The Devil Himself - Part 3

Each of these four men had a different aura, but the mutual part was that they all looked fairly old despite their bodies being around twenty or thirty years old. This was not normal, no matter how one looked at it.

Xia was especially disgusted, even several times more than Asura or Tianlong Bai. For the old man, it was more or less normal. He spent more time than them in captivity so he should be used to it. Asura was also absorbed in his own feelings which differed much more than usual that all his rationality was focused on re-inspecting himself constantly in order to ensure his own sanity. That's why, he didn't pay much attention to anyone else except Xia and the old man.

In here, he could only trust those two. He trusted Xia since the time before he died on Earth, so it was expected. As for the old man, he didn't find any reason why someone whose life he just saved would attack him, even more so that he was stronger than the current old man. That is why Asura assumed the two to be his allies and considered everything else the potential target for destruction.

Those four who came made him sober up a bit as he noticed the irregularity with their appearance and actual age.

Asura thought, 'First it was one, then these four. Who will come next? Who is the strongest one here? Will I be able to match their strength?'

He slowly took one step torward the four and gazed into the eyes of the one who previously spoke out. That guy immediately went on guard and entered the fight-or-flight state, but because of the spiritual oppression from his opponent, the 'flight' component was missing. Never in his life did this guy think that he would be so afraid of a mere child. The beauty lying in this kid's eyes also hid a horrific oppression which was currently crashing down on his mind.

*plop*

He knew neither how nor why, but the end result was his consciousness collapsing as he fainted. The other three naturally entered a similar state like their comrade, but all of them avoided staring at the eyes of the kid. Whether they subconsciously noticed from the example of their friend or he alerted them through other means wasn't known, only that they were terrified to their cores. Who has ever heard of a little kid being so dangerous? Even beasts in human form wouldn't be that powerful! How could a single stare from a child make one of them faint?

Although they were fairly weak, they were much stronger than the fatty from before. But all external strength was meaningless as this oppression wasn't physical but spiritual. They were being suppressed on a spiritual basis, their souls trembling under the Dragon Soul's aura. Whether Dragon Soul wanted to leave them hanging by a thin thread or not, Asura didn't know.

What he knew, however, was that this wasn't its full power. He was unable to fully control the existence in his Soul World ever since he chose to use the Abyss Dragon Suppression Art on himself. He also didn't know why he was still able to use the Dragon's energy considering that the seal in question was supposedly the most powerful sealing art in existence. It shouldn't have failed to seal his cultivation, yet he could still use it.

Asura thought about this while the trio trembled, completely ignored by their adversary. The three men that should be the ones to restrain him were worthless in his eyes. The more pressing question on Asura's mind was why didn't the Abyss Dragon Suppression Art work on his cultivation? All Dragon Spirits from the multicolored crystal were transferred to the black crystal in his heart, which was the source of the Abyss Dragon Suppression Art as well as his cultivation technique and Spirit Core. It served three purporses - to control, to store and to restrain. It could control and guide the energy through his body in the most efficient way and it could also store that energy, but at the same time it was designed to restrain him. The only irregularity was that the restraining force was cast only on his Soul World, exponentially reducing the strength of his Soul and with it the degree to which he could manipulate energy and affect the real world.

Asura: 'Weird... This is really weird! Anyway, let's deal with these people first.'

The kid who silently stood in place and terrified the people present suddenly moved, causing the three to twitch. The one who was the skinniest and seemed as if his skin was only millimeters away from bare bone plopped to his knees. The second one had immense trouble breathing which led to the same outcome as the first guy who was lying on the ground. The only one who was still standing felt that if he didn't do anything, he would die for sure, therefore he suddenly shouted.

"Wait!!!"

Asura came to a stop in front of him and looked straight into the guy's eyes, which were aimed to the side. This situation seemed as if a height-challenged father stared at the big kid who was lying. Rightfully, the positions should be reversed but the fact that they weren't is what gave this situation its weirdness.

Asura: "Speak. The more you say, the greater chances of you leaving this place alive."

The guy finally had a courage to lift his head and look at the source of this irregular situation - the black-haired kid standing at the forefront of their group. During this time, Tianlong Bai had shock written deep in his eyes and even awe started surfacing, while Xia closed hers to avoid letting others see the insuppressible excitement. She feared that Asura or this old man would think of her as crazy if they saw her like this. Only when she slightly calmed down did she open her eyes to see the weird yet immersive scene unfolding before them.

"F-fi-first can I a-ask... who are you? What do you want from us? Why are you treating us like this?"

...

Asura suddenly grinned, his grin one of a devil. "Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHA! You have the gall to ask? Why didn't you think of that before dragging us here?! Now I'm supposed to answer you? You wish."

*Pshhh.*

Due to the extremely irritated feelings Asura was currently experiencing, the outcome for this man was death. Nothing else needed to be said.

Asura's gaze slowly turned to the only conscious guy, the skinny one who seemed as if he would up and die any moment. Asura communicated with the Dragon Soul and the oppressive aura from him rapidly diminished, which took majority of the pressure away from the last conscious guy. He didn't want to wait for the other two to wake up and take any risks, so he chose the most efficient way.

Asura's eyes turned uncaring as his expression became indifferent. He looked at the guy and said, "Your turn. Same conditions as before - higher value of information, greater chance of survival. Speak."

The guy closed his eyes, as if coming to terms with himself. Asura didn't rush him, as that wouldn't result in anything. If anything, it would only decrease the chances of this guy speaking up. Dead enemies had less use than living ones, especially in the current situation.

At this moment, the oppressive aura emanating from the little kid completely extinguished and his eyes turned green, but the previous events served as a warning to everyone in here even though the oppression was lifted. As Dragon Soul's aura vanished, black-haired Xia and little fox were once again able to move around in Asura's Soul World, as much as its size allowed to.

As he was waiting for the guy to resolve himself to talk, Xia's voice resounded: "If he won't talk, you can also force yourself into his- oh wait, you can't anymore. Your soul is suppressed now, I forgot."

Asura's brows twitched as he heard her voice. He would never mistake the white-haired Xia and black-haired Xia even though both of them had the same tone of voice and the reason why is because both of them had different styles of speech. White-haired Xia used milder words and wouldn't often get worked up, while black-haired Xia had mischievous personality and would tease him most of the time. One matched the description of an Angel, while the other was more similar to himself - she had a personality and charm of a Devil.

Asura: 'Hmm... by the way, didn't you say Abyss Dragon Suppression Art was the strongest suppression art out there? Why am I still able to use my cultivation then?'

Xia: 'How should I know? I'm not the one being suppressed by it.'

Asura: 'Huh? Then why did you let me use it if you don't know how it works?!'

Xia: 'Hey, don't put the blame on me! Why did you accept when you don't know what you're getting yourself into???'

Asura thought about it and indeed, he never learned exactly what kind of Cultivation Art it is. He was the one to blame for doing that in the spur of a moment. However, he was expecting something like this to happen, judging from the way Xia warned him several times. He was only harboring blind hope that she knew about it, more or less.

Asura: 'What do you know about it? Anything comes to mind?'

Xia: 'As far as I'm aware, that thing should be conscious, considering it has a hundred and one Divine Soul Fragments sealed inside. If it wants to suppress you, then it will probably only do so when it wants. Basically, its a living part of yourself now, but you can't control it at all. It's like an independent existence leeching off of you. It may choose to help or to hinder you so... As I said when you fused with it, good luck!'

Asura's brows furrowed even further as he heard that. Awkward silence spread in the surroundings, which urged the guy to quickly decide his own fate, thinking that the unpredictable little kid would suddenly get irritated and kill him like the previous one.

"W-what do you precisely want to know, esteemed Saint?"

Asura's furrowed brows jumped as he asked in confused voice: "Saint? Why are you calling me 'Saint'?"

"S-s-sorry, esteemed one, I didn't know what would be the appropriate way to address you, please don't get angry!"

Asura: "I'm not angry, I'm just curious. Why did you call me a Saint?"

"Uh. Umm... actually..."