Elizabeth eyed the [Gem], it was certainly what she needed, she wasn't sure how or why Michael ended being the bearer of Sloth. He seemed like…someone who was diligent the last time she saw him. The mana pressure and the skills and stats (besides the ridiculous level) were proof of how much dedication he gave to his development.

How could someone like that end up being the bearer of Sloth? If anything, Elizabeth was more of a slothful person.

"So?" Michael asked once again, "What will it be? Do I need to become a Villain like Akira did? Do I need to start raping people?"

"Wow wow wow…" Elizabeth said being pulled out from her reverie, "Let's not…Just….Can you lift this? I may look like I'm doing fine, but I am not really okay with this."

Elizabeth, of course, still remained standing; she was a Proud Dragon, after all. But she couldn't tolerate how Rossie or Rena were pushed down against the floor, she was the only one that could push either girl down like that.

"Hmph," Rossie merely hmpmhed as she stood up, merely starting to prepare several nasty magic circles and nodes all around their shared apartment within the Shadow Haven.

"That will not be necessary, Rossaline," Michael stated.

He could see them?

"I can't peek into your Soulscape, but I can see the mana being fed, the magic formula being constructed within your virtual engine…It isn't that hard to guess what you are doing." Michael said as his eyes flared with a magic circle embedded within them…

That was new, Elizabeth had seen some people with motifs in their eyes, Rossie being the most common she had seen, but Rena also had the begining of one…And Elizabeth herself had her own with the Dragon Eyes.

But a Magic circle as a motif for the eyes was…interesting, to say the least. No wait, he had a skill there too, right? Something about Magic Eyes?

"I vote to kill him," Rena said from the back sheating her swords back, "He is too dangerous."

"Yeah, Ren-Ren is right…Besides you need that right Eli-Eli?" Rossie said dismissing most of the spells, she did, however, not stop her preparations for other spells within the shared apartment. Elizabeth also noted how some of the Magic Caster Shadow Dragons start to prepare ritual-grade spells…Rossie had sunk her adorable cute claws into her minions, too, huh.

"So there you have it. Do you need to prepare anything?" Michael said as his eyes returned to normal, "I can lower my defenses, but even so, it may be a little hard…Do you mind if I prepare a spell and you just do whatever you did as a finishing touch?"

…Michael was being too…casual about this.

"You don't…fear?" Elizabeth asked, "You are asking me to kill you. To end your existence, to send you in your merry way to the afterlife."

"....You are speaking to a transmigator Elizabeth Starbright," Michael answered with a sigh, "I know what awaits me after death. It isn't an end…not for me anyway, I will merely….forget, finally forget…"

Yeah…Elizabeth had seen cuts and shorts of what they went through, and even that was enough to make her shudder. Akira's soulscape was hell, for everyone but Akira. And if those memories were true…

"But even so, you don't have a guarantee," Elizabeth stated, "Nothing says this will work how you want."

"And?" Michael said, sighing, "What would you have me do? Do you want me to use this power I got with the blood of twelve thousand deaths? Do you think I enjoy having it? The memories, pain, suffering and grievances of twelve thousand Michael Shepherds?"

Michael snapped his fingers and a Mana Core materialized behind him, or the projection of one, one that was cracked at the seams and was leaking blue liquid mana, "My Core is cracked, the knowledge of all this magic, all this power…it wasn't meant to be for me, I hit the wall of the limit of what a Human should be able to achieve…and broke past it."

That was something to envy, if anything Papa and Mother spoke of that wall with reverence after all, even Papa said that breaking past it wasn't something easy to achieve after all.

"I was not meant to break past it, only genius and monsters are allowed to go past it, and I was neither." Michael added in a mocking tone, "Not ordinary genius, true monsters wearing human clothes. I am not one of those. So my Core is breaking apart, I can't discard this either since it is part of who I am, who I was and who I will become. So as you see, I'll die and then this stupid Gem will come with me and curse me again."

Michael threw the Gem of Sloth away, only for the thing to reappear on his hand again.

"It knows that it's part of me, so it teleports to me. No matter if I erase my memories, the Gem will entice me to look into it…just like it did when you allowed me to keep it. It will taunt me, I will indulge…and then remember and cry." Michael shook his head for what was probably the fiftieth time. "The only answer is for you to do whatever you did to Akira to me, steal the Gem from me, claim the ownership and release me to be free once more."

"Do it Eli-Eli," Rossie whispered from the side, "He is asking for it…"

But…Elizabeth…was not sure if it was right.

"You gotta respect his wishes, Eli," Rena said from the other side. Wasn't it supposed to be a good and one evil one? Why both wanted the same? "Even if…we aren't innocent, he isn't either. At least this way, his life and death will serve a greater good."

….But would it be really a greater good?

"Okay….first. What I did to Akira…You don't really understand what it was." Elizabeth said, bringing up the first issue with it.

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"You contaminated his mana using your own, took ownership of his mana channels to access his Core and break it, then ripped apart his Soul so it wouldn't survive long." Michael stated plainly, "Or did you do something else?"

….

"Okay, maybe you do understand what I did." Elizabeth said in defeat, "But you don't understand the broader aspects."

How to explain….

"In a nutshell, I took ownership of part of his Soul and Mana, and then used that to attack the rest." Elizabeth decided for the easy way, "What I did is closer to what [The Stygian Bane], to what Ethan did to the Shadow Users. I Tainted him, so no matter where he went, what he did. I would be able to ensure his death."

Akira was a cockroach, after all.

"Yes, I can't be too sure that my self-preservation instincts won't kick in and attempt to save myself, so I need that much assurance." Michael said, nodding, "If what you say is even remotely true, this is better than my wildest hopes. You will truly ensure my end."

He was mad, truly mad.

"We can get you help, you know?" Elizabeth said, trying to think of an alternative, "I could probably assimilate the [Gem of Sloth] without doing this."

"....I am tired, Elizabeth Starbright," Michael said shaking his head, "You don't understand, truly understand. I have memories of thousands of different ways in which Akira tortured me, sometimes alone, sometimes with help….I have memories that scarred my Soul…I am not even sure my next life will be normal with the degree of damage my Soul has."

Elizabeth….didn't know how to react to that. Wasn't this the same issue that Rossie and Rena were going through? Soul damage so extensive that it extended to their personalities and moods? Would Rossie and Rena seek the same if Elizabeth wasn't there for them? Would…Would Michael get better if Elizabeth…

"No," Michael stated, "I can't in good conscience spend more time than needed near Rossaline Singh and Watanabe Rena."

"The sentiment is mutual," Rossie answered with narrowed eyes, "I never quite liked him, and speaking with Rena about past lives plus the memories he showed are enough proof of why I disliked him."

"....Please Eli?" Rena merely suplicated.

"What are your opinions, Jenna? Lily?" Elizabeth turned to the spectators, "Aura?"

"I mean….he is being forthright, worst case you don't comply and he starts attacking you and forcing your hand," Jenna said after a few seconds, "Rossaline has the right of it, he is dangerous. Mostly to your friends; I doubt he could truly defeat you, not with what he is showing; it's more like he is an apprentice mage with access to an Arch Wizard's mana and the first-floor library."

".....strong….but…..weak…..dangerous….." Lily merely stated that while nodding at herself.

"I mean…. This saves us time on searching the Sloth Gem, if you are lucky maybe you can pick an extra elemental one?" Aura added with a shrug after Lily, "Worst case scenario he turns to be an enemy and then you have to kill him, so it will be the same no matter what you pick."

Could Elizabeth defeat Michael? She had done that once…She was more learned than then, but so was Michael, and if he had the knowledge, practice and mana from all those lives as he implied…It could be dangerous.

"Fine," Elizabeth ended up sighing and dropping her shoulders, "But know that if you pull a fast on me…I'll…..probably do something incredibly dumb to you that will somehow end up being comically stupid."

"Couldn't dream of it," Michael said, shaking his head, "So? What do you need me? Should I empty my mana? Open a pathway to my Core? Give you access to my Soulscape?"

"Nothing that complicated," Elizabeth shook her head, "I'll just….pull this one….damned thing…"

Elizabeth focused her senses into her Soul, pulling at the strand of consciousness that was deep within, the object she hadn't used as much and would rather never pull to the front of her consciousness.

"And I'm going to hit you with this," Elizabeth pulled on that cursed power that had almost killed her so many times…

One that she didn't want to even use against adversaries, or well. Hadn't used it against adversaries, one could say that what she did with Echidna was close to using this one before. But Elizabeth wouldn't listen to those; instead, she pulled, drenched the mana into a mote of energy, and made it hover above her palm.

"Any reason for it to look like that?" Michael asked turning to eye the substance that was floating above Elizabeth's palm, "It looks like rotten ichor."

It was a glob of shadows whose essence had been fused with Proliferation, Elizabeth was also tapping into her Gem of Soul to ensure the thing was stable and wouldn't run out of control.

"Aura, please ensure that nothing of this escapes from the area, I want all of it contained within Michael or within my domain." Elizabeth said without turning her attention away from the small orb of Taint. "As for you Michael, what I did to Akira was more rushed, in some aspects he had it worse…in others he had it easier…His body survived, some of his mana survived, some aspects of his Soul even managed to slip past…As such, he only suffered for an instant…what you ask of me…"

Elizabeth remembered the feeling of touching upon the most sacred part of another human's life….and twisting it into something that she wanted. She had wanted to strip Akira of his power, of his life, of whatever he found precious.

She had wanted to make him suffer, she wanted nothing more than to obliterate that bug from existence… And her wish made her arrive at…The Taint.

And how to achieve it, Elizabeth had turned Shadows into the most vile and disgusting thing she had ever seen…The shadows that soothed her, that protected her, that safeguarded her….twisted into something that craved and desired nothing else than to corrupt and devour.

"...I will erase any and all vestige of the person who made up Michael Shepherd. I'll attempt to focus on only things that happened before you were born in Zaanam…But more likely than not…" Elizabeth didn't finish that phrase.

"It's fine, this is not a selfless request, I am not sacrificing anything. This is a selfish request," Michael said with a sad smile, "I am abusing your good will, I am a coward who was not able to achieve what he desired alone and so. I am putting the blame and burden upon you. This Gem? This is merely a way to make myself feel better for what I am doing to you."

Michael took the Gem of Sloth and fused it into his chest, "So Elizabeth Starbright. [The Shadow Weaver of Zaanam]. Weave the last moments of my life on this cursed planet." And with a swift movement, Michael took Elizabeth's hand and planted it against his chest.

The same hand that housed The Taint.

At first there was no change, for a second Elizabeth had believed that she had missed something, that she made a mistake. That there would be a way for her to get out of this. It was not the case.

The first thing Elizabeth noticed was a phantom feeling on her Core, as if there was suddenly a new part that she hadn't explored before, idly wondering what it was. Elizabeth stirred this phantom limb.

And then, the change became obvious. Azure cracks tinged with a golden shine started spreading in Michael's chest, the more Elizabeth tried to settle this new phantom limb, the more the cracks spread. Eventually Elizabeth didn't even need to do anything for these things to spread.

Soon, Michael's body was filled with cracks of azure light. "Thank you." And with those words the figure of Michael crumbled into motes of light.

"Finally, the first one to reap," As if waiting for the time to arrive an spectral owl appeared from the shadows and snatched a small blue marble, "I'll hang on this for now Mistress, when you have set up the reincarnation cycle this may be the first one."

".....will he notice?" Elizabeth asked as she looked at the remains of Michael Shepherd, his clothes, a few books and crystal vials…And two shining gems. "Will he notice how long it takes?"

"Time is meaningless for Souls, for they have no way to measure it." The owl answered, "Besides, this one will need to heal for a few years anyway. Besides, it has a treasure trove of knowledge that we need to catalog before we let it go."

"So he will not remember anything? Just like he wanted?" Elizabeth said picking up the two gems, the first one was what she had seen before, but the second? The second was…probably what she had hoped. An answer to the question of what to fuse.

"Unless you wish to employ him as a Hero? There is no reason to allow him to keep his memories, so we will strip them bare," The spectral owl stated, "Will that be all Mistress?"

"Did it work Eli?" Rena asked, walking to Elizabeth, "Who are you speaking with?"

"He turned to dust?" Rossie asked, standing beside Elizabeth, "Two gems? He was good for something in the end, huh."

".....I…." Elizabeth didn't know what to say, she should be angry, angry at what she had done, angry at what they all asked of her. Why did she need to do this? She didn't want these responsabilities, it was hard enough to deal with the souls that Alexanders had left on her shoulders.

And now they had pilled one extra one on her?

"....I need a minute," But what could she do?

Scream at Rossie? At Rena?

They had no reason to like Michael. He was closer to an enemy to them, even if Michael was a victim too.

Scream and destroy Michael's Soul? He was a victim, just like Rossie…Just like Rena….Another life toyed and destroyed by Akira, perhaps he wasn't raped on the daily. But his rights had been violated nontheless, he was still tortured and killed for amusement.

Then what about Jenna or Lily?

Jenna….would probably have helped Elizabeth if she had asked. But Elizabeth didn't ask, because she didn't want to risk it… Risk the possibility of Jenna deciding to tell her to outright kill him, or worse…

What does one do when your childhood friend kills someone for you?

Lily? Elizabeth didn't know Lily. As far as she was aware, she was a wildcard.

So instead Elizabeth had ended up fulfilling Michael's wish. And now…for the first time…

Elizabeth had willingly taken a life. Not because of an outburst from Pride, not because she was The Debauchery Dragon….

Not because her mind was controlled…

But because someone had pleaded to her to do it…because the pain was unbearable…Because… Because she feared that Michael would decide to use Rossie and Rena as hostages.

Because Elizabeth didn't want to even think about what she would be capable of doing if someone put her in that position. So instead she decided to do it before it was too late…

God damnit Michael….

God damnit.

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