Kai made his way through the mansion and entered the largest room on the third floor. There, he found countless black dresses scattered across the room, and above the fireplace, he saw it, the relic she had used to collect three of the souls of the beasts she had slaughtered.
Kai grabbed the large golden egg and moved it into his Soul Root, now a fully evolved ability of a God of Souls, a place where one could manipulate souls at the level of creation itself.
He poured his Source Mana into it, and the egg melted away, revealing three soul forms: a yellow dragon, a blue tiger, and a red turtle. All three were barely conscious and dormant.
Kai weaved his fingers, summoning the remnant of Kun that he had saved long ago within his soul, waiting for this very moment.
“Kai, is that you?” Kun gasped as he observed Kai’s evolved true form.
Kai blinked with his amber slit eyes and smiled, his shadowy hair flowing like smoke.
“It is. Things happened.” He chuckled. “But look, I found your remains.”
He pointed at the three floating souls.
“I will fuse you into what remains of Kun and then evolve all three of you into the same forms the others received. Something between a lower divinity and a High Spirit.” Kai explained.
“Boy, have you lost your mind? What do you mean you will evolve us into divinities?” Kun gasped.
“As you heard. Look, it’s a long story. For some reason, I inherited the powers of a God of Souls, and by using your previous realm, I can force your souls to remake your bodies through your link with me. Honestly, I am not entirely sure how it works since it happened automatically with the others, but it should be doable.” Kai shrugged.
“I swear, it truly is never boring when you are involved. Haha, alright, let’s do it.” Kun grinned.
Kai nodded and waved his hands, first merging the fragments of Kun into one. Then, with a loud clap, he poured Source Mana into the souls while using temporal mana to accelerate their growth.
Not even five minutes later, three large bestial forms opened their eyes.
Kun smiled enthusiastically while the other two immediately prepared to fight.
“Calm down, you two. This is Kai, and he brought us back to life. It would seem that the remnant I left behind in the fountain back then met him, and somehow things ended up this way.” Kun explained, though he himself was slightly confused.
“Things are complicated.” Kai sighed. “But let me do this. I will show you everything.”
Kai summoned a small globe of gray Soulforce and whispered,
“Soul Magic: Memory Integration.”
The globe split into three equal parts and slithered into their minds.
They gasped and lowered their guard as memories flooded them, from the moment he first entered the labyrinth to his final days in the court of the Gods of Death and the recent weeks on Ilun.
The first to speak was Gui, the turtle.
“I see. So, there are two sets of us. Similar beings, but not quite the same either. So, in the end, we were merely playthings for that goddess.” She sighed.
“I would love to tear her apart. But it would seem that you have already done that, young Kai.” Cang the tiger laughed. “True Master of Water, you make this old cat proud.” He wiped away a tear with his large paw.
“You two are overly dramatic.” Kun chuckled. “So, what now?”
“I will move you into my inner universe. You can rest there and adjust to your new forms. There is also a gate into Nine Hells, which you can use to visit your other selves. I left it there in case I need them, or they need me.” Kai explained.
“You sure are well prepared.” Cang chuckled.
“Alright, we thank you, young Kai. You are family now.” Gui spoke and floated toward him, hugging him with her long neck. “Take care of yourself. Don’t follow in all of our footsteps.” She sighed.
Kai smiled. “Don’t worry. I have no plans to die again. I haven’t even gotten married yet.” He grinned.
“Hahaha, this kid.” Kun laughed loudly.
Kai grinned and moved them all into his world.
Once he arrived, he gasped.
He had not been paying much attention to it, but now he truly saw it.
Enormous fish swam through the oceans. On the land, colossal reptiles roamed freely, and across the skies, dragons screeched as they soared through the air.
“Oh my. This is a paradise.” Kun gasped.
“Indeed. This mana. These laws. This is a complete realm. Better even than the one all four of us created together.” Gui gasped.
“Hah! Naturally. What else would you expect from my student?” Cang smirked.
“How is he your student? If anything, he is my student.” Kun argued.
Kai chuckled. “Alright, calm down. All four of you helped me. All four relics helped accelerate my progress by centuries. Thank you. You may rest here and do as you wish. Just one rule.”
Kai turned serious. “Do not kill.”
“We would not dare. These are your children.” Gui nodded.
Kai shook his head and left.
***
In the outside world, however, countless figures had assembled in the skies above the Witch’s mansion.
“I need an explanation. What is a god doing here, and how could you allow this to happen?!” Heliconia shouted from the large flying ship.
Arthraxius, who floated in the sky in his dragon form, sighed. “I am but a Low God. What do you think I can do against a Primordial as old as Sacra?”
“Then who resolved this?” She questioned.
“I did.” Kai suddenly appeared as space tore open beside Arthraxius.
Heliconia and the other Sylvans stared at him, trying to figure out where they knew him from.
“Silver!” Suddenly, Grimnir floated out from an enormous flying forge.
“Wait, what?! That Silver? But how did you get this powerful?” Heliconia gasped in confusion.
Kai ignored her and approached Grimnir, who stood within a new magitech flying suit.
“A new toy, I see.” Kai chuckled.
“I swear, you bastard. We were all worried about you, and here you are in the middle of another crisis, relaxing... Just what happened to you?” Grimnir asked.
“A lot. But it’s all good now; don’t worry. It’s good that you are here, though. I wanted to speak with the Seraphs of your race anyway.” Kai replied before turning toward the Sylvan forces.
“And who might you be?” He asked.
“How dare you?!” One of the Sylvans roared.
“Stop it.” Heliconia cut the man off. “I am Heliconia, the Blooming Death, Queen of all Sylvans and mother of Orchidia, whom you defeated so easily.” She stared at him with a mixture of fury and confusion.
“Oh, Your Highness. I think I treated your daughter quite well. If you had prepared her better, perhaps she would have done better. Anyway, I am Kai.” He smiled simply.
“You dare speak about my parenting to me?!” She raised her voice, and behind her, countless thorny vines erupted like tentacles.
“You better put those away before someone loses an eye. Now then, I would need to discuss certain matters with you as well.” Kai said simply.
“This bastard thinks he can speak to our Queen like this?!” Amarath erupted with rage and lunged at Kai.
A large emerald greatsword emerged in his hands, dripping with venom.
He moved almost instantly and slashed at Kai. As he did, vines appeared in mid-air, trapping Kai just as the blade descended.
Kai sighed and raised his hand effortlessly, tearing the vines apart before catching the sword barehanded and snapping it in half.
He then appeared behind Amarath and casually kicked him into the ground.
BOOM!
The man crashed into the front yard, carving out an enormous crater.
Umbra and Scry, who were guarding the Witch and Sorrow, chuckled.
“Idiot thought he could mess with our Kai.” Umbra laughed.
“It’s always the same, no matter where we end up.” Scry chuckled loudly.
Kai then moved with a single step, appearing before Heliconia, who paled.
“Look, I could kill you all with ease, but why would I do that? We have more important things to discuss than who is who and who speaks to whom in what manner. Follow me, and don’t make me repeat myself.” Kai stared at her before winking playfully and turning toward the forces of the Cinderfolk.
“Grimnir, my brother, I hope you have some good food,” Kai shouted, making the Cinderfolk Seraphs pale.
“Prince Grimnir sure knows how to make influential friends.” One of them whispered.
Arthraxius suddenly burst into loud laughter. “See, Heliconia, was it? Why would I need to do anything when my son has it all under control?”
He shifted back into his humanoid form, his crimson hair flowing down his back.
“Now then, it really is serious, and it would be best if you followed.” He said as he descended and tossed the Witch and Sorrow into his inner realm to keep them safe for now. Who knew what the others might do if they noticed them?
While Kai was teasing Grimnir like in the old days, he suddenly paused and sharply turned, making everyone twitch and cower as enormous amounts of mana erupted from his form.
“You know, I never gave up the habit of scanning my surroundings.” He turned toward Umbra.
“As you should. You never know when some tasty rats might appear.” She chuckled and flew into the sky, spitting a massive bolt of deadly lightning.
The black lightning collided with something, and suddenly the sky rippled, revealing the Old Spirit and the new Tenebria.
“Is that how you greet old friends? Huh, you bastard?!” The Old Spirit shouted, tears streaming down his face.
“Like that would be enough to beat up your old ass.” Kai smiled and tore through space, appearing before the duo.
Heliconia and the others gasped as they watched Kai speak to the Spirit of Sacra so casually.
It was well known that the Spirit had a short temper and possessed power comparable to true Divinity, making him one of the strongest forces on Sacra. Luckily, he rarely left his realm, if ever.
“That idiot Amarath really tested someone he shouldn’t have. Go fetch him and heal him up.” Heliconia sighed, massaging her temples. “This is going to be a long day.”