Tenebrous Wolf
Chapter 105: The Most Beautiful and Otherworldly Soul Stream

Chapter 105: The Most Beautiful and Otherworldly Soul Stream

Feeling oddly satisfied with his monologue, Klaus fell into silence.

He wasn’t quite sure why he’d started talking in the first place. It wasn’t like him to spill his thoughts so freely, especially not to the empty air.

Did I want someone to hear that? he wondered.

The idea bothered him greatly. What if someone like Adrian had actually responded? Or worse, Seraphim? What would he have said then? Would he have defended his rambling, or brushed it off with some sarcastic quip?

He scowled and shook the thought from his head.

Meaningless.

There was no need to entertain hypotheticals that would never happen. That kind of thinking didn’t lead anywhere. Just another spiral of what-ifs and imagined conversations that served no purpose but to clutter his mind.

Klaus exhaled sharply through his nose and leaned back against the stone once more.

The world was quiet again. And he was satisfied with this silence.

Of course, the moment of tranquility didn’t last.

Just as Klaus began to let his eyes drift shut, a familiar voice crackled to life in his head.

"Hey. Idiot. Idiot."

His brow twitched, but he said nothing. Naturally, it was Briar chirping through their mental link like an unwelcome songbird. And as much as he wanted to ignore her, the voice kept poking at the corners of his mind.

"Hey, hey, hey! I know you can hear me!"

Her tone, as always, walked the line between smug and exasperated. Still, Klaus didn’t reply. He didn’t have the strength, or the patience, to entertain her antics right now.

Besides, why was she trying to communicate with him now all of a sudden anyway?

"Hellooo? I swear, if you’re ignoring me on purpose, I’m going to rewire your brain while you sleep!"

Klaus sighed internally.

’Yeah right. If you could do something like that, you would have done it a long time along. Not like you can do it anyway even if you try."

He shrugged his shoulders, dismissing the conversation until Briar said something that made him pause.

"Hmph, fine. Be like that. But for the record, I wouldn’t be wasting my precious time yelling at you if it wasn’t important. Not that I wanted to invite you into my Soul World or anything."

Klaus blinked.

"Wait... what did you just say?"

Briar’s tone immediately shifted to a smug one.

"Oh, now you’re paying attention? What part caught your interest, I wonder?"

He sat up straighter, a frown pulling at his brow as he sent back a sharp mental ping.

"Just now, were you serious? You can actually invite me into your Ether Sea?"

Her reply was quick, clipped.

"’Invite’ might not be the right word. More like... you can enter if you will it. The door’s there, you’ve just never bothered to look for it. Judging from the way you’re asking, I’m guessing you had no idea, huh?"

Klaus blinked again, feeling a ripple of confusion and curiosity.

So... it was possible to enter another’s Ether Sea? Why the hell had no one bothered to tell him that?!

He frowned.

No matter how he turned it over in his mind, something like that should have been impossible. In fact, he’d considered the idea once or twice before his descent into the Chaos Realm.

But he’d never pursued it further, and for good reason.

There was a simple, widely accepted answer.

It wasn’t possible to enter another person’s Ether Sea.

Why was that?

An individual’s Ether Sea was not only the manifestation of their Spirit Core — which served as the Anchor and Heart of the Soul — but also their own unique world, complete with its own set of rules and regulations. For instance, the world of one person would be entirely different from the next, or even the hundredth.

This phenomenon was due to their "uniqueness".

The best way to describe it would be to compare it to an individual’s house or territory. It was similar to the famous legend about how vampires couldn’t enter your home unless they were invited inside.

In any case, someone entering another person’s Soul World on their own had never been recorded, especially not at the level of a Strider. That was why Klaus found himself genuinely puzzled. Briar, a fiend-level demon, was not only suggesting it... she was already capable of inviting him into her territory.

His eyes narrowed.

’Wait a minute... could it be similar to how she can enter and exit my Soul World as she pleases?’

That’s right.

Klaus had momentarily forgotten one crucial detail; the two of them were bound by a contract. More specifically, a Master and Servant Contract.

Perhaps this was simply another hidden benefit of that mysterious bond. Because their souls were now intertwined, the succubus had been able to enter and exit his Ether Sea at will.

And if he was her Master... then wouldn’t it make sense that he could do the same in return?

That made perfect sense. Why hadn’t he realized it sooner?

"Damnit. I’m such an idiot," Klaus muttered inwardly. "Was I just not curious enough? No... that’s not it."

Naturally, the domain of a demon was an unexplored territory for humans. A realm shrouded in mystery, bound by rules that didn’t apply to mortals.

Still... to see it firsthand?

To step into the inner world of a demon and witness it through his own eyes...

Now that was something worth getting excited about.

However, before he could become overwhelmed with excitement, his rationality kicked in.

The Ether Sea of a demon might’ve sounded tempting to explore, dangerously so. If he were some unhinged researcher or a mad scientist, he probably would’ve dived in headfirst without a second thought.

Thank the stars he hadn’t fallen that far into madness.

Still... did he really need to explore something like that?

What would even happen if he actually entered her Ether Sea? For all he knew, this could be a trap.

Sure, Briar was his Servant under the authority of the Soul Contract, which meant she couldn’t take direct actions that would harm him. But if she used some roundabout method? That was a different story entirely.

Hell, she could probably trap him inside her Soul World. Though... that would be wildly impractical.

His paranoia was unfounded anyway. Given her current situation, rebellion wasn’t even on the table. If anything happened to him, it would reflect back on her — and not in a good way. The demoness understood that well enough, which was why she hadn’t made any moves against him.

So really... what was there to be afraid of?

’Is this what all those researchers call the fear of the unknown? How scary.’

Swallowing dryly, Klaus pushed aside his unease and took a deep breath, clearing his mind. Then, focusing on the invisible thread that tethered their souls together, he reached inward.

A faint tug answered his call.

It was subtle, like the pull of a gentle current beneath still waters; it was faint, but undeniably there. Klaus latched onto it with a cautious curiosity, letting his consciousness drift toward the strange sensation. He felt the world around him blur and warp as his surroundings melting away like ink in water.

There was no thunderous rupture or blinding flash of light.

Just a blink.

And when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a different scenery.

’What?’

Klaus blinked.

The first thing he noticed was the air or rather, the feeling of it. It was thick, not with heat or humidity, but with a strange pressure that seemed to weigh on his soul instead of his body. The sky — if it could be called that — shifted with hues of violet and crimson, like living oil swirling across a vast canvas. Towering spires of black crystal pierced the horizon, each humming with latent energy, pulsing in sync with a rhythm he could almost hear.

Everything was surreal.

Otherworldly.

Undeniably beautiful... and deeply unsettling.

"So you actually came."

Briar’s teasing voice drifted from behind him. He turned and found her lounging atop a floating slab of obsidian, legs crossed, chin resting on her hand with effortless elegance.

Here, within her own domain, she wore no human disguise. Her true form radiated with a vibrant presence; lavender-pink skin, midnight purple hair and golden-hazel eyes that shimmered with mischief, including the signature traits of her demonic lineage: bat-like wings, gently curved horns and a pointed tail with a heart-shaped end. Her allure was overwhelming here, as if her seductive aura had fully awakened in its natural habitat.

Of course, Klaus knew it was all an illusion.

Still... he couldn’t help but feel the pull. A shame, really. If only he had his phone, this would’ve made for one hell of a profile picture.

Disregarding the intrusive thought, he studied her carefully. She wore her usual playful smirk.

"Took you long enough. For a Master, you sure like to hesitate."

Klaus narrowed his eyes, taking in every detail of the dreamlike landscape — the surreal architecture, the shifting colors and the way the ground didn’t quite feel solid beneath his feet.

Keeping his tone cautious, he asked,

"So... this is your Ether Sea? The inside of your soul?"

Briar grinned.

"More or less. What did you expect? Fire and brimstone?"

"No," Klaus muttered, scanning the alien terrain. "But I didn’t expect this either. It’s completely different from my mine."

Briar’s expression shifted instantly to a mock scowl.

"Hey! Don’t compare my world to that boring, empty soul-box of yours. Honestly, I still don’t get how a domain could be that plain. The atmosphere alone is weird. But thinking about it now, it does fit you perfectly, so I’ll give it ten points for consistency."

Klaus gave a wry smile.

"Thank you for the compliment. I’m glad you like it."

She frowned.

"You do know I didn’t mean that as a compliment, right?"

He replied flatly,

"I know. But if it’s coming from you, then it’s definitely a compliment."

Her pleasant expression cracked immediately.

"What’s that supposed to mean? You know what, forget it." She huffed and waved a hand in an irritated manner with her wings flapping behind her.

As expected, this was the outcome whenever her attempts to tease him fell flat.

After living together for a while, Klaus had grown more than accustomed to her antics and how to counter them. Briar was a creature of mischief, but unfortunately for her, he wasn’t easy prey.

Besides, it wasn’t like he lacked experience. He’d had a girlfriend once, an ex now, who dumped him on the whimsical grounds of needing a guy with a much "bigger flagpole."

Currently, Klaus was fairly confident that he’d long since outclassed whatever low-grade delinquent she’d run off with in that aspect.

He snorted quietly at the memory, then gave his head a shake, brushing aside the irrelevant tangent.

Time to focus.

His expression sobered as he turned back toward Briar, cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Alright. So, why did you want me to come here again?"