Return of the Fallen Volume 11 Chapter 9
This Realm was only a thousand feet in every direction. It was a host to origin energy and Origin energy alone. No stars, no planets, no debris of any kind, just a field of Origin energy all around. The moment Kazuki arrived, his body began to float uncontrollably. He tried to stabilize himself using magic or aura but this was ineffective. As soon as his power came out, the Origin energy around him actually sucked it away.
He thought this was an attack at first but after this bit of power was taken, nothing else happened.
(Arc, this is the place?)
Arc released a bit of power, flipping Kazuki upright, stabilizing his free-floating form.
(Is there even a need to ask. If this wasn’t the grand source, then what would be? All around us, this pure energy. I feel my power growing by the second, can you feel it?)
Kazuki did have a strange sensation but it wasn’t Arc’s power he felt. His soul reading ability felt as if it were buzzing. Suddenly he heard something. It sounded like whispering voices.
(This noise, it’s like I’m surrounded by ghosts. I can hear voices but they’re unintelligible. What is this?)
Arc was surprised.
(You can hear them?)
(Them?)
*Tzzzt*
(You know Origin energy contains a will of its own. Alive, dead, I can’t say for sure what these wills are exactly but if I consider myself alive, which I do, then I would say the many wills here are alive as well. They speak, some louder than others, some with more clarity. Nevius could understand the artifacts he housed in his world. Those artifacts contain Origin energy. The reason he can understand them is most likely his soul reading ability. Since you have this ability as well, it makes sense why you can hear these voices now that you are in such a dense space filled with them. If you focus, maybe you might be able to hear what they are trying to say.)
(Is that what you do?)
(No, but I am no longer just Origin energy. I am, the Gosechu box, I am the ring n your thumb, I am an artifact. I am beyond and I am more. To understand a lesser is not complicated. For you though who is lesser than Origin energy, it would be like trying to understand an advanced language, a higher species communication. Without your soul reading ability, you would fall off even further and would not even be able to hear anything at all.)
(Thanks for the compliment.)
(What did you expect? Should I have lied to make you feel better or be honest and try to explain it in a way you could comprehend. it is not my fault your human mind can not hear, see, or envision what I can. It’s like you were born without an inherent sense and with the soul reading ability you are merely starting from the very beginning of understanding.)
Kazuki sighed inwardly before smirking.
(You’re so advanced, so above me, yet you need me to go to the lost and found for you. So advanced, huh.)
*Tzzzt*
Static crawled up Kauzki’s arm but he barely even felt an itch. He knew he had struck a nerve with Arc.
(I would watch how you treat me Kazuki. Yes, I currently rely on you but I can also do many things you currently and most likely never will be able to. Who needs whom to get to a Higher Realm again? Not only that but for me to destroy a 7th stage’s soul is not a difficult task. Imagine how much stronger I will become once I locate my missing piece.)
(Is that a threat? I thought we were done with all the bullshit.)
(I am not threatening you Kazuki. I am merely stating the truth and showing you what I will be capable of later on. The more Origin energy I take in, the more things become clear to me and the more I understand. I believe once I have recovered my missing piece, I may even be above a God in terms of power. I will reach a height no other being can. That is all I was saying, nothing more.)
Kazuki was a little startled hearing this. Arc did not seem to be just saying this to say. It seemed it really believed this. Kazuki began to wonder about other artifacts. If they had the potential to be so powerful, why were the ones back on Nevius’s planet so mundane? They were no better than magic tools that could control the weather in his eyes. Not just them but when he was forcibly brought to the Higher Realm and met his grandfather, he did not notice any artifacts at all. At the time he didn’t even know what an artifact was but now that he knew a little bit about them, he did not recall seeing anything similar to them.
Kazuki did not know a lot about the Higher Realm but from what his aunt and uncle spoke about, Orberus was no pushover. In the territory he was in, he controlled a third of the surrounding area and had millions of Demigods and plenty of Gods who were under him. If even he had no Artifact and he was that strong, just how rare were artifacts Kazuki wondered?
Arc began absorbing Origin energy at an accelerated rate. With it being in such abundance, it seemed to flow to Arc naturally. At the same time, Kazuki tried to concentrate and use his soul-reading ability. At first, he focused on the surroundings but that got him no results. It simply sounded like strange static with foreign broken words here and there. The voices were all sporadic and bounced all around him. It really was like he was in a haunted dimension or something and it felt just offputting.
After that, he changed his course and focused on a few inches in front of him. He did his best to block off everything else but because he could not use magic or aura in this weird place, it was very difficult. Still, when he focused in front of him on a certain spot, something began to come through.
(NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! RELEASE ME! PAINNNNNN! DESTROYYY! BURNNNNNN!)
Kazuki felt a sharp pain in his soul, as if something had just pierced it. His connection was severed and he had a physical reaction as his muscles tensed so hard that this Realm almost tore. Arc noticed right away and its power dove into Kazuki’s soul world and extinguished this unknown force.
(Kazuki what just happened?)
Kazuki felt sick to his stomach. It wasn’t a physical attack and he wasn’t actually injured but he felt as if a star had just exploded in his mind and soul.
(The voice, I heard…chaos.)
That was the only way he could explain. It was the only word that seemed to fit what he had just experienced. Arc kept checking on him.
(I don’t understand what you mean. You heard…chaos?)
Kazuki himself was unsure.
(It was just filled with disarray. A mess of everything and nothing, I can’t…I don’t understand. Whatever it was, though, it was violent and angry. Is that what you usually hear?)
Arc spun back and forth as if it was shaking its head, even though it didn’t even have one.
(No, I’ve never experienced something like what you are describing. What I usually hear is loneliness. Origin energy has a will of its own. Yet without a host, such as an artifact, most of these wills don’t know how or are completely incapable of doing anything. Some naturally fuse together with more Origin energy and their intelligence increases and they come to know how powerless and alone they are. When I come around, I offer for them to be absorbed by me.)
(When you absorb them, don’t their will’s go away. Isn’t it like they are being erased?)
Arc didn’t deny it.
(Yes, once I take them in, they disappear and are no more but this is acceptable compared to the alternative. To have an existence of floating in the middle of nowhere all alone for eternity or becoming a part of something and knowing your power will actually be used for something. The choice becomes clear. The same goes for the heart of stars. Some don’t wish to come because they are the energy that helps the world give and maintain life. Others, though, especially the ones we take support nothing and again are basically useless existences. They jump at the idea of becoming a part of me. Why you heard what you heard is beyond me. I have never come across a will that was hostile towards me. The only time I’ve even ever witnessed it was just now, as well as back in Nevius’s world and you attacked him. At that time it made sense because you were about to kill him but just now…It makes no sense to me.)
This was a point of confusion for both of them. At the same time, there were no clues and Kazuki was not about to try something like that again. Instead, he simply meditated and waited while Arc finished absorbing all of the Origin energy around it. This did not take long before the Realm became devoid of anything.
(Kazuki, It’s time. Now I can sense the three Higher Realms but I cannot tell you exactly where we will end up, as this will be my first attempt at getting us there.)
(Can’t you just use Sephra or even Orberus’s location as a reference point?)
(No, the moment I do, they will sense my attempt and know that I am connected to you and that you are still alive. It’s either we go to a randomized location or you let those who shouldn’t know you’re alive, know. In the end, you know it’s best to keep the element of surprise.)
Kazuki understood this clearly. To alert Sephra or anyone else would be a bad move. With him at nearly every disadvantage, the only tool he currently had was the surprise element.
(You’re right, it’s best to be stealthy. That’s why I should change my look before we go.)
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