Return of the Fallen Volume 9 Chapter 47
Zetrazz’s fury and disappointment fused into one as he roared at the sky. The sound was so powerful that it started to destroy Kazuki’s inner organs, while at the same time, it shook the entire continent.
Only after several minutes of this maddening cry, did Zetrazz, stop and regain some of his calm. Looking at Glacious’s dead body, a sense of regret took root in Zetrazz.
“Damn it all. All of these stupid things constantly getting in the way of our ultimate fight. I should have just said fuck it and fought him the first chance I got but now look at you Glacious. Dead by a surprise attack. Why, why didn’t I interfere sooner?”
Kazuki was angry hearing this. Zetrazz didn’t really care that Glacious was dead. Instead, he was simply upset that he would now never get the chance to fight Glacious in fair combat.
(Kazuki.)
Zephris called out to Kazuki.
“What is it?”
(Things are now heading in a different direction than I predicted but still, the crown is destroyed. Once you come back to me, you can start eliminating the other conscious’s within the Miasma.)
More shit Kazuki didn’t wish to hear at this moment but he understood why Zephris said it. They needed to get this done before Fera came back. Now that the strongest experts were no more, when Fera came back it would not be with her fake bodies but instead with her real true strength. Zetrazz had threatened Fera that if she returned he would destroy her but that was not a guarantee.
The two would possibly be at equal strength. Not only that, Torzz would surely be joining the fight. Two against one, those were not very good odds.
Kazuki held Glacious in his arms, a few tears streaming down his face.
“I’ll have to give you a proper burial at some other time, for now, I’ll take you and Etora into my ring.”
Just as Kazuki was about to store his friend’s bodies, Zephris called out again.
(Don’t do that Kazuki.)
“I can’t just leave their bodies here to rot. I won’t do it.”
(I wasn’t suggesting that but what I’m about to say might piss you off.)
“What now?”
(How serious are you about protecting your friends? How serious are you about getting revenge? Would you do anything to achieve it?)
Kazuki didn’t even need to think about it.
“Absolutely. My path was set in stone the moment my brother was killed before me. There is nothing that I would not do to see my sister and mother crushed down into nothingness. Now stop beating around the bush and speak!”
(I’ve seen your power and what it can do. Glacious, Etora, and Berus devour them all.)
Kazuki’s eyes went wide in shock. He almost stammered but in the end, no words came from his mouth.
Before Kazuki could even put together a string of thoughts, Zephris continued.
(To devour three of the strongest creatures in this lower realm, you would skip the 6th stage and you would directly enter the 7th stage. The power balance would completely shit and Fera would never see it coming. I know that those two were your friends but imagine if you were stronger earlier. Maybe, just maybe you could have saved them. Instead, you were weak and they lost their lives in a pitiful way. Who will die next? Which friend will you lose because you didn’t do what must be done at this very moment? I can’t force you to chose this but the consequences if you don’t, can you live with them?)
Kazuki was silent for a moment. He thought about all of his decisions up til now and he thought about Etora and Glacious. Would they want to have died in vain? Would they want the rest of their friends to be vulnerable? With Zephris and Zetrazz joining forces, the chances of winning would basically balance out but at the same time, Zetrazz was eccentric. If there’s a chance he could lose, who’s to say he wouldn’t retreat back to the underground. That was in fact a possibility and would then leave Zephris to battle all alone. Kazuki could not afford that, no, the world could not afford it.
“Brothers, forgive me for what I’m about to do. If we meet in the afterlife, I’ll let you both hit me as many times as possible.”
Kazuki sat down and took in several deep breaths until his heart was calm and tranquil.
“I will have no regrets. DEVOUR!”
Kazuki opened his mouth and activated the power at the base of his soul tree. All at once, Glacious, Etora, and what was left of Berus flew to his mouth and vanished. Reappearing in his soul world, the bodies all were sucked into the miniature black hole in an instant. Once the bodies were absorbed, immediately, power was forced out and entered both his soul tree as well as his Mage core.
Kazuki’s soul tree shook before shooting upward in explosive growth. At the same time, Kazuki’s Mage core expanded in every direction, and in an instant, it dwarfed his soul world. The moment it seemed as if his Mage core would literally break out of his soul world and enter the real world, a loud explosion rang out.
*BOOOOOOOOM!*
Kazuki’s Mage core exploded and Kazuki could feel an ungodly pain spread to every part of his body mind and soul. Collapsing on the ground, red lines spread across his body as every cell inside of him began to erupt and fall apart.
Naturally, Kazuki’s regeneration came into play but even then, it did nothing to ease the pain. Skin and tissue split apart and blood poured from every orifice. Inside, the energy rotated and formed a storm of pure energy.
(Must reform the core. I must make it stronger, it must be unbreakable in my mind and it must be incorruptible.)
Kazuki tapped into his aura and wrapped it around his entire soul world. With a thought, he began to pull it in from every side, capturing all of the chaotic energy. Of course, this would not be so simple. Every now and again, the chaotic energy would build up far too much in a single spot and would break through his aura. Kazuki though knew exactly what to do. Whenever a spot broke out, Kazuki would fold his aura into multiple layers over that spot. He had used this technique so many times, this was second nature to him.
Finally, after some time, Kazuki had shrunk the energy down and condensed it to the size of a large boulder. This though is where he became stuck. He tried using multiple layers of aura but he couldn’t make it any smaller.
Kazuki became stuck in a stalemate at this point.
(If I can’t shrink it by simply making layers, then why not use my aura more effectively.)
Kazuki began separating his aura into hundreds of pieces. At the same time, these separate pieces of aura began to spin and rotate. When all of them were swirling at their greatest speed, Kazuki called out.
(Aura Shot!)
These hundreds of pieces of aura were launched all at once and struck the boulder core from every single angle.
*Bang bang bang bang bang bang*
Like a rapid machine gun, these aura shots put in work. CHipping away little by little, the boulder core was quickly reduced to less than half of its previous size.
(NOW!)
Kazuki’s aura once more wrapped around his core and in a final push, he condensed it down.
*BOOOM!*
Once again an explosion rang out but this time, there was no loss of control. Instead, like a final pitiful last cry, Kazuki’s core was now once again his and his alone. A calm atmosphere filled his soul world and shook no more. Kazuki didn’t even have to inspect himself to discover how frightening his power had grown.
(Zephris you were right. I completely skipped the 6th stage and directly entered the 7th, so easily. Well maybe not so easy, the pain was something one should not have to go through a second time in their life.)
(Of course, you did, this was special circumstances. Not only do you have that interesting ability to gain power through activating that devouring ability but you also had three powerful sources to absorb. Not only that but you have both my knowledge as well as Glacious’s. We both know exactly how to enter all of the stages, because of that, everything easily came together for you. This is not something that anyone else in the world can accomplish.)
Kazuki opened his eyes and just like always, his body had grown freakishly large.
“Great, my body is enormous, how can I explain this to Asuna and Nunully this time?”
(If that’s a concern, now that you are at the 7th stage, you can control any and all proportions of your body with a simple thought.)
“Really!”
Kazuki thought about his original size long ago and just as Zephris said, his body shrank in an instant.
“Holy shit, that’s convenient.”
Comment (0)