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Chapter 54 Confrontation Plans

Chapter 54 Confrontation Plans

The girls took so long because everyone raised a rank with the completion of those two quests. Beph, Lilin, Lena, Cara, and Anne are now all blue-ranked adventurers like me, while Circe, Colna, and Gabrielle have ranked up to the green. This means as a party we can take even more rewarding quests with higher difficulty. I say a quiet prayer that I can protect them all.

"Nana, Eiko I still have a long ways to go, but I will become strong, I will protect those important to me." I tearfully mutter quietly. I trust my comrades, we will protect each other.

After the girls were done, Colna and I checked in with Herrero to tell him that we are back. He just told us to come and resume lessons next week. We then took the carriages to Marquis Richard's estate, where I introduced Gabrielle and Iris as my two newest fiancees. Since all of our engagements were already announced they congratulated us and we talked idly during lunch. Iris called Solais Artisan and said that he is starting a new set of soul rings. Apparently, she convinced him that the whole set will be bought as a whole, and the only requirement is that it is as nice or nicer than the Mythril gem-set that I bought for Anne, Cara, Lilin, and Gabrielle.

After lunch, I decided to tell the girls about my escaped soul fragment. "As you guys all know I have a platinum level soul skill [unlock]." I start slowly

"Yeah, you told all of us to keep it just amongst us. Danna-san why are you bringing it up now?" Lilin asks cautiously

I smile at her, it's the first time she has called me Danna-san, it's a term of endearment that Uncle Vinka taught us to mean husband among the western elves. "I'm bringing it up because there are some things I need to discuss with you all. First off, although I have a platinum level skill, I can not use that much amount of soul energy, most of my soul energy is currently under my own derivative skill [lock]. I can only access and use a gold level amount of soul energy." I explain

"Babydoll, please get to the point, we already know this," Iris says flatly

"Right, well what I haven't told you is that my soul energy can be released under certain conditions that even I don't know. I'll refer to this as soul fragments. These soul fragments sometimes possess a part of my personality and will. These soul fragments can escape and bind with other people. It can temporarily make them stronger, but since it is a forceful and unnatural fusion of my soul with theirs it begins to erode their mind, and eventually will turn them into a monstrous amalgamation of conflicting wills and soul energy." I say solemnly

"Babydoll is this why that Culo person mentioned is important?" Iris asks curiously

"Yes. I accidentally released a soul fragment a while back. I saw in a dream my options. I was able to figure out that my soul fragment had found a host in someone who holds jealousy and a grudge towards me, someone who was already connected to me before I released my soul fragment, just in a negative way." I answer

"Darling, are you saying that Culo Asinus is a potential host of your soul fragment?" Anne asks scared

"Yes. He held feelings towards Lilin and claimed she was his, and that I stole her away, even though she was never really his. Plus what the guy at the guild said and the timing of it all I figure that he is probably the most likely of hosts." I answer back

"So, then what do you need to discuss with us ani?" Beph chimes in her fox ears twitching. If her tail was out it would probably be twitching nervously too

"My soul fragment will return to me if, I can separate it from Culo's soul energy," I answer solemnly

"..." Everyone remained quiet, Gabrielle was the first to break the silence

"Why is this sounding so dangerous, from what I gather Wats, sir, you have beaten him before haven't you?" Gabrielle says with her eyes shining.

"... Um last time I fought with Culo I ended up in the hospital for a few days, also he will be further strengthened by my soul fragment. I also wouldn't be able to use magic against him because his soul skill takes energy directed towards him and turns it into his own energy, and the more he uses his soul skill the faster he will become a monster, which if that happens I will have to take his life to separate the soul fragment." I answer back solemnly

All the girls gasp in surprise. "Is it possible to separate the soul fragment without killing if he doesn't become a monster?" Circe scaredly asks

"Yes, though there are still a lot of dangers. If I can separate my soul fragment, I can either incarnate it into my own soul or [lock] it down with my soul fragments. If I try to incarnate it and fail, I will die and all my sealed soul energy will be released all at once which could spell disaster. If I succeed in incarnating it but fail to properly assimilate it, it would hold a part of Culo's soul and the same problem of conflicting soul energy would arise. I could lash out and hurt you all. That would be the second-worst possible outcome, so I would leave until I could be sure I could control the power, and assimilate it properly. If I choose to seal it with [lock] I will have to [unlock] my subconscious soul cage, which could unleash more of my soul fragments into the world. I would have to hunt them all down and repeat this problem over again." I answer solemnly

"So what if you could guarantee success in both separating the fragment and incarnating?" Iris asks flatly

"Well the amount of soul energy I could control and unleash would increase, other than that I don't know. The last time I incarnated a soul fragment successfully, I got new derivative skills and leveled up my soul skills. However, with the amount of soul energy that I can use, my chances of properly incarnating after separating the fragment from Culo is kind of slim." I answer back sadly

"You forget though, you do not have to go at this alone babydoll. If the others agree, I can easily link all of our souls to yours, and we can provide you the soul energy to separate the fragment and incarnate properly." Iris says sternly.

"I-I couldn't ask that of you. This is my problem..." I say hesitantly

"Darling, as your fiancees your problems are our problems," Anne says back calmly

"Danna-san, you have already linked our souls through our soul rings anyway," Lilin adds

"Dear, let us stand with you, we can't proudly call ourselves your party or your fiancees if we have to always be protected," Cara adds determinedly

"Wats sir, let us do this," Gabrielle says her kaleidoscopic eyes shimmering, I could clearly see the resolve of my fiancees.

"Not just them, I'll stand by you as well," Circe adds firmly

"I am at master's disposal, use me as well," Colna adds in

"Me too nii-san."Lena comments

"Ani, you really are dumb sometimes, you are surrounded by girls yet you still don't realize our feelings. I'm in too." Beph sighs as if it's obvious.

"Good, I'll use a temporary [soul bind] to link us all together before you confront this Culo. You will beat him, remove your soul fragment and successfully incarnate with it" Iris says as a matter of factly