NOVEL WEB Chapter 147: Soul Devil
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Could the total body control granted by Tier Four really extend to that aspect Eirin hinted at?
Of course it could.
With the Divie Ki swirling inside him—just a ripple of which could probably wipe Earth off the solar map—paired with his orange-tier trait Photosynthesis, it wasn't even a challenge.
As long as he wasn't stuck somewhere like an eternal night zone where sunlight literally couldn't reach him, he basically had infinite energy output now.
Last time, when he went back to the Kuroinu World to check in and complete his regularly scheduled mission with World Will Larentia...
Larentia herself, High elf Celestine Lucullus, dark elf queen Olga Discordia, her attendant Chloe, Alicia Arcturus, the knight Princess of Iris, the Princess of Pure Innocence Prim Fiorire, and Claudia Levantine of the Dawn Knights...
In the end, he had ended up filling them all with ease.
Why was she the only one being pushed to her limit—just for one round? Even when she used her hand, Veyron... well, let's say he demanded more.
Well… to be honest, it was mostly because he was super into her body. And on top of that, he wasn't sure how she'd react if he dropped the usual pretense between them. Without that unspoken mutual understanding, would she still let him get away with doing whatever he wanted?
"...Next time, just say what you want."
With a knowing look in her eyes, Eirin let out a tired sigh.
As for now—
She made a hand seal, and space rippled inside the pocket dimension.
They both vanished and appeared in the basement.
Down there, rows of wooden barrels about a meter tall were neatly arranged. Each barrel shimmered faintly with the eternal time-stopping enchantment that Kaguya had imbued.
Veyron: "..."
"With your body, filling these shouldn't be a problem, right?" Eirin raised an eyebrow as she was undressing.
"...Are you underestimating me?! Haha, I guess just dozen times with you is enough~"
Veyron let out a short, exasperated laugh.
...
A few hours later...
Sunlight filtered down through the bamboo eaves as Veyron chilled outside, a fluffy fox curled up in his arms.
"Master, are you okay?"
The voice came from Hagoromo Gitsune, who was currently in her fox form and enjoying the warm sun with him.
"I'm great. What could possibly be wrong…"
He trailed off, face still smiling, but his eyes wandered slightly.
Honestly, he just hadn't expected Eirin—after openly showing off the barrels—to secretly apply spatial expansion enchantments inside each one as well.
Anyone who knew her might just laugh and call it petty revenge for his earlier demands.
Anyone who didn't would probably assume she was milking him dry and planning to run off with the loot.
Come to think of it, it really wasn't a mystery how Kaguya ended up with that slightly scheming personality—being raised under Eirin's care explained a lot.
Good thing his reserves were stupidly deep. A few drainings like that? He barely even noticed.
Well, at least he enjoyed himself—and Eirin made sure to use his favorite poses.
As for why he was still chilling around like he'd been completely drained of life force after filling the barrels…
Three words: For the aesthetic.
"Oh? You're close to Tier Two now?"
He casually scanned Hagoromo's progress with his sense and reached up to gently pat her head.
"Mainly thanks to Lady Inukimi's help," the fox replied honestly.
"It had nothing to do with me," yawned the big dog lying nearby—Inukimi herself.
"If you didn't have the talent, no amount of training would've helped. You survived one round of killing intent and pressure from a great yokai—but if you weren't built for it, ten rounds or a hundred wouldn't have mattered. You'd still be stuck at Tier One."
"We're all part of the same family here. No need to get picky about credit."
Veyron chuckled as he reached over and gave the massive dog's head a few affectionate pats.
"Once Eirin's done with Kaguya, you two should go see her too. She's got something good for you."
If even the blockage between Tier Three and early Tier Four—the point where the gene lock undergoes a fundamental transformation—could be shattered by brute force, then pushing from Tier Two to Three should be a piece of cake.
"Got it!" x2
Hagoromo Gitsune and Inukimi exchanged glances, excitement flickering in both their eyes.
They knew how miraculous Eirin's medicine was. They'd experienced it firsthand.
...
Not long after—
Kaguya, holding her rainbow-colored Branch of Hourai, stepped gracefully out of the building. Catching Veyron's signal, the fox and dog duo immediately scampered off to Eirin's room, tails high with anticipation.
Meanwhile, Kaguya stopped in front of him. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a stream of five-colored light toward Veyron.
"Looks good."
Veyron raised his hand and caught the light effortlessly.
"Not quite the five traditional elements—wood, fire, earth, metal, water—but if you keep refining those five treasures, you might just be able to forge your own version of the Divine Light someday."
"It's just a little glow I got from riding your gene lock potential and Eirin's research, that's all."
Kaguya walked up beside him, then turned around and flopped right into his lap—claiming the spot Hagoromo Gitsune had just vacated.
"The moment I broke into Tier Four… I suddenly felt this weird sense of despair. Like—what's the point of struggling so hard? I should've just waited for you and Eirin to finish cooking up some overpowered cheat instead…"
"...This?"
Veyron's expression turned serious.
Soul Devil.
In the Gene Lock rules, this was a crucial hurdle you had to cross if you wanted to push past early Tier Four.
Any supernatural system aiming to reach mid-Tier Four in gene lock — had to face this trial.
A Soul Devil was basically a mental weak spot. An imperfection in the soul. Everyone had one. It formed silently over time through pain, regrets, traumas—anything that left a scar on the psyche.
Only by confronting and overcoming it could a person truly stabilize their soul and keep climbing the ladder of power without fear of collapse.
Once you reached early Tier Four, all the negativity—resentment, doubt, guilt, pain—that had been dormant inside you would start bubbling up through your enhanced perception.
That's your Devil.
"That's it?"
Kaguya lifted her hand, fingers gently folding toward the direction of the invisible moon—its brightness washed out by the sun, hidden from mortal eyes.
"I already have a pretty good idea of where my Devil is. But what about you, Father?"
"How long has it been since you stepped into Tier Four?"
"I've actually run a bunch of tests."
Veyron frowned slightly.
"Killing. Destruction. Indulgence... All the things I thought could trigger some buried flaw in me. I tried them all. But nothing. Not a single sign of a Soul Devil."
"That's even possible?"
Kaguya shifted in his lap, wriggling a little before turning to face him. She reached up and gently smoothed out the crease in his brow.
"Maybe the fact that you're waiting for a Devil to show up… is your Soul Devil itself?"
.
.
.
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Just a heads-up: That whole "soul devil" or "inner mind blah blah demon" stuff won't be mentioned again. I guess the Terror Infinity fans demanded it but it then backfired. Kinda like what happened in that after Chapter 70… you know, that chapter we don't talk about.
Or maybe the author just meant it as an intro to the Light of the Mind—or as I like to call it, Soul Light. Either way, just treat it as trivia or filler.