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They were in a field. They had bought blankets and sheets and used them on the grass. Under Mori was the cheapest one, which would be stained by his blood once Xannos would start carving him.

One thing everyone had agreed on, is that they wouldn\'t sleep in that inn anymore, so they aquired anything they would need to camp outside.

"Remember, if anything happens, call my full name out. Chains will pop out and restrain me, normally nothing should be able to get out."

"Yeah don\'t worry, we\'ll stay here and make sure it goes well," said Aura.

"Yeah, I\'d never miss such a show," said Lilae.

"Well, personally..." started Reaper.

Mori\'s expression hardened.

"Please leave, Reaper. Do some recon, make sure we aren\'t interrupted. See if we\'ve been followed, or something, make yourself useful."

"Thanks, I truly didn\'t want to stay here for this," he said, leaving in a puff of smoke, smiling.

"Alright, I\'m starting. But... those holes in your chest seem concerning," said Xannos.

"Because they are."

"What are they? Should I avoid them?" he asked.

"I\'m the cursed Sovereign. As you know, my mana is cursed energy, in its pure form."

"Yes, this much we know," said Lilae.

"When I break through my \'Paths\', with [Hex Harvesting], I\'m hosting hexes. The black eldritch beings you\'ve seen coming out of me."

"Hexes? Aren\'t they souls? I thought you were doing necromancy..." said Lilae.

"I can\'t resurrect the dead. All I can do is defile corpses with hexes. These beings basically possess the corpses."

"And so, they coming out of those holes in your body?" asked Xannos.

"There\'s no holes in my body," said Mori.

Everyone\'s eyebrows arched, as they were staring at his body, clearly ridden with holes.

Mori exhaled, exasperated.

"The hexes aren\'t from this \'dimension\'. They don\'t live here, among us. You won\'t encounter them in the wild, as you have a leisurely stroll in the woods. I\'m hosting them as a bridge between their dimension and this one."

"And what\'s their purpose?" asked Xannos.

"Chaos. You wouldn\'t comprehend what they\'re thinking, it makes no sense. They\'re extremely chaotic, but still useful for most of my spells."

"Okay, that makes sense, but you said those weren\'t holes..." said Lilae pointing at his torso.

"I\'m getting to it..."

Mori rubbed his forehead, summoning his remaining patience.

"My heart, lungs, liver, and all other organs are still there. Those \'holes\' are more like portals to their dimension. They\'re only on the surface of my body. When I\'m piercing my body with chains, I\'m truly sealing those gateways."

"I didn\'t know..." said Aura.

"Doesn\'t matter. What I need you to do, Xannos, is make sure you seal those gates."

"This changes everything... This is a totally different kind of sealing. I\'m not even sure I can do it..."

"Try, at least."

Xannos smiled, taking his feather.

Yeah, with that smile, it\'s clear you were \'hesitating\'. Is everyone in Asmodael\'s royal guards group like this?

He dipped the feather in bowl next to him. Its liquid looked like black ink, although it wasn\'t.

Mori barely felt as the inscription happened. The pain was reduced so much, all he felt was a slight pressure on his chest.

Lilae looked ecstatic, while Aura seemed concerned.

Eventually Aura left to walk around and explore the nature around, leaving Mori to his procedure.

Truthfully, it was boring. He stared at the blue sky which expanded beyond his imagination, barely any clouds in sight.

The cicadas were loud, a detail he enjoyed, as it was the first time he heard them.

The only time he did, before, was in series and movies where nature was involved.

Quickly he got lost in thought, contemplating.

—~~—

"Is it not over?" asked Aura who just arrived.

"It\'s ART. You can\'t rush it, nobody told you that before?" said Xannos.

"Looks like you\'re butchering him, more than anything."

Mori looked down, Xannos was almost done.

"Let\'s prepare to camp out. I doubt the locals will mind it, none came around. Even if they did, they\'d most likely send men, in which case we\'ll have Lilae charm them."

"Is that why you kept me here? I thought you were rewarding me with this sight..."

"You\'re sick," said Aura.

"Yeah, and you need new insults, truly."

"Just help me, I\'ll start by making a fire and boiling some water."

"Sure, I was getting hungry, actually. Let\'s start with wood, and if lucky we\'ll get a rabbit or something."

"Get enough for everyone, remember Reaper is here too. I\'d rather eat something from that forest than anything the locals could sell us," said Xannos.

"Rough night?" asked Mori.

"We slept in mold. Literal mold. Only saw it when the morning arrived, I\'m never setting foot in that inn again."

"We\'re leaving soon, anyway. Tomorrow, or the day after, we\'ll do a straight line toward the mountains to the west."

"Why don\'t we leave tonight?" asked Xannos. "Once we\'re done eating we could hit the road right away."

"There\'s someone meeting us here tomorrow. An old foe turned friend."

"Oh? Well, I trust your judgement."

"I\'ve been meaning to ask, where\'s the rest of the royal guards gone?" asked Mori.

"Once the demonfolks were evacuated, most of them scattered. I\'m guessing they\'ll visit their hometowns... But I doubt that\'ll do any good. Humans did quite a number on them over the years. They won\'t feel at home."

That\'s one less thing to worry about.

Thirty minutes passed until Xannos finally completed his work.

He got up, stretching and admiring his work.

All around Mori\'s torso were intricate tattoos, all connected to each other.

It appeared normal on the surface, but as he ran his finger through it, he could feel the dents made in his body.

"Can I still summon hexes?" asked Mori.

"Smaller ones would be fine, the gateways should be able to close after they\'ve gone out, but bigger ones could damage the inscription."

"These gateways aren\'t there to get them out, but to help them in. The more hexes I host, the faster my progress is through my paths as a Sovereign... I let them carve holes in my body to speed the process, but to get them out I could simply use my mouth."

"Your... mouth? That\'s horrible, really..."

Mori chuckled, "I thought so, too."