Chapter 181: The Sword’s Spirit
Damon stepped through the dissolving wall and into the temple’s passage.
The moment his foot touched the floor inside, the world twisted.
Space folded around him like a cloth being snapped flat.
The walls, the ceiling, the ground beneath his feet all dissolved into a blur of white light that stretched in every direction.
He blinked.
The others were gone.
He stood alone in an endless white void.
Just an infinite expanse of pale light that extended as far as his Incubus Celestial Eyes could see.
’Where am I?’
Damon scanned the space. There was no threat he could detect, no hostile intent pressing against his senses. Just emptiness.
Then a light appeared in front of him.
It started as a pinprick, a single point of brightness in the endless white.
It grew larger as it approached, expanding into a sphere of warm, golden radiance that pulsed with a slow, steady rhythm.
The Chaos Devourer stirred in his storage ring.
Before Damon could react, the ring vibrated.
The sword shot out of the storage space on its own, hovering in front of him with its blade pointing toward the approaching sphere of light.
Damon’s hand went to the hilt instinctively.
"What the hell?"
The sword pulsed. A low hum emanated from its blade, a sound that resonated deep in his chest.
The sphere of light stopped a few feet away from him. It hovered there, pulsing gently, as if examining him.
Then a voice spoke in his mind.
It was a woman’s voice. Clear. Ancient. Carrying a weight that pressed against his consciousness like a physical presence.
’Where did you get this sword?’
Damon’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t answer.
’And how did you find another piece? the voice continued. The last time I saw this blade, it was broken in two. The halves were scattered across different planes.’
Damon studied the sphere of light.
His Incubus Celestial Eyes showed him nothing — the light was pure energy, without form or structure that his eyes could read.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The sphere pulsed.
A ripple of amusement passed through the voice when it spoke again.
’I am the sword’s ego. Its spirit. Or rather, a piece of it.’
The Chaos Devourer hummed louder. The sphere drifted closer, circling the floating blade with what felt like curiosity.
’When the sword was shattered, my consciousness was torn apart. One piece remained with the main body. The other...’The sphere paused.
’The other was cast into the void. I have been waiting here ever since.’
Damon kept his hand near the hilt. "Waiting for what?"
’For someone to bring the pieces back together.’
The sphere stopped moving. It hovered directly in front of the Chaos Devourer, its light pulsing faster now.
’I can feel it. The main body is complete. The two halves have been fused.’
The voice shifted. There was something raw in it now, something that sounded almost like disbelief.
’I never thought I would see this day. The Chaos Devourer was broken during the War of the First Age. The force that snapped it should have scattered the fragments across a thousand realms. But you... you found both pieces. You brought them together.’
Damon was quiet for a moment.
Then he spoke.
"The sword chose me. I found the first piece in an auction auction in Solaris City. The second piece came was a secret."
The sphere pulsed.
’An auction?’
"Some rich fool was selling it as a broken relic."
A sound echoed through his mind. It took him a moment to recognize it as laughter — low, bitter, tinged with something that might have been pain.
’They sold a piece of the Chaos Devourer at an auction. The blade that once carved wounds into the fabric of reality itself. Treated like a common trinket.’
The sphere turned back to face him fully.
’You are fortunate, young cultivator. Fortunate that the sword accepted you. The Chaos Devourer does not bond with just anyone. It has a will of its own. A hunger.’
"I know," Damon said. "I’ve felt it."
’Then you understand what you carry.’
The sphere drifted closer. Damon felt a presence brush against his consciousness, probing, testing.
He didn’t resist.
’Interesting, You have the body and bloodline of an something I don’t know. And something else. Something older.’ the voice murmured
"Can you help me understand the sword?" Damon asked.
"Its full power. Its history."
The sphere pulsed.
’I can. But not here. My consciousness is still fractured. I need to rejoin the main body before I can access the full depth of my memories.’
"How do we do that?"
’You already have. The moment you stepped into this space with the completed blade, the connection was re-established. I simply need to merge with it.’
The sphere began to glow brighter. The Chaos Devourer responded in kind, its blade lighting up with silver veins that spread across the dark metal.
’This will take time, the voice said. When I wake up, I will have much to tell you. But for now...’
The sphere compressed. It shrank from a ball of light into a single, concentrated point of brilliance that hovered at the tip of the Chaos Devourer’s blade.
’Guard the sword well, master.’
The light vanished.
The Chaos Devourer absorbed it in a single pulse, the silver veins on its blade flaring bright before fading back to their usual dim glow.
Damon stood in the white void, staring at the floating sword.
The blade hummed once, softly, then went still.
He reached out and wrapped his hand around the hilt.
The sword felt different now.
Damon stored the Chaos Devourer back in his ring.
The white void around him rippled. Space twisted again, and the world reformed around him.
He stood in the center of the temple’s main hall, surrounded by crystalline walls and ancient runes.
Ariel, Mio, Mia, and Seraphina stood a few feet away, their eyes wide as they stared at him.
"Damon!" Ariel rushed forward. "You disappeared. One moment you were there, and the next—"
"I’m fine," Damon said.
