Chapter 413 Soul Imprint
Chapter 413 Soul Imprint
"Why the hell are you idiots sulking now?" Ashton asked his summons.
The subconscious of the summons was connected with Ashton's. Technically, their subconscious was linked with [Valhalla], the domain Ashton used to store his undead summons, and since Ashton was the owner of the domain, their subconscious was indirectly linked to his own.
That's why his summons could also feel whatever he felt or did. Even emotions like love and care could be felt by them. Through this connection, the summons knew how important Anna was to him when he started having feelings for her.
Around this time, they realised that Aegis had gotten closer to their master's heart even though he hadn't served him for a single day; they began moping. Well, most of them did, except Atlas and Raven.
While Atlas didn't give a fuck about Ashton's personal life, Raven wasn't bothered by Ashton's affection towards Aegis because he knew he was nothing more than a servant to Ashton.
In contrast to Aegis, they who had been serving Ashton day in and day out were treated like soldiers. Apart from Sven, none of the five summons shared a deep connection with Ashton, even though they had quite literally given their 'lives' to him. Well, it was more like he took their lives, but details like that were no longer relevant.
'Are you fuckers seriously getting jealous of a pet?' Ashton reprimanded them through their shared psychic connection, 'Grow up, you idiots! Learn something from Atlas. On second thought, don't learn anything from him. That bastard still wants me dead.'
Atlas smirked while sitting comfortably inside the domain.
Valhalla was created as a single unit of space. But as Ashton tamed more summons, the space was divided into several territories, with each summon having their own place to live.
The stronger they were, the bigger their territory was. It went without saying that Atlas had the most extensive territory amongst everyone else, and no one dared to challenge him.
In other words, if Ashton was the god of the domain, then Atlas was the king. However, unlike Atlas, who quite literally didn't care about Ashton, the rest of the summons fought over their master's affection rather than territory.
"We have waited long enough!" Celeste yelled at the top of her lungs, "It's time to decide who is the most loyal to the master."
"Yeah!"
"What the heck are you idiots talking about?" Ashton yelled back at them.
Apart from Atlas and Gokung, none of them was even inside [Valhalla] at the moment, and they wanted to fight? Was it even possible? The only logical explanation was they would return to the domain and fight endlessly amongst themselves.
Ashton did not want this to happen. After all, he had assigned all of them crucial duties. None of which could be abandoned for a trivial farce.
"Oi, I have trusted you fuckers with important tasks. Don't you dare abandon them and return to the domain!" Ashton warned them, "If I find you did something you shouldn't have, I'll kill you myself!"
As soon as she heard this, Celeste's eyes began shining brightly. Ashton knew the masochist within her would act like this, so he hastily altered the statement.
"Everyone but Celeste. Ahem..."
"That's not fair, master!"
"Life isn't fair; deal with it."
[But aren't they dead?]
"You want to join them?"
[...Oi bastards, calm down. Don't disturb your master.]
Astaroth's sudden change made Ashton chuckle. He was expecting the Xyran to retort, but his reaction was surprising.
At this point, Sven, who had been protecting Anna this entire time, spoke up.
"You don't have to worry about that, master." Ashton could almost visualise Sven's smile, "We don't need to abandon our posts in order to fight amongst ourselves."
Sven's words piqued Ashton's interest. Mainly because this was the first time he heard about [Valhalla] from its residents.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"There's a reason why we can resurrect after being destroyed, master." Sven explained the situation in detail, "It's because we, as residents of Valhalla, can never die. Essentially, the moment we step foot in Valhalla, it stores a fragment of ourselves to recreate us whenever we 'die'."
"However, thanks to your evolution, we discovered that we can control our respective fragments even when we aren't in the domain." Celeste continued, "We are even using the fragments at the very moment to chat amongst ourselves. That's how we can fight amongst ourselves without stepping a foot back into Valhalla."
"Interesting..." Ashton mumbled while playing around with Aegis, "I never knew a simple skill like [Valhalla] could have such a hidden effect. I would have never known about it if it hadn't been for all of you."
[Same here.]
Astaroth kept rambling on and on, but Ashton wasn't paying attention anymore. Instead, his mind was focused on running countless scenarios in his mind.
Since there was a fragment of soul imprinted on the domain itself, is it possible for someone to forcefully imprint their soul and live forever without being turned into a summon?
Before he could come up with an answer, another realisation hit him; this time, even Astaroth was interested in what Ashton was thinking.
"Since the precursors created all these abilities-"
[It should be possible they evaded death when we attacked them!]
If that was the case, then the Precursors were essentially immortals. This could also explain why they did not fight back when the Xyrans attacked them.
It was simply because even if the Xyrans 'killed' them, they wouldn't die, and instead, they'll be revived in the place where their souls had been imprinted!
"But if that was the case, why would they let your kind live?" Ashton mumbled, "It wouldn't be tough for them to seek revenge on a species."
[Maybe it was in their nature to avoid conflicts? I mean, for all we know, they had lived in the galaxy for billions of years; it could be possible that they got bored of violence and left that life entirely?]
"Either way, this... The theory is quite interesting. If only we found a way to restore souls, maybe I can revive my father as well!"
[Ashton...]
The excitement of reviving his father blinded Ashton momentarily. Soul Imprinting was a technique even the Xyrans had no idea about; therefore, the chances of Ashton finding more about it was slim to none.
"You're right. I shouldn't let my excitement blind me." Ashton shook his head, "Well, at least I know there might be a way to reunite my parents."