"Why won't it end?! Why must we live like this?!"
"Because fate is cruel. And this cruel fate is one I should destroy with my own hands. So give up your futile resistance and hand our body over to me!"
"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
"Shut up!"
It was a little pathetic. That was what Damien thought as he watched them continue to struggle against each other with both words and fists.
In the end, the girl was just a child. Even when she was being influenced by her element like this, her motivations and outlook were still incredibly childish. So when Damien watched it happen in real time, it looked more like a quarrel between children than a life-or-death struggle.
It might've seemed like a strong person was bullying a weak one, but it wasn't like that at all. The two of them were equal in every way.
The only reason the evil version was winning was because the pure version didn't resist. If she resisted, they'd maintain a constant state of equilibrium as it was meant to be.
He hadn't been in her spiritual world for long, but Damien was already able to figure out this much about the girl and her two personas.
Their path was one of mutual destruction. Maybe they themselves couldn't see it because they were too embroiled in their conflict, but as an outsider, Damien could see it clearly.
From the start, they were one being. Whether it be the pure version or the evil version, they were two sides of the same coin. If one of them was destroyed, the other wouldn't be able to last long either.
Even if they tried to absorb each other, their conflicting natures would still collide and make it impossible. Once he realized this, Damien understood that his original approach wouldn't work at all.
He couldn't destroy the evil version. That wouldn't save the little girl but instead, kill her. He needed to help them regain equilibrium.
But with their personalities, he didn't think it would be easy to do that. No, he could probably do it but he would have to keep the girl on a tight leash so that she wouldn't fall back into this kind of circumstance again.
'But that's only until I find Ruyue. If Ruyue, who can properly control the dual nature of yin, was able to bond with or contract with this girl, she would be able to permanently solve her problem unlike me.'
It was really a convenient thing for him, since he didn't want to have to deal with a volatile bomb like this little girl. And since he always planned to give the elemental seed to Ruyue, it was even better.
'But the approach has to change. She's not an elemental seed, but a full-blown spirit. Since it's like this, forcing a contract or treating her like an object is no longer an option. I guess Ruyue is also going to end up adopting a little sister in this secret realm.'
Damien grinned at his own thoughts before moving into action.
First, he exited the girl's spiritual world and turned his focus to her body.
He then changed the intent of the Void Essence within the girl's body. Instead of trying to destroy the reddish-black mana, it moved to tame it.
With Void Essence being what it was, the reddish-black mana was quickly tamed. But as Damien was about to start fusing the two different energies, a problem arose.
The mana struggled against the control of the Void Essence. And even as it did, new strains of reddish-black mana emerged and tried to battle the second energy in the girl's body.
'This won't do.' He thought inwardly. 'It'll take too much time to complete this process. My arrival seems to have accelerated the rate at which she destroyed herself, and if I continue like this, her body will totally break down before I finish.'
'Even if I temporarily solve the situation in her body, it'll never stop completely until her mind has been settled. For now, I should just confine the two energies in their own parts of her body.'
He changed his intention again. He used Void Essence to draw a clear divide within the girl's body, splitting it vertically. Any nonconforming energy on either side was swiftly tamed and dragged to its true home.
As he did this, the action of those thousand eyes also became less violent. They were never a separate entity, but a manifestation of power. With his Void Essence trying to tame the reddish-black mana, the eyes were also influenced.
'Haa…alright. Since that's more or less dealt with, I can focus on the task at hand.'
It was a stopgap measure, but it was enough. He swiftly returned to the girl's spiritual world, only to find two pairs of eyes staring at him when he did.
"Um…hi?" He greeted awkwardly.
The two versions of the girl continued staring at him like he was some kind of strange specimen.
'Ah, it must've been too long since they've seen another person.'
Damien smiled lightly. He then split his spiritual avatar into two and sent one towards each girl.
Splitting his consciousness was something he learned to do proficiently when he was reconnecting the floating continents in his mindspace, but this was the first time he actually put that ability into use.
'But to think it was for something like this…' he smiled wryly.
Once his two avatars reached the two girls, he waved his hands in front of their faces.
"Hello? Is there something on my face?"
""Ah!""
They both yelped and retreated. It seemed like his appearance had put a temporary stop to their power struggle.
"You…you are the man from outside…" the pure version was the first to speak. As she was the one who called him here, she naturally recognized him first.
"Mm. That's me. I guess I'm here to save you." He responded.
"Are…are you going to kill her?" The girl looked at her other self who was warily staring at the two Damiens. Being inside her spiritual world, Damien could feel her unwillingness incredibly clearly.
But he just shook his head in response. "No. How could I kill you? If I'm not wrong, aren't the two of you the same person?"
The two versions of the girl looked away as if not accepting his words, but at the same time, they didn't refute.
"Haa…you two. Why are you fighting like this? You should know better than anyone else the state of your body right now."
"Hmph! Why else should we fight?! It's for control! I want this body, and she can't have it! I— ow!"
Damien flicked the evil version's head as she spoke. "You stupid. Why would killing her even solve your problem? Did you even take a second to think things over before you acted? How can you be so reckless!"
The evil version held her forehead with tears forming in her eyes. It was too unfair. Why was she the only one getting hit when both of them were fighting?
But Damien wasn't done berating the two of them. They might have been children, but their idiocy really ticked him off. Especially seeing how their circumstance hadn't helped them mature at all.
"Don't think you're safe either," Damien said to the pure version. "How can you sit here and cower? Don't you know that your behavior is only spurring her to keep acting out? How can you let your other self become like that without even trying to help? You keep saying things about not wanting to fight, but have you ever actually tried to have a constructive conversation with her about things?"
The pure version of the girl turned her head away in shame. Meanwhile, the evil version smirked in satisfaction. That is, until Damien shot her a pointed glare.
"Haa…that's it. If I don't teach the two of you today, then my name isn't Damien Void!"
And as he said, his berating session continued.
