Kayn hobbled his way through the shadows back to the underground palace passage. His natural regeneration was already working on his wounds, but he would need more focused care before he could call himself fully healed. Barely escaping that last fight and then immediately having a partial psychotic break had left him feeling muddled in the head.
He was having to use all of his willpower, which was an astronomical amount, just to keep his head on straight until he could seclude himself within the Mana Gathering Room. Fortunately, because Shadow's Embrace was so powerful, he ran into no trouble while getting to the secret entrance. Once he was right before the area Talora was supposed to let him in through, he knocked on the barrier.
He couldn't see through the barrier, but he expected the other side to have had someone stationed there awaiting his return. A short minute later, the barrier opened just enough for a person to slip through and Kayn did so. Once back inside, the barrier closed tight again and an older tiger looking man approached Kayn.
"Looks like you took a beating there kid, but whatever you were doing worked. Their 6th stage powerhouses all backed off the barrier and haven't returned since. Makes it a lot less daunting keeping the barrier up with so few of us here."
"What's the current situation? How long can the dome last before it breaks without you all using the Mana Gathering room?"
"Straight to business huh? You okay kid? You don't look so good." Talaro pointed at as Kayn was not only severely injured but also blunt and kind of being even more of an ass than he was before.
"How long!?" Kayn asked again in a bit of a louder tone.
"Okay, okay! If we all refill before you start using it and the status quo outside remains the same for a while, probably up to a year." Talaro stated this aloud but under his breath he mumbled "Gonna add agitated to the list..."
"The escape teleport formation. How many people can use it at the same time?" Kayn asked as he continued limping forward.
"It will easily support the ones within this palace. But it has the capability to transfer around a thousand people at once, assuming no beasts are involved."
"Okay, thank you. You all have until I bathe and rest a little before I take over the Mana Gathering Room. I'll dump all of my mana into the barrier before I go into seclusion, so you have until then to use that place. Oh, and once the preparations to remove the seal are complete, I'm going to sneak some people who need to leave with you into the palace. I'll let you know once I'm ready to begin."
Kayn vanished from Talaro's sight after he said that. All Talaro could do was shake his head at the arrogance of the young man. Not once since becoming an emperor had anyone talked to him like that. Kayn wasn't exactly respectful to his status before, but at least he was friendly, now he was just plain rude.
However, regardless of the young man's attitude, it was finally time for the final stages of this war for him and his people. He was sad to abandon his territory that he had bled for time and time again, but sometimes it was better to retreat and look on to a new tomorrow.
...
Kayn took a bath to soothe his aching body and remove all of the built-up blood and grime. As much as he wanted to sleep, he needed to figure out what was going on with his mind and soul before they caused him trouble.
Instead of entering the bed after his bath, he entered the barrier replenishment room where he dumped all but 2% of his total mana into the formation. Only a single guard was in the room as the others were trying to replenish their mana reserve, and he didn't understand the significance of the glowing light of the barriers control runes.
He then stopped by the kitchen to grab a few snacks and some food to eat during his seclusion. He arrived at the Mana Gathering Room with Talaro and the other remaining mages while snacking on a bag of fried slotchka slices, which were Talgonoth's equivalent to potato chips. With a rude crunching noise, the mages were brought out of their meditation and all looked to Kayn with varying emotions.
Some were grateful to him for taking their families out of this hellhole, some were pissed that their session ended in such a discourteous manner. Others wanted to bombard him with questions about where he took the survivors, and how he had drawn the attention of both Carnet's and Inmortuae's powerhouses away from the dome.
However, Talaro had strictly forbid anyone from asking Kayn questions or even approaching him, knowing what kind of mood that he was in. It was for the best that they all quietly pack up and return to defending until Kayn exited his seclusion and the final phase began.
So, under Talaro's guidance, the few remaining members of his inner circle followed him out of the Mana Gathering Room like hatchlings.
Talaro stopped in front of Kayn briefly and said one last thing, "Good luck, I believe in you kid."
With that Kayn entered into the Mana Gathering Room and was left alone, only his thoughts keeping him company. He sat down in the middle of the room in a lotus position and began circulating the Void Star technique.
Originally, he wanted to work on new techniques and absorb more knowledge again, but that wasn't what he needed right now. Right now, he needed to delve into his subconscious, into his soul itself. He needed to figure out what could be done about his Sin and Virtues.
...
A sultry voice filled the surroundings as she looked at a small budding star shining brightly in a dark room. There were two soft white lights and one dark cloud circling around this budding star, bumping and colliding into each other as they fought for space.
"I recognize those...but where am I? What is that star?" the woman who wasn't manifest but present in the space questioned.
"Oh, you're here too huh? Looks like one of our experiments has gone and done something interesting, fatal, but interesting." A deep grit-filled voice answered her question.
"Lucifer? You're here too? Are we in someone's soulscape? Are those what I think they are? Also, how?"
Suddenly, a voice she didn't recognize answered her question. "Yes, this is a psuedo-soulscape that I created based upon my mindscape. I recognize the one you called Lucifer, but I don't know you. I was only trying to unweave and solve the inconsistencies in my soul, and somehow, I pulled you two in here.
"As for what you're looking at, that's me, my soul to be exact. The white and black clouds circling it are supposed to be absorbed into it by now, becoming part of me, but I guess I was wrong about how it all worked. As you can tell, one white and one black are closer to the center of my soul and can be observed merging with my soul occasionally. However, that last damn Virtue keeps coming in and disrupting the process."
There was silence for a few moments, but the one known as Lucifer ended up speaking first.
"Ah, I remember you. Seems like you're trying to collect em' all huh? Kind of figured you'd just be a mindless killer by now. Low and behold though, you hold the Virtue of Patience now too, the opposite of Wrath. That explains how you've kept control for so long. But taking in Kindness was a mistake if you don't also have Envy."
The woman then chimed in, "I agree with my brother, you were fortunate enough to find Patience, but Kindness and Wrath do not play along well together unless they are both held in check by their opposite nature. How did you get Kindness anyway? I distinctly remember giving it to a sweet young girl named Clementia."
"Look, I'll make it short." Kayn started, "I am indeed collecting the Sins, but in the process, I discovered the Virtues and they gave me the upper hand in a deal I previously made. Patience, I found inside of an artifact that bound with my soul. Kindness was given to me by Clementia as she saw the good in me and she was sick of what it imposed on her. Any more questions before I start asking mine?"
"Actually yes, who did you make a deal with to collect the Sins?" Lucifer asked.