Soul Spark

SEGMENT III - THE SOULFUL CALAMITY

25 - Absolute Manifestation

[THE EXISTENCE OF A HYPOTHETICAL ‘SOUL DEITY’ WAS A THEORY MOSTLY SPREAD BY THOSE TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THE FIRST GLOBAL SOUL EVENT.]

[IT AIMED TO FRAME A DIVINE BEING, A THEORETICAL ‘GOD’, AS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GLOBAL SOUL EVENT.]

[THE WHITE CROW, THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED THE THEORY IN THE FIRST PLACE TO GIVE THE MASSES A RESPONSE, HOWEVER, KNEW THE TRUTH.]

[IT KNEW THAT THE SOUL DEITY WAS NOT A BEING, BUT A STATE OF EXISTENCE. A COMPLETE MANIFESTATION OF HIS OWN SELF.]

[A STATE THAT HE WOULD GO THROUGH HELL TO ACHIEVE...]

[...IN ORDER TO FULFIL HIS PURPOSE.]

“Hi...”

“Hiroshi...?”

Sakuto blankly stared at the sight. His hands shook a little.

“No...”

“Not you as well...”

“This happened to everyone...”

“Fuck...”

“It’ll keep happening too.”

“Fucking...damn it...”

“And there will be nothing left.”

“Fucking damn it!!!” Sakuto yelled. He conjured a large shadow spear in his hands and prepared to throw it at Kaito, but the movement was halted.

A divinely bright pillar of light, blessing the ground with a tremendous impact, fell upon Kaito. His presence jumped up to a level where it was so high that it couldn’t even be felt anymore. It became strong enough to look like a natural part of the world itself, existing in the background, relentlessly trying to drown everything inside.

As the pillar broke apart, the essence of it scattered around him - forming a wide circle, with Kaito acting as its center. Eight sharp edges extended out of the circle, resembling that of the hollow sun that watched everything from above. Kaito’s body looked like it was starting to melt and break apart, while at the same time, containing itself within it and reshaping it. It was an especially painful metamorphosis for him.

The sharp edges bounced back, stabbing Kaito in his chest, locking him in place. Powerful shockwaves followed the event, Sakuto, watching it, had to cover his face for a bit. But a second later, he noticed something on himself. He saw a small, bright dot in the middle of his chest. It didn’t do anything, nor did it pose a threat to him. It was more like a mark...

The same happened to every soulful in the world.

The soulless remained the same. They were sheltered away from the disasters of the world, the havoc wreaked by the voidflames...now, when they thought that the disasters had ended, they noticed the marks emerging on their friends, their neighbors, sometimes even themselves.

It confused them, terrified them. They had no answers whatsoever, they had no idea about what Kaito and the Heisei were up to. Confusion was the dominant force in the world, the second one, of course, after the presence of the vengeful calamity.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Hey, you have this mark on you too? Uhh...”

“No way, does this mean I’m gonna die?! I’m...”

“I’m a soulful, that’s why I have this, right? Am I gonna awaken?”

“Is...everything finally over?”

The soul prowess that pierced Kaito seeped into his body from the outside, quickly rooting itself inside of it. Kaito raised his arms, his wings being on full display with their magnificent purity. The prowess was reshaped into a pillar behind Kaito that pierced the ground. Kaito, almost instinctively playing along with it, took off into the sky. The pillar expanded closer to the top, stabbing Kaito’s heart and extended two sharpened edges horizontally - resembling a cross...

“Sakuto, what the fuck is going on?!” Ichika asked, rushing to the scene. “Where’s Hiroshi...?”

One look at the ongoing deification of the white crow explained everything to her.

“This type of soul presence, this...”

“This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Ichika thought, in horror.

“This was his next evolution that we read about...” Sakuto said, his voice slightly shaky. Enraged, he summoned and swung his blade a few times, releasing large flying slashes at whatever Kaito was comparable to at the moment, along with a pair of shadow spears. But Kaito’s wings, without a moment to spare, covered him up.

The rest of the Heisei arrived.

“What...the fuck...is this?!” Ichigo asked, completely stunned at the divine sight. He took a few anxious breaths before sharply looking at Sakuto.

The halo above Kaito’s head shifted into the shape of the hollow sun, while its insides cut themselves into the shape of a hexagon - there, the symbol of the disbanded GSC was forged. A second pair of pure white crow wings grew out of his back, his torso contorting while it happened. As Kaito tried to slowly break out of the crucifixion...

“No, this...”

“This is how he gets to his actual maximum, right? There’s no way I can kill him.”

“Oskar...”

“This guy is the reason you’re dead...”

Mustering up all of strength, Sakuto screamed at the top of his lungs.

“STOP THE TRANSFORMATION!!!!!”

Immediately, he, with his shadowy wings, rushed at Kaito. Ichika, without a second of hesitation, followed him - rushing closer, making her way through the impenetrably dense presence of the divine being. Ichigo clasped his hands.

“ ✦ Divine Ring Of Exorcism!!! ✦ ”

The light struck him from the hollow sky, its golden hues filling the environment with even the slimmest of hope. It tried to burn Kaito alive, and for a few seconds, it did manage to deal some damage to him. Kaito’s wings covered his head, reflecting the light. The halo behind his head shone brighter, and the light was scattered across the area.

“Sakuto, now!” Ichika yelled. She pointed at Kaito.

" ✦ Befall! ✦ ”

A slight concentration of soul prowess tingled Kaito, and it felt cold, freezing cold. A second later, he was struck by the lethal strength of abyssal frostbite, the activation of which Ichika could afford after her long rounds of fighting off the voidflame angels.

The result was a half-frozen Kaito, still trying to break free from himself. His presence was unstable like a ship in a war with nature’s fury, and his body was in enough pain to paralyze an average person. But through that pain, the vision of the divine state he could achieve allowed his soul to overflow with determination. That, and the overwhelming amount of soul prowess effectively tearing his body apart from the inside in order to reshape it, allowed him to resist the cold attack.

Unlawfully taken from NovelFire, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

However, the most dangerous offensive was to arrive shortly.

Sakuto charged at Kaito, focusing his soul prowess in his blade.

“ ✦ Divine Acclamation Release... ✦ ”

“ ✦ Soul Breaker!!! ✦ ”

He swung his blade, imbued with every bit of his hatred. The colorful gray that escaped its tip was fated to strike Kaito with its full force. And yet, it still failed short...a gust of soul prowess launched by a quick wing motion not only knocked him away, but also crushed him, hard. It tore off his right arm and leg, with parts of his body being destroyed too.

And yet, Sakuto persisted.

Instead of falling back, he quickly shadow stepped behind Kaito. With his left arm, he reached into his uniform...

“All I need to do is to just hit him once!”

“And it’ll all be-”

As he took the crystal out, a wave of soul prowess escaped Kaito’s body. It struck everything around him, including Sakuto. The release symbolised Kaito breaking away from the cross, with its large edges falling to the ground with heavy explosive impact. In the midst of the chaos, Sakuto quickly regenerated his missing limbs.

And there Kaito was, slowly descending to the ground. Still appearing paralyzed. Every time his, or, more specifically, Yume’s heart beat, a small pulse of soul prowess was felt. It was the loudest heartbeat ever recorded.

Sakuto quickly extended his arm. From the ground, from many different locations beneath Kaito, shadow strings emerged - stabbing Kaito and, most importantly, holding him in one place.

Jian took the opportunity, trying to blast his head off, but the shot only destroyed parts of his left eye and the left side of his already corrupted jaw.

“Zawadski, go with me!” Sakuto said, getting back up. “Ichigo, blast him with the light, now!”

“It won’t do anything, but it’ll create an opening.”

“On it!” Ichigo exclaimed, clasping his hands once more. A small droplet of blood escaped his eye, but it was nowhere near enough to break his spirit.

“O, benevolent light...”

“Give me everything.”

“ ✦ DIVINE RING OF EXORCISM!!! ✦ ”

The light struck Kaito again. Simultaneously, almost a second before its activation, Jian fired at Kaito again, aiming at his right eye specifically and destroying it. Zawadski and Sakuto rushed towards him, using a path of ice that Ichika crafted for them...

And Kaito, despite being half-blind and engulfed by a burning ray of light, felt the apotheosis of exhilaration. Through his scarred vision, he saw the figure that he cared about above all existence and reality.

“Yume...”

She remained silent. She appeared in front of him, her vision appearing a little glitchy and constantly flickering in place. The heart that was devoured by Kaito started beating more intensely.

And a moment later, the vision of Yume approached him more.

“I’ve missed you...so damn much...Yume...”

The vision shyly smiled, came closer to him, and embraced him. Despite it being a daydream, the presence of the heart provided him with something he hadn’t felt for as long as he could remember following Yume’s tragedy. He felt her warmth, and her beating heart.

And a moment later, once the warmth was taken away from him, the awful, life-distorting cold and the pressure of the abyssal depths spiked his hatred towards the true apex of his ability.

Despite feeling the full cruelty of the cold, he felt that he was in control of it.

“Lights out! Now!” Sakuto yelled into his earpiece. Ichigo quickly canceled his ability. Zawadski and Sakuto were almost right in front of him. Zawadski jumped in first, but he saw a critical lack of response. Kaito seemed almost completely immobile, as if he was perceiving events that were outside of this world.

However, now, to the worst of Sakuto’s fears, Kaito started to look monstrous enough to the point where it became obvious that a human was underneath it.

“Save, now!” Sakuto said, before turning around and seeing that Zawadski’s attention was elsewhere. He watched in panic as a gust of soul prowess was launched at the rest of the Heisei, knocking them back a significant distance.

Before he turned around, it was too late for him to save anymore. He was launched away by another release of prowess, not strong enough to kill him, but strong enough to remove him from Kaito’s close proximity. The last one that was left in front of him was Sakuto.

As a result of the ice bridge being destroyed by the prowess releases, no one else could join the fight...at least that is what Kaito thought. Ichigo, utilizing his invisibility, tried to fly up to Kaito, but was struck down as a result. Sakuto tried swinging his blade at Kaito and shadow stepping behind him, but Kaito was prepared, almost catching him off-guard badly with another almost lethal wing motion. Sakuto quickly shadow stepped in front of him again, and Kaito was ready to put an end to the fight. Until...

Ichika circled around him and leapt towards him, grabbing onto Kaito’s body! She unleashed a tremendous ice blast, which would’ve looked like a poor combat decision considering that it could’ve easily knocked Sakuto back...

Had it not been for their preparation.

The third X on the handle of Withering Strelitzia was colored a light blue. Thanks to that, the ice didn’t even touch him - it was instantly cracked apart and melted once it even thought of getting close to him.

“I’m glad I chose to adapt to Ichika’s power. It lets both of us fight relatively unrestrictedly.”

“And it’s the best way to create an unexpected offensive...”

As Kaito broke the ice apart, he was surprised by the revelation that Sakuto was right in front of him. He raised his blade again, Kaito, his body about to reach the breaking point of his transformation, assumed that it was another attempt to land soul breaker...

From behind, Ichika was forced to get off of Kaito due to the risk of being caught by the wings. And as she leapt away, she left the white crow with a parting gift.

“ ✦ Befall. ✦ ”

“ ✦ Abyssal Frostbite! ✦ ”

The attack struck Kaito with all of its force, and most importantly, all of its freezing power. Kaito was paralyzed for a few moments. And during those moments, Sakuto reached into his uniform, and grabbed the object that Kaito had managed to avoid back then.

“Oskar, look at me.”

“I’m gonna kill this fucking dirtbag because he-”

“Took you away from me!!!” He yelled the last part out especially loudly. Kaito broke out of the ice that corroded his metamorphosed body. And Sakuto connected the crystal to the edge of an improvised shadow-made dagger, and stabbed Kaito with it.

And he missed.

All that was needed was an instant. An instant of evasion. Sakuto, for that instant, looked in shock at the large gaping hole in Kaito’s body. The wound that Kaito quickly inflicted upon himself the moment he recognized the crystal. It didn’t make contact with Kaito.

Sakuto quickly tried to pull his hand back and at least somehow hit any part of Kaito’s body, but by that point, Kaito had rendered himself mobile again. A prowess release from his body sent him down, heavily wounded, almost dismantled in half.

“The time has come, Yume.” Kaito said to himself, as he felt not only exhilaration, but also enlightenment. He slowly rose more. His new pair of wings destroyed his old one, parts of his body broke off and regenerated, and ultimately, it led to one event...

A bright spark.

For exactly thirty minutes, there was silence. A silence so profoundly powerful that it felt like those thirty minutes didn’t even exist. It was as if the world itself had fallen quiet, was rendered actionless, and halted, and the time was skipped, never to be recorded or affect the world. But it was there, and in those thirty minutes, Kaito remembered every memory of the time he thought he achieved happiness.

And then, he descended.

His new appearance saw a pair of wings that were much more well-defined, with sharper edges, and a more defined contrast of black and white between them. His body looked armored up to its core with soul prowess, as if the phenomena itself was an inseparable part of his body. And in the middle of his chest was the hexagon with the cross in the middle.

His clothes gained the same color as his limbs and his wings, a masterful contrast of black and white. His fingers had sharper claws, and there were hidden elbow blades attached to his elbows. And his face was changed too, it was a mixture of the aforementioned black and white that retained his facial outlines. Except his eyes, they were still a deep, dark abyssal blue, with even a hint of tears visible in them.

And there was his halo, the hollow sun with the hexagon cross inside of it. It hovered above his head, appearing divinely bright.

✦ The Soul Deity Form, the state which allowed him to act as the harbinger of the soulful world. ✦

Sakuto stared at the sight, unable to properly believe the event. Ichika came up next to him, sharing the same expression. The rest of the Heisei, a little further behind them, were not too different either.

“So, it is time.” Kaito thought, raising his presence.

“The Third Global Soul Event...”

“The event that will fix the flaw of the world, removing the worthless grass and piles of shit away from the flower field of mankind.”

However, when he tried to achieve the event, he felt something stop him.

“Hm?”

“Ah...” The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the N0veI.Fiɾe.net

“I need to get used to the body better.”

“In order to be able to execute the event properly, the mechanism of the seven souls present within me needs to be stable. It will take some time for it to stabilize, but...”

“Looks like they are still persistent in trying to stop me.” He thought, glancing at the Heisei, who, despite witnessing Kaito’s ascension, looked ready to fight.

Sakuto took a deep breath, staring at the divine figure ahead of him...