The scenery before him abruptly shattered.
Blinking against the dim light, Regulus found himself staring at cold, damp stone walls. He had left the Castle of Dreams and returned to the physical world—to the depths of Echidna's tomb.
He breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she was clearly annoyed by the intervention of the other Witches, she had still safely ejected his consciousness back to his body.
Regulus looked down the dark passage before him. Although he didn't know the exact mechanics of how to wake Echidna in the physical world, he definitely had to go and see her body, no matter what.
He advanced down the corridor, his footsteps echoing in the silence, and soon arrived outside a heavy stone chamber.
Click.
As he approached, the massive stone door slowly groaned open on its own. At the same time, the magic crystals embedded in the walls of the previously pitch-black chamber flared to life, casting a soft, ethereal blue glow across the room.
As the interior was illuminated, Regulus saw her.
Like a sleeping beauty out of a fairy tale, Echidna lay in the center of the stone chamber, her body encased in an exquisite, intricately carved crystal coffin.
He walked up to the side of the crystal coffin and looked down.
What he saw was not the youthful maiden appearance of Echidna he had just interacted with in the Castle of Dreams. This physical body was a more mature Echidna—with sharper, elegant features, and a significantly fuller, more developed figure leaning heavily towards the 'mature older sister' type.
Regulus's first reaction was immediate.
'So the Echidna in the Castle of Dreams was deliberately presenting herself as a young girl,' he realized, amused by her vanity.
Besides that, another question arose. Since she wasn't truly dead, but merely "slumbering," why use a coffin? Even if this crystal coffin was beautiful, it seemed excessively dramatic.
He shook his head. Now was not the time to care about such trivial aesthetic choices.
To wake her, the first thing to do was to open the lid. He reached out and pushed against the heavy crystal.
"Hm!?" Regulus frowned in confusion.
The coffin lid didn't budge. With his immense physical strength, he couldn't even make it shift a millimeter. One must know that, in terms of raw power alone, Regulus could easily toss a massive boulder right now. So how could he not slide open a simple coffin lid?
However, considering Echidna was the strongest mage in the world's history, proficient in all forms of magic, it wasn't impossible for her to have set up an ultimate restriction on her own resting place.
'If that's the case...'
Regulus directly activated his Authority of Greed. No matter what kind of magical restriction it was, couldn't his absolute Stillness just forcibly sever it?
However, something unbelievable happened. His Authority was indeed activated, but as he waved his hand, the usually unstoppable, space-severing strike simply washed over the crystal coffin without leaving a single scratch.
How could this be?
He tried again, only to find that it truly had no effect whatsoever. The coffin existed entirely outside the laws of physics and his Authority.
"This... Oh, right. The item I got from Roswaal earlier."
Regulus suddenly recalled the artifact, immediately taking the dark red sphere containing the golden pocket watch from his pocket.
He placed it directly on top of the crystal coffin.
"..."
He waited for a minute. Then two. There was no reaction at all.
Regulus picked the item back up, staring at the coffin in deep melancholy.
No hints, no clues. How was he supposed to use this thing? Furthermore, this pocket watch didn't exactly look like a key meant to open a coffin.
Temporarily putting the artifact away, Regulus leaned in to thoroughly examine the crystal lid, hoping to discover some hidden mechanism.
Just as his bare finger brushed against the intricate runic patterns carved into the crystal's surface—
Prick.
A sudden, sharp stinging sensation made Regulus quickly withdraw his hand. A small drop of blood welled up on his fingertip.
He stared at his finger, stunned.
'That's not right. My Authority was active... how could I get injured?'
But before he could ponder the terrifying implications of a magic that could bypass his absolute defense, a brilliant crimson glow attracted his attention.
The transparent crystal coffin absorbed his drop of blood, turning entirely into a deep, scarlet color. As the crimson glow grew blindingly intense, the solid crystal began to dissolve. Under Regulus's bewildered gaze, the entire massive coffin transformed into countless floating light particles, which swirled together and reassembled into a small, elegant crystal pendant resting perfectly against Echidna's bare collarbone.
When the glowing light finally faded, Regulus looked down, fully expecting Echidna to open her eyes.
Instead, he found that she still showed absolutely no signs of movement, lying quietly on the cold stone platform before him in her black dress.
Why hadn't she woken up? Was there something else he needed to do?
Looking at the sleeping beauty, Regulus reached out his hand and touched Echidna's pale cheek.
Her body temperature was perfectly normal. Soft and warm.
Next, he checked her breathing.
"..."
No breath. He placed his hand flat against her chest, right over her heart.
Nothing. No heartbeat at all.
'Could this really be considered alive?' Regulus wondered. 'They said she was in a state of slumber, but biologically speaking, she is a complete corpse. Or is the Witch's definition of "slumber" entirely different from a mortal's?'
At that exact moment—
"Hey! Stop dawdling! Quickly use your ability to awaken me from my slumber!" Echidna's familiar, impatient voice echoed directly inside his mind.
This startled Regulus back to his senses. Even though her physical body was clinically dead and her soul was sealed in the Castle of Dreams, she could still establish a telepathic connection with him in the real world. Truly worthy of being the Witch of Greed.
"About that," Regulus replied aloud, keeping his hand resting on her chest. "I might not be able to grant your wish right now. I don't know how to use the artifact."
"Ha!!? What do you mean you don't know—Wait! You couldn't possibly be planning something else, could you?!" Her mental voice suddenly shifted tone.
"You... you're looking at my perfect, mature physical body, and it's stirring up the demonic lust in your heart! You want to take advantage of my inability to resist, my inability to stop you, to directly possess, defile, and use my slumbering body as a toy, right?!" Her words sounded filled with dramatic panic and unease.
But through the telepathic connection in his mind, Regulus detected a completely different underlying emotion: a frantic, eager excitement.
Especially as Echidna's mental accusation fell, the physical body lying before him actually reacted. A faint, highly visible blush spread across the cheeks of her "corpse."
Besides that, Regulus's hand—which was still resting casually on her chest—felt something rapidly awakening. Her soft peaks pebbled and hardened against his palm, sending a very distinct, physical sensation against his skin.
This was incredibly bizarre.
Not only the mental Echidna, but also this physical shell. Even though her heart wasn't beating and her lungs weren't drawing breath, she could still blush, and her body was exhibiting intense physiological reactions that only an aroused woman would have.
But Regulus quickly came to terms with it.
It was foolish to measure the magic of a fantasy world with normal biological common sense. After all, weren't there plenty of undead or artificial girls in fiction who lacked heartbeats and body temperature, yet could still blush and feel pleasure?
Along with the changes in Echidna's physical body, Regulus's fingers slightly curled entirely on subconscious instinct, increasing the pressure of his grip on her chest just a fraction.
"Oh... mm~" A soft, highly inappropriate whimper echoed directly in his mind.
This confirmed it. There was a direct, tactile connection between Echidna's physical nerve endings and her soul in the Castle of Dreams. She could feel everything he did to her body.
And because of that alluring, telepathic whimper, Regulus's own dark desires were fully stirred.
"Echidna," Regulus smiled wickedly, leaning over her slumbering face. "You seem to be very much looking forward to what's about to happen to your defenseless body. Indeed, we get along very well."
He slowly began to undo the top buttons of her black dress.
"And since you've already brought it up so eagerly... I suppose I have no choice but to satisfy your perverted little hobby."
"W-Who gets along with a guy with such a terrible personality?!" she retorted in his mind, her mental voice trembling. "Honestly... you're the worst..."
Regulus couldn't help but smile wider.
She retorted, sure, but she made absolutely no attempt to demand he stop. Wasn't her meaning already perfectly clear?
.....
[AUTHOR NOTE: New fanfic Bleach: Echoes of the Soul is released today. Can you guys add it to your library if you like it and support and help in getting it to top spot in weekly collection list. You can find this fic in my profile or through search.]