"How d-does it taste?" Yen stammered, covering her face with both her hands.

Meanwhile, Eliron was left speechless.

’What the fuck just happened??’

From the moment their lips touched, he knew there was trouble. The woman in front of him, whoever she was, was definitely not Yennefer.

And that kiss... she had tried something. Eliron felt a sort of cloudiness in his head, but it only lasted for a few seconds before it vanished.

’Was it an enchantment? Or maybe a curse?’ Considering that Alex was still lying flat on his face, Eliron was sure it was one of the two.

"Haaaa—!" The woman let out a dragged sigh, revealing fangs Eliron had not previously seen. "That should do the trick, even after all these years, I still got it!"

"To think that grumpy dragon would trap me in here out of spite. Tch. When I find him, I’ll make sure I cause a scandal in his family and—"

"Hey, I’m still here, you know?" Eliron gave the woman a blank stare.

"Hey be quiet, can’t you see I’m reminiscing—woah!! How are you still conscious?" She asked, her eyes wide.

Eliron gave her a dead pan stare but said nothing.

The woman took a step back, an apprehensive look on her face. "Don’t tell me you’re an eunuch or something..." he could literally sense the cringe in her voice.

"Hey, I find that insulting." Eliron frowned. "I’ll let you know that I am one hundred percent functional!"

"Huh?" She suddenly appeared next to him, her hand on her chin as she observed him closely. "Hmm, true. An eunuch would never kiss that good."

"Umm, thanks?"

Eliron was pretty sure that was sexual assault, but he decided to stay quiet for now.

"Huhhh." She snorted, scratching her head. "Then why didn’t it work...ehh?"

Her voice suddenly trailed off when Eliron pressed his sword against her neck.

He was so fast that she did not even see it coming, up until she could feel the cold steel.

"Hey, let’s calm down...." She squeeked.

"I am calm." Eliron replied with a cold expression. "Answer my questions truthfully and my temperament will remain as it is, but if I sense a single lie..."

He pushed the blade a little closer, causing the fake Yennefer to swallow.

"Okay, okay, I get it." She sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"What did you try to do to me?"

That was what he was most curious about. He had no idea why it failed, but to understand what happened, he had to know exactly what she did.

The woman pouted. "Umm... I tried to enchant you."

’An enchantment, hmm?’ Eliron had suspected as much. It was often enchanters that used kissing as a means of activating their spells.

"Secondly, what are you, and that face... How did you get it?"

"I am a spirit, a Kitsune to be specific..."

"As for the other part, it is simple really. My spell pulls out an image as well as little behavioural patterns of the person you desire the most."

"A girlfriend, wife..."

"..."

"Hey, are you alright?"

"..."

"Mr Eunuch? Earth to Mr Eunuch..."

While the mysterious woman was trying to gain his attention, Eliron had a whole different thought in his mind.

’Yennefer?! How was it that she took Yennefer’s form?’

Eliron shook his head. Her revelation had left him with a lot of questions, but there was no time to dwell on them.

"You said you used magic?" He turned his attention back to the woman. "How? This whole place is covered in Antimagic."

"Well it is." The woman said nonchalantly. "But you must have realised that the antimagic here is weaker than outside..."

"Using an artifact or contact magic like what I did will work, at least to some extent. But of course, my spells are not even 1/10th of their normal strength."

"Still..." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "It is strange that it did not at least have an effect on you."

"So to summarise..." said Eliron. "You used an enchantment on me and my Alex, tried to deceive me by taking the face of another one of my friends, and then sexually assaulted me with her face as well..."

"Hey." She bounced her brows. "Is it really sexual assault if it is a cute girl like me?"

"..."

Eliron suddenly raised his sword.

"Wait!!" She covered her head with both hands. "I didn’t mean any harm really, I just wanted to escape this place..."

He frowned. "Show me your true form." Eliron was tired of seeing someone parade around with Yennefer’s face.

The woman’s shoulders slumped, and with a cloud of fog, she transformed, becoming so short that Eliron had to squat to meet her gaze.

He stared at her, even more confused than he had been a few minutes ago. Because of this kitsune, it was Tsukiko!

"Tsukiko??"

The only difference was that instead of violet eyes, hers were pink, and instead of a crescent moon patch of fur on her forehead, it was in the shape of a heart.

"What is going on here? Why do you look like my spirit?"

"Wait..." the kitsune immediately walked closer to him. "Are you saying you are already contracted to another spirit that looks just like me??"

"Apart from the eyes and heart on your forehead, yes."

"This... can’t be..." The fox spirit said breathlessly. "I thought ’she’ said it would be impossible to gather all of us..."

"Are you going to explain what is going on, or will you keep muttering to yourself."

"Oh, pardon me. You see, I am Love and Gluttony is my sister. We are all seven parts of one whole..."

"A long time ago, the soul of the original was split apart due to certain reasons, and scattered across the continents."

"I always hated the idea and wanted to join back with the others. But it is impossible to do so without our vessel, thankfully, she is now with you!" The fox spirit seemed very excited by her discovery.

"And how are you sure I am with your vessel?"

"It is impossible to contract any one of us without first contracting the vessel. Since you have a contract with someone that looks exactly like me, it has to be her."

"I see..." Eliron took in a deep breath as he thought about everything she had said.

So Tsukiko was actually Gluttony? It made a lot of sense, considering how ravenous the little fox was.

And if she was Gluttony and this one was Love... Eliron was sensing a pattern.

’Gluttony, love, seven parts of one whole—’

"Wait, each one of you corresponds to the seven deadly sins, don’t you?"

The fox Spirit nodded.

There were a lot of philosophies associated with the seven deadly sins. But there was one that corresponded to what was happening now...

It was said that the seven sins were not sins at all, but negative emotions that were a building block of a person’s soul.

When together, these emotions balanced themselves out, creating normality. But when separated, there is over-expression of the traits...

"But in that case, wouldn’t you be lust...?"

"Love—" the fox frowned. "I am Love."

Eliron raised a brow. ’Yeah right...’

He turned his wrist around to check the mark he had gotten after summoning Tsukiko, then smirked.

Now the entire thing made a lot more sense. The moon was the vessel, representing Tsukiko, while the faded stars were the other soul fragments.

That was why the moon was the only one that was lit.

’If I am able to gather all seven spirits, what sort of powerhouse would be formed?’

Splitting souls was already in the realm of titans and gods...

And yet the spirit was able to do it with ease. Eliron had no doubt that whoever they were before the split, they were on another level...

Prehaps stronger that the sword demon had been while he was alive...

When the Kitsune saw the mark, her eyes brightened.

"Please permit me to be one with you! I would like to be your contracted spirit as well."

Eliron blinked. "Language..."

"Uhum..." she cleared her throat.

He sighed, then said, "Well, as long as you don’t pull that trick you did earlier..."

"I won’t, I swear!"

Eliron stretched out his hand and closed his eyes, while the kitsune placed her paw atop it.

He could feel the burning sensation on his wrist once more, it was not as bad as the first time it appeared, but it was enough to make him uncomfortable.

By the time he opened his eyes, one of the stars was glowing brightly.

Two out of the seven soul fragments had been found...

<•••>

Eliron had somehow managed to get not just the sceptre of truth, but another contracted spirit that was sure to have amazing powers as well.

His grave robbing stunt paid off excellently well, now all he had to do was gather the gold and leave.

"Alex, let us... oh..." It was then Eliron realized that he was still unconscious.

He glanced at Love. "Can you do something about him?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. Give me a second...."

She closed her eyes and the love pattern on her head began to glow. But it didn’t last two seconds before her eyes snapped back open.

"What is the problem?" Eliron raised a brow.

"He is blocking me out of his mind. I can’t wake him up."

Alexander then began to stand up, and as he was rising, leathery wings tore out of his back, his horns extended, and then he transformed, his colossal form covering a huge chunk of the room.

His golden slit pupils locked on Eliron, but there was no familiarity in those eyes, just pure, beastial rage.

RAWRRRR!

He growled, sending several items flying in Eliron’s direction, alongside hot, searing wind.

Love immediately hid behind Eliron’s leg, peaking from behind him, while he frowned.

"Well, this can’t possibly be good...."