Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 72
Kazuki did not know how Mefius would use the shadow artifact without its consent, but from the way he spoke earlier, it was clear he had discovered a method to do so.
(This is bad. If Mefius truly has a way to operate you and activate your ability to summon the primordial being, then we have to get you out of here before it’s too late.)
The shadowy figure agreed but the fact remained, it did not know how, and even if it could escape this room, then what. These were the questions that bogged them down and brought them back to reality.
(Leaving is something I can not see happening. Mefius will use me whether I allow it or not. Even if I have the help of every being in this world, it will not be enough.)
Kazuki did not agree.
(That’s not necessarily true or rather what if we get help from outside of this place.)
(What is you are trying to say?)
(I may be restricted in this realm but that would not be the case outside of it. More than that, I have many allies that hold strength greater than I. If we can escape this Hell Realm, It should not be difficult to contact my allies and get their help. Defeating Mefius would be simple at that point.)
The shadowy figure became disappointed.
(That sounds great but there is no escaping this Realm. The Stargate was destroyed long ago. No, even if it wasn’t destroyed, the amount of energy to operate it…there is no such energy source that I am aware of.)
Kazuki smirked.
(Isn’t there though…The statues the people carry and that huge one in the open field above us. The statue was nearly 50 feet tall and took the energy of many creatures. It should hold all the energy we need. As for repairing the stargate, so long as I can get close enough and inspect it, I should easily be able to find the problem and fix it in no time. We can be out of this Realm in as little as a few moments after it’s activated.)
The shadowy figure could not understand how Kazuki was so confident.
(You think a Stargate is something so easily fixable. Are you crazy?)
(Not crazy, confident.)
(Some would call that one and the same if they spoke so nonchalantly as you do.)
(Maybe but those who would look down upon the knowledge I’ve curated and gathered from trillions, they would be foolish. This is not the first time I’ve had dealing with a broken teleporter.)
Kazuki recalled the time he and Marty were trapped in the decaying ancient’s eye. Just before it exploded they had escaped through the teleporter just in time. It was similar in many ways to a Stargate, albeit a much smaller one. Kauzki’s was not simply boasting though. He really had a deep and profound knowledge of magitech from the ancient past to the present. Add on the knowledge he had acquired seeing both Arc and many of Belux’s memories, it would be safe to say his mind had more knowledge than any being of living flesh.
(So you have such incredible knowledge that you believe you can fix a broken Stargate. However, the moment it comes to removing that collar, you are lost like a newborn babe. You can see why I have doubts, no?)
(I understand your doubts but who says I have no methods for removing this collar? It’s more like it is quite a pain to deal with and a slow process but now that I think of it, your skill may just help me skip the dreadful process or at least avoid the terrible consequences. Care to hear me out?)
Kazuki began to go over his idea and the shadowy figure seemed to have a spark in its eye as it listened.
(Now that is intriguing. Can it actually work though?)
(I won’t know unless you give me a hand. What do you say? Once I remove this collar, our problems will be lessened greatly and our plans may officially start.)
(How will this start our plans? I still have yet to agree to any plans. There is no guarantee any of this will actually work out.)
Kazuki was getting frustrated at the shadows ever questioning nature.
(Right, my way there is no guarantee, sure I’ll admit that but so what. What other choice lies ahead of you. Mefius has found a way to force you to summon the primordial one. At least my way there is a chance of some kind. At least there is some semblance of hope ad freedom. Let me ask you. Would you rather do nothing and wait for your end or would you at least give a fuck and trust me for the small sliver of a chance? Well…Which is it?)
The shadowy figure grumbled something before nodding.
(Fine, we will try your way. It’s either I trust you or I fall to Mefius and his vile ways once and for all.)
(Good, let us begin as time is running out.)
Kazuki’s plan was actually rather simple. In this room, where Mefius’s eyes were blinded and he could not observe them, Kazuki would tamper with the collar to his heart’s content. As for dealing with the soul-rendering torment…He would leave that to the shadowy figure.
(By the way, you know my name but I still don’t know yours. Just calling you shadow would be rather annoying as I know a shadow who let’s just say is not very pleasant.)
(You mean to say he’s a piece of waste?)
(That’s pointing it lightly but yeah. He is real scum. So what is your name shadow?)
(I see. Well, I would not want you to confuse me for one of your most hated enemies. In simple terms, I am called Yidriss and so you may refer to me in this way and no other.)
Kazuki could see Yidriss was slightly offended by being compared with the enemy shadow from Kazuki’s memories.
He wouldn’t push anything and agreed.
(Yidriss, I’m going to start now. Please act accordingly.)
Yidriss nodded and Kazuki did not wait.
Similar to last time, he separated his aura into millions upon millions of tendrils before he began using them with his sword forms. The moment he touched the collar, the collar activated and the crimson lightning and blazing flames attacked his body and soul at the same time.
As soon as it started attacking him it also began to drain away at his magic energy. This much was fine. He did not care about his magical energy nor his body suffering under the burning and lightning strikes. What he was concerned with was his soul being torn apart by this collar and the fact that the collar was using his own magic, amplifying it and attacking him with even harsher results. This is where Yidriss came into the frame.
Yidriss had already entered Kazuki’s soul world through his aura. Though his physical body was several floors above them, it did not matter. So long as his aura was nearby, Yidriss could enter his soul world.
Yidriss came upon Kauzki’s soul tree. As strikes of crimson lighting forced their way inside his soul world and struck at his soul tree, Yidriss did what he came to do. With a simple step, he enlarged and covered Kazuki’s entire soul tree with his shadowy form and blocked the attack.
These lightning attacks could cause him no harm. More than that though these attacks could not even reach his shadowy form at all. Similar to when he and Mefius encountered one another, the lightning simply passed through him. Not only did it pass through him but it also passed through Kazuki’s soul tree as if it were never there in the first place.
The shadowy figure was an Artifact and could use its ability on any it so chose. And so it cose Kazuki. So in part, while it was activated, it meant that Kazuki’s soul or rather soul tree could not be harmed or even touched by this powerful ever amplifying energy.
With his soul completely unaffected now, it allowed him to focus solely on the collar. His sword forms attacked the collar in the millions, tens of millions, and even billions. His speed increased faster and faster. In this way, he was able to cut through the collar’s defenses and see not just one or two inscriptions but hundreds and thousands.
There were billions of these inscriptions, layered and linked to one another in seemingly perfect harmony. If he did not have his soul world and had to look at these inscriptions one by one it could have taken him countless years. Now however things were different. Time passed much differently inside his soul world and so a second outside became years and years inside.
While he was understanding the inscriptions, his ears twitched as he heard footsteps approaching his room. He recalled his ara from the underground room just as a new observing crystal began to monitor down there. His door swung open just as the light from his collar faded.
A familiar Gerian entered his room. It was Verut, the Gerian with part of his lower jaw missing. He raised a brow and asked curiously.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Comment (0)