Chapter 245 - Return

{̶̛̘́Ẁ̷̳̏͠ë̷̟̦̺́͐̂͝l̵̢̥͈̠̀̿̕l̷̘̉ͅ ̷̩̭̫̏̐͝d̸͙̩̱̓́̑̚o̸̙̓͑ṅ̵̟̚͝ẽ̷͎̞͂̆͘.̶̧̺̅͆́̑ͅ ̴̬͚̐̆Y̴̲̏͜õ̵̧̠͕̣̆͝u̷̖̤̱̗̅'̷̫̠̤͂̆ṽ̷̔̉͜͠ẹ̵̟́͝ ̸̭̰͗͌f̴̱̗͈͇̃̉̈́̅a̷̫͎̥̪̿͝ŕ̵͙͕̗͆̀ ̵͎̮̂̕š̴̭͓͗̕ũ̶̗͕̅r̵͍̋̿̀p̸̱̠̦̱̒̈́à̶̙̦̔s̷͔̮̼̋š̵̩̩̖̾͒͂e̴͍̭̎d̶̳͉̾͋͗ ̸̥̙̪̠́̾́̆ṃ̷͍̟̀́̅͝ẙ̸̻̩̤͝ ̵̹̍̃͠͝è̴͖̕͠͝ẋ̵͉̫̥͂p̶̙̝͇̠̐̃͆ĕ̶̛̤̹͓̰̃͠c̷̳͒t̴̗͔̻͒͜a̴̻͑͛͐̈ṭ̷̾̃̕î̸͈̰̲͕̂͝o̶̤̞̘̒̐͗̊n̷̦͈̺̋̋s̷̳͓̳̏̇̈̅.̴͕̜̯̟͛͂͒}̵̝̽͊̐

Aaron's mind faded to black as he returned to the arena inside his head. The area where Soul had killed him. Soul's cracked body overlooked Aaron's currently deceased corpse, but as time went on, small blue balls of light rose out from Aaron's body. The Monstrosity and his cracked body looked at the glowing spheres with intense curiosity. "Soul, look!" It yelled, grabbing Soul's attention. He looked at the orbs floating into the air, and his face was immediately lit up with happiness as he had an idea of what was going on.

The orbs suddenly shot downward, impacting against Aaron's back, leaving a large crack in his body. However, this wasn't the end of the light show. As the final orb stuck Aaron's spine, his corpse shattered, leaving just blue light in its place, barely resembling his body. The ethereal being stood up, looking around as it stared at itself.

"So...this is what makes up a body, huh? An untainted soul that powers this entire structure." The unnamed being said to itself with a voice somewhat reminiscent of Aaron's voice, although hard to notice. "Who...what are you?" Soul asked the being as the Monstrosity drew its own Tsuyukagiri. "I...you could call this the natural state of Aaron's body. Without the presence of you or that other monster, this is what Aaron's untainted mind would have been like. Think of it as the pure version. You are his natural form, while I am his original iteration. Before you were awakened." The voice explained as it walked around. "Aaron died because of you, and he won the battle to get back to his mind. I'm just the thing that explains his situation if you don't mind my presence. Now, he'll be back any second."

"So...I guess that my hunch was right," Soul commented, the pink cracks lining his body growing slightly. "Huh. I never thought I would have actually been able to do it." Soul admitted as he looked around to see if Aaron had returned yet. "Where do you think he is?" Soul asked the Monstrosity, but a voice behind him answered the question. "right behind you." It answered before grabbing Soul by the neck, lifting him into the air. "You killed me. Quite literally. Not just my physical body but also my spiritual body. If I hadn't won the battle for my life, you wouldn't exist anymore." Aaron told Soul, an imaginary fire in his eyes. "Listen! I'm sorry! I didn't think that you'd die from that attack! I swear!" Soul yelled at Aaron, trying to calm him down, but Aaron wasn't having any of it.

"Ever since you emerged, you've caused nothing but trouble. The explosion of Crystet's home planet, taking over my body, the creation of the Monstrosity, and even now, killing my spiritual body." Aaron reminded him, listing out all of the things he had been a cause of. "You've been the reason for so many people losing their lives. I know the gravity of living. If I didn't, I'd be going around killing people as I pleased. That's the problem with people like you and Ronin. You don't understand just how much a life is worth." Aaron explained, putting his head up against Soul's.

"I never taught you just how much a life is worth. That's my mistake. However, the next time you do that, I believe that I won't be gifted with a chance to fight for a rebirth. I fought against someone who had 80% in their Boundless Percentage, and the only reason I won was that I tricked them into walking into a black hole." Aaron told Soul as he let him go. "You're going to be the one in control of my body for the next little while. That'll give you a chance to realise just how much a life is worth. You'll have access to all of my abilities, and you have to continue on my little adventure of setting up the tournament. Do that, and I'll forgive you. After all, by then, you'll have honestly learned how useful peace is to our lives." Aaron explained as he walked back a little bit before fading out of existence. Soul looked at the spot where Aaron had vanished before looking back to the figure of blue light.

"Well, it is my time to go. Let me return your friend's original body." The figure told Soul blue light surrounded it, shooting up into the air. The figure walked forward, and as its body escaped the blue light, Aaron's body emerged. As this happened, the blue mana that composed the original figure shot up into the sky with the light. Aaron looked at his body, patting himself down to ensure he didn't lose anything. In the pocket of his trousers, there was a note. A business card of sorts.

[Congratulations on getting to 30% Boundlessness! Bring us some more entertainment, will you?]

"Wow. How idiotic are the gods? Violence like that is considered entertainment?" Aaron asked himself before turning to face Soul. "I meant what I said. You're going to be controlling my body for the next little while. For the first time in quite a long time, you'll have access to every single one of my abilities, and you'll be learning how to appreciate life. After all, it's something that we all find out about." Aaron explained before tapping Soul on the forehead. "Just a reminder. I will emerge whenever something you can't deal with happens. However, I want you to try and solve everything on your own. Now, go on." Aaron informed Soul before throwing him off the area in his mind like he was throwing him off a cliff.

"How do you know that he's going to control the body?" The Monstrosity asked Aaron, who was looking down at the falling Soul. "Oh, I don't. I just have the feeling that if I were to throw someone off of this area, they'd control the body." Aaron responded, a smile on his face.

"You prepare for nothing, do you?" The Monstrosity aked as Aaron turned to him. "You're not off the hook yet either, Monstrosity." Aaron threatened him.

"Shoulda kept my mouth shut." The Monstrosity complained under his breath, although Aaron heard him. "You should have."