"That, White... That is Darkness!"

She said to him.

"And what you just did was what every Umbrawyr had done: Evolve to the darkness."

"If you’re to rule over a race of such beings, the first thing to do is to get rid of your racial weakness, one of which is your flawed human sense of morality."

A part of him wanted to argue against it.

Evolving to darkness?

Wasn’t that just another excuse an evil soul tells itself in order to inflict evil upon another?

Flawed human sense of morality? A racial weakness?

Morality does nothing but protect. How could something that protects be a weakness?

But there were new realizations that had occurred to him.

His hands reached for the sword, and he pulled it out in a single stroke, gazing at the blade.

There still, written on it, were the words that he had scoffed at in the beginning.

"To show mercy... is to show no mercy."

He read it out loud, now understanding it more fully than ever.

But still, he did not wish to dwell upon it at all, sheathing the sword back and calling curtly.

"The next test."

Her hands reached outward, a massive dark vortex appearing, and without a word, White stepped into it, disappearing.

The vortex faded afterward, leaving just the throne room and the woman seated there.

She leaned back quietly against the throne, eyes looking at the crimson ceiling before a smile tugged at her lips.

"I wonder if he’ll still able to keep his soul after this one..."

______________

Stepping through the portal was like an ordinary step forward, but the world changed instantaneously the second his foot touched the ground.

The throne room was no more. Instead,

CRASSSSH!

The sound of ocean waves crashing echoed out, and White turned his head to find something he had never seen before.

An ocean of black.

It was like dark ink spread into the distance as far as the eyes could see, and its waves crashed heavily upon the shore.

That action led to the next anomaly:

Huge skeletal bones being thrown out by the waves crashing onto the shore.

White turned his neck slightly, and there he could see a mountain of bones that had already formed upon the shore.

Just how many people had died, and how many more corpses were within that black ocean, was unknown.

Yet a certain presence appeared within his sensory range, and he turned his head back.

Behind him was an ocean, but before him was the silhouette of a single mountain whose surrounding space was covered in cracks that bled crimson blood.

It was like space itself was crying blood, something White himself couldn’t wrap his mind around. But then, sitting right on top of that mountain was the back of a figure.

Dark robes, with long white hair falling over them.

He seemed able to sense White’s gaze and, robotically, turned to look at him.

A pale white face, five crimson-dotted eyes and six horns pointing toward the sky.

Of course, it was none other than Dark White, who had his usual insane grin on his face.

White had always seen him from inside the soul space, but looking at Dark White right now, his hand unconsciously shifted toward his sword.

There was something about Dark White. Something terrifying, like a predator gazing directly at him.

But it wasn’t some ordinary powerful predator, but the embodiment of extreme evil.

Like one that simply wanted to kill for the sheer enjoyment of doing so.

But he knew it was all ridiculous, and his hands shifted away from the blade, falling to his side.

"So what’s it this time?"

White asked.

Dark White responded by shifting slightly until his right finger pointed directly at White below.

Then came the ear-grating words:

"Your soul..."

It spoke, then turned its gaze to look all around the realm before turning back to White and repeating.

"Your soul..."

"No, it’s not."

White said.

Of course, he understood what Dark White was trying to say. That this abyssal realm of horror was White’s soul.

But of course, that was wrong.

White had been in his soul space before; it was just a simple void.

If this place was indeed within himself and not another simulation that he had stepped into, then it could only belong to Dark White himself.

To White’s reply,

"Hehehehehehe!"

A spine-chilling laugh escaped Dark White.

White himself should have been used to it by now, since he was usually the one releasing it, yet the laughter was so loud this time that he everything began shattering.

The ground caved in, cracks spreading across it as if it were nothing more than glass, and the same was true even for Dark White himself, who cracked into pieces.

All at once, the realm shattered apart, giving way to darkness as White felt his consciousness slipping away.

He remained in that state for longer than he could register before,

FLICCCKER!

His eyes snapped open as he regained consciousness all at once.

GRRRK!

GRRRRK!

The sound was unfamiliar, but his eyes quickly adapted and registered his surroundings.

Right now, he was sitting atop a fine white horse, its hooves making clanking sounds.

He looked at himself and found that he was wearing what seemed to be a knight’s armor.

Turning behind him, he found a group of about a hundred men also riding horses and wearing the same armor, though theirs was bronze in color while White’s was golden.

Whenever White’s eyes fell upon them, he watched them tilt their heads slightly in respect.

It wasn’t just a forced bow. He could see the genuine respect that those gestures of theirs held.

He turned his head away and looked forward, finding that they were approaching a massive wall within which stood a kingdom.

As they drew nearer, a shout echoed out from the guards that were on the walls.

"He has returned!"

"The Beloved Commander of Igasus has returned!"

"Open the gates!"