Six months later.

Darkcloud continent.

During the last six months, Nilus and his team had worked hard to make the three continents a good environment for the three races to live in.

The Shadowthorn continent was a human only continent.

The Darkcloud continent was given to the vampires.

And the Newwolf continent was given to the shapeshifters.

Each race had to migrate to their own continent in the next year.

For that to happen, all divine stages were tasked to transport their new citizens to their new home and make sure they blended in perfectly.

In the middle of the three continents, there was the Merfolk’s ocean.

The merfolk made all the living beings on the three continents afraid of using the ocean. No one dared to even go near the coastline for fear of being part of the merfolk’s next meal. All living beings were confined on their own continents. Only divine stages would dare fly over the ocean.

Considering that all merfolk guards were divine stages, Many guessed that the being ruling them would at least be of the ascendant level (above the 12th stage).

There were a few clashes with the merfolk who did not like to see the new traffic over their heads.

Some divine levels had died along with hundreds of passengers they were protecting in their boats made of aura during the crossing.

Nilus was incensed as he asked Nile to help him get rid of the merfolk once and for all. Both of them had reached the Ascendant level.

Nile had created a new host of vampire spirits working under him.

All nine true vampires after him had been turned into vampire spirits using soul crystals.

Fortunately, Graxx was too lazy to bring the soul crystals to his uncle in time.

The divine stage was a boundary. Reaching it meant immortality. Any stage above it was called ascendant. It was only an increase of strength for the soul, the body and the weapon.

Of the 37,475 soul crystals left, 13,924 were used to help Nilus and Nile reach the Ascendant 13th stage as well as helping the nine vampires reach the vampire spirit realm. For the true vampires, reaching the vampire spirit level gained them a soul.

The remaining 23,551 soul crystals were given back to the cat before they had any other ideas for them. Graxx understood his mistake and immediately ran to the demon world to deliver the soul crystal.

Nile had long contracted with the Marquis and as for Shara, the contractor of Fangs and Cale, she did not ask much. They were covered for a few months.

The merfolk started creating problems when they needed soul crystals.

It was a godsend.

Nilus and Nile who were now 13th stage ascendant were hovering over the ocean waiting for a merfolk to attack them.

“Even f we follow the fellow in there, what if the existence that is ruling over them is stronger than us? We are just at the 13th stage.” Nile gloomily said.

“Since when are you such a wimp? We will use our spirit bodies to enter their domain and investigate. I am more interested in what creates so many divine stage merfolk and why they decide to stay hidden inside. Their king or queen is the least of our worries. If they invade us, it will be impossible for our forces to defend the weakest of the three races.” Nilus said.

“Just use your soul sense and map the area under us. We’ve been waiting for hours.” An impatient Nile said.

“What do you think I’ve been doing since we got here?...” Nilus said.

They waited for a few more hours.

“... caught one... use your spirit body. We are following him.” Nilus instructed as he turned into a greenish ghost.

Nile followed as he turned into a ghost of a scarlet shade.

They soundlessly dove into the ocean as the followed a bubbly line left behind by their target.

“Is it safe to follow him so close?” Nile mentally sent. Nilus was using a telepathic line for them.

Nilus answered: “Of course not. He is kilometers away but his trail can still be seen because of his speed. If we were using our own bodies, there is no way we could follow him.”

The deeper they went, the somber their surroundings became.

They were afraid that they would be caught in as they both glowed in the water. They were basically a source of light on their own. Fortunately, their target did bother looking back and kept swimming downwards.

They soon started seeing a green light that became brighter and brighter as they closed in.

It turned out to be a city. The green light was coming from the center of the city.

“Do we enter?” Nile asked.

Nilus who seemed to be in a daze answered: “I feel something familiar from that green light. It feels like... my own aura.”

“I guess I will wait for you here.” Said Nile as he retreated. It was not prudent to approach anything that had any business with a soul eater’s aura.

Nilus entered the city alone.

He did not care for the commotion he created nor the number of attacks that went through him as he dazedly followed the green light.

He silently headed for the source of the light in a straight line, making his pursuers mad as he simply passed through any objects and buildings along the way.

Hundreds of divine stages had appeared and were madly releasing an endless number of attacks.

Some used the water around them while other burned that very water. All kinds of attacks that had a relation to water one way or another.

The Merfolk were so tired from trying to kill the human that despite their numbers, they were scared.

Nilus, almost saw nothing as he neared the center of the city. His green aura inside of him had taken over his mind and was directing the spirit body to the source of the green light.

As the merfolk tried to stop him, an old voice said: “Let him come to me. He doesn’t know what is happening to him.”

All the merfolk stayed their hands and let the ghost Nilus go. Nothing could be done to stop him from advancing anyway.

In the center of the city, there was a translucent green giant crystal. It released a gentle green light.

As Nilus approached it, he recovered his senses as he looked around him. His eyes rested on the green crystal ball. It was three times bigger than him. He kept advancing then touched the crystal with both hands.

He passed out but remained in the spirit body form.

He did not have the time to ponder on the reason why he could touch the crystal with a spirit body.

Nilus woke up in another world. He had a human body and wore a weird set of clothes. A green robe, green boots and green gloves.

He tried to take them off but couldn’t.

“The first thing you try to do after being brought into this world is strip? What’s wrong with you? Normal people explore the new world they’ve been brought to.” An old man materialized in front of him. He was dressed the same way.

“Just imagine a new set of clothes. I created this world in your head. It is real and at the same time, you are imagining things hehe. Cool huh?...” the old man added.

“Who are you?” Nilus asked.

“I am the owner of the crystal you saw outside.” The old man said.

“Why bring me here if you could meet me outside?” Nilus asked.

“Well, we are having a conversation now. It’s me who should be asking what you are doing in the merfolk’s domain. If you came here for sightseeing, just go back home. This is not a place for you.” The old man inquired.

“And why would a human care so much about the merfolk?” Nilus asked.

“This is my home now. Did you see how big the crystal outside is? Compare it to yours. You should have an idea of my true strength.” The old man said.

Nilus’s sight seemed to blur as he connected the dots. His soul core. The green crystal outside looked like his soul core. A soul core three times bigger than his body.

“Are you a giant?” Nilus curiously asked.

The Old man laughed and said: “No. I am not. But I could be considered one as well. You are just too weak to know the limits of your own powers.”

Nilus thought for a moment before he said: “Your body was destroyed but your soul did not dissipate. How?”

“You’re right. My body was indeed destroyed but my soul still remains.” The old man said with a depressed face. He added: “When my body was destroyed, I immediately opened a rift and appeared not far from here. The merfolk took me in.”

“I see.” Nilus said.

“Now you should leave this place and forget you ever saw it.” The old man said as a scepter adorned with a green crystal appeared in his hand.

“Why should I leave? I am interested now. You are a soul eater just like me, yet you can still survive without a body. There are so many ways you could get yourself a new body but you chose to stay here in your soul form. For what reason? I keep wondering.” Nilus said.

“I am just being magnanimous. You can choose to leave on your own and never come back or just die.” The old man calmly said.

Nilus ignored the old man and said:” Are you…perhaps…playing God? These Merfolk have too many divine stages. I suspect that you’re the only one behind it.”

“Why are you so stupid? Do you not see that you are too weak? You couldn’t even control your own soul when you met a person stronger than you. This meeting happened because I wanted to save you from my own ghost core. It would’ve absorbed you completely.” The old man said as he clutched his scepter.

“That is what that green light is for then. You quietly stay in the center while you slowly absorb aura from this entire city.” Nilus said.

“Are you even listening to me?” The old man asked.

“You’re the one who brought me in here. How am I supposed to get out?” Nilus shrugged his shoulders.

He was right.

The old man was at a loss for words. He said: “I assume that your master must’ve taught you that. What do they teach green ghosts these days?”

“I have no master. And I assume green ghost means soul eater?” Nilus said.

“Yes. There are so many lifeforms that can eat souls but none of them is like us green ghosts. If you want to leave, just connect your mind to your ghost core and command it to wake you up.” The old man said as he the world they were in started crumbling.

“What is the use for a place like this anyway?” Nilus asked.

The old man waved his scepter and stopped the world from collapsing. He said: “Green ghosts have many uses for this kind of place. When you start making contracts with other lifeforms you’ll have to enter one such world to swindle your way out of any contract you will ever make.”

“Is that so? I have a contract with a Marquis of the 36th stage. Is it possible to steal from such a person?” Nilus asked. He had the impression to have stumbled upon a goldmine.

“36th? He is crazy. If I teach such a jinx, I might end up being his target in the future. If he did not look like my son, he’d be dead already. Sigh… If I teach him a few things, he will just leave on his own. It’s boring here anyway.” The old man thought. He then said to Nilus : “Think about the brand that the Marquis left you. In here it should be easy.”

Nilus closed his eyes and thought about the time the brand appeared on his left arm.

Soon a dead looking tree appeared on his arm.

The world around them changed to reveal an endless wasteland.