Chapter 285: New Soul

“Who exactly are you? Angela, the Wraith Hand, or the original half-bodied woman?” Saul fixed his gaze on the six-armed Angela, staying on high alert in case she launched a sudden attack.

But the six-armed Angela simply stood there obediently, her expression betraying a deep-seated fear even under Saul’s faintly tempting tone.

She feared Saul more than any of the other three soul fragments.

“Answering Master, I am currently more of a fused entity. At present, the dominant consciousness is that of the severed hand.”

Under Saul’s emotionless stare, “Angela” gradually stiffened, and finally, all six of her hands quietly folded down and pressed themselves against her sides.

“There was originally a soul here whose consciousness was completely in chaos. But she possessed a great deal of energy—very special energy. The most astonishing thing is that the source of the corruption which caused her madness has now completely vanished. Of course, this also led to the erasure of a large portion of her consciousness. As a result, though I was once weaker than her, I’ve now become the dominant mind.”

“Then what’s with this appearance of Angela?” Saul asked, pressing on.

The girl in front of him nervously wrung her hands. “I stayed in Angela’s body for a long time, and her consciousness left an impression on me. And… I also liked her appearance. I thought maybe Master would too…”

Saul paid no attention to her deliberate attempt to curry favor. He was deep in thought, trying to figure out how this six-armed version of Angela had come to be.

Of the four soul fragments currently remaining in the diary, Agu and Herman had normal human forms. But Morden and Angela—one had dozens of mismatched legs, and the other now had six hands.

They were all conglomerations of multiple soul consciousnesses, seemingly forcefully fused together by the diary.

And the diary’s most powerful function lay in this—it fused soul fragments while forcibly purging any corruption.

“What if the diary was used on the soul of a living person? Like a wizard on the verge of collapse from study and corruption—could it achieve the same effect?”

After a moment, Saul shook his head and rejected his own idea.

“The diary doesn’t reverse corruption—it simply carves it out by force. If used on a living person, even if it saved their life, it would likely leave their soul incomplete. This method mustn’t be used recklessly.”

Setting that train of thought aside, Saul continued to examine the state of the six-armed Angela.

“Since you’re now a fusion of three consciousnesses, do you possess all three sets of memories?”

“Not all of them,” Angela replied, searching through her mind. The act itself caused her to wince. “The original chaotic consciousness only left behind a few scattered memories, buried deep within this mind. When I try to recall them, I feel… pain and rage.”

Who had that fragment of a soul, torn from Ralph’s laboratory, originally belonged to?

That question was now impossible to answer. Everyone related to Ralph and the Bloodthorn Family had been completely wiped out.

Not even a trace of their souls remained.

“For now, don’t try to recall the memories of that original consciousness. If the source of its corruption lies in those memories, then trying to remember them could put you in danger.”

“Understood.” The six-armed Angela immediately nodded obediently, abandoning any attempt to probe deeper into that memory.

“What about your memories as the Wraith Hand? Or the ones from when you were alive—do you still have those?”

A trace of sorrow passed over Angela’s face. Perhaps due to Angela’s own lingering influence, she bit her lip and instinctively made a pitiful expression.

“I spent most of my time in the interlayer in a state of confusion. I could only stay sane by devouring fragments of other soul entities. It was only after I came into contact with Angela that I began to slowly recover. But most of my previous memories are already gone. I only remember that I was once an apprentice at the Wizard Tower. I don’t even remember my name.”

Due to the diary’s restrictions, none of the four soul fragments could lie to Saul, so he believed the Wraith Hand genuinely had no memories of her past.

But Saul didn’t think it was merely a matter of memory loss.

The fact that she appeared only as a hand suggested that the rest of her may have already been devoured by other souls.

“And what about Angela? How much of her consciousness remains?”

“Just a few memory fragments—mostly about her family. As for her memories of the Wizard Tower, they’re much less clear.”

But she didn’t need memories of the Wizard Tower. Whether it was Kaz’s lab or other places, the Wraith Hand knew them far better than Angela ever did.

“You’ve just recently fused these three consciousnesses. If anything else changes later, make sure to let me know immediately.”

He repeated this instruction to the other three soul fragments as well.

“Things are different now. Before, you couldn’t observe the outside world or speak out on your own. But starting today, I’ll grant you permission to observe the outside at appropriate times. If anything urgent happens, you can now communicate directly through the diary.”

This was a new ability Saul had just unlocked after entering the Mental Realm again.

Or perhaps more accurately, it was a discovery.

Ever since the diary became his locator, the connection between them had grown much stronger. As a result, his perceptions and thoughts could now be clearly transmitted into the diary. The soul fragments no longer needed Saul to recreate things mentally—they could directly receive information from the outside.

At the same time, messages from the diary’s spiritual dimension could reach Saul much faster.

Although they still appeared in the form of text, Saul could now absorb them at lightning speed.

The words were like imprints on his very consciousness, no longer limited by his eyes or brain. This naturally made his response time to emergencies much quicker.

And it made communication with the four soul fragments much smoother.

In other words, the original trio—now four—had evolved from an encyclopedia into something closer to a smart voice assistant. They had far more autonomy now.

Upon hearing Saul’s words, the three remaining fragments were overjoyed.

Though their time spent in the black pages of the diary wasn’t uncomfortable—more like a deep sleep to conserve energy—that feeling of “blinking and months have passed” wasn’t exactly pleasant.

It felt like they’d been abandoned by the world.

Now that they could observe the outside world again, they naturally gained a sense of freedom.

All four respectfully bowed to Saul—even the six-armed Angela, though still inexperienced, could read the room well enough.

Afterward, Saul called Angela forward.

Not knowing what would happen, she came with a bit of unease. But she didn’t hesitate for a moment in obeying Saul’s command.

Staring at this girl—both familiar and unfamiliar—Saul thought to himself, This person still has Angela’s habit of reading people’s expressions, but she’s more decisive and brave. If she had been the old Angela, she might never have made it this far.

Though their faces were identical, he needed to draw a clear line between the two.

“Can your current appearance still be changed?”

“Once decided, it can’t be changed,” the six-armed Angela replied, fluttering her large eyes. “Do you… not like this look?”

Her six hands began to nervously tangle together again, completely ruining the pitiful vibe she had been trying to project with her adorable face.

Saul didn’t feel disappointed. At the moment, his emotional state was still one of detachment.

“It’s fine if you can’t change. But you must clarify your own identity. If you keep seeing yourself as Angela, it might harm you as a newly formed complete soul. In severe cases, it could lead to contamination or even transformation.”

The girl paused, then tensed up.

Though she’d fused three consciousnesses, her understanding of that fusion was still shallow. She hadn’t realized that letting conflicting thoughts grow unchecked could bring about such serious consequences.

“I—I understand. Until I’ve redefined myself, I won’t pursue the memories of those three past identities anymore.” The six-armed Angela quickly added, “Please, Master, give me a new name.”

(End of Chapter)

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