[Please name your Clone]
A window pops up.
"Snake." Blaze says
[The clone is registered]
The Lantern of the Damned appears in Blaze's hand. He draws out the soul of William and drops him on the ground.
The yellow fire expands into a semi-transparent body of William.
His translucent eyes open again in this world.
William sees Blaze and immediately lunges forward at him.
Blaze does not react.
"Please! Please no more!"
William bursts out in tears, losing all his dignity and self-respect. He is no longer the leader of the Nocturnal Animals.
He is now just a poor trapped soul inside the Lantern of forever damnation.
He's trying to hug Blaze's legs. However, his body goes straight through Blaze.
"You don't have a physical body."
Blaze says.
There's only one way for the souls inside the Lantern to interact with the real world, that is to give it a half-physical body via the Hidden Power Soul Slave.
Blaze has only one Soul Slave slot, and he hasn't given it to anyone yet.
William is visibly shocked, looking at his own yellowish body. He still has not grasped the truth that he is no longer alive yet.
William kneels to the ground and slams his spiritual head so low that it almost phases through the dirt.
"Please! I know I was wrong!
I know I'm a fucker! But please. No more burning! No more!
I can't take it anymore.
I swear I'll do anything you ask!"
William's shaking while he's trying to pledge for his soul. Edges of his limbs are blurry, like they can disappear anytime. A sign that he was burning non-stop by Soul Flare.
It is Blaze's punishment for him.
"Collect yourself and stand up."
Blaze orders. William is still traumatized, but he tries his best to hold on and stand up, his feet are close together, and his back is straight as a pole.
William looks like a new recruit at a boot camp.
"You have ruined many lives. It was my punishment for you to burn for eternity."
"Please no!"
William blurts out. He cannot imagine being burned again. That pain was unbearable and pierced right through your soul. It is not something a mortal can comprehend.
Blaze stares at William for interrupting. William's legs shake profusely, and he drops down, head on the ground again.
"Stand up. Don't interrupt me again."
William carefully follows the order, avoiding Blaze's stare.
"Assist me in my path, and I may grant you a more forgiving end."
"Of course! I'll do anything for you."
Blaze nods and reaches his hand out, touching William's forehead. His irises turn yellow, a symbol is engraved on William's forehead, the sign of being enslaved.
William's soul hovers slightly above the ground. Once his feet land, he has become a slave.
"Master." William kneels.
Blaze wags his finger. The clone with William's appearance walks forward.
"That is your new body."
William nods solemnly and walks into the clone. His yellow figure merges with the physical body of the clone.
[William D'Angelo (trapped soul) has taken control of your clone 'Snake']
[William's genome has fused with the clone (temporary effect)]
[Your clone 'Snake' has received a new temporary Power: Pyro Dash (C-rank)]
[Pyro Dash (C-rank): You can blast fire from your feet, allowing you to be propelled through the air or send fire projectiles through kicks.]
William cracks his neck. He can feel the warmth of the living world come back. He didn't understand how beautiful and soothing it was until he is long dead.
And this body, even though it looks exactly like his former, is also different.
Parts of William's face turn green, and scales appear on his skin, forming a natural defensive armor. He can also feel that there is another power hiding inside this body. This power is weaker than his own, but not by much.
This body is superb…
His original body was wrecked by excessive uses of drugs and a bad lifestyle. Now with a fresh, clean shell, he finally feels what it's really like to be pure of depravity.
William kneels immediately in front of his new master. He is both afraid and feeling a weird sensation of submissiveness toward the figure.
It comes straight from his soul. William knows he can never betray him.
"I am your servant, master! Please use me!"
"Good.
First things first, we're going to need to find something for you to wear."
The clone is completely naked. It will be hard to explain if someone else sees William like this.
Blaze does not like his image to be associated with something perverted.
"Stay in the storage for now."
Blaze says.
William instantly disappears. He has been sent into the pocket dimension of the Clone Storage.
In this zero-gravity space, there is no ground nor sky, the only things that exist are the three stars.
A white star stands still at the top. A blue star orbits around it. And a farthest green star that is very small.
The place is empty and boring, but at least William is not being burned every second. He is more than happy with his new home.
Blaze fades into darkness again and goes to the school.
His next target is the Quarterback, the giant humanoid Crisis.
All of the hollow-faced monsters are either reflections of normal humans or F-rank Awakeners. There are no E-rank monsters.
But the Crisis seems to cross this limit. The Jade Snake, as easy as it was to kill it, is actually a real threat.
Its power would be at least C-Rank, maybe even more. Its acidic beam was able to melt even concrete.
Since the Jade Snake has powers, the Quarterback also should.
Blaze infiltrates the school. He can see that the students inside were organized neatly by Henry. The teachers, however, are nowhere to be found.
Akansa is a mid-scale city, not too crowded nor too isolated. It has no A-rank Awakened, but there were a lot of B-rank Awakeners.
Some of the teachers Blaze knows are B-rank Awakened with actual combat prowess.
"The question now is... Where did they all go?
If there's some kind of limitation to the Voidgate, then everything can be explained naturally.
If it's not because of the Voidgate... This world is much more filthy than I expected it to be."
Blaze mumbles.
Even William does not know much about the situation. He, however, has much more knowledge about the Void.
According to William's memories, there are a total of seven layers to the Void.
The uppermost layer is the Mirror, which is where Blaze is right now.
The Mirror is a reflection of the real world and will create Hollows, the monsters with no face, with the resemblance and power level of normal humans or F-rank Awakeners in the area.
It cannot, however, copy E-rank or higher Awakened.
Blaze goes into the gym, where all the spare clothes can be found.
He unequips the Tattered Cloak and puts on a fitting sport clothing.
"Finally presentable."
Blaze will register his superpower sooner or later. His involvement in this incident may be questioned. It is wise to be presentable enough so that he can show up in front of other people.
The Pale Harpy knows his true face, but she is the slave to the Lantern already, no need to worry about her.
Blaze equips the Tattered Cloak again and returns to the appearance of the Wraith.
Purple energy pours out of Blaze, and William is once again existing in this world.
Blaze throws a pair of clothing to William.
"Put on the clothes."
"Yes, Master."
William doesn't dare to question anything and does as he was told.
The sound of footsteps is emitted in the hallway. Blaze and William look at each other.
William returns to the Clone Storage while Blaze fades into darkness.
The door slides open, a student is there with a flashlight.
"Anyone there?"
No one answers him. He points the flashlight around but finds nothing out of the ordinary.