"Not everyone deserves to be saved."
"I want to save all my friends."
Black tears streaked down Jack's cheeks.
He gripped Neo's hand with force.
Through his hands, Neo could feel the tremors Jack was trying to hide.
"You have the bloodline of Death's Monarch. The God of the Underworld is known for his impartiality. Your bloodline won't let you go unpunished if you do this."
"Well, what can they do? Kill me? That won't work."
As if to mock his small smile, his mastery of Death hit rock bottom.
"This isn't the time to joke!"
"Do you think I can't feel your weakening Death? Even now, you are being punished!"
Neo's calm voice cut through Jack's despair.
"This time, I won't make a choice I would regret in the future."
When Neo had seen Elizabeth in the hospital bed, his heart had been squeezed by fear.
He regretted sending her to fight the Temple of Void.
"What…?" Jack muttered.
Seeing Elizabeth in danger made him realize what was more important to him.
Jack had done irreversible evil.
"We are in this together," Neo said.
For Neo, his friends and family were more important than right and wrong.
Even if that choice would cost him dearly.
"If you are going to die, I will make sure you don't have to carry any sin—"
"Fine! I won't kill myself! Happy!?"
Jack stood up and glared at Neo.
"What do you even get out of blackmailing me out of suicide?! It won't solve anything! My…"
"Your body and soul are still corrupted. I know."
Neo maintained a small smile.
"But your Will has recovered, no? It's baby steps at least."
"Fine. How are you going to solve this mess?"
A starry glow covered Neo's arm.
Even if the blessing detested him, it would still purify the souls.
Neo stared at the vengeful souls.
"Scream, shout. Pour your grudges into me."
The souls rushed towards him.
"And I will give you the salvation you thirst for."
The souls melted into his body.
Tens of thousands of memories appeared inside his head.
Their emotions, their anger, and their pain threatened to drown Neo.
Their regrets were too shallow compared to the Darkness Neo had seen before.
The souls were sucked into Neo.
He delivered their Judgment and opened his eyes.
[??? tells you to stop being stubborn.]
[The Lady of Spring frowns.]
[The Lady of Spring tells ??? to stop forcing his ideals on you.]
[??? crosses his arms and tells her she is spoiling you.]
The messages were enough for him to know the identity of '???' and 'The Lady of Spring.'
'Can you two not do this inside my head?'
[??? clicks his tongue.]
[The Lady of Spring smiles bitterly as ??? leaves.]
The screens disappeared for a few seconds before appearing again.
[The seal on the Third stage of Blessing has been partially lifted.]
[The Lady of Spring hopes you can walk down the path you've started to tread.]
Neo felt the presences disappear.
His eyes became normal, and he saw Jack staring at him.
"How much time passed while I was purifying the souls?" Neo asked as he massaged his temples.
"In here? A lot. Outside? I don't know."
"Why are you talking grumpily?"
"If you could purify the souls, why did you try to devour them earlier? Purifying them wouldn't transfer my negative karma to you."
"It was to blackmail you out of suicide."
Jack gave Neo an unamused stare when Neo used Jack's words on Jack.
Nonetheless, Jack was relieved.
Since Neo did not devour the souls, the negative karma remained with Jack.
If the negative karma had been transferred to Neo, Jack wouldn't have been able to forgive himself.
Jack felt intense disgust towards himself.
He, however, didn't hate Neo for saving him.
He was thankful to Neo.
He could see how much Neo sacrificed to save him.
"There is good news at least," Neo said and patted Jack's back. "Your eyes are back, and you don't look like a third-grade horror movie ghost."
Jack rolled his eyes, annoyed.
Still, a smile played on his lips.
"I look better than you, Mr. One-armed Swordsman."
Both of them laughed.
Despite the inner turmoil, Jack was feeling refreshed.
Neo's purification had purified him too—somewhat, at least.
Moments later, Neo became serious.
"Since the corrupted souls have been purified, your corruption won't worsen anymore."
"But my body and soul are still corrupted."
Jack smiled ruefully.
"I'm a monster now. A sentient monster. But a monster nonetheless."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Neo snapped his fingers, and Jack's mental world collapsed.
"Let's talk outside."
The two of them fell into the void—
Jack's eyes opened with a snap.
He groaned from pain.
He could feel his exposed organs and bones.
His face felt like it had been skinned.
Neo looked at him with a small smile.
"Yup, you definitely look better than me."
He had not known what was happening outside while his body was being controlled by the vengeful spirits.
His appearance was beyond horrible.
Worse, Neo hadn't passed the chance to take the jab.
Before Jack could say something, Neo bit off the pinky finger of his hand and threw it toward Jack.
"What are you doing!?"
"My flesh can stop the progress of Darkness corruption.
"Since I purified the souls and stopped the corruption already, the flesh should now—theoretically—reverse the remaining corruption."
There was a high chance Neo was wrong.
However, this was the only method he could think of.
"The blood in the finger should increase the chances of reversing the corruption."
"Why the fuck are you staring at me and not devouring it?"
"Yeah? That's right, be thankful—"
Neo was about to say 'bitch' until he realized he was talking like his brother.
Jack chuckled, knowing why Neo stopped.