Death... and me

Ophele wasn't interested in that, though. 'Who cares? They're just a few humans. Stop wasting time and let's continue revising the runes here.'

[This woman isn't the least bit better than the Zasfins from before. Rean, you really need to get rid of her if you get the chance.] Sister Orb said. She was furious after seeing how things worked, let alone after hearing Ophele's words. However...

'No, this is just a pretense. Am I right, Roan?' Rean asked.

Roan agreed with Rean as he observed everything through their Soul Connection, responding, 'Yes. This Ophele or whatever is just pretending to not care. However, she can't conceal it from me. She's also trying to hold her emotions while she watched the process.'

Sister Orb was truly surprised to hear that. [You're kidding!]

Rean agreed to Roan's words, continuing where he left off, 'I also found it weird. Why would she go as far as to use her mother to let me stay out of the Bloodline Trial Control Formations? It didn't look like a good idea, even if you consider my knowledge in formations. After all, most of the Zasfins with very pure Bloodlines like her are too prideful to accept a human's help. However, she's doing exactly that with the formations, and so is Palaris.'

[Are you telling me that this annoying girl doesn't hate humans?] Sister Orb found that hard to believe.

'I don't know,' Rean replied as he shook his head. 'What I can only tell is that she's at least many times better than the guys from before.'

As Ophele explained more of the runes to Rean, Palaris took the chance to tell him more about the Soul Stone Formation. Of course, he left Ophele out of the conversation through Spiritual Sense this time.

'The process of extracting one's Soul and transforming it into Soul Stones is terrible. Can you imagine the excruciating pain it would give you if you were awake? However, most Zasfins couldn't care less if the human kids were suffering or not. Because of that, the kids transformed into Soul Stones would be having the worst moment of their lives until the very end of the process.'

He then continued, 'However, not all Zasfins found pleasure in watching it. After a lot of work, we modified this formation so that their Souls would fall into a state of deep sleep before the process started.'

Rean narrowed his eyes as he said, 'I can't believe Zasfins would accept changing the Soul Stone Formation just so the kids would suffer less.' Indeed, it didn't make much sense, considering how important the formation was.

Palaris agreed with Rean, replying, 'You're right. They didn't. Only after we proved that a calm soul would have a higher chance of becoming a higher quality Soul Stone did the higher-ups allow us to change the formation. Otherwise, you would have seen an even worse scene.' After that, he let out a sigh, thinking about the past.

Rean was taken aback after he noticed something was off with Palaris's words. 'Us? Does that mean Senior Palaris helped with the modification?'

Palaris smiled as he replied, 'I did. To be more specific, it was our Hafel Clan who did the modification. Did you notice that quite a few of the Zasfins in the area don't like us?'

Rean nodded in response. He did notice such a thing before. It was as if the Soul Rulers weren't that unified, and he always wondered why. 'Just because your clan didn't let the kids... suffer? It seems like a small reason for others not to like you.'

Palaris shrugged his shoulders as he said, 'Well, there are a few more things that became the reason for this treatment. For example, the fact that the actual Organization Head is part of our faction as well.'

Rean couldn't help but ask, 'Could it be that Senior Palaris would prefer to save humans instead?' Rean found that hard to believe. However, Palaris had always been quite a weird guy who could even cry because of something he said. He was a human, so that was weird, to say the least. Other than the Asume Clan, he hadn't seen a single Zasfin group that cared about humans so far. It was hard to believe that such a group would exist within the Soul Rulers' Organization.

Palaris shook his head in response, saying, 'Save? Hahaha! That's not possible. At most, we can give them some help while we're here. The world revolves around human slaves, you know? There's no way to save them, so we don't try anything overboard.' Palaris then looked at Ophele before saying, 'Just don't hate my granddaughter. Although she has a terrible mouth, she's one of those who does her best to help the humans in the organization. It's just that she doesn't have any power, so no one cares about what she does.'

Palaris's words only confirmed what Rean and Roan already knew. Ophele was only pretending to not care. 'I guess Senior Palaris's presence in the Airship and you taking me under your Hafel Clan's wing wasn't just a coincidence, huh?'

Palaris bitterly smiled as he nodded, responding, 'Yes...however, our power is limited. Although the Organization Head is a member of our faction, he can't act as he wishes. The Soul Rulers is just too big. Besides, most Zasfins still consider humans as nothing more than slaves. That's why taking you in was our limit. We couldn't save your brother.'

Rean almost laughed out loud after hearing that. Save Roan? If they only knew that there was no need for such a worry. 'It's fine, Senior Palaris. As I said, I'm already doing my best to be worthy of your faction's help. My brother and I already understood the risks of this situation, so neither of us blame you for that. If anything, I'm happy to know that there's also a group in the Soul Rulers who like humans. It shows that our father wasn't the only Zasfin to think like that. Isn't that already a good thing?'

Palaris was satisfied that Rean thought like that, saying in response, 'That's good, then. Perhaps we can still save your brother. It takes a long time for a Soul to become unfit to control the Bloodline Trial, usually around three to five years in general. Who knows, if your accomplishments become big enough in the future, we might convince the other Zasfins to at least let your brother out for your sake. As long as it's for the organization's sake, the other factions won't stop it.'

'I'll do my best,' Rean responded with a smile. Of course, he wasn't worried about it at all.

Well, there was one thing he was worried about, but it had nothing to do with the actual situation. Rean then talked with Roan and Sister Orb once again through their Soul Connection. 'Sister Orb, isn't it risky for Roan to stay in that Bloodline Trial Control Formation? It seems like it can affect the human soul, after all.'

Roan had already made that question, though. Nevertheless, he ignored it and let Sister Orb answer. [Don't worry. Your souls are protected by the System. The formation won't cause anything to Roan.]

'Oh, is that so? That's good, then.' With that said, Rean put his attention back to the Soul Stone Formation, trying to forget what happened to the kids.

Eventually, they finished their observation and decided to head back to Sevinia's estate. On the way back, Palaris decided to ask Rean about what he saw. 'So, have you figured anything out of the Soul Stone Formations?'

Rean nodded, responding, 'I have a few ideas here, especially regarding the Mediator Soul Rune. I think I can implement it in the Three Ways One Path Rune I showed you before.'

Palaris and Ophele were satisfied to hear that. It showed that their trip there wasn't for nothing.

At the same time, Rean asked Sister Orb in the Dimensional Realm. 'How was it, Sister Orb? Have you locked down the location of those formations?'

[But of course!] Sister Orb said with confidence, feeling quite good about herself. [I was truly impressed with the array of formations that make up the whole thing. However, individually, they aren't that complicated. It will take some time to analyze their full purposes, but I have an idea in mind. To be honest, it'll be a lot easier to take control over the Soul Stone Formation System than it will be for the Bloodline Trial Control Formations.]

Rean mentally nodded, not finding it hard to believe. 'That's to be expected. After all, the Bloodline Trial Control Formations encompass the whole planet most likely. The Soul Stone Formation might be incredible, but it isn't as big.' Rean's expression then turned serious as he told her, 'Sister Orb, revert the Soul Gem System's full processing power to analyze those formations. I want to stop them from being able to create Soul Stones before anything else.'

Roan, who was listening to everything, narrowed his eyes as he rebutted, 'Out of the question!' He obviously hated the idea. 'If you do that, they will connect what happened to the Soul Stone Formations to your appearance there. Don't forget, if you're too rushed, not only will you not save anyone, you'll condemn a lot of the kids instead.'

Rean sighed but could only agree with Roan. With that, he instead asked, 'Alright. I was being too hasty. Instead, Sister Orb, how long will it take before you take control over both the Bloodline Trial Control and Soul Stone Formations?'

Sure enough, that was the question that mattered most to Rean and Roan.