Unsealing Emptiness

With the conical hat on his head, one couldn’t make out his expressions.

Raven stood beside him, but her eyes remained glued towards the training ground, from where they could hear squeals and screams of pain.

Occasionally the cries of the priest sounded so aberrant that one wouldn’t even think of them as humane. Those howls of pain sounded more like the growls of a wild beast on the verge of death.

But no matter how inhumane and pitiful the priest sounded, neither Raven nor Ozul had any intentions to intervene.

While Raven had her own worries about Blaze at this moment, Ozul was also thinking about the latter’s future.

He had no doubt that Blaze would continue following him even after completing his revenge, but Ozul wondered if he would maintain his current conviction in cultivating.

.....

He shot a glance at Raven and shook his head, ‘...Maybe I am thinking too much.’

The rivalry between Raven and Blaze had persisted for so long that it would be difficult for Blaze to stop pursuing power now.

Just as he was thinking this, the cries of the priest started to dim until not even his whimpers could be heard outside.

There was hardly any other noise in the vicinity so the footsteps that followed right after were quite distinct.

Ozul shifted his eyes from the ground towards the sound of the footsteps. His gaze swept over Blaze who now had blood smeared all over him as he slowly walked out of the training ground and towards him.

At this moment, Ozul noticed something different on Blaze. Other than his forehead which showed the crown of azure crystals, he had a different air surrounding him that wasn’t present before.

Not to mention him, even Raven could feel something off about Blaze.

Under Ozul’s scrutinizing yet relaxed gaze, Blaze made his way towards him before stopping just a few feet away and dropping on one of his knees.

His gaze glued to the ground as Blaze spoke with an oddly soft voice, “...Thank you... master.”

It had been a long time since he had called him master. Not that he didn’t think of him as such, but because Ozul generally didn’t like being called that.

However, at this moment, Blaze couldn’t help but call him master. It was to show his utmost gratitude towards him.

These days, he had begun to think that maybe Ozul had already forgotten about the promise he had made with him, and maybe he shouldn’t have had such expectations to begin with. But contrary to his growing disappointment, Ozul hadn’t forgotten anything!

Not only that, but he had gotten his revenge on a silver platter. Ozul specially instructed Haley to find that man who could have been anywhere on this vast continent.

It proved to him that his decision back then to follow that black-haired teen with a past more sorrowful than his and eyes more deep and melancholic than any he had ever seen before, was indeed the best decision in his life.

And although the priest kept pushing all the blame onto his superior until his death, Blaze understood that most of that was just an attempt to save his own life.

After killing him, he had no intentions of pursuing the whole Church of Light as well.

Finally having his revenge on the priest almost felt surreal as though it was all just a mirage. After torturing the man to death, he felt satisfied.

However, that satisfaction did not spring from giving that man a miserable death. Instead, he felt more content due to the fact that Ozul hadn’t forgotten about his promise even after all these years.

He would have never thought that being able to kill the cause of his miserable childhood would have given him no actual satisfaction. It was all just a temporary feeling that he had to let out on the priest.

Once that man was dead, he felt nothing.

But when he thought about Ozul and Raven, it gave him a sense of belonging. That he belonged somewhere.

He wasn’t lost in this world!

Even after fulfilling his revenge, there remained a goal in his life-to become the demon who would set everything ablaze on Ozul’s path!

Just as Raven smiled knowingly beside Ozul, the latter’s face also held a small smile that went unnoticed due to the shade of the conical hat on his head.

He smiled since he also began to understand the change that had occurred within Blaze.

It was the burning resolve and determination!

Many if not almost everyone would be lost or feel empty after taking their revenge, but Ozul’s presence in that critical point in Blaze’s life had given him another purpose.

And since there was only a single purpose left in his life now, Blaze was more determined than ever before.

On one hand, while Raven was happy for Blaze since he was almost like a brother to her now, she also felt a little threatened by the future improvements of his because of their years-old rivalry. He was already ahead of him in terms of raw power and she didn’t want that distance to increase.

But after a second, she calmed down. It wasn’t as if both of them weren’t giving their best to grow stronger already. At most, Blaze might just pay more attention to things other than cultivation.

Contrary to her, Ozul thought highly of this newfound fire that burned within Blaze now.

He understood better than anyone that Blaze’s talent was more than it appeared to be. He had a very strong sense of feeling that he hadn’t even shown his full potential yet.

His instincts, along with the fact that he had found no signs of any other human being with remotely comparable physical features to Blaze’s crystal crown, led him to believe that he wouldn’t find an answer to his peculiar condition in this world either.

And since that was the case, he suspected that Blaze would be able to unleash his full potential outside of this world. At that point, Ozul had no doubt that it wouldn’t take him long to become a terrifying existence.

It was also why he valued Blaze. He needed strong people and Blaze had the greatest potential of anyone that he had ever met as of yet.

Hence he couldn’t help but feel delighted at the current state of Blaze.

Taking his head off of his arm, Ozul stood up from the chair he had made for himself before retracting that Ball of Purity back into his body.

He turned around and began to walk towards the tower, “Hurry up. Both of you don’t have much time to finish things on your part.”

Raven also closely followed behind.

On the other hand, it took Blaze a few seconds before he stood up and took a deep breath. A smile bloomed on his face as he again wrapped the piece of cloth on his forehead to cover the crystals.

Although he didn’t care if anyone saw them anymore, it was already an annoyance when everyone would turn to look at his face. Showing those crystals in public would leave everyone gaping at his face.

Moreover, he had already gotten used to having that cloth on his forehead. So it wasn’t a problem for him.

He didn’t bother cleaning up the half-frozen corpse of the priest in the training ground since Haley would probably have others clean up the mess anyway.

. . .

Inside the tower, Ozul looked for Haley who wasn’t really hard to find on the top floors.

When Haley noticed the bloodstains on Blaze’s clothes, she could guess what had happened with the priest in the training ground.

She turned around and whispered something to a subordinate who immediately stopped whatever she was doing and walked away upon receiving her instructions.

Turning back to Ozul, although Haley had questions. She, in the end, chose not to ask.

If it was something important, Ozul wouldn’t have held anything back.

“Have you prepared everything for them?” Ozul asked in an unhurried manner.

“Yes, young master. I have prepared everything. They have also been informed of nearly everything and all the arrangements have also been done...”

Haley respectfully explained as Ozul wasn’t aware of the details since he had spent his previous two days out in the wild without any communication with them.

“Hm. Since that is the case. Both of you can leave now... Keep Haley updated every single day.” Ozul turned towards the duo as he said this.

Haley had already made sure that all the branches of the Three-Eyed Strangers also had those long-distance communication artifacts installed in them.

The duo nodded their heads as Raven spoke, “We will be on our way then.”

Under Ozul’s influence, she wasn’t one to waste her words either.

Without another word, Raven and Blaze left the tower in order to complete their mission.

Ozul rarely gave them any task to do, so they were very eager to prove themselves with this chance.

After getting out of the tower, both of them flew in the opposite directions so as to cover both sides of the continent.

“...How are the arrangements going to relocate the headquarters?” Ozul asked Haley as he felt the duo leaving his range of sensibility.

Meanwhile, his eyes stared at Jinx who blankly stared at him from a distance.

‘I guess it is time to find her...’