Return of the Fallen Volume 11 Chapter 101
The woman leading Kazuki and the others came to a large door near the interior of the back of the building. Standing in front of the door were two large guards. Both were Demigods. They had witnessed the whole situation earlier so when the woman flew over with Kazuki and the rest following, they automatically opened the hefty doors.
The woman nodded at the two of them before curling her finger.
“Dear customers, if you would please follow me down, I’ll show you the underground floor as per your request.”
Behind the big wide doors were a set of steps leading downward. One could not see the bottom as the steps curved the further they went down. Samuel swallowed hard seeing this.
“Samuel, what’s the matter with ya?”
Samuel shook his head.
“Nothing, I’ve just read stories like this. Everythings going fine and then the protagonist is led to a secret underground layer where he’s trapped. These steps just remind me of that story.”
Marty smirked before teasing.
“Once we go down there will be no return for us, hehe.”
Samuel furrowed his brows before he gathered his courage and followed the guide down first. Marty was laughing while Kazuki was admiring the kid’s courage. He understood that all of this must seem intimidating. A kid surrounded by Demigods and other powerful beings. Yet the kid was stepping up time and again. One could not doubt that he had courage.
As the three followed the guide down the winding steps, the sizeable doors slammed shut behind them. The entire stairwell became pitch black for but a moment before small crystals hanging in a set pattern glowed with brilliant white light.
Even though they were underground, it was as if it was day down there.
As they continued down the steps, the guide began to warn them.
“Dearest customers, before we reach the dungeon, I must ask you to be cautious. Even if you purchase these vile beings and place a slave mark upon them, that does not just change their nature. They are still dangerous and some are fairly cunning. I once heard of a man that had a slave mark on him but he somehow found a loophole and plotted against his master and while freeing himself, his master lost his life during the incident.”
“Really? Sir Jentson, are you sure we need anyone down here? I saw plenty of good slaves on the first floor. Surely they would be better suited for our needs.”
Kazuki shook his head.
“They are not what I’m looking for. Besides, even though this guide says she heard some story, you’re just going to believe her words. A slave mark is bound to one’s soul. If the slave tries to harm their owner, their soul would be in such agony that they can’t move and if they kill their owner their own soul would shatter. But, let’s say the story is true, and this person found a loophole, would it actually be a loophole or would it be a trick that the owner fell for? Which is the more likely scenario let’s be honest? I have also thought of a few ways that one might remove a slave mark but none of them require the death of the owner. If that story is real, I think more than likely the slave mark was removed by the owner, and then the slave might have killed the owner. In other words, don’t remove the slave mark.”
The guide felt offended seeing as how Kazuki was talking like she wasn’t there and practically calling her a liar but she had no means to counter him. At the same time, Samuel took Kazuki’s words to heart and nodded along.
“What Sir says, does make sense.”
In the end, though, these words of Kazuki’s were just to ease, Samuel’s mind. In reality, he had already thought of a few ways to escape a slave mark.
(In the same way, you removed the God’s soul mark from the ancient tech and used it, Arc, you should be able to remove a slave mark correct?)
(As long as the being who paced it is not a God themselves or the Mark is at the very least weakened by a God, I should easily be able to deal with it. For you as well, as long as it’s not set by a demigod, you should be able to remove one with your sword forms. They may be able to sever the energy and destroy the mark entirely. If you combine it with the red flaming lightning you picked up from Fera and your aura breath to suppress it, you may be able to destroy a soul mark or slave mark set by a Demigod as well. The only real problem would be the divine energy but with me by your side, that energy would not be a problem.)
Kazuki agreed.
More than that, as long as he had time, he could most certainly find a way to remove such a soul mark all on his own. Kazuki’s thoughts began to wander as he ran many scenarios through his head. Before he was lost in such thoughts, they reached the bottom.
…
An eerily silence surrounded them. At the bottom of the steps, just like the top, there were a few guards down here as well. They took a casula glance at the woman guide along with Kazuki and the rest before they looked back into the depths of the underground.
From where they stood, they could see the beginning of cages and cells a few hundred feet away. Some cages were small while others were incredibly large. One of the larger ones was the size of a hill and contained a large humanoid-looking beast. The beast was a Demigod and had the body of a human but a giant one. The face was more like an ape’s with sharp protruding fangs and bright red eyes.
The moment they made it to the bottom of the steps and saw the many different creatures in the cages, these prisoners saw them as well and went wild. They immediately began to bang, crash and pound their cages causing metallic rings to echo out in the underground. The sound of roars became rampant with the sudden new stimulus.
The guide turned back to Kazuki and the others.
“Most of these beings are slaves due to crimes, some owe great debts and some were simply sold for one reason or another. Most are criminals though and they know that no one ever comes down here except to lock up more slaves or for the rare purchase. They tend to go wild because they think if they show off their strength and ferocious nature it will make someone want to buy them. Since you all are not in chains and have no slave marks, they know you’re here for the latter. I think this little show of theirs does the opposite but whether I’m right or wrong, I guess we’ll see.”
As soon as the woman’s words finished, Kazuki walked ahead of her. He could sense several potentials. He walked over to one of the cages and the guide called out in warning.
“Be careful! They may have their magic and souls suppressed but they still have all of their strength!”
Just as she said this, Kazuki stepped too close to one of the cells and a large hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.
“Heh, a 7th stage brat actually dared get this close. Now I finally have my ticket out of
Before he could finish his words, Kazuki grabbed this large hand and with a forceful tug, he ripped this person’s arm from their shoulder before tossing it behind him. The arm flew through the air and hit another cell behind him and before it hit the ground another hand came flying out of that cell and snatched the severed arm out of the air and pulled it through the bars and into the cell. The very next moment all you could hear from that cell was the crunching of bones as teeth ground them down and the arm was eaten in a few seconds.
The woman guiding everyone and the guards all stared at Kazuki in shock. The arm he just ripped off belonged to a Demigod. They could not believe that Kazuki had this much physical strength and now realized that he was no mere 7th-stage being but rather an expert.
The Demigod grit his teeth, not in pain but in anger. A second later, his arm regrew and he hammered it onto the cage in protest.
“You little bastard. You dare take my arm and
Kazuki gave him a look and the Demigod suddenly went quiet.
The Demigod then thought of something. He wondered how a 7th-stage being could do that to him and the more he thought about it the more it made no sense unless Kazuki actually wasn’t some 7th-stage being but someone with much greater powers and was hiding it. This person’s thinking was wrong but Kazuki need not correct him. With these thoughts, it caused the Demigod to become cautious and he kept his mouth shut. Being in the cage, the man could not sense things clearly and felt his mind was playing tricks on him and so he became reserved and avoided Kazuki’s eyes.
Kazuki finally turned his attention away from this demigod and took a step forward until he was in front of another cage. Leaning closer, he looked into the cell and nodded before he said only two words.
“This one.”
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