By Zephyria 
It should definitely be unsettling. Bone fragments of someone I don’t even know. But strangely enough, I was drawn to it. And I had felt this sensation before.
‘When I saw the Divine Object.’
Of course, I can’t be sure that these remains of someone are the same as the Divine Object that Old Dragon was keeping. I didn’t think Ardian would lie about something like this, so it was unlikely to be a Divine Object.
But I’m definitely drawn to it like I was back then.
Then I had no choice but to check it myself.
I carefully reached out and touched the bone fragments. At that moment, a strong reaction began to appear, just like when I touched the Divine Object.
I saw Sword, who was on guard, rushing over in surprise, but my vision quickly turned white. When I blinked, I was in an unfamiliar place again. It felt like I was swimming in a deep, dark sea.
‘Where is this….’
I feel like I’ve been having a long dream. Listening calmly, I heard a voice from somewhere. A voice asking me for a favor. Listening to it, I naturally realized. That the owner of the voice is my creator, ‘God’, and that I am a Sealed Soul born from him.
It was the moment of Genesis Era when I was born.
‘Ah.’
My consciousness gradually faded. Feeling the boundary between dream and reality collapsing was only for a moment, and I completely melted into the sea of memories.
☠
“Seal and subdue Chaos.”
God gave the Sealed Soul a mission.
The Sealed Soul, whose name means to seal and contain, is a vessel created solely to seal Chaos, and that is the reason I was born into this world. To uphold that command, the Sealed Soul went down to earth to calm the fearful humans, and then confronted Chaos, the evil god who brought disorder to this world.
“Are you… Chaos?”
And the Chaos that the Sealed Soul first encountered on a remote island was like a prickly cat that wouldn’t open its heart to anyone.
No, not figuratively, but literally.
The being who became an evil god because it was feared by all the creatures on earth was wearing the guise of a ‘small, cute black cat’. That fact is definitely enough to make one vomit. But it didn’t give any impressions to the Sealed Soul, who had no emotions.
“I will seal you according to heaven and earth.”
“…If you come any closer, I’ll kill you.”
Chaos threatened and bristled, but that wouldn’t work on the Sealed Soul. Undeterred, I reached out my hand, and Chaos, feeling the crisis, shed its guise. As a black mass that seemed to swallow the world made a low growl, the heavens and the earth began to shake.
It was a very hideous and frightening sight.
“Is that your true form?”
There is no answer from Chaos. The Sealed Soul also did not want to hear an answer, so I reached out my hand to him again. Before that, Chaos poured attacks on the Sealed Soul, but all of those attacks began to be absorbed as if sucked into the Sealed Soul.
“……!”
Not only that. Not only did it absorb Chaos’s energy, but the Sealed Soul even tried to absorb Chaos itself into its body. Only then did Chaos realize that the Sealed Soul was in itself ‘an object made for sealing’, but it was already too late.
Even as it struggled and writhed to escape, the Sealed Soul nibbled away at Chaos, and after days of fighting, the battle ended when Chaos, who was exhausted first, was completely sealed.
After that, the Sealed Soul separated all the power from Chaos sealed inside it.
Using another heart it possessed, the Mana Heart.
When that power was spread to the world, a new life form called Spirit was born from it. The Sealed Soul also created Mana Hearts for humans, and humans were able to use them to develop the world.
The humans elected the Sealed Soul as their King, and the elves, dragons, dwarves, giants, and humans who had always existed in the world chose priests to protect the Sealed Soul’s side.
The world where Chaos had disappeared was peaceful.
And Chaos still hated the world.
Inside the Sealed Soul.
[Hey.]
Then one day, Chaos spoke to the Sealed Soul first. It was the first time that Chaos, who was always crouching in a corner and spewing curses and hating humans and the world, had spoken like that.
[…Why do you call?]
The Sealed Soul listened to his words.
Maybe it’s because it’s amazing, that’s why.
Chaos, who had been silent after calling, was still crouching when the Sealed Soul entered the inner world and faced him directly. To be exact, it was the appearance of a crouching cat, though.
[What’s the reason you don’t annihilate me and leave me alone?]
Chaos also continued to speak, as if sensing the Sealed Soul’s presence.
[I know that you are immortal but not immortal. I’m going to kill you someday and I’m going to resurrect.]
[…….]
[You’re an enemy who’s constantly trying to take your life, aren’t you afraid?]
Chaos sneered at the foolish Sealed Soul. But the Sealed Soul felt that he was depressed.
It wasn’t a sincere sound.
Sealing Chaos meant that it was almost one with him, so the Sealed Soul could sense the form of the emotions he was feeling to some extent.
[Hmm.]
The Sealed Soul rested its chin on its hand and was lost in thought.
Not long ago, Matra, the representative priest elected by the humans, also rebuked him for not annihilating Chaos, saying that there was no reason to keep him alive any longer, but the Sealed Soul could not answer.
The reason is, it doesn’t know the reason itself.
It glossed over Matra with the words ‘It’s a command given by God’, but the true heart could not be known even by itself. So it was natural that it couldn’t answer.
So I brought up a slightly different story.
[You’ve already lost all your power anyway. Even if I die someday and your seal is really broken, it will be difficult to regain enough power to threaten the world.]
[…You never know.]
[In the first place, how are you going to kill me? In this state where only the mental body remains?]
[…….]
There is no answer from Chaos. The Sealed Soul understood that Chaos was resenting it now. I don’t know why, but I felt excited. I feel that it is similar to the excitement I felt when I was first born from the creator and received a mission, and when I completed the mission I was given.
According to Matra, this was an emotion called joy.
Surely Chaos felt it too.
[Get out!]
Chaos shouted in annoyance. Then, the Sealed Soul’s mental body was pushed out as if pushed out. The space where Chaos resided was not entirely the Sealed Soul’s, even if it was inside the Sealed Soul, so it was possible.
After that, the Sealed Soul thought that Chaos would no longer call it. It seemed annoyed. But it wasn’t. Chaos called the Sealed Soul quite often than I thought.
Since there was nothing it could do while sealed and it was impossible to escape from it right now, it seemed to need a talking partner.
[You don’t have a name? Then Sealed Soul wasn’t a name?]
[Sealed Soul is just a word that refers to me. It’s not a name.]
It was when I was talking to Chaos and a story related to names came up and I answered that way. For some reason, Chaos was silent, and the Sealed Soul tilted its head in bewilderment.
Not long after, Chaos slowly opened its mouth.
[If that’s the case, I don’t have one either. A name.]
At that moment, something arose in the Sealed Soul’s heart.
[…Is that so.]
When the Sealed Soul smiled faintly, Chaos was shaken by it. The Sealed Soul itself was not aware of it, but that smile was the first one it had ever made since it was born… Chaos, who had been with it all along, knew it.
[Then, ‘Adam’. From now on, this is your name.]
That day, Chaos had a name for the first time. The Sealed Soul could tell that Chaos was genuinely happy about that fact. Afterwards, Chaos said he would give her a name too, and gave the Sealed Soul the name ‘Eve’.
A name that no one else knew, and no one else would call her.
Even so, it was good.
Was it thanks to that secret between them?
As the days went by, the Sealed Soul and Chaos spent more and more time with each other.
As she learned more about Chaos, the Sealed Soul realized that he actually loved humans. That he took the form of a small, insignificant cat so as not to inspire fear in the humans he loved. And yet, he was a pitiful being who was not reciprocated by those humans.
Not truly loved, and not understood because there was no one like him…
A lonely being, the only one of its kind in the world.
After understanding that fact, the indefinable, subtle emotion that the Sealed Soul had consistently felt towards Chaos intensified. She was preoccupied trying to figure out what it was, and the hint came from elsewhere. One day, Matra called the Sealed Soul a ‘lonely being’, grieved for her, and swore that he would never leave her side, and that’s when she realized.
‘Yes. I am alone.’
It gave her a feeling of floating alone in this world.
That was an emotion defined as loneliness.
‘And Chaos is lonely too.’
She finally understood that this created a sense of kinship.
As soon as the Sealed Soul understood her feelings, she went to Chaos and said,
[I know why I’ve been drawn to you all along.]
[…What is it? Why are you suddenly here?]
[You and I are alike. Like looking in a mirror.]
It wasn’t obvious, but the Sealed Soul was a little excited, and Chaos felt it, so despite the sudden situation, he listened to the Sealed Soul’s story in silence.
[That’s why I couldn’t destroy you. Because when I see you, I unconsciously think of my own situation. People call it a sense of kinship. So, I guess I’ve been feeling a sense of kinship by projecting myself onto you.]
[…In what ways do you feel a sense of kinship?]
At Chaos’s question, the Sealed Soul approached him. Kneeling demurely in front of him, the Sealed Soul pulled Chaos, in his cat form, into her arms.
[In that you are not truly loved.]
[……]
[And in that you are lonely.]
Chaos’s yellow eyes trembled with agitation.
It was also the first time Chaos had been understood by someone, so the dam of emotions that he had been carefully building up and precariously maintaining was instantly unleashed.
The Sealed Soul watched Chaos, who was crying in her arms, and smiled a little bitterly.
He and she were alike, but also so different… Only Chaos could feel emotions so richly and shed tears of sadness. She couldn’t properly understand sadness, so she couldn’t shed tears either.
But, I’m satisfied with you crying for me.
The Sealed Soul thought so and patted Chaos.
As if comforting herself.