Forced to Accept

Within the Celestial Plane, Kurohana's space.

Whoosh!

As both Kurohana and the original Aurus were absentmindedly staring off into the white walls of the space, wondering when Kurohana's move would gain a response, a silhouette appeared at the center of the white space all of a sudden, prompting the two to move closer with feelings of relief and excitement emanating from them.

"What the… where am I?" the being that had just appeared could not help but mutter in confusion, gradually taking in the sight that surrounded him. Noticing that most, if not everything he saw around him was pure white, a memory from the recesses in his mind could not help but gradually creep up. "Am I… where I think I am?"

"Yes, you are." Answering the being's question, Kurohana made her presence known to the former, leaving the being at a loss for words as he did not expect to see the woman in front of her so soon. Noticing the being's speechlessness, she could not help but lightly chuckle. "We meet again…"

"Argentum."

"KUROHANA!!!!" Unsurprisingly, with the fate that the original Aurus had gone through and how he had made the promise that he was going to avenge his original body, Argentum was instantly teeming with rage. Not long after, he charged towards Kurohana, wanting to land a hit on her at the very least to appease his emotions.

But of course, Kurohana wasn't going to let him do that.

Snap!

Just as Argentum was a few inches away from landing a punch on her, Kurohana snapped her fingers out of nowhere, prompting a couple strands of energy to manifest around Argentum's limbs before tightening soon after, quickly binding him in place. Realizing what had just happened, Argentum tried his best to struggle and break free from the binds put on him. However, even until he exhausted almost all of his energy, the binds put on him didn't budge.

"Damn you! You already had your way with Aurus! Why bring me here?! Are you planning on mocking me, tormenting me that I won't be able to avenge my original body?!" he cried out with great anger in his tone, his gaze towards Kurohana containing murderous intent.

Hearing his words, a slight smirk could not help but appear on Kurohana's lips in response. However, she quickly suppressed that as she remembered that there was a more important matter at hand. Ignoring the flurry of curses being thrown at her, she told him in the most neutral tone she could ever muster, "Calm down for a second, Argentum. Listen to what I have to say."

"Listen? Why the hell would I listen to you?" was the only response she got from Argentum.

At this point, Kurohana understood that there was no point in her talking to him. With that, she asked soon after, "Could you handle this for me?"

"Who are you talking to? Have you finally gone mad, Kurohana? Serves you right that you've gone cra—" Naturally, not knowing the circumstances at hand, Argentum thought that Kurohana was talking to nobody. However, at the very next moment, this thought was instantly dispelled as a voice incredibly familiar to him resounded throughout the space soon after.

"Alright. We have to move quickly anyway."

Whoosh! Just as those words had resounded throughout the space, an exquisitely crafted blade soon appeared within Argentum's view, which emanated an energy that was both familiar to him yet not at the same time.

"Aurus… is that you?" Naturally, Argentum could not believe what he was seeing. After all, he was certain that after Kurohana took Aurus away, his original body had suffered a horrible fate. However, on the contrary, here his original body was, hovering in front of him, albeit in another form. "Tell me… is that really you?"

"Who else could it be if not me, Argentum?" said Aurus in response as a faint light emanated around the sword. Soon, this light coalesced in front of the sword before forming an ethereal body that looked similar to Aurus. "In any case, it's definitely good to see you again."

"Of course, it's also good to see you again, but…" As he looked at his original body, he could not help but look at Kurohana, then back at his original body with a confused expression. Eventually, he decided to ask the question that had popped up in his mind. "Why does it feel like you're not mad at Kurohana anymore. Didn't she turn you into a weapon?"

"As you can see, she has indeed turned me into a weapon, her masterwork weapon, to be more specific," Aurus replied as he quickly gave Kurohana a glance. "As for my anger towards her, that hasn't disappeared at all. In fact, your level of anger towards her is more or less what I'm feeling right now."

"But why…"

"Why am I not actively trying to attack Kurohana, you might ask?" Aurus said, completing Argentum's question. Obtaining a nod from Argentum in response, Aurus replied, "Well, that's because there's something far more important at the moment compared to the anger I'm feeling."

"And this is the reason why I've summoned you here," added Kurohana. "The thing that's more important to Aurus at the moment compared to his anger is the reason why you're here."

"And what would that be?" asked Argentum in response with a tilt of his head, deciding to place his anger towards the goddess in front of him at the back of his head for now.

"The universe's potential collapse," Kurohana succinctly replied, to which Aurus nodded in response.

Hearing Kurohana's words, Argentum could not help but think that the two of them were probably playing a prank on him. "You've got to be joking, right? There's no way the universe would collapse that easily."

Listening to Argentum's words, the two could not help but look at each other for a bit before shrugging their shoulders. Then, with a simple manipulation of their energies, a strand of energy came out of Aurus and Kurohana's body before being sent to Argentum.

Whoosh!

At the very moment those two strands were absorbed, a great influx of information filled his mind as it was quickly processed and organized into a timeline. There, he quickly went through the experiences the two had gone through during the past couple of months…

They fought in the frontlines against the demons.

As Argentum browsed through the memories that were sent to him, Kurohana could not help but look at Aurus. "Do you think he'll understand?"

"He will." Aurus nodded. "He's my clone for a reason."

Eventually, after about ten minutes of the two waiting in silence, Argentum finally looked back at the two, his expression telling them all of the things he had seen through the memories. In fact, Kurohana had even added the conversation between her and Nix regarding on what to do next. Even the report about the second Ancestral Demon God was not spared, being given to Argentum to see.

"First of all…" Taking in a long and deep breath, Argentum asked them. "Why me? Compared to both of you, I'm nothing but a useless Animate. I have no skills whatsoever, my Tempering and Ascension skills are nowhere to be found, and my class is still that of a normal civilian. I seriously don't know how I could help out." "You might not know, but we do," Aurus said in response, with Kurohana nodding in agreement. "After all, you have a power that will definitely help turn the tides."

"And that would be…?" Argentum raised his eyebrows, curious as to what he meant.

"The power of Origin," Kurohana solemnly replied.

"And here I thought you two were serious. You two have definitely lost it." Hearing Kurohana's response, Argentum realized that there was no point in their conversation. However, just as he was about to say something else, Kurohana manifested a white seed out of nowhere before shooting it towards Argentum, which was quickly absorbed by his body.

"What the… what did you just give me?" Naturally, the seed did not go unnoticed, with Argentum asking the very instant he felt a small thump from the seed.

"An Animate Spark," Kurohana explained, her body language oddly nonchalant. "It'll allow you to reach the peak of Animate without any hiccups, as well as allow you to customize your class, your skills, and everything you wish to customize about your power down to the tiniest detail."

Hearing her explanation, Argentum wondered as to why she would give him what seemed to be a precious item. Though, it did not take long for him to obtain the answer to that.

"Of course, I'll only allow you to absorb it if you agree to help us out."

"As expected." Argentum let out a sigh in response. "Once again, I'll ask you two. Why me? Why ask me, an Animate that has no ability to contribute to this war whatsoever, to help you two out?"

"We've said it before, and we'll say it again." Aurus looked at Argentum in the eye. "You have the power that will help our universe turn the tides against the demons. You have the power that'll help our universe have a fighting chance in this war."

"And that would be the skill that's currently sealed in my system, right?" Argentum asked in response, to which Kurohana and Aurus nodded.

"Of course, it's nothing worth mentioning at its current state. But that's why we're going to help you reach the same existence level as me, the Divinity level," Kurohana said soon after.

"You still haven't convinced me, though," said Argentum. "I'm not the only one in Erudinia with the power of Origin. Why me, specifically?"

"If I say these two words, will you help us?" Seeing that there was no point beating around the bush, Aurus decided to get straight to the point.

"And what would those two words be?" Naturally, Argentum was curious.

"[Spirit Resonance]."

"…"

"…"

"Can I get any item I need in order to enhance my power?"

"But of course. This goddess right here is one of the most renowned craftspeople in the universe, after all."

"Is that so… haah… alright, fine. It's not like you two are gonna give me the chance to say no anyway."