A sharp, agonized scream echoed across the entire 79th floor.
"Ahhhhh!"
"You dogs of the gods!!!"
A girl knelt on the ground, her face twisted in a snarl.
With snow-white skin and a figure that was ideal yet not exaggerated, she wore a flowing white dress that would have made for a flawless appearance—if only her face weren't visible. But above her neck, her expression was grotesque, more like a demon from hell than anything human.
The sensation of having her soul torn away was unbearable.
In the past, she would project part of her soul into an avatar—not by splitting her soul itself, but by leaving a mark that allowed her consciousness to be projected into the doppelganger. This way, she could always maintain control over them.
But that man had caught her off guard.
He had seen through the projection of her consciousness and went even further—forcing her soul and consciousness to fuse with the doppelganger, leaving her only two options: sacrifice her consciousness or part of her soul.
"Damn that man! Damn bastard! Damn lackey!!!"
At this moment, she wanted nothing more than to rip into his flesh and devour him whole.
But all she could do now was curse through a contorted, hateful expression.
The part of her soul that had been torn away was permanently lost.
That man had the power to completely tear apart and destroy souls. Anything ripped away by him was doomed to a grim fate.
She already knew that the piece of soul he took would be destroyed.
Yet no matter how furious she was, she couldn't leave this floor.
Swallowed by the Dungeon, she was trapped—unable to leave the level by her own will. Otherwise, she would have already gone to Orario and taken her revenge on the gods.
If she could have left, why would she have bothered creating a doppelganger to act as her reach into Orario?
If she hadn't done so, that man wouldn't have found the chance to tear away part of her soul.
Repeatedly cultivating avatars and tearing off parts of her soul had caused her unprecedented damage.
Whether energy or soul, she now needed time to recover.
During this period, she couldn't afford to make another move—any rash action might shatter her foundation entirely.
Unwilling!
But no matter how unwilling she was, she had to admit—after this, that man would become a major problem.
...
The discarded part of the soul had lost all spirituality—nothing more than a torn fragment.
'Not bad. To avoid giving me an opening, you actually erased your consciousness and markings this thoroughly.'
Bell examined the fragment and couldn't help but admire the "Spirit's" decisiveness.
After witnessing his methods, she had immediately abandoned every possible link that could be used against her, all so her consciousness could escape safely.
It was exactly the result Bell had hoped for.
To be honest, he was relieved.
'Hah... If she knew I still don't have the ability to completely tear apart a high-tier soul, scaring her off would've been much harder.'
Runes were a versatile force, encompassing nearly everything. As long as Bell found the right combination, he could wield various powers—thanks entirely to the unique nature of Runes.
Born from the World Tree and tied to the principles of the world itself, their power defied common sense.
Runes were unreasonable—but Bell was still bound by reason.
Put simply, while Runes could unleash the power of all things, the wielder needed the corresponding level and realm to fully draw out that power. Bell hadn't reached that point yet, which directly limited the potential he could tap into.
The soul level of the "Spirit" was far higher than he'd anticipated. To even interact with a soul like that, one needed a foundation of immense strength—otherwise, it was impossible to affect it at all.
Fortunately, the "Spirit" had clearly been intimidated by his bluff. Otherwise, it wouldn't have so cleanly torn off part of its own soul.
Even more surprisingly, to avoid giving him any leverage, the Spirit had scrubbed that soul fragment so thoroughly that not even a trace or backup remained. That alone made Bell genuinely impressed.
To reach that level of manipulation himself, he'd probably need to be at least Lv.5.
'In the end, I just wasn't strong enough.'
'If I'd already hit Lv.5, maybe I could've completely severed the Spirit's consciousness. But now that it knows I have that ability, it's unlikely I'll get another chance.'
It was disappointing, but unavoidable.
Sometimes things just didn't go your way.
'Well, now's not the time to dwell on that.'
Bell refocused, turning his attention to the "Spirit fetus" before him—now reduced to soul and instinct alone.
'This isn't quite what I originally planned, but with some adjustments, I should be able to make the spirit manipulate the soul and control the fetus.'
Without interference from the Spirit's consciousness, and with no risk of its projection reappearing, the rest of the operation would go much smoother—and the outcome would align more closely with Bell's intended goal.
His gaze swept across the nearby Virgas and Violas.
'Still need to finish dealing with the fetus before I can move on to the host.'
'But it's not a big deal.'
The surrounding Virgas and Violas had preset movement commands. As long as he didn't disable the barrier, those outside wouldn't detect anything amiss.
After all, Virgas and Violas weren't capable of independent thought. They were just "collectors" that followed orders.
He engraved a mark of subjugation inside the "Spirit fetus," turning it into a compliant servant.
Then, Bell guided the "Spirit fetus" to begin absorbing the magic stones.
'It'll take some time for the fetus to fully absorb the stones.'
'Better start preparing the more extreme contingencies.'
All of this was necessary groundwork—but there was still one important task left.
'First, I need to seal away the soul fragment split from the Spirit.'
That soul had been intentionally discarded by the Spirit, with no trace or fallback left to avoid giving anything away. But it was still something Bell could preserve.
There might come a time when it could be useful.
Bell immediately sealed that soul fragment using Runes. Once the "Spirit fetus" was no longer needed, that piece could still be recovered.