Chapter 55: Soul.
Takeshi's sword, which was stuck in the ground, vibrated. Airi, kneeling nearby, looked over in surprise. She felt something was wrong and seemed to have understood.
Airi shouted: "Kazuka, be careful behind you!"
But it was too late; the sword flew toward Kazuka, whose back was turned.
Stab!!!
Kazuka, with a look of shock, spat out blood. His body seemed to lose all strength; the energy surrounding his body vanished.
The large sword pierced through Kazuka from behind and through the wound Kazuka had previously caused in Takeshi's stomach.
Airi knelt on the ground, stunned by what was happening before her eyes. Her throat felt tight.
Aoto, who was healing Ayaka, also saw it; his eyes opened in shock.
Takeshi, with a triumphant smile, wrapped his arm behind Kazuka's back and grabbed the sword hilt. He pulled the sword out with force. Kazuka's body fell back onto the ground, eyes closed tightly, blood flowing continuously, forming a pool.
Takeshi held the sword and lightly tapped the tip onto the ground, creating a "Clang"; he smirked, his face showing mockery as he glanced around.
"I almost forgot about interference energy; thanks for the reminder."
Inside Takeshi's subconscious, he was curled up sleeping. A sensation made him snap awake.
It was the scene of Kazuka being stabbed; he roared loudly in his subconscious.
"Return the body to me immediately, damn it. You monster, how dare you do that to my friends?"
"Vermyx, give it back!"
Outside, Vermyx clutched his head in discomfort; he swung his arm and yelled:
"Shut up, kid, how dare you call my name?"
Airi stood up slowly, her face slightly confused.
— "Could it be Takeshi? Is he regaining consciousness?"
Airi shouted: "Takeshi, you have to help us!"
Airi did not want to waste time; she immediately rushed to approach Vermyx. She swung her sword with a lot of energy, but it was caught by hand.
He clutched his head, appearing to be in great pain; his hand went limp. Airi swung her leg and kicked Vermyx, sending him slamming into the wall.
Airi rushed in; Vermyx gritted his teeth in anger.
"Damn it!"
He spread his hand out toward Airi. She was immediately blown back and rolled several times on the ground.
Vermyx clutched his head and shook it hard, gritting his teeth in discomfort. He yelled:
"You are far from taking it!"
Takeshi, inside his subconscious, was extremely angry. His eyes were full of hatred.
— "At this rate, it's not good, I need to do something."
Takeshi's head seemed to have something cleared; he immediately thought of a way.
Aoto had just successfully healed Ayaka; he stood up and jumped over Ayaka, who was lying down. The Guardian surrounded his body; he stepped toward where Airi was and helped her up.
"Can you still fight?"
Airi nodded.
"I can fight."
Aoto, with a determined gaze but still with worry in it.
— "Damn it, earlier he stabbed Ayaka and made her energy be knocked out. I just healed her and helped her, which drained my energy too much."
Airi: "It seems you are almost out of energy."
Aoto nodded.
"Yeah, saving someone on the brink of death. But I can still fight."
Aoto rushed forward; the Guardian's upper body created two spears and swung down simultaneously.
Unexpectedly, Vermyx walked staggeringly; his right hand suddenly exploded.
"Damn it!"
With his left hand, he held the sword and swung it up.
Clang!!
Aoto used force to press down; Vermyx gritted his teeth to endure.
— "That kid is creating energy disorder inside."
Suddenly, Airi rushed in from behind; she swung her sword. At the same time, Aoto deactivated the Guardian state and approached Vermyx.
Energy around Vermyx then spilled out. Sensing danger, Aoto and Airi jumped back at the same time.
Boom!!!
A large explosion made the place shake violently as if about to collapse. It left a large hole in the ground.
Vermyx gritted his teeth; he was continuously pushing the disordered energy outside. But Takeshi was creating it without stopping.
His right hand had been restored. He gritted his teeth, his face contorted.
"Damn it, I will destroy you all here in one go!"
He emitted a large amount of energy, while also utilizing the disordered energy Takeshi had created.
Airi's eyes widened; Aoto immediately rushed to where Kazuka was lying and carried him far away.
"I thought I could finish it quickly and heal him, but it seems not good."
Airi saw Aoto carrying Kazuka away; she ran toward where Ayaka was lying and carried her toward a corner.
He let out a triumphant smile.
"Any corner is the same. I will blow this whole place away."
Aoto laid Kazuka down and began healing; he looked toward Airi's direction and shouted:
"Hey Airi, run to my place!"
Aoto: — "He is standing near the exit, surely he won't let us escape."
The perspective shifted above ground, where the people in the city were moving busily.
The ground suddenly shook violently. People walking stopped and looked at their feet in panic.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!
A horrific large explosion occurred; the light was blinding across the area, then gradually faded. A deep and giant hole appeared in the thick black smoke. The explosion was right at the center of the city and swept everything away; houses and people were no more.
The shockwave was so strong that houses not caught in the explosion immediately collapsed.
Survivors immediately ran toward the edge of the hole; some ran away in fear, but some were curious and ran back to the crater.
From the bottom of the hole, Vermyx flew up into the air. His face now was very haggard. He seemed to have exhausted his energy. He landed on the ground, making all the citizens around panic at his form. One person immediately ran away in fear.
"Monster!"
As a chain effect, everyone began to run in chaos.
"There's a monster!"
"Quickly send a plea for help to the neighboring city!"
"Run!"
That scene became even more chaotic. Vermyx began to rush at the citizens; he swung his sword, splitting a series of running citizens in half (88 people were slashed). Blood sprayed everywhere, dyeing the ground red; the sound of loud screams echoed everywhere.
Extreme fear immediately enveloped the running crowd. He ran to the corpses and stabbed the sword into the ground.
He leaned down and picked up the upper halves of two innocent people. He opened his mouth wide and ate ravenously. The scene was gruesome and savage; the running citizens accelerated, trampling over each other to find life.
Vermyx continuously chewed the bodies of the innocent people; his face and body were covered in blood.
On the other side of the crater, Raiga, the once small snake, was now as large as a tree trunk, its body long and scales glossy, crawling quickly down into the crater. Its appearance now looked like a true snake, carrying a threat from that look.
When it crawled down, the small snake was also shocked. The scene was ruins, small and large rocks were scattered fragments everywhere.
The four of them were lying together in that space. Aoto and Airi's bodies were torn open. Ribs and other parts were exposed; clothes were only a few scraps on their bodies. Around them, only a few weak sensations of energy from both were fading away.
Returning to the scene when the explosion occurred.
Aoto clasped his hands and interlaced them. He tensed his strength; veins bulged all over his face and body. The Guardian enveloped all four of them. Airi felt things were not good; she used her energy to wrap inside, creating a second defensive layer.
The explosion occurred. It was too strong; that power continuously eroded Aoto's Guardian; he tensed even harder. Reaching out both hands, he channeled more energy to fight back.
He roared: "Aahhhhhhh!"
Suddenly, the Guardian disappeared; Aoto immediately lost consciousness, only managing to embrace Kazuka.
Airi was panicked, but she had no time for worry as the explosion's power was continuously eroding the red energy layer she was emitting.
She continuously pushed energy outside; her heart rate increased sharply. And then, her energy also disappeared, but the light from that explosion had not. She was panicked but could do nothing.
Airi embraced Ayaka and closed her eyes tightly. But fortunately, the light from the explosion was the last remaining part. This prevented them from being blown away and becoming dust.
Back to the present, Raiga crawled over; its long body wrapped around all four of them. Its energy enveloped them; it closed its eyes tightly and lay still. Inside, their bodies were being healed slowly.
Vermyx, who was eating, suddenly stopped and turned his head toward the hole from the explosion behind him. He sensed the energy of someone.
"It's an Elemental."
But he turned back and continued eating; around him, human bones were piled up.
"I need to recover as fast as possible, then I can go down and investigate."
At this moment, Takeshi, inside his subconscious, was crying loudly.
"Damn it, how dare you do that?"
He watched everyone lying in the explosion helplessly; he could only control a little and only when Vermyx lost focus. He tried to control the captured body. The left hand threw a punch straight at his own face.
Vermyx, who was eating, had his left hand drop the food and punch him straight in the face. Food sprayed from his mouth; he fell to the ground.
But he didn't care; he stood up and continued to eat. Takeshi was helpless; he knelt and cried, his arms continuously swinging punches, but the body no longer listened.
Takeshi's voice echoed, carrying trembling and pleading.
"Please, return the body to me. Please, I beg you, those are Takeshi's friends, they must not die."
Vermyx did not care what Takeshi was saying; the sounds echoing in his head were pushed aside by him; his mouth continued to chew food and shove it continuously into his mouth.
Inside the subconscious, a vast white space. Takeshi fell to his knees, his voice weak, begging in helplessness.
"Return the body to me, please, I beg you."
The voice was trembling with panic, logic shattered, humanity distorted.
"I... I just killed them... I killed them with my own hands, no... it wasn't me."
He roared: "It's because of you, all because of you!"
Raiga suddenly opened its eyes; it raised its head looking toward Vermyx who was there. It opened its mouth wide and swallowed all four people into its belly and crawled away in the opposite direction.
It sensed that Vermyx was recovering his strength; if it didn't leave, it would be found.
Vermyx was busy eating, somewhat obsessed and distracted when sensing energy. He opened his eyes wide and turned around.
"That energy has gone far, who was that? Just came to look and then left?"
At this moment, Takeshi was as if going mad; he began to laugh loudly, the sound carrying madness. He leaned back, his face crazed.
"Hahahaha."
"I will kill you."
Vermyx, while eating, felt a bit of discomfort.
"Why is the feeling of controlling him gradually being lost?"
"HAHAHA. I WILL KILL YOU, YOU DIRTY BEAST."
"YOU DARE DO THAT TO MY FRIENDS, HAHAHA."
Takeshi's eyes became crazed; he clutched his head, his hands digging into his hair.
In that subconscious, Takeshi's nails scratched hard into his scalp; his head bled continuously. The fingers extended down to his face and scratched vertically down.
"YOU MUST DIE. MY ONLY FAMILY IS GONE, I WILL NOT LIVE ANYMORE."
"DON'T YOU DARE THINK YOU CAN HAVE MY BODY."
Outside, Vermyx continued to chew ravenously, blood dripping from the side of his mouth. The screams of the citizens still echoed like thunder, but he didn't care.
Takeshi raised his face. Eyes bloodshot, wide, soulless. His facial expression began to be distorted by pain exceeding the limit.
He whispered to himself:
"I said… I would protect them…"
"And yet I…"
He began to laugh—a small, dry laugh.
"Hahaha… what am I saying…"
Takeshi punched his head hard.
"Useless thing…"
Punch again.
"Useless thing!!!"
His hands began to bleed. But he did not stop.
Takeshi roared, his gaze turning completely crazed:
"ENOUGH!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!"
Outside, while Vermyx was swallowing the last half of a corpse, his left arm suddenly strangled his own neck.
"Damn... again…"
Takeshi inside roared; his head felt like it was exploding.
"I WILL END YOU!!! EVEN IF I HAVE TO DIE!!!"
He brought his hand to his chest in his mind—where the last weak light remained.
"If I can't live... then don't you hope to keep this body!!!"
Outside, Vermyx gritted his teeth in pain as the left hand strangled him tighter. The right hand, which was holding a limb, immediately straightened; energy poured out, instantly directed toward the left chest, where the heart lay desperately.
Vermyx was panicked.
"Are you crazy? You want to die?"
Takeshi laughed loudly in madness.
"HAHAHA, NOW I ONLY WANT TO END IT."
Suddenly, Vermyx regained control of the left hand; he immediately grabbed the right hand to prevent it.
"Damn it, do you think I will lose?"
The right hand immediately escaped the control of the left hand and grabbed. Takeshi's controlled right hand then took the left wrist and snapped it hard.
Vermyx grimaced in pain. Takeshi now was like a madman; blood flowed from his eyes and forehead in his consciousness.
"GET OUT OF MY BODY!!! RIGHT!!! NOW!!!"
The right hand pointed toward the left chest. The snapped left arm tried to fight back; the left arm swiped the right hand away, causing it to immediately stab into the right chest.
Vermyx's eyes went wide, his face carrying pain. Blood sprayed from his mouth; blood from the wound flowed out, dyeing the black scales red.
The right hand pulled out of the chest; he brought it up to his face and clutched his face.
"HAHAHA, DIE!"
Vermyx's voice trembled with pain.
"Damn it, you really did it?"
His hand lowered from his face. Fresh red blood from his hand was imprinted on his face. The right hand straightened out, channeling even more energy.
"You... You intend to die with me?"
"WHY SHOULD I FEAR DEATH?"
Vermyx then created disordered energy. The energy on Takeshi's hand immediately vanished.
Takeshi, in the subconscious, was not afraid at all; he laughed again like a madman.
"HAHAHA, you want to use disordered energy?"
Takeshi then continuously created disordered energy; it was running throughout the body.
Vermyx's eyes opened wide in shock; he began to pant. His body trembled.
He fell to the ground. His body convulsed continuously.
He could do nothing, only roar loudly.
"Aaaahhhhh!"
He kept convulsing; the iris of his eyes rolled upward.
"GET OUT OF MY BODY!!! YOU DIRTY CREATURE!!!"
Takeshi did not stop. In his mind, he grabbed both his shoulders, fingers digging deep inside.
"Are you trying to tear your soul?"
"HAHAH! The first time I can see my own soul."
Because he had occupied Takeshi's body, his soul was pressed over Takeshi's soul. But he had been careful to link his soul with Takeshi's soul for easier control. But that was a mistake.
Takeshi immediately tore both his shoulders; he rolled and writhed, the feeling of being torn from the inside was unending pain. He roared in agony. Both shoulders were torn with a large gap.
Outside, Vermyx was also writhing, rolling on the ground in pain.
— "Controlling a madman is impossible?"
This time, Takeshi immediately used both hands and grabbed his head; it seemed he wanted to tear his head off. Vermyx immediately realized things were not good. The black scales outside immediately disappeared, returning to Takeshi's form.
The soul... is a copy of the body—only transparent and more fragile. A scratch on a soul's finger... is as painful as a real cut.
He shrunk everything down into a black sphere inside Takeshi. From consciousness, the soul. Takeshi, inside his subconscious, saw that black sphere floating in the white space where his soul was.
He grabbed it while it was floating in the air. He immediately swallowed it into himself.
Vermyx was panicked.
"What the?... What do you want to do?"
"Not good."
Takeshi laughed again in madness.
"TORTURE YOU."
"Now my soul is no longer pressed by you. Instead, your soul is inside me."
He lowered his voice.
"There is no connection..."
"NOW, THE CONTROL IS MINE."
In the subconscious, Takeshi raised his right hand and grabbed a left finger; he pulled hard. Vermyx's soul was immediately damaged.
Now, only the sound of Vermyx screaming could be heard.
"Aaaaahhhhh!"
He continued to pull out another finger.
He screamed again in pain.
"Aaahhhhh. Stop, please stop."
He continued to pull out another finger, pulled out another, pulled out another. He had pulled out all five fingers. That crazed look and that smile remained the same.
The sound of Vermyx screaming in pain was like a piece of music that made Takeshi excited and feel more delighted.
"Stop, I beg you....ahhh... Stop."
In fact, because Takeshi had swallowed Vermyx's soul, at this moment, he could control the soul with his own soul. And he was not affected. More precisely, now his soul overwhelmed the other's.
Now, full control was his. For example: Earth is Vermyx, and Takeshi now is like a god with all powers to control Earth. And this god can do whatever he likes with Earth.
Vermyx's mistake was when Takeshi was about to tear the soul, he got scared and immediately shrank and separated to protect himself. But he was swallowed by Takeshi's soul instead.
Back to reality, at this moment Takeshi began to grow weak; he immediately fell to the ground, his heavy eyes slowly closing. Tears slowly flowed from his eyes.
"Sorry guys, I'm very sorry. I'm coming to you. We promised to go together."
From afar, an army with armor and full weaponry approached. The white armor shone and sparkled as if reflecting the sun. Walking in front was a girl with black hair and a beautiful face. Accompanied by white armor and a sword with luxury patterns, further raising the aura she emitted.
She was Misa, Deputy General of the Goland City army, 22 years old.
Walking right beside her was a young man wearing white armor and a very luxurious sword at his hip like Misa. Blue hair along with an appearance that had no words for criticism. He seemed to be drawing all the light toward himself.
He was Sai, Deputy Captain of the Goland City army, 23 years old.
They looked around; red blood and corpses stretched everywhere. Misa covered her nose with discomfort because the pungent smell of blood rose and hit her nose directly.
"Disgusting, who exactly did this? It's just a merchant city."
Sai shook his head.
"Who knows? Probably some grudge."
Misa with an annoyed voice.
"If that's all you can say, then shut up."
Sai immediately got angry.
"You were the one who asked me!"
Misa tossed her head to the other side.
"Hmph, I only asked casually."
They went to the edge of the hole and looked down. The deep and wide hole made them surprised as well.
Misa lowered her hand and marveled.
"Whoever caused this is certainly not ordinary."
Sai nodded.
"Even if it were a suicide explosion, I probably would need several lives to make something like this."
A soldier from behind, standing in the ranks, looked down at Misa's feet and took a step forward.
"Deputy Captain Misa, under your feet."
Misa turned back to look at the soldier, then looked down at her feet. She went "oh" with a bit of surprise.
Under Misa's feet was Takeshi, lying unconscious, being stepped on by her.
Sai stepped forward, curious face.
"This person is the most intact. I can sense a bit of his energy; it seems he hasn't died yet."
Sai said loudly:
"Don't you intend to step off? What are you standing on him for? You want to let people die?"
Misa was annoyed when spoken to; she stepped down.
Two soldiers and a healer stepped forward; one carried Takeshi to a patch of ground not stained with blood and laid him down.
Both began to use energy and heal Takeshi.
Sai stood there analyzing.
"One arm broken, the right chest stabbed, energy weak as if completely drained. Exactly what happened to this guy?"
Initially, he was almost recovered, but when struggling for the body with Vermyx, Takeshi created a lot of interference energy, and the two energy sources canceled each other out, leading to his energy being completely drained now.
Misa stared down.
"He's probably not even 20 yet, looks quite young. Seems like he fought with the one who created that hole."
Sai: "So young and already this strong?"
Misa glanced at Sai.
"There's no shortage of young strong people. You think everyone is like you?"
Sai got angry and shouted:
"You're only one year older than me, think you're better?"
Misa turned her face away.
"I don't care to talk to you."
Sai got even angrier.
"Fine, one day I will definitely show you."
Misa: "We're late, no one else is alive, only this guy. When the healing is done, bring this kid back for investigation."
Misa turned to walk away.
Sai was confused and called out:
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Going back, where else? There's nothing left here."
"Then wait for me!"
Sai ran after her.
"You guys put him on the wagon and take him back!"
At this time, Raiga had taken the four of them far away, in a forest, and was wrapping around their bodies to heal them. At this moment, Ayaka opened her eyes and woke up; she instinctively touched her stomach. And remembered that stab; she glanced around. Raiga had healed the others.
She was startled by Raiga's giant form.
"Aa."
She looked for a while and calmed down.
"Is that you, Raiga?"
Raiga nodded.
"Why are you so big?"
Raiga's face seemed to be smiling, but the focus was still on healing.
"Surprising, when we were at the inn in town you crawled away in a tiny form. Now you're back and really big."
At this moment, the three people who were unconscious opened their eyes and woke up. Kazuka rubbed his eyes and looked forward.
He was startled and fell back.
"Aa."
Aoto was startled; he was sitting and immediately jumped up and backed away, hand pointing at Raiga.
"There's a snake, it's a great serpent, everyone!"
Airi stood up; she reached out her hand in front of Aoto.
"Calm down, this is also our traveling companion."
Aoto was dazed.
"Traveling companion?"