, Shadow? Do you clash with Great abominations often? Well... they would scare a Supreme Titan, I suppose.”

The shadow nodded.

“Not that often. And they don't scare me, indeed."

He remained silent for a moment, then added, wanting to appear more relatable:

"It's not like I don't get scared, though. One time, I watched Beast God kill and devour a Void Creature. That gave me a fright."

Snuggle hiccuped.

Somehow, the shadow got a sense that his attempt to seem relatable had not worked. Some time later, Snuggle asked in a timid tone:

"A—anyway. What do you do here for fun?"

The shadow had to contemplate her question.

'What is fun?'

Was it something he enjoyed doing? Eventually, he said:

"I like to sleep."

The little doll stared at him with her beady eyes. Then, she giggled.

“So we have something in common, after all!"

Since Snuggle was going to stay... for a few days... the shadow decided that she needed a place to rest. He didn't want to return to the temple, so he led her to the largest and most opulent structure in the city — the manor where its former lord had lived.

As they entered, Snuggle looked around.

"Is this your house?"

The shadow shrugged.

"All houses in this city are mine."

Around them, the shades of the servants and slaves were busy dusting the floors and performing other tasks needed for the upkeep of the large manor. Their presence seemed to make the little doll uncomfortable, so the shadow called them back into his soul.

"Choose whichever room you like."

Seemingly satisfied, Snuggle scampered away to explore the house. The shadow, meanwhile, followed an instinct and went into the kitchen.

There, he halted in confusion.

‘Why did I come here?'

The shadow had not eaten anything since the dawn of time, and Snuggle was a doll — even if there was a Transcendent soul within it, she still couldn't consume food. Needless to say, there was no food to be cooked in the ancient manor, anyway.

The shadow frowned.

‘I guess treating a guest to some food is just a habit I picked up in my countless lives.'

Tatal used to steal the offerings from his altar, as well. So, it felt strange not to offer Snuggle anything to eat.

Shaking his head, he returned to the foyer.

“Shadow! I'll take the master bedroom!"

A squeaky voice resounded from somewhere deeper in the manor. The shadow shrugged, indifferent to her choice. And that was how his kingdom got a second resident.

As far as residents went, Snuggle was clearly a failure — she did not pay any tax, went around brazenly illuminating the peaceful darkness, and was surprisingly loud despite her small stature.

Still, the shadow somehow found himself enjoying her company.

It was not unpleasant, at least.

So... perhaps that was fun.

Snuggle spent the first few days recovering from her wounds and replenishing her essence. Then, she went to explore the city. After that was done, she began slowly and carefully scouting out the surrounding lands, observing the Nightmare Creature that populated them from a distance.

The more she learned, the more dismayed she became.

“Another Tyrant... what the heck? Is this place really hell? No, there would be an abundance of Devils in hell, so if anything, this place is worse..."

After a while, feeling curious, the shadow finally asked:

“That day when you fought the Great Beast. How did you do it?"

Snuggle stared at him in confusion.

"Did what?"

The shadow sighed.

“I saw it. You weakened the sea of Corruption in his soul — you destroyed some of it, even. I've never seen anything like it."

After hesitating for a moment, he added:

“Destroying Corruption is the domain of death. It should be impossible to cleanse a living creature of Corruption without killing it."

He should know. After all, he was an emissary of death.

The little doll tilted her head a little.

“Oh, that? Well, it's simple. That's my Aspect."

The shadow frowned.

“Only humans have Aspects. You are not a human; you are a soul."

Snuggle raised her chin haughtily.

“So what? I'm a human soul!"

Then, she scaled the leg of a table he was sitting at like an experienced alpinist and sat down, her legs hanging from the edge.

"My Dormant Ability allows my soul to wander as a free spirit and animate various things. My Awakened Ability allows me to heal my own soul. My Ascended Ability allows me to infuse others with my essence to heal or empower them."

The shadow studied the radiant soul that shone within Snuggle.

‘The unusual potency of her essence must be the result of an Attribute, then — or even several of them, including a Divine Lineage. Quite a powerful combination.'

“What about your Transcendent Ability?"

Snuggle coughed in embarrassment.

“Oh... my Transformation, you mean? Well, it's very beautiful and splendid! It gives me a corporeal form. A very beautiful, very magnificent form! Way more majestic and impressive than this doll. However, I can only heal souls, not flesh... so, I don't use it often in this dire place."

She sighed, her shoulders falling.

“Plus, I have misplaced my real body. So, I don't even know how my Transformation would work if I were whole."

The shadow raised an eyebrow. From the sound of it, Snuggle had misplaced her real body some time ago — before she became a Transcendent, at least.

However, that was not very important to him.

“That still doesn't explain how you were able to destroy Corruption."

Snuggle raised her little hands and waved them in front of her beady eyes. The shadow observed her strange antics in silence.

“What are you doing?"

She lowered her hands.

“I'm blinking in confusion!"

The shadow took a deep breath, suppressing the desire to palm his face.

‘Right. She doesn't have eyelids, so why not?'

"What is so confusing about my question?"

Snuggle beamed.

“Well, didn't I already say it? I heal souls!"

He frowned, still unable to understand. Noticing his confusion, the little doll explained:

“Corruption infects souls, does it not? So I can heal souls from that infection, as well."

The shadow stared at her silently.

‘Corruption... is an infection.'

Her explanation was far too simple, but it made a strange kind of sense.

Corruption was indeed an unnatural state. It was the result of foreign influence — that of the Void — twisting and changing the souls of those who were born from the Flame. So, destroying Corruption could indeed be seen as restoring souls to their intended shape. Or, in other words, healing them.

Destruction, restoration... the words were different, but they meant the same thing.

It was a miraculous power, no doubt — especially considering how potent the essence of the radiant soul was, as well as the fact that it was infused with the Flame of Divinity. That attribute, after all, was the antithesis of the Void, and therefore of Corruption.

And since the wandering soul could heal itself, as well, she had to possess a truly fearsome resistance to being Corrupted. Which was not to say that she was completely immune to it. Even the shadow, who was far more powerful than her and a Shadow Creature to boot, was not immune to Corruption. There was no one in the world who could resist it fully — not even the gods...

No. There was one being.

Wasn't there?

“Anyway, why are you asking?"

The shadow shifted slightly, then looked at Snuggle.

“No reason. I was just curious, since I've never seen anything like it before... and I've seen a great deal of things."

He remained silent for a moment, then asked:

“So what are your plans? What do you want to achieve?"

The little doll had been cautiously exploring the outside world, so it seemed that she still harbored a desire to leave — or wanted to make sure that she had a way out, at least.

Snuggle looked away and swung her little feet a few times, in no hurry to answer. Eventually, she shrugged with a smile.

“I am not sure. All this time, I was just trying to survive. But... that's enough of a goal, I think."

She looked at him, her smile widening a little.

“That's because someone will come to rescue me, eventually. I just need to stay alive long enough for that person not to have wasted his time. He'd be quite disappointed to find me dead."

The shadow did not say anything, staring into the distance.

Somehow, an old memory surfaced from the depths of his mind.

He remembered a harrowing abyss full of impenetrable darkness, a narrow cliff, and a lantern that hung from the crossguard of a shattered sword.

And old bones illuminated by the light of the lantern, lying lonesomely amidst the darkness.

He sighed, not knowing why.

After remaining silent for a while, the shadow said:

"I hope you won't have to wait long."

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