Free Web NovelThe soul link was successful.
Nadezhda felt her consciousness like a thread, passing through some invisible barrier and touching the Silver-haired Maiden's soul.
No resistance.
None at all.
Like stepping into an unguarded empty city.
A surge of ecstasy rose in her heart.
It worked!
This arrogant brat probably never thought that someone would use a method that touches the soul to deal with her.
No matter how strong her Return Power was, or how powerful she was in close combat, on a spiritual level, she was nothing more than a—
Wait.
What is that?
A chill rose from the base of her spine.
It wasn't a coldness in the sense of temperature.
But—
But—!!
"Aaaaaaaaaah—!!!"
Nadezhda let out a shrill, agonizing scream.
It was not a sound a human should be capable of making.
Like a beast being flayed alive.
Like a lost soul being dragged into the abyss.
Negative emotions.
Overwhelming negative emotions.
Anger.
Despair.
Fear.
Pain.
Hatred.
Madness.
They were like a flood from a broken dam, surging out from behind that "open door" and instantly drowning her soul.
She wanted to disconnect the link.
She wanted to run.
But it was already too late.
Her consciousness was swept away by that torrent, dragged into a deeper place.
Then, she began to hear voices.
"Kill them."
"Why... why did you abandon us..."
"It hurts... it hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."
"Hahahahahaha—"
"Mommy... Mommy, I'm so cold..."
"Burn them! Burn them all!"
"I don't want to die... I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't—"
"Give me meat... give me blood... give me warmth..."
Countless voices.
Hundreds and thousands of voices.
Thousands and tens of thousands of voices.
They overlapped and intertwined, like a never-ending nightmare.
There were men's voices.
There were women's voices.
There were elderly voices.
There were children's voices.
There were roars of anger.
There were groans of pain.
There were pleas of despair.
There were manic shrieks of laughter.
All of them.
All of them flooded into her mind.
"Stop..."
Nadezhda wanted to say.
But her voice was drowned out.
Drowned out by those voices.
Then came the images.
Images of death.
A soldier torn in half by a shell, his intestines trailing on the ground, his hands still crawling forward.
A woman pinned to a wall by a bayonet, her eyes still open, her mouth still calling out some name.
A group of children burned to death in a house, their skin melting like candles.
An old man buried alive, dirt filling his mouth, still struggling.
One corpse.
Ten corpses.
A hundred.
A thousand.
Ten thousand.
More.
More.
More, more, more—
The ways of dying also became more and more varied.
Shot.
Stabbed.
Burned.
Drowned.
Blown up.
Crushed.
Strangled.
Suffocated.
Poisoned.
Starved.
Frozen.
Died of disease.
Scared to death.
Suicide.
Killed by their own people.
Killed by the enemy.
Killed by strangers.
Killed by relatives.
Every way of dying had an image.
Every image had a sound.
Every sound had an emotion.
Every emotion was tearing at her.
Tearing.
Tearing!
Tearing!!
Her consciousness was collapsing.
She could feel her soul being torn apart.
Like a piece of paper being torn to shreds.
Like a piece of cloth being ripped into strips.
She wanted to scream.
She wanted to beg for mercy.
She could do nothing.
She could only sink within this endless torrent of death.
Sinking.
Sinking—
Then.
Everything stopped.
Quiet.
Absolute quiet.
As if someone had pressed the pause button.
Nadezhda's consciousness was still there.
Shattered and teetering, but still there.
She opened her eyes.
She didn't know when she had closed them.
She saw water.
A vast expanse of water.
As smooth as a mirror.
No waves.
No ripples.
The water's surface extended in all directions, stretching all the way to the end of her vision.
No boundaries.
No end.
The sky was grey.
No, it wasn't the sky.
Just an expanse of grey.
Endless grey.
The water reflected that grey expanse, making it impossible to tell which way was up or down.
She was kneeling on the water.
She didn't know when she had knelt down.
Then, she saw the girl.
Pavela stood right in front of her.
Very close.
She was wearing a white dress.
A simple style.
Without any decoration.
The hem ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) of the dress hung down onto the water's surface, causing slight ripples.
She was barefoot.
Her pale, slender ankles were submerged in the shallow water.
Her eyes were closed.
Her short silver hair fell quietly, covering half of her face.
A faint white light emanated from her body.
Soft. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Warm.
Like moonlight.
Like...
She looked very peaceful.
Very calm.
Like a sculpture.
Like a sleeping deity.
Nadezhda almost let out a sigh of relief.
It's over.
The nightmare is over.
She even began to wonder if there was still a chance—
Then she saw what was behind the girl.
Those weren't "things."
Those were souls.
Souls.
Countless souls.
Thousands upon thousands.
Millions.
Tens of millions.
They stood behind the girl.
Like an army.
Like an ocean.
Like a mountain range.
Grey souls.
Black souls.
Their outlines were blurred, as if shrouded in mist.
Their faces were distorted, as if tormented by pain.
Their eyes—
Those eyes were all looking at her.
Every single one was looking at her.
Tens of millions of pairs of eyes.
Looking at her at the same time.
Nadezhda's breathing stopped.
She had seen many things.
She had seen battlefields.
She had seen death.
She had seen madness.
But she had never seen this.
This is...
What is this?
Inside this girl's soul...
Why are there so many...
So many...
Those souls began to move.
They made no sound.
They just... began to walk forward.
Slowly.
Step by step.
Their feet stepped on the water's surface, yet they stirred no ripples.
Their bodies passed through each other without any hindrance.
They just came forward.
Forward.
Walking toward her.
"No..."
Nadezhda began to retreat.
"Don't come over here..."
She turned, wanting to run.
But she couldn't run.
Her legs felt as if they were nailed to the surface of the water.
"Don't... please... don't..."
She began to cry.
Tears welled from her eyes and dripped onto that mirror-like surface of water.
"I didn't mean to... I just... I just wanted to..."
Those souls had already surrounded her.
From all directions.
There was nowhere to escape.
Their hands reached out.
Grey hands.
Black hands.
Cold hands.
Rotting hands.
"No—!"
Nadezhda let out one final scream.
Then, those souls swarmed forward.
Like hungry beasts pouncing on prey.
Like waves swallowing a castle on the beach.
Her soul was torn apart.
Torn into countless pieces.
Every piece was snatched by a hand.
Every piece was devoured by a mouth.
She could feel it.
She could feel herself vanishing.
Bit by bit.
Piece by piece.
Being eaten.
Being absorbed.
Assimilated.
Pain was no longer meaningful.
Fear was no longer meaningful.
She was simply vanishing.
On this boundless surface of water.
In front of that girl in the white dress.
Vanishing.
...
Just as the last sliver of consciousness was about to be extinguished.
She found herself falling into a new place.
A Grey Wasteland.
Dark clouds filling the sky.
In the distance, a Black Tower towered into the clouds.
The tower was collapsing.
The tower was rebuilding.
Lightning circled the tip of the tower.
Nadezhda, or rather, the thing that used to be Nadezhda, stood there blankly.
She no longer remembered who she was.
She only knew she was in some place.
A strange place.
A...
"Oh~~"
A voice rang out from behind her.
An ancient voice.
As if coming from all directions at once.
"To think there would be an unexpected surprise."
The thing turned around.
She couldn't see anything clearly.
Only a mass of burning void.
Only a silhouette that was constantly disintegrating and reforming.
"Welcome home."
