MTLNOVEL Chapter 480: Real Goal
The whole inner world began to shake. Alex felt something in his soul being torn, but he ignored it and kept pulling.
"S-stop it! If you do this, you'll also hurt yourself."
"Hurt me? So what if my soul tears a bit? I'll just recover as time passes," Alex replied calmly.
His soul wasn't something that could be easily extinguished. Alex calmly judged that if he didn't do this, Byakhee would keep infiltrating even further. Seeing the situation in his inner world, he suspected Byakhee's goal was not just to disrupt the balance but to become the human part of Alex without him realizing it.
Then, it would slowly corrupt his soul, turning him into another of Byakhee's avatars.
'My emotions, he's doing something to them.'
Alex knew humans had done many weird things because of emotions. If Byakhee had manipulated them from the soul, he might as well have been better off without any.
He had read many cases of humans, even after amnesia, still having the same emotions toward an individual, whether hate, love or even disgust.
If Byakhee made Alex hate humanity or something similar, the result would be catastrophic.
Cracks started to appear in the world as Alex exerted more strength.
Outside, MingYue frowned as she saw Alex's situation.
His life force became unstable, and his qi flowed backward. It was like he was a demonic cultivator about to start a rampage.
Worried, MingYue touched his shoulder. She entered his inner world.
The sky was cracked like a shattered mirror, the island split in half. The crimson sea churned high like a storm was brewing.
It wasn't as bad as a fractured world, but MingYue could tell the inner world was being split apart. She leaped down, searching for Alex.
Along the way, she could see a creature being held down by the earth. It fought back multiple times but was overwhelmed.
In the end, the world was Alex's, and he could easily use it to punish external beings. The real core of Byakhee was the only exception, as it was deep inside Alex's soul.
"Alex, what are you doing?" MingYue asked as she finally reached his location.
"Tearing Byakhee from my soul. MingYue, help me," Alex said while exerting more strength.
"No, are you nuts? Tearing your own soul is not just painful. It will have side effects."
"Better than the alternative," Alex said with a flat tone.
"Give me time, let me try first."
Alex gave it some thought and then replied, "Be careful, MingYue. We don't know what Byakhee is capable of. He could move to infect you." Your next chapter awaits on empire
"He caught you off guard, Alex, and when Vesa wasn't around."
"That's true, but still, be careful."
Despite Alex saying it without emotion, MingYue could feel his concern, which made her smile. She replied with a nod and then jumped down through the crevice.
Unlike Alex, she had no problem going deeper, as this was not her own inner world.
She dove down, following the connection.
The world changed to darkness, reminding MingYue of what had happened last time.
She had been blocked by the guardian, but now, even after the situation had become like this, the guardian didn't come out.
'Is it because Alex wants to tear his own soul? But this doesn't make sense. Except…'
MingYue then remembered the creature she had passed before; it looked like an apparition. The only difference was what strength was boosting it.
This one was only Byakhee; last time, it was powered by Alex's world as it was recognized as part of him.
Knowing the gravity of the situation, MingYue raised her pace. Even she could tell now that Byakhee was trying to take over Alex's body.
'Is this because everyone now knows Alex is the progenitor heir?'
MingYue remembered how Alex had spread the news using the Felidaen messenger. In his words, since the higher-ups already knew, he might as well pull attention to himself.
She didn't know in detail how Alex had instructed the rumor to be spread, but it should have been done in a way that affected the higher-ups while it wasn't spread to the public.
At the end of the chain, deep inside Alex's consciousness, passing through many of his memories, was a black slime covering a few large spheres.
Each one was larger than those she had seen before. It was part of his most important memories that made Alex who he was.
MingYue stopped and started observing the situation. If she acted carelessly, there was a risk of destroying these memories.
'Vesa! Tell me you have a solution. How could you not even realize this?'
'I'm sorry, Queen, but I don't peek this deep into either of your souls. Those memories surrounded by Byakhee are the main ones that build up King's personality.'
'Do you mean right now he's forgotten all this?' MingYue asked in disbelief.
There were a few memories she recognized, one of them being their first meeting. There was also one where Alex was backstabbed by his friend. Each was a pivotal memory; if he really forgot them, many things wouldn't make sense.
'King doesn't forget them, but Byakhee's influence has removed the emotional attachment impact from them. And it seems it's trying to manipulate the memories.'
'Is that possible?'
'Manipulating memories is very possible, but manipulating one from the depths of the soul is something new.'
Memories in the brain and memories in the soul were two different things, and what MingYue saw now was the latter.
For example, if only the memory in the brain was manipulated to see MingYue as an enemy, Alex would still feel something was wrong deep inside.
It would be like the memory wasn't his, and something would bug him until he realized the truth. But if it was one from his soul, then he would never feel anything weird or strange.
He would have zero suspicion.
'Their methods are becoming more sophisticated,' Vesa said with worry.
This was something even the progenitor of that time hadn't achieved. It made her realize their preparation was nowhere near enough—they needed more.