Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 37
The giant shrieker crushed the armor protecting the two. After cracking it open, the giant looked down upon Kazuki and Monsuta.
“Now, give me your soul, tiny human.”
The giant opened its mouth, and its yellow, glowing eyes began to release domineering power.
Kazuki felt as if he were trapped inside an inescapable net. His instincts told him, no, roared at him to flee. All the alarms rang at full blast in his ear, and something told him he was better off killing himself here and now rather than having his soul devoured by this giant shrieker.
Looking directly into the monster’s eyes, Kazuki felt as if his soul was being stolen. It was as if any and all hope were drowned out by the overwhelming might of this seemingly unstoppable being.
The only thing he could compare this giant creature to in terms of true might was the primordial flame that inhabited this so-called Hell Realm. The difference being the owner of the primordial flame seemed to have not a single care while the giant shrieker only wanted more and more power.
(NOOOO! THERE MUST BE A WAY, SOME WAY!)
Kazuki had nothing. His power was already suppressed in this world but with the giant in front of him, he was being directly affected by the shriekers glowing eyes. Under this being’s rule, Kazuki’s powers were sealed and his strength locked.
Kazuki’s eyes responded to the giants and without his control, they began to glow yellow. His soul tree within his soul world, to his disbelief, began to uproot as it was drawn to the shrieker’s eyes. Kazuki was almost like a vegetable as his life was on the verge of slipping away.
Suddenly a beam of blue and white flames shot forward and slammed into one of the giant’s yellow eyes.
“STOP! LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE!”
The giant shrieker let out a roar of anger.
*SHHHHRRREEEEEEEE!*
Monsuta had saved up all of his power during his fight. It was now that he had unleashed it.
This light and fire was so bright and hot that it lit up the sky and warped the air causing it to wobble. The heat alone caused the green fires all around to swell even further and rise to even greater heights. Monsuta’s power amplified the green fires causing all the other smaller shriekers to let out cries of fear as they began to scatter.
The giant shrieker’s left eye dulled from a bright glowing yellow to a muddled brown. Greenish-yellow blood poured from this left eye and in a reflexive manner, the giant shrieker slapped Monsuta down to the ground below him.
*BOOOOOOM!*
Monsuta crashed so hard into the ground that he sank more than a dozen feet leaving a wide crater.
“MONSUTAAAAA!!”
There was no response from Kazuki’s shout.
After that, the giant shrieker picked up a handful of scattering shriekers before stuffing them into its mouth. Without even chewing, the giant swallowed down thousands of shriekers in a single gulp. The dulled eye stopped bleeding and it regenerated in no time at all.
Its yellow hue and glow returned and with it, all of the small fry stopped fleeing as if they were under some type of spell. They once more became docile.
“Those annoying flames. This is why we got rid of all the sharp tooths long ago. Well, almost all. The last one slipped through my fingers somehow. No matter, I’ll make its death swift but painless it will not be.”
The giant opened its mouth and a green ball of power gathered in its jaws. Its aim of course was the Monsuta.
Kazuki still could not move.
(I have to do something! If only I had more power!)
As if the universe was lending him a hand from above, said power was within reach. Kazuki felt it. The giant had swallowed down thousands of shriekers in one go. All of that fire energy was not fully absorbed by the giant in front of him. There were a few thousand inside its gut that were left nearly completely intact.
Kazuki’s eyes slammed shut and he took in all of that fire energy all at once. The amount was far too much to take in one go. Kazuki felt his core swell up as it was immediately on the verge of exploding.
(NO! BECOME MINE!)
He could not let this energy go out of control, he had to force it to submit here and now.
(I know this power. I’ve already learned and manipulated it for years on top of years. I will make it obey!)
The amount of fire energy Kazuki took in was thousands of times more than what his core could handle. He tried to absorb it as fast as possible. His core automatically removed the primordial flame and it entered his soul tree, fusing to the other primordial flame fragment. This was not the problem. No, the true problem came after. He needed to splot the remaining fire energy. One large part for his core to absorb and one smaller part into pure fire energy with the impurities burned away.
He couldn’t do it. To get rid of the impurities so quickly, it was simply impossible by normal means. At the same time, his core could not contain so much energy all at once. He felt soul-shredding pain as his core swelled further and bulged unnaturally. Several cracks appeared on the surface of his core and the sound of something shattering continuously rang out in his mind.
(NOOOO!)
The faster he tried to remove the impurities and absorb the pure energy the more he was brought closer to failure. Even at his fastest speed, it was simply too much. He could not take it all and was about to fail.
(If I lose here I’ll die either way. My core will explode or this fucking monster will eat my soul. I have to do this.)
Kazuki tried to find a way, anyway but nothing came to him. Even with the time difference in his soul world, there was simply too much power. If he stopped here he would still explode. Most of the energy was not his so expelling it would only cause it to go further out of control thereby taking him with it.
Kazuki was truly desperate. He looked to the spinning void at the base of his soul tree. IN his mind it was the only thing that could deal with this excess energy. At the same time, the last time he activated it, the primordial flame attacked him and nearly destroyed him in response.
On the edge of life and death, Kazuki wished to at least contemplate what could be done but waiting would only see him to his downfall. He needed to act and act now.
(Monsuta what can I do?)
Kazuki thought about Monsuta. If he did not come out of this, Monsuta would die. A flash of horrors flew through Kazuki’s mind as he was reminded of every failure and every death. All those he let down and couldn’t save. All the loved ones and all of his friends.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. His rage boiled in his soul world. How many times did he have to go through this? How many times did he have to lose and lose and lose.
(Losing…NO MORE…I REFUSE TO LOSE ANYONE ELSE!!!!)
Kazuki placed a hand on his soul tree and his eyes glowed with radiant light.
(GO!)
Monsuta had broken the giant shrieker’s focus, which in turn removed the domineering gaze and the might behind it from his body and soul. Kazuki willed his aura forward and commanded it with perfect mastery. His aura changed shape and took on the form of millions of large forging hammers.
(Monsutait’ss thanks to you that I have this idea. It better work or we’re both dead!)
These aura hammers flew to his core and Kauzki began to pound away at his core. Not only did he pound away but he also formed billions upon billions of aura layers around it. Every time there was a crack, Kauzki’s aura would sink into his core and he would repair it. Every time it bulged unnaturally he would hammer it back into place. At the same time, he hammered away at the impurities in this blazing energy.
His aura hammers held not only the power of his soul but also mimicked all the different fire energies he now knew of and understood. With his giant hammers, he no longer needed to burn away the impurities with real fire. Instead, he hammered them out with the mimicked fire and aura hammers.
The sound of constant explosions rang out in his soul world and in his mind over and over again. Hammering his own core with his own soul was something never before seen. With it, Kazuki changed the way he absorbed fire energy from this day forth. The energy he forged with his aura hammer caused the energy to become far purer than what it normally would be by just burning the impurities away with real fire.
The reason was that with every slam of his hammer, every impact. He not only removed impurities he also added soul power directly into this pure energy.
After a few thousand swings, the pure energy radiated like a heavenly star before it shot forward with unbelievable speed and was eaten by his soul tree. The golden threads within his soul tree expanded and new leaves grew upon his soul tree.
With this sudden increase in his soul, Kazuki instantly felt changes across his entire being. He was once more…Evolving.
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