Chapter 15: Resurrection

After leaving those words, the fragment opened its mouth and began to suck in deep breaths. The black smog rapidly entered the spirit body, like a black hole sucking in matter.

A few seconds later, nearly half of the black smog had been devoured and the spirit body seemed to be just a bit darker. Finally, the remaining black smog began to spin around in a whirlpool before forming a smoky figure. A carbon copy of the creature on the outside of Samuel's body appeared in the space.

"Mammon you schemer, I knew it'd be you. Fuck off, this is my body to devour." The creature growled angrily.

"Good to see you again Satan, you old bastard. How long has it been since we last spoke? Two hundred years? Five hundred? This time, I'm erasing you for good." The fragment of Mammon smiled menacingly.

"I'd like to see you try, midget."

The creature, Satan, flew forward and swiped fiercely with his claws. A smoky apparition of gigantic claws formed from black smog also swiped along with Satan, appearing from behind his back.

The fragment of Mammon didn't even attempt to dodge, only shaking its head and sighing.

"Satan, you're such an idiot. You know I've always been better than you at soul combat. You're even in a weaker state than when I last saw you, while I've only grown stronger. Just sit down like a good dog and die quietly."

With a wave of its cloak-covered hand, a prismatic barrier of stars appeared, completely blocking Satan's attack. The black smog claws broke down, passing through the barrier harmlessly while Satan slammed into it like a bird hitting a glass door.

The fragment of Mammon sucked in the black smog and coughed slightly.

"Ugh, your mana is so spicy."

With another wave of the hand, a box made of barriers formed around Satan, trapping him inside. He began to slash at the barriers to no avail.

"Let me out of here! Fight me in the outside world like a real man." Satan snarled in a blazing fury.

"Nah, I don't think I will. Plus, I'm not even a man." The fragment of Mammon snapped its fingers and the barriers began to compress, slowly squishing Satan's spirit body.

Floating over to the Infernal Guide, the fragment brought the box that continued to compress smaller. Eventually, Satan's angry shouts died down as the spirit body exploded back into black smog. The fragment sucked up the rest of it, even burping quietly.

"Alright Sam, I'll be going now. First, I'll fuse Satan's mana into your Aspect. Don't worry, he won't be able to harm you anymore. I already erased his existence. But his mana is powerful and you probably can't handle it completely. Eventually, you'll be able to fuse with it all." After saying that, the fragment breathed the black smog out again. This time, it had no sinister feeling to it, just a sensation of pure energy. It was familiar to Samuel, very similar to his own mana but just several tiers higher.

The black smog flew around the book, fusing with it until it all disappeared. As it did, Samuel could actually feel his spirit body growing larger. He felt more full and energetic. If it wasn't already clear before, now Samuel could really tell that the book was his Aspect and that it was linked to his soul and body. Affecting the Aspect would affect the soul and vice versa.

The Infernal Guide closed up, chains wrapping around the book once again before glowing with a hellish light. Then, it immediately snapped open again, pages flipping automatically. This time, instead of stopping at the chapter of Wrath, it opened up to several pages before that. These pages were blank until a fire spread across them, leaving words behind.

'Chapter IV, The Chapter of Greed'

"Huh, would you look at that? What did I tell you?" The fragment looked at Samuel and grinned.

As Samuel looked back at the fragment, he saw that its spirit body was fading away.

"Thank you, Mammon. You've really saved my ass today." Samuel chuckled.

"Well, I didn't just do it for you. I'm just very curious about you. Plus, I hate that bastard Satan." the fragment laughed as well. "Oh? Interesting. Looks like having me and Satan in your Aspect was preventing it from properly manifesting in you. Whoopsie!

"Well, I'll be going now. See you, Sam." The fragment bade farewell before completely disappearing.

Samuel stared at the spot where Mammon just was for a moment, before turning back to the Infernal Guide. The fire had long been extinguished but the hellish light glowing around the book had grown stronger than ever.

"Wait, how do I even get back to my body?" Samuel had this thought before the light exploded out and enveloped his spirit body completely.

——

On the outside, the battle between the lake lady and the Awakened had completely stopped.

Both sides were staring in confusion at the devilish creature that had flown into their airspace. At one moment, it was hovering above the trees and looking as though nothing could touch it. The next moment, it began to shake and convulse, as though it was fighting with itself.

After a few moments of struggling, it opened its mouth, shouting, "Fuck you, Mammon!" before completely going still.

Of course, since it wasn't flapping its wings anymore, it dropped like a rock into the forest below.

For a few seconds, both sides just watched the body fall until the lake lady warbled and began its assault again. The battle resumed, remaining in a deadlock.

As for the body, once it slammed into the ground, it lay unmoving. Then, the body morphed back into Samuel's original form, still with the missing right arm. The wings retracted, the horns disappeared, and the colors of the hair and skin reverted back to normal.

But, at this time, Samuel's spirit body inside his soul had just been enveloped by that hellish light. A transformation began to take place in his soul and body as the Aspect finally completed its manifestation. The fragment of Mammon and Satan's soul had blocked this just by being inside of the Infernal Guide. Now, the manifestation was complete and Samuel's abilities would grow properly as well as truly be a part of him.

Samuel could feel the Aspect in his soul altering him, fusing with him. Originally, he hadn't been born with an Aspectus Gland in his brain to be able to Awaken in the first place. Then, Mammon's fragment personally reconstructed his brain with magic to allow for an Awakening. This was only possible because Samuel had the proper constitution for it and with Mammon's expert manipulation.

First, the Infernal Guide altered Samuel's heart structure, creating a conduit that allowed Samuel to more efficiently create hellfire. Previously, Samuel needed a lot of his personal mana to create even a small flame. Now, he was able to better control the production of hellfire.

Next, Samuel felt the hellish light wash over his eyes, reconstructing them. He guessed that this was for the chapter of Greed, and he was right. The mana structure in his eyes were created in order to let him use the Eyes of Truth again. He could feel that if he just circulated his mana in his eyes in a specific way, he could see into the mana structure of anything.

Interestingly, he could also tell that his brain was being modified. Previously, the data and information that was shown to him from Mammon's own knowledge. Now, his brain had been altered to have a database-like function. It was similar to compartmentalization in the brain except instead of conflicting thoughts being separated, now Samuel had his own knowledge database that was separate from his regular brain. The database had a connection to his soul and Aspect, which was why it could even exist.

Instinctively, Samuel knew that any information that he gathered from his Eyes of Truth would be in his brain forever. Additionally, he no longer needed to think of his status, he just had an instinctual understanding of his own body and soul.

[Status]

[Name: Samuel Mo]

[Aspect: The Infernal Guide (Incomplete)]

[Race: Human]

[Mana Cultivation: Level 2]

[Stats:]

[Strength: 25]

[Vitality: 25]

[Agility: 25]

[Intelligence: 25]

[Willpower: 25]

To be honest, Samuel was in awe of how different his body felt. These changes that affected him were essentially evolutionary changes. His heart, brain, and eyes had evolved to adapt to the changes that his Aspect brought. With this, he confirmed once again that the Aspect really was a part of him, not just an external substance or entity.

Samuel opened his eyes.

'Where am I…?' Right now, he was laying on the forest floor. Around him were burnt trees and puddles of water. The fires had begun to die down from the lack of suitable fuel.

He sat up. His body cracked loudly, as if he hadn't moved for three days straight. Once he stretched a little, he noticed that his hair was much longer than before. Because he was on the burnt grass before, he hadn't realized but his hair had grown past his shoulders. It was a very stark difference from before, but he was indeed a little disoriented from all the changes.

Samuel stood up and cracked his shoulders. When he inspected his body, there wasn't much else different physically. He felt slightly taller, but that was it. But he did feel a dense energy filling his body. This was the newfound cultivation that he'd obtained from Satan's mana. Additionally, his mana reservoirs were nearly full. He'd be able to sustain his abilities for a good while if needed.

"Seems like being possessed by a devil fucked around with my body. Hm? What's this?" Samuel murmured before brushing against something cold with his foot. He picked up a blue orb. "Ah. Now that Mammon is gone, I don't have a magical inventory space. Now, what's with all this water? Someone put out my hellfire?"

Just then, another blast of water fell from the sky. He quickly sidestepped before it hit him and it splashed harmlessly onto the ground. It did kick up the dirt, so he noted that it was highly pressurized.

Following the direction from which the water ball came from, he came upon a strange battle.

In front of him in a clearing were the guild members and a giant woman made of water. The giant woman was swatting around and shooting water balls, trying to repel the humans. The Awakened were jumping around, dodging water blasts and redirecting them. They weren't even attacking.

"…What is this?" Samuel asked no one in particular, baffled by the sight.