As the aftereffects of the massive crimson halo subsided, the space-time fabric settled, and White Haven slowly returned to its original state.

Fortunately, the pure white realm was able to sustain the massive spatial fluctuations and had successfully recovered without collapsing.

Alen lay flat on the white floor, gasping heavily for air. His whole body was dripping with sweat.

His gaze fell over the cascade of notifications he had just received from the System. He let out a massive sigh of relief. It seemed his mysterious passive ability had given him another burst of impossible luck, preventing the catastrophic mess he had just created.

He looked around the empty space, making sure everything was alright. He searched for the ancient spirit who was supposed to be bonded to him now, but he couldn’t find her anywhere.

"Did she die because of that massive explosion earlier?" Alen muttered. "Well... Too bad for her... May the gods bless her soul."

Suddenly, a crimson dagger floated into the air directly in front of him. It was similar in shape to the massive sword from earlier, but it was much smaller and possessed a more pronounced curve. Despite its size, it emitted the exact same dangerous aura as the greatsword.

Alen reached out and grabbed the hilt. Instantly, he felt the exact same profound comfort he had experienced when he first held the weapon.

Crimson energy continued to emit from the dagger. It sparked with an otherworldly power that felt fundamentally different from normal mana. However, Alen could feel that his own mana reserves were being continuously drained by the dagger, as if it needed his energy to charge itself.

"It seems its power and overall size have shrunk to a lower level..." Alen observed.

"Hmm? The status window said ’First Form’. What does that mean? Does this weapon have other forms too? I thought it was just a giant sword..."

As he inspected the dagger, the glowing red core at the very center of the crossguard suddenly flared. It glowed so brightly that it blinded his eyes.

Alen quickly raised his arm to shield his vision from the intense light.

"..."

After a few seconds of utter silence, a furious, high-pitched baby voice suddenly rang out.

"You bastard! How dare you hijack the bond on your own terms?! Break this bond right now! I swear I am going to kill you!"

Alen blinked, dropping his arm. He looked left and right, desperately searching for the source of the tiny voice.

"Hey, f*cker! I am down here!"

Alen quickly looked down. Standing on the white floor was a tiny, incredibly adorable baby. She had a perfectly round, cute face, silky black hair, and bright crimson eyes. She no longer emitted that terrifying aura of danger; instead, she just looked like a normal human child throwing a massive tantrum.

Her normally emotionless eyes were now filled with a faint, furious spark of life. She wore a tiny black dress and a cute little black cloak that made her look even more delicate. She looked exactly like a four-year-old girl who had only barely learned how to run around on her own two feet.

As she glared up at him in sheer anger, her tiny legs slipped. Losing her balance, she fell backward, landing right on her butt with a soft pat! that made her look even more adorable.

"Hehe... Whose lost child is this?" Alen chuckled.

He knelt down, sat comfortably on the floor, and gently picked her up, placing the furious toddler on his lap and patting her head.

*Puff~*

She let out a cute, frustrated squeal. She tried to look incredibly angry, but ended up comfortably leaning into his gentle pats anyway.

Alen looked at her in mock confusion. "Where did you come from, little baby?"

She glared up at him, her crimson eyes meeting his azure ones.

"I am Ravena! The Master of the Crimson Realm and the Spiritual Manifestation of Godless, you damn f*cker! This is all because of you!"

She tried to intimidate him with her tiny voice. She quickly pulled back from his lap, almost losing her footing and falling over again, but she managed to balance herself just in time and crossed her tiny arms over her chest.

"Why the f*ck did you mess with the bond formation process?!"

Alen looked at her calmly. He mimicked her posture, crossing his arms with a knowing smile.

"Don’t try to play games with me, Miss Ravena. Or should I call you Little Ravena? Hehe..."

She frowned deeply.

"What games? You almost killed us both! How are we even still alive right now?"

Alen’s smile slowly vanished. His expression turned ice-cold as he locked eyes with the ancient spirit.

"Don’t play dumb with me. You said your terms were fair, right? What did you say before we started?— ’My condition is that Alen’s mind and power will be shared between us. In exchange, I will grant him fifty percent of my power.’"

"Did you take me for a fool?" Alen asked sharply.

"Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out your little plan?"

"You wanted me to open my mind and share my life force with you, all in exchange for just half of your power? If that meant sharing my entire body and soul with you, then where the f*ck was my profit? I don’t do anything without a profit!"

She looked at him, completely speechless.

"Hey, you weakling," Ravena finally retorted, clenching her tiny fists. "What do you take me for? Even fifty percent of my power would be enough to destroy entire continents in a single attack!"

Alen smiled coldly.

"Exactly. I agree that your power is vast enough to destroy continents. But that’s exactly why I couldn’t share my mind with you."

He leaned forward, his gaze piercing her.

"Tell me, if you had that much power, why did you need me to share my mind? Why did you want me to open my mental barriers to ’talk freely’ when we can easily communicate without doing that?"

"I know you weren’t actually seeking a partnership. You didn’t call me from a distant realm for no reason. You want to live. You don’t want to be trapped in this lonely place anymore. And the only method for a spirit to experience the real world... is to take over a host’s physical body."

"Isn’t that the real reason you dictated all of your conditions, but never asked me about mine?" Alen pressed.

"You told me all about yourself. You told me all about the sword. But you didn’t ask me a single thing. You didn’t ask who I am, where I am from, or what my goals are. Those should be your primary questions if you truly wanted a mutual bond."

"But you didn’t ask... Which means you never cared about the bond in the first place. Your ultimate goal was to take control over my body and possess me. Am I wrong, Miss Ravena?"

The small girl looked at him with wide, emotionless eyes. She didn’t reply immediately. After a heavy minute of silence passed, she finally opened her small mouth. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"You’re right... I was going to take your body. And why wouldn’t I?"

Ravena asked, her voice sounding ancient despite her tiny frame.

"Your existence is completely negligible compared to mine. If one human dies in your world, another will simply be born. But I? I am immortal. I cannot die."

"If I took your body, I could live peacefully. The weapon Godless would be prevented from falling into the wrong hands, and the world would remain safe."

"This sword is not just a simple weapon; it is an abomination of absolute destruction. If the wrong person wielded it, not only your world, but the entire universe would vanish, because the Order of the Universe would be torn apart by its power."

"By sacrificing just one human life, the world gets eternal peace. So tell me, is that fair or not? Of course, you definitely have different thoughts. Humans are incredibly narrow-minded anyway..."

She dropped her gaze to the white floor, looking deeply disappointed.

"You’re right..."

Alen said quietly.

Ravena’s crimson eyes snapped up toward Alen. She blinked in sheer confusion.

Alen looked down at her confused face, stood up, and casually stretched his sore muscles.

"You’re right. The world probably would be more peaceful if you took my body and prevented Godless from falling into the wrong hands. That is definitely one possibility."

"But what does it matter to me, if the weapon goes to the wrong hands or not? I am a person living in this place right now. Even though I am just a powerless guy—way weaker than the true you—I am still a living figure in this world."

He looked down at her and continued softly.

"You have no right to judge my existence or my future, especially when you yourself are half-alive and half-dead, trapped inside a sword."

"Do you think the world outside this realm is easy? Every single time a new problem arises, Awakeners have to go into the Ascension Realm. They have to face unpredictable trials that almost take their lives just to survive. That is where humans fight to prove their existence."

"And if they are fighting tooth and nail just to exist... then who are you to judge them?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes. For a second, her perfect, emotionless facade completely cracked as she stared at the silver-haired boy.

"Look, Ravena, or Godless, or whatever you want to be called. I don’t care about saving the world," Alen said bluntly.

"I stopped caring about people who have no relationship with me a long time ago. I am selfish. I won’t lay down my life and change my path just because you think it will bring the universe peace."

He smiled warmly and knelt back down to her eye level.

"You know, I thought you were just an emotionless weapon who didn’t care about anything. But it seems you still have a little bit of genuine emotion and care inside you."

"Even though I take control over the oath and have one hundred percent control over your power, that doesn’t mean I am going to treat you like a slave or use you without your permission. Like I said before, you are also an existence in this world. You have the exact same right to be alive and to live independently. I will not take that right away from you."

"So, what will it be?" Alen asked gently. "Will you stay here? Will you live in this place utterly alone, where only monster blood and rotting flesh can be seen? Or will you come with me to explore the real world together?"

Alen held out his large hand toward the tiny girl.

"Trust me. The world outside is vast—far bigger than this realm. I bet you will never be bored again."

Ravena stared at his outstretched hand for a long minute. Then, she looked up into his azure eyes. Looking at him didn’t give her a feeling of loneliness, or a feeling of empty quietness. It gave her a strange, warm feeling of peacefulness. A promise of actually going somewhere, of escaping this constant, endless cycle.

She slowly raised her small, delicate hand and placed it into his large palm.

"Okay... Let’s try."