Return of the Fallen Volume 8 Chapter 104
As his armor was being eroded away in certain spots, Kazuki’s eyes subconsciously fell on the base of his soul tree. Residing there was the mysterious gate that held the dark creature, a Vazul. A large seal made from the ancient language kept the Vazul locked away.
Desperation was filling Kazuki’s mind. He tried to convert his magical energy into aura but had completely failed. Instead, he made a discovery that could grow his soul but that was utterly useless right now.
The gears in his mind turned and turned but he was running out of time.
*Tzzzt*
The lightning cage surrounding his body shrank a fraction more and the god metal protecting him was flaking off and melting into the Miasma. A tiny portion of his left knee was finally exposed to the dark mist and immediately Kazuki felt his knee start to disintegrate and melt. An excruciating pain wrapped his knee and Kazuki’s eyes widened almost in a panic.
His first instinct was to try and heal that spot with his ki or the gordonia element. His body tried to naturally heal and was regenerating but it could not seal the would entirely and the regeneration came to a standstill with the Miasma. This standstill only lasted for a mere second or two before the Miasma began to eat and absorb Kazuki’s life force causing it to grow in power.
Kazuki had to make a rash decision and he instantly cut off a large portion of his knee before manipulating the god metal. Stretching it thinner, he covered his open wound and sealed his armor. The Miasma was now once again attacking his armor, trying to degrade it.
Kazuki sent his ki and gordonia magic into his knee and healed it rapidly. The pain subsided and Kazuki wanted to sigh in relief but there was no air to do so. He could only sigh inwardly but this small moment of peace was quickly interrupted by another part of the armor being destroyed by the Miasma.
This time it was a spot on his back. The armor looked like it was rusting through and a new hole opened up.
As soon as the Miasma touched his flesh, Kazuki didn’t hesitate to cut out a chunk of flesh from his back before stretching the armor thinner and thinner to cover the wound and then heal himself.
(I can’t sustain this. I have to try something! I can’t just float around like this as I’m slowly getting eaten alive.)
Inside his soul world, Kazuki approached the base of his soul tree.
(Things are rolling far too quickly but the options I have are basically nonexistent. Etora denied the Vazul within him energy and then devoured him, allowing him to regain a version of the Ourodyess technique. If I destroy this bastard inside this gate, would I not regain that ability. If it works, I should be able to devour the Miasma?)
Kazuki was completely unsure on every basis. He did not know if he could actually beat the dark being within the gate. Not only that, even if he did beat it and gain its strange and unique ability, he had no way of knowing if this ability would work on the Miasma itself. He knew the Miasma contained some type of mysterious energy but just because it was energy, that did not necessarily mean the devouring technique could take it in without dangers.
The only thing that came close in his mind was when Etora devoured a fused Azirian back near the Rin mountain range. Etora had inhaled that Azirian and destroyed it but whatever the Azirian was made out of seemed to act like a poison within Etora and without using ki on him, Etora might have actually died.
No, the Miasma was not an Azirian but it was the closest thing he could compare it to energy-wise. So even if he successfully took the Vazul’s power as his own, he would still not be out of the woods and there was no guarantee this wouldn’t just lead him to his death even faster.
At this moment though, more holes formed within his armor, and his flesh was exposed. He had no more time to think or wait around. It was die or try something and have a small chance of surviving. The choice wasn’t much but it was still Kazuki’s to make.
Kazuki reached forward with the last of his aura and tore the seal apart from the gate at the base of his soul tree.
The moment he did this, the gate pulsed and began to spin rapidly. The very next instant, a dark figure poured out of the gate as if it was made of pitch-black smoke. The figure was shaped human-like but because of the hazy black fog shrouding it, no distinct features could be made out.
The dark being spread out until it was as large as a house. Its eyes locked in on Kazuki’s form and spoke with arrogance.
(It was only a matter of time before I returned. This time I don’t sense that Titan. It seems your fate has been determined. I will devour your soul and take your body as my own tiny mortal.)
The Vazul spotted Kazuki’s Mage core and the dark energy that made up its body shuddered in excitement.
(First things first, a small snack to whet the appetite.)
The Vazul ignored Kazuki’s presence and rushed toward Kazuki’s Mage core. Without the Titan guarding Kazuki like last time, the Vazul found Kazuki to be unprotected and weak. To take control over him would be as easy as turning over a hand it thought.
Things though would not be so easy.
The moment it lunged for his Mage core, Kazuki opened his storage ring and emptied all of his magic into the damaged core from Garn’s floating palace. He didn’t pull the core out into the world but instead kept it inside his ring and poured energy directly from inside his body and into his ring and then into the core inside of it. The magic in his Mage core was drained instantly and only had a tiny bit left. After everything was in the core he activated his ring with the last of his magic and closed his storage space.
While this was happening, most of the armor protecting him was now gone and his actual body was starting to be eaten away. All he could do was try and heal it with his ki. Thankfully the Vazul was unaware of his ki as it was stored in his dantian, something this Vazul knew nothing about.
(Without any energy in here, the Vazul will either try and take in energy from my surroundings or it will directly aim for my soul tree and try and devour my soul. Either way, COME!)
Kazuki kept these thoughts from the Vazul and tried to look as weak as possible. He shook from head to toe and made the form he projected of himself in his soul world seem smaller than natural.
The Vazul paused for a moment. It wished to feast on Kazuki’s Mage core. This would have allowed it to gain a bit of power, which in turn would make it stronger and make things much easier but Kazuki had denied it its food. Looking at Kazuki’s trembling appearance, this didn’t bother it in the least and instead, it found Kazuki’s weak appearance entertaining.
(Denying me the magic in your core, was that your final desperate move? You foolish tiny mortal, even without any energy inside your core, I possess everything needed to take your body. I will eat your soul in a single gulp and your flesh will become a puppet for my will to control and manipulate. I will devour this world and Ourodyess will be reborn through me.)
The dark being rushed toward Kazuki’s soul tree and with absolutely no resistance from Kazuki, it sank into his soul tree immediately.
Kazuki felt a shredding pain in his soul and black lines started to form over his entire body. His eyes became blood-red one moment and then pitch black the very next. Kazuki could feel his body spasming and his mind becoming unfocused.
At the same time, his body was being eaten away by the Miasma. The god metal armor was compressed and shrunk as Kazuki abandoned his lower half. The armor became thicker around his torso and head and offered his upper half protection while his lower extremities were now fully exposed and were melting away in agony.
Instead of dulling the pain with his ki, he allowed it all in. Kazuki did this purposefully, the pain allowed his mind to sharpen and the initial focus he lost from the Vazul invading his soul tree, all of it returned with full authority.
He could feel parts of his soul being eaten but the Vazul was actually not able to eat in a single gulp as it had said. Instead, it clashed inwardly with Kazuki’s soul. It was far more powerful than Kazuki had thought and the two were quickly forced into a stalemate.
The pain wracking through Kazuki, along with his body being melted and his soul being shred apart, all of this would have driven any other to insanity, into madness. Kazuki though was anything but insane instead his will to live burned like a blazing star.
A smile formed across his lips.
(Now It’s my turn.)
Kazuki still had both his hands intact and he quickly began to form ancient hand signs. A tiny bit of space energy was collected in his hands and with it, his ring flashed with a dull purple light. The damaged core that had energy from both the floating palace as well as what he had stored in it when he drained his own Mage core, all at once, he willed it all into his soul world.
(COME!)
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