Chapter 512 - You are courting death!

Sofia and Cinthia were surprised to find the door to Leverle’s office already open. The demon was covered in his usual long white robes, but he was sitting on the carpet, laying three cards face down on the floor.

“The troublemaker,” he said, turning a card face up, revealing a drawing of a sun. He then turned another card over, which had an image of a shadowy figure holding a tall scythe, “the messenger…”

Leverle’s neck moved, his blank mask of a face turning in Sofia and Cinthia’s direction, “These cards represent you two,” he explained in a serious tone, “the third represents your fate,” he finished, turning the third card over, on which there was a bleeding eye, “Divine judgment.”

“Is that some kind of backhanded threat?” Sofia asked as she entered the office.

“Was that divination magic?” Cinthia chimed in with a question of her own.

Leverle laughed, sweeping up the cards, “No, and no. I jest, these cards have nothing magical, I bought these for fifty silver from a human hero artist. I quite like their design.”

“So you just wanted an excuse to call me a troublemaker?” Sofia continued, uncertain as to whether she should take that as a compliment or an insult.

“Would that be undeserved?” Leverle answered, standing up from the floor and adjusting his robes.

Sofia closed the door, “Admittedly no,” she conceded, ”I’m happy to see that you didn’t forget me, at least. One fewer thing to worry about.”

Leverle poked his blank mask with one of his long clawed fingers, “This shell forgets nothing, I’m afraid. Not joy, not pain, and certainly not one with your name.”

“You call it a shell? Your mana heart must be in there, right?” Sofia continued, ignoring the not-so-subtle way to call her a pain, which, again, she felt might be a tiny bit deserved.

“That much is obvious. You have witnessed how frail the remainder of my body can be. But have you ladies come here to discuss demonic anatomy?”

“Death sent us to retrieve some essence,” Cinthia explained with a smile. She was comfortable around Leverle as they had spoken quite a few times during the school year, leading up to Cinthia and Saria getting the essences of Death to wager in the trial. 

“So this is what the vision meant…” Leverle mumbled, “Well, you already know how it goes. Come.”

Leverle left the office through the opposite door, inviting his two guests to follow, he led them to the cathedral’s underground, much like the first time when he gave Sofia the paper doll.

“How many do you think I can get?” Sofia asked as they climbed down the long flights of stairs behind Leverle.

“Perhaps none,” the demon answered, “our lord Death might just be the only divine willing to give essence for free. Being able to receive them safely is another matter entirely.”

“Right… Saria did mention it being annoying to deal with,” Sofia said.

“I and Saria had to get our limbs wrapped in cloth bands covered in sealing rituals, as well as a few other steps, to make sure that the essence didn’t leak out,” Cinthia explained to Sofia, “even with that it was not perfect and we had food rotting and nearby plants slowly dying for the entire trial,” she recounted.

“That doesn’t sound so unsafe,” Sofia commented.

“With proper precautions, holding a single essence can be done, but it will take its toll on the host over time,” Leverle clarified, “A single year is not that long of a time. But am I wrong in guessing that you hope to receive more than one essence? And on a more permanent basis?”

“I am kind of hoping that Creation designed my race well to handle that. My horns should be able to handle the issues, I think.”

“Let us hope so,” Leverle said nonchalantly, “as what essence has been given cannot be taken back.”

“Wait… It cannot?” Cinthia asked, “But in the trial…”

“That is different,” Leverle stopped her, “the completion of a mana heart does eject the essence for a brief moment, allowing the Divinity to get it back. That is something one is only able to do once. As I explained prior to Sofia, the other ways to get rid of a divine essence are either the holder or the divinity’s death.”

“I feel like I should be able to handle five anyway,” Sofia confidently said, “I received five from Sun with no issue after all, maybe they will even hold each other in check or something like that?”

“There is no such thing,” Leverle clarified, shaking his mask, “Death and Sun’s essences would not interact in the first place. Although both will be linked to you in that scenario, they are still on opposite planes of reality, utterly unable to affect each other. Nevertheless, Death will be grateful for each essence you can take.”

Sofia nodded in agreement, “Mutually beneficial deals are the best kind.”

After going down thousands of steps, they finally made it to a vast underground chamber with walls full of holes, most of them filled with stone coffins. Pillars lit up with blue fire as Leverle led them toward a platform in the center of the chamber.

“Blue fire again, I have seen that before… In Domination’s pyramid. And I think Sun’s saintess also used it. It doesn’t even feel that hot, care to explain what it is?” Sofia asked while Leverle adjusted the ritual circles carved into the platform’s floor by pulling levers, which rotated sections of said floor.

“Soul fire,” Leverle explained absent-mindedly, “What burns there is spiritual matter, in this case, severed part of my own soul. Soul fire is long-lasting, does not need an air supply, is very bright, and does not produce smoke, making it ideal to use in enclosed areas.”

“You- You burn your own soul?!” Cinthia asked, taken aback.

“What else is one to do with so much surplus? And it adds to the ambiance. But this is not the topic. Please stay here in the center,” Leverle directed Sofia, “And you, come down with me.”

“Yes! Death just sent a smiling face through the chat, by the way.”

“Then we can proceed,” Leverle continued, “your presence facilitates things once again.”

“Am I not going to get any of the seals or protection?” Sofia asked as she took place on the platform.

“No such things for you. These are temporary fixes at best. If you react negatively to the essence, we will have to stop at one.”

“Alright… Actually, would it help if I switch to my Apostle form? I have to empty my mana, and can only maintain it for five minutes.”

Leverle shook his mask, “Perhaps had you still been human that would have been necessary, but your current body should not be susceptible to common failures.”

“If you say so. I’m ready then.”

If this is anything like how Knowledge lent his essence to Pareth, this should be over quickly.

Just as Leverle started to activate the ritual on the platform from a distance, Cinthia called out to Sofia, “Sorrow wishes you good luck, Sofia!”

Good luck?

As the ritual flared up under Sofia’s feet, colors drained from the world in an instant, leaving everything as blurry shades of white.

I did not expect the sudden Spirit plane transition, I still feel fine, though. I’m more than used to this at this point… Am I going to get dragged to the Recessed plane next? That might actually be a bit…

I thought I was just going to receive the essence.

As Sofia waited, observing Cinthia and Leverle’s souls, she understood what Leverle meant by ‘surplus soul’. His soul was vaguely in the shape of some humanoid race, but it was hard to tell which. It constantly bloated and bubbled, and sometimes a small bubble would detach itself and be gathered by some kind of weird ghost which floated a few steps behind the Apostle.

He’s got his own things going on, huh…

The white forms became more and more blurry, and like caught in the turmoil of a forming tornado, began to get swept away as the world slowly turned dim and gray. Maybe because the change was gradual, she could look around from the get go, unlike the time when the mysterious god had stranded her in Peace’s domain, but everything was too blurry to discern.

Having lost the feeling of her own body, she focused on the essences within her, doing the same thing she once did in the gods’ plane, building herself a body of light through the [Venerable physique of the primeval void], but with her Recessed essences as a basis this time.

They could have warned me that it was going to be like that…

As Sofia’s body formed, made of black light fuelled by Sorrow and Dread’s essences, she could finally start to make sense of the blurry gray shapes around her. She found herself in a thick forest, the trunks of trees were made of dirt-covered bones and skulls, overgrown with gray grass, moss, flowers and vines.

“Ah- ah,” Sofia tried to speak. “That works just like the Gods’ plane. No fishing hut this time. Death’s domain I suppose? I didn’t expect to get a direct meeting.” She touched one of the skulls embedded in the trees, it felt cold, prickly and weird, nothing like the real sensation of touch. Moving around in this plane was even harder than it had been in Peace’s domain, where she already felt like she was underwater, at the moment she felt like she was moving through a thick sludge. Still, she started moving from the spot she had appeared in, eager to see if she could find Death itself in this dense forest of flowery bones.