Inside the portal, Solwyn found themselves within the same spatial tunnel that had taken them into the void. The only difference now was that they were heading back the way they came.
Thorwyn, still maintaining the majority of control over their shared body, felt a wave of relief as he no longer sensed the void pressing against their skin.
Their right hand, however, continued to about thrash violently, cutting a deep gash into their chest.
"Ahh! Hey, that hurt!" Solwyn yelped, activating [Beast Regeneration] to quickly heal the wound.
Sol scoffed inside their mind. 'That was nothing! Once I take control back and split us up, I'll show you much worse!'
"Don't worry, I was already going to do that, but let's get you back to normal first!" Thorwyn replied with their body aloud.
Just as Sol had been able to use Thorwyn's skills, including his law technique, [Descent of White Lightning], Thorwyn could now access Sol's as well. As he channeled Sol's abilities, their dark orange scales began to recede into their skin, and their horns shrank back into their skull. With the scales gone, their body returned to its original height.
'No! Stop, you fool!' Sol's voice howled.
He wasn't an idiot, he knew that undoing [Draconification] would weaken the Sin of Pride's influence. But he didn't care. He believed he was managing its effects just fine. If anything, he felt empowered by it.
But more importantly, Sol refused to let anyone dictate what he could or couldn't do.
He gathered all his mental strength and slammed his will against Thorwyn with everything he had.
'Gah!' Thorwyn grunted, caught off guard by the sudden surge of mental force. He was forced to redirect more focus to defense, leaving little to maintain physical control.
Their body went limp in midair, as they entered a state of free fall within the spatial tunnel, neither side in full control. The [Draconification] cancellation also slowed without a clear direction guiding it.
Despite being mentally crushed, Thorwyn held firm. 'This is for your own good!' he shouted.
The two clashed again in a mental war, as their body tumbled chaotically through the tunnel. Initially, when Thorwyn retook their body, that was because he had taken time to gather strength and overpower Sol, but now the tables had turned. Since Thorwyn was focused on controlling the body, Sol could now redirect more mental energy to overpowering him.
'Hahaha! Your time's running out!' Sol's laughter echoed in their mind as he began reclaiming control, starting with their legs and working his way upward.
Still in control of their head, Solwyn frowned, pouring all his focus into undoing the law technique. In doing so, Sol accelerated his takeover, but Thorwyn managed to complete his goal just in time.
Their body fully reverted to its original state before [Draconification].
'Hah! I did it!' Thorwyn cheered, just as he lost the last remnants of control over their body.
Now fully in command, Sol scowled. "So what if you did? I'll make you pay for defying me."
The first thing he did was undo [Harmonious Fusion]. Their body glowed brightly before splitting back into two distinct forms.
The moment they separated, Sol grabbed Thorwyn and slammed him against the spatial tunnel wall, dragging him across it as they continued to fly forward. The tunnel shook violently from the sudden force.
Thorwyn howled in pain, the wall felt like grinding against cosmic sandpaper.
"Awroo?! (Why are you still mean?!)"
Thorwyn had believed everything would be fine once the transformation was undone, but he had misunderstood a key aspect of [Draconification]. The sin of pride remained active even when the dragon bloodline was dormant, only that it was to a lesser degree. The only reason Sol had been unaffected while it was dorman was due to him creating and using [Mental Ward (Variant)] to shield his mind from its influence. But that technique had to be consciously activated—and Sol, in his current enraged state, had no intention of doing so.
Instinctively, Thorwyn wrapped himself in lightning, shocking Sol and forcing him to release his grip. He used the moment to launch forward, streaking through the tunnel like a bolt.
"You're not getting away from me that easily!" Sol shouted, activating [Lesser Channel Control] to seal Thorwyn's law technique.
Thorwyn's lightning vanished instantly, but he had already gained some distance. He bounded off the walls of the tunnel to pick up more speed, while Sol propelled himself after him using [Telekinesis].
"Get back here!"
...
Under the slightly cloudy sky, the air began to warp and twist as black portal opened just a few feet above the snowy ground.
Reena emerged first.
"We're ba—whoa!"
Her excitement was cut short as she realized she was midair. Gravity quickly took over, and she crashed face first into the snow.
Amber followed moments later. After quickly assessing the situation, she adjusted her posture and landed gracefully on her feet.
She looked down at Reena, who was now half submerged in the snow, and tilted her head.
"You okay?"
There was no answer.
Amber knelt down and lifted the dark elf girl, only to realize that Reena had passed out. The reason was easy to deduce, mana overdraft. Between using a large amount of mana to prevent the voidlings from breaching the dimensional wall and having to essentially reverse cast the portal that brought them to the void to begin with, she had drained every last drop of her mana. So when she made contact with the solid ground beneath the snow she immediately went unconscious.
Fortunately, all she needed was a mana potion and some rest.
Amber hoisted Reena onto her back to keep her from lying in the snow any longer.
As she looked around to find somewhere better to place her, a loud crashing erupted from the black portal.
Two figures burst from the still open portal and slammed into the ground nearby.
Thorwyn, unable to escape without his law technique, had eventually been caught. Sol now stood over him, rage etched across his face as he kicked Thorwyn into the snow and created stone rings to bind his legs in place.
Sol laughed with malice.
"You thought you could beat me, mutt?! You're nothing! I've defeated enemies far stronger than you! Let me show you how!"
A stone blade formed in his hand, wreathed in slayer aura. But it intensified, darkening until the blade became pitch black with death aura.
He raised the blade high. "This is your punishment for defying my will."
But just as he was about to bring the sword down.
Someone appeared in his path.
"Get out of my way, Amber."
Amber now stood between Sol and Thorwyn. She had dropped Reena and used [Phase Step] to intercept the killing blow.
"No."
"You too?" Sol asked, clearly surprised. "I didn't think you of all people would betray me."
Sol frowned. In his eyes, he was taking care of someone who obstructed him, a liability. But he didn't think someone as objective oriented as Amber would disagree with his decision.
Amber shook her head calmly. She could tell what was really happening at a glance for her eyes were not clouded by pride.
"I trust you. Not the sin controlling you."
"Hah!" Sol barked. "Nothing controls me!"
Infuriated, he raised the sword enveloped in death aura. But as he prepared to strike, his eyes locked onto hers.
Her calm, unwavering red eyes.
They reminded him of something. Of when he first tested [Draconification]... and what happened afterward.
His expression changed.
His hand trembled.
The stone blade dropped from his grip, landing in the snow. The ground beneath it blackened with corrosion, but none of them noticed.
His gaze never left Amber.
"…Shit," he muttered. "It happened again, didn't it?"