What does a soul look like?
The answer—its shape resembles the original form of the person.
Nothing else—its body is semi-transparent, with a somewhat cloudy, uneven color. Overall, you can still clearly make out the physical appearance of the soul's owner.
Essentially, that's the typical shape of every person's soul.
However, the soul Naoki was seeing now was different.
It wasn't shaped like a human at all. Instead, it resembled a liquid-like, spherical mass, constantly shifting and shapeless, entirely pitch-black. Although traces of other colors could be faintly distinguished within it, they were all mixed together, ultimately forming just one solid, dark black mass.
This was the soul of Nero Chaos.
"Chaos... yes, indeed, something like this can only be described as chaos. Combining 666 bestial factors into one body, and constructing a Reality Marble within to escape the world's correction. The result is the birth of something like this."
Seven years ago, when he fought Nero, Naoki hadn't unleashed his Mystic Eyes because Manaka was sealed within them, and also because he wasn't calm at the time.
This was the first time he had ever seen Nero's soul.
But considering this was a copy created by Tatari, there was no guarantee that Nero's true soul actually looked like this.
Still, that didn't matter to Naoki. Regardless of a soul's appearance, before his Mystic Eyes, there was only one inevitable outcome.
*BZZZZZ!*
The Mystic Eyes emitted a dim glow. The next instant, Nero Chaos's body, not far from him, suddenly stiffened without warning. His cold expression instantly twisted in agony. He staggered, clutching his chest as if enduring unimaginable torment!
Soul erosion.
Even though the soul within his eyes was already murky and corrupted—disgusting, like a filthy rag discarded into a sewer for years—being eroded by the Mystic Eyes was merely an embellishment that worsened its condition, not something that would cause such extreme discomfort.
But that didn't apply to those bestial factors.
The target of the Soul-Eater Mystic Eyes was Nero Chaos's entire soul. And that whole was composed of 666 bestial factors—meaning, 666 savage animal souls.
These tiny souls were also subject to the Mystic Eyes' effects.
"My bestial factors inside my body... suddenly losing control?"
An unprecedented situation left Nero Chaos utterly incredulous. He had been a Dead Apostle for several hundred years. The bestial factors he had absorbed had long merged with him. Nero was them, and they were Nero.
Yet now, these bestial factors were undergoing mutations, one after another. And this mutation meant they could no longer remain unified.
Whenever exceptions or irregularities arise within a group—when something strange and out of place appears—destruction is the natural result.
Why was this happening? Why had his body, perfectly stable mere seconds ago, suddenly become so distorted?
"—Those Mystic Eyes!"
Nero Chaos suddenly looked up, glaring directly into Naoki's eyes. And as he stared into those horizon-like Mystic Eyes, the unbearable pain instantly intensified several-fold!
The overwhelming agony shattered Nero Chaos's mental fortitude. He, whose mind should have been as hard as steel, now experienced a psychological shock he hadn't felt in ages!
"Ugh... stop staring at me with those Mystic Eyes! Holy Sword Heir!"
"GAAAAAA—!"
A pitch-black monster roared and burst from Nero's body. Ram horns, a massive bear's muscular torso, a bull's head, gorilla limbs—perhaps composed of these parts. Perhaps also made of countless other elements Naoki couldn't even recognize.
But...
The gaze of the Mystic Eyes lingered on the monster only briefly. Naoki immediately reshaped the fragmented soul within its body into a form he preferred, then—
"Go."
"GGGGAAAAAAA!!"
The newly born monster instantly became Naoki's loyal warrior. It turned and roared, attacking its own father!
"How dare you—"
"How does it feel to be bitten back by your own dog?"
Naoki smiled, raising his hand to summon a violent wind. With a single wave, he sliced through multiple storm blades, tearing the earth apart, simultaneously cutting and shredding Nero Chaos and the black beast!
Half his body was obliterated in the storm. Nero Chaos, now missing one arm and one leg, crashed heavily onto the ground.
As if mocking himself, or ridiculing something, Nero sneered several times: "Hehehe... I never thought I'd be destroyed so easily. A Holy Sword Heir, and also a Master of Mystic Eyes. Beings as extraordinary as this truly exist in this world."
"It's fine. This can also be considered valuable intelligence. It'll surely be useful for—"
*KRAK!*
With a single kick, Naoki crushed the remaining half of his body. He reattached the blindfold over his Mystic Eyes: "Next time will be your death, Tatari... The night of the full moon is two nights from now. Just wait for me at the shrine you've prepared to die."
Naoki knew Tatari was still alive. After all, killing him was currently impossible—Tatari wasn't truly a being, but a phenomenon. Like rainfall, even if you destroy the rain clouds, it doesn't mean it will never rain again in the future.
By the same logic, even if Nero Chaos was destroyed, Tatari wouldn't die. To truly annihilate him, they would have to wait until the night of the upcoming full moon.
Until then—
"We should take care of the remaining details first."
Using Imaginary Manifestation, he restored the streets he had sliced into pieces back to their original state, then dispelled the storm summoned by Arcueid. Naoki crossed the now-empty street and returned to Ayaka and the others.
"Alright, for now, everything's safe."
"Good job, Naoki." Ayaka stepped forward, brushing rainwater from her hair. "Is anyone injured? I can use a bit of healing magecraft."
"Not even a scratch. Don't worry. This level is nothing more than a minor scuffle."
Naoki laughed.
Arcueid nodded in agreement: "Exactly. If Naoki were injured just by Nero, he'd have died seven years ago. Ayaka, don't worry about him."
(But he still needs to be careful in battle.)
Seeing the two of them so carefree, Ayaka held back her words. She was merely a weak magus. She didn't possess strength anywhere near theirs. So indeed, worrying was pointless.
After Ayaka wiped the rain from her hair, Naoki turned and looked at the person who had been silently observing from the side.
"Then, it's time to deal with your matter."
"Sion Eltnam Atlasia."