The transition was instantaneous and completely seamless.

One moment, Klaus had been lying on the comfortable cushions of the inn’s living room couch with the lingering scent of fried eggs and the next moment, all sensory input was violently severed.

He was back in the pitch-black abyss of his own Soul Space.

There was no sky above him... There was no ground beneath his feet and there was absolutely no horizon to mark the distance.

The space around him was a vast, suffocating expanse of pure emptiness that stretched on endlessly in every direction.

It was a sensory deprivation chamber cranked up to a supernatural extreme. In this void, his physical form had been stripped away entirely, leaving him feeling impossibly light and almost weightless.

Klaus slowly sat down on the unseen, frictionless floor, the strange glassy surface offering no resistance against his phantom clothes. He looked directly across the dark expanse at the only source of light in his entire world.

Valeria was sitting opposite him.

The last time he had seen the Crimson Sharpshooter in this realm, she had looked exactly the way she had right before he violently blew her head off with her own sniper rifle.

Her ethereal form had been a terrifying, rotting mess with pale decaying skin clinging to bone, tattered clothes, and the horrifying visage of an ugly undead zombie groveling for her life.

However, looking at her right now, the transformation was staggering.

Her skin was rapidly clearing.

The sickly, necrotic grey was peeling away, replaced by a smooth pristine alabaster glow. The grotesque wounds and signs of decay were completely gone.

Even her hair, which had been a matted, rotting mess, was growing longer, flowing down her back in thick luscious waves of pure white energy.

She was still an entity of white soul-fire sitting in the absolute blackness of his mind, but she looked... pristine. Angelic, even.

Klaus tilted his head slightly with his dark eyes narrowing in observation.

"Is it just me, or did you get more good-looking...?" Klaus asked, his voice echoing endlessly into the dark void.

Valeria paused with a soft ethereal glow radiating from her newly restored features.

She raised a pale hand, gently running her slender fingers through her long flowing hair as a serene, deeply respectful expression painted her face.

"It is entirely natural, my King," Valeria replied. "Especially since I am now residing directly within the Soul King’s Domain... It is an absolute given that my soul would be rapidly replenished and purified by your overwhelming presence."

Klaus didn’t immediately respond. He simply sat cross-legged on the invisible floor, resting his elbows on his knees.

’The Soul King’s Domain...’ Klaus thought, mentally rolling the grandiose title around in his head.

It sounded incredibly imposing, but it also sounded like a massive, glowing target painted directly on his back.

In all his years dominating Artemis Online as Heavenly_Commoner, he had scoured the wiki, memorized the patch notes, and explored the deepest lore of the game.

Yet, the title of ’Soul King’ had never once popped up in the official canon.

"Explain more about this," Klaus demanded. "Who and what exactly is this Soul King person? And why am I the Soul King?"

Upon hearing his direct command, Valeria immediately shifted her posture.

She dropped to her knees on the glassy floor and deeply bowed her head, displaying the utmost reverence for her new master.

"The title you bear is an ancient one, my King," Valeria began softly. "The Original Soul King was not a mortal man. He was... a divine entity. To be specific, the Original Soul King was the twin brother of the Original Death God."

Klaus completely froze.

His spine stiffened, and his eyes widened by a fraction of an inch. A cold dread instantly pooled in his stomach.

The Death God... The absolute zenith of the Death Cult’s worship... The entity renowned across the entire continent for consuming the souls of thousands in a terrifying unending attempt to reincarnate itself into the mortal plane.

’You have got to be kidding me,’ Klaus thought. ’I am the brother of the final boss? The literal god of the psychos who just tried to kidnap and sell me?’

He absolutely did not want to be tied to a god of death. That was the fastest way to get hunted down by every single Paladin, Holy Knight, and righteous Hero on the continent.

If the major religious factions found out his soul was connected to the Death Cult’s supreme deity, his comfortable plans would be completely obliterated.

Sensing the sudden violent spike of distress radiating from his soul, Valeria quickly lifted her head.

"Please do not be alarmed, my King!" Valeria chimed in rapidly, her hands raising defensively. "It is not you who is the twin! You are merely the inheritor. The Original Soul King is a completely separate entity from the past."

Klaus took a slow, deep breath forcing his heart rate to steady. "Start from the beginning. Give me the actual history."

Valeria lowered her hands, resting them politely in her lap as her glowing green eyes looked up at him.

"There was an ancient era," Valeria explained. "An era where gods and humans co-existed openly upon the earth. Though I was not alive during this golden age, there are ancient, preserved records of it meticulously kept by my sisters within the Death Cult."

She paused, allowing the weight of the history to settle in the void.

"In this era, there were massive, continent-spanning factions dedicated to the different gods," Valeria continued. "Within the Death God’s faction, there existed the Soul King. While the Death God ruled over mortality and the end of life, the Soul King possessed an absolute terrifying mastery over souls that even his twin brother lacked. He could weave the ethereal, draw upon a massive, unending army of subservient souls, and perfectly utilize all of their accumulated skills and spells in battle."

Klaus listened intently, his analytical mind instantly categorizing the information.

’So that explains why I can access her skills with or without the Master-Slave contract,’ Klaus thought.

"Eventually," Valeria said. "the era passed. The gods collectively decided to ascend, leaving the mortal plane to move upward into the Higher Realm. However, the Death God fundamentally disagreed. In his fury and hunger, he attempted to violently destroy the other gods rather than ascend peacefully."

"And the Soul King?" Klaus asked.

"He betrayed his own blood," Valeria answered with her voice dropping to a whisper. "The Original Soul King betrayed his twin brother. He actively allied himself with the ascending gods, utilizing his vast army of souls to combat the Death God’s forces. Together, they successfully defeated him and permanently sealed the Death God away in the Great Beyond."

Klaus stroked his chin, the puzzle pieces finally snapping together perfectly.

"After the sealing, life continued," Valeria explained. "The Original Soul King eventually faded, but his essence remained. Since that ancient war, there have been two distinct iterations... two reincarnations of the Soul King’s power. You, my Lord, are the third reincarnation."

Klaus absorbed the massive lore dump in complete silence.

He was the third iteration of a divine, god-betraying powerhouse. It was a massive upgrade from being a nameless mob, but it came with centuries of terrifying mythological baggage.

Valeria then bowed her head lower as a highly uncharacteristic awkward hesitation suddenly halted her divine history lesson.

"I... I actually knew the Last Soul King, my Lord," Valeria admitted. "Before I died and became undead."

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "You knew the second reincarnation? How powerful was he? Did he teach you anything?"

"Well..." Valeria stuttered, her glowing white face suddenly flushing with a highly visible, embarrassing shade of pink. "He... he stole my panties, my King. Which is specifically why I attacked you and tried to kill you."

Klaus stared at her.

He stared at her for five long uninterrupted seconds.

"You tried to kill me over Panties?" Klaus deadpans, his voice flat and completely devoid of any amusement.

Valeria’s face turned violently red as the ethereal glow of her soul was practically radiating heat from her sheer embarrassment.

She immediately bowed her head so fast it almost touched the glassy floor.

"I am so incredibly sorry, my King!" Valeria apologized frantically, her hands gripping her knees. "I was a different person back then! I was highly temperamental, and he was a notorious pervert! I swear my loyalty to you is absolute, please forgive my past transgressions against your predecessor!"

Klaus let out a long sigh, aggressively pinching the bridge of his nose.

Of course. Even in a world filled with ancient lore and terrifying magic, the previous inheritor of his divine bloodline was a degenerate.

"Just... continue with the story," Klaus muttered, waving his hand dismissively.

Valeria cleared her throat, visibly struggling to regain her solemn composure.

"Y-Yes, my King," Valeria stammered. "As I was saying... In the eyes of the human factions and the righteous churches, the Soul King is viewed as a powerful, benevolent being. A divine guardian who is specifically meant to stand by the side of the Chosen Hero."

"How?" Klaus asked with his mind instantly spotting the contradiction. "How does a being tied to the Death God’s lineage become a symbol of righteousness for the Heroes?"

"Because of the precedent set by your predecessor," Valeria explained smoothly. "The second reincarnation of the Soul King officially assisted the former Chosen Hero of that era. Together, they forcefully pushed back the Death God when his cult nearly succeeded in breaching the seal of the Great Beyond."

Klaus nodded slowly, his mind working in overdrive.

If the Soul King was historically recognized as the greatest traitor to the Death Cult, and the ultimate ally of the Hero...

"Hm..." Klaus muttered, his eyes narrowing sharply. "If the Soul King is that much of a traitor to your religion, then why didn’t the Heir Of Death kill me back in the cave?"

It was a glaring error.

The Heir of Death possessed enough raw power to crush him like an insect yet, the Heir had simply toyed with him and let them leave.

"It was clear that the Heir was not taking us seriously, or else we wouldn’t have escaped," Klaus concluded analytically. "As for the Wraith, she was lightwork but the Heir... he held back."

Valeria nodded, a look of deep disdain crossing her flawless features when the cult was mentioned.

"You are incredibly perceptive, my King," Valeria confirmed. "My sisters in the Death Cult... they planned to manipulate you. Despite the historical betrayal, they believed that since your soul originates from the same divine root as the Death God, they could corrupt you. They wanted to force you into joining our cause, utilizing your Soul power to finally shatter the seal."

She looked directly into his eyes, her glowing green irises filled with burning sincerity.

"And I was with them, too," Valeria admitted openly, refusing to lie to her master. "I was part of that grand plan. However, I am entirely on your side now, Soul King."

Klaus didn’t smile as he simply let out another dry sigh.

"You’re only on my side because you’re forced to be," Klaus stated logically, cutting right through her emotional declaration. "You signed the Master-Slave contract. After all, you don’t want to die."

Valeria didn’t argue. She simply bowed her head again, accepting his pragmatic assessment of their relationship.

"Oh, right," Klaus said, shifting the topic to his immediate arsenal. "Tell me about that black stone thing. The terrifying darkness that was crawling up your skin when you first entered my soul. What was that?"

Valeria physically shivered at the memory, her ethereal form flickering slightly in the dark.

"T-That..." Valeria stuttered, her voice laced with genuine, lingering terror. "I theorize that is the Soul King’s innate ability to trap and solidify foreign souls within his own domain. It forcibly strips away free will, turning the entity into a mindless, petrified statue trapped in the dark forever."

She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her shoulders.

"I can only guess that this specific, horrifying process is exactly how the Original Soul King built his legendary Soul Army," Valeria deduced. "By turning his enemies into permanent, solidified batteries of power. However, the previous reincarnations of the Soul King hadn’t ever used that specific petrification ability to my knowledge, so I wouldn’t know the exact mechanics."

Klaus nodded slowly.

"That’s fair," Klaus said.

He then shifted his thoughts to the very first thing he had heard upon entering this realm. The mysterious disconnected voice that had briefly echoed in the dark.

"What about that weird voice?" Klaus asked. "The one that spoke before you showed up. It called me Lord, and it explicitly said I should come find it in the Haunted Winterlands."

Valeria’s eyes widened significantly.

"The Haunted Winterlands..." Valeria repeated, awe coloring her tone. "That is the exact geographic location where the last Soul King died, my King."

She leaned forward, her expression turning incredibly serious.

"Soul King, that voice... it may be the Soul Shinigami..." Valeria revealed, dropping a massive piece of lore directly into his lap. "The Shinigami is the ultimate death spirit, a terrifying entity that has been passed down from Soul King to Soul King since the ancient era. It is your divine right. You would absolutely need her to completely awaken your full potential as the true Soul King."

Klaus sat in the void with the heavy ringing in his ears.

’So... the Shinigami was originally meant for the Soul King,’ Klaus realized, running the calculations. ’But because I was just a nameless mob in the original game, and the Soul King lineage was likely dormant or dead, Neo ended up finding it by pure protagonist luck.’

He wasn’t going to let Neo have it... not in this lifetime. That power belonged to his bloodline, and he needed every single unfair overpowered advantage he could get his hands on to survive this chaotic world.

He rubbed his beardless chin with his dark eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Well then," Klaus said, his voice filled with newfound resolve. "I’ll make a highly detailed plan to visit there."

With his objective securely locked in his mind, Klaus placed his hands on his knees and smoothly stood up, his boots making no sound against the glassy floor.

He dusted off his clothes and looked around the suffocating darkness.

"How do I leave here?" Klaus asked.

Valeria remained kneeling with a look of utter helplessness crossing her face as she simply shrugged her delicate shoulders.

"My King, this is your soul after all..." Valeria answered sheepistically. "I don’t know the exact schemati—"

CRACK!

Before she could even finish the word, the entire pitch-black world violently shattered like a fragile pane of glass.

The sensory deprivation ended in an instant, replaced by a blinding overwhelming rush of physical reality.

Klaus’s dark eyes snapped wide open.

He gasped, sitting up violently on the soft fabric of the living room couch.

His chest heaved as he took deep, desperate breaths with his lungs pulling in the cool familiar air of the inn.

His heart was hammering against his ribs as the transition from the absolute stillness of the soul world to the loud, vibrant reality of the physical world was heavily jarring but his mind instantly adapted.

’Ah,’ Klaus thought, his breathing slowly steadying as he ran a hand through his messy hair. ’I finally realized how to leave there. I simply had to mentally command the whole domain to shoot me out.’

It was surprisingly intuitive, like flexing a muscle he didn’t know he had.

’That was—’

Klaus paused his internal thought midway. His dark eyes slowly focused on the scene unfolding directly in front of him.

"Good evening, Master," Mirela greeted politely.

The maid was sitting directly on the wooden floorboards with her posture perfectly straight and proper.

However, the usual pristine tranquility of the inn’s living room had been completely upended.

The heavy, solid wood coffee table had been aggressively pushed from its usual spot near the windows and dragged directly into the dead center of the living room.

Surrounding the table, sitting cross-legged on the floor in a tight, highly competitive circle, were all four women.

Each of them was holding a fan of playing cards close to their chests and the atmosphere in the room was suffocatingly thick.

They weren’t just playing a casual game to pass the evening. They were glaring at each other over the rims of their cards like opposing generals on a bloody battlefield.

Klaus simply sat on the edge of the couch, staring blankly at the highly absurd scene then he slowly rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"What the hell are you all doing?" Klaus asked with his voice completely deadpan but Taula didn’t even flinch at his tone.

Instead, a wide, highly aggressive and victorious grin stretched completely across her face.

She leaned forward, her eyes flashing with pure competitive fire, and violently slammed her entire hand of cards face-up onto the center of the wooden table with a resounding SMACK then she looked up at Klaus with her grin widening.

"Well you see..." Taula announced loudly, her voice dripping with absolute triumph as the other three women glared at her winning hand. "We’re having a game of cards to see who gets to sleep in your room tonight!"