Return of the Fallen Volume 10 Chapter 119
Now that Kazuki could completely withstand the gravitation and threat of a star, he no longer needed to be a long distance away in order to capture its energy. Standing in place, he opened hundreds of rifts all at once. Some of these stars he sent his Cosmic crystals to absorb the energy while the rest he activated his devouring void and consumed massive amounts of energy again and again.
Once more his strength grew. Feeding his own magic into his soul his soul grew and so to did his aura and ki. While this happened, Arc did not sit still. Just as Kazuki took in the energy of multiple stars at once, Arc communicated with the Origin energy and absorbed every bit of it at a rapid rate.
When these stars were fully eaten and there was no more Origin energy in the depths of their cores, Kazuki would simply close a rift and open a new one. With both his speed and Arc’s being incredibly fast, these rifts would only be opened for seconds at most. Pretty soon, it looked like an odd light show as rifts opened and closed at a constant rate.
With his power growing, his reach into space was becoming further and further. He no longer needed to move and could open a rift anywhere in this Realm in an instant.
Finally, after hundreds of thousands of stars had been devoured, Kazuki stopped.
(Kazuki, what’s the matter, why have you stopped opening rifts?)
Kazuki slowly opened and closed his hand and inspected his body and soul.
(My powers have stopped advancing. It seems I’ve reached my limit.)
(Your limit. You mean you can’t grow any stronger again?)
Kazuki nodded.
(At least for now. When the first fracture in my soul was repaired I could grow but it’s almost like I’m full now. Consuming anything else will just be a waste at this point.)
(But I need more origin energy. I’ve only recovered a few fractions’ worth of power. Don’t tell me were done already.)
(I’m not saying we’re done forever. Just wait a bit. We’ll return to Kai and I’ll get more Cosmic crystals, as well as empty the ones that are already full, then we’ll be right back to it.)
Arc was quiet before asking.
(Don’t you carry planet Kai with you. Just open it here and take some crystals out. Hmm, I don’t sense the world with you though. Just open a rift from here connecting to there and get some that way.)
Kazuki usually carried planet Kai with himself in its tiny grain-sized form but lately, he’s been leaving it near Gordonia to make things easier for those traveling to and fro between the two worlds. Asuna and the rest didn’t need such considerations since they could simply travel through space with ease but most could not simply open a rift whenever they wished. Both his world and Gordonia had arch gates but if an entire planet was moved, the arch gates had difficulty reconnecting with the other gates, so he left them in range of one another.
Of course, he could just open a rift to planet Kai and retrieve some more Cosmic crystals but he noticed he was missing Asuna and Nunully. It hadn’t even been that long but he found that feeling bouncing around inside and he thought it was kind of funny thinking about it now. He didn’t want to admit that to Arc for some reason though and just made something up.
(I still need to go back because it’s time for a meal.)
Arc had no eyebrows but if it did, at this time one would definitely be raised. At least that was the feeling Kazuki got.
(But you don’t even need to eat food in order to live. What’s the point?)
(Arc food is a pleasure. It tastes great and gives you a fulfilling feeling at times. Plus eating around others makes the meal that much more enjoyable. So you see I have to go back.)
…
…
(Fine, what are we waiting for let’s hurry and go then, you weirdo.)
Kazuki shook his head. He didn’t even know why he was explaining himself to a ring but whatever he thought.
Just before he went home though, he thought about something and changed his mind.
(Actually, there’s somewhere we need to go first.)
Before Arc could ask, Kazuki already opened a rift and stepped through. The very next moment Kazuki appeared in Nevius’s world. Nevius was stunned and thought Kazuki had come back for a cruel laugh or something.
“Old man, I’ve returned.”
Nevius was still sitting in the crater Kazuki had left him in. He had a disheveled look and a numb expression.
“Kazuki…Why have you come back? I get it I was wrong and you…you won’t help me. So did you just come, to shatter my hopes even more or to kill me or what?”
Kazuki shook his head. Looking at Nevius, the man was pitiful but Kazuki understood him a little more. Kazuki had felt like his choice was stolen from him because of Nevius and that still left a bitterness in him but at the same time, now that there might be a way to revive his Granny master and maybe even old Tilly, Kazuki understood at this moment that if the choice came to get revenge or be able to revive those slain by Sephra, he would always choose the latter.
Kazuki curled his finger and his aura wrapped around Nevius and stood him up and brought him up and out of the crater.
Kazuki’s previous actions had destroyed the little outdoor kitchen Nevius had and so with a thought, Kazuki remade the kitchen exactly as it was before he destroyed it.
A new table had formed and two seats came along with it. Kazuki sat down and he sat Nevius opposite of him.
“I did not come back to fight with you. I don’t like what you did, nor how you weren’t upfront about the consequences of fixing part of my soul but I was also stupid to not delve into the details. I was more interested in the potential of becoming a Demigod and a God. As long as my soul was fixed, I saw my revenge as a possibility, no, a certainty but thinking on it, nothing in this universe is certain. Someone had told me of the different scenarios that I could face once entering one of the Higher Realms and I ignored it due to clouded thoughts of revenge. Millions of other Demigods and gods as enemies, different creatures, Hell Realms and so much more. I always thought I could simply figure my way out of every situation, and out-think every opponent but I was a fool. My friend…my brother Danny is right, I wasn’t thinking logically.”
Nevius didn’t know what to say. he instinctively reached out with his soul-sensing ability and felt Kazuki was being honest and sincere.
Kazuki was surprised that he could now feel Nevius’s ability but said nothing about it and allowed it.
“So, are you saying you’ve come to…help…me?”
Kazuki nodded.
“Thinking about it, being with my friends and loved ones, the possibility of bringing some back to life and holding onto them, this to me, it is important. More important than killing Sephra. Besides, she is imprisoned. Not only that, I got the pleasure of destroying her daughter’s soul directly in front of her. That is a moment she will never live down. The boy she took in as a son, the boy who grew to be a man that she then hated and betrayed and tried to kill. The man who equally despised her back. In the end, I have my freedom and loved ones around me while she’s trapped with enemies all around. In my eyes and in my heart, I have won and she has lost.”
Saying this out loud was like stamping it or setting it into stoned. For Kazuki, after he said this, it became real to him. He had won and Sephra had lost. He would live happily and she would be stuck suffering under Orberus’s cruelty and madness.
Kazuki spun Arc around his thumb and Arc shot off of his finger and returned to its original puzzle box-like shape.
“The deal is back on old man except for this time, I will help you first.”
Nevius’s mouth fell open and he started to stutter but for some reason, he could get no words out.
Kazuki understood this as well.
A few minutes ago Kazuki had attacked him but now here he was offering to help him. It seemed like a massive shift and change of heart but Kazuki had been thinking things over for a while now. First with uncle Lin, later with Danny, and then he ran into Nevius and then spoke with Arc. Each one of these encounters was pushing something up to the surface. Something that Kazuki needed to confront within himself and he did.
Kazuki did not come to his conclusion by himself but rather it was the result of many people as well as strangers who helped show him the truth. He did not wish to become a demon. Continuing down the path of revenge, a demonic path would be the only thing left for him.
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