Return of the Fallen Volume 11 Chapter 124
Viz was absolutely flabbergasted. Kazuki had just told a God to become his slave. The gall, the boldness, and greed. Viz couldn’t help but like Kazuki a little more. He looked at the half-blood to see his reaction but another unexpected twist occurred when the half-dragon didn’t hesitate. He fell to his knees and said.
“Master!”
Viz was shocked. Even if the man before them was a broken God a God was still a God. Asking for a lower being’s help was one thing but falling to one’s knees and submitting yourself entirely in mind body and soul. For a God to do this…It was completely unheard of.
(Most Gods would rather see themself die and have their soul scattered throughout the three Higher Realms than become a slave, let alone a slave to a 7th-stage youngling. What in the 7 Realms of Hell am I witnessing right now?)
While Viz was taken aback and at a loss for words, Kazuki was smiling with greedy eyes.
“Are you sure you wish to become my slave? Bending to my will and following every single command as if it is absolute?”
“Master, if you take this pain from me and restore my memories, I will do anything.”
“Good! Viz could you once more lower your barrier for me?”
Viz was still at a loss but he lowered his barrier as asked. Kazuki didn’t waste any time, his aura stretched forward and into the courtyard where Samuel and all of the newly acquired slaves were gathered. His aura pierced into the nearest slave and he examined the slave mark symbols on the person’s head and soul. After a moment he understood and his aura returned.
“Alright, open your soul world to me and put up no resistance. The moment you try anything, Viz here will destroy your soul. Understand?”
“Yes, Master!”
Kazuki ignored the master’s comment and his aura shot forward and into the depths of the man’s soul world. As soon as he entered, he found it odd. The man’s soul tree was…decrepit and small. Weak and void of vitality and power. Darkness surrounded this place and Kazuki could barely navigate this man’s soul world. It was like there was no magic inisde…no soul. Clearly, there was a soul, otherwise, the man would not be among the living but it was difficult to sense. It was like a dark haze covered this place and the soul was weak…Way too weak for a God.
(It’s like a newborn’s soul. No, it’s even weaker than that. It’s like this man is on the edge of life and death.)
Kazuki’s form approached the darkened soul tree and he placed a hand on the tree. The moment he did this the man keeled over and let out an excruciating roar of pain. A branch attached to his soul tree suddenly broke away and crumbled into ash and disappeared.
Viz thought something had gone wrong and was about to attack but Kazuki raised a hand to show he was fine.
(Don’t attack! That was my fault, not his.)
(Just be careful. This soul world is like a dying world. Acquiring him may just be useless. It doesn’t appear as if he will last too long.)
(I wonder if that is true?)
Kazuki could feel something blocking him from accessing the man’s memories but he did not find an outsider’s soul mark. For now, that was not a concern. He simply needed to place the slave mark onto the man’s soul tree.
His aura began to move rapidly and with a thought, he began to carve the slave mark onto the tree. When he did this, the man let out another painful groan and another branch fell off and withered away like ash in the wind.
(He might really die before this is over.)
Kazuki paused his action for a moment. He could not look into the memories nor find a soul mark so he did not know the exact problem.
Kazuki’s ring glowed in the real world and a Divine crystal appeared in his hand.
“Hey, absorb this. It might not be much but with some energy you being a God, should be able to heal a bit from it.”
The man had to physically hold the divine crystal and could not absorb its power from the small two feet of distance he was from it. That’s how weak his powers had become. As soon as he touched it though, the problems within did not all of a sudden fix themselves. Instead, they got worse. The power pouring out of the crystal and into his soul world rushed into his soul tree like a flowing river.
As soon as it sank into his soul tree, the tree looked as if it had been squeezed as more power flowed out of it and out of the man’s soul world entirely before sinking into Kazuki’s storage ring and then into the ring this stranger had just given to Kazuki. This no doubt surprised both Kazuki and Viz. The man’s soul tree shrank by a noticeable size and he began twitching and shaking as he released more cries of anguish.
Kazuki had no time to focus on the strange event and had to quickly think of something else.
(His soul tree is taking in divine power before rejecting it and disposing of not only that energy but whatever he has left in the tank. If I give him anymore his soul tree will most likely wither away entirely and he’ll die. Arc, do you have any suggestions!?)
…
Arc was silent. Ever since the stranger made contact, Arc had not said a single word. Kazuki hadn’t noticed it before but it was glaringly at the forefront of his thought right now.
(Fuck forget it. I’ll come up with something but what? His soul tree needs to recover some right now but a God that can’t absorb Divine energy is disastrous.)
Kazuki was not entirely lost though. There was a method that he recalled. Something he had only discovered fairly recently.
His ki bubbled up from within his body and using his aura to guide it, he led it directly into the man’s soul world and into his soul tree. The soul tree shook from this and a moment later, his ki began to spill out but there was a slight change. a tiny new leaf sprouted on one of the branches. A fraction of a second later, the leaf blackened and fell away before becoming particles and disappearing.
(He’s rejecting it but it looks like he’s keeping a small amount. It’s just that whatever corruption or thing this is, it is squeezing even the small amount leftover in him and turning it into sickness. This is fine though, it just means I just need to make him keep more of my ki. Just like how I can absorb power into my soul tree and grow my soul, he can as well. Now I need to make the power stay.)
“Viz, I need your help.”
“Already need a hand, fine tell me what you want and it shall be done.”
“Even though this guy is weak he is still a God. I can’t wrap up his entire soul tree with my aura I’ll need you to do it instead.”
Kazuki swiftly showed Viz what he meant and Viz followed along. His aura was powerful and was a true force to be reckoned with. With only a fraction of his power, he covered the stranger’s soul tree in one go.
(Good, now leave a small opening so that I can pour in my own power. Whatever tries to leave and spill out from his soul tree, you redirect it and don’t allow even an ounce of it to leave.)
(Hmph, is that all? This is child play yet you can’t handle it.)
(At the moment no but when I grow stronger, something so simple will not stop me. Now please focus.)
Viz chuckled inwardly but he gave it the attention it deserved. More so because he was curious as to what Kazuki was doing. He examined Kazuki’s ki energy and found it to be incredibly weak in force but powerful in life essence. This type of power was a curiosity and a niche more than anything else in his eyes but still, the way Kazuki used it, Viz found his way to be unique.
(With this power one can strengthen the muscle’s vitality and life but the force is quite weak. Still using it to strengthen his soul is an interesting way to use it. For a God, muscles mean little compared to divine power and we need no vitality for we are immortal beings and with such little force it holds no real value to us. Since this broken God is so weak though and his soul is on the verge of collapse, it could actually help him, how interesting.)
As he said this, Kazuki continued to pour in as much ki as possible. More and more of it spilled out but with Viz’s aura covering the soul tree everything that spilled out was forced back in. This caused new leaves and branches to begin growing rapidly. After one circulation of his ki, the collapsing soul could be felt more strongly. It was now like that of a newborn. After two more breaths, it had grown in strength and was now comparable to someone in the 1st stage.
The moment it came to here, Kazuki quickly used his aura to create the slave mark and sealed it. The slave mark appeared on both his soul tree as well as on his forehead and the deed was done.
Viz pulled his aura back and Kazuki stopped circulating his ki. When this was done, the two both made an annoying discovery.
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