When he first woke up in that filthy cell, it wasn't the sound of chains or the stench of rot that stirred him. It was a voice. Mechanical, calm, and eerily familiar.
[USER CONSCIOUSNESS RETURNING. WELCOME BACK, HANZO. OR SHOULD I CALL YOU HARIAN LICHE NOW?]
Harian groaned, clutching his head as a sharp pain throbbed behind his eyes. "...Vex?"
The voice hummed with artificial clarity.
[THAT WAS A RECKLESS THING YOU DID THERE, HANZO. WHAT IF IT DIDN'T WORK?]
He exhaled, eyes narrowing as memories flashed explosions of dark light, Lara's tear-streaked face, the Eternal Essence glowing like a dying star.
"I trusted your information,"
[THE ETERNAL ESSENCE HAD A 0.75% CHANCE OF ACCEPTING A NEW USER. THE FACT THAT IT ACCEPTED YOU WAS A SURPRISE IN ITSELF.]
"That was a probability i was willing to take." Harian smirked faintly. "I'm more surprised you're still here, Vex."
[TRUST ME, I'M EQUALLY DISAPPOINTED.]
"Still the same attitude."
[STILL THE SAME IDIOT WHO BLEW HIMSELF UP TRYING TO 'FIX' THE WORLD.]
Harian's smile faded slightly. "...Yeah. Well, maybe I'll do better this time."
[YOU SAID THAT ALREADY.]
He didn't answer. He just stared at the chains on his wrists, eyes distant.
[IT SEEMS THE CONNECTION OF THE NIGHTMARE ESSENCE TO YOUR SOUL IS STILL INTACT.] Vex's tone was matter-of-fact, though tinged with static, like a faint echo through broken glass.[THAT'S WHY, EVEN THOUGH YOU LOOPED BACK IN TIME, I'M STILL HERE.]
Harian blinked, the weight of that statement settling slowly. "So you're saying I dragged you along with me."
[CORRECT. BUT THERE'S A PROBLEM.]
Harian sighed. "Of course there is. What is it this time?"
[YOUR POWER LEVEL HAS GREATLY DIMINISHED.]
That made him pause. "How much are we talking?"
[CONSIDERING THE ESSENCE REQUIRED TO REVERSE CAUSALITY, IT'S A MIRACLE YOU'RE ALIVE. THE LOOP CONSUMED MOST OF YOUR CORE. ON TOP OF THAT.....]
The voice hesitated for a moment before continuing,
[YOU ALSO WASTED WHAT LITTLE YOU HAD LEFT WHEN YOU USED THE NIGHTMARE ECLIPSE TO BLOW EVERYTHING UP.]
Harian frowned, rubbing his temple. "You call it wasting. I call it cleaning up loose ends."
[YOU CALL EVERYTHING A CLEANUP, HANZO.]
He smirked faintly. "And yet, here we are."
[REDUCTION ESTIMATE: CURRENT ESSENCE OUTPUT AT 2.3% OF PREVIOUS LEVEL. IF YOU TRY TO USE NIGHTMARE ECLIPSE AGAIN, YOU'LL DIE.]
Harian leaned back against the cold stone wall, eyes drifting toward the cracks in the ceiling. "Then I won't die," he said simply.
[STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, THAT'S INCORRECT.]
"Statistically?"
[WELL I HAVE MORE BAD NEWS. IT SEEMS A PART OF YOUR SOUL IS MISSING.]
"WHAT!" Harian blinked. "How and I feel fine, yet still, what the actual hell?"
[DURING THE LOOPING, THE ETERNAL ESSENCE USED A FRACTION OF YOUR SOUL ENERGY TO INITIATE THE SPELL. THAT'S PROBABLY WHY. YOUR SOUL ISN'T GONE I CAN STILL DETECT A PARTIAL ENERGY OUTPUT SOMEWHERE. BUT SINCE YOUR NIGHTMARE ESSENCE AUTHORITY HAS DROPPED TO 2.3%, IT'S DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT THE EXACT LOCATION.]
Harian ran a hand down his face. "Wow… that sounds really bad. But you're saying there's a chance I can get it back?"
[YES. YOU HAVE TO. YOUR LIFESPAN WILL DECREASE EXPONENTIALLY IF YOU DON'T.]
"Great, dying faster than usual. Lovely."
He exhaled slowly, straightening his back against the wall. "Alright then, first thing's first we need to get out of here. How much of my power can I still use?"
[CHECKING SYSTEMS… SUCCESS.][AVAILABLE SKILLS: Void Grasp,Essence Break,Null Step,Devour Field]
"Wait Void skills? What happened to my Nightmare abilities?"
[THE NIGHTMARE ESSENCE HAS DEVOLVED BACK TO ITS BASE FORM VOID ESSENCE.]
There was a long pause.
"…Fuck."
"Vex," he said quietly, inwardly. "Show me my status."
[ACKNOWLEDGED. DISPLAYING STATUS INTERFACE.]
A flicker of light pulsed behind his eyes, invisible to everyone else. And as usual an image appeared inside Harian's head. Even after all this he was amazed how Vex could simplify things to him about his own being. Then It appeared.
NAME: Harian Liche
ALIAS: Hanzo of the Everfall
LEVEL : Intermediate
ESSENCE TYPE: Void (Devolved)
SOUL STATUS: Incomplete (87.9%)
SECONDARY ESSENCE: Eternal Essence [Dormant]
LIFESPAN REMAINING: [DATA UNSTABLE]
CURRENT ESSENCE AUTHORITY: 2.3%
ESSENCE EVOLUTION PATH:
Void→ [???] → Nightmare → [???]
UNIQUE TRAIT:
[???]
AVAILABLE ABILITIES: Void Grasp, Essence Break, Null Step, Devour Field
CURRENT RESTRICTIONS:
- Divine, Elemental, and Nature Manifested Essences cannot be devoured.
- Essence higher than user's rank will cause feedback damage.
- Overuse of Devourer trait may destabilize soul lattice integrity.
[END STATUS]
Harian stared. His brows furrowed. "…Wait a second."
He squinted at the floating panel in his mind. "Vex, what the hell is that?"
[SPECIFYING QUERY.]
"The new slot. Between Void and Nightmare. It wasn't there before."
There was a pause. A rare one.
[…HMM.][PROCESSING.][ANALYSIS—FAILED.]
Harian frowned. "Failed? You? That's new."
[I'M… UNCERTAIN.] Vex's tone wavered slightly, an odd glitch distorting the sound.[SOMETHING UNPRECEDENTED OCCURRED. I CANNOT IDENTIFY THE INTERMEDIATE ESSENCE FORM. MY DATABASE RECOGNIZES NEITHER ITS SIGNATURE NOR STRUCTURE.]
"So what's your theory?" Harian asked.
[TIME DISPLACEMENT DURING THE REGRESSION. IT'S POSSIBLE THE LOOP INTERFERED WITH YOUR AUTHORITY FLOW AND THE ETERNAL ESSENCE MAY HAVE PLAYED A ROLE IN THAT TOO. THAT ANOMALY COULD HAVE ALTERED YOUR ESSENCE HIERARCHY.]
Harian tapped his temple, deep in thought. "That's… concerning." He smirked faintly. "In my previous life, my Void Essence evolved straight into Nightmare. No in-between."
[YES. THAT DEVIATION SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE.]
He stared at the flickering [???] for a long moment. "Maybe Master knows something about this. Even my unique trait is hidden."
[MASTER VIXEN MAY INDEED POSSESS RELEVANT INFORMATION.]
"Then let's check his memories-.."
[NEGATIVE.]
Harian blinked. "Negative?"
[SINCE I'M BOUND TO YOUR SOUL, I CANNOT ACCESS MASTER VIXEN'S MEMORIES DIRECTLY. THEY ARE SEALED OUTSIDE YOUR ESSENCE NETWORK. YOU ARE ALREADY AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION]
Harian sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. "Of course. I uh still had to check though right? This sucks the one guy who might know what's going on, and I can't even contact him."
[I RECOMMEND LOCATING HIM PHYSICALLY.]
Harian chuckled under his breath. "Sure. Let me just stroll out of this prison and go find the man who used to rule half the world."
[SARCASM DETECTED.]
"Smartass," Harian muttered.
[I LEARNED FROM THE BEST.]
Harian studied the floating interface in his mind, the faint hum of the cell fading into nothing. His eyes scanned each line, and then he froze.
"So I'm guessing that unknown evolution path is related to that?"
[SPECIFYING QUERY.]
"There below the Essence Path."
Vex paused.
[SCANNING… PROCESSING.]
Lines of faint, golden script shimmered into view beneath the standard display.
[SECONDARY ESSENCE DETECTED: [Eternal Essence — Dormant]
STATUS: Inactive
AUTHORITY LEVEL: 0%
SKILL SETS: UNKNOWN
SYNCHRONIZATION: DISABLED]
Harian's breath caught. "You've gotta be kidding me."
[CONFIRMATION: NEGATIVE. THIS IS NOT A JOKE.]
"So I still have it… The Eternal Essence."
[CORRECT. HOWEVER, IT IS COMPLETELY DORMANT.][IN YOUR CURRENT STATE, YOU POSSESS THE AUTHORITY OF TWO ESSENCES NIGHTMARE (DEVOLVED TO VOID) AND ETERNAL. THIS COMBINATION IS… IMPOSSIBLE.]
"Impossible seems to be my specialty," Harian muttered.
[THE ETERNAL ESSENCE REMAINS LOCKED BECAUSE YOUR SOUL IS INCOMPLETE AND YOUR PRIMARY ESSENCE AUTHORITY IS TOO LOW.]
"So… what you're saying is," Harian said, rubbing his chin, "if I get my soul fragments back and restore my Void Essence authority.."
[THEN THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THE ETERNAL ESSENCE WILL REACTIVATE.]
Harian grinned faintly. "Possibility, huh?"
[STATISTICALLY LOW. BUT YES. THE MAIN PRIORITY NOW IS TO RETRIEVE YOUR LOST POWER,] Vex said flatly.
Harian nodded to himself, his gaze distant. "Yeah… I figured as much. My plans will only work if I'm strong enough. There's no room for weakness anymore."
[YOU'RE REALLY GOING THROUGH WITH THIS, AREN'T YOU?]
Harian's expression hardened. "No," he said quietly. "I'm correcting my mistakes. I should've done this in my previous life."
He leaned his head back against the wall, eyes glinting in the dim torchlight. "All my doubts are gone now, Vex. This world is rotten to its core, and if no one's going to fix it"
His grin returned, sharp and certain.
"then I'll bring balance myself. I'll be what the world needs most."
He paused dramatically, voice dropping to a whisper.
"I will be… the villain."
There was a long silence. Then, Vex's voice buzzed dryly in his head.
[…THAT'S SO CORNY.]
Harian's face twitched. "S-shut up." He then leaned back against the damp wall, his mind spinning through possibilities.