843. The Fruit of Light

843. The Fruit of Light

“Ilya... Ilya!” Michaela cried, reaching out towards the object.

“A Fruit... No, that’s a ‘Rose’. A completed Rose. Were those two thorns? And it was enough to create a perfect Rose... No – Michaela! MICHAELA! NEITHER OF US MUST ACT RASHLY!”

Uriel screamed like a rabid dog. Despite this, she too sought after the Fruit of Light. However, both were repelled by a powerful field that caused millions of transparent colors to appear temporarily.

The field extended over hundreds of meters like a shell. Not only did it repel them –

“... Qliphoth Corrosion?” Uriel muttered, seeing dark swirls linger on her fingertips.

– But it promised to utterly destroy them if they dared to approach.

“ILYA!” Michaela did not care for this and threw herself against the shell of the Fruit of Light. “WHERE ARE YOU, ILYA!”

Only whimpers responded from within. Michaela’s face – which had always been nonchalant and stoic for as long as the world could remember – was wracked with emotions. She clenched her teeth and bared them to the world as her face contorted, forming wrinkles that had never appeared on her face before.

“I can’t tell if this is a shell made of Qliphoth or something else. Did Elysia have to go through this every time the world reset?” Uriel couldn’t begin to imagine it.

However, it would explain how she corroded over time if that were the case.

Michaela encased herself with every wing and tail, creating a drill-shaped cocoon. It began to spin as she pushed on with everything she had. Slowly, the tips of her tails and wings sept through, and immediately –

“AGH... ILYA!”

– Unimaginable pain consumed her. Michaela had lived for eons. She knew every conceivable and inconceivable pain in existence. This was beyond anything she had ever experienced before.

Black swirls appeared around her wings and tail, peeling off layers of feathers as they began to blacken.

“NO! Michaela! Revert! Elysia’s greatest mistake was devouring the Fruit of Light! Are you... MICHAELA! Are you attempting to cause the Fourth Shattering!?” Uriel could not stop her. “Your daughter’s soul will be ripped apart and spread across the world! Your body will not be able to contain that raw amount of Light! You are not Elysia!”

Her words fell on deaf ears. No matter how loudly she screamed; it was just that. A scream. She could not intervene nor interrupt Michaela now.

Her entire body had already slipped into the veil and passed the point of return

Michaela could no longer hear her nor the outside world now. Her desperation drove her ever forward into a world of light. A dark vortex consumed her. The world was condensed into a cylindrical tunnel. It seemed like she was falling.

“Please... Ilya! Are you here!?”

//////// < EXISTENTIAL WARNING > ////////



< Michaela >



“Lailah... You’re able to communicate with me directly now?”

< I am not aware of why this is the case >



< But I presume it has something to do with your current state >



< Attempting to interact with the source of Light will result in the termination of your vessel >

“It’s no use.”

“Ilya?” Michaela uttered.

“I’ve already departed. I’m no longer able to live anywhere but here.”

“... Ilya...?” She was taken aback by this.

Somehow, Michaela knew why this was the case. Her soul was not here. While her body... no, her vessel, which was the fused Piece of Paradise and the Price of Paradise were present, her soul was somewhere else.

“I can only exist here in Guf. The outside world has no place for me. My world is here in the Treasury of Souls.”

“That can’t be...”

“It’s ok mother. If my soul disappears and if my body decays, then there’ll be a new me in 15 years. You have one of ‘me’ already.”



Suddenly, a thousand variations of Ilya and Her chattered at once:

“One already. One already. Me already. Her already.”

The cacophony didn’t cease. Michaela’s hands reached as far as they could forward. Her face contorted to an unrecognizable form as she cried out:

“YOU ARE NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR HER!”

“Huh?” “Eh?” “Huh?” “Eh?”

“Huh?” “Eh?” “Huh?” “Eh?”

“Huh?” “Eh?” “Huh?” “Eh?”



“THERE IS ONLY ONE OF YOU ILYA!”

The last remaining walls of her tail and wings gave way. The skin of her fingers peeled away as she desperately strove to reach for Ilya.

All but one tail remained.

“I AM NOT GOING TO LET YOU GO AGAIN!”

“Moth...er...?”

Everything around Michaela began to change. The colorful walls gradually became darker. The only light now was the one, tiny speck far ahead. The flesh of her body peeled away, giving light to a pale, naked form that reached inwards into the darkness.

It felt like she was swimming in mud. The darkness was a medium, but still, she fell, clawing her way towards the light.

“ILYA!”

Unbeknownst to her was that something grandeur was occurring outside.

//////// < WARNING > ////////



< THE ARBITER’S AWAKENING EVENT HAS BEGUN >