God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 821: Soul Arts (2).

"The Soul is a strange thing. It and you are one and the same, but are also different and distinct entities in a sense. Upon making use of a Soul Art, meditation is the first step."

"The greatest difference between cultivating the soul and cultivating other forms of power and energy, is that for the soul, there is no ambient power to extract."

"There are no Soul shards or Soul cores. No, none of that at all."

"Instead, Soul Essence is produced by meditation."

Cain frowned, "That simple?"

A chuckle came from the communicator,

"Of course you will say that. But meditating isn't as easy as it sounds. Most of the time, a being can meditate for decades, centuries, even millennia, without seeing a single result. Not only that, but meditation is very dangerous."

Cain imagined the smug face of the Demon as he explained,

"To put it in more simple terms, Meditation is focus, but not the normal kind. Rather, it is an extremely induced focus, one that can trap your soul in a never ending cycle until your body decays."

Cain frowned, "You are telling me everything but what I need to do. Enough beating around the bush, damn it!"

Azazel cleared his throat, "How rude... If you insist, then I shall speed things up."

There was another shrill cry and a moment of silence from the communicator. Then Cain heard Azazel's voice again.

'Seriously... What is that guy up to?' Cain thought to himself.

"To meditate, you must relax your body and spirit. They must enter a state of complete inactivity. Then, you must focus on sensing your Sea of Consciousness. That is the second step. Once you do that, you can begin the process of refining your soul. The more refined the soul, the stronger and more potent it becomes. Creatures like Devils with souls that are eons old have extremely refined souls."

Cain grimaced, "Well, I don't have eons to waste. I am in need of something, anything you can give me right now."

"You seem desperate. What exactly do you need Soul Cultivation for?"

Cain let out a sigh and explained his current dilemma.

"I see..." Azazel said, humming slightly.

A moment later, he answered,

"Forget about that man. He's already gone. There is no saving him. Instead, you can seize the opportunity to make some incredible progress."

Cain's eyes widened, "What do you mean by that?"

Cain could almost hear the evil snicker,

"You have to make the most of an unfortunate situation. You might not feel good about it, but sometimes, sacrifices have to be made."

Cain's frown turned ugly, "You sound very... demon-like right now."

Azazel cackled, "Why, thank you for the compliments. But enough sucking up. Pay attention."

Cain instinctively adjusted his posture and listened carefully.

"Devils, weak and strong, young and old, winged or bottom feeder... They all have one common factor. Each and every one of the have souls as old as time itself. Devils, in essence, never truly die. Their souls are forever recycled, their realities a neverending hellscape that drives them into a descent of madness. No wonder every single one of them are bloodthirsty abominations. Who can stay sane, living like that forever."

Sensing he had gone off track, Azazel cleared his throat and continued,

"Because of this, they are all but immune to Soul attacks. But therein lies a weakness. A weakness that can be exploited."

"A soul that has existed for eons. What kind of weakness can it possibly possess?"

"Nothing."

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Cain's expression turned dark, "Are you just wasting my time here?"

Azazel's chuckle ticked him off even further.

"I am being serious. That weakness, is nothing. Their immunity is their greatest weakness."

Cain frowned. He picked something, but failed to really grasp what the Demon truly meant.

"Devils within a certain area are connected to a shared consciousness transmitted by the Broodmothers. This consciousness is strong. Almost unbreakable the more powerful the Broodmothers get. Beyond that, these {Parasyte Soulfiends} are also connected by a similar network. However, because their souls are incredibly immune, they are also very insensitive."

"Not insensitive in their ability to respond to stimulus and disturbances, no. Rather, it is their ability to respond to emotions. Particularly because they have none."

Cain shook his head, "That can't be so. Devil's most definitely do have emotions. I am very sure of this."

Azazel's tuts reached his ears through the communicator,

"You are right, and wrong. What those creatures feel is beyond what we will ever be able to know. As much as I hate to admit it, their existence is above ours. But don't you ever get it twisted. What they feel, is not emotions. It is something else. A part of their very nature."

"Like the Celestials, they are immortal in their own way. It makes them unfeeling, evil, and profane. No being is meant to live forever. Those that do eventually become twisted, mad things."

Cain shivered. He had to admit that Azazel's words frightened him.

Another shrill cry came from the communicator, sending a jolt but his spine.

Fortunately, hearing Azazel spew forth a string of colorful profanities right afterwards filled him with ease for some reason.

"Alright then. But what does their inability to feel emotions the same way humans and beasts do have anything to do with "Taking advantage of the situation "?"

Azazel was silent. This time, a bit longer than usual.

When he spoke again, Cain almost doubted his words,

"Cain, I need you to connect to the {Parasyte Soulfiend}."

"I beg your finest pardon?"

"Don't act like you did not hear my words. Let the Parasyte infect you as well."

"I'm hanging up."

"Wait! Wait! Stop!" Azazel yelled through the communicator, forcing Cain to pause just as he was about to end the transmission.

"What is it?" Cain said, his tone filled with annoyance.

Azazel sighed, "At least hear me out before making a decision, won't you?"

Cain was hesitant.

Such advice sounded like a bad plan regardless of how it was well it could be explained.

But still, Cain felt the need to hear this troublesome Demon out.

"Fine. I'm listening."

"Then I will cut to the chase." Azazel said seriously.

"First, know that this thing cannot harm you. Not only will your Demon Matter consume and Devil Essence that enters your body, I'm sure you soul is strong enough to withstand the pull. What you need here, is precisely that challenge. The struggle of engaging in a potential soul battle should hopefully jumpstart your attempts at reaching your Sea of Consciousness. Yes, this should work."

"And how will this help me get rid of the Parasytes from the others that have been infected?"

"That is up to you to figure out. I will be honest with you. I have encountered numerous Devils capable of Soul Arts in the past in numerous occasions. But this is my first time hearing about a {Parasyte Soulfiend}. But from what you have described, they should be rather low tier spawn. You should be able to handle this without too much hassle with the advice I have given."

Cain let out a tired sigh.

'This doesn't feel like advice at all. It sounds like a death trap.'

But he didn't have many more options available. The system wasn't helping so he had to rule it out.

'Is this really my only choice?'

He went over what Azazel had said in his head again.

The more he did, the less sense it made.

"Do not worry. After following my advice, the rest should, hopefully, come smoothly to you."

Cain let out another tired sigh,

"I believe that is all then."

He hesitated for a moment before adding,

"Also, thank you."

"Eh? Is that gratitude I hear? Could it be the Devil parasite has already taken over your body and—"

"I hope whatever abominable comes after you next takes your leg."

"Hey! Don't jinx me, damn it!"

Cain cut off his mana supply from the communicator, then let out a sigh.

Then he noticed something odd.

The entire room was dead silent.

Looking up, he found several weird gazes directed at him.

"This... Cain, who really was that?" Steve asked, this time, a look of genuine concern on his face.

Cain sighed, then began explaining.

A moment later, the looks of confusion on their faces had all disappeared.

And was instead replaced with horror.

Calio put his head outside the window. Moments later, miserable retching sounds could be heard.

Steve shook his head vigorously,

"Absolutely not. Forget what the damned Demon said, a parasite invading your body and you inviting one in are two different things entirely."

Cain raised a brow, a bit amused,

"Really? I think they are the same."

Hunter's frown turned even more serious than it was already as he calmly addressed Cain,

"This is no time for jokes, Cain. Not only could you be playing with your life, if something happens to you, all of us. Everyone, including all of Valestorm, might not be able to win what is coming. You have to consider that and—"

Cain slowly shook his head,

"I am confident."

Indeed, he was not.

However, Azazel had reassured him.

Plus, he also did believe he couldn't be corrupted by Devil Essence anymore thanks to the Demon Matter flowing within him.

Because of this, he was confident that even if he did fall prey to the Devil, he would not turn into an abomination.

Instead, his mind could be tampered with.

'That doesn't sound very good either.'

He let out a sigh. Then he turned to Steve with a grin.

"The {Parasyte Soulfiend} should be insensitive to minor changes. Like the amount of hosts iy affects all at once. What I plan to do, is to connect with it, even as it is connected to this guy. That way, I don't trigger anything. In fact, I just became nothing more than another string fastened into the web of Devilish madness."

Steve paused, unsure of what to say.

Blaze sighed. Then he spoke, his voice thundering off the walls,

"If you have to do it, then just do it. No need for the crappy explanations. Honestly, listening to you is giving me a migraine."

Cain threw a slight grin at him.

"Is that so. I feel the same way too."