Will stood in front of the kneeling woman and looked at the black metallic chains that restrained her body. They were not ordinary restraints.
Each chain was thick, uneven, and embedded deeply into the stone floor and walls, as if the prison itself had been shaped around them.
Nether energy flowed through the chains constantly, pulsing like a slow heartbeat, corroding the surrounding stone and filling the chamber with an oppressive presence.
Even standing several steps away, Will could feel the pressure pressing against his skin.
"Hopefully the stellar fire should work on them too!" he thought as he looked at its description again in the system window.
[Stellar Flame Sovereignty:Grants complete dominion over stellar flames capable of burning matter, energy, souls, and concepts like darkness, corruption, the undead, etc.]
"Even though nether energy wasn't mentioned, it should work since all the energies mentioned are closely related and have similar origins according to the novel."
"I intend to break these chains," Will said as he looked at Tamasya with determination.
His voice did not shake; it was a decision that had already settled firmly in his mind.
Tamasya lifted her head slightly. Her expression remained unreadable, but her eyes shifted toward him with faint disbelief.
Just moments ago, she had crushed him without touching him, reducing his body to something barely alive. And yet, he stood there now, speaking as if what had happened did not matter.
For thousands of years, no one had spoken to her like this.
A warm sensation bloomed in her chest, faint and uncomfortable, and she immediately suppressed it out of habit. Emotions were liabilities. She had learned that lesson a long time ago.
"But for that to happen," Will continued, "we both need to trust each other."
He stepped forward and lowered himself until he knelt on the cold stone floor in front of her. He deliberately brought himself to her level, aligning his gaze with hers instead of looking up or down. His posture was calm, as if he were afraid that sudden motion might provoke her.
"Can I trust you, Miss Tamasya?" he asked.
The question was simple, but the meaning was not.
Tamasya stared at him; there were no threats and no attempts to manipulate her.
All she could sense was just a straightforward question. It unsettled her more than any insult or challenge ever could.
She had faced gods, armies, and entire civilizations. She had endured betrayal, fear, and isolation beyond what most beings could comprehend. And yet, here she was, unable to read a fourteen-year-old boy.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she nodded.
The system screamed inside Will's mind.
[Host, we don't have any SP left for emergency teleportation. Don't release this bitch, host, I beg you (T_T).]
Will ignored it.
"I am taking a chance," he replied mentally, "so if this goes wrong, I accept the consequences."
He stood up and raised his hands. Stellar flames ignited around his palms, golden-white and controlled. Unlike earlier outbursts, the fire did not surge outward. It remained restrained and stable.
As he approached the nearest chain, the nether energy reacted violently.
The chains hissed sharply and tightened around Tamasya's body. The pressure increased instantly, and she gasped as pain surged through her. Her fingers clenched reflexively, and a low moan escaped her lips before she could stop it.
"Aaahh!"
Will did not retreat.
He pressed the stellar flames against the first chain.
The reaction was immediate.
The nether energy boiled and evaporated as the mystical fire consumed it.
clink
The chain cracked, then snapped completely, dissolving into black vapor that vanished into the air.
Chipping sounds echoed throughout the chamber.
clink*clink**clink*
Will moved to the second chain and then the third one. Each time, the chains resisted briefly before breaking under the flames. The nether energy hissed and recoiled, unable to withstand the purity of the stellar fire.
Minutes passed.
Sweat formed on Will's forehead as he worked carefully, one chain at a time. He did not rush. Any mistake could worsen her condition or trigger something he could not control.
With every chain destroyed, Tamasya felt something return to her body. Her powers did not return fully since more than one god had placed seals on her power; hence, only a fraction of it returned. But what she felt right now was more than simple power.
When the final chain snapped, the oppressive pressure in the chamber lifted slightly.
Will stepped back and exhaled.
"It is done," he said. "You are free."
Tamasya did not move at first.
Her wrists, once deeply scarred by the chains, healed rapidly as a fraction of her power surged back into her body. The deeper seals remained intact, but even this limited freedom was overwhelming.
She stood slowly.
For the first time in thousands of years, nothing restrained her movement; her knees weakened.
Tears formed before she could suppress them.
Before Will could react, she moved.
[HOST!! RUN!!]
Even Will got alarmed and was about to run when he suddenly felt the space around him ripple.
But instead of the anticipated assault, he felt softness landing on him.
Tamasya, the eternal ruler of darkness, the cold slaughterer, had taken him into her embrace.
She had closed the distance instantly and wrapped her arms tightly around him. The force of the embrace was far stronger than he expected. He stumbled back slightly, his balance nearly lost, before he stabilized himself.
She was trembling.
Warm drops soaked into his shoulder.
She was crying.
Will froze.
He had prepared himself for things far worse, but he had not prepared himself for this.
He gently patted her back, choosing to stay quiet; he liked the warmth of her embrace after all. It had been a long time since he had felt this type of affection from someone.
She then kept him in her embrace as quite a few minutes passed by.
"I guess even beings like her feel emotional sometimes," he thought.
UGH!! HOST: SHE IS INTO YOU.]
"Eat shit. Do you ever think about something beyond mating and romance? Can't a master hug her disciple?"
[A master doesn't hug her disciple, and even if they do, they don't cling to each other for more than five minutes, and they definitely don't start rubbing their bodies together. TSK, just start mating already!!]
"You don't know a thing; she has been trapped here for thousands of years and is emotionally vulnerable. If by chance there are any of these thoughts in her mind, they will go away eventually as she regains her bearing."
Will ignored the system's assessment.
He was utterly wrong this time.
Inside Tamasya's mind, thoughts spiraled uncontrollably. The warmth of his body, the steady rhythm of his breathing, and the simple fact that he had freed her without demanding much in return overwhelmed her senses.
Her mind only repeated the same sentence over and over.
"I will always protect you; you are mine, only mine."