Arpious of the Planes

[Authority level is not high enough]

[Interference by higher being]

[Greater being has shifted the cogs of life]

[The plane cries out in disgust by your existence]

"Hey, you bastard,"

I snapped my head upwards after reading the panels below me.

It was myself again but in divinity while using the censored forbidden magic.

"We had to sacrifice one of us!"

I was confused, angry, disgusted, just a mess of emotions, and now my inner demon was screaming at me for seemingly no apparent reason.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" I shouted, waving my arm towards them, creating a red flame that ripped through the darkness.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHUT THE HELL UP! IF YOU JUST SELECTED THE RIGHT EVOLUTION, YOU WOULD'VE BEEN THE STRONGEST BEING IN EXISTENCE! NOW WE HAVE TO SACRIFICE PART OF OURSELVES JUST SO WE CAN SURVIVE! OUR POTENTIAL IS BECOMING LOWER AND LOWER BECAUSE OF YOUR IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY!" My inner demon shouted back after deflecting the flame with just its hand.

[The plane rumbles in disgust]

[The Plane Guardian: Great Moonfish has inspected your soul]

[The Plane Guardian: Great Moonfish wails in anger by your existence]

"You idiot. You idiot. You idiot. You idiot. You idiot. You idiot. You idiot. You idiot. You idiot. You idiot! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! UH! I JUST CAN'T WITH YOU! HOW DID YOU BECOME MY HOST! HOW IS YOUR SOUL ANYWHERE NEAR ALIGNED WITH MINE!"

My inner demon began to have a mental breakdown.

"YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE NOT WANTING TO DIE! DON'T BE A SELFISH PIECE OF SHIT!"

This is not me… It's something else.

I was confused at first when I encountered multiple inner demons, who said they took the form of my traumas.

I knew I had a lot of traumas, but I didn't know if I had that many.

My previous life was miserable, disgusting, and overall terrible… and so I quickly realized that something had been affecting it.

Maybe I was cursed. Perhaps I was just severely unlucky. Perhaps I had done something wrong in my past life.

But no, no matter how hard I tried to repent, I would always end up in some miserable situation, so I stopped trying to grieve and began to fix myself like a robot.

But in the end, I was still killed… and it was due to my own insanity.

"Who are you?" I ask the woman in front of me.

Her face was a mess, and her hair was a mess. She had even ripped off her own nails due to stress.

"I'M YOU! NOW STOP TALKING TO ME! I NEED TO THINK! THINK! THINK! THEY'RE COMING! I'VE BEEN EXPOSED, AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!"

She slipped up.

She had always referred to herself as "us," but just now, she referred to herself as a single person.

"No, you're not," I reply.

The woman snapped her head towards me and, like a rabid beast, lunged at me, reaching for my throat.

For some strange reason, I felt calm, even as the insane bloodlust radiating from the woman in front of me clawed at my body.

It was suffocating, but I was calm.

BAM

I lifted my right foot up, kicking my inner demon in the solar plexus.

She threw up on the ground.

There were chunks, and they were made up of the food I ate this morning.

The woman was about to tackle me, but I lifted up my knee, cocking her in the forehead and seemingly knocking her out.

The back of her head slammed against the black floor.

I walked over to her and grabbed her hair, pulling her face towards me.

I slapped her face a couple of times, allowing her pupils to peel back into her sockets.

"Are you the one who made my life so miserable?"

"S-so what if it was me! You can't get rid of me! We're both going to have our souls eradicated any second now!"

"Yeah? Then what was that about you shifting the cogs of life?"

"H-how did you know it was me!?"

"I don't even know what the cogs of life are, but judging from how desperate you are and how you've traveled with my soul, I could only assume it was you,"

"B-but what about the other great spirits?! Wouldn't you think it's them?"

"Nevermind, I was just joking. I wanted to draw that answer out of you. In fact, I had no idea who it was and already suspected it was one of the great spirits… but I guess not," I respond, tossing the woman aside.

"Y-you bastard!"

Despite me saying all this, I could feel fear welling up inside me again.

My soul is about to be eradicated… I'm probably going to be erased forever, unable to reincarnate… but this panel in front of me…

It seems like my inner demon can't see it, but I can definitely see it.

I hope it's not me hallucinating otherwise… I have a 0% chance of survival.

[Processing soul…]

A few minutes had passed.

A long silence fell over the blank canvas of an abyss, myself and my inner demon was currently in.

[Soul has finished processing]

[Procedure has been approved by a few great spirits]

[Procedure is commencing-]

[Procedure has been declined by a few great spirits]

[Poll has been set]

[Poll results have been provided]

[Yes - 7 Votes]

[No - 6 Votes]

[Procedure is commencing]

[The Fallen Spirit: Cronus-Devourer of Galaxies has been torn from the host's soul]

[Backlash has commenced]

A searing pain erupted from my chest, just like when both of the ancient fires were ripped from my soul when I had to sacrifice them for a skill.

I fell to the ground, and my inner demon had woken up but instantly fainted after feeling the same searing pain.

She was a pitiful sight, but I didn't have time to feel bad as it felt as if I was dying.

This pain was so bad that I'd die from the shock if I weren't careful.

[The Fallen Spirit: Chronus-Devourer of Galaxies has retaliated against the seperation]

[The power of Chronus is too great to be separated from the host]

[The Great Spirits pour in more power]

[The Great Spirits cry out in disgust by your existance]

[Warning]

[Warning]

[Warning]

[Both souls are too compatible]

[Seperation of souls will result in the complete destruction of both]

[The Great Spirits cry out in anger]

"Hey… You bastard… Come here, touch my hand,"

A voice came from below me, and I noticed it was my inner demon who crawled all the way next to me.

Her fingernails were bleeding so much I wondered how she wasn't dead yet.

"Why?" I ask, but my inner demon wasn't having any of it.

She was biting down onto her lower lip so hard it pierced the skin.

Her anger had coagulated into a bloodlust that was completely on par with mine… no, it was even greater.

If mine was a demon, hers was a god. A great spirit even, if you go off the lore of this world.

"Come on… Please, I don't want to die. I don't want to be erased… I still have something to do… Please… I beg of you… Touch my hand,"

In just a split second, her anger had shed into sadness.

Her tears mixed with her blood, creating a large puddle below her neck, which spread into her black dress.

She looked like me in my past life.

Desperate for a goal, even if it meant giving up everything else.

My goals may have swayed multiple times, and I might've ended my life completing an act of petty revenge… But I still had a goal.

A goal can fill you with determination depending on how strongly you feel about it.

"And you have so much determination you are actually managing to sway me," I mutter, taking the limp hand of the pale woman below me.

[Bond has been formed]

[Soul frequencies have been met]

[Souls have completely fused]

[Warning]

[Complete fusion of souls will result in warped and mixed personalities]

[Interference by higher being]

"Don't worry, I got this," The woman mutters.

[Higher being does not have the authority to complete this task]

[Other beings have interfered]

[Combined authority is sufficient]

[Evolution has been switched]

[Sacrifice is needed]

"I'm gonna access your status for a bit… [Κατάσταση]," My inner demon mutters.

[The cogs of life have turned once again]

[The plane cries out in anger]

[The following skills have been sacrificed]

.

[Primordial Bloodlust]

[Predators Scorching Enhancment]

[Predators Assassination Mist]

[Fear Inducing Glare]

.

[Sacrifice is insufficient]

[The cogs of life request for more]

"Greedy bastards,"

I looked down at my inner demon, who looked as if she could die at any moment.

I held her hand tightly as she squeezed her eyes shut, seemingly completing an impossible task.

[The cogs of life have turned once again]

[The plane cries out in anger]

Suddenly the darkness below me began to shake as if an earthquake was brewing.

"Dammit… Something much worse is coming now," My inner demon says as she reopens her eyes.

The darkness surrounding us was suddenly torn open, revealing a gray turtle larger than a mountain.

"What the hell…"