Chapter 2 The Name that Shouldn’t Exist

The moment he pressed yes, his irises glowed white. His whole body felt like a furnace. His veins bulged under his skin. His heart pounded louder as the interface kept showing new texts. The unknown voice kept reading them out in his head.

[Extreme blood loss detected.]

[Survival rate of the user: Less than 1 percent.]

[Initiating parasite protocol…]

And suddenly, he felt as though he were trapped in a room, looking out at the world through two windows set into his own body. A white energy pulsed out of him. The tails tore apart as he dropped lightly on his feet. Yet he could not feel the floor beneath him.

[Host synchronization in progress…]

[Host body is too weak for complete manifestation.]

[Tuning down frequency of soul… ]

[Balance found at 5% soul capacity of Annihitep.]

Rudra saw his arms rising upward before his eyes. But it was not him who was controlling those arms. His head tilted, watching his own palms. Then they grabbed the torn ends of the tails, still attached to him, and pulled them out one by one. Blood seeped out of the wounds, yet there was no pain.

Under his grip, the torn pieces of the black tails broke into tiny particles, dissolving in his white glow. The heat inside him rose further as his body looked at the mannequin. It was still frozen. Its tails were frozen in the air, missing their front ends. The torn ends looked as though thick ink had been frozen by time just before dripping onto the floor.

[Host Synchronization successful.]

[Initiating soul skill—Instant Regeneration.]

Rudra’s lips moved.

“This body almost died to trash like that?”

But it was not his voice that came out of his throat—A deep voice.

“…Pathetic!”

Wounds on his body vanished, replaced by new flesh and skin. And the world resumed. An ear-splitting chorus of screams tore free from the mannequin. The frozen droplets of black ink fell to the floor as its damaged tails flicked wildly through the air. It clenched its missing arm, dropping onto its knees.

Then his body moved forward. His left arm grabbed the creature by its neck as his right arm shot forward with a straight punch at its face. The instant the white layer of energy around his fist touched the black face, half of it dissolved into white particles. The creature was hurled backward under his punch, hitting the southern wall of the room.

Thick cracks spread at the impact on the wall. The half face broke into thin strands of silk and twisted above its neck as the creature slid down the wall. Tiny white flames  flickered to life at their ends. Again, the scream returned—but this time the voices were not blended. It sounded like multiple humans screaming as they were being burnt alive.

The strands tried to merge back and form the head again, but the white flames at their end kept burning them down. They failed to form the head. It looked as though a lump of clay had been set above its neck.

Rudra screamed inside his own body.

“It touched my daughter! Kill it!”

His lips parted again, echoing in the deep voice.

“Sit tight, I will.”

Every step his body took toward the creature shook the room he was trapped in. The creature swung its arm, chopping off its own head. The headless body rose to its feet as the lump of clay fell on the floor. Within a blink, the lump faded into white particles. The screams disappeared.

Rudra went silent. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The headless body was moving toward him. Its missing arm had regenerated already. From the chopped neck, small black hands bloomed upward, wiggling their fingers. A tiny crimson glass sphere popped out of the chopped neck. New screams rang out from the mannequin as the hands clasped around the small sphere, forming a new head. This new head had a mouth.

The deep voice giggled.

“Ooh! So you are not a complete trash…”

The pitch-black lips opened in response.

“Don’t get arrogant!”

A new chorus of screams hissed out of it.

“I will devour you alive, Papa!”

Then its jaw hung open. Crimson current crackled inside its dark mouth, forming a bright red sphere of swirling lightning before its lips. The whole apartment trembled under the surging force. The deep voice chuckled as Rudra’s right hand extended forward and flicked his middle finger.

“So cute…”

A tiny particle of white shot forward like a bullet. The moment it touched the lightning sphere, white cracks raced across its surface. Then it burst outward. The condensed lightning inside it bolted out, spider-webbing the room's walls with cracks. The white bullet tore through its open jaw and burst out through its head.

The sound of shattering glass echoed for a second. Then white cracks spread across the whole mannequin, widening with a white glow. The chorus fell apart, releasing individual screams. One of those screams gasped.

“Essence of soul purification…

Another one asked.

“…Annihitep…?”

Then a third one whispered.

“That name should not exist anymore…”

The whole mannequin melted down like wax as the voices finally faded. Rudra’s body moved forward. His body looked at the floor. Aarohi was sleeping there. Rudra wanted to hold her in his arms, but he was not the driver of his own car. His body walked past his daughter and leaned over the window.

The street came into view as the deep voice whispered. A grin curled on his lips.

“You guys are too weak to erase my name from existence.”

Multiple cars were crashed, some with each other, some against the light poles. People flooded the streets. Medics ran urgently, carrying wounded civilians into ambulances. Smoke kept drifting from the cars.

“This world has changed so much, yet…”

The system voice returned.

[Host out of danger.]

[Deactivating parasite protocol…]

The deep voice roared before fading out.

“No! No! I was finally free…Damn this Seal, Nikhilesh!”

[Parasite protocol deactivated.]

Rudra’s body buckled forward. His head was spinning. It felt like he was shoved into his own body. The sense of control returned to him. He moved his arms, clenched his fingers. They moved as he wanted. His eyes widened as he snapped back.

Aarohi was still sleeping there—not a single worry in this world. He skidded on his knees, reaching her. With hurried arms, he pulled her on his lap. Before he knew it, tears rolled down his cheek. His fingers removed the loose strand of hair on her forehead. He smiled.

“…my princess.”

A moment of stillness lingered between them before Rudranath was forced to snap his head forward.

HSSHHH!

A silhouette outlined in white came through the right wall, crossed the room, and phased out through the left wall. Rudranth remained on the floor. Aarohi was still on his lap. His head turned toward the left wall, following the sudden motion. Then his eyelids became heavy. The last trace of strength in him vanished. He fell onto his side as finally sleep took him away.