Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

"With only one clone remaining, there's only one more step left. Will you do the honor?" I asked with a courageous smile.

There was no way my ability could kill me. There was no other way but to have him help me.

I had already located and isolated the |devious| trait and the contract within my current fey core. The new fey core wasn't fully linked to my current fey core but rather through [creation] and |creator|. This way, unwanted information wasn't automatically copied to my new fey core. It was all rather complicated but I managed to make it work such that only the desired portions would transfer after the destruction of my current fey core. The parts of my soul that had |devious| trait and contract attached would be destroyed by Vorte. He was now officially a guardian and had the capability to interact with soul energy. It was unfortunate but things had to be this way.

The main reason why he didn't just attack my fey core directly was because things could get ugly. This was his first attempt at destroying a portion of someone's soul.

He was an amateur! A new hire, a surgeon trainee!

Frankly, we couldn't even be sure he could destroy a soul. In the end if he only managed to shatter my fey core, those soul parts that couldn't be transferred would be quarantined within my subspace elsewhere. He was at least capable of that much as a guardian.

"Not so fast."

"What? It wasn't easy to work up the courage to die you know?"

"There's a possibility that your subspace may collapse upon your death."

"Is there a way to prevent that or do we have to do it outside?"

"That depends on how long it takes for you to revive. I may be able to hold it off from collapsing for a short period of time. You should inject sufficient mana into your subspace to slow down the process."

"Sure. Before we do that, I want to make some preparations in case that demon makes a move."

The way my subspaces were arranged, at least based on my previous world knowledge, was that they were connected in every direction. There was no space outside my individual subspaces, meaning space didn't truly exist. And from outsider perspective looking at my three subspaces from the void, they would only see a dot. The separation really only happened within my subspace. That was the strangeness of this whole thing meaning each subspace was a singularity and as a whole.

Anyway, to guard against invaders from outside of my subspaces, I rearranged the how the subspaces were partitioned. Just because an outsider could only see a dot didn't mean there couldn't be layers within.

Of the three subspaces, my current residence was the most inner part, or the core. Here I condensed as much mana as I could and infused them into the air and clouds. I really didn't have any divine artifacts I could store condensed mana. Anyway, if anything happened to me, this was the last place to collapse.

The next or middle layer was all the resources I had gathered. It should prove difficult for anyone trying to penetrate that layer because of all the various phases of matter. To be honest though, it was mostly empty so hopefully it would at least serve to confuse the enemies.

The third or final layer was again mostly emptiness. A simple battleground was prepared. Ideally, I would like to stop any enemies there to prevent collateral damage to my subspace.

Even though they were described in layers, when inside the subspaces, one wouldn't be able to notice it. After all, the boundaries at the edges of these subspaces were naturally warped. That was about all I could do with the subspaces for now.

"Alright, I think we're good to go. The structures are there to keep out intruders and mana is now infused into the core!"

With everything prepared, all that was left was a temporary death. The transfer should be fairly quick but since this was my first time using |parallel bodies| trait, there was the possibility of unforeseen complications.

To make my death much quicker, I transferred nearly all of my mana into the new fey core. This was also to prevent any automatic regeneration due to my oversight.

"Let's begin. I'm ready!" I stated with fierce determination.

Please, please don't make this painful! I hate pain. I prayed with my eyes closed.

"Very well, transfer immediately after your fey core is damaged. Once I have confirmed your exit, I shall destroy the remainder."

Don't make me wait any longer. I'm already anxious enough!

In an instance, my chest was pierced. Debilitating pain surged through my body while my limbs began to lose feelings.

"Kuh..."

I knew it was coming but I could never get used to this pain. My chest was penetrated I was too scared to check.

"...Is it damaged yet?"

"Patience."

So no... What else is coming?

The answer came quicker than I expected. Pressure began building up as if someone was squeezing my heart with iron claws.

Hurry up! How hard is it to crack a flipping fey core?

The pain this time couldn't even be compared to the times I had my limps cut off, not even close. This had to be hundreds of times worse. When it came to excruciating pain like this, the passage of a single second felt eternal.

Just before I blacked out, I felt a faint crack followed by the sound of shattering glasses. Well, it at least the pain faded rather quickly after my fey core was shattered. With the pain dissipated, all that was left was exhaustion.

Strangely enough, the soul didn't feel pain. When I had tried to sever it the unwanted portion and isolate it, I only felt a bit of emptiness. Since it was only a tiny portion of my soul, there were no severe repercussions. The reason it had to be destroyed was because the detached soul pieces would naturally try to rejoin the main part and I couldn't expel it out of the fey core by myself.

The last thing I heard was, "It's done."

I'm exhausted.

That sudden release of pain and pressure was liberating. Now, I could only hear nothing and feel nothing. My consciousness was adrift in the void.

Silence.

Perhaps I should rest here for a while.

Silence was a blessing. Although it was a bit lonely, silence was my friend.

I wonder how I'm supposed to transfer myself into my new fey core? How does it work? I should just recuperate here for a while. I'm sure Vorte is handling everything fine.

[Soul corridor has been establish. Do you wish to return to your body? Yes/No.]

It was the same voice I heard many times when I was about to level. A line was usually displayed to show what was said in case I didn't hear everything.

Hmm? Return to my body...? Not yet. I have questions. I've been wondering. Who are you?

[I am unable to answer at this time. Soul corridor has been established. Do you wish to return to your body? Yes/No.]

Surprisingly, it could be communicated with. At first, I thought it was from the system, but now that it could answer questions I was inclined to believe that this voice might some type of artificial intelligence. It was a female voice, quite soothing and natural unlike that of a crude artificial intelligence.

Unable to answer at this time? When will you be able to answer? And, will I be able to speak with you again?

[Yes.]

It only answered my last question.

One more question regarding you, are you an artificial intelligence?

[I cannot answer.]

Fair enough, you have your reasons. When you asked me with the question earlier, if I choose to return, that means to return to that world, right? Into that clone, right?

[You must choose for yourself. I can only repeat the question.]

How strange... Do I have other options?

[I cannot answer.]

Sigh, why do this to me. What happens if I choose "No."?

[I cannot answer.]

Why can't you answer?

[Insufficient authority.]

Does god have enough authority? He made me into a strawberry plant. Take me to him! I demand answers!

[I cannot answer. No coordinates provided.]

Tch, useless thing.

The voice couldn't tell me anything useful at all. I wasted all this time for nothing. However, I wasn't about to give up!

Earlier I died. Am I still in that system?

[No.]

It finally provided me with something useful. From what I understood, the system created the statuses and everything. Without it, there wouldn't be any traits and abilities. Fey cores, whether they would exist without the system was questionable.

Anyway, given that I was no longer in the system, I was likely also no longer on that planet. That much I kind of knew since I died within my subspace instead of on the planet.

[Am I in the void?]

[No.]

Huh? If I'm not on that planet and I'm not in the void, then where in the world am I?

I was currently in the dark place that stretched indefinitely in all directions. Or rather, there were no directions here because space didn't seem to exist.

[This is a null space.]

How is that different from the void? Hah... I guess that explains it. Void would mean lack of existence. Alright, you got me. Does time exist here?

[Yes.]

I see. I guess I can't extract any more information. Since I have unfinished business, I need to get going. Time waits for no one!

[Understood. Answer selected: No.]

Huh? Huh?! Wait what? Wait!