As the purple lightning struck the man, time itself seemed to freeze.
The man's body trembled violently.
His eyes instantly locked onto Kael.
Filled with resentment.
Hatred.
Pure killing intent.
It was as though the man wanted to carve Kael's existence into his soul forever.
Then—
Cracks spread across the man's translucent body.
His soul began disintegrating.
Piece by piece.
Fragments of light scattered into the endless river as the lightning continued devouring him completely.
Kael watched the entire scene from only a short distance away, unable to move.
Within seconds, the terrifying conscious soul vanished entirely.
Nothing remained.
Except…
A strange liquid floating where the man once stood.
It resembled silver ash melted into fluid form. The substance drifted strangely within the sea of souls without dispersing into the current.
And from it came a unique aroma.
The moment Kael smelled it—
Something deep within his soul awakened.
Hunger.
An overwhelming hunger so intense that Kael almost lost control immediately.
Until now, he had never even realized souls could feel hunger.
But at this moment, every instinct inside him screamed the same thing.
Drink it.
Consume it.
Evolve.
Not only Kael—
Several nearby hollow souls also began rushing toward the liquid instinctively.
But Kael was closest.
Without hesitation, he grabbed a handful and drank it.
The moment the liquid entered his body—
BOOM!
An indescribable sensation exploded inside him.
His soul trembled violently as an overwhelming energy spread through every part of his existence.
It felt nourishing.
Warm.
Addictive.
Kael's eyes widened.
Just a single handful already made him feel unbearably full, as though his soul would explode from overeating.
Yet the hunger remained.
Without thinking, he drank another handful.
Then another.
And another.
By the fifth handful, Kael's entire body felt swollen with energy. His thoughts became blurry while countless souls began gathering around the liquid frantically.
Panic appeared in Kael's mind.
If the others consumed everything—
He might lose his only chance.
Without caring about dignity anymore, Kael suddenly shouted and plunged his entire face directly into the floating liquid.
He drank desperately.
Like a starving animal.
The liquid flooded into him continuously.
By the time Kael consumed nearly one-fourth of the entire mass, the surrounding souls finally reached it and began devouring the rest mindlessly.
Kael staggered backward.
Pain exploded throughout his soul.
It felt like drinking extreme alcohol while overeating until his stomach burst apart.
Nausea.
Headaches.
Soul pain.
Stomach pain.
Everything struck him simultaneously.
Yet through sheer willpower, Kael forcefully maintained the last shred of his consciousness.
Then—
He looked toward the dimensional rift.
The opening had already shrunk to the size of a manhole and was rapidly closing.
Kael's expression changed instantly.
Without hesitation, he thrust his soul body toward it.
----------
As Kael threw himself toward the dimensional rift, his soul was dragged violently through the unstable opening.
The sea of souls rapidly disappeared behind him.
Then—
The rift closed.
Instantly, the purple thunderclouds above the underworld vanished as though they had never existed.
Silence returned once more.
The hundreds of souls that had consumed the remaining liquid slowly stopped moving. Whatever instinct had briefly awakened inside them faded away, and they once again returned to their empty trance-like state.
But something had changed.
Their souls were slowly transforming.
And the same transformation was happening inside Kael.
As he drifted through the chaotic darkness beyond the rift, unbearable pain spread throughout his entire soul.
Then—
A strange mark began forming on his forehead.
Lines resembling glowing runes intertwined together, slowly taking shape.
A brain-like symbol.
Or more accurately—
A Soul Brain.
At the same time, Kael felt new sensations emerging within himself.
Not physical sensations.
Something deeper.
His soul was evolving.
Until now, his consciousness had depended entirely on his biological brain back in the real world. That was why he feared losing awareness if his body failed.
But now—
That dependency was disappearing.
Thought.
Memory.
Emotion.
Perception.
All of it was slowly integrating directly into his soul itself.
His soul was becoming something closer to a true independent life-form.
A being capable of existing and thinking without the support of a physical body.
And most terrifying of all—
He retained every memory from his human life.
Meanwhile, in the real world—
Deep beneath Kael's hidden laboratory, the machines continued operating silently.
Nutrient injections flowed.
Life-support systems functioned normally.
Electrical stimulation surged repeatedly into Kael's brain.
But the moment Kael completely exited the rift and the rune formed on his soul—
His brain activity suddenly stopped.
Flatlined.
The automated revival system immediately activated.
Again.
And again.
And again.
But nothing worked.
The brain refused to restart.
It was as if every neural function, memory, and consciousness within it had vanished completely.
As though the true Kael no longer existed inside that body anymore.
--------
Days passed.
Or perhaps weeks.
Kael did not know exactly when he regained consciousness.
But one thing remained unchanged even during unconsciousness—
His counting.
The habit he had repeated endlessly for nine months inside the sea of souls had become engraved into his very existence.
Even while unconscious, his mouth continued murmuring numbers instinctively.
"…5,381,442… 5,381,443… 5,381,444…"
And when Kael finally awakened completely, he realized something shocking.
Based on the number he had unconsciously continued counting—
Nearly two months had passed.
Kael slowly opened his eyes.
Then, for the first time since entering the underworld, he stopped counting.
Because the scenery before him was no longer an endless sea of souls.
He appeared inside a forest.
A strange forest overflowing with pale mist and gigantic trees stretching endlessly toward the sky. The air itself carried a faint spiritual pressure unfamiliar to Kael.
But the moment he regained awareness—
He felt it.
A pulling sensation.
His soul was being attracted from multiple directions.
Kael immediately looked around cautiously before noticing the source.
A small seed lying beneath a nearby tree.
The suction force originated from it.
Or more accurately—
The seed was calling him.
It felt as though the newborn life inside the seed instinctively wanted Kael to enter it and become its soul.
To inherit it.
However, the suction force was weak.
Kael could resist it easily.
And so he did.
Instead of accepting it immediately, Kael began exploring his surroundings carefully.
But the more he observed the world, the more he understood the reason behind the attraction.
According to countless myths and spiritual records he had studied during his human life, souls were never meant to wander freely in the mortal world.
A soul required a vessel.
A medium.
A body.
Only then could it properly interact with reality.
What Kael was doing now—
Existing independently as a conscious soul—
Was something unnatural.
Perhaps even forbidden by the laws of heaven itself.
That was why newly forming bodies without souls instinctively attracted him.
Seeds.
Embryos.
Fetuses.
Empty vessels searching for consciousness.
Kael continued walking silently through the forest while analyzing everything calmly.
Then suddenly—
A far stronger suction force appeared.
Kael's expression changed instantly.
This attraction was completely different from before.
Powerful.
Overwhelming.
And before he could react—
Kael realised he could no longer resist it.
Before Kael was completely pulled away, he finally saw the source of the overwhelming attraction.
Near the riverbank ahead—
A tigress was drinking water quietly.
Her massive body reflected upon the calm surface of the river while faint mist drifted around the forest.
But the moment Kael's gaze landed on her stomach—
He understood.
Life.
A new life was forming inside her.
And one of those unborn bodies had no soul yet.
The suction force pulling Kael originated from there.
Unlike the weak attraction from the seed earlier, this force was overwhelmingly powerful. It was as though the world itself had chosen a vessel for him.
Kael tried resisting instinctively.
But it was useless.
The force grew stronger with every passing second.
His soul body began distorting as he was dragged toward the tigress rapidly.
Kael's expression finally changed.
"So this is reincarnation…"
The next moment—
His vision blurred completely.
Everything around him twisted violently before collapsing into darkness.
And before long—
Kael's soul was sucked into the tigress's womb.