Return of the Fallen Volume 12 Chapter 41
Reaching out to grab one of the halves. The inside of this rock suddenly shifted and moved away from Kauzki’s hand. It was like small waves in the ocean as the tiny crevices and divets moved across the interior surface of the rock half.
(Just what is this?)
Kazuki pulled his hand back and the insides of the rock shifted back into place.
(The rock is avoiding me?)
(Now that is curious. Brat whenever you reach forward, the energy inside shifts along with it. It’s almost like this rock is alive.)
(Arc is right. The insides are reacting to your movements but I do not sense a consciousness within so it is most definitely not alive. It might be reacting to the temperature of your hand or maybe even the energy surrounding you. This is bizarre. How does this ward off the watcher.)
This question puzzled Kazuki and the others. Kazuki began to test out on the rock. He found that it was not immune to physical damage. With a mere squeeze, he could crush it in his grasp and reduce it to dust. Sword as well could easily cut these rocks apart with ease.
He then moved on to trying different energies. This is where things changed. Moving a small tendril of ki toward the rock, the insides of the rock began to tremble and shake. The insides shifted, pushed, and pulled as it suddenly extended its weird energy and took hold of Kazuki’s ki. Kazuki’s first thought was the rock would try and absorb his ki and prepared to cut it off without delay when Arc called out.
(Wait.)
(What is it?)
(Just wait a moment. Something…Something is happening.)
Just as Arc said this, Kazuki suddenly felt the strange energy from the rock using his own ki to crawl forward. It used Kazuki’s ki like a tunnel or a rope and climb it until it found its way directly into Kazuki’s soul world. Kazuki felt his mind suddenly slow and both his soul and mind started to grow numb and dull.
His vision went bright white and his consciousness felt as if it flew away as flashes of something appeared in his mind. Something fast, incredibly so. Alarms rang in Kauzki’s soul and he tried to sever this invading energy but he felt no connection to his power whatsoever.
(ARC! ARC MY MIND, MY POWER, SOMETHING’S WRONG!)
Arc gave no response and the flashing lights grew more and more rapid. These lights were a mixture of different colors and shapes but as the speed of them increased further, Kazuki’s quickly lost grasp on what was what and they all blended together. Kazuki fell over as intense pain flooded his mind and soul. Whatever this was, it was simply far too much and Kazuki felt like his mind was on the verge of exploding.
(ARCCCCCCC!!!!)
Kazuki called out in desperation and finally just as he felt his mind starting to splinter, he heard Codex call out in his soul world.
(Severing Tempest!)
It sounded as if something ripped and a single blurred image appeared in Kazuki’s mind and was burned into the depths of his soul.
Just as quickly as it came, the white light vanished and Kazuki found himself lying on the ground, covered head to toe in a cold sweat. His entire body was shaking. Kazuki just laid there for a moment as Codex continued to ask him if he was alright. Kazuki could barely even focus as the blurred image was seared in his mind.
(God damn it Kazuki ANSWER ME!)
Kazuki took in a deep breath and his ki circulated automatically and he regained his calm.
(I…I’m fine Codex. I’m fine.)
Kazuki slowly sat up and he felt a sharp pain rattling around in his skull. He grabbed his head and winced for a split second before the pain disappeared.
(What in the seven Realms of Hell was that? it felt like…I witnessed something just now.)
(Kazuki, that’s exactly what I’d like to know. One second you’re testing your power on that rock and the very next you collapsed on the ground. Even Arc wasn’t answering me. That pained expression…I thought you were on the verge of death and used the sword forms to cut your connection with that thing.)
(Arc wasn’t answering me either. Arc, what just happened!?)
…
Arc remained silent.
(ARC!)
…
(I can hear you brat so stop screaming like a whiny little bitch.)
(Really, you don’t help and act like I’m overreacting. Just answer me, why did you ignore my plea for help?)
(Is that what you think? After everything we’ve been through you think I’d abandon you now.)
(Stop playing games. Why didn’t you help?)
(Brat you’ve got a lot of ner…Forget it this is a pointless argument. I didn’t help you because just then, I couldn’t help. I don’t know what happened to you just now but if it’s similar to what happened to me, I understand why you’re upset.)
(Wait, something happened to you as well?)
(Yeah brat and I didn’t even touch the damn thing. As soon as that strange energy used your ki like a door and entered your soul world I instantly tried to destroy the connection but before I even touched it, I felt my senses slow to a crawl and a mirror of flashes took over my consciousness. My powers were no longer under my own control and it felt like something was pulled from me but I can’t seem to recall what it was. So when I say I couldn’t help you, I mean I literally could do nothing to stop this invasion. I of all beings was powerless in that brief exchange.)
Kazuki could no longer be upset if this was the case. At the same time, he wondered.
(This doesn’t make sense. How were you affected but Codex and Sword were not?)
(Kazuki, I think I know. I witnessed the strange energy travel from the rock, then through your ki and into your soul world. A fraction of time from there, the strange energy had already dove into your soul tree directly and a fraction of time after that, Arc became useless.)
(Watch it you damn empty book. Don’t you dare insult me.)
Codex ignored Arc and continued.
(Kazuki, the energy passed through you like a door and into Arc. Do you realize what this means.)
Kazuki already knew and it was something he did not wish to be true but there was no other explanation.
(There is still some form of connection between me and Arc. The piece of Arc that fused with me…I thought it fully became my own but apparently not. Arc…how is this so? You said it was no longer your piece but if it’s not what other way could this strange energy have made its way directly to you without coming into contact with you?)
(I…I don’t know myself.)
Kazuki and Codex were shocked. Arc claimed he didn’t know something so easily. Usually, there would at least be some sort of resistance but Arc just straight-up admitted it. Even Sword backed away as if it were stunned.
Kazuki and Codex knew that whatever Arc just experienced, it really bothered it to its core.
(The energy itself is already strange yet familiar. It shows several different traits to other energies but from that point on it’s like it becomes its own thing and shares nothing else in common. Whatever this energy is, it must have found the connection between you two. Even if the connection was minuscule and insignificant, this strange energy found its way through the gaps and infiltrated Arc. This energy can not be underestimated. If one could control this energy and monopolize it, that would be a true danger to the Realms that be.)
Kazuki suddenly felt something was off with Codex’s words or rather he realized something.
(This energy caused my mind to fog and my powers to go out of my own control. The hidden watcher, could it be using these rocks in a similar fashion. Is that where its control is coming from?)
(Brat, you may be onto something there. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t taken over Lana and her family because they have the exact same rocks and can somehow use them to counter these same rocks. If that’s the case then maybe if we find out how to control this power we can counter it as well.)
(Maybe but there might be a better way. Something much simpler.)
(Brat…What is it you have in mind?)
(Well…)
Kazuki looked down at the rock he held just a moment ago and he picked it up.
(Brat what do you think you’re doing!? That thing is dangerous to just hold without care and caution.)
Kazuki disagreed.
(It seems to only be dangerous if it gets a hold of power. So long as I just hold it like this, it seems docile.)
Kazuki reached forward and found that the insides of the rock moved much slower than before.
(If it really is these rocks that the hidden watcher is using, then all we really need to do is destroy the rocks and the watcher’s hold over the city will be no more.)
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