"Asura Soul Reaping...."
That sound was accompanied by the deep hum of [Ittou Shura] revolving to life. His instincts sharpening to their utmost.
The abyssal black overpowered his red eyes and white sclera, turning his eyes into twin abysses of pitch black colour, which devoured the surrounding light.
One moment, he was standing in the middle of a broad street.
The next, he was already standing on the roof of a medieval house nearby, keeping those obsessed violet eyes in his indifferent gaze.
A sigh was released from between his lips, condensing the air near him into small crystals of frost.
His gaze traveled away from her obsessed and violating gaze towards the sky, which in his gaze had at some point in time turned redder than blood as far as his eyes could see.
Bell closed his eyes, as if trying to hold back some caged beast inside his body.
A faint sound rang out from his body, and a devastating storm of pure soul power mixed with the bloodlust of an Asura burst from his body, soaring straight into the sky.
An invisible soul vortex formed in the sky, with Bell standing indifferently at the very centre.
When he opened his eyes once again, The whole area surrounding him seemed to be hit on a pause button by someone.
Every being in a kilometer radius stopped what they were doing, their minds going blank, their bodies freezing like time had stopped.
The soul bodies of every living being in the affected area involuntarily emerged from the crowns of their heads, rose higher and bowed in Bell's direction.
Ten Thousand Souls Bow Their Heads—To An Asura!
Bell gazed at the souls bowing towards him, his expression not cracking for a second.
His gaze travelled back to that silver haired Goddess, those obsessive violet eyes.
He spoke for the second time since becoming an Asura.
"Abyss Submersion...."
His words were followed by the the materialisation of a literal black abyss beneath his feet, which expanded to cover the whole roof of the house he was standing on.
Sounds of chains clashing, colliding and caging a beast from beyond the world resounded across the area.
Numerous soul chains floated from inside the abyss, invisible to the naked eyes of mortals and Gods alike, only visible to the Gods who had authorities related to souls.
They snaked towards Freya, ignoring space and latching onto her divine soul, residing at the very top of the Tower of Babel.
Her children did not even feel anything amiss as those soul chains wound around her divine soul, dragging it towards the abyss beneath his feet to meet the irregularity caged inside.
As her soul was pulled inside the abyss, she came face to face with a being with six arms and three heads, sitting on a throne made up of the corpses of Dragons, Demons and Gods.
It's face could not be defined, as it was glitching like an old game from the 50s.
Yet, Freya had never felt a terror so deep in her eternal existence.
From that being, she could feel death, true death, not the temporary return to 'Tenkai,' but true absolute death.
Death where the concept of Freya, The Goddess of Beauty would no longer exist, deleted like trash from the fabric of existence.
"Begone."
A voice, as if speaking through a static speaker resounded directly into her soul—as she was forcefully banished from the abyss.
She had come face to face with an Asura.
The very anathema of Divine.
Would she break from this encounter? Only she herself knew.
What would an immortal feel when they encounter their own mortality?
Bell did not know answers to that, but he was not in the state or the mood to think about these things.
He had given her a warning by his actions, now she would think ten times before trying something against him.
What he had gained from the wheel was a Soul Skill [Asura Soul Reaping] from the most famous and one of the first Chinese novels *Battle Through The Heavens*, It was a High Heaven Class Soul Skill when comprehended fully.
Though he had merely gained the lower portion of the skill, which equated to a High Earth Class Soul Skill, It was still literally like breaking the balance here in *Danmachi*.
Unfortunately, It was a soul skill, hence it did not make him magically or physically stronger than he already was.
This was a skill from the Hall Of Souls of the Dou Qi Continent, It was created by an ancient Dou Saint from the Hun Clan, a skill so powerful that it was said to be equivalent to a whole legacy of a Dou God.
This skill tore a small part of your own soul apart and forged it into the likeness of an Asura, which would protect your soul from foreign prying and soul attacks.
The lower portion was divided into three parts: [Soul Reap], [Abyss Submersion] and [Asura].
Right now, he could barely use [Abyss Submersion], with [Soul Reap] and [Asura] still too far away.
[Abyss Submersion] was basically sending you to have some tea with the Asura, whether you came out in one piece or not was anyone's guess.
This skill was too dangerous to practice as anything from the Hall of Souls generally is.
Many had tried to cultivate it but died in the end, devoured by the Asura, and now Bell was about to find out why.
Bell felt a profound weakness after [Ittou Shura] stopped revolving and he stopped using [Asura Soul Reaping].
He stumbled down from the rooftop of the house, nearly breaking his legs in the process, but he could not even focus on the physical pain.
Bell stumbled out of the street, walking away from his home, his eyes flickering between ruby red and abyssal black.
He was plunged into different illusions by the overwhelming killing intent of the Asura.
In one instance, he saw himself, with abyssal eyes and an indifferent gaze as he tore Goddess Astraea's heart out of her chest without a change in expression.
In another, he saw himself hunting adventurers and monsters alike, slaughtering them like a farmer cutting grass, with no change in his expression as he colored the whole Orario with rivers of blood.
In another, he hunted Gods and the One Eyed Black Dragon alike, his eyes devouring the very sky as he dyed the very earth red and gold with the blood of Gods and monsters alike.
In another...
In another...
In another...
Visions of him killing, destroying, taking, crushing flashed across his eyes.
The cries of humans.
The anguish of monsters.
The roars of Gods.
The sobbing of an already dead world.
He stumbled to an abandoned area of Orario, near the Hestia church, and pushed his back against an old tree while laying on the ground.
His eyes continued to flicker between the red and abyssal black, beneath the white hair now covering his face.
Tears started to drip from his eyes, across his cheeks, down onto the soil as the screams of slaughter and suffering resounded across his ears.
How could he not cry? When he had never taken a human life.
How could he not cry? When the cries of innocents screamed in his ears.
How could he not cry? When the visions showed him taking the life of someone close to him with his own hands.
Bell could not handle the bloodlust of an Asura, a being who was the very antithesis of the Gods.
The bloodlust of an Asura was trying to break him down, to devour him from within.
It was closer to [Satsui no Hado] from *Street Fighter* in this aspect, trying to influence and devour the user.
The struggle was escalating, with Bell breaking down from within from the visions shoved inside his mind, while the frequent flickering of red started to die down in his eyes, replaced by the indifferent abyssal black.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Bell felt helpless, with no way to fight back.
[Ittou Shura] could not help him here.
[Instinct (A)] could not help him here.
Even his ever depended Wheel could not help him here.
The light in his eyes started to dull, black overtaking everything, cold gripped his mind like a call to rest eternally.
His will to fight was on the verge of being extinguished.
"Child, have you eaten?"
"Child, did you injure yourself?"
"Child, did you sleep well?"
The voice of Goddess Astraea resounded across his ears amidst the overpowering bloodlust trying to erase his sense of self.
Her voice was like small embers burning against the bitter cold trying to freeze him over.
His memories traveled backwards, reaching to a small cottage where a old man with white beard and a gruff voice laughed while speaking.
"Gurarararara.....Bell, life won't be complete without having an adventure in Orario, diving in the dungeon...oh and picking up girls in the dungeon."
"Especially picking up girls in the dungeon.....Gurarararra."
He laughed with a perverted sound, like his mind was lost in memories long gone.
His memories did not stop there, they traveled even further back, reaching a women with white hair just like his, with heterochromatic eyes, one eye green, the other deep grey.
The women held him in her arms, speaking so softly that only he could hear.
"You have to be strong, the strongest, for yourself.....and the world."
His recollection did not stop, traveling even further back, reaching a women with the same white hair as his, with both green eyes.
"Live in happiness, son."
She held him in her arms with the tenderness of a mother as life left her green eyes.
All those voices overlapped, pushing back against the bloodlust trying to devour him whole.
His tears did not stop, they dropped even faster on the soil, his emotions running out of control.
The wheel had finally had enough.
Some technique from a cultivation world dared to be so arrogant in front of it?
*Click*
Space and time were blurred, he was pushed beyond space, beyond time, beyond the whole timeline.
The wheel adapted against the bloodlust trying to erase his sense of self, by showing him a glimpse of what he could be.
By igniting the small embers of resolve in his heart into a blaze strong enough to burn down the sky.
It merged his current soul with the soul of his future self from another timeline for a moment.
One moment, Bell was lying on the ground, his back against a tree.
The next, he was looking at the back of a person, who seemed way too familiar to him.
With the same white hair as his, the same vibe he generally gave off, just much more grounded and mature.
Bright red eyes shining brighter than the stars looked back at him as 'He' tilted a single eye towards him.
"Heh.....I used to be such a crybaby during my teens, crying due to a little bloodlust of a tiny Asura." 'He' spoke casually like talking to a old friend, his head snapping back towards the front.
In front of Him stood an army of monsters stretching all the way beyond the horizon.
A Behemoth stood at the very front of the army of monsters.
A Leviathan tore across the earth, oceanic water following it as it created an ocean amidst the earth just by existing.
A One Eyed Black Dragon flew across the sky, looking down at Him like a sovereign of the sky.
'He' stood in front of a huge number of people releasing titanic auras, their faces blurred, following him like a leader.
Then suddenly, 'He' laughed, a light, carefree and unbothered laugh.
It did not look like 'He' was about to face an apocalypse, more like this was an everyday Tuesday for him.
'He' started walking forward, his steps firm, his laugh carefree.
Even as the sky fell on top of him.
Even as the earth tried to swallow him whole.
Even as the ocean tried to snuff out his flame.
'He' swung his sword, and the sky was cleaved apart like paper.
'He' took a more firmer step, and the earth was crushed like plastic.
'He' lit his own flames of resolve, drying the very oceans themselves.
In between that absolute mayhem, those red eyes, shining like the stars themselves, looked beyond space, beyond time and beyond the timeline.
Right at the place where Bell stood.
'You can do it too.'
'He' mouthed those words.
Bell was forcefully pulled back after that.
He was still lying on the ground, his back against a tree, the bloodlust trying to overwhelm his reason.
Yet, he no longer shed tears.
Instead, he looked at his hands, those same hands that tore the sky apart in another timeline and was reminded of 'His' words.
'You can do it too.'
The abyssal black of his eyes lessened as the embers in his red eyes started burning like something had poured gasoline over them, the embers deep in his eyes shook as they trembled, they expanded and they fucking roared!
His eyes shone, reminiscent of those two red stars.
Not as bright as them, Not as intense as them.
Not yet.
But they could.
No, they would.
Not the same as them.
Even brighter.
Beyond even them.