Reincarnated With The Strongest System

After Sepheron had safely exited the boundaries of the Forbidden Ground of Hyperborea, William returned to the Thousand Beast Domain, alongside the three Nymphs.

Opsis, and Loxos were still unconscious, so the second eldest, Hekaergos, took them to the rooms that were assigned to them to get a proper rest.

Meanwhile, William called Chloee, and Princess Aila to his room to talk about something important.

However, when the two girls arrived at William's room, they found the Half-Elf almost collapsed near his bed and panting for breath.

Immediately, Princess Aila went to William's side and assessed his situation. Her face became grim when she noticed that the instability in William's soul had progressed to a dangerous degree.

Chloee helped the Princess carry William to the bed, as the latter endured the pain that was wracking his entire body.

Optimus had advised him that taking the three Nymphs as his subordinates at the same time was dangerous. According to the System, William could only have one more Pseudo-God under him. 

However, the Half-Elf had figured out that the three Nymphs worked as a set. If only one of them was taken, their effectiveness in battle would decrease drastically.

After doing some computations, Optimus told William that if he was really adamant on getting the three of them to sign a contract with him, he could only have them for a month. More than that and it would become extremely dangerous for William because, right now, he was only using a quarter of his soul. 

If his soul was half-complete then it would have been possible. Unfortunately, the other half was hiding inside the Bell of Amalthea to prevent it from being corrupted by Darkness.

The black-haired teenager knew that a month was not enough. After taking out the plans he had in mind, he needed the help of the three nymphs for at least a year in order to reach the goals he had set for himself.

Although he knew that he was taking a gamble, he decided to push it through, and rely on Princess Aila to stabilize his soul on a regular basis. Unfortunately, he had underestimated the stress that the three Nymphs placed on his soul, which had made it incredibly unstable.

Princess Aila immediately used her Life Magic in order to stabilize William's soul that was nearing its limit. As soon as the Princess' Life Magic washed over the Half-Elf's body, the progression of his soul's instability came to a halt. 

However, the angelic beauty knew that what she was doing was simply a stop gap measure in order to prevent William's soul from collapsing. If she stopped supplying him with Life Magic, the Half-Elf would lose control of himself, and probably go berserk.

After a few minutes passed, the black-haired teenager managed to gain a semblance of normality as she looked at the serious looking Princess, who was using her power to the fullest.

"Why?" Princess Aila asked. "I already told you that you can only have one more Pseudo-God as your subordinate. Why did you do something reckless?"

"... Because I am greedy," William replied. "Tell me, Aila. Is there a way to salvage this situation?"

The Princess reluctantly nodded her head as she told William the two ways she knew would help stabilize his soul.

"The first method is for the other half of your soul to merge with yours, and be corrupted by Darkness," Princess answered. "By doing so, the burden will be less and your soul will stabilize. However…" 

The Princess couldn't say the rest of his words, because she was afraid of what would happen if the last piece of William's soul was also corrupted by Darkness. Although she wasn't a hundred percent sure, the black-haired teenager in front of him was still a caring individual despite the corruption in his soul.

The reason for this was due to the half that was still not corrupted. She could almost say that the last piece of William's soul had now become his heart, and conscience. Preventing him from fully becoming a ruthless individual who only cared about the end result, without care for the sacrifices that needed to be paid to achieve his goal.

William also understood this, so he just waited for the Princess to say the second method of stabilizing his soul.

"The second is for me to share my Life Magic with you," Princess Aila stated. "Ashe gave you half of her heart in order to transfer half of her life force to you. This method I am talking about is something similar, but instead of life force, I will need to transfer more than half of my Life Magic to you."

"What will happen to you if you do that?" William asked.

"My healing ability's effectiveness will decrease, and I will be in a constant state of lethargy," Princess Aila answered with a complicated look on her face. "Also, I will feel drowsy most of the time, due to the side-effect of having my Life Magic being drained on a regular basis."

"Will your life be in any danger?"

"No. But there is a chance that after a year, I will lose my magic completely. I will be lucky if it just hibernates and returns after a year or two."

William sighed internally. Deep inside, he was fine with having a piece of his soul hiding inside the Bell of Amalthea, but the current situation had already progressed to such a degree that he had no choice but to negotiate with his other half.

Perhaps, his other half also realized this because he felt something warm spreading in the black gem on his chest.

Princess Aila who was closely observing William's condition immediately realized what was happening and panicked.

"No. Stop!" Princess Aila said. "The other half of your soul can't be corrupted! I don't want to lose the current you."

"Aila, I.. no, we, didn't want to impose on you," William replied. "This is the only way."

Princess Aila shook her head. "No. You don't understand. If you do this, what will give you the confidence that you won't forcefully take my power after the other half of your soul is corrupted? I'm sure that the moment you have completely been consumed by darkness, you will just treat everyone as tools to an end. I don't want that to happen. I'd rather give you my power willingly, than have it forcefully taken from me later on!"

William frowned. The warmth in his chest stopped spreading, as if also understanding the logic of the Princess' argument. For now, the connection he had with his other half remained strong as they both looked at the Princess in front of them. 

"So, you're going to sacrifice yourself for us?" William asked. "You know I don't really think of you as my lover. Even if you do this, my feelings will probably not change."

"I don't care," Princess Aila answered. "I'd rather do this willingly, than deal with the you who will emerge after you have been completely taken over by darkness."

—---

Somewhere in the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods…

The Primordial Goddess clicked her tongue as she looked at the angelic beauty in the crystal ball in front of her. 

"I should have dealt with her earlier," the Primordial Goddess said with an annoyed look on her face. 

However, the reason she hadn't done that was due to the fact that the instability in William's soul was also worrying to her. Even with the power of Darkness, half of the Half-Elf's soul was already gone. The remaining quarter, which was under her influence, was still unable to support the power of Darkness, and needed time to adapt to his current state.

This was why any contracts that would empower the Half-Elf would cause his soul to shift. Princess Aila was needed to balance this issue because even a God like her, needed to abide by certain rules when it came to the natural balance of the world.

She was not like Ahriman, who had broken the rules more than once. Although nothing was happening to the God of Darkness and Chaos in Hestia, the great powers that bound even Gods like them wouldn't stay idle for long.

"You're lucky you still have your use," the Primordial Goddess muttered. "If not, I would have already advised William to corrupt you completely."

Princess Aila's Life Magic was one of a kind. She was similar to Eve, whose power of Divinity was sought after by the Gods. Even Ahriman treasured her because of her limitless potential, and kept her safe from the chaos that was happening around her.

"Just this once," the Primordial Goddess said softly as she glared at the angelic princess inside the crystal ball. "Never again."

The Primordial Goddess closed her eyes before waving her hand. The image on the crystal ball disappeared, and it disappeared within the Darkness. What she was after was the other half of William's soul, which was being protected by the power of Amalthea. As long as that other half was corrupted, her ideal Prince would appear in the world of Hestia.