Talk:Soul Master/@comment-37226687-20181019043146/@comment-35303705-20181019044716

Sure, I can elaborate a bit. The bugs of Soul Sanctum wanted to find a cure for the infection. Only, they didn't know that the Radiance caused the infection and that it spread through the dreams of bugs. So the Soul Sanctum bugs had the idea to prevent themselves from becoming infected by stealing the soul of bugs (which killed those bugs), and using that soul to "expand their minds". Only, what happened was when the Soul Sanctum bugs used this stolen soul, most of them became deformed and consumed by it (see Mistakes and Follies).

A few of them did survive and could use this soul to cast spells. The problem was, this didn't prevent any of them from becoming infected. It is suggested that the Soul Master, the leader of Soul Sanctum, was approached by the Radiance in his dreams, and she originally gave him the idea that he would live forever if he killed bugs for their soul and used this soul. This would also bring him "closer to the light".

The Pale King likely opposed the Soul Master because he knew the true nature of the infection, namely that it was caused by the Radiance. In the end, Soul Master and all the other bugs of Soul Sanctum became infected anyway, because using soul does not stop the infection.