"Wait a second! Are you going to use these people's souls for such a thing?"
Roan snorted after hearing that question.
"Obviously. Can't you see? They're as good as dead. Their souls are locked by the diagram, leaving them all in this vegetative state. I don't know about you, but these people are as good as dead in front of me."
"This..."
Rean sighed after hearing that but had to agree with Roan.
"He isn't wrong. If you want, you can check it yourselves. These people will never wake up again. The diagram and their souls might as well be considered the same thing. They were modified to become Bloodline Marks, so their bodies are nothing more than vessels used to hold the soul until a proper user appears. I'm pretty sure that even if I remove the diagram somehow, they won't wake up. Even if they do, their soul will probably be so damaged that they'd turn into vegetables."
Calina still shook her head as she said.
"But this is wrong! These are human souls!"
Roan found Calina's way of thinking funny, saying.
"Ha! What a joke. Tell me, then. How many people have you killed until now? They all have souls, and they disappeared because of you. Worst of all, unlike these people here, those you killed didn't help you with anything whatsoever. Well, perhaps they helped you with your training, but that's about it."
Calina was taken aback.
"I..."
Roan then continued.
"What? Do you think the situation's different because these people aren't your enemies?"
Calina subconsciously nodded.
"Naive! Sure, they aren't your enemies, but they aren't your friends either. I will tell you the two things that will happen here."
"Number one, we use them to make our Bloodline Marks if possible."
"Number two, we leave them here, and they will become some Zasfin's Bloodline Mark in the future."
"Alright, then. Choose."
Roan was as harsh as ever.
Rean, on the other hand, took a milder approach, as he explained.
"What the ice block means is that if it was possible to save them, we would try it already. However, there's already no hope for them anymore. In a certain way, their sacrifices will at least help other humans, us."
Agis took a deep breath as he looked at all these sacrifices. Eventually, he nodded as well.
"I'll be honest. If I was in their condition, knowing that I will never awaken anymore, I would definitely prefer to become another human's Bloodline Mark. At the very least, I wouldn't become part of the Zasfin Race's strength."
It was then that Malaka thought about something else.
"Wait. We all know that reincarnation is possible, right? However, if we use these people's souls to make the marks, will they have that chance? At least the ones we killed so far had that chance."
Hearing that, Roan narrowed his eyes in response. Even he didn't know as much.
"I have no idea."
In the end, it was all an ethical dilemma.
The room went silent for a moment when suddenly, Rean moved to one of the humans on the walls.
"What are you going to do?"
Rean shrugged his shoulders before he said.
"Well, there's a point you guys failed to consider. If we want to survive in this world, we need power. At the moment, what we need is Soul Power. It's simple as that. I feel sorry for these people. Also, you all know that if it was possible, I would help them. However, it's not. That being said, I will not let this chance slip. I'd rather obtain a better chance of keeping our group safe than dying later on because we lacked the power to protect ourselves."
Rean then smiled at Qia and the others.
"In the end, your lives are more important to me than these people."
Those last worlds struck Qia's group like lightning. That was all they needed to hear. You fight for those who you can protect. If you can't, then nothing will matter in the end.
Roan, of course, didn't think much about Rean's words. Whether his group would use these humans to make a Bloodline Mark or not didn't matter to him. He would make his Bloodline Mark even if they refused it. That being said, he was the second one to step right on the diagram in front of one of those sleeping people.
As for the rest, Qia was the first to come forward, albeit with a gloomy expression.
It was then that Rean let out a little chuckle.
"Hey, there's no need to feel this sad. Do you know why we can't save them? That's because these diagrams are made with Soul Power. Who knows? Perhaps there's a way around it once we can use Soul Power as well. Think about it like this. These people's sacrifices might save many of them in the future. Hahaha!"
Rean wasn't lying. In the end, their understanding of Soul Power was just too shallow. There were many manuals describing Soul Power Techniques and other things. However, Rean's group simply couldn't understand anything like that. Without Soul Power, those books might as well be considered paperweight.
However, once they acquired Soul Power, there might really be a way out for the people used as sacrifices.
Malaka, Agis, and Calina also selected some of the people and stepped right on the diagrams on the ground in front of them.
Rean shrugged his shoulders after seeing that scene.
"Hey, don't feel so sad. First of all, we don't even know if we can use these people or not. If we can't, then all of the things we've discussed will have been useless."
Rean was right. Nevertheless, they waited to see who would make the first move. Well, it went without saying that Roan was the first one. He was the only one that didn't feel the least bit of pity for them. In his eyes, they can only blame themselves for being too weak and falling into this place. That was a rule that Roan applied to everyone, including himself.
Still, Rean couldn't help but ask.
"By the way, how do we activate this thing?"
There were a few symbols on the walls, showing that one must touch their foreheads with the humans on the wall. They tried to do as the images shown, but nothing happened in the end.
Everyone became silent at that moment. It was not like they received any explanation before coming here.
Roan pondered for a bit before looking at Kentucky.
"Hey, chicken. Come here."
*Chick?*
"Use some of the altar's Soul Power on my body."
Rean and the others were taken aback.
"Kentucky can use Soul Power?"
Not long after though, Rean immediately understood what was happening, explaining to the others.
"No, he can't. However, he still hasn't finished digesting the altar's material. That said, there's still some Soul Power present in it. It's a good idea to use Kentucky to redirect that Soul Power out of his body. It might work."
Kentucky didn't understand very well what Roan wanted, though. Kentucky was definitely a lot more intelligent than other Demon Beasts at his level. However, his intelligence wasn't at the level of a human yet.
However, it wasn't a problem. As Kentucky's masters, the twins could use their Spiritual Sense to convene their meaning to Kentucky. It wasn't perfect, but it should suffice for Kentucky to understand what they wanted. They did that many times in the past, so it wasn't anything difficult.
*Chick!*
Sure enough, Kentucky received Rean's Spiritual Sense and nodded in response. Soon after, Kentucky concentrated on that strange power coming out of the food in his belly. That power passed through his meridians until it finally manifested on his wings. Before Kentucky touched the diagrams, Roan touched his forehead with the man in front of him. After that, Kentucky channeled that bit of Soul Power into Roan, who also used his Spiritual Sense to guide it into the diagram on the ground and the diagram on the man's forehead.
As soon as that happened, the two diagrams activated, shining brightly.
Rean and the others' eyes lit up.
"It worked! Shall we wait and see what will happen with Roan?"
Rean shook his head.
"We already wasted a lot more time than we should have. We don't know when Frandin and the other guy will finish their own trial, so we should hurry. Don't worry, I told Sister Orb to throw us all inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm if someone appears. Of course, if you're afraid, I won't force any of you. We don't know what might happen, after all. It's up to you if you wish to go ahead with it or not."
Everyone nodded. Rean's group still didn't know how long they would be safe in this place or not. In the end, they all decided to try it out.
Rean then convened his intentions to Kentucky through the Spiritual Sense. Following that, Kentucky channeled that little Soul Power he had into everyone's body. Sure enough, the diagrams lit up for everyone as well.
Following that, the room became silent. Neither one of their group moved anymore. It was as if they had fallen into the same sleeping state as the people locked on the walls.
*Chick?*
Seeing how everyone suddenly stopped moving puzzled Kentucky. However, he quickly ignored that as he looked at a woman on the walls. As mentioned before, all these humans were naked, so Kentucky could see everything. His eyes lit up as he looked at the woman's big breasts as he happily made his way to her.
Sure enough, the bird was as perverted as ever. He quickly began to rub against the girl without paying attention to the Soul Power still emanating out of his body. Such happiness could be seen on his face. However, his forehead touched the woman's forehead at some point. Both diagrams activated before Kentucky also fell into the same sleeping state as everyone else.
