Soul Orchid Bloom (7)
A change began to stir within the monster, its life force being drained away by the black chains binding it.
What... what is this?
Like something rising from the depths of a deep ocean, a presence long suppressed by thousands of souls slowly surfaced into awareness.
It was Beril.
What in the world... happened?
Fragmented memories floated back to him one by one.
The hellish days of enduring, fully conscious, as souls invaded his body for decades.
I can't... I just can't hold on anymore...
In the end, he had given up.
He stopped resisting and surrendered his body to them.
It was his only escape.
After that... I remember nothing.
Why had his submerged self suddenly awakened in the darkness?
And soon enough, he found the answer.
The souls... they're vanishing one by one.
He didn't have control of his body yet, but he could feel the tens of thousands of souls that had crushed him fading away.
Like heavy boulders being lifted off one by one.
Can I really... survive this?
A trembling hope bloomed in his chest.
At first, he had wanted to live. To see May again. His young daughter couldn't survive without him.
But...
As decades passed, he let even that go.
He could no longer endure; he wanted to die. He yearned for eternal rest.
But really... can I truly live again?
Crack. Crack.
The sound of life force being sucked away grew louder.
Paradoxically, as it did, Beril's consciousness sharpened even more.
Ah... aaagh!
With his fully restored awareness came a storm of excruciating pain.
But that made it all the better.
Pain... real pain!
After his self had faded, he hadn't even felt pain anymore.
That body was no longer his. But now...
It hurts... it really hurts!
Tears welled up.
Tears of joy for the pain, for this horrific agony that proved he was alive—something he had missed so desperately.
He finally shoved aside the last of the vanishing souls and seized full control of his body.
In that moment, Beril realized.
Something... is wrapping around my body!
Something was binding him tightly.
And through those chains, the life force—more precisely, the souls inside him—was being drained.
Is this... saving me, or...
Beril knew instinctively.
If he didn't reveal himself quickly, even with his body reclaimed, death would soon follow.
"Ugh... can you hear me?"
Beril forced out the words in a trembling voice.
His voice, reclaimed after decades, was hoarse and cracked.
"I'm still alive! Thanks to you, the souls are dissipating, and I've regained my body!"
Pain tore at his throat like it was ripping apart, but he couldn't stop. He wouldn't.
"Please... please spare me! I don't want to die. I want to live!"
Tears streamed down.
This chance... a chance to see May again...
"For decades... decades in this hell. I've finally... finally gotten my body back..."
His voice grew more desperate.
"My daughter... my daughter May might still be alive. Please... just one more chance..."
The face of his little girl flashed vividly in his mind. The child who called him "Daddy" and smiled so brightly.
Darkteria was surely a land where one could live well, but it was far too harsh for an unprotected child to survive alone.
He knew that better than anyone, and it tore at his heart even more.
No, she's alive. She has to be...
He desperately wanted to believe it.
If... if I get out alive and she's gone from this world...
That thought alone choked him.
No. Not now. This isn't the time for that.
Beril shook his head fiercely.
First, he had to survive. Only then could he do anything.
"I don't want to fail again... to let this chance slip away without doing anything!"
Beril cried out desperately.
With the voice he had reclaimed after decades, pouring his entire soul into it.
"Please... I'm a demon... I'm Beril, a demon..."
* * *
"I absolutely don't believe it. The canyon must have lured only the weak demons here... and weak demons couldn't have survived the fall."
I inwardly agreed with Ascaros's words.
Of course, I didn't fully agree that survival was impossible.
There could be abilities I didn't know about, and even among those I did, some could have allowed survival.
But...
The Frost Flower had stated it clearly.
The body was maintained by the remnants of the Absolute, but the mind would have collapsed.
Even without the Frost Flower's words, it was hard to believe.
That a demon weak enough to fall for the canyon's lure had endured soul erosion for decades and kept its ego intact.
That's why my words came out cold.
I saw it merely as the last struggles of a being facing death.
"Last gasp, huh."
As I spat coldly, he cried out even more desperately.
"No, absolutely not! I'm really alive! I'm not a monster anymore! I'm definitely alive... please spare me! May, just once... May..."
"Who's May?"
"My daughter! She's my daughter!"
His voice cracked.
A sob so human it was hard to believe it came from that monster's mouth.
"I was a foolish father... I left my little one alone to earn money, to give her a better life, in a place this dangerous..."
His tearful confession continued.
"The last time I saw her... she waved in the morning, saying 'Daddy, be careful.' She was only five. Now... she'd be over thirty. If she's alive..."
His voice grew quieter.
"Please... just once... I want to check if she's alive. If that child... managed well on her own... if she was happy without her father..."
In that moment, an inexplicable emotion swept over me.
If it's not a lie...
A father who endured hellish torment for decades, yearning for his daughter.
Suddenly, my own family came to mind.
Whew...
His next words snapped me out of my deliberations.
"If... if my daughter isn't alive, then kill me. If that's the case... living wouldn't be living anyway."
His voice held resignation, yet clung to hope.
I made my decision.
As the chains slowly loosened, the Frost Flower warned.
Child, I find it hard to believe. A weak demon susceptible to such crude lures maintaining its ego amid all those souls.
I murmured softly.
"That's what makes him a father."
The weight of the word "father." The heart that could endure hell for a child.
"That's reason enough."
Is that so...
As the chains gradually released, Ascaros prepared his magic at my side, ready to strike at any moment.
Black blood still flowed, but the countless eyes and mouths covering his body were gone.
The moment he saw me, his eyes flashed open, and he rushed forward.
"As expected of Lord Astra! Let me blast—"
"Don't."
"Pardon?"
He skidded to a halt before me and dropped to his knees.
Then he bowed so deeply his forehead touched the ground.
"Truly... thank you so much..."
His voice trembled.
"For a moment, I forgot my daughter... I wanted to die. I even forgot my own name. But thanks to you... thanks to you, I can live again. Truly, thank you..."
His shoulders heaved.
Endless sobs poured out.
As if all the emotions pent up for decades were flooding forth at once.
Watching him, even Ascaros marveled and released the black magic in his hand.
Complex emotions flickered in Ascaros's eyes as he stared blankly.
Amazing... From his words, he should have forgotten his own name and his daughter's, fading away entirely... but he clung to that final thread.
Admiration tinged even the Frost Flower's voice.
He must have refused to let go of that memory no matter what. Even if he lost everything else, his love for his daughter... what incredible tenacity.
After a moment of silence, I asked Beril.
"I have a question for you. Multiple souls invaded your body; it should have collapsed. But you endured. There must have been a trigger."
"Yes... when the souls entered my body, light came from the stone tablet, and suddenly I felt my body recovering. After that, my body kept accepting the souls..."
His voice shook.
Just remembering it hurts, huh.
I recalled that moment and extended my hand to the trembling man.
"Even if you weren't aiming for me, you wounded me."
Beril looked up, saw the bloodstains soaking my clothes, and bowed even deeper.
His body shook harder.
"I'm truly... truly sorry. I have no memory, so I don't know what happened... but I know I did something unforgivable."
As Beril tried to slam his forehead into the ground again, I stopped him.
"Enough."
Slowly, I began returning the life force of the souls I had absorbed to him.
Red light flowed from my fingertips, enveloping his body.
His black, emaciated, filthy skin gradually returned to normal. Deep wounds healed, and lost vitality returned.
"Wha... how..."
Beril stared in astonishment at his hands.
I said calmly.
"Don't misunderstand. This isn't for you. It's for the daughter waiting for you."
He looked up at me blankly.
"A daughter who's waited decades for her lost father. She'd surely be angry."
I paused briefly before continuing.
"At the very least, you should go to her as the father she remembers. Only then can she rage, strike you, or embrace you... properly."
"Thank you... truly... thank you..."
Tears flowed endlessly from Beril's eyes.