13 ย First Kill
๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ.
He began to steadily apply pressure, sweat was beginning to pour down his brows behind the gas mask, and he had to rapidly blink to stop them entering his eyes, his strength Stat was just too weak.
๐๐ฉ, ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ค๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.
Around the neck of the purple wolf, a faint cold mist encircled it, and slowly the chill began to penetrate it, causing the flesh to squeeze and crackle beneath the blades.
๐๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ง๐บ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ.
The fur became stiff and soon turned to purple dust, and the shears bit into the Demon's neck, the blood that flowed was black, and was thick like tar, it did not freeze like Rowan expected but flowed and pooled on the Magitite Stone.
๐๐ฐ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ธ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ.
Rowan knew his strength had reached the limit, so he beckoned Maeve with his head, knowing what she was to do, she stood behind Rowan and wrapped her hands around his, and began to apply pressure, the blades began to bite deeper, cutting through the muscle, it stopped at the spine.
๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ. ๐ ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ดc๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ.
Rowan frowned and gestured for Maeve to apply more pressure, Maeve paused, she would rather not apply more pressure that could surpass the stress limit of the Heavy Runic Gloves, she was a little confused why her master did not allow her to personally kill the cursed creature, nevertheless her duty was to obey him in all things.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ!
Maeve stood behind Rowan and felt how frail he was. The laws of power were harsh, and her heart ached at the suffering he must have endured. She did not ask him what happened, knowing he would tell her in his time. What she could do was to support him, but she needed clarifications from him, she would loathe to add to his suffering,
"Are you sure master, It is remarkable enough you can withstand the amount of force I am placing on your hands. I can hear the bones in your hands cracking, anymore and they would be crushed!"
Rowan lips were fixed in a stubborn snarl, "Continue Maeve, you can stop when I tell you to."
"By your willโฆ master."
Clearly displeased Maeve began to apply more pressure incrementally, Rowan locked his jaws, his bones were beginning to pulverize, and the pain was shocking and intense, but he had eyes only for the Demon.
The shear began to cut through the bones, and with a final wet snap, the head was sliced off. Through all these the Demon did not make a sound, its eyes just stared at Rowan, and he could have sworn its eyes held amusement.
Rowan left it to its foul pleasures. He had no desires to understand what was happening inside the head of this creature.
"Step back Maeve, and whatever happens next, do not interrupt me!" Rowan gingerly removed the gloves from his hands, setting it aside, he placed his hands on the stomach of the demon.
His eyes were closed in concentration. Maeve watched with concern, and she clasped and unclasped her hand, she was ready for any unexpected events.
Rowan called up the Primordial Record, and scrolled to Soul Seizer, and he activated the Record.
When Rowan first opened the Primordial Record, a set of instructions were embedded deep into his consciousness and when he needed them, they floated back into his mind.
The knowledge of how to utilize Records is one of them. Rowan had placed his hopes on Activating the Two Omnipotent Records he had.
Soul Seizer was the obvious choice. He needed to harvest souls to upgrade his Records to get more lifespan.
Omnipotent Records were powerful, and he hoped his healing factor would bear the strain of even Activating the Record. Well, he was going to find out now.
Rowan felt a piercing pain all through his body, his eyes snapped open in shock as his torso folded in half just underneath his chest as if a giant picked and folded him, the back of his head touching his buttocks, his mouth was opened in a silent scream, for his lungs were squished inside his chest.
He slowly collapsed on the floor, Maeve wanted to step forward, but she remembered the instructions Rowan gave her, and also his frightening healing abilities. She gritted her teeth and stood fast, her anxiety rising with every breath.
From Roman's back a row of bones pierced through, they were clearly his ribs, and also a part of his spine popped out, his neck twisted like a snake, with a sickening crack his bones were pulled away from his body in a gory spray of blood and floated in the air, in a while new bones were regrown and the macabre event continued, Rowan laid on the floor, a low moan now and then the only indication that he was fully awake, and experiencing all the pain.
The bones that were stained with his blood, began to reassemble in the air, it slowly formed in the shape of a ring, with seven elongated spikes that resembled horns surrounding the ring of bone, Arcane symbols were burned into the bones, and they pulsed with Rowan breathing. They pulsed red, akin to the glow of embers.
Rowan, in his pain, remembered words he felt he heard in a distant dream,
" I thought I was a man....." Rowan found himself repeating the words, as he rose from the ground, the ring of bones rotated and floated behind him, creating a grim majestic figure that inspired awe and horror from anyone who beheld the sight," But I am nothing but chars and cinders!"
Maeve found herself kneeling, tears streaked down her face, she bowed and placed her face on the floor. At that moment this picture could be of a mortal worshiping her god.
This was the Level zero of Soul Seizer, it was called, Jaws Of Dagon!
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On the Continent of Khoranth, deep inside the dark mountains where the light of the sun has not shone since the dawn of this world, there lay a series of mountain range that covered the horizon, and a particular mountain stood out, unlike the other mountains rooted in this forsaken land of despair, this mountain rooted itself in a field of bones. The bones were of all creatures that have ever walked on this world, and some that had not.
Wails of pain and sorrow surrounded the fields of bone, and the air bled pus, the clouds were yellow and diseased. Indistinct shapes roam the dark lands, and their laughter resembled the cries of infants.
The color of the mountain was pale as maggots, and it shivered and squirmed in a sickening manner like a Corpse riddled with countless vermin, the mountain was filled with pale fleshy sacks that trembled and pulsed, and one of the sacks became very lively, it began to vibrate intensely.
The silhouette of a figure pressed against that fleshy sack, the figure was that of a wolf, there was a sound of biting and tearing and slowly a tear was made on the sack, a rheumy red eyes looked through the opening, and suddenly the eyes were filled with panic, "What is happening? This is not right, Lordโฆ" Its cries were cut off midway, and the mountain fell into silence.
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Rowan felt a faint pulsation beneath his hand, like the final beats of a dying heart, and with an ephemeral sounds waves of purple mist, in the vague form of a wolf, was drawn into his body. The mist circled his body and was rapidly drawn into the hovering ring of bones, and it was absorbed, in a short while, an invisible aura poured into Rowan, and he cried out in pleasure.