"Olga"
Chromie closed his eyes, then opened them once again, staring at the person standing in front of him.
He had already expected this to be the case, but when the truth revealed itself to him, he still found it a bit hard to stomach.
When he and Olga went on that stroll, despite him paying constant attention and not noticing any unusual approaching, her soul still vanished without a trace in mere seconds.
At first, he thought that it was due to means that he either didn't notice or didn't understand, but as time passed, he started noticing a discrepancy.
Perhaps such means really did exist, but it wouldn't have been worth it, at least, it wasn't worth it just to capture Olga to spite him.
And then a few moments ago, he discovered Fye and Luo's method of controlling animals. He noticed that the two of them also needed to be careful while controlling those animals, lest they went out of control with the slightest stimulation, let alone with a human soul.
When all impossibilities had been accounted for, the only possibility, no matter how far-fetched and unbelievable, would remain as the only truth.
No one took Olga's soul away, she ejected her soul from her body of her own accord, and she was the Overlord of the Hermit Order to whom Fye and Luo had pledged their allegiance.
"I should have known it was you" Chromie raised his sword again: "Then Olga, what did you want?"
"A mission from the Hermit Order, giving you a meeting gift, then extending to you an invitation. Join the Hermit Order, Chromie" Olga's gaze remained on the sword, but still maintained a perfect smile on her face.
"Is this your request?" Chromie once again lowered his sword, asking with a troubled expression. He owed a lot to Olga, so if she truly considered this a request, Chromie would accept.
Since Chromie was a man of his words, if he truly did join the Hermit Order, he would consider himself a true member of the Hermit Order from now on. The same way he naturally put the elven race into consideration after becoming the avatar of the Moon Tree sprout.
"It's merely a casual invitation, however, it seems our Saint Hunters captain isn't very willing" Olga didn't continue. Her light blue eyes continued to display the look of love that could cause anyone to feel drunk, but now it felt considerably more frigid.
"Kill him" Olga then ordered. Fye and Luo both leapt into action, once again using their respective expertise of turning into a muscle giant and bone weapon while charging at Chromie.
At the same time, a figure appeared in the air of the room, causing a huge gust of wind to manifest in the closed-off room, draining the air around Chromie in an instant.
On another side, a rapier on the wall took flight by itself to join the battle.
The carpet under his feet was the same, immediately coiling up to grab Chromie's ankles.
The blue flames in Chromie's eyes continued to beat, the essence of these attacks could not hide from his eyes.
"Souls?" Chromie's figure became intangible as he entered the aspect of silence to escape the first attack. More information was being discovered by his eyes, but the same three monsters were also attacking him in the aspect of silence.
The air, the rapier, and the carpet had all been injected with souls, forcefully connected to Olga using the soul linking substance, and thus they were under her soul's control.
"Is this your ability? Olga Gomech" Chromie's figure moved away in the other aspect of reality, the sword in his hand glowed with the red aura of Fearless Spirit, stabbing into the air. However, the soul that had melted into the air also obtained the property of the air, which could scatter and converge, impervious to the sword's physical attacks.
"That's right Chromie, soul manipulation, that is the power I obtained from Lord Negary's experimentations" Olga raised her hand, which now held several lengths of chains connected to souls, as these souls were held in her hand, they couldn't help but heed her orders.
"Souls are beautiful, especially the souls of those with determination. Their souls are akin to gems, brilliant, shining, and eye-catching; that's why Chromie, as a man who can create miracles, your soul must also be extremely beautiful!" Olga started hovering, more souls poured from her hands into more items within the room.
"Because of that, Chromie, I hold nothing but the most profound desire to obtain your soul, hand it to me, and we shall be together forever" Olga spoke sincerely, almost as if begging him.
"Olga…" observing Olga, Chromie's gaze flickered nonstop, a sense of self-derision manifested in his heart. Most likely, he was one of the main reasons why she had become the way she was today.
At 13 years old, Chromie was brought to the Academic City by his father, where he met Olga; at the time, she was a girl who loved sweets, a girl like a flower, a girl who followed him for her entire youth.
If the Farnate family's tragedy hadn't occurred, he most likely would have knelt before her, then held her hand as they entered the church, professing 'I do' under the witness of the priest.
But then, life had never had such a thing as 'if'. He had made his choice in the past, choosing the Farnate family meant that he had chosen to give up Olga, and later on, he chose to give up his love itself.
Step by step, he had discarded Olga from himself. He felt a sense of responsibility towards her and was willing to make up for that responsibility, but to give up his soul?
"I'm sorry, I can't do that"
Chromie's sword swung, parrying the rapier that was thrust towards him, at the same time cutting through the carpet that wrapped around his feet, slicing it into pieces. The soul contained within was also destroyed by the Fearless Spirit.
Unsurprisingly, Chromie once again chose to give up on Olga. He now shouldered the hope of the entire elven race, as the avatar of the sprout, he could not give up his own soul at this point.
Chromie brandished his sword, scattering the soul-infused air around himself, took a deep breath, then dealt with the Fye and Luo brother who charged at him.
"I waited 3 years for you" Olga lightly stated, the souls under her control swiftly infused into various items and began attacking Chromie: "And I was with you even longer before that. Chromie, how important am I exactly in your heart?"
"Did you know?" Olga's voice now sounded sorrowful: "Before that moment when I hugged you, I was still undecided on whether or not I should extract your soul, but I was ultimately able to make my decision"
"Chromie, whenever you and I were with one another before, whenever I approached you, whenever I looked at you, I could sense your breathing becoming heavier, and your heart beating faster. They were the signs of your love for me"
"Because of that, I was able to wait three years for you, I could have continued to wait for you my entire life. Aside from waiting, I was also able to join the Hermit Order, to take over your responsibility, to help you take your revenge. However!" Olga's eyes were now bloodshot, her body also became a bit unstable as she was currently in the form of a soul.
"However, even now, right at this very moment, your heart is no longer beating for me, Chromie!" Soul Essence erupted from Olga's body, one of the souls sunk into the house right beneath her feet, causing the entire building to begin moving.
