A few days later, on a cold summer night, Kenjaku could be seen walking through the streets of Seoul, hands in the pocket of his black trenchcoat.
Over the past few days, Kenjaku had just been taking a tour around the city, trying to get a feel for where he was at. He would stop at cafés, parks, various stores and even a few bars.
It reminded him of what life was like in his younger days...before he fully became a machine of war.
It reminded of what it was to live as a human...something he could really only pretend to be.
After all, Kenjaku wasn't a man. He was a thing. A machine. He never thought like a human, because he couldn't relate to them. Their emotions and struggles was something he could never understand.
Until he developed the ability to consume souls.
In fact, the entire reason he loved using the ability so much is because it allowed him to feel as if he was real...as if he belonged with the human race.
It directly forced the memories and experiences of others into his mind, into his very being. That's how he understood what it meant to be "human."
But ironically, well, tragically enough, doing that made him even less human. It turned him into an amalgamation of souls, an eldritch being that couldn't be further from the race he was trying to emulate.
'Ah...the challenges of my younger days. When was it that I stopped caring about being a human? Heh, it's been so long that I can't even remember. I find myself being so sentimental these days. Maybe it's cause I'm not constantly locked in the heat of battle...'
In a blur, Kenjaku leaped up onto a nearby roof, leaning against the railing as he looked up at the full moon, hanging peacefully in the sky.
'...that I have some time to think to myself.'
Just as Kenjaku was about to adjust his position so that he could lay on the roof, he felt something...calling to him, breaking the sense of peace he had within his mind.
"Hm?"
The feeling was strange. It was like something was tugging at deepest part of his soul, beckoning him to follow it's eerie voice.
"What is this...?"
Kenjaku jumped off of the building and followed the calling of the voice across various rooftops until he arrived at...a gate.
This gate seemed to be new because it was unmanned. The Hunter's Association hadn't sent people over there yet to take control of it.
"The level of mana coming from this gate...should only be D-rank at best. But what is this voice that calls to me?"
Kenjaku, knowing that he was strong enough to complete a D-rank dungeon by himself, walked through the gate, letting his curiosity get the best of him.
The moment he did so, the gate flashed red for an instant and immediately closed, trapping the man inside. This situation was as bad as it could get for a hunter.
On the inside, Kenjaku suddenly found himself in a massive hallway within what seemed to be an old palace.
Using his viral sonar, he tried to locate any surrounding magic beasts...but he sensed nothing. No life existed in this area.
'The gate closed behind me...and the only way forward is this hallway. Tch. Even if I'm trapped, there has to be a way out of here. That voice...may be my only option.'
Kenjaku walked down the massive hallway, his senses on high alert. There was no telling what kind of abomination could be hiding here.
The hallway seemed endless as Kenjaku walked for what felt like hours, days, months, maybe even years.
His sense of time was warped beyond belief. There was something about this place that messed with his senses on a level he had never felt before.
An unspecified amount of time later, Kenjaku arrived in a gigantic throne room. The room was just as dilapidated as the rest of the palace, but the only difference was a thick stench of blood covered it.
That wasn't what Kenjaku was focused on though.
'Who is...that?'
Sitting on the throne in the middle of the room was gigantic man, maybe 50-60 feet tall. He had long silver hair, pale white skin and blank yellow eyes. But what was most striking about him was the state he was in.
Massive spears had pinned the man's body to the throne, his blood staining his regal garments.
For all intents and purposes, the man was dead as dead can be. And it seemed that he was killed a long time ago.
"So why, has this voice led me here?"
The moment Kenjaku said that, a small white light emerged from the man's body and transformed into a smaller more human sized version of him.
Kenjaku had his guard up as he watched the man's movements, and likewise, the man took note of his.
"We finally meet, my future self. My vessel."
Vessel? Future self? What was this man talking about?
Kenjaku almost burst into laughter as he heard this.
"You're nothing more than a wandering spirit. I'm sure you can see the power my soul holds. If we clash-"
The man raised his hand, interrupting Kenjaku's speech.
"I know that I cannot win. But without me, you will never leave this place. What's more is, you cannot harm me. It doesn't matter what you do. It has already been foretold, that you will be my new vessel."
Kenjaku raised an eyebrow at this statement. This guy seemed too sure about this. He needed to find out more about this situation.
"Okay...let's try something different. Who are you?"
The man simply responded, "The Absolute Being. Creator of the Rulers and the Monarchs. Creator of the power you wield."
Kenjaku cracked his neck as he walked up to the man, looking straight into his eyes.
"Don't be mistaken, punk. This is not power of your creation."
A wide, demonic grin appeared on the man's face as he heard this.
"That's why I like you, Kenjaku. That's why I chose you. Do you know, throughout every timeline of this universe, this is the only one you exist in? You're a man that's not supposed to exist."
Kenjaku clicked his tongue when he saw the man's expression.
"Of course, there could only be one of me. That's why you chose me?"
The man laughed as he quickly responded, "The real reason...is your body is the only one in the universe that could handle the full scope of my power. Everything else was just a boon."
Kenjaku wasn't surprised. Even he didn't know how far his body could reach on it's own.
"Then...what's in it for me? Why do you even want to come back? Wouldn't the same one's that killed you before, kill you again?"
The man clasped his hands behind his back as he heard this, his demonic grin slowly fading away into a serious expression.
"In the past, you would've been right. But...I've had a millenia to think about what I did wrong. Tch! I should've killed my 'children' when I had the chance! Now even Ashborn has turned against me! I cannot rest until all of them are destroyed, sent back to the darkness from whence they came! But I digress..."
The man looked Kenjaku square in the eye and continued, "I just want one thing. The complete elimination of the Rulers. If the Monarchs stand in your way, eliminate them too. In return, I promise you power. Pure, divine power. Something that those fraudulent Rulers could never compare to."
Kenjaku gave some real thought to his words. After all, if the Rulers and the Monarchs were the strongest in this world, then his objective would be complete after eliminating them.
This just seemed like a win-win for both of them.
"Then, I accept. Give me your power, and I'll accomplish that which you failed to do."
Once again, the demonic grin appeared across the man's face.
"Good. Place your hand against mine."
Kenjaku did what he was told and the spirit quickly flowed into his body, fusing with his soul.
"Due to the nature of your soul, I won't be able to communicate after we become one...so all you need to do is consume the heart from my dead body. After that, you will slowly gain the power needed to fulfill our task."
After that, the voice disappeared and the atmosphere became completely quiet.
'Huh...other than an increase in mana, I don't feel much different. Then, I guess the real prize is up there.'
Kenjaku jumped onto the man's body and stuck his hand into it, completely releasing the virus. He had no intentions of only eating his heart. Everything that belonged to the Absolute was his.
Even the spears stuck in his body were consumed by the virus.
After a few minutes of him compressing the biomass into himself, a silver aura started flowing off of him, as his heart started pounding non-stop within his chest.
If Kenjaku could look into his body at this moment, he would see that his human heart had been replaced by a silver, orb that generated endless light with every heartbeat.
It changed his body little by little, strengthening it with every moment that passed.
'Now I see why they killed him. These memories told me everything. He was a cruel, vicious god. Never even cared if they lived or died. But that doesn't matter to me. They will be defeated.'
A gate suddenly opened up in the middle of the throne room, which he assumed lead right back to Seoul.
He jumped off the throne and sauntered into the portal, leaving the throne of the Absolute Being behind.
This whole ordeal felt like a fever dream to him. But, he knew, deep within, taking this deal meant the end of his peaceful life on earth.
There was no more time to waste walking around visiting stores.
It was start pursuing his true goal.