After a while, Blaze returns to normal. He lets out a long, hot breath. Yellow smoke releases from his mouth.
He opens his palm. The soul of William flies out of the Lantern.
Suddenly, two yellow irises, bright as flashlights, appear on Blaze's shadowy face.
The power of the Lantern penetrates the appearance Tattered Cloak created and shows Blaze's true eyes, now with a haunting yellow beam shot out of his pupil.
The lights from his eyes search deep inside the soul of William.
This is a process of examining a soul.
Originally Blaze only thought that he would collect William's soul and then torture him by Soul Flare to let him talk. The only problem is he needs to figure out how to take a soul out of the Lantern.
Now, he has a much better, simpler option.
A few minutes go by, and memories of William show up in Blaze's mind like he's watching a movie.
How William was raised. How he awakened. How he lost hope in the integrity of men and fell down to depravity.
And there it is, what Blaze is looking for.
There was a man, muscular in shape, with a face full of beard and a large moon tattoo on his left chest.
"You know Alyson Aldrin?"
The large man said. His name was Nadyr Brozovic.
"The Lioness? I don't know her personally. What's up?"
William answered the man.
"She's valuable. Get her, and I will make sure you get a serum."
"You don't have to tell me twice!"
William laughed greedily.
Blaze stops the examination, his bright yellow eyes turn back to normal. Darkness filled his face again.
He throws William inside the Lantern and burns his soul.
Now that he has much more control over the Lantern, he can make sure William is always suffering without actually destroying his souls.
For all those lives he has ruined, this is merely a suitable punishment.
He who has sinned will now burn for eternity more to atone for his crime. That is Blaze's judgement.
The future of all those he destroys. All their pain and desperation. If Blaze is capable, he would have let William feel the pain and despair of those he has wronged.
Instead, he's just going to be burned for eternity.
Blaze has seen everything he needs.
The Nocturnal Animals, a group of teenage superheroes, were nothing more than a facade. What they actually do is lure naive, unsuspecting young female Awakeners and kidnap them.
It is hard to find a good lover in this world due to the variety of powers.
A person with power of A or B rank can easily kill their partner of C rank and lower during sex.
When you're excited, your control over your power loosens and can cause unforeseeable catastrophe.
This is one of the reasons why power ranking is so important and the Awakened despise taking a lover who is lower rank than them.
A low rank can't satisfy their needs.
And when there exists the demand, there will be supplies.
High-rank power is hard to capture. But low-rank power that emphasizes durability and strength can also satisfy the demand.
So people like Alyson, who only have C-rank power, are the perfect targets.
Based on William's memories, Blaze only has a maximum of 96 hours to save Alyson… before he can never find her again.
[New mission received: Kill Nadyr Brozovic.
Mission Detail: Nadyr Brozovic, an important link behind the Nocturnal Animals' superbeing-trafficking enterprise. He holds the information of Alyson's whereabouts.
1. Kill Nadyr Brozovic
2. (Optional) Save Alyson before it's too late
3. (Optional) Rescue all the girls he has been holding
Mission reward:
Main reward: Superpower Blindbox (B-rank)
Sub reward: Consumables Blindbox (?-rank)]
The goal is simple. Attack their base of operation, kill Nadyr and save Alyson before it's too late.
But this isn't going to be easy. Nadyr is different from William. He is a B-rank Awakened and also a trained killer. And he's not even the only B-rank. There are at least twelve of them, according to William's memories.
It will not be easy.
Therefore, William needs more power. As much power as possible.
"More… Power."
Blaze opens his inventory and opens the new Equipment Blindbox.
[Opening Equipment Blindbox (Rare)...]
[Congratulations, you have received x1 Sun Bird]
[Sun Bird]
- Type: Equipment
- Description: The sword of an ancient king with a golden falcon head as its pommel.
Blaze reaches out his hand.
A golden longsword appears in his hand. Its crossguard shines like the sun with the beak of the falcon protruding from the pommel.
The sword seems like it was made entirely out of gold.
Fire spreads from Blaze's sword hand, burning away the Tattered Cloak. The cloak is not destroyed but gets sent back to the Inventory immediately.
[Warning!]
[Equipment has conflicting elements!]
[You cannot equip the Sun Bird and the Tattered Cloak at the same time]
[Sun Bird]
- Equipment Rank: Rare
- Hidden Power: Sunrise; Sundown.
- Sunrise: Fuel the power of the sun inside you and summon the Solar Armor to combat the enemy.
- Sundown: If you wear the Solar Armor for more than 99 seconds, its power will erupt into an uncontrollable solar flare, destroying everything in a thirty-meter radius.
The sword is hot on Blaze's skin, but he does not feel uncomfortable or any pain. Its heat is soothing and life-encompassing, similar to the sun.
The blade feels weightless in his hand. And so, he swings it to a table nearby. It easily cuts through the table like butter, the wood edges left behind by the strike burn to black.
Even without using its Hidden Power, Sun Bird is a formidable weapon. The blade is insanely sharp and radiates intense heat.
Its Hidden Power needs more examination, but Blaze doesn't have time right now. He throws the Sun Bird inside the Inventory and opens his Status window.
[STATUS]
[Name: Blaze Singer]
[Power]
Force Blast (C-rank): 0/2000 EXP
[Equipment: Grappling Hook (C), Tattered Cloak (U), Lantern of the Damned (R), Destruction Wand (R), Sun Bird (R)]
[Experience: 2370]
"Upgrade Force Blast!"
This time, instead of evolving the power immediately, a new window pops up before Blaze's eyes.
[B-rank Power Evolution]
[Please choose your Evolution line]
- Force Piercer: Your Force Blast can focus into a straight beam, effective to penetrate strong defensive layers.
Power increases (+)
Concentration greatly increases (++)
Range greatly increases (++)
Spread is unchanged
Receive Piercing Effect (New)
- Force Breaker: Your Force Blast has no new form but now will vibrate when it hits an enemy, causing serious internal damage.
Power greatly increases (++)
Concentration increases (+)
Range increases (+)
Spread increases (+)
Receive Breaking Effect (New)
- Force Shocker: Your Force Blast can spread into a wide cone or a sphere and has the ability to temporarily stun the enemy.
Power is unchanged
Concentration increases (+)
Range increases (+)
Spread immensely increased (+++)
Receive Shocking Effect (New)
"Force Piercer is kind of similar to Destruction Beam. However, it doesn't have the thirty-second charging weakness.
Force Breaker is pure power and destruction capability.
Force Shocker can be used to control enemies and works well if I am against a lot of people."
Blaze likes the Force Breaker. It is the strongest in terms of power and stays relatively the same as before. Blaze won't need to relearn how to use it.
But his path forward expects him to face a lot of enemies. Nadyr has a lot of henchmen, more than ten B-rank and dozens of C-rank or below.
Force Shocker is going to be the most useful for him as of now.