Chapter 11, the 10 captives, the tunnel, and the change in plans part two.
Ray POV.
I continued my way down, various twisting, and turning tunnels for an unknown amount of time.
All I knew was the longer I was down here what's the Less time I had to absorb those mortals yet I could feel it, there was something down here that would make The waste of time worthwhile.
Yet that feeling was becoming more elusive by the second.
That along with the fact that I hadn't had a decent meal since breaking through, so I wasn't at full fighting strength cause the suggestion of turning around to become more convincing with time.
Yet every time I thought about turning around, I would reach a crossroad where that's strange feeling would pull me forward towards one tunnel or another.
The feeling was surprisingly unfamiliar, I had felt nothing like it in two lives.
It was like a song that was ringing resonating with my blood, bones, and flesh.
If I was guessing, right, from the slight vibrations, I was feeling from my soul space, it was even attempting to resonate with my soul.
Or at least the fragment of it, I was left with after regressing.
"Just what the fuck is it?"
I whispered to myself, scratching my nose while doing so. While I walked through the mini tunnels, my eyes and ears were on alert for anything out of the ordinary.
I was waiting for any attack, anything that would prompt me to turn around and bolt at full speed, but it never came.
The only thing I could see was the unnaturally smooth stone around me, and the only thing I could hear were my own nearly silent footsteps, and my breathing.
Suddenly, I froze as A thought came to me.
How was I able to see clearly while walking through the tunnels? There was no light source in sight and there hadn't been once since the start, so how?
then my frown deepened as I realize something else.
There was no smell, I had been running through the dirtier side of the city for the last five hours, so how was it that I couldn't smell myself.
Raising my arm to my nose, I confirmed my suspicion.
As I took a deep drag of air with my nose pressed to my arm, I smelled absolutely nothing.
My eyes narrowed in wary anger as I hissed under my breath.
"It's a fucking illusion."
As soon as I had, the thought, the song that seemed to be trying to tear me apart from the inside, began to grow louder.
Suddenly, I turned towards a blank wall.
How many times had I passed it and not noticed?
Not noticed the slightly raised lines along the wall that seem to make the shape of a door.
I began to walk towards it, with each step this song dancing through my blood grew louder, until I thought I would explode from within.
By the time I reached the strange lines there was vibrations running through my body with each strum of what I can now recognize as a violin.
As I listen closer, I could swear I heard a Russian under it, a rushing two low to be water, yet not low enough to be in avalanche. either.
It was a rush I knew well, almost too well the rush of a river of blood.
my anger became mixed with curiosity.
just what could be behind that door?
and just who could create a blood river with enough potency to rival or even surpass what I could do at my prime?
It shouldn't have been possible, the world had a finite limit of the peak of the third weave.
It didn't matter how much someone meditated, or how many things someone killed, or even how many times someone tried to alter fate, it was just impossible to move Beyond the ninth ring.
I had seen people in the ninth ring sacrifice, thousands, just for a sliver of the next realm of power, yet they came back empty-handed.
I had seen people sacrifice even their own families for just at least the name of the next role of power.
It made it worse that when you reached the peak of the third weave, you could inherently feel that there was another realm of power waiting.
Yet it remained untouchable, something that could be admired and observed, but never touched.
Like sunlight through a window, or moonlight on water.
For just a second the frustration and anguish of thousands trying to advance almost overwhelmed me.
Until with a world weary sigh, every single emotion drained from my face.
Raiden's POV.
Internally, the same process was being repeated.
I felt no other emotion except for the chronic boredom that came with being older than most civilizations.
I turned my focus onto the synthetic emotions."No not synthetic , Just implanted.
I thought, my eyes narrowing as I observed the emotions more carefully.
The emotions seem to be from real people, those real people just weren't me.
Besides, why should I care anyway, I could just sleep for a couple thousand years and they would be nothing but history.
A slight frown appeared on my face for some reason, but I didn't know why.
Sweeping my eyes around, and observing the tunnel around me, I had a flash of confusion.
Why had I come here in the first place?
I could've just killed the mortals and went away. I could remember now, it was because of the strange song in my blood, but why should I care for that?
No, why should I care for anything at all?
It wasn't like anything or anyone in this world actually mattered. not after.
my frown grew deeper, my eyes were slowly drawn down to a disturbance.
I could feel on my right forearm.
Another flash of confusion went through me at what I saw.
Fingernails, there were fingernails dug so deeply into my forearm that they were beginning to draw blood.
But that wasn't the confusing part, the confusing part was that said fingernails belonged to me.
The hand that was gripping my forearm hard enough to break skin was my own.
What A odd development, I don't remember ever moving my left hand. I tried to remove my hand from my forearm, but for some strange reason, it didn't want to let go.
I contemplated just why this was happening, then a emotion that didn't seem to come from whatever was enforcing the synthetic frustration on me rang through my mind.
It was anger, but why would I be feeling such a useless emotion?
I tried to brush it off with the same ease. I had the other emotions, but like it's always his emotions were not vanquished as easily.
My eyes slightly narrowed as I focused more on, keeping my will at the forefront, but it was a useless endeavor.
I knew eventually he would you serve my control once again, but I still held on.
I still tried to see whatever he seemed to witness in this world that made it worth living in, and like always I didn't see it.
Realizing I still couldn't recognizing it, I relinquished my control, and as I was pulled back into the recesses of our soul, I came to a conclusion.
"This world isn't worth saving, it is only worth destroying."
Raise POV.
I blinked as I came back to reality, my teeth grinding reflexively.
The ether in my body was moving in patterns, as if it was ready to cast spells that this body just couldn't handle.
Also, a growl of fury was building in my throat.
I was mad, no fuck mad I was furious, but I couldn't guess for the fucking life of me why.
Yet I didn't care about what caused it, all I knew was it needed an outlet and quickly.
The strangely door shaped lines on the wall we're looking particularly Punchable right about now.
So wasting no time, I launched a right hook augmented by both blood and metal ether towards the wall.
It was a stupid decision.
What if the weird door shape was an elaborate trap?
What if the strange song I have felt dancing throughout my body was just a ninth ring Ironblood trying to use me to advance there own cultivation?
What if it was just an actual wall and my hand shattered on impact?
I knew all of that yet I still launched the punch, for one simple reason At the moment, I, didn't, give, a fuck.
It was either hit the wall or start, clawing at my own skin in fury, and I would choose the wall any day.
As my fist impacted the wall, I waited for the pain I knew was coming.
Yet it never did, instead, my ether was absorbed.
The strange lines that made up the outline of a door, began to grow a silverfish red color that I knew as my own Ether.
I quickly snatched my hand back as fast as I possibly could, yet it was already too late.
I was drained of every single drop of ether I held.
Realizing this was a very good time to turn around and make my way back to the exit, I took a step back.
Yet before I could turn and bolt, the door imprint disappeared, and a suction force strong enough to lift my entire body pulled me into a room.
before I could properly see the features of said room I was in my soul space.
"Why does everything seem to want to destroy my damn soul space?"
I growled in an annoyance as I looked up at two floating swords.
They weren't finally crafted, or even particularly desirable to look at.
Yet they still Would Have caught my gaze, even if they weren't already in my soul space.
Each blade was about 3 feet long and had a dark brown, nearly black leather grip for a hilt.
The crossGuard of both swords was nothing more than a simple rectangle of metal. The blades themselves were ramrod straight and were made of a strangely dull metal.
The blades were nearly a centimeter and a half thick from spine to edge.
They looked heavy, they looked old, but most importantly they looked dangerous.
I was fucking delighted at the swords floating above me, until it began.
A pressure so immense that it nearly squashed me flat against the ground of my soul space came down on my shoulders.
"What makes you worthy to own us? You are merely a first ring with a bit of resinence to the first blood."
The swords words boomed throughout my soul space.
It's voices were full of distain and arrogance, two emotions I only allowed when I was the one feeling them.
I could tell where that sense of a river of blood was coming from now, it was these two swords, yet that wouldn't stop me from what I was about to do.
My delight quickly turned into fury and distain.
I slowly rose back to my feet from the knee. The pressure had forced me down to.
I made sure my voice was light and casual before I Told the two swords.
"You know, I hate posturing, especially when it's done in my own domain."
With that, as the only warning, the entire situation changed.
Suddenly, it wasn't me, struggling under the swords pressure, but them struggling under mine.
Now on the ground of my soul, space, two swords lay, their Blades quivering as they tried to rise, but that was impossible.
I may have been using only a remnant of a 12 fold cultivators Ora, but that alone was more than anyone on this globe could manage.
Me floating in the air of my soul space with my first ring, glowing, dimly behind me, had the effect of making me look like a God over absolutely nothing.
Yet the fact that they hadn't shattered yet is strange.
I had once killed armies of weave realm cultivators with my aura alone.
Realizing they must be strong, I gave them a proposition, a rather good one if I say so myself.
I was a very good negotiator, I had never had anyone disagree with my terms, even once.
"U2 can either become my swords or I will shatter you both and use you as cutlery, or maybe even a back scratcher if I'm in a good mood."
Just like always, the two swords agreed with absolutely no resistance.
"We agree, mercy, we agree."
"Yes, as he said, we will be honored to be your blades of war."
The two swords said, their former arrogance nowhere to be seen.
As I opened my eyes, and got to my feet, I looked down to see two Scarlet serpent, tattoos wrapped around my forearms.
The serpents were detailed with silver pools for eyes and canines the luster of steel bared to the air.
Smirking in satisfaction, I looked around the room, and what I saw caused my grin to grow even wider.
It started as a chuckle, my shoulders shaking from trying to hold it in.
It quickly evolved into maniacal laughter, as I threw my head back and let my voice ring out through the chamber, because the room didn't just hold anything, it held crucifixes.
Crucifixes covered in blood red inscriptions that I could translate with ease, they were inscriptions meant to drain.
just what I had been searching for for a while nowThe blood of whoever was set on said crucifix, and there were exactly 10 in total.
Nine slightly smaller crucifixes surrounding one that was taller, sharper, and with the inscriptions on it, drawn with much more detail.Just enough for my father and his entire bloodline.
After my bout of laughter, I wiped tears of amusement from my eyes as I spoke to no one in particular.
"It seems there has been a change in plans."