Awakening: Volume End

"What the hell is wrong with you!"

Xue Chang's enraged screams shook the air around them as an eerie echo followed the sudden outburst.

He was currently inside of purgatory facing Yong Heng with a mad look in his eyes.

Yong Heng, who was still in blob form, shrugged his shoulders as he expressed unusual calmness, "Nothing wrong with me really. I think you're the weird one for freaking out about such a small matter honestly."

Neither regret nor remorse could be heard in his voice. It was as if he was talking about what he had for dinner the other day.

Xue Chang just didn't understand how he could be so calm in such a situation.

"You misunderstand something Xue Chang, I'm not calm at all. I'm just too use to this sight. You think this is the first time something like this has happened? I once had the pleasure of witnessing an entire continent full of people sink to the bottom of the ocean, just so one man could fulfill his greed."

Forming a face with the odd material his current form was made of, an expression of disdain could be seen, "Don't be so naive as to think things like this are uncommon and won't happen again! The world isn't so kind to the weak, here it is kill or be killed. Nothing else to it."

Xue Chang stomped his foot lightly as he said, "Well I'm not like you! I'm not some killer who take human lives like cutting grass! Nor am I some idle bystander who'll stand aside while something wrong happens before my very eyes!

"AND THATS YOUR MISTAKE!" For the first time, Yong Heng had screamed at Xue Chang. It wasn't the scream he usually had where he was questioning Xue Chang's odd actions. This was a shout of true rage for once.

"You are soft! Don't you understand that everything can't be solved using the righteous method? Sometimes evil is necessary for the greater good. Look at you Xue Chang, you got out of this chamber just fine, but the culprit behind this isn't done yet. What'll you do if he has a chamber full of level two golems? How about level three? Sounds impossible? Well wouldn't you say a chamber like this is impossible as well! Face it, you're weak. You've scraped by thus far by pure luck, but other than that you are worthless."

While pointing his tentacle arm into the air, Yong Heng made a crack form directly in the sky of purgatory as an immense force pressed down on Xue Chang.

"You feel that? That's nothing compared to what you will have to face in the future, yet look at you tremble and shake at something as weak as that! You're a good kid Xue Chang, so understand this you didn't commit any evil. It wasn't you who killed those villagers, nor was it you who chose to absorb those souls. If you want to blame anyone, blame me. I'll be your ultimate villain, but don't complain when YOU are reaping the benefits! Your only crime was your inability to stop this disaster from happening, but now I've given you a chance. Not only to become stronger and stop this from ever occurring again, but a chance to impede the culprit. He can no longer obtains souls from this seal, they are yours now. And with that, we are both one step closer to obtaining exactly what we want. You the power to protect what is yours, and me my freedom."

Yong Heng brought back in his arm, which caused the crack in the air to close and the pressure to disperse.

Gasping heavily as he got up from his kneeling position, Xue Chang angrily glared at Yong Heng While spatting out, "I don't think I can ever trust you after this."

"You never should've trusted me in the first place. We aren't friends Xue Chang, we are in a business deal. Nothing more nothing less."

And with these final words from Yong Heng, Xue Chang faded out of purgatory and returned to the real world.

There he looked at at his own shaky reflection in the depths of the stream.

With a roar of outrage, he brought up his fist and slammed it down into the water, "DAMMIT!"

Images of the villagers began to flicker through his mind as he got up and returned back to the scene of the crime.

Tian Hai was the first to notice Xue Chang was in a bad mood.

Approaching him casually, he inquired a bit about his situation, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just tell me in you found anything new."

Tian Hai nodded silently at Xue Chang's curt reply.

Bringing him over to a single hut near the center of the village, they found that the building was completely intact. It hadn't been demolished like the rest of the village.

Stepping forward to the hut, Xue Chang grasped the handle of the door lightly as he pulled it open.

And the sight that met his eyes chilled him to the core.

The shriveled up corpse of an old lady was clutching tightly onto the cold husk of a little girl.

It was obvious that the two of them suffered quite a bit as lobs of rotten flesh could be seen strewn about the room. Also shriveled limbs and broken off fingers could be seen at the feet of the two people.

A puddle of dried blood sat at their feet as four wrinkled but clear balls rolled on the floor. Rolling them over slightly, two pairs of beautiful irises were revealed to him. And as expected, looking up he could see the eyes of the two of them were shut closed with a red streak sliding down the side of their faces.

Both of which had expressions of fear and agony permanently frozen on there.

"...Wanwan"

It was the little girl who pinched him awake the first time he was nursed back to health in this village.

It looked like her grandma had protected her till the very ended before the both of them were tortured to death. This was truly not the work of a beast, now he was sure that a human had done this.

"Yong Heng, does torturing people give you more soul strength?"

Xue Chang whispered this aloud, and while his voice was low, Tian Hai was able to catch on to what he said. But he didn't say anything about it.

Meanwhile Yong Heng's response came back in a slow and even tone, "...No. whoever did this didn't do it for the ritual. They took pleasure in torturing those two."

It was as if something inside of Xue Chang cracked as a weird atmosphere began to visibly form around his body.

His rage took on a physical form as the emanation spread and shook the god round beneath him wildly, commanding the grass and the trees nearby to bow to his every whim.

Tian Hai and Tian Kai both experienced this first hand as a wave of overwhelming might surrounded them, bringing them to their knees in a sort of bow.

The skies, which had just been stained with the dark clouds, darkened once more as if beginning another tribulation.

But rather than lightning snaking out of the clouds and into the air, a golden light shined instead. The light encompassed the entire village as a chorus of voices, that could be heard by Yong Heng, seemed to sing words of praise.

They sang out of respect, reverence....

and out of fear.

Yong Heng's body in purgatory began to bubble and burst as it suddenly took on a different shape. Like a demon, an androgynous creature with red eyes, pale skin, and abyssal black horns stepped out of the blobby form and into the odd space.

Although it was difficult to say whether it was beautiful or handsome, no one could deny this form was very good looking.

Having on him an expression that could only be described as orgasmic, he stuttered out, "At long last, he has reached his awakening..."