Isekai: The Eight Soul Fragments

"Hey... You said that you know about Draxus's memories right...?" Gwen timidly approached Gayle as she had a wary look as if Gayle may have been the someone that she had heard a story about abandoning Draxus. Gayle, being pressed that question, felt a little uncomfortable as multiple girls had gathered around her. And she immediately judged the identities of the girls that came around. "Ah..." Pauleen and Juniper couldn't really try to stop the group as they seemed to had found out about Draxus's past with just a mistake of a mutter. Keith simply turned away as he couldn't really say anything due to his authority not surpassing Draxus's fiancés easily. They can issue orders only in combat, but when not in battle, they are not allowed to defy them unless there are things requested beyond their own limits. The reason for this is because of their sheer respect towards Draxus after the things he have gone through in his life. And not only that, with more souls getting reawakened, they couldn't afford to get their leader be demotivated due to a mistake they made. But after seeing such a surround, Josh had somewhat enough. "That's enough, can't you see she's uncomfortable? I don't care about what-" But before Josh could continue spouting out his complains, Keith had interjected. "Josh, it's better if you leave them for a bit, I guarantee you they won't hurt Gayle, but if you hurt them then you're going to get executed. Their fiancé is here so don't do something stupid." Josh then turned his gaze to Keith and quickly tried to make a rebuttal. "But then!" But before he could continue his complaint, he was suddenly transported and placed on a standing position. He could tell easily that Keith stopped time to drag him off from the situation. "Thank you Keith..." Olivia bowed lightly to Keith before turning herself towards Gayle. "It's okay, Gayle is it? We just want to ask about Draxus before he came to this world... From what Gwen said, you knew about the souls Draxus had correct...?" Gayle could only nod as Pauleen and Juniper sat on her sides. "Pauleen, Juniper, do you know anything about the souls?" As Olivia asked the two, they could only shake their head slowly in response. Being completely oblivious as to what Draxus knew about the souls inside him. "No, I don't think he'd talk to them that often... Since he was focused to me that time..." Gayle then spoke to confirm the questions Olivia had. "While we were together, he had been speaking about living various lives. As he had various dreams of living throughout other worlds. He had strange power that far transcended normal human control, but the souls mentioned in his stories were less monsters, and more kinder hearts." She glanced over to Draxus to see his seriousness as he gave his report to Serkyrio. "That guy... No, there's something that he said that's going around to balance the power of each soul in every world. Something about a [God of Equivalence] that controls the balance of each world to make them equal with each other. I don't really understand, but I honestly thought he was just losing his own sanity. However, this day, I found out it was all real... His identity as the [Prime Existence], the [Combined Souls], and the power inside of him." Josh who was listening in to the conversation butted in without actually understanding most of it. But he quickly made a conclusion as to what Draxus is. "So he's truly a monster huh...?" Olivia, Lily, Julie, Matilda, Gwen, and Wendy turned their gazes straight towards Josh as he said that sentence. Each one of them showed different expressions, varying to "Since each soul will get out of control upon their release, isn't it better to-" And just before he could finish speaking his mind, a powerful sound resonated throughout the area. *Slap!* The perpetrator who slapped Josh was actually not from anybody in the group excluding Julie who moved before anybody could notice. This caused everyone in the area to move their gaze towards the group that made the slapping sound. This caused Josh to be slightly angered as he raised his fist after Julie made the slap, but without noticing what he had done, Draxus was already right beside him and gripped his face to be slammed on the ground. "Josh, you've already done so much to trash my soul, so if you're planning to add more, then let me just kill you instead." When Josh got a clear view of who smashed him into the ground, he then furrowed his eyebrows as he knew the identity. "You're asking for a fight? You did nothing but hurt Gayle in your relationship. You just went ahead of yourself and get drunk because what? She preferred to talk to me rather than you being a childish runt?! This is why you're meant to be alone for eternity!" Before Draxus could spit out words of malice towards Josh, he felt a hand tap his right shoulder. At the same time though, Julie had shouted out her thoughts. "He's not a monster! How could you say that when he did nothing but to suffer to keep us safe! You didn't even know a single thing he's been through and you went on to further hurt him after he poured so much effort into fixing things even if he failed!" Julie started crying as she pointed her sword towards Josh. But Lily held her back as it could be dangerous if this was left alone. She looked frustrated, but she couldn't say anything after hearing somebody talk about Draxus as if he's an insect to the worlds.

Nothing could be heard except for Julie's cries as she clung on to Lily. There was nobody that could speak in that atmosphere, but Draxus had something to say. "Josh, I don't give two shits after you ruined my life once. But if you try something such as hurting their hearts again... You're dead. [Understand?]" Josh grit his teeth as he sat back up, realizing what Draxus had used, he activated his ability to end the effect. "Hou? Still fighting for what you think is convenient for you? I heard you earlier, alone for eternity? I have a harem you dumbass of a top of the grade." Draxus raised his hand and channeled in a familiar magic that had been used by his master before. "[Kneel]." [Silent Command], since Draxus himself was the one who conceptualized all the magic every member from earth can use originally, he could naturally use magic that's even made by his own master. "I may not be as powerful as Serkyrio, but I'm the one who made the concepts for earthlings." Serkyrio then moved in as he tapped the shoulder of Draxus once again after Josh ended the effect. "Drax, that's enough, go to your harem." Serkyrio urged Draxus to leave while silently activating a mild [Silent Command] to him so he doesn't feel forced. "They're needing an explanation from you, after they witnessed one of your souls." Draxus nodded and left Josh to Serkyrio. Gayle was about to try and interject between Draxus and Josh, but with Serkyrio's presence, she couldn't do anything but stay silent. Serkyrio took notice of this and quickly reprimanded her. "Gayle, don't think of spewing any lies, I know every single thing you've done to my disciple." Serkyrio let out a massive pressure directed towards Gayle and Josh who have done a great number of damage to Draxus before they were sent to this world. "Josh, do you know what you have done? Stealing a lover from a member of my group, what's more a higher ranking as well. You have guts I give you that, but I'll deliver MY punishment for doing it. [Experience what it's like to die]. Remuel." Remuel, who arrived later on activated his darkness magic to enforce a great number of hallucinations of death into Josh. This caused him to enter a major state of constant agony. "What you're experiencing now, is the kinds of deaths Draxus had in every single dream, and his suicide attempts after you've ruined him by stealing Gayle. You can try to end it with your abilities of [World End]. But you have no authority to defy my commands." Serkyrio then urged Remuel to leave Josh to his agony. This caused Juniper to shiver in fear as she didn't truly understand the power Serkyrio held. After witnessing the power he held with her own eyes many times, she still had little disbelief. But after indirectly feeling the pressure by being next to Gayle, she understood it clearly. Pauleen felt the exact same, but she at the very least asked politely to Serkyrio. "Umm Emperor... When exactly will the effects end...? He's still our friend so we don't really want him to die... Gayle will be sad if he does die." Serkyrio glanced over to Pauleen and Juniper while still keeping the pressure, but seeing the two promising Sentinels in fear, she shrugged the pressure off. "He'll be constantly like this for fifty hours, he won't die in here, but the amount of deaths he'll experience being equal to what Draxus had gone through, he'll be somewhat scared for a while as an aftereffect." Serkyrio passed a small device to Pauleen that looked like a mirror. "That's a [Magic Mirror], made by Draxus as he referenced to a concept from a certain game. We'll be going ahead on return to the castle, that will bring you to the main plaza of the city. Just be sure to get him to his inn for a rest." Serkyrio waved them goodbye as he sent instructions to Keith via [Silent Command]. "[[Sentinel of Spirits], keep an eye on them.]" That in which followed by Keith who is saluting. "Understood!"

After the group returned to the castle and completed their cleanup, Draxus was found himself surrounded by his five girls. They were talking about his past with Gayle which is somewhat scuffed as he told them everything. Olivia herself had a grim expression as she saw Draxus getting completely angry for the very first time. "I should've killed him when I get the chance..." Seeing him completely frustrated as he covered his face with his hand made the girls somewhat sad. "Sorry, I can't really think well after what that bastard did to me. Anyways..." Draxus heard a knock on the door, knowing the two presences that came for him he used his wind magic to open the door. Remuel and Wendy came in after Draxus had opened the door for them. Wendy went to sit with the girls while Remuel remained standing beside Draxus. "It's about time we tell you the story about that soul, but first..."

Before Remuel Baphomet had existed, there was a god who controlled the balance of the worlds in the [Creation Space], where life exists within worlds that were created. He watches each world as he keeps the balance of power in between each world perfectly balanced. However, there were worlds that tend to be more of a problem as they stubbornly grew in power. Thus, he had to send [Destroyers] and [Creators] to get the world destroyed and to use the debris of the broken world to create a new one. From time to time, every couple thousands of years, he goes to the infinite space to report to the [Prime Existence] about the balance being maintained well. And because of this kind of work as a god, he was named as the [God of Equivalence]. His work continued smoothly as he went to maintain every world until a certain event happened.

The [Prime Existence] himself wished to see the worlds in the [Creation Space], to examine what its like to live a life of normal human beings. He formed a meeting with the three gods that he had first created. These three gods are the main powers that created three spaces of worlds. One of which is the [Creation Space], the other is [Cyber Space] while the last space is the [Heavenly Space]. This is where Gods that have been created by the [Prime existence] reside originally and held their meetings there.

"So I have decided to go through the worlds and try to live as a normal human being..." The [Prime Existence] spoke his intention to the three gods that joined him in the [Infinite Space]. "But, if you did descend there, your power would become too obvious, the [Creators] and [Destroyers] would be troubled when they notice your presence in the worlds they created and were meant to destroy." The god governing the [Heavenly Space] spoke what he thought as he started to think of a solution. "I'm not really sure about how to handle it... There could be ways to suppress such a powerful presence... But we would have to make a body that's equally powerful, and that would still make it too obvious..." The God governing the [Creation Space] brought in his thoughts in the manner. None of them looked like they had an idea as to what to do. It was then the God governing [Cyber Space] gave the three the lifeline. "How about we ask the Gods residing in the [Heavenly Space], if they have any ideas?" The [Prime Existence] quickly agreed to this idea as he asked the God governing [Heavenly Space] to gather information from them.

The [God of Equivalence] continued his work after the meeting was adjourned, he was given the task to prepare the worlds that will be used to give the [Prime Existence] the lives while remaining under protection. He took that responsibility to keep an eye on the [Prime Existence] to ensure that he isn't going to be killed easily.

The God governing the [Heavenly Space] returned with a different god to the [Infinite Space]. "Now, I believe you should explain what you have suggested to the [Prime Existence]." The God governing [Heavenly Space] urged the god that was followed by three apostles and introduced himself. "Oh [Prime Existence], I am known as the [God of Dominion]. I rule over domains and control a section in the [Creation Space]. In terms of letting you live a life as a human being in the worlds below, I suggest that you could split yourself into multiple souls so that you won't have to worry about the power or aura leaking out from you." The [Prime Existence] glanced over to the three gods governing different spaces and asked if they agree with the suggestion. "Please elaborate on your suggestion." The [God of Dominion] nodded his head in acknowledgement and begin to elaborate on his suggestion. "In theory, if we split the soul of the [Prime Existence], not only he wouldn't have to worry about the overflowing power leaking out from his body, but he would be able to experience multiple lives as various people." The [Prime Existence] closed his eyes for a short while as he began to ponder on the [God of Dominion]'s suggestion. "Very well, I would like to know how many souls would it take for an aura such as mine to become unnoticed." The [God of Dominion] then began processing information as he placed his hand under his chin. While thinking, he glanced to each god present in the meeting. "I believe eight would be good enough to suppress such power inside. If each soul would possess a different person from a different world, he would no longer have to worry about his power leaking out." The God governing [Heavenly Space] then interjected as he stated his thoughts into the matter. "I believe this is good enough. However, we need to ensure that each soul has formidable power. Will you be okay with two souls being a [Creator] and a [Destroyer]?" The [Prime Existence] nodded to the god's suggestion. "Even races that I have created to create worlds and destroy are part of my interest, as I wish to see what the work of beings less than us look like." The [God of Equivalence] raised his hand as he made a suggestion. "Can you leave the abilities of the other six souls, I'll make sure they're very formidable, and still maintain the balance of the other worlds. It's also best if they're going to start their lives in the worlds I manage, it's much safer than any other world as of the moment." With the suggestions now coming in, the [God of Cyberspace] glanced over to the [God of Dominion]. Despite the calm smile that he displays, there was a small bit of wariness that passes through his mind.

Some time after their meeting, the [Prime Existence] was finally prepared to split its souls into eight different fragments. Each soul gained different color as they received abilities that normally surpass all of humanity in various worlds. "With that, the preparation is complete." The [God of Equivalence] looked satisfied after he bestowed each souls with great abilities that could surpass all of humanity. One held power over the turbulence of time and dimension, one dominated the world with the will to control everything, including the minds, the world's rules, and even the objects around him, one transcended early into an angelic existence, a pair of beautiful wings as he watched over as a deified existence, one protected his world with his noble miracles of nature, one was blessed with eternity, yet cursed by his erosion. Two souls were formed into a [Creator] and a [Destroyer], going through worlds to see the work of these existences that are meant to work throughout eternity. And the last one, was to live through as a normal human being, but is capable of conceptualizing and theorizing things that he could learn from absolutely anything.

"So that's how the souls are born..." Olivia looked slightly down as she finally understood that Draxus's existence was too high up of the norm that they normally shouldn't be able to reach towards him. Following her, Lily, Julie, Matilda, and Gwen followed along with Olivia's expression as Remuel pushed Draxus's back towards them. Draxus glanced over to Remuel after he suddenly smacked him, gave a look of confusion, but after Remuel gave Draxus signals to keep an eye on his harem, he simply sighed as he vowed to hit Remuel later. "While it may be true that my existence is normally meant to live in the infinite space, I became a human on my very own accord. And the very fact that I hold all of you dear does not change even after I realized my identity. So, I will definitely remain here and live my life as a human with everyone. What matters to me right now is how much I loved the life with everyone here." He simply sat on the large bed with them and gently brushed through their heads with his hands one by one. "But that doesn't end there, it was unfortunate that Arlesk, the one who reincarnated as the [God of Cyberspace] was the only one who was wary enough to know what that [God of Dominion] has been plotting. But after some time, while I was acting as the [God of Equivalence], I ended up learning something very important."

"One of the souls have died?!" The [God of Equivalence] abruptly ended his concentration after he heard a shocking news that could fill him with nothing but disbelief. But the gods under him that were observing the souls were somewhat flustered as to what they have to do to stop the madness. "Yes... It was such a quick moment but, we detected a hint of divinity on the being that murdered him." The [God of Equivalence] quickly suppressed his aura as he asked which world and which soul had died. "It was the [Soul of Benevolence], there were sudden influences that caused the soul to go out of control after experiencing emotions. The fate in that world suddenly became twisted on my close management. After it lost control, a powerful being entered the world and killed the soul." The [God of Equivalence] clicked his tongue in sheer frustration. "Let's go, there's no point in waiting it out, we have to identify the runt who decided to kill the [Prime Existence]." The [God of Equivalence] and a few apostles devoted to him were then set off to the world where technology prospered without magic.

"This place looks very advanced... But I sense the tinge bit of divinity." With their arrival being almost an instant, they had entered their human forms and suppressed their power for the time being. "Somebody changed the fate of this world and caused a big influence. This however cannot be enough proof as the control of fate doesn't really faze something as powerful as the [Prime Existence], even with split souls." The [God of Equivalence] looked around on the world by entering through various portals. And after some time, he found the one city that was damaged greatly, with skyscrapers having broken windows, or buildings that had collapsed. "What the hell...? Let's relive the memories that occurred here." The [God of Equivalence] used his divinity to replay the events that happened within the area, and the information did not disappoint.

A random dude had an arm wrapping around a timid girl, he revealed a big smug expression as he forcefully kept the girl close to him. While another person who was somewhat shocked after seeing it. "W-Why...?" The young man, who harbored angels wings coming out from his back through the clothes fearfully reached out to the girl as he felt heartbroken after seeing her. There were hints of nostalgia while also feeling pain after seeing someone that he loved was now in the hands of another man. "Ops! No touching! Abomination! You really think that my girl would fall for you? Even if you look like an angel, it shouldn't even exist here." The punky guy slapped off the hand of the young man as he claimed the girl for himself. "This girl presented herself nicely to me after she said that you disappeared somewhere for a couple years. Worried to death she came to me for support, you abandoned her punk! You don't have the right to take her back!" The punk that slapped the host's hand dissed out words of hatred and annoyance towards him. And with that, the surge of emotions that had been building up inside the soul had broken free. Wrath, resentment, and regret filled his mind, and because of that, he started to prepare his own judgement to the man that stole the girl.

"Wait please stop! I don't want you to hurt anybo-!" "Get out of the way woman!" The girl tried to stop the angel but she was instantly kicked away by the punk. It was then that punk who had red hair and a thuggish face slowly shifted its form into a demon. However, that was enough evidence after seeing the form of the punkish man. "That's an apostle... I've seen him before..." With a slight mutter the gods observing with the [God of Equivalence] were flabbergasted as they turned their gazes to him. But as he was focused on how the soul died, it was a simple battle of an angel and a demon. However, the angel was simply just a young soul that had lost control, so it was a fleeting win for the apostle that was posing as a man who stole the soul's heart.

After the battle, the [God of Equivalence] was about to end the replay of memory, but he noticed something very extreme that the apostle just did. "I have contained the essence energy of one soul my lord. I will rendezvous now." The apostle spoke to nothing but thin air, but a few seconds later, there was a response that gave them a massive lead. "Very good... You know where we need to meet..." The voice that passed through the telepathy of the apostle, was someone that the [God of Equivalence] had spoken to recently. And it was the very same god that suggested the splitting of souls, the [God of Dominion]. "So he's the culprit..." Just as the [God of Equivalence] understood the entire situation, he allowed the replay to continue a bit more. After a few more seconds of time, the girl managed to get up after the sudden strike from an apostle. Blood was dripping down from her head as she slowly walked towards the corpse of the angelic soul. "Hey..." She tried to shake the body of the angel as she noticed that it was bleeding badly as well. The angel had completely stopped moving after the battle as to count of it as his death. "The first death of the [Prime Existence]..." The [God of Equivalence] could only feel the regret coursing through his entire mind as he continued to watch the tragedy. "Hey...!" The young girl continued to shake him up awake, but it was no use. She refused to believe his death even with his beautiful white angel wings have been stained with burns and blood. But soon after, she managed to see the cause why the angel wasn't moving at all.

A hole in his chest was visible which finally made her realize what had happened. The angel was killed, right in front of her. She looked around to see who killed him, until he found the devil that has his arm soaked in blood. "You...! Why did you kill him!? Why?! WHY?!!!?" Shouts of lament could be heard as tears start to pour from her eyes. "It was fun as I used you to make him despair. But now that I'm done with you, goodbye." The apostle appeared right behind her and pierced her back with his other arm. After removing it from her body, he then warped away from the world and escaped, while the young girl moved to wrap herself under the dead angel's wings and simply hugged him as she awaited for her death. Her final words were nothing but an apology. "I'm sorry..."

"A tragedy..." The [God of Equivalence] renewed his resolve as he quickly ordered the gods that tagged along to summon the [God of Dominion]. They then returned to the [Creation Space] to look for the god. In the meantime, the [God of Equivalence] summoned the god that governed [Heavenly Space] and the [God of Cyberspace] so that they can interrogate the [God of Dominion] who managed to get his apostles to kill one of the souls of the most important piece of the universe.

"That... Apostle I saw in the replay that time, was none other than Magna Ensarkóno." Remuel closed his eyes as he revealed the truth of the end of one soul that he is responsible on watching over with his role as the balancer of all worlds. Draxus could only be seen with closing his eyes with a serious expression. He stopped himself from speaking his mind for a bit as the girls who were listening in to the story were clearly showing signs of both grief towards one of the souls, and a resolve to ensure that they won't fall out of Draxus's hands. "I believe that's not all, other souls have gone through rough lives as well. Some are worse than others, but there's one thing in common between all of them." Draxus remained calm as he fully remembered what one of the souls had experienced through its life. "Magna reappeared when I remembered the scene of the castle of a surface realm. Cronus murdered the girl Zero loved while Magna and another apostle stopped me from moving at all. While Zero managed to reverse deaths and revive people by winding back time, the [God of Dominion] was found sitting on the throne. This all ended however when the [God of Dominion] used a certain ability. Deletion of existence." Remuel's eyes furrowed as he immediately understood what the ability meant. The girls however, including Wendy were in a state of denial as they couldn't believe that there was a power like that. "Let us continue on..."

The [God of Equivalence] had gathered the two other prime gods capable of governing spaces to the [Infinite Space]. In there, was another different god which was once brought there. However, he remained his distance away from them. "[God of Dominion], I believe you have something to say to us?" Even though he was summoned there, the god governing [Heavenly Space] brought out his aura to begin the intimidation. "Oh, I thought it was a necessary action since the soul has gone out of control." Upon hearing that, the [God of Equivalence] finally raised his voice out of anger. "What the fuck do you mean about necessary action?! You ordered one of your apostles to make him lose control of emotions! And what's more, you have absorbed one essence energy in there. That makes you gain power similar to the [Prime Existence]." The [God of Cyberspace] stopped the [God of Equivalence] from acting rashly. "Hey, we can't act rash here. While he did absorb one out of eight souls, he's going to be much more powerful than us now. We can't possibly-" Upon continuing his explanation to stop the [God of Equivalence], he immediately realized something. "So you wanted to split the souls so that they can be weak enough to be killed by you or your apostles." The [God of Dominion] clicked his tongue after the [God of Cyberspace] managed to identify his plan. "Guys, another soul just died, we can't waste time here." The god governing [Heavenly Space] suddenly blurted out more news as he seemed to read the mind of the [God of Dominion]. "As expected of the [True Administrator]! To know what's happening while I'm here, the souls will be getting killed as I take their essence energies. Once I get all eight souls, nobody would dare defy me." The god governing [Heavenly Space] simply grinned slightly. "As if I'll let you win this, just do whatever you want." With a small provocation, he sent off the [God of Dominion] with his [Administrative Power] to a far-away space. "This should buy time... [God of Equivalence], this may throw off the balance between worlds but I need you to do something important." The two gods focused their gazes as they listened in to the God governing [Heavenly Space]'s idea. "While that god tries to get back to where he's planning to meet up for the collected souls, I need you [God of Cyberspace] to make your move immediately, the best thing you can do is stall them for as long as you can. I will watch which souls have the highest potential to fight against the [God of Dominion]. Even if they are split, they're still parts of the [Prime Existence]. One of them could bring enough trouble against the [God of Dominion], but we need to get the preparations done as soon as possible. Thus, [God of Equivalence], you are to take the souls and transfer them to one of them. The [Creator Soul] and [Destroyer Soul] will eventually be targeted, so they're immediately a bust. But even if each soul has lost control of their powers, and their essence, the memories and abilities as the designated race and as [Prime Existence] will be there. It's going to be a painful gamble, but we have to rely on the combined souls to win against him." The [God of Equivalence] and [God of Cyberspace] looked at each other and quickly pondered about the idea in more detail. After a while, they accepted the idea as there seemed to be no other way to fight against it. "The enemy has two souls right now, and is poised to take a third one in its current pace. We only slowed it down for some time but we have to get eight different souls, albeit being filled to the brim with negative energy towards one of them. Can you tally which souls have the powers again?" The [God of Cyberspace] nodded and quickly spoke about the abilities of each soul and their name. This caused the God that governed [Heavenly Space] to ponder for a bit before making a full decision. "As much as we hate it, we can't allow the [God of Dominion] to take any more souls, but with him having two already, it's doubtful that we can stop him. Though it's a different story if we brought all eight souls into one person, and for being able to manipulate concepts and theories, Draxus Heimdal will be the one that has the highest potential. I will immediately twist the fate there and restart the time, I will reincarnate into the world there and play the role as his master or leader. I suggest that you will do the same once the seventh soul has died and been transferred to Draxus Heimdal. I will handle the wheel of fate that turns there." After listening to the full details coming from the god that governed [Heavenly Space], it was time for them to set off in their preparation against the [God of Dominion].

The [God of Equivalence] returned to the world where he found the angelic soul wandering. The soul was completely tainted with colors of wrath and resentment. However, with remorse remaining as he contained the entirety of the soul after his failure to protect it, he noticed something very important. "This is two souls... Yet, it feels like there's a pulse on another..." The other soul that's wrapped around the [Prime Soul] gave the [God of Equivalence] some memories. It was a pure white soul that remained its purity of essence despite being wrapped under the field of negative energy. "Then... This soul must be that girl... A soul of negativity protecting a soul with a beating pulse... In theory, the beating soul would immediately be infected, but... Maybe it turned into a heart for the soul..." [I have to tell them about this!] were the last words that remained before the [God of Equivalence] left to find the second soul after containing it.

Upon arrival to a different world, he immediately tried to look for a place. A burial could be seen dedicated for two people. The [God of Equivalence] landed nearby and looked over to see the beings using his divine sight. "No doubt about it... That's a soul, and the heart being buried with him as well." This time, the bodies that are going to be buried were a young man affiliated with the ability to hold the natural environment into his energy. Upon asking some people who were watching the burial, they were somewhat hesitant about giving responses. "The man being buried is Liam Belial. He is one of the most famous lines of nobility. His battle of fending off against an otherworldly army of monsters to save the world ended with his death." In his mind, he thought about the words [Otherworldly Army]. This could only mean one thing as this world was invaded by a massive army just to eliminate the soul. "What about the girl being buried beside him?" He asked another question to the person who was sobbing. "That is his wife... There was a major strife on who will marry the noble, and who will marry his wife which is the idol of us humanity... But after the public know of their secret meetings and their feelings, it was widely accepted that the idol and the master Liam to be together." There were feelings of lament transmitted from her words to the god's mind. He decided to distance himself after asking for the location of where the battle took place.

"Liam Belial, I have no grudge towards you but... I will have you meet your end here." A man that looks more revered in the darkness led his army of monsters towards the young man as he held the young girl by the scuff of her neck up. "I'll give you a timer! If you can reach here before five minutes, I'll return her to you." A sinister smile displayed from the man that's oozing off a massive aura of darkness. Dark arcane energy and dark void energy supplemented the power of the monsters as the man desperately fights his way through the monsters as he controlled the nature. Each monster was either poisoned to death or cut cleanly despite the auras protecting them. The man named Liam Belial managed to reach the man of darkness within just four minutes. "Very great of you to arrive here on time Liam Belial, I, the [Apostle of Darkness], serving the grand lord [God of Dominion] shall keep my promise." He dropped the young girl as she began falling off from a great height. Liam managed to catch her but upon getting a look on her face. He instantly realized that her lifeforce was sapped out completely. This caused him to shout in grief as he becomes completely enraged. The apostle simply smiled as he watched Liam despair completely and accumulate the negative energy, and once the negative energy starts to overfill the body, he struck Liam through with his sword ensuring instant death. "Goodbye soul essence, you will be necessary for my master's complete form." His black cloak fluttered after he made such an instantaneous movement. He then removed the sword from the body and used his dark arcane and dark void energy to contain the soul's essence. He then left the corpse of Liam as the young girl lies in his arms.

The [God of Equivalence] looked around as he immediately noticed two souls drifting around the former battlefield after he ended his replaying vision. "That's the two souls, I have to contain it quickly..." There were signs of regret, but he didn't stop in his work to collect the seven souls.

"With three souls killed in quick succession, I had to focus on gathering them quickly and sending them to the specific world Draxus was born. I inserted the souls one by one to avoid making Draxus himself lose control immediately. I had Arlesk who was acting as the [Soul of Cyberspace] to change those memories into dreams to avoiding the merging of personalities... But this is mostly to the point that even we are losing time." Remuel continued to explain what had happened to the first three souls that died from the apostles' attacks. "It's been a sobbing story so far, but it's about to turn light's out. Let us finish up the story tomorrow." Remuel made a suggestion after looking at the time, this was immediately agreed upon as they decided to call it a day. Remuel returned to his room while Wendy remained to sleep along with Olivia and the rest. Draxus remained awake as he sat down on the veranda of the balcony. Since everybody occupied his room, he could only display a wry smile as he remembered some very important things. "They sure get along..." Draxus could only continue watching over the beautiful night sky that's incomparable to when he lived back on earth. "Remuel only managed to witness their deaths... But I have yet to uncover their lives..." He looked at the starry sky as he tried to recall the names of the three apostles. "Cronus, Magna, and... I can't remember the third one... But from Remuel's story, he's definitely powerful..." He renewed his resolve as he tried to think about ideas on how the third apostle fights his battles. "Draxus...?" A young girl's voice was heard behind him as he continued to bask under the moonlight. This caused Draxus to look over his shoulder and check who it was. "Wendy...? Can't sleep?" Wendy nodded as she sat down at the table placed perfectly for viewing the city at night. Despite being generally light's out at most districts, one district remained active even throughout the night. "The traditions here and lessons about the beauty of the night sky made the sightseeing district remained as the place where people wish to see the beauty of the city. I'm glad it was implemented as a way for people to know more about otherworldly things." Draxus smiled as he gazed over the beautiful lights that light up the sightseeing district. "Yeah, it's just like back on Earth whenever there's events..." Wendy glanced over and felt a little relieved, before finally getting the courage to ask. "Hey... What exactly happened, during that time? I've heard from Pauleen and Juniper..." Draxus closed his eyes and began pondering about what to say. "Let's see... I haven't really thought about it anymore after I ended up in this world. I merely went into full on survival, while protecting every member of the Preeliance that time... But before that..." Draxus began to explain the matter of his life of despair.

"I don't really have the best opinions when it comes to family. I tend to enter troublesome situations where I'm forced to work with people I don't want to work with, and I was forced to have no control over any situation. This was under the pretense that I don't know anything, despite being the very person to know the perfect solution of various situations. Before I ended up in this world, I was merely a puppet to be prepared as a future piece of lifeline. I didn't really like that, but what other choice do I have...? I wasn't even allowed to go out often, I wasn't allowed to make my own moves even if I had reached the age of legality... If I returned, I would still remain as a puppet... That remained the case until I met the members of Preeliance..." Draxus brought out his phone as he began searching for pictures of memories. "These guys helped me gain the resolve to defy things and think for myself. Remuel gave me a few of those lessons and such so that I won't have to worry about my very own life. This only amplified after I met my current master which is Serkyrio... After defeating me in a clean sweep, I became his disciple to learn more about the world while improving my physical capabilities." Draxus provided an example what he had learned from being a disciple of Serkyrio. "For example, magic even before we were sent to this world. I learned and mastered runic magic for my own suitable combat tactics. But in here, I simply used my conceptualization and theorization to get through most of the things. The credit on how to use them still goes to him though." Draxus simply smiled as he explained how great his life was as his disciple. "But..." That expression immediately turned grim. "After my very first attempt to defy the plans of my family, I was forced into isolation, and was considered insane for even attempting to fight through it. I was once again locked in a cage, with no way of communicating to even my master or any of my friends. Then at the age of sixteen, I was finally allowed to move around outside my home, but cannot leave the premises of the subdivision that I lived in. That's where I finally met the Sentinels, after being observant while being able to relate to their game habits, I managed to befriend them easily. At the very least, if I'm unable to communicate to the circle of friends that I belong in, then I could at least connect with the circle that I recently entered. Despite being new, because I was older and considerable intelligent, I was deemed to act more as a leader, thus beginning my new experience as such." He once again showed more pictures of the Sentinels group playing on computers together and various other memories such as raging expressions for each member. "Then after I graduated high-school, I ended up being unable to go for college... The pandemic ended up hitting at the worst timing, thus I wasn't able to get through that much. But I did manage to get a girlfriend that time." Draxus then turned off his phone as he didn't really have anything else to show to Wendy. "Gayle was a girl that had been talking to me for a majority of the pandemic. While I wasn't able to contact members from the Preeliance group, she was able to bring me to another kind of life. It was in that moment I finally began to see dreams of where I lived as somebody else, experiencing a life filled with magic and complete power. It also contained my life as the [Prime Existence]. At first, I didn't really believe it, but after coming this far, then I have no choice but to accept it." Draxus moved and sat right in front of Wendy while bringing out some ice cream to cool down his mind and heart. "Want some?" He offered one glass to Wendy to which she immediately thanked him for it. "Early on, Gayle as my girlfriend isn't so bad, using those dreams, I started writing stories and had various drafts for each soul. However, things began to escalate in a different direction after two months. After she brought me to her room, we ended up having sex for the very first time, but after that it's just the beginning of the major issues. She would always ask for more attention, if I couldn't do it, then an argument would start over such a baseless reason. Basically, she didn't trust me enough and would always seek for it. The relation continued to hold strongly but I went to work, on what's more, a business process outsourcing kind of dealio where I receive calls from other countries and try to deal with their problems in their stead." Wendy gulped down a spoonful of chocolate ice-cream as she enjoyed her free midnight snack. "So, what happened after you got your job?" Draxus scratched his head as he suddenly realized that Wendy looked somewhat familiar. "Well, despite being my work status a massive success, keeping an eye on my girlfriend that time became a massive detriment. Instead of getting ourselves comfortable with things such as money being used for future dates, she started to look for attention from other guys. It all then ended when the girl ended up returning to her ex because he gave her the attention she needed that time, while I had to focus and endure through my work schedule. And she even met him behind my back and lied about it. Thus, instead of just shutting her outright because of my difficulty to control feelings, I went off with my workmates and got myself drunk instead, at least to levy off my sadness but nope. She straight up abandoned me when it happened. After my parents realized what I had gone through and forced myself to resign, they had been lighter with my actions. They allowed me to visit my master so that I can get myself fixed. And boy it was truly the right choice. With every single bit of lesson I learned, I tried to fight with everything I have gathered on the line. I discarded every single bit of my sanity as I desperately fought a losing battle. Because no matter how powerful I become, Serkyrio will always win against me." Wendy could only stop eating after she listened to the entirety of what happened to Draxus's romantic life before entering this world. "That is..." Draxus simply caressed her head as he reassured her. "Sad? Of course it is, but it's alright considering how nice my life is here right now. I met Olivia five days upon my arrival, met Lily and Julie the day after I went on my first adventure, met Matilda after a month, and then Gwen in the struggle on Santuria... I'd say it's been quite bizarre since most of my fiancés are daughters of the highest figures in their countries." Draxus smiled as he finally realized the life experience he has. "I no longer have to worry about myself, because three gods are protecting me completely, and what's more, those three are my greatest friends." Draxus finished up his glass of ice cream and placed it on the side of a table. "It's a surprising that they let you escort me home alone though." Wendy, looking slightly embarrassed, spoke her thoughts about Draxus being protected. "So it really was you..." Draxus's smiled widely without letting it cramp as he finally realized Wendy's identity. "I too, have issues with my family. In fact, they just kicked me out of the house before I came to this world." Draxus's smiling expression turned into a surprise as he focused his eyes on Wendy's expression. "Honestly, after living with my cousin, I don't really know what to do afterwards... I didn't have a lot of money, I could only make do with posting art and my old cosplay has gone quite a bit of a major issue... And what you did before to keep me safe, I'm truly grateful..." Draxus scratched the back of his head and simply laughed a little. "I'm glad you're truly safe, I know, you and your friends officially became Sentinels under Livi's supervision, but I'll tell you this... Feel free to stay here as long as you'd like, money isn't an issue since the Sentinel hall where most of the Sentinels eat their mealtimes are prepared by myself. You can earn a lot too for your hobbies if you need it, and if there's more needed, I have some spare pocket change if you need." Wendy giggled a little as she immediately made a retort. "And define the amount of pocket change?" Draxus turned his gaze away as he decided to not think about it for too long. "Well, more than hundreds of platinum coins in this world, and around millions of dollars worth of assets in the old world. So I can even pay for your cosplays and such... Speaking of cosplays, we need to bring the subculture into this world more. How about helping me in this endeavor?" Draxus made a suggestion as he calmly offered his hand to Wendy. "Of course, but first, I must apologize to you." Draxus tilted his head to the side slightly due to the slight bit of confusion in his mind. When Wendy raised her phone, the screen showed a sound-recording app which caused Draxus to sigh in resignation. "I just hope you won't bring this up to any other person... My fiancés are fine though, I did think about telling them about my life before I came to this world in complete detail anyway, so it's all good if you record me here. Anyways, feel a little sleepy yet?" Draxus stood up and brushed her head once again. At the same time, Wendy finally yawned as she felt some drowsiness crawl up to her. Without knowing what really happened, Draxus used a little bit of magic to make her drowsy in consideration to her health. "Yeah... I'll sleep with everyone here for tonight..." Wendy stood up and started to walk drowsily to the large bed that was made for a large group of people sleeping together. The designs were made according to Draxus's taste of crystals since he's much more comfortable in a colder environment. "Before I sleep though..." Wendy turned around gripping the hem of her shirt as she looked down out of embarrassment. "What is it?" Draxus tilted his head as if ready to listen to Wendy's request, but she started walking closer towards Draxus and reached up to him by raising herself to her toes.

And kissed him.

To his surprise, Draxus never expected for somebody like Wendy who is popular enough to have a fanbase fall for somebody like him. After he explained what his life is like, she felt a major feeling of familiarity with him. Before she knew it, she was much more comfortable and confident with Draxus around her. Even with new friends such as Olivia and the others, she didn't want the person she could be confident in to disappear from her side. Thus she simply accepted that she will be part of a harem. After the two separated from their kiss, Draxus could be seen blushing greatly after what Wendy had done. Silver lining was visible as Wendy quickly wiped it off from her mouth and turned around because she was completely embarrassed. "G-Good night Drax!" She then rushed into the room and lied down on the bed with the other girls. In all that time, Draxus still remained stunned. After a few more minutes of processing what just happened, he finally snapped out of it. "So it's six now... I wonder what I'm gonna say to Remuel at this rate..." Draxus opened his phone and looked for ideas on what to do on his free time. "I wonder what you meant by that Drax? Did your harem finally increase?" Draxus, who remained on the balcony jumped from the sudden voice behind him. "S-Serkyrio!? You didn't hear the entire thing did you?!" Serkyrio grinned as he pulled out warm tea for the two to share. "Aside from the new harem member being someone we already know having a potential... We need to return to that country tomorrow to report the damage." Draxus nodded as he used his phone to set up an auto-farming session for a game that he recently started playing. "Oh, new game? Wait, this is that one bullet hell game right?" Draxus then began to explain the reasons as to why he plays the game. "Well, the bullet hells are too cancerous for my current self with the workload so I play the licensed gacha game instead. It's still reference for future abilities to conceptualize. Anyways, who did you fight against? I fought against Mnemosyne and Crius, they were clearly aiming for my memories." Serkyrio let out his interested tone as he began to describe what he had fought against. "While dealing with the army was a clean sweep with no issues, I ended up fighting Cronus and Magna, they're definitely dangerous since they're both apostles of the [God of Dominion], but I managed to deal with them both." Draxus's mind was instantly filled to the brim with retorts as he couldn't understand how Serkyrio could manage to do something as grand as that. "What do you mean you managed? Even if you're a god, the body is still human you know?!" Draxus instinctively shouted out of major retorts to Serkyrio's capabilities. "Don't worry about it, you'll go bald." Serkyrio silently used his magic to silence the room from the outside to prevent the girls from waking up due to Draxus retorting to no end.

"Anyways, I've heard Arlesk reawakened. His form got some drip dude, I gotta tell you." Draxus described what he saw after the battle when Arlesk suddenly could be seen wearing a cybernetic tech armor that assisted him in using his divinity. "I've seen that already, but he did ask me to test it out later on. So there will be a duel in the coming days once everybody's rested up." Draxus displayed his excitement by sipping more of the tea and finishing his cup quickly. "Looking forward to it, who will preside over it? Remuel?" Serkyrio nodded his head in response to Draxus's question about which kind of arena it will be.

The duel arena system became prominent after Serkyrio organized duels between archons to be given special rules. When duels between archons occur, he would preside and have the special rules active completely. His special rule is that for every minute, [Eternal Regeneration] would be given to the two duelists with the last being the ten minute mark. With the demand for duels with special rules so high, Serkyrio had to use an [IOU Paper] to the three archons to force them into this kind of thing as well. This led to Draxus having special rules of climate changes per minute, Remuel ruling with fire traps and geysers, and Arlesk making the duelists use more utility in battles due to how difficult it is to see their opponents. "By the way, have you selected your three [Executors]?" Serkyrio suddenly asked Draxus a question on who he will pick as the person serving the Preeliance with such role. "Yeah, Shadows, Spirits, and Elements, these three Sentinel Vice-Chiefs should fit the bill for me." Serkyrio smiled as Draxus decisively spoke his opinions on who will be getting that position. "Good, we'll announce this positions after we cleared up all the commotions. Be prepared for tomorrow aight? You're gonna be busy after the reporting, be sure to keep your harem close." Draxus's eyebrows twitched grandly as he became slightly irritated with the teasing. "Anyways, good night and prepare yourself." Serkyrio left the balcony and warped back to his room. "Now, what do I do...?" Draxus pondered for a while as he kept his gaze over the girls that are inside the room.

He entered the room and sat on the bed together with the girls and laid down. "Glad to have you girls take care of me..." Draxus smiled as he closed his eyes and decided to rest before he's called out by Serkyrio.

In those collected memories of his soul, one of the eight hearts have reconnected with the soul.

Soul of Destruction, and the Heart of Protection.