Return of the Fallen Volume 12 Chapter 24
Codex did not like its options and Kazuki’s words were a subtle threat. Do as I say and trust me or resist and have ones will forcefully thrust upon you. In the end, it could only relent under the circumstances.
(I…I shall place my trust in your hands Kazuki.)
Kazuki smiled.
(And Sword, will you return my piece of soul back to me or do you need a little coaxing?)
Sword shook left and right before the small fragment of Kazuki’s soul it had was released back to Kazuki. Kazuki turned his attention back to Codex who was slightly shocked.
(Sword, you didn’t even try and hold out. You gave in so easily that it feels almost like my considerations were a waste of time.)
Sword danced around as if saying well duh.
Codex couldn’t even really be upset. Kazuki really did hold all of the cards here.
(Fine. Take it Kazuki.)
Codex opened up to a certain page within its book body. At first, the empty page appeared blank but after a thought, the page lit up with inscriptions and several chains of light were undone. With it, the last fragment of Kazuki’s soul was released and drawn into Kazuki’s soul world where it returned back to his soul tree.
When these two fragments rejoined his soul tree, Kazuki immediately devoured more energy from the outside world and his core. His strength and soul grew by a tiny margin. Had there been a larger portion of his soul that was separated from him and then returned, his power would have climbed even further but at last, what he took back was only a small almost insignificant amount.
Just the fact that his soul was once again whole made all of it well worth it in his mind.
(Now that we’ve returned the rest of your soul, tell us the truth. How did you enslave the Gauntlet Artifact?)
Kazuki looked down at the Gauntlet artifact he wore and shuddered at the thought of what took place before telling them.
(Back in Chaotic space…When all hope was lost. I sensed the Gauntlet nearby and quickly cut a path to it with my sword forms.)
They all knew this but this in itself brought questions.
(I was wondering about that brat. Chaotic space is nearly infinite. Even if we entered Chaotic space around the same location and time, the fact that it was nearby after the explosions we suffered, that is beyond astronomical.)
What Arc said made sense to a certain extent. The forces gathered and displaced in Chaotic space had the capability of destroying countless Realms as if they were nothing. Sending a small object like an artifact flying billions of Realm lengths away or even trillions was not unreasonable in any way. This though brought the question as to why or how the Gauntlet was so near.
(Your right and wrong Arc. Have you already forgotten the strange push and pull we all experienced inside there? The way Chaotic space exploded and then how everything seemed to reverse. When those rocks the size of Realms shattered into oh so many pieces and yet a moment later they appeared to put themselves back together.)
Arc and Codex lit up with realization.
(Kazuki, you’re saying the Gauntlet was tossed far away, and then moments later it was returned to the exact same spot due to the reversal inside that place?)
*Snap*
Kazuki snapped his fingers to Codex’s answer.
(Exactly Codex. The Gauntlet was blasted far away by the constant explosions before it was dragged back toward its original spot or at least near its original spot. After I took it over, I found that it had tried to move around in this place but it was lost and missing a large portion of its consciousness.)
As Kazuki continued to race across the sky with the Gauntlet’s fluttering wings, he gave it a certain look.
(Brat, even if you are powerful, we’re talking about an Artifact here. Even if you used everything at your disposal, your powers are simply not enough to render an Artifact defenseless and take control of it. Even if you were powerful enough to do so, that control would not last. The moment it recovers some Origin energy, it would crush whatever energy you have and it would destroy your soul. Knowing all of this, how did you do it? How did you take it completely?)
Kazuki held up his arm.
(Everything you said is correct Arc but that’s only if it was a whole Artifact. What I have here is instead a third of an artifact.)
It was as if Codex and Arc were suddenly struck by lightning. Adigus had used one of the Gauntlets abilities which caused it to be divided into three individual Gauntlets. The moment he did that, the Gauntlet was no longer a whole Artifact but a third of one. Did this not mean that whatever made up the inside of the Gauntlet was also split into three?
(Bwahahaha, clever, so damn clever brat that it’s disgustingly satisfying in a way. So you weren’t facing a whole Artifact but a third of one. What else. It can’t end with just that, right? You must have done something to sink your claws in it, that it could not shake you.)
(Since you’re an Artifact yourself Arc, I don’t have to tell you just how stubborn Artifacts can be. Just going against a third of it doesn’t mean much when it has a firey will. No, I had to dig deeper. The moment I sensed the Gauntlet nearby and cut my way toward it, I understood what it was I needed to do. It was something instinctual but not something I originally had.)
Arc and Codex were already curious but Kauzki’s words intrigued them even further.
(Something instinctually you did not already have?)
(Yes Arc, it was the piece you gave me that became a major key in this victory of mine. Without it, I would have failed entirely.)
Arc felt a sense of pride though it did not know why.
(Kazuki how did Arc’s piece help you exactly?)
(One of Arc’s abilities or rather many Artifacts is the ability to communicate and absorb Origin energy. Arc told me before that you don’t just take in Origin energy, you have to talk with it and get it to become a part of you. I wish I can say things became simple from that but our little talk was anything but. It’s this connection that you can form with Origin energy and other Artifacts that really helped me. My soul, with the fused piece of Artifact I received from you, connected with the Gauntlet and it was within that connection that we fought.)
Codex and Arc were lost.
(Kazuki, you fought but that exchange was a mere few seconds right? Are you telling me you one in only a fe
Before Codex finished its words, it came to a realization.
(The time dilation in my soul world. When we came into contact with one another, it was my soul that connected and with it, time changed. As a second passed outside in the real world, decades passed inside. I fought with the Gauntlet for just under a century soul time. It was within that time span that I pushed it to the brink. I fought hard and never relented. I was determined and with my never-ending energy I could absorb from the outside world, and its waning energy. Add the fact that it was only a third of its original self, I completely crushed it into submission and placed a Slave mark upon it. Because it was a mere tool for Adigus, it was unaware of how to use all of the different Chaotic energy around it. Therefore it constantly weakened while I had a near-infinite supply of power at my beck and call. It had no choice and could only lose to me.)
Arc, Codex, and Sword were all shocked. The happenings and situation were at all ends of the extreme.
(Kazuki, you came so close to the end. If the Gauntlet had even a little more energy to continue the fight, you would be no more?)
Arc was blown away by all of this. Things really were desperate and Kazuki had just barely made it out.
(Yes. If it had any more energy, I would most likely not be talking to you right now. You could say I was lucky but I wouldn’t go so far. If things looked as if I would really be finished, I still had a few more cards to play.)
(Brat, you’re actually saying there was more you could have done? Just what else was there in that impossible situation?)
Kazuki shrugged.
(if it got that bad. I was teetering on the thought of creating a devouring void within that connection. It would have devoured my energy but the spinning void would also have eaten away at the Gauntlets. I would have continued to pull energy from Chaotic space while the Gauntlet would have been drained even faster. The danger would have been negligible in all of that but I found myself well ahead and did not believe I needed to do even more to win. In the end…it was I who still came out on top.)
Arc and Codex again were blown away. The two did not know whether to call Kazuki a genius, insane, or something in between. All they knew for certain was that Kazuki had tempted fate and won.
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