Death... and me

"Ahem..." Rean quickly pointed at Roan. "You should be thankful that it was me who gathered them. My brother here would have been much better."

That was true. Roan's Soul Guiding Power was definitely superior to Rean in all aspects.

Roan didn't seem to care, though. "What now? Do we simply let the Soul Devil take form?"

"No." Fleus shook his head. "The devils are taking this chance to absorb even more dead souls into their bracelets. That Soul Devil won't absorb anywhere near enough souls to finish taking form, let alone grow strong enough to pose a risk to the devils."

Fleus was correct. Soon, the Soul Devil ran out of souls in its surroundings to grow. Worse than that, the devils around began to use their Soul Guiding Power to tear the Soul Devil apart.

*UUUHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOO...*

Eventually, with one last scream, the Soul Devil burst and released all the souls contained inside it. In Rean and Roan's eyes, it was very similar to when they killed the devils in the Realm of Gods and released the living souls they had extracted. The difference was that these souls were dead and couldn't be used for the devils' cultivation.

"Let's leave this place while the devils are focused on the spread souls. It'll be worse if we wait until they're done since it was Gean who caused the souls to escape them in the first place."

Leaving those souls behind, the twins' group continued to fly. This time, they didn't catch anyone's attention along the way for a change.

After flying for a while, Rean and Roan noticed a bunch of devils gathered on the ground. Beyond that point, it was almost completely empty, as if there was a barrier impeding the devils from continuing. The only thing that moved further were the souls themselves.

"We've arrived," said Fleus as he descended from the skies, not going past that point either. "Any dead souls that appear this close to the Path of Reincarnation's entrance don't need guidance. They're attracted by the path itself, so devils are also prohibited from trying to capture them here. It's also here where we'll release the souls inside our bracelets."

Fleus then raised his arm forward, using his Divine Energy in the bracelet. "This is all you need to do. Make the flow of Divine Energy run in the opposite direction of what you did when you captured the souls, and the bracelet will release all of them." He was just showing it, though. He didn't have any souls in his bracelet.

Rean didn't have any souls either because he didn't try to capture them. All he did was gather the souls while he was training and leave them to the other devils in the end.

Roan, as the only devil with captured souls, repeated Fleus's actions.

*Huuhuuuuhu...*

*Uooooohhhhh...*

*Auuooohhhhh...*

All the souls in Roan's bracelet were released one after another, immediately flying in the direction of the Path of Reincarnation.

"When you're this close, there's also no risk of Soul Devils taking form. The attraction force of the Path of Reincarnation is a lot stronger than the force necessary to give birth to Soul Devils," Fleus explained. "Don't worry. The number of souls you released into the Reincarnation Path is registered in the bracelet itself. Once you come out, it'll tell you exactly how many souls you helped get into the Path of Reincarnation."

After a while, all the souls from Roan's bracelet left, leaving it empty. "Just one question. Since I can get so many souls inside my bracelet, isn't there a risk of a Soul Devil taking form inside it?"

"There isn't." The one to answer that was Fagund. "The bracelets can't hold enough souls for that to happen. Not to mention that they're separated into the gems in your bracelet, so it's not like they're all together in the same place."

Roan looked at his bracelet and the seven black gems on it. "So that's how it works. Very clever."

Roan quickly turned around, preparing to leave. "I understand how to do it now. I'm going to capture more souls."

Rean quickly did the same. "Well, I also want one of the three slots for that competition, so I'm going as well."

"There's no need." Yet, they were stopped by a voice that came from the Watching Soul Eyes. Obviously, Tapir was watching everything unfold up until that point. Not only that, but Tapir was so focused on the twins that he completely forgot the Watching Soul Eyes that were following Titia, Doohan, and Salahi.

"Elder Tapir!" It was the first time Fleus heard Tapir through the eyes. He thought they could only be used to see and nothing else.

Tapir ignored Fleus and continued, "Continuing with this test would be meaningless. You two can come out already. Fleus, Fagund, and the other four guys can do the same thing. I'll be waiting for you in Fekis City."

Roan pondered over it for a bit and thought it was a good chance. "Titia, Doohan, and Salahi are still here. How will you decide which one of them will get a slot?"

"I'll simply let them continue their test during the next five days," Tapir answered. "The one with the highest number will get the last slot."

Roan nodded after hearing that. "In that case, I would like to take a look around the Path of Reincarnation's periphery on my own. I'll see you outside before the five days are over." Roan didn't even wait for Tapir to answer before taking flight and disappearing into the distance.

Fleus didn't even try to follow Roan. The difference in strength between them was just too big, and so was their speed. "Sorry, Elder Tapir. He can even bend space, so it's impossible for me to catch him."

"It's fine." Tapir didn't mind as he had already got the results he wished for. "In that case, let Fagund train his Soul Guiding Power and come back before the five days are over."

Fagund immediately grew excited. "Great! I wanted to try that too!"

"What about you, Gean?" Fagund asked Rean, who didn't follow Roan.

"Me? I don't have interest in this place, so I'll just stick with you two."

"Fine by me." Fleus didn't mind. "Perhaps you can teach us a few things."

Rean smiled after hearing that. "Weren't you supposed to be my teacher a moment ago?"

"Fuck that!" Poor Fleus...