Chapter 455: Mark's Three Souls

Chapter 455: Mark’s Three Souls

“Don’t think too much about it,” Lucian said with an easy smile, his tone light as if he were talking about a trivial matter instead of the horrifying realization Max had just come to. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known what Mark’s plan was anyway.” His casual reassurance, oddly enough, grounded Max.

There was no point drowning in guilt or what-ifs. What had happened couldn’t be undone. The only thing left was to move forward and make sure he didn’t fall into another trap. Max nodded slowly, forcing himself to set the tangled guilt aside. Things had happened, mistakes had been made, but wasting time on regret wouldn’t solve anything. There were more pressing matters now—matters he had to confront head-on.

“I take it,” Max said, his voice steady again, “that there’s another part of Mark’s soul sealed inside the Tower of Truth?”

Lucian’s grin widened as he nodded. “Yup,” he said simply. “Unlike me, who can freely come and go from the Tower, the Tower of Truth is like a deathtrap for Mark. It’s his bane. If he so much as steps near the cursed boundary surrounding the tower, he’ll trigger the strongest defense mechanism the Tower possesses—an attack designed to kill even a God. Even if it couldn’t kill him, Mark would be heavily injured. That’s why he couldn’t just walk in himself. That’s why a part of his soul was sealed here instead, buried deep and hidden away.”

“I see…” Max muttered, the pieces fitting together in his mind like a grim jigsaw puzzle. Everything made perfect sense now—the manipulation, the traps, the desperate need to act through pawns rather than directly. Mark wasn’t just avoiding the Tower because he feared it. He physically couldn’t approach it without risking true death.

“And there’s more,” Lucian said, his tone dropping a little as he folded his arms behind his back, looking thoughtful. “Mark’s soul was split into three parts.”

Max’s eyebrows shot up slightly at that. “Three?”

“Yeah,” Lucian confirmed with a nod. “One part was sealed deep underground, which later became what you know as the Mourning Depths. That was the part you encountered and accidentally freed. The second part—the most secure fragment—is sealed here, in the Tower of Truth, protected by layers upon layers of ancient formations and curses. As for the third part…” Lucian’s lips curled slightly, almost grimly. “It’s hidden somewhere within the Four God Nation.”

Max’s mind raced. Three parts of a soul. Three anchors holding a monster in check. And one part had already been released. If the others followed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“Wait,” Max said, narrowing his eyes. “Why? Why seal his soul at all? Why not just kill him directly? Destroy him completely? It doesn’t make sense to trap him like this.”

Lucian chuckled softly, a dark sound that held little amusement. “Because he’s immortal,” he said simply, like he was stating a law of the universe.

“Immortal?!” Max repeated, his heart thudding heavily as shock exploded across his face. His fists tightened unconsciously at his sides. “I thought immortals were just myths!”

“Not quite,” Lucian said, and this time the playful grin completely faded from his face, replaced by a heavy, serious expression that carried the weight of undeniable truth. “Mark isn’t just some powerful expert, Max. He’s something far worse. He is immortal in the truest, most terrifying sense—not just in terms of age or longevity.”

He added. “Divine Rank experts, the so-called legends of this world, can at most stretch their lifespans to ten thousand years if they’re lucky. But even they eventually wither and die, returning to dust like all things born of this world. Mark, however… he exists outside that law. He is literally immortal. He cannot die—not by age, not by injury, not even by the disintegration of his soul under normal means.” Lucian’s voice echoed with grim finality, each word slamming into Max like a hammer striking an anvil.

Max swallowed hard, feeling a cold chill settle deep into his bones. He was no longer facing just a powerful enemy. He was facing something far worse. Something that couldn’t be killed by ordinary strength or will alone. Something ancient, patient, and terrifyingly persistent.

‘So that’s why his soul was split into three parts and sealed,’ Max thought, a heavy understanding settling into his chest like a weight he could no longer ignore.

Everything made grim, terrifying sense now. They hadn’t been able to kill Mark because he was literally a god, an immortal beyond age and destruction. So they had done the only thing possible—shattered his soul, scattering it across the world and pinning each fragment down with powerful anchors to keep him forever imprisoned.

“That’s exactly the reason his soul was split into three pieces,” Lucian confirmed calmly, his voice returning to its usual composed tone as he watched Max carefully. “Each fragment was chained by an anchor. One of them,” he continued, his expression darkening slightly, “was the soul sealed deep underground, in what later became known as the Mourning Depths. It was chained there by the Abyss Devouring Sword, stabbed directly into the altar to ensure that no matter what happened, Mark’s soul would never be able to leave.”

Lucian’s gaze sharpened slightly as he leaned forward. “But over time… something unexpected happened. A very, very long time ago, while his soul was imprisoned, the part of Mark trapped beneath the ground slowly… gave birth to a new soul,” he said quietly.

“This new soul was born out of the corrupted remains of Mark’s consciousness—a remnant that wasn’t directly sealed by the sword’s curse. It couldn’t escape the Mourning Depths because the original Mark’s anchor was still in place, binding everything there. But it grew. Slowly. Relentlessly. Feeding on the hellish environment, devouring the corrupted infernal beings that infested the Mourning Depths, growing stronger with each passing year.”

Lucian paused, letting the heavy words hang in the air between them before finishing. “Eventually, that new soul became strong enough to seize control of the Mourning Depths. It ruled that nightmare world, searching for a way out. And then…” His eyes locked onto Max, firm and unwavering. “He found a suitable host. Mark’s body. And you know the rest.”

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!