Just as those words left him, Absolute Will awakened.

And because freedom of the souls was the only thought in his mind since he had begun climbing the wailing mountain, his words transformed into a conceptual firmament far stronger than ever before.

It was so strong that it had even gained a physical appearance.

The conceptual firmament, which had only existed as a sensation, was now a small golden orb with a closed red lotus at its heart.

As it floated at the peak of the mountain, Rion sank deep within the wails of the damned souls.

Their madness spread, turned into dark, tangible strings, and began to wrap around him like a spider's net.

The deeper he sank, the more memories flooded into his barely holding mind.

These memories however, weren't complete they were broken, similar to the beings they belonged to.

Just as the strings covered his whole frame, the red lotus began to open.

Bright light seeped out from it, and once it opened completely, its radiance spread throughout the dark world.

The dark mucus that had made this world began to sizzle under the light of the red lotus, and the souls began to unravel from one another, cracks appearing across their black forms, and from those cracks poured out a dim white light.

These souls were different from the ones that had latched onto him; these were trapped for so long that the Corrupted Abysmal Flame had deformed their very form into something beyond human.

As the white radiance of the red lotus spread throughout the dark world, the souls regained their form, their screams turned into cries, and after some time, they vanished as well.

The dark world that used to be filled with nothing but dreadful cries fell silent, and the mountain disappeared entirely.

A few moments later, cries echoed once again — however, they were not of agony or sorrow... they were of joy, of finally gaining the freedom that they had desperately desired for decades, if not centuries.

Whispers of gratitude that he couldn't hear resounded everywhere.

One by one, souls began to disappear, and within mere moments, all of them were gone.

The dark world no longer had any soul trapped inside it, but the madness that had cocooned around Rion was still forcing its way into his mind, its only purpose was to turn Rion into one of its kind... into something that was neither living nor dead. Neither mortal nor immortal.

An entity that existed between dualities.

And it seemed to be nearing success.

Rion was unconscious, out of the aura and didn't have the immortal body at the moment.

If madness succeeded in twisting his current form, the one to leave won't be Rion but a being corrupted by the madness of the souls whose salvation he had become.

But before this horrifying possibility could become reality, the light spreading outwards from the red lotus focused entirely on Rion, the dark, terrific strings wrapped around him began to burn under the light, and the maddened memories that were assaulting his mind began to vanish.

With each passing moment, another string snapped, and another memory disappeared.

Rion's mind began to clear, and he could once again control his body.

He gasped loudly, his eyes fluttered open, and the golden orb with the red lotus fell into his vision.

He stared at the conceptual firmament of freedom with weary eyes, and cracks spread across the world and the orb.

The orb disappeared into golden dust.

"Why... am I crying...?" tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. He didn't have any memory of why he was crying or who he was crying for, but the tears didn't stop.

Just as his first teardrop fell onto the ground beneath, the world shattered like a mirror.

Rion felt a slight tug at his body before the smell of scorched earth and burning wood hit him.

His pitch-black eyes returned to their normal state, and his gaze fell onto the flame monster and Haden standing at the heart of the crater.

"Not yet..." he mumbled and pushed himself off the ground.

As he leapt into the crater, his body healed itself, and he began to walk towards them.

His steps were slow and unsteady, but his gaze was sharp.

After a handful of minutes, he reached the centre of the vast crater.

Haden looked at Rion, emotions flaring in his eyes. He had many words to say and many questions to ask, but he decided to stay silent for now.

Rion looked at his father and mumbled, "I am fine."

Haden nodded, and both of their gazes shifted towards the flame monster that stood frozen in its place.

The flames that made its body weren't as violent as before, and its red, ravenous eyes had turned dark.

No matter how one looked at it, it seemed lifeless.

An amused chuckle escaped from Rion's lips, and he said evenly, "Even though I only know you for no more than a year, I understand you pretty well."

He took a step forward, closing the distance between them and continued, "You who had planned your way to victory would never accept defeat."

After saying that, he stopped as if waiting for the lifeless monster to answer him.

Moments passed and turned into minutes as he waited.

He shook his head and spat, "Who are you to fool me, you ghost?! Do you truly believe that you can hide yourself from me?"

The monster stayed still, and his eyes turned bloodshot, his gaze shifted towards the chains revolving around the Corrupted Abysmal Flame, and he spoke, "Brea—"

However, before he could finish his words, the monster's tail shot towards his body, and Haden pulled him out of its way.

"Hahahahaha!" Rion laughed loudly and spat, "What happened, The Remnant?! Are you scared?! Scared that an ancient being like yourself can be killed by mere words of mine?!"

The lifeless flame monster, or The Remnant, turned his head towards them and asked softly, "Why would I be scared of death when I am already dying?"

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