Samael opened his eyes slowly.
The first thing he saw was a white ceiling.
Smooth. Clean. Artificial.
For a moment, his mind was still trapped in the temple—blood, the cold stone floor, the invisible blade that had taken everything. Then the sterile smell reached him, followed by a faint, constant hum.
He was inside a capsule.
His body felt… wrong.
Not painful. Not broken.
Too whole.
Samael raised his left hand.
It was there.
He raised his right.
That too.
His heart sped up.
He pulled one leg, then the other.
Both responded.
Whole.
Functional.
A heavy silence settled over his mind.
"…I'm whole?" he murmured.
The memory hit him like a punch.
His arm vanishing before his eyes.His leg left behind.The absolute certainty of death.
Samael let out a long breath, allowing his body to relax for the first time since everything had begun.
"I survived…"
When his hand had disappeared, he had already accepted the end. There had been no hope left. Only emptiness.
Then another thought surfaced.
Elizabeth.
His chest tightened instantly.
"I owe my life to her…"
She could have left.
She could have crossed the portal alone.
But she didn't.
Even faced with that absurd difference in power… even being utterly insignificant before those things… she had turned back.
They had been dismembered like insects.
And whatever had done it hadn't even been focused on them.
If that creature hadn't been occupied fighting horrors of the same level…
Not even a hundred of them would have been enough to force it back.
Samael closed his eyes for a moment.
Then pushed the thought aside.
"I'll check what changed… and what my new ability is."
The familiar interface unfolded before his mind.
Name: Samael NecrolineTrue Name: Trojan Horse
Samael's heart skipped a beat.
His True Name.
A small—yet genuine—smile formed on his lips.
Rank: Awakened
The smile widened.
Class: BeastSoul Core: 66 / 500
Memories:• Flesh Bag• Purifying Cup• Purifying Cup v2• Rusted Sword• Ascended Spear• Binding Armors
Echoes:• Albino Serpent of the Far North
Innate Ability:You feel intense pain whenever you lie, or when someone lies near you.
Flaw:Transition — Born of different worlds, your gender inverts at nightfall, forcing you to live with a blurred identity.
Samael took a deep breath.
Then he read what truly mattered.
Dormant Ability:You can transform objects you consider yours into weapons.The weapon's power depends on the object transformed and the guilt felt in doing so.Weapons may surpass their original level or rank if guilt is properly channeled.
Additionally, the user may evolve the rank of personal weapons up to their own rank using materials of equal or higher level.
Samael raised an eyebrow.
"…It evolved."
The Awakening had refined his ability.
But that wasn't all.
His eyes slid downward.
Awakened Ability:The user may temporarily swap one of their abilities (except the Awakened Ability) with an ability of the same rank belonging to an opponent.The swap is temporary and limited to the corresponding ability.
Silence filled the capsule.
Samael blinked once.
Then let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
"What a… useful ability."
Dangerous. Situational. But absurdly powerful in the right hands.
"A lot changed…" he murmured. "But I finally have my True Name."
Trojan Horse.
The name echoed in his mind.
He liked it.
He liked it a lot.
Samael closed the interface and relaxed against the capsule.
He had returned.
Now he was Awakened.
He could finally mobilize his own essence to strengthen his body, his mind… and the weapons he created.
Samael closed his eyes.
And sank.
His consciousness descended as if passing through an invisible layer, plunging into something vast and silent.
The Sea of the Soul.
At the center of that ethereal space, a single sun shone.
It was not ordinary.
It was divided.
Half silver.Half gold.
The two colors rotated slowly, fused yet opposed, radiating a strange, unstable light. That was his soul core.
Peculiar.
Unique.
Around it, six orbs of light orbited in silence.
His Memories.
Each pulsed with a different glow, carrying echoes of battles, choices, and survival. Together, they formed a scene both beautiful… and unsettling.
Samael observed quietly.
It was the first time he had been there consciously.
Since taking over that body, he had only seen the Sea of the Soul through fragmented memories—distant images, like someone looking at a place they had never truly visited.
Now, he was there.
Present.
Safe.
"…It looked way more glorious in the novel," he muttered, glancing around. "There's not much to see here."
The space was too silent.
Too still.
There were no waves. No wind. Only light, emptiness, and the constant sensation of something watching from the inside out.
Samael didn't like it.
Soon after, he left the Sea of the Soul.
When he opened his eyes again, the white capsule filled his vision once more.
He tapped lightly on the glass. Twice.
Waited.
A few minutes later, staff members approached. The capsule opened with a soft hiss, and trained hands helped him out. The floor felt too solid beneath his feet.
Too real.
Samael looked around.
The room was filled with similar capsules, arranged in perfect rows. Some empty. Others still occupied.
And then he saw her.
Elizabeth.
She had returned too.
They were removing her from the capsule at that very moment.
Samael didn't approach right away.
He waited.
He wanted them to leave together.
In the meantime, he began walking through the room, observing the surrounding capsules. His eyes passed over several familiar faces.
Some alive.
Some… not.
There were new capsules.
Some of his former classmates.
The tightness in his chest returned—faint, but persistent.
He stopped in front of one specific capsule.
Leon.
Still there.
Still trapped in the Dream Realm.
Samael looked away and kept walking.
He stopped before another capsule.
Empty.
"…So you already made it out," he thought. "My little rat from the outskirts finally left the Forgotten Shore."
An almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face.
Sunny was alive.
He moved on.
Until he stopped.
In front of the capsule he had hoped not to see.
Nephis.
There she was.
Motionless.
Silver hair spread inside the capsule, her face far too serene for someone trapped in that hell.
Something tightened inside Samael.
"So… you followed the novel's route after all," he thought silently.
She had always been his favorite character.
Seeing that…
Was bitter.
He looked away.
There was nothing he could do.
Soon after, the staff finished removing Elizabeth from her capsule. The two of them were called and guided toward the interview room.
Samael walked a few steps behind her.
He avoided looking at the guards.
Avoided looking at anything.
It was daytime.
The human sun shone outside.
He was in his male form.
He could feel it clearly.
The issue he had gained in the Coliseum… and its social consequences… still existed.
But this wasn't the moment.
Not yet.
Elizabeth didn't look back.
She moved forward.
And Samael followed in silence.
The Dream Realm had been left behind.
But its scars…
Those had come with them.