《Primordial Soul's Rebirth》


 Chapter 1 - 1 – A New Life.

    <h4>Chapter 1: CHAPTER 1 �C A New Life.</h4>


    (?? POV)


    Who am I?


    Where am I?


    I pondered these questions, trying to find an answer, all in vain.


    However, there is one thing I''m sure about: I am searching for something or someone.


    But what or who? I don''t know.


    The only thing that was keeping me sane was the feeling that I will find whatever I''m looking for, when I''m supposed to.


    Time is thest thing I care about in this situation.


    I did at the start, I even counted the days, but after reaching 30, I got bored and stopped.


    However, even in this situation where I don''t know anything, I don''t feel scared, it''s as if I had done this many times before.


    I tried to recall anything I could about myself, but all I could remember was my time, traveling in space without any destination, just searching for something that I have no clue about.


    I could see the Beauty of space, the void filled with star lights, multi-coloreds, the distant gxies, and neb all created an enchanting spectacle one could never get bored of.


    They looked mesmerizing, so much that I would stare at them for days, just appreciating them, but time made me loose interest in them as well.


    I just let my body travel independently, and even if I say ''body'', it''s just a mass of energy or soul.


    As I continued traveling through nothingness, I also saw some strange creatures moving around,pletely ignoring my existence as if I was invisible to them and maybe I actually was, I don''t know.


    It was then that I suddenly felt a pull, at first it was just a small light but slowly, it started getting stronger, though I didn''t resist, I could feel that I had found what I had been looking for.


    I saw everything as the force pulled me inside one of the small universes, then I was pulled inside one of the many gxies in it, andstly, I entered the world from which I felt the force pulling me.


    ............


    "Ugh," I felt my body was on the verge of breaking, but I held on since it was still bearable.


    ''Where am I?'' I looked around and realized that I was sitting on the ground next to a single bed inside a room of 6.5 square meters size.


    This room consisted of a study table, a cupboard, a kitchen attached to the room of about 3x3m, and an attached bathroom of 4x3m size.


    I stood up while enduring the pain in my body, and when Iy on the bed hoping to get some relief. I heard a mechanical female voice in my head and a soothing sensation that washed over my whole body, making me feel strong and energized.


    [Suitable Vessel found.]


    [Starting synchronization.]


    [1%..


    2%..


    3%..


    .


    .


    .


    .


    .


    .


    99%..


    100%]


    I waited patiently for the procedure toplete since whatever this was, it would not harm me.


    It felt like something that had been with me for a long time, even though this was my first time seeing something like this.


    [Please brace yourself for some difort.]


    [Memory of the previous owner is being fused.]


    [Awakening of the ability of the body.]


    I didn''t get any time to be prepared since the pain came just as the voicepleted its announcement.


    "Argh"


    I felt like my body was about to burst, my veins felt like they were exploding, and my bones felt like they were being crushed. There was also some slight difort inside my head, but it was negligible Compared to the pain I felt in my body.


    The pain eventually subsided, but I felt some gooey stuff covering my whole body and giving off a disgusting smell.


    Still, I ignored it for now since my body was brimming with power and my body felt so light that it made me feel like I was in a low-gravity area. Then finally there were the memories of the previous owner of this body.


    From the Memory I obtained, I found many things along with the fact that the mechanical voice I have heard in my head is called a system by many writers in their novels or books.


    I realized what kind of world I was in and why I felt pain as soon as I took over this body. I also noted that the name of this body''s owner was Alex Matthew and I was going to continue with his name as a thanks for this body.


    (?? POV end)


    Alex Matthew was an 18-year-old young man with strikingly handsome features, despite not yet bing a Raider. He had dark ink-ck hair and dark red eyes, giving him a dangerous allure. His angr face and streamlined body only enhanced his charm, standing tall at 188cm.


    Despite his looks, Alex''s only redeeming quality seemed to be his appearance, as he didn''t achieve exceptional results in high school, nor did he be a Raider.


    He was orphaned at a young age, left at the gate of an orphanage in Orange County with only a letter bearing his name. Rejecting adoption offers, he preferred the freedom of being an orphan,cking pleasant family memories.


    Living in the orphanage until high school, Alex eventually moved out for reasons unknown to the staff. While they briefly considered bullying as a cause, his intimidating appearance, particrly his dark red eyes, likely deterred any potential bullies.


    Even some Raiders found his eyes unsettling, sensing an underlying strength despite his unawakened status.


    Despite his average academic performance, Alex had a keen understanding of the world. Realizing he wouldn''t secure a good job, he impulsively purchased an awakening potion with a mere 10% chance of sess.


    Drinking it revealed histent Raider potential, albeit overwhelming his body with its power. As he faced death from the potion''s effects, he regretted his impulsive choice of taking an awakening potion but it was already toote as his body was overtaken by someone else, choosing to retain the name Alex in gratitude for the original owner.


    .....................


    In Gaia, a world with seven countries named after colors of the rainbow, Raider Associations serve as police forcesprising Raiders in each country, while Guilds function as mercenaries, working for pay. Each country has ranked guilds with at least two S-rank Raiders.


    When the Gates appeared, some individuals became F-rank Raiders, others B-ranked, and a few S-ranked.


    However, advancing one''s rank is notoriously difficult. Rank-up or Re-awakening potions, found in Boss Drops if fortunate, offer rare opportunities for advancement. Despite their scarcity, countries and ranked guilds strive to acquire them.


    .......................


    Before the Gates appeared, Gaia was a normal. The Gates connect this world to a dimension inhabited by monsters. If these monsters are killed and the Gates cleared, they disappear.


    However, if left untouched, the Gates may crack, allowing the monsters to escape. These monsters are impervious to modern weapons, requiring Raiders to defeat them.


    When the Gates emerged, they brought Mana, which awakened the hidden power within 2 out of 10 people. Raiders became the only ones capable of defeating the monsters. Consequently, the Raider profession became highly sought-after.


    Monsters drop magic stones when killed, with the type depending on their rank. These stones have various uses, such as powering projects, upgrading weapons, and crafting magical items.


    Gates typically contain three categories of monsters: Mob, Mid-boss, and Boss. While Mobs only drop magic stones, Mid-bosses and Bosses yield items or skills upon defeat. Skills are rare, with only ten known to exist.


    Special cases ur when Gates houses hidden Bosses or unique monsters. Such Gates are significantly more challenging. However, clearing them yields substantial rewards.


    Three instances of encountering these special cases have been recorded, resulting in significant gains for the clearing teams. One team even gained additional S-rank Raiders. However, many team members perished or suffered severe injuries, with some unable to continue their Raider careers.


    A surprising discovery was made when an S-rank Raider group obtained an Awakening potion from a Gate Boss.


    This potion, capable of making anyone a Raider, caused a sensation and was eventually purchased by the Destroyer Guild. Despite its low sess rate, the Guild mass-produced the potion. This potion is the thing that led to Alex''s demise, though it is also the reason that we are able to see the new Alex.


    Tensions have arisen between countries over items, Gates, or Raiders, but the world generally maintains bnce. Now, an Enigmatic entity with his system enters the scene, raising uncertainty about the world''s future, perhaps even beyond divine intervention.

 Chapter 2 - 2 – System, Skills, and Information 1.

    <h4>Chapter 2: CHAPTER 2 �C System, Skills, and Information 1.</h4>


    (When there is no defined POV it means that it is Third person POV)


    [The System Spirit will now be online in a short while.]


    When Alex went inside the Bathroom and was removing the gooey stuff around him by washing his body, there was a golden sh in Alex''s eye and now he could see the text floating in front of him on a transparent screen with a gold theme.


    He didn''t seem surprised and felt that it was normal for the system to have an AI or Spirit, since from his memories he could remember that every system has an AI or Spirit. But when he heard the words said by the System, he didn''t know why, but his heart started beating very fast.


    He felt like whoever this system spirit was, they might be very close to him. Because even if he can''t recall any of his old memories, he still feels his mind longing to meet this system spirit.


    He just hopes that at least can help him remember something. He wore clothes again after washing his body and spraying some deodorant on himself, he waited for the System''s notice.


    [Hello, Alex. I am Sophia, the system spirit. Nice to meet you.]


    Alex heard a voice that felt like a gentle melody in his head and he smiled, he didn''t know why he smiled but he still did.


    However, what he didn''t know was that the system spirit or Sophia was blushing in the system space looking at him smiling.


    Alex was already very Handsome but after his body was modified by the system, he looked even better along with his hair reaching his shoulders and eyes having a tint of golden, his skin tone became brighter while his muscles grewpact making them even more ripped, though his body remained streamlined.


    If before he was most handsome un-awakened then now without a doubt, he was simply the most handsome man on Gaia. Even though his charm was still not something that would affect Sophia, she was still affected since it had been a long time since she had seen him.


    ''Hello, Sophia. Nice to meet you too.'' Alex tried talking mentally as he had seen in novels and all, and it worked just fine.


    ''Sophia, do you know me?'' Alex asked after the introduction since he wanted to know more about himself even if something in his mind told him that he had nothing to worry about.


    He didn''t know why he felt that if he recalled his memories then everything would not go as it was supposed to. But still, his curiosity made him ask this question.


    [...Yes, I know you very well.] Sophia replied after a long pause.


    But if someone listened carefully, they might hear her mncholy from the voice. She was sad about something, but not for herself.


    ''Can you tell me who I am? Or what I am?'' Alex asked but somehow, he wasn''t eager to know, it was as if he didn''t need to worry about anything.


    He felt different from when he was in space roaming around aimlessly. At that time, he felt like he was weak, but right now he felt very strong like nothing would happen to him even if the whole world was somehow destroyed.


    [I cannot tell you anything about your past.] Even if he didn''t get any answer, he was not bothered by it. But then he was surprised by her next words.


    [Grow stronger and you will remember everything.]


    ''How strong?'' He asked and this time he already knew the answer somehow.


    [Strongest.] he just nodded at her words and didn''t say anything. He felt that it was something he had heard so many times that he had gotten bored of it.


    ''Then, can you at least tell me what my goal is?'' Alex asked since he knew that even if he had to be strongest, that wasn''t a goal. He wanted to know why in the past he did whatever he did, there has to be a reason.


    [You just need to enjoy your life, while bing strong steadily.]


    ''Enjoy my life?'' his mind went nk and for a moment he felt he remembered something.


    It was a beautifuldy with ck hair and ck eyes wearing a ck one-piece dress, however, before he could focus more the image vanished like it was never there and this all happened even before he could understand what happened.


    Sophia didn''t say anything since she knew that thest question was not for her.


    ''All right then, I will enjoy my life to the fullest. Thank you, Sophia'' Alex said after a while, making up his mind and stopping thinking about things from the past, since he would eventually remember everything.


    [I am happy to be of help, Alex.] Sophia said with her happiness clear in her voice, then continued.


    [You should check your status and gift pack now.]


    Alex nodded his head and said, ''Status'' in his mind, and a new golden panel appeared in front of him.


    [Name: Alex Matthew.


    Age: 18.


    Race: ?????.


    Physique: ?????.


    Bloodline/s: Supreme Human (Unlocked & Not Activated), #, #, #, #, etc (locked).


    Title: Pioneer of the elements (Unlocked & Not Activated), #, #, #, #, etc (locked).


    Strength: A+; Agility: A+; Stamina: A+; Wisdom: SS; Energy/Mana: A+; Luck: SS; Charm: SSS;


    System Points (SP): 0


    Shop<


    Inventory<


    Skills:


    ?????? (???): ????.


    All-Master (Unique): You have mastered all kinds of weapons to the maximum potential along with fighting techniques and footwork. When fighting, you can move your body by reading the movements of your opponents. This skill works no matter how many opponents you are facing. This ability also allows you to mimic or copy any kind of fighting technique to the most basic form, so much so that you can modify it ording to your wishes. More of the abilities will be shown as you recall your memories.


    Plunderer (Unique): You never leave your opponent unharmed. When you defeat someone, either an enemy or a friend, you gain a chance to plunder or steal one thing from them, no matter what it is. If you kill someone, then you can plunder everything from them. To know more about this ability, you need to recall it from your memories.


    Sensual Perception (Unique): You can sense anything and everything. You can sense your surroundings and nothing can be hidden from you. This skill also lets you have a general estimate of the power of the entities within your perception range. You can never be caught in a surprise attack since you can sense anyone even if they are using some kind of skill to hide. To know more about this ability, you need to recall it from your memories.


    Mentality of Master (Unique): You have a strong mind, and you can understand any kind ofnguage instantly while learning it. You canmunicate with any kind of intelligent being. Your mind does not sumb easily to seduction or any hypnosis. To know more about this ability, you need to recall it from your memories.


    Instantaneous Regeneration (Unique): You don''t need to worry about ever being out of fuel since this skill can regenerate anything instantly. For now, only Energy (Mana) regeneration and body regeneration are avable. To know more about this ability, you need to recall it from your memories.


    All-seeing Eyes (Unique): You have special eyes that can see everything. You can look through any kind of disguise and break it if using an appropriate amount of Mana. No illusion can ever affect you, since in front of your eyes they are transparent like air. To know more about this ability, you need to recall it from your memories.


    Destruction Elemental maniption (U): You have control over destruction and you can manipte it in any way possible. The way you use this skill depends on your imagination and capabilities.]


    ''Can you exin the functions of the system?'' Even though he knew the basics about every System, he still asked her since he didn''t know if this system had something different.


    [I will do that and I will also give you the basic information about the things out of this world since I was supposed to give that information to you when I was activated. I will be transferring the information directly into your brain, so there will be a slight difort. Please bear with me while I transfer the information.]


    After Sophia said that and Alex nodded, information about many things started entering his brain, and even though there was some headache it was bearable.


    The first piece of information that entered his brain was about the system. From that, he learned many things.


    Firstly, whenever there was a question mark or any other symbol in the system UI, it meant he wasn''t strong enough to fully utilize or ess certain features.


    However, this didn''t render them useless; for example, his physique, despite showing question marks, empowered his body to reach an A+ rank and provided the ability ''Instantaneous Regeneration''. The same applied to his Race, which granted him the ability ''Mentality of Master'' and a strong mind.


    The second aspect was the bloodline section, offering various bloodlines that could be unlocked either through purchase or by fulfilling specific conditions. Once awakened, a bloodline needed activation to be fully utilized.


    The third element was Titles, achieved through exceptional feats. These titles granted abilities or authority, remaining dormant until activated.


    Next were his stats, reflecting different aspects ording to Raider rankings. His stats were mostly at A+ level, on the cusp of S-rank, except for Wisdom, Luck, and Charm.


    System points were the fifth aspect, obtained by killing beings and used in the shop to purchase items or increase strength. Points varied depending on the target''s power.


    The sixth feature was the Shop, offering all the abilities and items used or acquired by his past self. Bloodlines and titles could also be unlocked through the shop, as all of the bloodlines and titles are already in his body just left to unlock by fulfilling some condition or by buying it from the shop.


    Seventh was the inventory, providing unlimited storage space where time was stopped. Currently, there was an unopened gift package inside.


    Skillsprised the secondst function, categorized from F to EX rank which is the limit of this world, then there is the U rank indicating skills beyond the world''s limit. Unique skills were derived from memories and had no limit, unlike ranked skills.


    The unique skills are obtained ording to the living style as well, but that doesn''t mean that Unique skills are the strongest, no, they are just something that can be used without a limit. For example - An F-rank fireball and a Unique ranked fireball have a vast difference in power.


    If an F-rank fireball was used to its maximum capability then the highest it could do was shoot the enemy with a barrage of small fireballs or cause an explosion, but if the same skill was unique then you could even make a fireball with the size of a sun, if you are strong enough that is.


    Finally, quests were the most interesting function, offering a means to earn SP instead of killing. While notpulsory, some quests carried penalties to preventziness, though the system never intended to harm him, nor can it ever harm him.


    There was also the system spirit, Sophia and she also had no intention to harm Alex, better yet her purpose might be the opposite, but time will tell what it is. So, the penalty is given so that he does not bezy, since if he cannot even do the quests then how is he going to be the strongest?

 Chapter 3 - 3 – System, Skills, and Information 2.

    <h4>Chapter 3: CHAPTER 3 �C System, Skills, and Information 2.</h4>


    The world Gaia is merely a small among a group ofs. Many others orbit around it, as well as numerousrger groups ofs. Beyond these groups lies the gxy, which is formed by many such groups.


    After thates the universe,posed of many gxies. Many universes formrge clusters together, resembling a tree or simr structure, and these formations are referred to as the cosmos.


    When using the term "many," it refers to billions or trillions, not just hundreds or thousands. The cosmos that forms reality resembles a ne, and when these realities merge, they create the multiverse.


    While there are other concepts such as possibilities and dimensions, Alex wasn''t provided with much information about these subjects. It seems the information is restricted and will only be essible when he bes stronger.


    Alex realized that there were entities evenrger than the multiverse, but he couldn''t recall what they were, so he set aside those thoughts for the time being. Then he acquired information about something called a Heaven-Favoured or World-Lucky Child.


    Every world would have them, and their sole purpose was to prevent catastrophes and eliminate threats that could lead to world destruction, among other harmful events.


    Given their heavy responsibilities, they were endowed with powerful skills or abilities to aid them in fulfilling their purpose.


    It wasn''t always "With great poweres great responsibility," but sometimes "For great responsibilities, there are great powers." As Alex processed all this information, he asked a question.


    ''Wasn''t thete Alex supposed to be the Heaven favored? I don''t think anyone else has a power stronger than this.''


    As Alex asked that to Sophia, a Dark red-colored mass of energy floated on his palm. Other than his power he also got the power that thete Alex died obtaining and it is called Destruction elemental maniption.


    If developed correctly, it could be so powerful that it could destroy anything, but Alex didn''t feel like it was new for him as he felt that he had used it before. But he just put it in the back of his head since he knew that it was something from his past lives.


    Yes, lives, he somehow knew now that it wasn''t his first time switching bodies or reincarnating, he knew that he had done it at least two times.


    [No, He was not supposed to be the Heaven favored. He was supposed to die the same way he died.]


    ''But?'' Alex knew there was a But.


    [But Alex would still have been the Heaven favored. It is just that it would only be the body of Alex, but the one inside would have been someone else.]


    ''Just like me?'' Alex asked while lying down on the bed, staring at the sealing.


    [Yes, and that was the reason why we were able toe here. The system forcibly reced your soul with the person that was supposed to be the new Alex right when he was about to enter the body.]


    ''So, where is that person right now?'' Alex asked as the system didn''t kill the person but reced them.


    [They would have died in space by now since that person was already on their dying breath.]


    ''Oh, okay.'' Alex didn''t feel any remorse or guilt that a person died because of him and it was because even if it was his first time hearing someone die in this life, he knew that he had killed many people in his past lives.


    [So, what are you going to do now?] Sophia asked and got the answer right after that.


    ''let''s activate the bloodline and the title first.''


    Alex was eager to gain new powers even though he knew that they were his power from the start. Sophia said that he has to enjoy his life, then he would enjoy it the best he can, he would go on adventures and this world would be his first adventure.


    [Activating Supreme Human Bloodline and Pioneer Titleplete.]


    Along with Sophia''s voice came a new sensation. Alex felt that his body was being soaked in a sauna and it continued for a while then he also heard a clicking voice inside his head and a new flood of information came along.


    This time it was the information about the bloodline and the title.


    [Supreme Human (Bloodline):


    - Super regeneration.


    - Very high affinity with the four basic elements of nature (Fire, Water, Wind, Earth).


    - Ability to suppress andmand any Human bloodline holder.


    - The abilities of this bloodline can be used together with any other bloodline''s ability without them opposing each other.


    - Highest adaptability.


    - Fast learner (skill): Ability to learn anything or everything very fast depending on the difficulty. Increases any kind of mental attack and defense skills power to a very high degree.


    - Highest potential among any other bloodline of the same Rank.


    - Increase in strength is higher the more you push your body.


    (Increase in strength required to know more of its capabilities.)]


    Many would think there is nothing special about this bloodline, but those who could understand the importance of it would know what it means.


    Just with the ability to control any other human bloodline proves the value of this bloodline, not to mention the other properties along ''Fast learner'' skills.


    Even with all this, it''s not the full power of this bloodline since Alex could unlock more of its functions with a substantial increase in his strength.


    When Alex activated this bloodline, he felt that his A+ rank stats had now increased to S+ but he wasn''t surprised since every strong bloodline increases strength by some margin.


    [Pioneer of the elements (Title): It is a title given to the person who first mastered the use of Five basic elements known as Water, Fire, Earth, Air, and Space.


    - The five elements are like your limbs; you can control them any way you want.


    - You can fuse any of these five elements the way you see fit.


    - Five elemental Zone (Skill): It is an ability that opens a domain that allows you to control any kind of attack of your enemy if it contains even a hint of the five elements under your control. This domain can also be used to disintegrate or absorb attacks from your enemy. (It grows along with you, the higher your power is, the higher its power is)]


    The title function offers various kinds of benefits. Sometimes, a title provides only passive skills, while other times it grants knowledge and more. However, some powerful titles bestow Zones.


    These Zones or domains are coveted abilities that even the most powerful individuals spend their lives trying to attain, often without sess. This particr title grants Alex a Zone because of its significant power.


    The more challenging it is to acquire a title, the more powerful it tends to be. In some cases, achieving something that no one else has aplished can also lead to gaining a powerful title.


    Alex wouldn''t have unlocked this powerful title if he hadn''t attained the Supreme Human bloodline, which gives him a high affinity for four of the five elements associated with the Pioneer of the Elements (POTE) title, contributing to unlocking it.


    As Alex pondered this information, he began experimenting with fire and water, creating balls of each element in his hands. After testing each element he could control, he summoned Destruction energy in his hand and examined it.


    ..............


    [When are you going to open the Gift?]


    Sophia asked this as if reminding him that he still had something to do when she saw that some time had passed.


    ''Oh, yes. Open the gift pack.'' Alex said after realising his blunder.


    [The items inside the Gift pack are transferred to the inventory:


    - Random bloodline token.


    - Random skill token.


    - Random weapon token.]


    ''Use the tokens.''


    As Alex said that, he could see the inventory became empty and the next second, he felt a new bloodline and skill inside his body and a new item in the inventory. However, the bloodline was still deactivated.


    [A new bloodline has been awakened.


    A new skill is added to your skill set.


    A new item is added to your inventory.]


    The prompt from the system proved his feelings right. After he looked at the name of the bloodline he said.


    ''Activate the newly obtained Bloodline.'' When he said that he was also looking through the skill and weapon he had obtained, he would be lying if he said that he wasn''t surprised.


    [Skill:


    Guise maniption (EX): You can manipte yourself or your surroundings so that no one will ever be able to realize the changes. This Skill lets you change your looks, body, voice or any physical aspect.


    You can use this skill to cover yourself with mana and then be invisible to anyone as long they are not touched by you. This ability lets you disguise an item or surrounding in a way that would seem like nothing had changed even if you make a whole mountain disappear in front of a group of people. (The strength of the skill grows along with you)]


    He was not surprised because of the strength of this skill, he was surprised because he remembered a guy, an old man who taught him this ability. That old man always wore ragged clothes and held a bottle filled with some kind of weird drink.


    This skill was taught to him by that old man as that old man said that he had the potential and taught him the skill.


    However, that is all he could recall, he could not remember anything about this old man other than the fact that he taught him this skill and how he looked.


    He had an unshaven messy white beard that covered almost half of his face along with his brown eyes that looked drunken every time, but if someone looked carefully then they would notice that these eyes were just a fa?ade to make people let their guard down while they observed everything.


    That old man always had a smile on his face and no one could tell if he was acting or just always happy.


    [Inventory:


    -Simple Sword (Undefined): The creator of this sword wanted to create a simple sword and that is why it is named a simple sword. But because of the creator''s high skills and the strongest metal from the olden times used to make this sword, it turned out to be anything but normal.


    This sword has not been used yet after its creation and to use this sword you need to pour a drop of your blood on the sword to let it recognize you as its master. This sword grows along with the user and will not break because of any kind of ability the user uses with it.]


    This sword looked like any normal sword like it had nothing special. But if master craftsmen were to see it, they would do anything in their power just to get to touch the sword.


    It was a one-handed sword with a ck hilt and a double-edged silver de along with a ck scabbard. Alex then proceeded to bind the weapon with himself by taking it out of the inventory and dropping a drop of blood on it.


    When the blood fell on the de it started humming as if it were very happy and Alex could feel its happiness so he gently stroked its de calming it down. Alex then put the sword back in the scabbard when he felt that his Bloodline was activated.


    This time it felt as if his body was being massaged gently and slowly, while his looks changed again. Now, he looked more handsome and... devilish?


    That would be the right word. His eyes had turned sharp along with his brows and if someone looked in those eyes now, then they would feel both scared and attracted. The length of his hair didn''t increase, it just tuned a little denser.


    Almost everything remained the same, but the difference was that his demeanour had turned sharp and seductive at the same time.


    The Alex right now was like the most delicious and poisonous drink since people would like to taste it even if they knew they would die if they even took a sip of it.


    [Celestial Incubus (Bloodline):


    - Super regeneration along with high magical power.


    - Your aura attracts any living thing towards you (works better on opposite sex).


    - Incubus transformation (Skill): Lets you transform into a celestial incubus, with unmatched sexual abilities and high magic regeneration along with higher magic energy.


    - Ecstasy touch (Skill): Your touch can make anyone feel good. The intensity of the pleasure can be controlled by you, it can make someone calm down and I could also make someone be a ve of your touch.


    - Incubus strengthening (Skill): As an Incubus you can power up by having intercourse with your partners. If your woman is of a higher rank than you, then you will gain more from the intercourse till you reach the same level as your woman. If you are the stronger one then the opposite happens.


    (Other abilities are locked till you increase your strength)]


    This bloodline was as powerful as the Supreme Human bloodline, both of them had their plus point and their methods of gaining strength.


    It''s just that the way to gain power in thetter, you needed to work hard while for the former you just needed to be hard. However, the incubus bloodline also increased his Energy/Mana stat to SS rank.


    Now he had one more way to increase his powers and he was also not against the idea of having a harem as he felt that it was normal for him. As for the question, of whether the women would agree to Harem or not?


    Then he didn''t need to worry since this world doesn''t restrict harem, instead, it promotes harem. He already had someone in his mind and just when he thought about her, he heard a prompt for a quest and was a little surprised by the objective of the quest.


    ...........


    Author Here!!


    If you like the book development, add it to your library.


    Tell me about your thoughts in thement or the review.


    That''s all.

 Chapter 4 - 4 – The first quest.

    <h4>Chapter 4: CHAPTER 4 �C The first quest.</h4>


    It was approximately noon when Alex received the quest and the quest was about someone he knew very well, or at least the previous ''he'' knew her very well.


    When Alex still lived in the orphanage, he had a girl he had arge crush on. If we were to use the right word, then it would be that he was a simp for her, it was so bad that if she said that she loved him and asked him to die for her, then he might do just that.


    During his time at the orphanage, Alex was treated differently by everyone - some were scared, some were jealous, some hated him, and some loved him, among others.


    However, there was one girl who stood out; she never cared about others'' opinions and treated him like a brother. Whenever he was alone, she woulde and sit by his side, reassuring him that she would protect him from anyone, even if he didn''t need her help.


    She yed a significant role in ensuring he was not bullied at the orphanage, as she became an S-rank Raider when the Gates appeared five years ago.


    From his childhood to the present, Alex has never experienced a true friendship. Therefore, when he found someone who treated him kindly, he began to develop feelings for her. However, he struggled with expressing these emotions, as she was the first person he had ever loved.


    Five years ago, when the Gates appeared, the said girl awakened her power she turned out to have very strong power along with being an S-ranked Raider.


    This was the reason why, upon opening her guild and assuming the role of guild master in a guild that is now one of the top-ranking guilds in Orange Country, she had very little time to visit the orphanage due to her newfound fame.


    During her interview one day, the host inquired if she had someone she loved, to which she responded affirmatively. This revtion made Alex somewhat nervous.


    However, the host then broke out of her surprise and asked the girl for the name of the person she loved, to which she replied, "His name is Alex."


    Upon hearing her words, Alex was initially overwhelmed with happiness to the point of feeling like crying. However, this joy was short-lived as she introduced him as her little brother, given that he was a year younger than her.


    With this realization sinking in, he understood that she never viewed him as a man, but rather as her brother. Despite this revtion, he still harboured thoughts of confessing his feelings to her when they next met.


    Unfortunately, a fragment of his remaining determination shattered when the host of the show inquired about the type of man the girl would consider dating.


    The girl responded that she would prefer her partner to be stronger than her so that he could assist her in times of need. She emphasized the importance of him not being passive in their rtionship and mentioned that her feelings would ultimately depend on the individual and her personal liking towards him.


    Realizing that his dream of being with her would never materialize, he made the decision to leave the orphanage. He understood that he could never surpass her in strength and that he often found himself taking a passive role in their conversations.


    Additionally, while she did like him, it was in a brotherly manner, further diminishing his chances of sess.


    He left without informing anyone of his destination, believing that she wouldn''t be able to locate him.


    He no longer wished to remain here, knowing that if he were to see her smile at him again and scold him as if he were her younger brother, he might do something regrettable, something he shouldn''t do.


    Despite still loving her deeply, more than anything else, he chose to distance himself to prevent causing her harm. When the previous Alex passed away, these memories, along with his intense love for the girl, were transferred to the new Alex.


    This could have posed a problem if it were someone else, but Alex possessed a significantly stronger mind. Even if those emotions did affect him, he wasn''t consumed by love for that girl as he was in the memories. Nevertheless, he did hold affection for her.


    Therefore, he was somewhat taken aback by the quest he received.


    [New Quest: -


    Quest objective: Tell Alice that Alex has died, and you are someone else who will be living in this body.


    Reward: 20000 points.


    Penalty: ---]


    The girl''s name was Alice; she did not have ast name as it was given to her by the orphanage, unlike him who carried his name like some sort of product information.


    As he looked at the Quest, he knew it was a challenging one. Despite the fact that it would be easy to simply kill Alice after revealing himself to her, he did not want to do that.


    Even though the intense love he felt for the previous one had faded, indicating that he did not love her as deeply as before, he still had feelings for her. He also recognized her high potential, as he could easily sense people''s potential, although he did not know why.


    ''Are all the quests like this?'' He asked Sophia after deciding he would try not to harm her. He hoped she wouldn''t react harshly, but he understood that her care for Alex made it unlikely.


    [No, this is your first quest and that is why it''s like that. Some quests give you a single task, some give you multiple tasks, some give you task/s along with a bonus task and some tasks might be a simple task such as moving a single step.


    The rewards also vary ording to the quests and this one has a high reward because it is a mental quest and also your first quest.]


    "I see, so quests that are not rted to physical fights or movements are more rewarding. Is that correct?" Alex inquired, demonstrating his understanding of the concept.


    [Yes.] Sophia replied simply while also harbouring curiosity about how he would tackle this particr quest.


    Despite their undisclosed rtionship thus far, Sophia had been present with him in all his past lives and was aware that in each life, he had at least two to three women.


    Alex understood that Sophia was not the one who assigned him the quest, nor did she have any control over the system.


    She was simply a spirit who could assist him, akin to a receptionist at a shop. Consequently, he refrained from bombarding her with numerous questions.


    ......


    Author Here!


    Please tell me your thoughts about my book.


    Write a review, write ament, add it to the library or anything else, just let me know you are reading my book.


    That''s it.

 Chapter 5 - 5 – Alice.

    <h4>Chapter 5: CHAPTER 5 �C Alice.</h4>


    Alex had been staying in his room, spending the rest of the day surfing the, gathering more information about the world, and testing all his abilities. When he attempted to use the zone skill, he could only create a zone with a 5m radius around him.


    This skill consumed a significant amount of his mana, and he realized that it was essentially a form of cheating.


    Without his instant regeneration, he might only be able to sustain the skill for two or three seconds, as activating a 5m zone depleted half of his mana. If he wished to expand the size of his zone, he would need to increase the mana pool within his body.


    Even with instant regeneration, he could only replenish what he already had and not more than that.


    He could only use skills that consumed no more than 99% of his mana, as his mana regeneration was limited and not infinite. He then attempted to test his perception skill to determine its maximum range. He discovered that he could sense up to 200m of his surroundings, which was satisfactory.


    He proceeded to test each of his skills one by one, gathering information along the way. By the time he hadpleted all the testing and information gathering, it was already midnight.


    Therefore, he decided to get some sleep while contemting how to handle Alice.


    ........


    In the morning, when Alex woke up, he went out for a run, taking a mask with him. With his charm now rated as SSS+, he was aware that the attention he would attract solely based on his appearance would rival that of the world''s top-ranked Raiders.


    Despite his efforts to conceal his features, his height, aura, and muscles were impossible to hide from onlookers.


    Many people attempted to engage him in conversation, and some girls even flirted with him, offering their phone numbers and suggesting he call themter.


    He exchanged a few words with some individuals, while others he ignoredpletely, appearing as though he didn''t hear them or wasn''t aware they were addressing him.


    After running for half an hour, he engaged in exercises like pushups, pullups, sit-ups, and nks before heading back to his residence.


    Upon reaching the building where he lived, he paused on the stairs upon sensing someone standing in front of his locked room.


    He always kept his perception skill active due to his instant regeneration, only deactivating it when using skills that required arge amount of mana, like the Five Elemental Zone. However, he sighed once he realized the identity of the figure standing in front of his room.


    He could see a beautiful girl standing by the door, resting her back against the wall. She had long red hair that would reach her waist if she didn''t tie it in a ponytail. Her red eyes disyed impatience, indicating a short temper.


    Her cherry red lips glistened with luster, while her small and delicate noseplemented her features. Standing with her arms folded below her breasts, she entuated her modest chest, giving the illusion of arger size.


    She wore a loose red T-shirt, tight ck pants, and ck shoes, and despite the casual attire, they couldn''t conceal her perfectly shaped posterior and athletic, provocative figure.


    However, she did not resemble an S-rank Raider or the guild master of one of thergest guilds in the orange country, as Alex had described her. Instead, she appeared to be just a normal girl in a red T-shirt and ck pants.


    Alex could see her clearly, unaffected by disguises, and the ring she wore on her index finger did not conceal her true appearance from him.


    Yes, it was Alice from his orphanage, and she was wearing an item with a disguise function, as it would cause a lot ofmotion if she were seen in public.


    In fact, almost every guild master or S-rank Raider had one of those since being famous was not always good.


    There were many types of items obtained from the Gates - some were used for fighting, some for support, some for defense, and many more.


    Disguise ornaments were on the rarer side in the items obtained, so it was hard to buy or acquire, and only some privileged people could have them.


    If a normal Raider were to obtain one, they would likely sell it as it was better than risking their life for an item.


    In the world of Raiders, people with expensive items butcking the power to protect them were considered fools, as they could be easily robbed or even killed to prevent any traces of theft.


    Alex thought for a while, then he moved toward his room while still wearing his mask. When he reached the room, Alice looked at him and observed him, only realizing who he was when he stood in front of her.


    She looked at him with evident confusion on her face.


    "Alex?" she said, recognizing him but feeling like he was someone else.


    "Yes, pleasee inside. We have a lot to talk about," Alex replied, opening the door to his room. Alice, still wearing her disguise, followed him inside, her confusion evident on her face.


    As they entered the room, Alice forgot about her anger at him for leaving the orphanage without a word, and for searching for him everywhere.


    She couldn''t shake the feeling that this person in front of her wasn''t quite the Alex she knew, but she also felt strangely drawn to him.


    Despite her conflicting emotions, a sense of foreboding weighed on her heart, leaving her restless and unsure of what was toe.

 Chapter 6 - 6 – Misunderstanding.

    <h4>Chapter 6: CHAPTER 6 �C Misunderstanding.</h4>


    "Alex left without saying anything."


    Alice thought to herself as she arrived at the orphanage to spend time with her brother. She couldn''t understand why he would suddenly disappear without a word.


    She considered the possibility that he may have been bullied in her absence, but after questioning those she suspected, she still couldn''t find any answers.


    Despite not being the brightest, Alice was determined to find out what had driven her brother to leave.


    As she searched for clues, she grew more and more frustrated, especially when she discovered he had blocked her number. She couldn''t understand why he would shut her out, knowing how much she cared for him.


    Feeling hurt and abandoned, Alice began to doubt if she was truly special to him. Her anger only grew as she continued her search, but finally, her subordinate informed her of Alex''s whereabouts.


    Though still furious, Alice decided to confront him and demand answers for his sudden disappearance.


    It was only then that a strange thought suddenly emerged in her mind - Did he love her?


    She didn''t know why it appeared, but it did anyway, and it made her anger dissipate as she started thinking about this topic.


    As she made her way to his home, she couldn''t help but feel a mix of emotions, wondering what his response would be when she finally confronted him about his actions.


    She thought of him as a little brother to protect, not as a man who would protect her. How could she imagine that her little brother could be someone she would have a romantic interest in?


    She knew her brother was very handsome. No, to her, he was the most handsome man in the world (the old Alex, not the new one, as he really is the most handsome man in the world), but she could only see Alex as her brother, at least the Alex she knew.


    But then she threw these thoughts away as she could not find anything to prove this thought of hers right. She just thought that it was a random thought that appeared in her mind, how could she have known that it was just the plot that made that thought enter her mind?


    When she arrived at the location provided by her subordinate, she found the door locked, but she knew the room belonged to him as she had verified it with the building owner. She waited there for at least half an hour, growing impatient.


    Then, she saw someone approaching. She could tell he was very handsome, perhaps second only to her brother, even with a mask on.


    He had shoulder-length, dense, ink-ck hair and dark red eyes like her brother, albeit slightly darker. As he walked up to her, she realized his height was also simr to her brother''s.


    However, when he stood in front of the door to the room, not in front of her, she didn''t need to be a genius to figure out that the person in front of her was her brother, not someone who just resembled him.


    Her confusion was not unfounded, as he felt different from her; he was not like her brother. Her brother never had this strong, profound, seductive, or devilish aura around him.


    He was just a normal guy with very handsome features. And even though he was not a pushover, he was also not someone who was this... big (Don''t get the wrong meaning).


    She struggled to find the right words to describe this feeling; it was as if she felt drawn to him and wanted to get to know him, but he seemed too imposing or grand for her to truly understand.


    However, one thing remained the same �C the lonely aura that surrounded him, though now it was less noticeable, she could still feel it.


    Nheless, she gathered the courage to speak. "Alex?" she called out.


    He replied, as expected, "Yes, pleasee inside. We have a lot to talk about."


    She nodded in agreement and followed him, filled with questions and a desire to learn more about him.


    ...............


    Alex was now sitting on the chair in front of Alice, who was making herselffortable on the bed as he offered her to sit on the bed. Alex also patiently waited since he knew she had many questions, and he was going to answer truthfully.


    Was it because truth always prevails or something? No, he just didn''t like lying. He would either answer a question truthfully or not answer the question at all - the things in between are always something that he likes to avoid.


    However, he will lie if the situation really calls for it, but those are special cases.


    "So, what happened to you?" Alice asked after sittingfortably.


    "If you are talking about me, then nothing happened to me." His answer was simple, but it caused Alice to frown.


    "What do you mean I am talking about you? Of course, I am talking about you. Do you even know how worried I was when I couldn''t find you?" Alice asked with some anger in her voice, though the cause of her anger was that he was still wearing the mask.


    "And why the hell are you wearing a mask inside your own house?!" This time her voice raised a little.


    When she saw him still wearing the mask along with the eyes that didn''t look at her like they did in the past, she felt like he was treating her differently.


    "You are misunderstanding something. I am not the one you were searching for," Alex replied calmly, not minding her behavior since he understood how she felt.


    "What does that mean? Are you seriously saying that when I am sitting in front of you? Or are you just trying to push me out of your house?!" Now Alice was really getting angry, and Alex could see it.


    "Remove the mask," Alice demanded and Alex didn''t think too much about removing his mask, showing his face along with his full charm, making Alice''s anger dissipate in an instant.


    Alice was stunned when she saw him after he removed the mask. Even though she knew he was handsome, she felt that now even a handsome word would not be suitable for him.


    Saying he looked godly would be more deserving. After a while, when she realized she had been staring at him for a while, her face turned red in embarrassment for thinking that way.


    "I am not the Alex that you are looking for." Seeing that she was in no situation to ask anything right now, Alex said.


    This resulted in her regaining her focus and frowning again. Even though his looks could give him a favorable position during a conversation with someone of the opposite sex, that doesn''t mean that if he killed a whole family of a woman, and then smiled at her, she would start liking him.


    "What do you mean? Aren''t you Alex?" She asked with confusion as she really couldn''t understand what he meant.


    "I am Alex, but I am not the Alex you knew. The Alex you knew is now dead," Alex exined.


    As Alex said that, he could see Alice was getting more confused since body takeover was something that only happened in novels and mangas. But when she heard that the Alex she knew was dead, her face became serious and she clenched her hands.


    "What do you mean by ''the Alex I knew is dead''? I don''t want to y around with words, so exin properly," she demanded while leaking her mana out as if she would attack if he didn''t answer.


    He thought that maybe he was just someone who looked like Alex or had done something to Alex, and now he was up to something. She also started to think that maybe he was using some kind of disguise ability and it was a trap from the start.


    "Do you think you canmand me?" Alex was being considerate of her, and here she was, not even trying to show any mercy. So, he decided to give her a lesson to see how talented she was.


    He understood that his charms were not going to work on her now, not unless he used his charm as a weapon by smiling and flirting with her or directly transforming into Celestial Incubus.


    "Yes, I can," she replied and got up from the bed. But Alex continued sitting on the chair in a rxed manner, which caused her to be annoyed as she had already removed her disguise when she entered the room. She was sure that he knew who she was.


    As an S-ranked Raider, she had pride in her power, and of course, someone underestimating her would make her annoyed.


    ....


    Please tell me your thoughts about my book in the review.

 Chapter 7 - 7 – The Truth.

    <h4>Chapter 7: CHAPTER 7 �C The Truth.</h4>


    Alex was sitting in a rxed position while a renowned S-rank Raider, Alice, moved towards him with annoyance and some anger.


    "Oh? Why do you think so?" Alex asked in a rxed tone while raising a brow when he heard Alice say, ''Yes, I can''.


    Although it made him look more handsome, Alice also blushed. But she also became more annoyed thinking that he was also using a seduction ability.


    "Because I am stronger than you." As she said that, she also moved her hands towards Alex''s neck, thinking of lifting him by his neck. But she was stunned the next second.


    "Are you now?" Alex asked with a smile while holding her wrist that was just in front of his neck.


    Alice knew that although she was not physically strong like other S-rank Raiders she was a mage. But she knew her strength was not weak enough to not be able to move her hand away from his grip.


    Not unless he was really strong, so, she decided to get serious, even if she needed to blow up the whole room. So, she used her mana and created a dark orange and yellow mixed me, it was different and strongerpared to normal mes.


    But when she saw the next scene she was left dumbfounded since her strongest power, her mes that even the strongest of the S-rankers feared, was not able to harm the man sitting in front of her. Worse yet he was able to control her mes somehow.


    "Is that all?" Alex asked while he looked curiously at his palm that held the mes that Alice used.


    Even though he didn''t use his Zone, how could he control Alice''s me? Tell me can your own limbs harm you without your permission? No, right? That''s what happened.


    Even though Alice''s mes had the potential to be something that he wouldn''t be able to y with like this, without using the Zone, right now, though, they are just some mes that are slightly stronger than normal mes (From his perspective).


    However, things were different for Alice as she understood that the person in front of her was not someone she could defeat alone, at least not alone. So, she tried clicking the secret button on her phone with her free hand only to get her phone taken by Alex, which made her helpless.


    "We can''t have you do that right now." He said while finally releasing her wrist. Alice rubbed her wrist since it hurt a little being held so hard, while she also started thinking of making ns to run away.


    Even though she was short-tempered and hot-headed all the time, she was also a guild master and she knew how to deal with different kinds of situations.


    She understood that she would end up miserable or get killed if she tried fighting the person in front of her, so, she decided to run. Just when she was racking her brain to find a way to escape from here, she heard a sigh.


    "Alice, can you please listen to me for a while?" Alex asked Alice gently, which caused her to be bewildered as she remembered perfectly that her brother also called her like that.


    "I am not your enemy, if I were then I would have already killed you." It was then that Alice realized her situation and also understood what he meant, so she nodded her head.


    "Sit down first since it''s going to be a long talk." Seeing her nod Alex said and Alice nodded again and sat on the bed as she did before, then she looked at Alex.


    "All right then, let me ask you a question first. Do you know why Alex left the orphanage?" Alex asked and started making ns on how to make her believe that he was Alex and not someone in disguise since he could understand what people would think in her situation and position.


    "No," Alice replied with a frown, not understanding the meaning behind this question since if she knew then she wouldn''t havee here to ask the same thing.


    "It was because of you." But when she heard Alex''s next word, she looked at him in suspicion not understanding even a bit of what he said.


    Seeing this Alex continued, "You thought of him as your brother, right?"


    Seeing her nod her head and smile a little remembering her time with Alex, he said.


    "And are you sure he also thought of you as his sister?" Alice''s reply was instantaneous without any hesitation.


    "Of course, we both treated eac-" Alex cut her words and asked again, "Are you sure?" This time Alice understood what he was pointing at and she fell into deep thought.


    Slowly she started realizing something, till now he had never ever called her sister and he also gave her presents with letters saying that he loved her.


    She always thought that he was saying that as a brother and sister not like a man and woman, but now she understood.


    "Looks like you understand." Alice stared at Alex for a while thinking how he knew this but nodded in the end.


    However, she still didn''t understand how that would suddenly make him leave the orphanage as he had always had feelings for her then why did he leave now?


    "He saw yourtest interview." As if reading her mind Alex said causing Alice to be surprised but then as she remembered the interview, she understood what happened and why he left the orphanage.


    "Where is he now?" Alice finally asked a question. But the question caused Alex to sigh.


    "I told you that he died remember?" He asked Alice and she bit her lips trying to stop herself from doing something stupid.


    She didn''t want to believe that Alex had died and wanted to get any information she could out of the man in front of her, but she knew she couldn''t do that since she was the weaker one.


    "You don''t believe me, do you?" Alex asked again and without her saying he understood what was going through her head.


    Even though he didn''t have the memories of previous lives he still had their experience engraved inside his soul, so, understanding what someone was thinking based on their expression was not that hard for him.


    Alice just stared at him and didn''t say anything else, causing him to sigh. He thought it was really troublesome dealing with this woman, but he still got up from the chair causing Alice to be tense, and then moved towards the drawer.


    <You always had a soft spot for Red-heads.> Sophia sighed looking at the scene but didn''t say it out loud just thought in her head as she didn''t want him to remember anything before the time was right.


    When Alex arrived at the drawer, he took out the tube that contained the leftover Awakening potion and tossed it to Alice who caught what was thrown at her.


    "Do you know what that is?" Alex asked and she nodded in response. Then hepleted his words, "That is what killed him."


    Hearing his words, Alice again looked at him with doubt and suspicion. Seeing this Alex nodded internally and understood that no one would believe what he said, after all, it was an Awakening potion and not poison.


    "Do you think he was an Unawakened person?" Unlikest time, Alice didn''t reply instantly, not wanting to make the same mistake again and instead, she asked.


    "Was he a Raider?" She asked, not believing it since she had never seen him using any power and if he was a Raider, he would have at least told her about it.


    "No," Alex continued, after looking at her puzzled look.


    "His power was too strong for him to control so it stayed dormant in his body." His words made her shocked. Now, she understood what would have happened if what he said was true.


    "D-did he?" She asked not being able to control her tears as she understood that maybe her brother had really died and that too because of his own power.


    "Yes, that''s what I have been since the start." He replied with a sigh. ''Finally, the first part is done.'' He thought and started preparing for the second part.


    ___________________________________________________


    Author here!!


    I would really appreciate it if you could at least tell me your thoughts about my book and I would be grateful if you could add a review as well.


    Withoutments or reviews, it just feels like no one is reading my book even after so much effort I put in.


    That''s all.

 Chapter 8 - 8 – Talk with Alice 1.

    <h4>Chapter 8: CHAPTER 8 �C Talk with Alice 1.</h4>


    Alex was sitting in his room on the chair while looking at Alice who was holding back her tears, but her breathing was hitched.


    Seeing all this, he just couldn''t sit still. He got up from the chair and gave her a tissue, he knew that it was not right to just pat or hug a girl when she thinks of you as a stranger or worse, she is doubtful of you.


    However, even if he did that while using his full charm, he knew that she would just blush and keep her head down, but right now she was still wary of him and he needed to remove that wariness.


    "C-can you at least tell me where his body is?" She asked Alex with a pleading voice, she knew that she couldn''t demand anything from him, so, she just requested.


    "Do you remember what I said before?" He asked her while shaking his head. Alice looked at him quizzically, since she couldn''t understand which line he was talking about.


    "I said that I am Alex but I am also not the ''Alex'' you knew, right?" Seeing that she didn''t understand what he meant, he asked her again.


    Alice didn''t say anything and just looked at him as she had heard him say that before, but she didn''t understand what it meant and even now she couldn''t understand the meaning behind this line.


    "I said that he died because of his power, right?" Not getting an answer from Alice he asked again and this time Alice nodded.


    "It was because his body couldn''t handle the power that was dormant in his body and after drinking the Awakening potion his power might have be Active causing his death."


    "Yes, that''s right," Alex said hearing her reasoning, and then he continued, "It''s this power." As he said that, he made a ball of destruction appear in his hand.


    Alice became tense when the ball appeared, she could feel the raw power of destruction it had.


    She knew that if he used that power on her, she wouldn''t even be able to do anything but die. Even though she knew that he could defeat her and their confrontation would end in her loss, she still felt there were some chances of her escaping.


    But seeing him use that power she knew that even running away would not be possible and that made her more tense and frustrated.


    Tense because she knew that she would not even be able to escape if he wanted her not to, and frustrated because as an S-ranked raider, she had never felt this helpless.


    But when she realized the meaning of his words, she became even warier.


    "No, it''s not as you think. I am not someone who killed him to steal his power. Do you think I would be telling you all this if I were the one who did this?" Realizing why she became warier; he exined it to her. Alice rxed a little hearing his reasoning, but she was still wary of him.


    Some people can steal abilities from other people, and after stealing abilities they kill the said person to not leave any proof behind.


    He also had that kind of ability but there was no need to say that as that would only make him look more suspicious. He would see how it goes between him and Alice, then find an opportunity to talk about itter.


    "Now, I will tell you what really happened." Listening to his words Alice also nodded and became focused. So, Alex continued.


    "Alex drank the Awakening potion and it caused his death, but that was where I came in. I who had also died somewhere was given another chance and my soul was transferred to his body. So, now I am Alex and this is what I have been trying to exin to you." After exining it to Alice, all he got from her was a skeptical look.


    Alex also knew that it was hard to believe, so, he continued.


    "Why do you think I know things that no one other than him should have known? Why do you think that I look just like him? And for your knowledge, I am not using any kind of disguise ability, you can check it if you want to.


    When I got his body, I also got the memories along with some of his feelings for you, or else I would have killed you first since only you know him enough to understand that I am not him." Hearing Alex''s words, Alice trembled a little since she knew his reasoning was right, but she was also shocked when she heard hisst words.


    "Then, who are you?" Alice asked after calming down a little.


    "I don''t know, I don''t remember anything about my previous Self, other than some abilities, that is," Alex replied truthfully, even if he didn''t tell her everything.


    "You don''t remember?" Alice asked curiously, not realizing that she had already put away her wariness from him and was just curious about his existence.


    Even though she loved her brother and she was sad for him, she knew she couldn''t me him, but she still had a question left.


    "Yes. I continue using the name Alex in remembrance of thete Alex but also because I don''t remember my name. This is also why I said that I am Alex but not the one you knew." Alex exined to her patiently after seeing that she was not wary of him anymore.


    "Are you sure you are not Alex, I know that your looks have changed and personality as well. But it could be that you are still Alex but you just don''t remember it, after all, you said that you don''t remember anything other than Alex''s memories. It could be something like a split personality." Alice finally asked her question with some hope in her voice, she blushed when she talked about his looks and personality, though.


    She had seen some people who got a split personality after Awakening some kind of unique power, so, she thought that maybe this was also the same.


    "No, even though I don''t remember my past, I know perfectly well that I was not someone from this world," Alex said and Alice again became shocked.


    "You are from another world? That''s not possible. There is no other world." Alice said in a tone that clearly said she was not buying it. Alex also understood that since the people of this world had yet to find even a single inhabited world other than their own. But...


    "Did you ever think that using magic was possible before the Gates appeared? No right, but you can use magic now. It''s the same for other worlds as well, you just haven''t found them yet." Alex reasoned calmly.


    He knew there were many other worlds out there and many other things as well, but he was not going to exin these things to her since he could see that she was having a hard time believing even what he had said.


    "B-but it''s not possible, how can there be any other world." Alice was still having a hard time believing it, so, Alex said something that she might be able to believe.


    "What do you think a Gate is? Where do you think the monsters inside of ite from? They are not from this world from what I know, and they disappear once we kill them. So, don''t you think they might be from some other world? The gate never creates monsters, it only stores them and you might have known that as well." As Alex continued his words, Alice also started thinking about his words and somehow, they made more sense than any other spections done by the scientists.


    She looked at him straight and asked. "How strong are you?"


    "Hmm, strong enough that no one in this world would be able to defeat me," Alex''s reply was rxed but there was deep-rooted confidence in his words that could not be hidden.


    This made Alice realize that he might be stronger than she had thought and his evaluation in her mind.


    "Is there anything else you would want to know?" Alex asked her as he saw her in deep thought.


    "Yes." She replied and Alex waved his hand, telling her to continue.


    "You said Alex''s power was so strong that his body couldn''t handle it and he died, right?" This was something she wanted to know.


    __________________________________________________


    Author Here!!


    Please tell me what you think about my book in thements or review.


    Just show some activity to let me know that my efforts are not going to waste.


    That''s all.

 Chapter 9 - 9 – Talk with Alice 2.

    <h4>Chapter 9: CHAPTER 9 �C Talk with Alice 2.</h4>


    "You said Alex''s power was so strong that his body couldn''t handle it and he died, right?" Alice asked and seeing Alex nod his head, she continued.


    "Then how are you still alive while using the said power in his body that is said to be the cause of his death?" She was still a little dubious of his answers since how was he still alive when her brother died because he was weak, and why was his body so strong when he had her brother''s body as he imed to have?


    "That is because I am not your brother." His words were simple, but they shocked Alice.


    "I have his ability and it''s strong, I would not deny that, but did I say that I am strong because of his skill? I have abilities that are stronger than his skill, that is why my body is stronger and that is also why I am still alive with his powers."


    With Alex''s exnation, Alice also remembered that he didn''t use her brother''s power to control her mes, it was a different skill.


    She again raised his power evaluation in her mind not realizing that she was already thinking of him as the strongest while forgetting about her brother.


    It might be because of the Incubus'' aura that makes peoplefortable around him but after realizing that he was not her enemy she started thinking of ways to befriend him.


    With his powers and looks that were even better than her brother''s, there might even be a chance of them getting together.


    "Can I go back now?" When she realized that both of them had been silent for a while, she asked in a low voice as she was getting a little nervous now.


    She could see that he was observing her and that only made her more nervous, she was not ready to do something like that, at least not for now.


    That too when she just had a positive image of his, she wanted them to at least like each other before they did something. She blushed hard thinking that she might not reject him at that time...


    "No." His words caused her to be more nervous, and she only increased when he continued, "I want you to do something for me."


    "W-what d-do you want?" She said while hugging her body with her hands, but she became embarrassed when she saw him giving her a nk stare.


    "I won''t do that, at least not until you want me to." When he said the first line, she rxed a little but hearing thetter part she became very embarrassed and hung her head down.


    "What do you want me to do?" She asked after she regained her bearing. She felt that it would not be bad to help someone as strong as him since it was rare for someone like that to ask for help.


    "I want you to register me in your guild." He said simply, as he needed to enter either the Raider Association or guilds if he wanted to enter Gates.


    He could just sneak in the Gates, but he didn''t want to do that for now. So, he thought it would be better to join her guild rather than someone he didn''t know and he had already thought of making her his woman, so, it was even better.


    Alice also thought of something simr, she thought that maybe he was trying to court her by joining her guild.


    She knew he was stronger than her and there was no way he could not open his own guild after he was announced as an S-rank Raider. But he was still asking her to register him in her guild, somehow, she started feeling butterflies in her stomach.


    Her only wish is to make her guild the strongest in the world and she somehow felt that the man in front of her was someone who could make it possible.


    "You won''t?" Hearing his question, she realized that she had been in her thoughts for a long time and didn''t reply to him causing him to assume that she didn''t want him in her guild. So, she hurriedly replied.


    "No, I mean, Yes, I will register you at our guild." After Alex nodded his head, she continued.


    "You have yet to register as an S-ranked Raider, right?" She asked.


    "Yes, I was thinking of doing that tomorrow," Alex replied as he was going to get himself registered as a Raider in the Raider Association.


    "I wille with you. Take my number and call me when you are ready." She said while pointing at her phone that had been in Alex''s hand till now.


    Alex nodded, saved her number, and then gave the phone back to her.


    "Can I go back now? I haven''t contacted my guild members till now and they must be getting worried." She asked since she had told her friend that she would call her in an hour, and it had been much more than that.


    "Yes, you can go now. But keep my identity a secret." Alex reminded her and she nodded while getting from the bed and moving to the gate.


    "I will see you tomorrow," Alice said with a small smile, but she stopped when she heard his next words.


    "I am Alex, Alice. But remember well that I am not your brother anymore." Even though she wanted to say that she already knew that, she just nodded her head and left the room.


    It was only when she was out of the room and away from him that she started feeling that her brother had really died. The one she knew from childhood and the only one she knew had died.


    When she was sitting with Alex, she felt so rxed that she had forgotten about this. So, she leaned on the wall and started sobbing.


    Alex who was observing Alice with his skill sighed, came out of his room, and moved towards Alice, he couldn''t bear to see her cry like that.


    When Alice saw Alex moving towards her, she was surprised and tried to stop her tears but she became even more surprised when he came to her and hugged her, she also became nervous as even if it felt good, she thought that it was too fast.


    "Even if he is dead, I am here and I will always be here for you. So, you can cry, I will notugh at you." It was when she heard his words and felt her back being patted that she understood that he didn''t have any bad intentions, he was just trying to be nice to her.


    When she heard his words, the tears that she had been trying to stop flowed out like a dam and she cried for a long time.


    By the time she had stopped crying, she had realized that without her knowing she had sat on hisp while leaning on his chest and he was sitting with his back on the wall.


    She became very embarrassed, thinking what she had done, but then she noticed that someone had crossed them even without looking at them.


    She had not activated her disguise right now, and more than that she knew that no one could ignore Alex as he looked out of the world just with his face alone.


    She looked at Alex''s face only to realize that her face was just some centimeters away from him, causing her to look down with a blush filling her face.


    However, she understood that Alex also had some kind of stealth skill or something like that, which was also rare. He gave her a surprise by his powers again.


    "U-um," she said in a low voice.


    "Yes?" Alex asked looking at her, who was trembling on hisp like a timid hare.


    "C-can I go?" She asked in a low voice, still embarrassed.


    "You are the one holding me, I never stopped you." His words caused her embarrassment to reach the peak.


    She hurriedly got up and ran away at full speed, not even looking at Alex who was chuckling while looking at her running away.


    ..............


    Comments and reviews would be much appreciated.

 Chapter 10 - 10 – The Raider Association.

    <h4>Chapter 10: CHAPTER 10 �C The Raider Association.</h4>


    The Raider Association of Orange country is known to be the second strongest Raider association in the world along with having the highest number of Raiders.


    It is the strongest force of Orange country unlike Blue country, whose strongest force is the Destroyer Guild, which is the number one guild of the world, also famous for having the number one Raider of the world as the Guild master.


    The Raider Association of Orange country is what maintains order in this country, as the strongest force it could deal with anyone in the country unless some of the high-ranking guilds were tobine their forces, which is basically impossible.


    The main building of the Raider Association of each country is situated in the capital of the country which is located at the centre of their countries.


    But there are branches of the Raider Association in every state of the country and the number of states in Orange Country is 94. The number of states may sound like a lot but for countries that are sorge that only seven of them are there on the whole surface of Gaia, it''s prettymon.


    Right now, Alex is standing in front of the building of the Raider Association of the state he was in along with two beautiful girls.


    One of them was Alice, who was wearing the same loose red T-shirt and tight-fit pants along with ck shoes, being reprimanded by the other who was her secretary and also a best friend.


    She was a beautiful girl with light ck hair, tied in a bun while two strings of her hair fell on both sides of her face. Due to her hair being tied in a bun, her beautiful face was free of any obstruction.


    She had blue eyes and a thin, small, cute nose along with bright pink kissable lips. Small in height which added charm to her petite look, with small breasts and a thin waist, if one were to say, then just looking at her would make anyone want to protect her.


    She was beautiful, much more than any Raider of her calibre could be, her beauty wasparable to Alice who was one of the most beautiful girls in the country.


    It''s just that she didn''t show her face in public more than needed, so, she wasn''t that famous or else with her looks alone she could match Alice in poprity.


    She wore a fitting ck zer and pants along with a light pink shirt inside, the shirt had the top button open showing the beauty mark on the lower part of the long and smooth neck adding more points to her beauty along with her petite look as she was half a foot shorter than Alice, who was 172cm.


    She was scolding her best friend for how she wore casual clothes even whening to the Raider Association while also stealing nces at Alex who was wearing a mask to hide his face.


    When she heard from Alice that she had met someone who could easily defeat her as the guild head of a top guild in the country, she was sceptical.


    Even the world''s number one would be unable to defeat her if he did not attack her first, but her friend said that this person could do so, so she was understandably sceptical.


    However, because Alice insisted that he was really powerful, she eventually opted to meet the individual first.


    From what Alice had told her, that person would be joining their guild. So, she would test him when he entered the guild as even if she was Alice''s secretary, she was still an A-rank Raider and her name is Ann white.


    She was the one who informed Alice about the whereabouts of her brother, but she was shocked when she found out that instead of Alice''s brother it was a strong Raider that stayed there.


    As Alice''s best friend, she apanied her to the orphanage and saw Alice''s brother. She tried to talk to him, but he never replied, so she stopped trying.


    However, she could never forget how he looked. He was handsome enough to rival some Raiders in terms of looks. So, when Alice showed her a photo of this new Raider, she had many doubts about him and wondered if Alice was hiding something from her.


    Upon seeing Alex for the first time after his transformation, Ann noticed that he was wearing a in white shirt and dark ck pants that matched his hair colour, along with formal ck shoes. He was not wearing a mask and was still sitting inside Alice''s car with her.


    Ann was stunned by his otherworldly appearance and felt his aura. At that moment, almost all of her doubts about him vanished, leaving her with a sense of warmth whenever she was near him.


    When she saw him, she instantly knew it was not Alice''s brother since she had seen him so much that she would not mistake him with someone else, but the one in front of her was different, he looked different he felt different, and his nature was different.


    Don''t think of it as the author saying whatever he wants, as even Alice was not able to recognize him, his looks might not have changed much but he went from A-rank charm to SSS rank charm along with the changes in the body, so, until he says so himself, no one would believe that he is Alice''s brother.


    Ann quickly got her bearing after a while and even though she was embarrassed and had a light blush on her face whenever she looked at him, she still needed to say something.


    "If it''s all right with you, can you please wear a mask?" she asked politely, not wanting to give a bad first impression.


    Even though Alice took it upon herself to introduce both of them to each other that only meant they knew each other, they were not close enough that she could directly ask him to wear a mask.


    What she didn''t know was that it would not take much time for them to get closer to each with Alex''s incubus bloodline doing its magic.


    It seems like Alex also understood why she wanted him to wear a mask, so, he nodded and wore a mask. His looks would attract a lot of attention even before he is announced as an S-ranked Raider and he knew that it could cause people to make many stories about him and Alice.


    Even though he didn''t have a problem with that since he never thinks much of others'' opinions unless they cross the line, it was different for Alice. So, to not make it hard for Alice and Ann, he wore the mask.


    Ann looked cute, beautiful and gentle, so, he didn''t mind being friends with her, as for something else? Only time will tell.


    "Wee." They were greeted by a raider who seemed to be A-ranked when they entered, as two of the people who entered were very famous and Alex just had that kind of aura that made Humans want to respect him, he had the supreme human bloodline, after all.


    The Raider led them in after seeing them nod while he wondered who the guy was as even if he wore a mask, the guy could tell Alex was very handsome.


    "Please, wait for a while. There is one person that came before you." The raider that led us to the testing venue said. However, his words caused both Alice and Ann to frown their brows.


    "What do you mean we will have to wait? I booked yesterday using my VIP privileges and you are saying that you let someone use it before us." Alice asked with some anger in her voice and a frown on her face scaring the Raider.


    "Please calm down President (Guild master), we are inside the Raider Association." Ann stopped Alice before she could cause more trouble and Alice also calmed down.


    "Was it another VIP pass holder who came here before us?" Ann then looked at the poor Raider who almost pissed his pants and asked.


    "Yes, it was White Shark Guild master. He came here with the rising rookie ''Golden Spear'' to get him re-evaluated." The Raider hesitated but quickly replied when he felt Alice leak her mana.


    "It''s that bastard," Alice muttered with a frown, but it was loud enough to be heard by the three of them including Alex.


    "I see, did he go through re-awakening?" Ann asked even though she knew that was the case. ''Golden Spear'' is the name of a rookie Raider, who had awakened a month ago and got an A-rank power along with an SS-rank Skill.


    He is said to be someone with the potential to be the strongest Raider in the world as his spear is said to pierce anything.


    Seeing the Raider started hesitating again, Alice was about to release her mana again, but they were interrupted by a gentle voice. However, if someone knew the owner of the voice well, then they would know that it was just a fa?ade for the public.


    However, in reality, he was just a cruel and sadistic bastard who would even stab in the back of his own friend if he got the chance to. Alice''s face turned to that of annoyance and Ann moved behind Alice and Alex who were standing side by side.


    ...........


    At least leave somements or reviews before you leave guys!!

 Chapter 11 - 11 – New S-Rank Raider.

    <h4>Chapter 11: CHAPTER 11 �C New S-Rank Raider.</h4>


    Joseph ude, an S-rank Raider in Orange County. He has blond hair, green eyes, and sharp facial features. He had a slim build, like that of a girl, and not like the slim build that Alex had.


    His height is towering at 174 cm, 2cm higher than Alice. Overall, he was handsome even for Raider''s standard, which is also the reason for his poprity.


    "I didn''t think that dear Alice would force poor raiders to spill information about their clients." His words caused the Raider who was almost pissing a while ago look at the neer with admiration as the public didn''t know his true nature.


    "We can go now, right?" Alice ignored Joseph''sment and looked at the Raider that led them hear. The Raider nodded his head, even though he was threatened by Alice just a while ago, he knew his ce.


    "Is my dear Alice ignoring me?" Joseph said while moving in front of them, blocking their path.


    "You bast-" Before Alice couldplete her words the whole building shook and not only that, it even became harder for people to breathe, except Alice and Ann.


    However, even when they were not much affected, they could still feel the pressure in the Air. So, they turned to the source of the pressure. But before they could say something, they heard a thud sound and found that Joseph had fallen on the ground, unconscious.


    It was Alex who had released his SS+ mana and concentrated it fully on Joseph while protecting Alice and Ann from any of it and that was enough for Joseph to fall unconscious, even if he was an S-ranked Raider.


    "You know the way to the Testing area, right? I don''t think that guy can lead us as he is right now." Alex asked Ann in a rxed manner pointing at the Raider who brought them here.


    Right now, he was on the ground holding his chest while panting as if he wasn''t the one responsible for any of this.


    Alice and Ann just looked at him dumbly, not knowing what to say. Alice knew that he was very strong but when she felt his mana, she felt that it was even higher than the Hidden bosses of the S-rank Gates that took at least 10 S-ranked Raiders to hunt them.


    As for Ann, well, all her doubts about him were thrown out of her mind by now, and only awe was left. She felt that he was the perfect man for any girl with his otherworldly looks and powers.


    "Right?" It was only when Alex repeated in an awkward tone while rubbing the back of his head were they broke out of their thoughts.


    Alex felt that maybe he should not have pressured the poor Raider as he only did that to Joseph because he didn''t like his personality. He could see right through Joseph, even though he met him for the first time.


    It was also because he was annoying Alice that he did what he did.


    "Yes, please follow me," Ann said politely.


    "You don''t have to be formal or polite with me, Ann. You are Alice''s friend right, so, treat me as your friend." Alex said to Ann when he saw her still being polite to him.


    Ann didn''t know what to do and only blushed hearing him and imagining him smiling behind the mask. Then she turned to Alice and seeing her nod her head she also nodded her head and spoke.


    "All right then, follow me."


    "This is better." Alex said and followed Ann along with Alice, leaving ''Golden Spear'' behind as he was ignored from the start to the end.


    John re who was better known as the super rookie ''Golden Spear'' was gritting his teeth while kneeling on the floor, but he didn''t move since he knew that acting arrogant right now would only cause his demise.


    When he saw Alice, Alex, and Ann, he just focused on the girls while ignoring the guy, but who would have thought that his guy would turn out to be a hidden powerhouse?


    Alex along with Alice and Ann went through all the testing rooms and Alex used his power just enough to make him enter S-rank since he felt that the testing instruments would break if he were to use more than that.


    Even if his stats were at S+ rank, if he used them perfectly with his All-Master, he could exert the strength of SS rank.


    Alice and Ann helped him get the paperwork done and the staff even though surprised with the rise of a new S-ranked Raider did her job perfectly to leave a good impression on Alex, since she could feel that he was very handsome under the mask.


    She gave him flirtatious looks from time to time and even gave him her number when he was done, much to the displeasure of both Alice and Ann but they didn''t say anything since they didn''t have the right to, at least not right now. Alice and Ann then led him to their guild to talk about his contract.


    That day the news of the birth of a new S-rank Raider in Orange country was circted all around the world along with another breaking news of Joseph being defeated by just the mana of the new S-ranked Raider.


    The first news didn''t cause as muchmotion as the second one did, since even if there were strong and weak S-rank Raiders, it would still be a tough fight for them to defeat one another.


    So, the news of an S-ranked Raider being defeated so easily caused a lot ofmotion and everyrge guild and country started collecting information about this new S-rank Raider.


    Somerge forces also started to make a move, thinking of testing, recruiting, befriending, or killing Alex, but there was no news from Joseph''s side, and no one knew what he was doing.


    Not that Alex was affected by any of this, he was currently sitting rxedly inside the Guild master''s room in the Crimson Lotus guild, which is one of the top-ranked Guilds in Orange country along with Alice and Ann.


    .............


    Leave somements and reviews before you go!!

 Chapter 12 - 12 – Honorary Guild Master.

    <h4>Chapter 12: CHAPTER 12 �C Honorary Guild Master.</h4>


    Alex was sitting rxedly on the chair opposite Alice, who upied the guild master''s seat in her office. Ann, standing by Alice''s side, was exining to Alex about the positions in the guild and how the guild functions.


    As Ann exined these details to Alex, she couldn''t help but stare at him with a blush, as he was not wearing the mask he usually wore at the Raiders Association, showcasing his full charm.


    Alice, too, found herself doing the same, desiring to be close to him, despite her initial belief that it was better to take things slow.


    "I see," Alex, who was listening closely to Ann''s exnation, nodded when she was done.


    "So, which position did you decide on? If you want, I can make you my vice," Alice said when she saw Alex nod.


    "But wouldn''t Frank causemotion if you did that?" Ann suddenly asked after hearing Alice''s words.


    "It''s all right. I am the guild leader; he can''t do anything to me," Alice replied to Ann with a confident smile.


    Ann, although still had some worries, nodded her head. Alex also smiled looking at their interaction, but he had something else to say.


    "I know that every guild has its own way of functioning and I don''t hate the idea that in your guild, a higher-ranked position canmand the lower ranks, but I don''t like beingmanded by someone."


    When they heard his words, their faces becameplicated since even if they were to make him vice-guild leader, he would still have to follow Alice''smand.


    "I didn''t say that I want a position where I am on top of everyone, I just want a position where no one canmand me. I just want it so that I would have a choice to reject any orders, as there might be times when I am busy with something and can''t answer the summons or orders. Still, it would not often happen since I also want to clear Gates."


    Looking at their confrontation, Alex also understood that it was hard for them, so he borated.


    "Oh, I see," Alice said and after that, both Ann and Alice first thought that forming a mercenary contract was busy for this situation since mercenaries are allowed to reject any offer or order.


    However, the thought was discarded as soon as it came, since making Alex a mercenary was too low for his strength and mercenaries can be easily poached by other organizations.


    It was at that moment that Alice suddenly recalled a position that had been merely kept on record and had never been utilized in practice. "Honorary Guild Master."


    Hearing Alice''s words, Ann''s eyes also lit up and she nodded her head causing Alex to look at both of them curiously, even though he had some clue what the position must be.


    "It is basically a position simr to the Guild master, just without any power. This means you can''t be ordered by anyone and you can reject any offers or orders given from anyone, even the guild master, but you can also notmand anyone till the guild master permits you to," Ann exined after she noticed Alex looking at them curiously.


    She felt that this position was the best they could give to someone stronger than Alice herself, and Alice was their guild master.


    Alex nodded hearing her words. "What do you think?" Alice asked while Ann also waited for Alex''s answer.


    "It''s good. I will take that position," Alex said with a smile that made both of the girls blush furiously.


    Seeing this, Alex sighed and lowered his charm from SSS+ to SS. Even though it was only one rank difference, changes could be clearly seen.


    "What did you do?" Alice asked and Ann also looked at Alex with confusion as they felt his charm go down.


    He didn''t be less handsome; instead, the godly perfect face just looked less perfect even though they could see no changes in his face.


    "I just lowered my charm a little. Although I like seeing you dazed now and then when I smile, I don''t want both of you to be dazed looking at me every time I smile as it would make it hard for me to talk to you guys while smiling."


    When they heard his words, they felt guilty since he had to lower his charm just so he could talk to them freely.


    They felt that all their powers were useless and they couldn''t even resist the charm of their ''friend'' just so that he could talk with them freely.


    Looking at them feeling guilty, Alex sighed and said, "You don''t need to feel down. I know my charms are too high for anyone." He said with a smile, even though he had lowered the charm, it still caused the girls to blush. But they still looked at him weirdly as he sounded narcissistic.


    "I didn''t mean it like that, guys. I was talking statistically," Alex said and decided to let them know about one of his skills.


    "I have a skill that lets me measure the statistics of a person."


    His words caused the girls to focus, and they also felt some warmth in their hearts since one only tells someone about their skills if they have considerable trust in that person.


    "What do you mean?" Alice asked while Ann also looked at him intently. Ann was listening carefully, wondering if they could use his abilities to make better ns for future raids.


    She had her guesses about his ability, but when he started exining, she became more and more surprised.


    "It''s as simple as I said, I can look at people''s stats and abilities, think of it as an upgraded Inspect skill," Alex exined.


    Both of them were surprised by his words��no, it was better to say that they were beyond surprised since it was an ability that could even be considered a life-saving ability in some cases.


    So, they continued looking at him as if telling him to continue his exnation.


    .............................


    I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews and let me know if you are reading my book or what you think about this book.

 Chapter 13 - 13 – Highest Ranks of this World.

    <h4>Chapter 13: CHAPTER 13 �C Highest Ranks of this World.</h4>


    Alex was looking at two pairs of eyes that looked at him eagerly as if urging him to continue whatever he was doing. So, Alex nodded and exined it with an example so that they could better understand.


    "Let''s take Alice, for example. If I were to talk about her stats that I can see from my eyes, then it would be like this:


    Strength: A; Agility: S-; Stamina: S; Wisdom: S+; Energy/Mana: S+; Luck: S; Charm: S.


    Let''s leave the skills out for now, but yes, I can also see the skills one has."


    Listening to his exnation, they didn''t know what to say anymore. Wasn''t he a walking grading machine? They could learn about their enemies before even fighting.


    "If Alice''s Charm is S, then what is yours? Isn''t S-rank the highest?" It was Ann who asked this question after she got over the feeling of shock, and Alice also looked at Alex as if asking the same question.


    "Would you believe me if I say that S rank is not the highest?" Hearing Alex''s question, both of them became excited. Who wouldn''t want to be stronger?


    "Yes, and as I said before, my charm is so high that it can affect people weaker than me. My charm is at SSS+, which is two ranks above yours and Ann''s, and also the reason why it stuns you guys."


    Ann and Alice were amazed when they heard that there were two ranks above S rank, but then they looked at Alex since this guy''s charm was really too high, right?


    "Is SSS the highest rank?" Ann suddenly asked a question that Alice had forgotten.


    "No, there is an EX rank above the SSS rank, and that''s the highest you can go in this world."


    Ann nodded her head and noted it inside her head, but Alice was shocked when she heard his words since she knew what his words meant.


    He had told her that there are other worlds out there, so when she heard him mention ''this world'' at the end of the line, she understood that there are other worlds that have people with power over EX rank.


    The girls were curious about the ranking and how his ability worked, so they talked about it for a while. The girls tried to make him tell them about his other stats, but only got a smile in reply, which caused them to blush.


    When their talk was done, Alex thought for a while and asked, "Is there any A-ranked Gate in your guild-upied area?"


    Hearing the question, Alice turned to Ann, causing Ann to nod and look through the tab she was holding.


    After a while, she said, "Yes, there are two A-rank gates that have yet to be cleared in our Area. They are scheduled to be cleared after two days."


    After Annpleted speaking, Alex nodded his head and said, "Is it possible to let me raid one of those Gates? Alone?"


    When they heard his first question, they didn''t seem to have any problem, rather they would happily agree as they could see him in action.


    But when he asked to clear it alone, they didn''t know what to say. They knew he was very strong and they wanted to see him fight, but they also knew that the Gates are unpredictable so it''s always advised to enter in teams. So, they were also worried.


    "All right, you can clear the gate, but I will being with you. Even though I know you are strong, I don''t want to take risks," Alice said after thinking for a while. Ann also nodded and didn''t say much.


    If Alice and Alex go together then they won''t need to be worried as two S-ranked would be enough to deal with any problem thrown by an A-rank gate while they can also observe how powerful Alex is.


    "All right, then I will be going back now," Alex said and got up from the chair. Seeing him get up, Alice stood up intending to go with him, but Alex stopped her.


    "You don''t need to worry about me. I''ll show myself out." Alice and Ann nodded their heads at his words.


    "Don''t forget about the time given by the Raider Association. I wille to pick you up," Alice said before Alex reached the door. He nodded and smiled in response before going out.


    The Raider Association gives every new S-ranked Raider a single-day waiting time, only after that time would you be able to get your Raiders license.


    The waiting time is just a hoax created by the Raider Association to stall for time since there are 94 states and every state has a branch of the Association, but it doesn''t mean that every branch has someone who can deal with an S-rank Raider, as the number of S-ranked Raiders is only so much.


    When they give the waiting time to a Raider, they also forward a message to the main branch about the new S-ranked Raider along with any other important information they can provide.


    As the message reaches the headquarters, the higher-ups of the Association gather and decide which Raider to send after reading the information about the new S-rank Raider.


    Then, the selected Raider would be transported to the state where the new S-ranked Raider is present to meet him and try to bring him under theirmand.


    This is what was happening to Alex, and this was also the reason why Alice wanted to go with him, since if both of them, who were S-rank Raiders, went together, then the Raider from the Association would feel pressured and not do something stupid, as Raiders from the Raider Association tend to go overboard when they try to recruit someone.


    When Alex was going back towards his room, he had already noticed many people keeping an eye on him or following him from his perception.


    Among those people, he could easily feel the people who had abilities derived from Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind, but there was no one with space element-derived power.


    Then, he could also feel some stealth and disguise users. He let them be for now since it was normal for everyone to be curious about a new S-ranked Raider.


    But there were two people who had anything but a positive reason for following him, as he could feel their killing intent all the way to the bus that he was traveling in.


    He knew that they needed to be taken care of, but he was not going to do it, as he knew that more of them woulde. So, he was just going to take care of the culprit that sent them here.


    There were two types of people who would want to send assassins after him. The first would be the only person he had harmed so much that they would want to kill him, that is Joseph, the S-ranked Raider who was knocked out by just Alex''s aura alone.


    Then there is the second type of people that are trying to make hay till the sun shines. They must have held some grudge against the Crimson Lotus, and now seeing the situation they are targeting Alex thinking that they can get their revenge.


    If the assassination was sessful, then the Crimson Lotus lost an S-ranked Raider even before they could get him, and if it was unsessful, then the me would fall on White Shark''s guild master, Joseph. After all, the assassins are famous for never leaking any information.


    Ignoring the people following him, Alex reached his room, went for a bath, and then went to rest for a while.


    ................................


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 Chapter 14 - 14 – First kill in this World.

    <h4>Chapter 14: CHAPTER 14 �C First kill in this World.</h4>


    [Are you sure you want to buy this?] Sophia asked for confirmation.


    ''Yeah, this guy only ate fast food, but I want to eat homemade food, so what better than buying a unique cooking skill from the system?'' Alex replied.


    After resting for an hour or two Alex started to feel hungry and thought of making food, only to realize that thete Alex never learned cooking and only ate ready-made or fast food. Thus, he decided to buy a unique skill for cooking, and it came in pretty cheap only worth 20k points, he was now left with zero points, though.


    Still, he didn''t feel that it was a loss since almost every unique skill was a growth-type skill and grew as its users developed it and their prices were also high except for some like the cooking skill that he got.


    [You have gained a new unique skill:


    Cooking (Unique): You know every cooking ingredient, the best ways to cook them, their specialties, etc. The food you cook will taste very good and if mana is added to it, then it can give healing effects to the one that eats it. Even though the food you make right now would be very tasty, you can still increase the taste by continuous cooking. As your cooking abilities increase the effects it can provide might also increase.]


    ''Good. Now, let''s make something to eat.'' Alex got up from the bed, went to the kitchen, and took some vegetables and mushrooms that he bought whileing this evening out of the bag. He was cooking Mushroom Parmesan, which is a crunchy, vourful recipe that pairs briny Castelvetrano olives and capers with tomato sauce and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms.


    By the time he was done with the dinner it was already night, so he ate the food, surfed the inte for a while, and then went to sleep. However, just as he was about to doze off, his eyelids opened with a snap, and a glint passed through them as hemented while sitting up straight on his bed.


    "I was thinking of letting you guys go even after you showed so much killing intent, but it seems like you don''t want to live." As the words fell, two silver shes shone from the drawn-out knives of the people Alex spoke to.


    They were the guys that had been following Alex from the time he left the Crimson Lotus guild while releasing their killing intent. Still, the way they entered attack mode after being discovered without taking bullshit or anything showed that they were trained Assassins.


    The two assassins were known as silver twins because of their silver knives, and they were pretty famous with the record of even killing S-ranked Raiders when both of them were just A-ranked Raiders. Both of them had entered the room from the front door after they felt that there was no movement from inside, which means the owner of the room was probably asleep.


    When they entered the room and saw their target on the bed and thought of attacking him while he was asleep, they were surprised when they saw him sit up and talk to them. But as they were experienced assassins they knew how to act, so, they attacked directly thinking of catching him by surprise.


    Alex caught the de of both of the silver knives with his bare hands which were covered with mana, as he knew there was poison on the knives. This surprised both of the assassins and seeing their surprise attack fail, that too in such a terrible way made them realize that their enemy was much stronger than they had thought.


    Seeing the situation both of them used their special move which is called poison mist only to fail as it was blown out by the wind that was used by Alex.


    They knew that they might die, so, instead of dying by giving information to the enemy, they decided to die by suicide. But before their knives could touch each other they heard a voice from behind.


    "Oh no, you don''t." Alex, who was sitting on the bed decided to finally make a move so he moved behind the assassins at full speed and stopped their knives before they could kill each other.


    He didn''t stop them from killing each other because he wanted to extract information from them, he stopped them because if they killed themselves then neither could he get the SP (system points) for killing them nor would he be able to plunder them.


    The assassins were surprised when their attacks were stopped again but just as they were thinking of how they were going to be tortured, they saw the target that was standing in front of them was now standing upside down.


    Before the assassins could even register what had happened, they were dead, and their heads were now on the ground. Alex used an aura sword with his right hand and cut their heads clean, he had maximum mastery over every weapon, so, creating a weapon aura was no big deal for him.


    [You gained 400 SP from killing two normal A-ranked Raiders.]


    [You can plunder everything from the enemy you have killed. Would you like to take everything from the dead enemy?]


    ''I will only be taking their stats, abilities, and the memories about my assassination.'' Alex said in reply to the system prompt.


    Alex felt his stats increase to a maximum of S+ and with just a little push all of his S+ stats would go up to SS- and although it would take a little more time his SS rank stats might also be moved to SSS pretty soon.


    Then he received an A-rank skill called Poison Mist, it created poison mist from my body that could cause the people weaker than A rank to die very quickly, A rankers would take some seconds and S and above might or might not be able to neutralize it, but they would still be a little affected.


    These Assassins were pretty strong statistically and physically, that was also the reason they were able to kill some S-rank Raiders. Alex also got the name of the person who had hired the Assassins, but he went back to bed, throwing out any thoughts from his head. When he was lying on the bed, he used fire to burn the bodies and wind to blow away the smell.


    He had already kept the Silver Knives in his inventory as they were B-ranked items.


    ........


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 Chapter 15 - 15 – Towards the Association.

    <h4>Chapter 15: CHAPTER 15 �C Towards the Association.</h4>


    It was morning and Alex was doing the workout, he was doing the same exercise as the previous day, it''s just that today he had stepped into SS rank since he was just a push away after absorbing the assassins, and also maybe thanks to his bloodline.


    A normal human bloodline can also increase someone''s strength when they exceed their set bodily limits. It''s just that the people of this world never tried to exceed their limits or maybe some tried but did not get any results instantly, so they stopped.


    Every low-rank bloodline has a limit, and a normal human bloodline also has a limit, it is when a bloodline reaches close to its limit then it stops showing results or it might show but it''s negligible. A normal human bloodline has a limit the same as this world, that is EX rank.


    So, as the raiders be closer to EX rank their training or workout shows very negligible results, but if they were to persistently continue doing it, then they will see results even though it will take a long time. There are even some cases where even a human with a normal bloodline breaks the limit of its bloodline because of their will and hard work, and when they break the limit of their body their bloodline also upgrades.


    In Alex''s case, he has a Supreme human bloodline that might not even have a limit, so for him to increase his stats to EX, it might take a month at maximum with just some workout and not that much hard work.


    Still, if he were to work out like crazy then he might be an EX-ranked Raider in less than four days, but as he has to enjoy his life, so, he would take things slowly. However, even this bloodline will slow down when he reaches a certain height of power as Alex right now doesn''t remember that there is still a higher-grade bloodline than the Supreme Human Bloodline.


    Sophia knew about that but she didn''t think it was right to talk to him about those things.


    As Alex was doing pull-ups he could feel many people looking at him with different kinds of emotions. Even though he had lowered his charm to SS rank it was still lethal for a normal human and Raiders till A-rank as he was not even wearing a mask today.


    He realized a good thing though, that that is that because of his high charm even if people stared at him from a distance, they wouldn''te close to him or try to talk to him. Now, you might think why? Well, when something looks too good then human mentality makes them think that they might not be worthy of it.


    It''s specifically spoken about human mentality because if it is a fox or dragon race then they will think that only they are worthy. However, there was one gaze that he had been feeling and it was of someone stronger, close to an S-rank or an S-ranker itself, and Alex knew who it was, it was probably the Raider from the Association.


    .......


    It was close to 11 am and Alex was sitting in a car with Alice and Ann. It was supposed to be only Alice who would go with him to the Association building, but Ann justified hering along by saying that Alice might do something stupid if she was not with her and that was enough to shut Alice up.


    Right now, they were moving towards the Raiders association and since they had time, they talked about this and that during the trip, slowly growing closer to each other.


    Alex sometimes teased them when they talked about some matters that caused the girls to be embarrassed. Alex had already noticed a little redness in Alice''s eyes, a slightly red nose, and her puffy cheeks, so, he understood that she had cried again.


    He wasn''t Ann who didn''t know what had happened and Alice could not fool him with some kind of excuses, so, he held her hand over a disguise so that Ann would not know.


    Alice was about to panic and turned to Ann but after seeing that Ann was driving normally while saying things now and then she understood that Alex was using the same disguise skill he used the other day.


    Alice and Alex were sitting in the back seat of the car while Ann was driving, so, it was easy for them to hold hands but Alice was still blushing. She also didn''t resist when Alex held her head and put it on hisp as she just kept blushing furiously.


    It was when they reached the Association that she realized that she had slept on Alex''sp, making her want to dig a hole and hide inside of it.


    She was even more embarrassed when she walked with Alex towards the Association holding his hand while her best friend whom she knew had a crush on the same man was behind them without knowing about it.


    She felt that his disguise ability was so strong that even a strong A-ranked Raider like Ann couldn''t feel any change in them, but she still reluctantly let go of his hand when they were led inside of the Association where Alex would get his Raider''s license.


    She knew that she needed to be serious and ready for any situation since they were going to face a strong S-ranked Raider from the Association, so, she was very tense, and not only her but even Ann was tense. Then suddenly both of them felt a big hand over their head and they saw Alex smiling at them.


    "Just rx. I am here, right?" When they heard Alex say that, they somehow calmed down as they had forgotten that he might be stronger than any S-rank Raider in this world.


    Even though yesterday, they never got an answer from Alex about his stats, they had a feeling that he might have at least one stat above the S-rank.


    Just call this feeling a woman''s intuition and Alex will be really shocked when he realizes that there is even a unique ability called woman''s intuition in the system shop. The point is that there are so many abilities in the shop that he might never be able to find them or he might just skip through it even without realizing it.


    So, they went towards the receptionist who took them to the same A-ranked Raider they had met yesterday, though this time Alex got to know that this poor Raider was actually the branch head of this branch.


    The Licence was processed and prepared in front of them and when it was almost done the A-ranked Raider from yesterday whose name was Somer Knox, said with the best fake smile he could make.


    "Would you like to join the Raider Association, Mr Alex?" He asked and tried his best to ignore Alice since he was asking this question knowing that both Alice and Alex were close and Alex was probably going to join her guild.


    He was ordered to ask this question as it might cause Alice to explode or cause some kind of trouble but as he was ready for a blow from Alice it never actually came as she was just looking at him while Ann was standing by her side.


    Then, when he heard Alex''s words, he understood that his task was a failure and they might have to go with n B.


    "Thank you for the offer, but I already have some ns in that regard," Alex politely declined the offer.


    He could have said that he would think about it but he knew there was someone who was listening to their conversation and that person didn''t seem like a person who would let him go till he gave them an answer, so, he declined their invitation.


    Alex then took the license that was already prepared by now and turned towards Alice and Ann to go back, but it was then that they heard a rxed voice.


    "What''s the hurry young man? Let us talk for a while." A man who looked to be in his early 40s appeared out of thin air causing Alice and Ann to be tense.


    But when they saw the man perfectly, they became as serious as they could be.


    .......


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 Chapter 16 - 16 – Stopwatch.

    <h4>Chapter 16: CHAPTER 16 �C Stopwatch.</h4>


    Stopwatch.


    It''s just a simple word with a simple meaning and it doesn''t have any grand meaning for a normal person.


    However, this word causes terror to every Raider on Gaia, even the S-ranked Raiders are not immune to it. The reason is simple, it''s because it''s the title given to a very well-known Raider publicly known as Stephan Andre, the 3rd ranked over the world. Although no top world ranker actually fought each other.


    It''s just a ranking provided by the Raider associations of the whole world together. Now, the reason why he is so feared is not that he is an S-rank Raider it''s because of his ability.


    No one knows what his ability is as he never said it out, but many raiders who had fought together with him had some guesses.


    From their guesses, it is said that he had an ability that allowed him to stop time, giving him the title ''Stopwatch''.


    There are only two people in the whole world with time-rted abilities, so, time-type abilities are very rare and as someone with a time-type ability Stephan is very famous.


    Even though he looks to be in his early 40s he is actually 50 years old, he is always seen wearing a three-piece ck coat and pants along with a white shirt, ck tie, ck formal pointed shoes, ck gloves, and silver rapier attached to his waist.


    Even though he was old, he still looked dashing enough that any girl in the world would throw herself at him if he asked her out.


    He was the strongest Raider that Orange Country had and also the reason why the Raider Association was able to control the country without any S-ranked Raiders trying to usurp them.


    Right now, he was on a mission given by the Raider Association to recruit a new S-ranked Raider, this new Raider is said to be strong enough to make another S-ranked Raider unconscious just with his mana alone.


    The Raider Association decided to send the best they could since they had yet to see Stephan being defeated.


    So, Stephan had been following the target and observing him since morning and when the target left with the guild leader of Crimson Lotus, he stopped observing him and took a helicopter back to the association building.


    When Stephan came to the ce where Alex and the group were, he had used his ability to stop the time of that ce and only started the time when he was just a little away from them, though it all happened in two or three seconds since the speed of S-rankers is very fast.


    To the group except for Alex, it felt like he had teleported there, but it was different for Alex.


    When Stephan used his ability Alex felt some kind of restriction stopping him in the ce and he could break it physically if he had a little more strength, though it didn''t mean he could not break the restriction.


    He could still break it with destruction energy it would destroy the skill used to stop them in ce, but he didn''t break it as he saw a man who had been hiding behind the gate listening to their conversationing out of there.


    After looking at the man he discovered that the man was an S-rank raider with an EX-rank skill called ''Temporal Pause''.


    It was a pretty good ability, and he would plunder it when he got a chance but for now, he waited to see what the man wanted to do. So, when the man deactivated the skill and asked him to wait, he directly replied.


    "All right. Let''s go." The old man nodded and smiled amiably and walked inside the gate but frowned when he saw Alice and Ann following as well.


    "Can you give us some privacy?" His words were not directed at Alex rather they were directed towards Alice and Ann as if telling them to go back.


    "It''s all right. I trust them and it''s not like we are going for a fight, we are just going to have a chat, right?" Alex''s words and their meanings were clear to everyone.


    Alice and Ann felt happy when they heard his words while the man even though not satisfied again smiled amiably and shook his head while saying.


    "Of course, we are going to talk, I am too old for fighting and stuff." Even though he said that Alex could still see that Stephan''s body movement became even more fluid as if ready for anything.


    When they reached the room Stephan sat on a single-seated sofa while Alice and Alex sat on the triple-seated sofa and Ann stood behind them.


    Stephan just kept looking at them with a smile and Alex also kept himpany in the Staringpetition.


    Stephan was really surprised when he saw Alex since even if he looked good in his documents, his real looks were really mind-blowing, but he had already gotten used to it, though he didn''t know that it was Alex''s suppressed charm, and if he saw Alex''s real looks, he might start doubting his sexuality.


    "So, what do you want to talk about?" When Alex felt that the staring contest had gone long enough, he spoke.


    If Stephan was a beautiful girl, then he might not have had a problem in continuing thepetition, but he was not, so, he let him have the upper hand. Stephan smiled as if he had won and then said.


    "Why don''t you want to join the Raiders Association?" Stephan asked while gesturing to the maid who came in with tea to give it to Alex and Alice.


    Alex epted the tea with a smile while Alice shook her head.


    "Why should I join The Raider Association?" Alex asked while raising a brow. He liked that Stephan was being state-forward and not going to y with words.


    "So that you can help the country along with me and everyone else in the Raider Association," Stephan answered with a smile as if he were stating a fact. But in the eyes of Alex, Alice, and Ann he looked stupid.


    "I am straight," Alex said.


    "Sorry?" Stephan didn''t understand where that came from, even the girls didn''t understand.


    "It means, I am not into men," Alex said again, but this time girls chuckled a little seeing his expression as if he was exining something very important.


    "I know what that means, but does it have something to do with our topic?" Stephan was having a hard time maintaining his calm but he still asked.


    "Yes, it does. I am straight so why do you think I would want to leave the option of fighting alongside a beautiful girl just so that I can fight along with a man and that too an old man?" Alex asked in a confused tone as if not understanding why Stephan even thought that his reason would work.


    At this, Stephan''s face started to change and turned a little red from anger, but it looked more like a blush to others.


    Alex''s face turned a little disgusted, Alice was just blushing while keeping her head lowered since she had heard Alex say her beautiful while Ann was trying her best not to let out augh looking at the situation, especially when she saw Stephan''s face.


    ..................


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 Chapter 17 - 17 – Silent Confrontation.

    <h4>Chapter 17: CHAPTER 17 �C Silent Confrontation.</h4>


    Alex asked Stephan a simple question, but the impact of the question was greater on Stephan who was still trying to calm his nerves so as not to jump and strangle Alex.


    "We will pay you for your work, provide you with a ce to stay and many other things along with having ess to every gate under the government''s jurisdiction," Stephan said after he had calmed down a little.


    He really wanted to teach Alex a lesson, but he felt something bad would happen if he tried to do that, and there was Alice as well.


    Although before it worked because none of them had expected him to use his skill, but if he used his skill to stop time right now, then he might only be able to stop for milliseconds since all of them had their focus on him and were battle-ready.


    When Alex heard his reply, he turned towards Ann, and she understood what he wanted so she gave him the contract he had signed at their guild.


    "Would the Association pay me more than that? Would they let me have my freedom and do whatever I want? Would they give me a contract that has even a single thing better than this?"


    Alex asked while keeping the contract on the table between him and Stephan.


    The money that Alice had offered him was in no way small, and it was basically impossible that the Raider Association which had the most Raider in the whole world would be able to match that amount.


    Alice also provided him with a house to stay in, though it would be better if they called it a vi, and even his personal car would be given to him after he had shifted into the vi.


    There was no way that The Raiders Association would be able to provide all that, and above all, there was no freedom in the Association as he had to bepletely loyal to them.


    Let''s not talk about the items given by them or the shares of every raid he did.


    The Association took all the things that any of their Raiders brought from the Gates and gave them merits in return that can never amount to how much they had lost. So, as Stephan continued listening to his questions his expression started bing worse, but he still said.


    "The Raider Association always thinks of saving lives first." But his expression changed when he looked at the expressions of Alice, Ann, and Alex who looked at him as if he was crazy, he realized his mistake.


    The Association was never someone who did things without profit, since they seldom helped the guilds when the gates in their area in having a gate break, even though it was the Association''s job to do it.


    "Did you really just say that?" Alice asked with a mocking expression. Seeing that expression, he couldn''t keep his calm anymore as he had never been mocked before and he already had enough of controlling himself.


    What was he even afraid of? He was just teaching them a lesson to respect their elders and he would leave after that.


    "Young ones these days really don''t know how to respect their elders." As he said that he stood up causing Alice to also stand up and get ready for battle while Ann became tense.


    But Alex was just sitting there as if nothing was happening.


    "Arrogant." As Stephan said that his mana started to spike and even before Alice could attack, he used his ability.


    But before he could attack, he felt his skill was broken and he was shocked as he fell on the ground while coughing out blood shocking Alice and Ann who didn''t understand what happened.


    It was when they looked at Alex who had his palm covered in Red-ck energy did they understood what had happened.


    They sighed in relief not realizing that their backs were covered in sweat just thinking about what would happen if they were to be touched by that energy.


    [You have defeated an enemy. You can plunder any one thing from him.


    What would you like to plunder?]


    ''The skill - Temporal pause.'' Alex replies in his mind ignoring everyone who is looking at him, even Stephan is looking at him with a calm expression even though he looks pale because of the bacsh.


    But if someone looks carefully, they would be able to see the fear inside his eyes since if Alex could break his skill that means he was a sitting duck for Alex.


    ''Hm?'' Stephan suddenly felt as if he was missing something, but he didn''t understand what it was. So, he didn''t think too much about it and focused on Alex, praying that Alex would not continue the fight.


    When Alex used his plunder ability, Stephan''s skill was stolen but Stephan would not know that until he tried to use his skill, and even if he did that, he would still not understand what had happened. That was just how Alex''s skill worked - The victim would never suspect Alex of being the culprit of their demise.


    He would just feel that he couldn''t use his skill, but he would not disclose this information to anyone since if someone knew he could not use his skill then he would lose all his fame and all of his authority, he would just be a normal S-ranked Raider and not Stopwatch.


    So, he would try to keep his secret to himself as long as he can. He would never suspect that Alex might have stolen his skill as from what it is known about skill stealing, when a skill is stolen, the one whose skill is being stolen would feel a heart-wrenching pain as something from their body was forcibly taken away.


    "You shouldn''t have done that old man." When Stephan heard those words, he felt as if something wasing but before he could move away a de made of wind moved towards him at a very fast speed and if he hadn''t tilted his body at thest moment he would have lost his life.


    "ARGH!!!!!!!!!" It was when he felt immense pain in his left shoulder that he understood that the de was aimed at his shoulder and not at his neck. He fell on his knees while clutching his shoulder.


    When he screamed it woke up Alice and Ann from a daze while Somer with some other Raiders from the Association came running to the room only to be stunned by the scene.


    "Is this the path you want to choose, young man?" He was breathing heavily but he still stood up and spoke those words.


    He was not going to do something after teaching a lesson to Alex and leave it at that, but now everything had changed and he had the lower position, so, he was going to take a step back, but he didn''t expect that Alex would be this ruthless.


    Alex''s action clearly meant that he didn''t put the Association in his eyes, so, Stephen also understood that if Alex was left alone then the Association would lose the country to a guild just like Blue Country.


    "I was going to leave after a chat, but you made me do that, old man. You shouldn''t poke a ho nest if you don''t want to be bitten.


    I would have yed along if it was just me, but you also targeted the only people I care about, so, the hand was the price you have to pay for it. If you still want to make that an issue, then you should be aware of who needs to worry and who doesn''t."


    Alex spoke, staring at Stephan with narrowed eyes while also releasing some of his mana pressure.


    "Don''t regret itter," Stephan said even though he felt pressured.


    He felt that the amount of mana the man in front of him had was not something an S-ranked Raider should have.


    After saying that he left the room followed by the Raiders from the Association, who were still in shock as before they could even understand what happened everything was over.


    Alice and Ann looked very serious since they understood what the talk before meant, so they looked at Alex as if asking ''What now?''.


    "Let''s go. We talk in the car." Alex said and both of them nodded their head moving towards the car.


    Alex had already taken the license before following Stephan inside the room, so they didn''t have anything else to do there.


    When they were going out of the building Alex noticed that some of the people who had been following him were not here, probably gone back to report whatever they could.


    The rest were waiting for him outside the building some hiding while some in disguise.


    Alex also noticed some people sneakily leaving the Association building and joining the group of people who were hiding.


    He understood that they were probably the assassins from the Association and Stephan must have sent them for him. Alex didn''t do anything, instead, he thanked Stephan in his mind.


    After all, Stephan had sent him some people to plunder even though he had just plundered Stephan''s skill. He thought that maybe Stephan was not that bad instead he was a really good guy.


    On this day, the infamous Stopwatch had lost to a new Raider even before the fight could start and even lost his ability that gave him the title without anyone knowing or maybe some people knew....


    ..........


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    Let me know if you like the novel or not.

 Chapter 18 - 18 – What to do?

    <h4>Chapter 18: CHAPTER 18 �C What to do?</h4>


    "So, they won''t do anything?" Ann asked as she understood everything.


    "Well, at least not in public or upfront, they will y dirty, though," Alex said calmly while resting his back on the seat of the car and closing his eyes.


    He could feel that they were still being followed as following a car that is driving at the speed of 60km/h is not a big deal for A and B-ranked Raiders.


    .....................


    When Alex, Alice, and Ann left the Raider Association, they didn''t talk till they were some distance away from there and when they found the right spot, they parked the car under the shade and started talking.


    It was Alice who asked first, "What should we do?" She knew from what Alex had done, that they were not going to be left alone by the Association and even though the guilds and Association were never on good terms, they still maintained it on the surface.


    Neither she nor Ann ever thought of just removing Alex from the guild as even though they had known each other for a while, they grew very close to each other, and abandoning was not something they would do to Alex.


    They also knew that what he did was for them and when they remembered what he had said, their heart would beat like a drum while their faces would fire up.


    Still, they knew they needed to do something since now, the Association would not even act as if things were fine. but they were surprised when they heard Alex''s reply.


    "Nothing." This is what he said, and they looked at him in disbelief since to them it meant that they should do nothing and let their guild be destroyed.


    Before they could explode, Alex told them to calm down and spoke.


    "What do you think the Association would do now?" He asked them curiously.


    "They would probably dere war on our guild," Ann replied.


    "On what basis?" Alex asked again with a calm smile, though he still looked stunning.


    "Huh? x2. Both Alice and Ann had question marks on their heads.


    "I mean what would they say? Why do they want to dere war on us?" Alex asked again with the same smile as if he had already thought of how to handle the situation.


    "That we attacked them?" Alice asked unsurely.


    "Who did we attack?" Alex asked again pressing them towards the answer he wanted to hear.


    "Stephan," Ann replied, though, she might have started to understand something as she had that kind of look on her face.


    "Who is Stephan?" Alex asked again now focusing on Ann since she started to understand where he was getting at.


    Alice also listened to their conversation with full attention as she also seemed to have some clues about what Alex was trying to say.


    "The strongest Raider of Orange Country," Ann replied but Alex asked again.


    "And?" Alex asked with a proud smile as if his student was getting what he was trying to teach.


    "The strongest Raider of the Raider Association," Ann said but she didn''t know what to say when Alex asked again.


    "And?" Alex looked at her and seeing her not having an answer he turned to Alice, but she also didn''t seem to know what else was left.


    Alex just sighed while shaking his head and continued, it seemed that they still didn''t get it, or they were simply unable to get the point Alex was trying to show.


    "He is the backbone of the Association, and he is also the only reason due to which the Association was able to maintain the bnce between the Guilds and Association." Both of them nodded in realization but Alex was not done yet.


    "Do you think the guilds are so weak that they can''t defeat the Association?" Alex asked and both of them looked at him in confusion, causing him to sigh again.


    "Every guild is just waiting for someone to start the conflict as the one who starts would take the most damage and the full blow of the Association."


    Realization hit the girls when they heard him say that, and they tensed a little as it was them who were going to be at the forefront if that were the case.


    "Don''t worry, the Association also knows that once they start a war with any one guild then every guild of the country would group up and the Association would lose.


    That too when the news of their strongest Raider losing to a new S-rank raider would be revealed along with it." Only when Alex said that did they calm a little.


    "So, they won''t do anything?" Ann asked as she understood everything, and Alice also looked at Alex.


    "Well, at least not in public or upfront, they will y dirty, though. Like sending Assassins that had been following us from the moment we left the Association." He said while resting his back on the seat and sensing the Raiders that had surrounded them.


    When the girls heard his words, they quickly became battle-ready since they knew Alex would not say that if he didn''t have a way to know that.


    "Don''t." Alex held Alice''s hand, stopping her from opening the door.


    Alice was about to go down to fight the Assassins but got confused as to why Alex stopped her, Ann also looked at him curiously wondering why he stopped Alice.


    "They won''t attack us, now for now," Alex said while he had closed his eyes.


    He was sensing how many people were following him with his perception and also earth sense.


    Earth sense was something he created from his control over Earth Element. It allows him to sense the position and movement of anyone who is moving on the Ground or inside of the Ground, even though perception also does the same.


    "Why?" Ann asked since she knew there must be a reason why he stopped Alice and Alex didn''t disappoint her.


    "There are many people from different guilds from our country and different countries observing me." When Alex said this, they were again surprised, but they listened to Alex continue.


    "And the Association probably knows that as well, so, if they don''t want our fight to turn public, they won''t do it right now, and trust me when I say they don''t want this matter to get public," Alex said with a confident smile which somehow caused the girls to smile as well while they also calmed down.


    They knew now that nothing much had changed in their rtionship with the Association as they were never on good terms. They just had to be ready for Assassination.


    Even when the Association had not sent Assassins for them, they still had their rival guilds that would send Assassins from time to time, so, they just needed to live as they did till now.


    However, if the Association were to know about Stephan not being able to use his skill, then things would change but Stephan would never reveal that.


    It was said that Stephan was very poor before he awakened and that was why it was easy for the Association to win him over, and as some great man had said: Once you taste the riches of the world, it is very hard to live without them. (Author note: If no great man has ever said it, then just think of it as one of my proverbs. ??)


    But one thing Alex knew was that Stephan was never going to reveal that he could not use his skill anymore, in fear of losing his authority.


    "Do you guys have anything else to ask?" Alex asked the girls, and they shook their heads.


    "Then let''s not waste our time here." As Alex said that Ann started the car, and they went back while chatting like nothing had happened or nothing had changed.


    ..................


    or review to let me know your thoughts!

 Chapter 19 - 19 – A Trap?

    <h4>Chapter 19: CHAPTER 19 �C A Trap?</h4>


    It took them a while to reach Alex''s house and when they reached there, Alice suddenly asked.


    "When are you thinking of shifting to the house given by the guild?" Alice smiled as she said that.


    She had selected the best house she could find that was near the location of their guild.


    "I will move tomorrow since I don''t have many things to pack." Alex also replied with a smile and Alice nodded her head.


    "Don''t forget toe to the guild after your shifting is done." Ann reminded him, that even though he was an Honorary Guild master he should still try to be present at the guild.


    "Don''t worry I wille by in the afternoon," Alex replied to her and then waved them goodbye as they drove away.


    Alex ignored the guys that were now scattered around the area and went to his room. It was just his fourth day in this world including the day he took over the body and he already had a whole Association to fight.


    He didn''tin though as the more enemies came his way the stronger he would get.


    Alex entered his room and went to the bath, he really liked to bathe. After that was done, he went ahead and cooked something to eat. He was making a simple Italian bean stew, but he stopped midway and then continued as if nothing had happened.


    "Do you guys like the spicy food?" he asked without moving his eyes from the dishes. When he was cooking, he felt some people entering his room and he knew who they were, so, he didn''t say much and just observed what they wanted to do.


    But they had yet to attack, so, he asked them the first question that came to his mind just to show them that he knew that they were in the room.


    He heard three sounds of knives being drawn out and sighed, he could see that from the three people who entered two of them were girls and one was very beautiful.


    When they were just behind him, he used temporal pause for the first time, and they paused where they were standing.


    Alex turned around and observed the skill for a while, he felt that he could do much more, but something was stopping him, so, he tried forcing his way through but then he heard Sophia''s voice.


    [Stop!!! Don''t force yourself whenever you feel something stopping you from using something. That is the feeling you would get on your restricted power, and you are not strong enough to break the restriction, so, it would cause some kind of bacsh.]


    Sophia hurriedly exined and Alex could only smile awkwardly, he didn''t know anything about it or else he wouldn''t have done that.


    He then looked at the three Assassins in front of him, he wondered whether they were stupid or something, or else why would 3 C-rank Raiders even try to Assassinate an S-rank Raider?


    Still, He didn''t kill them immediately, since he felt there was something off about the situation as even if these three were stupid, the one who ordered them wouldn''t be stupid.


    After searching for them he found a pendant inside each of their pockets and he used All-seeing eyes on them.


    [Self-destruction pendant (One-time use): after dropping blood on the pendant, it links with the one whose blood is dropped on it. When its owner dies this pendant causes arge explosion.]


    Looking at the simple exnation Alex sighed and opened his Zone covering himself and the Assassins inside of it. Then he took out the Simple sword from his inventory and cut the heads of the assassins.


    When the pendants felt that their owner had died, they sted but the explosion didn''t happen, or you could say that before the explosion could happen it was extinguished by Alex.


    He could easily do things like this in the Zone, though without the Zone he could only control Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Space, not their derived abilities or their sub-abilities. For example �C he can use and control water outside of the Zone, but inside it, he can control ice and steam as well.


    Some people might think that it''s a cheat ability, but it is what it is, and that is also the reason why those powerful entities waste their whole lives just to get a glimpse of it.


    [You gained 240 SP from killing three normal C-ranked Raiders.]


    [You can plunder everything from the enemy you have killed. Would you like to take everything from the dead enemy?]


    ''No, just take their stats and their memories about the one who ordered them.'' Alex didn''t see any useful skill in their skill set and how could he? Why would someone send a useful person for a suicide mission? So, he just took what could be useful for him, even if the stats of a C-ranked Raider would be nothing for him.


    When he saw the memories, he got from the assassins he was surprised, but it was a weed surprise since this world was slowly getting interesting.


    There was some kind of ban ced on their memories that they themselves didn''t remember the names or faces of their higher-ups, which means there was someone who could manipte memories or erase memories in this country or there was something entirely different at y here.


    Alex had a strong feeling that it was probably thetter, so, he decided to leave the people behind this for now, but he would see how it goes.


    For now, he decided to eat and sleep as it was better not to waste his time on something he didn''t know.


    ......


    "You didn''t hear an explosion? All right, no need to do anything for now, just keep observing him and wait for my instructions."


    Inside a dark room at who-knows-where, someone or to be precise a man as that is what it seemed if one looked at his silhouette, was sitting and observing three broken pendants that looked the same as the one Alex saw in the pockets of the Assassins.


    "So, they failed huh?" The person who seemed to be a guy from his voice spoke as if talking to the air and then nodded as if getting a reply from someone.


    "I know, I was just checking how strong he is right now, but how did he stop the explosion?" Confusion can be heard in his voice, and then he looks at a red-ck dagger in his hand.


    It was something that helped him very much and allowed him to be what he is now. He held the dagger tightly and looked in the air again and then smiled as if he heard something very pleasant.


    "All right, let''s not waste our time then." He got up after seemingly replying to the air but if Alex was here, he could have seen something very unique, something that no one other than one man was able to see. As for what it was, let''s continue the journey with our hero Ash Ketch- sorry, Alex.


    .........................


    or review to let me know your thoughts!

 Chapter 20 - 20 – Shifting.

    <h4>Chapter 20: CHAPTER 20 �C Shifting.</h4>


    "Is this really supposed to be used by a single person?" Alex wondered while observing the beautiful view of the vi that is supposedly his from now on.


    This vi typically features spacious, elegant architecture with elements like columns, balconies, andrge windows.


    It was fully cemented and the material used looked pretty durable, surrounded by well-manicured gardens orndscaping. Inside, it had high ceilings, marble floors, and luxurious furnishings. It consisted of two floors including the ground floor, the first floor had three rooms each roomrger than the room he had been staying till now.


    On the ground floor were the kitchen, bathroom, arge living room, a double-bedded room, and the hallway for the pool that is behind the vi. The view around the vi was nothing sort of breathtaking since the vi was pretty high up on the terrain, so, it gave the full view of the city from the balcony of the first floor.


    It had a garage that is right now upied by his new car, a striking ck car of some costly brand that he did not know, but he did know that this car was costly and with the aerodynamic body along with the low ground clearance of the car, he also knew that it was pretty fast as well.


    The only problem was that it was too big for just him to live alone, but he suddenly had an idea and called Alice.


    "What''s wrong Alex? Is there a problem in the house?" Alice asked as she knew that Alex was at the vi since he informed her before moving in.


    "Yeah, there''s a problem," Alex said faking a tired sigh.


    "What''s wrong?" This time worry can be clearly heard in Alice''s voice.


    She really did try to find the best she could but if Alex didn''t like it then all of it would not matter and she didn''t want Alex to think that she just bought anything for him.


    "It is too big for me." Alex''s voice turned nd when he said that.


    "...."


    "Do you want another, smaller one?" Alice asked after a moment of pause as it took her some time to understand what he meant.


    She wanted to give Alex the best, but she didn''t think she would have given too much, and thinking about it carefully she understood that it really was too big for a single person to live in.


    "No, I want to keep it. I know you tried your best for me, and I don''t want your hard work to get wasted. but there is something I want you to do," Alex said, as the best way to make someone listen to your request is to first make them realize their mistake, make them feel guilty, and then they would at least try to do their best to make it up to you.


    It really did work as Alice said,


    "Really? What is it? Tell me, I will try my best to do what you want." Alice said with resolution, Alex wanted to chuckle at how easy she was, but he tried not to as it would destroy the momentum he had created.


    "Let''s talk about itter at the guild." He said and didn''t talk about what he wanted, as the chances of his wish being fulfilled would be higher if he talked face-to-face, making full use of his passive charm and incubus aura.


    "All right, see you then," Alice said and even though they were talking on the phone Alex could imagine her smiling.


    "Who was that?" before Alice hung up the phone Alex heard a male voice from the other side and from the voice the guy didn''t seem older than 21 or 22.


    He didn''t think too much of the voice, he was not like those protagonists he had read about, as they tend to get jealous whenever their lover or intended are talking to some other guy without their knowledge. Also, Alex was still notpletely sure about what steps he should take with Alice.


    The things Alex does in his free time are reading novels, Mangas, manhwas, etc. as they would be of great help in dealing with the protagonists or the so-called heaven-favoured.


    He also understood that in this world it was going to be body overtaking troops and the one who took the body might be someone from another world that had its own power system.


    He might have been defeated, killed or betrayed and at thest moment he used some kind of treasure to save his own life, probably that treasure would have helped him perfectly adjust in this body, but he was here no more so he stopped thinking about it.


    However, if someone were to notice, the story hasn''t changed much, the only thing that has changed is that instead of the one who should have taken over the body, Alex took over the body.


    Alex inspected the whole vi and cooked some breakfast after he was done unpacking the little things he had.


    He took a bath and was eating breakfast right now; he had decided to run to the guild instead of taking the car as it would cover up for the workout he missed today and would also serve as a good excuse to ask Alice or Ann for a lift.


    Suddenly, Alex remembered something and spoke in his mind.


    ''Sophia, why is my luck so high? I know about my other stats, but what''s the reason for luck to be so high?'' Alex had been thinking about this for a while.


    He knew his luck was not low because of whatever past he had, so, S-rank was eptable but why was his luck SS and he felt like it was still in an increasing trend?


    [It''s because you are now being treated as the Heaven favored, so, your luck also got a raise and it resulted in your luck to continue growing along with your powers, at least in this world.]


    ''Why am I being treated as a Protagonist?'' (Heaven favored can be called protagonist) Alex asked Sophia in a confused voice.


    [Just think of it as a way of the world paying its respect.] Sophia''s voice sounded somewhat arrogant and as if the world heard it, the whole Gaia trembled a little, however, no one noticed it not even Alex.


    ''Rted to my past, again?'' Alex sighed as he already knew the answer to the question.


    [......Yes.] Sophia said after a pause, causing Alex to sigh again.


    ..................................


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 Chapter 21 - 21 – Salamander.

    <h4>Chapter 21: CHAPTER 21 �C Smander.</h4>


    Frank Michael was one of the several S-ranked Raiders that Orange Country had, and his nickname was ''Smander'' the same as his skill.


    He is a strong S-ranked Raider and also the vice-president or officially the vice-guild master of the Crimson Lotus guild. He was handsome, undoubtedly so, even from the standard of Raider.


    Well, almost every S-rank raider is handsome or beautiful in their own right. Let''s not talk about him being handsome as he would never be able topare to Alex''s looks.


    His age is 21 years, he has red hair that matches Alice''s, much to his delight, Brown eyes, and clean shaved face. His height was not too much but not too short, he stood at 173cm which is a cm higher than Alice which he is proud of as he likes topare himself with Alice.


    Hepares Alice not because he wants topete with her but because he has feelings for her. He knows that he wouldn''t be able to match her in power, so, he searches for other points where he would win.


    He could have joined any guild because he is an S-ranked Raider, but he chose to join Crimson Lotus as he fell in love with Alice the moment he saw her and decided to follow her, maybe confess to her as well.


    Yet, he only got rejected, he didn''t mind though, as he knew the path of love is never easy.


    But everything changed when he heard that there was some So-called most handsome man in the world as thedies in the guild who saw him imed, was dered as the Honorary guild master.


    He also seemed to be the new S-ranked Raider who was all over the news even now. He decided to have a talk with Alice about this matter but when he went to her office to have a heart-to-heart talk, her phone started ringing and she picked it up.


    He didn''t mind that, but his rxed andfortable expression changed when he heard a male voice from the other side of the phone and the worry on Alice''s face, his face started to contort, and he frowned.


    Then he saw her smiling sweetly, if it was a smile directed at him then he would have been over the moon but it was very painful for him to see her smiling like that for someone else.


    "Who was that?" He couldn''t help but ask with a scowl on his face when he saw that she was done talking but in response, Alice''s who was smiling sweetly till now turned into an impassive look.


    "Do I have an obligation to tell you that?" Alice asked as she also knew the reason why he wanted to talk to her but she had never considered him someone who could make her change any decision.


    He was a vice president just because he was an S-ranked Raider and the only S-ranked other than her in the guild. If possible, she never even wanted to see him, because of his persistently trying to chase after her.


    "No." He growled on the inside since he knew he didn''t have the right to say anything to her.


    "...."


    "What do you want to talk about?" Alice asked without beating around the bush as she didn''t want her mood which had been elevated because of the talk with Alex to go down.


    "You made someone an Honorary Guild master?" He also asked directly.


    "Yes, what of it?" Alice asked and started looking at one of the files that Ann had given her only to stop when she heard Frank''s question.


    "Why wasn''t I consulted about this?" Frank asked while directly staring at Alice who was now staring at him with a frown.


    "As I said, do I have an obligation to-" Frank interrupted her before she could finish her words.


    "Yes, as a vice-guild master, I have the right to know. I can''t ask you any personnel questions but you will have to answer any question that I ask you regarding the guild."


    He spoke as he looked at her more intently, showing that he was not going to back down till she gave him an appropriate answer.


    "....."


    "You weren''t consulted because it was an instant decision and if I had not given him that position then we would still be someone with two S-ranked Raiders and not three." She answered after thinking carefully but she was again unable to answer Frank''s next question.


    "How strong is he? You can''t just give such high authority to anyone; he needs to have the power to back it up." Frank asked with a frown when he heard confidence in her words when she spoke of him.


    ".... Yes, he is strong. Stronger than me, if I were, to be honest." Alice was unable to answer for a while, it was not because she didn''t have an answer, but because she knew what Frank was trying to do.


    However, she didn''t stop him as this chance could be used as a reality check for Frank, so, she answered truthfully knowing well that it would make Frank even firmer in whatever decision he was going to make.


    "Then let me test his power," Frank said and Alice knew that she only needed to tell Alex not to go too hard on Frank since even if he was annoying, he was still a member of the guild.


    "B-but..." Still, she needed to y her part in hesitating, or else he might realize something, though she didn''t know she was just thinking too much as Frank had already decided to ''teach'' Alex a lesson.


    "Are you hesitating now? Is he not as strong as you show him to be?" Frank asked while looking at Alice with a taunting expression.


    "......Alright, I will talk to him. When do you want the duel to be?" Alice said while faking hesitation.


    "Let''s not waste any time and do it in the evening." Frank couldn''t wait to teach this new S-ranked Raider a ''lesson'', showing everyone that Alex was nothing in front of him.


    "All right. The duel will be held in the training room." Alice said with a sigh, though inwardly she was smiling as she finally got a chance to teach this guy a lesson.


    She couldn''t challenge Frank to a duel to teach him a lesson because Frank was a guild member and Frank himself would never challenge her as he knows his limits. He would have never thought that even by challenging Alex, he was digging his own grave.


    "You can go now," Alice said impatiently while looking at Frank who was still sitting there staring at her seemingly thinking about saying something.


    "..." Frank didn''t say anything just nodded and left the office; he didn''t understand why but now he felt that he shouldn''t have been hasty about his decision.


    But he didn''t think too much as to what would even go wrong, he was just going to teach that bastard a ''lesson'' and be done with it... right?


    As he left the office, he missed seeing Alice who chuckled a little and directly called Ann to talk about what had happened while she also sent Alex a message toe quickly.


    Alex was cooking at the time he received the message, but he only replied with a thumbs up. He knew he didn''t need to hurry as he would reach in time for whatever Alice wanted him to hurry for.


    "You guys are not vegan, right?" Alex had other things to take care of right now, as he again sensed three D-ranked Raiders entering his house and he again asked the first question that came to his mind, he was making chicken sandwiches after all.


    The events that followed after that were the same as the incidentst night as these three people also had the same kind of pendant making him think just where did their leader get these many of them.


    ...................................


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 Chapter 22 - 22 – Awakened Beasts.

    <h4>Chapter 22: CHAPTER 22 �C Awakened Beasts.</h4>


    "Oh, what do we have here?"


    Alex had been running from his ce to the guild, he was not even breaking a sweat though. With his SS-raked stats, it wasn''t hard for him to run this distance, still, if he were to use his full speed then he would reach the guild within an hour and also get a good workout.


    He kept running until he heard a whimper, ''hungry, hungry...'' he followed the voice he realized that it was not a human, as his Mind of Master passively lets him talk to any living entity.


    When he found the source of the voice, he was a little surprised to see a dog- no, a wolf covered in blood, and even though it was very small, maybe a just-born baby, it still had an amazing affinity to shadow.


    So, he picked him up and cleaned the blood on its body with water magic after he realized that the blood that was covering her was not her own blood.


    Yes, it was a newborn female wolf, he then followed the trail of blood only to find the dead mother of the wolf, even the bay wolf saw her mother in front and even though the wolf didn''t have any energy left in her, she still tried to move towards her.


    Alex sighed when he heard the child calling his now dead mother as if she was alive, she kept repeating ''Mama, mama......'' only to get silence in reply. Alex sighed again and pressed a point on the neck of the baby wolf, making her pass out.


    Alex looked at Mother Wolf, contemting whether he should take out the Mana core from it as it was an S-ranked beast it must have it.


    In the end, he decided against it, leaving it for the baby wolf to decide in the future, and made a cleanpartment of 2x3x5 m on the ground using the earth element and then picked up the wolf and gently ced her inside.


    Even though the wolf was 2m high, 4m long, and might weigh more than 300kg it wasn''t hard for Alex to pick her up.


    He then used wind and earth elements to air-pack the mother wolf within the ground, so that her body which would have stayed without decaying for a long time as an S-ranked beast would stay like that for a lot longer in the air-tight ce.


    Alex also ced a permanent disguise over this ce so that no one would be able to know that there is something inside, and even if someone did find something they wouldn''t be able to see the Mother wolf that is buried inside.


    After burying the mother wolf, he washed away the blood in this ce so that it would not attract any other beast in the area when things were done, he embraced the wolf and started running towards the guild, though this time his speed was a little faster.


    When Gates appeared and the awakening happened, it wasn''t just humans who were awakened. Animals all around the world also started awakening, making many national sanctuaries or national parks, even some forests a restricted zone for normal people.


    When the animals awakened just like humans, they also awakened skills and received different stats.


    However, there was one difference, and it was that animals absorbed mana from nature to grow stronger, they can''t increase their power with awakening potions or any other external agent.


    Still, that didn''t mean they were very strong, it took them a long time to even rank up with absorbing mana from nature.


    In the five years since the appearance of the gate there have only been two or three animals that had grown stronger than S-rank and reached SS rank, the humans, however, believed that they were just stronger S-ranked monsters since the humans still don''t know about the ranks above S-rank.


    Having strong monsters outside the gates, ready to destroy a city is something very concerning but there is something beneficial as well.


    Some people have awakened tamer skills, and the stronger ones can even tame the S-ranked monsters or animals, adding to the power of humanity.


    So, not everything was bad even with the threat of SS-rank animals attacking some city looming over.


    The humans are not weak enough to be defeated by a single SS-rank animal and SS-rank animals never group up, if they do meet each other then it is only to kill one another.


    Some monsters do not wish for violence and only want peace, so they don''t disturb the humans and humans also don''t disturb them, some monsters are friendly towards humans, trying to help them fight in the gates and also other animals.


    Then there are those who just want to kill humans and other monsters alike, they are the animals that have always stayed on the top of the food chain and do not want to lower themselves to others.


    As for how these things are known? It is because as the monsters grow strong, they can speak and the S-ranked monsters can easily speak like humans, so, conveying their intentions is not hard for them.


    As the monsters grow strong, they can manipte their size to make themselves smaller, making it more convenient for them to talk with humans, still, they prefer not to change their size. Then there is the material that one can get from the monsters, unlike the gate monsters who disappear after dropping something, they do not disappear.


    Many people awakened crafting or smithing skills and these monsters provide the best materials they could hope for, from fangs, skin, and fur to the bones and tendons, everything in the monster''s body is precious.


    But the most important thing is the magic crystals in the case of F-A rank monsters and Mana cores for S-rank monsters. These things can be used for many things such as providing weapons with different abilities, using them as energy generators, making potions, and many more.


    But the Mana core is something that has very high value as not only does it give a stronger boost for everything a magic crystal can do it also has a special function: Humans can absorb the magic energy inside the Mana cores to grow stronger and so can the beasts, then there is also a chance that the one can get the ability that the owner of the Mana core had.


    So, this is a very desired item by anyone and whenever it is found by someone if they are strong enough to protect themselves, they simply use it or keep it for future use.


    If they don''t have power however, then all they can do is sell it to an auction house, and even there they need to be careful, or they might die even before getting a chance to know how they died.


    As people grow strong their lifespan also increases, for example, an A-rank raider could live up to an average of 120 years with ease, and that too at a time when normal people have an average life of 60-70 years, whereas an S-ranked Raider can live up to 180 years.


    The same is true for the beasts, as they grow strong their life span increases even the animals that live up to 2-3 years could be able to live up to 50 years not to talk about the ones that already had the life span of 100, 200, 300 or more.


    Then there is a fact that older animals could turn into a human form, it is spected that the older animals have more control over mana or something but those are just guesses, as no one knows the real reason.


    However, if someone were to ask Sophia then her reply would be simple, ''For those Beast to take a human form, they need to be using mana for a long time or it is simply that they have good control over their mana.''


    This means the one or two beasts that take the form of a human in this world are someone with superb control over mana as the first option is not possible in just 5 years. There are exceptions, however, and those exceptions are the ones with higher graded bloodlines but leave these topics forter.


    Alex felt the baby wolf trembling in his hand maybe because she was feeling cold from the wind as Alex''s speed was quite fast or it was simply because she was feeling weak.


    Alex didn''t stop though; he just created a wind barrier around the baby wolf or the pup he was holding and then he used water healing on the pup as even though not much it would still energize the pup as well as heal the tiredness the pup had.


    Water healing is done simply by removing the harmful or wastefulponents of the water and only keeping the nutritious or healingponents, it still needs masterful control over the magic and that was not something that Alex didn''t have.


    He carefully guided the water energy through every part of the pup''s body, slowly making her healthier. After a while, the pup stopped trembling and her breathing had evened out, indicating that she had entered thend of dreams.


    After continuous running, Alex finally reached the Crimson Lotus guild. When he reached the guild, he used the wind to make the pup float beside himself while also using the disguise ability to make the pup invisible.


    It was then that he noticed that the stares of the people seemed a little different, he soon found out the reason as well as he heard some people whispering, ''He''s the Honorary guild master....'', ''He is the New S-ranker....'', ''The third S-ranker of our guild....''.


    He understood why he could feel different kinds of stares, some were happy, some jealous, some envious, some love, some awe, and many more but he felt one particr stare that was more intense than any other.


    He looked at the source and found Frank, whom Alice had introduced to be the vice-president of the guild by showing his photo, but he found it strange since the feeling he got from this man''s stare was as if he was being mocked.


    It made him feel a burning feeling inside of his heart as if he wanted to tear that face off from that man, but he riled in those feelings and ignored everyone while moving towards Alice''s office while also greeting anyone who greeted him, causing the girls to get stunned by his smile while the guys just looked awed.


    He had also noticed that the pup had woken up when she was removed from the ce it found cozy, but she just silently observed her surroundings without making any noise or showing any movements causing Alex to nod internally.


    Frank who was left behind had his mocking expression washed off his face and now he was trembling uncontrobly, it was not because of anger or excitement it was simply because he was scared, scared that he was going to die.


    Alex might not have realized but when he saw the mocking expression on Franks''s face he unknowingly turned the suppression of Supreme human and Celestial incubus while focusing his aura on Frank along with the pressure of mana.


    It only happened for a second and was only felt by Frank but that alone was enough to give Frank a sense of dread he had never felt, he wanted to kneel, he wanted to bang his head on the floor and die, he wanted to anything to apologize but the pressure vanished the next moment.


    For a moment he thought that maybe it was a dream, but feeling his body covered in sweat and trembling of his whole body he knew it was in no way a dream.


    Frank now felt that he shouldn''t have gone ahead and challenged him without even knowing his power, but he knew that there was no going back now, or maybe he should just apologize to Alex.


    He didn''t know but he knew he needed to calm down as maybe he was thinking too much, he could not even understand what was happening and his head was a mess, so, he went back to his office after gesturing to a female staff member to follow him. he really needed to let out some steam so that he could think clearly.


    //// Author Note: Alex keeps his bloodline suppressed because if the suppression was removed, either his charm would be even more disastrous or his presence would be treated like a god to be prayed in the mind of humans, as his bloodline was very high for the people with low leveled bloodline. The only ways for them to not be affected by his bloodline will be exinedter. ////


    Alex reached Alice''s office and knocked on the door and heard e in", so, he entered the room, but Alice didn''t look up from the documents as she did not realize that it was him. It was after a while that Alice looked towards him with a frown, but the frownpletely vanished when she saw who it was.


    "Alex!!! You should have called out to me." She was going to shout at the person since she hadn''t heard anything for a while, but she didn''t know if it was Alex, or she must have left the work behind and greeted him.


    "You just looked beautiful with that serious expression, and I couldn''t bring myself to disturb you." Although Alex felt odd at how naturally those flirtatious words left his lips, he didn''t think too much about it.


    Alice just blushed and lowered her head at this and seeing this Alex walked in front of Alice''s desk and sat on the seat in front of her.


    "Where is Ann?" He asked changing the subject and Alice as if noticing her cue replied.


    "She went to get something to eat as both of us were feeling hungry." She said and seeing Alex nod she was about to continue but Alex asked something that made her look at him in worry.


    "Can you call the best healer you have?" Alex asked and Alice hurriedly got up from her seat and moved close to Alex checking him up and down, while she continued the inspection, she asked.


    "What happened? Are you all right? Were you attacked?" From her tone, it was clear that she was worried, and Alex also felt good about it, but he needed to clear the misunderstanding.


    "Hey, hey, calm down. I am fine, I wanted the healer for someone else." Alex stood up and held her hand and said looking in her eyes, Alice''s head directly hung down with a furious blush.


    "..." Alex was speechless and thought, ''What is this cute creature?''


    ................


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 Chapter 23 - 23 – Duel?

    <h4>Chapter 23: CHAPTER 23 �C Duel?</h4>


    "She is so cute!!" x2


    Both Ann and Alice said as Alex removed the disguise of the pup.


    Ann had entered the room at the same time when Alex held Alice''s hand and Alice was blushing, Alex had noticed that but he didn''t bother hiding things from her as it was better if she knew everything.


    However, before the situation bes awkward, he removes the disguise of the pup to change the topic, but he doesn''t expect this reaction.


    They started caressing it and patting it while observing it, forgetting whatever was happening, Alex smiled seeing their reaction but then he sighed when he saw the pup looking at him with a begging expression.


    "I know she is cute, but can you guys leave her some space? She is injured." Alex said while moving the pup in his hands using the wind.


    Alex looked at the pup again and he had to admit she looked adorable, it had dark-ck shadow-like fur and shining blue eyes looking around curiously.


    Her length was close to 35cm excluding her tail, which was very fluffy, and was waving around showing her happiness at being in his arms.


    "I will call the healer." Alice acted fast when she heard his words and called the healer.


    "What happened?" Ann asked as neither she nor Alice knew what had happened.


    "When I was on the way here, I found her lying in blood. However, I found out that it was not her blood but her mother''s, who had died giving birth to her, and I don''t know how long it had been from her birth, but she was very weak." Alex exined to them since the healer was on his way, they had some free time.


    Alice and Ann looked at the pup pitifully after hearing what happened to her, they moved closer and caressed the pup when they saw her bing sad as soon as her mother was mentioned.


    "You said she looked very weak, but why does she look fine right now? Did you find a low-ranking healer to give her some minor healing on the way?" Alice asked as the pup didn''t seem injured to her.


    This was also the reason when Alex removed the disguise, she didn''t feel that the pup was injured.


    "No, I healed her myself but as I am not really the best healer, I thought maybe I should get her healed with a better one. Better safe than sorry right?" He replied with a smile while caressing the pup.


    He really liked this pup as she reminded him of someone he didn''t even remember, but there was this nostalgic feeling he had, and he knew it had something to do with his past.


    He didn''t notice that the girls were surprised, not because of his smile but because he said he healed the pup. They knew he was strong, well, very strong, but they didn''t think he would be a healer as well, this got them thinking if there was anything that he couldn''t do.


    *Knock-Knock*


    It was when the knock was heard that everyone came out of their thoughts.


    "Come in," Alice said, and the healer came inside but then got surprised after seeing the people inside the office.


    The healer was a guy with a height of 170cm, green hair that went down to his back, dark green eyes, a sharp nose, thin lips, and his face looked feminine.


    His build was very lean and delicate and if someone were to say that he was a girl dressed up as a guy, no one would doubt it for a second.


    Alex would have also thought that, but nothing could be hidden from his eyes, and he knew that the person in front of him was a guy, even if that guy was blushing while looking at him.


    The healer''s name was Nick Morice, though he was called Nicky by everyone in the guild, he even received many proposals from both guys and girls from the guild as even if he looked like a girl his charm was still S-.


    "Nicky, can you check up on this little girl here?" Alice asked Nicky with a smile as Nick''s rtionship was good with everyone in the guild and he was also amodating.


    "O-oh, Y-yes," Nick answered while stuttering, he looked at Alex again and blushed but then he moved to check the pup''s condition. Alex had already ced the pup on the desk so that Nick could examine her better.


    Alex then turned towards Ann who had been looking at him and Nick weirdly since she could see Nick''s expression and understand it, unlike Alice. Alex just shook his head and shrugged causing Ann to nod and sigh in relief.


    Alex was not someone who would criticize people''s choices or preferences, but he was also not someone who would change himself for others.


    So, he was not going to do something that might cause Nick to be depressed as he was a cheerful and energetic guy, but he would still not give Nick some false hope.


    When he sees the situation moving in the wrong direction he will stop it, but right now what Nick had towards him was just Awe and Respect and Alex could see those things in Nick''s eyes. As for why Nick was blushing?


    Well, Nick is into guys, and with Alex''s look it was normal for him to blush as even an S-rank raider like Alice was unable to stop herself from blushing, so, it was pretty normal for an A-ranked healer not to be able to withstand his charm.


    "She is just hungry and everything else is fine. It seems like she was healed by a good healer." Nick said after he examined the pup causing Alice and Ann to turn towards Alex with a wronged look.


    Alex just smiled helplessly; he was just doing his best, but he seemed to have forgotten that if he did his best then anything done by him would show good results.


    It was his first time using water to heal and if given time there is a chance that he can rece or regrow cells with the help of water.


    "Thank you, Nick." Alex thanked Nick who just smiled gently.


    "It''s my job." Nick didn''t blush or show any awkward movements this time around as examining the pup had calmed him down. Nick then turned towards Alice, and she nodded gesturing that his work was done Nick also smiled and nodded.


    "Good luck with the Duel, I am rooting for you." Nick stopped at the gate and said to Alex and then went out not noticing Alex''s puzzled expression.


    "Duel?" Alex asked, looking at Alice since he didn''t know what Dual Nick was talking about.


    "Well, about that......" Alice started exining what happened and why she asked him toe quickly and by the time she ended up telling Alex about everything, both she and Ann were startled as they saw Alex smiling.


    His smile was not his usual gentle smile, this time it looked like the smile of someone evil, but then it vanished as if it was never there making them question whether it was just their imagination.


    "I see..." Alex said while he was thinking of what he should do with Frank. He still remembered the mocking smile he had seen and just thinking that he got the chance to wipe that smile off his face made him smile.


    This is the smile that was seen by Alice and Ann, but he calmed down pretty quickly while still thinking of how he should make this interesting.


    He hadn''t realized it yet but from the moment he awakened the Incubus bloodline his personality had started to turn devilish, and well this might be the bacsh that he had to suffer.


    This is also the reason why in the earlier chapters it''s said that even though the Supreme human bloodline doesn''t look like much it''s very powerful since its adaptability is very high and it would not give any kind of bacsh.


    Every race has its different characteristics along with the powers they provide, and their characteristics might also be their bacsh, that is why even if humans are the weakest race in the start, they are still a race with the most potential.


    ......................


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 Chapter 24 - 24 – Shortest duel ever.

    <h4>Chapter 24: CHAPTER 24 �C Shortest duel ever.</h4>


    "The match is not considered won until the other side admits defeat or falls unconscious.


    So, are both of you ready?" Alice who has taken the role of referee, asked.


    It was already evening and Alex had decided how to make Frank have a perfect defeat. So, when Alice asked if he was ready, he nodded his head and so did Frank, not knowing what wasing his way.


    Frank had invited many people to watch the performance after letting out some steam together with ady from the guild he felt that whatever he felt was just his imagination or maybe Alex used some dirty trick.


    Frank even invited everyone he could and thought of humiliating Alex in front of everyone. Still, he didn''t hold back even a little as he knew even though he might be stronger, Alex was still an S-rank Raider (Frank''s thinking).


    ''Have you bought ''it''?'' Alex asked Sophia.


    [Yes, it''s in the inventory.] Sophia replied and giggled a little, [You are bullying him.]


    ''It''s his fault for being ignorant and I am not killing him or anything.'' Alex just shrugged mentally.


    Sophia knew the reason why Alex''s personality was changing but she liked the new Alex better as he was more open to his desires, so, she didn''t tell him anything and neither was she nning to do that anytime soon. It would be different if Alex asked, though.


    Alex then looked at Frank''s stats as he saw Frank rushing towards him, his Agility was A+ ranked showing his weakness so Alex just dodged the ming fist covered in red scales.


    Frank''s skill is called smander; he covers parts of his body with the scales of a smander that provide heightened defenses and strength. His mes were also a little strong though much weaker than Alice''s.


    Alex dodged ten or more of Frank''s punches and everyone realized that Alex was better than Frank, at least in speed, even Frank realized that, so he shouted.


    "Stop dodging like a rat and face me like a man." Hearing Frank shout some of the people in the guild who didn''t like Alex also did the same and it has only been 10-15sec since the match started.


    "Oh? All right then, I am standing right here." Alex said with a gentle smile, but his intentions were anything but gentle, he opened his inventory, and a small pill came inside his right fist.


    "OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." Frank smiled arrogantly thinking that Alex was a fool for listening to his taunting and rushed at Alex at full speed while using all of his mana to empower his right fist.


    "Huh?" Some people were worried, some were happy, and some didn''t have any reaction, still, everyone was expecting a loud booming sound.


    But all they heard was Frank''s dumbfounded voice, and looking at the scene in front of them everyone became dumbfounded, be it Nick, Alice, or Ann who was holding the pup in her hands.


    "Is that all?" Alex asked in a rxed manner as if he was not stopping the hand that held the attack of a full-powered strength-type S-ranked Raider.


    Alex was holding Frank''s ming fist with his left hand as even if Frank was a Strength-type Raider with the strength of S rank the maximum his strength would go would be SS-, and maximum means if he used his abilities perfectly with perfect control over mana, not how he was using.


    Alex, on the other hand, had his base stat at SS- right now, so, how could he not be able to stop a punch of that caliber?


    "Now, it''s my turn, right?"


    Alex asked with the same smile but this time the smile reminded Frank of what he had felt before and he started trembling he opened his mouth to admit defeat but right at that moment, he felt his mind go nk.


    *Woosh* *Boom*


    This is all everyone heard and when they saw what had happened, their jaws couldn''t help but open wide enough for an egg to enter.


    Alex used his SS rank speed to quickly punch and push the pill inside Frank''s mouth when he saw him open it to surrender.


    His speed was so fast that no one even noticed, not even Frank noticed that he had swallowed a pill since the pain and shock his brain experienced was too much for him.


    Alex didn''t punch Frank out of the court, he simply pushed Frank''s face towards the ground along with his punch causing him toy t on the ce he was standing.


    Frank''s face was now pressed on the ground and it also caused a booming sound as most of the impact was transferred to the ground.


    Alex knew that if he punched Frank with his full strength, that too when Frank was not covering his face with the scales of a smander, Frank would have died, either from his neck breaking or his face being crushed.


    So, he controlled his strength in a way that, even though it would stun Frank''s brain for a few seconds, it would not cause any major damage, but some power still remained in the punch, so he transferred that to the floor, causing it to break.


    It was clear as day that Frank had lost the match, everyone thought that the match was over even Alice also moved towards the tform to announce the result while she sighed secretly seeing that Frank was alive.


    "He has yet to admit defeat." When Alex''s words were heard, everyone stopped in their ce. The people who were about to go back to their work stopped, the healers who were about to move towards Frank stopped and Alice also stopped.


    Then everyone turned towards Frank who was now trying to open his eyes with a very ufortable expression, showing that Frank was still conscious.


    They had thought that Frank would have been unconscious after taking a direct hit from Alex since the punch was strong and they had thought the match was over, but for Alex, it was just the start.


    ......................


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 Chapter 25 - 25 – Humiliation.

    <h4>Chapter 25: CHAPTER 25 �C Humiliation.</h4>


    "He has yet to admit defeat." When Alex''s words were heard, Alice looked at him, wanting to tell him to at least not kill him.


    When her eyes met Alex''s, she knew he understood what she meant as he nodded his head, but she still felt that whatever he was going to do would probably not be good for Frank.


    Then suddenly she remembered his scary smile in her office, but then she shook her head since he was not going to kill Frank, she was all right with him being taught a lesson.


    "Ughh," Frank who was sprawled on the ground grunted in pain as he held his jaw, he knew that it was at least dislocated. Even if Alex controlled his strength, he still didn''t let him get off easily.


    Alex''s thinking was simple, if Frank couldn''t even take this much then why was he even called a strength-type S-rank Raider?


    Frank looked around only to find out that his world was spinning as the impact of Alex''s punch had also reached his brain, causing his mind to go nk for a second.


    Just then, Frank felt something, something horrible, he wanted to get up and run to his office but he couldn''t even stand up. So, he suppressed whatever he felt and tried to stabilize himself.


    "Are you up?" But then Frank heard the voice of the person who was responsible for his condition, Frank could tell, just by hearing his voice that the guy was amused.


    However, he chose to remain silent as by now he understood the difference between them, he understood what Alex had done, he knocked him out without the use of any ability.


    If that''s not shocking then let''s put it this way: He knocked an S-ranked strength-type Raider in a matter of 10 sec, without using any mana.


    One must know that when S-rankers fight, it takes at least half an hour if not hours to decide the victor (There are some special cases), and the strength-type Raiders are known for their tenacity, but Alex defeated such a person in 10 sec.


    No, it would be wrong to say that it even took him 10 sec as he was just dodging the attacks, if they were to say it correctly then it would be that ''Alex defeated a strength-type S-rank Raider with just a single punch''.


    Frank felt humiliated, he felt like he had pped his face with his own hands. He didn''t know that Alex would be so powerful, blinded by the rage that some other guy was getting close to Alice he didn''t even try to acquire any information about him, and now it came back to bite his ass.


    He decided to admit defeat, as he had heard everything that was being said even if he was stunned, but would Alex let him off so easily? Your answer is a big fat NO.


    Frank tried to speak but suddenly he felt that he couldn''t say anything, no, his whole body was not in his control, but right now, he focused his all on controlling the thing that he had been suppressing for a while.


    "Do you surrender?" Alex spoke and looked into Frank''s eyes; he could see that the guy wanted to admit defeat but how could he? Alex had used his bloodline tomand him not to move and to stay quiet.


    Alex could also see that Frank''s face was slowly getting red as if he had been suppressing something, so...


    ''Rx,'' Alex ordered Frank to rx his body, and the way the colors drained off Frank''s face was just so satisfying......


    *Pooofffff~~*


    There was pin-drop silence in the room, so, everyone heard it perfectly. It was the sound of a fart, but it didn''t end there.


    *Prrof**Thup*


    The next second everyone in the stadium was hit by a disgusting smell, causing them to cover their nose. Frank tried to contract his butt muscles, he tried to stop himself, but it was all for naught, he could see everyone looking at him with disgust.


    He felt anger and humiliation, but still, the most he felt was shame, he wanted to just run away from here, but he couldn''t even speak much less run away.


    He looked around as he could still move his eyes, his world shattered as he saw Alice looking at him with disgust, he could even see the gentlest guy, Nick looking away from him when he looked towards him.


    Tears slowly rolled down his eyes, he didn''t know why but just that second, he got back control over his body, but then he again heard the voice of a man and he suddenly realized something.


    "Hey, shit-pants, do you admit defeat?" Alex asked as he looked at Frank with the same disgust as the others.


    He had bought axative from the system and fed it to Frank, Sophia said that for someone lower than EX rank it would take effect in seconds and it did just that. Thexative was not something harmful and it was also pretty cheap as it cost around 150 points.


    "YOU!!!!! What did you do!!!!!" Frank shouted as he rushed towards Alex ignoring the shit that fell between his legs, literally.


    He understood that Alex had something to do with whatever was happening, but he didn''t know what he did, in fact, no one did.


    "Hm? What do you mean, Shit-pants?" Alex asked again in a condescending tone, while he moved an inch to the right, missing Frank''s punch by an inch.


    "I DON''T KNOW!!!! Tell them that it was you who did something to me!! And stop calling me SHIT-PANTS!!!"


    Frank was not even thinking clearly as his world was falling apart, he could hear the snickering andughing noise of some people, the people that couldn''tpare to him.


    Right now, he just wanted to beat Alex to a pulp, but then his world went nk. He was unwilling to lose, but he knew that he had lost and at thest moment he heard Alex say something.


    "Yeah, it was me," Alex said knowing full well, that Frank was not going to remember it and even if he did, he would not be able to do something since there was no poof. Alex chopped Frank''s neck knocking him out as a result.


    "He is unconscious," Alex dered and looked at Alice who was looking at him with a questioning look, he just nodded to her with a smile.


    Even though Alice didn''t understand the meaning behind the nod she still nodded as well, and moved to the stage, though she stayed far away from Frank, or the trail made of Frank''s shit.


    ''Sophia, turn off the plunder skills notification permanently, and I don''t want to plunder anything this time.'' Alex spoke in his mind, he didn''t want that notification sound in his mind and it was annoying since he could just plunder the abilities even without those notifications, it was his ability after all, not a system function.


    [Done.] Sophia said afterpleting the task given to her.


    "Due to Frank being unconscious, Alex is dered the winner," Alice said, and everyone pped their hands ignoring Frank who was unconscious.


    Nick and his team moved towards Frank slowly trying not to step on the shit.


    "He deserved that," Nick whispered to Alex as he crossed by him. Alex just smiled and didn''t say anything.


    There was rarely someone who liked Frank in the guild, even though he was strong, and people respected him, he never cared about anyone and even ordered people to do his bidding just because he had higher authority and power than them.


    Alice also couldn''t take action against him as long as he didn''t cross the limit, Frank who knew this also stopped whenever he reached the limit.


    However, there were still some people who couldn''t resist him as he would ckmail them using some dirt he had gathered on them, and if those things went out their careers would be destroyed.


    Still, Frank never did something that would harm the guild, that was a fact, even if he harassed the members, he never backed down when his guild was in danger, and that is the reason why Alice wanted him to just be taught a lesson.


    However, she didn''t know how Frank was going to recover after this, after all, just like her he was also an S-rank raider, so, he also had great pride, but today it was shattered by Alex. She looked at Alex for a while and saw him smiling at her.


    "Come with me," Alice spoke, without waiting for his response, she pulled him along with her, and Ann who saw this also followed behind them along with the Pup.


    .........................


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 Chapter 26 - 26 – Bloodlines.

    <h4>Chapter 26: CHAPTER 26 �C Bloodlines.</h4>


    "What if he loses his mind as soon as he wakes up?" Alice questioned Alex.


    They were sitting in her office along with Ann and the pup who had been staring at Alex from the moment it woke up.


    Alice had asked Alex about what to do now.


    She knew that Alex must have had a way of calming things down if he had taken things to that level, but she was shocked when she heard Alex say that he didn''t know.


    He also said that if Frank is at least smarter than a 10 grader, then he would know that fighting Alex would only do him harm and no good.


    "I will take care of it then," Alex said nonchntly with a shrug causing Alice to be silent as she didn''t know what to say anymore.


    Alex could understand her dilemma, so, he voices out.


    "I can make it so that he would not betray the guild if you want," Alex rmended.


    He knew why Alice was getting a little worried since it''s fine even if Frank justsses out, but the problem is that he might try to take external help just to take revenge as a result increases the chances of an attack on the guild.


    Every guild is like a hunter waiting for its prey to get weak and it would just jump on them, and an S-rank raider seeking help from other guilds would simply make them the potential prey of every other guild.


    "How will you do that?" Alice didn''t agree directly, instead, she asked Alex while looking into his eyes.


    "Who knows?" Alex smiled mysteriously but then he realised something.


    ''Sophia, what''s happening to me?'' He had been feeling it but he was ignoring it, now he asked and he was sure Sophia understood what he wanted to ask.


    [Well, it''s your incubus bloodline, it is changing your personality a little. Do you not...... like it?]


    Sophia really liked this new Alex better since this personality suited him better.


    ''You want me to keep this personality?'' Alex asked unsurely, he didn''t hate this personality, it was just that he didn''t want to change into someone else.


    [I like it, but it''s up to you. It''s just that you can express your feelings better with this personality.]


    Herst line was spoken in a very low tone but Alex heard and smiled inwardly. She just wanted the


    best for him, Alex understood that and it made him feel a little warm.


    ''All right then, I will keep it.'' Alex spoke but then he noticed that Alice was still staring at him.


    "What?" He asked her innocently.


    "How will you do it?" Alice asked again and from her tone Alex could tell that she would not back down till he gave her an answer, so he just sighed, dropping the innocent act.


    "Are you sure you want to know?" Alex asked with a serious voice along with a serious face, the friendly vibe around him also turned serious. He changed his approach, and it worked like magic.


    Listening to his serious tone Alice started hesitating, it''s normal for humans to hesitate when they are stuck in a serious situation.


    Alice was right now thinking if it was something that Alex had kept as a secret or something he couldn''t tell anyone, was it something that would affect their rtionship? Was it something that would cause him harm if he informed her? These were the thoughts in her mind.


    "Yes," In the end she decided that she wanted to know. She wanted to know more about Alex, she was not oblivious to her own feelings, and she knew that she was falling for Alex slowly and steadily.


    So, she wanted to know more about him before she fell too deep toe out.


    Alex hadn''t expected this oue, so, he was surprised, he thought that she would back down and not ask anymore. But looks like no one can guess what goes through a human mind, still now he fell into contemtion.


    Should he tell her about the bloodline? He felt that even if she was trustworthy, it was still a little too early to tell her about it. Was he scared? Not at all, he just didn''t want his trust to be broken.


    "It''s my bloodline ability," Alex decided to leap in faith as there was nothing she could do even if she knew about his bloodline, in fact, no human could do anything to him.


    "Bloodline ability?" Before Alice could ask anything, Ann asked curiously.


    She was very much interested in the new things Alex told them about,st time it was the ranking system so now she became immensely interested in knowing what this Bloodline thingy was.


    "Yes, Bloodline ability, and from its name you could have somewhat guessed what it could be, right?" Alex stood up from the chair and walked towards Ann while asking the question.


    Seeing both of them nod their heads, he also nodded his head, sat next to Ann took the pup from Ann''s arms, and ced it on hisp, which in turn caused the pup to wag its tail and rub its little head on Alex''s stomach.


    "So, you are not a human?" Alice asked with a frown.


    "I am a human, just a better human." Alex corrected her words but this only made her more confused.


    "So, like your bloodline is an upgrade of human?" Ann worked her brain at full throttle, and this was the conclusion that she came to.


    Alice''s eyes also lit but the next second the light in her eyes turned into a slight jealousy as she saw Alex pat Ann''s head with a smile.


    "Exactly, I knew you would understand." Ann just lowered her head and blushed, but she didn''t tell him to stop, and Alex also didn''t stop. But then he looked at Alice who was looking towards Ann with hidden jealousy and spoke.


    "What? You want it as well. There''s some space if you want to..." Alex said while patting the space on his left side.


    The sofa they were sitting on was a three-seater sofa, so there was still space for Alice with Ann sitting on his right and the pup sitting on hisp.


    Alice didn''t answer she just kept her head down and got up from the seat and sat beside Alex, she didn''t even look towards him or Ann as she could hear Ann''s giggles.


    She was very embarrassed but sitting close to him was tempting enough to ignore the embarrassment, people might think that it was being exaggerated but you must remember one thing.


    Alex''s incubus bloodline''s rank is very high and even when he is not able to use it to its full potential its passive boost is no joke.


    He could make any girl addicted to the warmth andfort that he gives out if he wants to, but he kept it to the minimum so as not to affect his current rtionships.


    "So? How is your bloodline better?" Ann asked after a while and Alice''s ears also perked up, but she didn''t look up and enjoyed the pats Alex was giving her.


    "Let''s just say it gives me many boosts and one of those is that it lets memand the one with a bloodline with a rank lower than mine," Alex spoke while he observed the girl''s reaction.


    When he saw their bodies tense up, he added, "So, be aware I mightmand you to do something very perverted."


    As he said those words their bodies rxed, and blush covered their faces, but they didn''t say anything as if they silently epted it.


    When they heard Alex''s bloodline ability, the first thought that came to their mind was the same as anyone else would have, ''Dangerous''. This is what they thought, but when they heard his words, theyughed at their own thinking.


    Why they would need to be afraid of him when he was with them and, well, they might not even resist if he really ordered them to do something.


    Looking at the girls who had their faces red like a ripe tomato, Alex sighed since thest thing he wanted was for these two girls to be scared of him as they were the only people whom he even cared about in this world.


    "So? Is that all of the benefits of your bloodline?" Ann asked after calming down.


    "You know, curiosity killed the cat...." Alex spoke mysteriously with a smile, he also started to understand that Ann was a ball of curiosity for anything new.


    "But satisfaction brought it back," Ann retorted with a smile.


    "Touche," Alex remarked causing Ann to smile wider.


    "All right, it''s not the only benefit, there is......." Alex continued telling them about the abilities while patting heads and the pups. Alice was also curious about these things, but unlike Ann, she was still embarrassed to ask anything.


    Just like that without them realizing their rtionship grew closer moment by moment.


    ...............................


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 Chapter 27 - 27 – Invitation.

    <h4>Chapter 27: CHAPTER 27 �C Invitation.</h4>


    A guy with mesmerizing ck hair and haunting red eyes along with his heavenly look sat together with two beautiful girls on either of his sides and a cute pup in his hands. Even though the girls'' looks weren''tparable with the guy they were with, they had their own charms.


    A redhead with red hair was the perfect definition of a proud woman with power and looks.


    The other girl had ck hair and blue gem-like watery eyes, just a look at her would be enough to tell that she was a kind girl and her small stature with cute looks would make anyone want to protect her, though the people who knew her would know better than to believe in her looks.


    Thest one was a cute little pup with ck fur and blue eyes, she was rubbing her head on the guy''s stomach, and it seemed like she was enjoying it.


    They were Alex, Alice, Ann and the pup that Alex had picked up, Alex had just finished exining some things about the bloodline and its importance to the girls.


    He kept patting their heads from time to time while also giving some attention to the little pup since he knew it would take some time for them to digest these pieces of information.


    ...............................


    "When are you going to name her?" Alice asked passing a pie that Ann had bought to Alex.


    "Hmm, I just couldn''t get the right name for her," Alex spoke and went into deep thought again thinking about a name.


    He had thought of many names and almost all of them were good but just as he tried to give her that name, he would feel that it should not be given to her, or it belonged to someone else.


    "There''s no rush, you can take your time. I thought that you forgot to name her and that''s why I asked the question."


    Alice spoke as she also patted the pup who was in Alex''sp and wagging its tail happily.


    Ann looked at Alex who was still in deep thought when she suddenly remembered something.


    "Alex, didn''t you say you had something to talk to us." It was not just Alice, Alex had decided to invite Ann to live with him as well, so, he had already texted her to make some time for him.


    "Right. What was it, Alex?" Alice hadpletely forgotten that she had promised Alex to do whatever she would do anything to make up for her blunder, but then she blushed as her words implied that she would even do....


    "Oh, yeah, about that." Alex broke out of his thoughts when he heard their words.


    "I wanted to invite the two of you to live with me." Alex continued with a harmless smile.


    "Eh?"x2.


    The girls were dumbfounded if someone could see inside their heads then they would definitely notice sparks there.


    They started thinking of the scenes together with Alex inside the house, them eating together, them watching together, them sleeping together, them bathing together, them doing naughty things and all.


    "I-IT''S TOO EARLY!!!"x2.


    Both of them eximed with a hard blush, it looked like their faces were painted red and if we were to put it in an anime adaptation then arge amount of smoke would being out of their heads.


    "Hey, hey, calm down, calm down."


    Alex went to them and patted their heads while also using water healing to calm them down as he really felt that they were going to st.


    It didn''t take much time for them to calm down since Alex was using water heal on them, but they still kept their heads down.


    "That house is too big for me to live alone and if we live together there is a chance that the assassins will stoping inside the house every night."


    Alex said with an exasperated sigh, even though the reason for inviting Alice and Ann was not this he needed to give them a nice reason or else they would be too embarrassed to even ept his offer.


    "You were attacked?" Alice asked with a serious voice while Ann also held a serious expression, their embarrassment was nowhere to be seen right now.


    "I was, yes. But do you think just some assassins can harm me?" Alex asked with a confident smile which reminded the girls that Alex was not someone who could be defeated by mere assassins.


    "It''s just annoying dealing with them every night," Alex spoke again with mock frustration, though the girls felt that he was really frustrated, however, it was the contribution of the incubus bloodline that made his act seem so real.


    The girls nodded and started thinking about it deeply.


    "Why do you think they would stop attacking if we move in?" Ann asked this with a thoughtful look.


    "People don''t know about my powers, so, they try to test me by sending assassins after me, but if Alice were to live with me then they would probably stop as there is no need to doubt her powers," Alex presented his point.


    "Then what about Ann?" Alice asked and before Alex could reply, Ann spoke.


    "Scandals..." Ann spoke absentmindedly seemingly still in her thoughts.


    "You know me the best Ann," Alex just smiled at Ann but Ann broke out of her thoughts and blushed listening to hispliment.


    Alex could see Alice''s expression was about to turn into a sulking expression, so, he continued.


    "Even if I would love to be called Alice''s boyfriend, I don''t want to be in a hurry, but the enemies would try to use it to their advantage by treating it as a scandal."


    Alice blushed when she heard the first line, she was so absorbed in the first line that she didn''t even listen to the second one, but Ann nodded her head.


    "So, let me ask you again. Would you two let me have the honour to live with you two beautiful girls?" Alex asked in a gentlemanly manner with his legs together, back bending a little and both of his arms forwards towards the girls who were a blushing mess.


    The girls took a second or two then they looked at each other smiled and then nodded.


    "Yes."x2.


    Both of them spoke together epting his hand.


    ................................


    "How do you like the breakfast?" Alex who was wearing an apron over his dark ck full-sleeve shirt and ck ankle-length pants asked the girls who were eating the food in a manner that could never be calleddy-like.


    "Amaaiinnngg!!" Alice spoke with a pancake stuffed in her mouth.


    She was wearing a red-fitting full-body dress and a short ck skirt over it, the dress was her raiding suit as it was made using a ground dragon scale and troll blood, both were hunted by her guild.


    The dress had silver borders that made it look more attractive, it was one of the three full-body armour ever made.


    It''s perfect for Alice as it covers Alice''s only weakness which is strength and defence, because of the dragon scale and it also provides a healing effect to her.


    Ann just gave a thumbs up to Alex, she didn''t even look up and continued eating her pancake.


    She was wearing her regr secretory dress, the ck suit with a light pink shirt and ck pants, she also had her hair tied in a bun like always, while she wore ck shoes on her legs.


    They had already done the shifting yesterday after everything was said and done, also there were no assassin attacks yesterday just as Alex had said.


    As for Frank, well, he has yet to wake up or it would be that he doesn''t want to wake up as Nick had exined to them. Alex and Alice decided that if he didn''t wake up today as well then, Alex wouldmand him to wake up.


    After the breakfast was done, they would first go and check up on Frank or take care of Frank ording to the situation and then Alex and Alice would clear an A-rank gate that had already been mined and looted.


    ................................


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 Chapter 28 - 28 – Naming the Pup.

    <h4>Chapter 28: CHAPTER 28 �C Naming the Pup.</h4>


    "I think I get it."


    Alex suddenly spoke while caressing the head of the little pup in his hands.


    Alex, Alice, and Ann were in a car moving towards the guild when Alex suddenly spoke garnering both Alice and Ann''s attention.


    "What do you mean?" Alice who was sitting beside him in the back seat asked and looked at him curiously while Ann also raised a brow with her ears perked. She was driving the car, so, she couldn''t just turn around after all.


    "I thought of a perfect name for her," Alex said with a smile, and as if she could understand it the pup looked at him with shining eyes and a wagging tail.


    "What is it?" Alice asked nowpletely focusing on Alex''s next words, and so did Ann and the pup.


    [WAIT!!!!!-] Before Sophia could say that Alex had already spoken, she realized it was already toote.


    "Noctura," Alex spoke looking into the pup''s eyes, but then his expression paused for a millisecond.


    "The name that defines your existence will be Noctura," Alex spoke again, though this time his voice changed it became majestic along with his expression that showed tranquillity which surprised both Alice and Ann.


    Then they saw something even more amazing, they saw the pup who is now Noctura levitating in the air with a bright golden color covering her body. Ann quickly stopped the car and looked at the scene in wonder, and then they saw Alex raise his hand and press it on Noctura''s head.


    "Noctura," His majestic voice resounded through the whole world, even Gaia trembled and flowers bloomed on the whole as if acknowledging something.


    Alice and Ann were stunned in their ces as they saw Alex''s suppressed charm was broken and the air around him had turned majestic and ancient, but they also felt the urge to kneel in front of him and pray to him.


    Alex''s suppression of his bloodlines was broken at this moment so his bloodlines pressured both Alice and Ann, however, because of something majestic and ancient the bloodlines were a lot tamer, not free, or Alice and Ann would not be able to stay on their feet.


    This continued for 2-3 seconds and then the air around Alex returned to normal breaking Alice and Ann out of their stupor.


    They hurriedly steadied their breathing, even without realizing they were breathing very fast while their backs were covered in sweat, they then turned to Alex with apprehensive looks on their faces.


    "Arghh." Alex groaned while holding his head, this caused the apprehension in the girl''s eyes to vanish in a sh and they became worried.


    "Are you alright?" x2


    Both of them asked at the same time, while Alice who was just next to him moved closer and held his shoulder gently.


    "I am fine," Alex spoke and smiled reassuringly while groaning inside.


    His smile caused the girls to calm down and they also realized that the Alex they knew was back. Then their attention was attracted to Noctura, she had a profound golden circr symbol in between her brows but it was slowly being absorbed in her fur.


    When the girls observed the changes in Noctura, Alex suddenly felt a warm wave wash over his head, and all the pain he felt subsided.


    ''What happened just now?'' Alex asked Sophia since her shout was thest thing he heard before his body moved on its own.


    [.... I can''t tell you that.] Sophia said in a dejected tone. First, she failed to fulfill her only objective which was to protect Alex from any harm''s way and now she couldn''t even tell him the reason because of the restrictions.


    ''It''s not your fault.'' Alex sighed, he knew Sophia was also just as helpless as him, but these restrictions were starting to frustrate him now.


    ''Can you at least tell why it happened?'' Alex asked while he also observed the changes in Noctura, her fur had be darker while her light blue eyes had turned electric blue with some intelligence in them.


    He knew it had something to do with him naming her, but he wanted to see if he could get some details from Sophia.


    [The name you gave her was not just a simple name granting. If it was someone else then it wouldn''t have happened, but if you grant someone a name then every timeline would bear witness to it along with your surroundings.]


    Sophia exined but her voice was still down as she knew she had made a mistake.


    ''So, nature and the world were the additional witnesses, right?'' Alex asked even though he already understood.


    [Yes.]


    By now Alice and Ann were done observing Noctura and looking at Alex who had returned to normal and had a contemting expression, Alice spoke.


    "What happened just now?" Alice asked as she felt chills just thinking about the moment, Ann was the same, as for Noctura?


    Well, she was probably eating something delicious in her dream from the way her small mouth was making a chewing motion in sleep while her fluffy tail jumped here and there.


    "You tell me," Alex sighed with a helpless expression, though he was still thinking if there was a way to remove the restriction other than increasing power. Then he sighed again as his body, heart, and mind, every one of them pointed him not to do that.


    "You don''t know?" Ann asked in bewilderment and Alex just shook his head with a sigh of resignation, but Alice was in deep thought as she recalled how Alex had told her that he didn''t remember his past life.


    Maybe this phenomenon had something to do with his past life, he just doesn''t remember what it was, or he remembered something he doesn''t want to talk about, but she also realized one thing; Alex in his past life was much stronger than she could think of.


    "You are really fine, right?" Alice asked, trying to change the subject as she saw Ann was about to ask something again.


    Alex smiled internally as he understood what Alice was trying to do, but Ann again looked at Alex in worry seemingly forgetting about anything else.


    "Yes, I am fine," Alex spoke with a gentle and reassuring smile while his hand moved to Alice''s head, patting her.


    "Good," Alice said in a low voice as she looked down with a blush. Ann just smiled looking at the two of them, she adjusted her position, got the car started, and continued on the road.


    She felt that she was uselessly trying to dig for information from Alex, he was not someone who would want anything bad for them as for what happened she knew that he would tell them if he thought the time was right, though it would happen if he himself knew something.


    However, none of them knew about the changes that had been caused because of Alex''s simple action.


    If something this big happens, it is obvious that it would be noticed by many people even if we leave the entities out of this world, some people in this world could feel that something has happened even though they didn''t know what it was.


    Even though Alex''s voice had echoed through the world, none of the humans were able to hear it other than Alice and Ann, or maybe that voice was not simply intended for them to hear.


    One person, in particr, noticed something more than any other person, though his reaction was anything but positive.


    ...........................


    Inside a dark hall, the sound of ss shattering was heard.


    "What?!?!" A man eximed with disbelief evident in his voice as he stood up from the throne-like structure he was sitting on.


    The man''s features could not be seen due to the darkness of the room but by the way the mana around him was riling up because of his unstable emotions, it was clear that he was very strong.


    The man started pacing around with worry, frustration, and disbelief.


    "No, just doing that would not have caused anything this drastic." He spoke with a solemn voice but there was a little unsurety in his voice.


    "..." A long silence followed after that.


    "I know that as well!!! You don''t need to remind me!!!" He spoke with some anger while he looked at a space beside the throne as if he could see someone.


    "..." Other than the man''s deep breath, nothing else was heard in the room.


    "Sorry, I wasn''t able to control myself." The man sighed and rubbed his head in frustration, he didn''t like it when things went out of his calctions.


    "Sigh... Yeah, maybe I am just overthinking things." He just sighed and shrugged in resignation, though in the corner of his mind, he was scared of being correct.


    He just sat back on the throne-like seat trying to suppress the rising unease in his heart.


    .............................


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 Chapter 29 - 29 – Gate.

    <h4>Chapter 29: CHAPTER 29 �C Gate.</h4>


    "Is he up?" Alice asked Nick who just came out of the medical room.


    Alice, Alex and Ann were in the guild right now, standing in front of the room in which Frank was admitted. They had decided to sort out Frank''s matter first, then the three of them would go and clear the gate.


    Yes, Ann had decided to join them on this odyssey after she heard about the bloodlines from Alex and the probability of her being able to increase her power without using an awakening potion or mana core.


    "No, it''s just like I said, his mind is refusing to wake up. I was thinking of waking him up forcefully, but it might have had an adverse effect, so, I decided against it." Nick spoke with a sigh of helplessness.


    He had been trying anything and everything he could so that he could get a response from Frank, but all of his attempts were for nought as Frank subconsciously resisted his healing, making him unable to do anything.


    "It''s all right, we will take it from here," Alice spoke reassuringly, secretly looking at Alex who seemed to be talking with Ann about the gate they were going to raid.


    "Un." Nick nodded and let them enter while he went towards his office. He doesn''t think too much about the situation as to why Alice thinks she can do something about Frank''s situation.


    He knew that every guild leader keeps at least 2 or 3 high-grade healing items, he knew that Alice also had some items like that, so, he thought that maybe she was going to use them on Frank.


    He wanted to stay and watch the scene unfold in front of him as it''s not every day you see a high-grade item being used, but he could easily catch the meaning of Alice''s words and it meant for him to leave them alone, so, he did just that.


    ...............


    Inside the medical ward.


    "So? How is it done?" Ann asked in an inquisitive tone, she was curious how thismanding was done and so was Alice.


    They thought that maybe Alex had to fulfil some kind of condition or something, but if they thought carefully about Alex''s words when he spoke about his bloodline abilities then they would understand everything.


    Alex had already told them that his bloodline lets himmand any human with a bloodline level lower than his, there was no condition or something, it was just their conscience making things up so that Alex''s ability looked more believable to themselves.


    Alex didn''t reply to Ann''s question, he just smiled as he understood what was going on, so, he decided to just show it to them.


    "Wake up." Hemanded Frank and even before the girls could say anything or ask anything, they opened their eyes wide as they saw Frank sitting straight on the bed.


    However, they could still see the unwillingness in Frank''s eyes as he looked at Alex, which caused them to turn to Alex as well.


    "I canmand him, but that doesn''t mean I can control him."


    Alex just shrugged nonchntly.


    He decided to hide the fact that he could control Frank if he removed the suppression on his bloodline since they would not take it positively, so, he made his decision for now.


    "Ohh..."x2


    Both of the girls had a look of realisation on their faces, but Alex could see very clearly that they were relieved as well.


    He could understand their problem as well, with a person who can control their mind, anyone would think this at least once �C ''Am I being controlled right now?''.


    That is why Alex decided to wait for them to trust him enough not to have this kind of thought in their minds and then he would probably tell them everything.


    "You are never going to think of revenge or anything like that and stay like the vice president you are supposed to be," Alex spoke again prompting the girls to look at Frank.


    They could see Frank''s expression be wary, then frustrated, then regretful, and atst resignation, they looked at Alex who was observing Frank''s expressions as well.


    "It''s good that you finally understand that you won''t be able to go against mymands even if you try with every ounce of your power," Alex spoke calmly though his eyes held indifference as he looked at Frank.


    As the girls understood what his words implicated, they understood why Frank''s expression turned into resignation in the end, though they were also relieved as they knew that a potential betrayal was stopped with this turn of events.


    ..................


    "So, this is a Gate, huh?" Alex muttered as he stood before a blue mass of contorted space with some green grasses at its base, it looked like a portal and Alex also felt that he could control the gate somehow if he tried.


    "Yeah, it''s an A-rank gate called ''Forest of the Orcs''," Alice spoke and Alex nodded his head even though he already knew about the gate since Ann had told him about it.


    The time Gates appeared on Gaia, there were different types of Gates and every one of them had unique features. The Raiders still don''t know if there are some types of Gates that are yet to be discovered, but they know how to ssify a Gate and how to rank them.


    The ranking of the gates starts with an F-rank which is white in colour, and then the gates from rank E to S follow the electromaic spectrum from red to indigo, leaving violet out.


    However, this made many scientists and researchers specte that there might be gates with ranks higher than S.


    But because of not being able to find any gate that is higher than S rank, any item higher than S rank or even a Raider higher than S rank, people slowly stopped thinking about those things and thought that maybe S rank is the highest.


    Some people, however, still believe or know that there are gates ranked higher than S rank.


    Alice and Ann are also included among these people after they got to know about the rankings after the S rank, even without Alex telling them, they knew that if a human can go up to EX rank, then the chances of an EX-rank Gate appearing is not impossible.


    The Gates ranking can be found out by colour but thenes the way to identify a territory. There will be some kind of indication at the bottom of the Gate that shows what kind of terrain the Gate has.


    Right now, the green grasses at the base attest that this Gate had forest or grasnd-type terrain and from the little moisture on the grasses, a keen observer could tell that it is something like a rainforest.


    There are many types of terrains such as thend of ice,va mountains, underground mazes, cursed forests, etc.


    The identification of terrains helps people be prepared for what climate they are going to face, guess what kind of monsters they could face, and also helps in understanding what kind of loot they could get from the said Gate.


    Loot doesn''t always mean the drops of monsters, if it were just that then the guild would not wait for days before they start hunting seriously.


    The loots are also the things that could be extracted or excavated from the Gates, for example: Various herbs from tropical regions, unique minerals from the underground mazes, different types of metals in rocky nes, etc.


    "Let''s go in without dy," Alice spoke to which Alex and Ann nodded, they also had Noctura with them and she was resting on Alex''s shoulder.


    But just then Alex paused as he saw something that surprised him...


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 30 - 30 – First Raid.

    <h4>Chapter 30: CHAPTER 30 �C First Raid.</h4>


    [New Quest: -


    Quest objective: Clear the A-rank gate �C "Forest of the Orcs".


    Bonus 1 objective: Kill a Mid-boss of the gate alone.


    Bonus 2 objective: Kill the Boss of the Gate alone.


    Quest reward: 5000 points.


    Bonus 1 reward: (B-rank) �C zing beam {Skill}


    Bonus 2 reward: Random A-rank short sword or dagger.


    Time limit: --


    Penalty: Randomly doing Cabbage patch. (Duration: 1 day.)]


    Although a little surprised by the sudden quest, Alex still maintained a calm exterior, however, when he saw the penalty, his expression couldn''t help but turn weird and it did not go unnoticed by the two girls that were with him.


    "What''s wrong Alex?" Alice asked with a hint of worry in her voice. She thought that the change in expression Alex had was somehow rted to the gate they were going to enter, Ann''s face also mirrored Alice''s expression.


    They knew Alex was very mysterious and strong, he also knew many things and was very knowledgeable, so, the first thing that came to their mind after seeing him stop just before they were about to enter the gate was that something was wrong with the gate.


    "Oh, nothing. I was just wondering how lucky I am to be entering a gate alone with two beautiful girls." Alex smiled a little and spoke after realizing his mistake.


    His words, however, caused both Alice and Ann to blush furiously while looking down, too shy to meet his eyes after heplimented them.


    ''Why?'' He asked in his mind as he could hear Sophia trying to hold her giggle for the reason he knew very well.


    [The mission is far too easy for your level and you will also get SP from killing the monste-] Sophia''s words were cut off before she could continue.


    ''You know that I didn''t ask that from you, right?'' Alex spoke with a groan and Sophia finally started giggling, not trying to suppress it anymore.


    Alex knew what she was talking about and he didn''t have any problem with that as the rewards provided by the system were still generous. He would get 120 SP just by killing a single B-rank mob and 200 for an A-rank mob. As for the boss and mid-boss, it depended on them.


    [Well, it was the system that did it, but it doesn''t matter, right? Or are you saying you are going to fail this mission?] Sophia asked with an infectious giggle.


    Even though she knew that Alex was not going to get the penalty, just the prospect of Alex doing a cabbage patch made her giggle.


    ''Sigh... Yeah, there''s no way I am doing that penalty.'' Alex sighed; he was feeling mentally exhausted even before entering the gate.


    "Let''s go. We might be done in an hour or two if we go now." He spoke with a smile as he saw the girls had calmed down. The girls nodded their heads and moved towards the gate.


    Even though Alex and Sophia talked for a bit, in reality, it had been no more than 10 seconds and Sophia was still giggling in the system space causing Alex to sigh inwardly.


    ..............


    "Nice view," This was the first thing Alex said after they entered the gate causing both Alice and Ann to intentionally turn towards him with an expression that read ''Really now?''


    It was normal for them to react like that, after all, they were inside an A-rank gate, a gate where even an S-rank raider could lose their life if they let their guard down.


    They were standing inside a forest, surrounded byrge, reallyrge trees with a height of 20m being the lowest, the forest spanned who knows how many kilometers.


    The sound of creatures moving here and there, branches breaking, wings fluttering and eventual howling or growling of beasts would cause any normal Raider to lose their calm.


    Although Alice and Ann were not scared or intimidated, that didn''t mean they were enjoying the view like Alex was. So, when they heard his words, it was the only reaction they could give him.


    "All right, don''t look at me like that, I just spoke my mind," Alex shrugged while speaking nonchntly. He was not bothered by the atmosphere, rather he was eager to go and hunt the monsters that were hiding in their surroundings.


    "So, how are we doing this?" Alex changed the subject since he could still feel the girls looking at him weirdly.


    "We will leave that for you to decide," Alice spoke and Ann nodded in agreement.


    "Hm, since you wanted to test me," Alex spoke with a teasing smile. The girls just lowered their heads in embarrassment after realizing that Alex knew what they were trying, but Alex continued, "Why don''t you guys just observe my skills from afar?"


    "No," X2


    their replies were instantaneous. They knew Alex was strong and he would not be defeated by some A-rank monsters, but idents can happen so they weren''t going to just stand and watch.


    "I am not saying that I will be fighting alone. You guys can intervene whenever you think that I am having a hard time or if you think that I am facing a situation I can''t resolve, all right?" Alex could understand what they were thinking, so, he didn''t force them.


    He knew it was hard for them to just blindly believe in his strength when they had never seen him fight. Even Alice just knew that her fire couldn''t harm him -- nothing more.


    "OK," Alice spoke after contemting for a bit. She had no objections to these terms as she was a mage, and she could take care of things even from a distance. Ann also nodded as she saw her friend agree to Alex''s offer.


    "Now that it''s settled, let me take care of our guests," Alex spoke in a rxed voice while stretching his hands. The girls on the other hand couldn''t stay rxed after hearing his words, and instantly took their fighting stances.


    They could seerge jackals moving in their direction. These jackals seemed to blend in with the surroundings, and they were just 10m away from them. In normal cases, they would not have been careless enough to let their enemies get this close to them.


    It was Alex''s rxed attitude that caused them to subconsciously rx, which again proved how dangerous the incubus bloodline was.


    They turned toward Alex with eyes filled withint, but what they saw was empty space.


    Before they could understand or think something.....


    *sh*


    Their surroundings turned silent as they heard the sound of something being shed.


    "AUUUUUUUWWWWWW!!"


    They turned toward the howls and saw the jackals that were stealthily moving towards them were now running away in fright while their tails were tucked between their legs. Just from the way they howled, anyone could tell they were scared shitless.


    Then both of them turned toward the direction where the jackals looked again and again while running with all their might. They kept looking in the same direction as if to ensure something or to check something.


    They were stunned when they saw Alex standing there with Noctura on his shoulder and a jackal with his head cleanly shaved off his body below his feat. They could see a normal-looking silver sword with a ck hilt that he was holding making them confused about where he got that from.


    They couldn''t even feel when he had moved there and killed the jackal, much less follow his movement. Ann felt a chill run down her spine as she remembered how she thought of testing Alex when he entered the guild, it wasn''t only her, even Alice was a little scared even though none of it showed on her face.


    Just then they saw Alex turn towards them and their bodies tensed a little, but then they rxed as they saw Alex smiling gently at them. They smiled as well, they tended to forget who he was and that he would not harm them, still, who could me them?


    In front of power, everything is useless and everything about Alex screams power, so, it is natural for them to feel a little scared. When they are by his side, they don''t think much since they can feel his warmth, but it is when he moves away from them that they start having unnecessary thoughts.


    "Are you guysing?" Then they heard his warm and gentle voice.


    "Yes."X2


    Both of them replied and moved towards him with a smile, they decided to ignore the fact that the guy who was smiling at them right now had the power to kill them in a second since they knew that was never going to happen.


    As they reached by his side, he smiled at them and rubbed their heads gently which they epted without any resistance. Alex could feel their fear since he had been observing their expressions and he knew that it was natural to get a little scared since they hadn''t known each other for that long.


    But he would not let them distance themselves from him just because of this, he was going to print it in their minds that he was never going to harm them.


    As Alex ended patting their heads, suddenly Noctura jumped down from his shoulder surprising everyone present, but the next event was more surprising for the girls, though not that surprising for Alex.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 31 - 31 – Towards the Boss’s layer.

    <h4>Chapter 31: CHAPTER 31 �C Towards the Boss��syer.</h4>


    Noctura.


    When this name was given to the pup, many things about her changed and the first change was the increase in her intelligence. She was able to express herself more than any newborn would ever be able to.


    If before she could only say ''mama'' and ''papa'', now she could say things like ''Want to eat'', ''Want to walk'', ''It feels good'', etc. From the many things that changed about her, this was the only thing Alex knew, that was until now.


    Noctura jumped from Alex''s shoulder directly at the head of the dead jackal, which surprised and confused the girls.


    ''What happened?'' Alex mentally asked Noctura whose reply was instantaneous.


    ''Eat, grow strong,'' She spoke the best she could and tried to express herself.


    ''How do you know that?'' Alex asked again.


    ''Don''t know?'' She sounded confused as to why she didn''t know, but she still said what she felt.


    ''Try to think harder, Noctura.'' Alex pressed on, but then......


    "Grrrrrr," He saw her growl as her expression contorted in pain, so he bent down and caressed her head which caused her to rx. But the girls grew more and more confused as they saw the whole interaction since they couldn''t hear the conversation.


    ''What happened, pup?'' Alex asked gently while still caressing her head and calming her with water healing.


    ''Thinking hurts,'' She spoke with a scared voice. From her voice alone Alex could tell that the pain she felt was too much for her to deal with.


    ''It''s all right, don''t think.'' Alex spoke and stood up.


    ''You can''t tell me anything, right?'' Alex asked as he already knew the answer, but he was surprised.


    [.... It is one of the abilities she gained after you named her.] Sophia sounded sulking; Well, his words did sound a little sarcastic.


    ''I didn''t mean it that way, you know that right?'' Alex felt that he needed to clear things up with Sophia.


    "What happened, Alex?" Alice suddenly asked as she saw Alex stand up, while Noctura also seemed to be waiting for Alex to say something.


    [I know, but it sounded like that...] Sophia replied in a light tone.


    "Well, she said she could grow stronger by eating the magic crystals," Alex answered Alice with a pondering look, however, it was just a cover for the chat he was having with Sophia.


    ''So, are there more abilities she had awakened due to the naming?'' Alex asked. From Sophia''s words earlier, he could interpret at least this much.


    "WHAT?!" X2


    But both Alice and Ann eximed not minding that they were inside a gate and their voice could attract monsters as they were shocked by the revtion.


    If someone could grow stronger by eating magic stones, then wouldn''t they just be the strongest in a day?


    [Yes, but just like how you are unable to use your abilities to full capability, she also can''t use any other ability because she is too weak.] Sophia replied again ignoring the exmation of the girls.


    "Well, there will be a limit as she can''t just keep eating magic stones," Alex replied while he listened to Sophia''s words.


    His reply, however, was also a question for Sophia who understood and replied immediately.


    [Yes, there is a limit, but how much is her limit? Well, that can only be answered by her.]


    As Sophia spoke, Alex turned his head towards Noctura and smiled.


    "You can eat, pup," Alex spoke gently.


    "What''s the limit?" Ann spoke after a while as it had taken both of them some time to digest Alex''s words. Ann and Alice looked towards Alex intently, listening to whatever he was going to say.


    "Only she can tell...." Alex said while looking at the girls with a smile,pletely ignoring the fact that a cute creature like Noctura was making a bloody mess out of the dead jackal''s head.


    But the girls just dumbly looked at everything happening. It was when they saw Noctura eat the magic crystal of the B-ranked jackal and then jump back on Alex''s shoulder did they broke out of their reverie.


    "Well, looks like it''s her limit," Alex spoke with a smile while caressing the head of Noctura who slowly entered the dream world. The girls also nodded their heads while sighing in relief.


    They looked at Alex who was treating everything normally, but then they realised that he was the greatest enigma, so, how could something possibly surprise him?


    "Let''s move towards the Boss''syer directly." Alex suddenly spoke garnering a nod from both of the girls.


    They also wanted to get this over with quickly and get Alex to cook something for them when they reached the vi.


    ................................................


    Alex moved towards the heart of the forest where arge vige of Orcs was built, also known as Boss''syer of ''The forest of Orcs''.


    This vige was upied by at least 100 Orcs of B to A rank, with two Mid-boss-type Commanders and a Boss-type Vige chief.


    As Alex, Alice and Ann ran towards Orc vige, Alex continuously killed any other monster they came across. The only dominant monsters in this area are the Orcs, but that doesn''t mean that it only had Orcs inside of it.


    Therge forest housed many kinds of monsters, from a small horned rabbit to Razer Hawks, however, there was one thing that wasmon in every monster here, they were none higher than B-rank.


    They were livestock used by the Orcs, and orcs are not stupid enough to let their livestock grow as powerful as them. So, when a monster other than an Orc reaches the threshold of A-rank, they are quickly killed by the Orcs.


    As they moved forward and Alex kept killing the monsters, they left the bodies of the monsters lying on the ground.


    They knew the monsters were going to disappear in a while leaving only magic crystals and drops (If there are any) behind. This was also the reason why they were looking at Noctura with a strange dumb expression.


    They knew that she didn''t need to get bloody just for something that she could get even without getting bloodied, but they didn''t know how to stop the little cute creature.


    There is one more important thing to note, within the gates if someone from outside kills the beings inside the gate then they would disappear and turn into particles of light.


    On the other hand, if the beings from inside of the gate were to kill each other, then the dead body wouldn''t disappear, instead, it would stay as a normal dead body would.


    There were still exceptions, such as the beasts from outside of the gate. If they were to enter and kill the monsters inside the gate, then they would not disappear into particles.


    Suddenly Alex stopped moving which resulted in both Alice and Ann stopping and looking at Alex curiously while observing their surroundings with sharp eyes.


    Alex didn''t stop without a reason he stopped because he received a notification from the system.


    ''Again?'' He asked with some surprise in his voice. He knew that a single quest in a day was normal, but getting two quests simultaneously in a time frame of one hour was not something normal......


    [It''s a special kind of quest and you might like it as well.]


    His intuition turned out to be true as he heard Sophia''s words. Then he looked at the new quest he received with intrigue and as he saw the quest a smile automatically married his face.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 32 - 32 – Quest again.

    <h4>Chapter 32: CHAPTER 32 �C Quest again.</h4>


    [Surprise Quest: -


    Quest objective 1: Fight and kill the Mid-bosses with your stats limited to A-rank.


    Quest objective 2: Fight and kill the Boss of the gate with your stats limited to A-rank.


    Reward: (A-rank) (Growth type) �C Pyre of Adjudication. {Skill}


    Penalty: --]


    Alex looked at the quest and smiled. He had been eager to check how much his all-master could improve his fighting capabilities for a while, and now he finally got the chance.


    He had been thinking of ways that could help him see the full capabilities of the All-master skill, his final conclusion was to lower his stats to the opponent''s level or lower than theirs. So, when he saw this quest, just like Sophia said, he really took a liking to it.


    There are many types of quests, some are called hidden, some are called choice, some are simply quests, and some others will be discoveredter.


    The Surprise Quest, however, will never have any penalty as they are considered a surprise and surprises could be rejected.


    Still, if you reject the surprise quest, that would mean you are rejecting its reward as well, and believe it, you will regret rejecting the surprise quest since the rewards from the surprise quests are quite juicy.


    Alex also looked at the reward and just with the name alone, he could somewhat guess what kind of skill it was.


    "What happened?" Noticing Alex smiling at nothing Alice asked even though it was a nice view looking at Alex smiling.


    "Oh, nothing. I just had a nice idea," Alex spoke and then lowered his stats.


    "Huh?" X2.


    Alice and Ann eximed in unison as they could feel Alex growing weak. The density of the mana his body emanated was decreasing, which could be easily felt in the surroundings.


    "This way, you will be able to see more of my skills." Alexpleted his line with a smile and looked at Alice and Ann''s disbelieving looks.


    "Why did you decrease your power?!" Alice eximed while Ann''s body tensed, and she started looking around sharply.


    "Hm? I just adjusted my stats to A-rank which would be somewhat simr to Ann''s." Alex spoke in the same rxed tone while checking his perception which had decreased to 70m, due to the mana being limited to A-rank.


    "Are you serious right now?!" Alice asked in disbelief while Ann also looked a little unsure as to why Alex would do this. How could they not show such reactions?


    They were in an A-ranked gate, where even S-rank Raiders stay on guard every time they enter. They didn''t say anything before as they knew Alex was strong but how could they just sit back when they heard what Alex did?


    This was not a game; this was a ce where life and death were just a centimeter apart.


    The next second however their disbelieving expression turned into shock as they saw tens of fire, water, wind, and earth arrows forming over their head.


    Not just that, they could also feel that the arrows were being continuously pumped by mana as they grew denser and denser until they became solid.


    "Did you think that lowering my stats would weaken me?" Then they heard Alex''s voice which was filled with tease. Just as they heard his words they realized; they had been looking at Alex''s one-dimensionally.


    Did they think he was strong just because of his stats? Yes, they did.


    Did they know anything about his skills? Other than the little Alice knew about him, nothing else.


    Thinking clearly about it, they didn''t know anything about Alex. Even though the revtion saddened them, they weren''t able to focus on their thoughts as the next second, Alex shot the arrows in their surroundings.


    *Woosh**Pierce**Woosh**Pierce*......


    Other than the sound of wind cutting and something being pierced, they could also hear the sounds of animals crying out loud in pain before stopping altogether.


    But then they noticed another thing, the fire arrows extinguished just after they burned their targets, while the other arrows also disintegrated after their task was done, which was, of course, killing their targets.


    "Let''s go now, we have to clear this gate before an hour isplete," Alex spoke with a smile, and the girls just absentmindedly nodded.


    "Oh, right." Alex turned towards Ann before they continued forward.


    "Can you carry her?" Alex inquired, gesturing at Noctura who was sleeping on his shoulder.


    "Un." Ann nodded her head. After getting her affirmation, Alex gently lifted Noctura off his shoulder and passed her to Ann who embraced her gently.


    Alex''s plunder skill had been activating every time he killed a beast, and he just plundered their stats every once in a while. Why once in a while?


    That''s because he couldn''t plunder the same type of beast more than once, Alex himself didn''t know about this until a while ago. When he killed the first jackal he had plundered its stats as it didn''t have anything special to plunder.


    Later he yed another one, but he couldn''t plunder it, he tried focusing on the plunder ability more, thus discovering the limitations of the ability.


    Alex had never really focused on this ability since right now, even without this ability he could grow stronger day by day because of his bloodlines.


    So, he didn''t read or go through the full information about the limitations of the skills, that were kept in some corner of his memory.


    He could not plunder any being that had many of its existential aspects matching with someone he had already plundered.


    For example �C He will not be able to plunder orc mobs more than once as all of them have almost the same skill sets, but he could still plunder an Orc archer, Orc mage, Orcmander, and other variants of Orcs.


    Alex then nodded towards Alice and Ann who nodded as well and they started running towards the heart of the forest, which is also therge Orc vige or small town whatever you want to call it.


    .......................


    "Can you see their stats?" Ann asked curiously while Alice tried to touch the transparent dome that was covering them.


    Alex, Alice, and Ann who held sleeping Noctura in her arms were now standing right in front of an Orc guard, but the guard seemed oblivious to their existence.


    Alex was using his disguise ability to hide their Presence from the Orcs, and for Orcs who are a race of physical fighters, the deception worked like an imprable wall.


    At first, Alice and Ann were unsure, but after contemting for a while they decided to put their trust in Alex again like they had been doing till the date.


    "Yes, both of them have max B+ strength, while other stats vary from C+ to B," Alex spoke while looking at the two Orcs that were guarding the gates. The vige had a debilitated look, with just huts inside of it, and blood, bones, guts, and other parts of some beast''s bodies thrown here and there, showcasing the nature of Orcs.


    Orcs are green-skinned monsters with a humanoid form. They have two tusksing out of their mouths (in most cases),rge bulky bodies of height ranging from 2m to above, and muscr and intimidating appearance.


    Almost all of them have long arms, long muscr legs, and muscr bodies with great strength packed inside them.


    Because of their stature and looks, they give off an intimidating air. Even when they smile it looks intimidating and creepy (In most cases), those smiles can even make low-rank Raiders shit their pants.


    Orcs are bloodthirsty, wild, primitive, hot-headed, muscle-brain, and physically stronger than any normal race.


    Most of the time they carryrge axes or hammers with them, as they are simple brutes who fight with strength, and the axe or hammer is the best weapon for them.


    However, the same strength for which they are called out as brutes is also the factor that is the scariest about them.


    "Will you guys join as well?" Alex asked the girls without turning towards them and taking out the simple sword from his inventory. Alice was about to nod but....


    (Hello guys, I am a cliffhanger. What do I do for a living? Make readers annoyed, maybe?)


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 33 - 33 – On to the boss fight.

    <h4>Chapter 33: CHAPTER 33 �C On to the boss fight.</h4>


    "Wait!! You can use space magic as well?!?!" Alice suddenly asked in a bewildered tone causing Ann''s eyes to widen in realisation.


    Last time when Alex took out his sword from the inventory, the girls weren''t able to notice how he did it and their minds were too shocked by the events to even think deeply about anything.


    Now, however, it was a different situation.


    "Yes, I can," Alex spoke calmly affirming Alice''s im as she asked whether he could use space magic or not. Not like it was a lie to say that because even though he was using the inventory provided by the system, he could make one as well.


    The girls, however, were anything but calm. They knew how rare space magic was, it was so rare that only one space magic user was known in the whole world, which is even lower than the time magic users.


    A space magic user could cause a war between guilds just to get him recruited. However, from what the girls could see, it seemed that Alex had some kind of storage space-type magic, which would be coveted more than any kind of magic.


    People might even kidnap him and use him as a personal storage ring.


    "Will you guys join or not?" Alex asked again, breaking the girls out of their thoughts.


    The girls exchanged a bewildered look and then turned towards Alex with the same look, only to find him staring at them with an unreadable expression.


    "Can you guys not react like that every time you find out something new about me?" After looking at them for a while, Alex finally asked with a sigh. The girls then lowered their heads in shame.


    When they thought of things from his perspective, they realised that the way they reacted every time might not have been a good experience for him.


    Their reaction was always like they found some kind of new dangerous animal, even though they didn''t mean it like that.


    Alice was feeling worse than Ann as she knew that Alex didn''t remember his past, which meant that the way people looked at him might be detrimental.


    If someone looked at him like he was some kind of monster, then it was obvious that he would start thinking of himself as such, though Alice didn''t know that her worry was unfounded, and Alex just didn''t want them to react the way they reacted to every one of his things.


    He thought that they might have a heart attack if he someday slipped some other shocking pieces of information.


    "We are sor-" However before Alice and Ann could apologise; they felt their heads being patted and they looked up only to see him smiling gently at them.


    "Just don''t do that again, all right?" He asked with a smile causing them to blush a little, but they still nodded their heads.


    "So, tell me now. Do you guys want to join in as well?" Alex asked again for the third time.


    It didn''t take the girls much time to regain theirposure.


    "Yes, we will take care of the small fries," Alice spoke while stretching and Ann nodded as well.


    "All right then, I will be going up ahead," Alex spoke and deactivated his disguise making the two Orc''s expressions turn into surprise, then anger and bloodthirst.


    Alex stepped on the knee of the angry Orc in front of him. He used the knee as a support to push himself up in the air. Then before any of the Orc could even pick up their weapons, they found their worlds turned upside down.


    Thest thing they saw was their brethren running towards their direction before their world went dark, still, they were happy while dying, they knew that their brethren would avenge them.


    They would have realised how wrong they were about the avenging part if they could see how the situation unfolded after their deaths.


    Alice and Ann although surprised by Alex''s acrobatic and unique fighting style, they maintained their calm since the situation in front of them needed their attention.


    "Here," Ann spoke and gently passed Noctura to Alice which thetter epted gently as well.


    They didn''t need to say anything as they both knew that Alice as a mage didn''t need to move around much, she could just fight while standing in a single spot.


    Ann, however, was an assassin-type Raider, so, she needed to move around rendering her unable to carry the sleeping Noctura around with her as it would hinder her movement and skills.


    She turned towards the iing Orcs and was about to run towards them, but she stopped. She smiled with awe and the same smile mirrored on Alice''s face as she looked at the scene in front of her.


    "Let''s follow him, I am sure he is just buying us some time to get ready," Alice spoke garnering a nod from Ann.


    Alex who had moved towards the iing orcs was doing just what Alice said. He ran towards the 4 Orcs that were running in his direction after they heard their friend''s shout.


    Just as he arrived in front of the group of Orcs, one of them brandished their axe at him vertically. In response, Alex just sidestepped to the left causing the Axe to crash on the ground.


    *Boom*


    It created a booming sound and before the Orc could pull back the axe it found itself unable to do it, but then something unexpected happened. The wrist that held the Axe had fallen down along with the axe, leaving a cleanly cleaved hand with green blood flowing out of it.


    By now, the other three Orcs had also shed their hammers and axes towards Alex respectively. Alex who could see everything in slow-motion, first tilted his body to the right avoiding the axe that was aimed at his left shoulder, then with a swift motion he stepped on the axe.


    When the axe was lifted by the Orc who only thought of pulling back his weapon and shing again, Alex was lifted along with it, easily avoiding the other weaponsing down at him.


    Alex jumped upside using the momentum of the Orc''s weapon, reaching 5 m in the air. As the orcs looked up at their enemy, they found themselves looking at their deaths.


    Alex who had jumped in the air, quickly summoned two earth arrows and shot them at the heads of two orcs. The two orcs who were standing on the left and right of the Orc that levitated Alex in the air were dead, impaled by the earth arrow.


    Ann was awed by this scene as she knew that Alex had his power limited to A-rank, which was pretty much simr to hers, and even though she was an assassin she knew she could never be able to do such things.


    Alex and the Orcs didn''t look like enemies fighting, it looked like Alex was a matador and the Orcs were the bulls, charging at him with their full might only to get yed.


    Alex''s movements, although unique, still, looked weirdly elegant and beautiful.


    Before the remaining two Orcs could even register the notion of theirpanions dying, one of them found Alex''s simple sword right in front of its eyes, before its world turned dark.


    Alex held the hilt of the sword with the point of the sword aimed at the head of the orc and threw it right at it. When the sword pierced the Orc''s head the Orc didn''t fall to the ground immediately, so, Alex used its shoulders as a foothold.


    "RAAAAAAA!!"


    By now the remaining Orc had realised that all of itspanions were dead, which angered him to the extreme since it could feel that their adversary was not strong enough to make them helpless.


    It just shouted and ran towards Alex with its arms stretched, leaving its weapon behind.


    Alex who was standing on an Orc''s shoulder pulled his sword out of the Orc''s head and kicked its head with all his might.


    The head was crushed and detached from the body as it flew towards the iing Orc''s face. The charging Orc couldn''t stop its movement all of a sudden, so, it took the impact of its friend''s head on his own head.


    The Orc stumbled and fell backwards due to the impact, but it was quick to stand up. Then it again looked at Alex and its anger soared higher when it found Alex dusting his clothes clearly ignoring his existence.


    It got up and was about to run towards Alex but then it felt a piercing pain on the back of its head and before it could register what had happened its world turned dark just like its friends.


    Alex who was dusting his dress didn''t attack the Orc as he had already noticed Ann using some kind of skill to erase her presence, and sneakily moving behind the angered Orc.


    "I will be moving towards the Mid-bosses and the Boss; you guys can watch while taking care of them," Alex spoke while pointing his sword towards the iing group of ten Orcs.


    Alice and Ann didn''t say much and just nodded their heads.


    Seeing them nod, Alex ran towards his target while also shooting three magma arrows towards the iing group of Orcs, killing three of them in a swoop.


    Alice and Ann also didn''t mind, rather they appreciated this gesture. With fewer enemies to deal with, they could deal with them faster and observe Alex''s fight without any obstruction.


    ''On to the boss fight." Alex thought in his head as he could already see thergest hut of the vige which was situated in the middle of the vige.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 34 - 34 – Mid-Bosses Cleared.

    <h4>Chapter 34: CHAPTER 34 �C Mid-Bosses Cleared.</h4>


    *Siiiiiiiiiiiii-Boom*


    Alex moved skillfully, letting the axe that was shed at him tond right on his sword. Then, he tilted his sword downwards, which caused the axe to slide through the de with a siiiii sound before it finally crashed onto the ground.


    ''Oh?''


    Alex sidestepped as he felt the wind whistling, and the next instant, an axe, simr to the one from beforended where he was standing an instant ago.


    ''They are fast for that size...''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he observed the Orcs he was fighting.


    Alex looked at the first orc whose axe was now struck into the ground because of Alex.


    "Grrrr!"


    The Orc was trying to pull out the axe that was stuck in the ground, it seemed like he had used a bit too much strength in the earlier attack.


    ''Well, he will be busy for a while.''


    Alex then turned toward the other orc, the one whose attack he had just avoided by side stepping.


    Alex was fighting with the two Mid-bosses of the gate together while Alice and Ann just observed him while taking care of the mobs.


    Alice would shoot some firences and arrows at the Orc mobs to gather their anger and attention towards herself while Ann would take advantage of the situation by swiftly killing the Orcs one by one.


    Alice and Ann were honestly amazed by Alex''s skills since they knew that even if an A-rank raider were to survive against a single Mid-boss for a long period of time then they would be called a genius.


    But Alex was doing something no one had tried, he was fighting two mid-bosses alone with his stats limited to their rank which was A-rank.


    However, the above statement doesn''t mean that Raiders cannot defeat Mid-bosses or Bosses of the same rank as them. They can, Alice could do the same thing Alex was doing, but there was a difference.


    A mage, who fights from a distance has the ability to defeat almost every type of Mid-boss or Boss other than some special cases like Assassin-type, Tanker-type, etc.


    Just like mages, every other type of raider had some kind of Mid-boss or Boss that could be defeated by them, nheless, it was not an easy feat.


    Then there was another category of some rare raiders, Alice was included as well. They could fight and kill any kind of Mid-boss or Boss even when they are fighting an enemy with contrasting sets of skills.


    Alex here was fighting two strength-type Mid-bosses in closebat �C No, not fighting, ying would be a better word. It was not something seen till now, even strength-type top awakeners would not be able to do this, well, at least not until they used all their trump card.


    After that, they might be able to fair against their enemies if they were in the same condition as Alex.


    Alice and Ann, who saw Alex fighting, somehow felt that Alex had the ability to do even better and they were not wrong.


    Right now, Alex was just checking his reaction speed and evasive abilities with his All-master skill.


    He had been dodging, diverting, or blocking most of the attacks till now. He was trying to use All-master at full capability while trying to make inch movements to avoid any or every attack the Orcmanders send towards him.


    Alex realized that he had been wasting time for a while as he could see that Alice and Ann were almost done on their side, so, he decided to finish the y.


    "Well, I guess this is it guys," Alex spoke in a rxed tone. Even though the Orcs can''t speak the humannguage before reaching S-rank, A-ranked ones could still understand the meaning of human speech, so, Alex''s words were clearly heard and understood by them, enraging them to the extreme.


    Alex could talk to Noctura who was F-ranked at the time of birth, so, for A-ranked ones his words were as clear as a day for the Orcs, and the Orcs, rather than being confused on how they seamlessly understood Alex''s words, were enraged from the meaning behind the words.


    They felt like they were being yed by him till now, even when they were giving their best.


    "RAAAAAAAA."


    "OHHHHHHH."


    Both of them shouted and ran towards Alex who just smiled and let them attack.


    Alex saw one of the axes descending on his head at a very slow pace. (From his POV, as his eyes and All-master make it possible to perceive everything in detail, especially in battle.)


    Alex coated his fist and punched the axe from the right side with his full A rank strength, just before it could reach his head.


    The Orc felt his hand tremble because of the impact but he didn''t have time to think about it as he used his strength to stop the axe that was now moving to the right instead of moving down at Alex.


    The other Orc that was on the left saw the blunt side of his friend''s axe moving towards him, so, he ced his axe in front of himself, ready to bear the impact.


    *nngg*


    The Orc that was hit by the axe slid for 3m because of the impact but he didn''t lose his bnce as he quickly picked up his axe to attack the human.


    But when he saw the scene in front of him, he realized that the human they were fighting was not someone they could face....


    (Back to Alex and the other Orc)


    Alex saw an opening when the Orc''s body was turned to the left along with its axe, he quickly shed at the radius of the arms cutting both of the arms of the poor Orc right from the middle.


    "GAAHHHHHH"


    The Orc shouted in pain and crouched on the ground as his hands were chopped off. However next second the Orc realized his mistake, but it was already toote as he felt a sharp pain in his neck.


    The next thing he saw was a 360�� view of his surroundings. First, The Orc saw his friend rushing towards him with a furious yet helpless expression then it saw the human he was fighting standing there beside his body in the same rxed manner as it had been from the start.


    The Orc finally realised it had died and his world turned ck.


    Alex looked at the remaining Orcmander who was running towards him with a contemting expression. Then his eyes brightened as if he found out something and he snapped his finger.


    The Orc that was running towards Alex ignored the snap of Alex and rushed at him with all his might, wanting to crush the human with hisrger size. But the next second he felt his leg being strangled by something and he found himself falling on the ground.


    Alex had used his earth magic to make a hand of mud, using it to grab the leg of the Orc. The Orc fell right on the ground with its face towards the ground. Alex didn''t give it any time to get up and directly threw his sword toward the Orc.


    The point of the sword directly pierced the head of the Orc who could do nothing but die helplessly.


    The Orc had epted its death the moment it fell to the ground, but itsst thought was not regret or hatred, instead, he just spoke one word in his mind.


    ''Chief....'' After that he embraced his death.


    "RRAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH"


    As if responding to the call of the Orc, there was a loud hate-filled roar that originated from thergest hut in the vige.


    *BOOM*


    Just after the roar, there was a loud booming sound along with a little vibration on the ground and the next second therge hut crumbled leaving only dust behind.


    Alice and Ann visibly tensed since they knew what it was, while Alex also observed the entity that slowly became visible as the dust settled down.


    _________________________________________


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 CHAPTER 35 – All-Master is Cheating.

    35 CHAPTER 35 �C All-Master is Cheating.


    Alex continued looking in the direction of the hut where he could see the Orc chief. After all, how could Alex''s view be obstructed by mere dust?


    At first, he was a little surprised when he saw the Orc chief as she held arge ck Greatsword, unlike normal Orcs.


    And yes, the Orc chief was a female and from the looks of it, she seemed really angry. The same expression could be seen on the male orcs that were standing with her. What some of you might be thinking is true, it is a reverse harem. Well, what would you expect from a strength-supreme race? The strongest rules over others.


    Alex had already seen one of the Orcs that had been observing his fight with the Mid-bosses. The way it was standing at the door of the chief''s hut was likely informing the chief about the events taking ce.


    "HUMAN!!! YOU DIE!!!" The Orc chief shouted while lifting her right hand along with the Greatsword, pointing it at Alex. She was lifting that 1.5m tall sword as if it were a normal wooden sword.


    The shout from the Orc chief brought the three raiders out of their thoughts, though now they had surprised looks on their faces. It was in no way normal for an A-rank monster to be able to speak, so, their surprise was not uncalled for.


    "She has an Iplete Mana core," Alex spoke making Alice and Ann grow more shocked. However, if someone looked closely then they would be able to see excitement hidden in their eyes.


    They were excited because an A-rank monster can never develop a Mana core, be it partial orplete. This only meant a single thing �C A special case, which could also be seen as a thing called ''Juicy reward''. Anything special or unique within the gates has always proved to be generously rewarding.


    If it were an S-rank monster then they would not be excited, instead, they would have had a grim expression. After all, neither Alice nor Ann had the power to defeat a special monster of S-rank (If we don''t take Alex into consideration), however, it was different right now. They were in an A-rank gate and Alice alone could be able to defeat the Orc chief, not to mention Alex. That was also the reason they didn''t move when they saw Alex running towards the chief, instead, they ran towards the mobs in the surroundings.


    "H-hey, Alice," Ann suddenly spoke in an unsure voice as she saw Alex''s smile which somehow matched the smile he showed when they told him about the duel with Frank.


    Alice turned to her friend-cum-secretary with a confused look when she heard her voice.


    "He removed his restrictions��..., right?" Alice''s steps came to a halt when she heard Ann''s words. She snapped her head towards Alex only to see his smile as he was standing in front of the Orc chief. "No..." Ann only heard a low despairing voice of Alice before she saw her friend running towards Alex.


    Realizing the reason Ann also ran towards Alex''s direction when she saw the Orc chief''s Greatsword descending on Alex''s simple sword.


    Their worries were not unfounded, they knew Alex was strong, undoubtedly so. But still, right now he had his physical stats limited to A-rank while trying to confront a special case Boss-rank monster. They thought that maybe Alex didn''t know how abnormal the special cases were, or how hard they were to deal with.


    They even thought that maybe Alex became overconfident just by defeating the Mid-bosses. However, right now, all they wanted was to save him as they could scold him or reprimand him all they wantedter.


    In the rush moment, they forgot that Alex even had the ability to look at the statistics of anyone, or else they would have realized that maybe they were still underestimating Alex. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Or maybe it just never urred to them that someone could do something like that, ever.


    *BOOM*


    However, their notion was going to be shattered by Alex as the next second they stopped in their tracks abruptly. They looked at each other, their expressions mirroring each other which was clear disbelief.


    Alex stopped the attack of the Orc chief with his simple sword making everyone surprised. Even the Orc chief was surprised, in a fit of anger she had used all of her strength in that attack.


    So, of course, she was going to be surprised. After all, who would know her strength better than herself?


    What she didn''t know, however, was that there was someone who knew about her strength better than her.


    Alex had already seen the stats of the Orc chief and he was surprised but excited at the same time since he knew he could finally test how well All-master worked.


    The Orc chief''s stats were like this: - Strength: S; Agility: A+; Stamina: A+; Wisdom: A; Energy/Mana: A-; Luck: B; Charm: C+;


    One would think that it''s not much higher than Alex''s but do take the S-rank strength into consideration. The difference between S and A is like the difference between heaven and earth, the same could be said for every rank up after S rank. Just because Alex is casually skipping through the ranks doesn''t mean that they were something easy to do. If they were, then there would be an abundance of S, SS, SSS, and even EX-rank Raiders in the world.


    How could Alex stop the attack then? The answer is not simple this time as many things are needed to be taken into consideration.


    From the momentum of the body, the degree at which the weapon should be bent, how much strength he should put in the grip to how much of the impact he should transfer to the ground. All-master is a skill that helps him with all the calctions and shows him the best way to salvage a situation in a fight. It is not considered a cheat-skill without any reason.


    To top it off, this is just what it is capable of without any use of mana, aura, intent, or any kind ofw.


    Alex just smiled with tion ignoring the shocked or bbergasted looks he was getting because he saw the results and they were better than he had expected.


    It''s not that he didn''t expect the skill to be able to defend the attack of the Orc chief, he knew that this skill would at least be able to let him do that.


    However, now it seemed like this skill could do much better than he thought as he felt that he could take an attack of S+ rank strength with his stats limited to A+ rank. He felt that he might be able to survive an SS rank attack as well, but he had no way of confirming that. Still, he knew his limits, so, he knew that defending an attack of SS rank was out of the question, but parrying or deflecting could be done without that much of a problem.


    "Human, Strong. But Next, You Die." Everyone was again snapped back to reality by a gruff female voice, making everyone turn towards the Orc chief. The Orc chief had pulled back her sword and ced it on her shoulder while her demeanor had turned calm.


    She knew that her enemy this time was strong and a strong enemy means danger. She knew that she needed to have full focus or she might lose her life, her instincts told her that.


    Wild instincts are rarely ever wrong, so, she believed in her instincts and calmed herself, regaining her focus. The Orcs who got a little intimidated when they saw their chief''s attack being blocked also calmed down when they saw their chief.


    Calm, collected, and a strong worrier, these were the characteristics of their chief, so, they knew that the fight was just starting. Their chief didn''t even use her powers, the human just blocked a simple wave of her sword.


    As for Alice and Ann, they had also calmed down. They also thought that they should do something about their habit of thinking that the impossible even exists for Alex. In the end, they just sighed helplessly while nodding to each other. They knew that rather than focusing on Alex''s situation, they should take care of the things on their te.


    However, they were still going to give Alex peace of mind for making them worry without a reason. "Go. Kill." The Orc chief spoke to her subordinates and they nodded their heads but before they could move, they heard a rxed voice in front of them.


    "And who told you that you could move?"


    _________________________________________


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    Cosmic_Ceaser


    Creator''s Thought

 CHAPTER 36 – Special Boss.

    36 CHAPTER 36 �C Special Boss.


    "And who told you that you could move?" Alex''s rxed voice was heard clearly by everyone.


    Alice and Ann just smiled lightly, turning to their targets while every orc''s face turned into a scowl, even the Chief''s.


    "Human. Arrogant." The Orc chief spoke with a hint of anger but that was only for a second before she turned calm again.


    She took her sword off her shoulder and pointed it towards Alex who was still standing rxedly.


    Then next second, her expression morphed into confusion as she saw Alex lifting his hand up in the air. The next second, however, her eyes widened as she felt arge amount of mana being used. Before she could move or say something, suddenly 10 Fire-thunder arrows were aimed at her and her subordinates. "Am I?" Alex spoke again with a smile as he lowered his hand, causing the arrows to move towards the Orcs at a very high speed.


    Even though the Orc chief felt that she was being mocked, she knew that this attack was dangerous and she had to get serious. Alex''s stats were limited to A+ but his skills were still active which meant he still had his instant regeneration active. This skill enabled him to continuously pump mana into the fire-thunder arrows, making them more destructive.


    This continuous pumping of mana was something that was felt by the Orc chief, making her cautious. Alice and Ann were not surprised by this turn of events as Alex''s previous show of power was still fresh in their minds.


    However, if someone observed Alice clearly, they would be able to see the surprise Alice''s eyes held, even though she tried to hide it with her calm exterior.


    She knew how hard it was to be able tobine elements together. There was rarely anyone who could use two elements together, much less merge them. "RAAAAAAAAAAA!!"


    The next second, however, something unexpected happened. The Orc chief shouted and the next second she waved her sword at the iing fire-thunder arrows, breaking 5 of them.


    But she was still unable to stop the other five as they pierced right through the orcs creating gaping holes in their stomach, hearts, necks, and heads respectively.


    There was one thing that attracted most of the attention on the field right now and that was �C the Orc chief. Her sword was glowing with faery red colour while radiating ground melting heat.


    She was using her trump card, her ability that let her remain the Orc chief for as long as she could remember. It was called ''Infernal Sword Aura''. An ability she gained after she formed her iplete mana core by chance.


    This ability lets her coat her sword with an aura, but her aura is far from normal as it is an elemental aura, which is a very rare kind of aura. The people who awaken sword aura are able to use mana or their will to coat the sword with it, but that''s just the first phase, as people develop further, they gain ess to new possible paths. (Let''s not go into details or else it would take a whole chapter''s worth of words.)


    She was among the rare people who were able to develop sword aura further by adding elements to it and her element was Fire.


    But, it''s not over yet, after all, her aura had the power to destroy Alex''s mana-pumped fire-thunder arrow (though he could have just made it stronger, but he thought that would be an overkill).


    Her fire was also not normal because it alone was strong enough to almost reach the intensity of Alice''s mes which surprised both Alex and Alice, while Ann remained oblivious to this.


    Still, one thing was clear to everyone �C Those mes were not normal, just from the fact that they could stop 5 of Alex''s attacks.


    She proved that a special boss was not something to scoff at.


    Alex looked at the Orc chief who was looking at her dead men with grief but kept looking at Alex with vignce while keeping her sword pointed at him. Alex knew that she would lose if he were to get really serious, so, he spoke.


    "You want to fight with swords? I will let you die with my sword then." Alex spoke while pointing his sword at the Orc chief whose expression kept changing from suspicion and anger. She was suspicious as to why Alex would want to have a sword fight when he could defeat her with his magic. Angry, when she thought that Alex was underestimating her or showing pity on her. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    However, she knew she was in no ce to argue, so, she took the change given by her enemy and ran towards him with her sword raised up. But just then another change happened, causing everyone to be surprised.


    "WHAT?!" Alice eximed as she saw what Alex had done as she was the one most surprised by his move.


    Alex''s sword which was tilted downwards while being held in his right hand suddenly lit up with orange and yellow mes. Those mes looked an exact replica of Alice''s mes much to her disbelief.


    However, her disbelief was not due to the fact that those mes looked simr to her mes �C No.


    They were her mes, she could feel it, she could feel that everything about the mes was the same as her mes, from the heat intensity and mana consumption to the colour of the mes. But the next second she calmed down as she felt that there was something missing in those mes. The essence of those mes was different, she suddenly felt like she was about to touch something, something that could make her stronger.


    When she turned to Alex and found him smiling at her as if understanding what she was going through, she knew that whatever she was feeling, Alex could help her with that.


    So, she decided to talk about this with himter, for now, she focused on her fight as she could see that the Orcs were about to discover Ann, who was sneakily killing them. Alex had tried to copy Alice''s mes and he was able to create something like a replica of her mes. He knew that he would not be able to replicate the whole concept of her me as it was not something he could control, not until he used the Zone of POTE (Pioneer of the Elements) title.


    Alex''s All-master had given him the knowledge of the pinnacle of weapon mastery, so, it was not hard for him to create an elemental aura.


    He looked at Alice and saw that his purpose of manifesting the me was achieved �C Which was actually letting Alice see the hidden potential she had. So, he decided to end the battle now. He looked at the sword descending towards him, and then he nced at Alice. When he saw that she was not looking at him, he activated a skill that he had yet to use twice after acquiring.


    ''Temporal pause.'' He spoke in his mind and everything stopped moving at least in a 70m radius with him in the centre, which included Alice and Ann''s positions. Even for Alex, it was tiring to maintain the pause with Alice in it because even if he was strong the maximum mana he could use right now was A+ rank. For Alice who was a very strong S-rank Raider, it was basically impossible to be stopped by an A-rank raider''s skill. Still, Alex being Alex, he could stop her for 3-4 seconds max, though that was only possible before her potential was locked. He knew that if he had to stop Alice with this Temporal pause after she unlocked her potential then he needed to be at least 1 whole rank ahead of her, even with his instant generation. That''s how much potential she had. He would still be able to stop her for 3-4 seconds with the same ranked stats as her when she awakened her full potential, after all, he was not someone weak. But she would just be unable to move, she would still be aware of the time pause, unlike now.


    Alex then turned towards the Orc chief. (Not even a second had passed till now, Alex turned directly towards the Orc chief after activating the skill. The above paras were just for the readers.)


    Alex could see that the Orc chief was oblivious to the time pause as her expression still showed focus and well-hidden anger in her eyes. Alex felt it was a pity to kill such a talented warrior but he knew that there was no other way, so, he waved his sword right at her head, swiftly beheading her. This was the least he could do for her, giving her a swift death as she gave him some nice stats and a nice me for him to use. He had selected only those two things to plunder after he killed.


    He also deactivated the temporal pause, but when the orcs and the girls saw what had happened, the battle came to a halt again. No, one knew what happened, no one saw what happened, no one could feel what happened, but one thing was clear the Orc chief died before anyone could react. When the scene was finally registered in the minds of the beings on the field, there was chaos everywhere as the Orcs started panicking as they didn''t have anyone to order them. The girls and Alex took advantage of the situation, killing Orcs as they fought like animals in the wild.


    The matter of how Alex killed the Orc chief was ignored by everyone as it contributed to Alex''s superb swordsmanship.


    [She is a clever girl.] Sophia suddenly spoke.


    ''That she is, but she has a strong willpower as well'' Alex also expressed his honest thoughts as both of them had noticed Ann looking at Alex with some confusion. When Alex activated temporal pause Ann had her face turned in Alex''s direction. Just because of her strong will, she was able to resist some of the effects of Alex''s skill which was literally impossible for any A-rank raider.


    This fact surprised Alex and Sophia, but they also knew that Ann was just able to feel something amiss, unlike Alice. That in itself was a great feat, so, her suspecting that it was something rted to Alex alone was enough for Sophia toplement her. ............��.


    It took them close to 10 min to clear the Orcs in the area and till now the Orc chief had already disappeared leaving only the loot behind. Alice and Ann had their eyes wide open with a happy smile on their faces when they saw the reward dropped by the Boss.


    Their surprise and happiness were not uncalled for since the reward was not something that could be taken lightly...


    _________________________________________

 CHAPTER 37 – Gate clear and a spoiler.

    37 CHAPTER 37 �C Gate clear and a spoiler.


    Alex, Alice, and Ann were walking together with Ann holding the sleeping Noctura in her hands.


    Alice kept storing the magic crystals they came through as all of the magic crystals and drops were from the beasts that they had killed on their way in.


    The beings killed by them had already disappeared leaving only magic crystals and drop/s (If any).


    She was storing these things inside a storage ring, which is a rare drop item just like a disguise ring. However, the storage ring that Alice had was an A-rank storage ring with a capacity of 5m3, which is quiterge. So, storing the loot was not a problem.


    They were going towards the exit/entrance of the gate since the gate was considered clear after the boss monster was defeated. "Our work here is done, right?" Alex asked as they walked out of the gate. "Yes, they will take care of the rest," Alice spoke as she pointed towards the Raiders of Crimson Lotus that were standing right outside the gate, waiting for them toe out.


    "Alright," Alex spoke as he stretched his arms which caused his shirt to lift up, showing his abbs. "��" Every girl in the area had their eyes attached to that exact thing. Be it Alice, Ann, or thedies and girls in the group of Raiders from Crimson Lotus.


    Alex also noticed that, but by that time he was already stretching, so, he ignored it. After all, how could he call himself a guy if he starts blushing like a girl would in this situation?


    "Cough," A loud cough broke every girl out of whatever thoughts they were happening. But the girls red at the guy who coughed.


    Simon Weed, an A-rank hunter and also the group leader of the raid team from Crimson Lotus. He was the one who coughed when he saw the scene, but he almost peed in his pants when he felt Alice and Ann''s re.


    He was fine with the res of his teammates as he was going to work them extra hard but he couldn''t do anything if Alice and Ann decided to beat him up, that too for an unjust reason.


    "All right, let''s go." However, Alex spoke before the guy could get his ass handled by Alice and Ann. Simon looked at Alex gratefully and Alex just nodded at him with a smile.


    "��. Yeah." X2


    Alice and Ann spoke together, though they were still looking at Simon, which made the poor guy uneasy. Then he sighed in relief when he saw them turning towards Ann''s car.


    As they sat inside the car, Alex spoke.


    "What are they going to do now?" Alex could see that Alice and Ann were still looking towards Simon as they were sitting in the car. Poor guy Simon didn''t even know that he was being stared at by two predators as right now, he was scolding the girls in his group.


    "They will wait for the miners,borers, and carriers to arrive and when that''s done, they will enter along with them." Alex''s words were answered by Ann, while Alice also moved her gaze away from Simon and spoke after that.


    "He is one of the strongest raiders in the guild, so, he can take care of things on his own here." Afterpleting her words, she yawned. "Get some rest, I will drive you guys home," Alex spoke as he got out of the back seat.


    "No, I ca-" Ann was about to object, but Alex cut her words.


    "Ann, rest." He spoke with a stern voice causing Ann to swallow her words and nod her head.


    He knew that she was tired as well, after all, she was the one who ran around the most.


    Ann got out of the front seat and entered the back seat, sitting together with Alice. Both of them looked at each other, exchanged a small sweet smile, and then moved closer. Alex who started the car also smiled a little as he saw Alice and Ann closing their eyes while supporting their bodies together. They had their shoulders pressed together while their heads also supported one another. Who would not like the view of two beautiful girls sleeping together with a sweet smile stered on their faces? Don''t know about others, but Alex sure liked the view.


    He then moved his hand toward the passenger seat and patted Noctura, causing her to purr in her sleep. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ann had let her sleep on the passenger seat as she needed to drive the car, so, Noctura was still sleeping on the passenger seat. Alex just smiled happily as he looked at the three cute creatures he was surrounded with. Only he knew how he wished for every one of his days to be like this, where he just enjoyed the whole day without any disturbance.


    <Alex....> Sophia spoke inside the system space with a sad face as if she could hear what Alex was thinking.


    She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them again, the air around her had changed and her eyes were now lit up with determination.


    No one knows what she was thinking and why she was sad, but time will disclose everything. .....................��..


    Simon and his group waited for the workers toe there while chatting with each other,pletely oblivious to an unknown person who was standing 10m away from them, talking with someone on a phone call.


    "They cleared the Gate, sir." A cold feminine voice was heard, indicating that the owner was a female.


    "All right. Just follow them and continue reporting every one of their movements." A male voice was heard from the other side of the phone and if you were able to hear the voice then, you will recall hearing the voice two or three times before.


    The owner of the feminine voice cut the phone without saying anything, then turned towards the direction Alex drove the car.


    None of the features of this figure was visible other than chilling blue eyes, that shed for a second before returning to the same emotionless state as before.


    ........................��..


    The Gates do not just disappear after being cleared of the boss, it stays like that for a day or two. No one knows the reason, but no one actually thought much about it as it only brought profit to them.


    How did it bring profit? They get to mine more things out of the gate. Although the things extracted, looted, or mined before the boss is killed were good and they bring profit, they are not everything the gate could give. If the Gate were to disappear just after the boss is defeated, then the owner of the gate would miss out on many things such as: - Rich minerals or any other resources that are in the proximity of the boss area, the loot that is kept in the Boss''s treasury, the magic crystals dropped by the mobs during the boss fight, and some hidden chambers that store some hidden items. Before clearing the Bossyer, the workers can''t enter the area near the Bossyer so as to not get targeted by the Boss.


    But after the boss is dealt with, the workers can move around freely under the protection of some Raiders who are strong enough to deal with the remaining monsters.


    Right now, Simon and his group were the ones who were given the duty to clear the gate of the remaining monsters while protecting the workers from any threats. The guilds also use the lower-ranked gates as a newbie training ground after the boss is dealt with. What is a better way to train newbies than providing them with practical experience? As the danger level of lower-ranked gates is very low, they serve as a perfect training ground.


    Still, there are always exceptions, and one such exception was an E-rank gate in Green Country. However, no one knows that for now. Right now, there are some veteran C-rank Raiders of Smashers Guild who were merely leading a group of new recruits or newbies inside that exact gate whileughing and chatting with each other.


    They were unaware of the fact the moment they entered the Gate; they were signing in for something they would never want to and it was �C Death.


    _________________________________________


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 CHAPTER 38 – Rewards.

    38 CHAPTER 38 �C Rewards.


    "Keep it for now, maybe it can be usedter," Alex spoke from inside the kitchen while Alice and Ann were sitting on the chair that they had dragged at the entrance of the kitchen.


    "Un, I will do that." Alice nodded in eptance and spoke and Ann wrote it down on her notepad.


    They were unable to decide what to do with the rewards they got from the Orc chief. They were able to think of many uses for the Mana core that was dropped from the Boss but they didn''t know about the other drop.


    Yes, the first reward was Mana Core, even though it was an iplete one. Still, there was a point that an iplete mana core was also a mana core, and it did every one of the things that a normal one can do.


    However, the price of the iplete one would be higher as it was the first time anyone was ever going to see an iplete mana core. They didn''t have a rising star in their guild as of now, so, they didn''t need to save the mana core for them.


    After a long discussion, they decided to sell it and buy something more useful. They knew it was a very important item that could cause a sensation in the Raider world, and they wanted it to happen.


    Alex told them that it would be better to sell it as it would cause a lot ofmotion which included lots of killing which meant lots of crimes. Raider association being Raider association, they had to do their job to protect the peace of the country.


    This would mean that they will have their tes full for some time and they would not cause any trouble for them in the meantime. Alice and Ann readily epted the idea of selling the iplete mana core, throwing out the little hesitation they had in their minds.


    Finally, they decided to sell the iplete mana core in an auction as it would fetch them arger sum along with argermotion.


    Resulting in more work for the Association and more time for Alice and the group to prepare for whatever the Association was going to throw at them.


    They didn''t think of using the mana core to strengthen themselves as they already asked Alex to train them to be stronger.


    They knew that Alex would have a way of making them stronger by training them, after all, he was the one who told them about the bloodline thing. Now they just wanted him to help them get stronger and reach the limit of the world.


    The second reward was a skill book, which surprised them more than the mana core as the skill books were the rarest of the rare. That too when the skill book was of an SS-rank skill.


    It was the skill ''Infernal Sword Aura'' that was used by the boss and after looking at the Rank of the skill book they realised just how dangerous the boss was. But then they sighed as they remembered how easily Alex defeated the same boss, added to that, his stats were suppressed as well.


    Back to the topic �C they couldn''t decide what to do with the second reward as the other rewards were not much whenpared to this.


    Alice had asked Alex if he wanted it, but his reply was simple �C "I can create an ability stronger than that without a skill book, so, why would I need that?"


    They just speechlessly looked at him causing him to shrug nonchntly.


    So, when he suggested that they keep the reward stored for now they agreed without hesitation. Selling it was never even considered by them.


    This skill would only contribute to increasing the strength of the person who bought it more than any mana core could, they also couldn''t guess who would buy it.


    If the person who bought it was an enemy, then well, there''s no need to say it right. It would be like inviting themselves more trouble.


    If the one who bought the skill was their ally it is still bearable, but no one knows when an ally will turn against the other, so, it''s better if they kept it to themselves.


    It was an SS rank skill after all and skills that couldpare with it were the ones that people called table turners of an organisation or simply the trump card of the organization.


    Now, some people might be thinking, why was Alex doing the dishes? It was because he wanted to and no one could stop him if he wanted to do something. However, that was the reason that Alice and Ann knew, the real reason was simple �C Alex was just happy.


    He prepared the best dinner he could as well as did the dishes as a thanks to Alice and Ann for taking him to the Gate. Because of the Gate, he had earned a good sum of Points for himself, though he had already thought of a way to use it as well.


    "All right, let''s move to the living room. I have something to talk about with you guys." Alex spoke with a smile while using wind and Fire to create hot wind, that he used to dry his hands.


    Ann and Alice, who could clearly see and feel everything just sighed while thinking, ''What''s the use of the towel in the kitchen?''. Alex used the same magic to dry the dishes and now he used the same for drying his hands when there was a towel right in front of him.


    However, they hurriedly went to the living room as they were also curious about the thing Alex was about to talk about. Then the next second their faces became serious as they remembered Alex''s feats.


    They looked at each other and nodded their heads with a determined expression. They thought that they were ready for whatever Alex was going to tell them.


    They had decided not to get surprised with any of the surprises (normal things for Alex) that Alex was going to present them and they were determined to follow through with it. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But they didn''t know just how easy it was for Alex to crumble the wall of determination they had.


    The girls saw Alex entering the living room and sitting on the sofa in front of them, then suddenly two things appeared on the ss table that was between Alex and them. At first, the things looked simple, but when they realised what those things were��...


    They had their eyes wide open while their mouths opened and closed, not knowing what to show. Alex on the other hand smiled contently since he could see the desire that was hidden deep in the eyes of the girls as they saw the items.


    _________________________________________


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    Creation is hard, cheer me up!

 CHAPTER 39 – Training 1.

    39 CHAPTER 39 �C Training 1.


    "You guys ready?" Alex asked while holding the simple sword in his hand. If someone looked at him right now, they would think that he was just standing there nocasuallyAlice and Ann, however, knew better than to underestimate the man in front of them.


    This was the tenth time but they were unable to defeat him, even when he had his stats lowered to A-rank. Alice and Ann tried defeating him with a surprise attack, but his body would somehow move just before the attack couldnd, rendering them speechless.


    He would just stand there with that casual expression, but they could see perfectly well how his muscles contracted and rxed every second as if ready every moment. After all, they were not just some newbies, they had experience in fighting both humans and beasts.


    But right now, they are just two students being taught by their teacher.


    .....................


    It had been a day since Alex gave Alice and Ann what he wanted to give them. He got three item rewards from the quests he had done in the gate, as for the point rewards and the points from killing, let''s leave it for some other asion.


    The first one was a skill book for an ability called zing Beam. It was a B-rank skill that created aser-like beam with highly concentrated fire which could then be used to cut some strong metals or prate the defences of their user''s enemies. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He decided to give this skill book to Alice as he could do these things even without a skill book.


    But Alice was still in shock to even hear his words, and how could she not be shocked? Skill books are something even high-ranked raiders would kill for and Alex who had not even been a raider for a week got it from who knows where.


    "Where did you get that from?" This was Alice''s first question and she seriously wanted to know.


    But then her eyes fell on the other thing on the table, and she became surprised again. Though not as much as the skill book, she was still surprised.


    The other thing was just that unique and looking at Ann who was continuously staring at it with a dazed expression, she could tell that her friend was enthralled by the item. It was so much that she had yet to notice the Skill book on the table.


    It was the second item that Alex had decided to take out, and it was a random A-rank dagger he got. However, he was a little surprised as he felt that this dagger had some deep meaning for him.


    [It was the first dagger you created when you started your journey as a cksmith.] It was then that Alex heard Sophia''s voice filled with mncholy, and he knew why he felt strange when he saw this dagger.


    13:19


    He was about to say something but the next second he felt the simple sword in his inventory vibrate fiercely which caused him to sigh and Sophia to giggle infectiously.


    ''Yeah, you are the best. Happy now?'' He spoke in his mind as he could feel the jealousy of the sword. Even though he felt weird that a sword was jealous, he didn''t think much and looked at the dagger just like the girls were looking.


    He heard Alice''s question but decided to wait for Ann toe out of her enthralled state. It was then that Ann moved her hand forward and touched the ck de.


    Unlike a regr dagger which usually has a symmetrical, double-edged de with a sharp point and is primarily intended for stabbing, this dagger has a dual-prong de which also helps in locking the opponent''s weapon and then breaking it.


    The de might have been weakerpared to a regr dagger if not made of high-grade materials.


    It was aplete ck de with a ck hilt, and it looked super cool. So much that people might pay a hefty sum of money to buy it even if it was not as strong as it was.


    This one, however, was quite strong and Alex felt that he could make it stronger if he could remember the B of cksmithing, which he learned in one of his previous lives.


    Its name was ''Etheredje'' and was made of Etherstone which was supposedly a very strong metal, though he couldn''t remember it. Before Ann could touch the dagger, Alice spoke again, as she wanted to know the answer to her question.


    "Alex, where did you get it? Did you kill someone?" This was the only thing she could think of, how else would he get these things? They were not cabbages, one was a strong dagger (she could feel it was strong, even without the rank evaluation) and the other was a skill book, a thing that even she did not have.


    One must know that she was a guild master of one of the top-rank guilds, she still didn''t have the thing that Alex just took out as if it was nothing.


    Ann also, came out of her reverie when she heard Alice''s words and she reluctantly looked away from the dagger. She looked at Alex with the same expression as Alice and their expression was asking just one thing �C how?


    Alex looked into their eyes and they replied with the same stare, they continued for a while, but unlike Stephan, Alex didn''t back down this time.


    Slowly when a minute had passed the girls started faltering a bit, after all, Alex''s eyes could scare away some raider when he had not even awakened, so, there was no need to say what would happen now.


    "I concede," When Alex noticed that the girls were about to look away, he spoke with a light smile on his face. He didn''t want to scare them; he just wanted them to know the seriousness of their question.


    He could see that the girls had realised it, the way they looked everywhere other than his eyes was enough for him to know that. He knew he could just change the subject and they would not say anything, but he wanted to make one thing clear for them.


    "I didn''t steal them from somewhere or someone. It''splicated to exin and I don''t know how to exin, but believe me, these are mine." Alex spoke with the sincerest expression he could make.


    He didn''t lie to them about anything, and he didn''t steal from someone, it was his reward and he got them afterpleting his quest. He didn''t answer Alice''s question about whether he killed someone to get it or not, because he had to kill monsters to get that, but he couldn''t tell them about it.


    He simply yed with his words, but none of his words was false, even the part where he said it''splicated to exin. It isplicated as he himself doesn''t know who he is and what he is, everything about his existence isplicated.


    Alice and Ann looked at each other and nodded even though the answer did not disclose the information about where he got the items from. Just the fact that he answered their answer and rified their doubts was enough for them.


    They smiled lightly as they knew that Alex would not just tell these things to anyone, which meant he trusted them so that he disclosed these things to them.


    "So, what do we do about these items?" Ann finally asked after a while, though her eyes were moving towards the dagger from time to time.


    Alex chuckled looking at her like that, though Alice was not much better as she was now looking at the skill book just like Ann was looking at the dagger. She knew that this skill was well-suited for her, and it would work wonders if used with her special mes.


    As they listened to Alex''s chuckle, they lowered their heads in embarrassment. They knew that these items were for them or why else would Alex take them out for them to look at just to take them back?


    But still, Alex didn''t mention that, so, them eyeing the item like a child eyeing a candy was not something a person of their calibre should do.


    "Don''t worry, I took them out for you guys, so, you don''t need to feel embarrassed," Alex spoke with a smile but the girls were too embarrassed to look at his face.


    They kept their heads down for a while, and Alice was the first one to look up. She looked into Alex''s eyes, and even though she felt embarrassed she still needed to ask a question.


    "Why?" It was a simple question, but Alex knew what she meant, and the way Ann turned her eyes towards him after hearing the question, he knew that she wanted to know the same thing.


    "Hmm, well, you can think of it as a teacher''s first gift to their student," Alex spoke after pondering for a while. He smiled as he found them looking at him with confusion.


    "What?" He asked with the same smile.


    "Teacher?" Ann asked in a low voice.


    "Oh, that? Didn''t you guys ask me to train you guys? Doesn''t that make me your teacher?" Alex spoke with a puzzled expression, though Alice and Ann could somehow feel that he was faking his expression.


    (They wouldn''t have been able to tell the difference between fake and genuine if Alex didn''t want them to)


    Alice and Ann were about to say something, but then they saw Alex smile. It would have been fine if he smiled normally, but right now it was different, this smile made them have a bad premonition in their mind.


    "You guys are not going to back down now, right?" Alex asked. They didn''t know why they did, but they still quickly shook their heads in denial.


    They felt that this was what they should do or they were going to regret their actions, but the next second they saw Alex smiling at them gently, making them question whether they were hallucinating.


    "Then it''s settled. This is my gift for you guys." Alex spoke and they nodded their heads, epting the items. What they didn''t know was that this decision would be one of those that they woulde to regretter.


    _________________________________________


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    Like it ? Add to library��

 CHAPTER 40 – Training 2 and Frank’s situation.

    CHAPTER 40 �C Training 2 and Frank��s situation.


    "If you are not going to attack, then I will," Alex spoke and before the girls could realise, he was already just 2m away from them.


    It had been an hour since Alex started their training, and the girls already knew that their tactics were not going to work on him.


    They tried many times, in many ways and with many strategies, but they couldn''t even put a scratch on him. That too when they were giving their fullest in the battle.


    Some might think, how is it possible for Alice to lose to an A-rank with her max efforts? She could win against anyone of A-rank, true, but Alex was not just anyone.


    Alex was someone who could defeat not one, but even 10 S-rank Raiders if he was attacked by them.


    There are many things in his arsenal that he has yet to use, one of them being his space magic. Even the elemental magic of fire, water, earth, and wind was just being used at a basic level.


    If he wanted to, he could simply create a zing storm that could level cities, he could bring tsunamis that would submerge a city or two and many more, but he didn''t feel any need for it till now.


    Alex, however, didn''t want Alice to feel that she was weak when she lost to him who had his stats suppressed to A-rank.


    Alice had seen Alex fighting in the dungeon and she felt he was very strong, maybe stronger than her even in the suppressed form, but it was just how she felt.


    There would always be a thought in her mind saying, ''I could still win against him if I did this or maybe like this��''.


    She would still feel like she could win somehow, but if Alex were to defeat her and turn her feelings into truth, then the result would not be good.


    So, Alex bought an item from the system that could help him in this situation, and even though it cost him 10,000, it was nothing he could not recover.


    The item he bought was called ''Suppression Braces,'' and their function was just what its name suggested. It was used for suppression, though it would not work on people higher than EX rank.


    When Alex took this item out, it prompted Alice and Ann to look at him questioningly.


    ''If you want to ask me, where I got this from, then the answer is the same as before. But if you want to know what it does, then it is something that can be used to suppress the stats of a living being.''


    Alice and Ann thought about his answer for a while and then nodded. They knew they couldn''t force him to answer their questions, and just knowing that he considered their opinion was good enough for them.


    Then Alice was given one of the braces to put on while the other was being used by Alex. He could just suppress his strength on his own or ask the system, still, why not use an item when he already has it?


    When the braces are equipped, it would directly limit the stats of any living being to the level it is set for. So, both Alice and Alex were now A-rankers just like Ann, which meant Alex was defeating them fair and squire.


    Alice and Ann had been fighting for a long time and they realised that defending might be better than attacking. They were hoping to tire Alex out and then attack him when he left an opening, however, they didn''t know all of this was just wishful thinking from their side.


    When Alex reached right in front of them, Ann rushed forward and shed down the Etheredje at him, only for it to be blocked by the simple sword.


    But things didn''t end there as Alex felt heat rushing towards his face just as he stopped to take Ann''s attack.


    Alice had sent a beam of fire right at Alex''s face when she saw Ann move, it was as if she knew where Alex was going to be.


    In reality, it was just the degree of coordination both Alice and Ann had, though they knew that it was useless against Alex or they would not be losing till now.


    As to prove their thoughts right, Alex just tilted his head a little, swiftly avoiding the mes even though it would not have harmed him. He didn''t stop there as he then kicked Ann right in her gut, sending her flying to a tree in the garden.


    They were fighting in the garden as they did not have any training hall there. But still, Alex had used his disguise to cover the area, making people who passed by feel that everything was normal.


    Everyone, except a pair of blue eyes that kept looking towards the vi with suspicion, before vanishing without a trace as if they were never there.


    Alice grimaced as she saw Ann who had her ass embedded into the tree and upturned eyes which meant she waspletely unconscious. However, it was good that she was unconscious or else she would have wanted to dig a hole to bury herself if she had seen her posture right now.


    She then turned towards Alex and only saw a blur before he was right in front of her. She shot a fire bomb on the ground that propelled her backwards, just missing the sword that was moving towards her neck.


    She then looked towards Alex, but he was not there. The next instant she felt something behind her, but before she could even do something...


    *crack*


    The sound of something breaking was heard as she felt that she was punched in her back, her eyes widened in horror, but then her view darkened and she lost conscience.


    "Well��." Alex just shrugged as he dusted his hands. He then proceeded and picked Alice up on his shoulder like a bag of potatoes then moved towards Ann, doing the same thing. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    During the training, he never showed mercy as that would not yield the result he wanted, but when the training has ended then it''s a different case altogether.


    As Alex picked them up and moved inside the vi to heal them, he deactivated the disguise covering the vi, while also using water healing to heal the hole in the tree.


    By the time the disguise was down, the garden or ground was back to its normal form, making it hard for anyone to sense any changes.


    ...........................................


    "ARGHHHHH," Frank screamed for the umpteenth time as the thought of revenge appeared in his mind. The guild members who crossed his office heard it clearly but they just exchanged tiered looks and ignored the shout.


    When this happened for the first time, many guild members came running in case something had happened only to have themselves cursed by frustrated Frank. So, even though they were worried and curious about what was happening they decided to ignore it as they would only get insulted if they tried helping him.


    The days he recently had been the worst days Frank had to go through.


    First, he lost a duel that he initiated and if that was not enough, it was the shortest duel anyone had ever seen.


    Then he had to go ahead and add more to his own humiliation by shitting himself.


    Now, he was somehow forced into listening to the order of his nemesis.


    He now felt that the shitting thing was not something Alex had a hand in as his mind could note up with a way as to how Alex would have done it. But his other problems were Alex''s contribution and he had already set Alex as his archenemy.


    But he was helpless now, because whenever he thought of revenge, he had an unbearable pain in his whole body, and he shivered thinking what would happen if he really did something instead of thinking.


    If someone proficient in healing were to look at him when he felt pain, they would be able to tell the anomaly in his body. His blood would start moving erratically,pletely out of his control, whenever he thought of revenge.


    When the pain subsided, he just nkly stared at the ceiling, epting his fate.


    What he didn''t know was that there was someone sitting alone in a dark room, thinking of ns with him included, all of them with one goal and that was to kill Alex.


    _________________________________________

 CHAPTER 41 – The Auction Building.

    CHAPTER 41 �C The Auction Building.


    "So that''s the building where Auctions are held huh," Alex spoke while looking at a dome-like building with interest.


    Imagine a big, round building with a curved roof like a giant bubble or a ball cut in half and ced upside down. It''s called a dome, and that''s what the Auction building looked like.


    This dome-shaped auction building is like a huge room with a roof that curves all the way around, making it look like a giant bubble.


    Inside, people gathered to bid on things like art, cars, or other valuable items, but the main attraction was always the raider-rted items.


    The dome design helps sound travel so everyone can hear the auctioneer, and it gives the building a unique and impressive look.


    As Alex observed the Auction house and he seemed interested in it, Alice and Ann didn''t share his interest. They had seen the Auction building so many times that for them it''s not that unique anymore.


    Their interest, however, was on another thing, something that they didn''t know was possible. The three of them were standing in the Air, at least 200m above the ground.


    Even if that wasn''t something to be surprised of as there are some Raiders who can fly in the Air, even Alice can if she uses a considerable amount of mana.


    But none of them could do what Alex did. They had been travelling for three hours in this manner, and if that didn''t surprise you enough then they covered the distance that takes nes at least 10 hours in just three hours.


    This showed just how useful Alex''s instantaneous regeneration was. He could use the moves that other people used as their trump cards, that too without worrying about running out of fuel.


    "Why have you never told us that you could fly as well?" Alice asked as she looked at Alex with a questioning look.


    She knew how advantageous it was to have someone with flying skills in their group, so, Alex being able to fly was a good thing.


    But she needed to know that he could fly so that she could use it to their and the guild''s advantage. Ann also had the same expression as Alice, though she had a pondering expression as if thinking about something. But then, they were dumbfounded for a second when they heard Alex''s reply.


    "You never asked me?" Alex replied while tilting his head towards them. If they asked him if he had flying ability then he would have told them about it, after all, it was just an ability he created with his control over wind.


    He used the wind to push their bodies at a very fast speed, while he shielded their bodies with a barrier made of wind so as to not get their bodies torn apart by the high-speed wind.


    Alex''s running speed alone might be close to the speed of the sound, let''s not talk about his abilities that are total cheats. He didn''t even name this ability as it was just an ability he created for convenience.


    They didn''t need to waste money on buying ne tickets, they could reach their destination faster, they could have a better view of everything, and they could move around without leaving any traces on records.


    Thest point was something they needed to do for today if they needed things to go as Alex had nned.


    "All right, let''s see if these guys are as capable as they are said to be," Alex spoke with a smile and took out two masks, one red and the other ck for both Alice and Ann to wear.


    Alice and Ann broke out of their stupor after they heard his words and they started adjusting their postures. They were dumbfounded before because Alex''s reply was weirdly true, after all, they never asked him, so, why would he just tell them everything?


    However, for now, they decided to throw those thoughts out of their minds and focus on what was ahead of them.


    If things went as Alex had nned then they were going to get at least 2 or 3 months to prepare themselves for whatever the Raiders Association was nning for them.


    "Un." X2


    Both of them nodded and wore the masks, and the masks were nothing special, they were just some cool-looking masks with no function whatsoever, other than hiding their faces. It was not like they needed anything else for whatever they were going to do.


    "Let''s go then," Alex spoke as he took out a golden mask with intricate designs over it, and this one looked better than Alice and Ann''s masks.


    He slowly descended in front of the Auction building along with Alice and Ann, but no one seemed to have noticed them, not even the motion-sensing cameras.


    After all, he was using mana along with his guise maniption to make themselves invisible and mana was something that even the greatest of scientists with the best technological equipment can''t get a read on.


    "You remember what your role is right?" Alex knew that they would not forget their role as they didn''t have anything special to do, but he still asked.


    His question caused girls to look at him with embarrassment but they still nodded their heads. Even if the act they were going to perform was not needed, they were still doing it just to be safe.


    "Follow me, I will lead the way," Ann spoke directly averting the topic so as to not get themselves more embarrassed, and she was sessful as both Alice and Alex nodded their heads.


    Ann took it upon herself to lead them to the office of the Auction building as she was the one who came here more than Alice and she knew this ce better than Alice. Alice being the guild leader can''t just move for every matter even if she is free, that''s just how much importance that position had.


    As they moved towards the main office Alex kept observing the items hanging on the walls or put on disy. He could already see many traps hidden on those items and every trap needed some kind of magical sequence to unlock.


    This showed that either the manager was extremely cautious and diligent worked for the security of the building and the items or the people behind the Auction house just ced that much importance on this ce.


    As for who was the one behind the Auction programme, it was the Raider Association. They were the ones who handled the Auction house and it is also said that the Leader or the Manager of the Auction would have been the most powerful raider the Association had if Stephan was not the undisputed first ce.


    The Raider Association provided a tform for everyone to sell their items while providing confidentiality and protection to the seller. However, those on top knew that confidentiality and protection were only on paper, in reality, it was just a way to gather people''s trust.


    It waspletely a lie that they provided confidentiality and protection, but the statement in the contract was tampered with a bit and it was changed to providing those things only till the item is sold.


    There were even some cases where some raider went inside the Auction building only to never return. However, the real thing that showed the Association''s nature always happened the next day as the Association would somehow find a top-ranked item in an unexpected gate.


    The public knew nothing about this topic as the Association never lets any news slip, but the guild leaders had their way of getting this information, so, they knew full well how the Association worked.


    Just as they were about to reach the office of the manager of the Auction��. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Hm?" Alex felt something, something he didn''t think he would feel in this world. But it was not something he could not deal with; In the worst case, he would have to buy some item from the system by selling one of his abilities.


    (Author Note: He can sell things just the way he buys but it works on a different principle than normal systems. Here if he were to sell some ability that he had, then the ability simply gets locked and he would not be able to ess it, in return it gives him the amount of system points he would need to unlock them.


    Now, he can either unlock the ability he locked and return it the way it was or he can use the SPs to buy a new ability which means unlocking another ability. He can just gather the number of points needed to unlock the ability again bypleting quests or killing enemies.)


    "What''s wrong?" His voice caused Alice and Ann to stop and look at him.


    "Nothing, it''s just that things might not go as we had expected," Alex spoke and listening to his words both Alice and Ann tensed.


    But before they could say anything, they felt their heads being patted and they looked at Alex and even though they could just see his red eyes, they could feel that he had his signature rxed smile on his face.


    They had somewhat gotten used to Alex''s charm so now they didn''t blush like they used to but their cheeks were still pink under their masks.


    "I just said that things might not go as we nned, but did I ever say that our n will fail?" As the meaning of Alex''s words settled in their minds, Alice and Ann finally rxed with a smile.


    "Let''s go, we need to finish this fast so we can move to the next phase of our n," Alex spoke.


    Alice and Ann nodded their heads, and then they exchanged a look with embarrassment clear in their eyes.


    Then they looked towards Alex and moved closer to him, getting in their acts.


    _________________________________________

 CHAPTER 42 – Luna Tuner.

    CHAPTER 42 �C Luna Tuner.


    Luna Turner is a famous S-ranked Raider from Orange Country. She is one of the strongest raiders in the world while also holding the unofficial title of second-strongest raider in Orange County.


    She is someone so strong that even Stephan would have to act fast if he were to fight her, and all of this was not some baseless rumor, as she was really strong.


    Her fame, however, was not just because of this, as she was also said to be the most beautiful woman in the world.


    She had that seductive and autoreactive charm that attracted many men, and while many tried pursuing her, all of them were rejected.


    With her distinctive pink hair and pink eyes, she had a thin, sharp nose and cherry-red lips. She had a perfect round ass and medium-sized, modest breasts.


    Her figure was provocative to the extreme, something that tested every man''s control just by looking at her body. Her dress only made it harder for people to look away from her, as she wore tantalizing dresses.


    She exuded an aura of seduction and authority, which made people love and respect her.


    Some people were so in love with her that they even tried assaulting her, but who was she?


    Those people were made an example for the public to know the consequences of trying the same thing.


    However, just like Stephan, her abilities were unknown as well.


    People still spected many things and the one that was the most suited to her skill while being believable was that she could stun her enemies, while she killed them with her whip-like sword.


    Now people would think �C What''s so good about her ability? To answer that question, let''s not forget that she is an S-ranked Raider and when one reaches that level, every second counts.


    If you were to lose focus for even a second then your enemy would not let that chance go and in a situation like that, she could easily kill her enemies by stunning them.


    As for the lower ranks, there was no need for her to even use her ability as she could defeat them with her physical strength and fighting techniques alone. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Because of her strength and reputation, she was elected as the manager of the auction.


    She was just a ''normal'' woman in her mid-20s before the gates appeared, and no one knows how, but she became one of the leaders of the Raider Association just a month after the association was established.


    Right now, she was sitting in her office, doing her work as she always did. Even if the process of how she got her position was unknown, everyone in the Association knew how much importance she ced on her work.


    She is said to be so devoted to her work that she would leave no stone unturned if even an F-rank item went missing.


    Her day was passing just like every day, which she appreciated as she wanted her days to go on just like this, but then suddenly��.


    *Knock*


    A single knock was heard and then her office''s door opened without waiting for her response which made her eyes turn sharp.


    But just as she looked for the person who was responsible for it, she found the ce empty, implying that the door opened on its own and this revtion tensed her body.


    Her body tensed not because she thought that it might be a ghost but because she thought that it was someone who could escape her senses.


    "Who are you? Come out now," She demanded in amanding voice, though it felt like a sweet melody.


    "��." There was no answer.


    When she knew that the intruder had no thoughts of revealing themselves, she swiftly moved her hands under the table, ready to press the emergency button to warn the people outside.


    She knew that whoever the intruder was, they were good enough to fool the cameras and the guards, which showed how capable they were, and she didn''t want to take risks, so it was better to have a backup.


    She did all this knowing full well that if the attacker could defeat her, then there was no way more people would do any better, at least not until the person she called for was stronger than her.


    Unfortunately, she knew that there was no one else stronger than her present here, but she still wanted to call for the guards. Even if they could do nothing, they could still buy some time for her if they used their lives to stop the intruder.


    But just as she was about to press the button, her hands stopped moving��no, her whole body stopped moving.


    It wasn''t that she couldn''t move, not at all; she could move just fine, but she was too shocked to move as she felt something grand.


    It was as if there was a divine presence right in front of her, but she still couldn''t see anyone.


    However, the next second, she heard an enchanting male voice.


    "You will not press the button, right?" She snapped her head in the direction of the voice, and then she saw them.


    There were three people in total who were present in her room other than her. The three of them were sitting on the sofa that was for guests to sit on and chat with her.


    The one who spoke was the only guy among the three, and he was wearing a golden mask with some intricate designs on it.


    Right now, he was hugged by the other two members, who were clearly girls.


    From the way the girls were clinging to him, it was clear that they were lovers, and from the dynamic between them, it was clear that the guy was the leader.


    But she wasn''t able to focus on the girls, or it was better to say she had all her attention on the guy.


    Not because he seemed to be the leader among them, not because he was the one who spoke, and not because of the fact that he could most likely be someone who could be here to kill her.


    She was staring at him absentmindedly, as she felt that the guy was a divine being.


    She did not think that because of his looks, even though she could somehow tell that the one in front of her was very handsome.


    She felt her blood boil in excitement when she was with him; he felt like someone who was very high for her to reach.


    "You are not, right?" She was a little shaken, but she still nodded her head and moved her hand away when she heard him repeat the question.


    She didn''t want to deny any of his requests or orders; she felt like she should just do whatever he asked for, even if it was to kill herself.


    "Good. I have something that I would like for you to sell at the next auction. Could you do that for me?" The guy asked again, and Luna nodded her head again and moved towards him.


    When she arrived in front of him, her eyes inadvertently moved towards the girls who were hugging the guy from both sides. She felt envious of them, but she also felt that she was not worthy of that position, so she just stood in front of the man with her head bowed.


    "Please make yourselffortable." Luna nodded and sat on the sofa adjacent to the three of them.


    "What would you like to sell, sir?" She respectfully asked, as she didn''t get what the guy''s name was.


    "You can call me Monarch." The guy spoke mysteriously.


    Luna just nodded her head, even though she could tell that it was not the guy''s true name.


    She was just thinking about what it was that an entity like him wanted to sell, who he was, and whether he was a Raider. If he was, then how was he still unknown?


    She knew that he was not a famous Raider, as she had already met all of them in gatherings that happened from time to time.


    She knew that she shouldn''t think of this, but she wanted to know more about the person in front of her.


    She wanted to help him to the best of her abilities, so she focused on what he wanted to sell, and the next series of her reactions were not much different from what a normal Raider would show if they saw those items.


    After all, the guy was Alex, and the things he brought with him were not just the mana core.


    He brought along some other drops as well, but none of them were something that could not be found in many gates, even though they were rare.


    There were some other items that the guy bought with him, such as the Orc chief''s great sword and the Orc chief''s armor; they were B-ranked items, which were pretty much treated as top-quality items.


    But he didn''t take them out right now, as his ns were different for those items. As for what the ns were, well, let''s let time do its job.


    _________________________________________

 CHAPTER 43 – The First Phase -> Complete.

    CHAPTER 43 �C The First Phase -> Complete.


    "Is there anything else you would like to sell, Mr. Monarch?" The silence in the room was broken by Luna as she processed everything she needed to do.


    The thing she needed to do was simple andplicated at the same time, but she would do it nheless as it was not impossible, not for someone of her caliber.


    "No, just that much is fine." The guy spoke and stood up along with the girls who were still hugging him.


    Luna had asked the question after she observed and tested the quality and rank of the items with an inspection orb, which is an inspecting item found in the gates.


    That was also the reason for the long silence in the room, but she was a little disappointed as she couldn''t tell which gate was the origin of those items.


    She wanted to find out the origin of these items so that she could somehow use them to trace back to the person in front of her, but s, not everything is meant to work in her favour.


    However, her mood soon got lifted as she remembered the iplete mana core.


    She knew that it was going to bring her profits, as no other item had brought.


    "I will get going now, but remember, I don''t like people disturbing my peace." This was thest thing she heard before the guy and the girls vanished just like they arrived.


    Luna, however, was still shaken by how cold his voice was when he spoke thest words, and she realised that even if he seemed easygoing, he was still someone stronger than her.


    But that still wouldn''t stop her from trying to know more about him.


    ............��.


    "You guys want me to carry you guys to the vi?" Monarch spoke. Then he took off his mask as they were in disguise, which meant no one could see them, and the guy turned out to be Alex. Surprised, right? I guess not.


    "Huh?" X2


    The girls spoke before they hurriedly got away from him with blushing faces that were hidden by the mask. They kept hugging Alex without realising that the role they had been ying was already over.


    "Why did you guys move away? I was enjoying my time here." Alex spoke in a fake depressing voice, which caused the girls to re at him while their faces started burning hotter.


    "Also, you can remove your masks, we are safe now," Alex spoke again.


    The girls nodded their heads and took off their masks, looking everywhere other than Alex''s face, and as the mask was removed, their faces were revealed.


    The girls turned out to be Alice and Ann. Surprised again, right?


    The girls and Alex walked towards the exit of the auction building in aforting silence.


    None of them spoke, but it felt weirdlyforting just walking together, so they let it be.


    By the time they walked out of the auction building, both the girls had already calmed down.


    They were slowly getting used to Alex''s antics.


    "So, the first phase isplete now?" Alice asked, breaking the silence.


    "Yes," Alex answered with a simple nod causing Alice and Ann to nod as well.


    They had some questions in their minds such as: What was the change in n he mentioned before? Was there something they should know? Did he use hismanding ability on Luna?


    But they decided to trust Alex as they had been doing till now. They knew that he would not hide things from them if he thought that it was important for them to know it.


    They looked towards Alex and found him looking ahead with a thoughtful look as if thinking about something, so, they let him be, not wanting to disturb him.


    The next second, however, all of them started levitating, then they felt a barrier around them, and with a muffled booming sound, they were zooming towards the direction of their vi.


    They looked towards Alex again, only to see him looking at them with a gentle smile.


    "I won''t ignore you guys, even if I am thinking about the most important thing there is, so, just ask me if you have something in your mind. I will try my best to answer them." Alex spoke.


    He could feel that they had many questions, and he didn''t see any problem if they asked those questions as the worst he would have to do would be to disclose some other pieces of information about his abilities.


    "It''s all right. We trust you." Alice spoke with a sweet smile and Ann nodded her head mirroring the same expression.


    Alex, however, was a little surprised, as he was expecting some questions, but then he just smiled and patted both of their heads.


    ............


    As they were moving back to the vi, Alex''s thoughts drifted back to the thing he had discovered about Luna and the ns he had for the next Phase.


    The fact he discovered about Luna was a surprise for him, as he didn''t think that it was possible in a small and secluded world where Mana was introduced just 5 years ago.


    When he was standing in front of Luna''s office, he felt a movement in his Incubus bloodline which never reacted to anything.


    But when he used his All-seeing eyes and looked inside Luna''s office, he could understand why it reacted like that. His bloodline was just excited to finally find someone of its kind even if it was with the lowest-grade bloodline.


    Some of you might have already guessed it but Luna had a Lesser subus bloodline.


    When he said that the n was changed a bit it was because he had thought of using his human bloodline tomand the auction manager to not reveal their identities to anyone and that can only be possible if the said person had a human bloodline.


    But then he experimented with something, and it worked wonderfully. He let go of his suppression of the celestial incubus bloodline only for Luna which made her feel like he was a god.


    Even though it is not stated in the description of the bloodline, the lower rank bloodline would always feel respect towards the higher grade.


    With how high his bloodline rank was, he would be a walking god for Luna who was the lowest rank bloodline for a subus.


    His words were like the word of God for her, and he made full use of it.


    Now some people might think, Why did he wear a mask if he nned on using his bloodline?


    There is someone or something in this world who can tamper with memories, as Alex had found out from the memories he plundered from the assassins. So, who is to say that there would not be someone or something that could read the memories? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He would simply not let them guess who they were.


    They hid their faces with masks while he changed the hair colour of the girls with his disguise ability. The act showed that the guy was the leader and the girls were his lovers, so they were clear of any suspicion.


    Why? Because no one would think that Alice would not work under someone, and even if she somehow did that, there is no way they would ever believe that Alice would share a man with someone else.


    These things were just for the suspicion to not fall on them and to make the association waste more time trying to search for information about them.


    Everything above was part of the first phase of the ns, and that was why they didn''t take a ne to travel here so as to not get any kind of suspicion over themselves.


    For everyone else, they never left the vi for a minute, and they stayed there the whole time; after all, there is no record of them moving anywhere.


    But in reality, they were going around role-ying as Monarch and his harem.


    Alex, along with Alice and Ann, was moving towards the vi without any worry about the first phase. He couldn''t have guessed that today''s experiment was going to be one of his headachester on.


    _________________________________________

 Chapter 44: CHAPTER 44 – Phase Two (1).

    "You are going public for the first time; how do you feel?" Ann asked as she dusted the imaginary dust on Alex''s ck zer.


    "Should I feel something?" Alex asked in a perplexed tone causing Ann to turn silent for a second then she just shook her head with a slight smile.


    "No," She replied, and Alex smiled at it.


    Alex was wearing a red shirt that matched his eyes with ck pants and a ck zer that almost matched his hair colour if not for his hair being Vantack that seemed to suck even the light inside of it.


    He wore a pair of ck shoes and red socks which were slightly visible due to the pants being ankle-length.


    If he looked cool in casual dress, then right now he looked hot beyond belief. Ann just couldn''t look away from him, but she was not the only one who was charmed as Alex also kept looking at Ann.


    She was wearing a ck off-shoulder top instead of the usual full shirt she wore. That ck top was tucked in her ck pants, and she wore a short ck zer over it along with ck pointed shoes.


    She had her hair tied in a bun like always, but she added some light makeup over her face elevating her already high charm even higher.


    Even though her dress was not much different from her normal secretary dress, there was still that professional air around her that stood out more than always.


    Ann never wanted much fame in public so she always wore normal dresses that didn''t stand out much but today Ann wore something that would not let her stay as a background character.


    Ann didn''t notice that she was endangering her rule of staying out of public eyes just so that she could look good for Alex.


    *Click*


    Just then the sound of doors opening was heard and as both Ann and Alex turned towards the direction, they were stunned for a second, even though the reasons were different.


    The one that came out of the room after opening the gate was Alice and she had a blushing red face as she could feel the eyes on herself. She wanted someone to say something, but she found them just staring at her which made her more embarrassed.


    She was wearing a light red long Slit dress with an A-shaped cut that started from just above her knees and continued till it reached the ankle where the dress ended. It was a tight-fit dress, and it outlined her perfect figure.


    She had her hair flowing down her back with some of them trying toe in front of her eyes. Different from her regr loose dresses in which she looked beautiful, right now she looked sexy.


    She wore a pair of wedge-type bellies of red colour which made her height reach 176 cm.


    She was embarrassed when she found Ann looking at her with disbelief even if she was happy with the way Alex looked at her.


    She knew why Ann was looking at her like that, but she just wished that Ann wouldn''t say it out loud.


    Ann was surprised when she saw Alicee out of the room and unlike Alex, she was not surprised by how good Alice looked. She was surprised because she knew Alice never wore this kind of dress and always wore somethingfortable or maybe casual.


    Ann had tried many times just to make Alice wear this kind of dress as she knew that they would look good on her, but Alice always denied it.


    She looked at Alice and was about to say something but then she found Alice looking at her with an embarrassed puppy-eyed look and she sighed.


    "You look beautiful," Alex spoke with a smile causing both Ann and Alice to stop the expression chat they were having.


    Ann just smiled as she saw Alice start fidgeting on the ce with a red face.


    "Thank you," Alice spoke in a low voice, but anyone could tell that she was happy to hear thatpliment. Then Alex moved towards her causing her to flinch a little, but she rxed the next second.


    Alex went forward and extended his hand forward and Alice just held her head down as she was expecting a pat but then she felt his finger going through her hair and tucking them behind her ears.


    She felt a strange jolt in her body when Alex''s fingers brushed against her ears, and she became more embarrassed.


    "Now it''s better," Alex spoke, and Alice and Ann found him smiling as they looked at his face.


    "Let''s go now, we have to reach the Auction building two hours ahead everyone after all."


    Alex spoke again after a while which caused both Ann and Alice to nod seriously as they knew that today was the day when they would get to know whether their n would work or not.


    They were going to execute phase two of the ns Alex had made and it had been three days since thepletion of the first phase. They were doing nothing other than training, well, more like Alex teaching both Alice and Ann with his fists.


    They had postponed the gate clearings for some time as they would go for a hardcore gate clearing after their n seeded.


    Today was the day when the Auction was held and every guild leader of the top guilds all around the globe had gotten the news of the main item in the auction resulting in raiders from different countriesing to their country as well.


    This caused the Raider Association to increase the security around every area so as to not let a fight between raiders of different countries break out.


    If that were to happen then the tension between the said countries could increase which was not something the Raider Association wanted.


    Till now, everything was going ording to the n, and they wished that it continued like this.


    Alex, however, was not in the least worried as he just kept checking out both Alice and Ann as they moved out of the vi.


    .........................


    Inside a private ne, there was a man with dirt blonde hair sitting looking out of the window as if observing the scenery outside in silence.


    However, the silence didn''tst long as it was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. The man didn''t seem bothered by it as he casually picked up the phone.


    "They have left the house and now they are moving to the airport." He smiled a little as he heard a cold female voice from the other side.


    "It''s fine. Just keep following them, I don''t think anyone will notice you."


    The man spoke with a lightugh and the phone hung up without any answer, but the man just nodded as he knew that his words were heard by the person on the other side.


    He knew that even if what he was doing to her was in no way something good, he still had to do it or he would not be able to use her.


    He didn''t want her to follow the same path as thest time as it would be disadvantageous to him, so he did the next best thing he could think of other than killing her.


    "��"


    He then looked at out again for a while in silence before he spoke again.


    "I just wish that nothing major has changed other than the events happening earlier than supposed��." The man was alone on the ne, but it seemed like the man was talking to someone.


    But it didn''t end there as the next second he nodded his head as if acknowledging something.


    "Yeah, I shouldn''t have interfered with the events, but it''s fine if it''s just the events happening earlier. I can handle that much��."


    The guy spoke again and clenched his fist tightly which caused a loud cracking noise from his finger bones to be heard, though there seemed to be no one who was there to hear it.


    The next second his anger dissipated, and his eyes became a little crazed but if one looked carefully, they could tell that it was simply the eyes of a person crazy I love.


    "Alice...." This is all he spoke before he fell into silence again.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 45: CHAPTER 45 – Noctura Awake.

    It had been hours since Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura had left the vi. Yes, Noctura was with them as well, even though she was sleeping, they decided not to leave her behind as their trip this time might take some time.


    Right now, the four of them were in a booked private ne traveling towards the Auction.


    They were chatting about this and that, sometimes about the different types of gates discovered, sometimes about different types of special cases discovered, and sometimes about the mystery around Alex.


    Alice and Ann even talked about their n for today as the two of them were really worried if there was something missing in their n.


    When they asked Alex about it, he just said, "You don''t need to worry. Just trust me, all right?"


    As Alex used his ''trust me'' card, they had no choice but to shut their mouths and forget about the topic.


    They continued on their way when Alex suddenly felt movement on hisp where he had positioned Noctura as he kept patting her head. Her fur just felt so good to touch that he couldn''t keep his hands away from them.


    "Noctura?" Alex raised a brow as he felt a movement from Noctura for the first time after she ate the B-ranked crystal.


    His words also caused Alice and Ann to look at Noctura who was shifting here and there on Alex''sp with afortable expression.


    ''Master?'' Alex heard the voice of a 5-year-old girl in his head and he looked down and was momentarily stunned.


    He was surprised by the rity of those crystal blue eyes that kept looking at him with respect and love.


    He could see that she had grown strong by the crystal she ate thus giving her more intelligence and now her intelligence matched that of an adult human even hour mentally and physically she was just a child.


    However, he was a little surprised that she only went from F-rank to E-rank even when she ate a B-ranked crystal.


    But then he remembered the upgrade her bloodline had gone through and decided to ignore the minimal increase in her strength even when she ate a crystal that contained the energy to pulverize everything in a 30m radius.


    He knew that higher bloodlines were not always advantageous as they had some drawbacks as well.


    One of those drawbacks was that they needed purer and higher energy for powerup (If they were absorbing energy from somewhere), but it also gave them arger energy pool with more concentrated magic energy.


    Noctura stood up and sat on Alex''sp and looked around curiously as she found herself in a new ce while most of her focus was on Alex.


    Then she felt a hand on her head and purred while rubbing her head on Alex''s palm.


    "Yes, it''s me. How do you feel?" Alex replied to Noctura and asked a question which caused Noctura to enter deep thoughts.


    ''I feel a little powerful...'' She spoke after a while in a serious and examining voice which was not possible for a child who was not even a month old.


    "And?" Alex pressed on.


    ''And I feel full like I can''t eat for a week...'' She spoke again but before Alex could speak, she hurriedly added.


    ''I still want to eat the food made by Master, by full I didn''t mean that I can''t eat, I just don''t know how to say this, um��."


    She started looking around afraid that Alex couldn''t understand her words, after all, she didn''t get what she was feeling.


    Then she calmed down as she felt Alex rubbing the back of her ears and she started purring.


    "I understand what you mean so calm down," Alex spoke with a smile and Noctura nodded and continued enjoying the head pats.


    [She is feeling full because she ate the B-rank crystal which was her limit, but that feeling is only there to stop her from eating more magic crystals as they would do her more harm than good.


    But that doesn''t mean that she can''t eat food, rather she needs to eat more food her body needs more nutrients for now.]


    Sophia exined even without Alex asking her to which caused him to smile inwardly.


    He then nodded to himself as this is what he had thought as well and he decided to make something good for Noctura.


    "So, how is she?" Alice asked as she was also worried about Noctura, Ann also looked at Alex with her expressions mirroring Alice though a little rxed as she knew nothing bad had happened.


    She could tell this just by looking at Alex''s reaction, so, she was less worried but more curious.


    Alex looked at the two girls who were looking at him with worried and curious eyes. He smiled at them and started exining what he had heard from Noctura.


    .........................................


    "Looks like we are not the first one to arrive huh," Alex spoke as he looked at the two ck Luminous cars that were parked in the parking lot of the Auction building.


    From the star on the number te of the car, he could tell that whoever these people were.


    At least they were not from the orange country as that star symbol is something the Association came up with as a way to let the people differentiate which car belonged to an out-of-country VIP.


    It was a way they came up with to lessen the difficulties those VIPs will have to face in the country.


    These people can travel wherever they want without paying anything and are never stopped without the permission of the higher-ups of the Association.


    Still, there are disadvantages as well, but let''s leave it to be discussedter.


    "What do we do?" Alice asked as she started overthinking things again, she was never the strategist so even the slightest difference in the n caused her to think that the n had gone awry.


    "We do what we came to do."


    Ann, however, was different from Alice as she was the brain of Crimson Lotus. So, she spoke even before Alex could speak and then looked towards Alex who just smiled and nodded.


    "Yeah, we do what we came to do, after all, if we have more people who notice our presence here and notice what we are doing, it would do more good than harm," Alex spoke and looked towards the Auction building while Noctura was sitting on his shoulder as if that spot belonged to her.


    "Let''s go," Alex gestured for Alice to take the lead as she was the guild leader, and even if Alex was the strongest, she was the one who was the leader (It the eye of the public).


    As they walked through the same corridor they had gone through some time ago, they were greeted by many people, unlikest time Alex was not using his disguise skill right now.


    When they reached the ce where the paths were divided into two �C One for the Auction Hall and the other for the selling counter and manager''s office.


    There were two guards standing on the path that led towards the Auction Hall, they were responsible for checking the invitation of everyone that passed through them.


    However, they would not force everyone to show the Auction pass as they know their limits.


    When they see someone famous or someone from the high-ranking guild they will just bow and let them pass whether they show the pass or not so as to not offend the said Raider.


    Everyone knows that the Association sends the Auction pass to the high-ranking guild masters and other famous people around the world when something rare is going to be Auctioned and today was one of those days.


    But they would stop a person that was not well known or famous, after all, they can''t just let some Tom, dick, or Harry enter the Auction without the pass.


    Alice, Ann, and Alex, however, had other things nned before entering the Auction Hall so they moved towards the counter where the items were sold or put for Auction.


    As they arrived at the counter, the man in the reception was already on the phone maybe informing Luna about them.


    The reception was only for the normal items and normal people, dealing with bigshots was not for the guy sitting in the reception as he was only a C-rank Raider.


    As Alice, Ann, and Alex reached the counter, the guy had already stood up. He looked at Alice and spoke while bowing his head a little.


    "Madam Tuner will be attending you. Please follow me, I will lead you to her office."


    Alice nodded her head and gestured for the guys to lead them.


    Alex, however, had his focus on something else as he felt a very strong (Not for him though) magical energying from the direction of Auction Hall.


    He had some guesses on who that could be but he wasn''t sure as he felt another person was equal to that person in strength if not stronger.


    But he ignored them after a while as he needed to focus on the things in front of him, he could check on that personter.


    He could look into that personter as they were not going anywhere for a while.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 46: CHAPTER 46 – Phase Two (2).

    Luna Tuner had been trying to search for any clues she could find on the entity she hade across but anything she thought was a lead ended up leading her to something else.


    She had been frustrated for a while as even when she used everything in her power, she could not get any information on anyone who matched the description of the three people she had met.


    The people in the Raider Association were also helpless as they had been trying to search for any clues about the mysterious strong entity that Luna had talked about.


    Luna was like a dog searching for any information that could lead her to the people, only to find nothing.


    She went so far that she was about to do aplete search on the high-ranking raiders. The people of the Association would not have been able to stop her if not for Stephan stepping up.


    When Stephan told Luna to stop the search she had to stop even if she was unwilling as she knew her limits.


    Stephan sighed in relief as he saw Luna back down.


    He was not in any better position as he knew if a fight were to break out then he would lose without a doubt and as a result everyone would know that he had lost his skill.


    Yes, Stephan had already realized that he was unable to use his skill when he failed at using his skill to peek inside the girl''s washroom.


    At first, he started panicking as he knew what would happen if people were to know about it. But he calmed down after a while, he thought that all he had to do was keep quiet about it, after all, he only had to use his ability to fight against someone really powerful and that kind of fight rarely happens.


    He just wished that the next time a situation like Luna''s arrived he could use his ability like he used to do. He was still thinking that his ability might return, after all, he clearly remembered using his skill against Alex.


    For once he had also thought that maybe Alex''s skill had something to with it as it was the first time someone broke his skill like a ss. However, he knew if he were to ask Alex about it, then he would simply be digging his own grave.


    Wouldn''t he simply be a fool if he were to tell his enemy about his own weakness?


    Back to Luna, right now, she was really frustrated as she failed to get any information about Monarch.


    Her frustration only grew when she heard that she had to deal with some high-ranking guild master who came to sell something.


    But she still became business-ready and sat on the sofa waiting for the said guild master to arrive, after all, she was not just anyone that she wouldn''t be able to control her emotions, rather she had perfect control over her emotions as she was businesswoman.


    *Knock Knock*


    She finally heard the knock after a while indicating that the person she was waiting for had arrived, she knew who it was as she had been told about it. So, she just made herself morefortable on the sofa she was sitting on and voiced out.


    "Come in,"


    She didn''t stand up when she looked at the person entering as she already knew that this guild was added to the bad books of the Association and was sitting on top of that list.


    She heard about the person who was able to stand against Stephan but from what she heard, Stephan didn''t use his ability which gave the guy a chance to deliver a strike on Stephan.


    She didn''t need to show them respect as she knew that she could do the same to Stephan if she were in the same position as the new S-rank raider guy which meant that she was not weaker than them.


    But she knew that she couldn''t just ignore them so she nodded her head to Alice and got the same in response, then turned to the guy who entered along with them.


    She knew who he was what he had done and how dangerous he was so she needed to show him the same respect she would show to any other S-ranker.


    However, she froze as she looked at the guy. She had to admit that the rumors and photos did him no justice as he was beyond the word handsome.


    But the main reason she froze waspletely different, the next second, however, her face turned back to her passive business expression.


    ''Hoh?'' And how could Alex not notice that? But he just kept quiet just like Luna, but he knew that whatever she was thinking was not quite right, even if it was close.


    When Luna saw Alex, she felt the sameforting vibe he gave out that anyone else feels and she was affected by it as well, but her bloodline gives her the ability to resist these things so she was not much affected.


    What she didn''t know was that it was just a little of what Alex could actually do.


    However, the main thing was not that.


    The main thing was that she felt that his aura was very familiar to Monarch, the entity she had met some days prior. That was why she froze for a second but she rxed the next second when she thought about it carefully.


    Even the aura her body radiated was calming to people, which gave her an advantage in every situation, so, she thought that Alex was just like her.


    But she had a nagging feeling that she was missing something, which she decided to think aboutter.


    "What can I do for you, Miss Alice?" She asked as she lifted one of her legs and kept it on the other while gesturing to Alice and the group towards the sofa in front of her.


    "I wanted to sell some items in today''s Auction," Alice also didn''t beat around the bush as she replied while she sat on the sofa in front of Luna.


    She had decided to ignore the disrespect shown to her by Luna by not greeting them properly as she knew if their n was a sess then everything was good.


    "Oh? Can I look at the items?" Luna asked curiously as she took out the same inspection device she had taken out before.


    However, her eyes inadvertently turned towards Alex every once in a while as her heart wanted to believe that maybe the guy in front of her was Monarch but her mind just wouldn''t ept the fact.


    She just couldn''t forget the aura and power she felt from Monarch which was something that the current Alex''s power was not evenparable to.


    How could she have known how close she was and the fact that Alex was just that good at concealing his aura and power?


    "Yes," Alice nodded and took out the items that they got from the gate from her storage ring.


    All of them were at least B-ranked and Alex also added the two sliver daggers he had taken from the twin de assassins.


    Luna nced at Alex again before she started inspecting the items. Her actions, however, didn''t go unnoticed by Alice and Ann which caused both of them to turn towards Alex.


    Alice and Ann both had an expression that clearly meant ''What happened?'' But Alex just shook his head indicating that he was just as clueless as them.


    He was not omniscient that he would know everything. He just guessed things but that didn''t mean he could understand what people were thinking, not until he unlocks an ability that enables him to do so.


    Luna kept inspecting the items and writing details about them on a sheet that she took out from her storage ring. It took her half an hour toplete the inspection and write down every detail about the items.


    "Here is the list of the items with their description along with the starting bid, you can go through them," Luna spoke and passed the paper to Alice who took the paper and passed it to Ann, though her hand was about to turn towards Alex.


    Alice looked up and saw that no one had noticed that so she sighed in relief.


    Ann looked through the paper for a while and then she did some calctions in the tab that she always carries with her. She then looked at Alice who nodded her head gesturing her to speak so she looked at Luna and spoke.


    "Can you tell me how much of the amount will be taken by the Auction house?" Ann asked and Luna looked at Ann for a while then spoke.


    "The Auction house usually takes 7% of the final bid you get on any item," Luna spoke professionally at which Ann just nodded her head and spoke again.


    "Can I know the extra charges you would be taking today?" Luna''s eyes turned sharp as she heard those words but they soon returned to normal.


    She never told them that the Auction was taking extra charges today because there would be many people gathering and a special item being sold, but when she thought about it carefully it was not that hard to conclude these things if a person knew how business is done.


    So, Luna replied again with the same professional air around her.


    "If you want to put these items on today''s Auction then the charges taken by us would be increased by 3%." Her eyes, however, would always turn towards Alex who was sitting there rxedly while stroking Noctura who was resting on his shoulder.


    "I see," Ann nodded her head then turned towards Alice and nodded her head.


    Alice looked at Ann''s nod which meant the conditions were eptable so she spoke.


    "We ept the terms and we would like to sell the items in today''s auction," Alice spoke and Luna nodded her head taking the sheet back.


    But just as everyone was about to stand up, Alex spoke for the first time.


    "It''s not good to keep looking at someone like that Miss Luna." His words caused Alice and Ann to be surprised a little as they didn''t notice anything and they turned towards Luna who was surprised when she heard Alex''s words but smiled a little after calming down.


    She knew that she couldn''t back down, apologize or show any weakness, so, she decided to go for the attack.


    "I was just appreciating your looks, Mr Alex." She spoke with a light seductive smile on her lips and Alex just smiled without saying anything.


    He didn''t want to start a fight, he just wanted to point out that he had caught her stealing nces at him.


    "Then we will take out leaves," Alice spoke as she saw Alex nodding at her.


    Luna nodded and looked at their departing backs, and for once she felt like she was missing something, but she couldn''t quite put a finger on what it was.


    How could she have known that the three people she was searching for by using everything at her disposal were right in front of her?


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 47: CHAPTER 47 – Phase two -> Complete.

    "Let''s go to the Auction Hall," Alice spoke.


    Alex and Ann nodded their heads and moved with her towards the Auction Hall, leaving behind Luna''s office and Luna who was at the gate listening to their conversation which was of course noticed by Alex, but he didn''t say anything right now.


    Luna was left behind still in her thoughts, but her thoughts were all about one thing right now and that was Alex.


    She could tell that he was not Monarch as his presence was not divine like Monarch''s, but she knew that he was hiding something.


    She had been living well as a Raider because she listened to her heart and right now it was telling her that she would definitely get some clue about Monarch if she kept an eye on Alex.


    She also decided to look into Alex''s past, and anything rted to him, even if it harms the rtionship between the Crimson Lotus and the Association as their rtionship was far from good anyway.


    She rang the bell on her table which caused the receptionist guy toe running to her office.


    "Take these items for the Auction and take that sheet as well since their details are written on them."


    Before the guy could speak or even bow his head, Luna spoke nonchntly even without ncing at the guy as her mind was upied with other thoughts.


    Even though the guy was good-looking, and she would have talked with him if she were in a good mood right now after she had seen Alex, he looked nothing but garbage.


    The guy also just nodded his head and got to work, after all, he knew what his position and work were.


    ......................................


    "So, everything is done, right?" Alice asked with slumped shoulders as she really didn''t like this nning thing.


    Even if she was a guild leader, an S-rank Raider and someone with her head in the right ce, she still believed in power being supreme.


    "Yes, now we just need to attend the auction like everyone else and bid in the auction like everyone else."


    Alex spoke as he walked with his hands in his pockets while Noctura who was seated on his shoulder rubbed her head against his cheeks from time to time.


    Right now, they were moving towards the Auction Hall after passing through the guards who just bowed their heads and let them pass.


    The conflict between the Crimson Lotus and the Association was not known to the public or the guards would have shown different reactions or maybe not, who knows��


    "Hm," Ann also nodded her head at Alex''s words, and they continued walking towards the Auction Hall while observing the decorated pathway.


    There were different kinds of lighting and flower nt decorations along the way. The lights were sometimes LEDs sometimes the lower-rank magic crystals that blinked from time to time. The lights were arranged right behind the flowerpots which made the flowerpots look like they were glowing.


    There were different types of flowers in different type of colours, which made the hallway light up with multicoloured lights.


    The multicoloured light was the only light in the whole dark pathway which made it look more beautiful and because of the magic crystals ced here and there the air was also rxing for everyone.


    Alex also enjoyed the view along with Ann, Alice and Noctura while also thinking about some things, after all, the human brain never stays quiet. (I know he is an Incubus as well, but the phrase was for human, so I just used that)


    He was thinking of some kind of n if this one were to fail, even though the chances of that happening were close to nil.


    Alex knew that after the second phase of their n and the performance they would be doing in the Auction Hall, no one was going to suspect them as the owner of the iplete mana core.


    The second phase of the n was basically an extra security they needed. In the whole phase, Alice acted as a leader and Alex just acted like a sidekick,pletely different from the time they came to sell the mana core.


    Also, the selling of that many B-ranked items was not without a reason.


    They were creating an image for themselves, an image of someone who was selling everything they could just so they could get their hands on the final item �C mana core.


    This was not something that everyone would notice but the Raider Association would as they know the situation Alice and her guild is.


    In a situation where the sh with the Association was looming over their heads, any guild master would want to increase their guild''s strength.


    What Alice was doing right now would also be viewed by the Association just like they want them to. As a result, it fueled the confidence of the higher-ups while their suspicion over Alice and her guild would also be lifted if there was any in the first ce.


    This was all just so that Alex could get some time to power up (Not because he needs it, just because he wants to) while making Alice and Ann stronger together with him.


    As they neared the Auction Hall, Alex could distinctively feel two presences that were stronger than any raider he had met.


    However, he knew that the guy would lose to Alice after she awakened her power, that is if there were no surprises or unknown factors.


    Alex used his perception skill to look at them, but��


    ''Oho?'' He was surprised as one of them turned their head towards him and the one that turned towards him was a female.


    Alex just deactivated his perception, and it was not because he was scared or anything. It was just because he had better ways to look at them, he just never used it as it was never needed.


    He activated his All-seeing eyes and looked in their direction. Even though there were two thick walls stopping his view, for his All-seeing eyes they were no better than air for his All-seeing eyes.


    Alex took no more than 5 seconds to look at them and he got whatever he needed to know about them just by looking at them with his eyes as it gave him many pieces of information.


    For Alex who could look at those pieces of information, it was not hard to connect the dots, but he was still confused by many things.


    He could see that neither thedy nor the guy could feel his eye on them, but he also noticed thedy saying something to the guy causing the guy to turn towards the entrance of the Auction Hall.


    It was clear from his eyes that he was waiting for someone to enter, and Alex didn''t need to think twice before he knew that they were looking for him.


    The strangest thing, however, was not the fact that thedy could feel his perception skill. The strangest thing was that even with her ethereal beauty, no one was looking at her.


    When it''s said ethereal, it is not exaggerated because even if someone asked Alex about who was better in looks between Alice and that Lady?


    Alex''s answer would be simple �C thedy.


    But Alex also knew that thepetition was not fair from the start and if they were to make it fair then Alice would win by andslide.


    Alex decided to think about this topic and talk with Sophia about it as he felt that Sophia would be able to answer his questions this time. But for now, he decided to see how things went as he could feel the gaze of both Alice and Ann on him.


    Alice and Ann who were walking together with Alex were momentarily stunned as they saw Alex''s eyes turn ck with his red iris turning golden.


    It might have looked ominous if he was looking at them, but right now they just found it cool as it just heightened Alex''s charm.


    But before Alice and Ann could ask what happened, they saw Alex''s eye return to normal and then he turned towards them.


    "Looks like the ''world''s strongest'' got here before us," Alex spoke to them, but they paused when they heard his words.


    It took them some time to register what he had said and when they finally did get what his words implied, their bodies became tense as they knew who they were going to meet.


    "You guys don''t think that I would lose to him, do you?" Alex''s nonchnt and rxed voice broke them out of their reverie.


    They both turned their heads towards Alex only to find him already moving towards the gate with the same rxed attitude he always had.


    Then they looked at each other and even though they were not sure if Alex would win or not, they knew he would not lose. They don''t know where this confidence came from, but they just felt it, so, they just nodded their heads and moved towards Alex.


    "Wait for us!!" X2


    Both of them said and moved towards Alex as they saw him stop.


    If they could see his face then they would have seen him smiling warmly, but no one was there to see his smile other than Noctura. She just rubbed her cheeks with Alex''s as she saw him smiling.


    "Let''s go," Alice spoke as both she and Ann reached beside Alex. Alex just nodded his head while the warm smile on his face was now reced by a calm and rxed smile.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 48: CHAPTER 48 – ‘The Strongest Raider’.

    World''s Strongest, Emperor, Swordmaster, Guild master of the strongest guild, and many other kinds of titles were given to a single man on the globe called Gaia and his name is Argon Hart.


    However, before the gates appeared he was just called by a single title �C The evil young master of the Hart family.


    He was said to be pure evil from his childhood as he was arrogant and always used violence against anyone and everyone. It was so much that his parents were having a hard time controlling him.


    Later when Argon turned 18 his parents mysteriously died in an ident, however, many knew that it was not just an ident, it was something done by the evil young master of the Hart family.


    But no one could say it out loud as the same evil young master was now the master of the Hart family �C the richest family in the world that controlled many types of business.


    The Hart family was said to be aw-abiding and trustworthy family but all of that changed after Argon became the master of the family.


    The family didn''t be weak at all �C no, rather it became stronger. But there was not a single thing from the dark side that was left without a share of the Hart family in it.


    However, things changed when the gates appeared. Argon Hart known for his evil deeds suddenly turned over a new leaf and became good.


    He stopped all of the ck work, donated almost 50% of his savings to the people who had suffered from the gates, and went into hiding. No one knew what he was doing for some time until he showed his face to the public after one and a half years.


    By then, he was already an S-rank raider and one of the strongest at that, but he was still not the strongest.


    However, his image in public had already been elevated a lot because of his act of donating money to people in need, which he continued doing even when he went into hiding or seclusion as people decided to call it.


    Due to his image which was almost as high as the whole Raider Association of the Blue Country along with the power to back it up, the Association gave him a high seat in the Association, what they didn''t know was that this move would turn against themter.


    In less than Six months, Argon had somehow turned almost all of the people in the Association to his side making the base of the Association fragile.


    It just took him one more month topletely take down the Association.


    But he didn''t stop there, instead, he was just starting as the next day he announced himself as an Emperor. He changed the rules, made newws while removing some old ones and he even gave the unemployed public a chance to get new works.


    All he did was profitable for the public and it was all well nned so as to not get on the bad side of the public.


    The low-ss people were happy with the changes and the middle-ss ones were ok as well as nothing actually changed for them.


    The high-ss people, however, experienced many changes for the worse, after all, the profit given to the public has to be taken from somewhere and Argon decided to take that from the rich high-ss people.


    They were the minority and the world had changed so Argon didn''t fear them. After he established his empire, he became the one and only person to achieve that feat.


    Many tried to challenge him, kill him, assassinate him, and other ways only to fail as he had already be the strongest Raider in the world.


    Argon Hart is a 24-year-old man with a striking appearance and unlike Alex''s seductive and devilish charm, he gave off a mature charm that stole the hearts of many females whether they were young or old.


    Still, that doesn''t mean that he was better than Alex in looks, not at all, Alex with his charm at SS was still better than Argon.


    Argon had dirt blonde hair and light blue eyes while face cut was angr and sharp. He usually kept his hairbed backward with some strings falling on his forehead.


    He was usually seen in a three-piece coat with matching pants and a cloak on his back that matched them in color. The cloak had some golden patterns engraved on the cloak with blue gems shining on it.


    This cloak was the first fabric defense item created and it was an S-ranked item that could change its color and shape.


    When he heard about the Iplete Mana core that was being auctioned in Orange country, he was the first to move and arrive, but this was just the information known to the public.


    Only Argon and a certain someone, whom he had no choice but to trust because of their situation knew about the things that he couldn''t let anyone know of.


    He was not just what people saw, he didn''t just have a change of heart when the gates appeared, he wasn''t someone who looked for the good of the public, it was all just his well-thought n to make himself the emperor.


    What even he didn''t know was that his secrets might or might not have been exposed to a pair of eyes that had just looked at him and the person he was with.


    For those who might not have been able to connect the dots, the man we had seen sitting on the throne or dark room talking to someone non-existent was Argon.


    As for the non-existent entity, it was actually the ethereal beauty Alex saw with his All-seeing eyes.


    She had long white hair that almost reached the ground and light golden eyes. She had an innocent face with a small, cute nose and thin pink lips.


    She always wore a ck high-neck red one-piece that reached just over her knees. The drees had a shoulder cut that exposed her smooth white shoulder.


    If one looked at her then the first thought they would have would be an innocent, cute, and na?ve teenager. But for those who knew her, it was none of those as she was anything but an innocent and cute teen.


    Alex could tell all of this just with a nce as that nce was enough for him to discern her age, bloodline, power, abilities and many more. He could even see that behind that innocent look she was a person who had a wealth of experience.


    ......................


    "Someone tried to scan us?" Argon asked as he looked around the auction hall where other than him and thedy beside him only two people were present.


    However, his face remained expressionless even in this situation as he knew the people in this room were not someone who could harm him.


    "It was not someone from this room." Thedy spoke as she understood what Argon was thinking since the past 5 years were enough for her to understand what this guy thought.


    Just as she said this, she got the expected reaction from Argon. His eyes had turned serious, and he started staring at the entrance of the Auction Hall as he could guess that whoever it was, they were heading towards the Auction Hall.


    He never doubted the words of thedy as he knew she would gain nothing by lying to him and he also knew that her senses were sharper than him.


    He sometimes even felt that she might be stronger than him even if he used all of his trump cards as well, he was still not sure though. But he knew one thing �C She couldn''t harm him, at least not for now.


    They were bound by a contract and that contract only ends when he reaches EX-rank or if thedy finds a body for herself. He also knew that none of them were going to happen anytime soon, so he had some time to prepare for the moment their contract ended.


    However, there was still a problem, and it was that whatever he did would not be hidden from thedy''s eyes as she always stayed beside him like a shadow.


    That made it impossible for him to hide anything from her as she was not stupid enough not to realize what he was doing when she observed every single action of his.


    He kept staring at the entrance of the Hall hoping for the person to arrive there faster so that he could see who it was and deduce what their intentions were.


    He kept staring at the entrance and every second passed by felt like an hour to him until he finally heard the echo of some footsteps.


    The tip top of the shoes was heard by the other two people sitting in the hall as well.


    After all, the hall was created in a dome structure which made even the tiniest of sounds clear for everyone to hear, that too when the hall was empty and with no apparent sound made by anyone.


    But for him, those footsteps were extra loud as all of his attention was on those sound and their owner.


    The next second the owner of the footsteps entered the hall and his eyes widened in disbelief due to many reasons.


    .......................


    ''What''s this now?'' Alex mused as he entered the hall and found the so-called world''s strongest staring at them with eyes wide in shock as if he saw something he never expected.


    But Alex also started connecting some dots and he could somewhat guess what it could be, but he was not sure, so he decided to turn to the only person who he knew could clear his doubts��


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 49: CHAPTER 49 – The Villain.

    When a person is under some kind of bind or restriction, every one of their moves could affect those restrictions and they have to take even a step with utmost care and thinking.


    For example: - If our parents had banned us from getting out of the room, which can be called a bind or restriction, our every action could have resulted in a different kind of response from our parents.


    Let''s say you were ying games in your time inside the room, they would simply say �C you just want to waste time, right? Your ban is increased for another day.


    If you were to study with dedication, then they woulde in and say �C good boy, you don''t need to stay in the room now, you can go out and y.


    If you were to just idle around and do nothing, then their response would be �C you could have used your time to do anything productive.


    Nothing else, they would not increase the ban, but they would not be happy as well.


    That''s an example of there are many such cases and one such case is the restriction ced upon you by time.


    When someone or something had tampered with thew of time, then it would behave in a different manner around them.


    If you were to use the time element more than it is permitted, then it ces a restriction on you, or you could simply say thew of time keeps an eye on you.


    The timew around the said person would be moving in a specified manner, a way that needs to be followed so that the timeline remains the same.


    That is what Alex saw around Argon when he saw him with his All-seeing eyes and that much was enough for him to know that Argon was either from the future or the past.


    Alex could tell that Argon was most likely from the future by the way he lived till now. Alex had read a thing or two about the world''s strongest raider and he knew what had happened.


    He could already guess that the time Argon turned into a new leaf was probably the time he came back from the future.


    It was also likely that whatever happened in the future was not something easy to deal with since Alex could tell that by creating an empire, Argon was simply gathering forces. Forces for something he knew was going toe or going to happen.


    Alex could easily tell that Argon had already done many things that were different from the original timeline and the one that changed many would probably be the one where his nature changed.


    The Hart family had its influence all over the world and by changing the base working of the family, he had already changed many things all over the world and that would have already created many butterfly effects.


    However, it was not hard to tell that it was something necessary to do for the things he wanted to achieve.


    When Alex saw the look of surprise on Argon''s face when Argon looked at him, Alex was able to deduce some more things, but he needed to confirm those things.


    So, he continued walking with Ann and Alice along with Noctura who was still on his shoulder, and moved towards one of thepartments allotted for the top-tier guilds.


    In the Auction Hall, there were many seats for people to sit but there were alsopartments with thick ss covering them.


    Those thick sses made it impossible for the one outside to tell what was going on inside, though the same cannot be said from the other side.


    ''Who is she?'' This was the first question Alex asked Sophia as he walked with Alice and Ann towards thepartment,pletely ignoring the other two people sitting in one of thepartments other than Argon''s.


    (Argon was also sitting in thepartment it''s just that the All-seeing eyes passive effects could easily see through those sses, that is why Alex could observe Argon and thedy''s expressions)


    [She is someone from another World.] Sophia replied as she knew that Alex was talking about thedy sitting beside Argon.


    ''How did she get here?'' Alex asked again.


    [She made a contract with the guy beside her, and that contract enables her to go wherever the guy goes, and that is just one of the benefits of that contract.]


    Sophia briefly exined to Alex what it was, and she was ready to exin it in detail if Alex asked.


    ''She can even time travel along with him, right?'' Alex asked even if he already knew the answer.


    [Yes, but what you''re thinking is not what had happened.]


    Sophia spoke softly as she could guess what Alex was thinking, after all, if someone of her caliber could not guess what an SSS-ranked person was thinking then what''s the use of her being so strong?


    ''Oh? What do you mean?'' Alex was not in the least offended by her words instead his tone was curious.


    [It was not her who came back in time together with the guy, she was the one who used her power to make him travel back in time.] Sophia spoke as she looked at thedy and Argon.


    ''I see��...'' Alex started amending the plot that was forming in his head about what had happened.


    ''Does he know the future me?'' Alex suddenly as he still remembered the look of surprise on Argon''s face as if he found something unexpected.


    [Yes and No. He knows the future Alex or the person who was supposed to be Alex, but he doesn''t know you.


    As I have told you before, the system reced you with the soul that was supposed to take over Alex''s body.


    And Argon guy knows about the possibility where you were not Alex, neither he nor anyone else can know your future or tell what your future is going to be.]


    ''Oh��'' Alex took some time to digest the words and he could already guess where this was going.


    ''Wait, what do you mean that no one can look into my future part.'' Alex suddenly questioned.


    [You are not a being bound by time or any other element, which makes your future unpredictable and uncertain, which can only be discovered and never predicted. That is all I can tell you for now about this.]


    Sophia said thest line in a low tone, but it was not low enough that Alex would be unable to hear it.


    ''It''s all right, I was just curious.'' Alex shrugged inwardly clearly showing that he was not disappointed or something for not getting more exnation.


    [Hm.] Sophia just hummed in acknowledgment.


    ''So, is he like the Viins that the MCs in the novel or manga have to defeat right?'' Alex asked as he could already tell that much.


    The backstory Argo had was probably very dark or he would have lost his everything to someone in the timeline he had lived so now he returned for revenge while also saving and gathering people on his side to face something that was going to happen in the future.


    Now this plot is something that either the protagonist or antagonist of the stories have. But Alex was sure he was an antagonist because of two reasons.


    First �C Alex knew that he was the protagonist of this world.


    Second �C No protagonist will be this strong from the start as Argon was really the strongest on the. (Not considering Alex in the equation)


    For the second point, some will interject by saying that Alex is also a protagonist with absurd strength, but don''t forget that Alex is an exception.


    Alex right now was not supposed to be the protagonist, he became the protagonist because the world dered him as such.


    The protagonist was supposed to be someone else and if that someone had be the protagonist i.e.: taken overte Alex''s body, then he would have started as a C ranker or worse as a D ranker, after all, that guy was someone who was just a step away from his death bed.


    [Yes, he was supposed to be the hurdle that the heavens chosen needed to ovee before he could fulfill his role in this world.]


    ''His bloodline is also something he got from thedy, right?'' Alex had thisst question that he needed to be sure of.


    He had already checked what bloodline both of them had and both of them had the same bloodline. The only difference was that Argon had a low concentration of the bloodline while thedy seemed to be the one who granted Argon the bloodline.


    This meant that she was the real owner of the bloodline mixed with the human blood inside Argon.


    [Yes]


    ''I see, thank you for clearing my doubts.'' Alex spoke while smiling inwardly.


    [It''s my job. It was not something that hard anyway, you could tell these things as well, you just need to get stronger.]


    ''What do you mean?'' Alex asked while opening the gate to one of thepartments and entering it along with the girls.


    [I can''t say much as these things need to be discovered by you, but I can tell you that any or all of your unlocked abilities are much stronger than you can guess.]


    Sophia spoke mysteriously which caused Alex tough inwardly.


    It was the first time he felt someone trying to y a mysterious role in front of him as every time he was the one who did this role.


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 Chapter 50: CHAPTER 50 – Aurora Oraclewing.

    "How is this possible?!?!" Argon eximed as he came out of his shock after he saw Alice, Ann, and Alex enter the room along with a creature that he didn''t even think he would see so soon.


    "Don''t ask me, I warned you about everything when you decided to make changes in this timeline." Thedy''s melodious and enchanting voice was heard by Argon, but he wasn''t in the mood to enjoy the voice.


    "��" Argon remained silent as he knew it was his fault.


    He wanted to change the timeline, he wanted to be ready for what wasing for them, and he needed to be ready in case the samedy who was standing by his side were to stand against him.


    He knew that the changes that were happening were because of his selfish desires, and he was frustrated by the fact that things were not going as he calcted even though he knew the future.


    "Can you estimate his strength?" Argon asked while rubbing his head in frustration. The main this he was frustrated about was that he couldn''t measure Alex''s strength even when he used his bloodline ability.


    So, he did the next best thing he could think of and asked the person he got the bloodline from.


    "No" Thedy replied to him with a single word and a shake of her head which made him more frustrated, but he still started calming down as he knew growing frustrated now would only do more harm than good.


    However, he failed to notice that the eyes of thedy beside him were looking towards thepartment Alex was in with curiosity.


    Even though she couldn''t perfectly estimate Alex''s strength she had a feeling that he was strong, but she couldn''t be sure as it was just her feeling.


    The thing that made her curious, however, was not that, she got curious as she felt his calming and soothing aura from afar which she knew was not normal.


    Even if her senses were far greater than any human in this world, the feeling she got or the aura she felt from him was not the result of skill, she was sure of it.


    In her world magic had been there for a long time and she knew that in this world it was only introduced 5 years ago.


    Even if the way people grew strong here was different than in her world, she knew that they were novices in the field of controlling and channeling magic.


    She knew that if someone were to take away the so-called skill from anyone in this world, Argon included, they would not be able to use magic.


    But she didn''t get that feeling from Alex, she could feel the mana moving along with him as if they were his friends.


    She knew that Alex was not using a skill to give out that Aura as she would have noticed that, which only made her more curious about him.


    "Aurora" She came out of her thoughts when she heard someone call her name and she turned towards Argon who was looking at her with a questioning gaze.


    "Did you hear anything I said just now?" Argon asked and she looked at him for a while then spoke.


    "I was thinking about the changes happening because of your moves," She lied without a change in her expression.


    Her name just as Argon had called was Aurora, Aurora Oraclewing. She was a magical beast from the world she came from, and she was stuck in some kind of situation that needed someone''s help to get out of.


    Argon just happens to be the lucky someone who got there right on time when she needed and now here they are.


    "Yes, that''s what I am saying," Argon nodded, and even though he somehow felt that Aurora was lying he still believed her and continued.


    "Something is different this time, I can feel it. This wasn''t supposed to happen."


    Argon spoke with a contemting look and when he saw that Aurora was about to say something, he continued as he knew what she was about to say.


    "I know that I have changed many things, and it might have changed something about Alex, but how do you exin that thing sitting on his shoulder?" Argon looked into Aurora''s eyes, and she also now had a contemting look just like Argon.


    Argon had to share his memories with Aurora before she used her ability to make them travel in time as she needed to know whatever he knew, and the thing he spoke about was something he had shared with Aurora.


    However, Argon had not disclosed many things from his memories to Aurora as they were some things he needed to keep to himself.


    What he didn''t know was that Aurora also knew that he had hidden many things from her, but she didn''t voice out.


    "The changes I made wouldn''t have turned two enemies that were on each other''s throat in the original timeline to get chummy now, would it?" Argon continued speaking, but Aurora however shook her head.


    "This is where you are wrong. No one knows how thew of time works and no one can control how time works, everyone is under the surveince of time, and whatever you have been doing till now is simply against its principle, so even I don''t know what else changes it could cause."


    Aurora spoke with a voice filled with vastitude of wisdom that looked quite weird with that innocent face of hers.


    "But still-" Argon''s words were cut short as Aurora spoke before he could continue.


    "Why don''t you think of what you should be doing to get the situation in control instead of crying over the spilled milk?" Aurora asked with a frown.


    She didn''t like people who med circumstances or situations instead of epting their faults and Argon was that kind of person, so she never had much patience for him, and Argon also knew that Aurora didn''t like him for some reason.


    "Hm." Argon just nodded his head and went back to thinking what he should do, but he then remembered looking at Alice and a smile married his mature and charming face.


    Aurora, however, turned her head with disgust evident in her eyes as she saw Argon smiling like that.


    She could already guess that the guy was having some kind of fantasy with himself and Alice, whom he said to have loved with all of his heart in the previous timeline.


    But she knew what his love for her was and how crazy he was, adding more to her dislike for him.


    ........................��..


    "You are looking through the sses, aren''t you?" Ann asked the question that was on both her and Alice''s minds.


    They had seen him looking towards a particrpartment from time to time. They could see that he wasn''t even looking at the other upiedpartment and looking at onepartment in particr.


    "Yes," Alex finally turned towards Ann and replied with a smile, though the girls failed to notice a particr glint that passed through his eyes.


    "Argon Hart is sitting in thepartment beside us, isn''t he?" Ann asked again and Alice also looked towards Alex, waiting for his answer.


    "Yeah," Alex again replied in one word.


    He had been listening to Argon and Aurora talk, well, listening would not be the right word to say but he had been reading Argon''s lips trying to guess what he was saying, and he did get some things but not everything.


    "So can you see his stats?" Alice asked hurriedly just as Alex replied.


    "Yes, I can," Alex replied and looked at Alice while stroking Noctura''s fur.


    "How strong is he?" X2


    Alice and Ann asked together when they heard Alex''s reply causing him to chuckle at them.


    "Be serious!!" X2


    Again, the two of them eximed together causing Alex to chuckle louder while Noctura also happily rubbed her head on his cheeks.


    "All right, all right, calm down," Alex spoke after a while as he saw that Alice was about to explode.


    "You guys want to know his stats, right?" Alex asked as he leaned a bit forward, looking into their eyes simultaneously.


    Both Alice and Ann nodded their heads seriously as it was an important topic for them, unlike Alex who was still nonchnt about Argon''s stats.


    Alex could see the eagerness to know the strength of the world''s strongest person in both Alice and Ann''s eyes, so, he decided to cut them some ck.


    "Well, since you want to know, his stats are as like this..."


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 Chapter 51: CHAPTER 51 – Stats are Stats.

    As Alex had decided, he told both Alice and Ann about Argon''s stats.


    "Well, since you want to know, his stats are like this: -


    Strength: SS; Agility: SS-; Stamina: SS-; Wisdom: S+; Energy/Mana: S+;


    Which makes him an SS rank Raider."


    Alex nonchntly stated Argon''s stats, Alice and Ann, however, were far from being rxed like Alex, instead, they were shocked by the revtion.


    Even though they had guessed that Argon might have a stat reaching SS, they were still hoping in some corner of their mind that he was just a very strong S-rank Raider and not someone with even a single SS-ranked stat.


    But how could they have known that not only did he have an SS-ranked stat, but he actually had three of them reaching SS rank?


    Alex found it really weird for them to be surprised by Argon''s stats when he, himself was with them, but then he remembered that he never told them his own stats.


    He just sighed as he thought about the reaction they would have if they knew his stats.


    "What are you guys so surprised about?" Alex asked while tilting his head to the side.


    "What?" Alice looked at Alex with an incredulous. She couldn''t believe that Alex was actually asking this question. It was not only her, even Ann had an expression mirroring Alice''s.


    "I said, what are you guys so surprised about?" Alex asked again with the same expression which caused Alice and Ann to exchange a confused look.


    They didn''t know if Alex was really that unperturbed or if he was just putting up an act.


    "You said that Argon''s three stats were SS-ranked, right?" Ann asked as she gestured for Alice to let her talk, to which Alice nodded her head.


    "And?" Alex asked, still maintaining the expression he had.


    "Doesn''t that make him much stronger than any S-rank Raider out there?" Ann asked again and Alice now felt that Alex was just pretending not to know anything.


    "Why do you think so?" Alex asked as he looked at both Ann and Alice one by one.


    "Huh?" X2 Alice and Ann were confused by the question or rather they thought they heard the question wrong.


    "Do you think he can defeat anyone just because his stats are high?" Alex asked again. This time Alice and Ann''s reactions were a bit tamer as they started thinking about his words while focusing on whatever he was going to say next.


    They knew that Alex had knowledge of things that they didn''t know, and instead of being depressed or tense about their weakness, it was better to listen to Alex''s words as he might have some good news for them.


    "Stats are just stats. They tell us the statistics of a person, how fast he/she is, how strong he/she is, etc. Stats never determine the victor of a battle, the victor is decided based on technique, skill, and experience."


    Alex spoke and his expression now turned serious as he entered the teacher''s form causing the girls to straighten their backs.


    "Why do you think I am only sparring with you guys till now? After all, I did say I will be teaching you guys. This question never came to your mind, did it?"


    As Alex asked the question, the girls just lowered their heads in embarrassment.


    They just followed whatever Alex told them to without thinking of the reason behind it. It showed the trust they had in him, and Alex was happy about it, but he still needed to make them learn how to question everything.


    "I did that so that your bodies would get faster at reacting to unexpected situations, I am doing it to make your senses sharper and stronger." He said and the girls looked up again.


    "This is what decides the victor of a fight. How do you react to any situation? How to respond to an attack? How to cause your enemy the most damage with the least effort?


    All of these points are counted. Even if a child knows these things, he can defeat a bodybuilder with ease."


    When Alex finished speaking, he found Alice and Ann looking at him with some uncertainty in their eyes.


    "What? You don''t believe me?" Alex asked in response to that both Ann and Alice hurriedly shook their heads.


    "We do, it''s just that��..." Ann didn''t know how to say it but she just couldn''t imagine a small child defeating a bodybuilder with ease.


    Alex could easily understand what they were thinking as Alice also had the same expression as Ann.


    "I said a child can defeat a bodybuilder, but did I ever say that it was a contest of strength? If the child is trained by me, then he/she would never think of fighting directly." Alex exined as he rubbed Noctura''s chin making her purr.


    "Then how?" Alice asked while Ann''s face now had a contemting look.


    "Technique, skills and experience are the basic things that help you win a fight. But there are many other factors such as tactics and surroundings.


    You can use tactics to bind your enemy in them or make use of your surroundings to defeat your enemy."


    Alex''s sentence finally cleared their doubts and Alice''s eyes lit up after she realised the meaning.


    "So, that means I can defeat Argon Hart?" She was a bit too excited just thinking about that possibility.


    "No." But Alex''s reply made all of her excitement go puff in a second.


    "No, not as you are right now. But in the future, yes." Alex wasn''t done so he continued causing both Ann and Alice to look at him with determination and hope in their eyes.


    Ann was also a bit deted after she heard Alex outright denying Alice which meant Ann herself was hopeless as she was weaker than Alice. But when Alex continued, she knew what she had to do, and she was fullymitted to doing it.


    (She is thinking about being a good student, nothing else.)


    "Now don''t look at me with those eyes, I did say I would be teaching you guys and I don''t want my students to be defeated just by anyone," Alex spoke with a light smile, but Alice and Ann knew he was not joking.


    Ann just nodded her head seriously, but while Alice also nodded her head, she had many things going on in her head.


    Ann might not have understood the meaning behind Alex''s words but Alice who knew that there were other worlds and power ranks above EX rank knew the meaning behind Alex''s words.


    For Ann the word ''anyone'' that Alex said might have meant some random Raider, but Alice knew that Alex was referring to Argon the strongest Raider in the world as anyone.


    She just sighed inwardly as Alex became more enigmatic in her mind.


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 Chapter 52: CHAPTER 52 – Auction starts.

    "Good afternoon, everyone!"


    Luna Tuner, one of the strongest Raiders in the world was standing on the stage in the Auction Hall as she spoke on the mike, causing her words to reach every corner of the Hall.


    "I know most of you people already know who I am, but for those few who don''t know. My name is Luna Tuner, the manager of this Auction house and I will be your host for today.


    Now, some of you might have a question in your mind �C Why is the manager acting as a host?


    To answer your question, today is a special day as we have a very rare item present as the final item of the Auction."


    Just as Luna spoke this line, the general audience in the Hall started shouting.


    Even if the unawakened people or the low-ranking raiders who joined the Auction knew that they were not going to get the final item, they were still excited to see what the item was, who was going to get the item, and if there''s going to be a fight for the item.


    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\Author here!


    I said before that the guard checked for the invitation pass or entry pass, but I forgot to mention that these passes can be bought with money as well.


    The low-rank raiders and unawakened people buy the entry passes to gain ess to the Auction\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\


    *p p*


    Luna pped her hands two times in front of the mic, making the sound reverberate through the hall and silencing the audience.


    "I know all of you are excited to see the item, but we will have to wait for the other items to get Auctioned before we proceed to the final item.


    However, don''t think that the other items are not special, every single one of the items you find here is going to be special just like the first item I am going to present in front of you."


    As she finished speaking, the curtain that was covering the stage behind her was lifted and twodies with revealing clothes walked out.


    The audience had their eyes fixed on the girls rather than the items. After all, many people came here just to look at the girls wearing revealing clothes, not to buy items.


    This was one of the things that Luna had added to the Auction as she knew beauty was appreciated by both men and women.


    As thedies walked towards Luna, one of them walked gracefully beside the otherdy who was pushing a trolley that had something ced over it, hidden by a sheet made of soft linen fabric.


    "This is the first item��." As Luna spoke this, thedy who was walking beside the trolly gracefully lifted her hand and pinched the piece of cloth covering the item with two fingers and lifted it up with slow and deliberate movement.


    "Is a D-rank item which is called Camilio." Luna continued and by now the cover over the item was lifted, showing the item to the audience.


    It was a headgear in the shape of a helmet, it looked nothing special, but then Luna picked it up and wore it.


    "Even if it is a D-rank item, don''t look down on it. As I said, everything you will find here is unique in its own way."


    Luna''s voice was heard but no one could see her, except of course the people with high-rank wisdom, and strong raiders.


    "This item lets you hide yourself from the eyes of your enemy. You can hide as long as you supply mana in it, however, it will only work if you are not against someone of B-rank or higher."


    As Luna spoke, she took off the helmet revealing her position, which was still the same.


    Normally, Auction houses don''t tell the disadvantages of their products, but there were some items that had conditions like this one so, she had to disclose it.


    "I know some of you might really want this item so I will not keep you waiting.


    The price of this item starts with 10,000 credits, with a minimum increase of 100 credits for every bet."


    Right after the words left Luna''s mouth, people started raising bets.


    "10,100!"


    "10,500!"


    "12,000! I need this item, please let me have it!"


    "15,000! Fu*k off!"


    .....


    ��..


    ��


    .


    The price kept increasing until it was finally sold to a bald old guy with a chubby body.


    This world used credits as amon currency all over the world, other than the Blue Country, which used a different mode of payment, which was coins.


    These were three types of coins used in Blue Country.


    The first one is called a bronze coin, which had the value of one credit.


    Then the second is silver coins, which have a value of 100 credits, and thest one is a gold coin which has a value of 10,000 credits.


    These coins were created using a special metal that is only found in a permanent gate in Blue Country and this gate is kept under high surveince.


    Now, for the question �C What is a permanent gate?


    Just like the normal gates, these gates contain monsters, items, minerals, etc. But this gate doesn''t house a boss monster, which means it can never be cleared.


    One can kill all the monsters inside the gate and farm items or let them reproduce and grow so that the items they provide are better, it is all up to the owner of the gate.


    These gates are unique, so they also contain unique things that bring more profit than normal gates.


    These gates are so profitable that even guilds would start a war for them, but these gates are so rare that in the history of 5 years, only 6 such gates are found and among them, 4 are in the Blue Country.


    Argon was also called a lucky guy because of this, but if Alex were to hear it, he would scoff at it.


    "He is not lucky or anything, he just knew where the gates were going to appear and he decided to rule that country. He just had an advantage that no one else had, which is simple �C ''he knows the future''."


    This is what Alex would say.


    ...


    As the Auction continued, Alex, Alice, and Ann kept chatting about some things as they had no interest in any other things. It is not like low-ranked items could entice high-ranked raiders like Alice and Ann, not to mention Alex.


    But when a C-rank item was disyed, Alex''s eyes shone briefly before returning to normal.


    This action didn''t go unnoticed by Alice and Ann who were talking to Alex.


    "What''s wrong?" Alice asked.


    "Is there something wrong with this item?" Ann also questioned as she observed the item on the stage.


    "You should buy this item," Alex turned towards Alice and spoke with a smile.


    Alice just nodded her head and turned towards Ann who nodded and pressed the button in front of them which indicated that they were betting on this item.


    She didn''t even ask for the details about the item as she knew that they might lose the item if they started talking about it right now. So, both she and Ann quickly got into action.


    But they were surprised the next second, not only them even Luna was surprised...


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 Chapter 53: CHAPTER 53 – Starshard.

    The Auction held by the Association sometimes presented some kind of items that could not be inspected by the Association. These items were something they couldn''t determine the value of, so they let the buyers decide the price.


    One such item was being sold today and Luna disyed the item on the stage.


    "This item here is a strange piece of metal we found inside one of our mines. We couldn''t find what it could be used for as we were not able to melt it no matter how much heat we applied to it.


    We could have used force to try opening it up or breaking it up and making it into something, but the thing is that we only found a single piece of this metal in the whole gate."


    Luna looked up at thepartments in the hall where the high-ranking guilds were seated.


    "You can bid and buy this thing if you think it''s useful," She smiled lightly, turned towards the general audience, and continued.


    "Or you can just tell us the use of this item, which will get you 100,000 credit points for free."


    The crowd started making amotion as they heard her words.


    100,000 might not be much for the high-ranking raiders, but it was for the general audience sitting there.


    Luna did this because she didn''t want to lose the chance to keep the item for the Association. She knew it was a weird item, but weird always means special when ites to anything rted to the gate.


    This item was put here because the Association thought of selling it instead of it being kept in storage as they could at least get some money from selling it.


    However, before anyone in the Audience could raise their hand to try their luck two buzzers rang one after another causing everyone to turn towardspartment number 1 and 2.


    When people saw who it was, there was nothing but pin-drop silence in the hall. Luna was also surprised as she kept looking at the twopartments, but things didn''t end there.


    One after another, all the otherpartments also made the same sound.


    The general audience or the low-ranking raiders who wanted to try their luck silently put down their raised hands. They knew that the game had just turned serious, and they would simply be killed if they even stepped on that battlefield.


    However, they were far from being sad, instead, they were excited to see the fight between those giants.


    The buzzer that rang was the indication which showed that the one in thepartment was going to participate in the bet.


    That was why everyone was surprised when the person in the firstpartment rang the buzzer, except Alex, of course.


    After all, the person in the firstpartment was none other than Argon Hart who was said to be a man with the best eyes for people and items.


    Be it the members of his guild or the items bought by him, every one of them shines brighter than others.


    Now, some of you might question �C Didn''t he create an Empire? Where did the guilde from?


    The answer to the first question is yes and for the second one, well, even though it might sound a bit arrogant and stupid, he just wanted to have the number one position in the guilds ranking.


    There might be some other reason for that as well, but this is what he told to in an interview.


    So, when the guy who was said to have the best eye for people and items pressed the buzzer everyone else did as well. They knew that if the item caught Argon''s eye, then the item was special.


    No one other than Argon noticed that Alice''spartment was the first one to press the buzzer, even if they were just a second faster.


    Luna, who was standing on the stage had looked towards Alice''spartment with a deep look and then she pressed a button below the mic in her hand.


    This action was not noticed by anyone as everyone still had their mind upied with one thing or another. But if someone were to focus then they would notice that one or two people who were supposed to be the Auction staff entered the hall in civilian dress.


    This is what Luna wanted as she would do this when she thinks some item is better kept to themselves rather than sold. Right now, the value of the strange metal is elevated even higher in her mind as she also heard about Argon''s feats.


    Those people were going to increase the bid whenever the bids were about to be concluded, which means they were going to use the Association''s money to buy an item from the Association, for the Association.


    Looking at the situation, Luna smiled and finally spoke in a melodious voice, bringing everyone out of their thoughts.


    "Looks like there is going to be a bigpetition for a small item, so let''s start the bidi-"


    "2 million credits."


    Before Luna couldplete her words, she was cut off by a calm, mature, and deep voice that would make people automatically follow that person.


    It was Argon who raised the first bid.


    The hall turned silent once again. Many were shocked, especially the general audience as the first bid itself was something they couldn''t even earn in years.


    "2 million and 500,000 credits!"


    Then a loud voice was heard which caused many people to press their ears with their hands. It was clear that the guy who spoke used mana to amplify his voice.


    .........................................


    "That metal is called Starshard, and it is a rare metal that is very useful for any profession, but mainly mages," Alex spoke.


    Alex was exining the details about the item as the whole thing was going on because he knew he needed to tell them how good the item was so that they could decide how much money they should spend on this item.


    "This metal can''t be melted normally with mes as it only has one weak point that needs to be concentrated at, and once you find it, melting the metal is as easy as child''s y.


    Then there are the uses which include mana absorption, 100% mana conductivity, toughness, flexibility, etc.


    If you want to make use of this metal then you need a good cksmith, and when I say good, it means better than any cksmith you will find in this world."


    \\\\Alex stopped for a second and let them absorb his words.


    "Where will we find that cksmith?" Ann asked this question as even if she was shocked, she knew they were not in a situation she could dilly dally.


    "That is where Ie in. You guys don''t need to worry about the cksmith, I can make something for you guys even if it takes some time." Alex spoke.


    This was all they heard as the girls exchanged nces and nodded their heads before they ced their first bet.


    "5 million."


    Alice voices out and just after that another feminine voice is heard.


    "5.5 million."


    Alex turned towards thepartment where the voice came from, but then he raised a brow.


    It looked like he found something interesting, but then he just dismissed it and focused on the Auction.


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 Chapter 54: CHAPTER 54 – The Clash of Mana.

    "6 million."


    "6.5 million."


    "6.51 million."


    ...��


    ��..


    ..


    .


    The bids kept increasing and the atmosphere in the hall started turning rowdy. People started cing bets on who was going to leave the biddingpetition first as they had nothing else to do.


    Many of the high-ranking guild leaders stopped betting when they thought the price was not something they would be willing to spend on something they didn''t even know about.


    In the local audience, people secretly cheered for the people they bet on only to find them stop betting.


    In the end, only fourpartments kept betting, other than that, everyone didn''t think that the item was worth it.


    Out of the fourpartments, two of them werepartments number one and two which belong to Argon and Alex''s group respectively.


    Of the remaining two members, one was ady and from her voice alone people could tell that she was the strict type, her voice had that sharpness in it.


    Thest one was the man who used mana to amplify his voice when he first betted on the Starshard. He had a deep voice and he seemed to be an arrogant musclehead who only thinks about fighting.


    "50 million!"


    The musclehead spoke loudly.


    He didn''t even know what he was betting, he just entered because he saw many people betting on the same item. Even when the price reached 50 million, he still didn''t want to back down which was the advice his secretary has been giving him continuously.


    He didn''t want to lose against Argon again.


    "50.5 million," Argon spoke after a second, causing the musclehead to clench his fist, but before he could speak again, another voice was heard.


    "200 million." Just as the voice fell, the hall became quiet. Even the sound of a person''s breathing could be heard, but the next second everyone broke into fervent discussion.


    The one who voiced out the bet was Alice, and she did it after discussing it with Ann and Alex.


    They had been quiet for a while, which made people think that they had stepped down, but who would have thought that they were just preparing for a bigger surprise?


    "300 million." Argon''s voice was heard again, however, if someone were to notice it, they would hear frustration in it.


    Argon was not getting frustrated, he came here to buy the Iplete mana core which was put in the auction, and he knew if he used his money here then there was a chance that he might lose the iplete mana core.


    Even if he was the emperor, he couldn''t just empty the treasury for his personal use. But he didn''t want that item to fall into Alex''s hands.


    He still remembers how renowned the sword that Alex crafted was in the past timeline, it was said to be the best sword you could find in this world.


    He knew that he wouldn''t be able to use the metal, after all, he was not a cksmith, and neither was someone in his empire capable enough to make something out of that metal.


    He just didn''t want Alex to get stronger just because he wasn''t able to gather money for the betting.


    He didn''t know why but he had been getting more frustrated these days. It all started after the time Gaia trembled a little. For some reason he felt scared at that moment, he felt as if he should move, because he could feel someone''s presence.


    He also knew that this ''someone'' was not to be messed with, which meant he had to bow his head in front of that said entity.


    This was something he didn''t want to do in this life, and he had a feeling that if he continued walking the path he was walking he was not going to have a good end.


    But it was not going to put out his me of revenge, he just couldn''t forget the smirk on Alex''s face when he killed all of the people he cared for as if they were nothing but beasts.


    As he remembered the memories he wanted to forget the most, he unknowingly clenched his fists so hard that they started bleeding.


    Aurora looked at Argon with a hint of pity in her eyes as even though she didn''t like him, she knew his past life was miserable and his ending was worse. But she didn''t console him, she did not think of him as a friend or anyone close to her that she would want to console.


    "400 million."


    Alice''s voice was heard again.


    The otherdy had yet to bid and by the way, she was silent for a while it seemed like she had stepped back, the musclehead, however, was fuming.


    After he had lost to Argon in a fight, he had started seeing him as an obstacle he needed to cross to be stronger and he had been doing whatever he could to be stronger.


    That was also the reason why he decided to buy the iplete mana core, just to make himself stronger, which was no great reason as other people here would use the unique mana core to study more about mana core or maybe try to mass produce it.


    For him, however, growing stronger was the most important thing.


    So, when he was defeated in betting by Alice whom he didn''t even consider his rival, his anger soured.


    The next second his magical energy started going violent and then....


    *Boom**tter*


    His mana burst forth, breaking the ss covering hispartment, showing everyone his visage filled with anger.


    He was a man with brown hair and almond eyes. His hair was not in any particrly designed cut they were just left as it were, while his beard was clean-shaved.


    His looks were good, and he could easily attract any girl with that muscr body of his which would put even the professional bodybuilders to shame.


    He had arge body with defined muscles, his height was around 2 meters. He was wearing a casual loose t-shirt along with a three-fourth-sized pant that reached just below his knees.


    Right now, his face was red with anger and in a fit of anger, he directed all of his mana pressure towards Alice''spartment.


    He forgot that there was a rule in the auction house stating that the use of power inside the Auction building was prohibited.


    His secretary who was supposed to stop him from doing this was trying her best to voice out, but by the time she got her voice back, it was already toote.


    She was unable to speak for a while as she had crashed onto the wall when the musclehead burst his mana which was not intentional. If he knew this had happened then he would be caring for her right now, after all, they were both lovers as well.


    The next second, however, something unexpected happened.


    Another overpowering mana pressure burst from Alice''spartment, the pressure was so strong that the musclehead''s pressure was crushed like it was nothing.


    Many people in the room could feel it, including Argon and Luna as well.


    But the general audience or the low-ranking raider didn''t feel anything, they just looked at the scene in wonder as one of the strongest raiders in the world was bought on his knees by that overpowering pressure.


    Luna could see what was happening and she had the power to stop this with just a single word, but she didn''t.


    Why would she? The Crimson Lotus guild was already in the Association''s bad books, there was no need for her to defend them.


    But she never expected a situation like this to arrive, neither did Argon and Aurora as they were equally shocked.


    They could feel Alex''s mana and they could tell that it was stronger than Argon''s which shocked them.


    It was just then that everyone heard a calm and clear voiceing frompartment number two which was not the same female voice they heard till now, instead, it was a male voice.


    "If no one is going to raise the bid then can you just finalize the bid?"


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 Chapter 55: CHAPTER 55 – Auction Nearing the End.

    The Auction Hall was filled with an unknown pressure when the voice was heard.


    The pressure was not because of something the voice spoke; the owner of the voice just spoke calm words as if nothing had happened, but that was what made the pressure increase tenfold.


    Even the general audience could feel the pressure as even if they were excused by the mana pressure, they still knew that something happened and that something was not a small thing.


    One of the top raiders of the world was bought on his knees, just this was enough for them to get the idea of what had happened.


    Luna was unsure of what to say, she knew she was at fault as she could have stopped this if she interfered, which she didn''t just because she wanted some entertainment.


    She was going to step in the next second, though. Just because the Crimson Lotus and the Association were on bad terms wouldn''t make her break the rules, she set herself.


    But who would have thought that before she could step in, the case would be handled by someone else?


    Now Alex and his group had the upper hand and Luna knew it. They could ask her forpensation for their mental stress, even if there was none, after all, the rules did say that the victims would bepensated ordingly.


    Now she knew that the option of having the strange metal (Starshard) for the Association was out of the question, but that didn''t mean that others wouldn''t bid for it.


    Every one of the high-ranking guild masters here knew that there were some people in the audience and low-ranking raiders who were from the Association.


    They also knew what their job was, so it would be strange if Alice, Ann, and Alex didn''t know about it, this is the reason that Luna was not going to use them now.


    She didn''t want to bet on something she was not sure of getting in her hands only to lose it along with having topensate Alex''s group.


    So, she backed down.


    The muscle-headed guy was bent downwards and if he didn''t support his body with his knees then he would be lying on the ground, but he was still conscious while resisting the pressure of SS-rank mana.


    This was not something anyone could do and Alex knew this as well, that was also the reason why Alex was a bit surprised.


    The musclehead was now looking towardspartment number two with cautious eyes as his anger had calmed down the moment he was hit by the pressure.


    He could also see that his lover-cum-secretory was also hurt because of him, making him a bit guilty and sad. He wanted to apologize to her for hurting her and not being mindful of the surroundings, he wanted to free himself from the pressure, but he just couldn''t.


    However, as if listening to his plea, the next second the pressure was lifted. He looked towards Alex''spartment for a second before he rushed towards his lover.


    He knew what was important right now as even if he was just a musclehead, he still loved his lover.


    ............��


    "Well, this incident will at least get us the Startshard in cheap," Alex spoke with a shrug as he saw Alice and Ann staring at him.


    Alice and Ann were seriously surprised, first by the musclehead''s outburst, and before their brains could register what happened, they got even more surprised by Alex''s action.


    The muscle head was not just some random or normal S-rank Raider like Frank or Joseph. He was someone from the world ranking and not just someone, he was ranked 5th in the world ranking which was 10 ranks higher than Alice.


    Although the ranks were not urate, Alice knew that if she were to fight with that musclehead then the result would be a draw, that is if he didn''t just rush at her without caring about anything, after all, that guy''s defenses were tough.


    Such a guy was dealt with by Alex without even moving a figure. This was enough for both Alice and Ann to know that Alex''s mana stats were higher than S-rank, but they wanted to know if it was just mana stat that was higher than S.


    They suddenly got excited as they thought that maybe Alex was the strongest in the world right now, which meant that they had the strongest raider in their guild.


    "400 million going once."


    However, they were soon broken out of their thoughts when they heard Luna''s voice as she started the countdown.


    "400 million going twice."


    Luna looked atpartment one hoping that Argon would increase the price as she wanted to at least get some more money out of this item if she couldn''t get it.


    "Sold."


    When Luna saw that Argon was not cing a bid, she felt a bit strange, she didn''t feel that he was scared, after all, he was the strongest.


    She then thought that maybe the item was not worth more than 300 million in Argon''s eyes, which made her sigh inwardly as the item did not seem that amazing in her eyes now.


    What she didn''t know was that Argon didn''t have time to focus on the item as he was more concerned about the situation which was getting out of his hands now.


    He was now hell-bent on buying the iplete mana core and he was now not going to do any research with it. He was simply going to use it to grow stronger, he was now feeling a bit of a crisis, he felt that he needed to grow strong faster, or else he would not stand a chance against Alex.


    He wasn''t going to hope for things to be all right now, he knew things were not going as they were supposed to, rather, they were going like they were never supposed to go.


    So, he decided to ignore this item and instead focus on the final item.


    Just like that the Starshard was bought by Alice and that item was transported to the storage to be given to them along with the money earned from the items they put in the auction.


    The Auction continued at a steady pace and many of Crimson Lotus Guild''s items were sold at high prices adding to Alice and Ann''s happiness.


    What no one noticed was that in one of thepartments, there was a man sitting along with another person wearing ck clothes that covered even their face.


    One of them was Joseph (Guild master of the White Shark Guild) who had been looking towardspartment two with a strange glint in his eyes, however, only time would tell what he was thinking.


    ............��


    After a long period of bidding and buying items, it was finally time for the final item to be presented in front of everyone and so it happened.


    Four people, among which two were females and two wererge bulky males could be seen walking from behind the stage with ady wearing revealing clothes walking in the middle, pushing a trolly.


    On top of the trolly, a spherical item could be seen as it was shining with multi-colored light, brightening its surroundings, even when it was covered with ck linen clothing.


    But how could such a big event go on without any problem, however, as mentioned, something did happen. But to know what happened, I guess you need to read the next chapter.


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 Chapter 56: CHAPTER 56 – The Problem.

    As the Auction was going on, there were some people sneaking around in the Auction building right under everyone''s nose. When it''s said right under everyone''s nose it literally means right under their nose, which is also right under their feet.


    There were some people wearing ck colored dresses or more precisely it was just a piece of ck clothing that was wrapped around their bodies making them look like walking ck mummies, instead of the normal mummies that are wrapped in white clothing.


    Now the question �C What were they doing? And how did they go unnoticed by so many high-ranking raiders?


    To answer those questions, you will have to look closely at them. The dress they were wearing or the piece of clothing they had wrapped around them had some strange patterns drawn over them.


    Those patterns were unreadable as they were veryplex, but they glowed from time to time as if indicating that they were working fine.


    These people mostly consisted of earth ability users, and they were slowly and steadily making their way towards the Auction Hall by drilling a hole in the ground.


    One of them had a phone-like device in his hand that had a map on it and a point blinking red. They were moving towards the red point, and from this, it was clear that there was someone inside the auction house helping them.


    They kept drilling until they reached just below the Auction Hall where they stopped any and all movement. Even if their clothes prevented anyone from sensing them, they still stopped any movements as they were aware of the people sitting in the Auction Hall.


    Their movements were not like that of an amateur, neither were their action and coordination.


    However, just then the phone-like device started making a beeping noise along with a red sign disying {Difficulty �C SS}.


    As they saw this message, their bodies tensed and even if their expressions were hidden inside the ck clothing, one could feel the seriousness oozing out of their movements.


    However, the thing to notice was the mention of "SS". This was something that no one in this world knew about, except a few people.


    It could just be a coincidence as anyone coulde up with a way of categorizing the danger level above S-rank, no one knows for sure, but time knows everything, and it would surely reveal everything.


    Time continued to pass slowly and steadily, and they kept sitting there without moving as if afraid that they would be noticed by someone. What they didn''t know was that they were already in someone''s perception range, and they were currently being observed.


    After a while, they got a notification showing a countdown that started from 10. Just as the notification appeared, they jumped in action and one of them took out a strange item wrapped in the same type of clothing as them, the only difference being that it had more of those runes-like markings drawn over it.


    In less than 2 seconds, they had already ced the item just below the stage where Luna was standing. Then they moved back and one of them took out a remote with a blue button on it and clicked the button.


    By that time 5 seconds had already crossed, and the item made a beeping noise 5 times before��...


    *BBOOOOOMMM*


    ................................................


    "You guys should cover your ears," Alex spoke in a rxed voice.


    "Eh?" X2


    Both Alice and Ann who were still looking at the Mana core turned towards Alex with confused expressions as they didn''t know why Alex suddenly said that.


    Alex had been observing the movements of the guys below and he had already pinpointed the position of the other guy who was inside the Hall and was instructing them.


    "There''s going to be a st in some seconds, so, just listen to me," Alex spoke again.


    He knew that the st was not going to cause any harm to the girls as they were strong enough to survive even if they were standing right above the st. Well, Alice would be fine while Ann would survive if she did her best.


    Still, as said above it was not going to cause them any harm just because of its sound. It was just Alex''s way of letting them know that something was going to happen, and he knew about it.


    "Un." X2


    Alice and Ann nodded and closed their ears as the next second��.


    *BBOOOOOMMM*


    The entire hall was filled with ck smoke produced by the explosion, while the stage was destroyed as the explosion was just below the stage.


    Alex could have stopped it before this happened, but he decided against it. After all, why should he stop them when whatever was happening would only add to the work the Association had to do after this?


    Now, if whatever those guys had nned (which was most likely stealing the core) were to be achieved, then the people from other countries that hade so far just to buy that item would ask the Association for answers.


    Alex could already estimate the power of the people who attacked, and he could tell that they came prepared. But he also knew that was a variable that they underestimated, that was why he was a little interested in seeing this y out.


    Just as he had thought, there was a sound of ss shattering next to them, and the next instant someone zoomed towards the stage, leaving a sh of light in the wake.


    No one needed to be a genius to tell who it was as it was none other than Argon, who now had a calm expression with anger hidden deep within his eyes as nothing was going as he nned for today.


    First, it was Alex and now there were some unknown thieves.


    "What''s happening?" Alice hurriedly asked as she saw the scene and Ann also turned towards Alex for answers.


    Since Alex had warned them about this before it happened, they knew that Alex must know something, so they looked at Alex and he didn''t disappoint them.


    "Nothing for us to worry about, but it is something that would make things harder for the Association," Alex spoke with a devilish smile which caused Alice and Ann who understood where this was going to smile as well.


    Alex then turned back towards the stage and focused his eyes on what was happening.


    He could see everything clearly as the little smoke was not a problem for him at all.


    He could already tell that the thieves had already acquired the mana core and were nning to run away, but how could they when there were so many raiders nearby?


    The first one to arrive in front of them was Argon and Alex could tell that they were prepared for that as the next second, every one of them other than the one that was holding the mana core ran towards Argon.


    But then Alex noticed something strange.


    He saw Argon standing right where he was while he kept mumbling something with a look of disbelief on his face.


    "I''ll be back in a while," Alex spoke and moved towards the stage as he needed to move closer if he wanted to hear Argon''s murmuring.


    The girls heard Alex''s words and before they could say or ask anything they saw Alex was already gone, they just shared a nce and sighed.


    They were not going to step in, just like many other high-ranking guild masters as this was not their fight nor were they losing something.


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 Chapter 57: CHAPTER 57 – Change of plans?

    Luna Tuner is one of the strongest Raiders in the world, and it is not just empty words as she really is one of the strongest.


    A normal S-rank raider cane out unscathed even if they are standing right in front of an exploding grenade. The stronger ones can do the same inrger explosions and Luna was in the stronger category.


    But still, when the explosion below the stage was about to happen, her senses started tingling and she felt a premonition.


    Just like any other Raider, she also trusted her senses as they always help in battle, so, listening to her senses she moved at the fastest speed she could and jumped off the stage, narrowly escaping the center of the st.


    However, she was still left perplexed, she was not confused about what was happening, she was not dumb enough to not understand that, she was confused as to why it was happening.


    There had been many great treasures Auctioned before but there has yet to be a robbery of the Auctions final item, that too in front of so many raiders.


    She knew that an iplete mana core was unique and it might not be found again, but did someone think that it was worth the risk of having the Association on their tail ready to catch them?


    How could she have known that it was just the plot trying to mend itself? When there is a protagonist, there are going to be challenges and this was one of the challenges Alex had to face.


    When a protagonist is in the equation, things never go as they are supposed to, that is what was happening.


    The next second, however, Luna saw a sh pass by and she knew that it was someone very strong. Alex''s face shed in front of her eyes for a second, but then she shook her head as she saw who it was.


    She could see the culprits that were trying to steal the mana core and she could also tell that they were neither inexperienced nor weak.


    She turned towards Argon; the person hailed as the strongest raider on Gaia. He was the one who passed like a sh in front of her when she was still in her thoughts.


    She wanted to ask for his help as she knew she would not be able to defeat her enemies if she fought alone, there was a chance that she might die as well.


    But when she turned towards Argon, she was surprised and shocked as she found him looking at the people in front of him with a disbelieving look while muttering something.


    What she was shocked about, however, was not that. She was shocked as she could see fear deep within Argon''s eyes and it was not just her as Alex arrived right on time to see that.


    Alex didn''t need to look deep into Argon''s eyes to tell that Argon was scared, he could tell it just by looking at the way Argon''s body trembled a bit from time to time.


    "This is not possible��."


    "They should still be sealed right now��..."


    "I am not ready for them��..."


    Alex could hear Argon''s muttering and he could tell that whatever Argon was muttering about had something to do with the future Argon knew of.


    "If it''s them, then I can''t let them get away��" Suddenly, as if remembering something, Argon''s aura changed and he became serious.


    Luna, although curious as to why Argon had that reaction, decided to ignore it as she needed to get the mana core back or the Association was going to face a huge loss.


    The problem that worried her the most among the list of problems was Monarch as she didn''t know what his reaction would be when he heard that his item got stolen right under the Association''s nose.


    She knew that the Association was strong, no, it was very strong, but she just didn''t want to see what would happen if they were to face Monarch.


    "I would like to request assistance from you, sir." Luna voiced out without looking away from her enemies, though she failed to notice one of them had suddenly disappeared.


    But the same can''t be said for Argon as he saw one guy running towards the hole with a bag in his hands.


    "All right," He also spoke without looking away from the guy who was running away and it seemed like Luna somehow wasn''t able to see him.


    Luna nodded her head and then waved her hand once. The next second there was a whip-like sword in her hand which was now hanging down.


    "I will take care of the guys in the back," Argon spoke but he didn''t reveal that he was going to take care of the guy running away from the Auction Hall.


    Luna nodded her head as if epting Argon''s words and looked back towardpartment two for a second before she rushed towards the guy closest to her only to get nked by two other guys.


    Now she had to deal with three guys at the same time, leaving her no space to catch her breath.


    There were 7 guys in total, including the one who was running away, and Luna had to take care of 3 guys. The other 3 ran towards Argon, not to defeat him, but to dy him and they were going to do whatever they could just to dy Argon and give thest member of their team to run away.


    They knew that they would not be able to defeat Argon as they knew their limits, but that didn''t mean they would not be able to dy Argon if they put their life on the line, after all, they were also S-rankers.


    Yes, you heard it right, they were all S-rankers, that was the reason Alex could tell that they came prepared.


    Now where was Alex? He was actually contemting the ways how he could generate more profit out of the situation. Suddenly his eyes lit up as he thought of something, and he turned towards the thief who was about to jump back in the hole.


    Alex could tell that Argon was thinking of going after that thief and stealing the Mana core inside the cave as there would be no one to look at him there just by looking at Argon who was looking towards the same guy from time to time.


    So, the next second Alex moved. Alex had decided to change the ns a bit and the n now would only yield him profit without a chance of bringing him a loss.


    ..............................................


    Argon kept looking at them and he was thinking of doing just what Alex had guessed. It was not hard for him to knock these guys out quickly and run towards thest guy because as was said before, the difference between every rank after A is veryrge.


    But as he kept looking at the guy, suddenly the guy vanished like he was never there. Not like before when no one could see him, but Argon could. However, right now, even Argon couldn''t find a trace of that guy.


    Argon hurriedly pushed the three people in front of him and thought of running toward thest guy.


    However, how can things be this easy?


    As if they were talking telepathically, all of the six guys, even the ones fighting Luna, who surprisingly was still fighting even though she had many cuts on her body nodded their heads.


    Argon had a bad feeling just as he turned around, he saw that all six guys took out a capsule-like thing from their pockets and swallowed it, and the next second...


    *BBOOOOMMMM* X5


    ////// Author Note: Before some of you ask �C Why were there only 7 people attacking when they knew that there were way too many raiders in the hall?


    To answer that, they had a quick task which was to pick and run, so even if every S-rank raider were to attack they would just jump into the cave they came from and make the walls copse so that they could run away.


    If worse were to happen they would just st themselves like they did right now and believe me, you would NOT want to be there when an S-rank raider forcefully sts his body, not to mention 6 raiders doing it together.


    That''s all! //////


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 Chapter 58: CHAPTER 58 – Aftermath.

    Luna was fighting with three trained S-ranked raiders with everything she had, but she was still saving her trump card as her trump card was not something that could be revealed easily.


    As Luna continued fighting, she suddenly saw Argon somehow push three S-rank raiders away like nothing. This made her realize the difference between her and Argon as she was having a hard time dealing with the same people that Argon could thrash anytime.


    But her attention was soon attracted to a capsule-like thing that every one of the intruders took out. She could see them taking it in their mouth and she had a very bad feeling about it, so she finally used her ability.


    A strange pinkish aura left her body and entered one of the six guys, who suddenly stopped his movement and dropped the capsule on the ground. Then he ran towards Luna and just before the other five guys exploded, he was standing in front of her, shielding her with his body.


    *BBBOOOOOOMMMM*


    The explosion was so big that it caused the wall next to the stage to st off along with the roof and mind you, the Auction Hall was made of a rare ore found in a gate. The wall is strong enough to take a full-powered punch of an A-rank raider and remain unscathed.


    The same wall exploded and the debris was sent flying everywhere, killing many low-ranking raiders and unawakened people. But no one there was in a situation to look out for others as the Auction Hall seemed like it was crumbling and might fall in a while.


    Everyone was evacuating the Hall in a hurry, causingplete mayhem. Everyone was running for their lives as they knew that the hall with a diameter of 100m was falling down.


    They knew that they were asking for their deaths if they waited for the authorities to take control of the situation.


    So, they (Weaker ones, i.e. low-ranking raiders or unawakened people) ran with all their might, disregarding anyone else which caused more deaths among the crowd as many people got crushed below the crowd.


    ............��.


    "Where''s Alex??" Alice was pacing around in thepartment as she was still there in herpartment just like other high-ranking guild masters.


    S-rank raiders could st off the wall behind them and jump out of thepartment, directlying out of the Auction Hall. Every one of them waited just because they wanted to see what had happened as it was too fast for them to notice.


    *Click*


    Just then the gate of theirpartment opened on its own without anyone standing there. The girls just sighed in relief as they saw this, instead of being scared as they knew who it was.


    "Miss me already?" Alex spoke as he deactivated his disguise skill.


    The girls, however, were not in the mood to joke right now.


    "What happened?" Alice asked,pletely ignoring the words Alex had spoken before.


    "Things happened and I will exin it to you, but I guess we should move out of here," Alex spoke gesturing towards the sealing that no one was focusing on.


    Alice and Ann turned towards the ceiling and widened their eyes.


    Everyone was underestimating the explosion or they were just too engrossed in the situation that they didn''t notice, but the ceiling of the hall was already covered in web-like cracks.


    Just looking at the wall was enough for both Alice and Ann to guess that it would not be long before the ceiling came falling down on their heads.


    They nodded their heads and Alice pressed her palm against the wall of the room to st off a hole in it.


    "Let me do it," Alex spoke before Alice could activate her skill andunch a fire st on the wall.


    Alice nodded and backed away as she also wanted to know which ability Alex would use.


    Alex conjured a sharp wind de, 70 cm in length, and shed that de on the wall four times. There was a rectangr mark left behind after he was done, and this made both Alice and Ann confused.


    They didn''t know what Alex was trying to achieve and they thought that maybe he was going to use another one of his abilities now, but��


    "Let''s go," Alex spoke as he moved towards the rectangr mark on the wall.


    "Eh?" the girls only got more confused but then they saw Alex cing his hand inside the rectangr shape made on the wall and he did nothing.


    He just pushed the wall lightly and they were shocked when they saw the rectangr shape was not just a mark, it was just the surface of the cuboid shape.


    They saw the cuboid made of a 3-meter-thick wall sliding smoothly out of its ce. The wall was cut so smoothly that it didn''t even make a scratching sound as the cuboid was pushed out of the wall with a swish.


    *BAM*


    It was when they heard the sound of who knows how many tons of heavy pieces of the wall falling outside that they broke out of their reverie.


    "Amazing," Ann spoke as she caressed the smoothly cut wall. Alice also nodded her head at her words.


    "Let''s go out, you can observe the piece of wall that I cut out as this is something you would be able to do as well if you just focus on my training," Alex spoke with a smile and patted their backs.


    The girls nodded their heads and jumped out of the Auction building.


    Alex looked towards the center of the Hall and his eyes happened to meet two golden eyes staring right at him, but then those eyes were filled with shock as they realized that someone could see her.


    It was Aurora who was checking up on Argon as he had to take the explosion up front. Even though his injuries were not life-threatening or something major, he was still weak right now.


    After all, he withstood the explosion caused by five raiders with just his abilities, and it really is not something anyone in this world could be able to do, except Alex of course.


    The full power attack of an S-rank raider is enough to destroy 100 meters of their surroundings, let''s not talk about them exploding.


    The explosion was not able to show its full glory as much of it was absorbed by the Auction Hall or it would have caused some great casualties. Alex ignored the surprised eyes of the Aurora and turned towards the other person who was right in the middle of the explosion.


    Alex smiled a bit as he saw Lunaing out of the debris, and although she was not in good shape, he could tell that her life was not in danger and she could still fight if needed.


    Alex then jumped out of the building andnded next to Alice and Ann who were waiting for him.


    They were now waiting for everything to settle down, so they decided to move back to the car.


    It was just then��.


    *Crack* *Crack*


    Everyone inside the Auction Hall heard a loud cracking noise and they automatically turned their heads toward the ceiling which was the source of the noise.


    "Shit!!!"


    This was the only thing everyone had in their minds, be it the high-ranking raiders or the lower ones.


    Low-ranking raiders or the normal people knew they would die if they stayed behind while the High-ranking raiders knew that they would survive butdidn''t want to take risks.


    Luna looked at the ceiling as well and sighed deeply. She was now ming her luck as this day was one of her worst days and she knew that it was not the end of the day.


    Everyone hurriedly did whatever they could to run out of the hall and as they ran, they kept looking at the Hall''s ceiling was now filled with cracks and some debris was falling down.


    *Boom**Boom*


    Then it happened, the whole Auction building that had been standing strong for some years copsed in its ce, killing who knows how many people who were still not able toe out.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 59: CHAPTER 59 – Stephan Arrived.

    "That''s good!!" X2


    Both Alice and Ann eximed at the same time, while Noctura just rubbed her head on Alex''s stomach.


    Right now, they were inside their car in the parking lot.


    Alex already told them about what had happened and to say that they were shocked by the turn of events would be an understatement, but the emotion they felt the most was happiness.


    They were ted when they heard that Alex had taken the mana core back from the thief. Even though they had decided to sell the iplete mana core as it would help them in the long run, somewhere in the back of their minds, they had the feeling of loss.


    So, of course, they would be happy when they heard that the mana core was back to them.


    "I know," Alex spoke with a smile while patting Noctura''s head, causing her to purr in satisfaction.


    However, Alex didn''t tell them about Argon being from the future or anything rted to it...yet.


    "But what about ''Monarch''?" Suddenly Ann asked this question as it came to her mind when she thought about it deeply.


    "Hm��." Alex started pondering about it as well.


    He never looked at the Association as a threat as he knew they wouldn''t be able to harm him even if they tried their best. This was the reason that he never thought about this question.


    "Well, ''Monarch'' might get really angry if his item is said to be stolen from the Auction and they are not going topensate him.


    But it will be fine if they gave ''Monarch'' the perfect amount Monarch asks for the Mana core."


    Alex spoke with a shrug.


    He let his body rx on the seat and closed his eyes while his hands still caressed Noctura''s soft and fluffy fur. He was giving the girls time to understand the meaning behind his words.


    "So, you want to fight the Association alone?" Alice asked unsurely after a while.


    "Hm? Why would I do that? ''Monarch'' is going to do that. Don''t tell me... You think I am ''Monarch''?" Alex started speaking casually but reaching the end, his words were filled with fake disbelief.


    However, his acting was so good that if the girls didn''t know for sure that Alex was ''Monarch'' then they would have actually started doubting their own words.


    "But��." Ann was about to say that he should not do it, or maybe ''You won''t be able to fight against the whole association alone'', but her words were cut short by Alex''s words.


    "You think ''Monarch'' would try to do something he isn''t sure of?" Alex asked without opening his eyes and with his body rxed, but the girls knew that his question was a very important one.


    Alice and Ann turned silent at his words. They knew that they should not doubt his powers, but as said before, they still didn''t know what his maximum power was, and neither did they know his stats.


    It was not like they didn''t trust him, they trusted him so much that they sometimes doubted why they trusted him so much. But that''s not the point, the thing is that they were just worried about him even though they knew he was strong.


    In the end, they exchanged a determined look and spoke together.


    "No." X2


    Alex just smiled as he heard that, but he still had his eyes closed.


    "I don''t see a problem then, let''s rest for a while as it doesn''t seem like the situation is going to calm down for now," Alex spoke with a fake yawn, without even looking out of the window.


    Alice and Ann on the other hand looked out of the car, observing the situation.


    They looked around for a while before just like Alex, they also closed their eyes and let their bodies rx.


    ....................................��..


    The situation around the Auction was anything but calm as many people lost their family members inside the Auction building.


    They med everything on the Auction house even if they were the ones who ran first leaving their family members behind without any care. But well, that is what every human is like, they like to find me in others instead of taking the me for their mistakes themselves.


    Since Luna was still nowhere to be seen, the people from the Auction house that survived were trying to calm the crowd only to make the situation worse.


    As the people from the Auction house came forward to calm the crowd it backfired on them as the crowd then started ganging up on them, asking forpensation or threatening them.


    *Vroom*


    Just then the exhaust of a car was heard and then one after another, many ck cars arrived right in front of the Auction house.


    One by one, many people came out of them and most of them were B-ranked along with 5-6 A rankers, andstly the gate of the car in the middle opened and Stephan came out.


    Just as Stephan stepped out of the car, every single person in the crowd quieted down. Even if Stephan was not strong anymore, it was something that only he knew, except Alex, of course.


    So, just Stephan''s presence alone was enough to cause themotion to vanish.


    The high-ranking guild leaders who were capable of standing even in front of Stephan were not present there at the moment as they were either sitting inside their car just like Alex''s group or they had hurried towards the nearest healing ce to get themselves healed.


    The remaining people were not someone who could even resist Stephan if he wanted to do something, so they decided to remain quiet.


    "Search for Luna Tuner, and any other valuables you can inside of that debris," Stephan spoke without looking back and the guys following him hurriedly nodded their heads and ran towards the copsed building to do what they were told.


    Now, some people will have a question �C Why was Stephan not here in the first ce?


    Well, Luna doesn''t like her work being supervised by someone other than her, and with Stephan staying in the Auction building, the people from the Association would listen to him instead of her.


    So, she asked Stephan to stay in a hotel nearby and Stephan did just that as he didn''t want to start a fight. He could tell that she really didn''t want him staying in the Auction building and he needed to go out or there would be a fight.


    If it was before then he would have just scoffed at her and taught her a lesson, but unfortunately for him, he was still powerless.


    There are people who can still fight well without their abilities, but Stephan is not one of them. Even if his swordsmanship is good enough to defeat monsters, the same can''t be said for humans.


    He had been using his ability to stop time and kill people without a fight, which made him have little to no actual battle experience, so, if he were to sh with Luna, who has her own unique fighting style, the result would be an easy win for Luna.


    As the raiders from the Association looked through the remanent of the Auction building, Stephan walked towards the staff of the Auction house passing through the crowd.


    Then suddenly his eyes turned sharp, and he did something that shocked many people there....


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 Chapter 60: CHAPTER 60 – Going Back.

    Stephan was not someone with a friendly neighborhood grandpa-type personality and everyone knew it.


    So, when he walked through the crowd, the people in the crowd automatically made way for him.


    It was then that Stephan suddenly grabbed a guy by the cor and lifted him up in the air, shocking everyone.


    "Take it out," Stephan spoke to the D-rank raider he held by the cor.


    The guy nodded his head with great difficulty, moved his hand towards his pocket, and took out a ne from out of his pocket as Stephan continued looking at him with strict expression.


    The people who saw what it was couldn''t help but gasp in shock, after all, it was not just an ordinary ne.


    The ne was a B-rank item put on the disy in the hallway of the Auction building and if it is in this guy''s hand, it was easy to guess how he got it.


    "As you can see, he was trying to steal an item by taking advantage of the situation and I know there are many others like him hiding among the crowd.


    So, I will have to ask you guys to return them to us, as they belong to us."


    Stephan spoke as he loosened his grip on the guy''s cor, letting him fall to the ground, breathing heavily while coughing as the force of Stephan''s hold was too much for him.


    Now, some of you might ask �C How did Stephan know that this guy had an item?


    Even if he is not that strong anymore, he is still someone with great experience in life, and as he was a beggar before awakening, he knows how thieves act.


    People were startled when they heard Stephan''s words, and they started whispering among themselves.


    "What about ourpensation?"


    No one knew who asked it, but everyone clearly heard the voice, which caused all of their eyes to turn to Stephan, who seemed unfazed by the question.


    "Were you invited by the Auction house?" Stephan asked the question in a nd voice which caused the crowd to quiet down again. None of them had the answer to this question and some of them already knew what Stephan was trying to point out.


    "No, right? Then you have no right to ask forpensation. You came here at your own risk knowing full well that many powerful raiders wereing here.


    You just wanted entertainment."


    Stephan spoke those harsh words without a hint of pity in his voice.


    Those words caused some people to get sad as there were some people who were genuinely worried about their family members.


    "However, you don''t have to worry as we will try to find your family members and the ones who are injured will be healed by the association healers for free."


    As Stephan spoke this his voice turned a bit soft, after all, he also knew that there was nothing worse than the public''s anger.


    His words caused the mood of the crowd to lift a little as there were many injured among the crowd as well.


    "Now, please form a line and let the Auction staff check your items as I don''t want the Association''s items to be stolen.


    Although I don''t want to use force, if you were to resist the checking then you would only gain more suspicion. So, please try to cooperate with the Auction staff."


    Stephan spoke and before anyone could speak or do something��.


    *Boom*


    Arge piece of the concrete that had copsed was sent flying in the air with a booming sound as if something or someone from the inside had pushed it out with great force.


    "Cough, Cough��"


    Then a soft coughing sound was heard along with a fair handing out of the ce where the concrete was pushed out.


    Slowly the figure emerged from the debris and then sat with its back resting on arge piece of concrete.


    The healers from the Association that Stephan had brought along with him didn''t even think twice before they quickly ran toward the figure sitting next to the concrete boulder.


    It was none other than Luna who came out of the copsed Auction building with many cut marks and crushed marks on her body which were exposed due to her clothes being torn.


    If not for the high-quality fabric used to make those clothes, they would not even be hanging over Luna''s sinful body.


    Stephan also widened his eyes as he saw Luna''s condition since he knew how strong Luna was and if she was injured to this extent meant the enemy was strong and this worried him as the Association might send him to fight them off.


    "As I said, please cooperate with the staff members and let them search through your belongings.


    Now, I will excuse myself."


    Stephan spoke and moved towards Luna who an A-rank healer from the Association was healing.


    .....................��..


    "I see..." Stephan spoke with a deep frown and worry in his eyes.


    Luna told him everything that had happened, which included the mana core being stolen and the strange capsule that could explode S-rank raiders.


    The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something bigger was at y here, but he couldn''t point out what it was.


    "You should rest, I will take care of the things here," Stephan spoke and moved back toward the group of Raiders from the Association as he now needed to deal with the high-ranking guild leaders.


    "Wait," But Luna''s voice stopped him and he turned towards Luna with a confused look.


    "Just tell them that we will personally visit them to discuss this matter," Luna spoke in a resolute voice.


    "But I can take care of it.." Luna cut Stephan''s word before he couldplete it.


    "I am the Auction manager and I will deal with my problems, please stay out of this," Luna spoke as she looked straight into Stephan''s eyes.


    She wanted to deal with this problem herself as she was confident that she could handle this matter better than anyone else as she knew just the way to do it.


    "All right, I will inform them about what you said." Stephan knew better than to not poke a ho''s nest as he could tell that Luna was already in a bad mood and he didn''t want to take risks.


    .....................��..


    "All right, thank you for informing us."


    Ann spoke to the guy from the Association who hade to inform them about what Luna had said.


    "I am just doing my job." The guy spoke and left after a polite bow.


    "Guess it''s time to go back," Alex spoke, and Alice and Ann nodded their heads.


    Ann started the car, and they started moving towards the vi with happy smiles on their faces.


    How could they not be happy? They got more things than they could ask for and they knew that there were many more things they were about to get.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 61: CHAPTER 61 – Luna’s Visit.

    "You should keep your hands rxed when you swing that dagger at someone," Alex spoke as he avoided Ann''s attack by deflecting it with his simple sword.


    "Use your body momentum to increase the power of your attack, and loosen the grip on the dagger a little, it will cause more harm than good."


    Alex spoke again and hit Ann''s dagger with his simple sword with force. Ann stepped back and looked at her hand which was confused.


    "That''s what happens when you grip it too hard. Your hand''s flexibility will be reduced, the movement speed of the wrists will be reduced, muscles will tire out faster, lower control over the weapon, and lower sensitivity."


    Alex spoke and let his words sink into Ann''s mind.


    What Ann felt the moment Alex hit her dagger was lower control and flexibility as she felt that she could do better, but she was unable to do it.


    "Your senses are better than what you had before so you can see and sense the movements but now your body is unable to keep up with it as your posture and movements are not good enough."


    Alex spoke again, exining things in detail.


    It''s been a week since the incident at the Auction house and Alex has started training both Alice and Ann for a longer period of time. He even trained both Alice and Ann alone for an hour so as to get their postures and fighting styles better.


    Right now, it was Ann''s time to train, and she was improving at a breakneck pace, which surprised even Alex.


    "The time is almost up, so let''s get it over with. Attack me with all you''ve got."


    Alex spoke and stood with his right shoulder and leg towards Ann and left shoulder on the opposite side. He held his sword in his right hand and gestured for Ann to attack, which she did, and ran towards Alex with her maximum speed.


    *ng* * ng* *Swish*


    Just like that, they continued to train, or more like Alex continued to teach Ann.


    ...........................................


    In the past week, the Association has been very busy dealing with the foreign Raiders and trying to search for any clues about the thieves.


    The one leading the team was Stephan as he was sent by the Association, just in case.


    Stephan, however, just wished for the thieves to not be found since he knew that once they were found he would have to fight.


    Just fighting with one S-rank raider alone was hard for him, let''s not talk about what would happen if he were to find himself in a situation simr to Luna''s.


    The Association searched everywhere but couldn''t find anything on those people; it was like they came out of the Air and vanished in it. What they didn''t know was that they almost reached the truth.


    They did get one thing though, and that was that there was a suspicious person that came along with the white shark guild master. From his attire, one could see the resemnce between his and the attacker''s attire, so they decided to confront the White Shark guild master.


    Stephan had a bad feeling, but he still went along.


    ..........................................��..


    "What do you think?" Argon spoke as he looked at his clenched fists.


    "You are nowplete SS-rank," Aurora replied to Argon as she observed him.


    Argon''s body had grown a bit bulkier, but it was not noticeable as his height also increased a bit as well, bncing his body.


    Argon had searched for the guy who suddenly disappeared from his sight during his fight with the intruders in the Auction Hall, but in the end, he couldn''t find him or any information on him much to his frustration.


    He had followed the whole path made by them below the ground, but he still couldn''t find that guy.


    He knew whose men it was and where to find him, but he also knew that he wouldn''t be able to find them until he got his hand on one of their men.


    "You think it''s awake?" Argon turned towards Aurora who narrowed her eyes as she knew who Argon was talking about.


    "That''s the only conclusion I can get right now," Aurora spoke after looking at Argon for a while.


    "I see. Looks like I need to get stronger faster." Argon spoke with resolute eyes and moved his hand towards a multi-colored ball kept beside him.


    If someone with the knowledge of Raider-rted stuff was here, then they could easily tell that it was a Mana core.


    Argon had been emptying mana cores left in his treasury and after he used this one, there would only be 3 more left which he couldn''t use.


    If he did use them then he might have to answer to those people who were contributing as much as they could for the empire just to get enough credits to buy the mana cores from the treasury.


    Argon then closed his eyes and started absorbing the energy inside of the mana core and Aurora just observed the situation, but then she suddenly remembered Alex''s face causing a strange glint to pass through her eyes.


    She still remembered how Alex was able to see her, but she had yet to tell Argon about that incident.


    .............................................��


    Luna Tuner, the manager of the Auction House had been very busy the whole week as she had to visit many guilds and short out the matter rted to Auction.


    But she was also worried about Monarch as she knew that even if there were no movements from his side, he woulde for his money or mana core.


    However, right now she decided to focus more on the job she had at hand.


    She had been going to meet every raider that was invited to the Auction to either apologize orpensate, but who knows what she was actually doing.


    She had been following her n of using her skills to get what she wanted, or more as she had always been like this. Whenever she feels that things are getting out of hand, she simply uses her ability.


    However, she was feeling rather nervous right now as she stood before the building of the Crimson Lotus guild.


    Her senses were telling her that she would not be making any profits here and that she should not use her ability in front of the guild master.


    "Good afternoon, Ms. Luna."


    As she reached the gate of the Crimson Lotus guild''s entrance, she was greeted by the gatekeeper.


    "Good afternoon," She smiled at the receptionist which made the poor guy''s heart beat like a drum.


    "Guild master is waiting for you in the Office, please follow me."


    The receptionist said after calming down a bit and started walking towards Alice''s office after he saw Luna nod her head.


    When they arrived at Alice''s office the gatekeeper was about to knock on the gate but just then a soft female voice was heard from inside the room.


    "Come in."


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 Chapter 62: CHAPTER 62 – Luna’s Skill.

    "Please take a seat."


    Alice spoke without looking up at Luna who had just entered the cabin.


    Luna also just nodded and moved towards the seat in front of Alice and sat there while also observing the cabin.


    Both of them knew that the way Alice was treating Luna was just a small revenge for what Luna had done before (Chapter 46), and that is the reason why none of them said anything about that.


    Luna then looked around the room and nodded inwardly when she didn''t find Alex anywhere in the room.


    She didn''t know why, but she felt that she wouldn''t have been able to work her n out if Alex was there when they were talking.


    Luna then looked at Alice again only to see her still looking through some documents whilepletely ignoring her presence.


    Luna didn''t mind though as she knew that it was just a game that Alice was ying to build up pressure and show that she was a very busy person.


    But for Luna, this situation was better as she could use this situation to her advantage.


    She started to use her skill, slowly filling the air with an odorless and colorless mist. Her skill was called "Compelling Mist", and it was an SSS-rank skill that was hidden from the world.


    This was also the reason why she felt that she could defeat Stephan (When he still had his Skill) if he didn''t attack her to finish the match in a single move.


    The skill, "Compelling Mist" was a very dangerous mist as it worked on anyone that''s living, be it a human or be it a beast. This skill has the ability that enables its user to hypnotize their enemy/ies.


    Now, it''s not simply hypnotizing as it works differently, it makes people enter a dream-like, drunken state where they would want to listen to only one person and that would be the user of the skill.


    They would do whatever they are asked for even if it is to kill themselves.


    But there are still limits as it doesn''t work perfectly on people who have strong willpower, people with strong mental defense, or people with stronger mind-rted abilities.


    This ability releases a colorless and odorless gas from the countless pores on the user''s body and lets it mix in air. The ability, however, has a range in which it works and the closer the enemy is the better it would work.


    Right now, Alice was very close to Luna and Luna had time in her hands as well, which made it easier for her to get control over the situation.


    She slowly and steadily released the gas into the air, and it started filling the room.


    She knew how much gas it would take for an S-ranker to get controlled as she had been using the skill on many other S-rank raiders she visited the whole week.


    She had visited the S-rank raiders as she promised, and she ''talked'' about thepensation with them as the Auction House was the one that invited them. In the end, however, all of the S-rankers she visited somehow decided to not ask for anypensation.


    It was all the magic of her ability as the longer her opponent inhaled the gas the better control she could have on them, she could even make them believe whatever she said.


    If Luna told a guy or a girl under her control that they did something, they would ept that they did the said thing even when they were not in Luna''s control anymore.


    But this needed time and Luna will have to make her enemies inhale the gas for at least 10 minutes for that much control. However, again, there are limitations, as she can''t use her skill on people with higher rank than her without being noticed.


    Alice who had almost reached SS-rank in mana was also in that category, but Luna didn''t know that and she thought that her n was working, until��.


    "Ugh, W-what did you do....?" Alice held her head and grunted while looking at Luna.


    She asked with some anger in her voice.


    She already knew that Luna had some kind of controlling skill as Alex had informed her and they had nned to pull Luna into a trap, but she had to y her role for that.


    Luna was surprised by Alice''s response as she didn''t expect Alice to be able to resist her skill, but then she scanned the room once again and rxed on the chair.


    "Hmmm, well, you are strong enough to resist my skill at low intensity, but do you think you will be able to do the same when I use it at its full power?"


    Luna had already checked the room twice and she already knew that there were no cameras in the room, she also knew that Alice''s room had sound instion just like any other Guild master''s so she didn''t think there was any problem in telling Alice about her ability.


    Luna knew that she just had to use her power at its maximum output, and she could control Alice like any other Raider, but she failed to notice Alice clicking a button below her desk while she tried to stand up from her chair only to fall down.


    "You still being able to think straight is already a great achievement, yet you think you can still walk?"


    Luna asked curiously as she looked at Alice but again, she failed to notice that even when Alice was sane, Alice was still not attacking her. If she focused on the fact then she could easily tell that it was either the case that Alice was just acting or Alice had some kind of n in her mind.


    It was not just that she couldn''t notice these things, not at all.


    It was just that she was not in her right mind right now, she was just feeling overconfident. She didn''t know this but when she entered the Crimson Lotus building Alice was given an incense stick by Alex.


    He also gave her a pill saying that she should keep it inside her mouth and burn the incense before Luna entered, and Alice did just that.


    That incense is called "Hubris Haze", its smoke is fragrant and harmless to the body. Its main function is to increase the arrogance of the person inhaling it.


    The pill that Alex gave Alice was an antidote for the incense.


    Luna was unable to feel anything as the incense is not actually harmful to the body, instead, it is actually good as it heals the body slowly. But its drawback is that it increases the Arrogance of the one inhaling it 10 folds.


    That''s what was happening to Luna.


    "Well, let''s finish this."


    Luna spoke and stood up as she got no response from Alice.


    She used almost half of her mana to release the mist from her body and this time instead of being colorless it was pink, but before it could touch Alice or reach close to her, something shocking happened.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 63: CHAPTER 63 – Your Plan Failed.

    *sssssssss*


    The mist that was moving towards Alice evaporated the next second as they came close to Alice, but it was not because of Alice.


    "That''s enough I guess."


    A rxed voice was heard causing Luna to snap her head toward the source only to find Alex and Ann standing at the door of Alice''s office.


    Then she again turned towards Alice who was surrounded by a blood-red fire-like element with some ck streaks in them, but Luna could tell that it was not fire.


    She could feel the destruction in them, and she was sure that if she touched them then she was a goner. Whatever that element was, it was able to destroy her skill that was in a gaseous state.


    Luna then turned back towards Alex, and she was sure that this was Alex''s doing. Then slowly the situation and Alex''s words started sinking in her head and realization hit her.


    She then turned towards Alice who was still struggling to stand up as Alice actually took her ability head-on, but Luna could see a smirk on Alice''s face. If that smirk was turned into words, then the words would be �C In the end, I won.


    Luna looked around the room hurriedly again then sighed inwardly as she didn''t find any recording device, which meant her secret was still safe and she just had to deal with the situation.


    "You must be thinking something like "My secret is still safe", right?"


    But when she heard Alex''s rxed voice, she realized how wrong she was.


    All the ns she was making to find a way to salvage this situation were thrown out of her mind.


    Alex moved towards Alice and took out a pill from his storage, but he made it seem like he took it out of his pocket.


    "Here," Alex bent down and pushed the pill into Alice''s mouth which also caused his fingers to brush against Alice''s lips.


    "Um," Alice epted the pill, but her face was a bit rosy, and when Alex''s finger brushed her lips, she felt like a low-voltage current was passing through her body.


    This time she felt it more than thest time when Alex had touched her ears, but she decided to not voice it out as she felt that Alex would think of her as a pervert.


    Luna who saw Alice''s reaction was shocked as she never would have thought that Alice, who was known for her temper would sever show such reactions. Then she quickly turned towards Ann, expecting to find the same reaction only to see Ann standing there without any reaction.


    She was not in her perfect mind, or she would have thought about the rtionship between Alex and Alice a bit more deeply and maybe she would have made some kind of link between, Alex and Monarch.


    "I would be thinking about how to get out of this situation and not about some irrelevant things if I were in your ce."


    Alex spoke as he helped Alice stand up and sit on her seat.


    The pill he gave her right now was a simple mental stabilizing pill, but that''s what Alice needed right now so he gave her one, after all, they were not even that costly in the System shop.


    Luna red at Alex only to be ignored as he was helping Alice sit in her seat.


    Then Luna''s eyes widened a bit when she saw Alex''s hand moving towards Alice''s breasts, then she looked at Alice with shock, and this caused Alice to be a bit embarrassed as well.


    Alice knew what Alex was doing so she was not embarrassed or shy, but when she saw Luna''s reaction, she felt like she was doing something wrong or perverted which caused her to get embarrassed.


    But she didn''t move or stop Alex and when Luna finally saw what Alex was actually doing her face turned serious like never before.


    "You see this small thing? It recorded each and every detail of your action." Alex spoke as he showed Luna a button that he had taken out of Alice''s shirt.


    But Luna or everyone in this room knew what it was as it was a wireless micro camera that was ced right above Alice''s button that Luna didn''t notice.


    "Are you thinking of fighting it out with us?


    Maybe you are thinking that you will just destroy it during the fight, and in that process even if you get seriously injured, you can still salvage the situation as your secret will remain hidden."


    Alex spoke as if reading Luna''s mind and Luna just stood there staring at Alex without saying anything.


    She had now ced Alex on the list of really dangerous raiders.


    Luna didn''t say anything, but she slowly started releasing the colorless and odorless gas and even if it didn''t work on Alex as it did on Alice, she knew he would still be affected for a second or two.


    She was thinking of using her all in those one or two seconds to destroy the camera. As for what would happen after that? She did not know. But she knew that they would not kill her if they didn''t want an all-out war with the Association.


    But her nning was interrupted by a sizzling sound and the next second she heard the same rxed voice she had been listening to for a while now.


    *ssssssssssssssssss*


    "You still think your ns are going to work here?


    Your n failed and it will keep failing, so it''s better for you to stop trying."


    Alex spoke as he sat on the desk in front of Alice with his legs hanging down and his hands on the desk.


    Ann was also looking at everything seriously while standing beside Alice''s seat. She was feeling a bit overwhelmed as she knew that if a fight were to break out then she would be the first one to get injured as she was the weakest one here.


    But that didn''t make her depressed, instead, it made her desire to get stronger increase like never before.


    Luna, on the other hand, was looking around herself and she could see that she was surrounded by that same destructive energy that she had seen earlier.


    It was evaporating or destroying even her ability that was in a gaseous state, stopping it from leaving the encirclement made by that mass of destructive energy.


    She wanted so much to just ignore her instinct''s warning and run through the mass of energy surrounding her, but since the situation was still not so dire that she would want to risk her life, she decided against it.


    She knew that Alex was strong but now she knew that he was not only strong, but he had an ability that made him immune to her attacks, which was concerning.


    Now she felt that maybe Stephan really did lose to Alex, and it was not just a fluke, but she knew it was toote to regret, so she tried to not show any tension or frustration on her face and spoke.


    "What do you want?"


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 Chapter 64: CHAPTER 64 – Dealing with Luna.

    "What do you want?"


    This was all Luna could say as she knew that there was no escaping the situation and she had to listen to the demands of her opponent.


    All of this happened just because of her underestimating the opponent or maybe having too much confidence in her ability, but she knew it was what it was, and nothing would change by regretting her decisions.


    Thus, she decided to face it head-on.


    "Hm? What do you mean by ''What do you want?''?" Alex looked at Luna with his head tilted to the left and his legs still hanging down Alice''s desk.


    "I am askin-" Luna was about to say something, but Alex continued his words as if he didn''t hear Luna talking.


    "Weren''t you the one that came to us saying that you would discuss things about what happened in the Auction house?


    You were the one who said that you wereing to hand us things that we brought along with the credit points that our items earned.


    You are also the one that attacked our guild master out of nowhere and who knows what your intentions were. If we didn''t arrive in time, you might as well have killed our guild master so this case can be seen as an assassination attempt as well.


    Think of how the public would react if they knew that the Association that is responsible for their protection is actually trying to kill one of the people who protect them wholeheartedly.


    Then there is the fact about your ability that by chance got recorded-" This time Alex''s words were cut off by Luna''s irritated voice.


    "As I said, what do you want?" Luna knew that Alex was just trying to show her just how many things were at stake right now while trying to increase the pressure on her.


    Although those words did increase the pressure on Luna, what they did most was irritate her as Alex kept mentioning her mistakes and it was one of the things she hated.


    She cut Alex off in hisst sentence because she knew what he was trying to say and she didn''t want to hear that as it would just make Alex, Alice, and Ann gain a stronger position than they already had in this negotiation/ discussion.


    Luna knew that she made some mistakes, she knew she underestimated her enemy and many other things, but she still had her pride and if someone intentionally pointed out those things, of course, she would get irritated.


    "Well, that''s up to the guild master to decide, I guess."


    Alex shrugged, stood up from the desk, and moved toward the sofa ced in the office.


    He didn''t need to interfere in this matter anymore as he knew Ann and Alice were more than capable of handling the situation.


    He just bent down to pick something up and just then for the first time, every single eye in the room turned towards a small, cute wolf that Alex picked up.


    Alice and Ann were shocked and somewhat happy as well, but Luna waspletely shocked, and she was doubting her eyes right now.


    Other than Alex, no one knew that there was someone walking beside him all the time, even Ann who came here together with him didn''t know that. But when Noctura was picked up by Alex, they all felt like Noctura just jumped out of space.


    "Please don''t mind this cute creature, she was just trying to show me how good she is," Alex spoke as he picked up Noctura and looked into her eyes with a smile.


    Ann and Alice just smiled looking at the interaction, but Luna was still processing what was happening.


    Alice and Ann knew what was happening as they lived with Alex, and they knew that he had been trying to teach something to Noctura. Whenever they asked what he was teaching Noctura he would always say that he was teaching Noctura how to use her powers.


    That''s why they were shocked and happy when they saw Noctura bing invisible even for S-rank raiders like them.


    Alice and Ann smiled warmly as they saw Noctura waving her tail and happily licking Alex''s face causing him to chuckle softly.


    "Cough," A cough from Luna made Alice and Ann look at her again and they realized that they had some work on their hands.


    They exchanged a nce and nodded to each other after which Ann took out her tab and started looking through it.


    Luna felt weird when she saw the happy smiles on Alex, Alice, and Ann''s faces. They didn''t look bad, no at all, instead, they looked better with smiles on their faces, but she was still speechless at how the situation turned merry from tense in seconds.


    She should have been happy as well if she was not their enemy, but she was stuck in a weird position as she didn''t know what to do at that moment.


    "Let''s start with the items and credits that belong to us," Alice spoke up, breaking Luna out of her thoughts.


    Luna turned serious as well, trying to ignore Alex''s infectious chuckles.


    ............


    As Alice, Ann, and Luna were talking, Alex was still happily rubbing Noctura''s back while letting her lick his face.


    The skill that Noctura was using is named ''Eclipse Walk'' by Alex.


    It''s an ability that lets Noctura decrease her presence if she walks in someone''s shadow and it works better if she has the permission of the said person.


    For example: She can stand in the shadow of a tree in the midst of a crowd and most of the people would walk away without noticing her even when she is so cute that normally anyone would stop to pat her at least.


    That''s what she was doing for a while as she kept walking in Alex''s shadow and as she had his permission, she was able to blend in his shadow better.


    However, just like any ability, this one is also not without weakness. If someone is looking at you the moment you use ''Eclipse Walk'' then you would be visible to the said person even if you used the skill.


    Then there is also the case where you were touched by someone. Your presence would automatically noticed if you were to be identally touched by someone.


    Thest situation was where you did something that would cause people to notice your presence.


    For example: There are four people in a room talking to each other and you are hiding in the shadow at the corner, then you suddenly decide to get out of the room while staying in the shadows.


    But it is when you open the door to leave the attention of every person in the room is attracted towards the door, automatically making your presence known.


    That is why her presence was only noticed by Alice, Ann, and Luna when Alex picked her up.


    Alex continued to y with Noctura while listening to the deal being made. He didn''t n to interfere, but he still stayed here just in case as he knew that there were chances of Luna trying to attack them again in an attempt to destroy the evidence.


    Just like that the discussion continued and, in the end, Luna had to agree to the conditions given by Alice and Ann, although she was unwilling to do so.


    ////////Author here!


    There''s going to be a time skip ahead so be prepared to see some changes in everyone. ////////


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 Chapter 65: CHAPTER 65 – Time skip.

    *Boom* *Boom*


    A girl in a ck dress kept moving around with expert agility, dodging the attacks of a giant, white-furred creature.


    "RRAAAAAA"


    The creature roared and rushed towards the girl again, it threw its hand right above the girl with the intention to crush her into a meat paste.


    The girl, however, just dodged the attack again with ease. Her face was rxed as she didn''t seem to be having any problem dealing with her opponent.


    "Just finish it already, will you?"


    Just then, a feminine voice was heard from her behind and the girl fighting the creature turned towards the source of the voice.


    There was a girl with red hair and red eyes standing 10 m away from her, and that girl was wearing a tight-fit red dress with some patterns over it along with pads made of some kind of scale that made her dress look a bit ominous.


    The girl was beautiful, so much so that if she were to call herself the second most beautiful girl in this world then no one would even think of iming the first position.


    However, if one looked at her carefully, they would find her very simr to someone we know.


    "Can you not let me enjoy my time for a bit, Alice?"


    The girl fighting the creature replied.


    From her reply, we can tell who the girl with red hair is and yes, it is Alice.


    The girl fighting/ ying with the creature is Ann, and she was training her instincts as her teacher A.K.A Alex had asked her.


    "You shouldn''t learn bad things from Alex, Ann," Alice spoke in a strict voice but Ann could tell that Alice was just acting, trying to make her lose focus on the fight and make mistakes.


    Alice said that because Alex liked to enjoy his fights whether it was with someone weak or strong (one of his habits that is considered bad habit by Alice and Ann), and Ann did the same thing with a creature weaker than her, which is somewhat simr to what Alex does.


    "Like you are the one to talk..."


    Ann''s words trailed off as she looked at their surroundings. She could see many creatures same as the one she was fighting, scorched alive.


    Some of them were still on theirst breath, groaning in pain, though they were not going to be alive for long.


    Ann could see the ice covering the ground had melted, showing the ground below due to the heat in the area. The area around them looked like a warzone, one which was bombed with so many grenades that everything was destroyed.


    Ann said the above words as she wanted to say that Alice was also a monster just like Alex.


    "Guys.... I''m still here, you know?"


    Just then a sigh was heard along with a tired voice which caused both Alice and Ann to giggle.


    It was Alex who was standing right beside Alice who spoke those words. He knew they were just kidding so he joined the fun as well and smiled as he saw them chuckle with beautiful smiles on their lovely faces.


    Alex then observed both of the girls andpared to before, they had be more beautiful.


    Ann had gained some blue highlights in her hair, and her breasts had increased a bit in size. Her beauty which was already mind-blowing had now upped a tier.


    The same could be said for Alice as even though there were no clear changes in her features other than her features turning sharper, she looked much more beautiful than before.


    It was like what would happen if Alex were to remove the suppression of his charm, his looks would not change they would just turn more perfect. That''s what happened to Alice as her looks had turned more perfect than before.


    "All right, I will finish it now, real quick," Ann spoke and focused on the fight.


    "RAAAAAA"


    When the giant''s hand was thrown toward her again along with an angry roar, in an attempt to crush her with its hands, she tilted her body a bit to the side, letting the giant''s fistnd right beside her feet.


    She didn''t waste a single second and stepped on the giant''s fist. With a swift movement, she ran up and stepped up on the hand, when she was close enough to the giant''s head, she pierced the giant''s eye with her dagger and as the dagger was long, it directly killed the Giant.


    "There, done."


    Ann then jumped down from the Giant''s body, letting it fall on the ground with a boom, after all, that giant was 4.5 meters in height and more than 4 quintals in weight.


    "Good, let''s go now. The Association had finally decided to make a move against us after three months." Alice spoke.


    However, unlike before, there was not an ounce of fear or hesitation in her eyes when she mentioned the Association, instead, it felt like she was rxed while talking about it.


    Alex just smiled as he looked at it.


    He helped them train as hard as he could for thest three months, and the results were obvious as both of them had grown much stronger than before. He did provide them with some additional help to power them up, but that would be left forter to be discussed.


    They didn''t just grow strong statistically, no, that''s not what Alex was training them for. They grew strong in every way, be it battle experience, strategy, or anything.


    To exin how strong they have grown, one just needs to know where they were and what they were doing.


    Right now, all of them were in an A-rank gate called Ice Yeti''syer. The giant creatures that they were fighting are called Yeti and they mostly live in cold climates.


    Those creatures are one of the beasts that are known for their strength as even the brutal and wild Orcs lose to Yetis in a contest of strength.


    The Ice Yetis are giant beasts with monkey-like faces, white fur covering most of their body and a height of 4 to 5 meters as they are bipedal monsters.


    Now you will say �C If Alice and Ann had grown stronger, wouldn''t it be easy for them to clear the gate?


    Then you need to know that both Alice and Ann had their stats limited to A-rank before entering the gate and Alex didn''t move a muscle for fighting, letting the girls fight and the girls enjoyed their time in the gate, to say the least.


    They didn''t find it challenging they found it easy even. This is just how much they have grown, but if one were to ask, who among the girls grew the most then Alex''s answer would be instantaneous �C Alice.


    "Yeah, maybe we can make some profits out of the task they are giving us," Ann spoke with a sly smile which caused both Alice and Alex to smile as well.


    The girls were not scared of the Association anymore as they knew by now that they were strong enough to not be scared of anyone in this world.


    Above all, they had Alex, a monster among monsters that both of them could not defeat together even now, with the powerups.


    Just then something jumped at Alex at a very fast speed. Alice and Ann were surprised by this but before they could do anything, whatever it was had already lunged on Alex...


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 Chapter 66: CHAPTER 66 – Noctura’s Growth and Recap 1.

    It was not just Alice and Ann that had grown stronger in these past three months, even the little pup they took in had grown up to be much stronger.


    Noctura, the little wolf pup that Alex had found was not little anymore, her height was now equal to that of a normal dog and her fur had grown darker while her blue eyes now had golden ting in them.


    Noctura had grown so much that she could survive in an A-rank gate alone, but yeah, she could survive, not clear it.


    She had learned some more abilities with Alex''s help, growing more proficient in her control over the shadow element.


    When Alice, Ann, and Alex entered the gate, Alex had let go of Noctura, telling her to go train her presence concealment in the midst of their fight. Noctura did just what she was told like a loyal servant she treated herself as.


    Noctura had grown intelligent in the three long months and now she could speak out some broken words from her mouth while not even being an S-ranked beast.


    When Noctura spoke for the first time, both Alice and Ann were beyond surprised as they knew that Noctura had yet to reach S-rank, no, she had yet to even reach A-rank, but she was still able to speak.


    How big of a news was this?


    They knew that if this news was known to the world, then there was going to be a bloody war where some would want to tame Noctura, some would want to kill Noctura and some would want to conduct experiments on Noctura.


    But they didn''t think too much about it as they were now strong enough to protect her, so they were just happy, and they celebrated that whole day or more like they asked Alex to cook something good for them.


    Noctura had been jumping from one shadow to another, moving close to the Yetis and then running away, just to practice her ability, and the Yetis would just stand in their ce oblivious to her presence that continued lurking around in the field.


    As she continued to lurk, after a while Noctura noticed that the gate boss had been cleared by Alice while the mid-boss was dealt with by Ann.


    She didn''t waste a single second and ran towards Alex, expecting to getplimented for doing good. She didn''t deactivate her ability as she wanted to surprise Alex, even though she knew that her presence was never actually hidden from Alex.


    But as Noctura ran towards Alex, she could see that Alex didn''t show any reaction, acting as if he didn''t notice her. She got happy seeing Alex''s actions and directly jumped on him as she reached near him.


    This action surprised both Alice and Ann since they couldn''t see her, after all, the Noctura came from behind their backs.


    "Masterrrrr!!"


    Noctura eximed in a cute, childish voice as she pounced at Alex in an attempt to make him fall to the ground.


    She wanted him to fall to the ground with her on top of him so she could lick his face all she wanted, but Alex didn''t even budge and just held her as she jumped on him.


    Noctura was about to sulk as she failed to do what she wanted to do, but she felt herself being patted and her mood lifted in a second.


    Just from the way her tail was swaying left and right, Alice and Ann could tell that she was extremely happy.


    As said before, Noctura had grown more intelligent while she could speak out some words as well, and the one word that she spoke the most was ''Master''.


    Her intelligence had also grown to that of a normal adult human on Gaia. She could talk fluently if she were to talk with Alex mentally, that''s how much she has changed.


    "There, there. You did a good job," Alex didn''t need her to tell him what to do as he knew what she could be expecting.


    ''Hehe, I did a good job��...'' Noctura repeated Alex''s words inwardly with a purr.


    "Let''s go?" Alex asked Alice after patting Noctura for a while.


    Noctura also obediently stood beside Alex as a loyal servant even though she was sad that she wasn''t able to get more pats.


    "Yes," Alice spoke, and they moved out of the gate while collecting the monster drops on the way.


    .....................��.


    Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura got out of the gate and started moving towards the car when a strange glint passed through Alex''s eyes.


    He could feel the same pair of eyes that had been following them for more than three months, but he didn''t say anything right now as the said person had yet to do anything to them.


    Alex ignored those eyes and sat in the passenger seat of the car with Ann driving while Alice and Noctura were in the backseat.


    Alex''s mind then wandered to the events that had happened in the past three months, and if one were to say then these three months had been anything but good for the Association.


    The first event that happened was a small argument between some local and foreign raiders, but that small argument didn''t stay small for a long time as it soon turned into a bloody battle that resulted in many civilians'' deaths along with the eventual death of the foreign raider.


    This case gave the Association a huge headache as they were already frustrated because they couldn''t find any traces of the culprit or the mastermind who stole the Iplete Mana core.


    They had topensate Green Country for the loss of the Raider who died in their country as the raider who died in the dispute was a high-ss B-rank raider from Green Country. Then they had to calm the public and find some satisfactory exnation.


    But as the case was still going on, the Association suddenly got a piece of news from an unknown source that had the images of Joseph ude A.K.A the White Shark guild''s master with some guy wearing the same clothes as the thieves that stole Mana core entering the Auction Hall together.


    This piece of news waster found to be true by the Association afterparing information from their own sources. As the White Shark Guild now looked suspicious and shady to the Association, they decided to use the ''best card'' they had.


    They knew that the people they were dealing with were the unknowns as the Association knew nothing about them, other than the fact that those people were able to steal the Mana core even when the world''s strongest raider interfered.


    So, rather than taking risks, they decided to send Stephan to investigate this case which caused Stephan to curse his luck.


    Stephan, however, knew that cursing his luck was not going to help him, so he just prayed for everything to be fine.


    Stephan along with some other high-ranked raiders from the Association went to the White Shark Guild to investigate it. But the same day something happened, something that shocked the whole world for a while, be it raiders or normal citizens....


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 Chapter 67: CHAPTER 67 – Recap 2: Mysterious Incident.

    The world was shocked by the news, for some it was devastating, for some it was something that called for a celebration, and for some, it was simply something they didn''t expect.


    But the whole world was shocked nheless when they heard that the strongest raider of Orange country, or the raider that ranked 3rd in the whole world had died.


    No one believed it at first, actually, no one even knew where the piece of information came from. It was as if the information appeared out of thin air, and it became viral as people started discussing it.


    The Raider Association, however, didn''t take things lightly as they were unable to get in contact with Stephan or anyone from the group that went to the White Shark Guild. So, the Association sent a group of low-rank Raiders to scout the White Shark guild, but what the raiders saw there was anything but pleasant.


    When the scouts arrived and told everyone what they saw, the scouts were trembling, and they were drenched in cold sweat.


    "T-there was d-dead bodied everywhere. I-I don''t know how to say this, but..."


    The only raider that was able to speak said this much and then stopped again.


    "Say it!" One of the higher-up''s shouts jolted the guy out of the nightmare he was having., the one who spoke was not someone powerful, but just a person with authority and a fat belly.


    The guy nodded his head and continued.


    "I-I couldn''t tell who was who just by looking at them, b-but I am sure that they were the t-team we sent out. I could tell that from the clothes they were wearing."


    "What did you see there?" Another question was asked by one of the higher-ups and this time it was an old man with a face like an Orc.


    "I-I��.." The raider looked terrified just by the mention of what he saw, and it was clear that he was terrified from the way his eyes started turning watery and his body started trembling.


    "For fucks sake, say it!!!!!!" The same fat guy that spoke earlier shouted again.


    Even though the Raider wanted to kill that pig-like bastard right now, he still nodded his head and tried calming his breaths.


    "I-I could only see and smell blood and blood everywhere just as we stepped into the guild''s building...


    T-The walls were painted with b-blood, and there were some strange marks on the wall.


    As we moved forward the scene continued as there was blood everywhere, w-we could see some drag marks made by dragging bloodied b-bodies. There were marks of struggle as well, as if the one being dragged were still alive��.


    We followed those marks as they led us to the training hall of the Guild, t-then we finally saw it....


    I-It was as if we had entered the hell....


    T-There were dead bodies everywhere, and by everywhere, I mean it.


    The d-dead b-bodies were not actually in one piece...


    It was like some scene from a horror movie for us as we could see it��.


    The mangled bodies of many people, and not all of them were from the association, they were also members of the White Shark Guild.


    Some had their eyes removed with their jaws torn apart, some had their limbs thrown away, some didn''t even have their head on their body, and some had their innard spilled out.


    We could feel them screaming even if they were already dead.


    T-The faces of the ones we could still look at were clearly filled with pain and terror, the temperature of the hall was chilly and even the wind whistling through the training hall felt like it was screaming.


    B-but one thing wasmon among them...��"


    The guy looked into the eyes of the with his eyes that were trembling violently.


    "T-They were eaten alive, w-we could tell that from the bite marks on their body...


    T-They were tortured alive....


    And it was not done by any w-weapon, they were tortured and maimed by having their body parts torn apart by brute force."


    The Raider was unable to tell them things in more detail, so some other experienced Raiders decided to go there.


    Even though the raiders didn''t like what they saw, they were still able to retrieve the bodies of their fellow workers.


    Amidst all this another thing was discovered in the White Shark Guild and it was that every member of the White Shark Guild was murdered brutally after being tortured just like the members of the Association.


    Not only that, there was another shocking fact discovered after the Raider entered the guildmasters cabin.


    Joseph ude, the guild master of White Shark was discovered dead right on his guild master seat with his head detached from his body and ced on the desk as a decoration.


    The investigation of this case is still ongoing as nothing about the culprit who did all of this is known yet which made people name this incident as ''Mysterious''.


    The atmosphere in the Orange Country had turned tense and it had been that way since Stephan''s death. If not for Luna somehow supporting the Association, it would have already copsed.


    After all, Stephan who kept every guild suppressed by his power was gone forever, never to return.


    Each and every guild started behaving like untamed dogs just after the news of Stephan''s death was confirmed. They did all those things that the Association had denied and surprisingly they got away with it, without having to face any consequences of their actions.


    Some righteous people in the Association tried to stop them only to get beaten up.


    This was also the reason why the Association had been in control for thest three months as it only did things that it was supposed to do.


    The guilds did whatever they wanted to but not openly as they knew that even if Stephan''s dead, there was still Luna, and the member count of the Association was still the highest in the world.


    The Association also had some other S-rank raiders, so one guild would want to go against the Associationpletely as it would simply be digging its own grave.


    The people in the Association thought that they were doomed until Luna suggested an idea. She suggested that even if Stephan is dead, his death could be used to gain a better supporter.


    Although the higher-ups were confused by her words at the start, as they continued to listen, they became excited as they knew if the n worked then there was still hope for them.


    Somehow, without anyone realizing it, Luna had already be the leader of the Association.


    But Luna was still sure that problems were just starting, and she had a feeling that they were soon going to be exposed to many changes, she didn''t know why but she just felt like that...��.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 68: CHAPTER 68 – The Task.

    Luna had been managing the Association for almost three months but then she encountered a problem.


    That problem''s name was Somer Knox.


    He was one of the loyal followers of Stephan and he was also one of the people who had seen the scene of Alex injuring Stephan.


    From then on Somer held a deep grudge against Alex and he wanted nothing more than Alex''s suffering and that hatred of his only increased when Stephan''s death was dered.


    He gathered a group of raiders in the Association under the banner of ''Revenge for Stephan'' and went to meet Luna.


    Luna tried to exin things to them, but they didn''t listen.


    She had tried using her skill as well, but she discovered that her skill was not working on Somer, much to her confusion. (She didn''t use it at full power when she used it on them, after all, why would she waste more mana than needed)


    But when she read his documents, she saw that this guy had an instigation skill and that was a mental skill, so maybe he was just that angry that his mental barrier had been upped and lot, and maybe that''s the reason why he could gather so many people with him.


    Luna, however, didn''t want any kind of dispute with any Guild so she decided to silence Somer, but then she realized that she waste as the higher-ups of the Association had called for a meeting and had already decided on what to do with the Crimson Lotus Guild.


    .........................


    "So, how much information did you gather on the gate we have to scout?" Alex asked Ann as he chewed his food.


    "I couldn''t get much information on the gate as it''s a new gate, but it is said to be a special S-rank gate."


    Alex''s hand stopped midway as it was about to reach his mouth and a grin broke out on his face, but it was hidden pretty quickly so no one noticed it.


    He was just happy that he was getting a chance to get a huge increase in his SP, as he had almost emptied his SPs to buy some things for Alice and Ann.


    ''How many SPs do I have left, right now?'' Alex asked Sophia as he continued to eat.


    [Not much, it''s 547 SPs.]


    ''I see��...'' Alex didn''t say much and just let it be.


    "A what again?" Alice, however, had a disbelieving look on her face.


    "A special S-rank gate," Ann repeated in a somber tone as she ced the tab on the dining table.


    But her other hand still moved toward her te and picked up the spoon to eat the chicken curry and rice that Alex had prepared.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex chuckled, and so did Sophia who was looking at the scene.


    It just looked that funny as Ann was looking towards Alice with a serious and somber face, but her hands were automatically moving towards the food.


    "Be serious!!" X2


    Both Alice and Ann eximed together but the next second they started eating again with serious expressions.


    Alex, however, just burst into full-blownughter as he saw this. It was when he was being red by the two girls did he stoppedughing and raised his hand in surrender.


    "All right, All right. Here, I am serious." Alex spoke and by the end, his face turned serious along with his voice and now he looked like someone who was getting ready to go to war.


    ''Are you for real?'' This is what both Alice and Ann''s expressions were right now.


    They knew that he was a good actor and sometimes they could not tell if he was just acting or if it was real, but wasn''t this too much?


    They could even feel some battle intent along with killing intent leaving his body as if he was ready to kill someone.


    "So? What are you guys so serious about? Isn''t it just a special S-rank gate?" Alex spoke, but his voice remained serious along with his expression.


    Alice and Ann were left speechless.


    If Alex said in the same rxed and nonchnt manner as always, then they would have argued, but right now they didn''t know if he was seriously serious or if he was just acting.


    "I am serious, why are you guys...scared?" Alex took some time to find the best word he could and spoke.


    This time both Alice and Ann''s expressions changed a little.


    "You do know that we are not talking about an A-rank special gate, right?" Alice asked as she looked into Alex''s eyes.


    "I know that, so?" Alex asked.


    "The bosses in these types of gates are of SS-rank," Ann continued Alice''s words.


    "Hm, and?" Alex still did not look satisfied with the answer he was getting.


    Alice and Ann''s worries were not unfounded as there had only been two gates ever that were ssified as Special S-rank gates and one of them had been cleared.


    Still, it would be better to say that it had to be cleared rather than it was cleared as it had reached the time limit and was about to have a gate break.


    But at what expense was the gate cleared?


    15 S-rank raiders from all over the world had to die and they all died in the boss fight. It was because of their deaths did the others got a chance to clear the gate, and that kind of gate was given to them by the Association to clear.


    However, what was worse was that there was still no information about this gate.


    "Aren''t you guys underestimating yourself a bit too much and did you forget that I am in your guild as well?" Alex asked and finally, his voice turned rxed.


    Alice and Ann were stunned for a while before they smiled lightly. They know that they are strong but they tend to underestimate them as they always lose to Alex.


    But when they hear Alex''s words, they remember that they already had a monster in their guild, how could a monster harm them with him in their guild?


    "But why would Luna want to get into a dispute with us even with the situation the Association is in?" Alice asked as she continued her eating.


    "I don''t think it was Luna who sent this task to us," Ann spoke calmly as she knew that Luna was not stupid enough to do it.


    "Yes, and if we were to deny the task, I am sure that the Association would not press us as by that time Luna would''ve already taken care of the internal problem in the Association.


    After all, she has the perfect skills to handle internal problems within an organization."


    Alex spoke as he took a bite of chicken in his mouth.


    "Yeah," Ann nodded her head at Alex''s words.


    "But we are not going to do that are we?" Alice asked with a light smile.


    "Of course not, we would be a fool if we were to deny an opportunity to get profits," Alex spoke with the same smile as Alice and Ann just chuckled looking at their interaction.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 69: CHAPTER 69 – The Special S-Rank Gate.

    "I see why it''s called a special gate now..."


    Alex spoke as he observed the special S-rank gate in from him.


    Unlike normal gates where the color of the gate could tell the rank and the base could tell the terrain, this gate had nothing at its base, rather, it was floating 2 meters above the ground.


    It was indigo in color, clearly telling everyone that it was an S-ranked gate, but there was no indication of terrains, which was not normal, and anything that was not normal was weird.


    If something is weird then it''s special and dangerous, that''s how it has always been when it came to gates.


    Alice, Ann, Noctura, and Alex were walking together, while Frank and his group were right behind them, followed by a group of healers that were led by Nick.


    This was the line-up for the raid and even though the Raiders from Crimson Lotus were scared they still followed the orders.


    Other than Frank who was confident to survive in the gate with his S-rank powers (He thinks that), others were scared and it could be seen in their eyes.


    Everyone in the world knew what had happened to the people who entered the other Special S-rank gate. Many people died in the gate as they tried to scout the gate and that''s what they were supposed to do in this gate- Scout.


    When they heard that they got a scouting mission from the Association this time, everyone in the guild was happy but the happy atmosphere broke like fragile ss when they heard that the gate they were supposed to scout was the only S-rank special gate present in this world right now.


    Now some of you would have a question �C What do you mean this time?


    To answer that question, the Association allocates a task to every guild one by one and those tasks arepulsory to do for public security.After all, the Association owns much more ce in the country than any other guild could dream of, and it can''t look after all of them.


    So, the Association gives out some of its work for the guilds to do and the guilds have to do it for free and the only rewards they can get are the boss drop and the mid-boss drop, that''s all. Anything other than that goes directly into the Association''s pocket.


    The guilds can deny some tasks if they don''t like it or if they think that it''s not worth it for them. But that can only be done twice as they have to ept whatever task they were given the third time.


    The Association had the power to threaten the guilds and although Stephan was dead it still had that power, that''s the only reason why the Association is still not destroyed.


    ................................................


    Alice stood on the stair-like tform attached to the gate.


    The gate was 2 meters high in the Air after all, and even though a raider could just jump in it, wasn''t it better to just create a stair? Yes, it was.


    Alice stood atop the tform with Alex and Ann on either side and although Frank looked at Alex with hateful eyes, he could just do that as it was supposed to be his ce and he was the one who stood there before Alex came.


    To everyone else, it was normal as Alex was the honorary guild master which gave him simr standing to the guild master. As for Ann, well, everyone knew that she was Alice''s secretary.


    Alice looked and everyone and spoke with a serious expression.


    "Remember to stay together, no one is supposed to wander out alone, and the most important thing is to always stay on high alert.


    We are entering an unknown territory with no prior information about it, so you better be ready for some not-so-good surprises.


    Let''s enter, shall we?"


    The raiders of Crimson Lotus, although scared, still followed their guild master''s lead, and shouted.


    "YES!!"


    Every one of them gave ast nce at the crowd of unconscious reporters and raiders in the surroundings and finally entered the gate.


    ................................................


    The media had been very busy for a while as there had been many things going on in the world, but just when things were calming down a bit they heard another piece of information that could be turned into breaking news.


    The information said that the Crimson Lotus guild which is one of the top guilds in the Orange Country if not the world was given the task of scouting the only S-ranked Special gate in this world.


    But the thing was that they didn''t even deny the task and epted it without a problem.


    This raised many questions and many spections, but overall it was a hit breaking news that was still sitting on top of the trending news list.


    Every news channel wanted to be the first one to get answers from Alice. That was the reason they arrived in front of the gate, and tried to intercept the Crimson guild members and Alice before they entered the gate.


    The reporters being what they are, directly jumped on the guild''s bus just as they arrived, it was hard for the members of Crimson Lotus to evene out of the bus, but they somehow did.


    As they got out of the bus, the raiders from the Crimson Lotus Guild tried to talk it out with the reporters to make way, but the reporters didn''t listen, instead, they started makingmotion just then a voice was heard.


    A single word, that sounded calm and deadly at the same time.


    The voice was domineering, overbearing, calm, serene, andmanding. The voice was so powerful that it even made the Air in the surrounding still.


    "Enough."


    It was not a shout or an exmation, but a simple word. However, for the reporters, be it normal unawakened humans or raiders, it felt like a bloodthirsty beast looking at them.


    It was getting hard for them to breathe as they felt the air around them getting heavy, when suddenly an unawakened reporter fell to the ground, unconscious.


    Slowly each and every reporter lost consciousness and fell to the ground.


    It started from the weakest reporter and thest to fall was a B-rank raider who worked as a reporter. But just before he fell unconscious, he scanned the members of Crimson Lotus Guild as if printing their image in his mind, until his eyes were shut and he was on the ground, unconscious.


    However, their camera that was still working recorded everything, and to the camera, instead of looking like a bloodthirsty beast the owner of the voice looked more like a prince that would save the princess from the bloodthirsty beasts.


    At that moment when the video was streamed live, many females, be it a young child or old granny, fell for a single guy. Unlike the reporters who fell on the ground, they fell on him, and that guy in question was none other than Alex.


    However, neither Alex nor the guild members of Crimson Lotus knew about this as they were facing their first challenge right after they entered the gate.


    _________________________________________


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    (Whisper) I would be happy if I could get some gifts as well, but up to you, I guess..... (Whisper)

 Chapter 70: CHAPTER 70 – Inside the Special S-Rank gate.

    As the raiders from Crimson Lotus entered the gate, they were on high alert.


    They were ready to face anything, but as they entered the gate, they found themselves falling from the sky toward the ground.


    How could they be ever ready for this?


    They were 100 meters high in the sky, but they could see trees below them that had a height of 30 meters, which meant they could just get a hold of the tree and survive.


    Every raider readied themselves to grip whatever they could from the tree or else even if they were not going to die, they would still be injured and that was not something they wanted to be in an undiscovered gate, the fact that it was an S-rank special gate only made it hard for them.


    They continued to fall for some seconds and just before they were about to reach 30 meters which was the height of the tree, they stopped midair.


    They didn''t know what was happening and the first thought that came to their minds was an enemy as they didn''t know anyone with flying ability in their guild.


    Everyone started struggling, trying to free themselves from the strange restrictions they felt, but then one guy noticed Alice, Ann, Noctura, and Alex standing in the air, looking at them with amused expressions.


    It didn''t take time for him to understand that it was their doing and his eyes inadvertently turned toward Alex as he knew that neither Alice nor Ann had this kind of ability.


    He gave a respectful nod to Alex who nodded back to the guy and made a tform for him to stand instead of holding him midair.


    The guy stood straight and looked around curiously as it was not every day that one gets the chance to stand midair, so the guy enjoyed the scenery.


    All of this didn''t go unnoticed by others as they also noticed Alice, Ann, Alex, and Noctura standing calmly. One by one every one of them started calming down and looking around as they were all given a tform to stand.


    (Note: Alex was not using telekinesis, he was simply restricting their movements by making the air around them dense)


    Their enjoyment didn''tst long....


    *Screech*


    All of them instantly turned towards the source of the sound and their bodies tensed as they saw the source of the sound. They could see somerge beasts flying towards them and they were very fast, from the looks of it they didn''t seem in a good mood as well.


    They hadrge wings andrge beaks but unlike normal birds'' beaks theirs were sharp and they looked like they were ready to cut someone.


    If one were to describe how they looked then the best thing that would match them would be a Hatzegopteryx. They were 5 - 6meters tall, and they were very fast, just from their speed alone one could tell they were either an A-rank or S-rank.


    "Everyone here likes eating chicken, right?" The raiders were breaking out of their thoughts when they heard a calm voice, and they saw that it was Alex who spoke.


    But it didn''t end there as they saw Ann nodding her head and Noctura had salivaing out of her mouth.


    "Yeah, we should start our raid with roasted chickens," Alice also agreed to Alex''s suggestion without hesitation.


    She could tell that the monsters that were flying toward them were not dangerous for her and she could take care of them easily.


    The raiders who heard this were shocked and they looked at Alice and Alex as if they were looking at idiots.


    Some even tried to clean their ears as they thought that maybe they heard it wrong but looking at Alice who was stretching on the invisible tform, they knew that it was not them hearing things and the thing they heard was actually true.


    They were still in disbelief when they saw Alice and Alex exchanging a nce before both of them raised one of their hands and opened their palms toward the iing flock of beasts.


    *SCREECHH*


    The beasts screamed louder as they felt that they were being underestimated.


    The raiders got ready to attack as the beasts were now just 50 meters away. Frank was about to run towards Alice to protect her, but the next second everyone stopped their movements.


    It was not because of Alex using temporal pause, it was because what they saw was just that shocking.


    The moment Alex and Alice raised their palms, the air around them started heating up, and suddenly a beam of fire was shot from their palms.


    The beam was not uniform and simple as it kept increasing in size as it moved forwards, by the time it reached the beasts, the beam had a diameter of 20 meters. As both Alex and Alic''s beams moved towards the flock of those beasts, they engulfed all of the beasts in themselves.


    The spectators were shell-shocked by the scene as they never knew that something like this was possible.


    But Frank had just one question �C How did Alice get this strong?


    He knew how strong Alice was but right now, he felt that she was much more stronger than he knew her to be.


    However, the things didn''t end there as they saw the scorched and burning beasts falling toward the ground only to be stuck on the tree.


    Then they noticed something, they saw that the beasts were not being burned, they were being roasted.


    It was like both Alice and Alex knew just how much heat was required to not burn the beasts, just like that slowly the beasts were all roasted, ready to eat.


    None of them knew when, but they had already forgotten the shocking power disy they saw earlier as they had their focus on the roasted meat in front of them, after all, who doesn''t like meat?


    As they were thinking about how to pull those roasted beats down on the floor, they saw themselves slowly descending downward.


    "Be ready, we might get greeted by some unexpected guests at our party."


    They heard Alex speak as they were being lowered.


    Everyone became serious as they understood the meaning behind Alex''s words, and they got themselves battle-ready.


    As everyone was fully focused and battle-ready they could hear and focus on every single noise so they could hear the sounds of someone running at very fast speed on the ground.


    They heard hurried footsteps from every side, low snarls, and snapping of twigs. This was enough to let them know that whoever was down there was not a friendly guest at least.


    But just as they were about 5 meters from the ground all the sounds vanished, it was like they were never there in the first ce. The ce became eerily silent giving them chills.


    They were in the middle of a giant forest, but they could hear the sound of each other''s breaths.


    As theynded on the ground, they cautiously looked around, ready for anything.


    They could see that Alex and Alice were just above them standing in the air, while Ann and Noctura were nowhere to be seen. Even though both Alice and Alex looked rxed, the raiders below them felt that they were being protected.


    What they didn''t know was that some beasts in this forest were very sensitive to mana, they could somewhat tell who was strong or who was weak if they were close enough, and the beasts they were about to face were one of those.


    Right now, the beasts hiding in the bushes, who turned out to be Ornithomimids, could tell that the two people above were not something they could defeat, but that didn''t mean they were scared.


    Ornithomimids were quite fast on their foot, and they were sure that they were the fastest so all they needed to do was run after they were done.


    The raiders waited for their enemies to attack while the Ornithomimids waited for the Raiders to lower their guards.


    The tension in the air stayed like that for a while until it was broken...��


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 Chapter 71: CHAPTER 71 – The Fight Started.

    As the Raiders and the Ornithomimids waited for each other to move, there was something moving towards them, and that something was big, fast, and hungry.


    The said thing was a T-rex-like beast with its scale made of rock and its sharp teeth were made of iron. The T-rex was 7 meters in height and 24 meters in length, however, unlike a normal T-rex, it was thinner and more agile.


    It had smelled the scent of the roasted Hatzegopteryx and as it had been hungry for a while it decided to go and eat them.


    ..........................................��


    "We got another guest, a big one at that..." Alex''s voice broke the silence.


    But his words only caused the raiders to be more worried, they didn''t know Alex''s ability but from the way they saw it, they could guess that Alex had some kind of sensing ability.


    So, when they heard his words, they knew that he could sense something moving toward them.


    "Why don''t we let Ann take care of our new guest, Alice?" Alex asked Alice ignoring the worried raiders below.


    "If you think she can deal with it then, why not?" Alice spoke with a smile.


    "I''ll be right back," Before Alex could say something, Ann''s voice was heard, causing both Alex and Ann to smile.


    No one could tell where the voice came from, but the Ornithomimids were relieved. For a while the Ornithomimids felt that they could lose their lives anytime, it was like there was a god of death sitting right behind them, but they couldn''t see it.


    But now they felt that they were safe...


    *Swish**sh*


    Or maybe not...?


    The sound of something cutting through the air was heard and their senses felt that their lives were under threat, but the next second a shing sound was heard and it was not a normal shing sound it was the sound of flesh being cut.


    All of the Ornithomimids turned their head towards the source of the piercing sound only to see one of their friends who was standing with them had its head sliced in two parts.


    It was a clean cut that directly removed the upper half of its head, leaving only the lower part. The beast didn''t even get a chance to scream before it was killed.


    Then their eyes turned toward the guy and the girl standing in the air and they saw the guy''s lips moving.


    "Let''s stop the hide-and-seek guys," Alex spoke to the raiders and the beasts that were hiding.


    *Grrrrr*


    The Ornithomimids growled as they looked at the guy standing up in the sky. Even though they could not tell what Alex was saying they could tell that they were not hidden from his eyes.


    Since there was no use in hiding, the Ornithomimids came out of the bushes, letting the raiders see their enemies. There were around 15 Orthimimids which was lower than the total number of raiders who entered the gate, including Alex, Alice, Ann, and the healers by the count of 9.


    But, it was still concerning as Alex and Alice were up in the air and they didn''t seem like they would be moving anytime soon, then there was Ann who had gone to fight something that they didn''t even know.


    Then the 4 healers that were notbatant were also not going to fight which made the numerical advantage that the raiders had over the ornithomimids turn into 2.


    The air grew with tension and even though the Ornithomimids knew that Alex and Alice were stronger they were not fighting alone, they were a group of experienced hunters who hunted their prey together.


    After all, even a lion loses to a group of hyenas.


    "RRRAAAAWWWWRRRRRR"


    Just then a thunderous roar was heard, but it was not a simple roar as it was filled with pain and anger. The ground vibrated along with the roar as if something very heavy crashed on the ground.


    As if the roar was the indication for the ornithomimids to start their assault, they ran toward the raiders. For a split second, every Raider looked in the direction the roar came from, giving the ornithomimids an opening they had been waiting for.


    One of them rushed toward the closest person to them and true to their ims, they were very fast. Before the Raiders could even blink, but still as they were all A-ranked trained Raiders, they quickly got into a defensive position.


    Some dodged the jaws of the Ornithomimids, some blocked their ws with their weapons, and some took the attack head-on getting injured in the process.


    But one guy was not focused and his head was about to be chopped off by the razor-sharp teeth of an ornithomimid, the guy closed his eyes as his whole life shed through them.


    He had already given up the moment he looked back to find a jaw filled with razor-sharp teeth right in front of his eyes, no matter how strong he was, he knew at that moment that he was a goner.


    But the death he was waiting for never came, instead, he heard a loud shout right beside his ears.


    "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU CLOSING YOUR EYES FOR?!?!?!?! FIGHT MF!!!!"


    The guy snapped open his eyes and found Frank holding the jaw of the ornithomimid that was about to take his life with his hands covered with scales.


    He realized that he had been saved and after giving a grateful nod to Frank, he ran towards one of the raiders he saw struggling to fight as his arm was bitten by the ornithomimid.


    Frank just scoffed and focused back on the beast whose jaw he was holding.


    "You like biting, don''t you? How about this?" As Frank spoke, we used more force in his hands tearing the jaw of the ornithomimid without much struggle.


    The beast tried to break free from Frank, but as an A-rank monster that was known for its speed, how could it break free from the grip of a strength-type S-ranked Raider?


    After killing the beast, Frank looked towards the position where Alice and Alex were standing only to find Alice standing there alone.


    But he didn''t dwell too much on it and ran towards the ornithomimid that was standing in the back, snorting and grunting as if giving orders.


    One could tell that it was the leader and Frank didn''t need to be a genius to know that it should be stronger than other ornithomimids as well, but he still ran toward it.


    As an S-rank raider, he had his pride and he was sure that he was strong enough to defeat an S-rank rank beast alone if it wasn''t a mid-boss or a boss.


    Adding to that, he had the advantage of strength and even if his opponent was fast and could deliver many attacks, all Frank needed was one fully powered attack to finish his enemy, but he wouldter find out that everything was not as easy as it seemed.


    Alice was looking at all of this and just smiled as she saw the team doing good. She then turned towards the ce where she heard the roar from, the same ce where Alex had gone to and also the ce where Ann was fighting.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 72: CHAPTER 72 – A Mid-Boss?

    [It was a good idea not to kill him, wasn''t it?]


    ''Yeah, not like I was ever thinking of killing him. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, that''s all.''


    Alex replied to Sophia''s words as he looked towards Frank who ran to save the raider from Crimson Lotus who was about to be killed.


    Alex could tell that Frank was not doing that to show off in front of Alice or himself, Frank was just doing that because he wanted to. This was the reason why even with all the things he did in the guild, Alice didn''t kick him out of the guild.


    Everyone else in the guild also knew that no matter how Frank was in the guild, once they entered the gate or some kind of battle situation, he would prove to be very dependable.


    "You really think that Ann will win, right?" Suddenly Alice asked.


    She was not in a fight that she would need to focus on, so she was more worried about Ann, who was fighting against the thing that could make the ground below them vibrate.


    [I could see that questioning from a mile away.] Sophia giggled in Alex''s head causing him to sigh inwardly.


    Even Alex could see that questioning, after all, even if you know that everything is fine, it''s your job to worry about your loved ones. Alex knew that Alice trusted him, he didn''t need to ask that now, not after three months of staying together.


    So, he knew why she was asking that question and the answer was simple �C Worry.


    "Yes, she will. But for your satisfaction and relief, I will go there and keep an eye on her.


    So you can rest assured about Ann''s safety and look after your subordinates."


    Alex answered Alice''s question and told her what he would do.


    It was not just Alice, Ann, and Noctura who had grown strong, he was the one who had grown the most. As his powers grew, so did his control over his elements and abilities and right now his perception could cover more than 1000 meters.


    The ce Ann was fighting was within 500 meters from their location, so he was already keeping an eye on her, but just for Alice''s relief, he decided to move there.


    "Un." Alice nodded with a light smile on her face.


    Alice was worried for Ann''s safety as the thing that could cause such aftereffects from its attack was bound to be powerful and in an S-rank gate that too a special one, powerful was not something Ann could handle easily.


    Alice''s worries for Ann were not unfunded, after all, the only people who meant something to her in this world were Ann and Alex right now.


    She knew that she didn''t need to worry about Alex, but the same could not be said for Ann. Ann has yet to get strong enough to say that she doesn''t need to worry about anything.


    So, when Alex said that he would go and keep an eye on Ann, she was happy. She was happy that Alex understood her words and also happy that Ann would be safe now.


    Not for a second she thought that Alex would be defeated. That''s how much trust she had in Alex right now.


    Alex then nodded and vanished from there leaving behind only Alice who had a light smile on her face while observing the raiders below her.


    This is what was seen by Frank before he ran towards the leader of the ornithomimids group. Frank had failed to notice that there was another ornithomimid hiding behind the leader but it was seen clearly by Alice.


    Alice, however, didn''t move or inform Frank about the danger, she let him be, as this would serve as a lesson to him. Alice was not saying that she was going to let Frank die, she would interfere if a situation like that arose.


    Alice just wanted Frank to use his brain during fights and what was a better way to learn than learning it the hard way?


    However, she seems to have forgotten that she was the same three months ago...


    ......................


    (Some time ago when Ann moved towards the T-rex.)


    Ann ran toward the direction Alex pointed at and after a while, she could feel some vibrationsing from the ground below her.


    She could tell that her enemy was either big or very heavy this time since they could cause vibrations just from their movements.


    She did what she thought was the best and it was to climb a tree to gain the higher ground.


    After she climbed up to 8 or 9 meters up on a tree, in a second or two she could finally see the enemy she had to fight, and honestly, she was a bit intimidated, only a bit.


    After all, her opponent was a 7-meter high and 22-meter-long dinosaur-like creature. It looked like a T-rex, but it seemed more agile than a normal T-rex could ever be, it''s long and razor-sharp teeth that looked like they could prate through the strongest metals.


    It had dark brown, almost ck scales unevenly covering its body with a high density of scales on its back which created a spine while the density of the scales was lower on the dorsal side of its body.


    It had slit ck eyes that kept looking around as it moved toward the direction she came from. Meaning, it was moving towards the ce where the Raiders were fighting against the ornithomimids.


    But suddenly its step came to a halt as it raised its head up in the air and started sniffing the air, and then surprisingly, it spoke.


    "Hm, I can smell you��." A deep growling voice was heard from its closed mouth.


    Its eyes kept scanning the area, be it the ground or the trees, but with Ann''s ability activated, she was invisible to the T-rex.


    "Come out, puny human. You can''t hide from me��." It spoke again as it kept moving toward the tree Ann was sitting upon.


    With its 7-meter height, its head was just a meter or two below the branch Ann was sitting upon.


    "Where are you hiding...?" It moved around the tree while looking around.


    Then with a snap it jumped up and bit the branch Ann was sitting on, crushing the very branch with its jaws.


    Then it spit out the branch from its mouth.


    "The more you hide the more I want to eat you...." It spoke and moved towards the next tree, sniffing the air.


    Ann had already moved to another tree when the T-rex had arrived below her tree. After all, the first thing Alex taught her was to never take risks till you knew that everything was in your control.


    Right now, nothing was in Ann''s control, rather the situation didn''t look good for her if she didn''t do something quickly.


    ''Is it a mid-boss? It is an S-ranked monster and one that can speak well at that.'' Ann was thinking about the monster, observing it.


    She could tell that it was a very strong one, strong enough to be called mid-boss of the gate if it was not a mid-boss already.


    After a while, Ann made a n along with some counter ns if it were to fail. She broke a branch without making much sound and then threw it at the bottom of the tree.


    As she threw the branch, she jumped to the tree next to the one she was sitting on.


    Just as the branchnded on the ground, producing a rustling sound, the T-rex zoomed toward the sound and directly crushed the branch.


    "What are you doing now....?" It spoke as it lifted its feet.


    It could tell that the branch didn''t fall on its own, it was dropped by someone or something. The T-rex then looked up at the tree, looking for any trace of Ann, but it couldn''t find it.


    How could he? Ann was not on that tree anymore, she was on the tree next to it, ready to attack.


    The T-rex then wiped its thick tail, crashing it into the tree Ann was standing before. The 30-meter-long tree tilted a bit with some cracks on its surface.


    "It''s getting boring now, I might just break the trees in the surrounding...." The T-rax spoke and twisted its body ready to wipe the same tree again with the intention to break the tree.


    But just then it heard the sound of air being cut and thest thing its right slit-shaped eyes could see was a sh of light being reflected on some kind of metal before...


    "RRRAAAAWWWWRRRRRR"


    It roared in pain and anger as it realized what had happened.


    But the next second it smashed the right side of its head on a tree next to it with all the force its body could muster. It wanted to end the puny human that dared to hurt him, it didn''t want to enjoy its time eating now, it just wanted to make the human suffer.


    The force of his body mming on the tree with full force broke the tree, making it fall to the ground, producing a loud crashing sound.


    "Hmph"


    The T-rex just snorted as it knew that the human had escaped at thest moment, it looked around for a while in an unsessful attempt to find the human.


    "Grrrr��."


    The T-rex growled in frustration as it didn''t think that it would have to use its real powers to fight against a puny human, but it had no choice left.


    "Die, you puny human...."


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 73: CHAPTER 73 – Ann Vs T-Rex.

    Alex moved toward the location where Ann and the T-rex were, and in a sh, he was standing just above (50 meters high) the ce where the T-rex was standing.


    Alex had arrived just in time to hear the T-rex saying, "Die, you puny human...."


    Alex looked around and he found where Ann was, he just chuckled as he looked at how Ann was standing there like a statue without even breathing, but he decided to see what she had nned.


    He could also see that the T-rex was strong, much stronger than any other monster he had seen till now, but it was just that.


    It was not something that could make him worry, neither was it something that he thought Ann would not be able to defeat if she fought well.


    .........................................


    Ann was standing right below the T-rex and the reason why the T-rex was not able to find that out was because it was not focusing on Ann''s smell. It just wanted to unleash its anger and anger is something that clouds anyone''s judgment.


    "RAWRR"


    The T-rex roared and smashed its foot on the ground, just beside Ann whose heart rate shot up as she knew that if that foot were tond on her, then it was over for her.


    But then she saw the ground trembling a little and the next second many spikes shot out from the ground directly smashing into anything standing in their way.


    The radius of the attack was 50 meters, and the spikes were pointed outwards from the T-rex, creating a circr structure that was outlined by sharp pointed spikes made of rocks.


    The gap between those spikes was no more than 100 centimeters which meant that a normal human with a height of more than 100 centimeters would be pierced with at least one of those spikes.


    Ann sighed in relief as she was sure that if she was still out there then she would have been injured if not already in a fatal condition.


    The T-rex then deactivated its skill, making the spikes crumble into dust and fall to the ground.


    As the dust settled the result of thest attack could be seen. The area was filled with holes, with many trees already on the ground, and even some unfortunate beasts in the area were also pierced by those spikes.


    The T-rex, however, had no interest in them as he looked around intently for any movements from the human, but he couldn''t find one.


    Just as it was about to speak again, it felt a burning feeling on its stomach before it roared again.


    "RAAWWRRRR"


    It roared again and it was the same reason as thest time.


    Its stomach was cut by something, and it was not a short cut, its stomach had a deep 1-meter-long cut which was throwing out a lot of blood.


    But then the T-rex snickered.


    "Found you..."


    It had seen Ann as she ran just after cutting its stomach. It was not going to make the same mistake again, it knew that the Human it was up against was very slippery, so it didn''t lose focus because of pain, unlikest time.


    Ann who heard those words knew that she was already seen so she hurriedly moved away from the ce she was hiding, but just as she was about to run, she saw arge tail right in front of her.


    Ann knew that she wouldn''t be able to dodge it so she did the next best thing she could think of. She tried to block the attack by cing the dagger right in front of her and pushing it out with both of her hands.


    The attack was blocked, and it didn''tnd on her body, but the result was not what she had expected.


    Ann found herself thrown backward, crashing into some trees or what was left of them anyway. She felt like her back was fractured but then she saw a foot descending on her at a very fast pace.


    Ann jumped up and avoided the foot by a centimeter, but then another foot descended on her.


    Ann knew that she was going to be at a disadvantage right now and she had to do something if she wanted to get an upper hand in this fight.


    She dodged another foot that came down at her, but she could feel that it would not continue for long, so she decided to make a move.


    As the foot descended on her she didn''t dodge like other times causing the T-rex to scoff and put more force in its leg. But just as the foot was above Ann''s head she ducked and slid below the T-rex causing it to panic a bit.


    However, since the T-rex used more force in itsst leg m, its bnce was a bit off, so if it hurriedly stepped back or made any sudden movements it might fall to the ground, bing vulnerable to any and every attack of its enemy.


    Ann took advantage of the situation and extended the cut she had made on the T-rex''s stomach with her dagger which had a blue sheen to it and it was giving out a chilly feeling.


    "RAAWWWRRRRR"


    The T-rex roared and jumped backward, distancing itself from Ann, but Ann didn''t let that happen and ran towards the T-rex.


    Why would she let the distance between them increase when she had clearly seen what the T-rex was capable of?


    But as if it was waiting for Ann to follow it, the T-rex twisted its body and wiped its tail at Ann who didn''t expect an attack and was caught off guard.


    But she still slid down on the ground, narrowly avoiding the tail that passed from right above her.


    The T-rex left with no choice, decided to continue the fight as it was not a coward to run from fights.


    The fight continued as it became more and more deadly with time, both Ann and the T-rex tried their best to win the fight as they knew the loser would be the one to lose their life.


    The T-rex was getting injured more and more but it knew that it just needed one good shot and it could im its enemy''s life, and so it decided to take the risk.


    Ann could feel the T-rex getting slow as time passed, after all, it had been losing its blood for a while now. This made Ann attack the T-rex with more energy as she could see that she was about to win.


    Just like every time Ann went for the attack when she found an opening but then her senses tingled but before she could understand anything she found the body of the T-rex falling on top of her.


    She knew that she couldn''t do anything to escape from there as the speed of the T-rex was not something to be underestimated.


    The T-rex smiled inwardly as it knew that it finally caught the slippery human in its trap.


    *Boom*


    "HAHAHAHAHA-"


    The T-rexughed in its deep voice as it had finally ended one of the hardest opponents it had fought.


    But itsugh came to an abrupt halt as its face contorted before it let out a long and painful roar.


    "RAAAAWWWRRRR!!!"


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 74: CHAPTER 74 – Frank’s Fight.

    As Ann was fighting with the T-rex, the raiders on the other side were busy fighting against some very fast enemies.


    Some of the raiders were fighting toe-to-toe with their agile adversaries, some of them teamed up to fight against one enemy, and some were being treated by the healers after they were injured in the fight.


    The thing that attracted most of the attention in the field, however, was Frank.


    powered-by-MvLeMpYr


    Frank moved towards the leader of the ornithomimids, but it was noticed by other ornithomimids which caused them to rush towards Frank one by one.


    Frank tilted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the jaw of an ornithomimid that was about to tear his head off his body.


    Frank then coated his leg with the smander scales and smashed his leg on the ornithomimid''s right foot. The beast lost its bnce and fell to the ground as the force behind Frank''s kick was enough to bend its leg in a strange shape.


    "GRRRAAAWWW--"*Crunch*


    The beast screamed in pain as it fell to the ground, but its scream was cut short as Frank smashed his leg right on the beast''s head, crushing it in the process.


    Frank then looked toward the leader of the ornithomimids who happened to meet Frank''s eye right at that moment.


    Frank smirked and stomped his foot on the head of the dead beast near his legs again as if taunting the leader of the beasts and it seemed to have worked as the leader red at Frank.


    As Frank saw that he had gained the leader''s attention, he ran towards the leader of the beasts. This time no other ornithomimid tried to stop him as it seemed the leader had stopped them from interfering.


    Frank was in front of the ornithomimid leader in a blink and had his fist coated with smander scales aimed right at the head of the beast.


    But by the time Frank''s fist reached the spot where the beast''s head was, there was nothing but air left in that ce.


    Frank widened his eyes in surprise as even though he had thought that the beast would be fast, he didn''t think it would be so fast.


    On the other hand, Alice who was standing up in the air was able to see the beast move as clear as a day, after all, she was now much stronger than she was before, and even if agility was not her forte, she would still need speed to dodge her opponent attack with high speed.


    Frank suddenly felt his senses warning him, and without thinking anything he rolled on the ground avoiding the jaw that wasing straight for the back of his neck.


    Frank wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and focused on the beast in front of him with all of his senses.


    Frank could tell that a single mistake could be fatal for him right now, as he could tell the beast in front of him had a very high speed and a considerable amount of strength, let us not talk about those sharp teeth that looked like metal spikes.


    Frank saw the beast move again, and this time he could somewhat guess the trajectory of the beast''s attack, so he covered his left hand with smander scales as it was the ce the beast had aimed.


    Frank then covered his right hand with scales as well, ready to smash it into the beast when it would bite his left hand.


    The ornithomimid leader dashed towards Frank and bit on Frank''s left hand just as he had guessed, but before Frank could punch the beast in the head, he felt a sharp pain in his left hand.


    "AHHHHHHH"


    He screamed while also pushing all of his scales to his left hand, just to fortify its defenses.


    Frank seemed to have underestimated to sharpness of the beast''s teeth and jaw force as they had prated right through theyer of smander scale that was covering his left hand.


    If not for Frank pushing all of his scales on that spot, then he might as well have lost his hand right now.


    The beast moved away after an unsessful attempt to bite off its enemy''s hand.


    "Grrrr��.."


    The beast then let out a low growl and rushed at Frank again. Frank covered his right hand with all of his scales as he could see the beast eyeing his right hand.


    The beast came and bit Frank''s right hand and Frank decided to use this chance to deliver a punch right on the beast''s face.


    Even if his hands were not covered with scales, they still contained the raw strength of an S-ranker and Frank was going to deliver that much force right on the brain of the beast.


    That much force could cause the beast to at least be stunned for a while if Frank was unlucky, but if Frank was lucky then the beast might just lose conscience.


    But just as Frank was about to punch the beast he heard the bushes behind him rustle and another ornithomimid came rushing as if it was waiting for this moment.


    It didn''t even take Frank a second to realize what had happened and he knew that the growl that the ornithomimid leader did was not just a random growl, instead, it was an order for the ornithomimid hiding in the bush.


    Now Frank was stuck between rock and hard ce.


    If Frank were to punch the ornithomimid leader then he would be leaving his back open to the beast behind him.


    Then there was an option where Frank would elbow the beast behind him while letting the other bite his right hand.


    But there was a very high risk of Frank losing his life as he would have his body unguarded if he twisted his body to hit the ornithomimid that was closing up from behind.


    In just a matter of milliseconds, many thoughts and ns passed through Franks''s head till he finally decided on a n.


    He had decided to remove the scale from his right hand, letting it be chopped off as he would use those scales to cover his vitals in case the ornithomimid leader decided to attack.


    But before he could remove the scale on his right hand, a 1-centimeter-wide concentrated beam of fire was shot toward the ornithomimid leader''s head, passing through it, leaving nothing but a small hole in its head.


    The ornithomimid leader died just like that even before it could understand what happened.


    Frank didn''t stand there like a fool and just as the grip of the beast loosened, he twisted his body and smashed his right hand which was covered with scales right into the head of the ornithomimid that had jumped on him from behind.


    The beast had its brain matter blown out of its head by the attack as it was Frank''s fully powered punch.


    Frank then looked towards Alice who was looking down towards him from the ce she was standing on.


    "Use your brain and make use of your guildmates, you are not fighting alone here."


    Alice''s lips moved and Frank could hear those words clearly even when the surroundings were far from being quiet.


    Frank nodded his head and turned around rushing towards his next target. It must seem like he was fine, but he was getting frustrated as he saw that the beast he was struggling against was dealt by Alice with a simple attack.


    He wanted to get strong, and he had decided to train harder so as not to be left behind, he was the vice-guild master after all.


    Alice didn''t know that her simple action could affect Frank''s mind so much and she might not know till the results of Frank''s training were to show results but for now, she was happy that Frank was listening to her orders.


    "RAAAAWWWRRRR!!!"


    Just then a roar was heard for the fifth time, but this time the roar sounded more like the roar of a dying beast as it was filled with pain and regret.


    Alice smiled as she heard the roar while the raiders also started fighting with renewed vigor.


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 Chapter 75: CHAPTER 75 – Chicken Break.

    "RAAAAWWWRRRR!!!"


    The T-rex roared in pain and regret as it realized its mistake, but it also knew that it was toote now.


    The moment it thought that it had crushed the human beneath itself was the moment it had already lost its life.


    The T-rex forgot to take into ount that there was a 2-meter-long cut on its stomach, and that was a fatal mistake.


    When the T-rex mmed its body to the ground with the intention of crushing Ann below itself, Ann pointed her dagger upward and shed the exact location where the cut was.


    This made the already deep cut grow deeper and it was deep enough for Ann to enter it and that is what Ann did.


    She cut through the T-rex''s stomach and entered its body, shing it from the inside, killing the T-rex in the process.


    *THUD*


    The T-rex fell to the ground, and its eyes grew dim, losing the light in them, indicating that it had died.


    Only the sound of dagger shing was heard until finally the back of the T-rex was cut open and Ann came out of it, bathed in blood.


    Ann was wiping the blood off her face as she sat on top of the 10-meter-long corpse of the T-rex.


    "You could''ve done better, you know."


    Ann''s body tensed for a second but rxed as she knew who the owner of the voice was.


    Then a jet of water was thrown at her, cleaning all the blood off her body, but now she waspletely wet with water.


    She just stared nkly at the one who did it.


    Alex was standing 10 meters away from her and looking at her with fake disgust.


    "You expect me toe close to you when you reak of blood?" Alex asked.


    Ann didn''t reply and continued to give him a nk stare.


    She would have shown some kind of reaction if it was someone else, but the guy who said this was the one who baths in the blood of his enemies just so he could enjoy the fight a bit more.


    She was just left speechless by the shamelessness of the guy in front of her.


    "All right, All right." Alex raised his hands up in the air and spoke in surrender.


    "Here," Then Alex used his wind and fire abilities in bnce to produce a fast and hot wind that dried off Ann''s clothes and hair.


    "Happy now?" Alex asked with a smile, but Ann ignored all this and asked.


    "What did you mean that I could''ve done better?"


    "Hm, well, instead of going for the stomach, you could''ve gone for its legs, that way the fight would''ve ended much earlier.


    You shouldn''t underestimate your strength as it is already S-ranked and if you take your dagger into ount then it wouldn''t have been hard for you to cut through the T-rex''s scales."


    Ann nodded as she heard Alex''s reasoning and made a note in her mind.


    "But still, what you did was also good, just a bit risky," Alex added and Ann nodded again.


    "So, in the mood for some roasted chicken now?" Alex asked with a smile.


    "Of course," Ann replied with a smile.


    Both Alex and Ann zoomed toward the ce where the fight with ornithomimids had almost ended.


    They arrived at the stop in seconds only to see thest one of the ornithomimids being killed by an arrow shot into its eye by a girl with blonde hair.


    "All right guys, time for a chicken break," Alex spoke as he arrived and the raiders instantly shouted.


    "YEAH!!"


    Somehow all of them started feeling hungry after the chicken was mentioned as they could still smell the aroma of the roasted Hatzegopteryx.


    "All right, those who are able to movee with me, I need you guys to do the distribution."


    Alex spoke and moved towards one of the trees that had most of the roasted Hatzegopteryx stuck on it.


    //// Author note: For those who are confused about where the drop of the monster would appear if they were to eat it, here''s your answer: -


    Wherever thergest part of the yed beast is that is where the drop would appear and Alex is just cutting some pieces out of these beasts which were in no way thergest. ////


    He looked at Alice who was talking with Ann and nodded to her which she responded with a nod as well.


    When Alex was standing in front of the tree he took out his sword from the scabbard that was hanging on his waist and covered it with Sword aura.


    This action didn''t go unnoticed by the Raiders who were looking at Alex and they were surprised, to say the least. None of the raiders were new to the term called sword aura and they knew that it was a very rare and strong skill.


    But they got confused as well, after all, they all thought that Alex was a mage when they saw him usingrge-scale magic along with Alice in the air or the act of making them float in the air itself. But now it seemed that Alex was not just a mage but a swordsman as well.


    Alex was oblivious to the thoughts that were going through the raider''s head as he just shed his sword on the tree''s trunk and put it back in the scabbard.


    This again made the raiders confused as they could not see a single cut on the tree, but they widened their eyes as they saw Alex pushing the tree a little which made the tree fall to the ground.


    They could see the clean cut on the trunk of the tree, it was so clean and neat that it didn''t even look like it was done by the sword, rather it looked like the work of a machine.


    But their attention was again brought on Alex as he cut the roasted Hatzegopteryx masterfully with fast and flexible movements of his hands.


    They were mesmerized by the swift moves of Alex but not for long as the delicious smell of the roasted Hatzegopteryx didn''t let them focus on anything.


    "All right, distribute it to everyone and there''s no need to hold back while eating, we don''t need to worry about our stomachs getting filled by this after all."


    Alex spoke with a smallugh and the raidersughed as well.


    The corpses of the monsters killed by them were going to disappear anyway, so even if they ate it, it was going to disappear.


    This was the reason why Alex said that there was no need to hold back as it had already been a while since the Hatzegopteryxs were killed and soon enough they would disappear, leaving only drops behind.


    ..........................................��


    "What should we do after this, President?" One of the females from the guild asked Alice as they were eating the Hatzegopteryx meat.


    "Hm? What do you mean, Maggie?" Alice asked the girl to borate.


    The girl''s name was Maggie Sterlieng, and she was the same girl that had killed thest ornithomimid when Alex and Ann had arrived.


    She was a cheerful girl with blonde hair and almond eyes, she was one of the A-rankers in the Crimson Lotus Guild while she was also the leader of the ranged attackers'' group.


    Right now, she was moving alone as her team was left behind in the guild.


    "I wanted to ask about our moving pattern after this, president," Maggie spoke with a smile as she continued eating like everyone else.


    Alice looked towards Alex when she heard this question. Both of them exchanged a knowing smile and Ann smiled as well as she saw this.


    "We will be moving towards the inner area." Alice dered and the raiders froze for a second as it took them time to register the meaning behind Alice''s words.


    Alice''s words were not hard to understand, it was just that they didn''t expect that answer from Alice''s mouth.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 76: CHAPTER 76 – Moving Deeper into the Forest.

    Scouting and Raiding.


    Both of them were different terms with different meanings in the Raider world.


    Scouting was something that required a small group of strong people to enter a gate and cover the most area they could. They need to write down anything they see and make a detailed report of every good or bad thing inside the gates.


    In scouting one needed to just scout the outer parts of the gates, not disturbing the bossyer.


    Raiding, on the other hand, required arge group of people with all of them divided into different categories. But that was for high-ranking gates, in case it''s a low-ranking gate, the guild could just send some strong raiders to take care of it.


    In raids one needed to enter the inner area as they needed to clear the gate.


    Right now, however, the gate in question was not a low-ranking gate, it was a gate that''s ranked highest in the world at this moment, and from Alice''s words, it was clear that she wanted to raid the gate.


    If that was not enough, the team that had entered the gate was a scouting team consisting of the strongest raiders.


    This was the reason why the Raiders of Crimson Lotus guild were shocked when they heard Alice''s words.


    Honestly, they were all scared to even scout the gate as they knew that it was not a normal gate, and even if they knew that Alice was stronger than they knew while Alex was not to be underestimated, they were still scared.


    That''s just how the human brain works.


    They had heard that the special rank gates were dangerous and the news of losses in thest special S-rank gate was still fresh in their minds.


    So, it was natural for them to be scared as the gate they were inside was the same kind of gate that devoured many S-rank raiders. But that was not all as the gate was undiscovered as well, adding the fear of the unknown to their other fears.


    "You guys just need to believe in me, all right? Have I ever disappointed you all?"


    Alice''s words broke the raiders out of their thoughts and they looked at Alice who was looking at them with a sincere expression.


    It was not that she couldn''t just leave them behind and continue forward with Alex, not at all, rather, she was sure that the gate would be cleared faster if she were to do that.


    But it was her dream to bring her guild to the top and not just herself.


    She needed them to be with her when she reached the top, after all, they were the guild members who trusted her and joined her in the journey of making her guild number one in the world.


    The raiders looked at each other, they didn''t know what to say.


    It wasn''t that they didn''t trust Alice, it was just that the worry and fear about the results were just that much.


    "Just a bunch of scaredy cats��.."


    It was then that every raider sitting there heard a low mocking voice.


    When they turned towards the source of the voice, they saw Frank sitting there eating his piece of Hatzegopteryxs without care.


    "What did you say?" A guy from the group of raiders asked.


    "I said ''Just a bunch of scaredy cats'', got a problem with that?" Frank asked as he looked at the guy who asked the question.


    Frank even pressured the guy with his mana, and the guy just shut his mouth as he knew that Frank was right about them.


    The pressure, however, didn''tst long as it was washed away by a greater pressure.


    "That''s enough, Frank." Alice looked at Frank, Frank did the same for a while before he looked away and continued eating, ignoring everyone.


    There was nothing but silence there after that.


    Alice didn''t console them saying that ''it''s fine'' or ''I know you guys are not scaredy cats'', she just continued eating the meat along with Alex, Ann, and Noctura who was sitting behind Alex eating a piece of meat but it seemed like no one had even noticed her.


    "I will follow your orders like I always did, president."


    Maggie was the first one to speak with a smile on her face and it didn''t take long for every raider to do the same.


    But if someone were to ask �C What was the main reason for them changing their minds so suddenly?


    The answer was not because of Alice''s sincere words, it was because of Frank''s taunt, which was something Alice, Alex, and Ann knew as well.


    "Wel then, what are you guys waiting for? Get ready to move!" Alice stood up and eximed with a smile on her face.


    your-MVLeMpYr-source


    ""Yes!""


    The raiders did just what Alice said and stood up, getting ready to move.


    "Thank you," Alice spoke to Frank when the raiders were busy preparing their weapon and armor.


    "It is my job as the vice-guild master of the Crimson Lotus Guild," Frank spoke and then turned around and moved towards his team.


    Frank had been trying to stay away from the time Alex hadmanded him to not think of revenge and if he stayed close to Alice he would think about her and if he thought about her then he wouldn''t be able to get her out of his mind.


    If that happened then Frank knew that he would think about Alex and Alice, as it was clear to him that there was something between them. Call it his instincts, but he could tell that easily.


    All of this would lead to him thinking about taking revenge on Alex, thus resulting in the mind-numbing pain that he didn''t want to experience ever again.


    .................................��


    "As you guys already know, we are raiding this gate."


    Alice spoke as she stood on top of the stump of the tree that was cut by Alex before.


    Before someone could say something Alice continued.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t be risking our lives. If things started getting out of our hands then we are making a run for the exit, I can guarantee that to you guys."


    As Alice spoke, some of the raiders nodded since they wanted to suggest the same thing.


    Then Alice continued.


    "But think about the situation where we clear the gate. We would be the first guild to clear an S-ranked gate alone, that too with a scouting team.


    Just think about it."


    Alice added and she could tell from the smiles on the raider''s faces that they were really hooked by the idea of getting famous.


    "We don''t know how long it will take and what kind of beasts we will have to face, so let''s not waste any more time. Let''s move!"


    Alice Commanded and got down from the stump.


    They started jogging deeper into therge forest with Alice, Alex, and Ann as their vanguards and Frank at the rear.


    It was a well-known fact that S-ranked gates were muchrger than A-ranked ones and one S-rank gate was found and cleared in Green Country was sorge that it took them a whole day to clear that gate.


    This was the reason why Alice said, ''We don''t know how long it will take''.


    ''Let''s look at the quests now,'' Alex mused inwardly as he jogged through the forest.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 77: CHAPTER 77 – New Quests.

    [New Quest: -


    Quest objective: Clear the Special S-Rank gate �C Unnamed.


    Bonus 1 objective: Kill a Mid-boss of the gate alone.


    Bonus 2 objective: Kill the Boss of the Gate alone.


    Bonus 3 objective: Be the one to deliver thest hit on the Hidden Boss.


    Quest reward: 800,000 points.


    Bonus 1 reward: (A-Rank) Tempest Fury {Skill}


    Bonus 2 reward: Random S-rank Spear.


    Bonus 3 reward: (Growth �C type) Cogitation Arms Mastery {Skill}


    Time limit: --


    Penalty: Randomly Twerking. (Duration: 1 day.)]


    _______________________________________ read-more-at-MvLeMpYr


    [Hidden Quest: -


    Quest Objective: Kill the Hidden boss alone.


    Quest Reward: 700,000 points and an Unknown Book.


    Time limit: --


    Penalty: --]


    _______________________________________


    ''Sophia, remove the penalty,'' Alex spoke inwardly without any change in expression on the outside.


    [You want me to remove the penalty tab forever? You know that I can''t do it, don''t you?]


    ''You know what I am talking about, Sophia. Don''t y dumb, it might be entertaining for you, but I find it annoying.


    Just remove these annoying penalties, I don''t want them. If you just want to give me penalties then make it something rted to my power.


    For example: - Locking my Supreme human bloodline for 1 hour/ 2 hours/ 12 hours/ a day/ something simr.


    I just don''t want these annoying penalties��.''


    Alex exined that he didn''t want to remove the whole penalty tab as it was there for a purpose, but he didn''t like the thought of his body randomly going out of his control and doing something he didn''t want to do.


    [��..All right, I will see to it. Anything else?]


    ''The hidden quest, how is it activated?'' Alex questioned.


    [Hidden quest is activated every time there is a hidden enemy waiting for you or in a situation where you discovered a hidden territory, ce, item, etc.]


    ''I see��.'' Alex had somewhat guessed it but it was good to have confirmation.


    ''Then, do you happen to know anything about that unknown book in the reward of hidden quest?'' Alex asked again, though this time he wasn''t expecting an answer.


    [��.No, I don''t.] Sophia answered in a low voice.


    She knew that Alex asked it even though he knew that she couldn''t answer it and just like Alex she also didn''t like restrictions. She wants to break the restriction over her and freely move and watch over the system, but she can''t.


    She was not strong enough to go against the system and the restrictions set over her.


    ''Hey, it''s fine, I was just asking...'' Alex also noticed Sophia''s mood, so he tried to cheer her up.


    [I know, I am not sad, I am just frustrated that I can''t help you more.]


    Alex just smiled inwardly as he heard words, but he didn''t say anything after that and continued jogging.


    However, the jogging he was doing was far from normal as he would swing his simple sword here and there, randomly cutting some beasts that came in their way while jogging with everyone else.


    This action shocked the raiders as they could tell that Alex was not even using any force behind his attacks and just swinging his sword randomly.


    But there was one guy with ck hair and ck eyes who was holding a sword in his hand and looking at Alex with shock greater than anyone.


    He was a swordsman, even before the gates appeared so he knew how to use swords and he knew the way of swords.


    He could easily tell that what Alex was doing was far from random shes, they were perfectly calcted and controlled strikes, and it was not possible to do that till one had trained with swords for a long time.


    The guy''s name was James Foster, he was a guy in histe 20s, he had seen his father train, and he knew that even his father who was in his 50s couldn''t achieve what the young man in front of him had achieved.


    But he kept his shock to himself and didn''t voice it out, though he still decided to ask for some pieces of advice on swordsmanship from Alex.


    Just then Alex stopped moving, and Alice along with Ann also stopped and gestured for everyone to stop.


    Everyone was a little confused until...


    "Click-Hiss-Growl��."


    All of them got into battle-ready forms as they heard the strange calls of some beasts.


    The whole forest had turned quiet and the only sound they could hear was the strange calling sounds of some raptor-type beasts.


    The raiders could hear the beasts moving around them in slow and deliberate movement as if observing them.


    The sound of twigs snapping and clicking sounds of the raptor''s calls added a sense of eeriness in their surroundings.


    But then they heard another loud high-pitched call.


    "Click-Click-Click"


    It seemed to be a retreat order for the Raptors as the raiders could hear the receding footsteps of the Raptors.


    "What was that....?" Alice asked as she was ready to st some raptor skulls only for them to run away.


    "They are experienced hunters, they won''t make the same mistakes as the ornithomimids. Their leader probably judged us to be dangerous and decided to call for a retreat, which I would say was a nice decision."


    Alex spoke as if answering Alice''s question, but everyone heard his words.


    The raiders rxed a bit but then Alex continued.


    "However, I would advise you to not let your guard down. They just retreated as they weren''t sure of their victory, they are still following us from a distance."


    As Alex''s words sounded, the raiders became alert again.


    "Let''s move!" Alicemanded after she saw Alex nodding at her.


    Their speed this time was slower as they would react to any or every sound they heard from the forest, be it pping of wings, some strange calls of beasts, or any other sounds.


    They killed many beasts as they jogged through the forest.


    It was not just Alex, Alice, and Ann who were killing beasts here and there, even the raiders were doing the same.


    Among the raiders, the one who killed most beasts after Alex, Alice, and Ann was probably Maggie as she was an archer with unlimited arrows, and she could kill her enemies from afar.


    They continued jogging through the forest and in an hour or two they hadpletely forgotten about the raptors that had been following them. (Everyone except Alex, Alice, Ann, Frank, of course.)


    The raptor leader who had been observing them from a distance could see them fighting and it could tell that they were strong, but it wasn''t going to attack them for now.


    It waited more, it waited for them to get tired, and finally, after one more hour, it finally got its chance.


    "Click-Click-Click-Click."


    It ordered its subordinate to spread out while it also moved towards the group of raiders stealthily, without making a sound, and unlikest time, there was not a single sound of twigs breaking or bush rustling as the raptors moved toward the ground of rxed raiders.


    The leader of those raptors failed to notice that its move had already been discovered by someone who had been observing their movements from the start.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 78: CHAPTER 78 – The Raptors Attack.

    The raiders from the Crimson Lotus guild had been jogging for some hours while killing some beasts along the way and although they were not much tiered, they still decided to rx for a while when Alice told them to rest for a bit.


    They were eating some food from the ration they bought with them.


    They sat in a circle with their faces towards each other and although they were rxed, they still kept an eye out for any strange movements in the surroundings.


    "All right guy, listen well, but don''t show any kind of reaction and continue doing what you are doing."


    discover-stories-on-MVLeMpYr


    Suddenly Alex''s voice was heard but it was very low, and it didn''t seem like he was speaking as his head was turned downwards and he was eating his share of the food.


    Everyone did what he said and just focused their senses on what Alex was going to say while not showing any reaction.


    They knew that Alex had mysterious abilities and he was strong as well, so if he was telling them to do something there must be a reason behind it, then there was also the fact that Alice was doing what Alex had said as well.


    "The Raptors from earlier are on the move."


    Alex spoke and some of the raider''s bodies unknowingly tensed but they rxed their body remembering Alex''s words earlier.


    Alex nodded as he saw their reaction and then continued.


    "They are currently surrounding us and from what I can tell, they will probably jump at us from all sides.


    So, I want you all to be ready to use your strongest attack when I tell you to.


    All you have to do is turn around and shoot your strongest attack at your 6."


    (6 here is used to donate the angle using the clock hands. 12 means straight ahead while 6 means the opposite.)


    Alex exined and the raiders secretly started circting their mana in their bodies, getting ready for the signals.


    The ones that used swords casually ced their hands over the swords, spear users did the same, and the others did as well. Their movements were rxed, and they didn''t seem like someone who was getting ready for an attack.


    Maggie, the only bow user couldn''t aim her bow as it would not go unnoticed, so she circted mana in her hand and started creating an arrow with a high amount of mana, to use it as a sword.


    ........................��.


    The raptors that were preparing to attack the raiders were called velociraptors, and they were one of the fastest raptors on thend. They would stalk their prey, wait for an opening, and then attack.


    It is said that a group of velociraptors could kill even the strongest of the beasts, but no one knows for sure.


    These raptors were not asrge in size as they were 1.8 meters in height, but their intellect, speed, sharp jaws, and piercing ws over up for their disadvantages.


    The leader of the Raptors moved towards Alex and the group was a beast with S-ranked speed and S-ranked wisdom.


    But still, it was a beast.


    The raptors moved to the locations they were supposed to be and got ready for their leader''smand.


    The leader raptor positioned itself behind Alice and Alex who were sitting side by side, he could tell that they were the leaders, and it wanted to get done with them quickly so as to not take any risks.


    "Click."


    A single note left the Raptor leader''s mouth and every single raptor directly lunged at the raider closest to them.


    But just then, Alex''s words were heard.


    "Now,"


    The Raptor leader had a bad feeling when it heard Alex''s words, but it was alreadyte.


    All 16 raptors, excluding the leader, had lunged at the raiders at full speed and it was so fast that even the raptors wouldn''t be able to stop themselves or change directions in a matter of milliseconds.


    The leader of the Raptors saw it with as its subordinates jumped to their deaths because of itsmand.


    Every raptor had an attacking right on them and those attacks couldn''t be dodged even if the raptors wanted that.


    Some Raptors were pierced by the weapons, some had their heads bashed in by blunt weapons, and some got their skulls cracked by punches, but the end result was the same.


    All of them died in a matter of milliseconds as the full-powered attack of the raiders was too much for those fast but lightweight raptors to take head-on.


    "Hiss-Growlll!!"


    The Velociraptor leader hissed and growled as it saw all of its subordinates go down.


    The leader itself was not in a better situation as it was moving toward Alex and Alice as well and its speed was also quite fast, but then it noticed that Alex and Alice were still sitting with their backs in his direction.


    The Raptor leader knew that it couldn''t slow down so it decided to use its skill.


    The next second it got covered in green shes and its speed increased exponentially causing the air around it to crackle, but it didn''t stop, instead, it used more of its mana to increase the speed.


    All of this happened in the blink of an eye when the raiders were still killing the raptors.


    With its maximum speed, the Raptor leader reached behind Alice in a sh and opened its jaw to bite her head off, but then it saw that the high-speed Raptor was stopped, sending a burst of air toward the raiders.


    The Raptor had its blue reptilian eyes wide open as it realized the reason its movement stopped.


    It looked at the hand holding its jaw and found Alex looking at him from the corner of his eye while holding the raptor''s jaw with one hand.


    "Goodbye," Alex spoke and pierced the simple de into the raptor''s neck, killing it in the process.


    He could''ve just cut the neck of the raptor when it was moving towards them, but its body would not have stopped and caused some kind of ident to ur so he did the safest thing he could think of.


    Alex took the skill that the velociraptor had as he found it useful. Still, he was going to sell it like he had been doing to the many other skills he had farmed from the gates he had entered in the past three months as he didn''t need them right now.


    *p*


    "All right guys, we won''t be staying here for long so get a short rest and we will start moving again."


    Alice spoke after pping her hands once.


    She didn''t say anything to Alex for killing the Raptor leader as she could''ve killed it even if he didn''t and she also knew that it was better for Alex to kill it.


    Every raider nodded their heads and sat down doing this and that, some chatted about random things, some cleaned their weapons, and some just idled around.


    Alice, on the other hand, looked at Alex as she thought back about the time when Alex told her and Ann about one of his abilities.


    She just couldn''t think of how a guy with such broken abilities could even exist...


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 79: CHAPTER 79 – One of my Abilities – System.

    "Where I get these things, huh��.."


    One month ago, Alex had bought some blood drops from his system shop that could grant Alice and Ann a bloodline.


    He wanted them to grow strong and fast but there were not many things he could do to make them stronger faster other than giving them a higher bloodline.


    So, he did just that and bought two bloodlines that suited best for Alice and Ann.


    But then Alice and Ann asked where he got the bloodlines, he didn''t like lying, and looking at Alice and Ann''s expression he could tell that they wanted some kind of answer.


    But then his problem was solved by Sophia...


    [You can just make them swear an oath and the system will do the rest.]


    ''borate,'' Alex spoke inwardly while he had a contemting expression mixed with hesitation on the outside.


    He wanted to show them that this was a hard decision for him, although it wasn''t.


    He was never scared of revealing his information, he just didn''t like his cards being exposed. What was the worst that could happen if his abilities were exposed?


    There will be people who would want to capture him or kill him, and Alex never hated that kind of people as they would be giving him another stream of free System points.


    But it was fine if the people in question were his close ones, after all, one needs people they could trust and tell their secrets to, and Alex knew that Alice and Ann had somehow upied the ce of important people in his mind.


    [The system has a function that helps it stay hidden, it was a function made by you before.


    All one needs to do is take an oath, or just say that they won''t disclose the information to anyone, and the system will detect it.


    After that, if they ever mention the system to anyone without your permission, they won''t be able to recall anything like they never knew about it.


    Any memory rted to the system will be locked in their memory and that lock can only be unlocked with your permission.]


    ''I see,'' Alex spoke and then looked into Alice and Ann''s eyes one by one.


    It was not hard to understand the meaning of what Sophia said and Alex''s expression of hesitation was now reced with determination as he spoke.


    "I will tell you guys where I get these items, but you will have to promise me that you won''t be disclosing it to anyone."


    Alex looked at Alice and Ann, but before they created some kind of conclusion on their own, he spoke up again.


    "It''s not that I don''t trust you guys, it''s something I have to do as I don''t want you guys to get in harm''s way just because you know this information.


    Just by making an oath/promise you guys can stay safe from trouble, I can assure that to you guys."


    Listening to Alex''s words both Alice and Ann smiled inwardly, for a second they thought that Alex didn''t trust them enough.


    They exchanged a look and then they spoke together.


    "I swear that I won''t be speaking about it to anyone." X2


    Alice and Ann spoke together.


    [Done.]


    ''Okay.''


    Alex just smiled as it was easier than he had expected.


    "So? What is it?" Alice asked Alex while Ann also looked at Alex with curiosity.


    "It is one of my abilities �C System," Alex spoke.


    "System?" X2


    Alice and Ann exchanged a confused look and then turned toward Alex for an answer.


    "Yes, System, that''s where I get all of this from."


    Alex stated.


    "So does this skill make these items for free? No, right?"


    Ann asked as she knew that nothing is free, even the normal abilities require mana, not to mention an ability that literally creates things from nothing. (Ann''s thinking)


    "No, it''s not for free, I have to hunt living creatures to get those things," Alex spoke with a serious face.


    Both Alice and Ann were shocked for a second when they heard the words ''hunt'' and ''Living creatures'' together.


    "You had to kill humans to get these items...��?" Alice asked with some hesitation.


    No one here was a saint and all of them had killed humans, but that didn''t mean they would kill people without a reason.


    "No, I got those items from killing the monsters inside of the gate," Alex spoke and both Alice and Ann sighed in relief but then Alex continued.


    -exclusive


    "But I can get these things by killing humans as well."


    Alice and Ann didn''t know what to say but Alice asked after a while.


    "How many��.?"


    "Don''t know, but they were the assassins sent after me," Alex spoke with a shrug.


    Alice and Ann rxed after they heard the answer.


    Now that they were sure that Alex was not some kind of serial killer running around, Ann asked a question that had been bugging her.


    "So, how does it work actually? Like I get that you have to kill living creatures, but what about the items you get are random, or you can select?"


    "Think of it like a shop, the creatures I kill give me a certain amount of points and those points could be exchanged to buy things from the said shop.


    So, I can select which item I want to buy from that shop."


    Alex exined to Ann and Alice.


    "I see," Ann spoke but then as if remembering something she asked again.


    "What kind of items does this ability of yours have in store?"


    "I don''t know the limit of the shop but for now I found everything I could think of inside it��.."


    Alex answered as he really didn''t know what was the limit of the system, neither was he able to look through everything in the system shop as there were just too many things to count.


    "How much point did this cost?" Alice suddenly asked as she raised the ss tube with intricate designs over it and yellow liquid inside of it which she was holding in her hand.


    This caused Ann to look at the tube in hand as well, it was also a tube with a simr design as that of Alice''s but the liquid inside it was colorless.


    They were the blood essences Alex had given them, these blood essences were the core of a bloodline, and if ingested, they would provide the one who ingested it with the bloodline they were the essence of.


    "Well, I''m out of ''points'' now," Alex said while rubbing the back of his head.


    Alice and Ann widened their eyes as they heard it.


    They didn''t know how much it would''ve cost Alex, but they knew it was not a small amount if Alex had to empty his points for it, and somehow the weight of the tubes increased many folds for them.


    "Don''t worry, I will just recover those points by raiding more gates and killing more monsters."


    Alex said with a smile, but it didn''t have much effect on Alice and Ann as they still felt that they were taking Alex''s help a bit too much.


    "Just don''t let my efforts go to waste if you still don''t feel good about it," Alexmented as he could feel Alice and Ann''s mood.


    It was not a big deal for him, he could just gather those points again, but it looked like Alice and Ann were taking it too seriously.


    "Un." X2


    Looking at both Alice and Ann nodding with a serious and determined expression, Alex knew that his words had done their job.


    So, he just smiled and then continued to exin to them what to do with the blood essence.


    .....................��


    (Back to present)


    The Crimson Lotus guild''s raiders were jogging through the forest while also killing the beasts that got in their way.


    They just wished that they didn''t face any problems and cleared the gate easily.


    How good it would be if they could just clear the gate just like that? Right? Right....?


    "RRAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRR"


    Guess their wish wasn''ting true anytime soon.


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 Chapter 80: CHAPTER 80 – Another Mid-Boss.

    The raiders from Crimson Lotus kept moving while killing the beasts that came in their way.


    Alex would tell them if there was an enemy, and they would get ready for the iing danger before that could arrive.


    By now every single raider in the group knew that Alex had some kind of sensory ability that let him sense the surroundings, and all of them listened to him if he told them to do something.


    In this single raid, Alex was gaining the trust of the people from Crimson Lotus at a very high speed because of this, his aura and leadership qualities were just cream on top.


    Suddenly Alex stopped, and so did everyone.


    "We have a big oneing our way, guys," Alex spoke as he turned to a particr direction on his right.


    Everyone else did the same, though they were not rxed like Alex, instead, they were batter-ready.


    After a while, they could feel some vibrations on the ground, and the vibration was getting stronger until finally��.


    "RRAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRR"


    They finally saw the source of the roar and some raiders gasped as the beast in front of them looked really intimidating.


    It was arge dinosaur with a dark brown spiky scale covering all of its body. It was 7.5 meters in height and close to 11 meters in length, it had scars all over its body while its muscles contracted and rxed from time to time.


    It wasn''t much different from a T-rex, it was justrger than a T-rex while its jaw was less widepared to a T-rex''s. It was a giganotosaurus, a carnivore beast that wasrger and faster than a T-rex.


    It had many advantages, but that didn''t mean it would win against a T-rex. T-rex is called the apex predator not without a reason.


    But still, if you are underestimating a giganotosaurus just because it would lose to a T-rex and a T-rex was just defeated by Ann then you are in for a surprise.


    Ann was a special case and she had grown much stronger after the training with Alex, so even if it seemed that T-rex was not as big as it was defeated by Ann alone, it actually was.


    The Giganotosaurus that was standing right in front of the group of raiders, staring down at them with hunger in its eyes was something that could wipe the floor of the whole party if they made any mistake during their fight.


    "What are you guys waiting for?!?!" Alice shouted and as if taking the cue, the giganotosaurus roared again.


    "RRAAAWWWRRR"


    It bent forward and swiftly moved towards a raider with its jaw open, ready to eat the raider in a single bite, but before it could do that....


    "HAAAAA" *Baam*


    It was punched real hard on the left side of its face by Frank and that punch sent the beast staggering backwards for some steps.


    It then shook its head as if trying to gain focus, after all, the punch from Frank was enough to send the beast into stunned confusion.


    "Maggie, now!" Alicemanded and Maggie who already had a mana-charged arrow knocked on her bow nodded her head.


    *Swish**Scartch*


    The arrow was aimed at the eye of the beast but at thest moment, the beast somehow moved a little, gaining just a scratch from the attack.


    The beast didn''t stay confused for long, and then...


    "Puny humans, don''t underestimate me..." A deep voice was heard from the giganotosaurus''s throat as it looked towards the raiders running towards him with all kinds of weapons.


    The voice shocked the raiders as they knew what it meant; it meant that the beast in front of them was a mid-boss.


    But it didn''t end there as the next second they saw the giganotosaurus''s body shrinking.


    The 7.5-meter high and 11-meter-long beast shrunk till it became a 3-meter high and 6-meter-long mini version of itself.


    But before anyone could evenprehend the situation, the beast moved, and it was so fast that it looked like the beast vanished.


    Some raiders were still processing the fact that the monster in front of them was a mid-boss while some were shocked by its ability.


    But one thing wasmon, none of them were focused on the fight for some seconds and those seconds were enough for the giganotosaurus to do what it wanted.


    The giganotosaurus zoomed towards Frank, and it had its jaws open ready to cut Frank into pieces with its razor-sharp teeth.


    Frank was not someone who was known for his speed so it was hard for him to follow the giganotosaurus''s movement, but he could still judge where the attack was going tond.


    Frank covered his torso with all of the scales he could bring out and by the time the giganotosaurus''s jaw had reached there, Franks''s torso was covered in arge amount of shining red scales.


    The giganotosaurus, however, didn''t stop as it bite Frank and it didn''t even take a second before��.


    "ARRGGGHHH"


    Frank screamed as he could feel some teeth of the beast prating his defenses, making their way into his body.


    With nothing else left to do, Frank started punching the beast, but the beast didn''t let go as it bore the impact of Frank''s punches.


    The giganotosaurus knew that it was winning, and it knew that in some seconds it would have one less enemy to fight.


    It knew that Frank was strong, and Frank''s attack could do it some serious harm, so it decided to take Frank out first.


    But then the giganotosaurus narrowed its slit-like eyes, loosened its jaw, and moved away with a huff.


    *Swish*


    An arrow whistled through the air without hitting its target as the target had moved away, but the arrow did what it wanted to.


    Frank fell on his knees holding his stomach which was bleeding really bad.


    There were two gaping holes on his stomach that had a width of 5-6 centimeters while there were also some small scratches and cuts around his torso.


    The arrow was shot by Maggie as Frank''s scream woke them up from their thoughts although it was just for a second.


    Everyone then looked towards the beast as it was standing away from the group looking at them, then it noticed Alice and Alex who was standing away from the battle, but it just scoffed and focused back on the raiders in front of it.


    (Ann was using her ability and sneaking around, ready to make a move if needed and that''s why she was not seen with Alice and Alex.)


    It didn''t want to fight against cowards as he knew that they would not fight, not giving it the thrill of fighting, and from the way Alice and Ann were standing away from the battle, the beast thought that they were cowards.


    The beast then turned towards Frank, and it saw that Frank was getting healed by Nick.


    "Grrr��.."


    It growled in frustration as it saw the chance to take down one strong enemy vanishing.


    The giganotosaurus then turned towards Maggie, who was standing alone.


    "You, die."


    It didn''t just say that as it was right in front of Maggie, but then the beast felt some danger and it jumped back.


    A spearnded right where the beast was a second ago, but before the beast could react another attack was on its way.


    Maggie standing alone was not a coincidence as she was following Alex''s order along with other raiders.


    Alex had gestured for them to leave Maggie alone as bait and when the beast is about to bite the bait, bombard it with attacks.


    The beast didn''t know that, but now it knew that it was led to a trap. It still dodged two of the three earth spikes that wereing towards him, with thest one hitting its back and causing a wound to appear.


    Even if an A-ranker''s attack couldn''t easily kill an S-ranked beast, giving some injuries was a simple matter.


    story-source-MVLeMpYr


    "Grrowwlllll!!"


    The beast growled in pain, but things didn''t end there as one of its legs was strangled by some nts, making it lose its bnce.


    It fell on the ground, and it wouldn''t even take a second for it to get up as it was very agile in this mini version of itself. But as if that would be easy....


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 Chapter 81: CHAPTER 81 – One More Mid-Boss Down.

    As the giganotosaurus fell to the ground with its back toward it, the beast was ready to get up the next second, but as if waiting for the exact moment, 5-6 raiders with swords and other melee weapons jumped on it, including James.


    They started shing and cutting the beast, giving it as many wounds as they could.


    "RRRAAAWWWWRRRR!!"


    The beast screamed in pain and used its long tail to attack the raiders on top of its body.


    But then it felt that it couldn''t move its tail and when it saw the reason for that it again narrowed its slit-shaped eyes.


    It could see Frank holding its tail, the same guy that was bleeding like he was about to die. However, it could also be seen that the wounds on Frank''s body were notpletely healed, rather it was still bleeding even if it was not like before.


    Nick was an A-rank healer and even if he could not grow or join a detached limb, he could still heal wounds pretty fast. -chapter


    But as Frank''s wounds were a bit serious Nick had to use almost all of his mana to quickly heal Frank so that Frank could fight again.


    Alice and Alex were not going to interfere, all the raiders knew that, after all, Alice and Alex were really strong, and these raiders wouldn''t be surprised if both of them could defeat the giganotosaurus alone in just some moves.


    How would they know that it would just take one shot from both Alice and Alex to defeat the beast they were struggling against?


    As Held the tail, stopping the giganotosaurus from moving, the raiders continued shing, and by now the beast was bloodied, almost dead if it didn''t do anything.


    "RAAAAWWWWRRRRRR"


    The beast then roared in rage and pain, it was angry that it was being defeated by the ''puny humans'' just because of a single mistake.


    The beast then suddenly undid its transformation, returning to its original size and the change made the raiders lose their bnce and fall to the ground.


    The beast didn''t waste the chance and got up from the ground as Frank jumped back.


    Frank knew that he alone wouldn''t be able to hold the beast down, that too in its original size as the difference between weight and size was too much.


    But if Alex heard those thoughts, he would say �C You are just not strong enough, if you are strong then your fists can carry the weight of a, let us not talk about a single beast.


    The giganotosaurus stood up with great difficulty and looked at Frank with anger and hatred, and then it roared.


    "RRAAAAAWWWWWRRRRR!!"


    The roar reverberated through the whole forest, and it ran towards Frank with a growl.


    "Growlll��." *Swish*


    But before it could move its body with great difficulty, it heard a whistling sound and although it knew what it was, it just couldn''t move its body like before and dodge the iing arrow.


    *Pierce*


    The arrow pierced its eye, directly entering its head through it, killing the beast in the process.


    "Grrrr��.."


    It growled in a low voice as thest thing it saw was the raiders cheering as they saw it fall to the ground.


    ""YEAH!!!!""


    All the raiders, whether the ones hiding or the ones in the field cheered as they saw the giganotosaurus fall to the ground.


    For Alice or Alex, it would''ve been an easy task, but for them, it was no less than a boss fight.


    The raiders felt so happy as they felt like they just killed the boss of the gate by themselves, and if they talked to Alex, then they would realize that the beast they fought just now had stats close to that of a normal S-rank boss.


    Both the T-rex and the Giganotosaurus were stronger than any kind of mid-boss found in S-rank gates, but it was a special gate, so no one can say that it was normal in the first ce.


    "That''s the second mid-boss rank monster of this gate," Alex spoke as he observed the giganotosaurus''s corpse.


    "Yeah, and we don''t know how many more we are going to face.


    I don''t know why, but I feel that we are still in the outer part of the gate," Alice added with a serious expression and Ann who was now visible also nodded her head.


    "Well, more monsters just mean more points for me, so it''s good anyway," Alex just shrugged off the serious atmosphere created by Alice.


    Alice and Ann also smiled as they remembered that Alex had yet to ''actually'' fight from the start till now.


    "Let those guys rest for a while, I''ll be back in a while," Alex spoke as he started stretching.


    "Where are you going?" Ann asked.


    "Well, we aren''t gonna get anywhere if we keep walking aimlessly, so I''ll just look for the direction in which we should move."


    Alex exined.


    "I see," Ann nodded and so did Alice.


    They knew that they needed a direction as they felt like they had been roaming aimlessly in the forest and the fact that all of the trees looked almost the same didn''t help a bit.


    They could''ve marked the trees on the way, but they didn''t as they were not in a hurry, but now that the raiders were tired after the fight, they needed some rest.


    While the Raiders rested and rxed, Alex who wasn''t a bit tired was going to be free anyway so it didn''t do any harm in letting him be their pathfinder.


    "I''ll be back in a while," Alex spoke and jumped upwards, he was high in the sky before Alice and Ann could even blink.


    These actions didn''t go unnoticed by the raiders as they could see that as well.


    "Where is Alex going, President?" Maggie asked Alice as she looked at Alex who was looking around in all directions, thinking of which direction he should move in.


    "He said that he was going to look for the direction we should move in and he might as well hunt some beast on the way. He didn''t get a good fight till now, after all."


    Alice spoke with a shrug, but Maggie was shocked.


    ''He didn''t get a good fight��...? He was not using his full powers till now....?''


    This is what was going on in Maggie''s head.


    "All right guys, rest up!


    We will move when Alex returns. When he returns, we will have a direction to walk in as well, so rest up till then."


    Alice spoke, ignoring the shocked Maggie who was still busy with her thoughts.


    Alex who was up in the air finally found something in one direction and he smiled before he zoomed in that direction.


    He could see the end of the forest in one direction but as he was flying, he noticed that the forest was not that peaceful and there might be more mid-bosses than they had expected.


    Alex smiled again as he found something interesting, and he lowered himself toward the ground from where two different kinds of roars could be heard.


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 Chapter 82: CHAPTER 82 – Hunting Two Hunters.

    Any kind of predator that thinks of itself as an Apex would not like another predator iming the same title in its area, and if both of them were to ever meet then they would fight till one of them dies.


    That is what was happening as a Giganotosaurus and a Spinosaurus coincidentally came to the same area to hunt.


    The fight would have never started if one of them bowed their head epting the other to be stronger than them, but both of the beasts didn''t want to back down.


    Neither the Spinosaurus nor the Giganotosaurus wanted to bow their head which meant that there was only one path left and that was a fight to the death.


    The giganotosaurus looked just like thest one, but it didn''t seem to have the ability to shrink in size rather it had the ability to harden its body.


    The Spinosaurus on the other hand seemed to have the ability to shoot poisonous stingers from its protruding spine.


    Both of them had their own advantages and disadvantages, but none of them knew that they were being watched by someone far stronger than them.


    read-on-MVLeMpYr


    Alex arrived there the moment the fight had started as he heard their roars from above.


    He could kill both of them easily, but he decided to watch the fight as it was more entertaining.


    The giganotosaurus and the Spinosaurus rushed toward each other with their jaws wide open, but then the Spinosaurus twisted its body and wiped its tail at the giganotosaurus''s face.


    The giganotosaurus, however, didn''t panic, and as if it was prepared for it, the scales on its face darkened, almost turning ck just before the tail of the Spinosaurus could reach its face.


    *ng*


    The Spinosaurus''s tail was deflecting with a ng.


    The giganotosaurus then quickly moved to bite the spinosaurus''s neck, but the Spinosaurus moved a bit just so much that the giganotosaurus''s jaw would directlynd on the spines on its back.


    But the giganotosaurus just kicked the ground propelling its own body upward narrowly avoiding the spine of the Spinosaurus.


    The Giganotosaurus didn''t just stop at that, rather, it used the moment of the body to push itself against the Spinosaurus who fell on the ground together with Giganotosaurus.


    The giganotosaurus made use of itsrger size and higher weight to push Spinosaurus to the ground and then it moved its jaw towards the spinosaurus''s neck only to see a tail filled with spines moving towards its face.


    The force behind the Spinosaurus''s tail pushed the giganotosaurus away from the Spinosaurus but it didn''t cause any actual harm as the giganotosaurus had already hardened its scale on its face.


    The Spinosaurus then shot spikes from its spine and one of those was aimed at the giganotosaurus''s eye which caused it to close its eye.


    The spikes didn''t do any kind of damage to Giganotosaurus as it had already hardened its scales, but it hurriedly opened its eyes as it could feel the fast vibration on the ground indicating that spinosaurus was moving, or better to say that it was moving very fast.


    Just as the giganotosaurus opened its eyes it saw the Spinosaurus''s jaw in front of its face, so it tilted its head only to realize how bad that move was as the Spinosaurus directly bit on the giganotosaurus''s neck.


    (The hardened scales of giganotosaurus are strong but not strong enough to stop the bite force of another equally strong predator''s jaws since it would be invincible if that were the case.)


    "RRAAWWRRRRR!!"


    The giganotosaurus roared in pain and then it directly bit down on the spinosaurus''s neck which was right in front of the giganotosaurus''s eyes.


    The Spinosaurus realized its mistake, but it was alreadyte as the giganotosaurus''s teeth directly pierced its neck.


    "RAAWWWRRRR!!"


    The Spinosaurus roared as it felt the pain of its neck being pierced byrge, razor-sharp teeth. The giganotosaurus could easily pierce the Spinosaurus''s neck, after all, unlike the giganotosaurus, the spinosaurus didn''t have the ability to harden its scales.


    The giganotosaurus didn''t waste time and just as the Spinosaurus loosened the grip on its neck to roar, it levitated the Spinosaurus up in the air with the spinosaurus''s neck still in its jaw and then mmed it on the ground.


    *BOOM*


    The giganotosaurus then stepped on the spinosaurus''s head and then roared.


    "RRAAAWWWWRRRRRRR!!"


    It roared loudly as if dering the forest about its victory.


    The Spinosaurus justy there lifelessly as it knew that it was about to die soon, but then it heard a low, very low clicking of the tongue.


    "Tch."


    The sound was very low, but it sounded very loud in the spinosaurus''s ears as the moment the tongue''s clicking was heard the giganotosaurus had stopped roaring.


    "I was rooting for you, you know?" Then it was a human walking towards them, but what it found strange was there was no movement from the giganotosaurus.


    "You could''ve tried a bit harder, man or maybe women, whatever.


    But you could''ve used your abilities better and you could''ve killed it easily.


    Sigh...."


    The human which was Alex spoke with disappointment evident on his face.


    Then Alex climbed up the spinosaurus''s body, and the beast was still confused as to why the giganotosaurus was not moving at all.


    But then it saw Alex punching the leg of the giganotosaurus lightly and the giganotosaurus fell to the ground like the dead body it was.


    The Spinosaurus, on the other hand, was shocked to its core as it saw the enemy that had almost killed him lying dead on the ground with its head detached from its body.


    The beast couldn''t even tell how the giganotosaurus was killed or when it was killed but it knew one thing it was the doing of the human who was still standing above its body.


    The Spinosaurus didn''t dare to growl, much less growl. It was an S-ranked beast so it could understand Alex''s words, so, it could tell that Alex had a good impression of him.


    It was just looking at Alex with caution and hope in its eyes.


    "Hm? Why are you looking at me like that?" Alex spoke in a perplexed tone.


    [It must be thinking that you saved it from the giganotosaurus.] Sophia spoke with a giggle.


    "Oh, I see��." Alex spoke with a nod, but the next second...


    *Swish**sh*


    A wind de descended on the Spinosaurus''s neck, and it died without knowing how it died as the wind de was too fast for it to notice.


    It still had the same hope in its eyes till the moment it died.


    "Why would I save you? I just didn''t want to see that one win, so I killed it first��...


    Oh well, you''re already dead."


    Alex spoke and then jumped in the air again, zooming towards the direction where he could see the end of the forest.


    Alex could tell that he was going get arge amount of SPs from this gate that was the reason why he was letting the raiders from Guild kill the beasts.


    Call it instincts or whatever, but something told him that he was going to face many herds of monsters soon.


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 Chapter 83: CHAPTER 83 – What the hell happened here?!

    Alice, Ann, the raiders, and Noctura who was now visible as she sat beside Ann whom she liked the most after Alex, were all waiting for Alex to return as it''s been an hour or so since Alex had been gone.


    The raiders were getting worried thinking that something must''ve happened to Alex, but they stayed calm as they could see that Alice and Ann were not showing any reaction.


    But then they saw Alice smile lightly and the next second��.


    *Swish*


    All of them heard the sound of air whistling and when they turned their heads to the ce where Alice and Ann were looking, they could see Alex standing in the air.


    "Sorry for beingte, I was hunting some beasts," Alex spoke with his right hand scratching his head.


    "It''s fine, just tell me what you found," Alice responded with a light smile as she saw Alex descending.


    ''Master!!'' Noctura directly jumped on Alex as hended on the ground.


    ''There, there,'' Alex patted Noctura while supporting her back with his other hand so as to not let her fall.


    ''Take me with you next time...'' Noctura whined.


    ''Hm, I will,'' Alex nodded inwardly.


    "Yeah, I found out which direction we should move, and there were a lot of beasts there..." Alex replied to Alice''s words.


    "I see," Alice nodded and then turned towards the raiders who had already stood up, ready to move.


    "All right, let us not dilly dally anymore.


    The faster we move, the quicker we clear the gate, and the faster we clear the gate, the faster we get to go home.


    I don''t know about you guys, but I would prefer watching some movie while eating some chicken as I rx on my couch rather than roaming around in a gate filled with beasts."


    Alice spoke with a smile causing the raiders to smile.


    "Let''s move now!" Alice spoke and seeing the raiders nod their heads, she turned toward Alex who still had Noctura over him.


    "Lead the way," she said with a smile.


    "Of course," Alex responded while cing Noctura on the ground who ran into the bushes and vanished in them.


    What no one could see was that Noctura just went in the bush to activate her ability out of everyone''s sight and after activating it, she started walking right behind Alex like his shadow.


    Just like that, the Raiders slowly moved, while fighting and killing beasts on the way.


    It took them some time as they were just walking while fighting as well but after three hours of walking, they finally reached the spot where they could see the end of the forest.


    "Let''s race!"


    Maggie spoke as she ran ahead of everyone, the raiders exchanged nces and followed behind.


    Alice, Ann, and Alex just smiled looking at that.


    They didn''t stop them from having a bit of fun as thest three hours of the journey were quite rxing with not many beastsing their way.


    Then there was Alex who could just tell them if there were any beastsing their way, and since he didn''t stop them meant that there was nothing to worry about. see-more-MVLeMpYr


    But then they heard Maggie''s shout....


    "What the hell happened here?!"


    Alice and Ann looked towards Alex, but Alex didn''t look back at them. He was acting like he could not feel their gaze and continued to walk slowly.


    Alice and Ann exchanged a look and rank toward Maggie, they could tell from Alex''s reaction that it was not some beast or anything, but they had some doubts after they saw Alex avoiding eye contact.


    When they arrived at the outskirts of the forest, they instantly knew the reason for Alex''s behavior.


    "Sigh��..." Alice just sighed as she saw the scene in front of her.


    "So, this is why he said that there ''were'' many beasts here..."


    Annmented as she still remembered how she felt that Alex''s tone when he said ''were'' was a bit weird, and now she understood why she felt that.


    ""What!!!""


    The raiders standing in front were shocked for another reason as they didn''t think that the scene in front of them was possibly done by a human.


    After all, no matter how far they looked all they could see was the charred body of who knows how many beasts, while the grass which was supposed to be green had turned red or ck because of the heat.


    They could still see a fire burning over some beast''s body, burning them even now, when it had already been three hours since Alex had returned. That''s just how hot it was here.


    They could tell that this was supposed to be a vast green field where herbivore beasts would graze in herds. But all that was left right now was this....


    There was no sign of life as far as they could see, which meant more than a kilometer radius.


    "You could''ve taken care of them in a more civilized manner, right?" Alice turned toward Alex who had arrived beside them as well.


    It wasn''t new to her, she had seen Alex do that a lot, sometimes he would want to enjoy the fight and sometimes he would just end the battle in seconds. That''s just how he was, everything depended on his mood.


    She seemed to have forgotten that she does the same....


    "Well yeah, but this was the easiest way..." Alex spoke with a shrug and the raiders just grew more and more shocked.


    They couldn''t understand how Alice and Ann treated this normally. Even Frank was shocked as he finally realized how silly his idea of revenge was in the first ce.


    All the raiders looked at Alex and then sighed��..


    How could they have known that they had been moving along with a live nuke all the time?


    But still, somehow, they didn''t feel afraid of him, even after seeing all of this. The only thing that changed was that in their minds, Alex had be much more stronger and reliable.


    "How are we supposed to cross this boilingnd then?" Ann asked Alex with a sigh.


    She somehow already knew how Alex was going to answer Alice.


    "Oh, let me take care of it."


    Alex spoke as he lifted his right hand up and the next second, everyone could see arge tornado forming in front of them, but it didn''t end there as slowly the tornado started spraying water as it rotated.


    Alex was using both wind and water elements to create a water tornado out of nothing and slowly the area started cooling down and the fire that was burning started to shimmer down.


    The tornado slowed down after its work was done and then slowly it vanished into the air.


    "There, done."


    Alex spoke with a smile.


    The raiders just looked at this with their mouth and eyes wide open.


    "Anything else?" Alex asked Alice with a smile.


    Alice just sighed, and so did Ann.


    "No��." Alice spoke and after that, she turned towards the raiders who were still standing like statues.


    "Get used to it, you guys. I did, and I know you will as well.


    Now let''s move!"


    Alice''smand brought them back to reality and after looking at Alex for a while they all nodded their heads.


    "Oh? We already have a herd of beasts running towards us just to wee us."


    Alex suddenly spoke up as they were about to walk.


    His words caused the raiders to get on high alert and they vigntly looked ahead.


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 Chapter 84: CHAPTER 84 – Fighting a Herd.

    The raiders were ready with their bodies tensed and weapons clenched, they knew that a fight against a herd was not going to be an easy one.


    Yeah, it won''t be a fight where they would have to fight a powerful opponent as they did with the Giganotosaurus, but here they will have to face who knows how many beasts at once.


    This is one of the reasons why scouting teams are not made for raids, but now that they were here, they knew that they had to fight no matter what.


    Then they turned towards Alex and Alice and their tension lessened a bit. They had two monsters, one greater than the other by their sides, so they knew that even if those two didn''t fight, they would still not let their guildmates die.


    No one could see Ann as she seemed to have vanished again, probably lurking around on the field, ready to interfere if any problem were to ur just like Alice and Ann.


    The raiders didn''t have to wait for long as they could hear the res of beasts while the ground below them also started vibrating a little.


    They could see a big herd with at least 50 beasts in it moving towards them. They could see many herbivore beasts running towards them without any intention to stop.


    If the raiders didn''t do anything then they would simply be crushed under the herd of beasts where even a single beast weighed more than 2 tons.


    In the gate, whether they are carnivores or herbivores, every beast would initially harbor hostility towards the raiders that enter the gate.


    That was just how the gate worked, and right now the beasts running towards them were looking towards them with hostility clear in their eyes.


    They may be angry about the massacre that happened here earlier as they might have lost their family members in it or maybe they were just attracted here by therge tornado that Alex summoned.


    Whatever the reason was the beasts didn''t look like they were going to just pass through the raiders without doing any harm to them.


    However, there was one thing that brought relief to the raiders and it was that, unlike carnivore beasts, the herbivore ones don''t bite or sh, they simply smash and m, and things like that could be avoided.


    There were many beasts in the herd, ranging from 1.5 �C 2 meters tall Sphaerotholus to 6-7 meters long Parrosaurus. However, if someone asked the name of the most dangerous one among them then they were the triceratops.


    They are dangerous because, just like any other herbivore beast, they also m, crash, or smash, but their m could kill a person if the horn on their head pierces the said person.


    The raiders got ready as the herd approached, but just then they heard Alex''s voice.


    "It would be better if you guys would team up with each other, one would deflect or attract attention while the other would kill."


    None of them questioned and quickly formed teams.


    "Scatter around and don''t stay still, if you stay close then you will have to fight a higher number of beasts as they will all juste towards you, but it''s different if you are scattered.


    Moving around, on the other hand, would confuse the beasts and you can use the confusion to your advantage."


    Alex advised while exining the reason.


    "Now, best of luck, we will be keeping an eye out for everyone, and don''t push yourself too hard, this is going to be a long battle."


    Alex concluded and then he and Alice slowly started levitating in the air.


    The raiders, however, didn''t have the luxury to stand around as they quickly scattered along with the teams they had formed, and they could already see the herd scattering as well.


    In just some seconds the beasts were already in front of the raiders and as told they started moving around and fighting the beasts.


    ....................


    "They are doing pretty good, right?" Alice asked with her chest puffed a bit and some pride in her voice.


    It''s been about 10 minutes, and the beasts were now just running around here and there hoping to crush some raiders, no longer were the beasts running in the same direction.


    The raiders were fighting pretty well leaving one out, none of the other raiders were actually hurt, just some minor scratches and bumps.


    "They are the best of the Guild and then they had a big fight with that giganotosaurus, so they might have realized some of their ws. But yeah, they are doing pretty good."


    Alex spoke with a smile as well.


    Then he looked at the team that had quite a unique fighting style.


    The lineup of the team was one mage, one tanker, and one swordsman.


    The mage was called ire Benjeriana, and she was an A-ranked mage with some earth elemental abilities.


    She was sitting on the shoulders of a guy called Rufus Brown, and he was the tanker.


    The swordsman, whose name was Fabron Smith was moving around them freely while killing the beasts they were attracting towards them.


    As a tanker, Rufus''s body was quite strong, and taking one or two impacts of those beasts'' ms would not have much effect on him, so he was acting as bait to attract the beasts.


    ire, on the other hand, was a mage with a not-so-strong body which meant she might die from a single impact.


    Because of this, they decided that Rufus would carry her around on his shoulder as it would protect her as well as give her better range to attack the beasts.


    Fabron would just move freely and kill the beasts that would somehow dodge ire''s earth spike.


    They had nice teamwork, and they were doing great, but Alex knew that they were taking a very big risk.


    It was good till Rufus could dodge the beasts, but what would happen if one or two beasts somehow managed tond a hit on Rufus?


    Because of Rufus being hit, he would lose bnce and might as well fall to the ground, which would bring down ire as well, and even if Rufus could somehow survive the beasts passing over him, ir would die if even a single beast were to ram into her.


    The beasts were not just your everyday beasts, they were all A-ranked, after all.


    With ire''s death, they would lose their attacker, and Rufus who is on the ground is not going to survive for long as well since the beast would just continue to run over him.


    That''s two deaths, just because of a single mistake.


    But nothing like that happened and even if it happened, Alex, Alice, or Ann would save them before they get hurt.


    Just like that, after 20 minutes of continuous struggle, the raiders finally killed the herd of beasts, and now that they could count the beasts, their count was actually close to 100.


    NovelBin-your-novel-source


    Every raider sighed in relief that they were just facing some herbivore beasts. If it were a herd of carnivore beasts, they might as well be dead by now, though it was in case they didn''t have Alex and Alice.


    But looks like they sighed a bit too early as just when they thought that they would get some rest they heard...


    *SCREECHHHH!!*


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    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 85: CHAPTER 85 – Collecting some more Points.

    Everyone could hear the screech and they could see a flock of beasts zooming toward them at a very high speed, but Alex and Alice just ignored that andnded on the ground.


    "You guys did good, now rest for a while, we will move after that."


    Alice spoke as shended on the ground, but the raiders didn''t seem to hear her as their focus was on the iing flock of beasts that were about to reach them.


    The beasts that were moving towards them were about 4 or 5 meters in length with their skull shaped like birds, but it was notpletely like the birds as their beaks were actually part of their skull bone with sharp teeth inside of them, and they were called pterosaurs.


    They were screeching as they glided down at very fast speed with open beaks or jaws whatever you would call them. They were probably thinking of picking their target and taking it together with them.


    "Oh, you guys don''t need to worry about them, they are dead anyways," Alice spoke as she saw them looking at the iing beasts.


    Alex had already nodded to her gesturing that he would take care of those beasts so the beasts were already dead in her eyes.


    The raiders turned towards Alice with confusion as they could see the beasts still alive and moving towards them at very high speed.


    But they soon realized what Alice meant as they saw what happened.


    ..........................


    The pterosaurs are a kind of beasts that would fly around in the air looking for their targets and they would keep flying above their target, waiting for it to rx or let its guard down.


    When they see the right moment they attack, but still, they don''t directly kill their targets right then and there, rather, they pick their targets alive, take them to their nests, and kill them there.


    Just like always a group of pterosaurses were flying around when they saw the fight between the beasts and the raiders.


    Just then they decided that the raiders were going to be their target, so they waited for the fight to end so that the raiders get tiered, and ready to be hunted.


    When they saw that the fight had ended, they directly dived toward the raiders, they had their ws stretched downwards and jaw/ beaks open. They were going to catch them, whether they had to use their jaw/ beaks or their ws.


    They dived at a very high speed and when they almost reached their target, suddenly spikes made of rocks started toe out of the earth, one after another.


    The beasts couldn''t stop themselves as their speed was very high, and in the end, they died helplessly as they were pierced by those spikes.


    *Screech....*


    They could only screech in a low voice at their souls left their bodies.


    ..........................


    "All right guys, time to move!" Alice eximed as she stood from the ground and dusted her armor cum dress.


    It''s been around 30 minutes since the time Alex killed the beasts with the earth spike and this much time was more than enough for the raiders to recover their energy.


    It was just that Alice was letting them rest as they had time on their hands, after all, there was no limit on the time they stayed inside the gate.


    They might be dered dead if they took too much time, but who cares?


    They will just go out alive and those derations would be of no use after that, after all, how can someone alive be dered dead?


    The raiders stood up and started stretching, it seemed that resting right after that hardcore workout made their bodies a bit lethargic.


    It didn''t take long before they started moving again.


    "I will take care of the beasts thate our way from now on, but still, you guys should stay alert as we don''t know what kind of beast we are going to face.


    Some of them might escape my attack and move towards you guys, so, just in case, be ready."


    Alex spoke as they moved forward.


    The raiders heard Alex and then turned towards Alice as she was the one with the final say here.


    "Listen to what he says," Alice nodded at them, and the raiders nodded back in response, epting the order.


    ''Time to collect some more points��..'' Alex spoke inwardly with a smile.


    The raiders from the guild walked behind with Alice and Ann while Alex moved in the front.


    They continued walking on the grassy field enjoying the view. Even if it was an S-ranked special gate no one could deny that it was a beautiful ce with greenery everywhere.


    It looked peaceful as well...��.


    *Swish**Boom**Pierce**Ssh**sh*


    Maybe not so peaceful, as the peace was destroyed by Alex who was walking ahead of the group of raiders, spamming abilities here and there.


    They could see water des, arrows, balls, and bullets, same goes for fire, earth, and wind. Alex was just spamming abilities without stopping, making the raiders rub their eyes in disbelief.


    ''You got unlimited energy or what???'' This is what all of them wanted to ask Alex.


    They didn''t know just how close they were to the correct answer, after all, Alex had unlimited energy in a way...


    They would look at Alice hoping to get an answer, they wanted a justification that could make this all look a bit more believable.


    But Alice would just shrug, she herself didn''t know every one of Alex''s abilities.


    The raiders just watched with shock, awe, and wonder as Alex effortlessly killed every single beast that they could see.


    Then they remembered Alex''s words, ''Some of them might escape my attack and move towards you guys, so, just in case, be ready.''


    They wanted to know how he could even say that, after all, if there was a beast that could escape that kind of bombardment, how would they even survive against it?


    Without them realizing time passed and after walking for like three or four hours, they could finally see some change in the surroundings.


    They could feel the temperature getting higher while the grassy ground below them started turning into a ne field without much grass.


    But by now it was already nighttime in the gate and since they were in an undiscovered gate and they were entering a new territory, they decided to camp right there.


    "As I said before, we won''t be talking risks and since we don''t know anything about this gate and it''s already dark, let''s just camp here."


    Alice spoke after gathering everyone.


    The raiders nodded and started setting up the tents that Ann took out of her storage ring.


    They failed to notice a pair of slit eyes that were looking in their direction from some distance.


    Well, Alex did notice but he didn''t point it out as he had a feeling that it would be better to let whatever it was go as it would be more good than bad (For him).


    Alex didn''t know how spot-on his instincts were, but he would know that soon enough...�� exclusive-to-NovelBin


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 86: CHAPTER 86 – Trying A New Challenge.

    When the gates appeared all over the world, they became the biggest enigma for the people of Gaia.


    No one knew anything about them, it was something that appeared out of nowhere, but humans being humans, they couldn''t suppress their curiosity about the unknown.


    That''s just how it works, everyone fears the unknown, but they love to find out more about it as well.


    Even if they lost many lives, the higher-ups still sent in people to the gate, after all, in the start not much was known about Raiders.


    But slowly as the raiders emerged, they changed their target, they started sending raiders and discovered many things.


    Out of the many things they discovered, one of them was that the climate and the time inside the gates move strangely. Some gates would maintain the same weather and the time within them, while some would change so quickly that it would be hard to keep up.


    The danger of the gates, however, didn''t lessen, rather it increased as the change in time or climate brought different monsters along as well.


    Right now, the members of Crimson Lotus Guild were about to face the same thing as well...


    "Hmm...."


    Or maybe not.


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    Alex was sitting above a rock that was 2 meters high so he could get a better view of the surroundings with Noctura by his side.


    She was sleeping with her head on hisp as he caressed her head continuously, but then Alex noticed some movements in his perception range.


    He looked down towards the tent where the raiders were sleeping and contemted whether he should wake them up or not. In the end, he decided against it.


    The raiders had been discussing tactics, strategies, and other things amongst themselves just so they could be of more help. Although Alex found it silly, he didn''t point it out, but still, they hadn''t slept for a long time because of that.


    The raiders entered their tents to sleep about 20 minutes ago, and Alex didn''t want to be a viin by waking them up.


    But well, it was just the excuses he was finding, the main reason why he was doing it was because he wanted to move his body.


    He had been using mostly magic since he entered the gate. Although it was easier and more convenient to fight like that, he didn''t get the thrill he wanted in those fights.


    Alex stopped caressing Noctura which caused her to open her eyes in a snap, then she looked at Alex.


    ''Master?'' She didn''t understand why Alex would stop petting her.


    "I need to take care of some beasts that areing our way, I''ll be back in a while," Alex spoke as he patted Noctura onest time.


    ''I wille with you then,'' Noctura suddenly spoke up as Alex stood up and started stretching.


    "All right but let me enjoy the fight, and don''t interfere even if it looks dangerous for me," Alex spoke up and jumped down, leaving the confused Noctura behind.


    ''Dangerous for master?????'' She couldn''t understand how someone or something could be dangerous for her master, after all, in her mind, her master was the strongest.


    Even if we don''t take Noctura''s biased thoughts into ount, it was a thing to think about.


    How could things get dangerous for Alex inside an S-ranked gate?


    But soon Noctura found out why Alex said that as Alex had lowered his stats to max B-rank. Alex had always wanted to do this since his fight with the Orc Chief.


    If he could fight with an almost S-rank with his stats limited to A-rank and he knew that was not the best he could do, then what was stopping him from trying the same with a group of A-rank monsters?


    In fact, it would be easier, after all, the difference between B-rank and A-rank stats was not something that could bepared with the difference between A-rank and S-rank stats.


    Alex just wanted to try to give himself a new challenge, like testing his body''s limits, but he somehow felt that he wouldn''t be able to test his body''s limits even after this.


    But that wouldn''t stop him, he wanted to enjoy the fight and he knew that he was going to enjoy the fight, after all, he was going to fight against a bunch of A-ranked beasts with his stats limited to B-rank.


    "Can''t sleep?" Alex then suddenly turned back and spoke, causing the one he questioned to almost jump in surprise.


    .........................................


    James had been having a hard time sleeping, and the reason for that was pretty embarrassing to say, after all, he would be aughingstock if he said that he couldn''t sleep without hugging his body-sized teddy.


    That was the reason why he pretended to sleep and when he saw that everyone else had entered the dreand, he got up and left the tent.


    But just as he was getting out of the tent, he heard a voice...


    "Can''t sleep?"


    James almost jumped in fright as he saw two shining red eyes looking at him from the darkness, but when he saw it clearly, he could see that it was Alex, causing him to sigh in relief.


    "Yeah��.." James then replied to Alex''s question while scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed smile on his face.


    James didn''t know what he would say if Alex asked for the reason why he couldn''t sleep, and he started imagining Alexughing at him after he told Alex about the reason for his sleeplessness.


    James quickly shook his head and looked at Alex who was looking at him weirdly, making him confused.


    ''Why the hell are you behaving like a little girl, man?'' This was what Alex wanted to ask James but he decided to leave James to himself.


    "I see, well, enjoy your time."


    Alex spoke with a shrug and moved forward. He didn''t want to wait for the beasts to arrive here since the fight would cause some noise, waking the raiders as a result, which he didn''t want to happen.


    "Yeah," James spoke, and he was about to find a ce to sit when he saw Alex getting ready to move somewhere.


    "Huh? Where are you going?" James asked.


    "Well, there are some beastsing in this direction and I am going to take care of them," Alex spoke nonchntly, but James became serious as he turned towards the tent.


    "What are you doing????" Alex asked James with a nk stare.


    "Shouldn''t we be informing others about this?" James stopped and answered Alex, but looking at Alex''s nk stare, he felt that maybe he was doing something wrong.


    "Why do you think I am going there myself? Let them sleep for a while, will you."


    Alex questioned again.


    "Ohh..." James finally realized that the guy he was talking to was the same guy who could take care of the herds of beasts like nothing.


    James also thought that Alex was looking out for the raiders and was taking care of the beasts just so that the raiders could get some sleep.


    This caused the respect James had for Alex to increase more and more.


    "All right then, I''ll be back in a while," Alex spoke, and he took out his simple sword getting ready to run towards the beasts that were moving toward them.


    "Wait!!" But Alex stopped and turned his head towards James who was running towards him.


    "What now?" Alex looked at James who was now just next to him and asked with some impatience.


    After all, the more time he wasted here, the closer the beasts were getting.


    But when he saw James''s shining eyes, he felt that whatever James was going to say was going to be bothersome.


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 Chapter 87: CHAPTER 87 – Do not Interfere.

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    "Came Ie with you???" James asked with a lot of hope in his eyes.


    ''Sigh��.'' Alex sighed inwardly.


    He knew it was going to be something bothersome. He didn''t have a problem with James following him, but he knew that he would have to look after James as well, after all, James wouldn''t be able to fight a group of A-ranked beasts alone.


    "Please, let me follow you.


    I have seen you fighting with swords and I could tell that your every move contains mastery, so I just wanted to look at you fighting.


    Maybe I can get some kind of enlightenment��.."


    James spoke, though hisst line was just a whisper.


    Alex looked at James for a while before he spoke.


    "All right, try not to fall behind," Alex spoke and then turned to his right,


    "Let''s go, pup," He spoke while patting Noctura''s head.


    ''Un.'' Noctura nodded her head.


    James, however, almost attacked Noctura who somehow appeared out of nowhere, but he stopped himself when he saw it was.


    But now that he noticed it, Noctura had been invisible almost all the time just like Ann, and none of the raiders could see her. This made James think that maybe Noctura was an A-ranked beast with camouge ability, but he didn''t dwell much on it and spoke.


    "I will bring my weapon, give me a second."


    James directly ran towards the tent to get his weapon without even waiting for Alex''s reply, not like Alex replied to him in the first ce.


    He came running back with his sword in seconds and spoke.


    "We can go now."


    Alex nodded his head and dashed toward the right of their camp. James didn''tg behind as he ran behind Alex as well, and they reached their destination in seconds.


    When they reached the spot, James became alert, but no matter how much he looked he couldn''t find the enemies.


    "No matter how dangerous it looks for me, do not interfere, understood?" James then turned towards Alex in confusion when he heard Alex''s words.


    James had seen Alex kill herds after herds of A-ranked beasts and he knew that it wouldn''t be hard for Alex to defeat some S-rank beasts as well, so he didn''t get why Alex said that.


    But then, for the first time he felt it, he felt that Alex had grown weak, weaker than himself.


    Now, why would James feel that when we all know that Alex could kill James even with his stats lowered? James felt like that because of the mana pressure lessening, giving him the image that Alex had grown weaker than himself.


    "Wha-" Before he could speak something, Alex cut him off with a serious face.


    "No matter how dangerous it looks for me, do not interfere, understood?"


    James swallowed his saliva as he saw Alex''s serious face and those red eyes staring at him. Something told him that he shouldn''t say ''no'' here and he listened to whatever it was.


    "Yes��." James spoke with his head lowered.


    "Good," Alex spoke with a smile, causing James to be dumbfounded.


    After all, he was new to the instant changes in Alex''s expressions. James felt like the previous serious expression was just his imagination. But the cold sweat on his back told him otherwise.


    "All right, let''s bring them out of their hiding, shall we?" Alex spoke and suddenly 5 water arrows appeared above them and all of them shot in different spots.


    The water arrows were quite weak, with very little mana in them since Alex was just using them to tell his enemies that they were not hidden from his eyes.


    The arrows went and crashed on 5 different rocks, all of them ck in color and almost invisible at night, but then....


    "KKRREEEEEEE!!" X5


    James and Alex could see the 5 stones moving with annoying high-pitched screams.


    James now understood why Alex had decided to engage with these monsters away from the camp as this sound alone would''ve been enough to wake everyone in the camp, it was just that annoying.


    As the creatures moved closer, James could finally tell what they were. They were actually justrge scorpions, butrge here means reallyrge as they were around 1.5 meters high, even if we don''t talk about their length.


    Just then James saw Alex running towards the scorpions, and he was about to shout out to him but stopped as Alex''s words reverberated in his mind, ''Do not interfere...''


    In the end, James just stood there with full alert while being ready to jump into batter anytime. After all, even if Alex told him not to interfere no matter what, James wasn''t nning on letting Alex die.


    He still didn''t know why Alex suddenly became weak, but he thought that maybe it was some kind of drawback of one of his abilities.


    Just what kind of face would James make if he knew that Alex had lowered his power himself, that too is just so that he could enjoy a fight?


    ............��


    Alex ran towards the beasts while he noted the movement pattern of the beasts. He noted their blind spots while also looking at their features.


    It didn''t require him to be a genius to tell that those stingers of the beasts would be poisonous, while the pincers would have a strong grip. He could see the sharp edges of the pincers; it was as if they were made to cut their prey into pieces.


    Their pointed legs could pierce their prey if stepped upon, it was like their whole body was a weapon and this is what Alex was thankful for.


    The stronger the enemies are the harder the fight is and the harder the fight is the more enjoyment he gets.


    Just like that, Alex arrived in front of a scorpion that flung its stinger at Alex.


    Alex just smiled as he was sure that he was going to enjoy this ''fight in the night''.


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 88: CHAPTER 88 – Fight in the Night.

    *ng*


    A sound of metal shing was heard as Alex deflected the stinger that was aimed at his chest without much difficulty.


    The stinger, being a weapon for the beast was quite strong, but Alex''s simple sword was not something to be underestimated. Its simple looks gave it a not-so-special look but in reality, its grade is quite high.


    The simple sword is a growth-type weapon, and it grows along with the user, so its being the same rank as Alex was a given. Even right now as Alex had limited his stats to B-rank, the sword remained the same, after all, he didn''t lower the sword''s rank (In case it was possible).


    The beast backed away instantly as it looked at its stinger. It could feel its stinger vibrating till now, and it knew that its opponent was not as simple as it looked.


    "Krrrrr." It then called out to its friends and all of them moved toward Alex.


    Alex didn''t wait for the other scorpions toe as he quickly moved towards the scorpion in front of him.


    The beast looked at Alex running toward it and opened its pincers, waiting for Alex toe close to it. It had its stinger ready as well, in case Alex blocked the pincers with his sword.


    But to the beast''s surprise and shock, just when Alex was 2 meters away from it he slid down, directly getting below the beast.


    Before the beast could move or step on Alex, Alex had already made a move.


    Alex shed one of the scorpion''s legs from below, cutting the leg in the process. The scorpion staggered and screamed as it lost its leg.


    "KKRRREEEEEEE!!!!"


    But Alex was not done yet as when the beast staggered, Alex slid again, arriving behind the beast now.


    The beast was oblivious to Alex''s location as it was still stabilizing itself and making use of that, Alex jumped over the beast. When the beast felt some weight over it, it realized that its enemy was standing above it, so it shook its body only to get its back pierced by Alex''s sword.


    *Pierce*


    Alex''s sword pierced right through the tough hide of the scorpion.


    "KRREEEEEEE!!"


    The beast screamed again and shot its stinger at Alex. Alex, on the other hand, smiled, and as if waiting for this moment, he directly jumped down from the beast.


    The stinger, however, didn''t stop and it directly prated the beast''s own body.


    The beast screamed in agony as its innards started melting because of its own poison.


    ''One down, four more to go,'' Alex spoke in his mind and jumped back from where he was standing. Stay with m _v _l _e _mp _y _r.


    Just as he jumped, a stinger came and pierced the ground that he was standing at. The ground melted as the green gooey stuff came out of the stinger.


    Alex then looked above and he could see the remaining four scorpions looking at him with anger in their eyes. They slowly started surrounding him from four sides, and then all of them rushed at him.


    Alex stood there as if waiting for the right moment and just as the four of them had almost reached him, he ran towards one of them, taking the scorpion by surprise.


    But then the beast aimed its pincers at Alex, only to see Alex stepping on them and using them as a foothold to jump higher.


    The beast then saw the opportunity and aimed its stinger towards Alex who was now falling toward the ground. The beast''s tail was quite long, reaching 3 to 4 meters so it could reach high above the ground, and attackrger enemies.


    Alex just twisted his body a little narrowly avoiding the pincer, but he wasn''t done yet as he shed his sword at the joint of the stinger, cutting it off from the beast''s body.


    "KRRREEEEEE!!"


    The scorpion whose stinger was detached screamed in pain, making itspanions look at it.


    Alex used this chance to kick the cut-off stinger toward another scorpion with all of his power.


    The stinger pierced one of the scorpions that was looking at itspanion as it heard the pained scream, only to find itself screaming as it died by itspanion''s stinger.


    ''That''s two and a half down,'' Alex noted as hended right above the head of the scorpion that had its stinger cut off by him.


    Before the scorpion could react, it had its head pierced by Alex''s sword, dying on the spot.


    ''Three down, two more to go,'' Alex spoke as he jumped down only to find a stinger right in front of him.


    *ng*


    Alex blocked the stinger but it pushed him back, and his hand turned a bit numb (Just a bit).


    Alex then looked at the beast in front of him, and he turned a bit surprised as he saw the beast had almost reached S-rank in strength stats.


    But the beast wasn''t alone, and another stinger was aimed at Alex from behind. Alex rolled to the right, dodging the stinger but the first beast attacked again, making Alex deflect its attack.


    Alex knew that blocking the attack would not be good for the long run, so why not just deflect them?


    The stinger pierced the ground, but the beast then ran towards Alex with its pincers wide open.


    Alex looking at the situation, slid on the ground, aiming to reach below the scorpion. But the scorpion had already seen one of itspanions die because of that so just as Alex slid below it, the beast lowered its body, intending to crush Alex.


    But Alex being wiser had already guessed that the same trick would not work again so he had other ns.


    As the beast lowered itself, Alex pointed the sword upwards right below the beast piercing the beast.


    The beast lowered its body only to feel itself being pierced from below causing it to scream in pain. Seeing the situation Alex smiled.


    "You still fell for it��.." Alex then cut one of its legs just like he did to the first beast and the beast screamed in pain.


    "KKKRRRREEEEEEEE!!!"


    But then the beast remembered what happened to itspanion, so it quickly turned back and shed its pincers, only to hit the air.


    "Looking for me??" Alex''s voice was heard from the opposite direction causing the beast to turn toward Alex with anger.


    It felt like it was being yed.


    Then it saw Alex running and it ran behind Alex, but just then the other scorpion came in front of Alex and shot its stinger at Alex.


    Alex smiled as he took the strike on his sword, then he tilted the sword a bit, making the stinger slide on it, after that he pushed the stinger in the direction he wanted it to be.


    The beast couldn''t control its stinger as it had used all of its force to shoot it, so it saw how its stinger pierced its ownpanion right in the head.


    The other scorpion that was chasing after Alex just ran behind Alex and his vision was clouded with anger. Thest thing it saw was a stinger right in front of its face and the helpless expression on itspanion''s face. (Maybe insects can read each other''s expressions?)


    "KKRRREEEEEEEE!!!!"


    Thest remaining beast screamed in anger and loss as it saw all of itspanions die but then it heard a voice very close to itself.


    "That scream almost busted my ears, you know?"


    The beast then realized that the one responsible for all of this was standing on its back, but before it could attack or even move, it heard its enemy speak before its world turned dark.


    "Goodbye," Alex spoke as he shed his sword covered with sword aura right on the beast''s neck, killing it in a second.


    "Ah, that was nice...��" Alex spoke as heid down on the beast''s dead body.


    But then Alex saw a notification from the system��..


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 89: CHAPTER 89 – The 3rd Territory.

    [Hidden questplete!


    Quest: Defeat a group of enemies stronger than you in stats.


    Reward: Venomebane pill (Mid) X 20.]


    ''What''s this?'' Alex asked inwardly.


    [This is a hidden quest, but this is one of those that need you to do some specific tasks toplete them, hard tasks.


    You fighting against a group of A-rank beasts while limiting your stats to B-rank was one of them, and even though it didn''t look hard to you, for others it was almost impossible.]


    Sophia exined the answer to Alex.


    ''I see��.'' Alex didn''t need Sophia to tell him that the thing he did right now was not something anyone could do, he could already see James standing like a statue.


    ''Master!!!!!'' Noctura came running and directly jumped on Alex who was still lying on the beast''s corpse.


    Alex just smiled and patted her head as she started licking his face.


    ''Finally!!!'' Noctura screamed inwardly as she got the chance to lick her master''s face after a long time, and she really liked licking his face.


    "Calm down, pup. I''m not going anywhere��.." Alex spoke helplessly, but Noctura didn''t stop.


    ''What''s the highest-ranked poison that pill can heal?'' Alex questioned Sophia as stopped trying to stop Noctura and closed his eyes.


    [Ex-ranked Poison is the maximum that pill can heal, though it would be a different case if it was a high-grade Venombane pill.]


    ''I see,'' Alex nodded inwardly.


    He then keptying there for a while, letting Noctura lick his face all she wanted, and after a while, she stopped licking on her own.


    Noctura liked licking, but that didn''t mean she wanted to be annoying so she knew when to stop.


    "Let''s go, we need to be there to keep an eye out for the camp. Although I can see that there''s nothing in the surroundings right now, we can never be sure��.."


    Alex spoke as he got up and patted Noctura''s head.


    ''Un,'' Noctura nodded as well and then she jumped behind the beast''s corps, just to activate her ability.


    ..................��.


    James had seen many raiders, including many strong ones, and he had even heard things about Argon Hart, however, not one of them shocked him like he was right now.


    James knew that Alex was in a weakened state, and he could tell that Alex might have been weaker than him, but after looking at Alex fighting against those beasts anding out as a victor with not one scratch on his, James had now started doubting his beliefs.


    James knew that he was not the strongest out there, far from it.


    But he also knew that even the strongest of the would not be able to fight a group of beasts that were as strong as then, fighting beasts stronger than them was out of the question. (James''s thinking)


    But he saw Alex fighting 5 such beasts at a time without much issue, James couldn''t even focus on Alex''s swordsmanship as he just stood in his ce like a statue.


    "What are you still standing there for, let''s go."


    It was when he heard Alex''s words and found Alex walking back toward the camp''s direction that he realized that the fight had already ended, and they were returning back.


    "Coming!" James shouted and gave ast look at the beasts'' corpses before he ran toward Alex.


    He was still thinking that maybe it was all an illusion, but he also knew that it was not.


    Today, Alex got to somewhat enjoy his fight, Noctura got to lick Alex, while James got a new definition of impossible. Everyone got something new, so all good.


    .....................


    "This is the third territory we found inside a single gate��.." Ann spoke as the group walked through the dry rocky area.


    wee to mvle mp,y,r


    They had been walking for an hour or so and slowly the area was turning hotter and hotter. They could feel the heat from the ground, and they could see some remnants ofva here and there.


    They would remain on high alert all the time, as they can never be sure what type of danger they will face the next second.


    They already discovered three territories inside this gate till now, and this alone was enough to make this gate special, not to mention that the number of S-rank beasts in this gate was also high.


    The area around them was filled with rocks or short mountains, obstructing their view, but since they had Alex with them, they were still fine.


    Alex was like a personal scanner that could work continuously for as long as one wanted, so for once they were thankful that Alex had so much mana that he could continuously use his skills.


    "It is a special gate, and we don''t even know how strong the boss is going to be��.." Alice spoke with a sigh.


    She wasn''t worried about the boss, it''s just that it is always good to have some information about these things beforehand.


    "Is it only me or have you guys noticed that we have yet to see a single beast today?" Maggies suddenly asked.


    Her words caused everyone to stop on their track as they just realized that as well.


    They had been walking for an hour, but they had yet to find a single beast, they didn''t notice it as they were all tensed by the thought that a beast would suddenly jump out from behind those rocks.


    Alice and Ann on the other hand had noticed it a while ago but they kept quiet even if they found it strange.


    "If my guess is correct then we are probably close to the boss area," Suddenly Alex spoke up and everyone''s eyes turned to him.


    "Maybe, just maybe, the beasts are gathered in the boss area, waiting for us to arrive there," Alex continued, and he could see the worry and tension appearing on every raider''s face.


    "Or maybe, the boss is a territorial beast, and it doesn''t like intruders in its area which means there were no beasts here in the first ce," Alex added, and although he said that the raider somehow felt that the former situation was more likely.


    After all, if the boss was as territorial as Alex was depicting it to be then the boss would''ve been here, fighting them the moment they stepped into its territory.


    There was a long silence as everyone was in deep thought.


    "Well, let''s just move forward, we will know what it is when we see it, and as I said, we won''t be taking unnecessary risks," Alice finally spoke after a while.


    Although she had been saying the same line about retreating if they found something dangerous again and again, she had no intention of doing that, she was saying that just to keep the raiders calm.


    Alice knew that with Alex here, they wouldn''t have a problem clearing an S-rank gate, and this fact wouldn''t change, whether it was a special S-rank gate or a normal one.


    The raiders nodded their heads, and they continued walking.


    After another hour or two of walking, they could finally see a ce that had ''I might be the boss''sir'' written all over it (Not literally).....


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 90: CHAPTER 90 – Fight against an Army?

    As the raiders from the Crimson Lotus kept walking deeper into the gate the temperature kept getting higher, though it was not much of a problem to them as they were all A-rank or higher.


    But what attracted their attention was that the dry cracks on the ground were now getting wider and some of those cracks had redva flowing inside them.


    Looking at the situation, it was easy to tell that they were soon going to find a volcano in this territory, and just like they had thought, after some time they found it.


    It was arge volcano that reached close to 1000 meters in height as for its width, they couldn''t tell. But that volcano was visible to them, even though they were quite far from it.


    The volcano had the same dry cracks over it as the ground below them and there wasva leaking out of some cracks.


    There was smokeing out from the top of the volcano, but even though it looked like the volcano was about to erupt, they could somehow tell that it had been like that for a long time.


    There were dark clouds thundering above the volcano, crackling with lightning. They could see thunder crashing on the top of the volcano from time to time.


    Just looking at therge volcano, they could tell that if this was the boss''s territory, then that volcano was the boss''syer, and they were sure of it.


    They kept moving toward the volcano and although there were still no beasts in sight, they could feel the tension in the air rising.


    It might be their imagination, but the raiders felt that their moves were being watched.


    If they asked Alex about it, then he would''ve told them �C ''Yeah, there''s a beast flying above us, keeping an eye on us''.


    As they moved forward, they were getting closer to the volcano, which meant that they were getting under the dark clouds as well. The beast that Alex was observing, or the beast that was keeping an eye on them, was flying inside those clouds crackling with thunder.


    The area was rocky, and they couldn''t see more than 5 meters ahead of them without their view being blocked by one of those rocks, so they didn''t know what was ahead of them or what were they walking into.


    But they could feel the air getting more tense, it was like they could cut the tension in the air with a knife.


    They didn''t know the reason for that but they grew more apprehensive as it was not a good sign.


    After a while, they finally heard some noises when they were around a kilometer or so away from the volcano. They could hear some distant noises such as low huffs, growls, screeches, and hisses.


    "We are being surrounded��.." Alex suddenly spoke and the raiders quickly formed a circr formation with their attacks ready.


    They knew that the situation had just turned into the worst they could hope for.


    Alex had given them two guesses and one of them was that the boss was territorial, but if they were being surrounded then that was out of option, which leaves only one option...


    They trembled a bit as they thought about the possibility of facing each and every beast of an entire territory at the same time.


    They didn''t know the exact number of beasts there would be in a territory, but they knew that they would berger than the herd they had to fight against. The same heard that took them around 20 minutes to clear.


    Being in an area where they could not see what wasing didn''t help either....


    "Is there an open area close to us, an area where we can look at our surroundings and not see rocks everywhere?" Alice asked Alex with the most serious face she could make.


    She didn''t want to fight in a ce where some kind of beast could just jump out of the rock next to you and kill you. She would be fine, she also knew that Alex, Ann, and Noctura would be fine as well, but she didn''t want to risk her subordinates'' lives.


    "Yes, and if we make a run for it, we can reach there in 2 seconds," Alex spoke as he pointed to the direction they needed to run.


    The direction was actually straight ahead, the path they were following till now.


    No one said anything or questioned, and everyone just ran the fastest they could, reaching the said spot in a second. But just as they came out of the rocky air and entered the ''field'', they stood there petrified.


    They couldn''t move for many reasons such as shock, fear, denial, etc. but it was all justified as the scene in front of them could make the weak raiders die just from the pressure.


    Just as they entered the field, they could see thousands of beasts staring at them. All of the beasts in front of them were at least A-ranked with many S-ranked beasts among them.


    The pressure they could feel from the beasts was a bit too much for the raiders who were just A-ranked. They would be fine against one or two A-ranked beasts, they might survive against 3 as well, but what about a thousand of them?


    Even Frank was standing there frozen in his ce as he could sense more than 10 S-ranked beasts.


    But the thing that made them feel the most fear was the 10-meter-long dragon-like beast that was standing behind the crowd. It was looking at them as if they were already dead, they could see arrogance in its eyes.


    They would''ve been angry if it was a normal situation and if the one looking at them wasn''t some beast that could finish them in a single strike.


    special


    The beast was standing behind all of them as if it were a king and the beasts in front of it were its pawns.


    All of them knew that they stood no chance, it was a fight against an army...


    They knew why it was called a special gate, and they felt that even if they came in with a raiding team, the result would''ve been the same.


    But then��..


    "Finally, I can use some ''real'' spells...." Alex spoke with a smile, making the raiders turn their headsically toward Alex with a dumbfounded expression.


    Their eyes, on the other hand, betrayed their expression as it was filled with hope.


    They knew that the only people they could rely on right now were Alice and Alex, so when they heard Alex''s words they hoped that he had the power to get out of this situation.


    But when they saw the smile on Alex''s face which was far from gentle, they somehow felt that Alex had no n of getting out of here.


    "I will stay back and protect them, you can go wild," Alice spoke as she pointed at the raiders.


    The raiders just looked at Alice and Alex as if they were aliens.


    ''Are you for real?!?!'' They wanted to shout at them, but for better or worse, they couldn''t even move right now.


    "All right, I''ll be going ahea-" Alex couldn''tplete his words as a rough voice interrupted him midway.


    "Arrogant human, you are already dea-" A dark-brown scaled T-rex who was standing in front of the army of beasts spoke up, but it couldn''tplete its words...


    *Swish**Ssssssss*


    An arrow made of red-ck energy swished through the air, and directly pierced the T-rex''s head, killing it in the process.


    The T-rex didn''t even get a chance toplete its words or understand what happened, but it didn''t end there as the T-rex''s body started to disintegrate into nothingness until there was no trace of the T-rex left....


    "Don''t interrupt me, beast..."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 91: CHAPTER 91 – One-sided? Yeah, it is.

    "Don''t interrupt me, beast..."


    Alex spoke as he snapped his finger, making the arrow made of destruction energy disappear.


    But the area had turned so quiet that even the sound of his snap could be heard as loud as a bomb going off.


    The raiders sucked a cold breath when they saw what had happened, after all, Alex had just one-shot''ed an S-ranked beast.


    But that''s not all as the beast disappeared without a trace, leaving nothing behind....


    They trembled at the thought of what would happen if they were to be shot by whatever that was. But they knew that they were safe as they were on the same side as Alex (for now).


    The silence, however, didn''t remain for long as it was broken by Alice.


    "You know that you just made us lose a mid-boss drop, right?" Alice spoke as she looked at Alex with a dead expression.


    Alice and Ann were not much shocked by Alex''s show of power although a little amazed as it never gets old as they see the monsters disappear.


    Alice and Ann had seen Alex using this power on monsters before, and first time, they were shocked as well, but by now they had seen so many things done by Alex that they had be somewhat immune to shocks.


    "There are a lot of them here, losing one wouldn''t matter," Alex just shrugged., after all, it was not his fault, it was the beast''s fault for interrupting him.


    "Sigh��.." Alice just sighed.


    m _vl _em _p _yr only


    "So, as I was saying, I''ll be going ahead now," Alex spoke as he turned towards the Dragon-like creature, or wyvern to be precise.


    It just so happened that the wyvern was looking at Alex as well, causing them to make eye contact. The wyvern narrowed its slit-like eyes before it spoke...


    "No matter how powerful you are, this fight is going to be one-sided..." The wyvern growled in a low voice, but Alex heard it quite well.


    "Attack��.." It continued in a low growl, but its voice sounded more like a teenager with a deep voice.


    This gave Alex an idea about who the hidden boss would be.


    He could see that the wyvern in front of him didn''t have any stat other than its mana and strength in SS rank which implied that it was still not powerful enough to be a hidden boss of a special S-rank gate.


    "RRRAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRR!!!"


    "RAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"


    "GGRRAAAAAAAAA!!"


    "KKRRAAAAAAAAAA!!"


    .....


    ��


    .


    The beasts roared as they heard the wyvern''smand and then they rushed forward.


    Alex started elevating himself before he shot towards the boss monster of the gate.


    Noctura and Ann who were hidden from everyone''s eyes also started moving.


    Noctura''s moving was not actually something rted to battle, she was just jumping from one shadow of the rock to another, trying to avoid the eyes of any S-ranked beast.


    She knew that no matter how good her abilities were, she might get detected by S-ranked beasts as the beasts have good senses, and even if she could avoid some of them, she would be noticed by others.


    Ann, on the other hand, was moving to get some kills.


    ............................................


    "There he goes..." Alice murmured as she looked at Alex flying toward the wyvern only to be intercepted by a flock of flying beasts.


    "Oh well, he''ll be fine," Alice just shrugged then she looked at the raiders and she could see that they were able to move again.


    "Ah, sorry, I forgot to get rid of the pressure for you guys..." Alice apologized.


    She didn''t forget it; it was that she never felt it in the first ce.


    "Also, thanks, Ann," Alice added as she knew that it was not Alex who dissipated the pressure and it was not her as well, which meant it was Ann or Frank who did it.


    But Alice could see that Frank was quite shaken as well since it was his first time feeling the pressure of who knows how many S-rank beasts upon him.


    That means it was Ann who did it since Ann was not affected by the pressure as well, after all, Alex had trained her to fight under his mana pressure and Ann had a lot of willpower that let her fight against pressure.


    Alice didn''t get a response, but she knew that her words were heard.


    Alice then turned towards the iing wave of monsters.


    "Now then..."


    She raised both of her hands making a 90-degree angle from the ground and then,


    "zing beam," Alice spoke although it was not needed for her to say the skill''s name. She said it just because it sounded cool.


    Just as her words were heard, two balls of fire started forming in front of her palms, and then just like Iron Man''ssers, her hand shot two straight beams of fire.


    *SSSS**Pierce**Pierce**Pierce*...��.


    That beam continued for around 200 meters without any obstruction and if there was something in front of it, it just pierced right through it. This single attack killed more than 20 beasts, which included both A-rank and one S-ranked.


    But Alice was not done yet as she moved both of her hands left and right, killing more and more beasts.


    The lucky ones would dodge it by crouching, jumping, or whatever they could do.


    ..........................................


    (The moment Alex shot himself toward the wyvern)


    As Alex zoomed toward the wyvern through the air, he saw some pterosaurs diving toward him with their beaks pointed at him, ready to pierce him.


    Alex stopped himself mid-air and waved his hand. The next second he was surrounded by the destruction energy.


    The destruction energy had formed a sphere around Alex, and just as the pterosaurs touched the sphere made of destruction energy, they started to disintegrate.


    Since they were diving at a very high speed, they couldn''t stop themselves and they slowly turned into nothingness just like the T-rex before.


    At that time Alice had used her ''zing beam'' to massacre who knows how many monsters.


    The roars of pain caused both Alex and the wyvern to turn towards the scene. The wyvern''s eyes shed with seriousness as it saw the scene.


    It was fine with Alex as it was going to take care of Alex itself, but now that another strong person had appeared in enemies ranks, it had be a bit troublesome.


    Alex, on the other hand, just smiled, he knew how capable Alice and Ann were as he had trained them both himself and he had seen how much they had improved.


    He was sure that even if he was not here, Alice could take care of everything herself, though she would be out of fuel by the end of it. Still, he knew that it wouldn''t be a problem for Alice to take care of the beasts that were being used as nothing but pawns.


    But then his smile turned into a smirk as he finally replied to thement the wyvern had given a while back.


    "One-sided? Yeah, it is."


    The wyvern growled as it heard Alex''s mocking words and then it stood up from its spot.


    Then it looked up in the dark clouds and spoke.


    "You. Go and take care of that human��.."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 92: CHAPTER 92 – Boss Killed.

    "Screech��.." A low screech was heard before a blue sh shot from the sky, directly toward Alice''s position.


    Alex didn''t even turn to look at the beast as he had been observing that same beast for quite a while and he knew that the beast was nothing more than an S-rank beast that had its speed stats close to breaking into SS-rank.


    Even if that beast had its speed rank at SS-, it would still be killed by Alice in one shot.


    Alex''s focus was entirely on the beast in front of him.


    The Wyvern was quite big, its wingspan was 15 meters, and its length was also around 13 meters including its tail, which was bigger than thergest T-rex Alex had seen.


    It had dark red scales with some yellow in between. Its slitted eyes were golden in color, and it kept looking toward Alex with arrogance. Not for a second did it think that it would lose to Alex, after all, it thought of itself as the kind of all beasts.


    Alex on the other hand was stuck in a dilemma��..


    ''Should I just one-shot it...��?'' Alex didn''t have much interest in the boss as he was more interested in the hidden boss.


    Alex had already had fun fighting the scorpions yesterday and he didn''t want to fight every beast like that with his stats lowered.


    If he was going to do that then he might as well do it against the hidden boss.


    [I know you just want to fight the hidden boss, so just kill it already��.]


    Sophia spoke to Alex, and he just smiled inwardly.


    Alex then made a gesture with his fingers and the next second a spear made of pure destructive energy shot toward the wyvern who was unprepared for a surprise attack.


    The Wyvern wanted to dodge the attack as it had seen what happened to those who were hit by Alex''s attacks. But it was not fast enough, or it was better to say that the attack was just too fast for even its eyes to follow it.


    It opened its jaw to roar only for the spear to enter it. The spear pierced its head and came out from the back of its head directly going and hitting the volcano behind it, but Alex had already canceled the ability making it disappear.


    Alex then shot a wind de charged with a lot of mana directly at the neck of the wyvern cutting it off. The wyvern''s head and its body started falling toward the ground but only hits body reached the ground, its head had already dissipated into nothingness before it could hit the ground.


    *Boom*


    The body made a loud sound as it crashed on the ground, attracting the attention of every beast in the surroundings, and when the beasts saw what had happened, they stopped moving. Experience the best from m-vl _emp _yr.


    .............................................��...


    (Back to Alice after she used ''zing beam'')


    "Phew��.." Alex deactivated her skill after a while and by now almost all the beasts within a 200-meter radius had died.


    Alice then looked at the remaining beast and she smiled as she saw them falling one by one. Some of them had their head decapitated while some would have their heads pierced by something, but one thing wasmon, none of them could see the one who killed them.


    Alice just smiled as she looked at how much Ann had grown, at one time she was just an A-ranked raider which, although quite powerful, was not something rare.


    But now, Ann could easily kill any S-ranked raider in this world, no matter how strong they were, after all, Ann was an assassin, and she killed her target with a single attack in most cases.


    With Alex''s help, Ann was now already an S-ranker, but that was not all as she was at the peak of S-rank. Just a little push and she would enter SS rank in one go.


    Just then from the corner of her eye, Alice saw a beast that looked like a bird with brown feathers and blue streaks in them, diving at her at a very fast speed.


    It was an Archaeopteryx, one of the fastest beasts in this gate. It had blue lightning crackling on its wings, which indicated that it was using some kind of ability to boost its speed.


    Alice had to admit that the speed was quite fast, and she from the past would''ve died or would not even be able to react to attack just like the raiders behind her.


    But she was much stronger than she was in the past.


    By stronger she didn''t mean just statistically, she had awakened a part of her hidden potential, and that gave her a huge boost in power.


    The boost she got had increased her powers so much that she was sure that other than Alex, there would be no other SS-ranker who could win against her (Or maybe there would be but she thinks that there is none).


    Alice then looked at the beast that was heading towards her and then she closed her eyes.


    In a second her eyes opened, but right now there was nothing other than fire where her eye was supposed to be.


    "Burn��." Alice murmured but the next second, arge pir of golden me shot from the ground and moved towards theing beast at a very high speed.


    The beast didn''t even get a chance to scream as it was burned alive, the mes were so hot that if not for Alice deactivating her skill in a second, there would be nothing left of the beast.


    "Phew��." Alice was relieved that she didn''t burn the beast to oblivion as it was a mid-boss and she didn''t want to lose one more mid-boss drop.


    But just then��..


    *Boom*


    The booming sound was heard, it was like something very heavy fell to the ground.


    Then after that, one after another every beast stopped moving and all of them turned toward the wyvern''s dead body.


    Ann who was killing the beast here and there didn''t stop as she thought that the beasts were distracted, even after she killed 4 to 5 beasts, she couldn''t get a response out of them.


    Then she noticed the beasts trembling, not only her Alice noticed that as well. It was like the beasts were scared of something, and that something made them more scared than death could.


    The first thought that came to Alice and Ann''s mind was that maybe the beasts were scared of Alex, maybe he did something to make the beasts scared.


    But Alice still found it weird, so she used her fire to st herself into the air.


    *Boom*


    Alice was floating in the air while she kept releasing fire from her hands to keep herself floating, and when she saw what had happened, she spoke out loud.


    //// Author Note: Alice can fly using her fire, but she doesn''t as she got Alex to help her fly, after all, she doesn''t have an almost limitless amount of mana like Alex. ////


    "Oh, he''s done with the boss already?"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 93: CHAPTER 93 – The Hidden Boss.

    "Oh, he''s done with the boss already?"


    Alice''s voice was quite low, but with the silence on the field, it was clearly heard by the raiders below, and the words sounded louder than nuke in their ears.


    Those words echoed in their minds until it finally sank...


    They exchanged looks and seeing the same dumbfounded expressions on theirpanion''s faces, they knew that it was not one of them who was just hearing things. All of them heard the same thing, which meant that none of them were hearing things and Alice actually said that.


    They just looked in Alex''s direction with aical expression on their faces. They were looking towards the direction Alex flew off, even though their view was blocked by the monsters.


    They had an expression that had relief, happiness, dumbfoundedness, and many otherplex emotions mixed with it, making it look quiteical.


    The positive emotions were there because they knew they were saved, and they had cleared the gate. They were going to be the first guild to clear an S-rank gate alone, that too a special one.


    But they were dumbfounded, shocked, amazed, and awed as they thought of what Alex had done.


    It didn''t even take Alex and minute before he was done with the boss, the same boss that almost made them piss their pants with just a look.


    If someone asked them how they viewed Alex, then their answer would be a single word �C Monster.


    But overall, they were happy that they were going to leave the gate alive but looked like they were celebrating a bit too early.


    Deep inside the volcano, a golden pair of eyes opened with a snap and there was rage bubbling inside of them.


    "RRROOOOAAARRRR"


    A thunderous roar was heard, and it shook the whole area.


    The joy in the raiders'' eyes vanished as it was reced with dread. Simple pure dread.


    Even Frank was not spared since the pressure that descended upon all of them was nothing to scoff at but before they could fall unconscious or get harmed by the pressure, they felt another pressure crashing with the pressure, dissipating thest pressure altogether.


    They turned toward Alice who had helped them get rid of the pressure, but Alice was not looking at them, instead, she was looking towards the volcano that seemed like it was about to erupt any second now.


    Then they heard Alice murmur��.


    "Looks like the real boss is about toe out��..." Alice murmured with a serious expression.


    But then something shocking happened as all the beasts in the surroundings lowered their heads and their bodies were trembling nonstop.


    The raiders were shocked as they saw this scene, and they all had just one question, ''What kind of creature could cause these many A-rank and S-rank beasts to tremble?''


    They didn''t know how soon they were going to get the answer to that question.


    .............................................��..


    "These cheap tricks work only on people weaker than you," Alex spoke as the pressure descended upon him, just like everyone.


    Enjoy tales from m-vl _emp _yr.


    Alex then waved his hand and the pressure from his surroundings disappeared, not like it was doing anything to him in the first ce.


    There was a short silence before the volcano started to tremble, theva that was held inside of it started to flow out, although at a very slow pace. The sky above started crackling with yellow, instead of blue lightening.


    *Boom**Boom*


    Some lightning strikes fell on the volcano, causing it to tremble more vigorously, and then...


    *BOOM*


    The volcano erupted, sendingva balls flying everywhere, thoseva balls moved toward the ground at a very high speed, and they didn''t differentiate between friends and enemies.


    However, none of the raiders, Ann, Alice, or Alex were harmed by thoseva balls. Alex would just shoot a small arrow of destruction toward the balls heading toward him, making them disappear even before they could touch him.


    Ann had already moved close to Alice, although she could cut theva balls or just punch them away. But she would be revealing her position by doing that, so she decided to move closer to Alice and let Alice take care of those things.


    Alice would just st them off towards the monsters with a beam of fire.


    Noctura, who was hiding in the rocky ne was safe as well, as she just jumped away from the ce where the debris was going to fall.


    The monsters, on the other hand, were not safe at all, theva balls were crashing into them, and although they didn''t kill them, it did make them injured or seriously injured for the weaker ones.


    But then the top of the volcano was sted off as if something from the inside had pushed it out.


    "RRROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!"


    Arge pir of fire and lightning mixed together was shot from the inside of the volcano along with a loud roar.


    Then arge shadow shot out from inside of the volcano, directly into the dark clouds, out of everyone''s sight.


    The raiders had their eyes up in the sky as they were unable to catch the figure of the one that shot out of the volcano. The beasts, however, still didn''t look up and stayed down, keeping their heads bowed.


    While everyone had their own difficulties, Alex was standing nonchntly in the air, without any tension whatsoever as he was looking at the hidden boss.


    The clouds were not something that could stop him from looking at the beast, but he let the beast think that it was hidden and no one could see it.


    Alex could tell that the beast was observing the whole field as even if it was enraged, it was still an SS-rank beast and it was not going to act on impulse, though everything had a limit.


    The beast wasrger than the boss, with a wingspan of 25 meters and a length of 24 meters. It had menacing dark red scales with some shining yellow scales that crackled with yellow-colored electricity.


    The beast was a wyvern just like the boss and from what Alex could guess, it was probably the mother of the beast as Alex could tell it was a female.


    The beast had shining yellow eyes that almost looked golden, its ws alone were long enough to cleave a human without much effort as it was around a meter long if not longer.


    That wyvern wasrge enough to crush a human with its feet, however, it was notrge enough to not feel pain from being pierced by Alex''s simple sword, which was enough for him.


    Still, Alex could just use aura or mana to make the swordrger, but he was going to fight the wyvern with magic, after all, they were going to fight in the air.


    Alex kept observing the beast while it was observing the battlefield, but then Alex saw the beast stop flying as it just floated while pping itsrge wings.


    Alex could see the beast looking at a fixed spot with its slit eyes narrowed before it opened its jaws, causing yellow electricity to crackle around its jaw while its throat started turning red.


    Alex could tell what it was trying to do without thinking much as he had already seen that attack once.


    Alex followed the wyvern''s line of sight and his eyes narrowed as he found out what that wyvern was trying to do.


    Alex didn''t even wait for a millisecond and directly shot toward the wyvern at full speed, though he had his stats limited to SS as he didn''t want to end this fight too early.


    Not after looking at what the beast was trying to do....


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 94: CHAPTER 94 – WHY?!?!

    The hidden boss of the gate had always been sleeping inside the volcano as it found her peace there, and she loved her peace the most, well maybe second only to her son, but yeah, she loved her peace.


    No one would expect arge scary and bloodthirsty-looking beast to be peace-loving but she was, and she preferred to stay that way. But just because she was sleeping doesn''t mean she was unaware of what was going on around her. exclusive content NovelBin-lempyr


    She could still sense everything in her surroundings, and she could see her son ying king of the beasts, but she would justugh inwardly at that.


    ''Real power never came with authority; it is authority thates with real power.''


    This was the saying that she used to hear a lot from the ce she used to live, and she believed that wholeheartedly, so when she saw her son ying king just because he was her son, she would just chuckle.


    She knew that her son was strong, and he had the potential to be stranger than her, but he was still young and childish.


    Everything was going pretty well until one day she heard her son talking about something rted to humans entering their area.


    When she heard that, she was shocked. She had not seen any human for quite a while now.


    She was stuck in this ce, and she hadn''t seen anything other than these beasts in this ce so when she heard that there were some humans entering the area, she got a little excited.


    She wanted to get out of this ce after all, and those humans might be able to help her.


    She might be able to return to her home, she might be able to get her son the life he deserved instead of being trapped in this strange dimension, ying kind among these beasts.


    There were many things she could think of, but she decided to wait as she was still weakened as her power was suppressed by this ce, and she didn''t know the intention of the human that had entered this domain.


    She just kept sleeping at her ce listening to every report that her son''s ''subordinate'' gave him. She could hear the reports that her son was hearing about the humans killing the native beasts.


    She found those reports pretty normal, after all, anyone would kill someone or something that was trying to harm them, but she didn''t get why her son and the native beasts seem so hostile to those humans.


    It was like the humans that had entered were their natural enemies and both of them couldn''t look the same way.


    However, she still decided to let it be as she thought that maybe her son was just too into the role of king, and the loss of these random beasts made him sad as he thought of them as his subordinates.


    ''He will get over it��..'' That''s what she thought.


    She had been stuck in this ce for a hundred years, so she was more excited about leaving this ce, rather than focusing on her child''s cute act of thinking himself a king.


    Then suddenly,st night she heard her son calling every beast in the area to gather here, he was talking about war or something.


    She didn''t think it was a bad idea, after all, if the humans saw such arge force, they might just want to surrender and when they did that she would go and save them, then she would ask for a way out in exchange for saving them, it was a win-win for all.


    She had it all nned and ready.


    She could already guess that the humansing here were not very strong or they would''ve arrived here much faster, and if she had to guess then there might be some S-rankers at most.


    From the movement speed and reports she heard, this is what she could make out.


    Finally, the moment arrived, and the human came running into the area she wanted atst.


    She was waiting for the moment the humans would surrender as she could already see them trembling.


    But then she was shocked to find out that there was actually someone strong amongst the humans, and that was not all as another one of those humans turned out to be strong.


    She could tell that the human male was very strong, strong enough to defeat her son so she decided that it was time for her to move, or else she might lose the only person she could even call a family.


    But then things took a quick turn, and rather than good, the situation turned worse.


    She was ready to move, and she was about to move but things happened so quickly...


    One second her son and the human male were floating opposite to each other as if they were going to have a chat, and the next second her son was dead��..


    She couldn''t believe what happened for a second...


    Did she just lose her son just because she was thinking of making peace with humans? Did the peace she had always ced second only to her son, finally decide to bite her in the ass?


    Was this what she gets for trying to be nice?


    Why didn''t she just kill those humans the moment she heard about them entering this domain?


    "RRROOOOAAARRRR"


    She roared as she couldn''t find any answer to her own question.


    She roared in rage that she lost her own son because of her own fault.


    She roared at the human who was responsible for killing her son.


    By now, she knew that the human male was far stronger than her son, maybe equal to her suppressed self, or maybe higher, but she knew that he was strong enough that he could have easily overpowered her son into submission instead of killing him.


    She wanted to ask him just one question �C WHY?!?!


    Why did he have to kill her son?!?!


    "RRROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!"


    She roared again as she shot her breath attack on the volcano, sting its head off.


    She shot out of the volcano right into the dark clouds.


    She didn''t look at the human male, nor did she look at her poor son''s dead body.


    She knew that if she looked at either of them then she would not be able to think straight and she might break or go berserk.


    She kept looking for the weakest on the human''s side, she wanted to kill at least one of them, she would start with the weakest, and she would take care of the human male after she was done with all of them.


    She was sure that she was hidden from their sites, so she was going to shoot her stacks from above the clouds and kill her enemies one by one.


    However, if someone looked into her mind, they would find that she was just looking for an outlet, an outlet to let her anger out.


    She wanted to kill the weakest among them as she thought that the weakest would be of the least value. The least value means the human would not be much bothered by the death of the weaker ones.


    She knew that if she fought with the human male right now, then it was going to be a life-and-death battle.


    So, she wanted to let out some of her anger by killing some other humans as it seemed like the peace she had kept so close to her was still somehow clinging to her.


    She kept looking around until she finally found a small wolf jumping from one shadow to another shadow in the rocky ne.


    She started charging her breath attack ready to kill the wolf, but then she heard the sound of wind whistling, and before she could see what it was or who it was....


    *Boom*


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 95: CHAPTER 95 – Alex vs Hidden Boss 1.

    Alex followed the line of sigh of the wyvern, and he found out that she was looking at Noctura while charging her breath attack.


    He didn''t need to think deeply about what it was trying to do; it was as clear as it could be.


    The beast was trying to attack Noctura and the attack was something that would kill Noctura before she could even react.


    Alex was sure that if that attack even touched Noctura then she would be gone forever, so without a second of dy, Alex shot toward the wyvern at full speed.


    The next second Alex was right next to the wyvern, and he punched the wyvern right below its jaw.


    *Boom*


    The wyvern felt her mind get stunned for a second, and her breath attack which was aimed at Noctura was shot upwards due to Alex''s punch.


    Alex was using stats with an SS-rank limit, and the wyvern also had its stats at max SS-rank, so Alex''s punch was something that could cause the wyvern some serious damage, but Alex knowingly held back as he didn''t want to finish the fight too soon.


    Alex had a short smile gracing his lips but that smile looked anything but gentle.


    The wyvern had already stabilized by now and when it turned toward the entity that attacked her, it couldn''t help but get enraged.


    "RROOOAAAARRR!!"


    An angered roar was heard by everyone, be it the raiders or the monsters and the raiders just looked up at the sky with nervousness.


    They were sure that whatever made that sound just now was not something they could stand against, much less fight. The roars of that thing were alone enough to make the raiders'' legs turn into jelly; How would they even hope to fight against that thing?


    Alex looked at the wyvern that was at him with its jaw wide open, showing its razor-sharp teeth that were ready to tear him into pieces.


    Alex could see anger, guilt, sadness, regret, and many other emotions in those shining yellow eyes of the wyvern, but he just shot a ball of fire into the wyvern''s mouth.


    The fire was not a normal fire, it was created of maroon-colored me, and it didn''t feel hot at all, but those who were attacked by it would know the truth. As the ball of fire exploded into the wyvern''s mouth, it roared in pain.


    "ROOAAARRRRRR!!"


    The sharp burning pain made it regain some of its sanity, but the wyvern could still feel the burning pain as if the fire was still there.


    But Alex was a bit surprised as he saw the wyvern''s burned mouth healing at a very fast speed.


    Alex then looked at the wyvern and he saw her looking at him with hate, which he found pretty normal, so he lifted his hand creating spears made of destruction.


    But before Alex could shoot them at the wyvern, he heard a low feminine voice��..


    "Why...��?"


    This was all it said, but Alex stopped his movement and looked at the wyvern that was looking at him with her eyes filled with sadness.


    Alex could tell that the wyvern was trying to not look at her son, he could see her stopping herself, and this struggle was something he saw for the first time.


    No, it was the first time any monster had even talked about something that waspletely unrted to battle.


    "What do you mean ''Why?''?" Alex asked as he made the attack vanish.


    Since the wyvern wanted to talk, he will talk as well.


    "Why did you kill him?" The wyvern asked again, but she didn''t point at her son, nor did she say who she was talking about, but Alex could understand that.


    "You want me to stand there and die by his hands or jaws??" Alex tilted his head in confusion, but the wyvern''s throat started glowing only to stop the next second.


    "��..You could''ve beaten him unconscious��.." The wyvern spoke in a low voice, but Alex could feel the heat of her anger from afar.


    "Why would I do that?" Alex''s question and the wyvern''s answer were instantaneous.


    "He was just a child! He didn''t know anything, and he just liked ying king here! Kill as many of those beasts as you want to, I will not say a word, but why him?!?! You could''ve spared him....


    Don''t you humans like enving beasts? You could''ve just beaten him to submission......"


    The wyvern''s tone would rise and fall as she spoke.


    "Wait a sec...." Alex suddenly realized something.


    ''Tell me that it is what I think it is...'' Alex spoke inwardly in a very serious voice.


    [Yes, she thinks you are a human from the world she is from.]


    ''I knew it��'' Alexmented inwardly and then he looked at the beast that was looking at him.


    Alex didn''t know what to do now��...


    He could just kill the wyvern and take its memories; it was the easiest way.


    m|vl|e|mp|y|r article


    Then there was an option where he exined things to her and tried to justify himself. This was aplex and bothersome path that Alex didn''t want to take.


    Then there was onest option, just see how it goes, and Alex liked this the best.


    "What do you want me to do then? I can''t undo what I did." Alex spoke with a shrug.


    The wyvern''s eyes which had somewhat called down, started zing with rage again.


    Her throat started turning red, lightning started crackling around her body, and in a second there was some smokeing out of the gaps between her teeth.


    "So, you don''t regret your actions at all��..?" The wyvern asked as the fire and thunder started mixing inside her half-open jaws.


    "No," Alex replied and the next second he could see the breath of fire and thundering toward him.


    Alex moved both of his palms together and pointed them toward the iing breath attack. The next second there was a me pir shot toward the wyvern''s breath.


    Alex had used Fire and wind to make that attack stronger.


    Both of the attacks shed breaking the sound barrier and the impact causing a loud booming sound to be heard in the surroundings.


    *BBBOOOOOMMMM*


    The sky filled with dark clouds was cleared of dark clouds, and everyone could see what was happening.


    The raiders were shell-shocked as they saw the beast for the first time, and then they trembled as they saw its attack. But what shocked them most was that Alex who looked so tiny in front of the beast was able to stop the beast''s attack with his own.


    The beasts were also seeing this and looking at the current scene they roared.


    "RAAWRRR!!"


    "GRRAAAA!!"


    "RAAAAAA!!"


    ...��


    ��.


    ..


    .


    Many kinds of roars were heard before the beasts ran toward the raiders, with one single aim and that was to kill them.


    Alice looked at the iing beasts and then she looked back at the sky where Alex was slowly moving forward with the me thrower attack stilling out of his hand.


    "Well, I should take care of things on my side I guess..."


    Alice spoke but she smiled as she saw some beasts falling already.


    "Looks like someone was faster than me," She smiled before she started her attack her well.


    The raiders were just standing there without knowing what to do.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 96: CHAPTER 96 – Alex vs Hidden Boss 2.

    Alex kept pushing more and more mana into his attack, slowly pushing the wyvern''s breath back.


    The wyvern realized that as well, but she knew that if she canceled her breath then she would be taking more damage so she used more mana in an attempt to push Alex''s attack back, but could she win against Alex who had nearly unlimited mana?


    The answer was no. Her attack was still being pushed back.


    She could see that Alex''s attack had almost reached her mouth, so she canceled her attack and hurriedly closed her jaw, making Alex''s attack hit her face with full force.


    *Boom*


    The attack sted as it made contact with the wyvern''s face, sending her hurdling backward in the air.


    The Wyvern was thrown back, but she stabilized herself, only to find a spear made of destructioning right at her.


    It was so fast that before she could react it was already in front of her.


    Having no other option, the wyvern punched the spear away, but her hand along with the wing attached to it started breaking down.


    "ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!"


    She roared in pain as she felt her blood started evaporating, and then her bones started disintegrating, she could see the destruction spreading so she directly tore apart her arm along with the wing.


    *Tear*"ROOAARRRR!!"


    She roared in pain again as she tore her own wing apart.


    It was hard to stay up in the air with one wing but before she could think of anything, she saw Alex appearing right in front of her face with his fist balled up and then��...


    *Boom*


    The Wyvern was punched right on its head, and she couldn''t maintain her bnce anymore, causing her to fall toward the ground at a very high speed.


    The raiders and the beast could see therge body of the wyvern falling downward with one of her wings cut off and blood flowing out of that spot.


    But they couldn''t tell much as the speed at which she was falling was quite fast and even before the clock could tick a second, she had already crashed on the ground, crushing some beast to death.


    *BOOMM*


    Dust rose as fell, and the beasts in the surroundings were pushed back by the shockwave.


    Everyone then saw Alex descending down from the sky slowly, before he was right above the ce where the wyvern fell.


    No one could see through the dust, but the same could not be said for Alex.


    The beasts stopped as well when they saw the strongest one of them fall.


    But just then the dust moved, and a wide jaw was headed right where Alex was with its intention quite clear and that was to get Alex.


    However, Alex had already seen the wyvern move so he just waved his hand, and earth spikes rose, directly crashing into the wyvern, some of them pierced her scales as well.


    "GRAAA!"


    The wyvern stopped its attack and let out a short scream as it felt its scales being pierced.


    The wyvern then punched the spikes that had pierced her but were still connected to the earth.


    The spikes broke but the wound made by the spike remained. .


    But just then, the wyvern''s tail touched something, causing it to turn back, only to freeze the next moment.


    Neither she nor Alex noticed that but the ce where the wyvern fell was the ce right next to her son''s body.


    "��."


    There was a short silence as the wyvern kept looking at her son''s dead body, and then she hurriedly looked around, but she couldn''t find what she was looking for.


    She was looking for her son''s head which was not in its rightful ce, but she couldn''t find it.


    How will she even find it? It had already disintegrated into nothingness.


    Then her eyesnded on Alex....


    "You..."


    "You destroyed my peace, you destroyed my hope, you destroyed my son, you destroyed the chance of starting things anew, but no more...


    It''s because of you!!


    I WILL KILL YOU!!


    I DON''T WANT PEACE ANYMORE!!


    That peace took my son away.....


    No more, no more, NO MORE, NO MORE!!!!!"


    The wyvern shouted and the next second a wave of fire mixed with electricity sted off from her body.


    *BOOMM*


    The beasts in the surroundings died, but Alex then snapped his head in one direction and zoomed into that location.


    Alex arrived on the spot and then raised his hand creating an air shield that stopped the shockwave from moving ahead.


    "Are you alright?" Alex turned back and asked even though one was standing there.


    "Yes, thanks to you," But then a voice was heard, and Ann appeared out of nowhere with a smile on her face.


    "Good," Alex smiled as he heard the answer, but he was not smiling inwardly.


    ''I will just plunder memories, no more games��.'' Alex made up his mind.


    It was fine once when it was trying to attack Noctura since the attack was stopped so it was fine, but now, it was the second time already and he was not going to give it a third chance.


    *Boom**Boom*


    They heard some sting sounds moving towards them at a very high speed and then��


    "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!?!" A worried scream was heard as they saw Alice moving towards them by sting fire from her hands.


    Alice also saw the attack and she rushed toward Ann directly ready to save her.


    The raiders were out of range but Ann who was lurking around between the enemies and killing them one by one was within range.


    "RRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!"


    But then a loud roar that caused the ground to vibrate was heard.


    Alex looked towards the wyvern with narrowed eyes as he could no longer see the wyvern he was fighting till now. All he could see right now was a mindless beast who was looking for blood.


    "I''ll go take care of that thing, also, tell Alice to keep an eye out for Noctura, although she is safe and out of range, the range will be increasing now."


    Alex spoke and after he saw Ann nod, he shot himself toward the beast.


    .............................................


    It didn''t take Alice a second before she arrived, and she started checking up on Ann.


    "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you-" Alice directly bombarded Ann with questions as shended next to Ann, but Ann cut her before she continued to worry without any reason.


    "Yes, yes, I''m fine. See? Alex arrived on time...... (Whisper)like always��." Ann did a 360-degree turn as she showed Alice that she was fine and spoke with a sweet smile.


    "I see, it''s good then. But still, stay close to me, we don''t know when that beast would use the same attack��." Alice spoke looking toward the wyvern that was punched by arge fist made of rock, She wasn''t able to hear Ann''s whisper.


    "Alright, mom��." Ann spoke with a smile, causing Alice to giggle.


    "Also, Alex told me to tell you...."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 97: CHAPTER 97 – End of the Fight.

    Alex shot towards the beast leaving Ann and Noctura in Alice''s care as he knew that Alice was more than capable of doing that.


    Alex just looked at the wyvern who now had her wing healed and she was about to fly.


    But how could Alex let that happen?


    Alex balled up his fist, causing arge fist made of rocks to rise off from the ground before it mmed into the wyvern.


    The wyvern that was about to fly crashed down on the ground along with the giant punch.


    "BOOM"


    But not for long as the next second it shattered the fist made of earth with its ws.


    The wyvern then looked at Alex and��.


    "ROAARRR!"


    With a loud roar, it shot out its thunder-fire breath.


    This time Alex didn''t counter the breath attack with another attack likest time. This time he waved his hand and a de made of destruction energy shot toward the iing breath attack.


    As the de of destruction shed with the breath attack, it wasn''t stopped or sted away, rather, it continued forward, cutting the breath attack into two.


    The berserk wyvern saw that and pushed more mana into its attack, but the de of destruction didn''t even slow down, much less be pushed back, no matter how much mana it put in the attack.


    Looking at the situation, the wyvern decided to jump aside, so that it could avoid the attack, but suddenly the de of destruction elerated.


    *sh* "ROOOAARRRR!!"


    The wyvern roared in pain as its right wing along with its hand got cut by the de of destruction.


    If not for the wyvern tilting its body at thest second, it wouldn''t have been just her wing and half of her hand that would''ve been cut, her body would''ve been sliced into two.


    But then the wyvern saw that the remaining part of its right hand had started disintegrating so it hurriedly tore it away.


    Then it turned to look at Alex again only to see 4 or 5 more des of destruction moving towards it.


    The wyvern hurriedly jumped to the side, dodging one de but the other four des were right in front of it.


    The wyvern saw that the situation didn''t look good, but it just smashed its leg on the ground with force. That action levitated it up in the air, enabling it to dodge the remaining four des at the same time.


    But with its wing cut off, it couldn''t fly, so it fell back to the ground with its back crashing on the ground.


    Just when it was about to get up from the ground, a strange chain-like structure made of rocks started binding it to the ground. It tried to move its body or break the chains, but it couldn''t, it tried to bite the chains with its jaw, but the chains were too strong.


    How would they not be strong? Alex was using almost 80% of his mana just to create those chains.


    "RROOOAARRR!!"


    The wyvern roared as it tried to break free from the chains, it kept struggling, but the chain just kept binding it.


    In just a second or two, it was already chained up, with only its head out of the chain.


    The wyvern could see Alex descending down at its chained body.


    "Growl��.."


    It growled with a stubborn expression, but Alex just looked at it with cold eyes before he lifted his hand.


    A palm made of earth rose from the ground, then Alex lifted his other hand making another palm rise up from the ground.


    Alex looked at the wyvern and waved his hand in a pping manner��.


    *Baam*


    The ground trembled, and a shockwave was generated.


    One of the hands made of rock moved in the same pattern and hit the wyvern''s face.


    The wyvern could feel its brain getting disced by that punch and she was stunned for a second. She was stunned because of pain and humiliation.


    Never in her life was she stepped upon by someone, much less treated like a dog while being pped in the face.


    But it didn''t end there as Alex waved his other hand and, the other hand made of rocks did the same by following his movements.


    *Baam*


    The wyvern who was still in shock and pain from thest p, got pped again.


    The Wyvern was now bleeding from its mouth as the power behind the punches was more than what it could handle with its power suppressed.


    The first p had already made it regain its sanity and Alex could see that as well, but that didn''t mean he would stop.


    He never cared about the beast, even if the beast was innocent, Alex would''ve still killed it.


    It was a walking bag of SPs, after all, Alex was getting rewarded with 700k SPs just for killing the wyvern, so why would he spare its life?


    Alex was never going to spare it from the start, he was just going to make it painless before, but now he was going to let her die by being pped.


    The whole ground trembled and even the raiders standing far out could feel the ground tremble along with the shockwave that traveled through the air.


    The wyvern kept looking into Alex''s eyes, and it could tell that its death wasing. It just grunted in pain as it couldn''t roar.


    If the wyvern tries to roar, and she gets pped right at that moment then that p would hurt her more as her jaws would be loose and open.


    Right now, it just kept its jaws clenched as it was getting pped.


    Slowly, its vision started getting blurry, and its life started leaving its body.


    Thest thing it saw when its face was pped was the picture of her son, ying king among the beasts.


    ''I will be there with you soon, my son��.'' A single tear escaped her eyes but before it could be noticed, another pnded on her almost cracked face, sting it into pieces.


    Alex extracted the wyverns and plundered the wyvern''s abilities and her memories. He was a bit unsure about her memories as he had already tried plundering memories of other beasts only to get memories filled with nks.


    But since the wyvern remembered her world, it means that she had her memories intact and to Alex''s relief, the memories he got from her were intact, without any nks in them.


    [It''s because she is powerful, and she was much more powerful originally.]


    Alex nodded as he could see the memories and he knew that she was much stronger than she was during the fight.


    Alex was looking through the memories, but just a second after the wyvern''s death, all the monsters stopped moving.


    m-vl|emp yr your novel source


    The body of the wyvern started getting filled with white cracks, and just like her the body of the monsters also started getting filled with cracks.


    Alex had a guess but what he had guessed was not something good. He left the memories to read themter and flew to where Alice and the group were.


    In just a second Alex was right in front of the group of raiders who were celebrating the death of the hidden boss��.


    "What''s wrong?" Alice asked Alex as she saw a serious expression on his face.


    Alex rarely wears a serious expression and when he does, then some serious shit is happening.


    "We don''t have time to talk��." Alex spoke before he waved his hand and everyone started levitating, including Noctura who was hiding in the shadows.


    In just a second everyone was up in the air, but Alex was going higher and higher.


    By now, everyone had noticed the beast standing still and also the strange white cracks that were appearing on their bodies.


    "You guys better cover your ears," Alex spoke as he stopped going higher after reaching the height of 1000 meters.


    "Huh?" Before the raiders could do something��.


    *BOOMMMMMMM*


    Arge exploding sound was heard, and looking down, all they could see was a bright light. It was so bright that they felt like they would go blind.


    But then something surprising happened...��


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 98: CHAPTER 98 – Changes.

    An S-ranked special gate, the most dangerous gate in the world was one of the hottest topics right now.


    There are many reasons behind it, but almost all of them were rted to the Crimson Lotus guild and Alex.


    The video of Alex suppressing the reporters was already viral with who knows how many millions of views. There were already 100s of fan clubs being made every hour, just for Alex.


    There were many questioning things happening all over the world, but the biggest question right now would be �C Would the Crimson Lotus Guilde out Alive or dead?


    There was arge crowd already standing outside the gate for a long time after the video went viral, but after some hours, the crowd dissipated.


    But there were still many reporters waiting outside, after all, it was the first time in history that someone had tried to enter an S-rank gate with just three S-rank raiders.


    Slowly time passed and night came by, but the reporters still stayed. It was no new thing for them, they had to pull all-nighters many times.


    By morning some reporters had gone back, but some stayed behind. The ones who had more knowledge and had studied a lot about gates knew that some raids take time, which means this scouting mission might also take time.


    The day was going just fine but suddenly.....


    *Boom*


    mp-y,r.


    A low muffled boom was heard and before they could focus or pinpoint where it came from, a huge shockwave pushed them away from the gate.


    The reporters were sent flying away by the shockwave that was produced from the gate, but the shockwave didn''t stop.


    The reporters that were sent flying through the air were lying unconscious on the ground, oblivious to the changes taking ce in their bodies.


    Just think how big of a shock they were going to receive when they realized that all of their raider ranks had gone up by one rank at least.


    The shockwave moved outward from the gate in a circr shape, and it kept increasing in size.


    Although no one other than the reporters near the gate felt the push from the shockwave, they could all feel the air getting clearer and it was getting easier to breathe.


    But it didn''t end there as wherever the shockwave passed, people started awakening, and the number of people awakening was not low, it was the opposite actually.


    The wave kept widening, and slowly it started covering the whole, awakening many people all over Gaia.


    But it was not just awakening that was happening, some raiders had reached the peak of S-rank or got a little push and stepped into SS-rank, some A-rank raiders became S-rankers, and some B-rankers became A-rankers, but everyone got some kind of boosts.


    However, if there is good, then there is more bad along with it.


    Just like the humans, the beasts also received the same boosts, and the number of awakened beasts increased as well.


    Still, with the number of raiders awakening it won''t be hard for them to fight off the beasts, so it wasn''t that much of a problem, rather there were now going to be more beasts with mana core which meant more profit for humans.


    But as said before, bad things thate with good things are always greater than good things.


    Just like that, the shockwave that was produced by the gate, passed through the whole world, only stopping when the wave crashed back into itself.


    But as if it was just the beginning, Gaia trembled....


    .......................................��..


    Argon Hart had been in seclusion for a month, that''s what was known to everyone, but no one knew what it was.


    However, that was the truth as Argon was actually in seclusion. He would train his abilities sometimes, and sometimes he would sit in a meditative position and absorb mana from the mana cores.


    Just like every day, Argon had done his daily workout, and he was absorbing mana from thest mana core his empire had.


    Yes, he had emptied his treasury of any mana core it had but he was still not an SSS-ranker, he was just a little push away from reaching the SSS-rank.


    But right now, he was on a ne, moving towards the orange country.


    He had heard the report from his ''subordinate'' that Alex and the group had entered the special gate, so he was going to get close to the gate since he didn''t want to miss the profits provided by the gate.


    He knew that Alex and the group were not supposed to move this fast but since the timeline was messed up, he didn''t dwell too much and decided to do whatever he could to make use of the knowledge he had.


    But just then the shockwave that was produced by the special S-rank gate passed through him.


    *Woosh*


    His rank increased and he became an SSS-ranker in an instant, but his eyes snapped open in shock.


    The shock in his eyes was not the shock someone gets due to happiness, no, far from it.


    Argon was shocked because even when he tried to go with the flow, things changed again.


    Aurora, who was also there with him, was no better, though she was less shocked.


    "How did they clear the gate already....?" Argon mumbled to himself.


    He knew how strong the boss of this gate was supposed to be, and he knew how long it would take for someone to clear the gate, but Alex and the group again did something that was not supposed to happen.


    Argon, after everything, still didn''t know how powerful Alice and Alex actually were.


    Argon grabbed his hair in frustration.


    Why is nothing doing the way he wants?! This is all he wanted to know.


    After being frustrated for a while, Argon just sighed...


    He had realized many things in thest three months, he could tell that there was something weird about Alex, and weird always means dangerous.


    He felt that Alex was not the��...same? He couldn''t understand why, but Alex looked very dangerous.


    Everything surrounding Alex was strange in this timeline, he even went so far ahead as thinking that maybe this Alex is not the same as the one in the past timeline, but this idea was quickly shot down by himself.


    He was not going to think that Alex was now fine and they were cool, no. He was going to get his revenge for thest timeline, whether it was the same Alex or not.


    Then there was Alice, he knew he couldn''t get her till Alex was out of the equation.


    "Things are changing too much...." Argon spoke and although Aurora didn''t want to, she had to agree with that.


    "It''s too early for this world to face him," Aurora spoke but there was no reply from Argon.


    He knew that Aurora''s words were true and the entity they were talking about was strong enough to kill him right now with one p.


    But then...


    *Tremble*


    Argon looked out of the ne''s window and found the whole earth trembling.


    "The earthquakes��." Argon muttered with a serious face.


    "It''s starting��." Argon murmured again while he gripped the seat hard to stop his hand from trembling.


    Aurora could see all that, she knew that being scared was justified for Argon, and she also had a serious expression on her face as they both knew what was happening.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 99: CHAPTER 99 – Powered up/ Upgraded.

    As the changes were happening outside of the gate, the same was happening inside the gate.


    The explosion that happened inside the gate was so big that the structure of the whole gate had changed.


    The tree, rocks, or therge volcano, none of them could be seen anywhere, much less the monsters. The only thing that could be seen was a vast expanse of innd, with nothing over it.


    If one were to try looking around, then they could look at anyone, no matter how far apart they are standing, after all, there was nothing stopping their line of sight.


    But the point was that no one was looking at that as right now they were too happy to even think about something.


    If raiders outside the gate, who didn''t even experience the shockwave of mana from close could experience so many changes and get their ranks up, then what about those who were at the epicenter of the shockwave?


    Well, those guys were just too shocked to even speak, that''s what the guys in the epicenter of the shockwave were doing.


    When the beasts exploded into a mass of mana, Alex had already shielded them all with windshields, but that didn''t stop mana from entering, it just stopped the shockwave.


    So, when the mana hit them, the raiders felt their bodies being revitalized, they felt like their bodies were being massaged by expert hands.


    Itsted quite long as well, but when it ended and they finally came out of that euphoric state, they started realizing what had happened.


    When they felt the power in their body, they all exchanged dumbfounded gazes, even Frank, Alice, Ann, and Noctura were dumbfounded.


    Everyone then turned towards Alex, only to find him standing there, looking at them with a smile.


    ''So, it''s finally the right time you said huh��?'' Alex spoke inwardly with a smile.


    [Yes, now you can break through this world''s limit, and you won''t face any restrictions.]


    Alex just smiled as he heard her words.


    He could also feel the restriction that was there in the atmosphere, stopping him from breaking through to the next rank dissipating slowly.


    Alex had already reached EX-rank a month after activating his bloodline, but he stopped his progress, or it would be better to say that he stored his progress and saved it forter use.


    Sophia had told him that if he breaks through to the next rank, then he will have to face some restrictions.


    Now those restrictions can''t stop Alex, not at all, but those restrictions will still be there every time, and that''s something Alex found annoying.


    So, Sophia advised him to wait for a while and not forcefully break the limit.


    ''How long is this ''while'' by the way?'' This was what Alex had asked.


    [Well, I can''t tell you, but I''m sure you''ll know when the time is right.]


    Alex smiled as he remembered those words.


    From the information he got from the system, he knew some things about worlds.


    One of those was that every world had a limit, and if someone with power above that limit arrives in that world then their powers are suppressed, but still, that only works if the power difference is small.


    If the intruder had the power to destroy the world itself, then what restriction would even work on them?


    Alex then looked towards the raiders who had their faces beaming with happiness as they got a huge power up.


    He could see that the A-rank raiders were already S-rank peak, while Frank was now SS-rank. Alice had already entered SSS-rank with her power around mid SSS-rank.


    But the one who surprised Alex most or better way to say it would be the one who had the most improvement was Ann.


    She had entered SSS-rank from the peak S-rank, and although it was just the lowest SSS-ranking stats, she was still SSS-rank.


    One had to know that a single S-ranker can handle 10 to 20 A-rankers, a single SS-ranker could defeat 10 to 20 S-rankers with ease, and an SSS-ranker can take care of 20 to 30 SS-rankers, not including special cases.


    So even if Ann had just entered SSS-rank, she was still strong enough to take care of around 20 SS-rank raiders, which might not even be the total number of SS-rankers in the world right now.


    Even after the upgrade, the highest number of raiders who could''ve entered the SS rank was probably 10, and they were the top 10 raiders in the world.


    "I feel strong��." Maggie unknowingly voiced out her thoughts as she looked at her clenched fist.


    But then she found everyone looking at her and she realized her mistake.


    She lowered her head in embarrassment.


    "Yes, all of us had grown stronger, much stronger than what we were before entering the gate," Alice spoke with a smile making everyone turn to her.


    Maggie just secretly thanked Alice for saving her from embarrassment, but she listened to what Alice was saying seriously.


    "We came in with the mission of scouting the gate, but we weren''t satisfied with just being someone''s scouting dogs so we decided to raid the gate," Alice spoke as she balled her fist.


    "Now we have cleared the gate alone, without anyone''s help and we have grown stronger, much stronger than any other guild could even hope for," Alice continued as she could see the raiders'' eyes burning with fire.


    "We are the first guild to ever clear an S-rank gate alone!


    And if that''s not enough then we cleared a Special S-ranked gate!


    How''s that? Is there any guild out there that can do the same???"


    Alice raised her voice.


    ""NO!!""


    The raiders'' replied in unison without even a second dy.


    "Is there any guild that has 24 S-rank raiders out there?!" Alice shouted, but before the raiders could reply Alex spoke.


    "25."


    "Huh?" everyone turned towards Alex with a confused look.


    "I said 25 S-rank raiders," Alex spoke as he moved his hand cing it on top of Noctura''s head, finally making her visible to everyone.


    Noctura had also received a power-up as she was just a B-ranker but now she is a low S-ranker.


    Although it was a good boost and it looked like two ranks up''s just like, the difference between her two ranks and Ann''s two ranks was not something to bepared.


    But Noctura still had a huge increase in her strength and with the power she had right now, she might be able to kill an SS-ranker if and only if she were to attack first.


    Alice just smiled as she looked at Noctura.


    How could she forget to count her cute little friend?


    "Is there any guild that has 25 S-rank raiders out there?!" Alice asked again.


    ""NO!"" The raiders replied with happy smiles on their faces.


    The serious mood was already destroyed, now the mood had turned cheerful, but they didn''t me Alex for that as it was better.


    "Then is there still any guild who can im to be Rank 1, if not us?!"


    Alice eximed.


    ""NO!!""


    The raiders shouted.


    "Then let us go and tell the world that we the Crimson Lotus are the one and only guild in this world who could be called rank 1!"


    Alicemanded as Alex slowlynded them on the ground.


    "YEAH!"


    The raiders shouted in unison.


    Alex also just smiled as he thought, ''It''s finally time to reveal some of my powers to the world huh''.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 100: CHAPTER 100 – The Situation Outside.

    The monster inside the gate, be it living or dead had exploded into mana particles, but that didn''t mean that the monsters that were already killed by the raiders of Crimson Lotus guild vanished without dropping the loot they were supposed to drop.


    Still, it was a loss that they couldn''t kill more mid-bosses and get their loot, but it was fine since it was not the biggest loss they had in this gate.


    The thing that felt like a real loss to them was the fact that the hidden boss didn''t drop anything. It just vanished into particles.


    But they were not sad, after all, their profits were enough to outweigh the losses by a lot.


    Even if the hidden boss didn''t drop anything, there was still the boss there and the boss did drop some very juicy loot, but that''s forter to be disclosed.


    Actually, even if the drops of the monsters were not there and the Crimson Lotus got nothing from the gate, they were still gaining a lot as none of the drops they would get couldpare with the power upgrade they got.


    Even if they got 10 mana cores, they would still not be able to train 5 S-rank raiders, much less gain 25 S-rankers.


    So, instead of being sad about what they didn''t get, they were happy about what they got as they raced towards the gate.


    With no monsters to fight, a straight path without any obstruction, and a faster speed, it didn''t take them long before they were standing on the spot they hadnded when they first arrived.


    They looked at each other with happy smiles on their faces, before they looked at Alex.


    "Everyone''s ready?" Alex asked as he saw them looking at him.


    ""Yes!""


    They eximed in unison, answering his question.


    "All right then," Alex spoke, and then all of them started levitating, and in a while, they were right in front of the gate''s exit/entrance.


    "Let''s go!!" Maggie eximed with a smile before she stepped into the gate, followed by others.


    .............................................


    It has been around 2 or 3 hours since the shockwave wasunched from the gate, and many things happened after that.


    Many lives were lost in the events that followed after the awakening and upgrade people went through.


    Many new gates appeared all over the world, and almost all of the new gates are said to be S-ranked gates.


    There were even some reports of a new type of gate appearing. It was said that this gate was violet in color, and this news caused a lot ofmotion.


    It was already spected that there might be gates with a rank higher than S, but with no solid proof, the matter was quickly forgotten.


    Right now, however, things are different as there is no need to prove things or specte things, the gate was real, and it was something located in the Indigo country.


    The government of Indigo country had already issued an order for the citizens in the vicinity of the Violet Gate to evacuate.


    However, the situation didn''t look favorable because of theck of housing space after the events that had happened all over the world earlier.


    The world was in disarray, and the people were looking for answers, the answers that could only be found inside the gate that was the source of all.


    Looking at the situation in less than an hour a team of top raiders, including the ones from the association had gathered in front of the gate to enter it.


    Everyone needed answers and the answers could only be found inside of the gate, so they had no choice but to try their luck.


    Many reporters were gathered, not the ones that were sent flying by the shockwave, they were still in the hospital, and they needed to go through some questioning as well.


    Then there was the general public, though calling it the general public didn''t feel fair now as the same general public now consisted of more raiders than unawakened.


    There was no news about the Crimson Lotus till now, making all of them believe that they were either dead or hiding inside.


    Many people were heartbroken as both Alex and Alice got more fans than they could think of, especially Alex who had risen to the top of the poprity list after the reporter incident.


    The fans couldn''t do anything other than cry, but just then a live camera that was streaming the situation at the gate caught something in it, something that shocked everyone...��


    .........................................


    Maggie who was the first one toe out of the gate was the first one to see 100s of shes of cameras, almost making her blind.


    "Wha��.." She covered her eyes with her hands as she tried to understand what was happening.


    Right after her, everyone else came out as well, but not all of them were affected by the shes of the cameras.


    Alice looked around the area, and so did Frank, Ann, Alex, and Noctura.


    "What the hell happened while we were away....?" Alice spoke in a low voice.


    All they could see was debris everywhere, there was nothing like what they left it to be.


    Therge towering buildings in the surroundings had crumbled, and fallen to the ground.


    Large towers tilted, cars crashed, and many other things that made the ce look like it had gone through something bad.


    Alice then turned towards Alex, and so did Ann.


    They didn''t know why, but whenever they saw something new or unknown, the first thing that always came to their mind was that ''Alex might know what it is....''


    But Alex just looked at them and spoke calmly.


    "I don''t think we will get time to chat right now..." Alex spoke as he pointed at the reporters that were running toward their direction.


    Alice and Ann followed Alex''s line of sight and saw many reporters moving toward them.


    But they were not amateurs and they knew what they had to do, so they released the mana pressure from their body.


    The mana pressure of two SSS-rankers would be enough to kill lots of S-rankers but Alice and Ann weren''t releasing their full mana pressure, they were releasing just enough to make them look like S-rank raiders.


    Then Alice looked towards the raiders of their guilds and nodded her head.


    The raiders didn''t even ask as they got their assignment and they released their mana as well.


    The reporters that were moving forward stopped so did every movement in the surroundings.


    Everyone was too shocked by what they were seeing/ feeling. They could all tell that the pressure released by the raiders of Crimson Lotus Guild was not something an A-rank raider should have.


    This all implied a single thing but it was not something easy to believe.


    As everyone was stunned, shocked by the revtion that they were still unable to believe, Alice spoke.


    "We are exhausted because of clearing the gate and we would like it if you could let us pass so that we can go and rest," Alice spoke in a clear voice, the reporters heard it loud and clear as well, and there was nothing but silence after that.


    ''Clearing the gate'' was still reverberating inside of their heads as it was one of the greatest shocks they had today.


    But not everyone was so easy to shut up.


    "So you are not going to answer any questions?" A reporter whose voice sounded very annoying asked.


    "We don''t even know the situation ourselves, what do you expect us to say?" Alice looked at the reporter who had spoken.


    "Did you really clear the gate? And we want to know what happened insi-" The reporter was cut short before he couldplete his words.


    "We will be having a press conference tomorrow as we have some things to announce as well, so you guys can get your answers there."


    Alice replied and then shepletely ignored the reporter who was grounding his teeth against each other as he couldn''t get a single answer.


    "Let''s go."


    Alicemanded and the raiders from her guild followed her closely as the crowd parted making space for them.


    ''Tell me everything,'' Alexmanded Sophia, who replied almost instantaneously....


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 101: CHAPTER 101 – More about the World.

    ''Tell me everything,'' Alex didn''t know what was happening, he could guess but he knew that his guesses would probably not be urate.


    The system did give him knowledge about worlds and itself, but it was just basic information, the things that he needed to know, but it didn''t give him detailed information about these things.


    If the system gave him every detail there was in it, then what''s the use of having the system spirit, Sophia?


    Sophia had the job of helping Alex with ''whatever'' he wanted her help with, and she was fullymitted to it.


    Sophia has always been happy to help Alex, but there were not many things Alex needed her help in, Sophia knew that as well, so she just wanted to help him best in the areas she could.


    [Yes.] Sophia replied without a second dy.


    [The gate that you had entered was like a pir of the barrier that was stopping the world from getting stronger.


    That gate was there as a test for the people in this world to pass.


    It was never going to break, it was always going to stay there just like that so that the people of this world can take their time in clearing it.


    It was supposed to be cleared by the group of strongest raiders in this world and if they were able to clear the gate, by any chance, then that means that the world has people strong enough to fight an SS-rank beast, even if it was by forming a group.


    That was the indication that the world doesn''t need the barrier to stop its improvement.


    That''s what happened here. The gate was cleared by you, breaking the world''s limiting barrier, so now it''s expanding, as therger the is, the stronger it is.]


    ''I see��'' Alex nodded inwardly.


    While Alex moved through the crowd he was not just listening to Sophia''s words, he was also looking around the crowd, observing the expressions and reactions of the people present there.


    He could feel some fanatic gazes on him, but he wasn''t sure of the reason, so he chose to ignore those gazes after all, the owners of those gazes were nothing but bugs he could squash with pressure alone.


    Alex could also see the reactions of the S-ranked raiders that had arrived, almost all of them were on calls, reporting their finds to their higher-ups, while some kept staring at Alex and the group.


    ''So, the test that you are talking about, it was supposed to be cleared by the group of more than 20 or 30 S-rank raiders, right?'' Alex questioned Sophia.


    [Yes.]


    ''Then just like how we got the boost of getting their ranks up-ed by a whole rank, the team of those S-ranked raiders was supposed to be SS-ranked, weren''t they?'' Alex asked again.


    [Yes, if the world strengthens, it gives a boost to the people of the world as well.


    The world breaking its limit means that the barrier that stops people of this world from crossing EX-rank will be gone, but that also means that it now won''t be suppressing people above EX-rank that enter the world.


    So, it gives the people a boost so that they can fare better if an enemy of that caliber ever challenges the.


    But there is still time as it takes a while for the barrier topletely vanish, and till then no one above EX-rank can enter the world easily.


    However, this will not stop the entities below EX-rank, or EX-rank itself from entering.]


    ''You keep saying that the barrier broke and now the people above EX-rank can enter the''s atmosphere, but if that was the case then what about SS-ranked, SSS-ranked, and EX-ranked entities?


    They were allowed to enter this world even before the barrier broke, so why were there no gates with SS-rank and above till now?'' Alex asked the question that had been bugging him for a while.


    [The world is still young, and it has just been five years since it was introduced with mana, and no one knows about it yet.]


    Sophia spoke and by looking at Alex, she could tell that he was still not clear, so she spoke.


    [The gate that you cleared was not supposed to be cleared right now. The people of this world were supposed to clear other gates all over the world, slowly increasing the mana in the air until finally, they cleared that gate, breaking the limit of this world.]


    ''Wait, what do you mean ''Increasing mana in the air''?'' Alex was getting more confused.


    He was overpowered and he was able to understand things easily, but this was something he had no knowledge of so of course he was going to get confused.


    [It looks like I forgot to tell you this before or I just never got the right moment to tell you this, but the gates that vanish after being cleared don''t just vanish into nothingness.


    They break into mana particles and integrate into the mana in the atmosphere.


    As the gates arerge, they need some time topletely break down, but once they break down, they merge with the mana in the atmosphere.


    The same thing happens if a gate break happens, in that case however, the gate starts merging with the world after the boss is out of the gate.


    As the mana in the atmosphere increases, the rank of the gates also increases as the gates need the atmosphere to have enough mana for them to maintain themselves.]


    ''Ah, I see, so the gates also need mana to stay where they are huh��.''


    Things finally started making sense to Alex.


    [Yes, and now that you have cleared the gate that was supposed to be clearedst, you have pressed the fast-forward button of the world.]


    ''So doesn''t it mean that there are going to be lots of gates emerging here and there for us to clear them, right?'' Alex asked with a light smile.


    [Yes.]


    Sophia''s answer only made him smile wider, as he moved into the bus of Crimson Lotus that had been waiting for them.


    He didn''t care whether his actions might cause more harm to the world than it would do good, all he cared about was profit, and that he was not ashamed about.


    He knew that he took away the chance of 20 to 30 S-ranked raiders bing SS-rankers, but did he care? No.


    He knew that he deprived the world of its slow and steady development, but does it bother him? Not in the least.


    Still, Alex never said that he was not going to do anything, after all, even if he didn''t do anything, he knew Alice and Ann would, and he didn''t want them toe in harm''s way.


    So, he is going to help the world a little, even if it is just for the people he cares about.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 102: CHAPTER 102 – The Reactions.

    "They are being arrogant just because they have 20+ S-rank raiders in their guild, they are thinking that they are above everyone just because of that-"


    *Click*


    "They should just donate whatever they got from the gate so that we can help the public better-"


    *Click*


    "They just don''t want the betterment of the world, or they would''ve told us about what happened inside, then and there-"


    *Click*


    "Just because they be powerful, they think they can do whatever they want-"


    *Click*


    "They shouldpensate the world for the damage that had happened-"


    *Click*


    "They think they achieved something very big just because they cleared a gate, we can do the same-"


    "Sigh..." Ann sighed as all she could find on the news was them being criticized.


    "What are you sighing for, let them bark all they want, we have a press conference so it''s better to think about that," Alice spoke from behind as she was browsing through her phone.


    "Yes, I will do just that," Ann spoke as she got up from the sofa and walked towards her room.


    "The breakfast''s almost ready, for your information," Just then Alex''s voice was heard, and be it Alice or Ann, both of them paused for a second.


    They looked at each other and nodded.


    They moved toward the dining table as breakfast was important and much more so when it was made by Alex, other things could wait.


    For now, they were just happy that their house was still safe and they didn''t need to worry about a roof over their heads, which was better than many people all over the world.


    ..............


    When the shockwave had passed through the whole world, it crashed in itself as the is NOT t.


    Things were doing fine �C no, things were doing rather good till then, but just as the world was celebrating their power boost it happened.


    The whole world trembled as the shockwave crashed in itself, everyone on the felt that trembling, but how could they have seen what wasing for them?


    Just after the trembling, the disasters started.


    Disasters here don''t mean artificial ones, they were natural disasters, ones that could not be stopped by humans.


    Earthquakes, tsunamis,ndslides, avnches, and all other kinds of disasters, all of them came at once. Some raiders who had powers rted to those disasters tried to control those disasters and they were sessful as well, but there was so much only a few of them could do.


    So, the disasters hit, the weak died, and even if the strong didn''t get harmed, some of them still lost their homes.


    The earthquake was quite powerful, so other than the buildings that were fortified or upgraded using some kind of strong metal, almost all of them were destroyed.


    The buildings such as the association building, guild buildings, pricy and safe vis, fortified safe houses, and some other buildings like that were safe.


    Alice, Ann, and Alex turned out to be among the lucky ones as their vi was fortified and was very costly.


    The people all over the world were taking refuge in guild buildings, or any otherrge buildings they could find. The Crimson Lotus Guild also had many refugees inside their guild building, but it was not a problem as the building was quite big.


    There were many problems all over the world, but there were solutions as well, so just when the disasters settled down, several organizations quickly jumped into action.


    The earth element mages would do their best to help in building up houses, the stronger ones even made house after house with their power alone.


    The water element mages would take care of the needs of water as the water supplied was not avable after the disaster.


    Everyone was trying to help even if it was just for profits or fame, but they were doing it nheless.


    But as if the world hated seeing things getting better, less than two hours after the disasters, gates started breaking here and there.


    They were not the high-ranking gates, but still, the gates were breaking.


    The gates that were supposed to break in a week broke without a reason, making the people panic more.


    Those gates were still being taken care of, but one more thing was noticed, the break time of every gate had shortened.


    The A-rank gates that were supposed to break in a week or more were now showing cracks, which was a clear sign of the gate breaking.


    The gates start cracking as the time of their break nears, no one knows why that happens, but it is what it is. On the other hand, when a gate is cleared, it loses its color and bes translucent.


    For example: If an F-rank gate that is white colored is cleared then the moment it is cleared it would turn translucent.


    The gate Alex and the group had cleared was a special case as it was a unique type of permanent gate that was supposed to stay like that for who knows how long, so that is the reason why no one could tell whether it was cleared or not.


    Many people were happy when the raiders from Crimson Lotus came out alive from the gates and themon popce was happy to get more S-rank raiders as the more strong raiders there are the better it is for them.


    However, the improvement and achievement of Crimson Lotus were not taken nicely by theirpetitors or any other organization. They knew that the Crimson Lotus was now very strong, so strong that they wouldn''t be able to do anything to them.


    But that didn''t mean that they were invincible, so they were trying to use whatever they could to either get some profit from the Crimson Lotus or to get the Crimson Lotus down.


    There were many guilds already forming alliances as they could feel that the peace in the world was not going to stay for long after the Crimson Lotus had gotten so strong that they could break the bnce alone.


    However, there were some guilds who wanted to be on the good side of Crimson Lotus as well, and there were some who wanted to form an alliance with them as well.


    But none of them were going to make a move as they were going to wait for the press conference.


    There were many kinds of reactions from people all around the world about the way Alice talked and also the fact that she refused to answer any questions.


    Although people called them arrogant and whatever, they were all still waiting for the press conference that was going to be conducted today.


    Until finally it was time for the press conference.


    ............


    Inside the Crimson Lotus''s main building, there was arge training hall that was used by the guild members to train themselves.


    Today, however, there was a stage with three seats ced in the training hall, but that was not all as there were hundreds offortable chairs ced right in front of the stage, all of them facing toward the stage.


    On the three chairs that were ced on the stage, Alex, Alice, and Frank could be seen sitting. Ann was there as well, but she was standing behind Alice as the secretary she was.


    "Let them in," Alicemanded in a low voice.


    The raiders standing at the entrance of the hall opened the door and as if waiting for that moment, arge crowd of people rushed into the training hall.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 103: CHAPTER 103 – Press Conference 1.

    //// Author Note: Sorry for the chapter dy guys but the mass release of 10 chapters was a bit too much for me and I had a severe headache.


    There will only be a single chapter today, but don''t worry, I''ll be back with two chapters by tomorrow. ////


    The special S-rank gate was cleared by the Crimson Lotus Guild, and this was the biggest news around the world.


    Then there were many questions people from all over the world had about the strange shockwave that was released and many others.


    But all of them were somehow linked with the gate, and the only ones who could somewhat answer the questions were the Crimson Lotus Guild.


    So, the press conference that was being held made the reporters from all over the worlde running to ask questions, making the total number of reporters that came for the press conference reach higher than 1000.


    Now, what do you think would happen if those 1000 or more reporters were to rush into a hall?


    Chaos, that''s what would happen and that''s what was happening.


    Just as the gate was opened, the reporters and their cameraman rushed in like a herd of bulls.


    They just kept pushing each other causing a lot of chaoticmotion.


    "Miss Alice, what was the gate like from the inside?"


    "Miss Alice, can you tell us what happened inside?"


    "Did you guys do something that caused the shockwave?"


    "How are you guys going topensate the world for its loss?"


    "Mister Michale, can you tell...��.."


    "Mister Matthew...��"


    "Why did...."


    "Miss..."


    ....


    ��


    .


    They rushed toward Alex, Alice, and Frank and they kept bombarding them with questions.


    Just then a colossal pressure engulfed the whole training hall, making all of them fall to the ground.


    Even the cameraman couldn''t keep their cameras up as the cameras were now facing the ground.


    But then...


    *Woosh**sh*


    The whistling was heard, followed by the sound of flesh being shed.


    *Thud*


    Then something fell, they could not tell what it was as their heads were down, but then some reporters saw blood.


    But again, they could neither scream nor move, after all, the pressure had kept them locked on the ground.


    *Woosh*X3


    *sh*X3


    Then the same thing happened three more times.


    ''Murder!!''


    ''They killed someone!''


    This was what the reporters were thinking until they heard a calm and unbothered voice.


    "The ones that I killed were assassins, you can check on them or do whatever you want to, just for your information," They didn''t need to think twice to know who had spoken, it was Alex.


    They calmed down after hearing his words, but then they heard him speak again.


    "Anyone who is still rushing towards us and not the chairs will be considered an assassin and taken care of ordingly, so be mindful of your actions,"


    Just after they heard Alex say that they felt the pressure vanish.


    Their eyes inadvertently turned towards the corpse of the assassins and they could see the bodies of the assassins still on their knees while their heads were on the ground, but they quickly looked away and silently moved toward the chairs to get a seat.


    None of the cameramen turned their cameras toward the corpse of the assassins so as to not get suspected of something bad, they just moved to the back, positioned their cameras, and started the feed again.


    There were quite a lot of reporters, so much that there were no seats for all of them to sit but they were fine standing and they were not going toin about those minor stuffs.


    The reporters didn''t say anything or do anything, they just sat there in silence as they looked at Alex. Alice, Frank, and Ann.


    They were waiting for their signal to speak and before long Ann walked in front of the stage and spoke.


    "Miss Alice will randomly pick one of you to ask your question, but remember that you can only ask ONE question to any ONE of them."


    Alice stopped after she spoke that, letting the reporters understand what she meant.


    Looking at the raiders nodding their heads as if they understood the meaning, Ann spoke again.


    "We will now start the press conference."


    Right after she said that the cameramen on the back started clicking images.


    "I will leave the rest to you, President."


    Ann moved back after she spoke that, standing behind Alice like she was standing from the start.


    "Thank you, Ann." Alice thanked Ann and then she turned towards the reporter and pointed at one randomly.


    "You, the one with sses."


    The reporter in question hurriedly stood up and spoke.


    "My question is for you, Miss Alice." The reporter with sses spoke.


    "Just ask," Alice spoke as she leaned forward on the table in front of her.


    "What happened inside the gate?" The reporter asked.


    "Many things happened, next."


    Alice spoke directly, shooting down the guy.


    The reporter stood there dumbfoundedly, unable to understand what happened.


    "You, the one in light blue coat."


    Alice pointed at the next guy among the crowd of reporters.


    The reporter with sses finally understood what had happened, and he just sighed as he sat down, knowing full well that he lost his chance to get an answer because he tried to be over-smart.


    The reporter had asked the question hoping for a detailed description of what had happened. But now his question backfired on him.


    "Miss Alice, do you know what that shockwave was?" The guy asked.


    "No," Alice''s answer was again simple and straightforward.


    After returning from the gate, Alice, Ann, and Alex did a lot of digging, they looked around and talked with the people in the guild so they knew what had happened in the world while they were inside the gate.


    The guy kept standing as if waiting for Alice to continue but he saw Alice pointing at another reporter. The guy just sat down without a word as he saw that.


    "You, thedy with brown hair."


    Alice pointed at the next person she chose.


    "Miss Alice, how did all the A-rank raiders that entered the gate turn into S-rankers?"


    Thedy spoke.


    "Finally someone with a decent question," Alice sighed causing thedy to smile a bit at thepliment.


    "Now to answer your question: they were ranked up by the same shockwave that ranked up the people outside."


    Listening to Alice''s answer, many reporters started murmuring.


    *Tap*


    But a single sound of the table being tapped was heard, causing everyone to turn quiet again.


    The thing to note was that a single tap was still heard in a hall full of people who were whispering to each other.


    All of them just looked at Alex who had tapped his finger on the table in front of him as he sat rxedly.


    "Thank you for doing that," Alice spoke to Alex with a smile and he just nodded his head.


    "You, the one with a pink shirt and ck coat."


    Alice pointed at the next guy.


    "Miss Alice, can you tell us what the boss of the gate dropped?"


    The reporter in question asked.


    "No, that''s not something I can tell you."


    Alice simply replied and moved to the next person.


    "Now, you, the guy with long hair."


    Alice pointed at the next person and the guy stood up without hurry before he asked his question.


    "Mister Matthew, people say that your guild has be arrogant because of the power they gained, what are your thoughts about that?"


    The hall became still as the guy asked the question before Alex finally looked at the guy and moved his lips.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 104: CHAPTER 104 – Press Conference 2.

    Alex had been rxing with his eyes closed and that made many cameramen secretly take his photo as they could use it to make an issue as well, and can all this be hidden from Alex?


    He could see everything even with his eyes closed, so of course he knew what those guys were doing, but he ignored them.


    He never cared about people''s opinions, neither did he have any intentions of ever doing that.


    Alex didn''t even want to attend the press conference, but Alice pulled up on stage with her puppy eyes.


    She told him that all he had to do was sit there, just like Frank as he was the honorary guild master, after all.


    So, Alex decided to just sit there, but things just happened, and he somehow ended up noticing three people or assassins dressed up as reporters, moving towards them along with the crowd.


    Those guys probably came to assassinate Alice and although he knew those guys could not even touch Alice, he still killed them.


    Alex knew that the reporters were going to ask him questions as well, it was not going to be like what Alice told him and he was not going to be left alone.


    So, he decided to use the assassins as a way to scare the reporters, that way, only a few of them will even have the courage to look at him, much less ask him a question.


    Things were going well as the questions were all for Alice and he liked the way she replied but then a guy finally asked him a question.


    "Mister Matthew, people say that your guild has be arrogant because of the power they gained, what are your thoughts about that?"


    Alex almostughed out loud when he heard the question, and just because he was trying to control hisughter, it took him a while to look at the guy.


    "So, if someone has power and stays humble, then they are pushovers, but if the same guy takes pride in showing the power he has, then he is arrogant.


    Man, I really don''t get the way how logic works for you people..."


    That''s all Alex spoke before he rxed back on the chair, folded his hands, and closed his eyes.


    "Looks like that was your answer, mister ''what are your thoughts''," Alice spoke before she ignored the guy in question.


    The reporter just gritted his teeth and sat down.


    "You, the one with the ponytail."


    Alice pointed at a girl with a ponytail hairstyle.


    The girl didn''t even nce at Alice as her eyes were fixed on Alex from the time she had entered the hall.


    Alice had noticed that as well, but she intentionally picked this girl as she knew what kind of question this girl was going to ask.


    "Mister Matthew, are you single?"


    The girl didn''t shy away after asking the question, and neither did she get embarrassed as she saw people looking at her like she was some kind of zoo animal.


    Other reporters knew that the topic of Alex being single or not is one of the most trending topics but they were here to get some answers about very important stuff.


    Alex opened his eyes and instead of looking at the girl, he looked at Alice.


    This action didn''t go unnoticed by the reporters as their reporter senses started tingling about some spicy news.


    Alice widened her eyes as she saw Alex''s action, and so did Ann. They knew how Alex''s actions would be seen by the world and they knew that Alex knew that as well since they could see him smirking at them.


    Alex knew that Alice chose that girl intentionally as even he who had his eyes closed could guess what kind of question the girl had.


    Alex, Alice, and Ann had looked through everything that had happened when they were in-gate.


    So, of course, they know about the topic where Alex had be the most perfect husband candidate for females all over the world.


    Alice and Ann even teased Alex by calling him by the nicknames that were given to him by his 100s of fan clubs. For example: ''Cold-eyed knight'', ''Prince of the dreams'', etc.


    Alice became embarrassed but she maintained a poker face. She knew if she reacted then she was done for, and there would be who knows how much news about this.


    She didn''t hate that idea though, she loved it even. But she couldn''t let the press conference that was for the world to know their deeds turn into an interview where they discuss her personal life.


    "You have a question ''Mister Matthew''," Alice spoke and Alex finally turned toward the girl.


    "No, not at the moment," Alex replied to the girl and the girl didn''t know why but she sighed.


    "Then do you have someone you lik-" The girl hurriedly tried to ask another question but she was cut off mid-sentence.


    "You lost your chance to ask a question, now you can sit down," Alice spoke as she gave the girl a hard look.


    The girl sat down after giving Alex ast look.


    "You, with a white shirt and dark blue coat."


    Alice then pointed out at another guy.


    "Miss Alice, can you tell us the source of the shockwave? You guys were inside the gate, so you must know something, right?"


    The guy asked respectfully, but he was really hoping that he would get the desired answer instead of the kind of answer others were getting.


    Maybe his luck was good or maybe Alice finally decided to get serious with the press conference, but she replied to the guy honestly.


    "I do know where the shockwave came from, but I don''t know why it happened, so I will just tell you what we saw," Alice spoke and as she saw the reporter nod his head happily, she continued.


    "We were fighting many beasts and the hidden boss together, but when the hidden boss was yed, its body started cracking, and following that the beasts in the gate also started experiencing the same thing.


    Finally, that happened, all the beast exploded into a mass of light, including the hidden boss, we didn''t know what had happened and we didn''t know what or why that shockwave was generated, but we do know that we profited a lot from the shockwave."


    Alice concluded with that and she stayed silent for a while as she could see the reporters making notes.


    This was big news, after all, it was one of the answers the world was looking for.


    Alice then clicked a button below the desk, issuing some kind of order. Alex and Ann also saw that but they stayed silent.


    It took the reporters a while to write down the things Alice spoke and Alice waited and finally, when everyone was done, Alice picked the next reporter.


    "You, the one with blonde hair," Alice pointed at a blonde girl.


    The girl stood up elegantly before she looked at Alice and spoke.


    "Miss Alice, people are facing many problems all over the world and some people say that it is your fault and you should take responsibility bypensating the citizens, what are your thoughts on this topic?"


    Alice smiled inwardly as it was finally time for the main event to start.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 105: CHAPTER 105 – Press Conference 3.

    The guilds, all over the world, are not just an organization that helps the public clear the gate, many top-ranking guilds are involved in other businesses as well.


    Some own shares in movies, some own shares in railways, some create their ownpanies, and there are some who own shares in mediapanies or the wholepany belongs to them.


    The reporters that came to the press conference were many reporters who work for guilds, or associations. But just like other people can send their reporters to defame or degrade the Crimson Lotus''s image, the Crimson Lotus can do the same to defend themselves.


    The Crimson Lotus Guild had shares in one of thergest mediapanies in Orange Country and some others as well, after all.


    There were at least 10 reporters from the mediapanies that Crimson Lotus had shares in, and all of them were only going to ask the questions that they were told to ask.


    So, when Alice clicked the button on the desk, it was an indicator for them to get ready as Alice was going to pick them one by one.


    The blonde girl Alice picked was one of them, so the question she asked was something Alice wanted her to ask.


    "Miss Alice, people are facing many problems all over the world and some people say that it is your fault and you should take responsibility bypensating the citizens, what are your thoughts on this topic?"


    The girl asked, making Alice smile inwardly.


    "People are looking for someone to take the me for everything, and you all know that. In hard times, someone surely draws the short stick, and that person turns out to be us in this situation.


    But did someone think for even a second: why did we enter the gate in the first ce?


    It was because of the task given to us by the Association that we were just doing the task, why are you ming us then?


    If thepany sells faulty products are you going to me the workers or the owner? The owner, right?


    So, why are we being med?


    As for the problems that the world is facing, I and my guild are doing our best to help out as much as we can."


    Alice answered the question in detail and again, the reporters started taking notes.


    None of the reporters knew that there were reporters who worked for Crimson Lotus in the crowd, and even if some of them did, they wouldn''t say it as everyone does that.


    Not like they were not getting some spicy news, they were getting those, so it was all good.


    "Thank you for answering," The blonde girl spoke before she sat down.


    Alice nodded to the girl before she looked around, searching for another one of their reporters until she finally found one.


    "You, the one with ck hair."


    Alice pointed at a guy with ck hair, and the guy stood up with a nod.


    "Miss Alice, you said that you were just doing your task, but wasn''t your task just scouting?"


    The questions that were being asked were made by Alex and Ann, they made the question just the type they wanted but at the same time, the question included the topic that the public wanted to know.


    These questions were a way for the Crimson Lotus to clear their name while putting the me on someone else if possible.


    "Yes, our task was to just scout and that''s what we were going to do, but it was an unexplored gate, if that was not enough, it was quite big as well.


    We just kept walking when we unknowingly entered the boss area.


    It was a do-or-die situation, so we decided to try our luck, and in the end, we won."


    Alice replied without thinking much.


    The guy nodded his head and sat down.


    "You, with the red hairband."


    Alice pointed at a girl with a red hairband.


    The girl stood up and looked at Alice before she spoke.


    "Miss Alice, you said that you guys were just doing the task and you had to clear the gate because you were given a scouting mission, but why did you ept the mission in the first ce?


    You had the option to decline the task, right?"


    The girl asked and Alice replied.


    "Yes, we had the option, and we could have declined the task, but up until now, Crimson Lotus had never declined a task.


    I didn''t want to break that perfect streak, and if that is not enough to make you satisfied, then I had trust in my guildmates, I know that they are strong enough to survive anything the world will throw at us."


    Alice answered with pride in her voice.


    The cameras started clicking, taking pictures of Alice, while the reporters began writing it down.


    The girl nodded her head and sat down and Alice just smiled lightly.


    Alice then selected some random people since she had already spoken about the points she wanted to.


    It took some while and the reporters asked many questions, ranging from the level of power of the monsters inside the gate, to how they fought against some monsters.


    None of the reporters tried something fishy or going overboard with their questions as Alex was still sitting there with a calm posture, giving them more pressure than even a fearsome beast could give.


    Although reporters like to make news out of everything, they know their limits.


    They were scared to die, after all, they had seen how Alex killed people without hesitation, he didn''t even ask the guys something and directly killed them.


    They were scared that if they spoke out of line, then they might be seen as some assassin or something by Alex, losing their lives as a result.


    Although the reporters regrated that they wouldn''t be able to get much dirt on the Crimson Lotus, they valued their lives more than their jobs.


    Many of them knew that they might lose their jobs as they were told by their respective employers that they had to throw as much dirt as they could on the Crimson Lotus, but they failed spectacrly.


    After a while, when Alice thought that it was about time to end this, she spoke.


    "Only five questions more, after that, we will end the press conference," Alice spoke and the reporters got ready with the best questions they had, or the question they think is more important.


    "Alright, the one with a ck shirt," Alice pointed at a girl who was wearing a ck shirt.


    "My question is for you Mister Matthew," The girl spoke hurriedly just as she stood, and Alex opened his eyes for the second time in the whole conference.


    The cameras all focused on Alex and the reporters were also ready to write down whatever they could.


    By now every important question was answered, so when someone saw that there was a person with enough courage to wake the sleeping beast, they quickly got focused.


    Alex knew that it was going to be something simr to thest question, so he looked at the girl waiting for her to ask her question.


    But when they heard the girl''s questions almost all of the reporters almost fell from their seats.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 106: CHAPTER 106 – Using Command Again.

    Many people would think that the only question someone would have for Alex would be rted to his love life or something as he was pretty much the most trending guy on Gaia right now.


    But there are people who would use even a single chance they could get to talk to him to the best they can.


    The reporter girl, whose name was Amilia Rose was one of those kinds. Her whole purpose ofing to think the press conference was Alex as she had a single goal and that was��.


    "Will you marry me, Alex Matthew?"


    Be it the reporters, the people viewing the live press conference online, Alice, Ann, Frank, or the raiders from Crimson Lotus who were moving here and there, everyone was frozen wherever they were.


    It took them a while to register what had just happened, and the cameras started clicking, the girl just smiled inwardly.


    She got what she came here for, even though she loves/ likes Alex she knew that Alex was never even going to look at her, after all, there were many girls out there, so why would he look at her who''s nothing special?


    Her intention was simple, and that was...


    "You came here to get famous huh��.." A calm and rxed voice was heard, but it felt scary at the same time.


    The hall quieted down as everyone heard the voice.


    Amilia widened her eyes, ''How did he know?!?!'', this is what she was thinking, after all, that was her intention.


    She didn''t want to do it as Alex had stolen her heart at first sight just like many other girls out there, but she had to.


    She was not famous, she was about to get her job taken away from her as she didn''t have anything special, so when she found out that herst assignment was to get some dirt on Crimson Lotus, she thought that it was her chance.


    But then she had a better idea, she decided to be more daring and try something else.


    Amelia wanted to propose to Alex right in the middle of the press conference. She was like, ''What''s the worst that could happen?''.


    Amelia knew that raiders focused on their image a bit too much so the worst Alex would do was politely reject her.


    But that was not all bad as just because she proposed to Alex, she would be a hero in the eyes of many girls out there.


    They would see her as a strong woman who would do anything to get her love, going so far as even proposing her love when she knew she was going to get rejected.


    She might leave some kind of impression on Alex as well, which was good as well.


    On the other hand, if there was some off chance of Alex epting her proposal, then that would simply be a lottery ticket.


    So, she thought that she would win in case.


    But she was frozen in shock as she heard what Alex had said. She knew that if this continued then she would lose everything, or lose more than she could afford, which would take her in minus.


    "Why did you think of doing this? Because of money? Fame?


    You could''ve done something better."


    Alex continued.


    He didn''t like being used, and he could see that in the eyes of that girl that even if there was adoration in her eyes when she looked at him, the thing that he could see most in there was greed.


    Alex could tell that Amelia just looked at him as if he was an opportunity for her, and Alex didn''t like that a single bit.


    "I- I��.."


    "No need to justify yourself, it''s not going to change what you are.


    The girls like you are called gold diggers and I hate that kind of girl," Alex didn''t show restraint as he spoke directly.


    Amelia was too shocked to even speak, ''Didn''t they say that raiders cared for their image...?''


    Amelia was still thinking that Alex was just like any other raider who cared for their images.


    She didn''t know that thest thing Alex cared about was people''s opinion, the world could think of him as a devil for all he cared.


    Alex was just like that, but Amelia didn''t know that.


    "I-I am sorry!!" Amelia knew that things were not going as nned and if she continued then things would just get worse for her.


    As a reporter, Amelia knew how to tarnish one''s image as well protecting one''s image.


    So, she decided to back down, but would Alex let her go with just that? No way.


    "Are you now?" Alex questioned and every eye in the hall turned to him, and Amelia who was going to sit down paused.


    ''Get naked,'' Alexmanded mentally, and then he added.


    ''Do not speak a word.''


    He was using his bloodline tomand her, as that was the best way to teach her a lesson without getting directly involved.


    Alex was not going to go easy on anyone, be it a woman or a man.


    Amelia moved out of the crowd and came right in front of the stage.


    "What are you trying to do?" Alex asked but he could feel Alice and Ann''s gazes on him.


    Alex knew that Alice and Ann were smart enough to know that it was him who was doing it, so he wasn''t actually surprised.


    Alice and Ann, on the other hand, just sighed inwardly. They sometimes felt like some old people who would sigh a lot, but for now, they looked at Amelia, they wanted to see what Alex had nned for her.


    Amelia didn''t say anything and started removing her clothes. Before anyone could understand what had happened, she was standing naked in front of everyone.


    In just a second, who knows how many photos were clicked and Amelia who was under control didn''t know that she had be famous already, although not the way she wanted, famous nheless.


    "I don''t like looking at cheap girls, someone takes her away," Alex spoke and the next second a female raider came running and covered Amelia in some clothes before she took her away.


    Alice and Ann red at Alex, but he just shrugged it off.


    ''Had your fun looking at her?'' That''s what he could read from their expression, but well, what could he do?


    This was the only thing that came to his mind when he thought of a way to destroy the girl without violence.


    Frank, on the other hand, didn''t know that Alex was the one who did it, that was how good Alex''s acting was, but if he thought about it a bit deeply instead of staring at the girl''s titties, then he could''ve found out that it was Alex who did that.


    After all, Alex had used his ability on Frank before, and Frank knew that once it was used, you had no other choice than to listen to Alex''s words.


    There was a short silence in the hall after this incident before Alice spoke up.


    "Now I am not in the mood to have any more questions, so I will end the press conference here."


    Alice spoke as she looked at every reporter present in the hall, some wanted toin or protest, but one look at Alex made them shut up.


    Alice smiled as she saw this and before the reporters got up to move out, she added.


    "I will be making a deration for all to hear, but I will not be taking any questions after that."


    As Alice''s words fell, the reporters froze before they hurriedly sat down and took out their notes.


    They had battle-ready faces as if it were a war deration.


    How could they have known that it actually was just that?


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 107: CHAPTER 107 – The Declaration.

    Alice, the guild leader of Crimson Lotus was going to make an announcement.


    This froze the reporters along with the cameramen who were about to close the live feed.


    But they were not the only ones who were shocked or surprised by that statement. The press conference was still being streamed live, so many people across the world heard that statement.


    The Crimson Lotus guild has be a guild with 24 S-rank raiders (No one knows about Noctura yet), so the words of the guild master of that guild are not something to be taken lightly.


    With 24 S-rank raiders under hermand, Alice could even wage a war against a country, so even the higher-ups of the government had their focus on what Alice was going to say.


    Be it the government employees, associations, guilds, or themon popce all over the world, everyone waited with their eyes focused on the live feeds.


    The general public would not focus much on the statements or derations of some guild masters as guild wars and all, they were not that rare.


    But things are different if it''s a deration made by Alice, who has 24 S-rank raiders in hermand. With so much power at her disposal, the only ones that could pose a challenge to her were countries, and a war with a country meant the death of who knows how many people who lived there.


    The derations were like a challenge to anyone who didn''t agree with that deration, so the world waited for what Alice had to dere and what kind of effect it was going to have on the world.


    Alex was not resting with his eyes closed anymore, he was also looking at the cameras as he wanted to look cool during the deration.


    "There are some things I would like to say before I make the deration," Alice spoke as she saw the reporters taking their ces and looking at her without blinking.


    "Have you guys ever seen a guild that never backs down from challenges?


    Have you ever seen a guild that would take an impossible challenge just because they believe in theirpanions?


    Crimson Lotus does that. We are just like that."


    Alice spoke and paused a bit, but the reporters were a bit confused, ''Is she advertising her guild, right now?''. This was the question they had, but then Alice continued.


    "My guild has done something no other guild would dare to do alone.


    We took the task of scouting an S-ranked special gate.


    Then we came out of the same gate as the one and only guild to ever clear an S-rank gate, that too a special one.


    Then we have 24 S-ranked raiders in our guild.


    If we look at all these points, then is there any other guild out there that can im the ''Rank 1'' spot in guilds ranking if not us?"


    Alice spoke again, and she intentionally said that there were 24 S-rank raiders in their guild as they didn''t need to expose every card they had.


    The reporters somehow knew what Alice was getting at and they became excited as they thought that they might finally see some action or sh between guilds again.


    They could pretty much tell what Alice was going to say, and the same could be said for the people out there watching the stream


    "I will be iming my Crimson Lotus guild as the Rank 1 guild, if someone denies our im then that would mean a war challenge.


    Before I finish, let me tell you all one more thing, you can form herds or whatever you want, but do remember, if you be our enemy, then there will be no mercy for any one of you.


    That will be all."


    Alice spoke and looked at Alex who nodded his head, then she looked at Frank and Ann.


    Frank nodded his head as well, but Ann seemed to be lost in her thoughts, which confused Alice.


    "Ann?" Alice''s voice broke Ann out of her thoughts.


    Ann looked at the surroundings and realized that she had been her thoughts a bit too much. She looked at Alex with a deep look, making the guy in question a bit confused.


    ''Hm?'' Alex didn''t know why Ann looked at him like that.


    "What''s wrong?" Alice asked Ann as she knew her friend would not be daydreaming about some random thing in an important event like this.


    "I will talk to youter about it," Ann spoke as she returned back to her professional secretary demeanor.


    Alice looked at Ann for a while and seeing her nod, she nodded back, Ann then turned towards the reporters and spoke.


    "The press conference is over now, please leave in an orderly manner."


    As she said that Alice, Alex, and Frank got down of the stage and walked out of the training hall.


    Alex could feel a gaze on his back and he knew it was Ann, but he really didn''t get why she was looking at him.


    Was it because of how he took care of the girl before?


    Was Ann jealous?


    Did she have an exhibition kink?


    Alex just shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts.


    He didn''t know what it was, but he knew that it was nothing important.


    He could see Ann had some kind of determination burning in her eyes, but for what it was? He didn''t know.


    He could not yet read people''s minds, after all. He could guess what it was, but that''s all, and guesses are not always right.


    So, instead of guessing something incorrectly, he would rather wait for them to spill whatever it was.


    ..........................................��.


    In Green Country, Association Headquarters.


    The ongoing live stream of the Crimson Lotus guild was being watched by the higher-ups of the Green Country''s raider association.


    They had some problems going on in their country, but it didn''t mean that they were going to miss something this important.


    "Do you guys think we should talk with the Crimson Lotus?"


    A guy among the higher-ups asked.


    The others understood what the guy was talking about.


    "Do you think they will help us out?"


    Ady asked.


    "Everything has a price,"


    The first guy spoke again.


    "She probably meant to ask: why would they help us?"


    A fat guy with sses asked.


    "As I said, everything has a price,"


    The first guy replied again, but thedy that spoke before asked in a sharp voice.


    "You think theyck money? Or do you think we can give them something other than money that could entice a guild with 24 S-ranked raiders?"


    The first guy turned silent after that, but then an old woman with wrinkles on her face spoke as she sat rxed on the main seat of the room.


    "Let us try our luck, if they ept our request at an eptable price then it is fine, if not then we will try asking someone else...."


    As her aged voice filled with experience fell, everyone else just nodded their heads, epting her proposal.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 108: CHAPTER 108 – Ann’s doubt.

    In the world, there were many girls,dies, and even grannies who liked Alex or loved Alex. After all, love was a strange thing, and no one knew when it would hit someone.


    All of this was because of Alex''s charms, and Alex knew it but he didn''t care. Alex had lowered his charm to an eptable level as it was quite annoying for him to see people freeze whenever they looked at him.


    But still, he knew that his looks were not something that would bring him trouble only, after all, although people say that one should never judge a book by its cover, they do it every time.


    It was not like he was ming them or saying that it was wrong, not at all, that was just how the world was.


    But let''s leave that at that, for now.


    Amelia was one of the girls who had fallen for Alex as well, but since the love they had for him was just because of his looks, it was still not at the level where they would die for him (As I always say, there can be exceptions).


    Amelia was a girl with big dreams, she was someone who wouldn''t move if there was no profit for her, so even if she loved Alex, that didn''t mean that she would sacrifice her dream for him.


    So, she tried her luck on Alex, hoping that she could profit from it even if she were rejected by Alex.


    But how could she have what would happen?


    Ann and Alice looked at the whole scenario y out in front of them, and they saw Alex''s reactions as well.


    Alice being simple-headed didn''t think much about it, but Ann was not the same.


    Ann is someone who thinks deeply about everything, so when she saw a girling up and proposing to Alex, she nked out for a moment.


    Ann knew that Alex was not going to ept Amelia or just any random girl like that who came up to him, just because of his looks, but what if he did ept it?


    ''Will Alex get into a rtionship with a girl other than Alice or me?''


    ''He won''t, right?''


    Ann didn''t know what to think, but after a while, she calmed down.


    She went into deep thought, ignoring the deration Alice was making.


    ''He does like us; I know that even Alice knows that....''


    Ann knew that Alex liked both of them, Alice did as well, and both of them were fine with sharing Alex with each other, after all, they were not strangers, rather they were best friends.


    Harem was not something new nowadays, it was prettymon as many strong raiders have their harem, be it male or female.


    So, the thought of sharing Alex didn''t repulse them, rather they would be happy if that were to happen, after all, Alex was too good for them to have him alone.


    If he has them both, then they would feel at least a bit more at ease.


    They could tell themselves: He is too good for me, but I am willing to share him with others for his happiness.


    ''But why has he never made a move on us?''


    There was question after question in Ann''s mind.


    She never thought about it before, but now that she thinks about it, she couldn''t help but think about it.


    The most Alex would do to them was look at them with fondness and caress them with care, but that was all.


    He never kissed them, never touched them in a perverted way, neither did he look at them in a perverted way much less taking them to bed.


    Alex would just look at them with care and fondness now and then, it was like he was stopping himself or something like that.


    Ann looked at Alex who was sitting straight beside Alice.


    ''What is it, Alex......?''


    ''What stops you��.?''


    ''Do you not love us �C no, you do love us, it can''t be clearer, so why?''


    ''Why do you never make a move on any of us?''


    Ann just kept asking those questions inwardly, hoping that Alex could somehow answer them, but she also knew that he could not hear her.


    But she just hoped to know what was there in his head, what he thinks all the time, does he have some problems that she didn''t know of?


    Ann didn''t know what problem Alex had and she also knew that he would probably not tell them for now, after all, he was just like that.


    He would help his loved ones, and the people he cared for to the best of his abilities, but he would never reach out to someone for help.


    ''We will have to do it.''


    Ann''s eyes were burning with determination.


    ''If he won''t make a move on us, then we will do it.''


    Ann spoke in her mind, but she didn''t notice that she had been saying ''we'' every time she spoke.


    This clearly showed that she alone didn''t have the courage to do that, she needed support, but she didn''t notice that.


    ''Once we are a part of your life, we will have the right to know more about your life, after all, we will be a part of it.''


    Ann looked at Alex as she spoke.


    She knew that he was not hearing these things, but it gave her courage, something she needed the most, right now.


    "Ann?"


    As she was in her thoughts, she heard Alice''s voice.


    Then she looked around only to realize that the event was over.


    Ann then looked at Alex deeply only to make him confused.


    "What''s wrong?" Alice found Ann''s behavior a bit weird, so she asked.


    "I will talk to youter about it," Ann spoke, but Alice kept looking at her.


    Ann could tell what Alice meant by that stare, it was an ''Are you sure?'' stare.


    Ann just nodded her head, making Alice do the same. Then Ann moved toward the edge of the stage and looked at the reporters before she spoke.


    "The press conference is over now, please leave in an orderly manner."


    The reporters moved in an orderly manner, slowly moving out of the exit while Alice, Alex, and Frank moved towards the gate that led to the guild''s main hall.


    Ann looked at Alex who was walking in a rxed manner with no guard up, but she knew that the truth was far from that.


    She didn''t think that any kind of surprise attack could harm Alex ever, he had a cheat skill for that, after all.


    ''I fell for a monstrously powerful guy��.'' Ann sighed but there was a soft smile gracing her lips.


    ''Hm, that could be a nice title for female lead romance novels��.'' Annmented as she thought of herst words.


    Just then she snapped her head toward the exit, she looked around with narrowed eyes.


    But after not finding anything for a while, she just turned around and left the hall as well.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 109: CHAPTER 109 – Luna’s Situation and Old Memories.

    In the Orange Country''s Raider Association headquarters.


    "Ma''am, I have the reports," A girl with light blonde hair spoke as she faced the person who was the leader of the Raider Association of the Orange country.


    "Tell me the most important ones," Thedy sitting on the Association leader''s seat spoke even without looking up at the girl.


    Thedy had pink hair, pink eyes, and a nice figure, she was a war-causing beauty, but right now, she looked like she had a whole mountain over her shoulders as they were slumped.


    It was Luna and she had been working really hard to make things better for the Association.


    The Association was even standing because of her, or it would not even have made it so far after Stephan''s death.


    It was Luna who came up with an idea that saved the Association from falling.


    She came up with the idea of using Stephan''s death to attract sympathy, and then she turned that sympathy into hatred towards the guilds that were causing trouble, by showing the videos of their crimes.


    After that, the guilds in question had topensate the association while also apologizing to the public, after all, they knew better than to anger the public as it would just make them fall.


    But the Association was facing the same public right now.


    Well, not like they were being hated, but the Association was walking on a delicate thread, it could break with a single mistake.


    They tried shifting me, but in the end, they were the ones who were med.


    Still, Luna used this chance to get rid of the problem makers in the Association which included Somer Knox, and some higher-ups in the Association.


    Right now, the Association waspletely under control, but the Association was not producing much profit since it had to look after the public that was still facing problems after the disasters, and that cost a lot of money.


    The light blond girl nodded her head and spoke.


    "All the drops from the special S-rank gate had been collected," The girl spoke, and looking at Luna nod she continued.


    "The supplies for the refugee camps are about to deplete, so they need to be filled.


    Some guilds are trying to instigate the public to act against us, but it was taken care of by our agents in those guilds."


    The girl spoke and Luna nodded.


    Luna had ced some of their agents in almost every guild after the incidents that happened after Stephan''s death.


    All those agents had a single task and that was to record anything they found suspicious or some kind of dirt on the guild they were in.


    So, whenever the guilds tried to do something against the association, Luna would just forward those things to the news channels, the rest of the work was done by the news channels, after all, they were experts in these fields.


    The guild in question would have its image turned bad in the public''s eye, making the public not trust the said guild.


    That''s how the Association works now.


    "Go on," Luna gestured for the girl to continue, and the girl did just that.


    "The Green Country had invited the Crimson Lotus guild to help them with the famous E-ranked gate that had swallowed 3 S-ranked raiders already.


    The Crimson Lotus had epted the request, but the details about the deal were not disclosed," The girl finished the most important things, so she waited for Luna to give her the order to leave.


    But Luna was not even focusing on the girl as the moment she heard the Crimson Lotus''s name, she remembered Alex''s face.


    She still remembered his strange destructive power, and she had a hunch that it was thanks to Alex that the Crimson Lotus could clear that gate, but it was just a hunch.


    She wondered whether she was strong enough to defeat him now, after all, she had turned SS-ranked when the shockwave hit her.


    But the information of there being a rank above S-rank was something only the higher-ups of every guild and Association were privy to.


    They knew it wouldn''t be hidden for long as there was already an SS-ranked gate spotted and they knew it would not be thest. But they were going to keep it a secret from the public for as long as they could, after all, they didn''t want to cause panic.


    If the public knew that there were raiders with rank above S then it would not be hard for them to conclude that there would be monsters above S-rank as well, and that would definitely cause chaos among the public.


    Just as she thought about the monsters, Monarch''s masked face shed in her mind, the same guy she had been searching for till now but found no clue he was or where he came from.


    Now why would she remember him by the term monster?


    Well, because she came to realize that there are people so powerful that monsters looked tamer in front of them.


    One such guy was Monarch.


    A month ago, when the Association had calmed down and things were going fine he came right through the main gate. But the main thing was that he came alone, and he came without using his disguise skill.


    His actions caused the Association to go on full alert as they knew who he was.


    Luna had been searching for him everywhere so they would of course know who he was, and there was the thing about his mana core as well.


    They didn''t want to fight since Luna had already told them that he was very powerful, but they still ced 4 S-rankers around the building, ready to take action if needed.


    Luna waited for Monarch to arrive and after a while, Monarch was sitting there in front of her.


    "How much did the mana core auction for?"


    Luna didn''t know what to say. She could feel the pressure around Monarch, and she knew he was not in the mood for a joke.


    But what could she say, she knew that he came here knowing that the mana core was stolen, so if he was still asking meant that she needed to pay him no matter what.


    "It was sold for 10 billion credits," Luna spoke the best price she could think of but Monarch didn''t seem satisfied as he spoke.


    "Hmm, just because I like being chill, people now think that I am a pushover."


    Luna could feel the pressure rising in the air, it was like the air was getting heavier every second.


    Monarch then stood up, causing the bodies of Luna and the other four S-rankers who were listening to the conversation to tense up.


    Then Luna saw Monarch shing his empty hand downward and became confused before she heard a loud scream.


    "AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"


    She could hear the scream from her earpiece, which meant that the owner of the voice was one of the S-rankers standing outside the building.


    Whatever attack Monarch did, it harmed the raider that was standing quite far away with many walls in between.


    ''Space-type skill!!!!'' It didn''t take Luna much time to realize what it was.


    But then she saw that Monarch was about to wave his hand again.


    "Please tell me what you want!!!!"


    She shouted hurriedly, but then....


    *Boom**Crack*


    "Don''t raise your voice in front of me, woman."


    Like arge mountain pressing over the whole building, a colossal pressure was released from Monarch.


    Luna wasn''t able to breathe, and she could see blood falling from her eyes, nose, and ears.


    She felt like she was about to die, but it was not just her who felt that huge pressure.


    The building cracked due to the sheer pressure that Monarch was releasing. It was the same building that was designed to withstand some stacks from S-rankers.


    It was at that moment she realized that the monster in front of her was much stronger than she could ever hope to be.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 110: CHAPTER 110 – Luna’s Suspicion.

    Every S-rank raider can release mana pressure, but that means that they can feel and differentiate between mana pressures as well.


    That was the reason why Frank was able to tell that there were many S-rank beasts in the army of the beasts when they were facing the boss of the S-ranked special gate.


    Same reason why Frank could tell that the pressure released by the boss, or the hidden boss was not something an S-ranker could release.


    Monarch was an EX-ranker when he went to the association, and the pressure he released was of low SSS-rank.


    That pressure was enough to crush the S-rank raiders to death so when Luna felt the pressure, even as a peak S-ranker, she felt like she was about to die.


    No, she was actually about to die, her life shed through her eyes.


    Luna knew at that moment that even if she was strong and she had authority, she was still nothing in front of real power.


    But then the pressure vanished, and she was left on the ground, breathing hard as she wiped the tears mixed with blood off from her face.


    Luna lifted her head when she saw a pair of ck colored shoes right in front of her face.


    "100 billion credits, no less than that."


    Luna looked up to find Monarch looking down at her with chilling cold eyes as he said that.


    Luna nodded her head with great difficulty, but she nodded nheless.


    Monarch then didn''t say anything as he moved towards Luna''s seat, or the association leader''s seat and sat on it.


    Luna, on the other hand, was having a hard time lifting her head, much less moving her body.


    She couldn''t feel her body for a while, it was numb. But after a while could move so she got up.


    She looked toward Monarch who was not even looking at her, instead, he was looking through the reports she had received.


    Luna didn''t say anything as she simply left the room to get Monarch''s 100 billion credits, even if it ended up being the biggest loss for the association.


    ...............................................


    As Luna recalled those events, she started feeling a bitplicated.


    Should she hate Monarch? He just wanted his money, so should she hate him because he did what was right?


    Luna had always felt like he was a divine being, and she should listen to whatever he said. That was also one of the reasons she didn''t struggle or try to negotiate when Monarch said how much he wanted.


    Luna could''ve just gifted the Association to Monarch, but she knew it was not going to get her anything, and she also felt that he was not going to take it.


    Then should she love him? She knew that she was not worthy of him, she could feel that.


    However, she didn''t want his love, she just wanted permission to love him.


    Luna knew that she would never be able to hate Monarch, it was as if her body was telling her that she shouldn''t hate him.


    But she knew it very well that Monarch had no interest in her.


    She had seen his eyes when he looked at her, he didn''t look at her with appreciation, love, liking, lust, anger, or any other expression that she had seen in anyone.


    Monarch just looked at her with in and nk eyes as if he was not even looking at her and as if the one sitting in front of him was not a war-causing beauty.


    Luna didn''t know why, her body just told her that she shouldn''t miss the chance or it would turn into her greatest regret.


    That was the reason she had been searching for anyone who matched the description of Monarch even a bit.


    Luna had never seen anyone else looking at her the way Monarch did, although she felt insignificant, she wanted to be seen like that by only him.


    Maybe she was awakening some weird fetish, but it didn''t matter to her, all she wanted was to find Monarch.


    She had never seen anyone else who looked at her the same way Monarch did.


    ''Wait-''


    Suddenly Luna remembered a pair of red eyes that looked at her the same way Monarch''s did.


    It was Alex!


    She remembers it perfectly, she had seen his eyes, and they were the same.


    Even if Alex had a smile on his face, Luna who was a master in acting knew that one''s truth was seen from their eyes.


    Eyes are the gateway to one''s soul, after all.


    "Um, Ma''am, can I help you with something��...?" The light blond girl who had been waiting for Luna''s order to leave finally spoke after a while.


    She had been waiting for Luna''s word, but it never came, so she decided to speak.


    Luna''s train of thought was broken by the girl''s words, but she hurriedly asked.


    "Is there any information regarding Monarch?" Luna asked although she knew the answer.


    "��...No ma''am," The girl replied as she sighed inwardly.


    Luna would ask this question every day even though she knew that there were no results.


    Some people already think that Luna has fallen for this enigmatic guy while some think that she hated him so much that she wants to kill him as soon as possible.


    "I see," Luna sighed but then she spoke.


    "Get me as many pictures of Alex Matthew as you can get for me," Luna spoke again, but the girl was shocked.


    "Ma''am, um, are you in AM club as well...?" The girl asked with a hesitant voice.


    "What is that??" Luna looked at the girl with confusion.


    "How do you not know that?!?! It is the fan club made for our prince charming, Alex Matthew!" The girl eximed as she heard that Luna didn''t know what AM club was.


    But then she realized where she was and who she was speaking to, so she hurriedly apologized.


    "I- I am sorry, Ma''am!!!" She gave Luna a perfect 90-degree bow.


    Luna looked at the girl for a while, before she spoke.


    "It''s alright, just get me what I asked for," Luna waved her hand as she spoke.


    "Yes, ma''am."


    The girl literally ran after saying that. She was worried that Luna might change her mind and punish her for the disrespect, so running away from there was the best option she could think of.


    As the girl left the room, Luna finally couldn''t control it, she leaned on her desk to control her heart that was about to burst out of her throat.


    When she thought about Alex more deeply, she could find many features of his that matched with Monarch.


    From the fact that both of them had long hair that reached their shoulder, to the fact that both of them always had that same rxed attitude, all of them matched.


    She couldn''t believe that Monarch and Alex were the same people, but she was suspicious.


    But when she thought about how she was thinking of finding a way to kill Alex, she just couldn''t calm herself down.


    She would rather die than think about killing Monarch and just the fact that Alex could be Monarch made and she was thinking of ways to him made it hard for her to control her emotions.


    She calmed down after a while, after all, it was still not confirmed that Alex was Monarch.


    She waited for the girl toe back with Alex''s photos as she needed to look into Alex deeply now.


    But there was one thing she seemed to have forgotten, even if she tried the best of her best or even if she tried to explode herself, she wouldn''t even be able to harm a single hair of Monarch/ Alex.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 111: CHAPTER 111 – Special Gate in the Green Country.

    Special gates are rare to find, but they bring a lot of profits.


    Yeah, they are not free of danger, rather they are more dangerous than any other gate, but that is the case for high-rank gates.


    The world knows of low-ranked special gates as well.


    Although the profit from those gates is lower than the high-ranked gate, they are still much more profitable than the normal gates.


    Many special gates with a rank of F, E, D, and C are found and cleared all over the world.


    If it is an S-ranked special gate, then the raiders would think 100 times before entering it, after all, no one would want to jump to their deaths.


    But it was different for low-ranking gates.


    If it is an F-ranked special gate, then the maximum power its special boss could have will be D-rank.


    It is the same for the other gates as well, the maximum rank of any monster inside the gates that had a rank lower than S was S-rank, including the special gates.


    Even if we take an A-rank special gate for example, then the maximum it could have is a peak S-rank Boss.


    A single S-rank beast was not something 2 or 3 S-rank raiders would not be able to take care of, so these gates were seen as easy profits.


    But as you know, there are always exceptions.


    One such exception was an E-rank gate called Goblin Vige.


    It was first found out to be a special gate after a party consisting of 3 C-ranked raiders and a group of newbie raiders with ranks ranging from F to D never came out of the gate after entering.


    A single C-ranker was enough to clear a special E-ranked gate, but the party consisting of 3 of them went missing inside the gate, not to mention that there were some F to D-rank raiders in that party as well.


    Yes, missing. That''s the term used when the bodies of the deceased are not found, and that''s what happened here.


    Their bodies were never found, but that was med on the goblins as they are flesh-eating species.


    A scout team was sent inside to scout for clues about what happened to the team before and the guys returned with nothing.


    The same team was sent again, but this time, same as before, they went missing. The higher-ups of the Green Country decided to send a team of some A-rank raiders to clear the gate.


    The highest rank they could think for the boss monster of an E-rank gate was A-rank, that too was stretching it far.


    They thought that A-ranked raiders would be enough to take care of those goblins, after all, they were just goblins, one of the weakest monsters.


    But days passed without news from the A-ranked party, it was then that they realized the seriousness of that gate.


    .......................................��.


    "How many S-rank Raiders did you say were devoured by that gate by now, again?" Alex asked as he looked out of the window of the airne they were in.


    "3 S-rank raiders, the first time it was a single S-ranked raider with a party of two A-rank and 3 B-rank.


    The second time it was a party with 2 S-rank raiders and 5 A-ranked ones."


    Ann replied as she looked at the notepad that had the information written on it.


    "I see," Alex just nodded his head without looking back.


    They were moving toward the Green Country as they had epted the request of the Association of the Green Country.


    ...........................................


    (The day of the Press Conference)


    The same day Alice had the press conference, she got an official email from the Green Country''s Raider Association head, Anna Gorg.


    Alice checked the email and it was about a request to clear a gate.


    "It''s probably the E-ranked special gate that had devoured 3 S-rank raiders," Ann spoke after Alice told them about the email.


    "So, should we ept it?" Alice asked, she didn''t think it was going to be hard for them, after all, all of them were too strong to worry about anything below SSS rank.


    "Yeah, and don''t ask for much, say that ''we would like to help the world without asking much in return as although it was not our fault, we were partially to me for the situation the world is facing right now.''


    Also, add that ''we can''t do much help financially so we will help the world in getting rid of the gates''."


    Alex advised.


    Alice just nodded her head but Ann spoke as she realized what Alex was trying to do.


    "You want the word to spread so that we can get more gates to clear and you can gather more points..."


    Alex smiled as he heard Ann''s murmuring while Alice just had a face that said, ''Ah, there was a reason?''


    After a while, Alice sent an email about epting the Green Country''s Raider Association''s request along with the things Alex told her to say about the charges they would be taking, and in less than 5 minutes they got a video call on her official number.


    "First of all I would like to thank you for epting our request, Miss Alice," An aged voice was heard from the other side of the call as the connection was being formed.


    "You don''t need to thank me, I am just doing what I can do and what I want to do," Alice spoke with a light smile as she saw Anna Gorg''s smiling face appear on her disy.


    "I can tell that you are not joking, but I still want to ask: are you sure?" Anna asked for confirmation.


    "Yes, you don''t need to worry about it," Alice spoke with the same smile.


    Anna Gorg was a nice woman, she was loved by many people because of her gentle personality, and Alice liked her as well, so there was no reason not to smile at her.


    "I see, I will try to spread the words about your ''heroic thoughts'' as much as I can," Anna Gorg smiled but the smile on Alice''s face was gone as she had her eyes wide open.


    ''How did she know?!'' Alice was shocked, she hurriedly turned to Alex only to find him nodding at her with a smile.


    That smile somehow calmed her down.


    "You don''t need to worry, I don''t have any intention of going against your guild.


    Even though I don''t know why you guys wish to raid more gates, I will help you spread the word of your good deeds, so don''t worry."


    Anna was old, like 70 to 80 type old. She had seen the world and she knew what people could think, so she could somewhat guess what Alice wanted when she saw Alice''s email.


    But she didn''t have a problem with that, after all, she was getting what she wanted, so she would give what Alice wanted, Win-Win for both.


    "I see," Alice nodded and then continued the talk.


    Ann was also worried for a second when she heard Anna''s words, after all, no one likes it when their ns are seen through, but the same as Alice, Alex''s smile calmed her down.


    Alice and Anna talked for a bit about the gate and other stuff for a while after that they decided to cut the call.


    It was time to clear another gate.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 112: CHAPTER 112 – Anna wants to tag along.

    "Noctura, you ready to test your new powers?"


    Alex asked as he patted Noctura on her head.


    ''Yes, I am ready!!''


    Noctura replied mentally while waging her tail as Alex patted her.


    "How old is she?" Anna Gorg asked as she came to stand beside Alex.


    "She is three months old," Alex replied without even looking at Anna.


    Anna didn''t mind though, she could tell what kind of guy Alex was, so she didn''t mind at all.


    She had seen the world more than she could wish for, so reading people was not hard for her, and although she could not get a read on Alex, she could still guess his type from his behavior and demeanor.


    Anna knew that Alex was the type of person who could care less about anyone and everyone, but that is until he likes them or dislikes them.


    It''s fine if that kind of guy likes you as they would be the best support you can think of, but you would not want to get in the bad books of these types of guys.


    Anna just wanted to get into his good books as she knew that he was the strongest here.


    She didn''t have an inspection skill, not like she could use it on Alex if she had one, but she could still tell that Alex was stronger than Alice and Ann, just call it her experience speaking.


    "I see, they sure grow fast..." Anna spoke, but getting no response from Alex she just sighed.


    "Should we enter the gate then?" Just then Alice, who was standing ahead of them spoke.


    ........................


    They were already standing in front of the gate, ready to enter anytime.


    Anna was also with them as she decided to join them on this raid.


    When they arrived at the airport of the Green Country, Anna and some other executives of the Association were there to wee them.


    Alex, Alice, and Ann were quite famous and the news of them helping out Green Country was all around as well, after all, Anna did say she was going to spread the word.


    There were many people cheering Alex, Alice, and Ann''s names, and yes, only three of them decided to go for the raid, excluding Noctura, who was hidden from the eyes of everyone.


    This did raise some doubt in low-ranking members of the association, but Anna could feel Alex, Alice, and Ann''s mana pressure, so she knew that they were not just three S-rank raiders.


    The one that shocked her most was Alex for a justified reason.


    Alice and Ann''s mana pressure just like any other raider was spread around randomly, but she could feel Alex''s mana pressure on every part of her body with the same force.


    Alex''s mana pressure was not low, no way, it was just that his mana pressure was bnced.


    Alice, Alex, and Ann didn''t want to waste time, so they asked to be led directly to the gate.


    It was then that Anna spoke that she wanted to tag along.


    But when as if she already knew that they were going to deny her request, she continued.


    "My old bones still have some fight left in them, so you don''t have to worry about me bing a burden for you guys, let me tag along," That''s what she said.


    Alice hesitated since they wanted to let Noctura clear the gate and if they let Anna tag along then they wouldn''t be able to keep Noctura''s existence hidden.


    Anna and they were not exactly friends, they were just on good terms, and nowadays even friends are hard to trust.


    "It''s fine, let her tag along, in the worst case, we will have one more enemy to kill."


    Alex spoke as he saw Alice hesitating.


    Alice and Ann just nodded their heads since what he said was true.


    Why did they even hesitate in the first ce?


    They were not weak anymore; they were one of the strongest if not the strongest on Gaia.


    But that was not all as the one they were worried about was Noctura, and who was she?


    She was Alex''s cute little pup, the one he loved dearly.


    Did they even need to think about what would happen to someone who did something that could harm her?


    His words, however, were not taken kindly by the people from the Association.


    There were still some people from the Association with them, so when they heard Alex literally threatening Anna, they wanted to punch Alex in the face, but...


    "It''s fine," Anna raised her hand stopping her subordinate from doing something stupid.


    Then she turned to look at Alex, Alice, and Ann and spoke with a sincere expression.


    "As I said before, I will say it again, I have no intention of being your enemy, so you don''t need to worry about me doing something that will harm your interest," Anna made the sincerest face she could as she really meant it.


    Anna was an SS-ranker, and she was strong, but even if she along with the whole Association fought against Alex and Alice, not even including the other, Anna knew that her Association would be the one to get ughtered.


    She was an SS-ranker, so she knew the difference between an S-ranker and an SS-ranker, and she knew better than to provoke a guild that had three SS-ranked raiders.


    "Good for you," Alex spoke without even looking at Anna, for him, it didn''t matter whether Anna was going to be a friend or an enemy, he never cared about her in the first ce.


    "You guys can go back," Anna saw that the matter of her joining them in the raid was settled so she spoke to the subordinates who were following her.


    "But-" One of the guys tried to protest but his words were cut short.


    "Are you guys going against my word now?" Anna spoke with the same gentle smile as always, but her subordinates knew better than to push Anna''s buttons.


    "No, Ma''am!"


    The guy shouted as he straightened his back.


    "Good, do back now," Anna said as she waved her hands.


    ......................


    (Present)


    "Yes, let''s go," Alex replied to Alice''s question, and then they walked into the gate.


    Noctura was walking ahead with Alex right behind her and the others were walking a step behind Alex.


    As they passed through the gate, they started looking around.


    Noctura ran forward and jumped into the bushes to activate her skill.


    But as she jumped towards the bushes, she felt the air around her hardening, stopping her midair.


    Noctura didn''t struggle as she knew who did that, she just turned towards Alex just like the others did.


    ''Master?'' She asked mentally.


    Alex didn''t reply he simply conjured a small pebble with mana and threw it at the bushes that Noctura was about to jump into.


    It didn''t take them long to understand why Alex stopped Noctura...


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 113: CHAPTER 113 – Don’t Disappoint Me.

    The Goblins Vige, as its name says is a vige of goblins, one of the weakest of all monsters.


    The goblins are 1.2 or 1.3 meters in height along with an ugly appearance. They have long pointy noses and ears, and greasy green skin that makes them look uglier.


    They are said to be a bloodthirsty and brainless bunch, but they are smart enough toy traps for their enemies.


    They use poisons a lot and that is the most dangerous part about them.


    They attack in groups, which makes it hard for newbies to fight them, but it''s doable with some teamwork.


    But then again, the problem is their poison. They have their weapons coated in poison, and if newbies of rank F or E, even D were to get hit by those weapons, even a scratch, they might not be able to escape alive.


    The weaponced with poison just needs to scratch you, and in a while, you will be paralyzed or have a hard time moving your body, also known as stiffening.


    The goblins use that chance to attack you with force and kill you in the process.


    But still, those things would only work on the weak, not on the S-ranked raiders, so why did Alex stop Noctura from jumping into the bushes?


    *Click**Sssssssssss...*


    Just as the pebblended on the bushed, there was a clicking sound, and then a lot of green liquid fell on the bushed from above.


    The bushes melted within less than a second, but the liquid kept going on, it melted the ground for around 50 centimeters.


    Alice, Anna, Ann, and Noctura took a deep breath��.


    "You guys seem to forget that this is the same gate that devoured 3 S-rank raiders," Alex spoke as he looked at Noctura who just lowered her head in apology.


    "I won''t be there to save you every time, pup. You need to learn how to use your senses better, you were born in the wild, and you still have that wildness within you, so be wild.


    This is a forest or wilderness, this is your domain, your area, you just need to know how to use it best.


    From now on, no one will be helping you, remember whatever I have taught you and do what you have to.


    I will be watching from the back, don''t disappoint me, pup."


    Noctura was fine to the point where Alex said that no one would be helping her, after all, she knew she was strong enough to survive in an SS-rank gate now, so there was no way she would need someone''s help in an S-rank gate.


    But when she heard thest line, her body tensed, and her fur hardened.


    She had never heard Alex say that to anyone, she had been there with him almost all of the time, so she knew that.


    But now that Alex told her to not disappoint him, that means that he is expecting something from her, something he never did from others.


    This fact made Noctura happy, but now the same S-rank gate looked too easy for her started looking harder than an SS-rank gate.


    But she nodded with determination burning in her eyes.


    ''I won''t disappoint you, master,'' Notura spoke to Alex, and her voice was as serious as it could get.


    Alice and Ann just smiled as they saw the determination in Noctura''s eyes.


    They knew why Alex said what he said, and they could already see the results, none of them were stupid enough to not notice that whatever Alex said was just to make Noctura serious.


    Noctura was not stupid as well, but her love for her master was a bit too much, so she didn''t think that Alex was just trying to motivate her.


    Even if she knew the reason behind Alex''s words, she would still do her best, after all, even if it was just a motivation, Alex did say ''Don''t disappoint me, pup.''


    Anna didn''t know much about any of them, but she wanted to learn more about them and get close to them.


    It was her n from the start after all.


    Anna could''ve cleared the gate herself since she was an SS-ranked raider, but she didn''t want to risk it as she was not sure of what kind of anomaly was inside the gate.


    So, she wanted to increase the party size, she wanted Alice to bring at least 10 S-rank raiders along, but when she saw their power, she changed her mind.


    When Anna had heard the announcement of Alice iming her guild as Rank 1, for a second she thought that it was arrogance, but now she knew it was not arrogance.


    If Alice wanted to, she could im her guild as the most powerful force as a whole, not just a guild, but she didn''t, and that was something Anna was grateful for, after all, if Alice did that then there would''ve been a war.


    The empire is known to be the strongest force and they had dered that, so if anyone else imed the same thing then a war was inevitable.


    What Anna didn''t know was that Alice just wanted to achieve her dream of getting her guild to Rank 1, that''s why she never thought about iming her guild as the Rank 1 force in the world.


    Alex and Ann knew about that, and that''s the reason why they never advised Alice to do otherwise.


    "Good, go on then," Alex replied to Noctura, letting her go, as he stopped using his skill.


    This time Noctura didn''t go into the bushes, instead, she went behind arge tree to activate her skill.


    The gate was not that big, and it was something that could be cleared in an hour by the newbies if they wanted to clear the gate.


    But the newbies use this gate as a training ground, so they stay in the outer area and hunt the goblins thate wandering or hunting.


    Noctura was not looking for the mobs, so she decided to make a straight dash toward the bossyer.


    The bossyer of this gate was a vige, and the boss of this gate was supposed to be a hobgoblin, but no one knew anything about the boss.


    The team sent out to scout the bossyer never made it back, so other than the information about some sighting of low-ranked goblins, nothing about this gate was known.


    Noctura kept running while Anna, Alice, Ann, and Alex followed her from a distance.


    "You think that some goblins will be a problem for Noctura to face?" Ann couldn''t stop herself from asking that question, and the question caused the other two to look at Alex as well.


    Ann knew that Noctura was strong enough to clear the gate alone, the mistake at the start was something that none of them noticed, after all, who would''ve guessed that there would be a trap right in front of the entrance?


    So, although Ann understood what Alex did and why he did it, she still wanted to know if there was a reason behind it, if there was none then it was fine.


    Something told Ann that there was a reason for all that, and she got her to answer the next second.


    "There are no goblins left in this forest."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 114: CHAPTER 114 – The Empty Village.

    "There are no goblins left in the forest."


    When Alex said that, Alice, Ann, and Anna almost stopped in their tracks, but looking at Alex who continued at his pace they quickly followed behind as well.


    "There are no goblins inside the gate? How do you know that? Also, we got the report saying that there had been sightings of low-ranked goblins in the gate.


    Our scout team had seen them with their own eyes."


    Anna spoke as she caught up to Alex.


    She was sure that it was not her old brain ying tricks on her and she saw the report that said that this is a goblin gate and there are goblins in this gate.


    Alice and Ann didn''t say anything as they knew that Alex was not done, and yes, as they had thought, Alex continued.


    "The forest is too quiet, there are no beasts in the forest, we have yet to find a single goblin even though we are about to reach the bossyer and the main point is that we didn''t find any other trap after the one at the gate.


    The one at the gate was likely a trap made to inform the one thatid that trap there about our arrival, and goblins don''t do that.


    Goblins stay close to their traps, ready to pounce at us when we fall for the trap, but still, these are just my guesses.


    However, even if it is my guess, I would still not want Noctura to take a risk."


    Alex concluded his point with that.


    But his words madeplete sense to thedies, it was not that they couldn''te to the same conclusion, they just didn''t try to think too deeply about anything as they had that much confidence in their strength.


    But Alex was thinking from Noctura''s perspective so he pointed it out as it could be dangerous for her.


    The girls and Anna just nodded their heads and continued ahead and in a while they were right in front of the goblin vige but....


    "It''s empty..." Anna spoke as she nced at Alex.


    Alice and Ann were not much surprised since in their minds Alex was something close to omniscient and omnipotent.


    The whole vige was empty, there was no sign of life anywhere.


    It almost felt like a destroyed vige with no one inside, yeah almost.


    The strong stench of blooding from every corner of the vige made it hard to think of it as a deserted vige.


    The whole vige was surrounded by a grim aura of death, but for the group that entered the vige it was nothing, they were not the weak-willed, newbie raiders, they had seen their fair share of blood.


    Noctura was the first to enter, she started sniffing the air after that. Her ears would turn to every side as if an antenna, it felt like she was searching for something or someone, and she was doing just that.


    Noctura still had her skill activated so other than Alex, Alice, and Ann, who were more than a level above her, no one else could see her.


    Even Anna, who was a bit shocked by Noctura''s ability was unable to see her till now.


    Anna knew that if she were to use her ability then it wouldn''t be a problem for her to find Noctura, but she was shocked that she couldn''t find her without it.


    Anna was an SS-ranked raider after all.


    *Swish**Swish**Swish*


    Just then the sound of air being cut was heard before Alice, Ann, and Anna found three arrows coated with green liquid heading towards them.


    Although the speed looked slow to Alice and Ann, it was actually quite fast.


    Anna was not an SS-ranker in speed stats, so she was able to narrowly avoid the attack, but she avoided it nheless.


    But as if the first round of arrows were sent as a test, three more arrows were shot, and all of them were going right for Anna.


    Anna didn''t want to take any kind of risk and she could see that neither Alice nor Ann had any intention of helping her, let''s not talk about Alex as he didn''t even look at her.


    Anna hurriedly waved her hand and the root of some kind of tree emerged from the ground, standing right in front of her.


    The arrows crashed into the root, slowly melting it, but the attack was stopped.


    ''So that''s the famous ''Root whisperer'' huh'' Both Alice and Ann had the same thought when they saw Anna using her skill.


    They didn''t help Anna because they wanted to see her skill and also because they didn''t have any reason to help her, she was strong enough to defend herself.


    After all, it was Anna herself who said, ''I won''t be a burden.''


    Noctura on the other hand sharply turned her head towards the direction that the arrow came from before she ran.


    The arrows were shot from thergest and the thickest tree in the whole forest, it was located in the middle of the vige.


    Noctura dashed to the tree at full speed as she just needed to kill the beast that was on it.


    Noctura had already tried searching, and other than the scent of blood, she could find just one scent everywhere.


    The main point was that the same scent wasing from the beast above the tree, it was a disgusting and gloomy smell, but she still ran towards the tree as she followed the stench.


    Noctura''s thinking was simple, she would kill it in one shot, directly bite its head off, whatever it was.


    By now it was clear to everyone that the beast on the tree was the only beast left and it was probably the boss or someone strong enough to defeat the boss and take the boss title from it.


    Now some of you might want to ask: what do you mean the boss title was taken?


    A gate is cleared when the Boss is killed, that''s what happens, but the Boss needs to be killed by someone from outside of the gate for that to happen.


    If the boss is killed by a beast inside the gate, or a group of beasts from inside the gate, then the said group or beast would be given the title of the Boss.


    This rarely happens as the boss is always strong enough to defeat the mobs or mid-bosses. But it does happen, and it had happened three times before in some low-rank special gates where the boss is killed like that.


    Alice and Ann could see Noctura running towards the tree, so they thought of following her, but they were stopped.


    "Don''t do that, it will just alert the beast that''s looking at us.


    Let her do it on her own."


    Alex voiced out, but Alice and Ann giggled as they saw him fully focused on Noctura.


    He had his fists clenched and his body tensed, it was as if he was ready to dash at the fastest speed he could in case he found anything out of line.


    Alex ignored their giggle and continued looking at Noctura.


    He was ready to use his EX-ranked stats, it would not even take him a milli second to reach Noctura with that speed.


    Noctura, on the other hand, stopped when she reached the tree, she looked at the beast and she knew that she needed to change her n a little.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 115: CHAPTER 115 – They Gray Goblin (?).

    Noctura was still stuck on Alex''s word when he said, ''Don''t disappoint me.''


    She wanted to show Alex that she was very strong, and she could take care of herself, she wanted to show Alex that all the time he used to train her had not gone to waste and that she was worth all the time he used.


    Noctura was still a child, but unlike humans, her body and mentality were growing along with her powers.


    Maybe it was because of the bloodline upgrade she had when Alex granted her the name, or maybe she was just a special case, but if she were to be able to turn into human form right now, then she would probably look like a 16-year-old girl.


    With her high intelligence, she had higher EQ and IQ, but that was not always a good thing.


    Noctura could see that she was not very useful to Alex, no, she was practically useless if not for her fur being so soft that Alex liked to ruffle them.


    But the thing that made her think that she was useless the most was her powers, she knew she was not strong Alice and Ann were always by her master''s side.


    She could feel herself growing stronger every second, but she felt that she could do better, it was like there was a lock inside of her body that stopped her.


    So, when she heard Alex''s words, she was determined to show Alex that she was strong. She wanted to show Alex that she could wipe the floor of her enemies as well, she could one-shot her enemies as well.


    But then She found out that there was no one left alive in the gate other than a single beast and that one was probably the boss.


    Noctura then made up her mind that she was going to one-shot the boss, just like Alex does.


    But again, she found out that it would be a bit harder than that.


    Her enemy right now was a bit tricky.


    .....................


    The goblin vige was supposed to be a normal E-rank gate until an anomaly appeared.


    Goblins grow fast, extremely fast, in age and in numbers, that''s just how they are designed, and it takes around 3 to four months for the newborn goblins to turn into adults.


    One day, around six months ago, a unique goblin was born. It was born grey in color instead of the green color that goblins have, but that was not all as its mother died upon its birth.


    It didn''t have a father as the goblins just fuck anyone they want, they don''t marry like humans, so no one knows who the child''s father is.


    With no one to take care of it, the baby goblin grew on its own, but then the other goblins started seeing more differences, unlike the short stature of the goblins, it had the stature of a hobgoblin.


    The chances of there being another hobgoblin in the vige didn''t sit well with the vige chief.


    If the child grew then it might take away the chief position, so the vige chief asked for his subordinates to dispose of the one-month-old unique goblin.


    But its subordinates never returned, how would they? They were already eaten by the one-month-old unique goblin.


    The chief ordered his subordinates to search for the now-rogue unique goblin but none of them ever returned.


    How could they have known that the goblin that they were after had the power to get stronger by eating other living beings?


    The unique, grey-colored goblin had the ability to extract and add the powers of the beings it had eaten, but the beings had to be living and he had to eat them alive.


    If that was not enough then that goblin''s blood was more poisonous than they could even think of, and it was only getting more and more poisonous as it grew stronger.


    The chief called off the search and let the rouge goblin be, but then slowly, the number of goblins in the vige started to decrease.


    Then one day a party of raiders entered the forest and unknowingly entered the area where the grey-skinned goblin resided.


    "Everyone be on guard, there''s something strange here, I can smell a lot of blood here," The most experienced guy who was a C-ranker tried to warn the other members of the party, but��..


    "Come one, man. Stop being paranoid, what are you afraid of? It''s just an E-rank gate," Another one of the C-rankers spoke as he waved his hands.


    "Yeah, the best this gate can have is a D-ranked boss-" *Click**Ssh*


    A C-rankeddy also spoke but as she passed through the bushed, the sound of something being clicked was heard, and the next second a mass of green liquid fell over thedy.


    "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    She screamed as her clothes melted along with ayer of her skin. She just continued screaming as shey on the ground as it was burning her body.


    The guys quickly got into a fighting stance, but the newbies ran toward thedy to check on her just to be struck by an arrowced with the same liquid as thedy.


    "AHHHHHHH!!" All of them started screaming as unlike thedy, they could feel their innards burning but they were still alive as the amount of acid inside them was not enough to kill them, although it was enough to make them unconscious due to pain.


    The only remaining two raiders who were C-rankers didn''t move an inch as they stood with their backs facing each other, gauding each other.


    "Did you see what it is?" The guy who was taking things easy before asked the experienced one.


    "No, but whatever it is, it doesn''t want us dead," The experienced one spoke.


    But it seemed that his guess was a bit wrong as an arrow directly came flying toward him, piercing his head and killing him on the spot.


    "RU-" The guy tried to scream ''RUN'' as he saw the arrow, but he couldn''tplete his words as he died before it.


    "Huh?" The other guy was stunned for a second but then he looked around with panic.


    He had never fought alone or better to say that he was afraid to fight even, that was the reason he took the job of training newbies, but now he didn''t know what to do.


    He never thought that he would be facing a strong beast in an E-ranked gate.


    "Fuck!!!!"


    With nothing else to do he decided to run away, he thought it was better than sitting there, waiting for an arrow to kill him.


    He could hear the screams for help from the newbies, and he could also hear the scream of his long-timepanion as she writhed on the ground, but he still ran.


    He didn''t want to die, but he forgot the saying, ''Never show your back in a fight.''


    After a while, he was tied with the newbies as he screamed in pain while watching thedy C-ranker being eaten alive.


    That day was the day that this ''normal'' E-rank gate was dered as a special gate.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 116: CHAPTER 116 – Ethereal Canis.

    As Noctura reached closer to the tree, she could see blood and gore everywhere.


    There were residues of goblins, humans, and beasts all piled up together. Some had their faces eaten, some had their legs, and some had something else eaten.


    None of them were eatenpletely, it was like the one who ate them just a bit and then stopped.


    But the real reason for that was that the Gray Goblin only ate its prey till it was alive and then moved on to the next one. The Gray Goblin didn''t have time to waste on eating a single praypletely as its other catches might die, and it wouldn''t get any profit if it ate them after their death.


    Noctura looked up on the tree and she could see a human-sized gray goblin wearing some tattered clothes of some dead raiders.


    It had a cut on its hand as it coated the arrows with it and shot them toward Anna hurriedly as they would melt if it took time.


    Noctura could see the acidic blood falling on the ground and making a ''Ssssssssssssss'' sound.


    This was enough to make Noctura reconsider her n, she couldn''t bite the neck of a creature that had its blood so acidic that it could melt the ground.


    As she thought about what she could do in this situation, she recalled a lesson that Alex had given her.


    "You have a great affinity for the shadow element, Noctura.


    All you have to do is make use of it, you need to be one with shadow.


    Why do you want to grow strong? Think of it and try to dwell deeper into the shadows.


    You need motivation, and it is up to you how you get that, I can''t always be there for you."


    Noctura never actually understood what that meant because she was getting her attention from Alex all she wanted, but right now, she could lose it all.


    ''If I disappointed Master, then he might not love me anymore, he might not care for me anymore, he might not pat me anymore, he might now y with me anymore, he might not look at me anymore, he might not want me anymore...��.''


    As Noctura grew more and more insecure thinking about what would happen if she disappointed Alex, her fur started to turn darker while her eyes shifted from golden, blue to red.


    However, she did not notice any of that, she was just overthinking about something that would never happen.


    Alex was never going to abandon her, nor was he going to get disappointed, it was just what he said to motivate Noctura.


    Every person or living being trains or grows stronger just for two things, either it is for revenge, or it is to not lose something they had.


    Noctura didn''t need revenge on anyone, she had all she wanted, she could get Alex''s attention, and she could eat the best food made by Alex, so she had a smooth sailing life.


    Alex''s words just made her think of the situation where she would lose everything.


    Noctura''s body trembled as she imagined herself being thrown away by Alex, and just then her eyes turned pitch ck like her fur, and the surroundings turned dark, the trees trembled, and the leaves shrank.


    The small nts shrank back as if they were fearful.


    The grey goblin that was about to shoot another arrow at Anna stopped as it saw all that and quickly started searching for the thing or being that caused the changes.


    It was not just the goblin that was on high alert, even Anna was ready to use her most powerful attack when she saw the changes, she could also feel the dangerous auraing from the direction of the tree.


    But then...


    "Good job, pup," Alex who saw all this smiled, while Alice and Ann smiled as well after they recovered from their shock.


    They were shocked as they could feel the same suppression or aura they felt from Alex when he was naming Noctura.


    For them, it felt almost the same but in truth, the aura that Alex had at that time was 100s of times more powerful not more than what Noctura had right now, it was just they were still too weak to feel the difference.


    Anna, however, was still in shock, ''That was done by that small wolf??''


    Anna couldn''t believe it and she wanted to ask some questions, but she knew her ce and she knew that she had no right to ask those questions.


    She just stood there and looked at the spectacle in shock.


    Noctura who was still absent-mindedly staring at the grey goblin with her ink-ck eyes finally came out of her rivery.


    The darkness that covered the whole area was gone and the surroundings returned back to how they were.


    Notura had finally awakened a part of her bloodline that is called ''Ethereal Canis''.


    It was a very powerful bloodline that might match the celestial bloodlines, and the originator of this bloodline was going to be Noctura herself as the bloodline was something that mutated from within her body.


    All Alex''s blessing did was upgrade Noctura''s blood to the maximum it could.


    Noctura who was still hidden, now felt that she had more control over the shadow she was hiding in.


    She lifted her paw and the next second her ws which were 2 centimeters long grew and became 6 centimeters. But the extra part that was added was not actually her w, it was the shadow, she morphed the shadow into her w.


    Noctura waved her paw toward the ground and the extra part that was added to her ws shot towards the ground making a w mark appear below.


    Noctura then smiled as she looked towards the Goblin who was still looking around for the cause of the earlier changes.


    It felt like it was being stared at by a predator, one that it would never be able to defeat.


    But the goblin wanted to try, it had always had a hard life, from the moment it was born till now it never got love, instead, it was berated, beaten, cursed, and many other things.


    However, because of all that the grey goblin got to know about its powers, and one day when its food was snatched away from it, the grey goblin ate a living being for the first time, and it was a newborn, one-month-old baby goblin.


    It could''ve eaten other things or hunted some beast but the child it ate was the brother of the goblin that always made the gray goblins life hard.


    The gray goblinughed as it saw the child squealing like a pig, begging to let it go, but the grey goblin didn''t listen instead it bit off a chunk of that child''s meat.


    The child cried in pain as it was being eaten alive, but the grey goblin was not even listening to it as it could feel it was getting stronger by eating.


    From that day till now, it had been growing stronger by eating its enemies and it would do it today as well.


    ''I will eat all of them, they look strong, hehehehe''


    The goblinughed inwardly as it thought about how strong it would get if it ate those people but then....


    *Woosh*


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 117: CHAPTER 117 – The Gate Cleared.

    [Are you sure about it?]


    Sophia asked Alex as she saw Noctura was about to attack the grey goblin.


    Just like Alex, she also knew that the goblin wouldn''t survive a single attack from Noctura, so she asked.


    ''Yeah, getting a little penalty for Noctura is fine, and the penalty is not that bad rather I would call it good, as my power was a bit too high for this world anyway,'' Alex replied to Sophia.


    [But its ability is quite good and powerful.]


    ''Yeah? You want me to eat living beings now, Sophia?'' Alex asked with a sneer.


    [Well, you could''ve just sold it if you didn''t want it, it would''ve given you quite a lot of coins.]


    ''I know that, but let her kill it, although that skill of that goblin is growth type, and might fetch me a good amount of coins, I would prefer Noctura being happy over it anytime.''


    Alex spoke without much change in his voice, as if he didn''t care, but his words were being honest.


    [Alex is being tsun tsun.]


    Sophia giggled as she teased Alex, but Alex didn''t respond to her, instead, he looked at the quest that he got right after he entered the gate.


    [New Quest: -


    Quest objective: Clear the Special E-Rank gate �C The Goblin Vige.


    Bonus 1 objective: Kill the new boss of the gate alone.


    Bonus 2 objective: Fight and Kill the new boss of the gate with your stats equal to the boss.


    Quest reward: 50,000 points.


    Bonus 1 reward: Arcane Shotgun (D-rank)


    Bonus 2 reward: (D-Rank) Water Bullet {Skill}


    Time limit: --


    Penalty: Stats Lowered to SS-rank. (Duration: 1 Month.)]


    The quest was not hard, neither were the rewards something special, but the lower the easier the quest is, the harder the penalty is.


    The one who can''t take a single step out of bed will be calledzier than the guy who ran 10 kilometers but can''t take a single step further.


    Thezier one is the higher the punishment is, after all, the quests are given so that Alex doesn''t getzy.


    But for Alex, seeing Notura stronger was more important than earning 50k points and getting some low-ranked items. That''s just how he is, he cares for those he thinks are his people, and he does the best for them, even if it gets him a bit of loss.


    Then there was the skill he could get from the goblin.


    The grey goblin is a hybrid of some beast and a goblin, its mother probably had some weird fetish, and the grey goblin was probably an ident, but the goblin doesn''t know that.


    Alex could tell that the goblin was going to get much stronger if left alone as its skill had unlimited potential.


    The goblin was a devourer goblin, and its skill let it devour the stats of its opponent if eaten alive, this could make the goblin grow continuously as long as it eats its enemies.


    But like everything, this skill had limitations as well.


    This skill just extracts stats, nothing else, be it abilities, knowledge, or features. It can take nothing which means that it will be stuck after reaching a certain level of power, after all, to get stronger doesn''t just mean physically.


    Alex didn''t think that this ability was anything special as it had many limitations, and he already had the plunder ability.


    The other thing was that this ability was rted to the bloodline that the goblin had, and Alex didn''t want his blood to turn grey and gooey like that goblin.


    If that skill was something that could be very useful for him, Alice, Ann, or Noctura then Alex would''ve taken the mission, but since it wasn''t he didn''t see a problem in letting Noctura take the kill.


    He just stood there and smiled as he saw what Noctura was doing.


    ..........................................��


    Noctura stood there below the tree surrounded by dead bodies after she tried a new ability of hers, then she looked at the grey goblin up in the tree.


    It hadn''t been long, but she had been thinking of how to kill the goblin in one shot.


    Noctura was still fixated on killing the goblin in one shot, she wanted to be like Alex.


    Then she got an idea, and she lifted her paw up again.


    This time her ws didn''t increase in size, rather there were four w marks appearing in the air, it was like a ck shadow w mark in the air.


    Noctura kept pushing her mana into it, making it sharper and harder, as she didn''t want to take chances and kill the beast in one shot.


    She had her skill fully charged in a second, but she didn''t stop and another w mark just like thest one appeared right beside the first one.


    Alex who was standing far away smiled as he saw this, he could tell what she was trying to do, after all, he had seen her grow, and he knew her every move and everything she could think of.


    Noctura was done changing her skill when she looked at the goblin only to see it making a perverted face with its hand on its face trying to hide its smirk.


    Noctura felt angry as she saw that smirk, she didn''t know why, but she could somehow tell that the ugly goblin was thinking of something bad for her master.


    Noctura felt likeughing as she saw the dumb and ugly goblin thinking that it could even harm her master''s hair.


    ''He''s way out of your league, you filth.''


    Notura growled inwardly as she saw the beast still smirking as it looked in her master''s direction, she just couldn''t look at that ugly face of that beast anymore, so she directlyunched her attack.


    The unprepared goblin that wasughing inwardly, thinking about how powerful it would get if it could eat Alex, Alice, Ann, and Anna suddenly had a sinking feeling.


    *Woosh*


    The goblin quickly snapped its head toward the direction it heard the whistling of the wind.


    But all it saw was two w marks heading toward it at a speed that it could hardly follow. The w marks seem to be cutting the air as they move, the goblin could tell that it had no chance of surviving if that attack hit it, but it was too slow to respond.


    Thest thing the goblin saw was a ck dog-sized wolf standing below the tree it had been sitting on. It could see the wolf looking at it with anger before its body was cut into many pieces, killing it on the spot.


    Its blood fell on the tree, melting it in the process as it fell to the ground.


    *Sssssssssss*


    ''Hmph,'' Noctura just scoffed and turned to run toward her master.


    ''A mere goblin should never even look at my master with those ugly eyes,'' Noctura growled inwardly, but before she could run towards Alex...


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 118: CHAPTER 118 – Maximus Steele.

    "What do you think about the things Crimson Lotus had been doing these days?" A guy with neatlybed hair and a professional ck suit asked a guy from the group of people in front of him.


    The guy in the professional suit was a host in a show called ''Let''s see what''s on''.


    In front of him, there was a group of people from different ces and different upations, and all of them had different opinions.


    "I think they are just doing all that for fame," The guy who was asked the question replied as if he was stating a fact.


    This guy''s name was Richard Mile, and he was one of the top businessmen in his country.


    "So, as a businessman, you think they are using this opportunity to gain fame?" The host of the show asked with a sparkle of curiosity in his eyes.


    "Yes, from what I can see, they are gaining arge fanbase and followers due to their recent achievements and works, so I believe they are doing it for fame," Richard replied as he sat with crossed hands.


    "I see," The host spoke before he turned to ady sitting right beside Richard.


    "Madam Taylor, what do you think they are gathering this fame for?" The host asked.


    "They have already dered themselves as the rank one guild, so what''s stopping them from bing the first ranked force of the world?" Madam Taylor or Ashley Taylor replied to the question with another question.


    "Please enlighten us, Madam Taylor," The host just asked for Ashley to continue.


    He was just a host of a show after all, he didn''t want to think too much, he just wanted some spicy news.


    Ashley Taylor on the other hand was the wife of a senior politician while being one herself.


    "They need support, and the public is the best support, after all, even if they have power, what will they do if they have no one to rule over?" Ashley spoke as she straightened her back.


    It was as if she was teaching the host, but the host was stuck on her words as he smelled some spice there.


    "So, you are saying that the Crimson Lotus Guild is trying to create a new empire like the Blue Empire?" The hostmented but he changed it into a question as he saw Ashley''s eyes turned sharp.


    "I never said that, what I said is that they need support, and the public is the best support one can ask for-" Ashley defended herself, but her words were cut off by another male voice.


    "Why don''t you guys just ept that you guys don''t like seeing someone doing good for the world?


    You won''t do it, but if someone else does it then you think that they have a motive behind it."


    A guy in a nicely tucked blue shirt with a ck tie on his neck spoke. He wore ck pants that looked ironed and polished ck shoes.


    Ashley looked at the guy for a while but then turned her head without saying anything as it would do more harm than good speaking against that guy.


    "What do you mean, Sir?" The host asked with fake confusion, but there was respect in his voice as he didn''t want to offend the person in front of him.


    "I mean what I said, can you guys not think that maybe, just maybe they did all this just so that they could help out the world that is in dire need of help right now?


    I mean, what did the Crimson Lotus Guild do to you guys? Why are you guys so fixated on the thought that there must be something they are gaining from all this?


    Those guys had been working their asses off out there just so that you people can be safe in your house, can''t you guys just own up to the fact that you guys don''t like that someone out there is doing something that you guys couldn''t?


    Pardon mynguage."


    The guy spoke.


    "Cut!" Just then a loud shout was heard as the serious atmosphere broke and turned hectic as many makeup artists ran to every person who was sitting there.


    Ashley, however, still looked at the guy who spoke at thest.


    It was he who invited her here saying that he wanted her to speak her point here and he would record it to be shown on the show tomorrow.


    Ashley was a B-ranked raider along with being a politician, but that didn''t mean that she could go against that man.


    She epted his offer as it was just her opinion and she was not going to say something out of the line. She was a politician after all, she knew how to y with her words.


    The other people here were also invited here by the same guy, and all of them were told to do the same thing.


    They had many things in their minds that they could say to refute the guy, but none dared to.


    The guy in question was looking at the shot captured until he saw his right-hand man running toward him.


    The guy''s mature face turned serious as he knew from the expression of his subordinate that it was either very good news he was bringing or very bad news.


    "The Crimson Lotus Guild epted our request about the meeting!" The guy eximed just after he arrived in front of the man.


    The man''s face couldn''t help but form into a smile.


    ''So, it was good news,'' The man thought inwardly.


    "When did they say the meeting will be?" The man asked his right-hand man, and the guy replied without a second of dy.


    "Tomorrow. They said that they had been in this country for a while and they n on staying here for a while, so they don''t mind it," The guy spoke with a smile.


    "I see, empty my schedule for tomorrow, I''m going to meet them together with my daughter and my wife," The man spoke with a smile.


    "I will see to it, Sir," The man''s right-hand man just bowed his head and spoke with a smile.


    If it was any normal person then it would be very hard for them to empty their schedule on such short notice but not for this man, after all, he was the one with the guy who had power equal to the Raider Association of his country.


    The man''s name was Maximus Steele, and he was the owner of almost all of the businesses in Violet Country. The name Maximus was for the people he didn''t consider close to himself as there are a rare few people who are close to him and they call him Max.


    Maximus Steele was the master of the Steele house which was the second richest family in the world,ing right after Hart''s family.


    He was a man with dark brown hair, sharp brown eyes, and a clean-shaved face. He was 35 years old married man, with a wife and a daughter.


    He was very handsome and his mature look and aura only made him look better, but to the disappointment of thedies out there, he didn''t want any other lover or wife.


    He is a man who loves his wife and his daughter dearly and would do anything for them.


    He was a very rich man with a loving family and a sweet sailing business.


    But that was just for the weak, the strong knew him as the hidden leader of the Violet country.....


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 119: CHAPTER 119 – A Loving Family.

    When the gates appeared, Maximus or Max was the army chief, the one who had the power to control the whole army.


    At the time the Raider Association was founded, Max decided to make his own force.


    He had worked for the government his whole life, and he knew how they worked and what they did, but he didn''t want that anymore, he wanted actually to do some good for the citizens.


    When Max created his force, the main power of government which is the army was split into two groups, one who was loyal to the government, and another who was loyal to the army.


    There was a long internal fight between them, and the fight is still going on as the government wants the power that Max has control over.


    Max had too much power along with too much money, and that was something that was very dangerous for the government or the Association.


    But as said before, it was just an internal fight, never revealed to the public or enemy forces. On the outside, they were pretty friendly with each other.


    To the public, Max was just a B-ranked raider with too much money and a loving family.


    Nowadays, Max had been trying to elevate the image of the Crimson Lotus guild, although secretly, but yes, he had been doing that.


    But it was not without a reason��...


    "How long will it take for us to arrive?" Max asked his right-hand man, Jason.


    "We will arrive at the designated meeting ce in half an hour, Sir," Jason replied.


    "I see," Max spoke but then two small hands held his neck from his right side.


    "Where are we going, daddy?" A cute small voice was heard, this voice made a loving smile appear on Max''s face, but before he could speak.


    "Ask him, Lily, he didn''t even tell me, ask him where he''s taking us," An alluring mature voice was heard.


    "All right, first youe here," Max spoke as he scooped his daughter, Lily, who was standing on the seat on hisp, causing Lily to giggle yfully as she settled down on Max''sp.


    Lily has dark brown hair that reaches her lower back. She had emerald eyes that tinkled with curiosity and yfulness. She is a six-year-old girl with an adorable and sweet smile, and just like her father, she loves her family very much.


    "And Grace, you should stop using Lily to get an answer out of me, it''s no fun if I tell you what the surprise is now, is there?" Max continued with a smirk as he turned towards his beloved, his one and only wife.


    "Is that so?" Grace just smiled with confidence as if she knew that she had already won.


    Grace Steele is a woman with irresistible beauty even though she is just a C-ranked raider. She had ck hair reaching her plump and bouncy hips with a curl at the ends.


    Her eyes just like her daughter were emerald in color, but unlike Lily''s, her eyes didn''t have a hint of childish naivety in them.


    She was an elegant and alluring beauty with G-cup breasts and an hourss figure. Her body was not slim, neither was it fat, she was thick, through and through.


    Grace and Max were called a pair made in heaven as both of them looked so good together that no one could find fault in their pair.


    Grace then winked at Lily, who giggled mischievously before she tugged her father''s shirt.


    Max had a bad premonition when he saw Grace wink, but he still turned toward his daughter.


    "Where are we going daddy?" Lily asked the same question but now her small watery eyes were looking at Max as if an abandoned puppy.


    "Ugh��" Max felt an emotional arrow pierce his heart, but he still held his ground.


    "Tell me, Pleaseee????" Lily saw that it didn''t work so she made the face that made her look like she might cry if she heard another no.


    Lily had learned a trick or two from her mom that was a sure hit on Max all the time.


    Just like always, the trick worked again.


    "All right, all right, don''t cry, I''ll tell you," Max hurriedly patted Lily as he spoke.


    "Hehe, tell me then," Lily smiled like the little devil she was causing Max to realize that he had fallen for the same trap for the umpteenth time.


    "What were you saying again, dear?" Grace teased from the side, but Max knew that he had lost already so he epted it.


    "So, where are we going?" Grace asked, but Max didn''t even look at her, causing her to giggle.


    She knew that he was just pretending to be angry, and she knew just the trick that worked to lift up his mood, though she would have to wait till night.


    Grace just licked her lips and Max who noticed her licked her seductive soft lips also smiled inwardly.


    But Max still answered Grace''s question although he answered it to Lily.


    "We are going to meet the cool big brother that saved you and your mom before," Max spoke causing both Lily and Grace to pause for a while before they reacted.


    "YAAYYY!!" Lily directly hugged Max who happily epted her hug as he patted her back.


    "What?!?!" Grace, however, knew who Max was talking about so she was a bit shocked.


    "Are you underestimating your husband''s power, now?" Max asked with a raised brow as he secretly grabbed Grace''s breasts and squeezed them causing Grace to cover her mouth.


    Grace pped his hand away and then looked at Lily and Jason.


    She sighed as she saw that none of them saw it as Lily was still hugging Max and her face was buried in his chest, while Jason had his focus on the road ahead.


    ''See what I do to you tonight,'' Grace lipsynced and Max just smiled and lipsynced just like Grace.


    ''Challenge epted.''


    ................................................��.


    The Crimson Lotus Guild had been sending their S-ranked raiders all around the world to help other countries clear the gate or help with other things for 2 weeks.


    Then there was also the fact that the guild master of the Crimson Lotus Guild was going around the world helping countries clear the gates for them or fight against gate breaks, along with her secretary, and the honorary guild master of her guild, who is the most handsome man of the world as well.


    All they asked in return was the boss drop and the mid-boss drop.


    This made the poprity of Alice, Alex, and Ann skyrocket in just a week.


    They went to every country that called for help and cleared the gates for them, no matter the difficulty of the gate.


    This, however, was not seen positively by everyone as some even tried to defame them or put some dirt on them, only to fail miserably.


    After all, the fan base of Alice alone was something that could be counted as the poption of half a country, let''s not talk about the fan base of Alex, Alice, Ann, and the guild altogether.


    It was at the time when they were in Indigo Country, and they had some free time, so they decided to go shopping there was a ce in Indigo Country that produced the best clothes one can find around the globe.


    By whatever coincidence it was, it was also a free day for Max who had decided to bring his wife and daughter there for shopping.


    But was it possible for Alex, who had the Protagonist tag on his head to have a normal day of enjoyment??


    Your answer is no.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 120: CHAPTER 120 – The Hidden Gate Breaks (Recap start).

    The ''Style Haven Market'' is known for its wide variety of clothing items along with having the best quality of them.


    But there is another tourist attraction that ''Style Haven Market'' is famous for, and it is the ''temple of Haven''.


    The Temple of Haven is a historical ce that was used as a refuge by the king of the past when he was being chased by his enemies.


    His enemies came following him and asked the temple owner if they had seen the king and the temple owner denied ever seeing the king.


    But he was killed by the enemies of the king as they didn''t want anyone who saw them to live.


    The king along with the 18-year-old daughter of the temple owner saw all of that happening from the spot they were hiding in, but none of them moved.


    Later the king married the same girl as he fell for her, and that temple was locked and treated as a sacred ground in the memory of the king''ste father-inw.


    The king named that ce ''Temple of Haven'', till this day, it has yet to be opened as the descendants of that same king are quite rich and powerful people and they protect that ce with all they have.


    But who would''ve known that there was an S-rank gate inside of that temple for a long time?


    If that was not enough, then it just so happens that today the gate was about to break and no one knew about it.


    Alex was in the area, but with his power limited to SS rank, he couldn''t scan 1000 meters of his surrounding radius, even if he did, he would need to be in the 1000-meter range to be able to sense it, which he wasn''t.


    The market was quite big after all.


    But there were many people close to the Temple of Haven, and one family in particr attracted a lot of attention as they just looked so lovely together.


    It was Max, Lily, and Grace, they were roaming around in the market, buying clothes and some essories.


    "Daddy, I''m hungryyyyy��." Suddenly Lily spoke as she tugged on Max''s pants.


    "Is my princess hungry??" Max bent down on his knees,ing right in front of Lily as he asked.


    "Yes!!" Lily nodded her head vigorously.


    "I see, so what do you want to eat?" Max asked with a smile.


    "I want ice cream!" Lily eximed while licking her lips as she remembered the ice cream she had eaten a while ago.


    Grace just giggled as she knew that Lily was not hungry, she just wanted to eat that ice cream again.


    "But you ate it just a while ago, you''ll get sick if you eat a-" Max wanted to deny, but Lily cut him off with her puppy eyes.


    "Please, daddy..."


    Max just sighed as he knew that he could never win against his daughter.


    "All right, which one do you want, I''ll go buy it," Max asked in defeat.


    "I want the one with butterscotch and chocte in it!" Lily replied hurriedly as if she was waiting for that question, causing Grace to giggle again.


    "You are the one who taught my na?ve little daughter all of this, don''t you dare giggle at me," Max then turned toward Grace and spoke with fake frustration.


    "Un." Grace just made a zipping gesture on her lips and nodded.


    "I''ll be back with the ice cream, wait for me there," Max pointed at an empty seat near the intersection of the roads.


    That ce was 200 meters away from the ''Temple of Heaven'' and around 300 meters away from Alex, Alice, and Ann, that distance kept decreasing though as Alex''s group was moving toward the Temple of Haven.


    Grace along with Lily just happened to be sitting on a bench that was ced in between.


    ........................��


    No one knew that there was a gate inside of the Temple, not even the owner of the temple as it was never opened.


    The temple was quite big after all, it had a height of 40 meters and it was nothing but a hall inside, arge hall with a statue of some god inside of it.


    The ce was made for conducting prayer in mass, with a lot of people together.


    That ce was where the gate was situated, and it was pulsating for a while as if warning anyone close to it or anyone who could see it about its inevitable break.


    The gate housed a flock ofnd birds called Darkfire. They are callednd birds because although they can fly or maybe glide, they prefer running as they have quite long legs and they run very fast.


    It was not a very big gate, just a small gate with a flock of 20 birds and no other beasts, but out of those 20 birds, 10 of them were S-ranked.


    These Birds can breathe fire, but as their name suggests they breathe dark fire.


    It is one of the most dangerous fires among S-rank beasts as it would keep burning and spreading if not stopped by a stronger fire or other ways.


    They are herbivores and they don''t eat meat, but they can still use their beaks and ws to tear their enemies apart.


    They had long necks for a wider area attack range with their beaks and long legs for faster running speed. They could use their long ws to climb trees as well as tear their enemies.


    They had high immunity to fire andplete immunity to their own fire, and this was something that made them very dangerous.


    The boss of this gate, the leader of the flock was arge bird of 2 meters in height with light blues, grey, ck, and white feathers mixed together, it had a 30 centimeters long beak and it looked quite dashing (In bird sense).


    They were just having a normal time, mating with each other when they saw the portal-like thing that never let them out of this ce cracking.


    The leader of the birds stood up with a snap.


    *Tap**Tap**Tap*....


    It zoomed toward the portal and tapped it with its beak.


    *Tak*


    ''Hmmm��.''


    *Tak*


    It tapped again, but then��.


    *Crack*


    The gate cracked a little.


    ''Yes!!'' The leader of the birds eximed inwardly before it backed away from the gate.


    "SCREECHH!!"


    The leader screeched, causing every single bird in the gate toe running in front of him.


    "I think it''s time that we leave this ursed ce that had trapped us here for who knows how long," The leader spoke in a deep voice that didn''t match its dashing and swift looks.


    ""SCREEECHHH!!""


    The birds of the flock screeched together as they raised their beaks in the air while pping their wings, showing their happiness.


    "I believe it is time for us to run around the fields again, so let us go!"


    The leader of the flock raised his voice and the beasts screeched again.


    *Shatter*


    Right at that moment the portal of the gate shattered.


    The birds looked at the shattered gate together and they could see a dark and empty hall outside.


    "Go!" The leader ordered and the beasts dashed out of the gate one after another, followed by the leader who gave their nest ast look before he left.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 121: CHAPTER 121 – Date.

    "You don''t like ice creams?!?!" Alice eximed in disbelief.


    "No, I didn''t say that. I just found its taste a bit nd, and I think I can make it much better," Alex corrected Alice''s words.


    "You can?!" Alice asked excitedly.


    The ice cream she ate just now was one of the best she could find anywhere and now Alex was saying that he could make it better, just thinking about it made Alice''s mouth watery.


    "Yeah, it won''t be hard," Alex shrugged, but it was hard with Alice clinging to his right hand and Ann on his left.


    They were having a date after all.


    Yes, a date.


    .....................��


    After the press that day, Ann had a long chat with Alice about what she thought, and her words made Alice enter deep into her thoughts.


    Alice knew what Ann was saying was right and they would be the ones who needed to make a move, but she was not sure what to do.


    She had never been in a rtionship, it was the same for Ann.


    Alice didn''t find the idea of sharing Alex with Ann as her thought process was simr to Ann''s, although it was because Ann had pointed it out.


    Alice was sure that she liked Alex, and loved even, but she was not selfish enough to have him all for herself knowing that he was too good for her.


    "What do we do then?" This was what Alice asked Ann since Ann was the brain among them.


    "Um, should we ask for a date?" Ann replied as she herself was quitecking in the dating department.


    "Who is going to ask?" Alice asked as she was sure as hell she was not going to be the one.


    She would die of embarrassment because asking for a date literally means that she was confessing.


    After a while....


    "U-Um, will would like to go on a date with you Alex," It was Alice who spoke that after hesitating for a while.


    She was the one who proposed to decide it with rock, paper, and scissors, but she was the one who lost, so now here she was.


    Alex didn''t point it out or force her to speak when he saw Alice following him for a while, hesitating to move forward.


    He was not dumb enough to not get what was happening around him.


    [You sure are going to be called a sinner by the fans of both Alice and Ann once they find out that you have not one, but both of them in your clutches.]


    Sophia spoke in a weird tone as if she was suppressing something, but Alex was not strong enough to see through Sophia so he just answered normally.


    ''I never said I wanted the both of them, but if that is what they have decided then as a man, how can I back down now?'' Alex spoke with fake chivalry.


    In truth he was just not sure about what to do, after all, although he appeared to be strong and carefree, he had his problems as well.


    He still didn''t know anything about his past, but he knew one thing that he was powerful, very powerful, and if he was powerful, then what about his enemies in the past life?


    He just didn''t want to have Alice, Ann, or anyone else by his side when that enemy from the past arrived and he didn''t have the power to face that enemy.


    Strangely, however, he didn''t feel scared of the enemy, he felt scared of himself.


    This is what was stopping him.


    But looking at Alice fidgeting as she waited for his reply, he knew that he couldn''t back down.


    He could see that Alice was about to cry, he could tell that even though she had her head bowed.


    He could see Ann bitting her lips as she hid in the corner of the room knowing full well that Alex knew what she was doing.


    After all, he had been silent for a while.


    "All right, let''s go on a date," Alex spoke making Alice directly hug him tightly without saying anything.


    She was really scared, she was scared that Alex was going to reject her.


    "There, there..." Alex patted Alice''s back for a while and he could feel Alice secretly wiping her tears but he didn''t say anything.


    Ann who was standing there also sighed, but she was also feeling a bit jealous of Alice as she got to hug Alex.


    "So, where do you guys want to go?" Alex asked as he looked towards the ce where Ann was hiding.


    Ann just sighed as she moved out of the spot.


    "Keep your preception off in the house at least..." Annined as she moved towards the sofa.


    Alex just smiled and spoke, "One can never know what ising so better be ready."


    Ann didn''t say anything while Alice who had now calmed down had her face burning from embarrassment.


    ''Why did I have to hug him?!?!?!?!?!'' She eximed inwardly.


    She didn''t know what to say and what to do.


    She couldn''t just say, ''Alex, let me go.''


    Alex could feel Alice''s internal struggle so he cut her some ck and gently held her shoulder and asked.


    "Where do you want do you want to go, Alice?" The only thing he could do in this situation was change the topic and he did just that.


    Alice looked at Ann for confirmation and seeing Ann nod she spoke.


    "Let''s go for shopping!" Alice spoke excitedly, forgetting her previous embarrassment.


    She has be a shopping enthusiast for a while now, so she gets super excited when she hears shopping.


    "Oh? Where?" Alex asked with interest.


    "''Style Haven Market''!!" Alice didn''t even think for a second before she eximed.


    "All right, it''s decided then," Alex spoke as he let go of Alice who finally remembered what she had done, so she hurriedly walked away her face so red that one could not differentiate between the color of her hair and face.


    .....................��


    Here they were now, having a date as Alice and Ann kept clinging to Alex.


    They wouldn''t be doing this if not for Ann pushing Alice into Alex, causing Alice to hold Alex''s hand for support, but too embarrassed to ask him to let go.


    Alex being Alex, he didn''t let go of the hand and started engaging Alice in some random chat about food and clothes.


    Soon enough, Alice was holding his hand in a way that they were squished between her D-sized breasts, but she was too busy talking about stuff that she would notice that.


    Ann also did the same, but she tried something else as she tugged on Alex''s sleeve to point at a shop and then she slowly held his hand.


    Although she didn''t have breasts big enough to get Alex''s hand squished between them, Alex was still enjoying it.


    But then Ann suddenly noticed something��.


    "Isn''t that��.."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 122: CHAPTER 122 – Max’s Secrets.

    "Isn''t that Maximus Steele?" Ann asked as she saw Max moving towards the ice cream shop they just left.


    "Hm, looks like he''s going to get some ice creams," Alicemented.


    "He probably came here with his family to enjoy some free time," Alex spoke nonchntly after ncing at Max for a second.


    But then he raised his brow as his eyes looked at Max with interest.


    ''Hohh��''


    "What''s wrong?" Alice asked, after all, how could this action go unnoticed by Alice and Ann when they were walking right beside him?


    "Is it his skill or stats?" Ann asked another question as she knew that only these things could make Alex look at a guy with interest.


    "Both of them," Alex spoke with a hum before he looked away from Max.


    Alice and Ann didn''t say anything and waited for Alex to continue. They knew that Alex would tell them what it was if he wanted to tell them.


    "He is said to be a B-rank raider, right? He is an S-ranked raider, he hid himself quite well," Alex didn''t disappoint them and continued.


    "Then there is also his skill, it''s ''Soul binding truth contract'' and although it is a long ass name, it is pretty good," Alex spoke without much care.


    "What does it do?" Alice asked as she tilted her head to the right.


    Alex looked at her for a while as she looked cute with that curious expression along with her head tilted. However, this made Alice confused as she thought that she asked something wrong, but Alex didn''t make her wait long.


    "It''s like a death contract, and if one signs it willingly, then they will be forever bound by those conditions."


    Alex replied, causing both Alice and Ann to be a bit surprised as it was quite a unique skill.


    "So, this is the reason why there is no infighting within his faction, nor has he ever faced a betrayal, but that is not all there is to this skill is there?" Ann thought out loud and then asked Alex as she looked into his eyes.


    "No, that''s not all. He can somewhat tell if the person in front of him is speaking the truth or not," Alex replied to Ann, but by now, both Ann and Alice had serious expressions.


    "You don''t need to worry girls, every skill has its limitations, and that skill got one as well.


    Maximus won''t be able to tell if you are telling the truth or not if the person in front of him is two ranks higher than him.


    The same is true for the contract, he can''t bind someone two ranks higher than himself into a contract."


    Alex exined as he knew what they were thinking.


    If someone has the ability to tell whether you are lying or not then you would never be able to lie to them or trick them, but the same can''t be said for the other side.


    The girls were somewhat relieved when they heard it.


    "Anyways, his ring looked cool," Alex changed the topic with something random.


    "It is the most expensive disguise artifact/ item that has been sold till now after all," Annmented, and Alice nodded her head.


    "Oh, how much was it sold for?" Alex asked with intrigue.


    Although he just randomly selected a topic, he wanted to know more about it now.


    "It is a top-tier S-ranked item, so it was sold for 113 billion credits," Ann replied to Alex.


    "I see," Alex nodded his head.


    "Maybe I should''ve asked Luna for more money aspensation for the iplete mana core��." Alex''s mutter was heard by both Ann and Alice who just sighed and didn''tment on that.


    The money he got from the association was actually quite high for a mana core, not to mention the cost it took them to repair the building that was damaged by Alex''s mana pressure.


    Now, the fact that they can see through Max even when he is wearing a top-tier disguise item must be something that some people might have questions about, so let''s talk about it.


    Every item has a limit, and just like every item, the disguise item Max is wearing also has a limit.


    It is just an S-rank item after all, how can it hide one from the eyes of people who have rank higher than that?


    Not like Max was wearing it to hide from the strong people out there, he was wearing it to hide from the public as it might causemotion if they knew that Max was in between them.


    The same can be said for Lily and Grace as both of them were wearing one disguise item on their bodies.


    But for Alice, Ann, and Alex, it was like there was no disguise.


    These three also had a disguise on but they were not using items as Alex could do the job.


    They were famous as well, much more famous than Max, due to their recent actions.


    They didn''t want their date to be disturbed so they decided to use disguise, and they faced no problem as they enjoyed their time to the fullest.


    I guess it''s too early to say that...


    Alex''s eyes turned sharp as he saw some disturbance in the mana near the temple.


    ''What is that��.''


    They were still 100 meters away from Lily and Grace, which means that they were 300 meters away from the temple, so the temple was still not within Alex''s normal perception range.


    But with his ''All-seeing eyes'', he could see the mana disturbance above the temple.


    The temple was high after all, and it could be seen from 300 meters away clearly.


    "What''s wrong, Alex?" Ann asked as she saw the change in Alex''s eyes.


    His rxed eyes had turned sharp as he looked towards the temple.


    Alice also looked at Alex when she heard Ann''s question. She was not looking at Alex as her focus was on a red one-piece on the disy of a shop, so she missed the change in Alex''s expression.


    "Let me check," Alex spoke, and then he focused his perception in one direction.


    This was one of the ways he could increase the range as he could just spread his perception in one direction, expanding the range.


    "Sigh��.." Alex sighed as he found out what it was as the next second��..


    ""SCREEECHHH!!!""


    Loud screeches of birds reverberated through the noisy market, making the market still for a second.


    "I will take you guys on a date again sometime, don''t worry��.." Alex spoke lightly as he felt the grip of both Alice and Ann tightened on his hand.


    It was not out of fright, it was out of anger and Alex could tell that, he was annoyed as well, after all, he was enjoying his time right now.


    Right at that moment, the market that had gone still for a second realized what was happening and the chaos ensued...


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 123: CHAPTER 123 – Ann’s New Skill.

    What would be the first thought one would have if they suddenly heard a monster''s roar/ screech/ howl in the middle of a running market?


    ''Is it a stray beast that suddenly appeared?''


    This would cause panic as the beast could be dangerous, and it might be strong enough to harm many people.


    But would one think if they heard the screams of more than three or four beats at the same time?


    ''Gate break!!''


    Yeah, that''s what anyone would think.


    They will not think that it could be a stray herd of beasts as it is not possible for them to roam around easily without being noticed.


    So, it was not hard for people to guess what had happened, much less Alice and Ann.


    On top of that, the source of those screeches was the temple, one that had not been opened for ages.


    It was not hard to tell what would''ve happened but by the time the people in the market came out of the shock, there was only one thing they could think.


    "RUN!!!"


    No one knew who shouted, but everyone ran without care.


    They didn''t care what was in their way, they just wanted to run as far away as they could from the temple as they could feel the oppressing auraing from there.


    The leader of the Darkfires looked out of the temple only to find humans running away from the temple without even looking back.


    It just sneered.


    "Kill them all," It spoke as it moved forward slowly.


    The Birds did as their leader told them to do, as they bent their bodies forward before they ran toward the crowd.


    Killing anyone that was in their path.


    Some people had their heads cut off their bodies, some were left to die on the ground as their blood flowed from the w marks made by the Darkfires.


    There was chaos everywhere as the market was very crowded, so much so that there would only be some space for people to walk.


    But right now, the people looked like a colony of ants running away from water.


    People were running over others and the one who fell by ident had no chance of surviving.


    All of this happened in seconds, but by then Alex, Alice, and Ann jumped in between the crowd and the Darkfires.


    "I''ll take care of the leader, you guys take care of them," Alex spoke as she rushed toward the leader who was looking at Alex as well.


    "Yeah, we''ll ''take care'' of them," Alice spoke as Ann just cracked her knuckles.


    The Darkfires felt cold as they saw the predatory eyes of both Alice and Ann.


    Alice made a small arrow of fire and kept rotating it around herself, but Ann, instead, of taking out her dagger, did something different today.


    ''Let''s try the trick I learned a few days ago,'' Ann spoke inwardly.


    Then she remembered the lessons given by Alex to her, and she smiled looking at Alex who was standing in front of the leader of the Darkfires.


    "Well, let''s skin some chickens, shall we?" Ann spoke to herself before she dashed towards the closest beast to her.


    .............................................��..


    After clearing the special S-rank gate and killing the hidden boss alone, Alex got many rewards, and one of them was ''Congitation Arms Mastery''.


    It was the best thing Alex got that day.


    It was a growth-type skill, with unlimited potential.


    But Alex didn''t need it, he already had All-master and Sophia said��.


    [All-master is much stronger than you could think, it''s just that you have yet to explore its possibilities.]


    Those words stopped Alex from taking the skill for himself.


    Alex decided to give that skill to Ann as she was the one closest to the weapon after him, Alice was a mage after all.


    "Focus my mana on in your hands....


    Imagine the image...


    Imagine the feeling of moving a de��.


    Imagine holding a de....


    How does it feel...��.?"


    He taught Ann for a week before she was able to conjure her first de.


    "It feels cold��." Ann spoke with her eyes closed.


    That was how Alex always tough her: with her eyes closed.


    He wanted Ann to feel the weapon without looking at it, he wanted her to know how it was to have a weapon without having one.


    He didn''t want her to imagine making a weapon out of the air, he wanted her to imagine the air as a weapon, and as she did, she seded.


    "Now, you can open your eyes," Alex spoke, and Ann opened her eyes only to have them widen in surprise as she could see a simple-looking de in her hand that was not there before.


    "It this��." She looked at Alex for an answer.


    ''Did I finally seed?''


    ''Is this made by me?''


    ''You didn''t ce it in my hand, right?''


    She had many questions, but she couldn''t voice them out.


    Ann had been thinking that maybe she was just not talented enough and she wasted the precious skill that Alex gave her.


    She was scared of disappointing Alex, of wasting all of his efforts, so she used to wake upte at night, practicing alone when everyone was asleep.


    "Yes, you did it," Alex spoke as he went ahead and patted her head.


    "I see, I did it huh��." Ann spoke as a tear fell from her eyes.


    Although it had just been a week, for her it felt longer than a year as she was doubting herself every single moment.


    She thought that skills were something that was learned instantly.


    "Hush��."


    Alex wiped the tear with his finger as he looked into Ann''s eyes.


    Ann also looked into his eyes, the same eyes that were looking at her tenderly.


    "You did good, Ann," Alex spoke gently.


    "Um," Ann nodded her head with a rosy blush on her face as her face was too close to Alex.


    It felt like they were about to kiss, and if she moved a bit forward then their lips might touch.


    "Come here��." Alex muttered, scooping her into a hug, his strong handspletely enveloping her petite body.


    Ann was stunned for a second before she smiled softly and rested her head on his chest so right above the ce his heart was, she lifted her hands and ced them on Alex''s chiseled chest that she could feel with her hands.


    She could hear his heartbeat, the calm rhythm, they sounded like a soft symphony to her.


    The warmthing from Alex''s body was like a nket to her.


    With his heartbeats as a luby and the strong arms as a nket, it didn''t take long for Ann''s breaths to even out and she was in thend of dreams, dreaming about some naughty things as she would giggle now and then.


    [I was surprised as you never stopped her even after knowing that she was pushing herself to the limit.]


    Sophiamented as she saw Alex carrying Ann in a princess carry and moving toward Ann''s room.


    ''I won''t stop her from working harder as that will make her stronger, but I will be there for her when she is tired from her work,'' Alex replied as he looked at Ann.


    Sophia remained silent for a while as she heard it, but she still looked at Ann with some unreadable emotions.


    [But she sure is talented. To be able to materialize a weapon within a week of time is not something even the weapon geniuses would be able to do.]


    Sophia spoke after a while when Alex had reached Ann''s room.


    ''Yeah,'' Alex nodded in agreement.


    Alex didn''t say anything else and just tucked Ann in her bed.


    He was about to leave but��.


    //// Author Note: This is something that happened after Alice had asked for the date, so please keep in mind that Alex didn''t make a move before that. ////


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 124: CHAPTER 124 – ‘Taking Care’ of the Beasts.

    "Alex..."


    Ann mutters groggily as she tugs the corner of Alex''s shirt, stopping him from moving.


    "Yes?" Alex stopped and looked at Ann who was looking at him with her eyes still half closed.


    "Thank you..." Ann spoke lightly as she looked into Alex''s eyes.


    Alex, on the other hand, frowned his brows in confusion.


    "Thank you for what?" He asked Ann who looked at him for a while before she smiled.


    "It''s nothing, I just wanted to say that," Ann spoke, and without waiting for Alex to say something she closed her eyes.


    Alex looked at Ann who had her eyes closed but was still awake, he knew that she wasn''t going to reply so he just patted her head and moved out of the room.


    Ann opened her eyes as she heard the door of her room close.


    She touched her head where Alex patted, she smiled before she snuggled into the nket that Alex covered her with.


    She had many things to say when Alex asked, ''Thank you for what?''.


    ''Thank you for making me stronger.''


    ''Thank you for saving my life.'' (In the special S-rank gate)


    ''Thank you for being so nice to me.''


    ''Thank you for trusting me.''


    There were many other thank yous, but the one that was most important was��.


    ''Thank you foring into my life, Alex.''


    Ann drifted into her dreams as she thought about those things.


    ..........................................��...


    (Back to the gate break)


    Ann smiled as she recalled those moments before she shed her de on the Dardfire in front of her.


    ''Hoh��'' But the beast dodged it, making Ann a bit surprised.


    Although she didn''t use all of her power, it was still not something an S-ranked beast should be able to do.


    But that was all, she was just a bit surprised, so when the beast shot its beak at her she just sidestepped and held its long neck.


    The beast was a bit shorter than its leader, and the leader was 2 meters high, which made the beast have a height of around 1.7 meters.


    It was easy for Ann to catch the beast''s neck.


    "What will you do now?" Ann asked with a raised brow as she saw the beast struggling.


    The beast was, after all, an S-rank beast, and Ann, who was an SSS-ranked raider wouldn''t even need 20% of her power to defeat the beast.


    Looking at the beast moving its head from side to side, pped its wings with all its might, trying to free itself, but it couldn''t free itself, it was struggling to even get a breath.


    "I wanted to skin all of you alive for destroying our date, but I can''t do that, after all, there are lives at risk here," Ann spoke with a low voice before she sliced the neck of the Darfire she was holding.


    The body of the bird/ beast fell on the ground while the neck Ann was holding stayed in her hand.


    ''One down,'' Ann counted as she threw the head of the bird she was holding to the next bird close to her with full force, killing it on the spot.


    ......................................................


    (Alice''s fight)


    *Woosh*


    Alice shot the arrow she conjured towards a Darkfire that ran toward her after it saw her preparing an attack.


    "SREECHH!!"


    The Darkfire screeched as if was being burned alive, but it was being burned slowly.


    It could feel its feathers burning, it could feel its skin burning, it could feel everything, every part of its body burning, it screeched in pain as the mes felt so hot that its innate fire resistance was not helping it at all.


    "Screech!!"


    The bird screeched for ast time before it fell to the ground lifelessly with a thump.


    "Hmph," Alice just snorted before she turned to the next Darkfire that trembled as it saw Alice''s angry and frustrated eyes.


    She had realized that she had been holding Alex''s hand for a long time when Alex let go of her, and she was embarrassed about it, but she was happy as well and it felt good when she stayed close to Alex.


    ''But you guys destroyed the moment,'' Alice spoke inwardly as she stared daggers at the Darkfire.


    The Darkfire that was being stared at wanted to run away, but it couldn''t move as Alice had unconsciously locked her mana pressure on the poor Darkfire that was going to face the fury of Alice.


    Alice waved her hand upward and a fire pir shot from below the beast...


    "SCREEEC-"


    The beast screeched in pain but was cut short as it was lucky that it was turned into ash in a second and it didn''t have to suffer like its friend before.


    Alice''s fire was too strong after some of her potential was unlocked, and it could burn her enemies instantly.


    It would be a problem if she used it against weaker beasts inside of the gate as she would lose the monster''s drop, but she didn''t have to worry about that right now.


    ''Opss��.'' Alice scratched her head as she realized that she had just turned an S-ranked beast into ash in a fit of anger, but she just shrugged after a second.


    ''Well, not like they were going to drop anything anyway," Alice thought as she shot another me arrow toward the next Darkfire that was about to use a breath attack on the people running away from it.


    Just like Alice said, the monsters that came out of the gate after the gate break don''t drop anything.


    Nothing means literally nothing, even their bodies disappear like it happens inside the gate.


    If the gates were an opportunity along with danger, then the gate breaks were like punishments for failing toplete the task in the given time, and there is nothing you can ever gain from a punishment, you always lose something when punished.


    The arrow shot by Alice directly pierced the head of the Darkfire that was about to release a breath attack on the public.


    "Like I would let you do that," Alice muttered before she turned to the beast that was running toward her at a breakneck speed.


    The bird/ beast directly shed its w at Alice which she dodged with expert agility which was almost impossible for mages to do.


    "Oh, you thought that it would be easy to defeat me in a close-ranged battle just because I am a mage?" Alice sneered as she saw the Darkfire widen its eyes.


    The Darkfire was an S-ranked one, and it could think and strategize, so it thought that being a mage Alice must be weak in closebat.


    But how could it have known that all Alex taught Alice was close-rangebat and better control over her fire?


    The beast quickly realized that it was in danger so it used the trump card that every Darkfire would use in a dire situation.


    The Darkfire hurriedly breathed ck fire, but instead of Alice, it aimed the fire at the ground.


    The fire spread and covered the area of 10 meters radius, in just a second.


    "SCREECH!!"


    Alice was also within 10 meters so the Darkfire, so the Darkfire screeched, showing that it had won.


    "You think your fire''s the strongest, don''t you?"


    But then it heard a taunting sneer, which made its heart sink, but before it could think of something, it was enveloped by an orange, yellow, and golden mixed me.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 125: CHAPTER 125 – Emberbirth.

    Alex gave both Alice and Ann a bloodline that suited them the most during the three-month break they had.


    "These are the best bloodlines I could find that suited your personality and skills best."


    This is what Alex said at that time.


    But Alice and Ann were more than happy with what they got.


    Alex felt that it was not enough but for Alice and Ann who had yet to know what having a powerful bloodline felt like, it was better than anything they knew.


    The bloodline Alex gave them was just a rank higher than the lowest of their kinds, but ifpared to the human bloodline, it was likeparing a lion to a cat.


    Alice got a bloodline called ''Emberbirth'', it was like a tamer version of fire spirits and the next evolution would make it a low-tiered fire spirit.


    Fire spirits are like races that are equal to divine races, but those things are forter to be disclosedter.


    "Drink it," Alex spoke, and Alice drank the red boiling blood directly without asking a question.


    It tasted hot and spicy, like burning chilly, but other than that, everything was fine, but that was only for seconds.


    It was after some seconds that Alice''s eyes widened as she felt searing pain through her veins.


    "AHHHHHHH!!"


    She felt like her veins were on fire, her body was burning, her blood was burning, everything was burning.


    "Alice!!"


    Ann shouted and she was about to run towards Alice but then she heard a low whisper.


    "Don''t��.." Ann stopped on her track as she heard Alex''s words.


    "She needs to go through that, she is turning into an Emberbirth, she needs to feel the fire in her veins," Alex spoke without taking his eyes away from Alice.


    "I see��." Ann spoke as she stood beside Alex.


    She knew that he would not let anything happen to Alice, it was what her womanly instincts told her, and she decided to believe them.


    After a while, Alice finally calmed down, but she was still lying on the ground as she tried to calm her breath.


    Ann looked at Alex and moved toward Alice as she saw him nod, but before she could reach Alice, Alice jumped up straight on the ground.


    "What is this?!?!" She looked at Alex and asked in shock.


    "That is the power, the power that will make you much stronger than you were," Alex spoke as he smiled looking at the excited Alice.


    "That power gives you many things, starting with...��."


    ...................................................��


    (Back to fight)


    ''I''m immune to fire, at least the fire that is weaker than mine, heh,'' Alice sneered inwardly as she saw what the beast was trying to do.


    ''But well, I don''t want my dress to be burned so let''s not try my fire immunity right now.''


    Alice thought as she waved her hand and just before the ck fire touched her, her body was enveloped in an orange-yellow me.


    The ck mes couldn''t even touch those mes as Alice''s mes were much stronger than them.


    Then Alice looked at the beast and she could tell how delighted it was as it was thinking that it killed her.


    ''Heh.''


    "You think your fire''s the strongest, don''t you?" Alice spoke and she could see the color drain out of the beast''s face or feather? Whatever, but she could see that the beast''s taunt feathers turned droopy.


    Alice could tell that the beast was about to run so she waved her palm upward, making a pir of orange, yellow, and golden mixed mes rise from below the bird/ beast, enveloping itpletely.


    The beast couldn''t even scream as it died just like that.


    "You should be proud and happy that you died from my strongest mes," Alice spoke as she looked at the spot where the beasts had died.


    *Woosh*


    But then the wind whistled and she could see Alex zooming towards the ce where a pair of mother and daughter were sitting, stunned on the spot as a Darkfire screeched in front of them.


    But it didn''t take time for her to realize who that pair was, after all, they were quite famous as well.


    Ann also looked toward Alex as she saw him running, and she also noticed who Alex was running to.


    She turned to Alice and their eyes met for a second.


    Both of them nodded at each other before they went back to taking care of the beasts as they were told without even sparing a nce at the boss monster that was already dead.


    ................................................��


    (Back to Max, after he moved toward the ice cream shop)


    ''I need to stop spoiling her too much...'' Max muttered inwardly as he walked toward the ice cream shop.


    He turned his head back to look at both Lily and Grace who were walking towards the bench and smiled.


    ''Well, maybe I''ll spoil her for some more time, she''ll stop sticking to me after she grows up anyway,'' Max thought as he kept walking.


    Then he saw Alex, Alice, and Ann walking together with Alice and Ann clinging to Alex''s arms.


    ''Ah, youth- wait, I suddenly feel old...''


    Max sighed inwardly as he arrived at the shop.


    "What can I get you, sir?" The staff at the counter asked as she saw Maxing toward her.


    "I don''t know what it is called but my daughter said that it has both butterscotch and chocte in it," Max spoke as even thest time, it was Grace who bought Lily the ice cream because he got a call.


    "Oh, I get it, we only have one ice cream that matches your description," Thedy at the counter spoke as she went inside to get the ice cream but then...


    ""SCREEECHHH!!!""


    Everyone heard the screech of some beasts and from the voice, it was clear that it was more than 2 or 3 beasts.


    The room stilled, and the people paused before they heard a shout from the outside.


    No one knew who started first but one after another everyone started running, and Max who was shocked when he heard the voice also snapped back to reality.


    ''Lily!! Grace!!'' The first thing that came to Max''s mind was Lily and Grace.


    He tried to run out of the ce, but the exits were blocked by the people, and he couldn''t use force as it would kill people.


    Although frustrated, he joined in the crowd as they ran out of the exits.


    ''Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe...��'' He kept saying repeatedly.


    He prayed to whatever god that was out there.


    ''Just don''t let anything happen to them��.''


    He finally got out of the store, so he directly dashed towards the bench where Grace and Lily were sitting.


    He jumped above the crowd that was running away from the temple.


    He jumped up and stepped from one person''s shoulder to another as he kept running while wishing that his wife and his daughter were fine.


    It was taking him time to reach, them but when he was finally able to see them, his heart almost stopped as his eyes widened.


    "GRACE!!! LILY!!!!"


    He shouted with all his might as he saw a Darkfire screeching at them.


    He didn''t care anymore as he smashed his leg downward with full power, intending to get a boost that would let him reach his wife and daughter on time, but he knew somewhere deep down that he wouldn''t make it in time.


    But then he saw someone running toward his wife and daughter with a speed much greater than his own.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 126: CHAPTER 126 – New type of Quest.

    (Back to Alex after he ran to the boss)


    [They are angry.]


    Sophia spoke as Alex ran to the boss.


    ''I could tell that, and that was the reason why I let them take care of the beasts as it would let them cool down a bit,'' Alex just shrugged as he was right in front of the boss by now.


    Neither Alex nor the boss, none of them attacked, they kept staring at each other until finally, the boss opened its beak.


    It didn''t open its beak to talk, it directly attacked as it shot the breath attack right on Alex''s face.


    "Here I was thinking that maybe I found another peace-loving beast��." Alex spoke with disappointment before he waved his hand.


    The fire that wasing towards him didn''t stop, he didn''t have that much power right now, as he was still limited to SS-rank, but he still had the power to divert the mes, and that he did.


    ''What?!" The beast eximed as it saw its me not listening to it as they went ahead and crashed into the ground.


    The mes, however, didn''t go off even after they hit the ground and continued burning and spreading, after all, they had that property.


    But the beast stopped the fire from spreading.


    The fire keeps burning, but it also takes mana from the caster. Even though it is a small amount of mana, it still takes, and right now��...


    ''He is strong, I can''t waste my mana, I can only do one thing....'' The leader of the Darkfires thought as it hardened its ws, making a scratching sound.


    One sh was enough to tell the beast that it had drawn the short stick, and it would lose if the fight went on, after all, the ck fire is the strongest attack Darkfires are feared for.


    "Well, at least your bird brain is smart enough to understand that your fire is useless against me," Alex taunted as he got ready to punch the bird/ beast right in its face, killing it already.


    The leader of the Darkfires looked around for a second before it ran toward Alex at full speed.


    ''Hm? Why does its movement seem strange��.'' Alex who could see the beast dashing as he found it odd that the beast''s movement didn''t match its intentions.


    ''Or maybe his intentions never had anything to do with attacking me��.'' Alex narrowed his eyes as he thought of that.


    But by the time Alex thought that the beast that was running towards him made a hard pause, turned to the left, and ran with at the highest speed it could.


    It was a herbivore beast after all, and they were better runners as it would help them run away from predators.


    "So, that was your intention from the start huh," Alexmented before he made a pping motion with both of his hands, though he didn''t p, just bought them together.


    The leader of the Darkfire ran as it thought that it had won, but then its eyes fell on Alice and Ann, it saw how easily they killed his S-ranked subordinates.


    ''We never had a chance!!'' The leader of the Darkfires finally realized but it was toote to regret anything.


    But then the leader felt its instincts re up, warning him to run, but before it could realize why his senses red up...


    *BAAM*


    It was crushed into meat paste between two thick bs made of stones.


    One came from its left while the other came from its right, and the speed was so fast that it couldn''t even react before it became a meat paste.


    "Here I was,paring a scardy cat to that wyvern��." Alex sighed.


    He didn''t like fights that were not fun, he didn''t know why, but he wanted to face challenges.


    He knew he was strong, but��.


    ''It''s as if I''m bored of being strong...'' Alex muttered inwardly.


    ''I don''t like restrictions, but somehow, I want them as well since I know only under restriction will I have the chance to enjoy myself.


    I don''t know what I want...'' Alex was confused.


    He didn''t get why the restrictions that he hated were the only things that would be able to help him enjoy his fights.


    ''But well, it''s not a restriction if I ce them on myself,'' Alex just shrugged.


    He decided to leave forter.


    Just then, he got a notification of a quest which caused him to raise his brow.


    ''Isn''t the quest a bitte to arrive?'' Alex questioned Sophia.


    [No, it is not about the beasts, it is something else, and it is a new type of quest.]


    Sophia replied, making Alex more curious.


    Alex willed it and the quest screen popped up in front of him.


    _____________________________________________


    [Destiny Quest: -


    Quest objective: Save Grace Steele and Lily Steele from their imminent deaths.


    Quest reward: 80,000 points, (title) - Prince Charming, Gratitude of the Richest Man on Gaia.


    Time limit: 10 seconds.


    Penalty: --]


    ''Wasn''t the richest guy on Gaia, Argon?'' This was the first question that came to Alex''s mind even though he could see the timer ticking.


    It didn''t matter to him who it was that he had to save, he wouldn''t do it until he wanted to.


    [Yes, but not right now. The system never gives out wrong information, so the person who is the richest in the world right now is Maximus Steele.]


    ''I see,'' Alex nodded his head then he turned to look at the spot where Grace and Lily were at.


    He could see them stunned, scared, trembling, panicking, etc.


    He could see that the condition of the mother was not good and she needed healing, but it didn''t affect him much, there were many people in the same situation after all.


    ''What is this Destiny quest? Like the one that protagonists do? The one that people call plot?'' Alex asked as he looked at a Darkfire who took notice of Grace and Lily and was now running towards them.


    [Yes, it''s like that, and you only got this quest because you are the protagonist of this world right now.]


    ''I see-'' Alex stopped his words abruptly as his eyes met with Lily.


    He could tell how scared that girl was from her eyes alone, he could see tears streaming down from them, and he could see the unspoken request in her eyes.


    But that was not what made him pause, he saw something else, it was just for an instant, but he saw something sh inside the girl''s eyes.


    [Use your All-seeing eyes.]


    Sophia urged and just as Alex did it, his eyes widened a bit.


    ''Is she��.?'' Alex asked for confirmation.


    [Yes, she is a reincarnation of someone who is not from this world.]


    Sophia spoke, but inside the system space, she had her fists clenched.


    ''Why her?!'' She screamed inwardly.


    Alex didn''t wait anymore after Sophia''s confirmation; he dashed toward Lily and Grace.


    Although he was going to save them for the free 80,000 points before, now, he was saving them because of Lily.


    He didn''t know why, but he felt like he was familiar with the person Lily was before, after all, he did see a sh of that said person when he used his All-seeing eyes.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 127: CHAPTER 127 – Saving Lily and Grace.

    Lily and Grace were sitting on the bench enjoying the view while waiting for Max to bring the ice cream.


    They would giggle now and then if they saw something funny happening, after all, with so many people in their surroundings, something funny was bound to happen.


    But that happy atmosphere was shattered like a fragile ss smashed by a rock when they heard the screech of a group of beasts.


    They were stunned just like others, but they broke out of their stunned state when they heard someone shout, "RUN!!!".


    All hell broke loose after that shout, people running over others, stepping over others, crushing them, and killing them in the process.


    The ones who had the worst situation were children as they were shorter, and they ran slowly.


    No one knew how many children were crushed to death, but the toll was at least higher than one digit.


    Lily watched this all unfold with horror-filled eyes.


    She could see the children she found doing funny dying under the feat of so many people that no one could tell which leg belonged to whom.


    If not for Grace pulling Lily to the side together with herself as she stood up on the bench gaining a high ground, then Lily might not have survived.


    Just then Lily saw a guy she saw picking his nose a while ago getting crushed to death by the crowd.


    She could see how his brain matter sshed as his head was stepped by many people.


    His small chubby body started thinning down as the things inside came out.


    But then her eyes were covered by a soft and gentle hand.


    "It''s all right, princess, it''s all right. Daddy must be on his way, he will take us out of here." Grace spoke with a smile trying to cheer Lily up.


    Grace could feel warm liquid on her palm, and she could tell that Lily was crying but she wasn''t in a situation to focus on Lily as the bench they were standing on suddenly got pushed by a lot of people.


    "Nooo!!" She Screamed as she fell towards the iing crowd, but she hurriedly covered Lily with her body, shielding Lily from any harm.


    "Mommy!!" Lily shouted as she saw herself falling to the ground with her mother, but then she felt herself being enveloped by a pair of soft and gentle hands.


    Grace hugged Lily as she sat like a stone with her back towards the crowd.


    Many people ran over her, and she could feel some of her bones cracking.


    Although she was a C-ranked raider, she was still not immune to physical damage, that too when there were many pow-rank raiders that ran over her.


    "Ugh��'' Grace grunted as someone stepped over her head and ran.


    "Mommy!! Stop!! Please stop!! You are hurting my mommy!! Stop!!....."


    Lily kept shouting as she saw Grace being injured and in just a few seconds the crowd passed over them.


    Grace finally let Lily go as she sat on the ground with the bench supporting her back.


    ''Thank you��.'' She thanked the bench as she touched it.


    She knew if the bench was not there, and if she didn''t hide behind the bench, then her injuries would''ve been much more serious than they were right now.


    "It''s all right, princess��. ugh��... I''m fine, see?" Grace spoke with the best smile she could give, despite the pain she felt.


    She lifted her hand as she tried to flex her non-existent biceps.


    But as if the god thought that they had not suffered enough, Grace saw a Drakfire running toward them.


    The oppressive pressure from the beast and the bloodthirsty eyes of the beast froze her on the spot.


    ''Where are you, Max....?'' Grace struggled even to sit straight as she looked at the beast running toward them.


    The beast was moving toward them at a low speed as if it knew that they were not going to run away.


    Lily who saw the beast also froze.


    ''Am I going to die��...?'' This was the only thing she could think of but suddenly there was a glint in her eyes as a voice reverberated in her mind.


    But Lily couldn''t hear it, nor did she know anything about it.


    {I''m in danger...?} The voice inside Lily sounded confused.


    {But if I unlock my memories now....} The voice didn''t get toplete its words as Lily''s eyes met with Alex right at that moment.


    {Ah...} That was all that was heard before the voicepletely vanished as it ran away or simply didn''t want to be detected.


    ''Help us, please...'' Lily who saw Alex looking at her didn''t know why she found him familiar, nor did she know why she believed that he would save her, but she still called out for Alex.


    "GRACE!!! LILY!!!!"


    Both Lily and Grace heard a shout, but Grace was frozen to even look at the source of the voice while Lily was looking at Alex who was standing quite far a moment ago, but now he was standing in front of them.


    "It''s all right now."


    They both heard a gentle and calming voice which somehow assured them that they would really be fine, but they still looked at Alex who was standing between them and the beast as he held the beast by its long neck.


    Alex was still thinking about who he saw when he looked at Lily so the fact that the beast in front of him was an S-ranked beast and he was an SS-ranked raider right now, slipped his mind.


    The beast could feel the iron grip on its neck, and it knew that it wouldn''t be able to get out of the grip, so it lifted its leg and shed its w at Alex.


    Things happened so fast that Lily and Grace couldn''t see anything but Alex who saw the w right in front of his chest at thest moment quickly tilted his body, avoiding the w.


    The w did pass out without giving him a scratch but...


    *RIPPPPP*


    The w took his shirt which was loose and hanging out along with it.


    ''Tsk��.'' Alex clicked his tongue inwardly before he snapped the Darkfire''s neck like a twig.


    *Crack*


    With a crack sound, the Darkfire died without much action.


    However, Alex''s body was a bit too good to be shown out like that.


    ''Hot!!'' Grace thought as she looked at Alex''s perfect muscr cuts and streamlined body.


    "What are you doing, Grace!! You are married!''


    Grace quickly shook her head as she started recalling her time with her husband, just to distract her mind, and it helped, after all, she loved her husband unconditionally just like he loved her.


    Grace was still stealing nces at Alex, but she was not having any impure thoughts, she was just looking at a piece of art that God created with intense focus.


    Lily was just a small child so she didn''t know the difference between a normal guy''s body and Alex''s, but she was still staring at Alex as she felt like he was a good person.


    She felt like he was a family, and his importance was elevated to the same as her father and mother''s in an instant.


    "Grace!!! Lily!!" By then Max who was not far away and was running toward them also arrived.


    He directly crouched down and pulled both Grace and Lily into a hug.


    "I''m sorry, I''m so sorry...." He kept repeating the same line.


    .............................................��.


    Alice and Ann who were quite far also paused as they saw Alex standing there bare-chested.


    They had seen him half naked many times as they lived together, and idents were bound to happen.


    But no matter how many times they see him like that, they would feel all tingly over their bodies.


    They looked at each other and nodded their heads before they decided to quickly take care of the beast and move closer to Alex.


    They could see Max running toward Alex, Lily, and Grace, so they decided to move there as well.


    It was not because they wanted to take a closer look at Alex before he took something out from his storage ring and wore it.


    It was NOT because of that, all right?


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 128: CHAPTER 128 – Soul Reaver.

    Ann and Alice decided to quickly take care of the beasts as they knew that Alex didn''t have any exhibitionist kink, so he was going to wear his clothes real fast, and they wanted to take a closer look at him - *Cough* - check whether he was all right or not before that.


    Alice didn''t waste time as she made some spears of fire and pointed them at the Darkfires who were now trying to run away as they saw their friends and leader being ughtered.


    Alice could''ve just killed all of the beasts in the surrounding but when she saw Ann preparing to attack, she stopped.


    ''Is she going to use ''that''��.?'' Alice thought and she got her answer as she saw Ann waving her dagger.


    ........................��


    (Sometime after Alice got her bloodline upgraded)


    Alice sat in the corner as she yed with fire, testing the limits of her new control over the fire as she observed Ann and Alex while listening to their conversation.


    "It is the essence that will grant you a bloodline called ''Soul Reaver''.


    You won''t feel pain like Alice, but your soul power will increase, so you will be stunned for a while."


    Alex exined to Ann as she nodded.


    Ann was a bit relieved that she didn''t have to go through the same pain as Alice as she knew that it was not some easy pain since it made Alice scream her throat out.


    *Gulp**Gulp*...


    She gulped the transparent liquid in the tube she held in her hand in one go.


    She didn''t doubt Alex''s words, so she thought that if there was no pain, what was there to hesitate for?


    But it seemed like she got relieved a bit too early...


    ''Huh?''


    ''Where am I?''


    Ann suddenly found herself in a dark ce, a ce so dark that she couldn''t even see her own hand- wait.


    ''Why can''t I feel my body?!'' Ann just realized that she couldn''t feel anything.


    ''Calm down, calm down��.'' Ann calmed herself down as she found herself panicking.


    ''Alex!'' She tried to call out to Alex, but no words came out of her mouth.


    ''What do I do....'' She couldn''t see anything, she couldn''t feel her body and she couldn''t even speak.


    All she could do right now was stare at nothingness.


    Ann had tried to sleep but she couldn''t do that, nor could she tell what was happening.


    ''How did I get here?''


    ''Were we attacked?''


    ''No, Alex was there, so being attacked is out of the question��.''


    ''Wait!!....''


    Just then Ann realized something, she remembered Alex''s words.


    "You will be stunned for a while," As she remembered Alex''s words, things finally started to make sense.


    ''So, this is what he meant by me being stunned?''


    ''All of this is a trial I have to face instead of the pain...?''


    After Ann realized this, she calmed down and waited for the trial to end.


    ��.


    ...


    ..


    .


    ''It''s already been a day...��'' Ann muttered inwardly.


    She had been counting every second to pass the time and by now it had already been a day since she had been here, though she didn''t know where this ''here'' was exactly.


    She couldn''t hear anything, nor could she tell what was happening, but if she could feel her body then she would feel herself being lifted and carried.


    Alex knew what Ann was going through, so he decided to move her to the bed.


    That way she could rest after shees out of her stunned state.


    For Ann, it had been more than a day, but for Alex and Alice who were outside, it was like a second or two, so when Alice saw Alex carrying Ann, she asked.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "She will need rest after shees out of her stunned state, you had to go through pain to get that power, and although Ann doesn''t need to go through that, she is going through something much harder than that."


    Alex exined to Alice, but Alice was shocked.


    "But isn''t she just stunned?" Alice asked with a confused expression covering her shocked expression.


    ''Something harder than the pain I felt?!?!'' She couldn''t think of anything harder than that.


    "She is getting a power to harm souls, Alice, and it is something that is much more powerful than anything you know of��..." Alex spoke with a mysterious seriousness.


    "��. How strong?" Alice asked as she saw Alex''s serious expression.


    "No one can save her enemies if they are hit by her attack, that''s how powerful that attack is," Alex replied.


    "But wouldn''t they just dodge the attack?" Alice asked with confusion although she was shocked by those revtions.


    "That''s the twist, her attacks are invisible," Alex smiled as he saw Alice stop on her track.


    Alex didn''t stop though, he continued on his way.


    He knew that soul was not something new to anyone, everyone knew what soul meant, it''s just that they never knew how powerful soul attacks are.


    If one doesn''t have soul defenses or a strong soul, then there is no saving them.


    Although Alex didn''t yet have a soul-rted skill, fortunately for him, his soul was strong enough to survive even a powerful supernova explosion.


    Alice, however, was now worried about her friend, if it was as Alex told her, and the thing that Ann had to go through was harder than the pain she felt, then she didn''t want to imagine herself in Ann''s ce.


    She just followed Alex to Ann''s room and waited for Ann to break out of her stunned state.


    ...


    ��


    ..


    .


    Ann''s eyelid trembled as she opened her eyes, but the first thing she did was cover her eyes with her hands as it was too bright for her even though the lights in the room were off.


    "It will be fine, just rx, close your eyes, and rx," Just then she heard a gentle voice from the side.


    "Are you all right, Ann?" Then another worried voice was heard.


    It was like thest string broke and the dam broke.


    "Ahh��." Ann sighed in relief as she cried.


    Alice hurriedly pulled Ann into a hug as she saw her crying. She hadn''t seen Ann cry a single time she had been with her, so looking at Ann cry was too much for her.


    Alice''s eyes started to water as well, but she didn''t let out a sob as she just patted Ann''s back.


    ''I am finally out....'' Ann was just so relieved that she was finally out of wherever she was till now.


    She kept hugging Alice as her watery eyes fell on Alex who was looking at her with gentle expression.


    ''Alex��.'' She didn''t know how many times she thought about him in her time inside the dark and empty ce.


    The only people she could think of in that ce were Alice and Alex, as she didn''t have anyone else in this world after she lost her parents to a gate break.


    Alex reached his hand forward as he wiped the tear off Ann''s face as he spoke.


    "It''s fine now, you are fine now, and you are stronger now," Alex said with a smile.


    Ann, who heard his words, finally took note of her power, and so did Alice.


    Alice could feel an unknown danger from Ann, she didn''t know what it was, but she could tell it was dangerous even for her.


    Ann also observed her power and for the first time she smiled happily, although the tears didn''t stop, she did look happy.


    "Thank you...��" This was thest thing she spoke to Alex as she drifted into her dreams in Alice''s arms.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 129: CHAPTER 129 – I’ll not lose next time (Recap end).

    (Back to the fight)


    Alice smiled as she remembered how Alex would still tease Ann by calling her crybaby even now, but Ann was too focused on her attack to notice anything else.


    ''If I get tired from the attack, then Alex is going to look after me...''


    Ann was making other ns right now as she knew that although her attack was quite powerful, and was a sure kill skill, it drained her out of her mana, making her weak both physically and mentally.


    This was also the reason why she didn''t use this skill at the gate till now as it would make her a piece of baggage if she used this skill early.


    Ann had decided to make this skill her trump card for boss fights or emergencies, though she knew that thetter condition was not going to happen with Alex by their side, it never hurts to be prepared, after all.


    ''Phew��.'' Ann focused and she found herself standing in the same dark ce but this time she wasn''t scared.


    She closed her eyes and opened them again.


    Now she was back in reality with her de or dagger charged with soul power, she shed the dagger toward the beasts that were running away.


    *Swish**Swish**Swish*��...


    The sound of a dagger being waved was heard.


    The beasts that were running away from Ann suddenly stopped dead in their tracks.


    There was no change until the beasts fell to the ground with a thump.


    The general public or the crowd that was running away and causing chaos also noticed that the beasts were killed so they cheered for Alex, Alice, and Ann by their names.


    By now, people had already identified who Alex, Alice, and Ann were as Alex had removed the disguise before they went to take care of the beasts.


    It would help them in elevating their image, after all, they were helping the public even in their off time.


    Alice then rushed toward Ann as she saw Ann staggering, but someone was faster than her.


    Alex who had seen Ann using her skill was already running toward her and he reached there before Alice, after all, Alice had slowed down when she found Alex running toward Ann.


    Little did she know that all of this was what her dear friend had wanted.


    Alex who saw Ann using her skill didn''t waste time and quickly ran toward her without even wearing the shirt he was about to take out of his storage.


    "Ah��." Lily who was still being hugged by Max who was a sobbing mess saw Alex dashing away, she tried to reach her hand out, but her hands were too short for that.


    In the end, she just hugged her dad, as she didn''t want to see her dad crying.


    Grace and Lily then focused on Max who was ming himself for whatever happened.


    .....................��


    "Hey, be careful there, you didn''t need to use that skill right now, you know��."


    Alex spoke with a sigh as he held staggering Ann in his arms.


    Ann didn''t say anything just nodded her head as she ced her head on Alex''s chest while holding his waist.


    ''Hehe, easy��.'' Ann was jumping inwardly as she got what she wanted.


    ''Oh��.'' Alex who saw Ann''s actions finally connected the dots.


    ''Well, not like I hate it��.''


    Alex didn''t like being yed with, but it was fine if it was something like this.


    Alice who was jogging towards Ann and Alex saw Ann smirking to herself.


    "Huh??"


    ''No way....'' Alice finally realized why Ann was using that skill when there was no actual need for it.


    ''Genius��.'' However, Alice didn''t curse or me Ann for using this chance.


    She just praised Ann for her genius while looking at her with envy.


    Alice wanted to be there as well, she wanted to feel how it felt as well, after all, even though she had seen Alex bare-chested before, she had never hugged him like that.


    ''Hmph, I''ll let you off this time��.'' Alice snorted as Ann''s eyes happened to meet hers.


    ''Hehehe��.'' Ann just smiled at Alice while tightening her hold around Alex.


    "Well, since you are this tiered, I''ll have to carry you to the hotel," just then Alex spoke with a fake sigh.


    Ann''s eyes brightened as she heard that, and she let Alex lift her into a princess carry without an ounce of resistance.


    Alice just looked at all this with envy in her eyes, but she sighed in the end.


    ''I''ll not lose next time,'' She made up her mind that she wasn''t going to let Ann have her way.


    .....................��


    (Present)


    Max, Grace, and Lily were sitting in a caf�� which is one of the most famous caf��s in the Violet Country.


    But today, unlike always, it was devoid of anyone.


    It was not because no one came there, people from other countriese to Violet Country every day just to visit this caf��, so it was not possible for it to be empty unless it was a special case.


    Today it was one of those special moments as the richest man of the Violet Country had booked the entire caf�� to have a meeting with some distinguished guests.


    The whole caf�� was surrounded by A-ranked raiders along with some S-rank in the mix.


    Max didn''t hold back as he used his power openly, without the fear of exposing his real strength to the public.


    "We wouldn''t have to wait till now if just I were in better shape at that time��.." Grace sighed as she remembered how Alex, Alice, and Ann moved away from the scene when they were busy looking after her.


    "Stop ming yourself for something that you didn''t even do."


    Max spoke sternly as he heard Grace mention the same thing for who knows how many times.


    "But-" Grace tried to protest but, Max cut her off.


    "No buts, I saw Alex Matthew picking up Ann White, surely it was not without reason, maybe they had their problems as well."


    Max concluded but Grace giggled as she heard his reasoning.


    "What''s funny?" Max looked at Grace as he frowned in confusion.


    "Nothing, dear. But you need to read some romance novels," Grace spoke between her giggles.


    ''A girl would do anything to be picked up by that guy, and yet you think there was a reason....'' She sighed inwardly.


    ''What do you mean-" Max was about to ask what Grace meant, but��.


    *Vrooom*


    The sound of a car''s exhaust was heard and the next second, Max''s phone rang.


    "Is it them?" Max asked directly as he picked up the phone.


    "Yes, sir," The reply from the other side was instantaneous.


    "Show them the way with the utmost respect," Max ordered and then hung up the phone.


    "They are here," Max then informed both Grace and Lily about their guests'' arrival, but he failed to notice that Lily was strangely quiet today.


    Both Max and Grace believed that Lily was just too excited to meet the big brother she talked about every day that she didn''t know what to say.


    What was the real reason?


    Only Lily can answer that.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 130: CHAPTER 130 – Meeting.

    Lily Steele, the daughter of Maximus Steele and Grace Steele is known to be a cheerful and mischievous child.


    She is na?ve and knows less about the real world as she lives in the world of her own imagination, she looks at the world differently.


    But her view changed and she herself changed after the gate break incident.


    It was like her eyes had been opened, she could finally see the world.


    The way the people ran without care for their own children, the way the same children got crushed underneath the feet of the crowd, she saw each and everything with her eyes wide open.


    These things were too much for her na?ve brain to process.


    So, she became quiet for some time.


    Max and Grace were sad when they saw this and they med themselves but soon, Lily started to turn normal.


    How could they have known that Lily was changing every minute and her mentality was changing?


    It started happening when the voice inside Lily''s head spoke for the first time, if not for that then Lily would''ve been depressed and silent for who knows how long.


    If before she was just a na?ve child then now, she turned into a child that adapts to any kind of situation.


    Max and Grace were happy with this change as they could tell that the smile Lily showed was not fake and she was really happy.


    They were happy that the incident didn''t leave any deep scar on Lily''s mind.


    Max med himself for keeping her sheltered from the reality of the world when Lily turned silent, after all, nowadays people train their children to be assassins, train them how to kill people, and train them how to defend themselves, but Max didn''t even let Lily watch action movies, much less train her.


    But he was happy that Lily turned out to be fine in the end, or he would''ve killed himself out of guilt.


    Right now, Lily was sitting with her dad and mom, waiting for the person she wanted to meet so much to arrive, but��.


    ''What is this feeling...?'' Lily wondered.


    She had been very excited about meeting Alex, but now that the time had arrived, she was feeling nervous, embarrassed, guilty, and many other emotions.


    Many of them were emotions that she never felt before.


    ''I want to meet that big brother, but I''m nervous,'' Lily muttered inwardly as she fidgeted on the spot.


    Just then��


    *Tap**Tap**Tap**Tap*....


    The sounds of some footsteps were heard along with a voice.


    "This way please," It was a polite male voice and it seemed to be showing the way to the guests they were waiting for.


    Grace and Max straightened their backs, as they looked toward the direction of the entrance to the openpartment they were sitting in.


    ''I have to hide!'' This was what Lily could think of the moment she heard those footsteps.


    She clenched her small and delicate hands as she looked towards the gate.


    ''I don''t want to! I will do what I want!'' Lily shouted in her mind.


    She didn''t like how her body wanted her to do something that she didn''t want to.


    The next second, all of theplicated feelings she was having vanished like they were never there in the first ce.


    But just then the guests they had been waiting for arrived and Lily''s eyes happened to meet Alex''s.


    Lily''s eyes that met Alex''s inadvertently looked away hurriedly.


    ''Why did I do that?'' Lily didn''t know why she did that.


    But she did it instinctively.


    ''Hoh? This is new��.'' Alex raised a brow as he saw this.


    "Thank you for making your time to meet us, Miss Alice, Mister Matthew, and Miss White."


    Max stood up along with Grace and spoke with a smile.


    Although he was a bit nervous as he had seen their power, he could tell that all three of them were either top-tier S-rankers or SS-rankers.


    He was not just a random guy who would lose his momentum because of that.


    He is someone with an SS-ranked subordinate and some S-ranked ones as well.


    "You don''t need to mention it, we wanted to visit this caf�� once anyway," Alice spoke with a smile.


    She was the guild master, with the highest authority among the three of them so she needed to be the one to answer, after all, Max was not just anyone.


    Max was the hidden leader of the Violet Country, and every high-ranking guild master knew that, including Alice.


    "I am still thankful to you guys," Max added with a smile after Alicepleted her words.


    "Why would that be?" Alice questioned with a confused look.


    They had already decided to keep it hidden so that they knew that it was Max and his family that Alex had saved.


    "We will talk about that, but please take a seat and enjoy some of this caf��''s famous delicacies."


    Max spoke and then pped his hands twice.


    *p**p*


    A soft mallow tune music was yed along with the change in the lighting.


    The lighting which was light blue had now changed to a tangerine color, making the atmosphere rxing, the music was just a plus to that atmosphere.


    "Please," Max gestured to Alice, Alex, and Ann with one hand outstretched towards the seats adjacent to his, Grace''s, and Lily''s.


    Alice, Ann, and Alex nodded with a smile as they moved towards the seat.


    Grace kept stealing nces at Alex as the image of Alex standing bare-chested was still fresh in her mind, even after the night activities she had with her husband.


    Lily just like Grace was stealing nces at Alex, but she was unable to look straight at him.


    Alice, Ann, and Alex sat on the seats Max had gestured them to.


    Alice was sitting adjacent to Max, Ann to Grace, while Alex sat adjacent to Lily, who still had her eyes on her shoes.


    But this time her actions didn''t go unnoticed by Grace and Max.


    Grace and Max exchanged a look.


    ''What''s wrong with, Lily?'' Max just looked at Grace then gestured toward Lily with his eyes and thought inwardly.


    ''I don''t know, let me ask,'' But as if reading Max''s mind, Grace nodded her head.


    "Lily, baby, what''s wrong?" Grace asked but Lily shook her head without saying anything.


    Grace and Max were about to get worried by her abnormal behavior.


    ''Did the food here upset her stomach?''


    ''Does she have a fever?''


    Many such questions were popping up in their minds, but just then a rxed and curious voice was heard.


    "Is this really the Lily Steele who is known for being naughty?" Alex asked as he rested his head on his palm.


    "I am not naughty!!" Lily eximed as she looked right into Alex''s eyes.


    She was like a cat whose tail was stepped up on.


    "That''s what a naughty kid would say though..." Alex added with the corner of his lips raised up.


    "I-I��." Lily didn''t know what to say now.


    Should she say, ''I am naughty?'' Hell no.


    Then should she say, ''I am not naughty?'' She would be repeating the same mistake, so a big no again.


    *Chuckle**Giggle*


    Giggles and chuckles broke out as everyone saw Lily''s face turning red after she realized that she was just being yed with.


    "Mommy!! Daddy!!"


    Lily eximed as she saw her mom and dad who were supposed to be on her side,ughing at her misery.


    "Hmph!" Lily folded her hands and looked away with a pout.


    "All right, all right, we are sorry," Grace spoke as she looked at Max with a smile.


    ''She was just nervous��.'' They both sighed with a smile.


    Lily, however, didn''t realize that just after Alex spoke, she could look at him without a problem.


    It was like his speaking to her, was a way of him giving Lily permission to look at him.


    But we don''t know for sure, so let''s leave it as that.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 131: CHAPTER 131 – Some Slice of life moments.

    It took a while for Max and Grace to convince Lily to believe that they were notughing at her, rather they wereughing at Alex that he didn''t know how good of a girl Lily was.


    Lily didn''t believe them at first, but she was a child after all, her mentality getting stronger and letting her adapt didn''t mean she became mature, so it didn''t take much time to convince her.


    By then the waiters came out with the dishes prepared with them.


    They brought along some trollies with them.


    The trollies were around the size of a washing machine, but what they had inside were some small cakes or pastries.


    But no one found it strange as that was how they served in this caf��.


    "Please try them all, they are said to be the best cakes and pastries you can find in the world."


    It was not something new and Alice, Alex, and Ann also knew that but Max still informed them, doing his job as a good host.


    "Thank you," Alice spoke as she picked up the spoon and took a bite of the pastry that was ced in front of her.


    "Hm!" Her eyes brightened as she tasted it.


    It was sweet, but not too sweet, it was soft as cotton, but hard where it needed to be.


    It just felt perfect to her, like there could be nothing better than that.


    ''Oh?'' Alex raised his brow as he saw Alice''s exaggerated expression, and so did Ann.


    Both Ann and Alex took a bite out of their tes as well, and unsurprisingly, they were surprised as well.


    Alex''s reaction was not much, but Ann was just like Alice as she quickly scooped another bite of the pastry.


    Max noticed Alex''s mellow reaction which caused him to ask.


    "Mister Matthew, do you not like-" But his words were cut short as Alex spoke before Max couldplete his words.


    "You know, being called mister by an old man makes me feel old as well," Alex spoke without even looking at Max.


    There was a short silence, no sound could be heard, and even Alice and Ann looked at Alex a bit dumbfoundedly.


    Grace was shocked as well, and so was Lily, but the next second both Grace and Lily exchanged nces before.


    "Hehehehe."


    "Hahahahaha."


    Melodiousughter from both Lily and Grace rang out, making everyone else smile as well.


    The still atmosphere turned jovial in a second.


    Max looked at Grace and Lily, but he didn''t say anything and just snorted.


    He then turned toward Alex and smirked.


    "What would you like to be called then? Prince? Hero? The seductive raider?"


    The atmosphere stilled again, and this time it was broken by Alice and Ann''sughter.


    "Hahahaha." X2


    Both of themughed with hands on their stomach as this is the thing they use to tease Alex as well.


    "I would''ve been happy if the one saying that was a beauty like Ms. Steele, instead of an old man like you, and to answer your question, I would rather have you call me Alex."


    Alex replied casually without much change in his expression as he bit on another piece of the pastry.


    Alex was using a tactic that worked well on humans psychologically.


    If you don''t show a hint of frustration or reaction to your opponent''s taunts, then the opponent would automatically think that they lost.


    There would only be two paths after that, either step back, or take a step forward, but taking a step forward would mean asking for serious trouble, which Alex could tell that Max didn''t want.


    "All right then Alex, do you not like the taste of the food here?" Just as expected, Max took a step back, he didn''t invite Alex to fight him, Alex was his family''s savior, after all.


    The ears of the staff nearby also perked up as they heard that question.


    But they just smiled confidently as they had never heard someone say that their dishes were not tasty, and just they had expected��...


    "No, it is tasty, I won''t deny that, it is better than any pastry I have eaten till now," Alex replied to Max, causing the staff members in the surroundings to raise their noses high.


    But Alex wasn''t done yet.


    "But I can tell that it can still be improved," As Alex''s words fell, the noses of the waiters that were raised up in the sky, were now scrunched up.


    But they knew their limit, so they didn''t say anything, they just exchanged nces and nodded to each other before one of them moved toward the main kitchen where the head chef was making the dishes.


    Alex could guess what was going to happen, but he couldn''t care less about them, while Max who heard Alex''s words looked at Alex dubiously.


    He knew that Alex was a strong raider and most probably the most handsome man in the world, but that didn''t mean that he could just say that the dish that is considered the top dish all over the world was not good.


    "What? You don''t believe me?" Alex looked up at Max and asked.


    Max opened his mouth to say something but��.


    "Forget it, it''s up to you to believe it or not, I just gave my honest opinion."


    Alex continued with a shrug.


    Max looked at Alex, unsure what to say now, but maybe he was lucky since Alice spoke.


    "He is actually a very good cook, for your information," Alice voiced out as she looked at Max.


    "Really?" Now Max was a bit interested.


    ''Maybe he does know cooking��.'' Max mused inwardly.


    "You won''t believe it, but if you were to eat this guy''s hand-made food, you wouldn''t like something else," Alice spoke with a nod.


    "Oh? I would love to have a taste," Max spoke as he looked at Alex, but Alexpletely ignored him as he was now looking toward the main kitchen''s gate.


    "If I were to say then he can probably make this same pastry better than it is," Alice continued as she looked at Alex, but then everyone noticed Alex looking at the gate of the main kitchen.


    Both Alice and Ann exchanged looks before they sighed, they could somehow tell that trouble wasing.


    ''Why can''t we have a single normal day!'' They eximed inwardly.


    "Are you going to cook?" Max, however, didn''t know that so he simply asked as he saw Alex looking toward the main kitchen.


    It was a normal conclusion anyone woulde to if they saw someone looking toward the kitchen when the topic being discussed at that moment was about the said person''s cooking skill.


    ''Well, I don''t think Damien would mind if Alex uses his kitchen,'' Max thought inwardly.


    "Not really��." Alex spoke causing Max to turn confused.


    But before Max could ask something, the gate of the main kitchen was opened and a voice was heard.


    "Pardon my intrusion."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 132: CHAPTER 132 – The owner of the café.

    "Pardon my intrusion."


    As the voice fell and the sliding voice of the main kitchen''s door was heard, every head turned toward the source of the voice.


    Max who saw the personing out of the gate suddenly had his eyes shine with realization.


    ''Shit, that bad habit of his!''


    Max cursed himself for asking the question to Alex.


    ''Why do I keep forgetting that this bastard hates his food being judged��.''


    Max could tell what had happened, after all, it was not hard to guess.


    He knew the person walking toward them, he had known him quite well since they were childhood friends.


    He had known that guy for as long as he could remember, so he knew every good and bad habit of the said guy.


    One of those bad habits was that he was very arrogant, especially when it came to his cooking.


    The man that was walking toward them was Damien Foster, he was the owner as well as the head chef of the world-famous caf��, the one they were in right now.


    He was a chubby man with fluffy cheeks that vibrated with every step of his. He was short in height as he was around 165 cm even after the changes the world had gone through.


    Now, some would ask: What do the changes in the world have to do with the height of a person?


    It''s quite simple because when the mana shockwave was released in the world, new awakeners emerged, old ones gained power, and many other things.


    One of the things that happened was the changes in people''s physique.


    Most of the people around the world grew in height as their bodies grew stronger.


    For example, Frank grew from 174 to 180, reaching quite close to Alex''s previous height.


    (Alex right now is 188 cm in height)


    But Damien was among the few unlucky people to not have their heights increased.


    But that didn''t mean he was weak; Damien was quite strong as he needed to be powerful to control the world-famous caf�� or it would just be stolen by some powerful person.


    Damien was a low-tier S-ranker, but that was after the mana shockwave, he was an A-ranker before that.


    Although being Max''s friend was enough to keep him safe in the world, he never asked for help. That''s how arrogant he was.


    "I heard someone say that my food was not that good and it could be improved," Damien spoke as soon as he reached them.


    He had his hand crossed in front of his chest, but it seemed hard for him to do it because of his fat body.


    Damien had his eyes locked on Alex who was back to eating and was nowpletely ignoring Damien.


    "Let me introduce you, this is Damien Foster, the owner of this caf��, please don''t mind him, it was my fault for bringing it up, it slipped my mind that it was a sensitive topic for Damien," Max stood up with a smile and spoke before the matter could worsen.


    He knew why Damien was a bit sensitive when it came to the dishes, so he didn''t want Alex and the group to misunderstand him.


    But does Alex care about those things?


    "I was just speaking the truth," Alex shrugged as he spoke.


    "You��." Damien almost cursed when he heard Alex speak, but Max held his hand from behind, stopping him from continuing.


    "This is Alex Matthew, the honorary guild master of the Crimson Lotus Guild, then there is Miss Alice, the guild master of the Crimson Lotus Guild, and Miss White, her secretory," Max spoke, reminding Damien of who the people in front of him were.


    Damien''s head cooled down as he remembered who it was that he was talking to.


    Max had told him before about whom he was going to invite and for whom he was booking the whole caf��, but when he heard his cooking being berated, he couldn''t think straight.


    Damien knew what Alex had done for Max, and he was very grateful about it. Alex''s image in his mind was that of a hero who would go save people.


    But it didn''t mean that he was going to keep quiet about what Alex had said.


    "I am sorry for my disrespect earlier, it is just that this topic is a bit sensitive for me that I could not think straight," Damien apologized by lowering his head a bit causing Alice who was getting annoyed by the guy''s attitude to nod her head.


    Alice and Ann knew that Alex was not just saying what he said and he must have meant each and every word, so they just found Damien''s arrogance annoying.


    Ann, however, didn''t nod, she could see Damien''s eyes, and she could tell that he wasn''t done yet, and just like she thought, Damien spoke again.


    "But I still can''t take your statement lying down, sir.


    The dishes served in this caf�� are the result of my father''s lifelong efforts, he worked hard every day till the day he died, just to perfect these dishes.


    But he died with a smile as he did achieve what he wanted, but hearing you say that it is not perfect would make my father''s effort meaningless."


    Damien''s voice broke a bit when he spoke about his father but it was not noticed by anyone other than Alex and Max.


    Max sighed as he patted Damien''s back lightly.


    ''Uh...'' X2


    Alice and Ann also didn''t know what to say now as it was an emotional matter, and they finally found out why this guy was behaving like that just because of what Alex said.


    Lily was sitting on the side as she wondered why she was feeling a bit angry at her uncle Damien who always treats her with sweets.


    She didn''t like seeing her uncle Damien talking to the big brother like he did before.


    But she stayed quiet as her dad had always taught her not to speak when adults are talking about something serious, and the talk right now looked serious enough to her.


    Alex finally looked at Damien, but there was not a hint of regret, remorse, guilt, or any emotion other than curiosity as he spoke.


    "So, you want me to take back my words?" Alex asked with a raised brow.


    "Yes, but if you don''t want to, then please point out what you think is not perfect, I have been trying to make this dish better from the time my father died, but I have yet to find a single fault in it."


    Damien replied as he looked right into Alex''s eyes.


    Just for the respect he had for Alex and for the fact that Alex had saved Max''s family before, he was willing to believe that Alex was not just spouting bullshit.


    But Alex''s reply shocked everyone.


    "Why should I do any of that?"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 133: CHAPTER 133 – What do you mean?

    When you hear about someone, be it anything, even the smallest of details about them, you form an image of them in your mind.


    The image depends on what you hear or what you believe, and it takes quite a lot of time to ce someone so high that you would respect them.


    But to make your opinion about the same person falls low, it just takes a single word.


    That''s what happened here.


    Just as Alex''s voice fell, all the respect Damien had for Alex crumbled, while Max started to doubt as well.


    But Alice and Ann knew that Alex had no interest in provoking or taunting someone who didn''t do anything to him, which meant a single thing: Something else was going on.


    "So, you were no-" Damien was about to say something as anger shed in his voice, but it seemed like Alex was not done yet.


    "Why should I do any one of those things for a guy who sold his own friend for some kind of profit."


    The words that were about toe out of Damien''s mouth got stuck in his throat as he looked at Alex with his brows frowned.


    Alice and Ann were now looking intently at Damien while Max who was patting Damien on the back also stopped as he looked at Alex with the most serious face he could have.


    Other than Lily, no one here was stupid enough to not get what Alex''s words implied.


    "What do you mean, Alex?" Max spoke as he looked at Alex with an expression that clearly said that he was not believing Alex''s words.


    Max knew that there was no permanent friend in this world, and everyone had a price that they would even sell their best of best friends for, but Max didn''t think that Damian would do that.


    It was not a simple matter; Alex was directly using his childhood friend of betraying him.


    But Alex kept looking at Damien who was frowning in confusion as he looked at Alex.


    ''I see��'' Alex muttered inwardly.


    "Well, my bad, looks like it''s not you," Alex spoke with a shrug, but Damien still didn''t know what was happening.


    "What do you mean?" Damien asked the same thing Max asked and now, Grace, Max, Alice, Ann, and Lily were all looking at Alex as well.


    Alex looked at everyone before he nodded his head and waved his hand.


    Damien, Max, Alice, Ann, Grace, and Lily could feel something pass over them, some kind of thin barrier-like thing.


    "I just made an air barrier," Alex spoke, gathering their attention.


    "What is an air barrier, big brother?" Lily spoke for the first time as she looked around curiously.


    ''Why can''t I see it��'' She wondered inwardly.


    Lily felt something pass over her, just like others, but she couldn''t see it.


    Although she knew about raiders, she had never seen one use a skill from this close as she was a sheltered daughter of the Steele house.


    "Oh, are you curious?" Alex smiled as he asked that.


    "Yes!" Lily nodded her head vigorously.


    "An air barrier has many functions, but right now, I''m using it for soundproofing," Alex nodded as he spoke.


    He somehow couldn''t stop himself from talking to Lily.


    "Oh, cool!" Lily eximed.


    "That it is," Alex chucked.


    In normal cases, the atmosphere would have turned merry by now, but not right now.


    The air was still thick with seriousness.


    "Now, to answer your questions," Alex looked at Max and Damien simultaneously.


    "There is a bomb ced under the building, oh, and it is strong enough to blow an S-rank raider to pieces for your information."


    Alex spoke and just as he finished his words, Damien, Max, and Grace''s bodies tensed.


    "Must have cost a lot of fortune to get that thing��." Alice''s mutter was heard.


    "So, the news about the internal struggle was not false��." Then Ann muttered as she looked at the tab she was holding.


    Alice and Ann were not scared of something that could ''blow an S-rank raider into pieces'', it would not even be able to scratch them.


    Their mana pressure alone was powerful enough to kill S-rankers after all.


    But Max, Damien, and Grace were far from being calm.


    Grace was already holding Lily in her arms right now.


    "You mean to say that someone nted a bomb in my caf��, under my watch, and that too when my friend is here with dozens of strong raiders?"


    Damien asked in disbelief.


    He forgot about the matter of his dishes, right now this topic was what needed his attention.


    "Hm? I already said it, didn''t I? What do you want me to do now? Point out where the bomb is?"


    Alex asked as he looked at Damien as if he were an idiot.


    "No, but how are you so su-" Damien was about to speak but his words were cut off for the third time in a short while.


    "Look here," Alex spoke again, but this time gone was his carefree and rxed attitude, he looked at Damien with cold eyes and spoke.


    Other than Lily, everyone else in the room could feel a chill run up their spine.


    For Max, Damien, and Grace it was because they were scared, but for Alice and Ann, it was because they were excited.


    It was very rare to see Alex serious, but they would fall for him again and again when they saw his serious face.


    ''He just looks so hot with that expression!'' X2


    This is what both Alice and Ann were thinking.


    "It''s been a while since you have been asking me this and that. Just because I keep answering doesn''t mean that I will keep answering them.


    I''m not your subordinate, nor am I your ve, so you better know your ce."


    Damien could feel the coldness in Alex''s voice increasing as the words came to an end, and his body turned stiff.


    He couldn''t move for a while.


    ''Is he really an SS-ranker?'' Max had just one question in his mind.


    But then both Max and Grace suddenly remembered something, and their heads snapped toward Lily.


    "Please stop releasing the pressure, my daughter is not powerful enou-" Max eximed even before he looked at Lily but he stopped his words as he saw Lily sitting there beside Grace, looking at him in confusion.


    "I am sorry for raising my voice, I was just worried about my daughter, and thank you for sparring her of the pressure," Max bowed his head to Alex just after he saw Lily.


    "It''s all right, I understand, and you don''t need to thank me, I would never harm someone as cute as Lily," Alex spoke as he smiled at Lily.


    "Hehe��" Lily just giggled.


    She didn''t know what was happening but she understood that Alexplemented her.


    "I will try searching for the bomb along with my subordinates," Damien who had been frozen for a while finally spoke as he moved out of the barrier but Max stopped him.


    "Wait."


    Damien looked at Max with a questioning gaze.


    "Use my subordinates, we can''t trust anyone right now," Max didn''t say much, but Damien got what he meant.


    Damien knew about Max''s ability after all.


    "I will do that," Damien spoke as he moved out.


    "Grace, take Lily and get wait in the car outside," Max then turned toward Grace and spoke.


    "All right," Grace said as she stood up.


    "Let''s go back to the car, Lily, we wille back in a while, Daddy needs to do some work."


    Grace then spoke to Lily who nodded her head but then she turned toward Alex.


    "You won''te with us, big brother?" She asked as she looked at Alex with her big watery eyes.


    "I can''t, but don''t worry, I''m not going anywhere, and I will be waiting for you here, just wait for your father to call you back," Alex just smiled at Lily.


    "Ok!" Lily nodded happily as she moved out of the room with Grace holding her hand.


    "Excuse me," Max spoke as he moved out as well.


    He needed to look into it after all, and since Alex didn''t tell them where the bomb was, he needed to search for that as well.


    Max didn''t ask for Alex, Alice, and Ann to move out as well since he knew that they were not his tomand or order, they would do what they think is right.


    "Now that they are gone, are you going to tell us where the bomb is?" Alice questioned just as she saw Max leaving her sight.


    Alex looked at both Alice and Ann, from looking into their eyes he could that they were dying of curiosity.


    "Well, it is...."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 134: CHAPTER 134 – Found the Bomb.

    "None of our sensory-type raiders can find anything, Alex. Are you sure there is an explosive in this ce?"


    Max asked as Damien was standing right behind him with his hand folded behind his back.


    Both of them had been searching for the bomb or explosive, as Alex had told them, but they had yet to find a clue as to where it could be.


    Alex didn''t speak; it was Ann who spoke instead.


    "There is a bomb; he already told us where it is, so we can vouch for his words," Ann spoke as she looked right into Max''s eyes with a serious expression.


    She didn''t like the fact that they were doubting Alex''s words, but she couldn''t do anything, they didn''t know that Alex had sensory power after all.


    "But we can''t find it..." Damien spoke in a low voice, and Max added.


    "We used an S-rank sensory raider, but he couldn''t sense anything," Max sighed.


    This matter was getting extended without any reason.


    ''Why can''t he just tell us...?'' Damien was getting frustrated as he saw Alex just sitting there doing nothing but not telling them where the explosive was ced.


    "''Why can''t he just tell us where the bomb is?'' This is what you''re thinking, aren''t you?" As if reading Damien''s mind, Alex spoke out loud as he looked at Damien, who had a shocked face.


    ''Can he read minds?'' This is what Damien could think of and again��


    "No, I can''t read minds; it''s just your expression that tells me everything," Alexmented, and then he looked at Max.


    "You want to know why I''m not just telling you guys where the explosive is ced, don''t you?"


    Alex asked and Max nodded his head without a thought.


    "Do you know that you and your family, along with your friend, would''ve died if the explosion happened?" Alex questioned, but the question caused both Max and Damien to freeze.


    Max and Damien realized that they had been taking this matter very lightly, just because everyone was out of harm right now.


    "If I didn''t inform you guys about it, then you would probably be eating and chatting happily without knowing that this could actually be thest meal you ever have," Alex added.


    Max and Damien exchanged looks before they bowed their heads in shame.


    ''He just saved our lives��.'' X2.


    Just because they couldn''t find the bomb, they started doubting Alex, but they never thought of what would''ve happened if there was a bomb and Alex hadn''t informed them about it.


    "I just wanted to see what actions the hidden leader of the violet country would take; after all, he is known to be a very good strategist and a deep thinker, someone who could find a way out of the most difficult situations."


    Alex continued as he looked at Max.


    Max raised his head and looked at Alex with a sorry expression.


    "But all I see is a man with a very big weakness, a weakness so big that it might make that man lose his all one day," Alex concluded with that.


    Alice and Ann also looked at Max.


    Alex already informed them why he was doing this when they asked him about it a while ago.


    He didn''t want an ally that would be more of a burden than support for him.


    Max looked at Alex; he knew what weakness Alex was talking about, but he didn''t speak and let Alex continue.


    "You love your family; it is good; you should.


    But when ites to your family, you be stupid; even now, you must be thinking of them and keeping an eye on them rather than focusingpletely on the thing that could potentially kill you as you are in its range."


    Alex shook his head as he continued.


    "I know you are a good man, and you care about your family so much that you are ready to give your life up, but have you ever thought about it from their perspective?


    No, right?


    Give it some thought sometime."


    Alex spoke as he stood up and started stretching.


    Max and Damien exchanged looks again before they nodded their heads and got ready to go searching again.


    The respect for Alex that was wavering within them had reached a new height.


    But before they could move, Alex''s voice was heard.


    "Where are the two of you going?" He asked with confusion visible on his face.


    "To find the explosive?" Damien answered in an unsure tone.


    Shouldn''t it be clear what they were going to do? Why did Alex still ask them?


    "What do you think I stood up for?" Alex asked as he was done stretching.


    Damien''s and Max''s eyes shone with realization as they nodded their heads.


    "Not like you guys have the time to search for it; it will explode in 10 seconds after all," Alex shrugged but his words made both Max and Damien panic.


    "Shouldn''t we move out away from the ce the bomb is, then?" Max asked hurriedly, but Alex didn''t reply; it was Alice who replied.


    "He is not as weak as you guys think of him to be; even if that explosive sted right on his face, it wouldn''t put a scratch on him," Alice said proudly, as if she were talking about herself and not Alex.


    Alex just smiled as he heard her words.


    [She trusts you with everything she has.]


    Suddenly, Sophia spoke in a low voice.


    ''You mean to say that you don''t do the same?'' Alex raised his brow inwardly.


    [Hehe, who knows, maybe I do, maybe I do not��.]


    Sophia just giggles mysteriously.


    Alex just shook his head before he moved toward the trolly that the pastry was bought in and kicked it lightly from below.


    The trolly was propelled up in the air but Alex''s masterful control over the wind element stopped it from falling down.


    But Max and Damien had their eyes widen when they saw it.


    They were not shocked by the power disy; they were shocked because they could see something wrapped in ck clothing stuck below the trolly and they could clearly hear the ticking sound from it.


    "It was never hidden; it was in front of us from the start, and your raiders couldn''t sense it because of this ck clothing," Alex pointed at the explosive as he stated.


    "That bastard..." Damien cursed under his breath as he knew who was the one who brought this trolly.


    It was the same guy who informed Damien about Alex''sment on his dish.


    But before he could shout an order to catch the guy and bring him here, all of them heard the ticking sound stop.


    They realized what was happening, but it was already toote.


    They hadpletely forgotten that there were only 10 seconds left before the explosion because of the rxed demeanor that Alex was showing.


    Everything turned slow for them; they could see the ck cloth wrapping that explosive turning red as the explosive had gone off and the st was about to happen.


    Max and Damien hurriedly jumped to take cover, but they knew they wouldn''t make it.


    Their eyes, however, were fixed on Alex as they saw him snapping his fingers.


    *Snap*


    It was a single snap, but it sounded so loud that they thought it was an explosion.


    But it didn''t end there; the next instant, they felt something wash over them, something they couldn''t resist, and then they could feel their body''s temperature and many other properties were out of their control.


    They didn''t know what was happening, but it was very dangerous.


    It was like they were living at someone''s mercy.


    Along with the snap, the time that had slowed down from their perspectives continued again as they fell to the ground behind the cover they were trying to hide behind.


    Alice and Ann also felt the same; however, it was Alice who felt it more.


    Alice could feel that if she were to use her mes right now, they could be used to kill her.


    But it didn''t take them long to realize who was the reason for it, as all of their eyes turned towards Alex, only to widen in shock at what they saw.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 135: CHAPTER 135 – Nothing special?!?!

    Alex had used his domain or zone for the second time since he got it.


    He could''ve just made a vacuum around the explosion by sucking the air out of a particr spot, but he thought that using the domain was easier, so he did it.


    The feeling of something wash over them that everyone near Alex felt was the expansion of Alex''s domain.


    With his power limited to SS rank, he couldn''t expand it much, only a 5-meter radius, but that was enough to cover all of them as they were standing quite close.


    The explosion that was about to happen paused as it was.


    The st that was supposed to make arge explosion was now a ball of paused explosion in Alex''s hand.


    It was like Alex was holding a model of an exploding in his hand as the explosion was paused before it could stpletely.


    The st was around the size of a football when it froze.


    Right now, Alex had that football-sized explosion floating right above his hand.


    The explosion was bubbling and moving around, but it didn''t try to expand, it stayed floating above Alex''s hand like a tame pet.


    This was seen by Max, Damien, Alice, and Ann, resulting them in opening their eyes wide in shock.


    ''That''s an explosion that could blow an S-ranker into bits, for fucks sake!''


    This is what they wanted to scream but they kept looking as Alex started balling up his palm and the explosion that was floating above it also started to shrink along with it.


    From the size of a football to the size of a handball, then to a cricket ball, then a tennis ball, then into the size of a marble, then it continued getting smaller until it finally disappeared altogether.


    Just as the ball of explosion disappeared, the feeling of many things being under someone else''s control also vanished.


    ''Phew��.'' X2


    Both Damien and Max sighed in relief, after all, no one likes to be under someone''s control.


    "What was that?!" Alice eximed just as Alex deactivated his Domain.


    *Crash*


    Alex let go of the trolly he was holding up in the air which caused it to crash onto the floor.


    "I couldn''t control my fire at all!" Alice spoke in a shocked voice but then her hand was held by Ann who gestured Alice toward Max and Damien with her eyes.


    ''Ah��'' Alice realized her mistake, she turned towards Alex to say something only to find him looking at her with a smile that said, ''It''s all right''.


    Alice just lowered her head with a small smile on her face.


    Max and Damien didn''t look at any of that, they had their focus on what Alex was going to say.


    They had the same question as Alice, but they couldn''t ask that question.


    However, they did realize one thing: Even Alice didn''t know what it was.


    That was something that shocked them.


    ''Isn''t she the guild master? Shouldn''t she know everything about her guild members'' ability, that too if it''s this strong?''


    They didn''t voice it out, but Alex became a very mysterious person in their minds now.


    "It''s nothing special, just a skill of mine," Alex just waved his as he spoke rxedly while moving toward his seat.


    ''Nothing special?!?! What the fuck?!?!'' X2


    Damien and Max eximed in their minds while sighing.


    It was their fault for getting their hopes up that Alex was going to reveal his abilities that even Alice didn''t know of in front of them.


    Alice and Ann just giggled inwardly as they saw Max and Damien''s reaction.


    ''Is that how I used to react before as well��.?'' X2


    Both of them wondered but they quickly shook their heads as they couldn''t imagine themselves reacting like that.


    Alex who sat on his seat ignored the reaction of the people around him as he took out a golden pen from the upper pocket of the coat he was wearing.


    Then he picked up a napkin ced on the table and started writing something on it.


    This action attracted the attention of everyone in the room and Ann who was sitting right beside Alex raised her as she saw what he was writing before she shrugged.


    "What is it?" Alice asked Ann in a low whisper.


    "You''ll know in a while," Ann replied mysteriously.


    "Don''t," Alice directly spoke with a cringed face.


    "...What?" Ann asked with a long pause, but a rosy blush could be seen on her face.


    "One Alex is enough, please," Alice requested.


    Ann just looked away to hide her face as she nodded her head.


    Max and Damien who saw Alex, Alice, and Ann busy with their own things exchanged a nce before they nodded at each other.


    "I''ll go bring Grace and Lily back here," Max spoke and Damien nodded his head.


    "I will be going as well, need to take care of the traitor along with getting some information out of him," Damien nodded his head as well and moved away before giving ast nce to Alex.


    Damien still remembers Alex''sment earlier, but he is not that much of a bad guy to point it out even now.


    He is arrogant, sure, but only where he could show arrogance, and none of the people here were someone he could show his arrogance to.


    "Just keep him alive, I will do the questioning," Max spoke as his eyes turned cold.


    Damien looked into Max''s eyes and then nodded his head before moving away.


    "I will be back with Lily and Grace, also, sorry for all the inconvenience you had to go through because of me, I didn''t think that we would be targeted even with so many raiders out there."


    Max then turned toward Alice as he bowed his head a bit.


    "No one''s harmed and we are fine as well, so don''t worry, but take Alex''s advice to your heart," Alice nodded as she reminded Max of Alex''s advice earlier.


    "I will," Max spoke as he looked at Alex.


    ''Just how much more debt are you going to put me in?'' He sighed with a smile before he walked away.


    He didn''t disturb Alex as he could see that Alex was busy with whatever he was doing.


    Just as Max left the ce leaving Alice, Ann, and Alex alone, Alice and Ann''s faces turned serious.


    "That ck clothing that was covering the explosive earlier...." Ann didn''tplete her words as she saw Alex nodding.


    Alex was done with whatever he was writing so he looked up and spoke.


    "Yes, it was the same clothes used by the mysterious group that attacked the auction house."


    Alexpleted Ann''s words.


    Alice and Ann''s expressions turned more serious as their doubts were confirmed.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 136: CHAPTER 136 – The Mysterious Group.

    The mysterious group that appears out of nowhere and vanishes into nowhere is quite famous all over the world as they have been stealing many things, and all of those things were the ones with the most value.


    Alice, Alex, and Ann had been moving from one country to another, clearing gates, but they were not just clearing gates, they were gathering information from everywhere as having more information never hurts.


    In those pieces of information, they found many files mentioning that mysterious group of people. It was like they were everywhere and nowhere at the same time.


    Alex came to the same conclusion as anyone investigating this case.


    "They probably have many space skill users."


    Although it sounded absurd, this was the only conclusion one could think of.


    There was only one known space element user all over the world, so of course it would be hard to believe that there is a group of people who can use space element.


    "Or maybe they have some item or artifact that helps them control space in some way."


    But Alex thought of another possibility.


    It was possible after all.


    However, even after they searched for the said group when they had free time, they could never find them.


    They knew one thing though, and it was that this mysterious group was moving all around the world and it had a lot of connections.


    It was not hard toe to that conclusion since the information they got was in pieces and iplete.


    It was as if someone had deleted or removed something from between them.


    It was the first time they found a trace of those ck-clothed mysterious group in Violet Country.


    "What should we do?" Alice asked as she heard Alex confirming their thoughts.


    "We wait," Alex answered with a smile.


    "Huh?" X2


    Alice and Ann didn''t understand why Alex wanted to wait.


    "Don''t we already know who is responsible for the attack?" Alice asked in a perplexed tone.


    "It''s clear as a day," Alex nodded his head.


    "Then can''t we just go and search them up? You can use your disguise skill that will help us in looking for the information without being detected, and we can get the information before someone tempers with it again."


    Ann spoke as she made up the whole n.


    They had found a few guilds that could be rted to the group but by the time they got their hands on any information rted to that mysterious group, many parts of that information would be messed up orpletely gone.


    "We can do that, sure, but we don''t know if the result would be the same or there would be any difference.


    Rather than going with on a path that I''m not sure of, I would suggest we go for the path that would get us what we want for sure."


    Alex replied to Ann.


    "How will waiting be helpful in this situation?" Alice asked with confusion clear in her voice.


    "We have been digging up information on them and we are the strongest force in the world right now, you know these things, right?"


    Alex asked as he looked into Alice''s eyes.


    "Yes," Alice nodded her head.


    "They had attacked some strong forces before, you know that as well, right?" Alex then turned to Ann and asked.


    "Yes," Ann also nodded her head.


    "Why were we not attacked yet?" Alex asked, and Ann answered without thinking much as the answer was clear.


    "Because we are strong."


    "But they did attack us now, did they not?" Alex asked Ann with a light smile.


    Ann widened her eyes in realization.


    Alex just smiled as he saw that Ann got what he meant but he still continued as he could see Alice still hadn''t caught up.


    "Them attacking us or having a hand in the attack that could harm us means that they are now strong enough to fight us or they have something that gives them the confidence that they could defeat us.


    There''s a possibility that all of this was a way for them to lead us into a trap made by them, and I would rather not take chances.


    The best thing to do right now is wait, we wait for them to get frustrated enough to attack us directly, and then we can get all the information we want about them from their own mouths."


    Alex concluded his point with that, and he could see that Alice was now hit by realization as well.


    "You get what I mean, right?" Alex asked Alice with a smile.


    "Yes!" Alice nodded her head repeatedly, showing that she really understood what Alex meant.


    "Good," Alex nodded as he patted her head gently.


    "Hehe��." Alice giggled as she closed her eyes to enjoy the pats.


    Ann looked at Alex with such intensity that Alex could feel her gaze piercing him.


    But he just chuckled.


    "Just say it if you want it as well," Alex just shrugged as he continued to pat Alice who didn''t even hear anything as she was enjoying her time.


    "Then pat me as well," Ann spoke clearly without a stutter.


    Alex raised a brow as he was a bit surprised by her straight and instantaneous response. He didn''t think that Ann would be able to do it, but he could see Ann clenching her fists, trying hard to hide her embarrassment.


    [You are underestimating her willpower; her willpower is so strong that I was doubting if that was even possible for a normal human with no bloodline.]


    Sophiamented as she could tell why Alex was surprised.


    ''I know, she is special,'' Alex just spoke dotingly as heplimented Ann.


    Sophia just shook her head and sighed inwardly.


    Alex then smiled as he lifted his hand and patted Ann as well.


    ''I somehow miss Noctura, right now��.'' Alex muttered inwardly.


    [You were the one who permitted her to go, no use regretting it now.]


    Sophiamented on Alex''s words.


    Alex didn''t reply to it as he really did give Noctura permission to go hunt alone.


    "Well, that''s it for now, I don''t want to spoil you guys too much," Alex spoke with a smirk as he retracted his hand and sat back on his seat.


    Alice and Ann opened their mouths to say something but then they heard some footsteps and realization hit them.


    They just red at Alex.


    ''Just say the real reason!'' X2


    They eximed inwardly.


    They could tell why Alex stopped patting them since they could hear peopleing toward them.


    Their rtionship was still not confirmed after all, they were just in the dating phase, and that too was destroyed.


    ''Where''s the fun in that,'' Alex just chuckles inwardly as if he could read their thoughts.


    The owner of the footstep finally came to view and it turned out to be Damien along with some waiters bringing the dishes.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 137: CHAPTER 137 – Product S.

    "Bring Cain to me, right now!"


    Damien ordered his men after he moved away from thepartment Alex and the group were sitting in.


    The waiters in the room looked at each other.


    They could tell that their boss was angry just by looking at his eyes, and they knew better than to pin an angry bull.


    One of them nodded his head, epting the task of answering their boss.


    The guy took a deep breath before he moved towards Damien and bowed his head.


    "Cain left a while ago saying that he had some problem at his home, Sir."


    "And you guys just let him go without even asking me?!?!" Damien eximed in disbelief.


    The guy who had stepped forward coiled back as he heard his boss''s words, but he still answered.


    "He said that it was very important and he had already asked you," The guy replied fearfully.


    All of the chefs and waiters already knew what their boss was going to say now, they had already guessed that Cain made a mistake and he was just running away.


    "And none of you all thought of confirming that with me?!" Damien shouted before he started taking long breaths to calm himself down.


    ''ming them over something that had already happened won''t get me anywhere, so let''s think of what to do now,'' Damien thought inwardly as he took a deep breath.


    "You," Damien pointed at a guy who was standing in the end.


    The guy moved forward.


    "Jake, Sir." The guy, Jake, introduced himself.


    "I know, and you live close to Cain, right?" Damien waved his hand as he spoke.


    "Yes, Sir," Jake replied with his back straightened.


    "Take three people from here and bring Cain back here before 30 minutes, whether you use force or love it''s up to you, but I want him here in 30 minutes, not a minutete."


    Damien spoke as he looked into Jake''s eyes with an expression that said that he wouldn''t be taking a no for an answer.


    "��. Yes, Sir," Jake replied in a low voice.


    "I didn''t hear you," Damien growled.


    "Yes, Sir!!" Jake quickly eximed loudly.


    "Good, now go," Damien waved his hand as if shooing him away.


    However, Jake just like everyone else in the room was thinking just one thing.


    ''What did you do, Cain?''


    Damien who was done with the matter of Cain, now turned toward another guy and spoke.


    "Jamial, go bring the product S."


    His words won''t have a special meaning for anyone who doesn''t work here but for those who work here, it was like a thunderbolt striking them.


    "P-p-product S, Sir?" Jamial, the guy whom Damien ordered to bring the product S, asked unsurely.


    He was doubting whether he heard it right or not.


    "Do you have a bad ear, Jamial?" Damien''s eyes turned sharp as he asked.


    "N-no, Sir," Jamial replied.


    "Then I don''t need to repeat myself for you, do I?" Damien asked he looked away from Jamial and moved toward his seat.


    "No, Sir!" Jamial answered.


    "Then go bring what I asked for.


    "Yes, Sir!" Jamial ran to do what he was asked for.


    ''Let''s see what you think of my best product,'' Damien spoke inwardly.


    Alex''sment was still ringing in his head.


    He was grateful to Alex, rightfully so as Alex had saved his life, but that only made him want to prove his skills and his father''s blood and sweat to Alex.


    .........................


    Damien brought the pastry he called product S along with him as he was right behind the waiter who was pushing the trolly.


    He could see Alex, Alice, and Ann looking at him but didn''t know why he felt some kind of malice hidden in Alice and Ann''s eyes.


    But he couldn''t tell for sure as it was just his feeling so he ignored it, feelings were not always right, after all.


    "This here is the best dish I ever created, it was stored in a cold storage for some very very special asion, but I want you to taste it."


    Damien spoke as soon as the waiter ced the te with a lid over it in front of Alex, Alice, and Ann.


    "Why?" Alex asked a simple one-word question, but Damien knew what Alex meant.


    "I don''t want a customer of mine to go away unsatisfied by my creation, not when I came to respect that guest of mine," Damien spoke and for the first time smiled as well.


    Alex looked at Damien for a while before he nodded his head.


    "Please," Damien gestured for them to dig in as the waiters removed the lids from the tes.


    *Gasp* X2


    Alice and Ann gasped as they saw the pastry.


    It would be bad to call it a pastry as they would prefer to call it a piece of art.


    It was a golden pastry with ck or dark brown designs over it. The pastry had some intricate letters over it that seemed to be some oldnguage.


    The golden color and the sharp edges, along with the intricate design gave the pastry an ancient royal piece of art.


    Even Alex raised his brow as he found the piece quite attractive and eye-catching.


    Alex picked up the spoon and elegantly took a bite of the pastry.


    "Oh��'' Alex''s eyes brightened as he tasted it.


    ''This one is better, at least 10 times better than the one I ate before,'' Alex evaluated the pastry inwardly.


    Damien who could see the reaction of Alex smiled as he knew that Alex was enjoying it.


    Alice and Ann were slowly eating each bite as they closed their eyes to savor thest bit of the sweetness the pastry could give, and Damien just stood there proudly.


    What more could an artist ask than his art being praised?


    "This is good, really good, many things that were missing in thest one are not missing in this one," Alex finally spoke, and Damien just lifted his nose higher.


    "Of course, it is the result of my hard work and my father''s recipe, I had to give a week of my time just to bake enough for 10 people to eat," Damien spoke with pride in his eyes, but Alex wasn''t done with his words.


    "But I would like you to read this," Alex spoke as he passed the piece of napkin that he was writing on earlier to Damien.


    Damien took the piece of napkin with confusion visible on his face.


    ''What is it?'' He wondered, but then he saw something written on the napkin.


    Just as he read the first line, his eyes widened in surprise and realization.


    He started muttering something to himself as he kept reading it.


    It took a while toe out of his thoughts as he snapped his head toward Alex and asked in a bewildered tone.


    "How?"


    "I don''t like to brag, but I do know a thing or two about cooking, and when I ate your dishes, I could tell what was missing from the start.


    So, I decided to write it down and hand it over to you aspensation for the fact that I med you for something you didn''t do."


    Alex replied to Damien, and Damien was stunned for a second before he smiled.


    ''I knew I didn''t judge him incorrectly; he really is someone with the qualities of a hero,'' Damien spoke inwardly before he bowed his chubby body to Alex.


    "Thank you for your guidance," Damien spoke in gratitude.


    "It''s all right, no need to worry about it," Alex just waved his hand.


    "No, it is not all right, let me-" Damien was about to say something but for the fourth time today his words were cut again.


    "Hey, you took out that thing?!?!?!"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 138: CHAPTER 138 – Where am I?

    Damien words that were about toe out got stuck in his mouth as he realized whose voice it was.


    "You never gave me a single bite of that thing!!"


    Max eximed loudly as he moved towards Damien with grudge-filled eyes.


    Lily who was walking behind Max, along with Grace, scanned thepartment swiftly until her eyes found Alex sitting where he was when she went out.


    Her eyes brightened as she eximed, "You are still here, big brother!"


    Alex turned his eyes toward Lily and a smile automatically graced his lips.


    He just couldn''t stop himself from smiling as Lily''s smile was just that infectious.


    "Hm? Did you think I would go back on my words, little girl?"


    Alex questioned with a tease.


    "No��. -wait!" Lily started with a smile but then she paused as Alex''sst words registered in her brain.


    "I''m not a little girl!!!" She eximed with a pout as she turned her head to the other side.


    "Oh? Did I say, ''little girl''? My bad, I wanted to say, ''cute girl''."


    Alex corrected himself with a thoughtful look.


    Lily''s eyes brightened, but she wasn''t that easy to fool.


    "Really?" Lily squinted her eyes, looking at Alex with suspicion as she ced her hands on her waist like a haughty young mistress.


    "What? You don''t think that you are cute?" Alex asked with a fake astonished expression.


    "Huh? No, I am cute, I know that!" Lily quickly defended herself.


    "Then why do you not believe me, I said the same thing, didn''t I?" Alex asked with an innocent look while smirking inwardly.


    "Yes��." Lily nodded in agreement, but she was a bit confused as she felt like she was being yed.


    Alex on the other hand smiled as he saw Lily who was standing right in front of his seat ce her hand on her chin with a thoughtful expression.


    ''I want to say that this thoughtful expression doesn''t look good on her, but damn, she looks cute in every expression,'' Alex sighed inwardly when suddenly his vision nked for a moment.


    He arrived in an area filled with nothing but greenery, nts, and trees everywhere.


    There were many cute animals running around, but somehow, Alex who was seeing this scene felt that those animals were far from ordinary, especially the white stag with golden horns that was looking at him with its eyes squinted.


    ''Did it discover me?'' Alex thought as he felt like the stag was looking at him, rather than whoever this body belonged to.


    ''Wait a second, where am I in the first ce?'' Alex thought but then he heard a sweet, gentle, and childish voice filled withints from his side as he felt a tug on his arm.


    "Quit spacing out, big brother, you said you would give your whole day to me!"


    Alex wasn''t in control, he couldn''t move the body, but he somehow felt like this was how it should be.


    He wasn''t feeling ufortable or anything, all he was feeling was the power running through his body right now, and that power...


    ''I won''t be able to survive a breath of this body...'' Alex muttered.


    But then the body turned toward the source of the voice.


    ''Huh?'' Alex eximed in confusion.


    Alex closed his eyes and opened them again, but what he was looking at didn''t change.


    All he could see was a girl or a teen with the body of someone the age of 14 or 15. She was wearing an emerald-colored loose royal gown long enough to touch the ground.


    Everything was fine, Alex could tell that she was a beautiful girl with a line of suiters ready for her to be of age so that they could ask for her hand from her father.


    But the problem was that he couldn''t see her face, no matter how much he tried.


    One thing he could see on her face was her emerald eyes matching her gown.


    Those eyes, however, somehow reminded him of Lily.


    "All right, I will have all my attention on you for the rest of the day, no more spacing out."


    Just then Alex heard a calm, clear, maic, and majestic voiceing out of his mouth.


    That voice shocked Alex, because��.


    ''Why does that voice sound so much like me?!'' Alex eximed inwardly.


    Then he saw his right-hand stretch toward the girl''s head and pat her with care and love.


    "Hehe��."


    Alex heard a giggle but unlike the voice of the girl earlier which although childish had some wisdom hidden beneath, this giggle sounded like that of a much younger girl with little to no experience in the real world.


    Alex''s vision nked again, and when his vision came back, he found himself patting Lily, who was giggling with a big smile on her face.


    Long gone was her thoughtful look as right now, she felt relief, peace, care, and many more emotions from a single pat from Alex.


    Alex finally realized why the voice sounded different from the one in the vision.


    ''Wait- the vision��'' Alex felt that he was on to something, but he looked at Lily who had a wide smile on her face and he spoke.


    "You know, your uncle Damien gave me a special pastry to eat, one that he never gave you," Alex whispered to Lily.


    "What?!?!" Lily eximed in a low voice when she heard Alex''s whisper.


    Alex stopped patting Lily after giving a small pat and spoke again.


    "See that," Alex pointed at Max and Damien who were talking, or more like Damien trying to exin himself.


    Whenever Max had asked him to get a taste of the product S, Damien would strictly deny it, so seeing the same product, made Max a bit grumpy.


    Max was not actually grumpy or anything, he was just trying to get Damien to get some pieces of pastries out for his family as well.


    "Your father is scolding him for just that, he must be saying, ''Why did you not give the same pastry to Lily?''


    You should go and ask for it as well, maybe he''ll listen to you."


    Alex whispered to Lily and Lily nodded with a serious expression.


    ''How could he not treat me to this special pastry that he gave big brother to eat?!'' Lily was not happy with Damien, after all, she loved sweets.


    "Uncle Damien!" Lily eximed and both Damien and Max who were still talking about the topic stopped and turned toward Lily.


    But Damien who saw Alex smirk knew what happened.


    "What''s wrong, cutie pie?" Damien asked with the best smile he could muster.


    He knew that he was going to make a loss from whatever Lily was going to demand, but he couldn''t say no to what Lily would ask for, after all, he cared for Lily just like he would for his own daughter.


    "I want the special pastry that you gave the big brother as well!" Lily demanded and her face literally said, ''I dare you to say no!''


    "��. Yes, I will get it right away," Damien sighed before he gestured to Jamial with three fingers out and Jamial just nodded his head and went in to bring three more pastries.


    Jamial knew it was not his ce to speak, and although he wanted to have a taste of those pastries as well, he knew his ce.


    "Hahaha��." Maxughed as he saw Damien standing with his shoulders slumped.


    He just patted his back before he went to his seat and sat there, waiting for the best pastry he had ever seen to arrive.


    Damien might look depressed on the outside, but he was quite happy inside.


    ''I would''ve sold them anyway, after all, they won''t be my best products after a while.''


    Damien muttered inwardly with a smile as he secretly pushed the markup given by Alex in his pocket.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 139: CHAPTER 139 – Memories.

    ''What was that?'' Alex asked Sophia after he stopped patting Lily.


    [They were memories.]


    ''I also thought that, but let me ask you something first: were you able to see the memories as well?''


    Alex questioned as he needed to know if Sophia could see the vision he had to proceed with the next question.


    [Yes, I can see them as well.]


    Sophia replied.


    ''Yet you still say that it was a memory?'' Alex asked in confusion.


    [Yes, because I know that it was a memory.


    You don''t know this but as a system spirit, I have some ess to the system and the moment you had that vision, the system warned me about you remembering something from the past.]


    Sophia exined why she knew for sure that it was a memory and not something else.


    ''Then how do you exin that stag from earlier, I''m sure it could see me, or at least feel me.''


    Alex still wasn''t having any of it.


    He had clearly seen the white stag from earlier, and he was sure that it was looking at him, not the owner of the body.


    [Alex, there are many strong species and many strong beasts, you haven''t seen any of them yet so you don''t know, but once someone grows strong enough, they can even pinpoint the location of a being that muttered their real name.


    The stag you saw in your memory was a special type of beast. It is called the Stag of Dreams, that beast travels and ys with dreams, so its will would still remain there even if it is just a memory.]


    Sophia answered Alex as she exined to him why the stag could look at him.


    Alex didn''t say anything as he was digesting the information he had just gained.


    ''How strong was that beast actually?'' Alex asked after a while.


    [��. I can''t tell you that.]


    Sophia replied after a pause.


    ''I know that, but you can still tell me if it was stronger than you or not, right?''


    Alex questioned again.


    Sophia paused for a while before she replied with a proud voice.


    [Of course, I can tell you that, I am much stronger than that beast, or anyone out there, you can think of me as someone who sits on the top of the chain of power.]


    Sophia paused because she needed to check on the list of restrictions whether it was allowed or not, and it was allowed.


    ''Oh, I see,'' Alex nodded inwardly as he wondered just how strong Sophia is, and just how strong the system that could bind Sophia would be.


    That was not all as he started wondering how strong the person who created the system must be��.


    {What''s with that in reaction?!}


    Sophia eximed inwardly as she saw the nd reaction from Alex.


    {Sigh��. Forget it.}


    But then she just sighed as she remembered who this used to be.


    {Why am Iparing myself with this monster?}


    Sophia sighed again.


    ''Wait-'' Suddenly Alex remembered that he had forgotten to ask the main point.


    ''Who was that girl?'' Alex asked in a serious tone.


    [I can''t tell you that, these things are for you to discover, Alex.]


    Sophia replied.


    [Remember when we had our first chat, I told you that you just need to grow stronger and everything that you need wille to you on its own.]


    Sophia reminded Alex about the condition to unlock his memories.


    ''I know that as well, but not knowing thingspletely annoys me,'' Alex groaned inwardly.


    He would''ve been fine if he never even had that vision, but now that he saw a glimpse, he wanted to know everything about it.


    [I''m sorry��.]


    Sophia apologized.


    ''What are you apologizing for??'' The annoyance Alex was feeling vanished as he heard the low whisper of Sophia.


    ''I''m not ming you or anything, I know you are bound by some conditions and you are already doing your best to help me, so why would I ever me you?''


    Alex tried to speak as gently as possible.


    He didn''t intend to me Sophia for any of this.


    [If only I was a bit more powerful, I would''ve been free of many restrictions��.]


    Sophia muttered as she looked at her hands inside the system space.


    There she could see two chain-type marks on her wrists and her ankles.


    {Sigh��}


    ''Why are you ming yourself then, the one who should be med for it is the one who put those restrictions.


    [Un.]


    Sophia hummed in agreement but inwardly she was giggling.


    {Just how would you react if you knew that you knew that the one who did this was also you?}


    But just as she thought of that, she remembered something very unpleasant, making the aura around her turn gloomy.


    Alex who heard Sophia hum, nodded his head as he looked at Jamial pushing a trolly with two more waiters who were sliding one trolly each as well.


    "Here''s your ''special'' pastry, Lily," Damien spoke as he himself served Lily her te and removed the lid.


    "Wow��."


    Just like Alice and Ann, both Grace and Lily were surprised by the elegant presentation of the pastry, Max, on the other hand, although surprised, didn''t show any exaggerated reaction as he had already seen it before, even if he had never eaten it.


    Max then scooped a spoonful of pastry from his te and looked into Damien''s eyes, taunting him as he ate the pastry.


    *Boom*


    But as if a bomb had gone off on his tongue, he was assaulted by the sweet and creamy taste of the pastry.


    He closed his eyes as he savored the taste of the masterpiece he was eating.


    He failed to notice that his taunt didn''t affect Damien much since he was enjoying the pastry with his eyes closed or he would''ve surely found it weird.


    Lily and Grace were not any better as Lily didn''t even take time as she quickly emptied the te.


    "I want more uncle!"


    Lily eximed and Damien paused for a second before he gestured to Jamial.


    Jamial understood the meaning as he rushed back to bring more of the same treasured dish that was the best creation of the same person who was the owner of the world-famous caf��.


    While waiting for Jamial to bring more of the same thing they ate just now, they chatted with each other about things around the world, when Alice suddenly asked.


    "Now that we are done tasting and enjoying the delicacies of the caf��, should we discuss the matter that we came here to discuss?" Alice asked as she looked at Max who was sitting right in front of her.


    It was Alex who had gestured for Alice to speak up now as it was time to get to the main topic.


    "It''s not that I don''t like you guys keeping uspany nor is it that I don''t like the dishes I ate here, but we have a flight back to Orange Country in 3 hours, so��."


    Alice added and left the ending open as she didn''t think she needed to continue.


    "I understand," Max spoke with a smile then he turned toward Grace and Lily before he nodded to them with the same smile.


    Lily and Grace nodded back at him, and they stood up under the confused gazes of Alice and Ann since Alex had already guessed what they were going to do.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 140: CHAPTER 140 – The Meeting Started for Real.

    Damien who heard Alice''s question and saw Max, Grace, and Lily standing up in their seats, backed away a little.


    He didn''t want to get in between something important, and it was not his meeting anyway.


    Max, Grace, and Lily stood up and directly bowed their heads.


    "Thank you for saving our lives!" X3


    All three of them spoke at the same time in a loud and clear voice as they bowed their heads to Alex.


    "You don''t need to thank me for that, you know? Whoever put the bomb was probably targeting us as well, so I was going to handle it anyway."


    Alex spoke as he waved his hand but there was a light smile on his face.


    Max had already informed Grace and Lily about the bomb in the caf��.


    Yes, Lily as well, he had decided to let Lily see the real world, so the first thing he needed to show her was the dangers in the real world.


    Lily was a little shaken, but she calmed down soon enough shocking both Max and Grace.


    But it was better, so they just praised Lily and went into the caf��.


    Right now, Alex knew what they were talking about and why they were thanking him, but he needed to y dumb.


    "It is not because of that," Max spoke as he, Grace, and Lily sat back in their seats.


    "I was thanking you for saving their lives during the gate break in ''Style Haven Market''."


    Max spoke as he patted Lily''s head with a loving smile.


    Lily was sitting between, Grace and Max, the same as Alex, who sitting in between Alice and Ann.


    "You guys were there as well?" Alex asked as he leaned forward with a raised brow.


    "Yes, I was thedy with a little girl you saved that day, thank you again," Grace smiled gratefully as she bowed her head again, which identally showed her cleavage.


    Alice and Ann who could see it as well, snapped their heads toward Alex, but they didn''t see any change in his expression, so they nodded inwardly.


    "Oh, I see��." Alex nodded his head with a thoughtful look.


    "You guys were wearing a disguise-type item, a high-ranked one I guess," Alex spoke out loud.


    "Yes, we can''t go in public without that, you should know why," Max spoke with an exasperated sigh.


    "Yes..." Alex nodded his head, and so did Alice and Ann.


    "I see, so this is why you were trying to help us get our images better," Ann finally spoke with a contemting look.


    "It was nothing in front of what you have done for me, even if we don''t count today''s event," Max smiled as he spoke those words with a sincere expression.


    "But why are you doing that?" Suddenly Alice asked.


    The meeting was starting for real now.


    Till now, Alex, Alice, and Ann already knew everything, but now starts the part where they get to know why Max was doing all this and what he wanted to achieve by all this.


    "Huh?" Max let out a confused voice as he didn''t understand the point of that question.


    Damien who was standing on the side listening to the conversation also got a bit confused but then they all saw Jamial and some other waiters bringing the rest of the four pastries and some other dished suck as snacks and cakes.


    "These are thest of my best work, but if anyone wants more, please say it, I will get them ready for you."


    Damien spoke hurriedly since the number of Product S left was just 4 but the people around the table were 6.


    He could make an item better than product S without much of a problem after the note Alex gave him, so he was ready to make some right now if needed.


    Alex and Max''s eyes happened to meet and both of them smiled at each other with a nod before they spoke together.


    "It''s alright." X2


    "I''m full, so I won''t be eating much now," Alex continued.


    "Same here, let them have it," Max added as well.


    "All right then, you guys go back," Damien nodded and spoke to Jamial and the waiters to go back.


    The waiters bowed their heads and left the hall.


    After the waiters moved away, Alice spoke.


    "Now, back to the question, why are you trying to get our images up?" Alice asked as she took a slice out of the Product S ced in front of her.


    "To help you guys?" Max spoke unsurely.


    ''Did I do something wrong?'' Max didn''t understand what was going on.


    "We know that, but what she wants to know is what is this thing you are helping us with?" Alex exined and Max finally got what the question was.


    He smiled widely as he spoke.


    "To help you guys build your empire."


    Max dered proudly, after all, this was the only conclusion he could get after a lot of research.


    He thought that he had found out the reason why the Crimson Lotus Guild was helping people around the world without asking for much.


    How could he have known how wrong he was?


    "Huh?" X3


    It was time for Alex, Alice, and Ann to get confused now.


    It was like they had question marks floating above their heads.


    "When did we say that we wanted to create an empire??" Alice asked in an utterly perplexed tone.


    "You never said it, but after observing your actions andparing them with Argon Hart''s, we found many simrities, so it was not hard to guess what you were trying to do."


    Max told them about how he came to that conclusion.


    Argon Hart also went around saving people for free and in the end, he built his own empire, so like many people out there, Max thought that the Crimson Lotus Guild or Alice to be precise wanted to create an empire.


    "We didn''t want to create an empire��." Alice spoke in a low voice.


    Some people might call them people with no ambition, but it is what it is.


    ''He did all that just because he thought that we were going to create an empire��.'' Ann just sighed inwardly as she thought about it.


    "Huh???" Max tilted his head to the side as he got confused again.


    "We don''t have any intention of creating an Empire," Alex spoke again.


    Max who heard that finally realized that he was not hearing it wrong.


    "So, I was doing all that for nothing??" Max asked in a dumbfounded voice.


    "Unfortunately, your answer is yes," Alex answered Max''s question with a sigh.


    ''Here I was hoping that maybe it was something interesting," Alex muttered inwardly.


    The whole purpose of hising here was because he thought that there would be some deeper conspiracy here.


    Max who heard the answer looked at Grace who was equally shocked as him.


    Max then turned back toward Alice, Alex, and Ann, and looked at them before he asked in a perplexed tone.


    "You have the power, why would you not want to make an empire of your own??" He couldn''t see a reason why they would not want to do that.


    Alex and Alice exchanged a nce and Ann just sighed as she knew what the answer was going to be.


    "Well, it''s...."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 141: CHAPTER 141 – Let me help you.

    "Well, it''s too bothersome��" X2


    Both Alex and Alice just shrugged.


    Butt Max, Grace, and Damien who heard their words had their mouths and eyes wide open in shock and dumbfoundedness.


    They just kept looking at Alex, and Alice as if they had an extra head or something.


    Ann didn''t say anything as she knew that Alex and Alice were going to answer with something like that.


    The only person who didn''t show any reaction was Lily as she was savoring the pastry she had.


    Max opened and closed his mouth as no words came out.


    He couldn''t think of anything to say that would not sound like an insult to Alice and Alex, so he kept quiet.


    There was a long silence as Max, Grace, and Damien just kept looking at Alice and Alex without saying anything as they didn''t have anything to say.


    The silence was finally broken by Max who found a normal question to ask.


    "You don''t want to establish an empire because you feel it would be bothersome?"


    "Yes, that''s what we said.


    It is bothersome, and tiresome, with too much politics, management, and many other things.


    But the point is that none of us like anything that I just said."


    Alex spoke as he pointed at Alice and himself when he said ''us''.


    He didn''t include Ann as Ann was a hard worker and she would even master politics if asked for.


    "You can just have someone sit on the throne after you have established the empire," Max suggested, but Alex just shook his head.


    "I won''t go through so much effort of building a new empire just to have a puppet emperor to sit on the throne, I would rather control an empire that is already established if I just want an empire with an emperor who will be my puppet."


    Alex spoke and Max who suggested the option closed his mouth.


    Max knew that he couldn''t do anything if Alex and Alice just didn''t want to do something.


    "Now that I know that all the help I thought I was doing to you guys was nothing but me having my own delusions, I feel quite disappointed in myself��."


    Max sighed as his shoulders slumped.


    "It''s all right, we never needed help in the first ce, but we are grateful for your efforts," Alice smiled as she spoke.


    "No, you don''t understand, it''s not all right for me.


    You guys saved my family''s life, and now again you saved us all.


    But what did I do in return? Nothing.


    The fact that I did nothing for you guys even after what you had done for us won''t let me sleep at night."


    Max spoke with a lot of emotion as he looked at Alice, Alex, and Ann simultaneously.


    "So, what do you want us to do?" Alex asked as he leaned forward with his hand supporting his head.


    "I want to help you guys," Max replied seriously.


    "With what?" Alex asked again.


    "I��." Max didn''t have any words to say.


    "I don''t think there is anything we need anyone''s help in, after all, we are doing pretty well on our own," Alex continued and Max lowered his head as he knew it was true.


    What followed after that was another bout of silence until Max''s eyes brightened as he got an idea.


    "Gates..." He spoke in a low voice.


    "What was that?" Alex raised a brow.


    "The gates, I can help you guys get ess to more gates," Max exined his point.


    "And what makes you think that we want help with that?" Alex asked as he looked intrigued.


    "I had two theories about you clearing the gates everywhere without asking much in return, one of them is already denied by you but I know that the second one isn''t wrong, because that''s not possible."


    Max spoke with some confidence back in his voice.


    "Can you tell us what your second guess is?" Alice asked as she seemed interested as well.


    "I won''t ask much nor will I try to look into it but I do know that you guys gain something from clearing the gate, and whatever you gain is good enough to make it up for you to not ask for anything else from the owner of the gate."


    Max stated his point as his eyes stayed fixed on Alex.


    He knew that there was nothing for free in this world, and he knew that they must gain something from clearing the gate, something so good that makes up for everything they do.


    He observed Alex''s reaction and he saw Alex''s eyes shining with interest for a second before returning to normal.


    "I see, but how can you help us get ess to more gates?" Alex neither denied nor did he ept the im, he just skipped it.


    Max also didn''t push it further as he already got the answer he wanted with a positive response from Alex.


    "Till now, I had never actually tried to gain more authority than what I already have because I didn''t need it, but that didn''t mean I couldn''t get more authority.


    I have the power to do that, and with just a bit of your help, I might be able to help you guys control the leaders of other countries as well.


    After you have control over a country''s leaders, you won''t have to worry about getting ess to any gate in that country as you can walk into their country and do whatever you want without a problem after that."


    Max spoke as he leaned a bit forward with a serious expression.


    Alice and Ann also realized that this n might actually help them a bit so they also looked over, with interest.


    "That is a nice n and it might help us a bit as we do find it annoying to deal with the leaders but how are you going to achieve all that?


    The leaders won''t just give away their powers and if you use force then you are clearly asking for a war or something.


    There is the option of killing them, but it won''t change anything other than some unrest among themon popce."


    Alex questioned even though he already knew how Max was going to do it.


    "As I said, I had the power to do much more than what I can do right now, I know that if I tried to get more than what I have, I would be exposing my family to more danger and that was something I didn''t want."


    Max replied as he looked into Alex''s eyes.


    "So, what changed now?" Alex asked with a smile.


    "I think it''s time for me to stop worrying too much about them as we don''t know the future," Max spoke as he looked toward Lily and Grace with love in his eyes.


    "I see, looks like you gave a lot of thought to what I said earlier," Alex nodded his head as he saw Max smile.


    Max thought about all he did to protect Lily and Grace, how he did not try to gain more authority so that he could spend more time with them, protecting them from any danger, and then he thought about how even after that, they would have died if not for Alex saving them.


    ''No matter what I do, I won''t be able to always protect them, so I would rather jump into danger myself and have more authority and power to protect them better after that,'' Max thought inwardly.


    He knew he wouldn''t be able to make much time for his family from now on, but if his ns worked out fine, then he wouldn''t have to worry about anything in the future.


    "I get all that, but where and when are you going to start and what are you going to do? I need more context��." Alex spoke as he looked at Max.


    "Oh, about that��."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 142: CHAPTER 142 – Contract.

    Max looked at Damien and Grace when Alex asked the question.


    Damien and Grace both nodded their heads with a serious expression as he looked at Alex, Alice, and Ann as Max spoke.


    "Oh, about that, I will be using my skill," Max replied to Alex and Alex leaned back on his chair with a thoughtful expression.


    "What is your skill? if you don''t mind me asking," Alex questioned as he leaned back on his seat but his eyes were fixed on Max.


    Max smiled and waved his hand as three golden sheets started floating right in front of Alex, Alice, and Ann''s faces.


    "Showing it would be better than telling you how it works," Max spoke as he smiled seeing the three of them reading the contract.


    Max had already had his life saved by Alex, so he didn''t think telling Alex about his ability would not be bad, it would be good instead as it might let him gain more of Alex''s trust.


    How could he have known that Alex, Alice, and Ann already knew about his ability?


    Lily, who was eating the cake also saw the contract materializing in front of Alex, Alice, and Ann, and her eyes sparkled with curiosity, but looking at her mom and Uncle Damien''s serious expression, she decided to keep quiet.


    {I Alex Matthew/ Alice/ Ann White, agree that I will not disclose any information about the skill of Maximus Steele to anyone, and if I do, then may I have a string of my hair plucked off.}


    This was what was written in the contract.


    Max didn''t put any hard conditions or somethingplex, nor did he y with his words or have something hidden in the contract.


    He would never do that to Alex, Alice, and Ann, he just wanted them to know how the contract works.


    Alice, Ann, and Alex all read the contract when Max spoke.


    "If one signs that contract, they can''t break the contract and if they did go against the terms written on the contract, directly or indirectly, they will have to face the penalty first."


    Max exined how the contract works.


    "So, this is your ability/ skill? The contract thing?" Alex asked as he touched the contract only to have his hand pass through it.


    "Yes, this is my skill, the same thing that helps me have control over my whole organization," Max replied with a smile.


    "I see, and does it have any restrictions?" Alex questioned again.


    "Yes, I can''t bind someone two rank higher than me into a contract, and I can''t make someone forcefully unwillingly sign it, they need to sign it willingly."


    Max replied, but Alice didn''tpletely get what he meant so she asked.


    "Can you give me an example of the willing and unwilling part of the restrictions?" Alice asked as she looked at Max.


    "Yes, I can.


    Let''s say that I am an employee in your guild, someone who always brings paper to be signed by you, and I sneakily ced this contract between those papers.


    Now, no one reads that many papers, and most people just sign them without even looking at them, and if you do just that, then the contract won''t work.


    But, if you read the contract, you know that it is a contract and what would happen if you sign the contract, then the contract will bind you."


    Max exined his point with an example to Alice who nodded her head with realization.


    "You are saying signing the contract every time, but I can''t even touch the contract, how am I going to sign it?" Alex asked as he tried to touch the contract again only to have his hand pass through it.


    "You get my point?" Alex asked as he looked at Max.


    "I can have the contract customized in different styles and types, the one you are seeing right now is a contract that can be signed mentally," Max replied to Alex with a nod.


    "I see��" Alex nodded his head but then��.


    "Stop," Alex spoke as he ced a hand in front of both Alice and Ann while looking at his contract.


    This action confused Max and alerted both Damien and Grace.


    ''Did he try to trick them??''


    This was the first thing that came to their minds, they didn''t believe it, of course, but their bodies tensed up as they saw Alex looking at the contract intently.


    Max on the other hand was confused.


    ''What''s wrong? I didn''t write anythingplex or misleading in it��.''


    Max knew what he wrote and what was in it, so he was just confused by Alex''s reaction but then they all saw the contract in front of Alex break into particles before it shot toward Alex, disappearing into his chest.


    "That''s it?" Alex asked as he looked at Max.


    Max who saw the whole thing happening just nodded his head.


    "Yes, the contract ispleted."


    Max still didn''t get why Alex stopped Alice and Ann, but he waited.


    Grace and Damien who were tensed also calmed down a little when they saw Alex had signed the contract and just like Max, Alice, and Ann, they waited for what Alex wanted to do.


    "Maximus Steele''s skill is a-"


    The first thing that came out of Alex''s mouth was the thing that the contract was against, but he didn''tplete his words as he already got the penalty even before he couldplete his words, he just looked at the string of hair that fell off his head.


    If it were a contract with the death penalty, then the contractee would have died before they couldplete their words.


    "I see, I see," Alex spoke as he looked at the contract.


    "...Why did you do that?" Max asked after a pause.


    He couldn''tprehend the reason behind Alex''s action.


    "I wanted to see if I could resist the contract with my willpower, but I guess that''s not possible huh," Alex replied to Max with a thoughtful look on his face.


    Alex had tried forcing the penalty to stop as he could feel the particles that entered his body move and he discovered something very interesting.


    But the real reason behind this was not this as Alex had some other reasons for doing it.


    Alex was the strongest among the Crimson Lotus Guild ording to many people out there, it was just a hypothesis as no one had seen him use power, but that is what they believed.


    Then there was also a thing about Anna Gorge saying that Alex is stronger than her in a press conference.


    So, for Max, Grace, and Damien, Alex was the strongest, and if the contract worked on Alex meant that Alex was still an SS-ranker.


    ''If Alex was an SS-ranker, then that means that Alice and Ann were not higher than him'', this is what they will think, and it is what Alex wants them to think.


    He couldn''t have let Alice or Ann try it as it wouldn''t have worked on them, but it would work on him for now.


    It wasn''t that Alex thought that Max was going to cross them.


    He could tell who was sincere and who was not, and something told him that Max was not the type of person who would betray someone.


    But Alex also knew that if Max''s family''s life were to be put on the line, then he would do anything, and Alex who didn''t like taking risks that could potentially harm the people he cared for, decided to hide his, Alice, and Ann''s true power.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 143: CHAPTER 143 – I will advise you against it.

    "You guys can try it as well if you want to," Alex spoke after he answered Max''s question.


    He looked into Alice and Ann''s eyes simultaneously and gave them a deep look.


    Alice might not have understood, but Ann did and she spoke.


    "I''m fine without that, I love my hair and I wouldn''t want even one string of my hair to fall off," Ann spoke with a frown.


    But the contract that was floating in front of her broke into particles and entered her body just like it did with Alex''s showing that she had epted the contract.


    *Giggle*


    Grace giggled as she heard Ann''s words as she would want the same as Ann, but she was also happy that Ann epted the contract.


    "Ah, yes, I also like my hair, after all, it took quite some time for me to grow them to this length," Alice finally got the meaning behind Alex''s words after she saw what Ann did.


    So, she spoke as she patted some of the hairs that were resting on her shoulder.


    Then just like Ann''s her contract also broke into particles and entered her body, indicating that the contract was formed.


    Alice and Ann who knew about the contract''s restriction already knew that it wasn''t going to work for them but they epted it nheless.


    They could tell that Alex did it for a reason although they didn''t get it, so they just followed his instructions and did the same.


    "I get that you can bind people with a contract and you can have them under your control with the same contract, but where are you going to start? And what do you need our help in?"


    Alex asked Max as he tapped his finger on the table lightly.


    "I was thinking of��."


    Max spoke but he stopped mid-sentence as he and everyone else could hear a pair of footsteps moving toward them in a very high sigh or simply running toward them.


    All of them turned toward the main kitchen''s entrance and they saw the gate slide open and Jake, the one Damien had ordered to bring Cain here running toward them.


    Jake was standing in front of Damien in just a while as he was also a raider, albeit a C-ranker, but a raider nheless.


    "Sir��. hah��." Jake was breathing heavily but he still stood with his back straightened as he addressed Damien.


    Damien looked at Jake with his eyes squinted before he spoke.


    "I ordered that no one shalle here unless called, yet you still came here unannounced, so you better have a good reason or your job would be thest of your worries."


    Jake trembled a bit but still nodded his head, he knew that the news he had was very important.


    "What are you waiting for then? Speak up," Damien spoke sharply as he saw Jake still trying to calm his breathing as he stood there.


    "Sir, I went to Cain''s house," Jake spoke as his breathing had turned somewhat normal.


    "And?" Damien asked.


    "He... He was dead, Sir," Jake stammered as he replied.


    "Dead?" Damien''s eyes sharpened.


    "How did he die?" Damien asked as he looked into Jake''s eyes.


    "...�� He had his head decapitated, sir," Jake replied after a long pause as he clenched his fists behind his back.


    Cain was his friend, after all, they used toe and go together, of course, he would feel bad for his friend''s death.


    "I see, go back now," Damien waved his hand with a thoughtful look on his face.


    ''Phew��.'' Jake sighed in relief as he knew that he was safe and he was not getting punished.


    But he quickly moved away from there as he didn''t know when his boss changed his mind and decided to give him some kind of punishment.


    "Who is Cain?" Max asked after Jake moved away.


    "The guy that nted the explosive," Damien replied as he still had that thoughtful look on his face.


    Grace and Max, however, turned serious as the topic of the explosion was brought up.


    "He was killed?" Max asked even though he already heard Jake''s words earlier.


    "Yes," Damien nodded his head as he looked at Max.


    "How did he even go back home in the middle of the work hour?" Max asked in a confused tone.


    "He seemed to have made some excuses and even used my name to make his coworkers believe that he had some serious problem back home," Damien sighed as he knew it was his fault for not keeping an eye on the staff working under him.


    "But he wouldn''t have left a long time ago," Max spoke again.


    "That''s the point, I sent my team after him around 20 minutes ago, yet they found him dead with his head decapitated," Damien spoke but then Max, Grace, and Damien realized something, and they turned their heads with a snap.


    They looked toward Lily with worry as they didn''t know how she would react to this but they found her eating her pastry without a care of the world.


    But then Grace lifted her hand and knocked in the air.


    *Ting*


    The sound of something knocking on a ss was heard as her ring hit something hard.


    All of them then turned toward Alex as they could tell what it was.


    "What? You guys want her to hear it?" Alex asked with a frown as he saw all three of them looking at him.


    "No, and thank you," Max thanked Alex again which he had been doing a lot today.


    "It''s all right," Alex just waved his hand.


    Max nodded his head and then he turned back to Damien and spoke.


    "Looks like they had nned it all from the start."


    "Yeah, it seems that way," Damien nodded as well.


    Max then turned toward Alex again and spoke.


    "You wanted to know where I would start, right? I would start with the Raider association of this country," Max replied to the question Alex had asked a while ago.


    They all knew who was behind this attack, it was not hard to guess.


    In this country, only one organization was strong enough to try to target Max and his close ones.


    It was the Raider Association of the Violet Country.


    The Association and Max''s force are almost the same in power if we don''t include the SS-ranker that Max had under hismand, but the bnce was still maintained as the Association had more power over the public.


    The delicate bnce was maintained, but then news of Max meeting the Crimson Lotus''s Guild master reached the Association, and of course, they wouldn''t like to take chances and let Max and Alice form an alliance.


    So, it was not hard to guess the preparator behind the explosive incident.


    It could be some other force from some other country, but they don''t have the power in this country to arrange these things.


    The power to make that possible could only be done by two forces, Max''s and the Association''s.


    So, be it directly or indirectly, one thing was sure, the Association was involved.


    But just then Alex spoke.


    "I would advise you against that."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 144: CHAPTER 144 – Not as simple as it seems.

    ''Should I just use force? Or should I try something else��?''


    Max was thinking of ns on how he should get the higher-ups of the Association to sign a contract.


    "I would advise you against that."


    But just as Alex''s voice fell, he stopped thinking and looked at Alex for a second before he asked.


    "Why?"


    Max was confused.


    He knew many things about the Association after all, they were his enemy in a way, and he would be foolish to not have information about them.


    He knew their limits, he knew their powers, he knew what they could do, and he knew what they could not.


    But he didn''t find anything challenging with the power he had under hismand. He hadn''t yet taken over the country because he didn''t want to expose his family to more trouble.


    ''Why do you want me to stop?''


    He couldn''t understand why Alex advised that he should not attack the Association.


    "You see, things are not as simple as it seems to you," Alex replied to Max as he looked at all three of them, Max, Grace, and Damien simultaneously.


    "What''s wrong?" Max finally wore a serious expression.


    By now, he knew that Alex was not someone who would just bullshit things, and if he said that there was something going on then there was something going on.


    Some would think: How could he tell that so soon?


    Well, unlike normal people, the one on the top had an eye on everything, and they could read you like an open book.


    Although Max couldn''t get a read on Alex, it was not hard to tell what type of guy Alex was.


    (Anna Gorg could tell that as well, for those who don''t remember, and Max although not that old, has skills equal to Anna''s.)


    "Have you heard about the mysterious group of raiders that go around undetected and steal things from everywhere?" Alex asked as he leaned forward.


    "��. Yes," Max replied with a pause because he didn''t know why Alex was mentioning that group here.


    "Then you must also know that no one has ever been able to find them, even after all the atrocities they had done?" Alex questioned again and Max answered the same as before.


    "Yes."


    "Have you ever seen them?" Alex questioned again, and although Max didn''t know the reason behind these questions, he still replied.


    "No, we have tried catching them many times, but by the time we reach the ce, there will be nothing but destruction and blood left everywhere."


    Max spoke with a sigh.


    His words made him remember the faces of the dead people he had seen. All of them died just because they were in the way of the mysterious group, or just because they had seen the mysterious group.


    "We have been doing the same, and we were very close to reaching them many times, but by the time we reached, just like you, we would find blood and gore everywhere."


    Alex spoke with one of his hands ced above the other.


    "But why are we talking about them, right now?" Max finally decided to ask the question.


    "I''m getting to that part," Alex replied to Max who nodded his head so Alex continued.


    "We have been following the trial of that mysterious group and we did get many pieces of information about them, but all of them were in pieces and it was hard to make out anything from them.


    Many of the things from those pieces of information were missing, like they were tempered with by someone, and that is how it was in every country."


    Alex exined his point and a glint passed through Max''s eyes as he heard this.


    "You get what I mean, right?" Alex asked as he looked right into Max''s eyes.


    "Yes, there''s no way that the people of that mysterious group could tamper with all the information stored in the archive of the big organizations."


    Max replied.


    "Yes, and that means, either they have one of their men inside the organization or they have control over the said organization''s leader." Alex continued and Max added.


    "The former is not possible as someone would''ve noticed the changes, but if it is thetter, then it is possible as the leaders do have the power to cover up their tracks."


    Alex nodded his head as he heard Max''s words before he spoke again.


    "Now, about the point why I didn''t want you to take action against the Association in your country," Alex paused for a bit and looked toward Lily who seemed to be looking at him as she ate the ice cream that was brought along with the cakes.


    Alex smiled at her and she smiled back before she went back to her eating.


    These actions were noticed by everyone, causing them to smile.


    But just as Lily turned to her ice cream, the smile on Alex''s face vanished as he looked back at Max.


    "Did you get a view of the explosive that was ced under the trolly?" Alex asked as he looked at both Max and Damien.


    "Yes." X2


    Both of them nodded their heads.


    "How did it look to you guys?" Alex questioned again.


    "It was wrapped in ck clothing so we couldn''t tell much," Max spoke as he exchanged a confused nce with Damien.


    "That ck clothing is what I want to talk about."


    Alex tapped his finger on the table as he spoke.


    "I have seen that mysterious group up close, and I have seen how they look or at least what they wear," Alex continued.


    "Ah, the Orange Country''s Auction incident," Damien muttered in realization.


    Alex just nodded at Damien before he continued.


    "The dress they wear is coated with a lot of runes that help them conceal their presence from even the best sensory-type raiders in the world, and do you know what that cloth looks like?"


    Alex asked as his eyes were locked on Max.


    Max thought for a while and he finally connected some dots before he spoke in a low voice.


    "��.. Like the clothing that was covering the explosive?"


    Grace and Damien who heard those words also widened their eyes.


    Max and Damien finally realized why their raiders couldn''t sense the bomb that was right in front of them.


    "Yes," Alex nodded his head and before Max could say anything, he continued.


    "That cloth appearing here, covering the explosive that was meant to blow off near us means that mysterious organization is here, in Violet Country and probably working together with Association."


    Max who heard Alex''s words had his eyes brightened up.


    "Wouldn''t it be better if we attack right now? They should be somewhere in the Association or at least the Association should have some information about them!"


    Max spoke hurriedly.


    "It would be like killing two birds with one stone."


    Max added with a smile, but his smile vanished as he saw Alex shaking his head.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 145: CHAPTER 145 – Meeting Ends.

    Alex sighed as he looked at Max celebrating too early.


    He shook his head and he saw the smile on Max''s face disappear looking at Max looked at him.


    So, Alex spoke up.


    "Why do you think no one has ever been able to catch those guys?" Alex asked Max in a questioning tone.


    Max remained silent as he heard Alex''s words.


    ''Why��.?'' Max didn''t know the answer.


    Well, he knew that they were slippery and maybe they had some sort of skill or something, but he didn''t know anything for sure.


    "You don''t know, do you?" Alex asked again and Max shook his head.


    "Neither do I," Alex added, but his words made Max stare nkly at him, just like Damien and Grace.


    Alice and Ann on the other hand just tried to suppress their giggle as they knew if it got out then the serious situation that had been building up would break down.


    "What? Do you think I know everything or what?


    If I knew the reason why no one could catch them, then I would''ve already caught them by now��."


    Alex just shrugged off the dead stare from Grace, Max, and Damien.


    "But I do know one thing," Alex continued, and Max, Grace, and Damien, although still speechless about thest answer they got from Alex, wore a serious expression and focused on Alex''s words.


    "They know their limits."


    Alex could see that Max, Grace, and Damien didn''t get it so he added.


    "Till now, they had never provoked a strong force or someone with too much power, and they always yed safe, but now they attack us, and they leave a clear clue of their involvement," Alex looked at Max who had his eyes widened.


    "What do you think it is?" Alex questioned.


    "��.. Trap," Max muttered in a low voice.


    "Yes, it is a trap, and they most probably have something strong enough to take care of us all prepared for us, and although I have confidence in my strength, I still don''t like taking risks so I would rather not go there right now."


    Alex spoke but he then added.


    "This is why I advised you against it, but if you still want to go then I won''t stop you," In the end, Alex just shrugged.


    "��."


    "What do we do then?" Max asked after a while.


    He didn''t want to take risks as well, and Alex''s words made him see things he hadn''t seen clearly till now.


    "Just wait," Alex replied as he leaned back in his seat.


    "Wait? For what?" Max asked as he raised a brow in confusion.


    "For your enemies to move, what else?" Alex just gave him a ''Duh'' look.


    "Huh? What do you mean?" Max asked again.


    "Sigh��." Alex sighed as he sat straight again and looked at Max.


    "They have something or someone powerful enough that they think it can take care of all of us, so what makes you think they won''t attack again?"


    Alex asked this question and Max finally understood what Alex wanted to say.


    "Theyid a trap for us, but we didn''t fall for it, they will wait for us to do something else, and if we don''t do anything then they will probably attack again, they will probably be a bit more direct next time," Alex added, and Max nodded his head.


    "So, all we do is wait?" Max asked again as he nodded his head.


    "Well, you can start your n, but instead of starting with Violet country, start with Indigo," Alex replied to Max with a strange glint in his eyes.


    Max failed to notice it as he was wearing a thoughtful expression while thinking about Alex''s words, right now.


    ''It is the weakest country, so it won''t be hard��'' Max thought inwardly.


    ''I won''t need their help for this one��.'' Max muttered as he looked at Alex, Alice, and Ann.


    The Indigo Country was the weakest of all, it didn''t even have a single SS-ranker right now, which meant that it didn''t have anyone in the top 10 world ranking.


    Even the guilds in that country were subsidiaries of some guilds in other countries.


    The Raiders Association of the country was the only organization that worked independently.


    But it was still standing only because it had the support of the Associations from all over the world, after all, even if they are the Association of different countries, they still share the same name.


    When the Raider Association was established, it was a consensus decision from the governments of all countries.


    But it won''t matter to Max as all he needed was to make the leaders of the Association of Indigo Country sign the contract and be done with it.


    "I will do that then," Max nodded his head, agreeing to Alex''s advice.


    "Good," Alex nodded as well.


    "As for the help you wanted from us, just tell us what you want help with," Alex spoke, and Max nodded before he started exining.


    Max told them about the things he wanted their help with, and it was not something serious or very hard, so Alex, Alice, and Ann collectively agreed to it.


    The meeting continued for a while as they discussed some topics from here and there.


    The barrier around Lily was removed and she could finally hear the chats.


    Lily knew that she was in a barrier as Alex had already exined to her what a barrier was and how it worked, but she didn''t say anything and just enjoyed her treats.


    She had started to adapt to any situation, so she understood that she was prevented from hearing whatever was happening because they didn''t want her to hear it.


    They chatted for a while before Damien went ahead to bake some more cakes for them as he had some ideas to make his dishes better after the note Alex gave him.


    The note that Alex gave him was about the points that could be improved in the dished he makes.


    Alex just pointed out the mistakes in one dish, but it was based on the cooking style or pattern that Damien followed so improving those pints would help him improve his overall cooking or baking.


    As they were waiting for Damien to bring the cake he was baking when Alex suddenly remembered Noctura.


    He sighed inwardly as he was really missing her even if it had just been a week since she had gone away.


    [She must be done with her hunt by the time yound in Orange Country, you just need to go and pick her up from there.]


    Sophia reminded and Alex''s face brightened.


    ''Now that I think about it, yeah, I can just go and pick her up.''


    A light smile graced Alex''s lips as he thought about Noctura, and Alice and Ann, who saw him smiled as well.


    They didn''t know the reason behind the smile but looking at Alex smiling gently as he stared into nothingness, it was not hard for them to think who he must be thinking about.


    After all, there were only three entities who could make Alex show that expression, excluding Lily as she was just a child, a child that Alex felt an unknown connection with.


    ''Noctura��'' X2


    They both thought as they smiled as well.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 146: CHAPTER 146 – A Mysterious Man.

    In an unknown location, inside arge cave, there sat a guy with long flowing golden hair that reached his waist.


    He had arge build that reached 2 meters in height with a bulky body.


    His face was not visible since only his back was in view but unlike what one would think looking at his build, he was not a muscle head, neither was he someone who used fists for everything.


    He was sitting on an elevated tform that was ced right below a crevice in the cave.


    A lot of water was falling from that crevice right above the man''s head and his wide shoulders. The pressure from the water falling down was so much that the ground below cracked because of it, but the man was just sitting there with his legs folded without any problem.


    Just then the sound of some footsteps was heard when a man wearing a royal robe came rushing in and directly kneeled down, sticking his head on the ground.


    "I greet the great protector!"


    The man shouted as he touched his head on the ground.


    There was no response from the man sitting on the tform but the water that was flowing down had stopped, as if an invisible barrier was stopping it.


    The guy in the royal robe also noticed it so he hurriedly spoke.


    "The barrier around the portal broke before the predicted time, my lord."


    The man on the tform still didn''t say anything, but a humming sound was heard.


    The man in the royal robe understood the meaning behind it so he continued.


    "The barrier is broken but we still can''t send anyone above SS-rank.


    It seems like these are the side effects of the chattering of the barrier earlier than expected."


    The man in the royal robe paused after that as he could tell that his lord was thinking something.


    He had served him long enough to tell these things without a problem.


    "Send Drakin inside one of those portals."


    A deep and majestic voice was heard but the source could not be found, it was like the whole cave was speaking.


    The man in the royal robe however knew where the voice came from so he just knelt down again and spoke.


    "As you wish, my lord."


    The man in the royal robe left and the water that was stopped by an inviable barrier also came down, but this time it was falling with more pressure.


    .............................................��.


    It was the time that Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura had returned to Orange Country after they cleared the special E-ranked gate in the Green Country.


    Noctura had started showing much more emotions and almost all of her emotions were something rted to Alex.


    Noctura had be more protective of Alex even though she was weaker than him.


    It was all fine as they ignored it thinking that it was just a small change until one day Noctura growled at Alice and even Ann when they came to talk with Alex at the time he was patting as shey on top of him.


    Growling at Alice was fine as Noctura had done that before, sometimes for food, sometimes for Alice to take her to bathe forcefully, but it shocked Alex that she actually growled at Ann, which she had never done before.


    Ann and Noctura shared a bond and Noctura treated Ann almost like her mother as Ann was now a wolf as well.


    Ann had the ''Soul Reaver'' bloodline and ''Soul Reavers'' are wolves as well, which gave Noctura some familial feelings for Ann.


    Of course, Ann was shocked as well, and so was Alice, so they decided to have a long talk with Noctura.


    "What''s wrong, Noctura?" It was Alex who asked this question as he looked at Noctura who was sitting in front of him.


    Alice and Ann were also sitting beside him as they looked at Noctura with worry.


    They didn''t know what was happening to her, but for a whole week, they had noticed Noctura growing distant from them as she only focused on Alex and Alex alone.


    "I-I don''t know, master��." Noctura spoke in a voice that now seemed like a girl in her teens, or more like 16 or 17.


    Noctura couldn''t look into Alex''s eyes as she knew that she was wrong here.


    ''Why is this happening?''


    ''Why do I feel irritated when I see Alice or Mama near Master?''


    ''I don''t want to do it, but I feel irritated whenever I see them��.''


    Noctura had many thoughts going inside of her head.


    She never really focused on these things till now and now that these things were pointed out she realized how bad she had been.


    If that was not enough, the one who was telling her about it was her Master.


    ''I don''t want Master to hate me��...''


    Suddenly, Noctura''s eyes started to well up and Ann quickly noticed it before anyone else.


    Noctura had her head down so no one could tell, but Ann could somehow tell.


    Ann quickly pulled Noctura onto herp, hugging her tightly as she caressed Noctura''s back.


    "It''s all right, pup, no one''s ming you, it''s all right��."


    Ann continuously patted Noctura, but Noctura who felt all the love from Ann only cried more.


    ''Why am I doing all this��...''


    ''I don''t want to hurt Mama!''


    Noctura cried as she remembered how she growled at Ann.


    Alice who was sitting on the side also moved toward Noctura as she patted her head.


    Alex just clenched his fist so hard that it almost started bleeding.


    He could feel his heart being squeezed as he saw Noctura crying like that.


    His vision started to get blurry for a second, but only for a second.


    However, Sophia who noticed that single second as well, hurriedly spoke.


    [Calm down, Alex! No one is hurting her, she is just sad, and she is overthinking things!]


    Alex who heard Sophia''s words finally calmed down before he looked at Noctura who was slowly calming down under the care of both Alice and Ann.


    ''What''s happening to her��.?'' Alex asked in a low voice.


    [Those are the side effects of her bloodline.]


    ''borate, and you better not say something like, ''I can''t tell you that''.'' Alex growled inwardly.


    Neither he nor Noctura asked for that bloodline. Yes, it was doing good, it was making her strong, and he was happy about it, but he didn''t want to see her crying because of that.


    If it was a power that would just make her cry then Alex would prefer that she remain weak, he can protect her, and he had the power to protect her.


    Sophia, who was sitting in the system space looked at the cuff marks on her wrists and ankles as she gritted her teeth.


    {Is this what you wanted me to go through��...?}


    She wondered to herself, but then she sighed before she answered Alex.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 147: CHAPTER 147 – What’s wrong with Noctura?

    Alex didn''t want to hear that ''he was not supposed to know'' or ''he needs to grow stronger to know'' or anything like that, right now.


    He was fine till now as it was always rted to him, and when it came to himself, he didn''t feel scared of anything.


    But it was NOT fine now, it was NOT rted to him now, it was something about Noctura, one of the few beings he came to love, like, and care for.


    He wasn''t going to take the same answer for this one.


    He wasn''t sure what he thought as he warned Sophia, but somehow, he felt that he had the power to do that.


    He waited for her to reply as he saw Noctura looking at him with guilt in her eyes.


    "Come here," Alex patted hisp as he gestured Noctura toe to him.


    Unlike normal times, Noctura didn''t rush at him while wagging her tail, she slowly and hesitantly moved toward him.


    This only made it worse for Alex as he was the key reason behind her situation.


    If he didn''t name her, she would never have gotten the bloodline.


    If she never got the bloodline, she would never have unlocked her new abilities.


    If she never unlocked her new abilities, she would never have been in this situation.


    So, in the end, it was his fault.


    As Noctura moved toward him, Sophia finally answered.


    [The moment you gave her the bloodline, she was bound to you eternally, no matter which timeline you go in, no matter what path you take in other possibilities or timelines, she will be your tamed beast every time.]


    Sophia didn''t say anything about Alex''sst line.


    She wanted to say many things.


    ''I would never want to see your close ones getting hurt.''


    ''I am doing whatever I can to help you.''


    ''I regret not having enough power to help you more.''


    ''Sorry for being so useless.''


    There were many other things she wanted to say, but she didn''t.


    Right now, anything she says would sound like an excuse, so she directly borated on what she meant, just like Alex asked.


    Alex noticed it as well, but he wasn''t in the mood to console her as he had Noctura to look after, right now.


    ''What are the drawbacks?'' Alex asked after Sophia finished speaking.


    [Her feelings, any of her feelings that are rted to you will reach new heights, much higher than they were before.]


    ''Why is it even needed? I never asked for that��.'' Alex sighed inwardly as he looked at Noctura who was now standing in front of him.


    He held Noctura and ced her on hisp.


    "It''s not your fault, pup, it''s my fault. So, don''t me yourself for it."


    Alex spoke as he stroked Noctura''s fur.


    But his words caused Alice and Ann to look at him with worry.


    They knew he loved Noctura, and they knew he would do anything for her, but they didn''t like seeing sad Alex.


    They remember the time when Alex named Noctura, and he told themter during the three-month break that Noctura was given a new bloodline at that time.


    They also know that whatever is happening is happening because of the bloodline.


    So, they knew the reason why he was ming himself, but they didn''t want that��.


    Noctura, on the other hand, just snuggled close to Alex, searching for more warmth as she sniffed Alex''s scent as if she was not going to be able to smell his again.


    ''Master��.'' She murmured inwardly.


    Alex didn''t notice anything as he asked Sophia.


    ''Just tell me what I need to do to turn her back to how she was or at least make it so that she would not behave like what she had been doing.''


    Alex asked Sophia with a sigh.


    He had realized that his ming Sophia was just him trying to find an escape.


    He knew that, in the end, he was the anomaly, he was the one who had the system, and he was the one who couldn''t remember anything.


    It was all him.


    [There are two ways.


    First one: Defeat her in a fight and plunder her intense emotions.


    Second one: But a skill called ''Emotional Purge'' and leave Noctura alone for a while for her to get used to the skill.


    I would suggest you go with the second one as the first one is rather risky.]


    Sophia replied to Alex along with her advice.


    ''What does the skill ''Emotional Purge'' do?'' Alex questioned inwardly as he continued to caress Noctura''s fur.


    [It lets the user eliminate excessive emotions if they want to.]


    ''Then why does she need to be alone for a while?'' Alex knew that there was some catch in it.


    [When she tries to eliminate her emotions, she needs peace and quiet.


    She can''t be disturbed and it is a growth-type skill so she needs time to master it.]


    ''I see...'' Alex muttered as he started thinking of how to help Noctura have a ce where no one would disturb her.


    But just then, Noctura, who was continuously sniffing Alex finally stopped and looked into Alex''s eyes.


    "Master, I want to go out... alone."


    Noctura spoke in the same voice that she had been doing, the voice that she gained after her bloodline potential was released.


    Alex just smiled as he continued caressing Noctura when he heard the first part, but he paused when he heard the second part.


    Alice and Ann who heard that also looked at Noctura in confusion.


    "What do you mean, pup?" Alex asked as he started patting her again.


    "I think something is wrong with me.


    I don''t know what it is, but I feel like I would be fine if I were to be alone for a while."


    Noctura spoke as she closed her eyes, enjoying Alex''s pats.


    "You can be alone here as well.


    We''ll give you a room, lock yourself in, and have all the alone time you want."


    Ann suddenly spoke as she closed in toward Noctura and Alex.


    "Yeah, we''ll not disturb you," Alice did the same as she spoke.


    "No, I have to do it, and I want to do it," Noctura spoke resolutely.


    She had been thinking for a while about it and this was the best thing she could think of.


    If she were to go out alone without anyone, then she would miss everyone without a doubt.


    Although she will miss her Master the most, she will miss both Alice and Ann as well.


    All of that would make her remember the importance of every one of her loved ones.


    Noctura then turned toward Alex, and so did Alice and Ann.


    They knew the decision was up to Alex, in the end.


    Alex had closed his eyes as he was thinking about it deeply.


    He opened his eyes only to see three pairs of eyes staring at him and then he looked at Noctura who was looking at him with pleading eyes.


    Alex just sighed��.


    "All right, I won''t stop you," Alex finally spoke, and listening to his answer, Noctura directly jumped over him, making him fall to the ground along with her.


    "But?" Just then Ann questioned as she looked at Alex.


    This question made the happy Noctura calm down while Alice also looked at Alex.


    Both Ann and Alice knew that Alex was not letting Noctura go out just like that.


    Alex looked at Ann with a light smile.


    "But you will be taking some things along with you��." Alex spoke.


    ''Buy the items I asked for,'' He ordered inwardly.


    [On it.]


    ...............��..


    Alex, Alice, and Ann were standing in front of arge, dense forest.


    "Let''s go in, she must be where we left her," Alex spoke with a smile as he stepped forward.


    Alice and Ann smiled as well.


    ''He is like this in just a week��'' X2


    Both of them sighed but still had a smile on their faces as they followed Alex.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 148: CHAPTER 148 – Noctura reached SS-rank.

    In Orange Country, there was a national park.


    It was called ''Emerald Peak National Park''.


    It was a ce for every animal to survive and humans looked after it. There were many animals there, from the ones with arge poption to the ones that were almost extinct.


    It was a nice tourist spot and people from other countries came to visit this ce a lot, but it all changed the moment the gates appeared.


    The animals started evolving, they grew stronger, more ferocious, and bloodthirsty.


    The bloodthirst, however, was only for those they didn''t like.


    But there were some beasts that would kill anyone, they don''t like anyone.


    One such beast was standing in the middle of a grassy field, looking at the wolf in front of it.


    It sneered at the saw the wolf that was just a bitrger than a dog''s size.


    "You want to challenge me, dog?" The beast sneered as it shook its head.


    It knew the one in front of it was a wolf, but it still called it a dog.


    "Well, I haven''t eaten yet, so I guess it''s good��."


    The beast continued as it licked its lips.


    Its voice was rough, like a muscrrge man, and it wasrge as it had a height of 2 meters even while it stood on its fours.


    "Cats these days��." A feminine voice was heard as the wolf that was standing in front of therge cat, or lion spoke while rolling her eyes with a sigh.


    It felt like an adult scolding a child, and the lion who was being called a cat didn''t like any of this.


    "You little shit, die!!"


    The lion growled as it dashed toward the wolf who had her eyes brightened as she was sessful in provoking her opponent.


    ''Just like Master...''


    Her eyes, shifting between blue and ck, sparkled with love as she thought about her master.


    The lion rushed at the wolf with a growl and its speed was quite fast as it had reached the wolf before the wolf could react.


    The lion was after all an SS-rank beast, the ruler of this national park.


    It would kill anyone or anything that it saw, that was the reason why the field around it was empty.


    But today, a wolf dared to enter its territory, and if that was not enough, it was mocked as well.


    This was not something it would take lying, so it raised its ws that shone with ck color before they hit the fox.


    The wolf on the other hand was someone who had just entered the SS-rank and was not good at controlling her power, but she was still an SS-ranked beast.


    Both of them were fighting for different purposes, the lion because he was bloodthirsty and hungry while the wolf was fighting because she wanted to test her new powers.


    The lion''s paw hit the wolf on her face, she couldn''t react and she was sent flying as she crashed on the ground.


    "All of that arrogance, and you can''t even react to my speed," The lion just growled in anger.


    ''I thought that she was strong��.'' It was his fault for expecting something.


    The lion just walked toward the wolf who was lying t on the ground.


    The lion came close to the wolf with his body rxed. It thought that it had already killed the wolf as it was not moving.


    The lion was confident in its strength as it had yet to find someone who could survive a single strike from it. It was so easy for him in every fight that he only used his basic ability called ''Iron w'' and ended the fight.


    The lion''s vision was clouded with arrogance as it moved ahead and was about to step over the wolf''s head, but...


    *Pierce*


    The lion turned its head down slowly as it felt a piercing pain from its abdomen.


    "Ah��" The lion realized why it was feeling the pain as it saw a ck spike made of his own shadow had pierced him.


    The lion finally noticed theck of blood in the surroundings and its w, which showed that his attack before didn''t do any damage.


    "Looks like you were the one who needed to keep its arrogance in check."


    The lion then turned toward the source of the voice and saw the wolf that he had hit earlier standing straight without a scratch on her face.


    He could see her face covered in a ck mask-like thing and that mask had almost shattered.


    The lion finally realized that its attack was defended by that thing.


    "You bitch��." The lion growled onest time before it fell to the ground with a thump.


    "It was your fault for believing that I would be dead with just one strike," The wolf just licked her paw as she looked at the dead body of the lion.


    ''I tricked my enemy, just like master taught Mama to do!'' The wolf was jumping inwardly.


    She turned around and moved back toward the ce where she lived for the past week, but as she moved the body of the lion that was lying dead on the ground was pierced by two more spikes made of shadow.


    "Guess it''s really dead��" The wolf muttered as she looked at the body of the lion that now had its head pierced as well.


    The wolf then ran toward the ce where her master left her.


    As she arrived at the ce, she could see a 3-meter-tall igloo-like structure made of rocks.


    It was created by her master and it was super durable. She had tried breaking it, but even after her rank went up to SS-rank she couldn''t put more than a scratch on that structure,


    She dashed toward the igloo made of rock but then she pressed her brake as her steps came to a sudden halt, she slid for a meter and her speed was fast before she stopped.


    Then she started sniffing the air until her eyes brightened with delight.


    ''Master!!'' She eximed inwardly as she ran toward the direction the scent wasing from.


    ..................


    "You think she would still be there?" Alice asked as she walked together with Alex and Ann.


    "You think she would leave the ce that was built by her Master?" Ann raised a brow as she questioned Alice.


    "��. I guess not," Alice replied but then they saw Alex stop as he smiled and opened his arms wide, ready to catch something or someone.


    Before both of them could ask what happened, they heard a scream filled with delight which caused them to smile automatically.


    "MASTER!!!!!" The same ck-furred wolf that fought the lion a while ago jumped at Alex.


    It was Noctura, of course.


    "Time to go home, pup," Alex spoke with a smile as he caught Noctura in his arms.


    Noctura''s forelimbs were ced over Alex''s shoulders and her face was right in front of Alex''s which she started licking.


    She was just so happy to see him again.


    It had been hard for her to stay sane without her Master close to her.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 149: CHAPTER 149 – Home-Sweet-Home.

    "All right, I won''t stop you, but you will be taking some items with you��." This is what Alex had said to Noctura when she asked to go out alone.


    He didn''t wait for Noctura to say anything as he ordered Sophia to buy some things from the shop including the ''Emotion Purge'' skill.


    That day, for the first time, Noctura also saw Alex''s ability to take out items.


    Then she saw Alex taking a ck and red colored book in front of her.


    "ce your paw over it, close your eyes, and think that you want to read it," Alex spoke as he saw Noctura looking at him with a confused gaze.


    Noctura did just that and the next second, she could feel a new skill in her mind.


    She could tell what that skill could be used for and how to use that skill.


    "Thank you, Master."


    She thanked Alex, but Alex looked at her with a frown.


    "You don''t need to thank me for these things, these are my responsibilities," Alex spoke before he pushed his hand in the system storage and bought out two other items.


    Noctura just looked at Alex, as she smiled inwardly.


    Alice and Ann also smiled as they heard Alex''s words as they heard the same line before.


    "Take this, it is a ''Teleporter'', it will teleport you to somewhere random in a 1000-meter radius, which will give you enough time to run away if you were to face an enemy that is stronger than you."


    Alex spoke as he showed a marble made of blue and grey color mixed.


    Noctura nodded her head as she looked at thest item that Alex had taken out from the storage.


    "This here is a healing potion, and it can even make your limbs regrow," Alex pointed at a tube with translucent green liquid inside of it.


    But Alice and Ann were shocked when they heard the description of the healing portion.


    There was a catch that the healing potion can''t heal an attack from someone at EX-rank or higher, but it worked fine if it was someone below EX-rank.


    Alex who saw Alice and Ann staring at the tube of healing potion with shock, voiced out.


    "We will never need it as I will be there with you guys every time, but if in case we need it, I have them stored in my storage, don''t worry."


    Alex could tell what they were thinking, after all, regrowing a limb was something that even S-rank raiders couldn''t do without putting in considerable effort.


    Alice and Ann nodded as they heard Alex''s words, as they smiled at him.


    "Now, where do you want to go?" Alex then turned toward Noctura.


    She said that she wanted to go out, but she didn''t tell them where.


    "I want to go to a ce where I can hunt as well, so I would like to go to a forest."


    Noctura replied without any hesitation.


    Alex thought for a while before he nodded his head.


    "I know the perfect ce," Ann suddenly spoke up as she saw Alex nodding his head.


    .......................


    Listening to Ann''s advice, they decided to leave Noctura in the ''Emerald Peak National Park'', and Alex used his 99 % of mana to make a ce for Noctura to stay.


    "Even if the strongest beast in this ce attacks it, it won''t break, so you can live here without worry," Alex spoke as he patted the igloo-like structure he created from rocks.


    They talked with Noctura for a while before they waved bye and moved away.


    //// Author Note: For the people thinking how Notura can store those things that were given to her, she has a storage ring as well, it''s just that her storage ring is not actually a ring, instead, it is a bracelet, and it was created by Alex himself. ////


    .....................��


    For the first day, Noctura was fine as she could control herself and live without Alex, but the next day she started missing Alex a bit too much.


    She even ran back to their vi only to find Alex, Alice, and Ann had left to clear the gates.


    She came back to the forest and started killing beasts here and there, just so she could calm down, but none of that helped.


    Noctura cried a lot, and when it''s said lot, it means a lot.


    She cried for a whole day continuously, before she remembered Alex''s words in the Gray Goblin gate.


    ''No!!''


    She shouted inwardly as she ran at the fastest speed she could and crashed into the structure built by Alex.


    Her head started bleeding, but it was what she wanted.


    ''I don''t want to be pathetic.''


    ''I was the one who wanted this.''


    ''I was the one who asked for this.''


    ''Why am I crying now?''


    ''Master would be disappointed��.''


    ''I don''t want to disappoint Master.''


    With all that going on in her head, Noctura started controlling her emotions slowly and steadily.


    It took her two days to be able to use the skill perfectly, and by now she had started missing Ann and Alice as well, but she held strong.


    She was finally able to eliminate her intense emotions on the sixth day and just as she did that, she broke through the SS-rank.


    It felt like all those extra emotions were stopping her progress.


    .....................��...


    "You''ve grown stronger," Alex spoke as he looked at Noctura who was lying with her head on Alice''sp.


    He then looked at his palm that was holding the blue and grey marble or the Teleporter.


    ''She didn''t need it in the end,'' He muttered inwardly.


    Noctura gave it back to him when they returned to their ce a while ago, and although Alex wanted her to keep it, he epted it when he saw her puppy-eyed look.


    "Un," Noctura nodded with a hum.


    She was wagging her tail in happiness as she was being patted by Alice.


    They were sitting on the sofa in the hall of their vi, and this is where they had been sitting for a while.


    Noctura was very happy after finally meeting her family as she missed all of them for the whole week.


    "Ah�� It feels so good to be back finally��." Ann came out of the kitchen with a water bottle as she spoke with a sigh.


    She had juste out of a quick shower and now she was just thinking of having a good sleep on her bed.


    "Home Sweet Home," Alex spoke with a smile and Alice chucked as well.


    (I know this chapter might feel a bit rushed, but if I borated everything, then it would''ve taken two chapters if not more, and it would''ve been only Noctura in those chapters.


    So, please bear with me as the interesting part is about to start.)


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 150: CHAPTER 150 – Breakthrough.

    "Let''s get down to it now��..."


    Alex muttered as he sat cross-legged in the gym of the vi.


    ''Is it going to damage the surroundings?'' Alex questioned Sophia.


    [If you can control your mana perfectly, then no.]


    ''I think I can do that,'' Alex took a deep breath before he closed his eyes.


    It had been almost a week since they returned back to their vi, and the suppression of Alex''s power had been removed.


    Alex had been stopping his progression for a while since the world''s limit was still not broken, but after it broke, Alex had his power suppressed.


    Now, however, his power had been released from suppression as the penalty was lifted and he could finally break through and reach the level above EX-rank.


    ''So, what should I do now?'' Alex asked Sophia as he only had her who could tell him about it.


    He could just buy a manual that tells him it, but why waste points when Sophia can tell him?


    [You need to turn the mana flowing inside your body into strings like your veins.


    They need to follow the blood flow as it would help in better cirction of mana along with blood.


    But if even one of your mana strings inside of your body is in the opposite direction to your blood flow, it might cause harm to you.]


    Sophia exined what Alex had to do.


    ''Tell me more about it,'' Alex spoke as he looked inside himself.


    All he could see was mana flowing around in his body aimlessly but with much more density than any normal person.


    [Unlike normal power-ups, one needs to build up mana strings inside their body to progress further ahead.


    These mana strings help in better cirction and control of mana by their host, and when it is said better, we are talking about 100 times better.


    With better control over mana, one can cast spells faster, and with better cirction of mana in the body, the healing abilities of the body are improved along with several other things.


    The cirction of blood along with mana also enriches the quality of the blood and longevity of the body.


    Once a person breaks through EX-rank and enters the next rank, they can live up to 1000 years.


    That''s how much difference it had.]


    Sophia paused for a bit letting her words sink into Alex''s brain which was working more than it would do normally.


    By now, Alex had already started pushing mana in the direction of the blood flow, and this was taking a considerable amount of focus as it was not an easy thing to do.


    He had to guide or push every single particle of mana inside his body in a single direction.


    To push mana in a direction he needed to burn some mana as well.


    No work is done without energy and the energy he was using for moving the mana particles in an orderly manner was the other mana particles.


    Alex needed so much focus as right now, he had to focus on a single particle that he was burning every time.


    Why a single particle?


    Alex had instant regeneration of mana, so the moment he burned a particle of mana, it regenerated.


    That was why Alex decided to use a single particle of mana to do all the work, and it was taxing for his brain to keep an eye on the flow as well as take in the information Sophia was providing.


    Sophia continued as she saw Alex nod his head.


    [But that is just the start as the strings of mana that flow the mana like blood in your body also affect your skin.


    Just like blood flowing and passing through the skin or any part of the body, the mana veins or strings do the same.


    But unlike blood, mana is more potent, more nourishing, and more destructive, so the moment it passes through your skin and bones it breaks them and then nourishes them to make them better.


    As the procedure continues, your body turns stronger than ever.


    You will be strong enough to take the fully powered physical attack from any EX-ranked raider after you are done with the process.


    Your skin and bones will have faster healing and your blood will be immune to many low-rank poisons as your blood can eliminate the less potent poisons on its own.


    You might feel some pain when you do it, but I know you will be fine.]


    Sophia paused again, and this time Alex questioned.


    ''I get all that, but how long will it take for me to form my mana veins?'' This was the only thing Alex wanted to know as he didn''t want to worry Alice, and Ann, who knew that he was doing something important.


    He didn''t tell them what he was doing, he just told them that he had to do something important and he didn''t want to be disturbed unless it was a very important matter.


    He had read those cultivation novels, and he had seen them going in seclusion for years, and he didn''t want to do that as he knew both Alice and Ann might die of worry, not to talk about Noctura who didn''t even know where he was.


    Alice and Ann could just open the door ande in, but Alex had told them not to disturb him unless it was something very important, so even if they wanted to, they wouldn''te in thinking that it might disturb Alex.


    They would just load themselves with worry.


    [If it were a normal person, then it would take them around four or five days as one needs topress a lot of mana to make even one string of mana, emptying their mana reserve in the process.


    Then they will need to keep their focus on keeping the string together and not let it break until they recover mana to continue the process again.


    But for you, it might just take hours as your mana will keep regenerating.


    You need to make the mana flow correctly first then it''s just the same process of making mana veins one after another, again and again, and again, and again��.


    It would be a boring process for you as you just need to continuously create strings rather than waiting with the half-constructed string withplete focus, scared that it might break off.


    You really have it easy...]


    Sophia sighed as she was reminded again just how much of a monster this guy was.


    ''Hours?!'' But Alex''s eximed inwardly.


    ''That''s too long, I will do it in an hour or two.''


    Alex spoke with determination as he started burning more of his mana to make the other particles flow perfectly.


    But just as he increased the speed of the mana flow, his eyes widened as the next second...


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 151: CHAPTER 151 – Done with the first step.

    [Alex, wait!!]


    Sophia shouted to warn Alex, but it was already toote.


    "Cough!"


    Alex coughed and for the first time in this life, Alex spilled blood.


    The concentration broke and all the work he had done till now got destroyed as the mana particles went back to the way they were, unorderly and random.


    "Wha��." Alex dumbfoundedly looked at the blood that left his mouth.


    ''Is that my blood��...?'' Alex stared at the blood on the floor as he questioned himself.


    It was not uncalled for, after all, he had never seen golden blood.


    Yes, his blood was golden, not red like a normal being.


    [You must not try to hasten the process....]


    Sophiapleted her words, but her voice turned low in the end as it had already happened.


    "What happened just now?" Alex asked out loud as he touched the blood on the ground.


    "And what is this? Is it really just blood?" Alex asked question after question.


    [What happened just now was you forcing your mana to move faster, which made your progression to the next rank faster than it is supposed to be, resulting in your bloodline almost breaking the restrictions ced upon it.


    A progression that fast is only possible if your bloodline ispletely unlocked, but it is possible for you because you have instant mana regeneration.


    But if you had pushed yourself even after coughing out blood, then the bloodline would have broken the restrictions, and you, whose body is still not strong enough to bear the bloodline would''ve died from your body breaking from the inside.


    However, I''m not really sure, since you also have instant regeneration for the body as well. Still, I would not advise you to try that again as we don''t know what would happen.]


    Sophia answered Alex''s first question causing Alex''s face to turn serious.


    ''You mean to say that I almost died just now?'' Alex asked as he raised his brows.


    [...yes.]


    {I failed to stop you again...}


    Sophia replied to Alex as she also muttered to herself.


    {Just how many times am I going to fail you...?}


    Sophia clenched her fists as she decided to use something never wanted to use the next time a situation like this arrived.


    She knew Alex would not like it, but it was for the better.


    Alex was after all unpredictable for her.


    She can''t read his mind until he wants her to, and Alex won''t like it if she forcefully tries to read his mind if she could even do that in the first ce.


    "Sigh��." Alex sighed as he threw his hands in the air and stretched his body.


    "Guess I need to be more careful next time, don''t want to because of something stupid, after all."


    [As for what that is, it is your blood.


    You have the Supreme Human and Celestial Incubus bloodline unlocked, your blood turned golden because of that.


    Before you ask me why it turned golden, it is just how it is, I don''t know the answer to that either.


    Just think of it as a way to differentiate normal blood and higher blood.]


    Sophia replied to Alex''s next question, as she didn''tment on hisst words.


    {I won''t let a situation like thise to pass again��.}


    That''s what she thought.


    "Normal blood and higher blood..." Alex muttered before he nodded his head and pped his hands.


    "All right! Time to get to work again."


    He didn''t enquire more about the higher blood thing as he knew it just from the mention of higher that it would be something that he is not supposed to know right now.


    Alex sat cross-legged again and focused again on making the mana particles flow in the right direction.


    Slowly but surely, he was getting the process done.


    He breathed in and out calmly, maintaining the breathing at a steady pace as it could affect the flow of his movements and make him lose focus.


    With all of his focus on one ce, he was able to do it much better and faster than before, though he still took it slow and steady.


    Just like that, with him breathing in and out calmly, half an hour had passed and Alex opened his eyes for the first time.


    "The first phase is done��." He spoke out loud.


    [Nowes the main part.


    For someone else, it would''ve been more taxing but for you, it would be more boring, but you still need to do it if you want to level up.


    Do remember, no matter how boring you find it, don''t try to force it or increase the speed of the process.


    Also, the pain you will feel might not be light, but try to bear with it as it is the one thing that makes many people lose focus, which results in them having to restart the process altogether.]


    ''I know, don''t worry.''


    Alex replied to Sophia''s words.


    He was not stupid enough to try something that could possibly kill him, or was he?


    Alex just smiled as he closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and focused back on his inner workings of mana flow.


    Right now, he could see multicolored particles moving together in the form of a liquid.


    The flow seemed steady and ordered as they flowed systematically.


    Alex smiled again as he saw this.


    ''Took me half an hour to get them moving perfectly��.'' He sighed before he willed, and his mana burned before he started the main part of this level-up.


    The mana particles that were flowing like water started closing into each other as Alex burned mana to make them do that.


    Alex was focusing on his right arm as he decided toplete the mana veins for the right arm first.


    Slowly the particles gathered together making them look like a stream of water flowing together.


    As Alex kept burning the mana, the stream of mana particles kept contracting more and more until finally, it had turned into a single string of mana.


    Alex sighed as he wiped the imaginary sweat from his head.


    "That single string contains almost 50% of my whole mana...." Alex mutters in amazement.


    [Of course they would, it takes 50% of an EX-ranker''s mana to make a single vein of mana, that''s why they are so strong and that''s why they bring so much benefit.


    Not to mention your mana pool, it would increase who knows how many folds after you are done with the process.]


    Sophiamented as she heard Alex''s mutter.


    ''I can feel the increase in my mana pool already��.'' Alex spoke as he could feel his body sucking more mana from nature to fill the empty space in his mana pool.


    [Just imagine how much increase in mana you would feel when you have that mana vein in your whole body just like your blood veins, pumping mana in and out in your heart, skin, bones, brain, and every living or non-living part of your body.]


    ''Oh, I would love that,'' Alex just smiled and Sophia who heard his words also smiled.


    [Then you should focus on the task at hand before you lose focus and start the process all over again.]


    ''I''ll take this advice of yours, don''t want a do-over, after all.''


    Alex smiled as he focused back on the task at hand.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 152: CHAPTER 152 – Finally done!

    A human body has blood vessels that could be elongated to the distance of 150,000 kilometers which pump blood through our whole body.


    But what would happen if you had mana veins of the same length inside your body?


    You would be walking a nuclear bomb that is made of mana, filled with mana, and sts mana.


    Now, it might sound absurd when you hear it this way, but yeah, everyone needs to build up mana veins in their body that could be stretched out for 150,000 kilometers.


    However, one must focus on the word ''stretched''. The mana veins can be stretched out, just like they are contracted, so the one string of mana veins Alex made might be able to be stretched to 1 kilometer.


    But he would still need to make such mana veins 150,000 times.


    This means he will have to make close to 5 veins every single second ''if'' he wants to be done with the process in 10 hours.


    Another thing to note here is that not everyone builds their mana veins to be 150,000 kilometers long, matching the blood vessels.


    People usually just create mana veins long enough to cover their body and have a string of mana veins in each part of their body.


    But Alex was not just a normal person, he wouldn''t need 5 or 6 days toplete the process and he wouldn''t just skip over the fact that the mana veins need to be the same length as the blood vessels to work best.


    "Argh..." Alex growled a bit for the first time after the process started as he felt his bones being strengthened.


    ''This is getting boring��.'' But inwardly he just sighed.


    [I did say it would be boring for you.]


    Sophiamented.


    Alex just shook his head, but then��.


    "Argh," Alex growled again as he felt the pain intensify.


    [The pain from the bones being broken and regenerated is much worse than the skin part, let''s not even talk about the marrow strengthening.]


    Alex had been going through the pain of having his skin strengthened for a while, but he didn''t even flinch as it was bearable for him, but the bone-strengthening was putting a bit of strain on him.


    ''There is more��?'' Alex just sighs as he focuses back on the mana veins, ignoring the pain.


    ''Should I increase the speed a bit?'' Alex questioned.


    [No.


    You do not know this, but what you are doing right now would''ve been impossible if not for your instant regeneration, but don''t try to force it.


    I already warned you.]


    Sophia spoke strictly and Alex just nodded his head.


    He continued what he was doing without any other thoughts, he kept doing the same thing again and again.


    Creating a new string of mana veins, joining them, and then creating them again.


    .........��.


    ''Just a bit more!''


    Alex eximed as after almost 9 hours, he was finally about to be done with the creation of mana veins throughout his body.


    Alex had gone through every strengthening and right now, his hair had grown long enough to flow down his shoulder as they turned a bit denser.


    His face which was already perfect turned better, it was like his face was shining and throwing light on the world that seemed dark in front of his brightness.


    His body which was already perfect also turned stronger.


    His muscles grew contracted, and his height increased.


    Alex who was already pretty high after the mana shockwave now grew higher.


    He was around 187 or 188 cm when the shockwave hit, but right now he is 191 cm.


    Just then Alex attached his final mana vein with the whole system he had created till now.


    The system was created, and it strengthened his body, but it was not functioning yet as it was notplete.


    "Combine."


    Alexmanded and the next second��.


    *Woosh*


    [Control the mana, right now.]


    Sophia advised as soon as she saw Alexbining thest string to the system of the mana veins.


    "Hm," Alex just hummed as he nodded his head.


    He started doing what Sophia told him to.


    The mana in the surroundings started to get sucked into Alex at very high speed and if not for Alex controlling the mana suction intensity, the walls of the room would''ve broken from the pressure the mana rushing toward Alex would put on them.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura who were sitting in the hall room watching something on the TV also felt something before they felt the mana in their surroundings drain.


    (Unlike what Alex had thought, Alice, Ann, and Noctura were not actually worried about him, they knew that he was stronger than anyone in this world right now.


    It would''ve been a different case if this continued for days, after all, days without contact with them was not something Alex would do without something really serious.)


    If not for them being SSS-ranked raiders, they wouldn''t even have been able to stop the mana inside their body from leaving.


    Both Alice and Ann also used their mana to protect Noctura hurriedly.


    They knew from the power of the suction that Noctura wouldn''t be able to resist, so they didn''t even ask and directly helped her.


    One would not die with their mana being drained, but they would sure feel many side effects of having manapletely drained.


    "What''s happening?!" Alice eximed as she jumped off the couch and took an attacking stance, and so did Ann and Noctura.


    "This is not normal��." Ann spoke as she and Alice used their control over mana to stop the suction to pull the mana out of Noctura.


    "Should we inform Alex��...?" Alice hesitantly asked.


    Ann who heard her words also had a look of hesitation on her face.


    She wanted to do the same as Alice, but she was hesitating.


    ''What if it was nothing major��...?''


    ''That would mean that we disturbed him without an urgent situation��.''


    These thoughts were going through their heads, making them hesitate.


    By now, they turned to Alex for every doubt they had. They thought that Alex knew everything, so it was hard for them to think something with Alex not being around anymore.


    But just as they were hesitating on what to do while maintaining the battle-ready posture, the mana suction that they felt suddenly vanished.


    All of this happened in seconds.


    "Don''t worry, it was me."


    Then they heard a voice reverberating through the room.


    They could not tell where the voice came from, it was like listening to 8D music, but the music yed in every direction at the same time, instead of switching from one side to another.


    But they just sighed and went back to what they were doing.


    ''So, it was him��'' X3


    The three of them thought with a sigh.


    Although the voice sounded deeper, stronger, andmanding, they could tell who the owner of the voice was.


    ''Just what are you doing��...?''


    Alice looked toward the gym as she muttered inwardly.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 153: CHAPTER 153 – Code Red!

    Alex could feel his body hungrily absorbing mana from the surroundings.


    Just as he attached the final string of the mana vein, he could feel his mana being circted inside of them, but the main point was that this time they were not moving because Alex was burning his mana and making them move.


    They were moving because that''s how they function.


    But then the problem was the amount of mana.


    The amount of mana needed to be circted inside the mana veins was vast as it was all over the body.


    So, the first thing that happens after the process of having one''s mana veins attached and functioning is filling them up with mana.


    The mana suction is so high even for a normal person that it sucks mana from anything and everything that contains mana and is in the surroundings of the one breaking through.


    But that was for normal people, for Alex it would be higher as he had higher mana due to him having the celestial incubus bloodline.


    [Control the mana, right now.]


    "Hm."


    So, when Alex heard Sophia saying that, he nodded and quickly got to work, but then he realized that he had underestimated his own powers.


    The suction of mana created by his body was so strong that it was taking him time to reign it in or have it under control.


    [If you don''t do it faster, then Alice, Ann, and Noctura might be sucked out of mana.]


    Just then Alex heard Sophia''s voice again and his eyes widened.


    ''Shit!''


    Alex cursed as he realized that he was still in the house.


    By repeatedly doing the same thing for hours, Alex forgot where he was.


    He didn''t want to see Alice, Ann, and Noctura being sucked out of all the mana in their bodies, after all, it had some bad effects.


    If a person uses all of their mana, to thest particle of it, or has it forcibly taken away, they will fall unconscious.


    But it doesn''t end there as once they wake up after their mana pool has been filled up again after a while, they feel a searing pain inside of their body.


    Like their body is being strangled from the inside.


    Just like how one''s body pains when they overwork, the mana does the same, just a lot worse.


    The pain is so bad that almost every raider would prefer dying over it.


    ''STOP!'' Alexmanded as he spread his hands out while sitting on the floor cross-legged.


    His muscles tightened as he clenched his fist, using all of his will to reign in the suction force, and it happened.


    All the mana that was being sucked into his body stopped, but then Sophia hurriedly spoke.


    [Don''t stop it, just minimize the intake by 100 times.]


    Listening to her hurried tone, Alex knew that it was probably for the good if he listened to her and he did that.


    Alex could see Alice, Ann, and Noctura who were standing in the hall room with a battle-ready stance.


    "Don''t worry, it was me," Alex spoke lightly, but to Alice, Ann, and Noctura it was loud and clear as Alex was using his upgraded mana control to transmit the voice through the air.


    Alex could see them sighing as they shook their heads before they sat back like nothing happened.


    ''These guys...'' Alex just shook his head with a light smile as he saw the change in their attitude.


    [Now you just need to wait till the mana veins in your body absorb as much mana as they want from nature, and then you will finally be able to break the world''s limit.]


    "All right," Alex spoke as he closed his eyes again and looked inside himself.


    He observed the whole process happening, from the mana particles entering the mana veins, then the particles cycling through his body, rejuvenating each and every cell that died in between the cycles.


    Slowly seconds became minutes and without Alex''s knowledge, his body started levitating.


    He was still engrossed in observing the process.


    Alex kept looking at the mana particles, how they entered his body, how they cycled through his body, and then how they disappeared into nothingness.


    He found it intriguing to watch the whole life cycle of the mana particle, but then suddenly his mind shifted to a worm.


    The worm struggled toe out of the ground until it finally did and then started to crawl in a particr direction.


    "What is life?"


    Just then, Alex heard a strange voice in his head, or more like it was his own voice but a bit different.


    But he didn''t answer he just continued to look at the worm.


    The worm met a group of other worms, and then it left the group and crawled alone.


    The worm ate the nutrients in the soil and it excreted the same.


    "It is a process of giving and taking."


    The voice continued, but Alex ignored it again.


    The worm then excreted what it considered waste from its body, but it turned out to be useful for the soil.


    "If someone takes something, they have to give it back in some way."


    Alex was not even listening to the voice now.


    He didn''t know what was happening, but he didn''t feel anything bad from it, rather, he felt that this ce was not unknown to him.


    Alex looked back at the worm, but just then in a sh, it was eaten by a frog that jumped out from the bushes in front of it.


    "If you are given a life, then it will be taken back in due time."


    The frog then jumped into the pond that was close by and started swimming.


    Alex watched this all with rapt attention, but by now Sophia noticed what was going on.


    She was surprised when she saw Alex''s body start levitating, and that too when he was just some seconds away from thepletion of the process.


    [Alex.


    Alex.


    Alex!


    Alex!!


    ALEX!!]


    Sophia tried calling for him, but he wouldn''t reply, so she spoke.


    [Requesting emergency ess to the view of the host.]


    She spoke and the system that had never spoken since the time Sophia had been active, spoke.


    [ess granted.]


    That was all the mechanical voice responded with but Sophia quickly waved her hand and a screen appeared in front of her, showing her what Alex was seeing.


    But her eyes widened when she looked into what Alex was seeing.


    {Shit! Shit! Shit!


    It''s too early for that!! Way too early!!


    Why the hell did you not limit your talent as well, you monster!!}


    Sophia screamed in fright.


    Yes, fright. She was frightened or even scared of something.


    [Code Red! Eject the host from the ******* Space, right now!!]


    Sophia hurriedly spoke as she saw the frog was about to be eaten by a snake.


    There was a short silence as the system was verifying something.


    [Code Red confirmed.


    Host ejected from the ******* Space.]


    The emotionless and genderless voice of the system was heard before it went silent.


    {Phew��.}


    Sophia sighed inwardly.


    {He gets bored for a while and this happens, I don''t want to imagine a time when he doesn''t have anything to do anymore��.} Sophia muttered to herself.


    {I guess I need to think of something about it as well...}


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 154: CHAPTER 154 – The Power Boost.

    Alex whose body was floating fell to the ground along with a soft mana shockwave leaving his body as he opened his eyes.


    ''Huh? What just happened?'' Alex wondered.


    Alex felt like he was missing something, it was like he forgot something.


    [What''s wrong?]


    Sophia asked with hidden caution.


    ''I think I was looking at something, but I can''t remember what...'' Alex answered without thinking much.


    He was confused as to why he couldn''t remember what he was doing.


    {Phew��.


    Looks like that space is still functioning perfectly.}


    Sophia sighed as she saw that Alex didn''t remember anything, but she replied to Alex quickly so as to not look suspicious.


    [Well, you were probably looking at the m- process.]


    {Fuck!}


    Sophia cursed inwardly as she almost spoke about the mana particles that were the root cause of what had happened.


    ''Yeah, maybe��.''


    Alex spoke with a pondering look.


    He was not listening to Sophia''s words that carefully or he would''ve noticed her changing the words.


    [For now, I think you should be focusing on your powers and the new things you have unlocked in your bloodline and skills.]


    Sophia quickly changed the subject as she didn''t want him to think about that matter again and do the same thing again.


    Alex, on the other hand, finally noticed that the process wasplete and he was not on the next level of power when he heard Sophia''s words.


    He waved his hand and in less than a millisecond a mirror made of water was created right in front of him.


    Alex stood up and looked at himself.


    He could see the changes in his body, and he could also see the changes inside of his body.


    ''This power��.''


    Alex clenched his fist which caused the air around his fist to tremble.


    He could feel the power within his single punch even without punching.


    ''One punch to blow an EX-ranker to smithereens, not bad, I guess'' Alex raised a brow as he evaluated his power.


    "Hup."


    Alex jumped on the spot and like one would think, he didn''t go crashing up into the ceiling.


    He just jumped a meter high before hended on his toes.


    Not a creak in the wood was heard, it was just how good control Alex had over his strength, or maybe it was because of the ''All-Master'' skill, or maybe both.


    ''The weight behind my attacks has increased, the weight of my body has increased, but I feel light as a feather.''


    Alex analyzed as he jumped on the spot continuously.


    ''I might be able to shoot myself through the air and glide just by using my physical strength,'' Alex thought and he really wanted to try it as well, but he controlled himself as he could feel new powers in his body, but before that.


    "So, am I an Epic ranker, now?" Alex questioned.


    [Yes, but you are Epic 1 right now, and you will need to use all of your stored boosts to push yourself up to peak Epic 2.]


    "All right, now other than the stored boost''s part, borate on the others," Alex nodded his head but spoke otherwise.


    Alex knew what boosts she was talking about, he was the one who stored them, after all.


    After he reached EX-rank and decided to stop progressing, he still got the boost his bloodlines gave him, so he stored them in his body.


    Alex was not actually going to do it, he didn''t even know it, but Sophia told him to do it so he did it.


    Now, when he had finally broken through, he was ready to use those boosts.


    But he didn''t have much knowledge about the ranks above EX so he asked Sophia to exin it, and Sophia being a helpful system spirit, did what she was asked for.


    [The ranks from F to EX are called the basic levels, it is something that anyone in worlds with a high density of mana could do, but after that starts the real thing.


    The Epic rank is the start of the journey in a way.]


    "I get that, but what is after Epic? What is Epic 1? And is there anything special about the rank after Epic as well?" Alex barraged Sophia with questions and Sophia listened to them patiently before she answered.


    [Epic 1 that I told you about is the first rank after EX-rank.


    Then ites Epic 2, followed by Epic 3.


    After thates Legendary 1, Legendary 2, and Legendary 3 respectively.


    Then finally it is Mythic 1, Mythic 2, and Mythic 3.


    These are how the ranks go after the EX-rank.]


    "What''s after that?" Alex asked curiously even though he could already guess what the answer was going to be.


    [You need to reach Mythic to know that.]


    ''Thought so,'' Alex nodded inwardly.


    Just like how people were getting used to his unique quirks, he was also getting used to things.


    [For your question about there being anything special about the ranks after Epic, the answer is NO.


    You won''t even find much change when you go from Epic 1 to 2 to 3, just like how one increases from C-rank to B to A.


    An Epic 2 will be able to defeat 2 or 3 Epic 1s without a problem, and the same could be said for Epic 3 and 2.


    But then you will notice changes when you get to Legendary 1. Your mana veins which are quite thin right now, will get thicker and stronger, making your strength rise a lot more than before.


    The same thing happens when you reach Mythic 1. Your mana veins get thicker and stronger until they reach their limits and by the time they reach their limits, you will already be on Mythic 3.]


    Sophia borated just as Alex wanted, but then she added.


    [Just so you know, a single Legendary 1 could beat 10 Epic 3s without a problem, and the same for Mythic 1 and Legendary 3.


    As for the 1, 2, and 3 ranks of each of them, the difference is equal.]


    ''I see, well, that helped me understand a lot more than I wanted, but thanks.''


    Alex nodded his head as he looked at himself in the mirror.


    "All right, let''s stop or I might fall for myself," Alex chuckled as he waved his hand and the mirror of water vanished.


    [Again, you should use your boosts and push yourself to Epic 2.]


    Sophia reminded Alex as she saw him being a narcissist.


    ''Yes, Yes, I was about to do it even if you didn''t remind me.''


    Alex dismissed Sophia''s words before he closed his eyes and broke the shell, in which he was storing the boosts.


    His eyes snapped open as he felt the boost rushing into his body, but then he just smiled.


    ''Getting more than expected always feels good��.''


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 155: CHAPTER 155 – Date with Alice.

    "Where are we going to go first��?"


    Alice asked in a voice filled with embarrassment.


    She was fine with holding hands as Alex had done it many times before, and she was getting used to it, but this right now was��.


    ''Too Close! Too Close! Too Close!''


    Alice kept repeating the same thing again and again, she could feel her body rubbing on Alex as they walked.


    Her hands were clutching his shirt in embarrassment.


    Right now, Alex had his hand on her waist as they strolled around the busy street.


    Alex had decided to give both Alice and Ann a date forpensation for thest date that was destroyed as they didn''t have anything to do at the moment.


    But Alice and Ann said that instead of taking both of them at the same time, it would be better to take them one at a time, that way, one could stay at home with Noctura.


    Alex agreed as well since he didn''t see a problem.


    All the gate-clear requests they were getting were being overseen by Frank as he would send different S-ranked raiders of the guild to different ces.


    Alice, Alex, and Ann didn''t need to do anything as there was no special request nor a request that caught Alex''s attention.


    They just waited for Max to give them the good news about his sess in making the leaders of Indigo Country''s Association sign the contract (ve contract).


    Alex wanted to raid the SS-rank gate that had appeared there, instead of letting someone else go and die in it.


    (A group of S-rankers are required to clear an S-rank gate, so the same would be required for an SS-rank gate, but there are not many SS-rank raiders in the world right now.


    So, his thinking was not unjustified.)


    It was not because Alex wanted them not to die in the gate, he couldn''t care less about their lives, he just didn''t want anyone to spoil his fun. He wanted the SS-ranked gate to stay an unknown territory so that he could discover it.


    Right now, Alex was more focused on Alice as he gave all of his attention to her alone.


    They were walking normally while holding hands as they enjoyed each other''spany, but then Alice saw a couple holding each other, with the guy''s arms around the girl''s waist.


    Alice looked at them with some envy as she wanted the same but was too embarrassed to ask.


    However, Alex who was walking beside her saw all that and just smiled.


    ''You could''ve just asked,'' He muttered inwardly as he coiled his arms around her naked waist.


    She was wearing a red top and a ck skirt. The top left her waist abdomen naked as it was short and just covered her breasts while the short skirt she was wearing covered her thighs, reaching just above her knees.


    Alice was not going to wear this, but Ann said that guys like this kind of dress and Alex would like it as well, so she wore it.


    Alex, of course, liked it and heplimented her as well, much to Alice''s delight.


    Right now, Alice was feeling goosebumps all over her body, she felt a weird but pleasant sensation pass through her whole body as Alex''s palm slithered through her waist.


    She held her head down in embarrassment as she felt Alex''s cold and strong arm going around her waist and finally grabbing it.


    Just as she felt it was over, Alex pulled her toward him with a jerk, making her body press on him.


    Alice could move away, but she was enjoying this moment more than Alex, but she was just too embarrassed to feel itpletely.


    "Let''s go for the movies first."


    Alex replied to Alice''s question as he looked at her with a smile.


    ''Why does she have to be cute and seductive, at the same time?'' Alex thought as he squeezed Alice''s waist he was holding.


    Alice felt that and squeezed Alex''s shirt tighter as she pressed her body against Alex''s for support.


    He could see her getting embarrassed as her ears turned rosy making her look cute.


    But the way her body pressed against his, the way her supple breasts that had grown bigger, deformed as they pressed against his chest, all of that just made her seem seductive along with her being cute.


    "Un," A low hum was heard as Alice slowly nodded her head.


    "All right, let''s go��."


    Alex''s voice faded as they moved toward the best theatre close to them, leaving behind the envious gazes of the single (in terms of rtionship) people in the surroundings.


    Although Alex was using his disguise ability to make themselves look like a normal couple, he couldn''t/ didn''t hide their aura of authority which made them have the spotlight even with the normal looks.


    Then there was the rtional dynamic.


    One would tell just by looking at them that they cared for each other, and it was true as Alice was one of the three people he really cared for while Alex was also someone that Alice cared for more than anyone else or maybe equal to Ann.


    The way they interacted and moved caught the eyes of many single ormitted people in the public, but themitted ones just decided to do better with their partners.


    The single people on the other hand just looked at them with envy as both Alice and Ann walked away.


    .........��.


    "Which movie would you like to watch, Alice?" Alex asked Alice as he had never watched a movie, and he didn''t know much about them.


    He could just look them up on the inte, but he was toozy to do that as he never had much interest in them.


    "That one," Alice pointed at a movie randomly.


    Alice was not a fan of movies as well, but since Alex was asking for her opinion, she replied with a smile.


    The poster of the movie had a picture of a guy and a girl''s shadow holding hands, and the name of the movie was ''I will always be there'' along with it, there was a romance tag given, so she decided to go with it.


    Alex who saw the name of the movie and the tags nodded as well.


    It was not like he didn''t like the romance genre, but the acting of the actors and actresses just didn''t feel good to him as he could find so many ws in them.


    "I will get the tickets," Alex spoke and moved toward the counter after he saw Alice nod her head.


    Alex let go of Alice''s waist as he moved away, leaving Alice who was now missing the way Alex held her.


    After all, she had gotten somewhat used to him holding her like that and she was now not that embarrassed or shy as well.


    They walked quite a distance and that much was enough for her to calm down, but��.


    ''I want him to hold me again��.''


    Alice wished as she looked at Alex who was standing at the counter. _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 156: CHAPTER 156 – The Movie.

    Alice and Alex were watching the movie as they sat side by side. Alex didn''t do anything to Alice as she seemed too into the movie, he just kept looking at her with a smile.


    As said before, Alex didn''t like movies as he found the acting done by the cast boring or unnatural.


    It didn''t attract him much, and even if it did, he would still do the same thing he was doing.


    But then he saw Alice''s eyes start tearing up before she spoke.


    "I need to go to the washroom," Alice didn''t even look at Alex as she rushed out of the hall.


    Alex looked toward the screen for a second before he followed Alice.


    He wasn''t looking at the movie but that didn''t mean he wasn''t listening to it.


    The movie was about a guy and a girl who met each other because of a misunderstanding.


    The girl thought that the guy was someone she used to know, and she started cursing him.


    But then the guy cleared the misunderstanding making the girl realize her mistake. The girl apologized to the guy continuously, but the guy just waved his hand and said, "It''s fine".


    The girl, however, was feeling guilty as she had cursed a good guy without a reason, so she wanted to do something.


    Listening to the girl, the guy had an idea and spoke, "How about we go on a date?"


    The story started with some spice and continued with light romance as the guy and the girl got together.


    Everything was going fine until the girl was diagnosed to have some kind of congenital heart disease.


    This broke the guy as he, who used to be a cheerful person would now cry alone as he thought about his beloved.


    Later in the story, when the girl didn''t have much time, and she had yet to find a heart, the guy somehow turned out to be the right match.


    The guy contacted the girl''s family members, chatted with them about it, and then decided to make a video for ast goodbye to the girl.


    The guy smiled with tears on his face as he gave out hisst goodbyes to the girl. He told her what to do and what not to do, and he told her about the many things he wanted to do with her but he won''t be able to.


    Then a doctor''s voice was heard, "Sir, the time is running out."


    The guy smiled onest time at the camera before he stopped the video.


    It was the scene where Alice left the hall, and Alex followed.


    Alex caught up to Alice quickly as he held her wrist.


    "It is just a movie, what are you crying for?" Alex asked Alice as she struggled to free her wrist.


    "I''m not crying?!" Alice eximed without looking back at Alex, trying to hide her tears.


    ''Why did I have to imagine myself and Alex in their ce��.?''


    Alice regrated imagining herself in the girl''s ce and Alex in the boy''s ce.


    Alice couldn''t bear imagining herself in that situation.


    If that was not enough, the start of her and Alex''s rtionship was something matching the ones in the movie as well, making Alice focus on the movie more.


    Alice didn''t even need to watch the girl''s response when she watched the video, just imagining it was painful for her, and that too when she was a bit too much into the movie.


    "Come here," Alex pulled Alice into a hug and pressed her head on his chest.


    "That was just a movie, all right?" He voiced as he patted Alice''s head, ignoring her trying to break free from the hug.


    "Let me go!" Alice shouted and Alex stopped patting her.


    "Ok," Alex spoke as he let go of Alice, who stood there dumbfoundedly.


    ''Why��.'' Alice couldn''t even think of a question in her mind.


    She just kept looking at Alex with her teary eyes, but even her tears had paused as she was that dumbfounded.


    "What? You were the one who wanted me to let go," Alex shrugged as he saw Alice looking at him dumbfoundedly.


    Alex then turned around and was about to leave, but��.


    "��sorry," Alice held Alex''s shirt from behind as she murmured in a low voice.


    Alex didn''t turn around.


    He wanted her to know what would happen if she showed him that kind of attitude.


    Alex didn''t like being ordered or shouted at, and Alice did both which made him frown.


    He will be there for her when she needs him, but that doesn''t mean he will just take whatever she throws at him.


    "Sorry for what?" Alex asked without turning back.


    "Sorry for shouting at you��." Alice spoke as she moved a step closer to Alex.


    Alice now realized what she had done, and she was sorry about it.


    She just couldn''t get the movie out of her head.


    "I''m really sorry," Alice spoke again as she saw Alex standing there without saying anything.


    She moved closer again almost hugging him from behind.


    Alex wanted to be harsher but he couldn''t.


    "Sigh��." Alex sighed before he turned back and looked into Alice''s eyes which had started to tear up again.


    "Just don''t do it again," Alex spoke as he wiped the drop of tear that was about to fall off from Alice''s eyes.


    "Un," Alice nodded her head before she moved forward and hugged Alex.


    Alex hugged her back as he patted her head.


    "Again, it was just a movie, just forget about it, and if you were imagining me and yourself in their ces, then know this: I''m not going to sacrifice myself for a crybaby."


    Alex stated but his tone turned teasing in the end as he had a smile on his face.


    "Hmph!" Alice just snorted as she hit Alex''s chest lightly.


    "Ouch," Alex faked a pained voice, but Alice was not buying it.


    "I won''t even cry if you did."


    Alice spoke as she looked at Alex while sticking out her tongue.


    "Good," Alex spoke as he pressed Alice''s head back on his chest with a smile on his face.


    Alice who had her head resting on Alex''s chest also smiled.


    ''Why was I even thinking about those things��.''


    Alice just realized how silly her thoughts were.


    ''He is the strongest one out there, what do I even need to worry about?''


    Alice smiled as she hugged Alex tighter.


    She didn''t think too much about the movie anymore as the date had just started and they still had things to enjoy their time.


    ''I just hope her reactions to my confession stay within what I had thought them to be��.''


    Alex however was thinking about something else as he had decided to tell Alice some things about himself that might affect their rtionship.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 157: CHAPTER 157 – I have something to confess.

    //// Author Note: I will skip the date as you guys don''t like too many fillers and get to the main part. ////


    "Hm hmm hmm hmhmm��."


    Alex sat on a bench with Alice beside him as he hummed an unknown tune that came to his mind.


    Alice who was sitting beside him with her head on his shoulder and her arms coiling around his, moved closer as she unknowingly pressed Alex''s hand between her breasts.


    "Hmmm Hm Hmm-" Alex paused as he felt the sensation of being pressed between two soft things but Alice who was listening to the humming with a peaceful smile on her face frowned a bit.


    They were almost done with the date and right now they were just enjoying their time together as it was hard to find time this peaceful nowadays.


    They went from one ce to another, eating, ying, singing, etc. and Alex nailed everything.


    Whether it was his food selection, gaming, or singing, Alex was like an expert in everything.


    Alex didn''t have any singing skills or something, but his voice which is the base of singing was strong, and a strong voice gives deep feelings.


    Alice became a fan of Alex''s singing from the moment she heard her sing, so when she heard the peaceful tune that Alex was ying stop, she couldn''t help but feel a bit dissatisfied.


    "Why did you stop? It was good��." She spoke as she looked up into Alex''s eyes. She wanted to continue hearing the tune, it was quite rxing and pleasing to hear, after all.


    Alex looked at her for a while before he smiled and rested his head on her head that was ced on his shoulder.


    "Hm hmhm hmmm hm��." Alex started humming again.


    Alice who heard that closed her eyes with a peaceful and happy smile.


    ''I wish my every day passed like this��.'' Alice sighed inwardly as she wished for something she knew was not possible.


    ..........................................


    "What tune was that anyways?" Alice asked as she still had her head resting on Alex''s left shoulder with her eyes closed.


    "I��. Don''t know," Alex spoke with a pause.


    He couldn''t remember where he heard the tune that he was humming a while ago.


    It had been a while since he stopped as the tune was over, but he still couldn''t recall where he had heard the tune.


    He had been thinking about it for a while as he rested his head on Alice''s head.


    Alice opened her eyes in confusion, "You don''t know? What do you mean?"


    She didn''t move, just opened her eyes and questioned.


    Alex who heard her question sighed.


    Alex thought for a while before he spoke.


    "Do you remember what we talked about when we met for the first time?" Alex asked and Alice who heard the question thought for a while before she replied.


    "That you are not Alex?" Alice asked unsurely as there were many things they talked about that day.


    "Well, we did talk about that, but what I wanted to say was the one where I said: I don''t remember my past," Alex scratched the back of his head as he replied.


    It was Alex''s fault for not specifying which part he was talking about.


    "Yes, what''s wrong?" Alice finally looked up into Alex''s eyes and Alex also looked into her eyes.


    "The tune I was humming earlier was something rted to my past," Alex spoke and Alice''s eyes widened in surprise.


    "You remember your past now?!?!" Alice stood up from the bench and jumped in front of Alex as she eximed.


    "Calm down first," Alex spoke as he pulled Alice back on the bench, but Alice''s eyes were fixed on Alex''s face as she waited for Alex to continue.


    "And no, I don''t remember my past yet," Alex''s answer deted Alice''s excitement.


    She had always wanted to know more about Alex, and his past which even he didn''t remember was something that made her want to know about it, so she got excited for a while, but now her excitement was gone.


    "Then how?" Alice asked as she held Alex''s light hand again as she had been holding before.


    "My memoriese in fragments, like, I''ll remember something one second and then the next second it''s gone, no matter how hard I try to recall it, I won''t be able to do it."


    Alex replied and Alice who could hear his frustration tightened her grip on his hand, pressing them deeper into her breasts.


    "This tune was like one of those things and I know that even if I remember it right now, I won''t be able to recall a single note of the ter��."


    Alex sighed as he freed his hand from Alice''s grip.


    Alice got confused as she looked at Alex.


    Alex just smiled, pulled Alice closer, and wrapped his left arm around her waist.


    Alice hurriedly looked down trying to hide her rosy face as she could feel Alex''s hand on her bare waist.


    She didn''t know why, but whenever Alex touched her bare skin, she would feel a weirdly pleasing sensation wash over her. Like her body getting weaker, she would feel a strange jolt in her body, but that bolt would feel good rather than bad.


    But then she just rested her head on Alex''s chest and smiled as she heard his heart beating calmly.


    Alex just looked up in the sky and closed his eyes for a while.


    ..............................��


    ''I should do it now��.'' Alex muttered inwardly as he saw Alice eating an ice cream that he had bought for her a while ago.


    Some time ago, Alice saw an Ice cream cart and she wanted to eat ice cream, so Alex bought it for her.


    Right now, they were sitting on the same bench while Alice ate her ice cream with a smile on her face.


    But then Alice turned toward Alex as she felt like he had been continuously looking at her for a while.


    "What''s wrong?" Alice asked with a smile as she tilted her head.


    "Well, I have something I want to confess," Alex replied directly, but his reply widened Alice''s eyes and she almost dropped her ice cream.


    However, Alice quickly calmed down and tried to look normal only to fail miserably.


    "W-what is it?" Alice tried to pretend like everything was fine as she started licking the ice cream again, but her stammering gave her away.


    Alex looked at Alice as he sighed inwardly.


    He knew what Alice was thinking, he could easily tell that, after all, his words were quite misleading.


    But he wasn''t going to do what she was thinking, he was going to do something that might cause some crack in their rtionship if Alice didn''t react as Alex had thought she would.


    "I have never told anyone about it, but I have stealing ability."


    Alice froze as her body tensed when she heard Alex''s words.


    All of her nervousness was gone, all of the fumbling around and shy smile was gone, and what was left was Alice, who was frozen.


    Alice''s mind went back to the first chat she had with Alex, and a frown appeared on her face.


    "So, you lied to me?" Alice asked with disbelief.


    ''If the first thing he told me was a lie, what about other things till now?''


    Such thoughts started appearing in her head.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 158: CHAPTER 158 – Why would I ask that?

    There is a line written/ spoken by Deanna Wadsworth �C "Never lie to someone who trusts you, and never trust someone who lies to you."


    Lying is the worst thing you could do to someone who trusts you, and trusting a person who lies to you is the worst thing you could do to yourself.


    So, when Alice heard Alex''s words, her mood instantly drained.


    "Why��." Alice was about to ask something, but she stopped when she saw Alex looking at her with a frown on his face.


    "When did I lie?" Alex asked with a frown.


    A guy who hates lying would never like someone using him of lying, and Alex was just that type of guy.


    "Huh?" Alice looked at Alex as her frown deepened.


    ''Does he want to deny it as well?''


    "Tell me."


    Alex demanded as if he could tell what Alice was thinking.


    Alice''s body jerked a bit as she heard Alex''s voice.


    "��. You said that you didn''t have any stealing ability," Alice replied in a low voice.


    "When did I say I didn''t have a stealing ability?" Alex spoke and before Alice could reply, he added.


    "What I said was that ''I am not someone who killed him to steal his ability'', I never said that ''I didn''t have a stealing ability''."


    As Alex''s words settled in her mind, Alice finally realized what he meant.


    ''He never lied?''


    ''I was the one who was making things up��.?''


    Alice started realizing her mistake and she realized that she was ming Alex for something he didn''t even do.


    "I am sorry��." Alice held her head down as she apologized to Alex.


    She was now feeling guilty for even doubting him.


    "Sigh��."


    Alice heard a sigh before she felt a hand patting her head.


    Alice looked up and found Alex shaking his head with a smile.


    "Here I was thinking of how you would react and the thing that you spoke about first was that��..." Alex spoke.


    He had thought that Alice might get suspicious or start questioning about her bother and other things, but he never thought that her question would be so out of his guess.


    Alice could tell that Alex was not angry anymore so she smiled as well.


    "What did you think I would ask?"


    "Well, I thought you would ask whether I stole your brother''s ability or something like that," Alex replied to Alice''s question.


    "But you already told me that you didn''t do it, so why would I ask that?" Alice replied with a shrug.


    Alex paused for a bit before he smiled and pulled her into a hug.


    "Yeah, my bad."


    Alex said as he patted her head that was now on his chest.


    ''Hehe��'' Alice giggled inwardly as she hugged Alex''s waist.


    [I guess you can overthink as well��.]


    Sophiamented inside Alex''s head and Alex just shrugged.


    ''You can''t me me, I''m a bit sensitive when ites to them.''


    Alex spoke inwardly as the faces of Ann, Alice, and Noctura shed in his eyes, but then Lily''s face shed as well.


    But it shed for less than a microsecond, the interval was so short that Alex didn''t even notice it.


    He won''t give a shit about the world''s opinion of him, but he does care about the opinion of the people he cares for, and Alice was one of them.


    [I know, I was just saying.]


    ''I know that as well, and I was also just saying,'' Alex replied and shrugged again.


    But then Alice suddenly separated from Alex and looked into his eyes.


    Her expression was that of realization as if she had realized something important.


    "You have stealing ability, so that means that you can steal abilities, right?" Alice questioned and Alex replied.


    "Of course, that''s why it''s called stealing ability."


    "So, have you used it on someone yet?" Alice asked again.


    "Yes, many times," Alex replied with a smile.


    "�� On humans?" Alice asked with some hesitation.


    She was not against it, but she just wanted to know.


    "Some, yeah," Alex replied.


    "They attacked you?" Alice asked again.


    She didn''t have any problem with Alex''s stealing abilities, but she at least didn''t want to see him killing some random people for that.


    After all, it is said that people with stealing abilities kill their victims after they are done stealing.


    "Yeah," Alex replied again with a simple one-word answer.


    "Can you tell me, who they were?" Alice asked again with a bit of hope in her eyes.


    "The assassins that attacked me, and��."


    Alex replied as he looked at her mysteriously before he waved his hand.


    Alice kept looking at Alex in confusion as she didn''t get what Alex was trying to do and Alex also didn''t point it out and waited for her to realize it.


    It didn''t take more than a second for Alice''s eyes to widen as she saw a bird that was about to pass through Alex''s head was paused mid-air.


    Then Alice hurriedly looked at the surroundings only to find everything frozen.


    She didn''t know how much area was paused like this, but she could tell that it was more than 500 meters.


    She then turned back to Alex with shock and amazement on her face.


    "Is that��." She didn''tplete her words but Alex did.


    "Stephan''s ability? Yes, it is."


    "When did you steal it?" Alice quickly asked.


    Stephan was supposed to have died at the hands of the mysterious group, but was it not true?


    ''Did Alex kill Stephan?''


    Alice thought inwardly.


    ''Maybe it was one of the times he went out alone, he tends to do things mysteriously after all,'' Alice sighed inwardly.


    She didn''t feel bad or anything, she was just curious, right now.


    "At the time he tried to attack us," Alex replied to Alice, but Alice was shocked again.


    "At that time?! But that was so long ago��." Alice eximed but her voice turned low at the end as she remembered how long it had been.


    "Yeah, at that time," Alex nodded his head.


    "How did no one notice it? How did Stephan not notice it? And if he did, why did he not do something about it?"


    Alice asked one question after another.


    "All right, calm down, one question at a time. So, let''s start with the first one��."


    Alex patted her head as he spoke with a nod before he started exining things about his ability and how it worked, along with the reason why Stephan never noticed this all to Alice.


    Alice listened to Alex''s every word intently as she sat next to Alex again, letting him hug her waist as she rested her head on his chest.


    Just like that, some more time passed as they kept talking about Alex''s ability and ways to use it.


    Alex would sometimes squeeze Alice''s waist that he was holding, causing Alice to lower her head.


    Before they could realize it, it was already 7 pm, and it was about time that they ended the date and returned back home.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 159: CHAPTER 159 – Playing with water.

    Alice and Alex walked hand-in-hand, on the shore of a beach.


    The waves of water came to touch their bare feet before they receded.


    They walked on the soft and wet sand while hearing the calming sound of the sea waves with their hands interlocked.


    It was almost nighttime so there was no one on the beach as it gets closed around 6: 30 pm.


    But Alex and Alice didn''t need to worry about that, after all, they could be invisible if they wanted to.


    They were supposed to go back home by now as it was already quitete, but Alice wanted to go to the beach, and Alex being a nice host, brought her here.


    "The sound of the waves is just so rxing��." Alice spoke in a low voice as she looked far into the horizon.


    "Hm," Alex nodded as well.


    "The children in the orphanage used toe here to y sometimes��." Alice continued.


    The orphanage she and Alex used to live in was quite close to this ce, so Alex was not surprised when he heard her words, he just held Alice''s hand tighter causing Alice to smile a little.


    "We used to build sand castles only to see them washed away by the ''evil waves''," Alice chuckled as she remembered those memories.


    Alex smiled as well.


    Although he was not with Alice at that time, he still had the memories of that time.


    "All of us would chase after the receding waves saying that ''the evil waves are running away''," She chuckled again.


    "All of us would have fun, but he��." Then Alice paused.


    The air turned sad from jovial.


    Of all things, she had to remember her brother.


    But one can''t me her, he was in the orphanage, and he was the only person in the orphanage she truly cared for.


    More and more memories of her time with her brother started surfacing, adding to her sorrow.


    But before her eyes could start watering up, she felt two hands on her body, one reached her high while the other reached for her back.


    Before she could realize what was happening, she found herself lifted in a princess carry.


    "Wha��."


    All of her sorrow was washed away in a second as she became bashful.


    She could see Alex''s face up close as she was being lifted in a princess carry.


    Alex was looking at her, but she had her eyes closed as she couldn''t look into his eyes out of embarrassment or shyness, whatever you want to call it.


    But then she heard the sound of waves much clearer than before, along with the sound of feet being dragged inside of the water.


    She opened her eyes to look around at what was happening and she found Alex moving deeper into the water and right now he was deep enough to have his knees submerged in the water.


    ''Is he��.'' Alice widened her eyes as she came to a conclusion.


    Her being carried in a princess carry and Alex moving deeper; it was not hard for her to guess what Alex was nning, she turned toward Alex only to see his eyes shining with mischief.


    That shine in Alex''s eyes confirmed her doubt, but she was already toote.


    "No!!" Alice eximed as she felt Alex loosening his grip around her body, letting her fall down.


    *Ssh*


    Alice who was not prepared for this directly fell into the water.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex started chuckling as he saw Alice fall into the water.


    Then Alex saw Alice''s heade out of the water, he could see her pouty expression but he just chuckled as he looked at her.


    But he was amazed by her looks as well, her hair, her eyshes, her nose, her lips, each part of her face was dripping wet, washing away the light makeup she had, but it only made her look better.


    Alex just kept staring at her, he was so focused on her details that he forgot to notice what Alice was doing, or maybe he noticed but ignored it.


    "Take that!"


    Alice eximed as she used some of her force to make a wave that drowned Alex in it.


    "Hmph," Alice snorted and folded her arms above her breasts which were almost visible if not for her undergarments.


    "You think I''ll let you go?" Alice just lifted her nose up as she spoke, but then she saw Alex getting up.


    Alex''s body which had be more defined after he reached the epic rank could now be seen clearly as the shirt was stuck close to his wet body.


    The upper button of Alex''s shirt somehow opened miraculously as he shook his head to get the water off his hair.


    Alex then slowly lifted his hand and bought a rubber band from his storage before he slowly, with deliberate movement, moved his finger through his hair and tied them into a ponytail.


    Alice who saw all that was stunned on the spot.


    It had been a while since Alex had tried to use his incubus bloodline''s power perfectly and right now, one could see that even Alice who was an SSS-ranked raider was stunned on the spot.


    Alex then turned toward Alice who automatically looked into his eyes, and then he waved his hand.


    Alice who was still looking at Alex was a bit confused when she saw him waving his hand but then��.


    *Ssh*


    A small wave came from the side and crashed on her, drenching her again.


    "You��." Alice gritted her teeth as she looked at Alex who was chuckling now.


    "I won''t stay down now!" Alice eximed before she ran toward Alex and sshed some more water toward him.


    Looking at Alex getting drenched with the water sheughed.


    "Hahahaha, you asked for it."


    Alex saw Alice running toward him but he didn''t do anything.


    Alice ran as she sent wave after wave at Alex.


    The waves obstructed her vision so she could not see where Alex was but she thought that he was moving backward.


    That was until she crashed into someone, but she didn''t fall into the water.


    *Swish*


    The water in the surrounding 2 meters to them stopped and emptied the spot.


    She finally saw Alex standing in front of her as he held her in his arms.


    Her face started heating up as she saw Alex''s face up close, looking at her in the eyes with a gentle smile on his face.


    "You look so good with a smile on your face, Alice.


    Don''t let that smile off your face, at least not for something from the past."


    Alice spoke as he lifted his hand and caressed Alice''s face softly, tucking the strands of hair that were on her face, behind her ears.


    "Un," Alice just nodded with her face red as a tomato.


    "Let''s sit here, surrounded by the waves that you like so much," Alex spoke with a smile and Alice nodded her head.


    Both of them sat in the small circle that was made by Alex.


    Alice rested her head on Alex''s chest as Alex slithered his arm toward her waist.


    This time, Alice didn''t show much reaction and just smiled.


    They sat there for a while, looking at the stars until Alex spoke.


    "What''s got you so deep in your thoughts?"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 160: CHAPTER 160 – I love you.

    Alex had noticed it for a while, he could tell that Alice was deep in her thoughts as she kept staring at the stars without any reaction to his eventual teasing.


    (Teasing here is referred to Alex gently squeezing Alice''s waist or caressing it.)


    That something could be what she had been thinking on her own or making her own conclusions, and Alex didn''t want that, so he asked.


    "What''s got you so deep in your thoughts?"


    Alice looked at Alex trying to feign confusion.


    "You know that acting of yours won''t work on me, don''t you?" Alex deadpanned her.


    Alice turned her head lower in embarrassment.


    "Out with it," Alex spoke as he squeezed Alice''s waist, and finally he got some reaction as Alice straightened her back and leaned closer to him.


    "It''s nothing serious��." Alice muttered with her head on his chest.


    "I still want to know, so tell me," Alex insisted.


    ''When they say it''s nothing serious, it is serious,'' Alex muttered inwardly.


    Alice remained silent for a while and Alex also waited patiently and gave her the time.


    After a while, Alice moved closer to Alex, her body was nowpletely sticking with Alex, and her face was buried in his chest.


    "It''s just that��..." Alice finally spoke, but her voice came out muffled as her face was turned toward Alex''s chest.


    "Whenever I think that I know who Alex is, I get a surprise, and I get to know more about you."


    Alice continued, and Alex who heard her words waited for her to finish.


    "I''m happy that I get to know more about you, I really am, but then a thoughtes to my mind: ''How much do I not know about him?''


    This thought then brings another thought: ''What about his past? The past that even he doesn''t remember?''."


    Alice then lifted her head and looked right into Alex''s eyes with her round watery eyes.


    "It gets hard when I think of all that, I start thinking about what your past was, who you were, and many other things��."


    Alicepleted her words as she kept looking into Alex''s eyes, waiting for his answer.


    But Alex''s reply was simple.


    "Does it matter?"


    "Huh?" Alice let out a confused voice.


    "I said, does it matter what my past was, when even I don''t remember it?" Alex asked again.


    ''Does it matter��...?'' His words kept repeating themselves in Alice''s mind, but Alex was not done yet.


    "I don''t know who I was in the past, I don''t remember, but I do know who I am right now.


    Right now, I am Alex Matthew, and I can assure you that I won''t change no matter what happens."


    Alex spoke resolutely, but then he felt his confidence waver for a while.


    However, he ignored it.


    ''There''s no way I''m changing,'' He spoke inwardly.


    "It doesn''t matter?" Alice spoke unsurely.


    Alex looked at her for a while before he shifted in his position and sat face-to-face with Alice.


    He held Alice''s hand and spoke.


    "Alice, I love you.


    I, the Alex you know am speaking right now, not someone from the past or someone with past memories, and that is not going to change.


    I''m going to keep loving you, no matter what I was in the past.


    So, let me ask you again: Does it matter?"


    Alex asked, but Alice was stuck on the first word he spoke.


    ''He proposed to me!''


    Alice eximed happily, she was jumping for joy inwardly, but that was all inside. Outside she was just stunned silly.


    "Do you love me? The me that you know?


    If yes, then does it matter what I was in the past?


    I am what I am right now, this is the real me, and it is not going to change."


    Alex added as he saw Alice stunned and Alice who heard his question finally broke out of her stunned state.


    Her eyes started tearing up, she was just that happy.


    "Yes, I love you too. I love the Alex that I know, and I will love you the same no matter what you be."


    Alice spoke with the best smile she could and it was now Alex''s turn to get stunned.


    Alice was beautiful, but right now as the moonlight fell over her and the sea breeze blew her hair, her gorgeous smile stole Alex''s heart again.


    Alex hugged her tightly and Alice hugged him back.


    They kept hugging each other for a while before they separated.


    "I promise you, I will always be the same, I''m not going to change."


    Alex stated again and Alice just smiled sweetly.


    "I believe you."


    They kept looking into each other''s eyes and Alice''s face started turning a bit rosy.


    Alex lifted his hand and caressed Alice''s chicks before one of his hands moved behind her head and the other moved to her waist.


    Alex slowly leaned forward and Alice who was that just closed her eyes.


    Her heart was beating like a drum, the rhythm of her heartbeats could be heard clearly, but then she heard Alex''s heartbeat drumming just like hers and smiled before he leaned a bit as well.


    Then it happened��..


    Alice felt like her body was zapped, but the current that passed through her body was more pleasing than anything she had ever felt.


    She could feel Alex''s lips on hers, and so could Alex.


    They simply pressed their lips against each other but that alone sent strange jolts through their bodies.


    They stayed like that for ten minutes or so before Alice tapped Alex''s hand and they separated.


    They kept looking into each other''s eyes before they leaned in again.


    This time, however, they started sucking on each other''s lips.


    Alex''s hands that were on Alice''s waist started moving up on her back as they roamed on her back.


    The same could be said for Alice as she pressed her body on Alex and ced her hand on his neck, pulling him closer.


    *Chup**Chup*


    The sound of them sucking on each other''s lips was heard clearly, but only to them as they were sitting some distance away from the beach, surrounded by waves.


    They stopped after a while and looked into each other''s eyes.


    "Hah��Hah��"


    Both of them were breathing heavily as they had been sucking on each other''s lips for who knows how long.


    Alice leaned forward and rested her head on Alex''s chest, avoiding eye contact as she was too shy to do that.


    Alex just kept caressing her head with a smile.


    After a while, Alex stood up with Alice in his arms as he carried her in a princess carry.


    Alex started levitating with Alice in his hands and stopped only after they reached a height of 50 meters.


    He started zooming toward their house but just as they were crossing a Lotel (Love Hotel), Alice tightened her grip around Alex.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 161: CHAPTER 161 – A monster.

    Alex, who was moving at a steady speed came to a sudden halt in the air as he felt Alice''s grip.


    He noticed the Lotel as well, and he turned his eyes to Alice only to see her avoiding eye contact as she buried her face in his chest.


    Alex couldn''t see her face, but he could see her blush covering her ear and reaching her neck.


    It was not hard for him to tell what she wanted.


    ''How would I call myself a man if I back down now?''


    Alex had been holding back from the moment they kissed.


    He didn''t want to force Alice into doing something she didn''t want to, and it was not like they didn''t have time.


    They had all the time in the world, so Alex was willing to wait, but how would he have known that Alice was holding back for a long time?


    Alice started having feelings for Alex a month or two ago.


    Before it was just liking or maybe friendly love, but it changed as she continued to live with him.


    She, who felt his care, his gentleness, his love, and his warmth, started wanting more of those things.


    She wanted more of Alex''s care, love, warmth, and everything about him, but she knew it was not possible, not until she took a step forward.


    Some people might say that what Alice had for Alex was not love, but that is what love is.


    You give your love to someone, and you expect love in return.


    Now, Alice finally had the chance to take a step forward and she wasn''t going to miss it.


    ''I don''t want to wait anymore,'' Alice muttered inwardly as she hid her face from Alex''s view.


    Although she took the first step, she was still shy, and embarrassed.


    "Are you sure, Alice?" Alex asked.


    He was not like those dense protagonists who didn''t understand anything or even if they did, they would start blushing and all, so he asked directly.


    Alice didn''t say anything, she just nodded her head lightly while still having it buried in his chest.


    "If that''s what you want," Alex spoke as he descended down to the entrance of the Lotel with their disguise on.


    Alice who heard Alex''s words and felt thending on the ground and moving in the Lotel had her heartbeats raised.


    ''I''m finally going to be one with him��.''


    Alice smiled inwardly.


    How could she have known that Alex was not just a monster in terms of power, he was a monster below there, and on the bed, as well?


    She did realize itter, but it was already toote, and she was already getting addicted to it��.


    ............


    (On an unknown ind deep in the ocean)


    *Fwoosh*


    A stream of me was sted toward Alex that he avoided hurriedly by jumping to the side.


    Then Alex looked toward the source of the me and saw a girl standing with a red sword in her hands.


    Her expression was as serious as it could be as her red hair was flowing freely on her back.


    Her red eyes were locked on Alex, following his every movement.


    Her eyes sharpened as she saw Alex''s move and then with a wave of her hand, a fire pir emerged from the ground.


    Alex who saw all this just willed and a pir made of rock shot out from the ground.


    That pir, of course, broke as it came in contact with Alice''s me, but it did what it was supposed to do.


    It gave Alex a footing to change his trajectory.


    The one shooting me throwers at Alex was Alice, and right now, she, just like everyone, had her power suppressed to SS-rank.


    Alice had made the fire pir right on the spot Alex was supposed tond, aiming to take down Alex.


    ''She is doing much better than before,'' Alex observed Alice.


    He could see her that contained patience and cone cunning in them, unlike before when she would just attack randomly.


    But just as Alex jumped back, he saw Alice smile.


    But her smile was not the normal smile she had; it was a smug smile.


    ''We got you now.''


    Alice muttered inwardly.


    ''Why do you think I wasted so much of my mana to cover the surroundings with fire?''


    Alice didn''t ask out loud, she just stood there as she folded her hands in front of her breasts.


    Alex who saw this, had a glint pass through his eyes.


    Right now, Alex had his powers suppressed, but that was not all as he added some more suppressions.


    He made it so that his perception range would be 5 meters around him max, after all, he would never be defeated without it.


    5 meters, however, were nothing for SS-rank raiders, it wouldn''t even take them a millisecond to cover that distance.


    Alex knew that although he was strong, he had his powers suppressed right now, and he could lose any time.


    Alex was still in mid-air because of the jump he had with the support of the rock pir, so he looked around, but he couldn''t see anything as the mes in the surroundings covered his vision.


    ''Not good��.'' Just then, Alex heard the sound of wind cutting.


    He could tell that something or someone was moving toward him at a very fast speed.


    But the mes in the surroundings were obstructing his vision.


    ''I can defend against whatever it is, but it will be hard toe out without even a scratch��''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he shook his head.


    ............��


    "If you guys can even scratch my clothes or body, you will be considered the victor."


    This was the condition for Alice, Ann, and Noctura to get a win against Alex.


    However, Alex didn''t see that out of arrogance or something, rather he was forced to say that.


    "We can never win against you, give us something easier to do."


    Ann had spoken earlier, even before they started the training.


    Alex always used to say, ''Try defeating me'' before they started the training, and that was not something Alice, Ann, or even Noctura had any hope of being able to achieve.


    They knew they were strong, very strong to be exact, but they knew their limits.


    "Why do you think you can never win?" Alex asked with his brows raised.


    "You are a monster."


    Alice''s answer was direct with a grudge filled in her voice.


    Alice was not just referring to Alex''s batter power, and Alex knew that as well, so he just scratched the back of his head.


    Ann who was with them also knew what Alice meant, she was no child, after all.


    "All right then, I''ll make it easier for you guys."


    That was when Alex had to make some changes to their winning condition.


    Right now, he was stuck mid-air as he recalled the condition for the win.


    ''Guess I will have to use that��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at his hands.


    (All of this had happened within seconds, that is how fast the speed of battle between strong raiders is.)


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 162: CHAPTER 162 – Training on an Unknown Island.

    If two SS-rank raiders were to fight seriously, with all of their power, then the destruction of the area that is going to be destroyed and the lives that are going to be lost in that process was not small.


    So, now that everyone in Alex''s group was higher or equal to SS rank, Alex decided to change the location for their training.


    ''I can just barricade the area for us to fight, but it will cause us to have limited space��.''


    Alex had thought of just barricading the training room in their house, but that idea was quickly shot down by himself.


    With nothing better to think of, Alex brought them all to an uninhabited, undiscovered, and isted ind that he found after a lot of searching.


    It was easy to find some uninhabited inds as there were many like that, much more so after the expansion of the.


    So, right now, they were on this ind that was unimed by anyone.


    This was their new training ground, and it was huge. It was the size of arge city and Alex had found out that it was actually the tip of a huge mountain that originated from the sea bed.


    The mountain had probably grown when the grew, making it evenrger, but it really was huge��.


    .....................��.


    Alex, who was in mid-air moved his palms toward each other, and just as he did��


    ''Pyre of adjudication,'' Alex muttered inwardly as he used the skill that had been growing along with him for a while.


    ''The mes in the surroundings are evil,'' Alex muttered again.


    This skill, ''Pyre of Adjudication'' worked in a unique way.


    The fire from the POA (Pyre of adjudication) only burned evil, it won''t even touch the good things.


    This was one of the reasons why Alex never used it.


    But one day he tried experimenting with something, and the result was sess.


    ''I just need to wholeheartedly believe that the one I''m using this me for is/ are evil.''


    Alex found a loophole.


    Nothing was actually evil or actually good, it was just how you see it.


    For a thief, stealing is not something bad, the thieves steal because they think that it is an easier way for them to earn money.


    But the same thing is considered a crime if we go by thew.


    The mes worked just like that.


    The things that Alex considered evil will be burned by the me while the things that Alex considered good won''t be.


    Just as Alex thought of Alice''s mes that were in the surroundings as evil, the pyre of adjudication, which is a maroon-colored me rushed out of Alex''s body.


    The maroon-colored me washed over Alice''s golden-orange mes, and Alice''s mes extinguished.


    "Wha��."


    Alice who saw all of this was shocked.


    ''What the hell is this ability?!?!'' Alice screamed inwardly but then she saw Alex passing her a smile.


    ''��.. Another one of his abilities,'' Alice was not even surprised anymore.


    She was shocked that Alex had mes that were strong enough to extinguish her mes, but she was not surprised because it was Alex.


    Now, it would not have been possible for Alex''s mes to extinguish Alice''s mes no matter if they were growth-type or not.


    Alice had unlocked a bit of her potential, after all.


    But right now, Alice was not strong enough to face a me that was epic-ranked.


    Yes, POA was epic-ranked, and that was because it was a growth-type skill.


    Alex who had used POA to extinguish Alice''s me could finally see the battlefield now.


    But it took some time and now, the attack that was headed toward him was right in front of his face.


    A simple looting de was thrown at him, and there was no one in the direction it was thrown from.


    ''That''s Ann''s conjured de��'' Alex muttered inwardly, but on the outside��..


    "It''s clearly a diversion, I can tell that easily, not like it is of any use now, the mes are gone."


    Alex spoke as he tilted his head to the side, avoiding the de.


    It was easy to tell that the de was just a diversion, something that would take his attention, letting the attacker make use of that moment and attack him.


    But now the me veil made by Alice was gone, and there was nothing for the attacker to hide in.


    However, just as Alex dodged the de headed toward him, he felt another attack heading toward him.


    Alexnded on the ground only to find a golden wave of meing at him.


    "You know that I can just dodge it, don''t you?" Alex raised his brow as he jumped to the side.


    But just then his perception warned him of danger, so he quickly tilted his body backward and did a back handspring.


    From the corner of his eyes, he saw what it was.


    ''Ann is getting better and better at strategizing��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he saw the spike made out of shadow that had almost prated his skull.


    There was the sun in the sky, but there were no trees or anything in the surroundings, so there was nothing that could produce shadow other than Alex''s own shadow in the surroundings.


    ''This time it was Noctura��.'' Alex noted inwardly.


    The only one who can control shadow is Noctura.


    However, she didn''t make a spike out of Alex''s shadow, it was not possible, not until Alex allowed it or Alex knew about it.


    The spike was made out of the shadow produced by the de that Alex dodged before.


    The de had a tiny shadow, and the spike made out from it would be small as well, but that is where Alice''s mes came into y.


    ''ns and backup ns��...


    She worked hard for today''s training.''


    Alex praised Ann inwardly.


    The mes that Alice shot were bright enough to make the shadow of the dagger bigger, which made it possible for Noctura to make arge spike out of it.


    Alice shot the mes just after Alex dodged the dagger andnded on the ground, which meant that the dagger was not far from him at that moment, resulting in the current situation.


    Alex was upside down right now, or to be precise, he was on his hands as he was in the middle of his back handspring, but before he couldnd back on his feet��..


    *Swosh*


    Alex heard the sound of air cutting again before his perception warned him again.


    The attack wasing right to his head or neck as he was still upside down.


    Alex didn''t spring himself back straight, if he did that, he felt that he would fall for their trap again, so instead, he fell straight to the ground on his back.


    With him falling to the ground, the attack that was supposed to hit him passed right above his face.


    Alex was safe, but he didn''t stop as he knew how annoying Ann''s stealth was, so he rotated his body on the ground and kicked in the direction where the attack came from.


    "Argh!"


    A groan was heard as Alex''s attack hit right in Ann''s gut.


    Ann''s stealth got removed as she was thrown back for who knows what distance.


    But before Alex could get a breather or even get up, Noctura, who had been invisible from the start finally jumped on Alex with her ws covered with shadow.


    "Shit!"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 163: CHAPTER 163 – You lost, right?

    Alex cursed as he saw Noctura''s w right above his head.


    He had his stats suppressed to SS-rank and Noctura was someone who could fight someone who was a rank higher than herself, so it was not possible to dodge an attack from her, not when it was this close and not when he needed to remain unscathed.


    ''Temporal pause!'' Alex eximed as the time paused for a second.


    Although it was for a second, it was enough for Alex to get away.


    But he didn''t stop.


    ''I need to finish this quick,'' Alex thought as he covered his fists with rock and jumped up in the air.


    Alex had some cards left to use, but he didn''t want to.


    However, he didn''t want to lose as well.


    Alex knew that Noctura''s ability was annoying, and it would be hard to find her once she disappeared again, so he decided to deal with her first.


    None of them here were weak, all of them were strong enough to fight against someone with a rank higher than theirs, so Alex, who had his powers suppressed couldn''t just take it easy anymore.


    Alex jumped in the air and Superman punched Noctura.


    His punchnded right at the moment the ''Temporal Pause'' broke, and for Noctura, thest thing she saw was Alex''s rock-covered fist in front of her face before she was knocked out.


    ''I failed, mama,'' This was herst thought.


    Temporal Pause is strong, no doubt about it, but you can''t trap an elephant with ropes, the most you can do is stop it for a while.


    That''s what happened here.


    Noctura was strong and she was growing stronger every day, not to talk about her bloodline which was ranked quite high, so it was not surprising that she could break free of the temporal pause.


    Alex could''ve used 99% of his mana to trap her in it for longer but he did it so quickly that he didn''t notice that.


    But he got the small pause he needed to take down Noctura and he did just that.


    ''Two down, one more to go.''


    Alex then turned toward Alice only to find another zing beaming at him.


    "This again?" Alex raised his brow as he dodged the zing beam with ease.


    "You cheated!" Alice shouted from where she was standing.


    "Huh? What do you mean?" Alex tilted his head in confusion.


    ''When did I cheat?'' He really didn''t get what Alice was talking about.


    "You used that time-pausing ability!" Alice shouted again as she fired another beam at him.


    "And?" Alex still didn''t get it.


    "That ability is basically a cheat skill; you can''t use that!" Alice eximed in exasperation as she saw Alex dodging her attack again.


    ''Just stay in one ce!'' She eximed inwardly as she shot another beam.


    "You never said that I was not allowed to use that skill," Alex just shrugged as he moved a bit to the side, narrowly avoiding the beam of fire.


    Alice was not in the range of ''Temporal Pause'', so she saw all that happening.


    She could see Noctura pause on her spot and she saw Alex punching her unconscious, but it happened too fast for her to react.


    Ann would''ve been shocked if she saw Alex using this skill as she still didn''t know about Alex having that ability but she was out cold right now, so it doesn''t matter.


    Alex saw Alice charging another attack, so he rushed at her.


    "You know that you guys lost but you just won''t stand down, would you?" Alex asked as he dashed at Alice.


    "Never," Alice replied as she shot another beam at Alex which was avoided by him again.


    Alice knew that they lost, they lost the moment Alex used Temporal Pause, and she also knew that no matter how many beams she shot at Alex, they were not going to hit.


    ''I will run out of mana eventually��'' Alice muttered inwardly as she saw Alex dashing toward her.


    But then Alex''s speed increased and he was right in front of her before she could blind her eyes.


    "You lost," Alex spoke as he stood in front of her.


    Alex was standing right in front of Alice and looking down at her as his big body towered in front of her.


    "W-what do you mean, I lost? I''m still standing, and I have yet to admit def-" Alice stammered as she saw Alex looking down at her.


    But her words were cut short as Alex pulled her close with a jerk and took a taste of her lips.


    "You lost, right?" Alex asked again as he moved away after just a peck on Alice''s lips.


    Alice''s lips tried to catch Alex''s lips as he moved back, but looked at the teasing eyes of Alex, and hearing his question, Alice stopped herself.


    "N-no, I didn''t," Alice voiced out as she looked away from Alex''s eyes.


    "Ho?" Alex raised his brow before he bent forward and pecked Alice''s lips again.


    This time he gave a lick on her upper lip, but just a lick before he backed away again.


    Alice''s lips tried to catch up again only to fail.


    Alex did it again, then again, and again, and again.


    He would suck on her lips, lick her lips, and sometimes just peck her lips, but he continued doing it for a while.


    Alice who tried to catch Alex''s lips again and again was now breathing roughly as she looked at Alex with tears in her eyes.


    ''Why is he so annoying?!?!''


    She knew what he wanted; she could tell that just from the smug expression on his face.


    "What do you want?!" Alice eximed as she licked her own lips, trying to taste whatever taste of Alex''s lips was left there.


    "You lost, right?" Alex asked again, and this time��.


    "Yes! Yes, I lost, so please stop teasing-" Alice stomped her foot but again her words were cut short as Alex kissed her again.


    But this time, he didn''t back away, instead, he moved his tongue in Alice''s mouth.


    ''What?!'' Alice widened her eyes, but when she felt the sensation, she started melting in Alex''s arms.


    They started sucking on each other''s tongue but just then��.


    *Brrrrr**Brrrrr**Brrrrr*....


    The sound of the phone''s vibration was heard, and it broke the rosy atmosphere that was starting to form around Alice and Alex.


    Alice and Alex looked at each other for a while before Alex chuckled.


    "Go pick it up, it must be important."


    Alex spoke as he gave Alice another peck on her lips.


    Alice nodded her head as she touched her lips absentmindedly.


    ''It was so good��.''


    Even though they had done the deed, it was her first time kissing like this, it honestly felt too good to her.


    But then she heard the vibration on her phone again and she turned toward it with an annoyed expression.


    ''Who is it?!?!''


    Alice screamed inwardly as she rushed toward the boulder she had ced her phone on, leaving Alex, who was chuckling as he looked at her antiques behind.


    //// Posting the extra chapters because I can, right now. ////


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 164: CHAPTER 164 – How have you been?

    (Inside the headquarters of the Raider Association of Orange Country.)


    Luna was sitting on her chair in the main office as she went through some documents, but just then, thendline on her desk started ringing.


    *Ring Ring**Ring Ring*


    "Hello," Luna picked up the call and answered it.


    Her focus, however, was still on the file that she was going through, but that was until��.


    "Ma''am, we have new photos," The sound of a girl who seemed to be in her early 20s or lower was heard.


    Luna paused for a second.


    "��. I see, send them to my office," Luna calmly replied after a pause.


    "Yes, ma''am."


    Luna hung up the phone after she heard the reply.


    She went back to looking at the file, but unlike before, right now, she was just flipping pages as her mind was upied by something else.


    She just absentmindedly kept flipping the pages until she heard a knock on her door.


    *Knock Knock*


    "Come in," Luna spoke as she looked as professional as always.


    *Click*


    The gate was opened with a click before a girl with ck hair and green eyes entered the room.


    "The file you asked for ma''am," The girl spoke as she respectfully passed the file to Luna.


    Luna looked at the girl for a second.


    ''She doesn''t know anything, but just to be safe��.''


    Luna thought as she started releasing thepelling mist in the air.


    The girl waited for Luna''s order to leave with her head bowed.


    The girl didn''t know what Luna was doing, and neither did she know that Luna was looking at her right now.


    Luna tore the envelope that had the new pictures that she heard about earlier, but before looking at the pictures, she looked at the girl.


    "What''s inside the envelope?" Luna asked.


    "I don''t know, I was just told to bring it here," The girl replied absentmindedly.


    "I see, you can go now," Luna waved her hand and the girl bowed her head before she moved out of the office.


    The girl didn''t know this, but she was under the effect of Luna''spelling mist.


    Luna had mastered her ability to such an extent that now she could make it work like truth serum as well, and the point was that the one who was under the effect wouldn''t even know it.


    They will just think that they are speaking what they are supposed to speak.


    In the past weeks, Luna who had turned SS-ranker, practiced using her skill better.


    With more mana and more control over her ability, she could do much more than what she thought and what she did right now was just the start.


    ''So, this is the new pictures��.'' Luna muttered inwardly as she looked at the pictures that her subordinate had found for her.


    Her face still remained neutral as she stood up from her chair and moved toward the bookshelf behind her chair.


    ''My time with you.''


    This was the name of the book that Luna''s hand moved toward.


    Luna lightly pulled the book, but it didn''te out and just stayed tilted on the self.


    Right after that��


    *Drrrrrrr*


    The sound of the bookshelf trembling was heard before the bookshelf moved to the side.


    Luna looked at the path behind the bookshelf that led into a dark corridor.


    ''Let''s go,'' Luna moved inside, and just as she did that, the bookshelf closed itself.


    Just as the bookshelf closed, the dark corridor brightened as the lights on the walls started to go on slowly, one after another.


    Luna kept walking ahead before she stopped at the entrance of a gate made of iron.


    She paused for a second before she pushed open the door and entered the area behind the gate.


    *Swish**Sling**Woosh*


    The sound of air being cut by different kinds of weapons was heard, but Luna just looked ahead calmy, and spoke.


    "Stop."


    A single word and the next, but there all the weapons that had almost reached her head or neck paused just an inch away from there.


    Luna lifted her hand and ced her finger on the de that was right in front of her before she moved it away with the same finger.


    "Good job," Luna spoke as she walked ahead without even looking at the ones that attacked her.


    Right now, she was not in the mood to talk with someone else, she was in the mood for something else.


    As she moved ahead, the people who had their weapons pointed at her became visible.


    There were 4 girls, wearing skin-tight ck assassin dresses.


    All of them had nice D-cup breasts and perky asses, along with long hair flowing down their backs.


    Their face was not visible due to the mask they were wearing but one could tell they were beautiful just by looking into their eyes.


    "Did she get some new photos?" One of them asked.


    Her voice was distorted by some voice-changing item, so it was hard to tell what her actual voice was but it was what it was.


    "Most likely, she did say that she might get her hands on some more today," Another one spoke with the same distorted voice.


    "It''s good, right? We can look at them all we want after she goes out again," The third one spoke and the fourth one who seemed like the silent type also nodded her head.


    (Back to Luna)


    There was arge hall with many rooms inside this secret ce of Luna.


    It looked like a ce for a gathering of some kind of cult.


    Calling it a cult won''t be too far from the truth as Luna really did make something like that.


    This ce was a club of some sort. The people,dies or girls to be precise, who came here had only one topic to talk about, and they would talk about that for long before they would go back to their work.


    Luna kept walking deeper into the hall until she finally reached thest room in the hall.


    *Click*


    Luna opened the gate and entered the room.


    After entering the room, she turned back and closed the gate before she released herpelling mist at full intensity.


    "Come out."


    She ordered.


    But there was no movement, which meant there was no one inside.


    It never hurts to be cautious,'' Luna muttered before she looked at the walls of the room.


    ''Heheheheheheh��.''


    A crazy smile appeared on her face as she looked at all the photos that were stuck on the walls.


    Her hands moved to her cheeks as she moved closer to the wall.


    "Ah��"


    Luna sighed contently.


    "How have you been?" She asked as she looked at the photos.


    "I bought some more of your photos," She giggles as she takes out the new photos from her storage.


    Her hand moved toward thergest photo on the wall as she touched the face of the guy with long ck hair and haunting red eyes.


    "You are getting more and more handsome every day��." She muttered as she caressed the face of the picture on the wall.


    Then Luna turned toward the bed in the room and jumped on it as she hugged the body pillow next to her.


    "Hehehehe��."


    She started giggling again as she looked at the picture printed on the body pillow.


    "I will see you soon, Monarch or.... Alex��." She muttered as she started removing her clothes.


    "Let''s enjoy our alone time��."


    She muttered as she looked into the eyes of Alex''s photo that was printed on the body pillow.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 165: CHAPTER 165 – What’s wrong, Alice?

    (Back to Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura.)


    "I should go and check up on them��"


    Alex muttered between his chuckles as he shook his head.


    Then he moved toward Ann as she was closer to him right now.


    He used his wind control to make her float in the air in a way that made it seem like she was lying mid-air.


    Alex then walked toward Noctura as he used water healing on Ann.


    Alex''s water healing was now much better than before, and he could even heal broken arms with water healing.


    All he had to do was use the nutrients in the water to generate more cells in the body of the person he wanted to heal.


    ''It takes a lot of mana,'' Alex muttered but then he just shrugged it off.


    If it was someone else, then the mana consumption would''ve been a problem for them, but for Alex, it was thest of his concerns as he could just regenerate mana endlessly.


    Ann, who had a pained expression at the start now had a rxed smile on her face as she floated mid-air.


    Alex did the same thing to Noctura.


    He levitated her mid-air and used water healing.


    Alex continued healing them and in less than 10 seconds, he was done with their healing.


    "Well, I''ll let you guys'' rest for a bit, you did work hard, especially you," Alex muttered out loud as he moved closer to Ann and caressed her cheeks.


    Alex knew that Ann was awake, he could tell that from the uneven rhythm of her breathing, but he didn''t point it out.


    Ann woke up the moment her healing was done, and she tried to move only to find her body being restricted.


    She wanted to use force but then she smelled Alex close to her so she rxed her body.


    Her senses had been upgraded after she got her bloodline, and as the bloodline belonged to a canine, her sense of smell and hearing had increased by many folds.


    With Alex close to her, she knew that nothing could harm her, so there was no need to worry.


    She smiled as she heard Alex''s words, but then he felt him caress her cheeks.


    She was about to open her eyes, but she stopped when she heard someoneing toward them.


    "So? Who was it?" Alex asked as he saw Alice moving toward them with a big smile on her face.


    "It was Grace, she said that Maximus wanted to let us know that the leaders of Indigo Country''s association are now under hismand."


    Alice hurriedly replied with a smile.


    "Good."


    Alex also smiled.


    ''I can finally have some fun, some real fun��.'' Alex muttered inwardly.


    "And?" Alex then questioned again as he knew there was more.


    Alice''s smile widened as she replied.


    "Our permits will be made in a day, so we can go there tomorrow."


    "Nice, let''s get back then," Alex nodded his head before he looked back at Ann and Noctura.


    But Alice seemed to have something else in her mind.


    "Um��"


    Alice grabbed Alex''s shirt from behind.


    Alex raised his brow before he turned back to look at Alice only to find her looking down with a furious blush that reached her neck.


    It didn''t even take a second for Alex to realize what she wanted and a teasing smile married his face.


    "What''s wrong, Alice?" Alex asked innocently as he looked at Alice.


    Alice didn''t look up; she just clenched her fists.


    She knew perfectly well what Alex was doing.


    By now, she knew Alex so much that she could tell what he wanted at least.


    But it was too embarrassing to ask for what she wanted.


    "Is everything fine, Alice? Are you sick or something?" Alex faked a worried expression as he started touching Alice''s head, checking if she had a fever.


    ''An SS-rank raider can''t catch a fever!!!'' Alice eximed inwardly but, on the outside, she just kept fidgeting.


    "It doesn''t look like you have a fever though��.." Alex muttered as he pulled his hand back.


    "Come on, tell me what is it?" Alex asked again as he looked at Alice.


    "Um��" Alice tried to speak, but no words came out of her mouth.


    ''How about this?'' Alex muttered inwardly.


    "If there is nothing then let''s just go back," Alex added and was about to turn back but then he heard a whisper.


    "Kiss me��."


    "Sorry? Did you say something, Alice?" Alex turned toward Alice with a confused expression.


    He heard everything clearly, but he pretended like he didn''t.


    "Kiss me��" Alice muttered again as she clenched her fists harder.


    ''No more, please!!'' She cried inwardly.


    ''This is too much!''


    It was fine when the atmosphere was set and she just had to take a step forward, but right now, there was no rosy atmosphere or anything, she was just asking for a kiss.


    "Hmmmm��" Alex didn''t reply, he just made a humming sound.


    "Can you repeat it, please? A bit louder this time," Alex asked knowing full well that he was pushing Alice a bit too much, and just as he had expected her to react��..


    "JUST KISS M-Hmmmm!" Alice looked at Alex with tears in her eyes as she shouted but her words were cut short.


    All of her annoyance evaporated as her body turned to jelly.


    All of this happened as Alex kissed her really hard. He didn''t y games as he directly pushed his tongue in her mouth and started ying with it.


    Alice clutched on Alex''s shirt for support.


    They kept sucking on each other lips, and tongues,pletely oblivious to a pair of eyes that were looking at their heated kiss.


    Well, Alex knew about it, but he decided to ignore it.


    ''She would be doing the same soon anyways��'' This is what he thought.


    It was Ann who was looking at Alex and Alice kissing each other as Alice kept pressing her body on Alex more and more.


    It felt like she wanted to fuse both of their bodies together.


    Ann just wanted to take a peek at them as she thought that they would be kissing like the ones she saw in the movies, slow and sensual.


    But her eyes went wide as she saw the steamy kiss they were having.


    ''What the hell is that?!''


    She was new to the world of romance, just like Alice, so she didn''t know anything about it.


    ''But she seems to be enjoying it a bit too much��.''


    Ann bit her lips as she looked at Alice, who was kissing Alex with the same intensity he was doing.


    ''It looks hot��'' Ann thought as she looked at Alex and Ann.


    Her body was feeling hot, and she wanted to move, she wanted to touch herself, but she knew that if she tried to move, Alex would know that she was awake.


    Little did she know that Alex was observing her from the start.


    ''I can''t watch this anymore��..''


    Ann knew that if she continued watching the steamy kiss they were having then she might do something that would blow her cover so she closed her eyes, but was it that easy? No.


    She still peeked at them from time to time until she saw both of them move their lips away, making a string of saliva form in between.


    ''It was too long!''


    She shouted in her mind.


    ''How could you even want to kiss that long?''


    ''Does it feel that good��?''


    There were many questions in her mind, but there was one worry as well.


    ''We are going to Indigo Country tomorrow, then that means....''


    She sighed inwardly, but just then she heard Alex speak.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 166: CHAPTER 166 – Date with Ann.

    "Hah��. Hah��. Hah��"


    Alice breathed heavily as she pressed her head on Alex''s chest.


    Her height had increased to 179 cm, but she was still short in front of Alex who was 191 cm already.


    Alex smiled as he lifted Alice''s face by holding her chin, making her look into his piercing red eyes.


    "Happy now?" Alex asked smile and Alice just gave a shy nod.


    "Good," Alex nodded his head and let go of Alice''s chin.


    They stood like that for a while as Alice needed to get her breathing perfect.


    "Let''s go now, we need to make some arrangements to move," Alice spoke after she had calmed down, though she was still clinging to Alex.


    "Oh, about that," Alex voiced out making Alice look at Alex questioningly.


    "We will have to postpone our trip to Indigo Country for a while, I still have the promise to fulfill," Alexpleted his words as he pointed at Ann.


    He could tell that the date he had promised Ann had slipped Alice''s mind, so he directly pointed at Ann, causing Alice''s eyes to widen.


    "Ah��." Alice didn''t know what to say.


    ''How could I forget that?!'' Alice was shocked at herself.


    How could she forget something so important?


    She looked at Ann with a guilty expression, but she felt a pat on her head causing her eyes to inadvertently move toward Alex.


    "You were just too excited for the new gate, so don''t beat yourself about it," Alex spoke as he ruffled Alice''s hair.


    "Un," Alice nodded with a smile.


    "let''s go now, I was to cook for you guys and n for the date tomorrow, so I don''t have time to waste," Alex spoke as he pointed at the sun that was going down already.


    Alice nodded with a smile as she stuck closer to Alex.


    ''Hehehe��.'' Ann, on the other hand, giggled inwardly as she heard Alex''s words.


    Alex then hugged Alice''s waist and started levitating upward while making Ann and Noctura move together with them.


    Alex then coated both Ann and Noctura with a wind barrier and then��


    *Woosh*


    He shot straight in the direction of their vi.


    .............................................��..


    "You look gorgeous��." Alex spoke with an awestruck expression as he looked at Ann.


    "You look dashing as well," Ann was not any better as she was also looking at Alex with the same kind of expression with the addition of a rosy tint on her cheeks.


    She replied while twirling her hair which unlike always, was not tied in a full bun, instead, she let her hair flow down her back, giving her a mature look even though her body made it hard to think of her as a mature girl.


    Ann had grown as well since right now she was 169 cm tall, and her breast size had increased to C-cup, much to her happiness.


    She had always been insecure about her breasts, they were small, after all.


    Ann was wearing a dark, blue-colored full skirt reaching her ankles, along with a cream-colored sleeveless, loose crop top.


    Her eyes which were slowly turning purple, were quiteplementary to her skirt, while the cream-colored top made her aura turn a bit warm and cozy.


    Overall, she looked beautiful.


    Alex, on the other hand, was wearing a in white shirt with ck pants.


    He had the top button of his shirt open along with the sleeves of the shirt folded till they reached his elbow, and with his long hair freely flowing on his shoulder, he looked like someone who just needed to blink an eye to get a girl to open her legs for him.


    Alex had always been good-looking, but with his increasing charm, it was hard for him to not look mind blogging even with the suppression over his charm.


    "Shall we, then?" Alex asked as he extended his hand to Ann with his body bowed a little and the other hand behind his back.


    "Yes," Ann giggled as she yed along with Alex and held his hand.


    .................................��.


    ''Enjoy your time��.'' Alice who was standing on the balcony spoke inwardly with a smile.


    She was happy for Ann, after all, she was her only best friend.


    "Ah, the call, how could I forget?" Alice muttered as she face-palmed herself.


    Alex had reminded her to call Grace or Max to tell them that, instead of today, they would be going to Indigo Country a weekter.


    Alice was still not able to control her strength, so they were not going to go before she could control it perfectly.


    Alice looked at her palm and smiled.


    ''He could make me stronger just by having sex with me��.''


    She could still vividly remember the sudden rush of power she felt right after Alex came into her.


    The strength increase she could feel was because of the ''Incubus strengthening'' ability.


    Alex didn''t tell her about the Incubus bloodline yet, but he did tell her about the ability.


    Alice, right now, was almost an EX-raker, and the sudden increase in strength made it hard for her to control it.


    ''Ann will be same tomorrow��.''


    Alice giggled as she thought about it.


    She had told Ann everything about her date with Alex, other than sex.


    She was too embarrassed to tell Ann what she did and how wild she was, even though it was her first time.


    But she did tell Ann about the power boost, and Ann was shocked by the revtion.


    After all, the power Alex had was something that would want people to capture him and use him as a fucking machine to fuck girls or maybe boys as well.


    Alice shivered as she thought about this, but then she shook her head with a smile.


    ''It''s Alex we are talking about��.''


    It was not someone weak that anyone could just kidnap and use as they please, it was Alex.


    He is a guy who is the strongest in the world right now, even though it is just unofficial, but he is.


    "I should probably call Grace now��." Alice muttered as she saw Alex lifting Ann in a princess carry before flying off somewhere.


    Alice had not yet noticed, but she now looked like a housewife looking at her husband going off somewhere.


    She would be a blushing mess if someone told her that, and she would probably shout, "I-It''s too early!!", but no one was telling her that, after all, no one was there to see Alice''s movements and her expressions.


    Alice now had this mature air around her which was noticed by Alex and Ann as well, but Alex just found it more seductive and sensual.


    //// Author Note: I will skip the parts in the date I think is skippable, but if you guys still find it dragged out, do tell me in thements in the next chapter. ////


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 167: CHAPTER 167 – Thank you for loving me.

    The clouds are an umtion of tiny droplets of water or ice crystals. They are something that we can''t touch, like gas.


    We can''t see across them, but if we try to touch them, all we feel is moister in the air.


    So, is it possible toy on the clouds?


    Traditionally, no. But with magic and mana, everything is possible.


    Right now, Alex was lying on the clouds with his head resting on Ann''sp as Ann continuouslybed Alex''s smooth hair with her fingers.


    Alex didn''t do anything special; he simply made a tform of air just above the clouds.


    Making it possible to sit right above the clouds.


    The gaseous cloud was all around them, giving them a cool and pleasing feeling as they enjoyed the silence until Alex spoke.


    "You like the view?" Alex asked with his eyes closed.


    "Yes, it''s lovely and soothing at the same time��." Ann replied as she looked at the sun going down on the horizon, giving ast peek at the world before it went down.


    They were sitting above the clouds, looking at the view below.


    They were currently in an area filled with mountains and the peak of those mountains almost pierced through the clouds.


    The sun that was setting also seemed to be peeking at them from between the mountains.


    Unlike the noises of people and the cars that you will find below, above there was calm and quiet.


    asional sounds of birds passing by just made the atmosphere more natural.


    "How did you like the date then?" Alex asked with his eyes still closed.


    "It was the best day of my life," Ann spoke as she looked down at Alex''s face with her eyes gently looking at Alex.


    "Good to know��" Alex muttered.


    Unlike Alice''s date which was like a date, anyone would think of when they hear the word date, Ann''s date was a bit unique.


    Ann wanted to visit the highest peaks of the Orange Country.


    Alex just raised a brow at her demand, but he listened to her nheless.


    Ann, however, was in the mood for some thrill since she jumped from the highest peak toward the ground once theynded on it.


    "Help me!!" She would shout like that as if she fell, and Alex would just go and save her.


    Ann wanted to feel it more, but Alex stopped her.


    "If you just want to do something like that, then allow me to help you."


    Ann agreed to Alex''s offer as she wanted to see what he had in mind, but she was left wide-eyed when Alex did what he wanted to do.


    Alex started flying with Ann, and it was not just flying like he usually does, he was moving really fast.


    He was moving so fast that Ann forgot to count how many times they broke the sound barrier.


    But she did feel her blood rushing, just like she wanted.


    No one knew about it, but Ann loved speeding and heights.


    She wanted to be a pilot, but the gates appeared and everything went haywire.


    Even after that, she hoped that she could somehow awaken a flying skill, but she didn''t, so she settled with the assassin profession.


    Ann''s reminiscence about her past came to a halt when she heard Alex speak again.


    "You know��." Alex started before he opened his eyes and looked into Ann''s eyes which were looking right on his face.


    "There are many things about me that you don''t know��." Alex said with an unreadable expression.


    "I know," Ann replied with a smile.


    "But I still l-love you��." Ann started confidently but by the time she reached ''love'', she stammered and averted her eyes with a rosy blush on her face.


    ''Huh?'' Alex was shocked for a second.


    ''Wasn''t it my job to say that?'' Alex thought inwardly.


    [She sure is daring��.]


    Sophiamented causing Alex to chuckle.


    But then he noticed Ann fidgeting with nervousness.


    He didn''t reply to her, after all.


    She somehow proposed to him on the spur of the moment but now she was dying from nervousness.


    "Thank you for loving me," Alex spoke with a smile.


    He decided to tease Ann a little, but then he saw her eyes tearing up, so he sat up straight and quickly pulled her in a hug.


    "Just kidding, just kidding, I love you too, Ann. I just wanted to tease you a little.


    I am sorry, really��."


    Alex hurriedly exined himself, while hugging Ann tightly.


    He didn''t think that his joke would have such effects.


    ''Ah, this is all new for her as well��.''


    Alex then realized it.


    Ann might not be shy like Alice, and she might be more mature than Alice, but she is still inexperienced in love.


    He continued to pat her back as she clung closer to him.


    Alex didn''t need to guess how much effort it would''ve taken for Ann to say those words, and now he felt guilty for trying to tease her like that.


    "You are really sorry?" Just then Alex heard Ann''s muffled voice.


    "Yes," Alex replied instantaneously.


    "Then say it again," Ann muttered as she moved out of Alex''s hug.


    "Say what again?" Alex questioned.


    "Say that you l-love me again��." Alice muttered as she looked into Alex''s eyes with her teary eyes.


    "I love you, Ann, I love you more than you can think of, and my love for you will never decrease, only increase more and more-" Alex sincerely confessed to Ann, but his words were cut short as Ann jumped on him.


    "I love you too!" She eximed before she hugged him tightly with tears in her eyes.


    "Thank you foring into my life��." Ann muttered as she kept hugging Alex.


    Alex waited for a while for Ann to calm down as he patted her back, when Ann finally calmed down, he lifted her head by holding her chin.


    "I still feel lucky to have met you, Ann, and I would always feel the same, so I should be the one thank you��" Alex spoke softly, causing Ann to smile gently.


    They kept looking into each other''s eyes before they started closing in, and before they knew it, Ann was sitting on Alex''sp with her legs coiled around his waist and her hands around his neck.


    While Alex was hungrily devouring Ann''s lips as his hands started roaming over her body.


    But then Alex stopped kissing by resting his forehead on Ann''s forehead, causing Ann to freeze, and tears were about to well up in her eyes.


    ''Am I not good enough-''


    However, before Ann coulde up with some conclusion on her own, Alex spoke up.


    "I need to tell you some things about me first��"


    ''Ah��'' Ann sighed in relief when he heard his words.


    "Oh, ok," She just smiled as she still remained seated on Alex''sp with her legs around his waist.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 168: CHAPTER 168 – Argon’s Situation.

    "First of all, I am Alex Matthew, the one who lived in the orphanage with Alice."


    Alex spoke as he observed Ann''s expression, but Ann smiled and spoke.


    "You finally decided to tell me that huh��"


    Her words left Alex speechless for a while.


    Alex knew perfectly well what her words meant.


    "You knew about it?"


    Alex asked in surprise.


    "Duh..." Annmented.


    "How?" Alex asked with a curious expression.


    He knew that it was not hard to find out and there were many ways to find out who he was, but he still wanted to know.


    "Well, when I met you on the day we went for your raider''s license, I thought that it was just a coincidence that your name and features were somewhat simr to the Alex from the orphanage since Alice told me that you were not him.


    But then I did some research, no matter how good you looked and how trustworthy you felt, I still had to run a check on your background, after all, I can''t let my friend''s life be in danger just because I happen to have a crush on a suspicious person."


    Ann spoke with a proud face.


    "And guess what I found?"


    Ann questioned with a smile.


    "What?" Alex yed along although he knew what would''ve happened.


    "The guy that lived in that room looked exactly like the Alex from the orphanage until one day or night to be precise, he suddenly changed."


    Ann looked into Alex''s eyes as she spoke that.


    "Ho? And?" Alex wanted her to continue.


    "His demeanor, his looks, his style, everything changed.


    It was like he had be an entirely different person, and Alice happened to go to meet that guy just after all of this happened."


    Ann rested her forehead on Alex''s chest as she continued.


    "I don''t know why you guys lied about it, or why you guys tried to hide it, so I let it be, but now that you have finally decided to talk to me about it��."


    Ann looked back up into Alex''s eyes.


    "It makes me happy; it makes me feel like you finally trust me," Ann spoke with a smile, but that smile looked sad to Alex.


    Alex cupped Ann''s cheek in his palm and looked into her eyes.


    "It was never about trust, Ann.


    I just didn''t get the right moment to tell you about it."


    Alex stated truthfully.


    He never really cared about anyone knowing about his past or skills.


    What''s the worst they could do?


    Try capturing or kidnapping him?


    That would just increase the number of people Alex had killed till now.


    "Un, I am listening," Ann nodded her head.


    Alex smiled and lightly pecked her lips, but Ann pressed and the kiss turned a bit deeper.


    They kissed for a while before Alex started telling Ann about the things that he thought were important for her to know.


    ........................................


    (Throne room inside the castle of the Blue Empire)


    "Send a message that I will be entering that SS-ranked gate in two days, and add a line that I am not asking for their permission, I''m informing them."


    Argon Hart, the emperor known for his intellect was sitting on the throne while asking a messenger to deliver a message that could very well cause a war.


    "... As you wish, Your Majesty," The messenger bowed his head and spoke respectfully before he walked out of the hall, that guy knew his ce, after all.


    Argon didn''t look like the majestic ruler he was, right now, he just looked like a man with too much going on his head.


    It''s been a while since he had been like this, and it all started on the day the press conference was held by the Crimson Lotus Guild.


    That day he heard a piece of very shocking news from his subordinate.


    The subordinate in question is the girl ordy with blue eyes who used to keep an eye on Alex and the group.


    "I was discovered by Ann White."


    The same subordinate spoke this.


    The point is that this subordinate is supposed to be an SSS ranker, and if not for him having something that he could use against her, he would''ve already been killed by her.


    But the main point was��.


    "How the hell did someone discover you?! Were you even using your ability??"


    Even he himself had never been able to see through her ability to hide inside the space, but now she saying that Ann could notice her presence.


    ''Ann is not even supposed to go higher than S-rank��.''


    From what he remembered, Ann was supposed to die saving Alex''s life and she was never able to lift her rank above S-rank.


    So, how was she able to detect someone with one of the best hiding skills and power of SSS-rank?


    There was only one answer��


    "She is most likely an SSS ranker already."


    It was Aurora who spoke about that, but Argon was not epting it.


    "That''s not possible!"


    ''How is it possible for Ann to be an SSS ranker?''


    ''And if she is an SSS ranker, then what about Alice, and what about Alex��.?''


    Argon remembers perfectly well from his past life that Alex didn''t like his women being stronger than him, so Alex was probably stronger than Ann.


    From that day onwards, Argon started changing.


    But his changes were not something positive.


    He was trying to rise in power at a very fast rate.


    He would use the resources of the empire without giving any thought to what the result would be.


    Argon had already killed some people who tried to oppose him or tried to ask him what was happening.


    Aurora and the otherdy could see the changes and they could tell that Argon was not in his right mind anymore.


    They couldn''t be more to the point as Argon was not turning crazier day by day.


    He could feel his end if he continued his path.


    It was his bloodline or the bloodline he got from Aurora that was pointing him to leave the path he was following.


    But he was not going to do that.


    ''I won''t sit still till I kill Ale!''


    This is all Argon wanted.


    ''I can''t have Alice till that bastard is alive, after all.''


    His main goal, to live a happy life with Alice would not be possible till Alex was alive, he knew that.


    So, there was only one path for him, and he would follow through it no matter what the consequences might be.


    "You know that the message you just wanted to be delivered might cause some friction between your empire and the Indigo Country, right?"


    Aurora spoke after the messenger left the hall.


    "I don''t care," Argon replied dismissively before he got up and moved out of the hall himself.


    "I just need that thing in there so that it can help me rank up."


    Argon''sst words were left in the hall for Aurora to hear as he walked away.


    "What are you nning��.?" Aurora muttered as she looked at the gate of the hall.


    She knew that Argon was nning something, something big, but she didn''t know what.


    She couldn''t read minds, after all.


    Argon, on the other hand, clenched his fist as he walked in the corridor of his castle.


    ''Don''t me me for what I''m going to do Aurora.


    You just happen to be the only thing that can help me, right now...''


    Argon muttered inwardly.


    ''It''s good that they didn''t directly enter the gate and dyed the date by a week��.''


    He was thankful that Alex and the group didn''t enter the gate right away since he could use this time to get himself in the gate before them or together with them.


    ''After I reach EX-rank, I will finally be able to set my ns to motion��.''


    Argon walked ahead as he went through his ns again.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 169: CHAPTER 169 – Time to clear an SS-ranked gate.

    "What do we do?" Alice asked with a serious expression as she sat left to Alex while Ann sat right to him.


    This morning, right after they returned to the vi, Alice gave them some news she got from Grace.


    Now, it''s not needed to talk about the reason why Alex and Ann returned in the morning, and if it was not enough to tell then Ann''s fatigued but bright smile told it all.


    Alice had also noticed the change in Ann''s demeanor, Ann who was already mature now looked more mature.


    Alice knew what would''ve happened as it had happened to her as well, and she was happy for Ann, but the news was important to tell so she told them.


    "Hmmmm," Alex hummed with a thoughtful expression.


    "The best thing we could do is reach there before Argon, and enter the gate before him, or with him, but we will need to do something about you guys��."


    Alex spoke as he freed his hands from both Ann and Alice''s hold before he held them from behind and pulled them closer.


    "You guys can''t control your powers yet, after all��."


    Alex muttered as he rested his back on the sofa, but then he felt some movement near his leg so he looked down, only to see Noctura rubbing her head on his right thigh.


    "What''s wrong, pup? Here, let me feel that soft fur of yours," Alex spoke as he took his hands from behind Alice and Ann, and cupped Nuctura''s face with them.


    He got up from the sofa and sat down on the ground as he kissed Noctura''s forehead.


    "Come here," Alex patted hisp, and Noctura hurriedlyy down with her head on hisp.


    Alice and Ann who looked at it smiled gently before they moved down from the sofa and sat beside Alex, resting their heads on both of his shoulders.


    They kept sitting there, enjoying the warm atmosphere until Alex snapped his finger.


    "Perfect, we can do that," Alex muttered causing all of them to look at him curiously.


    "What is it?" Alice asked curiously while the other two also looked at Alex.


    "You guys will have the suppression braces on, I will set it to low SSS rank, and then we won''t have to worry about you not being able to control your powers."


    Alex answered.


    It was not something one needed to think too much about.


    He had the suppression braces, he could simply take them out and let Alice and Ann wear them, and the problem was solved.


    "So, we are going to Indigo Country tomorrow?" Ann asked as she closed her eyes again while resting her head on Alex''s shoulder.


    "Yes," Alex nodded his head and Alice who heard Alex also nodded her head.


    "Let''s get some rest, we are going to clear an SS rank gate after all," Alex patted both Alice and Ann on the back as he spoke.


    "I don''t want to sleep alone��." Ann muttered in a low voice but Alex and Alice heard it clearly.


    Alice who heard it widened her eyes.


    ''Is she trying to hoard him all for herself?!?!''


    Alice then quickly clung closer to Alex as she let her body rx on him before she murmured in a low voice as well.


    "I don''t want to sleep as well��."


    Ann looked at Alice from the corner of her eyes, and she happened to meet Alice''s eyes.


    Both of them smiled at each other before they looked at Alex with puppy eyes.


    But then they heard another voice.


    "I don''t want to sleep alone as well, Master��.."


    All of their eyes turned to Noctura.


    They kept staring at her, causing the fur on her back to slump same as her ears.


    ''Did I say something wrong��.?''


    She wondered but then Alex started chuckling, and so did Ann.


    Alice just smiled as she shook her head.


    "What are we even teaching her��.?"


    She murmured, but Alex just shrugged.


    "It''s good, isn''t it?


    Let''s all sleep together."


    Alex spoke with a smile before he stood up and patted Noctura''s head.


    "Let''s go pup, we need to take the best spot on the bed."


    Alex spoke and Noctura''s eyes brightened.


    "Yes!" Noctura nodded as she rushed toward the room but then she paused.


    "Um, which room, Master?"


    Noctura asked in confusion.


    Although they slept alone in their rooms, each room had arge bed, so Noctura wanted to know which room they were going to.


    "My room," Alex spoke with a smile.


    "Ok!" Noctura nodded and rushed to his room.


    She wanted to sleep in the middle of the bed.


    Alex, Alice, and Ann also followed behind, and that day they slept all together.


    No funny business, just a peaceful sleep with all of them sleeping on the same bed.


    Alex was sleeping in the middle with Noctura right above him.


    Alice and Ann were sleeping on either side of him as they had half of their bodies over him.


    All of them had a good sleep, Alex as well since had the luxury of sleeping with Noctura over him, who was like a soft nket, and two beauties in his arms.


    Any man would give their life just to exchange ces with him, but well, even if they did give their lives, they weren''t going to get it.


    .......................................��


    "The number one guild and the number one force of the world are going to try clearing the same gate on the same day!"


    "Is it finally time that we decided which one is the strongest?!"


    "Is it just a coincidence, or is there something deeper at y here?"


    "Are the rumors of there being a gate ranked higher than S-rank really true?"


    "Are there raiders with rank above S-rank?"


    "Are there enough rankers that are above S-rank to fight off the monsters inside of those gates?"


    Many questions starteding up.


    After all, the movement of the two of the strongest forces on the was not something that could go unnoticed by everyone.


    Instead, it was the center of attention.


    That attention was then shifted to the gate that both of the forces were trying to clear and the news that the associations tried to hide finally came out.


    The news about there being gate ranked higher than S-rank.


    The general public started to panic, after all, no one knew where the next SS-rank gate would spawn.


    What if it was close to them?


    Will there be someone powerful enough to stop the monsters if the gate breaks?


    The world was in a panic, but then a piece of news was released, news about there being raiders that had the rank called SS-rank.


    The association heads started giving online speeches about how they had strong raiders, raiders strong enough to be able to defeat anything that came out of those gates.


    "Humanity will never lose!"


    This is what they shouted again and again.


    This instantly brought relief to the general citizen, but there were some people who knew the truth about the world situation, but for now, they didn''t think much about the world as they were living through the rare peaceful moments they had.


    Yes, the people we are talking about are Alex, Alice, and Ann.


    Right now, they were resting inside a ne as they moved toward the Indigo country....


    ''Time to clear an SS-ranked gate.''


    Alex thought with a smile as he looked out of the window.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 170: CHAPTER 170 – The situation around the gate.

    "Where is he?" Alice asked in confusion.


    "He is standing right there," Ann replied without pointing at anyone as it would seem offensive.


    "Right where?" Alice asked again, and the one who replied to her this time was Alex.


    "Look in the middle of the group, focus on the guy wearing ck armor, that''s him."


    "That''s him?!" Alice eximed as she looked at Alex.


    "Yes, it seems like he had gone through a lot," Alexmented as he looked at the said person.


    "I couldn''t even tell that it was him��." Alice muttered.


    They were standing in front of the supposed SS-rank gate, and it was huge��..


    It was 10 meters wide and 10 meters long violet-colored portal.


    Compared to the normal gates, which are mostly 2 or 3 meters wide and long, this was 5 timesrger.


    There were pebbles and wet sand at the bottom of the gate, indicating that this gate would take them to a coastal territory, this also gave them an idea of what kind of enemies they could face.


    ''Coastal area means monsters with water-rted or earth-rted abilities, there might be wind as well, but you won''t find fire-type monsters in this territory (In most cases).''


    This is what has been observed over the past five years.


    Alice, Ann, and Alex didn''t bring anyone other than Noctura with them, after all��


    "They would just be pieces of baggage in an SS rank gate."


    These were Alex''s words when he was asked for his opinion.


    The raiders from Crimson Lotus guild wanted to help, so they tried to protest, but when Alice reminded them of the gate that had an SS-ranked beast while being an S-rank gate, they backed down.


    They could still remember how they were frozen on the spot when they saw that monster.


    "You might have to face more than one monster that is equal if not stronger than that one in this gate."


    Alice told them, but there was someone in Crimson Lotus who was unsatisfied.


    "What about me?" It was Frank who asked that question.


    "I''m SS-ranked as well," Frank waited for a reply and he got one soon enough.


    "If all of us enter the gate, then who is going to stay here in case of emergency?"


    Frank wanted to say more things.


    ''Just make Alex stay back, isn''t he the strongest?''


    ''Just leave Ann behind.''


    But he didn''t.


    He had realized long ago that he was not worthy of Alice anymore, and he should stop having the small hopes he always had.


    So, Frank agreed to it, and with his agreement, it was decided that only Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura would go from the Crimson Lotus''s side.


    But the same could not be said for the Blue Empire.


    The Blue Empire made arge raiding party for this raid, and it consisted of some lower-ranking raiders as well.


    It was the first time they were going to raid an SS-rank gate, after all, they came prepared.


    There were around 100 raiders from the Blue Empire''s side, but none of them seemed excited or motivated.


    It was more like they were forced toe, and they really were.


    Argon had forced them toe as it was all for his ns.


    Right now, Alex, Alice, and Ann were talking about Argon, Alice was unable to recognize him was not because of his looks, rather, it was because of the aura around him.


    He didn''t seem like a leader or an Emperor, he had this dark and gloomy aura surrounding him, and the people that used to stick close to him and lick his ass were now standing away from him.


    Right now, he just looked like a guy who was involved with something dark or had some evil ns, like a perfect viin with a viinous vibe.


    "Well, there are many pieces of news flying around about his recent change in behavior," Ann spoke as she took out her tab, scrolled through it, and continued.


    "Some say that he had gotten addicted to some kind of new drug that had been going around.


    Some say that this is his true face.


    Some say that ''The evil young master of the Hart family'' has finally shown his true colors.


    There are many more things like this, and this all started after our press conference.


    They say that he started collecting anything that could help him power up which ended up emptying the Empire''s treasury."


    Ann paused as she looked at Alex who had a contemting look.


    "His actions could be justified by two reasons," Alex spoke as he looked toward Argon.


    "First one: He just doesn''t like us gaining power, which might be true as he had been on the top for a while."


    Alex spoke as he looked at both Ann and Alice simultaneously.


    "Second one: He is preparing for something, something that was not supposed to happen anytime soon."


    Alex continued with his hand on his chin.


    But just then, Ann asked in confusion.


    "Preparing for something?"


    "Oh, I didn''t tell you guys?"


    Alex asked as he scratched the back of his head.


    "Tell us what?" Alice asked as she looked into Alex''s eyes.


    Ann was also looking at Alex with all of her focus on his words.


    "Well, Argon knows the future," Alex replied casually, but Alice and Ann paused for a while.


    They looked at each other, and from the shock in each other''s eyes, they could tell that both of them heard the same thing.


    "What?!" They eximed in a suppressed voice.


    But they quickly calmed down, after all, they were in public with a lot of cameras focused on them, so they kept their reaction suppressed so as to not attract attention.


    "Since when did you know this?" Ann asked after a while after she made sure that no one was looking at them and their earlier reaction didn''t attract much attention.


    "Since the day I first saw him."


    Alex replied calmly.


    "I see��" Ann nodded her head.


    "Now it makes sense why Argon was able to collect things that wereter found out to be very valuable," Ann muttered to herself and Alex nodded his head.


    "Oh, it almost slipped my mind."


    Alex snapped his finger as he remembered something.


    "There is one more thing special about him, or more like rted to him��."


    Alex spoke garnering Alice and Ann''s attention.


    "What is it?"


    Alice asked, and Ann also looked at Alex questioningly.


    ''Wasn''t knowing the future already enough��.?''


    Both of them thought the same thing.


    ''What else could it be?''


    "Well, it is��.."


    Alex then proceeded to tell them about Aurora, the woman who was always beside Argon, but no one could see her.


    This made Alice and Ann alert as they never thought that there was someone strong enough to escape their senses even with how powerful they were.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 171: CHAPTER 171 – Entering the gate.

    "What are you guys getting tense for? She is SSS-ranked, you know? It''s quite normal that you guys won''t be able to see her."


    Alex spoke as he shook his head with a smile.


    He could tell what made the girls alert, and what had the girls worried.


    "But we are stronger than an SSS-ranker, you said it yourself," Alice interjected.


    "Yes, you guys are, but there are always exceptions," Alex exined.


    "Exceptions?" Ann asked curiously.


    Alex nodded at Ann before he replied.


    "She has a bloodline that is ranked higher than you guys, and the ability she is using to hide herself is a bloodline ability."


    Alice and Ann''s eyes widened.


    ''Bloodline��''


    "Bloodline is really important, isn''t it?" Alice asked after a while.


    "It is, that''s why I upgraded your bloodlines," Alex nodded his head.


    Bloodlines are important, or you will never be able to break your body''s limit.


    There are some other things as well, like physique, race, etc. but let''s leave them forter to be discovered.


    "So, it''s just like my Soul attack skill?" Ann asked curiously.


    Now that Alex had told them why Aurora was invisible to them, they were much more at ease, though they were still on alert, but not as much as before.


    "Yes, just like your soul attacks and Alice''s partial elemental transformation."


    Alex nodded in agreement as he replied to Ann.


    But then he continued.


    "It''s just that her bloodline ability is much more into hiding, rather than attacking, that''s why it is so hard to detect her."


    "Ohh��" X2


    Alice and Ann nodded their heads with an expression of realization.


    "By the way, what is Argon''s rank, right now?" Suddenly Ann asked as she just realized that they didn''t know how strong Argon was, right now.


    "He is an SSS ranker, right now," Alex replied as he looked at Argon who happened to look his way.


    Both of them looked into each other''s eyes for a while, and Alex could see many emotions in Argon''s eyes, but after 2 or 3 seconds Argon looked away and shouted an order.


    "Let''s go, we need to clear the gate ande back fast!"


    "Yes!" Some of the members shouted while the others just nodded their heads.


    It was clear from this that the raiding team was not very enthusiastic about this raid, but it was Argon''s problem to deal with so Alex turned back to look at Alice and Ann.


    Everything was already recorded, sooner orter, someone would bring this up in some news channel, so it was Argon''s headache.


    Alice and Ann, on the other hand, didn''t seem to have any special reaction when they heard that Argon was on SSS rank.


    ''Just SSS, even after using all the resources��.?''


    Argon didn''t feel all that great to them anymore.


    ''He built an empire by using the knowledge he had about the future, and he grew stronger by leaching off a whole country.''


    This is what they thought of Argon as now.


    He didn''t seem mighty at all.


    "What''s with that face?" Alex asked when he saw their disappointed expression.


    "Well, I just feel disappointed at myself for thinking of Argon as someone great before��.." Ann muttered, and Alice nodded her head.


    Alex just chuckled when he heard Ann''s words.


    "What''s funny?" Ann looked up with a frown.


    Here she was saying something serious and Alex found it funny.


    "You feeling disappointed for someone else''s ipetence seemed funny to me��" Alex just shrugged as he replied.


    "Huh?" Ann let out a confused voice before she realized what Alex said was true.


    However, Alex changed the topic as he needed to point out something to them.


    "Well, looks like our so-called petitors'' have decided to move," Alex spoke as he highlighted the petitors'' part.


    "Ah��." X2


    Alice and Ann finally noticed that Argon and his team were entering the gate and the reporters were now more active than before.


    "Hmm, let''s just wait for them to enter first, we will go in after them."


    Alex added as he looked at them entering.


    "Is something wrong?" Ann asked cautiously.


    "I feel like Argon is up to something.


    He probably went in first without saying anything because he wanted us to cause trouble or something, so we will do the exact opposite of it," Alex replied to Ann as he rubbed his chin.


    Alice and Ann''s eyes sharpened as they looked at the raiding team before they nodded their heads.


    "Tch," Argon who saw that his n had failed just clicked his tongue.


    Just as Alex had expected, Argon wanted them to cause a scene as it would''ve helped him cover up for what he was going to do, but now he needed to think of an alternate n.


    However, the one who was disappointed was not just Argon as the reporters outside the gate were also disappointed.


    The reporters wanted something spicy, so they hoped that Alice would do something or say something to the Blue Empire''s raiders for going on ahead.


    But to their surprise, they saw Alice, Ann, and Alex just waiting for the raiders from the Blue Empire to enter.


    The reporters sighed as they didn''t get what they wanted.


    .........................


    The raiders from the Blue Empire entered cautiously with the stronger ones up front while the weaker ones hid behind the group.


    They walked straight in.


    "HAAAAAA!" The first raiders that jumped out of the portal quickly shed his sword in every direction, intending to cut any enemy that could be waiting outside but all he cut was green leaves of nts.


    That guy had an ability called wind de but unlike Alex''s wind de, it needed one to have a sharp weapon in their hand to shoot it, so he was used as a path clearer in every gate they raided.


    "Good job, Liodus."


    Just then a voice was heard from behind and Argon came out of the portal.


    "Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty," Liodus bowed his head to Argon.


    Argon nodded his head before he looked back at the portal.


    "Wait for everyone to gather and then head toward that direction, I will be going ahead," Argon spoke and walked away.


    "Your Majesty, you shouldn''t��." A guy tried to stop him but all he saw was Argon''s back growing smaller until it disappeared in the forest.


    "Hey guys, wasn''t this gate supposed to be in a coastal territory?" A girl that came out of the portal just after Argon asked as she looked at the surroundings.


    "Now that you mention it��." Slowly, they all started to notice that instead of being on a coast or near the sea, they were in an area that seemed like a forest.


    "We will just ask, his majesty about it, he seemed to know something from the way he walked in that direction," Liodus spoke as he looked in the direction Argon had walked away.


    "Yeah, let''s do that, we can''t roam around in an SS rank gate without our leader after all��."


    The girl from before added.


    Every one of them nodded their head and waited for all the raiders to assemble.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 172: CHAPTER 172 – Aquathrens.

    "My Lord, there are some movements on the ind!"


    A guy ran into a room that seemed like the throne room, just a bit smaller.


    However, that guy, unlike humans, had green-colored skin, and gills on his neck, while his hands had fins that started from the palm and ended at the elbow.


    He had a tail on his back that seemed quite strong. The tail had fins at the end.


    His eyes wererge and a bit misced or maybe it was misced from human standards but not for him.


    His eyes were on the sides instead of being in the front, probably giving him a 180-degree view.


    If one looked carefully, they would notice something.


    This room was actually underwater!


    The people inside the room were all underwater, and they were breathing.


    Now, the feature of the guy earlier made sense.


    These creatures were known as ''Aquathren''.


    They were the monsters that the raiders were supposed to kill to clear the gate, as for the boss that they were supposed to kill��..


    "There is always movement on the ind, what''s new about it?"


    A deep voice questioned the creature from before as a colossal pressure descended upon him.


    *Thud*


    The creature fell on his t on the ground as the pressure was too much for it to handle.


    The one who exerted the pressure was an Aquathren with blue skin and a height of 2 meters.


    This guy was the boss of the gate, and he was peak SS-ranked Aquathren.


    He was sitting on a throne made of the bones of somerge fish as he ate some kind of meat.


    Right now, he was looking at the guy from before as if he were an insect as he listened to the other Aquathren in the room chuckle and giggle at the guy''s demise.


    *Spit*


    "Disturbed me for nothing-"


    The boss monster spit the meat he was chewing on the guy who was lying on the ground, clutching his own neck as he was having a hard time breathing.


    But he paused, or more precisely, everyone in the room paused, all because of the words that escaped from the guy''s mouth.


    The creature that was dying under the pressure from the boss monster, used all of his willpower to voice out a single word.


    "Human��."


    This single word made the hall get enveloped in a pin-drop silence.


    The boss waved off the pressure as he stood up from his throne of bones and looked down at the guy.


    "What did you say?"


    "My lord, I said humans, there are humans on the ind!" The guy was trying to calm his breathing but when it was the boss monster''s crazed eyes, it hurriedly replied.


    "You know the consequences of lying to me, right?" The boss monster asked as he stepped toward the guy.


    The guy from before felt the word behind the words of the boss monster, but he nodded his head and continued.


    "I know, my lord, but those humans came out of that portal-like thing that we could never cross."


    "Oh?" The boss let out a surprised voice as he started contemting.


    "How many of them came?" The boss monster asked as he looked into the guy''s eyes.


    "More than 100, my lord."


    The guy replied as he tried to stand up.


    "And where are they now?" The boss monster asked again as he moved closer to the guy.


    "Last time I saw them, they were moving toward the west of the ind-"


    The guy replied honestly as he looked at the boss monster, but��.


    *Crush*


    His head was crushed by the boss monster.


    "I never told you to get up," The boss monster spoke as he jerked his hands twice, causing the brain matter stuck on his finger to fly away.


    *Thud*


    The body of the guy fell to the ground and he died without even knowing the reason for his death.


    "He could''ve been useful you know, he was an S-ranked Aquathern, after all."


    Just then a feminine voice was heard as a female Aquathren stood up from her seat and walked toward the boss monster seductively.


    She hadrge breasts, and arge ass that giggled with every step she took, and from the flirtatious looks shared between her and the boss monster, it was clear that they had some chemistry.


    "He was just an S-rank Aquathren so it doesn''t matter, it''s just one less mouth to feed now, and one less mouth to ask for human meat we will be eating today."


    The boss monster just shrugged with an evil smile on his face, but when he spoke about human meat, he involuntarily gulped, swallowing the saliva that was being generated in his mouth just by mentioning Human meat.


    "I guess that''s true," The female Aquathren came close to the boss monster and hugged him as she nodded her head.


    "It has been a decade since we ate human meat, after all."


    The female Aquathren added as her eyes shone with hunger.


    "Let''s go then, what are you guys waiting for?" The boss monster looked at the remaining Aquathrens in the room and questioned.


    "Let''s go!"


    "We are eating human meats tonight!"


    "How does it taste, by the way?"


    "Oh, you are a youngling I see, you will know how it tastester then��."


    All of them cheered as they moved out of the room with the boss monster in the lead.


    They were going to eat human meat today!


    The dead Aquathren was ignored by everyone, some even stepped over him without any regard as if he were some waste that was not even worth looking at.


    ....................................��.


    "Why are we in a forest?" Alice asked in confusion as she looked around at the surroundings.


    "Wasn''t this supposed to be a coastal territory?" Alice added.


    Ann also looked around in confusion, but then Alex spoke.


    "We are on an ind, it''s just that the ind is quiterge," Alex spoke as he could already sense the sea in his perception range.


    "Ohhhh," X2


    Both Alice and Ann nodded their heads in realization.


    "Master, where are the guys that came before us?" Suddenly Noctura asked as she looked curiously at Alex.


    Alex looked at Noctura and smiled.


    "They are headed that way," Alex pointed at the direction Argon and the group had walked into.


    "And which direction is the closest seashore?" Ann asked with a frown.


    "That side," Alex replied as he pointed the way for Ann.


    "That''s the exact opposite��." Alice muttered with a frown.


    Even she could tell that something was wrong.


    "If Argon knows the future, then he probably knows the location of the boss monster, I think we should follow them," Ann suggested, but Alex smiled as he said.


    "Well, good news for you guys, we won''t have to go anywhere as I can already sense a group of monsters headed our way."


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura quickly got battle-ready as they heard Alex''s words.


    But Alex just chuckled.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 173: CHAPTER 173 – Quest and Luck.

    "Look at yourself, guys.


    Both of you are an SSS ranked raider, yet you are so tense in an SS-rank gate."


    Alex spoke between his chuckles.


    Alice and Ann, but Alice retorted.


    "Never hurts to be cautious," Alice spoke with a scoff as she folded her hands in front of her breasts.


    "Oh? Using my line of me now?" Alex raised his brow as he asked with a corner of his lips raised up.


    Alice just shrugged and didn''t say anything.


    "Anyways, let me and Noctura enjoy this fight, and youdies keep an out for us," Alex spoke as he folded his sleeves up.


    Alice and Ann nodded their heads and backed away.


    "Oh, let me help you," Alex spoke as he waved his hands and two chairs made of rock emerged from the ground.


    "Now just enjoy your time," Alex spoke with a smile as he bowed his head as if he were a host preparing for a show.


    Alice and Ann just shook their heads with a sigh.


    ''Just how excited you are��.'' X2


    They exchanged a look before they looked at the chairs made of rock.


    ''Well, whatever,'' Both of them decided to just go on with the flow.


    They were not much of a fighting enthusiast anyway.


    They liked growing stronger, but that didn''t mean that they loved fighting as well.


    They would fight if needed, but that was all, they just wanted to have the power to protect themselves and their loved ones.


    "Ready, pup?" Alex then looked at Noctura with a smile.


    "Yes!" Noctura smiled while waving her tail.


    Unlike Alice and Ann, Noctura, just like her master, loved the thrill of fighting.


    "Good, then let''s wait for the opposition to arrive," Alex spoke as he turned his attention to the quest that he got after he entered the gate.


    Noctura nodded and waited for the enemies to arrive.


    She was not going to use her camouge ability as it would make the fight easier, and she wanted to enjoy the fight.


    [New Quest: -


    Quest objective: Clear the SS-rank gate �C "Aquathrens territory".


    Bonus 1 objective: Kill a Mid-boss of the gate alone (Power suppressed to SS-rank).


    Bonus 2 objective: Kill the Boss of the Gate alone (Power suppressed to SS-rank).


    Bonus 3 objective: Kill 1000 Aquathrens.


    Quest reward: 1,000,000 points.


    Bonus 1 reward: Bloodline upgrade serum.


    Bonus 2 reward: Weapon upgrade rune.


    Bonus 3 reward: Skill creation card.


    Time limit: --


    Penalty: Celestial bloodline sealed. (Duration: A week)]


    ''The rewards this time are unique,'' Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at the rewards.


    [Do you like this better or the one that you had before?]


    ''This one is better, the ones before were not being used anyways, the rewards from before are either sold back to the system or just kept in storage.''


    Alex shrugged inwardly.


    He had done many quests till now, but he only kept some of the rewards, others were sold in the system shop.


    "I could just buy them back when needed, why fill the storage needlessly?"


    This is what Alex had thought.


    After all, the ce where the system stored the locked items, skills, bloodline, and other things was separate from the storage Alex had ess.


    [That''s good.]


    Sophia sighed in relief when she heard Alex''s answer.


    ''Was it something you did? Do you decide the reward to be given out?''


    Alex could tell that Sophia had something to do with this change, it was easy to tell after he heard Sophia''s sigh of relief.


    [I can''t decide the reward, but I can decide the type of reward.]


    Sophia replied.


    ''Type of reward?'' Alex, however, didn''t get what she meant.


    [Type of rewards like I can set it to random, I can set it to the type that would just provide you with things that can help you grow, only you, then there is the category that would give out things that would help your close ones, etc.


    The one I selected just now was the upgrade category.


    It will give out random rewards that would help you upgrade something.]


    ''It''s better than nothing, I can still try my luck, and thanks to the world, my luck seems to be growing quite well.''


    Alex spoke as he smiled inwardly.


    If he used this knowledge perfectly, then he wouldn''t have to waste points to buy things separately, he might be lucky and even get the exact thing he needed to buy, as a reward instead.


    But Sophia''s next words interrupted his train of thought.


    [The luck would stop growing after it reaches EX rank.]


    ''��. What?'' Alex questioned with a pause.


    Although his luck was not growing that fastpared to his other stats as it was still on early EX-rank, the luck was still an important stat.


    So, when he heard that it would stop growing after EX-rank, he was not happy.


    He needed to know the reason.


    [The luck would stop growing after it reaches EX rank.]


    Sophia replied to Alex''s question and Alex''s expression turned into the ''really now?'' expression.


    ''Let me change the question from ''what'' to ''why'','' Alex stated and Sophia replied again.


    ''Also, stop trying to suppress your giggles,'' Alex added.


    Alex could tell that from her voice, so he told her to stop it, and Sophia started giggling.


    ''Just answer me.''


    Alex spoke and Sophia replied honestly this time.


    [Luck is something that helps you turn misfortune into fortune, that''s its main function, I''m sure you know that.]


    ''Yes, I know that much,'' Alex nodded his head.


    [And have you heard the saying: fortune favors none?]


    ''Yes, I have,'' Alex nodded again.


    [If luck (Fortune) is not biased and favors none, then that means it won''t do something that could be disadvantageous for someone and advantageous for others.


    So, if luck were to increase even after EX-rank which is the limit for normal people, then it would be unfair for the ones who can''t break the limit of their bodies, which is not something luck could do.]


    ''But the world is unfair,'' Alex interjected.


    [Yes, it is, but that doesn''t mean luck is.


    So, luck is limited to Ex-rank, and it would never go above EX-rank, not until you have gained divinity.]


    ''Divinity��..'' This single word caught Alex''s attention.


    He felt very familiar with this word.


    It was not the familiarity that one would say: Yeah, I know this word.


    It was something else, and Alex felt like he was quite close to finding what it was but just then��


    "Oh? Seems like we are having some snacks first guys."


    A heavy voice was heard as the ones Alex and Noctura were waiting for had finally arrived.


    Alex, however, was now annoyed.


    He felt like something that was right in front of him was snatched away��.


    But then something happened, something caused Alex to snap.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 174: CHAPTER 174 – Alex snapped for the first time.

    "My lord, there are girls here, and they are quite pleasing��."


    One of the Aquathrens spoke as he looked at Alice and Ann who were sitting on the rock chairs made for them.


    "My lord, please allow me to have a good time with them before we eat them��."


    Another one spoke as he looked at the boss monster pleadingly.


    "It would be a waste to just eat them without enjoying them, my lord��."


    The first one spoke again as he looked at Alice and Ann with his eyes fixed on their bodies while he licked his lips.


    "Ah, good old days, I still remember how we used to make the beautiful human females our breeding machine when there was no shortage of them��."


    One of the Aquatheren, who looked like someone with experience spoke.


    The female Aquathren also looked at Alex with the same perverted expression as the male Aquathrens who were looking at Alice and Ann, but she didn''t say something.


    ''I don''t want to die, after all.''


    She knew that the moment she asked for something rted to Alex would be thest thing she would ever say.


    "Do whatever you want, but I don''t want my food spoiled, so be careful-" The boss monster replied as he waved his hand.


    His eyes however were fixed on Alex as he had an unsettling feeling when he looked at Alex, right now.


    He saw Alex taking a deep breath and the next second, his words got stuck as he was too shocked by what happened.


    ..........................................��


    ''Did he just say that?''


    While the Aquathrens were talking about what to do with Alice and Ann,pletely ignoring Alex''s existence, Alex stood in his ce with his brows frowning in confusion.


    [Yes, he did.]


    Sophia replied in a low voice.


    She knew what was going to happen but she had no intention of stopping it.


    ''I see��.''


    Alex, then looked toward Alice only to see her looking at the creatures with disgust, and Ann was doing the same.


    He could tell that Alice was about to attack as well, and he knew her attack would kill the Aquathren in one shot.


    But he didn''t want that.


    *Inhales*


    He took a deep breath.


    *Drunnnnn*


    But when he breathed out, the air started vibrating before a pressure like never before fell on every single person in the area.


    *Boom*


    The pressure was so high that even the ground started to crack.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura were also within the range, but they were free of pressure, at least 2 meters around them was free of pressure.


    Alex was controlling his pressure so perfectly, that even with the pressure of an Epic-ranked person, none of the Aquathrens had died yet.


    All of them were just locked in their ces, but the look of horror in their eyes spoke volumes.


    Even the boss monster, whose name was Makrum was also horrified.


    ''There''s no way we can defeat him!!''


    He shouted in his mind but he couldn''t move or speak.


    Makrum knew what power level Alex was at, he could tell that easily, he had been there once after all.


    ''This fucking suppression!!''


    ''This is so unfair!!''


    He cursed the suppression that had been ced on him and his subordinates.


    But just then��


    "Cough!"


    A loud cough was heard and when everyone''s eyes turned to the source of the voice, they saw Alex standing while he held an Aquathren up in the air by holding his neck.


    ''When did he move?!''


    All of them were shocked as they didn''t even see him move.


    It was like he teleported.


    "What were you saying?" Alex asked with a voice void of any emotion.


    The Aquathren that Alex was holding was the one who spoke first.


    He was already imagining how he would ravage the human girls in front of him, but the next thing he knew was being stared at by haunting red eyes filled with nothing but coldness.


    The guy was trembling all over as he was scared for his life.


    *Baam*


    "I asked you something!" Alex mmed the guy on the ground as he shouted.


    Everyone in the surroundings thought the guy was done, but��.


    *Cough**Cough*


    The sound of coughing was heard as Alex lifted the guy again as if he were a rag doll.


    "Did you think I would kill you so easily?!"


    Alex asked with a wide grin before he mmed the guy on the ground again.


    *Baam*


    The Aquathren felt his back bone breaking but it just kept looking at Alex with his eyes wide open.


    ''Why am I not dead?''


    The Aquathren was shocked as he was sure that the force with which Alex mmed on the ground was enough to kill him 100 times.


    But then everyone felt the vibration below their feet.


    Although they could not move their bodies, they could still move their bodies, they could still move their eyes.


    ''What!!!''


    They saw thend they were standing on was cracked, and it was not just a small crack.


    They could tell that the cracks were being formed all over the ind.


    An ind that was around 20 kilometers in radius was being cracked.


    This shocked them to their core.


    Alex was not holding back much of his strength, he was just transferring the power behind his attacks to the ground, and here, the ground turned out to be an ind, floating over the sea surface.


    "What were you saying that you wanted to do with my women?"


    Alex asked again as he lifted the bloodied body of the Aquathren.


    "Oh, my bad, looks like I was holding your throat a bit too tightly��."


    Alex noticed that the Aquathren was about to die fromck of breath so he loosened his grip on the guy''s neck.


    *Gasp*


    The Aquathren was now able to breathe but instead of being happy, it was scared.


    Looking at Alex smiling at him gently made him more scared than looking at Alex before.


    "Why are you trembling? Are you hurt?" Alex asked with worry, but his hand was still holding the guy''s limp body up in the air as if it were a rag doll.


    The guy tried to shake his head as he was now really scared, he was shitting his pants, literally.


    "What the fuck?!"


    Alex who saw the guy shitting himself threw the guy away like a piece of garbage and looked at him with disgust.


    "Did you just shit yourself?" Alex spoke with a look of disgust as he moved toward the guy with slow and deliberate movements.


    The Aquathren found himself being able to move again, so he started crawling away from Alex.


    "Stay away from me!!"


    The guy shouted, he didn''t care about the insult or whatever, he just wanted to run away from here.


    His instincts were screaming that if he stayed here, he would wish that he was dead.


    The Aquathrens are bloodthirsty species, they like torturing their prey, and right now, all of them could see the same light in Alex''s eyes.


    Alex grinned as he heard the guy''s scream and then he waved his hand.


    The Aquathren that was crawling on the ground suddenly found himself being levitated in the air.


    "No!! No!! Please No!!"


    The guy started screaming as he tried to wriggle his body, hoping that it would free him.


    The Aquathren didn''t know what was going to happen or what Alex was nning, but he did know that it would not be something he would be enjoying.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 175: CHAPTER 175 – Congratulations!

    ''Hehehe��'' X2


    Alice and Ann were giggling while fidgeting on their spot.


    They were going to kill the Aquathrens for what those bastards were saying, after all, no girl would like being ravaged by the dirty eyes of some animals.


    But things took a drastic turn in a second.


    Theughter and joy of the Aquathrens turned into horror and despair.


    The one responsible for it was, of course, Alex.


    ''He is angry��.''


    They could tell that Alex was angry, but right now they were smiling.


    ''But he is angry for us.''


    This was the reason for their silly smiles.


    They liked this side of Alex more than the nice guy side.


    Girls like bad boys more after all��..


    Any girl would feel happy if their lover would get angry for their sake and��.


    ''He looks so hot when he is angry��.''


    Both of their thoughts were in sync as they pressed their things together.


    They were not into bloodshed or something, but looking at Alex mming the guy on the ground for their sake, looking at Alex grinning like a devil for their sake made them have butterflies in their stomach.


    ''I''m falling for him again��.''


    They giggled inwardly as they looked at what Alex was going to do next.


    As said before, they were not into bloody scenes or something but for what those Aquathrens said, they wanted them to suffer more.


    So, when they saw Alex''s grin widening as he levitated the guy.


    Without them realizing it, they started grinning as well.


    .......................................��


    ''What should I start with?''


    ''Should burn him and heal him at the same time?''


    ''Should I expand his holes in the body with poles?''


    ''Should I cut his body and make him eat it?''


    ''What should I do��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he kept walking toward the Aquathren that was crawling away from him.


    [You do know that you can now cancel the influence of the Incubus bloodline with the Mentality of Master, right?]


    ''Yes, I know, but I don''t think that I need to remove the influence for now��.''


    Alex replied to Sophia before he eximed.


    ''Yes, I can do that!''


    He suddenly had an idea of what he should do to the prey in front of him.


    [True.]


    Sophia shrugged as well.


    She just wanted to make sure that Alex knew that right now his Incubus bloodline was influencing his thoughts.


    The incubuses are demons and although they are not the evilest bunch they are still evil and they like seeing people suffer.


    So, when Alex started thinking of ways to make the Aquathrens suffer, the incubus bloodline inside his body got excited and started influencing his thoughts.


    But Alex didn''t think he needed to remove the influence for now.


    ''For things like this, it is better to be a devil than a goody two shoes.''


    "No!! No!! Please No!!"


    The Aquathren shouted as he felt his body being lifted up in the air, he tried to wriggle out of the binding but he couldn''t.


    Even moving was hard for him as his spine was already broken, much less struggling, all he could do was wriggle.


    But then he heard Alex''s cheerful voice right next to himself.


    "Congrattions, I have decided what to do with you!"


    "Please let me go!! I swear I will never even look at your women!!"


    The guy did the only thing he could do.


    Cry and plead.


    *p*


    But then his face was pped really hard, so hard that 10 of his sharp flesh-cutting teeth fell off his mouth.


    "Man, why are you crying, you should say, "Thank you!"," Alex reprimanded with a frown.


    *Giggle* X3


    Just then, the sound of giggles was heard causing Alex to turn toward the source of the giggles only to find Alice, Ann, and Noctura sitting together as they giggled looking at his acting.


    Alex just smiled as he gave a gentlemanly bow.


    "I hope youdies are enjoying the show."


    His words caused another round of infectious giggles to break out causing Alex to smile as well.


    ''Just keep smiling my loves, that''s the only thing I wish for��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at their smiling faces.


    Their smile looked beautiful to Alex, and now he was pumped up to give them more entertainment.


    Their smiles might have looked beautiful to Alex, but for the Aquathrens it was the exact opposite.


    ''Devils��.''


    ''They are devils��.''


    To them, they looked like the embodiment of evil.


    "Well then, let''s start."


    But their focus returns to Alex as soon as they hear his voice.


    [That will hurt... a lot.]


    Sophia spoke as she shivered, it was as if she was speaking out of personal experience.


    Alex, however, didn''t know that as he could not see Sophia, so he simply asked a question.


    ''Wasn''t that what I wanted from the start??''


    Alex just tilted his head inwardly with a cute expression.


    [��.]


    Sophia was left speechless as she looked at Alex making a cute expression.


    {He looks cute though��.}


    She spoke inwardly as she clicked a picture of that expression.


    (Don''t ask me where she got a camera, she is the system spirit, so it might be possible for her.


    She could''ve brought it from the store, she could''ve created it out of nothing, no one knows, she is very strong, after all.)


    Alex didn''t know that his picture was clicked he instead focused on the task at hand as he extended his palm toward the Aquathren''s face.


    "Please! Please! Let me go, please! I will do anything!"


    The guy kept screaming as he had a very very bad feeling about the hand that was moving toward him.


    But Alex just ignored his pleas as he touched the guy''s forehead.


    Everyone saw a string made of ck energying out of Alex''s fingers and entering the guy''s head.


    They looked in confusion as they couldn''t tell what it was.


    So, they just keep looking at the guy and Alex.


    Even Alice, Ann, and Noctura were confused as they had never seen Alex use something like that before.


    There was a long silence after that.


    The guy who felt something enter his body didn''t feel anything after that.


    However, when then he looked at Alex who was still grinning as he looked at him, he started feeling more and more scared with every passing second.


    It was like the silence before the storm.


    ''What happened?''


    ''Why is it so quite��.?''


    Everyone started feeling something off as well.


    In normal cases, they would''ve been relieved, but right now, the silence was suffocation.


    Just then they noticed something.


    It was not something about the Aquathren that was hanging in the air.


    It was something about Alex.


    They saw the grin that was present on his face widening to the extreme.


    All of them had a bad premonition and the next second the silence was broken by a guttural scream.


    "ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 176: CHAPTER 176 – Demonic Energy.

    Demonic energy, just like mana is an energy that could be used to perform various sorts of magic and stuff.


    But unlike mana, it is not gentle, neither is it calm.


    It is destructive and wild.


    Demonic energy is one of the hardest energies to control because it is berserk energy.


    It is more potent and stronger than mana.


    However, just because it is more potent and stronger doesn''t mean that a mana user would lose to someone who uses demonic energy.


    It''s just that one would have to use much less demonic energy for a task that requires arge amount of mana.


    There is also the fact that the attacks powered by demonic energy would be stronger and corrosive, but that''s all.


    But there was a thing about demonic energy.


    One can never have demonic energy if they don''t have a suitable bloodline or physique.


    There are some exceptions like always, but they are very rare.


    Alex was now able to use that same energy.


    He had the Celestial Incubus bloodline, and once he broke through Epic rank, it gave him the ability to control demonic energy just like mana.


    Right now, Alex was using just that.


    Demonic energy is corrosive, like poison.


    It is advised not toe in contact with demonic energy if you are not strong enough to expel it.


    The Aquathren was not strong enough to be able to expel the demonic energy that was pushed inside of him by Alex who was an Epic-ranker.


    ''It takes time, I see��''


    Alex muttered inwardly when he saw what was happening.


    He had been watching the wisp of demonic energy that he released in the Aquathren''s body with his all-seeing eyes.


    ''It''s devouring the mana in his body��.''


    Alex could see the demonic energy growing slowly as it devoured the mana present in the body.


    Then finally he grinned as he saw what happened.


    The demonic energy that was devouring mana had now emptied the guy''s mana reserve.


    The guy must not have noticed it as he was worried about what was happening and what would happen to him.


    With so many things going on in his head, he was unable to look at what was happening inside his body.


    ''Not like he could''ve done something to stop it,'' Alex just shrugged.


    To stop the demonic energy, he needs to control the demonic energy, which is impossible for an Aquathren like him.


    ''Now starts your suffering��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly as his grin widened on the outside.


    There was not a single feature on his face that could be called gentle right now, all the Aquathren hanging in the air saw was a devil showing him a bloodthirsty smile, a smile that was asking for entertainment.


    He felt that something bad was about to happen and the next second his eyes widened in pain.


    "ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    The Aquathren shouted as it felt its innards burning.


    That guy could feel his blood burning.


    "What is this?!?!?!"


    "Please stop it?!?!"


    "I beg of you?!?!"


    It was as if something was eating him from the inside, and he was correct, ''something'' was eating him from the inside.


    ''It really is devouring his blood and cells��''


    Alex mused inwardly.


    The screams and pleas of the Aquathren were filtered out by his ears automatically.


    It was like they were not even there.


    He was much more focused on observing the Demonic energy, after all, he was conducting an experiment.


    The Aquathren guy in front of him was just his test subjects, and since when did scientists start listening to their test subjects?


    [That is what demonic energy does, it eats away everything, even if the life force, but that is until you can control it.]


    Sophiamented on Alex''s words.


    ''Hm,'' Alex nodded his head.


    The Aquathren guy continued screaming with all his might.


    His voice had turned hoarse but it still screamed.


    He called for help from his allies, he prayed to whatever god he believed in, and he tried pleading again and again, but nothing worked.


    The other Aquathrens just stood there like statues as they watched all this with horror written all over their faces.


    Seeing one of their own kind, someone they wereughing and chatting with screaming like a pig being ughtered was a bit too much for even them to handle.


    However, soon the guy''s scream became whimpers of pain.


    Then only groans could be heard until it all stopped altogether.


    *Snap*


    Alex snapped his figure and the guy fell to the ground.


    "Hey, you still alive?" Alex moved a step closer and kicked the guy lightly, shaking him a bit.


    "If you reply within three seconds then I will let you goooo," Alex spoke with a gentle smile as he started counting.


    "3��.


    2��.


    You know, this is yourst chance��."


    Alex paused for a second before he added.


    "And 1.


    Guess you''re really dead huh��"


    Alex shook his head with a sigh of disappointment.


    But then a wide smile married his face.


    "I will just have to ask your brothers and sister for help then��."


    Alex spoke with a grin as he looked toward the Aquathrens who were still unable to move.


    "Who should I pick next��.?" Alex held his chin with a thoughtful expression as he looked at the Aquathrens one by one.


    But just then everyone noticed the dead guy''s body turned purple.


    Alex noticed as well, and his eyes shone with realization.


    "I almost forgot it," Alex spoke as he moved his palm toward the corpse of the guy and made a grabbing gesture.


    Nothing happened for a second or two before a ck mass of energy started gathering in front of the corpse.


    "Yes, that''s it,e back to me now��"


    Alex muttered as he focused more on the ck mass of energy, and in just 2 seconds the mass of energy shot toward Alex.


    "Alex!" X2


    Alice and Ann shouted as they stood up from their seats, Noctura almost rushed at Alex if not for him lifting his palm up.


    "��It''s fine, I''m fine��"


    Alex spoke in a low voice, with his head held down as if he was trying to suppress something.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura were confident that nothing would happen to Alex, but they still looked at him worriedly.


    ''Hahahaha.''


    ''He must be suffering!''


    ''How do you like the taste of your own medicine!''


    The Aquathrens, on the other hand, were celebrating.


    They thought that Alex had harmed himself with that energy of his, but all of their thoughts came to a halt the next second...


    *Chuckle*


    Alex''s chuckle was heard.


    That chuckle sent chills to every one of the Aquathrens'' spins.


    It was like the bell of hell was ringing in their ears, they didn''t know why but they felt something very very bad was about to happen.


    Then they saw Alex lifting his head up and looking at them.


    "That was yummy��."


    Alex spoke with a wide smile.


    His eyes were sparkling with delight as he looked at the Aquathrens in front of him.


    But that look just made the sinking feeling in the Aquathrens'' hearts intensify.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 177: CHAPTER 177 – Her voice was annoying.

    When the body of the Aquathren started turning purple, Sophia spoke in Alex''s head.


    [Looks like the demonic energy had absorbed whatever energy it could from the Aquathren''s body.]


    ''I see, but why did his body turn purple?''


    [That''s because of demonification.]


    ''Demonification? Isn''t he dead already?''


    Alex grew confused inwardly, but none of that showed outside as he kept looking at the Aquathrens with a contemting expression.


    [He did die, but the demonic energy you sent inside of him made him an iplete demon.]


    ''So, you mean to say that if he were to somehow survive and take then somehow take control of the demonic energy, he would''ve been aplete demon, by now?''


    [Yes, that is what I''m trying to say.]


    ''I see��.'' Alex nodded his head and started thinking of ways to make better use of this knowledge, but then Sophia spoke again.


    [Oh, you can also extract the demonic energy that you sent inside him.]


    ''I can?'' Alex raised a brow and then he spoke out loud.


    "I almost forgot it."


    He then started extracting the energy.


    ''It seems to have grown quite a lot.''


    Alex muttered with a smile.


    [It did devour all of that guy''s mana and sucked out the energy from even his cells.]


    Sophiamented as if stating a fact.


    ''Well, it can help me increase my stock of demonic energy, so I guess it''s for the better��.''


    Unlike Alex''s mana which could be regenerated instantaneously because of the instantaneous regeneration ability, his demonic energy couldn''t.


    The demonic energy could be stored in any part of the body, and it takes time to regenerate, unlike mana.


    So, the demonic energy is not something one uses randomly.


    However, there is one good thing about demonic energy.


    You can keep storing the demonic energy inside your body, even if your demonic energy container is full.


    It works like an extra reserve.


    The umted energy shot toward Alex and entered his body directly.


    ''Ah��.''


    Alex sighed in rxation.


    It felt like he was being massaged by a skilled masseur.


    It was like soaking in a hot spring.


    "Alex!" X2


    Just then he heard the screams of Alice and Ann, so he raised his palm, indicating that he was fine before he spoke.


    "��It''s fine, I''m fine��"


    He spoke as he tried to get over the feeling, he got by gaining the extra energy.


    ''That was the energy I got from just one of them��.''


    *Chuckle*


    Alex started chuckling.


    ''My anger somehow went away all of a sudden.


    These guys look pitiful to me now��.''


    Alex chuckled as he thought about the Aquathrens'' situation.


    ''They are going to get killed just because some of them couldn''t control their pants, and even in death, they are helping me, who is their enemy.


    They turned out to be good guys like Stephan.


    But I guess, good guys don''t live long, after all, Stephan didn''t live long��''


    Alex shook his head inwardly before he pointed at a guy.


    "You are the next lucky person to be my test subject!"


    The guy who was pointed at started trembling uncontrobly, like he was having a seizure.


    "Oh, this guy vibrates, as well? Let''s see how you do then��"


    Alex spoke as he rubbed his palms together.


    He waved his hand and the guy''s body started moving toward Alex.


    The Aquathrens finally realized what that sinking feeling in their hearts was.


    ''We are all going to die��.''


    ''We are all going to die a painful death��.''


    They knew what wasing for them as they watched another one of their kind going down the same way thest one did��.


    ..........................................��


    "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"


    "NOOO!! Please let me live!!"


    "Please!! I can''t take it anymore!!"


    "I will be your bitch if you want to!!"


    "I feel my insides burning!!!"


    "Please help me!!"


    "Makrum, you bastard! Help me!"


    The screams of ady were heard as Alex sat between Alice, Ann, and Noctura, talking among themselves.


    Completely ignoring thedy who wriggled on the ground as she screamed in pain.


    It''s been a while, and other than Makrum, a mid-boss beast and thedy that always stuck close to Makrum, none of the Aquathrens were alive right now.


    Well, thedy was more or less dead as well, but for now, she was alive.


    But Ann suddenly stood up and walked toward thedy without saying anything.


    Alex raised a brow as he saw this, but he didn''t say anything and waited.


    Thedy Aquathren''s eyes brightened when she saw Ann moving toward her.


    "Please save me!! You are a woman as well! I know you will help me-"


    Thedy was going to continue screaming, but��.


    *sh*


    Ann shed thedy''s jaw with a dagger that materialized in her hand out of nowhere, causing her jaw to fall down on the ground.


    "NNNNNNNNNNN!!!!"


    Thedy could now just cry in pain as she looked at Ann with eyes filled with hatred.


    This caused Ann to frown and the next second thedy''s eyes widened in shock, but she didn''t get time to do anything.


    *Pierce**Pierce*


    Ann poked the eyes of thedy with her dagger.


    It was not deep enough to kill her, but it was deep enough to make her unable to see anymore.


    Ann then turned around and walked back toward her seat beside Alex.


    Alex just smiled widely as he looked at Ann walking back.


    Ann who saw his smile, spoke.


    "Her voice was annoying," Ann shrugged, but then she added.


    "And her eyes as well."


    "Indeed, it was quite irritating, thank you for making it stop," Alex just smiled as he shook his head.


    Ann nodded her head and sat on her seat gracefully.


    Thedy continued to writhe in pain before just like others, her screams turned to whimpers and groans before she took herst breath.


    "Oh, even she died huh, I got my hopes up for nothing��."


    Alex sighed as he stood up and walked toward thedy.


    "Why did you have your hopes up for her in particr???"


    Alice looked at Alex judgingly.


    "Eh? It''s nothing like that, love.


    It''s just that she was an SS-rank monster, so I thought that maybe I would see something special, but I just got disappointed��."


    Alex sighed as he shook his head.


    But Alex was not even listening to his words.


    Her mind just kept repeating the first line Alex spoke.


    ''It''s nothing like that, love. It''s nothing like that, love. It''s nothing like that, love. Love. Love...''


    ''He called me love!''


    Alice held her cheeks with a silly smile stered on her face.


    Ann looked at her and smiled.


    She knew that she would have the same reaction if she were in Alice''s ce, after all, she loved Alex as much as Alice did.


    Alex, who walked toward thedy started extracting the demonic energy from thedy when he felt a pair of eyes staring hole at his back.


    "Geez, I wasing to you next, you know?


    What''s with the hard look, I won''t be unfair to you guys, I will give you the same treatment as others��."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 178: CHAPTER 178 – What is Argon up to?

    //// Author Note: All right guys, it''s finally time for Argon to get some screen time, from here on out, Argon will get the deserved screen time as an Antagonist. Just informing you guys. ////


    "What are you up to, Argon?" Arura had enough of this mysterious vibe that Argon was putting up, she wanted to know what his n was.


    But before Argon could make another one of his excuses, Arora added.


    "I want to know, so don''t even try to make it mysterious by saying, ''You will know in a while'', tell me what you are up to right now."


    Aurora demanded.


    Argon, who heard this, swallowed the words that were about toe out of his mouth.


    He looked at Aurora with a frown.


    ''Thinking all high and mighty of yourself because of the contract, huh?


    Just wait till it is nulled��''


    Argon muttered inwardly.


    He had enough of Aurora bossing him around.


    (PS: Aurora was not actually bossing him around, it was just what it seemed to him.)


    .......................


    While Alex was doing his experiments, Argon was leading his team away from the gate and into an area that was untouched by even the creatures living in the gate.


    It was something like a cursed ce.


    No creature had ever gone there.


    The number of beasts popping up randomly also started decreasing.


    "A-are we on the right p-path?" Someone from the group asked in a trembling voice.


    The atmosphere was turning chilly and the air smelled rotten.


    The trees in the surroundings were slowly turning ck as they kept walking forward, and by now, all of the trees in the surroundings were ck.


    There were rotten corpses of beasts lying here and there, and the atmosphere started turning eery.


    All of this was too much for the weaker ones to handle as they were trembling all over.


    No one knew who asked that question, but the other raiders just looked at each other and silently followed behind their Emperor.


    They didn''t know what Argon had nned or where he was taking them, but they thought that he was taking them to the boss or something.


    Although they were doubtful of how Argon knew about this gate even though it was his first time entering, they still remained silent.


    They knew that their Emperor, their leader, or their boss was changing for a while, and those changes were nothing good; they didn''t think he was still at the point of no return.


    All the good deeds Argon had done to this day made his followers still believe in him.


    But how could they have known what wasing for them....


    .......................


    ''The more you try to hide it, the more I want to know about it��''


    Aurora stared back at Argon who continued to look at her with a frown.


    But then she saw him smile��.


    "What? You don''t trust me anymore?"


    Argon asked with a smile, trying to change the subject, but Aurora shot down that attempt ruthlessly.


    "I never trusted you, Argon, and neither did you trust me, so drop the act and tell me what you are up to."


    Aurora red at Argon, causing him to grit his teeth in anger.


    ''Fucking bitch!''


    He cursed inwardly.


    "Or do you want me to remind you of the uses in the contract?" Aurora asked with an expressionless face as she waved her hand, causing a thin golden-colored paper to appear in front of Argon.


    Argon gritted his teeth as he worked his brain at full power, thinking of a way out of this situation.


    ''I can''t tell her the n, never, that would ruin everything, and there is a chance that she would try to kill me.��.''


    ''Think Argon, think!''


    Argon worked his brain at full throttle before he smiled inwardly.


    On the outside, however, he had a frown on his face as he pretended to be looking at the golden sheet that Aurora conjured.


    Then suddenly his eyes brightened.


    Argon tried to hide it, but Aurora saw it and her eyes sharpened.


    "There is one condition in the contract that you don''t have the right to ask anything that is unrted to you," Argon smiled as he looked into Aurora''s eyes.


    They were still walking, and the raiders were still following Argon, but there was some distance between them so none of them could hear Argon and Aurora chatting.


    Aurora looked at Argon without any change in expression as she voiced out.


    "So, I have no role to y in whatever you''re nning?"


    Aurora had her eyes locked in Argon as she observed any change in his expression.


    The contract forbids them to lie to each other, so Aurora knew that Argon couldn''t lie, but she still looked at him with all of her focus.


    "Yes."


    Argon replied, but he continued inwardly.


    ''You won''t have to lift a single finger, I will do everything, so you have no role in it��.''


    Aurora''s words, ''no role to y'' can be interpreted in many ways, but what Argon took it as was: ''No work to do''.


    Even if the contract forced them to tell the truth, what would it do if whatever you think is the truth is actually a lie?


    It will detect it as a truth since you believe it to be true.


    Aurora froze for a second before she continued.


    ''He didn''t lie?''


    Aurora was confused now.


    ''Are my instincts getting rusty?''


    Argon looked at Aurora who had a perplexed expression as he grinned inwardly.


    ''Loopholes, Aurora, loophole, you seem to have forgotten that it is a thing��.''


    He shook his head inwardly.


    ''No, my instincts have never been wrong, there has to be something that he is hiding.''


    Aurora chose to believe her instincts over the contract, so she looked at Argon and asked again.


    "Does your n have anything to do with me, and by anything, I mean the smallest of things, even the mention of my name."


    Argon paused on the track, and the raiders behind him saw that and quickly got into a formation.


    "What''s wrong, Your Majesty?"


    One of them asked.


    That guy was one of the S-ranked raiders in the group.


    Argon realized that he had paused for a while, so he started looking around as if observing the surroundings.


    "Wait a second, I''m not sure��."


    Argon spoke out loud in a tone that indicated that he was confused.


    The guy in the back nodded his head.


    "Take your time, your majesty."


    Argon didn''t reply to the guy as he looked around with a frown.


    Inwardly, however, he was thinking of something else.


    ''I can use her question very nicely, it might even expel all of her doubts, for now��''


    Argon muttered inwardly as he thought about Aurora''s question.


    Aurora also didn''t rush him to answer, she waited patiently.


    ''I wish your answer would not go against my interests, Argon.


    I don''t want to kill someone like you, who helped me till now��.''


    Aurora muttered inwardly as she looked at Argon.


    No matter how bad Argon was, Aurora was not someone ungrateful, and she knew that even if by coincidence, Argon didn''t appear in front of her when they first met, she would still have been trapped in the same ce��.


    ________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 179: CHAPTER 179 – Argon and Aurora.

    "It''s nothing, let''s continue."


    Argon gestured to the group that everything was fine before he started walking.


    The raiders in the group looked at each other before they shrugged and followed behind Argon.


    They were already too deep in the forest, so they decided to just follow wherever Argon was going, even if it was a creepy forest with a deathly chill atmosphere.


    Argon was walking ahead looked at Aurora and finally answered her.


    "Yes."


    Argon replied as he looked at Aurora with a determined expression.


    Aurora''s expression finally changed from a poker face.


    Right now, her brows frowned as she looked at Argon.


    "Then I have the right to know whatever you are nning."


    Argon started at Aurora for a while before he sighed.


    "I''m going to get myself to reach EX-rank," Argon murmured.


    "What does it have to do with me?" Aurora asked.


    "Well, our ranks increase together, so you will be an EX-ranked as well."


    Argon replied to Aurora''s question.


    "I know, but is that all?" Aurora asked again.


    She was happy about the increase in power but she didn''t want to change the topic so she pressed on.


    "��.. I will get you a new body as well," Argon spoke after a pause and Aurora''s eyes widened.


    "Really?!" Aurora eximed happily.


    ''I will finally have a body!''


    But then she frowned as she looked at Argon who simply replied with a "Yes,".


    "Why are you getting me a body so soon?" Aurora asked, she somehow knew what his answer would be, but she wanted to hear him say it.


    "Because I want to nullify the contract."


    Argon replied as he looked right into Aurora''s eyes.


    "Why do you want that?" Aurora again knew what the answer would be, but she asked nheless.


    "Because being bound with someone is annoying, especially when both of the bound parties do not have any kind of connection."


    Argon replied and this time, he was speaking out his real feelings.


    He didn''t like the way Aurora looked at him.


    The disgust in her eyes whenever he talked about keeping the love of his life close to himself forever was not hidden from him.


    Even the fact that she would advise him about this and that.


    "I see��" Aurora nodded her head.


    She didn''t feel disappointed or anything.


    She had expected all this, and not like she liked the contract with Argon.


    Content source m-vl|e


    She would prefer to have her contract with Argon nulled as well.


    But there was onest question she had.


    "So, you just want to null the contract? Is that what you nned for?"


    "Yes," Argon replied with a nod before he turned his head back to the path they were walking.


    ''The first part of the n is to nullify the contract, but you never asked me if there was something after that��.''


    ''If you did, then you would''ve known what I had in store for you��.''


    Argonughed inwardly.


    Argon was walking on a thin line there.


    If Aurora asked, ''What are your ns for me after that?'', instead of, ''Is that what you nned for?'', then Argon would have no choice but to speak about the next phase of his n.


    If that happened, then Aurora would''ve known about his ns for her, and things would not have ended peacefully as they did just now.


    ''I guess it''s time for me to think of what I will do from now on��.''


    Aurora, on the other hand, oblivious to Argon''s inner thoughts, was thinking about her future.


    What would she do after the contract is nulled?


    She didn''t ask how Argon was nning to get to EX-rank or how he was going to get her a new body.


    She didn''t care about those things.


    Only the results mattered to her.


    With each thinking of things of their own, they continued walking forward in silence, and the group of raiders that Argon had brought with him, followed both of them from behind.


    ........................��..


    Makrum was someone who used to rule a band of Aquathrens.


    He didn''t rule a kingdom or something, it was just a group of Aquathrens.


    He was more like a pirate captain, and his group members were pirates.


    But with him as their leader, they never had to fear anything.


    Makrum was strong, after all, very strong.


    He was strong enough that the kingdoms in the surroundings had to send some of their finest or strongest warriors to catch him.


    But in the end, they would return empty-handed.


    Makrum was an Aquathren, so he just escaped into the seas if he thought the situation was unfavorable.


    He and his group of 100 Aquathrens used to live like that, but one day, he found a strange portal-like thing on an ind they were staying on.


    Curiosity got the better of him, and he entered the portal along with his whole group.


    That marked the first day of them being trapped in this ce.


    But even after all that, Makrum stayed strong.


    Even with the suppression of their powers, Makrum and his group ruled this territory.


    Makrum always had an easy life, even after things turned worse and they were trapped in this unknown dimension, he still had it easy.


    ''Hunt food for me.''


    ''Come sleep with me.''


    ''Give me a massage.''


    ''Bring me food.''


    He just needed to order and things would be presented to him.


    But then this one day, some human entered his territory.


    He didn''t know what came over him this time as unlike every time, he didn''t order his subordinates to bring those humans for him, and he went there on his own.


    Everything was still fine, they saw some humans, and two of them were very good-looking females.


    But then, things changed for the first time.


    For the first time, Makrum felt dread.


    ''I will die.''


    It was the first time Makrum could feel his death so close.


    ''He is a devil.''


    It was the first time Makrum called someone the devil.


    Makrum watched in horror as his subordinates died one by one.


    He didn''t care for them, never.


    But watching them die as they howled in pain was horrifying.


    That too when he knew that his turn wasing up as well.


    He watched all die one by one until it was the turn of Lupina, the only Aquathren he cared for, even if it was minuscule.


    ''That bitch!''


    He cursed when he saw her begging to be Alex''s bitch.


    ''Fucking bitch!''


    He kept cursing her as he heard her words.


    She was cursing him for being useless.


    ''Did she say I was useless in bed?!?!''


    ''My pee pee is not big enough for her?!?!''


    Makrum was fuming.


    But he knew that Lupina was going to die, it was no use getting angry at her, so he directed all of his anger on Alex.


    ''I''m going to die anyway, so fuck it!''


    He had been looking at Alex pleadingly.


    He didn''t want to die after all, but now that it was just two of them left, he knew that it would soon be his turn.


    So, he decided to at least not beg for his life anymore.


    ''He is a devil, he will give me false hope and then destroy it the next second.''


    He had seen that happening.


    One of his subordinates had to survive more than 10 seconds and just when it looked like he was going to make it.


    Alex smashed his foot on the guy''s head, killing the guy with a single move.


    "Ops, my leg slipped��."


    This was his excuse for that.


    So, Makrum didn''t actually hope for freedom or chance.


    He just wanted to shout out everything on his mind.


    He just wanted to curse Alex to his heart''s content.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 180: CHAPTER 180 – Alex is a Coward?

    [She was a mid-boss ranked monster.]


    ''I know that.''


    Alex replied to Sophia as he walked toward the dead body of Lupina.


    [Your power was not suppressed-]


    ''I know that,'' Alex spoke again.


    [The quest says that you have to kill mid-boss with-]


    ''With my power suppressed to SS-rank, I know that as well.''


    Alex nodded his head inwardly.


    [I was just making sure since you didn''t look like you were going to stop.]


    ''Why do you think I left one mid-boss, and a boss for the end?''


    Alex asked with a smile and then he continued.


    ''I know what the quest is and I am nning on doing it, so don''t worry and just watch the show.''


    Alex smiled, and then he started absorbing the demonic energy inside Lupina''s body.


    ''Ahh��.''


    Alex closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation of his body being filled with demonic energy.


    ''This feels good no matter how many times I do it��.''


    Alex sighed with a smile.


    [The demonic energy in your body is currently double the maximum mana you have in your body.]


    ''I see,'' Alex nodded inwardly but then he sighed in disappointment.


    ''Too bad I can''t keep regenerating infinitely��.''


    [Not now, but we don''t know about the future��.]


    Sophia spoke mysteriously, causing Alex''s eyes to shine with realization.


    Sophia could not tell him about things and he had to discover them on his own, but she could drop clues��. (In some cases, at least)


    ''Yesh, who knows about the future��''


    Alex spoke as he smiled knowingly before he turned toward the pair of eyes that had been staring a hole in him for a while now.


    "Geez, I wasing to you next, you know?


    What''s with the hard look, I won''t be unfair to you guys, I will give you the same treatment as others��."


    Alex shook his head as he moved toward Makrum.


    "What is it, big guy?"


    Alex looked down on Makrum as he asked.


    Yes, he was looking down at the 2-meter-tall Makrum.


    It was not because Alex suddenly grew in height, Alex simply made Makrum get on his knees.


    But this just made Makrum angrier as his eyes turned red with anger.


    "Whoa, whoa, calm down, I don''t want you dying from anger now."


    Alex spoke as he brought his palm in front of Macrum''s face.


    "Here, take this, it will help you cool down."


    *Ssh*


    Alex spoke as his stream of water shot out of his palm, straight on Makrum''s face.


    "I just don''t like looking up at people, you see, so I had to make your height shorter."


    Alex shrugged casually as he justified his actions.


    "Here, more water aspensation for that," Alex added as he sprayed more water over Makrum''s face.


    "Aren''t I a good guy?" Alex asked with a harmless smile as he stood in front of Makrum with his hand folded in front of him.


    Makrum was someone who lived in water, so for him being sprayed by some water was like having wind blowing at his face.


    But, right now, he felt humiliated like never before.


    He red at Alex and if res could kill, Alex would''ve died 100 times by now.


    Alex looked at Makrum for a second before he spoke with a chuckle.


    "You know, your eyes make it hard for me to tell where you are looking, I can''t even tell if you are actually ring at me or someone else."


    Makrum''s eyes were more to the side than humans, just like any other, so even when he looked at Alex, his eyes would still remain on the side, which looked funny to Alex.


    Makrum gritted his teeth but he couldn''t say anything, he was still locked since Alex had not removed the pressure lock he ced over Makrum.


    Alex then extended his palm toward Makrum''s forehead as he spoke.


    "Well, it doesn''t matter, you are just a fish that''s about to get cooked."


    But then Alex paused.


    "What''s this?" Alex bent forward as he looked at Makrum''s eyes closely.


    "Why are you not begging?


    It seems like you are not even afraid of what is about to happen.


    You are not afraid of death?"


    There was not a trace of pleading or fear in Makrum''s eyes.


    Maybe it was because he had yet to feel the pain. But it fitted well with Alex''s n, so he decided to make use of it.


    *Hmph*


    Makrum scoffed at Alex, but he didn''t say anything, or like he couldn''t say anything.


    "Oh, my bad, it seems like I forgot to remove the lock over you," Alex smiled as he waved his hand and Makrum was finally able to speak.


    "Why would I be afraid of a coward like you?"


    The first thing Makrum did was scoff at Alex again.


    "Oh? This is new��."


    Alex raised his brow as he stood up straight and folded his arms in front of his chest.


    "Why am I a coward now?"


    Alex added.


    Makrum looked at Alex speechlessly before he startedughing.


    "Hahahahahahahaha!"


    Alex looked at Macrum with a smile before he startedughing as well.


    "Hahahahahahaha!"


    But hisughter was louder and he keptughing.


    This made Makrum stopughing.


    He stared at Alex.


    ''Is he a psycho?''


    He had seen that type of people before, and he felt like Alex was one of them.


    Alex also stoppedughing after a while.


    He wiped off the imaginary tears that came out of his eyes and spoke with a smile.


    "Iughed since youughed, I thought that I must''ve said something funny."


    Alex paused for a second before he ced his hand on Makrum''s shoulder and clutched it lightly.


    *Crack*


    But that lightly was not so light for Macrum.


    "Argh"


    Macrum groaned as he felt his bones crack just by Alex''s grip.


    ''Bastard!''


    He cursed inwardly as he red at Alex.


    "Now tell me: What was so funny about my question?"


    Alex spoke and when Makrum looked at Alex, all he saw was Alex staring at him with an emotionless face.


    But Makrum was not scared even now.


    The person who lost the fear of death is hard to scare, after all, and Makrum knew that his death was inevitable, so there was no use begging or fearing death.


    ''The worst he could do is kill me.''


    That''s what Makrum thought, but if Alex heard those words, then this time he would''veughed for real.


    "You use your superior power to suppress us, then you kill us without even giving us a chance to fight back, and you still want to know how you are a coward?"


    Makrum spoke while shaking his head.


    "If we were to go by what you''re saying then weren''t you guys'' cowards as well?"


    Alex tilted his head in confusion.


    "What do you mean?"


    Makrum asked with a frown.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 181: CHAPTER 181 – I will do you one better.

    "Coming here with more than 10 Aquathrens, and then trying to gang up on a group of 4, which was clearly unfair for the group of 4, yet you call me a coward?"


    Alex lightly pped Makrum on his left cheek or tapped his left cheek to be precise.


    *Pat**Pat*


    He didn''t do it to harm Makrum, it was more like knocking on the door.


    Just take it as if he was knocking on Makrum''s door as he asked a question.


    "What would''ve happened to us if we were not the stronger ones?"


    Alex''s question made Makrum go silent.


    "What''s wrong? Cat got your tongue?"


    Alex asked again as he looked into Makrum''s eyes, or well, looked into one of Macrum''s eyes.


    He couldn''t look into both of Makrum''s eyes at the same time, after all.


    "But you know what? I''ll give you a chance," Alex spoke as he stood up straight and dusted some imaginary dust off his clothes.


    Makrum looked at Alex with his already wide eyes opening up wider.


    "Tell me, what do you want me to do?" Alex asked as he folded his hands.


    "Huh?"


    Makrum looked at Alex for a while, before he scoffed.


    "I won''t fall for your words like those fools," Makrum turned his head away.


    The only thing that could scare a guy who was not afraid of death is hope.


    If they start having hope, then they will automatically start fearing death.


    "I''m serious though.


    You are calling me a coward, so I''m giving you a chance to make things fair for you."


    Alex shrugged.


    "It''s up to you to believe it or not.


    But don''t say that I didn''t give you a chance."


    Alex added.


    Makrum looked at Alex dubiously.


    He had seen with his own eyes how Alex gave his subordinates false hope only to crush them in the end, so it was really hard for Makrum to believe any wording out of Alex''s mouth.


    ''I can''t even tell if he is serious or he''s just acting!''


    That was the main problem.


    "I don''t have all day you know, so either you decide it quick or I would just continue what I was doing."


    Alex spoke as he started tapping his feet on the ground.


    The other Aquathren who was alive and was listening to the conversation wanted to curse Makrum.


    ''Just ept it mf! And think of a way to get us out of here!


    You are supposed to be our leader, damnit!''


    Makrum thought for a while and spoke.


    "All right, I will ept your offer."


    "What the hell? You make it sound like you are doing me a favor.


    It''s the other way around, big guy."


    Alex spoke with a frown as he corrected whatever misconception Makrum might be having about this situation.


    Makrum gritted his teeth but he spoke again.


    "Please give me a chance."


    "Better," Alex nodded his head with satisfaction before he continued.


    "So, what is your offer to make this situation ''fair''?"


    Alex asked as he highlighted the word ''fair''.


    "With your control over your strength, it should be possible to make it so that your strength gets limited to SS-rank, so do it and fight me.


    If I win, you let me go, and if you win, then you can have my life, or do whatever you want with me."


    Makrum spoke, but hisst words caused Alex to look at him with disgust.


    "What the fuck do you mean by, ''Do whatever you want with me''? I don''t have any interest in the same gender."


    Makrum had a vein popping up on his head as he heard Alex''s words but he calmed himself down.


    ''I just need to defeat him, then I''m free��''


    Makrum took a deep breath.


    He didn''t know that he was never going to be free, his death was fixed, it was just a matter of time.


    "So, what do you think about it?"


    Makrum ignored Alex''s remark and asked.


    "It is good, but I''ll do you one better."


    Alex spoke, but his words caused Makrum''s body to tense up.


    ''So, it was a lie again?''


    Makrum thought that Alex was going to do the same to him, just like what he did to his subordinates.


    "You take that shit pants over there and go back to where you came from, and then after 20 minutese back to the coast with whatever you can bring.


    All you will have to face there will be me with my stats suppressed to SS-rank and that cute little pup, who is SS-rank as well.


    How about it?"


    Alex''s question caused Makrum to freeze for a second before he started running his brain at full speed.


    The Aquathren who was called shit pants didn''t even care about it because he really did have shit in his pants right now.


    That guy was more focused on Makrum''s reply.


    "Whatever I can bring?" Makrum asked for confirmation.


    "Yes, you can bring an army, you can bring some kind of mass destruction weapon, you can bring some kind of defense fortress, you can bring anything you want to bring, juste near the coast in 20 minutes.


    How about it?"


    Alex asked again, and looking at Makrum''s contemting expression, Alex added with a frown.


    "You are testing my patience, right now��."


    Alex spoke as he rubbed his forehead as he spoke with clear annoyance.


    ''This is getting too much for a simple quest��.''


    Alex wanted nothing more than directly rip off the Makrum''s head, right now.


    As if Makrum could feel like his life was under immediate threat he hurriedly answered.


    "I-I ept the deal!"


    "Good, now go, you don''t have time to waste," Alex waved his hand, gesturing for Makrum to run away.


    Makrum and the other guy were free of the pressure lock now.


    They looked at each other before they nodded their heads and rushed toward the sea.


    The guy even forgot that he had shitted his pants, he ran ignoring the shit that was falling out of his pants along the way.


    Alex looked at the guy with dead eyes and Sophia remarked with augh.


    [He is probably marking the path for you.]


    ''��.''


    Alex just stood there speechlessly.


    [Also, you do know that instead of doing all of that, you could''ve simply told him that you were giving him a chance, and let him go?]


    Sophia questioned as instead of going through this long process, wouldn''t it have been easier to just directly tell him that?


    ''He was not scared of death and he was not going to trust my words, not after the little game I had with his subordinates.


    He wouldn''t have believed me if I didn''t do all that emo kid role.''


    Alex justified his actions and Sophia''s eyes shone with realization.


    [That''s true, I guess.]


    Sophia nodded her head.


    Alex smiled and then he walked back toward Alice, Ann, and Noctura to tell them what was happening as he could tell that they were dying to know the reason for him letting the guys run off...


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 182: CHAPTER 182 – Best healer known by the World.

    "What is the team from Blue Empire up to��...?"


    Ann muttered as she walked together with Alex, Alice, and Noctura.


    They were moving towards the coast as they needed to reach there at the designated location.


    "I don''t know, they went out of my perception range quite a while ago."


    Alex replied with a shrug.


    Ann looked at Alex and shrugged as well.


    ''They can die for all I care��''


    Ann muttered.


    She was not worried about those guys, she just wanted to know what they were up to, and since she couldn''t find out what they were doing, she just let it go.


    It had nothing to do with her anyway.


    "But it sure has been a while since they moved that side��"


    Alex muttered and suddenly Ann''s eyes shone with realization.


    "Do you think there is something more valuable than boss drop that side?"


    Ann asked.


    "Why do you think so?"


    Alice asked as she tilted her head.


    "Argon knows the future, Alice."


    It was Alex who answered as he patted her head, and Alice''s eyes widened in realization.


    But then she calmed down.


    "We are not going to take that treasure or whatever he is after?"


    Alice asked as she frowned in confusion.


    They didn''t stop walking though.


    They still continued down the path, ignoring the shit that was dropped at every few steps as if a marker to show them the path.


    [I told you, right? He was marking the path for you guys!]


    Sophiaughed inwardly, and Alex just shook his head with a sigh.


    Then he looked at Alice and replied.


    "The best he could get from here is an EX-ranked item or consumable, but he is leaving the gate for us to clear, and with the points that I get from it, I can buy many of such items.


    Do you still think we are at a loss?"


    Alex questioned with a smile as he raised his brows.


    "Ah��."


    Alice finally let out a sigh of realization as she shook her head.


    "No��"


    "Good, but still, if we find them by the time we return, we could try to ''negotiate'' the item out of them��.."


    Alex spoke with a gentle smile as he looked at Alice and Ann simultaneously.


    His smile might be gentle for people who don''t know him, but Alice and Ann knew perfectly well what he meant by those words, and the same kind of gentle smile married their faces.


    "Yes, we can just ''negotiate''��." X2


    Both Alice and Ann spoke at the same time.


    [You are turning them evil��]


    Sophia muttered.


    ''I don''t want some goody two shoes as my women after all��.''


    Alex just shrugged, causing Sophia to shake her head with a light smile.


    .......................................��..


    *Brrrrr*


    Argon suddenly trembled as he felt chills running down his spine.


    ''What was that?''


    Argon didn''t think it was because of the cold and eerie surroundings that he trembled.


    He was strong enough to not be affected by the atmosphere in this area.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Aurora asked as she found Argon looking around cautiously.


    "��.. Nothing."


    Argon replied after he gave Aurora a deep look.


    ''Maybe I''m just thinking too much��''


    Argon decided to ignore the strange chill he had as he continued walking ahead.


    ''Looks like it''s taking effect now��.''


    Argon muttered as he observed the weaker raiders that were following him.


    He had been keeping an eye on them from the start as he knew what this ce was.


    This ce was called the cursed forest, and its air was poisonous.


    The poison in the air was something that worked slowly, but when it started showing symptoms, you should know that unless you get a healer that is ranked above SS-rank, there''s no saving you.


    The weaker raiders, like the potters and the healers, were starting to feel a bit tired, but none of them voiced it out.


    ''We can''t let ourselves seem like losers in front of, his majesty��.''


    This is what they thought.


    Even though they knew of the things going on in the empire, and they knew about the changes in their Empire. In some corners of their minds, they still had hopes for their Emperor to get better.


    But their willpower could only get them so far��.


    *Thud*


    The sound of something hitting the ground was heard, and every single raider in the group turned toward the sound with their weapons and magic charged, ready to attack, but when they looked at the source of the sound, their eyes widened.


    It was one of the potters that was walking behind everyone.


    He was the weakest in the group with B-rank stats, so his falling first was something Argon had already predicted.


    "Healer!"


    While everyone was still shocked and wondering what happened, Argon shouted for the healer, and a girl with a purple dress and a petite body ran toward the guy.


    That girl''s name is Misty Florence, she has light blonde hair and Olive-colored eyes. She is an SS-ranked healer, the best healer known by the world, and also one of the top ten raiders in the world.


    She was the only one who called Argon by his name in the whole Empire which caused many people to think that there was something going on between those two.


    But no news of them getting together ever came to life.


    Her ability was called ''Angle''s touch'', an ability that could even regrow and reattack limbs that had been cut off from the body.


    It was an SSS-ranked skill, and it could cure anything, any disease, pain, injury, etc.


    But right now, no matter how many times she tried, Misty couldn''t heal that guy.


    "Argon!"


    She shouted his name in panic.


    It was the first time she wasn''t able to heal someone, and this made her panic.


    She had always been a very insecure type of girl.


    She would start doubting herself for every little thing.


    "I''m here��."


    As Misty was panicking, she heard a voice from right behind her and she felt arge and warm hand holding her shoulder gently.


    It was Argon and as she turned to look at Argon''s face, his smile, she slowly calmed down.


    "So, what''s wrong?"


    Argon asked as he saw that Misty had calmed down.


    "I-I can''t heal him��"


    Misty shuttered, fearing that Argon would find her useless, but instead, she felt her shoulder being patted.


    "It''s fine, but can you tell what happened to him?"


    Argon asked with a smile.


    ''She''s too annoying to deal with��''


    Argon groaned inwardly.


    He had to be gentle to her or she would start panicking and bbering this and that, and that was thest thing Argon wanted from her, right now.


    Misty looked back at Argon and looking at his eyes that were looking at her with hope, she replied seriously.


    "Yes, he seemed to have been poisoned, and his condition keeps worsening every second."


    She didn''t want to disappoint Argon, so she spoke with a serious voice as she touched the guy''s wrist checking his pulse.


    "His pulse rate is slowly going down and his body is heating up more and more."


    Argon nodded his head, but then he asked.


    "So, what do you think we should do? Is there a way to save him?"


    Argon asked with fake worry, and Misty who saw worry in Argon''s eyes, gritted her teeth and spoke.


    "I think we should stop somewhere, I will try my best to heal him, even if I have to use all of my mana."


    Misty spoke confidently and her confidence somehow affected the surrounding raiders as well.


    She was a charming girl, just a point below Alice and Ann''s beauty, but beautiful nheless.


    So, she had her charms.


    Argon smiled as he looked at Misty gratefully.


    "Thank you, Misty. We will do just that."


    Inwardly, however, he wasughing like a devil.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 183: CHAPTER 183 – Something Cool.

    "It''s already been 20 mins��."


    Noctura muttered as she looked at the wet sand below her paws.


    "We will wait for a bit more, and if they still didn''te up, then well, we can always just get in there and kill them all��"


    Alex spoke as he casually waved his hand, creating chairs again.


    "For you, mydies."


    Alex spoke as he bowed his head in a gentlemanly manner.


    "I feel like a baggage right now��."


    Alice sighed as she sat on the chair made by Alex while Ann just nodded with a sigh.


    All they did inside the gate was sit on the chair that Alex made for them.


    "What do you mean you feel like baggage, there''s no way you guys are baggage!"


    Alex spoke with a ''No way!'' type of face.


    "Yeah? Then what are we doing here? What is our role in this gate?"


    Alice asked with her brows raised.


    Yeah, she and Ann weren''t too into fighting.


    But there was this fact that all they did was cause trouble for Alex.


    Even with them sitting in their ces, they caused the whole scenario of Alex getting angry and torturing the Aquathrens.


    ''You are useless in a fight but you will attract trouble'', that''s what is meant to be baggage.


    Right now, Alice and Ann''s role somewhat matched with baggage.


    "��. emotional support.


    Yes, you guys are my and Noctura''s emotional support!"


    Alex spoke in a low voice before he eximed as if he had found the right word.


    Alice and Ann gave him a ''really now?'' look, so Alex defended himself.


    "For real guys, you are our emotional support, right, pup?"


    Alex spoke as he nodded many times before he turned to Noctura.


    "Huh?"


    Noctura, who wasn''t even listening to the conversation carefully was left speechless for a second.


    ''Just say yes, pup.''


    Then she heard her master''s voice in her head and she nodded her head.


    "Yes!"


    She spoke as she kept nodding her head.


    "Really?" Ann looked at Noctura and asked with a harmless smile.


    "Yes," Noctura replied with a yes again.


    She didn''t care about what it was, she would say yes if her master told her to do it no matter what, but then Ann asked with the same smile.


    "Yes for what, pup?"


    "Eh? Uh��"


    Noctura didn''t have an answer, she turned to look at Alex for an answer or help, but Alice and Ann just sighed.


    "It''s all right, we are not sad or anything, we are just bored��"


    Ann replied as she waved her hand, but then she noticed that Alex was not responding to them so she turned to him only to find him looking toward the sea with a smile.


    "Looks like they came huh��"


    Ann muttered but everyone in the surroundings heard it loud and clear.


    Noctura excitedly started looking in the same direction as Alex when she heard Ann''s words while Alice also looked ahead, but not as excited as Noctura.


    "Yes, and he brought an army with him," Alex spoke with a smile.


    "Army?" Alice asked with curiosity.


    "Around 2000 Aquathrens, with more than 100 S-ranked ones," Alex replied to Alice causing the eyes of Ann, Alice, and Noctura to widen with surprise.


    But soon, Noctura started to wag her tail with happiness.


    ''More enemies mean more fighting��.''


    Alex chuckled as he looked at it and patted her head.


    ''Hehehe��''


    Noctura giggled inwardly as she rubbed her head against Alex''s palm that was on her head.


    Alice and Ann also smiled looking at the interaction between the pairs.


    "More enemies mean more points��."


    Ann muttered with a smile.


    "And not like this is the first time he is facing an army��."


    Alice added to Ann''s words.


    Ann nodded her head and rxed in her seat, and so did Alice.


    Alex looked back at them and smiled.


    ''Emotional support!''


    He nodded as he lip-synced those words.


    *Giggle*


    This caused them to giggle as they shook their heads.


    Alex raised his brows before he looked at them and mouthed again.


    ''I love you.''


    He looked at both of them simultaneously as he spoke that.


    Alice and Ann were stunned by the random confession, but then their faces turned rosy.


    They smiled happily as they mouthed back to him.


    ''I love you, too��.''


    All of their boredom evaporated like a water droplet dropped on a frying pan.


    They just smiled as they realized what their roles actually were.


    ''We are his loves��.''


    They didn''t need to fight, just needed to be there for him when he returned from the fight.


    They just need to be there, weing him back with warm smiles on their faces and arms open for him to rest.


    They smiled as they thought of these things.


    The silly smile on their faces just wouldn''t go away, but that was good, at least for Alex.


    ''That''s better��''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he saw the smiles on their faces, this was what he wanted from them.


    ''Just keep smiling like that.''


    Alex smiled at them before he turned back toward the sea where he could see some movements in the sea surface, like someone was about toe out.


    What he failed to notice was a strange glint in both of their eyes as they looked at him.


    "Well, should I give them a wee gift?


    Don''t want them to get arrogant thinking that they have the numbers, after all."


    Alex muttered as he looked at the heads that were just about to pop out of the sea surface.


    "Yes!"


    Noctura answered Alex''s question with a smile.


    "Since my cute little pup wants that, then I will do just that��"


    Alex spoke as he ruffled Noctura''s fur, he then lifted his other hand up in the air.


    "You want to see something cool, pup?"


    Alex asked with a smile, and Noctura replied without a second of pause.


    "Yes!"


    "Good," Alex nodded his head as a metal spike emerged from the ground below them.


    Then he twisted his wrist causing the tip of the spikes to break and float above Alex''s head.


    "You see these spikes?"


    Alex asked Noctura who was looking at Alex''s every move with utmost focus.


    "Yes."


    She nodded her head.


    "Around 23."


    Noctura''s answer was precise, causing Alex to raise his brow, but then he smiled mischievously.


    "What is that, Noctura?" Alex pointed toward the sea with a frown.


    Noctura hurriedly looked at what Alex was pointing at, but she couldn''t find anything there so she looked back at Alex but her eyes widened.


    "What''s wrong, pup?"


    Alex asked with a smile before he added.


    "Numbers don''t match?"


    Instead of the earlier 23 spikes, right now, there are more than 100 such spikes.


    "You cheated!"


    Noctura puffed her cheeks as she spoke with a huff.


    "Hahaha, I just wanted to tease you a little, me your cuteness for that."


    Alex justughed it off, but Noctura''s puffed cheeks deted as she smiled sweetly when she heard Alex''sst words.


    ''Master said that I''m cute, hehehe��''


    She giggled inwardly, but then she heard Alex''s voice.


    "The cool part starts now, pup."


    "Umu."


    Noctura nodded her head and focused on the spikes in the air.


    Alex''s stats were limited to SS-rank, right now, so his movements could be clearly perceived by Noctura, and the same for the attacks.


    So, when she saw Alex wave his hand, her eyes followed the spikes as they wooshed toward the sea, but then the spikes disappeared.


    "Huh?"


    Noctura widened her eyes, then she looked at Alex for an answer but before she could ask something��.


    *Pierce*


    "Akkhh!!"


    "AHH!!"


    *Pierce*


    "ARGHH!!"


    *Pierce*


    "NO-"


    *Pierce*


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 184: CHAPTER 184 – Entertainment!

    Screams of pain and despair were heard.


    When Noctura turned her head toward the screams, she found many Aquathrens floating on the sea surface with blood flowing out of their bodies.


    All the 100+ spikes had pierced through at least one Aquathren without a miss.


    Some were pierced directly in the head, causing them to die without knowing how they died.


    Some were lucky enough to dodge, but they were still pierced by the spikes, and they were going to die of blood loss.


    Then there were also some cases where two Aquathren were killed by a single spike.


    "Wow��."


    Noctura muttered with amazement.


    Shepletely ignored the bloody scene, she just marveled as she thought about Alex''s attack from before.


    The precision of the attack, the lethality, everything was amazing.


    It was a simple attack, but Alex made it into something much more amazing.


    ''I couldn''t even see the attack��.''


    ''It was like it disappeared and then reappeared in front of the Aquatrens��.''


    Noctura was unbothered by all the screams of the Aquathrens as she wondered what it was, what Alex did to his attack.


    "I teleported those spikes right in front of their bodies."


    Alex spoke as if he could hear what Noctura was thinking.


    In the past few months since he had been in this world, Alex had been training with his space element during his free time.


    Although he didn''t use it much, he still wanted to master this element as it was pretty useful.


    So, after all the training he could do with the space element, Alex could now easily teleport things from one ce to another.


    But the point is that the ce where he wants to teleport the object should be in his field of vision.


    "That''s amazing! Will I ever be able to do it?"


    Noctura asked as she looked at Alex with eyes filled with hope.


    ''Argh��''


    Alex groaned inwardly as he saw the hope-filled eyes of Noctura.


    ''How could I ever refuse her if she does this��.?''


    [You are the one who spoiled her��.]


    Sophiamented.


    ''Guilty as charged, but I don''t regret it.''


    Alex spoke as he smiled and replied to Noctura.


    "Of course you can, why else would I show this to you?"


    "Huh?"


    Noctura let out a confused voice.


    "I need to make you stronger, that''s why."


    Alex smiled as he replied to his own question, but Noctura murmured.


    "I am strong though��."


    "I know that you are strong, pup, but you don''t have anything that you could use as a ranged attack, and this type of ability is best suited for you."


    Alex exined what he meant by his words.


    His words made Noctura realize that she really didn''t have anything that she could use as a ranged attack.


    She could shoot shadow spikes, but they could do so much.


    Alex and Nocturapletely ignored the Aquathrens and Makrum that started emerging from the water surface cautiously.


    They continued their chat.


    The same, however, could not be said for the other side.


    ........................


    After running away from Alex, Makrum''s mind finally started to think straight.


    He could think things through.


    He realized that Alex letting him go didn''t make sense.


    The first question that came to his mind was��.


    ''What would I do if I were in his ce?''


    He started imagining himself in Alex''s ce.


    ''I would kill my enemy, even if they are harmless as a duck, after all, it is better to have no enemy than having someone who is ready to kill you anytime.''


    Makrum thought to himself.


    ''He even let this guy off.''


    Then he looked at the other guy that was running with him, and he finally noticed the shit that was leaking from that guy''s pants.


    *Baam*


    Makrum kicked that guy away as his face scrunched up with disgust.


    "Stay 10 meters away from me."


    Makrummanded and the guy just nodded his head dumbly.


    ''What did I do��.?''


    That guy still didn''t know what he did wrong.


    ''I can''t think of any reason for him to let me go other than...''


    Makrum thought as he clenched his fists.


    ''��. entertainment.''


    Makrum could only think of one reason, and that infuriated him.


    ''He wants entertainment!''


    Makrum gritted his teeth.


    Makrum understood this well because he used to do the same with humans before.


    He would catch them and let them fight each other, then he would say that the winner would get a chance to fight him, and if they win, they are free to go.


    The humans would hold on to the silly hope that maybe they could get out alive of the situation.


    The more he remembered those things the angrier he became.


    *BAAM*


    He mmed into a tree, breaking it into pieces.


    *BAAM*


    He did it again.


    *BAAM*


    Then again.


    He did it till his head started hurting, and a single drop of blood fell.


    ''You want entertainment, right?''


    Then he spoke with a crazy smile.


    ''I will give you ''entertainment''.''


    He went to his pce and shouted orders.


    "Sound the rms! Gather everyone!


    We are going for a war!"


    Makrum didn''t tell them who they were fighting, neither did he tell them the number of the enemies.


    But the Aquathrens just started chanting war cries and gathered in front of his house or a small castle of his.


    They were bloodthirsty beasts, it didn''t matter who they were going to face, they would kill anyone.


    Above all, they all knew that the ones with the highest poption in this small world of theirs were them.


    This took away all of their fear and gave them confidence.


    Makrum didn''t say anything to dete their confidence, instead, he gestured for the mid-boss beast toe closer.


    The beast got closer to Makrum.


    Makrum looked at his pants and nodded his head.


    But this action caused the beast to grit his teeth.


    ''I will kill that mf!''


    He cursed in his mind as he thought of Alex.


    He seemed to have forgotten Alex''s strength in just a while.


    Makrum then spoke.


    "Listen well to me, and do just as I tell you to, if you do so, then we will have our revenge��."


    Makrum spoke with an evil smile.


    The mid-boss monster didn''t know what the n was, so he listened to Makrum''s words carefully and not long after, he had the same evil smile as Makrum stered on his face.


    But who would''ve thought that more than 100 of them would be killed even before they could get ashore?


    This shocked the Aquathrens to their core and for the first time, they got scared of what or who they were going to face.


    They could see the corpses of more than 100 of their brethren floating in the water as they were pierced by a ck spike.


    They could hear the cries for help from some lucky ones who didn''t die in a single strike, but their condition wasn''t any good.


    But when they slowly moved toward the shore and peeked out of the water to look at how many enemies they had, they were shocked again��.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 185: CHAPTER 185 – Simple Sword?

    Makrum was ready with a n as he watched the other Aquathrens going toward the water''s surface.


    ''If you want entertainment, I will give you an entertainment that you could never forget��.''


    Makrum looked at the mid-boss who nodded his head before both of them started going up as well, but just then��.


    *Pierce*


    "Akkhh!!"


    "AHH!!"


    *Pierce*


    "ARGHH!!"


    *Pierce*


    "NO-"


    *Pierce*


    Makrum looked up and saw his soldiers dying as they cried for help.


    ''That bastard!''


    Makrum cursed as he knew who it was.


    But there was a bigger problem at hand right now.


    The soldiers who were brimming with confidence now seemed a bit cautious and scared.


    ''Don''t destroy my meat shield, you devil��''


    Makrum muttered inwardly.


    He knew why Alex was doing that.


    He had been in battles against different groups, so he knew full well what Alex was doing.


    ''I need them to be confident about our victory, only then would they be a perfect meat shield.


    ''But he is taking that thing away from them��.''


    The only thing he saw the other Aquathrens was as meat shields.


    It didn''t matter to him whether they died or lived, he wanted them to have confidence and arrogance.


    Those two things make people do things they would not usually do, and that is what he wanted right now.


    But Alex''s attack was stripping away that confidence and arrogance of theirs.


    However, he saw that the attack stopped after once.


    ''Maybe he is trying to save his mana forter.''


    Makrum had asked for a physical fight and Alex would do that, but there were ways to use mana in physical fights as well, and Makrum thought that Alex was saving his mana for that purpose.


    But then he saw that Alex was talking with that little wolf and he got an idea.


    As soon as the Aquathrens got to the surface and saw the enemy they were fearing, they were shocked to see that there were only two enemies in front of them.


    "Do you see them?! They are the enemies we have to face!"


    Just then, Makrum emerged from the water and stood up on the surface of the water as he shouted while pointing at Alex and Noctura.


    His words shocked the Aquathrens.


    ''They are the enemies we have to fight?!''


    ''Just the two of them?!''


    ''What was the attack before? Who did that?!''


    There were many questions in their minds but before any of them could voice it out, Makrum shouted again.


    "Do you see his attitude after what he did to your brothers?!


    He has the nerve to stand there and chat casually as if nothing had happened even after what he did!


    Are you guys going to take that lying?!"


    Makrum knew that there was only one thing that could help people ovee fear.


    It was anger.


    Anger could cloud one''s judgment and make one go to the extreme, and it worked better than confidence or arrogance.


    The Aquathrens were bloodthirsty beasts anyway, so just a bit of inciting and they would rush at you like they were hungry for your blood.


    And that is what happened.


    "How dare he?!"


    "That bastard got a death wish!"


    "They are just two anyways, we can kill them 100 times!!"


    "I will make him watch as I eat him!"


    One after another, the Aquathrens started cursing Alex and they started shouting about how they would kill Alex.


    Makrum just smiled as he saw that and then he shouted.


    "What are you all waiting for then?!?!"


    The Aquathrens ran ahead while shouting just after Makrum''s words fell.


    "YEAH!"


    "Kill him!!!"


    ��.


    ��


    ..


    .


    "So, just wait for a while, I will get you a skill simr to this one."


    Alex stated and Noctura nodded her head with some excitement hidden in her eyes.


    Although she didn''t want to be called weak, she was still excited to get the power that Alex used.


    After all, she found it pretty cool, and it fitted well for an assassin like her.


    Noctura is supposed to stay invisible, so if her attacks are seen, then she would be discovered as well, but with the skill that Alex used, her attack would directly reach the enemy, killing them without letting them know where the attack came from.


    As Noctura was cooking things on her own, both she and Alex heard the shouts of Makrum, and they also heard the shouts of the Aquathrens.


    Alex looked at Noctura, and Noctura did the same before both of them sighed.


    ''Was there any need for that much hype��?''


    Alex simply opened his palm and his simple sword appeared in his hand.


    But then the simple sword turned into a sphere.


    The simple sword which was supposed to be a lethal weapon, turned into a sphere the size of a cricket ball.


    But Alex held it like it was the most normal thing and then he held the sphere from both sides and broke the sphere into two spheres.


    When he did that, he had two tennis ball-sized spheres in his hands now.


    Noctura looked at all that happening with interest as the next second she saw Alex''s hands being enveloped by those ck spheres as they turned into jelly-like structures, but soon they took shape.


    *Whistle*


    Alex whistled as he looked at his hand which was now coated with a ckyer that shone with a golden lustre.


    ''Not going to lie, this looks cool��''


    Alex muttered inwardly.


    He could feel the strength of the ckyer that covered his hands.


    It covered his fingers, wrists, and up to the elbow.


    It was more like armor than a weapon, but as they say, ''Even a shield can be used as a weapon, it''s just how you use it''.


    Alex punched the air two of three times.


    *Boom**Boom**Boom*


    The force behind the punches was so strong that it broke the sound barrier with every punch.


    Alex smiled with satisfaction.


    ''You sure are useful��''


    Alex muttered as he rubbed his hands together, as he did that, he felt theyer above his hand vibrate.


    ''Yeah, you are a good weapon,'' Alex smiled.


    He answered as if he could understand what it meant.


    As if it didn''t like that answer the gloves or the ckyer around Alex''s hands tightened a bit.


    ''Ok, ok, you are the best weapon.''


    Alex hurriedly corrected himself and the grip finally returned to how it was.


    It is the simple sword that Alex uses, the only change is that after Alex got to Epic rank, the Simple sword did that as well.


    But a change urred.


    The simple sword turned into a sphere, and upon inspection, Alex found out that the simple sword could now change shapes.


    On one hand, it can turn into an arrow, hammer, long sword, knife, or any kind of weapon.


    On the other hand, it can turn into armor, a helmet, a shield, clothes, or anything that could protect the user.


    It was much more useful than before, but Alex was using it as anything other than a sword for the first time.


    "All right, you ready to have some fun?"


    Alex asked the question for both Noctura and the Simple sword as he looked at the 1000+ Aquathrens running toward them as they starteding ashore.


    "Yes!"


    Noctura eximed in an excited voice while the simple sword or gloves as it was right now, vibrated in agreement.


    "Let''s go then!"


    Alex smiled as he shed toward the iing wave of fuming Aquathrens.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 186: CHAPTER 186 – Fight or Massacre?

    *Baam**Baam*Baam*


    Alex rushed forward as he waved his hands at the Aquathrens running toward him with their weapons or with their bare hands.


    They had the mad and berserk light in their eyes even at thest moment when they had their heads sted off like a melon.


    A single wave of Alex''s hand would take out two or three Aquathrens at the same time, sometimes four if the weaker ones were together.


    The power of an Epic-ranked weapon was not to be underestimated, after all.


    But Alex was just using it at its full power for fun, he would lower it to SS-rank when he fights with Makrum.


    ''I won''t go back on my words��''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at Noctura from the corner of his eyes.


    Noctura was standing at the seashore with her ws shining with ck light.


    [They are just minor characters, she will be fine.]


    Sophia assured Alex as if she could sense his worry for Noctura.


    ''I know, and there is Alice and Ann just behind her as well��''


    Alex was not actually replying to Alice, he was reminding himself.


    He then turned back toward the wave of Aquathrens that looked more like zombies and increased his speed.


    He opened his arms wide as he rushed ahead.


    Any or every Aquathren that came close to him would get sted into meat past by his speed and arms.


    They were all ranked below or equal to S-rank, which was not a big challenge for Alex.


    As said before, a normal peak SS-ranker could take care of more than 20 S-rankers, so when Alex along with his Epic-ranked weapon shed with a wave consisting of 10s of S-rankers and 100s of A to B-rankers, the result can''t be more obvious.


    It was aplete massacre.


    ''Monstrous mf��.''


    Makrum muttered as he looked at his soldiers getting decimated like they were nothing.


    ''Well, they are nothing but meat shields anyway, I will just order the remaining males to breed their females so that we can get more soldiers.''


    Makrum muttered with a shrug but then he clenched his teeth.


    ''If we even survived��.''


    Makrum knew for certain that the chances of that happening were close to nil, but he was not nning on going down easily.


    He then looked at Alex and a certain glint passed through his eyes.


    ''Just you wait��.''


    ............��..


    Alex was now running on water as he kicked the heads of the emerging Aquathrens that moved toward the coast.


    The Aquathrens that came out of the water and had their chest still submerged in the water came out just to see a kick heading at their face.


    "RAAAA!!"


    "I will kill you!"


    "Go die!!"


    They didn''t care about their lives.


    Until the very end, even if they couldn''t do much, they tried to bite Alex''s ankle off only to have their heads blown into smithereens.


    Alex then looked toward Makrum who was standing on water himself.


    Alex was using mana to keep themselves floating over the water, while Makrum as an SS-ranked Aquathren had the ability to walk over water and in the water.


    "You didn''t look like you were getting out of the water, so I thought that maybe I shoulde to you."


    Alex''s voice was not that loud and there were the shouts of the Aquathrens in the surroundings but Makrum could hear Alex''s voice clearly.


    "I''m the weaker one here, so you can''t me me��."


    Makrum spoke with a smile, inwardly, however, he was gritting his teeth.


    ''Why is this guy so strong!!''


    Makrum knew that the match would be hard, and he would have his life on the line, but looking at Alex blowing the shit out of the Aquathrens made him rethink his n, but, in the end��.


    ''It will work out.


    No! It has to work!''


    Makrum shouted inwardly.


    ''Now is not the time to doubt my ns.


    I need to focus.''


    Makrum looked at Alex''s hand.


    ''That thing is too strong��.''


    Alex who was staring at Makrum found him looking at his hands so he smiled and voiced out.


    "Oh, don''t worry about this, I will lower its power as well."


    Before Alex never tried lowering his weapons stats, but when he did, he found out that it was possible.


    ''If my stats can be lowered, then so can my weapons��''


    Alex''s simple sword grew on its own as Alex grew, so that means, if Alex can limit his power, then so can his simple sword.


    Makrum didn''t say anything and just stared at Alex as he saw Alex standing in front of him.


    Makrum then turned to look at Noctura.


    Noctura was standing on the shore and with the sun high up in the sky, the shadow of the Aquathrens for her to use.


    She would create chains, spikes, bumps, and many other things.


    The Aquathrens would not even be able to reach her as she would kill them before they reached her.


    But once the Aquathrens came closer, she abandoned her stationary position and started running around, shing her sharp nails at the Aquathrens.


    "YAAAAAAA!!"


    Aquathrens would jump at her with fierce cries but all Noctura would simply move away with her superior speed and kill them without much effort.


    Noctura would wait for some time for her mana to recover before she would again start using the Aquathrens'' shadow against them.


    ''This is not as much fun as the fight with Beast King, but it is still fun!''


    Noctura thought inwardly as she kept shing the Aquathrens across their faces and necks to kill them in a single blow.


    There were many Aquathrens, but the number of Aquathrens she had to face at one time was no more than two or three, and that was not a problem for her.


    ''Just continue like that��.''


    Makrum smiled inwardly as he saw that things were still going ording to the n.


    Makrum and Alex were standing quite deep in the sea.


    They were at least 1000 meters away from the coast, and this was the reason why it took Alex some seconds to reach Makrum.


    "Are you going to keep standing there?" Alex''s question broke Makrum out of his thoughts as he turned toward Alex, but all he saw was a ck-colored metallic-looking fist right in front of his face.


    Makrum knew that he wouldn''t be able to dodge or block the attack as it was right in front of his face so he just clenched his jaws, ready for the impact and��..


    *Baam*


    A loud noise was heard and Makrum was sent flying backward, deeper into the sea.


    "I will make the first move then��."


    Alexpleted his sentence, but then as if realizing something he pped his hands together.


    "Ah, I should''ve said that before the attack, right?"


    Alex looked in the direction Makrum was thrown into and asked this question, expecting to get an answer, which, unfortunately, he didn''t get.


    "Whatever, I will not do that next time��"


    Alex just shrugged before he dashed toward Makrum who was now standing back up as he screamed while holding his broken jaw.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 187: CHAPTER 187 – Trap!

    "Argh!!"


    Makrum groaned in pain as he stood up.


    ''W-what the hell��.?''


    Makrum thought dumbfoundedly.


    He could feel the pain in his jaw.


    It was as if someone was hammering his jaw again and again.


    The more he tried to move it the more it hurt, so he hesitantly lifted his hand and touched his jaw but��.


    ''M-my jaw!!''


    ''That bastard broke my jaw!''


    "Ahhhhhh!"


    Makrum screamed in pain as the pain of his broken jaw finally hit him.


    His jaw was hanging loosely, he felt like his jaw would fall off if he pulled a bit harder.


    For Makrum, who had never had to fight a hard battle and only tortured people weaker than himself, the pain of something breaking was a first experience.


    Even before when Alex held his shoulder a bit harder, the pain was not much, as it didn''t break anything, but what he was feeling right now was too much.


    Makrum stood up while holding his broken jaw when he heard a mocking voice.


    "Are you crying like a girl now? I thought you were a guy��."


    Alex spoke as he looked doubtfully at Makrum''s lower half.


    "Aw Wawaw!!"


    ''You bastard!!''


    Makrum roared as he threw a fist right on Alex''s face.


    But Alex just tilted his head, dodging the attack before he delivered an uppercut at Makrum''s broken jaw.


    *Baam*


    "Gahhh!!"


    Makrum wasunched up in the air before he fell into the sea, causing water to ssh at Alex.


    Alex looked below him with a smile permanently marrying his face.


    "You do know that water is see-through, right?"


    Alex spoke as he sidestepped and just as he did so, Makrum with his fist curled up, jumped out of the water or more like flew out of water.


    Makrum was an Aquathren, so like any other Aquathren, he was a good swimmer as well.


    Good here means that he was very fast, much faster than he could ever be onnd, so when he shot himself toward Alex from below.


    He has the intention of punching Alex from below, but Alex moves out of the way, and Makrum, unable to lower his speed is shot out of the water''s surface.


    Makrum quicklynded on the surface of the water and red at Alex hatefully.


    ''It hurts!''


    Makrum though as his jaw was now not even moving, he couldn''t open his mouth now.


    "You''re still not going to attack?"


    Alex looked at Makrum and asked as he stood in front of Makrum in a rxed pose.


    Makrum gritted his teeth as he looked at Alex.


    ''Are you mocking me?!''


    He eximed inwardly before he clenched his fist and decided to go on with his n.


    Makrum was standing face to face with Alex having his back turned toward the ind.


    This is what Makrum wanted.


    Makrum turned toward the coast under Alex''s watchful eyes before he bellowed.


    "Aow!!"


    ''Now!!''


    His voice was not clear, but his shout was so loud that it could be heard by Alice and Ann who were sitting on the ind and looking at the fight or massacre.


    Alex frowned as he could understand what Makrum was trying to say.


    But then Alex''s eyes widened as he saw Makrum grinning with his broken jaw as he looked toward the coast.


    ''Noctura!''


    The first thing that came to his mind was her.


    He knew that Makrum was nning something to do with her.


    ''The other SS-ranked Aquathren!''


    Just then, Alex realized that he had yet to see the mid-boss that he had let go before.


    ''Shit!''


    Alex quickly focused all of his perception on where Noctura was standing as he turned his face toward her with a snap.


    For a second, he forgot that there Alice and Ann were right beside Noctura, and Noctura herself was strong enough to fight against an SS-ranked mid-boss beast.


    Makrum''s bloody smile made him forget that.


    It was his excessive worry for Noctura that caused him to forget everything.


    His body and mind instinctively turned back as if they didn''t want something to happen to Noctura.


    As if they didn''t want the same thing happening.... again?


    Alex didn''t know why he felt that, but his worry for Noctura was genuine.


    She was the only one linked with him; she was linked with his soul, she was linked to him in every timeline or dimension.


    He didn''t want to see her getting hurt.


    ''What if these guys had some very strong weapon?''


    ''What if that shit pants was going to use that against Noctura?''


    ''She is busy fighting the S-rank beasts, would she even be able to react in time?''


    Many questions came to his mind one after another.


    But just as he looked back toward Noctura, another shout was heard.


    "Wo ie aow!"


    ''Do it now!''


    Makrum shouted and��.


    *Woosh*


    The sound of something moving very fast in the water was heard.


    Alex hurriedly turned his head back at Makrum, but his perception was a mess as he had it extended toward the ind.


    With his perception elongating in one direction, he could not sense what was happening around him, but he could still see it.


    It was then that Alex saw two hands emerging from the water, right beside his feet before they held his feet.


    *Ssh*


    Alex was pulled inside the water, but before Alex could kick away the one that pulled him down or before he could even getpletely submerged into the water.


    *Swosh*


    The sound of something swishing through the air was heard and when Alex looked toward Makrum, he saw arge fist coated with swirling water and mana right in front of his face.


    Alex willed for it and the ck-gloved of his turned into a ck gooey substance and moved toward his face to shield it, but Alex gritted his teeth as he knew it would not make it.


    Alex clenched his teeth as he knew that there was no other way than taking the hit.


    It all happened too fast for him to even be able to think straight or he could''ve simply used the temporal pause or destruction energy to stop Makrum''s attack.


    Or maybe it was because of the fact that he never thought of using those skills in the first ce.


    But as said before, it all happened a bit too fast, and Alex''s mind was preupied by his worry for Noctura.


    However, Alex still smashed his foot on the head of the guy who was pulling him down, and he used his peak SS-rank stats to do it.


    *Baam**Boom*


    Two loud crashing sounds were heard as a big wave was generated from the impact of the attacks.


    "Alex!!" X2


    Alice and Ann who were looking at the fight while rxing in their seats were shocked by the development, they shouted as they hurriedly stood up and rushed to catch Alex''s body that wasunched up in the air, and was falling toward the water''s surface.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 188: CHAPTER 188 – The greatest shock for all of them.

    Alex who was hurdling down the air, touched his cheek that Makrum punched.


    ''It��. stings a little��''


    Alex muttered.


    His cheekbones were crushed, and his golden blood was leaking from his mouth.


    The pain was so much that he was feeling a bit numb due to it.


    He couldn''t feel his cheek.


    However, Alex was someone who had experienced greater pains, the pain given to him by, the one and only, system of his.


    So, he was still fine.


    He was feeling pain, but not so much that he would start screaming like a little girl.


    He was feeling a strange itch though��.


    [Your instantaneous regeneration kicked in.]


    Sophiamented as if she could understand what Alex was thinking.


    ''Ah, I forgot that I had that ability��.''


    Not being able to ever see that ability work made Alex almost forget that he had that ability.


    His cheek was regenerated instantaneously, leaving a strange itch on the ce, but he could still taste the blood in his mouth.


    It somehow tasted sweet��..


    Alex shook his head as he let his body fall toward the sea surface.


    "Alex!!" X2


    He could hear Alice and Ann''s scream, he could see Noctura rushing towards his location as she ran over the water the same way Alex was doing.


    Alex just looked at them.


    ''This somehow feels great��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly as his hair fluttered by the wind that was hitting his face.


    [Falling down?]


    ''No,'' Alex replied.


    [Then?]


    ''Fighting a fight where I could potentially get hurt��''


    Alex spoke as he looked at Makrum, who was staring at the body of the mid-boss speechlessly.


    [Every fight is like that, Alex.


    It''s just that you never realized it since you were perfect at everything.


    But today you got hurt because someone made use of your only weakness.]


    Sophia seriously replied.


    She didn''t want Alex to go fighting someone stronger with his stats suppressed so much that he could potentially die.


    She didn''t want to see Alex risking his life.


    These fights were fine since Alex just suppressed his stats till they equaled his opponent''s, but she didn''t want to see more than that.


    ''I see��''


    Alex muttered as he looked up in the sky absentmindedly.


    The stinging pain from before had cleared his mind.


    He had realized that he had fallen for a trap, he fell for a trap that would''ve been clear to him if not for his excessive worry for his loved ones had caused.


    ''All I see is a man with a very big weakness, a weakness so big that it might make that man lose his all one day.''


    *Chuckle*


    Alex chuckled as he remembered the words he spoke to Max as advice.


    ''Aren''t I the same?''


    ''But, do I want to change? No.''


    ''Do I regret looking toward Noctura to make sure that she was all right? A big NO.''


    ''I don''t regret any of that, and I will do it again if I have to.''


    Alex''s eyes turned firm as he looked down at Makrum.


    ''There will be many like him, but all they would do is teach me a new lesson for the future.''


    The thing that happened today would be like a lesson for Alex.


    Will he fall for the same trick again? Maybe.


    But will he let his focus waver? Never.


    Although he felt his blood pumping up in those short milliseconds.


    The moment of struggle he had.


    The part where he killed the mid-boss with a single kick just because he didn''t want to be the only one to suffer a loss.


    All of this was good, and he felt the thrill he was searching for, during this fight, but he was not a masochist.


    He wants a fight where he would be cornered, but that''s because he wants to force himself to find a way to get out of that cornered position.


    Alex''s gaze remained fixed on Makrum, and when Makrum looked at Alex his eyes widened.


    ''He is unscathed?!''


    From Makrum''s point of view, it was not even a second ago that he punched Alex, but just when he was looking at his dead subordinate, cursing him for dying and failing the whole n he had, he saw Alex staring at him.


    But what shocked him was the fact that there was not a scratch on Alex''s cheek even though he could vividly remember his fist crushing each and every one of Alex''s cheekbones.


    The crunching sound of Alex''s bones breaking was still fresh in his ears.


    ''How is he unharmed?!?!''


    Makrum screamed inwardly, but looking at the situation, he knew that it was not before he died, so he looked at Alex and his eyes sharpened.


    There was a determined light shining in his eyes.


    No one knew what it was, but soon they will know.


    ................................................��


    Makrum was not the only one shocked by these turns of events.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura were shocked more than him.


    It could be better to say that it was the biggest shock of their life.


    At least for Noctura, it surely was the biggest shock.


    ''Master!!''


    She shouted inwardly as she rushed toward him along with Alice and Ann.


    All three of them exchanged a worried nce before they increased their speed.


    It was the first time Alice, Ann, and Noctura saw Alex getting hurt during a fight.


    It was like an eye-opener for them.


    ''Alex could get hurt as well��''


    For them, it was like: ''Nothing can hurt Alex.''


    But now it changed.


    ''He is a human as well��''


    They realized those things now.


    Alex was not some all-seeing, all-knowing God, he was not invincible. The notion that Alex was invincible was removed from their minds.


    But it was not actually bad.


    Now they would want to be there to help Alex.


    Now they knew that Alex might NEED their help sometimes.


    But then they remembered the reason for Alex being hit and they sighed. Alice and Ann just shook their heads while Noctura lowered her head.


    All of them knew what happened since Makrum''s shout attracted their attention. So, they knew the reason for Alex''s current situation.


    However, could they me anyone for that? Yes, they could me Macrum.


    But not Alex, nor Noctura.


    Noctura couldn''t do anything while Alex just did what any one of them would''ve done if they were in his position.


    If they were in Alex''s ce and Alex was in Noctura''s, they would''ve done the same thing even though they knew that Alex was much stronger than them.


    But by then they reached just where Alex was falling, but then they saw him doing a flip in the air andnd on the water surface with his back at them.


    "Alex!" X2


    "Master!"


    They eximed again as they rushed toward Alex with worry written over their faces only to hear him chuckle.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 189: CHAPTER 189 – I would do the same again.

    "What are you guys making that kind of face for?"


    Alex asked with a chuckle as he turned back.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura who saw his face that didn''t even have a single scratch were dumbfounded.


    "Wha��." X3


    No words came out of their mouths.


    "Hm? What? You thought that a punch like that would hurt me?


    Meh, it was just average, I could take punches like that all day long��"


    Alex spoke as he shrugged casually.


    His words were not low and Makrum who had his eyes focused on Alex could hear those words clearly, but he didn''t show any reaction.


    He could do nothing but wait.


    Hisst n might have failed, but that didn''t mean that the same would happen again.


    This time he was not depending on anyone, nor did he need someone''s help in doing it.


    It was all him this time.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura just stared dumbly at Alex.


    They knew for sure that Alex was hit by that punch, and they knew that there was no way Alex could remain unscathed after taking a fully powered punch from the boss monster without even having a scratch.


    That too, when he had his stats lowered so that equals Makrum.


    ''Then how��.?''


    They didn''t know about his regeneration skills as Alex never found the right moment to tell them.


    Even right now was not the right moment as they were going to be surrounded by the Aquathrens soon enough.


    Alex then looked at Noctura who had her head lowered and smiled gently before he crouched in front of her and held her cheeks.


    "Pup, look at me."


    Alex spoke in a soft and low voice.


    Noctura slowly looked up into Alex''s eyes.


    "It was not your fault."


    Alex added with a stern yet gentle voice.


    "But��"


    Noctura tried to protest but Alex shook his head.


    "No buts pup, it was my fault that I felt for that trap," Alex spoke as he looked into Noctura''s eyes.


    "And you know what?" Alex questioned with a smile.


    Noctura looked at Alex, curious about what Alex was going to say next.


    Alex smiled as he saw the curiosity in Noctura''s eyes so he continued.


    "I would do the same again, even if I know that it is a trap."


    Alex spoke as he ruffled her head.


    Noctura just started at Alex with eyes filled with various emotions, but she didn''t say anything, or better to say that she couldn''t say anything.


    She knew that she would do the same, so she couldn''t say anything to Alex who was saying that he would do it.


    Alice and Ann just listened to Alex''s words speechlessly.


    They knew he would say something like that, but they still felt a bit speechless.


    In the end, however, they just shook their heads and sighed.


    Alex looked into Noctura''s eyes and he could tell that she was not ming herself anymore so he nodded his head with a smile and spoke.


    "You should take care of the remaining ones now."


    Alex patted Noctura onest time as he gestured toward the wave of Aquathrens swimming in their direction.


    "Grrrr."


    Noctura looked back at theing Aquathrens and growled before she rushed at them.


    Alex then looked at Alice and Ann, he walked in front of them.


    He lifted his hand as he ced them on both their cheeks gently.


    "Sorry for worrying you guys, but as you can see, I''m fine, so you guys can go back and enjoy the show."


    Alice and Ann held Alex''s hand on their cheeks as they smiled looking at his face before they nodded their heads.


    "Un." X2


    They moved back but before they went back to their seats, Alex''s voice was heard again.


    "I will tell you what happened,ter, don''t worry."


    Alice and Ann just smiled as they nodded their heads without looking back before they zoomed back to their spots.


    "Now��"


    Alex smiled when he saw that before he looked at the 100s of Aquathrens that were now encircling him.


    "Let''s take care of you guys."


    Alex muttered as he cracked his fingers.


    The Aquathrens, however, didn''t care about anything, they just rushed at Alex with only one intention and that was to kill.


    .............................................��..


    Makrum looked at Alex who was now killing Aquathrens like nothing happened then he looked at his balled-up fists.


    ''I''m sure I hit him��''


    Makrum was still unable to believe how Alex could remain unscathed even after taking that punch.


    But then he looked at the dead body that came floating close to his feet.


    ''Fuck off!''


    Makrum kicked the body away in anger.


    It was the body of thete mid-boss rank Aquathren, the one that got killed in a single shot by Alex, and the same one that only got the screentime because he shitted his pants.


    ''Couldn''t even do one thing perfectly.


    I just gave you two things to do.


    Two things!!


    Was that too much for you to be able to do?!''


    The n that Makrum had made before was to let the mid-boss Aquathren pull Alex down in the water after he delivered a fully powered punch on Alex''s cheek.


    Makrum had thought that he could knock Alex out or maybe stun him for a second or two.


    Using that short interval, Makrum was going to attack Noctura, and when the mid-boss Aquathren had pulled Alex deep enough for Alex to take some time to get up to the surface, he was supposed to lend him a hand in killing Noctura.


    Yes, killing Noctura.


    That was his n.


    But��


    ''That bastard ruined it all!''


    He looked back at the corpse of the mid-boss Aquathren and cursed him inwardly.


    ''I won''t fail this time.''


    ''I know I''m going to die, but I will take at least one of your hands with me��''


    Makrum was someone who knew the power of an Epic-ranker, so he knew better than anyone here how strong Alex might be.


    He also knew that no matter what he did, he would never be able to kill Alex.


    That was why he was targeting Noctura in the first ce, but now he knew that was not possible.


    He had seen Noctura fight and he knew that she was strong enough to handle him alone, so he needed at least one more SS-ranker if he wanted to kill her.


    But that was not possible anymore.


    ''Fuck!''


    He cursed again as his eyes inadvertently looked at the mid-boss Aquathren''s corpse.


    He med the dead guy again and again, but what he didn''t know was that his n was never going to seed even if the guy was alive.


    Alice and Ann were right there beside Noctura, even if by off chance he was able to corner Noctura, which was almost impossible.


    Noctura was not weak, after all.


    However, Makrum was never going to know that.


    As he was thinking of this and that, Makrum saw Alex dashing toward him, and when he looked behind Alex, his eyes almost popped out of the sockets.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 190: CHAPTER 190 – Explode himself.

    "What the hell?!"


    Makrum almost had his eyes pop out of the circuits as he looked at the scene behind Alex.


    ''Those were 800+ freaking Aquathrens!!''


    Makrum couldn''t believe that in the short seconds that he looked away from Alex, the 800+ Aquthrens were killed by Alex in just that interval.


    ''How is that even possible?!''


    Makrum was confident that he could kill them all as well if given time that is, but he wasn''t sure if he could fight them all at the same time.


    Looking at what Alex did��.


    Makrum could only grit his teeth as he med his already dead subordinates for provoking a monster like Alex.


    However, Makrum was just trying to shift the me on others, after all, he didn''t stop them, and he even agreed to all that.


    He looked back at the dead Aquathrens��.


    Some of them were shredded as if they were cut into pieces, some of them had their bodies twisted in a strange way, some of them had their head crushed, some of them looked burned, and some of them had their heads blown away, but one thing wasmon, none of them were even moving.


    Meaning: they were all dead.


    Alex smiled as he looked at Makrum''s shocked expression before he looked at his bloody hands.


    He jerked the blood of his hand, and then he looked behind from the corner of his eyes.


    ''This is what happens when I use my full power huh��''


    For the first time, Alex used all of his powers at the same time, well, other than his incubus transformation and the zone.


    ''Temporal pause is pretty useful��


    I guess I have to thank the good man Stephan more for this when I return back to Orange Country.''


    The first thing Alex did was pause the time in his surroundings.


    As he did that, the Aquathrens in the surroundings stopped moving, and this made it easier for him to kill them.


    He increased the power of his gloves to the max before he coated his fist with different kinds of abilities.


    He didn''t back down from his words and he didn''t use any mage attacks, all of his attacks were purely physical, but because of the magical energy coated on his fists, the damage was no less than a mage''s attack.


    If that was not enough, the power of his gloves was pushed to the max, which is Epic-rank.


    A single punch of his would cause the sound barrier to break along with taking out more than 10 Aquathrens that couldn''t even move from their ces.


    ''But it did take a toll on my mana��''


    At the speed at which Alex used his mana, the instantaneous regeneration couldn''t do anything.


    Alex was using two or three abilities at the same time, and all of them at maximum power, which would take away almost 80% of his mana.


    The mana did recover the next instant, but his doing the same thing again and again in just a matter of seconds strained him mentally.


    [You have a very powerful ability, but there is a limit to what your body can take.]


    Sophiamented as she knew exactly what Alex was going through.


    He would use the pyre of adjudication, space element, and destruction all at the same time.


    The pyre of adjudication would burn the enemies, the space element would tear them apart, and the destruction energy would outright disintegrate them.


    Alex used all other abilities as well, he didn''t even leave out the poison mist ability he had.


    But overall��


    ''It was fun��''


    The speedy movements of his body, the feeling of him pushing his body to the limit of SS-rank as he was moving faster and faster every instant, all of this was fun for him.


    That was also the reason why even now he had an excited smile on his face.


    But that excited smile looked predatory to Makrum.


    ''I did make him fall for a trap, of course, he would be angry��.''


    Makrum thought as he looked back at Alex.


    ''Let''s do it��''


    Makrum''s eyes then became determined as he focused everything on the mana flow inside his body.


    Makrum had been at a power level where he could do many things with mana, things that the ones at lower ranks couldn''t even think of.


    *Inhale*


    He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.


    He was going to do something that would kill himself, after all, and the fact that he had to do it quickly was not helping here.


    He could see that Alex was already in front of him, but from the looks of it, Alex seemed to have something to say, so he decided to get it done by the time it was over.


    It was a short time, but he could do it.


    He had to do it.


    He had already made up his mind, and he was not backing down anymore.


    Makrum knew that he was going to die, but he would not give Alex the satisfaction of killing him.


    "You were the first one to evernd a hit on me, and you were the first to make me fall for a trap.


    Imend you for that, and I will give you a quick death in return-"


    Alex cracked his knuckle as he looked at Makrum with a smile.


    But then he sensed something odd from Makrum.


    [Use your eyes, now!]


    Sophia couldn''t tell him what was happening, but she could guide him or show him the way.


    ''All right.''


    Alex nodded inwardly before his eyes turned ck and his pupils turned golden.


    ''What the��.''


    He could see it clearly now.


    He finally understood why the mana around Makrum felt strange.


    ''Is he trying to��.?'' He asked Sophia even though he knew what Makrum was doing.


    He asked just for confirmation and he got it the next second.


    [Yes, he''s trying to explode himself.]


    ''I see��''


    Alex nodded his head, but he didn''t stop Makrum.


    He observed the process with utmost focus.


    The most that st could do was take out Alex''s limbs, but that would be healed instantly by Alex''s regeneration.


    However, there was a big IF about the explosion even happening.


    Alex was focusing on every detail of the mana movement, he was ready to kill Makrum any second to stop the process.


    Alex knew that the amount of control he had over mana after he had reached the Epic rank was enough for him to do the same thing, but he never tried.


    [I won''t allow it, it''s very risky.]


    This was what Sophia had told him.


    Alex didn''t know what she meant by ''allowing'' but he listened to her nheless.


    After all, he didn''t want to take chances of himself being sted.


    So, he continued to observe the process as it mighte in handyter on��


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 191: CHAPTER 191 – Makrum’s death.

    When one reaches epic rank or higher, they get to have very good control over their mana.


    They could st mana particles by using other particles, they can create new mana particles by using other particles, and so on.


    These things are not possible for the ones lower than Epic-rank.


    Alex, and Makrum, both knew that.


    But what if a person who once had that type of control over mana tries to do the same thing even after he lost that control?


    There are two things that could happen.


    Either the one performing that task would die due to their own mana or they would seed.


    It''s not like they would survive after seeding, but they would seed.


    What Makrum was trying to do was the same.


    He was trying to do something that he could do only after he was 3 levels higher.


    ''He is crashing his mana particles against each other��''


    Alex looked at the process of what Makrum was doing as he thought to himself.


    ''Moving mana particles within the body is possible, but he is doing that continuously��.''


    Unlike EX-rank, where people can move mana particles freely, for SS-rank, it was not possible.


    The maximum one could do while being on SS-rank was move some particles.


    ''I just need to start an explosion��''


    Makrum thought as he moved two particles at a very fast speed.


    ''Argh!''


    He groaned inwardly as he felt a splitting headache but he didn''t stop.


    ''Just a bit more!''


    He yelled inwardly.


    He just needed to move them at a speed that could heat the surrounding mana particles.


    ''I see��.''


    Alex nodded as he got what Makrum was trying to do.


    [Mana is like a fuel, and although, unlike normal fuels, it won''t catch fire, what happens if it''s heated to a high degree and then explodes into a mini mana bomb?]


    ''The explosion will spread out to other particles.''


    Alex replied without thinking much.


    There are things called ''Mana bombs'', although these things are very rare and there are rarely any mana bombs in this world, those things are considered the most dangerous type of bombs.


    When a mana bomb sts, it sts the mana in the surroundings along with it.


    The thing that mana bomb does is what Makrum was trying to do.


    A single st would expand as it took in the surrounding particles that had heated up due to the movements of the two particles that Makrum was moving with all his willpower.


    This will continue until the explosion includes all the particles inside his body, and mind you, the number of particles inside an SS-ranked person exploding at the same time would berge enough to blow everything within a 5-kilometer radius into dust.


    ''Almost done!''


    Makrum eximed inwardly.


    He was able to do something that no one had even tried to do.


    He opened his eyes with arge smile on his face.


    "Hahaha-"


    He opened his eyes with augh as he thought that he had won, but all he saw was a fist covered with strange red-colored energy right in front of his eyes before his world darkened.


    ''Ah��.''


    Hisst words were a sigh of realization.


    He realized that Alex had been quiet for a while, and he realized that it took him more time than it was supposed to.


    But what could he do, he was doing something that shouldn''t be possible for someone like him after all.


    "Die proud, you did what no one had ever done."


    Alex spoke to the falling body of Makrum before he hurriedly extinguished the destruction energy that was destroying Makrum''s body.


    ''Can''t destroy the body of an SS-ranked monster��''


    Although he didn''t want the treasure from the boss monster, nor did Alice, Ann, or Noctura, it could still be sold for a hefty sum, and money was something that was never bad to have (If you have the power to guard it, that is).


    Alex picked up Makrum and the mid-boss''s bodies by using the air and then dashed toward Alice and Ann.


    He decided against helping Noctura clear the remaining Aquathrens as he could tell that she was enjoying her time.


    So, he just moved toward Alice and Ann who were looking at him with a smile.


    Alice and Ann stood up from their chairs or bs made of rock, whatever you want to call, and moved toward Alex.


    "Good work out there��" X2


    Both of them spoke together.


    The incident that happened before wasn''t going to be mentioned anymore.


    Alex was fine, he was still the same, he didn''t suffer or have his ego hurt or something, so everything was fine.


    At least on the outside.


    For Alice and Ann, many things changed, after that incident.


    Their eyes had been opened.


    Now they knew what Alex''s weakness was.


    His weakness was them, but he was their weakness as well.


    However, Alex was stronger, so instead of calling him a weakness, it would be better to call him their strength.


    But they knew that they were weak and they could be treated as Alex''s weaknesses.


    So, they had decided to change, they were going to clear gates on their own.


    No more sticking around with Alex, they needed to grow on their own.


    ''He helped us the best he can, now we need to do what we can to make the best use of those gifts.''


    This is what they had decided.


    They were going to work harder, push their bodies harder and train harder.


    Alex had already given them more than they could ask for, all they needed to do was make good use of those things.


    ''As for the increase in our powers��.''


    They blushed hard as they thought about the best way to increase their powers.


    "What are you girls cooking in that mind of yours?"


    Alex could easily tell that something was going on in their heads, after all, just like how they knew that Alex was up to something, Alex knew about them as well.


    "We want to grow stronger." X2


    Both of them replied at the same time but then they lowered their heads in embarrassment when they saw the knowing smile on Alex''s face.


    "I see, I see��."


    Alex spoke as he chuckled.


    He then extended his hands and patted both of them at the same time.


    "I will help you guys grow up in a very ''pleasant'' way��."


    He spoke meaningfully as he emphasized the word ''pleasant''.


    He was not dumb enough not to understand what the girls were asking for, rather he understood it the instant he saw their cheeks growing rosy, but then his hand over their heads paused as he looked at the bushed behind them.


    "We have an uninvited guest��"


    Alex muttered as he saw the girls looking around with caution after they saw his actions.


    Alice and Ann nodded their heads as Ann rushed toward Noctura, while Alice stayed with Alex.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 192 : CHAPTER 192 – A Cave.

    //// Guys? Are you even reading my recent chapters? Justment yes if you are because I feel like no one''s reading it anymore... ////


    (After Misty diagnosed the guy to have been poisoned.)


    "So, we have to find a ce for us to stop at huh��"


    Argon muttered with a thoughtful expression.


    "You guys wait here and protect each other''s back, I will be back in a minute."


    Argon spoke and then dashed forward.


    "I wille��. with.... you...." Misty quickly turned around to speak but her voice turned inaudible after she saw Argon''s back getting smaller and smaller before vanishing in the dark forest.


    Everyone looked at Misty with pity before they sighed.


    All of them here knew that Misty had feelings for Argon, it couldn''t be clearer, but for some reason Argon never noticed it, or he noticed it but ignored it.


    However, all of them knew better than to speak about it, especially when it was something rted to their Emperor''s love life.


    "Everyone, gather around, we need to protect the weak, just as his majesty always says!"


    One of the S-ranked raidersmanded, and the others quickly formed a circle surrounding the potters and the weaker raiders.


    None of them objected as they just smiled and sat together.


    They were smiling because they saw their Emperor getting his act together.


    They felt like Argon was getting better, he was returning to be the emperor he was supposed to be, and this made all of them happy.


    As for the reason for them not trying to follow Argon, they knew that if there was something strong enough to cause trouble for Argon, out there, then they were just going to be pieces of baggage for Argon during the fight.


    ..............


    "Where are we looking for?"


    Aurora asked as she floated next to Argon, who was running in a straight line while looking for something in the surroundings.


    "A cave."


    Argon replied simply as he continued to observe the surroundings.


    Aurora nodded her head before she looked at the surroundings as well.


    She didn''t ask what kind of cave as there were no caves in the forest, so the cave they would find would probably be the only one in the forest.


    But then she asked��.


    "What is this cave for anyway?"


    She couldn''t recall seeing any information about this cave or gate in Argon''s memories, or at least the memories he shared with her.


    Argon stopped for a second and looked at Aurora.


    He knew why she was asking this question.


    It was a way of her indirectly asking why she didn''t know about this.


    "I know that you already know it, but I didn''t share everything about my past with you."


    Aurora didn''t say anything, she just looked at Argon with the usual poker face she had.


    It was always hard to guess what she was thinking.


    "You can''t expect me to share all of my knowledge with you, after all, you never told me anything about yourself as well."


    Argon spoke and Aurora finally nodded her head.


    She never told Argon anything about herself, other than the fact that they shared amon enemy.


    An enemy so great that his pressure alone can kill the Argon right now.


    "So, what is this cave for?"


    Aurora asked again and this time her words didn''t contain any other meanings.


    "Well��"


    As Argon heard the question, his mind drifted back into the memories of the past timeline.


    He saw it all on the news or heard it all on the news as he was just a weak raider in that life, but he did get to know about this gate.


    In the past timeline, it was the Crimson Lotus guild that raided this gate and they were the strongest at that time.


    With one SSS-ranked and one SS-ranked, and 10 S-ranked raiders, they were considered the strongest.


    However, it took them 2 years to reach that point, even with Alex in their guild.


    It was not without a reason that Argon was shocked by their progress in this timeline.


    Anyway, the main point was that Alex and his group were the ones that cleared the gate, but it was not that simple, and Alex himself told the world what had happened.


    ''He liked how people treated him as a god or messiah, unlike the Alex now��''


    He muttered as he remembered how Alex from the previous timeline would tell the public about everything thing he does for them, and the public would cheer for him.


    They would treat him like a hero even for things as small as donating some pennies to the orphanage he used to live.


    ''All he did was donate 0.001% of his total savings and they treated him like a hero��.''


    Argon muttered as he gritted his teeth.


    "... the Boss monster from the gate grew to EX-rank at thest moment and he got a new body as well, it was a hard fight, but in the end, he was in by your truly��."


    This was a line from Alex''s interview, and that line caused many people to investigate this matter.


    After the investigation, and Alex''s help in guessing what could''ve happened, they all came to a very shocking conclusion.


    "That cave is what will help me get you a new body and pills to get you and me to EX-rank."


    This cave they were searching for was very unique and its existence was here to turn the gate into a special gate, but no monster was ever able to reach that cave alive until the boss.


    The boss monster, Makrum, along with his top 10 subordinates ran away from Alex and the group to hide here.


    Yes, they ran away.


    They were not going toe to the cursed forest but with nowhere else to go, they decided to enter it, and they found the cave as well.


    Alex and the group were too strong for them, and thest Alex liked to y with his prey, so he didn''t stop them as well.


    But by the time they reached the cave, everything was over, and Makrum came out of the gate alone, with a new and stronger body.


    None of his subordinates ever came out.


    "How will it do that?"


    Aurora asked again.


    "You will know that soon enough��"


    Argon spoke mysteriously.


    ''Tch.''


    Aurora just clicked her tongue inwardly as she didn''t like Argon being all mysterious about something that was important to her as well.


    But she couldn''t just force him to tell her everything, not until she felt like he was trying to do something bad to her.


    Above all, she had already tried looking into today''s future for herself, all she saw was gain from today''s endeavor, so she was fine for now.


    Just then Argon eximed.


    "There it is!"


    Aurora turned where Argon was looking and she found a dark cave with a 5-meter-wide entrance that led deeper into the ground.


    The cave looked creepy to the extreme but then she saw Argon grinning like a madman, and she knew that whatever Argon had nned was anything but good.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 193 : CHAPTER 193 – The Altar.

    "Um, doesn''t this ce give a creepy vibe to you guys��?"


    One of the weaker raiders asked as he couldn''t stop himself from trembling.


    The cave was huge from the inside, but it was inside the ground.


    Only the entrance was the thing that could be seen from the outside, and right now, all of them were inside the cave.


    It was a dark cave and the only thing visible to them was the area that was brightened by the me that Argon had created.


    The guy''s voice was quite low, but it was heard loud and clear in the cave where even their footsteps sounded like drums.


    "I couldn''t find any better spot for us to camp, we don''t know what might jump on us outside, but here at least we know that there won''t be any surprise attacks."


    Argon spoke as he looked at the guy who spoke.


    The guy lowered his head in fear as he saw Argon walking toward him, but then he felt a hand on his shoulders, so looked above.


    "But for us to be sure that there is no danger inside the cave, we need to work together."


    Argon continued as he patted the guy''s shoulder with a smile.


    ''That''s our emperor��''


    ''The kind and wise emperor we know.''


    ''He is back to the good emperor he was.''


    Everyone smiled as they thought that Argon had turned back to the good guy he was.


    Argon then moved back to his position and spoke.


    "I will go check the deeper parts.


    You guys should form groups with one S-ranker leading each group and scout the other sides."


    Argon spoke and everyone nodded their heads.


    "I wille with you!"


    Misty hurriedly spoke before Argon could move away like before.


    Argon looked at Misty for a while, causing her to get nervous while the other raiders also waited for Argon''s reply.


    ''So annoying, can''t she take a hint already!!


    I only have my eyes for Alice, not just some random healers!''


    Argon screamed inwardly but, on the outside, he walked close to Misty, looked into her eyes, and spoke sincerely.


    "I wish I could Misty, but you know that after me you are the strongest, right?"


    "��.yes."


    Misty replied after a small pause.


    She could already tell where this conversation was going.


    ''Well, I tried only to fail again��''


    Misty had tried this many times, but Argon would never let her get closer than friends.


    "That is why you should stay here in case something happens.


    You are the best healer as well, so you shouldn''t stay away from the group, especially when I am away as well."


    Argon''s reasoning was pretty simple, but everyone could tell that Argon just didn''t want to take Misty.


    "��.ok."


    Misty spoke with her head lowered.


    "Good, now let''s move.


    Also, remember to shout out for Misty if you guys feel like something is off!"


    With his final orders, Argon dashed deeper into the cave.


    Everyone gave Misty one final look before they went their ways as well.


    .......................


    "An Altar��."


    Aurora muttered as she looked at the 5-meter-wide Alter.


    It was the same size as the entrance, and even the shape was the same, it was like the cave was created by this Altar as the reference.


    "Yes, an Altar, and this is what would help us fulfill our purpose today��."


    Argon muttered as he stroked the edges of the Altar.


    "How?"


    Aurora asked although she had already pretty much guessed what Argon was nning.


    "With the help of this."


    Argon spoke as he took out a brown-colored pill from his storage ring.


    *Sniff*


    Aurora sniffed the pill as she moved close to the pill.


    "Sleeping-inducing pill?"


    She questioned with a frown of confusion.


    It smelled like a ''sleep-inducing pill'' but it was a bit different.


    "Yes, but a strong one."


    Argon nodded his head and then ced the pill back into his ring.


    "So, how are you going to feed it to them?"


    Aurora asked and the question caused Argon to smile evilly.


    "Why do you think I kept them busy with all the traveling stuff since yesterday morning?


    They must be really hungry right now��."


    Aurora''s eyes shone with a realization and her suspension about what Argon was going to do also got confirmed.


    .......................


    "Argh, what happened???"


    Argon questioned as he held his head with a frown.


    With the corner of his eyes, however, he looked at each and every raider lying on the ground closely, looking for any movement.


    But not getting any reaction from them, he rxed and stood up.


    ''Looks like all of them are out.''


    Argon muttered inwardly as he looked at the big pot that was used to cook the food.


    "Just some gentle words and they would believe whatever I say��"


    Argon muttered in a low voice.


    He used the pill by saying that it was an energizing pill along with some words of worry, and they all believed him easily.


    "Well, let''s take them to the altar now��"


    Argon spoke as three hands made of rock emerged out of the ground.


    "It''s good that I copied this ability beforeing here��.."


    Argon spoke as he remembered asking a guy from his guild: "Would you agree to share your skill with me if I asked you to?"


    The guy answered with a yes, and Argon got the skill.


    Yes, as you all must''ve already guessed, Argon has a copying skill.


    Although it needs some conditions to be fulfilled, it is still a pretty good skill.


    This was the skill he awakened after he returned to the past, and this was the one thing that made many things easier for him.


    "A little help here."


    Argon looked at Aurora and spoke to her.


    There were more than 100 people, after all, and he couldn''t move them all alone, or well, he could, but it would be faster if Aurora helped.


    "Okay."


    Aurora nodded her head and waved her hand.


    5 or 6 people started levitating and they moved along with her as she moved forward.


    "Hey, would you share your skill with me?"


    Argon asked hopefully, but Aurora simply turned around and looked at him coldly.


    "No."


    A single-word reply before she moved ahead toward the Altar.


    ''It was worth a try��''


    Argon muttered inwardly before he started following behind her while carrying two or three people in each one of those hands made of rock.


    "How do you know where we have to take them?"


    Argon asked curiously as he didn''t remember mentioning that to Aurora till now.


    "I''m much older than you could think of, and I know many things, so you don''t need to tell me what an altar could be used for.


    That too when it is in such a creepy ce, hidden so deep."


    Aurora replied without looking back causing Argon to raise his brows.


    "Well, it''s better this way, I won''t have to tell you what to do on every step��"


    Argon just shrugged.


    What none of them knew was that two people in the group were still awake and they listened to every single word that left Argon''s mouth.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 194: CHAPTER 194 – It was Argon all along??

    ''A traitor!''


    This was the first thought that came to Misty''s mind when she felt the poison inside of the food taking effect.


    However, she didn''t call for Argon just yet.


    ''If the traitor has been hiding themselves from Argon''s eye for this long, then I should wait till they reveal themselves.''


    Misty might be a bit a simp for Argon, but that didn''t mean that she was stupid.


    No stupid person can stay alive while being an SS-ranker.


    She knew that nothing ever missed Argon''s eyes, if he knew that there was a traitor then he would''ve already caught that traitor, and he didn''t do it.


    That means just one thing��


    ''Something big is going on in the dark��''


    No one had the power to nt a traitor in the blue empire without Argon knowing about it, but from the looks of it, it seemed like one of them did get through.


    ''Argon��''


    She saw Argon falling down as he held his head.


    It was clear that he was affected by the poison as well.


    But she didn''t say anything and waited for the traitor to show themselves, till then she would heal herself.


    Now, how was she fine when Argon already knew about her having healing powers?


    It was because there was this one ability that she didn''t tell anyone about, not even Argon.


    It was called ''Angle''s Sacrifice'', this ability takes away her lifespan to upgrade her aspects so that she could do things that were impossible for her before.


    She tried using her normal healing powers but the poison was too strong.


    After all, Argon took her healing powers into ount when he bought the pill.


    Right now, she was using her ''Angle''s sacrifice'' to upgrade her ''Angle''s touch'' to a new height.


    This was the first time Misty ever used this ability on herself, and it worked better than she expected.


    But as she healed herself, and as she hoped that the traitor would reveal themselves soon enough, she heard Argon''s voice.


    "Argh, what happened???"


    His voice sounded confused, and she was about to happily get up and tell him what had happened, but then she paused.


    ''If I can tell what''s happening, then Argon can tell as well, right?''


    She was perplexed by Argon''s actions, but then she thought��


    ''Maybe he has some ns for the traitor��.''


    She didn''t doubt Argon, but she remained still as she did not want to spoil whatever ns Argon had.


    But then she heard his words again, and this time she was shocked.


    "Just some gentle words and they would believe whatever I say��"


    ''Wha��.''


    Misty couldn''t understand what Argon was saying as Argon being the one who poisoned them never actually came to her mind.


    However, Argon''s voice was heard again.


    "It''s good that I copied this ability beforeing here��.."


    ''Copy?!''


    Misty remembers pretty well that there was someone in Blue Empire who went around killing people after he copied their abilities, and she remembered pretty well that Argon would always be a stepte to reach there.


    ''It was Argon all along??''


    Misty''s world was falling apart, but she didn''t move, or rather she was too shocked to even move.


    The person she loved, trusted, and prayed for turned out to be different than what she had thought.


    She could hear Argon talking with someone, but she couldn''t hear the other party''s words.


    But she could tell some things.


    ''He is taking us to some kind of Alter, and his intentions are unknown��..''


    ''But why would he do that?!?!''


    ''Why would he want to harm us??!!''


    She couldn''t understand what made Argon take this step.


    She was with her head toward the floor, so her tears were not visible, but if Argon noticed closely then he could''ve seen the slight trembles on Misty''s body.


    Misty heard Argon''s footstep receding, and she opened her eyes.


    She could tell that Argon wasing back soon, and he would take more people from here, but just as she opened her eyes, she found a pair of hazel eyes looking at her.


    "Wha��?"


    "You are awake? How?"


    Misty was shocked to find someone else awake.


    She knew who he was.


    The guy was one of the most trusted men of Argon, and he was an S-ranked raider, but Misty was shocked at how he could still be awake.


    "This is not the time for that, Argon is up to something and he is probably going to kill us all, so I want you to run away from here."


    The guy whispered in a hurry.


    The guy was not calling Argon ''his Majesty'' anymore, he directly called him by his name.


    The guy was one of the most trusted people in Argon, and this guy, who was called Kelvin also trusted Argon a lot.


    But just like everyone out there, he had a secret that he never told anyone about.


    He had an ability called ''poison touch'', this skill was an SSS-rank skill, supposedly the best skill he had, but this skill was kept hidden by him as it would be seen as evil by the world.


    This skill melts anything that he touches after activating the ability, and anything is human most of the time.


    So, he kept it hidden, but there was another thing that this ability does.


    It gives the user poison immunity to an extent, and against a pill that was ranked SS, this ability worked perfectly.


    "I-I should run a-away��.?"


    Misty asked in shock.


    "Yes, at least someone needs to go out and call for help��"


    Kelvin knew that there were only three people other than them inside this gate, but he also knew that those three people were strong enough to save them all.


    "What about you��.?"


    Misty whispered back.


    "Someone needs to stay back, and your life is more important than mine, you are a healer after all��."


    Kelvin whispered with a sad smile as he shook his head.


    He knew, just like Misty did: He wouldn''t survive against Argon.


    "I can buy you seconds at least��."


    Kelvin spoke again, and Misty nodded her head.


    Her care and feelings for Argon were now shattering slowly, but in one corner she still had some kind of hope that Argon was not doing this willingly.


    But just as she was about to get up, she and Kelvin heard the voice that they wished to not hear anytime soon.


    "Looks like we have some nice actors in the group��."


    A chuckle was heard right after that, and before Misty or Kelvin could see something or think something, Argon appeared in front of them.


    "Kelvin, Kelvin, Kelvin.


    Why did you have to wake up? It would''ve been better if you stayed down, it would''ve been much less painful��"


    Argon spoke with regret as he looked at Kelvin who was gritting his teeth, then he looked at teary-eyed Misty and smiled.


    "Were you thinking of running away from me, Misty dear?"


    Argon bent down as he held Misty''s cheeks.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 195: CHAPTER 195 – Just run!

    Misty always wanted Argon to touch her, to look at her.


    She loved him from the time she saw him, but he never showed interest in her, and this left her depressed.


    But today when Argon finally touched her, she didn''t feel the happiness she should''ve felt, she felt fear.


    She was scared as she looked at Argon''s smiling face.


    He was not smiling like he usually does, his smile seemed evil, right now.


    "S-stay away��."


    Misty muttered in a low voice as she tried to move back but Argon tightened his grip on her face.


    "Answer to my question, Misty."


    Argon spoke as he gritted his teeth.


    "�� N-no!"


    Misty hurriedly replied.


    ''I''m scared!''


    She screamed inwardly.


    "You weren''t thinking of running away?"


    Argon asked with a brow raised.


    Misty''s eyes were now filled with tears.


    "W-why are you doing this��.?


    Y-you are not the Argon I know-"


    Misty asked as her tears started to stream down her cheeks but Argon cut her off.


    "You think you know who I am?


    You think you know me just because of what I show you?!"


    Argon questions with a voice filled with suppressed anger.


    Misty''s body trembled as she heard Argon''s voice.


    ''T-this is not Argon��.''


    Misty had never seen Argon talk to someone like this, not even the people he considered an enemy.


    "You are just a bitch who keepsing at me no matter how many times I try to keep you away from myself!"


    Argo growled as he pushed Misty back.


    "N-no��."


    Misty wanted to deny but no words came out of her mouth.


    Her legs were turning into jelly, she couldn''t feel her body.


    "Argon, why are you doing this��.?"


    Kelvin asked but the next second he found his head pressed by Argon''s feet.


    "Did you just call me by my name, you ve?"


    Argon asked as he looked at Kelvin with disgust.


    In his past life, Argon considered Kelvin a very good friend, they knew each other from childhood, after all.


    But all of that changed after Kelvin got his skills and he became a famous raider.


    In the end, Kelvin was killed in front of Argon by Alex because Argon considered Kelvin an excellent friend till the end, but it was different in this life.


    In this life, Argon was arrogant, powerful, and egoistic.


    He didn''t care about anyone other than Alice, and himself.


    "Why are you doing this��.?" Kelvin asked.


    His voice was muffled due to Argon stepping on his head, but it was understandable.


    "Why? Hmm��.." Argon put a thoughtful expression before his eyes brightened with realization.


    "To get powerful!"


    Kelvin got confused by those words, but he had a bad feeling about this so he asked.


    "What are you going to do with all of us?"


    Misty wasn''t listening to any of these, her mind was nk as she stared absentmindedly at the ceiling of the cave.


    "What do you think?" Argon asked with a thin smile on his face.


    This was all Kelvin needed to hear, and the next second he held Argon''s ankle and activated his ability.


    "Misty, run!! Call for help!"


    Kelvin shouted for Misty and Misty who heard his shout finally broke out of her reverie.


    "Huh?" She looked at Kelvin, and then she saw him holding Argon''s leg.


    "You think you can stop me just like tha-"


    Argon spoke with a smug smile and Misty thought the same but before Argon couldplete his words��.


    "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"


    Argon screamed as he felt a burning pain in his legs.


    "You bastard!"


    Argon looked down and found that the hand Kelvin was using to hold him had turned green.


    "What is that ability?!"


    Argon jerked his leg but Kelvin held on to it firmly.


    "Fuck!!"


    "Let go, mf!!"


    Argon shouted as he kicked Kelvin, but that guy still held on tightly as his life depended on it.


    "What are you still sitting there for?!?!


    Just run!


    Call for help!!"


    Kelvin roared as he saw Misty sitting on her spot his eyes wide open, too shocked by what was happening.


    Time slowed down for Misty when she heard those words.


    She stood up ignoring Argon''s shout, asking for her to stop.


    She couldn''t hear anything other than her heartbeats, her vision was a bit blurry with all the tears she had in her eyes.


    But then she saw Argon clenching his fist, making a ming spear appear out of nowhere.


    She saw in slow motion as the spear moved toward Kelvin''s head.


    Thest thing she saw about Kelvin''s face was his lips.


    He shouted, "Just run!"


    She didn''t hear it, but she understood it.


    Those were thest words from his mouth before his head was pierced by the ming spear, and burned from the inside to the outside.


    ''No��.''


    Misty''s eyes lost light when she saw Argon turning toward her with a grin.


    She knew that she was not fast enough to run away, but then her eyes brightened a bit as she thought of something.


    Argon who had killed Kelvin looked at his leg.


    ''That hurts!''


    He could still feel the burns on his ankle, and if not for being an SSS-ranker, his ankle would''ve melted by that poison.


    ''Howe I never knew about his ability��..?''


    Argon shook his head as he turned toward Misty with a grin.


    "You can''t run away now��"


    Argon muttered as he rushed toward Misty.


    ''Got you!''


    Argon extended his hand, but just as he was about to catch her, Misty''s speed shot up at an rming rate and she shot out of the cave.


    "What the!"


    Argon eximed in shock before he ran at full speed as well, but just then��


    "You shouldn''t chase after her!"


    A shout was heard from behind, stopping Argon in his tracks.


    "What did you say??"


    Argon couldn''t believe he actually stopped at her shout.


    He turned back to chase after Misty but Aurora spoke again.


    "I predicted the future."


    This time Argon stopped and looked at her in shock.


    "You did what??"


    Argon couldn''t believe it.


    "I only did it because this thing is rted to me as well, so be grateful that I did."


    Aurora spoke with a frown, but Argon hurriedly asked.


    "So, what did you see? Why did you stop me??"


    "The future after you followed her was nk, nothing could be seen.


    But the future of you staying back and doing what you are supposed to would bring profit."


    Aurora replied, but then she added.


    "However, you need to hurry, as even this path turns nk after a while."


    Argon knew what nk meant.


    nk meant something unpredictable, and in this world, there were only some things that Aurora couldn''t predict.


    The most dangerous one of them was Alex, and unfortunately, he was the one closest to them.


    Argon stood still for a second, then he looked out of the cave where Misty ran out of, and then he sighed.


    "Help me get them all to the altar as fast as you can."


    Argon spoke as he started using all of his abilities to get every one of the raiders to the Altar, and Aurora did the same.


    They were tight on time, after all.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 196: CHAPTER 196 – Help them…

    When Misty saw that Argon''s hand was about to reach her, about to catch her, her mind raced.


    She knew that if she was caught, then all was for nothing.


    Kelvin''s death would be for nothing and all of the hopes he had would''ve been for nothing.


    So, for the first time, she used her ''Angle''s Sacrifice'' in a way that she never even thought about.


    Unlike normal cases, where she would decide how many years of her lifespan she wanted to burn to upgrade a said thing, this time she didn''t decide it.


    This time she used ''Angle''s Sacrifice'' like a nitro.


    ''Ahhhhhhhhhh!''


    She screamed internally as she burned her lifespan to increase her speed to something that she could never have achieved.


    Her speed was so fast that even Argon at his full speed looked slow to her.


    Her vision blurred and in a second she was out of the cave, but in that second, she realized that she had burned 20 years of her lifespan.


    But she didn''t rx yet, she kept running as she looked back from time to time.


    She was ready to use her ability again if needed.


    ''��he isn''t following me anymore, right?''


    Misty thought inwardly, but just then she heard the bush behind her rustle.


    ''He''s still her!''


    She panicked when she heard the bush rustling, and the next second she used her ability again.


    Burning away 20 more years of her lifespan.


    But she was still fine, for an SS-ranked raider, 40 years lifespan was like 10 years for normal people.


    Her looks changed as she looked mature now, but that was all.


    She didn''t turn into some old woman, she just turned into ady in herte 20s from being ady in her early 20s.


    However, as she ran and ran, she finally realized a problem.


    ''I''m out of mana��''


    She was feeling a lot of strain on her mind just by keeping herself awake.


    But with whatever mana she had left in her body, she tried to heal her mental strain, and although it mellowed down for a while, she knew that it would return soon and with more intensity.


    She kept running without looking back until she heard the sound of waves.


    ''There is a beach here?!''


    She eximed inwardly, but then she recalled the territorial signatures outside of the gate.


    ''It was a coastal area from the start��.''


    She realized that now, but the metal strain that she had been preventing for a while finally came.


    But as she navigated herself out of the woods and bushed, she heard a voice.


    "We have an uninvited guest��"


    It was a masculine voice and she knew who it was without even asking.


    ''Alex Matthew��.''


    She didn''t even have the power to call out to them.


    *Woosh*


    She heard a wooshing sound as if something or someone moved at a lightning-quick speed, but it wasn''t toward her.


    When she finally squeezed out of the bushes, she saw the guild master of the Crimson Lotus Guild and the Honorary guild master standing there looking at her cautiously.


    It was Alice and Alex who looked at her.


    "Aren''t you Misty Florence?"


    Alice asked with a frown but Alex ced a hand on her shoulder.


    "She is out of mana."


    Hearing Alex''s words, her frown only deepened.


    But then saw Misty falling to the ground with her eyes closed.


    Alex, however, was faster as he held her before she could fall.


    "Better get you to a nice ce to rest."


    Alex spoke as he lifted her in a princess carry.


    "You could''ve just lifted her with your wind magic��."


    Alice muttered with dissatisfaction.


    "Oh? Where is this burning smelling from?"


    Alex muttered as he sniffed the air.


    "I''m not jealous of her!"


    Alice stomped her feet but Alex just chuckled.


    "All right, calm down, we can''t let her weak body be exposed to mana right now, it might have adverse effects, let her recover some mana first."


    Alex exined why he lifted her like that before he walked toward the resting chairs he had made for Alice and Ann.


    "I see��"


    Alice nodded her head with an understanding expression.


    Alex ced Misty on the chair and was about to move away when Misty held his hand.


    "Hm? You''re still conscious?"


    Alex raised a brow in surprise, but Misty just muttered in a low voice.


    "Help them��."


    She still had her eyes closed and she couldn''t move but she used all of her willpower to voice out those words.


    "Huh? Help who?


    Who are ''them''?"


    Alex asked in confusion, but Misty was already unconscious by then.


    "She is already out."


    Alex muttered as he sighed.


    "Do you have any idea of what she was talking about?"


    Alice asked as she looked at Misty.


    "Something must''ve happened at their end, what else could it be?"


    Alex shrugged as he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.


    "What are we going to do?"


    Alice asked curiously.


    "We have no obligation to help them, and we aren''t close enough to rush to save them without knowing what happened, so let''s wait for her to wake up."


    Alex replied to Alice.


    "Ok then, we will wait for her to wake up."


    Alice nodded as well before she looked at Misty one more time.


    "She looks like she had grown older in just some hours��."


    Alice recalled seeing Misty in the Blue Empire''s group, so she could swear that Misty looked a bit younger at that time.


    But she was not the only one who noticed it��.


    "Well, that is because she is 40 years older than she was some hours ago."


    Alex spoke as looked at Misty with his all-seeing eyes activated.


    Same as Alice, Alex had observed the team of the Blue Empire as well, so she noticed the change in Misty as well and used his all-seeing eyes on her.


    "What do-"


    Alice turned toward Alex in confusion but her words were left stuck in her throat as she saw Alex''s eyes.


    "Cool��."


    She unconsciously muttered.


    It was the second time she had seen Alex use that ability but that looked cool nheless.


    But then Alex deactivated the ability, causing Alice to finally focus back on the topic.


    "What do you mean that she is 40 years older?"


    "She had used some kind of ability that burns her lifespan to give her power-ups.


    She must have used it to run away from whatever it was that made her run away."


    Alex exined to Alice and she nodded her head.


    Just then, Ann and Noctura also arrived as they had cleared the Aquathrens in the area.


    "Misty Florence?"


    Ann raised a brow as she saw the face of the uninvited guest, and then she looked at Alex and Alice questioning.


    Alice nodded her head before she started exining to Ann what had happened.


    Alex, on the other hand, went to Noctura and started praising her for the good work.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 197: CHAPTER 197 – This place is empty.

    ''Argh��


    Where am��.''


    Misty groaned as she opened her eyes.


    Her memories from before were a little fuzzy because of all the headaches she had in the end, but she didn''t get to recollect her thoughts as she heard a voice.


    "Looks like you''re awake now."


    Her eyes snapped open, and she hurriedly jumped away from the position she was in.


    "Whoa, what was that for?"


    The same voice from before was heard.


    It was a male voice that sounded a bit too much rxed.


    But when Misty saw who it was and the ce she was in, the things that happened before came rushing to her.


    She looked at Alice, Alex, and Ann sitting in front of her, and then she looked at the scenery of the coast.


    The corpse of some Aquathrens could still be seen so she could tell that she was not out for long, but as she recalled what had happened, her eyes started tearing up again.


    But as he saw what was happening, Alex spoke up.


    "We have been waiting for you to wake up."


    ''I don''t want to deal with the emotional drama��.''


    If it was Alice, Ann, or Noctura, he would''ve already burned the whole gate to the ground before he would''ve heard what caused them harm, but for someone he didn''t even know.


    ''I don''t have time to waste.''


    Well, he was a busy man, he had to return home and ''help'' Alice and Ann grow stronger.


    "Huh?"


    Misty let out a confused voice as she wiped her tears away.


    Hearing Alex''s voice made her realize that she was not alone and that there were people in front of her.


    "We still don''t know whom you referred to as ''them'' when you said: ''help them''," It was Alice who spoke as she looked at Misty questioningly.


    But Misty widened her eyes as she heard it.


    "You guys haven''t saved them yet?!?!"


    Misty widened her eyes in worry as she asked.


    "As she said, we still don''t know whom you wanted us to save or where we have to go, so what do you expect us to do?"


    Alex tilted his head as he questioned.


    "W-we need to hurry, their life is in danger!!"


    Misty quickly stood up, walked close to Alex, and held his hands.


    "P-please, help them, they are going to die!"


    She desperately asked for him to save them.


    "As I said, you still haven''t told us whom you are referring to as them, and from what do we need to save them."


    Alex didn''t jerk away her hands, but he did frown a bit since he could feel Alice and Ann''s eyes piercing holes in him.


    "It''s the member of the Destroyer guild, you need to save them!"


    Misty eximed in urgency.


    Blue Empire''s guild was also called Destroyer Guild, after all.


    "And who do we need to save them from?"


    Alex asked as he raised his brow questioningly.


    No one noticed it, but Misty was treating Alex like the leader of the group, even though she just knew them from the news and stuff.


    It might be because of Alex''s temperament, maybe because of his bloodline''s ability that made the opposite sex more rxed around him, or maybe because Alice and Ann looked at Alex for his opinion every time.


    But to Misty, Alex did seem like the leader.


    "I-it''s Argon��."


    Misty muttered in a low voice, but it was clear to Alex, Ann, and Alex.


    Their eyes sharpened as they heard her words.


    *Whistle*


    "That''s something I didn''t expect to hear��"


    Alex whistled in amazement as he spoke what was on his mind.


    "Can we go now???"


    Misty looked at Alex and requested with tears in her eyes.


    Alex turned toward Alice and Ann, causing them to smile.


    After all, which girl won''t like their man asking for their opinion?


    "Please, Miss Alice, all of their lives are in danger!"


    Misty then turned to Alice as she requested.


    Alice nodded her head and stood up.


    "I guess we are going."


    Alex stood up as well.


    "Can you please tell us everything that went down before you ran away as we move?"


    Ann asked just as they were about to start rushing with Misty leading them.


    "Yes."


    Misty nodded her head as she didn''t see any problem with that.


    "Please don''t leave a single detail out as it might not seem important to you, but it might be crucial for us."


    Ann reminded and Misty nodded her head.


    With that done, they started sprinting toward the same cave that Argon took all of the raiders from the Blue Empire to.


    ......................................


    "This ce looks creepier than you made it sound like��."


    Alice muttered as she walked into the cave along with Alex, Ann, Misty, and Noctura who was invisible from the start.


    "��. No."


    Misty spoke as she looked around with caution.


    "No?"


    Alice looked at her questioningly.


    "It was not this creepy and dark before, it was, but now it feels darker, it feels��."


    Misty replied but her words werepleted by Alex.


    "Evil."


    Misty, Ann, and Alice looked at Alex.


    "Did you find something, Alex?"


    Ann was the one who asked the question.


    All of them looked at Alex but Misty was shocked to see Alex''s eyes that were shining with ck golden-colored iris and ck sclera.


    ''Wow��''


    She was amazed by it, but it disappeared when Ann turned toward Ann to answer her question.


    "First of all, this ce is empty, no one is here."


    Alex answered Ann, but Misty''s eyes widened.


    "No, no, they must be here, they were here, I left them all here.


    Kelvin was killed right there, I saw it with my own eyes, you have to believe me!"


    She started pointing out where what was supposed to be and what she remembered, but then she felt a hand on her shoulder.


    "I didn''t say that you lied to us, all I said is that they are not here anymore."


    Alex used some of his incubus power in his voice and it calmed Misty in a jiffy.


    *Inhale*


    Misty took a deep breath and nodded her head.


    "Thank you."


    She bowed her head to Alex.


    She didn''t know what he did, but she knew that he did something to calm her down.


    "It''s all right."


    Alex just waved it off.


    ''Thest thing I want right now is the only one who knows what happened here to go crazy.''


    Alex sighed inwardly.


    He was looking at the bigger picture and he knew how things could turn bad for them if Misty went crazy.


    "Not even a dead body?"


    Ann suddenly asked.


    "Hm?" Alex looked at her curiously.


    "I mean, you can''t even detect a dead body in the cave?"


    Ann asked again.


    "Not yet, but I think I know where we can find some clues��."


    Alex replied before he turned toward Misty.


    "Where did you say he was taking the raiders to?"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 198 : CHAPTER 198 – Demonic Gate.

    "So, this is where he brought everyone, huh��"


    Alexmented as he looked at the ck altar that was filled with weird and creepy inscriptions.


    It had this gooey stuff filed in the center, and from the looks of it, one could clearly tell that someone had used it not long ago.


    There was a trail made of that ck gooey stuff that extended till the entrance of the altar room.


    "How could someone even go inside of it��.?"


    Alice questioned as she looked at the altar with her nose scrunched in disgust.


    The smelling from that gooey stuff was horrible, so much so that even she who had been on many battlefields and gates felt disgusted.


    From the trail marks, it was clear that someone came out of the center of the altar after diving into it.


    "No bodies here as well."


    Alex spoke as he looked around.


    "Were you brought here as well?"


    Alex then turned toward Misty and asked but when he saw her looking around in a hurry, searching for anything that she could find, he sighed.


    "We believe you, Misty.


    We are not doubting you, but if you want us to help you, you need to answer our questions."


    Alex held her shoulders and made her look into his eyes as he spoke.


    Misty absentmindedly looked into Alex''s eyes for a while before she nodded her head.


    The situation might not seem much to others, but for Misty, who saw Kelvin sacrifice his life just so she could help the others, it was the worst thing.


    ''I waste��?''


    ''I couldn''t save anyone?''


    ''Are they still alive?''


    ''Where are they?''


    Many questions kept repeating in her mind, but she calmed down and answered Alex.


    "No, I was not brought here, I was still in the outer part of the cave."


    "I see��."


    Alex nodded his head before he activated his all-seeing eyes.


    Misty had told them about everything that happened in detail, so they knew one thing, and it was that, everything here was rted to this altar.


    ''Oh?''


    Alex raised his brow as he found out what this altar was for.


    "What is it?"


    Ann, who had been looking at Alex questioned when she saw Alex raise his brow in surprise.


    "This gate is a demonic gate."


    Just as Alex''s words fell, Alice, Ann, and Misty''s eyes widened.


    "But it is a special kind��"


    Alex''s words only made them more cautious as they got ready for any surprise attacks.


    "Rx, the cave is empty."


    Alex could tell the reason for their worries so he told them to rx, and they did just that.


    Misty, however, was still alert, she didn''t know how strong Alex was, after all.


    She was more worried about the people from Blue Empire after she heard Alex''s words.


    Demonic gates were that scary, after all.


    Demonic gates just like normal gates, are filled with monsters that are ready to kill you, but unlike normal gates, the monsters in the demonic gates are wilder, and they are stronger.


    They use this strange kind of energy that makes them stronger than others.


    But the worst thing about them is that they are evil.


    Even the dumbest beast such as goblins if demonized would turn sly.


    They would lead their prey into a trap and then they would make it call for itspanion.


    If two S-rankers can clear a normal A-rank gate easily, then for a demonic gate ranked A, they will need to fight with their lives on the line.


    That''s how hard these gates are.


    So, what about a demonic gate that is ranked SS?


    It was hard to guess what would happen at this gate.


    But Alice, Ann, and Noctura knew tha the gate was already cleared, and Alex said something about the gate being a bit special.


    "You said it was a special type of demonic gate, right?"


    Ann asked and Alex nodded his head.


    "Yes, that''s because, unlike normal demonic gates, this one is notpletely demonic.


    Only the darker part of the gate is demonic, and the most important part is that no monster below SS-rank rank can survive here for long."


    Alex exined what he meant as he continued.


    "But that is where this altares into y.


    This altar is the thing that has the most concentrated demonic energy, or more like, this altar is the reason for the area turning demonic."


    "Wait a second!"


    Suddenly Misty eximed.


    "Did you say that no one below SS rank could survive here for long?"


    Misty hurriedly asked.


    "Yes," Alex replied as he looked at Misty.


    "Why?" Misty asked just as she heard Alex''s answer.


    "Because the air is filled with poison," Alex replied in a matter-of-fact tone.


    "Poison?!" But Misty''s eyes widened as she heard his words.


    This caused all of them to look at Misty questioningly.


    Misty felt three pairs of eyes on her so she hurriedly spoke.


    "Argon knew about this ce even before he came here!"


    "How do you know that?" Her words caught Alex''s interest.


    Alice, Ann, Alex, and Noctura already knew that Argon knew about this ce, after all, he knew the future, but how could Misty be so sure about that?


    Does she know that Argon knows the future as well?


    "He had it all nned��.


    One of our low-ranking raiders was poisoned without a reason. I couldn''t find a cure so I started panicking, but then Argon told us that he would find a ce for us to rest.


    I didn''t realize it then but he had been keeping an eye on all of us along the way here, it was like he knew one of us was going to fall.


    At that time, I thought that he was just worried about our well-being, but now I know��."


    Misty spoke with tears in her eyes.


    ''Why did I fall for such a guy��?''


    Misty questioned inwardly, but there was no one to answer it.


    "I see," Alex nodded his head before he looked back at the Altar.


    "Can you tell what that Altar is for?"


    Ann asked as she found Alex looking at the altar again.


    "Yeah, I already know what this altar is for, and I can guess what happened to the bodies of her people."


    Alex pointed at Misty as he spoke.


    He knew what that altar was for from the moment heid his all-seeing eyes on it.


    But he didn''t say anything till now as he was wondering what would be the best words to break the news to Misty.


    She was the only remaining person of the Blue Empire and the only person who could prove that they had nothing to do with whatever happened here.


    "Um, can you please tell me what you found out?"


    Misty looked at Alex hopefully.


    She didn''t know how strong Alex was, neither did she know what kind of abilities he had, but she felt a strange feeling that told her that she could depend on him, wherever she looked at him.


    "Well, first of all��"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 199 : CHAPTER 199 – Using Incubus Aura.

    "Well, first of all, all of the people you called us here to save are not here anymore."


    Alex didn''t outright say that the people Misty came looking for to save were dead.


    He could tell that Misty was going through a lot, and there was the fact that a guy she used to know well, died in front of her just so that she could call for help.


    "They are not here?"


    Misty asked in a very low voice.


    She was not dumb enough to not understand what Alex was doing, but she still hoped that the meaning behind Alex''s words was not what she was thinking.


    "I will get to that, but before that, let me tell you guys what this altar does."


    Alex decided to talk about the altar so slowly give Misty the idea of what she avoided.


    He wanted to let her know that she was alive and that''s all that matters.


    But then he thought.


    ''Why am I thinking so much?''


    He snapped his finger and the next second, pink gas started getting released from his body.


    They came out of the pores in his skin, but Misty couldn''t see it.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura who were still invisible could see it, but they didn''t point it out since they could tell that Alex was doing something.


    ''What is��.''


    Misty frowned as she felt something strange entering her body but before she could understand what happened, her eyes turned blurry and her brain went to sleep.


    Misty''s body, however, was still standing.


    She was awake as well, the only thing that was off about her was the saw she was looking at.


    Her eyes were unfocused, but she kept staring at Alex with whatever focus she had left in them.


    "Your friends are dead, all of them."


    Alex spoke to her, and other than a slight change in her expression, there was no change.


    Just her eyebrows twitched a bit before they returned to normal.


    "Argon killed them all for a single purpose: growing stronger."


    Alex continued, but Alice asked in confusion.


    "What are you doing? What''s happening?"


    Alex looked at Misty for a while before he turned back to Alice.


    "I used one of my abilities," Alex replied simply with a shrug.


    "Which one?" Ann asked curiously.


    Alex had so many abilities that they even forgot what those were.


    "I haven''t told you guys about this one, I guess."


    Alex spoke with a thoughtful expression.


    "You have more abilities?? No wait.


    Forget it, just tell us what this ability of yours does."


    Alice asked in surprise before she sighed.


    ''What was I even hopping for? He has an ability that could continuously help him add more abilities to his stock.''


    Alice was thinking about the system.


    It can give Alex abilities in a way, after all.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex shook his head with a chuckle before he replied.


    "Well, it''s nothing harmful.


    I just used one of my abilities to make her calm, she would stay calm no matter how shocking the news was.


    After all, thest thing we want is her breaking down."


    Alex shrugged as he replied.


    He had never used his incubus ability to the full extent before, or more like he never had to.


    But the situation right now was perfect for it.


    His incubus aura could be used in many ways, to make people feel horny, to make them feel attracted to you, to make them feel safe around you, to calm them down, and many other things.


    What Alex did was use it to calm Misty''s brain down.


    Misty was listening to everything right now.


    She knew that she was under Alex''s skill, and she knew that it was for her own sake, but she couldn''t move or speak.


    In normal cases, she could be able to do it, but right now, Alex was using his power much more than he should have, so it caused her brain to shut down for a while, or slow down for a while.


    "What about the side effects?"


    Ann curiously asked, causing Alex to look at Misty again.


    "Wait, she can hear us?"


    Ann suddenly asked as she saw Alex looking at Misty.


    "Yes," Alex replied without looking away from Misty.


    He knew that right now, Misty would be calm about everything, until she was under the skills effect, but what about after that?


    "Then you don''t have to answer my-"


    Ann spoke after she heard Alex''s words but Alex waved his hand.


    "It''s fine, she needs to know it as well so that she can be ready for it."


    Alex shook his head as he looked at Ann before he looked back at Misty.


    "The only side effect of this ability is that it doesn''t make the pain/trauma vanish, it just pushes them away for a while.


    So, in a day or two, it wille back to you, everything that you are supposed to feel right now, you will feel it at that time."


    Alex answered Ann''s question while looking at Misty.


    He did say that this ability doesn''t make the pain go away, but in reality, this ability can actually do that, but the problem is that it would change the personality of the one it''s being used on.


    Ann and Alice also looked at Misty, but to Misty, everything seemed fine.


    She felt like it was fine, after all, it helped her calm down.


    But she also knew that she was feeling like this because of Alex''s ability.


    She kept looking into Alex''s eyes as if trying to tell him something and Alex smiled as if he got what she wanted to say.


    "All right, so about what happened to your friends, well, they were used as a sacrifice on the altar��."


    Alex spoke as he looked at Misty.


    It was a demonic altar after all, so of course it would take something to give you something.


    ''Is the energy that I feel from the altar demonic energy?''


    Inwardly, Alex was talking with Sophia.


    [Yes, and no.


    It is a form of demonic energy if you want to know and some people do call it demonic energy, but in reality, it''s not demonic energy.


    It''s just an energy that is a bit better than mana, that''s all.]


    ''Form of demonic energy?''


    Alex asked in confusion.


    ''There are different forms of demonic energy?''


    [Not like that, it''s not actually the demonic energy, I said that it is not demonic energy, right?]


    ''What is it then?''


    Alex could feel the signatures of demonic energy in the energy that the Altar was releasing.


    He wasn''t sure what it was but it caught his curiosity, so now he wanted to know.


    On the outside, however, he exined what happened here to Alice, Ann, Misty, and the carefree Noctura.


    /// There is going to be a time skip soon, so please be ready.


    It won''t be long, probably 1 month, but still, a time skip, and soon I will be delving into the background of one character that I have just shown glimpses of, yet never introduced. ////


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 200: CHAPTER 200 – Getting out of the gate.

    [Just like you have demonic energy in your body, some other high-ranking demons have that in their bodies.


    But there are some special demons that have the power or skill to convert others into demons.]


    Sophia was about to continue but Alex stopped her with a question.


    ''You mean demonification?''


    Alex already knew what demonification was, after all, he had seen the Aquathrens turn purple.


    [No, not like that, the one that turns into a demon with that process, although low, but still, they will have the real demonic energy in their bodies.]


    ''I see��''


    Alex nodded his head and Sophia continued.


    [The ones they convert into demons will have demonic energy as well, but it will be very much diluted. Its quality will be low, just a little above mana.]


    ''What''s the profit then?''


    Alex didn''t understand why someone would want to have that low-quality demonic energy.


    [It can regenerate at the same speed as mana.]


    ''Ah��''


    Alex finally understood the reason why people would want to turn demons through that process.


    But then something clicked in his mind.


    ''Diluting the demonic energy, that means mixing both mana and demonic energy��.''


    Alex was cooking some kind of theory in his mind, something that woulde as a surprise even for Sophia, but on the outside, he exined what he could make out of the situation to Alice, Ann, and Misty.


    (Noctura is not even listening to the conversation, so we will focus on the reactions of only those who are listening.)


    "All right, so about what happened to your friends, well, they were used as a sacrifice on the altar��."


    Alex muttered and Alice and Ann frowned. Misty, on the other hand, remained still, she didn''t show any emotional fluctuation.


    "Sacrificed for what?"


    Alice asked with a frown.


    "This altar here is something that is used to take in living beings and create pills out of it, those pills can be used to power up oneself."


    Alex spoke as he looked at all three of them simultaneously before he continued.


    "Her friends, they were alive as she said, but Argon kept them alive because he wanted them here.


    He wanted to use them to get that pill to power himself up.


    With the bodies of more tha 100 raiders which consisted of S-rankers, A-rankers, and others, the pill that this altar would make could turn 50+ S-rankers into SS-rankers.


    After he was done, he probably ran away, and since we didn''t see him on the way here, that means he is already out of the gate."


    Alex exined his point, but then Ann asked the question that Misty wanted to ask so much.


    "Then what happened to the bodies?"


    "The bodies, the bodies were used for the other function of the altar��."


    Alex spoke as he turned toward the altar and pointed at the center of it where the ck gooey stuff was still present.


    "You see that gooey stuff over there?"


    Alex questioned.


    Alice and Ann nodded their heads while Misty just looked at it, but that was enough to let Alex know that she was looking at it.


    "That thing is the waste left out of the bodies," Alexmented.


    Alice and Ann''s eyes widened as they heard it.


    "It is as you are thinking, that is what is left of those raiders.


    If we were to test take a sample of that gooey stuff, we could find the DNAs of all the hunters that Misty was looking for."


    Alex nodded as he spoke.


    "What is the function?"


    Ann asked as Alex had yet to tell what the second function was.


    "It is to create a body," Alex replied to Ann.


    "A body?" Alice asked in confusion.


    ''What do you mean a body?''


    ''What kind of body are we talking about?''


    But she wasn''t the only one confused, even Ann was confused, as for Misty, well, she was still looking at that gooey liquid.


    "A body or a vessel for someone incorporeal, someone who doesn''t have a body."


    His words made Alice and Ann widen their eyes as they knew about Aurora.


    ''Isn''t she a spirit?!''


    They remember Alex telling them Aurora didn''t yet have a body, that she was like a ghost, without a body and only spirit.


    "But since Argon has a body, he didn''t take it for himself.


    He probably took it for an experiment, or maybe because he didn''t want to leave the bodies behind.


    I don''t know why he did it, but he did take them away. He has the pill/ pills, and the body."


    Alex concluded, but no one said anything.


    Alice and Ann were still processing all that, same for Misty.


    But Alice and Ann were things something else as well.


    ''We were going to ''negotiate'' whatever Argon took from here��.''


    ''Now he is going to get stronger than before��.''


    ''He will probably reach EX-rank.''


    They were thinking of many things but then Alex''s voice was heard.


    "I will now remove the skill effect on you.


    You might feel a bit dizzy, but you will be fine after that."


    Alex spoke as he looked at Misty who was looking into his eyes, and then he snapped his finger.


    *Snap*


    Misty''s eyes regained their color before she fell forward.


    Alex moved to catch her, but Alice beat him to it.


    "It''s fine, I will help her."


    Alice spoke with a smile that didn''t look like a smile.


    "All right, all right," Alex raised his hands in surrender as he moved back.


    Alice and Ann moved close to Misty and supported her for a while before Misty smiled and said, "I''m fine now."


    They let go of her, but they still kept an eye on her.


    They knew that Alex''s ability was still working but they could see some strain on Misty''s face, it was as if she was dissatisfied with something.


    "I know you might feel wronged by the fact that I used my skill on you without saying anything, but please know that you are the only one who can prove that we are not the bad guys here."


    Alex''s words made them all realize just how big this matter was.


    ''All of the strongest raiders of the Blue Empire other than Misty are dead if we don''t take Argon into ount.''


    Ann analyzed the situation inwardly.


    "We don''t know what Argon did after he went out of the gate, so we need you with us to tell them what actually happened."


    Alex continued and Misty nodded her head.


    ''He had no other option��''


    She thought that Alex did what he did because he had to.


    How could she have known that Alex could simply wipe the minds of all the humans and make them believe what he wanted to?


    Alex was doing all this because he didn''t want to use that power if not necessary.


    "Let''s go and see what''s happening out there."


    Alex spoke as he looked at Alice.


    Alice nodded her head before she took the lead and walked ahead of them.


    "Let''s go."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 201: CHAPTER 201 – Another time skip and Recap.

    "Are you guys ready?"


    Alex asked as he sat behind Alice and Ann who were both sitting cross-legged.


    "Yes." X2


    Both Alice and Ann spoke with a serious expression.


    They knew how important and dangerous the next step was going to be.


    After all, they were going to break the limit of this world.


    They were going to enter the Epic rank.


    ..........


    It''s been around one month since that incident with Blue Empire''s Raiders.


    In this one month, more and more gates started appearing, and among them, there were 3 SS-ranked gates.


    With Blue Empire being powerless, the ones to clear the gate were Alice, Ann, and Alex.


    They were the ones who cleared thest SS-ranked gate, after all.


    There was news of them being called as saviors.


    No one knew who started it, but people started seeing them as saviors, people needed hope, after all.


    "At times like this, when odds are not in the favour of mankind, saviors arise, and our saviors are the Crimson Lotus Guild!"


    This was the thing that people said.


    The Crimson Lotus Guild raiding gates all over the world without charging anything was just a plus to it.


    Alex, Alice, and Ann cleared different gates.


    Each one of them cleared one gate alone, they were stronger after all, and they were only growing stronger.


    Clearing SS-rank gates alone again came out as big news, and there were some people who even started making cults, worshiping the Crimson Lotus Guld, or Alex, Alice, and Ann, to be precise.


    The news came and went, and many things got removed from the top list, but the topic that was most trending even now was the Blue Empire incident.


    Misty''s interview was still the top video on any online tform.


    Misty broke during the interview as the interview was taken two dayster, and till then, the side effects of Alex''s skill were already showing up.


    "They were killed by Argon!"


    This was the most famous clip, even at this moment.


    It was a clip of Misty roaring at a reporter as she kept punching him in the face, with tears streaming down her cheeks.


    "Is it really true that Argo Hart killed everyone or was it the Crimson Lotus guild that did it and you were bribed by them?"


    This was the question that the reporter had asked after Misty told them every detail about the events taking ce inside the gate.


    Misty, who was already crying couldn''t take the fact that not only was the man trying to call her a liar, but he was also trying to put the me on the people who tried to help her.


    Misty started punching that guy with all of her power and she kept beating him even after he was dead.


    The bloody scene was recorded on the camera, shown live, and was still the most viewed video.


    But one thing was sure, everyone believed in Misty''s words after the outburst.


    Misty was not taken into custody or put on trial.


    "She was not mentally stable at that time."


    She was left free after this line from herwyer.


    Not many people out there wanted to offend an SS-ranked raider, after all.


    Misty was never seen after that, it was like she didn''t even exist, but some say that she is staying in an isted ind to recover herself from the trauma.


    However, it was not just Misty who was untraceable or unreachable, there was another person who was the same but unlike Misty, he was wanted, right now.


    The person was Argon Hart.


    The former emperor of the Blue Empire.


    The people of Blue Empire were shocked by the news of what happened in the gate, some even thought that it was the move of some of Argon''s enemies, but after seeing Misty''s interview, they slowly started to believe.


    Argon right now had a bounty of 100 million credits over his head, and that was just for telling his location.


    He was the strongest Raider in the world, official at least, and who would be confident enough to catch alone?


    That''s where Alex, Alice, and Ann came to y.


    For thest month, they had been moving all over the world, reaching the ces where they got the news of his sighting.


    But after not finding any clue about his whereabouts the search was called off, the bounty was still there though, just Alex, Alice, and Ann stopped responding to the calls.


    "He wille out one day when he thinks he is strong enough to face us, so let''s stop the search."


    Alex was the one who had said that, and everyone agreed.


    Alice and Ann didn''t object because they believed that no matter how strong Argon got, he would never be able to leave Alex behind.


    During this one-month time, Alice and Ann would get some free time, it was just a small amount of time, but they used that time just for one thing, a very important thing.


    ''Training'' with Alex.


    Alex had been privately ''training'' them, helping them stronger whenever they got time, causing Alice and Ann to slowly get addicted to this ''training'' of Alex.


    They grew stronger very fast by this ''training'' of Alex, but it took them time to get used to that power.


    So, after one month, they were finally at the peak of EX-rank.


    But just when they thought that it was the end, that they had reached the top, Alex broke the news to them.


    "You have just stepped into the real path of power, girls."


    Alex just chuckled when he saw them all happy about reaching the EX-rank peak.


    They were happy that there would be no one stronger than them anymore.


    But their jaws were left hanging when Alex exined to them about the other world and stuff.


    Alice and Ann had some idea about the other words as Alex had told them about it, but they realized just how little they knew.


    "The rank after EX is Epic, and you will have to do some things to get to that rank, my ''training'' won''t get you there."


    They had their faces covered with a rosy blush when they heard those words but they soon focused on what Alex had to say, after all, they were being introduced to a brand-new thing.


    They realized that they were still a long distance away from reaching the top, but they smiled inwardly as they looked at Alex.


    ''I just want to be with you��.'' X2


    This was all that they wanted.


    Even if they wanted to grow stronger, one of the reasons behind it and the main motivation for them right now was to not be Alex''s weaknesses.


    So, they listened to Alex as he introduced the new world of power to them��


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 202: CHAPTER 202 – Aurora’s time after the gate incident.

    "Umm��" Explore more adventures at m,v l''-NovelBin


    A woman with long white hair and golden eyes groggily opened her eyes as she sat on the bed she was sleeping on.


    She had nice proportions, with everything right in its ce.


    Her breasts were at least D-cup which made her look like the dumb Big Sister-like character that is cute and clumsy.


    She was wearing a light blue backless dress that was hanging loose on her body but highlighting her curves at the same time.


    *Yawn*


    She yawned as she stretched her hands upward, causing the dress to tighten around her breasts, highlighting them even more, but the sad thing was that there was no one here to enjoy this view.


    ''What time is it��?''


    She thought inwardly as she looked at the clock on the wall in front of herself.


    *Yawn*


    She yawns again as she ces a hand in front of her open mouth.


    ''7: 35��?''


    She rued her eyes as she checked for the time again.


    ''Sigh��.


    Guess it''s time to move again.''


    The woman muttered inwardly as shezily got out of the bed.


    The woman was Aurora Oraclewing, and she had been enjoying her time alone.


    She had been visiting different ces, and doing whatever she wanted as there was no one strong enough to stop her or even see her.


    But the problem was that she had no ce to live after she separated from Argon.


    She didn''t like Argon, no doubt about it, but she would still ept that he was resourceful.


    Aurora never had to look hard for something, after all. She would just ask for whatever she wanted and Argon would provide her with it.


    But she also knew that Argon didn''t like doing that, listening to her demands.


    Still, it was not hard for her to find a ce to stay.


    Aurora smirked as she looked at the broken window of the room.


    ''Let''s go find another room to stay after I''m done visiting the ces I had decided on for today��''


    Aurora thought as she moved toward the window and then she jumped out of it.


    She was living in a room on the 20th floor of one of the best hotels in the Red Country.


    She had been doing this every day.


    She would enter one room that she found the best, sleep the night there, and then move out the next morning.


    Now some would ask: why move out?


    It was because the room is maintained and cleaned, and all of that is done in the morning around 8 am.


    This was something she observed in every hotel.


    She didn''t have money, and she didn''t want to steal either, so she just went on with whatever she coulde up with.


    However, she was really enjoying her time, unaware of the danger she was going to face soon.


    But as she jumped out of the window, she didn''t float, instead, she started falling down until a pair of 2-meter-widerge white wings appeared on her bare back.


    The wigs looked soft and fluffy to the touch but again as she shot up into the sky with a smile that shone brighter than the sun, no one was there to appreciate it.


    ''It''s so nice to have them back��.''


    Aurora muttered as she zoomed through the air.


    The feeling of cutting the wind without mana, the feeling of bnce she has while flying with her wings, and the feeling of finally being free gave her immense happiness.


    She spread her wings wider as she shot up into the clouds.


    She kept flying for a while until she reached a waterfall where lots of people were lining up to enter.


    It was one of the best tourist attractions in the Red Country.


    The Maharaja Fall.


    It was one of thergest waterfalls in the world and it was called ''Maharaja Fall'', ''Maharaja'' here means a King in simple terms.


    This waterfall was called the king of the waterfalls.


    Just like every other tourist spot, this one had a story behind it as well, but Aurora didn''t care about that.


    She jumped above the crowd and directly entered the area without a ticket or anything, after that, she deactivated her camouging ability.


    No one would stop her or point at her as no one can enter the area undetected, this area was guarded by A-rankers, after all.


    If somehow someone could enter, ignoring the security, then they are probably S-rank or higher raiders, and people tend to avoid offending them.


    But as she walked in, she saw the poster of Argon''s bounty.


    ''Where are you?''


    She wondered.


    Thest time she saw him was near the gate before he rushed off on his own.


    As she recalled that time, her mind drifted to what happened in the cave at that time.


    ......................


    (In the cave inside of the SS-ranked gate.)


    "You need to put a part of your energy, and your blood essence in it, do it fast so that it can make the best body for the current you!"


    Argon urged Aurora as he spoke the same thing he had already said twice before.


    "This is needed to make the body for you, I''m not lying!"


    Argon eximed as he looked at the altar that had sucked in the bodies of all of the raiders.


    "Do it, now!"


    Argon looked at Aurora and spoke with urgency.


    Aurora had been observing his expression while she tried to find any double meaning in his words.


    Argon couldn''t lie to her, right now, didn''t mean that he couldn''t twist the truth.


    "All right��"


    Aurora muttered as she moved forward and did what Argon said.


    She had observed Argon enough to tell that he was not lying (At least that''s how it looked to her).


    She failed to notice that just as she turned to do what he told her to, Argon heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''Phew��.''


    ''Good, looks like I won''t have to change the n.''


    Argon muttered to himself and it seemed like things were progressing toward the direction he wanted.


    Aurora cautiously pushed her energy into the altar and after she felt that nothing was wrong, she pricked her finger.


    Right now, she didn''t have a body, she was a spirit, but the blood essence still remained.


    It was the source of her bloodline after all.


    She didn''t need to prick her finger though, she could''ve just willed it and it would''ve happened, but she still did.


    However, just as she pushed a bit of her blood essence into the altar, her eyes widened.


    "You bastard!"


    She turned her head toward Argon with a snap, but all she found was him looking at her calmly as he parted his lips to speak.


    //// Author here: I will be opening a poll for Aurora being in the Harem, please make sure to vote. ////


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 203: CHAPTER 203 – Gate-Escape.

    Aurora felt all of her blood essence being sucked out of her the moment she tried to push a bit of it.


    This startled her.


    If all of her blood essences were sucked out of her, then she wouldn''t be able to ess the bloodline abilities of her.


    ''What did I miss?!''


    This was the first thought that came to her mind.


    What did she miss? What did Argon hide? How did he lie to her?


    She cursed Argon for the first time.


    "You bastard!"


    ''This is what I get for helping youe back in time?!''


    She gritted her teeth, but when she turned toward Argon, he replied calmly.


    "That is your body being built, of course, it''s going to have all of your blood essence."


    Aurora frowned.


    ''That''s true��''


    It made sense but��


    "Why didn''t you tell me if you knew about it?"


    Aurora still had a frown on her forehead.


    "You never asked."


    Argon just shrugged, but his words shut Aurora up.


    However, just as she thought that maybe it was her overthinking things the altar trembled.


    Aurora felt a strange pull on her soul, it was something she couldn''t move away from.


    She hurriedly looked toward Argon, but this time he was smiling.


    ''No��.''


    Aurora tried to resist but she was pulled into the altar.


    There was a long silence before the altar trembled again.


    *Sssssss*


    Gas was released from the center of the altar, and the surroundings were filled with it.


    Argon could see nothing no matter what he did, it was some kind of smokescreen released by the altar.


    *Tap**Tap*


    The sound of wet bare feet was heard, and Argon kept looking ahead before his eyes widened as he saw a fist heading right for his face.


    "Shit!"


    He tried to avoid it, but it was too fast and too close for him to do that.


    *Baam*


    He was sted off as he crashed onto the cave''s wall with a boom.


    "Argh��"


    Argon groaned as he stood up while wiping the blood leaking from his broken nose.


    "What was that for?!"


    He yelled as he looked ahead into the smoke, which was slowly fading away, leaving only a silhouette of a curvydy.


    (Aurora was with clothes on as she wore them while she was still inside the smoke.)


    "For not warning me about it."


    A t reply came from Aurora who now had a body, but just then.


    ''Argh!''


    Her eyes widened as she felt a stinging pain in her head.


    "We need to go now!"


    She eximed as she looked at Argon, causing his eyes to turn serious as well.


    Aurora''s ability reminded her about the predictions made before, and she had made a prediction before.


    In that prediction, they had to leave the cave before a certain amount of time passed, and right now, her ability was warning her about it.


    It was telling her that if she didn''t leave now, then it would be toote.


    "What are you staring at?! Let''s go!"


    Aurora yelled but Argon looked at Aurora and spoke.


    "What''s wrong?"


    He knew that if Aurora was reacting like that, then it was probably something bad, but he still wanted to know what it was.


    "The time is almost up, Misty should''ve reached them, if we don''t leave now, then we won''t be able to leave."


    Aurora spoke as she looked at Argon seriously.


    Argon''s body tensed before he nodded his head.


    He was still not ready to face Alex, he knew that he was not strong enough.


    He had yet to take the pill, after all, and something in the back of his said that he wouldn''t be able to win even after he reached EX-rank.


    "Let''s go."


    He nodded his head as both of them rushed toward the gate, but when they reached the gate, Argon stopped, and Aurora stopped as she saw him stop.


    "What is it?"


    She asked as she looked around cautiously.


    "Use your camouge skill on both of us before we go out.


    This will be thest help I will ask of you."


    Argon looked at Aurora seriously, and Aurora did the same.


    They looked at each other as Argon waited for Aurora''s answer and he finally got it.


    "All right, let''s go."


    Aurora nodded her head as she waved her hand and then walked ahead.


    Argon looked at his body and raised his brow in surprise.


    ''Even I can''t see myself��''


    He could feel himself perfectly, but he couldn''t see his body.


    "Don''t stay far from me or the effect of the skill will go off."


    Aurora reminded Argon and Argon quickly followed behind her.


    .....................��


    (Present)


    ''I still don''t know where he ran off to��''


    Aurora thought as she moved toward the waterfall.


    But then she shrugged.


    ''What does it matter to me?''


    Argon and her had nothing to do anymore, she didn''t care about what he did or where he went, she was not connected to him anymore, after all.


    She went ahead and sat on a bench and observed the waterfall.


    The waterfall was barricaded as it was considered dangerous because of the speed at which water was falling, but the stronger raiders still went in to enjoy their time.


    Aurora, however, was just here to enjoy the view, she coulde here to enjoy the waterter in the night. She didn''t want to go in right now as that would reveal her power and her standout.


    What she didn''t know was that she was already standing out with that ethereal look of hers.


    She was so used to camouging herself that she forgot what it was like when she used to roam on the streets.


    Aurora''s eyes sharpened as she felt something, but she didn''t say anything.


    She just stood up from her seat and walked away from the crowded area, into the forest around the waterfall.


    Aurora moved away because she saw two A-ranked raiders looking at her with their lust for her pouring out of their eyes.


    Just because she was unable to tell that she was the center of attention didn''t mean that she couldn''t tell what someone was thinking with the way they looked at her.


    So, she started walking away but those guys followed her from behind.


    She gritted her teeth as she went deep into the forest, and when she was deep enough for no one to be able toe here, she spoke.


    "Come out."


    Auroramanded and those two guys came out with an evil smile.


    "What''s this, you guided us here to let us enjoy you?"


    One of the guys asked as he licked his lips, while the other guy spoke.


    "Of course, you dumbass, what are you waiting for?"


    The other guy was already taking off his pants.


    The first guy smiled as he started to take off his pants as well, but then��


    *Woosh**Woosh*


    Two wooshing sounds of something moving at a very fast speed were heard before the sound of two low thuds was heard.


    *Thud**Thud*


    "Why would I invite you guys here? To kill you, of course."


    Aurora muttered before she sighed.


    "Sigh��."


    ''This spoiled my mood��''


    Aurora''s wing came out from her back and she flew up, ready to search for another room to stay at.


    Just like that, another one of Aurora''s days went on, but in the corner of her head, she wanted a ce where she could belong.


    A ce where she won''t have to break in, a ce where she could live normally.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 204: CHAPTER 204 – Alice and Ann’s Breakthrough 1.

    (Back to present)


    [You need to be very careful Alex, you can''t go looking at the mana particles, their movements, and whatnot.


    They are not you, so even a little damage to their mana flow can be disastrous for them.]


    Sophia reminded Alex for the second time, and Alex just like before nodded his head seriously.


    He knew that he couldn''t be careless or reckless right now as the ones who would be affected by it would be Alice and Ann.


    Doing something that could harm Alice and Ann was thest thing Alex wanted, so he looked at Alice and Ann, seriously before he ced his hand on their back.


    "Are you guys ready?"


    He asked, his voice oozing seriousness.


    Unlike his ever-rxed demeanor, right now he was fully focused on just one thing, and that was looking into Alice and Ann''s body.


    ''Their mana flow is messed up just like I had.''


    He looked inside them with his all-seeing eyes as hemented.


    "Are you guys all right?"


    But then he hurriedly asked in worry as he felt Alice and Ann''s body tremble the moment he looked into them.


    It was his first time doing this thing since he never got anyone to experiment it on, so he didn''t know what problem could arise.


    "��Yes." X2


    Alice and Ann exchanged a look before they nodded, indicating that they were fine.


    ''Phew��''


    Alex breathed a sigh of relief before he looked back into them.


    ''That was��. weird��'' X2


    Both Alice and Ann had the same thought.


    They had never felt so naked in front of Alex as they felt the moment he used his all-seeing eyes on them.


    But being like that in front of Alex, they felt like all of their secrets were open for him to see, they felt vulnerable, but it didn''t make them feel bad or anything, rather, they felt weirdly good.


    That was the reason for the tremble in their bodies, but they soon calmed down. Just like Alex, they knew that what was happening and what they were doing was very important��maybe the most important thing that happened in their lives till now.


    They were going to be introduced to a new world of power, a power so strong that the EX-ranked raiders they thought were the peak wouldn''t even be able to put a scratch on them.


    They were awed by the fact that there were people out there strong enough to level countries with punches.


    But that didn''t scare them; it just motivated them.


    ''Their mana is much less concentrated than mine��.''


    Alex, who was still looking inside of their bodies, muttered.


    ''I need to dilute my mana as well��.''


    Alex knew that what he was going to do needed him to have the same mana density as Alice and Ann at the same time, and it was really hard for even him.


    He needed to decrease the quality of his mana so that it could match with Ann and Alice at the same time, but the problem was that both of them had different densities as well.


    So, Alex had to maintain the density that matched Alice''s on one hand, while on the other hand, he needed to match Ann''s.


    Then all he had to do was transfer that maa into their bodies, respectively.


    ''It''s good that I bought the mana transfer skill earlier.''


    This isn''t a cultivation world where people would just transfer their qi into someone else''s body. Here, if you needed to transfer mana, then you needed a skill for that or very good control over mana.


    Alex had good control over Mana, but he didn''t want to take risks when it came to Alice and Ann.


    The mana transfer skill was a cheap skill with the rank of S.


    It was low-ranked and cheap because no matter what you do, you can''t use this skill on anyone till that person lets you ess their body without a shred of doubt.


    With that kind of restriction, of course, it would be cheap; it was very rare to find someone who trusts you without any question, after all.


    But Alex had the trust of both Alice and Ann; they trusted him more than he trusted himself, so he didn''t need to worry about anything.


    *Inhale*


    *Exhale*


    Alex took deep breaths and so did Alice and Ann.


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    "You guys can start and do just as I had said.


    As for the mana, I will have your backs."


    Alex spoke and both Alice and Ann nodded their heads.


    Alex looked at them both before he focused on Alice.


    He knew who was likely to make mistakes; unlike Ann, Alice was not very patient.


    ''This is going to be long��.''


    Alex knew that it would be long, especially since he couldn''t just help them make their mana veins, they needed to do it themselves.


    All he could do was keep supplying mana to them or terminate the supply and stop the process.


    The second option was in case they did something wrong or they were taking the wrong steps.


    Alice and Ann continued making mana veins just like Alex had told them to, while Alex kept an eye on both of them (Mostly Alice).


    Ann was someone patient enough to continue doing this thing for days, all of them knew that, but they also knew that Alice would never be able to do such a boring thing.


    Alice was the person who didn''t sign more than 10 files one after another as she found it boring to do the same thing again and again.


    When Alex told them about the process, Alice almost broke into tears.


    "I will never be able to get to Epic rank!!!"


    She didn''t even say that she would try her best, she directly backed away.


    Even if she wanted to do it with all of her mind, her body just wouldn''t do it.


    There was only one thing that she could do no matter how many times you asked for without getting bored, and it was ''training'' with Alex.


    But that was all, nothing else.


    She was the reason why Alex searched for different ways to help them.


    He searched a lot until he came across that skill called ''Mana transfer'', and just like that, he found a way to help Alice and Ann fasten the process a lot.


    [It''s going to take much longer than it did to you.]


    Sophia reminded him, and he nodded his head.


    ''I know, but what can I do?


    Nothing other than waiting and keeping an eye on them.''


    Like how a baby needs to learn how to walk on its own, they need to do this on their own as well.


    All he would do was support them like a crib that helps babies walk, but that was all.


    So, Alex just had to keep observing Alice, because he knew that the process was going to be too long for Alice.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 205: CHAPTER 205 – Alice and Ann’s Breakthrough 2.

    *Boom**Boom*


    Two loud booms were heard from the gym of Alex''s house, and the next second, every particle of mana in the surrounding started to get sucked in, but it happened for less than a second, so nothing happened, and no one noticed.


    "All right, take the mana I''m supplying and fill your veins to the brim.


    Try not to suck the mana from the surrounding.


    Also, tell me to stop once you are done filling your mana veins, I can''t focus on all of this at the same time."


    Alex spoke as he waved his hand and fortified the mana barrier, he had made around them to stop Alice and Ann from sucking every single mana particle from the surrounding area.


    Just one person breaking through Epic rank would be hard for nature to handle, after all, the mana in the air was still only strong enough to support SS-rank gates and maybe SSS-ranked at maximum.


    The speed at which an Epic-ranker sucked mana just after forming their mana veins is already the limit of nature, if any more than one, then it won''t be able to regenerate the mana in the air.


    That could lead to many disastrous oues, after all, nowadays, people need mana just as they need oxygen.


    So, Alex prevented that situation froming to pass.


    ''Wind barrier is not an option.''


    Alex knew that the wind barrier would not stop the suction, or maybe it would be sucked in as well as it was made of mana as well, but there was one thing that could stop it.


    ''Mana barrier.''


    A mana barrier is a barrier made by pure mana to protect and safeguard their users.


    It is something anyone could make with if they had solid control over their mana, it didn''t need one to have a particr elemental affinity.


    [It has its disadvantages, but overall, it''s a very good skill to learn.]


    Sophiamented as she looked at the mana barrier that Alex was fortifying.


    A mana barrier is not always the best option, for example: You are facing someone with Fire elemental attacks.


    In the case above, a water barrier would be better than a mana barrier.


    But let''s just say that a mana barrier is like the jack of all trades as it works for everything.


    It was one of Sophia''s most used skills, even when she was in her prime.


    Alex, right now, was focusing on the barrier while diluting his mana and supplying it perfectly to both Alice and Ann.


    It was not easy even for Alex, but he kept doing it for a while until it was finally over.


    *Crack*


    "Ah��"


    Alice looked at the floor that had cracked in wonder.


    The increase in power was a bit too much, so handling it was harder, that was the reason for the cracking sound.


    The cracking sound was made from the floor being caved in by Alice''s palm as she was trying to stand up by supporting the ground.


    Alice then looked at Alex with an embarrassed smile.


    "It''s natural to have some difficulty in controlling your strength-"


    Alex spoke with a smile as he patted Alice''s head, but Alex''s words were cut off by the sound of bare feet tapping the floor again and again.


    "It''s amazing��."


    Ann muttered as she did rapid hops on the spot.


    She was amazed by the power coursing through her body.


    ''It''s too powerful��.''


    She felt like she could destroy their house with a flick of her finger.


    ''No, I can blow the house away with the shockwave created by my movements��''


    Ann muttered inwardly, but then she felt two pairs of eyes looking at her.


    One pair of eyes were looking at her with pride and the look of appreciation which caused her to smile sweetly.


    But the other pair of eyes were looking at her as if she had done something impossible.


    ''Oh��''


    But it didn''t take her much time to understand the reason for that. The broken floor was not hidden from her sight, and it was broken with a palm since she could see a palm print.


    It was not hard to connect the dots after that.


    "Sigh��"


    Ann sighed as she saw Alice''s eyes looking at her as if she was an alien.


    But as always, Alex came in to save the day.


    "It''s fine, Alice.


    Ann is an assassin, her body movement and control are much better tha what you, as a mage, can have, not to mention that I trained her to be able to control her strength better."


    Alex patted Alice''s head as he looked at Ann.


    Alice nodded her head, but she felt a little disappointed in herself.


    ''I''m nothing special-''


    Her inner thoughts were paused when she heard Alex''s next line.


    "You, on the other hand, are a mage, on that I trained, one that I taught to have much better control over mana than anyone else.


    You should be able to control your mana effortlessly just like Ann can control her body, and that is something Ann won''t be able to do."


    Alex could tell what Alice would think in this situation so he told her what she was good at.


    Alice raised her brow as she heard Alex''s words and lifted her hand.


    She was a bit nervous that she might not be able to control her mana but her eyes widened the next second.


    *Fwoosh*


    Just as she thought about creating a fire de, it was in front of her.


    But the thing was that it took her less than a millisecond to get that ability activated, whereas before it would take around a second.


    This shocked her more than anything.


    "See, I told you."


    Alex who stood next to her shrugged with a smile.


    ''Hehehe��''


    Alice smiled as she giggled inwardly.


    Ann who was standing adjacent to them also smiled.


    Then she lifted her hand, trying to conjure a de but before she could��


    "Uh-uh, not here, dear Ann.


    We will have you practice and train better when we are in an open area."


    Alex shook his head with a smile as he held Ann''s write lightly, stopping her from trying to use mana.


    Ann looked into Alex''s eyes for a while before she spoke.


    "I really wanted to do it, but fine��."


    Ann sighed as she stopped trying to use her mana.


    She knew that she was not the best when it came to controlling mana like Alice, but she wanted to try it once.


    However, she also knew that Alex didn''t want to take risks inside the house, after all, a small slip could cause a lot of destruction as they were just too powerful right now.


    But just then a strange thought came to her mind, something she never thought would be possible, but it still came.


    ''If we have perfect control over our powers, will be able to defeat him��.?''


    Ann could feel that she was much stronger than before, and she also knew that she could do some new things with her power, so she hoped that maybe she could defeat Alex if she worked together with Alice.


    Now what would the result be?


    Only time will tell.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 206: CHAPTER 206 – ‘Guest’.

    "All right, let''s go and get you guys something to eat," Alex spoke as he saw Ann and Alice busy in their own thoughts.


    He could tell that they were excited about their new power, and they wanted to test it out as soon as possible, but��.


    ''Testing their powers can wait.''


    However, Alex was still shocked about one thing.


    He looked at Alice and nodded inwardly.


    [She didn''t break her concentration for even a second.]


    Sophiamented as if she could tell what was going through Alex''s head.


    But well, it was not hard for her, after all, she could feel what he was feeling, or more like she had a meter that would show his feelings statistically.


    She needed to keep helping Alex maintain his feelings till a certain limit, after all, that was one of her jobs.


    The thing she saw right now was pride and happiness as he looked at Alice, so Sophia could tell what he was thinking.


    ''Well, they always surprise me with something new��''


    Alex shrugged with a smile before he started walking downstairs with them.


    Alice, who everyone thought wouldn''t be able toplete the process without a single mistake, broke everyone''s expectations.


    She never stopped or did something that could harm the process, so Alex didn''t have to do anything other than supply them mana.


    However, there was something that no one other than Alice knew.


    ''I don''t want to do this anymore!''


    ''He did say that it''s fine even if I don''t get strong.''


    ''What''s the use of getting stronger anyway?''


    ''Alex will always be there to help me.''


    ''I can just be a good lover and love him the best I can, I can just devote my life to him.''


    Many such thoughts came into her mind again and again while she constructed the mana veins.


    Some people would think that this thing is being made a big deal about, but it''s Alice''s nature we are talking about.


    One can''t change their nature, but Alice still did the task that required her to go against her nature.


    It was like asking a fish toe out of the water.


    Alice had made up her mind to stop the process, but the feeling of the hand that was pressed against her back, the feeling of the gentle mana being transferred to her body, the feeling of care and worry from the eyes of Alex who was looking at her.


    All of this made it hard for her to quit.


    So, although she didn''t want to, she still did it, and she was more tha happy when it was finally over.


    Oh, and above all, she was hungry.


    She wanted to eat food made by Alex.


    No one knew about what Alice had done, no one knew that she did something that no one could do.


    Even Alice didn''t know, after all, she did that even without knowing, she did that for Alex, she didn''t want to disappoint him, or make him worried.


    But as they were walking downstairs, Alex paused.


    Alice and Ann saw Alex raising his brow, so they asked.


    "What''s wrong?" X2


    "Well, we have a guest, someone we know."


    Alex replied with an intrigued expression before he walked down the stairs.


    Alice and Ann exchanged nces before they followed behind.


    But just as they reached the hall on the ground floor they frowned their brows before they increased their speed and walked past Alex.


    They could see the ''guest'' and Noctura sitting face-to-face, with Noctura on full alert and ready.


    They could tell that Noctura was ready to pounce on the ''guest'' if she noticed even a single movement that she found to be inappropriate.


    Alice walked right in front of this ''guest''.


    "Give me one reason to not kill you."


    Alice spoke directly as she pointed to her palm which was burning with golden, yellow, and orange mes at the ''guest'' that Alex spoke about.


    Ann also stood right beside Alice.


    Noctura was already there from the start, she was supposed to guard the house, but the ''guest'' seemed to have something important to say, so she let them be.


    But Noctura still kept an eye on the said guest as she didn''t want to take risks.


    The only reason she didn''t do anything other than observe was that she didn''t know if this guest had something really important.


    Noctura also couldn''t disturb Alex as she knew that they were doing something important, so she decided to keep an eye on this person.


    But now looking at her mama and Alice being hostile toward this person, she knew that this person was not someone good.


    "Grrrr��."


    She growled as she looked at the ''guest'', but the ''guest'' seemed to be unbothered by any of this.


    "I wouldn''t havee here to pick a fight with you, Monarch.


    I know my limits and I know I''m not strong enough to harm a single hair of yours."


    The guest, who turned out to be Luna spoke.


    Luna had finally decided toe visit Alex and speak her mind.


    She couldn''t take it anymore.


    "Now you just gave me a reason to kill you."


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    Alice spoke as she pressed her palm forward, but Alex stopped her.


    "Wait a second, love.


    Let''s hear her out."


    Alex spoke as he looked at Luna, and he didn''t miss the glint that passed through her eyes when she heard him call Alice, "love".


    Ann just face-palmed as she looked at Alice.


    ''She just gave out Alex without even realizing it.''


    Alice, on the other hand, was not even focusing on Luna anymore.


    She was again in her dream world.


    Every time she heard Alex call her like that, she felt butterflies in her stomach, and she loved that feeling.


    "Un."


    She nodded her head with arge smile.


    "What do you want?"


    Alex looked at Luna and asked with interest.


    Before when he was helping Alice and Ann break through, he didn''t want to strain his mind by having his perception active as well, so he had deactivated it.


    ''Noctura can take care of anything that mighte at us.''


    That was his thought.


    Noctura was now early SSS rank, which she reached without doing anything other than resting the whole month, and there was no one in this world right now who could face her.


    Or maybe there are but they would note here.


    It''s not like Alex would just sit there if something really happened.


    But when the process waspleted, and they were returning back to eat something, Alex noticed Luna''s presence with his perception.


    Now he was sitting across from Luna and waiting for her answer.


    Luna looked at Alex, then she looked at Alice, Ann, and Noctura before she turned back to Alex.


    "Is there an extra room in your house?"


    Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura just looked at Luna in confusion.


    ''Where did thate from??''


    This was the question all of them had in their minds.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 207: CHAPTER 207 – Luna wants to stay.

    Luna had been living her life with an empty feeling inside her.


    No matter what she did, that feeling wouldn''t go away.


    But then one day she thought about Alex or Monarch, and just thinking about him made her colorless-looking life gain some color.


    She slowly started looking more at him, she started spending more of her time alone, talking with his photos, collecting his photos, and doing things by looking at his photos.


    Just thinking about Alex made her feel more alive than she was whenever she didn''t think of him.


    This all started when she was 100% sure that Alex and Monarch were the same.


    She came to this conclusion when she read reports about Alex''s past and present.


    She already knew who Alex was, and what his rtionship with Alice was, she also knew about the drastic changes in Alex.


    But what caught her attention was the way that Alex would somehow vanish from people''s sight, sometimes he would appear from between the crowd, and no one would know that he was there before.


    This made her have a single conclusion.


    ''Disguise ability.''


    It was rare to find people with disguise ability but it was not impossible.


    Luna could only think that Alex had a disguise ability.


    Then there was Monarch, the way he entered the association building without being noticed was something else.


    Now, they could be different.


    Monarch had a stealth ability, and Alex had a disguise ability.


    But then Alice and Ann came into the picture.


    ''They were simr to Alice and Ann.''


    The girls that came with Monarch had their body proportions simr to Alice and Ann, the only thing that didn''t match was the hair color.


    As for the face, it was covered with a mask so no one could tell.


    But as she thought about them as Alice and Ann, the picture became clearer.


    One of her men in Crimson Lotus told Luna about Alex''s ability to fly, and Luna was now 100% sure that Monarch was Alex.


    These many simrities are not possibly a coincidence.


    Her body would feel satisfied no matter if she talked about Monarch or Alex, this was another indication.


    But what she didn''t know was that it was not her body, it was her bloodline that was doing all this.


    Subi are very dependent on powerful males, they need them to grow.


    Luna was still not that high level, but if she reached a higher-level bloodline, she would be able to suck power out of people as well.


    But the subus inside of her still felt attracted to stronger males.


    Luna never found someone who could render her powerless as Alex did.


    If that was not enough to make Luna go crazy for Alex, then the celestial bloodline that Alex had was the final nail to the coffin.


    It was as if Alex was an object of worship for her but she wanted to love him at the same time.


    She was 100% sure that Alex was Monarch, but that didn''t mean that Alex would ept it, he might just kill her to hide his secrets, but she still decided to give them a surprise visit.


    It was hard for her to look just at his pictures now, and it was not enough for her.


    She wanted to see the real Alex, she wanted to breathe the same air as him.


    She wanted him to touch her, even if it was for beating her down.


    Luna just wanted to stay close to Alex.


    "Is there an extra room in your house?"


    So, she decided to get straight to the point.


    But it seemed like her question was not something that Alex, Alice, Ann, or Noctura could get the reason behind.


    "Ah, I guess I moved a bit too fast��"


    Luna muttered as her eyes brightened in realization.


    "Can you please answer his question?" Ann asked as she moved forward, leaving Alice who was giggling like a child, behind.


    Luna looked at Ann and smiled.


    Then she looked at Alice with a grateful light in her eyes.


    This made Alice who was giggling tilt her head with a frown.


    Everyone knew the reason for Luna looking at Alice like that, but Alice and Noctura didn''t.


    Luna might be 100% sure that Alex was Monarch, but Alice epting that fact or showing actions that epted that fact was enough to tell that Alex was Monarch.


    That was the reason Alex directly asked what she wanted even though she called him Monarch.


    Luna then turned back to face Alex and replied to his question.


    "I want to stay in this house."


    "So, you want to buy this house?"


    Alice asked in confusion.


    ''Was all that fuss for this?''


    However��.


    "This house is not for sale."


    Alex spoke.


    Alex somehow felt that Luna was asking for something else, but since she didn''t rify it, he went ahead with what it looked like.


    "Huh? No, I don''t want to buy it."


    Luna frowned as she hurriedly denied it.


    "I just want to live with you guys."


    She added, but those words caused the hall to go still.


    "What did you say?"


    Alice asked as she frowned deeper.


    ''I misheard?''


    But as she looked at Ann and Noctura looking at Luna with the same expression, she knew that it was not just her.


    "Why do you want to stay or live with us?"


    Alex asked calmly as he rxed on the sofa adjacent to Luna''s.


    "Because I love you."


    Luna didn''t beat around the bush and directly replied.


    Luna really did fall for Alex or more like Alex was the only thing she even liked or loved.


    The world was nothing in her eyes anymore.


    The sess she ran for so much was nothing in her eyes.


    Alex was the only thing in her eyes.


    Luna loved Alex, no doubt about it, but she was forced into loving him by her bloodline.


    Her bloodline was now looking for Alex, and it was making Luna lose interest in any other thing out there.


    But then again, the bloodline was also a part of Luna, and she could control it, but she didn''t.


    Maybe because she had a big image of Alex/ Monarch in her mind, maybe because she wanted to know more about him, or maybe because she fell for his looks, he was the most handsome man in the world after all.


    But Luna was surer about the fact that she loved Alex than the fact that the moon shines at night and the sun shines in the morning.


    However, did any of that matter to Alex?


    The answer was a big fat NO, the one with capital letters.


    "Should I say thank you for your love? Or should I say that it''s good to know that?"


    Alex turned toward Ann and asked it.


    Alice and Ann just smiled widely as they heard his words.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 208: CHAPTER 208 – Don’t Kick Me Out!

    A harem.


    Harem is a rtionship where one can have two or more love interests at the same time with all of them knowing about each other and living happily.


    Alice and Ann knew about it, and they were ready for it.


    They were the ones who wanted to make it in the first ce.


    ''We don''t deserve to have Alex all for ourselves, it would be too much for us.''


    This is what they thought.


    It was not like they didn''t want to be loved by him alone.


    They would be lying if they said that they didn''t want to be the only one Alex loves.


    They knew that if they were Alex''s only lover, the love that Alex could give them, the care that Alex could give them, and the protection that Alex could give them would be too much for them alone.


    A rtionship is about bnce, we love someone, and they love you back.


    If one loves the other a bit too much, and the other can''t do the same, the rtionship turns bad in one way or another.


    But even if they didn''t have a problem or so they thought, the moment they heard Luna''s words, they felt a pain in their heart.


    It was not the pain that would kill you, neither was it something that could cause harm, but it did make them a bit more aware of their feelings and their wants.


    However, when they heard Alex''s response, a wide smile married their faces.


    "Should I say thank you for your love? Or should I say that it''s good to know that?"


    "It''s good to know would be a better reply."


    Ann replied with a smile since Alex was asking her.


    "I see," Alex nodded his head, and then he turned toward Luna, who was sitting there with her body frozen.


    "It''s good to know."


    He said with a formal smile as if greeting a fan of his.


    Luna just looked at him dumbly.


    ''Is this a dream��?''


    She knew about her looks better than anyone.


    Luna knew that there were people out there dying to just get to talk to her, she also knew that there were people out there who would do anything just to make her look at them.


    But the way Alex just waved away her proposal shocked her.


    But then she rxed.


    ''It is him, after all, what did I expect?''


    Luna shook her head inwardly.


    The moment she thought about it, she sighed.


    Alex was not just some random dude who would die for her smile, he was Alex Matthew, the unofficial strongest raider in the world, and the guy who took away her heart.


    ''I would''ve been disappointed if it was not hard to get his heart.''


    Luna smiled inwardly, but then Alex spoke.


    "If that was all you had to say, then you can leave, we don''t have any interest in having a tenant here for now."


    Luna''s eyes widened as she heard those words.


    ''No! No!''


    ''I-I can''t go back like this!''


    ''I can''t stay away from him now!''


    ''Not after seeing him up close!''


    Luna started to panic as she heard those words.


    She was good just looking at Alex''s images and doing what she wanted as she looked at them, but now that she breathed the same air as him, now that she could smell the same him, now that she could stay close to him, she couldn''t go back.


    ''It will not feel the same!''


    She knew that the things that were enough to give her some sce in this world wouldn''t be able to help her anymore.


    "N-no! Don''t kick me out!"


    "Please!"


    She looked at Alice, Ann, Alex, and Noctura as she pleaded.


    There were tears forming in her eyes, and that shocked Ann and Alice a bit.


    ''Is she really serious��...?''


    This thought came to their mind for once, but then they shook their head and looked at Alex, waiting for his response.


    "Why?"


    Alex asked as he tilted his head.


    "Why should we not kick you out when you came uninvited and now you want to stay in this house?"


    Alex questioned again.


    Luna''s eyes looked around thinking for answers.


    She didn''t think it would be as simple as her asking them to let her stay here and them epting it with a warm smile.


    But she knew that any nning wouldn''t work in front of Alex, so she thought of going with the flow and making ns ording to it.


    How could she have known that the replies she would receive would simply be cutting off any chances for hereback?


    ''I should''ve expected it��.''


    Luna regretted noting up with any ns but at the same time, she knew that it wouldn''t have mattered anyway.


    So, she just spoke whatever came to her mind first.


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    "Because I love you!"


    She eximed the first word that came to her mind, but then��


    ''Shit!''


    She knew that it was not something that could help her in this situation.


    But she just spoke the first thing that came to her mind, she was panicking, after all.


    "And why does it matter?"


    Alex asked with a frown on his forehead.


    "I might sound narcissistic but I know that I''m the most handsome man in the world ording to many people, and there are many people out there who love me, girls and boys, every type of person.


    But just because they love me, doesn''t mean that they get to live with me, so what''s so special about you?"


    Alex stood up as he walked toward Luna.


    "Yeah, you''re are an SS-ranked raider, a strong one at that, but do you think I just take in any strong women?


    If that were the case then I would already have arge harem with 10s of strong girls out there."


    Alex saw that she was about to say something, so he spoke before she could say anything.


    He was now standing in front of Luna as he looked down at her, and honestly, it was intimidating for Luna, but it strangely made butterflies appear in her stomach.


    She felt like she was awakening something very strange because of Alex, but right now she needed to think of something very quickly.


    Her heart was beating very fast, and her mind was working at her full power.


    Luna was feeling the adrenaline rush in her body even though she was just working her brain at her maximum power.


    She kept looking for answers until she finally found one thing that could be used as rent to live here, at least for some time.


    ''Oh?''


    Alex raised his brow inwardly as he saw the change in air around Luna.


    Luna''s demeanor changed into that of confidence from the desperation she had earlier.


    But on the outside Alex kept looking down at Luna with a poker face.


    "So? You still have something to say, or should I show you the way to the front door?"


    Alex asked as he looked down at Luna who smiled as she looked up at him.


    "Yes, I have something to say."


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 209: CHAPTER 209 – We Can Let Her Stay Here.

    "Oh? Let''s hear it then."


    Alex raised his brow as he looked down at Luna with interest.


    He could tell that she had something in mind, and it seemed like she was quite confident about it, so he got interested.


    Alice and Ann also looked at Luna, however, unlike Alex''s interested gaze, they had a bit of hostility and cautiousness in their eyes.


    Alice and Ann unknowingly started showing hostility toward Luna from the moment they heard that she loved Alex.


    Cautious they were because Luna was not their friend, she could be considered something close to an enemy even.


    But the hostility that they were showing was not something they would''ve shown normally.


    However, among them, Alice was observing Alex as well, she wanted to get a read about his opinion.


    She knew that he was not going to take in anyone till they said yes, but she still wanted to gauge his intentions.


    Noctura, on the other hand, just stood in her ce as she looked at Luna with hostility oozing out of her eyes.


    ''I''m a friend of theirs.''


    This is what Luna had said to Noctura before, but it didn''t look like that, and Noctura, just like her master, hated liars.


    Luna didn''t care about any of that, she just looked at Alex and replied with a smile.


    "I will bring the Association under you."


    As soon as her words fell, Alice and Ann shook their heads as they looked at Alex whose eyes dimmed a bit.


    ''Authority is thest thing Alex wants��.'' X2


    Both of them knew this, and just as they had thought Alex''s interest in Luna''s proposal was deted the moment he heard her words.


    ''Sigh��.''


    Alex sighed in disappointment, but outwardly his expression still remained impassive.


    "You say that like you have the whole association under your control��."


    Suddenly Ann spoke while shaking her head.


    "Oh, believe me when I say that I have full control over the association."


    However, Luna just puffed her chest as she replied to Ann while looking at Alex from the corner of her eyes, expecting some kind of appreciation or at least a reaction, but all she got was the same poker face.


    ''Mou��.''


    Luna puffed her cheeks inwardly.


    Luna was a bit annoyed by the fact that Alex was so hard to impress, but that only ignited herpetitive spirit, after all, she is someone who prides herself in being a fast learner.


    She knew that sooner orter she would incite a reaction from Alex as she learned more about him.


    "Rich of you to say that when there have been at least 2 or three infights in the association, every week."


    Ann spoke as she looked at her tab that appeared in her hand out of nowhere (From her storage ring, of course).


    "I didn''t think the advisor and the secretary of the guild master of the great Crimson Lotus guild wouldn''t be able to tell the reason for that��."


    Luna sighed as she looked at Ann in disappointment.


    Then she turned toward Alex, smiled sweetly, and questioned.


    "You don''t think the same as her, right?"


    Alex looked into her for a while before he turned toward Ann and smiled gently.


    "It''s to make people think that the association is weak because of all the infighting going on, and it''s still not worth their attention.


    This will give them more time to build up power."


    Alex''s words made Ann''s eyes shine in realization.


    ''Huff��''


    But then she huffed in annoyance inwardly.


    ''Smartass��''


    Ann knew that Luna was much cleverer than her, after all, Luna was the one who brought the almost-fallen association back on its feet.


    Even after the press conference where things looked unfavorable for the association, they came out of it, by sacrificing a part of their savings.


    Yeah, they suffered losses, but in the end, the situation did turn out to be better than before.


    They even apologized to the Crimson Lotus guild in public, elevating their image higher than before.


    ''But it''s still annoying��''


    Ann knew all that but being one-uped by Luna felt humiliating to her.


    However, when she heard Alex''s next words, her mood automatically lifted.


    Alex who exined the reason to Ann then turned back toward Luna who was looking at Ann with a smug smile and spoke without any emotion in his voice.


    "Try to downgrade my woman once again, and you''ll find yourself really being kicked out of the house."


    Luna''s smugness vanished like it had never been there before she quickly bowed her head toward Ann and spoke out in an apologetic tone.


    "I am sorry about my earlier behavior."


    Luna knew that she wouldn''t get anywhere near Alex if she still showed her pride in front of them.


    Especially in front of Alice and Ann, who were in a position she wished to be.


    "It''s fine."


    Ann replied as she now had a smug smile on her face.


    Luna could see it clearly, and she felt like she was being pped in public, but she just kept smiling.


    After that, there was a long silence in the room.


    The situation became awkward after Alex scolded Luna.


    Luna had already shown what she could provide in exchange for just letting her live here, and it would''ve been a good negotiation, but she went ahead and pulled a stunt that spoiled Alex''s mood.


    Luna''s body was tense, by now she had realized that the association was not actually a very enticing offer for Alex.


    ''I will offer my body to you as well.''


    She wanted to say that, but she knew that she would just be cutting thest string that held her here.


    Alex could see all that, but he didn''t say anything, instead, he turned toward Alice and Ann.


    "What do you guys think of her offer?"


    He left the decision for Ann and Alice to make, after all, he wasn''t going to let Luna live here if they were ufortable.


    Ann and Alice looked at Alex, then looked at each other.


    They nodded their heads at each other, and Alice was about to say something, but Ann held her wrist, stopping her.


    Alex tilted his head in confusion.


    ''What''s going on?''


    Ann''s actions confused Alex.


    ''What is it?''


    Alice was the same, she was confused as well.


    But Ann just tightened her grip around Alice''s wrist as she looked at her and nodded while blinking her eyes.


    ''Trust me.''


    Ann muttered inwardly but Alice nodded as if she could hear it.


    "We can let her stay here."


    However, Ann''s words shocked everyone who was present in the room.


    Be it Luna, Alice, Alex, or Noctura, all of them were shocked, even if it was for different reasons.


    "What?!"


    Alice eximed in a disbelieving voice while Alex just looked at Ann since he knew she was going to exin why she wanted Luna to stay.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 210: CHAPTER 210 – Why are you interested?

    Ann had been observing Alex for a while, or it''s better to say that from the moment Luna entered.


    Ann knew that Alex had this strange interest in Luna.


    She knew about that from the moment Alex had seen Luna.


    It was quite apparent to her that Alex was interested in Luna.


    Now, he was not romantically interested in Luna, she knew that, but he was interested nheless.


    So, when Luna offered the Association in exchange for letting her live with them, Ann started thinking of things differently.


    ''We have Maximus to help us out in the political stuff, but wouldn''t it be good to have power of our own?''


    Ann knew that Max could help them with almost everything rted to politics and all, but having an Association under you was different.


    To top it off, they will get apetent subordinate like Luna.


    Although Ann didn''t want to ept it, she knew that Luna was better at political strategies than her.


    That could be useful to them since they don''t like getting involved with politics, but it is important as well.


    So, if they could have Luna as their subordinate, they could manage the political problems as well.


    "What?!"


    So, when Ann heard Alice''s shocked voice, she calmly turned toward Alice and spoke.


    "Trust me on this, it would be better for us."


    "I- fine, but at least tell me why you want to keep her here."


    Alice was about to say something but as she looked into Ann''s eyes, she could see that Ann didn''t seem to be confused about anything.


    Ann was confident about whatever she was doing, and Alice knew that Ann would never be this optimistic if she didn''t have a reason to be.


    Luna who was shocked by the sudden support from Ann was also looking at her curiously.


    ''Thank you very much!''


    Inwardly, however, she was thanking Ann with all of her heart.


    Luna had a feeling that if Ann didn''t support her as she did, then she wouldn''t even have a chance to stay here.


    How could she have known how true her feelings were?


    If Ann and Alice didn''t wish for Luna to stay then Alex wouldn''t have let Luna stay here, no matter how much interested he was in Luna.


    Alex smiled inwardly when he heard that Ann wanted Luna to stay.


    But there was Ann''s reasoning that was still left for them to hear, and he had an idea of what that could be.


    After that, if Alice agreed after listening to Ann''s reasoning, then good, Luna could stay, but if she didn''t then Luna could only return back to the association empty-handed.


    [Why are you interested in that lesser subus, anyway?]


    Suddenly, Sophia asked Alex curiously.


    Sophia was aware of the interest that Alex had for Luna, she could tell that much.


    ''I don''t know��''


    However, Alex''s reply confused her.


    [You don''t know why you''re interested in her?]


    ''No, not like that, I know why I''m interested in her, but I don''t actually know the reason for it?''


    Alex replied unsurely.


    [All right, tell me what you know.]


    Sophia knew that there would be many things that Alex would have a problem with since he has powers that are way out of his reach right now, and the things happening around him could be rted to any of that.


    Sophia''s job was to check whether those things were good for him or bad for him, so she asked Alex to borate.


    ''It is my bloodline,'' Alex replied as he looked inside his body.


    [Bloodline? What did it do?]


    ''It seems very interested in Luna''s bloodline, I feel like it wants me to have that.''


    Alex replied but he was just guessing since he was still not sure.


    [Oh, if that''s the case then you should listen to your bloodline.


    They can sense things that even I can''t sense, after all, they are much closer to the bloodline than me.]


    Sophia nodded her head and replied.


    [But what are you confused about?]


    Luna could sense interest and confusion in Alex''s mind, this made her ask that question.


    ''Well, if my bloodline wants me to have that bloodline, then should I just kill her and plunder her bloodline?''


    Alex questioned as he looked at Ann who was about to open her lips to speak.


    [I can''t say anything here because I don''t know what your bloodline wants, but I can tell you that the celestial incubus bloodline won''t harm you.]


    ''Well, that is the reason why I''m interested in her.


    I''m not sure what my bloodline wants, so I want to keep her close, maybe my bloodline will give me some other clue.''


    Alex concluded.


    [That''s a good idea or the best you could do right now.]


    Alex could just go ahead and kill Luna, but if that was not what his bloodline wanted, then he would''ve killed her without a reason.


    "First of all, she is��. Clever."


    Ann spoke and although herst word was low in voice and it sounded forced, everyone heard it.


    Luna just smiled proudly as she heard Ann''s words, while Alex and Alice just raised their brows.


    "Then there is the thing that having the Association under our control would be better for us, after all, more power is never bad."


    Ann spoke as she looked at Alice.


    "But do we have to take the risk of keeping an enemy close to us, just for these things?"


    Alice asked.


    "I''m not an enemy��."


    Luna tried to defend herself, but she shut her mouth and raised her hand in surrender when Alice red at her.


    "We can just make it so that she can never harm us or reveal anything about us��."


    Ann spoke with a mysterious smile as she turned toward Alex.


    Alex smiled as well.


    "How?" Explore more adventures at m,v l''e-NovelBin


    Alice was still confused.


    "Let me call Max."


    Alex spoke with a smile and Alice''s eyes brightened with realization.


    "Yes! How could I forget?"


    Alice eximed with a smile.


    Luna was now confused.


    She was still doing fine till Alice asked that question since she could understand the conversation, but now she was confused.


    Then she heard Max''s name.


    Although she knew who Max was, she didn''t know that Alex was close enough to him that he called him Max.


    But she still didn''t get what Max could do in this situation.


    However, just as Alex was about to call Max, his phone rang.


    Alex who was about to pick up his phone which was kept next to the TV in the hall, raised a brow as he saw the number on the phone.


    "Speak of the devil."


    He muttered with a smile.


    His words were not loud but they were loud enough for everyone in the room to hear and his words caused them to be a bit surprised as well.


    ''Talk about timing��''


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 211: CHAPTER 211 – Call From Max & Lily.

    The name that was showing on Alex''s phone right now was "Family Man".


    That''s what Alex named Max as.


    Alex didn''t keep him on ringing as he picked up the phone and epted the call.


    "Hell-"


    "Hello, big brother!"


    Alex was about to say hello, but his voice was cut out by the cheerful voice of a girl.


    "Hm? Who''s this?"


    Alex feigned confusion.


    "Mou��. I know that you know who it is��"


    Lily on the other side of the phone puffed her cheeks as she replied with a pout.


    "No, I don''t know."


    Alex continued to pretend.


    "Come on, Lily, give me the phone."


    Just then, another voice was heard from the background.


    It was Max who was asking for his phone that Lily snatched from his hand when he was dialing Alex''s number.


    "No."


    Lily sternly replied to Max and Max raised his hand in surrender and backed away.


    "You heard it, right?"


    Lily asked Alex and Alex replied I confusion.


    "Yes, I did, but you still haven''t answered my question."


    "It''s me, Lily!!"


    Lily was now getting annoyed.


    "Lilly who?"


    Alex asked again.


    "Lily steel!"


    Lily replied as she folded her hands.


    "I don''t recall anyone I knew had that name��."


    Alex muttered to himself, but Lily could hear it loud and clear on the other side.


    "Huff, I don''t want to talk to you now!"


    She spoke with her cheeks puffed and tears forming in her eyes.


    Alex who could guess what was happening finally decided to end the y.


    "All right, all right, I know who you are, you are the cutest girl I have ever met, how can I not know you."


    Alex spoke gently with a smile, and Lily who had her cheeks puffed wiped the tears that were about toe out of her eyes and muttered.


    "Really?"


    "Really. Why would I lie to you, Lily?"


    Alex replied with a smile, and Lily started giggling.


    "Hehehe��"


    "So, what are you up to?"


    Alex asked and Lily just realized that she forgot the main reason for the call.


    "Ah, Daddy wanted to call you for something, but I snatched the phone."


    "Oh? Do you n on giving the phone back to him?"


    Alex asked as he raised his brow.


    The sounding out of the phone''s speaker would be low for normal people to hear since it was not on speaker, but for SS-rank and above raiders, it was an easy feat.


    So, everyone, from Max to Luna, could hear the talk.


    Max could hear it better since his phone was on speaker.


    ''Aren''t they a bit too close for someone who is not even in an alliance?''


    Luna thought dubiously.


    To the world, Crimson Lotus Guild and Steel Family are just acquaintances, nothing else.


    The meeting they had at Damien''s caf�� was about something personal.


    No one knew about anything that went down there, and no one would ever know since everyone who knew about it was already in a contract made by Max.


    Max, on the other hand, spoke as soon as he heard Alex''s words.


    "See, he wants to talk to me, can you give me the phone now, princess?"


    Max asked with a smile but then Alex raised a brow.


    "When did I say that I would prefer talking to an old man over the cutest girl in the world??"


    Alex asked in a confused voice and a vein appeared on Max''s forehead.


    *Giggle*


    Grace who just entered the room with some snacks giggled as she heard Alex''s words.


    "He wants to talk to me, also, didn''t you let Mom talk to Alice sis before, just tell me what you want to say, and I will tell him."


    Lily spoke stubbornly.


    But Max who heard those words remembered the thing that he had to talk about and became serious, even Grace who was giggling now had a serious expression.


    ''Hm?''


    Alex could feel the tension on the other side once he noticed the silence of Max and Grace.


    He could tell that it was something serious, so he was about to tell Lily to give the phone to Max but Max spoke before he could say that.


    "Just tell him to look at the report I sent him."


    "Daddy wants you to look at the report he sent you."


    "Thank you, Lily."


    Lily conveyed the message, and Alex thanked her gently even though he had already heard Max''s words.


    "It''s my pleasure, hehe."


    Lily just giggled with a smile.


    Alice and Ann who heard those words looked toward Alex, Luna did the same but she was looking at Alex with an expression that was trying to hide some crazy expression.


    ''He likes kids! He likes to y with kids! He wants me to have his kids!''


    Luna was busy with her own dreams, though she herself knew that they were just dreams and nothing more.


    ''Not for long��.''


    Luna was fullymitted to getting Alex''s heart, and that was the reason she wanted to live here.


    Alex, on the other hand, swiped through his mobile and opened the mail app, and then he opened the file that was sent by Max a minute ago.


    ''He sent it the moment Lily took the phone from him.''


    Alex chuckled inwardly.


    Alex could tell that Max knew that Lily was not going to give the phone back to him, so he sent the file in advance.


    "Oh?"


    Alex let out a surprised voice, but Alice and Ann became serious, even Noctura became serious.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura knew that there were not many things that could surprise Alex, and if something did surprise him, then it could be either good or bad.


    From the tone of his voice, it didn''t seem like a happy surprise, it just sounded like a normal surprise, like he was not expecting something.


    Luna, however, was now confused as to why the atmosphere suddenly turned serious.


    "Lily, tell your dad that I got the file and I would like to meet him at my house."


    Alexmented as he looked through the file.


    "Ok! Daddy, Big brother said that he got your file and he wants you to meet him at his house- wait!


    We are going to Big Brother''s house!"


    Lily realized mid-sentence what Alex''s words meant and she started jumping around happily.


    Unlike the first time they met, Lily did not feel anything other than closeness toward Alex, and during thest month, Alex and Lily met two or three times.


    They yed some board games and other things, and Lily was nowpletely open to Alex.


    As Lily was jumping around in happiness, she let go of the phone which gave Max a chance to talk.


    "Hmph!"


    Lily noticed that just turned her head away with a ''hmph'', but then she started jumping again as she ran to her room to pack her things.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 212: CHAPTER 212 – First SSS-Ranked gate.

    ''What the��''


    Max was left wide-eyed by Lily''s behavior.


    "What about our permission??"


    Max asked out loud, but he got in reply was the sound of a door being mmed.


    Max could guess what Lily was going to do, it was not hard to tell since she was humming ''Time to pack my bag, time to pack my bag��'', again and again.


    *Giggle*


    Grace giggled again when she saw Max''s dumbfounded expression, but then Max turned toward her with a nk expression.


    "What''s funny?" He growled in frustration.


    "Nothing."


    Grace suppressed her giggle.


    ''This father and daughter pair really know how to make peopleugh.''


    Grace giggled inwardly.


    Max wanted to say more but then he realized that he still had the phone in his hand and he was missing the main this that he wanted to do.


    Grace also noticed that they got diverted from the main thing and her face turned serious again just like Max.


    Both of them looked at the phone before Max spoke.


    "Sorry about that."


    Max apologized since he was the one who was wasting time.


    "It''s all right, hearing an old guy being made fun of sounds good enough to not mind the dy."


    Alex just waved it off, and although Max had another vein pop up on his head, he took a deep breath and calmed down.


    He needed to discuss something very serious.


    "What do you think?"


    Max asked.


    "My guess is the same as yours, it is the first SSS-rank gate."


    Max''s face turned somber as he heard Alex''s reply.


    ''This is not what I wanted to hear��''


    Max wished that Alex would''ve said otherwise, he wished that Alex said that it was not something like that, and it was just a special gate. But he also knew that it was what it was, and no one could change that.


    The file that Max had sent to Alex contained the photos of a gate in Violet Country.


    Unlike any gates seen before, this gate was golden in color, and there was nothing around it that could tell us about the gate.


    The gate in the picture was 10 meters in radius, which was thergest gate found to date.


    But the ones who saw that gate didn''t want to believe that it was an SSS-ranked gate.


    Everyone always thought that the rank gates that could go highest was S, but then SS ranked gates appeared, and people somehow still epted it.


    There were some predictions for the SS rank gate before, so people still got over the fact that one rank over the SS rank exists.


    "The gates follow the color of the rainbow, so once the color sequence isplete, there will be no higher rank."


    This was what people had predicted.


    The F-ranked gate, which was the lowest rank waspletely ignored.


    "Maybe it is like a trial before entering the colored sequence, so it must not be important."


    People came up with theories that would match their convenience, so they never thought that if there could be one color out of the sequence, then what about more of them?


    No one gave it much thought until now, now they were all afraid thinking if there was even a limit.


    The ones who knew about the new SSS ranked gate already run away from the country, they didn''t want to stay there just to die, in the end.


    Max was feeling gloomy right now because other than his family''s force, every other major force had run away from the Violet Country.


    ''Ran away like cowards!''


    Max grunted inwardly but then again, he calmed down.


    He didn''t know why, but he felt that Alex could solve this problem.


    By now, Max was sure that Alex was an SSS ranker, and the same goes for Alice and Ann.


    From the moment he saw the three of them, he knew that the three of them were stronger than an SS-ranker is supposed to be, but now he knew why he felt that.


    ''Because they are SSS ranked.''


    Max could only hope that three SSS rankers would be enough to clear the gate.


    "What do you think we should do?"


    Max asked from the other side of the phone while Alex looked at Luna, Alice, and Ann, who were standing wide-eyed after hearing his words.


    Noctura was not actually focusing on the gate news as her focus was on Luna, and on observing each and every more on hers.


    ''SSS-rank gate already?!'' X3


    This was what Luna, Ann, and Alice were thinking.


    It''s not even been a long time since the first SS-ranked gate appeared, and all of them felt that this pace was a bit too fast to follow.


    ''Is there even an SSS-ranked raider in this world?''


    Luna questioned herself inwardly.


    If one wanted to clear SSS ranked gate, then they needed SSS-ranked raiders, after all, there was no way that SS-ranked raiders could clear an SSS-ranked gate.


    At least not until there were at least hundreds of SS rankers.


    Then her eyes happened to meet the calm and rxed eyes of Alex, it was only for a second but it did meet.


    ''Ah��''


    Then she realized.


    ''How strong is he��.?''


    Luna knew that Alex was very strong, but even SS rankers were very strong for S rankers.


    So, was he just an SSS ranker who looked very strong to Luna, or was he stronger than that?


    ''Is there even a rank higher than the SSS rank?''


    ''If there is, then does that mean that there are gates with higher rank than SSS rank, as well?''


    Luna got busy thinking about these kinds of stuff, she failed to notice Alex''s smile when he saw her expression turn contemting from that of shock, fear, and uncertainty.


    "Hm, as I said before,e to my house, we''ll talk about it here."


    Alex replied to Max''s question, but then Max curiously spoke.


    "I''m not saying that I don''t want toe to your ce, but is there a reason for you to invite me there?"


    "Yes, I need your help with something."


    Alex didn''t hide it and said that he needed Max''s help with something.


    ''Oh?''


    Max on the other side of the phone raised his brow and so did Grace.


    "I wille to your ce in 48 hours."


    Max didn''t ask what help Alex needed, it was the first time Alex asked for help, after all.


    He was curious about what help Alex could want, but that''s all, his main focus right now was the SSS-ranked gate.


    Alex hung up the phone after that.


    ''Isn''t it a bit too soon for the SSS-ranked gates to appear?''


    Alex asked inwardly, and Sophia replied with a sarcastic question.


    [And who do you think is responsible for that?]


    ''Ah, I see, I see��''


    Alex nodded inwardly as he recalled what Sophia had said to him after he had cleared the SS-rank gate with Wyvern as the hidden boss.


    Read new adventures at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin


    Then Alex turned toward the girls and went to discuss the file that Max had sent, as for Luna��.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 213: CHAPTER 213 – Who are they, now?

    A vote will be going on for Aurora in the Auxiliary chapter.


    Be sure to vote guys.


    Her picture would be there in thements, so you can take you time to decide it.


    (Don''t take too long though, I will be closing the voting in 2 days!)


    .....................


    "Come back in 48 hours, and bring whatever stuff you want to bring with you."


    "Huh?"


    Luna could only make a confused voice as she heard Alex''s words, the next thing she found out was herself floating toward the main door and then being dropped on the doormat.


    "So cruel��"


    She muttered.


    "Grrr��"


    Luna smiled when she heard Noctura''s growling from the inside, now fully aware that her words reached everyone inside.


    "I''ll be back!"


    She eximed before she moved toward the car she came in.


    ............��..


    "Are you really sure about keeping her here?"


    Alex asked again after Luna left the house.


    His question was not directed at any one of them, his question was for all of them, even Noctura.


    Alex already knew the answer, but he was still asking it.


    Alice looked at Ann, and Ann nodded her head sincerely.


    ''Trust me.''


    Ann spoke inwardly.


    "Sigh��. Yeah, we are fine with her staying here."


    Alice spoke with a sigh.


    She didn''tpletely like the idea of Luna staying here, but then again, what was she afraid of?


    Could Luna even touch their hair?


    2 months ago, yes, she could''ve harmed them, even if it was just a little, but right now? Not even in her dreams.


    Both Alice and Ann were Epic rankers, and even if they were unable to control their powerspletely, they could still kill Luna 1000s of time without much effort.


    As for Alex��.


    ''Sigh��.''


    They could only sigh at Luna''s luck if she was nning something against Alex.


    "What about you, pup?"


    Alex then looked at Noctura and asked for her opinion.


    "I don''t like her, but she can stay because Mama wants her to stay, I will just keep an eye on her while she stays here."


    Noctura replied as she looked at Alex seriously, although it just made her look cuter to Alex.


    "What a good child you are."


    Alex bent forward and patted Noctura''s head, causing her to purr in satisfaction.


    Noctura might still match the size of a stray dog, but her actual height was 2 meters, and her length was 4 meters, not including her long and fluffy tail.


    Noctura now looked bigger than her real mother, who was an S-ranked beast, but she preferred a smaller size since it was less noticeable and she could avoid attacks with much more ease if she didn''t have arge body.


    Noctura''s voice was also now more feminine, but unlike before when she was turning smarter, after living in the wild, her brain was developing more toward her battle senses, and less toward her IQ.


    It was not that she was not smart now, she was, but she was just not using it, she was using all of her brain power to get better at fighting.


    "All right then, since you guys don''t have a problem with her staying here, we should decide on which room we are going to give her."


    "Oh, yes, I think��.."


    Just like that, they started discussing which room they would let Luna stay in while Noctura went ahead and sat between Alex''s legs and rested her head on hisp.


    Alex just smiled and started caressing her head.


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    ..............


    "Who are they, now?"


    Alice stood at the front door of their house with her arms folded in front of her breasts, making them look bigger while tapping her feet on the ground continuously.


    One thing was clear from her face, she was annoyed.


    "Oh, they are just my closest subordinates, don''t worry though, they won''t even talk if I don''t tell them to."


    Luna who was standing with fourdies in ck skin-tight dresses spoke as if everything was chill.


    "That''s not the problem, dammit.


    Who told you that you could bring your subordinates??"


    Alice asked with annoyance visible on her face.


    "He did."


    However, Luna''s reply was like pouring water on Alice''s head.


    "Alex did?"


    Alice looked inside the hall where Luna was pointing as she muttered in confusion.


    Alex was sitting with Ann standing behind him and Lily on his left side. He was chatting with Max and Grace about this and that, and telling Max what he wanted his help with.


    However, he was still listening to Alice and Luna''s conversation, in fact, everyone in the room other than Lily was listening to it, even though they were talking with each other.


    So, when Alex heard Luna''s words, he frowned a bit.


    "I don''t remember him saying that."


    Alice looked back at Luna with a frown.


    "He told me to get my bring whatever stuff I wanted to bring and they are my belongings, so I just did what he asked me to."


    Luna justified her actions but her reason just made Alice angrier, however, before she went ahead and sted a hole in Luna''s face, Alex moved.


    "It''s fine, we have rooms here for many people, however, I don''t think she would need a separate room to keep her ''belongings'' in.


    So, it''s fine, she''s still just living in one room."


    Alex who was sitting on the sofa with Lily clinging to him was now standing right beside Alice.


    This action stunned everyone present.


    Other than Alice, Ann, and Noctura, of course.


    Max and Grace didn''t even know where Alex was until they heard his voice.


    They snapped their heads toward the direction and their eyes widened in shock.


    ''When did he get there?!''


    For a second they thought that Alex disappeared or was using some stealth ability to hide himself.


    They thought that he must be pranking Lily, but that was only till they heard his voice.


    Luna was not less shocked, but she was more awed.


    ''I knew he was much stronger than anyone could even guess.''


    Luna smiled inwardly, proud of herself for choosing to love Alex.


    Luna knew that the speed at which Alex moved was not something a person with SSS rank would ever be able to move at.


    The fourdies however were frozen in shock.


    They were instinctively about to attack Alex the moment he appeared beside Alice, but looking at his divine looks and hearing his calm and soothing voice rxed their bodies.


    One of them however was more shocked than anyone else present here.


    ''How is it possible?!''


    The one among the four that looked the quietest was still frozen in shock and her eyes were as wide as they could be.


    Alex noticed her exaggerated reaction as well, but he didn''t think too much about it.


    "Right?"


    Alex then asked questioned Luna, breaking her out of her thoughts.


    "Y-yes, I won''t ask for an extra room," Luna replied, but she stammered a bit.


    "Good, let''s go inside then, we need you to sign some contracts before we let you live here."


    Alex nodded his head and walked in while he held Alice''s waist and pulled her along with him.


    Alice didn''t shy away either, she moved closer and walked inside with him.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 214: CHAPTER 214 – Luna signs the contract.

    A vote will be going on for Aurora in the Auxiliary chapter.


    Be sure to vote guys.


    Her picture would be there in thements, so you can take you time to decide it.


    (Don''t take too long though, I will be closing the voting in 2 days!)


    .....................


    "W-wow! Big Brother, how did you do that?!?!"


    Just as Alex was returning to his seat, Lily, who had been stunned for a while since Alex vanished from her sight even though she was looking at him, eximed as she ran toward him.


    Alex smiled as he saw Lily who was now standing in front of him with stars in her eyes.


    ''This cunning little brat��''


    He knew what she was trying to do, she was trying to make him talk about it, after all, unlike the first time they met, by now, she knew almost everything about raiders.


    Lily even knew how strong which rank could be, but she never heard of any raiders being able to do what Alex did, so she wanted to know if it was a skill or something else.


    Lily knew that Alex would answer her curiosity, she had this feeling, so she decided to ask it. She had also heard her dad asking the same question, only to get a mysterious smile from Alex every time.


    So, she wanted to show him that she could do what he was never able to do.


    Lily wanted to show that she was better than him, she was still a bit salty about Max taking the phone away at that time, after all.


    Alex could tell what Lily was doing, and so could Max.


    But Max didn''t feel bad, rather he was praising Lily.


    ''Good job, cupcake!''


    He also knew that Alex would answer Lily, after all, Alex had never said no to her, yet.


    "Sorry Lily, but to get this answer, you must grow stronger��."


    Alex spoke with a fake sad expression as he patted Lily''s head, but his answer caused Max to sigh inwardly while Grace just shook her head at all of this.


    Luna who was now sitting on one of the sofas in the hall with the four girls standing behind her, also sighed.


    Not like she expected an answer from Alex in the first ce, but she still had a bit of hope.


    "Grow stronger?"


    Lily tilted her head.


    She dropped the question after she saw the sad and apologetic expression on Alex''s face.


    Lily didn''t like that expression, even if it was just fake.


    "Yes, tell your father to help you grow stronger, he will be able to help you."


    Alex then dumped all of the iing questions and requests that Lily was going to present over to Max.


    ''What?!''


    Max yelled inwardly just after Alex''s words fell, the time slowed down for him, he could see in slow motion as Lily turned toward him.


    He could see her expression morphing from the curious one to the abandoned puppy expression.


    Max could see every change in her expression in slow motion, he could see how Lily controlled her expression to such precision that even her tears just stayed in her eyes, enough to make her eyes look like she was about to cry, but not a drop of tear fell.


    ''Sigh��.''


    Max knew at that moment that he now had to help his daughter get stronger.


    ''It''s your fault!''


    He red at Alex while gritting his teeth.


    ''Do I look like I care?''


    Alex just shrugged his shoulders and moved to where he was sitting.


    "Ann,e and take a seat."


    Alex spoke as he had the seat on his left side empty since Lily was now sitting on Max''sp with her puppy eyes expression.


    "Un."


    Ann nodded her head and gracefully sat beside Alex.


    "Can you get me 4 more copies of that contract?"


    Alex then questioned Max, and although annoyed at Alex for giving Lily the idea of growing stronger, Max still nodded in acknowledgment.


    Max and Alex, both annoy each other a lot, that''s just how they are, though it''s only Max who finds himself getting more annoyed in the end, but that''s all in between them.


    When it involves someone other than them, then they would be like professional partners in business.


    Luna looked at all of this curiously, she could already tell that Alex and Max''s family were much closer than it seemed on the outside, they didn''t seem like ''just acquainted'' type of friends to her.


    Then she saw 4 sheets with some things written over ite out of Max''s storage ring.


    In reality, however, Max created them just now, but since he just had to make copies of thest one, it didn''t take time.


    "Here."


    Max passed the contracts to Alex.


    "Thank you."


    Alex nodded his head to Max and Max nodded back.


    "Don''t mention it, we are already in your debt."


    These words were Max''s heartfelt words, after all, he really was grateful to Alex for many things.


    Alex just smiled at it and didn''t say anything.


    Then he looked at Lily and muttered inwardly.


    ''You should thank your daughter.''


    The reason for their good rtionship and the reason that Max and Grace could get so close to Alex and his group was all because of her.


    If Lily was not in the picture, then all Alex would''ve done was save Grace toplete the quest, and then kill them after he had imed the reward.


    Why kill? Because Max''s ability was quite useful and he could use it for himself.


    If Lily was not someone who could be an important person to him in one of his past lives, then Alex would''ve never even tried to get close to them.


    But well, Lily was there, and they were good friends now, so nothing else mattered.


    "Here, you can read it, and then sign it.


    Only after all five of you sign this contract can you stay here."


    Alex passed the contracts to Luna before he took out one from his storage ring and passed that one as well.


    The contract that Max made for Luna was already in Alex''s hand as Max had already provided him with it, so he took it out of the storage ring.


    "I just need to sign a paper contract??"


    Luna asked in confusion.


    ''Who signs a paper contract these days??''


    Luna felt like there was something else hidden, but she didn''t care much since Alex had already said what she had to do to stay here.


    Her curiosity still made her ask that question, though.


    "Yes, you can take your time to read it, if you want to."


    Alex nodded and thenmented, but Luna just shook her head.


    "It''s fine."


    She took one of the contracts and then passed the others to the four girls behind.


    "Would fingerprint do? They are illiterate."


    Luna asked Alex since fingerprints could be used as a sign as well.


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    "Yes."


    Alex nodded his head.


    ''The second party just needs to express their eptance for the contract to get activated.''


    This was how Max''s ability worked, so it didn''t matter how they signed, or even if they gave the wrong sign, they just had to agree to it.


    "All right," Luna nodded her head and then she spoke to the girls behind her.


    "Put your fingerprints on the contract."


    Luna spoke and the girls went ahead to do as she told while Luna also took out a pen and started signing the contract.


    ''Oh?''


    Her actions, however, made everyone in the room raise their brows in surprise.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 215: CHAPTER 215 – Am I wrong?

    Luna wanted to gain Alex''s trust.


    She knew that she had to do it if she wanted a ce in his heart, but she also knew that it was going to be anything but easy.


    Trust is built slowly, step by step, it can''t be done in a single step unless you save someone from a certain death situation by sacrificing something that is very important to you.


    However, Luna knew that thetter option was not usible in Alex''s case since he was way stronger than her, so she decided to go for the former one �C build trust slowly.


    The action of signing the contract given by Alex even without reading it showed that she trusted Alex enough not to care about what Alex was doing.


    But then she went ahead and ordered her subordinates to do the same.


    This was a way to gain a bit of Alex''s trust and looking at him lightly nodding his head with his brows raised a bit, she knew that she did manage to get his interest even if she didn''t get his trust.


    As Luna was signing the contract, the girls did what they were told.


    They bite their thumb hard enough for blood toe out and then they press the thumb on the contract.


    They were trained by Luna to follow every order of her, and Luna had been using her skill on them every day to make them forget their past.


    ''I have been training them for the past five years, and they would die for me if I asked them to.''


    This is what Luna would say if someone asked her about the girls.


    She had picked them up from random gate break zones, and all of them were people without anyone to search for them.


    But just as they had all signed the contract, the contract started to float.


    "Wha��"


    Luna was shocked, and the same could be said for the girls behind Luna.


    They quickly took out their daggers and shed toward the contracts.


    "Nuh-uh."


    But then a calm voice was heard and all of their bodies froze in their ces or more like they were forced to stop by Alex.


    The air around them constricted and they couldn''t move an inch.


    "They can''t cut the contract you know."


    Max spoke as he looked at Alex.


    Max knew that it was Alex who stopped the girls'' movements, in fact, everyone in the room knew since it was he who spoke "Nuh-uh" while shaking his head.


    "Never hurts be cautious."


    Alex just shrugged.


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    The contract that was mid-air then started shining golden, the brightness of the contract kept increasing until it was hard to even look at it.


    Then the light dimmed as the contract broke into particles and shot toward Luna and the girls.


    "GAHHH!" X4


    The girls tried to break the restriction around themselves as they saw the particles of the contract shooting towards them.


    ''Danger!''


    The fourth girl didn''t know why, but she felt danger from the particles.


    She tried to break free just like other girls but then Luna spoke.


    "Rx."


    As if their buttons were switched off, the girls stopped struggling and the particles entered their bodies.


    ''Oh��''


    Luna could feel her heart being surrounded by an invisible chain, and so could the girls.


    "That''s why you should''ve read the contract once."


    Ann shook her head, but Luna who heard her words just smiled and responded.


    "I believe he is not an evil guy who would use contracts to bind people and then make them do things they don''t want to."


    Luna said as she looked at Alex.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex just chuckled at her words.


    ''I won''t do that?''


    ''I would do that 100 times if it helps me get something I want��''


    Luna raised a brow when she heard a chuckle from Alex while Ann and Alice just shook their heads.


    ''Even we don''t know everything about him, we don''t even know when he is serious and when he is acting, and you think you already know him��''


    Ann and Alice just shook their heads at Luna''s naivety.


    "Am I wrong?"


    Luna asked Alex, and Alex just smiled mysteriously.


    "Who knows��."


    Alex just shrugged.


    There was an awkward silence between them, or well, not actually silence since Lily was still inquiring Max things about getting stronger so her voice was not letting the hall stay silent, but the atmosphere turned a bit weird.


    However, it was not for long as Ann coughed.


    *Cough*


    "Although the conditions of the contract must be already avable in your heads, let me give you guys a summary.


    First, if you guys think of harming any one of us, directly or indirectly, your heart will be crushed �C Duration �C till you stay here.


    Second, you guys can''t use any skill in this house without the permission of any one of us �C Duration �C till you stay here.


    Third, you guys would do as you''re told by us, no question asked �C Duration �C till you stay here.


    We won''t force you to do things that go against your morals, so you don''t need to be worried about that.


    Fourth andst one, anything you guys see or hear in this house can never be disclosed to anyone outside, and in case you ever think of doing that, be it directly or indirectly, your hearts will be crushed �C Duration �C infinite.


    That is all."


    Ann finally looked up from the tab and looked into Luna''s eyes.


    "Regret not reading it before?"


    Ann taunted since she could see that Luna was busy in her thoughts.


    But how could Ann know that Luna, right now, was thinking of how to make use of these conditions to get close to Alex?


    Luna broke out of her thoughts when she heard Ann''s words and she just smiled gently at Ann.


    "No, but thank you for giving us a summary of the contract."


    Ann stared at Luna for a while, and Luna stared back at her with the same smile until Ann finally spoke.


    "It''s fine."


    "Un."


    Luna nodded her head.


    "Noctura will lead you to your room."


    Ann spoke as she patted Noctura on her head and Noctura nodded her head before she walked ahead.


    Luna looked at the girls who were still frozen on their spot, and then she looked at Alex.


    "Could you please��?"


    Luna requested and Alex widened his eyes a bit (Just acting).


    "Ah, my bad, it slipped my mind."


    Alex then waved his hand and the girls could move again.


    "Thank you."


    Luna bowed a bit and then followed behind Noctura.


    The girls didn''t wait for Luna to say something and followed behind her, as well.


    When Luna and her subordinates were out of sight, Alex spoke.


    "All right, now let''s finalize what we are going to do about that SSS rank gate��."


    After that, Alex, Alice, Ann, Max, and even Grace started giving their points on how to make better use of this situation.


    Theypletely ignored the fact that if the news about the SSS rank gate were to reach the ears of the general popce, then there would be another wave of panic just like the time SS rank gates were revealed.


    However, that day was special as it was marked as the first day that Luna along with her four subordinates became a new member to live in that vi.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 216: CHAPTER 216 – Time to clear the SSS-ranked gate.

    "The energy around this gate is unstable��"


    Alex muttered as he touched the golden-colored portal in front of him.


    Touching a portal was not possible for normal people as it was a passage, but for Alex who already had some mastery over space elements, it was not that hard.


    In fact, if he tried, he could create a portal as well, although it wouldn''t be a long-range portal or an inter-dimensional one, it would be a portal nheless.


    As you would''ve guessed, Alex was standing in front of the SSS-ranked gate along with Alice and Ann.


    Noctura was not with them in this adventure as she was in the vi, keeping an eye on Luna and her subordinates.


    Talking about them, Luna and her subordinates were actually working as maids in the vi, cleaning and washing stuff.


    "We need to work our pay."


    This is what Luna had said.


    Luna wanted to work for the food she was eating.


    The food she ate was cooked by Alex since she didn''t know how to cook, and her subordinates were only good at fighting.


    It was not hard for Luna to learn cooking, but if she did that, then she would miss out on the food made by Alex, and that was thest thing she wanted to do.


    ''His food is the best I ever ate!''


    These were the words that came out of her mouth after she took the first bite of his food, so how could she let go of such food?


    Alex, Alice, and Ann also let her do what she wanted to do since that way she would be engaged in something.


    Right now, however, Alice and Ann were frowning after they heard Alex''s words.


    "What do you mean?"


    Ann asked.


    "I don''t know, but something about this gate is different.


    This one doesn''t seem natural, or should I say it feels forced? Yeah, that would be better work for it."


    Alex replied with a pondering expression.


    Unlike normal gates that felt like they were supposed to be there, this one felt like it was not supposed to be there, but it was forcefully formed.


    [It was supposed to be an SS rank gate, but due to some reason, its rank is elevated to SSS rank peak.]


    Sophia replied, clearing Alex''s doubt.


    ''Ah, I see��''


    ''Now I feel that this gate will have something or someone interesting��''


    Alex muttered with amusement.


    This feeling of his was never wrong, he knew it.


    Alice and Ann who were still thinking about Alex''s words exchanged a look when they saw the corner of Alex''s suddenly rise up.


    ''Sigh��.'' X2


    Then both of them sighed.


    "Let''s go?"


    Alice questioned Alex.


    She already knew that Alex was more than ready to enter the gate, and now he was somehow interested as well, but she still asked.


    "Yeah, let''s go."


    Alex nodded his head and stepped forward, followed by Alice and Ann.


    However, there was something strange about the surroundings, there was no noise, no hustle and bustle, no sounds of camera clicks.


    Even though Alex, Alice, and Ann were about to clear an SSS-ranked gate, there was no one to report about it.


    Now, there was a reason behind it.


    First of all, Alex didn''t want the reporters crowding at his ass and asking him shit tons of questions.


    He would turn Homnder mode and he might just wipe out every reporter live.


    No, he is not crazy or something, he just didn''t like the reporter bunch much after fake news of him doing an orgy in some club went viral.


    It was clear that it was not him from the video, that guy was way too dull to be Alex, but they still imed that it was him.


    The news channel miraculously got shut down the next day, but Alex''s image was now a bit down.


    Yeah, Alex didn''t care about his image and what people thought about him, but that didn''t mean he would just let the people who tried to defame him or tarnish his name go.


    "All the reporters and staff of the ''Daily Orange'' died in a mysterious copse of the building."


    This was the top news the next day.


    The whole staff of the channel that tried to tarnish Alex''s name had died ''mysteriously''.


    However, that was not the only reason for no one to be present in the vicinity.


    As Alex said before, the gate seemed unstable, and because of that, the mana in the surroundings was going crazy, so if a person below S rank were toe close to this gate, then all that would be left of them would be meat paste.


    That was the reason why there was no one here, other than Alice, Alex, and Ann.


    ...................


    *Whistle*


    The first thing Alex did after entering the gate was whistle in amazement.


    Alice and Ann were also looking ahead of them in amazement.


    "No matter how bad the gates are for humans, they sure do have a nice view."


    Alexmented as he looked around.


    "This looks like a pic spot, one that I would really want to go to��."


    Alice muttered as she looked at the path ahead of them.


    There was a single path ahead, but the trees around it made that path look like a way to something very grand.


    It felt like they were being weed into a grand ceremony or something.


    Red, yellow, orange, blue, green, pink, etc. one could see trees of any color they wanted.


    They were standing at one end of the path while the other path extended to who knows where. It was very long, after all, so long that they couldn''t see the end.


    Alex could probably see the end if he wanted to, but who wants to spoil the fun?


    The colorful trees would sway as the air blew and their petals would fall on the ground, making the path they had to walk on be a multi-colored path.


    "I really wanted to enjoy our time here, but s��."


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    Ann sighed in regret as she looked at the trees.


    "Well, we can''t do anything now, can we? This is a gate and we are supposed to clear it��"


    Alex just shrugged.


    Anyone would be fooled by the lovely atmosphere, but they were not just normal people.


    Ann as a wolf was extremely sensitive to wild, while Alex, well he was just Alex.


    Alice��...


    "What are you guys talking about?"


    Well, maybe she didn''t have any idea of what was really going on.


    Alex and Ann shared a smile before Ann spoke.


    "Would you like to do it or should I do it?"


    "Go ahead."


    Alex let Ann show Alice what they were talking about and Alice although confused, still looked as Ann walked toward one of those lovely-looking trees with slow and calm movements.


    It looked as if she was going to rx next to it or she was going to pose for a picture.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 217: CHAPTER 217 – The Anomaly.

    As Ann walked toward one of the trees that looked most beautiful out of all, Alex looked at the system interface that was showing the new quest he had.


    [New Quest: -


    Quest objective: Clear the SSS-rank gate �C "Wonder Forest".


    Bonus 1 objective: Kill 2000 Mob Drrots (Power suppressed to SSS-rank).


    Bonus 2 objective: Kill the anomaly in the gate (Power suppressed to EX-rank). Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin


    Quest reward: 3,000,000 points.


    Bonus 1 reward: Weapon upgrade rune.


    Bonus 2 reward: Bloodline upgrade serum X2.


    Time limit: --


    Penalty: POTE title sealed. (Duration: a week)]


    ''Anomaly huh��''


    Alex muttered.


    The Anomaly part caught his attention since he felt that this anomaly was responsible for the changes in the gate.


    [Most likely.]


    Sophia replied to Alex, clearing his doubts yet again.


    ''But what about the boss and mid-bosses?''


    Alex didn''t see any bonus objectives about the boss and mid-boss this time, which confused him.


    [This gate didn''t have any mid-boss in the first ce.


    It just has way too many mobs that it doesn''t even need mid-bosses.]


    ''I see, and the boss?''


    Alex questioned again.


    [Probably killed by the anomaly.]


    ''Thought so.''


    Alex nodded inwardly.


    It was not hard for him to guess that. The anomaly, whoever it is, must be strong, or he wouldn''t get two bloodline upgrade serums for killing it, and since it is strong, it would be noticed by the boss monster.


    The boss monsters in most of the gates are arrogant and territorial, and they love their position, so the boss of this gate must have tried to eliminate the anomaly, thinking that the anomaly could harm his interest.


    But instead of being able to kill the anomaly, the boss must have died at the hands of the anomaly.


    By the time Alex was done thinking about these things Ann had already arrived in front of a tree with beautiful pink and purple petals mixed together.


    Thebination just made the tree look better than any other in the surroundings.


    Ann smiled in amazement as she looked at the tree.


    "I''m here!"


    She turned toward Alex and Alice and waved her hand.


    Alex just smiled as he shook his head.


    ''It won''t attack you right now, you know��.''


    Ann could see Alex shaking his head but she just shrugged.


    ''It was worth a try.''


    She had intentionally turned her back toward the tree, just so that those creatures would reveal themselves.


    For normal people, this would be the perfect pic spot with very good scenery.


    But Alex and Ann could easily point out some things that no one would notice that easily.


    ''The trees are swaying, but no wind is blowing.''


    The first point.


    ''The surroundings are so cozy, with a warm feeling, but there is no living being in the surroundings.


    No sound of birds chirping, no sound of animals calling, in fact, not even an insect is anywhere to be seen.''


    The second point was that this atmosphere seemed unnatural like it was just a skit of something.


    For Alex, however, it was clear what kind of beasts this gate had the moment he saw the quest.


    "Sigh��."


    Ann who saw that her attempt had failed sighed and then she waved her hand toward the tree.


    *Swish*


    A ck arrow or more like a harpoon was conjured by her and the next second it was shot at the tree that was behind her.


    *Ktch*


    A strange sound of wood and flesh being pierced was heard, and the next second.


    *KWAAAAAAKKKKK*


    The tree that was behind Ann transformed into an ugly-looking tree with no petals and only ck branches and a trunk.


    Long gone was its beautiful appearance, the only this left was its hideous appearance as its trunk slowly morphed into a human-like face.


    Its skin or membrane started to crack and show what was inside of the cover.


    Unlike how normal trees should be, these trees or creatures had a fleshy interior.


    It was like they were trees made of flesh with other parts of normal trees.


    "Eww��"


    Alice''s face scrunched up as she looked at the bloodied view and the ugly creature.


    But then her eyes widened in realization.


    "If one is like that, doesn''t that mean��."


    Alice muttered as she slowly looked at the surroundings.


    *KWAAAAAAAAAK*


    The Drrot that had a harpoon pierced in his right hollow socket of eyes was still screaming in pain as it thrashed its branched toward Ann randomly, trying tond a hit on her.


    Ann, right now, did not have her Epic rank stats, instead, she had EX rank stats.


    "Master your control over your body with EX rank before we move to epic."


    This is what Alex had told her when he gave her new suppression braces.


    Ann didn''t have a problem with that, after all, EX was still the peak of this world, and with that power, she was invincible in this world.


    "All right, your task is done, goodbye now."


    Ann who was avoiding the Drrot''s attack without much effort just waved her hand and this time an evenrger harpoon was created.


    *Swoosh*


    The harpoon wooshed toward the forehead of the face-like shape on the tree''s trunk and pierced it, but it didn''t stop there as it shot out from its back.


    *Kwa��.*


    The creature let out ast growl before it died.


    Then as if the death of one of them was an indication for them to move, the other trees started to transform into the same hideous form with low growls.


    *Krrr��*


    *Kaarrr��*


    *Kooo��*


    ��


    ..


    .


    "What do you think about your pic spot now?"


    Alex asked as he saw Alice looking at the creatures with disgust.


    "I''ll clear the gate��"


    Alice murmured in a low voice.


    "You can take care of as many as you want, there is no scarcity of those things here, but leave 2000 of them for me to kill."


    There were no less than 10k of those creatures in the surroundings, more actually, but they were at least 2k.


    "All right."


    Alice nodded her head and then she shot toward the nearest beast.


    ''Where are you now, Mr. Anomaly��.?''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he used his perception skill, which had a range of 500 meters right now since he had his stats suppressed to SSS rank.


    But after not finding anything for a while he decided to just go on cutting or burning down the trees, there was no way he would not meet the anomaly on the way.


    Alex took out his simple sword or Varethian, as he calls it now.


    Alex had given his simple sword a name, it was now called Varethian, the ever-changing de.


    However, unlike the time Noctura was named, nothing happened this time, at least nothing that Alex could see or tell.


    As for the question: Were there any changes in the sword after naming?


    Alex would say, ''No''.


    But were there really no changes?


    Only time will tell.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 218: CHAPTER 218 – Fiery Cataclysm.

    *Fwoosh*


    The multicolored light of different mes lightened the area.


    Sometimes there would be maroon colored shine, sometimes it would be golden, sometimes yellow and orange, and sometimes red.


    But one thing wasmon��.


    *KWWAAAAKKKK!!*


    Whenever the colors brightened the sky, a painful roar would resound through the air.


    The pain of whoever was being was apparent from the roars, and the ones that sounded most painful were the ones that sounded after the maroon sheen.


    *KWWWWRRRRRRRRR!!!*


    It felt like something or someone was being burned inside out, the screams sounded more like cries of help, they felt like they were asking for help.


    ''Just kill me!!''


    This is what it felt those screams were about.


    "Oh, shut up��"


    In a ce filled with burned carcasses of tree-like beasts stood three people unscathed, well not stood since they were walking ahead as they cleared the tree-like beasts.


    One of them, the one who spoke was the only guy among them.


    The guy waved his other hand held a sword and arge wind de went ahead and cut the 5-meter huge tree-like creature into two.


    The guy had ink-ck hair, haunting red eyes, and a face that could make even the gods hide their faces in shame, while his body, although covered in his clothes, one could tell that it was well sculpted.


    The guy was the one who was throwing out maroon mes from his hands as he walked beside a girl with fairy-red hair.


    The girl with fairy red hair was not one to be left behind since just like the guy, she was throwing out multicolored mes that consisted of golden, yellow, and orange.


    She looked beautiful with her face brightening with golden and yellow colors whenever she sent out the mes. She had a satisfied smile on her lovely face that was only getting more and more beautiful.


    Her body was perfect with breastsrge enough not to fit in one hand and perfectly perky butts.


    She looked like someone who would light your house up if you tried to hurt someone close to her or if you got on her nerves.


    But there was one more person along with them, and she was walking behind both of them.


    This girl had dark ck hair, only a shade lower than the guy''s, and her eyes were a beautiful blue color that almost looked like amethyst.


    Unlike the other girl, she was smaller in height (Compared to the other two), and her body was a bit less mature than the other girl.


    Her breasts wererge enough to perfectly fit in the hands of the guy from before, but her butt was more perky and softpared to the former girl.


    This girl was waving her hand from time to time, creating spears and harpoons in the air and then shooting them at the creatures that were far away from them.


    "Oh, I think we found the one we were looking for."


    Suddenly the guy spoke, and the team of three stopped on the spot.


    "You mean the boss or the one that is supposed to be the boss now?"


    The girl with ck hair asked.


    "Yes, and it''s heading in our direction."


    The guy nodded his head.


    The girl with fiery hair then brought her palms together and spoke.


    "Are you done with your 2000 kills?"


    She looked at the guy, and the guy nodded his head.


    "Yeah, you can do your thing now."


    The guy smiled as he saw the smile on the girl''s face. He knew what the girl wanted to do, after all, he was the one who taught her that.


    As you would''ve already guessed, they were Alex, Ann, and Alice, and right now, they were almost done with the Drrots in the surroundings.


    There were some left, but they were the ones that were running away, and since the anomaly Alex was looking for was heading toward them, Alex decided not to move from their spot.


    But that is where Alice came into the y.


    Alice''s body slowly started to glow in golden, yellow, and orange colors before her arms and legs started getting covered in mes.


    It looked like her body was keeping the me alive even though her body was on fire.


    Slowly, the fire started to get concentrated in her palms��.


    ''Fiery Cataclysm!''


    Alice eximed inwardly when she felt that the amount of energy and fire were perfect.


    Right at that moment, Alex snapped his finger and Ann got covered in a thin barrier made of mana and water mixed.


    Although the barrier looked thin, it was very strong, so strong that it could at least survive one attack from Alice who was limited to EX rank even though Alex could only use SSS-ranked stats.


    The next second a ring made of fire was created around Alice.


    It was shaped like a circle surrounding Alice, and although it was made of mes, something that is not solid, its edges looked sharper than a de.


    The next instant, the de shot outward like a shockwave.


    As it passed Ann and Alex, its intensity didn''t decrease, but none of them were worried.


    Ann had enough trust in Alex to know that he would protect her and Alex already had his zone surrounding him like a shield.


    The ming circle passed through them without being able to do anything to them.


    *Crack*


    The barrier around Ann broke, but the me circle was already gone.


    "Not bad for your first try."


    Alex smiled as he patted Alice''s head.


    "Hehe��"


    Alice giggled as she enjoyed the pats.


    It felt good being praised for something that you work hard to achieve.


    This was something she had tried to do for some days, and although she could use it now, she felt like it was just the simplest form.


    Alice knew that Alex could tell that as well, but since he was still praising her, she would be a fool to not ept the praise.


    "You said that it ising toward us, but why is it still not here yet?"


    Ann asked curiously as she moved closer to Alex, she took Alex''s hand and ced it on her head as if it was natural for her to receive pats as well.


    Alex didn''t take his hand back, he just smiled and started patting her as well.


    Ann''s hair was growing softer as she grew stronger.


    ''It won''t be long before she could transform��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly with a smile, as for what he meant by that, it would be left forter to be disclosed.


    "Well, it doesn''t seem to be in a hurry since it''s walking toward us instead of running."


    Alex then replied to Ann''s question as he patted her head.


    "I see."


    Ann just nodded her head and didn''t say anything else.


    Still, they didn''t move from there and kept waiting for the said anomaly to arrive as they enjoyed the little break they got.


    The ring of fire that Alice had sent out was strong enough to wipe out the Drrots that were running away, but it got extinguished after it reached a 500-meter radius.


    ''Sigh��. I need to work harder��.''


    Alice sighed inwardly as she saw the result.


    But still, feeling the hand on her head she smiled again.


    ''Well, I guess it''s better than nothing, so let''s not think too much about it��.''


    //// Author Here: My new book is out, and its title - Is it wrong to copy abilities in apocalypse? - give it a read and tell me what you think. ////


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 219: CHAPTER 219 – I am Drakin.

    ''Hm, that was a strong attack��.''


    A guy with a height of 3 meters muttered inwardly as he saw the brightness of the ''Fiery Cataclysm'' from afar.


    He was quite a distance away as he walked with his hands behind his back.


    The guy was wearing nothing other than a pant on his body.


    He was walking bare-chested, but if a human saw him, they wouldn''t call him bare-chested since he had dark grey scales covering his whole body.


    He had arge body and with every step he took, the ground would vibrate a bit.


    Unlike normal humans, his face was covered in scales just like his whole body, and instead of having a face that was shaped like a human, his face was like that of a lizard, but there were razor-sharp teeth inside of his mouth.


    His legs and hands were just like humans, the only difference was that they were covered in scales, and they were bulky.


    His body looks like a walking mountain.


    ''Those humans are strong enough to make me move some muscles��.''


    The guy spoke as he looked at his fist that was clenched without him noticing it, and if he could see his face, then he would notice that he had a wide battle-thirsty smile on his face.


    His razor-sharp teeth were shining as he grinned unknowingly.


    This guy was just 18 years old, although he didn''t look like one.


    But there was one thing that he was always dissatisfied with.


    "Being a prodigy is boring."


    He was a renowned prodigy; he was so good that he had yet to find someone who could survive one hit of his in the same age group as him.


    So, being able to freely fight someone made him excited since he could tell that the ones he was going to face were strong.


    However, he soon calmed down.


    ''First, I need to try negotiating a deal with them.


    If they disagree, then just kill them and wait for the next batch toe.''


    He knew his task, and he knew the consequences of failing the task, so he calmed down.


    But then he realized that he was already quite close to the humans he was walking toward.


    ''Huh?!''


    He snapped his head toward the guy in the group.


    ''What was that?''


    He didn''t know why, but he felt like was standing naked for a second, like his secrets were open for everyone to know, but the moment he looked at the guy, that feeling was gone.


    ''Must be my imagination��''


    He muttered to himself before he looked at the guy.


    ''He looks like the leader of the group.''


    Drakin could tell that the guy was somehow the leader of the group, even though he was weaker than the girls, by looking at the way the girls were standing a step behind him.


    "Are you the strongest humans on this?"


    Drakin asked in a deep, loud voice.


    "We are, even though it is not official."


    The guy, which is Alex, spoke while nodding his head repeatedly.


    ''Let''s talk for a while, although I have a feeling that it won''t be long��''


    Alex muttered inwardly.


    ''So, they are not the strongest��''


    Drakin came to his own conclusion.


    For him, power was supreme, and power was authority, so if someone was the strongest, then they wouldn''t have to make it official because no one would try to stand against them.


    Drakin didn''t know that things like government and the power of the public existed since there was no such thing in his world.


    In his world, only King''s and Emperor''s words mattered, if someone tried to go against it, they would be executed.


    So, to him, it looked like Alex, Alice, and Ann were just some people who think of themselves as the strongest.


    ''But I can''t attack them yet��''


    Drakin thought as he walked toward Alex with slow and light steps.


    "Hello, Human, my name is Drakin; what about you?"


    Drakin asked as he walked ahead.


    ''Is he not afraid of me��.?''


    Inwardly, however, Drakin was shocked about how rxed Alex looked, even though he, the great Drakin, was walking toward him.


    ''No matter, let''s wait for now��.''


    "My name is Alex Matthew."


    Alex gave a short reply as he observed Drakin.


    ''He''s quite big for an 18-year-old guy.''


    Alex had already seen and known everything about Drakin when he used his All-seeing eyes for a millisecond.


    "Serve under me Alex Matthew, and I will let you achieve what you think is not-"


    *Pffft*


    Just as Drakin''s words fell, Alice who was listening to them, couldn''t help butugh.


    She tried to suppress it, but she couldn''t.


    "Hahahahahaha��."


    Alex just shook his head as he saw this, while Ann also giggled as she covered her mouth with her hands.


    "I knew the chat was not going tost long��."


    Alex muttered while shaking his head.


    "What''s funny, human?"


    Drakin asked with a frown as he looked at Alice.


    "It''s just funny how you think that just with that power of yours, you can make someone stronger than you submit to yourself."


    Alice spoke as she tried to stopughing.


    "You think you are stronger than me?????"


    Drakin asked dumbfoundedly.


    ''Can they not tell that I''m EX-ranked??''


    Drakin could only think that Alex, Alice, and Ann couldn''t gauge his level, after all, it was obvious (to Drakin) who was the stronger one here.


    But after the dumbfoundedness came anger��a surge of anger that made his blood boil.


    ''I was mocked!''


    He just realized that he was being mocked earlier.


    *Boom*


    Drakin took a step toward them and just as he did that, he released the pressure of his low-tier EX-ranked mana.


    *Fwoosh*


    However, the next second, Alex waved his hand, and all the pressure in the air got pushed back.


    "Ah, I can use EX-ranked stats now��"


    Alex muttered as he stretched his muscles.


    "Huh?"


    Drakin, on the other hand, was shocked again.


    ''How did he grow stronger��.?''


    Drakin could feel Alex had grown stronger, even if he couldn''t, just the fact that Alex could push away his mana pressure was enough to tell him that Alex was now an EX-ranker.


    ''But how?''


    Drakin didn''t understand how Alex could do it, but just then Alice spoke.


    "Why do you suppress your power in the first ce? Unlike us, you have perfect control over your powers."


    "Well, let''s just say that it is more fun that way."


    Alex replied with a smile and then he turned toward Drakin, who was looking at them with an expression that looked a mix of realization, shock, rage, and excitement.


    ''Oh?''


    But then Alex raised a brow as he saw a battle-hungry smile forming on Drakin''s face.


    "Come, let me give you a lesson, yourst lesson:


    ''Just because you are strong doesn''t mean you are the strongest.''


    Remember that in your next life."


    Drakin grinned as he looked at Alex, and although theck of response or reaction from Alex seemed a bit odd to him, he still gestured for Alex toe at him.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 220: CHAPTER 220 – Be ready.

    Drakin was not a fool, rather, he was smarter than his peers.


    He knew where to speak and where not to, he knew where he needed to hold his head high and where not to, and over everything, he knew how to gauge his opponent''s intentions.


    So, when he heard Alice''s words saying that Alex had kept his power suppressed, he was stunned for a while.


    ''Someone dared to keep their power suppressed in front of me��...?''


    For Drakin, who had never seen someone trying to suppress their power in front of him, this moment was like a p on his face.


    It was always him who went easy on his opponents, after all, it was extremely rare to find someone who was already an EX-ranker at the age of 17.


    But after being stunned came anger, and after came out his bloodlust.


    He wanted to teach Alex a nice lesson.


    ''I''m going to make you regret evering to this ce.''


    This change in expression was noticed by Alex, and he could tell that although the guy in front of him was a 17-year-old guy, he was someone who had killed his fair share of people.


    ''Oh?''


    That is what made him raise his brows, after all, bloodlust was not something that anyone could emit.


    "Come, let me give you a lesson, yourst lesson:


    ''Just because you are strong doesn''t mean you are the strongest.''


    Remember that in your next life."


    Alex just shook his head as he heard the third-rate viin-like lineing out of Drakin''s mouth.


    But Alex didn''t move, he just stood in his ce rxedly.


    At first, Drakin waited but then he growled.


    "If you''re noting at me, then I wille at you!"


    Drakin roared as he rushed toward Alex, Alice, and Ann.


    ''One, two, or three, I will take care of all of them!''


    He roared inwardly as he rushed toward them with heavy steps.


    *Boom**Boom**Boom*��.


    His steps caused the ground to tremble, but none of them affected Alex.


    Alex just stood still as if waiting for something, and the moment he was waiting for finally arrived.


    ''Temporal Pause.''


    Alex muttered inwardly and a colorless dome started expanding with Alex as the center.


    Now some would think: Wasn''t the range of temporal pause 500+ meters?


    The answer is yes, it was, but temporal pause is an EX-ranked skill, and right now the opponent Alex is facing is of EX-rank as well, which makes it harder for Alex to use his skill on Drakin.


    Alex could still have used the skill without a problem if he had his powers free of restrictions.


    Temporal pause is an EX-rank skill, but that didn''t mean that it wouldn''t work on anyone over EX-rank or it would be hard to control EX-rankers with it.


    Everything depends on the power difference.


    If Alex had his epic rank stats, right now, then pausing Drakin wouldn''t have been a big deal, but for now, it was.


    ''I need him to be as close as possible for the temporal pause to work on him better.''


    Alex was waiting for Drakin toe closer so that he could use the most concentrated temporal pause in the 10-meter range and pause Drakin for whatever seconds he could.


    ''Not like it would take me much time to kill him��.''


    Alex muttered as he saw the colorless dome passing through Drakin.


    ''Hm?''


    But there was something that surprised Alex.


    ''He could sense it?''


    Alex could see that at thest moment, Drakin''s eyes went wide as if he saw something that he didn''t want to believe.


    ''Hm, did I miss something in him?''


    Alex thought as he activated his All-seeing eyes once again.


    ''Oh? He has time affinity, although it''s negligible, but he still has it.''


    It didn''t take Alex to find out the reason for Drakin to react that way.


    ''But why didn''t I find it the first time��.?''


    Alex was still confused about as to why he couldn''t find it the first time.


    Confused as he was, Alex didn''t waste time thinking about it as he knew that Drakin would soon be free of the pause, more so when Drakin already knew that he was under a time-type ability''s influence.


    Alex looked at Drakin��


    ''What should I use?''


    He had so many abilities that could kill Drakin, but then his eyes brightened as he thought of the ability that was one of his favorite abilities recently.


    *Woosh*


    Alex waved his hand, causing a wooshing sound to be heard, but that was all, nothing else happened.


    *Snap**Crack*


    Alex snapped his finger, and the dome that was covering everyone broke like a piece of ss.


    *Thud*


    Just as Alice and Ann were looking at Drakin who was standing still in his ce, Drakin''s body fell to the ground with a thud.


    *Roll*


    Then his head rolled down from above his shoulders, toward them.


    "You used temporal pause, right?"


    Ann asked since just like Drakin, Alice and Ann were paused as well, they were under heavier restrictions actually, after all, they were standing right beside Alex, so they didn''t know what happened.


    ''Plunder his memories, skills, affinities, and bloodline.''


    Alexmanded inwardly while he smiled at Ann.


    "Yes."


    "You should''ve warned us!"


    Alice spoke with a pout.


    "You guys do know that you could''ve broken free if you wanted to, you just had to use your bloodline abilities, right?"


    Alice and Ann''s eyes widened in realization before they looked away in embarrassment.


    Embarrassed about the fact that they didn''t know they could do that.


    "I guess I need to ''train'' you guys harder from now on��"


    Alex muttered with a grin as his arms snaked through both of their waists at the same time.


    "Be ready."


    He growled in a low voice as he pressed them closer into himself.


    "Un."


    Both Alice and Ann just nodded their heads in with a low hum.


    They had their heads down so it was hard to tell but there was a silly smile on both of their faces.


    ''It worked!'' X2


    Both of them eximed inwardly.


    Unlike what they pretended like, they actually knew that they could break free of the temporal pause if they used their bloodline abilities.


    But they still didn''t do it and they even pretended like they didn''t know about it because they knew what Alex would do, and they wanted Alex to do just that.


    Alex just smiled as he shook his head.


    How could Alice and Ann know that Alex could see their ploy from a mile away?


    He trained them, after all, he knew what they could do and what they couldn''t.


    But how would he call himself a man if he backed down now?


    They just walked out of the gate while storing Drakin''s corpse in their storage ring.


    To everyone outside, it would be breaking news that the gate was cleared, but for them, this SSS-ranked gate was like just any other gate.


    It was nothing special.


    But what they were going to do together (the ''training'') in the uing days was special for them��.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 221: CHAPTER 221 – Happenings around the world 1.

    "The first-ever SSS rank was cleared by Crimson Lotus!"


    "They did the unthinkable again!"


    "Is it true that the Bahemuth Alliance tried to clear an SSS rank gate, but they never made it out?"


    "We need at least 5 SS-ranked raiders to clear an SS-rank gate."


    "What is the reason behind the increase in the emergence of the high-ranking gates?"


    "Is there supposed to be an EX-ranked gate as well?"


    "Will the Crimson Lotus be able to clear an EX-rank gate?"


    "What is the true power of Alex Matthew?"


    "What is the limit of the Crimson Lotus Guild?"


    "The Crimson Lotus has yet again cleared another SSS-ranked gate!"


    "Is there something going on between Alex Matthew and the guild master of Crimson Lotus, Alice?"


    "Are they in a rtionship?"


    "What about Ann White?"


    "The Raiders Association of Orange Country is now working under Crimson Lotus for an indefinite amount of time!"


    It''s been 3 months since the time Alex killed Drakin and cleared the gate, and since then, many things have been happening around the world. Experience tales at m v|l e''-NovelBin


    First, the number of high-ranking gates appearing around the world started increasing.


    S-rank gates were nowmon urrences.


    It was somon that nowadays people would just wave it off even if an S-ranked gate were to appear in their backyard.


    This nonchnce didn''t juste out of nowhere, there was a reason behind it.


    As the number of high-ranking gates increased, so did the number of high-ranking drops, adding to the fact that almost all of the SS and SSS-ranked gates were cleared by Crimson Lotus, who didn''t even take any loot other than the boss and the mid-boss.


    Now, how would the drops help themon popce?


    Well, from the drop came a very special item, an item that came out as a game-changer for the world.


    That item was a new and upgraded awakening serum, just like the awakening potion, this helped people awaken while it also upgraded the ones who were already awakened.


    By some unknown coincidence, the drop rate of these serums was quite high, especially in SS and SSS-ranked gates.


    Right now, there was no scarcity of S-rank raiders, while the number of SS rankers had increased as well.


    The world has more than 20 SS-ranked as of now, moving around the world and clearing SS-ranked gates in teams.


    SSS-rankers, however, were too few to even be able to count on one hand.


    There were only two SSS-rankers in the world right now.


    One of them was the former second ranker in the world, the second time-ability user in the world, while the other was surprisingly Brock Ironwood, the musclehead that had shed with Alex before during the auction.


    However, unlike what people would think, these two people didn''t try to raid the SSS-ranked gates, they continued raiding SS-rank gates.


    They weren''t stupid enough to try something that could result in their deaths.


    The Behemoth Alliance, an alliance that had 5 SS-ranked raiders tried raiding an SSS-ranked gate, but they never made it out alive, not a single person came out.


    ''Even one of them couldn''t run back out of the gate.''


    This was the conclusion everyone came to.


    The beasts inside an SSS-ranked gate are so strong that even with the help of 5 SS-rankers, not a single raider could escape with their life.


    So, the SSS-ranked gates were left for the Crimson Lotus guild to take care of.


    After Alex cleared the gate, they held a press conference again.


    "The Association will be working under the Crimson Lotus Guild for an indefinite amount of time."


    This was the first thing that Alice informed the public.


    This news caused a lot ofmotion all over the world, but if that was not enough, there was another piece of news for the world to know.


    "The Steel family and the Crimson Lotus Guild are forming an alliance."


    *Boom*


    It was like a bomb going off in the heads of every person in the world.


    The Steel family, which was supposed to be the hidden boss of Violet Country, the same Steel family that was the legal owner of Violet Country was forming an alliance with the strongest force in the world.


    The Crimson Lotus Guild was already the strongest force in the world even after the changes the world was going through, but right now, with the Association under them, the Crimson Lotus was basically the ruler of the Orange Country.


    An alliance between these two was not something anyone in the world could stand against, and every single person in the world knew about that.


    That was the reason why, slowly every major force all over the globe started to submit to the alliance of Crimson Lotus and the Steel family.


    Now, some would have a question: How is the steel family legal owner of the Violet Country?


    To answer that, we will have to look into the past, even before the appearance of the SSS-raked gate. The Raiders Association of the Violet Country became a victim of the mysterious group that was still roaming around freely.


    Everyone in the raiders association was massacred just like any other victims of the mysterious group.


    That made the Steel family the strongest force in the Violet Country, but then the SSS-ranked gate appeared and the remaining major forces of the Violet Country started to run away.


    That moment was used by Max to im ownership of each and every corner of the country.


    Money could buy anything even now, and money was one of thest things Max had to worry about.


    So, just like that Max was now the owner of the Violet Country.


    An uncrowned emperor.


    Then there was the mystery around Alex, Alice, and Ann''s power.


    People already knew about Frank, they knew that he was the third SSS ranked in the world.


    The Crimson Lotus never confirmed the im, and neither did Frank, but everyone was sure that Frank was an SSS-ranker, after all, many people had seen him fight.


    For those who want to know, yes, Frank was an SSS-ranker, he was actually the first SSS-ranker in this world if we don''t include Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura.


    But Alex, Alice, and Ann were still a mystery to the world.


    No one had seen them fight (Other than the Crimson Lotus Guild''s raiders) as they went inside the gates alone, and the gates they went into were not something anyone would even dream of going into.


    However, one thing was clear, they were at least an SSS-ranker, which made the number of SSS-rankers in the world rise to six.


    No one knew about Noctura or the number would''ve increased to seven.


    Still, it was all unofficial, officially there were only two SSS-rankers all over the globe.


    But thenes the matter of Alex''s personal life.


    Just like his professional life, Alex''s personal life was pretty famous as well��


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 222: CHAPTER 222 – Happenings around the world 2.

    "Is that Alex and Alice?!"


    One day, a random guy saw Alex and Alice flying out of a Lotel.


    Why Lotel? Because it was a date, and they were enjoying their time out of the house.


    Like always, Alex flew with Alice, but a guy just happened to look up in the sky at the exact moment.


    Alex ever wore a disguise while flying since there was no one looking at them in the sky.


    However, that day, this one guy looked up only to see Alex and Alice flying out of a Lotel. Alex and Alice were not just anyone, every single person on the globe knew who they were.


    Even the people who live isted from the world knew about them, and how famous the Crimson Lotus guild was.


    So, when the guy saw them, he didn''t even doubt that it was them, he was sure about it.


    He quickly took out his phone to click a picture, but Alex and Alice were long gone by then.


    "Ah, shit��"


    That guy cursed his luck but he still uploaded a post of the Lotel and wrote down what he saw.


    Who could''ve thought that this post would be the most trending post in just hours?


    The guy became so famous for just one post that he was even invited on a TV show to talk about what he saw.


    Alice and Alex''s poprity was no joke, right now, more than half of the world was already filled with the people who followed and believed them, some of those people, and by some, we are talking about 100,000 people, these people considered the Crimson Lotus their saviors.


    With so much hype, even the smallest piece of news about them would go viral, not to talk about the news that could potentially reveal the fact that the two biggest faces in the world were actually dating.


    But for some reason, even after a long time, there was no response from Alex or Alice regarding this question.


    "Were they dating?"


    No one knew.


    The reason why they were not responding to those questions? Still, no one knew, except the people in question.


    "You want to reveal our rtionship together?"


    Alex looked at Alice and Ann when he asked this question.


    This conversation took ce one month ago when the question about Alex and Alice dating was still hot.


    "Yes."


    Alice nodded her head while Ann just stood there.


    Alex never thought of hiding their rtionship, so when the questions were being asked, he just wanted to give them the answer.


    But Alice didn''t want that.


    ''I don''t want to be the one to take the first turn here as well, either we do it together or we don''t do it.''


    Alice recalled the words she spoke to Ann.


    Ann, just like Alex wanted them to reveal the fact that they were in a rtionship, but Alice didn''t want that.


    Alice was the one who took Alex''s first time, but this time, she didn''t want to do that.


    If Alex and Alice were to reveal the fact that they were dating along with the fact that Ann was dating Alex as well, the focus would still remain on Alex and Alice.


    Ann would mostly be ignored because the question about Alex and Alice was a bit too hyped up.


    "So, what do you want to do?"


    Alex looked at Ann as he asked the question.


    Alice was never a strategist or anything like that, all of them knew that, so Alex directly asked Ann.


    "Sigh��."


    Ann sighed.


    She really didn''t mind being second or first, all she wanted was to be with Alex, but Alice was forcing her to not be second.


    But the thing was��.


    "I can''t think of anything right now��."


    In normal cases, Ann could''vee up with a way to solve this problem, but right now, she couldn''t think of anything.


    Although she said that and she felt that she didn''t mind being second, somewhere in the corner of her heart, she didn''t want that.


    So, with her emotions ying with her, she was unable toe up with a n.


    "It''s all right, we will think of something together."


    Alex just smiled and patted Ann''s head.


    "You can just do the same thing that you did with Alice."


    But then a voice was heard from behind and they saw Luna sitting on the sofa, watching the TV while eating popcorn.


    "Don''t you have work to do??"


    Alice asked in annoyance.


    In the past two months, they got used to each other to some extent, although the rtionship between Alice and Luna was like that of a cat and dog.


    "I took a leave, and no one in the association has the power to stop me."


    Luna just shrugged without even looking at Alice.


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    "What did you mean by doing the same thing that he did with Alice?"


    Ann, on the other hand, came to respect Luna for what she was.


    In these past two months, they worked together on many things, and Ann now knew why Luna was called the business genius.


    So, when Luna suggested something, Ann knew that it might actually solve their case.


    Luna turned toward Ann and smiled before she turned toward Alex.


    "Just like the time with Alice, when you were caught flying off, just get caught again, but instead of Alice, get caught with Ann this time."


    Alex who heard her words now had a contemting expression.


    "You want me to intentionally let someone see using out of the Lotel, but make it look like it was a blunder?"


    "Exactly, but be careful, just likest time, don''t let them take a picture of you guys."


    Luna smiled brightly, nodding in acknowledgment, but then she added a warning with a serious expression.


    "Don''t worry, I know that."


    Alex nodded his head.


    He knew that if, by chance, their photo was clicked, then the news of him and Alice being together would get tossed out of the screen, leaving only him and Ann on the screen.


    That would make Alice be the unnoticed one during the announcement.


    "Good, now, I deserve a pat as well, right?"


    Luna asked Alex with hope-filled eyes.


    Luna was about to stand up and move toward Alex, but��.


    *Grrrrr��.*


    Noctura, who was sitting right in front of her growled.


    Luna looked at Noctura, then she looked at Alex only to find him moving out of the vi with Ann.


    ''Sigh��''


    Luna sighed inwardly.


    Alex walking out on her without even replying to her made it clear what he meant.


    ''Well, it''s still better than before.''


    But then she smiled to herself.


    If it was before, Alex would''ve directly said "No" and moved on, but today he at least didn''t say no.


    "Why do you always try it, even though you know the result is going to be the same?"


    Alice who was left behind looked at Luna with her hands crossed in front of her breasts as she questioned.


    "Because I love him, just like both of you do."


    Luna answered with a bright smile.


    "��."


    Alice stared at Luna with an unreadable expression, but after a while of staring at her, Alice moved toward the gym without saying anything.


    Luna just smiled as she looked at Alice receding back.


    ''I can''t give up, Alice.


    I''ve fallen so hard that I can''t give up even if I want to��.''


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 223: CHAPTER 223 – Let’s just wait.

    Luna really was someone who knew her way of things.


    Just as she had predicted, soon, there was news about Alex and Ann being together as well.


    Now, there were many new questions that people around the world wanted to know the answer to.


    "Is Alex two-timing?"


    This was the question that created a lot of controversy.


    One of Alex''s haters came up with this question.


    At first, it was ignored, but slowly, every other hater of Alex starteding out and doing the same thing.


    "A spark is enough to burn a whole forest."


    It''s a great saying, and it fits perfectly with this situation.


    The first hatter was the spark, and the other haters were the forest. Once the spark started the fire, the whole forest started burning down.


    However, none of this actually affected Alex.


    "If you are famous, you will have haters, and haters gonna hate."


    Another great line that matched the situation.


    But let''s move to the next question.


    "Is Alex dating Alice and Ann at the same time?"


    This was the question that really mattered. This question was the one that everyone wanted answer to, even the haters.


    "Is Alex in favor of polygamy?"


    This question although quite famous, was not actually something people were dying to know.


    But the thing was that none of these questions were answered till now.


    It was not that Alex didn''t want to, but Luna advised them against it.


    "Why?"


    This was Alex''s question when Luna suggested that he wait for a while.


    "Let things get heated, let the topic gain more light, let more people know about it, the more you dy, the more people would want to know the answer.


    Also, the more you dy the response, the more you find out about your haters, so just wait for a week or two and then reveal it."


    Luna wanted to help Alex do whatever he wanted to do, but she wanted to do it perfectly.


    "What''s the loss in going public about our rtionship right now?"


    Ann asked curiously.


    "Alex might lose some of his female fans, the ones that love him and wish to see themselves standing beside him one day."


    Luna spoke calmly, but inwardly she wished for the same.


    "And he won''t lose them if he did the same thingter?"


    Alice asked with a frown.


    Luna, however, replied seriously.


    "Right now, the news is still new, you can''t expect people to recover this quickly, but if you take time, they will get used to it.


    If you were to reveal it right now, pour salt on a green wound.


    The female fans are unstable right now, so give them time to stabilize-"


    "Do you think I care about their opinion or do I look like I care about my fan base?"


    Her words, however, were cut by Alex''s straightforward question.


    Luna bit her lips as she looked down.


    "All that matters to me is their happiness, the public can try to kill me for all I care, they would just be increasing the death rate of the world."


    Alex voiced out as he looked at Alice and Ann.


    Alice and Ann felt good hearing his words, and they were happy that he didn''t want to wait to let the world know about their rtionship, but as his women, they had the responsibility to look after his image as well.


    "Let''s just wait, Alex."


    Alice spoke as she moved closer to Alex.


    Alex looked into her eyes, and he could tell that she really wanted to wait, and it was not just because she was affected by Luna''s words.


    "Yes, one week or two won''t actually matter, and it''s not like we need the recognition from the public to love each other."


    Ann smiled as she spoke while she moved closer to Alex as well.


    Right now, they were sitting on the sofa, with both of them sitting on either side of Alex while Luna sat on the sofa in front of them.


    "As you guys say."


    Alex just smiled as he hugged their waists, but then his eyes fell on Luna.


    ''I just wanted good for him��.''


    Luna was still biting her lips as she tried to stop herself from running away.


    Luna was used to Alex ignoring her advances, and she knew that it was her fault for trying to force her love on him, so she was fine with that.


    But sometimes she felt bad as well.


    It feels bad when someone you love and care for looks at you with annoyance even though you are just trying to help them.


    The look that Alex gave Luna when he cut her words was that of annoyance, and that look kept ying itself again and again in front of Luna''s eyes.


    ''I shouldn''t have tried to advise him when he didn''t ask for it��.''


    However, in the end, she started ming herself.


    She loved Alex too much to even me him for something.


    But just as she was about to get up and move away from the hall, she felt arge, warm hand on her head.


    "I''m sorry for earlier."


    Alex also realized that he might have been wrong earlier.


    ''She was just trying to help me��''


    Alex was annoyed by the fact that he had to still think about the public''s opinion even though he was this strong already.


    But well, he was not in a medieval world, in this world, the public''s opinion mattered, although it didn''t matter to him, and he could take care of whatever was thrown at him, the same can''t be said for everyone.


    He knew that it was his fault for directing his annoyance at Luna, so he didn''t shy away from apologizing.


    *Sob**Sob*


    But then a sound of sobbing was heard��.


    "Are you crying??"


    Before Alex could ask the question, Alice hurriedly got up from her ce and took out her phone.


    "Lemme see your face!"


    She quickly tried to capture Luna''s face in the camera.


    It was a rare asion where one could find an SS-ranker who was almost an SSS-ranker sobbing like a child.


    "I-I''m not crying!"


    Luna hurriedly snatched away Alice''s phone, but she didn''t move from her spot, fearing that Alex would take back his hand.


    ''Is this what it feels like to be patted by him��.?''


    Luna didn''t look up, she knew if she did, then everyone could tell that she had tears in her eyes, and most of all, she didn''t want Alice to look at her like this since she knew that if that were to happen, then Luna could forget living a single day without being called a cry-baby.


    Luna could feel the warmness of Alex''s hand on her head, she could feel how hisrge hand could easily cover her whole head, and she could feel how he gently patted her head.


    ''I wish this moment couldst forever��.''


    Although her head was lowered and no one could see her face, everyone in the room could tell that she was happy, and somehow this caused every one of them to smile.


    Luna who was looking at the floor now had a bright smile on her face even though her eyes held tears that threatened toe out of her eyes.


    But make no mistake, those tears were the tears of happiness, she was just that happy.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 224: CHAPTER 224 – Another guest.

    For the past three months, Luna did whatever she could to get Alex''s trust.


    She tried showing him the things she was best at, she showed him the things she was worst at, she even told them her weaknesses, though it turned out that Alex already knew those, but still��.


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    She had been trying everything.


    Luna went ahead and mastered the dao of shamelessness as well.


    She would use every chance she gets to beg for something from Alex.


    Sometimes it would be a candy, sometimes it would be a drive home, sometimes it would be a pat on her head, and sometimes it would be things simple as walking 10 steps with her.


    She just wanted to get close to Alex, because being close to him gave her a strange sense of relief.


    So, when she finally got something that she wanted for so long, she couldn''t control her happiness.


    ''Not the type of atmosphere I hoped for, but I''m happy��.''


    Luna muttered inwardly.


    The atmosphere was a bit funny with Alice ready to click a picture of her the moment she looked up, while Alex was patting her and chuckling at the same time.


    She had hoped for the moment to be a bit more romantic, but I guess not everything goes the way one wished it to.


    However, no matter what she says or thinks, the bright smile on her face tells everything about her feelings.


    *Ding**Dong*


    But as if the gods above didn''t like her getting some attention, the bell on the front door rang once.


    Luna frowned as she felt the hand of her hand move away.


    She wanted to strangle the person who rang the bell, but then a voice filled with interest was heard.


    "Hoh? Who do we have here��...?"


    Alex muttered as he looked at the front door.


    He could clearly see who it was even without activating his All-seeing eyes.


    Alice, Ann, Noctura, Luna, and the 4 girls who came running down when they heard the doorbell looked at Alex.


    Alex, however, just looked at the front door and spoke.


    "You cane in."


    Alex spoke as he moved back and rested his body on the sofa.


    Everyone looked at the gate, waiting for the gate to open, but it never opened.


    "Why is it taking so long?"


    One of the four girls muttered in a low voice, but with the pin-drop silence in the hall, her words were heard loud and clear.


    Luna stared at the girl, causing her to shut her mouth and stand straight.


    Then Luna turned toward Alex, but then she noticed something.


    ''What are they looking at��.?''


    Luna could see them looking toward her, but not actually her as they were looking at the empty space beside her.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura were looking at the same spot as Alex, who was right beside her, but unlike Alex''s rxed eyes, others were looking at that spot with sharp eyes.


    *Grrrr��. *


    Noctura was even letting out low growls as if warning something or someone.


    "You came to my house unannounced and now you''re using your skill in my house, are you trying to pick a fight?"


    Alex asked as he rxed his body on the sofa, but the one to who the question was asked was now sweating bullets.


    Alex didn''t have his power suppressed and in 3 months, he was already Peak Legendary 3, just a push away from Mythical, so the power he packed in his body had now increased by many folds.


    What would happen if an SSS-ranker were to be pressured by the mana of a Legendary ranker?


    They would die even before they could process what happened, but Alex was not actually putting much pressure on that said person.


    He knew that they were an SSS-ranked raider, and he knew that they would die the moment he put a bit of pressure on them.


    So, what he did was release a bit of his bloodlust.


    The number of monsters he had killed was too much even to count, so his bloodlust or killing intent was getting honed along the way.


    Now, although his blood lust won''t amount to much in front of a professional assassin like the one before him, it was a different story if he added demonic energy to the same bloodlust.


    ''Demonic energy!''


    The person sitting beside Luna eximed inwardly before they quickly revealed themself.


    "I am sorry."


    A cold yet apologetic voice was heard from just beside Luna.


    The space beside Luna distorted and the figure that Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura had been staring at finally revealed herself.


    *Woosh* X4


    But the next second, all four girls that were looking at this with wide eyes moved swiftly.


    *Sling* X4


    The sound of weapons being drawn was heard and in the blink of an eye, the four girls now had their des surrounding the neck of the person that was slowly bing visible.


    They were not allowed to use their skills in this house, but they could still use their weapons.


    Thedy who had the des around her neck, on the other hand, didn''t even try to defend herself, nor did she panic.


    ''Oh?''


    This caused Alex to raise a brow.


    It was rare to see someone this calm even with four des on their neck.


    "You were about to die you know��"


    Alex smiled as he looked at thedy whose body was now visible as the space distortion had vanished from her body while her face was slowly getting clearer as the space distortion was being healed.


    "I had a feeling that you won''t let me die��. yet."


    A calm and cold voice was heard again as the pink lips of thedy were now visible.


    Herst word was just a low murmur, but it was still audible.


    "Oh? Why do you think so?"


    Alex questioned curiously.


    Alice, Ann, and Noctura, however, still looked at thedy cautiously.


    Luna had a frown on her face, but she also stared at thedy who was now almost out of the space distortion.


    "If you wanted me to die, then I would''ve died long ago��"


    Thedy spoke and for the first time, a smile was seen on her pink lips as she shook her head.


    Although it was not a happy smile but rather a wistful one, still since the corners of her lips were raised, it meant that she was smiling.


    "Looks like you know that this trick of yours never worked on me."


    Alex nodded his head repeatedly as hemented.


    "It took me a while, but yes, I know that my skill is somehow useless in front of you��"


    Thedy nodded her head, and finally, the space distortion around her stopped and she became visible for all to see.


    Alex, Alice, Ann, and Noctura didn''t have much reaction, but Luna and the 4 girls had their eyes wide open.


    *ng*


    One of the girl''s grip on her dagger loosened, causing it to fall to the ground with a ng.


    "W-who��."


    She stammered as she pointed her finger at thedy''s face.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 225: CHAPTER 225 – Clare Grenefled.

    Thedy had long grey hair that reached her waist, and her eyes were grey as well, matching the color of her hair, but those eyes held no emotions.


    It was as if they were naturally emotionless.


    Her body was slim, but one could tell that those thin hands packed more power than some bulky guy could ever hope for.


    She was wearing a tight grey dress, but unlike a normal slim-fit dress, it wasn''t something that would highlight her proportions.


    It was a dress with thick clothing material, it looked strong, stronger than anything this world could have.


    The dress was worn in a way that suppressed her figure.


    Her breasts were tightly packed, and so were her butts, no one could tell what her actual size was.


    But the thing that shocked Luna, and the four girls was not her body, neither was it her stealth ability, what shocked them was her face.


    "She looks just like number 1��."


    One of them muttered as they looked at thedy and then the girl who was always the quietest among them.


    Luna was also looking at thedy and the girl that she had named Number 1.


    ''I couldn''t find any information on number 1 before��.''


    Luna still remembered that she was unable to find any information on number 1 even after she tried her best.


    But thinking that it would be better, she took her in.


    Number 1 was orphaned by a gate brake, or at least that''s what it was said.


    Number 1 was living in an orphanage and she lived there for at least 2 years before Luna picked her up.


    Luna was looking for people who would''ve no one to cry for them even if they were killed, and number 1 fit perfectly on that list.


    Picking up Number 1 had no grand reason, it was on a whim.


    She was passing through the Orphanage when she saw a girl that looked over 16 years working there.


    Since that day, Number 1 had been with her.


    The other three girls were just as shocked as Number 1.


    They all lived together, they treated each other as sisters, they had seen each other, and they knew each other''s secrets.


    So, it was a shocker for them to realize that one of them actually had a family member still alive for them.


    "So, care to exin what this is?"


    It was not just Luna and the Number girls who could see the simrities, Alex could as well, after all, a mere A-ranked clothing material was not something that could hide someone''s appearance from him.


    Yes, the dress the 4 assassin girls were wearing was made of A-rank clothing material.


    It was to hide their appearance as Luna wanted them to stay hidden all of the time.


    She made them forget their names by always making them call each other by Numbers.


    They were number 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively.


    Luna did use her ability to make them forget their pasts slowly, but that was for their own good.


    She just wanted them to live a better life ahead of them and forget their pasts.


    Their pasts would be anything but a happy experience. Having one''s family killed is something better to forget as it would give pain if you could remember it.


    Luna never treated them cruelly, she treated them as a junior at work.


    "I know that I don''t have a very good first impression in your eyes, but I would still want to request something from you."


    Thedy, instead of answering the question, bowed her head to Alex.


    "You should introduce yourself before making a request, did no one ever teach you that?"


    Just then, Alice asked with a frown.


    She, just like Ann and Noctura, was confused about what was happening.


    Unlike Alex, they didn''t have the All-seeing eyes, something that could help them see through things.


    Thedy looked at Alice for a second before she apologized again.


    "I am sorry for thete introduction, my name is re Grenefled.


    And to answer your question, I was never taught etiquette, all I was taught was how to hold a de and how to kill.


    So, please excuse me for my manners."


    re apologized again.


    re noticed that she had been apologizing a lot today, but then her eyes fell on Alex, Alice, and Ann, reminding herself of where she was.


    "So, re, care to exin your purpose for this visit?"


    Alex asked again, causing re to nce at Number 1 before she opened her lips. Enjoy exclusive chapters from m-v l''e|-NovelBin


    However, before she could speak��..


    "re Grenefled��."


    Number 1 muttered, but then she clutched her head.


    "Arghhhh!"


    It was as if she was straining her brain just by mentioning that name.


    But she pressed on.


    "GRhhh!"


    Number 1 growled as she tried to look deeper into the memories that had been buried somewhere deep because of Luna''s skill.


    "Number 1!"


    The other three assassin girls moved to hold Number 1 who was about to fall to the ground while clutching her head, but someone was faster than them.


    "Cecil!"


    re was already sitting next to Number 1 as she held her firmly while letting hery her head on herp.


    "What did you do to her?"


    re then red at Luna.


    re released all of her bloodlust as she red at Luna with the intent to kill.


    She knew that Number 1 or Cecil as she called her, had been under Luna''s care, re knew that since she had been observing them for months now.


    But till now she never found anything bad about Luna, and she thought that Luna was actually a good person, she even felt grateful for Luna for taking care of Cecil, but��.


    ''She must''ve done something��.''


    re knew that Luna had trained the four girls to be her personal assassins, and Number 1 or Cecil was included in those 4 girls.


    Now, she didn''t know what Luna did, but she knew that it was she who did something to ra.


    After all, who else would it be if not Luna?


    Luna, who felt the mana pressure along with the intense bloodlust directed at her, trembled a bit.


    Luna was someone who was almost SSS-ranker, and she was a strong raider as well, but that didn''t mean she would be able to face a peak SSS-ranker''s mana along with a bloodlust that had been honed for who knows how long.


    Luna trembled as she felt fear for a second, but it didn''tst for long��.


    *Woosh*


    Alex waved his hand, and a palm made of wind cut through the air and moved toward ra.


    re''s eyes widened as she saw that, but the attack was too fast for her to be able to move.


    *Baam*


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 226: CHAPTER 226 – What’s happening?

    "Argh��."


    re groaned as she tried to stand up.


    She had her body smashed on the wall with a force so great yet so controlled that other than some bone injuries she didn''t feel anything else.


    But those bone injuries were still painful��.


    "Did you think that you can do whatever you want to in this ce?"


    Just then, Alex''s voice was heard, and the next instant, Alex was standing right in front of re.


    re, who was trying to stand up by the support of the wall, which was surprisingly still fine, without a scratch, fell to the ground again.


    "Do I look that easy to you?"


    Alex let out his bloodlust mixed with demonic energy as he spoke.


    He didn''t want to kill her, after all.


    "Argghh��."


    re''s body fell to the ground and her breathing started getting shallow.


    Right now, Alex looked like a bloodthirsty beast looking at her with its jaws open, ready to bite her head off, and she realized her mistake.


    She gritted her teeth as she looked at Cecil from the corner of her eyes, although her eyes were almost closed.


    Then she pressed her head on the ground.


    "I-I am��. sorry��."


    It took all of her willpower to be able to mutter out those words, but she somehow felt that it was all she had to do.


    *Woosh*


    A wooshing sound was heard and the next instant, all the pressure she was feeling vanished as if it was never there.


    *Pant**Pant**Pant*��.


    re was left panting as shey on the ground with her back resting on the floor.


    ''I need to calm down��.''


    re muttered to herself as she tried to calm her breathing.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    She closed her eyes and started taking deep breaths.


    ''I should think carefully about my every move��.''


    She opened her eyes and muttered to herself.


    ''I almost died��.''


    If Alex continued to do what he was doing then she might''ve actually died.


    But then her eyes fell on the wall she crashed into.


    ''Not even a scratch��.''


    She sighed inwardly.


    ''There''s no way this wall is simple��.''


    She an SSS-ranker had her bones have hairline fractures and some crakes in them by crashing into the wall, and the wall didn''t even have a scratch, how could that be normal?


    Of course, it was not normal.


    Alex had reinforced the whole house, two times.


    The first time was when he bought a barrier crystal from the store and used it to ce a barrier on every inch of the house.


    That barrier was SS-ranked, which didn''t fit well with Alex''s power, soter when he bought the craftsman skill from the shop, he modified the barrier, and now, it could take at least 20 hits from the strongest EX-ranker.


    ''I don''t like dealing with mysterious people��.''


    re muttered again as she tried getting up.


    She already knew that Alex was mysterious, his origin was not clear, how he suddenly became so powerful was still a mystery, and the biggest mystery of all��.


    ''How the hell did he reach legendary level???''


    This was something that had been bugging re for a while.


    She was someone who had been to that level, so she knew the mana pressure of that level, and she knew how mana reacted to that level.


    In the past three months of observing him, and that much time was enough for her to guess just how strong he actually was.


    ''He is close to reaching legendary or he is a tier 1 legendary ranker already��.''


    If Alex heard her thoughts, he would just shake his head with a smile.


    But re was not at fault here, she was thinking logically, and logically, it didn''t make sense for someone to go from EX rank to almost Mythical in just around 3 months.


    It took people decades to do that, or at least that''s whatmon sense says.


    But was Alex someone who could be judged bymon sense?


    re shook her head inwardly as she stood up.


    She looked around and what did she find?


    Alex was sitting between Alice and Ann as if nothing had happened, while Luna was now sitting next to Cecil or number 1.


    "What are��."


    re red at Luna and she took a step toward her with a frown but then she felt a pair of eyes on her and she froze.


    ''Ah��.''


    Her body rxed and she shut her mouth.


    She didn''t want to be mmed into the wall again.


    Alex who was staring at re looked at Luna when he saw that re stopped.


    "So, Luna, what''s happening?"


    He questioned as he looked at Luna.


    "The memories that I had been trying to make her forget were triggered after she heard re''s name, and when she tried to recall them, her mind got strained causing her to feel the pain."


    Luna replied as she looked at Alex, but after shepleted her words, she turned back toward Number 1.


    "So, you can manipte memories as well?"


    Alex questioned with his brows raised.


    "Not really, I just make it so that they won''t be able to recall those memories."


    Luna replied.


    "And how do you do that?"


    Alex knew that it was not good to ask these types of questions, but since his incubus aura worked the same as Luna''s ability, knowing more about it mighte in handyter.


    Luna, who was looking at Number 1 with worry hidden in her eyes turned toward Alex.


    She looked at him for a bit, and although she could see nothing other than curiosity in his eyes, she still smiled.


    ''At least you have interest in something rted to me��.''


    "Well, it''s a long process��."


    Luna replied to Alex.


    "Oh, I''m fine talking about itter if it''s that long."


    Alex just waved his hand as he voiced out.


    Then he added.


    "But you see, these girls are confused about what''s happening, so if you don''t mind, could you exin the situation for them to understand?"


    ''Sigh��.''


    Luna sighed inwardly and her smile dropped.


    ''I should''ve just exined it��.''


    Luna sighed with regret.


    When Luna said that it''s a long process, she was expecting a reply like, ''I have all the time you can ask for'', or ''It''s fine, I still want to hear it'', but she forgot that although Alex wasn''t a softie, he didn''t like invading people personal space without a reason.


    To him, Luna''s answer looked like she was making an excuse, so he backed away.


    ''Well, I will find some time to exin that to himter.''


    Luna nodded to herself before she stood up with Number 1 in her hands.


    She walked up to the sofa in front of Alex, Alice, and Ann, and ced Number 1''s unconscious body over it.


    "Before I exin what''s going on, I would like to show you something��."


    Luna looked at Alice, Ann, and Noctura as she spoke.


    Alice and Ann nodded their heads while Noctura just stared at Number 1.


    ''Her blood smells like thatdy over there��.''


    Noctura spoke through the mental link between her and Alex as she looked at Number 1 and re simultaneously.


    Alex smiled when he heard her words.


    ''My pup is now getting good at using her abilities huh?''


    Alex questioned with a smile as he mentally patted Noctura.


    Noctura looked away from Number 1 and re as she looked at Alex with a smile.


    ''Hehe��''


    She giggled inwardly since being praised by Alex was one of the things she liked the most.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 227: CHAPTER 227 – Sister?

    Noctura''s senses had grown stronger than they were three months ago, if before she could smell things better, now she could smell things that no one could smell.


    Just like right now.


    Alice and Ann were confused about the situation, but Noctura was confused as to why Number 1 or Cecil''s blood and re''s blood smelled the same.


    She was confused about it, but since Alex didn''t tell her why, she just waited for Luna''s exnation.


    After Luna said, "Before I exin what''s going on, I would like to show you something��."


    She walked close to unconscious Number 1 and removed her mask.


    "Oh��." X2


    Just as the mask was removed from Number 1''s face, both Alice and Ann understood many things.


    Number 1''s looks were a ditto copy of re or more like a toned-down version of re.


    re was more beautiful and mature, while Number 1 was a bit of an innocent type.


    Unlike re''s cold and emotionless eyes, Number 1''s eyes were pretty normal.


    Her eyes were not innocent and filled with naivety, she was an assassin after all, but there was some purity in her eyes, and her eyes showed that she still had some humanity left in them.


    re''s eyes were not like that.


    Both of them had Onyx-colored eyes and Grey-colored hair, but re''s eyes held no humanity, it was like she was willing to do anything if it could align with her interest, no matter what it was.


    "As you can see, it seems like Number 1 and re over there are sisters-"


    Luna who saw their expressions nodded her head and started exining, but her words were cut off by re who looked at Luna coldly and spoke.


    "Her name is Cecilia Gerenfled, not Number 1 and we are sisters-"


    re didn''t like the fact that Luna was calling her sister, Cecilia, Number 1, and she didn''t like how Luna said that it seemed like they were sisters.


    ''We are sisters!''


    She was a bit angry at Luna, not just about her words right now, but also about what Luna had done to Cecil, but her words were cut short as well.


    But it was not Luna who cut her words��


    "Nuh-uh, I gave you the chance to speak before but you didn''t, so now please shut up and listen to what she is saying or you can just plug your ears if you don''t want to listen."


    Alex spoke with a frown.


    He gave her two chances to speak before, but instead of answering what he asked for, she was busy with her own words, Alex didn''t like that, but he kept quiet at that time.


    But now when he asked the same question to Luna, and she was now exining, re had no right to speak.


    re shut her mouth as soon as Alex''s voice was heard.


    ''Let''s take it slow, I didn''te here to die��.''


    She spoke to herself and took a deep breath.


    re knew what position she was in right now.


    She came here unannounced, and she was going to make a request, all of that after what she had done, and who she worked for.


    ''It''s already a relief that he didn''t just kill me��.''


    re sighed again before she spoke.


    "I am sorry, I spoke out of the line."


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    She bowed her head.


    "You should be apologizing to Luna."


    Luna was already on cloud nine, even before Alex asked re to apologize to her.


    ''He is defending me!''


    ''He''s taking my side!''


    All of these things were new to Luna because all she got in the past few months was either being ignored or getting a straight no as an answer.


    ''This feels good��''


    ''Him defending me feels really good��.''


    So, for her, what Alex was doing right now was more than what she could hope for.


    re looked at Luna only to find her smiling to herself.


    She gritted her teeth.


    Out of all the people, Luna was thest one she wanted to apologize to, after all, Luna was the one responsible for the situation her sister was in.


    ''Let''s not judge too quickly��''


    But she soon calmed down.


    "I am sorry."


    Being an assassin for a long time had taught her one thing, ''Don''t always believe what things seem to be''.


    So, she decided to listen to Luna''s end of the story.


    Luna who was jumping with happiness, didn''t even focus much on re''s words, she just waved her hand.


    "It''s fine."


    But as Luna was busy smiling to herself, Number 1 or Cecilia''s eyes trembled a bit.


    "Ughh��"


    A low groan was heard, causing everyone to look at the source of the voice.


    All of them saw the unconscious Cecilia trying to sit up straight on the sofa.


    re wanted to rush toward her sister to help her, but before that, she looked toward Alex who seemed to be looking at her as well.


    ''Please��''


    re didn''t say anything, she just looked at him pleadingly.


    Alex stared at her for a millisecond, but that millisecond seemed like an hour to re before she saw Alex nod his head.


    ''Thank you!''


    re thanked Alex inwardly before she rushed toward Cecilia.


    Cecilia, who saw re in front of her had her eyes wide open as she asked disbelievingly.


    "Sister?"


    "Yes, it''s me, Cecil��."


    For the first time, re had a real smile on her face as she gently scoped Cecil into a hug.


    "Is that really you, sister��...?"


    Cecilia asked as tears started to fill her eyes.


    "Yes, it''s me, Cecil, it''s me��"


    re smiled gently as she patted Cecil''s back.


    *Sob**Sob*


    In just a second, the sobbing sound of Cecil was heard before she burst into tears.


    "Waaaaaaa!"


    re moved closer to Cecil and hugged her tighter, letting Cecil cry her heart out.


    "Well, that proves that they are sisters��."


    Alice spoke as she looked at Luna with a smirk.


    But Luna just smiled in response.


    She wasn''t going to argue with Alice today, she was just that happy.


    "Tch."


    Alice just clicked her tongue and looked away after not getting the response she was hoping to get.


    Alice could see that Luna was happy, and she could also tell the reason why she was happy, and Alice somehow felt annoyed by it.


    But since Luna didn''t respond to her taunt, she didn''t say anything else and just snuggled closer to Alex.


    Alex just smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist letting her get closer, and Ann who saw this raised a brow before she grabbed Alex''s hand and ced it on her waist as well.


    ''Better.''


    She muttered inwardly as she snuggled closer just like Alice.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex just chuckled while shaking his head.


    ''Not that I hate it��''


    But then he just shrugged inwardly.


    All of them waited for Cecil to stop crying since they had a lot to talk about and exin about��.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 228: CHAPTER 228 – From Another World.

    "Different world?? What do you mean?"


    Luna questioned with a frown, but re ignored her question and looked at Alex.


    re had told them that she was not from this world, and she wanted to see what reaction they would have.


    But unlike what she had hoped for, Alex, Alice, and Ann didn''t look surprised at all, Alice and Ann looked suspicious, but other than that, no other reaction could be seen.


    Luna, on the other hand, was surprised and skeptical, after all, no one would believe it if someone were to say that they were not from this world.


    But as Luna saw Alex, Alice, and Ann''s expressions, her frown deepened.


    ''Is she saying the truth��?''


    Luna knew that Alex wouldn''t listen to re if she was just bullshitting, she knew that much about him.


    So, if he was listening to it without saying anything meant that her words were true, and if that was not enough, Alice and Ann were also listening to her words.


    From their expressions, Luna felt that they believed re''s words as well, so she started to think more about it.


    Luna''s question was left unanswered by re but unlike re, who still held a grudge against Luna, number 1 or Cecil, didn''t.


    Cecil and the other 3 girls already exined their rtionship with Luna, and Luna also exined why she used her abilities on them.


    "It''s better to not have a painful memory than cry over it every day, and the fact that they lost their most important part to the gate brake would never have let them live happily, so I just made them forget those things."


    Luna although wanted good assassins and wanted the girls to forget the past for that, she did what she did for the girls as well.


    The girls also agreed that Luna never treated them badly, but re still didn''t like Luna for some reason.


    But Cecil liked Luna, so when she saw her sister ignoring Luna''s question, she turned toward Luna and spoke.


    "As she said, we are not from this world, we are from the world where the beasts inside the gate came from."


    Cecil replied with a smile, but her reply made a serious expression to quickly marry Luna''s face.


    This information was new to her and she wanted to know more about it, but before she could ask a question��.


    "How did you get here?"


    Alex asked as he looked at re, and Luna who was about to ask something swallowed her question.


    She focused on listening for now, questions can be askedter if she still had some doubts.


    "Through the gates."


    re replied without any change in her expression.


    re wouldn''t be telling this to just anyone, but Alex was a different case, she didn''t want to do something that might offend Alex, causing a potential risk to her life.


    re didn''t care about Luna and the other three assassin girls who were listening in to the conversation, if Alex wanted them to listen, then who was she to object?


    "borate."


    Alex demanded.


    re nodded her head and spoke.


    "We were being hunted down by some people because the fact that we were a ''Gerenfled'' was revealed, and with no other choice left, we jumped into the portals that threw us into the things you call gates here."


    re exined, but she knew that her reply would make them curious about some other things, so she listened to their questions carefully.


    "What''s so special about being a ''Gerenfled''? And can you tell us more about the portal that you mentioned?"


    It was Ann who asked those questions as she took out her tab to make notes.


    Alex also nodded his head at her questions, while others just listened to the conversation.


    However, the one who was most invested in this conversation was Luna.


    All of this was new to her, but as someone who likes to make ns at every step, she didn''t want to leave a single detail about this new information out.


    The other three girls were also new to this information, but unlike Luna, they were still unable to believe half of the stuff while the other half just didn''t enter their brains.


    re who heard Ann''s question nodded her head and answered them.


    "Gerenfleds are special because the Gerenfled family is able to use space concealment, whiches under space magic, one of the strongest magic, but some paranoid guy didn''t like the fact that there was someone who could use space power, so he ordered for us to be killed.


    Only a few survived, but they hid their origin, just like us.


    Then one day, I had to use my ability to protect myself and my Cecil from some famous bandit group, and that marked the first day of us running here and there, trying to hide again.


    But the enemies were catching up, so we jumped into the only thing we thought was better than being caught by our enemies.


    The mysterious portals."


    re paused here for a second as she felt Cecil tremble a bit.


    "It''s all right now, we are never going back and they can never find us again��."


    re muttered to Cecil, and Cecil nodded her head, reminding herself of what her sister said and trying to calm down.


    re then looked at Alex, Alice, and Ann only to find them looking at her curiously, waiting for her to continue.


    ''Sigh��.''


    She sighed inwardly.


    She thought that she could get some kind of pity points from them after they knew about her past, but all she found in their eyes was pity.


    ''But this is better��.''


    But then she smiled as she never really liked it when people looked at her with pity.


    Especially when it was rted to her family.


    ''Pity is worth nothing.''


    That''s what she had believed in till now.


    She didn''t like the look of pity people gave to her as they just looked at her with pity, none of them actually came ahead to help them, and she hated that fact.


    She could still remember how the families that were supposed to help them stood at the side and watched her family die out, and what were they doing at that time?


    They just had a look of pity in their eyes as they watched it all go down, none of them came forward to help them.


    *Inhale*


    re took a deep breath to calm her nerves and forget about the past.


    ''I''m never going to return there, so it''s all good now��.''


    She muttered to herself, all that she wanted now was to have a good life, and let her sister have the same.


    At least here, her sister would be able to enjoy her life and not keep hiding like before.


    Then she nced at Luna who had a contemting look on her face.


    ''Whatever��.''


    She huffed inwardly before she turned towards Alex, Alice, and Ann.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 229: CHAPTER 229 – The Portals.

    re was the assassin or the one that Argon ordered the keep an eye on Alex and the group.


    Whenever the blue eyes were mentioned, it was re.


    Yes, her eyes were grey, but after she used her skill to hide within the folds of space, her eyes changed color, and that helped her see through the space.


    re knew that if Luna hadn''t taken Cecil in when she took her, then Argon would''ve done it, and just the thought of Argon having her sister scared her.


    So, although she was not happy with Luna for what she did to her sister, she was grateful as well.


    ''Whatever��.''


    But she was not going to ept it.


    She turned toward Alex, Alice, and Ann who were still waiting for her to continue.


    "The portals��."


    Ann reminded re about the topic they were on, and re nodded her head.


    "Some decades ago, these portals started appearing in our world one after another.


    We didn''t know what they were and why they appeared, but when they appeared, many beings from our world were sucked into them.


    Some were forcefully sucked into them, while some entered willing, to study it or out of curiosity, but one thing wasmon, they never returned back."


    re paused for a second, letting her words settle down before she saw Alex nod, gesturing her to continue.


    She nodded back and opened her lips.


    "Some called them mysterious portals, some called them portals of death, and some called them one-way portals.


    But there was one group or Empire that got a bit too interested in those portals.


    That Empire captured all the portals and dered they would be the owner of those portals.


    They continued to study those portals until one day, some of those portals finally had someonee out of them."


    re paused at this point.


    But Alex, Alice, Ann, and Luna had their eyes sharpened when they heard those words.


    "What do you mean? Are you saying that someone from this world went to your world?"


    Luna for the first time asked a question, and re didn''t ignore her this time since she knew that others had the same question as her.


    "No, they were not from your world, I realized that after I came here��."


    Her words didn''t expel their doubts, they just made them frown deeper.


    "Then?"


    Ann asked.


    "It was another world just like yours��."


    As re''s words settled down, everyone in the room had their eyes widened, even Alex was surprised.


    [She is speaking the truth.]


    Sophiamented even before Alex could ask the question.


    ''I see��.''


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    "So, that otherworlders you''re talking about, what happened to them?"


    Alex questioned after a while.


    "No one knows, all we know is that those gates were captured by the same empire, and nothing about those people was ever heard again."


    re replied with a solemn look on her face.


    "I see��."


    Alex nodded his head, and he started thinking about those things deeply.


    "You said that those people were not from our world, and you realized that aftering here, so how did you realize that? How were those people different then us?"


    Ann suddenly questioned with a frown.


    re nodded her head before she answered her question.


    "They were like those people who you would call cultivators."


    re already knew a lot of things about this world, she even read some novels and books to pass her time, so she knew about cultivators.


    "Ohhh��"


    Ann nodded her head and noted it down.


    Then there was a long silence after that, everyone busy with their own thoughts.


    There were many questions that were still unanswered, and they wanted answers to them as well, but for some reason, they didn''t want to hear it right now, it felt like the information they had for today was already enough for them.


    "You said that you didn''t know our world was different, and you thought that all the portals lead to one world, so why did you still jump into the portal?"


    The silence was broken by Alex''s curious question.


    What was the point of running away when it was already found out that people coulde from the other side of the portals?


    "Because for the people of our world, it was still a one-way portal, no matter how many people entered, they never returned, in fact, even the gate that sent those otherworlders to our world disappeared after they came out.


    So, no one knew what actually happened or what was happening, but one thing was sure, no one who entered the portal ever came back."


    re exined herself.


    "Yet you still jumped in."


    Luna muttered.


    "Heh, rather than being caught by those people we preferred taking the risk, even if we died, we would be at peace knowing that our enemies didn''t get our bodies."


    re just smirked at Luna''s remark.


    "The case where people from other worlds came to your world through portals, did it happen ever again?"


    Alex questioned again.


    Alex was very much interested in this topic since he was getting bored in this world now, he was already the strongest here.


    He now wanted something new.


    "Not that I can remember."


    re replied honestly.


    Alex nodded his head, though inwardly he was a bit disappointed.


    [The system can help you hop worlds, you know��]


    Suddenly Sophia muttered and Alex''s eyes widened.


    ''Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!''


    Alex eximed inwardly.


    [You want to move to a different world?]


    Sophia questioned curiously.


    ''Not right now, but soon��''


    Alex muttered, but then he frowned as something about re''s words before seemed odd to him, and he noticed it just now.


    "Wait a second��."


    Alex muttered before he looked at re with a frown.


    His expression caused re''s body to tense as she felt the 4 more pairs of eyes lock on her.


    Luna''s stare was not something that really worried her, but the way Alice, Ann, and Noctura stared at her, reading her every move made her a bit ufortable.


    ''What did I do?''


    She didn''t even know why Alex was looking at her like that.


    But she knew why Alice, Ann, and Noctura were staring at her, it was because Alex was frowning as he looked at her.


    "Y-yes?"


    re tried to ask in the most normal voice she could, but she couldn''t as her voice broke a bit.


    Cecil also sensed the air a bit tense, causing her body to tense up as well.


    Unlike re, she had been living in the same house as Alex and the group, so she knew them better.


    Cecil also knew that if her sister did something wrong, then even if she begged them to spare her, they wouldn''t listen, even though they lived together for 3 months.


    So, when she saw Alex wearing a serious frown, her body inadvertently tensed.


    She had never seen Alex frown like that in the past three months, after all.


    And then under Cecil''s trembling eyes, Alex''s lips moved.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 230: CHAPTER 230 – What do you want?

    "When did you say those portals appeared in your world?"


    Alex asked with a frown.


    He was sure that re said that the gates/ portals appeared decades ago in her world.


    This time it was re''s turn to frown, and not only her, but everyone else frowned as well.


    They noticed that they had all missed a very important point in re''s words.


    re herself for the first time in all those years noticed this point��.


    "Decades��."


    re muttered, and her words caused everyone''s frown to deepen once again.


    re, herself was frowning at her own words.


    "It was 25 years to be exact, the time these gates appeared��."


    re muttered again as she looked at Alex, who seemed to be deep within his thoughts.


    The time difference was something she noticed for the first time.


    When re arrived in this world, she tried looking for any news about people from her world, but from what she found out, no one ever survived out of the gate.


    Gate breaks happened, but they were taken care of, and not like S-rank and below bosses were a problem for her.


    So, when she found out that she was safe here, she buried the memories of her world deep within her mind, never to recall them again.


    But now that she thought about it��...


    ''The first gate in this world appeared 5 years ago��.''


    It was basic information about this world and she knew about it, so she grew confused.


    "Ah��"


    But then Alex''s eyes brightened with realization.


    ''So, it''s like that��.''


    Alex realized what was happening, and he didn''t have to think much, he just had to look into the memories that he plundered from the recent bosses.


    "You get it?"


    Alice asked with a serious expression.


    This matter was really important, especially when it was rted to the gates and there was a chance that it might lead them to the origin of gates or the base functioning of gates.


    "Yeah, I dide up with a theory, and it''s most probably what is happening."


    Alex nodded his head.


    Everyone in the room turned toward Alex, waiting for his exnation.


    Even the three assassin girls other than Cecil were staring at Alex, they didn''t know what was going on since almost half of the things were going above their heads, but they could feel the weight of the conversation.


    Alex looked at all of them one by one before he spoke.


    "It''s most likely because of the difference in time between different worlds."


    Alex recalled how the high-ranking bosses had the memories of living for 100-something years inside the gate before they saw a real human, even though ording to re, the portals appeared just 25 years ago in her world.


    Alex could understand everything since he had the memories of the bosses, but the others couldn''t.


    Alex could tell that as well, so he thought of something else.


    "How many years were you guys inside of the gate?"


    Instead of asking re, he asked Cecil, who was also fully invested in the conversation.


    "Eh?"


    Cecil was surprised by the sudden question, but when she saw everyone looking at her, she replied with a stammer.


    "10 y-years��."


    Cecil was usually a quiet person, but it was not because she was cold, it was simply because she was an introvert and she didn''t know how to make a conversation.


    "And how many years has it been since the first gate appeared in this world?"


    Alex questioned her again.


    "��.5 years."


    By now, even Cecil wasing to understand some things.


    "You see, even if we don''t look at the time difference between your world and this world since we don''t have any way to confirm it, but we can still tell the difference between this world and the gates, right?"


    Alex looked at re and questioned.


    If the gates were supposed to be here only for 5 years, then how did re and Cecil stay inside the gate for 10 years?


    "But didn''t the observation throughout these 5 years say that the speed of time inside the gates and outside the gates is the same?"


    Suddenly Ann asked with a frown.


    However, Alex, as if expecting this question, replied without dy.


    "Maybe the time difference is only there until the gate is raided by someone, or maybe the moment the gate is spawned, its time starts working like that on Gaia."


    This was the best conclusion Alex coulde up with, and it sounded believable to them because it wasing out of Alex''s mouth.


    Silence enveloped the hall again as everyone was thinking about many things, but the one whose mind was working most right now was Luna.


    To her, everything she heard right now was new, but she understood everything, and now she was thinking deeply about all she heard.


    Alice and Ann were not much different, although they knew for a fact that there were other worlds out there, they didn''t know anything else about them.


    But unlike Luna, they had a general idea, so it was not hard for them to swallow the new knowledge.


    re, on the other hand, was still in her thoughts, thinking about the time difference thing, after all, she had never thought deeply about it, but now that she did, she realized that she had missed those crucial points before.


    ''I failed as an assassin��.''


    She clenched her fists.


    Just because of some pressure of the situation and worry about her sister, she forgot to notice these points till now, and this made her feel that she failed as an assassin.


    ''An assassin always has his senses working at maximum powers, and an assassin never misses anything.''


    It was the teaching her mother gave her when she was just a child and she was learning the way of assassins, and today she realized that she had failed at the most basic task of an assassin.


    The silence was maintained as everyone was busy with their thoughts but it didn''tst for long as Alex spoke.


    "Now that I think about it, you said that you had a request that you wanted to make��."


    Alex''s words made everyone turn toward re, who broke out of her introspective thoughts and looked at Alex.


    "So, tell me, what do you want?"


    Alex questioned re, and re started thinking of the best way she could make her request.


    The others also focused on the conversation, they could think all they wantedter.


    There were some questions they still had, some questions they wanted to know the answer to, but they also knew one thing, re was not actually obliged to answer them.


    But if she made her request, then they could ask more questions, but that was also not something they were sure about.


    In the end, everything depended on what Alex wanted.


    If Alex wanted to know more, then he would ask a question, if he didn''t then, no one will.


    Alice and Ann were curious, and surely, they wanted to know more, but if Alex stopped asking questions, that meant he knew about everything else, and if that was the case, then was there a need for them to question re about it?


    Luna, on the other hand, wasn''t in the position to ask questions here, after all, re still didn''t like her. Continue your saga on m|v-l''e -NovelBin


    So, all the questions they had, got pushed to the corner of their minds.


    re, who was being stared at by everyone, finally made her request.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 231: CHAPTER 231 – Who do you work for?

    "Oh, before you speak, I need to remind you that you are already in my debt, I''ve spared your life many times already, so keep that in mind."


    Alex suddenly spoke, and his words caused re to purse her lips.


    But then she nodded her head.


    She knew what Alex was talking about, but the same couldn''t be said for the others.


    "What do you mean?"


    Alex asked in confusion as she looked at Alex.


    Alex tilted his head as if he was wondering something before his eyes widened in realization.


    "I didn''t tell you guys??"


    He asked the question to not only Alice and Ann but to himself as well.


    "What did you not tell us?"


    Ann was now curious as well.


    "Nothing serious, it''s just that she had been keeping an eye on us since the time we started clearing gates."


    Alex just waved his hand dismissively.


    For him, what re did was not actually something serious, after all, there were many people keeping an eye on him.


    But it was not the same for Alice and Ann.


    "What?!"


    Alice and Ann both eximed with wide eyes as they looked at re.


    "I knew it, I''ve been feeling as if someone was keeping an eye on us for a while��."


    Ann then muttered as she looked at re with a frown.


    The first time Ann felt it was during the press conference, but then she dismissed it as there were many reporters there, it could be anyone.


    Then it was recently, that she started feeling the same thing, however, just when she would try to look for the person, they would vanish as if they were never there.


    "So, it was you��"


    Ann stared at re, and re just held her head down.


    re knew it was her fault again, but she didn''t have any other choice, after all, her sister that she had been searching for turned out to be here.


    She couldn''t just barge in here, so she observed them for a while. She only moved in for the request after she judged the situation to not be that bad.


    "Who do you work for?"


    It was then that Luna asked another question.


    re stared at Luna for a while before she answered.


    "No one."


    Her answer made Luna, Alice, and Ann frown.


    "You should''ve asked, ''Who did you use to work for?''��."


    Alex spoke as he looked at Luna, but by the time he reached the end, he was looking at re.


    re''s body trembled a bit under his eyes.


    She felt like the moment she lied she would die, it could just be her imagination as well, but she would rather not take chances.


    "I used to work for Argon Hart before he went missing."


    re answered truthfully and as expected, Alice, Ann, Noctura, and Luna''s eyes sharpened.


    "Why did you work for him? What rtionship did you have with him?"


    Ann asked two questions one after another while the others just stared at re.


    "I had no rtionship with him, I was bound by a contract, but now I know the truth about the contract..."


    As soon as the word ''contract'' was heard, all of them couldn''t help but frown.


    Every person here knew what a contract was, after all, they had all experienced it and seen it with their own eyes.


    "Contract? What was the contract about?"


    It was Alice who asked those questions with a serious expression.


    re looked at everyone who was looking at her, and then she turned to look at her sister, who just like others was looking at her, but re could see worry deep in her clear eyes.


    re just smiled at her sister before she turned toward Alice and spoke.


    "I don''t know what kind of contract it was and where he got that from, but the contract was about my sister.


    When I arrived in this world, I didn''t know how, but within six months, Argon found me.


    He knew about my origin, so I thought of eliminating him, but then he muttered my sister''s name.


    He told me that if I killed him, my sister would die.


    With no choice left, I followed behind him, and the first thing he did was make me sign a contract."


    re exined, but when she reached this part, Ann interrupted her with a frown.


    "You just believed in him and signed the contract?


    You never doubted that he might be someone who was trying to scam you?"


    Ann didn''t understand how re could just sign the contract so easily.


    "I was new in this world, and no one knew my real identity, but he somehow knew about it.


    He was weak sure, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t harm my sister. I just didn''t want to take risks that could somehow put my sister''s life in danger."


    re defended herself.


    "And you believed that he had your sister even without any proof?"


    Luna suddenly questioned before she added.


    "By the time he contacted you was probably after the time I picked Num- Cecil up, so that means he was simply bluffing, and you couldn''t tell that?"


    re was feeling ashamed about her actions but it was what it was, and she won''t be able to change it.


    "I was scared, all right? I didn''t know that my sister was in your hands, he had some of her clothes, he threw them at me and said, ''It is up to you whether you believe me or not, but I have your sister, and the only way you can ever hope to see her again is by signing the contract.''


    How could I have known that he was an expert bluffer?


    I took his words as truth and signed the contract."


    re told them the truth.


    She was just scared at that time.


    Her powers were suppressed, her sister was missing, she didn''t know if her enemies could follow her here or not, she was worried about her sister, and many other things.


    So, she was in a very bad situation, so even a small hope that Argon''s bluff gave her was enough for her.


    "But Argon didn''t have your sister, so how were you still working for him?"


    Ann didn''t understand this simple thing.


    Argon never had Cecil on her, so why did re still work for him?


    "He told me to do one task, and when the task isplete, he will let me leave with my sister, and I believed him��"


    re muttered in a low voice.


    Now that she found out the truth, she was feeling quite ashamed about her past self''s actions.


    "And you believed him��."


    Alice shook her head at this.


    "The task was probably for you to keep observing us, wasn''t it?"


    Ann raised another question, and re just nodded her head lightly.


    Alice and Ann just shook their heads at that.


    "What do you mean by your words when you said that now you know the truth about the contract?"


    Luna questioned suddenly and that question caused everyone to look at re again with their brows raised.


    "I was about to ask that as well. What did you mean by those words?"


    Ann nodded as well.


    re didn''t need to think much about it, so her reply was instant.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 232: CHAPTER 232 – ‘Anything’ is a big word.

    "I need to do a single task for him, and he would take care of my sister in return, the contract would be broken the moment my sister is harmed in any way.


    These were the conditions, and now I realize that he never actually had my sister, so the contract was never even made, and it was probably an illusion��."


    re replied and her disappointment in herself was pretty clear in her voice.


    "It was an illusion?"


    Ann raised a brow as she heard her words, and then she added.


    "How are you so sure?"


    "Because every time I met him, he would materialize the same silver contract in front of me, showing that it was still fine, and he told me that if the contract was broken, the silver sheet would disappear.


    Which never happened even though he never had Cecil with him, that means just one thing, it was an illusion��."


    re told Ann her reason for believing that it was just an illusion.


    "I see��"


    Ann nodded her head.


    It all made sense now.


    Alex then pped his hand, breaking everyone out of whatever thoughts they were having before he spoke.


    "Ok, now that we are clear about those things, why don''t you say what you want?"


    He looked at re, and re nodded her head.


    Everyone here had the idea of what she was going to ask, even Cecil and the three assassin girls.


    re loved her sister very much, anyone could tell that, so what could her wish be right now?


    "I want my sister back."


    Everyone was already expecting this request, so they didn''t have much of a reaction, but Cecil''s body jerked a bit as her hold on re tightened.


    re who felt that frowned a bit before she questioned gently.


    "What''s wrong, Cecil?"


    re asked worriedly.


    Alex who was about to say something stopped and looked at Cecil just like everyone else was doing.


    "I-I��."


    Cecil looked at re and tried to speak, but she couldn''t.


    Her expression right now was a mix of longing and sadness.


    "What is it? Tell me, Cecil��"


    re grew more worried.


    ''Is there something I still don''t know?''


    Her eyes inadvertently moved toward Luna, but Luna looked confused as well.


    "I don''t want to leave them behind��."


    Cecil muttered in a low voice.


    But that voice was enough for everyone in the room to hear it.


    "What do you mean, Cecil? You don''t want toe with me?"


    re hurriedly asked.


    She tried to hide it, but others could still hear her disbelieving tone.


    "No! No, I don''t want to be away from you now, not again��"


    Cecil eximed right after she heard re''s words, though her words turned into a whisper when they reached the end.


    "Ah��"


    re realized what Cecil meant, and so did everyone else in the room.


    The three assassin girls felt warm in their hearts, while Luna just shook her head before she voiced out.


    "You should just go with your sister, Cecil, she is your real family."


    It wasn''t that Luna didn''t like Cecil or something, but since Cecil had a sister, it was better for her to live with her sister.


    "But you guys are my family as well��."


    Cecil muttered as she looked at the three assassin girls and Luna.


    "You can''t have both Cecil, you need to choose."


    Luna looked into Cecil''s eyes and spoke seriously.


    Luna could tell what Cecil was going through, but she needed to choose.


    Cecil who heard Luna''s words stilled for an instant before she started looking around.


    Cecil looked at re, then she looked at Luna, then at the three assassin girls, before she looked back at re.


    "Ah, um��."


    The only sound that came out of her mouth was gibberish.


    ''Why do I have to choose?!?!''


    She yelled inwardly, but on the outside, her eyes which were looking at everyone, trying hard to make a decision started watering up.


    re who saw all this couldn''t bear the thought of her sister crying again, so she hurriedly hugged her and spoke.


    "Calm down, calm down, let me think of something��."


    re muttered in Cecil''s ears, trying to calm her down and Cecil did calm down a bit.


    "Un."


    She nodded her head without looking up and keeping her head buried in re''s breasts.


    re started thinking of something, but she couldn''t find anything.


    ''What should I- Ah��''


    But suddenly her eyes brightened with realization.


    She turned to look at Alex, and Alex who saw her hopeful eyes sighed inwardly.


    ''I feel like I know what her request is going to be��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly along with the sigh.


    "Can I change my request?"


    re asked with hope in her cold eyes.


    "What is it?"


    Alex questioned with a sigh.


    "Could you please let me live here?"


    re''s voice was filled with hope, after all, this was the only thing she could think of.


    Luna was going to stay here, she somehow knew that, and the other three assassin girls would stay where Luna was. re knew that she couldn''t force them or kidnap them, that was out of the question.


    So, the best thing she could think of was living here.


    "Sigh��."


    Alex let out an audible sigh.


    ''I saw thating��''


    He then turned toward Alice and Ann, and both of them sighed as well.


    Unlike Luna''s case, this time, they didn''t feel anything, because this time they knew that re had no romantic interest in Alex.


    However, if re heard those words right now, she would stare at them speechlessly.


    ''Really girls? You think any girl would be able to resist this guy?''


    It was not that re didn''t feel attracted to Alex, she just hid it well, not like she loved him or anything, she just appreciated how good he looked and how handsome he was.


    re who heard Alex''s sigh and saw Alice and Ann shaking their head, panicked a bit.


    ''Is it going to be a no?!''


    "I can do anything for you, I will work for you guys and do whatever you guys want me to!"


    She bbered whatever came to her mind.


    "Oh? ''Anything'' is a big word, you know��."


    Alex raised his brow as he smiled devilishly.


    re who didn''t think about her words now turned serious, but she still nodded her head.


    ''I can''t go back on my own words now, and it seems like he is interested��''


    "I meant every single word of mine, and believe me, I won''t let you down."


    re spoke with determination.


    "What do you guys say?"


    Alex turned toward Alice and Ann.


    "Let her stay, we have rooms free, we already have so many people here, it doesn''t hurt to add one more, especially if we get a strong subordinate by doing so."


    Ann nodded her head as she replied, and Alice, on the other hand, just shrugged.


    "I guess that''s it then."


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    Alex looked at re with a smile, and re just nodded her head.


    Cecil looked up at re, and she was full of smiles.


    "Thank you, re!"


    Cecil eximed before she hugged re again, tighter this time.


    "Wee to our house."


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 233: CHAPTER 233 – A Pity…

    "Wee to our house."


    Alex spoke with a smile, weing the new member to live with them.


    re who was hugging Cecil tightened her hold on Cecil as she looked at Alex with a smile.


    A grateful, heartfelt, and gentle smile.


    re had never seen her sister this happy, after all, in all the time they lived in their world, she never had a person she could call a friend, she never had the chance to y around as children do, and she didn''t even get the opportunity to roam around freely.


    They were always living their life in fear of being discovered, but here, none of them was a problem.


    Cecil had friends, true friends, much like sisters, and then she had someone other than re who was a big sister figure for her.


    They didn''t spend much time together, but they knew each other deepest secrets, which showed how much they trusted each other.


    So, Cecil was really happy right now, so much so that she was crying in happiness, and although re would prefer Cecil not to cry in any way, she was still happy.


    All she had left was her sister, and right now, her sister was happy, so this made re, who had always been cold and distant to everyone, smile at Alex.


    ''Ah��''


    Alex''s world paused for a second when he saw that bright smile.


    re didn''t even notice that she was smiling from her heart, unlike before when she smiled for formality.


    But Alex could see her true smile, and he would not lie��.


    ''She''s an enchantress��.''


    He was enchanted by her beautiful smile, it was so infectious that he unknowingly started smiling warmly.


    Alex called her enchantress, as she really did captivate him for a second.


    "Your smile is mesmerizing. You should smile more."


    Those words left Alex''s lips and he really meant those words.


    His words were clear and loud, so everyone heard them, causing them to snap their heads toward re, but by now, the smile on re''s face was long gone.


    The stoic and cold expression that she used to wear was back on her face.


    No one else could see that smile.


    ''I need to control my emotions��''


    re noted to herself.


    She had been a bit too rxed after she met her sister and found out that she was not in danger.


    In her world, re would kill someone just because they looked at them for more than 10 seconds, she didn''t want to take chances, and she didn''t want their faces to be remembered.


    But when she came to this world, her attitude started to rx, she became less vignt, less cautious, and less observant.


    Letting out her true emotions was not something she had ever done since her childhood, at least not for aplete stranger.


    She controlled her emotions and the smile on her face was nowhere to be seen.


    But inwardly she was blushing like a maiden in love. It was her first time beingplimented about her looks, after all.


    "A pity��."


    Alex sighed as he saw her smile vanishing.


    It wasn''t that Alex fell for her because of that smile or anything like that, he was just appreciating a beauty.


    So, he felt a bit of pity when he saw her smile wear off.


    But then he felt two pairs of eyes ring at him.


    ''Ah...''


    He realized his mistake, but then he just shrugged.


    ''I didn''t have any ill intentions.''


    He just needed to tell them that, and he would do that when they were alone, so he didn''t worry about the res he was receiving.


    He just turned toward them and then gave the most charming smile he could give.


    ....................................��..


    (Three dayster)


    "That dress was looking better at me, you know��"


    Lunamented as stared at the handbag Alice was carrying.


    "Shut up, it looks better on me!"


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    Alice turned her head in annoyance because she knew that the dress she took really did look better on Luna.


    It was a purple gown that suited well on Luna because of her pink hair, and she looked gorgeous, but Alice would never ept it, would she?


    "You just don''t want to ept it."


    Luna just shrugged.


    "Hmph!"


    Alice just snorted without even looking at Luna.


    Right now, they were roaming around a market nearby, buying new things, but Alex was not with them.


    Why? Well, we''ll have to look into yesterday''s conversation to know that.


    ..........................................


    "You can do what you want, why are you asking me that?"


    Alex raised a brow when he heard Luna''s question.


    She was asking for his permission to go out for some shopping, she and the girls wanted to buy some things, it''s been three months since they went shopping, after all.


    "I mean, the contract said that I can''t do anything without your permission, so I was asking for permission."


    Luna reminded Alex about the point on the contract.


    "Ah, yes, there was that point."


    Alex clicked his finger in realization before he turned back toward Luna and nodded his head.


    "Yes, you can go."


    "Thank yo-"


    Luna bowed her head a bit and thanked Alex, but her words were cut short by Alice.


    "I will go with them as well."


    Alice spoke as she stared at Luna with sharpened eyes, which obviously confused Luna.


    ''What did I do now?''


    Luna didn''t know what she did wrong.


    "We can all go then."


    Alex nodded as he held the handstand of the sofa, trying to stand up, but then Alice added.


    "No, you don''t need toe with us, we can protect ourselves, you know��"


    Alex paused for a second before he sighed and sat back on the sofa, resting his backfortably.


    "I see, all right, I''ll stay home with Noctura."


    He spoke after a while as his hands patted Noctura with a soft smile gracing his lips.


    Noctura, who was sitting between his legs, purred as she felt Alex''s hand patting her head.


    Alice smiled at him.


    She knew why he always stayed close to them.


    She knew better than anyone else.


    Alex was scared of them getting hurt, this one reason was why Alex never left them alone, much more so after the time at the first SS-rank gate where Makrum used Noctura''s name to distract him.


    She wanted Alex to know that they were not weak anymore, instead, they were stronger than anyone or anything in this world, right now.


    But, did Alex not know that? Even though he is the one who trained them?


    Of course, he knew that, but he couldn''t let go of this feeling, it was as if something wrong would happen to them if they were away from him.


    However, this time, he decided to let things be.


    ''Everything will be fine, they are just going to shop for some things, and they will be back in hours.


    What could possibly happen in hours?''


    Alex muttered inwardly, waving off his worries.


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 Chapter 234: CHAPTER 234 – Done with the shopping.

    "Hah��."


    Alice sighed as she slumped on a bench along with Ann and Luna.


    They were all strong, and a little shopping rush wouldn��t get them tiered, but they somehow still felt tiered.


    "I need something cold to drink��"


    Alice muttered as her eyes wandered around, looking for something.


    "Same��"


    Luna spoke in a dry voice.


    Just like Alice, she was a shopping enthusiast as well, and although they were keeping the items they bought in the storage ring, they could somehow still feel the weight of those items.


    "Ah..."


    Alice��s eyes brightened as she gulped when she saw the famous juice shop in the area, although it was not as good as Alex��s handmade juice, it was still the best drink they could find here.


    The others followed her line of sight and soon they gulped as well.


    All of them were in the same condition as Alice and Luna, and they wanted drinks as well.


    The assassin girls exchanged a look among themselves and re, who had tagged along with them as she wanted to spend more time with Cecil.


    "I��ll go."


    Number two, a girl with Auburn hair and ck eyes spoke.


    Number two was the leader of that small assassin band, so just like any other responsible leader, she decided to step forward.


    re was about to say something but Ann beat her to it.


    "No need, we will all go there together."


    Ann smiled at number 2, causing the girl to pause for a second and turn to look at Luna for confirmation.


    "Don��t look at her, as I said, we are all going, so if she wants to stay back, she can."


    Ann shook her head as she looked at Number 2.


    Luna stared at Ann for a second before she waved her hand.


    "It��s fine, we will all go together, it��s not like I��m actually tired."


    Luna shrugged in the end.


    Luna was not actually feeling fatigued, neither were the others, it was just theziness thates after being satisfied with what they have done.


    For the past three hours, they had been jumping from one shop to another, nonstop.


    During that period of time, they bought a lot of things, and the fact that Luna and Alice would start bidding inside the shop because both of them had the same likes didn��t lessen their enjoyment.


    Yes, they enjoyed their time.


    Even though their rtionship was not all flowers, more like both Alice and Luna were fire and water, they still somehow enjoyed their moment together.


    re who had been observing the group since the start also noticed many things.


    She could see the strong bond between Ann and Alice, they were able to talk with each other just by looking into each other��s eyes.


    She noticed the sisterly bonding between the assassin squad.


    She could discern the fire and water rtion between Alice and Luna.


    All of this didn��t leave her keen assassin observation.


    But just as they were about to move toward the juice shop that Alice saw earlier, re and Ann had a chilling light pass through their eyes before they snapped their heads in a particr direction.


    ��What was that?��


    Both of them frowned their brows in confusion and caution before their eyes happened to meet.


    They stared at each other for a while before they nodded their heads seriously.


    Both of them had felt some malicious gaze upon the group, but when they tried to find the source of that gaze, they found nothing.


    If it was one of them who felt it, then they would��ve ignored it, but both of them perceiving the same thing at the same time can��t be ignored.


    Both Ann and re were now on high alert, but their demeanor was casual like everything was normal.


    They kept an eye on their surroundings as they walked with the group.


    No one in the group noticed anything off, they were busy enjoying their time, even Alice didn��t notice Ann��s actions as she was busy bickering with Luna about who would buy the juice.


    "Fine. Stop being a kid, I��ll buy it."


    Luna raised her hands as she sighed when she saw that they were now standing in front of the juice stall.


    "I��m not being a kid, you are the oldest one here, so it��s your responsibility to pay for your juniors."


    Alice smirked as if she had won, causing a vein to pop out on Luna��s head.


    *Inhale*


    Luna had to take a deep breath to calm herself down.


    "As I said, I��ll buy it, so tell me which one you all want."


    Luna nodded her head, epting her defeat on this small argument of theirs before she asked everyone for their preferred choices.


    The stall had the name of juices written on a board at the front, so they could all look at it.


    "I want a mango shake."


    Alice, who was still smug about her small victory, voiced out.


    "A chocte strawberry shake for me."


    Ann told her choice as well.


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    Although she was keeping an eye on the surroundings, she was still living the moment with everyone else.


    Luna nodded her head and then she turned toward the assassin squad and re.


    "What about you guys?"


    Luna raised a brow as she questioned.


    The girls looked at each other, hesitating about something.


    "It��s fine, speak your mind, we��re not at work right now, just think of this as a holiday with your friends and treat me as such."


    Luna could understand their dilemma.


    They were her subordinates and ordering their boss to bring something for them might not be appropriate, so she reminded them of where they were and what they were doing.


    The girls shared a nce again before they nodded their heads.


    "One banana shake."


    "One apple cider."


    "One in watermelon juice."


    "One grape juice."


    Luna noted down their choices in her mind and nodded her head at them with a smile.


    "What about you, Miss re?"


    Luna then turned toward re and asked for her pick.


    "Just re is fine, and a mixed drink for me, thank you."


    re answered as she nodded her head at Luna.


    Unlike the assassin squad, she didn��t hesitate or anything, she knew that even if she tried to say no, the end result would be Luna buying one for her, so she just thanked Luna in advance.


    "All right, re."


    Luna nodded head with a smile and then she went to the counter of the juice stall, cing the orders.


    "I will have your order ready in 5 minutes."


    The receptionist on the stall smiled politely.


    "All right."


    Luna nodded her head before taking out her phone and started looking through it, noting down the important events taking ce all over the world.


    Waiting without doing anything would be a waste of time, so Luna thought it was better to look for something new, and she did find some new things going on.


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 Chapter 235: CHAPTER 235 – Luna’s danger sense.

    Every second, there��s something interesting going on around the world. It��s not always supposed to be interesting for everyone, but those things would be interesting for someone.


    Right now, Luna was looking at those types of news as she scrolled through her phone.


    ��The beasts that can speak are now eligible to im citizenship.��


    As she read through that piece of news, she couldn��t help but recall how strange Noctura was.


    ��She can speak, but she��s unable to transform.��


    To date, there has been no speaking beast that couldn��t take on human form.


    At least not the beast outside of the gate.


    But then there was Noctura, a live beast that could speak like a mature human, but still couldn��t take on her human form.


    ��The bill would be passed on to the government for final verification before the beasts all around the world could have a chance to be treated as humans.��


    Luna shook her head as she continued reading the recent news.


    She had longe to terms with the fact that Alex or anything rted to him would never be normal, so like always, she ignored the special case of Noctura.


    "Ma��am, your orders."


    The receptionist called out to Luna when she saw that Luna was busy with her phone.


    "Oh, thank you."


    Luna thanked the receptionist before she turned back toward the group.


    "The order is ready."


    She voiced out and everyone in the group nodded their heads.


    "Coming."


    Alice replied before all of them started walking toward Luna.


    The receptionist just smiled as she looked at the group.


    ��What a nice and friendly group this is.��


    She muttered inwardly.


    Right now, Luna, Ann, and Alice, who were too famous for their own good were wearing a disguise artifact to cover their appearance.


    At this moment, they were just a group of extremely beautiful girls enjoying their time, and that was the reason why the receptionist couldn��t recognize Alice, Ann, or Luna.


    As the group was walking toward the stall, Luna picked up Alice and Ann��s juice and turned around, ready to pass it to them.


    But then she noticed something��.


    ��What are they doing��.?��


    Alice, Ann, re, and the girls were walking toward the stall, so they couldn��t see what Luna could do as their backs were facing the scene that Luna was looking at.


    Luna squinted her eyes, focusing her vision on the top of a particr building where she saw something sh with a red color.


    There were two people standing on top of a caf�� building. They had this camera stand-like thing ced in front of them.


    Luna could see it with somewhat rity, but she couldn��t see every detail of what was happening.


    But then her brows frowned as she saw them pointing the camera-type device in their direction.


    The camera-type device was aimed straight at her, or Alice since Alice was right in between Luna and the camera that was pointed at them.


    This happened in mere seconds, but then Luna was those guys taking a step behind and pointing their palms at the device.


    "!!!!"


    Luna��s head started to throb as she felt her Danger Senses screaming for her to run away.


    Danger sense was one of the skills that she awakened recently.


    She didn��t know how it happened, but she did awaken it.


    And right now, that danger sense was telling her to move out of that ce.


    "Ugh!"


    The ringing in her head started to get out of hand, it was so loud that a groan inadvertently escaped her lips.


    *Shatter**Ssh*


    The ringing in her head was so loud that Luna had to hold her head in pain, causing the two sses she was holding to fall and shatter as they came in contact with the ground.


    "What��s wrong, master?!"


    Number 2 rushed toward Luna with a worried expression, and so did the other assassin girls.


    Alice frowned before she also moved closer as well, wanting to inquire what was wrong with Luna.


    Ann and re, however, had their eyes sharpened.


    They stared at each other seriously before they started observing the surroundings with focus.


    They felt like something was wrong, their assassin senses were telling them that something or someone was looking at them with anything but good intentions.


    "ARGHH!!"


    Luna let out a muffled scream as she fell to her knees.


    The pain in her head increased by folds as the time slowed down for her.


    She couldn��t speak right now, she couldn��t warn them about what was happening, but she could see it clearly.


    She saw how Alice moved toward her looking at her with a frown, but it warmed her heart a bit as she saw the worry hidden deep within Alice��s eyes.


    She could see the worried eyes of the four assassin girls, she could also hear the receptionist of the stall trying to call an ambnce. Your adventure continues at m v|l-e��m,p| y- r


    ��Sigh��. I guess not everyone in this world are bad guy��.��


    She muttered inwardly before her eyes finally caught sight of the thing that was causing her the brain-splitting headache.


    But then her eyes widened.


    ��No way!��


    Right now, Luna could feel her power being elevated automatically, but that was not all, even her sight was enhanced, and due to her heightened sight, she could see what was happening a bit too clearly.


    The guys who were standing there with a camera stand-like thing were now perfectly visible to her.


    ��It��s them!��


    That was why she was shocked when she saw the same guys she thought were just some random people, wearing apletely ck dress.


    Not just a normal ck dress, Luna could to this date, still vividly remember her fight at the auction hall, so she was damn sure that those guys were part of the same group.


    And now, she could also see the thing that was situation in front of them.


    ��What is that?��


    It was a strange spear-like thing with runic inscriptions over it.


    But just as she looked at them, she noticed the spear filled with runes started brightening, but the guys who had their palms pointed at the spear continued what they were doing.


    ��They are transferring their mana!��


    Luna was sure what was happening now.


    However, she couldn��t say a word as the ringing in her head started to increase.


    "ARRGHHHH!!!"


    She screamed again, this time louder, causing the worries of the people looking at her to increase.


    Alice zoomed toward Luna and held her hand, although she tried to hide it, one could tell that Alice was disturbed by Luna��s situation.


    "What��s going on with you?!"


    Alice spoke in a loud voice, trying to appear annoyed.


    But Luna didn��t have time to reply to Alice, nor could she speak to actually reply.


    Just then, as if the skill thought that warning Luna anymore was useless, or maybe the skill already considered Luna a goner, it stopped ringing.


    It was as if the skill had given up, or it was unable to measure the danger anymore.


    And Luna who saw the reason for her skill to go off in such a way, widened her eyes in fear.


    That fear was noticed by everyone, even Ann and re who were looking around for whatever they were feeling.


    "MOVE!!"


    Luna, however, knew that there was no time to waste, she used all of her power and sted all of them away with a burst of mana,bined with her physical strength.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 236: CHAPTER 236 – Am I going to die?

    Find more to read at mvl


    Luna Tuner is said to be ruthless, and cold-hearted even since she shows no mercy to anyone.


    If someone wronged her or got on her wrong side, she would exact her revenge in one way or another, no matter who it is.


    But what people didn''t know was that Luna just didn''t trust anyone.


    Luna didn''t trust anyone enough to let them get close to her heart, after all, her past was anything but good.


    She was sold by her parents to a loan shark at the tender age of 7.


    She had some recollection of who her parents were, and how they looked, but that was all she could remember about the word parent, there were no good memories with them.


    Luna knew that they were killedter by that same loan shark, but it didn''t affect her much.


    By that time, she was 16 years old, and her luck helped her here as the loan shark guy still had some morals left as he never sold a girl or touched a girl before she turned 18.


    Her luck again helped her as that loan shark''s hideout was raided by a group of police members, which helped her get freed from that ce.


    However, her misery didn''t end there as she was a young beautiful girl without any support trying to look for some work to earn her living.


    Many times, she tried to trust people, but every single time she was betrayed or sold out. This didn''t matter to those who betrayed her, but for Luna, all of that was a kind of lesson, and slowly, Luna started to give up on the world.


    Then one day, she realized that there was one thing, one power that could solve anything in this world, and that was money.


    From that day on, she had just one aim.


    ''I''ll be the richest person in this world.''


    But then the gates were spawned, and the world went to shambles.


    However, Luna saw opportunities in that as well, and that was how she joined the higher-ups of the raider association.


    Her personality, however, didn''t change, it still remained the one that didn''t trust anyone.


    That was until she met Alex.


    He came into her life like a tornado, blew away any reason or untrustworthy thoughts that her mind wanted to present before he made a ce for himself in her heart even without him doing anything.


    Since then, everything changed, Luna, who had never felt love, was now ready to go to any lengths for Alex, even though it was just one-sided love from her side.


    But that love of her changed many things, she started to care about the people around him, just so that he would see her in a good light.


    And slowly she really got close to them.


    Take Alice for example, although they bickered a lot, they had this bond that anyone could see.


    So, when she saw what was happening, and what it could result in, her body moved automatically.


    "MOVE!!"


    She shouted just after her danger sense stopped ringing in her head.


    Luna saw clearly that the spear which was getting brighter and brighter now went still all of a sudden, and then she saw the guys who were supplying mana to the spear fall like a piece of baggage.


    Her heart thumped against her chest.


    It was as if it was trying to give one loud scream as if it knew that her end wasing.


    But was Luna someone who was that easy to go down?


    As she saw those guys'' bodies falling toward the ground, her mind worked at full power.


    ''I can''t dodge it, I can''t even move!''


    Luna''s body was being locked on the spot, and she could feel that it was because of the spear.


    If she didn''t push the others away, then they would''ve been locked up just like her.


    ''Whatever!


    I''ll not go down just like this!''


    Luna didn''t know how strong that attack was, but she knew that it was so strong that her danger sense stopped functioning, it stopped telling her to run away.


    It was as if it could tell that it was no use, no matter what she did, the result would be the same.


    ''Hah! To hell with those skills!''


    Luna just scoffed as she took out her wipe and a shield from her storage ring.


    All of this was happening in less than a second.


    The guys that were supplying mana to the spear were still falling to the floor, they had yet to touch the ground.


    But Luna was ready for whatever wasing.


    With her shield ready to take the impact and her wipe ready to deflect the attack.


    However, the next instant, the spear that was now pointing towards her disappeared.


    Luna''s mind went nk.


    In an instant 1000s of thoughts flooded her mind.


    ''Ah��.''


    She realized it pretty quickly, her mind was working at its full capacity right now, so it was not hard for her to guess what happened.


    Luna could feel her body locked on the spot, so she knew that the attack was stilling, but she couldn''t see it.


    ''I see��.''


    She realized why her danger sense went off.


    ''It would only work if it could see a chance for my survival.''


    She knew that already, but she just thought that she could do better than her skill, she thought that she didn''t always have to rely on her skill.


    ''Am I going to die?''


    A sudden question came to her mind.


    In less than a millisecond, her life shed in front of her eyes.


    ''Alex��.''


    She muttered inwardly as his face was the first thing that came to her find.


    His smile, his way of talking, his wide back that looked more dependable than anything, hisrge chest that looked like the safest ce in the world to her, and his deep voice, that she wanted to hear so much right now��.


    But she knew it was impossible right now.


    ''Why did I try to be a hero��?''


    She regretted her decision to try to y the hero, but then she sighed.


    ''Oh well, at least they are safe��''


    Then the faces of Alice and the four assassin girls came into her mind.


    ''I wish I could hear his voice onest time��''


    Luna muttered inwardly but next instant, which was less than a millisecond since the spear had disappeared, she saw the spear right in front of her.


    ''Ah��.


    So, this is the end��.''


    She didn''t want to give up, but no matter how hard she tried to move her body, she just couldn''t.


    A lone drop of tear fell from Luna''s eye as she saw the spear disappear again.


    (The disappearance and appearance of the spear were not because it''s teleporting or something, it''s simply so fast that she was only able to see it appeared right in front of her.)


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 237: CHAPTER 237 – SLAP!!

    Alice was worried about Luna, she didn''t show it, but she was.


    And she knew it as well.


    ''Stop wasting our time!''


    But she didn''t want to ept it, so she pretended to be annoyed inwardly.


    Luna''s crouching down on the ground, making a scene and all was worrying, but she told herself that Luna was just wasting their time.


    "What''s going on with you?!"


    She asked with a frown, trying to hide her worry with annoyance.


    Alice could see that Luna was in pain, but she didn''t know what was happening.


    She couldn''t tell what was happening, she was not a healer, after all.


    But she was sure of one thing.


    ''She''s in pain��.''


    But then she frowned as she saw Luna''s eyes widening as she looked at a particr spot.


    "MOVE!!"


    ''Wha��.''


    With a shout, Luna pushed them all away, but as Alice was thrown back, up in the air, she saw Luna''s every action. Experience new stories on mvl


    And when she followed her line of sight, Alice''s eyes widened as well.


    In mere microseconds, Alice''s eyes met Ann''s and both of them nodded their heads.


    ''This idiot!


    Did she think she could survive that attack!!


    That''s an epic rank attack!''


    *Boom*


    Alice yelled in her mind as she sted off fire from her hand, changing the trajectory of her body.


    *Boom**Boom*


    Then with another me st of her hand, she shot toward Luna with a sonic boom.


    Although things were happening in a matter of milliseconds, Alice could see everything clearly.


    ''Ah��''


    She saw a tear escaping Luna''s eyes.


    The moment Alice saw the tear, she thought that Luna was now regretting her decision, but then she saw a warm smile at the corner of Luna''s lips.


    ''This woman��.''


    Alice gritted her teeth before she appeared right beside Luna.


    Luna, who was ready to lose her life didn''t even know what was happening, things were too fast for her to follow.


    But re could see shes.


    She could see Ann, who was looking around, zoomed toward Luna, and the next second.


    *Ting*


    A sharp noise of metals colliding was heard, and the world stilled.


    It was as if everything stopped.


    Alice was standing in front of Luna, charging her fire attack while Ann was also standing in front of Luna, stopping the spear that wasunched at them with a normal-looking de she conjured.


    "Now!"


    The world which seemed like it was paused, started moving just as the shout from Ann was heard.


    Ann, who had stopped the spear mid-air shouted before she moved aside, and just as she did, a hand, covered in red and golden mes held the spear.


    "YAAAA!!"


    Alice, who was holding the spear pointed it toward the sky, and with a st of mes in her palm, she shot it up in the sky.


    *Swoosh*


    The spear shot up in the sky.


    There was pin-drop silence after the spear was shot up in the sky.


    But then��.


    *BOOM*


    A sonic boom, much louder than any before was heard.


    Everyone in the surroundings was blown away.


    "Ahhhhh!"


    "Nooooo, my babyyyy!"


    "Help me!!!"


    ...


    ��.


    ..


    .


    Many people who were blown away were screaming for help as they shuttled through the air.


    "There!"


    Ann yelled at re as she pointed her finger at a particr building.


    re, although shocked by all that was happening, still rushed toward the caf�� building at breakneck speed.


    re, right now, was an EX-ranker, her power had increased a bit because of the world''s barrier-breaking, so although she couldn''t follow Alice and Ann''s movements, she could still see shes, and hear sounds.


    "Ah��"


    Luna finally opened her eyes as she felt the air pressure trying to push her away, but as an SS-ranker, she was still fine.


    Luna saw two people standing in front of her.


    ''I was saved, I guess��.''


    She muttered inwardly as she saw Alice and Ann standing in front of her.


    There were no injuries on her body, so she knew that she was safe and since no one other than Alice and Ann was standing in front of her, she knew that the ones who saved her were them.


    "Thank yo-"


    She spoke as she looked at Alice and Ann who were still not looking at her.


    *SLAP!!*


    But a p was heard.


    The sound was not low, it was quite high, one could tell just from the sound that it was a hard and heartfelt p.


    "What the hell are you thanking us for?!"


    Alice yelled as she pped Luna on her right cheek.


    Luna just stood there stunned by the turn of events.


    She could see anger bubbling up in Alice''s eyes, she could see some disappointment in Ann''s eyes.


    It was clear that they were not in the mood for a happy reunion.


    "You think we are weak enough for you to save us?!


    What were you even trying to do?!"


    Alice pushed Luna back, making her fall to the ground backward.


    Luna just remained silent.


    She had realized her fault by now.


    "Alice��."


    Ann muttered, trying to stop Alice from making a scene.


    "No, Ann. Let me speak."


    Alice shook her head before she turned to look at Luna again.


    "Answer me, dammit!"


    Alice smashed her foot on the ground, causing cracks to appear on it.


    "I was trying to save you guys-"


    Luna tried to speak, but Alice cut her words again.


    "Yeah? How?


    By dying? Don''t you know your limits?!


    You think you were going to survive that attack!!"


    Alice was gritting her teeth as she spoke.


    ''Why am I feeling so angry!''


    Alice screamed inwardly.


    Luna looked at Alice apologetically.


    She could feel Alice''s worry in her voice, and although that warmed her heart, she was feeling sorry as well.


    "I''m sorry��."


    Luna muttered in a low voice as her head bent down.


    Alice red at Luna for a while.


    "Gahhh!''


    She was frustrated inwardly, but on the outside, she just stared at Luna who had held her head down apologetically.


    She was grinding her teeth hard just to stop herself from yelling at Luna again.


    Alice was not blind, she could tell that Luna did what she did because she cared for them, no sane person would be ready to die just for anyone.


    ''But know your limits, dammit!''


    Alice had her brows frowned, but then she felt a palm on her shoulder.


    She turned to look at Ann who was holding her shoulder.


    Ann shook her head, causing Alice to grit her teeth again, but she nodded her head.


    "Huff!"


    Alice gave Luna onest nce before she turned her head away with a huff.


    She walked toward re who was dashing in their direction, with a face that clearly showed regretful expression.


    Ann looked at Alice''s back before she turned to look at Luna and then she sighed.


    "Here, get up."


    She offered a hand to Luna, and Luna took her hand and stood up, her head, however, was still down.


    "She''s is like that for those she cares about."


    Ann told Luna, just to offer somefort.


    "I know��."


    Luna replied before she lifted her head and looked at Alice''s receding back.


    "MASTER!" X4


    By then, the four assassin girls had recovered from their initial shock and they were rushing toward Luna to check up on her.


    Luna just smiled as she saw them running toward her with worry etched on their faces.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 238: CHAPTER 238 – They are dead.

    Alice was gritting her teeth as she walked ahead, but in the corner of her mind, she knew that she was taking the wrong approach with Luna.


    ''Sigh��.''


    She sighed as she tried to put Alex in Luna''s ce.


    ''Would I be yelling at him like I did at her?''


    This question came to her mind, and no matter how many times she tried to think about it, the answer she came up with was the same: No.


    She would just cry and hug Alex if it was him.


    ''I need to control my temper��''


    She knew that she was worried about Luna, and her mind was automaticallying up with something that could make it look like she was not worried, but angry.


    However, now that she moved away from Luna, she knew what she was doing was not correct.


    She could feel a pair of eyes looking at her back apologetically, and she knew it was Luna.


    But she just didn''t know how to go back now��.


    ''I already did what I shouldn''t have done��.''


    She realized her mistake, but it was a bitte.


    "MASTER!!" X4


    Alice looked back when she heard the worried yell of the three girls, and she saw it all.


    They looked worried, and they didn''t hide it, they were open about their worries and they were ming themselves for being weak and all.


    Luna just smiled at them.


    ''Sigh��''


    And looking at that smile of Luna, Alice sighed again.


    ''Whatever, I''ll think about itter.''


    In the end, she decided to let it go with the flow.


    "What''s wrong?"


    By then, re was already in front of her, so Alice questioned her.


    "They are dead."


    re replied as she shook her head with regret.


    "Who?"


    Alice frowned in confusion.


    "The guys that attacked us��"


    re sighed.


    "Dammit!"


    Her answer made Alice clench her fist and grit her teeth.


    ''This happens the first time wee out alone without Alex.''


    She knew that the chances of Alex letting them out of his sight had now decreased, not that she hated it, but she wanted to show him that they would be fine without him.


    ''No, we are still fine, and nothing happened, so I don''t think he would be that worried��''


    Alice thought about it a bit before she shook her head.


    ''No use thinking about what he would do, even I can''t predict him.''


    She just shrugged inwardly.


    "What did they look like?"


    By now, Ann, Luna, and the assassin squad had arrived where they were standing, so Ann questioned re.


    Ann had heard thest conversation between Alice and re, so she didn''t ask anything about that, instead, she asked about their appearance.


    But just as re was about to reply, someone beat her to it.


    "They were the mysterious group that had been causing chaos everywhere."


    Alice and Ann''s eyes sharpened when they heard Luna''s answer.


    re stared at Luna for a while, but she didn''t say anything.


    She knew what happened before, she knew that Luna was ready to die for her sister, and this fact made Luna''s image in her mind a bit better.


    "So, they finally decided to make a move��."


    Ann muttered as she looked into Alice''s eyes with the same seriousness that Alice had in her eyes.


    It''s been more than three months since Alex predicted that the mysterious group would attack them eventually.


    And today they did.


    "Looks like they''re afraid of Alex or something like that."


    Alice spoke with a thoughtful expression.


    Ann nodded her head before she spoke.


    "Let''s go back and talk about it with Alex."


    "Yeah, let''s go back."


    Alice nodded her head, but before they could move, Luna stopped them.


    "Wait."


    All of them turned toward Luna with different kinds of expression on their faces.


    "Alice, I''m really sorry for what I did, I didn''t have time to think about it, and my body moved instinctively.


    You are all important to me, and I can''t lose any of you.


    It''s the first time something like this happened, and believe me, it will be thest."


    Luna spoke as she looked into Alice''s eyes with the sincerest expression she could have.


    Alice stared at her without any change in her expression.


    ''I guess, this is it.''


    Alice smiled inwardly.


    She was unsure of how to get things between herself and Luna back to normal, and she thought of going with the flow, but who would''ve thought that the chance would arrive so soon?


    Alice was not angry anymore, she had realized her mistake, and she knew that she was reacting the wrong way.


    Luna was fine, and everyone else was fine as well.


    No harm was done, so she just had to pat Luna on her shoulder and move on.


    "Hmph! It''s fine, but don''t think you''re getting away easily!


    You still have to get us the juice that we were supposed to drink!"


    Alice humphed as she folded her arms in front of her breasts and spoke haughtily.


    *Giggle*X4


    The assassin squad was holding their breaths, hoping that Alice would not turn around and p Luna again, so when they heard an unexpected reply, they couldn''t help but giggle.


    Ann also smiled as she looked at Alice.


    Luna, although very happy with the turn of events, didn''t show it outwardly.


    On the outside, she just raised a brow and spoke.


    "You want juice?


    From where? From the shop that you almost destroyed a moment ago?"


    Luna was not one to be one-uped by anyone, so she replied with the same intensity as Alice.


    "Ah��"


    Ann was the first one to notice what Luna wanted them to look at.


    All of the surroundings were a mess.


    The smaller shops or the lighter stalls were blown away, and all of their things were blown away.


    Many people were on the ground, some screaming in pain, some tending to their loved ones. It was clear that all of this happened because of the earlier sonic boom.


    Some people were still fine, the ones who had stronger shelter, or the ones who found something solid to hold on to were still fine.


    But many people who were injured were looking at them with hostility.


    No one knew who they were, they still looked like a normal group of beautiful girls, but this group was responsible for all the damage, so they became the center of everyone''s hostility.


    Soon, everyone in the group also saw the situation around them.


    And now they realized that although the damage was not much for them, the same could not be said for everyone else.


    Even the receptionistdy who was calling for an ambnce the moment she saw Luna screaming in pain was now looking at them with caution and a bit of anger.


    Everything inside her stall or trolly bus was in disarray, the fruits were spoilt, the water and mild that was stored inside were flowing out of the trolly bus, and even the trolly bus was damaged.


    It was closest to the impact after all.


    Alice who saw all that hostility in the eyes of people, felt that it was her fault.


    ''I could''ve done better, maybe tried handling the situation gently-''


    Alice was ming herself, but her thought process was interrupted by Luna''s words.


    "Quit the self-ming thoughts and listen to what I have to say."


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 239: CHAPTER 239 – Taking care of the aftermath.

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    .......................................


    Luna, who was looking at everyone''s reaction, didn''t take time to guess what Alice must be thinking.


    Alice was looking down with her fists clenched, it either meant that she was trying to control her anger or regretting something very much.


    The former can''t be true for this situation, which means thetter is what''s happening.


    "Quit the self-ming thoughts and listen to what I have to say."


    Luna stared at Alice andmented.


    Alice looked up at Luna, and although she was annoyed by Luna''s bossy tone, she nodded her head.


    Ann also transferred all of her attention to what Luna was about to say.


    "Call for as many healers you can ask them to heal even the smallest scratch anyone here has, ask them to heal any problem any one of these people has, even if it was not caused by us."


    Luna paused here, letting Ann note everything down, and when she saw Ann and Alice nodding their heads, she continued.


    "Compensate all of them for their losses, be it small damage orrge,pensate them.


    It would be better to give them some extra money, don''t be stingy here, you guys from Crimson Lotus have a lot of money.


    Heck, money is like a never-ending stream for you guys, so don''t hold back."


    Luna paused again, letting Ann note it down.


    Ann and Alice didn''t even try to deny Luna''s statement about them having a never-ending stream of money, because it was true.


    Alice and Alex alone could get so much money that a whole country could survive on that money.


    Not to mention that they could earn more, after all, to date, neither Alice nor Alex had ever done advertisement and promotion.


    If they did, then the fortune they have would only increase.


    "The staff you call must be the patient bunch, we don''t want people with anger issues talking to a bunch of raging people trying to calm them down, that would make things bad.


    Having a bunch of mad mobs spreading the word that first their family member/s was/ were killed and then they were treated unjustly by your employees is not something that would be good in this situation.


    They will be mad, super mad, maybe in despair, so you can''t expect anything less, after all, some of them did lose their family member here, so try to solve things calmly no matter how hyper the public gets.


    Everything in this world has a price."


    Luna added seriously after she saw Ann nod her head.


    But when she paused, she could see Alice clenching her fists again.


    ''Sigh��


    You can''t be soft in a world like this Alice.''


    Luna knew that Alice was regretting her impulsive actions and was ming herself for it, but the world was a dog-eat-dog world.


    If you did something wrong, trying to make it up is the best you could do, you can never go back, not even when the world was normal.


    Alice was sad about the fact that many people died because of her, but what made her more dejected was the fact that she could''ve saved them, if, just if she thought a bit more about her actions and their consequences.


    Alice was not as na?ve as before, even before she was not that na?ve, but here, she was not being na?ve.


    She was just regretting her actions, because if this continued, then maybeter, when she was much stronger than she is right now, her carelessness would cause a problem so big that she wouldn''t be able to solve it no matter how much money she threw at it.


    ''This can''t go on like this!''


    Luna just couldn''t see this gloomy atmosphere surrounding Alice.


    ''That''s not who Alice is.''


    Luna walked toward Alice and held her shoulder, forcing Alice to look into her eyes which were filled with seriousness.


    "I know you''re thinking things like, ''I could''ve done better'' and all, but you know, sometimes��."


    Luna paused, and then she smiled lightly as she continued to look into Alice''s eyes before she added.


    "Sometimes you just need to take it easy. You can''t always control everything Alice, that''s why you should rely on others a bit more.


    You have many people you could rely on here."


    Luna said as she looked at Ann and the others.


    Alice was a bit lost after she heard Luna''s words, then she looked at everyone in the group and saw all of them smiling at her.


    Alice realized that none of them were ming her, it was just her who was thinking too much.


    Yeah, she did something that harmed the others, but she did save the people that mattered to her.


    The assassin squad might not be that close to her, but they were still like ymates, they lived together for three months after all.


    One can''t stay distant from someone even after 3 months of living together, so everyone here meant something in her life, and they were safe, so what others thought didn''t matter.


    But Alice was not going to let Luna teach her how things worked.


    Yeah, Luna''s words made her realize things, but would she ever ept it?


    Nope.


    No matter how much she cared about Luna, in the end, Luna was the most annoying person for her.


    "Says the one who almost got killed if not for me."


    Alice just snorted at Luna''s words, saying that she should reply to Luna.


    This time Luna didn''t fight back, she let Alice be.


    ''It''s good to have you back.''


    She just smiled inwardly.


    "Then? What should we do afterpensating them all?"


    Ann who was happy with all these changes just smiled before she came back to the topic.


    "Well, when it is all said and done, reveal your identity."


    Luna shrugged.


    "Reveal our identities? Wouldn''t it be already revealed if we bring in healers of our guild?"


    Ann questioned in confusion.


    "Then just don''t bring the healers from Crimson Lotus, hire some good healers and let them do the job.


    Revealing your real identity in the end would be better since by then, every person here would''ve calmed down, and stuffed with the pensation'' they received.


    Then all you have to do is tell them what happened.


    Tell them that you, Alice, one of the saviors of theirs was attacked in broad daylight, and the preparator had thoughts of killing you.


    You did what was the best and if you didn''t, then the destruction would''ve been many folds higher than right now."


    Luna exined her n while nodding repeatedly, as if proud of herself.


    "What good would it do?"


    Alice asked with a frown.


    She understood the need topensate and all, but what would this do?


    "Heh, Alice, you''re underestimating your image a bit too much, you just need to tell them who the ones that attacked you were, then see the magic��."


    Luna spoke mysteriously.


    Luna knew that after Alex heard what happened today, he would be after the mysterious group seriously since they decided to make a move, and unlike before, now he wouldn''t just sit still.


    So, Luna was thinking of helping him.


    ''Maybe I''ll get some brownie points, as well��''


    Luna giggled inwardly.


    ''What''s she nning?''


    Alice didn''t like the glee she could see clearly in Luna''s eyes, and neither did she like the air of mystery that Luna was trying to maintain, but she decided to let it go for now.


    All of them had gone through a lot today, so she decided to call it a day.


    "All right, we''ll do it, now let''s go back."


    Alice nodded toward Ann, who nodded back before she gestured for everyone to go back.


    Everyone in the group nodded their heads, gave ast look at the surroundings, and walked away, ignoring some death res they were receiving.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 240: CHAPTER 240 – Memory manipulation.

    "So? How did you do it?"


    Alex asked Luna as he sat straight on the weight bench where he was doing bench presses on a moment ago.


    Right now, only Alex and Luna are in the gym, and both of them are wearing gym wear while doing their daily exercise.


    Luna had asked for some time alone as she wanted to talk to Alex, and when he asked what she wanted to talk about, she told him that she wanted to talk about her ability.


    She wanted to exin how she manipted the girls'' memories.


    This got Alex interested in an instant, and he agreed to Luna''s request, he had something he wanted to talk about with her as well, but he could do that after she was done.


    "Huh?"


    Luna, who was drooling over Alex''s divine physique, quickly wiped off her droll, stood up straight, and started stretching.


    "Oh, wait a sec, let meplete this set."


    Luna was not actually doing anything other than drooling as she stared at Alex''s perfectly crafted body, but she at least needed to pretend, right?


    "Ok, go on."


    Alex was not oblivious to what Luna was doing, his perception showed her every move to him, but he didn''t point it out.


    After all, he was appreciating her curves as well.


    Unlike before, Luna''s curves were getting better.


    Her breasts size had increased as her power grew, by now, she wasrger than Alice.


    She was older, so she had that mature air around her, making her much more appealing to any straight male.


    Alex was really making the full use of their time alone, observing every nook and cray of her body, but again, just like the time with re, he didn''t have any lustful thoughts.


    All he was doing was appreciating a piece of art created by heaven.


    "All right, I''m done."


    Luna stood up and stretched her legs after she was done with one set of her crunches.


    "Good."


    Alex nodded his head, moved his eyes away from Luna''s body, and looked into her eyes.


    Luna failed to notice that as Alex''s movements were quite fast.


    "Here."


    Alex waved his hand and the next second, a chair that was in the corner of the room slid toward Luna.


    "Thank you."


    Luna smiled before she sat on the chair.


    "Now, about my ability, I need to release a mist from my body-"


    Luna thought for a bit before she started to exin her ability, but Alex cut her words.


    "I know how your ability works and what it does, what I want to know is how you use it to manipte memories."


    Alex shook his head as he told Luna what he wanted.


    (Author Note: Guys, the theory below is something I came up with, so it might be wrong scientifically, but it was the best I coulde up with.


    This is pure fantasy and everything I writees from my imagination, so if you find something that''s not scientifically possible, just take it in as one of my bullshits.)


    "Oh��"


    Luna was a bit surprised by the fact that Alex already knew what her ability did, but she contributed it to one of his abilities and moved on.


    "Do exin that, I''ll have to tell you a little about how the human brain works."


    Luna started her exnation, and Alex nodded his head.


    Alex was always in for learning new things.


    "The human brain is big, very big, in terms of space that stores the memories, but the main functioning part of the brain, that keeps it running is small.


    And since it is small, it can only keep a small part of memories there, so anything that the main brain thinks of to have lower value is thrown in therger storage, only to be recalled if neededter.


    It judges them as unimpactful events, something that won''t affect our daily life much if we don''t have them running in our mind."


    Luna paused a bit as she looked into Alex''s eyes.


    She had a serious expression as she exined these things to Alex, but inwardly Luna was celebrating the small time alone with Alex.


    She was doing many things she used to dream about before.


    She was sitting close to Alex, breathing the same air as him, she could smell his scent which was oddly refreshing, like a spring breeze.


    All of this was a dream for her in the past.


    ''Hard work pays��''


    She muttered inwardly.


    All of her hard work in thest three months was not a waste as she could feel the distance between her and Alex shortening.


    She knew that, now, she was ''someone'' in Alex''s life, and he wouldn''t just walk away if she was in danger.


    "I see."


    Alex nodded his head, gesturing for Luna to continue.


    Luna, who saw that, nodded and then spoke.


    "But what would happen if the brain was forced with memories that were more impactful than any other before?"


    Luna questioned with curiosity.


    She was curious as to how Alex would answer.


    "It will push away the ones that it thought were impactful away from the main functioning brain."


    Alex answered as he looked at Luna as if he was asking for her confirmation.


    And Luna did just that.


    "Yes, that''s what it would do, and that is something I made use of when I ''manipted their memories'' as you say it."


    Luna nodded her head, acknowledging Alex''s answer.


    "Oh?"


    Alex curiously raised his brow.


    "And how did you do that exactly?"


    Alex questioned with the same interest.


    "What I did was keep using my ability on them for hours before they werepletely under my control, so much so like no one before, and then I ordered them to forget anything they could remember about their family."


    Luna answered Alex''s question, but Alex was quick to point out the fault in that process.


    "But that would be temporary, the memories wille back after the effects of your abilities have died down."


    He knew how strong her ability was and he also knew that the longer someone stayed in thepelling mist, the more Luna would be able to control them, but that would only work till her target was under the effect of thepelling mist.


    "Yes, I know, and that''s why, I used the time they were under my full control to nt new memories in their heads."


    Luna knew the weaknesses of her abilities better than anyone else, so she knew the point that Alex mentioned before anyone else.


    "Ohh��"


    Alex nodded his head in realization.


    "So, that''s why you asked that question earlier��."


    Alex muttered, and Luna nodded her head with a smile.


    "Yes, I will just give themmands, nting fake memories in their minds, and although it won''t do much in one day, after continuous practice, it would work wonders."


    Luna concluded her exnation with that.


    "Hm, so it''s a long process��.."


    Alex muttered with a pondering look.


    "Yes, that''s the only problem."


    Luna nodded her head with a sigh, it took her a year to get it done, after all, and a year is really long.


    "It''s not actually a problem, if you could do it instantly, then your ability would be called broken."


    Alex just shrugged.


    He did get some ideas to use his abilities, so he was fine with it.


    "Un."


    Luna nodded her head and then followed Alex with her eyes as he stood up from the weight bench and moved toward the pull-up bars.


    "Let''splete our daily quota."


    Alex spoke without looking back as jumped up a bit and held the bars.


    "A-ah, yeah!"


    Luna quickly broke out of her reverie and peeled her eyes away from Alex before she went ahead and started doing what she was supposed to do.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 241: CHAPTER 241 – One Wish 1.

    *Voom**Voom*...


    *Tap**Tap*...


    Only the sound of the wheel of an Elliptical machine (aka cross trainer), and the sound of steps on the Stair mill (aka stair climber) were the sounds that could be heard inside the gym.


    Both Luna and Alex were doing their own sets of exercises.


    Luna was using the Elliptical machine, while Alex was running up the stairs on the stair mill.


    Both of them were busy with their own work, well, if we ignore the fact that Luna would sneak some nces at Alex from time to time, then yeah, they were busy with their own workouts.


    The silence had been maintained since Luna exined how her ''memory maniption'' worked.


    Alex had been deep within his thoughts, thinking about how he could make use of this knowledge.


    He had themanding ability of Supreme Human bloodline for Humans, but for other species, he was at a loss, so if he coulde up with a way to more effectively use his incubus aura, then maybe he could control other races as well.


    Alex kept thinking of ways until he finally gave up after not finding anything good enough to fit his taste.


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    But then he noticed a pair of eyes sneaking nces at him now and then.


    ''Can you be more obvious��?''


    Alex chuckled inwardly.


    Luna didn''t notice that Alex had broken out of his thoughts and now he was looking at her, she kept staring at his body.


    Luna, who had been with Alex for more than three months, knew that once Alex went deep in his thoughts, he would start ignoring his surroundings.


    Which meant that she could stare at him all she wanted, though she couldn''t make it too obvious.


    But as she was checking out Alex, she noticed that his body which was supposed to be turned sideways was now facing toward her.


    ''��.uh.''


    Luna was not dumb, she understood what was happening.


    She didn''t look up in Alex''s eyes, rather, she started walking toward him.


    ''Oh?''


    Alex who saw Luna walking in his direction raised a brow.


    ''What''s she up to now?''


    Alex looked at Luna curiously, observing her closely.


    Luna, however, was still looking down as she marched forward, and just when Alex was expecting her to stop in front of him and look into his eyes, Luna walked right past him.


    Alex''s eyes followed Luna until he saw her picking up her sipper that was ced in the same direction he was standing at.


    In fact, the sipper was right behind him.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex just couldn''t stop the chuckle that left his lips.


    Luna, on the other hand, drank the water without minding the chuckle that she heard.


    But that was just on the outside, inwardly, she was burning with shame, blushing furiously.


    ''Ahhhh! He saw me!''


    The chuckle from Alex was like a confirmation sign for her to know that Alex caught her ogling at his body, and this almost made Luna die of embarrassment and shame.


    ''That''s what you thought??''


    Alex was still chuckling as he looked at Luna who kept gulping the water in her sipper, just so that she wouldn''t have to turn back and look at him.


    Alex found it funny how she used all of her brain power toe up with an excuse, an excuse so good that he couldn''t even point out that she was staring at his body.


    After a while, Alex had stopped chuckling, and right now, he was washing his face in the washbasin in the gym.


    The basin was in the main gym, there was no toilet or washroom in the gym, so everything was open.


    As he washed his face, he looked in the mirror, staring right at Luna''s reflection.


    At that moment, Luna was filling her sipper that she emptied a while ago.


    By now, she had calmed down.


    Alex decided to drop the topic, and Luna, who was dying from shame, gratefully dropped the topic as well.


    "I''ve been meaning to say this��."


    Alex spoke as he looked at the reflection of Luna, who was now looking at him curiously.


    But inwardly, she was jumping like a fish out of water.


    ''He didn''t drop the topic?!''


    Luna thought that Alex wanted to talk about the previous incident.


    Alex turned around and looked right into Luna''s eyes which gave away her panic.


    But Alex didn''t point it out, instead, he bent his head a bit, not much, just an inch before he spoke.


    "Thank you."


    His words carried the sincerity that could make even the person with the worst kind of trust issues believe him.


    Luna''s panicking thoughts went out with a puff, reced by question marks.


    ''Thank you?''


    "Thank you for what?"


    Luna was honestly confused right now.


    "For trying to save them all, even if it meant your death."


    Alex knew about the attack, he was told everything by Alice and Ann, every single detail, and he felt thankful for what Luna did.


    "Huh?"


    Luna frowned her brows.


    "But I didn''t do anything, and if we look at it right now, it was me who was saved by them."


    She didn''t understand what Alex was thanking her for.


    "What if Alice wasn''t able to react in time?


    What if she didn''t see the attacking?


    What if she couldn''t take on the attack because she tried to save the others?


    There are more what-ifs for me to say, but I can tell you one thing, if you didn''t do what you did, then the situation could''ve turned out to be worse."


    Alex seriously pointed it out.


    "You should take the credit for what you did."


    Alex added as he shook his head.


    "But I was the one who was saved."


    Luna muttered in a low voice, but it was enough for Alex to hear it.


    "Sigh��."


    Alex sighed audibly.


    "I will say it again, and you should ept it as well, you were not a liability there, you were the reason that everything got solved without a problem."


    Alex reminded Luna, he wanted her to take credit for what she did, and not me herself for being useless.


    He had noticed it and so had Alice and Ann, from the time Luna was saved by Alice and Ann, she would often get lost in her thoughts.


    It was fine if she was just lost in her thoughts, but everyone in the house could tell that Luna was going through some internal struggle.


    She was fighting herself or ming herself for something.


    And Alex, just like everyone else didn''t want her to do that.


    Luna always keeps smiling on the surface, so it''s hard to tell what''s really going on in her head, but for Alex, she''s easy to read.


    He couldn''t read her mind, but he could still guess what kind of feeling she was trying to hide with that smile of hers.


    "But I really-"


    Luna shook her head, trying to deny it again, but Alex cut her words.


    "Did you know how strong both of them were?"


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 242: CHAPTER 242 – One Wish 2.

    "Did you know how strong both of them were?"


    Alex''s question caused the frown on Luna''s head to deepen.


    She got confused by his question.


    ''What''s he talking about?''


    They were talking about the incident, so who was he referring to?


    ''Ah, I see��''


    Just then, as if realizing something Luna''s eyes brightened.


    ''He''s talking about Alice and Ann.''


    Luna''s brows which were knighted into a frown also loosened as the realization hit her.


    They were talking about the incident, and Luna was saying that she didn''t do anything, on the other, hand she was saved.


    So, Alex asked her again.


    "Did you know that both Alice and Ann were that strong?"


    "No."


    Luna replied with a shake of her head.


    "But you did know that if that attacknded, then their lives would''ve been in danger, right?"


    Alex questioned again as he sat back on the weight bench, and started wiping his face with a towel.


    He could''ve just dried it off with magic, but that wouldn''t give the gym-like feeling, so he was using the towel.


    "Yes."


    Lua nodded her head in confirmation.


    "You didn''t know that Alice and Ann were strong enough to take care of the attack, and you also knew that it could kill or gravely injure everyone there, yet you still jumped in front of it, why?"


    Alex asked as he looked into Luna''s eyes, throwing the towel on the handle of the weight bench.


    Luna stared back at Alex and for a while, she didn''t know what to say.


    "Just tell me what you felt."


    Alex spoke as if he could see through her dilemma.


    Luna put up a thoughtful expression before she spoke.


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    "I didn''t feel anything, my body moved on its own, I just wanted to save them."


    Luna spoke her thoughts out loud.


    "So, you just wanted to save them��"


    Alex nodded his head, but before Luna could say something or add something he asked her another question.


    "Did you, for a second, regret that decision?"


    Alex questioned with deliberate pauses in between his words, just so that they would carry more weight.


    His question slumped Luna, and her mind drifted back to the time when she regretted the decision to jump in.


    "��yes, I had that thought for once."


    Luna nodded her head as she tried to avoid eye contact with Alex.


    She felt that Alex would hate her or look down on her for that decision.


    But unexpectedly, Alex did none of that, instead, he just nodded his head before he asked another question.


    "You said, you had that thought ''for once'', but what about the thought after it? What was it?"


    This question of Alex froze Luna for a second before she recalled the moment of relief she had, the relief of knowing that even if she was going to die, others were safe.


    A soft smile graced her lips as she recalled that feeling of relief, it felt so good, that even though she knew that she would be dead in less than a second, there was no fear in her heart.


    Alex who saw her smile, couldn''t stop his lips from rising, and before Luna could answer his question, he shook his head with a smile.


    "You don''t have to answer it, I already got my answer��"


    His words, however, were not heard by Luna as she was stunned at his smile.


    It was not because she was enamored by his smile, well she was, but not so much that she would be stunned. She had seen him smile a lot of times, so much that her resistance had gone up by a lot.


    Luna was stunned because, unlike the normal casual or chill smile that he gave her, right now his smile was gentle.


    Luna had stayed with Alex for 3 months and other than some selected few people, she had never seen him passing a gentle smile to anyone, so this was a very big achievement for her.


    She felt like crying actually, but she held it in.


    "You just wanted them to be safe, so much so that you didn''t think about the consequences."


    Alex continued with the same smile.


    "For me Luna, all that matters are feelings, and I know that you wanted to save them, with all of your heart.


    So, for me, you did save them."


    Alexpleted his words as he looked into Luna''s eyes, his honest feelings flowing out.


    "Um��"


    Luna was feeling overwhelmed by all of those sincere words of Alex, she could tell that all of them were his heartfelt words, and he was not just making them up.


    But that just increased the weight of his words.


    "So, when I thank you for saving them, just reply like you should and not like you were doing till now."


    Alex spoke with a chuckle.


    ''Luna is stammering, that''s new��.''


    He knew that Alice would be happy looking at the speechless face of Luna, but he decided to let it be.


    ''I don''t want to get in between them.''


    Luna, who heard Alex''s words, finally nodded and smiled lightly.


    She was feeling happier than ever.


    "So, again, thank you for saving them."


    Alex made the same gesture as before and thanked Luna, and unlike before, this time Luna nodded her head with a smile.


    "No problem, it is what I should do."


    "Good, now to the important part��."


    Alex nodded and then he looked at Luna with a mix of serious and poker face.


    Luna, however, didn''t get why the air around Alex changed all of a sudden.


    "Since you saved them, someone whom I consider my closest, you deserve a reward as well."


    ''Ah��''


    Alex''s next words made her realize why he got so serious, but she just waved her hand with a smile.


    "I don''t want any reward for that, as I said before, I did what I wanted to, I didn''t do it for a reward."


    Alex nodded his head and continued.


    "I know, but it doesn''t change the fact that you did save them, the only people that matter to me from potential harm."


    Alex was serious, and Luna could tell, so she just stared at him.


    She knew that once Alex made up his mind, he was not going to change it, no matter what anyone did.


    So, she kept quiet for a while before she spoke.


    "I don''t really want this reward that you want to give me, but I know you won''t back down, so I might as well see what this reward is��."


    Luna sat on a weight bench in front of Alex as she held her chin and looked at Alex thoughtfully.


    "Good," Alex smiled at her before he added.


    "You have one wish. You can ask me whatever you want, and I will try my best to fulfill it."


    Alex spoke with a wide smile, but Luna almost fell off her seat when she heard his words.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 243: CHAPTER 243 – I just want one thing….

    ''WHAT?!''


    This was Luna''s first reaction.


    She was shocked by Alex''s words would be an understatement.


    She was stupefied by that offer.


    Luna knew some of Alex''s powers, she had seen him train Alice, Ann, and Noctura.


    With that alone, she could tell that the mysteries surrounding Alex were a bit too unique and dangerous for this world.


    So, she knew how big of a deal it was.


    Luna has seen the pace at which Alice and Ann grew after Alex came into their life.


    She had done a history check on them, so it was not hard to find out.


    So, she also had an idea about the fact that Alex could somehow raise the raiders'' power.


    ''I could literally ask you to make me as powerful as them!''


    Luna screamed inwardly as she tried to calm herself down.


    Alex could see that Luna was shocked, and he knew why she was shocked, but he had to do this.


    He couldn''t leave her without a reward.


    Both of them stared at each other.


    None of them spoke a word, one was a bit too shaken to say anything, while the other just sat in his ce with a carefree look on his face.


    Both were busy with their own thoughts until Luna''s eyes brightened with a strange glint.


    ''Wait- He said, I can ask for ''whatever'' I want��.''


    Luna''s mind drifted back, and she recalled every single moment she had been living for the past months, trying to find a way to get close to him.


    She had been trying constantly, but even if she was frustrated that Alex was not showing any signs, she didn''t give up.


    Her love for him won''t let her give up.


    But��


    ''What if��.''


    What if she wished for something that could finally make all of her struggles finally bear a result? Explore more stories at mvl


    What if she wished for the thing that she always wanted?


    Her eyes inadvertently moved to look at Alex who was still sitting there rxedly with the same carefree smile.


    ''Should I��.?''


    Luna was really tempted to wish for it.


    It was something she could ask.


    It was not too much, at least not in her eyes.


    ''I want your love��.''


    She wanted to say that out loud, but somehow those words just won''te out of her mouth.


    ''Why??''


    ''Why can''t I speak?''


    Luna didn''t get why this was happening, but as she looked at Alex again, something clicked inside of her.


    ''��. Do I really want it?''


    ''Do I want him to love me just because I want it?''


    ''Will that even be called love?''


    ''Will he ept it in the first ce?''


    ''No one likes being forced to love someone, and the Alex I fell for would not like it for sure.''


    Many thoughts flooded Luna''s mind.


    She started reconsidering everything.


    Yes, she wanted Alex to love her, she wanted that no matter what.


    She was ready to do anything for it.


    But what she wanted was his real love, not just something he would provide her because she wished for it, that is if he even fulfilled her wish, which she was sure is impossible.


    She understood why her voice was stuck in her throat, why she couldn''t voice out her desire.


    ''My heart knows that this is not the right way to get Alex''s love��.''


    Even if her logical thinking told her that she should wish for it as that would end all of her frustration of not being able to get close to Alex, her heart knew the truth.


    It knew that it was impossible, so it stopped Luna from destroying whatever she had built till now.


    And Luna was thankful for it.


    ''Sigh��.''


    She sighed in relief.


    She was relieved that she didn''t go ahead and speak her mind.


    She looked at Alex again, and now, she just saw a light smile on his face as he looked right back into her eyes.


    It was as if he was able to tell what she was going through.


    It was as if he knew what she was going to do, and why she stopped.


    His lips which were curled upward, moved.


    "You can take your time, I''m not in a hurry."


    Alex assured Luna that she had time.


    But in reality, Alex had now judged Luna to be good enough to be finally part of his life.


    Not as a lover, but he would still have her close.


    She was not his lover yet, it was too early for that, or maybe it was not, but he didn''t think it was the right time.


    Luna, however, just smiled as she heard his words.


    "It''s all right, I already have something in my mind��."


    Luna shook her head.


    She didn''t need time more than she got, she had already made up her mind.


    She had thought of something that could help her in the long run.


    And she felt that this was the best wish she could ask for.


    "Oh? Let''s hear it then."


    Alex smiled as well, curious about what Luna was going to ask.


    His reward was actually a test as well, a test that Luna had passed, and when she passed the test, Alex decided to give her time to think of something.


    How did she pass the test? And what test did she pass?


    It was simply a test to check what Luna had in her mind, what she really wanted.


    Alex knew that she loved him, it was clear as day, heck, Luna had said that before, in front of Alice and Ann, so it would be weird if he didn''t know.


    But he wanted to know what she would do in this situation.


    He knew that he had been ignoring her approaches for a while, and he knew that she must be frustrated, but that was the whole point of this test.


    Would she try the bait? Would she try to take the easy path and not think about his opinion?


    Alex could read Luna''s emotions like an open book since he was using the new ability of his incubus bloodline.


    One that he got after reaching epic rank.


    ''Empathy''.


    This ability made it easier for him to read his opponent''s emotions, so he could see her emotional struggles like it was a movie.


    So, when he finally saw that she resisted the temptation, he smiled at her.


    He smiled at the fact that she passed the test and didn''t disappoint him.


    "The only wish I have is��."


    So, when Luna told him her wish, he listened carefully.


    Her wish did make him raise a brow, but then a meaningful smile graced his lips.


    [She''s smart and she knows how to take a safe approach.]


    Sophia, who had been almost non-existent for some chapters, finally made her appearance.


    ''She was always smart, that''s her strongest point��''


    Alex just smiled, and Luna who saw his smile, wore a wider smile than him.


    "Granted."


    Alex sealed the deal with those words of his.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 244: CHAPTER 244 – A Video from a weird guy.

    "So, what information did we receive?"


    Alex asked as he walked into the hall where Luna, Ann, and Alice were sitting with aptop in front of them.


    "From the many emails we received, there was one that seemed legit, and it had the video of some people in ck vanishing as they reached a certain location."


    Ann spoke as she turned theptop toward Alex.


    "Hmmm��."


    Alex hummed thoughtfully before he picked up theptop and sat on the sofa adjacent to the three of them.


    Then he yed the video.


    *Bzz*


    There was some static at the start before the video started ying.


    ''As you can see, I live in front of this building��.''


    The one recording this video whispered as if he was afraid of being heard by someone before he turned the camera upward, showing the building that was the ce suspected as the mysterious group''s base or hideout.


    Unlike what someone would think, it was not an abandoned factory or some deserted building, nor was it a haunted mansion. It was thergest hotel in the Rosvic city in Yellow Country.


    "Yellow country huh��"


    Alex muttered as the video clip continued.


    ''For some days, I''ve been seeing the same guysing here from time to time before they would vanish��.''


    The guy in the video continued in a whisper.


    ''They always carry arge package which I think is probably...''


    The guy who was speaking paused for suspense before he turned the camera towards the backdoor of the hotel and added.


    ''Dead bodies or maybe live ones��.''


    Alex paused the video, raised his brow, and looked up at Luna, Ann, and Alice one after another with a ''Really now, girl?'' type of look.


    "This guy clearly feels like those wanna-be detectives, who have seen a lot of crime movies, thinking that everything going on around them is a mystery��"


    Alex was having a hard time believing that this video would be useful.


    They had seen many videos like this, and all of them felt like they would lead them to something, but in the end, they were found to be nothing or just some fake videos made by their fans to catch their attention.


    "I know it feels like that, but give this one a chance, I really feel like we are on to something in this one��"


    Luna spoke with belief in her eyes.


    Alex looked at her for a while, before he sighed.


    ''Sigh��''


    "Fine, I''ll watch it��"


    Alex spoke in resignation before he yed the video, hoping that this one really gets them somewhere.


    He was getting frustrated with all those fake videos by now.


    They had watched too many of them to even count by now��.


    Now, some of you might want to know: What''s happening?


    Well, as Luna had said before, Alice was underestimating her poprity.


    The day Alice told the world everything that had happened that day, all the people who lost something or someone that day started thanking her for what she saved and for thepensation.


    After all, more than half of the world was Alice''s fan, and they would never think that Alice, who''s their savior would ever try to harm them.


    But then came the case of Alice being attacked in broad daylight.


    This ignited a spark of fury among her fans and that spark slowly turned into a firestorm.


    One of Alice''s fans was a programmer, so he created a website, a website where anyone from around the world could log in, and after logging in, they would have to upload anything they found that was rted to that mysterious group.


    The good thing was that this website cleared out anything that was not rted to the mysterious group in any way, so the website grew famous in a matter of a day.


    Then, this website''s ownership was transferred to Crimson Lotus by that fan, causing his image in the public to rise, and Alice personally met and thanked that guy.


    Since then, in two weeks, all they received were fake or misunderstood videos.


    The point is that all of this gets discovered when they reach the scene. However, after some time, they stopped going here and there themselves, instead, they sent some of their guild members to check the credibility.


    But just like before, none of the videos were something that would give them a clue.


    And now it was getting frustrating for them all.


    ''Those guys are very sneaky, theye in when it''s dark, and go back in dark, and since it''s the back alley, they blend in quite well in there.


    It''s like they are using some camouge ability even though they are not��''


    The guy spoke as he zoomed in the camera at the back alley that led to the backdoor of one of thergest hotels in the world.


    Continue reading at mvl


    ''I''m lucky to have made a window in my bathroom just so I could peak at thedy next door, but it came in handy right now since it helped me record this.''


    The guy continued speaking as the camera was focusing on the same alley.


    ''The building I live in is right next to Hotel bama, which is one of the best hotels in- Wait, why my am I advertising them for free??''


    The guy paused for a bit and questioned himself, causing Alex to shake his head and look at Luna.


    Luna just smiled a bit forcefully before she averted her eyes.


    These past two weeks, Alex and Luna''s rtionship has improved a lot.


    Now Luna was not just someone to Alex, now she was someone close to him.


    Luna earned that much, and for now, she was happy with that.


    Luna knew that the path after this was not hard, it just needed opportunity and��.


    Luna turned to look at Alice and Ann.


    ''eptance��''


    By now, Luna knew how Alex functioned, so she knew that if even one of them both didn''t like Luna joining them, then Luna stood no chance of getting into Alex''s harem.


    She knew that although all three of them had a nice rtionship, they might still not let her share the same man.


    ''But I won''t back down easily��''


    Luna muttered inwardly and her voice was resolute.


    Alex, on the other hand, was now looking at the video again.


    ''Whatever, so, as I was saying, my building is right next to the bama hotel, so it gets shadowed by its grandness and is almost invisible in people''s eyes.


    However, those sneaky guys wouldn''t have used this path until they werepletely sure about the fact that there would be no eyes on them here, and you know what?''


    The guy paused and from God knows where, suspenseful music started ying.


    *Bzzz*


    But the music stopped with a buzz.


    ''Fuck! This shitty music yer, it had to go down right now!''


    Alex who heard all that didn''t know what to do��


    Laugh or cry?


    //// Author Here: My new book is out, and its title - Is it wrong to copy abilities in apocalypse? - give it a read and tell me what you think. ////


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 245: CHAPTER 245 – Time to catch some eels.

    Alex really didn''t think that this weirdo could actually get them some real lead, but just for the sake of Alice, Luna, and Ann who thought that this video might be the key, he watched it.


    ''Anyways, what I wanted to say was that this whole building has no window on this side, other than my bathrooms of course.


    However, you would think: Won''t those guys notice my window?''


    The guy paused again, wanting to create a mysterious atmosphere, but with his music gone, it didn''t feel like that.


    ''Well, the answer is: they won''t.


    Why? Because I live on the top floor, my building is built in a way that its roof is a bit tilted, and the tilted part extends down to this side. Luckily for me, that roof provides me constant shade and keeps my bathroom cool.''


    The guy paused again.


    ''I really am lucky��.''


    He muttered to himself, but then he continued.


    ''As I said, the roof covers my window, so if you don''te to this bathroom and see that there''s actually a window here, you''ll never know about it.


    Shit! I just revealed my biggest secret in this video!''


    The guy''s voice spiked in realization.


    ''Now I won''t be able to send out my drop for the peeping purpose...


    This video better be worth it!''


    The guy seemed to regret his decision, but he still continued filming.


    *Ting Tong*


    Suddenly the sound of an rm was heard, and it was loud��


    *Baam*


    But the next second a loud baam was heard followed by the guy''s shout, although he was yelling in a whisper.


    ''Fuck! That scared the hell out of me!''


    The guy had smashed the rm clock out of fright.


    ''��. oh no, that shit was bought for 50 credits��.''


    The guy started sobbing, but for the first time, his camera caught a movement in the back alley.


    ''Ah! It''s time, I forgot that the rm was supposed to ring at the right time!''


    The guy also realized his blunder as he quickly looked at the camera.


    ''Yes! Yes! Yes! They are here, they are here!


    You''ll see them any second now, they just need to step out of that back alley and into the light that''s lightened on the backdoor.''


    The guy sounded excited as if he was finally getting something he wanted.


    ''I wanted to capture this on camera for a long time!''


    And there it was, the reason why he sounded so excited.


    Alex, who was watching the video without any interest, finally focused on the video.


    ''Let''s see if it is really something useful or not��''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he activated his All-seeing eyes.


    No, Alex''s eyes don''t enable him to look at one''s status and all if they are in a video.... yet.


    But that didn''t mean they were useless in this situation.


    Those eyes of his let him see things better and in more detail than any kind of AI or program would be able to.


    He won''t have to pause the video since it would be moving in slow motion for his eyes if he wanted to focus on them.


    With his All-seeing eyes activated, he could count the number of ants that were moving in that area.


    That''s how much his eyes helped him.


    ''Yeah, just about now��.''


    The guy muttered and Alex''s focus grew more.


    His eyes were fixated on two ck silhouettes that were moving toward the backdoor of the bama hotel.


    Although the video was not able to focus on thempletely since they were almost invisible, Alex could still see them enough to make out some things.


    "Two males, ck clothes with runic inscriptions, carrying two bags that seem to be holding something living, and their movements are not like that of an amateur��."


    Alex muttered out loud, and Alice, Ann, and, Luna who heard those words had hope building up in their eyes.


    Luna crossed her fingers.


    She really hoped for this video to get them some lead since just like the others, she was getting frustrated as well, even though she didn''t show it.


    But for this video, she felt that it was a real lead.


    It was her gut feeling telling her, and listening to Alex''s words only solidified her belief.


    ''That''s it, just a bit more��.''


    The video continued and the guy focused on the bright area under the light.


    Alex had his eyes focused and the girls had their breaths paused.


    All of them knew that this was the moment of truth, this was the moment when they would find out whether this video was really legit or just another fake.


    ''There!''


    The guy jumped with joy as he captured the scene.


    The two men came out of the shadows and just as they stepped into the light, both of them waved their hands and vanished.


    ''You see it right, guys? That''s it, I finally captured it!''


    The guy started jumping at his sessful capture of the moment.


    And he really was jumping, it could be seen from the shake in the camera.


    *Ssh*


    ''Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!


    Please, God! Not the video! �C Bizzz��.''


    The sound of water sshing was heard and the camera was now showing nk, but before the nk, thest scene was the toilet seat, so it was easy to guess what had happened.


    But since the video was uploaded, it means that the guy really was lucky.


    However, the girls didn''t care about all that. They had seen it already, and they knew all that. Right now, they just looked at Alex with a bit of nervousness.


    They waited for the final verdict.


    *Inhale*


    Alex took a long breath before he closed his eyes and let his back rest on the sofa.


    He didn''t say anything to the girls who were waiting for his words with batted breaths. Your next journey awaits at mvl


    He took his time.


    He stood up and stretched his body.


    Cracked some joints and then stood up straight before he turned toward the girls, who were still staring at him.


    "What are you guys waiting for?


    It''s time to catch some eels."


    He smiled at them.


    ''Does that mean��.'' X3


    "You mean��"


    Luna paused there.


    They knew what he meant but after being disappointed so many times, they just wanted a confirmation.


    They perfectly get what Alex was saying, and the meaning behind his words, but they wanted him to say it out loud.


    And Alex who could pretty much guess that, just smiled wider.


    "Yeah, the video is real and they really were the member of that mysterious group."


    "Phew��." X3


    The three of them slumped on the sofa as they let out the air they were holding in for a while.


    Now they had big smiles on their faces.


    The guy although weird, did capture some real clue, and they were thankful for that.


    "Are you guysing or not?"


    Alex, asked again, ignoring the video that started ying again.


    "In a minute��"


    Alice muttered as she just wanted to rest for a bit. The pressure her mind was in somest minutes was a bit too much for her.


    Alex nodded his head.


    "All right, 5 minutes."


    He gave them more time than they needed while he sat back on the sofa and picked up theptop.


    ''Doesn''t hurt to watch it again��''


    He skipped the useless part and yed the main part of the video on repeat.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 246: CHAPTER 246 – Those bastards!

    Alex just kept watching the video on repeat as he didn''t have anything else to do.


    And not like it was bad or something, he might just discover something new.


    ''Wait a second��.''


    Suddenly, Alex noticed something.


    ''Why does it feel familiar to me��.?''


    Alex felt that the ability they were using was familiar somehow.


    ''Ah��''


    Just then, his eyes fell on re, who came out of the kitchen with a water bottle and was now heading upstairs.


    ''I see��''


    He finally understood why that ability felt familiar to him.


    He looked at re who was walking upstairs with slow and sleepy movements.


    It was clear that she was going to get some sleep.


    He contemted whether he should talk to her about this or not.


    ''Whatever, let''s just see what she says��''


    It was not that he suspected re of being part of that organization.


    He won''t be fooled that easily, he knew that re definitely loved Cecil, and if she were a member of that mysterious group, then she wouldn''t have proposed to live here, so close to him, where he could kill her anytime.


    "re, could you watch this for a second?"


    Alex voiced out loud, gaining the attention of the one he called as well as the ones who were lying about.


    "Hm?"


    re turned her groggy eyes toward Alex.


    "What is it?"


    Muttered in a low voice before she moved toward Alex.


    She was really sleepy right now, just like other members of Crimson Lotus, she had been running here and there, answering the calls of the people who imed to have some clues about this mysterious group.


    She was strong, and she waspetent, so she was given a lot of tasks, which she had been doing for a while.


    And today was the first day she got a break.


    So, all she wanted to do right now was sleep, but since Alex called her, she walked toward him.


    re knew that Alex wouldn''t ask for her without a reason and if he was calling for her, then the reason must be something rted to her.


    "Here."


    Alex turned on theptop and gave it to re.


    re was still sleepy so she just held theptop and looked at Alex with confusion.


    "What?"


    By now, the girls were up and about.


    Theirziness was gone.


    They didn''t know what was happening, but looking at Alex''s expression, they felt like something was wrong��.


    "y the video, and keep forwarding it until just 5 mins before the end of the video."


    Alex gestured for her to y the video.


    re started at Alex for a while before she yed the video with a sigh.


    ''Let''s just watch it��''


    She yed the video and rolled it till the (�C 5 minutes) mark.


    *Ting Tong*


    *Baam*


    ''Fuck! That scared the hell out of me!''


    ''��. oh no, that shit was bought for 50 credits��.''


    Just as the video started, re''s cold eyes turned dead, and then they turned toward Alex.


    "Just keep watching��"


    Alex muttered, ignoring the look re gave him.


    This was not the time for jokes, he wanted to know the rtion between re and those guys if there was any.


    ''Empathy.''


    He quickly activated his ability that lets him see people''s emotions.


    Now some would ask: If he has such a good ability, why not keep it activated all the time?


    Well, this ability is not as simple as it seems and although it is good, it has a very bad side effect.


    Right now, however, Alex doesn''t use it much because of another reason.


    This ability used demonic energy, something he couldn''t instantly regenerate like his mana.


    Rather, the speed of regeneration of demonic energy was so low that Alex thought that it was not even regenerating when he first felt it.


    So, he had to use demonic energy with care, it was something that could help him in many situations.


    re sighed again when she heard Alex''s words.


    ''Just what is it��...?'' Continue your journey with ��??


    Now she was getting a bit curious as well.


    What was it that Alex wanted her to see so much?


    The video kept ying and re saw all of it until the part where the guys had waved their hands arrived.


    "What?!"


    re''s eyes widened, and her body trembled.


    All of the sleepiness in her eyes evaporated.


    She was trembling all over as she stood there without a word.


    No word came out of her mouth, instead, she just kept staring at the screen, even though her focus was somewhere else.


    If not for her good control over her reflexes, even theptop would''ve fallen off, that''s just how much she was out of it, right now.


    Alice, Ann, and Luna who saw re''s exaggerated reaction now had a serious expression on their faces.


    Alex, on the other hand, frowned.


    He could see re''s emotions right now, and there was something that made him confused.


    ''She is shocked��.''


    re''s was shocked or more like stupefied.


    It was as if she was looking at something she never thought was possible.


    And that was fine.


    This emotion was something Alex knew would be there, no matter what.


    Even if they were not rted to her, she would be surprised to know that there was someone out there, in this world, who had abilities just like hers.


    She would be shocked even if she was rted to them, after all, who would like to see their friends being discovered by their enemies?


    What mattered most and the things that Alex was focusing more on were the other emotions that appeared along with that first emotion.


    However, he was confused when he saw the emotion he didn''t expect to see.


    ''Panic, fear, hesitation, regret, or some other would''ve been fine.


    I could think of reasons for them, but why rage, sadness, and killing intent at the same time?''


    Alex''s frown deepened as he saw re''s body trembling more and more as her eyes grew red.


    "Those bastards!"


    She screamed in agony.


    They could all feel her pain from that scream.


    *Crush*


    The next second a crushing sound was heard and theptop in re''s hand was gone, leaving only crumbles.


    However, no one said anything, it didn''t matter right now.


    What mattered was the fact that someone they were treating as a subordinate was now on her knees as tears streamed down her cheeks.


    ''WHY?!"


    re bellowed to no one in particr.


    Alice wanted to go ahead and maybe try to console re because looking at her in that state was not bearable to her.


    She didn''t know what was happening, but she knew that re was suffering.


    But before she could move forward, Ann held her wrist and shook her head.


    ''What??''


    Alice didn''t understand why Ann was stopping her but then she saw Luna and Alex looking at her as well.


    Then she realized, it was only her who moved from her spot, no one else did, which meant only one thing.


    ''They don''t want to help her, at least not right now��.''


    So, just like others, Alice also stood back on her spot and looked at re with pity in her eyes.


    Alice felt pity when she looked at re who was crying like a baby, the same girl who always maintained a cold face was now grieving like someone had killed her family.


    How could Alice have known how close her guess was��.?


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 247: CHAPTER 247 – Clare’s a spy?

    Alex, Alice, Ann, and Luna stood at the side as they watched re wail.


    She kept muttering things like: ''Did they really do it?'', ''What did we ever do to them'', ''Why do we even have this power?'', and so on.


    They could tell that she was sad, it was as clear as day, but they could hear unwillingness and weakness in her voice.


    It was as if she was devastated by the discovery, but she was unable to do something.


    It was like she wanted revenge, but she was too weak to get it.


    Alex, who was confused about her emotions, now had an inkling to what it could be, but for now, they ass decided to stay quiet.


    Alex had barricaded the area with an air barrier the moment he asked re to watch the video.


    He didn''t know what was going to happen, but he knew that things could get out of hand.


    So, he was prepared for the worst.


    He was prepared for the minute chance that re really was a member of that group.


    If that was the case, then the barrier would''ve stopped her from escaping.


    But the barrier worked fine even in this situation since the others were not disturbed.


    ''I know for sure that she won''t want her sister to look at her like this.''


    Alex knew that re wouldn''t want it, so the barrier worked well for this situation.


    ..................��.. Continue reading on ��??


    "Thank you��"


    re muttered as she emptied the ss of water Ann gave her.


    "Are you ok, now?"


    Ann didn''t reply to her thank you, she asked a question instead.


    re looked down as she heard that question.


    Her hand that was holding the ss trembled a bit, but it soon calmed down.


    re took a deep breath and then nodded her head albeit still keeping her head down.


    "��Yes, I''m fine now."


    re muttered, causing them to shake their heads.


    ''That''s clearly ''not fine''��.'' X4


    But they didn''t point it out.


    It was re''s problem, and it was not something they could consol about since they didn''t even know what had happened.


    Just then, Alex spoke.


    "I don''t know why you cried, and I don''t know what you felt, but I know that it was anything other than pleasant��."


    Alex spoke sympathetically, but then he added.


    "However, I will still ask you this question: That ability was the same as yours, wasn''t it?"


    Alex''s question caused re''s body to jerk for a second.


    Before she raised her head and looked up at him.


    ''I see why he showed me that video��.''


    re muttered inwardly.


    Just like her, Alice, Ann, and, Luna also realized the reason, they were not that dumb.


    If someone from that mysterious group had the same ability as re, then the first question that woulde to their mind would be something rted to betrayal.


    And they knew that Alex hated lies, betrayal was something that was way above lying.


    re, who had the same thought process, pursed her lips.


    She never expected Alex to trust her so soon, and she knew that it was not easy to gain Alex''s trust, but a girl can still have expectations.


    She didn''t want a romantic rtionship with Alex, at least not for now, right she had to take care of her sister and give Cecil the life that she really deserved.


    But that didn''t mean that re would hate it if Alex showed her a bit more trust.


    ''I''ve been doing my best for the past weeks��''


    She muttered inwardly.


    She knew her position was not that good.


    She was someone who used to work for their enemies, so trusting her was a bit hard, and she knew that, but still��.


    "It''s not like I don''t trust you, re, I do, that''s why you''re still alive right now.


    And I don''t want to think that you have any kind of rtion to that group, but for that, you will have to tell me what''s happening��"


    Alex uttered when he looked into re''s eyes.


    He could tell what she was feeling even without his ability.


    The disappointment, sorrow, and longing for something were clear in her eyes.


    "Un."


    re stared back into Alex''s eyes and nodded her head.


    "Yes, that ability is the same ability as mine."


    re revealed, but the girls'' bodies tensed a bit.


    "But I don''t know them."


    re added seriously, as she continued to look into Alex''s eyes.


    Alex stared at re for a while before he smiled.


    "I knew it already, I just wanted to know the reason for your reaction��."


    Alex beamed, causing the girls to sigh.


    They didn''t know for sure, but they felt like Alex had the ability to tell the truth and lie apart, so his silence made them think that maybe re was lying.


    Well, they were not entirely wrong since Alex''s empathy lets him tell apart dishonesty and honesty, and that''s enough to judge one''s truth and lie.


    However, just as Alex said, he wasn''t really suspicious of re, he just wanted to make sure.


    He was more interested in the reason why re was crying earlier.


    Something told him that it was rted to re''s past.


    re, who heard Alex''s words clenched her fists.


    The girls and Alex saw that, and although none of them knew what had happened, they were sure that she was hurting.


    "It''s fine if you don''t want to talk about it, he never said it waspulsory."


    Alice moved close to re and patted her shoulder with a smile on her face.


    Now that it was clear that re was not actually a spy, Alice didn''t hold back.


    re who heard Alice''s words looked up and forced a smile.


    "It''s fine, crying over it is not going to change it anyway��."


    re''s lips trembled as she spoke those words, but the forced smile still remained on her face.


    *Inhale*


    re took a deep breath before she began.


    "I told you guys before about my family''s condition, right?"


    re questioned as she looked at everyone simultaneously.


    "That your family is being hunted down, yes."


    Alex nodded his head.


    "You sure don''t hold back your words��"


    re muttered as she heard Alex''s words.


    He could''ve just said ''yes'', but he had to say it all.


    "Ah, my bad��."


    Alex realized his mistake and uttered with an apologetic smile.


    "It''s fine, and yes, just like you said, we are being chased down."


    re paused a bit and took a deep breath again.


    "However, not everyone is lucky like me and Cecil, many of us were caught by the people from that empire��."


    re clenched her fist before she continued.


    For her, talking about this was hard, her blood would boil the moment she tried to think about the only possibility that came to her mind, but she didn''t stop.


    "I once heard that they had someone who could devour their enemies and extract their abilities��."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 248: CHAPTER 248 – Can I accompany…

    People who can copy or steal abilities were looked upon as evil people.


    It was not that their ability was evil, no ability ispletely evil.


    It''s just how one uses it.


    The people with those kinds of abilities often kill the one they steal an ability from, because they don''t want trouble.


    Because they don''t want people toe chasing behind them.


    But there are some people who kill their victims because they want to, they do it because they feel pleasure from it.


    A devour-type ability is simr to copy and steal, it''s just another level up.


    It needs its victims to be devoured by them.


    So, if this ability were to fall into the hands of someone psychotic, then it''s the worstbination.


    "I once heard that they had someone who could devour their enemies and extract their abilities��.


    An evil man, who would like to see his victims suffer as he devours them in the worst way they would want."


    re grounded her teeth, trying to control her emotions.


    "I once heard that he made a girl watch as he devoured her husband in front of her, while she was raped by the public.


    He did all that in public, and no one said anything, instead, the males were busy enjoying the girl who screamed for them to stop��."


    Alice, Ann, and Luna were now clenching their fists as well.


    No girl likes hearing about things like this, after all, if you hear about something, for once, you will try to put yourself in their ce.


    And just that thought was enough to make Alice growl inwardly.


    Her red hair started firing up, but just then a sweet and calming fragrance spread in the air.


    "Calm down, we don''t want this house to be blown apart��"


    Alex sighed as he looked at Alice who nodded dumbly.


    Alex had used his incubus aura as an area of effect ability for the first time, so he wasn''t sure it would work, but it seemed to have worked fine.


    The girls were now calm, although a bit dazed, but calm.


    "All of you as well, calm down��."


    Alex looked at the others and purred.


    He then deactivated his ability.


    "Continue when you have calmed down."


    Alex then turned toward re and muttered.


    "Un."


    re nodded with the same absentminded expression as others.


    ..................��.


    (6 minutester)


    After calming down and drinking some water, everyone sat together again, and re started speaking.


    "They call that guy the devour dragon, and he''s very strong, one of the strongest generals in that empire.


    If my guess is correct��."


    re''s voice turned into a mutter as it reached the end, but that pleasant sensation from before was still lingering inside her, not letting her get mad.


    Find exclusive stories on ��??


    "The members of my family that were caught must''ve been devoured by him, and then the abilities that he extracted from them must be used to create a new batch of assassins that would bepletely loyal to them."


    re concluded by saying that.


    This was the only thing she could think of.


    There was a chance that the family members who were captured could be working for the empire, but she refused to believe that.


    ''There''s no way anyone from the Grenefled family would give in to their enemies!''


    She was confident about that.


    "Wait, so you mean to say that these guys are from your world?"


    Suddenly Alice pointed at something that everyone ignored till now.


    Yes, were those people from the mysterious group from another world?


    "��."


    re''s eyes widened in realization.


    "Yes!"


    She eximed as her body trembled.


    This time, it was not because of rage, shame, anger, or excitement, this time it was in fear.


    "That means people from her world cane here, and the gates aren''t stopping them��."


    Luna muttered to herself.


    re who had the same thing in her mind was now about to panic.


    If the people she ran away from, coulde here, then they were doomed.


    Much more so when her power was still suppressed.


    However, before re could start panicking, Alexmented.


    "No, not everyone, only the weaker ones cane."


    ''Right?''


    Alex questioned inwardly.


    [Yes, for now only the weaker ones cane.]


    Sophia repliedzily.


    She had been doing nothing butzing around these days, Alex didn''t need her help right now.


    But she was not sad about it, instead, she was happy, after all, Alex would only need her help if something went wrong.


    And that, she didn''t want.


    ''So, what happens after the barrier is down?''


    Alex knew that anyone coulde here if the barrier was down, but he felt like there was something he was missing.


    [This world''s limit is EX rank, which means anything created or conjured by this world will not exceed EX rank, and that includes gates.


    So, if someone tries toe through the gate, then they can''t be higher than EX rank.


    But if they find another method to enter this world, then there''s no limit to their power.]


    Sophia exined it the best she could.


    ''Another method? Is itmon?''


    Alex asked the two questions that came to his mind the moment he heard herst sentence.


    [Yes, methods like space artifacts that could trace back to a world, or something like that, but no, it''s notmon, at least not in the lower worlds.]


    Sophia replied to Alex, but Alex became curious about something else when he heard her words.


    ''Lower worlds?''


    Alex raised a brow inwardly.


    [You know that I can''t tell you that.]


    Sophia knew that Alex was asking it even though he knew that it was something she couldn''t tell.


    ''Well, I was trying my luck��''


    Alex just shrugged inwardly.


    "What do you mean?"


    But re who heard hisst words, quested hurriedly.


    There was hope in her eyes.


    If what Alex said was true, then she could live well in this world, after all, she was strong enough to protect herself and her sister from the weaker ones.


    "It is as I said, only the weaker ones cane here, the maximum limit of this world is EX rank, and that''s the highest they could go."


    Alex didn''t tell them about the fact that there are other ways, it was better to keep it to himself for now.


    Or at least not say it in front of re.


    That girl almost had a panic attack, and Alex didn''t want someone to die.


    Alex''s words were the most relieving thing that re heard till now.


    She felt lighter now like the mountain that kept her pressured was sted off by Alex''s words.


    Even before today, she was concerned that maybe someday, the people from her world wille here, and their lives will be miserable again.


    But since it was someday, she was not panicking.


    However, now that she heard Alex''s words, she was tension-free.


    She didn''t doubt Alex, she knew that he wouldn''t say something with that confidence if he was not sure.


    She could tell that Alex was not that type of person, but then her face turned serious and she looked at Alex and Alice one by one.


    "Can I apany you guys whenever you n to go to clear them out?"


    re asked with hope in her voice.


    She didn''t need to mention who she was talking about, they were smart enough to understand that.


    Alex and Alice exchanged a nce before Alice smiled and turned toward re.


    "Sure, the more the merrier, right?"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 249: CHAPTER 249 – Different people, different plans.

    "He''s still there, right?"


    Alice asked on the phone and the reply came instantaneously.


    "Yes ma''am, he''s alive and kicking.


    He seemed to be enjoying the money he received from us."


    A familiar voice of a cheerful girl was heard from the other side of the phone, it was Maggie Sterleing, the captain of the ranged dealer group in Crimson Lotus.


    Right now, she and her team are in the bama Hotel.


    They were staying in a room that was right in front of the room of the guy who had recorded the video.


    They were told to keep an eye on the guy, and if they find anything suspicious, they need to call for support as soon as possible.


    "Let him enjoy his time, this moment could be hisst moment, after all��."


    Alice didn''t even bat an eye as she talked about the death of a guy.


    Alex who was resting on the seat right to her with his eyes closed smiled softly.


    Looking at Alice''s progress, he felt proud, after all, he was her teacher as well.


    The girl who had a bit of a heroplex was now talking about a guy''s death like it was nothing.


    Yes, she didn''t realize that, but it was still progress.


    "Yes, ma''am."


    Maggie nodded her head with a chuckle.


    Unlike Alice, Maggie was not some heroplex girl.


    Although she looked cheerful and sweet girl, those who worked under her knew how ruthless she was.


    "All right, keep an eye on him."


    After saying that, Alice hung up the phone, and just as she did that��.


    "All right guys, get up. Rest time is over!"


    Maggie called out to her subordinates who were sleeping like a log in the room.


    "Whaaaa��."


    "But we just closed our eyes��."


    "Yesh, at least let us rest for a while��."


    The girls that worked under Maggie started whining, but before they could go on��.


    "I said, get up."


    The happy-go-lucky Maggie was nowhere to be seen, right now, Maggie''s face was as serious as it could be.


    The girls in the room stood up in an instant when they saw that face.


    "Guild Master and Ale-, Honorary Guild master will be arriving shortly.


    I don''t want you guys to bezing around when they arrive."


    Maggie continued as she strolled around the girls.


    Her tone turned a bit affectionate when she let out Alex''s name, but she changed the tone and way of calling Alex quickly.


    The girls did notice it, but they ignored it.


    They just nodded their heads repeatedly, listening to whatever Maggie was saying.


    ...................


    "Why did you ask for Maggie to be ced there?"


    Alice, who just hung up the phone, turned toward Alex and questioned curiously.


    She had been wondering for a while about this.


    Alex opened his eyes and turned toward Alice with ast expression.


    "That girl is morepetent than any other member of your guild, you can ask Ann about it��"


    Alex closed his eyes again, pretending to fall asleep.


    "Wha��."


    Ann, who was sitting next to Alex had her mouth wide open.


    She punched Alex lightly on his left arm.


    ''Why are you pushing that question to me?!''


    She protested inwardly.


    She was sleeping as well, after all, she waszy from all the rushing she had done earlier.


    She was the one who made appointments, and arrangements. Dealt with some political stuff, and booked the tickets, which was more work than both Alice and Alexbined because all they did wasze around.


    Yeah, Luna helped her a lot and she won''t deny it, but Luna was resting, not her!


    But Ann still started telling Alice about Maggie''s achievement, and Alice for the first time realized that the innocent and cheerful-looking Maggie might not be what she thought Maggie was��.


    ..................


    (Inside an abandoned factory.)


    "The ne they are on is about tond, my lord."


    A man dressed in ck from head to toe spoke into a device that shone with a golden luster.


    It looked like a stone, but the golden luster and the runic inscriptions over it made it look special.


    And it was special.


    It was a device that enabled people to talk no matter where they were, even if they were in different worlds, who knows how many light years away.


    There was a little pause on the other side as if the person on the other side was talking to someone.


    "No change in ns, once theynd, you guys will move to the guild and clear of any evidence there.


    Let them go for the hotel, we never left anything there in the first ce��."


    The voice on the other side was distorted as itmanded the man.


    "As you say, my lord."


    The man dressed in ck bowed his head even though he knew that there was no one to confirm if he really did it or not.


    The guy then moved out of the room he was in and came out in the hall.


    "Gather around."


    He voiced out.


    Readtest stories on ��??


    His voice was neither low, nor loud, but the next second, the area in front of him started distorting and after a while, there were 33 people dressed in ck outfits just like him appeared out of nowhere.


    "Be ready to move.


    We are close to the association and they are weak, so it won''t take time to kill them all.


    Ek, Do, Teen, Char, Panch, Che, Saat, and Aath, no torturing this time, we need to be quick."


    The man looked toward a particr group as he spoke hisst sentence.


    "Yes, sir!" X8


    The eight people who were called out responded without a dy.


    They loved torturing people, but the orders were what took top priority.


    "Good, now we wait��."


    The man muttered as he sat down on the elevated ground he was standing on.


    As you could''ve guessed, they were the members of the mysterious group that Alex and the group were after.


    Right now, instead of the bama hotel, they were in a factory.


    Just like Crimson Lotus, they have their own connections.


    They have many people helping them in their experiments, and sponsoring them, so if they see anything that could harm all of their collective interest, they would of course be informed.


    So, when the video was uploaded, one of the mysterious group''s supporters contacted them and told them everything.


    The people from the mysterious group then used the calling artifact and consulted their master who was still in their world.


    Since then, they had been moving one step ahead of the Crimson Lotus.


    Even now, they waited for the ne tond for Alex, Alice, and Ann to move toward the hotel which was in the exact opposite direction of the guild they were supposed to go.


    That was when their n would be set in motion.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 250: CHAPTER 250 – Well, hello there….

    //// I''m really sorry for the miss in the update!


    It was storming here yesterday, I had no inte ess of anything that could help me upload my chaps, so again, I''m sorry for that.


    I''ll try to not let that happen every again! ////


    In the abandoned factory, the atmosphere was tense.


    The hall was filled with 30-plus people dressed in ck with only their eyes visible, and all of them waited for the signal they were supposed to receive.


    *Bzzzz**Bzzzz*


    Just then, a phone that was kept beside the man sitting on an elevated ground started ringing.


    The man was covered in ck clothes with a rune inscribed all over it, just like the others in this room. He picked up the phone and waited for the other party to speak.


    "I was told to call this number when the Crimson Lotus Guild''s car crosses my ce."


    A guy''s voice was heard from the other side of the phone and as soon as the man in ck heard those words, he hung up the phone.


    "First checkpoint cleared."


    The man announced to everyone, and the people standing in the hall clenched their hands over their weapons.


    The checkpoint was a way to confirm the Crimson Lotus guild''s destination.


    There were three checkpoints, and if they crossed the third one, that meant their destination was fixed for the bama hotel.


    But if by chance their destination changes, then the n is canceled, and they are to go into hiding.


    They weren''t supposed to take risks of getting caught.


    This group was the first andst group that coulde here without going through the gate, and their value was very high for their owner.


    So, even if some information about their project and experiments was found out, it was fine.


    Even if they destroyed those research and experiment''s results, it was fine.


    Those things could be done again.


    But those assassins were the one and only those people from another world had in this world.


    So, if there was any sign of risk, they were ordered to hide.


    *Ring**Ring*


    The phone rang again, and the same guy picked it up.


    "The Crimson Lotus has crossed my house��."


    Azy voice was heard from the other side of the phone and before the guy could hang up the man in ck hung up the phone, he realized that the line was out already.


    "The second checkpoint cleared, get ready to move out."


    The man in ck just shook his head before he ordered.


    The other people in ck didn''t shout ''Yes, sir!'' or something like that.


    They just nodded their heads and started checking their gears.


    And in just 3 minutes, the phone rang again.


    *Ring**Ring*


    The man in ck picked up the phone and just like every time, waited for the other person to speak.


    "The Crimson Lotus Guild''s people just crossed my house."


    Ady''s voice was heard from the other side of the phone.


    The man in ck, who heard those words hung up the phone and threw it up in the air.


    *Swoosh*


    The next instant, an arrow came flying at the phone, destroying it as it passed through it.


    The man in ck didn''t even bat an eye.


    "Good job, Dus."


    The man in ck praised the one who shot the arrow without even looking at anyone and then he ordered.


    "Move out, and don''t let anyone leave alive!"


    No one said anything, all of them just shot forward in a single direction, ready to kill some more people.


    ..................


    "Look alive!"


    Maggie red at a girl whose eyes were half closed.


    She looked like she would fall asleep any second.


    "Y-Yes, ma''am!"


    The girl hurriedly shook her head, forcing herself to stay awake.


    The girl was an A-ranker, and they could stay awake longer than a normal human could, but their team had been awake for two days straight.


    If that was not enough, they had been moving all around and keeping an eye on their target, which took a lot of their focus, causing their bodies to get heavy.


    "All of you as well."


    Maggie frowned as she looked back at the group who seemed to be dying to sleep any moment.


    ''What would he think if he saw them like this??''


    ''Can''t they show a bit more energy???''


    Maggieined inwardly, but she couldn''t really me them for this.


    ''It was my fault for not letting them sleep��.''


    Maggie knew that she was at fault, but it was necessary.


    ''I can''t do all of that work myself.''


    Maggie was already keeping contact with the other teams while keeping an eye on any suspicious movements inside the hotel.


    She can''t be everywhere at the same time.


    ''Well, I''ll take the me if someone points it out��''


    Maggie sighed inwardly.


    As Alex had told before, she waspetent, and apetent leader looks out for their subordinates.


    *Vroom*


    Just then, the exhausts of cars were heard and the next instant, three ck cars appeared in Maggie and her team''s sight.


    The team straightened their backs and Maggie went back to being the happy-go-lucky girl.


    She looked toward the car and waited for it to arrive with a cheery smile on her face.


    ''Sigh��.'' X5


    The five girls in her team just shook their heads with a sigh.


    They could never get used to the scene of Maggie changing expressions in an instant.


    However, the girls right now had another problem.


    ''We can''t show that we are sleepy right now.''


    The girls exchanged a determined look with each other before they stood straight with their hands behind their backs, and chest puffed.


    Apetent leader will have good subordinates most of the time, so Maggie''s subordinates also did their best to not get their captain embarrassed.


    The car didn''t take time to arrive as the cars were quite fast.


    Just as the cars arrived, Maggie waved her hand and three of the girls rushed forward, opening the gates of the cars for the one inside to get out.


    But��.


    "Huh?"


    The first two cars were empty, only the driver was there.


    "What the��."


    Maggie frowned as she walked toward thest car.


    One of the girls'' opened the gate��.


    "Yawn��.


    Are we there already��.?"


    Azy but enthralling voice was heard.


    "Who��.?"


    Maggie''s frown deepened since she didn''t hear the voice she was expecting to hear.


    Then all of them saw a stunningdy with silky pink hair flowing down her backing out of the car.


    Her eyes were shining with pink color, and just by one look, people would want to keep looking into them.


    Her figure looked like something even gods would be proud that they created.


    Perfectly round bust, plumb breasts that measured at least D-cup, and slim waist that would tempt anyone to hold them.


    "What? Not happy to see me?"


    Thedy questioned in an amused tone as she looked at Maggie who was looking at the car with a frown.


    It was clear that she was waiting for someone else toe out even though she knew there was no one in there.


    "No, I was just expecting the guild master to be here."


    Maggie replied to thedy while not hiding her frown.


    "Only guild master??"


    Thedy inquired with a teasing smile, but Maggie didn''t show any reaction to that.


    "Can you tell me where they are?"


    Maggie instead asked the question that she wanted to ask.


    Thedy, who was Luna Tuner, replied with a mysterious smile.


    "They are��."


    .......................


    "Well, hello there��."


    Alex spoke as he looked at the experienced assassin in front of him, frozen in shock, with a smile.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 251: CHAPTER 251 – Planning.

    (One hour after decided to take re along with them.)


    Alex was not much into nning; he was more of a brute-force guy.


    He was smart, and he understood things, but he believed that strength would be able to solve everything.


    After all, if you have the strength to overpower your opponents, then no matter what n they make, they will be under your feet by the end of the fight.


    But there are times when the enemy is a bit too slippery, and the mysterious group is like that.


    So, this time, they needed to n things out.


    "They must already know about the video."


    Ann pointed out the first thing when they started nning.


    "Yes, and if their leader is someone with a brain, then he won''t attack the guy who recorded the video."


    Luna nodded her head and added her point.


    They had a chart in front of them.


    On that chart, they were writing the things they knew and the things that could happen.


    So, when Luna spoke her point, she cut out the ''cameraman'' from the list.


    "But aren''t they known to be very vindictive?"


    Alice questioned with a frown.


    She was not good at nning, so she wanted to stay out of it, but she still made her point since she felt it was important.


    After all, the mysterious group never leaves even a single ant who saw them, alive to be able to tell the tale, so how could they leave the guy who recorded them alive?


    "If you see someone stealing 10 credits from someone, and then you see another person robbing a bank, which one would you stop first?"


    It was Alex who questioned Alice, and hearing his question, both Ann and Luna nodded their heads.


    re who was also there decided to remain silent.


    Just like Alice, she was only going to point out if she saw some ring point being missed.


    "Of course, the bank."


    Alice replied with a shrug.


    Alex didn''t say anything, instead, he nodded at Ann, and she nodded, taking the conversation in her hand.


    "So, right now, what do you think they would go for?


    A single man who recorded their video, or an entire guild and their archive that might contain a lot of information about them?"


    "Huh?"


    Alice frowned again.


    "Guild?"


    She didn''t understand where a guild came in from.


    "Let me."


    Before Ann could defuse Alice''s confusion, Luna requested.


    Ann nodded her head.


    "Alice, what do we find inmon in all the cases we find that are rted to the mysterious group?"


    Luna asked as she made a question mark on the chart.


    "Tampered information."


    Alice replied instantly.


    She had been engaged in this case for so long that these points couldn''t be unknown to her.


    "Yes, and where do we find those pieces of information from?"


    Luna questioned again as she wrote down ''tampered info'' right below the question mark.


    "From the archive of the in guilds."


    Alice''s response was instant, once again.


    Luna then smiled as she wrote down ''in guild'' right next to the ''tampered info''.


    "Doesn''t that mean that every time we find the traces of that group''s movement, one organization is massacred?"


    Luna questioned with a smile, looking into Alice''s eyes, that brightened in realization.


    "But there is no guild massacred recently��."


    Alice muttered as she started to grasp the situation.


    "Yes, so there must be a guild in Yellow Country that still has the information we need, and the fact that the mysterious group will probably attack that guild soon is something we can use to our advantage."


    Luna wrote down a guild with a question mark on the chart as she nodded her head.


    "We just need to figure out which guild it is, or if it is the association��"


    Ann muttered as she stared at the empty chart with a deep look.


    Luna started thinking with the same deep look, and silence descended upon the room.


    "We can cut out the top power from the list without a problem."


    However, the silence was soon broken by Alex''s words as he wrote ''Yellow''s raider association'' and crossed it.


    This action caused the girls to look at him questioningly.


    "They won''t go for someone who already has everything, and the top force of a country has everything, unless there is a force equally stronger to them."


    As Alex mentioned that, the girl nodded their heads.


    They never thought about it that way, but now that they did, it made sense.


    "Then we can cut out the second-ranked force as well."


    Luna spoke as she wrote, ''Blue Sawn'' and then put a cross across it.


    "Why?"


    Alex questioned curiously.


    He never really focused on other Countries'' affairs, so he didn''t know much about them, but Luna and Ann did, so Ann also nodded her head at Luna''s decision.


    "The Guild leader of the Blue Swan Guild and the Guild master of the Yellow Country''s raider association are a happily married couple with two sweet children."


    Luna replied to Alex''s question but when he saw him frown, she quickly added another line.


    "And before you say something, they are not in any kind of fight, nor is there any kind of hidden tension between them."


    "I see."


    Alex nodded his head at her words.


    "But how are you sure about it?"


    However, Alex still asked Luna a question.


    Luna stared at Alex for a while.


    She contemted whether she should hide it or not.


    "I run a secret organization that gathers this kind of information."


    In the end, she decided to stay honest.


    "Oh, that''s new��"


    Alex raised a brow at her words and dropped the topic after that.


    "I need more details about that organization of yours."


    Ann, however, didn''t take Luna''s words lightly.


    She knew that an organization that could get this kind of information must not be ignored.


    "After we are done with this?"


    Luna replied with a question.


    "Un."


    Ann nodded her head before they all turned back toward shorting out the guild''s name.


    "What about the third-ranked guild?"


    Alice questioned, making them all focus on the topic at hand.


    "They are most likely the ones we are looking for."


    This time again, it was Luna who spoke.


    No one said anything, they just looked at Luna with a look that was clearing asking her to borate on her point.


    "There had been a lot of missing cases in their area, at first, I just ignored them since it was never our headache, but after seeing the video, it was not hard to link them to the case."


    Luna revealed the reason behind her words.


    The video showed the members of the mysterious group carrying live bodies, and ording to the guy, that happened daily, so the dots were easy to connect.


    "Then why did you not say that from the start??"


    Alice asked in an annoyed tone.


    If Luna already knew that, then they wouldn''t have to waste their time thinking about who it could be.


    "I don''t remember everything by heart, ok?


    When the guild was mentioned, the memory of the records of missing people surfaced in my mind automatically��."


    Luna defended herself.


    "Eat almonds, at least you will have a better functioning brain."


    Alice snorted.


    "Says the one who can''t even do the duties of a guild master perfectly."


    Luna retorted as well.


    Just like that, both of them started bickering with each other.


    Alex and Ann shared a nce, but in the end, they just shook their heads with a light smile.


    It was refreshing, looking at both of them bickering like a child after they used their brains to figure out the mostplicated thing in this case.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 252: CHAPTER 252 – “Who shouts that kind of order??”

    (One minute before thest scene of chapter 250.)


    "Something feels off��"


    One of the members of the mysterious group muttered.


    It was a girl, and she was a demi-wolf.


    She was the second inmand after the man in ck who had been picking up the phone, and she was the one who had shot the arrow before.


    Every member of the mysterious group was a demi, but their dresses that always kept their entire being covered never let anyone know that.


    If it was known, then their getting a sponsor would��ve been way harder than right now, after all, people would��ve tried to catch them for experimenting.


    Though it would��ve been done secretly because of the neww about the beast getting citizenship, so yeah, it would��ve been harder for them.


    "This is not the time for your feeling thing, Das."


    The leader of the group shunned the girl with a visible frown.


    "This is not like those times-"


    The girl tried to defend herself, but the leader cut off her words.


    "We don��t have time for all of this right now."


    The leader uttered with the same frown before he ordered everyone.


    "Don��t leave anyone alive!"


    They could see the building of the "Martyrs Guild", and like always, it was bustling with people.


    After all, it was the third-ranked guild.


    "Do, as soon as we reach the center of the guild, activate the artifact."


    The leader turned toward a guy who was holding a long sword.


    The guy nodded his head.


    "Now, straight ahead!"


    The leadermanded as he waved his hand, and rushed forward, disappearing into the space folds.


    Others followed behind him and rushed into the guild as well.


    The fox woman felt unease creeping up, but she followed behind as well.


    Everything was fine, things looked perfect, and the people seemed to react like a normal person would, but all of them failed to notice that none of them had light of life in their eyes.


    "Huh?"


    The real shock came to them when they entered the guild��s reception, the hall of the building.


    "Well, hello there��."


    A cheerful voice resounded through the hall.


    They couldn��t find the owner of those words, but they all froze in shock.


    They realized that they had fallen into a trap, the hall was empty, and they couldn��t find a single living person there.


    They looked back and they found the doors open, but the people they saw outside were nowhere to be seen.


    "Run!"


    The leader shouted before he dashed right back toward the entrance.


    The other members did the same.


    All of them jumped into the space folds and rushed toward the entrances.


    But then they heard a voice, the same voice they heard before, but this time it was cold, so cold that they felt chills up in their asses.


    "Nuh-uh."


    Right after those words, a sound of snap was heard.


    *Snap*


    And the next instant, they could see a dome made of a redva-like thing covering the whole area.


    But they still charged toward it.


    They were confident of the ability they had been using, after all, no barrier could stop them, who were running in an entirely different space.


    "ARGHHHHHH! NO!!!!!!!"


    But that confidence of theirs shattered the moment they heard the scream of their leader, and then they saw their leader being thrown out of the space folds.


    Or more like the space fold fractured, and their leader fell out of it.


    But they didn��t have time to notice that since they were all standing still with their eyes wide in horror.


    They saw their leader turn into dust the moment he fell to the ground.


    *Gulp*


    They gulped in fright.


    They were trained to be the best but seeing their leader die and disintegrate into nothingness shook them to the core.


    Their leader was the strongest among them all, after all.


    "The poison, swallow it!"


    The wolf girl, second inmand after the leader, yelled the order that was most suitable for this situation.


    She was shaken by the things as well, but they were already in a pit, so hoping to escape was not possible.


    The only thing they could do was suicide.


    ��Never let your enemies catch you.��


    This was the first thing they were taught, and it was ingrained in their minds.


    So, all of them hurriedly tried to bite the capsule that was hidden beside one of their teeth, but before they could do that��.


    "Who shouts that kind of order??"


    They heard the same voice they heard twice before, and this time it sounded confused.


    However, unlike before, they were able to see who the owner of the voice was.


    His two haunting red eyes stared at them without letting out any intention.


    His body was restingzily on the door of the entrance as he looked at them with a confused expression.


    ��Alex Matthew!��


    The only person they were told to avoid at all costs.


    Now that they knew who the preparator behind this trap was, a sense of panic appeared in their mind.


    They quickly bit into the capsule.


    They didn��t want to get captured by the person even though their leader warned them to not go against them.


    But just as they were about to bite the capsule, they saw how he lifted his armzily.


    It was all going on in slow motion for them.


    They could see him lifting very fast, but the movement seemedzy as well.


    *Snap*


    And there it was again, another snap.


    The wolf woman felt her senses tingling as hard as they could but she failed to react as she felt a strange energy wash over all of them.


    Not like she could��ve stopped it if she tried.


    "I told you already��.


    Who barks an order to do suicide so loudly?"


    Alex shook his head as he walked toward the fox woman who was closest to him.


    "There��"


    He waved his hand and the next instant��.


    *Woosh**sh*


    The wind whistled and then the sound of flesh being shed was heard.


    But as one would expect, no scream followed.


    The wolf woman stood on her spot like a statue.


    Her jaw was cut off from her face but she was still as a stone.


    Alex then looked at the others and smiled sweetly.


    "I can��t be partial now, can I?"


    He waved his hand, and...


    *Whoosh**sh*


    The same thing repeated till each and every member of the mysterious group had their jaws on the ground.


    *Snap*


    Alex snapped his fingers and muttered with a smile.


    "Wakey, wakey��."


    "Rghhhhhh!"


    "Wlla!"


    "Gkhhhhhh!"


    ...��


    ��..


    ��


    .


    But his words were not heard by anyone as they were busy screaming in pain.


    ��There��s scream sounds funny for some strange reason���� Read thetest on NovelBin.C?m


    Alex chuckled inwardly at his own thoughts.


    And honestly, it did sound funny.


    It was like listening to 30 newborns trying to yell at you.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 253: CHAPTER 253 – How about this?

    Alex had used temporal pause, and with his almost myth rank power, the people from the mysterious group couldn��t even tell what had happened.


    One second the wolf woman felt her instincts warning her and the next second she was screaming her lungs out.


    Though her scream did get Alex to chuckle a bit, so everything was fine.


    "Man, you guys sure are cautious, aren��t you?"


    As the people from the mysterious group screamed in pain while using their hands to stop the blooding out of their broken jaws, Alex circled around them in slow and deliberate steps.


    It was like a tiger observing his prey, ready to attack at any moment.


    "We had to think of a way to distract you guys after we found out that you guys had that checkpoint thingy��."


    Alex sighed in frustration, even though he was not actually frustrated.


    The wolf woman, however, had her eyes wide open after she heard Alex��s words.


    ��We had a mole!��


    She couldn��t believe it. Even after so many cross-checks and so many background checks on anyone involved with them, they still had a mole.


    "Oh, don��t be so surprised, it was just a coincidence.


    Thedy you had on the third checkpoint happened to be a member of one of my friend��s ��Secret Organization��."


    Alex just shook his head when he saw the woman��s reaction, and when he spoke about the secret organization, his words turned a bit mysterious.


    Now some of you would want to know what happened, so let��s talk about it.


    ...........................................


    When Alex and the group were nning the execution of their n, Luna��s phone rang.


    "Hello?"


    Luna saw an unknown number so she licked up the phone and questioned with a frown.


    It was her personal number and not many people had that number.


    "Ma��am, there��s news about the mysterious organization!"


    The reply from the other side was an excited yell.


    "Oh? It��s you Maira?


    Where��s your phone? And whose number is this?"


    Luna heard her words and she knew it was important but she still asked the question she wanted an answer to.


    Maira was the girl who introduced Luna to the fan club world, and she was the second inmand of Luna��s secret organization as well.


    "Ah��"


    Maira who heard Luna��s question went silent.


    "Maira."


    Read exclusive chapters at NovelBin.C?m


    Luna��s voice turned serious, and everyone else in the room also turned to look at Luna curiously.


    For Luna��s privacy, they didn��t try to eavesdrop on her conversation, but her serious expression made them curious.


    "My battery ran out��."


    Maira muttered in a low voice.


    Luna rolled her eyes when she heard Maria��s words.


    ��So, she was masturbating��.��


    Luna didn��t need to ask why Maira��s phone got discharged. She knew that girl enough to know what would��ve happened.


    Luna sighed but then her expression became serious again as she recalled what Maria was talking about.


    "Now, tell me what you called me for."


    Luna uttered and Maria��s voice also turned normal after she heard Luna��s question.


    "I got a mail on our secret ID, and it was from our spy from the White Weasel guild.


    She was talking about something rted to the mysterious group."


    And that was it.


    From that moment on, the ns they made started changing.


    They modified the ns and made it better.


    They booked fake tickets, secretly arrived at the White Weasel Guild, captured everyone in the guild, made a perfect disguise, and now here they were.


    ........................................


    Alex kept circling the people from the mysterious group, keeping an eye on them as their screams slowly turned into groans.


    "Hm, looks like you guys are getting used to the pain��."


    Alex muttered as he noted their reactions to pain.


    "How about this?"


    He waved his hand and��.


    *sh*


    A guy who was closest to him had his arm chopped off.


    "RGHHHHHHHH!"


    The scream along with the sound of blood gurgling in his throat filled the air.


    "Yeah, that��s what I like to hear."


    Alex smiled, but his smile, unlike before was evil right now.


    Till now, he was trying to hide this smile of his, but right, he wasn��t.


    He could feel the res of some of the members of this mysterious group.


    "What kind of assassins are you guys?


    First, you scream orders.


    Second, you cry over an injury.


    And now, third, you can��t even control your killing intent."


    Alex shook his head at how unprofessional they were.


    "Other than the fact that you have expert fighting skills, I don��t see anything special in you guys."


    Alex spoke in a disappointed tone.


    *Ring**Ring*


    But just then, his phone rang, and when he saw the caller ID, he smiled.


    "Finally. They are here.


    It was getting hard for me to not kill you guys."


    Alex heaved a sigh of relief before he waved his hand.


    The assassins then saw a small tear appearing at one side of the dome that covered them.


    The tear was notrge, it was just enough for a single human to enter or leave.


    But just as the assassins�� eyes brightened looking at the tear as if it was a golden opportunity, they heard the sound of some footsteps.


    In normal cases, it wouldn��t have been possible, but the surroundings were a bit too quiet for them to not be able to hear it.


    The footsteps grew loud until they saw the people entering the area.


    ��Alice and Ann white��.��


    The first two were someone they knew.


    They were the most famous people on the, so it was pretty obvious they would know them, but when they saw thest person��.


    ��WHAT!!!��


    All of their eyes went as wide as an egg.


    ��A Grenefled!!!��


    They didn��t know who it was, but they knew that she belonged to the Grenefled family.


    Someone who had the same ability as them, or it would be better to say that they had the same ability as her.


    They couldn��t voice it out, but looking at their wide-open eyes, anyone could tell that they were startled by the fact that there was someone from the Grenefled family still alive, and was living in this world.


    Grey hair and grey eyes were the trademark sign of the Grenefled and re, who just entered the gate matched the whole description.


    They had many doubts, and they had questions, but for now, they saw their only chance of escape closing so they didn��t waste any more time.


    The wolf woman looked at the other assassins and then nodded her head, and the next second, all of them ran toward the tear that was healing at a very slow speed.


    She had realized that Alex was much more dangerous than they had initially thought and she now wanted to forward this information to their master, but for that, she would have to escape from here.


    ��Time, illusion, destruction, and wind��.��


    The wolf woman recalled the elements she had seen Alex use till now.


    ��Even one of those elements would make him dangerous, but he has all of them����


    She thought as she rushed toward the tear in the dome along with the others.


    But then she heard Alex��s voice again.


    "At least cutting your jaws off made you guys learn how to talk without them��."


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 254: CHAPTER 254 – Alice is angry.

    Alex was not killing the guys for a reason.


    re wanted to check whether any of them were from her family.


    She knew that it was not possible, and she knew that there was no way her family members would give in, but she still wanted to make sure.


    Now Alex could just check if they were or not, and then tell her the result.


    re won''t say anything.


    She knew that Alex wouldn''t lie to her.


    But Alex decided to wait for re.


    That girl wanted to see it with her own eyes, so he would let her do it.


    He could get the skill that the Grenefled family was hunted for by killing any one of them, so he didn''t need to kill more people for it.


    He would let re kill them.


    After all, her family members were sacrificed for these assassins to have their abilities.


    "At least cutting your jaws off made you guys learn how to talk without them��."


    Alex uttered those words with a smile when they saw the assassins from the mysterious group rushing toward the tear in his destruction barrier.


    Alex waved his hand, and just that single wave of his hand was enough to crush all the hopes that the people from the mysterious group had.


    The crack in the destruction barrier healed in an instant, and the steps of the assassins came to a halt.


    "There''s nowhere for you to-"


    Alex was about to mock them about their inability, but something unexpected happened.


    *Boom*


    Alice, who had just entered the dome dashed toward one of the assassins at her full speed.


    Her full speed means the full speed of a peak Epic ranker.


    It was so fast that by the time the sonic boom of her speed was heard, she was already standing with a guy from the mysterious association in her hand.


    Alice was holding the guy by his neck, ignoring the blood flowing out of the ce where his jaw was supposed to be.


    Her hair was burning with fire, and her body was emitting heat, a heat so intense that it melted the ground where she stepped.


    Her red eyes were now glowing with red, yellow, and orange, and from the vein that was bulging on her forehead, it was clear that she was angry.


    Alex didn''t notice before, but now that he did, he could see that even the ever-calm Ann was clenching her fists to control herself.


    re was staring at the members as well, and although her emotions were unreadable, Alex could tell that she was angry as well.


    "You guys like experimenting, don''t you?"


    Alex heard Alice''s growl and he turned to look at Alice.


    ''Oh, she is mad, real mad��.''


    The way Alice''s body was slowly getting covered in red mes, Alex could tell that Alice right now was irked about something.


    The guy who was held by Alice seemed confused for a bit, but after he saw the fury in her eyes, his eyes suddenly brightened in realization.


    He was Do, the guy who liked to torture humans, second on to Teen.


    He knew about the look Alice was giving.


    She was raging about something, and when he heard the word experimenting out of her mouth, he instantly understood what she was talking about.


    "WWAWAGWGAGHWGHGAWG!"


    His voice was not clear, it was gibberish, but everyone could tell what he was doing, it was as clear as day.


    That guy wasughing while he nodded his head repeatedly.


    But this action only made another vein pop up on Alice''s head.


    But then all of the anger on her face vanished, reced by a cold smile.


    "I see, I see. Good."


    Alice also nodded with a smile, but Do stoppedughing the moment he saw her smile.


    Her smile right now reminded him of Teen when he was thinking of torturing someone.


    Alice then turned toward Alex with a smile.


    "Can I have him?"


    Alex raised a brow at her question.


    This was the first time Alex had seen this form of Alice, and it surprised him.


    But when he saw Ann''s bewildered look, he could tell that this form of Alice was new for her as well.


    However, the moment Alex saw Alice''s eyes, he smiled inwardly.


    He could see a light in her eyes, a light that he had been trying to show her for a while.


    The light of cruelty, the light of mercilessness.


    He could see it, so he walked toward her.


    "What do you want him for?"


    Alex questioned with a sweet smile, but his steps didn''t stop.


    "I want to y a game with him."


    Alice returned the same smile.


    "But I don''t like imagining you alone with another guy��"


    Alex stood in front of Alice and looked down, right into her eyes.


    Alice''s body trembled the moment she saw those haunting red eyes of Alex looking into her fairy red eyes with possessive light shining within them.


    She wasn''t scared, not one bit. She was excited, a lot.


    She was feeling itchy down there, and she wanted to do something about it, but it was not the time right now.


    "H-How about a hall then?"


    Alice struggled to get her words out with Alex looking into her eyes with that look, but she still did.


    "Hm?"


    Her words confused Alex.


    "borate."


    Alex purred, his voice soft yet demanding.


    "��"


    Alice took a deep breath, trying to calm her beating heart before she spoke.


    "If you don''t like me being in a room, then what about a hall? The hall right there."


    Alice muttered as she pointed at the hall of the White Weasel Guild.


    Alex didn''t look at the hall she was pointing at, instead, he continued staring at her fairy-red eyes before his smile returned to normal casual smile.


    "Sure.


    Let me do a quick check though."


    Alex nodded his head before he turned toward the Do, and smiled again.


    "Let''s see what''s under that mask of yours��."


    Alex uttered with a smile before he forcefully tore the mask that the guy was wearing.


    Well, it was not actually a mask as it was attached to the dress, and the dress was strong enough to defend against an A-rank attack without a problem, but who was Alex?


    Can a dress with an A-rank defense handle the power of an almost Myth-ranked person?


    *Tear*


    The answer was no.


    The mask (?) got torn apart like paper before the face of the guy��... or what was left of it, was revealed.


    Alex had just cut off the jaw, which meant that the eyes and hair were still safe.


    "Welp, he''s not a Grenefled, so you can do whatever experiment you want to do��."


    Do had ck hair and brown eyes, so it was clear that he was not a Grenefled.


    "But before that��"


    Alex looked away from the guy, back into Alice''s eyes, and waved his hand.


    "Let me remove this for you."


    *sh*


    The sound of a sh was heard, and the next second��..


    "ARGHHHHHHHHHH!


    The scream of Do filled the air.


    The thing between his legs was cut off, but his scream momentarily paused as he felt himself being thrown like a bag.


    "Thank you!"


    Alice threw the guy toward the guild''s entrance and then jumped up, kissing Alex on his lips.


    Alex, although a bit surprised, still epted the kiss with a smile.


    It was rare for Alice to take initiative, after all��.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 255: CHAPTER 255 – Human Experiments.

    "So? What got you guys so riled up?"


    Alex was standing next to Ann, observing the assassins as re walked toward them to check up on their identities.


    The assassins were now trapped, they had nowhere to run, and no other option to think of.


    Unlike what they do in the cultivation novel, biting one''s tongue doesn''t mean suicide.


    You need to know where and when to cut, your teeth need to be sharp enough, and many other thingse into y, so although it''s easy in cultivation novels, it is not here.


    The only choice they had was to kill each other before they were caught (Like they were not already caught).


    And from the looks of it, that seems to be their n from the way they were exchanging nces.


    Alex who was standing with Ann could easily guess their intentions, but he didn''t do anything for now.


    "The information we got from this guild��"


    Ann, who was sulking about the fact that only Alice got a kiss turned serious the moment she heard Alex''s question.


    Her fists were clenched, but listening to the scream of the guy Alice was ying with calmed her down a bit.


    None of them knew what Alice was doing, other than Alex of course, but just listening to the screams of the guy sent shivers down the spines of the assassins, making them seriously look at each other.


    ''Let''s kill each other.''


    The screams only made them solidify their thoughts.


    Alex, on the other hand, was smiling proudly as he observed Alice with his all-seeing eyes.


    "What was in it?"


    On the outside, however, he was listening to Ann''s words.


    "The report of their experiments��.."


    Ann gritted her teeth as she recalled the photos she saw in the files.


    When they arrived here, and emptied the guild''s archive, Ann quickly moved out to process all the information with her team.


    Alice tagged along with her, so when they read the details of the experiments and saw the photos of the result, their blood boiled with rage.


    Even the cold re who was with them was clenching her fist.


    re was a human, and the things she saw were done to humans as well.


    "What was it about?"


    Alex wanted to know what it was that would make Alice turn into this new Alice.


    Ann looked up into Alex''s eyes and kept staring into them.


    "They were conducting human experiments��"


    Ann spoke after a while.


    It took her time to calm herself.


    "What kind of human experiments?"


    Alex asked gently.


    He was observing Ann''s expressions and emotions so he questioned as he held her hand gently.


    ''Ah��.''


    Ann, who felt Alex''s warm and big fingers over her small fingers, she sighed in relief.


    Just the touch of Alex brought her more relief than anything.


    Alex didn''t rush her, he gave her time, and after a while, Ann finally opened her eyes and spoke.


    "They were experimenting with the reason why we have no demi-humans here, and they were trying to create demi-humans bybining human genes with animal genes.


    They would sometimes try out their genes as well��."


    Ann momentarily paused for a breather before she looked into Alex''s eyes and muttered in a low voice.


    "The process they used to transfer the genes��."


    Ann looked down, unable to speak more.


    "It''s all right, I get it."


    Alex was not a fool, just looking at Ann, Alice, and re''s reaction, he could guess what would''ve happened.


    But Ann wasn''t done yet.


    She took out her tab from the storage ring and passed it over to Alex.


    "It has the images we got from their files."


    Ann forwarded the tab to Alex.


    Alex looked at Ann before he nodded and opened the tab.


    It didn''t have a password since it was always in Ann''s hand and no other than her could touch it unless she gave it to them.


    So, it was not hard for him to open it.


    And the first thing he saw after the tab opened made him frown his brows.


    As he went on scrolling, his frown deepened.


    Although he didn''t care about anyone else, and he would kill the world if it was needed, he still had some morals.


    Even he had a line he would never cross.


    But looking at the pictures that were in the tab made him realize just how bad people can be.


    Hearing the screams didn''t make him feel proud anymore.


    It was more like he now thought that it was the least they deserved.


    Alex passed the tab back to Ann without a word.


    He didn''t say anything, and neither did Ann.


    The thing he saw was not something they should talk about.


    It was just that the look on his face had now changed.


    His smile was gone, reced by a cold look.


    His red eyes were shining with an ominous color that made a chill creep up in the assassins'' hearts.


    They didn''t know why their heart felt heavy, but they knew that it was time for them to go on with their ns.


    re had already taken off their masks, and other than two people, all of them had their faces (?) revealed, but that didn''t mean anything to them.


    All of them could see Alex walking toward them with the same cold look, and with each step he took, their hearts grew heavier.


    They exchanged determined nces before they nodded at each other.


    They knew that it was now or never. If they didn''t do it now, then they might not even get a chance.


    Alex was still silent, and even though he could easily see through their ns, he didn''t do anything yet.


    But just as the assassins prepared to jump at each other, Alex took another step.


    *Step*


    This particr step sounded louder than the scream to the assassins, and the next second, the world paused.


    Other than Alice, Ann, and re, everything else paused.


    Do''s scream paused as well, and Alice who noticed the time pause walked out of the hall.


    By now, she had calmed down.


    However, she didn''t regret her actions, rather, she thought that this was the right thing.


    The moment she stepped out of the guild building, she heard Alex''s words.


    "Make it quick," Alex ordered re to hasten her work.


    re just nodded her head.


    She could tell the reason for Alex''s behavior, she saw him watching the images in the tab, after all.


    Alice didn''t know that, so she looked at Ann for an answer, and Ann just stared back at Alice without saying anything.


    But that was enough for Alice to understand what must''ve happened, so she nodded her head and walked toward Ann.


    She didn''t care about Do anymore. He was not in any condition to live anyway.


    With the condition he was in, he would probably be dead within 2 minutes after Alex deactivated the temporal pause.


    She was more interested in what Alex was going to do.


    //// Six Bonus chaptersing in! ////


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 256: CHAPTER 256 – My lab rats.

    "��. None of them are a Grenefled."


    re sighed inwardly as she looked at Alex.


    She was happy that none of them were Grenefled as she looked at Alex, right now.


    The Alex right now seemed scary to her.


    After all, she had only seen him smiling all the time, and it was her first time seeing his cold and angry look.


    Cold she had seen, but at that time, he was warning her, the look he had right now, however, was nothing like that.


    She even had a thought that if any of the assassins were to be a Grenefled, then there was a chance that she could be implicated.


    She knew that Alex wouldn''t do that, but as always, guessing what Alex would do was the hardest thing.


    "Good."


    Alex nodded and then he walked toward the guy closest to him.


    Alex activated his all-seeing eyes and he could see the movement of mana inside the guy''s body.


    The guy had his mana charged in his hands and the muscles of his legs were taunted.


    The guy was a Ratman, it was easy to tell from the ears on his head.


    The same could be said for the other assassins, their racial features were visible, so it was easy to guess their race.


    Alex looked down at the guy before he waved his hand downward.


    *Woosh* X2


    Two wooshing sounds were heard and then��.


    *sh* X4


    Four shes were heard.


    Two des made of water descended on the Ratman, first, they cut off his arms before they continued to cut his legs.


    But the strange thing was that even though the limbs were cut off from the body, there was not a drop of blood flowing out of the injuries.


    Yes, the time was paused so the blood wouldn''t flow, but the ce that was supposed to be bloodied looked like a healed limb injury.


    The part that Alex shed looked like a year-old wound.


    The same thing happened to all the other parts Alex had shed.


    Alex looked at it and nodded his head.


    It was just an experiment, but it worked out fine.


    Alex then waved his hand again, but this time instead of just two, many water des rained down from the sky, chopping off the assassins'' limbs, but the result was the same as the Ratman''s.


    Alex was using his healing water to sh them, so the wound that was supposed to bleed got healed the moment it was created.


    If Alex used this ability normally, then it would''ve healed the limbs, but he was using the same thing to cause the injury.


    And the result turned out to be just as he wanted.


    Alex walked back toward Alice, Ann, and re, and by now, his smile was back on his face.


    But looking at that smile of him, the girls didn''t feel like he was smiling.


    *Snap*


    He snapped his finger without looking back and continued walking toward the girls.


    But the single snap of his caused the time to continue and��.


    "GWAAAAAAAAAA!"


    "KHHHHEEEEEEEE!"


    "GROOOOOOO!"


    ...��.


    ...


    ��.


    ��


    ..


    .


    Another series of screams followed.


    Do who was left alone inside was also screaming since he could still feel the burn inside of his body, but his screams turned into whimpers in a while.


    Alex just stood there and watched the assassins scream in agony.


    The pain of all of their limbs being severed was not something anyone could handle, and if that was not enough, then the healing water that Alex used on them was also a bit special.


    The healing water Alex used on them, unlike normal healing water that nourishes the cells and regenerates them, this one forcefully removes the cells in the area to heal any injury.


    So, the pain at the cellr level only added to their torment.


    The assassins continued to scream in agony while Do''s whimpers had now turned into groans.


    As Alex saw those guys'' pained expressions, his smile started transforming.


    Soon his smile matched with the smile we wore for the Aquathrens that had tried to have some rather impure thoughts about Alice and Ann.


    Alice and Ann were familiar with that smile, but re wasn''t, so that smile made her tremble a little.


    She felt chills even though the smile was not directed at her, she didn''t even want to hope how she would feel if that smile was for her.


    Alex just continued to stare at the guys and by now, Do''s groans had stopped and he was probably dead.


    No one even cared enough to check if he was alive or not.


    Alice wanted a went, and torturing him was the perfect went for her.


    Now, just like Ann, she wanted to see what Alex was going to do.


    They knew that this was nothing.


    The pain these guys were going through was nothingpared to the time Alex tortured the Aquathrens, their screams were still fresh in both of their minds and for sure, these guys didn''t even go through the 10th of what those guys did.


    "Ann, call for a van."


    Suddenly Alex spoke without turning back.


    "On it."


    Ann nodded her head and moved back, calling for a van.


    She didn''t ask why Alex called for a van, she just did what he asked for.


    But Alice wasn''t Ann, so she asked curiously.


    "What''s that van for?"


    Alex turned back and looked at Alice with a gentle smile.


    "I can''t leave myb rats here now, can I?"


    Alex replied with a gentle smile.


    He was smiling so gently that it seemed like he was trying to console a kid, but the words that came out of his lips were quite the opposite.


    "Lab rats?"


    Alice raised a brow.


    "Yeah, they are going to be myb rats from now on.


    I needed some people to test some of my abilities, but my morality stopped me.


    But now that the situation has presented itself, I should take it."


    Alex stated as he pointed at the assassins.


    "I see��."


    Alice nodded with a thoughtful look on her face.


    Alex then turned back toward the assassins and continued staring at them as if he didn''t want to miss a single detail.


    re who saw all this was left dumbfounded at how Alex''s expressions changed in seconds.


    But she just shook her head and continued to observe them just like others.


    She knew that they deserved it, but somehow, looking at Alex''s smile made her pity them a bit.


    re didn''t know what Alex was going to do to them, but she did know that it wouldn''t be something a light-hearted person could handle.


    "I''ve called the van."


    Ann moved close to Alex as she uttered those words.


    "Good."


    Alex smiled at Ann before he turned toward the assassins.


    "Time to sleep my rats��."


    Alex muttered as a sweet colorless gas filled the air.


    The assassins'' eyes widened when they felt their bodies rxing and their mind going numb, but Alex just smiled at them.


    "Don''t worry, the moment you open your eyes, you will be in your house, brand new ces I will create especially for you guys��"


    That was thest thing the assassins heard before their vision went out, and they entered the dreand.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 257: CHAPTER 257 – The Strange Device.

    "Did you get something out of them today as well?"


    Luna questioned as she saw Alexing out of the store room.


    The store room was an underground floor before, and it was just one room of 3X3 meters, but now it was argepartment.


    Alex used his earth element to make enough space to fit a ne in the store room, and that ce was his littleb, a ce where he experiments on hisb rats.


    Theb rats don''t even have their limbs or their mouth, but they are still useful.


    "Yep, I got a new way to use the space element, though one of them died��."


    Alex started speaking with a smile but in the end, his voice got tinged with frustration.


    Hisb rats were too weak for him to test his powers on.


    He had been suppressing his power while experimenting on them, but they still broke down pretty quickly.


    "Well, they areb rats, what do you expect?"


    Luna who sat on the sofa just shrugged her shoulders.


    She knew who those people were and what they had done, so whatever they were going through didn''t look bad to Luna.


    Not like Luna would''ve stopped him or tried to dissuade him even if the people Alex was torturing were actually good.


    That was just who Luna was.


    She never cared about the world.


    "I guess��"


    Alex nodded his head with a sigh.


    It was the fifthb rat of his that went to meet the lord up in heaven.


    All of them died during experiments.


    ''But oh well, they areb rats for a reason��''


    Alex even fed them dog food, and although they denied it at the start, in a week, they were gulping it down their throat even without chewing.


    It was not like they had their mouth to help them chew.


    "When are you going to use that thing?"


    Luna then questioned as she pointed at the stone-like device that was kept on the study table.


    Alex thought for a moment before he stood up from the sofa he just sat on.


    "Let''s just do it right now."


    Alex asserted as he picked up the device.


    This device was something the assassins'' leader used to talk with their real leader, the one who gave themmands.


    It was always handled by a guy named Bees.


    He was a Dogman, and unlike wolfmen or werewolves, they looked tamer.


    They were supposed to be very careful, and that was the reason why he held most of the important stuff of the group.


    Alex got this device out of that dogman''s storage ring.


    Oh, and just so you guys know, that dogman is dead.


    He died in an experiment rted to his Destruction energy.


    His innards were disintegrated, leaving only the skin and bones.


    "You are going to use it now? Shouldn''t we wait for Alice and Ann?"


    Luna hurriedly asked.


    The idea of doing something alone with Alex excited her a lot, especially when Alice and Ann weren''t here, and it was only her.


    ''The first thing rted to Alex that I would know, but they won''t, at least not until Alex or I decide to disclose it.''


    Luna giggled inwardly.


    "Well, we can tell them what we get."


    Alex just shrugged.


    Unlike Luna, he didn''t think of this situation as anything special.


    He had never tried using that device before because he was not in the mood or busy with his experiments.


    But, right now, he was free, so he decided to get on with it.


    "Ok."


    Luna nodded her head, letting herself enjoy her alone time with Alex.


    It was rare for her to have alone time with Alex, but just then��.


    "What are you doing, master?"


    A wolf pup jumped up on Alex.


    And, of course, it was Noctura.


    "Nothing special."


    Alex replied as he picked Noctura up and ced her on his shoulder.


    "I see that you''ve mastered your size maniption."


    Although Noctura was a child-sized wolf, her features were sharp like an adult''s, and if someone observed her carefully, they would be able to tell that, instead of growing younger, it was just her size that had decreased to that of her younger self.


    Noctura was in a chibi wolf form.


    All of this was possible because of the new ability that Alex gave her.


    ''I want to lie on yourp like I used to��.''


    This was Noctura''s request a while ago.


    Her size was growing a bit too fast and she was already 2 meters tall, and 5 meters long.


    Even staying in the house was getting hard for her, so Alex decided to buy her size maniption technique.


    Now it was not the real maniption type ability, this was just an imitated version of the real one, but it still cost Alex 2 million points, something that took him a while to collect.


    But he didn''t really care about it, for him, Noctura''s happiness mattered more than some measly points could ever do.


    "Hehe��"


    Noctura giggled as Alex praised her.


    She rubbed her head on Alex''s cheek causing him to chuckle as well.


    "All right, all right, calm down.


    I have something important to do."


    Alex patted Noctura''s head, telling her to tone down a bit, and Noctura simply sat back on his shoulder, rxing her body.


    ''Sigh��.''


    Luna, on the other hand, just sighed.


    ''Not alone, I guess��''


    Luna was celebrating a bit too early.


    Even if Alice and Ann were not here, Noctura was still here.


    Now, where were Alice and Ann?


    They went to thebs where the mysterious group conducted experiments.


    They had to save the all of people or it would be better to say women, in there.


    re tagged along with them as well.


    She wanted to contribute to the tasks, so Alice and Ann let her tag along.


    There were no major gates right now.


    No SSS-ranked gate that any of them would have to move.


    The gates that were appearing the most right now were SS-ranked gates, and they could be cleared by other people out there.


    Unless it was a special gate or something like that.


    "Let''s see if they pick it up or not��."


    Alex finally focused on the stone-like device and poured his mana into it.


    Luna and Noctura also turned serious.


    Both are serious for different reasons.


    Luna was serious because she knew who they were calling and where they were calling, while Noctura turned serious because she could feel a strange energy from the device.


    It was the same as the attack that Alex had taught her, and as if reading her thoughts, Alex smiled.


    "Good job, pup.


    Your senses are getting stronger."


    Alex smiled as he continued to supply mana to the device.


    The device was taking time to get working.


    However, It was not because Alex didn''t have enough mana to activate that thing, it was taking time because the runes over the stone-like device worked slowly.


    "You mean it is��"


    Noctura muttered and Alexpleted her words.


    "Space element, yes.


    This device had a very deep connection with space."


    Alex nodded his head as he stared at the device.


    All of them just kept staring at the device until 1 minuteter, the device finally shone brightly.


    *Click*


    And with a click sound, it got connected.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 258: CHAPTER 258 – Talk with an Otherworlder 1.

    Noctura, Alex, and Luna, all three of them started at the device, but none said anything.


    The device although picked up, didn''t make a sound, indicating that the other side had also decided to y along with them.


    But it seemed like things were not as simple as it looked to be.


    10 seconds after the call got connected, and no sound was heard, Alex, Luna, and Noctura finally heard something.


    *Tap**Tap**Tap*��.


    It was the sound of hurried footsteps.


    Someone, who was holding the device on the other side was moving at a hurried pace.


    This showed that the other side was not actually ying along with them, whoever it was, they had been testing something, and when the test turned out to be a failure of sess, they decided to pass it on to the real master.


    "My Lord."


    A male voice filled with respect andmitment.


    The loyalty in his voice was so apparent that if he said that he would die for his lord, it would still sound believable.


    However, those words were not for any one of them, and the three of them knew that, so they just stayed quiet.


    "Hm."


    A low hum was heard, but just that hum was enough for Luna and Noctura to straighten their backs.


    It was as if their bodies moved on their own, and when they realized what happened, both Luna and Noctura smiled.


    However, it was not something they could control.


    The majesty and power dripping from that voice could make anyone be serious.


    What happened to Luna and Noctura was something simr, their rxed bodies straightened, that''s all.


    It was a subconscious movement, their minds wanted them to be serious.


    Alex saw it as well, but he just shook his head with a chuckle.


    [Just show him that he''s not the only one.]


    Just then Sophiamented as she found this situation quite funny.


    If the opposite party were to feel the full pressure of Alex''s bloodlines, then he would probably be rolling on the ground, and that being was trying to show his majesty in front of Alex.


    If that was not funny then what was?


    Alex put on a thoughtful expression before he nodded with a shrug.


    ''Why not, but let him say something��''


    Alex didn''t see any problem in doing that, and honestly, his bloodlines were eager to show their power, after all, the one in the front had imbued his bloodline''s aura in his speech.


    And Alex didn''t have to wait for long��.


    "Alex Matthew��." Chapter Experience:


    Before a low voice that sounded more like a sleeping dragon''s hum resounded throughout the room.


    But this time, Alex replied as well.


    "I''m pretty famous to have my name known to the people living in another world��."


    Alex spoke with a low chuckle.


    This time his words wereced with the aura of his Incubus bloodline, sending jolts of pleasure in Luna and Noctura''s bodies.


    Their bodies that got tense the moment they heard the voice of the person on the other side, rxed when Alex''s voice reached their ears.


    If before their subconscious was trying to tell them �C ''Get serious'', then now it said, ''Why to fear when you have him by your side��?''.


    But unlike the rxing feeling for Luna and Noctura, the man on the other side shivered, but then he shook his head.


    The man on the other side didn''t believe that there was someone strong enough to send a shiver down his spine, not in a world as weak as Alex''s.


    There was a pregnant silence after that.


    Alex didn''t really have any interest in having this conversation in the first ce, he did it just because he wanted to see if this device even worked, and now that he knew that it worked then he was fine even if the call ended right now.


    But the other side seemed to have the thoughts of continuing the conversation.


    "What was it? A traitor or a spy?"


    A voice from the other side questioned.


    Listening to that question, a smile appeared on both Alex''s and Luna''s face.


    "A coincidence."


    Alex replied with a smile as he recalled how a member of Luna''s spy system happened to get selected by the mysterious group to give them the signal.


    "I see��."


    The voice on the other side sighed.


    The sigh, however, didn''t feel emotional or anything, it was just a sigh that one would take if they missed something.


    It was like someone gambled with 10 credits and then lost it.


    It won''t affect them much, but they would still click their tongue or curse their luck.


    The sigh was just like that click of the tongue.


    "Do you have any intentions of letting them go?"


    The voice asked again.


    However, from the voice, it was clear that the owner of that voice didn''t have much hope.


    "Nope."


    Alex''s reply was simple.


    He smiled as he looked at the device while using the bloodline''s aura in his voice.


    His replies were short but more impactful, and every time they would send chills down the other guy''s spine.


    "��. Are they alive?"


    The guy from the other side inquired after a short pause, still not believing that the chills he had been feeling were because of Alex.


    "Hmm, yeah, some of them died, but most of them are alive."


    Alex replied casually, but the guy on the other side frowned at his body''s involuntary tremble.


    "What are you doing?"


    Unable to suppress his curiosity, the guy questioned.


    Not for a second he thought that Alex had a bloodline stronger than him.


    There was no way he would believe that that was someone with a bloodline higher than his in a world as weak as Alex''s.


    "Enjoying my time with some people after doing some experiments on myb rats, what about you?"


    Alex raised a brow at that question but he replied nheless.


    His answer, however, caused the guy on the other side to almost crush the armrest of his throne made of stone.


    "What I wanted to ask-"


    The guy tried to exin the meaning behind his question but Alex cut him off with his rxed voice.


    "I know what you wanted to ask, but my bad for thinking that you had enough brain to understand that I didn''t want to talk about it."


    His words were rxed and casual, but they were sharp as well.


    The guy on the other side momentarily paused.


    Then he looked around and sighed.


    "Sigh��."


    This time, it was a sigh of relief.


    He was relieved that there was no one listening to his conversation right now.


    After all, he didn''t want to kill a subordinate just because some guy from an inferior world dared to insult him and his subordinate happened to hear it.


    But he still gritted his teeth.


    He was a patient man, but he was the most arrogant man as well.


    Being at the top of the world had made him that, and he didn''t hate that feeling.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 259: CHAPTER 259 – Talk with an Otherworlder 2.

    Luna and Noctura shared a nce.


    The silence was quite long this time.


    The other side seemed to be busy in their thoughts while Alex was not even here.


    *Step**Step*��.


    A sound of feet moving on the floor was heard causing Luna and Noctura to turn their heads away from the shining device only to catch the sight of Alex walking toward them with a cup of ice cream.


    It was handmade, or more like Alex-made, and it was very tasty.


    Just looking at it made Luna and Noctura''s mouth water.


    But they shook their heads.


    ''What the hell are you doing???''


    Luna questioned with a bewildered expression.


    This was not the time for all of that.


    When she saw Alex getting up and leaving Noctura on the sofa with the device still on, Luna thought that maybe something important came to his mind but��.


    ''He wanted to eat ice cream?? We are talking to some freaking emperor or whatever, and he wants to eat ice crea-''


    Luna continued staring at Alex with a dumbfounded expression, but then Alex took a scoop of the ice cream and pushed it toward Luna.


    Looking at that spoonful of ice cream, that creamy texture attacked her eyes while the icy and sweet smell did the same to her smell buds.


    All of her thoughts about Alex not being serious and whatnot were thrown away as her lips moved closer to the spoon.


    Alex, who saw all of that, smiled meaningfully, nodding his head repeatedly.


    ''No words yet?''


    As Luna licked everyst bit of cream on the spoon, Alex looked at the drooling Noctura and lip-synced the question.


    Noctura momentarily peeled her eyes off from the ice cream and shook her head at Alex''s question, indicating that there had been no words from the other side yet.


    Alex just chuckled as he saw Noctura''s eyes moving back to the cup of ice cream.


    He nced at Luna, only to find her now enjoying the taste of ice cream with her eyes closed and back resting on the sofa.


    He shook his head and moved to the spot where he was sitting.


    Noctura jumped up on his shoulder as if that ce belonged to her while her eyes stayed fixed on the ice cream cup.


    Alex took onest bite from the cup before he ced the cup on the table and gestured for Noctura to go on.


    Noctura''s eyes brightened and she jumped right on the ice cream, taking arge scoop of it with a single lick.


    But as the ice touched her lips her taste buds jumped in happiness, forcing her to savor the taste of the ice cream, and not gulp it down in one go.


    Alex chuckled at herical reactions before he looked back at the device.


    *Cough*


    Alex coughed to get the other party''s attention.


    "Wake up, man.


    I don''t have all day long to wait for your words, I''m a busy man, unlike some lord who sits around and orders his people to even wash his ass after he''s done shitting."


    *Knock**Knock*


    Alex even knocked the device as if trying to wake the guy up if he was sleeping.


    The man on the other side, who had finally calmed down had a vein popping up on his forehead the moment he heard Alex''s words. Chapter Find:


    *Crack*


    "I wish you were right in front of me right now, I would have shown you the consequences of your impudence."


    A growl is heard along with a cracking sound.


    But Alex just smiled.


    "You might get the chance sooner than you think, oh great��."


    Alex extended hisst words, creating suspense, and the guy on the other side smiled as he heard those words.


    He thought that Alex had finally learned his lesson and started showing him the respect he deserved, but��.


    "Sleeper, I wish you could get a good sleep, and be able to satisfy your wives-"


    *Boom*


    That was thest thing Alex heard before the connection was cut.


    "What?"


    Alex turned toward Luna who was staring at him with a nk gaze.


    The booming sound caused her to focus back on the conversation, but when she realized what happened, she couldn''t help but turn speechless.


    "You do know that you destroyed our only medium of contact with that world, right?"


    Alex started at Luna with a stunned expression before he spoke with unsurety.


    "Yes?"


    "Sigh��."


    A long sigh left Luna''s lips when she heard his words.


    But Alex just shrugged off her concern.


    "We can just go to that world, why are you so worried about a single device that could''ve helped us in getting some misleading information?"


    Alex questioned with a perplexed expression.


    Why did they have to use this device anyway?


    Whatever information they will get would probably be the things that the other side wants them to get.


    It can be the right thing or the wrong one, who was going to confirm that?


    That was what Alex thought, but his words caused both Luna and Noctura who were eating the ice cream to momentarily pause.


    Noctura had sharp hearing, so even if she was immersed in something the noise in the surroundings won''t get muffled for her.


    So, she heard Alex''s each with the same rity as Luna''s, and her reason for freezing was the same as Luna''s.


    Shock.


    "What?!"


    Luna was the first to react and even Noctura, although reluctantly, still left the ice cream aside and looked at Alex questioningly.


    "Hm? Did I say something wrong??"


    Alex soon realized that he had yet to tell anyone about the fact that he could jump from one world to another.


    He had to exin some things to Luna and Noctura once, and when the others returned, Alex had to do it again, but yeah, everyone realized that they might get a chance to travel to another world with living beings.


    ....................


    On the other side of the call.


    *Inhale*


    A man with arge muscr build and long golden hair flowing back, reaching his waist, took a deep breath with his eyes closed.


    *Exhale*


    He breathed out the air that he took in, but that breath caused the cave he was in to shake.


    He was sitting on arge throne made of stone.


    It didn''t look anything special, but it did look strong. If it didn''t have a crack on its left armrest, then it would''ve looked as new as it could be.


    *Baam**Crack*


    The cracks only worsened when the guy opened his golden eyes filled with arrogance and rage as he smashed his left fist on the armrest.


    "How dare he��..."


    He growled, but as he heard a hurried footstep moving toward his cave, he looked up to see his most loyal subordinate standing at the entrance with his head bowed, waiting for his permission.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 260: CHAPTER 260 – A losing game.

    (Inside a cave, in an unknown ce.)


    ''Yes, that''s how it should be.


    This is how everyone should treat me��.


    The whole world should bow down to me!''


    A man sitting on the throne thought inwardly.


    ''Never let anyone look down on you��''


    Those were thest words of histe mother and he was fullymitted to it.


    Now he wanted everyone to look up at him.


    Be it in fear, terror, hope, love, worship, or any other emotion.


    He just wanted to be on top of the world.


    This man was the real ruler of the strongest empire in his world.


    He was��. (Suggest a fitting name, the one with the most likes will be selected, and if you guys don''t suggest any, then I''ll just go with the one I was thinking of��.)


    "What''s wrong?"


    He questioned as he looked at his subordinate, his mood better than before.


    "My lord, there is a guy iming to know where that Oraclewing is��.."


    The man at the cave''s entrance spoke without looking up.


    His respect for the man in front of him was more than anyone, even his own father.


    "Oh? How strong is he?"


    The man on the throne asked with interest.


    "He is an EX-ranked warrior, my lord."


    But as the guy heard his subordinated words, he couldn''t help but frown.


    "Yet you believed him, why?"


    The man on the throne didn''t think that his subordinate, a legendary ranker would believe in just anyone.


    "He is standing right outside your cave, my lord.


    And he came here without any kind of guidance or assistance."


    The brows of the man on the throne loosened as he heard those words.


    "Let him in."


    He waved his hand, finally believing that this man might know something.


    Even if he didn''t know anything about the Oraclewing, just getting the information of how he got here would be enough for the man on the thought to entertain his guest.


    The man smiled as he rxed on his throne.


    Completely dismissing any and everything Alex said earlier.


    For him, Alex was just someone he could crush anytime.


    The only saving grace Alex had was that he was in another world, or he would already be dead.


    That guy didn''t know that Alex was already nning toe to this world, and he might be meeting Alex sooner than he expected, just like Alex had imed a while ago.


    ....................


    "Big Brother!!!"


    Lily ran toward Alex and jumped on him.


    "Hahahahahaha��."


    Alex justughed as he picked up her and started giving her merry-go-rounds with her in his arms.


    "It''s been a while, Alex��"


    Grace, who walked in along with Max greeted Alex with a smile.


    "What do you mean, we just talked yesterday, didn''t we?"


    Alex however just smiled at her words, as he let Lilynd on the ground.


    If he was being honest, he did miss Lily a bit.


    This little girl always made him feel different from what others do.


    She gave him the little sister-type feeling, and her calling him big brother only made that feeling stronger.


    And yeah, they didn''t meet for a while.


    But they did talk regrly.


    Steel family and Crimson Lotus were in an alliance, so talking about the stuff going all around the world was a normal thing for Alex and Max.


    And whenever Lily saw Max talking to Alex, she would at leaste to greet him on the phone.


    Alex looked down at Lily, her infectious smile could cause anyone to smile, Alex was no exception.


    Looking at her emerald eyes shining with joy was enough to make Alex smile brighter than he had been doing for a while.


    "How''ve you been, Lil bird?"


    Alex ruffled Lily''s hair, looking into her half-closed eyes, showing how much she enjoyed it.


    "Good!"


    Lilly beamed with a wide smile.


    "Is that how it is? The moment you see him, you forget your dad???"


    Max who was moving toward them, stopped on his track and looked at Lily with his arms folded in from of his chest.


    Grace raised a brow at this, but she just walked ahead with a shake of her head.


    ''You''re ying a losing game, dear��.''


    She already knew what Max was trying to do, and it wasn''t that she didn''t want to believe in her husband.


    It''s just that, every single time Max tried this game, he lost, but he still tried again and again, hoping that he would win the next one.


    Lily nced at Max for a moment, but just as she felt Alex''s palm retracting, he quickly moved closer, not letting his hand get away from her head.


    Then she just closed her eyes, enjoying therge and warm palm of Alex patting her head.


    She ignored Max, who was standing there with a devastated face.


    "What are you doing old man? Acting like a little girl asking for attention??"


    Alex looked at Max with disgust in his eyes.


    His lips however had a smug smile that didn''t seem to be going out any time soon.


    "You��"


    Max frowned his brow and pointed his finger at Alex but then he sighed.


    He knew that he wouldn''t be able to win the game of words with Alex, and he already lost the game he started, so he should just ept his defeat.


    "Sigh��"


    Max sighed in defeat before he started walking toward the seat beside his wife with slumped shoulders.


    He nced back at Lily, hoping that maybe she felt pity at his situation only to find her giggling as Alex ruffled her hair yfully.


    "Sigh��"


    He sighed again.


    "Poor you��"


    Max heard a soothing voice and his eyes turned toward Grace, his wife, the only person he could find some sce in.


    She looked at Max with pity, and Max just walked closer and sat next to her.


    "It''s fine, it''s fine, she''s still your daughter��"


    Grace consoled Max, as she patted his slumped shoulders, but Max just sighed again.


    Right now, they were in the ce they all of them had their first get-together.


    It was Damien''s caf��.


    Alice and Ann were also there, drinking coffee while giggling or shaking their heads looking at two grown-up guyspeting like kids, but what can they say?


    Things like teasing and pointing at each other''s mistakes are what friends do, and the only male friend Alex had was Max.


    And Alex really thought of Max as one.


    The same can be said for Max.


    Even Max only had three people he could call his true friends, one was his right-hand man Jason, his childhood friend Damien, and finally Alex.


    That was the reason that no matter how much both of them taunted or shed, it was all for fun, and in the end, they would be seen drinking together.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 261: CHAPTER 261 – Let’s give you a power-up.

    "So, what is it?"


    Max asked as he took a sip of the drink he had in his hand.


    He was looking up in the sky, enjoying the view of the twinkling stars.


    "I''ll be going away."


    Alex who was standing right beside him uttered those words as he looked up in the sky, just like Max.


    He had a drink in his right hand while his left hand was on the railing of the balcony.


    Right now, both Alex and Max were standing on the caf��''s top-most floor balcony.


    Alice, Ann, Lily, and Grace were inside, enjoying their time eating cakes and pastries created by Damien.


    Oh, the dishes that Damien made were now better than before, and his fame had increased even more.


    Now, just like Damien wanted to, he had perfected his dish.


    Damien wanted to give 30% shares of his caf�� to Alex, but Alex denied it.


    ''What would I do with those shares now?''


    That''s what he thought.


    There was nothing he could do with those shares now.


    He was nning on leaving this world soon, after all.


    "Away?"


    Max, who heard Alex''s words questioned without looking away from the stars.


    Looking at them twinkling somehow brought him peace.


    The clear view of the sky made it look like the world was back in the old days. The time when the air was clearer than it used to be five years ago.


    ''Sigh��.''


    Inwardly he sighed.


    The mana did bring the gates, but it made the world better.


    At least for him, the world was better now.


    The world that was headed toward destruction was now healthier than ever.


    Yeah, it was still headed toward destruction since the gates kept appearing, but��.


    ''With people like him here, the world is safe��''


    Max looked at Alex.


    "Far away, Max.


    I won''t be here, I''m going to another world."


    Alex could tell that Max wasn''t aware of what he meant by ''away'', so he rified.


    His words finally made Max pause his movements.


    Max''s head which was turning to look toward the sky, snapped in Alex''s direction.


    "What did you say?"


    Max frowned as he looked at Alex.


    He didn''t like the sound of what Alex had said.


    "Sigh��."


    Alex sighed.


    He knew that he had to exin the whole thing to Max now.


    "Well..."


    And so, a long session of question and answer followed, where Max questioned and Alex replied to his every question.


    ....................................��.


    "When are you going then?"


    Max asked as he tried not to grit his teeth, showing the frustration he was feeling.


    The reason for his discontent was only one.


    "Why do you want to leave this world so much?"


    This one question that he asked Alex.


    The answer Alex gave him was the reason for his dissatisfaction.


    "I''m bored. This world isn''t something that could give me the challenge I''m looking for��"


    ''I mean, why not just enjoy your life?!''


    ''Shouldn''t you be happy that you don''t have anything or anyone that can harm you in this world???''


    Max wanted to ask those things out loud.


    He would be the happiest man on this if he could have what bored Alex.


    "Not until I''m sure that this world will be safe."


    Alex smiled as he shook his head inwardly.


    Alex could easily guess what was going through Max''s head.


    No matter how hard Max tried to hide the discontent he had, it couldn''t be hidden from Alex.


    But what can he do? That was who Alex was.


    He wanted to be the strongest, but he was bored of it as well.


    And the other reason was that Sophia had been asking him to do the same thing for a while.


    Alex didn''t know that the reason Sophia wanted Alex to move to the next world quickly was because she didn''t want to know what would happen if Alex got bored, really bored.


    "And how would you do that?"


    No matter how much he tried to hide, his grumpy tone was still audible in Max''s words.


    They were still on the balcony, and Max was frowning as he looked at the sky, refusing to look at Alex.


    "First of all, stop acting like a girl whose boyfriend is doing something she doesn''t want him to."


    Alex uttered with disgust clear in his eyes.


    And although Max knew that Alex was just trying to change the mood, he just sighed.


    "Sigh��."


    "Nothing I will say would make you change your mind, right?"


    Max gave up the act and questioned directly as he looked into Alex''s eyes.


    Alex just smiled at him, he didn''t say anything.


    He didn''t want to say no, but he didn''t want to lie and give Max hope as well.


    "Sigh��"


    A long and tiered sigh escaped Max''s lips.


    He didn''t have to be wiser to know what that smile of Alex meant.


    He knew Alex for long enough to know what kind of person Alex was.


    "What do you want me to do��?"


    Max questioned with his shoulders slumped.


    Even if he didn''t like it, he knew that Alex was the only one in this world who could possibly have a way to save this world from its imminent destruction.


    "Well, let''s give you a power up��."


    Alex muttered with a mysterious tone which clearly confused Max.


    Max didn''t know anything about Alex''s abilities and store function, so he didn''t know that Alex could help him power up.


    So, he was perplexed by what Alex meant, but he was soon about to find out what Alex was saying.


    .......................................��


    It was not just Alex who was making preparations for leaving this world, Luna, who had an entire organization under her also had to think of something about them.


    So, she decided to hand over her leadership position to Maira, the girl who introduced her to the world of fan clubs.


    "What do you mean, Ma''am?"


    Maira was confused when she heard Luna''s words.


    "I meant what I said, I''m going down from the leader''s position, and you will be taking over now."


    Luna answered in a serious tone.


    Maira, who was now sure that she hadn''t heard it wrong the first time, now stood shocked on her spot.


    Some time passed.


    Luna didn''t disturb Maira, and she let her digest the words, it was not until a minute or two had passed that Maira rushed toward Luna''s table.


    "Ma''am, did we do something wrong?!


    Do you want to change something?!


    Just say the word, we can change anything you don''t like, ma''am!"


    Maira hurriedly asked, her hands gripping the table as her eyes looked around in panic.


    Maira knew that the organization was only surviving because of Luna, and if Luna were to step down, then their organization wouldn''t survive.


    This organization was Maira and Luna''s secret dream. They wanted it to spread throughout the world, so Maira couldn''t understand why Luna wanted to stop now!


    As Maira was looking around in agitation trying to think of a reason, she heard Luna''s voice.


    "Maira."


    A single word.


    It was just her name, but Maira calmed down, and she looked up at Luna.


    ''Ah��''


    For the first time, she saw Luna smiling gently.


    Her eyes, for some reason started watering��.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 262: CHAPTER 262 – Preparation for departure.

    "I''ve called everyone willing to sign the contract in exchange for getting the power."


    Max asserted.


    "And how many of them are here?"


    Alex questioned as he walked through the hall of the Steel mansion.


    "Make a guess��"


    Max smiled at Alex''s question.


    Alex just rolled his eyes at that.


    He knew that the number must be high for Max to say something like that, so he made a guess.


    "22?"


    Alex''s guess caused the smile on Max''s face to be reced by shock as he stopped on his track.


    "What?"


    Alex questioned as a chuckle couldn''t help but leave his mouth.


    "Did I get it right?"


    The look on Max''s face wasical, with shock and disbelief mixed.


    "How the hell did you guess the exact number??"


    Max couldn''t stop himself from asking that question.


    "Who knows..."


    Alex just smiled and then started walking forward.


    "Hey! Wait, tell me!


    How did you know the exact number?!"


    Max chased after Alex.


    He wanted answers, right now.


    But Alex just smiled and hastened his steps, though it still looked like he was walking.


    "Hey!"


    Max just kept shouting, trying to catch up to Alex but he realized that although both of them were walking, for some reason, Alex''s speed was a bit too fast.


    In the end, he just sighed at his loss.


    Alex wasn''t going to tell him that he used his perception skill to count the number of people now, was he?


    ..................��..


    There were at least 30 SS-rankers in the world right, all thanks to Alex and the Crimson Lotus.


    The free loot that they let go of came in handy for these people to level up, but unlike some would think, none of them were grateful about it or anything or so it looked like.


    What Alex asked Max to do was send a message to each and everyone who was SS-ranked or above that they were going to help them get stronger.


    Stronger than they already are, because the world is going to face enemies that are much stronger than them right now.


    All they had to do in return was sign a contract, a contract that would bind their souls, and if they ever betrayed the world or did something that was judged as evil by the contractee.


    Alex and Max didn''t expect more than 5 people, so 22 was way more than what they had guessed.


    ''Who knew that there were still some grateful people left in the world��.''


    ''And I can see some familiar faces��.''


    Alex, who was standing in apartment in the grand hall of the Steel Mansion, looking down at the briefing Max was giving to the people who arrived, thought inwardly.


    He was wearing formal attire with a maroon three-piece coat, a white shirt, maroon pants, and ck shoes.


    He was wearing a branded watch on his left hand that he was slipping in his pocket while his right hand which he was using to drink wine, had a marron bracelet.


    ''Anna Gorge, and Brock Ironwood.''


    Alex smiled as he recalled the meeting with both of them.


    Each is unique in its own way.


    Although not much was shown about their interactions, Alex had met every ranker in the world.


    ''There are some famous faces as well��.''


    Alex mused as he saw Keria Momobani. The second time-ability user in the world.


    Her ability was slowing down the time around her enemies, making them slow.


    ''An expert in swordsmanship, I see��.''


    Alex could feel the sharp auraing out of her body.


    No one else could notice it, but she was alert right now, and although her sword was seethed, it was ready to cut anyone.


    ''Oh?''


    Alex raised his brow in amusement.


    Keria was able to detect his gaze after all.


    Her hazel eyes squinted as she tried to make out the features of Alex, but her tries only gave her one thing and that was nothing.


    This is Max''s house, after all, no one could be able to look through the sses, unless, until, they use their abilities, which again was impossible.


    Because this was the house of the most influential man on the, of course, after Alex.


    Right now, Max was just clearing their questions and other kinds of stuff while also checking if he could feel the connection of contract from their bodies.


    How could contact be in their bodies?


    Well, the contracts were sent to them along with the message, if they agree to it, then they should sign it and be at Steel Mansion at the meeting time.


    If they don''t, then they could just dispose of the contract.


    So, Max had to make sure if they really did sign the contract or not.


    If they did then he would be able to feel their lives in his hands, and he could feel it all right, which meant that they did sign the contract.


    As for the questions that these people had rted to the contract, Max answered them all.


    But all of them missed a single detail��.


    ''Anything that Max judged as evil��''


    Alex chuckled as he recalled Max''s expression when he wrote that part.


    This was the part that Alex and Max were going to use.


    Anything that Max judges evil means anything that harms his interest, and that could be anything that goes against Max''s wishes, so in a way, they all signed a ve contract.


    It was not fair, but that was how the world worked, so it was fine.


    After the question-and-answer session, the raiders were then led to a room, or more like a hall while Max went to meet with Alex.


    The raiders were offered coffee and drinks while their host, Max, stood beside Alex, who was still observing them all.


    "Do we start then?"


    Max asked curiously.


    Max, who knew how powerful one would be if they got the boost from Alex, was a bit too excited to have 22 EX-rankers under him.


    Max knew how strong an EX-ranker was. After all, he was one as well.


    Max was still a bit high on power since he was still unable to control his strength fully.


    "Let them have some drinks and all they want. We''re not in a hurry, let me take a look at them for a bit longer."


    Alex was going to give them the power, but he wanted to observe them a bit longer.


    It just so happened that he got interested in that Keria woman.


    He was thinking of making use of the first skill rted to a sword that he got from the Orc Vige.


    She might be able to make good use of it��.


    But one thing was sure.


    All those raiders that came in today were going to go out with three things.


    A happy smile, a power so strong that could make them rule the world, and a ve cor that they won''t know about.


    It was just a matter of time.


    The power upgrade serum to get someone to EX rank was already bought by Alex from the store, and he could buy more.


    With the sum he had on him right now, it was not that big of a deal for him.


    For him, it would be like showing the world a bit of kindness for letting him have a nice stay.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *

 Chapter 263: CHAPTER 263 - Keria Momobani.

    "You want me to sign an exclusive contract?"


    Keria Momobani, the second time-ability user in Gaia, questioned as she folded her arms in front of her chest.


    She had straight, shining ck hair with bangs styled in a hime-cut, reaching her waist.


    Sharp hazel eyes, filled with seriousness, yet there was a bit of admiration in her eyes as she looked at the man in front of her.


    Her body is not very thick or thin. She had the perfect body.


    Her red lips were redder than the cherry, and her nose was small and sharp.


    Her skin was white and smooth, but right now, there was a tint of red on her cheeks, though she was trying to pretend that they didn''t exist.


    She was wearing a ck and red coat and shirt that stuck close to her body, outlining her figure.


    The skirt that she wore was ck in color,plementing her ck leggings, which could be seen clearly as she sat with her legs crossed.


    "Yes."


    Alex, who was sitting in front of Keria, replied as he sipped on the ss of wine he held.


    [You are drinking a lot these days��]


    Suddenly, Sophia muttered inside his head.


    ''You hate it?''


    Alex questioned as he raised a brow inwardly.


    [No, I was just wondering why��.]


    Sophia replied in a contemtive voice.


    ''Don''t think too much. I''m just drinking because these suit my taste.


    Not like I can get high because of these...''


    Alex just shrugged inwardly.


    The first time he drank was when Max opened the most expensive bottle he had, and since then, Alex has been drinking almost every day.


    But just as he said, this drink didn''t make him dizzy or anything; it was just like juice for him.


    "Why?"


    Keria''s question broke him out of his thoughts.


    He looked into her eyes, and he could see admiration in those sharp and serious eyes.


    [A fangirl of yours, maybe. Not that rare to find these days.]


    Sophiamented as she saw the same thing.


    ''Maybe, but that doesn''t change anything.''


    "Because I can see that you have talent in swordsmanship, and I don''t want it to go to waste."


    Alex replied to Keria while casually waving off Sophia''sment.


    Sure, Keria was a stunning beauty, one that people out there are dying to get close to, but in his eyes, she was just a talented swordswoman.


    Someone whose talent shouldn''t be wasted.


    "Y-You are a swordsman?"


    Keria''s eyes widened a bit as she asked this question.


    Was the world''s strongest man (unofficially) a swordsman?


    If yes, then how good was he???


    These questions somehow made Keria excited.


    She was a sword fanatic who wanted to learn everything she could about swords.


    "Can I have a spa-"


    So, the moment she heard that Alex, the world''s strongest man, was a swordsman, the first thing that came to her mind was sparring.


    But Alex cut off her words.


    "I can''t spar with you, but I can give you something that can help you move forward and not stay stuck where you are."


    Alex''s words widened her eyes more than before, and she was shocked that��


    "How do you know about my block?!"


    Keria stood up in shock.


    Other than her father, she never told anyone about it, so how did Alex know that?


    "Hm? Did I not say that I''m good with swords as well?"


    Alex tilted his head in confusion.


    "No."


    Alex turned toward Max, who had been sitting beside him since the start and was giving him a nk stare right now.


    "I see��."


    Alex nodded his head in realization.


    "Well, I''m a swordsman, and I can say that I''m quite good with it."


    Alex then turned toward Keria and smiled at her.


    "But��"


    Keria tried to speak, but Alex cut her words once again.


    "Once you reach a certain level of mastery, you will be able to tell the problem others have just by the way they are holding their sword��"


    Alex smiled mysteriously, and Keria who heard his words, froze for a second.


    ''My child, there are people out there who could tell your ws with just a nce.''


    Keria recalled how her father used to say the same thing, but she never believed that.


    ''No way! I don''t believe you!''


    That''s what she used to say every time, but as she grew, her father stopped talking about it because she was improving faster than he could keep up with her.


    So, he set her free and let her fly, but now Keria has finally recalled the words of her father.


    "Is it true��?"


    Keria questioned Alex as her grip on her sword trembled.


    "Hmmm��.."


    Alex didn''t answer right away; instead, he put up a thoughtful expression and started looking around until his eyes fell on Keria''s sword.


    "Ah, yes, that would do."


    Alex nodded his head repeatedly before he looked up into Keria''s eyes.


    "How about this?


    You take out your sword and sh me in a way that you think I would never be able to avoid."


    Alex smiled as he held one hand out in front of his body while the other hand went behind his back.


    Keria, who still wasn''t able to process his words, stood in her ce, frozen.


    "Come."


    Alex, however, made a gesture with his hand that was in front of his body, asking for Keria to attack.


    Keria stared at Alex for a while��.


    ''He doesn''t seem to be joking.''


    Then she turned toward Max, who just shrugged his shoulders.


    He was not someone who could guess what Alex had in mind.


    *Inhale*


    She took a deep breath.


    From Alex''s rxed stance, she didn''t know if he was serious or not, so she decided to take it easy.


    *Ssssssss-**tap*


    She closed her eyes and started drawing her sword, but just as her sword was 1/4th out of the scabbard, the sword automatically went back into the scabbard.


    Keria frowned before she opened her eyes, only to have them widen.


    "Too slow; I would''ve killed you by now."


    Alex, who was standing just an inch away from her body, smiled at her.


    Keria, who had never been this close to a guy, panicked.


    Her heart rate skyrocketed, beating as loud as it could. Her face was now covered in a furious blush as her cherry lips trembled before...


    "KYAAAAAAA!"


    A scream of panic and surprise left her lips.


    Her hand instinctively tried to pull her sword out, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn''t pull it out.


    "Huh?"


    All of her shame, embarrassment, shock, and panic went out of the window as she saw Alex, who was standing right in front of her with his index finger ced on the hilt of her de, pushing it inside.


    "I told you, didn''t I? I could''ve killed you by now��"


    This time, Keria didn''t feel embarrassed as she looked at the smile that Alex had on his face.


    All she felt right now was annoyance.


    *Woosh*


    She jumped back and pped Alex''s palm away.


    "Again."


    Keria''s eyes turned serious as Alex raised his hand, gesturing for her toe at him.


    Max, that day, weed another person to the party of people who were annoyed by Alex to the extreme.


    That day, Keria, although she learned many lessons, was left in a sour mood at the end of the day.


    She did sign the exclusive contract that Alex asked her to because the profit was a bit too much for her to ignore.


    As for what the contract was, let''s leave that for time to reveal.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 Chapter 264: CHAPTER 264 - Preparing for departure 2.

    //// Guys, I��m really sorry!!


    The Chapter sequence was a bit messed up, this is 264th chapter, I forgot to upload it.


    I��m really sorry for that!


    I��ll ask my CE to get the sequence right, but for now, please bear with me.....


    Again, I��m really sorry! ////


    "So, how is it going to happen?"


    Max, standing beside Grace, questioned while trying to maintain a straight face.


    Alex turned toward Max and smiled.


    "You know, Max.


    You were the only friend I had in this world, and I feel happy that you were my friend."


    Alex��s sincere words fell into Max��s ear and the straight face he��s been trying to maintain broke.


    His lips trembled, and his eyes reddened.


    "W- What the hell are you saying?


    And what do you mean ��were��? We still are friends, and always will be."


    Max gritted his teeth as he looked into Alex��s eyes.


    Alex just kept smiling at him.


    But that smile just made Max��s eyes water up.


    That smile looked like thest goodbye.


    "Hey, why-"


    Max wanted to ask something, but before he could ask it or before he got too emotional, Alice, who had been standing beside Alex, hit him on the arm.


    "Stop it.


    You��re making him cry."


    She reprimanded Alex with a frown.


    Max stared at Alice and Alex in confusion.


    "What��re you talking-"


    Max was feeling that something was off, but before he could question what was happening, his eyes widened��..


    *Chuckle*


    He saw Alex, who was looking at him with a sad and sincere expression, now chuckling at him.


    "I just wanted to see if he would really cry, and look at that, he��s crying."


    Alex pointed at Max��s eyes as he chuckled again.


    Max froze.


    ��Wha��.��


    Then it slowly clicked.


    His eyes went wide as his face started heating up in anger.


    "You bastard!!"


    He rushed at Ales with his fist clenched, but Alex just sidestepped.


    "YYAAAAAA!"


    Max twisted his body and punched again.


    But as before, Alex effortlessly dodged the attack.


    "HAAAAAAA!"


    Again.


    *Woosh*


    And again.


    *Boom*


    And again.


    Max kept throwing punches, knowing full well that they were not going to connect.


    The difference between Alex��s and his power was not small.


    The girls, on the other hand, stepped aside.


    They knew that it was the usual fun Alex and Max used to have.


    It was something serious, something deep.


    So, they knew better than to get in between them right now.


    "Is everything a joke to you?!"


    Max��s red eyes red at Alex.


    But Alex just dodged again, much to Max��s frustration.


    "Stop dodging, you bastard!"


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    Max bellowed as he punched again.


    *Swoosh*


    His punch tore through the air, going right at Alex��s face, but this time, Alex didn��t dodge.


    *Grip*


    His palm held Max��s fist right before it could touch his face.


    "No, this is not a joke to me."


    Alex stopped dodging just as Max asked him to do, then smiled, replying to Max��s previous question.


    *Snap*


    "Then why are you smiling, right now?!"


    Max, however, just frowned and pulled his fist back with a snap.


    "Because I want this goodbye to be fun, something that would bring a smile to your face when you remember it.


    Not something that would remain as a sad memory."


    Alex��s answer froze Max.


    Not only Max, but everyone else was in the same state.


    ��Happy memories����


    Then they recalled the memories they had together.


    "I don��t want thest thing I remember about you to be a mncholic expression��."


    Alex added with a smile.


    But his words melted away Max��s anger, leaving only guilt.


    The girls exchanged a look before they walked closer to Grace.


    Grace and Alice had be good friends just like Alex and Max.


    Ann would consider Grace a friend as well, so they decided to say their final goodbyes as well.


    Max, ridden with guilt, looked at his feet.


    "I-I am s-"


    He wanted to apologize.


    He wanted to say that he was sorry for misunderstanding Alex��s intentions, and he wanted to say sorry for attacking Alex out of nowhere, but before he could do any of that��.


    "Shut up, man."


    Alex was already hugging Max.


    ��Ah��.��


    Max, who was hugged by Alex realized something.


    ��What did I even expect��.��


    How could he forget the kind of friend Alex truly was?


    ��That bastard probably didn��t even take any of that to his heart.��


    Max smiled inwardly.


    Alex was annoying, sure.


    Alex likes to keep things mysterious, which makes him more annoying.


    But Alex was and always will be a good friend of his, Max knew that for sure.


    The girls, who were listening to Alex and Max��s conversation smiled as they saw this scene.


    Grace just giggled as she saw her husband frozen like a statue, thinking of something.


    But just then, Max pushed Alex away and jumped 2 meters away.


    "What the fuck, man? Keep your distance!


    I��m straight!"


    The girls were shocked at first, their eyes were wide open, but the moment they heard his next words.


    "Hahahahaha.."


    Aliceughed out loud.


    The way Alex was frozen at his spot, with his head tilted, just made it look funnier.


    *Giggle* X2


    Grace and Ann just giggled while Luna just shook her head with a smile.


    Yes, Luna was here too, and she was joining Alex and the others.


    Why?


    Remember the time Alex gave Luna a wish?


    "I don��t want to be thrown away. I want to stay with you guys, no matter where you guys go."


    Well, this was what Luna wished for, and Alex, who was not going to go back to his world didn��t mind bringing her along.


    Even more so because now she was an important part of his life.


    And although they were not in a rtionship yet, everyone in the group knew that they were going to be together, sooner orter.


    So, her going together with them was not a problem.


    By now, Alex had realized what just happened, but he just shook his head with a smile.


    "All right��"


    He raised his hand, surrendering the fight of words.


    Everyone here knew that Alex was just letting Max have thestugh or there was no way that Alex would��ve conceded without a fight.


    Even Max knew that Alex was doing this for his mood to brighten up, and to change the topic.


    But he was still happy that he was able to win a word fight with Alex, although it was scripted.


    All of themughed for a while, enjoying the merry atmosphere.


    They knew that no matter how much they tried, they were going to miss the fun they had all those times.


    They were going to long for those moments of bickering, the moment they pulled each other��s legs.


    Yearn for the time they had those littlepetitions of theirs.


    So, at least for now, theyughed.


    As Alex had said - They didn��t want to recall the sad faces of each other whenever they thought about each other.


    They cracked some more jokes, and Alex let Max win some more fights.


    And Max who was winning the verbal battles was standing with his nose pointed up in the sky.


    But as if remembering something, his expression turned serious��..


    "Alex��."


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 265: CHAPTER 265 - Goodbye.

    "Alex, are you sure about not informing Lily?"


    Max questioned with utmost seriousness.


    His daughter was his world, so if it was anything rted to her, his being somber was justified.


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    His question made Alex sigh inwardly.


    "I��m sure��"


    Alex replied.


    Alex didn��t say anything else.


    And Max, who heard Alex��s words stared at Alex.


    "She will know eventually, and she will be sadder if she knew that you went away without meeting her onest time."


    Max��s face turned somber.


    Just the thought of Lily being sad made Max mad, but he wanted Alex to tell him that there was no better way than this.


    "As I said, I don��t want to recall your sad faces whenever I think of you guys.


    Do you think she will be able to smile, even after knowing that I��m going to go so far that she won��t even be able to talk to me?"


    Alex��s question stumped Max.


    He knew the answer to Alex��s question.


    It was no.


    She won��t be able to smile andugh, knowing full well that she might not meet Alex again.


    But��


    "But, if she knew that you left her without a goodbye-"


    "I��m not going to be gone forever."


    Max wanted to argue, but his words were cut short by Alex.


    Alex, who saw Max looking into his eyes, continued.


    "I��lle back. I told you that already.


    If I know how to leave, then I know how toe back as well.


    So, just wait, and try to stall for time. Just don��t let her know that I��m gone.


    Tell her that I��m busy with something, or tell her that we had a fight or something.


    Just tell her something."


    Alex held Max��s shoulders, and he took a deep breath.


    "You are her father, think of something."


    Max, who heard Alex��s words, and saw his expression sighed��.


    The way Alex was gritting his teeth, trying to control his expression from breaking, Max could guess that he was not the only one who was worried about Lily.


    ��He loves her just like I do����


    He shook his head inwardly.


    He missed the point that it was not just him who was always worried about Lily.


    Alex was a step ahead of him when it came to worry.


    For Alex, Lily was like a little sister.


    Max was even wondering why Alex didn��t ask for him to let Lily tag along with them.


    Of course, he wouldn��t have agreed to it, but Alex didn��t even try.


    "All right, I��ll think of something."


    Max��s shoulder slumped as he thought of ways to lie to his daughter.


    Something he never wanted to do.


    ��Sigh��.��


    Alex sighed inwardly.


    He was worried about Lily, just like Max had thought.


    No, he was worried more than Max thought he was.


    Why else did he get so many people up to rank EX?


    It was all for Lily��s safety.


    Helping the world was just something he was doing along with it.


    Alex didn��t change, after all.


    Just like before, he still didn��t care about others, but for his people, he would kill anyone.


    So, for Lily, using some points was the least he could do.


    If not for the fact that taking Lily away from Max and Grace would make both Lily and Max sad, Alex would��ve already picked her up.


    It took a lot of effort to control himself, or he would��ve really done that.


    The main reason for him not wanting Lily here was also the same.


    If he saw her now, crying as he left her behind, he would just pull her along only to regret that decisionter.


    ��I don��t want her to grow up without parents����


    Alex knew from his memories how hard it is to grow up without parents.


    How much you need them while growing up, Alex knew it all.


    He didn��t want Lily to feel the loss of her parents, so he decided to control himself, for her sake, and for Max��s sake.


    "Good."


    He just smiled as he patted Max��s slumped shoulders.


    [Alex, the system has charged the amount of mana required for the jump.]


    Suddenly, Sophia��s voice was heard in his head.


    Alex turned toward Alice, Ann, and Luna, nodding to them, before he spoke with a forced smile.


    "Well, I guess this is goodbye then��"


    Alex forced a smile, but it looked as if he was really happy.


    But well, he was a master at controlling his emotions, so it was not that big of a deal.


    Max, hearing Alex��s words, looked up into his eyes, and all he saw was happiness.


    He couldn��t tell if it was real or fake, but just so he could smile as well, he believed it to be real, and he smiled as well.


    "I see, take care then��"


    Max muttered with a smile.


    "You don��t have to worry about me, I��m still young.


    You should worry about yourself more, lest you are already dead because of some old age disease even before Ie back."


    Alex shook his head with a teasing smile.


    His words, however, did the magic, and Max, who was trying to force a smile, turned annoyed.


    "Hah? I won��t be dying anytime soon.


    Not before I see my daughter conquer the whole world, so worry about your reckless, thrill-searching, ass."


    Max pped Alex��s hand that was resting on his shoulder with an irritated frown.


    The girls, on the other hand, giggled.


    "Those two will never change��."


    Grace shook her head with a giggle before she turned toward Alice.


    "Take care of yourself, and try to keep him under you. Use the tricks I told you."


    Grace moved forward and hugged Alice while whispering those words into her ears.


    Alice��s face turned red like a tomato as she heard Grace��s words and recalled the details Grace had given her before, but she just hugged Grace tightly.


    "Take care of yourself, Grace."


    Alice muttered as her eyes turned a bit teary.


    "I will."


    Grace hugged Alice tighter.


    Both of them were good friends, and Alice being the most emotional one, was not good at goodbyes, so her being sad was justified.


    But she still forced a smile as she separated from Grace.


    Grace smiled at Alice before she turned toward Ann, and hugged her as well.


    "I don��t have anything I have to tell you, you are smart enough to take care of everyone, so just stay safe."


    Grace uttered as she hugged Ann��s body.


    "Thank you, I will. You take care of yourself, and Lily."


    Ann hugged Grace back with a smile.


    "Un."


    Grace nodded her head as she separated from Ann.


    Then she turned toward Luna who was looking at her awkwardly.


    They��d never actually met, so Luna didn��t know what to say, but Grace just smiled and pulled her into a hug.


    "What you��re trying to do is going to be hard, but not impossible, so go for it.


    I��m rooting for you!"


    Grace cheered for Luna in her ears.


    Luna, although initially surprised, in the end, just smiled and hugged Grace back.


    "Thank you."


    Luna thanked Grace.


    She knew that Grace, someone who had been in love with one guy wholeheartedly for a long time, so long that Alice and Ann couldn��tpare to, would be able to tell that she loved Alex quite easily.


    So, she took her words to heart and her determination to get Alex��s love only increased.


    "Come on, girls.


    Let��s go."


    Alex��s voice was heard, so Luna separated from Grace, and Grace just passed a knowing smile to Luna and then to Alice, causing both of them to get a little flustered.


    The women moved closer to Alex and Max.


    Alice, Ann, and Luna went to Alex��s side while Grace was on Max��s.


    "Come back soon, Alex.


    Lily will really miss you��."


    Grace uttered as she looked at Alex with an imploring look.


    "I will."


    Alex smiled at her before he turned toward Max.


    "Take care of Lily for me."


    Alex smiled at Max, but Max just huffed.


    "She��s my daughter, of course, I��ll take care of her."


    Max pretended to be annoyed, but all of them knew that he just didn��t want to appear sad.


    "All right."


    ��Sophia����


    Alex muttered inside his head while nodding and the next instant, Alex, Alice, Ann, and Luna started glowing.


    Alex gave Max ast smile before he turned in a certain direction and his smile widened.


    ��See youter��.��


    Alex lip-synced before he vanished along with the girls.


    "Sigh��."


    re, who was hiding in space, sighed audibly before she just smiled and ran back toward the vi.


    Her smile, however, was not a happy smile, it was mncholy.


    But she couldn��t change anything, so she just went with the flow.


    "He��s annoying��"


    Max muttered after Alex and the group vanished.


    "Sure he is."


    Grace nodded as well before she pulled him into a hug.


    "Go on��"


    Grace whispered.


    "So a-annoying��."


    Max who had his face buried within Grace��s mounds muttered again, but his voice was cracked.


    He finally couldn��t stop his tears��..


    //// GUYS, THE FIRST VOLUME IS NOW COMPLETE!! AND WE��LL BE STARTING THE NEXT VOLUME TOMORROW!!


    Now this is the time when you guys leave reviews and gifts! (Up to you totally)


    Anyway, thank you for continuing the journey till now, and you will stay till the end!


    THANK YOU!! ////

 Chapter 266: CHAPTER 266 - [Danger]

    (Some days before departure)


    In a ce filled with nothing but darkness, only a pair of blue eyes could be seen.


    They were looking at a screen that showed the scene of a ck-haired, red-eyed, stunningly handsome guy, sitting on a bed, while looking at an illusionary screen in front of him.


    (Sophia''s POV)


    "What do you mean, Sophia?"


    Ah, that question again.


    What should I say now��?


    [It is as I said, there is a chance that you guys won''t be together when you reach that world��.]


    It is as I said.


    These things are out of my control.


    I can''t control the system.


    I''m just like a receptionist.


    My job is to tell him what the system can do and can not.


    "I don''t want that��"


    I can hear the sound of his teeth grinding along with his growl, but��.


    [Alex, you know that I can''t do anything��]


    "What do you do, anyway?!"


    ��.urgh


    It hurts��..


    Those words hurt more than anything I''ve felt till today��.


    B-but, I have to live with it. I deserve it��.


    Maybe this was the reason I was made the system spirit.


    Just to suffer more��..


    I regret my past actions, I really do, but I can''t change them.


    "Sigh��."


    I guess he can feel my emotional turmoil.


    I should rile it down.


    I don''t want to make him feel guilty.


    I am useless, after all��..


    "I''m sorry, but your words are really not something I can go with��.


    [It''s fine, I will try to look for another way��]


    No, it''s not fine!


    Why am I saying that?!


    There is no other way!


    The other ways are only possible after he''s stronger, much stronger than he''s right now!


    "I didn''t mean those words, Sophia."


    I know. I know you said that due to the frustration.


    I know very well that you won''t say something that''ll hurt me, but��.


    A wound caused by words never heal.


    Even if it was in a fit of anger, he said what it was in his mind, and the mind never lies��.


    [It''s fine.


    I will look for something.]


    I can''t look for anything!


    Ah��


    Maybe that would work.


    [But you should try talking with Alice, Ann, and Luna about it because I''m not sure about there being another way��.]


    Please don''t be mad, please don''t be mad, please��..


    "I will talk to them."


    Sigh��..


    The relief I feel right now.


    It feels so good.


    Let''s just hope that Alice, Ann, and Luna aren''t against the idea.


    They know how much Alex wants to jump to another.


    So, even if they know that they can''t jump worlds without being separated, they would still agree.


    It will be hard for them to stay away from Alex, but I know they won''t like to see Alex sigh out of boredness, every single day.


    I can''t talk to them yet, or I would''ve told them the real reason I''m hurrying Alex.


    We can''t let Alex get bored...


    ........................


    (The day of departure)


    Phew��..


    The girls did agree, just as I had thought, and although it was hard to make Alex believe that they were going to be fine, it worked out fine in the end.


    I wonder why the home-point teleportation is so costly��


    Oh well, we can think about itter.


    Right now, let''s focus on the thing at hand.


    The screen in front of me only had two options.


    {Start} or {Abort}


    The process of collecting mana has been going on for two days, and it''s finally done, now all I need to do is click the button.


    [Alex, the system has charged the amount of mana required for the jump.]


    I just need the confirmation.


    Time passed but I waited for Alex''s reply.


    I know he''s going to call for me when he''s done.


    *Giggle*


    Recalling Max''s words and Alex''s actions is funny even now.


    His behavior did seem gay if one looked at it without knowing what was happening.


    But, I, better than anyone, know that Alex is not gay.


    Also, does that re girl think that she''s hiding?


    I can see regret in her eyes, and even that mncholy light in her grey eyes is not hidden from me.


    But it was her fault for not epting Alex''s offer. He did ask her if she wanted toe along.


    Not like I care about her.


    So, whatever.


    I simply shrugged, but just then��.


    ''Sophia��''


    I heard Alex calling me out, and I knew that was my cue to press the start.


    *Click*


    And with that, the process is on now.


    Phew��.


    I can finally rest-


    [Danger!] [Danger!] [Danger!]


    What the!


    What''s happening?


    "What''s going on?!"


    I voiced out loud.


    "System, what''s going on?!"


    The whole system is ring with rm, so why the hell is it not responding?!


    "System, tell me what''s going on!!!"


    What the fuck!


    [Danger!] [Danger!] [Danger!]


    At least reply to me?!


    *Click**Click**Click**Click*


    I kept moving my fingers, trying to find a solution, but this damn red buzzer is annoying me!


    "Hey, System! You better reply-"


    [We have been detected.]


    Ah, there it is.


    That mf finally decided to reply.


    But, that''s not important right now.


    "Who exactly is this ''we'' you''re talking about?"


    This is what is important right now.


    [Me and Alex.]


    Now that''s serious.


    I don''t care about my existence or Alex''s being discovered.


    The ones who can do that are not strong enough to be a problem to me.


    But if they can detect the system��.


    "Can you make out who it is?"


    [I am trying.]


    Sigh��


    I know that this system is just an AI that works onmands, but every time I talk to it, the more alive it feels to me��


    Whatever, let''s focus on who it is for now.


    None of the ones alive can actually harm me, after all, none of them are strong enough to detect the system.


    But if it is someone who was there before my time inside the system, and they can detect the system, then it might be a problem��.


    [The Spirit Sovereign.]


    Come again?


    "Who''s that?"


    [Searching for information about ''Sprit Sovereign''.]


    I don''t recall hearing that name ever��.


    Not even in the history of my time.


    Just how old is this person?


    [Information found.]


    Good!


    I need to know how strong he is!


    "Direct transfer!"


    I ordered the information to be transferred directly to my brain. I don''t want to waste time reading about that person, whoever it was.


    [Proceeding with the transfer.]


    Hissss��.


    The pain��


    "Wasn''t I immune to pain inside here?"


    That''s what it was supposed to be, at least.


    [You are immune to any physical pain, but mentally and emotionally, you are not.]


    "I see��"


    I guessed it already.


    I was just saying��.


    Now, let''s look into the information I just received.


    ....................


    A ce, where nothing but broken stars ands could be seen, a single heartbeat resounded.


    *Ba-dump*


    A single heartbeat reverberated throughout the whole area.


    The sound of the heart beating caused a loud shockwave to spread out.


    *Boom**Crack*


    The brokens and stars crumbled, breaking more than they already were.


    "Hm��."


    But then another wave of shocks spread as a hum was heard.


    *Boom*


    A loud boom was heard as a pair of red eyes appeared in the waste space.


    Only eyes could be seen, nothing else.


    The eyes kept floating in the space before the voice was heard again.


    "I finally found you��."


    *Crack**Crack*...


    Thes continued to crumble as the voice continued.


    "And I''ming for you��."


    There was no way to tell if that voice was a male or a female.


    It was distorted as it resounded in every corner of the vast expanse.


    *Crash**Boom*


    Thes finally couldn''t take any more shockwaves as all of them shattered��..


    The eyes, however, remained open, as they stared ahead without even blinking.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 267: CHAPTER 267 - Summoning.

    //// This chapter is long, but it was needed, so please bear with me. ////


    In a room filled with nothing but bookshelves, tables, and paper notes lying on the ground, there were two guys.


    One was sitting on the ground with his hand ced over an intricate magic circle. He seemed to be supplying mana to it while the other being in the room just stared at his back.


    There was a chandelier hanging above their heads, lighting the whole room, but unlike a normal chandelier that would either be lit up with candles or electric lights, it had some soft blue colored stones on it.


    The serine atmosphere matched quite well for the thing they were doing.


    After all, they were trying to summon a being, a being with great potential��


    But after a while, the being standing behind the man supplying mana to the magic circle couldn''t help but question.


    "Are you sure this will work?"


    A gruff voice filled with uncertainty was heard from that guy as his features became visible.


    He was a guy or more precisely a demon, with arge build, around 2.5 meters tall, and six arms attached to his body, all of them looked strong enough to tear apart a whole mountain with ease.


    He was wearing a Skirt-like thing below his waist. It was reinforced with some kind of iron while he had armor made of animal hides and bones covering his chest, shoulders, and shin.


    Reddish skin, strong body, andmanding presence.


    His face held a fearsome expression with his brows always kept frowning.


    His mouth filled with sharp teeth and his eyes shone orange in color.


    He was an Asura race demon, known for their immense strength, strong body, battle adaptability, and elemental control.


    Right now, he was looking at another demon, who was standing in front of arge magic circle, pushing his mana into it without a break.


    The question was for that guy, and just as his voice fell, that guy paused.


    "It has to. We need a leader right now��"


    The man, who had white hair flowing down his back muttered as he started pushing the mana into the circle again.


    "But you''ve been doing the same thing for three days straight now.


    Don''t you see that everyone else has already left, not believing that this will even work?"


    The Asura guy inquired with frustration evident in his voice.


    He was known to be patient among the demons, but even he was getting frustrated.


    "So, why didn''t you leave like others?"


    The guy with white hair, who was sitting on the ground, supplying mana to the magic circle moved for the first time, and the moment he did, he was standing right in front of the asura, staring deep into his eyes.


    The asura didn''t reply, it just stared back into the red eyes of the white-haired man(?).


    "Because you still believe that we might seed, and when that happens, you want to be here��."


    The white-haired man(?) spoke with a smile, but just as he smiled, his teeth, which looked like a normal human''s, were visible in their full glory��


    Now, one could see that although his teeth looked like a human''s, there were two long and sharp fangs where the canine teeth were supposed to be.


    He had an extremely handsome face which only looked better with his paleplexion.


    His deep red eyes glowed with an eerie light, but that only made him look more dashing.


    He had long white hair, which looked silky as he had to tuck it behind his long pointy ears.


    The white-haired man, or better call him a vampire, just like the asura, was very strong.


    Just a wave of his hand made the mana in the air churn.


    "What do you want me to do?"


    The asura spoke after a long silence.


    It is just as the vampire said earlier.


    He knew their situation better than anyone else, so he knew how important this was.


    Not only him, the others knew as well, but maybe they gave up on waiting��.


    "Well, I will tell you after theye in."


    The vampire, however, just smiled.


    "They?"


    The asura''s frowning face turned a bit confused before his eyes turned sharp.


    "Nyxshadow, reveal yourself."


    He growled.


    There was only one person who could hide even under his perception, and it was��.


    "Hehe��."


    A mischievous chuckle was heard before��.


    *Fwoosh*


    A wave of wind blew, blowing away everything.


    Be it books, tables, papers, or the chandelier hanging over their heads, however, the clothes of the asura and the vampire didn''t move an inch.


    They just stared at the center of all of this, one with a serious frown and one with a permanent smile.


    The ones responsible for it didn''t have to do it, but they still did it because they wanted to.


    "I just found out that even the always-serious Mk is hoping for something positive for the first time!"


    The same mischievous voice from before eximed in happiness before the wind settled down, revealing the people at the center of the disturbance.


    The owner of the naughty voice from before was a small boy, or so he looked.


    He was wearing an all-ck assassin dress that covered most of his skin, the only parts that could be seen were his palms and face.


    On the skin of his palm, there was some intricate runic tattoo; it seemed to be glowing before, but it was dimming down right now.


    Those dimming tattoos were probably the reason for his being able to hide his presence from the asura.


    His skin color was grey, but with his cute face, child-like body, and silver eyes filled with mischievous light, the boy looked like a cute little boy instead of the bloodthirsty demon he was.


    However, he was not alone. He was hiding with another person, ady with grey hair and cold red eyes standing beside him.


    So, when he revealed himself, thedy was revealed as well.


    Thedy, right now, was staring at the vampire and the asura with her cold, red eyes without saying a word.


    However, none of them seemed to mind it, as they knew that her eyes were always like that.


    "Didn''t you guys say that you were going back?"


    The asura, who was called Mk by Nyxshadow��the stealth demon or an Umbryss��questioned with a frown.


    "We did, but-"


    However, before Nyxshadow, or as people close to him called him, Nyx, could reply, someone else did.


    "Didn''t you say that this summoning would never seed?"


    Thedy, wearing a grey gown and fitting her body perfectly, spoke as she stared right into Mk''s eyes.


    Thedy was beautiful, to say the least, and her cold and emotionless face didn''t diminish her beauty, rather, it amplified it.


    She was a human, but unlike a normal human, she was a necromancer.


    Just like the other three here, she was a demon army general.


    And she had the power to support the general position.


    The mere fact that she was the general in the demon army, even though she was a human, spoke a lot about her power and personality.


    What thedy didn''t notice was that the moment she cut Nyx''s words, Nyx''s eyes had turned lifeless, losing all the light inside of them, and he was staring at her right now.


    Nyx''s right hand slowly started inching toward his waist, where a shining ck and ominous-looking dagger was hanging.


    But before he could reach it, his eyes snapped toward thedy''s shadow, and he saw two red eyes, filled with killing intent, staring at him.


    Those eyes looked at him as if daring him to take out that dagger and attack, but Nyx wasn''t a fool.


    He blinked his eyes, and the next instant, they were gone, but by now, the light in his lifeless eyes was slowly returning.


    "...."


    Mk turned his eyes toward thedy and then stared at her.


    He didn''t say anything, and neither did thedy.


    Her question meant one thing.


    ''You were the one who was against the summoning, saying that it would never work but now you''re epting that you believe in the summoning, so why does it matter if we went out and came back again?''


    And Mk didn''t have an answer to that.


    "Are we having a staringpetition?!"


    Nyx, whose eyes had returned to their bright and happy state, looked at the scene happening and started jumping on his spot.


    He was excited about the fact that a fight could break out at any moment.


    But he was ignored.


    He was just like that, finding fun in every situation, though his fun was not something that others would consider fun.


    At least not his victims...


    Thedy, ignoring Nyx''sment, stared back at Mk. Both Mk and thedy had never been on good terms for some unknown reason.


    No one knew the reason...


    Well, other than thedy, Mk, and maybe the vampire, at least.


    Unknowingly, the temperature of the room started to heat up.


    "Hey, hey, guys. Calm down!"


    But before anything happened, the vampire stepped between them.


    "Come on, Morven.


    You know that he hates it when someone stares into his eyes, so why are you doing it?


    Just leave the topic."


    The vampire uttered those words with a smile as he stood between Morven, the humandy, and Mk.


    "Valerius��."


    Morvan muttered the vampire''s name and stared into his eyes with the same cold look.


    But not for long...


    *Step*


    She took a step back.


    Mk was different, and Valerius was different; she knew that.


    She won''t forget who Valerius was, no matter how much he smiles.


    Valerius''s smile widened before he turned toward Mk.


    "Let''s get to the summoning now that they are here."


    Valerius beamed as he looked into Mk''s eyes.


    "All right."


    Mk nodded his head with a single word.


    "Yeah! Tell us what we have to do!"


    Nyx also chimed in with a huge smile on his face before he turned toward Morvan.


    "Please don''t cut my words next time, big sister Mor."


    Nyx still had the same bright and mischievous smile on his face, but his silver eyes had now turned dead again.


    However, before Morvan could say something, Nyx was right in front of her, staring into her cold eyes with his dead eyes as he added.


    "Keep your pets in control as well."


    He muttered those words, and his smile, for the first time, left his face.


    Morvan wasn''t affected by any of those; she didn''t even blink her eyes and just nodded her head.


    She side-stepped and moved toward the magic circle, just like Mk and Valerius.


    Nyx stared at Movan''s back with the same dead eyes before the mischievous light returned to those silver eyes of his along with the wide smile as he started skipping toward the magic circle with a smile as well.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 268: CHAPTER 268 - Alex was summoned.

    *Fwoosh*


    The wind whirled at a high speed, sucking everything in, the suction was so strong that people standing around it frowned as they felt that they might be sucked in if their hold on the ground was strong.


    "Are you sure-"


    A guy with arge body and red skin tried to inquire about it, but��


    *Boom*


    A booming sound was heard, and the whole room shook.


    Debris flew, dust and paper everywhere, obstructing the vision of the people in the room.


    But for people as strong as them, dust was nothing.


    *Woosh*


    Therge guy, who turned out to be Mk, waved his hand.


    *Shatter*


    Just a single wave of his hand caused the dust to fly out of the window at a speed so high that the window ss shattered.


    "Something feels off��."


    Morvan muttered as she stared at the silhouette of two people that were slowly getting clear.


    "Yes, the reaction wasn''t supposed to be this strong��."


    Even the always-smiling Valerius had his brows creased into a frown.


    "Why do I feel like the demon king we summoned is stronger than he''s supposed to be��.?"


    Nyx muttered as he felt the aura at the center of the magic circle.


    The next second, all four of them exchanged a nce, and then Mk stepped forward.


    *Woosh*


    He waved his hand again, and this time the dust cleared out.


    It was supposed to be a demon king summoning.


    And it was only possible after Valerius somehow got his hands on the hero summoning circle and modified it.


    They needed a king right now, and just like hero summoning, demon summoning called for the perfect demon king candidate, someone with the potential to be the demon king.


    But that was the point, it was supposed to summon a being with the potential to turn into a demon king, which means that the summoned being would be very weak when summoned.


    ''So, why do I feel the presence of a Mythical powerhouse��.?''


    Valerius questioned inwardly.


    The next instant, he saw the being or beings he had summoned.


    "Two of them?"


    Morven frowned as she saw two people at the center of the magic circle.


    ''Wasn''t it supposed to be one person?''


    But then her eyes widened, and only hers, even the other 3 had their eyes widened.


    "One of them is human!"


    Nyx eximed, but for some reason, there was a bit of excitement hidden in his words, probably happy that he got another human to ''y'' with.


    "Did you summon a human hero by any chance?"


    Morven''s quick thinking could only get her to that conclusion, after all, the spell was originally supposed to be used for hero summoning, and not demon lord.


    "He is Mythical ranked��."


    But just as Mk''s words were heard, all of their eyes turned sharp.


    None of them asked or said anything��..


    *BOOM*


    With a loud boom, their mana pressure was pushed toward the people at the center of the magic circle.


    All of them ignored the demon girl who was also standing in the center of the magic circle, trembling as she felt their presence.


    All of their focus was on the ck-haired guy, who seemed to be in his thoughts as he had a frown on his forehead.


    But��..


    ......��.


    (Right after Alex was summoned)


    ''Where are Alice and Ann?''


    This was Alex''s first question after he felt and below him.


    His space affinity was very high, high enough to let him feel everything around him even when he was traveling through the folds of space at a very high speed.


    So, he felt their presence right beside him, but only until they reached this world''s atmosphere.


    The moment they entered this world''s atmosphere, they were pulled somewhere else.


    And he felt their presence going farther and farther until he couldn''t feel it.


    [I''m looking for their location, this world is 10 timesrger than Gaia, so it might take a second.]


    Alex nodded inwardly, but he sighed mentally.


    Alex was not oblivious to the turbulent emotions Sophia was feeling.


    She responds with the same happy tone that she used to do, she does anything he asks her to do, but Alex can feel her emotions no matter how much she tries to hide it.


    He knew that something had been eating her from the inside.


    And he knew it was his fault for calling her useless, but he didn''t have time to get things right with her.


    At least not right now, when he could feel some very strong presence'' surrounding him.


    "One of them is human!"


    Alex looked at the short guy who was looking at him as if he were his prey, but not for long.


    His eyes soon turned toward the vampire.


    The small guy was the least of Alex''s worries right now, that guy was the weakest among them.


    But the vampire��..


    [Location found.]


    ''Are they safe? Where are they?''


    Alex''s question was almost instantaneous, right after he heard Sophia''s words.


    Alice and Ann were a major part of his life by now.


    They were someone who made him feel like he was fine, even though his memories were a mess, he was still fine.


    But with them not beside him, Alex was not feeling right.


    [One of them is in an empire called Pheonixia, while the other is in an empire called Sria, a human empire.]


    Sophia replied to Alex''s question, but inwardly she was frowning.


    She didn''t like the way Alex was behaving.


    He was like a druggist whose drug was confiscated.


    But she didn''t say anything right now.


    ''Pheonixia, rted to fire, so it''s probably where Alice is, and Sria must be where Ann is��''


    She could hear Alex muttering inwardly, ignoring the things going on around him.


    Everything was happening very quickly.


    Even the chat both Sophia and Alex were having was happening in microseconds.


    ''Are they safe?''


    Alex''s question about Alice and Ann made Sophia''s brows crease into a frown yet again, but she still replied��.


    [Yes, they are safe.


    The system would send them to the ce it judged to be the system, of course after you.]


    She could feel the relief Alex was feeling, but Alex''s behavior irked her.


    He was acting like one of those brain-dead protagonists right now��.


    "Did you summon a human hero by any chance?"


    Alex, who was busy with his thoughts, finally focused back on the conversation happening around him.


    ''What''s happening here?''


    Alex questioned as he surveyed the surroundings.


    In normal cases, Alex would''ve already guessed what was happening, but right now he couldn''t.


    [I will exin thatter, but for now, you should focus on the task at hand��]


    Sophia decided to wait a bit more.


    Maybe, just maybe, Alex will soon return to how he used to be��.


    ''And what is that?''


    Listening to Alex''s question made Sophia grit her teeth.


    [Demons respect the blood, so you should reveal your bloodline.]


    This was something Alex would''ve been able to tell even in his sleep; heck, he had ns formanding all of the demons with his superior bloodline even before he came here.


    Sophia waited for Alex to do something, but all he did was stand on his spot with a thoughtful look.


    {Gahhhhh!}


    [Alex! Alice and Ann are fine, but look at Luna!


    She is not!


    Isn''t Luna your responsibility? What the hell are you doing?!


    Get your shit together!]


    Sophia finally couldn''t take it.


    The way Alex was acting like he lost everything was a bit too much for her!


    Luna was trembling for god''s sake!


    She was not strong enough to take on the pressure of a Mythical ranker!


    ''Ah��''


    Sophia''s shout broke Alex out of his thoughts.


    His eyes inadvertently turned toward Luna, and all he saw was a girl��a girl that he bought here, and a girl that was an important part of his life��trembling in fear��.


    Her face was pale, she was sweating, and her heartbeats were loud like a drum, but she didn''t voice it out.


    She didn''t even tell him that she was feeling scared.


    She, unlike him, was being considerate.


    ''What am I doing?''


    Alex looked at his hands.


    ''Am I this weak?''


    He then looked at Luna, who, upon noticing his gaze, gave a weak and forced smile.


    *Grit*


    Alex gritted his teeth in anger.


    ''I can''t even protect someone close to me, then what do I have all of my powers for??''


    For the first time, Alex felt angry at himself.


    *Crack*


    Something inside of him cracked.


    *Clench*


    Alex''s fists bled, pouring golden blood out of his palms as he clenched his fists.


    "Come here��"


    Alex pulled Luna close to himself.


    "He is a Mythical ranker��."


    He ignored the words of therge demon; he focused on covering Luna in his aura and healing her mind��..


    He didn''t mind them mistaking him for a mythical-ranked being; he could easily defeat such beings, so it didn''t matter��.


    His perception, which had been in disarray for a while, was now working perfectly.


    He was observing everything, even though he was not looking at the demons.


    The worry he felt when he looked at the vampire was now gone.


    Right now, all he felt was anger��anger at himself for being a fool.


    For ignoring the one beside him, just because he was worried about the ones that were already safe.


    He looked at Luna, who was now asleep in his arms.


    ''Sleep well; I''ll take care of things here��.''


    His guilt only increased as he realized just how much pressure Luna was under; she fell unconscious the moment she felt his warmth.


    But then his eyes sharpened as he felt bloodlusting from four pairs of eyes��.


    ''These guys��.''


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 269: CHAPTER 269 - The demon king?

    ''These guys are the main reason why everything happened��..''


    Alex muttered as he stared at the four demons in front of him.


    ''If they didn''t disturb me or put me in a tight situation, then this wouldn''t have happened��.''


    Alex looked at Luna and sighed inwardly, his eyes filled with guilt.


    He was really feeling guilty for letting Luna go through all that, and he was going to make up for it��.


    But then he furrowed his brows as he felt the killing intent. Most of it emanates from the smallest guy in the room.


    ''Time to get serious��''


    *Inhale*


    Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath.


    But just as he opened his eyes��.


    *BOOM*


    Each and every restriction he had inside of his body got lifted, causing pressure like never seen before to descend over the room.


    *Crack*


    The floor cracked due to the sheer pressure.


    .................................��..


    The four demon generals were pushing their mana pressure toward Alex when Alex suddenly released his mana pressure.


    When they felt the pressure, they were shocked to discover that Alex was not actually a Mythical ranker, instead, he was a legendary ranker.


    They were strong enough to tell the difference in the mana pressure of a mythical and legendary person.


    But they didn''t retract the pressure.


    Rather, they pushed it stronger than before.


    ''A human legendary ranker strong enough to repel the pressure of four mythical rankers��''


    This was what they were most surprised about, but the surprise was soon reced with a solemn expression.


    ''A human like this shouldn''t be allowed to live.''


    That was their final verdict.


    If Alex, a human with such a monstrous power and potential were to be left alive, then he would soon turn into their deaths.


    So, unlike before, now they started using more of their mana to put pressure on Alex.


    But as if taking their increase in mana pressure a challenge, Alex''s supreme human bloodline got released.


    *Boom**Crack*


    The cracks on the floor started gettingrger.


    But the demons had their eyes widened to the maximum.


    "Ghhhhh!" X4.


    All four of them felt a direct impact of the blood pressure on their bloodlines, almost making them cough out blood.


    "His bloodline!"


    Mk gritted his teeth.


    All of them realized that Alex''s bloodline was a bit too high-ranked for them to handle.


    Their mana pressure was already getting a bit suppressed.


    Their power was suppressed to Mythical 2 from Mythical 3, just because of Alex''s supreme human bloodline.


    "Kill him!"


    Valerius gritted his teeth.


    His smile was long gone, all that was left was a frowning expression as he tried to push more of his mana pressure on Alex.


    But that was enough of ying around.


    The mana pressure was being used to trap Alex, but now that they had decided to kill him, there was no need to use these things.


    But just then��.


    *BOOM*


    Another one of Alex''s restrictions broke��


    His Celestial Incubus bloodline broke free of its restriction, and��..


    *Thud* X4


    All four demons fell on their knees��


    *Cough* X4


    And coughed blood out of their mouths.


    They had their eyes widened in horror.


    "A high demon bloodline!"


    Valerius eximed in awe and a bit of fear.


    Nyx, the one who was the most excited to kill Alex, was now kneeling on the ground as he cried out.


    "What did we do?!


    Didn''t you say he was a human?!"


    Nyx could feel his powers being suppressed to Mythical 1 rank.


    But the impact of this one was much greater than before because the bloodline that was used to attack them was a demon bloodline.


    "Arghhh!"


    The one who was most affected, however, was Morvan. She screamed as she felt her insides boiling.


    Both her human and demon part of bloodline were panicking.


    But her eyes were fixed on Alex''s face as she was stunned by his looks.


    Just like his other restrictions, his charm''s restriction was lifted as well, causing Morvan to be stunned for a while.


    Alex did have a deadly charm, after all.


    "We are sorry for offending you, oh great demon!"


    Valerius quickly kneeled on the ground and pleaded with his head on the ground.


    He thought that Alex was a demon king from another world who also had a human bloodline, and their action of trying to confine him had angered him.


    He did try to summon a demon king, and while summoning he kept repeating ''Demon King'' inside of his head, so he thought that maybe he summoned the real demon king from another world.


    He was not wrong though.


    Alex was from another world and he had both human and demon bloodlines, he was no demon king though��.


    But he was angry��..


    Angry at them, and angry at himself.


    Their bad luck, however, made Alex me everything on them.


    "We should just attack him!


    He doesn''t seem to be in the mood to talk, right now!"


    Nyx, who was slowly standing up, yelled.


    The shing of pressures, the cracking of the floor, and the tables being crushed were making a lot of sound, so he had to yell.


    "No!"


    Valerius red at Nyx.


    "Do that and I will kill you before anyone else!"


    His blood-red eyes shone with killing intent, sending shivers down Nyx''s spine.


    "....ok."


    Nyx just pouted, trying to hide his fear as he knelt back.


    They were the demon generals, they were very strong, so although Alex had suppressed their powers, they were still as strong as ever.


    The impact that Alex delivered was something that could give Alex a headstart in a fight, but that was all.


    Even if Alex was strong, this much was not enough to defeat a Mythical ranker, one that was already at the peak.


    So, if they wanted to, they could''ve tried to attack Alex.


    They were not doing it out of respect.


    They could simply stand up as if nothing had happened, after all, a bit of blooding out of their mouths or something like that was nothing major for the demon generals.


    However, did Alex use his full power yet?


    Nope.


    "What do we do?"


    Mk finally question Valerius.


    "Just keep your heads down-"


    Valerius growled, but before he couldplete his words��.


    *Tremble*


    All of them felt a weird sensation, it was as if they were naked in front of someone.


    Their eyes inadvertently moved toward Alex, and there they saw it��.


    "Wha��"


    Nyx speechlessly stared into the ck and golden eyes of Alex, and so did the others.


    But before they could move or say anything��.


    "You summon me without my permission��."


    Alex''s voice, which sounded more like the growl of an angry beast was heard.


    Alex''s all-seeing eyes didn''t boost his stats or something like that.


    But that didn''t mean it was useless in battles.


    Alex''s all-seeing eyes could now let him find the weak spot of anything.


    And that was something that would be helpful right now.


    Right now, Alex was going to face enemies stronger than him.


    He knew that the boost he had right now won''t be enough.


    Even with the strength boost from the Supreme Human bloodline, Mana boost from the Celestial Incubus bloodline, and the weak-point detection from his all-seeing eyes, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to win against one of them, let alone four.


    "Then you inspect me, but I stay silent, trying to understand the situation��."


    Alex continued as he now mixed his demonic energy in the pressure he was releasing.


    "WHAT!"


    Mk widened his eyes in shock.


    "Demonic energy��."


    Morvan muttered as she looked at Alex''s divine face.


    The same face that kept her stunned till now.


    All four of them realized that they had messed with something they shouldn''t have.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 270: CHAPTER 270 - Celestial Incubus Transformation.

    [There are many types of demonic energies��.]


    Sophia said that some time ago.


    The purest was the demonic energy that was inherited, due to a bloodline, or because of a physique.


    A demon can easily tell the difference between pure demonic energy and diluted one.


    Especially a strong demon like the four generals of the demonic army.


    The fact that they could control diluted demonic energy only made it easier to identify the real and pure demonic energy Alex had.


    Just the fact that Alex had a very strong demonic bloodline was enough to make the demons submit to him.


    The same reason why all four of them were kneeling right now.


    But the moment they felt the pureness of the demonic energy Alex had, they could feel goosebumps rising on their skins.


    They had only ever seen one person use real demonic energy, the same person who granted it to them, but even that person didn''t have such pure demonic energy.


    ''Just what the hell did I/ he summon!!'' X4


    All four of them yelled inwardly.


    The fact that Alex had such pure demonic energy proved he was much greater than what they thought initially.


    But the pure demonic energy that Alex emitted also made the little doubt about him being a human wash away.


    "I let you guys go even though you inspected me, but what did I get in return?"


    Alex stared at the four demon generals coldly as he continued his words, ignoring the shocked voices of the demons.


    "All I got was you trying to pressure me, causing a dear person of mine to fall into this state."


    Alex clenched his fists as he looked at Luna''s sleeping face.


    Her face was rxed as she hugged him tightly, but Alex knew that before all this, she was suffering under the pressure of 4 mythical ranked demons while she was just an SSS ranker.


    Yes, she was stronger than before as she had reached SSS a few days ago, but that was not enough to face the pressure of an EX-ranker, let alone four mythical rankers.


    "You unleashed your pressure on me, knowing full well that there was an SSS-ranker just beside me��."


    Alex''s body slowly started levitating��


    Alex''s power right now wasparable to a Mythical 1 ranker because of the boost he had from his bloodlines, even though he was a legendary ranker.


    But there was one thing that Alex had never used.


    One thing that promised destruction and nothing else because once he used that, his personality would shift into something that wouldn''t see good and bad.


    Even if it will only be on till he wants to, just the fact that Alex was going to use it, showed how seriously he was taking the situation to be.


    The four demon generals for some unknown reason trembled.


    They could see Alex''s ck and golden eyes shining ominously, taking a shade of purple.


    But then they shivered as they saw his cold face morphing into a wide grin.


    "If that was not enough��.."


    Alex''s voice which was cold, had now turned enchanting.


    "A puny squirt-like guy started emanating killing intent��"


    Alex shook his head with a mocking grin as he looked at Nyx with his ck and golden eyes, which now had a purple shine in them.


    "If I still stayed quiet, what face would I show to this woman?"


    Alex turned toward Luna, and caressed her face with a gentle smile, causing Luna to snuggle closer into his arms.


    But his smile turned into a devilish grin as he turned toward the demon again.


    His skin slowly started getting tinged with purple color��


    "Now what should I do��.?"


    Alex raised his brow as he scanned the demon who was now looking at him with wide eyes as two vertical horns started growing out of his head.


    His feet were now 1 meter up in the air.


    He was levitating with his left hand supporting Luna, who was clinging to his body.


    Alex was aware of the changes in his body, but he knew that it was because of the ability he used.


    He was transforming into an incubus for the first time, and the demon who saw the horns on his head grow longer and curved trembled again.


    But their eyes widened to the extreme as they saw another two horns protruding out of the same spot the first two horns came out from.


    The only difference was that these two were pointed downward.


    ''Four horns!'' X4


    For demons, horns denoted authority.


    And in the history of the demon kingdom, the highest number of horns someone ever had was 2.


    So, when the demon saw the four horns, they were surprised, shocked, and agitated.


    They were agitated because they knew that the way Alex''s power kept increasing, in a while he would be strong enough to kill them, and once that happened, they would have no choice but to fight him.


    The way Alex was looking at them and the way his killing intent was locked on them, they could tell that Alex wasn''t going to listen to them.


    The only option they were left with was to fight Alex, and that too before he got his power-up done.


    Only then would they have a chance of suppressing him without having to kill him.


    But as if noticing their intentions, Alex started getting surrounded with destruction energy.


    *Sizzle*


    The mana in the air started to burn due to the sheer intensity of the destruction energy Alex was condensing around him.


    The four demon generals'' eyes sharpened.


    They could feel the power of the destruction energy, they knew that it was not something they should touch, or they might lose a limb to it.


    But before they could move or think of something, Alex, who had Luna in her hand, waved his right arm.


    *Woosh*


    The demons, although a bit surprised by the sudden attack, still got ready to face it, but then they saw something that they didn''t think was possible.


    The destruction energy that left Alex''s right hand, stopped right in front of him, not moving an inch.


    "Let''s see��."


    Alex''s enhancing and thoughtful voice made its way to their ears, and then they saw it��.


    ''What the hell is this guy��.?''


    Even Valerius, the best magician in the demon empire couldn''tprehend how Alex could do it��


    They just stared at it dumbfoundedly as Alex kept pushing me, water, earth, and wind elements into the destruction element.


    It was happening very fast, so fast that by the time they came out of their surprise, the destruction energy in front of Alex had now turned into a dark shade of ck.


    The demon generals didn''t waste any more time, they decided to rush at Alex.


    But just as they zoomed toward Alex, they saw his grin widen, and a bad feeling gripped their hearts��.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 271: CHAPTER 271 - Final bosses.

    Alex was using the Celestial Incubus transformation, something he never got to use, and although he didn''t talk much right now, his personality had taken a drastic turn.


    Alex right now only cared about the woman in his hand, nothing else.


    But it wasn''t much different from the real personality of Alex.


    At this moment, he was not in public, neither was he facing someone he could take on easily.


    He was facing the strongest of this world the moment he arrived here.


    And he was facing all of them at the same time.


    So, no matter what kind of personality was taking over right now, all of them would want to find the best way out of this situation.


    Well, not exactly the best way��.


    Alex could''ve just stopped the moment Valerius bowed down, and asked forpensation, but by that time, his devil personality had already taken over.


    And a devil, one with a celestial-level bloodline would, of course, be arrogant.


    That arrogance of his had now got him in a situation where he had four mythical 3 rankers rushing at him.


    Their ranks were suppressed, sure, but they were the demon generals for a reason.


    They were feared all around a world that was 10 timesrger than Gaia, for a reason.


    ''Oh,'' Alex was initially surprised by the fact that they were not much affected by the aura emitted by the destruction energy, but his surprised expression soon turned into a grin.


    "Let''s see��."


    ''How about this?''


    Alex, who was still notpletely in his incubus form, muttered with a grin as he started pushing fire, water, wind, and earth elementals into the destruction energy.


    Destruction energy, something that would destroy anything that came in contact with it, could never bebined with another element.


    But that''s what people thought.


    ''Where do the things destroyed by the destruction energy go?


    Do they just vanish?


    Or do they leave something behind?''


    Although Alex was in the incubus form, his brain was still the same, his genius mind was still there, so these questions automatically came to his mind.


    More so when the form he had taken on gives him mana affinity so high that he would only be able to use it when he has his domain activated.


    And he soon found an answer to those questions.


    By pushing all of those energies into the destruction energy, Alex found out the answers.


    ''So, they don''t vanishpletely��.''


    Yes, even destruction energy is not strong enough topletely wipe out the existence of something or someone.


    But Alex grinned because that was what he needed.


    With his instantaneous mana regeneration, Alex regenerated every bit of mana he was burning to push the colorfulbination of water, fire, wind, and earth into the destruction energy only to use them again.


    The destruction energy kept destroying the elements, but Alex kept repeating the same thing.


    In just a microsecond, Alex had already repeated the same process 1000+ times.


    In celestial incubus form, Alex''s understanding of mana and magic was elevated to something never seen before.


    He felt like he had an extra mind thinking everything, he felt free.


    ''It''s all too slow��''


    To him, the time looked like it was moving slowly.


    The surprised expressions of the demon generals, the way their faces turned solemn, he could see every single one of them in detail.


    Well, it was not just because of his incubus bloodline��.


    ''All-seeing eyes, and All Master work better when used together��.''


    Alex noted inwardly while his hand kept pushing thebination of the elements into the destruction energy.


    Yes, he was using his all-seeing eyes, and all-master as well.


    Both of them let him perceive things to their details.


    His eyes could see the working of the demons'' bodies and the all-master was able to predict their course of action because of that.


    And all of this made it possible for Alex to see everything in slow motion.


    But just then, Alex saw a change in the destruction energy, the energy that was supposed to be dark red in color, turned ck.


    Alex felt chills just looking at that.


    ''Hehehe-''


    He giggled gleefully, but his mocking eyes turned toward the demon, and his giggle was cut short.


    ''These guys sure don''t act like a third-rate viin is supposed to act��''


    He grumbled inwardly with a pout.


    ''But I guess it''s a given, they are like the final boss, after all��''


    Alex muttered with frustration evident in his voice.


    He could see the demons rushing at him with a solemn look.


    They probably realized that ying around or wasting more time would only result in their demise.


    His pride was all-time high right now, in this still ongoing transformation, so he wasn''t going to admit it, but he was cornered right now, for the first time.


    However, he grinned, showing his teeth that had sharpened a bit, his eyes which now had the golden part reced by purple, lit up with a crazed glint as he felt his blood pumping and adrenaline rushing.


    ''This is it!''


    ''This is what I wanted!''


    Yes. This is what Alex always wanted.


    He wanted to feel the thrill of a fight where he would be cornered like this.


    "Um��"


    But just as he was about to let it all go and rush at the demonsing at him, he heard a softfortable groan, and his eyes snapped toward the delicate thing in his hand.


    The crazed light in his eyes was now gone, the only thing left was a gentle look. He smiled softly, staring at Luna''s charming, sweet, and seductive features as he saw her snuggled closer to him with a warm smile.


    Alex had been covering Luna with his mana, protecting her away from any pressure, and letting her sleep soundly.


    *Woosh* X4


    The speed at which the demon generals were zooming toward him was so fast that, even the resistance wind could give them was negligible, or more like, even the wind wasn''t able to detect their movements.


    But Alex, still heard the wooshing sound as they moved closer.


    One must note, the fight hasn''t even started and the time it takes for Alex topletely transform into an incubus is 8 seconds.


    And right now, he wasn''t even 50 percent transformed.


    But the boosts he got from this were enough for him to be able to do many crazy things.


    Now, crazy things didn''t mean something that would go against his morals, he was still the same Alex, but he would do something....


    A crazy smile made its way to his lips as he thought of something.


    ''Wanna see something crazy, darling~?''


    Alex questioned; his tone flirtatious as he gazed at Luna''s slumbering contour, caressing the edge of her face.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 272: CHAPTER 272 - A Crazy Experiment.

    ��Wanna see something crazy, darling~?��


    Alex inquired in a flirtatious tone.


    "Umm..."


    Luna snuggled closer to him as if she had heard his words.


    Alex��s grin widened.


    Luna didn��t say anything, she was sleeping, after all. But Alex never really asked her that question, he was just making sure he was ready for it.


    But Luna��s action was like a green light, it was as if she heard his words and since she was sleeping, she showed her eptance in some other way.


    And that was all Alex needed.


    ��As you wish!��


    Then with a confident look in his eyes, he pushed in the elements that he wasn��t thinking ofbining with destruction energy.


    Water, fire, wind, and earth were the basic and easy-to-handle elements. Merging them with destruction energy was not that difficult, but��.


    ��Pyre of adjudication��.��


    Alex muttered, and even though he had a crazed look in his eyes, he was serious inwardly.


    The pyre of adjudication.


    One of the abilities that grew with him.


    This fire, unlike normal mes, was ranked legendary, right now.


    And the thing Alex was going tobine it into was still undefined, even in this world, which means that it was higher than Mythical ranked.


    *Inhale*


    But that was not all, Alex took a deep breath, and the next second, he called out to his space element��


    *Crackle*


    Just bringing those three close to each other made the space crackle.


    ��Let��s see how it goes����


    Alex gritted his teeth and pushed them together��.


    *Boom*


    A loud boom was heard, and the demons that were rushing toward Alex widened their eyes.


    ��Is that guy trying to kill himself?!�� X4


    This was the only thing they could think of since what Alex was doing was not even supposed to be done.


    It was fine till Alex was integrating the basic elements, he had a very high affinity for them and his title enabled him to do so.


    But merging them all with destruction energy��.


    *Boom**Crack**Woosh*


    As the elements tried tobine together, fighting for dominance, none backing down, the space cracked, me roared, and destruction energy darkened, devouring the light itself.


    *sh**Pierce*


    But that was not the only thing as the cracked space fragments bounced here and there, and with Alex��s hands engaged he couldn��t stop them.


    He could if he used the mana he was using to cover Luna on himself, but that would make the barrier around Luna thin down, which Alex didn��t want to happen.


    He could��ve used his elemental shield or mana shield to cover himself - That��s what you must be thinking, right?


    So, no, he can��t.


    Even if he had almost infinite mana, it was currently being burned for just one purpose - tobine the three elements.


    The moment his mana regenerates, he expends it on the same process.


    Even maintaining the mana barrier over Luna was taxing, but he could manage that.


    It was not like he was facing a major problem.


    Yeah, one sh did cut off his right hand, but it was healed and fixed before it could even fall off.


    All thanks to Alex��s instant regeneration.


    Just like the instant regeneration of mana, his instant recovery was a broken skill as well.


    And the demons who saw that couldn��t help but wonder again��.


    ��What the hell did he/ I summon��?�� X4


    A being who could seem to have an unlimited supply of mana, multiple elemental magic, a strange destructive element, space element, demonic energy, and many other things.


    But the fact that his wounds healed the moment they were inflicted made them doubt their eyes.


    Again, this is all happening within mere seconds.


    For beings as strong as them, even seconds could be longer than an hour during a fight.


    But just when they were about to reach close to Alex, his crazed grin widened as he pushed the elements close to each other physically.


    He pressed Luna between his biceps and chest as he used both of his palms to force the pyre of adjudication and space element into the mass of destruction element floating right in front of him.


    "GRHHH!!"


    A suppressed scream left his lips as he felt his arms being shredded and healed at the same time, but he held on.


    He was gritting his teeth, bearing the pain of having space element and the pyre of adjudication tearing apart his arms, but there was a grin on his face.


    A wide grin.


    A grin of victory��.


    *BOOM*


    And with a loud boom, everything and everyone was pushed away.


    The demons that were rushing toward Alex slid meters due to the impact of the shockwave.


    They squinted their eyes.


    "What is that��..?"


    *Crackle*


    Nyx pointed in front of them, and all of them heard a crackle.


    It was all dust everywhere, and unlike normal dust, it felt a bit different.


    "....Is this mana?"


    Valerius��s bewildered voice was heard as he waved his hand, trying to touch the mist or dust in front of them, and just as he did��.


    "It is!"


    He eximed in shock.


    The other three demon generals frowned their brows, confused about the reason for this happening, but before they could ask or think of something��.


    "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"


    An unrestrained, and crazeugh was heard.


    The owner of the voice was in pain, it was clear from the voice, but he was stillughing, no, he wasughing like crazy.


    It was as if the owner of the voice had achieved something he never thought was possible.


    Mk, annoyed by theughter and by the fact that he couldn��t see through the mist/ dust/ mana, waved his hand, trying to get this mist out of his sight, but again��.


    *Swoosh*


    All the mana in the air was sucked toward something at a very high speed.


    *Crack**Boom*


    And with a cracking and booming sound, the mana in the air finally cleared, giving the demons a view of what had happened.


    "Wha��."


    "What is that��?"


    "It��s dangerous��."


    Nyx, Morvan, and Mk all had different kinds of reactions, but Valerius just stood still.


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    "I did it!"


    But the demon generals soon had their attention pulled toward the owner of the voice.


    And there they saw him standing as he held ady in one arm, while the other arm was used to support his body against the wall.


    Thedy was fine, and the demons could tell that she was still being protected by a strong barrier, but the same couldn��t be said for the guy.


    Although it was just for an instant, they saw the body of the guy, battered in several ces, and golden blood oozing out of his body.


    Golden blood didn��t shock them though.


    Demons have varieties of blood, so they thought it was just that.


    But even with that guy��s monstrous healing, healing so strong that his bloodied body got healed in the blink of an eye, it couldn��t heal the guy��s hand.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 273: CHAPTER 273 - Shatter devourer 1.

    *BOOM*


    The moment Alex pushed the three elements into one, a loud boom was heard and a st containing all of those elements was created.


    It was a bit too fast for Alex to react, so all he did was push one of his arms forward and create a barrier, a barrier made of his zone.


    ��This will be enough-��


    Alex thought that any explosion would be extinguished once it came in contact with the zone, but his eyes widened the next second��


    *Crack**Shatter*


    The barrier made of the zone shattered like ss.


    Alex forgot that this explosion was not just something made up of the five basic elements, it had destruction mixed in it.


    Alex��s zone gave him the ability to control and manipte the basic five elements in whatever way possible, but that was all.


    However, no one can actually me Alex for having that fact slip his mind.


    Things happened a bit too fast, so fast that even the four mythical-ranked demons weren��t able to react.


    So, it was expected that Alex, who was so close to the st, wouldn��t be able to react.


    It was already shocking that Alex was even able to erect a barrier in front of him, in the minute time he had.


    Now, if the zone barrier shattered, and Alex wasn��t able to make another barrier, how was he and Luna still fine?


    So, what happened was��.


    ��Shit!��


    Alex��s eyes went wide the moment he felt the zone barrier brake.


    And even his incubus form was panicking.


    At thest second, he just buried Luna deeper into his chest and covered her with more mana.


    He used the demonic energy and mana that was being used for his transformation to cover her body.


    He didn��t even have time to retract his right hand as it took the blunt impact of the explosion.


    And��..


    *Baam*


    He was mmed into the wall of the room.


    His body ached with a single movement since the injuries he had on his body were a bit too much.


    The front part of his body almost vanishedpletely, but because of his instant healing, he was fine.


    His body was healing at a rate so fast that by the time the demons saw him, his body was totally healed.


    Alex��s eyes, however, weren��t on his injuries, the first thing he did was check up on Luna.


    ��Sigh��.��


    The moment he saw the peaceful expression on Luna��s face as she slept without a worry was all he needed and his body rxed.


    *Crackle*


    But then his eyes were pulled toward the spectacle he had created.


    A wonder that shouldn��t even be possible��


    What he failed to notice was the sigh that escaped Sophia��s lips inside the system.


    {Sigh��}


    It was not actually his own powers that saved him from the attack.


    He was not that fast.


    The thing he created was something that was above his league.


    Something so powerful that even the four demon generals trembled at the sight of it.


    So, how could he survive against that so easily?


    It was Sophia, his guardian angel who helped him survive this ordinal.


    Sophia, from the start, was ready for this moment.


    She knew what Alex was creating, she had seen that ability in the store, and its cost was very high, so she knew that if Alex could acquire it now, then it wouldn��t be without a price.


    If she didn��t interfere��


    {Then the price would��ve been Luna��}


    Alex would��ve survived, she was sure of it.


    He was like a cockroach, hard to kill, and his instant healing only made it harder. Explore new worlds at NovelBin.C?m


    But Luna was not the same.


    If she was even touched by that ability, she would vanish forever��.


    {It��s good that he didn��t notice it��}


    Sophia was just relieved by the fact that Alex didn��t notice her mana being mixed with his, protecting Luna from any harm.


    Now, she could��ve helped him directly, why so sneaky?


    Well, if she did it directly, then Alex would��ve med himself for his ipetence.


    He would��ve med himself for putting Luna in danger.


    ��What if Sophia was not here?��


    He would think of the worst-case scenarios and beat himself about it.


    Right now, with his incubus bloodline elevating his pride and arrogance to a height it has never been, the possibility of that happening was higher.


    But Alex didn��t know about any of this, which was good.


    "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"


    Alex, oblivious to those things, justughed like a madman.


    ��It worked!��


    He eximed inwardly, happy about his sess in creating an ability like that, an ability so strong and dangerous that even the mana was scared of getting close to it.


    ��Come!��


    He extended his hand toward the mass of energy floating at the center of the room and called for it.


    He wasn��t doing it without a reason, he could feel the connection with that mass of energy.


    And just as he called for the energy��.


    *Swoosh*


    The mass of energy trembled in delight and started sucking in the mana in the surroundings.


    Alex just grinned widely as he saw the way the mana particles tried to escape, only to get sucked into the mass of energy, and in just a second��


    *Crack**Boom*


    With a cracking sound, all of the mana in the surroundings was sucked into the mass of energy.


    "Wha��."


    "What is that��?"


    "It��s dangerous��."


    Alex ignored the demons�� reaction and the fear in their eyes, he just tried to pull the mass of energy toward himself, and he finally seeded.


    "I did it!"


    He eximed with a wide grin.


    The cracking and booming sound that was heard earlier was because of the ability, as it broke the space the moment it tried to move, but now that it had sufficient mana inside of it, the ability moved toward Alex.


    The ability was so strong that even moving it from one ce to another took arge amount of mana.


    Even with his instant regeneration of mana poll that had the mana equal to that of a Mythical ranker, Alex wasn��t able to pull that ability toward him in an instant.


    That was how much mana it took.


    The ability moved at a pace of 4-5 km/h.


    It was that slow, and that was not good in this situation.


    After all, it was not just him who noticed that thing.


    [You have unlocked a sentient ability��Shatter Devourer.]


    A system notification shed in front of his purple-ck eyes, but he wasn��t focused on that as he could see that the demon generals were not going to let him get close to the shatter devourer.


    "Now!"


    Mk voiced out with a sharp glint in his eyes.


    ��If he isn��t going to submit, then we will have to kill him.��


    Mk uttered inwardly, but as if his words were heard by the other three, they had a cold look sh in their eyes.


    Valerious, however, was a little hesitant.


    He felt that there was more to the boy than it looked to them, and if they tried to kill him, the result wouldn��t be something they would like.


    But he still nodded his head and rushed toward Alex.


    ��We don��t have a choice.��


    Valerious muttered to himself.


    If Alex was able to get his hand on that thing, then he wasn��t sure what would happen��.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 274: CHAPTER 274 - Shatter Devourer 2.

    Shatter devourer was a ck-colored mass of energy with silver shes lighting over it.


    It was like a dark cloud with thunder streaking across it, but unlike clouds and thunder, this mass of energy was much more destructive��.


    It was a conscious ability.


    An ability that could feel and talk like a normal human, but just like a normal living being, it was just born, so it didn��t know much about the world.


    It could feel a connection with Alex, just like he could, but that was all.


    The shatter devourer didn��t know what was happening.


    It couldn��t even ask, it didn��t have that much intelligence.


    All it did was move toward Alex as it could feel that��s what Alex wanted.


    It could feel Alex��s urgency, but it didn��t know what that meant, and even if it somehow did, it couldn��t move without mana supply.


    No one knew that it had a consciousness, not even Alex since he had waved away the system��s notification, and the same for the information that arrived inside of his brain.


    Right now, every single cell of his brain was thinking a way out of this situation.


    But again, his arrogance won��t just let him stop.


    He wanted to fight them.


    Though arrogance might not be the only reason��.


    ��Hahahahahahahaha!��


    Alexughed inwardly as he ran.


    He could feel his blood rushing to his brain.


    ��This is the feeling!��


    The feeling that he always searched for. This was it.


    He could feel his heart pounding against his rib cage, it felt like it would jump out of there.


    His body was trembling with excitement as he pushed it to the limit.


    He was still notpletely in the incubus form, and even if he was, he wouldn��t be able to outrun the four demon generals.


    He could defeat one of them, he was sure of it.


    If he didn��t have Luna in his arms, and he was facing one of the demon generals, he was sure that he would be able to defeat them.


    Even if he lost a limb or two, he would defeat them.


    ��I need to get her somewhere safe��.��


    Alex��s brows knit together, forming a frown as he felt the demon generals�� speed.


    ��They are fast, especially that vampire����


    Alex grounded his teeth, thinking of a way out.


    He knew that he couldn��t fight freely with Luna in his arms, and no matter how fast he ran, he wouldn��t be able to reach the shatter devourer before the demon caught up to him, unless he could slow them down��..


    ��Wait!��


    Suddenly an idea shed into his mind, and he grinned.


    He lifted Luna in a princess carry, avoiding the part of his right hand that was still being torn apart by the residual Shatter Devourer that was left on his arm.


    Yes, there was still some part left of the shatter devourer on his right arm, breaking and tearing his skin, only for it to be healed again.


    But he felt that it would go out the moment he touched the source of all this - The mass of energy - Shatter devourer.


    As for the pain?


    Well, his adaptability was an all-time high as the supreme human bloodline gave him that boost.


    That adaptability also included pain adaptability.


    So, after the first injury, his pain receptors were able to take that much pain.


    It was pretty broken since he could adapt in battle as well, he would get boosts the longer he fought, but it was not too broken because the boosts would soon go down.


    They would vanish as soon as he came out of this battle.


    But that was not the main point, the main point was that after he lifted Luna up in a princess carry, he threw her to the left.


    Yes, he tossed her away!


    Luna, who was still asleep, opened her eyes in panic and she found herself hurtling through the air.


    The demons frowned as they turned to look at Luna��


    But before they could focus on Luna, a blood arrow pierced her head, passing from the other side.


    "It��s an illusion."


    Valerius muttered with a frown as the body of Luna broke into particles and disappeared, but those words caused the other to grit their teeth.


    "Does he think that we will fall for that?!"


    Morvan was a bit angry about the fact that their opponent was thinking so lowly of them, but when her eyes turned toward Alex again, she grew confused, just like the other demons.


    "Where is the girl��?"


    Mk questioned with a frown.


    But it was not just his question, it was a question all of them had in mind.


    "It was a distraction��"


    Valerius muttered as he stared at Alex��s back, but then they all saw him ncing back at them with a smug smile.


    "Heh��"


    The mocking grin on Alex��s face just made their anger sore higher.


    ��First, he underestimates us, thinking that we would fall for a mere illusion, then he mocks us?!��


    That��s what all of them were thinking, and their faces turned dark.


    Nyx, who always had bright and happy light in his eyes, now had the same dark light that was shown before. Experience exclusive tales on NovelBin.C?m


    "I want to torture him��."


    But before he couldplete his words, Valerius red at him with his blood-red eyes.


    "Try it."


    He just said two words with no emotion apparent on his face, but Nyx��s whole body shivered before his eyes turned back to normal, bright, and happy.


    "Just kidding, teehee~"


    Nyx hurriedly made a cute expression with his tongue sticking out of his mouth and uttered with a smile.


    Morvan and Mk shook their heads at Nyx��s behavior, but Valerius just turned his back to Alex.


    He frowned a bit as he crossed a certain point, but his face again turned solemn as he looked at Alex.


    "We need to speed up, or he might reach that thing��"


    Valerius muttered as he stared at Alex��s back.


    He didn��t see where the girl was hidden, but he knew that he couldn��t let Alex reach shatter devourer.


    So, he stopped thinking about the girl and increased his speed.


    The other three were the same.


    All of them could feel the danger emanating from the shatter devourer.


    If the destruction energy made them frown, then this one made them take a step back in fright.


    Destruction was something they knew that they could face.


    The most they��d lose was a hand or a leg, and for demons like them, it was no big deal.


    The shatter devourer, however, gave them the feeling of dread.


    It felt like just touching that mass-energy would be life-threatening.


    And that fact shook them to the core.


    They - the four demon generals, the people on the top of the food chain - felt threatened.


    It would shock the whole world if this word got out.


    But they knew that Alex was an anomaly, it was clear the moment they felt his powers.


    So, right now, they only had one thing they wanted to do - Kill/ Suppress Alex.


    And, of course, they were fullymitted to it.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 275: CHAPTER 275 - Fighting the Demon Generals.

    What did Alex do to Luna?


    Where did she go?


    These questions must be there in your minds, so let��s look into it again, and this time not from the demons�� perspective��.


    ��Not sure if they��ll fall for this.��


    Alex muttered inwardly as he burned his mana as fast as he could, creating an illusionary Luna, and covering the real Luna in his hand with a veil.


    ��Here goes nothing!�� Experience new stories with NovelBin.C?m


    Alex eximed inwardly and made a throwing motion, tossing away the illusionary Luna in the air.


    ��Now!��


    And just as he noticed the demons�� eyes turning toward the illusionary Luna, he hurriedly pushed the real Luna into the space fold that appeared on his right side.


    *Swoosh*


    He heard the sound of an arrow piercing the air, and he saw the illusionary Luna disappearing.


    ��Haha, I guess they��re not that easy to fool����


    Alex chuckled as he shook his head but as he rushed forward, he kept his eyes on the demons.


    How did he push Luna into the space folds?


    Well, out of the already deadb rats of his, he had plundered this ability from one of them��the ability of the Grenefled family.


    The ability to create a spacepartment - It depended on your mastery of the skill and the amount of mana in your body.


    Alex had sufficient mastery over this skill; his mana was almost unlimited, and he had a certain level of proficiency over space elements as well, so he could create a veryrge spacepartment, but all he did was create a 2-meter square spacepartment.


    Justrge enough for Luna to sleep in without a problem.


    He used his incubus aura to make Luna enter a sweet dream before he pushed her into the space folds.


    Now, this was a risky move.


    ��Just a bit more!��


    That was why he ran forward, leaving Luna in space, hoping that the demon generals wouldn��t notice Luna, who was in the spacepartment.


    His disguise skill was an EX-ranked skill, so all it could do was divert the demons�� attention for a second, but that was all he needed from that skill.


    This new skill, however, was not like that.


    This new skill was one that would increase in power along with his mastery over the space element.


    So, unless there was someone with a space element among the demons, they shouldn��t be able to notice Luna, or so he hoped.


    That was why he turned back to look at them, with a taunting smile, even though his heart was beating like a drum.


    Alex was looking back at them, so he saw that just as Valerius was about to cross the point where Alex had made the spacepartment, Valerious frowned.


    Alex gritted his teeth inwardly, ready to turn back. He didn��t want to risk Luna��s safety.


    But just as he was about to dash toward them, he saw Valerius shaking his head before they continued chasing after Alex.


    ��Sigh����


    Alex sighed inwardly, but then his grin widened.


    ��Let��s see, now...��


    Now he didn��t have to worry about Luna, nor did have to worry about the demons using Luna as a hostage or something like that during the fight, so he paused.


    *Boom*


    The ground cracked at the sudden halt made by Alex.


    The demons, although had a frown on their faces, they paused as well.


    All four demons stared at Alex with a frown.


    ��Why did he stop?��


    Mk thought inwardly.


    He didn��t think that Alex, who had been trying to power up for a while, would stop now without a reason.


    ��Does he think he can face all of us at the same time?��


    Morvan, who was now used to Alex��s charm, thought with a frown.


    She didn��t like anyone looking down at her.


    She had been looked down upon since a young age, but all the people who looked down on her before were now dead under her hands.


    That was how much she hated being looked down upon, and Alex was doing just that, or that��s what it seemed like to her.


    Nyx and Valerius, on the other hand, just stared at Alex, who had a wide grin stered on his face.


    The staringpetition went on as a pregnant silence enveloped the surroundings.


    *Crackle*


    Only the crackle of the shatter devourer was heard until Valerius finally opened his lips.


    "We are sorry for what we did.


    We thought that you were a human, but now we know that you are not a human, so please, stop this.


    We don��t want to harm one of our own, especially a being as strong as you."


    Valerius let out his genuine feelings.


    He really didn��t want to fight Alex now; all he was doing was because he didn��t want to sit in his ce and die.


    Alex, however, just tilted his head, the toothy grin still tugging at his lips.


    He knew that he wouldn��t die by their hands, not until they had something like destruction energy.


    Alex��s instant heal was too much of a cheat, and now he wasn��t carrying Luna, so he could go all out.


    Yes, Luna was a burden till now; Alex won��t admit it, and he would kill anyone who called her that, but that was the truth.


    But, right now, he just cracked his joints with a smile.


    *Crack**Snap*


    Even the snap and crack of his joints were loud enough to cause the air to vibrate a bit.


    "Sigh��..


    I guess we have no choice then."


    Valerius, who could guess Alex��s intention of not backing down, just sighed in regret.


    Yes, he regretted judging Alex too early, since that one mistake might now cause them to lose their future demon king.


    But, right now, he could see that Alex��s transformation was still going on, and his power was still increasing, so he didn��t waste the time anymore.


    "Attack."


    He uttered with an emotionless look on his face; his eyes, however, were still showing the feeling of loss he felt.


    "Come."


    Alex��s grin widened, and he got into the fighting stance, but before he could even take the stance, his eyes saw arge fist headed right toward his face, and a gruff voice followed.


    "I��ll smash that grin out of your face."


    The owner of the voice was clearly annoyed by the grin on Alex��s face, and the owner was Mk.


    Alex, on the other hand, had his eyes widen.


    ��What?!��


    He expected them to be faster and stronger than him, but wasn��t this a bit too much?


    Alex could still follow their moves with his eyes; it was not a problem.


    With his all-seeing eyes and All Master, he could perceive their moves quite easily.


    But the problem was...


    ��My body won��t move!��


    Alex frowned as he realized the problem.


    ��My mana and perception are already boosted, but my body is not����


    Yes, his mana and senses were boosted because of his incubus transformation, but due to the partial transformation, his body had yet topletely transform.


    And from the looks of it, the demons didn��t want to wait for him to transform.


    *Boom**Crack*


    Alex gritted his teeth as he realized the problem, but the punch didn��t give him time to think too much; it smashed into his face with a boom.


    ��GUHH!��


    Alex grunted as he tried to stabilize his body, which was hurtling through the air.


    However, Alex was soon about to realize that all of them were demon generals for a reason.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 276: CHAPTER 276 - The Might of Demon Generals.

    Asura''s are known for their superior physical powers, and without a doubt, they are one of the strongest races in that aspect.


    So, if one of them grew strong enough to be called a demon general, just how much brute force would his punch carry?


    Well, Alex could be able to answer that question right now��.


    ''Fuck! It feels like I''m still a mortal and a truck crashed into me!''


    Alex yelled in his mind as he tried to stabilize his vision and body.


    Mk''s punch was strong enough to stun Alex. Right now, Alex was unable to see clearly, and his body was uncontrobly hurtling through the air.


    His face was smashed in, and his skull was cracked.


    Golden blood was dripping from his smashed face, though it was healing pretty fast��or in an instant, actually��but yeah, it was healed the moment it happened.


    Mk might have thought that his punch didn''t do anything, if not for the fact that he heard the cracking of Alex''s skull along with the golden blood covering his fist.


    ''Fucking monster��.''


    Mk cursed inwardly when he saw Alex''s face heal in an instant.


    He had already seen Alex''s monstrous healing power before, it was stronger than any beast he had seen before, even a phoenix couldn''t heal that quickly.


    ''It would be hard for me to defeat him alone��.''


    Mk epted it.


    Alex was strong enough for him to not be able to defeat him alone, not until he put his life on the line.


    But��.


    ''I''m not alone, though.''


    For the first time, a toothy grin appeared on his face, and Alex who saw that grin, frowned his brow.


    ''What''s he up to-''


    Alex''s thoughts were interrupted...


    *Woosh**Woosh*


    ... as Alex sensed some movements below the ground with his perception, but before he could make out anything about it, whooshing sounds were heard.


    ''Shit!''


    By the time Alex found out what it was, it was already toote.


    *Pierce**Pierce*


    "Arghh!"


    Alex twisted his body, avoiding some of the bone spikes, but many of them pierced his body.


    He was able to save his heart and brain, but his body was now stuck on a wall made of bones.


    Alex''s eyes scanned for the culprit and he found Morvan looking at him with a cold expression before she waved her hands again.


    *Crack**Snap*


    The bones started to bend, trying to bury Alex like a roll, but Alex was ready this time.


    Alex''s eyes widened, and he hurriedly moved his body.


    *Boom*


    With a wave of his hand, he broke the spikes that were still piercing him, causing his body to fall toward the ground, but before he could fall to the ground, something happened again.


    ''Not again��.''


    Alex muttered this frustration as he had another punching straight to his face, but...


    *Boom*


    That punch didn''t stop and sent him straight up in the air.


    However, this time, Alex''s adaptability had already made him immune to the pain from Mk''s punch, so he wasn''t stunned.


    He cautiously looked around, waiting for the bone spikes to arrive again, but...


    *Sling*


    The sound of a de being drawn was heard, but Alex had already seen the owner of the de.


    With Alex''s all-seeing eyes, he could clearly see Nyx, who moved silently, thinking that he was hidden.


    Alex had been keeping an eye on Nyx from the start, so when he heard the de-drawing sound, and felt the killing intent emanating from Nyx, he turned around with a swift move, and threw his fist toward Nyx.


    ''What!''


    Nyx, on the other hand, was shocked by Alex''s moves, and so were other demons.


    ''How could he locate Nyx?''


    All of them frowned, but they didn''t stop.


    "His eyes��"


    Valerius was the first to realize the reason for Alex to be able to make out Nyx''s location.


    Other demons sharpened their eyes, but they didn''t stop.


    *Boom*


    And with another sonic boom, Nyx was sent crashing into the ground.


    However, Alex forgot the saying, ''Never turn your back on an enemy''.


    *Swoosh**Swoosh**Crackle*


    Bone, fire, water, and thunder arrows wereunched at him from behind as Mk, Morvan, and Valeriusunched them at Alex.


    Alex turned to face the attack, but he was a bit slow in turning, and the next second...


    *Boom**Boom**Boom*


    All of those attacks exploded over his body, sting him toward the ground.


    Nyx, who was supposed to be lying on the ground after Alex smashed him toward the floor, was invisible again.


    Maybe ashamed, or maybe nning something, but he was invisible��not to Alex, though.


    Alex could easily find where Nyx was, but he was in no position to be able to do it.


    "Urgh!"


    Alex groaned as hey on the ground, and the burn marks on his body healed in an instant.


    The room was already broken, and right now, they were standing on grassy ground.


    The area looked deserted since the sound of animals couldn''t be heard, even though they were in the middle of a dense forest.


    ''Sigh��''


    Alex sighed in frustration as he realized that he hadn''t moved an inch from his starting position.


    Right now, he was lying on the spot where the fight started.


    He was hoping that maybe during the fight, he would get a chance to get close to the shatter devourer, but...


    ''I guess I was hoping too much��''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he tried to stand up.


    The dust was settling down, so it was no use lying down, waiting for his death.


    The demon generals knew that once Alex reached the shatter devourer, the tables might be turned, so they didn''t let him move much.


    They even attacked Alex continuously, disrupting the incubus transformation.


    They wanted to finish this fast, so they wouldn''t have to use their trump cards.


    But just as Alex was getting up, the dust had almost settled down��.


    *Fwoosh*


    Suddenly, blood started pooling up under Alex''s feet.


    Pure red blood.


    Alex frowned at that, but before he could think of something, that blood transformed into chains andtched itself on Alex''s wrists and ankles.


    Alex bent his head toward the ground, his expression couldn''t be seen.


    "You lost, so stop it now...


    We don''t want to kill you."


    Valerius''s voice was heard, and all four of the demon generals were now standing at the corner of the crater formed due to the force of Alex crashing into the ground.


    They looked at Alex, who was standing in the center with his arms and legs bound by the blood chains that Valerius was controlling.


    He wanted the fight to stop.


    He really didn''t want to kill Alex because Alex looked like the hope they were waiting for.


    It wasn''t that they were weak, they still had someone stronger than their enemy on their side, but the situation was a bitplicated.


    Right now, they had no other choice other than to rely on a monstrous genius like Alex.


    But just as they were hoping for Alex to surrender��.


    "Heh��"


    They heard a light chuckle��.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 277: CHAPTER 277 - Alex’s show of power.

    //// I''m really sorry for the miss in the update!


    It was storming here yesterday, I had no inte ess of anything that could help me upload my chaps, so again, I''m sorry for that.


    I''ll try to not let that happen every again! ////


    "Heh��"


    Alex, who had his face toward the ground, finally looked up.


    ''Huh?''


    The demon general, for some unknown reason, felt that something was not right.


    They could see Alex''s ck and gold eyes which had turned ck and purple a while ago, were now changing into ck and red.


    They frowned as Alex''s red pupil made them feel ufortable for some reason��.


    "A surprise attack, and then a continuous barrage of attacks��."


    Alex''s voice fell as a grin made its way to his lips.


    "Yet all you could do was smash me into the ground��"


    Alex''s grin widened as destruction energy started to cover his fist��.


    The demon generals'' eyes widened, and they just realized that Alex had yet to attack in thest short battle.


    "Stop him!"


    Valerius ordered with a serious face.


    "Let''s see how you would do if I were to use everything at my disposal��."


    Alex on the other hand just continued with a grin.


    *Woosh*


    He could already see Mk dashing toward him.


    His eyes could follow their movements while his body couldn''t, just like before.


    But this time, Alex wasn''t going to try tightening physically.


    ''Let''s see how fast my spell-casting speed is��.''


    Alex chuckled inwardly before he increased the concentration of destruction energying out of his palm and now his feet as well.


    Mk, on the other hand, increased his speed.


    ''I won''t let you!''


    He eximed inwardly as he saw the destruction energy was about to touch the blood chains binding Alex to the ground.


    Mk was the strongest among them when it came to physical strength, so he was the one who always took the closebat department.


    Right now, he could tell that Alex was trying to break free of the blood chains, but Mk was going to stop Alex before that, or so he thought��..


    Mk rushed at Alex and just as he arrived in front of Alex, he clenched his fist and sent it straight at Alex''s face.


    But just then��.


    "Zone: Pioneer of the elements."


    Mk heard a mutter escaping Alex''s mouth.


    He didn''t know what that was, or what Alex was trying to do, but his instinct screamed for him to back away.


    ''Shit!''


    Mk curved as he felt a wave washing over him.


    He felt as if some kind ofyer was passing over him.


    His fist that was about to reach Alex was the first thing to get covered in the zone.


    Mk, however, sensed something wrong, so he tried to retract his hand but��


    "ARGHHHHH!!!"


    He suddenly felt his arm, which was covered in that strangeyer, heating up at a very fast rate.


    He hurriedly pulled his hand back, but before he could do it��.


    *Boom*


    His hand was sted into smithereens because of the internal heat.


    "GAHHHHHHHHH!!"


    The pain he felt from the heating up and internal veins and tissues sting was a bit too much.


    He quickly jumped back, creating distance between himself and Alex.


    Mk didn''t know that Alex hadpressed the zone''s range to 5 meters just because that would help him have more control over the zone.


    Right now, Alex had to expand his mana on transformation, maintaining the connection with Shatter devourer, and to top it all off, Mk was a strong opponent, so he couldn''t control Mk''s body heat that easily.


    "Hah�� Hah�� Hah��"


    Mk, on the other hand, breathed heavily as he stared at Alex warily.


    He couldn''t see the zone, he could feel it but not look at it.


    None of the demon generals could see what caused Mk to lose his arm.


    "We can''t go near him, there''s something strange surrounding him��"


    Mk muttered while holding his right hand which was slowly regenerating.


    ''That''s one problem out of the equation��''


    Alex smiled inwardly as his n worked better than he had expected.


    Alex couldn''t keep using the zone if he wanted to keep the transformation and the connection with the shatter devourer active, after all, both of them burned a lot of mana.


    So, all he needed to do was show them that he could use it, he didn''t need to keep it active all the time.


    If, by chance, they try to attack again, then he could just activate the zone again.


    ''My casting speed right now is quite fast, after all��''


    Alex uttered inwardly.


    Now, both Mk and Nyx won''t try toe closer to Alex for a while.


    Yes, Nyx was sneaking up on Alex as well.


    Maybe he thought thatst time Alex found out where he was on a fluke or something.


    Even the strongest demons have never found him when he uses his ability, so it''s not without a reason that he thinks like that.


    ''Phase two now��''


    Alex, on the other hand, turned serious again.


    He knew that even if he stopped two of them, he wasn''t safe, and he didn''t defeat them, he just stopped them.


    *Crack**Shatter*


    The blood chains finally shattered as the destruction energy ate up the chains that were holding Alex''s wrists and ankles.


    "Hah��.


    Finally some freedom��."


    Alex took a deep breath and smiled as he massaged his wrists.


    The destruction energy was still covering his wrist and ankles, and he didn''t seem to have any intentions of removing them��


    *Swoosh*


    Again, just like before, the same bone spikes came out of the earth, trying to pierce Alex, but this time, Alex was prepared.


    He turned his right palm toward his back, and just as the spikes came out of the ground��..


    *BOOM*


    A st of destruction energy wasunched at the bone spikeing out of the ground, creating a loud booming sound.


    Dust rose, and the generals'' bodies tensed.


    The bones that were supposed toe out of the ground were already ashes right now.


    "Let me show you guys my favorite weapon��"


    Alex''s voice was heard from within the dust.


    The demon generals squint their eyes.


    They could see through the dust, and that was the reason for the dubious looks in their eyes.


    All they could see was a normal-looking sword.


    A ck hilt and silver de.


    Nothing special.


    But the next second.


    *Dun*


    Like a beast that had been concealing its aura, the de released its aura, and they realized why Alex called it his favorite weapon.


    The energy it released was enough for it to be stronger than the most treasured weapon in the demon empire.


    ''Just who is he��?''


    They grew more and more confused about Alex''s identity. They already knew that Alex was not like any of the demon king stories they heard before.


    He was unlike what the history told.


    The summoned person was supposed to be weak, and grow stronger if given time, but Alex��..


    He was something else.


    However, their eyes widened as they saw something even more shocking.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 278: CHAPTER 278 - Panoplis.

    Alex, who was in the dust, took out his simple sword - Varethian.


    He then grinned as he saw the dubious looks in the demon generals'' eyes. He could tell why they were looking at Varethian with such eyes.


    He would''ve done the same if he were in their ce.


    After all, who would believe a simple-looking sword with no aura is actually strong?


    ''Var, show them your power��.''


    Alex called out to his sword, and in response, it just trembled slightly, showing its happiness before��..


    *Dun*


    The aura of the sword was released.


    Alex''s lips tugged into a smug smile as he saw the dumbfounded look on the demons'' faces.


    They were shocked, so much so that they forgot that he was their enemy, and the longer they waited, the stronger he got.


    But that was just the aura of the sword��.


    ''And they are already shocked.


    Why don''t we show them what more you can do?''


    Alex smiled as he looked at Vrethian.


    The sword, on the other hand, just vibrated, agreeing with Alex''s words before it started to condense into a ball.


    The demons who saw that grew more shocked.


    ''Shape changing weapons?!''


    They had never even heard about such a weapon.


    The strongest weapon in their world didn''t have that ability, much less the weaker ones.


    But suddenly Valerius''s eye widened.


    "Attack him!"


    He hurriedly ordered, and the other demons who heard his words also had their eyes widened.


    How could they forget their main purpose, right now?!


    Why were they standing here giving Alex more time to power up?!


    The demon generals exchanged a look, nodding at each other before the attacking process started again.


    This time, however, Alex was going to fight back, and he was going to fight back, real hard.


    "Keep your distance. Don''t go close to him.


    Whatever is protecting him, must have some kind of limit."


    Mk hurriedly warned hispanions, and the other three demons nodded their heads before they started preparing for their attacks.


    "Come out, my soldiers."


    Morvan was the first one to make a move as she waved her hand.


    *Crack**Crack*....


    Right after that, the ground around Alex started to crack.


    Alex, however, didn''t have time to look at it��.


    "Blood Lance."


    A low voice, almost as if a whisper was heard, and a spear made of blood was shot at Alex.


    Alex, again, shot a st of destruction toward the bloodnce.


    *Boom*


    The attacks shed with each other, creating a red st, but the spear was blocked.


    However, Alex realized that he wasn''t going to get a chance to catch one breath.


    *Woosh* X5


    Five wind des were headed right toward his limbs and neck, but Alex just activated the zone again.


    *Fwish*


    The wind des vanished as soon as they touched the barrier made of the zone, shocking the demons, Nyx especially.


    "Heh.."


    Alex even gave Nyx, who had sent thest attack a mocking grin.


    ''That bastard!''


    Causing Nyx to clench his fists in anger and frustration.


    Nyx was a poison and wind element user.


    However, he couldn''t go close to Alex so that he could use poison, and now, even his wind attack somehow failed as soon as it reached Alex.


    These things already frustrated Nyx, but now, looking at Alex''s grin, Nyx was gritting his teeth.


    ''If not for Valerius''s warning, you would''ve been dead already!''


    Nyx just red at Alex only to see a wider smirk on Alex''s face, though it was not long before Alex''s attention was shifted to something else.


    *Crack*


    Alex''s eyes shifted to the crack in the ground, and suddenly a bone hand came out��.


    *Crack*


    Then another��


    *Crack*


    And another��


    *Crack*....


    Just like that, 30 more of them started toe out of the ground.


    Then slowly, those bone arms pulled out the entire body��.


    *nk**Click*....


    With a clunking sound from the armor they were wearing, the skeleton soldiers that appeared from the ground, slowly started to stand up.


    ''So, this is necromancy��''


    Alex, on the other hand, looked at the skeleton soldiers with appreciation.


    However, soon, a grin made its way to his lips.


    ''I want it!''


    An ability to summon the dead?


    Of course, Alex would want that.


    For now, however, Alex focused on the battle.


    *Woosh* X3


    But just as he was about to turn toward the skeleton soldiers, 3 mences were shot at him.


    "SIgh��."


    Alex just sighed audibly at that.


    He didn''t even turn back, he just activated his zone again, and as soon as the mences hit the barrier of the zone��


    *Fwish*


    Just like the wind element, they vanished as well.


    *sh*


    *ng*


    Alex, on the other hand, defended the sh that a skeleton soldier had thrown at him.


    Didn''t Alex have Varethian turn into a ball?


    Yes, he had, but even if it was a ball, it was still as strong as it was before.


    ''A bow.''


    However, Alex didn''t bring out Varethian to keep it as a ball, so hemanded it to change its shape.


    *Swoosh*


    The ball brightened and it suddenly transformed into a simple-looking bow with a ck body and silver string.


    *Smash*


    Just as Varethian transformed into a bow, Alex smashed the bow into the head of the skeleton soldier who was again rushing at him with his rusted sword.


    *Boom**Crack*


    A boom was heard followed by the sound of bones cracking before the skeleton soldier was thrown away.


    *Crumble*


    The soldier crumbled as it fell to the ground.


    *sh* X4


    But there was not just one skeleton soldier, was there?


    The sound of four sword shing was heard and Alex simply coated his hand with destruction energy and��.


    *Boom**Boom*


    He punched the skeletons with his fist coated in destruction, reducing them to dust with just that.


    "Phew��."


    Alex then breathed out arge puff of air.


    "Now then, let''s get a bit more serious," Alex muttered, but then he heard Mk yell.


    "He''s not being protected by that thing!"


    Mk, who had been observing Alex, pointed it out.


    Alex, on the other hand, just tilted his head in confusion.


    ''How did hee to that conclusion?''


    Alex had deactivated the zone since he was fighting skeletons, something that didn''t have body heat��


    ''Ah��


    So, the skeletons being able to fight with me at close range was the reason��''


    Alex realized it pretty quickly, but he didn''t panic.


    ''It''s better this way.''


    Instead, he just grinned as he saw both Mk and Nyx rushing at him.


    ''Zone.''


    Alex just activated the zone again before he ignored Mk and Nyx.


    Mostly Mk since that guy could actually do him some harm.


    Nyx was never his focus, he was more like the side character who''s just there because he happened to be there.


    Nyx''s strongest ability was useless in front of Alex, so Nyx was useless in this fight.


    ''Destruction - Panoplis.''


    Alex focused on the new thing he hade up with.


    In all the time he had, he didn''t just train his space ability.


    Alex was mastering his destruction ability the most, after all, it was a very versatile ability.


    *Sizzle*


    The ground started to sizzle as the amount of destruction energy leaking out of Alex''s body increased in just an instant.


    And before Mk or Nyx could evene in contact with the zone, Alex was already covered in destruction energy from head to toe.


    "Right on time��"


    Alex muttered, his features covered with destruction energy, but his eyes were shining with a gleeful light.


    ''Zone out.''


    Alex deactivated his zone, ready to take the punch that Mk had thrown at him.


    *BOOM*


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 279: CHAPTER 279 - I won’t go down alone.

    An armor made of destruction energy.


    What could be more durable than that?


    This armor could literally disintegrate anything and everything that touches it.


    If that was not enough, the armor was full body, even the face was covered in it.


    Also, it was not actually armor, Alex was still not good with destruction energy, but it was still covering all of his body.


    So, in a way, it was an imprable armor that disintegrated any attack.


    However, that was in case the attack was weak.


    But what if the attack was from someone stronger than Alex?


    *BOOM*


    Alex, who was sent hurtling up in the air, realized it.


    ''It won''t disintegrate the impact of an attack��''


    Alex muttered with a thoughtful look.


    His skull was cracked again, and his face was bloodied as well, but none of them could be seen on the outside as his face was covered with destruction energy.


    The wound was healed already, so it wouldn''t really have mattered.


    ''But this is still good��''


    Alex muttered as he looked at Mk, who was standing on the ground while gritting his teeth.


    Mk had already torn apart his hand that was used to attack Alex, and the hand was regenerating again.


    ''Test number two��''


    Alex had already tested what would happen in case the attack was physical, but what about magical?


    *Swoosh*


    A bloodnce was thrown toward him again, and this time, Alex decided to take it on.


    "Come��"


    Alex just spread his hands, waiting for the spear to disintegrate, but just as the spear touched the out part of the destruction barrier, Alex''s eyes widened.


    ''Shit!''


    He quickly twisted his body a bit to the side, narrowly avoiding the spear that pierced right through his left chest��.


    "GAHHH - Cough!"


    Alex let out a pained scream before he coughed out a lot of blood.


    There was a gaping hole in his chest, and although it would be heated the next instant, Alex was still frowning.


    ''What happened��.?''


    Alex didn''t understand, so he asked someone who could.


    [The destruction barrier did disintegrate the attack, but the time it took to disintegrate that attack was enough for the spear to pierce through you.]


    Alex saw the blood spear turning into ash after it came out of his back, so now it made sense.


    ''So, this armor is useless against magical attacks?''


    Alex''s frown deepened.


    [No. That attack was a pointed attack, that''s the reason why it could prate your defenses, if it was otherwise, then this wouldn''t have happened.]


    Sophia replied to Alex''s question, exining to him why the attack pierced his defenses.


    Alex nodded his head, but it looked like he didn''t have time to ponder about these things.


    *Woosh* X5


    Three bone spears and two more blood spears wereing toward him, and Alex, who was a bit distracted because of thest attack, was taken by surprise.


    ''HUH!''


    Alex quickly activated Temporal Pause.


    ''Pause.''


    *Shatter*


    But the temporal pause was broken the moment it was summoned.


    ''Fuck!''


    Alex hurriedly concentrated all of the destruction on his body on his vitals.


    He could see those attacks like before, but he couldn''t lift his palm to shoot sts of destruction on them.


    So, he did the next best thing he could think of.


    *Pierce* X5


    All five of the attacks did pierce through his body, and although they disintegrated the next instant, the damage was done.


    "Ghhhh!"


    Alex''s body was shot toward the ground.


    *Boom*


    Alex again crashed into the ground, however, this time, he didn''t have the time to get ready.


    *Baam*


    He had to jump back, swiftly avoiding therge fisting from above.


    Mk, who saw that Alex avoided his attack, rushed at Alex again, but this time Alex opened the zone.


    "Shit, it''s on again!"


    Mk shouted as he tried to escape the zone��.


    *Stter*


    But this time, his right leg burst into blood and flesh.


    "ARGH!!"


    Mk let out a suppressed yell of pain as he stood up straight, some distance away from Alex.


    Alex, who put Varethian back in the storage when he wanted to test the skill, took it out again.


    ''Let''s show them your power��''


    Alex muttered and Varethian trembled in his hand, and as if showing its acknowledgment, it quickly turned into a bow.


    ''Good.''


    Alex didn''t wait.


    Right now was the best time to take out Mk, that guy was injured right now.


    So, Alex knocked an arrow made of destruction energy on Varethian before he shot it at Mk.


    *Woosh*


    But the arrow didn''t meet its intended target, instead, it crashed into a wall made of bones.


    *Boom*


    Debris flew here and there, but again, before Alex could react a fist made of blood wasing at him at a very fast speed.


    Alex gritted his teeth, getting ready for the impact.


    *Boom*


    And he was flung upward by the punch.


    Alex, however, wasn''t going to stay still and let his body fall back to the ground only to be punched by Mk.


    So, Alex yelled out loud.


    "Let''s see if you can take this!!"


    Alex red at Mk before he lifted his palm up in the air, and arge ball of destruction started forming.


    The demon generals quickly got ready for the impact while also shooting their attacks.


    *Woosh**Woosh**Woosh**Woosh*....


    Many attacks wereunched at Alex, but Alex just grinned like a madman.


    "I won''t go down alone!"


    And with that shout, he threw arge mass of destruction energy toward Mk, whose leg was still not healed.


    *Pierce**Pierce**Pierce*....


    Some attacks got destroyed while some got through the armor, piercing Alex''s skin.


    But Alex just grinned widely as he saw the ball of destruction energy descend toward Mk.


    Alex had expanded his 99% of mana in that ball, so it was capable of disintegrating a Mythical 1-ranked person into nothingness.


    *Cough**Cough*


    Alex just coughed a lot of blood as he fell toward the ground with a grin on his blurred face.


    As said before, it was not easy to tell what expression Alex was making, but the lip and eye shape on the destruction energy armor showed what expression Alex was making.


    The demons who saw Alex falling toward the ground then prepared for the counter of the attack Alex hadunched.


    *FWOOSH*


    The mana in the air vibrated as the demons expanded their mana to create an attack capable of sting the mass of destruction energying toward them.


    A ball of darkness, arge harpoon of blood, a tornado of wind, and a me thrower wereunched by Morvan, Valerius, Nyx, and Mk respectively.


    *BOOOOOOOM*


    As the attacks collided, an explosion loud enough to shake the whole area resounded throughout the space.


    The area within 2 kilometers of the range was destroyed with no sign of life left because of that attack, but the demon generals sighed in relief.


    ''It''s finally over-'' X4


    But before they couldplete whatever thoughts they were having��


    *Crackle*


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 280: CHAPTER 280 - Binding.

    If someone screams "I won''t go down alone!" while throwing a destructive attack at you.


    An attack so strong that it would kill you if itnded on you, what would you think of it?


    ''This must be hisst attack, once I survive, I win.''


    Yes, this would be the thing anyone would think.


    If that was not enough for you to let your guard down, then what if your enemy seemed to have used all of his mana, and even his injuries don''t seem to be healing anymore?


    ''He''s giving his all in thest attack.''


    This is what woulde to your mind, and that is what the demon generals thought.


    Alex made it look like he was exhausted, and he also suppressed his healing speed.


    His injuries, the gaping holes created by the spears made of bones and blood were now spurting out golden blood.


    They were still being healed but the speed was not as fast as before.


    Alex was using his mana in something else, something that took so much mana that he even had to stop the incubus transformation for a while.


    ''The demons won''t extend the fight��''


    Alex knew that the demons wouldn''t want the fight to continue for long, so the power of their attacks would only increase.


    Alex was also aware of the fact that the demons weren''t using their main attacks yet.


    He was giving his all, but the demons weren''t.


    They were trying to not kill him.


    Alex didn''t need to be wiser to know that, and he knew for a fact that if he stopped now, then they wouldn''t fight him.


    ''But, I don''t want to stop!''


    Yes, that was the problem.


    Alex, for the first time, had a chance to give his all in a fight, and he wanted to enjoy this fight to the maximum.


    To do that��.


    ''I need to get that��''


    Alex''s eyes turned to look at the shatter devourer, and he grinned.


    While the demons tried to take on the attack he hadunched thinking that it was Alex''sst attack, Alex let his body fall freely toward the shatter devourer.


    ''Huh?''


    He suddenly felt like the Shatter Devourer was trying to talk to him, but being too young, it couldn''t even do that.


    *BOOOOOOOM*


    Alex ignored the loud boom, he instead increased his falling speed, reaching the ground the next instant��


    *Boom*


    Hended on the ground with a boom, but the sound was almost inaudible due to therge booming sound from the sh of the demons and his attack.


    Alex looked at the Shatter Devourer.


    *Crackle*


    A venta ck-colored mass of energy crackling with silver streaks of space energy.


    Alex kept staring at the mass of energy, not stopping it as it slowly touched his right hand, which was still injured because of the earlier incident.


    ''A conscious skill, huh��''


    Alex muttered as he saw the destruction armor on his right hand getting devoured without any resistance.


    As the destruction was devoured, his right which was still being healed came into view.


    His hand was charred ck by now.


    The sparks of ck and silver were snaking here and there on his right hand.


    "Ssss��"


    Alex hissed as he looked at the condition of his hand.


    He wasn''t feeling any pain, but just looking at his hand''s condition made him wince, realizing how lucky he was to have the Supreme human bloodline.


    *Swoop*


    But the next second, with a swoop, the sparks on his arm vanished, absorbed by the shatter devourer.


    ''Oh?''


    Alex raised a brow as he saw the Shatter Devourer slowly crawling up his right hand.


    Unlike what one would think, he didn''t feel any pain or anything as the ck mass of energy started covering his palm, moving up on his hand.


    All he felt was a bit of a tingling wherever the SD (Shatter Devourer) passed through.


    But when the SD had covered his right armpletely while also devouring the destruction energy on his body, it stilled.


    *Crackle*


    A loud crackle was heard��..


    "What''s up..?"


    Alex, who felt a bit nervous for the first time as he looked at the still SD, muttered those words.


    *Brrr*


    The SD just trembled a bit in response, but Alex for some reason felt goosebumps all over his body��


    ''Hey, Sophia, what is it trying to say��?''


    Alex again turned toward the only person he thought would be able to answer his question, and Sophia didn''t disappoint him.


    [If I were in your ce, I would be gritting my teeth to not cut my tongue.


    The SD is trying to bind itself to you, and that''s what it is warning you about.


    So, you better be-]


    "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    Before Sophia could evenplete her words, Alex for the first time screamed like a beast.


    The good thing was that Alex had his teeth grounding. He listened to Sophia''s advice the moment she worded those things.


    But, he still didn''t expect the pain to be this high.


    [Oh well, looks like it already started��]


    Sophia, whose exnation was cut off by Alex''s pained scream just sighed.


    Alex couldn''t see anything.


    His whole body was trembling in pain.


    His eyes would go nk and then gain light again because he was losing his conscience and gaining then waking up again as the pain wouldn''t let him stay out cold.


    Alex couldn''t move, his fists were clenched and his toes were curled, gripping the ground.


    ''Just why the hell is my bloodline not adjusting to the pain?!''


    Alex yelled inwardly.


    That was the only thing he could even think of.


    The pain was too much for even him.


    But it was not uncalled for as the SD was binding with his soul and it was entering his blood streams, mixing up with his blood to let Alex control it better.


    [Your bloodline won''t protect you from something that would bring you profit, and you have to go through this pain if you want to control SD.]


    Sophia answered Alex''s question even though she was well aware of the fact that Alex wasn''t even listening to her.


    The fact that Alex could even think straight enough to yell those words was surprising.


    "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    Alex just continued screaming as he fell to his knees.


    *Scratch*


    His hands wed the ground in pain, creating deep gashes on the ground.


    Alex wished with all of his heart that this excruciating pain that he was feeling would go away soon.


    The soon for him, however, was the next instant since an instant felt like an hour to him.


    The pain was really unbearable.


    But he seemed to have forgotten for a while that he was not alone in this area and that his enemies were still alive.


    "Don''t let himplete whatever he is doing!"


    Valerius yelled an order and the other three rushed toward Alex.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 281: CHAPTER 281 - True Power of the Demons.

    The demon generals had forgotten about the fact that they didn''t just have to end the fight quickly, but also prevent him from getting close to the SD (Shatter Devourer).


    They never thought that it would be this hard to suppress Alex, even with all of them together.


    Yes, they weren''t using their true powers, but look at the stats!


    Alex was supposed to be Legendary 3, yet he was fighting Mythical 3, and now he was even forcing them to use their real power.


    How could they''ve known that they were fighting with someone who had been a protagonist in thest world?


    Alex would never be transported to an area that could get him in a disadvantageous situation, not until his starting point was a world in which he had been a protagonist.


    Luck might never increase more than EX-rank as that was the highest luck one could have, but luck should never be underestimated.


    Luck helps you make the best decisions you can make. Now, following that path ispletely up to you, but luck is a very important factor.


    So, with Alex''s luck, there was no way he would get into a disadvantageous situation, but it looks like his luck has run out since the demon generals decided to stop holding back.


    At first, they were rxed��.


    ''It''s finally over-'' X4


    All four of them had the same thought.


    It was really tiring - trying not to kill Alex.


    So, when they saw Alex falling toward the ground, they sighed in relief...


    *Crackle*


    But their thoughts were cut short by a crackling noise.


    ''Shit!''


    They eximed inwardly, standing up hurriedly and looking toward the source of the noise.


    They were not new to that crackling noise, they had heard it before, and they knew what made that noise, so their eyes snapped toward the SD''s direction.


    "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    But then they heard a scream, and it sounded like the owner of that yell was experiencing the worst pain in his life.


    ''He reached that thing!'' X4


    The four of their bodies tensed as they felt the aura of SD getting denser.


    Valerius, just like other demons saw what was happening, but unlike others, he could feel the change in Alex''s aura, and he could feel the purity of Alex''s mana increasing.


    The way mana in the surroundings was getting sucked into Alex''s body could be felt by the demons, and this shocked them to the core.


    They knew that mana was sucked into the body every time someone breaks through, it was not something rare, but the intensity could never be so hard that it could be felt.


    "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    Just then, Alex'' yell was heard again, breaking them out of their thoughts.


    "Don''t let himplete whatever he is doing!"


    Valerius ordered in a hurried voice.


    The urgency in his voice made the other demons'' bodies tense.


    They didn''t know that Valerius was panicking because he knew that if Alex was allowed to transform, then they would have no other choice but to kill him.


    And that was something he didn''t want to do.


    "Use your true powers; do whatever you can to stop him, but try not to kill him.


    At least until we don''t have an option."


    Valerius reminded them with a heavy expression that he shared with the other three.


    All of them knew that it was now or never.


    If they couldn''t stop Alex, then they would have to kill him.


    "Come out, Drakeris."


    Again, Morvan was the first to make a move as she muttered those words with a solemn look on her face.


    *Woosh*


    Arge shadow gate opened behind her, and tworge red eyes stared out of it.


    The shadow portal was 30 meters high, and those red-slitted eyes wererger than a human head.


    They stared out from inside the portal, looking at Alex, and for a second, those eyes widened a bit before they calmed down.


    But that was all, those eyes just kept staring at Alex from inside the dark portal.


    Morvan also didn''t say anything at that.


    She knew how powerful that being was; after all, it took her a while to summon and tame it.


    ''She, who doesn''t evene out to fight Mk, is making a move on my first call?''


    Morvan''s muscles tensed and her eyes turned somber.


    She knew how prideful and arrogant that being was, so just the fact that it did this much was enough to tell how strong Alex was.


    However, it was not just Morvan who was preparing her attack, Mk, Valerius, and Nyx were as well.


    Mk, whose body was always red and bulky, started to grow thinner.


    His muscles started contracting.


    "GAAHHHHHHHHHH!"


    And with a yell, he smashed his hand on the ground, shattering the ce he was standing on.


    *Crack*


    The ground cracked, and the crack extended till it reached a diameter of 1000 meters, and that was only because of a single punch, which was not his full power.


    *Ssssssss*


    With a sound that seemed like water being evaporated, Mk''s body started releasing a lot of steam, and the next second, Mk stood up.


    Now, unlike before, he was not bulky.


    His height was also shorter than before.


    Right now, Mk is 2 meters tall with 8-pack abs and well-defined cuts all over his body.


    His face was still the same, but unlike before when it was circr, now it was angr.


    His body was now many times stronger, and his eyes, which were now sharper than a de, stared at Alex.


    Nyx, on the other hand, didn''t have much change in his physique, and neither did he summon someone or something.


    But there were changes in him as well.


    His face turned apathetic, his eyes turned nk, and his aura started changing into a gray-green color.


    The aura around him has now changed from being joyous to gloomy.


    A runic pattern started glowing on both of his arms.


    The green shine from the runic marks only added to the gloomy atmosphere surrounding him.


    He, just like the others, stared at Alex with his emotionless and dead eyes.


    *p*


    Just then, a pping sound was heard, and Valerius came into view��..


    *Dun*


    The pressure excluded from him was enough to make the air tremble ever so slightly.


    *p* X2


    Valerius pped the 2-meter-wide wings on his back as he levitated higher while staring at Alex, who was screaming in pain.


    His eyes were now a darker shade of red, and his skin had now turned paler than before.


    There were no other changes on his body if we don''t count the nails of his hands, that were now 10 centimeters long and sharp.


    His presence was now heavier than before, and he seemed more majestic than before.


    Unlike the other three demons, he didn''t have much change in his features, but his presence and aura were enough to tell that he was now strong enough to kill his previous form, without facing much problem.


    "Attack."


    Amanding voice left his lips, and the other demons followed his words without questioning.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 282: CHAPTER 282 - Attack.

    "Attack."


    Valerius, who now looked more dashing and majestic at the same time, uttered those words in a purr.


    His voice wasn''t really loud, it was more like a murmur, but it was enough to vibrate the air around them.


    The other demon generals, however, didn''t seem to mind it.


    They were powerful on their own, and they knew that they could do the same, so why would it be a big deal for Valerius, who was the strongest among them?


    *Woosh*


    Mk just took a step, but the next moment he was right in front of Alex with his fist clenched.


    *Swoosh*


    Nyx was the same. He also moved at a speed that Alex wouldn''t have been able to perceive.


    Right now, he had a grin on his face as he was happy that he finally got a chance to get back at Alex.


    Others might not have noticed the fact that he was not invisible to Alex, but Nyx knew very well that Alex could perceive where he was.


    He had seen Alex''s eyes following his movements.


    Those ck and red eyes would lock on him the moment he tried to attack as if warning him.


    *Grit*


    He gritted his teeth, feeling frustrated.


    ''A mere legendary rank made me feel helpless!''


    Nyx clenched his dagger in annoyance and irritation.


    How could a legendary ranker make him feel so helpless?!


    This is what he wanted to know.


    He was one of the strongest in this world, you know.


    How could he sit still and not feel anything after not being able to even put a scratch on Alex''s body?


    *sh*


    ''I got you now!''


    Nyx eximed inwardly as his dagger cut through the air, and was about to pierce Alex''s neck.


    He finally got Alex in a position where Alex would have no other choice than to take a hit.


    *p*


    Valerius was not someone to be left behind, so the moment he ordered the others to attack, he pped his wings.


    *Swoosh*


    As if being teleported, one moment he was on his spot, and the next second he was right above Alex.


    His speed was the fastest among the demon generals.


    Yes, unlike Mk and Nyx, he uses magic to increase his speed, but he was fasted without a doubt.


    Valerius, however, didn''t wait for Mk and Nyx to arrive.


    In whatever microsecond he had before they were also next to Alex, Valerius conjured a blood spear and pointed it down, right over Alex''s head.


    ''Just stay still after this��''


    He sighed inwardly.


    He could just pierce the spear into Alex''s head, killing him on the spot, but he didn''t want to do that. So, he aimed the spear at Alex''s shoulder, intending to stake Alex to the ground.


    He hoped that Alex would stop after this.


    He didn''t want to lose the demon lord the moment he was summoned, that too killed by the demon generals'' hands.


    ''Please, try not to kill him.''


    Morvan, on the other hand, sent a mental request to the one who was standing inside the dark portal behind her.


    *Growl��*


    There was no reply from the inside, but a low growl was heard.


    ''You still won''t speak��?''


    Morvan, who heard that growl, just sighed inwardly.


    The beast that was inside the portal was a dragon.


    An arrogant and prideful creature.


    Morvan was lucky enough to find such a creature''s carcass.


    She did somehow convince the dragon to be her summoned undead, but she had yet to get the creature topletely listen to her.


    *Sssssss*


    Soon, however, her eyes turned sharp and her focus returned to the battle when she heard the sharp sound of inhaling air.


    Simultaneously, inside the dark portal, a light started to shine��..


    But the light slowly started taking the shape of the neck of somerge beast.


    "Grrrrr��"


    The next instant, a growl was heard and now it became clear what that light was��..


    Arge head of a dragon covered in dark scales came into view as the head of that beast came out of the portal.


    Its throat was lightened with a yellow-colored glow, and it seemed to be charging up for an attack.


    The heat of the glowing throat could be felt from afar, only Morvan was immune to it since it was her summon.


    But if an SSS-ranker like Luna were to be left in the open, they would''ve died from the heat alone.


    *Hoooo*


    A loud exhaling sound was heard as the jaws of the dragon opened.


    It''s slitted eyes focusing on Alex.


    "Grrr��"


    A low growl left its throat as the fire in its mouth slowly started to escape from the corner of its jaws.


    The dragon then opened its jaw, showing the meter-long razor-sharp teeth along with the me that slowly started forming into a ball of me��..


    But the next instant��..


    "GAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"


    Its eyes widened when it heard a guttural screaming out of Alex''s lips.


    It was as if the pain he was feeling suddenly increased by folds.


    But it was not just the dragon that had its eyes widened, even the demon generals were surprised by the sudden outburst.


    Valerius was quick to realize the problem as he was very sensitive to mana right now.


    "Retreat!"


    Valerius hurriedly shouted as he felt Alex''s speed of absorbing the SD had increased exponentially.


    He could see Alex''s body cracking due to the strain, but at the same time, he could also see Alex''s body mending itself.


    Mk and Nyx, who sensed the urgency in Valerius''s voice halted their steps.


    "Hisss��."


    They hissed in pain as they felt their skin being devoured by the moment they closed in toward Alex.


    But as Valerius asked them to, they quickly retreated.


    However, just as they were a distance away��..


    *BOOOOMMMMM*


    A loud explosion unlike any before, resounded throughout the area.


    The demon cities or viges in the surroundings felt like the earth was trembling, and it actually was.


    The world, which has been known as Eldoria since the time of its creation, was quivering in fear.


    The moment it felt the SD and Alex''s energybine, the turned fearful.


    Unlike Gaia, this was older, so this had a will of its own, and although the will of this world was quite young, it was there nheless.


    The same will was now regretting its decisions.


    {You shouldn''t have done that in the first ce, puny.}


    Sophia, who, unlike Alex, could see and feel everything,mented when she felt the world shake in terror.


    She knew why it was happening after all, but for now, she decided to ignore the and focus on Alex, who seemed to havepleted the binding.


    Sophia, although inside the system space, was always ready to intervene if things got out of hand.


    The moment she felt like Alex''s life was in immediate danger, she would step in.


    However, her eyes then turned toward a certain direction and her brows frowned.


    Her face or body couldn''t be seen, only her outline could be seen since it waspletely dark in the system space, but the brows above her blue eyes were knitted together��.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 283: CHAPTER 283 - A new form?

    //// Author here: I''ll release today''s chapter early because I''m to sure if I''ll be able to release it on time. ////


    SD (Shatter Devourer) was a sentient ability. Something like an AI.


    But it had emotions, just like any living being would have.


    Sure, it was a child, and it didn''t even understand those emotions, but that didn''t mean it would never make out what they meant.


    The process of binding with Alex was just so it couldprehend emotions.


    Just so that it could understand what it is supposed to do in this world.


    Its role was in Alex''s life.


    And it didn''t take much time for it to get a basic understanding of Alex''s thoughts and emotions.


    Alex had almost infinite mana, and although the SD took almost all of his mana, it didn''t even take an instant for his mana pool to be filled again.


    So, the binding process was very fast.


    So fast that in the amount of time it took for the demons toe out of their reverie, and attack Alex, the binding was 50% done.


    It might seem like a long time, but in reality, not even a second was expended in that period.


    But for people with the level of power that Alex and the demons had, this much time was enough to turn the tables in a battle.


    Now, with the demons aiming their attacks at Alex, ready to kill or decapitate him, Alex was in a bind.


    Much more so when three demon generals were right next to him, and one was standing in the back, letting her summoned beast attack Alex.


    Alex, who was jumping between conscious and unconscious states, couldn''t tell what was happening.


    His being alive was already a big deal since the pain he was going through was a bit too much for anyone to survive.


    If he had the adaptability of the Supreme Human working right now, then he wouldn''t have been this miserable, but since it was not working, all he could do was scream his lungs out.


    "ARRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"


    Alex continued to roar in pain, oblivious to the fact that the demons had already surrounded him.


    But, unlike him, the SD was unaware of the situation.


    With 50% binding done, it could now understand basic things, so it was able to tell the urgency of the situation.


    The SD couldn''t think of anything that could help in this situation other than one thing.


    ''WHAT!''


    Alex, whose eyes were tightly shut, snapped open, only to widen to the extreme.


    But before he could inquire or ask about it with Sophia...


    "GAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"


    An agonized roar left his throat.


    Alex could feel his body breaking.


    He could literally perceive the parts that were breaking every second.


    They were getting healed, but the pain was way more than before.


    "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"


    He felt like his soul was being ripped apart.


    His skin, muscles, veins, and bones - everything was breaking apart.


    Silver cracks were appearing on his skin.


    But before they expanded, they were getting healed.


    And all of this happened in an instant before...


    "Retreat!"


    Valerius''s yell was heard, causing Mk and Nyx to hurriedly try to retreat, but due to them being too close, the sparks that came out of the silver crack on Alex''s skin touched them.


    "Hisss��.."


    They hissed in pain as their eyes widened.


    They could see their hands, which were unfortunate enough to be close to Alex, disintegrating, vanishingpletely.


    If destruction could slowly melt them if touched, then just the sparks of SD were enough to make them cease to exist.


    They hurriedly backed away, trying to move as far as they could, but...


    *BOOOOMMMMMM*


    Arge explosion happened, engulfing everything in its surroundings.


    "Use your mana to shield your body!"


    Valerius, who heard it, yelled in panic.


    His heart felt uneasy just looking at the white explosion that was moving toward them.


    The ground and the air vibrated.


    Morvan, Mk, Nyx, and Valerius couldn''t stop their bodies from trembling.


    For the first time since the start of the battle, they felt dread.


    It was as if their deaths were imminent.


    Just the sight of the silver sparksing out of the explosive clouds was enough to send shivers down their spines.


    They were all covering their bodies with mana barriers, something everyone proficient in controlling mana could do.


    But for the first time, the barrier that wouldn''t even crack with the full-force attack of a legendary ranker felt like paper in front of the explosion.


    Their bodies turned cold as the explosion neared.


    They were fast, with a speed close to Mach 100, but they were still unable to outrun the explosion.


    However, just as they watched in terror as the clouds of the st neared them��.


    *Swoosh*


    The range of the explosion came to a sudden halt before it started contracting.


    It felt like the explosion was being sucked into something, and the next instant...


    *Pop*


    With a popping sound, as if a small bubble had been popped, all of the explosion was sucked inside of Alex''s body.


    "...."


    There wasplete silence in the surroundings.


    Nothing was heard.


    *Crackle*


    Only the crackling of the silver sparks on Alex''s ck hair could be heard.


    The demons, who had a wave of relief wash over them, stared at Alex, who was standing at the center of a 300-meter-wide crater.


    The area in a 300-meter radius around Alex was charred ck as the ground disintegrated.


    The ground was caved-in, almost 3 meters deep, and the only ce in the whole area that was still fine was the spot Alex was standing on.


    Only that spot was still the same as it was before.


    Any sign of life was gone, not even the grass was spared.


    The air seemed to stagnate, not wanting to move close to Alex, who was standing in his spot with an emotionless look on his face.


    His incubus transformation was broken.


    Right now, he was back to his human form, but there were some things different about him.


    His aura, which was yful and devilish before, had now turned destructive and oppressive.


    His ck-and-red eyes were now ck-and-silver.


    His shoulder-length ink-ck hair now had silver sparks streaking on it.


    Alex''s clothes were shredded into pieces, allowing hispletely naked body to be seen by others.


    Morvan, for a second, wanted to run toward Alex and pounce on him just because of his looks and divine charm, but the danger she felt from Alex right now was enough to send chills up her spine.


    That sense of danger��the threat to her life��was the only thing that stopped her and reminded her that if she didn''t hurry and do something about Alex, then they might all die.


    "His life force..."


    But, just then, a mutter left Valerius''s lips, causing the other three to turn toward him.


    ''What did he say?''


    The demon generals had their focus on Alex, so they weren''t able to make out Valerius''s words, so they looked at him questioningly.


    Valerius didn''t keep them in the dark as well.


    He turned toward them and uttered some words with a serious look on his face.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 284: CHAPTER 284 - Invincible.

    "His life force is depleting, and his body is breaking."


    Valerius''s words echoed through their head, and finally, the dread they felt started to wash away.


    ''We just need to hold on.''


    All of them thought the same thing.


    They still felt that going too close to Alex was dangerous, but now Alex doesn''t look as threatening as he did a while ago.


    Now all they saw was a ball of packed energy that could cause a loud explosion, but its fuel was leaking.


    All they had to do was wait for the fuel to run out.


    After that, the victory was theirs.


    So, they readied themselves for thest few seconds of the fight.


    ''How long will thisst?''


    Alex, who was now back to his normal form, questioned inwardly in a serious voice.


    [10 seconds is the maximum you could hope for.]


    Sophia replied in a solemn tone.


    Just like Valerius spoke earlier - Alex had used his lifeforce to get into this form.


    It was not actually Alex, but the SD; however, it did ask for Alex''s permission.


    The moment it noticed the crisis Alex was in, it sent its thoughts to Alex, suggesting the best way to get enough power to ovee his enemies.


    The question was simple - Will you sacrifice 1000 years of your lifespan to temporarily be invincible?


    Alex, who was going through the pain, heard that question, or more like he felt it.


    But at that moment, it was the incubus Alex in control.


    So, with his arrogance still up in the sky and his pride getting in the way, he decided to ept it.


    He just wanted to defeat his enemies.


    He could''ve just surrendered or stopped pushing forward.


    The demon generals were ready to stop; after all, they didn''t want to kill him.


    All it would''ve taken was two words - I concede.


    His pride and arrogance, however, wouldn''t want him to take that path.


    So, they took the option of sacrificing a 1000-year lifespan.


    Alex had around a 5,000-year lifespan, and it would keep increasing as he grew stronger, so Alex didn''t think it was that big of a deal.


    However, the moment he agreed to it, the shatter devourer increased the speed of the process, sucking his mana dry in just a second.


    The speed at which the SD was sucking in mana from Alex''s body was so fast that even his instant regeneration couldn''t keep up.


    And that was where his 1000-year lifespan came into y.


    "GAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"


    This was the only thing Alex could do at that time because he could feel his lifespan being burned as fuel.


    But there was some relief hidden in that scream because Alex knew that the process would now end in an instant, and it did.


    *BOOOOOOOMMMMM*


    The st was due to the ess energy in his body and because SD used this ess energy to create an attack.


    But because of that attack...


    *Crack*


    Alex''s body started to crack as his body started to give out, even his body''s healing speed couldn''t keep up with the speed at which his body was shattering.


    ''ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!''


    Alex was roaring inwardly.


    The pain from his body on the verge of being broken was only adding to his agony.


    The SD, who could feel it as well, hurriedly called in the energy, and that energy was used by Alex''s body to heal itself.


    Now, SD was running through Alex''s body, and the strength of the SD was so potent that it even broke the transformation Alex was going through.


    ''I see��.


    I guess, I don''t have much time to test out my new power...


    Alex muttered as he clenched and rxed his fists, feeling the new power rush in his body.


    Right now, with the transformation broken, Alex had returned to being the human Alex, and although his incubus bloodline was still active and influencing him, it was bnced out by Alex''s mind of master and Supreme Human bloodline.


    [You can just stop the fight, you know.]


    Sophia, however, didn''t want him to fight.


    She knew that Alex''s body wouldn''t be able tost for long, and by the end of the 3 seconds, he would be left defenseless.


    She could get out and stop the fight by wiping the floor of the demon generals, but she knew that Alex wouldn''t like it.


    So, she suggested that Alex should stop the fight indirectly.


    ''I would stop if they asked for me to stop; I won''t surrender.''


    Alex, who heard her words, knew what she wanted him to do, it was not hard for him to understand.


    However, even if he wasn''t in the celestial incubus form anymore, he was still not someone without pride and arrogance.


    The fact that he really wanted to test out his new power and his limits was also the thing that was stopping him from stopping the fight.


    [You just want to fight them.]


    Sophia knew why Alex wanted to fight, so she just sighed.


    Finally, a smile formed on Alex''s emotionless face.


    ''Yeah, I want to.''


    Alex epted it.


    He really did want to fight with them in this form.


    He wanted to test if he could defeat them in this form.


    He wanted to end the fight that he had enjoyed most to date.


    Alex could feel that with this power, he would stand a better chance of winning this fight.


    ''I know you can feel and understand me, and I know that you can feel my emotions, so I call for you, Shatter devourer.''


    Alex just closed his eyes, feeling the movement of the SD that was now residing in a space next to his heart.


    It had formed a ck sphere with silver sparks flying around it, right next to the heart.


    Alex could feel it contracting and rxing like the heart, as if it were trying to follow the rhythm of the heart.


    It might not seem like anything special, but that simple action is actually what differentiates a sentient ability from a non-sentient one.


    A sentient ability lives inside of its owner, unlike the non-sentient ones that are just there to be used.


    Alex could feel the SD''s core inside him tremble as if epting his call.


    His mana drained in an instant and got filled again, but Alex could feel the ess to a power much more destructive and dangerous than destruction energy.


    With that energy running through his body, he didn''t feel any kind of fear or nervousness.


    It was as if they would protect him from anything.


    He really felt invincible, right now.


    "ROARR!!"


    So much so that, even though he could see arge and concentrated burst of mes shooting straight at him, he didn''t feel fear.


    He just raised his palm toward the attack that the dragon hadunched at him with a smile.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 285: CHAPTER 285 - Final Forms.

    //// Author here: These few days have been hard on me, guys. So, I apologize for the inconsistencies you had to face.


    Yesterday''s chapters were posted in a hurry, so I didn''t notice that instead of 285 and 286, I posted 275 and 176.


    I will upload 4 chapters today, to make up for yesterday, and I will try to do something about the repeated chapters. ////


    ''We just need to hold on��''


    Just as that thought arrived in the demon generals'' heads, they readied themselves, for thest few seconds of the fight.


    ''Please, attack.''


    Like every time, Morvan was the one to make a move first, or more like it was her summon that did it, but it was at her request.


    *Sssss��.*


    The mesing out of the dragon''s jaw, burned the air itself, making a hissing sound.


    "ROARR!!"


    And with a loud roar, it opened its jaw wide, shooting a pir of condensed ck and red fire toward Alex.


    The other demon generals alsounched their attacks respectively, hoping to push Alex away from themselves.


    They could feel the destructive energy in Alex''s body, even now when he was standing more than 300 meters away from them.


    *Woosh*


    All of their attacks shot toward Alex, cutting through the wind, intending to do whatever damage they could.


    The demons clenched their fists, pouring more and more mana into their attacks, enforcing them to the extreme.


    The air was palpable with a sense of seriousness.


    The demons weren''t sure of how strong Alex was right now.


    All they knew was��.


    ''He is strong enough to kill us in one strike.''


    Yes, they could tell that much just by the power of thest explosion that had happened a while ago.


    They knew that if they werete and didn''t escape in time, then just like the other things in the area, they would''ve turned into nothing.


    They were tense.


    They knew that they just had to hold on, and they thought they would be able to��


    But��


    *BOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!*


    "WHAT!"


    Their eyes and mouths went wide due to the shock they felt.


    Morvan even took a step back with a gaze filled with bewilderment and terror hidden deep inside, fixed on Alex.


    The other demon generals were not any better.


    They were shell-shocked because of what they were seeing.


    Their stunned state only broke when they saw Alex waving his hand, making the small 1-meter-wide barrier made of the SD disappear from his extended palm.


    "Good enough��"


    Alex''s purr made its way to their ears as his ck and silver eyes turned toward them.


    *Shiver*


    They shivered as they felt the aura from Alex''s body transform into arge beast baring its fang at them.


    It was nothing but an illusion their mind had created, they knew it as well, but they still felt fear.


    ''You are stronger than I thought��''


    Alex, on the other hand, was looking at the ck mass of energy in his palm with a brow raised.


    He was more than satisfied by the SD''s power.


    He could perceive the fear that the demon generals felt.


    The way their bodies trembled when he looked at them, the way their emotions were blinking from fear to hope, he could see it all with his empathy of incubus.


    The dragon''s eyes were wide open as well, and although he couldn''t feel any emotion emanating from that dragon, Alex could tell that it was shocked as well.


    He did stop a full-blown attack from the same dragon with just a thin barrier made of SD''s energy.


    That thin barrier devoured and destroyed its attack without a hitch.


    The thing that shocked all of them even more was that while that was happening, Alex had apletely rxed expression, it was as if everything was a bit too easy for him.


    And even if it was easy for him, he should have some concern or some worry.


    ''You''re using your life force for god''s sake!''


    All of the demon generals wanted to scream out loud.


    Their backs were covered in a cold sweat, and they feared that they might lose their lives as Alex stared at them.


    And Alex was just standing there, looking at them with a smile marring his face.


    His carefree behavior made them grit their teeth in frustration.


    They, the four demon generals, were hesitating to move toward a guy who was a whole major rank lower than them.


    *Step*


    But as if he had enough staring at them, Alex finally took a step forward.


    *Step*


    Another step.


    *Step*


    Then another.


    However, the steps he took were not on the ground, he was walking in the air, yet the sound of him walking was echoing through the area.


    "Grrrrrr��."


    The dragon growled threateningly, warning Alex not to move forward, but Alex just smiled at the dragon.


    *Step**Step**Step*....


    Alex kept moving forward and his steps kept resounding in the surroundings.


    Every step increased the heart rate of the demon generals.


    *Step*


    Alex, who was walking toward them, stopped 20 meters away from the demon generals.


    "Huh?"


    But then, the demon generals had their eyes widened as they saw their own footprints in front of them.


    ''Did I just step back in fear��.?'' X4


    They questioned themselves, and to their disbelief, all they found was one answer: yes.


    They didn''t want to ept it, but their trembling bodies and ttering teeth made it impossible to not believe it.


    They, the ones who lived at the top of the food chain, took a step back in terror.


    It was not actually just one step, though; they had taken at least 10 steps each.


    The four of them exchanged stupefied and exasperated looks before they clenched their trembling fists.


    Their breathing slowly stabilized, their heart rate started getting normal, and their shivering bodies stopped as well.


    Yes, they were scared, and they epted it, but that didn''t mean that they were going to continue showing this shameful behavior.


    ''This is unbefitting of a demon general.''


    They were demon generals��the ones that led the demon army. If they trembled in front of a guy who was a major rank below them, then what face would they show to their followers?


    Yes, Alex was very strong, and they were trying to buy time so that they could defeat him easily, but not anymore.


    "Kill him."


    Valerius, the one who has tried not to kill Alex till now, finally gives an order that goes against what he wants.


    He was the strongest of the four demon generals, the leading general of the demonic army, so he, of course, had the highest arrogance among the demons.


    So, now that Alex had injured his pride, even he couldn''t take it.


    *sh*


    Along with his order, he shed his wrist.


    *Splurt*


    But although it was just a single sh on his wrist, blood started spurting out of it.


    It started covering him like a cocoon, making his changes invisible.


    But it was not just him who finally revealed their trump cards.


    *Crack*


    The ground below Morvan cracked��.


    *Swoosh*


    Bone fragments rushed toward Morvan as they came out of the ground.


    *Pierce**Pierce**Pierce*...


    They shot at her, piercing her body here and there, but she remained still with her eyes focused on Alex.


    Nyx, just like the other two, revealed his trump card��.


    *Woosh*


    Wind started swirling around him, levitating him up in the air before the wind gained a tint of green, and��.


    *Fwoosh*


    Shot toward his eyes, mouth, nose, ear, or even the pores on his skin.


    His body started getting enveloped in the green mist swirling around him as it slowly got inside his body.


    Mk, on the other hand, just stared at Alex, before he clenched his fists and��.


    *BOOM*


    He smashed it on the ground, causing a cloud of dust to rise up.


    Thest thing that was seen was Mk''s fists lightening with fire; it was as if the fire was burning his skin because his skin was getting darker.


    But Alex, who was the reason for all this, just stood 20 meters away from them.


    A distance so small that if it were any other legendary ranker, they would''ve died way before they could even see this form of the demon generals.


    Alex just smiled wider as he looked at them transforming into their final forms.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 286: CHAPTER 286 - Lets just get on with it...

    ''Oh?''


    Alex, who could see everything clearly even with the dust, just raised a brow as he looked at the demons with an intrigued expression.


    He wasn''t feeling cornered like before; right now he had the upper hand, and the only reason he wasn''t attacking them was because he still wasn''t physically strong enough to catch up to them if they ran.


    All he could do was make magical attacks.


    But even when he saw their transformation into their final forms, he was just a bit curious about how much power they packed now.


    [Only 7 seconds remain, Alex.]


    Sophia, as a good assistant, reminded Alex of the time that he was running out of, and Alex nodded his head at that.


    ''I should finish this quickly; Luna might start panicking in a while��.''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he looked toward the space fold he had made for Luna.


    He had moved quite far from there because the attacks the demons and he exchanged were strong enough to shatter the space around them.


    So, fighting close to the space fold Luna was hiding might cause her to get harmed, killed even.


    However, thest few attacks were a bit too loud for Luna to not wake up, and with her weak power, neither could she look out of the space fold, nor could shee out.


    Luna was just sitting inside the space fold, meditating, pretending to be calm, but for Alex, who could clearly see the emotions she was feeling, it was as clear as it could be.


    "Phew��"


    Alex released a deep breath before he looked at the dust in front of him.


    *Woosh*


    But before Alex could make a move, mes roared from the inside of the dust, pushing away everything in its surroundings and revealing the being hidden beneath it��.


    *Crackle*


    A crackling of fire was heard as Alex''s eyesnded on Mk.


    ''me possession?''


    But the form Mk had taken made him tilt his head in confusion.


    [It''s not me possession, but it''s not much different as well.


    It''s more like me armor over his body, just like how SD is covering your body.]


    Sophia briefly exined Mk''s form, causing Alex to nod his head in realization.


    Mk, right now, was burning with red mes covering his body, even his eyes and clothes.


    His skin, which had turned dark red before, was now gaining a browning tint every passing second, making it seem like his body was burning.


    His physique didn''t change; he still had the same streamlined body withpact muscles, but the mes covering his body made him look a bit more intimidating.


    The reason for Alex''s confusion, however, was that his form right now looked like the me possession/spirit possession/spirit form that Alice takes on when she gets serious.


    But with Sophia''s exnation, his doubts cleared.


    *p*


    As a wave of wind hit his face, Alex''s eyes turned toward the source of the wind, Valerius.


    Valerius was levitated 5 meters above the ground, however, unlike before, now his body was covered in a blood-red membrane, much like the scales of a dragon.


    His sharp red eyes were the only thing visible on his body other than his white hair that was flowing down his back.


    His nails were now elongated to a 50-centimeter length, though instead of calling them nails, it would be better to call them blood, as they were made of blood, just like his armor.


    *Hisssssss*


    The sound of ground and air melting caused Alex to turn toward Nyx, who had his arms turned green with a sticky and gooey liquid dripping from it.


    Just a single drop of that substance was enough to create a hole as deep as 5 meters inside the earth.


    ''That ability would do well if matched with my poison mist��''


    Alex smiled inwardly as he looked at Nyx''s ability with a bit of green in his eyes.


    Nyx''s hand was covered in that green substance, but just like before, his eyes were lifeless, and his arms were covered in golden runes that could be seen even under the green cover of poison.


    *Click*


    And finally, Alex''s eyes moved toward Morvan, causing him to raise his brow in appreciation.


    Among all of the demon generals, the one with the most destructive magic power was Morvan, there was no doubt about it.


    Yes, it was because of the dragon she had in her summons, but that dragon was her possession, so it was counted as her ability.


    Right now, her whole body was covered with white and ck bones.


    Her shoulders and chest had a pad made of ck scales, just like the scales of the dragon that was standing right behind her, even now.


    The dragon, however, seemed to be worn out and out ofmission because it was slowly going back into the darkness it came from.


    "Thank you."


    Alex, who heard Morvan thanking the dragon, looked at Morvan''s clenched fists.


    Her fists, just like her other body parts, were covered with bones, but the shape of the bone on her fist was like the jaw of a dragon and they were covered in ck scales.


    Alex didn''t need to focus on those dragon head shapes on her fists to know why she thanked the dragon.


    His all-seeing eyes could see what was happening as clearly as day.


    ''That''s some insane amount of mana��''


    Alex muttered as he saw the blue-colored mass of energy emanating from Morvan''s fists.


    Only he could see that because of his all-seeing eyes, but the sheer amount of mana on Morvan''s fists was enough to match the amount of mana one mythical 3 ranker would have.


    Her power was suppressed to mythical 1, but her summons powers weren''t, and that was most probably the reason for her thanking the dragon.


    [Like you are the one to speak about the amount of mana when you have an almost infinite amount of mana in your body��..]


    Sophia, however, just sighed when she heard Alex''s internal muttering.


    ''Still, how can she do that...?''


    Alex questioned curiously, ignoring the four pairs of cold eyes staring at him.


    [Her ability enables her to borrow the power of her summons in various body parts, but she can only do that for one summon at a time-]


    Sophia''s exnation was cut short as Alex just waved his hands internally.


    ''I know that as well; I can see the description, but isn''t her power suppressed?''


    This is what Alex wanted to know the most.


    [Yes, it is.


    But her body is still the same��the body of a mythical 3-ranker.]


    Sophia didn''t take the way Alex cut her words as an offense; she knew that he didn''t mean it that way, so she just answered his question.


    ''I see��.''


    Alex nodded his head repeatedly, finally understanding everything before his lips moved.


    "Let''s just get on with it��"


    *Rumble*


    He spoke to the four demon generals in front of him, causing them to clench their fists tight enough to cause a rumble in the air.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 287 CHAPTER 287 - [You have a guest, Alex]

    //// Author here - Guys, I uploaded the chapter now, and if you had unlocked thest chapters, you don''t have to waste coins unlocking the new ones, I edited the old ones.


    The chapters 285 and 286, which, by mistake, were uploaded as 275 and 276, are now back to how they should be, so please do read them and don''t skip them.


    Every chapter here is important for the future plot. ////


    Looking at how carefree Alex was, even though they had already transformed into the strongest form they could, caused the demon to get frustrated. Valerius, who felt the same as the other three demons, finally issued another order.


    "Weapons out."


    The fists of the other demons rxed before they nodded their heads.


    But Valerius wasn''t looking at them; he was staring at Alex, and then he waved his hand.


    *Shing*


    With the sound of air being cut by a sharp de, a pulsating red spear appeared in Valerius''s hand.


    *Dun*


    The pressure from the spear descended upon the air, causing the demon generals to feel shivers run down their spines.


    They knew that Valerius was on their side, yet looking at the spear, which had a design that seemed like veins on human bodies, reminded them that the spear he was holding was the only weapon in this world that could be considered living.


    Yes, that was a living spear since it was made by using the body of a demon that had betrayed them a long time ago.


    This weapon is called Hell''s Slumber.


    It was a weapon that was supposed to be used by the demon king, but since there was no demon king in the demon empire, it was used by the leading general of the demon empire, Valerius Voly Lofnus.


    "That''s a nice spear."


    But their thought process was interrupted by Alex''s words, which were filled with appreciation.


    It was as if he were thanking Valerius for taking that weapon out.


    But Valerius just stared at Alex without saying a word, his fists clenched around the pulsating rod of the spear.


    The other demons also hurriedly waved their hands, summoning their own respective weapons.


    Morvan summoned a bone staff that had a skull-shaped top.


    It looked tough, and it could be used as a short, one-handed hammer.


    Mk, who had roaring mes covering his body, now had two golden gauntlets that reached his elbows.


    They were golden-colored with red engravings on them.


    The red color of the inscriptions matched the mes he was covered with.


    *Clinck*


    He crashed his fists against each other and smiled with satisfaction when he heard the clicking sound and the sparks created by them.


    ''They have some nice weapons.''


    Alex raised his brow inwardly.


    The weapons the demon generals had were quite good.


    Not as good as his Varethian, but still, they were legendary-ranked weapons, and that alone spoke volumes about their weapon''s strength.


    Alex ignored Nyx just like he had been doing till now.


    Nyx also had a new weapon in his hands; both of his palms now held two chakrams with silver-green des and dark green handles.


    Just like the other three, his weapon was a legendary weapon as well, but Alex didn''t focus much on him; rather, he was interested in Valerius''s weapon.


    The real reason for ignoring Nyx was probably because Nyx had been trying to kill him since the start.


    *Crack*


    He just cracked his fingers and smiled at the demons.


    "Shall we?"


    His smile widened as his palms started getting covered in a dense mass of ck-silver energy.


    The demons had their bodies tense, but they didn''t back down.


    The air was palpable with tension.


    The demon generals and Alex stared at each other, their attacks charged with mana.


    The air became still as the solemnness of the situation reached an all-time high.


    This was the final confrontation, the time that would decide the oue of this long yet short battle.


    It was long as it felt long for the participants, yet it was short as it had not even been a minute since the fight started.


    The earth was already crying because of the damage done to it in such a short period of time.


    No living being was left to tell the tales of this battle; they were killed unintentionally even before they could understand what was happening.


    The small building that was supposed to be the hiding spot and the most secretive ce in the demon empire was now nowhere to be seen.


    Even the forest that hid this ce had disintegrated into nothingness.


    *Inhale**Exhale*....


    The sounds of breathing were heard as the demons stood on their spots with their backs drenched in cold sweat.


    A mythical-ranked creature that is not even supposed to sweat was sweating due to the tension in the air.


    The demons knew that this might as well be thest fight they had, but even if they died, they would prefer dying over running away like cowards.


    They stood strong, waiting for Alex to make a move.


    Valerius, who was unaware that Alex might stop if he just requested it once more like before, also stared at Alex with his muscles taunt, observing even the slightest movement from Alex.


    Valerius was still thinking that it was the same Alex who had been ignoring his requests and apologies while being unreasonable.


    He didn''t know that Ales was behaving like that because of the bloodline''s influence.


    All he thought was that requesting and apologizing wouldn''t get them anywhere; now they only had one thing left to do: kill.


    So, all of the demon generals waited for Alex''s first move.


    They wanted to make use of the only advantage they had, and it was their physical stats.


    They could tell that even though Alex had grown stronger and more dangerous, his body was still weaker than theirs.


    They still wanted to avoid getting close to Alex, but with faster speed, they would be able to dodge Alex''s attack if they saw iting.


    *Swish*


    The moment they waited for had finally arrived as Alex directly jumped toward Mk with his fists clenched.


    The demon generals pointed their weapons toward Alex, ready to shoot at him, but just as they were about to meet Alex''s attack...


    *DUN*


    A colossal pressure descended upon everyone in the area.


    The pressure was so strong that it felt like a mountain was crushing over them.


    The demons'' eyes widened as they knew who it was.


    They were a bit too familiar with this pressure.


    But what shocked them more was the fact that the pressure was only locked on them and not on Alex, as they saw it all in slow motion.


    They saw how Alex''s SD-coated fist inched close toward Mk''s heart.


    Mk''s heart rate shot up as he realized that he might die.


    He couldn''t move, nor could he shout; things were happening a bit too fast.


    Alex, who was oblivious to the pressure that the demons felt, frowned, but he didn''t stop.


    He found it strange that the demon generals weren''t even moving, but then he heard a voice inside his head.


    It was Sophia.


    However, like the rxed tone like always, right now, her tone was as serious as it could be.


    [You have a guest, Alex.]


    Alex, who heard her words, widened his eyes.


    *Swoosh*


    He hurriedly jumped back in a hurry and started looking around for the guest that Sophia was talking about with utmost caution.


    ''Who is it?! Why couldn''t I sense them?!''


    Alex eximed inwardly.


    His rxed body was now tensed.


    The reason for his rm was simple: even with his senses working at their maximum and his perception powered by all-seeing eyes, along with All-Master, he couldn''t find anyone other than them in the vicinity.


    *Crack*


    Explore more at empire


    But then he heard a cracking noise, and he felt something that caused his eyes to widen in shock and worry before his head snapped toward a certain spot.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 Chapter 288 CHAPTER 288 - A New Enemy?

    Luna was weak, and she knew that as well.


    But she never asked Alex to make her stronger, even though she knew that just a word from her was enough to make Alex do it.


    Alex cared for her - that was enough reason for Alex to make her powerful enough to protect herself in this world.


    Luna, however, didn''t want that.


    She didn''t want to ask for a power boost from Alex.


    Stay connected with empire


    That would make it seem like she wanted power from Alex, but she never really desired power; she only wanted Alex.


    ''I will be fine.''


    That''s what she thought.


    She thought that she would be fine in any situation; she could talk her way out or fool her way out in any situation.


    But that misconception of hers shattered as soon as she felt the pressure of four different beings crashing down on Alex.


    Those were not even aimed at her, yet she felt her body slowly tearing apart.


    She was in pain��a lot of pain��but she just kept quiet.


    She felt like she might die the next second, but she still remained silent.


    She knew that she just had to ask Alex to help her, but looking at Alex''s expression, she didn''t.


    The look on Alex''s face was enough to stop her.


    It was as if he was desperately looking for something.


    She knew what it was, and she knew why Alex was behaving like that.


    ''Alice and Ann are not here.''


    It broke her heart when she saw Alexpletely ignore her, but she still remained still.


    She was not showing any emotion or expression of difort, or at least she tried not to.


    Tears were slowly pooling up in her watery pink eyes, but she held them in.


    However, just as she felt like it was her end and she might die, she saw Alex looking at her.


    The way Alex looked at her made her smile gently at him.


    She couldn''t speak right now; it was hard to stand straight, let alone speak.


    So, she just did what she could to let Alex know that he''s not at fault here.


    ''Took you long enough...''


    Luna muttered inwardly with a smile.


    She could tell that he was finally back to normal, and she could tell that he was ming himself.


    Luna was well adapted in reading someone''s emotions from their expressions, and the worry, guilt, and anger in Alex''s eyes spoke volumes.


    So, Luna just smiled, conveying what she felt with just a smile. She felt Alex''s aura enveloping her, and she felt her body being pulled into a warm and gentle hug.


    For a second, Luna was shocked since it was the first time Alex hugged her, but thefort of having his arm around her and her head on his chest was too rxing considering the situation she was in.


    So, Luna couldn''t stop her body from falling unconscious.


    She didn''t know what happened after that.


    She did feel her body being energized, and that did refresh her, but she decided to keep sleeping.


    That was until...


    *BOOOOOOMMMMMMM*


    "WHAT!!"


    A loud, booming sound was heard, shocking the hell out of Luna, who was sleeping without a problem.


    The exploding sound was so loud that her eardrums kept ringing for a while.


    Her heart was beating like a drum, and one could feel her heart beating violently if they were standing close to her.


    Yes, she had been in a lot of battles, and she had heard her fair share of explosions, but this one was on another level.


    But as her eyes snapped open and she sat up straight, she realized that she was in apletely white space.


    A space of 2 x 2 meters, with nothing other than her.


    She did feelfortable and safe in this space, but the explosion from earlier was still echoing through her head.


    It was just a few seconds ago that she fell asleep, and in just a matter of seconds, even before she couldpletely drift into her dreams, she heard this booming sound.


    She knew that it must be Alex who sent her into this space; he was the one she was with before she lost consciousness, so she wasn''t scared right now, but the loud boom from earlier almost gave her a heart attack.


    She tried to sit up straight, trying to calm her nerves, but then a face shed in her head.


    ''Alex!''


    Luna''s eyes widened.


    ''Is he safe?!''


    Yes, she was safe, and Alex must have made it so that no harmes her way, but what about him?


    Was he safe?


    Did the explosion from earlier have something to do with him?


    Many questions popped up into her head, one after another, but she couldn''t find any answers.


    She was about to panic.


    Just imagining Alex''s being at the center of the st or explosion earlier chilled her brain cells.


    ''W-What should I do-''


    She tried to stand up in panic, fearing the worst.


    She knew that Alex was strong, but that didn''t mean that he was invincible.


    She realized that the moment she felt the pressure from the four beings, their pressure was stronger than Alex''s.


    However, her body froze, and her eyes widened.


    Her thoughts came to a halt the next instant as she heard a cracking sound.


    *Crack*


    But that was not all.


    The crack started to widen.


    *Crack**Crack**Crack*....


    Until finally, it shattered.


    *Shatter*


    Luna''s body jerked involuntarily; that was all. Her body wasn''t even moving for her to be able to do anything else.


    Her eyes, however, were fixed on the being standing right in front of her.


    Her heartbeats, which were calming down, started to elevate again.


    Just looking at the person in front of her was enough to make her realize that it was not something the four from before could stand a chance against.


    The being was much more than any of the four from before could ever hope to achieve.


    Luna, frozen on her spot, was now hyperventting.


    She couldn''t think straight.


    Yet, what worried her most was not her situation.


    ''Will Alex be able to survive this person��.?''


    This was the sole thought running through her head on repeat.


    She could feel the heat of the surroundings burning her skin slowly; the soles of her feet were melting as they came into contact with the remnants of the previous destruction.


    Yet all she thought was about Alex.


    But just as her mind was about to turn into a mush because of all the pressure and hyperfunctioning, a gentle wave passed through her as she heard a voice.


    "I am sorry for the initial pressure.


    It has been a long time since I came in contact with a being whose power is lower than legendary rank, so I forgot to lower the mana pressure."


    The voice sounded ancient and mighty��one that could incite awe from anyone who heard it��washing away all the fear and panic Luna felt an instant ago.


    The image of the being in front of her finally registered in her mind.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 289 CHAPTER 289 - Who’s he?

    A man who looked to be in his 40s was wearing a stylish ck suit with a modern cut, paired with a white cored shirt.


    The jacket has a white fur cor, adding a luxurious touch, and a teal tie that pops against the dark suit. A neat belt cinches the waist, and in white gloves give a refined look.


    The unbuttoned jacket reveals a bold red lining, adding a striking contrast.


    Despite having a sharp face, he had some wrinkles.


    His stance was clear from the way his silver-grey eyes looked toward Luna with no malice in them.


    His lips were forming a soft smile, and his hands were extended for Luna to give support, which Luna didn''t take.


    The man had a long-pointed beard and mustache.


    His hair was long andbed backward, while two strands of hair fell on his forehead.


    His face looked like that of a strict teacher type of person, but right now, he had a gentle look in his eyes as he stared at Luna.


    "I am sorry for the initial pressure.


    It has been a long time since I came in contact with a being whose power is lower than legendary rank, so I forgot to lower the mana pressure."


    The man said, his body rxed and his hands in front, showing that he wasn''t trying to y tricks with them.


    Alex, on the other hand, was gritting his teeth.


    ''WHY?!''


    He roared inwardly as he clenched his teeth.


    He wasn''t able to move his body at all.


    What angered him, however, was the fact that it wasn''t the man who was putting pressure on him and stopping his movements; it was...


    ''Sophia! Answer me!


    Why?!''


    Alex''s ck and silver eyes were gaining a tint of red. It was because of anger as well as the fact that he was pushing his eyes to their limit, trying to get a read on the man standing not far away from him.


    But as said before, it was not the man in front of Alex who was restricting him; it was the system, something he thought was on his side.


    The fact that a man who was so strong that Alex, even with his boosted power, would feel like he wouldn''t stand a chance against was now standing next to Luna agitated Alex to the extreme.


    Alex could see the disy of the man''s power in front of him.


    He could perceive how the demon generals were smashed to the ground by the pressure that man emanated.


    Alex couldn''t feel it��it was not directed at him, after all.


    *Crunch**Crack*


    But just the fact that he could hear the bones of the four mythical 3-ranked beings getting crushed was enough to chill his heart.


    Yet, the system��or more precisely, Sophia��restricted his movement, stopping him from getting closer to Luna.


    The words that man spoke fell on Alex''s deaf ears.


    Alex''s whole body was growing cold the longer he saw Luna standing stiffly as the man kept smiling at her.


    His ears were ringing with a strange drumming noise��something he wasn''t even able to make out perfectly.


    His vision was getting blurred, with only the man and Luna remaining in his line of sight.


    Alex couldn''t make out the calming and gentle tone in the man''s voice; all he saw was an extremely dangerous man standing next to Luna.


    A man so strong that the mana around him was getting scared.


    Alex''s body was trembling out of rage, frustration, and�� fear.


    The SD, although unable to express its feelings, still conveyed the fear it felt.


    But all of this didn''t calm Alex; it just added to the dismay he felt.


    He didn''t even bother to wipe the blood that slipped down his lips because of his bleeding gums.


    He just kept ring at the man, hoping to scare him. Knowing full well that even with his full power, he probably won''t even be able to injure that guy.


    It was as if there was a natural barrier surrounding him��a barrier that Alex, with his current power, wouldn''t be able to break.


    But just as Alex got buried under the feeling of weakness, Sophia spoke.


    [Alex.]


    Just one word��something Alex shouldn''t even be able to hear with his mind getting clouded, yet he heard it loud and clear.


    Those words were like a strong gust of wind, blowing away whatever negative thoughts he was having.


    Alex, for a second, felt like he was flying within the clouds, getting massaged by some fairies.


    Sophia''s voice was always enchanting and melodic, but for this one word, it was as if someone added a 1000x enhancement to it.


    However, just as Alex frowned in confusion and was about to question Sophia about what happened, he heard Sophia continue.


    [Look at the man carefully.


    Does he look like someone who means harm to you?]


    Sophia''s words caused Alex to swallow whatever he was going to ask, and his eyes turned toward the man��this time with his rational part of the mind working wlessly.


    Sophia''s voice was back to normal��or more like the toned-down version that Alex always heard.


    Alex, however, was now observing the man''s body posture and attitude.


    He couldn''t look into the man with his all-seeing eyes��not for now, at least.


    Maybe he was too weak to be able to do that or for some other reason, but that was to be discoveredter.


    Alex could still perceive that man''s emotions with the empathy of an incubus.


    He was sure that the man in front of him was a demon; after all, the man was being suppressed.


    Alex could feel the bloodline suppression working on that man. Yes, it was just a bit, but it did suppress the man''s power.


    And as the empathy of an incubus was a skill from his demonic bloodline��one that ranked among the top��it was not surprising that it worked on the man.


    ''Guilty, ted, surprised, angry, startled, and cautious.''


    Alex could make out those emotions.


    He could even tell which emotion was for whom.


    The anger that man felt was directed solely at the demon generals.


    Alex was sure of that��the cracking of the bones was still audible, after all.


    tion, guilt, and caution were directed toward Alex.


    He was happy that Alex was there, yet he was cautious, but looking at Alex''s capabilities, it wasn''t uncalled for.


    Who knows what Alex would do next��


    Would he suddenly gain another power-up?


    It took the man a while to arrive here because he was still a bit drowsy from the long slumber that he had, but he could still perceive the things that were happening.


    He was someone who lived close to this area, after all.


    Started and surprised were the only emotions Alex could feel from the guy when he looked at Luna.


    Although this revtion calmed him a bit, Alex still wasn''t satisfied��his brows were frowning, and his teeth were grinding.


    _________________________________________


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 Chapter 290 CHAPTER 290 - He’s nothing for me.

    ''Why did you restrict my movement?''


    Alex was still not satisfied.


    He wanted an answer for the previous conduct.


    Alex doesn''t like it when someone tries to control him or y with him. This was something Sophia knew very well.


    So, why did she still do it?


    [... Alex, I did it for your own good.]


    Sophia replied with a pause, trying to mellow down the situation.


    She knew that directly stating the reason would be more offensive for Alex, as he was right now.


    ''For my own good? Do you want to say that stopping me, even when Luna was in danger, was for my own good??


    You think that I would be all right even if something happened to her while I stood frozen on my spot-''


    Alex''s rebuke, however, was cut short by Sophia''s soft words.


    [But none of that happened.


    Luna wasn''t actually in danger, was she?


    The man wasn''t trying to harm her, was he?


    She wasn''t going to die, right?]


    ''.....''


    Sophia''s words left Alex tongue-tied.


    He couldn''t refute any of them.


    Yes, he interpreted the situation in the wrong way, and none of them were actually happening, but still...


    ''I just don''t like it.''


    In the end, Alex just let out a frustrated sigh.


    He knew that the situation wasn''t favorable and that what he was going to do was not the best path to follow, but he couldn''t just sit back when he saw an entity much stronger than him appearing right next to Luna.


    [I know that, Alex.


    I know that very well, but it was necessary.


    The system would never allow me to do it if the situation didn''t call for it.]


    Sophia, who saw that Alex had now calmed down, finally decided to reveal the real reason.


    [You would''ve died if you tried fighting that man.]


    Alex''s body, which had rxed a bit, tensed again, his brows growing as his eyes turned sharp.


    ''borate.''


    Alex purred in a low yetmanding voice.


    He could pretty much guess it, but he still asked for the reason why Sophia said that.


    Unlike before, however, now he was walking toward Luna at a slow yet steady pace.


    His feet would melt anything that they came in contact with; his SD form was still active after all.


    Alex wasn''t walking toward the man with an intention to fight, he was just moving close to Luna.


    He didn''t like how she was exposed to such a dangerous being.


    [He is much stronger than you think he is.]


    Sophia, on the other hand, started exining just as Alex had asked her to.


    She didn''t restrict Alex''s movement anymore; she knew that he wasn''t thinking of attacking that man now.


    So, she let it be.


    ''He''s higher than Mythical rank?''


    Alex questioned skeptically.


    Sophia said: much stronger than you.


    Someone who is way stronger than Alex with his SD form activated can''t be a mythical ranker.


    Alex was strong enough to take care of a mythical-ranker.


    That left only one possibility.


    [Yes.]


    Sophia didn''t keep Alex hanging and replied instantly.


    ''I don''t stand a chance against him?''


    Alex still questioned.


    He wanted to know if he could even put up a resistance if things went haywire.


    Yeah, that man didn''t seem to have any ill intentions toward him, but that was for now.


    What aboutter?


    What if something about Alex irked him?


    Alex didn''t like the thought of holding his speech just so the one in front wouldn''t be offended.


    Alex would never turn into a boot licker.


    That was just not him.


    So he questioned Sophia.


    [No, the most you can do is put a scratch on him.]


    Sophia replied without sugarcoating her words.


    Alex, who heard those words, frowned as he gritted his teeth.


    His steps didn''t stop, though.


    He still walked toward Luna and the man, and although he was walking slowly and deliberately, in just three steps, he was standing right next to Luna.


    He covered a distance of some 100 meters with just 3 steps.


    Alex''s arm coiled around Luna''s waist, pulling her closer to his body while his eyes were locked on the man.


    Luna, who, although calm, was still not sure of what she should do, just smiled as she rested her head on Alex''s chest.


    Just being close to him made her worries go away.


    Yes, she knew that Alex wouldn''t be able to win against the man in front of them.


    She didn''t need someone to tell her that.


    But still, as she felt the warmth emanating from Alex''s body and the eventual jolts she felt when the white sparks on Alex''s body touched her, they were enough to make her smile heartily.


    They could die next second, sure.


    They would be together, at least.


    Alex, however, had his body tensed.


    He did stand next to Luna, and he was staring at the man with a calm face, but his heart was anything but calm.


    From afar, he couldn''t tell much, but now that he was standing close to the man, he could perceive it perfectly.


    That man''s body was covered in a natural mana barrier, and unlike the mana barrier someone conjures, his was natural.


    Alex could easily make out those things.


    Alex''s mana affinity was very high for some reason he didn''t know, but that affinity got hany right now since he could tell why Sophia said that the most he would be able to do is put a scratch on that man.


    Yeah, SD was strong; it was way stronger than anything he could handle, but the man in front of him had nature protecting him.


    Even SD won''t be able to harm him.


    [You don''t have to worry, Alex.


    No matter how strong that man is, he''s nothing for me.


    The moment he shows even a hint of killing intent or the moment he is judged as an enemy by the system, his game would be over even before it starts.]


    Sophia, who could feel Alex''s emotional turmoil, reassured him.


    ''Hm?''


    Alex, still trying to be calm on the outside, let out a confused hum on the inside.


    [You didn''t think that I was here just for show, did you?]


    Sophia, however, frowned as she heard the confused huming out of Alex''s mouth.


    {Did he think of me as a literal receptionist?}


    Sophia uttered inwardly - her voice filled with disbelief.


    ''No?''


    Alex, unsure what to say, just said whatever came to his mind.


    He wasn''t in a situation where he could think too much since, right now, he had a man strong enough to wipe the floor of him, standing right in front of him, smiling softly.


    [.....]


    For a while, Sophia went silent.


    {Sigh��.}


    In the end, she just sighed inwardly.


    [I''m like a gaurdian angle for you, but only in cases which the system permits me to interfere.


    If the system thinks that the situation is something you can face if you try harder, then it won''t let me make a move.]


    Alex finally rxed a bit, but before he could, the man in front of them moved his lips.


    _________________________________________


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 CHAPTER 291 - Please forgive them.

    "I greet the new demon lord."


    The man in the ck suit bowed his head, greeting Alex and calling him the demon lord.


    Alex, on the other hand, just stared at the man without saying a word.


    Alex knew what that man was trying to say, but now, with Sophia''s reassurance, he was aware that he wasn''t cornered and that there was someone protecting his back.


    Yes, he didn''t like the fact that he had to be protected, but that didn''t mean that he was fine with whatever was going on.


    Just the fact that he had to control his urge to punch a hole in the man''s face was noted in his mind.


    Some timeter, when he was strong enough, he would do it for sure.


    The man, not getting any answer from Alex, finally raised his head, and his eyes widened a bit as if he realized something.


    "Oh, where are my manners?"


    One of his hands moved behind his back, while the other came up to his chest as he bowed his head again.


    Alex''s body, however, jerked in rm the moment he saw the man''s hands move.


    His grip around Luna''s waist tightened, ready to make a move. Luna, on the other hand, as if oblivious to the ongoing situation, just blushed lightly.


    To her, it was fine even if she died now, so she wasn''t even worried.


    Yeah, the regret of not being able to get Alex''s love would haunt her even after death, but she was still happy.


    "Azaroth Voidheart, greets the new demon lord."


    The man, Azaroth, didn''t know what Alex and Luna were thinking, or maybe he did, but he still uttered those words in a submissive manner.


    He was still trying to make his stance clear.


    He didn''t want to make an enemy out of Alex, and unlike the demon generals, he was strong enough to stop Alex from rampaging.


    His words, although low as a hum and simple as they could be, echoed through the surroundings.


    The remaining flora in the area shrank, as if scared of something.


    It was as if the mere mention of Azaroth''s name was something sacred or forbidden.


    The air itself stilled.


    But all of those vanished the moment Azaroth looked up into Alex''s eyes with a smile.


    By now, Alex had calmed down as well, recalling the thing Sophia mentioned.


    So, he tried not to get agitated by every single movement Azaroth made.


    The reply that Azaroth waited for, however, never came.


    He didn''t get frustrated, though; he just continued to smile.


    "Please forgive them, my lord."


    Azaroth requested as he bowed his head again.


    He didn''t mention who he was talking about, not like Alex needed him to mention that.


    Both of them knew who he was talking about.


    "You keep calling me demon lord; again and again, why?"


    Alex, however, ignored the demon''s appeal; he questioned it instead.


    Alex knew the reason, or, more like, he could guess.


    The situation matched some of the novels he had read before.


    The same hero and demon lord troupe.


    But he still questioned Azaroth, just to be sure.


    "Because you are the demon lord, the one summoned to be the demon lord, and the one who is most suited to be the demon lord."


    Alex still didn''t show any reaction, much to Azaroth''s disappointment.


    But that was just on the outside.


    ''It is the same plot, I guess.''


    Alex mused inwardly.


    Azaroth, on the other hand, just sighed, failing to get a read on Alex again.


    ''Oh well, he is unlike any before, so it''s not uncalled...''


    But, in the end, he just contributed Alex''s behaviour to his uniqueness.


    He had been alive for a long time, so long that he had seen three or four demon lords rise up to be the strongest.


    Alex, however, was unlike any he had seen before.


    Be it his powers or his demeanor, everything was like heaven ifpared with the ones that came before him.


    But then he recalled the profecy his father used to tell him about, and his resolve to not let Alex go against them strengthened.


    "And who might you be, Azaroth?"


    Just by the power Azaroth had, Alex could tell that he was above the four demon generals he fought before.


    Not to mention the way nature reacted to the mere mention of his name.


    Alex knew that this guy was strong��so strong that the world was giving him special treatment.


    But that only added to the fact that Azaroth was not someone normal.


    "I am the demon ancestor, but just an old ve for you, my lord."


    Azaroth just waved his hand while he told who he was, as if it were not a big deal.


    Alex finally understood why Azaroth was so strong and why the demon generals, still being crushed by the pressure, didn''t even let out a hum of defiance.


    They took it all without an odjection, even though they weren''t sure of what their fault was.


    "You don''t seem to be a loyal ve, though."


    Alex squinted his eyes as he looked into the demon ancestor''s eyes.


    Alex didn''t know why the demon ancestor was being so subservient to him.


    ''Does he know about you?''


    He questioned inwardly, and the one to whom the question was directed replied without dy.


    [Not possible.


    He''s too weak to even sense me if I were to stand in front of him.]


    Sophia sounded confident, and Alex knew the source of her confidence.


    It was her strength and the mysterious system that could keep a being like her trapped.


    ''Then, why��..?''


    A frown couldn''t help but make its way to his forehead.


    "What do you mean, my lord?"


    Azaroth questioned as he tilted his head in confusion��respect still present in his voice.


    His words broke Alex out of his thoughts as he finally focused back on the topic.


    "Would a loyal servant try to take his master''s close ones as a hostage?"


    Alex''s eyes sharpened, and Azaroth, who heard that question, froze for a second before he sighed.


    None of them were dumb enough to not understand why Azaroth broke the spacepartment Luna was in.


    Alex was fighting without a shred of worry, all because Luna was not there.


    He was like a beast without restraint, but that was all because he didn''t have to worry about Luna getting harmed.


    He was rushing without the fear of death, testing his limits.


    The only way to threaten him or make him stop was to involve Luna, and that''s what Azaroth did.


    "Would you have stopped if I didn''t do that?"


    So, instead of answering Alex, he presented a question of his own.


    "...."


    Alex went silent at those words.


    He tried to imagine a scene of Azaroth trying to stop him without involving Luna, and all he saw was himself trying to attack Azaroth, wanting to test his new powers.


    "I never meant any harm, my lord.


    All I wanted was to make you stop. Discover hidden content at empire


    No matter how they are, they are still the four pirs of the demon empire, the same empire that would be ruled by you.


    So, please forgive them, and me as well, if my actions from before hurt you in any way."


    The demon ancestor, the only person the demon generals would bow their heads to, bent his head down for Alex again.


    _________________________________________


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 CHAPTER 292 - Problems solved, for now.

    "WE APOLOGIZE FOR OUR INDESCRETION!" X4


    The four demon generals had their heads touching the ground, their buttocks raised up in the sky, and their hands behind their backs as they shouted it again and again.


    "WE APOLOGIZE FOR OUR INDESCRETION!" X4


    "WE APOLOGIZE FOR OUR INDESCRETION!" X4


    ...��..


    ��..


    ..


    .


    Their faces were red with embarrassment and shame, but they still continued.


    They still didn''t know what their fault was, but they listened to what they were told to do.


    They had already seen so many shocking things for the day that their minds were now a bit numb, so they just went on with everything.


    The four demon generals were experiencing different emotions right now.


    Morvan was relieved for some unknown reason.


    Mk was neutral, but on the happier side since they didn''t have to kill their supposed demon lord.


    Yes, he was angry and frustrated because he lost to Alex, and he wanted to prove himself, but that could be der.


    Alex was still here, and Alex was now calm, unlike before, so everything was fine.


    Valerius, just like Mk, was happy, but unlike Mk, he was not frustrated or angry.


    He was stronger than any of the three demon generals, and he had the power to kill Alex alone, of course, when Alex was not in SD form, but he was strong enough to defeat Alex before then.


    It was just that he had been hesitant since the start.


    Yes, Alex''s behavior did hurt his pride as a demon general, but Valerius was not someone to let the heat of a moment destroy the bigger picture.


    They finally had a demon lord, one that was strong enough to fight them toe to toe the moment he was summoned.


    What else could they ask for?


    But unlike the three of them, Nyx was not really happy with the situation�� Your adventure continues at empire


    ''Now I can''t kill him!''


    He roared inwardly.


    He was the happiest when Valerius ordered them to attack to kill Alex.


    Nyx was ted by the fact that he could finally kill Alex, but things took a steep turn, and now he was getting punished for something he didn''t even know.


    What hurt him more was the fact that now he would never even be able to let out his killing intent toward Alex, as it would be considered treason.


    An image of Hell''s Embrace suddenly appeared in Nyx''s mind.


    *Shiver*


    And he shivered when he recalled who it used to be.


    A demon strong enough to be called a general, and now it was just a spear used as a weapon.


    All of that is because of a betrayal.


    Now all Nyx could do was grind his teeth in frustration and helplessness.


    He didn''t want to be turned into a weapon, so all he could do was swallow the rage he felt against Alex and stay loyal to him.


    He didn''t want tomit treason, after all.


    "WE APOLOGIZE FOR OUR INDESCRETION!" X4


    The demon generals continued their chants without a break since Azaroth had told them to go on until they were told to stop.


    The only ones who could stop them were Alex and Azaroth.


    Those two, however, didn''t even look at the demon generals; right now, they were sitting on wooden chairs across from each other as they chatted about some things.


    Alex was new to this world, so Azaroth was trying to give Alex a brief introduction to this world, not knowing that Alex knew more about it than he could ever know.


    Alex even had memories of the monsters who lived in forests that were devoid of any intelligent species.


    And yes, as you should''ve already guessed, Alex had decided to ''forgive'' the demon generals.


    Well, he wasn''t angry at them or anything; it was all at the start.


    That too was because he was trying to push his frustration and guilt about ignoring Luna at them.


    The demon generals never did anything bad; all they did was be wary of Alex when they felt his Supreme Human bloodline, something anyone in their position would''ve done.


    All he wanted was an excuse to step back.


    He just didn''t want it to seem like he was taking a loss.


    So, when Azaroth bowed his head, sincerely asking for Alex to let the matter go, he decided to end the farce.


    Alex was getting the position of demon lord, the highest position one could have in the demon empire.


    Why would Alex want to kick away that position?


    Alex already knew that things were not going to be that easy, especially since he was an unknown entity, and if he imed the position of the demon king all of a sudden, many would be dissatisfied.


    But was Alex someone who would deny enemies when all they would do was turn into a bunch of SPs for him?


    ''Gaia was a bit too easy anyway.''


    Alex muttered inwardly while also nodding to Azaroth''s words.


    In Gaia, Alex never actually tried to rule or create an empire, so he never had to face political problems.


    ''I guess one can never run away from some things��''


    Alex sighed a bit out of resignation.


    [You don''t need to worry about that.]


    But Sophia''s words cut off his sigh.


    ''What do you mean?''


    Alex, who heard her words, tilted his head inwardly.


    [You are in a demon empire, Alex.


    Do you think they have politics here?]


    Sophia questioned in a you-know-all tone, and Alex finally realized what she meant.


    ''Ah��


    I see.''


    Alex couldn''t help but smile inwardly.


    This was a demon empire, a ce where strength ruled; politics was thest thing he had to worry about in here.


    Alex could just go on and kill someone he thinks of as a hindrance in his path.


    That would just make him seem more ruthless and demonic, which was a good thing for the demons.


    Yes, the demons here, unlike the ones in folklore, are not just diabolic species who eat human flesh, but they still have that side of them here.


    Most low-ranked demons crave flesh; only the higher ones are immune to that craving or are able to resist it.


    There are only so many things that demons respect and fear, and two of them happen to be strength and bloodline, something Alex had more than anyone could ask for.


    Alex''s bloodline purity was something that even shocked the demon ancestor, who has the highest rank bloodline in the whole demon empire.


    There was no need to mention what would happen if Alex revealed it to the low-ranked demons.


    They might just get ready to take a knife in the heart if Alex asked them to.


    That was how much the bloodlines mattered for demons.


    "... did you get it, my lord?"


    Azaroth, who finallypleted the basic introduction of the world, turned toward Alex, who was sitting on the chair with Luna sitting on hisp, resting her head on his shoulder, and having a nice dream.


    "Yes, thank you, Azaroth."


    Alex, who heard Azaroth''s words, smiled at him.


    But before the demon ancestor could stand up, ready to move out, Alex uttered.


    "Let''s wait for a while; I don''t want to disturb her sleep again."


    Alex''s whisper caused Azaroth to smile before he sat back on his seat with a gentle nod.


    ''She sure is lucky.''


    He muttered inwardly with a sigh as he looked at Luna, and then added with a thoughtful look.


    ''I wonder what he would think about my granddaughter��.''


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 CHAPTER 293 - Coronation of the Demon King?

    "You heard it?"


    A pale-skinned guy with pointed ears, white hair, and a face that could be the definition of handsomeness, inquired as he looked at the people in his surroundings.


    "Yes, I heard that a demon lord is being crowned tomorrow."


    Ady, who had leaves and green hair that seemed like thin veins of a tree, answered with a solemn expression.


    She was beautiful, so much so that even with a serious expression, she looked seductive enough to entice a man intomitting a crime that would result in his death.


    But this was pretty normal since looks get elevated as the power goes up, and every person in this room on the table was one of the strongest.


    But the matters rted to the demon empire were not to be taken lightly after all, and that was the reason for the tense atmosphere on the table.


    A single move from the demon empire could mean a catastrophe for the world, much less the fact that they were finally going to have a ruler who could literally order the demons to march out to annihte an empire.


    "Do you know what they look like or what their nature is? Anything on them?"


    Anotherdy, who was wearing a veil over her face, questioned in an enchanting voice.


    Her looks weren''t clear due to the veil covering her face, but two long ears that matched the male who asked the first question were enough to tell that both of them were probably of the same race.


    "You don''t need to worry, Violet.


    They won''t try to pick up a fight with us elves, not with the great guardian protecting us.


    If they want to start a war, they will probably try to take on the weakest first��."


    The elven guy, who was the one who raised the question at first, hurriedly replied to the girl.


    His tone was flirtatious, as if trying to sound close to thedy, but thedy, whose name seems to be Violet, didn''t even look at the man, or maybe she did; no one could tell because of the veil she was wearing.


    The man, however, turned toward the lone seat at the end of therge, majestic table they were on by the time he concluded his line.


    There was one woman sitting alone, with her head down as her golden-brown hair flew down on her back.


    She seemed to not care about anything going on, but her ears, which looked the same as the other two elves if not for them being cut off from the middle, were jerking from time to time.


    It was as if she was listening in on their conversation, even if she didn''t look like she was.


    An awkward silence descended over the table.


    All of them knew what that guy was getting at, but no one spoke anything against it since they knew that it was true.


    Even thedy, who had her head down, just clenched her fists without looking up, but then, as if recalling something, her fist loosened, and she went back to the way she had been since the start.


    She was the human empire''s protector, or the main backer of the first emperor, to be exact.


    The same empire didn''t have a guardian beast protecting them, making it susceptible to demon attacks.


    The human empire only had a legendary 3-ranked magic swordswoman as the strongest person, whereas the other empires had at least 2 or 3 legendary 3-ranked beings.


    This was the reason for the human empire to be called the weakest empire, and that was the reason why the human empire was attacked frequently by the demons.


    ''Not anymore��''


    Thedy muttered inwardly; confidence clear in her voice.


    ''The hero and their party are truly monstrous, especially that ck-haired girl��.''


    The woman thought as she recalled the girl with moderate height yet an enticing figure.


    Blue eyes that seemed more like amethyst, and long ck hair that reached her back.


    Her face was innocent and mature at the same time.


    It was as if she were someone who had a lot of experience in the world, even though she was very young.


    The one who was supposed to be the summoned hero was already head over heels for her, but all he got was a cold shoulder from her.


    *Baam*


    The pregnant silence was suddenly broken by a loud mming noise as the door of that hall was pushed open.


    Everyone inside the room had their eyes sharpened, but when they saw who it was, their brows couldn''t help but frown.


    "Bradley, you better have a reason foring thiste to the meeti-"


    A short guy with arge beard and hair uttered in a gruff voice, his irritation clear from his tone as he looked at the new entrant.


    The man was a dwarf, a race with an inherent talent for crafting.


    Even the intruder was a dwarf, just a tad bit younger.


    But, unlike the rxed and slow words of the older dwarf, the younger one, who was called Bradley, hurriedly eximed, cutting off the older dwarf''s words.


    "The coronation ceremony started before the schedule!"


    In normal cases, he would''ve heard an earful from the older dwarf for being disrespectful and all, but the news he delivered caused the hall to fall into silence again.


    This time, the silence wasn''t awkward; it was much more. Find more chapters on empire


    It was heavy and suffocating.


    Even the woman, who had her head down, grew visibly tense.


    The hall remained silent, palpable with tension, but the upants slowly started to stand up and leave without saying a word.


    No one said anything.


    They just got up and left.


    The coronation ceremonies were usually broadcast throughout the empire.


    Demons were arrogant; it was a well-known fact.


    So, whenever they did something grand, they would broadcast it for everyone to see.


    They liked showing off.


    There was a time when they showed the beheading of one of their own to instill fear among their citizens.


    They were ruthless, and they would do anything to maintain order in that unruly ce.


    So, of course, something as big as the coronation of the demon lord or king would be presented live.


    And maybe��just maybe��their spies could get them something on the demon king.


    All of them sure hoped to get something, so they left the meeting, and moved straight to their headquarters.


    Only the woman from the human empire was left, along with Violet.


    "How was the summoning?"


    Violet questioned softly in a familial tone, much different from her earlier apathetic voice.


    The woman with golden-brown hair didn''t answer for a while, as if contemting whether she should even answer.


    ".... yes."


    In the end, she decided to speak, but that was all she uttered, and the room fell silent.


    Violet just nodded her head before she stood up as well.


    She turned to leave, but when she reached the door, she paused, turning toward the woman, and stared at her for a while.


    But without getting any reaction from the woman, she just sighed and left the ce.


    "Take care, big sis."


    Those were the only words left floating in the air.


    But those words caused thedy to grunt her teeth so hard that a rumbling sound could be heard.


    No one knew what was going on between the two women; what was their story?


    Maybe we''ll know soon enough.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you.... *

 CHAPTER 294 - Eldoria 1.

    The world known as Eldoria is arge world, muchrger than Gaia, with at least 10 times more surface area and water.


    But as was to be expected, the world had an upper power limit, so of course, it''s going to berger.


    The moment Gaia broke its limit, it grew as well, so yeah, Eldoria, being as vast as it was, wasn''t uncalled for.


    Yeah, there are exceptions in everything; there must be some world out there that is smaller than Gaia but stronger than Eldoria, but those are the few expectations that defymon sense.


    Let''s focus on Eldoria for now, as this is the world our MC, Alex Matthew, is residing in.


    Eldoria, just like Gaia, consisted of both marine and terrestrial lifeforms, which means it had habitat for both as well.


    The marine life form, unlike the terrestrial ones, gets to have arger part of the since the is covered 60% with water.


    The marine habitat is so big that there are ces on the where even the marine races haven''t been.


    The undiscovered area of the seas.


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    Thend, on the other hand, ispletely uncovered.


    Not a single ce is off the map.


    Yes, there are ces that are restricted for anyone to enter, and there are areas that are considered dangerous, but they are discovered.


    All of this is because thend is densely popted, with many races living in every corner of the world.


    The world is peaceful, at least on the outside; after all, the four guardian beasts are there to stop major wars.


    Oh, not four, actually; the number had turned into three long ago.


    What are the guardian beasts?


    Well, they are the four mythical beasts that protect 60% of the terrestrial region from the other 40%, which is the ce where the demons live.


    The four guardian beasts are the majestic mythical dragon, the ferocious white tiger, the calm and unmoving ck tortoise, and the graceful and gentle Pheonix.


    These four are supposed to be the ones protecting all of the lifeforms on the from the demons.


    The demons were not weak, though; they had four demon generals to match the four beasts, but just like the four or now three guardian beasts, they never stepped into the battle.


    All of them knew one thing: the moment they stepped in, the world would turn into an apocalyptic world.


    But all of that is now changing��.


    A demon lord was being crowned.


    A being with an unknown origin was taking the power to control the forces of the demon realm into their own hands.


    No one knew what that being would want, and no one knew what they would do.


    Everyone in the world just waited for the ceremony to be streamed live on broadcast with bated breaths.


    For the people in the demon realm, it was news that called for celebration, and the demons were curious about their new lord.


    Till now, the demon empire was ruled by the council of the four generals, so many expected some chaos as well.


    But what they didn''t know was that their new demon king had already defeated the four generals they respected so much.


    Well, he didn''t actually defeat them, but he did force them into a corner, and even though he had to burn a thousand years of his lifespan, he did be strong enough for the demon generals to hesitate to get close to him.


    Anyway, back to the topic about the world.


    The world of Eldoria consisted of six empires onnd and 2 empires at sea.


    The six empires on thend were known as the following:


    Demon Empire: Maleficaris.


    Dragon Empire: Drakonis.


    White Tiger Empire: Ferox.


    ck Turtle Empire: Mnochelys.


    Phoenix Empire: Phoenixia.


    Human Empire: Sria.


    ''The demon empire is the strongest empire.''


    Everyone knows that fact, or at least that''s what it seemed like.


    No one actually knew if it was the truth.


    Everyone just knew that, just like the four guardian beasts, there were four very staring individuals in the demon empire��individuals so strong that just their presence alone could shift the tide of wars.


    So, because of those four beings, the demon empire was ranked one of the empires.


    Then there was the dragon empire.


    The sole empire, which had every kind of species from all around the world, was Dracaris.


    Yes, there were almost every species residing in that empire, but not without a purpose.


    The dragon empire was an empire made by the dragons for the dragons.


    Any other species there were either for entertainment purposes or for breeding purposes.


    Dragons were a race with a very high libido, so all they did was breed and create offspring.


    But just like demons, they valued bloodline purity a lot, so the ones with power were the ones with the highest purity of the bloodline.


    At the start, the dragons were satisfied with inbreeding, but after one dragon gave birth to a child of mixed breed, the curiosity of other dragons got piqued.


    Slowly, as the years went by, the dragon picked up different kinds of males and females from all over the world and started breeding with them.


    By now, the whole empire was filled with hybrids of dragon and some other race.


    Many of those hybrids were way stronger than any normal dragon, while some were way too smart.


    But these results just motivated the dragons to go on with their techniques.


    Even now, if a citizen of this world were to see a dragon flying above their houses, they would hide not out of fear of death but because they might turn into a breeding tool for the dragons.


    Yes, the dragons were unrestrained and unreasonable, but that was because they had the power to be arrogant.


    They were the strongest race on the, so of course, they would treat other beings as nothing but insects.


    Yet, no matter how strong and unreasonable they were, they stillgged behind the demon empire in power ranking (officially), making them the second-ranked empire.


    The third one was the white tiger empire, Ferox.


    As the name suggests, they are filled with a group of wild, battle hungry beasts.


    The white tiger empireprises the Demi races.


    Be it Necorus, Warewolves, or the Leontaroi, every wild race lived in this empire.


    The beings in this empire valued strength; if you are strong enough, then you can get anything.


    This was something they had inmon with the demon empire, but other than that, they were a pretty simple group of beings.


    But the thing that stood out most about them was the fact that they were always united.


    This was the reason why they were ranked third on the list of empires.


    If not for the dragon having an innate advantage of mana and strength, then the Empire of Ferox would''ve been the one to rank second.


    But s, it is what it is.


    However, after the Empire of Ferox, it is a very unique empire.


    One that always wants to maintain the peace of the world��Mnochelys.


    _________________________________________


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 CHAPTER 295 - Eldoria 2.

    Mnochelys.


    A word that meant ck tortoise.


    People would just wave it off as a not-so-strong empire as it was ranked 3rd, but if they did so, then they areplete and utter fools.


    The ck tortoise empire was considered the most mysterious out of all the empires.


    No one knew how many powerhouses they had, nor was anyone aware of the rtionship among the inhabitants of that empire.


    The only thing known about them was that they preferred to live in peace, just like their guardian beast, or guardian deity, as they call it.


    Unlike the Golden Dragon, the guardian of Dracaris, the ck tortoise wasn''t that strong at attacking.


    But its defenses and mind attacks were so strong that even if its notions of living in peace went against the golden dragon, it was never attacked.


    Even the mighty golden dragon was a bit hesitant about attacking the ck tortoise, and that was the sole reason why the citizens of the Empire of Mnochelys lived in peace, without the fear of being attacked by dragons.


    The citizens, however, were not as simple as they seemed.


    They, just like their guardian deity, were not ones to go down easily.


    The Empire of Mnochelys consisted of many high races, such as the Dryards, the race known to have the highest affinity for nature.


    A force of nature that could turn the whole flora against their opponents.


    They had the ability to control trees and nts.


    But they were not the only major beings in the Empire of Mnochelys.


    There were the Elves, a race that is known to be almost equal to the Dragons and the Vampires in terms of mana affinity.


    Then there were the Dwarves, a group known for their masterful craftsmanship.


    With just the help of this particr race, any force could win a war.


    The weapons created by the dwarves were enough to turn the tide of any battle since a battle was not fought with just brute force.


    Weapons mattered as well.


    Weapons with a stronger presence��a presence strong enough to freeze the enemies��are something that anyone would wish to have.


    Yet not everyone could have them.


    The dwarves rarely make weapons for anyone other than the citizens of the Empire of Mnochelys.


    Over all of these, the fact that even now, the number of top-ranking powerhouses in the Empire of Mnochelys is unknown has made every other Empire wary of them.


    After the Empire of Mnochelys came the Empire of Pheonixia, also known as the fallen empire.


    The main force of this empire was the Phoenix race.


    The descendants of the guardian beast of the empire.


    They were strong��strong enough to fight toe-to-toe against the dragons.


    They were the only beings alive other than the vampires that could fight the dragons head-on.


    The Empire of Phoenixia had phoenixes as their main force, but that didn''t mean they just had phoenixes.


    The Empire housed all kinds of spirits.


    Fire, water, wind, earth, etc.


    All kinds of elementals and spirits were weed into the empire, and many did live there.


    Water spirits would do better if they lived in the seas, but that didn''t mean that they couldn''t live onnd.


    There were many water sources on thend if all they wanted was water.


    So, every kind of spirit and fire elemental beast was weed into the empire.


    This empire once used to be ranked 2nd among the empires, but now it is 4th ranked because of an incident in the past.


    They were strong��much more so because of the phoenix��but still, they were ranked 4.


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    There was a reason for that, but it can be discussedter.


    For now, let''s focus on thest terrestrial empire.


    Sria: The Human Empire.


    This empire was rankedst for many reasons, but the most ring one was the fact that the strongest being in this empire was a legendary 3-ranker.


    The human empire was once part of the ck tortoise empire.


    But due to the greed of a human hero wanting to have the whole empire for himself, the humans were kicked out of the Mnochelys Empire.


    Yes, it was a bit cruel to kick an entire race out of the empire, but that was not without a reason.


    The humans had done many deeds unworthy of a peace-loving race.


    They enved other beings in the empire, which was considered the worst crime in Mnochelys.


    They would try to take over the kingdoms surrounding their kingdoms, and once they won the war, they would turn the inhibitors of that kingdom into their ves.


    The humans were warned again and again, but they never listened; the actions of the hero of humanity were like the nail to the coffin.


    The council of the Mnochelys decided to banish humans.


    But as tenacious as they were, the humans established a new kingdom with the hero as their empire.


    The hero of humanity, the first emperor, was strong��very strong, even.


    He was a mythical ranker, but one day he vanished mysteriously, leaving the empire in shambles.


    Even with the hero of humanity, the Empire of Sria was rankedst, so after the mysterious disappearance of the hero, their strength just fell lower and lower.


    Now they are so weak that the demons treat them as ythings to pass their time.


    Humans live a life so miserable that they don''t even have a say in when they get to live and when they get to die.


    Their entire lifespan depends on the demons, and being an empire that is situated right next to the demon empire doesn''t help at all.


    But for some reason, the higher-ups of the Srius empire had been happy for a few days.


    Their eyes, which had gone lifeless due to the hopelessness of the situation they were in, now had a newfound ember of hope burning inside of them.


    Just like the demon king, a new hero had been born or summoned.


    But that was not all; as the party of the hero of humanity, the people who are supposed to be his supporters are not someone to be scoffed at.


    One of them is so monstrous that, for a long while, the priest wasn''t even sure who the real hero was.


    If not for the righteous words of the hero and his eyes filled with determination to protect humanity, they would''ve mistaken the ck-haired and blue-eyed girl to be the hero due to the sheer moment she carried.


    But that didn''t lessen their excitement, since they were finally going to have someone to fight for them��someone who wasn''t an average Joe and had monstrous potential.


    They were celebrating, just like the demon empire, but they were unaware of the fact that the new demon lord was not something just any hero could defeat.


    They didn''t even realize that their hopes about the hero killing the demon king, just like the previous one, were going to be nothing but a fantasy.


    ''Now tell me, what did you mean by your words earlier?''


    Alex, the center of all this, on the other hand, was talking to someone in his head.


    His tone was curious, as he questioned inwardly.


    What was he talking about?


    Well, on to the next chapter for that.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 296 - Everyone is ready.

    A ck-haired guy with a divinely handsome face and two red orbs shining dangerously in his eyes was walking down a hallway that looked like a path to some majestic hall.


    That guy was wearing a regal ck three-piece suit with a red cape on his back.


    The cape was much more like a mantle, as it emanated majesty and grandness.


    The cape was red with ck furry cors, flowing down his back and being dragged on the carpet below his feet.


    There was no crown or specter in the guy''s hand, but the mere sight of him could arouse respect and reverence from any demon that walked across the hallway.


    "This way, my lord."


    The guy, however, was not alone.


    A group of four people walked a step behind him, one man walking ahead of him, and ady with her arm intertwined with the guy��walking beside him.


    The one who spoke was the demon ancestor, Azaroth Voidheart, and he was walking a step ahead of the guy wearing dignified attire.


    The demon ancestor, however, was not one to be left behind in the matter of dressing sense.


    His attire was also a three-piece suit with a brooch attached to his chest.


    The only difference between him and the ck-haired guy was the mantle hanging on the shoulder.


    The cape or mantle was only worn by the ck-haired and red-eyed guy.


    Among the four people following the ck-haired guy, there were three men and one woman.


    One of the men was wearing an all-ck suit with a tie imprinted with the royal vampire insignia.


    His white hair flowed down his waist while his red eyes stared straight ahead.


    His devilish looks, although not something that would beparable to the ck-haired guy, were still something that had charmed women and girls alike.


    He was the leading general of the Demon Empire, as well as one of the four grand dukes of the Demon Empire, Valerius Voly Lofnus.


    Valerius had a smile on his face as he stared at the ck-haired guy''s back, happy that things turned out right in the end.


    Then he turned toward Mk; their eyes happened to meet each other, and although Mk''s expression was stoic, Valerius could tell that Mk was happy as well.


    ''You don''t need to pretend, my friend.''


    Valerius just shook his head before his eyes fell on Morvan.


    She was wearing a grey gown that stuck close to her skin, highlighting her bombastic figure.


    At first, Valerius was a bit shocked when he saw Morvan; she never wore such dresses after all.


    No matter what kind of asion it was, she would always wear something loose; she didn''t like showing off her body, or that''s what she used to say.


    But when Valerius noticed where Morvan was looking, he sighed with a light smile.


    ''The new demon lord sure knows how to woo women...''


    Valerius chuckled inwardly, his pointy ears bouncing in happiness.


    Morvan, oblivious to Valerius''s thoughts, kept staring at the intertwined arms of the ck-haired guy, Alex, and Luna, who was walking beside Alex.


    Her face was not showing a bit of emotion, so it was hard to tell what she was thinking, but the way she kept looking back and forth between herself and Luna, one thing was for sure.


    Morvan wasparing hers and Luna''s dress or figure.


    Why?


    Only she could tell.


    Valerius, however, frowned when his eyesnded on Nyx.


    Nyx''s eyes were not on Alex like one would expect.


    He was looking at Luna, his expression unreadable, but Valerius was sure that it was not something good.


    ''Nyx��..''


    Valerius didn''t say anything right now, but he did take note that he needed to have a chat with Nyx.


    The look in Nyx''s eyes was nothing like appreciation or lust; if it were, Valerius would''ve let it go.


    ''Don''t do something that you will regretter.''


    Valerius muttered inwardly, looking at Nyx, before he turned to look ahead.


    Neither Nyx nor Valerius knew that Alex had already noticed the way Nyx was looking at Luna, and Nyx was already living life backward.


    His life was nearing its end because Alex had now marked him as a dead guy.


    Valerius didn''t have an empathic ability like Alex, so he couldn''t tell, but Alex, who had the empathy of the incubus, could clearly see the emotions Nyx was feeling.


    ''Hatred, resolution, and murderous thoughts...''


    Alex noted the emotions he could perceive from Nyx, and his eyes turned cold.


    "Hehe��"


    But just then, he heard a giggle, and he turned to look at Luna, who had a palm on her lips as she smiled gracefully.


    "What''s funny?"


    Alex raised his brow and asked curiously.


    His eyes, however, kept looking at Luna''s body, appreciating every inch of her features.


    A ck, off-shoulder gown with a long slit that extended from her upper thigh to her toe.


    She had a thick, furry scarf on her shoulder.


    The fur was pink in color,plementing her hair and eyes.


    Luna''s hair, unlike her usual hairstyle, was now tied in a royal bun with a very expensive ck gem-etched hairpin.


    Her soft skin had a cherry blush as she walked with her hand in Alex''s hand.


    Her attire gave off an enchanting vibe, enough to arouse a strong desire for her in anyone.


    Her power, unlike thest time, was EX-ranked.


    It has only been two days since the summoning, and they didn''t get enough time to get Luna up to Epic rank, or she would already be strong enough to contend with many strong people in this world.


    "Nothing; it''s just a bit ironic how you, who never really liked politics, are going to be the Emperor of the biggest empire in this world," Luna replied to Alex''s words and giggled again.


    Thesest two days had been the best she could ask for since Alex had been staying with her, taking care of her needs every moment.


    It was like a dreame true for Luna.


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    It was so dream-like that she even forgot that she was in a situation where she could''ve died at any moment, a day ago.


    But it was for the better; if she had suffered a bacsh or a mental wound because of all that, then Alex wouldn''t have forgiven the demon generals, no matter who asked for it.


    Alex, who heard Luna''s words, just shook his head with a helpless smile.


    He knew it was ironic, but what can he do?


    He already has a quest regarding this situation.


    The only reason he is doing the quest is because the position of demon lord is not something to scoff at; a demon lord has the power to control the strongest empire in the world after all, and the other reason is the reward he would get from the quest.


    The reward was something that would be very useful for Luna right now.


    And Alex wanted to get his hands on that thing.


    ''Now tell me, what did you mean by your words earlier?''


    Alex shook his head, pulling Luna closer, causing her to lower her head with a blush while questioning inwardly.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


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 CHAPTER 297 - This world is different.

    [There are some things different in this world; some things that will be a bit annoying for you to handle.] Enjoy more content from empire


    This was what Sophia had told Alex some time ago.


    But at that time, Alex was talking about the empire''s situation with the four demon generals and the demon ancestor, so...


    ''We''ll talk about it in a while.''


    Alex postponed the talk with those words.


    Sophia acknowledged hismand and went back to her work, making sure that things that Alex couldn''t take care of stayed as they should.


    ''Now tell me, what did you mean by your words earlier?''


    So, when she heard Alex questioning the thing she wanted to talk about, Sophia replied without a moment of hesitation.


    [This world is different from Gaia, Alex.]


    Sophia started cryptically.


    ''Just tell me what you want to say and how this world is different.''


    Alex just waved his hand inwardly.


    He was short on time as he walked down the hall, ready to get his coronation done.


    Although he didn''t want to do it, this was the best way to get a good look at the higher-ups of the demon empire.


    It was also the best way to purge the ones that seemed like an annoyance.


    Alex had the empathy of the incubus, and it worked perfectly on demons, so in this gathering and grand celebration, Alex would be able to mark the ones he thought could turn out to be a problemter.


    [All right, I''ll tell you what you should know.]


    Sophia, who was trying to break the news slowly, decided to do what Alex asked her to do.


    Alex also nodded his head inwardly, waiting for Sophia to continue.


    [This world is older than Gaia.]


    Sophia said the first thing she wanted to.


    ''So?''


    Alex, who didn''t know what changed, posed in a confused tone.


    [So, this world is more arrogant than Gaia; unlike Gaia, not only does it not respect you, it also thinks of you as a variable that should be eliminated.


    It gave you a new title: Antagonist.]


    Sophia revealed the first change that Alex was going to face in this world.


    Here, he wasn''t going to be the protagonist, and things might not go as he wants them to sometimes.


    But��


    [You don''t need to worry, though.


    Your luck is still there and even with the antagonist debuff, you have SSS-ranked luck, which is higher than what any protagonist in this world could hope to have-]


    Sophia tried to assure Alex that he wouldn''t be affected by the debuff, but she stopped when she saw the nonchnt look on Alex''s face.


    ''I knew that I was probably the antagonist.''


    Alex, who could feel Sophia''s bewilderment,mented.


    [Huh? How?]


    Sophia questioned in shock.


    {Did he start awakening some of his powers already?


    How did I not know about it?}


    Sophia was shocked, not because Alex knew about it; she was startled as she thought that maybe Alex had unlocked some power that he shouldn''t have.


    ''You remember the demon king and hero plot from some of the novels I read?''


    Sophia was pulled out of her thoughts by Alex''s words.


    [Huh?]


    Sophia, who was thinking about what could''ve happened, let out a confused voice before things finally clicked in her mind.


    ''The demon king and hero plots��you recall them?''


    Alex repeated his question, oblivious to the things going on inside Sophia''s head.


    [Ah, yes.]


    Sophia finally replied to Alex.


    She had already guessed that it had nothing to do with Alex''s power or something like that.


    It was just because Alex had seen and read a plot like this many times before.


    ''Hm, this is just like those plots where the MC gets transmigrated or summoned as a hero, sometimes as the demon king.


    But from what you said and everything going around me, I''m probably not the hero summoned to this world, so there must be a hero as well, right?''


    Alex questioned as he raised a brow.


    His mind had been working better after the time he went into the overdrive mode of the SD.


    Even his body movements were smoother.


    When Alex asked for the reason, Sophia replied with a simple line.


    [The SD upgraded your body and mind to the maximum it could, but it couldn''t just revert it back to how it used to be, so some effects are still left.


    They will go away in a while on their own.]


    Alex would soon turn back to normal, but before that happened, he wanted to take care of as many things as he could.


    [That''s what I was about to say next, and yes, there are heroes in this world.]


    Sophia replied to Alex''s words.


    ''Heroes?''


    But Alex picked up something that Sophia was going to exin next, even without her saying anything.


    ''This world created more than one hero to counter me?''


    Alex frowned a bit, waiting for Sophia''s reply.


    He had read novels like this one as well; the MC transmigrates into the body of a viin, and then he has to ''take care'' of the various protagonists in that world.


    But he only read those kinds of things in cultivation novels.


    ''Am I going to be the first one to experience the same thing in a magical world?''


    A strange thought passed through Alex''s head, but he waved it off and focused on Sophia''s words.


    [Yes. As I said before, this world is trying to eliminate you, but it also knows that you have the potential to be a monster so strong that even the world would have to cry.


    So, it created many heroes.


    Some are still to be born or emerge, while others are already at their peak power; they will only grow stronger from now on.


    But the one that is your true nemesis, or the one that was supposed to be summoned to y the demon king, is the hero summoned by the people of Sria.]


    Sophia''s words caused Alex to pause for a second.


    "Hm?"


    "What''s wrong, my lord?"


    "Is something the matter, my lord?"


    But that minute pause was enough to confuse the demons and alert Luna.


    Unlike the demons, Luna knew that Alex wouldn''t just stop without a reason.


    So her body tensed.


    But then Alex just smiled at her and then turned to look at the demons simultaneously.


    "It''s fine; I was busy with my thoughts. Let''s go."


    Alex''s assuring words made the demons nod their heads, but Luna was still not sure if everything was all right.


    But as they kept walking, Luna''s eyes kept staring at Alex, and looking at his side profile, a smile automatically made its way to her lips, causing her to forget the previous matter.


    ''It''s Alex, not someone for whom I should be worried.


    The one who should be worried is the poor soul who caused him to have that expression.''


    Luna just shrugged inwardly.


    Others didn''t notice, but Luna saw the chilling glint that passed through Alex''s haunting, red eyes.


    That was the reason for her alert.


    But now, she just gave her condolences to whoever the poor soul was.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 298 - Heroes.

    ''So, Ann was summoned along with a hero? Is she supposed to be a party member of the hero?''


    Alex, who assured everyone by telling them that it was fine, questioned Sophia inwardly.


    He could already guess what was going on and what would happen, but he still asked.


    A demon king is summoned, and so will be a hero to y him.


    The hero, however, won''t be alone; he will have a party.


    A group of happy-go-lucky team members who would be ready to give their lives for him.


    Along the path, they would face many hardships, but with the use of the power of friendship and love, they would emerge victorious, even if the situation looked dire for them.


    In the end, the hero will y the demon king because his party members will sacrifice themselves, leaving only the hero and one girl along with him.


    The hero, devastated, would kill the demon king and return to the empire.


    He will be hailed as the savior and many other things, but the hero will remain broken.


    But all of that is until the only remaining party member alivees forward and offers her body to him, letting him have some sce inside of her.


    The hero would then jump on the girl, devouring her like a beast, and from the next day on, he would return to how he used to be.


    The story could go on, but that was the starting plot of every hero and demon king troupe.


    Alex knew it very well.


    That was why he questioned Sophia about it.


    [Yes, that''s what her role is supposed to be.]


    Alex frowned inwardly when he heard those words.


    The thing he feared actually happened.


    ''Do these protagonists have that chance encounter, pervy misunderstandings, plot armor, and innocent charm that would melt your heart even though they don''t look that good?''


    Alex, still frowning, questioned Sophia.


    He didn''t fear the heroes or the protagonists; what he was concerned about were the things he mentioned above.


    From the plots he read, those things were dangerous.


    Those things are strong enough to make the coldest of the girls fall for the protagonists.


    It was as if the world was forcing the girls to fall for the protagonists even if they didn''t want to.


    As he thought of this, his killing intent started leaking, but no one felt it since it was directed at the world and only at the world.


    *Rumble*


    A loud rumble was heard from the outside as the clouds in the sky darkened all of a sudden and it started raining.


    "That''s odd��"


    The demon ancestor, who saw all of that happening in just an instant, frowned his brows quizically.


    In all his life, he had never seen such a thing, but then he just shook his head.


    ''The weather is turning more and more unpredictable these days.''


    [The world just spawned one more protagonist, and this one is in the demon empire, all because of your killing intent.


    As for your previous question, yes, they will have all those things.


    Sophia replied to Alex''s previous question while also telling him the reason for that intense weather change.


    *Inhale*


    Alex, who heard her words, took a deep breath as he closed his eyes.


    His steps, however, didn''t stop; he had his perception skill active, so he could easily walk with his eyes closed.


    No one noticed the change in Alex other than Luna, who was staring at his face without blinking.


    *Grip*


    Her grip on his arm tightened, trying to show him her support.


    But then, Alex opened his eyes, which were shining brighter than before.


    He turned to look at Luna and smiled gently.


    That smile alone was enough to assure Luna that everything was fine.


    Her worries vanished, and a smile returned to her face.


    ''I love you, Alex.''


    She muttered inwardly, knowing full well that Alex couldn''t hear her.


    She just liked doing this, so she did.


    Alex, on the other hand, had really calmed down now; the concern he was feeling had now gone away.


    The moment he closed his eyes and took arge puff of air inside, the faces of Ann and Alice shed in his mind.


    Their eyes were looking at him with endless love��so much that it could sink the whole world into it.


    They had a lovely smile on their lips as they spoke softly.


    ''I love you.'' X2


    Alex couldn''t help but smile at that.


    ''Why was I even worried?''


    Alex chuckled inwardly.


    Was he worried that Ann or Alice might get stolen?


    For an instant, he was.


    But when he recalled their love for him, all of those negative thoughts vanished.


    Alex knew that no matter what kind of power influenced him, his love for them was not going to change.


    Then how could these measly powers influence the minds of those two girls, who loved him equally, if not more?


    Alex scoffed at the world''s attempt to corner him.


    ''Thank you.''


    Alex, instead of being angry, just thanked the world in a sarcastic tone.


    He thanked the world for giving him so many strong people to kill.


    He expressed his gratitude for all the broken abilities he was going to extract from the protagonists.


    The more hero-type figures emerge, the more Alex will gain from the world.


    So, for him, it was a good thing.


    He always weed enemies, after all. Continue your journey with empire


    Alex already knew that every one of those heroes would give him a quest.


    The system worked for his profit, so he will probably get a quest to kill the heroes after he meets them or gets to know about them.


    Alex smiled as he saw the giant wooden doors in front of him.


    The doors were closed; it seemed intentional, but Alex just smiled at it, and so did the demons that walked beside him.


    The door was dark ck in color with silver and golden inscriptions.


    Those inscriptions depicted the whole demon empire, as they were the images of every demon race in the imperial capital.


    The giant door had a rough sketch of every race, which was worthy enough to have their figure drawn up there.


    "You must push through this gate with your might alone; it is probably a test from the dukes and counts.


    They must be eager to test your strength."


    Valerius spoke from behind, causing Alex to smile wider.


    "All right then."


    Alex chuckled as he slowly lifted his right palm up, touching the wooden door, which seemed stronger than any iron door he had seen before.


    But then he raised his brow.


    ''Huh��''


    The door was heavy��really heavy.


    Alex couldn''t push it just with the stats of a legendary 3-ranker, and this surprised him.


    *Chuckle*


    But then he heard a chuckle, causing him to turn his head toward the demon ancestor.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 CHAPTER 299 - Eric Reeves.

    "Haa!"*Baam*


    "Yaa!"*Boom*


    "Haap!"*sh*


    "Hoh!"*Bash*


    In an area filled with nothing but trees, exmations, along with the sound of crashing, were heard one after another. From the sound, it felt like someone was using their force to bash something.


    The area was filled with trees; nothing could be seen due to the density of the trees, but there was a single area inside that lush forest that didn''t have a single tree.


    It looked like a naturally created space.


    There were no trees, or even a weed, in that area.


    The only thing in that area was the owner of the eximing voice and a white and ck-colored dummy that was filled with scratches.


    The owner of those yells was a boy who seemed to be no more than 19 years old.


    He had blonde hair and brown eyes.


    The boy was not very big; his build was that of an average human, around 175 cm.


    His face was clean, without a single blemish.


    He was not devilishly handsome, and neither did he look cool, but if someone were to ask, then any woman would say that he looked adorable.


    He was cute enough to melt the heart of any girl, or at least make it so that no girl would be offended by him quickly.


    His body was neither bluff nor thin, he was normal in every aspect other than his face.


    Right now, he seemed to be using all of his efforts to sh the wooden sword at the dummy in front of him.


    His strikes caused the wind to move away, and every sh thatnded on the dummy caused a shockwave to get released from the center.


    The shockwave was not very big, but it was strong enough that if anyone was standing in the vicinity, they would at least have their hair waving in the air.


    But the fact that the dummy was only getting scratched, even though it was also made of wood, was more shocking.


    It was clear that the dummy wasn''t normal, just like the boy.


    ''I can do it!''


    The boy, however, just clenched the wooden sword tighter, determined to cut through the dummy with just a wooden sword, but...


    *Crack**Shatter*


    With a crisp sound, the sword broke in the next sh.


    "Wha��


    Not again��."


    The boy let out a shocked voice, as he looked at the wooden sword, which was shattered into pieces, before he just sighed.


    "Sigh��"


    He let out an audible sigh and threw the sword backward.


    *tter*


    But the broken sword made a shing sound as it tumbled on a heap of broken, wooden swords.


    The boy then waved his hand, and the next second, another brand-new wooden sword appeared in his hand.


    ''Not this time.''


    The boy seemed to have been doing this for a long time, as his clothes were drenched and his fingers had blisters.


    Yet the boy had a resolute expression, as if he wouldn''t repeat the same mistake again, even though he had been doing the same thing every time.


    The boy raised his wooden sword up, ready to sh it toward the dummy, but before he could...


    "Your posture is stiff, and your hold on the weapon is too tight, that''s the reason for your sword breaking again and again."


    A feminine yet rough voice was heard.


    It wasn''t actually rough, though. It was more of azy and tiered voice, but it sounded rough.


    *Woosh*


    The boy hurriedly turned back and shed his sword with full force. He wasn''t the strongest, but he was still strong, so his full-power strike was powerful, even if it was with a wooden sword.


    He didn''t know who the person was��he didn''t even focus on that.


    All he thought was that it was an enemy since this world was filled with unknown entities that were stronger than anything he had seen before.


    *Badump**Badump*


    His heart was beating violently.


    He was shocked that someone could sneak up on him even without him noticing.


    *Thup*


    The sword hit the person who was right behind the boy, but the person didn''t even wince in pain, much less budge from their spot.


    The sword hadnded on the person''s shoulder, but not even their clothes were creased.


    The boy, however, widened his eyes when he finally noticed who it was.


    "Master!"


    The boy eximed in surprise before he stood up straight with an apologetic look on his face.


    The one in front of him was the strongest being in the human empire.


    The only legendary 3-ranker of the human empire: Viessa Evergarden.


    The one who was at the gathering of the peace-loving species of the ck Dragon Empire a while ago.


    She had long blond-brown hair and caramel-colored eyes.


    She was an elf, just like the woman named Violet, but her ears had their points cut off.


    Why were they cut off? Only some people knew, and those who knew never spoke of it anymore.


    Her figure was leaning more toward muscr-type beauty, which was clear from the light outline of abbs on her abdomen.


    She was wearing a crop-top-like light ck armor made of some beats skin, along with a ck-colored pant.


    Her eyes were half closed as she looked at the boy in front of her with a cryptic look.


    Her face was dangerously beautiful, and the mature charm emanating from her only elevated her beauty.


    Her breasts were around E cup; her waist was thin, and her hips were wide.


    She looked tantalizing, to say the least.


    So much so that the boy, although called her master, still harbored feelings for her.


    Yes, he hadn''t been with her for long, but he still liked her more than a master.


    "U-Um, master��?"


    The boy, embarrassed by the unblinking stare of his master, finally questioned her while fidgeting.


    His face had a rosy tint, while his head was toward the ground.


    "Come with me.


    We might be able to see the demon king today."


    Viessa finally spoke again before she turned back, moving out of the forest.


    The boy, however, stood frozen in his spot.


    "Wasn''t the coronation still some dayster��.?"


    The boy muttered with a tilt in his head, but then an image of a certain ck-haired and blue-eyed girl shed in his mind.


    ''Let''s go!''


    Just that image filled his body with energy, and he rushed behind his master.


    He waved off his concerns about the demon king as he rushed toward the castle, where he could find the girl who stole his heart at first sight.


    He was the hero who was summoned by the empire of Sris to save them from the demon onught, Eric Reeves.


    ''He really is a monster.''


    Viessa, who was ahead of Eric, sighed inwardly as she muttered those words.


    *tter*


    The scene then shifted to the broken sword that Eric threw at the heap of swords as it tumbled down.


    *nk*


    The sword stopped as it reached the bottom, but...


    *Woosh*


    A wind blew as the view that Viessa had seen finally came to light.


    There were 5 more clusters of broken swords behind the one shown before, and all of them wererger than the one in front.


    They were not visible because of the lush, green andrge trees in the vicinity, but they were still there.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''All of this in just 5 hours...''


    Viessa sighed again, but there was a light shining within her eyes.


    A light of hope; hope that their situation would improve if things went on like this, and Eric got time to grow.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 300 - Test?

    *Chuckle*


    The demon ancestor chuckled, causing Alex to turn to look at him curiously.


    The demon ancestor, however, just shook his head.


    "My apologies; you can continue."


    Azaroth bowed his head a bit.


    ''Hmmm��.''


    Alex, unaware of what was going on throughout the world just because of his bing the demon lord, also shrugged and turned back to look at the giant wooden door in front of him.


    ''If I can''t push through with my legendary stats, then what about this?''


    Alex grinned as he activated his incubus bloodline and human bloodline together.


    This time, however, unlike before, he activated the Celestial Incubus bloodline first, and then he activated the supreme human one.


    *Shiver*


    The demons, however, had a shiver run down their spines when they felt the purity of the incubus bloodline.


    Yes, it wasn''t the first time they felt it, but it was the first time they felt it without trying to resist it.


    They could feel their bodies getting weak and wanting to kneel. Their minds told them to kneel as well, but they stood straight.


    It was not the right time, after all.


    All of them could see the wide grin on Alex''s face, and they grew curious as to what Alex was going to do.


    The doors required a machine to open them, and if someone wanted to open the gate manually, they needed to have mythical-ranked stats.


    It was unfair, sure.


    Who would expect a newly summoned demon lord, who is supposed to be very weak, to open the door manually?


    But it is what it is.


    This is the demon empire; things here are always unreasonable.


    The only way to survive here is to have strength or authority.


    Alex didn''t have authority yet; he wasn''t crowned to be the demon lord yet.


    As for strength, the demon empire would know soon enough.


    ''Let''s see what he does.''


    They were looking forward to how he was going to ovee his first hurdle.


    They knew he was strong��way stronger than he was supposed to be��and the battle they had was still fresh in their minds.


    They knew that he could open the door, but they wanted to see him do it.


    Striking someone with the force of a mythical ranker and softly applying the same force to a door, trying to open it, were both different things.


    If Alex punched the wooden door with his full power, then it would shatter, and although that would be enough to shut the demons inside while proving his strength, it wouldn''t be the right way.


    Right now, they are waiting for Alex to make a move.


    Would he just smash the door, shattering it into pieces?


    Or would he do something else?


    That was the question.


    As the demon generals resisted their urge to kneel, they saw Alex lifting his right palm up again.


    This time, however, things were a lot different.


    Alex''s palm was covered with thick demonic energy and blue-colored mana.


    The demons couldn''t see it, but they could somehow tell that Alex''s arm was stronger than before.


    That arm gave them the same feeling as Alex in his incubus transformation.


    "Partial transformation."


    Azaroth nodded his head as he revealed what Alex had done��muttering out loud.


    The demon generals could tell that as well.


    But just as they thought this was it, they saw a ck, jelly-like substance start covering Alex''s hands over the white gloves he was wearing.


    They were confused for a second before they recalled the moment when Alex had summoned Varethian, his weapon.


    ''Sigh��.''


    All of them sighed in amazement.


    No matter how many times they see it, they will still be amazed by it.


    The weapon screamed of uniqueness.


    They saw it as the Varethian transformed into a glove before they heard Alex mutter in a low tone.


    "Let''s see now."


    With those words, Alex ced his hands on the wooden door.


    *Tap*


    The hallway was silent, and for some unknown reason, even the throne room across the door seemed silent.


    The hushed atmosphere made it possible for even the sound of Alex''s palm touching the door to resound in the hallway.


    *Creak*


    Alex pushed a bit, applying some force, and the door creaked, showing signs of moving.


    Alex''s grin widened, and so did Luna and the demons.


    Alex turned to look at Azaroth with a grin, and the demon ancestor grinned back with a nod.


    As if it were a signal, Alex lifted his left palm, cing it on the other door, and the same thing happened.


    It got covered in demonic energy, pure blue mana, and Varethian.


    Alex pushed the door open with a wide grin still stered on his face.


    Luna, who was now standing a meter away from Alex, also smiled at it.


    She knew politics more than Alex, so she knew what was going on, and she also knew that the step Alex took was the best in the given situation.


    *Creak**Rumble*


    The doors creaked and rumbled, but given their age and weight, it was only natural, yet they heard no sound from the inside.


    No cheers or howls from the demons inside the throne room caused the demon generals and the demon ancestor to frown.


    Even Nyx, who was not feeling very loyal to Alex, frowned.


    This was not normal.


    The demons are never so quiet.


    They were the type of race that would start shouting for every little thing.


    ''Why is it so quiet?''


    All five of them hurriedly spread their mana, trying to sense what was happening, until they saw what was happening.


    ''Ah��''


    Their frowns rxed as they realized what was happening; a smile automatically formed on their faces, all of them except Nyx.


    But no one could tell since he, unlike the others, was not wearing a suit or something like that.


    Nyx was wearing his assassin dress, and he was going to disappear as soon as they entered the throne room.


    His role was never to be seen and to protect the demon lord from within the shadows.


    No matter how unwilling he was, he still followed his role.


    Alex, who always had his perception active, didn''t try anything.


    He already knew the reason for the pin-drop silence.


    *Creak* X2


    Both of the doors creaked until they reached the wall, and then...


    *Boom* X2


    With a boom, they stopped, finally letting Alex and the demons get a clear picture of the inside.


    The hall in the throne room was huge��so huge that it could be used to amodate thousands of people inside.


    There was a majestic, yet ominous ck throne situated on an elevated tform at the end of the throne room for the demon lord.


    The throne was colored ck, but it seemed to be made of bones.


    The seat of the throne was covered with soft, spotted fur; it looked much like the fur of a cheetah.


    There were four more thrones situated a step below therge throne, probably for the generals, also known as the archdukes of the demon empire.


    There were not many decorations in the throne room, only some chandeliers that brightened the hall and arge carpet that covered the hallpletely.


    Alex''s eyes scanned the whole throne room as he walked inside.


    Luna was now back in his arm as he strolled toward the throne.


    Luna, although happy, was still shocked by the spectacle she was looking at, but she knew the reason for it as well.


    The three demon lords nodded their heads in appreciation, and so did the demon ancestor.


    ''This is the attitude our lord should have.''


    All of them had the same thought.


    Nyx, who wasn''t sharing their thoughts, was already invisible, moving behind Alex''s throne.


    Although he didn''t like Alex, the demon empire was another thing.


    His loyalty to the demon empire was still the same, so he did his job as the demon lord''s shadow without raising a question.


    *Step**Step*


    Alex, oblivious to others'' thoughts and Nyx''s internal struggle, walked straight to the throne. Luna, still in his arm, observed the surroundings with a light smile.


    It was not until Alex reached the throne that Luna moved away.


    Alex, however, didn''t let her move away.


    "Stay."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Alex purred before he sat on the throne, and with a graceful movement, he pulled Luna onto hisp.


    Luna was too stunned to speak, but just as the situation finally sank into her mind, her face turned red and her eyes were teary, but she controlled her urge to cry.


    She knew how important this moment was and what kind of impact her face could have, so she put up a cold expression, matching that of Alex.


    "Rise."


    Alex let out a low hum, but it resounded throughout the hall.


    *Shiver*


    The depth and majesty of his voice sent shivers down everyone''s spines.


    The hundreds of demons that were kneeling on the ground even before Alex had entered the hall, stood up with a fearful, yet respectful expression.


    They were awed by Alex''s grandeur; even Luna was.


    She didn''t know that Alex could be this dignified as well.


    ''I guess he was born with it��''


    In the end, Luna just sighed, still maintaining her expression and trying to match Alex''s.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 301 - We greet the Demon Lord!

    As said many times before, the demon''s ability to perceive demonic energy is very acute.


    It is also said that they are very strict about bloodline superiority.


    So, now this is where a questiones in.


    What would happen if a group of demons felt the most powerful form of demonic energy they had ever felt, along with the strongest and purest bloodline ever?


    The answer was simple: total submission.


    That''s what they would do.


    They won''t even raise their heads until the one with those two superior qualities orders them to.


    It won''t change their mindset, nor will it make enemies turn into friends, but as the rules of the demon capital states; no demon would raise their head.


    Whatever frustration, anger, or any other rebelling thoughts they have will stay in their heads until they are in front of the said being, at least.


    That is what happened the moment Alex released his incubus bloodline along with his demonic energy.


    The demons didn''t know who it was or if it was Alex.


    All they knew was that there was a superior being that was about to enter the throne room.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Kneel!''


    Just this thought came to their minds, and they kneeled without a second of contemtion.


    They heard the gate being pushed open, but none of them looked up.


    They didn''t dare to raise their heads.


    Even if one or two wanted to look at the one who opened the gate and check whether it was the new demon lord or one of the generals, the presence of a demon much stronger than demon generals descended upon them.


    They didn''t know who the owner of the pressure was; none of them had ever felt it.


    Even the dukes of the empire, the ones who were considered some of the oldest members of the demon empire, were unaware.


    *Step**Step*


    All they heard were the footsteps of a single person resounding throughout the throne room.


    They couldn''t hear any other footsteps, but it was given since the generals were strong enough to manipte mana with such precision to coat their feet with mana.


    Heck, even an S-ranked would be able to do that.


    The footsteps kept getting closer for some of the demons and farther for others.


    Those steps only stopped once they reached the pedestal for the throne, but that was only for an instant before they heard a voice��


    "Stay."


    A deep,manding, and majestic voice.


    The sound was low, like a purr, but they could hear it like it was being spoken into their ears.


    That alone was enough to let the ones who were epic rank and above know that the one sitting on the throne was at least an epic-ranker.


    Only after reaching epic rank can one do it.


    They heard a rustling sound. Every little sound was audible since the hall was enveloped in a pin-drop silence.


    Then they heard themand...


    "Rise."


    As if their legs were made of springs, one that had its own control button in Alex''s hand, the moment hemanded them, the demons stood up in unison��not a second earlier norter.


    They finally saw him.


    Sitting on the demon lord''s throne, evoking such grandeur that none of them had ever seen.


    His sharp red eyes kept scanning through the crowd, and anyone who met his eyes lowered their head.


    Some out of embarrassment, some to hide their blushes, some out of fear, and some out of inferiority.


    Just looking at the man sitting on the throne with a world-shaking beauty on hisp was enough to make them realize the true meaning of majesty.


    Their eyes were so focused on Alex that they didn''t even notice the demon generals moving to stand face-to-face with him.


    They were still standing on the ground, not moving up the steps toward their thrones.


    Then, all of a sudden, they went down on a knee, joined their hands together, ced them on the bent knee, and then bowed their heads.


    The demons in the room, however, were still staring at Alex and Luna, enamored by their looks.


    Nyx was not kneeling along with the other three generals; he was standing beside Alex, along with Azaroth.


    He was still invisible, though.


    "We greet the demon lord and the demon ancestor!" X3


    The yells of the three demon generals finally broke the demon out of reverie.


    ''Wha��''


    ''The demon lord...''


    ''Ancestor?''


    ''Demon ancestor, who?''


    The demons, although aware of the demon generals'' positions, were more confused now.


    If it was just greeting the demon lord, then they would already be on their knees, saluting their new lord.


    But who was this demon ancestor?


    This was something they didn''t know about.


    Experience new tales on empire


    Even the dukes of the empire and the kings of several kingdoms were confused.


    "We greet the demon lord and the demon ancestor!" X3


    The demon generals, who didn''t hear anything even after their greetings, frowned, and this time, they added their mana pressure to their voices.


    *Boom* X3


    Their mana pressures crashed on the demons, crushing some weaker ones while the stronger ones struggled to even stand up.


    The demon generals weren''t using their full power right now; they didn''t want to kill everyone after all.


    They were just trying to give everyone here a wake-up call.


    Some casualties were ignored; no one in the demon empire cared for the weak.


    The demons, who felt the pressure on their bodies, finally realized their mistake.


    *THUD*


    Almost as if prenned, all of the demons fell on their knees at the same time.


    However, unlike the demon generals, who were kneeling on a single knee, the others knelt on both of their knees.


    It was just so they could keep their heads a level below the generals or the archdukes.


    "WE GREET THE DEMON LORD AND THE DEMON ANCESTOR!"


    The whole pce trembled because of the intensity of the demons'' shouts.


    The grounds vibrated; even Luna, who was sitting on Alex''sp, could feel the trembling in the air.


    Alex, still sitting on the throne, smiled as he leaned back on the throne, pulling Luna closer and making her fall on his chest.


    Luna was now trying her utmost to keep her expression still, or she feared that a furious blush might creep up on her face.


    Her neck was already red, but the fur on the shawl she wore was covering it well, so she was fine for now.


    Alex then waved his hands.


    "Rx."


    He uttered, but as the demons were standing up, a glint of surprise shed through his eyes.


    Neither Luna nor Azaroth noticed anything since they had their eyes fixed on the demons in front of them.


    But even if they did, they couldn''t possibly know the reason for Alex to be surprised.


    It wasn''t that he was surprised at the demons or that they could pinpoint the demon he was looking at; he was surprised by the new system notification��the new quest that he had received.


    ''Is this��?''


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 302 - The first protagonist.

    What was a coronation for the demons in the demon empire?


    Nothing special; it was just the demons epting the new demon lord.


    Yes, eptance.


    That was all it takes for one to be the demon lord.


    But gaining the eptance of the four demon generals was not an easy task; rather, it was something that could cause the death of the person trying to get it.


    Once you get their support, however, things will be different.


    Power is supreme for the demons, and who was stronger than the four demon generals in the empire?


    Until now, there was none.


    So, just the fact that the demon generals epted a person as the demon lord was enough to get them that position; there was no need to prove their qualifications.


    The one who doesn''t agree with the demon lord would be dealt with by the archdukes.


    No one wanted to be ''dealt'' by the archduke, so no one would voice out against the demon lord; simple as that.


    That was until now when the demon generals were the strongest.


    But now that there was a demon ancestor who was stronger than anyone could even guess, things were different.


    The power dynamic in the demon empire was shifting a bit.


    The shocking thing, however, was that even the demon ancestor seemed to be in support of the new demon lord.


    This was enough to settle the matter of Alex being the demon lord.


    People wanted to test Alex by getting him to open the ancient door made of wood from the Tree of Life, but they were now unsure if it was really Alex who opened the doors.


    However, the demons, who were still not satisfied, kept it to themselves; speaking out now would only mean death.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    They just did as the new demon lord of theirs asked for.


    All of them stood up straight and looked at the demon lord, who was now rxing on the throne with one of his arms resting on the armrest and the other on the waist of the woman on hisp.


    Many demonesses, who were already charmed by Alex and were heads-over-heel for him, were chewing their nails in envy as they looked at Luna.


    ''How could she maintain such expression?!''


    The fact that shocked them more was that Luna still had a straight face; not even a tinge of red could be seen.


    If the demonesses from the crowd were to sit that close to Alex, they felt like they might lose consciousness.


    The royal families and the high nobility, on the other hand, were thinking of ways to get more information about the demon lord.


    They were all aiming for the uing feast to observe the new demon lord, talk to him, get to know what type of person he was, and maybe test his strength.


    As for the ancestor...


    The demons turned toward three kings in particr.


    All three of them were the descendants or rtives of three generals.


    Morvan didn''t have a family in the demon empire, or there would''ve been four kings who had the possibility of getting information on the ancestor.


    But even with three kings getting it, the others would get it sooner orter.


    The one that needed urgent attention was the demon lord, Alex.


    Alex, on the other hand, was focused on something else.


    [Antagonist''s Quest: -


    Quest objective: A regressed demon of a dying family has set his eyes on something that is yours; handle the situation ordingly.


    Quest reward: Depends on your approach.


    Additional information: The demon regressed the moment the news of a new demon lord surfaced.


    Shocked by this unforeseen event��something that never happened in his past life��the demon tried his best to think of something.


    After thinking a lot, he finally settled on making the new demon king lose face, knowing full well that it was not going to be easy to get the throne for himself.


    The demon was the one who suggested the test of strength for the new demon lord, while he also started live-streaming the whole event without permission, even though you strictly prohibited anyone from doing so.


    Time limit: No time limit.


    Penalty: --]


    Alex, although surprised by the sudden quest, still maintained a dignified expression on the outside.


    His eyes were still scanning the crowd, now for a specific demon.


    ''Is this the same demon that was summoned a while ago?''


    Without taking his eyes off the crowd, Alex questioned Sophia inwardly.


    [No, they are both different.


    This one was supposed to be the protagonist of the demon empire, one that would lead the demon empire to peace with the world.


    As for the one that was summoned a while ago, you will need to be close to him/her for the system to get some information on him/her.]


    Sophia replied without dy, causing Alex to nod inwardly.


    ''I see��''


    Alex muttered, still searching for the protagonist, until his eyesnded on a man and a woman standing together.


    The moment his eyes fell on them, thedy lowered her head with a furious blush, and the man averted his eyes in fear.


    ''So, this is the first protagonist this world has offered to me��''


    Alex muttered as he observed the man.


    The man, however, failed to notice that his acting was seen through by Alex.


    The man was trying to appear scared, but Alex noticed it in an instant.


    Alex was a good actor, so he could tell if someone was acting or being real.


    Even the minute change in his expression was noticed by Alex.


    The frown that formed between his brows the moment Alex''s eyes met his, and the dy in him averting his eyes.


    So Alex kept staring at him.


    Slowly, but surely, everyone started to notice a weird tension in the air.


    The first one to notice was Azaroth, as he had been observing Alex for a while.


    Then it was Luna, who was stealing a nce at Alex''s profile.


    Both of them followed Alex''s line of sight, and they saw the pair that Alex was staring at.


    The demon generals were the next to notice the anomaly in Alex''s behavior.


    The man in question, the first protagonist that Alex was going to face, also realized that something was wrong.


    The girl, on the other hand, was still oblivious to everything; she was busy with her thoughts.


    Enjoy new tales from empire


    ''Did he think of me as a cute girl?''


    ''Did I look different to him?''


    ''Is he going to call out to me?''


    The girl, just like any other girl would, started imagining many scenarios.


    But before the protagonist could think of something or the girl could continue with her thoughts, a voice was heard.


    "You��."


    Alex''s lips moved while the demon generals and the demon ancestor frowned.


    This was going to be the first confrontation between Alex and the protagonist.


    Till now, he had been the protagonist, and maybe that was why things were so easy on Gaia.


    Let''s see if it will be the same on Eldoria.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 303 - Rohrg Ashenfang.

    A guy with short, ck hair, purple eyes��eyes that shone with a maniptive light��and an average build.


    His height was 172 centimeters, not something people in this world considered average, but he was not short either.


    His face was something that could be considered handsome, without a blemish or a single mark on his smooth skin.


    He was wearing a fancy purple suit with a white shirt and purple pants, along with a purple tie.


    That dress suited his body well.


    That was how Alex would describe the protagonist''s looks.


    His name is Rhorg Ashenfang.


    He is the grandchild of Rhezgurd Ashenfang, who was also known as the traitorous general in the empire of Maleficaris.


    The same demon whose body was used to make the weapon that Valerius always has��Hell''s Slumber.


    That weapon was not called by that name without a reason.


    The hell in its name signifies the demon''s race: Hellhound.


    The slumber in its name means the same as its dictionary meaning; nothing special.


    Now back to the topic.


    After Rhezgurd was dered a traitor, his son, the king of the Ashenfort kingdom, tried to help him, only to get yed by the hands of Nyx.


    That left Rohrg, his mother, and his sister alone, with no one to protect them.


    Rohrg''s mother, Trupha Ashenfang, was strong; she was an epic 3-ranker, but that power was nothing in front of the Dukes and the Marquesses of their kingdombined.


    They tried to run away, but they were caught.


    However, just as the situation looked dire for them and they thought that they would die, Rhorg''s maternal grandfather arrived.


    He was a legendary ranker of the Demon Empire, the former king of the kingdom of Imps, Impire.


    If not for him, they would''ve died that day.


    Now, a week ago, around 2 months ago, Rohrg regressed with the knowledge of the future, and with the help of that knowledge, he already had a n to not only get his kingdom back, but he was also eyeing the Demon Lord''s throne.


    "WHAT!"


    But all of his ns went haywire when he heard the news of someone being crowned as a demon lord.


    ''This never happened in the future��.''


    This was his first thought at that moment.


    He was someone who used to keep note of everything, so he remembered almost everything with their dates, but an event so major was nowhere in his memory.


    But then things clicked.


    ''It could be because of my interference with events...''


    Rohrg had done a lot of things in the past two months, and all of them were things that would help him in the future.


    No one other than his maternal grandfather knew about the connections he made in the past two months, but he couldn''t hide them from space and time.


    So, she resigned to his fate and started to think of ways to remove this new variable.


    But it was a very hard thing to do; after all, he didn''t know a thing about the demon lord.


    However, after a period of research, he found a book about the previous demon lords, and he noticed one thing.


    ''All of them were weak at the start.''


    Yes, that was the only thing he could get about the demon lord, nothing else.


    Even finding this information took him time, as he had to read at least 20 books to find this link.


    It was as if someone intentionally destroyed the information on the demon lords or hid it somewhere.


    But, although disappointed, Rohrg still made a n with the information he had.


    However, the next day, he heard that the demon lord had denied the coronation to be streamed live.


    ''ARGHHHHHH!!''


    This almost made him pull his hair out in frustration.


    His ns were again destroyed because of the same person. But he soon calmed down and modified the n.


    ''A bit risky, but this is all I can do��''


    He finalized his ns, quite sure that they would work as intended, but that was until he felt the demonic energy and the celestial incubus bloodline of Alex.


    ''WHAT THE HELL!!''


    His body froze and fell on his knees, just like the other demons.


    He wasn''t exceptionally strong yet��no, instead, he was weak as hell; he had ns forter, but for now, he was much more focused on gaining connections.


    So, right now, he was just an A ranker��prettyme strength for someone who was a 20-year-old guy.


    Weak as a bug in front of the pressure that the demon generals emanated.


    *Woosh*


    If not for his grandfather''s timely shielding of mana, he would''ve turned into meat paste, just like the other weak demons.


    "Rise."


    That simple word, spoken by the supposed demon lord, sent shivers down his spine.


    The sheer amount of majesty in that voice was enough to make the thought of recing that person almost leave his mind.


    The moment he looked up, however, was the moment he saw someone who looked like a literal god walking on the.


    For a second, he even doubted his sexuality since the new demon lord, Alex, looked a bit too cool in his eyes.


    His eyes, however, couldn''t help but widen to the extreme when he caught sight of the person standing beside Alex.


    ''That''s the fucking ancestor!''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Rohrg seemed to know who Azaroth was, and from the shock he was feeling, one could tell that he was probably aware of Azaroth''s power as well.


    "We greet the demon lord and the demon ancestor!" X3


    *Boom*


    He was pulled out of shock when he was smashed to the floor along with his sister due to the pressure of the three demon generals.


    He forgot that he had the live-streaming device in his pocket, and it was still showing everything.


    That device was ced in his pocket just so that he could stream the moment the demon lord entered the throne room without opening the ancient door with his own strength.


    Rahrg was already kneeling before Alex entered, so he couldn''t even make out that it was Alex who opened the door.


    The device, however, was made to record the things happening in the surrounding area.


    The fact that it was facing the ground didn''t stop the projection.


    That device was supposed to create images by sending out sound and light waves��someplex mechanism made by the dwarves.


    *THUD*


    He, along with the other demons went down on their knees, still unaware of the ongoing stream.


    "WE GREET THE DEMON LORD AND THE DEMON ANCESTOR!"


    He yelled out loud, just like the other demons.


    He didn''t want to show his frustration out in the open.


    "Rx."


    That''s why he simply did what a normal demon in his ce would''ve done and stood up.


    He grew a bit confused, however, when he saw Alex''s eyes focusing on him.


    A frown was about to form between his brows, but he quickly controlled his expressions and averted Alex''s eyes ''fearfully''.


    For some unknown reason, however, his heart started pounding.


    But as he averted his eyes and looked toward the ground, his eyes caught sight of the live-streaming device.


    ''Shit-''


    He hurriedly tried to stop the stream, but before he could do that...


    "You��."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 304 - Step forward.

    Alex didn''t want his coronation to be broadcasted live.


    "But it is such a big event."


    "How can we not do it?"


    "Why?"


    That decision, however, became a matter of concern for the demon generals.


    As said before, demons were respectful towards strength and authority, and Alex, with strength enough to gain respect, needed to show them his authority.


    Everyone in the world should know who the demon lord is so that no one would even dare offend him.


    The demons were a reckless bunch, so it was possible that the moment Alex left the imperial pce, a demon would try to show their authority to him.


    The case would be solved in the end since there would be many people who knew who Alex was by then, but the fact that any random hobo tried to show authority to the one sitting on top of it was very shameful for the face of the demon empire.


    The demon generals didn''t want to see that happen.


    Alex, on the other hand, turned toward Valerius, who asked him the reason for this decision, ignoring Mk and Morvan''s questions.


    Well, it was not really a question; they were just muttering to themselves, so it was not that Alex was intentionally ignoring them.


    "I don''t know about the previous demon lords, but I want to live my life and enjoy it at the same time."


    Alex began, ncing at Valerius, Morvan, and Mk simultaneously.


    Nyx was there as well, but he was ignored by Alex, causing him to frown.


    "What does-"


    Morvan was about to ask: ''What does it have to do with the broadcast?'', but Alex simply raised his hand, causing her to swallow her question.


    "If I were to do like you guys are asking me to, I wouldn''t be able to enjoy a simple life anymore.


    No matter where I go after that, I will be seen as a demon lord, not some random guy enjoying his life."


    Alex added, but before the demon generals could let out a word, he continued.


    "I know that you guys would say that there''s an alternative, but did you guys ever ponder the fact that our enemy, which, literally, is the whole world, would know who I am as well?"


    Alex questioned with his palm sped under his chin, his elbow resting on the table in front of him.


    This question silenced the demon generals.


    They never thought about it from that perspective.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They weren''t unaware of the spies in their empire; no one was.


    Every empire has a spy among them; you can never eliminate all of them, and even if you did, more woulde to fill their ces.


    So broadcasting the coronation ceremony meant showing your face and demeanor to an enemy, which was enough for the stronger ones to make out what kind of person you were and how strong you could be.


    In the end, the demon generals agreed to Alex''s proposal about not doing a live broadcast.


    ''All of that went to waste.''


    Alex sighed as he read the information tab on the quest.


    But then he just shrugged.


    ''Not like I don''t have alternatives, so it''s fine.


    As for the enemies, well, they cane at me; I wee enemies.''


    [At least now, Ann and Alice would know where you are.]


    ''Ah��''


    Sophia''s words caused Alex to smile inadvertently, but it was reced by the same majestic look within a millisecond, so no one noticed it.


    ''I guess everything happens for the good��''


    Alex chuckled inwardly before he opened his lips, staring at a particr guy, Rohrg Ashenfang.


    "You��"


    Alex''s eyes focused on Rohrg as he called out to him in a low yetmanding voice.


    The demon generals'' frowns deepened as they followed Alex''s line of sight; after all, it was hard to tell who Alex was looking at since the demons were standing in a cluster.


    Every single demon that was in Alex''s line of sight started panicking, but when they looked into Alex''s eyes, they could tell that his eyes were looking toward them for sure, but not at them.


    The demon at the front moved a step to the right, and when he found that Alex''s eyes hadn''t followed him, he sighed in relief.


    The other nervous demons also realized the same thing, and slowly, they all started moving out of the way.


    The demon generals kept following the process with their focused eyes.


    They were standing at the same level as the others, so they couldn''t just look through the crowd.


    Azaroth and Nyx, on the other hand, were very clear about whom Alex was calling out to.


    They were standing on an elevated tform, so it was easy to make out the straight line from Alex''s eyes.


    They were a bit surprised when they discovered who it was, but they kept quiet because they didn''t know what was happening.


    *Step**Step**Step*....


    One after another, many demons stepped aside, sighing in relief as they found out that they were not the ones being called out.


    Yes, it could be a very good opportunity that they were missing; maybe the new demon lord was electing a new general, but it was hard to read Alex''s expression, and they still didn''t know what kind of person Alex was.


    So, their agitation was not uncalled for.


    The process went on and on; after all, Rohrg was standing quite back in the crowd.


    He wasn''t the prince of a kingdom anymore; he was just a boy from a royal family that had now fallen out of grace.


    If that was not enough, he was the grandchild of the traitorous general.


    ''Let''s just go with the flow��''


    Rohrg, who could feel the gaze of Alex on his body, observing every single move in his muscles, muttered inwardly.


    He didn''t even look up at Alex''s eyes��


    *Step*


    He just stepped aside like the other demons were doing.


    "....."


    But for 3 whole seconds, no sound was heard��no steps, no sigh of relief, and no murmur that had been going on in the crowd.


    Rohrg tried to stay as calm as he could and looked up into Alex''s haunting red eyes, which were staring right into his eyes.


    *Shiver*


    His body shivered involuntarily as he felt like his soul was being pierced by those two cold eyes.


    "Me?"


    He let out a voice filled with uncertainty.


    He already knew it was him, and so did the ones around him, yet he questioned.


    Alex, however, just stared at him without looking away.


    The atmosphere slowly got heavier.


    Just the grandeur and majesty Alex was emanating was enough to pressure anyone who looked at him, so his gaze, being focused on one guy, would, of course, cause the pressure to multiply.


    No one knew what was going to happen or what the reason was for Alex calling out to Rohrg, but they waited with batted breaths��they waited for Alex to continue.


    No one spoke a word until Alex finally opened his lips.


    "Yes, you.


    Step forward."


    Alexmanded, and although hesitant, Rohrg still walked out of the crowd.


    The demon generals had a sharp glint pass through their eyes when they saw who it was.


    ''Ashenfang��.'' X3


    Nyx and Azaroth already knew who it was, so they kept staring at the same guy.


    But strangely, the eyes of the four demon generals, the demon ancestor, and the demon lord, along with the gaze of the entire higher-ups of the demon empire��something that would be enough to crush an A-ranker to death��weren''t enough to cause the grandchild of the traitorous general to break.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 305 - The protagonist is cornered.

    "Why does it seem like I know him?"


    A demon among the crowd whispered with a frown of confusion.


    He couldn''t be sure, but he felt like he had seen an image of the guy with ck hair and purple eyes somewhere.


    But his words caused the demons around him to turn toward him.


    "Wut?"


    The demon asked as his frown deepened when he noticed the strange expressions on their faces.


    It was as if they were looking at an idiot.


    "Did you live under a rock or something?"


    A demon sneered as he looked at the demon in question, causing his frown to deepen.


    "Not under a rock, but yes, I never actually came out of my house."


    But he still epted that he was an introvert who never came out of his house.


    "Sigh��." X3


    The demons around him sighed before one of them spoke up.


    "That guy is the waste of the Ashenfang family.


    He was supposed to be the next king, but him being as useless as he is, all he could do was hide behind his maternal grandfather."


    That demon jeered as he looked at Rohrg mockingly.


    His voice was barely a whisper, and there were many other demons talking about something like this, but Rohrg, who was walking out of the crowd, heard it all.


    ''Just you wait...''


    The demons in the crowd didn''t know that their faces were already imprinted inside the protagonist''s mind, and as vengeful as he was, Rohrg wasn''t going to let them slide.


    ''For now, however��.''


    Rohrg, taking a deep breath, went on his knees as soon as he neared the throne that Alex was sitting on.


    He was kneeling a step behind the position where the demon generals were standing right now, hoping that he could get cover behind them.


    The demon generals, however, just moved out of the way.


    "Take a seat."


    Alex''s voice resounded throughout the hall, causing the murmurs to go silent.


    His eyes were focused on Rohrg, but everyone could tell whom he was talking to.


    "As you wish, my lord." X3


    The three demon generals spoke in unison before they stepped up toward their respective thrones.


    Unlike any other empire, here calling the demon lord, who was the emperor of the demon empire, ''your majesty'' was not a tradition.


    Everyone in the demon empire was supposed to call the demon lord ''lord''.


    But the thing was that there would be no other lord in the demon empire.


    No one is supposed to be lord over anyone; even the archdukes can''t be called lord by their subordinates or ves.


    The Demon Empire had only one being that could rule over every being in the Demon Empire, the demon lord. He was the one and only lord, the lord of their lives, the lord of their wills, and the lord of their bodies.


    Others were either sires or masters.


    But let''s leave it at that.


    For now, the atmosphere in the throne room was anything but rxing, especially for the family members of Rorhg Ashenfang.


    Lilia Ashenfang, Rohrg''s sister, could feel her heart hammering against her chest, ready to break out of her rib cage, but she stood still.


    ''He didn''t do something stupid, right?''


    She hoped not, or things might not end well for them.


    She sped her hands and prayed to whatever god she could, wishing for her brother''s well-being.


    Then there was Grum Infurnis, the maternal grandfather of Rohrg; he was currently frowning, thinking about what his grandson could''ve done.


    ''He didn''t seem to have any good opinion about the demon lord being crowned, even though he hadn''t seen the demon lord.''


    He muttered inwardly as he saw Rohrg kneel in front of Alex, the demon lord.


    But then his eyes widened as he recalled something.


    ''He didn''t do that, right��?'' Enjoy more content from empire


    One of his men, who was supposed to keep an eye on Rohrg, had informed him about the device that the boy was searching for; he himself helped Rohrg find it, but now he was regretting his decision.


    ''Please don''t let it be what I''m thinking��.''


    After a long time, he wished for something that was against what his mind was telling him.


    But for some reason, the unease in his heart kept growing instead of receding.


    "My lord."


    Rohrg bowed his head in front of Alex as the most loyal servant one could find.


    ''Oh?''


    This caused even Alex, who was an expert in acting, to raise a brow inwardly.


    If he didn''t know the truth, he would''ve thought that Rohrg was the type of guy who would die for him if he asked for it.


    "What is your name?"


    Alex demanded his name from Rohrg, his eyes peering into the poor guy''s soul.


    "My name-"


    But before Rohrg could reply��


    *Gasp* Xn (Since the number of gasps is not counted, we will assume it to be ''n''.)


    Many demons gasped as they saw Alex''s eyes turning ck and golden with golden pupils and ck sclera.


    There were many demons with different types of eyes, but Alex''s eyes gave off a different vibe.


    It felt... demonic, dangerous, and devilish, yet charming, majestic, and glorious at the same time.


    It was as if God were looking at them; their trying to hide anything in front of those eyes was impossible


    *Badump*


    Rohrg''s heart, on the other hand, skipped a beat.


    He felt like he was sitting naked, and his secrets were open to Alex.


    But he calmed down in an instant, something impossible for an A-ranker like him.


    "My name is Rohrg Ashenfang, my lord."


    He replied, his voice dripping with respect, quite the opposite of his thoughts.


    ''What does he want?


    There''s no way he noticed the device. It doesn''t use any kind of mana, so it would be hard for even the Ancestor to perceive it.


    So, what could he possibly call me out for?''


    He was frowning inwardly as he pondered the reason Alex could''ve asked him toe here��his mind was working in overdrive, but he couldn''t think of anything.


    The dramatic pauses that Alex took didn''t help as well; they only added to the pressure.


    "So, Rohrg Ashenfang, I want you to state the first and only order I have passed down until now."


    *Badump**Badump**Badump*...


    Alex''s purr along with his eyes, which were looking deep inside Rohrg''s soul, caused the guy''s heartbeat to rise at an unpredictable rate.


    ''How did he know!''


    His eyes quivered, and his fists clenched. For the first time since the start of the program, he felt fear.


    If he was found out to have gone against the demon lord''s words, he, just like his grandfather, would be med for treason.


    He knew the disadvantages of the broadcast, and that was also the reason for him doing it.


    But now he could see his ns backfiring on him.


    He racked his brain, thinking of a way out of this situation.


    His lips, however, still moved, doing what Alex had asked him to do.


    "The coronation ceremony must not be broadcasted."


    Rohrg''s words echoed through the hall as the demons frowned in confusion, while Rohrg looked up into Alex''s eyes.


    ''What''s going on?''


    This was the only question in their heads.


    Even the wise ones were at a loss, but there was one person in the crowd who understood what was going on.


    ''He really did it...''


    Grum muttered inwardly as his eyes grew worried while staring at Rohrg.


    His gaze then shifted to his granddaughter, Lilia, and he couldn''t help but grind his teeth.


    He knew for sure what would happen if Rohrg were to be proven guilty; he was old, so he knew many things, and one of them was a line even he used to say��''death to the traitors.


    He nced at Rohrg once again before his eyes grew determined.


    He loved his grandchildren from the bottom of his heart, so much so that he was willing to go against the whole empire just to save them when death was the only thing that was written for them.


    So, how could he sit still when one of his grandchildren was sentenced to death?


    But for now, he waited.


    From what he observed in thest few months, he could tell that, for some reason, his grandson had grown maniptive and scheming.


    His every move had a countern ready.


    He just hoped the same for today.


    ''Or else��''


    He clenched his fists, resolute to not let Rohrg die today, no matter what.


    As for what was actually going to happen, only time could tell...


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 CHAPTER 306 - Plot Armor?

    //// Author here: I hope you guys don''t have a problem with slightly long chapters... ////


    "I see you know the order word by word."


    Alex nodded his head while he closed his eyes.


    He had already seen all he wanted to, and he knew what the maximum power Rohrg could amount to.


    But as he opened his eyes, they were devoid of emotion.


    His eyes had turned back to the normal shade of haunting red, yet for some reason, they looked eerie.


    "But if you know what I ordered and you are as loyal as you seem to be, why do I sense a broadcasting device on your body?"


    Alex''s eyes were still half closed, his body rxed on the throne, and his arm wrapped around Luna''s waist, yet his momentum had changed.


    If before he seemed to be a majestic yet magnanimous emperor, now he seems like a tyrant who wouldn''t let a single word against himself slide.


    *Tremble*


    Rohrg, who looked up with much effort, shivered under the cold gaze of Alex, frozen still.


    He was a mere A-ranker��someone who could be blown away by the breath of an EX-ranker��so his body freezing under the gaze of a legendary-ranker wasn''t unwarranted.


    "I-I, I��.."


    Rohrg had already thought of an answer that could suit well in this situation, but the moment he saw those cold, emotionless eyes staring at him, his words got stuck in his throat.


    "You?"


    Alex, who heard the shuttering voice of Ruhrg, stood up from his seat along with Luna while questioning Rohrg.


    Luna stepped aside as she saw Alex walking down the stairs in slow and deliberate steps.


    Alex didn''t pull Luna close or stop her from moving away.


    He let her stay back as he folded his hands behind his back and questioned the guy again.


    "You, what?"


    He tilted his head, but his eyes were still boring on Rohrg''s body.


    The tension in the atmosphere had reached its peak; if one waved their hand, they could feel the palpable pressure, but no one moved.


    They waited for Alex''s next move with bated breaths.


    They didn''t care about Rohrg''s death; what they cared about was Alex''s nature.


    They wanted to know what kind of person their new lord was.


    They could tell that he wasn''t a naive goody two shoes; that much was clear from the way he carried himself, but they weren''t sure of his ruthlessness.


    "U-Um, I-I, that, I wasn''t, I��"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Rohrg''s eyes trembled violently, and his heartbeat fastened.


    *Step**Step*...


    Each step Alex took reverberated through his mind.


    He gritted his teeth as he felt like his brain was being hammered by something.


    His body trembled intensely, and his mind started to go nk.


    Rohrg saw in slow motion as Alex outstretched his hand, reaching for his pocket��right where he had the broadasting device.


    ''No, no, no. I can''t let him take it out.''


    *Inhale**Exhale**Inhale**Exhale*...


    His breathing turned a bit raged, and his blood rushed into his brain.


    The demon generals were standing as well; they stood up the moment Alex did.


    Their being seated while their lord was standing is not good for their lord''s image.


    Their sharp eyes, however, were staring at Rohrg without even blinking.


    The generals and the ancestor were already aware of the device in Rohrg''s pocket. It was not hard to find after Alex pointed it out for them.


    They also knew who Rohrg was; they had been keeping an eye on him, and from what they knew, this boy didn''t seem to be seeking revenge for his father and grandfather.


    It might be cowardly or ungrateful in other people''s eyes, but it was the right thing to do in the Demon Empire.


    Yet today, the boy seemed to be wanting to follow his grandfather''s steps.


    But just as Alex''s arm was about to reach Rohrg, and just as Grum was about to step up, something shocking happened.


    *Boom*


    A loud, booming sound was heard from inside Rohrg''s body.


    The sound was loud enough to send a shockwave through the air, causing the demons in the vicinity to almost fall back.


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    The hall was enveloped in silence��a pin-drop silence��and everyone was focused on Rohrg and Alex''s interaction, so the sudden boom was like an explosion happening in their minds.


    It was too sudden.


    One moment, they were waiting for Alex''s decision with their breaths bated, while the next moment, they had their eyes widened as they heard the unexpected explosion.


    *Woosh*


    But things didn''t end there, as just as the sound of the explosion settled, a wave of purple mes was pushed out of Rohrg''s body.


    "Rohrg!" X2


    Two worried yells were heard as both Lilia and Grum rushed to the ball of me that had enveloped both Ruhrg and Alex, who had his hand outstretched toward the young Ashenfang.


    Lilia, although not very strong, was still an SS-ranker at the age of 22. It was not something that could be considered exceptional, but she was still someone with an average level of power.


    So, she used all of her might to bolt forward, but before either she or Grum could take even a step out of there, a colossal pressure descended upon them.


    "No one is allowed to move."


    A cold voice was heard along with those words as every eye in the throne room��other than the eyes of the generals and the ancestor��turned toward the source of the cold yet tantalizing voice.


    All they found was a pair of cold, red eyes staring at them.


    They averted their eyes, not wanting to look into them for long since they were not particrly looking at them.


    "Cough!"


    The ones who were under pressure, however, were far from being fine.


    Grum was on his knees, while Lilia had already coughed blood as her body fell to the ground, but they didn''t voice out anyints.


    Grum, who was filled with worry before, had also calmed down a bit after he felt the pain in his body as he was forced against the ground.


    His eyes were now clear so he noticed something.


    ''None of the demon generals seemed to be making a move��''


    His eyes inadvertently moved toward the ball of purple me, and he finally sighed in relief and excitement.


    It took him some time, but he realized what was happening.


    Morvan, who was pressuring them, saw the change in Grum''s expressions, so she waved her hand, pulling back her pressure.


    "Don''t let it happen again."


    After those words, she turned her eyes back at the mass of purple mes that had turned a bit darker, with no worry or shock visible in her eyes.


    The demon generals could easily look through that veil of purple me; anyone at legendary or above could see it without much effort.


    If Grum''s eyes weren''t clouded with worry and dread, he would''ve seen it as well.


    All of them were aware of what was happening.


    *Swoosh*


    The next instant, that dome-like shape of purple mes that was covering both Alex and Rohrg started shrinking.


    Luna, who was a bit worried for a second, sighed in relief when Alex''s and Rohrg''s ankles came into view.


    She, who was an EX-ranker right now, felt that those mes were very dangerous; they gave off the same vibe she felt from the destruction energy when she first saw Alex use them.


    "Hmm, so you awakened a royal bloodline, huh?"


    A humming and unbothered voice was heard as Alex and Rohrg came into view of the demons.


    *Gasp*


    Shocked and surprised gasps were heard as all of the demons saw the situation.


    Alex was standing without a scratch; even his hair wasn''t messed up as he curiously looked at the ball ofpressed purple me in his palm.


    It was as if he had shrunk the dome-shaped mes that covered them whole into the size of a tennis ball.


    Then there was Rohrg, whose appearance was contradictory to the dismissive and unbothered look that Alex had.


    His hair was disheveled, and his fancy suit and shirt were shredded, leaving him with a look that made him seem like a beggar.


    He had burn marks all over his body, which seemed to be caused by the same purple mes.


    His body was trembling uncontrobly, as if scared of something, while his purple eyes that glowed with an eerie light were now sunken as if their lives were pulled out.


    It was clear that Rohrg was exhausted, but as they focused on what Alex had uttered before, the demons had their eyes widened in disbelief.


    ''A Royal bloodline!''


    Alex, on the other hand, deactivated his zone as he clenched his fist, extinguishing the purple mes from before.


    ''Is this the plot armor that the protagonists are so famous for?''


    He raised a brow with a scoff as he questioned Sophia. His eyes, however, scanned the throne room, and he could already see that many of the high-ranking nobles and some kings were looking at Rohrg as if he were a gem.


    He just shook his head at that.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 307 - Bullshit.

    In normal cases, if a demon were to see someone with a bloodline higher than them, then the first thought they would have would be killing the said person.


    There are some conditions before that, however.


    Those conditions are that the said person has authority that is ranked lower than theirs, and the one who awakened that bloodline is not so strong that they won''t be able to defeat him/her.


    Above all, the difference in their bloodline shouldn''t be colossal.


    The demon generals, or the higher-ups of the demon empire, wouldn''t sit still after that.


    Even if the perpetrator of the murder was a duke of the empire or a general, the others would not let it slide.


    That was the case for Alex.


    He had a bloodline so highly ranked that just the mere presence of that bloodline was enough to bring the demons to their knees.


    Yes, there was no way they would turn loyal just because of the bloodline, but at least they wouldn''t show it upfront.N?v(el)B\\jnn


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    A Royal ranked bloodline, however, was iparable to Alex''s celestial incubus bloodline.


    Every demon general had a royal-ranked bloodline; the same was true for the four guardian beasts.


    If someone had royal ranked bloodline, it meant that they had the potential to get to the mythical 3 rank.


    But only potential; nothing else.


    It didn''t give them immunity or something, and they could still be killed.


    Yet, the only thing Alex could see in the eyes of the demon empire''s higher-ups was appreciation and surprise.


    The point that the one in question��the guy who seemed like a hidden gem to them��was the grandchild of the traitorous general wasn''t even appearing in their minds.


    That boy might as well just be the doom of the demon empire. He could turn as strong as his grandfather��who was also known as the ming hound throughout the world��or stronger than him.


    They were hellhounds, one of the few demon races that were famous for their unbelievable battle prowess.


    Who knew what he would turn into if given the time?


    Yet, the higher-ups of the demon empire��beings that bear the responsibility of protecting the demon empire��didn''t seem to want to kill that guy; instead, they seemed to have the intention of grooming him.


    Other than the demon generals and the ancestors, everyone seemed to be affected by the air of excitement.


    ''Sigh��''


    Looking at all of this��the guy who was walking a store of bullshit and concept-breaking abilities��couldn''t help but shake his head with a sigh.


    ''This is next-level bullshit.''


    Alex let out an exasperated sigh.


    He seemed to have forgotten that he had the ability to literally make the whole human race his ve.


    If he were to kill Rohrg now, then the high-ranking demons would try to oppose him.


    Alex''s eyes sharpened as he thought about it.


    But then he just shrugged inwardly, and his expression rxed.


    "Congrattions on awakening a royal-ranked bloodline."


    Alex rested his palm on Rohrg''s shoulder, and from everyone''s perspective, it looked like Alex was not going to pursue whatever matter he was going to talk about.


    The smile on his face looked like the one that a person would have if they were thrilled about something.


    Even Rohrg, who thought of himself as an expert actor, felt the same.


    All the disappointment he felt from his attempt to harm or maybe kill Alex under the pretense of not having control over his power.


    But, in the end, he failed; that left him discontent, but hearing Alex''s words, a new light started to shine in his eyes.


    ''He wouldn''t want to offend so many people, after all.''


    Rohrg smirked inwardly, now confident about his survival.


    Just like Alex, he had seen the eyes of the demon nobles as well, but he was unsure about Alex''s next move.


    Now, however, things were different.


    A smile started to form on his lips as he was about to bow his head to thank (taunt) Alex for ''helping'' him achieve the bloodline.


    But the next instant, unease gripped his heart, and the grip of Alex''s hand on his shoulder tightened a bit.


    His head, which was turned a bit downward, ready to bow, turned to look into Alex''s eyes like an old junky machine.


    ''Ah��''


    All of his confidence was drained the moment he saw the eyes of Alex��devoid of any emotions��staring at him.


    Long gone was the thrilled smile on his face, reced by an emotionless look as he looked deep into the poor guy''s eyes.


    "Now, could you tell me why you have this device on your body?"


    Alex questioned Rohrg, his tone cold and eerie.


    *Crack*


    "Argh!"


    Rohrg let out a pained groan as he felt his shoulder bones crack under Alex''s hands.


    His eyes trembled uncontrobly, unable toe up with words to justify his actions.


    His purple eyes��the only thing that he could move as of now��looked around hurriedly, searching for anyone who could help him.


    ''H-He won''t kill a general candidate, right��?''


    He questioned himself again and again, but no matter how many times he did that, he only got a single answer when he tried to look into Alex''s eyes.


    Rohrg looked at the high-ranking demons, but all he saw was the shocked faces of the higher nobilities and the royals who were thinking of nurturing him.


    ''Fucking dammit, speak up now!''


    All Rohrg could do was curse inwardly.


    ''You are epic plus rankers; at least snap out of the shock and do something!''


    It had only been a moment since Alex had asked the question, but for epic rankers and above, that much time was enough to make a move.


    The same moment, however, felt like forever to Rohrg as he stared at the faces of all those powerful people.


    ''What went wrong��?''


    A question appeared in his mind.


    ''Were my thoughts of making the empire a better ce wrong?''


    ''Me, who had seen the future and knew of the dangers ahead, would of course be able to rule this empire better than some random guy!''


    ''So, what did I do wrong?''


    ''I was given another chance for a reason!''


    ''I am special! I was supposed to be the emperor; I was supposed to be the demon lord!''


    One after another, question after question, he kept going on.


    Making the empire a better ce? Man, he just wanted to be the one at the top.


    That guy was calling Alex a random guy even after all that had happened till now, but what would you expect of a protagonist?


    He did think that he was special, after all.


    Just like any other protagonist, he thought that everything was his birthright or something.


    But just then...


    "No, my lord!"


    A shout filled with disbelief was heard, and Rohrg''s eyes brightened as he eximed inwardly.


    ''Yes, finally!''


    His eyes turned to the source of the yell, wanting to look at the one who was the first to break out of their shock, but before he could...


    *Boom*


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 308 - Another plot armor?

    Grum, who was taking care of Lilia, who was having a hard time breathing, was thrilled when he saw the friendly smile on Alex''s face.


    ''He''s safe!'' Continue your journey with empire


    That was the first thought that appeared in his mind.


    His grandchild, whose life could''ve been roped any moment, was not going to be killed!


    How good of a news was that?


    Grum had thought of using all of his future merits to help his grandson escape death if he had to.


    He was a legendary ranked demon, someone who had fought a lot of wars and made a lot of contributions, so for all that sacrifice and contribution, he could at least ask for his grandson''s life.


    But none of that was needed anymore.


    Alex didn''t seem to want to kill Rohrg or me him for anything.


    ''He awakened a Royal Bloodline, after all.''


    Finally, the fact that his grandson, the one who was called useless by the whole empire, had awakened the highest-ranked bloodline in the empire settled in his mind.


    *Hmph*


    He hmphed audibly, while his chest puffed in pride.


    Even Grum had noticed the look in the demon higher-ups'' eyes, causing a content grin to tug on the corner of his lips.


    ''Heh, don''t you guys have talented grandchildren?''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He sneered inwardly as he recalled all the humiliation he and his family had to go through for taking in his daughter Trupha and her children, much more so when one of them was the infamous useless grandchild of the ming Hound.


    Rohrg was now going to grow into a being as strong as the demon generals and have an authority that was far greater than any of them could hope to have.


    Yet, the atmosphere took a sharp turn when Alex''s next words were heard.


    "Now, could you tell me why you have this device on your body?"


    Alex''s smile was nowhere to be seen; all that was a cold and apathetic expression.


    *Crack*


    "Argh!"


    Then Rohrg''s pained grunt along with a cracking sound was heard as well, but everyone stood frozen in shock.


    Lilia, who had yet to recover from thest internal injury, was the same.


    The change in Alex''s attitude was a bit too fast for them to follow.


    Lilia was weak, so it would take her some time to break out of her shock, but Grum wasn''t weak.


    He was a legendary 3-ranker who was statistically Alex''s equal, so it didn''t take him much time to break out of his thoughts.


    Added to the fact that he was horrified when he heard the cracking noise earlier, it wasn''t uncalled for that he, a legendary ranker, was able to break out of his shock faster than the dukes of the empire, who were mythical rankers.


    His eyes hurriedly moved toward the generals, hoping to find at least one of them wanting to stop Alex, but all he saw was three pairs of cold eyes staring at Rohrg the same way Alex was doing.


    ''Why aren''t they helping him?!''


    ''Aren''t the generals supposed to value talent? So why not protect a potential general candidate?!''


    Grum couldn''t make sense of what was happening.


    Why were the generals and the so-called ancestor not making a move to stop Alex, even though it seemed that Alex was thinking of killing the most talented individual in the hall among the younger generation?


    Grum, who had just experienced a roller coaster of emotions, couldn''t think straight, or he wouldn''t have thought the same and would''ve realized why the generals were not making a move right now.


    On one side was a guy who wasn''t even strong enough to protect himself if a really strong enemy were to appear; on the other side, there was a monstrous bastard who had the power to cause the fight between him and the four demon generals to reach a stalemate.


    Which one would they choose to side with?


    That wasn''t even a question.


    They knew that Rohrg was talented, but things weren''t that normal.


    They weren''t affected by the plot armor for some reason, so they could see things clearly.


    A demon lord won''t cause any political stir because he won''t be sharing the position with someone and sitting on top alone.


    Then there was the fact that the ancestor and the generals all supported him.


    So, even if someone wanted to plot something, they would have to think 100 times.


    But a new general would change many things.


    Right now, there were four major powers that protected the four directions, which was pretty bnced.


    But if a new power were to rise, where would they rule?


    They would fight for either the central power, which is the demon lord, or one of the four directions.


    That would plunge the whole empire into chaos��more than it already is.


    Yes, it can be prevented if the right steps and precautions are taken, but was there a need?


    They already had a demon lord who could turn into the strongest person in the world in some years, and before Rohrg could even get to the mythical rank, the world would already be in the hands of the demon empire.


    So, what would he be needed for?


    They won''t deny that it would be good to have more people with power in the Demon Empire, but they decided to leave the decision in Alex''s hands.


    The one whomitted the offense was against him since his order was taken lightly, so they let Alex make the call.


    Alex, on the other hand, opened his palm, revealing the broadcasting device that was still blinking, showing its active status.


    He did ask the question, so he had to show Rohrg that his n of destroying the proof along with the explosion had also failed.


    But before he could get a reaction out of Rohrg, who seemed to be going through a ton of emotions, a yell was heard.


    "No, my lord!!"


    Along with the scream filled with pleas and desperation, Alex could also see Rohrg''s face lightening with hope, causing a sharp glint to pass through his eyes.


    ''That shitty plot armor again...''


    He grumbled inwardly before��.


    *Boom*


    A colossal pressure descended upon the people in the room.


    The device that Alex had in his palm was crushed due to Alex clenching his fist, but it didn''t matter.


    The fact that everyone had already seen the device in his hand was enough.


    Alex knew that every event until now had already been broadcasted, which meant the people he didn''t want to see his face as well as the people he wanted to see it.


    So, it didn''t matter even if the device was destroyed.


    His eyes then turned toward the source of the desperate yell from before, and he saw the same old man who was suppressed and warned by Morvan some seconds ago.


    ''With four demon generals and one ancestor present in the room, none of them could stop the guy before he could move like before, all because he was the only one who could disturb the moment.


    Now, how am I wrong for calling this plot armor thing bullshit?''


    Alex growled inwardly, his red eyes turning ck and golden again as he peered into the soul of the man in front of him.


    The man, Grum, shivered as he saw those eyes focusing on him, and a chill ran down his spine, but he remained steadfast, not willing to back down.


    "What did Morvan tell you a few moments ago?"


    Alex closed his eyes, his arm rising from Rohrg''s shoulder��much to the guy''s relief��before he closed his eyes and turned his head toward the ceiling.


    *Fuuuu*


    A deep breath left his lips, and not getting an answer from Grum, who was still shivering as unease started gripping his heart, Alex questioned again.


    "Answer my question, Grum."


    Alex''s eyes, which had turned back to a shade of red, opened. His gaze turned to look down on Grum, who was kneeling on the floor as hemanded.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 309 - Admit Defeat?!

    Grum, who heard Alex calling out his name, was shocked.


    ''How did he know my name?!''


    Grum doesn''t remember ever telling Alex that, but suddenly something clicked in his mind.


    ''Those eyes!''


    He recalled the feeling he got when he was stared at with those eyes; it was as if all of his secrets were left on disy for Alex to see.


    But he didn''t get much time to think about it as he felt death whispering into his ears.


    He quickly used all of his force to stand up and step back.


    *Boom*


    A pir of strange red mass of energy broke the floor and shot up, right on the spot where he was kneeling.


    If he hadn''t used all of his power to break free of the pressure and run at the exact time, he would''ve disintegrated into nothingness, just like the floor.


    *Shiver*


    Everyone in the room, even the mythical ranked dukes and the legendary ranked kings, shivered as they felt the sheer destruction that mass of energy emanated.


    It was unlike anything they had felt before.


    ''Is it fire, or something else?''


    Many demons tried to understand what it was, but by now, all of the demons had broken out of their shock.


    ''Is it a fight??''


    ''Are we going to see the new demon lord in action on the day he''s crowned?''


    ''I hope he dies!''


    ''He looks so cool when he fights.''


    ''He is the GOAT!''


    ''Fight! Fight and kill each other!''


    Many demons grew excited at the thought of someone fighting in the throne room, where it was forbidden to fight.


    But who was going to punish the demon lord?


    So, they knew that they would be getting to see an interesting fight.


    This was just how demons were.


    They were trying to be a bit mannered because it was an important asion, but looking at the scene, they couldn''t stop an exhrated grin tugging on their lips.


    Alex tilted his head and stared at Grum, who was breathing heavily.


    "Hah��. Hah��. Hah��."


    It was clear from the sweat covering his back that he was terrified.


    And it was true.


    *Budump**Budump*...


    Grum''s heart seemed to be wanting to jump out of his throat as it drummed as hard as it could.


    For a second, Grum saw death with his eyes.


    ''Isn''t he a Legendary ranker just like me?!''


    Grum was shcoked beyond belief.


    In just thest attack, he could tell that Alex was not someone he could contend against.


    Rohrg was almost ignored right now, or more like, he wasn''t strong enough to participate in whatever was happening.


    Your next chapter awaits on empire


    Alex was strong��very strong, but that was overall.


    His mana pressure was that of a legendary ranker, even though it felt like a mythical ranker.


    So, even if he could bring Grum on his knees with that same pressure, he couldn''t stop the guy if he wanted to escape just with pressure alone.


    *Thud*


    But out of everyone''s expectation, Grum, whose breathing was ragged, fell on his knees and smashed his head on the ground.


    *Boom*


    *Tremble*


    The ground trembled from the sheer force used by Grum.


    ''Whhhhhaaaaaatttttttt????''


    The demons, who were expecting a fight��one that would make the blood of the new demon lord flow��had their mouths open wide in stupification.


    ''Did he just admit defeat?!''


    The demons roared inwardly.


    But then they saw the demon generals that were standing near their thrones, appearing right beside Alex in a blink of an eye.


    The ancestor was the same; he was standing right next to Alex, staring at Grum with a solemn expression, just like the demon generals.


    They arrived here the moment Grum backed away.


    The onlookers finally realized the reason for Grum to admit defeat so easily.


    Alex was the demon lord, not just a random hobo you could go against.


    Defending yourself or dodging his attacks was fine; that didn''t mean any harm to him.


    But the moment you try to attack Alex, it will be the moment you are attacking the ruler of the demon empire.


    That was not something to be taken lightly.


    *Step**Step**Step*....


    Alex slowly walked toward Grum, who was kneeling on the ground without uttering a word.


    He had already given the guy a chance to speak, yet the guy wasn''t doing it.


    "My lord, I am a loyal ve of yours, but if you could, then please hear my plea."


    But before Alex could take more than 4 steps, Grum''s voice was heard.


    *Step*


    Alex paused, still staring at Grum.


    He knew it was all ording to the plot, and this guy was probably someone who was supposed to stall for time so that the real backup could arrive, but he still stopped.


    Rohrg was a weak protagonist, someone Alex could crush at any moment, and Alex had enough authority to not face any consequences.


    The same, however, couldn''t be said for the ones he would faceter.


    What if some of them were strong enough to contend with him?


    What if they had a cheat so powerful that it made them invincible?


    So, Alex wanted to test how much this plot armor could help the protagonists.


    He wanted to know just what the limit of the world was.


    Grum heard the pause in Alex''s steps, but he didn''t raise his head since he wasn''t permitted to do so.


    "Hm."


    But the next instant, as soon as he heard a hum from Alex, he hurriedly raised his head.


    "My lord, in all my life I have severed the demon empire with loyalty, and I have pledged my eternal fealty to the throne.


    So, please, give this old ve a chance to request just one thing from the empire."


    Grum let out a desperate plea, with just one wish he wanted to be fulfilled, and Alex, not having anything else to do, decided to entertain Grum for a bit��at least until the real plot armor for Rohrg arrived.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "If you were as loyal as you are speaking of, then you wouldn''t be asking for something in exchange for all those years of loyalty, but go on."


    Grum, who heard the first line, bowed his head in shame, but he lifted his head when he heard thest words.


    Shame was still evident on his face, and he knew that what he was doing was not something a loyal servant would do, but he had to do it.


    ''I can''t let him die.''


    To save his grandson, he was willing to sacrifice whatever fame he had earned in the past years of his servitude.


    "Please forgive my grandson for the offense hemitted."


    Grum bowed his head again, pressing his head on the ground.


    However, what he failed to notice were the frowns on the demon generals'' faces.


    The demon generals knew who Grum was; he was a prominent figure during the wars that they had gone through before he retired from his position.


    Yet, now, that same figure, who was ready to die for the demon empire, was begging for something in exchange for his loyalty.


    This was shameful behavior for any warrior, but they kept quiet.


    "Hmmmm��."


    Alex put up a thoughtful expression, his eyes closed, and that thoughtful hum nted a seed of hope in the heads of Rohrg, Grum, and now-up-and-standing Lilia��hope that Alex might change his mind, but before the hopes in their minds could growrger...


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 310 - Hehe, I like him!

    Alex was intentionally stalling for time; that was the reason for him wearing a thoughtful look on his face, but no one knew about it.


    So, everyone thought that maybe he was really considering changing his decision.


    Demon generals and the ancestor didn''t have much change in their emotions since it was not that they were very excited to get a new general candidate.


    They already had Alex, who had much greater potential than any general could ever hope for.


    He, who was just 18 years old, was already a legendary ranker��one that could fight toe to toe with four mythical ranked beings.


    What more did they need to say about the monstrosity named Alex?


    Yeah, if Alex wasn''t summoned, then they sure would''ve been excited about having a new demon with the potential to be a general among themselves.


    So, in a way, Alex was the one who destroyed the poor protagonist''s plot even without realizing it.


    Still, Alex''s humming caused hope to sprout in the heads of Rohrg, Grum, and Lilia, who had somehow stood up, enduring the pain she was feeling.


    Lilia was supposed to be a heroine for Rohrg, or maybe some other protagonist, Alex could tell from the title in her status window.


    Yes, now Alex could see the information of everyone he looked at, just like a status window.


    This was the ability he gained from the all-seeing eye after he reached epic rank.


    So, Lilia was a heroine candidate, and she was beautiful, undoubtedly so; she was almost as beautiful as Luna, who was EX-ranked, even though she herself was just an SS-ranker.


    That fact alone spoke volumes about her looks, but in Alex''s eyes, she was just another demon he would kill if she were to speak up against him.


    Her luck was probably at y here as well, because Alex could tell that the uing plot armor was going to be much stronger than before.


    For now, however, before the hopes in the three demons'' minds grewrger, Alex opened his eyes.


    "You said that you served the throne, right?"


    Alex questioned with a confused frown, his fingers holding his chin while his feet tapping the ground.


    His attitude changed again.


    Now he didn''t look like a majestic ruler; he looked more like azy and unbothered ruler.


    The air of authority was still there, so he still looked like a ruler; it was just his attitude that changed a bit.


    "Ye-"


    Grum was about to answer the question, but he paused.


    For some unknown reason, he felt like he shouldn''t answer.


    His gut told him that if he were to answer the question, he would be walking into a spider''s web.


    "Is that a no?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Alex''s frown deepened, but unlike before, this time, his frown wasn''t that of confusion, it was a frown of confusion. Grum shivered as a chill ran down his spine, unaware that it was because of Alex using his bloodline''s aura along with his speech.


    "No, my lord. I served the throne."


    Grum couldn''t stop his lips from moving as the answer came out automatically.


    "That throne?"


    Alex pointed his thumb at the demon lord''s throne without turning back as he questioned Grum.


    The old man, although frowning and confused as to why Alex would ask that question, still answered.


    "Yes."


    Grum nodded his head.


    But as he saw a smile forming on Alex''s face, his heart started feeling heavy.


    The smile was nothing but a friendly smile, yet it was unsettling.


    "Imend you for your loyalty to the throne, but I cannot grant you the wish you want."


    Alex patted Grum''s shoulder as he shook his head with a sigh.


    The smile of appreciation was still marring his face; it was as if he really liked how loyal Grum was, but at the same time he was regretful.


    Grum, on the other hand, froze.


    An expression mixed with disbelief and shock was all over his face.


    His eyes were trembling, and his fists were clenched.


    ''Is this what I get for my loyalty?!''


    He roared inwardly, but he knew that he couldn''t voice it out.


    So, he did what he could.


    "... why?"


    A single question escaped his lips.


    He stared at Alex for an answer.


    Sure, Alex could just not answer the question, but that would make it seem like Alex was being unfair and unjust.


    [That old man seems to have forgotten that this is the demon empire.]


    Sophia''s chuckle was heard, causing Alex to grin as well.


    "Hm? What do you mean, ''why''?"


    But Alex, who had already turned his back on Grum and was about to walk toward Rohrg, tilted his head toward Grum.


    He was still grinning inwardly, though.


    ''I didn''t know having an upper hand in political matters would feel this good as well.''


    Alex chuckled inwardly, surprised by the fact that ruling over an empire and having authority didn''t feel that bad��that too when he hadn''t even used his power and authority to the limit.


    "Why are you unable to grant my request, my lord?"


    Knowing full well that any disrespect would take away the slightest chance he still had, Grum controlled the anger he was feeling.


    His veins were already visible, but he still kept his emotions in check.


    "Oh, that."


    Alex punched his fist on his palm as he let out a voice filled with realization.


    He turned back with a swift maneuver, now looking into Grum''s eyes with a regretful expression.


    "You see, that throne��the one you said that you served��was not actually mine until some moments ago."


    Alex moved next to Grum, resting one hand on Grum''s shoulder and looking at the throne while pointing at it.


    "So, you can ask that throne to grant your wish, but not me."


    He shrugged in regret along with those words, and now every single person in the room understood what Alex was trying to do.


    ''Fitting attitude for a demon lord.''


    Azaroth, the demon ancestor, nodded his head inwardly.


    He knew full well that all of this until now was just a y of words; it was just a way of Alex denying the poor guy''s request without looking bad.


    The demons in the crowd also had simr thoughts��at least most of them.


    The one who has always eyed the demon lord''s throne, of course, won''t like it if Alex does well.


    ''I could do it as well!''


    This is what they thought.


    They seemed to have forgotten that the demon empire was ranked second when it came to stupidity, just below the white tiger empire, Ferox.


    ''Hehe, I like him!''


    But there were a pair of bright violet eyes that were looking at Alex with an emotion that was way more intense than any other present here; it was lust��a clear and unfiltered lust.


    Alex could feel it as well, but he decided to ignore it for now as he could feel the luck around Rohrg trembling as if it were a very important moment for him.


    Alex, however, spoke again, whispering into Grum''s ear.


    "You can do one thing, though.


    You can ask the generals you served to help you out in eliminating me."


    Alex''s eyes gleamed with a sly light as he felt Grum''s body tightening.


    Your journey continues at empire


    The higher-ups of the demon empire, the demon generals, and the demon ancestor, the ones who are considered the wisest of the demons, just shook their heads with a sigh.


    They already knew what Alex was trying to do.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 311 - Please, stop!

    A demon general is the direct subordinate of the demon lord; that''s a well-known fact all around the world, not just the demon empire.


    So, would they listen to someone who is asking them to go against the demon lord?


    No, they won''t��at least not until they want to betray the demon lord.


    So Alex suggesting to Grum that he should ask for help from the generals was not actually a friendly suggestion; it was clear from the sly gleam in his eyes.


    He was forcing Grum into a corner.


    Grum now had only limited choices.


    First, he could ask the generals��the beings he served under��for help, which would imply betrayal since he was in a way requesting the generals to go against the demon lord.


    Second, he could simply try his luck in an attempt to eliminate Alex, maybe taking Alex down along with himself.


    That would at least save his grandson because there wouldn''t be an offended demon lord left to make it hard for the demon generals to make a decision after that.


    Then, all they would be left with would be a potential demon general, which would be the best they could hope for.


    Third andst, Grum could just back down and watch his grandson get killed, which wasn''t something he could do.


    Alex had yet to decide what to do with Rohrg, or at least that''s what it seemed like to the younger demons, but for Grum, who had already seen an execution, it was not the same.


    He knew that there was only one punishment for betrayal, and the act of going against the demon lord was a betrayal.


    Grum''s fists clenched as hard as they could.


    His eyes turned toward Rohrg, and he found his grandson staring at him with a still expression.


    It was as if he was frozen in time, which he actually was.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Rohrg was under a temporal pause that Alex activated the moment he moved toward Grum.


    ''I don''t want to see a protagonist using talk-no-jutsu.''


    Alex''s reasoning was simple.


    He didn''t want Rohrg to bber when he wasn''t supposed to.


    He knew that the protagonists had that one ability to convince people with the most utter bullshit type of talk.


    So, Alex prevented Rohrg from even being able to see what was happening.


    Grum, who was looking at his grandson, sighed inwardly.


    ''I guess I won''t be able to see you grow up to be a general.''


    A sad chuckle left his lips, causing everyone to turn toward him.


    But Grum just ignored their gazes and turned toward Lilia, who had tears flowing down her eyes.


    *Sniffle**Sniffle*


    Your next read is at empire


    He could hear her sniffles and see her trying to wipe her tears, but no matter how much she tried, it just kept pouring out without a stop.


    Lilia was aggrieved by the situation.


    ''Why did it all turn like this��?''


    She questioned herself, but she got no answer.


    ''We were having such a good time.


    We finally had a demon lord who looked worthy enough, yet...''


    More tears poured out of her eyes as she kept looking at Alex, Rohrg, and Grum one after another.


    She, just like any other girl, was enamored by Alex''s looks, but unlike other girls, she wasn''t head-over-heels for him.


    She just felt that Alex was not a bad guy, but that image was now causing her to break inwardly.


    Her mind didn''t want to ept that her brother did wrong, but every time she turned her head to look at Alex, a thought of Alex''s being just shed through her mind.


    ''Am I a bad sister?''


    A questioned herself in an uncertain tone, but like every time, there was no answer.


    *Sniffle*


    As her tears passed through her red cheeks, she could feel a burning sensation, clearly indicating that her soft cheeks were rashed due to her actions.


    Lilia, however, ignored that pain since her emotional state tormented her more than a mere scratch ever could.


    Grum, who was looking at Lilia, gritted his teeth, his face turning up toward the ceiling as if trying to control himself.


    ''Forgive me, child, for not being a good grandfather and letting that beautiful face of yours get stained with tears.''


    A lone tear fell down Grum''s eyes as he looked at Lilia''s gentle face, stained by tears.


    By the time he opened his eyes, a determined light shone in them.


    ''Forgive me, generals, but I have to do this��''


    With that thought, he clenched his fists and started to charge the mana inside his body, but as he turned to look at the demon generals and Alex, he paused.


    ''... what are they looking at?''


    All the confidence and determination he had gathered went to waste as he saw the demon generals and Alex not even looking at him.


    He frowned his brows as he saw that it was not just the demon generals and Alex who were not looking at him and focusing entirely on something else.


    It was as if he were not even worth their attention.


    It was actually true, though.


    The moment Alex was done with his point, the role Grum had was already finished.


    Yes, he wanted to farm some points from Grum by killing him; that was the reason why he was cornering the poor guy, but it seemed like fate had something else stored for him.


    Grum was saved by a presence that seemed to be rushing toward the throne room, since the generals, Azaroth, Alex, and many of the high-ranking demons, who had sharp hearing, heard the sound of hurried steps.


    Then there was the fact that they could feel the same being''s presence in their perception range.


    Azaroth, the demon ancestor, just like other beings, was looking at therge wooden door, but he was wearing a frown on his face��a frown of confusion.


    It was as if something he wasn''t expecting had happened.


    So, with the same confused frown, he waited for the one outside the door to arrive, and just in a second...


    *Ssssss��*


    The sound of a gouge being filled was heard as the meter right beside the gate started to shine.


    It went on increasing until it was filled three-fourths of its limit, but then it stopped.


    The demons, who didn''t know what was happening, realized that there was someone outside the gate when they saw the gauge of fuel being filled.


    ''An SSS-ranker, at least...''


    And they got the idea of the strength the person outside the door had.


    How?


    The gauges that were ced at the edges of the door are the ones that store mana or any other type of energy and then use them to open the doors.


    This was how people normally opened the doors, by pouring their mana into them.


    An Epic ranker could fill them to the brim even if they used 5% of their mana.


    So, someone who couldn''t even fill half of the gauges couldn''t be an EX-ranker.


    The only ones left were SSS-rankers, since any lower than that and you won''t be able to pour your mana into the door.


    You needed to be at least an SSS-ranker.


    *Creak*


    However, just as everyone was pondering who it could be, they heard a voice from the other side as the door started to open with a creaking noise.


    "Please, stop!"


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 312 - An unexpected turn of events.

    Flowing, dark blue hair was tied in a long ponytail, reaching all the way down to her leg with two strands sticking out from the top and sloping backward.


    Her eyes were as violet as they could be, shining with an intensity that would make people feel that she was not someone they couldpare to.


    Her face looked smother than the smoothest silk out there; the pinkish tint on her skin only added to her charm.


    Her body was a manifestation of men''s desire, as she had an hourss figure with D-cup breasts, which swayed with every step she took.


    Her soft yet perky ass jiggled as she walked into the room from the small gap that was opened in the ancient door by using the mana in the gauge.


    The gap was called small, but it wasn''t actually small.


    The ancient door was just too big; even a small gap in the door was enough for 2 people to enter the throne room while walking side-to-side.


    That was just how big the door was.


    For now, however, everyone was focused on the girl who walked into the throne room.


    Her voice from earlier was still echoing throughout the hall since she used mana to enhance her voice.


    *Creak**Thud*


    Readtest stories on empire


    As the girl walked forward, the mana in the gouge ran out, causing the door to close automatically.


    Alex had already noticed Azaroth''s tense body; it was as if he was having a hard time.


    It had been like that since the girl''s voice was heard.


    Alex frowned a bit before he turned to look at the girl in front of him, staring at her as she walked closer and closer to him.


    He noticed the way her eyes moved toward Rohrg''s frozen body, and he also saw the momentary relief that passed through her eyes when she found out that he was still alive.


    ''So, she is the main plot armor, huh��''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he observed the girl.


    He didn''t use all-seeing eyes on her for now, as some people could find it inappropriate, and she hadn''t been judged as someone whom he was sure to go against.


    [Actually��]


    But just as that thought passed through Alex''s head, he heard Sophia''s words, and his expression stilled.


    ''What do you-''


    He wanted to ask her to exin what she meant, but he got the answer automatically.


    [Antagonist quest: -


    Quest objective: A discarded child picked up by the strongest being type of plot. Her objective had never been clear, as she is still in the immature phase and not yet a fully-bloomed protagonist. Deal with her in any way you want to.


    Warning: She is not a protagonist! She is an antagonist (still in progress).


    Quest reward: Depends on your approach.


    Additional information: She is someone who doesn''t even know who her father and mother are; all she knows is that her grandfather is the strongest being in the world, and she strives to achieve the same thing.


    She is a monstrous talent, one that is born in a million years, yet on an unfortunate day, when she wasn''t feeling very well, she was attacked by a group of bandits; if not for the help of Rohrg Ashenfang, she would''ve gotten seriously injured or killed.


    Since then, she has been carrying the debt from that guy, hoping to repay it someday.


    So, when she saw Rohrg in a concerning position, she rushed toward the throne room, not wanting to let him die.


    Time limit: --.


    Penalty: -- ]


    ''...''


    Alex paused for a while before he sighed.


    ''Sigh��''


    Here he was thinking that she would be just another plot armor; as it turns out, she wasn''t just that, and she might actually be another headache.


    ''And she is supposed to be an antagonist??''


    Alex looked at the girl as he questioned in a perplexed tone.


    [It''s still in progress, so whatever event she is supposed to go through hasn''t happened yet.


    That event would probably be her turning point.]


    Sophia answered Alex''s doubt, but Alex still kept looking at the girl.


    An innocent yet mature face��so much so that it reminded Alex of Ann.


    Then there was the air of purity she emanated; it was so pure that it caused the demons to bow their heads inadvertently, not wanting to meet her eyes, scared of putting a mark on her purity.


    Yet Sophia said those words.


    ''You think she can turn into an antagonist??''


    Alex just shook his head in disbelief.


    She looked the type of girl who wouldmit suicide if something went wrong with her life; she was like a fragile piece of ss that was hanging on just because she had someone to support her.


    Alex''s eyes turned toward Azaroth, who was still wearing a tense expression, his eyes trembling a bit.


    It was clear from the way she arrived and the words she said that she wasn''t there to support Alex''s decision.


    But that would put Azaroth, as her grandfather, in a tight spot.


    What should he choose?


    Duty or family?


    That was a decision most failed to make and ended up breaking from within.


    [Alex.


    Do you think there is nothing in this world that could motivate a weak-willed girl like her��who has no one other than her grandfather��to turn into the evilest entity from a gentle girl?]


    Sophia, who heard Alex''s question filled with incredulity, asked him another question.


    ''....''


    Alex, who understood the implication behind that question, froze for a second before he once again turned to look at Azaroth.


    ''Isn''t he the strongest being in the world?''


    He asked again, but this time his tone was as serious as it could be.


    Azaroth was a being that he wouldn''t be able to harm even if he gave his all; Alex knew that.


    So, the implication behind Sophia''s words didn''t make sense to him.


    Didn''t those words simply mean that there was another being as strong as him, if not stronger???


    [Being the strongest doesn''t mean that he is invincible.]


    Sophia didn''t directly answer Alex''s question, but what she did was enough to give Alex an idea of what would happen.


    There was only one thing that could make a gentle and soft girl like the one in front of him turn into something else, and that was the loss of the only being that she cared for��the being that was the pir of her lonely life in this world.


    *Thud*n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Seraphyra Voidheart greets the demon lord."


    Alex''s thoughts, however, were interrupted by the same girl, whose future looked dark in Alex''s eyes.


    She went on her knee with a thud and greeted Alex with the utmost respect.


    There was not a hint of any negative emotion in her voice, and Alex knew that it was not fake.


    He could see her emotions, and all of them were so real that he felt like his skill wasn''t working perfectly.


    ''How can there be a person so pure even after living in a demon empire???''


    Alex let out a long sigh before he answered Seraphyra.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 313 - The Ancestors Granddaughter.

    Alex stared at the subservient girl in front of him, and he sighed again.


    Now he would have to change the ns a bit.


    If she was the plot armor that was supposed to save Rohrg, then Alex didn''t have a choice but to let him live, but that was only if her offer or proposal was something he could go on with.


    Why did Alex sigh? And why will he have to change his ns?


    "Voidheart?"


    Alex, who already knew who Seraphyra was, frowned in confusion as he muttered to himself.


    He knew who she was and what she was here for, but no one else knew, so he went on and yed the oblivious role.


    In the next moment, however, the frown on his head vanished, and his eyes brightened in realization.


    "Is she your granddaughter??"


    Alex''s eyes turned toward Azaroth as he questioned him in a surprised tone.


    Age approximation was not a hard thing for epic rankers or higher.


    They could guess the age of people just by looking at their bodies, though the one they are studying must be weaker than them, or this won''t work.


    "Huh?"


    Azaroth, who was busy sorting out his thoughts, almost jumped in surprise when he heard Alex''s voice.


    But then Alex''s question settled in his mind, and he couldn''t help but have a warm smile form on his face.


    "Yes��."


    Azaroth paused, and his eyes, filled with love, moved toward Seraphyra before he added.


    "She is the only family I am left with, my lord."


    The way the demon ancestor looked at Seraphyra and the way his voice dripped with familial love were enough for Alex to know what Azaroth would choose when given the choice of love and duty.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This only solidified Alex''s decision as he grew serious inwardly.


    This was the reason for Alex''s sighing and changing his ns.


    He could just kill Seraphyra and be done with it.


    To hell with the plot armor, nothing could survive in front of power.


    If he did that, however, then Azaroth would protect Seraphyra, knowing full well that Alex tried to kill her even though he knew that she was his, the demon ancestor''s granddaughter.


    After that, there were three ways things could progress; first, Azaroth, who was now dered a traitor for going against the demon lord, ran away with Seraphyra, wanting to preserve whatever little of his loyalty to Alex was left.


    Second, he could simply kill Alex for trying to y his daughter in a fit of anger, and although Sophia was there to help Alex, our main character didn''t want that.


    He wanted to handle this matter himself.


    Now the third, here, the demon ancestor, who is also the master of the four demon generals, would simply ask them to denounce Alex from the demon lord''s position.


    With that, however, Alex would lose all of his authority, making his words worth nothing.


    Alex didn''t want to see any of those happening.


    "I see, I see��"


    He nodded his head at Azaroth''s words, wanting to y it safe and listen to what Seraphyra had to say.


    *Gasp* Xn (whenever there is an ''n'' where a number is supposed to be, it means that the numbers are not defined.) Enjoy new tales from empire


    The demons standing in the throne room, however, couldn''t help but gasp in surprise and shock.


    "Isn''t she the leading demon lord candidate, Seraphyra Voidheart?!"


    One demon eximed in shock, unable to believe that he would see her here.


    "Yeah, na only she be the demon lord candidate wey don almost reach epic-ranker level."


    A gay demon licked his lips while looking at the ass of the demon from before as he answered that guy''s question.


    The demon in question shivered in fright, moving away from the gay demon, but the gay demon followed him.


    The others ignored that interaction and continued with their own opinions and thoughts.


    "I t''ought she never left the trainin'' room ''less it was absolutely necessary."


    Another demon muttered with a taunting expression, still not believing that she didn''t attend an important event such as the demon lord''s coronation.


    "Yeah, it was said that she was trying to move forward in her path of power."


    Another demon, however, as if thinking that the one before him was seriously stating those words, agreed with his words and added his own point.


    "Mate, this is the Demon Lord''s coronation ceremony; you reckon it''s not a necessary asion?"


    Ady demon shook her head in mocking disbelief, causing a vein to pop on the other demon''s head, but he stayed quiet.


    "Wait!"


    Suddenly, anotherdy demon eximed.


    "The demon ancestor said that she''s his granddaughter��"


    "....."


    With those words, silence descended in the throne room.


    "Everyone knew that there was someone backing her up��someone strong; after all, anyone who tried to have ill intentions towards her died a mysterious death."


    A demon shook his head with a disbelieving expression before he continued.


    "Who would''ve thought that the demon ancestor, someone so powerful that even the dukes seemed to be oblivious to his presence, was her grandfather?"


    "..."


    Again, no one said anything at that.


    Everyone finally realized how big of a revtion that was.


    The demons were eximing and shouting among themselves, but as they were in the throne room, it was all hushed.


    For the ears of strong demons, however, it was as clear as it could be.


    Alex nodded inwardly, noting each and every point before he turned to look at Seraphyra.


    "Rise."


    Alex uttered those words as he saw Seraphyra, who had her head bowed until now, waiting for Alex''smand, finally lift her head.


    The other reason for Alex to change his decision was that he knew that Seraphyra, who seemed more loyal to the demon lord than any other, wouldn''t try to stop him if she didn''t have a valid point.


    "So, what is the important matter that could make youe all the way here and ask me to stop?"


    Alex raised a brow as he looked at Seraphyra, who was trying not to look at Alex''s divine contour.


    "Ah, that��"


    But before Seraphyra, who, after a lot of effort, tried to look into Alex''s eyes, could speak a word, Alex added.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t ask you why you were not present at a small event like the demon lord''s coronation; it''s not that important."


    His words were unbothered and dismissive, as if he really didn''t care, but both Azaroth and Seraphyra had their bodies tense.


    The demon generals, on the other hand, had aplicated expression.


    They were now thinking of their next steps.


    If their master, the demon ancestor, were to go against Alex, the demon lord, then who should they follow?


    They were stuck between a rock and a hard ce.


    They didn''t know which path they should take.


    Should they side with their master as their heart desires, or should they side with the demon lord as they were taught to?


    One of them, however, was delighted by the situation, and he was looking forward to the unfolding of the problem they were thinking about.


    That way, he, Nyxshadow Dusmire, the fourth demon general, would be able to freely kill Alex.


    ''Hehehehe!''


    Nyx giggled inwardly, gripping his dagger tightly, really hoping for what the other demon generals feared toe true.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 314 - Seraphyras Situation.

    The demons were evil, cunning, and sometimes muscle-headed, but that didn''t mean they didn''t need to learn etiquette and the rules of the world.


    For those, the demon empire had many academies, a ce for the younger generation to learn things.


    In the academies, the demons were taught many things, and they mastered many things, but among all of the academies in the demon empire, there was one academy that was the most famous one.


    Neitherveil Academy��the best academy in the Demon Empire.


    But the one thing that this academy was most prominent for was the demon lord candidature that it provided.


    The demon lord''s position had been empty for a long time, and at this moment, when the empire needed someone to lead them, this college��by the order of the demon generals��added a new system.


    The Demon Lord Candidate seating system.


    In this system, the best of the younger generation in the demon empire were provided with multiple tests, and the ones with the best scores were ranked ording to them.


    Seraphyra Voidheart was the leading demon lord candidate��ranked 1st among the other candidates��and the one with the most chances to be the demon lord in that same academy.


    Seraphyra was someone with both talent and wits to take the position of the demon lord, and she wanted to be the demon lord since she was able to think for herself.


    Her grandfather, Azaroth Voidheart, was the demon ancestor, and even if no one knew about who he was, the demon generals did��they called him master.


    Seraphyra knew that her grandfather was the strongest in the world, and she wanted to achieve the same feat, if not more. That was why she was so motivated to be the demon lord.


    So, when the news of a demon lord being crowned was heard, she was left dejected.


    She was a good girl, one who would smile even if you pped her on the cheek.


    But that didn''t mean that she wouldn''t feel sad if the thing she aimed to achieve from the time she gained an understanding of the world was suddenly handed over to someone else, even though she was so close to it.


    She was feeling down, and that was the reason she didn''t want to attend the coronation ceremony.


    When her grandfather asked her about it, she said that she was at an important stage in her power-up and she couldn''t move.


    It was a lie, of course.


    She just didn''t want to ept it.


    But things changed the moment she saw Rohrg was about to get killed on the broadcast.


    She rushed out of her room and arrived at the throne room.


    "Please, stop!"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The moment she entered, she could feel the eyes of many people in the crowd, but the ones that felt the heaviest were the gazes of her grandfather and the demon lord.


    ''He knows now that I was lying earlier.''


    She muttered with a sigh as she saw her grandfather frowning.


    It wouldn''t be hard for him, the strongest being on the whole, to see through her progress and find out that she didn''t have a single extra mana vein in her body.


    ''And��.''


    Her eyes moved toward the demon lord, but just as her gaze met the demon lord''s, she hurriedly went on her knees.


    "Seraphyra Voidheart greets the demon lord and the demon ancestor."


    Seraphyra was quick to get on her knees; she didn''t want them to see the furious blush on her face.


    ''Why is his charm higher than Lucian, who is known to have the highest charm among all demons alive?''


    She muttered inwardly.


    From the moment she saw Alex''s face on the broadcast, her heart had been beating violently.


    She didn''t know the reason for it, nor could she find out, no matter how hard she tried.


    She was aware that it wasn''t love at first sight; she could differentiate between love and excitement, but his charm was really not something she, who was not used to it or strong enough to resist it, could take lightly.


    "Voidheart?"


    *Shiver*


    When she heard his voice up close for the first time, a strange shiver ran down her spine, causing her to straighten her back.


    But before Seraphyra could think of something or find the shiver a bit strange, she heard his voice again.


    "Is she your granddaughter??"


    Seraphyra knew who this question was for; it was for her grandfather, Azaroth Voidheart.


    Just from the way the demon lord was talking and addressing her grandfather, she could tell that even if it had just been a while, the new demon lord had formed a nice rtionship with her grandfather.


    "Huh?"


    But then she frowned when she heard Azaroth''s startled voice, as if he had broken out of his thoughts, but when she heard his next words...


    "Yes, she is the only family I am left with, my lord."


    Her head pressed harder on the ground in shame and regret.


    ''I shouldn''t have lied to him��''


    She regretted lying to Azaroth, who��just like she didn''t have anyone else other than him in this world��didn''t have anyone in this world other than her.


    She could feel the eyes of Azaroth, filled with love and focused on her, but that only elevated her guilt.


    "I see, I see��" Explore more stories at empire


    The demon lord''s words broke her out of her thoughts, but just then��


    *Gasp* Xn


    She, just like others, heard the surprised and shocked gasps of the demons in the crowd.


    ''I guess the cat''s out of the bag now.''


    She muttered inwardly as she waved off thements of the demons she heard, along with the shocked gasps.


    Until now, the fact that she was the granddaughter of the demon ancestor was hidden, even from the dukes of the empire.


    But now, along with the fact that there was a demon ancestor, her being his granddaughter has also been revealed.


    "Rise."


    The demon lord''smand was heard, and the hall quieted down as Seraphyra also started to rise up slowly and gracefully.


    "So, what is the important matter that could make youe all the way here and ask me to stop?"


    Alex, the demon lord, then questioned Seraphyra, who was trying not to make eye contact as his divine looks would distract her.


    "Ah, that��"


    Seraphyra, who heard his question, straightened her back and was about to speak her purpose, but before she could voice them out, Alex spoke again.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t ask you why you were not present at a small event like the demon lord''s coronation; it''s not that important."


    He was waving his hand as if it didn''t matter, but his voice was a bit stretched, focusing on each and every word, which caused the bodies of Seraphyra and Azaroth to freeze.


    They realized what Alex was implying with those words.


    But just as Azaroth was thinking of some excuse to defend his granddaughter, he saw Seraphyra''s face, and his body rxed.


    ''I guess she is old enough to think for herself.''


    He sighed in nostalgia as he recalled the days when he used to y with Seraphyra in his arms.


    ''Oh?''


    Alex, on the other hand, just raised a brow inwardly.


    _________________________________________


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 CHAPTER 315 - Unworthy?

    Alex wasn''t going to kill Seraphyra, as it would turn the situation into something he didn''t want.


    That, however, didn''t mean that he would just do whatever she asked for.


    He won''t be unreasonable with her, but he won''t be soft on her either.


    That was the reason why he indirectly asked her about her absence from the coronation ceremony, and while his words were polite and uncaring, the implications were the opposite.


    His question caused her body to visibly tense, and he could see the same happening to Azaroth''s body, but that was only for a second.


    ''Oh?''


    The next moment, as he saw Seraphyra''s body rx, he couldn''t help but raise a brow inwardly.


    ''She came prepared?''


    [She probably isn''t as straight as she seems to you.]


    Sophiamented, but Alex just shrugged.


    ''Doesn''t matter to me...''


    She looked like a pure, innocent soul to him, and he knew she was just that, but being innocent didn''t mean being dumb.


    If she is even a little of the genius people make her to be, she would note here unprepared.


    "My lord, as the leading candidate for the demon lord''s position, I had always dreamed of sitting on that throne."


    Seraphyra uttered those words, her eyes moving toward the throne with a longing expression.


    "But then I heard that someone else was being crowned as the demon lord��someone who was not even a demon lord candidate��and that left me saddened, my lord."


    Her face, however, soon turned downcast, her fists clenching, showing how frustrated she felt.


    Everyone could feel the air turning dejected, and everyone started to feel how unfair it was for her, but that momentum was broken by Alex''s words.


    "So, you, the one with the leading seat in the demon lord candidature��who knows full well what the demon lord represents��decided to skip the ceremony just because you were dejected at not being able to get what you wanted?"


    Alex raised his brow and chuckled a bit.


    "If the leading demon lord candidate is like this, then I don''t even want to see what the others are like."


    Alex shook his head in disappointment, but Seraphyra shook her head gently.


    "No, my lord.


    That was not the reason for my absence from the ceremony."


    Her eyes were firm and she had a sad smile on her face as she looked into Alex''s eyes.


    "Oh? Please enlighten me, then."


    Alex raised his brow again as he gestured for her to continue.


    Grum, who was ignored as if he didn''t even exist, just kept standing in his spot with a stupified expression.


    ''Who am I? Where am I?


    Such funny thoughts kept repeating in his head.


    He was a legendary-ranker, and in his whole life, he had yet to feel this embarrassed; his face was red like a monkey, and his head was bowed in shame.


    Yet he kept quiet.


    From what he could tell, Seraphyra was here to help his grandson.


    ''I better not do something stupid that causes her to lose her chance to speak.''


    Grum knew that Seraphyra, as the demon ancestor''s granddaughter and the leading demon lord candidate, had better chances of saving his grandson than he could ever hope to have.


    So, he tried to stay silent; fortunately for him, he wasn''t even in the frame anymore.


    "I was just disappointed and didn''t want to see someone unworthy of being the demon lord��someone who got the chance by their luck��sitting on that holy throne, my lord."


    Seraphyra replied to Alex''s question, exining why she felt dejected, but her words caused the air to still.


    Be it the demon generals, the demon higher-ups, the demon ancestor, or even the low-ranking demons, everyone froze.


    Even Alex''s expression froze.


    Luna, who was standing back, just beside the throne even now, frowned as well.


    Seraphyra, on the other hand, didn''t notice any of this.


    She was just letting out her clear and unfiltered thoughts.


    Unlike what people were thinking, she didn''te prepared or anything. She had just decided to tell the truth in front of the demon lord, Alex.


    "Heh��"


    A soft chuckle escaped Alex, his face still maintaining the shocked expression.


    ''Did she just call me unworthy of the throne?''


    A question filled with disbelief echoed inside of his head.


    Seraphyra, who heard the chuckle, looked up at Alex only to find an expression that seemed to be shifting between shock and disbelief.


    Her gaze then shifted to her grandfather, who wore an expression the same as the demon lord.


    ''Ah��''


    As her eyes hurriedly scanned the surroundings, and she took in the reactions of the demons in the hall, realization finally hit her.


    ''Oh no��.''


    Her eyes trembled as her body tensed.


    The implication behind her words could cause her a death threat; she knew it. That was why her body trembled a bit when she heard another chuckle escape Alex''s lips.


    "Haha��"


    "My lord-"


    Before she could voice out her words, though, that chuckle turned into full blownughter.


    "Hahahahahahahahaha."


    "...."


    The only oneughing, however, was Alex. Others in the throne room were frozen still.


    Alex wasughing, but for some reason, as he went on, even the demon ancestor��someone who was known as the strongest in the world��felt uneasy for some reason.


    It was as if theugh was a cover to hide the real feeling Alex had.


    "Hahaha�� haha�� ha��"


    Alex''sughter went on for a while before it started slowing down until it stopped altogether.


    But the expression Alex was left with was anything but joyous.


    "You''re saying that I''m unworthy of the throne, huh��?"


    His cold and unfeeling red eyes turned toward Seraphyra, who trembled as those eyes fell on her.


    The demon generals'' bodies tensed, and so did Azaroth''s.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Even Grum was tensed.


    He couldn''t believe that Seraphyra would say that.


    ''Why did you have to wave a red g in front of a mad bull?!''


    He screamed inwardly as he saw Alex slowly making his way toward Seraphyra.


    *Step**Step**Step*....


    The steps of Alex echoed in the surroundings, but with each step, the demon generals'' heartbeats grew louder, and so did Azaroth''s.


    Seraphyra''s body jerked with every step Alex took.


    She tried to open her lips to speak, but every time she did that, a step from Alex would be heard, breaking her confidence.


    Her eyes moved towards her grandfather, not with the intention of asking for help but just to see what his reaction was.


    She didn''t want him to attack the demon lord, after all.


    *Step*


    With ast step, Alex now stood in front of Seraphyra; she was tall, but in front of Alex, she was short.


    Alex''s cold, red eyes stared down at her, causing fear to slowly rise in her heart.


    He wasn''t saying anything, but just the way he looked at her was enough to make her legs tremble.


    The demon generals, on the other hand, were panicking as the situation didn''t look good, yet one of them was already gripping his dagger with a huge smile on his face.


    The demon ancestor had gone still for a while, his face unreadable while his body seemingly wanted to stay still.


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    This, however, only increased the tension in the throne room.


    While the tension was at an all-time high, Alex''s arm moved.


    _________________________________________


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 CHAPTER 316 - Are you all right?.

    Alex, for the first time in his life��this life��felt humiliated.


    To tell the truth, it didn''t feel anything like he thought it would.


    He always thought that it wouldn''t matter to him no matter what others said, but today, when he heard Seraphyna''s words, he knew that he wasn''t immune to other people''s views.


    He realized that his ego��which, after awakening the incubus bloodline, had reached very high��wouldn''t let even the slightest disrespect against himself go scott-free.


    The moment he heard her words, he was first shocked, not sure if he heard it right, but after he came back to his senses, he felt a burning sensation in his cheek.


    It was as if he had been pped hard across his cheek, and that too in front of so many people.


    *Clench*


    He clenched his fists, trying to calm down his nerves.


    He didn''t want this event to cloud his decision, yet he found his feet moving toward Seraphyra without a stop.


    His eyes didn''t even turn to look at the demon generals or Azaroth.


    He just kept walking.


    *Step**Step*


    One step after another, and with each step of his, the pressure in the throne room multiplied.


    *Step*


    But he ignored all of that and kept walking until he was just an inch away from Saraphyra.


    He stared down at her, but Seraphyra, just like before, didn''t dare look into his eyes��especially right now, when he looked so imposing.


    But just as everyone waited for Alex''s next move with batted breaths, Alex''s arm moved.


    The bodies of everyone present in the throne room tensed, much more so since Alex had started releasing his bloodline pressure.


    His arm slowly rose up, reaching for Seraphyra''s neck��.


    Or so it looked, as the next instant, instead of her neck, his fingers touched her chin.


    *Tremble*


    Seraphyra, who had her eyes shut the moment Alex stood in front of her, had her body jerk the moment she felt his cold fingers brushing against her skin until they finally held her chin.


    Before she could even realize it, her eyes were open, and she found herself staring into the cold, haunting, red eyes of Alex.


    *Shiver*


    For some strange reason, her body shivered again, but as she looked at his divine face, her cheeks started to heat up.


    ''No!''


    She eximed inwardly, trying to move her head, but Alex''s grip on her chin tightened, causing her to wince and jolt out of her thoughts.


    "You have something to say, don''t you?"


    Alex''s words echoed in the throne room, and everyone heard them loud and clear since the hall was enveloped in an eerie silence.


    "Ah, I-I��"


    Seraphyra was unable to speak as she stared into those red eyes that were fixed on hers.


    But soon, she took a deep breath.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    Seraphyra was an antagonist in progress, not just any random hobo; she got to live up to her title, after all.


    So, just a deep breath was enough to calm her nerves.


    "Yes, my lord."


    She nodded her head at Alex''s question, trying to create some distance between herself and Alex, and this time, Alex let go of her chin, letting her move away.


    "Go on, then."


    He gestured for her to continue as he sped his arms behind his back.


    "It was a misunderstanding, my lord.


    I am really sorry if it sounded disrespectful, but I didn''t mean it that way."


    Seraphyra spoke as she bowed her head deeply, giving a glimpse of her breast that peaked out of her deep neck gown.


    No one actually looked at it, though, since every pair of eyes had turned toward Alex now, waiting for his reply.


    Alex, on the other hand, didn''t show that much interest in her body, right now.


    "Your words are misunderstood a lot, are they not?"


    Alex''s sharp words caused Seraphyra to go silent, her head lowering.


    She knew what Alex was pointing at; even the reason for her noting to the ceremony was misinterpreted, and now this.


    "I''m still waiting for what you wanted to say."


    Alex purred after a short silence, causing Seraphyra to again take a deep breath.


    ''It is a lot harder than I thought.''


    Seraphyra, who had seen Alex on the live broadcast, rated him as a hard person to deal with, but only now did she realize that the difficulty level was much higher than she rated it to be.


    Now, she needed to make things clear, or much less save Rohrg��the guy who was ignored more than Grum��she wouldn''t even be able to save herself.


    "My lord, I thought that the throne was going into the hands of someone undeserving."


    Seraphyra, with much effort, looked into Alex''s eyes, and before Alex could frown at her words, a soft smile formed on her lips.


    "But that was before.


    After I saw who it was and I saw your divine presence, I realized that I should not have judged too quickly.


    I realized that it was now in hands more deserving than my own; that was why I came running here, my lord."


    Seraphyra uttered those words with a smile, and by the time she reached the end of her words, she had her head bowing again.


    "Oh?"


    Alex, who was a bit taken aback by her words, somehow felt better, and now he was finally able to think straight.


    His head was working fine now, and he realized how bad it would''ve been if he hadn''te back to his senses.


    His eyes nced at Azaroth, only to find him staring at Seraphyra with a cryptic expression.


    "So, you came ''rushing'' here just because you wanted to see me?"


    However, he didn''t keep his focus on Azaroth for long and questioned Seraphyra in a flirtatious tone, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips.


    "Ah��"


    Seraphyra, who understood what Alex was trying to imply, couldn''t stop the furious blush from covering her face, but just as she was about to pass a shy nod...


    *Tip**Top**Tip**Top*....


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    The sounds of heels tapping the ground were heard as Alex turned toward Luna, who was walking in his direction with a smile.


    "Jealous much?"


    He questioned Luna in a teasing tone, but Luna didn''t reply; she just kept walking straight at him as she kept staring into his eyes.


    But just as she was a meter away from him, her feet somehow got twisted, causing her body to fall toward Alex.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Ahh!"


    A soft, pained voice escaped her lips, causing almost every male demon to jump out of their seats ande rushing to help her, but a strong and firm hand was faster than any of them.


    Alex''s hand snaked through Luna''s waist, supporting her as he pushed her seductive body against his.


    "Are you all right?"


    He questioned Luna with a smile, their faces just an inch away, their warm breaths felt by one another.


    Alex already knew that Luna was just acting and she was fine, but why would he, a healthy man with fully functioning parts, reject it when an enchantress like Luna throws herself at him?


    "Yes, thank you for your help."


    Luna, who heard his voice, smiled as well before she rested her head on his chest, listening to the calm rhythm of his heartbeats.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 317 - She is cute.

    The demons in the throne room felt like they were dying.


    This was too much for them.


    First, Alex lets out an image of a majestic and grand tyrant, then he turns into azy and uncaring emperor.


    After that, he turned as cold as he could, and it seemed like he wouldn''t stop without killing someone.


    Now, he turned flirty all of a sudden.


    ''Just what the hell is wrong with the new demon lord!''


    Many wanted to scream out loud but didn''t have the courage to do so.


    No one wanted to die, after all.


    Especially as they looked at the demon generals'' tense bodies.


    It was as if they were ready to jump on anyone who moved.


    The fact that a world-shattering beauty was in the demon lord''s arms was even more tormenting for the male demons, while the female demons just looked at Luna with envy and jealousy.


    ''Beauty belongs to the strong.''


    Some wise man said those words, and the demons now realized just how true those words were.


    Power brings everything a man could ask for.


    But one thing was now fixed in some demons'' minds.


    The new demon lord was an unpredictable person.


    That''s what they saw him as.


    Someone whose next move can''t be predicted.


    Seraphyra, on the other hand, kept staring dumbfoundedly at Alex and Luna, who somehow turned the situation from tense to merry with a single move.


    A spark of envy did pass through her violet eyes, but it was only for a moment, as the next second Alex spoke.


    "Were you saying something?"


    Alex''s questioned her with a raised brow.


    Alex had his back toward Seraphyra, so right now, he had to tilt his head a bit and turn his body along with Luna to look at Seraphyra.


    The tension in the air, however, was gone.


    Even the demon generals were starting to rx.


    ''Why?! Just why!''


    One of the demon generals wasn''t that happy with how the situation was unfolding.


    Nyx was so happy; he was almost jumping with joy the moment he saw the situation turning heavy.


    He was so excited about seeing the situation unfold.


    He was so eager to get his hands on Alex. He wanted to torture him to his heart''s content.


    ''Why did it have to-''


    His expression, however, froze as he saw two red eyes staring right at him.


    But the next moment, they were gone.


    ''Huh?''


    For some reason, Nyx''s frustration ran out.


    All the negative emotions he was feeling got drained, leaving only uncertainty.


    He could see Alex facing Seraphyra, so why did he feel like Alex was looking at him just an instant ago?


    It was only for a moment��so fast that if not for his mythical ranked power, he wouldn''t have been able to see it��but he was sure that he saw it.


    Nyx was left with a frown on his head, unsure if he really saw it or if it was just his imagination.


    "Yes, my lord."


    Seraphyra, on the other hand, took another deep breath and nodded her head at Alex''s question.


    The pressure in the atmosphere had toned down, and the tension was not that high, so Seraphyra decided to make the best use of it.


    After all, she had to make a request, and if Alex wasn''t in a good mood, then the chances of her request being rejected were much higher than being epted.


    If his mood was good, however, then maybe, just maybe, he would agree to her words.


    "What are you waiting for, then?"


    Alex questioned Seraphyra, his arm, however, pulled Luna closer to himself.


    He had already decided to ept Luna''s advances.


    He wasn''t going to get physical with her yet, he needed time for that.


    But having these small lover moments was not that bad; these moments somehow made him feel more human than any other thing out there.


    Or maybe it was the second-best thing?


    He liked fighting hard battles as well, so it was a difficult decision to make.


    Anyway, Alex''s question broke Seraphyra out of her thoughts, and she started.


    "As I was saying, I could only tell that the throne was in more deserving hands than me��someone who had every qualification to be the next demon lord��all because of the broadcast, my lord."


    Seraphyra''s eyes were shining with sincerity, as she really meant those words.


    Every one of her words was what she really felt; none of them was a lie of deception to butter up Alex or make him believe in her.


    Alex could tell that as well, and looking at an in-progress antagonist being this honest didn''t get less fascinating for Alex no matter how many times he looked at it.


    He wanted to see how she would be when she turned evil, yet at the same time, he didn''t wish to see it happen.


    It was aplicated feeling, but it was what it was.


    "So, you feel thankful for the one who streamed the coronation?"


    Alex questioned curiously, taking a step toward Seraphyra with Luna in his arms.


    "Yes, my lord."


    Seraphyra, who heard Alex''s words was a bit surprised at how fast Alex was to catch on, but she still nodded her head.


    His next words, however, caused her eyes to widen.


    "So, you want to thank a traitor for his traitorous deed?"


    Alex''s smile vanished, reced by a cold look, that turned the atmosphere heavy again.


    "Ah, I-I��"


    Seraphyra, who wasn''t expecting the sudden change, stammered, unable to let out a word.


    But before the demon generals or anyone else could realize what actually happened��


    "Ouch. What???"


    Alex''s surprised exmation shattered the solemn atmosphere again.


    He looked at Luna with a pained expression, it was as if he would cry at any moment as he rubbed the part where Luna pitched him.


    "Don''t tease her; she might have a stroke at this rate."


    Luna''s mumble was heard, causing the ones who heard it to grow bbergasted.


    *Chuckle*


    "She''s cute and it''s fun to tease her, though��"


    Alex chuckled as his smile returned again.


    His eyes were looking into Seraphyra''s, who stood stunned, not getting what was happening.


    Slowly, however, she understood what was happening, and she couldn''t stop the heat from rushing into her cheeks.


    ''H-He called me cute!''


    It was the first time someoneplimented her looks in that way.


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    Many feared her, so they never actuallymented on her looks other than some polite words since no one knew what the one in front of them found distasteful.


    The ones who spoke freely to her when she joined the academy were all those who had some kind of evil intention, and theirpliments never felt good.


    But as she saw the eyes of Alex, filled with no lust or negative emotions, she felt good yet disappointed at the same time.


    Her eyes inadvertently moved toward Luna, only to find her rubbing her head on Alex''s chest, right at the spot she had pinched a second ago.


    ''Am I not beautiful��?''


    Such a thought shed in her mind, but she shook her head, not wanting to think about it.


    Her eyes nced at Rohrg, who was still frozen in time, and she sighed.


    He once used to look like a good person��someone she was indebted to.


    Now, however, he just looked like a fool.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 318 - An Idiot.

    Rohrg Ashenfang was a literary genius, well known for his strongmand of every subject that was taught in the academy.


    And by whatever coincidence it may be, he studied at the same academy as Seraphyra, Nitherveil Academy.


    That was how both Rohrg and Seraphyra got to know each other.


    One was a literary genius in the second year of the academy, while the other was the all-round genius of the academy.


    However, that was all; they just knew who the other was.


    Rohrg, however, knew way more about Seraphyra than she herself knew.


    That was the reason why he was there to save Seraphyra, right when she needed to be saved.


    Rohrg was a literary genius without a doubt, and it was not because of his regression; it was something he had in hisst life as well.


    But having knowledge amounts to shit in a demon empire where only power rules.


    However, because of his strong memory, he remembered the dates of any and every major event that had ever happened in the demon empire of the surrounding empire.


    He also knew what Seraphyra was going to face and what she was going to be, so he had his focus specially focused on her, making it possible for him to save her at the right time.


    Seraphyra was never supposed to face a setback or anything from that event��not at all.


    On the other hand, she was supposed to awaken something��an ability that would make her realize her real potential��and that would push her forward in her progress.


    By saving her, Rohrg achieved three things.


    First, the gratitude of the ancestor, who was always keeping an eye on Seraphyra.


    Second, an indebted Seraphyra, who would do her best to get rid of the debt that she had on her head.


    And finally, the third thing was the fact that he slowed the progress of a monstrous genius like Seraphyra.


    No one needed to know about the third, though.


    Rohrg was just ensuring that his path to the throne was easier.


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    Getting a beauty or two along the way was just a plus point.


    Seraphyra, who, after being saved by Rohrg, felt grateful yet indebted to him, slowly started to get close to him.


    That did bring Rohrg some problems as Seraphyra had way too many suitors, but the way Rohrg came out as a victor even with the odds being against him only impressed Seraphyra more and more.


    That image, however, is shattered now.


    Now, Rohrg was nothing but a fool who was asking for death, in her eyes.


    That guy went against the only order that the demon lord had issued; if that was not idiotic, then what was?


    Seraphyra didn''t know the motive behind Rohrg''s actions; no one did.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    So, for others, he was a total idiot.


    "Is that all you wanted to say?"


    Alex, who was still hugging Luna while observing Seraphyra''s actions, questioned her with a brow raised.


    "Ah, no, my lord.


    I still have some things left to say."


    Seraphyra hurriedly answered Alex, looking away from Rohrg, and Grum, whose heartbeats were rising and rxing with every turn of events, took a deep breath.


    ''It''s still not over; she has some things left to say.''


    For a second, he thought that he will have no other choice than to do what he had made up his mind to do.


    But it was not just Grum who was going through an emotional rollercoaster.


    The demon generals were the same.


    The matter rted to Rohrg and Grum was one thing, but the moment Seraphyra got involved, things changed for them as well.


    Now, they were having their breaths stuck the moment the situation tensed.


    Then there was Lilia, someone who was in the most miserable situation.


    Being as weak as she was, she didn''t have the right to voice her opinion since a simple wave of the big wigs that were talking was enough to turn her into a meatpaste.


    Yet her emotions were the most unstable.


    She was a heroine candidate, and fate chose the best path for them to have a happy life.


    So right now, the best choice that was made for her was Alex, causing her feelings for Alex to get affected.


    Now, she felt that her brother was the one at fault here.


    But as her eyes turned toward her brother and her grandfather��who, even now, seemed to be struggling to think of a way to save her brother��her feelings would turnplicated.


    All of them were, however, ignored by Alex, as his eyes werepletely focused on Seraphyra while his attention was on Azaroth''s expressions as well, which, for a while, had been unreadable.


    "Go on, then."


    Alex nodded his head at her words, gesturing for her to continue, and Seraphyra did just that.


    "My lord, just like me, there would have been thousands, if not millions, of demons all around the empire who would be doubting whether you were worthy or not.


    Because of the broadcast, however, they must now be sure that they were going to be ruled over by a worthy lord��someone who is not just someone who got this throne by mere luck."


    Seraphyra didn''t realize that her flow had already broken and that her words were not as impactful as they would''ve been if spoken all together.


    But what could she do? She had to save Rohrg, no matter how much of an idiot she thought him to be.


    Yes, she wasn''t deluded by the fact that Rohrg was right or something.


    She knew he was wrong, but she was grateful for his dumbness since all of her words were really something she meant.


    She really had to change her mind the moment she saw Alex and felt the momentum in his every step.


    ''He is the real emperor.''


    That was the only thing going through her head when she gazed at the broadcast and saw Alex.


    Everything about him was perfect.


    "What do you want from me, then?"


    Alex tilted his head, wanting for Seraphyra to get to the main point already.


    He could already see where this conversation was moving toward, and he could guess what her words would be, so he urged her to move ahead with the conversation.


    The readers were now getting bored.


    "My lord, I have nothing but one wish from you; please do not punish the person who made it all possible.


    For the sake of those thousands or millions of people, who feel grateful for the person who let them get a look at their new demon lord, I implore you to please not put that person to death."


    Seraphyra let out her heartfelt words, bowing her head as deep as she could, causing the throne room to get enveloped in a pin-drop silence.


    Every pair of eyes turned toward Alex, waiting for his decision.


    Alex, on the other hand, kept staring at Seraphyra with a smile, causing the poor to-be antagonist to almost falter under his gaze, but she somehow remained steadfast.


    It was not until the clock ticked for ten seconds did Alex''s lips moved.


    Those ten seconds, however, felt like an eternity for the other people in the hall.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 319 - I can do that for you.

    //// Sorry guys, but only one chapter for today; I have my hands full with something.


    I have a piece of good news for you, though. This ''throne room'' part will be ending in the next chapter, and some new things will be discovered, so stay tuned. ////


    "You want me to spare that guy?"


    Alex''s words were heard as he was seen standing some distance away from Seraphyra with Luna in his arms.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    His finger was pointed at Rohrg, who was still unaware of the surroundings, frozen in time.


    Alex had his eyebrows raised and his head tilted to the right, clearly showing his confusion.


    "... yes, my lord."


    Seraphyra, who heard Alex''s question, replied with a pause, her words barely a whisper.


    She knew that this was the deciding moment��the moment when she would know if her efforts had a result or not.


    Was her request going to be granted?


    "Hmmm��."


    Alex''s squinting gazended on Seraphyra, observing her emotions and her expressions.


    ''Unsurety and agitation.''


    Those were the two major emotions Alex could perceive from Seraphyra.


    His gaze was fixed on Seraphyra��only on her��and because of that, he failed to notice that the atmosphere grew more and more tense as he hummed.


    That pondering hum reminded the demons in the hall about the earlier events.


    Thest time, when Grum asked for the same thing, Alex had the same reaction, which caused many demons to believe that he was going to let Rohrg go, but in the end, the answer was no.


    So, this time, the demons, instead of having a bud of hope in their minds, grew tense.


    For many demons, Rohrg was a very big opportunity.


    An opportunity that could make them reach unimaginable heights since having another demon general would make it possible for them to conquer the world.


    They didn''t know that they had a demon lord with potential so high that even this whole world was just a milestone for him.


    Then there were the demon generals, and although they knew (somewhat) Alex''s potential, they still didn''t want Alex to kill Rohrg for now.


    They could see that the granddaughter of their master, Seraphyra, was determined to save Rohrg, and if Alex wanted to kill Rohrg, he would have to go through her.


    The Demon Generals, however, didn''t want that, as that would mean that Alex would try to kill Seraphyra, which would cause them to be in a hard situation.


    Finally, the demon ancestor, the master of the demon generals, and the grandfather of Seraphyra��right now, he was just standing still with a rxed body and an unreadable expression.


    Alex''s skill worked fine, and he did use it on Azaroth to read his emotions, but all he felt was detachment.


    It was as if Azaroth was trying to iste his emotions, blocking them from affecting his mind, which made it hard for even Alex to read his emotions.


    "I can do that for you��"


    Alex, however, oblivious to the emotional struggle and their thoughts, let out those words.


    His words, which were the focus of everyone present, were heard loud and clear, and for a second, the air stilled.


    They couldn''t believe it!


    ''Did he just agree to her words?!''


    ''Is he finally going to let this matter end?''


    ''Is this part finally over??? The readers are now getting impatient!''


    ''Is it really over?''


    ''Is it one of his tricks again��?''


    Many such questions barraged the heads of the demons standing in the hall.


    They were too shocked to even speak.


    Didn''t Alex reject Grum''s request, even though that guy put his honor and all his hard-earned contributions on the line?


    Was it really Alex? Or was it just their minds ying illusions?


    But as their eyes moved toward the equally shocked Seraphyra��probably for the same reason��something clicked in their minds.


    ''Ah��''


    ''Even the demon lord is a man, after all.'' Discover stories with empire


    ''Beauties can cause war was heard; now it seems the opposite is true as well.''


    The demons sighed in realization.


    Even the demon generals came to the same conclusion.


    They all thought that Alex had gone easy on Seraphyra just because of her beauty.


    He wanted to leave a good impression on her and try to court herter, or so they thought.


    Even Seraphyra, who came to the same conclusion, widened her eyes ever so slightly.


    She knew about her looks; after all, she was one of the top beauties in the demon empire, only second to a certain demoness.


    But before a blush could creep up on her face, and before the other demons could cook up some other thoughts, Alex''s voice was heard again.


    "But what are you going to give me in return?"


    His posture was rxed as if he were talking about some random topic; his fingers keptbing through Luna''s hair as she kept her ear on his chest, peacefully listening to the calm beats,pletely ignoring the things going on.


    "Huh?"


    The demons'' reactions, however, were quite different from his.


    They just let out a confused voice before his words settled in their minds.


    ''Something in return?''


    But right after those words settled in their minds, only one thought came to their minds.


    ''Isn''t he taking it a bit too fast?''


    Some demons just giggled, while others looked at Alex with a sly glint in their eyes.


    They thought that Alex wanted ''something'' in return, which was probably Seraphyra''s body.


    Some demons thought that Alex was quite bold to ask for something like that right in front of a girl''s grandfather, but they still liked it.


    Others, however, just wanted to see Alex''s face getting bashed into the ground by this mysterious demon ancestor.


    Seraphyra, on the other hand, almost had smokeing out of her head.


    She couldn''t believe it.


    ''T-This is too fast!''


    ''I d-don''t even know him yet!''


    It wasn''t that she felt that Alex was unworthy, but she still didn''t want to make a hurried decision.


    Her eyes moved toward Azaroth, wanting to look at his reaction, but even now, all Azaroth had was a cryptic expression.


    It was hard to tell what he was thinking.


    Just like others, she thought that Alex was asking for her, but unlike others, she thought that he was asking for her as a whole and not just her body.


    However, before these thoughts could get out of hand, another voice was heard.


    This time, though, it was Luna''s voice.


    "They are misunderstanding your words."


    Her voice, low yet enchanting, caused the crowd to pause.


    Their expressions stilled.


    ''Misunderstanding?''


    They were now confused, but before they could make up some other things in their minds, Alex spoke.


    "I can see that��"


    He purred, his voice barely a whisper, yet everyone heard it.


    His eyes, however, were focused on Seraphyra and her alone.


    When he saw her looking back at him in confusion, a rosy blush still marring her face, he began.


    "You are beautiful; I can assure you about that."


    His words caused her to lower her head in embarrassment, but he wasn''t done yet.


    "But I don''t want you, not because I don''t find you attractive, but because I can''t call myself a demon lord if I were to be swayed by beauty."


    Those words silenced the hall.


    Even the breaths of the demons were paused.


    Alex''s words felt heartfelt, and his expression was serious.


    It was as if he meant each and every word that came out of his mouth.


    His words about him not being able to call himself a demon lord did cause some demons to admire him, but many just scoffed inwardly.


    ''A demon would never care about such things.''


    Demons were evil, so why would they care about the fact that they were forcing themselves on someone or making use of someone''s weakness?


    That''s what demons do.


    But Alex was not a demon��at least, not the one with a demonic mentality.


    He had his bottom lines, and he wasn''t going to make use of a woman''s vulnerability to get her into his clutches.


    He neither needed it nor did he desire it.


    If he wanted to, he could just get someone without much effort, but that just wasn''t Alex.


    "So, think of what you could give me in exchange for a traitor''s life, Seraphyra."


    Alex''s words echoed again, entering the ears of Seraphyra, who was still unable to recover from the shock.


    Alex''s words were a shocker for her.


    But as the shock subsided, all that was left was shame and dejection.


    She felt like she was being rejected.


    What was sadder, however, was the fact that although Alex called her beautiful, she finally noticed that there was nothing in his eyes.


    There was no liking, lust, or anything of that sort in his eyes.


    For the first time, Seraphyra was dejected because she couldn''t find the emotions she hated most in someone''s eyes.


    But above all this, she felt ashamed��ashamed that she couldn''t understand the righteous heart of Alex.


    She was abashed by the fact that she thought that Alex was lusting for her body.


    However, she didn''t let those emotions stay for long.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    With a deep breath, she calmed down and started thinking of something that could help in this situation.


    ''Good.''


    Alex, satisfied with the response, nodded his head inwardly, and then he patiently waited for Seraphyra to think of something��something that would be enough for him to let this matter slide for now.


    He had some other things to test as well, after all��


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 320 - I give you my word.

    "So? What did youe up with?"


    Alex questioned Seraphyra after a while.


    He could see her eyes; they were brighter than before, and it seemed like she did have something that she thought could work in this situation.


    Alex had expected her to be able to at least do this much��if not as Rohrg''s plot armor, then as a future antagonist.


    Mind you, the antagonists are supposed to have much more intellect and power than any protagonist.


    Yeah, they lose in the end, but that is only because the protagonists have the power of love, friendship, talk-no-jutsu, and many other such things.


    If not for that, then the antagonists are supposed to rule the world.


    They are called the prodigies, future emperors, and they are always treated as the best, but only until the protagonists enter the story.


    At that point, their lives start to go down the hell.


    In the end, they die at the hands of a protagonist.


    And Alex, who had heard about this world''s intentions and knew that this world was hell-bent on eliminating him, is going to make each and every antagonist rise.


    Yeah, antagonists rising means the end of the world in one way or another, but what if those antagonists are not as broken as they were supposed to be?


    What if Alex stopped that from happening?


    What if Alex met them even before they became antagonists, just like Seraphyra?


    Yes, Seraphyra''s case was special, and not every antagonist is like that, but who knows...?


    "Yes, my lord."


    Seraphyra, who heard Alex''s question, looked up into his eyes and answered.


    She was not blushing this time; she was still ashamed of her previous imagination, causing her to be guilt-ridden.


    "I''m listening."


    Alex nodded, his arms still wrapping around Luna, and Luna was still listening to his heartbeats with her eyes closed.


    Her other ear, however, was focused on the conversation going on.


    Today has been the happiest day of her life, as she got to spend so much time close to Alex, and from what she could tell, Alex was epting her as well.


    He didn''t seem to be loving her yet, but he wasn''t pushing her away or creating a certain distance now.


    That was already the greatest news for Luna.


    But even if she was ted and in a happy mood, she wasn''t going to ignore the serious situation in her surroundings.


    "From the day I took the leading demon lord candidacy, I was exposed to the duties of a demon lord; I waspelled to make hard decisions, I was required toe up with different war strategies, and many other things.


    But all in all, it was for the demon empire."


    Seraphyra paused a bit, but that pause was taken as a full stop by Alex, causing him to raise a brow.


    "And what does it have to do with me?"


    Seraphrya, who had paused for a second, nodded her head.


    "I was getting to that point, my lord."


    Alex, who heard her words, gestured for her to continue.


    "As I said earlier, my lord, I managed the empire, and although not by much, I improved the empire''s conditions.


    All of that was because I was sure that I would be the demon lord, but that is where you came in."


    Seraphyra''s eyes gazed at Alex, a pleading light brightening her eyes.


    "The new demon lord.


    But my efforts and my work still remained.


    They are there; every single drop of blood and sweat that I expanded for the demon empire is now yours.


    Those things would be of help to you, who is the new demon lord, my lord.


    So, in exchange for those efforts, can you please let that boy live?"


    As Seraphyra''s words settled, a heavy silence enveloped the throne room.


    The broadcasting device was shattered by Alex even before the incident with Grum, so only the ones in the throne room knew about that incident; if not, then Seraphyra would''ve never repeated the same mistake.


    The scene of Grum being rejected was yed in the minds of the demons.


    ''Please forgive my grandson for the offense hemitted.''


    They could still hear the desperation and plea-filled voice of Grum in their heads, as if it were happening all over again.


    "Hmmm��."


    And just like before, they saw Alex humming with a thoughtful expression.


    That expression might''ve caused a bud of hope to bloom in Seraphyra''s mind, but for the others, it was nothing other than false hope.


    Many were already sighing, while others were looking forward to another execution.


    They wanted to see what weapon would be made from this new traitor''s blood and bones.


    He has blood that is royal-ranked, after all.


    Even Grum had his shoulders slumped.


    Now he knew that there was no other option left; he had to do it. He needed to sacrifice his life just so his grandson could live.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves and stop the trembling in his body.


    "My lord-"


    Among the demon generals, Valerius finally could take it.


    He couldn''t see the situation turning into something that would be bad for the empire.


    He was still conflicted about whose side he would have to take, but for now, he wanted to stop Alex.


    His words, however, were cut off by Alex''s voice.


    "All right, you just want that I don''t kill that guy, right?"


    "...."


    Silence.


    Complete and utter silence.


    That is what was there in the throne room.


    Valerius, who was about to call out to Alex, was frozen in his spot with his eyes wide open.


    His head turned toward the other demon generals, wanting to confirm if he heard it right, and as he looked at their equally shocked faces��


    ''I''m not hearing things...''


    He realized that it was not just his mind making up things, and Alex really said it.


    His hand, which was extended toward Alex, rxed, going back to its initial position, and he stepped back.


    The others, however, were still frozen.


    ''Did I hear it right?''


    This question was echoing through everyone''s head.


    The one who was most shocked, however, was Grum.


    ''Didn''t he reject me when I asked for something like that??''


    He felt discontented with how easily Alex agreed to Seraphyra''s words, but at the same time, he was happy for his grandson.


    ''At least he''s safe.''


    His eyes, which had turned cold, turned warm again, gazing at Rohrg, who was still frozen in time.


    "Yes, my lord!"


    It was Seraphyra''s exmation that caused everyone to break out of their thoughts.


    The happiness in her words was clearly audible; it was as if she had heard the greatest news in her life.


    But, after all that mental pressure, it did feel like the greatest thing she could want to hear.


    She was thrilled to know that Alex had agreed to her request, and she was happy about the fact that she could finally get rid of the debt she had on Rohrg.


    She didn''t want to be associated with that idiot anymore.


    "All right then, I won''t kill him; I give you my word."


    Alex''s rxed attitude was now gone, reced by the gracious and majestic demeanor that he had at the start.


    The air around him changed, and even Luna, who had been resting on his chest, stood up straight, interlocking her hand with his.


    "Now take that guy away from here; I don''t want my mood to be spoilt again," Alexmanded, his eyes momentarilynding on both Grum and Lilia.


    They were both scrambling toward the still-frozen Rohrg.


    *Snap*


    Alex snapped his finger, breaking Rohrg out of the temporal pause, but then Alex frowned a bit when he saw Lilia''s eyes looking at him with a longing look.


    ''What''s with her?''


    He thought about it for a bit, before he just waved it off.


    *Step**Step*...


    *Tip**Tap*...


    He, along with Luna, just walked toward the throne, ignoring the gazes they felt on their bodies.


    *Step*Step*...


    *Tip**Tap*...


    In just a while, they were in front of the throne, and Alex sat on it with a slow and graceful movement.


    His hand brushed against the armrest, and his eyes looked at the engravings before he pulled Luna onto hisp.


    His eyes, filled with nothing but detachment, looked up at the demons among the crowd before his lips moved.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "If any of you have some issues that need my attention, now is your time."


    With those words, the events in the throne room were over.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 321 - Tiring.

    As Alex had asked for, many topics that must be focused on were brought to light, and Alex gave everyone some kind of temporary solution.


    He didn''t actually want to solve these problems right now; at this moment, he just wanted to know the situation of the empire.


    "My lord, the demonic beats in my territory are acting strangely these days.


    They, who used to stay in the forest, are now raiding demon settlements.


    We haven''t been able to find the source of this problem yet, so please, my lord, give us direction."


    A marquise of the empire had put forth this topic.


    He was the one who guarded the empire from the wilderness.


    As a marquise of the empire, that guy was strong��very strong, as he was a legendary 2-ranker.


    "Hmmm��"


    Alex, who was using his incubus empathy to observe the reactions of everyone, already had some suspects, but he didn''t say anything for now; instead, he turned toward Valerius, who was now sitting on his own throne.


    "Valerius, send more demons to defend the area. As for a permanent solution, I will visit your ce soon enough for that."


    Alex had a hunch that things were not as simple as they seemed, and he even suspected the involvement of a protagonist or antagonist.


    So, he decided to move on with just that.


    His order, however, was more than what the marquise could ask for, so that guy happily epted it.


    This was a demon empire; no demon cared for others, and that was the reason the marquise had to ask Alex for help without much hope.


    "I am deeply grateful, my lord!"


    So, the marquise just went down on his knees and thanked Alex for his help.


    Even if he was a demon, he still had a family he cared for, and his family lived at the borders with him, which exposed them to danger just as much as anyone in that area.


    Just like the Marquise, many more problems were raised��so many that the hearing went on for hours.


    During that time, many demons had to reassess their image of the new demon lord.


    There were few, however, who didn''t care about what Alex did or how wisely he handled the situation.


    The only things that were visible to them were Alex''s bad points.


    The things he did wrong, and since there were none they could think of, they focused on Alex''s nature.


    Now, they were thinking of Alex as a lustful demon lord.


    Why?


    Because Alex was being partial.


    Yes, that''s what it looked like to them.


    Grum made the same request, and he was willing to sacrifice all of his contributions just to save his grandson, but Alex denied him.


    In Seraphyra''s case, however, he agreed quite readily.


    This made them feel like Alex did all of that because he was attracted to Seraphyra.


    Yeah, he did say that he wouldn''t be swayed by beauty, but for this group of people, it was nothing but bullshit.


    There was no way a man wouldn''t want to get his hands on a beauty like Seraphyra.


    But that was just what the ones with less brains thought.


    The wiser ones could tell the difference.


    They could tell why Alex did what he did.


    Grum served the ''throne''; that was why his request was denied, but Seraphyra''s efforts helped the one who would be the demon lord, which means her contribution was for Alex, and that was why her request was epted.


    As said before, Alex was for sure looking for a way to not kill Seraphyra, and he wasn''t going to be unreasonable with her, but her deal must be something that he wouldn''t want to reject.


    Her request was exactly something Alex could go on with, and he didn''t show any partiality.


    What no one knew, however, was the fact that the ancestor of demons, Azaroth Voidheart, was the one who was most relieved by the situation.


    ''Thank god, I didn''t have to watch my only family member die...''


    These were thest words that echoed through his mind before his expression rxed.


    Alex, who had seen that expression, thought that Azaroth was relieved that he didn''t have to make a move or something.


    As you should''ve guessed, yes, Azaroth wasn''t going to be able to do much if his granddaughter were to be killed.


    He would''ve been broken, despairing, and even crying, but his body wouldn''t have moved.


    The moment he selected Alex as a demon lord, he was bound by the contract. Now, until and unless Alex were to leave the throne or get killed by someone, Azaroth could never harm him, nor could he go against Alex''s orders.


    Alex didn''t know that yet, and Sophia, who knew, wasn''t supposed to tell Alex about it since it was his job to discover, but it was how it was.


    If Seraphyra hadn''t survived and been killed instead, then things wouldn''t have been this calm.


    The demon


    "Phew��."


    Alex let out a tired sigh as soon as everyone left the throne room, leaving only the demon general, Azaroth, Luna, and Alex alone.


    "That was tiring��"


    Alex muttered, resting his head on Luna''s shoulder as she sat on hisp with her back rxing on his chest.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "It was very good for your first time."


    Luna ruffled Alex''s hair that fell down her shoulder with a smile as shemented.


    "Is that so?"


    Alex, on the other hand, just chucked.


    Valerius, who saw this scene, just smiled, while Mk and Morvan just kept a cryptic expression.


    Nyx was standing quite far, keeping an eye on the ancient door.


    Then thest one, Azaroth, seemed to want to rush off behind Seraphyra, who, along with others, left the hall.


    "Go on," and Alex, who could guess exactly what that guy wanted, gestured for him to go on.


    "My lord."


    Azaroth didn''t stand on ceremony, he epted Alex''s gesture and then bowed his head toward Alex.


    Alex nodded his head, and then...


    *Woosh*


    With a woosh, Azaroth disappeared, leaving the hall and going to have a heart-to-heart talk with his granddaughter.


    "...."


    After that, silence enveloped the throne room once again.


    This time, however, the silence was not suffocating.


    The calm rhythm of breaths was heard, along with some eventual rustling sound of Alex and Luna''s clothes when they moved even a little.


    But the silence was soon broken by Alex.


    "Nyx."


    He called out for Nyx.


    *Swoosh*


    The next second, Nyx, who was standing a distance away, appeared right in front of Alex''s throne, on his knees and bowing his head.


    "Call the best guy you have under you; I have a task for him."


    Alex, who had his eyes closed, answered without even opening his eyes, and although he didn''t want to, Nyx still nodded his head.


    "As you wish, my lord."


    With those words...


    *Woosh*


    Nyx vanished, leaving behind nothing but a wooshing sound of air being cut.


    Now, it was just Alex, Luna, Valerius, Mk, and Morvan in the throne room.


    All of them were just sitting in their spots and rxing, unaware of the impact that the live broadcast had on the whole world.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 322 - It somehow suits him…

    While Alex was busy nning something or rxing in the throne room with Luna, Eldoria was still recovering from the broadcast they just watched.


    ''Can someone have that kind of divine presence?''


    ''Was he really supposed to be the demon king?''


    ''He was overbearing.''


    ''Why is my mom blushing and clutching her chest��?''


    ''I don''t like him.''


    ''I wish we had a ruler like that��''


    Many people thought many things. Your journey continues with empire


    Some secret agents who watched it at their houses with their family members thought differently.


    Some royals of other empires had different thoughts.


    Then there were some dark associations that had already started worshiping Alex.


    Many people felt positive about Alex, while others felt that he was not a good person.


    Different people have different ways of thinking.


    The peace-loving races from Mnochelys, the ck tortoise empire, didn''t judge the situation yet.


    They did have an image of Alex by now, but they didn''t rush to make a conclusion.


    Yes, Alex did seem to have this strangemanding presence, along with that strange air around him that seemed to pull people in and the fact that he didn''t seem like a person who would bend his knee, but that didn''t mean he was going against them.


    Many male elves, however, hated Alex to their cores.


    ''We are the most handsome-looking race!''


    ''A demon can never look better than us!''


    ''Why is my wife''s breathing turning ragged while looking at a demon��?''


    ''It must be an illusion!''


    They didn''t want to believe that there could be someone with a charm so high that even they looked like trash.


    They knew that every race had good-looking men, and some of them would probably be better in looks than the elves, but Alex was a bit too much.


    Their wives now sat in their ces with a lost look.


    The moment the broadcast was stopped, many low-ranking females were left with a look filled with longing.


    Even without realizing it, Alex had broken too many houses today.


    Well, it was not actually Alex''s fault, though; it was Rohrg''s fault, so me Rohrg all you want.


    The elven men, no matter who they were, had now developed a deep hatred for Alex.


    Their women��or maybe lots of women all over the globe��on the other hand, had developed some strange feelings for Alex in their minds.


    The world, however, wasn''t filled with haters.


    "Hahahaha, I think I will get along well with this guy!"


    A man with a muscr body covered in golden fur and the head of a lionughed boisterously just after the broadcast was cut short.


    He was Theron Embermane, the emperor of Ferox, the white tiger kingdom.


    He is a Leontaroi, a demi-lion to be exact, and he is a mythical ranker.


    Not as strong as the generals, not at all.


    The only ones who couldpete with the generals were the four guardian beasts, but Theron was a mythical 1-ranker.


    Something that was notmonly seen.


    As for why he wasughing, well, it was pretty simple.


    To him, Alex looked like a pretty simple guy��a guy who would kill those he didn''t like and protect those he liked.


    That was just the kind of guy Theron likes to deal with.


    ''Maybe I should make some time to visit him.''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    With a big smile on his face, Theron, the lion emperor, rubbed his chin thoughtfully.


    He never really hated demons; they were demons, and it was their nature to cause destruction.


    Yeah, he did like to kill the demonic beasts since they were just mindless beasts and they were strong as well, but the demonic beasts are just that��beasts, not demons.


    So now, he was seriously considering that maybe he should go talk to Alex.


    ''Maybe he will be my small brother, hahahahaha.''


    Those were thest things that he thought before the scene changed.


    He wanted to make Alex his younger brother by taking an oath.


    Theron was going to make ''Alex'' a younger brother?


    Well, let us see how it goes��


    For now, let''s focus on the scene in front of us.


    In the human empire, Sria.


    In the imperial castle��the ce where the emperor resides.


    In arge luxury room with a queen-sized fluffy bedy a fairy-like beauty; she was beautiful enough to take a man''s breath away with just a look, especially with that sweet smile on her face��something that no one in this world had seen yet.


    Her dark ck hair was spread on the white bed sheet, and her sparkling, dark blue eyes with a hint of purple stared at the wall as her pink, flower-like lips tugged into a small smile.


    "So, he''s a demon lord now?


    Well, it somehow suits him��"


    She giggled as she recalled how good her man looked in those regal clothes.


    As you would''ve already guessed, it was Ann White, one of Alex''s two lovers, who was summoned to the human empire as a party member of the hero Eric Reeves.


    But as she recalled the full view that she saw, her smile went down, and a sigh escaped her lips.


    "Well, I expected it to happen one day, so I guess I should just be happy for her."


    A small smile again graced her face as she recalled how happy Luna looked in that recording.


    But just then, an old scene yed in her mind, causing her eyes to turn a bit soft.


    The scene of Alex clutching her hard in his sleep.


    That day, they had both gone on a date, and after spending time with each other, they decided to go to sleep, but Alex''s mumbles woke Ann.


    That day, she saw Alex frowning in his sleep and mumbling something she didn''t even understand, but just as she hugged him, his body rxed.


    His breathing went even, and he went back to a peaceful dream.


    "I guess it''s good that she is with him; he needs someone to be with him, someone he cares for��."


    She mumbled thosest words before she closed her eyes.


    The atmosphere of her room turned tranquil as she drifted into sleep.


    She did have a thought of just running away from here and rushing toward the demon empire, but she knew that she was not the strongest in this world, and many unwanted things could happen, so she decided to wait for Alex.


    It wasn''t like her situation here was concerning.


    Everyone here was almost the best she could hope for.


    Everyone treated her with respect; no one forced her to do something.


    There was no training for her, and she wasn''t forced to attend any unnecessary meetings.


    All because she was strong��way stronger than any other member of the hero''s party.


    So, she was free until the gap in the power was filled, and by the speed they were going, Ann had estimated that it was probably going to take more than a year for Eric to get as strong as her.


    Unlike Ann''s room, the throne room of the Sria Empire had a tension-filled atmosphere.


    Everyone in the room��which was a total of 8 people��was sitting in their respective ces with a grim look on their faces.


    _________________________________________


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    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 323 - Why is he here already…?

    The hero of the human empire, Eric Reeves, was summoned to this world filled with fantasy creatures and diverse kinds of races from a normal world.


    His world was like Alice and Ann''s world used to be before the gates appeared.


    No one had superpowers or anything.


    So, when he was summoned to this world, he thought that he was special, and he had a responsibility that he had now.


    He had power, but with power came responsibility.


    He got the power after he was summoned here, so now he felt responsible for these people.


    He wanted to save these people now; he wanted them to be free of the fear they lived under.


    Yeah, he was the goodie-two-shoes type of guy.


    But even he was shocked when he saw Alex''s momentum.


    ''Is he supposed to be my opponent��?''


    His body trembled as he recalled those regal red eyes that seemed to be able to peer into his soul even though he wasn''t there.


    ''Am I supposed to face someone like him��?''


    He just couldn''t believe that he would have to face Alex when the time arrived.


    How could he defeat someone like Alex?


    The supreme human bloodline''s aura was a bit too strong��so strong that it affected Eric, even though this guy was so far away.


    But it was not just him; even the other humans in the room were trembling.


    *Woosh*


    The next moment, however, a gentle breeze blew, causing their hair to get disheveled; their trembling bodies, on the other hand, had stopped trembling.


    "He''s not easy to deal with."


    Then they heard a low, humming voice from their side, causing them to turn toward the only elf in the throne room, Viessa.


    Her eyes were closed, but her brows were frowning.


    Her head was still turned toward the spot where the screen was a moment ago.


    Her words, however, caused a man who seemed to be in histe 20s, sitting on the only throne in the room, to widen his eyes.


    ''Did she just say that he was going to be hard for even her to deal with?!''


    He was the famous puppet emperor of the human empire.


    A man with striking red hair and light blue eyes.


    He looked like a wimpy guy who would do whatever he was asked to, but he was not the only person who was shocked.


    There was another woman in the room, a bit lower in beauty than Viessa, but a beauty, nheless.


    Her eyes were opened just as wide as the man''s.


    She was the man''s wife, the empress, and she, just like the emperor, knew how strong Viessa was.


    Yet Viessa was saying that the new demon lord, who had just been crowned, seemed like someone who was hard to deal with, even for her.


    If this was not shocking, then what was?


    But Eric, who saw the frown on Viessa''s face, then turned toward the other four girls in the throne room, including the princess.


    The way their eyes had that lost look as they kept staring at the same spot as Viessa did.


    They were enamored by Alex''s looks since they were just a group of normal girls who somehow got graced with beauty by God yet had no power to back it up.


    To Eric, however, it seemed like they were too shocked; they were traumatized, or so Eric thought.


    His wavering eyes turned firm as his gaze kept shifting from one girl to another.


    ''I have to protect them.''


    He spoke with resolution before he stood up from his spot.


    "Eric?"


    A girl with orange bob cut hair and a slim, muscr body broke out of her reverie as she turned to look at Eric, who had stood up.


    "He is strong��much stronger than me; I can feel it.


    But that doesn''t mean that I would lose hope.


    I will train harder than before��way harder than I ever did; I will keep doing it until I''m strong enough to protect you all."


    His words caused every girl in the room to turn toward him, yet the words that would''ve caused the girls to blush a while ago could just make them smile a little.


    It was as if his protagonist''s aura wasn''t working on them anymore.


    Eric didn''t notice it, though.


    He just walked out of the throne room with heavy steps.


    Since he had said so, he was going to train as hard as he could.


    Eric''s steps, however, stopped in front of a room. His lips moved, trying to say something, but as he recalled the cold blue eyes that he always received when he tried to talk to the owner of the room, he hesitated for a bit.


    ''Sigh��''


    In the end, he just sighed and started walking out of the pce.


    No matter what it looked like, he was motivated to get stronger��a bit too much so that he didn''t even notice a golden light that momentarily shone in his palm.


    Unlike the motivated Eric, though, there was one person who was shocked.


    ''Why is he here already��.?''


    This was all he could think as he clenched his fist.


    His body trembled as he recalled the aura he felt from Alex right now.


    ''He''s way stronger than what I hoped he would be��''


    His frustration only grew as he recalled all the sacrifices he had to make to get to this point, while Alex just got whatever he wanted without much effort.


    ''How the hell did he be a freaking demon lord?! Wasn''t it someone else who was supposed to be the demon lord???


    And wasn''t the coronation of demon lord supposed to take ce after a year or two?!''


    That guy wanted to pull out his dark blonde hair, but he knew that this was not the ce to let out his frustration.


    "Alex Matthew��"


    He heard a growl-like voice, causing his head to turn toward a guy with flowing golden hair and golden eyes.


    That man was Antares ze, the golden dragon and the guardian of the dragon empire.


    He was the same guy that Alex had talked to through the strange device.


    Right now, Antares was staring at the frozen screen in front of him.


    The screen had the image of Alex standing next to Rohrg, the exact moment he had shattered the broadcasting device.


    The golden dragon had somehow paused the scene, making it unable to vanish even though it should''ve.


    He gritted his teeth as he recalled the humiliation that Alex had done.


    *Rumble*


    But the mere tightening of his muscles caused the air to rumble.


    The blonde guy, who saw this reaction, widened his eyes before a grin started to spread across his face.


    ''Hehehehehe��.''


    He started giggling inwardly.


    From Antares''s reaction, that guy was sure that Alex had somehow already offended this guy, so things were now easier for him.


    ''I guess the gods didn''t abandon me��''


    He muttered with a grin before the image of a redhead passed through his mind, causing a determined look to appear on his face.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Just wait for me, Alice.''


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    Those were hisst words before the scene changed. Now it was back to Alex, who was sitting on his throne, staring at Nyx, who was kneeling on the ground.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 324 - Expected result.

    "You are saying that your best subordinate, someone who is a legendary ranker, couldn''t kill a measly SSS ranker?"


    Alex''s cold eyes were fixed on Nyx while his body kept releasing pressure on the guy''s body.


    Nyx, however, stayed silent.


    He didn''t have a reply since that was the truth.


    "All I said was for you to send the best subordinate of yours to kill a sleeping SSS-ranker, yet he failed. Why?"


    Alex''s right elbow was ced on the armrest of the throne, supporting his chin that was resting on his right palm.


    *Tap**Tap**Tap*...


    His body was rxed on the throne, while the fingers of his other hand kept tapping on the left armrest of the throne.


    His eyes were half open, but the coldness within them was enough to send a shiver down the spine of anyone who looked into them.


    His aura of a great emperor was not there anymore; all that was left was a cold and unforgiving aura.


    If someone were to look at him right now, then for sure, the first thought that woulde into their mind would be, ''evil emperor''.


    In the throne room, Alex was sitting on the throne while Azaroth stood by his left side.


    The other three demon generals were not here right now since each of them was given a separate task by Alex.


    They didn''t know what task the other had, but they were still doing whatever task they were asked for with utmost seriousness.


    It was not without a reason, though.


    Demon generals wouldn''t move themselves if not for the fact that Alex had offered them a really enticing deal.


    What was the deal?


    Well, we will know in time.


    But one person was missing��


    Where was Luna??


    To answer that question, she was breaking through the epic rank right now.


    Another reason why Alex''s mana seemed to be rilled up was because Luna was sitting in a space pocket made by him, and in that space pocket, Alex was continuously replenishing her mana by sending his mana into her body.


    All of that took a lot of effort.


    But why the hurry?


    Wouldn''t it be fine if Alex were to give her time and let her do it when he could give all of his attention to her?


    There were two reasons for that.


    First, Alex didn''t like the fact that Luna was weak enough to not even put up a fight against the high-ranking nobles.


    Second, the reward that he obtained from the quest of being crowned as a demon lord��the one that he specifically wanted for Luna��couldn''t be used to its full potential until the user was an epic-ranker.


    So, he let her get herself to epic rank as fast as possible.


    It was going to take her around 5�C6 hours, and for that period, Alex would be sitting here with Azaroth, guarding her with all they had.


    For now, however, his eyes stared at Nyx coldly, waiting for an answer.


    He had already expected this to happen, but he wanted to know why it was happening or what came in the way.


    "His maternal grandfather, Grum Infurnis, somehow happened to be strolling in that area, my lord."


    Nyx, after contemting for a while anding up with the best words possible, replied to Alex.


    ''This shitty plot armor...''


    Alex growled inwardly, frowning even though he had already expected this oue.


    He knew how strong this plot armor for the protagonists could be from some nonsensical novels and mangas, but still, he couldn''t stop himself from getting annoyed.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    But recalling Luna''s situation, Alex quickly calmed down.


    He couldn''t move his focus too much away from Luna; although Alex was strong and had better control over his mana now, it still took a considerable amount of his focus to help Luna out.


    That, however, just calmed him down a bit, he still wasn''t done with his questioning.


    "And your ''best'' subordinate lost to a retired king?"


    *Boom*


    More pressure was released from his body, causing Nyx''s head to bow deeper and deeper, automatically.


    But Nyx wasn''t the one to break under pressure; he was a demon general, after all, so he quickly replied.


    "They had grouped up on him."


    His fast reply caused Alex''s eyes to sharpen before he questioned again.


    "Are all of your ''best'' subordinates the same as him?


    Do they not even know that an assassin is never supposed to fight against a group of people in public?"


    Alex''s question again paused Nyx, and the guy, Nyx, just lowered his head.


    He knew that it was his subordinate''s fault, and it was a mistake on his side that he got killed, but there was one more thing that he had yet to tell Alex, and now he was concerned as to what his reaction would be.


    ''I hate it!''


    He hated how he had to bow his head for every little thing, that too in front of a guy he didn''t like much, but what could he do other than be internally frustrated?


    Alex was the demon lord��one that had the demon ancestor supporting him.


    Even if Nyx didn''t like it, all he could do was suck it up.


    Actually, Nyx was just irritated about the fact that his subordinate had failed toplete a single task given to him even though he was provided with a period of two days to execute his n.


    ''Just how could a legendary ranker not even run away from another bunch of legendary rankers?!''


    Nyx roared inwardly, clenching his fist. How did a guy who had always been the best assassin make such a rookie mistake?


    How could Nyx have known that it was not actually the guy''s fault? It was just that the one he was against had a really broken power protecting him.


    The one he was ordered to kill was the only protagonist that Alex had met till now, Rohrg Ashenfang.


    It might feel like Alex was going back on his words right now, but he wasn''t.


    All Alex said was that he wouldn''t kill Rohrg himself, and he was doing just that.


    The demon generals and the ancestor did raise a brow at it, but neither of them said anything.


    "I did promise that I wouldn''t kill him, so I won''t.


    But the same couldn''t be said for you guys."


    Alex, who knew that the demons didn''t really have a problem, still shrugged and told them that he wasn''t going back on his words.


    He didn''t want his image to be spoilt, and he didn''t want himself to be known as the lie-spouting emperor.


    Yes, he didn''t care about what others thought, but if he were to get a title like that, then even the system would show it.


    And looking at a title like that was not really the thing Alex would want to see.


    "Answer me."


    Alex demanded Nyx; his voice sounded more like a suppressed growl.


    "I don''t know what happened, my lord...


    He had never failed a mission until now."


    Explore stories on empire


    Nyx was now crying in frustration.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Yes, he wanted the reward that Alex had offered as well, but he didn''t even know this would happen!


    Why was he even getting med for it?


    "Sigh��"


    But then a sigh was heard, and Alex, who was resting his chin on his palm, now had his forehead resting on the palm.


    It wasn''t that he really med Nyx; he knew that this was what would happen.


    The plot armor would try to save the protagonist until the oneing for the protagonist was strong enough to break that plot armor.


    But Alex needed to show that he was angry at Nyx; however, even though he was pretending to be angry, that had to be limited as well; he shouldn''t be too hard on his subordinates.


    That would just have worse results.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 325 - Just go.

    "Just tell me what you''re hiding; it can''t be worse than it already is."


    Alex uttered those words with a sigh.


    He could see the concern and hesitation in Nyx''s emotions, so he could easily tell that Nyx was still keeping something from him.


    It was clear from the way Nyx''s body jerked at the mere mention of it.


    Even Azaroth, who was standing beside Alex, sharpened his eyes and frowned.


    But since Alex had already questioned Nyx, he didn''t say anything and waited for Nyx to reply.


    Nyx just lowered his head more and more, feeling the gaze of both the demon lord and the demon ancestor.


    ''Roger, I swear to hell that even if I found your soul, I will torture it until I take myst breath!''


    He just cursed his subordinate for putting him in this situation before he began.


    "Before getting killed, he revealed that he was ordered by me to kill Rohrg."


    Nyx''s words were as low as a murmur, however, to the two people in the hall, his words were loud and clear, and the moment they heard those words, they couldn''t help but freeze.


    "..." Your adventure continues at empire


    A heavy silence, unlike before, descended in the throne room.


    In normal cases, Nyx wished that he had never heard a single word from Alex, but right now, he wished for Alex to speak.


    The silence was getting palpable now.


    He could literally feel the air getting dense.


    "...what did you say?"


    Alex was the first one to speak; his fist clenched around his head.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He knew that the MC was supposed to have a protagonist aura that made people bber a lot, but that guy was one of the top assassins of the Demon Empire, for fucks sake!


    How could he just dder such information?


    It had been two days since the coronation, and during that time Rohrg had already sent an official apology to him as if wanting to show how bad he felt, he even cried in the academy''s assembly.


    By now, Rohrg had already gained a lot of support in the demon empire, if the news of what had happened were to go out now, then there was a potential coup heading their way.


    Yes, Alex''s side would win for sure since they have the four demon generals, the demon ancestor, and above all, Alex himself.


    But the casualties in that civil war won''t be low.


    That was not something he as a demon lord could ignore.


    He never really cared about politics, but now that he was involved, he didn''t want to see something like that happen.


    "I never thought he would do that-"


    Nyx tried to justify himself, still kneeling with his head facing the ground, but his words were cut off by Alex.


    "Do you even know anything?


    You don''t know why your subordinate suddenly made a rookie mistake, you don''t know why he failed a mission even though he was given enough time, and now, you don''t know that he was such a bbermouth.


    Is this how you handle your subordinates?"


    Alex''s words, although cold, pierced the right spot in Nyx, causing his body to tremble.


    It was because of the protagonist''s influence, but no one other than Alex knew about it.


    But as Alex looked at Nyx, who had his fists balled up in frustration, Alex took a deep breath.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    "Just go away for now��"


    Alex let out a sigh as he closed his eyes.


    Nyx, who heard those words, finally looked up at Alex, only to find him resting his head on his palm with his eyes closed.


    "Just go."


    But then he heard his master''s words.


    His eyes turned to look at Azaroth, but all he found in those grey eyes of Azaroth was disappointment��immense disappointment.


    *Crack*


    That look from his master broke his heart a bit.


    ''I didn''t even do anything��''


    He wanted to cry, but he couldn''t even do that.


    If it was the old Nyx, then he would already be brawling his eyes out, but Nyx had changed.


    Since the day he was defeated miserably by Alex, Nyx has lost his fun side; he has turned cold.


    He stopped smiling as well, something he always did before.


    That loss was a shocker for him, after all.


    That day, Nyx''s only weapon, his invisibility, was useless in front of Alex. So, from that day on, Nyx had been training his other skills��especially closebat.


    But even after all that hard work, he looks into his master''s eyes, only to find disappointment. How is he supposed to feel?


    I don''t know what he is supposed to feel, but right now, he feels really miserable, yet he nods his head and takes his leave.


    "He''s not at fault, my lord��"


    Azaroth, who hadn''t said anything to Alex about his decisions yet, spoke for the first time.


    "I know."


    Alex''s reply came the next moment as his frustrated look vanished.


    His eyes turned toward the space pocket where Luna was.


    ''Huh?''


    Azaroth, however, was shocked by the change in Alex''s attitude.


    Was he pretending to be angry all this while?


    If yes, then why?


    What was the reason for him to do it?


    Many such questions appeared in Azaroth''s mind one after another, but he didn''t voice them out.


    It wouldn''t look good if a subordinate were to question their leader.


    "What are you so shocked about?"


    But Alex, who felt the surprised and shocked gaze of the demon ancestor, inquired with a chuckle.


    However, even before the demon ancestor could let out a word, he added.


    "I knew that this mission was going to fail from the start; that''s the reason why I''m so rxed right now."


    Azaroth''s question was answered even before he could ask it, and although shocked by the discovery, he still asked another question.


    "How?"


    Since his lord had already permitted him to express his doubts, he would do it until he was clear about everything.


    "I can''t say much, but just know that Rohrg is not an easy being to deal with."


    Alex spoke mysteriously, his face as serious as it could be, causing Azaroth to frown.


    ''What was so special about that guy?''


    Azaroth wanted to know more, but since Alex said that he wasn''t going to say much, he jumped to the next question.


    "Why did you have to pretend to be angry then?"


    This was the other question he had.


    Why?


    "Well, even if I knew that the mission would end in failure, I couldn''t tell Nyx that, or he might just me me for his subordinate''s death."


    Alex replied with a shrug.


    The real reason, however, was still not known to the demon ancestor.


    He would know it soon enough, but for now, Alex decided not to tell him anything about it.


    Azaroth moved his lips again, probably wanting to ask another question, but Alex, who had his eyes turned to the space pocket, was a step faster.


    "Why did Seraphyra want to protect that guy? What did she say?"


    Azaroth, who wanted to ask a question, tensed the moment his granddaughter was mentioned, but when he heard the full question, he sighed with a bit of relief.


    The tension in his body, however, didn''t lessen.


    He couldn''t tell what Alex was thinking, after all.


    It was hard to get a read on him, especially when Alex wasn''t looking at him, and even his voice sounded cryptic.


    "My lord, she said that��."


    But he still exined what had happened, and Alex, who found it fitting with the information the system had provided, nodded his head at them.


    ''Time to seriously eliminate one protagonist.''


    His mind, however, was focused on entirely different things.


    Since he couldn''t go back on his words, he was going to send the one he thought would be able to do the job best among the remaining people.


    His eyes turned toward Azaroth, who was still narrating the events as Seraphyra had exined them to him, and he grinned inwardly.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 326 - Done with one protagonist 1.

    "Huh?"


    Rohrg Ashenfang, the guy who was one of the top rising stars of the demon empire, found himself in apletely white space, causing a confused voice to escape his lips.


    ''Wasn''t I sleeping?''


    Yes, he could vividly remember himself falling asleep, and thinking about how he couldn''t even see his room right now, he frowned.


    His eyes scanned the area, looking for something or someone.


    He was smart��no, cunning.


    He was sly like a fox.


    So after the initial confusion about his surroundings settled, he realized that he had been kidnapped.


    ''This is probably done by someone proficient in controlling space elements.''


    He muttered as he tried to look deeper into this white space.


    Everything was white��so white that he couldn''t even tell if there was a wall in front of him or if it was a room that extended for miles.


    He seemed quite calm on the outside, but on the inside, he was panicking.


    He knew that in the whole demon empire, there were no more than 3 people who were this proficient with space maniption, and one of them hadn''t even awakened that power yet, leaving only two people.


    Rohrg, for one, knew that if any of those two people were to try to kill him, he wouldn''t be able to survive, no matter who came to his rescue.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    As he racked his mind on who it could be among those two, something clicked in his mind.


    ''Demon lord��''


    Just a day ago, he was attacked by a legendary ranker, and if not for his grandfather''s coincidental arrival, he would''ve died under that guy''s de.


    Even his grandfather would''ve lost in that fight if not for this kingdom''s king''s��who''s his uncle as well��timely arrival.


    That assassin was killed in the end; however, before that guy was killed, he revealed something no one expected him to.


    "You won''t dare kill me if you know who sent me!"


    Those words paused the people who were about to kill him.


    They didn''t pause out of fear; they paused because they never expected an assassin to be so desperate to survive that he was ready to reveal the name of the person who sent him.


    "... who sent you?"


    It was Rohrg who asked that question with a fearful voice.


    He was pretending, but the assassin didn''t seem to notice that. It was as if the assassin had turned a bit stupid.


    "Hahahaha, are you scared now, boy?"


    The assassin, who was lying on the ground,ughed out loud when he heard Rohrg''s fearful voice.


    "..."


    Theck of reply only made that assassinugh louder before he barked.


    "It''s the demon lord, fuckers!"


    Those words caused them all to widen their eyes in shock.


    "What?!"


    Grum eximed in stupefaction.


    "Is the demon lord going back on his words now?!"


    Grum bellowed in anger, his arms lifting the assassin in the air, and his eyes, which were red with anger, stared at the assassin.


    But before the assassin could go on...


    *Swoosh* X3


    Something cut through the air, moving at a very fast speed.


    They were three darts moving toward Rohrg, Grum, and the king of the kingdom.


    The darts were very fast��so fast that Rohrg couldn''t even see them��and from what Grum could tell, it was probably a legendary ranker''s attack.


    *Woosh* X2


    So, Grum and his son hurried toward Rohrg, wanting to defend him, but just then...


    *Fwoosh*


    Another dart was thrown, but this time, it was aimed at the bloodied assassin.


    Grum and the king of the kingdom widened their eyes, but before any one of them could even rush back toward that assassin...


    *Pierce**Stter*


    The dart pierced the assassin''s head from one side and shot out from the other side, causing it to burst into a meat paste.


    That was all that had happened, andter it was discovered that this assassin was carrying a ''delulu serum'', something that worked like a drug, and during the fight with Grum, it was injected into his thigh by mistake.


    That was the reason why that assassin was acting so unprofessionally.


    ''Sigh��''


    Rohrg sighed in relief as he recalled how lucky he was to have avoided a certain death scenario, just because of a small mistake made by the assassin.


    He himself didn''t know that it wasn''t his luck, or maybe partially it was, but mostly it was because of the plot armor that he was still alive.


    But then his face turned as serious as it could.


    If the demon lord wanted to kill him, then there was only one person who could possibly be here, kidnapping him.


    *Thud*


    With a thud, Rohrg went down on his knees and directly voiced out...


    "I greet the demon ancestor."


    There was nothing but respect in his voice; it was as if he were greeting a god.


    Rohrg already knew who it could be.


    If it was someone sent by the demon lord, and that said person had this level of mastery over space��so much that he didn''t even notice himself being isted��then there can only be one person who could do it, Azaroth Voidheart.


    "..."


    He kept kneeling on the ''ground'' even though he received silence as a reply.


    The silence, however, didn''tst for long.


    "You know that you are going to die by my hands, right?"


    A voice reverberated throughout the space.


    Rohrg couldn''t even tell where the sound came from, not that it would''ve made any difference, so he just replied.


    "I know your grace, but I know that you are just following orders.


    However, could you at least tell me why? Why are you doing this?


    Why serve a demon lord who goes back on his word-"


    Experience more content on empire


    Rohrg tried the talk-no-jutsu, hoping that he could convince Azaroth to turn sides; after all, it was a well-known fact in the future that the demon ancestor was a just man who abhorred liars.


    But his words were cut short.


    *Boom*


    A pressure��something that made his bones creak��fell over him.


    *m*


    His body mmed onto the ''ground'' below him.


    "Watch your words, young man.


    Those words alone are enough to get you killed."


    Azaroth''s voice echoed again, but Rohrg, using his protagonist''s willpower��which is the strongest at the moment of despair��let out some words of protest.


    "I-I am going to d-die anyway.


    W-why not speak my mind before I go��?"


    With much effort, Rohrg shuttered out those words, as low as a whisper. It was as if he were a mile away, but Azaroth had to raise a brow in surprise.


    With the amount of pressure Azaroth was applying to Rohrg, he wouldn''t die, but he shouldn''t be able to speak as well, yet somehow he did��


    But Rohrg''s question did cause a thoughtful look to appear on Azaroth''s face.


    "Just for your being able to surprise me a bit, let me tell you something."


    Azaroth, who materialized right in front of Rohrg, began.


    Rohrg, on the other hand, still couldn''t move since the pressure was still at an all-time high.


    But he did focus on Azaroth''s words as he continued.


    "The demon lord never went back on his.


    He never said that you were spared; all he said was that he would not kill you.


    It was you guys who thought that he had pardoned you."


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 327 - Done with one protagonist 2.

    Rohrg, who had regressed back in time, knew a lot about everyone, including the demon ancestor.


    Azaroth was not a character that anyone could forget.


    The first time he was seen was the moment a general of the Dragon Empire tried to kill Seraphyra.


    Words slowly spread, and no one knew how, but he was already known as the strongest being alive on the, because no matter who it was, be it the ck tortoise, the white tiger, or the golden dragon, none of them ever spoke against him.


    Yet, for some reason, the demon ancestor never took part in wars.


    All he did was protect the demon empire, and that too was only done when the empire was on the verge of copse.


    It was as if he was just making it possible for the demon empire to rise again.


    But there was one thing that everyone in the world knew about Azaroth; he hated liars and traitors.


    So, Rohrg hoped to get him on his side by using the mistake of the demon lord.


    That was the reason why he had yet to release the news about the demon lord''s deed.


    Azaroth''s words, however, were like cold water getting poured onto his head.


    ''No��.''


    He finally realized that the only advantage he had was now gone.


    The fact that the demon lord went back on his words wasn''t even true, so what was he going to use to save himself??


    ''Fuck!''


    He regretted not using the chance he was given.


    If he had just let the news about the assassination spread, then the demon lord would''ve been busy with that for a while.


    But, what could he do now?


    He racked his brain to think of something that could help him out in this situation, but he couldn''t find anything.


    But just then...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Well, that''s all I had to say; now you can die."


    He heard Azaroth''s voice again, but this time, it was as cold as it could be.


    However, he didn''t get any time to think about it or do anything about it.


    *Swoosh*


    He heard the sound of the air being shed, and the next second, his vision darkened.


    He didn''t even know what had happened or how he was killed.


    ''This is so unfair��''


    This was thest thought in his mind before his soul drifted toward hell or heaven, wherever he was supposed to go.


    The protagonist, someone who is known to have an unfair existence, finally meets his match.


    An existence that is way more broken than any protagonist ever could.


    But the problem is that both of them weren''t actually friends; they were enemies here.


    So, Rohrg, the protagonist, died.


    "One down, some more to go."


    Azaroth, on the other hand, just waved his hand and started walking forward. Read new chapters at empire


    The white space started to crack, and the surroundings became clear.


    It was arge room with a king-size bed and some other types of furniture.


    The room lookedvish as if it belonged to someone rich, and it actually was; after all, it was the room of the prince of this kingdom.


    It was the room of Rohrg Ashenfang, the grandson of Grum Infurnis, the retired king, or the old king, as they call him.


    The room, however, now had the corpse of the same prince lying on the floor.


    *Knock**Knock*


    "Are you still awake, Rohrg?"


    But before Azaroth could take a step ahead, a knock was heard from the door of the room.


    "Oh?"


    Azaroth, who heard that, couldn''t help but let out a surprised voice.


    ''Didn''t the assassinst time fail because of Grum Infurnus''s coincidental arrival?''


    He tilted his head with a frown.


    But then his eyes went a bit wide in realization.


    ''Are they really so much in love with each other?''


    Azaroth''s eyes went toward Rohrg''s ass, and his nose scrunched up in disgust.


    The coincidental meeting might actually not be a coincidence but a well-crafted n for their meeting when everyone was asleep.


    For what?


    Well, anyone with a brain could guess that.


    "Hm? Is there someone else with you?"


    Grum, on the other hand, grew confused the moment he heard a voice other than Rohrg''sing from the inside of the room.


    Ruhrg was supposed to be sleeping at this moment, so how was there someone else in his room?


    But as if realizing something, his eyes widened.


    Thest night''s incident yed in his mind again��the attack of the assassin on Rohrg��it all reyed in his mind.


    "I will enter with the count of three, Rohrg."


    But he didn''t just break into the room; he called out loud for Rohrg to get ready.


    No matter what, he couldn''t just barge into the room of an adult male.


    What if Rohrg had sneaked a woman in and was having his time with her?


    There were many things an adult male could do alone, and Grum, as his grandfather, didn''t want to walk in only to see one of those things.


    Azaroth, who was inside the room, now had a pondering look before he just shrugged and walked toward the king-sized bed and sat on it, waiting for Grum toe in.


    "3��"


    He had to kill Grum anyway, so he would just take his time enjoying it; it had been a while since he had done things like this, after all.


    "2��"


    Grum, unaware of all this, just continued the countdown.


    "And 1."


    With that final call, he broke the door.


    *Boom*


    The door was sted off with a boom, and Grum hurriedly scanned the room for anything odd.


    But his eyes widened the moment he saw his grandson''s headless body lying on the ground.


    He didn''t even notice the presence of Azaroth, his eyes were filled with horror as he rushed toward Rohrg''s headless corpse.


    "ROHRG!!"


    He screamed in panic, unsure if he was seeing things right.


    His mind went into overdrive, and he almost went crazy.


    ''Did his grandson die??''


    ''Just like that?''


    ''Without any noise, without anyone noticing anything strange?''


    "Ah, I don''t have time for this.


    You should just die as well."


    But a bored voice was heard, sending chills down his spine.


    "Who-"


    He turned toward the source of the voice, wanting to see who it was, but his words were cut short even before he could look at the person.


    *Swoosh*


    Just like before, another wooshing sound was heard, and just like Rohrg, Grum felt a tingle on his neck before he found his vision darkening.


    Just like that, a legendary ranker of the demon empire got killed.


    Azaroth, who didn''t want to see the drama of Grum crying over his grandson''s dead body, just ended the guy''s life.


    "Well, he has already screamed his throat out, so more of them would being."


    The demon ancestor then let his body rx on the soft bed, waiting for the other members of the family to arrive.


    His task was to kill everyst one of them, after all.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 328 - Nocturas back.

    [Antagonist''s Quest: -


    Quest objective: A regressed demon of a dying family has set his eyes on something that is yours; handle the situation ordingly.


    Completed.]


    Alex, who was sitting in a dojo-like hall filled with different kinds of weapons, saw this notification sh in front of his eyes, and he couldn''t stop a smile from marring his face.


    ''I knew that Azaroth would be able to do it.''


    Alex beamed inwardly.


    This was the reason he had sent the demon ancestor��someone who was so strong that even Alex with his SD (Shatter Devourer) form wouldn''t be able to make him lose some blood��to kill Rohrg.


    He had the option to just send Nyx, but he had a feeling that it wouldn''t have ended well.


    It might''ve just fueled the civil war, as there was a chance that Rohrg could have talked Nyx into his side��which means a demon general on his side.


    That alone was enough to give the ones siding with him more courage.


    So, Alex decided to send Azaroth.


    [The reward is being calcted.]


    Another notification that arrived right after the first one, made Alex''s eyes shine in anticipation.


    For a second, he forgot that there was someone else with him.


    "What''s wrong?"


    A melodious voice was heard, causing Alex to look up with a smile.


    "It''s nothing; I just got rid of a cockroach," Alex replied with a wave of his hand, but the smile on his face caused the one in front to giggle.


    The giggle, however, slowly died down, reced by a soft smile on the pink-haireddy''s face.


    "It''s been a while since I saw you smile for real."


    Luna, the pink-haired beauty, gently spoke as she looked at Alex with a tender gaze.


    Her words, however, caused the smile on Alex''s face to reside, and a mncholy light shed in his eyes.


    ''Ah, shit��''


    Luna realized her mistake.


    She realized that, in the heat of the moment, she uttered the words in her mind out loud, and now Alex was reminded about the fact that he was not with Alice and Ann.


    But just then...


    "Master! I broke through!"


    A cheerful yet enchanting voice was heard.


    It sounded like the voice of an 18- or 19-year-old girl��one with a jumpy and cheery personality.


    When Alex heard that voice, his lips automatically morphed into a smile again, and Luna, who saw that, smiled in relief.


    *Woosh*


    The next instant, a ck sh passed through the hall��the training hall with all kinds of weapons in it��and lunged at Alex.


    Both Luna and Alex knew who it was, so they didn''t try to attack whoever it was.


    Alex even opened his arms, as if inviting them into his arms, and the ck sh that seemed to be 2 meters tall and 4 meters long started to shrink.


    It decreased in size so fast that it was just an arm''s length before it smashed into Alex''s chest.


    "Hahahaha, good job, pup."


    Alex, who caught that ck sh, justughed out loud and started stroking the soft fur of the beast that he had in his arms now.


    It was a chibi ck wolf with stark ck eyes and ink-ck fur that matched Alex''s hair.


    "Hehehe��"


    The wolf giggled in delight as she heard her master''spliment, rubbing her head against his arms that were already patting her head.


    Yes, as you would''ve already guessed, it was Noctura, and she was finally back to action again. That too with an epic-ranked power.


    As told before, beasts'' power up to epic was a bit different from humans; they had to absorb the mana through their skins or furs and strengthen their bodies while also filling it up with mana until they could no longer do it.


    They didn''t have to go through the process of forming mana veins, which could be very hard for some beasts.


    Noctura, who had been gone for a while, was doing just that.


    Where was she?


    She was carried by Alex in a pokeball.


    You heard it right��a pokeball or something called a ''dimensional nexus''.


    The dimensional nexus is a small device that is shaped like a sphere. Once activated, it opens a gateway for a separate dimension where the time moves 10 times faster than the outside.


    Everything within that dimension is made for creatures to be stored inside it without having to worry about them.


    The air inside is nutrient-filled; just breathing would allow the being taking the air in to not feel hungry for an extended period of time.


    So, calling it a pokeball was not wrong.


    Alex had sent Noctura in there before he used his ability to travel from one world to another, with just one task, and that was to try to push through the EX rank and break through the epic rank.


    Alex had already bought her this afternoon, but he found her sleeping, so he let her enjoy her time.


    Later, when Noctura woke up, she panicked as she felt an aura much stronger than what she had felt before heading toward her.


    Her fur stood to an end, but before she could attack or do something, she heard a voice just from her side.


    "Your master is in the training hall right below you, and you should take the stairs if you want to reach him."


    *Shiver*


    Noctura had a shiver run down her spine the moment she realized that the presence she had been feeling was already by her side, but as his words settled in, the fear in her mind vanished, and her body moved on its own.


    She rushed to meet Alex, her master.


    Her eyes were shining with happiness.


    She didn''t even look back at Nyx, who had said those words.


    He himself didn''t care about Noctura; he was just following the order he was given by the demon lord.


    "Protect the wolf, and inform her about my whereabouts the moment she wakes up."


    Nyx did just that before he vanished from the spot.


    Noctura, on the other hand, was just so happy to meet her master again that she even forgot about Nyx.


    She just kept rubbing her head on Alex''s palm as her body melted into Alex''s warm embrace.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    She didn''t even notice that Ann and Alice weren''t there.


    For now, she just wanted to enjoy her time with her master.


    Alex was happy to have Noctura back as well; she was someone he treated like a daughter, after all, and having her back with him was enough to bring a smile to his face.


    The fact that she was now an epic-ranker was just a plus.


    [The reward has been calcted and is ready to be granted.


    Would you like to open the reward right now?]


    Just then, a new notification shed in front of Alex''s eyes, causing his smile to widen a bit.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 329 - Lunas bloodline upgrade.

    Alex had high hopes for this quest.


    He had already seen the thing he got just from attending the coronation ceremony, and it was something that would cost billions, if not more, to buy from the store, and billions were not something he was close to even with all the points he had right now.


    The 100 million points he got along with it were just a bonus.


    ''Open it.''


    So, he replied to the question that the system had asked without much waiting.


    He wanted to see what the reward this time would be.


    ''It should be better than thest one, at least.''


    Alex muttered inwardly.


    The reward of ying a protagonist must be better than the reward one would get from just getting crowned as a demon lord, or so he thought.


    [Actually��]


    But just as Alex was hopping for something good, he heard Sophia''s words filled with uncertainty.


    Alex frowned in confusion, but before he could ask for her toplete her words, he got his answer��


    [- 100,000,000 points.


    - A question card (one-time use only).


    - One Random ability unlocking card.


    - An EX-ranked random weapon.]


    As he gazed at the rewards he had gained from this quest, he realized why Sophia had said those words earlier.


    Those rewards, other than the points he gained, weren''t actually that good.


    ''Why is the quality of reward so low?''


    He asked inwardly with a frown.


    On the outside, however, he still had a smile as he continued to stroke Noctura''s fur.


    [Let me check.]


    That was all he heard from Sophia before everything went quiet for a few seconds.


    It looked like even Sophia wasn''t aware of the reason.


    Well, she wasn''t the one who generated the quests, nor did she have the power to judge the quest asplete or rate the quest.


    That''s why she had to ask the system about it.


    [The system had judged the solution you hade up with as a mediocre case.]


    The answer Alex wanted to hear was finally given to him; the answer didn''t leave him satisfied, though.


    ''I know it was not the best solution, but why is it mediocre?''


    Alex questioned with a frown.


    He could think of many ways to improve it, but he was toozy to do it for an easy target like Rohrg.


    But still, how was his solution just so-so?


    [The first point is that you didn''t kill the protagonist by your own hands.]


    Sophia''s words echoed in his mind, making a bulb of realization light up.


    Alex never thought that having Rohrg killed by someone else would degrade the quality of the reward, or he wouldn''t have done that.


    If he knew, then he would''ve just killed Rohrg in the throne room.


    As for Seraphyra, he would''vee up with something.


    But he just sighed in resignation.


    What was done couldn''t be changed; he would just try better next time.


    [The second major point is that you let the knowledge that Rohrg Ashenfang had about the future go to waste.]


    Sophia, on the other hand, continued.


    ''Well, I had that in ount; I just didn''t want that knowledge.''


    Alex, however, just shrugged at this point.


    [I know, but it is counted as well.]


    Alex didn''t want to know about the future events, as they would spoil the fun.


    Knowing everything could make things predictable for him, and even as it was, things were already easy for him.


    He didn''t want to make it easier.


    Sophia also knew that, but the system didn''t judge the quest ording to Alex''s convenience; it did that based on several factors.


    ''Hm.''


    Alex just nodded at her words.


    Those two facts were enough to cause the questpletion progress rating to go down.


    [... there are more points if you want to hear them.]


    Sophia added with a slight pause.


    ''Nah, it''s fine.''


    But Alex just waved it off.


    He could now guess how the system judged the quest, so he could find many faults in his way, so he didn''t want to hear it.


    That would just be a waste of time.


    But then his eyes turned toward a reward that he didn''t focus much on, and he frowned.


    ''What is this question card?''


    Alex questioned in a confused voice.


    He tried searching for it in the system shop, but there was nothing like that in there, and this only puzzled him more.


    ''Didn''t the system reward things from the store?''


    Alex couldn''t help but mutter inwardly.


    Why was it not in the store if the rewards are always from the store?


    [That''s weird; I can''t find any data on that thing.


    Even the system doesn''t show much information about that thing.]


    Sophia, just like Alex, sounded confused.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Why could she not find any information about the ''question card''?


    ''What information does the system have about this thing?''


    Alex, however, wanted to know whatever he could about this item.


    If even Sophia couldn''t tell what this item was, then there was no way that it was normal.


    It should be someone out of the chart, and since it was not in the system store, which directly means that he couldn''t buy it again, this item turned invaluable.


    [It says that you can write any question you want to get an answer for in that card; that''s all.]


    Sophia replied to Alex''s words.


    But Alex''s frown deepened.


    ''Any question? Are there any limitations?''


    Alex inquired again.


    [No, that''s all that I could find about that card.]


    Sophia replied in a regretful voice.


    But just like Alex, she was confused about what this thing was.


    She tried to inspect the item with her powers, but even that didn''t work; the system was preventing her from doing it.


    [You do not have the authority to inspect that item.]


    This line of red text was the only thing she could find, no matter how many times she tried.


    Both Alex and Sophia did get the general idea of what it could be but they didn''t want to take risks.


    Enjoy exclusive content from empire


    It was a-one-time-use item after all, and there was no way to buy it again.


    If they somehow didn''t use it in the most effective way, then it would be a waste.


    But just as Alex and Sophia were pondering what the item was, Luna''s voice was heard.


    "So, what was the reason for you calling me here?"


    Her voice broke Alex out of his thoughts, and he finally focused on Luna.


    His focus finally returned to the topic at hand��on the thing that he was supposed to be doing right now.


    He had called Luna here for a reason, after all.


    It was time to finally let Luna have an upgrade of bloodline; she needed it in this world��especially in the Demon Empire, where bloodline was respected as much as strength was.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 330 - Lunas new bloodline.

    //// Author here: As some of you may have guessed, there''s one chapter for today as well. T-T


    But don''t worry about it being a filler; this chapter has some new things and some foreshadowing, so be ready for some new adventures in the uing chapters. That''s all! ////


    [Favorable potential awakener: a serum that helps you awaken your bloodline or upgrade the ones you have at their absolute peak.


    This item always works in favor of the consumer, so the direction in which the bloodline is to be upgraded is ording to what the consumer wants the most.]


    This was the item Alex received as a reward for getting crowned, along with 100 million points.


    Some would think that it''s not actually that good because of how its description describes it, but let me give you an example to help you guys understand it better.


    If Alex were to buy a bloodline of the lowest rank in the system store��any bloodline, it could be draconic, it could be aquatic, anything��and then use this serum on himself, then that bloodline would directly be upgraded to the highest rank it could in Alex''s body.


    If that bloodline had the potential to reach ranks as high as supreme of celestial, or if Alex''s body already had a bloodline that was an upgraded version of it, this serum would just devour the upgraded version or push the level of the bloodline higher.


    For example, if Alex hadn''t unlocked his celestial incubus bloodline and instead awakened a lower incubus bloodline, then this serum would''ve pushed it up to celestial rank, which was way too strong for Alex even with how strong he was right now.


    Alex could just buy a low-ranked bloodline and turn it into a high-ranked one with the use of this serum; that''s how broken this serum was.


    One has to know that a high-ranked bloodline such as celestial incubus costs trillions, if not more.


    Now Alex was going to help Luna with this serum.


    Luna''s bloodline rank is the lowest right now��so low that even the traits of a subus were not acquired by her.


    To Alex, however, that was a good thing since the traits of a subus contain a high sex drive��it''s so high that the subus can''t control themselves and have sex with multiple men.


    So, it was better that Luna had that low-ranked bloodline.


    Now, Alex was taking a risk��a risk of upgrading Luna''s already existing bloodline to its maximum potential.


    He was risking Luna turning into a cock-loving whore just because his incubus bloodline would get excited the moment he thought about upgrading her subus bloodline.


    "You will be getting an upgrade."


    Alex answered Luna''s question with a mysterious grin, causing Luna to raise a brow in curiosity.


    For now, he decided to let go of his worry about that ''question card''; he could think about itter, and he already had some guesses about it.


    "An upgrade?"


    Luna questioned Alex, her curiosity dripping from her words.


    She could guess that it was rted to power, and she was probably going to grow stronger, but she still asked.


    "Here."


    Alex, however, didn''t answer her question; he just extended his hand, and a small ss container with strange engravings appeared in his palm.


    "What''s this?"


    Luna questioned him as she tilted her head in confusion while also picking up the ss container.


    She inspected the container, and with just a look at it, she could tell that it was something precious, causing her grip around the ss tube-like container to tighten.


    The transparent ss container had a golden-colored liquid inside of it, shining gloriously as if announcing that it was special.


    "Drink it."


    Alex gestured with a smile, asking her to drink the liquid inside the container.


    Luna did raise a brow at that, but then she just shrugged.


    *Plop*


    She pulled the cap off the container with a plop before she chugged down the golden liquid in one go.


    *Gulp**Gulp*


    The volume of the liquid wasn''t that much; it was no more than 50-100 ml, and it took no more than 2 gulps to drink it all up.


    "..."


    But nothing happened after that.


    Luna grew more confused at that, her eyes turning toward Alex.


    "Whaaaaaa��."


    Her question, however, didn''t get through as her voice paused, her vision turned blurry, and she found herself falling toward the ground.


    *Grab*


    But before she fell unconscious, she felt two strong and warm arms enveloping her whole body, and that was enough to make her smile.


    Why did she fall unconscious?


    Was there something wrong?


    Or was this what was supposed to happen?


    These questions did appear in her head, but the moment she felt the warmth emanating from those arms, these thoughts vanished.


    "Sleep well now; the moment you wake up, we will know what you have awakened."


    Alex, who was holding Luna in his arms, muttered with a smile. If one looked closely, though, they would notice a sh of worry shining in his eyes.


    He was worried about the possibility that Luna had awakened a bloodline that would make her turn into the likes of the real subi, but he decided to trust his bloodline at the same time.


    From what Sophia had told him, he could just extract her bloodline, and he could think of a way to take it away as well, but that was n B.


    For now, he waited.


    "Master, what''s happening to her?"


    Just then, Noctura, who had jumped out of Alex''s arms the moment Luna''s body swayed, questioned Alex.


    She could feel Luna somehow changing.


    Stay connected via empire


    There was no visible change as of now, but the aura of Luna was already transforming.


    It was bing more seductive and enchanting.


    "She is getting a bloodline upgrade."


    Alex replied with a smile as his eyes turned to look at Noctura.


    He had been observing her body and mana functioning for a while; he wanted to study how it worked for the beasts, and he wanted to know if he could somehow do the same for himself.


    He wanted to discover more about the power system of beasts and this world as well.


    Alex wanted to check if he could grow stronger while still being a legendary ranker.


    What if he got the stronger body of a beast by using the beast''s way of powering up as well as the inner power of humans?


    Wouldn''t he have double power?


    Wouldn''t he be able to defeat the four demon generals without entering the SD form with that?


    "Oh, so she''s going to get stronger as well, right?"


    Noctura, on the other hand, asked another question, causing Alex to raise a brow.


    "Yes, but why are you asking that?"


    Alex looked at Noctura with an interested look.


    Why was she suddenly so curious about what was going on with Luna?


    She never showed this much interest in Luna before.


    Did something change now?


    "Hehe, nothing. I was just curious."


    Noctura, who heard Alex''s question, just giggled and turned her head to the other side.


    This did cause Alex''s curiosity to spike, but he let it go for now.


    Whatever she wanted to do, he would know it soon enough, so what was the rush?


    He just carried Luna in a princess carry and started moving toward her room, intending to let her rest.


    He could already sense the presence of the other three demon generals who were out for a while, doing the task he had assigned them to do.


    ''I guess I will have to buy the items I had promised to give them.''


    Alex muttered inwardly with a thoughtful look.


    His eyes turned in a particr direction where he could feel the presence of the demon generals moving toward a presence much stronger than them, which was Azaroth, without a doubt.


    ''He''s back already?''


    Alex couldn''t help but be surprised at how fast Azaroth was, but as he recalled the affinity that Azaroth had with space elements and his proficiency at using space, his surprise subsided.


    ''I need to make time to learn a thing or two from him as well��''


    Alex shook his head as he realized that being an emperor wasn''t easy at all.


    He couldn''tze around and do whatever he wanted.


    Now, he had a shit ton of responsibilities, and although he could just ignore those things, as said before, he didn''t want to be remembered as a shitty ruler.


    As for Notura?


    Well, she was looking at the sleeping Luna with apetitive look in her eyes.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She knew that they were in a new world, and people here were way stronger than the ones on Gaia, so she couldn''t ask for Alex to let her go out hunting; she knew he would never let her do it.


    But she could sense the power of Luna, and she could tell that Luna was an epic ranker��a new one at that��just like her. Meaning a perfect candidate to let her test her new powers.


    So, Noctura was going to wait for a while until Luna was awake and had grown stronger because of the bloodline upgrade, and then challenge Luna to a fight.


    Who would win?


    It''s still unknown, but time will surely tell us the results.


    However, just as Noctura was looking at Luna, something clicked in her mind.


    "Master, where are Mama and Alice?"


    Noctura questioned with a frown.


    She couldn''t sense the presence of either of them in the vicinity, and this didn''t feel right to her.


    Alice and Ann never left Alex alone, especially with another woman.


    So, it was strange for her.


    Alex, however, paused in his tracks as he heard her question before he sighed.


    "Let''s talk as we walk��"


    Alex''s step turned a bit heavy as he spoke that, causing Noctura to grow more confused, but she soon found out the reason for the gloomy atmosphere that surrounded Alex.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 331 - Changes in Luna.

    "Can''t take your eyes off?"


    Luna, who had just woken up, asked as she rubbed her eyes.


    Her movement seemed suggestive, and although she was rubbing her eyes, her focus was fixed on Alex, who had been staring at her for a while.


    *Yawn*


    She then took a yawn; her long, loose gown was a bit messed up because of the 3-4 hours of sleep, causing her breasts to sh in Alex''s vision.


    The gown was just a bit low, revealing only that much of her breasts that would cause a man to look at it again and again while also creating a desire to look deeper into them.


    ''Hehe.''


    Luna giggled inwardly as she saw Alex''s eyes fixed on that part as well, and she stretched longer, causing the gown to tighten around her body, highlighting her curves, which looked more voluptuous now.


    ''Ah��''


    But then she saw Alex shaking his head, breaking out of his reverie, causing her to sigh in disappointment.


    "What can I do? You look marvelous."


    Alex smiled at her, and just looking at that smile and hearing his heartfeltpliment made all of her disappointment go away.


    "Thank you."


    She smiled back at him, and then a staringpletion of both began.


    Both were smiling at each other while looking deep into each other''s eyes.


    If Alex had to be honest, he would say that he was surprised by the change in Luna.


    Just her looks had changed so much.


    Her pink eyes had now turned purple, while her pink hair had a tint of purple at the end as well.


    Her eyshes grew a bit longer, making her eyes look seductive, as if asking for people to look into them.


    Her face had grown clearer, and her skin tone had brightened up more than before.


    Her body had gained some fat, but only in the right spots.


    She now had a huggable body��the kind that you would want to keep hugging.


    Her breasts, which were already big enough, had now turned more plump along with her hips; as said before, the right spots now had more fat.


    The thing about which Alex was most surprised, however, was the bloodline she had gained.


    The rank was one thing, but the description of the ability gave Alex a new image of Luna, and his eyes were now softer whenever he looked at her.


    "Hey! Fight me!"


    But the staring contest that went on between Luna and Alex, along with the heated mood, was broken by an irritated voice.


    Both Alex and Luna turned toward Noctura, who was sitting right beside the gate, guarding it along with Alex since Luna was sleeping.


    "Fight?"


    Luna tilted her head cutely with her finger tapping her chin.


    For a woman with that mature charm that Luna had, it would''ve looked awkward, but not when it was done by Luna.


    It did give one the illusion that Luna was just ady with an innocent soul.


    The new bloodline has changed Luna''s personality a bit as well.


    The new Luna would be more direct while also being more suggestive.


    She wouldn''t hide her emotions for Alex while not being too open about it as well.


    The changes within her wereplicated yet simple at the same time, and Alex sure liked how the new Luna behaved.


    Noctura, however, frowned. She somehow felt more irritated when she looked at Luna right now, and that was strange.


    "What are you doing?"


    Noctura growled as she stood up from her spot; instead of looking intimidating, though, she looked rather cute.


    "Hm? I''m not doing anything, though."


    Luna frowned as well, not understanding the reason behind the sudden hostility she felt from Noctura.


    "Grrr��"


    Noctura, however, still felt annoyed for some reason, causing her to growl, but her body was lifted up by two strong hands, and before she could understand what had happened, she felt a hand scratching her tummy.


    "Prrr��"


    She started to purr and giggle as she looked at Alex, who had her in hisp.


    "You should learn to retract your aura, Luna.


    Your aura isn''t actually something that would just make things convenient for you."


    Alex''s words made Luna realize what was happening.


    She knew what her new bloodline was, and she knew what it was capable of.


    "How do I do that?"


    But she didn''t know how to retract the aura of her bloodline.


    Her old bloodline was so weak that she didn''t actually need to retract its aura.


    But as she looked at Alex with that question, she found him looking at Noctura with an awkward expression; even Noctura had that same expression.


    How do they retract their aura?


    ''I just do it naturally...''


    Both Alex and Noctura, who had a bloodline that ranked higher than any being in this world could guess it to be, had never actually learned how to retrieve their aura.


    It''s like when someone uses their fist to punch someone and then retracts it; the aura works in the same way for both of them.


    "... you don''t know how to do it?"


    Luna, who saw their expressions, couldn''t help but ask in a bewildered tone.


    Did they not know how to retract their aura?


    But then she frowned.


    She could clearly remember Alex pressuring people with his bloodline aura, but before she could voice that out, Alex began.


    "Well, not that I don''t know how to; it''s just that ites to me naturally.


    I can control my bloodline as if I''m controlling my body parts��"


    Alex exined to Luna what he wanted to say the best he could, and now Luna had a deeper frown on her face.


    Her eyes turned toward Noctura, and the wolf just nodded her head, agreeing to Alex''s words.


    Alex, on the other hand, saw Luna struggling, so he asked the only person he could.


    ''How does one control their bloodline aura?''


    Alex questioned Sophia, and she replied without a second''s dy.


    [Should I exin the whole process or a shortcut?]


    Her reply, however, was a question as well.


    Alex thought for a second before he replied to her.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Give me the shortcut.''


    [All right, then tell her to think of the aura as if it''s a piece of shit that''s about to fall out, and she needs to stop it from dropping.


    She will automatically be able to retract her aura.


    She will have to do the same thing two or three times before she will be able to control it, even without doing all that.]


    ''...''


    Alex was left speechless by her exnation, but he got what she was trying to say, and this was easier than doing things such as looking deep into oneself and trying to talk to the bloodline and whatnot that people did in other novels.


    His eyes looked up at Luna, contemting whether he should say it or not before he began.


    "Well, if you want to control it, then you should..."


    Just like that, Alex gave Luna a lesson on how to control her shi��sorry, bloodline aura.


    Oh, for some who would want to know how Alice and Ann controlled their auras, they never did it.


    Their aura wasn''t something annoying and attention-grabbing like Luna''s; well, it was, but in a different way��in a way that would not bring them trouble but push it away.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 332 - The Task of the Generals 1.

    [Devotemara: A high-ranked bloodline that equals the emperor-ranked subus bloodline.


    This bloodline, unlike other subus bloodlines, doesn''t need multiple partners to sustain and grow; they will be bound to one chosen partner for their life, and they will never be separated from their man unless and until she dies.


    - Eternal shield of purity: No matter who it is, if they try to force them upon you, they will have their reproductive organ cut off even before they can do anything. (Only the selected partner is free of these conditions.)


    - Mistress of illusion: You have the ability to control illusions; you can make them, you can destroy them, and you can steal them as well.


    - Devotee aura: Your aura emits a certain purity mixed with seductiveness, which attracts each and every living being that has a good impression of you, while the opposite is true for those who don''t.


    - Eternal bond: The moment you select a partner, you will be able to do the following:


    -> Increase your power by having intercourse with them.


    -> Always stay in touch through telepathic contact, no matter what the distance is.


    -> Have the ability to read the emotions of your partner.


    ]


    This was Luna''s new bloodline, along with the skills it provided.


    Alex had been looking at it again and again, sighing in wonder no matter how many times he saw the bloodline.


    ''Is this the reason why my blood boiled in excitement when I met her for the first time?''


    Alex wondered.


    Who wouldn''t want a woman who is NTR-proof and will always be devoted to you?


    But why was Alex so sure that Luna would choose him?


    Well, it was obvious since Luna had already proposed to Alex before, confessing her feelings for him.


    If that much was not enough, then Alex''s all-seeing eyes saw the name Alex Matthew written next to the selected partner.


    That shows that Luna had already selected him as a partner, not caring whether he epted her or not.


    This showed that she would rather stay alone than not be with Alex, and this made Alex''s feelings for Luna, which were still not to the point of love, increase a bit more.


    Luna, who now had the ability to get a read on Alex''s emotions, could feel it as well, causing her to almost jump in happiness.


    To others, it might not be much, but for Luna, just the fact that she was making progress was enough to call for a celebration.


    But before they could celebrate Luna''s gaining a new bloodline and learning how to control her bloodline aura, a message from the demon generals arrived.


    "The demon generals have requested your audience, my lord."


    It was Azaroth who had delivered that message.


    The demon ancestor did notice the peculiarity of Luna''s aura, and his eyes almost widened the moment he realized what had happened.


    But being the strongest being in this world, he was quick to cover his shock.


    He wanted to ask what had happened and how it happened. How did Luna, who had a low-level bloodline, suddenly have a bloodline that had an aura that matched his bloodline?


    However, he decided to keep those questions to himself.


    He neither had the right nor the authority to question Alex about it.


    So, here they are right now, sitting in the throne room, with Alex sitting on the demon lord''s throne, Luna sitting on hisp, and Noctura on the armrest, enjoying his petting.


    Azaroth was there as well, observing the scene with a certain glint in his eyes.


    ''I will have to personally introduce my granddaughter to him in the uing ball.''


    The demon ancestor thought with determination.


    He had already asked Seraphyra to try to get close to Alex, but she would just run off the moment he picked this topic up.


    Azaroth, however, never misses the blush that she has on her face whenever he talks about Alex, so he is sure that she doesn''t hate him.


    All he needed now was to somehow get them closer.


    *Step**Step**Step*...


    Just then, the sound of steps was heard, breaking the demon ancestor out of his thoughts.


    He, just like the other three in the throne room, looked toward the source of the sound and saw three demon generals walking toward them.


    *Thud* X3


    The three demon generals, Valerius, Mk, and Morvan, kneeled in front of Alex the moment they were a meter away from the stairs to the thrones.


    "We greet the demon lord and the demon ancestor."


    With one palm on the ground and the other balled up into a fist, ced right next to their hearts, they performed the courtesy.


    "Rise."


    Alex nodded as well, gesturing for them to stand up before he questioned them.


    "So? Were you guys able to do the task I handed down to you all?"


    His eyes were looking at the three of them one after another.


    From two of their expressions, it looked like the results were positive, but he frowned when he saw Mk not standing up and staying down on his knees.


    So, before Valerius or Morvan could answer his question, Alex raised his palm that was patting Noctura up in the air, gesturing for them to wait, and his gaze focused on Mk.


    "What''s wrong, Mk?"


    Alex questioned, his heart beating with concern.


    He didn''t want a negative response from Mk, because the thing he had asked for him to do was not something that Alex would just wave at.


    He had asked Mk to gather information on Alice.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had been keeping an eye on her status through Sophia, and she told him that Alice was perfectly fine and she was growing stronger as well, but for some reason, Alex wasn''t satisfied with that answer.


    He knew that Sophia was hiding something, and although he knew that she was not lying about Alice''s condition, just the fact that she had to hide something caused him an immense amount of worry.


    "My lord, I was not able to find any information about a woman or girl named Alice who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere or was summoned by them."


    Mk''s words sounded downcast.


    He wasn''t sad about the fact that he wasn''t going to receive a reward from Alex.


    He was disappointed in himself for not being able to find anything about Alice, even though Alex drew a sketch of her to make it easier for him to find her.


    Alex froze for a second.


    His eyes trembled, and his teeth grounded against each other.


    But as he felt Noctura''s soft fur rubbing against his n, which had almost crushed the armrest of the throne, along with a soft hand touching his chest, his frustration vanished.


    "Sigh��"


    He sighed audibly.


    His eyes dropped a bit, but he then closed his eyes.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, and by the time he opened his eyes, they were back to normal.


    "It''s fine, Mk.


    I''m not ming you for not being able to find any information on her.


    It was my fault for asking you to find a single person within an empire filled with girls.


    You did a good job; you can stand up."


    Alex, gestured for Mk to stand up, and from his reasoning and tone, it was clear that he wouldn''t take a no for an answer.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 333 - The Task of the Generals 2.

    Alex seemed to be hesitating to move out of the demon empire for some reason.


    It was as if he wanted to go look for Ann and Alice, yet something was stopping him from doing so.


    What was that?


    Why was Alex just sitting on the throne of the Demon Empire and not moving toward the other empires?


    ''I swear on the name of my loved ones, those two aren''t going to have it easy like Rohrg.''


    Alex, who seemed to have calmed down, muttered inwardly.


    [You can''t be thinking like that; they are protagonists, and they would have someplicated bonds or connections that would get in your way.


    You should calm down for now and listen to the reports that they have brought.]


    Sophia, who heard Alex''s inner grumble, tried to make him think straight.


    The ones who were preventing him from leaving the demon empire were the remaining two protagonists or the ones that were added by the world when he had directed his killing intent toward the world.


    Alex would''ve rushed to find Alice and Ann if not for them.


    They were the protagonists, and although it was impossible for anyone to im the throne while he lived, nothing was certain when it involved the protagonists.


    ''Sigh��''


    Alex sighed inwardly, his palm rubbing Noctura''s soft fur and caressing Luna''s curvy waist, trying to cool his nerves as his eyes moved toward Morvan.


    Mk was already up and standing; his head was still bowed, but he wasn''t on his knees anymore.


    Alex could tell that it wasn''t Mk''s fault; even if Alice did get summoned somewhere like he was, she would probably be kept hidden.


    It was true that the demon empire had spies in every empire and kingdom, but they couldn''t possibly enter the restricted area, even for the higher-ups of that empire or kingdom.


    "And you, Morvan? Did you manage to find anything about a girl named Ann White?"


    Alex, who tried to wave away his concern and believe in Sophia''s words, questioned Morvan.


    His tone had changed a bit now; the casual and informal undertone was now gone.


    This was something Luna had asked him to do in the courtroom.


    She wanted him to be a bit more professional when he was in the throne room��something about behaving like an emperor.


    Like, who even cares about that in the Demon Empire?


    But Alex still did it, as this roley helped him get his mind off his concerns.


    "Yes, my lord."


    Morvan replied, her face as emotionless as always, but in her frosty red eyes, one could see pride and expectations shining brightly.


    Alex, however, paused for a second, wondering if he heard it right, but when he saw the smile on Luna and Noctura''s faces, he couldn''t stop his lips from stretching into a toothy smile.


    He was expecting another disappointment, so the positive response took him by surprise, but he just smiled as he always weed happy surprises.


    "Go on, then."


    He smiled at Morvan and gestured for her to continue, and she did just what he asked her to.


    "Ann White has been famous as the prodigious assassin in the capital of the Empire of Sria."


    Morvan paused for a second, looked up at Alex, and continued as she saw him nodding his head.


    "It is said that she was summoned along with the hero, who is called Eric Reeves.


    She is also known as the Ice Queen of the Empire; it was an alias given to her in just a few days of her being there.


    There is one thing about her that is not really viewed as a good thing by the higher-ups of the empire, and that is that she, even after having a lot of power, never actually leaves her room.


    No one other than the few servants and the higher-ups of the empire had ever seen her, but from what is known, she is ruthless as well."


    Morvan paused again, letting her words settle down before she bowed her head to Alex.


    "That was all I could find about this girl, my lord.


    She has not yet revealed any of her power or her background, or I would have presented those things for you as well."


    Morvan apologized for not being able to find anything else, but Alex just kept grinning from ear to ear.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''Ice queen, huh?


    I wonder how she looks with a cold expression.''


    Alex, on the other hand, had already started to imagine the scene of himself breaking that cold expression of hers on the bed.


    The fact that there was a hero or protagonist close to her didn''t bother Alex much, as he recalled the love she had for him.


    Then there was also the fact that these protagonists'' auras don''t seem to affect people who have had a long period of exposure to Alex''s aura.


    This was something Alex had noticed a while back, and when he questioned Sophia about it, her reply was simple.


    [Your bloodline is so strong that if mastered to itsplete power, it could destroy the whole world, so how could a mere protagonist''s aura do anything to the people who had felt your aura before?]


    That alone was enough for Alex to wave off some of his worries about Ann and Alice.


    But as he saw Morvan bowing his head, he quickly shook his head inwardly, focusing more on the topic at hand.


    "What you''ve done is more than enough, Morvan, and you did well, so there''s no need to bow your head."


    Alex still maintained the speech format that Luna had asked for, but Luna, who saw him trying so hard to stop his smile while maintaining the majestic expression, couldn''t stop her giggle.


    *Giggle*


    She covered her lips with her palm and let out an infectiousugh, causing the demon generals to smile even though they didn''t know the reason for her giggle.


    But their faces turned serious the moment they realized what had happened.


    ''Did she just affect our emotions��.?''


    Their focus shifted from Alex to Luna, but before they could look deeply into her, Alex''s voice was heard again.


    "You''re the only one left, Valerius."


    His eyes focused on the vampire as he questioned him, his gaze as serious as it could be.


    ''Sigh��''


    The people in the hall, however, sighed as they saw the contrast in Alex''s expression.


    The seriousness that his eyes showed felt real, as if he were really focusing on Valerius''s next words, not wanting to miss a single letter.


    The same couldn''t be said for his facial expression, though��


    The solemn look his eyes had couldn''t be found anywhere else on his face.


    The toothy smile of his was still there, and it didn''t even seem like he was interested in the next topic, but Valerius still nodded his head.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 334 - Rewarding the Generals.

    Alex was happy for sure; just the fact that Ann was at the hero''s party was enough to let him know that she wouldn''t be facing any problems that she wouldn''t be able to deal with.


    If a hero was summoned into a despairing situation, then he would gain all the support one could ask for; that was just how it went, so Alex knew that Ann, being a party member of the hero of humanity, wouldn''t have a problem.


    At least not until she went out to fight against the enemy of humanity��the demons and demonic beasts.


    But being relieved didn''t mean that he was going to ignore more pressing issues in front of him.


    That was the reason for his eyes to shine with utmost seriousness.


    About his facial expression, though��


    Well, let''s just say that he was happy to hear some positive news from someone other than Sophia about Ann.


    "My lord, just as you have asked of me, I have gathered the names of anyone who seems to have had a change in their personality in the past few days.


    I also have their pictures and their background information as well."


    Valerius spoke as he waved his hand, making a stack of papers appear in his hand before Alex nodded his head and made a grabbing motion.


    *Swoosh*


    The stack of papers, as if controlled by the wind, started to levitate before they shot toward Alex.


    Alex had gotten very good at controlling the basic elements, so much so that he could say with confidence that there would be no one in this world who could control the four basic elements better than him.


    For now, however, his eyes were fixed on the bundle of sheets resting on his palm.


    "Hm, I was expecting more names��"


    Alex muttered as he weighed the stacked sheets.


    "There were a lot of them, my lord; I just sorted them out and removed the ones that seemed nonsensical."


    Valerius shook his head and exined why the names were not as many as Alex had expected.


    The thing that Alex had asked for included a vast variety of people, after all.


    Alex wanted the names of anyone who had been acting strangely, even if it was just for a while in the past few days.


    That included people who suddenly had a change in their personality or people who suddenly started to act out.


    In the demon empire, every day, many demons awaken their bloodlines, causing their personalities to change a bit, so the names Valerius found were a lot.


    But he crossed out the ones that were bloodline-rted changes and only kept the ones that seemed strange, yet the names were enough to fill tens of sheets.


    "I see��"


    Alex nodded his head, and the stack of sheets vanished from his palm, straight into his system storage.


    Others didn''t know why Alex wanted these, but for Alex, these names were important.


    All Alex needed was to look at the names of the protagonists, and the system would automatically trigger a quest for them.


    Yeah, the chances of him finding the protagonist among these names were not something he was sure about, but there was a chance, and Alex was willing to take that chance if it meant that he could have a shot at finding the protagonist.


    The demon generals then went silent, and Alex, who could see expectation in the eyes of Valerius and Morvan, couldn''t help but chuckle.


    He didn''t look at Mk, who had his head down, for now.


    He just focused on Morvan and Valerius, who hadpleted the task he gave them to do.


    *Pat**Pat*


    Alex patted Luna''s back, gesturing for her to get up, and Luna nodded with a smile before she did just that.


    *Step*


    Alex smiled as he took a step ahead under the expectant eyes of the two demon generals.


    Even Azaroth, the demon ancestor, was curious about the item Alex had promised to give the demon generals.


    "As promised, I shall grant you a potion that will instantly elevate any bloodline ranked below royal to the royal rank."


    Alex began, and with a wave of his hand, two shimmering containers appeared right in front of the demon generals, including Mk.


    Mk, however, still had his head bowed, so he didn''t notice, and neither did the other demon generals since they were more focused on the vessels in front of them.


    Some might think that once a person reaches the general rank in the demon empire, they turn worry-free, but it''s not like that.


    Once they be a demon general, they start worrying about the time when they are relieved of their position��they start thinking about the time after they have died.


    What would happen to their descendants?


    Will they face the wrath of all those who have always been dissatisfied with them but were not doing anything because they had a demon general in their family?


    So, even after bing a demon general, they worry about their descendants, and what could be more relieving for them than knowing that they could make just anyone in their family awaken the potential of a demon general?


    That literally meant that their family would be able to rule even after they were not the demon generals anymore.


    So, right now, all they could see was a shining silver liquid inside a ss container.


    Both Valerius and Morvan were so focused on their own containers that they didn''t even notice that Mk, who had failed his task, had received the same thing.


    But as they kept staring at it, they frowned as they felt something strange in their blood��they could feel their royal-ranked bloodline wanting to devour the liquid in front of them.


    They turned their heads toward Alex, wanting to inquire about it, but Alex was a step ahead.


    "Indeed, as you might have surmised, it nourishes your blood and could potentially awaken another bloodline ability. However, using it on yourself might be a waste.


    In the end, it''s your decision, for it belongs to you."


    Alex cleared their doubts while still doing the role y that Luna had asked him to, and somehow he liked it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It gave him a regal feeling��something he felt he was familiar with yet unfamiliar with at the same time.


    The two demon generals, however, soon noticed the third ss container that was floating in front of Mk, and their eyes widened.


    ''He gets it even though he failed?!''


    They didn''t know whether they should be happy about it or sad about it.


    They wanted to be happy that theirrade was not falling behind, but they felt it was a bit unfair at the same time.


    "Mk."


    But they decided to keep their dissatisfaction to themselves.


    It was not their ce to speak.


    Mk, however, had his eyes tremble the moment he lifted his head.


    The thing he saw right in front of his eyes was not something he was supposed to receive.


    "Take it."


    But even before he coulde out of his shock, Alex''s words were heard, causing his shocked gaze to turn toward Alex.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex, on the other hand, just chuckled as he saw the funny look on Mk''s face.


    It was as if he was happy yet confused at the same time.


    "I never let hard work go to waste, and I can see that you put in your best effort to search for her. So, ept the reward."


    Alex''s voice turnedmanding as he ordered Mk to take the reward.


    He was happy after he heard about Ann, so he decided to let Mk have it easy this time.


    But when he saw Mk trying to open his lips in order to deny the reward, he frowned.


    "Never spurn fortune when it knocks at your door, Mk.


    This will be the only time I''m offering this, so be mindful of what you say next. Once I take it back, the opportunity will be lost."


    His words froze Mk, and he finally realized his mistake.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 335 - Morvan is Embarrassed.

    On the demon continent, there was no such thing as a reward system.


    You do whatever your higher-ups ask you to do, as that is what you are supposed to do.


    The strong govern, while the weak are governed.


    That''s how it is in the Demon Empire.


    So, when the demon generals heard that Alex was going to reward them for a task, they were filled with new-found enthusiasm.


    They did realize that it might''ve been Alex''s end goal from the start��to get them fired up.


    But they didn''t protest; they were profiting from the deal anyway.


    However, when Mk, after several tries, was unable to find any information on Alice, he grew glum.


    The only time they were going to be rewarded for their task was when he couldn''t evenplete the task asked of him.


    He was ready to hear some harsh words or get punished for failing toplete the task, as that is how things went in the demon empire.


    But he was shocked yet again by the generosity of the demon lord.


    ''Is this how humans feel?''


    Mk knew about the humans, and he knew many of their doings; these kinds of generosity in particr were either done by them or the peace-loving ck Tortoise Empire''s rulers.


    So, when he recalled how the one at the receiving end was supposed to respond to their emperor at a moment like this, he tried to politely reject Alex''s offer, but before he could do that...


    "Never spurn fortune when it knocks at your door, Mk.


    This will be the only time I''m offering this, so be mindful of what you say next. Once I take it back, the opportunity will be lost."


    Alex''s words resounded throughout the hall, and Mk realized his mistake.


    This wasn''t the human empire, nor was this a peace-loving race''s empire; this was the demon empire.


    Here, one never rejected the good things they were being provided with��they would just take them without question.


    The logic of humans or any other race didn''t work here.


    As those things became clear, he nodded his head with a serious expression before he grabbed the ss container that stored a liquid so precious that a single vial of it could cause war.


    "Thank you, my lord."


    Mk then bowed his head and expressed his gratitude.


    "There is no need for your gratitude; instead, direct it toward Morvan.


    Were she to return empty-handed, as you have, this reward would not be yours to im."


    Alex waved his hand as he sat back on the throne, his back rxing on it, and Luna, who saw this, settled on hisp as if it were her rightful spot.


    "Nyxshadow,e out."


    But soon after that, Alex''s lips moved, his voicemanding and strong, calling out for Nyx.


    *Swoosh*


    Without a second''s dy, a wooshing sound was heard, and Nyx, who had always been standing next to the throne, became visible.


    "My lord."


    Nyx went directly to his knees and bowed his head.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Rise."


    Alexmanded again, and Nys followed through.


    "Here."


    Alex waved his hand, and a ss vial, much like the ones that the other three generals had received, appeared in front of Nyx, causing him to widen his eyes.


    ''W-What��?''


    He looked at Alex with a confused gaze as he stammered inwardly.


    "I won''t go over what I told Mk again."


    Alex''s words brought Nyx back to focus, and his eyes finally settled on the item floating in front of him.


    ''Didn''t he hate me or something like that?''


    Nyx wondered inwardly as he stared at the vial filled with silver liquid.


    What he didn''t know was that Alex never actually hated him; it was just that Nyx wasn''t worthy enough to enter Alex''s sight��especially after feeling the killing intent emanated by Nyx.


    But if that was the case, then why was Alex even rewarding Nyx?


    He, unlike Mk, didn''t even do the hard work.


    All he did was make the situation worse, and although it was not actually his fault as the plot armor yed a major role in it, he did fail miserably.


    The reason was simple, and it was that he didn''t want to show partiality right now, as that would disrupt the flow of the n he had for Nyx.


    *Grab*


    Nyx, on the other hand, grabbed the ss container filled with a silver-colored liquid��a potion that could turn even a person with the lowest-ranked bloodline into a royal-ranked bloodline holder��after a while of contemtion.


    Then, he bowed his head.


    "Thank you, my lord."


    He expressed his gratitude for this unexpected surprise.


    He, just like Mk, was never expecting a reward, more so when he was scolded about not doing his job perfectly.


    "Hm."


    Alex nodded his head and gestured for Nyx to get up.


    His eyes then scanned the generals standing next to each other before he spoke.


    "Have you all covered everything you wanted to discuss, or is there still something on your mind?"


    None of them raised their hands, implying that they didn''t have anything to say, but before Alex could nod his head and get up, Morvan raised her right hand.


    "Yes? Is there something you would like to express, Morvan?"


    Alex paused as he saw Morvan''s hand, then he rxed back in his seat.


    "Yes, my lord."


    Morvan, however, didn''t continue and continued to stare at Alex, causing him to raise his brows.


    "Go on."


    He gestured for her to continue, and only then did she speak.


    "Would it be all right if I walked together with you in the ball tomorrow, my lord?"


    Morvan inquired with a bit of hesitation in her cold voice, and although her question was for Alex, her gaze was fixed on Luna.


    *Giggle*


    Luna, who saw this, just giggled, causing Alex to chuckle as well.


    "Sister, I don''t have any authority over him; I''m the same as you, trying my best."


    Lunamented with a softugh, her eyes giving a sidelong nce at Alex, observing his expression, only to be disappointed as she saw him shake his head with a cryptic smile.


    Morvan, however, lowered her head, embarrassed about being found out; her eyes, however, kept sneaking at Alex, observing his expression.


    She didn''t want Alex to get angry at her, and if he did get angry, then she would try not to express her feelings.


    Not like she knew how to show her emotions; her emotions had already died the moment she turned into an undead.


    The only emotions she could show were the surface emotions; she could never express what she felt inwardly.


    But she was fine with it.


    It was something she had to live with; it was the consequence of her actions after all.


    As she waited for Alex''s response with bated breath, he finally spoke.


    "Sure, I don''t see a problem with that."


    Alex just chuckled as he saw the emotionless woman, who had yet to show a single heartfelt smile, getting embarrassed about such a small thing.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 336 - Let the Ball Commence.

    It was the day of the ball that was conducted in order to celebrate the coronation of the demon lord��or so the low-ranking nobles knew.


    In reality, it was just a party for the high-ranking nobles to get to know the new demon lord while also trying to get their daughters or granddaughters paired up with the new demon lord.


    The ball was held in the castle, but instead of the throne room, it was arranged in the main hall of the pce.


    The decorations were done by the vampires, who were known best for theirvish lifestyle and fashion sense.


    The ballroom right looked spectacr, to say the least.


    It radiated elegance and luxury, with every detail designed to impress. The room was as spacious as one would expect from the imperial pce of the Demon Empire.


    It had high ceilings that were decorated with beautiful paintings of mythical scenes, whose rich colors were highlighted by crystal chandeliers.


    These chandeliers hang like clusters of diamonds, casting a warm, glowing light across the shiny marble floors.


    Tall, arched windows line the walls, half covered with heavy velvet curtains in deep reds and golds.


    The clothing of the curtains was decorated with intricate patterns of different races of demons.


    Between the windows,rge mirrors with gold-trimmed frames reflect the light, making the room seem even bigger and brighter.


    At one end of the ballroom, a wide staircase was curving down elegantly; its railing was made of polished wood with gold ents.


    The steps are covered in a plush red carpet that quiets the sound of footsteps, leading to arge, circr dance floor in the center of the room.


    The floor is decorated with a detailed cluster of colorful stones, adding to the room''s beauty.


    Around the edges of the room, there were fancy chairs and small tables for the guests, each piece of furniture carefully designed from dark wood and covered with soft linen clothing.


    Golden candle holders were ced on the tables, their flickering mes creating a cozy, romantic atmosphere.


    There was soft music being yed by some demons with antlers protruding out of their heads, and they were really good at what they were doing.


    They were demons, sure, but that didn''t mean they didn''t listen to music or like hearing it.


    Also, the horns on the demons ying the music weren''t actually the horns that represented power, they were their racial features, and every demon knew about it.


    The demons stood in groups, discussing various topics, but most of them were about the new demon lord.


    "The new demon lord is so handsome that even my mom said that she felt like getting younger and falling in love with him, just by looking at him."


    A young demon girl muttered as she looked at her friends.


    "Yeah, and I heard that his presence is so suffocating that the low-leveled demon felt like they might die any moment."


    Another girl from the same group nodded her head before she added her own point with a voice filled with respect.


    "Won''t we just die then?"


    A girl with blonde hair asked with fear evident in her voice, worried that she wouldn''t be able to take on Alex''s unintentional release of pressure.


    "Are you dumb or wh-"


    The first girl, who heard those words, couldn''t help but look at the former with a mocking expression, but her words were cut short by something.


    *Step**Step**Step*...


    A series of footsteps resounded throughout the hall, garnering the attention of everyone.


    Every demon in the hall��who were all nobels from the empire��had their eyes turn toward the source of the disturbance.


    The music paused as even the ones ying it had their eyes turn toward the stairs leading toward the first floor.


    It was at that moment that they saw him.


    He stands tall andmanding, with jet-ck hair that falls smoothly around his majestic features. His deep red eyes, striking and intense, seem to glow with a fiery inner light, adding an air of mystery to his divinely handsome face.


    He was dressed in a regal dress that fit perfectly on his body. A midnight ck coat withplicated silver embroidery shimmers under the dimly lit chandeliers.


    A crimson silk cravat is tied elegantly around his neck,plementing his eyes, while polished ck bootsplete his striking yet imposing appearance.


    He exudes a powerful, almost otherworldly aura, causing every single pair of eyes to fall directly at him.


    It was Alex Matthew, the new demon lord.


    He wasn''t alone, as there were twodies walking right beside him while a chiby wolf hung on his shoulder, and all of them looked wonderful, but inparison to Alex��


    Well,parison is a bad thing, so let''s notpare.


    *Step**Tap**Step**Top*...


    Alex walked down the stairs while being apanied by two beauties.


    Their presencemanded attention, and they did get it, but me Alex for looking this good, or me Luna for dressing him up like that, as all of the focus was on him.


    So much so that the demons just stood in their spot, without a sound, forgetting to even greet the demon lord.


    This did cause Morvan to frown, but she waited, since the demon ancestor and the other demon generals were still not there yet.


    *Step**Step*


    With two final steps, Alex, Luna, and Morvan finally reached the podium that was ced right in front of the stairs.


    The demons, however, still stood still, and the hall stayed silent.


    *Woosh*


    That silence was soon broken as a wooshing sound was heard before Azaroth, Valerius, and Mk appeared right beside Alex, all of them looking great in their resplendent attire.


    Valerius, however, soon frowned as he saw the dumb reaction from the demons standing in the ballroom.


    It was not just Valerius, though; even Azaroth and Mk were frowning, and soon��


    *Boom*


    With a boom, Valerius''s pressure was sted out of his body, causing the demons to break out of their reverie, and as soon as they did, their eyes widened in disbelief.


    *THUD*


    With a loud thud, all of the demons hurriedly went on their knees, ignoring the fact that they were having a hard time breathing due to Valerius''s pressure, and the next second, they yelled.


    "WE GREET THE DEMON LORD!"


    *Tremble*


    The momentum of their shout caused the entire pce to tremble, and a smile finally made its way onto Alex''s face.


    This feeling��the feeling of having people worship him��felt way too familiar to Alex, yet he didn''t get bored; he instead felt delighted to have it back.


    The demons, after greeting the demon lord, paused for a second before they added.


    "WE GREET THE DEMON ANCESTOR AND THE DEMON GENERALS!"


    The whole pce quivered yet again, but that was all.


    The pce wasn''t weak enough to get demolished or cracked by just this.


    "Rise."


    Finally, after a few seconds, Alex''smanding voice echoed through the hall, causing the demons to get up on their feet, their eyes focused on Alex and Alex only.


    "Let the ballmence."


    With those final words, the demons that were supposed to y the music began again, but this time, instead of the soft tone, it was a bit sinister yet rocking.


    _________________________________________n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 337 - One can never satisfy everyone.

    This ball was supposed to be an event where the high nobility and royals would try to understand the demon lord while also trying to introduce their descendants to him.


    The demon lord is the highest authority in the demon empire, so each and every noble would try to get into his good books, which included the low nobility.


    For the low-ranked nobles, such as barons and viscounts, this was just an event for celebration, as they were way too low-ranked to get in contact with the demon lord. But the ones who were wiser did tell their daughters and granddaughters to try to appeal to the demon lord.


    It was nothing new, though.


    Even if there was no demon lord, the heirs of low-ranking demons would always try to get a hold of some high-ranking noble heir''s thigh.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And it was not just the demon empire; this was something that happened in almost every empire and kingdom.


    It was just how the world worked.


    Weaks are governed, while strong govern, but if you can hold one strong thigh, you can govern as well.


    That was the reason why today, no matter which family they belonged to, no matter whether they were forced to or they were doing it on their own, every unmarried woman in the hall was wearing a revealing yet elegant dress.


    Many had seen the new demon lord during the broadcast, but many didn''t, and those bunches of demons had various doubts about this new demon lord; after all, who believes in what people tell them these days?


    All of them were blown away like a small hut in a fierce tornado the moment their eyes fell on the divine entity walking down the stairway.


    For a while, be it male or female, all of them had their minds nked.


    At that moment, every single woman in the hall had her ideal type of man renewed due to this single moment.


    No matter what age group they were from, whether they were married, divorced, widowed, or bachelors, everyone had already decided to throw themselves on the new demon lord, Alex, if he so much as winked at them.


    This was the power of Alex''s full, unrestrained, raw charm.


    Even Luna and Noctura, who had already gotten used to his charm, were having a hard time controlling the rosy tint that tried to make its way to their cheeks.


    ''What kind of monster have I made��?''


    Luna, who was to me for Alex''s mind-blowing looks, was left staring at her hands with a dumbfounded look.


    The celebration after that was pretty normal, with many high nobles trying to strike a conversation with Alex, who responded to their approach ordingly.


    None of the nobles tried anything funny; they knew how bad that would end for them��especially with the news of the royal Infurnis family''s midnight disappearance still up and hot.


    No one could say for sure, but from what the rumors told, it was said that they were killed because of the disrespect Rohrg Ashenfang hadmitted against the new demon lord.


    Many doubted the credibility of the good things about Alex, not wanting to believe things that others said, but the moment they heard this rumor, they believed it.


    Well, that was just how people were; they ignore the hundred good deeds you have done, but the moment youmit a mistake, they point their fingers at you.


    It was just that, or maybe there was something big at y here; only time will tell.


    For now, Alex was moving toward the balcony that was situated on the first floor, a ce much quieter than the hall.


    There were demons standing and talking on the first floor as well, but very few, and all of them were from the high nobility��ones that were not much interested in the topics of the low nobility.


    It was an authority thing, since there were some very aplished nobles, or the ones with a lot of contribution, even though they were low-ranked, up on the first floor as well.


    All of these demons on the first floor were trying to engage Alex in a conversation, as a man can be judged by the way he talks and carries himself.


    But after a while, when Alex could see respect in most of the nobles'' eyes, he excused himself.


    Yeah, just the majority; he knew that he couldn''t make them all have a good impression of himself.


    He wasn''t the protagonist; he was the antagonist, the viin, who is supposed to have a few but very loyal subordinates.


    Him being strong andmanding were good trait for the demon lord, and many would agree with him, but not all of them would.


    ''A lord that we want to serve must be malevolent yet benevolent as the same time.''


    There were some people with that ideology in the demon empire as well.


    So, after a while, he excused himself and was now moving toward the balcony.


    The terrace or balcony that was stretching out of the ballroom was paved with smooth stone and lined with detailed iron railings.


    There were marble columns holding up a decorative roof, giving shade while keeping the space open. Soft, magical lights were hanging above, making the atmosphere warm andfortable.


    Potted nts were ced at the corner to add some greenery, and the scent of nearby flowers mixed with the cool night air.


    Overall, it was a peaceful spot where guests could enjoy the calm atmosphere and beautiful views.


    It was said guests because there were four more extensions, just like the one Alex was heading at, ced with a uniform gap between them.


    ''Master, a harlot has been staring at you for a while.''


    As he walked toward the balcony, Noctura, who was resting on his shoulder, growled and sent her thoughts directly into his head, her gaze turning toward a particr corner on the first floor.


    Alex, who heard her words, just chuckled lightly, his eyes turning toward the ground floor, only to find Luna, who was surrounded by the many demon women, winking at him.


    He didn''t even turn to look at the woman that Noctura was growling at; he had already looked through her information, and although he was a bit surprised, he didn''t put much focus on her.


    He wasn''t here to gather woman, after all.


    His purpose was simple: to find the protagonists of the demon empire and observe the people Nyx interacted with.


    ''Who taught you that word, pup?''


    This was what Alex asked Noctura.


    He had never seen anyone on the house calling someone a slut, so how did Noctura learn that word.


    ''I learned it during my stay in the forest.''


    Noctura replied to Alex''s words, but then she hurriedly added as she growled again.


    ''But that''s not important, master.


    That slut is continuously staring at you with a weird gaze, and if Mama were here, she would''ve gouged her eyes out by now.


    So, should I do that as well?''


    Her words caused a reminiscencing smile to make its way to Alex''s face, and instead of replying to Noctura, he questioned her.


    ''A harlot, you say. Why is that?''


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 338 - Fight me again!

    Alex''s question caused the chibi wolf sitting on his shoulder to frown, but she didn''t wait for long before she answered.


    ''I can smell the scent of a lot of men from her.''


    Noctura, the chibi wolf, replied as her nose scrunched up.


    Alex, however, still wasn''t satisfied.


    ''Having the scent of a lot of men makes her a harlot?''


    Alex questioned her again, causing Noctura''s frown to deepen.


    ''It means that she had slept with a lot of men.''


    She finally couldn''t take this spiral of questions and let out a growl.


    She had been frustrated for a while for a reason that she would rather not talk about.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex, although initially surprised by how direct Noctura was, couldn''t stop the chuckle that escaped his lips when he heard her growling.


    ''You still haven''t gotten over the match with Luna?''


    Alex questioned with a shake of his head; his lips, however, were tugged into a smile.


    ''Hmph!''


    Noctura, instead of replying, just turned her head to the other side with a huff.


    Yes, she was annoyed because of that.


    The match was held just this morning, but just as she was getting hyped up about the match, it had already ended.


    ''Her ability is really annoying..''


    She grumbled with a pout, causing Alex to chuckle again.


    ''She only has one useful ability; of course, it would be strong and hard to deal with.''


    Alexmented on her grumble, but Noctura just kept her head turned to the other side.


    Alex, who saw this, just shook his head with a sigh. The scene of the fight between Luna and Noctura reyed within his mind, reminding him again how strong Luna had gotten.


    "Are you both ready?"


    It was the same dojo-type room where Alex made Luna drink the Favorable Potential Awakener potion; that was where the match was being held, and Alex, as a referee, had asked both Luna and Noctura if they were ready.


    At that time, Noctura was unaware of Luna''s abilities, and, well, not like Luna was aware of Noctura''s abilities, they had never gone out raiding gates together.


    So, in a way, both of them were oblivious to the other''s abilities, but it was a good thing since this is how it is in the real world; you would have to face an enemy that you know nothing about.


    "Yes." X2.


    Both Luna and Noctura seemed confident; it''s just that unlike Noctura, who was jumping up and down, warming up her body, Luna just stood in her spot, smiling calmly, as she gazed at Noctura.


    "All right then, start."


    Alex, who had heard their replies, nodded his head and gestured for them to start.


    As soon as he did that, the atmosphere turned heavy.


    The participants, however, stood still, waiting for the right moment with their gazes fixed on each other.


    But just as Noctura was about to attack, not wanting to waste more time, Alex, who had stepped back, turned toward Noctura and smiled.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You can do this, pup."


    His eyes filled with care as he uttered those words, and Noctura, who heard that, froze for a second before her eyes brightened with a new-found resolve.


    "I will win!"


    Noctura hurriedly transformed into herrger and more feral form, gettingpletely serious.


    She was really pumped up now��just the fact that Alex said that meant that he wanted to see her win, and she was fullymitted to making that happen.


    *Tremble*


    The air around her trembled as she charged her mana into her body, ready to shoot toward Luna, but before she could do that...


    *Tap**Tap*


    Her eyes widened as she felt her fur being patted, and even before she could understand what was happening, Alex''s voice echoed throughout the training room.


    "Luna wins."


    *Crack**Shatter*


    However, just the instant Alex''s voice was heard, a cracking sound echoed, followed by a shattering sound, and Noctura, who was frozen on her spot with her eyes widened, saw her surroundings crumbling.


    Luna, who still seemed to be standing far away from her, cracked before she turned into particles and vanished, and so did Alex.


    Finally, when everything that she saw was renewed, her eyes finally saw what was really happening.


    Alex, who had stepped back after dering the start of the match, was sitting on the ground in a rxed pose, and Luna, who was supposed to be standing on the other side of the room, was now walking toward Alex with her back facing Noctura.


    The young wolf finally realized that the tap she felt on her fur was done by Luna, and her body trembled.


    ''An illusion��?''


    She muttered inwardly as she saw Luna going ahead and positioning herself on Alex''sp with a smug yet gracious smile on her face.


    At that time, Noctura had just one thought in her mind:


    "Fight me again!"


    But all she got in return was a smile from Luna, and that was the reason for her annoyance.


    Even now, she doesn''t believe that Luna won in a fair fight.


    To her, using illusion was cheating; it wasn''t a real fight for her, and she wanted a real fight. From Luna''s response, however, it didn''t seem like she was going to get a rematch anytime soon.


    And this frustrated her.


    Alex, who recalled that moment, just shook his head again. He nced at Noctura, and looking at how she kept her head turned to the other side, showing how dissatisfied she was, he tried to change the topic.


    ''You said that she had a scent of lots of men on her, right?''


    Alex picked up the topic that he had left before, and Noctura, who heard his question, begrudgingly turned her eyes toward him and nodded her head.


    ''Yes.''


    It was clear that she was still not happy with Alex for bringing that topic up, but she replied nheless.


    ''But why do you think that having the scent of a lot of men means she has slept with them?''


    Alex, who heard her answer and saw that he had sessfully pulled her attention, questioned her with a raised brow.


    ''Huh?''


    But Noctura frowned at that.


    To her, who had learned how to survive in the jungle, having the scent of a male on you means that you are their mate.


    So, she was now confused by Alex''s words.


    Alex, as if sensing her turmoil, began.


    ''You are always with me, pup, and you will surely have my scent on you, but that doesn''t mean that we have done things that are only supposed to be done by lovers, right?''


    He exined with a question, and Noctura finally had her eyes brightened in realization.


    But then, as if imagining the scene that Alex had talked about, her dark, ck eyes started turning cloudy.


    However, before she could sink deeper into her taboo fantasy, Alex questioned her again.


    ''You get it, pup?


    Having the scent of a lot of men means that she has been dealing with a lot of men recently.''


    His words did pull Noctura, who hadpletely forgotten her dissatisfaction, out of her thoughts, but then she inquired in a curious tone.


    ''Why are you so sure about that, master?


    What if she did sleep with men-''


    However, before she couldplete her question��


    *Tip**Top**Tip**Top*...


    The sound of heels tapping the floor reached both Alex and Noctura''s ears, causing them to turn toward the source of the sound.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 339 - Selina Astralflare.

    *Tip**Top**Tip**Top*...


    As both Noctura and Alex turned to look at the source of the tapping sound of the heels, they found a woman walking toward them.


    "Grrr��"


    Noctura, who saw the woman, growled out loud, her fur standing to the ends in warning.


    Alex, however, just sighed as he saw her.


    No matter how many times he sees her, she just doesn''t get less attractive.


    He couldn''t help but appreciate her looks, his eyes scanning her from top to bottom.


    She is a strikingly seductive woman, exuding confidence and allure.


    Her smooth, wavy, dark purple hair was flowing down her back, contrasting beautifully with her creamyplexion.


    Her bright violet eyes, sharp and captivating, hold a mysterious, almost hypnotic charm, drawing one in with just a nce.


    Her full, inviting lips curl into a knowing smile, hinting at her yful yet mature demeanor.


    She carries herself with a graceful yet sultry poise, her curvaceous figure emphasized by a well-fitted gown that highlights her ample bust and elegant curves.


    Her presence is tantalizing, making people feel like lower beings in front of her.


    "She''s cute, my lord."


    The woman uttered it with a flirty smirk, and Alex just smiled back at her.


    "That she is."


    Alex smiled back at her, his gaze turning to look at Noctura, and his hand moving up to pet her head.


    "Prrrr��"


    And the moment Alex scratched her head, Noctura melted on his shoulder, purring in delight.


    Alex didn''t say anything after that; he just kept smiling at Noctura as he caressed her head.


    The woman, however, had a certain glint of understanding pass through her eyes.


    *Snap*


    She snapped her finger, and the next second, two wine sses along with a tray appeared in her hand, causing Alex to raise his brow.


    *Inhale*


    But as the fragrance of the drink in those sses reached him, he inadvertently took another whiff of it.


    He closed his eyes, enjoying the calm, cool, yet hot, and mind-stirring scent of the drink.


    *Exhale*


    After a while, he finally released the puff of air he was holding in, and he opened his eyes, only to see the woman in front of him extending one ss toward him with a yful smile.


    "Would you like to try it, my lord?"


    She asked the question even though she already knew the answer.


    "Sure."


    Alex, knowing full well what this woman was trying, yed along with it.


    He took the ss from her palm, ignoring her fingers that brushed against his before he started to walk toward the balcony.


    ''Huh?''


    The woman who saw this was left a bit stunned.


    ''Wasn''t he supposed to talk to me after this??''


    As a general courtesy, when one offers a drink to someone, it means that they want to talk with them, and if they ept the drink, it means that they have agreed to have a conversation.


    This was done by people of the same rank or by people of lower rank when they wanted to talk to someone of higher rank.


    That was the reason why people offered the best drink they could, just so that the one in front of them would want to drink it no matter what, but Alex wasn''t following along!


    The woman, however, soon calmed down and followed behind Alex.


    "Is the drink to your liking, my lord?"


    She inquired with a knowing smile as she hurriedly caught up to Alex.


    "Hmm��"


    Alex, however, didn''t answer her question; he moved the ss away from his lips and twirled the drink within it, staring at his own reflection within the drink.


    Noctura, on the other hand, had her gaze fixed on the woman.


    This woman gave her the same feeling as Luna, and she didn''t like either of them.


    Why?


    Because the feeling they gave her was maniptive, as if they were made for manipting others.


    This woman also had the scent of many men on her body, and although Alex had exined to her how having the scent of many men didn''t make one a harlot or slut, there was still a chance that this woman might be one.


    "Just tell me what you want, Selina."


    Alex finally spoke, his eyes still focused on the ss of wine, and his words were directed toward the woman, whose name turned out to be Selina.


    He didn''t have to be wiser to understand the underlying meaning behind herst words; she was trying to remind him that he had epted her drink.


    He knew what kind of woman she was: a sly and maniptive woman with power to boot��that''s what she was.


    She is the second hidden powerhouse of the demon empire, Selina Astralre.


    A mythical 3-ranked mage with outstanding mastery over space elements.


    She was a demon general candidate along with Valerius and other demon generals, but she didn''t want the responsibilities of a demon general, so she decided to take on the position of the protector of the borders.


    Now, she governs the bordering kingdoms.


    From the amount of luck she had, Alex was surprised that she wasn''t a protagonist or even a heroine.


    She was just a normal human, but the thing that surprised him was that she had a title, something Alex had never seen on anyone other than himself.


    (Protagonist and heroine titles are not included.)


    She was special, and Alex knew that, but that didn''t mean that he would give her special treatment.


    "Ah, you misjudged my intentions, my lord."


    Selina, however, shook her head with a sigh, causing Alex to turn his gaze at her.


    He didn''t speak or question what she meant; he just raised his brow while still twirling the drink in his hand.


    ''Is my charm getting lowered or something?''


    Selina, who saw Alex''s dull reaction, couldn''t help but question her charm.


    She had never been in a situation where she had to be this active.


    No matter where she goes, people will swarm around her and question her about her well-being, even if they don''t see any sign of difort in her expression.


    Now, however, things have changed.


    For the first time, she found a man who wasn''t even trying to impress her or anything like that; he was instead ignoring her.


    For some unknown reason, she started to feel a new fire burning in her body. A grin slowly made its way to her face; soon, however, it was gone.


    Her eyes gazed into Alex''s with a deep look and a yful smile before she waved her hand.


    *Woosh*


    A wooshing sound was heard, and the next second, Alex, Noctura, and Selina were gone from the ce.


    *Swoosh* X5


    The next second, however, a fierce wind blew, and 5 figures appeared right where they had disappeared from.


    The ones who appeared were Azaroth, Nyx, Mk, Morvan, and Valerius, and all of them had a frown on their faces before a sigh escaped their lips.


    "It''s her��"


    Valerius muttered as his palm massaged his forehead.


    Azaroth, on the other hand, continued to stare at a certain spot, as if he were looking at someone, and the next second, he nodded his head.


    "Everything''s fine; go back to whatever you were engaged with."


    He ordered the generals, and all of them bowed their heads and left without saying anything.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Morvan and Nyx did pause for a bit, staring at the spot where Alex was standing a moment ago, their thoughts unknown.


    But just like the others, they moved away the next second.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 340 - Somewhat Proficient.

    *Tap**Tap*


    Alex, who was standing in apletely white room, tapped the walls curiously.


    It was solid, and although he could look past the white wall with a bit of effort, he just observed the interior of this isted space.


    But as he saw five figures materializing in the spot where he was standing a second ago, he observed their expressions.


    *Chuckle*


    A chuckle inadvertently escaped his lips as he saw Valerius''s expression.


    "You sure are famous."


    Alex spoke between his chuckles as he turned his head toward the person who bought him here.


    "Not at all, my lord.


    My fame is nowhere near the fame you have gathered in just a few days."


    Selina, who was hiding within the space sighed as she heard Alex''s words, and the next second, she emerged out of that space pocket.


    "Hmm, you do know that you can be executed for abducting the demon lord, right?"


    Alex didn''tment on her humbling words; he rather asked her a question.


    *Tap**Tap*Tap*...


    His finger tapped the wall as he stared to measure the distance inside this isted room.


    *Step**Step**Step*...


    He moved around the room with slow and deliberate steps.


    "You wouldn''t me me for trying to have a bit of private conversation, would you, my lord?"


    Selina, who heard Alex''s question, just like Alex, instead of answering, asked a question, her eyes blinking with seductive allure as her voice turned sultry.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex chuckled again, his hand moving away from the wall and waving at no one.


    But Selina, who saw that gesture, could clearly see that it was a gesture for Azaroth.


    It was as if Alex was telling him that everything was fine, and Selina saw it as the next second, the generals and the demon ancestor walked away.


    Alex''s arms moved again, crossing behind his back, and his expression suddenly turned serious as he stared into Selina''s bright purple eyes.


    His demeanor returned to that of an emperor instead of just a young man enjoying his wine.


    The wine ss had already disappeared into nothingness, as Alex had used his destruction energy to make it possible.


    "Do not try this stunt without my permission ever again."


    His eyes shone with a cold, piercing intensity, making it clear that his warning was not to be taken lightly.


    *Tremble*


    Selina was stronger than Alex; she knew it, but she couldn''t stop her body from shuddering.


    ''W-What is this feeling��?''


    Selina could feel her insides tingling in a strange way, something she had never felt before.


    Those cold eyes of Alex and that intensity in his voice made it seem like he was not talking to the most beautiful woman in the demon empire��who is also one of the strongest beings in the whole world��but just a normal citizen of the empire.


    His gaze reminded her of how she looks at other men as if they are not worth her time.


    ''I never thought that being on the other side would feel this good��''


    She muttered, biting her lips inwardly.


    But the next second, as she saw Alex''s brows creasing into a frown, she hurriedly nodded her head.


    "A-As you wish, my lord."


    She tried not to let her ''strange'' emotions be shown in front of Alex, but she couldn''t stop herself from stuttering.


    Alex, who saw that, was about to use his empathy ability to read Selina''s emotions, or at least try to, but...


    "Where are we, master?"


    Noctura, who had been tense for a while, trying to understand what had happened, finally questioned Alex as her eyes remained fixed on Selina.


    Her fur was standing to their end as she could feel that she would lose the moment she tried to attack the woman in front of her��at least inside this space.


    "Oh, well, this is an isted space created by this woman, right here."


    Alex, who had a serious expression, suddenly smiled as he patted Noctura''s head while pointing at Selina.


    The change made even Selina, who had been an experienced actor and expression reader, bewildered.


    "An isted space?"


    Noctura, who was being patted by Alex, rxed a bit as she inquired what he meant.


    "Hmmm, how should I say it��?"


    Alex put up a pondering expression as he thought of the best way to exin Noctura before his eyes brightened in realization.


    "You remember the ce I kept you in before?


    The one where you were powering up for the breakthrough?"


    Alex''s question was instantly answered by Noctura, as she could clearly recall those things; after all, she was in there a while back.


    "Yes!"


    She nodded her head before asking a question while looking around.


    "Is this a ce just like that??"


    The ce they were talking about was nothing other than the dimensional nexus, which Alex used as a pokeball to carry Noctura from one world to another.


    Selina, on the other hand, was about to reply to Noctura''s words, but the moment she heard Alex''s words, she paused and attentively listened to his words.


    ''What ce are they talking about?''


    ''Is he already proficient enough to create isted spaces like mine?''


    Such questions popped into her mind one after another, but she decided to keep quiet as she knew that she wasn''t close enough to ask those questions, nor did she have enough authority.


    Alex''s next word, however, irked her a bit.


    "In a way, yes, but that one is way more advanced than this one."


    Those words, in Selina''s view, meant that there was someone Alex knew who was way more proficient with space elements than her.


    That was something she couldn''t ept.


    She, Selina Astralre, was known as the space genius; even Azaroth was not as proficient as she was with space elements, even though he was way older than her.


    So, Alex''s words did hurt her pride; she frowned a bit before she spoke.


    "My lord, this is not the best I could do, so please don''t judge me so soon."


    Her dissatisfied yet confident words caused Alex''s eyes to gleam with interest.


    "Oh? What are you waiting for, then?


    The only reason I''m still here is because I am interested in something you are somewhat proficient with."


    Alexmented as he folded his arms in front of his chest.


    He was intentionally speaking out loud when speaking to Noctura. He knew that Selina, as a space genius, must be proud of her talent, and if he were to say something like that, then of course she would feel a hit on her ego.


    And with hisst words, he had just fueled the fire his previous words had started.


    As Alex had wanted it to be, a vein popped on Selina''s forehead the moment she heard Alex''s words.


    But she didn''t say anything; she wasn''t some young girl to be swayed by Alex''s words.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    She took a deep breath, and then she smiled again.


    "As you wish, my lord.


    Let me show you what I can do with the ''somewhat'' level of proficiency I have in using the space element."


    She spoke with a yful smile, emphasizing the word ''somewhat'' before she waved her hand.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 341 - Selina showing off.

    *Woosh*


    The white space that Alex, Noctura, and Selina were standing in changed the instant Selina waved her hand.


    The surroundings were now a lush, green forest.


    Large trees towered up to 50 meters, and their trunks were wide enough for a human to livefortably.


    There were bushes in the surroundings as well, and they all looked real.


    Alex could feel the cool sensation of the grass below his feet, and he could smell the fresh scent of nature in the surroundings, causing him to raise his brow in surprise.


    Noctura, who had been learning about space elements from Alex for a while, could also tell that this ce was as real as it could be.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She wasn''t very proficient with space elements of anything like that; all she had was one skill that Alex had given her, but with whatever understanding she had, she could tell that doing something like this wasn''t an easy feat.


    Selina, on the other hand, had a smug grin tugged at the corner of her lips the moment she saw their expressions.


    The next second, however, she frowned as she saw Alex turning to look at her with a questioning look; it was as if he was asking her, ''Is that all?''.


    That look caused the victorious look on Selina''s face to get wiped off before she huffed secretly.


    "Hmph!"


    Her eyes stared into Alex''s and looked at his expression, which said that he wasn''t very satisfied with all of this.


    So, with a subtle nod, she waved her hand again, changing the scene to an underwater area.


    But unlike what one would think, neither Alex nor Nocura felt even the slightest difort.


    Noctura was surprised by the sudden change; that too, when she realized that she was underwater, she even stopped her breath, but...


    *Pat**Pat*...


    "It''s fine, pup.


    She isn''t going to cause us harm, so you don''t have to worry about it."


    As soon as she felt Alex''s hand on her head and heard his calm words, she calmed down.


    *Inhale*


    She finally took a breath and realized that she was able to breathe just like she was on the ground, causing her eyes to get filled with wonder.


    The next second, however, she noticed why she was able to breathe.


    All three of them were standing in an isted space within a water body, making it impossible for the water to reach them.


    "You did not seem like a person who would trust people easily, my lord.


    But I guess my skills at judging people are deteriorating as the days pass."


    Selina, however, questioned Alex with a yful smirk the moment she heard his words, but as her words reached the end, she sighed in mncholy.


    Her gaze was fixed on Alex as she stood in a sultry pose, emphasizing her curves.


    She thought that she had judged Alex wrongly, and he was interested in her as well. You wouldn''t say that you trust a person you have just met until and unless you have taken a liking to them.


    But��


    "It is not trust that makes me say so, Selina; it is confidence��one that I have in myself, that no matter where you take us, I can still protect us."


    Alex shook his head and uttered those words with an assertive shine in his eyes; it was as if he didn''t even doubt it.


    This, however, took Selina by surprise.


    *Chuckle*


    ''Does he think that he can fight against a mythical ranked with legendary ranked power??''


    Selina, however, just chuckled inwardly, not taking his words seriously.


    She didn''t know about the fight between Alex and the four generals, nor did she know the oue of the fight.


    She had been living in the border area of the empire, guarding it against the demonic beasts, so she was oblivious to all that had happened.


    She would''ve known about it if the news had spread, but the demon generals were really proud of that battle, so no one other than Alex, Azaroth, Valerius, Mk, Nyx, and Luna, knew anything about it.


    That was the reason why Alex''s words seemed like the words of a lion cub challenging a leopard.


    Yeah, the cub surely has the potential to make the leopard run away with its tail tucked between its legs, but it needed time to grow before he could do that.


    A lion cub was the thing she thought of Alex as, not knowing that he was a young dragon with power enough to obliterate many leopards even at that young age, and not a lion cub.


    "I will keep that in mind, my lord."


    Selina did think like that, but showing it on the outside was a different thing; she just bowed gracefully on the outside with a sincere expression.


    Her act, however, wasn''t good enough to fool Alex, yet he didn''t say anything to enlighten her.


    [Ignorance is as blissful as they call it to be.]


    Sophia, on the other hand, didn''t say silent.


    She let out those mocking words with a shake of her head.


    This was the problem with geniuses; they think that they are better than others, no matter how humble they are.


    "Hm, so, is that all?"


    Alex spoke with a slow nod, his hand pulling Noctura into his arms, as he found it hard to pat her head with her on his shoulder.


    Noctura, who was now off the shoulder, finally broke off her wonder and melted into Alex''s arms.


    "No, my lord.


    There is this one scenery that you would surely like."


    Selina answered as she heard Alex''s question; her expression was one filled with pride, as if whatever it was, and wherever she was going to take them wasn''t going to be something possible for them to see.


    The confidence in her eyes did cause Alex to raise a brow, and even Noctura, who had already seen two ces, seemed a bit interested.


    "What are you waiting for, then?"


    Alex questioned as his hands continued to pat Noctura''s fur.


    "I wanted your persimmon to transform into my demi form, my lord."


    She bowed her head as she replied to Alex, and Alex, who already knew everything about Selina, nodded his head.


    "Sure, you have my permission."


    In the demon empire, where no one was demi-human and only beasts, they could still get into their demi forms, and in demi form, they were stronger than their human form.


    They would be the strongest in their base form, but Selina right now didn''t need that.


    As for why she was asking for Alex''s permission, well, it was simple; someone transforming into their demi form or true form meant that they were getting battle-ready, and Selina was in front of the demon lord right now.


    That was the reason she needed his permission to transform, or it could be considered an attempt to attack him.


    So, as soon as she got his permission, she smiled, and the next second...


    *Poof*


    With a poof, her form changed, and Alex, who saw her new form, nodded his head in approval, although it was internal.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 342 - Stellara Vulpira.

    *Poof*


    With a popping sound, Selina was surrounded by white smoke, obstructing everyone''s view.


    But there were only two entities even trying to look at her, and for one of them, her smoke was nothing special, as he could gaze right through it.


    He could see her new, transformed body, and he couldn''t help but nod in approval.


    Like any cultural man, Alex appreciated art as well, and Selina, who was already a piece of art, now looked even more captivating, as if it were an arting out alive from a painting.


    Her dark purple hair now had two fluffy ears that moved left and right.


    Her striking, purple gown that was sticking close to her body now had a hole at her waist, and right there, arge fluffy tail��that would make soft toy-loving girls squeal in delight��was positioned.


    Her soft and busty body was already huggable, but now it had turned more spongy.


    One could tell by just looking at her that if they were to p her ass right now, it would continue to giggle for a minute or two.


    Soon, the smoke settled and revealed Selina, who had already noticed Alex inspecting her body, causing her to puff her alreadyrge breasts outward.


    But she didn''t make Alex wait for long, and she waved her hand again, causing the scene to shift again.


    *Gasp*


    Noctura, who saw the view, couldn''t help but gasp at it.


    Everywhere one could see was darkness; the only things that didn''t make it look haunting were the shining stars that were embedded in the space as if diamonds were on a te.


    Manys and their moons float around in space without anyone controlling them.


    The twinkling of stars that shone with different colors, some purple, some red, and some with another color, gave anyone who looked at them a joyous feeling.


    It was clear where they were or what their surroundings were, yet...


    "Are we in space...?"


    Noctura thought out loud in awe.


    She had never been in space, and this was her first time looking at it, but just one look was enough to tell her that no matter how long she looked at those freely floatings, that gave one a feeling of freedom, she would never get bored.


    How could she know that her master, Alex, wasn''t much interested in space as he was already bored of watching it for a long period of time?


    As for how long it was? Even Alex couldn''t tell that.


    He could still vividly remember his time in space��the time he kept floating without an aim; that period was enough for him to not be surprised by this type of view.


    He had seen nebs, gxies, universes, and many other things, something that probably no one in this world even knew about.


    So, he answered Noctura.


    "Yes, pup.


    This is what space looks like."


    He replied as he patted her head with care.


    "It looks so mesmerizing."


    Notura muttered again, and Alex just smiled at her words.


    "It will get boring if you stare at it too much."


    He spoke with a chuckle and flicked her nose lightly, causing her to scrunch up her nose, but she snuggled closer to him after that.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    She didn''t take Alex''s words to heart, since she knew that there was no way she was getting bored of looking at this view.


    Selina, on the other hand, was left speechless by the dull reaction she got from Alex.


    ''Does this guy ever get surprised, or is surprise not even a word in his dictionary?''


    She muttered inwardly with a look of sense of defeat.


    This was the best she could do, and she thought that maybe this view would surprise him, but looking at his reaction, she just sighed.


    "I apologize for not meeting your standards, my lord."


    She finally decided to let go of her pride.


    She couldn''t force Alex by her power; that just wasn''t possible with Azaroth in the vicinity, and even if he wasn''t, Alex was the demon lord.


    So, right now, even after showing the best view she could and not getting the expected reaction from Alex, she resigned.


    "Hm? Why are you apologizing?


    I was never trying to get an apology from you. I just wanted to see if you are as talented as a person of the Stera Vulpira race should be or not.


    And I sure am not disappointed."


    Alex began with a shake of his head, and by the time he reached the end, he had his eyes staring into the shocked eyes of Selina.


    Selina''s body tensed the moment she heard Alex mentioning her race, something no one other than her dead mother knew anything about.


    *Crackle*


    The space around them started to twist as Selina''s eyes turned sharp, cautious light shining in them.


    ''Is he someone from my mother''s side?''


    As that thought crossed her head, a dangerous gleam passed through her eyes.


    But before she could take a hasty step and do something that she wouldn''t do with a straight mind, Alex''s words made their way to her ears.


    "I would advise you against it, Selina."


    The moment she heard that, her body froze, and the next second it rxed.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    She took a deep breath, calming herself down.


    Her eyes, however, were locked into Alex''s.


    "How do you know that, my Lord?"


    Unlike her flirty and alluring tone, right now, her voice was as serious as it could be.


    This matter wasn''t something she could take lightly, especially when it concerned the eventual revtion of her bloodline to the world.


    "You are not the only one with secrets, Selina."


    Alex, however, just shook his head with a smile.


    "But you know my secret, my lord, so I should-"


    Selina, who heard his words, was quick to counter, but her words were cut short by Alex.


    "I ''found out'' what your secret was; if you want to know my secrets, then you can go look for them."


    Alex corrected her words and pointed out that he had the capability to find that out, so he did; if she could do the same, then she could do it as well.


    Selina frowned as her lips moved, trying to protest again, but before she could, Alex added.


    "Now speak what you wanted to talk about, as I have a woman waiting for me toe back."


    His tone was assertive, making it clear that there would be no further discussion about it, and Selina, who heard it, just gritted her teeth.


    Her mood was now spoilt.


    She, who had always had an upper hand in conversation, authority, and power, lost in two of those things already.


    ''This is frustrating.''


    She muttered inwardly.


    Her eyes were looking at the divine features of Alex, and the air of calmness around him.


    Just being close to him was enough to calm her nerves, yet for some reason, she didn''t want to look at that face right now.


    But as Alex had asked her to do, she exined what she wanted to talk about.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 343 - What did that girl do now…?

    //// Sorry, but will only be able to juice out one chapter today. ?? ////


    Alex, from the moment he was pulled into this isted space, was trying to tell or show Selina that she wasn''t the one in control of the situation.


    Selina was pretty and all, sure.


    But just looks won''t make Alex go soft on her.


    Her attempt to approach him was good; she was being formal and even trying to maintain a certain respect for him.


    The moment she arrived close to him, or to be precise, the moment she came in range of his incubus aura, that was not restrained anymore; even though she is a mythical ranker, she was affected by it.


    All of the feelings of closeness or rxation that forced Selina to take those steps were due to the little influence of Alex''s bloodline, which changed Alex''s image in her mind.


    She wasn''t weak enough to getpletely controlled by Alex''s aura, but it was still able to influence her enough to make her lower her guard.


    The fact that she was a fox only made it worse, as foxes are known to get attracted to any shiny, good-looking, or unique-looking thing, and Alex, who was the walking definition of handsomeness, was like a living kryptonite for her.


    The foxes are so attracted to that type of thing that there are cases of the sliest foxes getting fooled into a trap by those kinds of things.


    But as soon as she realized that her situation was getting out of her hands and that she was not behaving like she would in normal situations, her focus returned, and the same looks of Alex that caused her to get pulled into all this now looked a bit odd to her.


    It was as if something within her body was now trying to make her hate Alex after it had realized that she was getting attracted to him.


    But Selina just thought that it was her irritation about the situation that made her feel that way, so she just frowned a bit before she replied to Alex.


    "As you probably know, my race has a strong connection to space, and I can sense that you have an incredible affinity for space elements, my lord.


    That''s why I approached you. I wanted to offer my help in mastering space elements, as it seems like you''re not entirely familiar with them yet."


    Selina spoke with a respectful yet slow tone, hinting that she wasn''t satisfied with how things were, but that was ignored by Alex.


    "I doubt you''ve be so loyal that you''d want to teach me without me even asking. So, tell me what you want in return."


    Alex squinted his eyes; his gaze, however, remained on Noctura as he kept caressing her head.


    As Selina had guessed, Alex knew about her strong connection to space elements, and it was because of his all-seeing eyes.


    But the reason that Selina said that was different.


    Her race alone had Ster in its name, and it gave away her rtionship with space; that was the reason why she was so concerned about Alex knowing her race''s name.


    If anyone so much as heard that name, they could easily rte her race with space, and that would make many people drool at her bloodline, wanting to have it for themselves.


    That was not something anyone would want.


    Selina, who was trying to control her conflicting emotions right now, heard Alex''s question, causing her to look at him, but the moment she looked at his face, she started feeling irritated again.


    She finally frowned.


    ''This is weird...''


    She muttered inwardly.


    Her getting frustrated by the situation was not uncalled for, but how could she find Alex''s face hateful?


    Soon, however, as she saw Alex''s squinted gaze focusing on her, she realized that she had been silent for a bit too long.


    "I wanted nothing, my lord.


    I just wanted your help in testing some of my theories."


    She hurriedly replied with a bow, trying to hide the frown on her face.


    She didn''t want Alex to find out what was happening.


    She just wanted to go back to her room and try to look into herself.


    Everything was going differently from what she had thought from the moment she decided to get involved with him.


    She found him to her liking the moment she saw him manipting Grum into a trap of words in the throne room during his coronation, but she now realized that not everything that looked good from afar would be as you think them to be.


    The feeling she got when she talked with Alex��the feeling of being oppressed and being looked at as if she were nothing��she liked them��no, she loved them, but for some reason, whenever she thought about him now, she felt irritation only.


    "So, you want to use me, the demon lord, as a test subject?"


    Alex questioned with a frown, pretending to be offended by her words, but the actual reason for his frown was the thing he saw inside Selina.


    ''Is it��?''


    He didn''tplete his question, but the one who was asked the question already knew what he was trying to ask, so she gave an affirmative response.


    [Yes, it is what you think it is.]


    Sophia replied, causing Alex to stare deeper into Selina''s body.


    "No, my lord.


    There are some things I could never hope to achieve with my limited affinity for space. But you, who seem to embody the space elements, could do them effortlessly.


    That''s why I need your help with those, my lord."


    Selina replied in a hurried tone, seemingly trying to resolve the misunderstanding, but she was just trying to get out of there as soon as possible.


    The irritation she felt from within had suddenly gotten elevated, and she felt that if she stayed close to Alex, she mightmit something she would have to face dire consequences for.


    "Very well, then.


    I will call for you when I''m done with something I''ve been trying to do for a while."


    Alex, who could sense her emotions, didn''t try to stop her anymore and just nodded his head, his gaze moving back toward Noctura, whom he had put to sleep by using his incubus aura.


    He had never said that he didn''t have any interest in learning more about space elements; space was an element that he was most interested in as of now.


    *Tremble*


    As if listening to his thoughts, something inside of him trembled, causing Alex to frown, but the moment he noticed what or who it was, he sighed helplessly.


    ''Well, space is an element I''m second most interested in. Happy now?''


    He asked inwardly, and the trembling he felt next to his heart from the ce where the core of the SD (Shatter Devourer) was ced subsided as soon as those words were heard.


    Alex just smiled at it.


    "Thank you, my lord."


    Selina, on the other hand, just kept her head bowed while her fists were clenched as hard as they could.


    She was trying to control her emotions, and although she tried her best, her canine features��her ears and tail��that were tensed gave her away.


    It was not like her emotions were hidden from Alex, anyway.


    "It''s fine.


    You can go now, as it looks like you have something to do right now."


    Alex, however, just waved his hand, gesturing for her to go on and excuse herself.


    But Selina, who heard his words, just bowed her head deeper and thanked him again.


    "Thank you, my lord."


    She didn''t even ask him how he knew about her emotional state or that she just wanted to go away, but she would soon realize the reason, so for now, she just waved her hand, and...


    *Woosh*


    With a wooshing sound, Alex found himself standing back on the spot he was before Selina took him away, and as soon as he appeared...


    *Swoosh*


    Another sound was heard, and Azaroth teleported right next to him, his eyes scanning for Selina, wanting to reprimand her, but before he could do it, he heard Alex''s words.


    "She isn''t here anymore; she seemed to have something to attend to."


    Alex wasn''t looking at him, but Azaroth could tell that those words were for him.


    "I see��"


    So, he just nodded his head and stood beside Alex in silence, watching Alex as he kept staring out of the balcony, up in the sky, looking at the stars twinkling.


    "Tell me everything you know about her, Azaroth."


    But the moment he heard Alex''s words, his body tensed.


    ''What did that silly girl do now��?''


    Those were the only thoughts in his head, but soon he began to tell Alex everything he knew.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 344 - Little Organization.

    Alex hadn''t disappeared for a long time, but many people had turned tense the moment he did disappear.


    Especially because they knew who Selina was and what she could do.


    As said before, no one other than the selected few people knew about the battle between Alex and the demon generals, so although everyone knew that he was strong, they didn''t know how strong he actually was.


    In their minds, Alex still wasn''t strong enough to defeat a general, and Selina, who seemed to have kidnapped the demon Lord, was as strong as a demon general.


    So, the moment it all happened, the bodies of many high demons tensed.


    ''Are we going to have a war?''


    ''Is the number of mythical ranked beings in our empire going to go down again?''


    Such questions appeared in many of their heads, as what Selina did could be considered treason.


    But nothing was certain; maybe she didn''t mean any harm, or maybe she was just showing the demon lord something.


    Those actions could mean many things, and it was soon cleared as they saw the demon generals and the demon ancestry arrive at the scene.


    "Is everything, all right?"


    Someone muttered as they saw the demon generals frowning, but before anyone could even answer or look at the owner of the voice, they saw the demon ancestor nodding his head at no one before he spoke.


    "Everything''s fine; go back to whatever you were engaged with."


    Those words brought relief to the demons who heard it, and in a way, every demon in the ball heard it as the hall had gonepletely still the moment their demon lord seemed to have been abducted.


    No matter who it was, everyone present here knew a thing or two about politics, so they knew what kind of impact this act could have.


    They were demons��a race that craved destruction and despair of every living being��but that didn''t mean that they would want to see their own empire being plunged into a war.


    But as soon as they heard the demon ancestors'' words, which seemed to be aimed at every demon in the hall, they turned back to whatever they were doing.


    Their eyes, however, would nce at the ce Alex wasst seen; they still weren''t worry-free, after all.


    *Woosh*n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But as soon as Alex, the demon lord, appeared with a baby wolf in his arms, they sighed in relief.


    The breaths they had held for a while finally got released.


    They did find the wolf''s presence a bit weird, as it wasn''t there the moment Alex had disappeared, yet when he appeared, it was with him.


    Soon, however, that thought was waved away as it was nothing major.


    The wolf did look cute; maybe it was a gift by Selina for Alex.


    But that was just what the weaker ones thought; the stronger ones didn''t find it strange as they knew that it had always been there on Alex''s shoulder.


    Noctura was just under her stealth skill since the start, so not all demons could see her; now, however, she was sleeping, meaning her skill was deactivated, so everyone could see her.


    Luna Tuner, the former association head of the orange country, was moving toward the first floor after excusing herself from the bunch of women of lower nobility.


    "I want to create a secret organization here as well."


    This was what Luna wanted to do; she had even asked for Alex''s permission, and Alex, who had already seen her capabilities, agreed readily.


    He knew that she had the ability to control things, and with her new set of skills, she waspletely capable of doing a better job than before.


    That was the reason why she was talking with the women of the lowest level of noble ranks.


    Those women were someone who knew how to survive in this empire better than any other; after all, they were weak, didn''t have authority, and neither did they have connections, but they had one thing, and that was knowing when and what they were supposed to do.


    And Luna wanted just that, so she aimed for them, not as an individual person but as a close person of the demon lord as well.


    There was something she was going to use as a way to make them unable to deny her invitation, but that could be der.


    Right now, Luna, who was worried about Alex the moment he disappeared, just wanted to get to know if he was fine.


    So she moved toward him.


    "Are you all right?"


    She questioned as soon as she saw Alex''s eyes gazing at her.


    In response, he just smiled at her.


    "Of course, what could happen to me?"


    He raised a brow as he waved at Azaroth, who didn''t seem to have finished whatever he was saying. He was gesturing for Azaroth to go away for now, and the demon ancestor did just that with a bow of his head.


    Why did Alex do that?


    Didn''t he want the information Azaroth was giving him?


    Well, the answer was simple, other than the origin of Selina, which Azaroth already told him, he knew everything else; he didn''t need Azaroth to tell him that.


    "No, but I was worried."


    Luna, who heard his reply, puffed her cheek and muttered in a grumpy tone, seemingly unhappy by the unbothered tone in Alex''s voice.


    Alex just raised his brow in amusement before hemented.


    "What can I say, sorry for worrying you?"


    He questioned with a yful smile, and Luna''s frown finally vanished.


    "The feeling of having an emperor apologize to you is not bad."


    Luna muttered with a satisfied smile before she moved closer to Alex and stood on the balcony with him.


    "So, who was she?"


    Luna questioned curiously; no jealousy or other kind of emotions could be sensed in her words, and Alex knew that she was just aching that question out of pure curiosity, but he still teased her.


    "Do you smell something burning??"


    The yful undertone in his voice was clear, but Luna just gave him a dead stare before she shrugged.


    "Don''t tell me then; I already have connections, and I can find out about her myself."


    "Oh?"


    Her confident words caused Alex to raise a brow in interest.


    "You are already forming your little organization?"


    He questioned curiously, his palms still caressing Noctura''s head, not wanting to wake her up, as her waking up right now when Luna was right next to them, would only be asking for a headache.


    "Not entirely, but in process��"


    Luna answered his question before she puffed her chest and added.


    "And it''s not going to be a little organization; I''m going to expand it all over the world."


    The certainty in her tone, as if she was sure that she could do it, caused Alex to be a bit surprised, but as he recalled Luna''s past��her struggle, what she had achieved, why she was special��he just realized again that bringing her with him might have been one of the better decisions he had ever made.


    He was slowly starting to like her after all.


    But just then, as if recalling something, Luna''s eyes brightened, and she spoke in a cryptic tone.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 345 - Fuck no.

    "You know, I''ve been feeling a very possessive gaze on me for a while."


    Luna spoke in a cryptic tone; one couldn''t make out her emotions from her voice, but Alex, who could read emotions, could easily tell that she was annoyed.


    From the moment Luna moved away from Alex, or more urately, from the moment Alex moved up to the first floor, Luna constantly felt this gaze.


    It was as if the owner of that gaze hadn''t noticed her until Alex had moved away.


    Luna, however, didn''t even look at whoever it was.


    She kept on talking with the noblewomen, trying to pull them into the small organization she was making.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Unlike Alice and Ann, who would just bash the head of the owner or sh their neck, Luna was more interested in seeing Alex''s reaction.


    She wanted to see if Alex would move forward to protect her or not.


    Would he show the same possessive side he had for Alice and Ann for her as well?


    Soon, however, she got her answer.


    *Tremble*


    *Grit*


    She felt the mana around her tremble for a second, and she also heard the sound of teeth being grounded.


    Luna''s expression turned jolly the moment she felt and heard that and the moment she saw Alex''s expression, her body trembled in happiness.


    ''Haha, he does like me in the actual sense.''


    Sheughed inwardly, happy that she had at least crossed the firstyer.


    Alex''s face currently had a hard frown, and his eyes shone intensely, spewing killing intent. Although it was just for a second, Luna, who had been observing his expression without missing anything, saw it all.


    "Can you still feel it?"


    His eyes then turned toward her, now as calm aske water, but that calmness sent a shiver down her spine.


    For some reason, Alex''s calmness right now didn''t feel like the usual calmness he had.


    "Y-Yes.."


    Luna, who was at the focus of those eyes, couldn''t help but stammer; she felt scared and excited at the same time.


    "Where is iting from?"


    Alex questioned as his eyes sharpened.


    Was there someone daring enough to stare at the demon lord''s woman when she was standing right next to him?


    "U-Um, it''s from the right corner of the ballroom."


    Luna replied, unable to stop herself from stuttering again.


    The look in his eyes was just too much for her; it was hitting her in the right spot, making her feel all the things she wanted to feel from Alex.


    Alex, however, didn''t look away from Luna''s eyes and growled.


    "Point it out with your eyes."


    He had a guess of who could be daring enough to not put the demon lord in their eyes, but he wasn''t sure, so although there was a light of excitement shining within his eyes, he reigned it in.


    Luna, who noticed that flicker of excitement in his eyes, got a bit confused, but the next second...


    *Grip*


    "Do it��"


    As she felt Alex''s arm on her shoulder, turning her toward the ballroom''s ground floor, and heard his growling voice in her ears, her body trembled.


    ''W-What is this��?''


    She felt strangely good even though Alex was being forceful with her, and her eyes, that were gleaming with confusion, automatically turned toward the person whose gaze she could feel even now.


    She didn''t know that Alex had unknowingly started to use his incubus aura on her, and the pleasure she felt was because of that.


    Her eyes, however, paused the moment she found the person who had been staring at her for a while.


    It was a boy who looked to be 18 or 19 years old, with a certain charm that pulled people��especially women��in.


    He had bright red hair flowing down his back carelessly, and bright golden eyes shone with intelligence and maturity that shouldn''t be possible for a guy of his age, causing whoever looks into those eyes to hold their gaze, even if it''s just for a second longer.


    His face was as good as one could make it to be, with high cheekbones and a sharp jawline.


    There was an aura of mystery around him that made people feel that he knew more than what he let on, adding more to his charm.


    His body was not short, yet not tall, just perfect as it towered at 190 centimeters, almost equal to Alex''s.


    Right now, he was wearing a tight-fit red shirt with its upper buttons free and a ck pant that reached his ankles.


    His eyes were shining with a possessive light as if he had seen something that he couldn''t let go of no matter what.


    "You like his looks?"


    Luna, who had her eyes fixed on the guy, heard a shiver-inciting, cold voice next to her ear; she could feel the hot air along with those words, but instead of feeling scared or anything, her reply was simple and instantaneous.


    "Fuck no."


    Her head snapped toward Alex, who spoke those words, a disgusted frown on her face, her body shivering ever so slightly as she could feel repulsion.


    "He looks like those cheap guys who would chase after every skirt they could find, and he wears clothes like he''s a call boy or something."


    Her words wereced with disdain and distaste; it was as if she was repulsed by the mere thought of liking that guy.


    He was the worst type she would like.


    Alex, who could read her like a book, finally smiled at her.


    "Good to know."


    He patted her cheek with the hand that had been holding her shoulder for a while, and Luna, who felt the warm hand on her face, had all of her dissatisfaction evaporate.


    Alex''s eyes finally turned toward the shy guy who had been staring at Luna, and it seemed like that guy had finally noticed that there was someone standing right next to Luna.


    Alex did feel an intense killing intent from the guy for an instant��just for a mere millisecond or even shorter period, but it was as clear as it could be��and it was at the moment he touched Luna''s cheeks.


    The next second, however, a woman standing next to that guy nudged him from the side and told him that the demon lord was looking their way, causing the guy to finally notice that the one he had directed his killing intent was the demon lord.


    Alex could see the guy''s eyes tremble in fear, but it was only for a second; the next second, they returned to normal calmness, and he stared right back into Alex''s eyes.


    It was as if he was sure that Alex wasn''t going to kill him.


    Alex''s cold eyes gleamed intensely for a second.


    ''A guy stared at my woman, then he directed his killing intent at me, and now he has the gal to stare right into my eyes.''


    He couldn''t believe someone could do it, but just then he heard Sophia''s voice in his head.


    [Here you go.]


    As if she had felt his anger, and as if she knew what could elevate his mood, she gave him just the right thing, and looking at the new screen in front of him, a grin broke out on Alex''s face��a cold grin that sent a shiver down the spine of anyone who happened to look his way.


    They didn''t know whom it was directed at since Alex turned back toward Luna, the moment he grinned, but they gave their condolences to the man or woman who had made the anomaly demon lord to make that face.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 346 - Just one of them.

    As said before, Alex''s purpose for attending the ball was many, but the most important one was to identify the protagonists.


    If they were in this empire, then there was no way they would want to miss this celebration; after all, if there is a gathering, protagonists are supposed to have one or two facepping events.


    But maybe Alex''s presence was the one that was stopping the progress of their plot, as no demon would want to cause amotion in the demon lord''s presence.


    As for what the said demon lord was doing?


    He was grinning as he stared at the new quest he had received.


    [Antagonist''s Quest: -


    Quest objective: A human who has transmigrated into a demon''s body has set his eyes on something that is yours; handle the situation ordingly.


    Quest reward: The lust binding system and the additional rewards would depend on your approach.


    Additional information: It hasn''t been a long time since the human had transmigrated into this world, as he was the additional protagonist added by the world at the end moment.


    Before being attacked by Truck-kun and sent to this world, he was a call boy who used to be pretty famous with women, no matter what age they were, as his techniques were supposed to be the best.


    The same man had now transmigrated into this world with a system��the lust-binding system��with nothing but one objective, and that was to make every woman he likes his woman.


    The problem was that he didn''t desire women anymore, but as forced by the system, he had to make women fall for himself and make them his, then his eyes fell on the newest forbidden woman in the demon empire, Luna Tuner.


    The moment he saw her, he set his goal to im her as his.


    Luna was the only person who had been able to make his heart rate spike like never before.


    Time limit: No time limit.


    Penalty: --]


    Alex was staring at the screen in front of him, printing each and every word of it in his brain.


    He had already moved away from the view of the people on the ground floor, as he didn''t want to directly kill that guy.


    He wanted to enjoy his time on this one.


    Unlike Rohrg, whom Alex didn''t have much interest in, this guy was different, especially with the system he had.


    Alex wanted to study this guy.


    What kind of system was that?


    What did it do?


    Who gave it to him? Was it the world''s will or was it someone else?


    Such questions were filled in his mind, and he had a feeling that he could get all of their answers if he peeked into that guy with his all-seeing eyes, but what''s the fun in that?


    The fruit of patience is always the sweetest.


    And wouldn''t the rating of hispletion of the quest be better if he were to defeat that guy without any information about him?


    Alex''s mood had turned sour the moment he found out that someone had been staring at his woman, but when he saw that it was just a goat that had just raised its hand to be ughtered before the others, his mood got elevated automatically.


    Yes, he didn''t even notice it, but he was already treating Luna as his woman, and well, there was nothing wrong with it; Luna didmit herself to him by making him her one and only eternal partner.


    There was one thing that Alex still wasn''t satisfied about, though...


    ''He''s just one of them; where''s the other one��?''


    Alex muttered inwardly as he failed to catch a glimpse of the other protagonist, no matter how hard he tried.


    He had been constantly scanning the group of people he knew, as the protagonists are supposed to always want to steal something from him, the antagonist.


    That was just how the protagonists functioned.


    They had luck on their side and they had the world on their side, but they still eyed the things that others had.


    But if these protagonists in the demon empire wanted to take something away from him, then they must get close to someone who has power and an image strong enough to raise chaos all around the demon empire.


    "What''s wrong? You suddenly started grinning, and then you pulled me here."


    But just as he was busy with his thoughts, he heard Luna''s curious voice right next to his ear and found her standing right next to himself, just an inch away.


    Her eyes were staring right into his, as she stood just a bit shorter than him.


    Right now, they are out of the pce, in the garden of the imperial castle.


    The moonlight was illuminating the whole field as flowers of different colors danced with the wind.


    There were several wooden bridges and benches ced across a creek.


    The scene looked breathtaking, as if it were a ce from the fairy tale��not something you would expect to find in the demon empire, but it looks like thest demon lord who constructed this castle was a man with some sophisticated taste.


    "Well, I was just thinking of getting some fresh air, away from the hustle and bustle of the ballroom."


    Alex, who heard her question, looked back into her eyes with a smile before he started stretching his body.


    *Crack**Snap*


    His bones made cracking and snapping noises as he kept stretching and taking in the fresh air of the surroundings.


    "Oh, really?"


    Luna, on the other hand, knew things were not that simple. She could feel his emotions after all; it was as if he was expecting something.


    "Yep, really."


    Alex, however, just nodded his head without even looking back, and Luna, who heard his answer, squinted her eyes for a second before she shrugged.


    "All right, then."


    She just moved toward one of the benches in the garden and let her back rx.


    As for how they got here?


    Well, Alex already had the ability to teleport in a visible range when he was on Gaia, but now he could teleport others as well.


    "Master?"


    Noctura, who had been sleeping for a while, finally opened her eyes when she heard the snapping and cracking sound echoing close to her ears.


    "Yes, pup?"


    Alex, who noticed his blunder, hurriedly patted Noctura''s head and questioned her, while also turning his back toward Luna, not wanting the chibi wolf to see the subus.


    He didn''t want Noctura, who had finally calmed down, to get her mood soured again.


    "Where are we?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Noctura questioned him as she rubbed her eyes and looked around.


    "We are in the garden, pup.


    Just go back to sleep; everything''s fine."


    Alex just smiled at her while caressing her head with care.


    "Un."


    And Noctura, who could feel her most sensitive spot, her ears being caressed by Alex, just melted in his arms without much resistance, her eyes closing as she drifted into her dreams with afortable expression.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 347 - The plot continues.

    Luna knew that Alex came out of the ballroom because of something and not just to get some air, and just like she had thought, Alex didn''t juste out on a whim.


    Alex wanted the plot to progress; he wanted the protagonist to p some young masters and offend some noble families, as that would only help Alex.


    His presence was stalling the process as he was the demon lord, and as he had predicted, things started to get tense the moment Alex left the hall.


    "The youngest child of Fyzenar''s royal line has descended to such depths that he now finds his nights in thepany of his household maids."


    A voice was heard as a guy could be seen walking toward the protagonist Alex had just seen.


    The guy had dirt blonde hair and ember-colored eyes, his body standing tall and slender.


    He was wearing fancy, navy blue-colored three-piece coat pants, his hairbed backward, giving him a refined look.


    "How low has the Fyzenar''s fallen..."


    The guy shook his head with a sad look on his face, but his eyes had a mocking gleam that couldn''t be hidden from the protagonist and his group.


    "What did you say?"


    The protagonist, who''s known as the waste of the Fyzenar family, Lokiath Fyzenar, questioned with a raised tone as he frowned.


    It was true that he didn''t love the woman who was standing with him and that he was still lost in his thoughts about Luna, but that didn''t mean that he was going to take an insult without a frown.


    "Did I say something wrong?"


    The blonde guy, however, just questioned back as he threw a contemptuous look at the woman standing next to the Lokiath.


    His words caused the woman to lower her head in resignation and sorrow.


    She had ck-colored hair and caramel-colored eyes; a beauty in her own right, as her body was as curvy as one could make, and she was a mature woman at the age of 33 years.


    But that only made things worse as she was the one who had taken care of him since his birth, making her the same as a mother to him, but who would''ve thought that she would end up doing something like this with him?


    It was just some days ago when her young master suddenly barged into her room and asked her to have sex with him.


    She was bbergasted at that demand, and she tried to reject him as politely as she could; after all, she had only seen him as a child.


    But her body didn''t even listen to her; all she could do was moan in pleasure as she was pounded by a boy whom she looked at like her own son for the whole night.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He only left her room after the sun rose and the sunlight brightened their room.


    After that, he never came to her again, but she, Rosaline Stark, couldn''t get it out of her mind; she would cry alone in her room and me herself for everything.


    She was the head maid of the Fyzenar family, and she was strong, as she was an epic 1-ranker. She wouldn''t cry alone at night because of physical harm.


    She was a strong woman, but even she couldn''t stop her tears after realizing that she had been used and thrown away.


    But then one day, her young master, who used to be depressed and discontent, came to her again, asking for her to reveal their rtionship to everyone.


    Just like before, she was again dumbfounded, but by the time she came back to her senses, she was already epted by the mistress and the master of the house, and she was being pounded from the behind by her young master on the same bed where she used to take care of him.


    So, when she heard the taunt from the youngest son of the Noxviel royal family, all she could do was lower her head, much more so when she didn''t hear a single word of protest from the person who brought her here.


    "You should watch your tongue, Maurice. Matters of our family are not yours to discuss."


    Stay updated via empire


    The one who spoke wasn''t Lokiath, but a girl with features almost matching his while wearing an A-cut gown.


    She was Elenia Fyzenar, the oldest daughter of the Fyzenar royal family.


    She could see that her brother was tongue-tied by Maurice Noxviel, so she came to his rescue; she couldn''t see her brother being at a disadvantage after all.


    She cared deeply for her brother.


    The others who saw things getting heated stepped aside as this involved two royal families, none weaker than the other.


    Yes, they were on the ground floor, but they weren''t the kings or queens, so it was not unreasonable, and not like they objected.


    "I am merely illuminating the disgrace your brother has cast upon the name of every royal family in the empire.


    They all have the right to be informed, don''t you think?"


    Maurice, however, just shook his head with a sad smile as he turned around, his eyes pausing on some selected people as he nodded to them.


    They were the scions of other royal families.


    *Grit*


    Lokiath, who saw this just gritted his teeth.


    He was just a yboy in his past life and hadn''t even learned everything about this world yet, so how could he deal with this kind of political situation?


    But he could still tell that Maurice was trying to turn the public into his ally.


    It was as clear as day, and it was all because of the maid he had slept with.


    ''Fuck you, system! If not for you, I wouldn''t even have looked at this bitch!''


    He cursed at the system he had, ming it for everything that was happening; it was the system that gave him a quest to bring Rosaline along to the ballroom, and it was the one that gave him a quest to reveal everything about Rosaline to his parents.


    {If the host curses the system again, the system will not help the host turn the situation to your advantage.}


    A mechanical voice rang in Lokiath''s head, causing his eyes to widen, only to return to normal the next second.


    ''I can still salvage the situation?''


    His tone had now turned much sifter as he questioned the system, his tone filled with hope.


    He was just a yboy in his past life, but that didn''t mean he didn''t hate the feeling of losing; he abhorred that feeling.


    That was why he had fucked many wives behind their husbands'' backs in his past life; it gave him a sense of aplishment.


    {Yes, but you will have to follow what I say...}


    The system that heard the tone in Lokiath''s voice started exining what he had to do, and as it went on, Lokiath''s excitement grew.


    "Maurice Noxviel, if you dare��"


    Lokiath hurriedly jumped into action as soon as the system was done with its words, but before he could, his eyes caught sight of someone, and his words paused.


    It was not just him; the whole ballroom turned still.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 348 - As you wish, lady Tuner.

    Alex had left the hall hoping for the plot to continue.


    The plot here means the plot where the protagonists have themselves look bad in front of many people, but then suddenly they turn the tables.


    This event would leave asting impression in the heads of many people who witnessed the scene, causing the protagonist''s fan following to increase, but along with fan followings, they would also enter the sights of the people who would not like his huge gain of fame.


    Lokiath was a new protagonist, someone who shouldn''t even have adjusted to this world, yet he was here, which means he was supposed to get very big plot armor��or a starter''s boost in this event.


    Alex wanted to see it go down.


    But the thing that made it impossible for the plot to progress was his presence, so here he was now, standing outside of the ballroom, caressing Noctura as she slept in his arms.


    He knows that until he leaves the ballroom, he will be the center of attention, and only after he leaves will the protagonist get a chance.


    He was looking at the beautiful scene of the garden with Luna resting on a bench, adding to the beauty of the field, but his attention was mostly on what was going on in the ballroom.


    ''Oh, that escted quickly...''


    That was why he raised a brow in surprise and interest as he noticed the movements inside.


    He saw how Maurice Noxviel targeted Lokiath even though the guy was minding his own business.


    ''Oh, well, the world is a despo for strong protagonists right now, so I guess it''s not uncalled for.''


    The world was targetting him, and by now, it must already have an approximation of his power, so it knew that these weak protagonists couldn''t do anything to him if he really got down to it.


    That must be the reason for the events getting fastened.


    He could also tell that the other protagonists must be receiving many broken boosts as well; after all, they needed to lessen the gap of power between them and Alex, as Alex was the final boss.


    ''Hm, so that woman is the first heroine.''


    Alex''s focus then shifted to the woman standing right next to Lokiath as he used his all-seeing eyes on her.


    ''Ohh?''


    The moment he did, he couldn''t help but raise his brow.


    ''Now, isn''t she interesting��''


    He muttered as he found something very unique about that woman.


    It was not something broken or power-boosting; it was just unique.


    Just then he saw Elenia speaking, and his gaze shifted to her, and he couldn''t help but raise his head again.


    ''An overprotective sister who likes her brother more than a sister should. Is he the protagonist with an incest temte?''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He questioned inwardly as everything about both of the women, their likes and dislikes, and their preferences as well, was open for him to see.


    He wasn''t going to look at Lokiath with his all-seeing eyes, but he never said anything about the people the guy was surrounded with.


    However, as soon as he saw the guy getting cornered a lot more than a protagonist should, Alex realized that it was time��it was time for him to make a move.


    "Hey, Luna."


    He called out to Luna as he turned toward the ballroom.


    "Yes?"


    Luna, who was still busy pondering why Alex brought her here with him, turned to look at him with a questioning expression.


    "Want to see that guy getting humiliated?"


    Alex didn''t specify whom he was talking about, but Luna didn''t need him to; she understood who he was talking about just by the small grin at the corner of his lips.


    "Sure, but you better make it fun."


    Luna giggled as she strolled close to Alex and locked her right arm with Alex''s right arm.


    "As you wish,dy Tuner."


    Alex chucked at her demand with a shake of his head and the next second.


    *Swoosh*


    They were gone from the garden and were back in the ballroom, standing on the first floor.


    But the moment they arrived, the moment their presence was noticed, as if in a tendon, every pair of eyes turned toward them.


    But they walked forward without being affected by those hundreds of gazes.


    Alex and Luna''s eyes, however, turned toward the single person, who had yet to realize the situation, or maybe he was just too excited that he was finally going to have it his way.


    "Maurice Noxviel, if you dare��"


    Even the guy, Lokiath, realized that something was off the moment he found his adversary''s eyes focused on someone other than him.


    The moment he saw who it was, even he paused, his words getting stuck in his throat.


    ''The demon lord��''


    He muttered inwardly, but then he saw Luna, who was standing right beside Alex, and his eyes turned a bit cloudy.


    ''Luna��''


    He called out her name before he added.


    ''My Luna��''


    A possessive light was shining in his eyes, but before he could continue viting Luna with his eyes, Alex''s voice echoed through the hall.


    "Don''t let my presence interrupt what you''re doing. You may carry on.


    I''m curious to see what interests and excites the younger generation, so I''ll just watch quietly from the side."


    Alex spoke, his majesty and grandiosity on full disy as he descended down the stairs along with Luna.


    *Step**Step*...


    *Tip**Top*...


    The steps of Luna and Alex echoed throughout the hall, but no one spoke a word.


    The participants of the argument, Maurice, Elenia, Roaline, and Lokiath, were standing there with their bodies tensed.


    The other royal descendants, who were enjoying the show, had now stepped aside; no one wanted to get a share of the demon lord''s anger.


    In everyone''s ears, Alex''s words might sound encouraging, but they thought that he was taunting.


    No one would appreciate an argument or a fight that had happened ignoring their presence, especially when they have the authority.


    "They don''t seem to get what you mean, ''my lord''."


    Luna, who was walking down with her amr in Alex''s much to Lokiath''s dissatisfaction, whispered in Alex''s ears, highlighting the word, ''my lord''.


    Her words, however, were in no way low, as every single demon could hear her words loud and clear, causing their bodies to tense.


    They didn''t notice the tease in Luna''s voice, for them, it was aining tone.


    They thought that Luna was seriously calling out their fault, unaware that the reason she even walked in here was to watch the fun humiliation of the guy who was still staring at her, much to her annoyance.


    But she found it funny that the guy was getting jealous and angry about the fact that she was holding Alex''s hands.


    ''Who does he think he is?''


    She chuckled inwardly while also shaking her head in exasperation.


    "Oh?" Read chapters at empire


    Alex, on the other hand, just raised a brow as he heard Luna''s words before he turned to look at the group of young demons standing together.


    He tilted his head, expressing his confusion before he began...


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 349 - At least hes alive.

    Alex wanted the plot to continue but not unadministered.


    He wanted to be there to observe anything and everything, as he wanted to interfere the moment he thought that Lokiath was going to get an advantage.


    So, he arrived at the moment he knew that the real thing was happening.


    He then told the guys to continue what they were doing, but it looked like they took it in a bad way.


    Alex didn''t want that.


    He wanted the plot to continue; if he were to stop the plot right now, then Lokiath would have something else happen to himter, and that something would give him more profit than what he was supposed to gain.


    Then the problem was that Alex wouldn''t be there to turn his fortune into misfortune.


    [If you stall the plot, it would just profit the protagonist, as the plotted profit he was supposed to gain would get added to the next one.


    If you were to foil the plot, however, then things would change.]


    This is what Sophia had told Alex about the plotted profit that a protagonist is supposed to get.


    Alex''s reply to that was simple.


    ''I''ll just destroy it then.''


    That was what he was going to do now, so he began as he looked at the group of young demons.


    "Know this: I''m not much older than any of you��perhaps even younger than some.


    Do you really think I wouldn''t take an interest in the affairs of those around my own age?"


    Alex questioned all of them as his gaze focused on the main characters of the discussion, Lokiath, Maurice, and Elenia. Your next chapter awaits on empire


    He was ignoring Rosaline for now, as he knew that ignoring her would be much better for his future ns.


    But the mature woman, who saw herself being ignored by Alex and not even being spared a nce by the demon lord, who was like her secret crush, caused her to lower her head again.


    Small drops of tears formed at the corner of her eyes, but she held them in.


    She regretted not being more forceful and stopping Lokiath when he did all those things with her.


    The youngsters, however, were left bbergasted by Alex''s words.


    ''What?!''


    ''He''s of the same age group?''


    ''He''s lying for sure...''


    ''How is he so strong, then...?''


    ''What kind of milk did he drink when he was a kid?''


    ''Pretentious mf...''


    Everyone had different thoughts, but one thing wasmon, they were shocked.


    It was not just them, though; even the older ones who heard Alex''s words had their eyes widened to their extreme.


    Other than Azaroth, who was way stronger than Alex, no one else had ever been able to judge Alex''s age, so when they heard those words, their shock wasn''t unwarranted.


    "Hm?"


    But not getting a response from any of them, Alex frowned; that frown caused the young demons to break out of their thoughts.


    "Of course you would be interested, my lord."


    The first to speak was a demon with tanned skin and ck hair, his ck eyes gleaming with a unting light as he rubbed his palms together.


    "Hmmmm..."


    *Step*


    Alex nodded his head as he finally stepped down thest stair, and just as he did...


    *Woosh* X4


    A light breeze blew and four people appeared right behind Alex with their eyes scanning the crowd.


    They were Azaroth, Valerius, Morvan, and Mk.


    Nyx was also there, but he wasn''t visible, more like he was beside Alex from the moment he appeared.


    "What is your name?"


    Alex questioned as he scanned the guy who had spoken earlier.


    "Volvic Jagorth greets the demon lord."


    The guy, Volvic, hurriedly bowed his head, his body rxed, showing his subservience.


    "Hm, then you must be the crown prince of the Jagorth kingdom."


    Alex thought for a second before he spoke with a look of realization.


    "It is as you have guessed, my lord."


    Volvic, who heard Alex''s words smiled in tion.


    The demon lord remembering his name and pointing it out in front of everyone was something to be proud of; he could use it to rub on other demons'' facester on.


    But before the guy could enjoy his short-lived happiness, Alex''s words resounded throughout the hall.


    "Tell me, why don''t I recall speaking with you?


    What I do remember is addressing a certain group that managed to catch my eye."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    His question wiped the smile off Volvik''s face, leaving nothing but a look of sheer dread.


    Even the king and queen of the kingdom of Jagorth, who were getting smug about their son catching the demon lord''s eyes, momentarily froze in their spots.


    ''Please, no...''


    The eyes of the king of Jagorth started getting clouded with despair.


    Everyone knew what had happened to Rohrg and his family, just because that guy went against Alex, so the scene looked a bit simr to them.


    "What are you still standing here for?"


    Much to their relief, though, Alex didn''t go overboard this time; he just waved his hand, and Valerious stepped forward, questioning the guy with a frown.


    The guy, however, didn''t get the time toe up with a reply as Valerius waved his hand, and...


    *Baam**Crash*


    The guy was sent hurtling through the air until he crashed onto the wall of the ballroom, falling to the ground with a thud.


    *Thud*


    Volvik was left unconscious on the ground with blood flowing out of his mouth, but his chest was still heaving, indicating that he was still alive.


    "Sigh..." X2


    That alone was enough to make the king and the queen of the Jagorth kingdom sigh in relief.


    ''At least he''s alive...''


    That''s what they thought, but they didn''t move to help him get treated.


    ''He should learn when to speak and when not to.''


    The king of the Jagorth kingdom thought as he stopped his wife from moving as well.


    This was now going to be his punishment for bringing shame to them.


    The other kings and queens, who were staring at them with envy a while ago, were now snickering at them.


    Alex, on the other hand, stepped toward the group of Lokiath and the others, causing their bodies, which were rxing when they heard his talk about being of the same age group as them, to tense again.


    This small event reminded them that no matter what his age was, or no matter how much he was smiling, Alex was still the same unpredictable demon lord they knew about.


    He hasn''t turned into a friendly neighborhood demon lord who would step into the crowd and mingle with them.


    His calm and positive smile now looked like a sly grin to them; the majesty and grandiosity that shone in his red eyes now looked like the eyes of a predator looking for his prey.


    So, with tense bodies and racing minds, the small group of young demons watched as Alex inched closer to them with slow and calm steps.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 350 - He wont bite.

    "Oh, there''s no need for such tension; as I''ve stated, you may proceed with your activities.


    I''m merely here to observe, nothing more."


    Alex, who saw the bodies of the young demons getting tense, chuckled while waving his hands, and Luna, who was walking beside him, added.


    "He won''t bite."


    She giggled, causing Alex to chuckle louder.


    Their jolly interaction, however, looked like two devils whispering sly words in the eyes of others.


    One would want to say match made in the heavens, but here, they were a match made for hell.


    Unlike the ones at the center of everything, others, particrly the ones who would profit from all of those young demons getting killed, started to get excited.


    ''Just kill them all.''


    That''s what they wanted, but they didn''t show it on the outside.


    "Maurice Noxviel, I dare you to say the same thing again."


    But then, a voice filled with defiance and confidence echoed throughout the hall.


    "..."


    Everyone��every single demon, even the toddlers, who couldn''t tell what was happening��had their eyes snap toward the owner of the voice.


    ''Is this guy being serious right now?''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That was the only thought that passed through their minds as they stared at the boy with a pimpy look and sharp, seductive features.


    His bright red hair waved naturally, and his piercing golden eyes��filled with maturity that wouldn''t be possible for a guy his age��stared at Maurice with a challenging glint.


    Of course, it was the protagonist, Lokiath Fyzenar; who else could have enough guts to speak in front of the demon lord if not the protagonist?


    For Lokiath, it was like: The demon lord is asking for us to continue, so why don''t we just do it?


    He wanted to let Maurice taste defeat by his own hands, after all.


    Alex, on the other hand, just like everyone, was a bit stunned by this; after all, he had seen that guy tremble under his gaze a second ago, yet now he was standing straight, gazing at Maurice with defiance.


    His eyes turned to meet the equally surprised eyes of Luna before he started tough.


    "Hahahahaha."


    Heughed out loud, but as the hall waspletely silent, hisugh sounded more eerie than jovial.


    *Giggle*


    Even Luna was giggling lightly with her palm covering her lips, but the next second...


    *Swoosh*


    In a sh, Alex zapped next to Lokiath, his face still wearing a happy smile.


    But the hearts of the people who cared for Lokiath were constricted.


    Elenia, who saw Alex appear right next to Lokiath, froze in horror; the scene of what had happened with Rohrg yed in her mind, and then she saw Volvik lying on the ground with nothing to tell whether he was alive or dead.


    Her lips moved, trying to say something, but others spoke before anyone could even utter a word.


    "Hmm, bright red hair and golden eyes��those are unmistakable traits of the royals of Fyzenar. Given your age, you''re clearly not the crown prince, and it''s evident you''re not a girl.


    That would make you the youngest son of the king of Fyzenar, Lokiath Fyzenar. Am I correct?"


    Alex scanned Lokiath''s body with a squinted gaze as he uttered those words, adding an ''Am I right?'' at the end even though he knew that he was right.


    He got these pieces of information from the others, such as Elenia and Rosaline, so it couldn''t be wrong.


    Lokiath and Elenia, who heard his words, had their eyes widen in surprise and shock, the same could be said for the king and queen of the Fyzenar kingdom.


    ''He knows who we are?!''


    A demon lord remembering their name was already a big achievement, much less being recalled by him.


    It was as if they were someone he thought worthy enough to be remembered.


    This alone was enough to inte the ego of the already egoistic protagonist.


    Lokiath now thought that he was someone important in Alex''s eyes.


    So, with his eyes filled with arrogance, he spoke.


    "Yes, I am."


    That was all he said, and his eyes, which had been staring right into Alex''s, then turned to look into Luna''s, but just as he did...


    *Shiver*


    An intense chill ran down his chill, and his pupils dted in terror.


    {ADD MY LORD!}


    The system voice, which had always remained passive and monotonous, was now filled with panic and urgency as it screamed in his head, and Lokiath, who still didn''t understand what actually happened, hurriedly bowed his head.


    "... my lord," he added in a strained yet respectful tone.


    He didn''t even realize how close he was to death, as the moment his eyes turned to look at Luna, Alex''s gaze had turned cold, but the system''s warning saved him.


    What happened to the system?


    Why did it suddenly gain emotions?


    Why did it scream at him?


    All of these questions were something he wanted an answer to, but he could do thatter; right now, he had to deal with Maurice.


    "Good. Continue to heed my words, and you''ll reach heights that no one would dare to imagine."


    Alex, whose face had turned stone cold, changed in an instant, a small, graceful smile tugging at his lips as he patted Lokiath''s shoulder.


    [Yeah? You mean heaven, right?]


    Sophia, however, just giggled at the double-meaning words of Alex.


    Alex didn''t respond to Sophia''s words; he just shrugged with a knowing smile before he turned to look at Maurice, who seemed to be dissatisfied by Lokiath gaining all the spotlight.


    The fact that Lokiath didn''t thank Alex for his ''kind'' words was ignored by everyone as he was the protagonist.


    "There could only be one Maurice with dirt blonde hair and ember-colored eyes, the crown prince of the Noxviel kingdom, Maurice Noxviel.


    Am I right?"


    Alex''s eyes pretended to scan the guy, but in reality, he was just looking at the guy''s information with his semi-activated all-seeing eyes.


    ''He''s perfect.''


    Inwardly, however, Alex grinned as he found the perfect candidate to help him execute his ns.


    Luna, who was observing everything from afar, just raised a brow in intrigue.


    ''What is he trying to do?''


    She wondered, but then she just shrugged.


    ''Well, I guess it''s more fun to see it uncovered on its own.''


    "Maurice Noxviel greets the demon lord."


    Maurice, on the other hand, although his face was brimming with smiles, still went down on his knees and greeted Alex, causing people to shake their heads with a sigh of respect.


    ''He''s kneeling even though he''s the crown prince of a kingdom, and he...''


    They threw envious nces at the king and queen of the Noxviel kingdom to have a child as mannered as Maurice before their gaze turned scornful as they looked at the king and queen of the Fyzenar kingdom.


    Lokiath''s disrespect was finally noticed after he was beingpared to Maurice, but just then, everyone saw Alex''s arms moving up at Maurice''s shoulder and heard Alex''s voice, causing their eyes to widen again.


    "You''ve got a bright future, Crown Prince of Noxviel. Keep up the good work, and there mighte a day when we''ll have to add another general''s throne next to mine."


    The implications behind his words caused not only Maurice''s but even the bodies of others who understood it to quake in shock.


    ''WHAT!''


    Even the demon generals were shocked.


    They were still recovering from the surprise that Alex knew the names of the princes and princesses of the kingdoms in the empire when they heard his words.


    The next moment, however, the image of the reward they were given by him surfaced in their minds, and their shock died down.


    They realized that if Alex had four of those serums, he could surely have more of them, and if he had them, then wouldn''t it simply mean that he could make anyone have the potential to be a demon general?


    The others, however, weren''t aware of this, so they just stared at Alex with a stupified gaze.


    Even Maurice didn''t believe it, but for some reason, as he felt those strong hands on his shoulders, he got a feeling that nothing was impossible.


    But just as he was still busy with his thoughts, he heard a voice right next to his ears.


    "Teach him a good lesson, and make it entertaining, so much so that it gives me a goodugh, then I will take it into my hands to have Elenia marry you."


    It was Alex''s voice; Maurice could tell that for sure, but when he heard the content of the message, his eyes widened again, excitement and tion bubbling within them.


    He didn''t know why Alex wanted him to humiliate Lokiath, nor did he want to know.


    He himself wanted to do it, so Alex''s words were as if a leash that had been stopping him was getting removed.


    If that was not enough, Alex had promised him the hand of the girl that he had wanted to be with since his eyes fell on her.


    What more could he want?


    It was as if the heavens were throwing flowers at him.


    Getting to bash the guy who never sat well with him while also getting the girl he wanted.


    Just perfect.


    "Rest assured, my lord, I won''t let you down."


    Maurice wasn''t a dumb guy, so instead of directly answering the whisper, he replied in a way that would be suitable for both of Alex''sments, causing Alex''s smile to widen.


    "Good, good. Now go on and settle your matter, I will move aside."


    With a final pat on Maurice''s back, Alex zapped back to Luna, who had been staring at him with a look filled with interest.


    /// I tried a bit fast-paced guys, so do tell me if it was fast or if it was still slow. ///

 CHAPTER 351 - Blocking the protagonists cheat.

    Alex stood beside Luna, who was still staring at him with curiosity, causing Alex to finally look at her.


    "What is it?"


    He questioned her as he squinted his eyes.


    ''You did something to that Maurice guy, didn''t you?''


    Luna asked, her eyes shining with a gleam of suspicion, her lips, however, never moved.


    She was talking telepathically.


    "Hmm, maybe, maybe not..."


    Alex, on the other hand, just shrugged with a mysterious smile.


    Unlike Luna, who could use telepathy to talk, Alex couldn''t, as he had yet to ept her as his woman.


    ''Huff!''


    Luna just let out a frustrated huff in response to Alex''s mysterious vibing.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex, who heard the huff inside of his head, just chuckled lightly while shaking his head, as he saw Luna turn her head, looking back to the main character of the ongoing topic.


    Azaroth, the demon ancestor, who was standing right beside Alex along with the generals, also had his attention focused on the group, as Elenia Noxviel was a good friend��more like a senior sister��of his granddaughter.


    "What was that you were saying? I''m afraid I don''t quite grasp thenguage of barking��do pardon myck of understanding."


    Maurice, with the demon lord on his side, didn''t hold back anymore; his words, as if venom, attacked Lokiath.


    "You basta��"


    {Host, you should refrain from cursing in front of the demon lord.}


    Lokiath, who was indirectly called a dog by Maurice, cursed, but the system''s warning cut him off, causing him to grind his teeth in annoyance.


    ''Why just me?! That mf is doing the same!''


    Lokiath roared inwardly, clearly not satisfied with the situation, but the system was quick to reply.


    {The host should do what the system had suggested, nothing has changed; the situation is the same.}


    Lokiath''s eyes, which were filled with irritation, brightened the moment he heard the system''s words.


    ''Yes! How could I forget??''


    He pped his head inwardly before a smug grin slowly made its way to his lips.


    Maurice, who saw that, frowned, but before he could add anything orment anything, Lokiath spoke.


    "Maurice Noxviel, I dare you to say another disrespectful word about me or my family, then watch what I do."


    Lokiath asserted with a serious yet smug look, as if he had the upper hand, and Maurice, who saw this, frowned harder, a bad feeling gripping his heart.


    But just as he was having second choices about speaking something, he felt the gaze of the demon lord on his back; it felt like he was being peered right through.


    *Tremble*


    He shivered, but he didn''t look back; he just stared at Lokiath.


    ''I have the demon lord by my side; what''s the worst that could happen?''


    He thought to himself before he opened his lips.


    "You think I would be scared of your empty threats?"


    He sneered at Lokiath, somehow gaining renewed confidence, only to have it shatter the moment he saw Lokiath''s grin widening.


    "I guess you don''t mind me telling everyone about your bean-sized penis, then."


    Lokiath''s words caused every voice in the room to go off, including Maurice''s, who was left stunned in his spot.


    ''How did he know...?''


    Maurice was dumbfounded, not sure how Lokiath got that information.


    "What? Did I hit a nerve or something?"


    The silence, however, was soon broken by Lokiath''s chuckles filled with ridicule.


    As soon as those words were heard, as if in a tendon, everyone''s eyes turned toward Maurice.


    Their gaze focused on the ce between his crouch, only to see Maurice''s palm moving forward to cover that part.


    ''WHAT? Is it true?''


    That action, along with his face that seemed to be just a step away from being called a tomato, was enough for such doubt to appear in everyone''s minds.


    ''No way, right?''


    Some didn''t want to believe it, especially the girls who thought of him as the prince charming of their dreams, of course, before they saw Alex.


    "S-Shut up!"


    Maurice''s panicked shout only caused that doubt to solidify, and Alex, who saw this, just sighed in disappointment.


    ''What did I even expect from a third-rate viin.''


    He muttered with a shake of his head.


    The crown prince of the Noxviel kingdom had just one thing he was insecure about, and it was his micro penis, so the moment it was revealed, he lost his cool, but before he could make the matter worse, he heard a voice.


    "Bear in mind that I''ve extended the same offer to your opponent; whoever entertains me more shall im it all. It''s a winner-takes-all, or you lose everything."


    *Shiver*


    The dismissive tone in the voice he heard sent a shiver down his spine, and his eyes quaked.


    The heir to the Noxviel throne finally realized that he wasn''t special, but then his eyes started to turn red.


    ''Lokiath bing a demon general? Taking my Elenia?


    Over my dead body!!''


    He roared inwardly, but just as he was about to burst forward, Alex''s word echoed in his mind again.


    ''Make it fun...''


    Alex wanted a scene that would be fun to look at.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    He took a deep breath, his eyes turning calm like ake, staring at Lokiath before he spoke.


    "You know, Lokiath..."


    He purred, his hands moving into his pockets and his feet toward Lokiath with slow and deliberate steps, causing the air to turn heavy.


    ''Sophia, restrict his system from interfering with anything.''


    Alex, on the other hand,manded Sophia to do the deed, and Sophia replied in an instant.


    [Done.]


    ''That was fast.''


    Alex whistled in amazement.


    [You underestimate me and your system a bit too much, Alex.]


    Sophia spoke in a knowing tone, and Alex just shrugged at it.


    ''You are the one who never told me about its full capability.''


    [...]


    Sophia grew silent at that, as she knew that it was true, and it was going to stay that way for a long time.


    {Sigh...}


    She just sighed to herself, and Alex, who got no answer from Sophia, turned back to the scene ying in front of him.


    "There are many things I despise, but none more so than when someone attempts to tarnish my name. And you have just done exactly that."


    Maurice stepped right in front of Lokiath, and although he had to look up into the guy''s eyes, the moment he had was enough to give him the advantage.


    "Do you know what I do to people like that?"


    He pulled his right hand out of his pocket, resting it on the shoulder of Lokiath, who, for some reason, had an urgent and panicking light shining in his eyes.


    ''System! Mfing System! ANSWER ME!!''


    Lokiath kept screaming inwardly but got no response from the system; it was as if the system had disappeared.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Everything he was supposed to say, and the format was supposed to be in sequence, and as he was shitty with politics, it was the system that would point out what he should say, but now...


    "I kill them."


    Maurice, unaware of what Lokiath was going through, uttered those words in a cold voice, his grip on Lokiath''s shoulder tightening.


    ''Now we''re talking'', and Alex, who saw this, grinned inwardly.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 352 - A Solid Humiliation 1.

    "Arghh!"


    Lokiath groaned in pain, getting down on his knees.


    "Stop it, mf!"


    He raised his palm, clutching Maurice''s fingers that were crushing his shoulder, trying to break his finger, only to fail.


    He was weak��really weak.


    He had just been summoned to this world, and he was supposed to receive his when he needed it the most; ording to the system, now was the time, but he couldn''t even ess the system interface.


    ''Fuck, where are you, mfing syste��?!''


    He roared inwardly, but his scream was cut short as...


    *Crack*


    A crisp sound of something cracking was heard and Lokiath''s eyes went as wide as an egg before...


    "ARGHHHHHHH!"


    He let out a pained screech; the demons in the surroundings, however, just enjoyed the scene.


    Maurice, as the crown prince, was pretty talented��so much so that he was considered one of the top 15 young demons��reaching the peak of EX-rank at the age of 19.


    So for him, crushing Lokiath, who was an S-ranker, was like snapping a twig.


    "Sto��"


    Elenia, who was chuckling at the grand reveal about Maurice, now had her eyes wide in shock and rage.


    She couldn''t believe Maurice would directly attack Lokiath, her sweet little brother.


    But before she could evenplete her words, she froze in her spot.


    *p**p*...


    "Excellent, I see you intend to settle this matter as true men should.


    Continue, and know this: the victor shall have their choice of anything within the imperial treasury."


    The sound of pping was heard, followed by the happy voice of their oh-so-great demon lord, who seemed to be enjoying this development.


    "Thank you for the opportunity, my lord."


    Maurice was quick to lick Alex''s feet as he bowed his head toward Alex, his hand still pressing Lokiath to the ground.


    "Good."


    Alex nodded his head at Maurice before he turned toward Elenia, who was frozen in time by none other than Alex himself.


    "Now, what should I do with you??"


    He tapped his chin as he scanned Elenia''s body, and there was only one thing he would want to say as he looked at her figure��a toned-down version of muscle mommy.


    She was beautiful on top of that, but for Alex, who had his eyes set only on the girls who sat well with him, she was just meh.


    The king and queen of the Fyzenar kingdom were frozen in their spots, not because they wanted to, but because Azaroth made them to.


    Although he didn''t care much about them living or dying, he cared about the empire, and losing more than one kingdom in just a week wasn''t a good sign.


    So, he, as the demon ancestor, stopped the king and queen even before they could make a move.


    But how could Alex not notice that?


    "It''s fine, Azaroth; I wouldn''t want to weaken the empire that I rule over."


    Alex spoke without even looking back, as he stared at Elenia for a while before his eyes brightened in realization.


    "Let them free."


    Alex ordered Azaroth, and the demon ancestor, deciding to trust Alex, let the king and queen of the Fyzenar kingdom go free, but unlike what one would think, they didn''t rush forward.


    They had heard Alex''s words, and that was enough to give them an idea of what he must be talking about, so although devastated, they still stood in their spots.


    "That''s the proper way to conduct yourself. Here, take her."


    *Woosh*


    Along with those satisfied words, Alex waved his words, and Elenia, who was frozen still in her spot, was teleported right next to her mother and father.


    "Keep her in check, and I will make sure that your son is still alive."


    Again, Alex uttered those words without even looking back, but his confident andmanding tone was enough for the king and the queen of the kingdom to have their worries lessened.


    "Now, I should make thepetition a bit fair, right?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    I don''t want to be called unreasonal ruler or something like that, after all."


    Alex chuckled as he stared at Lokiath and Maurice with a pondering look before he began.


    "All right, first..."


    *Swoosh*


    He waved his hand, and both Maurice and Lokiath, who were inches away from each other, were now standing 10 meters away from each other with their mouths wide open, unsure of what happened.


    "And then, this..."


    Alex muttered again, and Maurice, who was standing in his spot with a bewildered look, grew horrified as he realized his strength was regressing.


    "Now, it''s fair."


    Alex nodded his head repeatedly, as if proud of his deed, and everyone suddenly saw a red minus mark appearing above Maurice''s head.


    "W-Wha��"


    Maurice stumbled backward while waving his hands, trying to scratch away the minus sign, but just then, he heard Alex''s voice again.


    "Don''t worry, it merely indicates that your power has been reduced to S-rank. Now, you can fight to your heart''s content."


    Maurice''s dumbfounded eyes moved toward Alex, wanting to know why Alex did this, but all he saw was the carefree gaze of Alex before he heard his voice in his ears.


    "Do you wish for everyone to see you as a coward who abuses his superior power to bully the weak?


    Do you believe Elenia would love you for that?


    You are the crown prince of the Noxviel kingdom, not like your opponent, who has never even harmed a fly, much less wielded a sword. So, act like the prince you are."


    Those words caused Maurice''s gaze to pua before it turned toward Lokiath, who was staring at him with eyes filled with resentment, then his eyes turned toward Elenia, who, despite being warned by her parents, didn''t seem satisfied.


    ''I don''t need superior power to destroy that look on your face...''


    His eyes turned sharp as he stared back at Lokiath with a gaze filled with resolution, now confident about his victory, before he spoke.


    "Be ready, waste; I''m not going to go easy on you."


    Maurice''s voice reverberated throughout the tense atmosphere, causing Lokiath to frown his brows on the outside; inwardly, however, that guy was desperately trying to call for the system.


    ''I don''t know fuck about magic; what am I supposed to do?! System, answer me!''


    "Good, both of you seem eager. Let the fight begin!"


    Alex, who saw this, gestured for both Maurice and Lokiath to move, announcing the start of the fight.


    The next moment, he waved his hand, and five thrones emerged from the ground, one for him and the other for the three generals, along with Azaroth.


    "Let us have a seat."


    Alex asserted before he sat on his throne, pulling Luna on hisp as if it were a natural thing to do. Noctura, on the other hand, was still asleep in his arms, as she was under Alex''s spell.


    With that, the fight began as Maurice rushed toward the unprepared Lokiath.


    Many people were relieved by the development, many dissatisfied, and many excited, but one thing wasmon for all of them: they were looking forward to the result of the fight.


    _________________________________________


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but it is up to you. *

 CHAPTER 353 - A Solid Humiliation 2.

    "Hah!"


    With a short exmation, Maurice hurled his fist toward the unprepared Lokiath.


    Lokiath was as weak as he was famous for; he hadn''t been able to utilize his cheat for long, after all.


    He had the memories of thete Lokiath, the real owner of this body, but even that guy was a nerd, only read theories about magic and stuff, and never knew how to implement them.


    ''System! I will die like this?!''


    All he could do was scream inwardly, calling out to the system, only to get no response.


    ''Hey! System��!''


    This time, however, before he could evenplete his words, he felt a straight punch on his cheek, causing his world to spin around.


    *Baam*


    ''Hmph!''


    Maurice snorted inwardly as he saw Lokiath''s body beingunched back after receiving his punch.


    *Thud*


    "Arghh..."


    Lokaith''s body rotated twice before it fell to the ground, and the guy clutched his cheek as he groaned in pain.


    ''What the hell...


    Aren''t our stats equalized?''


    The poor guy, who didn''t know that difference in stat was not the only deciding factor during the fight, muttered in doubt and pain.


    The ringing in Lokiath''s head caused his vision to blur for a while, but just as his vision returned...


    ''What the fuck!''


    *Baam*


    All he saw was a fist and just like before, he was thrown back again.


    *Crack*


    "ARGHHH!"


    This time, however, he was sure that it was either his neck or his cheekbone, but something did crack, and it was painful as hell.


    ''Fuck! System, if you are listening to my words, then remember that I''ll never forget th��''


    His thoughts were again cut short as...


    *Baam*


    Maurice threw a kick at Lokiath''s stomach, causing him to slide through the floor of the ballroom.


    "Urghh�CCough!"


    Lokiath coughed out blood as he felt at least two or three of his ribs were cracked.


    *Step**Step*...


    But before he could ever recover from the pain, he heard a pair of rushing steps, causing his body to jerk before he raised his arms up in the air.


    "THIS IS CHEATING!!"


    As soon as his pained yet desperate yell was heard, the people in the hall raised a brow.


    ''Cheating? How so?''


    They thought inwardly.


    No one could see any cheating.


    But the next instant...


    *Snap*


    A snap echoed throughout the hall, causing everyone to pause, their eyes turning toward the demon lord��the one who snapped his fingers.


    "Are you saying that I''m not a good judge?"


    Alex directly questioned Lokiath, a frosty expression marring his face.


    *Shiver*


    Lokiath, for the first time, really felt fearful of Alex, even more so when his source of confidence, his golden finger, the lust-binding system, went off all of a sudden.


    "I-I didn''t mean that way, my lord."


    His voice and his confidence broke, as he uttered those words between his pained groans.


    "Oh? Then what did you mean?"


    Alex leaned a bit forward, his eyes squinting as he started right into the waste protagonist''s eyes.


    *Grit*


    Lokiath, although grounded his teeth as he saw Luna''s waist being pulled closer to Alex, still replied.


    "I wasn''t prepared for that attack, my lord; I didn''t even get a chance to fight��!"


    "Ah, so you wish toin about not getting a chance to fight, even though it was your own fault for being unprepared.


    And now, youment that missed opportunity, while your opponent, whose strength has been reduced to the meager level of yours, showed not a hint of dissatisfaction. I see I misjudged you, young Fyzenar."


    Alex shook his head in disappointment before he snapped his finger again, breaking Maurice, who was paused in time, free.


    *Snap*


    "..."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Maurice, who was paused in his track because of Alex''s temporal pause, was able to move again, but this time he didn''t move himself.


    "Sigh..."


    Maurice sighed with a contemptuous expression.


    "You know, for a while, I was jealous of the fact that our lord was speaking well about you, but look at you now; you couldn''t even stay up like a man, and now you''ve caused our lord a great deal of disappointment."


    *Step**Step*...


    Maurice''s words were like a sharp knife, attacking Lokiath''s reputation��whatever he had��from every side, his steps inching closer to the guy who was still on the ground, trying to deal with the pain he felt.


    "For that, maybe our Lord, who is generous, would forgive you, but I cannot do it.


    I cannot bear the sight of a guy like you."


    Maurice reached close to Lokiath before he extended his arm and grabbed the guy''s cor.


    *Woosh*


    But Lokiath, as if waiting for this right moment, threw a straight punch right at Maurice''s face.


    *Grab*


    That, however, was blocked by Mourice''s other palm.


    "What!"


    Lokiath eximed in shock as he found his attempt to attack Lokiath failing, but before he could il his other hand at Maurice...


    *Crack**Snap*


    "ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!"


    With the sharp sound of something cracking, Lokaith''s eyes widened in agony as he let out a painful roar.


    As said before, he was only good at one fight, and that was on the bed, he could deal with one opponent, two opponents, three opponents, male opponents, gender-confused opponents, or any other type of opponent.


    But when it came to the real thing, he was zero, and so was his pain tolerance��zero.


    "MY FINGERS!!"


    He screamed in pain, his body trying to jerk away from Maurice, only to fail, but that was not all.


    "Let go, mf��!"


    *Boom*


    "��Akk�Ccough!"


    A strong and hard punch came right at his stomach, causing the air in his lungs to get pushed out and his back to get hunched.


    His eyes were wide as he stared at the group with a miserable expression, blood leaking out of his mouth and nose.


    "Look into my eyes."


    *Phak*


    But before he could even get his thoughts straight, much less take a breath, a crisp sound of p echoed through the hall as Maurice''s fingerprints got printed on Lokiath''s cheek.


    Tears started to pool in Lokiath''s eyes as he felt the eyes of the other demons in the surroundings; the mocking glint in their eyes was like spears poking holes in his body.


    He used to be a yboy, but he had pride as well; now, however, it was getting shattered.


    "Please, stop�C!"


    Rosaline, who hadn''t uttered a word till now, finally couldn''t take it.


    But before she could even get close to the boys...


    *Woosh*


    A dark red colored mass of energy prated her head, and the light in her eyes vanished before she started to crumble.


    *Thud*


    Her broken and cracked body fell to the ground before it turned into dust, gone forever.


    "No one is supposed to interfere until I tell them to."


    Alex''s words reached the ear of every single demon in the hall, causing them to finally break out of their shock and shiver at the possibility of them being the ones trying to stop the fight.


    Elenia, her mother, and her father, who had been holding themselves back with all they had, couldn''t stop their eyes from trembling in horror.


    The one who was most shaken, however, was Eloriana Fyzenar, the first queen of the Fyzenar kingdom. To her, Rosaline was more like a sister than the other mistress of her husband, and watching her sister die in front of her eyes was not a pleasant experience.


    *Drip*


    A lone drop of tears slipped down her rosy cheeks, falling to the ground, and her husband, who was standing right next to her, patted her back, trying to console her.


    None of them wanted to me Alex for this, though; they couldn''t afford to do that right now.


    *p*


    But Maurice, who was unbothered by the death of Rosaline, just delivered another p on Lokiath''s cheek.


    The poor protagonist, however, has his eyes nkly staring at the spot where Rosaline had just vanished from.


    He didn''t know why��even though he didn''t give a shit about her before��he felt like he had lost something very important to himself.


    The p stung a lot, but his heart ached a lot more for reasons unknown to even him.


    Unknowingly, tears and snot started flowing down his eyes and nose.


    Lokiath was crying��crying at his situation. His tears ran down his cheeks, flowing down to Muarice''s palm, along with his snot, and the cron prince of Noxviel, of course, saw it.


    "Pathetic."


    Maurice scrunched up his nose in disgust before he threw the guy to the ground like a bad of waste.


    "Crying like a girl when you find yourself losing."


    He jerked his hand, wiping the liquid off his hand before he lifted his feet and pressed Lokiath''s head with it.


    "That is your rightful ce, below my shoes; remember that."


    He titled his body forward and looked down at Lokiath with arrogance, satisfied with all he had done.


    His head then turned to look at Alex, hoping to see an appreciating look, but he grew confused as he saw an uninterested look on his face.


    ''It was good, but not that fun, you know...''


    Luna, who saw everything go down, leaned back on Alex''s chest with a bored expression as she sent her thoughts straight into his head.


    "Right? I was thinking the same."


    Alex agreed with her words with a disappointed look before a grin made its way to his lips��a toothy grin, one that Maurice didn''t actually feel good about.


    "Let me show you something really entertaining, then."


    Alex''s words, along with the nasty grin on his face, told Luna all she would want to know, and the next second, she sat up straight, looking at Maurice, who, for some reason, stopped moving.

 CHAPTER 354 - That was fun!

    Maurice, who was confused as to why Alex didn''t seem satisfied with what he thought was a thorough humiliation, frowned in confusion.


    ''Is this not enough?''


    He thought inwardly.


    In his eyes or anyone else''s in the hall, this much was a solid humiliation for a royal prince.


    Many even thought that Lokiath wasn''t ever going to regain the light in his eyes, not unless he was just a bastard with no shame.


    To the royals, their dignity is what they value more than their lives, and right now, Lokiath has his dignity being stepped on.


    But was he a royal?


    For everyone else, yes, but for Alex, no.


    Alex knew that as a protagonist and a transmigrator to boot, this much wouldn''t suffice, so he began his own n��a n that he had kept as a backup.


    "Let me show you something really entertaining, then."


    He grinned, a gleam of excitement shing through his eyes.


    He wanted to break Lokiath as soon as possible, as the faster he loses everything, and as soon as that happens, Alex will have a newb rat��a sturdy one at that.


    Maurice, on the other hand, had a very bad feeling grip his heart the moment he saw that nasty grin on Alex''s face.


    But before he could say something or even blink, his mind went nk, and his body froze.


    Inside his mind, a bright light shed before an origami paper doll materialized. That doll had the same nasty grin as Alex, and the next second, the doll''s arms moved toward its crotch.


    The shocking thing, however, was that even Maurice, who was frozen, started moving his arms toward his crotch, albeit stiffly.


    *Click*


    The next moment, his fingers clicked open the button holding up his pants before they moved to his zipper.


    *Zzziiippp*


    Maurice opened the zip in his pants, and the pants fell down on Lokiath''s face, which was still below Maurice''s feet, revealing his purple-colored star-printed underwear.


    *Gasp* X n


    Several demons gasped, especially the girls, as it was considered shameful for them, even if they were demons.


    They questioned one after another, confused and enraged.


    "W-What''s he doing?"


    "Has he gone mad?!"


    "What is he trying to do?"


    Maurice, however, didn''t reply to them; he didn''t even look at them; he just kept staring at Lokiath with a nk expression before his fingers moved toward his underpants.


    "W-Wait��!"


    "He wouldn''t, right??"


    "No way, he would..."


    Shocked, bewildered, and panicked exmations left the lips of the demons who saw what Maurice was trying to do, but none of them moved forward to stop.


    Rosaline''s death was still vividly ying within their minds, and they didn''t want to turn into another pile of ash, so they stayed still in their spots, much more so when they could hear the demon lord''sughter.


    "Hahahaha. You sure know ways to humiliate people, Maurice."


    Alexughed out loud as he stared at the spectacle in front of him.


    This was what he wanted��a bit of entertainment.


    Luna, however, had her eyes squinted as she turned to look at Alex.


    ''It''s you, right?''


    She questioned him through telepathy.


    The odd behavior of Maurice and Alex''s words from before made here to the conclusion that Maurice was somehow being controlled by Alex.


    So she asked Alex about it, but Alex just smiled mysteriously.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Who knows...


    Don''t miss the forest for the tree."


    He just shrugged, but Luna already got her answer.


    She knew that Alex would''ve just said no if it was not him, so with her curiosity satisfied, she turned back to look at the show of ''fun humiliation'' going on in front of her.


    *Gasp*


    The next moment, however, a new series of gasps resounded as Maurice took out his little brother, which had been hiding inside of his underwear.


    It was small��small like the ones children have when they are justborns.


    The size was around 4-5 centimeters, but maybe it was because it was still not erect; who knows how it looked after getting up?


    "Wtf...?"


    "No way..."


    "He really has a micro-type..."


    "Why does it look cute, though?"


    The demons'' reactions to this were varied; some girls who saw it even found it cute.


    Most of them, however, outright ridiculed Maurice, the guy, however, just went on and aimed his micro-penis at Lokiath, causing the demons to widen their eyes.


    No one here was dumb enough to not understand what was going to happen and the next second...


    *Psssss*


    A string of yellow-colored liquid started pouring out of that small opening in that small thing, falling directly over Lokiath, who broke out of his thoughts as soon as he tasted the salty liquid.


    "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!"


    He roared in pain, rage, disbelief, and shame as he realized what he had just licked.


    "MF, MOVE!!"


    He bellowed as he tried to lift his head, but unfortunately for him, Maurice wasn''t going to let him go, or more like Alex wasn''t going to let him go.


    Yes, just like Luna had guessed, it was Alex who was controlling Maurice.


    The moment he had patted Maurice, he had sneakily struck him with an invisible origami sticker on his back.


    [Controller Cell (Epic-ranked): A one-time use item that could be used to control anyone below Epic 3 rank.


    Condition: The one who wants to control must be at least two ranks higher than the one being controlled.]


    This is the thing that Alex used on Maurice, and right now, Maurice is just a puppet for him.


    It did cost him a good amount of coins as it was an epic-ranked item, but meh, coins could be earned back.


    "Fuck��Gurgle!"


    Lokiath, who was being rained at with Muarice''s pee, tried to shout, only to have his mouth filled with pee.


    *Cough**Cough*


    His body shook in anger and shame as he coughed on that liquid, swallowing some of it by mistake, and by the time Maurice was done peeing, Lokiath had already stopped moving.


    The way people looked at him had changed. He now had no reputation or image left anymore; all that was left was the look of disgust in the eyes of the ones who looked at him.


    He had already seen the look of pity and despair in the eyes of his family members; it was as if even they knew that there was no turning back for him now.


    Maurice was still under Alex''s control and was now adjusting his pants as if he were done.


    Alex wanted to do more, but well, he didn''t have any interest in watching BL porn, so he let it be.


    He stood up from his seat with a happy smile; inwardly, however, he was breaking the control over Maurice.


    "Huh? What happ��"


    Maurice, who was broken free of Alex''s control, frowned as he found an acidic stench hitting his nose buds.


    He didn''t understand what was happening; he didn''t do anything, after all.


    But before he could even ask someone about it, Alex spoke up.


    "Maurice Noxviel. Today I found out there one could be so ruthless as to not leave your enemy even a shred of dignity.


    Your actions surprised me, but as I have said before, you, as a winner, can take one thing of your choice from the imperial treasury.


    Be sure to arrive here by 6 in the morning."


    Alex spoke as he walked toward Moarice, only to stop some meters away as the liquid seemed to be spreading out quite wide; Maurice did piss a lot.


    Then Alex added even before anyone could say anything.


    "Now,dies and gentlemen, I shall be taking my leave."


    Those were hisst words as he left the hall along with Luna and Noctura.


    Thest thing people saw was the happy smile on his face before he vanished.


    ''That was fun!''


    This was Alex''sst thought as his work here was done.


    What happens to the protagonist after this?


    Will he be able to recover?


    Those were things only time could tell.


    What Alex knew, however, was that Lokaith was never going to be the same again.


    The hall stayed silent for a while, with Lokiath still lying on the ground with a dead look in his eyes and Maurice still trying toprehend what went down.


    That was until the demons started whispering among themselves.


    ''W-What did I do again��?''


    Maurice, who heard those whispers, had his eyes wide open, doubting his entire consciousness.


    He couldn''t remember anything like that after all.


    How did it all happen when he can''t remember doing it?


    He turned to look at his parents, wanting to see their expressions, only to find a look of pity in their eyes.


    Now, what would he do? How was he going to find an answer to his questions?


    No one knew.


    The one who did was already out of here, now looking at someone with a look of interest in his eyes.


    He didn''t care about the fact that it was not just Lokiath who would have a lifelong scar on his reputation today.


    He only cared about his own interests, and already he got what he wanted.

 CHAPTER 355 - I had my reasons.

    Alex stared at the ck and golden-colored sphere in his palm before he gripped it hard.


    *Grip*


    His expression turned serious as if he was about to face a very strong opponent��someone who could possibly cause him harm.


    *Inhale**Exhale*


    He took a deep breath, closing his eyes along with it, and by the time he opened it, they were shining with intense determination.


    ''I choose you!''


    He eximed inwardly as he threw the Pokeball up in the air.


    The next second, a bright light shed, and...


    *Thud*


    The body of an unconscious woman fell to the ground with a thud.


    ''Phew��''


    Alex smiled inwardly as he saw this.


    ''I always wanted to do that.''


    He let out the air he had been holding in with a sigh.


    "What was that for?"


    Luna, who had been looking at all of his doings with a curious expression, questioned with a brow raised.


    "Nothing for you to worry about, I was just trying something."


    Alex, however, just waved it off.


    Luna, stared into his eyes for a while before she shrugged as well.


    She could sense satisfaction from Alex, so she was just interested to know what it could be, but since Alex didn''t want to say anything about it, she ignored it as well.


    Her focus was now on the woman lying on the ground, her eyes squinting as she scanned her body.


    "Didn''t she die?"


    She frowned as she could vividly remember seeing that woman turn into dust after Alex''s destruction energy touched her.


    "Yes, she did die, and I was the one who killed her."


    Alex replied to her with a smile as he gazed at the woman lying on the ground, her ck-colored hair scattered on the floor, her eyes closed shut, and her breaths in rhythm, indicating that she was sound asleep.


    "And?"


    Luna then turned toward Alex with a questioning gaze; she knew that he wasn''t done yet, and there was still something he was going to add.


    "Well, she was resurrected from her ashes."


    His words were casual, standing in a rxed poise, still staring at the woman, who was Rosaline, Lokiath''s first heroine, before he raised his palm up, causing her body to rise up in the air.


    "WHAT?!"


    Luna, however, was far from calm.


    She wasn''t oblivious to the meaning of the word resurrection.


    But was there an ability to bring one back to life???


    "Does that mean she won''t be killed? Will she just get revived every time someone kills her?"


    Luna, with a vignt light shining in her eyes, questioned hurriedly.


    But as she saw Alex''s next actions, her eyes widened, even if just a bit.


    Alex, who had Rosaline now raised up in front of his chest, extended his hand, moving toward her breasts, and the next second...


    *Pierce*


    With his hand covered with demonic energy, he pushed his palm inside her chest as if it were butter.


    "Khaukh��!"


    Rosaline, who was sleeping peacefully after being revied, had her caramel eyes widen in pain, but the next second, she was dead again.


    Luna, although shocked by this development, stayed silent and observed what Alex was doing.


    *Squelch*


    With a sickening sound of blood and flesh being mangled, Alex pulled his palm out of her chest, and in his palm, there was a heart that still seemed to be beating.


    "How?"


    Luna, who saw it, couldn''t help but question out loud.


    How was it even possible?


    How can a heart keep beating even after it is taken out of the body?


    "Well, to answer your questions..."


    Alex turned to look at Luna with a smile before he clenched the fist that had been holding the heart.


    *Squish*


    With a wet, muffled squelch, the heart turned into nothing but a blood paste, falling out of his palms.


    Alex wasn''t in the least affected by all that, and even Luna was just a bit surprised; for her, anything Alex did was right.


    If it were Alice who were to see this, then maybe, just maybe she would be a bit averse to the scene.


    Alex, who saw Luna still staring at his bloody palm without blinking, smiled inwardly.


    Then he opened his palm, revealing a bright red crystal that seemed to have gone dim.


    "You see this little thing?"


    Alex grinned at Luna, causing her to raise a brow in curiosity, but still replied.


    "Yes."


    "This little thing here is what brought her back to life."


    Alex added as he tossed the crystal toward Luna, who had her eyes go wide.


    "W-What! Why did you throw it?!"


    She eximed before she caught the crystal in a frenzy.


    "Sigh��"


    She only sighed in relief when she was sure that nothing had happened to it; her eyes then turned toward Alex with a grudgy look.


    *Chuckle*


    Alex, on the other hand, just chuckled, causing Luna to frown in annoyance.


    *Huff*


    She huffed with a re before she began.


    "Why are you throwing it here and there? What if it breaks?"


    But Alex just shrugged at her words and added between his chuckles.


    "That thing has already used up all of its power; now it would take at least 100 years for it to get fully charged again."


    Alex paused for a bit, and before Luna could cut in, he added.


    "And it can only be charged by the owner, who, unfortunately, died during my experiment."


    Alex''s tone sounded regretful, as if he didn''t intend to kill Rosaline when he had clearly impaled her with his palm.


    Luna, hearing his words, now had a dead look in her eyes.


    Alex''s chuckle just grew as he saw her dead stare, but not for long as he finally raised his arms in surrender.


    "All right, all right, it wasn''t an ident; I killed her, but I had my reasons.


    She was someone who couldn''t be left alive."


    Alex started off with a casual stare, but by the time he reached the end, his eyes turned serious, causing Luna''s eyes to sharpen as well.


    She could tell that Alex wasn''t ying with his words and he was really serious.


    "Why?"


    She questioned cautiously, expecting Alex to just turn mysterious again, but he didn''t do that; instead, he replied to her with the same solemn look.


    "She was rted to someone from the imperial family of the Phoenixia Empire, making the empire a potential ally of her lover, whom I''m going to kill."


    Alex''s words caused Luna''s body to tense.


    ''Rted to the imperial family of the Phoenix empire?''


    She knew how big of a matter that was.


    She was a link to the Phoenix empire for Lokiath, who was already on Alex''s kill list.


    Why?


    She knew the answer to that question very well, and although she was happy about Alex being possessive of her, she knew how much trouble this matter could cause if it came to light.


    But Alex wasn''t done with his words, as he added.


    "And the Phoenix Empire is an empire I don''t want to get into a conflict with; not until I get Alice out of there, at least."


    His words momentarily froze Luna.


    "Ah...''


    But then she finally realized why Alex was cautious enough to kill Rosaline before anyone else.


    ''Alice...''


    Spending her time alone with Alex almost made her forget that there were two girls out there whom Alex loved dearly and would go to any lengths for.


    But then she smiled.


    ''I won''t lose!''


    She was going to get a ce simr to them in Alex''s heart, no matter what.


    But she didn''t show it on the outside; she just wore a serious expression and asked another question.


    "Won''t her family members already know about her death?"


    Luna inquired with a wary look on her face, but Alex shook his head.


    "That''s the point; no one other than her knew about it, and even she was unaware of it, that is, until she died by my hands."


    Alex replied as she looked at the corpse of Rosaline.


    "Oh, so that''s why you killed her..."


    Luna muttered in realization, and getting a nod in reply from Alex, she started pondering about something, but right then, her gaze was pulled toward the crystal in her hands.


    "And what is this?"


    She questioned curiously, causing Alex to smile before another series of questions and answers started between Alex and Luna.


    Lokaiath, the protagonist, on the other hand, was sitting in his carriage with a dead look.


    There was no one with him as he sat alone, his mind nk, because the moment he tried to think of something, the scene of the humiliation he had gone through yed in his mind, making him feel like shit.


    But that was only until he heard a voice inside of his head.


    [The lust binding system is now active.]


    The moment he saw that illusionary blue screen sh in his vision, his body trembled, his fists clenched, and a raging fury burned in his eyes.


    "ARGHHHHHHHHH! YOU BASTARD!!"


    *Boom*n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He roared out loud, smashing his fist on the carriage''s door, only to have his knuckles bleed.


    ''YOU MFING SYSTEM!! I WILL KILL YOU!!''


    He yelled inwardly while he grounded his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, as if he was ready to kill someone right now.


    [Due to the host''s emotions being out of control, the system will let you sleep.]


    The system said nothing other than this, but Lokiath just clenched his fists in anger.


    ''I don''t feel sleep��!''


    His protest, however, was cut short as his eyes went nk and he fell back on the soft seat of the carriage, now asleep.


    [Sigh�� Why do I get these types of losers...]


    Another message shed in front of Lokiath, who wasn''t even conscious before everything went quiet.


    The driver of the carriage, who felt everything, just shook his head with a sigh...


    ''I wish he recovers soon...''


    That''s all he wished for.


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!