"You all have already benefitted from Null more times than I can count! Why can't I receive help when the time comes?"
"Because you're speaking weirdly and making the recipient of your request uncomfortable."
Barter's Ruler was clearly not himself at the moment, but none of the crew knew what exactly ailed him.
"There's no time! Don't you feel it, Edmond," Barter's Ruler called to the fleeing Devil, "At times like this you must strike while the iron is still hot."
It was strange how Barter's Ruler seemed to have some sort of rational thought behind his otherwise irrational behavior.
He spoke as if his words held some meaning that the others could not put together.
"How else can I say it," Barter's Ruler tried to compose himself, "My mind is set on greed. My body was transformed by greed. Only my soul remains unchanged by the rule I live by."
With the added context, the crew were astonished to hear the dilemma he was facing.
Null now realized how serious the matter at hand was, "You think that in order for you to reach the next step you have to find a way to shape your soul into one that runs on greed?"
Barter's Ruler looked as if he was relieved to hear someone understand him, "That is precisely my idea. And now that Ego can utilize the special nature of Void, I don't see why it would not work."
Klein perked up, "But how would you even start a process like that. I'm not the most well-versed person on the matter of souls, but don't they represent an individual's very being?
Changing something that vital would either change who you become or outright kill you!"
I realize that, but what choice do I have? I'm not as talented as Edmond nor as peculiar as Null. Greed was something I chose, not something I was made for."
"Are you sure," Null considered his words and figured that as the more experienced one, Barter's Ruler knew better.
"I might not show it, but I'm desperate. If you don't mind, then please help this poor ruler."
Seeing him regain his bearings, Ego felt better about helping Barter's Ruler, "It'll take some experimentation, but I'll do what I can for you. You'll help too, right Void? He is the one who created Ruler's Greed after all."
"He is?! Then can I have some more? I'm starving!"
The crew had a laugh at the innocence that Void never failed to display.
"If you'll help me, I don't mind letting you play with this," Barter's Ruler waved his hand and his coin materialized like a magic trick.
Void did not know what the treasure was used for, but he could sense a familiar feeling radiating from it.
"What is that?! Can I eat it too?!"
After another round of laughter, things settled down and the crew went about their businesses, some practicing their abilities and others taking time to relax.
Ego and Void had fused once more into Superego and underwent the process of forging Barter's Ruler's soul into a vessel of Greed.
With their peculiar state of being, Superego could seep into his body just like with Null.
When they reached inside, they saw a golden light which they took for his soul.
There was something off that Superego sensed with their newfound ability.
Deeper inside the brilliant light there was actually a dimmer, pale light.
'Is this what he meant by a soul not changed by greed?'
Going by the sensation of the soul surrounded by the golden aura, it seemed that Null's interference had only boosted the faculties of Barter's Ruler's soul instead of providing an innate change within it.
'It seems I have to find a way to fuse the Ruler's Greed into his original soul without destroying either in the process.'
Superego calculated the chance of success and sighed, 'The things I do for these guys. At least I'll have something to work towards with my new form.'
After seeing the soul of Barter's Ruler, Superego left his body to tell of their discovery.
"His soul is only bolstered by the Ruler's Greed? Then how will you go about fusing the substance to it," Null asked what the others were thinking.
"I'd have to experiment on other souls to see about mixing them with the foreign energies to see if there's any instability issues during the process. After all, one's soul is the basis of their being."
"I think I know the perfect test subjects," Edmond said while smirking devilishly.
Of course, he was referring to the witch hunters and basically all of the other community members that had hatred for the witches.
Superego mirrored the smirk and set out to capture some of them.
They were already mentally aligned with the idea of souls being food and the like, so the idea did not even phase them.
The rest of the crew were also fine with the idea as they experienced more of what life had to offer and were hardened by its challenges.
The witches were still against the killing, but they could do little to deter their saviors.
Some of the witches even changed their views and agreed with the mentality of the crew.
Estoria was one of the steadfast witches that hated the idea of harming their fellow man.
The only reason she had less trouble stomaching the matter was her children.
The thought of any harm coming to them would obviously make her feel safer under the protection of Null and the crew.
The clashing beliefs made her understand the feelings of the ones who fully rejected their past beliefs and supported the mindset of the crew.
Even the kind Evangeline easily lost what remained of her innocence after experiencing the atrocities of the false God.
It did not take long for them to find more witch hunters to experiment on which Superego did quickly and methodically.
At first, they tried infusing the souls of the hunters with Ruler's Greed to change its properties into one that ran on the greed.
That failed miserably as the souls were completely against the idea of allowing the foreign substance into their forms.
They then decided to mimic the soul of Barter's Ruler where the Ruler's Greed surrounded the soul instead of fusing with it.
The results were pretty remarkable as the witch hunters suddenly jumped in terms of aura as they felt the connection to the Ruler's Greed.
Strangely, Barter's Ruler felt a change in his abilities that allowed him to connect to the hunters with the Ruler's Greed boosting their souls.
He channeled his power and tried to manipulate them with the newfound connection.
Something happened as he did so which no one could have predicted.
The people whose souls were experiencing the power of the Ruler's Greed suddenly felt something wrong deep within themselves.
Shortly after, their very souls were pulled from their bodies under the watchful gaze of Superego as they floated closer to Barter's Ruler.
Before long, the souls entered his own body and began merging with his own soul.
The process was subconscious and unknown as to how exactly Barter's Ruler managed to activate it, but it happened nonetheless.
After the merging was complete, Barter's Ruler felt a tinge of change within himself that made for the beginning of another round of deaths.
"I feel a change!"
He did hardly anything to take notice of the soulless hunters fallen on the ground where they once stood.
Superego instead noticed that the attraction of the Ruler's Greed managed to not only link with the separate souls that burned on the same power, but absorb them into his own soul!
'He's like me?!'
They were shocked like never before.
They witnessed the entire process as well as the change in his soul itself, not just the outer areas.
His pale soul deepened in color as it shone with the Ruler's Greed in certain areas.
'I can actually do such a thing?! I can feel it! I'm becoming more than just a Transcendent pauper!'
'My Ruler's Greed is spread throughout my entire being. I can feel all of the gold attached to my Greed as if I were before each piece.'
As he said so, the ruler teleported from his place in a golden flash!
Seeing this happen, the Superego and the crew stood dumbfounded.
"H-he actually disappeared!"
"What the hell happened to him?!"
As quickly as he left, he returned to his previous spot with another golden flash.
"How'd you do it, man? Don't tell me you've reached Enlightenment like that!"
Barter's Ruler just stood there with a grin on his face.
"That was but the first steps into my Ruler's Enlightenment!"