Gently touching the Soul Prison, I felt the power pulsing within. The difference was incredible, from the faint, almost extinguished presence it had when I first found it, to the palpable sense of power it now emanated, there was just no comparison. Sending out a tendril of mental energy, I established a connection, the Nidhogg’s presence leaving me stunned for a brief moment, as I struggled to comprehend the greeting it had sent me.

As always, communication with it was a massive headache, literally, the amount of information it packed in even the simplest and most mundane exchange put pressure on my feeble, mortal mind. It made me remember the Grandmother and her habit of avoiding all but my mundane senses, saying it was for my own good. Now, I began believing it, simply as I couldn’t imagine a being that had controlled a Nexus for centuries be a simple existence. But it didn’t really matter.

Once I was finished parsing the information from the Nidhögg, I began to grin, realising that we were almost done. The next few steps were important, requiring both my full attention and a great deal of power, but once we completed them, things would get easier. I would likely need Lenore’s help to complete the last steps, but we had discussed it and she was willing.

Waiting for Lenore, I tried to impress on the Nidhogg the current state of the world and our objectives in this world. I had no illusions that just because we had a creature of vast potential power on our side, there would be nothing that could stop it. The memory of the Bound Titan was still vivid in my mind, despite the months that had passed since then and I had no desire to see the majestic giant serpent I had seen in the mental space be bound in a similar way.

Before settling in for the final push of cracking the Soul Prison, I briefly left the capsule, making sure that nothing would go wrong outside of it. A brief glance in the forum told me that there was little new going on, just more discussions about my actions and whether or not this whole event was genuine or a huge PR stunt, trying to make people think the game actually allowed you to become someone with enough power to threaten the whole world.

Amusingly, the vast majority was convinced that it actually was a stunt, simply because nobody could be allowed that much power, not if Road to Purgatory was supposed to be viable long-term. Once people achieved this level of power, things went off the rails, or, as some quoted, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Even I, though only in the privacy of my own mind, wasn’t certain if my achievements would remain possible in the live version, as some of them had hinged on the Soul Prison and whether or not it had been a coincidence that it was in a low-level area and I had started out almost on top of it. But that was a question I couldn’t answer by myself and even if I could, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer.

Either way, after a quick look through the forum, some food and a shower, I was back in Mundus and ready to unleash the Nidhögg.

Lenore was already waiting for me at the top of my tower, reporting on the various groups of Wargs and Nevermores she had sent out to keep the different groups that were moving towards our position from getting to us.

Acknowledging her, and Ylva’s, efforts, I sat on my throne, giving her a brief caress before focusing on the crystal floating in front of me. Letting out a deep breath, I closed my eyes, letting my mind delve into the Astral River so I could begin drawing power from it.

Deliberately keeping my breathing controlled, I let power flow through me, my very being infused with it, even as the power channelled through the Tower my throne was sitting on merged with my own. It was an incredible amount of energy, enough to move a mountain, or create one of Ice, and it was all at my fingertips.

One more deep breath, as my mind formed concepts and ideas, the magic not following strictly defined runic rules but the free-form of pure magic, my mind shaping reality following my desires and instinct. The pale, blue flames of Ice I had come across ignited in my mouth and a soft, almost gentle, breath carried them from my mouth onto the Soul Prison. They carried an immense amount of energy and my whole being became a funnel, solely concentrated on pulling energy from the Nexus and keeping those flames burning.

I could feel the Nidhogg pushing against the prison from the other side, primordial determination crashing against the crystalline manifestation of divine will, even as my own power was slowly eating away at the powers imbued in the Prison. It was slow-going, the effort quite literally impossible without the limitless supply of power that allowed me to replenish myself and channel most of the power through the Tower and Throne I was sitting on, otherwise I would have drained myself dry multiple times.

Time began to blur as my mind started to drift in and out of focus, the exertion taking a toll on me. Even with a near-limitless source of magic, there was a burden on the caster and the burden was mounting as time passed by. I wasn’t sure how long I had been keeping the flame burning on the Soul Prison, how long the Nidhögg had beaten against it from the inside, but I could feel the impossibly hard crystal slowly weaken.

“You should watch out,” I heard a familiar voice warn me, the words breaking me out of the vague, floating state I had been in, where I was merely concerned with the constant, repetitive task of pulling power from the Astral River and infusing it into the flames I used to burn the Soul Prison.

If I had a face, I would have frowned but like this, I could only focus inward, trying to find the danger. And there it was, not so much a hammer blow but more a seeping, slow strangulation, trying to limit and choke off the power of the Nexus itself. If not for the warning, I might have not noticed until things were too late.

Adjusting my focus, I mentally called out to Lenore, asking her for help. She had been on standby right next to me for just that reason, to join me if things went wrong. Her mind brushed against mine and I welcomed her in, our minds fusing and we knew Morgana was no longer sitting on her Throne, but the Raven’s Shadow.

We quickly split our tasks, one of us making sure that whatever it was that tried to choke us out was pushed back, while the other kept the flames going, the Soul Prison weakening under our assault.

And yet, even with us working together, it took time.

Finally, we could feel a weakening, the constant assault finally taking its toll. Drawing deeply once more, we focused all the power we could draw into our Talons, standing from the Throne and stepping forward, before striking down on the Soul Prison, massive amounts of Magic discharging from our talons as it hit.

For a moment, the power flared and surged, battering against the prison, until we found a tiny crack, an imperfection revealed by the constant burning and battering the Soul Prison had endured. And into that crack, we forced our power, seeping into it like water seeping into rock, only to freeze over and break the rock.

That final moment, when the Soul Prison gave way, was almost anticlimactic. There was a faint howl in the distance, we weren’t sure if it came from Ylva, from one of our Wargs or from somewhere else, but it sounded both desolate and triumphant.

On the Soul Prison, nothing but a single, sharp crack announced our success. The flames we had summoned were still burning on the crystal but now, there was a crack in the previously perfect matric and through that crack, we could see an impossibly deep blackness.

Before, we had believed that the light-absorbing Darkness we had created with our magic was the deepest blackness we could ever see, far darker than even the void of space. But now, we were taught better.

There was something darker than black and we were staring right into the depths of its soul.

And now that we had unleashed it, it was staring right back at us, jubilant with success.