Return of the Fallen Volume 11 Chapter 39
Continuing their hunt, the two’s pace increased as time went on. Marty looked slightly better and as a side benefit, Kazuki’s strength improved gradually. Along with this, the tools he made were also slightly improved. The dagger he used became a sword as he added more mucus to it. The hammer as well became thicker and heavier.
After hunting for a single day, Kazuki’s strength had improved to where he could now stab a worm directly in the head and kill it with a single thrust. That or it would take one thrust of his mucus sword with a single swing of his mucus hammer to finish a Giant worm. For regular-sized worms, it only required one stab to kill them.
Kazuki didn’t only attain this level with his own strength but also by using the worm’s own dissolving agent to better shape the mucus sword so it became sharper with a finer point.
Swinging this ugly sword through the air, it made a strange hiss as it cut at the wind.
Making his way back to the junk room, Kazuki was trying to decide which path to take this time.
(The path northeast of here leads 20 miles down and has several hundred worms and Giant worms. The path a little further north leads around 10 miles down and holds nearly double the previous number of worms. Which path do you wish to take Kazuki?)
Kazuki didn’t know.
(It seems we’ve been hunting these worms with too much efficiency. I can’t tell if they are smart or are relying on instincts but now they are grouping up in large and larger numbers. Killing them is getting faster but killing them has also become more difficult with this increase in bunching up. Arc, is there any way you can pull only a few away at a time?)
(No, If I send any energy at all, those that are close enough to sense it will be able to sense it unless I waste power to specifically target individuals but I don’t have any more power to waste, I’m tapped out on what can be spared. The only way is if I gather more Origin energy but that would require you to go much deeper and you would encounter far more worms than what you’ve come across.)
Kazuki walked around the junk room in deep thought. He picked up a strange looking piece of junk and could sense a small amount of divine energy within it.
(If only Demigods could absorb the divine energy inside of these Magitech devices. That would make things so much easier.)
Arc sensed the energy within this junk room and agreed.
(There are a few thousand devices in this mountain-sized room that are emitting this power. It would certainly make things go that much quicker. We could save your friend in one go and could then focus on the core of this world. What a strange device.)
Arc sent a wave of energy into the device and the device lit up momentarily before the light faded. The very next moment a flow of energy left the device and entered Arc.
(Hmph, so little energy, pathetic.)
Kazuki was taken aback witnessing this.
(Wait, did you just absorb the energy in this object?)
If arc had eyebrows it would be raising them.
(What a dumb question, of course, I absorbed it. You literally just watched me do so. This measly amount though can do nothing to restore me.)
(No no, that’s not the point. If you can absorb this energy, can you not take in the divine power from these devices and then transfer it to Marty?)
(That is not possible. Once the energy is a part of me it is mine and mine alone. Just as the divine power inside of these devices can not be absorbed by other Demigods, Demigods can not use what is mine.)
(Why though? If you can absorb the energy why can they not?)
This had been a question on Kazuki’s mind for a while now. He still didn’t know what the separation was. Why could some Divine energy be absorbed such as what was processed by the sandworms and other divine energy such as what was in these devices could not be taken in and used by a Demigod? He knew that there was something that was different or something happened during which the worm took the divine power in and then tossed it out but he still couldn’t identify it in totality.
(Does it really have something to do with another soul?)
Arc thought for a moment and then explained.
(The answer to this question is simpler than it appears. I told you I don’t know if this world will explode or simply fade into oblivion. This does in fact come down to a soul. As I’ve mentioned before, there is a soul still remaining within this decaying eye of a world. This soul is connected to the divine power in this place and that soul has consciousness and will. In order to host all of these worms, they must feed on something. Besides the Demigods living here, they mostly satiate themselves with the soul of this world. When they eat the soul of this world, they also take in the divine power it is attached to. They eat the soul but cannot eat the divine power so the two are unbounded and separated. The divine power remains in the worms until they basically get rid of it. How they do that I still don’t know. Maybe they shit it out or maybe they throw it up. Either way, they take both in digest one, and get rid of the other. Once they eta the soul, the divine power that remains is now ownerless. No consciousness no will attached. This power is then free to be claimed by any who can. The Demigods for example can claim this divine power that the worms get rid of. Now take a look at the device in your hand.)
Kazuki held up the small square device that was now empty of divine energy.
(If you sink your senses inside, there are many strange inscriptions, well strange to you anyway. Take a look. Even if they are not the same you should get a familiar feeling if you think about it.)
Arc guided Kauzki’s senses inside of the device and sure enough, he did find something strange. There were several inscriptions that felt familiar. These inscriptions reminded Kazuki of a mark. Not just any mark. His mind went back to his days with Glacious when he first showed him the problem with his soul. The moment Kazuki remembered this he connected the strange inscriptions with the mark on Glacious’s soul.
(Soul Mark!)
If Arc could nod right now it would be doing just that.
(From your memories I’ve seen that you’ve learned about soul marks from Glacious and his problems. That lion dog-faced soul mark was like poison as it sapped Glacious’s strength. That was left behind by a Titan back on Gordonia. The one you killed and made an example of after taking control of the world.)
Kazuki of course remembered all of this. If not for that soul mark, Glacious would never have been weakened to such a degree that he had difficulties with Fera the first time around. If that soul mark hadn’t been there, Glacious could have gone directly to the dark continent and killed Fera then and there and saved an undeniable amount of suffering all around. Kazuki had remembered that soul mark and when he took over Gordonia he killed the titan called Aruzai. It was said to make an example but really it was 2 birds with one stone and was a small form of revenge on Glacious’s behalf.
(This feels similar to a soul mark but what does this mean?)
(Kazuki, it means exactly that. I don’t know who or what created this device but this strange inscription is just another way of setting a soul mark on this device. In this way, any power that enters this device, the device will erase the original soul from the divine power and replace it with its own. Because of this, the power inside can no longer be absorbed by another Demigod because there is a new soul attached to the power inside. Rather the power cannot be used by those weaker.)
Kazuki had a thought.
(Yet you can use this energy?)
(Yep. This device requires strange inscriptions to do what I can naturally. A soul mark for me is nothing but child play. Once I take in the energy, hmph, it can only become mine and mine alone. To answer your question before. I cannot give this energy to someone because it already has my own mark. This is a mark no Demigod can ever hope to erase. So no, I cannot share this type of energy anyway. Regular magic, now that’s a different story.)
This opened Kazuki’s eyes and suddenly a strange thought occurred to him.
(If this tech can leave a soul mark and the soul mark is still active to where others cannot absorb the energy without erasing the soul mark. Does this not mean that the owner of this device is still alive somewhere?)
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