Chapter 13: Soul Slave

Blaze tilts his head slightly, observing the little man on the ground.

You think you got away, don't you…

Blaze steps back into the darkness behind, and he disappears from existence.

"That's what I thought!"

William loudly says.

He gets up, all the flesh and muscle on his back scream out in pain.

He did get shot directly by lightning. The skin on it is burned like charred coal, the smell of burning flesh is everywhere.

William holds the pain inside and tries to act like it's no big deal.

"Who was that?"

The entire body of Henry blinks. He suddenly appears beside William, which causes him to jump up a little.

William acts like nothing bothers him, but he is seriously spooked by whatever that thing is.

Henry smiles. William swears there is contempt hiding somewhere in that curved mouth.

"I don't know what it is. It just came out of nowhere and attacked us."

Henry stares at William. He obviously does not believe even a single word.

Preston takes a look at William's back.

"This is definitely the same one that killed all those Hollows."

The Pale Harpy lands near him and says:

"Why do you think it left? It may be able to take on all of us."

Preston shakes his head.

"Not quite. The Hollows back there were nothing more but mindless zombies. Killing them is different than taking on all of us."

Suddenly, a black beam fires towards William.

It comes from the rooftop of the far building opposite of them.

William grinds his teeth, his feet set ablaze again.

"Damn you! Why don't you give up?!"

William flies up and uses all his power to get away. Fire bursts out of his feet like a rocket engine, pushing him away at an admirable speed.

But the black beam is faster.

In the blink of an eye, it almost reaches William and is only about three meters away from him.

Henry blinks again, appearing in front of the black beam. His right hand curls into a fist, the veins on it start popping on the skin, and muscle grows two to three times bigger.

He punches forward.

All the air in front becomes condensed, then an incredible surge of shockwaves shoots forward. A mini tornado is created just because of Henry's punch.

The black beam turns sharply, gets over Henry's attack and him, continuing to chase William.

Under the goggles, the Pale Harpy's eyebrows shot up. She's both scared of and impressed by the figure's power.

The costumed heroine raises her hand, energy feathers materialize and dart toward the beam, hoping to stop it in its tracks or slow it down.

The beam zigzags over all the feathers and finds its target. It hasn't slowed down even for a single bit.

Death finds William.

The beam shoots up from below and pierces through his groin, coming straight out of his head.

The fiery feet give out and turn to black smoke. His entire body slams to the ground, flesh bursting and bone breaking.

[You have gained 100 experience points!]

[Mission accomplished!]

[Your reward is delivered to Inventory]

"What a terrifying power…"

The Pale Harpy mumbles. Color has left her face, leaving only dread. If it was her, she would have been dead also.

Preston aims his gun toward the rooftop. The gun shines a crimson red color, pure energy pours out of him and into the gun.

His face flushes red, and veins bulge on his temple.

"You will pay for this, bastard!"

Henry appears before him and grabs the gun barrel, lowering it down.

"Don't get yourself killed, sir."

An invisible enemy that has the power of shooting a homing beam that can kill you in one shot. Its power may not be B-rank, but even B-rank is afraid of it.

Preston controls his breathing, trying to calm down.

Everyone looks over to the rooftop afar. The figure is visible, its Tattered Cloak blowing in the wind.

It has no face, only darkness. In its hand rises a lantern with yellow light.

The dead William screams in despair, pure yellow energy is being sucked out of him and turns into a yellow fireball. His soul flies toward the creature and is now trapped inside the lantern.

"You think you can escape me?"

Blaze observes William's soul. Without hesitation, he burns the soul, letting it dive into endless, unimaginable pain.

Killing William right then and there would have been dangerous for Blaze. The brown-uniformed man held a freaking large gun, there was actually a superhero in costume, and there was also Henry.

If Blaze proceeded and took his life, he wasn't sure he could get out of it alive.

'One with Shadow' is a useful power. But that is because no one has found out its gimmick yet.

It can't guarantee Blaze's escape.

So he did the most reasonable thing. He faded into darkness and charged the Destruction Wand.

William thought he had an upper hand because if he died, Blaze couldn't find Alyson.

Unfortunately for him, Blaze's grasp can reach far over the realm of the living.

The sound of William's scream is devastating and haunting. 

A cold shiver runs down Pale Harpy's spine. 

"What kind of power is that?"

She says.

"It looks like…"

"It took his soul."

Preston grinds his teeth, angrily looking at Blaze.

Henry is indifferent, he obviously doesn't care if William is suffering.

The image of the Wraith engraves itself into the memories of the people present. An illusive spirit of hell holding its captives' souls in a lantern.

And then the light of the lantern disappears. Darkness swallows the figure whole, leaving nothing but emptiness.

[Current experience points: 2370]

[New reward: Equipment Blindbox (Rare)]

Blaze has enough experience to upgrade Force Blast again. He also has a new equipment chest. And Alyson is missing.

Blaze needs to hurry up, getting stronger quickly to save his only friend.

Blaze finds a secure place to turn visible again. He takes out the lantern.

William's complete soul is inside. If there is a way to imprison him, there must also be a way to release him.

His soul holds all the secrets to Alyson's whereabouts.

Blaze tries to connect with the Lantern mentally. It has always responded to him this way.

The Lantern radiates intense yellow light. Not the light of a soul burning but completely something else.

It reaches into Blaze, penetrating the Tattered Cloak he is wearing.

The light goes inside Blaze's eyes and mouth, touching his very soul.

[Lantern of the Damned is bound to you!]

[The item can now no longer be stored in Inventory]

[New Hidden Power unlocked!]

[A prior Hidden Power has changed!]

[Lantern of the Damned]

- Equipment Rank: Ultra Rare

- Hidden Power: Soul Reaper (change from Soul Reap); Soul Flare; Soul Slave.

- Soul Reaper: You can collect the souls of those you have wronged. You can also examine, consume, release, or enslave your trapped souls.

- Soul Flare: You can burn the souls you have collected, causing them more suffering even in death. The light they produced automatically dispels all illusion or magical darkness.

- Soul Slave: Once enslaving a soul, you can grant it a body of your choosing. This body materializes into the real world and interacts with the physical realm.

Maximum soul slave: 0/1