Slowly, almost imperceptibly, spiritual energy began to enter Edward's body. Bit by bit, it began to gradually fill his entire body. It was warm and gave Edward a very pleasant feeling, at first causing only a slight tingling sensation.
— Don't relax, otherwise you might explode. — Walter interrupted the young man, who was in the pleasant embrace of spiritual energy. Edward came to his senses instantly.
The spiritual energy continued to seep into his body. Walter controlled her well and guided her competently to the location of the seal, the heart. The flow was getting stronger by the second. Edward felt the energy seeping deeper, filling his veins, arteries, and every nerve. But the closer she got to his heart, the more intense the pressure inside his body became.
His chest felt like it was contracting from the inside. The spiritual energy began to envelop the heart, completely covering it with itself.
— Here it is, I found it! — Walter exclaimed enthusiastically, having found the seal.
After finding the most vulnerable spot of the seal, the old man directed his spiritual energy there. The seal couldn't stand the pressure and gave in. Seeing no obstacles in front of him, spiritual energy began to accumulate and contract in his heart, filling it to the limit. The young man felt like his heart was becoming like a volcano, ready to erupt at any moment. All this caused him great pain, but Edward clenched his teeth and continued to endure steadfastly.
— Be patient a little longer, we are approaching the most important moment. — Walter said, his voice becoming serious. He seemed to be as focused as Edward.
— In a few seconds, there will be an explosion of spiritual energy. Don't panic, everything is under control. Your main task is not to miss the spiritual energy that will be released during the explosion. Grab her, subdue her, and guide her inside. Create a space out of it.
As soon as Walter finished giving instructions to Edward, it happened.
An impulse flared up inside the young man's heart, but there was no pain. Instead, a blinding, hot wave swept through his body. Edward lost his breath for a moment, but then he focused. He caught the scattering energy, squeezed it with an effort of will and sent it inside — deeper, right into the center of his heart.
The world around him froze.
Suddenly, Edward felt as if something new had been born in the depths of his heart — an empty, silent space. Every heartbeat echoed in it. This was his spiritual space. It reminded Edward of the vast expanses of the universe. The only difference was the absence of stars, which made this space somewhat empty and lifeless.
While Edward was admiring the expanses of the newly created spiritual space, Walter's voice reached him: — Great! You've created a space, but it's not the time to relax. You still have some spiritual energy left in you. Use it to light the first star.
When he came to his senses, Edward focused again. He was unwilling to waste a single drop of spiritual energy and hurried to gain control over it. Gradually gathering all the remaining spiritual energy in one place, Edward began to compress it until it took on the shape of a star. It burned faintly, like a candle flame in the dark, but gradually gained strength, filling with the remnants of the spiritual stream. After a while, Edward finally managed to channel all the remaining spiritual energy into the first star. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy was not enough to fully form the star, which somewhat upset Edward, but even so, he felt that there was very little left before the star was completely completed.
— Congratulations. — The old man whispered with a satisfied smile. — You're awake.
When Edward opened his eyes, he felt an unusual lightness in his body. Spiritual energy filled him. For the first time since he had been in the mine, Edward felt so good.
— Well, how do you feel? — Walter asked.
— It's unbelievable... I've never felt better before... — Edward replied shortly, still under the impression of his first contact with spiritual energy.
The old man chuckled: — I'm glad you liked it. Hopefully, thanks to this, you won't have any big regrets after you die.
The old man said the last part very ominously, and Edward immediately understood what he meant. If he doesn't do anything, he will die. In a second, Walter had spread a terrifying bloodlust. She was so strong that Edward couldn't mistake her for anything.
Without wasting a second, Edward reached for his thigh, where the makeshift stone knife was hidden. However, Walter did not intend to give Edward even a small chance of survival. He immediately injected his spiritual energy into the youth's body, completely trapping him.
Edward tried to move, but his body wouldn't move. It was as if thousands of invisible threads had entangled his limbs, and the spiritual energy that had just filled him with strength was now rapidly leaving his body, taking something important with it.
— Everything is going as it should. — The old man's satisfied voice sounded behind him: — I would sympathize with you, kid, but why lie? You're just a piece of meat that will help me get out of here.
— What are you doing!? — Edward was furious. He couldn't believe that he had fallen under Walter's control so easily. It seemed to him that he would always have time to do something before the old man could harm him. Unfortunately, Edward overestimated himself.
— Nothing special, just trying to take over your body. Judge for yourself, I'm a decrepit old man who has, at best, a few years left. Even if I run away from here, it won't make much sense. I've been looking for a suitable vessel for a long time. And lo and behold, I noticed you. Young age, kinship with spiritual energy, it's like you were sent to me from heaven! — The more Walter talked, the more he looked like a madman.
— Bastard... — Edward gritted his teeth, trying to resist Walter.
— You only have your own gullibility to blame. I didn't even think that you would be so easily deceived. — The old man was mocking Edward.
Edward's head began to spin, his vision blurred. He felt again the same feelings he had experienced at his first death. It became incredibly difficult to maintain consciousness. All of Edward's attempts to prevent the spiritual energy from being drained failed. Walter's control was ten times stronger.
— Oh, are you still resisting? — The old man laughed and squeezed Edward's chest harder, sucking out even more energy. — Come on, give in to me… All your efforts are pointless. Just go with the flow and become a noble sacrifice in my liberation.
Edward bit his lip, spilling a few drops of blood. He felt his consciousness slipping away, but his instinct for self-preservation screamed at him not to give up. Edward tried to focus on the remnants of his spiritual energy, which was almost exhausted. He frantically tried to come up with some kind of solution, but nothing came to mind.
When hope seemed to be leaving Edward, he felt faint fluctuations of spiritual energy from the ring, which had not shown any signs of life since transmigrating to another world.
However, it wasn't just Edward who felt it. Walter noticed something too, but decided it wasn't worth his attention. Apart from giving weak pulses, the ring did not do anything else. But at the moment when Walter's vigilance weakened a little, several spiritual threads burst out of the ring, which penetrated Edward's body and brought him to consciousness. The young man felt his body freed from invisible bonds, and the spiritual energy no longer flowed out and even, on the contrary, returned back, but no longer into his body. It flowed towards the ring, leaving only a small part for Edward. But even that was enough to regain full control of the body.
— What?.. What are you doing?! — There was a hint of panic in Walter's voice. Sensing something was wrong, he abruptly tried to pull his hands away from Edward, but he couldn't. — That's... impossible!
Edward was breathing heavily, but he could feel his strength returning to his body. He didn't know what exactly was going on, but he knew that he was very lucky right now.
The energy of the ring raged like a wild beast that had escaped from its cage. The third force that appeared in Edward's body wasn't just resisting the old killer — it was devouring him.
Walter tried in every possible way to break the connection, but something held him back, not allowing him to leave. His body trembled, and horror appeared on his face.
—N-no… what are you doing?! Stop it! — He screamed, but his cry went unanswered. Only Edward could watch as the strands of spiritual energy extending from the ring slowly took Walter's life.
His skin turned pale, and the wrinkles began to deepen, as if time was rapidly taking away the last years of his life.
— It's not... it's not supposed to.… to work like this... — He croaked, losing his strength.
But Edward didn't care. There was not a drop of pity or sympathy for Walter in him. On the contrary, he even felt a certain sense of self-satisfaction watching the old man slowly die.
However, before the life left his body, Walter was finally able to free himself and collapsed to his knees. His hands loosened, and his vision blurred. His spiritual energy was completely drained away, absorbed into Edward's ring, and his connection with the demonic spirit was severed. It seemed that the blood shadow had been absorbed by the ring along with the spiritual energy.
At the last moment before he died, Walter raised his head. His eyes clearly showed deep hatred for Edward, as well as fear of imminent death.
—You... you are little bastard… It's all because of you.…
Before he could finish, his body went limp. All that remains of Walter is a lifeless shell, slowly settling to the ground.