Soul issue (2)

[They explode, and you die in terrible, terrible pain,] the goddess of lust said in an exaggerated, theatrical tone.

Despite her ridiculous tone, Alex felt a chill creep over him.

Gulping hard, he inquired, "Why would the two souls explode in the first place? If they separate, wouldn't they just re-"

[Nope, the instant they separate, both cease to exist, for the simple reason that they already form one soul,] the goddess clarified.

"Ehh..." Alex scratched his head, not understanding what the goddess was explaining.

[What I mean is that although the two souls haven't completely merged together, they are still considered as being one. So, them separating is akin to having your soul shattered, which will result in your death,]the goddess of lust explained in a light tone that contradicted with the horror of her words.

Alex fell silent, his mind racing to understand what the hell was happening and how to find a solution.

Unable to remain still, he stood and began pacing around the room, his hand under his chin.

Several minutes passed, but nothing, not even a clue, popped up in his mind.

'Why am I even wasting my time here?' Alex sighed and decided to directly ask the goddess of lust for the solution. Surely, she knew the answer, given how much she seemed to know. Just as he thought...

[Yes, I do know how you can complete the merge of the two parts of your soul. The solution to your predicament is actually very simple. In fact, I'm surprised so much time has passed and you haven't figured it out,] the goddess stated.

"Just give me the answer?" Alex's eyes twitched in irritation.

[Why would I do that? Things wouldn't be fun anymore if I just gave you the answer, right?] the goddess of lust said in a joking tone.

Suddenly, Alex was reminded why he hated gods in the first place.

'Is your amusement the only thing that matters to you?' Alex wondered in an irritated tone.

[What other thing would matter?] The goddess wondered in a genuine tone. [Ah, yes, there is another thing. I do like sex very much. I wouldn't be the goddess of lust if I didn't.]

"...."

[Oh, don't make such an expression,] the goddess of lust giggled in a cute manner. [I'm sure I will grow on you.]

'I strongly doubt that will happen,' Alex replied as he calmed himself.

[Bold words coming from someone who doesn't know himself,] the goddess of lust giggled once again.

'Hm? What are you-'

[Well, time's up. I hope you will be more relaxed the next time so we can have a good time together. Until then-]

'Wait, I still have one last question,' Alex interrupted the goddess of lust's farewell.

[What is it?] She inquired in a slightly annoyed tone.

'Do you know what this black heart was?' asked Alex.

[No,] she responded dryly before leaving.

'Why was she angry at the end?' Alex wondered, unable to understand the goddess's behavior.

'Forget it, it's not really important,' Alex shrugged and began summarizing everything he had learned in the last thirty minutes, which was quite a lot, by the way.

'What could be the reason why the two parts of my soul aren't completely fused?' Alex pondered deeply, pacing back and forth inside the room.

'Let's start from the beginning. The previous Alex used his soul linkage ability to connect his soul with Jack's after he died. Then...' Lost in thought, Alex drifted out of the room where the black heart had been, now wandering in the narrow corridor.

'...when their two souls fused, I was born, a being possessing both of their essence, so how co-'

"Um, is there anyone? Uncle stanis? W-Where am I? Someone? help!"

"Hm?" Alex was jolted out of his thoughts by a weak and trembling voice.

Taking in his surroundings, he noticed that he had left the room with the black heart and returned to the circular chamber.

"I-Is there no one?" The feeble voice repeated once more.

Looking ahead, Alex noticed that the heiress of the Drazen family, who had been unconscious when he went to search for the treasury room, was finally awake.

'I'm not in the mood to deal with her,' Alex sighed.

With everything currently occupying his thoughts, handling the heiress of the Drazen family was the least of his concerns. Frankly, at this moment, he couldn't care less if the members of Night returned and found them in their base.

'No, get your priorities straight,' Alex took a deep breath and sighed for maybe the hundredth time, 'resolving the problem with my soul is important, but from what the goddess of lust explained, I'm not at risk for the coming days, months, perhaps even years.'

Of course, Alex didn't have enough trust in the goddess to take everything she said at face value. That's why he was determined to find a solution as quickly as possible.

'But it'll have to wait until we're out of here. Who knows, maybe the members of Night who come back might be leagues ahead of us. Staying here is risky. Let's settle everything down.'

Having made his decision, Alex summoned the lingering smoke in the room he had left and manipulated it to recreate his multicolored attire and mask.

Next, he deactivated his soul linkage ability, finally halting the swift depletion of his mana.

Even though he had never consciously used his soul linkage ability, the previous Alex had always possessed an almost instinctual knowledge of how to activate and deactivate it, which the current Alex also inherited. It was just that this knowledge was always useless since, for some reason, he was never able to use his ability until the moment of his very death.

When he finished, Alex approached the heiress of the Drazen family with steady steps.

Hearing footsteps drawing near, the heiress attempted to move her head and stare in the direction the footsteps were coming from, but she couldn't because something was holding her head down against what felt like a table.

"U-Uncle Stanis, is that you? Where are we? Why am I tied?" the heiress spoke with great difficulty as she struggled to free herself but to no avail.

'She looks young, perhaps the same age as the girls,' Alex deduced as he stopped just in front of the table.

Creating a smoke chair beside the table, Alex sat on it and spoke in a steady and calm voice, "It's not your uncle."

"Oh," the girl fell silent for a moment, then asked in a curious and wary voice, "Then who are you?"

"Before that, tell me, what is your full name?" Alex inquired.

The heiress seemed conflicted about revealing her name to him, but in the end, she sighed, "My name is Maya Drazen."

"The Drazen family associated with the auction house?" Alex questioned, though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, I come from that family," Maya answered, leaving out the detail that she was the actual heiress of that family, a decision Alex thought was quite smart on her part.

"How did you get here?" Alex asked the question he considered to be the most important question at the moment.

If the young woman's answer was that she had been kidnapped by someone other than her uncle, then there might be some problems later on. However, Alex didn't think that would happen. 'Judging by the fact that the first person she called out to was her uncle, there is a high chance that he was the last person she saw.'

Like he thought...

"I don't recall. The only thing I remember was that I was talking with my uncle and then... he hit me!" Maya shouted the last part, her voice carrying a hint of realization.

"So your uncle is the reason you're here?" Alex questioned as he crossed one leg over the other.

"I...think so," Maya mumbled in a sad tone.

'From the pained expression on her face, it was evident that she had realized her betrayal,' Alex sighed and remained silent, allowing the young woman time to process the news.

Several minutes later, Maya attempted to turn her head towards Alex but failed once again. Releasing a frustrated sigh, she inquired, "Where is my uncle?"

"Dead," Alex answered.

"Oh," Maya exclaimed in surprise, then her expression shifted, forming a sorrowful look.

'She seems saddened by his death despite realizing his betrayal,' Alex shook his head. 'She's either naïve or too innocent. Though, I have the impression it's the latter,' Alex noted.

"Were you the one who killed him?" the heiress inquired in a soft tone.

"Yes," Alex confirmed. 'Well, I'm not the one who personally killed him, but she doesn't need to know that,' he thought to himself.

"What do you want?" Maya suddenly asked, her voice gaining a sharpness that wasn't there before. "You surely want something from me. That's why you're keeping me tied here, right?"

Alex raised a brow upon hearing the sharpness in her voice. 'Didn't expect that from her, considering how fragile she initially seemed. Not that I'm complaining,' Alex smiled.

If Maya wanted to get straight to the point, it was perfectly okay with him.

"I have things to sell, valuable items that might interest many people, but-"

"You want to sell your 'items' at our family's annual auction, right?" Maya spoke, having guessed Alex's intentions.

"Good, you are smart, that's going to make things easier," Alex praised Maya and answered, "yes, I want to place my-"

"Deal"