"Come here," he muttered. "Let’s see what you are hiding."
The sea of memories rolled towards him in twisting waves, folding against each other as they came his way.
Severin reached out to touch the wave, but something happened then. The waves... separated.
"Huh? What’s this?"
Since the wave was a combination of red and black, Severin didn’t notice that some black was grey and some of the red was very light.
The memories separated based on the color patterns.
The light red and grey came towards him, while the deeper colors fled.
Severin frowned. "I think I get it now."
The memories that were closest to him were actually the ones that he already viewed.
Severin looked at the rest of the wave that was far from him. He frowned, and then without warning, he jumped forward, his figure blurred as he chased the memories.
But they remained elusive.
Severin didn’t know if he should feel relieved or not. The memories he viewed earlier had already done something to his head.
Especially the fact that he couldn’t even remember them.
"I... so I’m not even as simple as I thought."
Severin frowned. He knew he didn’t like thinking about his past. His childhood memories seemed to start from the time he was twelve, when his stepfather died.
Anything before that, and he couldn’t remember. He even hated trying to remember.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched the memory waves. "On the other hand, not knowing is good. How would I be able to make informed judgments? How would I be able to react to the consequences when the actions of the past affect the future?"
"In this world, everyone will die if they do not defeat the Singularity, and no one was able to previously. I thought my goal was pretty straightforward, but things might not be as simple. Why am I really here?
"And that author..." Severin gritted his teeth in a grimace.
But then he sighed. "I will come back for the memories then. As for Dolor..."
Severin smiled. "Thank you for providing me with one more way, more path. My goal is to defeat the Singularity. I’ll use everything that I can."
Severin was yapping, and he knew it. But he allowed himself. The memories that he viewed about himself had disturbed him more than he would like to expect.
Maybe it’s not only the memories.
It’s the combination of it with pain that made him disturbed. It unnerved him in a way he couldn’t quite put his hand on.
Severin sighed.
He made sure the consciousness of Dolor was truly gone and that there was nothing else amiss. Then he slowly let his projection submerge.
Outside, he opened his eyes.
And he saw the world differently.
Everything was sharp to him and had different colors, had a quality to them. He could feel a certain subtle enmity to all things.
He took a deep breath, and different smells assaulted his nose, so much so that he stopped breathing immediately. He shook his head and narrowed his eyes.
Everything about him felt more: his senses, his perception, and even his thinking abilities. "I see. My body is undergoing changes."
He also smelled the two that were before him. He tilted his head upward. He saw Shadow Lord and an old woman standing a few paces before him.
Shadow Lord clenched his fist. "You actually did it. You devoured the seed!"
"I told you I would." Severin raised his hand to catch the few red tears that fell from his eyes, but they disappeared when they left his face.
Shadow Lord laughed in despair. "Then there’s nothing more to do than to eat you!"
Severin frowned. "You want to eat a god?"
Shadow Lord snorted angrily. "Nonsense! What god are you? Because you managed to steal the seed of pain? It’s just raw power bound by the few chains of Divinity. You are not a god!"
Severin smiled slowly. It was odd, with the cross in his eyes and the tears on his cheek. Smiling seemed like a savage act. "But now, I can be a god. This is a seed that can grow into what I want."
Unexpectedly, it was the old woman that asked, curiosity in her voice, "What do you want?"
"The one above all. The one that survives!"
Silence settled between them, and then Shadow Lord began to laugh. "Ahaha! Ah! You? You think you can walk the path of Divinity and stand above it? Little boy, you better focus on your world, because what is out there is even more terrible than you can imagine.
"No. You cannot even imagine it!"
Severin frowned. It was almost as if Shadow Lord was advising him. "You know what the world was sealed from?"
Shadow Lord shook his head and admitted softly, "I don’t, but I took a glimpse once, just a bit that’s not even up to half a second, and I almost died. It was terrible."
Severin nodded slowly. "I see. Thank you."
Shadow Lord stood there stiffly without saying anything. It was as if he was waiting for something.
Severin also stood there, and they both watched each other. After a long time, Severin shook his head and took a step forward towards where Shadow Lord’s shadow was still pinned to the ground. "I don’t know, Shadow Lord. But even though I’m not a god yet, I’m still a divine. My own shadow cannot possibly harm me."
Shadow Lord flinched. He raised his hand, and shadow threads appeared, but all of them that were connected to Severin’s shadow had been cut away.
Severin stood before the Shadow Lord’s shadow, and he raised his hand. Green sparks soared, cracking gloomily in his right hand. "I should kill you, Shadow Lord."
The man stiffened but didn’t say anything. Severin put down his hand, and the green light was snuffed out. "So. For your life, what price are you willing to pay?"
The old woman began to laugh, while Shadow Lord’s face twitched terribly. "For... my own life?"
"Yes. What are you willing to pay for it?"