"Its good to be back in my body for a change."

Damon's voice echoed through the darkness.

"You do not have a body," Lazarak replied calmly.

"Tsk." Damon made the faint click of a tongue. He was, after all, just a disembodied heart suspended in shadows.

"I believe this is karma. I once teased a teacher of mine for being a disembodied pair of lips. Now I think I understand how she felt."

Matia stood near the shifting shadows, her posture steady as she observed the two. At her feet was Ghost, who refused to take a solid form. His trembling outline hugged the ground like a frightened animal.

Damon had returned seven days after leaving. That was how long he had been gone. He had succeeded in removing the chains. Both he and Lazarak were no longer bound to this particular floor of the prison. The issue was that Damon could not leave without a physical body.

Lazarak, on the other hand, did not seem interested in leaving at all.

Damon's form flickered as the shadows around him opened like dark flames licking the air.

"It's as I thought. I cannot absorb any mana from the air."

"No surprise there. You are an alien to this world. Naturally it will reject you," Lazarak said with an all knowing look.

Damon's shadows twisted irritably. "What do you mean."

Lazarak's darkness rose and fell like smoke freed from a lid. He moved with greater ease now that the chains no longer held him.

"Did I not mention this before. While we are in a lower realm connected to Aetherus, we are still not natives. Therefore this world has no reason to grant us its blessing or protection."

Damon understood immediately.

"So we are like an infection. The body attempts to fight us off. Hold on. Does that mean the world would actively try to kill us."

Lazarak gave a soft chuckle.

"Will it. Oh no. It already is. Besides, it is a good thing we share the same source origin as this world or the restrictions would be far worse. Think about it. Everyone in this realm is limited to a certain rank. Put simply, we are only as powerful as the strongest native who has grown here."

Lazarak's shadows lifted and dropped in something close to a shrug.

"It is a universal law. No one escapes it."

Damon narrowed his eyes. Was this the reason the outsiders had never destroyed Aetherus. First Valarie had said they discarded their true bodies and used new vessels here. Their power had been heavily restricted the moment they entered.

"What about a true god." Damon asked.

Lazarak fell silent. When he finally spoke, his voice carried a bitter edge.

"They make the laws."

Damon believed him, yet he could not help doubting. They may have created the laws, but even gods seemed to follow rules. Not because they could not break them, but because order only existed if they pretended to respect it.

In Damon's mind, it was like nobles creating tax policies. They ignored those policies when convenient. Yet common people obeyed every rule or faced punishment backed by overwhelming force.

"There is no rule or law in this world that is not backed by the threat of overwhelming violence."

"In the end violence answers most things. Even order stands on its foundation."

Damon let out a faint sigh, or the closest sound a heart could make to one. He would need to consider several methods to counter this drawback. For now, his goal was finding a way out and rebuilding a physical form.

"Now then. With the chains gone, what is next. The prisoners on the fourth level should not be as powerful, right."

Lazarak's form stirred, the darkness drawing together.

"We are in the seventh floor. The sixth contains the murmur worms. They are imprisoned here but they also act as wardens. The fifth floor holds those vile horrors and its warden is Root Ore."

He muttered to himself as if recalling old memories.

"I am not entirely sure, but I think the next one is called the Trial of Truth. That floor is guarded by an entity that serves Seraph Null. It is called the Mirror Seraph."

Damon felt a cold knot form in his chest. Truth had never been a friend to him. Damon was a liar and a thief. Truth felt like poison.

"Can we, by any chance, force our way out of these trials."

Lazarak scoffed as if Damon had asked the most idiotic question in existence.

"These trials are designed to be impossible to bypass. This is a prison, Damon, not your mother's backyard. You cannot simply come and go."

Damon was quiet. "How long have you been waiting to use that one."

The darkness slowly shaped itself into a vague form and shrugged.

"A few thousand years. Having someone to speak to is a delight."

Damon made a dry, heart shaped sigh.

"So you are the one taking this trial, right."

Lazarak twitched. His darkness scattered at the edges.

"You want a god to do your dirty work. Shame on you. I am a god."

Matia, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke.

"What happens when you fail to pass."

Lazarak paused, then waved the darkness dismissively.

"Oh nothing much. You will only lose your soul and personality forever. Casual inconveniences like that."

Matia nodded. Her expression remained calm and unreadable.

"Good. Then who better to overcome the trial than a noble and honest god. My master is a sly, no good wretch who cannot be honest to save his life."

She looked at Lazarak with cold certainty.

"You will intervene, will you not, your holiness."

Damon felt a sharp sting in his core. She was telling the truth, yes, but she did not have to say it so directly. It hurt. How could she be so cruel to him.

Lazarak's darkness shifted toward Damon as if giving him a look.

"She really does say it as it is. How terrible do you need to be for your own subordinate to call you out."

"Ptui." Damon mimicked the sound of spitting.

"How dare you backbite me, Lazarak. I will have you know I am an honest person. People love me. I am not greedy. I never steal. And above all else I do not scam or gamble. I only kill people sometimes, but that is in self defense."

Lazarak stared. His silence was thick with disgust and disbelief.

He turned to Matia, shaking his head with pity.

"Do not worry, sweet winter child. This god will answer. I will protect you from this vile creature. As a god, it is my duty to step forward."

Matia did not move, but something cunning flickered in her eyes.

"Great. Lead the way."

Lazarak froze.

"Hold on. Something is not right. You tricked…"

Matia tilted her head innocently.

Lazarak clicked his tongue.

"Birds of a feather scam together."

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