"If your consciousness had been taken over by an aberration, then when you answered questions, thought, or recalled memories, you would be completely devoid of emotion. That was a kind of human thought aberrations could not comprehend."
"The emotion in your eyes just now—if that really came from an aberration, then this world truly has no hope left."
"If there were truly powerful aberrations as intelligent as humans, who could possibly subdue them?"
"That would indeed be terrifying," Night Rain agreed.
Spirit Sacrifice looked Night Rain up and down. He appeared completely unharmed, yet Spirit Sacrifice could not shake the feeling that something about him had changed.
"What state are you in now?"
"Neither dead nor alive." Night Rain looked at his hands.
Only then did Spirit Sacrifice notice that Night Rain's ring finger, where he had once sealed a dissolved Black Nail just as Spirit Sacrifice had, had regained its pale yellowish-white color.
It was no different from normal.
Night Rain pointed to the other side of the Black Coffin. Following his gaze, Spirit Sacrifice saw that one of the five coffin nails that had originally been missing had appeared on the coffin.
"This is..."
"This is my Black Nail of 'Sacrifice.'" Night Rain paused before continuing, "Or rather, it is me!"
"My body has already merged with the Black Coffin. Originally, I was meant to become an appendage of the Black Coffin, trapped inside it and never able to emerge again. But because I had previously fused with a Black Nail..."
"It gave me a portion of its authority."
"So I discovered that I could actually open the coffin, transform into human form, and move about within the coffin's range. With a single thought, I could return to the Black Coffin."
"My aura has become bound to both