Return of the Fallen Volume 12 Chapter 75
Taking control over a random person’s soul in the back of a dark alley was not something that would play out well in the eyes of others. Some places allowed this and others didn’t. It all depended on the laws of the rulers in control of the city you were in or the ruler of the Starpath you were in. From one domain to the other, these rules did not always carry through but so long as you were in someone else’s domain, someone else’s Starpath, it was follow the rules or have everyone under the ruler’s command come down upon you.
In this particular city, to obtain a slave, one either had to purchase one through legit means at a slave shop or one had to surrender their soul willing under the eyes of a witness.
Kazuki saw these rules as an annoying but necessary function to keep society from breaking down into complete chaos. He could easily take over this man’s damaged soul here and now but those that ruled this city would notice someone going from free to slave outside of legal means.
Kazuki didn’t wish to bring the whole city down atop his head so he and this man went to the previous slave shop Kazuki had visited. Before they got there, Kazuki’s face changed back to his first disguise when he entered this city. Back to Medatte, the most average appearance he had in his arsenal.
The man who was ready to hand over his soul to Kazuki wasn’t too shocked by this. Many people would change their image to avoid unnecessary trouble among a swath of other things. No, what surprised him instead was the fact that the energy flowing around Kauzki completely changed. It was almost as if Kazuki had become a different being entirely.
“Sir, your abilities are very profound. You manipulated the dark energy spilling from my infected bow and now I sense a different power from you. Do you mind if I ask how many energies you can control?”
“Actually for the time being I do mind. You are not yet under my control so spilling secrets would be a foolish deed.”
The man was slightly disappointed but he understood this. The two were total strangers. Sure he would soon be Kazuki’s slave but a million things could happen between then and now. In his eyes, Kazuki was as mysterious as he was cautious. A good trait to have if one wants to live long in these harsh Realms.
The man followed Kazuki quietly after that. Eventually, they arrived at the slave shop. From there it was a simple process. With the face of Medatte, Kazuki was recognized immediately as a VIP and the branch manager was called to him.
The round meatball of a man happily took on Kazuki’s business and saw to it to personally placed the slave mark upon the man before bragging to Kazuki about an incoming shipment of new slaves that would arrive in a few days. Clearly hinting at Kazuki to drum up more buying. He wasn’t even trying to hide it and mentioned a discount if Kazuki was interested.
Kazuki wasn’t hiding his intent either.
“Very well, those slaves, I’ll buy them.”
He tossed the heavy man a ring that swelled with Divine crystals and ordered the branch manager to reserve the slaves for him.
Before the branch manager looked inside the ring he asked.
“Yes yes, and how many should I hold for you?”
Just as he said this his power dove into the ring and he sensed a mountain of Divine crystals.
“I want them all.”
The man gulped as he saw all of these bright crystals. Knowing the commission he would receive from another huge purchase, he couldn’t help but smile greedily.
“Yes sir, all of them are yours. Shall I send them right over when they arrive or will you be picking them up directly?”
Knowing the time frame was tight, Kauzki couldn’t wait around for them to arrive so he just told the manager to hang onto them until he personally got them. After that Kauzki and the man returned to Kazuki’s palace in the city.
The man following Kazuki did not know what the future held for him but when he arrived at Kazuki’s place, he did not think he would see the sight that played out in front of him. Inside the courtyard, there were thousands of slaves, many were smiling and chatting casually. Some sat in silence meditating and others ate and drank while laughing uproariously.
The moment they saw Kazuki, all of them bowed respectfully and called him master. Kazuki was still not someone who liked such a title but it was easier this way than them calling him by a random made-up name every time he changed disguises.
Even if he did change his face, the slaves would still recognize him due to the fact that they could all sense the slave mark connection they had with Kazuki. Only if Kazuki did not want them to sense this connection would they not feel it. In this way, he could more easily move around them with different faces if need be just to make life easier.
This time though he made his presence known due to the fact that he was showing the new addition to everyone there.
Kazuki stopped in front of them and announced.
“This man here, as you can see is a new soldier that will be added to the ranks. His name is Fleck, treat him as you would the others later on. For now…as you were.”
In unison, they all shouted.
“Yes, Master!”
After that, they all returned to what they were doing. Laughing eating messing around and so on. Even with Kazuki’s return, he was not hard on any of them during this time. Only during training would things get…bleak. During combat training, Kazuki didn’t even participate, he left it all to Codex and Sword but these slaves only knew this was all done under his command.
The training was beyond anything they had ever done but at the same time, it was both thrilling and fulfilling. They were made to test their limits and go further and further. At the same time, their powers grew at an exceptional rate. Those that were at the 7th stage and below overnight became Demigods and those that were Demigods and Gods had a boon in growth as well. Their power and strength all transformed due to Codex and Sword.
They knew what Kauzki knew. So they could basically upgrade everyone the way Kazuki could. For the Gods and Demigods, they would allow them to transfer energy directly from their cores to their soul tree. This technique Kauzki figured out allowed one’s soul tree and in return soul to grow purer, and stronger. This made their magical powers soar to new heights.
Everyone grew more powerful than they had ever been in a few hours than at any other time in the eons since they’ve lived. Kauzki also made sure to manipulate their souls and erase the memory and experience entirely of this special technique. He did this just in case someone tapped into their souls to try and fish for information.
Under normal circumstances, a salve mark would alert the master to an outsider’s presence should they try and invade a slave’s soul world. If that were to happen, a master would most likely destroy that slave’s soul in order to make sure no information got leaked.
Doing so would destroy the slave and kill them. Even though they were slaves, Kazuki did not wish to see them die. With his soul-reading ability and absolute control over them through the slave mark, he could alter any memory he wanted and there would be no harm done to them. This was something incredible. To outsiders, if they could so freely change another being’s memory, skies the limit to what they could achieve. In order to do so though, one would need not just the slave mark as the master but also the soul-reading ability Kazuki had. To his knowledge, there were only three beings in all the Realms that held this special soul-reading ability. Kazuki himself, Nevious ash, and his wife. That was it.
With this, Kazuki only had Gods and Demigods under his control. An army of over 40,000 powerful beings, to any 3rd or fourth-tiered city, this was a phenomenal force to be reckoned with. To a 2nd tier city with their forces, it was laughably small, to a 1st tier city, it was like the ground and sky, and when it came to a ruler who claimed domain over an entire Starpath…There was simply no reason to even begin to compare.
Kazuki though felt not a hint of despair in knowing this. His forces would soon rise and would no longer be a drop in a bucket but instead, an ocean crashing down atop said bucket. This he knew as fact.
Comment (0)