"You fool, do you realize how absurd you sound? This is crazy!” Asteria's voice trembles with rage, her astral form shimmering. “If we fail, you won't just die, Elemiah. Your soul will be shattered, fragmented into oblivion! There will be nothing left of you. It's a fate far crueler than death!”
Elemiah, despite the weight of Asteria's words, stands his ground. "I'm well aware," he responds, eyes firm with determination. "But I have no choice, Asteria. I must do this!"
Asteria's gaze shifts to you, her eyes searching yours for an answer. "What do you think, Felicia?"
You take a deep breath, grappling with the intensity of the moment. "Elemiah, do you really need to do this no matter what? Please think about this more carefully. There should be another way, nya?"
“No,” Elemiah shakes his head. “I need to get this done. If you don’t help me, then I will just do it myself.”
“Haiiz…” you sigh. “Alright then, Asteria, let’s do this nya."
“Thank you…” Elemiah bows, and slowly begins to remove his clothing.
As Elemiah's upper body is revealed, a wave of horror washes over you. It looks as if something has been gnawing away at his flesh. In some areas, his ribs and organs are grotesquely exposed. The rest is covered in blackened skin, perpetually oscillating between decay and regrowth. The stench is overwhelming, it’s like the worst kind of rot. You squeeze your nose to stave off the urge to retch. You're well aware of Elemiah's exceptional healing abilities. But seeing him in this state makes you wonder... just what kind of torment has he been enduring? And how on earth was he able to hide this from everyone else?
Just over a week ago, he seemed perfectly normal: blue eyes, shining blond hair, and a righteous aura. But now… it's just unimaginable.
Anyways, you and Asteria start preparing because once the procedure starts, there's no turning back. It only ends in one of two ways: success, or Elemiah's death.
You hate this. The weight of being responsible for someone else's life is crushing.
But you've already committed to helping him, and deep down, you understand that you're the only one who can.
As he readies himself, you take a seat in a nearby chair, ruminating on the information you've gleaned from your recent conversation with him.
Firstly, regarding how he deduced the existence of Asteria within you. He had his suspicions when Dolore attempted to take over your body. But the real revelation came from Nightingale’s 'Kiss of Death'. Typically, a person has just one soul. If a demon extracts that, it's the end. Yet you survived the kiss. This can only mean there's more than one soul within you, confirming Elemiah’s hypothesis.
And about Nightingale, he just wanted to know how she suppressed the demonic corruption, because he’s in dire need of that information himself.
Now, as for how he came to know of Asteria...
It was just sheer coincidence.
He happened to be a fan of Asteria’s work. He had read all of her books.
As you already know, Asteria’s existence was so unique that Aquilonyan had to shield her from the other gods. It's understandable, for the gods would have taken umbrage upon discovering that Asteria, who used to be a great demonic being, served under Aquilonyan.
Yet, exceptions existed. There were few selected gods and goddesses whom Aquilonyan considered trusted allies. Among them was the goddess of Divine Light, Aurora. She deemed Aurora her best friend. Not a lover though, because obviously, Aurora was not a catgirl.
Hence, Asteria's profound insights and studies of demonic energy were shared with Aurora to aid in the combat against Kataros. And the goddess of Divine Light then shared with a few of her chosen followers. The chosen followers then continue passing those information down.
Until a certain grand inquisitor happened to come across it. And then, after witnessing how you and Asteria saved Nightingale, he is ninety-nine percent sure of the mysterious catgirl's identity.
And now…
Asteria sighs. “Of all the perilous and absurd techniques I shared with that crazy woman, of all the 99 ways to harness demonic energy, why did he have to pick that one?”
The Soul Splitting Technique.
In essence, it divides the soul. One segment remains untouched, while the others can be corrupted. This allows one to maintain their free will while simultaneously harnessing demonic might.
When Asteria considered it, she didn’t even believe such a feat was possible, given the immense torment one must endure when splitting one's soul. So it just remained a theoretical procedure until now.
But to imagine someone so unhinged that they'd fragment their own soul into 27 sections, and soon to be 28...
Even Asteria is taken aback.
Now, observing the twenty-six floating madness gems surrounding Elemiah, you can discern a distinct difference. Normal madness gems contain the rage and resentment of the slain Demon King; some even retain their consciousness. However, the madness gems birthed from the Soul Splitting Technique lack that intense hatred. They're simply pure dark energy, nothing more.
But, of course, Elemiah wouldn't have sought your assistance if he'd already mastered and successfully applied the technique.
That last fragment, the one that was not supposed to be corrupted, was already affected as well. Looks like he made a mistake somewhere in the previous procedures. That’s why his eyes are now red, as he cannot hide his secret anymore. With that happened, the only solution is to split his soul even more to get rid of that contaminated part.
And the thing is, splitting the soul for the twenty-seventh time is a billion times harder and more painful than the initial split.
