"How disappointing." The crimson-winged figure lamented in his childlike voice, soft and gentle like water.
"I…huh," was all the silver-winged figure could say, unable to defend this little mortal sinner. They had just spoken words of anticipation, giving estimates on how long Wei Wuyin would last before he inevitably lost to this level of Hell. Their estimations reached thousands of years, yet the truth shook them thoroughly in different ways.
In mere minutes, Wei Wuyin had lost.
Collapsing to the essence of the trial as the cleansing function of the Calamity of Endless Regret's unique Hell took effect. While unseen by Wei Wuyin, there were slithering tubes of indistinguishable color gushing out invisible mist. This mist lingered without purpose for a very short while, and Wei Wuyin's soul emitted an attractive power that drew it in..
The sinner that had overcome the entire seven stages of the Calamity of True Loss perfectly hadn't lasted more than a few minutes before succumbing to the cleansing powers of regret. Normally, a soul might not suffer any changes if they felt regret, but in the Second Level of Hell, the Calamity of Endless Regret, this was as disastrous as being hanged by the neck—unmistakably fatal.
"A single mistake made in the first few hundred steps. Unfortunate," the crimson-winged figure spoke out with a twang of disappointment within its voice. As a Mortal Soul, this meant that Wei Wuyin would soon be thoroughly cleansed of his soul's outer shell. The expectations it held had been crushed by incompetence.
The silver-winged figure sighed in response. There was nothing else that could be said. Regardless of Wei Wuyin's outstanding showing in the First Calamity, the Calamity of True Loss, it was unrealistic to expect Wei Wuyin fest to be repeated in an entirely new Hell.
After 2.3 seconds, they watched as Wei Wuyin's outer shell had stopped its deterioration almost immediately, the invisible mist losing their target. Like headless flies, the mist stagnated without purpose.
"Oh?!" A hint of unexpected yet pleasant surprise leaked through the silver-winged figure's voice as he stared at Wei Wuyin. "He halted the cleansing!"
"Impossible!" The crimson-winged figure was thoroughly shaken, retorting those words as if they were utterly natural. The qualities of an untempered Mortal Soul shouldn't allow this to occur! Normally, mortals were controlled by their emotions, unable to comprehend their own individuality and sense of self. When they felt happy, sad or angry, it was extremely hard to change their state of mind without letting it run its course, which was fatal here, or pushed by an external variable.
The Calamity of Endless Regret contained no external variable that could help those experiencing the cleansing. This should not happen!
"His soul is a little stronger too. He lasted a little over two seconds and retained a fifth of his outer shell. Some Mortal Souls last 0.9 seconds at most, and that was the strong ones." The silver-winged figure commented in excitement.
"He possesses the Bloodline of Sin as a mere Mortal, of course he has a stronger soul than others." The crimson-winged figure dismissed this peculiarity with an indifferent remark. Its attention was more focused on Wei Wuyin's soul performing the extremely improbable. He had never seen this feat achieved by an untempered soul.
"This…THIS! How?!"
The crimson-winged figure was in utter disbelief as Wei Wuyin started to open his eyes, a distinct sign of regaining his sense of self, dispelling the confusion and muddle-headed affliction brought about by the Calamity of Endless Regret's unique environment.
"How is this possible? Is there something wrong with this Level of Hell?" The silver-winged figure turned itself around, looking at the boundlessly looming figure with uncountable arms and innumerable eyes. There was a stern questioning in its voice as it spoke to the ginormous figure.
The titanic figure didn't answer, focusing on performing its unclear job. It was as if the two winged figures below were inconsequential, minor existences not worthy of its attention.
"Keee!"
The crimson-winged figure sent out a strange sound that shook the silver-winged figure. It sounded like a clarion cry intermixed with majestic hymns from legend. The silver-winged figure trembled for a short period as a response before it turned back around, going incredibly quiet.
The crimson-winged figure remarked: "A Mortal Soul, especially an untempered soul, shouldn't be able to reacquire their senses so quickly."
"No. A Mortal Soul shouldn't be able to do so at all. It's never been done, and even True Souls require hundreds, if not thousands, of years before breaking free. The Heavens have a metric of success, and regaining their awareness is a sign of success towards the potential of the soul. If he survives, what type of Karmic Luck would the Heavens bestow upon him?" The silver-winged figure's voice was extremely dark and increasingly solemn with every syllable spoken.
"…With every Calamity comes fortune, one who overcomes the challenges of Hell shall be benefited by Heaven," the crimson-winged figure added this statement with an absentminded tone.
"…" These were the same words that the silver-winged figure had said during Wei Wuyin's Calamity of True Loss. The heavens mentioned weren't the same as the Heavenly Daos, but a systematic set of laws that govern the entirety of existence.
"Oh…no!" The crimson-winged figure broke out of his wandering thoughts as he observed Wei Wuyin's figure was once more attracting the cleansing mist that sought to eradicate his individuality to ensure a seamless journey through the River of Souls and later, reincarnation.
The silver-winged figure's wings unfurled slightly. There was a hidden tension within them that had to be dispersed. "He regained awareness, and now he's suffering from the flaws of awareness: change. If regret fuels his change, then this is over—he failed." The silver-winged figure's voice relaxed considerably from this revelation.
It was impossible for a Mortal Soul to halt the change in themselves. Wei Wuyin's outer shell was about to be depleted entirely, and his individuality will vanish alongside his soul taking the next steps to reincarnate in accordance with the heavens.
"You're a little too happy about this," the crimson-winged figure responded disapprovingly. This little Sinner of Pride was like an underdog in its eyes. With just a Mortal Soul, he performed feat after feat with outstanding consistency. The struggles he faced were somewhat unfair.
Yet, the two were once more rendered completely silent after, at the precipice of dissipation, Wei Wuyin fought on and fiercely resisted. The cleansing mist lost its target once more, and the outer shell of Wei Wuyin's soul retained a small fragment of his sense of self.
The attractive power of regret brought about by change of self had been halted! The two figures turned to each other, seeing the utter disbelief in both of their mental fluctuations.
How was this even happening?!
The speed of change was unheard of. Not only did he push off regret in a muddle-headed state shortly after experiencing it, but the Sinner of Pride regained his awareness! He was then met with the consequence and major hurdle of awareness: change of self! When failing once again, at the edge of defeat, he clung onto his individuality and halted, no, reverted the internal changes of himself!!!
All of this that would usually take thousands of years for strong True Souls happened in a few minutes.
"I…" Speechless, the silver-winged figure was floored by these developments. What type of ungodly anomaly was this Sinner of Pride?! It started to feel fear within its own soul at this unknown.
"He's restoring his outer shell! That's…" The crimson-winged figure pointed out with a quivering tone. While Wei Wuyin had restored himself during the first bombardment of cleansing mist, it wasn't the same. This was a Wei Wuyin with little of his individuality, where was he getting the means to restore himself?!
They both wished to breach the sphere of total darkness and deeply dissect Wei Wuyin's soul, mind, and body! The amount of mental power needed to achieve these feats were utterly unimaginable.
They watched as Wei Wuyin regained his individuality completely, as if he had just relived his entire life. There was almost no difference from when he first arrived and now.
How terrifying!
"A Mortal Soul that survived two cleansing, ending both of them in a few seconds?" The silver-winged figure just stated the obvious. It was clearly trying to allow its mental processors to accept such an outrageous possibility despite seeing it for himself.
In the end, the silver-winged figure said: "Despite his success in surviving, the fact that he was subjected to the cleansing mist so early shows his inability to overcome this level of Hell. The Calamity of Endless Regret is his end."
The crimson-winged figure didn't disagree. The Calamity of Endless Regret was composed of a single stage yet incorporated multiple layers that evolved over the course of its entire lifetime. To be subjected to these increasingly difficult layers with every passing century for a total of one hundred and eight thousand years was utterly impossible.
With Wei Wuyin's awareness completely regained, this would become an even more increasingly difficult Calamity to overcome.
All it takes is one single slip up at the later layers, the inability to bring one back in the 3 seconds needed to cleanse all of Wei Wuyin's outer shell, to leave him with a path of no return. They could only watch this inevitability.
"…!!!" The both of them unfurled their wings simultaneously. Their mental fluctuations induced surging storms of glimmering wind. They clashed with each other, causing a faint twitch in one of the titanic figure's many arms. The storm abated and vanished as quickly as it appeared, and the two released groans of dreadful pain.
Despite this punishment being dealt, they couldn't help but feel their bodies tremble ceaselessly!
How in the heavens was this remotely possible?!
They observed the sphere of total darkness with the entirety of their focus as a faint light started to emit from within.
