?


    A loud and deep sigh echoed throughout the mercenary hall as a woman walked around, tidying up the ce.


    For one of the first times since the Greed faction''s creation, the mercenary hall waspletely empty. Only Jessica was inside the hall, and she was doing the routine cleanup.


    "Hello, Jessica." A low and could voice entered her ears and made her jolt up in fear. Looking around, she already had her dagger in her hand, ready to stab anything and everything that got too close to her.


    However, just when her de was about to sh the person behind her, it suddenly stopped...


    No, it was her body that had stopped involuntarily. She couldn''t move a muscle toward the person behind her because he body simply no longer allowed her to.


    "Mast-... Sir... What are you doing here?" She forced a smile and took a step back, however, after seeing Ss'' silence, she began to panic.


    Sweat dripped down her face before she made a hand sign and spoke-


    "All H-Hail Gre-"


    "What are you doing?" Ss raised a brow in confusion.


    "Greeting you, s-sir." She stuttered, not knowing exactly how to reply to him.


    "But you''re not being controlled."


    "..."


    "..."


    "Oh... I''m not brainwashed either, if that was what you were wondering about." Ss crossed his arms while Jessica let out a sigh of relief.


    "How have you been?" Ss asked without really looking like he meant it.


    He didn''t really care how she was doing, what he wanted from her was a favor.


    "I-I''m good. It''s just that... The people have be kind of creepy."


    "No shit, sherlock." Ss sighed.


    "Sherlock?"


    "Nevermind." Ss sighed again before raising a brow.


    "Kneel." He ordered, and at that moment, Jessica''s eyes glowed with a shine of green before she was quickly forced onto her knees.


    "S-Sir... What are you doing?!" She asked with a beet-red expression as her voice trembled with a tinge of fear.


    "p yourself," Ss ordered again, causing her eyes to shine once more before her hand swung to smack her across the face without a single shred of hesitation.


    "Hmm. No hesitation... Seems like the cor is still working." Ss thought aloud, yet due to his order, she still couldn''t stand up.


    "Oh... return to normal." Ss waved for her, causing her eyes to shine before the restrictions on her body faded away.


    ''ve cors huh... They''re truly terrifying.''


    "What happens if I tell you to kill yourself with your cor on." Ss asked.


    "W-What!" She screamed and threw her de as far away from herself as possible.


    "Well, that answers my question." Ss stroked his chin. After looking at her life force as well, he could not help but nod. She clearly had the beetle''s enchanting substance inside her, but the ve cor took hold of her mind and body.


    The only reason she was still not brainwashed was because she was Ss'' ve. And it wasn''t like this was something only Ss knew... She knew it as well. She was well aware of it, and it was one of the main reasons she was so conflicted


    Should she thank him? Who would think the person who enved them? But he did it for a good reason, right?"


    "Alright. I need you toe with me." Ss waved for her to follow him, and she did exactly as she was ordered.


    ***


    *Ring Ring*


    A bell rang when Ss entered the cksmith''s shop, and when he did, three individuals immediately looked at him. However, the cksmith only nced at him and Jessica for a moment before returning to his work, allowing the sound of ngs to echo throughout the entire shop as he mmed his hammer onto the piece of metal, over and over again.


    Ss also nced at the cksmith for a moment before turning around and looking at the two sitting on a bench made out of stone.


    Ss could not help but raise a brow after seeing a weirdly handsome man sitting next to Grant, however, after looking at his mana core, and life force, and sensing the pressure, Ss could not help but raise a brow.


    "And who are you?" Ss asked before pointing his hand at the young man, however, there was no fear in the young man''s eyes.


    ''I remember him...'' Ss thought after being reminded of the man who was standing outside of Archie''s office.


    The person sitting next to Grant had silver eyes and jet-ck slicked her. He could have probably been a model back on earth, but in this world, looks seemed to be secondary when it came to finding a mate... Or as normal humans call it, a partner.


    "He''s an ally of mine. We worked together a few times in the past, and he''s just a little weaker than me. It''s only logical that he would have been able to withstand the enchantment." Grant lightly punched the man next to him on the shoulder. It was clear that they were close... Or at least that''s what Grant thought.


    ''His eyes aren''t pulsing like the people outside. He''s fine right now, but...'' Ss narrowed his eyes again while using all his senses to make sure what he was sensing was correct.


    ''He''s weak... Or at least that''s what he want me to think.'' Ss thought after seeing the topaz core in his body, however, there was something different about it.


    After his little rampage, his body changed.


    He didn''t understand it at first, but over time the changes to his body had be clear by the minute.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Everything about his body had changed from the fluidity of his movements to the amount of strength he could output.


    However, that didn''t matter right now. What did matter to his current situation was the increase in the strength of his sensory capabilities.


    Everything felt much clearer to him now. He was able to feel and breathe everything around him as if it was a part of him.


    In a way, it had be much harder for anyone to sneak up on him. It was one of the reasons he knew Seraphina was following him back when he went to the Judgement faction for the first time.


    And right now, he was using all his senses to feel the strength of the person before him, but somehow, he felt something else too.


    A mask.


    And beyond that mask for apletely different person. However, what caught Ss'' attention was not the person behind the mask, but instead, the mana core of that person.


    Because, from what Ss could see, that person had an amethyst core one step away from breaking through and reaching the next core grade.


    Yet, there was something holding him back.


    ''Oh... What did they call this again? A bottleneck?'' Ss thought before muttering a set of words that shocked everyone in the room.


    "You''re Eclipse, right?" Ss asked.


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    "What the hell are you talking about-" Grant was about to shout at Ss, but the young man next to him quickly stopped him.


    "How did you know?" Eclipse asked.


    "I remember seeing you when I left Archie''s office. When I looked at you, I couldn''t help but feel like I had met you before, though, I couldn''t put my finger on it... But that is to be expected, right? Especially when I was trying to remember someone with apletely different face." Ss shrugged while Jessica simply blinked in confusion from behind him.


    "Yeah... I remember that too." Eclipse chuckled.


    "Then, why are you here?" Ss asked.


    "I''m here to help you."


    "I don''t trust you."


    "..."


    "..."


    "Fair." Eclipse shrugged. "How can you trust someone when they are always wearing a mask?"


    Eclipse''s hand went up to his face before he grabbed onto it and slowly began to pull.


    And as he began to pull off, everyone in the room quickly understood what was happening.


    "An artifact?" Ss muttered under his breath while raising a brow.


    "Yes... An artifact." Eclipse spoke before the sound of cracks and meet mming against meat entered everyone''s ears.


    No one really flinched when they saw Eclipse''s body begin to morph as all the bones in his body shattered and rebuilt themselves, but eventually, his body stabilized.


    And what stood before them was no longer a young man. Instead, it was an older man that looked like he might have been double the age of the cksmith.


    "You''re... Old." Ssmented when seeing his long grey hair and beard.


    "Hoho... I''m much older than you think." He chuckled, now even his voice was different.


    "..."


    It was much raspier than before, while his body had be much skinnier too.


    However, Grant remained silent the entire time with a stupified expression on his face that made Ss want to punch him.


    After a few moments though, Grant regained his ability to think before an expression filled with fury appeared on his face.


    ''As expected.'' Ss sighed.


    Grant began tosh out at Eclipse for a while, so Ss simply ordered Jessica to not move from her ce before walking toward Grant and Eclipse.


    Stepping in front of both of them, Ss let out the full strength of his killing intent and pointed it at Grant.


    ''This might be good for us.'' Ss thought while looking at Eclipse now.


    "I need you to exin to me what happened. Don''t cut any corners. I want to know everything."


    ------------------


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