28 Understanding

"you want them what?" Azazel questioned

"I have been known by my peers to never stutter once. Surely my previous statement was spoken loud and simple enough for you to comprehend. These bandits in front of me, Azazel Vanir, I want them dead, and you will do that task for me, whether you like it or not." chief responded indifferently, the coldness in his voice left no room for disagreement. He was dead serious on this matter.

Azazel expelled the mounting air that was threatening to swell his heart, this was inevitable, it most definitely was. Killing, killing, killing, that word, that concept, it was slowly starting to make him regret ever desiring to come in a different world. Back on earth, he had so many people who cared for him, pampered him like no other in order to facilitate his meteoric rise to success.

His friends, family, all of them converged and helped him create the massive company that fueled his boundless wealth. He felt no pain, no other emotions aside from happiness, his life on earth was true heaven.

Chief shook his head in displeasure, this was a massive problem, a huge problem that cannot continue, it must end here today. How can one have the mentally of a pampered, innocent and overly kind brat in the cultivation world? whoever dare says that the way of survival is by being gentle is a liar.

" It is time you learned, little boy, of the secrets behind my power. You see, I did tell you previously that the needle of catastrophe changes the personality of a person as a result of its influence. Now, what you have yet to know is HOW one's personality is changed. The 4 branches of the power are, as I have stated prior, constriction, which basically allows the user to divide any and everything in this world, whether it is an object, the 4 elements, or a spiritual attack. Teleportation is rather self-explanatory, but this allows the user to teleport to where a needle is located at the cost of a certain amount of energy. The next branch is the creation branch, which entails the ability of the user to mold the needles into whatever shape their imagination can come up with."

"the destruction branch. Mhm, throw a small needle at a mountain and watch in shock as the whole mountain is turned to dust, such is the essence of destruction. Now, you may be wondering, how does this correlate to how this power changes the personality of the user. Simple. the order is as followed. First comes teleportation, then constriction, absorption, and finally destruction. Every single time you level up or open a new branch, for a week-long period, your body will experience pain like never before. Its as if you are being ripped to shreds, reborn, and ripped to shreds again. To make matters worse, a single minute in real life equals to 24 hours from your perspective. Imagine, then, how long a week will be?"

Chief shrugged, paying no care at the fearful face of Azazel who is quite literally trembling. " now I ask you this, dear partner. A human who has experienced this degree of pain for a long period of time in life, What are the odds of them being a kind person, a person who is jubilant and happy go lucky? slim to none in my opinion."

"chief please, I don't want to do this anymore. Just, just bring me back to my world again. Please, Please."

Fear like no other plagued Azazel. Pain of such magnitude, he wished to never experience in his life. Why? just why does he have to be so unlucky? his pleading to chief seemed pointless, the spirit's emotionless eyes were staring at him like a stranger.

"I pity you for a reason. Do you know why? your comprehension ability is like no other, you completely mastered the teleportation branch so quick, and effectively at that. You know what that means right? you are about to experience a breakthrough to the constriction breach soon, very very very soon."

Chief waved his palm dismissively at Azazel's pleasing gestures " Back on track. Kill these bastards lying on the floor. They have killed, raped, committed so many atrocities in life. Letting them go will make you a criminal if you judge yourself with that trash morale principle you speak of."

"chief, Don't do this. I promise I will assimilate... one day. I just need time, this is too abrupt. I can't do it." tears stained Azazel's well-sculptured face, induced as a result of his bleak future and the unfortunate circumstances he is placed in.

"very well. I give you 2 minutes, little boy. Do you remember that promise you made with me back at the hotel? I don't do shit for free. I could care less about the life of that star princess, but I know you care about her well being right? If you fail to kill these people, I will personally go poison that princess again, this time it will be much much more severe. Try me, I dare you. "

Chief pupils were practically dilated at this point, the murderous air surrounding him only intensified with the passing of time.

"wait, I will do it. Don't harm her, I-I will kill them... as you wish." Azazel sluggishly walked to the gathering of downed robbers, his eyes seemed lost, unfocused, and helpless..

His hands trembled at every movement, every step he took symbolized a shred of his beliefs, his understanding of the laws and regulations that governed his life. Slowly and steadily, his energy materialized and hung on to him like a baby holding on to its mother. The plan was to release an attack with enough power to kill everyone. At least, with that, he did not have to see the gory and bloody scene of their body, However, someone had other plans.

"Nope, hold your horses. Energy has an innate factor of destroying everything, including blood itself. We paid for the full experience, didn't we? that means we want to see the full experience. Take this sword and stab them. I find that very effective If I so myself " chief held an ordinary sword that gleamed under the sunlight, throwing it at the ground below as it landed right next to the body of the little boy.

Azazel shuddered upon hearing chief's voice, the energy that he mustered up disappeared almost instantly as if it feared something or someone.

Slowly, hesitantly, his hand reached for the sword, grabbing it in one motion. It felt cool to the touch, no surprise there considering it is a weapon designed for murder.

Azazel began walking forward, carried by the wind and the magical voice of chief that seemed to reverberate in almost all directions.

High, did he raise his sword, and down did it go, slow yet deadly. A sound, he heard, maddening and loud. His scarlet eyes looked down, watching at the full majesty of what he has committed. The heart of the bandit, did the sword pierce, out came the blood, and there went his rationality, his beliefs, his principle, scattered to ashes only to be carried by the witness that was the wind.

Empty, he definitely was.

"next" carried by the persuasive voice of chief, Azazel continued along, repeating the same process with bleak and widened eyes.

A red substance littered the area, stopping not as it threaded along in its journey.

Despite killing everyone, the little boy walked forward in purposelessness, his eyes still widened to saucers.

He felt nothing. Not even after bumping into the door of the Bandit's hideout, It was as if he was blind.

Chief shrugged before appearing next to the door, opening it with a finger and stepping aside. Azazel walked forward like a robot, and what he saw finally brought him back to reality, and shocked him to the core.

Girls, all battered and long gone laid naked on the floor. Ther bodies covered in blood and filth, some were even disfigured. There was an old man who resembled a monster, lying on his back with all of his limbs in awkward places, one could witness the dried up tears on the wrinkly surface that was his face.

Chief shook his head "This is the world you are now living in. Throw away all of that nonsense you speak of, for those ideas and beliefs you adhere to have no place here. If I were to kill and rape your mother, you will defeat me in battle, yes, but you will also let me go Scot free without doing anything. If I was your mother, I will be shameful for having such a bastard of a son. All these girls and men had mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, imagine their reaction if they realized that you let these bandits go. Its a matter of principle really. That's why what you believe in is hypocritical and lamentable all the same. You believe in justice yet never take the steps to act upon that justice. You see a murderer yet do nothing about it, only to allow that same murderer to go on and continue killing more people. What makes you any better than that murderer?"

Azazel helplessly sat on the floor, hugging his knees as even more tears fell.

He breathed once, twice, three times, closing his eye on the process. The faces of those he has killed began resurfacing within his brain, holding on to him with the same bloody hands. This is a trial after the first kill, fail it and you shall be twisted forever. They began dragging him down to wherever they came from, shouting insults while doing so. Yet, within his mind space, along with the faces of those he has killed, Chief's voice was there as well, whispering to him about the atrocities they have committed, about the way of the cultivator, the true essence of what it means to inherit his power, to be worthy of his power.

It was at this moment, this same exact moment, Azazel severed the hands that were holding on to him, watching in silence as the images slowly began disappearing, and what replaced them was newfound understanding that integrated itself inside his core, his cells, his whole being.

Azazel opened his eyes, the tears that were spilling out in gushes dried out a long time ago. His gaze rested on the all the blood, the dead bodies that littered the floor, however,

this time he did not flinch, did not feel remorseful, he felt nothing but calmness.