The Ira, the name of whom Tetsuda still did not know and never learned, led him with a graceful urgency out of the Circle and into a section of the island that partially resembled the beach in Iyan. The ground was comprised of sand, and bushes huddled around trees, yet all was grey, and the waters maroon to match the sky. The mist about the place had dissipated a bit, yet traces of dark blue lingered in the air.
The Ira herself had materialized into a more humanoid being, with light red skin, sharp but short curved horns, piercing blue eyes, and armor comprised of bones. She seated herself on a rock, and Tetsuda sat next to her.
"I can see why Tyrannus enjoys you," she said. "You're very different from most Luxuria. More human, but...in a good sense. He must trust you greatly if he told you about this place."
"He only mentioned it briefly. Could you enlighten me further?"
"Of course. Tyrannus first came to us after defeating Jousin, since he needed to gain strength to support Naiyan. His resolve, like yours, led me to teach him more about Anima Effusio. He had no concept of the ability at the time—all he wanted was more strength. I thought he'd be the best one to teach it to, and I still believe he is, but he grew overzealous in his aspirations."
Tetsuda nodded. "I see. How do I save him?"
"Not with Anima Effusio," she said. "And that is no lie. You will not be able to remove a soul as powerful as Tyrannus's—not before the incident and certainly not after. But there is something you can do, and it's far more effective than Anima would be. Eluo—the cleanse."
"Cleanse?"
"Yes. You know of your persuasion abilities as an incubus, surely, yet Eluo goes far beyond that. You are by no means strong enough to learn Anima Effusio, let alone learn it, yet Eluo is a cousin to Anima that will greatly suit your Luxuria nature. I won't bore you with technicalities, but in essence, Eluo will allow you to remove impurities from one's mind. To do this, you travel into their mind and battle the impurities as if you were fighting in the physical realm. It is very simple to do for a Luxuria, especially one as strong-willed as you, but it is imperative that you fight quickly and fiercely, for if you die in the mind, you die in actuality."
"Just show me how," he said, "and I'll do whatever it takes."
"I know you will. So let's not waste any time."
The rapped on the rock, and from one of the bushes came a pygmy, yet this one was different from the one Tetsuda had initially encountered. Its skin was bright red, and its eyes were completely black. Like a rabid dog it whipped its head from side to side, and thick foam dripped from its mouth.
"I'll start you small," said the Ira. "I've contaminated this troll's mind with wrath. Using Eluo, you will eliminate that wrath."
"How do I activate Eluo?"
"You already know how. It's just like other means of captivation—lock eyes and will."
Nodding slowly, Tetsuda gazed at the troll, now barking. Its eyes were wide, wild, but nowhere near focused on Testuda. Holding Erectus, Tetsuda rose from the rock and—
"No," said the Ira, snatching the blade from him. "What if you're unarmed?"
Nodding again, Tetsuda grabbed a bit of sand and tossed it to the pygmy. Its head ceased moving, and, though briefly, their eyes met. Its eyes gradually shifted from red to purple, yet the change immediately diverted, and the pygmy sprinted forth. Tetsuda's muscles tautened, and when the pygmy leapt, Tetsuda grabbed its little arms and forced their foreheads together. The pygmy let out a strangled cry, and its eyes changed to bright blue after only a second.
Tetsuda's vision tunneled, all surroundings turning grey, and when things cleared once more, he found himself in a clearing. Standing a few feet away was a black blob with crimson eyes and inky appendages. It gurgled a bit when its eyes landed on Tetsuda, and though slowly, it advanced.
Weaponless, Tetsuda looked for something to fight with, only to remember his claws and dashed forth. He swung at the blob, yet he only succeeded in gunking his hand with ink. Shaking his hand to wipe it off, Tetsuda moved back a few feet and looked around once more. How was he to defeat something with no puncture points, no blood or organs?
He blinked once, then looked down at his hands. This was a mental realm—a realm of imagination. A realm of possibility…
He returned his gaze to the blob and outstretched his hands with fingers splayed. "Open," he said to the earth. Slowly, gradually a crack formed to the side of the blob. Smiling, Tetsuda flexed his fingers, and more cracks formed. "Consume."
A hole opened beneath the blob, and it fell in without struggling. Tetsuda closed his fist, and anguished cries escaped before—
The world around him went black, and a force of a thousand men cracked him across the face. He thudded against the ground, and when the world brightened again, he gazed at the Ira's feet.
"Wrong," she hissed.
Holding the side of his head, Tetsuda sat up. "What do you mean?"
She pointed to the pygmy. Its body was normal now, yet the entire left side of its body hung limp at its side.
"What happened?"
"You eliminated the wrath, but you also eliminated a chunk of its mind. Now it can't walk properly." She shoved her claws through the pygmy's head, killing it instantly.
"How am I supposed to eliminate the wrath? My hits wouldn't have made any impact!"
"I know. That's what I wanted you to see. You do not cleanse the wrath itself—you cleanse the soul trapped within. It will be bound somewhere, possibly by only a finger, possibly by their entire body—the more corruption, the more manacles. You must tear apart the bindings and free the soul, and once you do that, the wrath will be destroyed. Understood?"
"Understood. But why did you not tell me that from the beginning?"
"To show you what rash behavior will do. I know you want to save Tyrannus as quickly as possible, but if you are foolish, you will kill not only him, but also yourself. Had I not withdrawn you, that portion of the mind would have capsized, and you'd be dead right now."
"How do I escape on my own?"
"You jump into the wrath with part of the manacles before it dies. The wrath's death represents it exiting the mind, and by jumping into it, you exit with it. The manacles will bind themselves to the wrath to connect you two."
"I understand."
"I had no doubts. Now, then." She snapped her fingers, and another pygmy appeared. "Again."
