8 Marching on and on

H̶̳̕ÿ̴͖̮́ę̴̹̠̲̈̽̀h̶̙́͘ÿ̷͈͚̻̀̎͜ͅê̶̪̲̜̒̎̃̽́h̷̛͔͍̜̙͂͌̿ͅẹ̷̛̱͙́̀̓ḧ̷̦͈̖́͊͋̏̐y̸̢̱̍͛̄͌̓͛ȩ̴̮͔̼́̍̐̑͠͝.̶̪̱̯̎̏̊̒̍͝ ̵͈͚͔̞͐̀Ÿ̶̫̺̳͖̿̀̎̾̉e̶̟̹͆͌̋̌͒̃s̶͓͓͉̼̝̑̇̈́̅́̈́ ̷̧̛̭̹̦̏͆̋͐,̸̤̞̾̑̊̽̌ ̵̡̘̟͉̐̑̈́̾̾̊ͅẙ̵̍̕ͅe̴͉͖̩̼̪̙͐̍̂͂͛̈́ṣ̶̘̘̯̝̒̈̐̐̕͝ͅ ̶̨̗͈̠͋y̴͖̽͐̅͘͠e̴̺̜̣̲̽ͅş̵̹̮̼͌̋̕̚ ̸̥̥͓̀̌̈́̂͝,̷̡͉̫̻̫͇̑̇̈̑́͋ ̷̨̳͙̖̹̯̊́

Ÿ̸̢́͘ͅő̵̞̦̋̒ų̶̛͔͈̀̋̎̕'̷̢̘̬̻̀̕͠ḷ̴̦͙̣̋͑̀́̈́l̸̥̥͓̲̠̾͋̑ͅ ̴̬͍̹̋̾f̵̞̗͝l̵̡̹͙̟̦̉̓͌͑͝ö̶̪͎̙͎̮̮́̀a̴͙̳̐ţ̵͈͙̞̟͗̾̇̾͂ ̵̤͉̭͚͉̑͂̍̽͜ń̷̢̳͚͐̅̂̉̈́i̴̗͛c̸̮̜̓́͛ȩ̵̱͙̌l̸̳̱͆͌y̷̧͍̯͓̣͍̆̑

As I heard that voice I knew I was in deep shit.

I realized long ago that some high-ranking demon had his eyes on me , and listening to Amelie's depiction of what happened to her after she died only solidified my theory.

It was uncomfortable knowing my every move (and possibly thought ,since mind reading existed) was watched by an unknown demon with unknown objectives and who was also seemingly insane.

But as Marcus Aurelius once said , focus on the things you can influence, not those out of your control .

And what I could influence...was my soul cultivation.

Every single day I looked for ways to increase my strength and after much thinking, I came up with only one solution.

Manipulating my own soul.

As I embraced the idea that there is not always a logical explanation for the stuff that happens, I tried to....expand my horizons.

If my soul was , well , MINE , then I should be able to do as I want with it , no?

At least this was my creed for the first year in hell.

Each and every day I would use every bit of concentration I could muster , to try to alter the shape of my soul.

And I succeeded.... eventually.

It was a bit underwhelming, but now I could ,,soulshift" , at least that's the term I decided on. I could (slowly) make blades out of my arms , change my facial features , stop my vital functions(which I found out were completely unnecessary in soul form).

All in all , I lifted my subconscious shackles that kept my soul into the same shape my physical body had on earth, allowing me to manipulate it (almost) like clay.

But a wise man told me long ago that true happiness can only be achieved in two ways .

Either by stoping in place , being completely satisfied with who you were and what you had , or marching towards your goals , treating each and every obstacle as an enemy to be defeated.

And I wasn't satisfied, hohohooo, not by a long shot.

And so started my ,,external soul manipulation training" , with me trying to stop the flow of soul energy from me towards the stones , while using my ,,soulshift" on Ami during our breaks.

And for a while , I made no progress.

But I persevered .

As hard work betrayed none , or so the saying goes.

And it also didn't betray me this time.

Slowly, very slowly , I managed to stop the outflow of soul energy to the stones , at least partially , by using my utmost concentration and ,,tugging" on the stolen energy to keep it inside of me , where it's rightful place was.

And so , with the whip being ineffective against me and the stones having an ever diminishing efect...my soul foundation started rising .

I understood instinctively that this would mean I could refine my soul even more , which in turn would allow me to absorb even more soul energy.

The perfect cycle.

Around that time , the demons started getting alarmed. They could feel one's soul strength from 1.6 kilometers away and when mine started rising, they clearly understood something was wrong.

Demon bro , the bored one , seemed resigned , and shifted his attention to Ami , the only one he could get energy from.

Fat demon didn't even spare me a second glance .

And Mr fuckface threw a fit and became even more of a douche.

But I didn't really care.

Because I was getting real close to being able to out-drain the stones , pulling a uno reverse card on them and stealing their energy as they did with mine all this time.

As I focused on my draining training (lol) , my soulshaping on Ami was also bearing fruits.

At first , I couldn't get past the the inherent resistance her soul had to changing itself. Just like me in the beginning, she was subconsciously maintaining her form .

So I did something unspeakably evil , something I would have liked to avoid if possible, if only because of how useful it was to have a dedicated pawn and subordinate.

I started using my soul drain on her.

Poor thing, didn't even feel it , so used to the feeling the stones gave her every day...

And so the time passed.

I started getting bolder with the demons (Mr Fuckface mostly) because I felt I needed experience in real fights and because the prideful demon was getting more and more angry by the day and needed a way to get rid of those dark emotions , lest he says ,,fuck it" and kills us both .

It was hard at first , I got beaten hard , and can't say I learned much else besides how to protect my face from punches , but with ME now draining the stones (HAHA , REVENGE BITCHES) and Amelie's soul , it was only a matter of time until I healed , and became even stronger than before .

An unfortunate side effect of me draining Ami was that she started losing her memories as her soul became more and more damaged.

Truly, what a shame...

Anyway , I used my soulshift on her to cover up any cracks that appeared on her soul as time drew on.

Wouldn't want any of the demons to think she's not able to work anymore and eat her...

And so , things were peaceful for a while .

I kept getting stronger , my soul grew more resilient and my soul drain became so strong , the rocks weren't even a challenge anymore.

But when the first black crack appeared on Amelie's soul , I knew my time was up.

The next set of plans had to be implemented.

I fed Amelie some soul stones (without soul energy since they were already empty) to keep playing my role as a concerned friend .

And , the next day , when Mr Fuckface ended his shift and our ,,break" started , I neared Ami and hugged her.

I didn't like what I had to do .

I didn't like what I was about to do next.

But sometimes one needs to forsake short term happiness and look at the bigger picture .

We were in Hell.

And she was thrown here like a lamb to the slaughter.

I doubt the demon who bribed the Judge had any intention to watch an unlikely love story in the deepest layer of hell.

No...If this demon was who I thought he was...there was only one answer , only one choice.

As I looked at her and saw her lost and vacant gaze , I just... couldn't help it...

"Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru!"

"Nani?"

How the hell did she remember that?

I told her this joke years ago...

Eh , whatever.

I bit into her neck and started draining the last vestiges of her soul...

Goodbye, Ami.

For all it's worth...I'm sorry

----------------------

Enough flashbacks. I have a problem to solve in the present.

Pennywise the clown....not that surprising ,honestly.

Either him or a lookalike.

It's not that important right now.

If I understood correctly , he told me I'll...float nicely?

Think , brain think!

Rationality dictates that I should be respectful and polite , to try and flatter him and get him to like me...but I highly doubt that would work.

No, I should flatter him...but not as I would a normal person.

Hmm...imitation is the highest form of flattery...

It seems like it's time to let my inner Joker out to play...

--------------------

AN :

,,He was still expressionless, he continued to move forward relentlessly.

I had once screamed, gradually, I lost my voice.

I had once cried, gradually, I lost my tears.

I had once grieved, gradually, I became able to withstand everything.

I had once rejoiced, gradually, I became unmoved by the world.

And now!

All I have left is an expressionless face, my gaze is as tough as a monolith, only perseverance remains in my heart.

This is my own, an insignificant character, Fang Yuan's - Perseverance!"

-Fang Yuan while facing certain death.

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