Nik stood still as if oblivious to the parrot's eyes roaming over his body. It didn't matter to him either way, after all, his spirits had a direct view from his eyes and could see anything they wanted. However, as Nik felt the chill continued to creep through his feet, he silently measured the best time to act. According to his spirits, everyone single 'complete' spirit instinctively knows their two names. Nik had been merely lucky by finding out Asmodeus' and Lilith's first name, but he would still have to go through two of their tests later on.

Even though Nik had gained Pure's affinity— Pure Frost— the moment she kicked away the spirit shells of the egg she was incubating in, in the spiritual world, the only energy that can be used is either the fabled soul energy that Sky sang praises for and spiritual energy. In a way, Soul Force is simply a better and efficient version of Spiritual energy. So, the sensation of cold was merely the absolute attribute of Pure's spiritual energy. Once his thighs started to spasm, instead of using his own spiritual sense and control to remove the chill, as he did in the past hundreds of tries, Nik began his recent tactic. A thin strand of spiritual energy seeped into his spiritual avatar. Since the core mechanics of the spiritual avatar is different from a fleshy body, despite the projection of his organs, Nik started to pull the 'chill' deeper into his body.

'Please... work, already!' Nik sighed internally while Pure's beady parrot-eyes blinked before she flapped her wings amusingly. "It won't work, it won't work~ Master! Every single day... ah, I kinda get it! We all are the same, lazy asses that are stubborn~! But... it still won't work!"

'I know that already...' Nik stood straight, his posture though stiffened by the cruel chill, portrayed a certain relaxation that embraced the frozen hell, 'I should have never let Pure get her hands on the Pure Phoenix Spirit Bone set held by Ye Zong... but... I would do the same if given the chance to do things differently...' Nik's entire body felt cold while he had trouble keeping his eyes open. As a complete spirit, Pure's spirituality in itself is amazing and once she easily absorbed the entire spirit bone set left by her true body, her raw power had long surpassed the 'Sage' of Nik's spiritual world. 

'But... if I need to keep myself from freezing, there are only two ways. Expulsion and contraction. Pure never stated any other conditions aside from my skin remaining defrosted, this gives me a certain flexibility. Expelling Pure's spiritual contamination is simply impossible for current Nik. To expel Pure's chill contamination means letting the cold energy rest on the exterior of his spiritual avatar, which would cause his body to freeze into an icy block. Meanwhile, Nik also didn't have enough energy to absorb the contamination and needed to modify the act itself.

Stubborn...

Despite what Pure said, the belief and ideal of being stubborn are what Nik got challenged for. Aside from the spiritual confrontation, the host and the spirit also let their ideals conflict. If his spirits are subdued by simple beatdown, then it would have spoken volumes about Nik's true nature. It would have been easy to complete the tests that way, alas, Nik turned out to be not that easy of a person. Who is more stubborn? Can he converge the chill into a brick of ice within his body and survive while Pure stubbornly invade his spiritual avatar, or will he lose once again, with his spiritual avatar unable to withstand his own stubbornness?

Instinctively, Nik knew that like always, the remaining three veteran spirits were focusing on the confrontation. Though lackluster, this test was simply the most overwhelming challenge Nik had faced. Even the will of Paradise seemed malleable enough but not Pure. This little parrot...

The corner of his lips cracked as the projection of his blood seeped out. He simply couldn't refrain from smiling. With slight frost over his eyelids, Nik's eyes twitched open as the exclusive... crazy smile befitting a moderate maniac finally touched his lips. Sweeping his gaze over the happily flying Pure as she let out cheerful cries while enjoying the cold nature, Nik continued to pull the chill into his body, forming a small block of ice in between the tiny gap of his bicep, inflating his own proportions disgustingly. Flinching due to the inhumane pain, Nik's own shout had been cut short as his own tongue stuck itself to his chilly teeth. Biceps, forearms, thighs, calves, right chest, trapezius, hands, feet... at every corner of his body, icy cubes formed in between the tight holds of his muscles while his body looked like it had been invaded by a great number of squarish maggots.

This test was not easy. The soul-trembling pain aside, he had already done his best—

'Ah...' Nik's brain buzzed as his vision started swimming. The plan to complete this test is twofold. The first is to converge while Nik never got to the timing of his second part. 'By now, my vessels should be popping but the addition of icy chill to my muscles will start to freeze my blood internally... only a few minutes have passed... it really is impossible.' Nik's thinking slowed down. 'Even if I convert all of it, just the sudden rise in temperature would make sure to crack my body harshly and the leaking blood would end up freezing me... man, just how freaky can this test get?'

As the thought of his own ideal crashing and crumbling against his spirit's ideal registered, Nik chuckled, finally, letting his mouth freeze with a piece of bloody red ice cracking from the gums and lips, 'Hot damn... and here I thought I could use my Papa energy to overcome any difficulty... I just need more expertise, that is all~!'

"Huff!"

Nik opened his eyes while the phantom pain still wreaked havoc in his body. With his clothes sticking close to his damp body layered with cold sweat. At this time, Pure's disgruntled chimes rang, "Ah! You lasted a minute shorter than yesterday! No fair! Get back here!" 

"Gah!" Nik clutched his head while cursing softly, "Speak softly, damn parrot! My brain still feels as if it is freezing!" 

"I am not a parrot!"

"Whatever!" Nik grinned before plopping back to the bed. "Damn, I have already accomplished so much in this world... I have a kid, and even then... there is so much to do!"

---

Gojira, Samya, and Xiao Ming constantly took care of Tanya. Strangely, even though Tanya felt irritated in Nik's arms, when he wasn't in the same room as her, she would wreck the whole place. Blindfolded but knowing every inch of the room, Samya calmly dodged the sudden spray of pee followed by pitiful sobs as Xiao Ming continued to record, and Gojira powdered Tanya's bum once again before wrapping her up in extremely soft cloth diaper. With her small head covered by silky dark hair and her chubby face always filled with tears, Tanya started twisting her body within the crib. 

"I think... she doesn't like your face..." Samya hypothesized softly, making Gojira's lips twitch as she turned back and inquired with a smile.

"Why dontcha say that again?"

"Physical battle, spiritual battle, and intellectual battle, I surpass you in all of them," Samya reminded when Xiao Ming finally placed the smartphone on the table beside her and finalized, "No threats or fight near Tanya. I don't need the help of glorious punks but actual nurses!"

"... Yes, ma'am..."

The duo sighed sourly, but they both had their reasons to help. Well, Samya being genuinely curious was different from Gojira's agenda to divert her attention.

'Damn that stupid blood! Dying on me even when I said that becoming human ain't easy... fuck!'

Gojira recalled her earlier visit into the Star Dou Forest, in particular, one of the forbidden zones, the Blood Pond that is ruled by the Blood Cardinal. The strongest of Godzilla's follower...

She died two days ago while trying to transform into a human. Though sorrowful, Gojira felt more annoyed. After encountering multiple fatal situations, a few caused by Blood Cardinal herself, it would be stupid if Gojira didn't have some sense of dissatisfaction towards the monster. But Blood Cardinal also presented a part of Gojira that wasn't invincible and this aspect greatly exhilarated Gojira. Now, however, to follow Gojira's footsteps, Blood Cardinal ended up losing her life.

The bitch!

Still spicy by the sudden news, Gojira would end up getting frustrated over the smallest thing but she now knew restraint. Ominously gazing at Samya for a few breaths, Gojira then looked back at Tanya with a soft smile. She could never get a sense of normalcy when she was pregnant with Ryu'er. Even when she had given birth to Ryu'er, Gojira barely had any experience in handling a child and if it wasn't for a fact that Ryu'er was born with the durability of a strong adult... yeah, her screw-ups might have caused Ryu'er her little life.

"But this won't happen to you~! So be sure not to get too selfish and disregard the people who really love you..." Gojira smiled and tilted her head with her chin resting over the edge of the crib. For a moment, the sweetness in Gojira's coo caused Tanya to blink but at this time, Xiao Ming stifled a chuckle, "Good thing... I just switched on the video recording. So, hear that Tanya, your aunt Gojira say that you have to remain kind to all of us~!"

Even Samya chuckled as Gojira mechanically turned her head.

"Delete that!"

"Nope!"

"— never disregard the people that love you— ah, so embarrassing, isn't that right?" Samya poked while leaning on the backside of the chair while mimicking Gojira's voice.

"Deelllleeeettteeee Iiiitttttt!"

Gojira's groan reached the corners of the manor.

***

A/N: I wrote this chapter specifically to make sure that emotions can only affect one's output if they have some sort of emotion-power cultivation method. Or else, the power of friendship, love, fatherly love, and stuff won't do jack shit. Nik felt confident after feeling the emotional support of being a father but until he is strong enough to subdue primordial spirits, I won't actually make them harem members. That would be a shitty direction for the plot.