Louis felt his limbs grow heavy, and at last he collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
But he did not lose consciousness. His mind remained perfectly clear.
Deep within his mind, a wisp of crimson mist was pouring in wildly, like a flame scorching his soul.
Countless furious howls and thunderous, drumlike roars mingled within the mist, as though millions of tormented souls were screaming together, trying to tear his will apart.
"Again! Why does everything keep crawling into my head?!"
Before he could react, a platinum pulse suddenly lit up his mind.
It was the Primordial Heart!
It radiated a starlike brilliance, its light flowing into a river that surrounded every strand of blood-vine red mist in the darkness.
The two forces clashed relentlessly within him, while Louis's consciousness was pushed into a third-person perspective.
He felt as though he stood on a battlefield in the void, watching light and blood fight inside his body.
The sensation was utterly bizarre. This was his own body, yet he was like an outsider watching dispassionately.
He could do nothing but cheer the Primordial Heart on, since it looked more like the good side.
The crimson mist churned into flowers. Rageflowers bloomed in the void, and blood vines snaked downward like countless tentacles.
They sought to coil tightly around the heart and crush it.
But the Primordial Heart transformed into a vast river of stars. With every pulse, platinum light streamed like a river of fire, each tremor burning the blood vines to ash.
The collision between crimson mist and starlight resembled a chess match that could destroy heaven and earth.
Furious, frenzied, disorderly, chaotic impacts seemed ready to grind his entire body to pieces.
Roars thundered in his ears, as though a hundred thousand dead souls were bellowing at once: "Rage! Burn! Destroy!!"