Hunter.(1)

Appearing back in his domain, Kenjaku greeted Cade and Roger, who were of course waiting for him.

"Your Highness, thank you for helping us! But..."

Kenjaku looked around and noticed nothing had changed, but he wasn't surprised. There was a good reason for this phenomenon.

"I've noticed. That means that not one single soul escaped my grasp during my time in that world."

Both Cade and Roger looked confused. What did he mean?

"It's simple...to prevent those above from noticing us collecting souls using the usual channels, I've stored them all within myself..."

Opening his arms wide, Kenjaku smiled as an plethora of green lights escaped from his body, populating the domain.

"...so that I could bring them here personally."

Roger, an ancient sorcerer, didn't even realize what Kenjaku was doing this whole time.

Cade especially, was impressed. He didn't even know Kenjaku was capable of this.

As he released the souls, Kenjaku could be seen rubbing the side of his head, the incessant throbbing getting worse with each individual soul released.

Unfortunately for him, the process of releasing and absorbing a soul was almost the exact same.

The same way he gained the memories of every soul when he absorbed them, he would lose those memories when he released them.

And that process felt like someone telekinetically ripping memories out of his head, physically tearing pieces of his brain out.

The pain could not be described in mere words.

Roger, immediately noticed this. So did Cade.

They didn't disturb him as he went through the process, but they knew that he was putting himself in a world of pain for their sake.

Roger looked at Cade and whispered something in his ear, the young man's eyes glittering as he listened.

WHOOSH!

In the next moment, the both of them disappeared, each seemingly rummaging through a part of their large home for something.

This process went on for a few more minutes before Kenjaku collapsed to his knee, holding his head.

"Heh...releasing souls never gets any easier. Even though these belonged to civilians and the weaker sorcerers, the pain was..."

As he finished his sentence, Kenjaku managed to open his eyes and look around at the state of his domain. Due to releasing so many souls, the place started to look alive again.

The grass got greener and started to grow, Old buildings repaired themselves. Even little spirits started appearing, giving the place an ethereal, comforting atmosphere. A far cry from the rampant decay that had once taken ahold of it.

A wide, warm smile appeared on Kenjaku's face as he saw this.

"...worth it. The pain, was worth it."

Kenjaku leaned on a nearby wall and enjoyed the scenery, taking in all the sights. He felt as if everything he did was just for this moment.

To see his home starting to regain it's former glory.

THUD!

In a flash, both Roger and Cade reappeared, dropping down on one knee, each holding a strange vial filled with a mysterious liquid in their hands.

Roger was the first to speak.

"Your Highness! We've noticed that your body and mind can't keep up with the overwheming power of your soul. While you may have found a suitable body for now, please remember that you're still barely at 5...maybe 10% percent of your past power. The more of your power you recover, the higher chance that your current body will break down. So..."

Kenjaku knew this, of course. He was planning to just find an ability from some random world that would allow him to remedy this.

Cade continued where Roger left off.

"Uhh...ehem...my l-lord, we've found a solution to your problem. While it may not be the best one and we've currently run out of divine power to grant abilities to others...we still had a few secrets stored up."

Cade extended his hands, bringing the vial closer to Kenjaku.

"This is what the mortals of a certain world call the Prototype Virus. It grants a multitude of benefits to the genetically superior and destroys those of lower birth. I've seen what your current body can do, my l-lord, I believe this will only benefit you. While they also claim that you need a special gene to get its benefits...I don't think that's needed in your case."

Kenjaku took the vial out of Cade's hands and inspected it closely.

"The Prototype Virus eh...? I trust you wouldn't do anything to betray me, Cade. Roger, what about you?"

The old man extended his hands forward, offering the vial in his hand, saying, "In a similar vein, this is what they call the Blacklight Virus. While it offers similar benefits to the Prototype Virus, it also enhances your adaptability and evolution to an incredible level. It also offers other...benefits that I think someone of your taste would find immensely useful, Your Highness. If you take both, you would never have to worry about your physical body falling behind again."

Kenjaku took this vial in his other hand, inspecting it closely.

'These viruses are...aggressive. I can see the little organisms within with the Six Eyes. Especially this Blacklight Virus. I can feel it reaching out to me even through this vial. Then, I'll start with this one.'

Turning his attention to the Prototype Virus, Kenjaku popped the cap of the vial and drank it, his body instantly reacting to it.

His pupils glowed as they turned into slits, while the rest of his body started twitching unceasingly.

Before he could lose control, he popped the cap on the Blacklight Virus, downing it in one gulp.

CLANG! CLANG!

The vials dropped to the ground, as Kenjaku followed right along, his hands gripping his own neck.

Roger instructed Cade to leave the room as he stood by Kenjaku's side, watching him closely. Since it was his idea to use these vials in the first place, he would stay until his master made a full recovery.

Days passed in the domain as Kenjaku lay motionless on the ground, shirtless with tattered clothing. After the first day of struggling to even stay concious from the overwhelming power of them combined, he had seemingly lost conciousness, not making one single move since then.

Roger wasn't worried at all. He knew his master would not be defeated by something like this.

Another more day passed.

That's when something finally happened.

Kenjaku opened his eyes and sat up, his eyes locked on Roger as he did.

"You did well."

Roger tried not to flinch as he answered, "No, thank you, Your Highness."

He felt as if a wild beast had locked its gaze onto him, his very cells warning him of the impending danger.

Kenjaku just smiled as he saw this. He could see Roger's heart beating faster, his blood flow increasing rapidly. Everything was revealed before his eyes.

"No worries, Roger. The viruses worked well...and I am still in control."

Kenjaku stood up, cracked his neck and caused his skin to rapidly transform, turning his biomass into a long sleeve black body fitting shirt, grey sweatpants and black martial art shoes. His signature outfit.

Summoning the clock, Kenjaku continued, "Roger...I need to get back to business. Continue running this place as you have."

WHOOSH!

-------------------------------------------------

[Seoul, South Korea.]

A portal opened up on top of a small apartment building, revealing Kenjaku standing atop it.

"A new world...finally. I wonder, what are these particles floating around in the sky...this must be the energy this world uses. Now I just need to figure out a way harness it."

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Kenjaku casually cleared buildings and blocks with each jump, moving with speed he couldn't even imagine with just physical power alone.

Suddenly, he happened across a peculiar scene.

A large crowd of people were circled around what seemed to be some type of glowing stone monster. Fighting the monster was a smaller group of warriors, who looked tired from the battle.

If it went on any longer, the warriors would surely meet their end.

"It's time to test my new power."

Kenjaku was elated as this golden opportunity presented itself in front of him.

"Let's see how long you can last."

WHOOSH!

Kenjaku leaped up into the air, high above any nearby skyscraper. Right as got over the monster, he seemingly pushed off the air itself as he boosted down to the ground, clenching his fist.

BOOM!

Glowing red veins ran through his arm as he punched the monster in the head, destroying the majority of it with a single blow.

The crowd became stunned. What could have happened? Was the monster destroyed?

As the smoke cleared and the warrior in the lead of the smaller group approached, the stone golem roared as it's body started to regenerate.

This time, the crowd could see the attacker clearly.

'That should've destroyed it...'

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With blinding speed, Kenjaku pulverized the stone golem with instantaneous punches from all directions, crushing it as if were merely a toy.

A fragile plaything in the palm of his hands.

The crowd was astonished as they clapped for the display, while the smaller group of warriors looked at him with a bit of distrust.

The leader, a man wearing a heavy set of armor, walked up to Kenjaku and said, "Thank you friend. Those were some awesome punches man! I can't even hope to do that."

Nodding at the man, Kenjaku put his hands in his pockets and jumped away, reaching to the roof of an apartment building within moments.

"Tch. That wasn't even a warm up. I can't wait to meet the real powerhouses of this worlds. I wonder...what the strongest in this world is like."