From where did this bastard come from?! Is this an internal demon? Why is he here?! → Shen
“You filthy little thing! Get lost!” → Shen
Shen controlled the little energy he had in his body and focused it all around the snake to capture it. A golden ring appeared around the snake’s neck, ready to cut his head by shrinking.
“Come on! Kill it!” → Shen
Shen tried his hardest to kill off the demon but the black snake resisted and in the end, he was able to get out from the ring, rushing toward his heart.
“Damn! You smelly worm, where do you think you’re running?!” → Shen
Shen was shocked. He never expected for a demon to try and escape when it was still inside his body.
I had snake-type demons inside my body before, but it was extremely easy for me to get rid of them by cutting their heads then burning them completely. Why is this one so stubborn though? → Shen
Internal demons are formed from emotional outbursts while the mental ones are born from evil thoughts. While the mental demon would try to control your thoughts, making you do evil, the internal one would try to corrode your heart and meridians, making you have bursts of negative feelings completely at random.
It’s because I got angry at the Demon Lord? No, it’s not like I lost reason. I’m capable of controlling myself lately, so why-? Wait, what?! → Shen
“Bastard! Why are you running?!…! What in the world…?” → Shen
While Shen was thinking for himself, the snake entered his heart then escaped his body through the hearts-connection, going toward Sylvia. Shen panicked and did the same, never thinking that it was actually possible and entering the cordon as if it was completely normal. After he arrived in Sylvia’s heart, he was dumbfounded to see other ten such snakes, smaller than the one that visited him, running around as if they were at home.
“…These demons aren’t mine. Have they come from Sylvia? But why? Why does she have so many-!” → Shen
While inside her heart, Shen was able to find a black hole and the Kundalini absorbing some kind of black substance from it. Shen followed the stained energy that was circulating through the Kundalini and arrived at the base of the Kundalini where a much bigger black snake was feeding with this kind of energy. Some stains were left around, overlooked by the huge snake. Those stains would later become little snakes which would try to eat the leftovers of the huge one, growing on their own.
And the bastard from before wished to corrupt me so he could feed himself like how this smelly huge worm is feeding on Sylvia… → Shen
“I’ll be sure to exterminate every single one of you!” → Shen
Shen was angered. He would let nothing to touch his loved ones, even mental or internal demons, he would exterminate anything.
“First. Let’s see what made Sylvia create these inner demons.” → Shen
Shen rushed back at the source of all this, the black hole that was as big as his spiritual self.
“This looks like a huge trauma. What in the world happened to you, Sylvia?” → Shen
Shen was worried sick. He would try to get rid of this then talk with Sylvia to calm her mind so this black hole won’t appear again. Shen rushed inside the black hole head first, not even thinking about the consequences. After entering, there was nothing but darkness, not even his own hands were visible to him. He walked in front with steady steps, his senses stretched out trying to feel, hear, smell or see something. He walked like this until he bumped into something.
“Ouch!”
That something reached only to his waist, it had long hair and a childish voice.
Don’t tell me… → Shen
Shen’s heart tightened. He had a feeling that the trauma reached deeper than he thought.
“You must be the inner child of Sylvia, right?” → Shen
Shen asked in a warm voice. When talking with the inner child of a person, one must be as delicate and gentle as possible, this one being the very core of the heart of a person.
The human soul contains different spiritual parts and the human can listen to different parts of the soul: The child spirit is the most honest and selfless part of the soul, which is also the most sensible. The superior spirit is the wisest and mature part of the soul, and also the most difficult to please. The warmonger spirit is the cruelest and decisive part of the soul, which is hard to control, coming from the animalic side of the human. The monk’s spirit is the most meditative and calm part of the soul, which tries to resist the warmonger. These are just a few examples of spirits inside a human soul that a human can listen to, be it consciously or unconsciously.
Through the passages of time, humans forgot that they can control these spirits and they left them to take control instead. Because of such freedom, the most imposing spirits (The warmonger spirit can be an example) took control over the soul while the more elevated spirits (child spirit, superior spirit, monk’s spirit) gave way for the lower ones, hiding inside the deeper parts of the soul and waiting until they are re-summoned by the host or Big Boss which is the human Ego.
Even so, the spirit that actually suffers the most is the child spirit which resides inside the heart and is the one which the mental and internal demons are trying to corrupt or kill the most, taking then control over the heart and mind of the respective human. People mostly forget about this part, trying to kill their own hearts so to get rid of emotions such as kindness, compassion, love; taking them as weaknesses; Shen also being such a person, slashing his own heart, thinking it would grow stronger.
“W-who?”
The voice sounded terrified, sad, shocked and weak. Even though he wasn’t able to see her, Shen knew that she was actually still trembling in fear while holding her hand gently.
“How do you know me…?”
Hearing her voice made him feel like mourning as if his own Spirit Child were the one in pain, and not Sylvia’s.
Seriously, why even your inner-most spirit is crying, Sylvia? → Shen
“I’m here to help you. Please tell me what happened here? Why is it so dark? I can’t even tell where you are if I don’t hold your hand.” → Shen
“… It was always dark here. Even after I was born, I was never able to see. After the experiments, I couldn’t smell or taste either. It was terrifying… Sob.” → Shen
Little Sylvia started to sob in a hushed tone, grabbing Shen’s hand with more force.
Shen kneeled and caressed her head gently.
“But it’s alright now. You can smell, taste and even see now, no?” → Shen
“Yes… But all of these are useless if he leaves me…” → Sylvia (inner child)
Sylvia said again with a sad tone.
“Eh?” → Shen
Shen was shocked.
What does she mean? Who is ‘he’? It’s not me, right? → Shen
“Because… because of me he almost died! At that time, I felt lost in the darkness that was surrounding me. I was desperate, he wasn’t accepting my helping hand even at the brink of death. I tried to help him by giving him my life essence but he was sending it back every time! Why, why?!” → Sylvia (inner child)
Little Sylvia shed tears and hickuped from the sadness.
“Hic, he repaired the seal in exchange for his life hic uuuh~… now he’s not even a normal human! Hic, I said I’ll help him but hic I was useless!” → Sylvia (inner child)
“…”
Shen caressed her head gently, trying to comfort her.
“There was nothing you could’ve done at that time and you know this. However godly we might be, our souls are still those of a human. Besides, he’s alive, no? If that person accepted your life essence, then your lifespan would have shortened. How do you think he would feel if he knew his beloved one had to give her life for him? I’ll tell you how he’d feel: He would be devastated and never able to face her or another in his life. He would’ve started to feel like the last man on earth, not able to protect even the one he loved the most…” → Shen
Shen said with some pain in his voice. Thinking about sacrificing Sylvia’s lifespan for himself made him sick in the stomach.
“T-Then I shouldn’t have told him to save this world in the first place!” → Sylvia (inner child)
Sylvia shouted, tears still falling.
“Haha. If you haven’t done that, then a much bigger tragedy would’ve broken down on this world.” → Shen
Shen said, feeling amused at Sylvia’s tantrum.
“T-then what should I do?! He is crippled! He can barely walk on his own! He tries to look strong so he won’t make anyone worry but I can see with how much difficulty he’s casting even the lowest forms of spells! After 10 hours he has to sleep and he needs food every 2 hours… He’s so weakened because I wasn’t able to protect him and- Ouch! W-what was that for?!” → Sylvia (inner child)
While Sylvia was talking, Shen became more and more irritated, ending up flicking her forehead.
“Okay brat, listen up. That guy is not so weak for you to worry all the time, got it? He doesn’t give a damn about being crippled because he knows he’ll heal up in no time. And even if he remains forever crippled, he knows other ways to become stronger. That guy is healing up slowly every day. What happened to him was misfortunate but at least he’s still alive, so stop beating yourself and dispel this darkness around you. You’re harming yourself by feeding an internal demon with it and later, you might harm the others around you, that person included.” → Shen
Shen said in a strict tone, but still gentle enough not to scare her. He finally understood the main reason.
So it’s because of what happened when I resealed the World Tree… I’m no good again, making this little goddess form internal demons… I need to get strong fast so she’ll stop worrying. → Shen
“…”
Sylvia was stunned by his words. Even though he sounded strict and angry, he was still caressing her head with affection and warmth.
“I-I understand…” → Sylvia (inner child)
She lowered her head and grabbed her dress, feeling a little bit guilty.
“Ahaha~. Good, now let’s destroy this hellhole and kill that stupid demon, yes?” → Shen
Shen said with a laugh.
“K-kill? C-can’t we just ask him to stop doing bad things?” → Sylvia (inner child)
Sylvia grabbed Shen’s coat and asked with a pleading voice.
“Eh?” → Shen
Shen froze. He looked downward at what looked like Sylvia’s younger form silhouette with a dumbfounded face.
Ah. Right. The inner child is the most naïve, pure and innocent part of a spirit anyone has. → Shen
Talking about killing, destroying or blaming someone in front of such a spirit would make it sad. He’ll try to find whatever reason there is to not kill, punish, destroy or think badly about anything or anyone, no matter the reason.
Even an angel is less innocent than this kind of spirit. → Shen
Shen felt conflicted at first then sighed helplessly.
“Uhm… Okay, I’ll try to talk with him first. You try to dispel this darkness while I’m at it. Okay?” → Shen
Of course, I’ll first beat that demon’s ass black and blue, but I can’t let her know this. → Shen
“Alright… Thank you, Omisus.” → Sylvia (inner child)
The darkness shattered like glass and the huge black-hole disappeared, leaving behind only Shen and a little child with long white-blonde hair and pale-blue eyes who was slowly disappearing.
“Sure, eh?” → Shen
Shen was stunned right at that moment.
How did she just call me? Wait, isn’t the Child Spirit supposed to know no one beside the host?! What the hell?! → Shen
“Bye-bye. My friendly faun.” → Sylvia (inner child)
The child Sylvia smiled beautifully then disappeared, transforming in bubbles of lights. The bubbles then were absorbed by the surroundings, becoming one with the heart.
“…”
Acceptance… → Shen
Shen was looking dazed in the air where the bubbles disappeared. When one can accept his/her inner child inside their hearts, that person will mature much faster than a normal human, making them wiser than the others and having a stronger intuition.
So, she was already matured when I’ve met her…? No, wait! Even so, that’s not a reason for her to know my name! And why she knows I was a Satyr in another life!? What in the world have we done in other lives? Have we united souls or what?! → Shen
While Shen was dumbfounded and locked in his thoughts, a wild sound resounded from under him.
“HISSSSSS~~!!”
A loud hissing noise resounded, making Shen wake up from his thoughts. He got out from the heart’s chakra and saw the huge snake going after the other little snakes, eating and swallowing them one by one.
“So now that his source was destroyed, he’s going for his minions, eh?” → Shen
Shen said with indifference and a slight grin.
He waited till the demon ate every single one of them so he won’t have to run after them himself. Every snake that wished to use the hearts connection was kicked out by Shen, making them fall right in the big snake’s mouth.
Shen kicked the last snake which fell right inside the big snake’s mouth, getting swallowed.
“And you shall not pass!” → Shen
“SHAA~!”
After eating the last one, the big snake grew again and rushed right toward Shen with its mouth open.
“You idiot. Don’t put me together with your minions!” → Shen
Shen looked coldly then with his hand, he slapped the head of the snake, deviating his mouth toward his right.
“Not seeing the greatness in front of you. I’ll have to punish you for good~.” → Shen
Shen made a terrifying smile, making even the internal demon shudder, then he started slapping the snake again and again until it became swollen.
“Boahahaha~! Look at your face! No more a snake but a pig! Boahahaha~!” → Shen
Shen laughed out loud, the snake already dazed and almost disappearing. Because Shen was a spirit at the moment, he wasn’t able to control his reactions all too well, being sincere with his actions just like a child.
“Aha~.”
Shen cleared a tear from his eye then he stood up with a grin.
“Alright, piggy-snake. Let’s talk.” → Shen
The snake was trembling, laying on the spiritual ground. If Shen continued beating it just a little bit more, the snake would’ve disappeared, transforming in black smoke with later would’ve been absorbed by earth or other evil demons from outside the body.
“Hiss~…”
The snake couldn’t even protest, it stayed there with its head lowered toward Shen, waiting for orders. Only his head was as big as Shen, while his body was like 10 Shens, lying down horizontally in a lengthwise line. The view of such a huge snake bowing to Shen was quite surprising.
“Good. Listen here, you stupid snake, I made a promise with the child-spirit of the host of this body.” → Shen
Quite stupid for me, I know. → Shen
“So I won’t end your existence, BUT! I’ll make you stay inside my body and you’ll do only what I’m asking you, understood?” → Shen
Shen said with cold eyes and a wide grin, making the snake nod in a rush.
