Is this really a Game?!

Chapter 952: The Weight of Souls: Reign's Secret Burden

Jin didn't know about Reign's soul manipulation, neither did Kate or Reign's uncle John. He didn't want them to know about it right now, nor did he want them to know just what he could do with his soul manipulation, or what he had already done with it.

After all, killing someone was different than capturing, torturing, and then using their soul as a weapon that would be destroyed.

It was quite … inhumane, a bit terrifying to be honest.

Even in death, an enemy of Reign's would not be allowed to rest.

That was why what he was about to do was not going to be known to Jin.

For a short while, while the prisoners were being treated and were given food and water, there was nothing else to do but wait.

It was during that time that Reign sat down near the wall and closed his eyes, he looked like he was just resting, but the truth was that he had entered his consciousness, right where Aethion had put the souls of the dead Wardens.

Reign glanced around, looking at all the souls before walking forward at where Aethion had placed the souls of the two leaders.

The souls looked humanoid, but they barely looked different from one another.

The more powerful a person became, the more their soul started looking like them, the souls of Gods, for example, looked exactly the same as them, down to the smallest detail.

The souls of normal people and those below Tier I didn't have a form, they would only start getting a form after reaching Tier I, and by reaching Tier III, their souls would look humanlike.

Since the two men whose souls were being held here were both Tier VI combatants, their souls not only looked humanlike but there were some small details that were similar. The hair on top of the head was a bit similar to how the person looked before death, and that was all.

Reign arrived in front of the two souls before glancing at them and then extending his hand, wishing to touch them in order to gain a better understanding, as well as control over them.

"Just like that, go slowly, I will help you, don't worry," Aethion said as he placed his palm on Reign's back, making Reign take a deep breath before touching a soul.

The first soul he touched belonged to the tall man, the brawns of the Wardens, and the one that would usually lead the men in battle.

His soul was filled with arrogance and malice, but underneath it all, there was fear. Fear of death, fear of being beneath others, of not being the strongest.

"Why did you do it?" Reign asked, his voice echoing in the ethereal space of his consciousness.

The tall man's soul quivered, but he remained defiant. "We did it for power, for control."

"We did it because we could."

"After all, the one with the hardest fist is the one that rules in this new world, isn't that right?"

Reign's eyes hardened. "You tortured innocent people, you killed without remorse."

"The worst thing is that you have done it just because you wanted to, because you were able to do so."

"Do you feel no guilt for your actions, do you truly not feel even the slightest bit of it?"

The tall man's soul stood steadfast, not wavering a single bit and staring at Reign. "We did what we had to do, what we were able to do."

"The weak deserve to be ruled by the strong, that is the law of the jungle, the law of the new world, and those that couldn't adapt to it deserve to be beneath those like us."

Reign shook his head, his heart heavy with sorrow and anger. "No one deserves to suffer like that, your actions were unjustifiable, and for that, I will make sure you suffer more than any of them have suffered."

"I will not even use this filthy soul of yours before I am sure you have suffered enough."

"I promise you that." Reign said in a low tone as the man's soul stared at him while he took his hand out of the soul, after which the soul started shaking a bit as the tall man started feeling fear and was even shouting at Reign.

"You bastard!"

"You think you're better than us?!"

"You think you are, and yet you are doing something like this!"

"You are a bastard, a monster that is just as bad as we are, how dare you judge us?!"

Reign simply glanced at the soul before looking at the thin man's soul.

"Aethion, do shut him up."

"Of course," Aethion said with a smile as he extended his hand, creating a tape that appeared on the soul's mouth, making it mute, even trashing about didn't produce any sound.

"Now, for you." Reign said as he stared into the soul of the thin man who said nothing.

He put his hand in the soul before asking the same question.

"Why did you do it?"

"I didn't, I don't see a point in torturing those weaker than me." The thin man said calmly as Reign actually raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Why did you then allow the others to do it?"

"Why should I care what they do to some weaklings, they can all go and die for all I care, the only 'toys' I like to play with are those that are capable of challenging me, of making me extend some effort."

"That man, the one leading those damned Dawnbreakers was one of them."

"I couldn't wait to get my hands on him, to play with his flesh, to see just how he screamed from what kind of pain, to see him beg for mercy, to see how-"

The soul couldn't continue speaking any longer as Reign's eyes turned purple and the entire area suddenly fell silent, an immense pressure appearing on top of the thin man's soul as Aethion had placed the same kind of tape over his mouth.

Reign stared into the soul with fury, but in the end, he scoffed and turned around.

"You'll get what you deserve as well."

Reign glanced at the other souls and then glanced at Aethion.

"I'll leave the rest of them to you, the worse they were, the worse the punishment."

"Yeah, yeah, get going, I want to start, I have some new ideas that I want to try on them," Aethion said with a smile as Reign nodded and left his consciousness.

As Reign returned to the physical world, he found Greenie and Tank overseeing the care of the prisoners. They had managed to gather some clothes for the prisoners, and the healers were tending to their injuries.

Reign walked over to them, his expression still dark with the weight of what he had just done, but this wasn't the first time he had done so, nor would it be the last one. Greenie and Tank noticed his somber demeanor and exchanged a concerned glance.

"Is everything alright, Reign?" Greenie asked, his voice filled with worry.

Reign nodded, though his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil. "I just had to deal with something, it's taken care of now."

He didn't elaborate further, not wanting to burden them with the details of his actions. Instead, he focused on the task at hand: ensuring the prisoners were cared for and preparing to transport them to safety.

"Where did you find the clothes?" Reign asked Tank who smiled at him.

"It came from those bastards from the Wardens, they had quite a lot of clothes, I guess they had looted some shops from the city and put all the clothes in their base, there's more than enough for all of these guys."

"I see, that's … great." Reign said as he nodded his head before turning around.

"Let's get them ready to move," Reign said, his tone firm. "We'll take them back to Doncaster, where they'll be safe."

With Greenie and Tank's help, the prisoners were organized and prepared for the journey. They were given food, water, and clean clothes, their injuries tended to as best as possible. Once they were ready, the war party set out, leading the prisoners toward the Dawnbreakers base.

The journey was long and arduous for the prisoners, after all, they were traveling through the forest that had plenty of powerful monsters, but with so many Tier VI combatants amongst them, the chances of anything bad happening were quite low in this part of the forest.

The prisoners were grateful for the chance at freedom. They talked amongst themselves, sharing stories of their captivity and their hopes for the future. Some were eager to start anew, while others were still reeling from the trauma they had endured.

It took them about 4 hours to get to the base, mostly because they had to stop a couple of times to fight off some monsters that attacked them, and sometimes because some of the prisoners were still in bad shape, after all, healing magic couldn't really fix malnutrition and their weak bodies.