Liam's head throbbed violently and the blood vessels in his ears and nose popped, blood leaking out of his orifices.
Just as he was trying resolutely to subdue the vengeful soul, the soul as well was trying its best to destroy him.
It could sense that its state was in great peril.
Unfortunately for Liam, the more he withstood the pain and the more soul fragments he gathered, Gorak's soul was becoming that much stronger and stronger.
His ability to attack Liam mentally was also increasing and this was not even the end.
Liam had only managed to gather about a quarter of the soul fragments and he was already at his limit.
What would happen if he managed to gather half of the soul? Three-fourths of the soul? And finally, the whole soul?
Just the mere thought of it was a heavy blow to Liam's mind and body as he was trying his best to hold on.
"I can do this. Shut up. One step at a time."
A loss here would mean another death and more soul damage. His soul was already not whole so none of that mattered anymore.
But what mattered was his victory in this tug of war!
He needed to win at all costs not because he would lose too much otherwise. He just wanted to win. He had already lived an entire lifetime of pain and suffering.
He did not want that to repeat all over again. If he submitted to this nobody's soul right here and now, then that meant that his potential was only so much.
Liam refused to accept that. He sucked in another big gulp of nether and started collecting the rest of the soul fragments as well.
Slowly, little by little, the millions of tiny dots enveloping him started accumulating in front of him in the shape of a small ball.
The human soul was much bigger than the lesser beasts' souls. It was no longer a soul bead. It was a soul ping pong ball?
Liam's body trembled feebly as he slowly and painfully dragged his mind over the halfway checkpoint and then the three-fourth checkpoint.
At this point, blood was no longer seeping out of his eyes or nose. Rather his body started becoming extremely dry.
He looked like a withered plant, with his muscle mass starting to disappear.
Now that his soul was already at its limit and no longer had the strength to bear the onslaught, something else from his body was being used to compensate.
Liam shivered as he now felt considerably weaker. His mind and brain were already numb with pain. After a certain point, adding some more to this did not make any difference to him.
So he continued silently. He kept going at it, forcefully dragging all of the remaining soul fragments as well and joining with the small ball floating in front of him.
There were only a few bits and pieces of it now left and Liam scrapped every last fragment, stuffing it all inside the small ball.
He could now more vividly hear Gorak's pain and screams of agony, but they were nothing compared to his own pain.
His withered body swayed in the wind as he bit the bullet and finally grabbed the last soul fragment that was floating around him.
"COME ON!" Liam shouted, his voice ringing loudly amidst the ominous silence of the forest, with only the distant rustling of the leaves and the dull sounds of battle in the background.
This last bit was the most difficult part of the entire process. It felt as if he was pushing a mountain. He couldn't make that small fragment of soul budge.
It was fine when it hovered in mid-air but as soon as he tried to bring it towards the soul ball, it immediately bounced off. The two were repelling each other vehemently.
Perhaps because the whole soul had already dissipated and should have been destroyed, the reversal of the process was proving to be impossible.
However, without making the damn bastard's soul whole again, Liam did not know how else to remove the vengeful ghost from him. The bitch was stuck to him like a leech.
"DAMN IT! GET IN THERE ALREADY!"
He really could not hold on for much longer. He neither had the mental strength nor the soul strength nor the physical strength to do so.
He had tapped into all of them and used up all of them. He was now completely exhausted even his unyielding spirit running on fumes.
But he was not ready to give it all up just yet. He did not become strong overnight. He had struggled every day to get here, to reach where he was currently.
If he needed more strength, then he would somehow bring out more strength and power.
Liam was now completely stick and bones and he was only barely able to sit straight. He looked like a skeleton wearing a onesie made of skin.
But he summoned a bit more strength pushing his limits further again and using this last burst of energy, he tried to shove it all together.
The soul ball quivered in response!
While Liam was becoming weaker, it was becoming stronger. As he jammed the last soul fragment into the soul ball, this time there was no more restraint.
The soul ball greedily sucked in the last bit of the soul fragment as well and at that moment, something clicked sending Liam into the depths of despair.
Gorak's soul which was now whole and healthy started sucking in Liam's soul which was terribly weakened.
He had used almost all of his everything to put the guy's soul back and make it whole again, but once that happened, immediately the newly formed soul started attacking back.
And more importantly, Gorak was now fully conscious!
This should have never happened. His consciousness should have dissipated when he was first killed but here he was once again whole and healthy.
"I am back! I am back!" He laughed loudly, every wave of laughter striking Liam like lightning.
Gorak had no idea why he got this second chance. He also had no idea what was happening.
He peeled his formless eyes open and looked around, trying to understand as much as he could.
Of course, the only thing he recognized was the bastard who had killed him in the first place!
"FUCKER! FUCKER! FUCKER! Why did you kill me? I begged you to let me go! Now it's my turn. If I am dead, then you better come with me."
Seeing Liam's current condition, he was able to tell one thing for sure. The guy now looked like a corpse and he was almost as good as dead. What happened to him?
Wasn't he strong, muscular, and powerful? How was he reduced to this state now? Did I have something to do with this?
Ke Ke! Gorak was amused.
If he had something to do with this, then it was good, but even if he did not have anything to do with this, he simply did not care!
This was his chance!
When he died, it was too fast and too sudden! There was so much hatred and rage swirling within him. He was no longer alive thanks to this fucker!
But now, he had the chance to get even. Revenge sweet Jesus!
It was simply too delicious!
"Let's die together my good brother!" Gorak laughed loudly sending another wave of shock to Liam's body.
Liam already did not have any strength left, so under this attack, he crumbled and fell down like a bowling pin.
He laid on the ground, completely weak and unable to do anything.
Gorak could see this or rather sense this and it made him even more violent. The surge of power he felt was too intoxicating!
Just as he was about to deal another blow, suddenly he realized something. He felt a strange attractive force from Liam's body.
One soul was pulling the other soul.
Sensing this, Gorak suddenly had a crazy thought. What if he devoured Liam's soul? Could he perhaps live again?
He absolutely had no idea what was going on but the pull he felt from Liam's body was unmistakable. He could instinctively feel that this was his chance to survive.
He was a ghost now, he should be able to possess him right?
All sorts of crazy things were happening in this damned game, so why not this?
"LET'S GO! I WILL MAKE YOU MY BITCH! FOR ALL ETERNITY!"
"BA HA HA HA! ONLY THIS WILL SATISFY ME!"
