Chapter 261 A Body Divided

When Ravian finally opened his right eye, the first thing he saw was the leg of the chair he had fallen from.

It took some time before he managed to lift his head, and when he did, a sharp pain shot through his neck from having remained in the same position for hours. He tried bracing himself on both arms to get up, but his left moved in an entirely different direction, almost as though it were trying to push him back onto the floor.

“Kekeke! Look who’s finally awake!”

The voice came from the left half of his mouth.

Ravian released a slow breath and used his right hand to grip the edge of the chair until he managed to sit upright.

“I was hoping the first thing I’d hear after waking up would be something more tolerable than your voice.”

“How rude! I’ve spent hours trying to figure out how to use this body, and the first thing you do when you wake up is complain?”

“Wasn’t taking it over your goal from the beginning?” Ravian replied.

The left side of his mouth curled into a broad smile, but the intruder made no immediate attempt to answer.

While Ravian recovered his balance, he began testing the new limits of his control.

His right hand obeyed his commands, as did most of the muscles on the right side of his body. The left side, however, had fallen under the intruder’s consciousness, although certain complex movements required cooperation between them because their muscles, bones, and nerves were all connected.

The difficulty became particularly apparent when he attempted to stand. Moving his right leg alone was not enough to support his entire weight, and whenever he tried adjusting his posture, the other half of his body responded according to a different will.

It was an absurd situation. They were effectively fighting over a body neither could operate properly without the other, and Ravian doubted his unwanted companion would be willing to cooperate simply because walking had suddenly become inconvenient.

After several frustrating attempts, he finally managed to stand and approach the small mirror beside his bed.

He did not like what he saw.

His right eye was crimson as usual, while the left had turned completely black, including what should have been the white of his eye. His mouth, meanwhile, looked as though two different people were trying to impose their expressions on it at the same time.

“What a ridiculous sight.”

The intruder laughed.

“I think we look magnificent!”

“I don’t remember asking for your opinion.”

Ravian raised his right hand and touched the left side of his face. The intruder immediately tried to push it away using the opposite arm, and the struggle ended with each of them gripping the other’s wrist.

They remained like that for several moments before Ravian released his grip.

Wasting his strength on a physical struggle that accomplished nothing beyond harming himself would be foolish.

More importantly, the brief confrontation had confirmed that neither side possessed unrestricted control. The intruder could move his left arm independently, but Ravian could still resist it using his right. Whether that would remain true if the foreign consciousness continued expanding was another matter entirely.

After settling onto the edge of the bed, he began considering the real problem.

He could not leave the tent looking like this, nor could he hope to conceal his condition from Karius if he allowed his master to examine him. Even if he managed to change his appearance using Exalted Identity, there was no guarantee that the ability could conceal a foreign spiritual presence from someone who wielded the powers of Truth and possessed Karius’s experience.

Asking for help presented another danger.

The intruder could control half his body and was still attempting to expand its influence within his consciousness. If Karius or anyone else approached, it might exploit the opportunity to injure them or force Ravian into actions that would expose his secrets.

He had already seen how readily the entity threatened to use his master against him. Whether those threats were realistic or merely attempts at intimidation, he had no intention of giving it an opportunity to act on them.

Besides, explaining what had happened would inevitably raise questions about the stone tablet, the Golden Scriptures, and the unusual resistance his soul had demonstrated. Those were not subjects he could discuss without revealing information he had carefully concealed until now.

None of his available options was particularly encouraging, but one thing was certain: he could not remain in this condition forever.

He summoned Sovereign Pride’s interface and focused on the information concerning the Law of Void.

[Law of Void — Comprehension: 0.001%]

The number was almost laughably small.

Even those who reached the Fifth Rank and began attempting to comprehend a fraction of the Law they intended to acquire could not reach that stage without months of training and experience. Ravian, on the other hand, had obtained an early trace of the Law thanks to his exceptional nature.

Possessing that trace, however, did not mean he truly understood everything the Void was capable of.

He could barely apply it under specific circumstances, and even then, doing so required considerable concentration.

‘And yet, I was able to use it to erase parts of the invading force.’

He recalled how he had selected his targets during the previous confrontation.

The Void erased whatever he designated through his will, but its power of erasure did not automatically distinguish between harmful things and those he needed to preserve. If he made a mistake while targeting part of his soul, he could easily become the first victim of his own ability.

Despite that danger, an opportunity existed.

He did not need to destroy the full power of the Golden Scriptures, or even confront everything this strange consciousness might possess. All he needed was to eliminate the portion that had entered his soul.

The distinction was significant. His opponent had spoken as though it possessed power far beyond anything Ravian could currently resist, but the consciousness occupying his body was not necessarily capable of exercising all that power within the confines of his soul.

He had already survived its attempt to erase him, which meant that its control was subject to limitations he had yet to understand.

That alone was worth investigating.

A smile appeared on Ravian’s face as he reached that conclusion.

‘If I can erase a small part of the connection, I might eventually understand how to erase something larger. The problem is figuring out exactly what I need to target.’

“What are you smiling about?”

The question came from the left side of his mouth.

“Something concerning my future.”

“Your future? Kekeke! You still think you have one?”

Ravian did not look toward the mirror this time. Instead, he lay back on the bed and began preparing to recover some of the energy he had lost.

“I think I’ll need some time alone.”

The intruder burst into loud laughter.

“Alone? Have you forgotten I’m here?”

“I haven’t forgotten. I simply don’t consider parasites company worth mentioning.”

The laughter continued for several seconds before his left hand suddenly tried to shove his head against the side of the bed, forcing him to block it with his right arm.

It was clear that the coming days would be anything but comfortable.

Even resting had become a problem when half his body could move against his wishes, and there was no telling how much freedom the intruder might gain whenever his concentration weakened. He would have to account for that while studying the Law, particularly during the periods when he needed to recover his exhausted spiritual energy.

Still, Ravian had endured far worse than the irritation of a parasite he could not silence.

So, after regulating his breathing and confirming that he could maintain at least a minimum degree of physical control, he closed his right eye and began his first attempt to deepen his understanding of the Law of Void.

He had no idea how long it would take, but he had no intention of opening the tent until he had reclaimed his body completely.