章 20: Chapter 20
Ludwig couldn't shake off his uncomfortable feeling, before he suddenly remembered and looked at himself in a bad light 'How pathetic' he thought when he looked at himself in the mirror. How dare he fear death so much?
How dare he?
How could he?
What right did he have?
He was a serial killer!
A murderer!
Someone who killed numerous people just in his past life – the ones following here, in a world where killing was common practice, would be endless!
His murderous intent intensified and cleared the thoughts from his mind fully. No matter whether he was bloodthirsty or not, he always took his serial killing as a hobby with risks. He always knew he might be killed by a victim of his, he also knew he could be caught.
No, he couldn't accept the fact that he was so fearful in the eye of a little danger. Risk of life? So what? Then he would just die. He deserved to die, why would he cling to life so strongly now when his life wasn't even in danger?
He felt disgusted with himself. 'What a hypocrite' he thought. This was the way those serial killers behaved in his past life. The crazy ones? They didn't care, but they did things Ludwig couldn't condone – cannibalism was probably the one he detested the most, eating your own kind, no matter how cruel Ludwig was, he would always kill quickly and give everyone a burial if they deserved one, so hearing people talk about eating their own kind disgusted him.
So even if he knew the ruthlessness of these kind of crazy serial killers was what he should strife for, he never intended to do so by eating his own kind. He could kill thousands of people for all he cared, but this was a line he didn't wish to cross. In his past life, after understanding this principle, also shook of any ideas of righteousness
'I kill because I want, not because I need, not because I am crazy. I am not righteous, I don't care about my victims, I kill because I want to, and someone who dirties the profession of killing by eating their victims, doesn't deserve my respect.'
After having this line of thought in his past life, he had never again talked with such people. The curiosity in the beginning turned into disgust, what he did was a pure art of killing, this was his past work joy, so seeing people do such things was as if you enjoyed a particular piece of art, only to see it being thrown into dirt again and again.
As for the other kind of serial killer, the weak-willed ones, he cared even less about them. So, what, some people like to go outside in their free time, clubbing, others like to read a book, he liked to kill people. If you are ashamed of your very own hobby, how could you deserve to be respected by the ones doing the same one?
They were the epitome of hypocrites in his mind. They would reason their actions with excuses such as revenge – how could that be? Revenge was something that made people satisfied after fulfilling it. Unlike how people thought, after killing his own parents, avenging the suffering he experienced, he only felt joy, never the emptiness people talked about. People killing for revenge don't regret their decision – how dare people use 'revenge' as an excuse?
Hypocrites! All hypocrites! If you enjoy killing, then endorse in it! Why, why, why do you excuse it? Ludwig always played in his mind what he would say if he was caught, and the answer was always the same "I do it because I want to."
With this sentence, as if an inner power in him awakened, as if the shackles came upon him when he transmigrated into this world exploded, his own fear from just a second ago faded away fully and his soul seed, which was already on the verge of awakening, exploded with a great might. Great murderous intent flooded his own yard, everyone outside who gathered to congratulate suddenly felt a chill in their heart, but they couldn't understand why.
The murderous intent was hidden, as if danger would come from everywhere, but no one could understand why.
Ludwig, who was the centre of it all, opened his eye lids and took off his eye band. He looked at the sky, and the murderous intent that was always hidden in his soul seemed to manifest into eyes. Purple shining eyes with a galaxy in them, they contained the great cold in the galaxy, wishing for everything to die. The look of the eyes pierced the ceiling, but no hole was left. It went into the sky above, and suddenly, a bird fell down.
The onlookers outside looked at the bird. It had no holes in it, it was as if it suddenly tripped and fell down when it didn't look properly, but it stopped moving. When someone tried to touch the bird, the moment they came close, without even touching it, it was as if their own being was experiencing death, their hands didn't react anymore, and they could barely leave this trance when they were pulled by someone besides them.
After a short moment, the weird energy around the bird dispersed but the bird didn't recover.
Inside his residence, Ludwig's eyes disappeared again, and a stark dark was the only thing that remained in the eye sockets. "Soul Murder" a voice like a whisper escaped his mouth. This was how he would call this innate ability he just created.
He used the remaining enlightenment in him and the moment of fear as well as his new freedom, free of the shackles of life, to create this ability in a trance. It had no other ability than to act like a needle that pierced the heart, as long as Ludwig could see them, he would be able to use this ability and make them die.
For others, it might be an ability restricted by the sight, but for Ludwig, as long as he entered the ethereal world and used special means to look at them for a single moment in the ethereal world, he would be able to send the pulse of Soul Murder. The target of the ability wasn't the physical body, as long as Ludwig could see a single glimmer of someone's soul, he would be able to use the ability in that moment.
As for how strong it is, this depends on the strength of his soul. For a soul cultivator, their soul is as strong as their cultivation, but even they have special ways of having a stronger soul regardless of their cultivation. That is naturally the quality of their soul as well as the explosive power of their soul. Ludwig might not know any of them at the moment, but even so he was sure that he could kill anyone below the core formation realm as long as they didn't have special means to shield themselves from soul attacks.
Since he created this ability, it was an innate one. This was the case with any ability one creates. How strong they are depending on different things, but for Ludwig, this was a true innate ability that would accompany him through his cultivation journey, it wasn't dependent on anything else, only the strength of his soul, and the possibilities of strengthening this innate ability are endless.
No matter what, this is the first stage of the ability, who knows how far it can grow, but even just this stage already can use the full power of his soul. Of course, if he were to teach it to others, at most they would be able to do it to his level, but for it to be useful at the core formation realm, one would either have to create the next stage themselves or wait for Ludwig to advance.
…
On the other side, the grand elder, who had just disappeared in the ethereal world, seemed to still be there and looked at Ludwig's action. "Hahaha, it seems we truly have a prodigy. Our clan is meant to grow!"
Next to him, the clan leader appeared too "You were right. Are you still sure you want to send him out?"
"Look at you, trying to keep your son this way won't work. Don't you see the origin of this ability too? It is clearly one meant for killing, how could we stop him and grow him like a flower in the greenhouse? He might very well kill all the other flowers and destroy the greenhouse. It is better to just send him out, who knows, this might be the best decision."
The clan leader sighed. It seems that he really had to let go of his son. He knew why it had to be like this and wasn't against it, but it was just slightly early. Nonetheless, it was for the best. Having two heirs is already a lot, if he kept a third heir, then it would be the elders that would lose their positions for his third son, this was too much.
After all, the Stardust Clan might have a main, ancestral line, but over the many years, there are many different branches that originated from the main line, the only reason they remain weaker is because the steward palace has always been in support of the main line. If one day the steward palace truly switched sides… then this wasn't betrayal, this was a declaration that the main line changed. For the Stardust Clan, this wouldn't be the first time.
The only reason the current line is so prosperous, is because it has close relation to the ancestor that ascended. But they aren't the only ones, so in the worst case, they are replaceable. One could say that the only reason the main line didn't change over the many years is because it has the combined forces of legitimation, fairness and strength. If even one of these failed… who knows how long they would stand.
…
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