Chapter 20: The little Devil
Abyss pathway, a pathway separated from the mother tree of desire.
"For a pathway like this, the first beyonder I met truly came from this terrifying pathway."
From a distance, Adam saw Tang Wulin fall to the ground, his hammer snatched by that young man. A heartfelt laugh rang out as he stepped on Tang Wulin's body like a broken toy in his hands.
The two followers who had always been by his side were no longer visible. Adam opened his spirit vision and could see a hint of spirituality beginning to emerge, even if that spirituality was minuscule compared to ordinary humans.
A cold hand soaked in blood, a true dark side of human nature, ruled by desire and corruption.
"That young man, he acted as a criminal without even realizing it. Then the fate of his two subordinates is clear."
What can you expect from following someone driven by their desire for killing?
Isn't the answer obvious?
"This is somewhat intriguing, as I wonder how he acquired the Beyonder Characteristic of the Criminal Pathway."
Adam decided not to help Tang Wulin for now. Meeting him once could be considered a coincidence, but a second time under the same circumstances was strange.
Adam simply watched from the sidelines as the actors performed their roles. Once the criminal young man was satisfied, he kicked Tang Wulin toward Na'er.
Na'er wanted to step forward and stop the bullying of her brother, but Tang Wulin wouldn't let her. If she got hurt trying, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.
"You should be happy, silver-haired girl, because I'm not interested in you. But, if you dare interrupt my fun…" The young man threw his flip knife with precision and scratched the bottom of Na'er's neck. "Then these things won't just scratch you, but will come straight to your neck."
The young man patted Na'er's shoulder and dabbed at the blood that was coming from her shoulder. The taste of sweet blood flowing on his tongue almost made him float into the air.
The devils showed a grin that Tang Wulin and Na'er didn't see.
But from a distance, Adam could read everything. The dangerous expression on that young man's face even gave him a slight shiver.
He walked away from the two after picking up his flip knife on the ground.
"At this rate, he can complete the acting method in less than two months. And he can advance his sequence to the next one. And if he kills even Tang Wulin or Na'er, he can immediately digest his criminal potions right away."
The best criminals aren't those who commit major acts but are caught and imprisoned. But those who commit crimes under the eyes of justice, the law can do nothing against them.
They clearly committed crimes and are hated by many. However, even the police struggle to catch them due to the absurdity of the events.
A soul master was defeated by a bully who was an ordinary man. Either that ordinary man is special, or the soul master itself is a waste.
Legally, committing violence like this is punishable by law under the Sun Moon Federation. But law is law, and law is a dead thing.
By the very nature of laws, they are designed to benefit those who create them and serve as weapons for their enemies. Just like how there are many cases of violence committed by soul masters against ordinary humans, the police won't take firm action against them.
They'll even turn a blind eye and ignore it. This is the world of soul masters, and also a world where strength means everything.
Adam glanced once more at Tang Wulin and Na'er. This time, his heart had calmed down, and he no longer harbored any special feelings for Na'er.
But there was still some wish in his heart to go and see her right now. Adam just ignored it and followed That Young Man.
He followed to a seemingly abandoned building on the outskirts of Aolai City. Essentially a slum area where some people could only earn a few coins from scraping some waste and metal.
The Young Man smiled smugly inside the building, dragging a frail man whose mouth was covered with a cloth and whose eyes were screaming for help to the people around him.
But none of them cared about the fate of the man being dragged into the building.
From inside, not a sound could be heard anymore, only the silence that returned to the dull daily life of this slum.
Adam didn't approach, merely watching from a distance. As much as he hated the torture experienced by the innocent man, Adam really couldn't do anything.
Reporting this wouldn't yield any results. And this would make the little devil even more wary, making it difficult to investigate him.
This would throw off his plan to uncover the secret of how he was able to obtain this surpassing characteristic of a Sequence 9 Criminal.
Adam just sat there, observing from behind the wall until nightfall. Only after that, the little devil laughed in satisfaction and glanced at one of the walls where someone was watching him.
"You sure have the guts to watch from a distance. Is this your kink or something, priest boy?"
From behind the wall, Adam emerged from the shadows. His blue eyes fractured like a shard of glass, seemingly ready to break at any moment, revealing what lay behind them.
"You knew? As much as I remember, there's no concept of church here."
The young man simply laughed heartily, watching Adam, who looked ready to fight at any moment. "Well, there's no concept of a church here, but the thing in my head tells me something about your identity."
"I prefer to call it a devil whisperer. A vicious whisper to commit all sorts of crimes that seems so horrific. But it also seems disgusting when faced with you wearing the clothes often worn by what is called a priest."
"Really? I just learned about this."
The ability of the Abyss pathway is never fully explained in the LOTM books. Even on the wiki, this pathway feels incomplete and unlike any other pathway.
But, if this ability called Devil Whisperer is true, then this would explain why the Criminal pathway has a tendency to cause a murderer and is so easy to lose control of.
For all the killing they do, so does their humanity will be gone. Perhaps this is why no human has managed to ascend to Sequence 2 of the Abyss pathway. Because at that point, corruption and madness would fill their heads.
Adam looked at the little devil who just stood there, not moving an inch. His spirit vision opened and he could see the details of the young man in front of him.
He was cold, ruthless, and even bloody. And inside his body, some soul power began to gather as his spirituality slowly developed.
He was on the verge of becoming a soul master with an innate soul power level 1.
"You can call me a little devil." The little devil giggled as he pulled out a knife still dripping with blood. "I'm sure that's what's in the minds of all the people here, including you, blonde priest."
"Ah… how beautiful my world has become the day I get that, the whisperer in my head tells me that freedom is the nature we must pursue. And I have seen freedom, so…" The little devil darted and stabbed the knife in his hand at Adam.
Adam gritted his teeth and dodged the stab. He took a few steps back, drawing a knife in his hand.
But even with that, Adam knew his chances of winning were quite slim. He excels in high spirituality and is also a spiritual soul master. Head-on combat isn't his specialty.
"Amateur. I can tell from the way you hold that knife. A man who's never killed a person, a kid who likes to interfere in other people's problems."
"You know what I hate? Soul masters like you who use your status to suppress me, stealing my freedom…"