6 The Price of Salvation (1/2)
”Death is such a cunt.”
This was Kilian's primary thought as his soul drifted across various planes, unable to find its way back into the reincarnation circle. Little did he know that the flames used in his execution should have not merely destroyed his body, but also burned his soul into nothingness. However, there it was, floating through the various realms of existence.
On that trip, Kilian crossed the Dream Plane, witnessing its Lotus Children in their endless torpor, the Nightmare Plane with its rampaging druden, the Sura Plane with its riveting, fluttering suras, and so much more. But the glowing crimson eye didn't stop, leading him across all those planes to land in that one realm all mortals dreaded.
In that new plane, the sky was a gleaming red, the air carried the scent of vervain, and magnificent crystal edifices and constructs stretched as far as the eyes could see. Kilian observed it all from above, thinking that if this was the afterlife, death couldn't be that gruesome. Summoned by an otherworldly force, Kilian's ethereal body turned into a crimson ray of light, shafting through the air to land in what looked like a royal court.
And what court it was. Never in his two lives had Kilian seen or heard of anything of the sort. Bare daemonic creatures of infernal beauty writhed in a dance of enrapturing appeal. Some donned pairs of horns, others, striking wings, multiple pairs of eyes, tails, and so much more. The hues of their skins varied, their shapes never the same, yet all gripped Kilian's soul with their very presence -- as if desire incarnate surrounded him from all sides.
Ahead, red crystal stairs led the way to a towering throne on which a female creature of empyrean splendor stood. As naked as the rest, her assets stood in full view. But if the cantaloupe-sized breasts, dark-purple skin, wide hips, and willow waist should have gripped attention, the creature's eyes made all the rest irrelevant, preventing even the most depraved of lechers from drooling in her presence.
The woman beckoned, lifting Kilian with the same irresistible force that pulled him into this court. It didn't take a genius to realize that he owed his presence in this place to this spellbinding creature. Driven by the telekinetic force, Kilian crossed the dancing court, bypassed the crystal stairs, and landed right before the fehl daemoness. For indeed, if not for a fehl daemoness, what else could she be?
Her gaze ignored him, focusing on the third, crimson eyes on his forehead, and her full lips curved into an enchanting smile.
”Interesting, very interesting. In the mortal plane's history, I believe it is the first time a fehl-tainted human develops the Eye of Fehl. Boy, congratulations,” The fehl daemoness stated in the most mellifluous tone Kilian had ever come across.
With her smile unchanged, she stood up, letting her back-length, ink-like hair drape over her breasts and perky rear. But now that she left her throne, Kilian could witness the full measure of the woman's height. Almost 2.1 meters tall, as he knelt before her thighs, she dwarfed him entirely.
”To answer your first question, your impending death triggered the Eye's activation, and in a bid of self-preservation, it created a spatial distortion to take your soul into the Fehl Plane. Because you landed in my domain, I immediately sensed your presence and took you here,” The daemoness began as she stretched her clawed hand toward Kilian's chin. Surprisingly, even in his ethereal form, she could effortlessly lift his chin.
”As for the second question - what do I want from you - it's actually quite simple. The Eye is the greatest treasure of the fehl race, the closest mutation to the Origin. Right now, your death allowed you to unlock its first ability: Dimensional Rift.
In the future, it will give you so much more. I want you to unlock its full potential, then give your soul to me. Are you willing?” The fehl daemoness directly asked. Throughout all planes of existence, fehls, and non-fehls alike, those willing to unconditionally surrender their soul to her counted in the billions.
Alas, Kilian wasn't one to make a petty bargain for luscious breasts and a pretty face.
”Trading my soul isn't out of the question. You just need to give me enough reasons,” Kilian candidly replied. A dead prisoner had no use for his soul. In a flash, he'd made a full assessment of his current predicament—a powerless soul within the yoke of an unfathomable existence. If she didn't want him to leave, he couldn't. And even if she did let him go, no road back awaited him.
His Dimensional Rift ability currently stood in an unstable state. With just a soul supporting the Eye, he couldn't go anywhere. At best, he would become the meal of some gluttonous fehl creature. At worst, an eternity of slavery awaited him. This was reality.
But he couldn't just vanish. He couldn't aimlessly drift. The beast of vengeance still grumbled within his bowels, eager to feast on Klaus von Karsten's skull. But beyond that, he now had a goal, a reason to thrive and grow: To take the reins!
Even without using her mind-reading powers, the fehl daemoness could see all that played within Kilian's mind.