Entering his Sea of Souls, he observed the recovery of his Echoes.
Gunlaug had severe injuries, so he would be out for at least a week. The Dark Knight didn't have as many injuries, so he would be ready to return to combat in a few hours.
As for his Illusory Butterfly, it had the most damage of all and would take much longer to recover.
Shade appeared beside him.
"That's bullshit," he commented.
"Yes, it is," Uriel murmured.
"Well, are you ready?"
"Yes," he replied, summoning Skadi.
The familiar Echo appeared before him, touching his shoulder. The runes appeared before him.
[Transform Echo into Dark Creature?]
"Yes."
Immediately, Uriel felt thousands of dark fragments leave his core. His seventh and sixth cores were completely consumed, leaving only five soul cores.
He watched fascinated as darkness surrounded the Echo completely. Her features didn't change.
Her hair remained equally scarlet, and her skin remained the same tone. Finally, the transformation was complete.
Without hesitation, Shade grabbed Uriel and leaped away before he was grabbed by the neck by the woman in red.
"Th-thanks," Uriel said.
"You're welcome, brother," she replied.
Uriel felt the supreme will of that warrior. Unlike before, when she had no soul or emotions, she was now full of unbreakable conviction and a will stronger than steel.
Her eyes scanned her surroundings, focusing on Shade and Uriel.
"Hey, before you do anything, listen—" Shade couldn't finish when he received a kick that sent him flying, lost in the darkness.
Uriel blinked. He only saw a hand grab his head and smash it against the dark surface.
That single action made his world go black for an instant. His soul began to suffer enormous damage due to the will of the Supreme Devil.
Uriel had a weak soul. Soul attacks were his weakness, so a supreme domain spreading through his soul began to damage him internally.
Before his soul could be shattered, the darkness rippled. Enormous tentacles wrapped around the Supreme Devil with the strength to imprison mountains.
The woman tried to free herself. She channeled her will against the tentacles, but they didn't even flinch and only squeezed even tighter.
Uriel coughed, breathing deeply. He watched in disbelief as six enormous pairs of pure white eyes focused on the creature.
"S-stop," he asked.
That entity narrowed its eyes before closing its eyes, leaving everything in the usual darkness. However, the tentacles still imprisoned the Supreme Devil tightly.
Uriel stood up.
"Hey... Skadi, is that your name, right?"
"Void creature..." the woman hissed. Her voice was melodic but full of visceral hatred.
Shit, she's angry. What can I do? Think, Uriel!
"I am not a void creature," she replied.
Skadi looked at him. Her will impacted like a tangible wall against Uriel.
"You lie. Creature. Your words are full of deceit. It is my duty to kill all of you creatures born of the void. It is my divine work."
Uriel looked at the woman and remembered the description the Spell had provided him.
"Yes, it's your work. Then why did the gods condemn you?" he asked. "Why did the God of War abandon you? Why did you slaughter countless beings?"
The Supreme did not waver at his questions.
"That is none of your concern, filthy creature."
"Listen, bitch. Your life depends on me now," Uriel said angrily.
"I don't give a single shit that you're a Supreme. I just fought things I should never face as a mere Ascended. I killed you, so it wouldn't be hard to do it again," Uriel said.
His body changed, transforming into the amorphous form whose only features were the pairs of white eyes looking at the Supreme with a steely gaze.
"Finally you reveal your true appearance, vile creature," the arrogant woman said with a carefree smile, causing the tentacles to squeeze her body tighter, ignoring her armor of will.
Uriel did not respond immediately.
"Stop calling me a Void creature. I am a human."
The woman laughed. At first it was low, and then it became a loud laugh.
"Oh, gods. You don't even know your true nature!"
"What do you mean?"
"What else, creature?" the Supreme said, but before that, Uriel's confusion flickered.
"You really don't even know what you are?"
"I am human. That is clear."
The woman did not respond. Her face wrinkled for a moment as if she were thinking something.
"Let's make a deal, creature. An exchange of information. I will answer your questions in exchange for you answering mine. What do you say?" she offered.
Uriel retracted his form, returning to his normal shape.
Finally, Shade returned, furious.
"Alright, stupid woman, you will pay for..." he fell silent.
"Let me see, what the hell happened here?"
Uriel pulled Shade aside and told him everything.
"So what do you think?"
"Well, this smells foul. But the information she has is valuable, so it would be good."
"I don't trust her. Although we prepared for this outcome or a worse one, this is beyond our expectations."
"True. So let's accept. Apparently our soul has a security system for invaders that put us in danger, so we don't have to worry."
"True."
After reaching an agreement, Uriel turned to look at the red-haired woman.
"You have a deal, barbarian woman. However, if I notice any deceit on your part, I will throw you into the realm of the Shadow God."
The woman rolled her eyes.
"A mere Ascended dares to threaten me?"
"Yes, an Ascended who kicked your ass once and can do it again."
"You have quite a bit of pride for an Ascended. I would have remembered someone who claims to have defeated me."
"I killed your corrupted self, obtained your Echo, and brought you back as a dark creature."
Skadi blinked.
"Echo?" she asked before her eyes widened.
"You... you are a follower of Weaver," she said with hatred.
"No, I am not," he replied. "I am simply someone who uses what I create. That's all."
"We call it the Nightmare Spell. By the way, welcome to the last world still standing after the death of the gods."
---
Skadi looked with surprise. Her scarlet eyes looked at Uriel searching for deceit, but she found none. Her brow furrowed.
"How long ago did this happen?"
"Hm... a few thousand years. I don't know the exact amount."
Uriel sat down on the surface of his Sea of Souls, while Shade stood with his red eyes fixed on the woman in case she tried anything funny.
"So no one won in the end," she murmured. "That's somewhat funny."
"You mentioned earlier that you killed a corrupted version of me. What did you mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Shade said.
"You were corrupted when we killed you, or when I killed you," Shade replied, shrugging. "The Nightmare Spell created an Echo of you, and my Aspect is, let's say, special, and brought you back. We suspected that upon becoming yourself again, you would attack us, be corrupted, or have no memory. Although this development is interesting." Shade paused.
"It seems you remember everything, except what you discovered in Ariel's pyramid and its profane secrets."
Skadi fell silent, assimilating that information for a few moments.
"What realm are we in now? And where am I?"
"First, we are currently in the War Realm. The last world standing after the descent of the Nightmare Spell. And second, you are currently in my Sea of Souls."
"So in the end, the last divine realm is the War Realm. The most hated of all."
She murmured with amusement at the idea of knowing that in the end, both gods and demons had died with no one winning in the end.