《Everyone Else Has a System》


 Chapter 1 Everything Started With A Boom?

    -Boom


    He attacked me again and I barely managed to dodge it.


    And then he again hit me with a wide ranged fireball spell that pushed me to the edge of the roof of the Sky Ship.


    Before I could prepare for my next move, she appeared right in front of me and pushed me off the Sky Ship.


    "Lucia. Why? I don''t understand¡­" I spoke with a perplexed and surprised expression as I fell down the ship.


    The distance between me and the ship kept increasing but my eyes couldn''t tear from the sight of my love and my enemy smiling at me, together as if they were a happy couple.


    ''His is small though?'' I was genuinely confused why she would choose him over me.


    Though I would not like to recall how I know that¡­ not a good memory¡­ not a good memory at all.


    In any case¡­ so this means that I have lost everything in my life, huh?


    Friends, Family, Money, Status and of course Love, yup, that checks all out.


    Sigh¡­ where did it all start again? Yeah¡­ it was when I found out that I have no system attached to me. I guess that was the core reason for everything that happened to me in my life.


    I was an orphan for as long as I could remember.


    In the beginning, I didn''t have any friends¡­ at least till that idiot tried to help me.


    My eyes turn solemn as I recall back the memories of my best friend dying in front of me.


    ''An, I hope you are doing good. I will be joining you soon my pal''


    Everyone I had tried to help would always somehow end up dying or getting in a problem that would make them hate me.


    Whether it was my best friends or my teachers or even the good old neighborhood cat, everyone whom I got close to all had a tragic ending.


    Basically I was a bad luck charm to everyone, I guess.


    ''To sum it up, I was isted and scorned by everyone.'' A tired expression forms on my face as I recall some bad memories.


    I wonder if I had died earlier, my close ones, those that genuinely tried to help, would have had a different life than what they are going through right now.


    ''At least¡­ I killed a few bastards during my time as a mercenary''


    A smile forms on my face as I recall back the rare but good days that I had.


    Though working hard was painful at least I had gained enough power to stand against the people with the system.


    ''Though it does not matter much anymore,''


    I think as I open my eyes and see the Sky Ship far away from me.


    ''I guess, this is it.''


    I take a deep breath in and then¡­


    "SEE YOU IN HELL M***********S!!!! HOPE YOU *** ****** ***** **** ******* ***** ****!!!!!"


    -Phew


    That felt good, like really really good.


    ''Now I can die with some peace,'' I think as I close my eyes once again and ept my death.


    -Ding


    [Would you like to bind with the System?]


    [Yes/No]


    I open my eyes only to find a blue screen in front of me with the above message.


    ''Eh?!!!!! Something like this was supposed to happen? I literally should have tried dying a long time ago¡­'' A dumbfounded expression forms on my face as I observe the blue screen Infront of me.


    Seriously¡­


    How much I have wanted this screen to appear in my entire life? How much have I tried to search for ways just to get the system? After all I have done¡­


    ''Why now?'' My eyes turn a bit solemn and angry as I look at the screen. My eyes look at the Sky Ship and then at the system once again,


    ''It''s not worth it. I have nothing left in this world that I could connect my life to and continue living. I have been through too many things and I am really tired now, so¡­''


    I pressed the ''No'' button and then close my eyes to wait for the inevitable resul-


    -Ding


    [Are you sure?]


    [Yes/No]


    "..."


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


    Discord Server: https://discord.gg/58TKFewC

 Chapter 2 As If It Were A Dream

    [Are you sure?]


    [Yes/No]


    "..." With a dumbfounded expression, I observed the screen and wondered if all this was for real?


    Still, since I genuinely wanted to get it over with this life, I pressed the ''Yes'' button.


    I waited for a few moments for another message to appear but after a few moments it did not look like another message was going to-


    [Is there anything I can do to make you ept the system?]


    I blinked at the message for a few moments as I wondered again if all this was for real?


    ''Did I die already and am dreaming about this stuff? Not really something I would like to do right after my death I guess¡­however¡­ if I really have a chance to change things¡­''


    "Can you bring back the ones who died and also change the fate of the ones who are suffering and make their life better?" It''s a far stretched thing to ask but hey, it''s the system we are talking about, surely it must have ways-


    [Are you crazy? No way in hell I can do that. Tsk, ask for something else]


    "..."


    Looking at that cheeky system¡­ I had no words to describe my emotions. Sigh¡­ I guess I should just die¡­


    I look down at the world and see that I have almost reached thend. It should take a few more seconds before I die, I guess.


    Although¡­


    If there is a way¡­


    Then¡­


    Maybe¡­


    Just maybe¡­


    "Can you give me a chance¡­ to correct everything I had done wrong?" I expect it to say ''No'' again, however.


    [I can. However¡­ due tock of time¡­ My conditions are different. Would you like to know them?]


    "Yes" I spoke in a hurried manner so as not to waste time. I didn''t know what the condition was. My worthless life is already at its lowest point, so if I have a chance to change things¡­ if I can change things in any form¡­ I won''t let it go. No matter what the conditions are.


    [Okay. You will have your chance and in return-]


    -Ssh


    I hit thend¡­ or the water at the end a piercing pain hit my whole body at once. If I am not wrong all of my bones, muscles and innards are crushed right now.


    It pains like hell¡­ I wonder if this is what it feels to die¡­ I shouldn''t be able to feel anything because my nerves are too damaged but for some reason I can.


    I shouldn''t be able to think properly with all this maddening pain but for some reason I can.


    It''s a strange phenomenon. I wished things would be already over but even after a few minutes of pain nothing really changed.


    However there was something that I noticed during the pain and that was my emotions were slowly degrading.


    At first I was scared yet calm but now I just feel emptiness in ce of those feelings. The more I realized this the more I wondered if it was the process of dying or am I losing myself to oblivion. I wonder if it is going to continue until eternity. I wouldn''t prefer something like this honestly.


    And then¡­


    A cooling sensation spread through my body and numbness began to follow through. The pain slowly subsided, reced by this numbness, however, I felt like the pain was much better than this numbness.


    ''It''s suffocating,'' I thought as I tried my best to feel my body but failed to do so. What was going on? My emotions are mostly gone, my senses are also getting erased¡­


    ''Is this¡­ all there is to it?'' I thought as I wondered about this process however¡­


    My body began feeling the pain all over again.


    It was an odd kind of pain¡­ the sensation was different. I don''t know how to describe this pain and feeling but it''s as if¡­ I was in a different body than my own.


    ''What is going on?'' I thought as all my emotions and senses slowly began to return to normal.


    I felt pain in my legs, in my arms and also on my face. I felt like I was going to die any moment now.


    If that was not the worst feeling, I felt too weak. It was as if Icked energy to even properly stand up.


    ''Just what is¡­ going on here?'' At this point even thinking was difficult. I had to keep the pain in check to even think properly.


    Soon I regained my sight. My eyes which felt alien to me, I opened them up slowly and carefully.


    What came in front of me was a night road with brokenmps and buildings around me. I fell on the ground with my body, especially my legs and hands, badly hurt.


    I tried standing up slowly and carefully but as soon as I stood up, I fell down again.


    ''Huh? What just happened¡­?!!'' I panicked a bit as I looked at my hands carefully.


    What came into my vision were, thin pale hands with prominent bones with red burn scars on both the arms.


    ''Looking at these arms¡­I might be no more than 15, I suppose? But where am I? Did I transfer into someone else''s body!!? But why this body?!!'' I grew more restless as I hurriedly tried to search around for something informative to the best of my ability but the sight of everything broken only made me more confused and dreadful.


    After a few moments, I began crawling towards the side of the road and ced myself against the broken wall of one of the houses on the street and looked at the road in front of me.


    ''What am I supposed to do now?'' I thought as I tried my best understanding my current situation and the conclusion I reached was,"I am f****d."


    Literally I was on my deathbed¡­ just what am I supposed to do here?


    -Bamm!!!!


    Somethingnded right in front of me.


    A frog as big as a car came right in front of me as it looked in the direction of the road ahead.


    Observing that monster, I finally knew what the h*ck was going on around.


    Yeah, at this point my memory finally clicked and everything made sense. The road, the monster and me being all wrapped up in pain.


    ''Yeah, it all makes sense now,'' I thought as a wry smile forms on my face as I realise how f*cked up this situation was.


    "Looks like¡­ I am back to my past."

 Chapter 3 A Chance

    ? There are various types of monsters in this world. Though given the time frame I am currently in right now, the monsters aren''t really all that powerful. From what I can recollect, the monsters go from Level 0 to 100 and at each 10 levels, the power of each monster increases by many folds.


    To put it in simple terms, the monsters are divided into the following groups.


    [Grade G: lvl 0 to 10


    Grade F: lvl 10 to 20


    Grade E: lvl 30 to 40


    Grade D: lvl 40 to 50


    Grade C: lvl 50 to 60


    Grade B: lvl 60 to 70


    Grade A: lvl 70 to 80


    Grade S: lvl 80 to 90


    Grade SS: lvl 90 to 100]


    It needs to be mentioned that a lvl 10 F Grade monster will be much stronger than a lvl 10 G Grade monster. Each monster also has its own system, with which it can evolve to its most appropriate path.


    Until Grade B, the advancement / evolution is mostly based on the instinct, environment and situation. A chimera can be a general chimera orrger chimera, or it may unlock a new path of evolution all together.


    After B Grade, that is A Grade, is what changes the whole adversity of the monsters on a fundamental level. After attaining Grade A, the monsters gain intelligence, that is the ability to make judgement and calcted decisions. It may look really simple at first, but when youbine the monstrous traits they have and the stat points they never used in their entire life, that''s been made avable to them¡­ that changes the whole game.


    That is why the monsters above A grade are not given any chances to survive and are ordered to be killed on site¡­ that is, if the person in question has the ability to do so.


    There exist systems that have simr ability to what a monster tamer would have, allowing them to manipte / tame the monsters ording to their own needs, so some monsters are captured but only upto grade B.


    Last but not the least, different types of monsters have different abilities. Given the right situation, a D Grade monster might be defeated by an F Grade monster; and that takes us to the different danger zones, filled with specific types of monsters where they could enhance their full potential.


    The danger zones are under the rule of S rank monsters or higher with each of its own domain. If I remember right, in this timeline, only 7 of the 24 Danger Zones have been discovered till now.


    ...¡­..


    Zero observed the frog monster in front of him. An E Grade monster attacking the city and hunting and purging through the area.


    ''From the information, in my previous timeline, I had looked into this attack, this attack was made by a group of Monsters with a C Grade leader. Though the leader was killed by a B Rank monster hunter who was passing by.


    This makes things a bit more simpler since all I need to do is to survive the 4 frog monsters,'' Zero thinks as he observes the surrounding area slowly and closes his eyes as he waits for something.


    -BOOOM!


    Someone crashes in between the monster and Zero. A girl who looked like she was in her 20s stood with her orange sword pointed at the frog monster. Her expression was filled with annoyance as she traced the area around. Her eyes passed by Zero, then back at that monster.


    ''An E Grade, nameless frog to kill and an almost dying child,'' she thought as she took a brief look at her system.


    [Name: ir Redfield


    Level: 46


    ss: Berserker Sword Knight


    Mana: 130/530


    Stamina: 100/400]


    ''Guess, I can make do with this much,'' She thinks before jumping at the monster as she activates her skill,''[Sword Art of the Royal Knights]''


    Zero observes her with solemn eyes as he recalls back the memories of what had transpired before. The more he recalled, the more his eyes turned desperate. He tried his best to find a way to heal himself as he looked around, but no matter what he did, he could not find a way.


    ''There are 3 more frog monsters, each D grade and mid-level. The E grade monster is just a bait. I must warn her about it. This isn''t good. At this rate she will die¡­ I must do something¡­ but what¡­'' Zero kept looking around frantically. He couldn''t shout because at this point the sound of fighting covered the whole area and the more he moved, the more pain he felt.


    -Drip


    -Drip


    ''Huh?'' Zero then felt water drops falling onto him. Looking up at the night sky filled with clouds, Zero couldn''t help but feel astonished at his luck.


    -Drip Drip Drip


    The rain began pouring harder and harder as moments passed by. One must remember that frogs are Amphibians, they are creatures that can walk onnd, essentially belonging to aqua habitat. Their true potential is also shown in an aqueous atmosphere.


    -Boom


    ir created distance between her and the frog and looked at the frog with an even more annoyed gaze. Recalcting the whole scenario, she once looked at me as if contemting between leaving me and running away or fighting the monster and saving me.


    ''Me and my soft heart!'' She cursed herself as she once again charged towards the monster as fast as she could. If earlier she had an upper hand against the frog monster, now they were fighting on an equal level.


    But the fact that 3 even more stronger monsters were hiding behind to ambush her had basically confirmed her death.


    ''Although the rain did bring doom to our situation. But thanks to the rain we might be able to survive the whole situation,'' Zero smiled as he slowly narrowed his eyes at the fight and began calcting the next few moves ir would be made against the frog monster. Once he made sure what the next moves would be, he then braced himself and¡­

 Chapter 4 A Chance#2

    Perhaps this is where it all began? Perhaps this was the first time someone helped me and I ran away? Maybe¡­Thest time I had faced this situation¡­ I ran away¡­ I was scared¡­ I was horrified and terrified, so I somehow managed to do it. As for ir, I heard she was brutally killed by the monsters. After the aftermath, only her crushed hand and her sword were left behind.


    ...¡­..


    Zero saw that an attack was going to take ce, and he clenched his hand and bit down on himself as hard as he could and then screamed in his mind,


    ''ALL PORES OPEN AND ABSORB, FORCE HYDRATION''


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"


    -BOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!


    His scream was drowned out by the attack''s voice as he fell down. He was temporarily and partially healed as he looked forward to another chance.


    The rain poured on his face down to his body as he looked at that battle without even once blinking. Soon another chance came, and the attack was made. His skin pores, which normally are tightly bound as it should be, opened up a little and the water that was present just ahead of the skin entered into his body. Before the body''s fundamental activity could be disturbed, his body evaporated all that water and channelled it throughout the body in an instant. Most of the heat was converted into energy and used for healing¡­ what was left was¡­


    -BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"


    It''s as if thousands of burning needles were pricking through each and every part of Zero''s body. If not for the fact that he already had been through pain simr to this one, he might have died the first time he pulled this.


    Bracing himself, Zero found himself half healed, and now he could just barely stand on his own. It was much betterpared to his previous sorry state where he couldn''t even move.


    -BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!


    "AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"


    "Cough cough¡­ cough cough blegh¡­" Zero vomits blood violently as he stumbles down on his knees. Looking up again, he observes ir struggling against the monster, though her eyes still had the same fire when she started the fight.


    Zero then looked around and sighed before taking a proper position as he prepared to dash towards ir.


    ''It''s about time,'' he thought as he looked at the fight in front of him.


    ir jumped in the air as she saw a chance to win against the monster. Her eyes were finally taking a break as she saw a chance to end this fight. Then¡­ she noticed something moving towards her¡­ there were more of them¡­ 3 more frog monsters jumping towards her from all sides.


    Her eyes widened as she finally realised that she had been entrapped. ''How could¡­ an E grade monster create a trap?'' She couldn''tprehend it.


    ''Oh well¡­ looks like this was it,'' she thought as she continued her attack,'' At least I will take one with me. Young boy¡­ looks like-


    -Whoosh


    Something happened¡­ the scenery changed¡­


    -BOOOM


    The frogs copsed into each other. Tracing the sound, ir looked behind to find the frogs crashed into each other and the distance between her and the frogs was increasing with each passing moment.


    ''Who?'' Wondering who protected her, she looked at her saviour. What she saw next shocked her even more. It was the same white-haired boy who was lying almost lifeless in the corner before. He was carrying her away from the monster with his full force. His face looked really concentrated and desperate at the moment.


    ''System Check'' She used her system to check the young boy''s system, wondering what his power level was. However¡­.


    Nothing happened¡­ even after waiting for another few moments, nothing came up. Thinking she must have done something wrong, she once again tried to check his system, but the result was the same. There was no answer from the system.


    -Croak Croak


    -Croak Croak


    Sound of croaking beganing from all the sides. Hearing the sound, ir pushed the thought about the system at the back for now. She looked back, only to find the frog monsters still chasing them. Not only that, but now there were more of their species chasing them.


    ''Based on the sound, it looks like we are more or less surrounded,'' she thought as she smiled with a sad expression as she recalled the emergency signal she shot right beforeing to this location. Right now, it was as if fate itself wanted to kill them.


    Zero kept running ahead, with only the thoughts of surviving, away from the monsters. His feet were hurting from overexerting himself as he kept running without a break. With each step, the injury was growing worse, but still he couldn''t bear to run on his own.


    The more pain he got, the more he recalled every time he ran away whenever people helped him. Every time someone sacrificed themselves to help him survive¡­ he wanted to change that¡­ he did not want to run away from anyone again. He did not wish for people to die because of him. He had to do something¡­


    ''I don''t have much time left¡­ it''s not for the best¡­ but I guess this is the only path left. I wonder if this is even the right way¡­ ir Redfield¡­ I hope you can forgive me¡­  but I must ensure everyone''s survival¡­ so please bear with me¡­'' Zero thought as he looked at ir and then spoke.


    "I am going to pass out in the next 2 minutes. I need you to survive after that. Keep me and yourself alive. That is all you need to do. I don''t care what condition¡­ just keep us alive!! Do you understand?!" Zero shouted at ir with all his might as he ran away from there. His eyes drooped down as he grew more and more exhausted. ir didn''t understand everything, but still nodded.


    After 2 minutes passed, ir took over and started carrying Zero away as she dodged the attacks of the frogs.


    After another 2 minutes, she was surrounded by the frogs from all sides with nowhere to run. She was standing with her sword pointed in front and Zero was lying unconscious right behind her.

 Chapter 5 System

    System.


    Something that existed on this since time immemorial.


    Nobody knows when and how this system came to be, but for some or many reasons, it has be an essential part of the masses, much more like how an organ is to a body.


    Everyone has a system in this world, whether it''s the monsters, humans or any other races in question, everyone in this world has a system.


    The system itself could differ from person to person based on what attributes one has and no two same systems have been found yet in this world. However, simr systems do exist. Ava based system and fire based system could fulfil the same role despite having their differences.


    For convenience''s sake, humans divided the system into multiple types with each subtype of its own.


    The major two sses are:-


    1.Combat Based System which has


    -Attack Type


    -Defence Type


    -Support Type


    2. Non-Combat Based System


    -Basic Type


    -Advanced Type


    3. Unssified System


    Though strictly speaking, the boundaries between them are still unclear. What might be a nonbat type for one person might be fighting type for another person and although one''s destiny depends upon what system he has, it can change with proper efforts and time.


    Like a knife user can choose to be a cook or a closebat knife user.


    ...¡­..


    Zero wakes up in an unfamiliar yet familiar environment. White walls were all around him and him seated on a white chair connected to a machine right beside him. He looks around to see if he is at the same ce where he should be and then smiles inwardly in relief as he thinks,


    ''Phew! Looks like it all worked out. Now, onto the next n.''


    -Click


    He hears the door open in front of him and three men in white coats move towards him. The middle one was older inparison, while the other two looked to be in their 20s.


    ''What was his name again¡­ yeah, Professor Alber,'' Zero thinks as his face turns expressionless. Memories of the past swept across his brain as he recalled what had happenedst time.


    ''When I had run away from the frogs, I thought I was lucky that I survived, but then these bastards caught me and brought me here. This was worse than death. The fact that I had no system made things even more worse for me. Mad scientist, Professor Alber, took an interest in me and experimented on me day and night without much breaks. Treating me like an object¡­ Well, he is the first one that I need to pay back. This will be fun.'' A smile forms in Zero''s mind as he begins to n his next move.


    "Now, let''s see if you have anything worth entertaining," Professor Alber says as he looks at Zero and then says," System check."


    His face, which had little to no emotions, turned a bit confused as he looked at Zero with a questioning gaze. With his one eye wider than the other, he observes Zero with a little bit of interest as he once again speaks,"System check."


    Once again, nothing happens. The other two scientists also look at Zero with slight interest as they too begin checking for Zero''s system. Perhaps not finding any system made their inner frenzy tingle, and a smile started creeping up on their face. Zero observes that bright look on their faces.


    ''Professor Alber


    Rank D Biological Maniption System user.


    Combat Level: F


    Professor Mark


    Rank D Human Enhancer System


    Combat Level: D


    Professor Richard


    Rank E Machine Synchronisation System


    Combat Power: E''


    Calcting their each and every move, Zero thought of ways he can get out of this situation. He knew he was under surveince and more people were watching him through the cameras.


    "Bring the bread for the boy. He must be hungry," spoke Professor Alber with a ''kind'' smile on his face. Professor Richard nodded and then took out a piece of bread from his storage and brought it closer to Zero.


    ''A bread filled with paralysing drugs, eh? How kind of them,'' Zero thought with a creeped out thought before he stood up slowly and began walking closer to Professor Richard. Professor Richard smiled at him and then crouched and got face to face with Zero with a smile on his face.


    "You want to eat it, right? Here," he says, bringing the bread closer to Zero.


    ''These sick bastards. They are enjoying this, aren''t they?'' Zero thought before clearing his thought outpletely and began murmuring in a low voice,


    "Shadow Art: One sh Kill."


    Watching him murmuring, Professor Richard got a bit confused as he spoke,"What are you murmuring ki-"


    -Kachak


    Blood spurted everywhere as Zero''s hand pierced through Richard''s chest. It happened in a sh and before anyone could realise, Richard was dead. This rmed Alber and Mark, and they put up their guards to fight against Zero in case he attacked them, too.


    However, Zero stood there watching the dead Professor Richard as blood gushed out of his chest. Zero''s right hand was crushed in the previous attack and it was hurting like hell, but not a single trace of pain was visible on his face.


    Zero has been through thousands of life and death situations, and something like this wasn''t even worth mentioning. Knowing his priorities, he slowly began walking towards Professor Richard''s dead body and began turning it around slowly.


    Professor Alber and Professor Mark watched him curiously as they stood there at a distance, cautiously. Zero searched Richard''s lifeless body and then, at the back, he found what he was searching for. A safety handgun.


    ''It would be odd if a Machine Synchronization System User won''t carry any arms around with him. Though I was hoping for a grenade or something but this is even better,'' Zero thought as he slowly took the weapon from Richard''s body.


    "Hahahaha¡­ I was worried for a second. So this was your n? You probably don''t know, but Richard''s weapon could only be used by him. So what-" Professor Mark spoke with a slightly mocking tone, but he was cut off by another voice before he could finish his sentence.


    -Weapon: Handgun Prototype Ric35 Unlocked


    And there was Zero, standing with a smirk on his face as he looked at Professor Mark''s horrified face.

 Chapter 6 Zero

    Who is Zero?


    A man without a system? True.


    But is that all that''s to him? Absolutely not! He is a genius. He is hardworking. In the world where systems are everything, he rose up the ranks to be one of the strongest. He had help, of course, so much help that even an SS ss would be envious of him. However, that help only contributed to half of the sess which he achieved. The rest was¡­ his own doing.


    While it may look like the system is everything in this world, if you get smart enough or perhaps strong enough, you might even take on the strongest of beings all by yourself and Zero, was the living proof you can fight against the strongest of beings even without the help of the system.


    System only creates a path to achieve things faster and more easily. It does not create anything new, nor does it shift things from its normal way. It simply brings things to its realistic path much forward.


    The best thing about not having a system was¡­ you can choose any path you want¡­ no, the best thing was that you can choose all the paths at once. Zero was someone who always worked hard to get to the point where others could get just by spending stat points, and he seeded in achieving mastery in more than just one path. As for being proficient enough to deal with normal problems¡­ it would be difficult to count all the things in which he is more than just proficient.


    ....


    Standing in front of Professor Mark and Alber, Zero stood there without making any moves. A smirk was present on his face as he bypassed the security and unlocked the gun in mere seconds.


    ''A security created by a D grade System? Guess, I have been too used to dealing with S grade Systems and above. No wonder it felt easier than I thought it would be,'' Zero thought as he then calcted his next n and then muttered silently,"Shadow Arts: Gun Slinger''s Invisible Shots."


    -Bang


    "Huh?!" Shrieking loudly, both the professors took a step back and looked at Zero with a scared look. They checked their bodies for any signs of injury, but after thoroughly checking, they did not find even a single scratch on their body. Confusion was apparent on their faces as they looked at Zero once again.


    -Bang


    Once again, the same voice rang and simr to the previous time, nothing happened. Zero did not show any moments either.


    -Bang


    Professor Alber, who took a few more steps ahead, spoke angrily,"What are you trying to do?" as he looked at Zero.


    ''We should just knock him unconscious. Why is the security taking so long?'' He thought as his heart got restless. He then thought about his partner Mark and a sigh of relief escapes his mind as he speaks," I almost forgot. Professor Mike, you are a D grade Close Combat Mage too, aren''t you? Why don''t you just take care-"


    Professor Alber turned around just as he looked at Professor Mark. What he saw sent a chill down his spine. Professor Mark was lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood with a shocked look on his face.


    ''There was no sound! What happened? When did he fall on the ground?!!'' Professor Alber grew more and more restless as he saw the situation turning more and more bleak with each passing moment.


    -Tap


    -Tap


    -Tap


    -Tap


    Professor could hear the sound of someone tapping his feet against the ground. In the silentboratory, it was more than just clear. Turning towards the source of the sound, he looked at Zero with aplex look as fear began creeping on his face.


    Zero, on the other hand, had a really bright smile on his face as he thought,''Last time you died in an ident so I couldn''t have my revenge. This time, however¡­''


    "This time we shall y a little bit longer," Zero spoke as he began walking towards Professor Alber one step at a time. Professor Alber subconsciously started taking steps back as he watched Zero getting closer to him. Something was telling him that this kid was dangerous.


    [Name: Alber Trek


    Level: 40


    ss: Science and Human Development Militrat


    Attack: 14


    Defence: 10


    Strength: 27


    Intelligence: 90


    Wisdom: 30


    Mana: 1900/1920


    Stamina: 210/210


    Stat points Left: 4


    Quest 1: Escape from the Millenia Facility.


    Difficulty: Impossible


    Reward: You get to live]


    Observing his system, Professor Alber couldn''t help but curse at the system. His eyes traced Zero with an even more terrifying gaze. Zero wasn''t smiling anymore. At this point, he was ring at him as if he had tortured Zero for months.


    "Please Wait!! I-"


    "There is no point. All I want right now is to hear you screaming. You don''t have to waste your energy in trying. Nothing is going to save you, even the guards won''t be able toe here as I have jammed the gate the first time I made the shot. It will take some time before they could even break down the gate. We have more than enough time, Professor Alber," Zero spoke in a monotonous voice as he sighs before taking a few more steps towards Alber.


    Professor Alber''s eyes turn wide open as shock fills his eyes, and he begins shouting,"YOU! YOU!! How do you know my name? No one except the higher ups should know my real name!!! What¡­ What the heck are you??!!"


    -Thud


    Professor Alber falls down on his butt as he moves backward while facing Zero with the same horrified gaze. His face was turning whiter by each passing moment andpared to before, it''s as if he has aged by 10yrs.


    "I am¡­ Well¡­. I wonder what my name was before I was given one. Ah! I remember now, it was Zero. So yeah, I am Zero," Zero spoke with a re turning more and more ferocious as he narrowed his eyes at Alber.


    "I am the Angel who is here to punish you for the atrocities youmitted. I am the Devil who is going to show you what hell feels like. Let''s have some good time together, Professor Alber, after all, there are so many things that I need to talk about with you," Zero ringly mutters as he points the gun towards Professor Alber.

 Chapter 7 Clair Redfield

    Mana.


    People were divided based on system and potential. A system might be given to everyone, but there was something more than just a system that defined a person''s future and potential.


    And that something was called Mana.


    Mana can be regarded as something that is present from birth inside every being. Although very less at birth, aparative amount can determine how much mana a person will have in the future when he grows up.


    Mana is something that keeps growing and how many spells you can use or what not depends upon how much mana you have stored. Every spell which a person can use depends upon whether he has sufficient mana for it or not.


    For better or worse, people''s potential gave structure to a power oriented society and people with more potential were given more privileges than people of lesser potential.


    After much research and experiments, it was determined that at the age of 16 people''s potential will reach its optimum condition and that will be the best time to measure a person''s potential rather than at their birth.


    The following mana chart was constructed to determine the potential of a human being at the age of 16.


    Rank G: Mana - Less than 25


    Rank F: Mana - 25 to 100


    Rank E: Mana - 100 to 200


    Rank D: Mana - 200 to 300


    Rank C: Mana - 300 to 500


    Rank B: Mana - 500 to 750


    Rank A: Mana - 750 to 1250


    Rank A+ : Mana- 1250 to 2000


    Rank S: Mana - 2000 to 5000


    Rank SS: Mana - 5000+


    The slight disparity between Rank A and Rank A+ is to differ between people who can work a Rank A level work and who can take on Grade A Monsters, who have their own will and intelligence.


    ...¡­.


    ir opens her eyes with a slightly confused look as she looks around, only to find herself in a white room sleeping on a couch which was centrally ced. She observes the surrounding area when a sudden headache hits her head and memories of what had transpired beforees back.


    ''I was fighting the frog monsters¡­ then a few men in ck coats came and the attack of those frog monsters stopped. What happened next? I¡­ don''t remember¡­ Did I lose consciousness?'' ir held her head for a few moments before trying to use her system.


    [System Locked: Not enough Mana to unlock the System]


    ''Huh?! What?'' Confused at the screen, she looked with more intent than before as she once again tried to use the system. However¡­


    [System Locked: Not enough Mana to unlock the System]


    [System Locked: Not enough Mana to unlock the System]


    [System Locked: Not enough Mana to unlock the System]


    [System Locked: Not enough Mana to unlock the System]


    [System Locked: Not enough Mana to unlock the System]


    Her heartbeat rose more than she frantically tried to use her system, but failed to do so. After trying for another few minutes, she fell on her knees with her eyes wide open, disying the hard time she was having while coping up with reality.


    She then tried to use her mana, but no matter how much she tried, she failed to bring out even an ounce of mana to use.


    "What¡­ this must¡­ this must be a dream! Yeah! Hahahaha¡­ yeah this must be a dream!!!" she thought as she started franticallyughing as she bit her lips nervously. She tried to wake herself up from the dream by biting herself, but even after trying for a while, this dream, or perhaps this nightmare, didn''t go away.


    She stood up from the bed and looked around with her heart still pounding hard as it was before. Her sanity was almost crumbling down, but before she lost all her will.


    -Click click. Mike testing¡­ Mike testing. Can you hear me?


    A voice through the speaker came from the surrounding area. ir, still in her shocked state, looked around, searching for the source of the voice, but it didn''t bring any change in the situation.


    -No need to try so hard, young girl. All you need to do is listen. After all, I am the one who holds your very fate in my hands. For starters, sit down on the ground calmly and listen.


    At his words, ir''s eyes seem to have connected some dots, and she understood that there was a connection between her loss of system and that guy who was speaking through the speaker. A slight re entered her eyes as she sat down on the ground and turned quiet.


    -Good girl. Now, this is aboratory. For what? You don''t need to know. All you need to know is that you will be used for experiments in thisboratory for the next few years. The more you will cooperate, the faster we will release you to the outside world, conversely the more you will misbehave, the more we will be forced to do things the hard way. Am I clear?


    At his words, ir couldn''t help but make a fierce expression, as she understood the meaning of that guy''s words.


    -Look, there is not much choice you have in this. You are already in the palm of my hand and there is little you can do to change your fate. The fact that I am talking to you should already be considered an honour for you. Well, you are just a D grade wh.. Ed..eg¡­t¡­ Hello mike testing mike testing.


    His voice was cut off in the middle and it looked like a child had just taken over.


    -So¡­ I have taken over this facilty''s programmed autostructure. In simple terms, I have hacked into this facility''s system. For convenience''s sake, call me Zero. I shall be helping all of you get out of this facility. This is not a test drill, but a real time situation. I repeat this not a test drill exercise but a real time situation. Since weck time¡­ let''s begin "Protocol: I want to get out of this facility", shall we?


    -Click


    After that childish voice cut off, the door opened and ir couldn''t help but feel a bit confused whether she should follow the guidelines or not. However, given theck of choices she had, she began moving outside theb without wasting any moments.

 Chapter 8 A Man A God

    The number of people I need to save and the number of people I need to kill are more or less equal. There are so many that I need to repay, too. Even though I have returned in time, I still need to hurry as based on my calctions the time I have is still limited.


    Exactly 3 years before the first Cataclysm. I need to hurry up before it happens¡­


    There are going to be 3 Cataclysms in the future.


    The first one will destroy half of this, bringing all the hidden races in the light in the name of survival. At that time, there won''t be any human v/s human anymore. It will be an interracial war for ruling Vermillion and all the races will subside their inner disputes ande forward as one.


    The second Cataclysm will bring in the intergctic parasites to this. That will force all the races to join as one. Though by the time they join forces, more than 90 percent of the poption will have already died. The survivors will be¡­ barely surviving and parasites would have already taken over more than 95% of the except one city where the strongest of the strongest resided.


    As for the third Cataclysm¡­ I would rather not talk about it.


    ...


    Zero observes Professor Alber''s whitened face as he looks at him without any hint of mercy. Perhaps memories of the past had already been refreshed in Zero''s mind, so much that he forgot about everything else and only focused on how he was going to torture Professor Alber.


    In the previous timeline, Professor Alber performed experiments without anaesthesia on Zero.


    He did experiments to no end, all the more especially when it came to Zero. There was no more torture method left in this time that Professor Alber hadn''t put him through in the name of experimenting. The fact that Zero was still alive by the end of all of it was a miracle in itself.


    Coming back to the present, Zero first moved closer to Professor Richard and took out that piece of paralysing bread that he had in his hand.


    Before Professor Alber could realise what was going to happen, Zero stuffed the piece of bread inside Alber''s mouth and force fed him. Eating the bread, the Professor slowly lost control of his body as it froze.


    -Thud


    Zero fell down on his knees as he put his hand on his eyes and tried tofort it. He had already been using charm magic, overexerting himself with this body that hasn''t received any sort of training. Using it for so long, he had already hurt himself enough in this ordeal.


    Professor Alber gained back his natural state and his fear was more or less gone, but by this time the paralysing drug in the bread had already taken effect and there was nothing more that he could do about it.


    He then slowly got up as he tried to look at the Professor but his vision was blurred at this point, so he closed his eyes. Being a master of shadows in his previous life of hiding and survival, he had enough experience in dealing with situations where he couldn''t use his eyes.


    He then moved closer to the Professor and then took out a knife he found in professor Mark''s space pouch. His smile widened with every move he was making. Perhaps it was his years of expertise, or was it professor Alber''s experiments? He already knew which points would hurt the most and from that point outwards¡­


    A few minutester,


    "AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Despite being paralysed, Professor Alber ended up shouting out of reflex. Though that was the only sound he could make. He already had cuts at specific vital points on his body. His skin was carved out and his spine was visible outside with his muscles widely spread apart. His fingers were missing and there were no eyes in his eye sockets, the fact that he was alive and twitching in pain would make anyone vomit out blood if they saw this scene, but Zero was unfazed as he stood there without batting an eye. He then sighed as he turned around and muttered," I would have seen you through to the end, but consider yourself lucky that I don''t have much time left."


    Zero began moving towards the screen like a ce near the machines that were ced in thisboratory. With his eyes a bit more healed than before, he looked at it for a few moments and then ced both his hands, broken and unbroken, on the screen and began analysing the facility''s system. After a few moments of analysis, he began typing a fewmands and started taking over the facility without much difficulty.


    ''It''s much easierpared to taking over the Violet Pirates'' Ship,'' Zero thought as he finally took over the whole system in the next 30 minutes.


    He sighed as he looked at the cameras that were assigned to his room. He had already destroyed all the cameras present in this room, so there was no footage of what he had done after killing Richard. As for anything prior to that, he had already deleted everything rted to him.


    He then looked through the list of people held captive here and what he found both sent a relief and a shock to him.


    It was a relief that ir was still alive in this facility and not dead as in the previous timeline, but what was more shocking was¡­ the list of prisoners held captive here. The list by no means was an ordinary list. It held one of the most ''lost'' and influential people of Vermillion, who had been thought to have disappeared or died in various events.


    Zero couldn''t help but clench his fist as he ran his eyes across the list. The more he looked, the more his eyes narrowed and the glint of hatred towards the owner of this facility grew.


    ''If only they would have been present through the three Cataclysms, humanity¡­ or perhaps Vermillion''s citizens would have won with much more ease. If only these bastards¡­ sigh¡­ I guess it''s true that humanity has caused its own downfall all through the ages. I guess this adds to the list of things I need to finish,'' Zero thought as he began making calctions.


    He then turned on the mike to connect to all the rooms present in the facility as he spoke,"Hello mike testing mike testing. So¡­ I have taken over this facility''s programmed auto structure. In simple terms, I have hacked into this facility''s system. For convenience'' sake, call me Zero. I shall be helping all of you get out of this facility. This is not a test drill exercise but a real time situation. I repeat this not a test drill exercise but a real time situation. Since weck time¡­ let''s begin "Protocol: I want to get out of this facility", shall we?"

 Chapter 9 Escaping The Facility

    In the end, very few humans survived. After the 3rd Cataclysm, about 5000 humans were left with the weakest being the SSSS level.


    At that point, anyone below that level could die from the poisonous atmosphere just by merely breathing. Even the atmosphere wasn''t forgiving to the beings living through that time.


    While about 250,000 people survived and thrivedbining all the races, the ones who ruled in the end were the 12 Rulers with each their own special system.


    Surprisingly, one of the 12 Rulers was someone who did not possess a system. However, he died in the end since he was the weakest among the 12 Rulers. He was betrayed by the one he loved the most. Oddly enough, he knew, long before he was killed, he knew that he was going to be betrayed and he was merely waiting for his death toe¡­perhaps dying was what he needed more than living in that world. After all, he had already lost everything at that point¡­


    .....


    After making the announcement, a devilish smile creeped up on Zero''s face as he calcted the next few steps he was going to take to get everyone out of this facility.


    He saw some of the people starting to follow hismand while others were still hesitating to move. Though looking at the series of events, it won''t be long before they too would start running. After all, who wouldn''t like to take the chance to escape from this hellhole.


    -Bang Bang


    Zero heard a sound from the door.'' looks like the security have finally arrived.'' He thought as he began running towards the dead bodies of Professor Mark, Richard and Alber and taking out their storage rings.


    Checking inside the storage rings, he found a few potions, different types of instruments, some rations. There was another set of guns and bullets, though with the mechanical gun that Zero got from Professor Richard, it wasn''t of much use to him.


    After that, he took all the food and began hurriedly gobbling the food. He had to make sure he gets as much healing as he can.


    Among the thousand ways of survival, the most important one was to make sure that you are in optimum condition. After all, mistakes have higher chances of urring if you are not upto the mark with yourself. One of the ways of self healing that Zero had learnt along the way was to increase the rate of healing by using the food he eats. Though not as great as a healing spell, it still was good enough to keep him in a working condition under critical situations like this.


    -Bang Boom


    The door was forced open by the security guards. They were all wearing ck suits with guns in their hands. Looking at them, they were all D rank with abat oriented system.


    "Shadow Arts: Guns Slinger''s Seventh Shot."


    Zero muttered as he attacked the weak points of the guns that the men were holding. Based on his calction, the gun which he had wouldn''t be able to prate through the shell of the suits the men were wearing. Even if it somehow does, it won''t kill them. So the first thing that he did was to disarm them.


    The guns fell apart in an instant and, shocked by the sudden turn of events, the men looked at Zero with more caution than before. They instantly changed theirbat stance to hand to handbat and began charging towards Zero.


    ''Killing all of them in this state will be time-consuming¡­ let''s escape first. The others will find the exit by themselves. It''s not that difficult anyway,'' Zero thought, taking onest look at the screen before he too began running towards the security guards.


    Skillfully dodging their attacks, he kept them under his toes. Their attacks were both smooth and fierce at the same time. Even still, he easily dealt with it as he created an opening to get out of this ce.


    After creating the opening, he ran through the gaps between the attacks of the security guards and began running outside towards the exit. The security guards watching him escape began running towards him as well.


    ''Now, the next step is to make sure everyone survives. All right¡­ let''s take the detour before moving towards the exit,'' thinking that Zero began running in another direction from the previously intended one.


    After running for some time, he found a bearded man running towards him. Looking at the clothes of that bearded man, he looked like a person who was captured in this facility.


    ''Who was he again?....ummm¡­Ah! It was him, Michael Morningstar, an A rank influential businessman. He was captured here too, huh?'' Zero thought as he observed Michael. Michael looked at Zero with a confused look, wondering why he was running away in that direction.


    "This way," Zero shouted as he ran across and Michael, watching the guards that were following Zero, also began running in Zero''s direction. He wanted to talk to Zero about the situation and other things, but he noticed that no matter how much he ran, he wasn''t getting any closer to Zero.


    ''What the heck?'' Thought Michael as he ran behind Zero. Fear was visible on his face, but there was a sliver of hope in his eyes, too. He wanted to live. He had enough of this bullsh*t. He did not know what was going on, but the mere thought of getting out of this hellhole was enough for him to motivate him to run.


    After running for a few minutes, they reached a certain door. Zero stopped in front of the gate and began touching the pad right beside the gate. Michael arrived after another half a minute, all huffing and puffing, heavily sweating as he caught his breath.


    ''What are you doing?'' is what Michael wanted to ask, but before he could catch his breath and proceed to ask, a sound interrupted him.


    -Click


    The gate opened and a dumbfounded expression came onto Michael''s face as he subconsciously followed Zero inside. What he found inside the gate made his expression turn even more dumbfounded.


    The whole room was filled with guns and weapons.

 Chapter 10 Escaping The Facility#2

    Not just guns and weapons, there were also potions and artifacts that one may barely get to see in his entire life were kept there.


    Michael looked at Zero for a few moments before observing the whole surrounding again. Zero, on the other hand, began storing all the weapons in the storage ring that he ''borrowed'' from the Professors.


    "Here catch," he threw a weapon towards Michael, catching him off guard, yet Michael didn''t miss. He caught the weapon and, observing the weapon, a shocked expression came upon Michael''s face as he carefully analysed it. It was a handgun, or to be more precise, his own personal handgun that he was most familiar with.


    He looked at Zero, still hurriedly putting all the weapons inside his storage ring. Zero, observing his gaze, stopped for a few moments before pointing in a direction where the artifacts were present.


    "Take a few storage rings and start storing everything you can see," Zero spoke as he loaded a big space looking gun with both his hands and then pointed at the door.


    "3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ " Zero muttered in a low voice and then.


    -Bang bang bang


    He shot a few shots as soon as those following him arrived in front of the gate. In about a few seconds all the men who were following were dead. As for Micheal, he just stood there dumbfounded as he observed Zero. Gulping in nervousness as he looked at Zero, he made a point to not to mess with Zero even if he was a child.


    After that, both of them hurriedly stored all the weapons inside the storage rings and began running outside the room. Though it was mostly Zero running, with Michael following behind him.


    "Well, we haven''te across any guards yet. At least that is something nice," spoke Michael as he followed behind Zero, trying to initiate a conversation. Zero looked at him with a slightly confused look before a sudden realisationes to him as he speaks,


    "Ah! That is because of me blocking all the paths through which the guards could interrupt all the prisoner''s escape. Obviously, if the guardse across the prisoners, it will be over for them who have no way of using their system or mana, perhaps."


    Michael almost stumbles down before gaining back his momentum as he blinks his eyes and looks at Zero more carefully than before. "I know it is not the right time but¡­ My name is Michael Morningstar. I-" he begins speaking, but Zero interrupts him,


    "Not now. First, we need to meet up with the other prisoners and get out of here. If you feel the need to get a connection with me, I will provide a meanster."


    At Zero''s words, Michael nods before turning silent. After this point, both Zero and Michael mostly kept quiet as they ran across the hall.


    After another hour or so of running, both Zero and Michael reach a wide hall where various men and women were gathered. Other than a few exceptions, most of them had an anxious look as they saw the new group that arrived before tending to their own doings.


    Zero observes everyone, and a smile appears on his face as he looks at the number of people he managed to save. As he was scanning through the crowd, his gaze came across a certaindy standing anxiously in a certain corner by herself.


    ir''s gaze then suddenly turned to Zero, and an expression mixed with shock and relief came across her face before she started walking towards Zero.


    "Are you okay?" she spoke as soon as she reached closer to Zero and Zero nods before taking out an orange sword and returning it back to her. Taking her weapon in her hand, a shocked yet confused expressiones to her face as she observes Zero.


    Ignoring her, Zero began walking towards the crowd and spoke in a loud voice," Ladies and Gentlemen. May I have your attention, please?"


    The others began looking at him, wondering what he was up to. Some noticed the sword in ir''s hand, but before they could get a proper reaction, Zero began talking again.


    "So we have decided to take a short break from the drill." At this sentence, everyone''s eyes, including both Michael''s and ir''s, turn a bit shocked as they observe the kid.


    "In this break, we shall replenish our strength and get back to our top form before getting out of here. You may or may not know, but outside that gate lies a world filled with horrors and terror. There lie about a hundred men with guns ready to neutralise you and probably a bunch of B ranked men to get you back into your cell. Now, we can''t have that, can we? So your all favourite, Zero, will provide you with gifts to fight through the ordeal¡­. Ummm¡­ well that is all I have to say¡­." he spoke as he began walking towards one of them and took out a dagger and threw it at the man before moving towards the next.


    Although reluctant at first, when those men saw the weapons he was giving them, they could not help but give a second nce to Zero. After all, what he was giving them wasn''t a new weapon but¡­ their own weapons and artifacts back to them.


    The more they looked at him, the more mysterious he seemed to them. Most of them wanted to ask questions like who was he or why was he doing all this, but for some reason, no one questioned his actions at all. They simply waited for their turn to take the weapons and after all of it was done¡­ Once again, Zero turned off the charm magic he was using and closed his eyes as he stood there.


    Zero then pointed at a woman in a corner toe forward. Though a bit reluctant, she gulped before walking forward to Zero. Zero took out a mana potion from his pocket and gave it to her as he spoke with a smile on his face,"I will unlock your mana channels and system. Can you help with the healing? As you can see, I am not really in a good condition right now."

 Chapter 11 Escaping The Facility#3

    While charm magic in itself is a rarity, it doesn''t mean that it can be used only by a few specific people. It just means that only a few people strong enough to unlock it with their will power can use it.


    Anyone can use charm magic if they have enough expertise in controlling one''s behaviour. Depending upon the situation and expertise, one can make people forget small things at a minimum and control their whole life at max.


    It doesn''t apply just to charm magic, but to all other magic as well. While it is true that anyone can unlock all forms of magic but unlocking it and using it is a totally different thing. The existence of the system is actually a boon to people because it allows them to bypass the whole process of unlocking and practising the skill or magic. The only downfall is that a system can unlock only a specific path for you and nothing more than that.


    ...¡­.


    "I will unlock your mana channels and system. Can you help with the healing? As you can see, I am not really in a good condition right now."


    At Zero''s words, her eyes looked at Zero with an expression that was turning more jovial at the moment. cing the mana potion in her hand, Zero then proceeds to touch her forehead and then his eyes look deeply into hers.


    "Charm Reflection," he mutters slowly as he proceeds to free her from the other charm magic.


    While it may look like her mana channels were blocked and she was not able to see her mana and system but it was not true at all. The thing that was blocking her from using her system and mana was her own subconscious. As for why her subconscious did not allow her to use these, the result was¡­


    ''A B ranked Charm magic, huh? Michael has the same charm magic applied to him. Same with the others,'' Zero thinks as he sets her free from the charm magic and signals her to drink the mana potion.


    Shocked with the situation, the others couldn''t help but gulp at the phenomenon that was taking ce in front of their eyes. Some even had tears in their eyes as they looked at Zero as if he was their saviour.


    The healer then started crying as she gulped down the mana potion. There was an extremely grateful expression present on her face. After drinking down the whole potion, she couldn''t help but stare at Zero as if he was her Prophet.


    She couldn''t help but look at her System again and again


    [Name: Sera Rose


    Level: 87


    ss: Saintess of Water Magic


    Mana: 230/15340


    Stamina: 150/190]


    Smiling, she looked at her saviour before muttering with a delighted voice,


    "[Calling of Nature: Blessing of the Water Serpent]"


    A bright light shone, and a water serpent surrounded Zero all around him. Slowly and slowly, Zero began healing. His eyesight, which was almost gone, began healing and in a few minutes they returned to normal. It was his hands next to be healed before the effect of the spell finished.


    Zero looked at the condition of his body before sighing as he thought,'' looks like there is only so much that can be done with a small mana potion. Well, at least I can keep up the n with this much¡­ sigh¡­ me and my bad luck, well whatever.''


    Even though he was looking perfectly normal from the outside, his inner damage that was done before he came into the facility was still not fully healed.


    He then proceeded to move to the next person and then began removing the charm magic. It took some time, but he freed all of them one by one from the charm magic before putting them under his own charm as he freed them. He couldn''t fully control them but at least he could keep their opinion favourable to himself and before the charm magic wears outter, the idea of saviour will be etched inside each of their minds, making them feel forever indebted to him.


    Once he had done that, he then proceeded to move towards the gate and sighed before speaking,"I think it would be better if we replenish our mana before moving to the battle outside. Is that fine with the rest of you?"


    Zero looked at the others and they had a determined yet angered look on their faces. Synonymously, they nodded as they looked at Zero. Zero, on the other hand, was thinking about ways to rope some¡­ or perhaps all the people inside this room.


    He may not get time to ''bond'' with themter on, as he will be busy from this point onwards.


    ''Just making them feel indebted would not be enough. Hmmm¡­ but if I approach them suddenly without any reasoning just for the sake of talking, it might make them suspicious¡­ what shall we do?"


    Before Zero could reach the point of making a decision, a few of the people came forward towards him.


    ''Hmmm? Who are they again?


    Inspector General Of Security, us Roan.


    System: Defender of Peace and Light System


    A-Rank Adventurer, Klea Mert


    System: My Parkour System


    And the Saintess from before, Miss Sera Rose''


    Zero looked at them with a slightly confused gaze. He knew that they were thankful for saving them or at least finding a way to give them their system back, but this was not the time to chitchat. They should prioritise getting back their mana and stamina so that they can fight in their best condition.


    "We want to thank you for getting our system back. You have no idea-" Klea began speaking, but before he could continue, Zero stopped him as he looked at Klea with an annoyed expression and said,"If you have anything important, get directly to the point. Else go back and replenish your mana. We don''t have all day, even if we stay here and do nothing, it does not mean they would be waiting doing nothing. They too might be trying their best to break free from the otherside."


    Stumped by his response, Klea couldn''t help but feel a bit embarrassed. While Inspector us couldn''t help but look at him in a new light. He smiled a bit before speaking,"I will return the favour someday. That is all I have to say. Now, excuse me." He then left from that ce.


    Klea and Adelea simply nodded and left from there. It looked like they wanted to speak something, but after looking at Zero''s annoyed expression, they couldn''t help but keep their mouth shut.


    ''Now then, how to approach them in the most logical way, without making them feel that I am desperate to talk to them,'' thought Zero as he saw them leaving.

 Chapter 12 Scarred Owl

    On this, the people''s mana were attributed. Meaning that a person''s ability to manipte a certain element more than the others using mana was predetermined. While many types of attributes were present, following were the main attributes that were moremon than the others.


    Fire


    Water


    Air


    Earth


    ....


    While others were meditating and replenishing their strength. Zero was busy chatting with most people around. He was discussing their powers and weaknesses and ''trying'' to find the best way to utilise their power against the people outside. Honestly, he already knew their weak points and strong points enough to formte the best n without much thinking about it.


    Zero was an analytical expert. His observation and strategizing skills is one of the main reasons he was able to survive to the very end, perhaps even bing one of the strongest in the end. He had the habit of memorising things before leaving the source behind.


    Doing it over the years made his memory much much sharper and stronger than what a normal person''s would be. His desperation for survival at any cost made him one of the most dangerous humans existing, all the more especially after the third Cataclysm.


    -Bang Bang Bang


    Sound of the door being forcefully broken down was suddenly heard making everyone look at the door. As soon as the door began shaking, all of them stood up and took their position ording to what they discussed with Zero.


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    The door was continuously shaking with sounding from the otherside. The waiting time before the door would finally open was making most of the people here nervous. Luckily or unluckily, it did not take much time for the door to finally break.


    -Booom!!!


    The door finally broke and what became visible on the other side wasn''t an army of security guards but an almost dead frog monster which looked like he had used up all his strength to open the door by force.


    Looking at the scene, the people had a questioning gaze as they wondered what was going on. Zero, on the other hand, just stood there with a sigh as he realised what was going on.


    "Let''s go. I will exin everything on the way," Zero spoke as he began walking through the opening as his expression turned from nonchnt to serious.


    Watching Zero moving, some of them began moving while others stood there with slight hesitation on their faces. However, watching more and more people walking, everyone began following them.


    "What we are dealing here with is¡­ sigh¡­ a puppeteer. He or she is probably B-rank or above. This is going to be troublesome," Zero spoke as he began exining the reasons behind the phenomenon.


    ...¡­..


    Puppeteers.


    People who control objects or living beings behind the scenes to do their work. There are 3 types of Puppeteers.


    Inanimate Controllers: Those who have expertise in controlling inanimate objects. They usually use strings and mechanical methods to control their objects.


    Animate Controllers: People who have expertise in controlling other people and living beings. They use certain magic like charm magic and unconventional methods like emotions and mental rted stuff to make the people do their bidding.


    Monster Controllers: People who can control monsters to do their biddings were given a separate ss because of their fighting utility. They can control monsters to do their work.


    ...


    When Zero mentioned puppeteer, most of them showed a glint of fear in their eyes. Though they understood why the frog monster was lying almost dead there and also why there was no other security guard. It was because the puppeteer might be controlling more than a dozen monsters and having those security guards would only hinder the puppeteer''s job.


    The smarter ones understood something else, too. The attack that had happened in the city with the frog monster and the others. Even the previous monster attacks that had happened before¡­ They were all orchestrated.


    Their purpose? To capture famous and strong people and use them as test subjects, perhaps. But who would do such an inhumane act? Who was behind this whole incident? This was also the question that those people asked as they observed the front.


    After running for a few minutes, arge hall came into view. There were two people at the centre of the hall. One of them was ck-haired, wearing an owl mask with a red coat and a stick in his hand. He also had a round ck hat on his head.


    The other one was grey-haired with round-sses. He was sitting on a chair reading a book in a carefree manner as the owl masked person stood beside him.


    The owl masked person saw Zero and the others arrive at the hall and began pping.


    -p p p


    "Congrattions on making up to here. That was marvellous. In the entire history of the establishment of thisb, this is the first time that someone actually managed to get this close to escaping," He spoke with a sarcastic tone as he bowed down before getting back up.


    "Now, let me make one thing clear," he spoke as his voice got more and more serious,"I don''t give a f*ck about whether you people live or not. Personally, I hate extra work and what you guys are doing is exactly that. However, I shall be benevolent and nice for once and give all of you a chance. Yup, me the great Scarred Owl shall make an exception and forgive you all for this misbehaviour. All you need to do in return is to go back to your respective cell and I shall pretend that none of this ever happened."


    After he spoke, multiple monsters began crawling out of nowhere and stood between us and him. He just stood there as more and more monsters filled the area.


    ''23¡­27¡­33 Monsters. 15 E Grade, 9 D Grade, 6 C Grade and 3 B Grade. Hmmm¡­ It is problematic¡­ but¡­ we don''t need to fight all the monsters but only kill the Puppeteer. Now how shall we proceed with this,'' Zero began thinking as he looked at the situation in front of him.


    "So, what shall be your decision?" the puppeteer spread both his hands and asked as he looked at Zero and the others.

 Chapter 13 Scarred Owl#2

    [Name: Scarred Owl


    Level: 56


    ss:Tetrapedal Amphibian Maniptor


    Attack: 23


    Defence: 28


    Strength: 34


    Wisdom: 60


    Intelligence: 40


    Mana: 4280/4780


    Stamina: 276/276


    Stat Points left: 15


    Quest: Prevent the prisoners from escaping.


    Difficulty: Medium


    Reward: +1 Stat point in attack]


    ......


    ''Scarred Owl


    Rank B System: Maniption Type


    Charmer


    Rank B System: Maniption Type''


    Zero recalls the information he had on these two.


    ''I knew there was someone with a charm system behind this mess but to think it would be these two brothers,'' He thinks as he smiles on hisdy luck.


    Being a person who has been charmed for God knows how long, he has developed an immunity to charm magic over the years. As if that was not enough, he took extra time to look into ways to neglect and deflect charm magic too. Somewhere along the lines, he himself ended up finding different ways of using Charm Magic.


    Perhaps in this timeline there are only a handful of people who can put Zero under their control using Charm Magic.


    "We will go with n A," Zero speaks as he begins to move forward. The others nod at him seriously and also begin to move forward behind him. Looking at their movements, Scarred Owl and the other guy, Charmer, narrow their eyes at them. Especially at Zero, who was supposedly leading the charge.


    ...¡­.


    A few moments ago in the waiting hall.


    "Since there is limited time, there are only 2 ways we could synchronise all of our abilities.


    First, let''s call it n A, is to use our abilities in a way not to hinder others but also make sure it doesn''t gopletely to waste. For that, everyone shall use their abilities at an interval of 2 seconds each and only when they feel needed.


    It''s not much of a n, but our priority lies in getting out of this ce rather than killing everyone out there. So make sure you survive there. Also, using others as a shield is prohibited or else if the enemy doesn''t kill you, I will make sure to give you a painful death.


    Next, n B, If the enemy is too strong or out of our reach, then we shall neglect any attack and scatter in different directions. It''s honestly stupid, but what''s more stupid is fighting an enemy you can''t win against. Is there anything else anyone needs to add?" Zero speaks out loud as he looks at the crowd in front of him.


    "What if we are capable of killing the enemy?" A man from the back speaks and Zero looks at him as he searches for that man''s information.'' William. No surname, everything else unknown''


    "William, we can alway kill the enemy. There are very rare instances where you can''t kill the enemy. But that requires knowledge, creative thinking and pre-nning. Lots of strategizing and other stuff. Unfortunately, given our situation, even if we see who or what the enemy is, we still can''t make sure that that is all there is to them.


    There might even be more enemies hiding behind them, or maybe the enemy that may look weak can be hiding something powerful. In this situation, unless you really have a reason to kill, I suggest you prioritise escaping." Zero spoke and many nodded at his words.


    William, too, made an understanding face as he gave a thumbs up to Zero. Zero smiles in return before looking at William again, wondering who William really is.


    ....


    -Whoosh


    Some of the frogs started jumping at Zero and the others, but before they could reach, a dozen shields came in front, blocking the monsters.


    Following that, a few more attacks came from Zero''s group and the monsters were pushed aside before Zero''s group started to elerate towards Scarred Owl.


    Looking at the situation, Scarred Owl and Charmer couldn''t help but look at them with their eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.


    "How can they¡­. How the f*ck can they use their systems?!!! Charmer?!" Scarred Owl speaks with a ridiculed expression as he looks at Charmer, who wasn''t having any different expression either.


    Charmer looks at his System to confirm the number of people who are under his charm and finds that there is no change in that number. This made him even more confused, as he could notprehend what was going on.


    "I don''t know. My System says that the charm magic is still on," Charmer panicked as he realised that if the higher ups get to know that his charm magic has be useless they will surely dispose of him.


    "Well, f*ck it. Looking at their current power, it seems that it hasn''t been long since they could use mana. I am going to capture them all by myself. You try to charm them again and see if it works," speaking that Scarred Owl started using multiple skills and increased the power of the monster by a fraction.


    Meanwhile, Zero and the others were hurriedly moving towards them as they were dodging and pushing aside the frog monsters. Zero, noticing that the frog monsters were under charm, couldn''t help but smirk as he waited for the perfect moment and slowly and slowly uncharmed those frog monsters before asking those around him to push the uncharmed monster towards Scarred Owl.


    This created a small chaos among the monsters as half of them began attacking their own breed.


    ''Looks like they didn''t like to be controlled by someone else,'' Zero thought as they kept pushing through.


    Even though Scarred Owl was trying his best with multiple skills to enhance the monsters and to hit them, the fact that he was losing control of more and more monsters made him panic as sweat trickled down his forehead.


    After using up a lot of his mana, he could barely keep the situation in check. He looked at Zero and the others moving towards him and then his eyes reached his partner, who had already reached towards one of the prisoners as he tried to charm him again.


    "Please seed or we would all be dead meat!!" Scarred Owl prayed as he saw Charmer initiating his magic.

 Chapter 14 Stats

    While there are many Stats, not all are usable. To put it in better terms, you need a special situation to unlock special stats.


    But before we go into the Special Stats let''s discuss the few normal stats that everyone possesses and about what they convey.


    Attack: It is thebat oriented stat that allows you to add more firepower to your¡­ erm¡­ attacks. It doesn''t matter what type of attack, whether it is a sword sh, fist attack or perhaps even a gunshot. The higher your attack is, the more firepower you can push out.


    Defence: Simr to attack, it is also abat oriented stat that allows you to defend yourself against attacks. The more you invest in this stat the more unbeatable you will be against an enemy''s attack.


    Strength: This stat is something more endurance oriented thanbat oriented. It will increase your stamina while also slightly increasing your defences and attacks. (PS: It is also good for those who want tost long in bed).


    Agility: People who are focused on running and fast movements invest more in this stat. It allows you to move faster, freely and with more flexibility.


    Intelligence: This is something that your mana depends upon. The more intelligence you have, the more mana you can store and use. The other use of this stat is that it increases the number of spells you can use at a time. While, after a certain value, you might get another spell from the system based on your situation.


    Wisdom: This is a more control based stat which allows you to control the amount of mana you spend on a particr skill or mana based attack. It also increases your mana capacity, although much lesser than Intelligence stat.


    Mana Capacity: This one shows the amount of mana you can use and the amount of mana you have stored at a time.


    Stamina Capacity: Simr to mana capacity, except it shows stamina.


    Moving on to special stats here are a few examples to show why they are special:


    Charisma: A special stat that is rted to measuring force of personality, persuasiveness, leadership and sessful nning.


    Dexterity: An enhanced form of agility.


    Vitality: Focused on Health and Endurance


    Will Power: Focused on the ability to do something despite the odds against you.


    Resistance: Depending upon the type of resistance, it can increase your defence against a particr trait or attribute.


    ......¡­..


    Charmer moved closer to one of the men and used his special skill, but before it could connect with that man, a white-haired boy appeared out of nowhere in between them and kicked Charmer away.


    ''What?'' Confused by the sudden push, Charmer looked at the white-haired boy in front of him. Not caring about who he was, Charmer once again moved towards the boy using the same charm skill he was trying to use.


    But¡­ nothing happened.


    ''Huh?'' Confused by the events, he looked at the boy who was smirking at him.


    "Who are you?" Charmer asked. He could sense that something was very wrong with the boy. To smile despite the dire situation they were in, the boy was giving him the creeps of his life.


    "Zero. You can call me Zero," Zero spoke with a ''humble'' smile before moving in for an attack.


    Looking at Zero inching closer to him, Charmer took a fighting stance and moved in for an attack. For some reason, which was Zero, Charmer forgot that he had to charm back everyone into forgetting about using their mana. Zero had already gained control over the slight fear that Charmer had.


    Zero''s attack connected with Charmer''s, but before he could react, Zero increased his speed a bit and moved in for a kick. Charmer barely managed to dodge it, but lost his bnce as he tried to take a step back.


    Once again, Zero, using the chance, attacked Charmer and pushed him back ever so slightly. Zero''s attacks weren''t doing any real damage, but they were also not allowing Charmer to break free from hisbos.


    Charmer was getting more and more annoyed by Zero and before he could react to it.


    -Boom


    A loud and strong kick hit him in the gut, and he was pushed back a considerable distance.


    Confused by the attack, he barely managed to hold his stomach and saw Zero smiling at him before running towards him. Feeling the mockery behind Zero''s smile, Charmer couldn''t help but get furious at Zero.


    Charmer ran towards Zero and began punching and kicking, but his attacks failed to connect from that point onwards. Zero was too agile for him to make a direct hit on him. The more the fight dragged on, the more he felt humiliated by Zero.


    William, who was watching the fight from a distance, couldn''t help but admire the movements of Zero. Even though Charmer was a D grade Maniptor, hisbat skills still could be considered at least an E Grade.


    To manipte someone that strong, despite being a child of no more than 15 or 16, is really an amazing feat to do.


    Charmer, who more or less lost his control over his emotions, now looked like he just wanted to kill Zero. He couldn''t care less about the mission.


    If word gets out that he was defeated by a mere kid who wasn''t even 15 yet, his image would be totally destroyed among his peers.


    Charmer then finally used his special skill as he shouted,"[Reverse Charm: Attack mode]" and his body began turning more and more red with rage.


    Sensing the danger, Zero took a step back before thinking,''All right. Now onto the next step,'' as a smile began to form on his face.


    However, before he could do anything, someone held him by his cor from behind and pushed him back. Observing the scene, he saw William standing in front of him, looking back at him with a smile as he spoke,"Your work is to strategize and get us out of here. Leave the fighting to the adults."


    ''This idiot,'' Zero couldn''t help but sigh at William''s action before he looked at Charmer, turning all red due to his blood vessels popping, creeping up on William.

 Chapter 15 Special Skills

    Special Skills.


    These are things that you acquire after attaining a certain level. At which level exactly? Well, it is not fixed. Some people acquire it early, while others take ages to acquire it.


    Though getting itte isn''t really a bad thing either and that is because theter you get your special skill, the better the chances of it being a powerful skill.


    Although there are some cases where a person can have more than just one special skill. In this timeline there is a certain person, who has 7 special skills, while in the future timeline, after the 3rd Cataclysm, people with about 10-15 special skills were considered being the weakest of the bunch.


    Special skills can depend upon your system and based on your luck can give you anything from arge pool of mana to life saving skills. Also, there are no special skills that are considered useless.


    ...


    "[Reverse Charm: Attack mode]"


    Charmer shouted as he looked at Zero, and Soon William took his ce, pushing him back. Observing the scene, Zero couldn''t help but make an annoyed expression, but before he could do anything, the fight between William and Charmer had already began.


    -Boom


    -Boom


    -Boom


    -Boom


    -Boom


    Multiple fists exchanged and a high-profile fight began between them. Looking at the fight, Zero couldn''t help but look at William in a new light. Earlier, he could make out that William was strong, but to think that he was this strong, Zero didn''t really anticipate this.


    ''Just who are you, William?'' Zero questioned in his mind before looking at Scarred Owl, who was already at his limit. He was trying his best, but despite him doing his level best, he still couldn''t take control of the situation.


    ''If I remember currently, Scarred Owl never got any special skills. Well, I hope my memory doesn''t betray me. Now the next question is to figure out how to get out of here,'' Zero thought as he looked around.


    The saintess, Sera Rose, was there healing the rest of the people. She had a profound expression as she cast multiple healing skills at once. There were two more healers who were constantly chanting their spells on Sera.


    ''Mana replenishing spells? Not bad,'' Zero smiles as he sees those two healers healing Sera. Next were 7 people who were protecting the girls. ir was one of them. Together, they formed a circle and pushed back the frog monsters from all sides.


    Those at the vanguards were skillfully moving towards Scarred Owl. The rest of them were supporting the vanguards by preventing any surprise attack from behind.


    And finally there was Wim, who was fighting against Charmer.


    ''Observing his highly skilled hand to handbat, it does not look like he would be needing my help. So, once we take over this area, the next step is to escape through the supposed exit that exists somewhere around here.'' Zero began thinking as he recalled the infrastructure of the ce.


    After racking through his memories, Zero finally found the exit as he looked straight up and a wry smile formed on his face.


    ''Only those who could make a jump to the roof can escape from here, huh?'' he thought as he looked at the never ending top which was around a kilometre above. It was especially made to prevent prisoners from escaping in special situations like this.


    ''Well, at least I know where the exit is. Now, let''s wait for the situation to calm down,'' Zero thought as he looked in front where the vanguard had finally reached up close to the Scarred Owl.


    Scarred Owl, looking at the situation, couldn''t help but start running back as his expressions turned worse as time passed. As for Charmer, his skill has already reached its limit and William easily pushed him down, knocking him unconscious.


    William gave a smile at Zero as he saw Zero observing him. Zero smiled in return before looking ahead at Scarred Owl, who had already reached the other corner. The frog monsters have all been killed. Even the strongest one of them had been neutralised.


    "Hmmmm... looks like I underestimated them. They really are more powerful than I anticipated," Zero thought out loud as he looked at everyone smiling at their victory. He had a really amazed expression as he observed the others.


    "These are the ones who had more willpower than others. They survived in this hell, clinging to whatever little hope they can muster to live. Of course, they would be stronger than your average person. I guess you too can make mistakes, huh? After watching you managing everything, I really thought you were invincible or something," Zero heard a voiceing from behind and found William looking at him with the same smile he had before.


    Looking at him properly, he really had a defined face. Long ck hair that reached his shoulders and a sharp jawline. With his ck hair, he looked like a seasoned warrior.


    ''However, based on his build, he should be a swordsman. Is he hiding his true power?'' Zero thinks, once again confused at his behaviour. Also, if he is really this strong, then howe he is in this facility?


    ''And howe I have never heard about him before?''


    "Please! Spare me! No! No! AAAAAA!!!!!" Snapping Zero out of his thoughts, the screams of Scarred Owl were heard by him. Zero looked at the scene and found all the people jumping behind as they looked in the same direction where he was.


    William''s smile vanished, and a serious look appeared on his face. The one who killed the Scarred Owl wasn''t an ally. It was another enemy that appeared out of nowhere. Sensing the danger, everyone turned silent as they looked at the dead body of Scarred Owl in the corner and a strange being standing with his ws inside the heart of Scarred Owl.


    -Thud


    Then another man came in front of them. He was a handsome man with a bright smile on his face as he looked at the group. Based on the ''thing'' behind him, it would be appropriate to say that this guy was a puppeteer.


    ''Why is he here?'' Zero thought as he looked at that man and the expression which Zero was making made William subconsciously take one step away from Zero.

 Chapter 16 People To Kill

    There are several people I want to save in this world.


    There are several people I want to kill in this world.


    Among the people I want to kill, Lucia tops the list. I need to make sure she dies. I need to make sure she dies brutally¡­ I must make sure of that.


    While I do loathe Lucia for what she has done to me, there exist other people too whom I need to kill.


    Some will arrive after the third Cataclysm. Some after the second and some after the first one.


    Among the people who are currently in this world, other than Lucia, there are 3 other people who take the cake earlier than the rest.


    One of them is a girl who manipted an entire nation to fight and kill me.


    The other one is an aged man who destroys his own nation, killing millions. Even though it shouldn''t matter to me, among the people he killed there were my very first partners that I had ever made in that life. The way heughed aftermitting those heinous atrocities was etched into my brain.


    Then there was him¡­ the puppeteer of death.


    Once, among one of my long missions, I was set to be a part of a small family of an old couple. I, after being with their family for more than 2 years, grew very attached to them, but in the end I had to leave them afterpleting my mission. Not having any parental care until meeting them, this was the first time I had felt such warmth like this. It was something that I held dear to my heart.


    I was also nning to spend my retirement with them in the future someday¡­


    During those days, this bastard came¡­ he¡­ he massacred the old couple just for his entertainment.


    And the most funny part was that¡­ he was one of the people working under Lucia at that time.


    I asked Lucia and she gave me an absolutely ridiculous answer that he did it because he thought it would be interesting to see my expression once I lost someone I held dear.


    Hearing that, I swore to kill him and went to search for him¡­ but he vanished. After that point, it was as if he had stopped existing. I tried with the best of my ability to search for him, but it was as if he vanished from the face of the earth. I believed he was killed by someone he shouldn''t have messed with and then, having no other choice; I tried to move on.


    Though I still searched for him now and then.


    ...¡­


    Wearing a ck suit thatplimented his ck hair, he stood there observing everyone present in that area.


    -Thud


    -Thud


    -Thud


    Soon more and more puppets with des in the ce of arms and the rest of the body filled with deadly weapons started falling down the sky and circled around us.


    William observed the puppets and slowly took out his sword from the space ring he received as he couldn''t help but narrow his eyes at the Puppeteer of Death.


    ''14 A rank Puppets¡­ this is going to be a pain,'' William thought as he prepared to move towards the puppeteer.


    "Useless¡­. each and everyone of them," spoke the puppeteer as he looked at the dead body of his teammates and shook his head in disappointment before observing the rest of the crowd.


    "Guess I will have to clean their mess," he spoke with slight annoyance before signalling one of the puppets to move towards the saintess, who was one of the key people in the formation.


    William, looking at the situation, proceeded to move but before he could do something¡­ someone else spoke¡­


    "How are you not dead yet?"


    It was Zero with his eyes bloodshot as he looked at the Puppeteer of Death.


    The puppeteer, confused at his words, tilted his head slightly.


    Zero then once again shouted,"You fucker¡­ How the heck are you still alive right now? How long¡­ How long had I been searching for you¡­ after the first, the second and even after third¡­. I still searched for you!!!!"


    Zero looked like he had lost all his senses. It''s as if he forgot¡­ no, he had really forgotten that he had regressed. His raging emotions took over him as soon as he saw the puppeteer.


    "What are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something?" The puppeteer spoke out of ridicule as he looked at Zero.


    William and the others looked at Zero, wondering what was going on. William especially noticed a change urring in Zero, which made him take some precautions against him, too.


    "HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT DEAD YET!!!????" Zero shouted and blood started oozing out of his eyes and ears as he looked at the puppeteer withpletely bloodshot eyes.


    Saintess looked at Zero with a worried expression as she couldn''t help but move to cast a recovery spell on Zero but before she could do so, a certain hand stopped her from doing so. Turning around, she saw ir asking her to not do it.


    And the reason for doing so was¡­


    [Quest: Stop the Saintess from interfacing with Zero''s Transformation


    Reward: Freedom


    Penalty: Death]


    Looking at the quest panel, ire couldn''t help but look at Zero again, this time however with a questioning gaze.


    "Well, this nonsense is wasting a lot of my precious tim-" The puppeteer spoke, but before he couldplete his sentence Zero spoke once again¡­


    "Blood Sacrifice: First Moon"

 Chapter 17 Blood Sacrifice

    A few hours earlier¡­.


    -Alert Alert Alert


    "The System of the facility has been hacked. The Prisoners are escaping. I repeat, the System of the facility has been hacked. The Prisoners are escaping," a man hurriedly announced as he saw the situation getting out of their hands.


    Someone had hacked into their facility and is helping the prisoners escape the facility. They need to take proper action otherwise all the work they have done up till now will go to waste.


    "We are sending most of our Active forces to-" Before the man couldplete his sentence, another person standing at the corner of the room spoke,"I will go and I will go alone."


    Hearing his deration, the others couldn''t help but look at that man with a wide-eyed look.


    "But sir, those people are all monsters on their own. We can''t take risks by sending you alone," the man tried to talk the other man out of it but the other person, the ck-haired man, spoke with an annoyed yet threatening look,"Are you implying that I am not strong enough to deal with a bunch of normal people who can''t even use their systems?"


    "No Sir! I apologise for my misconduct," the man apologised to the ck-haired man and put his head down in slight frustration.


    "You seem to be forgetting that with the head of the facility gone, I am the strongest person present here right now, and that means my orders are absolute. Do you understand?" the ck-haired man, the Puppeteer of Death, spoke with a prideful look as he red at the man making the announcement.


    "I apologise for my misconduct, Sir! It won''t happen again," the man spoke with his head down as sweat trickled down his forehead.


    Nobody uttered a single word after that as The Puppeteer of Death left from that ce. The man who was making the announcement looked at him from there and sighed before shaking his head as he muttered,"Whatever happens is not my fault," before moving to make another announcement about stopping everyone else to go to deal with the escapees.


    Meanwhile, The Puppeteer of Death who was running towards the facility once again looked at his status screen with a wide grin on his face.


    [Name: Puppeteer of Death


    Level: 66


    ss: High density Metal Maniptor


    Attack: 34


    Defence: 30


    Strength: 45


    Wisdom: 90


    Intelligence: 50


    Mana: 13920/14520


    Stamina: 286/296


    Stat Points left: 42


    Special Skills:


    1.Passive Multidimensional Control:


    The user can manipte everything without using his brain actively.


    The mana cost for controlling the metal has been cut down to zero.


    The user needs to spend 10 mana points for every 1hours whether he is controlling any metal or not.


    Solo Quest: Prevent the prisoners from escaping.


    Difficulty: Easy


    Reward: +1 Stat point in all Stats]


    "Easy Stats," he muttered with clear happiness audible in his voice as he ran carefreely towards the facility. If not for the fact that he had to maintain hisposure, he might as well have startedughing out loud for the reward he was sure to receive through this quest.


    ......¡­..


    Back to present¡­.


    "Blood Sacrifice: First Moon," spoke Zero, and the blood started oozing out of his body at a rapid rate. His heartbeat rose and the mana he had changed its nature to a more violent one. Even his previous white hair and white eyes, both turned red, and now he looked more like a ferocious beast than a human being.


    -Whoosh


    Zero vanished before appearing behind the puppeteer and attacked him with all his might, but before his attack could connect, one of the puppets came in between and pushed Zero back.


    Zero, after being pushed away,nded back on the floor and, as soon as he touched the ground, once again he vanished before appearing in front of the puppeteer.


    -Boom


    Another puppet came in between and the punch connecting to the puppet made a loud impact, sting the puppet away. However, despite being sted away with such momentum, the puppet soon gained back its original form within a few seconds.


    The people watching, especially William, couldn''t help but be dumbfounded at the skill that Zero was showcasing. His previous mana levels weren''t enough for Zero to make those kinds of moves which he was showing now.


    ''Heck, even at best, with the amount of mana Zero had, he would be E grade at best, but¡­ but this is totally something else. At this point, it wouldn''t be farfetched to call Zero an A grade fighter. Just who is this kid?'' William thought, observing Zero fighting against the puppets all by himself.


    The others were also having simr thoughts as they saw Zero fighting a high-profile battle against an A+ Rank System User.


    "He is losing," spoke Sera, the Saintess, as she observed the battle. She looked seriously at the battle withplete concentration, although a tinge of worry was also visible in her eyes as she looked at Zero.


    ir, hearing Sera''s words, looked at the battle which she couldn''t even properly follow through. This battle was too fast for her even to notice the positions the puppets and Zero were making. At one point Zero was on her left and the next second he was on the right side.


    ''Can''t we do something to help him?'' was the thought that most of the people had in this ce as they watched the fight which would decide their future from here onwards.


    [Emergency Quest: Throw your sword at full power at the puppeteer in exactly 12 seconds]


    A screenes in front of ir and her eyes turn wide open, wondering about the meaning of the quest. Still, given the situation and having no other options, she immediately took out her orange sword and waited for the perfect time which the screen was showing.


    She took her stance and started counting on her own without looking at the screen.


    ''3¡­ 2¡­ aaaand throw!!!'' She throws the sword as her countdown reaches zero.


    As if waiting for the chance, Zero immediately grasps the sword and stands in front of the puppeteer. There were three puppets moving towards Zero¡­

 Chapter 18 Blood Sacrifice#2

    The three puppets moved towards Zero at an insane speed and Zero simply stood there with the orange sword in his hand.


    What happened next was¡­ the puppets were destroyed in an instant before they could even touch Zero. Though they would regenerate in just a few seconds, the fact that the puppets against which Zero was previously struggling with, are now destroyed in an instant made everyone gasp in shock as they looked at Zero.


    In this ce, only three people clearly saw what happened. One was the puppeteer himself, he saw Zero moving extremely fast as he took a stance and there was a disy of brilliant swordsmanship. Looking at that swordsmanship, which Zero showed, the puppeteer himself knew that the puppets didn''t stand a chance against him.


    Before, he was able to handle Zero easily despite his puppets getting destroyed every now and then, but now he couldn''t help but take Zero more seriously as he sensed the danger which he was in right now.


    The other person who saw the whole thing was the Saintess. She couldn''t help but marvel at the swordsmanship Zero disyed. She hasn''t seen anything as beautiful as this one in a long while. Even back in her church, the swordsmen couldn''t disy this level of profound swordsmanship despite being trained for ages.


    This made the Saintess look at Zero with even more curiosity than before.


    Thest one was William, who was more serious about the swordsman ship than the others. While others saw the swordsmanship as something profound and brilliant, he couldn''t help but look at Zero with a really questioning gaze.


    -Whoosh


    -Boom


    -Boom


    -Boom


    -Boom


    In an instant, the next few puppets were destroyed and Zero moved towards the puppeteer with full force, however he was stopped by a wall made up of metal.


    The puppets which were destroyed did not revert to their original form but instead formed a metal wall which came in between the puppeteer and Zero.


    Soon more and more puppets began destroying themselves and then the small debris reconstructed themselves to form small sharp knives which began floating all around the ce at a high speed.


    Zero, who wasn''t reallypletely conscious at the present moment, ran towards the puppeteer despite the knives flying towards him.


    William saw the scene unfolding in front of him and immediately ran towards Sera as he shouted," Sera, heal me up as much as you can!"


    Sera, hearing William''s voice, looked at him and noticing his serious and worried face. She understood that he, too, knew what was going on. Without wasting even a single moment, she touched William''s forehead and instantly healed and buffed him as much as she could.


    However, it was toote as Zero had already reached far too close to the knives.


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    However, what happened next made the puppeteer, the Saintess and William turn their eyes wide open. What he did was next to impossible¡­ he jumped and turned his body in an uneven way, dodging most of the knives and then using a certain sword movement that was performed in alignment to the same uneven posture so skillfully that all the knives that were approaching Zero were parried. Zero thennded back on the ground and continued running as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.


    Looking at this made the three of them question if Zero really had lost his senses or not?


    ''He is¡­ scary, all right. But still, since I had already received the buff, I might as well use it to help the kid out,'' William thought before taking his sword stance and then¡­


    -Whoosh


    Dashed behind the Puppeteer of Death.


    Noticing William right behind him, the puppeteer couldn''t help but curse at his luck as he dodged Wim''s attack and used some of the knives to attack William. However, that one moment of distraction was enough for Zero to break through the puppeteer''s attack and defense.


    Like a wild monster''s presence, Zero''s ferociousness creeped behind the puppeteer, however, before he could do anything¡­


    -Ssh


    Zero shed his back before getting in his front and making another sh at his body, and kicked him away. Zero''s eyes then darted towards William with a re and William couldn''t help but gulp as he takes a stance against Zero.


    However, before he could do anything, the Puppeteer of Death threw something out of his pocket with a strange smile on his face.


    William and the others looked at that thing with a questioning yet cautious gaze. Even Zero looked intently at that thing for a few moments before a sigh escaped his mouth.


    ''To think I would lose control this easily¡­ I need to work on my emotions better,'' Zero thought before ncing at William again with a slightly scared look before he looked away as he thought,'' to think William would be that guy¡­ sigh¡­ fate really is a fascinating thing. I almost pissed myself when I saw his swordsmanship. Despite being iplete, it still gives me the creeps of my life. He is curious about my swordsmanship too¡­ after all, it is the exact opposite of his swordsmanship.''


    After a few moments of silence, a screen appeared from the device which the puppeteer threw out of his pocket and a man became visible in front of all.


    The man had ckish orange hair with a muscr build and was wearing a white suit. He stood there as he observed the surrounding scene.


    "Mark Leeway," William spoke with a re as he looked at that man and everyone took a step back from that man.


    A tinge of despair approached everyone''s faces as they looked at that man, as if their doom had finally arrived in front of them.


    ''One of the 5 known SS sses. One supposed to be the strongest person present on this,'' Zero thought as he looked at Mark with a serious gaze.


    "I wonder what is going on here," Mark spoke through the screen as he analysed the whole scenario. It didn''t look like he was happy with what he was seeing right now.

 Chapter 19 Those At The Top

    There are always people who are at the top of the chain. Whether it is in terms of power, influence or money, as long as even a person exists, the top will exist.


    On Vermilion, there exist people with power strong enough to topple cities with their full power. Their systems are special and most of the time unknown even to their close ones.


    Currently, there are 12 Humans with 3 SSS sses and 9 SS sses reigning at the top. Out of them, only 5 are known to the public. Even among those 5, only 3 usuallye to the outside world and show their faces; the other two are more of a myth to the average person.


    One of the three, Mark Leeway, was now standing in front of all of us.


    ...


    ''Well, I knew that he was controlling the facility. After all, he was one of my bosses before Lucia brutally killed him after the first Cataclysm¡­ but to think I would be seeing him this early,'' Zero thought as he looked at Mark with a serious expression.


    "I wonder what is going on here," Mark spoke as he looked at the people around.


    To the public, it became a known fact that to be standing against Mark Leeway, either directly or indirectly, is a spell to your own doom.


    Anyone who goes against him is bound to lose everything in the most cruel way possible.


    Mark Leeway is a cruel, cunning, scheming and selfish person. If he wants something, he will take it at any price and nobody, except the other SS sses, could do anything about it.


    Zero looked around to find either a look of despair or fury on people around him. It was more or less obvious that he was the one behind the imprisonment of the people present here and the experiments that were going on here.


    "us, throw me that baton of yours," Zero spoke and everyone looked at him with a slightly confused look. us hesitated as he looked between Zero and Mark. His eyesight then reached William, who seemed to be slowly nodding at him.


    After looking at William, us couldn''t help but gulp before throwing his baton towards Zero.


    -Catch


    Zero catches the baton and then proceeds to move towards the already dying Puppeteer of Death.


    -Step


    -Step


    -Step


    -Step


    With each step echoing in the silent hallway, everyone looked at Zero with a slightly astonished yet worried face.


    Zero stopped right before he reached in front of the body of the Puppeteer of Death, who looked like he was still conscious despite being heavily shed from both sides.


    Zero raised the baton up in the air before proceeding to hit the Puppeteer of Death and the others couldn''t help widen their eyes as they looked at him.


    "Boy. Do you not know who I am-"


    -nk


    Zero hits Puppeteer of Death with all his might, producing a loud sound that cuts off Mark''s words.


    "Mark Leeway, the brutal SS ss Copy System user," Zero spoke before moving for another hit without even sparing a nce at Mark.


    -nk


    Mark looked at Zero with a slightly ashen face as he spoke,"How do you kn-"


    -nk


    "How do I know about your system that nobody else knows about?"


    -nk


    "You should be asking how I know about¡­"


    -nk


    "Your curse that blocks you from using your system for every other hour"


    -nk


    "Your limit of using only one system at a time"


    -nk


    "Your deteriorating health condition because of the injury that guy gave you"


    -nk


    "Your daughter''s injury''s antidote that you are frantically searching for."


    -nk


    After hitting the already dead Puppeteer of Death several times, Zero looked at Mark with an unempathetic look.


    A hard to describe expression appeared on Mark''s face as he looked at Zero. It looked like he wanted to know about everything and capture Zero at once, but the fact he had no idea about who Zero was or what his background was made him think more than he should.


    "For someone who can''t even save himself, let alone his daughter. You have quite the guts to look down on someone like me," Zero spoke with dominance once again before pretending to think about something and then continuing,


    "All right. I will get directly to the point. I need you to stop whatever the fuck you are doing with the experiments right now and keep calm while focusing on healing. You might be wondering who am I to order you and I guess, I can''t really give you my real identity but¡­ I can give you a reason to do so."


    Zero then took a step back and then looked around at us before he started walking and continued speaking with a thoughtful expression," A ck tulip found growing on the edge of the fallenke is said to have a sure proof effect of killing the most dangerous organism. A white swan which flies on the seventh mountain of Dia whose tears can purify even the most dangerous poisons. If youbine the tears of the white swan with the ck tulip and then add another healing spell known as [Foundation of Healing] to the mixture, you might get an antidote that will ease the pain of your daughter. On normal people, it will have a heavenly effect and they might get addicted to it, so be careful with that."


    Zero reached us and passed the baton back to him, then looked at Mark as he spoke," you can always check for its effect since the disease''s spread. Now, why am I telling this to you? It''s simple. I want to make a deal. I know the exact antidote to the curse your daughter is put under as well¡­ However, I need time and ce before I can strike a deal with you on that matter. Forget what happened here and don''t mention it to anyone and I will save your daughter. This isn''t exactly what I nned, but for now, we both shall be satisfied with this. We can even forge a mana contract right here and right now¡­"


    Everyone looked at Zero with an amazed expression as they all wondered who he was¡­

 Chapter 20 Those At The Top#2

    Perhaps it would have worked, and things would have been solved for all of us. s! It''s not that easy, is it? Those at the top have pride. Pride that doesn''t allow them to let anyone lower than them to walk all over them. It is utterly ridiculous, but this is the truth.


    Even though you can have the very thing you wanted so desperately by sacrificing a little of the pride you had, you still will have a hard time choosing between your pride and the thing you need.


    Well¡­ too bad he has to deal with me this time¡­


    ...¡­..


    "Before you make a decision, let me warn you. Let me warn you what is going to happen to you and your daughter if you mess with me¡­" Zero spoke as his expression changed from serious to angry.


    Mark looked at him with a serious face as he heard each and every word Zero spoke carefully, without making a single sound.


    Everyone around was carefully watching the whole scene unfold and the more time Zero took to speak, the more suffocating the atmosphere became.


    "I will tell them the exact location of you and your daughter, with a list of the weaknesses that could not only fatally but thoroughly destroy you to the core. One wrong step and you can kiss your already dying life goodbye. This is the first and thest warning I am going to give you, Mark Leeway. I am not someone you can even dare to mess with. Whether I be an Angel or a Devil will depend upon how you act, so weigh your options very carefully," Zero spoke with a supreme look on his face as he observed Mark.


    Mark¡­ did not utter a single word after Zero spoke. He quietly observed Zero with a calcting look before he spoke,"You have 3 months. 3 Months before I wille for your head. I want my daughter to be happy and healthy before that time expires."


    He then looked at the others present in this room and spoke,"your fates depend on this kid''s abilities. Also, you better not mention anything that happened right now or else¡­" Mark simply stopped there before cutting the call off.


    A single piece of paper came in front of us out of nowhere with the conversation and the promise that Zero and Mark both made, written on it.


    Zero looked at that piece of paper and caught it with his blood-soaked hand. With the red hair and red eyes, he looked like a little red devil who can kill anyone if you approach him carelessly.


    As soon as the paper touched Zero''s hand, the contract was signed and Zero smiled before looking at the others as he spoke.


    "Take care of me after I pass out. Also, make sure nobody knows what happened here. I have exhausted too much of my energy and blood, so I might be unconscious for about a month or two¡­ If it is not too much, get me admitted to Urgent Healer''s Hospital, you guys can do that at least, right?"


    With Mark Leeway vouching for Zero''s life, nobody present here would even dream about making a move on Zero. It wasn''t exactly what Zero had in his mind¡­. But it still worked out fine in the end.


    Soon after that, Zero passed out and fell to the ground. However¡­ nobody dared to make a move towards him. Whether it was William, ir or the saintess¡­ nobody made a move towards him. They were shell shocked with what had just happened to give any reaction at all.


    However¡­ someone soon moved¡­ it was the saintess¡­ slowly and slowly she moved towards Zero and chanted,"[Minor Heal]" and started healing with aplicated look on her face.


    This boy in front of her was far moreplicated than what she had anticipated. Soon the others also snapped out of their daze and began moving towards the saintess. The two other healers urgently began healing Zero, too. Whether it was the fact that this kid was their saviour or it was the fear of Mark Leeway that prompted them to heal the boy, they themselves weren''t sure about it.


    The others waited for the healers to do the work with a worried expression, as if it was their own life that was being saved there, which was true in its own way.


    -Boom


    -Thud


    -Thud


    -Thud


    -Thud


    "Father!!!" A boy with other people startednding on the ground with tears and fury in their eyes. The boy soon ran towards a certain guy¡­ us and hugged him tightly. us looked at his son with a dumbfounded face.


    "Sir William!!" A butler-like person too came and moved in front of William and kneeled with an ashamed face. William looked at him and the others who were finally reunited with their loved ones here before looking at the unconscious Zero with an even more amazed look.


    "What happened?" William asked the man kneeling with a serious face and the man replied," we¡­ all of us received a signal with a location and a letter. It told us that if we didn''t hurry up. We might end up losing you and the others tonight."


    William looked at his butler with a re before speaking," It could have as well been a trap, you do know that, don''t you Stephan?"


    The butler suddenly smiled before speaking," that is why¡­. all of us brought the full force."


    Dumbfounded at his words, William then looked at the top and immediately after that, thend started rapidly rising to the top.


    After a few moments of rising, all of them reached the top to the ground and what William saw around made him much more amazed than he was before.


    The Holy Church, the strongest guilds, the security department¡­ it was an entire army that had arrived here to save them. William looked at Zero once again¡­


    ''So it was already a checkmate for the enemies, way before the game even began, huh? Just what kind of monster did wee across?''


    "Who is he?" asked Stephan as he curiously looked at Zero, who was being healed by the Saintess, both the new one and the old one. Looks like watching Sera healing Zero in such a hurried manner made the other Saintess prioritise Zero''s healing over other things.


    "He is a brave kid. A very very brave kid," William spoke before moving towards us, to whom he spoke,"take care of Zero. I will take care of any unnecessary disturbances." Before moving away from there.


    us looked at William before nodding and looking at Zero and moving towards him.


    William looked at Stephan and spoke,"let''s go. We have some urgent matters to attend to," and they both vanished from there.


    More and more people began crowding at that ce as time passed, but Zero was skillfully removed from people''s eyesight before they could realise anything. Only those who were inside there knew what had transpired and only a few people like the other Saintess were able to calcte that something big happened in the facility and Zero was one of the key figures rted to the incident. However, they too kept quiet and spoke nothing¡­

 Chapter 21 Priorities And Planning

    3 weekster in the Urgent Healer''s Hospital


    "Onnnne¡­ twoooo¡­ huff!¡­ huff!" a white-haired kid exercising¡­ or more like panting after performing only a couple of push-ups, looked at the pathetic amount of stamina and endurance he has, immediately falling on the ground and slowly turning around on his back.


    "How did ite to this?" making a whining expression, he started ranting over the mistakes that had happened before.


    "I was already so weak, yet I ended up using that move¡­ tch tch¡­ damn, I want to go back and p that old me for being so emotional," Heined as he put his hand on his face before he noticed someone''s presence behind him.


    A nurse with a paper in his hand was looking at that white-haired kid with a slight re as she spoke,"Mister Zero. What exactly are you trying to do?"


    Zero turned around and stood up and spoke with a sheepish smile on his face,"Exercising."


    -Baam


    The nurse hit her foot on the ground, and Zero immediately took a fighting stance against the nurse. The nurse then angrily moved towards Zero and then chanted,"[Bind]" making Zero unable to make a move.


    After that, she pulled Zero back to his bed without considering his emotions. She then red at Zero before speaking," you are not allowed to do any strenuous activity unless and until you get back to prime health."


    Zero wanted to say something, but the nurse simply left without even giving him a chance to speak.


    A few moments after, ir came in running and applied her mana into Zero, setting him partially free from the Nurse''s bind.


    "I am going to kill that nurse¡­ sigh¡­ howe I ended up being so weak," spoke Zero with a disheartened face before looking at ir, who was observing him with an amazed expression.


    Zero observed ir standing in front of him, and couldn''t help but smile at his achievement of saving everyone. He then pondered over something before asking," how are you?"


    Snapping out of her daze, ir blinked before speaking," shouldn''t I be the one asking you this?"


    "Hmm¡­ guess so. Still, I would like to hear from you about everything that happened," Zero asked her with a thoughtful expression. His smile slowly vanished, and a seriousness came onto his face as he rxed back onto the bed.


    "Well¡­ after you saved all of us, a bunch of people arrived and helped us get out of there. For me it was my sister and for others it was their family member-"


    "Skip. I know that much. Tell me what happened after everyone went back to their ces," Zero interrupted her and she nodded before continuing,


    "Sir us used his powers from the security department to keep the matter under wraps. I hear he upies a high position in the security department so it wasn''t much hard.


    The saintess went back to her church and began using her powers once again for the people. Her return was quite heavily celebrated by the people.


    About others, it was more or less the same. Either their return was celebrated with the press and media asking about the whole story, or it was kept undercover by their influence."


    Zero gave a nod at her words before speaking,"what about William?"


    ir pondered about something before speaking." I don''t know. He kind of vanished from there with a butler-like man and from there onwards he wasn''t found."


    ''Well¡­ I have an idea where he went but¡­ it would be better if I don''t meddle with his affairs yet.''


    "What about you? How have you been?" Zero asked with a curious expression as he looked at ir and she gave a thoughtful expression before speaking,


    "Hmmm¡­ after my sister picked me up. I went back to my home with her. I exined some things to her, leaving the other things which should be unsaid. Though sceptical about my story, my sister still didn''t ask anything more. A weekter, a call came to me from us and he asked me toe here and take care of you. Among all the escapees, I was the only one with no strong background and I am the kind of person in whom people would be least interested that is I am inconspicuous.


    So by default I was chosen toe here and take care of you while you were unconscious and also to give the others a report about you every 3 hours or so."


    After ir finished speaking, she realised something and she couldn''t help but look at Zero again, this time however with a curious look than before.


    Sensing her gaze, Zero spoke without looking at her," what is it?"


    "Ah! No¡­ it''s just that¡­ you are much more approachable than I thought," she spoke as a smile bloomed on her face.


    Zero felt a strange emotion welling up inside him before he sighed and slowly raised his hand, as if trying to catch something before it escapes.


    "Am I?" He asked himself and ir looked at Zero with a confused expression.


    "Well¡­ it''s nothing. In any case, ir, what are your ns next after this? Now that I have woken up, what are you going to do?"


    Zero asked, changing the topic.


    ir didn''t dwell much on the previous topic and spoke,"I should be informing people about your waking up and if I am not wrong they wille in secret to meet with you from now onwards. Even though I have talked with them only on call, they seemed really worried about you. I am sure they would be equally happy to hear that you have finally woken up."


    "Isn''t it because their life hangs on the deal I made with Mark Leeway?" Zero remarked on ir''s words and ir couldn''t help but turn quite on his words.


    It was quite obvious to Zero. Especially after witnessing human kind''s nature all over the years, it was crystal clear why these people were so ''worried'' about him.


    "Forget about it. It''s not gonna help me mulling over useless things. Let''s get to something interesting," Zero spoke as he turned towards ir with a mischievous smile and continued," Would you like to make a deal with me?"

 Chapter 22 Priorities And Planning#2

    -Step


    -Step


    -Step


    After having a long chat with ir, Zero slowly walked down the stairs to the basement of the hospital and turns towards a certain broken wooden door, where the sign of no entry was hanging. Given the atmosphere ofplete eerie silence and barely any light, the scene looked no different from that of a horror movie making it look like a ghost might pop out of nowhere.


    Not affected by the dark, even for the slightest of the moment, Zero then entered the broken door and reached towards the end of the dark room where nothing but an empty wall was present.


    Zero looked at his back, sensed if there were anyone in the proximity and after making sure no one was watching him, he began tapping at the wall at certain points.


    -Click


    After tapping for a few times, a clicking sound was heard bringing out a peculiar door on which a lock screen was visible. Zero then smiled a little before typing a 18 digit code on the lock screen. The door opened without making any noise and Zero proceeded to move inside the room.


    After Zero entered the room, the door closed itself and vanished without leaving any trace.


    Inside the room, there were a bunch of weapons and potions along with a smallptop.


    ''Well, working in the organisation had some benefits after all.'' Zero thought before picking up a bunch of weapons and potions. He then turned to the smallptop and opened it, revealing aplex format of letters and alphabets on it.


    WIthout wasting any time, Zero started typing and after another 30 mins he was finally done with everything he needed to do.


    ''With this, any trace of me will be gone from this hospital and also from this room. Well, let''s get out of here before security arrives here,'' Zero thought and nned his exact moves as he stepped outside that room.


    ''Shadow step,'' he spoke in his mind as he started walking stealthily without making any noise of any kind. On the way out of there, he noticed the guards dressed in casual clothes walking towards the basement and a bunch of other people searching for Zero as he was missing from his ward.


    ''Looks like ir did her first job. Well, it seems like she epted my deal.'' Zero revealed a smile before finally getting out of the hospital.


    Honestly, Zero had 3 reasons for choosing this hospital over the others. First, were the hidden weapons in the basement of which he knew about. After all, he was the person assigned to this particr ce to carry out all the missions in the area.


    In fact, he knew all the secret rooms present in the entire city, so it won''t be hard for him to restock any resources as long as he was in this city.


    The second reason was the location. The Urgent Healer''s hospital was located in a crowded city that he knew about. Hiding in this city would be as easy as it would be for a grasshopper in a wild grasnd.


    Third and the main reason was Elle. One of the 12 strongest persons who survived till the end of the Cataclysms. She had some connection with this city, and something was about to happen to her within the next month.


    ''If I remember correctly, she told me that her sister died in an idental kidnapping right before she gave the entrance examination to the Magic and System Academia, the best ce to learn about mana and systems currently present,'' Zero thought as he kept walking within the shadows.


    Despite being physically weak, Zero was quite proficient in mana usage in the previous timeline. Even though he does not have the same amount of mana as he used to he could barely manage to squeeze out the minimum amount required to maintain his speed and skill.


    After running around for a while, he reached a hideout which was known only to him and a few others. It was one of the ces where Zero had made memories with Lucia back in his previous timeline. Though, right now, if he didn''t really need it, he might have burnt the whole ce down without batting an eye.


    ording to what Lucia told him, it was a dead couple''s house, which was left deste as no one bothered to buy it for some reason. Some left it because they said it was haunted by ghosts, while others thought that it wasn''t worth it, given the location of the ce. Though there were still some mysteries that were left unsolved about this whole ce.


    Calming his raging emotions, he moved inside the hideout and rxed for a couple of moments before taking out theptop he took from the basement and started searching about the Academia entrance and other stuff. After a few hours of searching he finally reached the point where he got everything he needed to know.


    To summarise, the entrance exam would be 1 monthter and Elle would being to Academia city exactly 2 weeks from now. Though her ne would probably be hijacked and after a fight, the ne would st mid air with all the people falling from the sky.


    The kidnapping was supposed to happen for a rich man''s daughter, but due to Elle and few other people with her, they kind of ended up fighting the hijackers out of stupid heroism. The end results couldn''t get any worse, though.


    -Click


    "Hmmm... is there anybody inside?" A familiar voice of a girl came from the outside as the entrance of the apartment was opened.

 Chapter 23 Priorities And Planning#3

    During my time working under Lucia, there were 4 other people who also worked under her alongside me.


    An information broker, code name Spike, Mike.


    A deadly assassin, code name Masked Madonna, Cristine.


    A master of puppets, the Puppeteer of Death, original name Unknown.


    A smooth talker, code name Stage, original name Delen.


    If my memory serves me right, then there was another person working before I was there¡­ a childlike person who was trained under Lucia. Hmmm¡­ what was her name¡­ Eliza yeah.


    ...¡­


    "Hmmm¡­ is there anybody inside?" A familiar voice of a girl came from the outside as the entrance of the apartment was opened.


    Hearing her voice, Zero immediately hid himself in the shadows before cing everything inside his space ring. He then waited for the girl toe forward.


    After a few moments, 2 girls slowly came inside with a cautious expression as they examined around.


    ''Long white hair, blue eyes and a small mole below her lips Sligh on the right side. Cristine, huh? And here I thought, I was the first one who was brought here¡­ guess there were more things Lucia hid from me than I had anticipated. Though what about the other girl?'' Zero thought as he observed the child beside Cristine.


    Small bowl cut white hair with the same blue eyes as that of Cristine. She even looked like Cristine. They both looked around for a few moments before dropping their guards down as they sat on the couch.


    I slowly move out of the shadows and sigh before speaking," The name is Zero. I havee here to seek refuge, though it doesn''t look like it''s just an empty apartment." The moment Cristine ''rxed her guard'', she had already found out about my existence.


    She might be one of the weakest among all of us back then, but then again, she was a skilled assassin. Had it been any of the others, I might have had a chance that I could escape unsighted but her? No way in hell! She might as well be already nning how to tackle me when she pretended to let her guard down.


    She turns to me with a slightly interested look and says,"Is that so? Well, that is some bad luck you got." She has more or less decided to dispose of me. Do I have something that can make her change her mind? Hmmm¡­


    "Is there anything I can do to get out of this situation?" I ask withplete sincerity. Even though Cristine worked under Lucia, she was one of the few people who didn''t treat me badly. She even protected me once, even though it was for the sake of the mission. It still counts, I suppose.


    ''I don''t want to make things messy anymore,'' Zero thought, waiting for the answer as he looked at the young white-haired girl, cautiously looking at the exchange between me and Cristine.


    "Hmmm¡­ I don''t think so. There is nothing a brat like you could possibly give me," Cristine spoke as she stood up and I took a step back before gulping and speaking," think of me something like a God for once and ask. Maybe I can give you something that you can''t even fathom getting your hands on?"


    Having the knowledge of the future, I bet on the chances that there has to be something that she desperately wants. Just please be there! Don''t want to unnecessarily create a mess by killing someone I don''t want to¡­


    Cristine chuckles at my words before stopping and then thinking for a few moments. She looked like she was contemting something.


    "There is this thing called Almertitie. If you can provide any information about it, I might consider letting you go," she says as she takes out a cigarette and begins smoking while waiting for my answer. Looks like she decided to amuse me for a few moments.


    "Almertitie?" Confused, Zero looked at Cristine with an analysing gaze. Observing Zero''s confused gaze, Cristine chuckled before muttering,''well, it was worth a try, I guess.'' before slowly moving to take out her weapon but¡­


    "Why do you need the soul releasing stone?" Zero asked with the same gaze as he analysed Cristine, and she couldn''t help but look at Zero with a dumbfounded face.


    "You know about it?" Cristine looked at Zero as a ray of hope enters her eyes. She looked at Zero for answers and Zero nodded in return as his expression turned serious and once again asked,"It''s not something people should know about in general¡­ So first, tell me why you need it, I will tell you everything ordingly."


    Hearing Zero words, Cristine got annoyed a bit as she instantly moved towards Zero with her knife, pointing it at Zero''s neck she threatened," Tell me everything you know."


    Zero dumbfounded looked at Cristine before figuring out something and then his eyes widened a bit as realisation dawned on him as he then corrected himself,"it''s not that I don''t want to tell you everything, just that there are too many things connected with Almertitie to tell. If you could provide me with some hints, I shall provide you with the most appropriate thing rted to it."


    Hearing Zero''s words, Cristine couldn''t help but look at Zero with a doubtful gaze. She then took her knife back and then looked at the small white-haired girl and spoke,"it''s for my sister. She is suffering from a soul dispersal curse. I am trying to find a cure for her. I have heard from¡­ a certain person that Almertitie can cure all soul rted problems."


    Zero looked at the small white-haired girl once again properly and she looked back at Zero with a curious gaze. Based on the exchange  between her sister and Zero, she could deduce that Zero is someone important for her to get her cure. It only made her curious about who he is¡­


    "Was it Lee?" Zero asked with a serious expression, but the other girl couldn''t help but get confused at his words.


    "Who is Lee?" Cristine asked as she looked at Zero, but Zero shakes his head and then speaks changing the topic,"Can I have a look at your sister?"

 Chapter 24 Almertitie

    While Almertitie is known as a metal, it is not exactly a metal to be precise. More like it has been formed out of mana and another strange energy known as Etherbined over thousands of years and possesses all the properties of a metal.


    Currently,  even the richest of the richest won''t be able to afford it even if they sell everything they own. That is how special this thing is.


    While it still can be used for soul correction, using it for such a minor purpose is more of a waste to be honest. Still, I wonder how and from where she heard about Almertitie, after all, that metal still hasn''t been brought into this. That is if I exclude that ce.


    Hmmm¡­ did Lucia know something about Almertitie from the beginning? Looks like I''ll need to look into this tooter.


    ...


    "Can I have a look at your sister?" I asked for Cristine''s consent, and she looked at me for a few moments before speaking,"If something happens to her. You will beg me for death," and then step towards her sister.


    "Elize, it''s okay if you don''t want to do it. We can continue looking for other ways," Cristine spoke with a sweet and caring smile as she looked into Elize''s eyes. Looking at that expression, Zero couldn''t help but get stupefied. Even in his past life, not once has he seen Cristine making that kind of expression? In fact, he believed that Cristine wasn''t capable of showing any emotions except sometimes losing her temper.


    ''Elize¡­ so it''s her,'' Zero thought as he recalled about the person whom he reced in his previous life. Zero then took a small breath and waited for the sisters to finish their chat.


    "It''s okay sis. We might not get another chance like this in the future," Elize spoke before looking at Zero and then speaking,"what is it that you want to check?"


    Zero then moved closer to Elize and observed her face from a close distance for a few moments. Elize couldn''t help but blush a little, suddenly finding Zero so close to her face.


    "Widen your eyes and pass mana into them," Zero spoke in all seriousness, and Elizeplied. Then Zero took her hand and Elize passed mana into her hand too.


    Zero checked for her pulse and then touched the base of her neck with his fingers to check for the blood and mana flow. After another series of simr examinations, Zero took a few steps back and then sat on the floor and began thinking deeply about something.


    "What happened?" Cristine worriedly asked as she looked at Zero''s serious expression. Zero looked at Cristine and then red at Elize before asking her,


    "Why did you perform the Forbidden Ritual?"


    Zero''s eyes were insinuating that he didn''t like what he found from the examination and hearing Zero''s words Cristine turned stupefied before she proceeded to get furious at Zero as she spoke," what nonsense are you talking about? There is no way my-"


    Cristine turned silent as she noticed Elize standing quietly and observing Zero with a stunned expression. Though Cristine wanted to deny it, Elize''s face couldn''t show the truth any clearly.


    Cristine''s fury then suddenly turned into worry as she looked at Elize with a slightly horrified expression and spoke," Elize¡­ you did not do that. Tell me you didn''t do it. DIDN''T WE DECIDE TO NOT DO THAT?!!! WHY?? HOW COME YOU? HOW!!! AND ALL THIS TIME I HAD BEEN DESPERATELY SEARCHING FOR A CURE WHEN¡­ WHY??!"


    Cristine''s voice,ced with anger, worry and frustration, rose as she shouted at Elize regarding something that happened between them. Zero observed the drama unfolding and yawned a bit before pondering something.


    ''Well.. it''s not that bad. Honestly it''s easy to deal with, just that forbidden spell is a pain in the ass to deal with. If I had to say it''s like aplex code that is both lengthy and hard to crack. So basically if I am going to help them, I might need to waste a lot of time breaking the curse. Stupid girl¡­ just why the heck she had to choose a forbidden spell? Couldn''t she have chosen something else, like a cursed artefact or something? That would have been so much easier to crack¡­ tch tch¡­'' I think as I notice their conversationing to an end and once again start ring at her.


    "Mister Zero," Cristine looked at Zero, as if she was looking at a superior, and Zero couldn''t help but raise an eye as he looked at Cristine, changing her conduct.


    "Since you have already seen this much, it is better if we tell you everything-"


    "Make it brief," Zero spoke with annoyance as he looked at Cristine. Cristine, slightly stumped by his response, red at him before shaking her head and then speaking," We were three sisters in the beginning. Our other sister died, and she tried using a forbidden curse spell she learned from a certain book to bring her back. I know it is unforgivable to try to bring back the dead, but can you help us find a way out of this situation? I will do anything for you."


    Cristine looks with pleading eyes as she bends forward provocatively showing her chest and Zero couldn''t help but gulp as he looked at those two mounds before shaking his head as he gazed at them once again.


    ''While I would love to enjoy doing this stuff, I can''t waste even a single moment. I still need to train and get my body back to proper shape. Also, given the nature of Cristine, she might as well castrate me right after I do the deed.'' a chill ran down Zero''s spine as he thought about his little partner being cut off.


    ''Well¡­ I guess, I could still twist the situation I suppose,'' thought Zero before thinking and speaking,


    "There is a way¡­ but there are things that are needed to be done beforehand."

 Chapter 25 Masked Madonna

    "There is a way¡­ but there are things that are needed to be done beforehand," Zero spoke.


    Hearing his words, both Elize and Cristine couldn''t help but look at Zero as if he were some sort of messiah. For them, this problem was something their whole life depended upon.


    The mere fact that a solution exists to their problem could have made them search every nook and cranny of this world, and now that a solution is just within their grasp, they couldn''t contain their happiness.


    "What needs to be done?" Spoke Cristine with a ze in her eyes as if she could kill anyone Zero names without hesitation.


    Though Zero turned silent after this and at his silence, the sisters couldn''t help but get worried. Elize trickled with worry and asked,


    "Is it difficult?"


    ''No, it''s just a pain in the ass,'' thought Zero without showing any expression and then spoke,"It will take time," shaking his head showing slight distress.


    "How much time? Months? Years? Decades?" Asked Cristine, getting more tense with every moment, but Zero looked at her, slightly confused as he spoke,"what are you talking about? It won''t take that long. At worst, maybe about 6 months. However, the ritual is kind of long and painful, also it''ll require a few things that aren''t really easily avable. However¡­ I guess you guys are quite lucky."


    Then a smile forms on his face as he realises things aren''t really as messed up as they seem. Perhaps he can utilize more than one person with a single action¡­ hmmm.


    Watching him grin, the girls couldn''t help but feel creeped out before taking a step back each.


    "Hey! What are you guys thinking?!" Zero eximed as he saw the sisters'' apathetic look. Eliza spoke with a doubt in her words," though, are you really sure you can cure me? You don''t look all that reliable, to be honest. How can we believe that you aren''t just scamming us? I don''t even feel a system from you, let alone any form of strength."


    Hearing her sister''s words, Cristine too looked at Zero with a doubtful gaze. The information that her sister could be cured made her so happy that she kind of overlooked the fact that all this could be just a facade and they might as well have been getting scammed by a nameless nobody.


    "Well, that is true and honestly, I have no way of proving something like that without any proper nning. In the end, I guess all we could do is sign a mana contract. Perhaps that would be the only way to prove my credibility right now," Zero spoke as he stood up and took out a paper from his pocket with an uninterested look. From his expression, he just wanted to get over this part and move on.


    Cristine and Eliza looked at Zero in a new light as they saw the mana contract paper. Mana contract papers aren''t easily avable to higher society, let alone the public. Even if they are avable, they cost quite a hefty amount to get it.


    Still satisfied with the way Zero was going, they epted a mana contract as a base to put their trust in. Zero then looked at them before he began writing a fewmands.


    [Zero wouldpletely cure Eliza''s curse and he won''t cause any harm to Eliza and people around her.


    In return, Eliza and Cristine would help Zero out a total of 10 times, no matter what the situation.]


    Looking at the paper, Cristine looked at it properly before adding a few lines,


    [Zero wouldpletely cure Eliza''s curse and he won''t cause any harm towards Eliza and people around her.


    In return, Eliza and Cristine would help Zero out a total of 10 times, no matter what the situation.


    However, if the lives of either Eliza or Cristine are in any kind of danger, they are allowed to escape from the situation or even reject it altogether.]


    After that Zero added a few more lines, then Cristine added another. Zero made a few more changes and Elize too added a few of her own thoughts. After scribbling for another 30 minutes or so, the final contract with which all three of them were satisfied, was formed.


    [Zero wouldpletely cure Eliza''s curse by his own means. He won''t be doing any kind of harm to Eliza or Cristine in any of the process while also making sure that they don''t have any difort during the process unless very necessary.


    He would cure Eliza within the next 8 months of forming the contract.


    He would be providing information about his current location every 3 weeks, unless and until the circumstances does not allow.


    Under life threatening circumstances, he will tell the sisters about the dangers beforehand.


    He will also not have any dirty or wrong thoughts about Eliza.


    Eliza will stay obedient and follow all the procedures of the ritual without asking any question.


    Cristine will make sure that Zero stays alive if he is in a situation where he can''t save himself.


    Both Elize and Cristine are not allowed to meddle with the personal information of Zero, and Zero is not to be involved with their personal matters unless extremely necessary.


    Neither side of the party can harm each other.


    Neither side of the party is allowed to tell any other person about the said contract and its content. They are also not allowed to talk about anything that happened between them. It will be as if they never met.


    The mana contract will be torn 1 week after Eliza''s curse has been removed]


    "Well¡­ this looks a bit messy, but I guess it''s fine," Zero spoke and Cristine and Eliza couldn''t help but nod as they looked at the contract. They even made sure to read the contract a couple of times so as to not miss anything.


    After that, both sides put their blood on the contract, and the contract was signed. Zero smirked a bit before looking at the smiling faces of the sisters as they both looked at each other.


    "I will be leaving from here and finding another ce where I could get some rest," Zero spoke and both of them looked at Zero before Cristine spoke up,"why not stay here with us?"


    Zero turned around and looked at Cristine with a slight smile as he spoke," I don''t want to meet Lucia this soon."

 Chapter 26 Finding A Place To Stay

    "I don''t want to meet Lucia this soon."


    As soon as Zero spoke those words, both Eliza and Cristine looked at him with a dumbfounded expression as their eyes turned open wide.


    They wanted to ask, but the mana inside them churned and they started gasping for air as they realised that the mana contract forbids them from asking for any personal information.


    ''We have been yed,'' was the thought that Cristine had as she looked at Zero moving away from their sight. He knew about them beforehand and all this wasn''t just a coincidence¡­ is what they were thinking. Worried about what may happen next, they looked at the mana contract once again.


    Their eyes turned a bit more open before they realised what the mana contract implies, and connecting it with the events that had happened around them, a few things became more apparent.


    First was that Zero knew Lucia. He was probably here to meet Lucia or something rted to Lucia. It wasn''t a coincidence at all.


    Second was that Lucia does not know anything about this whole ordeal and she has no idea what is going on around.


    And finally, the fact that he told them about Lucia¡­ is probably because he wanted them to know that he has an upper hand on them.


    However, the fact that he cannot harm them made them rx a little before they gave each other an awry smile.


    Eliza spoke after giving some thought to the situation,"do you think he is an enemy?"


    "I don''t know. Though he looks more like a dealer than an enemy or ally. The fact that he didn''t add any special condition regarding me helping him made me think that he was still a kid, but now¡­ I can''t shake the feeling that he is going to do something huge," Cristine said and then looked at the contract once again and spoke again as she turned annoyed at her own thoughts,"But I still can''t find a single damn scheme in this whole contract and the more I look at it the more I feel that it is in our favour¡­ yet I feel defeated¡­"


    Eliza chuckled a bit before moving towards the bedroom as she spoke,"well¡­ what''s done is done. At least we are moving in a direction rather than running around hopelessly."


    Cristine couldn''t help but look at Eliza and ponder over her words before nodding and starting to do her own thing. Whether what happened today was a blessing or a misfortune, only time will tell.


    Meanwhile, Zero began strolling in the city for a change. Since his n for the hideout failed, he began pondering over other things that happened over the time he regressed, especially since the facility.


    ''At first it might look like everything is going just fine but¡­ now that I think about it, everything isn''t really going exactly as I nned it to be,'' Zero thought as he got mixed with the crowd in the city.


    The first thing that''s different was the fact that the Puppeteer of Death arrived at the facility. Shouldn''t it normally be a small army of all the people excluding the highest one in hierarchy?


    ''It doesn''t make sense. Why did no one else but only the Puppeteer of Deathe to deal with the situation? I had made sure not to let anyone know about everyone''s system being activated again, so that I could have their guards down but¡­


    Then there was Mark Leeway''s presence¡­ that too shouldn''t have happened. Where did things go wrong? Even William''s presence was an anomaly. Why was that guy at the facility?'' Zero kept pondering over and over.


    He could more or less make out the reason why Cristine and Eliza were there at the hideout. It was basically because that b*tch Lucia lied to him in the past, but what happened at the facility was different.


    ''Hmmmm¡­ let''s stop depending upon previous life''s memories until I gather enough information. With that in mind¡­ hmmm all right, let''s get another identity for now.'' Zero thinks as he moves in the direction of the Record Keepers'' Department.


    The Record Keepers'' Department was a ce where most of the identity cards and stuff were made, both legally and illegally. Whether it''s your own personal status, an artifact''s or weapon''s status, everything is made and stored there.


    There were a few Record Keeper''s Department main branches in this city too. Zero moves towards the closest department as he finally decides everything.


    At this moment, Zero finally noticed the surrounding ce. For the first time in a while, he took a break and finally saw the hustling and bustling city around him. Skyscrapers touching the sky at a distance and towering buildings all around him. People walking around busily going about their daily lives, family and children happily walking while most of the people have a depressed or exhausted face.


    Perhaps all that thinking made him forget¡­ that he was really back in the past. Here, no one is chasing after him and he can finally take a breather. He does not need to run for his life or be in hiding. A ce where things are still alive and kicking and the Cataclysm is still a few years ahead of them. He looked at the world he needed to protect, the people he wanted to save¡­  it was an almost impossible task given the way things are going yet¡­


    He clenches his fist a bit and a smile forms on his face as he continues his stroll.


    While it looked like he was finally set on a noble path, his thoughts said otherwise.


    ''To save a dying world. How fascinating¡­! A world that is set to be doomed in multiple ways and unless everything is done with proper nning, this world is f*cked up. Aah¡­ it makes my heart burst with excitement¡­'' Zero thought as he controlled his surging emotions.


    With Zero being pushed into one grave situation one after another, it ended up twisting his personality a bit. The bigger the danger, the higher the difficulty, the more thrill he feels. At this point, he might not be doing it only for the sake of saving his loved ones¡­ but because of the heck of it.


    He became infamous by a name among his enemies after the first Cataclysm.


    The Crazy Daredevil.

 Chapter 27 Planet Vermillion

    Geographically and politically, there were 2 massive inds or continents, which were more or less half moon shaped and were divided from the middle. Legends say that the twonds were once joined, and that they were cut into two by a super strong person or perhaps by God himself.


    Not diving much into myths and all, the two continents were named as Western and Eastern Continents with each holding 7 and 5 countries, respectively.


    Zero was currently in the western part of the Eastern Continent. Among the 5 countries of Eastern Continent, Zero lived in Arcadia and his exact current location was the city of Bryxton, one of the most financially advanced cities among all of Eastern Countries.


    ...¡­.


    After walking for another couple of hours or so, Zero finally reaches the Record Keepers'' Department. By the time he reached there, night had already fallen and the lights all around the city lit it up enhancing the magnificence of Bryxton''s night view.


    In front of Zero was the Record Keepers'' Department''s building. Rather than a single building, it was more of aposite building made up of 7 buildings aligned in a star shape.


    Zero began walking again, this time activating his shadow arts and getting mixed in with the crowd. After another 30 minutes of running, he finally reached the other side of the Department''s building and a market filled with all types of people came into his view.


    There were a variety of goods avable there and if you know your way around the market and have what the seller needs, perhaps you can even find a diamond hidden in this market.


    Though, that being said, if you have no idea on how things really work in this market, then you will be both scammed and looted simultaneously in the blink of an eye.


    Zero entered the market, with his shadow arts still on, and kept moving through it in a particr direction. After a few minutes, he came across a small alleyway where a few men were smoking.


    Entering into the valley, he undid his shadow arts and moved towards the men step by step. The men, hearing the sound of his steps, looked at him with a cautious look before signing to each other as one of them spoke,"Hey kid, did you lose your way? The exit is on the other side?"


    Zero didn''t stop walking and answered them with a smile,"Ah! No! I haven''t lost my way. I just heard about this ce from a certain someone and he said that I could find what I want as long as I meet certain conditions."


    The men looked at each other for a few moments before one of them spoke,"Let me handle this." to his friends and stood up beforeing towards Zero.


    He looked at Zero for a few moments before speaking,"[System Check]" and waited for a few moments.


    Zero simply kept smiling at that man''s face and that man, a bit confused, once again spoke,"[System Check]." This time, his expression changed from confusion to doubt as he looked at Zero again. For some reason, he took a step back and then once again checked for his system a couple of times. However, even still, he failed to detect one.


    "What are you?" that man spoke as he took out a gun and pointed at Zero and Zero''s face became ''horrified'' as he spoke,"Hey! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! My system had been locked by my father so that no one could see it. No one but him and I can see it. I hope you can understand that I have my own situation."


    Watching the scared and cautious face of Zero, the man lowered his gun a bit. He still had his doubts about Zero''s words, but there was little he could do about it. So instead of focusing on the system, he moved to another topic.


    "Who sent you here kid?" He asked as he looked at Zero with a fixed gaze. He had a really cautious expression with his eyes piercing Zero''s body.


    "I can''t tell you about him, but he said that if I can give you what you guys want, I will get what I want," Zero repeated the sentence and the man then sighed before speaking,"all right. Wait here and I will be back in a moment."


    The man stepped inside a certain gate at a distance and after another 10 minutes or so, two men came along with that man.


    Without any greetings, both of them simultaneously spoke,"[System Check]" and after not finding any response, they looked at Zero as if they found an alien.


    "Excuse me?" Zero looked at them with a ''confused'' expression as he ''couldn''t understand what was going on''.


    One of the new men spoke,"what is it that you want?" in a curious tone as he looked at Zero with his eyes piercing more and more as the time passed. The other man was still checking for Zero''s system.


    ''Hmmmm¡­ do they want to die?'' getting annoyed at their behaviour, Zero couldn''t help but think about changing his ns a bit. However, he shook his head before speaking.


    "I want another identity."


    At his words, the others looked at him with a slightly understanding face. It wasn''tmon for people to get another identity for special purposes. In fact, it would be rare for people to not have another identity.


    "All right. So I suppose you have the minimum amount of what it requires forging a fake identity?" one of them spoke as he smiled at Zero, who was nodding, before once again the man began checking for Zero''s system.


    "Tch. At least hide it when you are checking for it. I feel like an animal at some zoo¡­" Annoyed at them, Zero couldn''t help but look around and speak in a hushed voice.


    "..." the others looked at his slightly pouting face and then¡­


    "Pfftttt hahahahaha¡­ all right, all right, we will stop, kid. Let''s go inside and get you your new identity," the man stoppedughing but with a smile he spoke as he began moving inside.


    Zero looked at him for a few moments before shaking his head as he thought with a tired face,''And try to hide your greed too while you are at it. I won''t be able to hold back much longer from killing you if you can''t even hide your thoughts¡­''

 Chapter 28 Lucia Scarlet

    Chapter 28 Lucia Scarlet


    Before moving on to me, let me introduce you to the love of my life, my beauty queen: the person I hate the most, Lucia Scarlet.


    I love her the most. Never have I ever loved anyone more than her.


    I hate her the most. Never have I ever hated anyone more than her.


    I am going to kill her in the worst way possible after the betrayal she gave me.


    For starters, she is a strong, capable person. A very strong person with a sharp brain on her head. If I could call myself a genius, then she is a tad bit smarter than me in anything that I can count. Her speciality lies more in the leadership and strategizing side than power andbat. Though her powers of charm and blood control should not be trifled with, as she could literally kill you with a smile. Not joking at all!!


    Ah! And before I forget to tell¡­ the one who taught me charm magic and blood magic was her.


    As for her appearance¡­


    ¡­.......


    A charmingdy of about 20 yrs, with an amazing body that people couldn''t help but turn their heads to take a second look, stepped out of a car wearing a beautiful one piece red dress as she smiled at the crowd.


    Her long wavy reddish ck hair whichplemented her deep ck eyes and red dress, fluttered against the wind ever so slightly as she moved out of the car.


    Right after she smiled her eyes turned red for a split second before turning ck again, a few men began walking towards her while the others continued doing their own work as if nothing ever happened.


    The men went towards the car and picked her bags up and began following her to the alley. She smiled as the car moved back to wherever it came from. At this point, perhaps everyone even forgot that something like this even happened.


    After walking for a while she reached the same hideout where Zero came in the morning. She turned around and once again used her charm magic and the men dropped the bags at the front door before turning back and getting back to where they came from.


    She then knocked on the door and soon after, it opened revealing a young white-haired girl standing before her.


    "Eliza, help me pick up the bags will ya?" she spoke as she entered the apartment with a couple of bags in her hands. Eliza looked at her with the same thoughts she had in the morning regarding what happened with Zero.


    "What?!" A bit startled by Eliza''s stare, she couldn''t help but ask out loud.


    "Nothing¡­ ummm¡­ Miss Lucia, have you ever fallen in love?" Eliza asked this question out of the blue as her brain ran through all the scenarios concerning the rtionship of Zero and Lucia.


    Perhaps it was by instincts, she found Zero very simr to what Lucia was. His behaviour and his way of talking¡­ felt quite simr to what Lucia did.


    -Thud For more chapters, please visit


    Lucia fell on the ground before getting back up and hurriedly getting closer to Eliza as she put the back of her hand on Eliza''s forehead to check for fever.


    "You okay?" With a very concerned expression, Lucia looked at Eliza, trying to find any signs or symptoms of any disease. After searching for a few moments, she sighed in relief before looking at Eliza,"why did you ask that? You know I loathe that stuff, don''t you?"


    Eliza nodded with a nk expression as Lucia then picked up the bag and began walking inside. Snapping out of her thoughts, Eliza suddenly took the other bags and moved into the house after closing the door.


    "Evening Lucia. How was the mission?" asked Cristine as she walked out of the shower wearing a loose crop top with shorts and a towel on her shoulders which she was using to dry her hair.


    Lucia looked at her for a few moments before she let go of the bags and let herself fall on the sofa.


    -Thud


    "It was fine. More or less, we are closer to the target. It should take another month before our mission will be wrapped up here," Lucia spoke as she recounted the events. She then took an apple from the fruit basket on the table in front of her.


    "What happened to the guy who wanted to buy you?" Cristine asked curiously. From what she had heard, the guy made quite a ruckus at the location of the mission, saying he wanted Lucia to be his.


    "Dead. I killed him beforeing here. He was a nobody with a D- Rank System with poison rted abilities. Why do you ask, though? You are not really interested in these types of things," Lucia asked as she observed Cristine''s expression with a confused look before taking a bite from the apple.


    -Chew


    "Thought you made a boyfriend or something," Cristine spoke in a low voice, but then moved away from there without giving much thought to it.


    "Cough cough¡­ wh? Wha? What?! Excuse me?!! What gave you the idea??" Lucia however didn''t like those words and stood up as she stared at Cristine, who stopped moving and had turned around to look at her and then at Eliza who too was looking with a very curious expression at Lucia.


    "Nothing," Cristine spoke before walking away from there.


    "Nothing," Eliza said before running away from there.


    Looking at them, Lucia started chasing them and after a little bit of running around, she finally caught Eliza and they both fell to the ground facing each other.


    Eliza looked at Lucia''s huffing yet angry expression and then she couldn''t help butugh at her,"pfffttt¡­hahahahahaha¡­.."


    Looking at Elizaughing, Lucia couldn''t help but be dumbfounded. Cristine, who looked at them from a distance, smiled before speaking," Guys, I am getting dinner ready. And Lucia, it''s your turn to set the table today."


    Lucia turned at Cristine, who was already moving towards the dining room, and stood up before giving a hand to Eliza. Eliza caught her hand and stood up before both of them began walking towards the dining room with a smile on their faces.

 Chapter 29 A New Identity

    [Author''s note: Well, since I am going to go all out from here onwards, thought I might as well mention this.


    First, I will be posting 2chaps per day for a couple of weeks before going all out at 3 chaps/day,ter onwards. If I can''t at some point then that means I am buys IRL.


    If you guys need any more chapters, I will publish em but at the cost of Golden Tickets. Though all the extra chapters will be published at the start of every month based on how much GT I got in the previous month.(I have mentioned the requirements in the Synopsys)


    Also you guys can send castles if you want an extra chapter if you feel like really needing to read next one(I will publish it within 12hours).


    Extra gifts are always wee. I can''t promise an extra chapter on that but I will make sure to shoutout your name in the uing chapter and maybe publish an extra chapter if I am in a good mood and I have time. That''s all, hope you enjoy the story.]


    ...........


    An extra piece of information I thought I should add about Lucia is that she is from a very peculiar ce. An exceptionally peculiar ce where rules are so strict that if you don''t follow them, you can literally lose your life. It''s not something they imposed on themselves, but something that is natural to them.


    Now Lucia was here after a certain traitor, who escaped from that certain ce with very critical information and ording to what I remember, that person was somewhere in Bryxton. The fact we had to move to Bryxton multiple times just to check for that person''s whereabouts tells us the significance of that person to Lucia. Though I wonder why he never moved away from Bryxton¡­.?


    ...¡­..


    Zero enters through the door and follows the men through a hall before finally reaching to the end where a ck gate was present. One of the men knocks on the door and after waiting for a few moments, a voicees from the inside, calling us in.


    -Click


    The door opens and we proceed to enter the room. Observing the room, Zero finds himself entering avish office space where extravagant paintings and crafts were ced all around the wall with a table at the edge. A man was sitting on the other side with a curious look on his face as he observed Zero.


    Zero too looked at him with a smile and the man smiled in return.


    ''Lare Michael, one of the underdogs of the traitor whom Lucia should be searching for now. All right, let the game begin. It''s about time we find out how a traitor actually managed to escape from that terrible ce,'' thought Zero as he observed Lare.


    Lare then nodded at his men, and they moved towards him. Zero followed them with a ''curious and innocent'' look on his face as he observed the surroundings.


    "What is your name kid?" Lare asked as he looked at Zero and Zero  pretended to snap out of his daze and looked at Lare and asked with a stupefied face," What?!"


    Lare didn''t get annoyed at Zero''s childish behaviour and smiled again before speaking,"what is your name kid?"


    "Umm.. Ah! You can call me Zero for now," Zero spoke while scratching the back of his head and Lare and the others chuckled at his conduct. Then Lare looked at his men before speaking.


    "What is it that you want?"


    Zero this time, however, looked at the other people around him before making an awkward smile, as if he was hesitating to speak in front of the other men.


    The other men couldn''t help but get confused by his actions. ''Didn''t you already tell us about wanting a new other identity? Why are you getting all awkward now?'' is what they all were thinking.


    Looking at Zero behaving the way he was, Lare understood something before asking his men to leave them alone. The men hesitated but still slowly moved out of the room, leaving only Zero and Lare alone.


    "You can tell me now," Lare asked, entertaining Zero.


    Zero moved forward and took a seat against Lare, and then smiled at him. This time, however, the smile was cold, piercing through Lare. The atmosphere was different. Zero didn''t feel like a child anymore, but more like a man who had been through these situations thousands of times.


    Lare couldn''t help but gulp as he observed Zero''s eyes that were piercing through him. It was as if he was sitting in front of a predator that could eat him at any moment. He even thought about calling the other men from outside, but before he could make any move, Zero took something out of his space ring. It was a blue-coloured potion and, looking at that potion, Lare''s eyes turned wide in shock as he observed that potion.


    "A High Grade potion?!!!" Lare asked with a dumbfounded expression as he looked at Zero again. While a High Grade potion might not be rare, it''s very difficult to obtain one, unless you are from a very influential background.


    There are 4 Types of Potions.


    1.Low Grade for minor injuries.


    2.Middle Grade for major injuries.


    3.High Grade for life saving situations.


    4.Supreme Grade for dispelling extreme curses and poisons that are normally difficult to get rid of.


    ''I found it under the bunker at the hospital¡­ not something I can really tell him though¡­ Well, the organisation was really generous with their funds and stuff, weren''t they? A High Grade potion per bunker¡­ though it is only avable to the highest ranking members. Guess all that hard work was worth something after all?'' A small smile forms on Zero''s face as he recalls bits of his past before he sighs as he looks at the bright expression of Lare,''if only people knew the real side effects of potions in this day and age.''


    "I want 3 things. I will give you this potion and 10 Mid Grade potions right here and now," Zero spoke as he looked at Lare.


    Lare was startled to hear that Zero had even more potions, but he wasn''t as startled as he was the first time. Middle Grade potions, though rare, are still avable in the market at a high price.


    "The first thing I want is another identity. The details of that identity will be confidential, no one but I should know about it," Zero spoke in a businessman-like tone as he observed Lare''s face and used his charm magic.


    "The second thing that I want is for you to provide me with a bank ount on the aforementioned identity. The details of that ount will be provided by me, however it should be done in a way that it is still known only to me," Zero spoke again as he turned his charm magic off and looked at Lare, who was nodding at his demand.


    Normally people would question something like this, since after creating an identity one can easily create a bank ount but to ask someone else to do it for them¡­ now that would be very suspicious. Hence, Zero used Charm Magic to make sure Lare doesn''t suspect anything wrong with Zero''s demand.


    "And the third thing that I want is¡­ A ck Entry Card to the Bryxton Night''s Auction."

 Chapter 30 A New Identity#2

    Bryxton Night''s Auction.


    One of the most influential auctions held in the whole of Arcadia. It holds its own prestige by only allowing the strongest and wealthiest ones to join it and that too by invitation only. Either you have a very strong connection with someone influential or you have a direct invitation from one of the Auction Holder''s members, are the ways that can get you entry to the auction.


    This auction hold''s various rare goods and antiquities from all over the world, whether it is artefacts, Supreme Grade potion or first ss  weapons, everything can be expected to be present here. That too of the top-notch quality¡­. at least for this timeline.


    Sometimes¡­ even special things¡­ or people are too sold here.


    ...


    "And the third thing that I want is¡­ A ck Entry Card to the Bryxton Night''s Auction."


    Spoke Zero as he stared directly into Lare''s eyes. Lare couldn''t help but widen his eyes as he observed Zero and spoke,"how do you even know about that? No! Scratch that! How can you even ask me to get something like that when I don''t even possess one?"


    His face filled with ridicule looked at Zero for an answer. Zero however smiled as he looked at him and spoke,


    "I know you have someone who can sell it at a certain price. If you can persuade him and arrange a meeting with him, I can strike a deal with both him and you and trust me when I say it''ll be worth your while to ept this deal."


    Lare observed Zero with a slightly scared expression as he looked at him. He gulped before speaking.


    "I don''t get what you are talking about."


    Zero then rolled his eyes before sighing and then standing up and speaking,"all right. I will try some other way of acquiring that ck card. For now, try to arrange the other two things I asked you to do. Hmmmm¡­. How long will it take?"


    Lare looked at Zero for a few moments, trying to understand what was going on in Zero''s mind at this exact moment before he spoke.


    "It will take 30 minutes. Do you want to use your own fingerprint or an artificially created one?"


    ''What was the difference between them again? Oh! The one where you have a single identity but you show up as two different persons for superhero kind of stuff while the other one is for having two different identities for having a separate identity all together, though you need to carry something like an artificial eye or a finger with you all the time in case you need to use the other identity,'' Zero pondered over the options given by Lare.


    "I will use my own fingerprint," Zero spoke with a smile on his face. While it may be almost impossible in this timeline to change your fingerprint, it isn''t exactly impossible to change it. There are certain ways¡­ which aren''t really that hard to be honest¡­ just painful.


    Lare looked at Zero''s smile with a sharp gaze. His instincts were telling him that there''s more to Zero''s smile than what it seems, but he couldn''t pinpoint exactly what it was. Not being able to look through Zero, Lare cursed in his mind,''for f*cks sake just what kind of mess am I diving in right now?'' before moving on and bringing a machine in front of Zero and asked him to put his finger on the sensor.


    Zero ced his finger on the sensor, and after a few seconds, the scan wasplete. After that, Lare dialed somewhere and talked for a few minutes before sighing and looking at Zero again.


    "I finished your work. It should be done within half an hour," Lare spoke as he wiped off the sweat from his forehead.


    ''A ck Card, huh? Should I go for it¡­ but this looks too shady to be honest,'' Lare thought as he observed Zero. He was contemting whether he should go for it or not, though his heart was mostly tilted to not take the chance.


    "Would you like to drink something?" he asked Zero and Zero nodded before answering,"a cup of lemon tea, please!" with a sweet smile that sent another chill down the Lare''s spine.


    Lare shook his head before nodding and ordering a cup of coffee for himself and a cup of lemon tea for Zero.


    For the next few minutes, nobody spoke. Zero simply kept smiling at Lare and Lare couldn''t help but ask," What¡­ what is it?"


    Zero answered,"nothing. Just nning something, it reached a very interesting part, so I couldn''t help but smile."


    At his words, Lare rolled his eyes and then moved to take a sip of his coffee before asking," care to share it?"


    Zero too took a sip and answered,"Something along the lines of getting the whole Bryxton''s police department involved and then getting rid of a couple of organisations."


    At his words Lare stopped for a few seconds before smiling at Zero with a slight re as he spoke,"Is this supposed to be a threat?"


    "Um? No. It''s not about you. It''s just part of something that I have been nning for a while. It''s just that I couldn''t find a proper way out of a few steps, though now I have finally solved that mystery," Zero spoke as he shook his head.


    Lare looked at him for a few moments before sighing, ignoring Zero''s babbling as nonsense and getting back to his own work. After a few minutes, a man arrives with a ring in a case.


    "Here is your new identity and other stuff. They are all present in the ring," Lare spoke as he presented the ring in front of Zero and Zero took out the other potions in front of Lare and immediately began getting out of the ce.


    Lare checked the potions and found no problem in them, but by the time he looked, Zero was already gone. Lare couldn''t help but think of the Zero''s weird behavior for the past few moments and the crazy talk he was going on about.


    "He didn''t even ask about the details to create an identity. Did he know about it previously?" the man who brought the ring asked with a confused expression.


    "Well¡­ at least we got our cut of the deal. What happens with him, it''s none of our concern¡­" Lare thought before sighing as he got back to his chair and began pondering over Zero''s words once again before shaking his head and moving on with his own work.

 Chapter 31 Calm Before The Storm

    Perhaps nning was one of my best weapons. I loved to n things at times¡­ and what I loved the second most was ying with someone''s mind. If you could make someone give you what you want on their own, why would there be any need to steal and make enemies?


    I mean, you can make them give you what you want with just ''simple'' actions and words. Why work hard, when you work smart?


    .....


    Zero moved out of that ce and used his shadow arts before anyone could begin to trace him. His work here was already done for the time being. Now he needed a ce to stay and focus on increasing his strengths.


    He moved to a nearby market and sold a couple of low grade potions and earned some change. Using that change, he went to a nearby cafe and chose a private booth where he could get some privacy.


    "Let the show begin. Lucia¡­ Elle¡­ Lucas¡­ I hope you are ready, for I aming to change your lives in ways you guys have never expected even in your wildest of dreams," Zero spoke as a smirk formed on his face while he opened up theputer and began hacking it.


    He opened the space ring on the side and began filling up the details of his other identity.


    Name: Reaper


    ss: Scythe Wielder


    Rank: Unknown


    After mentioning the first three pieces of information, he went for other details, like background and personal history. While he did that, he added the highest grade security to this fake identity. Then he looked at his bank ount with a couple of dors left in it.


    A yful smile formed on his face as he hacked into his own ount and multiplied the number by millions before erasing any traces. He even created a history of transactions made by this ount.


    After making sure all gaps were ounted for and even if someone ends up searching through his security, all he would get is apletely white legal ount, he finally took a moment of break and looked at his ount.


    Reaper''s ount bnce: 423,400,293$


    ''This should be enough to create Reaper''s presence in the Auction,'' Zero thought before wondering if he should add another zero to it but thinking that this would be overdoing it, he left the idea of doing so and then moved to look through a bunch of locations where he could stay as well as train.


    It took some time, but he found a certain floor in a skyscraper near theke of Bryxton. It cost about 150 million dors and Zero immediately took it. That ce had all kinds of facilities that Zero had been looking for, from its location to the quality which Zero wanted. Everything was avable there.


    Then Zero looked for some high end clothing shops. As they say clothes make a person and Zero couldn''t move in such a costly skyscraper having just a bunch of casual clothing.


    After making sure he didn''t miss anything, Zero moved for another couple of steps and bought a bunch of guns and other stuff, getting them delivered to the same location. Though the delivery dates were for a weekter.


    Only after he finished everything, he moved out of the cafe and made his way to the high end clothes shop. It was in a famous mall on the other side of the city.


    Zero took a sigh before hailing a cab to the mall.


    After a couple of hours, he reached the mall and proceeded to move into the mall. The guards and the others present there looked at Zero with a very peculiar look, judging him on his appearance.


    '' If I am correct, this is the type of ce where only the richest can afford to buy things. Guess¡­ there is little I can do about stuff like these, though personally I would have preferred to not attract attention,'' thinking that Zero immediately moved to the clothes store.


    Watching Zeroing into the shop, a bunch of girls gave him a weird look beforeughing at his pathetic clothes. The employees of that shop, at first annoyed, still sighed before moving towards Zero to ''entertain'' him. It was their job to look out for any guest who entered into their shop and give the best hospitality, so they had to do so. Even if it means showing and giving respect to a small white-haired kid wearing a cheap suit.


    "Excuse me, sir? Do you need something from here?" one of the employees spoke with a polite smile on her face and Zero smiled in return as he thought,''Nice hospitality. I like it. Them not kicking me out based on my clothes earned them some of my respect.''


    "I would like to buy a couple of suits. Can you show me around?" Zero spoke with the same smile and the employee''s eyes turned a bit wide before she spoke,"Sir, it might sound a bit rude, but the suits here cost a lot. It starts with $10000, even for the lowest ones."


    Hearing her words, Zero then sighed before he spoke,"I know. Just show me the suits, please? I am in a slight hurry."


    The employee didn''t speak any more and then showed him a dozen suits and after looking through all of them, Zero finally chose 4 suits.


    As he began paying for the suits, the employees and the customers too kept gazing at theputer and Zero in anticipation but


    -Thank you for the payment


    The machine spoke and they couldn''t help but blink their eyes at Zero.


    "If it''s not too much, can I change into your changing rooms?" Zero asked and the employee who handled Zero''s purchase hurriedly nodded. They looked at Zero moving into the changing room and thening out wearing a ck and white suit.


    His whole look transformed from a simple cloth change and they couldn''t help but stare at him while he was walking, nodding at those employees before leaving.


    Zero moved away from there, putting the suits into his space ring under the surprised gazes of all the people present there.


    "The world is surely a weird ce, filled with such¡­ people," the employee couldn''t help butment as she watched Zero disappearing from her gaze before getting back to her own work.

 Chapter 32 Calm Before The Storm#2

    After changing into a formal suit, Zero looked much more professional. Though a few things were still missing and with that in mind, Zero moved towards a hair salon in the same mall. He looked at people waiting for their turn to get their hair done and sat down on a sofa a few metres away waiting for his turn.


    After waiting for some time, the worker there called Zero to get his hair done. They asked him whether he wanted a new haircut or just to style his hair. Zero shook his head as he spoke.


    "Just wash and trim my hair. I don''t want to change my hairstyle."


    Having white hair can make your hair dirty quite fast, so he kind of needed to get it cleaned professionally before he could start doing it by himselfter. Though he knew how to do it, he wasn''t really a professional and because he needed to make an appearance right now for many purposes; he decided to go an extra step with the fashion.


    After 20 mins or so, his hair was back to shining white, and he smiled as he looked at himself before standing up and paying the bill. He may not be extremely handsome, but still he was above average and with a proper makeover, he too can score more than just a couple ofdies.


    As he left the salon, he made his descent to the ground floor and began looking at cars to buy. With the advancement of the system, there were many automatic cars present in this day and age.


    At first the employees there thought that Zero was merely passing time as he looked at those cars but after a while when they saw him taking out a certain ck card and paying the bill immediately at the checkout right beside a sleek ck car, they couldn''t help but look on in astonishment.


    To make the work as swift and easy as possible, the carpanies have now formed a way to directly sell their cars without any trouble to the buyers as long as they pay by a transparent means like card or cheque. This way, the key to the car can be registered to the name of the cardholder and it will be presented to the owner right then and there.


    -Click


    Before the employees could even react, Zero had already sat in the car andmanded it to travel to the location where he had bought a ce a few hours ago.


    Watching him leave, the employees simply looked at the car with a bitter smile on their faces as they let a potentially rich kid go right before their eyes.


    Zero, on the other hand, didn''t really think much about it. His mind was currently upied with what he was going to do for the next few days. It won''t be long till Elle will begin her journey towards Arcadia Academy and he needs to make sure to use the perfect opportunity to secure an ally that is going to be one of the strongest in the future.


    As he was travelling through the roads, he saw the sun rising and he sighed as realised that he had been continuously moving as soon as he woke up from the hospital. A smile formed on his face as he wondered what the other escapees might be thinking right now.


    As he was travelling, he saw a certain herbal shop at a distance and stopped the car.


    -Click


    The gate opened, and he moved out of the car. Watching himing out of such avish car, people couldn''t help but wonder who he was. They looked at him, wondering if he was the son of some rich/ powerful guy. Ignoring the gazes of those people, Zero moved inside the herbal shop and began looking at those herbs.


    "What is it that I can do for you sir?" A young girl came with a bright smile on her face and Zero looked at her with the same smile as he spoke,"Can I get a list of the herbs you have? I am looking for a certain variety of things."


    The girl pondered a bit before nodding and moving to a small almeera in the corner and taking out a register. She hurriedlyes back with the register and presents it in front of Zero with a bright smile on her face.


    "You look really happy," Zeromented, and she smiled as she spoke,"yeah! My father returned home after so many months! I am really happy today!" with enthusiasm all over her face as she answered.


    Zero then began looking at the list of herbs and after noticing that it had most of the things he needed, he smiled and nodded at it before looking at that girl,"umm¡­ excuse me!" he spoke as he found that the girl had already vanished from his sight.


    "Here is my father," spoke the girl with a bright smile as she dragged her father out to the shop. Zero looked at that man and he couldn''t help but blink his eyes seeing that man''s face.


    "Why are you taking me to work this early¡­ it hasn''t even been morning yet!! And what are- What the heck?!!!" The man looked at Zero with a shocked expression as he recognized Zero''s face immediately.


    For the next few moments they both looked at each other and then Zero coughed a little before speaking," I think I should go." but before he could do so, the man had caught up with Zero and immediately moved in front of him, blocking his way. He had aplex look on his face as he huffed a little before speaking,"Zero¡­ huff¡­huff¡­ I don''t know who you are or what you are trying to achieve¡­ but can you¡­ can you really cure that guy''s daughter?"


    Zero looked at that man''s pleading eyes with a humble smile. He then spoke,


    "Don''t worry. If I had said that I am going to cure her, then I would. At least trust your saviour, Mr Reagen Wessex."

 Chapter 33 Calm Before The Storm#3

    Reagan Wessex was one of the people who was kept captured among the people in the facility. He is quite skilled in herbs and its rted aspects and with the help of [Green Adventurer System] he kind of ended up being one of the rare adventuring herbalists out there.


    He was strong in many ways and was a kind person. With a daughter and a wife, he just wanted to live a normal happy life.


    However, the organisation kind of took that dream away from him and he had almost lost even the smallest of hope of getting out of that facility alive where he was experimented on every now and then. He longed to see his wife and children onest time¡­ no, many times he literally begged for it. He begged the facility workers, god and everyone n anyone he could think of.


    In the daily life of living hopelessly, one day he heard the announcement that Zero had made and from there on what happened made him earn his freedom and reunited him with his family. For him, Zero became kind of like a messiah who saved him from hell.


    He owed Zero his life¡­ and wanted to repay it somehow, however the thought of losing his family once again because he along with the others was winded up in Mark Leeway and Zero''s deal made him a bit conflicted in his reform. Watching Zero here, he couldn''t help but ask Zero face-to-face everything he had in mind.


    ....


    "Don''t worry. If I had said that I am going to cure her, then I would. At least trust your saviour, Mr Reagen Wessex."


    Hearing Zero''s words, Reagan looked at Zero with a slightly ashamed face before he looked at Zero again with determination and said,"I am really grateful for you to save me. It''s difficult to put my feelings into words, but if you evere in trouble, you can count on this herbalist to be helpful."


    His eyes were firm, and he had a dignified look on his face. Zero smiled on the inside as he looked nonchntly at Reagen and spoke,"Sure. If I ever need you, then I will be asking for help. Is that okay with you?"


    Reagan wasn''t bothered by the way Zero answered and nodded before looking at the register which Zero had in his hand and asked,"You need some herbs?"


    "Yeah, can you get me these?" Zero tossed the register to Reagen. Reagan looked through the herbs Zero had marked and nodded before asking his daughter to bring the herbs from the warehouse.


    Reagan''s daughter, stupefied by his father''s behaviour, kept staring at her father and Zero over and over. Zero simply shrugged his shoulders before moving out of the shop as he spoke," I will be in my car outside."


    Reagan nodded before immediately going to pick up the herbs by himself. Since he knew the herbs like the back of his hand, it didn''t take much time to bring back the herbs and give them to Zero.


    "Zero. Once again, thank you and I wish you to seed in whatever you are doing," bowed Reagen as he observed Zero''s car moving away from there. Reagen then looked at his daughter and sighed before he spoke,"Sweetie, let''s go inside. I think it would be better if we talk inside."


    Meanwhile, Zero kept pondering over the coincidental meeting. To meet someone who knew him from this life after regression¡­ Well, that was really something.


    ''Guess he will be informing the others about meeting me. Still, he wouldn''t be able to tell many things about me and I suppose, even if they know my location, it doesn''t affect my n much. This will give them some peace of mind that I am around them and have not run away from the deal, leaving their lives hanging by the thread,'' Zero thought as he once again calcted everything he needed to change in his n.


    ''This will create some variables, but it won''t be unmanageable. No, perhaps I can use this to my favour¡­ hmmm¡­ all right, this would be a bit more work but it will make things smootherter on,'' thought Zero as his smile deepened and a grin formed on his face.


    After a few more minutes of driving, he finally reached the skyscraper where he bought the floor.


    -Click


    He got out of the car and left the car in automatic mode from where it went to parking on its own. He, on the other side, moved inside the building and saw a luxurious hall and a reception on the other end.


    Walking step by step confidently, he looked straight ahead without giving even a single nce to the people around there.


    Looking at him getting closer and closer to the reception, the others couldn''t help but observe him with a curious gaze. They had never heard about someone simr to the features which Zero had.


    Zero reached the reception and spoke in a formal tone as he looked at the beautiful receptionist,"I am Reaper. I am here toplete the formalities regarding 147th floor that I boughtst night."


    -Thud


    A vase fell on the floor and broke with a loud noise at a distance and looking at that side, a fatdy was looking at Zero with a shocked expression. It wasn''t just her, but everyone else was looking at Zero with a bbergasted face.


    The employee looked at Zero''s identity card and took his fingerprint. Finding the match to be urate, she gulped before looking at Zero once again.


    A little annoyed by their reaction, Zero stared directly into the eyes of the receptionist and said,"How long are you going to make me wait?"


    The receptionist, hearing his words, immediately began calling somewhere and after another couple of minutes, a man came with a luxurious bag in his hands. He asked if he needed to escort him to the floor but Zero denied and took the bag in his own hands before moving to the lift.


    Watching the lift''s gate closed, they couldn''t help but nkly stare at the lift for a few moments before the receptionist spoke,"The world is surely a weird ce, filled with such¡­ people."

 Chapter 34 Bryxton

    Bryxton was a city said to be the Financial Capital of Arcadia. Located on the Western part of Arcadia, it had most of the business and trading centres of all of Arcadia. It was more or less circr, having hundreds of buildings and a dozen skyscrapers dispersed within the city.


    It wasn''t too far from the shore but neither too close to it either. There was also not one monster den or danger zone in its proximity. While it was covered with a forest in the north and a desert in the south, there was a road connecting from here to the shore city in the west. From the east various towns, cities and slum areas were connected, after which came the Arcadia city or the Arcadia Academy, my next destination.


    Within the city, the various locations were as follows:


    East: The skyscraper where Zero was staying and theke of Bryxton where Elle is supposed to fall after her flight gets hijacked. Bryxton Night''s Auction''s location.


    West: The hideout where Lucia, Cristine and Eliza were staying. The Urgent Healer''s Hospital. The stadium of the tournament where various official fights are held. The Record Keeper''s Department.


    Centre: Reagan''s Herbs shop.


    South: Mall where Zero bought the suits and car.


    .....


    Zero opens his eyes as he wakes up, taking a long yawn while stretching his body. He removes the nket and gets out naked from the bed with his thin pale scar covered body.


    He walks towards the wardrobe and wears a casual T-shirt with short boxers and looks at the city from the wall window. Since the sun was on the other side, the city was clearly visible through the window without any obstruction. It was already evening, and the view was quite beautiful with the structured build of the city.


    Zero looked at the other skyscrapers before looking at the Bryxton''s Lake where he would be meeting Elle. Then he sighed and moved towards the refrigerator and took out cold coffee before moving towards the bag filled with herbs which he bought.


    Yesterday, as soon as he came back, he went to sleep. Despite his old habit of working for days without any sleep, he couldn''t stop the exhaustion from taking over, so he slept as soon as he hit the bed.


    "A purplevender, a grey vial, starshadow¡­ ummm all right that checks most of the things," Zero then begins taking out the herbs and moves to the kitchen.


    Putting on some music, he started cooking the herbs left and right. After another 30 minutes of cooking, he finally got a blue-coloured drink, which he chilled in the refrigerator.


    He then created 10 different portions of those fluids and brought it all to the training room located on that floor.


    He looked at the training room''s function buttons and set the gravity at 2.5. Then he lowered the temperature to 5 degrees celsius for starters. He then moved to make other necessary arrangements for a perfect atmosphere.


    -Sip


    Drinking one of the ten he made, Zero entered the facility and sat down on the floor, as he took a deep breath and began channelling mana throughout his body.


    Over the ages in his past life, Zero discovered that while he had lesser mana¡­ or extremely less mana in the beginning, as he increased his training intensity, his mana capacity and mana limit increased. He had a theory about it, but it was never confirmed because, by the end, his mana had already reached a level where it couldn''t be measured by normal means.


    The theory, however, was simple:


    While for others, mana levels were fixed from birth and would grow with only levels, skill points, age and artifacts. His mana was not fixed from birth, or to be more urate, it was fixated on the mana channels he had unlocked.


    The more mana channels he unlocks, the more he could increase the so called potential to use mana.


    The other thing which he discovered was that he could increase his other aspects too with proper training. There were people who could lift 200 kg at strength 50 and 220 kg at strength 51. As for Zero, he could lift 200 kg one day and after a cruel training of a month and a half, he could as well reach that point where he could lift 220 kg.


    It was difficult, but it wasn''t impossible.


    Zero then took a firmer and firmer and firmer position as he channelled his mana through his body. The potion he just took was made for a concentration booster so that he could focus on the task without even missing any minute details.


    The air around Zero began swirling around with dense mana, and Zero then slowly started breathing that mana into his body. Forcing all that mana into his body at the first mana channel, he applied all the force he could on the lower portion of the stomach, where the channel was supposed to be located.


    Because of gravity and other factors like artificial temperature and humidity, etc. He not only trained to unlock his mana channels, but increased his strength and agility, too. While he may not be able to rapidly multiply his strength, at least he could do it faster this time.


    After a couple of hours, Zero finally opened his eyes as he sighed with a smile as he thought,''Maybe I was overconfident to think I could breach the first channel on the first try. From the looks of it, it should take a week for the first. As for the second¡­ might take more than a month.''


    Zero then stood up and moved towards the telephone, where he called the food delivery for a few specific dishes. After 15 minutes, the dishes came and Zero started haphazardly eating it. After he ate his fill, once again he took the same potion and once again entered the training room.


    This time, however, he focused on strength training for the next couple of hours.


    The next was skill revision for a couple of weapons he would be using in the near future.


    And next¡­


    And next¡­

 Chapter 35 Bryxton#2

    At the 147th floor of the High City Skyscraper, a white-haired boy in boxer briefs was free floating in a luxurious pool as the sunlight fell on his upper body.


    While it looked like he was simply dozing off, he was currently channelling mana to propel his body not to fall in the pool, while also maintaining his exact same position. Even his breathing was synchronised with his mana channelling.


    And then he slowly stood up and


    -Ssh


    Fell into the pool as he let himself free fall for a moment before getting back up to the surface. He then swam to one side and checked the time on a stopwatch, which was exactly 15 minutes and 34 seconds.


    ''Well¡­ this should be enough to cross theke, I suppose,'' he thought as he sighed, hoping he could get some more time, but it was already 2 weeks and Elle should be leaving for the airport on the western continent.


    It has been 2 weeks since Zero began his training with the same regime which he started on day one. At this point, he looked more like a normal healthy boy of 15pared to before, where he looked like a malnutritioned skinny child. Some of his muscles, like those of his biceps and chest, became a bit more prominent.


    Other changes were also there. Like now, he could bear the gravity of three times that of normal gravity. There was also that mana channel he unlocked a week ago.


    At this point, he could more or less increase the density of things around 2 metres of his body while also enhancing his muscr powers by 2 to 3 times. Though, the max amount of time was about 15 minutes and 34 seconds, which he recorded just now, that too while he was still.


    "It should be about 60 to 70 percent of what I can do without moving, so that means about give or take 10 minutes. Hmmm¡­ for safety, let''s take it as 7minutes max," he mumbled as he took a towel and began walking inside the apartment.


    ''For someone living alone, this apartment is really huge¡­'' he thought as he walked around the area. There was a pool, a training centre, a gym, a huge kitchen, 4 separate bedrooms, a master bedroom, a separate office side filled with all the work oriented furnishings, and many more things to count.


    He then shook his head as he began thinking about the future and moved to theputer. He hacked into the airport''s system and got the flight''s schedule and found Elle and her sister''s flight''s timing. It was set to be about 4 hours from now on a high-profile flight for special people.


    He then began checking for other passengers on it and found some very influential people and their families. More or less, all of them were going to the Arcadia Academy for the enrollment that was going to ur in about 2 weeks or something.


    ''Hmmm¡­ since I will be going to Arcadia Academy too, I should also apply for enrollment now. It will be easier to get in touch with a number of people on my list,'' Zero thought as changed the tform and began searching for the enrollment procedures.


    After looking through the site, he found the enrollment to be overst week and he couldn''t apply anymore. He yawned a bit before hacking into the Academy''s system before finally reaching upto the point where he included his own name into the ''Specific General'' part of the list.


    Basically, it was a slot where the unorthodox people tried their luck to get into the Academy. As long as you have something special that interests them, they will allow you to join the academy and it''s fine, since Zero wouldn''t be joining using orthodox means, anyway.


    ''Hmmm¡­'' he looked at theputer to find that someone had already begun inspecting the unorthodox general category from the Academy and smiled a little before sending a message to the man searching for the changes Zero made.


    After that, Zero removed himself from the Arcadia''s system and began stretching as he moved to the washroom and began dressing himself.


    He changed his hair colour to ck and wore a mask before changing his eyes, which were earlier white, to blue coloured ones. He then began making other minor changes as he began whistling to himself.


    Meanwhile, in the Arcadia Academy


    [Meet you at the Academy Examination, Aeron - Zero]


    A message was present on the Arcadia system''s screen. The creator of that system, Aeron Flintstar, was sitting stupefied as he looked at that message with the Academy''s principal standing right behind him.


    "Can you find him?" the principal asked with a curious expression. She wasn''t angry at their security being breached really, it would take only a really capable person to actually break through the system. What interested her more was the motive of the sender. He could have easily kept himself hidden, but he purposely showed himself by sending that message.


    "No¡­. I¡­. can''t. He erased his whole pathway as if he never even breached through the system¡­ all we know is.. his name ¡­ Aidan Williamson," Aeron spoke as he looked at the principal.


    Hearing Aeron''s words, the principal''s expression changed as her eyes widened a little and she looked at the screen, fixated on the name and that message.


    ''Who¡­ is he?'' she thought as she tried her best to keep herself calm but almost failed to do so before Aeron called her out,"Miss Amelia?"


    She looked at Aeron with a slightly nked expression before she spoke,"when hees to take the examination. Make sure to send him to me. Whether he gets enrolled or not, I will see to it personally." she spoke before she hurriedly moved out of the room.


    Aeron looked at the principal with a dumbfounded expression before he looked at that name again.


    ''Aidan Williamson aka Zero¡­ to make Miss Amelia show so much interest in you just with a single name and message¡­ just what are you?'' Aeron thought as he looked at the screen over and over before moving back to his work.

 Chapter 36 Character Introduction: Elizabeth Rose

    One of the 12 strongest, Elizabeth Rose or Elle for short, also known as the Moon Princess, is someone who is known to be a delicate and fragiledy. I met her after the second Cataclysm, and every once in a while I tagged with her from there onwards during our missions.


    Before meeting her, I thought she would be a hard to approach, shydy but after she opened up to me I realised calling her a delicatedy was a mistake¡­ how¡­ well¡­ let me tell you about an incident that took ce on one of our missions a few years before the third Cataclysm.


    Though I should warn you¡­ you might get mistaken and confused between her words and her personality¡­


    ...¡­..


    At the end of a Large cavern, both me and Elizabeth were staring at the dead end in front of us.


    "Well¡­ we are at a dead end. Where to next from here?" I asked as I looked at Elizabeth wearing her usual blue striped white dress. Her ck waist length hair contained a few streaks of blue hair that only increased the beauty of her blue eyed snowy face.


    She looked at me with a nk expression,"I don''t know. Fate told me toe here¡­ so here I am."


    Hearing her words, I pondered a bit before decoding it and questioning,"you mean that it is somewhere here and we need to search for it?" and she looked at me, saying,"same thing."


    ''How did you even survive till now¡­'' a wry smile forms on my face as I look at her before shaking my head and then looking at myself. The red cored ck coat which I was wearing had turned a bit dirty and I proceeded to dust it before searching around for something.


    Though before I could even take a step to search for what we were looking for, a portal opened at a distance from us.


    Both me and Elizabeth looked at that portal and prepared ourselves with our weapons. I put my hands on the sword in my scabbard and she took out her sword.


    The first thing toe out of that portal¡­ was a parasite. Not just any parasite, but a Royal General of the parasites. His green eyes and insect-like scales with 8 pairs of wings gave his identity away.


    He looked at me and then at Elizabeth and spoke with a mocking tone,"a couple of ugly humans, huh? How brave of you toe to our domain by yourself here. It''s the first time I have had someone as foolish as you. At least those who hid themselves in the small hive you have created have some brains."


    I looked at him walking slowly towards Elizabeth and not hesitating, I too moved towards him but-


    "Let me handle this," Elizabeth spoke with an angry expression as she looked at that parasite. Her eyes were literally ring at him.


    Though I didn''t n to stop, but her next words and the density of mana around her made me think otherwise,"[Moon Princess'' wless Dance]" she spoke and what I witnessed was¡­ butterflies¡­ They bloomed out of nowhere and started flying all around her. Her previous silver katana too changed into a glowing white sword.


    -Whoosh


    I saw her moving towards the parasite within a blink as cracks began forming around the area from her mere step. However, the parasite didn''t even flinch and raised his one hand to catch the sword.


    Then¡­ I heard Elizabeth muttering something,"[Overdrive][Illusion Mist]" very fast, and the sword passed through the hand of that parasite and then through his exoskeleton and cut his innards partly as he hurriedly took a step back with a slightly startled and scared expression.


    Without wasting any time he immediately appeared behind Elizabeth and shed her¡­ my eyes widened at his moves which I could barely follow¡­ however Elizabeth turned into a bunch of butterflies and what happened next¡­ a sword appeared out of nowhere from the parasite''s back and cut his innards again.


    This time the parasite took a long jump, creating a distance between him and Elizabeth. I looked at Elizabething out of her illusion, still ring at the parasite.


    "An insect like you, dare call me ugly? You must be dying to be killed by me. Oh! Fate! Why do I always have to bear with this? Why me?" She kept bbing something as she kept walking towards that parasite.


    -Whoosh


    She once again vanished in an instant, appearing closer to the parasite, and he barely dodged it. He vanished from that area and Elizabeth, too. This time I couldn''t even follow their battle¡­ All I could do is to follow the damaged areas and manage to make out the direction of the battle.


    ''Elizabeth is winning¡­ but she is losing a lot of mana¡­ she needs to finish this quick..'' I thought as I analysed the situation and wondered if there was anything I could do to help.


    -Boom


    Though the parasite fell down immediately after that thought with most of his body cut into pieces. I looked at Elizabeth, moving towards the parasite hurriedly and cutting him into pieces¡­ two¡­ ten¡­ hundreds¡­ She did as fast as she could before she finally exhausted all her mana and reverted into her original form.


    I see her falling and immediately catch her. I look at the weakened pulse and my eyes widen a bit as I look at her and say,"Why did you use such a dangerous move?!! You almost died using that move, didn''t you?!"


    Though we were desperate, we could have still escaped if we had both used our powers. It wouldn''t have been that difficult at all.


    "Because he called me ugly," she spoke with a smile on her face as she barely kept herself conscious. ''You mean that you are tired of running away after losing your father too, aren''t you?'' I thought as I observed her satisfied face, but said nothing.


    "What about them?" she asked as she looked to the side where the portal was still activated. About 100-120 High parasites have entered this area through the portal, mostly because of the death of the Royal parasite.


    I partially take out my sword, and my eyes turn ck for a moment before turning white again. Then I put my sword back again as all the High parasites dropped dead right then and there.


    "You really are strong, aren''t you?" A bit shocked by my move, she looked at me with a smile.


    "Says the one who killed a Royal parasite," Iugh at her words and speak with a smile as I carry her princess-style back towards our base.


    "I can''t kill that many that fast," she objected as she maintained eye contact with me and I replied without blinking,"Miss Elizabeth, I am powerful against quantity not quality. I can''t kill anyone stronger than me one on one¡­ probably."


    She looked at me for a few more minutes as she kept her head on my chest and spoke,"call me Elle," before dozing off.

 Chapter 37 One Long Night

    -Flight no. 176 is going to depart in 15 minutes. All passengers are requested to reach gate no. 78 and report.


    -Flight no. 176 is going to depart in 15 minutes. All passengers are requested to reach gate no. 78 and report.


    "ELLLLLEEE!!!! WE NEED TO RUNNN!!!!" A silver haired young girl of about 20-year-old yelled while running as she dragged her sister towards gate no. 176. The girl being dragged looked like she was about to cry as she was being pulled by the silver-haireddy.


    "We are gonna miss it! We are gonna miss it! We are gonna miss it!" The silver-haireddy kept mumbling with a slightly hurried and desperate look on her face as she raced through the hallway from one end to another.


    "[Haste]!![Haste]!![Haste]!!" she chanted as she increased her speed, despite it being a vition of rules to use skills unless especially needed.


    "Anna! Brother would kill us if he hears that we missed our flight," with teary eyes Elle spoke as she looked at her elder sister carrying her towards the gate. However, Anna was so into running that she didn''t hear Elle''s words.


    After another couple minutes¡­


    "Huff¡­ huff¡­ huff.. Annabeth Rose and Elizabeth Rose¡­ " Anna spoke as she took out their passports and gave them to the employee at the desk. The employees checked the passport with a slight chuckle as they affirmed the passport and let the sisters board the flight.


    "We¡­ huff¡­ huff¡­ made it!! Yaaayyyee¡­" Elle spoke with a slightly victorious(tired) expression as she entered a pathway towards the airne. Anna followed her as she looked at Elle.


    Wearing a blue coloured T-shirt on ck jeans and a thin white jacket on top of it, she looked really stunning despite turning only 16 this year. Her ck hair that reached her waist was more or less messed up due to all the running.


    Elle turned around without stopping as she looked at Anna. Anna was a silver-haired, blue-eyed girl with her hair tied into a crown knot. She too was wearing the same clothes, matching her little sister.


    "Let''s go," Elle spoke and Anna nodded before catching up to her as they walked into the airne.


    Inside the airne, they took some time before finding their seats and sat there. After gettingfortable in their seats, Elle looked at Anna as she spoke,"Sister. Do you think I would get into the Arcadia Academy?" there was clear hesitation in her eyes. She had heard that the test at Arcadia Academy was really tough.


    Anna smiled at her sister as she spoke." Don''t worry, pipsqueak. You will breeze through the test without any troubles. As someone who had passed the test before, I can surely ount for that." There was clear pride in Anna''s eyes as she looked at Elle.


    Elle nodded at her sister with a fire burning in her eyes. She had been preparing for this test for over a year now. If she couldn''t even get into the Academy after all that hard work, forget about her parents; she won''t even be able to face herself anymore¡­ or so she was thinking.


    Anna had passed the test 4 years ago, and she was in the secondst year of Arcadia Academy''s 5 year course. She had been one of the most prodigious family members of her family, surpassing everyone in her family. Whether it was skill or mana potential, she had bested almost every family member by a huge margin.


    However, then Elle came and showed an even more prodigious nature than Anna had. The elders of the Rose family thought it would be better to let Anna take over Elle''s training, since she was more than just capable of doing that. The other reason was that Elle liked to be close to only her sister and brother than anyone else in the family.


    "How long will it take to reach the Academy?" Elle asked with a slightly excited face. While the test was there, she was excited about whates after the test and that is an Academy life where she could do whatever without her family interfering.


    "Hmmmm¡­. About 6-8hours¡­ unless we get bad weather. After that we will stay in a hotel for sometime before taking the test. Then there is the result¡­ expect it to be dered about 3 weeks from now. If you pass then you will be allowed to enter the Academy as a student," Anna spoke as she read through Elle''s thoughts. She couldn''t help but chuckle at her stupidly smiling face. Then she did what any honourable elder sister would.


    -Click


    She clicked a picture of her funny face. Elle, surprised by her sister''s move, squinted at her. After a few moments, she realised what had just happened, and a horrified expression came on her face as she began snatching Anna''s phone.


    "Hahahahahah¡­." Annaughed as she raised the phone away from Elle.


    -Please tighten your seatbelts. This is your pilot¡­.


    An announcement started and both the sisters got back to their normal positions as they tightened their seatbelts. Anna was smiling as she tried her best not tough out loud, and Elle kept ring at her.


    Soon the flight took off and time slowly passed for both sisters¡­


    5 Hourster¡­


    Elle woke up from a nap and rubbed her eyes. She looked around to find Anna sleeping soundly beside her. She looked at the time and slowly yawned before getting off from her seat.


    "Awaaahhh!" she yawned again as she stretched her hands while cracking her fingers before moving towards the bathroom. As she was walking towards the bathroom, she got a creepy feeling, as if someone was looking at her.


    She turned back immediately to confirm her suspicions and searched around for a bit before shaking her head as she proceeded towards the bathroom.


    Standing in front of the bathroom, she found one of the bathrooms open and a stinking smelling out of that bathroom.


    She wanted to take a step back and immediately go back, but then¡­ the bathroom door opened by itself.


    And what came in front of her eyes was a half rotten man with a red gemstone embedded on his forehead.

 Chapter 38 One Long Night#2

    [Name: Elizabeth Rose


    Level: 14


    ss: Dual Sword wielder


    Attack: 23


    Defence: 56


    Strength:12


    Wisdom: 34


    Intelligence: 45


    Mana: 3750/3750


    Stamina: 106/106


    Stat points left: 0


    Quest: Survive against the Red Gem Demons


    Difficulty: Insane


    Reward: 5 Stat points]


    ...


    "Rwaar" the man suddenly came at Elle with an insane speed, dodging the attack she took a swift step back before making a 360 degrees turn and kicking on his gut. However, that man caught Elle''s foot before it could make an impact.


    With widened eyes she looked at that man who was trying to crush her foot, immediately she took her foot out of her shoes and jumped back before dashing back to the passenger seats and shouting loudly,


    "RED GEM DEMON!!!!"


    Her shout woke up most of the people from sleep including Anna. Watching that man standing in front of the bathroom, most of the people panicked and started shouting, running haphazardly. A few however remained calm and began analysing the situation.


    That demon however, started attacking Elle without caring about others but before it could reach Elle, stopped in his tracks. Observing carefully silver-white threads could be seen tightly bound around that man.


    Observing those threads Elle turned to Anna who was holding that man with her skill. She looked really angry at that demon and began tightening the threads more and more.


    "Rwaar"


    "Rwaar"


    Before they couldpletely grasp the situation, the passengers who were sitting there began turning into demons themselves. Anna''s eyes narrowed at those men as she began realizing the gravity of the situation.


    Those men began attacking those around them and the whole flight was consumed by chaos. Both Elle and Anna looked at the horrifying scene around them and sweat began trickling down their forehead.


    Anna created more and more threads as she stopped those demons froming towards them, Elle kicked the weaker looking demons giving themselves sometime.


    "Is this the end?" a blonde woman spoke with a terrified expression as she reached the end of the flight and looked at those demons increasing more and more in numbers.


    "No¡­ the mission is of insane difficulty, not impossible. Means there must be a way out of here¡­ it''s just that we need to look really hard to find that way," Anna spoke as she looked at her system.


    [Quest: Survive against the Red Gem Demons


    Difficulty: Insane


    Reward: 5 Stat points]


    She desperately tried her best to think of a way to get out of the situation but no matter what she thought she couldn''t find the way out¡­ until.


    -BOOOM!!!


    A loud explosion urred at a distance and the flight sted into two pieces. Red alert began ringing all over the ce and Anna''s eyes shrunk. If they fall from this height, their death is inevitable.


    ''How¡­ are we supposed to find a way out of this?'' Anna thought as she looked at the scared and terrified Elle beside her. No matter what she thought, she couldn''t think of any way to get them out of this insane situation.


    The broken flight began falling down at a rapid speed and Anna then sighed as a small smile began forming on her face. She looked at her sister who was scared and moved towards her.


    -Knock


    She knocked her unconscious as she looked up at the open part of the flight from where it was broken. From there, she jumped outside and got herself into the open atmosphere.


    They were falling down at a rapid speed and she began coiling her sister with her threads using all her mana. This won''t be able to save Elle unscathed but it should save her from the impact. The reason she wasn''t coiling herself along with Elle was that she sensed something approaching her.


    A dozen falling demons approached them, and she observed those demons with a re. Preparing herself to take the damage and cover Elle''s safety cocoon, she began getting in between the demon''s trajectory and herself.


    However, before she could do what she set out to¡­


    "Save both yourself and Elle," she heard the voice of an angry child out of nowhere and¡­


    -Boom


    One of the demons sted in the air before it could approach Elle.


    "Hurry up or else both of you will die," he spoke again and this time Anna didn''t hesitate and began covering both of them in the cocoon.


    As she was covering herself with the cocoon¡­


    -BOOM!


    -BOOM!


    -BOOM!


    -BOOM!


    -BOOM!


    -BOOM!


    Each of those demons began popping like fireworks. She couldn''t help but widen her eyes at the power of that attack which that child demonstrated. It even made her really curious about the identity of that person who was saving both of them.


    -Ssh


    As soon as shepletely covered herself and Elle in the cocoon, a sshing sound was heard and a sharp pain soon followed. Though it wasn''t anything she couldn''t handle.


    Without wasting any time she slowly began unlocking her cocoon and moved to get out of the water. The pain was intense, but she was still hurrying to get both herself and Elle out of the water. Her stamina was declining rapidly, and she was hurrying even more.


    With effort and time, she somehow managed to get out of thatke. She then huffed as she looked at Elle who was still unconscious but breathing.


    A smile formed on her face as she looked in front of her. There were a dozen men with arms in their hands and all of their weapons were focused on Anna.


    Afterpletely exhausting both her mana and stamina, she looked at those men with both despair and anger. Words couldn''t describe her state of mind right now, she knew what those men could do to both her and Elle. Out of desperation she took out her sword and pointed at those men.


    Even though she wasn''t skilled enough with a sword to take on a bunch of men while being drained of both stamina and mana, she was still strong enough to buy time before any kind of help arrives.


    "Anna?" Elle woke up and looked at Anna with a confused and slightly scared expression.


    Why? Well¡­ because there was a red stone etched on Anna''s forehead.

 Chapter 39 One Long Night#3

    A few moments ago¡­.


    "So¡­ where did it all go wrong?" Zero asks himself as he looks at theputer screen in front of him. On the rooftop of the High City Skyscraper, ready with a long scope sniper rifle, Zero stood there with his ck dyed hair brushing against the cold breeze.


    He had thought of a thousand scenarios of how Elle could have survived a hijacked ne while her ''little sister'' would have died, and nned in every way about how to save both the sisters but¡­


    "Who is Annabeth?" He asked as his eyes kept staring at the silver-haired girl protecting Elle.


    "Where is Elizabeth''s little sister?" He spoke with a confused expression as he observed the scene happening in the airne. And what shocked him most was¡­


    "What is that red stone doing over here? It hasn''t even been the first Cataclysm yet¡­ just what is going on?" He spoke with disbelief as he looked at the Demons.


    Each stone holds a Demon General''s dead remnant. Once a Demon General dies of old age, his soul is trapped in a special stone found in the valley of the dead. That stone bes their new home, through which they are supplied with enough power to be reborn into this world sooner orter.


    It''s like a virus that keeps infecting more and more victims. Once someone''s infected it sends their soul temporarily to the dimension where the demon general is, and from there onwards they begin a struggle against the demon general.  And what''s left outside is a mindless creature that instinctively keeps attacking more and more people to join them.


    "How are they supposed to get out of there¡­.?" Zero thought before taking a shooting position with the rifle he had in his hand. He could have waited for the chance with which Elle could escape from there but now, Zero could not waste anymore time depending upon his past knowledge about the sisters and began preparing to shoot.


    "Blood sacri¡­ no¡­ since we are dealing with Demons here¡­ then¡­ Sigh¡­ " Zero concentrated on the centre of the airne and nned his trajectory as he took a small deep breath¡­"Spirit Summon: Astraea" and his eyes turned greenish silver.


    -Snipe


    He took a magic shot with half of the power of summon. The bullet created an air sh following its trajectory and then¡­


    -sh


    The ne was cut in half and gradually separated and..


    -BOOOOMMM!!


    The ne itself sted into two parts from the point of division. Zero looked at those sisters, dumbfounded at the turn of events. Their eyes seemed like they wanted to know what exactly was going on.


    Anna then smiled a bit before jumping off the ne with her sister from the opening and Zero looked at her actions with a serious expression as he looked at a demon following Anna. He then watched Anna about to sacrifice herself in order to protect Elizabeth; however, Zero wasn''t happy with this development at all.


    He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again with the maximum concentration he could muster.


    -Snipe


    He shot a bullet he created a while back and filled it with spirit magic


    -Snipe


    He shot a bullet made up of magic, containing a message for Annabeth.


    -Snipe


    He shot another bullet


    -Snipe


    -Snipe


    -Snipe


    -Snipe


    -Snipe


    -Snipe


    Zero¡­ wanted to save everyone. He wanted to make sure each and every passenger from the ne survives¡­ however¡­ this unexpected development changed everything. Just how many things he thought he knew¡­ were wrong¡­?


    -Snipe


    ''Breathe in¡­ breathe out¡­'' he calmed himself down as he took more and more shots


    -Snipe


    -Snipe


    After a dozen shots, he saw Elle and Annabeth''s cocoon falling down in the ocean. No one else survived the attack¡­ except Annabeth and Elle. Everyone else in that flight was dead.


    ''I must hurry,'' he thought as he threw the rifle and jumped down the building immediately. He didn''t know what was going on, but he knew staying here would only increase the number of problems and propel the whole thing into a direction where he did not want it to go.


    ''Enchantment,'' he thought as he applied mana into his legs and hands and then slid down the skyscraper''s ss walls, cracking them into pieces.


    After he jumped down, he waited till he saw a rooftop of a building right in front of him. He propelled himself against the ss wall of the skyscraper at that point and jumped with all his might.


    -CRACK!!!!!!!


    The ss shattered, leaving the trail where Zero jumped. Zero, meanwhile, was in the air, making a trajectory towards the building''s top before reaching it and then moving forward as fast as he could.


    From there, he jumped from one building to another hurriedly. His expression was getting more and moreplex as he kept concentrating towards the Lake where Elle and Annabethnded.


    It''s not just for the sake of using them that he was doing it, but also because¡­


    ...


    In the previous timeline, a year before Zero died¡­


    -Cough cough


    In apletely destroyednd where a battle just took ce, Elizabeth was standing, barely holding on, on the bodies of a dozen Royal Parasites. Her health was deteriorating and she would die in a few moments. She had just fought a hundred parasites by herself and after exhausting all her powers and life force, she had finally prevented the extinction of the residents of Vermillion''s original ones.


    "Where are the others?" I asked with a crying face as I observed Elle dying right in front of my eyes. On finding Elle missing and a battle going on in this particr region of the city, I had immediately rushed towards this region, but in the end all I found was this scene in front of me.


    "It''s toote Reaper. I have exhausted my life force. There is no way you can save me," Elle spoke as she looked at me with a wry smile. Still trying to find a solution with all my wits, but no matter what I did, I couldn''t reach a conclusion.


    "Did you know I had a sister?" She continued speaking without paying any attention to my desperation.


    "The reason that I continued to move forward was to someday find a miracle to bring my sister back into this world. Idiotic, isn''t it? But because of that one wish I kept living on. It was a fool''s dream, but that kept me going¡­" She spoke weakly and I looked at her face as tears began flowing from her eyes and mine, too.


    "Reaper¡­ can you fulfil my impossible wish?" She looked at Zero''s eyes and his eyes widened in aplex of emotions as she smiled before speaking,"Save my sister, Give her a life. Give her a life that she deserved¡­ she had suffered too much in her life¡­ can you¡­ bring my dead sister back?"


    "I-"


    Before I could mutter even a single word, Elle was gone from this world. I looked at her dead body with a nk expression, as I couldn''t help but wonder what I should do now. That day I lost a friend. It had been a long while since I lost myst friend and to be honest¡­ I was still not used to this.


    "It hurts¡­" I spoke as my heart was breaking, but still I braced myself before taking her into my arms and getting out of here. "I will¡­ try." I spoke as I kept walking forward without looking at Elle.

 Chapter 40 One Long Night#4

    Out of desperation, Anna pointed her sword towards those men.


    "Anna?" Elle woke up and looked at Anna with a confused and slightly scared expression.


    Why? Well¡­ because there was a red stone etched on Anna''s forehead.


    Anna, who hadn''t realised why Elle was looking at her with that kind of expression, made a slightly confused expression before she started losing consciousness and her senses started getting hazy as moments passed.


    "Anna?!" Hearing Elle''s scared and worried voice, Anna regained control of her senses and looked at those men pointing their weapons at them. Her eyes looked at her system, trying to figure a way out, however what she saw put a shock through her mind as her eyes opened wide.


    [Name: Moonlight Princess


    Level: 45


    ss: Warrior of the Threads of Silverlight


    Attack: 56(+23)


    Defence: 80(+34)


    Strength: 72(+45)


    Wisdom: 34


    Intelligence: 90


    Mana: 5/14386


    Stamina: 7/445(540)


    Stat Points left: 24


    Status: Under the curse of the Red Gem. ]


    ''What?!'' She couldn''tprehend what was going on as she frantically checked her system over and over again in the hope that it was all a lie and not really happening. However, the more she looked at it, the more she was consumed by despair.


    -sh


    A sound of swords shing snapped Anna back to reality, and she looked in front to find Elle using her swords to block the attack of one of the men, who was trying to attack her.


    "Sister¡­ we are going to be fine. We just need to wait till Grandpa sends help¡­ we are going to survive¡­ right?" Elle spoke as she struggled against the attack. Hearing her words, Anna tightened her fist and did her best to fight against whatever that was trying to take over her. She then looked at Elle and said,"move back!" with a firm voice.


    Hearing her voice, Elle smiled a little before taking a step back and¡­


    -sh!!!!


    With a loud bang, Anna attacked skillfully, pushing that man away a considerable distance which caught everyone by surprise. It was so because the Red Gem had enhanced Anna''s raw power and with the skills she possessed, it became quite a strong attack despitecking mana. Even Anna was surprised by the sudden increase in her raw power.


    Looking at her movements and power, the men took a step back as they nodded at each other.


    The wind started getting harsher and harsher, and the atmosphere became much colder as mana started surging in that area. With theke on one side and people on the other side, Anna and Elle were clearly on an edge right now.


    Elle had full mana and stamina, but looking at those men, she wasn''t skilled enough to handle even one, forget about ten of them by herself. As for Anna, she could barely keep up with 2 of them. Anna then thought about something and asked those men with a re,


    "What is it that you guys want?"


    One of those men scoffed before he red at Anna shouting,"I am not talking with a Demon." and dashed towards her. Elle came between them and looking at Elle''s action, the man halted a bit before speaking,"kid¡­ Do you have any idea what you are trying to protect?"


    Elle looked at that man with a re as she spoke,"my sister." She couldn''t understand what the purpose of that question was.


    "Ha! I knew it¡­ you have no idea what is going on, do you?" he spoke as if he finally figured out a mystery he was struggling with. He then looked at Elle with a sympathetic look as he spoke,"Listen girl. That thing.. It''s not your sister anymore. She will be dead by the time she fully transforms into a demon. As someone who deals with this kind of stuff on a regr basis, trust me, if you don''t kill her, she will only grow more and more powerful with time. So, stop wasting our time and let me kill her so that we can both save people from more trouble."


    Listening to his words, Elle tightened her grip on the sword. She looked at that man with a piercing gaze before she shouted angrily,"Over my dead body, you son of a b*tch!"


    Hearing her words, that man was irked a little before his demeanour changed and he moved towards Elle.


    "Bind the Demon. First, I will destroy this little b*tch in front of her, then I will brutally kill that Demon in front of this b*tch!" He spoke with a wicked and anger filled voice. The other men didn''t like where this was going, but since this man was their head, they couldn''t help but follow hismands.


    -Whoosh


    Anna, listening to their conversation, tried to kill that man, but before she could reach them, the other men stopped her. Immediately, a bunch of chains began binding Anna as she struggled to set herself free.


    That man first moved towards Elle and Elle attacked that man with her full force using her best skill¡­ however he caught it with one hand as if it was nothing. He looked at Elle with a scary look before he kicked her in the gut and made her fall to her knees.


    Then he punched her face, making her fall to the ground. He looked at Anna with an evil smile as he began to smush her face with his foot and said,"oh, such a beautiful face, what would happen if it were to be crushed. Oh! I wonder," he spoke before he began increasing the force on Elle''s face.


    "YOU B*STARD!!!! LEAVE HER ALONE!!! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO A CHILD!!! YOU MONSTER!!" Anna shouted with pure rage as she looked at that man. The man only smiled more wickedly in return as he kept crushing Elle''s face. Elle was trying her best to set herself free, but as the force kept growing, she could only wriggle under the pressure.


    "Now what would happen if I say that there are deadly pins installed on the sole of my shoes?" he spoke and Anna''s eyes turned wide open as she shouted,"YOU DARE!!!"


    "Oh yes! I dare-" as soon as he spoke, he got sted a distance away and a ck-haired, green-eyed kid stood in his ce as he red at that man. That kid had a furious expression on his face as he looked between Elle and that man, before he spoke with pure rage in his voice,


    "Do you have any idea¡­ what have you done?"

 Chapter 41 One Long Night#5

    Spirit Magic was a form of magic, exclusive to Elven Summoners¡­ until I seeded in recreating the same magic. In my previous life, I formed contracts with two spirits: Asterae, the Spirit of Purity and Hygiea, Spirit of Health.


    Later on as time passed, I found ways to use the powers of those spirits as my own without the need for calling them.


    I remember that it was a rule that you can''t use spirit magic without having any connection with any spirit. Yet somehow I became the sole exception to the rule. I always used spirit magic thinking that it was because I had a contract with the spirits butter on... I found out that the spirit world was long purged by the demons and all the spirits were dead. It was really odd that despite all the spirits being dead, I was able to use the spirit energy present in the air. Though the amount I used always depended upon the mana I had.


    Speaking about my spirits, they were Astraea and Hygiea, with them I could more or less keep myself in a high vitality and high regeneration state.


    While in the state of using spirit magic, I could regenerate the mana lost by at least 3 times and while my healing power also increased by a good margin.


    Still¡­ there was a catch to this ability. That was my state of mind¡­ if I want to use Hygiea''s powers I must have a healthy mind without any stress or regret consuming my mind and if I want to use Asterea''s power, I must always keep my mind pure without any negative thoughts¡­ In the present¡­ with my rage taking over me as I watched that man, pure thoughts were thest thing on my mind and as for Hygiea, I was regretting not having a contingency n.


    Still¡­ I was able to continuously use Spirit Magic, and that could mean only one thing¡­ both Hygiea and Asterae have been summoned for real behind me. And they too wanted me to kill that bastard for what he has done to Elle.


    ......


    "Do you have any idea¡­. What have you done?" Zero asks with a rage filled voice as he res at that man in front of him who was wearing a ck and white suit. That man after, being pushed by Zero, gained back his momentum and stopped a few metres away.


    Zero moved towards the barely conscious Elle and spoke,"Minor Heal" and healed her wounds using spirit magic before speaking,"Take a short break. I will settle everything soon, wait here, okay?"


    That man looked at Zero with a curious expression and wondered who Zero was before¡­


    -sh


    A bunch of chains attacked Zero but before they could touch him they all broke against a scythe which Zero took out of his space storage.


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    Gunshots were fired towards Zero but before they could reach him, he created a dozen denseyers of air which altered the trajectory of the bullets passing through. The phenomenon was the same as a bullet passing through a thick ss and changing its direction in a certain angle beforeing out of it.


    Like a death reapering to take your life, Zero moved one step at a time with the scythe in his hand.


    Watching the skill which Zero was using, the man couldn''t help but feel impressed. It was a simple yet efficient trick that requires very less mana yet a high amount of concentration.


    "What is your name kid?" That man asked as he looked at Zero wondering about his identity.


    "Dead men shouldn''t be asking questions," Zero spoke as he kept walking towards the man.


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    The attacks kept going on but none of them reached Zero as they kept getting deflected. One of the men who had a knife in his hands jumped at Zero but before he could touch him¡­ Zero parried his attack skillfully and by the time he could realise what just happened, the scythe''s de was already on his neck.


    -sh


    Zero immediately shed that man''s neck without any hesitation as he looked at that man. For Zero, that man was worthless and hence there was no point leaving him alive¡­


    Observing Zero killing that man so swiftly, the others took a step back. Zero looked at that man with an analysing gaze as he thought,


    ''A man with a power level of about an A-Rankbat oriented System. Most probably the government''s secret agent considerably in the current top 50 rankings. Looking at his sword, he probably uses a sword skill that is killing oriented¡­ good¡­ it shouldn''t be that hard,'' Zero thought before he began reverse flowing his blood but before he could proceed, another person appeared behind that man. The new person was someone about whom Zero knew, Zero''s eyes narrowed at that new person as he thought,'' Rheo Dcruz. Why is he¡­ hmmm¡­ looks like he still didn''t trust mepletely. Still to think he would send his direct subordinates to keep a check on me, Mark Leeway really is not taking any risk with this isn''t he?''


    "Mark Leeway sends his regards," with a smile on his face Rheo spoke as he pointed his shotgun at the head of that agent. Rheo himself was an A+ Rankbat oriented System user.


    -Whoosh


    What I saw next was a ck and blue haired man arriving right beside Elle and looking at her with a sad expression. His silver eyes reached Zero before looking at that agent with rage filled in them.


    ''Viscardi Zelretch, one of the henchmen of Elle''s Grandfather. Looks like Elle''s backup hase¡­ however¡­'' Zero thought as he looked at Annabeth who had almost transformed into a demon. Looks like she has a very strong will power to be able to survive the transformation this long.


    "Let''s end her suffering first," Viscardi spoke as he moved towards Annabeth without wasting even a single moment.


    Hearing his words, Elle made a shocked expression as her eyes immediately darted to Viscardi. She wanted to stop Viscardi but for some reason she couldn''t even move a muscle.


    Observing the mana flow around Elle, there was a strange air stopping Elle from making even a single movement.


    Zero''s eyes then reached Viscardi with a slightly confused expression as he found his actions very strange.


    "Rheo¡­ stop him," Zeromanded with slight urgency and Rheo immediately moved in front of Viscardi and then smiled yfully as he looked at Zero with curious eyes," I wonder how much you know, mysterious one? Oh! Oh! And you know what! My gut feelings are telling me that something interesting is about to happen too¡­"


    Viscardi, ignoring Rheo, looked at Zero as he spoke with some irritation," What is it that you want?"


    Zero looked at the agent first and then at Viscardi before he looked at Annabeth. He sighed a little as he took a deep breath in and a deep breath out.


    ''So this is what is going on, huh?'' He thought as he began moving towards Anna. His eyes didn''t leave Annabeth even for a second as he spoke,


    "After I save Annabeth¡­ let''s have some personal talk. Both that agent and you too¡­ Vampire Hunter Viscardi Zelretch."

 Chapter 42 One Long Night#6

    Williamson Rose.


    That was the name of Elizabeth Rose and Annabeth Rose''s grandfather. He was one of the strongest men in the world currently residing at 21st position on the world strongest person''s ranking.


    And just now that man helplessly watched his granddaughters being attacked by a swarm of Demons on their flight towards Arcadia Academy.


    He wanted to save them, but the distance was too far and the best he could do for now was to ask one of his henchmen, Viscardi Zelretch, in Arcadia country to run towards Bryxton''s Lake and save his granddaughters.


    With each passing second, his heartbeat was in a frenzy as he watched his precious granddaughters, Annabeth and Elizabeth, almost being killed multiple times. Whether it was during the flight of after they jumped off the flight, or even after they fell down theke.


    Watching Annabeth turning into a demon with nk eyes, he looked like he had aged by a decade in that one moment. He didn''t know what to do anymore¡­ one of his granddaughters was almost gone¡­ and the other one was on the verge of dying, given the situation.


    He then watched those men fighting against Elle and Anna; his fury rose as he watched one of the men crushing Elle under his feet. He had already decided what he was going to do with that man¡­ even death would be a blessing for that man, after what he had done¡­


    -Bang


    Suddenly a ck-haired kid appeared wearing a cloak and kicked that man away. That kid red at that man before proceeding to heal Elizabeth. Soon after that, the kid disyed some extreme skills in mana control and scythe wielding. He deflected each and every bullet that came towards him.


    Soon that kid killed one of the men swiftly with his scythe, without showing any mercy. This kind of demeanour really impressed Williamson. Right after that, someone else entered the battlefield¡­ Rheo Dcruz.


    "Mark Leeway sent his regards," Rheo spoke to that kid and that kid simply looked at Rheo. This made Williamson really curious about that kid in the ck cloak.


    -Whoosh


    Then Viscardi came and Williamson was finally relieved that at least Elizabeth would be saved. Looking at Annabeth, his heart ached as memories of the past filled his mind¡­ he didn''t know why this happened to her¡­ he wanted to save her at all cost¡­ but s no one who was turned into a demon¡­ has been turned back to normal. There was no way of saving her and he knew it¡­ the only way to end her suffering would be to kill her swiftly so that both she and those around her would be safe.


    He then saw Viscardi moving towards Annabeth and braced himself for what was supposed toe, however¡­


    "Rheo¡­ stop him," that kid spoke as he began looking at everyone around and taking deep breaths before moving towards Annabeth


    What that kid said next made everyone feel goosebumps on every inch of their fibre. Whether it was Elizabeth, Williamson, Rheo or Viscardi, everyone felt a slight chill in their body as they saw that kid moving towards Annabeth.


    For some reason, nobody doubted his words. They just simply watched him moving towards Annabeth with a slightly tired expression. And then he chanted something they had never heard in their entire life.


    ...¡­..


    Zero moved towards Annabeth, who was still chainbound. He put his hand on her forehead and then he spoke,"Spirit Summon: Arcadia''s True Form."


    The air around theke started swirling much more violently as a being that shouldn''t be present in this world took its first step right behind Zero. Looking at that being, everyone felt a chill down their spine as they stared nkly at what was happening.


    It was a beautiful woman made up of white aura as she looked at Zero with a confused andplicated look. Her eyes seemed like she wanted to ask how does he know this sacred magic and how can he use it despite him not being one of the blessed races¡­ still knowing the gravity of the situation she spoke with regret,"with the amount of mana you have, the max I can do is stop her for a second. I can''t purify her."


    Hearing her words, everyone looked at both Zero and that spirit and wondered what Zero would do next. However, Zero didn''t look like he was troubled with that. He simply moved his hand¡­ towards Annabeth''s forehead and forcefully took out the stone from there.


    Before they could get shocked at his previous moves, he did something unbelievable again, he shed his hand with his scythe and pushed the red stone into it. The red stone rapidly began getting absorbed into his body from there. Zero looked at the Arcadia Spirit with a slight smirk as he spoke.


    "I will return in 5 minutes. Keep my body stable till then, you can do that much, right?"


    Arcadia nkly stared at him, turning into a demon, and she immediately blocked his movements from the inside. She won''t be able to change anything outside of Zero''s body, but since he was her summoner, she had enough control over his movements.


    Though she had no idea what he was trying to do¡­ in fact, the only one who had any idea what Zero was doing was Zero himself.


    ...


    Inside the Demon dimension, Zero''s soul arrived, and he looked around for a few moments. He closed his eyes as his mind began rapidly thinking about something.


    "What do you think of humans?" A creepy sly mocking voice came from a distance, but Zero didn''t even spare a nce at that voice. The Demon moved closer to Zero one step at a time as if he was leisurely taking a walk in the park while he whistled along.


    Then¡­


    "Haha¡­.hahahahahaha¡­.hahahahahahahahahahah" Like a maniac, heughed as he finally realised everything.


    "I f*cking solved the mystery!! I F*CKING SOLVED THE MYSTERY!! HAHAHAHAH¡­" He pped his thighs as he bent andughed and shouted. The Demon stopped as he observed Zero with a confused expression.


    "What are you talking about, human?" the Demon asked with a curious gaze as he tried figuring out what was going on with the kid in front of him.


    Hearing the Demon''s words, Zero stoppedughing and then slowly looked at that demon with a devilish smile.


    The Demon, sensing something was wrong, became cautious with his approach as he kept observing Zero.


    Like a Devil, Zero kept smiling at the Demon and spoke,"wanna know?" with a mocking tone before his grin widened even more when he spoke,"Blood Sacrifice: Second Moon."


    And a chill ran down that Demon''s spine as he finally realised the grave danger he was in.

 Chapter 43 One Long Night#7 Reaper

    After the first cataclysm came, many races came out of hiding hoping to find a ce to live on the surface of Vermillion. While each race had their own kingdom built, the peculiar thing about the demons was that they didn''t have an exact location where they were localised.


    Even till my death, I hadn''t heard of the ce where demons built their kingdom. All I had heard was that they arrive out of nowhere and can reach almost anywhere within Vermillion.


    Theories of different dimensions, where the demons lived, began formting in hopes to find where the demonse from. However, before anyone could reach a conclusion, the demons were wiped out from the surface of Vermillion. It was the parasites that came from space and attacked them.


    The very existence of demons vanished after parasites came¡­ even the red gems, thatmon folks took cautions against, became a thing of the past from that point onwards.


    Still, the demons and their red gems had instilled a deep fear in those who had faced them in the beginning. How should I speak¡­ummm. Yeah! In the beginning, after the first Cataclysm, the gems were kind of distributed all over the world. Everytime demons attacked, people died in waves until someone strong enough to defeat the demons reached that ce.


    It was even moreplicated with the presence of Red gem, which could make your ally into an enemy. The only way to stop it''s spreading was to kill all those who were converted, before it could spread more. However, before the red gem''s danger could reach its full potential¡­ Lucas came.


    That bastard¡­ for saving his beloved sister, took out the gem from her head and ate it with a furiousness in his eyes.


    "Give me a minute," he spoke as he transformed into a demon. His body, however,y dormant for one whole minute before he opened his eyes with a victorious smile. He came back without turning into a demon and said,"I think, I have found the way to stop people from turning into a demon."


    ording to him, there was a demon inside the gem who would be at least a demon general level or more. If you can kill him before you die, you can get out of that ce. Even if you use a sacrificial move that is bound to kill you¡­ as long as you can kill that demon first, you can get out.


    With that theory, people started developing ways to use a sacrificial, powerful move. Forbidden spells, which were considered taboo, became the boon for the people and the fight that the Demons were winning by arge margin came to a halt¡­ heck, they started losing more as time passed.


    By the time the second cataclysm came, everyone had their own special sacrificial move, which they could use in a death battle against the demon in the red gem. Pity the demons were wiped out before more people could practise their moves on them¡­


    And as for me¡­ I too had three special sacrificial moves that I developed over the years¡­ one of them was


    ......¡­..


    "Blood Sacrifice: Second Moon" Zero speaks as his body begins disintegrating at a very slow rate and the demon, watching the phenomenon, takes a step back and analyses Zero with cautions in his eyes.


    The Demon''s instincts were screaming danger the more he looked at Zero.


    Zero, who was standing there, had arge portion of his skin eroded and a mist of blood formed around him. He was turning more and more like a devil himself, while he still smiled at the demon.


    "It all began probably from the time before the flight took off," Zero began speaking and the mist turned into miniscule spikes and, at an insane speed, it reached the demon.


    -Whoosh


    The demon jumped back immediately with a scared look on his face and observed Zero still smiling at him. Feeling goosebumps all over his body, he decided to run away from there¡­


    -Whoosh


    He dashed away from there and began running towards a forest at a distance. His eyes were really terrified as he looked at his system.


    [Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger!]


    Normally after dying once, demons lose their system functions with all that remains is more or less a system with a nk screen saying


    [You are in a dormant State: System will be activated when you will wake up]


    However, they could still use all the powers and skills back they could in the outerworld.


    ''Just what the heck is that human?'' The Demon questioned with his eyes shaking as he kept running through the dense red forest filled with red leaves. He looked back and found that Zero wasn''t following him anymore. Sensing something was wrong, he stopped there and looked around cautiously.


    "Elle asked me to save to his little sister," a voice came from right behind him and he fell down before crawling back as he took his stance against the white-haired kid who seemed to be pondering as he continued speaking," but there was no little sister but an elder one. Annabeth Rose, was it¡­ I was really confused, you know?"


    Observing that demon''s face, Zero made a really awkward face as he scratched the back of his head.


    The Demon slowly stood up and..


    -Whoosh


    -Boom


    Attacked at Zero with a loud punch but he was single-handedly stopped by Zero. Zero looked at the demon with a dissatisfied face as he spoke,"Hey! You aren''t listening, are you?"


    -sh


    -sh


    -Boom


    Zero cut off both of his legs and pushed him a little away and spoke with a smile forming on his face,"Good! Now, you won''t be running away. Anyway, where I was¡­"


    The Demon, horrified at his power, looked at him as if he had seen the worst nightmare. He observed Zero and slowly spoke, trying his best not to anger him,"Who are you?"


    Hearing his words, Zero stopped as he looked at the demon with a slightly surprised face and spoke,"Heeeeeyyyyy!! You wanna know my name?!! You wanna be friends with me now?"


    The demon gulped at the psychopathic behaviour of the person in front of him, who began speaking again.


    "Sorry, I despise demons. Especially after they killed my best friend An, I vowed to brutally kill each and everyone of them without any mercy. Tch Tch¡­ try again in another life where you are not a demon."


    Hearing his words, the demon''s face turned white as he began searching for ways to get out of this situation.


    Zero, who looked at that demon horrified, made a slightly shocked expression as he spoke," Oh! Sorry! Sorry! I was just kidding, just kidding. I don''t kill demons at all, all right? In fact, I love them. Haha don''t worry about what I said, you know? Let''s be friends alright? How about I introduce myself to you! Yeah, that would be really nice. So what is your name? My name is Reaper¡­ wanna handshake?" and he brought his hand forward to the horrified demon with a pure innocent smile on his face.

 Chapter 44 One Long Night#8 Truth

    Observing Zero with that pure innocent smile on his face, the demon gulped as he didn''t utter even a single word.


    "Hmmm.. Hey? Why aren''t you speaking? Can you not hear me?" spoke Zero as he brought his hand closer to the Demon''s ears and¡­


    -Screech


    Torn the demon''s ear apart and brought it closer to his mouth as he tried speaking to it. Realising he overused his power, Zero made a slightly dumbfounded face and looked at the ear in his hand. He then made an ''Oops!'' expression before speaking,"well.. Whatever. I will still tell you what I want to tell¡­ since I probably can''t tell anyone else about it."


    Zero spoke as he took a step back and then began speaking by himself,


    "So Annabeth was the elder sister and not the younger one. It made me wonder if I am in the real world or just another world, if you know what I mean¡­"


    The demon regenerated himself and stood up with a still scared face but this time he wasn''t running. Instead, he jumped at Zero,


    -Boom


    Zero stopped his attack with one hand as he nonchntly continued," but then I remember that even on the flight it was mentioned Anna as the little sister and Elle as the elder one despite that being opposite. Do you know what that means?" Zero smiled, and the demon took a step back.


    The demon then sprouted massive wings and began flying in the air as he went as up as he could however¡­


    -Boom


    Zero reached right above him in an instant and kicked him down as he spoke,


    "That means that someone made some changes with the information. From there, the next task was to find who could have done it and why¡­ luckily the guy himself came running towards us¡­Viscardi Zelretch."


    The demon stood up once again, and he spoke,"you monster!!!" and began chanting something but before he could do anything¡­


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    He was shed multiple times at his non-vital points.


    "There is a technique¡­ called soul transfer, special for Vampire hunters. It was made so that if they encountered a stronger opponent, they could transfer their souls to another person, making them more or less immortal. From here it was easy peasy to determine what just happened¡­" Zero spoke before his nonchnt happy-go-lucky expression turned serious,"Viscardi nned the whole demon attack and made sure that Anna got affected by the red stone gem. Then he nned to transfer Anna''s soul into Elle''s body, erasing Elle''s soul in the process. The one who would be living from there onwards would be Anna pretending to be Elle."


    The demon looked at Zero, wondering why he was telling him that story. Zero, who reached the conclusion, spoke with a disgusted expression,"Original Elle might have been naive and weak despite being a prodigy, which might have been an eyesore for many among the Rose family. But they couldn''t kill the very prodigy that had the potential to change their family''s status many times over, can they?"


    Zero then moved closer to the demon with his hands on his neck and he spoke with a scary expression on his face,"If you can answer this question, young demon. I will give you an easy death. What do you think Viscardi did to solve all the problems they had?"


    The demon looked at Zero with a really terrified expression before his eyes saw his system.


    [Soul Trapping Magic Detected! Danger! Danger! Soul Trapping Magic Detected]


    He gulped before speaking,"Viscardi, who is possibly a Vampire Hunter, transferred the soul of Anna into Elle''s and made her live as Anna from there onwards?"


    Zero smiled a bit before speaking,"so you really were paying attention to my words, huh? Well, you are right. That is exactly what was supposed to happen. You know, I kind of wanted you to not answer that, but still¡­ I will keep my promise. You can die now," and then the huge mist that had been created all around the ce began entering the Demon''s body, tearing each and every fibre in his body into pieces and in mere moments the demon died a fast death in front of Zero, who watched the whole process without batting his eyes.


    Soon¡­ the world began disintegrating and Zero slowly lost his consciousness¡­


    In his brain, he was still thinking about what to do about the whole situation with Viscardi and that Agent. He wanted to kill them both as cruelly as he could, but since he could use Viscardi; he was contemting on which move he should make.


    ....


    As soon as Zero opened his eyes, he saw Astraea looking at him with pure shock in her eyes. The red gem stone was gone¡­ and Anna was there lying unconscious but alive. There were no signs of her being a demon anymore, and she was as healthy as she could be.


    Everyone who was watching the scene looked at Zero with pure shock. They all had one thought about Zero and that was that they wanted to know who Zero was.


    William, looking at the screen, didn''t utter a single word as he looked at that boy who saved his granddaughter. He hadplicated feelings for the boy in front of him. On one hand, he wanted to thank him for saving Anna, on the other side he wanted to capture him and ask him how he cured Anna. However, in the end¡­"Capture him." He spoke with a serious voice.


    Mark Leeway, who was also looking at Zero, was instead extremely happy when he saw Zero seed in removing the red gemstone. With this, the credibility that Zero can treat his daughter increased by a huge margin. Hemanded Rheo through the call,"save him at all costs."


    The agent too moved towards Zero as fast as he could. Zero was too precious to be left on his own.


    While all this thing was going on, Zero was concerned with something else totally, as the entire surrounding was disintegrating in front of him and then¡­ everything in an instant turned white.


    His heartbeat rose as he tried to understand what was going on, but before he could reach a conclusion, a familiar blue screen came in front of him


    [Long time no see, Zero! d to see you are still alive.]


    ..........


    Author''s note: The next 8 chapter are long and due to intion they became costly(14-15 Coins each [previously 11-12 coins] ). After that, I reduced the words count bringing down the cost to 9-11 coins (mostly 10). Thank you for reading upto here.


    See you in Discord: https://discord.gg/58TKFewC

 Chapter 45 One Long Night#9

    [Long time no see, Zero! d to see you are still alive.]


    I saw the familiar screen in front of me and the first question that popped in my head was,"What just happened?"


    I waited for the owner of the system to answer that question and he didn''t make me wait as another message appeared on the same screen.


    [Is that how you say hello to your benefactor?! That makes me really sad, you know? Still, I understand what you must be going through, so I guess it would be inappropriate of me to not exin things first]


    I looked at the screen with my expression turning serious as I prepared myself to hear what he wanted to say¡­


    [Firstly, I am neither a ''he'' nor the ''owner of the systems'' though in a way I am but not really¡­ Aaah! Why is it so hard to tell it without telling you everything? Damn it! Alright, listen. I have a name. It''s Adbaldar Amon Chancellor Rahl Gomer Stibbons. Call me that please!!]


    I observed Abd Amon Channel Romer Buttons getting annoyed at me for calling him ''he'' though I fail to see the point of using his name. Though, it looks like he can read my thoughts here.


    [ It''s Adbaldar Amon Chancellor Rahl Gomer Stibbons!!!]


    "Look Amon, I don''t know why you are acting like a kid, but I have loads of questions I want to ask. I am really thankful to you for sending me back in time but can we get to the serious topic at hand?" annoyed at his behaviour, I spoke at that screen with a hint of re in my eyes.


    [Sigh! You are no fun are you?]


    Amon messaged me and then after a short pause another message arrived.


    [All right! Then let''s get started shall we? Zero/ Reaper look around you. What is that you see?]


    After that message, I carefully observed the surroundings. There was white background as far as I could see. I couldn''t even differentiate between sky andnd at this point, the only thing that came to mind was an empty ce that hasn''t been filled with anything.


    [I call this ce White Dimension. It''s a ne where souls gather before passing to the afterlife]


    Afterlife? Is there really something like that? I wonder if Amon knew something about that


    [I don''t know about heaven/hell, honestly. I haven''t died to visit that ce, however, I have seen souls passing happily. Every soul that has passed through to the other world in general can''t be returned unless you turn the time back itself.]


    In hindsight, my regression brought the souls back to their body¡­ so¡­ Does it have something to do with this white dimension?


    [Yeah. It has everything to do with this dimension. I created this dimension¡­ or more like this dimension was created by collecting the universe''s energy by me. It was a difficult task but wasn''t really impossible]


    "And exactly what does it have to do with me?" I asked with a curious expression as I began walking slowly around the white dimension.


    [Everything. Well¡­ the easiest way to exin would be that the souls in this timeline and the previous timeline are connected. I don''t exactly know about nature''s rule but for many reasons both the souls of this timeline and previous timeline are connected.]


    By this timeline and the old one, you meant about the one before regression and the one after that right?


    [Yeah. So tell me Zero, what do you think would happen to the souls that have died in the previous timeline but are still alive in this timeline?]


    Hmmm¡­ I honestly don''t know. If there is something like that¡­ then doesn''t that mean the other souls could potentially die killing the souls of this dimension in the process? And wouldn''t that mean that all my work has been to waste?


    [Yeah, that was what was going to happen but all thanks to the great Amon, you can now potentially save everyone you wanted.]


    "..." I waited for him to continue and so he did,


    [Every soul that was supposed to die¡­ but was saved in the end¡­ would enter this world.]


    My eyes open a bit wide as I look at that message and even though I understood that message, I was literally shocked by it. Doesn''t that mean¡­


    [Yeah¡­ if you save your loved ones. You can meet the ones from the old timeline. However¡­ there is a catch to it]


    I looked at the messages without even blinking once as he messaged again¡­


    [They will have lingering desires. From what I have collected so far, if you can solve their desires which they had in their previous lives, you can find a way to help them pass on without interfering with the lives of the one who are in the current timeline]


    Hmmm¡­ lingering desire huh? But do I really need to do it? Can''t I just leave them in this dimension?


    [The more they stay here without any hope that you can help them, the more restless they will get. I don''t know in what way, but it will surely affect their souls in the new timeline. You don''t want people you saved to die in the new timeline, do you?]


    This makes thingsplicated doesn''t it? When you look at it that way¡­


    [True. If you end up saving billions, you might get a bucket list of people''s final desires. Well, that is for you to figure out.]


    All right. I understand all this but there is still one thing I don''t get,


    [And that is?]


    Why was I brought into this ce, now? Why not earlier?


    [That must be because it is the first time you saved one till you entered this world?]


    Hmmm¡­ then what about ir Redfield I saved her as soon as I came here? She too died in the previous timeline, didn''t she?


    [I don''t know much about what happened in the previous timeline. Neither do I know what is going on in the current timeline. The amount of time I can interfere with that world is limited. Though, are you sure that she was dead?]


    Hmmmm¡­. All that was found was her crushed hand and her sword lying at the ce of battle. All the evidence pointed to her being eaten by the monsters, even the people from the organisation did not have any report of her being captured.


    [There is your answer. She must have something that you probably don''t know about]


    All this bundle of misinformation is giving me the creeps, Amon. Are you sure you regressed me back into the past and not transferred into another simr world altogether?


    [Nope. It is the same world from top to bottom. What is the truth and what were the lies is yours to figure out. It has nothing to do with me. All I want from you is you to fulfil your side of the promise.]


    Hmmm?


    [Hmmm?]


    "..."


    [You don''t remember?]


    "Well¡­ I was busy dying and living so¡­"


    "Don''t worry, I won''t back off. I know how to keep my promises. Everything can change about me but never in my life, I will break any of my promises. You can count me on that," I spoke with a little bit of pride and dignity in my words.


    [Well¡­ you did agree to my condition, so I guess I can trust you on that.]


    "So what were the conditions?"


    [Hmm¡­ since the situation has developed to this point. I guess, it is better if I don''t tell you this right now]


    Confused at his words, I make a questioning expression as I observe the screen and he replies to my thoughts.


    [Don''t worry. Even if you know now, it won''t change anything. For starters, get back to your original power and make sure the other 12 too get that power. If you can, bring another few to that level. You are gonna need that]


    "Are we going for a war or something?" I spoke with a curious look and if we really were going to war, then to bring that kind of force¡­


    [Something like that. Focus on getting stronger]


    "All right. I have a few more questions," I spoke as I stopped pacing around and then looked at the screen.


    [Sure, ask away. I will give answers to whatever I can]


    "All right. So first question, why me? You could have chosen Elle who died earlier than me or perhaps anyone else who is much stronger than me," I asked with a serious face. Although, I kind of understood that with the situation of me dying at myst wits and the proper conditions would really invite me to take his offer, I still wanted to ask this question.


    [One, because you aren''t bound by the system]


    I looked at the message and my eyes opened up a bit wide, not expecting that answer. I wanted to know what he meant by that¡­


    [Did you ever wonder why you can use spirit magic despite not being one of the blessed races?]


    "I am not of the blessed race?" I was a bit taken back by his statement. All this time, being an orphan, I thought maybe one of my parents was special hence allowing me to use the spirit magic.


    [...]


    [Well¡­ System¡­ All I can tell you is that the very system that determines the potential of people in your world, in reality limits their potential by over 90%. All beings can use all kinds of energies¡­ however, having the system limits the kind of energy they can use to one¡­ or maximum 2]


    "7¡­ that is how many energies that guy could use," I interrupted him with a piercing gaze and Amon messaged me again,


    [That guy¡­ or perhaps those few monsters are exceptions to this rule because of their¡­ special nature]


    "True, I suppose. Though¡­ even though I don''t really care about it anymore, still, why don''t I have a system?"


    [I don''t know]


    "..." I stared at the screen nkly.


    [Don''t look at me like that. I really have no idea why you don''t have a system. Although, if you had epted the system back then, perhaps I could have given you a system that is different from others]


    "Hmmmm¡­ this is kind of¡­ overwhelming¡­ Still, why bound every being by the system? Just what are you trying to achieve?" I ask with real curiosity and the answer that came really shocked me as he messaged,


    [It wasn''t me who bound them]


    Hearing his words, I grew a bit confused. If he is the owner of the system then shouldn''t he be the one binding the people¡­


    [Not really¡­ Zero, can you do me a favour and not pry into it. Unless you have finished the first task, I have given to you. Can you do that for me?]


    "..." I honestly did not know how to answer that. On one hand, I did want to know about it but¡­ if I am not strong enough to deal with it, it would be better not to know for now.


    [Thank you]


    "My secondst question. Would me being here affect the outside world? I don''t know whether you know this or not, but I was in a bit of a pinch there," I asked with a bit of wry smile on my face.


    It wouldn''t be funny if the time here and there is the same. Viscardi would just try to kill Anna again, whom I had just saved with me being captured by either one of the powerhouses.


    [Don''t worry. When you will be in this dimension, the time outside will stop flowing. However, when you are outside, the time inside this dimension will continue equally to that outside.]


    Hmmm¡­ All in my favour I suppose. Now onto myst question¡­"What about the entry and exit through this dimension? Can Ie and leave freely or there are some limitations to it?"


    It would be really convenient if I could juste here whenever I want and pause the time in the outside world. Though, it didn''t look like it was that convenient,


    [You can get out of here, as long as you can convince her. As for entry, you know the way.]


    "Whom?" I asked before I felt someone''s presence behind me. With cautiousness in my brain, I immediately turned around only to find a young girl not older than 16 years, wearing a blue white dress, lying unconscious there.


    With her ck hair which enhanced the beauty of her round face, she slowly woke up and looked around in a hurried manner with cautious eyes. Her face then turned towards me and with a slightly scared expression she observed my face and stood up.


    I look at her trying her best to find her weapon and her uneasiness increasing with each passing moment and after the futile struggle of whatever she was doing, she looked at me with half teary eyes and spoke,


    "Did I die?"


    I looked at her for a few moments, before a mischievous grin began forming on my face as I answered her question, making the purest face I had ever made in my entire life till now,"You had a really beautiful life, young girl. s, it''s over now."

 Chapter 46 One Long Night#10 Moonlight Princess

    Moonlight Sword Style.


    The most fluid and defence oriented sword style among the ones out there. It''s more like collecting dense mana into your sword without any precision and then practising the normal moves on it.


    After you have learnt to collect enough mana into the sword, you are asked to create a sword of mana without using an actual sword. This allows you to collect dense mana more easily while using the sword style.


    The next step is to learn to move the dense mana in the direction where you want. At this point, you can even add your own skills into it. With the heavy mana filled sword, it''s more like a heavy sharp rocking at you.


    While a sword will being at you, you will feel like you''re going against a heavy rock.


    But what makes it even more dangerous is its fluidity. That is, once you have mastered how to move the mana flow, you can move that heavy rock like sword anywhere you want.


    The namees from the origin of the style because¡­ It is literally from the moon. When the races came out after the second Cataclysm, it waster revealed that long ago a race hade from the moon and thrived on Vermillion.


    However, even they hadn''t achieved the level of perfection which Elle(Annabeth) had achieved after living with them for many years. Yeah, Elle moved to live with them to learn more about this sword style.


    I heard that she had been with them for more than a decade beforeing back to the humans, though she never really took part in any of the human expeditions except the ones which involved the strongest one.


    ........


    I looked at her for a few moments, before a mischievous grin began forming on my face as I answered her question, making the purest face I had ever made in my entire life till now,"You had a really beautiful life, young girl. s, it''s over now."


    I generally don''t like to annoy people(a tant lie) and I don''t like mischievous things too(I love it) but sometimes(most of the times) I do like to have fun here and there(everywhere I can).


    "What?!" Elle looks at me with a slightly surprised expression as she tries toprehend what I just spoke.


    "I know it''s hard to take it but try to calm down," I speak with the same pure smile as I move closer to her and try to calm her down. She looks at me with aplicated expression and then proceeds to take a fighting stance against me.


    ''Moon Style: Swordless,'' I thought as I figured out the stance she took. Isn''t that really amazing? A child of 16 mastered an art that people take decades to learn. However,pared to Annabeth I know¡­ she is like a bucket of water ced in front of the sea. I can do even better than her¡­


    Her eyes bes even more wide and she gets really irritated at something before she proceeds to¡­


    -Dash


    -sh


    Attack me from front and confused at her strange behaviour I dodge it with ease before I look at her with a curious expression. Just what is she thinking?


    She does a couple of front flips creating a distance between us and then turns around with a perplexed expression before she takes another stance.


    ''Moon Style: Invisible Sword,'' I smile at her as she channels mana into the air creating a mana sword out of thin air. That must have cost a lot of mana.


    "What?!" she gets shocked at something as her eyes concentrate on something. Probably something rted to her system.


    ''What is she looking at?'' I was a bit curious about her behaviour before a wide grin appeared on her face and then¡­


    "[Moon Style: Colourless Sword]" she shouts and my eyes look at her with a slightly amazed expression.


    "That''s¡­. She knew it at this point?! Just how freaky she is¡­ wait! It''s not her¡­ then does that mean¡­" Elle is¡­ much more of a monster than her sister? Not just body and potential but¡­ everything else too.


    Those idiots of the Rose family¡­ especially Viscardi¡­ to think that they killed off such a monster just because of their pathetic hypothesis.


    She looks at me with a furious expression all of a sudden as she dashes towards me and I¡­


    "Moon Style: Colourless Sword" speaks before dashing towards her. The best way of going against that sword style is to parry it. Anything else will put you at a disadvantage.


    -sh


    I turn it to the side and then once again she creates a distance before turning away from me.


    "So you want to y, huh? All right¡­ let''s y then," a bit annoyed at her behaviour I looked at her with a smile and then speak,"Moon¡­ no¡­ let me show you what real moon style is¡­ MOON GOD''S FIRST DANCE: SWORDLESS!!" I spoke and then mana from all around the ce began swirling around me.


    She looks at me wide eyed as she observes me and takes a step back with fear in her eyes¡­ yet she maintains the stance of not giving up.


    First, I have to make sure she understands the difference between me and her. Only then she will listen to me¡­ probably.


    Hundreds of swords began forming in the surrounding air, and I began walking towards her. It was one of my original moves that I created after learning moon style from Elle(Annabeth). It isn''t really strong unless you put a lot of mana into it¡­ but it still is strong enough to keep your opponent upied for as long as you want.


    Elle then puts her mana away and then speaks for the first time,"Who are you?!" She looks like she wanted answers to so many questions.


    "I am God," I speak with the same smile I had and then that graceful, beautifuldy in front of me replies me in her beautiful voice,"F*ck that sh*t! I can read your F*lthy mind, you freak!"


    "..."


    What?!


    My eyes then turn a bit to the side and a screenes in front of me, disying the message


    [Well¡­ I did try to tell you but you were too engrossed doing your thing so¡­]


    I slowly put my hands on my face and my mind went into a bit of turmoil of its own..


    For a few seconds, I couldn''tprehend what had just happened. I tried recalling whatever I thought and ooofff¡­ I wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere¡­ This is too embarrassing. Can somebody kill me, please?


    "What do you mean by'''' Viscardi killed me?" She skipped a lot of questions.. Shouldn''t she be asking about what this ce is and things along those lines..


    "I know this ce is kind of like where I am trapped or something and based on your previous thoughts I really died but there is more to it than it seems¡­ " She spoke as she put her forearm into another with one of her eyebrows slightly raised.


    With the look of ''tell me everything you know,'' she waited patiently while tapping her foot.


    "Shouldn''t you be worried right now. About the people who loved you or something?" I speak with a confused expression and the answer I got was,


    "ording to your words, my sister survived. That is all that matters to me¡­ If it was at the cost of my life, then I am more than d it happened that way and not the other way around."


    My eyes open wide at her demeanour and I wonder if she was really 16 years old. Though.. This demeanour makes me wonder about something¡­ Just what is her lingering desire if she hasn''t passed on?


    "What desire?" She was a bit confused, and then I observed Amon with a questioning gaze.


    [You can do it however you want]


    I nod at it before briefly exining about everything that happened at the Bryxtonke first. She listened to my words silently and nodded at my words. At some point I asked her a few questions regarding the things which happened with her, topare with the difference in timeline and she answered it without holding back.


    ording to her, in the previous timeline, the only thing that was different was that she never woke up after falling into theke. Perhaps¡­ by the time she would have woken up, Anna might have already overtaken her.


    After that came the hard part as I began exining my own story part by part. She was confused, scared, angry and then sad when she heard everything that had transpired with me. I somehow managed to not include a lot of important points and mostly focused on everything rted to Annabeth.


    When the part about me regressing came, she was a bit more shocked than previously, but didn''t ask any questions from there. I exined how I nned to save both her and her sister and about the misinformation I had which caused some irregrities and finally how I ended up here with her.


    For the next few moments, she kept her silence and looked at me and then at the system screen beside me. I wondered what she was thinking and after a few moments she then again looked at system and asked,


    "What if I die in this world?"


    [Then you will revive again]


    "Good. Now.. what if he dies here?"


    [Then he will revive again]


    "Hey! Howe I am hearing this first?" I was really shocked by Amon''s words. Doesn''t that mean I am an immortal?


    [You never asked]


    "Who in their right mind would ask what if he dies?" I asked before realising something then stupidly looking at Elizabeth smirking at me. Her look kind of irritated me and her smirk widened as she heard my words.


    She looked at me for a few moments before speaking." What should I call you? Zero or Reaper, or should I go by the other alias you took?"


    Confused at her question, I answer as I scratch my head," Why this  question all of a sudden? Not that I mind, but you could choose between Zero and Reaper, as I have been mostly called by only these two names."


    "All right, let''s get started then. Fight me using no mana," she spoke suddenly, confusing me with what she was trying to do.


    "Look, we don''t have all the time¡­ or perhaps we do.. nevertheless, let''s start. I don''t like waiting anyway, soe at me without using mana," she spoke again with a bit of irritation in her words.


    I then moved towards her and took the stance of shadow style, however¡­"Use moon style," she spoke as she looked at me with a serious look.


    ''Is she training me? Didn''t I just show her the difference between me and her'' I thought as I looked at her¡­"[MOON GOD''S FIRST DANCE: SWORDLESS]" she spoke and my eyes widened as I looked at her observing me with a serious face.


    The form was iplete, but it was simr to mine. There were many mistakes in those, but to recreate it to this point just by watching it for the first time¡­a genius beyond generations.


    ''Looks like I just saved a monster¡­'' I thought as I looked at her but¡­


    "Don''t show this to the Elizabeth of your timeline," she spoke as she moved towards me and I wondered why she said that, but still nodded as I observed the serious face she had.


    "We are going to improve your moon sword style beyond perfection," she said with a bit of pride in her words. Though I wondered if it really was that easy¡­ still no loss in trying, I suppose¡­ but still I wanted to know¡­ why is she trying to help me?


    "I will help you master the Moon style, but there is something I need you to do for me in return¡­ Tell me Reaper, have you heard about the Dungeon of Niflheim?"

 Chapter 47 One Long Night#11 Dungeons

    Dungeons, huh? From what I remember, well before the first Cataclysm people called the central den of the monster zones as Dungeons. A total of 24 dungeons are present on Vermillion, corresponding to the 24 danger zones.


    What were the Danger Zones? They were the ces where an S grade monster or higher ruled over the other monsters. The more you move to the centre the more dangers you wille across. At the very centre of the danger zone, there exists a central building where the ruler monster sits. The reason they called it a dungeon was because until that time they could only reach the central area of a couple of danger zones, each of which coincidentally had a dungeon each.


    Now, about the Dungeon of Niflheim, it was ruled by Borda, the Nightmare of ck Fabrications. Borda was one of the most beautiful and deadly monsters out there, specializing in fabrications and entrapment. Her fascination of creating a masterpiece out of living beings was something that made her one of the most feared beings in this world.


    Even after the arrival of the parasites, her fear didn''t even decrease by one bit. In fact, even the parasites couldn''t kill her, making her danger increase by a notch.


    Although the one who killed her was¡­ Annabeth herself.


    ...¡­.


    "I will help you master the Moon Style, but there is something I need you to do for me in return¡­ Tell me Reaper, have you heard about the Dungeon of Niflheim?" Elle asked me with a serious face and I look at her wondering why and how she knows about that dungeon.


    -Dash


    -Swish


    She attacked me and I dodge her attack with ease again and then not holding back she once again attacks even faster than before


    -Swish


    -Swish


    -Swish


    "There are 7 Phases of the Moon Style," She speaks and I look at her sighing as I answer her,"there are 27 Phases of the Moon Style that I know of."


    At my words, her eyes widen a bit before a smile appears and then she speaks again,"I have always thought of¡­"


    -Swish


    "... increasing the ways of using the Moon Style and based on my calctions, about 35 styles can be created."


    -Swish


    -Swish


    Dodging her attack using the same moon style which she was using, I analysed her move. She was improving at a rapid move and I wondered if she improved enough in real life. Will I need to protect her in the outside world?


    "I have infinite mana here and the skills doesn''t tire me out one bit. Also, the fact that I can''t die gives me an up to use even the most dangerous moves without holding back¡­" she speaks reading my mind once again and I look at the system¡­ I am not really surprised at this point cause no matter how much of a genius you are, you can''t cheat the mana and stamina usage.


    If she was really as strong as she is right now, then those demons would have been butchered by her a long time ago. But still¡­ I am genuinely surprised.


    "I need you to save me from that dungeon," she speaks and her intensity of attacks increases again. My eyes widen at her words wondering what she was trying to speak¡­


    "What do you¡­"


    -Swish


    -Swish


    -Swish


    "...mean by that?!" I was really confused by her words. Just what did she mean by saving her? Isn''t she like¡­ outside there with Anna and the others?


    "I am but at the same time I am not. Listen to me Reaper, my body which is present in the outside world is only half while the other half is trapped in the Nightmare of Niflheim. Since both you and I need to solve each other''s problems, I need you to save me from that dungeon," She spoke angrily, and hatred filling her eyes.


    My eyes widen as I realise something very crucial¡­ The fact that Borda was so strong¡­ what are the odds that she consumed the potential of Elle after her death?! But is that even possible?


    [Yeah. There are many ways by which ones potential can be transferred. Maybe that monster has a system based on that? ]


    ''This makes things a bit moreplicated,'' I thought as I begin moving faster too.


    -Swish


    -Swish


    "Is that your desire?" I ask with a serious face and she shakes her head as she clearly denies it making me even more confused. If that isn''t what she wants then, exactly what¡­


    "What I want is simple actually. You said that everyone who you will save wille here, right?" She asks as her serious expression changes to a happy-nostalgic one.


    "Yeah¡­ but would you be able to meet her? I don''t even know about that," I answer hearing her words. I kind of knew that her lingering desire might be to see Annabeth who is going to die in the future but isn''t that like far ahead into the future?


    "It''s fine, I can wait. Sis waited for me for a long time. I can do that for her too," she speaks with a smile as the mana surge calms down. I observe her pure innocent smile and I cound''t help but gulp a bit as I think,'' beautiful!''


    Hearing my thoughts she smiles a bit as she speaks,"I know I am beautiful."


    "Tch! Narcissist both you and Anna. Birds of the same feather, I guess," I speak with slight annoyance at her behaviour.


    "Hahahaha¡­ say what you want, it won''t affect me, now that I know your true thoughts," She speaks as she giggles at me and I couldn''t help but shake my head before speaking,


    "So, what now? Am I allowed to go out or there is anything else you want me tell or do? I still haven''tpletely helped you out of your problems, you know?"


    "Hmmm¡­ Teach me whatever you know about the Moon Style actually. It would be better if I have a head start so that next time youe, I can teach you Moon Style better," she speaks and I wonder about why is she so fixated on teaching me that.


    "Well isn''t that obvious? I want you to increase your chances of saving me and protecting me until the timees and I can meet my sister," she answers with a blissful expression on her face as she fantasizes about meeting her sister.


    ''Guess so¡­'' I then looked at the system before speaking,"How much control do you have on this white dimension?"


    [Almost everything except what is rted to the souls and I don''t have any control on you too except that I can revive your soul indefinitely here]


    "Can you create a moon here and make it night time and also create a  shallow waterbody on the ground?" I speak and the next thing I see is water rising out of nowhere and the level reaching almost to our ankles while the white dimension turns into a calming night sky with a magnificent full moon present in the sky.


    The water reflected the moonlight and mana density increased by a bit before everything came to a halt.


    "Move far," I speak and she moves about a 50 metres away and then I look at her again and speak, "More"


    This time she moves about 100 metres away and I signal her to move a bit more far before she reaches about 125 metres away.


    "Sigh¡­ Amon, do I have to ess to unlimited energies too?" I ask with a slightly exhausted face as I have already drained most of my mana.


    [Yes]


    Then I channel a huge amount of mana into my body all at once¡­ forcing open all the channels at once¡­


    By this method, most of my mana channels will be damaged but it will still be enough to perform the moon style upto the point which I know.


    "Moon Style: Night Harvester''s Season"


    Abination of almost all the Moon Style skills which I know of. It requires insane amount of mana and stamina or else it will fail.


    ''Though it was Anna''s one of the weakest moves back then¡­'' I think before smiling and my eyes turn bluish white and I take a stance with overflowing mana slowly escaping my body.


    ''First Step,'' I think as I begin shing the air with a mana sword¡­ in a motionless yet seemingly movable. An ordinary sh that you can never seeing¡­


    ''Second Step,'' Followed by a hundred sword shes that all cut in the same ce where the first cut took ce.


    ''Third Step,'' A storm of swords starting all around me and begins swirling around me.


    ''Fourth Step,'' I make another sh, however this time it was filled with strength more than speed making it visible.


    ''Fifth Step,'' A thousand shes ur in the reflection within the water. This step makes sure that even if your enemy had moved behind, as long he was there a few moments before, he would be hit by the attacks.


    ''Sixth Step,'' The sword of the storm starts attacking at random ces all over the ce, except towards me creating a deadlybination of attacks around me.


    And finally¡­


    ''Seventh Step,'' I jump and then start dancing into the storm jumping and taking one sword after the another as I dance and sh everything all around me. Inside that random motion, I could reach and connect with everything I want.


    That ground that can kill everything brutally, was my yground right now.


    After a few moments, I smile a bit and then click my fingers loudly


    -Click


    And all the swords scatter and break creating small lights all around us falling down enhancing the beauty of the scene.


    Elizabeth looks at me with a dumbfounded face as she observes me like a maiden in love. She jumps towards me hurriedly holding my hand and speaking,"Once more¡­ I want to learn and master that. What the heck was that?! That was so beautiful!! I didn''t think that all the first seven phases could bebined like that¡­. That was¡­ That was¡­ I have no words¡­. Teach me! Teach me! Teach me! Please! Please!" Like a child she started yelling at me and I took a few steps back as I looked at her childish behaviour.


    "You could''ve just ask that normally, you know?" I speak and then she be obedient and nods as she stands there. Though the smile on her face is making me wonder if she is listening to me or not?


    "Sigh¡­ all right. I''ll go through everything one by one, okay?" I speak and she nods with full attention.


    From that point onwards, I taught her each and every step and the correct way to do them. Prodigy as she was, she not only learnt them very fast but also pointed out a few mistakes in them, not that I mind.


    It took some(a long) time but we both increased the efficiency of the attack and flow, and aslo reduced the amount of mana it requires by some margin. By the end of the training, she learn how to perform the attack and then she said she wanted to perform this move once infront of me.


    I nodded at her and stood some distance away from her, about the same 125 metres.


    She then breathed in and spoke,


    "Moon Style: Night Harvester''s Season"


    "First Step," she shed not only on her front but on her back.


    "Second Step," not only hundred swords shed front but also on her back and within the reflection.


    Then mana began collecting all round her and noticing the difference, I increased my distance from 125meters to 200 metres.


    "Third Step," The storm wasrger and fiercer.


    "Fourth Step," She doesn''t makes any sh but a few of the swords from the storm attacked both the ce in front of her and in the reflection below it.


    "Fifth Step," About thousand shes ur in this step all around Elle within the filed of the storm.


    "Sixth Step," The swords attacking all around without any random movements and the swords moved ording to Elle''s wishes.


    "Seventh Step," Finally Elle and the sword both moved in the storm in the direction Elle wanted, creating a manual sword storm all around the area.


    After that she smiled so bright that even my heart started fluttering. She moved towards me in a hurried manner and spoke with her bright wide eyes,


    "That was really exciting!!!"


    ''Even though it requires an insane amount of mana and stamina? Even if I learnt this move, I won''t be able to perform it unless there are very special conditions¡­ though I wonder if I could use it in my sacrificial set?'' I think and she res at me before sighing and then speaking,


    "I will learn the next steps by myself while trying to find a way to use the move under normal conditions. You should leave now, I guess it will take quite some time to reach that point.." she then began speaking to herself as she moved away from me.


    In an instant, the background started changing again and what came in my vision¡­


    -sh


    ¡­was an attack of Viscardi blocked by Rheo in front of me.

 Chapter 48 One Long Night#12

    I haven''t talked about levelling up, have I? Well... to be honest, there are three ways to level up for a person possessing the system.


    One way is to have experience. It sounds easy right? Well, it''s not. To get experience means to have a valid experience that improves your life expectancy or perhaps your survival instinct by a notch. It could be a life and death situation or perhaps an event that changed your lifepletely or even a sudden enlightenment that could help you break your limits, maybe.


    The other way is to absorb the monster cores. While rtively easier, it works more for low grade systems than higher grade systems. One reason could be the amount of energy it requires to get to the next level, for a high level system user it is much more than a low level system user. It is basically cultivation for those who don''t get the chance to face life or death, or any simr situations.


    Thest way is by getting special quests that upgrade your levels rather than giving you stat points directly.


    All in all, other than a measurement of one''s ability, levelling up gives you only two special effects... and those are stat points and special skills. Each level up gives you a stat point for leveling up any stat you have. While getting to a certain level will unlock your special skill for you.


    While levels determine your power level up to a certain limit, it is not really a definite factor to say that you are weaker than those with level higher than you or vice versa.


    .......


    "Rheo Dcruz, just what are you trying to do? Can''t you see what this kid just did? He is more important than the entire''s resources right now," Viscardi spoke with a hint of re in his eyes. He couldn''t understand the reason behind Rheo''s actions, however the next words that Rheo spoke made it more or less clear for him.


    "Father-inw wants me to save him."


    Hearing his words, Viscardi stopped and took a few steps back with clear fear in his eyes. Not only him, but the agents and the others who were preparing to move against Zero also stopped in their tracks. They looked at Rheo with a dumbfounded expression before they looked at Zero again.


    Viscardi after contemting for some time spoke,"Capturing him is worth taking the wrath of Mark Leeway. I would rather die than leave from here without even trying to get him."


    At his words, people''s feelings changed, and they began thinking of capturing Zero as well. However,


    "Who said you were going to leave, anyway?" Zero spoke with slight confusion on his face. Tilting his head, he spoke with slight ridicule,"Just what gave you the idea that you are going to leave alive from here?"


    Viscardi looked at Zero with a bit of aplex expression. It looked like he was trying to figure out exactly what was the situation right now.


    "You are so cocky for someone who has such low mana," one of the men under the agent spoke with a little bit of a smirk over his scared face. Looks like he was trying to muster courage as much as he could.


    Zero turned to him and spoke nonchntly while beginning to stretch out,"are you...mmmm.. A retard?"


    That man looks at Zero with a questioning gaze and, ignoring him, Zero then begins walking towards Viscardi one step at a time.


    "I mean... When I came here, I came alone. Did you really think that I didn''t have any ns to fight against all of you?" Zero stretched his fingers before taking out his scythe and cing it on his fingers.


    Astraea looked at Zero and her eyes widened again as she realised what Zero was nning.


    "I mean, there could be confusion before, but after I changed the fate of that girl over there with the spirit right beside me? No way in hell you guys would be foolish enough to attack me without being cautious that I might have more cards up my sleeve, would you? Oh, wait, you actually did!! Well, you guys are that much of an idiot, all right. All I could say is....Pathetic! Retard! It always amazes me to see people like you exist. Maybe living in such a carefree environment has given you guys the luxury to think like that," Zero said, angry at their behaviour.


    ''If people of middle echelon are this stupid, that means the higher echelon should have some simr people.


    If that is the case, then it would be very very annoying to get them to work ording to me. Maybe I need to kill some weeds from the best farm too,'' he thought as he pondered over his future ns.


    "Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth moon" Zero spoke and his eyes turn reddish green before finally turning purple as both the colours mixed. His blood flow partially reversed and as of this moment he was using both the power of blood and Astraea''s and Hygeia''s magic together.


    "I know you might be hating it b-" He spoke to Astraea but before he couldplete her next words shocked him...


    "It''s okay. You can use my magic as you like."


    Zero''s eyes widened at her words cause normally it is very painful for spirits to give power to a body who uses blood magic.


    "It''s not painful. Your spirit nature and the way you use spirit magic are different from other beings. You don''t use the same vessel for blood magic and spirit magic, but have them separated from each other. The only part they get mixed at, are your eyes, but that much just tickles," she spoke as if she read Zero''s mind.


    ''So this means, I can fight on an equal ground with an A-grade freely, huh? Nice! Nice!'' He thought with a jolly expression but...


    "Though our time limit decreases by 90 percent when you use that magic together with ours," spreading water all over his happy thoughts, Astraea spoke without mercy. Looks like she didn''tpletely like him using blood magic along with her spirit magic.


    ''Well, that much is understandable. Hmm... since I can use spirit magic for about 30 minutes with Astraea, then that means I have about one and a half minutes left. All right, that much is enough for me. Blood Sacrifice should go on for another 2 minutes, but let''s end it with spirit magic as well,''Zero think and then dashes without wasting anymore time, as he speaks,"Shadow Style: Death Reaper''s Curse"


    -Swish


    Watching Zero dash, Viscardi looked at him as if a monster had jumped at him. He immediately activated his Vampire Hunter''s insignia, which boosted his power against blood magic by a margin, and prepared to block Zero''s attack with his long sword.


    However...


    "What the..." Rheo spoke with a shocked expression as he looked at Zero''s scythe wielding. It wasn''t just him, but everyone else who was watching his scythe y made a shocked expression. Williamson and Mark Leeway jumped up from their seats subconsciously.


    And all that was because,


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    Zero moved his scythe in about 3 different directions within a single moment. By the time Viscardi tried to block his attack from one side, another attack came from two other sides. His eyes were looking for an opening, but by the time he took his stance, another dozen shes had already taken ce.


    It wasn''t just that Zero was fast, but that those attacks were so fluid and swift that it didn''t give any chances to the opponent to take a break. However, only Zero knew that they weren''t powerful enough to kill him so...


    ''Now to move on to the next step,'' Zero thinks as he increases the power of attacks.


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    This time the attacks were less fluid, but since he was already out of momentum, all of Zero''s attacks kept Viscardi busy. He tried to make a break but couldn''t, and out of fear perhaps he shouted,"[Silver Hunter]" as his eyes changed into silver with his nerves beginning to bulge on his face and hands.


    His sword began shining brightly, and he dashed towards Zero at an insane speed. Zero, however, smiled at this and spoke,"Shadow Style: Zero Momentum" and then took a step back and parried the first attack of Viscardi with so much force that he ended up losing all his momentum.


    Not giving Viscardi a chance, Zero then immediately cut his legs into pieces with another single powerful strike.


    -sh


    -sh


    The others looked at Zero with a horrified expression as they saw him shing Viscardi''s legs. They couldn''t understand why he would be so ruthless towards Viscardi, who was here just to save Elle. Even Elle herself was confused why Zero was doing this... though, he doesn''t have the luxury to tell her anything right now.


    He moved towards Viscardi one step at a time, and then all of a sudden someone moved towards him. Turning around, Zero saw Elle moving towards him with a furious expression.


    ? ''Man, this is going to be a pain to deal with,'' he thought, annoyed at the sudden development but...


    -Thud


    Someone knocked her unconscious all of a sudden from behind and which made Zero quite shocked as he saw the person who did it. It was Annabeth.


    ''Why?'' he questioned as he looked at her for answers, however she didn''t speak anything before picking up Elizabeth in her arms and then nodding at him as she spoke,"Thank you."


    After that, she started running away from there in front of everyone at a rapid speed before she vanished from everyone''s eyesight.


    ''Did I miss something... well let''s first kill these bastards and then deal with other things,''Zero pondered as he turned back to Viscardi who was even more dumbfounded at her sudden decision. ''Now, isn''t that an amazing expression to make?'' Zero smiled at Viscardi''s dumbstruck face?


    "Hmmm... Rheo. Kill that agent and the others,"Zero speaks and Rheo smiles a bit before moving towards them at a rapid speed.


    '' I would have killed them personally, if I had more time, but s it''s a pity,'' Zero thought as he moved closer to Viscardi who was crawling away from there without making any noise. ''Looks like he is suppressing his sound to make an escape... how futile,'' Zero thought before he realised something...


    ''Ah! That''s it!'' Zero realised as he looked at him, crawling away slowly and swiftly.


    "Pfft... Hahahahahahaha...." Zeroughed before thinking, ''It''s fascinating. How fascinating... to think that a skill that allows you to turn invisible could be so useless. Perhaps it makes you invisible against normal vision but against spirit vision... looks like it doesn''t work.''


    Hearing Zerough, he stopped and turned back and looked at him for a few moments before finally realising that Zero could see him. At this, his eyes turned even more horrified, and Zero couldn''t help but smirk at his face.


    ''For people who kill someone, who can save the entire world, just because they felt like... I have no mercy in my heart,'' Zero thought before jumping towards him and began attacking him by shing his throat first, just enough to disable him from making any sound. From there he kills him as painfully as possible, slowly and slowly for the next minute and finally his powers run out and so does Viscardi''s pathetic life.


    Astraea vanished in front of him with aplex expression on her face. Zero''s eyes turn to Rheo, who has already killed the other agents and is waiting for him to give any moremands.


    "Can you erase the evidence?" Zero asks him with slight curiosity and he shakes his head, denying it. Zero then ponders over something before sighing and speaking,"Ask Mark Leeway to erase every footage from here and you too leave from here. My work is done here."


    Then Rheo looks at Zero for a few moments before nodding and then vanishing from there, while Zero moves away from their hiding his presence.


    His next destination was... Bryxton''s Night Auction.


    "It''s time to meet Lucia."

 Chapter 49 One Long Night#13

    -Swish


    -Swish


    Like a fast moving shadow, Zero moved from one alley to another towards the location where Anna took Elle with her. While he believes that they are safe, he can''t be really rxed unless he sees them with his own eyes, in a location where nobody will harm him.


    Running all over the ce, Zero tried finding them, but even after looking for a few moments, he still couldn''t find them. Though he wasn''t happy with the development, he still had no choice but to be satisfied with whatever he did.


    After this point, no matter how he feels, if anything happens to Anna and Elle, there is little he could have done about it. He sighs before hoping for the best and then checking his phone for a certain message, and then he smiles as he looks at the message.


    From that point, he changes direction and heads towards the north of Lake Bryxton.


    -Weeoo Weooo


    On his way, he sees multiple police cars and security department''s cars hurrying towards theke. Stopping for a few moments, he once again begins running towards the predetermined location. It wasn''t the only time the cars passed by Zero but he came across the cars multiple times by the time he reached the ce.


    The airne crash had attracted a lot of attention by this time and what transpired there will only make the public much more restless. Though there was little to be done there,


    ''Even if they manage to find anything during the search, they will find Reaper, so Zero is still safe, though I would like that too, to not happen yet,'' Zero thought as he made a wry smile with an awkward expression. Perhaps he didn''t like the evidence being left behind near the Bryxton Lake.


    -Swish


    -Swish


    After running for a few more moments, he reached a central ce where a variety of food stalls were present on the streets. With people walking all around, it was easy to get mixed up in the crowd.


    Skillfully, Zero takes out his ck robe revealing a casual outfit, and he takes some water from one of the stalls and then at a corner he washes off all the ck dye, revealing his white glistening hair. His eyes, which were green from using spirit magic, turned back white again as he turned the spirit magic off.


    He then turned around to see a couple of kids looking at him with wide eyes and open mouths. He smiles at them before taking out a sum of money and giving it to them before activating charm magic and changing their memory a little bit. From there, he vanishes immediately before arriving at a distance, startling the surrounding people.


    Ignoring the people, he looks at his phone and looks at another couple of messages before hurrying towards the location. After a few more steps, he finally reaches the venue and whates in front of him is¡­


    An orange haired girl in her 20s looking at him with slight annoyance. She wore a white coloured casual shirt over a pair of ck tight jeans which outlined her gorgeous body without making her look indecent. Her ck eyes were piercing in on Zero as she begin speaking,


    "Is that what you''re doing?"


    Zero looks at ir Redfield for a few moments before he couldn''t help but smile as he speaks,"if you are talking about the police attacking all organisations present in this city along with what happened at theke Bryxton, then no I don''t know anything about it. I don''t even know why half the city is in chaos with the shocking revtion of ck powder, being supplied within this city. Nope, it has nothing to do with me."


    .......


    Going back into the past when Zero was in the Urgent Healer''s hospital.


    "Would you like to make a deal with me?" Zero spoke with a mischievous smile on his face and ir focused her eyes on him with a careful expression.


    "What kind of deal?" she asked with slight nervousness in her words. Zero then looked around and spoke,"Close the door and remove all the recorders ced in this room."


    ir was a bit shocked at his words, then sighed before closing the door and then speaking,"I don''t know where the recorders are."


    Zero shook his head before pointing at a certain machine at a distance away from him,"behind that." ir then looks at the machine before looking at Zero for a few moments. Then she moves towards the machine and checks for the recorders, which she eventually finds and brings to Zero.


    Then Zero began pointing to all the recorders and then, after another few moments, all the 12 recorders were removed and destroyed by Zero, right in front of ir.


    "Now that''s done. Let''s get to the deal. There are a few things that I need you to do for me.


    First, make sure that no onees here for the next 15 minutes. After that, report me missing to the hospital''s staff.


    Second, call all the people who escaped from the facility and tell them the message that,''I will be leaving for some work. I will cure Mark''s daughter in about 3-4 weeks from now. Also, no need to worry about me escaping, as Mark has already started monitoring me. He might even arrange for someone to tail me, though I will try my best to not let anyone get on my trail.''


    Third is to call the police department in exactly 15 days from now on and tell them about a list of ces with illegal activities they are doing. I will be providing a list of things to tell them.


    Fourth is to ask all the people who escaped from the facility about a favour. 15 days from now on, use their powers and influence to stop anyone from entering towards Lake Bryxton. I will be providing the exact duration of time in which no one can enter there. Also, meet me on the same day at a certain location.


    Fifth is to send a message to a certain guy to check the news on that night and tell him that a certain someone is interested to make a deal with him.


    Sixth is to tell the escapees from the facility that after another year, I will be meeting them one at a time. I will be needing their help for something big.


    Seventh andst one for now, is to be my acting guardian on a certain day about a month from now on."


    ir looks at Zero with a nk look as she speaks, snapping out of her thoughts,"can you repeat what you just said? Sorry, it was too much information at once." Not minding her, Zero repeated everything one by one and after she listened to everything, she said,"I have a few questions."


    "Go on,"Zero replied as he looked at her serious face, trying to analyse what she was thinking.


    "What do I get in return?" Her first question was a bit obvious and Zero answered with sincerity,"What do you want?"


    "I want my sister to enter the Arcadia Academy," she said with a serious expression and Zero nodded at her words," Sure. That''s easy."


    At his words, ir looked at him properly, wondering if he was joking about it, but finding no trace of mischief on his face, she gulped a bit before speaking again,"Why me?"


    "Just because," Zero spoke nonchntly and her eyes narrowed at him, but looking at Zero who didn''t look like he would answer that, she shook her hand before sighing and asking,"About the seventh task. How dangerous is it for me and my family?"


    Zero ponders over her question and then nods at his thoughts before speaking,"minus 2 out of 10."


    "Huh?" ir makes a confused expression and Zero exins,"All I mean is that it will make your life more secure rather than making it more dangerous?"


    Zero then sighs as he stretches his fingers and then asks,"anything else?"


    She then says,"can I add my conditionster?" and Zero nods before speaking,"okay, though let''s form a mana contract once we meet again 2 weekster."


    After that, they both nodded and ire left first before Zero too moved out of his ward.


    .........¡­


    Back to the present.


    ir narrows her eyes at Zero, but before she could speak anything, he takes out a mana contract and shows it to her. Her eyes widened a bit before she grabbed the contract and began reading it.


    The people around looked at the contract in her hands and a slightly shocked expression appeared on their faces, but then they looked at Zero''s red eyes and forgot everything before moving on.


    ir kept the contract in her space pocket hurriedly as she looked at Zero with a bit of sutpification,"are you crazy? Why did you take that out all of a sudden in front of so many people?"


    ''Hmm¡­ is that really¡­ oh! I totally forgot. It is still a time where a mana contract is considered a rare thing¡­ Zero makes an awkward face as he scratches his back and then makes an ''oops!'' expression with a chuckle. ire looks at him with narrowed eyes as she mutters,"you really are a weird one."


    Then Zero smiles at her words before he speaks,"Have you contacted that person?" He looks around for something to eat as well, since he was hungry too after all that ''exercise'' he did earlier.


    "Yeah. He said he will be there at the location. You can go meet him, he will be waiting for you," ire spoke and then Zero nodded before asking her,"did your sister apply for the Arcadia Academy''s test application?"


    ire nods at his words with a bit ofplication in her eyes. Zero observes her and smiles as he speaks,"don''t worry. As long as I am there, everything will be fine." and then nonchntly walks towards a certain food stall.


    "Let''s meet up at the airport in one week, ir. I have booked yours and your sister''s tickets as well," he spoke before he moved on his own. ir looked at him with a fixated gaze.


    She waited for him to vanish, but all she saw was him buying a bunch of fast foods from the street stalls beforeing back to her. Wondering why he came back, she looked at him with some seriousness, but all she got was,


    "You hungry too? You should have said that! Here, take this." Zero passes whatever he had to ir and ire makes a slightly awkward face as she takes the food in her hand. Her eyes observed the food she had before she looked at Zero, who was eating his food like a glutton with a blissful expression on her face.


    ''Just which one is your real face?'' ir couldn''t help but wonder as he looked at the face of the kid that could threaten even the most dangerous person on the. Nobody would believe her if she said that it was this kid who held the key to the chaos that the city is in now. Only fate knew¡­ What kind of storm would this kid bring?


    .........¡­..


    In the hideout where Cristine and Eliza were sitting and watching the news of the airne crash, along with about a dozen organisations getting caught by the security department.


    "It''s him, isn''t it?" Cristine spoke and Eliza nodded with a slightly serious face. Even though they had no evidence that it was Zero who did this, something told them that all of this transpired because of him.


    "He is as dangerous as sis Lucia," Eliza spoke with a slightly shocked face before she looked at Cristine and Cristine nodded at her words before speaking,"I wonder¡­ What is his connection with Lucia? It doesn''t seem like Lucia knows about him¡­ though after this incident, Lucia will probably find out about him."


    "Where is sis Lucia, again?" Eliza speaks with a questioning gaze and Cristine ponders a bit before speaking,"well, I guess, it''s the monthly auction day, so she should be at Bryxton''s Night Auction."


    -Ding Dong


    The doorbell rings and both Eliza and Cristine look at each other with a cautious look before moving towards the door. However, as soon as they reached closer to the door, they heard a familiar voice from outside the door:


    "Eliza! Cristine! Open the door, it''s Lucia," Lucia spoke from the other side and Eliza opened the door in a hurried manner. It''s unlike Lucia to change her ns and if she did so, then that could only mean that something big happened to make her change her ns.


    -Click


    The door opened, and the sisters saw that Lucia wasn''t alone, but there was another girl behind her carrying a simr girl in herp behind Lucia. One of the girls had ck hair and was wearing a blue T-shirt with a dirty white thin jacket. Wearing the same outfit, the other girl had silver hair and blue eyes which gave her a unique beauty, differentiating them from other people.


    "Meet Elizabeth Rose and Annabeth Rose, our new friends," spoke Lucia with a cheerful smile as she introduced the sisters.

 Chapter 50 One Long Night#14

    A few moments earlier¡­


    Annabeth was running with an unconscious Elizabeth in her arms in a hurried manner. She tried to increase as much distance from Zero as possible cause¡­


    ''That kid... he is a monster¡­ the way he killed...no, the way he destroyed that demon inside that dimension¡­ and here I thought I would never see anything more dangerous than that demon in my life¡­'' thought Anna as she ran away from the demon.


    When she entered that dimension, she saw that demon immediately and fearstrucken by the power of that demon, she instinctively hid herself behind a rock. She didn''t know how to get out of there but still kept thinking of a way while her heart was beating furiously because of the horrifying situation she was in.


    Though¡­ just as she began losing hope¡­ he came. Reaper was it? That guy just spoke something like,''Blood Sacrifice: Second Moon'' before his aura changedpletely in an instant.


    From that point onwards, it was that demon who looked pitiful in front of that kid¡­ that monster.


    Annabeth was scared of Reaper but then he started exining what transpired outside¡­ what Viscardi had said and hearing his words, she realised that the kid wasn''t an enemy¡­ but an ally. However, for obvious reasons, it didn''t calm her. Instead, it made her think about why Reaper would help her and Elizabeth¡­


    Soon, Reaper killed the demon effortlessly, and she was brought out of that dimension. She saw Elizabeth moving to attack Reaper and it shook her to the core just thinking about the consequences they might have to face going against Reaper.


    She immediately knocked Elle unconscious and didn''t forget to thank Reaper before running away from there. Now, all she was searching for was a ce where she could rest and regain her strength.


    -Bam!


    However, as she was running, she somehow ended up colliding against another person who was also going somewhere in a hurried manner.


    Annabeth fell and she ended up dropping Elle down as well. She caressed her forehead gently and looked at thedy in front, also doing the same with a really irritated look on her face. However, the irritation of thatdy wearing the red-white dress vanished, as she looked at Elle who was lying unconscious there.


    Dusting her red hair, which was a bit dirty about waist level, she immediately moved towards Elle and looked at her with a worried expression as she spoke,"Did I end up killing an innocent, with a bump?!!"


    "What?!" ridiculed by her sentence Anna looked at thatdy''s shaken ck eyes which were searching for signs of life in the body of Elizabeth and only after she confirmed that she was alive, she breathed a sigh of relief.


    She then turned to Annabeth and spoke with an apologetic expression as she spoke,"I am so so so sorry! Really, I should have been watching where I was going," she even grabbed Annabeth''s hand as she apologised.


    Looking at her innocent apologetic face, Anna couldn''t help but feel embarrassed herself.


    "It''s okay. Even we should have been watching where we were going," Anna spoke with a simr apologetic face however¡­


    "Ah! No. If you say that, I will feel even more guilty. I have to¡­no.. I must do something to repay you or else, I would never be able to free myself from guilt," that girl spoke with a really worried yet determined tone as she reached closer to Annabeth''s face with an expression which said that she won''t take ''no'' for an answer.


    "But.." Annabeth tried to deny her, however that girl spoke, cutting her words," no buts. Come with me. My house is not that far from here."


    Annabeth then looked at that girl calling a taxi and in another few moments a taxi was already waiting to take them to the girl''s home. Pondering over the pros and cons, she decided to go with that red-haired girl. It will give her time to rx and get back her strength before she could contact her grandfather. Right now, she did not know whom to trust and whom not to.


    "Hey! Come here, what are you doing?!" that girl waved at Annabeth as she called her. Annabeth took Elizabeth in her arms and moved towards that girl.


    "I am Lucia, by the way. Lucia Scarlet. Nice to meet you!" Lucia said with a smile as she opened the door of the taxi to let the sisters enter. Annabeth looked at Lucia and said,"I am Annabeth Rose and she is Elizabeth Rose, nice to meet you too, Lucia."


    Lucia waited for the sisters to sitfortably and then her eyes drifted to a certain ck-haired, white masked man running in this direction. She smiled at him before getting inside the taxi and left from there as she began chatting with the sisters with a jolly expression on her face.


    ...


    In avish room, two men were sitting on a chair, watching the news on a big screen ced on the wall opposite to the office table.


    The news was about the number of organisation caught by the security department while also about the dead bodies found near the Bryxton''s Lake. There was also news about people who were thought to be lost about a few months ago, to be returning to their homes.


    -Click


    The door opened and a white-haired, white-eyed kid entered the room with a smile on his face as he looked at the news before looking at those two men.


    Those two men stood up instinctively as they watched that kid entering the room. The kid first looked at the younger man and spoke,"Mr. Edward, right? I suppose ir has told you about the deal?"


    Edward nodded at that kid, Zero, and looked at him with an analysing gaze. However, no matter what he tried, he couldn''t even see a dust''s worth of information through Zero.


    "Nice to meet you again, Lare," Zero spoke as he smiled at the other man, Lare, who looked at Zero with aplicated smile. His eyes seemed to be shouting ''what the heck are you?'' but he didn''t speak a single word.


    "Well¡­ since you both aren''t speaking, I will get directly to the point. I will be attending today''s auction and I need a ck Entry Card for that auction. What you will be getting in return is that I will be leaving only your organisation in Bryxton. With theck of any morepetition, you should be able to thrive in this city," Zero spoke with a serious expression and Edward looked at him before looking at Lare, whose eyes were saying that he doesn''t want to do anything with this kid.


    Edward then turned to Zero, mustered some courage and said,"are you threatening me?"


    Zero tilted his head a little as he looked at that man with a slightly confused look as he spoke,"what are you talking about? I am threatening you?! Did I fail to express my feelings with my actions?"


    -Thud


    Edward fell down as he realised what Zero''s words meant. It looked to them as if the devil himself had appeared in front of them. They didn''t notice but Zero''s eyes were red at this moment¡­ and looking at it Edward had already peed his pants out of fear.


    Hurriedly, Edward took out the card and threw it at Zero, which he caught and checked before nodding as he spoke,"you should have done this from the beginning."


    Zero then proceeded to move out of the room without wasting any time.


    -Thud


    The door closed and Zero immediately ran towards the auction with as much haste as he could. He couldn''t afford to miss this chance, so he used a bit of extra energy to run towards the venue. With the fact he can''t be seen anyway, he chose to run over taking a taxi. Getting a car out of nowhere is also near impossible at the moment.


    While he ran, he moved near a dark alley, took out his ck suit and immediately changed from his casual clothes. Then he took out a dye and re-coloured his white hair into ck, before wearing a in white mask.


    After that, he spoke,"spirit magic" and started using the spirit magic before applying mana into his legs and he dashed even faster than before. He observed the area around him as he ran and chose the most optimum path towards his destination.


    -Swish


    -Swish


    He ran towards the auction. He couldn''t afford to be seen going towards the auction as the more people find out about him, the more chances that the people he saved will be in danger.


    ....


    Rheo looked at the screen filled with one of the strongest people in the world. There was Mark Leeway and his daughter, along with the other members of the family. There were even the direct subordinates of Mark Leeway standing there.


    "Report," spoke Mark Leeway and Rheo immediately began exining about the events that transpired in Bryxton without hiding even a single information. It took about half an hour to reach the conclusion and a bit before he finished, everyone except Mark Leeway on the screen had a bbergasted look on their faces.


    "Did you just say¡­ that guy cured the Red Gem Demon''s curse?" one of the people asked with a shocked face and Rheo nodded while Mark spoke,"I saw it on the screen before it was deleted. He cured Williamson''s granddaughter right in front of Rheo."


    Hearing this, most of the people gasped as they knew the meaning of these words. One of them was about to speak something, but then Mark Leeway spoke,"If anyone even touches him. I will make sure to kill that person personally, even if he is my family member."


    There was a threat in Mark''s words at which everyone turned their heads down except one woman who spoke," but he is-"


    "I had a deal with him before," Mark Leeway said, cutting off the woman''s words and everyone looked at Mark with a slightly amazed face, wondering what the deal was about.


    "He said that he will cure Bete''s curse within a few months," Mark said and this time a pin drop silence enveloped the room while the others looked like they didn''t quite catch what he said.


    Bete, who was the most shocked among them, looked at Mark and said,"Father! What did you just say?!"


    The others after hearing her words looked at Mark as they too wanted to confirm that what they heard was the truth.


    "I said that he made a deal with me, that he will cure Bete''s curse," Mark Leeway spoke with a small smile as he looked at his daughter. The other family members were really shocked at his words, but a few momentster everyone present started smiling as they looked at Bete, whose smile was the brightest among the people there. Though, that smile all of a sudden turned to worry as she spoke,


    "But¡­ what if he is lying?"


    This had happened many times when people tried to cheat Mark Leeway, saying that they could treat his daughter. However, no one was able to fulfil their promise as they gave up as soon as they saw the curse with their own two eyes.


    "Then he will die. He has signed a mana contract, he has no way of getting out of it. Though¡­ he feels different from the others¡­" Mark Leeway spoke as he recalled the time Zero threatened him despite the clear difference in their power level. Recalling that actually made him smile, as he found it interesting that someone like Zero exists.


    "Different?" Bete worriedly questioned her father''s words and not hiding anything from her Mark answered,"that kid¡­ rather than begging me or currying favour with me¡­ threatened me to sign the contract."


    "What?!" Bete, as well as everyone present in the room, once again had their eyes wide open as they heard Mark''s words. They couldn''t help but praise the guts which Zero had¡­


    And at this point, everyone in Mark Leeway''s family couldn''t help but look forward to meeting this kid¡­ Zero, also known as Reaper.

 Chapter 51 One Long Night#15

    About an hour earlier, before Zero reached the Bryxton''s Lake¡­


    Lucia, preparing to leave for the Bryxton''s Night Auction, moved towards the road, however as soon as she turned her head slightly up she noticed an airne sting into two parts.


    -Boom!


    It wasn''t just her, but everyone else also looked up in the sky as soon as they heard the explosion. Lucia, however, noticed much more than everyone else had¡­


    ''Red gem demon,'' she thought as she observed what was going on in the sky. Her eyes narrowed at the girl, who was first trying to save another girl, but then


    -Snipe


    Something killed the demonified human who was approaching them before killing every one of them one by one in a simr fashion. Out of curiosity, she analysed the area before looking at a tall building nearby. Then she muttered,"[Blood Sacrifice: First Moon]" before her eyes turned dark red and her fangs became more prominent.


    Her skin turned a bit harder than before and she took a jumping position immediately¡­


    -Baam!


    Jumping from there towards one of the high rise building''s tops. Reaching the building''s top, she then turned around to see what was going on around that area. As she waited, she saw the girlsing out. However, one of them had already been demonised.


    ''How sad!'' Lucia smiled at the fate of that girl who was going to kill her sister and the other people around there, at any moment now but¡­ then she looked at someone dashing from one roof to another and hurriedly moving towards that area.


    ''Interesting,'' she thought as she smiled and then proceeded to observe the scenario for a few moments. She had more or less figured out that he was the one who killed those demonified humans in the air.


    That kid then reached towards the area¡­ killed one man swiftly before confronting the guy who looked like he was the leader of those men.


    ''He is strong¡­ but just what is he trying to aplish?'' Lucia asked, a bit confused by his actions. ording to her, that guy should already know about demonification¡­ or perhaps he did not know about it?


    What happened next made her interest pique when she saw two other powerful men joining the fray. One of them looked like he knew the girls, while the other one was with the kid in the ck cloak.


    That man, who was with the girls, saw the demonified girl and immediately moved towards her with his weapon without any hesitation.


    ''Well¡­ at least someone has a brain among those idiots,'' thought Lucia as she yawned at the ''stupidity'' of the ck-haired kid and the other men there.


    However¡­


    The kid asked his friend to stop the guy from killing the demonified girl.


    "Just how annoying can that kid be,"Lucia said irritatingly, but before she could evenplete her sentence, something beyond expectations happened¡­


    That kid summoned a being from another ce. Looking at that being gave Lucia the chills of her life. Never had she seen anything like that and looking at it, she couldn''t help but hide behind the walls to not let herself be noticed by her.


    She then quietly looked at that kid talking with the being in a nonchnt manner before¡­


    "What??!!!" Lucia screamed before covering her mouth as she saw that kid taking out the gem and pushing it inside his arm, immediately turning into a demonified person.


    ''Is he crazy?'' Thought Lucia, but she still intently saw the whole process as that kid simply stood there dormant, doing nothing for the next few minutes.


    After a few minutes passed¡­


    Lucia''s eyes widened enough to almost make them pop out of their sockets. The demonified girl¡­ she became normal again! And the kid was fine too, smiling at the heavenly being.


    From there on, it was a simple matter of killing and saving with a small twist, the previously demonified girl ran away from there with herpanion, who was unconscious.


    Lucia pondered whether she should follow that kid or not, but after thinking about it, she formted a different n. That is, to approach the two girls first and get to know him through them. However, before doing that¡­ she decided to create a clone of herself and send it to the Bryxton''s Night Auction.


    She ''identally'' bumped into those girls, created a small scene, and, using partial charm magic, she took them back to her hideout.


    Inside the hideout¡­


    Elizabeth was sleeping on the sofa with her head resting on Annabeth''sp, who was caressing her head. Annabeth looked like she was in a deep thought about something, perhaps thinking about whatever happened at Braxton''s Lake.


    "Hey! Who are they?" asked Cristine in a hushed voice as she looked at Lucia and Lucia smiled as she answered,"they are the key to a revolutionary method known only to a certain guy."


    "What revolutionary idea?" asked Cristine with a curious look, however Lucia only smirked without answering her, which irked Cristine and¡­


    -Bump


    "Ow!" Lucia spoke as she rubbed her head where Cristine hit her before moving back to the kitchen where Eliza was. Her eyes were still smiling though as she then looked at Annabeth.


    "Annabeth¡­ you look so worried. Is everything all right?" spoke Lucia as she moved towards Anna with a worried and apologetic look as she observed Elizabeth.


    "Ah! No, it''s okay. I was just¡­ thinking about something," spoke Anna, half lost in her thoughts. Lucia, a bit curious about her words, spoke,"something?"


    However, Anna didn''t look like she was listening. Lucia, a bit annoyed at her behaviour, almost red at her but then controlled herself and smiled before speaking,"So what are your ns from here onwards?"


    Hearing her words, Anna snapped out of her thoughts as she then looked nkly at Lucia before recalling what she just said and then spoke,"Ah! We were nning to go to Arcadia Academy¡­ but there were some¡­ problems in between."


    There was a worried expression on Anna''s face, which she was trying her best to hide. Lucia heard her words and then made a shocked expression before speaking,"Oh! What a coincidence! We, too, are going to the Arcadia Academy."


    "We are?" spoke Eliza with a confused expression as she looked at Cristine with a ''howe I never heard about that?'' kind of expression. Cristine red at Lucia before dragging her back as she apologetically spoke to Annabeth,"Personal talk break."


    Lucia being dragged, tried freeing herself, but failed to do so as before she could do anything she was already taken by Eliza and Cristine.


    "Just what are you trying to do? Aren''t we here for a different purpose? You do know the consequences if we fail to catch that guy, don''t you?" Cristine spoke in all seriousness. Her eyes narrowed at Lucia demanding a genuine exnation from her and then Lucia spoke with a smile,"they know a guy¡­ a certain guy who can remove the curse of Red Demon Gem."


    At her words, both Eliza and Cristine made a dumbfounded expression as they both tried toprehend what Lucia had just spoken.


    "How.. are you sure it''s the right information?" Cristine questioned Lucia, and Lucia nodded before speaking,"confirmed with my own two eyes."


    Eliza and Cristine couldn''t help but once again look at those sisters. Cristine then looked at Lucia.


    "Who is that person?"


    Lucia pondered before telling them whatever happened at the Bryxton''s Lake and as they heard about the whole ordeal¡­ the first thing that came into both the sister''s mind was¡­


    ''It''s definitely Zero.''


    "Now, if only we could meet that guy. Well¡­ after thinking a lot about it, I believed if that guy saved those girls once, then he would probablye in contact with them again. All the more because he immediately went searching for them after he finished his business in Bryxton''s Lake," Lucia spoke, pondering about it on her own. She was really excited about this guy who seemed far more mysterious than anything she had seen in her entire life.


    Lucia then looked at the white-haired girlsmunicating with each other using their eyes and asked,"what are you guys discussing?"


    However, both the girls only looked at Lucia with an even more questioning gaze.


    "So when are we leaving for Arcadia Academy and what about here? Also, what roles do we need to y at the Arcadia Academy? Eliza as a student with us being guardians?" Asked Cristine and Lucia smiled at her words before giving them an even more mischievous look.


    ......¡­


    Zero reached the venue of Bryxton''s Night Auction. The auction was supposed to take ce here at exactly midnight. He checked the time and found that there is still an hour left before the auction will start.


    He sighed in relief and then once he looked at his outfit to see if it''s proper, after thoroughly checking it, he decided that it was all good. He then moved towards the building, loosening his tie a bit and removing the bottom of the mask, revealing his mouth and nose as he changed his eyes colour back to normal, white.


    As he moved forward, he took out the ck card and showed it at the reception. His way of walking changed into that of someone with a high and mighty status and his demeanour suited that of a supreme being.


    The receptionists couldn''t help but take a second look at Zero as they read the ck card on which his name, Reaper, was written. They then called a couple of girls who began escorting Reaper towards the auction.


    Zero walked up towards the lift and entered it along with the women. After waiting for the doors to close, he expected the lift to go up, but before the lift went up, the door once again opened.


    The door opened and what came in front of Zero was a beautiful red-haired girl wearing a stunning ck one piece and a ck mask on her face. He looked at her for a few moments before moving a bit sideways and then she entered the lift and stood beside him.


    A smile formed on both the girl''s and Reaper''s eyes as they waited for the lift to reach the top.


    "Scarlet," spoke Lucia as she waited for the lift to reach the top.


    "Reaper," answered Zero as he waited for the lift to reach the top.


    "Never seen you here before," Lucia spoke without turning her head as she raised her hand to check the time.


    "Never been here before," Zero answered with a smile as he just stood there without making any gestures.


    "Not a man of many words, I see," Lucia spoke as she looked at the lift that almost reached the top.


    "I just don''t talk to people whom I don''t know," Reaper said as he saw the lift finally reaching the top and the gate opening. Lucia first stepped out, but then stopped midway before turning around as she spoke,


    "Enjoy your visit here. It''s a nice ce to rx and spend money, though thepetition can be really intense if your pocket isn''t deep enough."


    She then smiled at him before moving forward, and Zero smiled at her as he stepped out of the lift. He then saw her moving forward without turning back and his smile vanished, recing it with an expressionless face. He checked his fist, which he had clenched so hard that it had almost started bleeding.


    However, he sighed before heading towards his seat in the auction hall. Having a ck card allowed him to use a VIP seat and the one he chose was¡­ ''coincidentally'' the same room as Lucia''s.


    He wondered about the kind of reaction she would make when she would get to know about it¡­ no, he already knew what kind of reaction she would give. He then shook his head before heading towards room no. 35 where Lucia probably went.

 Chapter 52 One Long Night#16 Traitor

    A few hours earlier¡­


    Lucia''s clone entered one of the shoppingplex nearby and changed her attire along with getting her makeup done. Then she was headed towards the auction in a luxurious car which she called from her organisation.


    After another 15 minutes, she reached the auction venue and began walking towards the reception. The receptionist, however, was a bit lost in her thoughts. She snapped her fingers in front of the receptionist and spoke,


    "Hey! Check my card."


    Then after her card was checked, the receptionist began calling thedies to escort her, but Lucia denied that before immediately walking towards the lift. She saw the lift closing and dashed towards it, reaching the lift she pressed the button before standing in front of it with grace once again.


    The lift''s door opened, and seeing the person inside it sent a chill down her spine but she managed to hide it. That kid was there¡­ her eyes looked at that kid and she spoke in an inaudible voice without making any lip movements,"System Check'''' however noticing that nothing happened she once again spoke but this time she used a special skill of hers,"[Eye of Character]"


    It was a skill that gave her a brief idea about what a person thinks about her and what she saw sent another chill down her spine as what she saw was¡­


    [The person in front of you hates you to the core. Enough to kill you mercilessly.


    The person in front of you loves you to the deepest of his desires. Enough to fight against the whole world for you.]


    Both the sentences, even though they contradicted each other, were there. Lucia then moved beside him as he gave her space to stand beside him.


    ''What the fuck?!! What kind of¡­. What in the fuck''s sake is that?'' Her emotions were in turmoil, but she still kept herselfposed. She wanted to scream¡­ she wanted to run away¡­ but she couldn''t. If she did so, then she will be rming him, which might go in a way she won''t be able to control.


    "Scarlet," she spoke without looking at him, as she couldn''t bear to look at that super mysterious guy.


    "Reaper," Reaper answered without turning as he waited for the lift to reach the top.


    "Never seen you here before," Lucia spoke as she checked her watch, wondering how long she had to stand beside this guy. This was nerve racking for her¡­


    "Never been here before," Reaper answered with a smile as he just stood there without making any gestures. Though the smile made Lucia think about a thousand meanings behind it¡­


    "Not a man of many words I see," Lucia spoke as she finally took a sigh of relief when she saw the lift reaching the top.


    "I just don''t talk to people whom I don''t know," Reaper spoke as the lift opened and Lucia proceeded to walk out first as she thought,''Liar, aren''t you?''


    Her fear vanished as she created some distance from Reaper. At this point, she finally remembered that she was a clone and, even if she vanishes or dies, nothing would happen to the n. Though she would still prefer not to get involved with this guy¡­ not in this ce¡­ not now.


    "Enjoy your visit here. It''s a nice ce to rx and spend money, though thepetition can be really intense if your pocket isn''t deep enough," Lucia spoke as she smiled at him while checking the system once again but nothing really changed with the same message being disyed there.


    [The person in front of you hates you to the core. Enough to kill you mercilessly.


    The person in front of you loves you to the deepest of his desires. Enough to fight against the whole world for you.]


    ''I wonder if¡­'' Lucia thought before sighing as she moved ahead, clearing her thoughts and moving towards her room.


    After walking for another few minutes, she reached the room allotted to her.


    -Click


    She opens the door and then enters the room. The door closes behind her and all of a sudden a voicees from the corner of the room, a man with a ss of wine is standing there.


    Observing her, a re enters Lucia''s eyes as she speaks,"Demitri."


    Demitri, the traitor of her n, the one whom she had been searching for so long, was present in front of her eyes. She was given a mission by the n leader, and that was to capture and bring back this backstabbing bastard to their n.


    "Calm down now. Will you Miss Scarlet? I am her for a deal. Won''t you even listen to me? Is that how much you want to die?" Demitri spoke as he took out an artefact and Lucia''s power started vanishing in a rapid state.


    "Miraculous isn''t it? I took it from the treasury as our parting gift before I escaped from that ce," Demitri spoke, looking at Lucia''s weakened expression. He looked at Lucia ring at him before proceeding to move towards the door and slowly proceeding to open it.


    Demitri simply smiled at her actions as he waited to see whatever she was doing.


    After reaching closer to the door, Lucia tried opening the door but no matter how much she tried, she failed to open the door. Noticing the situation, she turned to Demitri, who was smiling at her with a wicked yet lustful smile.


    "I have always wondered what your body would taste like¡­ but that is for dessert, for now. How about we strike a deal right now?" Demitri spoke with a slight look of urgency on his face.


    Lucia, however, red at Demitri before speaking,"what is it that you want?" Her mind was frantically calcting ways of getting out of here. She wondered why the door wouldn''t open and found a way to get through the system of the building to unlock the system, however¡­


    "Hahaha¡­ you can try to think as much as you can but that door was specially locked by two A-Grade Hacking System users, that too of quite a high level one. Even an S-grade Hacker would take more than an hour to break-


    -Click


    The door opens and a kid in ck hair enters the room and looks at Demitri for a few moments before looking at Lucia as he says,"Fancy meeting you here again, Miss Scarlet. Is this room assigned to you as well?"


    Lucia and Demitri looked at that kid, Reaper, with a dumbfounded face with their eyes wide open. Soon a few more people entered the room and looked at Lucia and Demitri as they spoke,"Miss Scarlet! Mr Pressa! Are you both okay?"


    They were from the security team with a couple of management people for this auction. Finding the door locked, they were panicking, but luckily, before it could get toote, Reaper arrived.


    He simply looked at the system blocking the door and, after applying a set ofmands using his own mana, he easily broke through the lock, opening the door with ease.


    The one who was most shocked by the whole ordeal was none other than Demitri, who knew how hard it was to get through the door.


    -Ladies and Gentlemen, since all the guests have arrived for today''s auction. If I have the permission from all of you, we would like to start the auction a bit before the predetermined time.


    Hearing the announcement, everyone, including Reaper, made a bit of a confused expression. Normally the auction proceeds on its given time no matter what happens but¡­


    ''Did something happen?'' Thought Lucia and Reaper as they looked at the man through the window making the announcement.


    "We should sit," Reaper spoke, snapping out everyone from their thoughts. Even if something happened with the auction, his concerns were Demitri and, most importantly, Lucia.


    ''What is Demitri doing here? Did I create another ripple in the flow of time?'' thought Reaper as he observed Demitri, who slowly proceeded to sit, catching a glimpse of Reaper''s every other moment.


    ording to Zero''s previous memory, Demitri should still be hiding on the highest floor of this building and note down to the auction venue. Himing down here to meet Lucia must mean something forced him to make a decision¡­ but what could it be?


    Reaper thought as he then looked at Lucia before proceeding to sit at a distance from both of them.


    Reaper then looked at Lucia and his eyes narrowed as he saw her with her eyes wide open and concentrated in a certain direction. Following her eye gaze, Reaper looked down the window and found a familiar face which answered most of his questions.


    A blonde man in his early 30s wearing a white suit was drinking wine as he sat on the corner table looking directly in this direction. Though it doesn''t look like he knows that Zero was there.


    ''William.. So it was him, huh? Hmmm¡­ now that I think about it, it was more than obvious that he could be involved in this after all his kingdom is in direct rtion with Lucia''s,'' Reaper thought as he recalled the time when he saved William from the facility.


    Maybe in the previous timeline, either William died, or he escapedter after some time without getting involved with Demitri or Lucia, perhaps.


    ''Looks like Lucia knows William, now isn''t that interesting?'' thought Reaper as he observed the fearful look which Lucia was giving to William.


    -So Ladies and Gentlemen, the wait is almost over as herees¡­


    The auction started from there, but since I had nothing to buy; I kept looking at the artefacts one by one before looking at the people to see if there was anyone special among the people down there.


    However, even after an hour, he still couldn''t find even a single person other than William, Lucia and Demitri, whom he couldbel as special. He sighed before getting up and then proceeding to leave the room.


    If he is not wrong, Lucia will too immediately follow behind him, given the decreased power level she had. While she wanted to capture Demitri, she didn''t want to lose her life in the process.


    And as Reaper thought, Lucia too stood up and proceeded to leave from there. However, Reaper then stopped and turned around as he looked at Demitri again, thinking,


    ''Well¡­ he wasn''t included in tonight''s n. Adding him will onlyplicate things more¡­ Consider yourself lucky. Dimitri Revnosky. 7th Commander of the Vampires.''


    Reaper then moved out of the room and he found William standing in front of him with aplicated look on his face.


    Lucia too came out and, finding William standing there, she immediately moved towards him with a slightly worried face.


    "Listen Sir William, I can exin¡­" however William ignored her as he walked past her and then reached Reaper.


    "I knew it was you. At first I thought you looked familiar, but now that I look at you closely¡­ it really is you. Can I ask what you are doing here?" William spoke with a nonchnt look on his face, which made Lucia confused as she tried to find the connection between William and Reaper.


    "Sir William¡­ do you know this kid?" Lucia spoke without losing herposure and then William nodded as he answered,"Yeah¡­ we kind of had a life and death situation and this guy saved me."


    As William was answering, his eyes were focused on Reaper. Reaper then looked at Lucia without hiding his killing intent anymore as he spoke without any emotions disyed on his face." I am here for her."

 Chapter 53 Character Introduction: William Laurentz

    In the previous timeline a few days before the second Cataclysm¡­


    "WILLIAM LET ME IN!!!!" I was furious as I shouted at William and red at him with my bloodshot eyes and half broken body which had almost reached its limit.


    "You don''t belong here, kid. Leave or else I will have no choice but to kill you," William spoke without any emotions in his words as he looked down on me.


    "WHY?!! EXACTLY WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!!" I shouted with pure hatred in my voice. I failed to understand why William was stopping me from going inside that castle.


    "It''s the King''s order. I can never defy it," William spoke, finally answering me after 3 days of ignorance.


    "Huh?!" My eyes nked for a bit before I asked,"Which one?"


    William¡­ belongs to the human faction. And currently he was guarding the¡­ Vampire King''s Castle.


    Heck¡­ he was the second son of the King of Western Continent. The moment he stopped me from entering the castle, I knew the Kings of the human faction and Vampire faction had something going on in between them.


    So the question was¡­


    "Which king ordered you to do that?" I asked again as my rage slowly returned and I wondered whether it was really the Kings having some kind of deal or was it William betraying the human King but¡­


    "Both of them," answered William in a nonchnt manner as he sighed before speaking," Look kid, something big is going to happen in the next few days and I have been tasked with guarding the gate to stop anyone weaker than me from getting in. If you are worried for Lucia, then she is safe-"


    "Those fuckers¡­ they dragged Lucia by her hair forcefully against her wishes. You think I would fucking believe that she is safe within the confines of those castle walls?!? Are you crazy?!" I interrupted William from speaking as anger took over me once more. My veins were bulging red in my skin and I looked nothing short of a monster standing in front of him.


    "There were someplications," spoke William as he observed the wide open field behind me. His golden eyes and blonde hair screamed that he did not belong to the red dyed atmosphere of this ce.


    Someone like him shouldn''t be here, but yet he was standing in front of me. I close my eyes for a few moments before muttering," if it''s someone stronger that you want, then I''ll fucking be stronger than you and then get inside that castle to get my Lucia back." And then I opened my dark red eyes¡­


    I take out my ck sword and then look at William, who also began preparing to block my attack.


    I saw his moves before¡­I had seen the King''s swordsmanship too¡­ so if I have to defeat him.


    ''I will need to create a swordsmanship that will destroy him¡­'' I thought before proceeding to take a stance that I had never before taken in my life.


    Before this I had always learnt other people''s style, trying to make it my own. It was one of my specialities or perhaps a weakness¡­


    -Dash


    I dashed towards him and as soon as I reached closer to him; I saw his swording from the left.


    Just as I saw the sword almost touching me¡­"Vanish," I muttered before my body teleports 2 metres to the other side of the sword and my attack reaches at the neck of William Laurentz.


    -ng


    However, my attack bounced back before I was kicked away from him as he looked at me with a re.


    "What-


    -ng


    I vanished again, reaching behind him immediately. However, he seeded in blocking my attack again.


    This was the first time I went out of my way to create a style of my own rather than copying someone else''s.


    And thus began the learning phase of my own first style.


    I created it on my own.


    I created it in order to repel it.


    I created it in order to defeat him.


    I created it to save my love.


    It took time, but I managed to forge a foundation on which my very first style was based.


    And since I was going to ellipse, the sun in front of me¡­ I named my own style as¡­


    "Shadow Style" before vanishing again and then confronting him from an angle where he would be the least guarded.


    It had errors, but I kept correcting it. I kept clearing my errors one by one and slowly and slowly I began improving in every little aspect. Using blood sacrifice, I could barely keep up with that monster in front of me. The fact that Icked any proper battle magic made things moreplicated for me than it already was.


    Still¡­ I managed to keep myself barely standing as I kept attacking that monster over and over.


    "My name is William Laurentz," William spoke as he observed my movements and began getting ustomed to it too as time passed. I saw him getting better with his blocks with every third move I was making. I felt bitter, as I knew that if I didn''t do anything immediately, I won''t be able to defeat him. I needed a miracle.


    "I was born as the second son of the Laurentz Family, the current ruler of the Western Continent and also the leading family of humankind," he said as he looked at me with calm eyes as he kept blocking my attacks with more and more ease.


    It wasn''t that I wasn''t trying, but it was that he was trying even harder than I was¡­ why? Why? Why? Why was he doing this? Just why do you have to be so fixated on not letting me in¡­


    "Even though I was the second son, I wasn''t provided any privilege which I should have received. Instead, I was made to serve the Scarlet Family in order to prove my worth¡­" he spoke and my steps halted as my eyes opened up wide and I looked at that guy standing still like a sage in front of me.


    "It wasn''t that bad, to be honest. At first there were someplications with me being captured by the very organisation whom I had to protect but after sometime, when I was rescued, I was brought back to my old conditions to resume my work¡­" William spoke as if he was recalling back a bitter past as a sad expression forms on his face.


    "Did Lucia know about you being her caretaker?" I tried to understand this situation, and he shook his head as he spoke,"Lucia and I have known each other for a long time. When I was being assigned to protect Lucia, I had signed a mana contract with her that I will protect her at any cost. And you know¡­ she was the one who saved me from that organisation after finding out about me being captured for experiments."


    "So then why are you¡­." I asked with a confused yet worried expression, but before I couldplete my sentence, he spoke again,"Why am I still helping the Vampire King who captured Lucia? Well¡­ honestly, you should not worry about that girl. I did say just now, I signed a mana contract with Lucia. Want to take a look at it?"


    I looked at his seemingly familiar expression¡­ he looked like he was looking at someone he knew when he looked at me and I wondered what that expression was about. I then nodded and a mana contract came in front of me with both the prints of Lucia and William on it.


    I read the mana contract through and through, and what I found made me feel goosebumps all over my body. It wasn''t just a simple mana contract but a f*cking very contract. I observed that guy standing in front of me wondering just who in their right mind would sign on something like this.


    Taking the mana contract back, he looked at me and spoke,"Lucia is fine. Trust the contract if you can''t trust me. You see¡­ I had a wife whom I believed to have died butter I got to know she was alive, until a few months back. She was captured by a monster and then was kept as her ything all over the years. It wasn''t until I went there to kill that monster that I coincidentally found my wife there, I realised how much of a weak person I am. All that I have left is a son that I want to raise properly. He should be about your age, Reaper, perhaps a bit older than you. The Scarlet family promised his protection in return for my power. You understand what that means, right?"


    I looked at that guy with a slightly nk expression as he smiled at me as he threw a coin and spoke once again.


    "Go to the human camp and show them this coin. They will let you in. Try reaching there tomorrow by dawn, or else you might never see the sun again¡­ you can meet Lucia, if you can survive this, kid."


    I looked at him and, after contemting over everything, I nodded at him before running away from there as William watched me until I finally vanished from his sight.


    ''I wonder what my son is upto right now?'' he thought before moving inside the castle.

 Chapter 54 One Long Night#17

    "I am here for her," Reaper spoke without hiding anything anymore. If it wasn''t for William then I would have yed a bit more. But with William being here, I need to show a few cards.


    "Her¡­ how much do you know?" asked William with a sliver of seriousness in his voice as he looked at Lucia, whose eyes were questioning everything that she was looking at right now.


    ? "A few things here and there. Initially, I came here just to find Demitri, also to make sure that he doesn''t do anything to Lucia Scarlet. Though upon finding her to be a vampire, I have decided to kill her," I lied through my teeth as I looked at Lucia and her expression changed to stupefied from the previously shocked one.


    William, who expected something like that, spoke with a bit of a sigh." I guessed it. Hey, can you do me a favour? Let her go. She is someone important to me. I will owe you another one."


    I looked at William, who had an apologetic expression on his face with his hand on his sword already. With sweat trickling down my forehead, I thought,''Now what? Should I proceed with the n or¡­ guess I need to change the way things I do?''


    "This is a bitplicated¡­ still¡­ I guess¡­ you need to give me a valid reason for me to not do that," I spoke as I looked at him with a question filled gaze. At this he pondered a bit before speaking," I can provide you a Supreme Grade potion."


    Lucia''s emotions seemed to be riding on a rollercoaster as she looked at me and William talking, but before she could say anything I spoke." No. That''s too easy for me to acquire. Though there is another thing that I want."


    William looked at me with his interest piqued and I continued," I want you to go on a journey with me to the ck Canyon of the Basilisks."


    Hearing my words, both of their eyes looked at me as if I were some freak. Though, I couldn''t care less about them as I continued speaking,"there is something that I want from there. Hmmm¡­ there is something that you can take as well¡­ so how about it? What do you think?"


    William pondered over it for a few moments before speaking,"when? Also, how much is that thing worth to me?"


    I thought about it before speaking,"it could be as important as your wife and children to you, depending on how you see it. About the time, I will tell youter."


    His eyes narrowed at me and I fent a chilling feeling down my spine, which then vanished after a few moments. He then sighs before speaking,"all right. It better be worth that much or else I won''t hesitate to leave you behind in that ce."


    I smile a bit before ring at Lucia." Consider yourself lucky, Vampire." I speak before getting away from there.


    "Wati!!" Lucia shouts with aplicated look on her face as she gazes at me and then I stop midway without turning. She then speaks again,"Thank you." However, it didn''t feel any good. In fact, my hatred grew enough to leak out, making her take a few steps back.


    I then turn my head and look at her, deep into her eyes, and say,"Someday¡­ I will kill you."


    Before moving away from there. Lucia and William looked at me with aplicated expression as they watched me moving away from there.


    [The person in front of you hates you to the core. Enough to kill you mercilessly.


    The person in front of you loves you to the deepest of his desires. Enough to fight against the whole world for you.]


    Lucia saw the same message again as she used her skill, and it made her feel odd. He really hated her¡­ and perhaps.. He really loved her too.


    ''Maybe¡­ he really can save me,'' she thought as she made up her mind to get closer to him.


    "He is an odd kid, isn''t he?" William spoke as he observed Lucia, who was intently looking at the ce where Reaper was just a few moments ago.


    "He really is¡­ what do you know about him?" Lucia asked as she looked back at William and her previous scared and shocked demeanour changed to a calm mature one. All that emotional turmoil vanished as the refined look came on her face.


    "Nothing. Except that¡­ he is someone who is going to change the world," William spoke as he looked in the direction where Zero went. Lucia looked at William with a questioning gaze, but William ignored her as he went inside room no. 35 where Demitri was supposed to be but¡­ he wasn''t there.


    ''So he escaped, huh? Well, it won''t be hard to keep track of him,'' thought William as he then got out and looked at Lucia, who was standing there as she spoke,"were you the one who forced him toe out?"


    William smiled a bit at her words and then spoke without hiding anything,"Yeah. I just happened to have a ''lucky encounter'' with him a few days ago."


    Lucia, understanding the meaning behind his words, spoke," so can you track him down again?"


    "Shouldn''t be that hard. Now, if you will excuse me. I have an auction to attend," spoke William, vanishing from there while Lucia stood there with a bit of a tired expression.


    ''Well¡­ I will ask Williamter about what happened. I wonder what else is going on behind my back. And also¡­ Reaper¡­ just exactly who are you? And why do you hate me so much¡­ why do you love me so much¡­ just what is going on here? What is it that you know but I don''t?'' Lucia''s mind began racing with questions before sighing and then disappearing from there as the clone erased herself.


    With William being here, her work was more or less done. Now she can freely concentrate on Reaper and look into him. It might be ying with scorching fire, but this was the first time in her entire life that she felt hope¡­ hope that someone will save her from that ce¡­ that ce which only she knew of.


    Meanwhile, Reaper walked into the lift, and instead of pressing the button to the ground, he went to the roof. Soon enough, the lift reached the rooftop, and he walked out, finding a familiar face in front of him.


    It was Demitri. His clone down there just vanished as soon as he saw the chance and his real body was standing there without much movement.


    "What is it that you want?" Demitri spoke as he turned to Reaper with a questioning gaze. Demitri looked very tired at the moment. A lot had been going through his life right now and the addition of Reaper was only making things worse.


    "So you followed the message, huh?" Reaper smiled as he recalled the time when he was opening the door. While everyone was confused and panicking, Zero sent a message through mana sense to Demitri. He asked him to meet on the roof. Demitri was shocked at the message but did not react, as he did not know about the power level of the person in front of him.


    Not wanting to offend Reaper, he followed themand and came on the roof, where he waited for Reaper toe.


    "Yes, I did. It wasn''t a coincidence that you came in between me and Lucia at that exact moment, was it?" Demitri asked with a sigh as he looked at Reaper.


    ''It was,'' thought Reaper, but he only smiled in return before he asked,"What is it thatbelled you as a traitor?"


    Demitri, confused at his words, slightly turned his head as he spoke,"you don''t know?" Reaper then shook his head and, perplexed at this situation, Demitri said,"I stole the Queen''s amulet."


    With his eyes open in shock, Reaper looked at Demitri and then asked with a lot of curiosity,"the same amulet that could grant multiple lives?" His eyes were clearly shaken because¡­ that was one of the treasures which actually helped defend the Vampire King''s Pce over and over again, against the parasites.


    The Vampire King single handedly killed all the parasites by himself using this amulet. Though¡­ there''s a drawback to using this¡­ the user cannot be more than 10 kilometres away from the ce where he first activated this amulet¡­ ever.


    ''Ah! It was this simple¡­. So that''s why he never moved out of here¡­ because he can''t,'' thought Reaper before inquiring,"Have you ever used it?"


    Even though Reaper knew the answer, he still asked just for confirmation as he looked at Demitri. Demitri looked at Reaper with a sad smile before speaking,"sadly, yes. I did use it."


    At this point, only the Vampire King who holds the ancient records and the user, that is Demitri, should know about the drawback of using the amulet.


    ''The question now is whether I should save him or kill him. How much is his worth again? Hmmm¡­ let''s find out,'' thought Reaper before taking out his Scythe.


    "Demitri. Fight me as if your life depends on it," spoke Reaper, before his eyes turned red.

 Chapter 55 One Long Night#18

    Dimitri Revnosky. 7th Commander of the Vampires.


    I first thought of focusing on Lucia but with the addition of William, I had to switch to n C. Honestly, the first n was getting Lucia within my palm before I could kill her, then I saw Demetri and changed my approach to use Lucia with Demirti as a centre point before killing her.


    Then Wim came, and now I need to leave Lucia for the future until I can get strong enough to defeat William. So, all that is left for now is to concentrate on Demitri.


    Perhaps I would have killed him, but the Queen''s Amulet is''t something that I can just let go¡­ after all it contains something that I want too. Though before all that, I need to do something else entirely¡­ and that is to see whether Demetri is worth being my first underling or not.


    He has one of the most flexible systems in the whole vampire kingdom and that is¡­


    [Shape Shifting System]


    Having this system alone made him one of the most dangerous ones among the vampires. Shapeshifting, though sounds weak, but with its special skill [Gic Upgrade] unlocked, he could use other people''s abilities whom he has touched. Though he must have enough mana to control that ability¡­ that is the only limit known to that skill.


    He was an S-Grade System user, with a high potential blood mana user. Hmmmm¡­ I haven''t talked about blood mana, have I? Well, since we are on this topic, let me tell you the difference between blood mana and normal mana.


    First of all, all beings possess mana, with different beings possessing mana in different forms. Humans have this mana called normal mana, which allows them to manipte their surroundings depending upon the system they use. It also gives them the ability to manifest unique abilities.


    Now blood mana differs from normal mana in a way that it can only be circted through blood. While normal mana is present all over the body in small amounts, blood mana is concentrated in the blood of special beings, like vampires. That also means that vampires don''t have mana in other parts, and only in their blood vessels.


    This is also the basis of using Blood Sacrifice, where one reverses the flow of blood and pours out the mana into their muscles and skin from their blood. While I can use blood sacrifice, it is not as effective as when used by vampires. The drawbacks are severe as well, causing mana bacsh which results in loss of consciousness for a long period.


    For vampires, the mana after being forced into their body parts from the blood doesn''t dissipate immediately after use. Rather, it stays there until the amount of mana is regenerated from the atmosphere.


    So where was I? Yeah! Demitri Revnosky is a high potential blood mana user. His shape-shifting abilities allow him to manipte where he could pour his blood mana.


    Because of S-Grade, his mana abilities are also much higher than others.


    So why was I ''testing'' such a being without any previous preparation? Well! That is because¡­ I had something else which I wanted to test¡­ myst and third talent which made first vampires and then everyone else, fear me¡­


    ...........


    "Demitri. Fight me as if your life depends on it," spoke Reaper, before his eyes turned red.


    "What are you-"


    -nk


    Reaper attacks him immediately and his arm, which had been reced by a one sharp w, blocks it before pushing Reaper away. His eyes then widen a bit as he looks at his arms and touches it slowly.


    "I can''t feel¡­ it has turned numb. What have you done?" He spoke as he narrowed his eyes at Reaper with both his arms changing into ws, and a couple of wings sprouted from his back. His eyes, which looked human before now, had increased to six red colored eyes. His skin had also turned greenish white than the pale white he had before.


    His feet had some changes, but it wasn''t as distinct as the other changes.


    ''Just numb, huh? Looks like there is only so much effect on someone on the level of an S-ss Vampire,'' thought Reaper as he analysed Demitri before he spoke.


    "Blood Sacrifice: Reaperth Moon," and then dashed even faster than before. However, Demitri was much faster than him, immediately getting behind him and then proceeding with an attack¡­ however¡­ as his ws almost reached Reaper''s body, he saw Reaper slowly smiling before.


    -Ssh


    Demitri dipped his hands into Reaper''s body, and Reaper smiled at him like a madman. Because what happened next shocked Demetri to the core? His arm¡­ which was inside Reaper''s stomach¡­ started burning¡­ like it was in a scorching fire pit.


    -AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!


    Shouted Demitri, as he tried his best to remove Reaper''s blood from his hands. He had never felt this kind of excruciating pain in his entire life, after trying for a few more moments.


    -sh


    Demitri cut off his blood-soaked arm and finally breathed a sigh of relief. His sweat filled face looked at Reaper in front of him.


    Red eyes with ck hairs.


    A dark scythe in his hands.


    A gaping hole in his stomach, bleeding profusely, which didn''t seem to affect him much.


    A smile on a face that looked down on him.


    "Death¡­. Reaper¡­" muttered Demitri as he observed that kid in front of him. He wanted to run¡­ he was scared¡­ just like he was scared of the Vampire King when he stole the amulet¡­ just like he was scared when he realised he can''t escape the curse of the amulet¡­ he was scared of Reaper.


    That pain¡­ that was something else. He had never felt anything as dangerous as that¡­


    Reaper then touched a part of his open stomach and then, after wetting his hands with his blood, he applied that blood on the scythe, before speaking," Spirit Magic: Hygeia."


    And then it manifested¡­ a being that Demitri had never seen in his life. His entire body screamed to run away as soon as he looked at that green-haired being standing right beside Reaper. She was looking at Reaper with an expressionless face before she moved towards Reaper and then touched his stomach¡­ healing it in an instant. Hygeia then vanished from there immediately.


    This made Demitri feel shocked from the inside out. Only a dozen people in the entire world could make him feel scared for real¡­ However, even then he could muster some courage to fight. But this¡­ this¡­


    Slowly and slowly Demitri turned back into his original form as he looked like a powerless man standing in front of a death reaper. Reaper looked at him casually with the same smile he had before while thinking,


    ''Summoning Hygeia again will take about a couple of weeks. Well, looking at his expression, it looks like he bought my bluff¡­ while I guess that potion is still effective against the vampires of this timeline.''


    During the past 2 weeks, Reaper had been drinking a potion that increased his concentration so that he could train¡­ however there was more to that potion than just that. That was a special potion which is used against the vampires. A potion that could lethally injure vampires, and he¡­ drank enough of it to get it mixed within his blood.


    It was created by Reaper himself, in the previous timeline when he needed to kill an army of mutated vampires all on his own¡­ but that is a story for a different time. Though, while we are on the topic, it might be better to say that Reaper¡­ is a master alchemist and perhaps the only real alchemist present in this world.


    Reaper might have been a genius who mastered everything he could, but he was never sure that he could win against someone whom he had met just because they seemed weaker than him.


    Alchemy and artefact creation were his main hobbies that saved his life on more than just one asion. He became a master alchemist and a master artefact creator after a decade of dilly dallying into the respective fields. Though, after he unlocked enough mana channels, both artefacts and alchemy potions became useless to him. Because, after that, no matter what he created, that creation was not on a par with Reaper''s level.


    "What is it that you want from me? Demitri asks as he gazes into Reaper''s eyes as if he had lost all hope and he just wants to get over with it.


    "Do you want to be free from that curse? The Amulet''s curse?" Reaper spoke as he tilted his head at Demitri with a nonchnt look. While Reaper himself doesn''t know how to break free from that curse, he knows a certain someone who can dispel even the most potent of curses.


    ''Though whether currently that guy is as good as he will be in the future will be a different matter,'' Thought Reaper as he looked at Demitri.


    Demitri observed Reaper with a nk look as he asked again,"what did you just say?!" The light of hope which had vanished from his eyes, once again returned as he observed Reaper before something clicked into his brain and he asked,"what is it that you want?"


    Reaper looked at Demitri with a widening smile before speaking,"I want you to rule over¡­ Arcadia¡­ as my ve."

 Chapter 56 One Long Night#19

    If I am supposed to save this world, then I need to either rule over it or perhaps manipte the one who is ruling over it. If I want to rule over this world, then I need people capable of handling different situations under me. I can''t watch over everything¡­ so I need people with abilities to be my eyes. People who won''t betray me¡­ or perhaps people who can''t betray me.


    ......¡­


    Reaper looked at Demitri with a widening smile before speaking,"I want you to rule over¡­ Arcadia¡­ as my ve."


    Demitri observed Reaper with slightly wide-opened eyes with a baffled expression. He didn''t know whether it was a lie or a truth butpared to living in Bryxton, in hiding, only to be found by the vampires and be killed off, this was a better deal in many ways.


    If it were a lie, then he would just be someone''s underling who could potentially kill all vampires. He might also get Reaper''s protection in return.


    If it were the truth, then it would be even better.


    However, the thing that costs in exchange for such a reality¡­ was his pride. He wasn''t really a prideful person but to be someone''s ve wasn''t something he could easily ept. Even if it were the best deal on the table for him.


    Perhaps in his past, he could have given up and easily became Reaper''s ve¡­ but not anymore.


    "Kill me already," said Demitri as he looked at Reaper with a sad smile. Reaper then looked at Demitri and sighed before thinking,''did I¡­ push him too hard?''


    "Why did you steal the amulet?" Reaper asked as he looked at the night sky which had turned the darkest for today. It was the day of the new moon and only stars were visible in the night sky.


    "Greed," answered Demitri regrettably, as he looked at Reaper without hiding anything from him.


    "Was it worth it?" Reaper asked and Demitri chuckled a bit before speaking,"at the cost of my freedom. Not one bit. I thought¡­ I thought I could get the world under my control. I could have everything I want¡­ but¡­ who knew there was such a¡­ price to pay for this power?"


    Perhaps sometimes¡­ it is better to be satisfied with what you have¡­ cause you never know what cost you might need to pay for what you want. Reaper¡­ knew it very well¡­ that feeling of despair¡­ he has been through what Demitri is going through¡­ he knew it all very well. That feeling. It hurts. You feel pathetic¡­ you want to die¡­ but¡­


    "Anyst wish?" Spoke Reaper as he looked at Demitri, finally deciding that he can''t make Demitri one of his. He has too much going on in his life¡­ but since Reaper has already shown him a card, which he shouldn''t have shown to anyone yet¡­ he needs to be gone.


    ''At least you could die with some peace,'' thought Reaper as he moved closer to Demitri. Perhaps things could have been different¡­ perhaps¡­ if there were something that could have been done¡­ however¡­ it can''t¡­


    "Can you¡­ kill someone for me?" Demitri asked as he observed Reaper''s sad face. He felt happy¡­ at least his death bringer is someone like Reaper.


    "Whom?" Reaper asked Demitri who had a sad smile on his face. Demetri spoke," Can you kill Liza Frost? The partner of the Sixth Commander?"


    Reaper looked at Demitri with a sympathetic smile before speaking,"Sure." and then Reaper muttered in an audible indistinct voice,"Forbidden Magic: Reaper''s sh."


    -sh


    And then Demitri died without making any moves¡­ even though it was a clone¡­ and it wasn''t just one of his clones¡­ all his clones¡­ including his real body, died that night.


    "Perhaps¡­ I should have done it in a better way. Guess.. There is only so much I can do with the amount of time I have¡­ let''s hope I can find someone better to rule Arcadia before time runs out," muttered Reaper as he looked at the dead body of Demitri''s clone. He began searching it for anything, but all he found was a couple of cash cards.


    He then stood up before wondering where the real body of Demitri might be. In the beginning, Reaper did not know about the clone of Demitri¡­ however, when he first shed Demitri and saw his responsiveness, by calcting at what power level Demitri would be right now, he understood that it was a mere clone in front of him.


    Still, Reaper wanted to scare him before making him sign a ve contract¡­ however¡­ that guy started nning to y the ''I want to die'' card. The clone wanted the real Demitri to be free from Reaper, by making him think that Demitri would die when Reaper kills him but in reality only the clone would''ve died. Perhaps he was scared of Hygeia when he saw her¡­ but who knows.


    ''Now, where would the Amulet be?'' thought Reaper as he looked around the city from the rooftop before sighing as he couldn''t figure it out no matter how he looked at it. Perhaps he needs to wait for sometime, before the amulet itselfes back on top.


    "The Vampire King needs to use it at the time of the attack¡­ or else, it would be difficult to utilize him¡­ let''s hope everything goes smoothly. Maybe I will need to visit this city sometime in the future as well," thought Reaper before walking towards the edge¡­


    -Thud


    Though he fell on one of his knees.


    -Cough Cough


    He coughed some blood before he stopped himself from falling off with his hands.


    -Cough Cough


    He vomited a bit more blood as he tried to stop himself. After he managed to hold himself a bit, he turned to the side and¡­


    -Thud


    He fell on his back and saw the night sky around him. It was a night sky which had turned to the darkest for today. It was the day of the new moon and only the stars were visible in the night sky.


    ''Maybe¡­ I should stop for a few moments and get some rest. It has been one long night already,'' thought Reaper as he looked at the night sky that had be more or less blurry.


    "You shouldn''t have used that spell," spoke a familiar voice as strength started returning to Reaper''s body. He knew this voice and it kind of made him wonder¡­ How is this possible?


    "Don''t tell me you had no ns after this? If that is the case, then it really is pathetic, you know?" the voice spoke and Reaper''s strength returned to more or less normal. He turned around to see Hygeia sitting next to him with a worried expression on her face.


    "Isn''t it impossible for spirits toe to this world more than once at a time for a period?" Reaper asked as he looked at Hygiea with a confused expression and Hygiea smiled at him before speaking,"It is. You do know quite a lot about us spirits, don''t you?"


    "Then?" Reaper intently looked at Hygea sitting there smiling, with her green hair that gave her a lifelike aura and her green dress thatplimented her green eyes. She was a breathtaking beauty, but he had already seen so many beauties that he had gained some immunity against the charm of beauty.


    "Look around," she spoke and finally Reaper looked around for the first time as he found that it wasn''t the rooftop where he was but in a closed space which felt like it was inside of a tree.


    "Well, since you are healed already¡­ go back¡­" she spoke, chuckling at his dumbfounded expression before smiling at him. His face looked like it had a thousand questions, but being pulled back, he was not able to ask any of them.


    "Try to take things one step at a time. Don''t rush. You have more than just one world to save, regressor," Hygeia spoke with a sad smile as she looked at him vanishing from there. Her eyes, which had a bright spark, turned a bit tired as she then finally lost her consciousness and got lost in the dreand.... Until she recovers her energy again.


    The scene in front of Reaper changed as he found himself back at the rooftop in tiptop condition. He looked around for a few moments in a hurried manner before closing his eyes. His thoughts were in turmoil right now¡­ there were so many things he wanted answered. There were so many things he needed to know¡­


    With his eyes wide open as he stared off in space, confused at what had just happened. No¡­ he knew what happened. It''s just that he did not know why¡­ or perhaps how it happened.


    "A deep breath in¡­" he spoke as he took a deep breath and calmed himself down a little.


    "A deep breath out," he said after letting all his emotions go.


    After repeating the process for a few times, he calmed down enough to think properly. He then looked at the edge of the rooftop before he filled mana in his feet and then began running towards the edge and then¡­ he jumped off¡­ before letting himself fall freely¡­


    -Thud


    [Oh! You are back. That''s earlier than I thought]

 Chapter 57 One Long Night#20

    -Thud


    [Oh! You are back. That''s earlier than I thought]


    I fell on my face on the green grass before slowly turning on my back and then looking at the blue sky full of clouds. There was no sun, yet it wasn''t dark anymore. The familiar screen was in front of me and I knew I was back in the white dimension.


    ''Though it can''t be called a white dimension anymore, I suppose?'' I thought as I stood up and then looked at the scared and terrified man in front of me. He was an average man in every aspect, with ck hair and an average looking face.


    I observed him trying to recall if I knew anyone like him¡­ however after some thought; I reached the conclusion that I did not.


    "Who is he?" Elle came from behind and looked at that man with a questioning gaze. That man was trying to hide his face with his hands, as if someone was trying to kill him.


    "Probably, Demitri killed him in the previous timeline," I answered and Elle nodded, as if thinking the same thing.


    ''Wait! You can see what is happening outside? Didn''t Amon say that¡­''


    [I never said I couldn''t watch you. All I said is that I can''t interfere much with the outside world. If you are asking about your previous life, then I know nothing¡­ However, this one is different; here, you are important to me. Of course, I can see you and that also goes for the others here too]


    Amon messaged as he answered my doubts and I sighed at that b*stard''s habit of answering only when the topic was brought up.


    So¡­ the first thing is to talk to our new friend here¡­ and also a few other things that I need to find out.


    "Excuse me, sir? Can you please look at me?" I asked while approaching that man carefully. Hearing my voice, he shrieks a bit before slowly looking at me and then a slightly confused expressiones on his face as he begins to look around. The more he looks, the more tense he bes.


    "Demitri is dead," I told him to get his attention and sure enough, it worked like a charm on him as he looked at me intently before asking,"and my daughter and wife?!"


    ''... So that is his desire, huh?'' I thought as I looked at him who seemed to be confused wondering where it came from. He got a bit scared before his thoughts cleared a bit more.


    "Elle¡­ exin the situation in brief to him. I need to talk to Amon about something," I speak and Elle looks at me for a few moments before moving towards that man.


    I then turn around and then walk a bit away before speaking,"who else knows about my regression?" I was really shocked when Hygeia told me that she knew about my regression. However, it doesn''t seem like I could get my answer from her so, here I am, asking the very person who transferred me back into the past.


    [I don''t know. People with special systems and special spells are bound to find out about your regression by themselves. Can''t you even reach that simple conclusion? Are you an idiot?]


    I looked at that screen intently before speaking,"exin the case of Hygeia."


    [Hygeia is a spirit of life, and since your life has already reached a point beyond your current age; of course, she was going to find out. Also, the spirit summoning contract which you formed in your previous life was connected to your soul, hence, when you regressed, the traces didn''t vanish. That could have been one reason that gave your regression away to Hygeia or perhaps even Astraea.]


    I observed the screen for a few moments and pondered over each and every word it said before sighing as I realised that it really made sense. However, that also means that I have to deal with the possibilities of more people knowing about my regression.


    I then turned towards that man who was carefully listening to Elle, checking towards me every once in a while and I then spoke to Amon again,


    "I need to do something about this, too."


    [This?]


    I looked at the screen a bit confused before I finally realised that if I don''t think about it; they wouldn''t know about my deep thoughts. Looks like I can use it to my advantage if needed¡­


    ''There are going to be more and more peopleing in this dimension. Before it gets toote, I need to formte a way to ssify their desires into different groups, or else it would be too difficult to manage,'' I thought before pondering over how to divide the desires.


    Though there was something that I needed to ask Amon,"Hey! What kind of desires would there be? Surely there won''t be idiotic desires like I want money or I want to be the King, right?"


    [Ummm¡­ That''s really¡­ a difficult question to ask. You should ask Elle about it.]


    ''Hm? Aren''t you the one who created this dimension? Then howe¡­'' I thought, and the answer came as.


    [Well¡­ It''s a human problem and I can''t really understand them¡­ in fact I can''t understand any of the races of your.]


    Looking at the message, a question popped into my mind about what kind of being Amon was¡­? Though it didn''t look like he was going to answer that.


    I then moved towards Elle, who seemed to have calmed that man down and looking at him I asked,"So where did you reach?" As I looked at that man, that man immediately looked at me as if I were some messiah and grabbed my leg with tears running out of his eyes as he spoke,"Sir Zero! Sir Zero! Please save my daughter and wife! I beg of you! Please save my family!! That is all that I want!!"


    I looked at that man crying out of his wits. He was in pain and Elle looked at me with a slightly bitter smile before speaking,"I briefed everything without going into much detail."


    That man was crying as much as he was begging me. I saw his desperation, I observed his scared face, I observed his hurried action and I sighed before speaking,"Tell me about it first."


    That man, hearing my words, looked at me before wiping off his tears and then speaking calmly,"I won''t waste your time. Mr. Zero. My family was kidnapped by Demitri, who was fixated on the fact that I had something he wanted. I did not know what he wanted, but he kept asking me for a certain red coloured bag. Then when he realised that I didn''t know anything, he killed me."


    I looked at that man for a few moments before pondering why he wasn''t asking me to save him instead of his family.. Or perhaps all three of them.


    "That is because¡­ there were other men present there. It won''t be long before I die¡­ I probably won''t evenst even a minute there¡­" he had a bitter expression as he told me everything. I looked at him, wondering if he was some idiot. By telling me this, he was literally providing me a way out of this situation. I can just promise and then move out of this dimension and once he dies, I can just go on my own path¡­


    His eyes widen at my words, but before he could speak anything,


    "He won''t do that¡­ He might be a cruel, cunning and manipting person¡­ he would never y with someone''s dying wish¡­ isn''t it right, Zero?" Elle spoke as she looked at me intently and I sighed as I looked at that man before thinking,


    ''There are a few things that I can''t let go. I don''t want to lose the few strands of humanity I have left,'' I thought, and that man looked at me with slight confusion. I smiled at him without answering anything before I turned to Elle.


    "There is something I need to discuss with you," I said to Elle as I ignored that man. If I agreed to that man''s request, I might just be sent out of here without being able to talk to Elle. Perhaps he heard my thoughts, and he kept quiet and then provided me with some space to talk without making a fuss about it.


    "What is it?" asked Elle as she turned her head, confused as she didn''t hear my thoughts, just like Amon. I smiled a bit before getting back to serious mode as I asked Elle,


    "Is there any way to ssify desires and also is there anything specific about desires that are counted as lingering desires strong enough to make people not pass on?"


    Elle looked at me for a few moments before pondering a bit over my words and then finally she spoke.


    "I guess there are certain ways to ssify them¡­"

 Chapter 58 One Long Night#21

    "I guess there are certain ways to ssify them¡­"


    Elle begins exining a few things about her thoughts on desires.


    Before ssifying them, it would be better to talk about what sorts of desires we would get. People always have desires, there are no such people who don''t have any desire. However, we can''t call all types of desires as the kind of deep desires which would end up stopping them from passing on.


    Take Elle or that man, for example. They both have a very strong tendency to get what they want. It can''t be ssified as just a mere small or materialistic desire in passing. Now, onto small desires, they are mostly like money or freedom or anything like that¡­ still, they could be of very strong nature for some people depending upon their situations. For example, one''s desire to see the sunset could have a backstory so deep that it could make it a deep desire.


    This also brings us to people who are under the age of 8 and those who are on their deathbed. They don''t have a real desire but just want to have some fun and peace, respectively. However, we could get a child who just wants to have fun for onest time or maybe an old guy who wants to listen to a particr song.


    Desires aren''t simply ck and white to begin with¡­ however, we could still ssify them ordingly.


    For starters, we could ssify the desires into two categories:


    1. First there are those desires which can be fulfilled inside the white dimension. Materialistic desires, like having some fun or to live like a King for some time, can be done using the system''s power within the white dimension. I do not need any outside action for it.


    2. Second, there are those desires which need outside actions. It is moreplicated as it includes the beings who are still alive. At times, one gets a strong desire to kill someone, other times he wants to save someone.


    I have to make a choice during those times, whether I want to save or kill a person. Or perhaps I might need to persuade that person out of his thinking¡­ though that would be easier said than done.


    This case is simr in one aspect, that I need to save someone inpliance with this man''s wishes.


    ........


    I listen to Elizabeth for a few moments before pondering over her words and she waits for me to digest everything. After a few moments, I then turned to that man and said,"What is your name?"


    "Mark Ingrid," he said as he looked at me, like a kid looking at his parents. It was an odd feeling¡­


    "Tell me where you were," I asked, and he nodded before answering my words slowly and slowly, one word at a time.


    ording to him, a few days ago, he needed to transfer something to Demitri. He did that job to the best of his ability, making sure he did not make any mistake. After all, he wanted a promotion from his boss. However, something ended up going wrong as Demitri interrogated Mark about where the thing which he stole was. Mark did not know what was going on and he tried to exin that to Demitri however, he did not believe him one bit.


    Soon his family was kidnapped by Demitri, making hime to Demitri to beg him, which went on for about an hour before Demetri finally killed him.


    He did not know about where that guy put his family, which made things even more difficult. Though given Reaper''s hacking ability, it shouldn''t take that long.


    After all the information was given to Zero, he looked at that man before closing his eyes for a few moments and then looked at Elle as he spoke,"Elizabeth. Can I ask you something?"


    Taken aback by his sudden question, Elle looked at him with intent as she answered," Y-yeah. Sure, go ahead."


    "Should I hunt alone or have someone watch my back?" he spoke intently as he looked at Elizabeth and hearing his question, she questioned back,"do you have trust in that person to watch your back?"


    "Not one bit," Zero answered back and then Elle asked again,"do you really need others to get involved?"


    "Things have been turning awry left and righttely. Lack of proper information is resulting in twists and turns and my cards are almost all on the table. I don''t want to end up getting caught in another thing right after this," Zero spoke without hesitation and Elizabeth spoke before pondering something,


    "How about manipting them into helping you and then letting them go after the work is done?"


    Zero thought about it for a few moments and then nodded at Elle as he spoke,"it might not be easy to manipte all of them¡­ but I guess it works for me. Thanks."


    Elle smiled in return before both of them looked at that man standing there looking at the duo with a slightly scared expression as he stared at their faces.


    And then the atmosphere around Zero began changing slowly, and Zero fell down into a pit that was right below him.


    ......¡­


    Tumbling down, Zero slowly opens his eyes and finds himself back in the real world where he looked at the ground below him. With Hygeia healing him back to tip-top condition, he could at least finish one small task.


    But to make sure it doesn''t expand into anything bigger, he needed some backup. Even if it did expand, at least it should stay within Zero''s scope where he could handle them.


    Propelling himself towards the building from which he jumped off and then carefully stepping on the wall of the building¡­.


    -BOOOOM!!!!


    He jumped against the building towards the roof, immediatelynding on it, and then stood there before he began searching the cameras around the area to find anything rted to Mark. As he kept looking into it, he finally found something which made his eyes turn a bit nk. He observed the whole video, and he felt goosebumps all over his body as he saw it¡­ then fury took over his mind and he red at that video before calming down himself.


    Zero then takes out his cellphone and begins calling a certain number.


    -Tring Tring


    -Tring Tring


    -Click


    -Who is it?


    A tensed and cautious feminine voice came from the other side and Zero spoke as he concentrated on the roof, which was right in front of him and towards a certain building which was visible from here.


    "It''s Zero. Meet me in front of the main gate at Casino Square, make sure to gear up for a long fight," spoke Zero as he cut the call and then proceeded to make another call.


    -Tring Tring


    -Click


    -What happened now?


    "ir, I need you to do something. Make sure to do everything I say in the right order¡­"


    ....


    Inside the white dimension, Mark looked at that video with his eyes wide open and a nked expression forms before despair begins to engulf him. His only desire¡­ his precious family¡­ was all dead. If it were that they were just dead, it wouldn''t have mattered that much, but¡­ his wife had been abused brutally before being killed off and thrown at the side of the road.


    As for the child, he had been thrown alive into the dustbin as if he were trash. There were still some chances that the child was still alive and Zero from there kept moving as hemanded ir about each and everything she needed to do and, from ir''s responses, it looked like she understood the seriousness of the situation.


    Elle too had fury in her eyes as she had seen what had transpired with a man who wasn''t even involved with the whole ordeal. She questioned if this was the true face of humanity?


    [It''s okay. The child''s vitals are still there.]


    Amon messaged and the father finally looked like he had been brought back to life. His wife was gone¡­ but at least the child could be saved. He then looked firmly at Zero, who looked much more angry than the father himself. The fate of that child now depended upon how Zero would move.


    "A storm ising¡­ " Elle spoke as she observed Zero dashing as his eyes looked like they wanted to destroy everything in sight.


    This changed everything from here onwards.


    Zero might have been a mercenary in his previous timeline for a fixed period of time, but there was a limit to how inhuman he could have been. Even the parasites treated children like a treasure, as they could be converted into future parasites.


    After the third Cataclysm, each and every child was treated as a national treasure, all the more because ofck of people, so killing a child was an unthinkable taboo at that time unless the circumstances were really dire.


    ustomed to that belief, Zero''s inner demons rampaged as they finally found a target to attack. It was a bit early¡­ but it was about time for Bryxton¡­ or perhaps the whole world to know about the existence of Reaper.

 Chapter 59 One Long Night#22 Choices

    -Dash


    -Dash


    Reaper ran and jumped from one building to another and then leapt forward at full speed.


    -Ring Ring


    -Click


    -I am in front of the Casino Square. Care to tell me what''s going on? I was busy-


    "Check the alley behind you, there is a baby thrown in that dumpster, immediately check for its vitals," cutting off the female voice, hemanded that person with a voice which was filled with urgency and a tinge of rage in them.


    -Click


    Reaper cut the call and increased his speed, pushing himself to his limits.


    His eyes were fixated on the front and after running for a while, he finally reached in front of Casino Square, where a white-haired girl in her 20s was standing with a serious expression on her face. There was a dirt covered baby in her hands and that girl looked at Reaper. It took her a few seconds, but when she observed the build of Reaper and the way he was moving; she realised it was Zero. With rage in her eyes, she spoke,"she is alive. Who did it?!"


    Reaper observed the baby and immediately checked for its vitals. They were low, but the baby survived. His eyes then suddenly reached a girl at a distance, making him narrow his eyes at her.


    "Lucia? Eliza!!" Cristine spoke as she looked at her sister, who was there with Lucia beside her. From the looks of it, Lucia and Eliza followed Cristine, wondering where she was going in such a hurry at this time of the night.


    Though, right at this moment, Reaper couldn''t care less about such things. His rage, which was escting little by little as he observed the casino behind.


    "Take care of that girl," Reaper spoke as he began moving towards the casino, one step at a time. He wanted to hide the identity of Reaper and slowly reveal it to the world one step at a time, but¡­ sometimes, some things are necessary.


    Cristine looked at Eliza, who immediately moved towards her. Looking at Eliza, Cristine spoke,"take her to the nearest hospital. I will be back after cleaning some scum." and then put on a ck mask that covered her whole face. Her white hair then changed into dark ck as she began walking towards the casino behind Reaper.


    Eliza nodded at her as she took the baby in her hands. "Make sure they die brutally," she spoke before vanishing from there.


    Lucia, who was observing everything with intent eyes, first pondered over the pros and cons of this¡­ before sighing as she thought, ''I will get answers from Crister¡­ it better be worth it,'' and then she called a certain number and spoke,"Spike. I need you to get that professional hacker to erase all the footage of what is going to happen in and around Casino Square, both now and before it. Also, make sure that even he forgets everything that he will see."


    Lucia then cuts the call and then immediately calls someone else,"There are some changes in ns. I am picking up the energy of the Queen''s amulet. Based on the current situation, we are sending all our forces there. Yeah¡­ okay¡­ all right. I will inform you after everything is over."


    Lucia then cuts the call before looking at Reaper and Cristine, almost at the gate of Casino Square. Her eyes then focus on Reaper for a few moments before¡­


    [The person in front of you hates you to the core. Enough to kill you mercilessly.


    The person in front of you loves you to the deepest of his desires. Enough to fight against the whole world for you.]


    She sighs before looking at the direction from where the amulet''s energy wasing and then moving towards it.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Reaper, with a scythe in his hand, reached the gate of Casino Square. His eyes, dark red, observed the guards who wereing towards him. They looked down at Reaper as they began speaking.


    "Listen kid-


    -Ssh


    And Reaper shed him down in a swift move as he continued moving forward.


    -Wiss


    -Wiss


    Cristine uses her needles to immobilise the other guards who wereing towards them. They wriggled in pain before finally losing their consciousness. Reaper kept moving forward and entered the huge gate of the casino and he turned back at Cristine and spoke.


    "Make sure no one escapes."


    Cristine looked at Reaper as she wanted to say that she too will enter the casino, but as soon as she saw Reaper''s eyes she realised that it will be better if she does as he says.


    Reaper then turned around and entered the Casino and as more guards beganing towards him, the faster Reaper began moving them and then.


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    Harvesting each and every guard''s head, Reaper kept killing them left and right. The people at the casino, scared of what was transpiring, began running away from there haphazardly.


    Blood of those guards whom Reaper killed kept dyeing Reaper more and more red as time passed.


    Reaper then looked at about 100s of mening from the other side, wearing ck suits with weapons in their hands. Zero then took a small breath and closed his eyes as he spoke,"Shadow Style: Harvester''s Season" before dark magic began flowing throughout the scythe, increasing its size to 3 times than what it was.


    Opening his almost ck eyes, he observed every person who he deemed to be killed and then¡­


    -Dash


    -Swish


    He reaches closer to one and swings his scythe, killing one¡­


    -Dash


    He moves forward and then kills a couple of guards in his path before reaching the centre of about 8 guards who were walking towards him and then¡­


    -sh


    Rotating his scythe in 360 degree he harvested them in one fell swoop. Looking at his moves, all the other guards took a step back in fear.


    Blood kept gushing out of those men''s bodies and dyeing everything red all around, especially Reaper, who looked as if he had taken a bloody bath.


    Dyed in red, with dark ck eyes and a magnificently huge scythe in his hands, he looked around at everyone. His eyes searched for that one particr man who was responsible for what happened with that child.


    He then looked up at where the other men were looking at him. It was a big building with about 12 floors with a wide area cover. Each and every floor had about hundreds of men looking at Reaper standing down there.


    -Swish


    Reaper parried a bullet shot at him from one of those men who was above, before more and more people started shooting at him. Some use their magic skills while others use their weapon throwing ability.


    "Density Maniption: Unreachable," spoke Reaper as he created about hundreds of shields around him, changing the direction of iing projectiles.


    While there were thousands of projectilesing at Zero from all the directions, none managed to reach even close to him. Soon after that,


    -Dash


    Started the harvester''s season as Reaper began mercilessly killing each and every man who was targeting him. He didn''t care what kind of men they were¡­ if they belonged to a group which can openly kill children, then death would serve them a better purpose than living.


    Even though he had to save as many as he could from the Cataclysms, killing a few worthless greedy scums won''t change the future ns¡­ in fact it might even make things better since there would be less scum in the future who might disrupt the ns.


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    Reaper kept going on for half an hour without stopping as he kept searching for those two particr men. A few moments after that,


    "Mr. REAPER!!! REAPER!!! STOP IT!!! THAT IS ENOUGH!!! PLEASE STOP IT!!!" A loud voice from a mike came from a distance and Reaper turned his head and observed the man shouting from the microphone at a distance on a helicopter .


    He was looking at Reaper with both pity and fear in his eyes. He didn''t want his saviour to be a battle craze maniac who kills without any purpose.


    ''Inspector General of Security, us Roan,'' thought Reaper as he observed Roan. Roan was one of the men whom Reaper helped out of the facility.


    Now that Reaper took a proper look, most of the people who escaped that facility with Reaper, were here along with ir, who was standing in front of all of them.


    "I brought all of them¡­ just as you said. Though, it looks like you yourself could handle them¡­ why did you call all of us?" ir asked as she looked at Reaper with a slightly scared yet confounded look.


    ''Because, I don''t want to be unprepared, if anything goes wrong,'' Reaper thought as he looked at ir, but before he could speak anything¡­


    -BOOOOM!!!!


    Someone was pushed off the top floor and began falling down on the ground. Reaper''s eyes shrink as he sees the person falling down¡­.


    It was Lucia who looked brutally beaten by someone.


    Then a man came outside of the room where Lucia fell off from. It was a familiar face with an unfamiliar aura.


    "Freedom atst. Finally!" eximed a feminine voiceing from an aged man who had the exact same face as that of Mark Ingrid, the father who begged Zero to save his daughter.

 Chapter 60 One Long Night#23 Consequences

    "Freedom atst. Finally!" eximed a feminine voiceing from an aged man who had the exact same face as that of Mark Ingrid, the father who begged Zero to save his daughter.


    Before Lucia''s body could reach the ground, a shadow dashes at an extreme speed and catches her beforending on the ground. Reaper looks at that blonde-haired man who observed Lucia with his golden eyes as if he were observing his daughter.


    Zero then turned to observe the man¡­ or perhaps the woman inside that man who jumped down from the highest floor and then reached the floor with a refreshing smile on its face.


    "She is¡­ the First Queen of the Vampires," spoke Lucia as her wounds began healing at a rapid pace and once again, she took her stance as she red at that woman.


    William narrowed his eyes at the Queen and the Queen looked back speaking,"are the vampires of today''s era this week? And what am I watching right now? Food wearing such luxurious clothes with such pride in their eyes."


    The Queen begins looking around, her eyes stopping at the blood dyed Reaper for a few moments as she licks her lips for a few moments, before moving on to the others. Her gaze, which sent chills down everyone, made everyone except a few takes a couple of steps back.


    She then res at William with her eyes fixated on the duo,"and what is this I am looking at? A descendent of Scarlet and a descendant of Sol, standing side by side as if a couple? How pathetic! Looks like I need to change everything from scratch."


    The other people who could feel the surge in mana around the Queen looked at her with seriousness in their eyes. They looked at Lucia with a slightly shocked expression before turning their focus back at the Queen.


    William then steps forward and takes out his golden sword, Caliburnus, a named sword and then looks at the Queen with a piercing gaze. The Queen smiles at his movements and starts pping.


    -p


    -p


    -p


    -p


    "So the descendent of Sol is trying to step forward, huh?" the Queen spoke with a smirk before she vanished and then appeared right before William¡­.


    -sh


    Immediately, William shed as if waiting for that moment, cutting down the Queen into two. However, the Queen''s soul then shifts to another person and one of the guys standing there moves forward as he ps.


    -p


    -p


    -p


    -p


    "That was really neat, you know? How about we try again!! Blood Sacrifice: Never Moon" she speaks and then immediately attacks William as fast as she could. However, even now William blocks her attack and then


    -sh


    Cuts her into two pieces¡­ she was fast, much faster than before, but even then she couldn''t get closer to William.


    "[Sr Burn]" chants William with eyes getting fiercer as the moments pass. Another man moves in front with a curious smile before speaking.


    "Looks like you are much stronger than you appear, well I guess you are one of those special Sol soldiers¡­ then I must entertain you with something special in return as well," she says as she clicks her fingers and the atmosphere starts turning more and more bloody red.


    "Blood parade¡­?" Lucia widens her eyes as she looks at the skill which the vampire Queen just unleashed.


    Blood parade was one of those moves, where you create blood all around you, creating a field in which you can control most things. The special thing about this field is you can make it poisonous while simultaneously making your allies much stronger than before.


    However, as she unleashes the blood parade, the body in which she is evaporates before she possesses another one of the guards of the casino. William dashes towards her, but this time she, albeit with some difficulty, blocks his attack.


    "Looks like we are closer than our previous exchange," she says beforeughing like a maniac. Her eyes observe William''s concentrated face with a smile before she tries to push William away. However, that creates an opening for William and he kills her again.


    Once again, she possesses another man and moves forward slowly while pondering over something as she speaks,"Hmmm.. Even this much isn''t enough to stop you, huh? You really are strong, aren''t you? Plus, with those skills, you could easily match one of my vampire Commanders. Too bad your filthy sol blood doesn''t allow possessions."


    William looks at her with the same expression as before, while he seems to be thinking about how he should end this. No matter how he kills her, there seems no end to her revival. His eyes looked a bit worried, and Lucia''s wasn''t any different.


    Everyone else who was scared before now stayed silent there without making any move. The Queen might have charmed them to stay here and not move.


    William''s eyes then reach Reaper''s still body as he was looking at the body of the man whom the Queen first possessed.


    ''Looks like even Zero can''t escape her charms, huh? But why did she spare me from her charm? She is treating me like a toy, isn''t she?'' thought William as he observed the Queen, but the Queen, understanding what he was thinking, spoke,"it''s that Scarlet girl behind you. She is the one who had erased my charm magic using her own. She is quite special, isn''t she?"


    The Queen''s smile had a tinge of disgust as she looked at Lucia. Perhaps she didn''t like Lucia helping out William. She then began moving towards Lucia and William came in between them as he spoke to Lucia,"Can you bring back Reaper from charm magic too? He might have something."


    Hearing his words, the Queen looked at William with a confused expression,"Reaper?!" she asked before looking around and her eyes stopping at Reaper.


    "What about him?" the Queen spoke with a slightly piqued interest. The Queen then looked back at William and then at Lucia.


    "I can''t¡­ her charm magic is too strong. I can barely stop her from charming me and you..anymore and I will lose control," Lucia spoke with a pain filled voice as she barely kept herself standing.


    "Hmmm¡­ a man with about an E-Grade potential who right now doesn''t even possessplete mana. He is average from almost everywhere I could see him. Though, I do sense a small tingling danger from his blood¡­ but that''s about it? Is there anything special about him?" The Queen spoke with obvious confusion in her voice as she read through Reaper''s current power level based on the mana he has.


    "Well¡­ I want to see.. What does he have that would make even a man of your calibre look for hope," spoke the Queen as she looked at Reaper andmanded,"Look here."


    However, Reaper did not move. He just kept looking at that man whom Queen first took control of.


    "LOOK HERE!!" a bit enraged at the result, the Queen activated her charm to full andmanded Reaper once again and this time Reaper turned at her with slight annoyance as he spoke,"keep yourself quiet. Your time wille."


    Silence


    Pure Silence


    William, Lucia and even the Queen looked at Reaper with a nk expression as they heard his voice. Then Reaper walked towards that dead man one step at a time. His eyes were concentrated on him without even ncing at the Queen and the others.


    "Looks like you really died, huh? Well, I fulfilled the promise of saving your daughter. I will also make sure she gets a good life. Sorry about your wife, though. I will make sure she gets a proper burial and the guys who are responsible, a painful death," spoke Reaper as he closed his eyes with respect and then spoke,"Rest in peace, Mark Ingrid. You didn''t deserve this¡­ I hope your next life will be much better."


    Reaper then turned at the Queen and looked at her with a serious expression as he spoke.


    "Maria Rosalyn Scarlet."


    Hearing his words, the Queen slightly widened her eyes and couldn''t help but be more curious about the kid in front of her. "You don''t belong to this age and time. It''s about time you pass on from this world," spoke Reaper as he takes out his scythe and then moves one step at a time before he reaches close to her and then ces the scythe on her neck.


    "Who are you?" with a re in her eyes, she stared into the eyes of Reaper in front of her.


    William and Lucia too observed the whole situation with careful movements as they kept their guards up. Their eyes were fixated on Reaper and Rosalyn, who were more or less ring at each other.


    "Who I am does not concern you. All you need to know is that you can''t save Marielle even now. No matter what you do, he will die a painful death in the end," spoke Reaper as he looked into the eyes of Rosalyn."


    And then¡­


    The scenery changes and Reaper finds himself in a blood filled world where as far as you can see, there is only blood.


    Reaper then looks behind him where an extremely beautiful woman was standing with a serious look on her face.


    "Now¡­ Why don''t you and I have a chat?" she spoke as she created a set of tables and chairs in between them.

 Chapter 61 One Long Night#24 The First Vampire Queen

    In between the second and third Cataclysm, I had met her.


    Marie Rosalyn Scarlet, the first Vampire Queen.


    A mother who searched for her immortal son, who was currently kept captive within the Vampire King''s Castle. He has been used for over a century now, for extracting power and then supplying it to the humongous Vampire castle, despite not really being kept there.


    Well, interestingly enough¡­ the first time I realised that Lucia was using me was through her... It was the very first Vampire Queen, Marie Rosalyn, who told me that Lucia was nning to kill me, as she was dying right in front of my eyes. Things took strange turns and I ended up meeting her son in the most unexpected ce from there onwards.


    From what I remember, she told me about how she fought the Vampire King in her realm, only to be lost and then her powers taken by the King. However, she didn''t allow the vampire King to use her power only until he told about the situation of her son.


    She was enraged¡­ but she had already lost once.. Yet she fought again for a brief moment before she lost pathetically. Once she was defeated, she was kicked out of her fragile immortality and was made to continue living as a ''normal'' vampire.


    Then one day after barely surviving, living as a normal vampire, she finally met me. At that time, I was on my own, travelling as a lone wolf with Lucia still being in the vampire king''s castle.


    "Lucia is nning to kill you," she spoke to me whileughing as if she had seen the joker of the year. I looked at her, enraged at her words and moved to threaten her into exining what she meant by that.


    From there, I and Rosalyn fought for over a week, before I finally defeated her. I then asked her to exin, and sheughed again before speaking,"what do I get in return?"


    Hearing her words, I said,"you get to live."


    "Ha! This worthless life? You really think I want to live like this? Forget about it! You can''t do it, anyway. Kill me! I don''t have much time left anyway," She spoke to me and I observed her with a slightlyplicated look.


    ''She is insane,'' is what I thought, but then I asked with slight curiosity,"what is it that you want?"


    She turned her head towards me and said,"oh! Are you interested now? Well¡­ I might have ignored you without telling you, but since I don''t have anything better to do¡­ how about I tell you a story?"


    ''What''s with this quest introduction scenario?'' I thought with a wry expression, but still didn''t say anything. Ignoring my expression, she began telling me the tale of her origin and about her son.


    ......


    Once upon a time there lived a Queen in a castle so huge that the people would need months topletely see it with their own two eyes. However, while the others envied her, she did not like to stay at that ce for one bit.


    One day, out of pure irritation and annoyance, she escaped to the outside market to see what the outer world feels like. However, to her surprise, she still did not find anything interesting there. She roamed around the city every now and then in search of some entertainment but to no avail; she did not find anything.


    However, one day she saw a fight outside the gates of the city and, with curious eyes, she went to see the fight. What she saw outside really opened up a new world for her. She saw a blonde-haired woman fighting against her own army without holding back. Even though she was losing, she was still trying her best.


    There were fights and battles within her own castle, but nothingpared to the fighting skills which that blonde woman was disying. As if by instinct, the Queen herself jumped into the battle, used her never used skill and began fighting alongside that blonde woman.


    Finding the Queen extraordinarily powerful butcking in any skill and experience, the blonde woman looked at the Queen with curious eyes but still didn''t hold back.. Instead, she disyed all of her skill set. The Queen was about 100 times more powerful than her, but the gaps between their skills was so obvious that the blonde managed to fight her at an equal level.


    The army, finding their own Queen fighting, took a step back with dumbfounded faces. They had no idea what they should do. In the end, they just stood there watching their Queen fight to her heart''s content cause that''s all they could do. If they interfered now, they would die.


    The Queen fought with the blonde for over a week until the blonde lost all of her mana and stamina, finally falling on her knees.


    She looked at that Queen ring at her as if she did not like being defeated by someone who didn''t have skills. The Queen, however, smirked at her victory and spoke,


    "Go back."


    Hearing her words, everyone, including the blonde, and the army, looked shocked at the Queen. However, before they could speak anything, the Queen spoke again,"Come back when you are stronger, I will be waiting for you." Before moving away from there with a satisfied expression.


    The blonde stood up with a re in her eyes before speaking,"What''s your name?"


    The Queen then spoke without turning,"Marie Rosalyn Scarlet," and then got away from there.


    "Aelia Laurentz," spoke the blonde before looking at the confused army around her and then slowly getting back to wherever she came from.


    From that point onwards, Aelia attacked the castle every other month or so, with a new skill that was more powerful than before, while the Queen herself indulged in learning fighting skills and wielding weapons.


    Time passed and so did the years, as both of them exchanged more blows against each other. However, one certain day, Aelia came¡­ but she did note in her battle gear but apletely ordinary dress with a dead child in her arms. The Queen had talked to her during their fights, so she knew a bit about whatever was going on with Aelia.


    Presumably, Aelia''s parents were killed by Rosalyn''s army and that is why she came to fight her. Then she married a certain man she knew and not long after that gave birth to a child. That certain man was of a rank lower than her, and a higher noble, who, fancied Aelia, felt disgusted that she married someone lower than him. The rest was more or less understandable.


    So instead of fighting, Rosalyn took her into her castle as she saw the dead child in her arms. The army, who knew about the monthly battle of the duo, saw the child with saddened eyes. Even though she was their enemy, they couldn''t help but feel bad about the child. After watching their battle over and over for more than a year, they kind of understood what kind of person Aelia was. Many times, they tended to her wounds and sent her back to her home.


    "Rosalyn¡­ is there any way¡­ to bring my son back?" Aelia asked with a crying face, as if she tried to collect whatever strands of hope she could.


    "There is one way," spoke Rosalyn, as she looked at Aelia with a serious expression. Aelia looked at Rosalyn with a nk expression before almost jumping at her as she spoke,"what is it?" There was a hope in her eyes. Her dead looking eyes were reced with a fierce one that told that Aelia could fight even the devil himself if she had to.


    "Come with me," Rosalyn spoke as she took her to the basement and Aelia followed her without even a trace of doubt in Rosalyn''s words¡­ or perhaps she did not have anywhere else to go.


    Down in the basement, there were records. Ancient records that contained magic that the world hasn''t even seen. Aelia looked at the records with a fierce gaze and Rosalyn, who was standing there, took off her clothes, revealing her naked body.


    At first confused by what Rosalyn was doing, Aelia looked at her with slightplication, however when her eyesnded on the red gem at the centre of Rosalyn''s chest, her eyes widened and she took a step back as she understood what that meant.


    "Rosalyn¡­ you are a¡­ monster?" Aelia spoke with disbelief in her voice. She looked at that gem over and over again, however the gem was still there.


    "I am more of an experiment between a human child and a monster¡­ though a failed experiment, to be honest. I will die in about a year or 2 from now on. However, looking at my only friend''s situation... I think it is about time. I vanish from this world," Rosalyn spoke, making Aelia even more confused than before.


    "Listen, Aelia, possess my body and let your life force flow into that child. Use my mana core as a medium for the channel of transfer. I was thinking of my mana core as a gift to you before I die, but since it hase to this, I guess.. This is how it is," Rosalyn spoke with a slightly mncholic smile and Aelia began breaking as tears began flowing out of her eyes. She tried to make Rosalyn change her mind, but Rosalyn activated the magic.


    Aelia, still not giving up, tried changing her thoughts and that created aplication in the magic. By the time Aelia realised what was happening, the mana chant was alreadypleted. Her soul began flowing out of her body and Rosalyn''s soul vanished along with her core. At this point, she had a choice: either get back to her body¡­ or go into Rosalyn''s body.


    In the end, Aelia chose to respect Rosalyn''s sudden sacrifice and chose to take over her body, while bringing her son back from the dead. However, both Rosalyn and Aelia did not know that the spell on being disrupted became iplete.


    In the end¡­ there were twoplications that were born out of the iplete magic:


    1. The birth of the first vampire. Marie Rosalyn Scarlet.


    2. The birth of the first immortal, her son. Marielle Laurentz Scarlet.

 Chapter 62 One Long Night#25 Aelia Scarlet

    WWhen I first heard about that story, I was shocked to the core. The origin of vampires? A Laurentz became a Scarlet? I had so many questions, but when I focused on Rosalyn, who was looking at me with a smile, she said,"Do you know what I want from you?"


    "To save your son?" I asked gulping a bit, but sheughed out loud at that before calming down as she spoke.


    "What makes you think that you have the strength to do that? Even at my peak, I couldn''t change a damn thing. All I want is to get my power¡­ and kill as many vampires as you can. I was responsible for their creation, at least I could erase some of them. I would love to do that, but a certain spell prevents me from harming my own kind, also while you are at it, kill some of those Laurentz bastards too, they aren''t that clean as they look¡­ So what do you think, Mr Reaper? How about we make a deal?" She spoke as she looked into my eyes and I couldn''t help but look at her nervously.


    -Swish


    Then she immediately reached my neck and


    -Bite


    bit me as hard as she could. Before I could realise all of my powers vanished and then I lost my control. It was euphoric; I had never felt so good. Then I find her kissing my lips before I lose consciousness.


    After some time, I opened my eyes, only to find myself unclothed and Rosalyn lying naked next to me. Instead of that deserted ce where we were before, now we were in a broken hut.


    I looked at her, wondering if she was dead, however she woke up immediately and then yawned as she looked at me with a kinky look before getting dressed again.


    I observed her for a few moments as I inquired,"what did you do?"


    "Formed a contract with you," she said with a smile before sitting on a chair in front of me as she started getting dressed.


    At this moment, I almost felt like I had betrayed Lucia¡­. However¡­


    "Now, all my powers are yours. You are still human¡­ surprisingly¡­ looks like there is something interesting about you as well¡­ Still, I don''t have the power to survive in this world anymore," she spoke before her skin started evaporating and my eyes widened as I observed her dying in front of me.


    I knew what it was¡­ when youckplete mana and lose all your powers, mostly the defence powers which help you survive the toxic atmosphere of the current Vermillion, your body is destroyed by the very atmosphere. It is rare, but it happens.


    -sh


    Since I knew how painful that process was, I immediately shed her neck, killing her without any hesitation. I observed her lying dead body, which had a beautiful smile on her face¡­ it felt like she was more or less satisfied with what she had done¡­


    ''Why me?'' I wanted to ask, but it was toote.


    ''Where is your son?'' I wanted to ask, but it was toote.


    ''What should I do now?'' I thought before I stepped outside and then started digging a grave before giving a proper burial to thete Rosalyn Scarlet.


    .........


    Back to Present¡­.


    "Now¡­ Why don''t you and I have a chat?" Rosalyn¡­ or should I say Aelia spoke as she created a set of tables and chairs in between. She looked at me with a grazing look and I looked back at her before moving towards her as I spoke.


    "You must have a lot of questions, don''t you?"


    She looked at me curiously as she spoke,"what''s with that sudden friendly nature? Where did that ''I will kill you, if you irritate me'' guy go? Are you nning something? Fascinating! How Fascinating! Though, how do you know myplete name? Have you read the records of the vampires? Aren''t they avable only to the highest authorities of the vampires? Who are you really? Mr. Reaper was it?"


    She kept going on and on, and I couldn''t help but give a sad look at her facade that she was putting on, hiding her real face.


    "First of all, Aelia Laurentz Scarlet. How about I tell you a story about a friend of mine I met a long time ago?" I spoke, and she stopped speaking as she looked at me with her eyes in disbelief. ''No way!'' was the expression she was making, and I smiled at that expression before telling the exact same story that she had told me.


    For a few moments, she looked at me with a deep gaze before, for the first time since I saw her, she asked with all seriousness in her voice,"who are you?"


    This time she wasn''t ring at me but considering whether I was an enemy or an ally. Not keeping her in the dark, I answered,"I hear voices from the future and past. I know things most people don''t. My power activates on its own and when I-"


    She then created a de out of the blood pool and brought it near my neck before speaking,"did I forget to tell you that I can tell the difference between truth and lies in this ce?"


    Her cold smile sent a slight chill down my spine before I sighed as I pondered over the odds of telling her the truth v/s not telling her anything.


    First, once I defeat her here, she will be more of a ve to me and she can''t tell anyone about it.


    Second, she must know more about Marielle and other secrets of the vampire castle, so earning her trust will provide me with some insight. This will be interesting, to say the least.


    And finally, having her will provide me with a backup that I could use in critical situations. Even though she is pathetically weak outside her dimension, her ability to possess multiple souls could not be ignored.


    ''But what if she betrays me? No wait! Can she even betray me in the first ce? What are the odds she has some magic that could free her¡­ oh yeah, she does have that! But then she won''t be much stronger than an S-grade fighter and since I know all about the weaknesses of the vampires, I could just kill her if things goes from bad to worst,'' I ponder for a few moments and then she looked at me with urgency as she spoke again,


    "What are you thinking about so seriously?"


    "Nothing, just considering the pros and cons between telling you the truth and hiding it from you," I spoke honestly, and she narrowed her eyes at me. I then sigh before a sudden thoughtes to my mind and I speak as I observe her.


    "If a vampire turns a human into a vampire and has sex with him or her, what type of contract do they form?"


    She looked at me dumbfounded, wondering why I asked that question suddenly, still she answered,"Blood transfer contract. First, the vampire''s blood is given to the human or perhaps any other species, and then the sex provides a medium to transfer the mana to the other person. Though the vampire loses all their powers in this process and the other person gains theplete powers of that vampire, bing a mutant vampire in the process."


    "Why is this done?" With a curious mind, I asked again and, not bothered by my question , she answered,"It''s not done. It was created by me in order to find a way to be human again. It was a failure, because the vampire loses all his ability whatsoever he had, thus not worth fitting into this cruel world to live."


    ''So that is why you found it interesting that I was still a human after you transferred your powers to me, huh?'' I thought as I looked at her with some sympathy in my eyes.


    "What''s with that pitiful look? You are giving me the creeps. You still haven''t answered my question yet, either. Who are you?"


    I look at her for a few moments before speaking," All right. It is going to be a long story that I am going to make as brief as possible. Do you have some snacks?"


    She looked at me for a few moments before she created something out of the blood and I gulped before looking at them, wondering if they tasted like blood.


    "They are good," she says, looking at me dead serious in the eyes and I nod at her with a wry expression before I slowly look at her concentrated gaze. She wanted answers and couldn''t wait anymore.


    "All right. Where should I start with¡­ hmmm.. Oh! Yeah, from the time of the first Cataclysm would be better¡­ that was when I first heard about you so, I guess you could rte from there more," I thought before my carefree demeanour changed into a serious one and I spoke,"Rosalyn Aelia Scarlet¡­ I¡­ am a Regressor."

 Chapter 63 One Long Night#26

    "And that''s how I know about your son and you," I told her the truth and breathed a sigh of relief as I looked at her face marred with disbelief.


    She wanted to deny my words by saying that it''s all bullshit, but the fact that she can differentiate between truth and lies probably stopped her from doing so.


    After another few moments of silence, she took a deep breath before speaking,"I have a few questions."


    Looking at her, she had aplex expression on her face and I could more or less understand what she was feeling right now. I smiled a bit before nodding at her as I answered her,"sure, go ahead."


    "You didn''t tell me about my son. You just said that he was captured and even before you just said that I can''t reach him. What did you mean by that?" She asked, and it made me ponder a bit before I looked at her hard to describe face. If before she looked like a crazy predator, now she was nothing more than a defenceless mother who just wanted to know about her son.


    "Are you sure you want to know?" I asked with a brief pause as I gave her some time to think before she heard the truth, however she nodded immediately with no hesitation whatsoever.


    "Your son is not in the vampire''s castle but in the human''s castle. More appropriately, he is in the Laurentz castle as of today''s date," I answered her and the expression she made was horrifying.


    ''Well¡­ their castle is present near the tree of light and no vampire could ever enter that ce¡­ so I gue-'' before I could evenplete my thoughts I saw Aelia smiling at me as if she had finally found what she was looking for. Her previous disbelief was gone, and she looked at me as if I were her closest friend.


    "What are you- I wanted to ask but before I couldplete my sentence she began speaking,


    "You are here to save everyone, right?"


    ''Ah! So her thought process went there, huh? Well, I guess she wouldn''t bepletely wrong to be hopeful since I was nning to save him in the far future as an immortal would be a really good asset to me, but then I haven''t really decided it yet. After all, he has been captured for God knows how long and I wonder if it will be worth it.''


    Pondering over what I should do, I turn to her and give her my honest answer,"Don''t expect me to save him, just because of my ideals. I will see what I can do and-"


    "I trust you," she answered before even letting meplete my words. I look at her with a dumbfounded expression. She looked at me with a bright smile as she spoke again,"Did I tell you that I have another ability?"


    ''What does she¡­'' I thought as she spoke, answering my question before I could even ask it,"I can see one''s alignment towards a goal. I need to set a goal and see if the person in front will do it or not. Although in most cases, people lie through their teeth or even if they tell the truth, they don''t have the heart to fulfil their promises. You, on the other hand, will do everything you can to achieve your goal. Your willingness towards my goal is quite high. So¡­ I trust you."


    Her smile was as bright as the sun. At her words, I wondered if I really was like that¡­


    Still¡­ that''s quite a peculiar ability she got there. Was the ability born out of her desires to find someone who could save her son? It happens many times that you get the ability you need the most in your life. Even if it means losing your dreams because they don''t really suit you.


    The proof of the theory was seen after the second cataclysm where almost 99 percent of the poption hadbat or survival rted abilities along with normal ones, as if the system knew that they were struggling in their lives.


    "How did Demitri survive?" I asked, changing the topic, as I knew the power level of the Queen in her dimension and no matter how strong Demitri was, he could never kill a being whose power almost reaches the full potential of an SS-Rank in her own dimension.


    She looked at me confused before pondering over something and then speaking,"he must have used my redundant power stored in that amulet. It refills every other month, however I ced a curse on that amulet that does not allow you to move away a certain distance from the point you activated the amulet''s power, also binding your body and soul to the amulet. However, I couldn''t harm the user since a barrier was ced, in between my dimension and the outside world, which is formed by the user''s power."


    ''Hmmm¡­ this is a bit¡­'' I looked at her face and then asked something that piqued my interest,"howe you got free?"


    She looked at me, narrowing her eyes at me as she retorted,"And why should I tell you that?"


    "There is something I want to know. Don''t worry, I have no ill intentions towards you," I spoke and then, after pondering over my words, she nodded before speaking.


    "Someone killed the current cursed user. Demitri was it? Yeah, he was killed by someone and then that opened an opportunity for me to escape. I possessed Demitri''s dead body and took control over whatever aura he had. Though he was in hisst moments, alive only for a fraction of seconds. Using that one moment, I transferred my soul to another guy, whom you were looking at before."


    I observed her for a full few moments before I kept my hands on my face and sigh as I cursed my luck for a few times,''Me and my shitty luck and the consequence that I bore¡­ sigh¡­ so in the end it was me who set her free, huh? Though, that and that took some time¡­''


    "Is the time between taking over someone else''s body, long?" I speak and she answers with a nod,"for the first time, it was difficult adjusting to the body. I had never done that before, but after I did so, it was as easy as sipping water."


    "Well, that answers most of my questions, I suppose," I said before standing and then turning around and speaking,"do you know the way to get out of here?"


    At my words, she spoke with slight hesitation as she looked at me,"We need to fight to the death and the one who loses will lose the control of this body. Though, I can just possess another body after I possess yours without harming it. This will ensure that your body and soul remain intact once I leave it."


    I turned to her and asked,"What if I kill you instead?" and she smiled at me with a slightly apologetic smile,"I hate to break it to you, but I am at my peak in this world and my pride would never allow me to lose to someone ever again. Not at least in my own dimension"


    "Odd enough for someone who wants to save her son at any cost¡­ Well, you still haven''t answered my question. What will happen if I end up killing you in this dimension?" I spoke with my expression turning cold and I observed her narrowing her eyes at me before sighing at and speaking.


    "I will be your ve until you release me."


    ''Hmmmm¡­ expected answer. Since the vampire King used her powers to kill the parasites without killing her, there was a great chance that he took control over her without letting her die or at least kept her barely alive or something to extract the rest of her powers. And going along that line of thought, he might have seeded in whatever he was trying to do,'' I thought as I sighed before looking at her while she was observing with an apologetic expression as she raised her hand.


    A wave of blood moves towards me and I look at it and then I close my eyes before I stop breathing and then¡­ I mutter,"Forbidden Magic: Demonic Angel''s Rebirth," and then the blood pool from all around gets evaporated at once.


    Wings of darkness on my left and wings of light on my right form, with  my face and the right half of my body covered in ck coloured mana.


    Holding a bright white sword made of light energy in my right hand, I open my dazzlingly white bright eyes and look at her shocked face.


    One of the three sacrificial moves I could use, including Second Moon, Demonic Angel''s Rebirth, converts my flesh into pure mana that I could use before the mana gets evaporated into the air, killing me in the process.


    While Second Moon helps me fight against abat oriented enemy, Demonic Angel''s Rebirth allows me to fight the enemy which is proficient in area attack and ranged abilities.


    I look at her standing with a frightened expression as she could barely keep herself standing and I speak to her with a pride filled voice,"I have killed countless enemies which are far beyond terrifying than what you could imagine. Aelia Rosalyn Scarlet, did you really think that with your power of a mere SS-ss Rank, you could defeat me?"

 Chapter 64 One Long Night#27

    There are consequences for everything in this world.


    If I hadn''t decided to meet Lucia, then she might have already been in control of Demitri. If I hadn''t talked with Demitri, then perhaps, he would have been caught and killed by William, in the end setting the Queen free, which would have caused a dire situation leading to the deaths of innocents.


    If I hadn''t killed Demitri, he would have told someone about me and then I would have been dealing with unnecessary dangers. If I hadn''t killed him, I would have never known about Mike Ingrid''s situation and in the end I wouldn''t be here with Aelia Rosalyn Scarlet.


    You can also look at it from Rosalyn''s point of view, if she had just stayed there instead, she wouldn''t have been facing me against her. Perhaps if she hadn''t created the condition of taking over someone''s body over a death battle where her freedom of her status was in question, she might not be in this grave situation at all.


    ...¡­


    -Boom


    She uses all of her powers at me from the get go as she creates a cyclone of blood around me and I begin flying in the air, looking around trying to find her.


    -sh


    I sh another attack she threw at me from the storm at my blind spot. My eyes looked at the ce where the attack came from and I sigh at her futile struggle.


    I take a sword stance in the air and perform a 360 degree attack creating an air sh that literally cuts the cyclone in half.


    I then use my mana sense and locate her presence, however what I found surprised me. She had be one with the environment and currently, controlling the whole world around me at once, in order to fight me.


    "It was fun ying with you, but Ick time," I speak with a smile as I then raise my sword in the air and begin concentrating all my light energy into the sword.


    Looking at what I was trying to do, Rosalyn desperately tried her best to attack me from all the possible sides but because of the dense amount of energy surrounding me, all her attacks were neglected.


    "There is little we both can do about this," I say before I finally concentrate all my light powers into the sword. The pure white energy in that sword sent chills down to every object present in that environment. If a normal person had looked at this sword, his life might have ended then and there.


    "First sh," I speak as I sh down, cutting everything in its path.


    -AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!


    I hear a scream from the very ground, and then I swing my sword again,


    "Second sh,"


    -AAAAAAAA!!!


    This time, she is forced outside the atmosphere as her body falls from the clouds above. I look at her with a sorrowful expression.


    ''I am sorry.. But I can never trust anyone with my life¡­ not at this moment¡­ not when I have got the chance to change anything¡­ I can''t take any risks¡­'' I thought as I observed her falling body and then I sh again,


    "Third sh."


    This time the attack reaches her and splits her body into half before beginning to eat her body alive. However, I still couldn''t find the world breaking. Not caring much about it, I kept shing the world again and again,


    "Fourth sh. Fifth sh. Sixth sh¡­"


    Soon, the world broke and what came in front of me was the broken body of Rosalyn Aelia Scarlet with another exactly simr looking woman standing beside her with a sad smile on her face.


    "Take care of her," the woman spoke before gradually vanishing away from there. I looked at that new woman with a slightly shocked expression as I realised who she was.


    "Rosalyn Scarlet?"


    "She has suffered a lot. Can you do this dying soul a favour, young one?" the real Rosalyn asked with a sad smile and I answered without hesitation,"I stopped doing favours after I died. Everything I do has a purpose. If it''s worth it, I am in, else I would rather not get involved."


    Rosalyn, still smiling at me, spoke without caring about my words,"when you find her son. Kill him without any hesitation. He doesn''t belong in this world."


    "He is one of the potential candidates for the people I need to fight against the parasites," I said as I looked at her face to face without caring about her wishes.


    "His presence attracts beings that are far more terrifying than the parasites to this world. Be careful with your choices, young kid," speaks the real Rosalyn before her soul vanishespletely.


    The scene changed once again and I was back to where I was before getting into Aelia''s dimension. In my hands was an amulet that held the powers of the first Queen of Vampires.


    Though my mind was filled with what the real Rosalyn spoke just a few moments ago. I guess I have another thing I need to ask Amon about.


    ......


    Reaper stood there with the amulet in his hand, and Lucia and William looked at him with disbelief in their eyes. Reaper turned to Lucia for a few moments before gazing at the amulet in his hand.


    He then makes a pondering expression before smiling a bit as he throws the amulet in the air in the direction of Lucia, who dumbfoundedly catches it in a hurried manner. As soon as she catches it, she checks it for its authenticity and after confirming that it was the real deal, she couldn''t help but turn back towards Reaper¡­ however he was gone from there by the time she realised.


    The others, who were previously charmed by the Queen, now got back to their senses and looked around, trying to understand what was going on. Lucia thought of something before she spoke.


    "[Blood Sacrifice: Max Charm]" and then her eyes turned deep purple, gathering everyone''s attention.


    After a few moments, William, Cristine, and Lucia too left from there, with the rest of the people missing some parts of their memories. The men in ck suits, however, took out their weapons and began shooting each other, before killing most of the ck men there.


    The others looked at the horrifying event and tried to understand what happened before their mind started recalling certain pieces of memories which had happened some moments ago.


    ording to their memories, the men in ck did something very inhumane and then a man, named Reaper, wearing a ck cloak with a ck scythe, came and shed down every man in ck with his own power.


    Nobody knew who was the person who did this and where he was now¡­ but the rumors about a man named Reaper began spreading throughout the ce. At the exact moment, as if by fate, a video of the ck men throwing a living child in the dustbin near the alley began ying in every social media followed by the hunting, which the Reaper did.


    The people were enraged and, as if by chain reaction, everyone started hunting the organisation with their powers. Some tried to raise their voices against Reaper being inhumane too, but their voices were shut down by the others.


    Those who were there began hunting the rest of the ck men. Those who were far away attacked the other areas where the men in ck were and in within 2-3 hours, theplete organisation of Demitri, got wiped out from it''s very foundation.


    The one responsible for the whole ordeal was standing a few kilometres away at the roof of a building.


    -Tring Tring


    -Click


    "Why did you do this?"receiving the call, Reaper asked in an annoyed voice to the person on the other side of the call.


    -Consider it a gift for returning the Amulet


    Lucia''s lovely voice was heard on the other side of the phone. She was using Cristine''s phone to call Reaper.


    "Such an anomalous thing will only bring more danger to my ns," I speak without any emotions in my voice.


    -Is that really the only reason?


    Lucia questioned as she spoke with a curiosity in her voice and Reaper answered her before cutting the call,"Try digging more and you will only bring your doom one step closer to you, young vampire."


    -Click


    Then Reaper took out hisptop before erasing his escape video from all the other websites. Lucia had already erased her trace from everywhere, along with William''s and Cristine''s. Once making sure that everything was clear, he finally began moving towards a safer ce as he checked the time. There was still about an hour until the night was over.


    Landing at a deste location, Reaper then folded the sleeves of his right hand, revealing a red coloured small magic circle. Reaper looks at it for a few moments before he activates the circle¡­ however¡­


    -Thud


    As soon as he activates it, he falls on his knees as most of his blood gets sucked into the circle and he hurriedly stops the process before he falls on his knees heavily breathing whilepletely drenched in sweat.


    Though¡­ rather than the process being stopped, it looked like it wasplete, because¡­


    Rosalyn Aelia Scarlet was standing in front of him.

 Chapter 65 A Dawn Of Hope

    Rosalyn Aelia Scarlet was standing in front of him and he was there, on his knees, barely catching his breath. Activating the circle took almost one third of his blood and since he had been using blood rted magic, he only had a bit more than half of the total volume.


    Still, he immediately began using spirit magic, turning his eyes green and increasing his healing capacity along with mana regeneration. Under normal conditions, that is, without summoning Astraea and Hygeia, he could only use one magic at a time due to their opposing nature.


    "What exactly are you?" asked Rosalyn, standing there with her straight long luscious ck hair that became wavy reaching her belly before terminating a little below that point,plemented the reddish-ck one piece she was wearing. Her deep red eyes, over a bright white face, looked at Zero with a piercing gaze as she asked that question.


    "You look young! Is that your real look?" Zero asked as he observed her slim-fit body that looked no more than 20 contrasting to the features which he saw within that dimension. Even in the previous timeline, her real face remained unknown to him, as she had always kept her disguise, even during her final moments.


    "Yeah, all thanks to you. I should not be using this face. Aelia Laurentz is long dead. Do you know what would happen if people saw this face?! Do you have any idea what would happen if someone from the Sol empire happens to see this face?!!!" She shouted at Zero in a hushed voice as she got closer to him and gazed deeply into his eyes.


    "Well¡­ it''s been a long time, so they might have forgotten you? Plus, can''t you just change into something else?" Zero asked as he observed her with a confused expression as he sat down on the roof and Aelia shook her head as she spoke with a dejected voice,"as if it''s that easy."


    She then sighs before sitting down as well and speaking,"Well¡­ I have about one more minute, so I''ll brief you with whatever I can. First, no, I can''t change into something or someone else with your pathetic amount of mana. Second, howe, in the name of the Blood God, you ended up defeating me despite being this weak?!" she spoke as she finally noticed the power difference.


    "Anyway. Third, the Sol empire is a pain in the ass. Even if centuries pass, people still search for the lost ones unless they are pronounced dead. Even back then we had pictures of some missing people who were long lost, some for over centuries, guess the reason yourself until we meet again," She spoke as she began vanishing with her 2 fingers raised at Zero, signifying that she could only stay outside for 2 minutes with the amount of blood energy she gets from Zero.


    ''Looks like I need to get stronger, faster. I wonder how I can utilise Aelia in my ns,'' thought Zero before vanishing from there as if he never existed.


    ...


    -Click


    The door opens and a couple of exhausted women enter inside the hideout of Lucia Scarlet.


    "You guys are back? Did you finish whatever urgent work you had?" spoke Annabeth as she looked at Lucia, who looked quite frustrated but she forcefully smiled as she replied to Anna,"it is finished." Before she went into her room.


    -BANG!!


    A loud sound of the door closing was heard making everyone look in the direction of Lucia''s room before Annabeth turned to Cristine, who was also making an awkward expression before she apologised and headed to her room.


    Cristine, who went inside her room, saw Eliza sitting there against the window as she sipped some hot chocte. Hearing the footsteps of Cristine, Eliza turned to her as she spoke with a slightly worried tone,"so? What happened?"


    The fact Lucia now knows that Cristine knows about Reaper and she had hidden it from Lucia wasn''t something she could just put under the rock and forget about it. The fact that, even now she can''t speak anything about Zero because of the contract, was making things even harder for her.


    -Sigh


    A deep sigh was heard from Cristine before she began speaking,"Sir William helped me out. ''Haha! A mana contract, huh? That''s just like that kid. Did he promise to save you or someone close to you as well!! Hahahaha, that look tells everything hahahaha!!'' is what he said when he saw me silent and not answering Lucia''s question."


    Eliza looked at Cristine acting like Sir William and turned silent before she put the hot chocte on the railing of the window and then¡­


    "Pfffft¡­.hahahahahahahaha!!!" Eliza beganughing, looking at her sister as she spoke,"Once more, sis! Hahahaaha! That was too good!! Hahahahahaha¡­" sheughed as she looked at her sister before even Cristine beganughing along with her as she looked at Eliza.


    After a few moments ofughter, Eliza then turned at Cristine, wiping her tears as she spoke,"So what happened to Lucia?" Lucia didn''t look like she was in a happy mood given how she mmed her door.


    "Ah! That¡­" an awkward smile forms on her face as she recalls the conversation between Zero and Lucia on her smartphone. Lucia wanted to say thank you for returning the Amulet but Zero didn''t really let her say anything before he abruptly cut off the call after giving her a warning.


    "Zero kind of ticked her off," she spoke and Eliza looked at Cristine with a bit of an amazed look before she sighed as she recalled what kind of person Zero was, at least whatever she could figure out from that one meeting.


    "How is the baby?" asked Cristine, changing the topic. She trusted her sister to fulfill the job with utmost care and her being carefree here, must mean that the job was done.


    "She is at the district hospital receiving A-Grade care. I got a message from Zero an hour ago that I could leave her be and he will take care of her from there onwards so I followed along," Eliza spoke as she pondered over something and then threw her body on the bed before asking Cristine again,"Hey sis! Can I ask you a question?"


    "Hmmm¡­ sure go ahead," Cristine replies as she sits on the bed beside Eliza as she caresses Eliza''s hair, half knowing what the question was. In fact, she was thinking about the exact same thing.


    "What kind of person do you think he is?" asked Eliza as she closed her eyes and then began falling into a deep slumber slowly and slowly.


    "Mysterious. I don''t know whether he is good or bad, or perhaps both¡­ but he does whatever he wants to without caring about the others. He has a certain charm about him... that screams that he can get a solution for any problem¡­ at least that is what my conjecture is," spoke Cristine as she stood up and then walked up to the wardrobe taking out her sleeping clothes.


    "Mhmhh.." a voice was heard from Eliza before she fell asleep in the position in which she was lying and Cristine smiled a bit as she changed and then helped the sleeping Eliza into a proper position.


    Downstairs, Annabeth was also caressing the unconscious Elizabeth''s hair as she looked at the footage of the ''Reaper'' shing down the men and also the video of the child being thrown into the dustbin.


    Though Reaper was massacring people left and right, but because of what those men in that organisation did, she couldn''t help but be satisfied with what Reaper was doing. Her mind also darted back to what happened in Lake Bryxton, where this guy saved her and her sister.


    ''Just what kind of person are you? And what are you trying to achieve?'' Anna asked as she looked at the blurred picture of Reaper over and over. He was far more scary than the demon himself, yet he was their saviour.


    She was scared of him, yet she couldn''t help but wonder how she would react if they met again. Will she freak out? Will she be d? Oh! Wait, will she even get the chance to meet him in the first ce? Now that she thinks about it once again¡­ why did he save her and Elizabeth? For what purpose?


    Deep in her thoughts, Annabeth soon drifts to sleep and falls asleep before she knows it.


    ......¡­


    "I guess, the mission is done here," Lucia spoke with a serious voice inside her room on a call and a voice came from the other side on the phone.


    -That is¡­ a bit unexpected. Interesting! Reaper was it? Interesting¡­ So what are your ns from now on? Will you return or is there something you want to do? You still have a couple of years left in that ce.


    "I would like to go to the Arcadia Academy along with the rest of my team.


    -Any specific reasons?


    "Reaper will probably be there"


    -Is that so? Well, then I can''t say no to it, can I? Try to see if you can poach him to our side while you are at it. That is all for today. Click.


    The phone call cuts and Lucia sighs before she takes her dress off and then moves into the bed as she sleeps with an exhausted mind.


    ''I wonder¡­ if this gamble is worth it?'' she thought before closing her eyes and falling into a deep slumber.

 Chapter 66 A Dawn Of Hope#2

    The dawn arrived, and with it brought another day. The sunshine kissed the city of Bryxton as the people woke up to the news about what had transpired the previous day.


    An airne crash, an inhumane act and the fall of various organisations within the city. Last and not the least, the massacre done by Reaper.


    The name of Reaper began spreading like wildfire as it became a hot topic. On research, he was found to be staying in the Sky High Skyscraper, however the records ceased to exist. The video, other than the massacre, was lost from all the ces as if someone had deliberately erased Reaper''s trace from everywhere. The most interesting fact among all was that nobody knew what Reaper looked like, even those who had seen him, somehow forgot his face altogether.


    The news also reached other cities, piquing interest of various guilds and organisations all over. People began guessing who Reaper could be, with all the spection a few names came into light with the possibility of them being Reaper. However, whether one of them was Reaper or not, was still in question.


    As for the person responsible for all the things that took ce...


    ...


    Zero woke up from a peaceful sleep, lying in a soft bed in a building not far from the Sky High Skyscraper. Just for precaution''s sake he erased people''s memories, of those who had seen him first hand, before choosing a building to get some proper rest.


    He then wore a set of casual clothes stored in his dimensional space as he looked around. The rm had rang long past a few hours ago, showing the time to be 11 AM now. He checked his blood level to find it a bit more than normal and his mana was almost empty. He had used a blood regeneration technique, which allows him to heal at the cost of mana.


    "Spirit Magic: Constant Healing," he spoke, and his eyes turned gem-like green from the previous white. He then walked towards the mirror and looked at his messy white hair, which he halfbed before picking up his phone and then calling a certain number.


    -Tring Tring


    -Tring Tring


    -Tring Tring


    -Click. Who is it?


    An aged voice was heard from the other side, along with multiple people talking at the back. They were talking quite loudly and from the looks of it, there was a panic in that ce.


    "Everything all right Inspector us Roan?" Zero asked as he took out aptop and began typing something on it.


    us Roan was one of the people whom Zero helped get out of the facility. He was the man from whom Zero took the baton before smashing Scarred Owl''s body in front of Mark Leeway.


    Hearing Zero''s voice, us turned silent for a few moments before he spoke again, this time with a slightlyplex voice.


    -Zero¡­ are you him?


    From his statement, it looked like Lucia had erased almost all memories of Zero and Reaper of that night from their minds. Zero wondered if it was a good thing or a bad thing before he sighed and continued to type on theptop.


    Understanding what us was trying to speak, Zero smiled before the screen on theptop changed and the office in which use was currently in came into view. He looked at multiple men doing their own work and us at a side talking in a hushed manner.


    ''Looks like he won''t be going against me, huh? For now, at least..'' thought Zero before speaking,


    "I need to speak with you and your highest inmand. Can you arrange that?"


    Hearing his words, us made a slightlyplicated expression before speaking


    -Right now? It will be a bit difficult, but if it is urgent, then I can arrange it for you.


    A bit shocked with the cooperation, Zero couldn''t help but wonder if there was a hidden motive behind us'' actions, but no matter how he looked at it, his behaviour looked natural.


    "Not now.. more like in the eve. I will be meeting with you and him around 5 PM. To not gather any unnecessary attention, I wille directly to your office," Zero spoke as he saw the others beginning to notice us.


    -Ah! Is that so? I will-


    "Take care of yourself, us. You have just earned your freedom. Take a vacation, maybe. Enjoy your life, man," Zero speaks as he sighs, looking at the tired face of us before cutting the call and then dialling to call another person.


    -Tring Tring


    -Tring Tring Click


    -...


    "I will being in a week. Prepare the materials," Zero speaks with a sigh before he cuts the call.


    -Click


    He then calls another person¡­


    -Tring Tring


    -Click


    -Hey! Nice work you did there.


    "Stop with the friendly voice. It''s creepy," Zero speaks with a slightly annoyed face as he heard Cristine''s cheery voice.


    -Oh! Come on now, we are ''massacre the bad guys'' buddies aren''t we.


    He heard the childish voice of Cristine, who, for some reason, looked like she was in a very good mood.


    "I am booking a ticket for you and Eliza next week. The first step to dispel the curse, we need to go to a certain ce," Zero spoke as he moved towards the bathroom and turned on the hot water which began filling the bathtub.


    -....


    No voice came from the other side and pin drop silence prevailed before the voice of another girl, presumably, Lucia beganing from the other side.


    -Hey! Cristine, are you crying? Who is it on the phone? Hey¡­Huh?.. It''s whom? Reaper?!!! He-Click


    Zero sighs as he begins moving to call thest person on today''s list.


    -Tring Tring


    -Tring Tring


    -Click


    -Hey! I was waiting for your call. Are you okay?


    ir''s half worried voice came from the other side and Zero felt a warm feeling as a smile formed on his face before he spoke.


    "Yeah. I am good. Do you remember our deal?"


    -Ummm.. Yeah, most of it.


    "About the guardian part. Can you leave Arcadia Academy now and buy a ce to stay? I will provide you with the money, for both you and your sister," Zero said as he checked the temperature of the bathtub and then got out as he set the timer to 10 minutes.


    -Like right now? It might be a bit difficult to do.


    "I will transfer some money into your ount. If not now, try it the day after tomorrow. You can use the rest of the money for yourself." As Zero was speaking, he moved back to theptop and transferred about a 100 million to her.


    -Huh?! What''s with¡­ the heck, is that even real? Hey! Hey! Hey! That is too much!!


    Zero heard the clear disbelief in ir''s voice, who was really freaked out by the amount but not caring about her reaction. Zero spoke,


    "Buy a high end ce and also make sure you have a few things inside that house. I will send you the list through a text. If you run into any problems, just call back. I will sort it out."


    -Sir yes Sir! Anything else?


    A bit taken aback by her sudden change in behaviour, a wry smile forms on Zero''s face as he sighs before speaking,"nothing for now." and then cutting the call.


    -Click


    Then he looked at the hot tub almost filled with water and took out thest batch of the concentration potions he made and poured it all into the bathtub before submerging himself into it.


    [You look so rxed]


    ...¡­..


    I looked at the message in front of me and found myself back in the white dimension. I turned around to see a child looking around with a shocked face as if he had seen something which he couldn''t express.


    Elle was standing there with the kid, trying tofort him. I look around to find Mark Ingrid, the girl''s father missing, and sigh before I get out of the bath and my clothes change back into normal by themselves.


    Walking towards that kid, I spoke,"hey kid! What''s your name?"


    The young boy crying a bit looked at me with fear in his eyes as he spoke,"my mother¡­ she¡­ she.. They¡­"


    "Amon, can you bring the video ofst night in front of us," I said and a scene of what happened yesterday came in front of the child. I smiled at that kid with the purest smile as I spoke.


    "I changed the future. Your mother is alive."


    Doubting my words, he looked at the scene ying with a bit of fear but then he looked at that video clearly and then he pointed immediately at someone and the video paused.


    I saw a man being killed by me, his head being chopped off by my scythe.


    "See. The bad guy is gone. Nothing happened with your mother and you," I spoke with the same smile and he looked at me intently before gulping and speaking,"so.. We don''t have to run anymore?"


    I smiled at him trying to be like an elder brother figure before speaking,"Yes. You can live happily."


    At my words, his soul began sparkling, and he started levitating right in front of my eyes. Elle looked at me with wide eyes, as she couldn''t help but praise my ways of doing things. She also smiled at that kid being passed on, as his wish was fulfilled.


    "I will be going then," I said before the world began to change and I found myself back in the bathtub. However, before I came back, I noticed Elle looking strangely at me and I wondered what that look was about.


    My mind then drifts of to everything that has happenedst night. Honestly, it was one heck of a night, and as I was recalling everything, suddenly it came to my mind that in all the chaos, I had forgotten about something important,


    "Where did...Anna ran off to with Elizabeth?"

 Chapter 67 A Fateful Meeting

    The first thing Zero did after getting out of the bath was to go and check the footage of Elle and Anna to find out where they went.


    However, a surprised expressiones on his face as he finds the footage missing. There was no footage including the parts of the battle that took ce at Lake Bryxton.


    ''Is it Mark Leeway? Or is it someone from the Rose family? I did ask Mark Leeway to erase parts of the footage from the battle¡­ did he take another step and erase the traces of Anna''s escape too?'' Zero thought as he went over everything inside his mind.


    ''This is a bit troubling¡­ but since Elle is still in the white dimension, indicates they are still alive or at least Elle is,'' Zero thought before sighing as he then wondered if there was a way to locate them.


    "Guess I need to thoroughly search for them tonight," he sighed before moving towards the training room.


    This hotel didn''t have as great a training room as the previous one, so he had to change his ways of training by doing more strenuous motion, keeping his limits in his mind.


    After a few more hours of training, he went out to eat in a nearby hotel. Taking a high-quality cab, he soon reaches a 5-star hotel where good quality food would be avable.


    Getting out of the cab, wearing formal jeans over a ck T-shirt, his green eyes looked at the hotel in front of him. Moving inside the hotel, he chose a table at the corner before ordering specific dishes. He also gave the waiter a list containing a set of instructions on how he wants his food.


    A few momentster, 3 girls enter the hotel wearing luxurious dresses. The others couldn''t help but turn to look at them. Even Zero looked at those girls with a dumbfounded expression.


    One of those girls, with silver long hair and blue eyes, scanned around for a seat before narrowing her eyes at an empty seat just the opposite to where Zero was sitting.


    She then pointed there before all the three girls began walking towards those seats. However¡­


    One of them stopped halfway as she looked in the direction where Zero was before a surprised expression came over her face. With her white hair up to the shoulder length,plimenting her white top that she wore over her grey long skirt, she stood there like a statue. Her blue eyes stared deep into Zero''s eyes before she began moving like nothing happened.


    Though it was a bit toote, because Annabeth was already staring intently at the ce where Zero was. Her expression was half horrified, half shocked, she stood there frozen for a brief moment before she changed her expression into a smile and then acted as if nothing had happened.


    "Hey! What are you both doing?"Confused at their sudden stoppage, the ck-haired girl, Elizabeth, turned around and looked at both Eliza and Annabeth with an odd expression that wanted to know what they were doing.


    "Ah! Nothing, let''s go!" spoke Annabeth with a hurried expression, and Eliza also nodded at her before they both looked at each other with a slightly questioning gaze before moving towards the seat.


    For the next few moments, Zero waited for the food toe as he tried to understand the whole situation.


    ''Was it a coincidence? Or did Eliza know these two¡­ or perhaps¡­ Ah! Of course! How can I miss that¡­ Lucia! But how? Did she end up watching me removing the curse or something? Hmmmm¡­ all right, let''s break the problems into pieces first,'' thought Zero as he calcted the whole situation.


    First, he wondered if the situation was good or bad? If looked at the point that they were both with Lucia and Eliza, then it''s actually a good thing. Since both Eliza and Cristine knew the importance of Reaper, they will take care of the sisters as if they were taking care of Zero. As for Lucia¡­ it''s a bit difficult to think what exactly she is nning here, but for convenience''s sake let''s assume that she needs something from them so she won''t harm them either.


    ''Hmmm¡­ most probably it''s about the curse removal of the demonification process,'' thought Zero as he looked at those three beauties, who were, for some reason, intently staring at him.


    As soon as he turned his head towards them, they turned their head back as if nothing happened.


    A wry expression forms on his face as he looks at those three idiots'' pathetic acting.


    ''I can understand Eliza since I arrived in front of her as Zero. About Anna¡­hmmm did she see me in the demon dimension? Well¡­ that would more or less exin the expression of fear she showed when she first saw me¡­ what about Elle?'' Thinking that he turned his head away before peeking through the corner of his eyes and saw the girls once again intently looking at him.


    -Sigh


    A long sigh escapes Zero''s mouth before he watches the waitering towards him. Looking at the food, a smile forms on his face, while the girls also intently look at the food. Zero turned towards Elle, who was eyeing his food before she turned to Zero and watching him looking directly at her, she immediately turned her head to the other side and began whistling as if nothing had happened.


    A smile forms on Zero''s face before he stands up and then looks at the waiter before speaking,"Bring it here." and proceeded to move towards the girls.


    Watching Zeroing towards them, the girls shrieked a bit before turning to him with an awkward smile. Zero smiled,"Ladies, may I sit here?" he asked as he turned to Annabeth, who was sitting on her own, and after a short pause, she gave some space for him to sit.


    The waiter intently looked at Zero, surprised at his bold move, and secretly admired his ways of doing things before looking at him and winking at him, then moving away from there right after he finished cing the dishes.


    ''Well¡­ Let''s pretend that I saw nothing,'' thought Zero before he observed the girls and thought for a brief moment,'' the second thing that I need to know is, whether this is all a n of Lucia''s or they knew each other from before. Because if they did so, then it makes things much moreplicated.''


    For the next few moments, nobody spoke a single word and then all of a sudden Elle started staring intently at the face of Zero as a sudden realisation dawned on her and she almost shouted,"YOU ARE REA-MMPPHH MM Cough Cough.." before she could finish the sentence Zero covered her mouth immediately.


    The other people looked in their direction with a curious look before Zero apologised for Elle''s rude behaviour and the others smiled before getting back to their own work. Meanwhile, Elle had a shocked expression as her eyes glistened and she looked at Zero with an amazed look.


    "Are you really him?" in a hushed voice Elle asked after removing Zero''s hand from her mouth and observing his face, however Zero ignored her and looked at Annabeth and asked,"where did you take herst night? I was searching for you."


    Annabeth looked at Zero with a firm gaze before asking,"Why? Why did you save us?"


    Zero pondered a bit before speaking,"That I can''t tell you. I have a mission which, in this dimension, only I know of. It''s kind of important for me to save you." he then proceeded to eat the food with a blush on his face.


    "Why did you kill him?" she asked again as she looked at Zero with a questioning gaze, her eyes staring at him with aplicated expression that wanted to understand him but failed to do so.


    "Because he was a hindrance to my ns. Well¡­ let me ask you this first. Did you see it?" Zero asked as he looked at Annabeth with a meaningful gaze. By seeing it, he meant whatever happened in the demon dimension.


    "Yeah. I was there," she replied with a slightly scared expression. Looking at her sacred expression, Eliza and Elle couldn''t help but get curious about what happened.


    "Sigh¡­ all right. I will tell you why I killed him, but let me ask you this first: what are you doing here in the first ce? Shouldn''t you be somewhere in a safer location? You aren''t really safe right now. Don''t you know that?" Zero spoke with a questioning gaze as he took a few sips of his drink and ate a bit more, smiling a bit more as he enjoyed the food with every bite. After surviving the apocalypse over so many years, good food was a rare delicacy for him so he couldn''t help but savour each and every bite.


    "Well, we are here to meet someone-"


    "Excuse me sir, looks like you are sitting in the wrong ce," spoke a man standing right beside Zero as he looked intently at him. Zero turned to look at him, only to find another familiar face.


    A ck-haired man with specs over his blue eyes who looked almost 25 years old was standing there. The ck suit he was wearing looked goodplementing his toned body as he stood there with his hands in his pocket.


    The elder brother of Elizabeth and Annabeth, Isaac Rose, was standing right beside Zero.

 Chapter 68 Character Introduction: Isaac Rose

    Ladies and gentlemen! I hereby introduce you to one of the most cruel, vicious and insane person this world has seen till now.


    ISAAAAAC ROOOSEEEE!!!!


    While there were many cruel people in this world with each crossing the limits of humanity in their own ways, our guy Isaac here did something that most people will find unthinkable. What he did was not simply kill but brutally obliterate every one of his own family members from their very roots¡­ or at least tried to do so with only one member left alive, Elle, that too because of pure luck.


    He might look like a cool guy, but don''t get mistaken by his kind persona, for he was probably the main perpetrator behind the attack that happenedst night.


    He is a wolf hiding in sheep''s clothing¡­ no! Calling him wolf would be an understatement¡­ he is¡­ he is¡­ well you understand right?! Okay, so how about I tell you how he died¡­ that is my favourite part, all right. After all, I was the one who killed him.


    ..........


    A year before the first Cataclysm...


    -Creaakkk!!


    Lucia forcefully opened the jammed door of the already destroyed Rose mansion. A few days ago, we received the news that the eldest grandson of William Rose went on a rampage as he was found experimenting on his cousins, who went missing a few months ago. Ironically, it was on the same day, when a party was held for his sess in getting a high ranked skill of his own, after all these long years.


    In the rampage, he threatened his already weakened grandfather, revealing that he was the one responsible for Annabeth''s death along with the person responsible for his parents'' death. He also revealed all the scandalous secrets of his family to the media at that exact moment as he stood thereughing maniacally.


    Supposedly, he was nning this for a long time, just because he liked the taste of blood when he killed a young child back in his school days. He had contact with some vampires, with the help of the other vampire enved deep within his family mansion, and was nning to be a vampire himself.


    Though his Rose blood blessed by the Moon Goddess, Luna, prevented him from turning into one. When he forcefully tried to convert into a vampire, his blood reacted heavily, giving out a signal to the rest of the family and exposing him. While he could have managed to keep this a secret, the fact that he did the conversion ritual at the same ce where the bodies of his cousins were kept, closed all doors for him to escape that situation.


    However, after a fight that ensued for almost half a day, he ended up sessfully killing each and every family member of his, except Elizabeth, who was studying in the Arcadia Academy and couldn''t be there due to a certain event going on there.


    Perhaps he also slowly poisoned the rest of the family, making the fight shift considerably to his side.


    "Is he really here?" I asked as I walked into the mansion behind Lucia along with Madonna, real name Cristine, and Spike, real name Mike.


    "Don''t you still trust me, kid? Haven''t my skills already proved to be trustworthy already?" Mike spoke with an unamused face. Mike was the information broker of our group and his skills were really top-notch, however¡­


    "But still, why would someone be in the same ce where he killed his whole family? Wouldn''t it be more sensible to hide and n his next steps?" I asked again and instead of getting irritated, Mike too pondered over the question.


    "Some people are just that insane. Don''t think much about it, concentrate on the objective. We are here to get the dead bodies of all the members of Rose''s family, including Isaac''s," Lucia spoke as she looked around with caution, moving forward with each step more carefully than before. Although we took it that he poisoned his whole family, Lucia still didn''t erase the thought that he might have done it on his own using his powers. Hence, she had prepared for some backup ns in case something goes awry.


    -Step


    -Step


    -Step


    "So we have a few guests here, huh? Sorry! I would like to apologise, unfortunately the party is over, you are a tad bitte," Isaac stepped down the round stairs at the distant hall as he saw Lucia entering it, while I also moved a bit front to observe him more carefully.


    He had a scarred face, half flesh visible with burnt marks on his hair. I almost vomited as I looked at his horrendous face, before controlling myself as I looked at him again. He wore a clean white suit with a piece of flesh in his hand and blood smeared all over his mouth.


    "Madonna. Reaper. We are going all out from the beginning. Spike, try to find the other''s bodies, we will join you soon," Lucia spoke without wasting any moment and I narrowed my eyes as I took out my guns and then concentrated on him with my white eyes turning light grey. Cristine also prepared her needles, while Lucia''s eyes turned red as she spoke.


    "Blood Magic: First Moon."


    And then she vanished from my front before arriving behind Isaac, who nonchntly raised his hand


    -BOOM!!!!


    Blocking Lucia''s kick with his eyes slightly widened in interest as he spoke,"you are a vampire, huh?!"


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    I shot towards him and he just stood there taking those shots directly, not getting any effects whatsoever from my shots. Even the poison needles of Cristine doesn''t seem to be working on him. I started getting restless, but before I could panic,


    "He has be a ghoul," spoke Lucia as she jumped away from him and stood at the highest point of the railing of the stairs. ''Ghoul?'' a bit confused about it. I looked at Lucia for an exnation and she answered,"Ghouls are undead, who have strong physical bodies. They survive by eating the flesh of other living bodies."


    "Howe I have never heard of one?" I asked with a curious face as I looked at her, because from what I have known, only Vampires and an another species are considered to be more or less undying. Lucia spoke again,"Ghouls have vanished from this world, they shouldn''t be in this world, anyway. There are certain species who force themselves to gain immortality, and many times they take forbidden paths to achieve their goal. Ghouls are the products of one of those paths.."


    I looked at Lucia objectively before sighing and asking,"so, how do we defeat him?"


    While I was interested in this ghoul thing and forbidden magic, our priorityy in defeating Isaac for now.


    "Killing him faster than he could heal," Lucia spoke before she vanished again and began hitting him from all around. I looked at their fast-paced fight, concentrated on their moves and, after a quick calction, began shooting at the ghoul.


    -Bang


    -Bang


    -Bang


    Cristine switched from her poison needle to exploding needles and began throwing it at the ghoul whenever she saw an opening. While Lucia fought a closebat against the ghoul, I and Cristine maintained the distance from their fight¡­ however¡­ we were losing¡­ I saw the ghoul healing at a much faster rate than we could injure him¡­ I looked at the fight unfolding, him beating Lucia more than she could take and a certain dreadful thought creeped into my mind.


    ''What if Lucia dies?''


    Naive me, didn''t know that this Lucia was just a clone. Panicked on that sudden thought, I released a magic that I had seen hundreds of times, but never thought that it was possible. It was a subconscious thought yet I spoke¡­


    "Blood Sacrifice: First Moon"


    If I can''t use magic from the blood, then I will use my whole blood as a sacrifice¡­ is what I was thinking before my whole body turned red. Blood began creeping out of my orifices and my eyes turned deep red.


    Interestingly enough, my blood sacrifice was about a dozen times more powerful than Lucia''s, with about a dozen more side effects as well. Though, I wonder if Lucia uses blood magic within a limit to not end up how I get after using the blood sacrifice.


    The others stopped fighting and looked at me with disbelief in their eyes. Even Lucia was baffled at the sudden development as she observed me and then¡­


    -BOOOM!!!


    I reached closer to that man Isaac in an instant and punched him with all the force I could muster. But I did not stop there¡­ from that point I kept hitting him over and over¡­ despite me losing more and more control, I still managed to take a look at his face.


    He was shocked, horrified, confused¡­ I saw him scared¡­ I wonder if there was something else that I was doing to him¡­ and yeah, I was. Supposedly, he was immortal through and through with no way of being killed¡­ However, my special blood magic which contained parts of my life force was eroding whatever life force he was living on¡­ and in the end¡­


    I lost consciousness.

 Chapter 69 Planning For The Future

    Zero looked at Isaac, who stood there waiting for Zero to get up, for a few moments before he made an awkward smile as he stood up and gave ce to Isaac.


    "Sorry, I didn''t know that these girls hadpany," he said before looking at the three girls who were making a confused expression. He then smiled before speaking,"well, I have urgent work to attend to. Let''s meet again if fate allows us to," and then bid them goodbye waving his hand as he walked to the counter where he paid the bill.


    "Who was he?" Isaac sat as he kept looking at Zero with a narrowed expression and then Eliza answered with an awkward smile, hurriedly before anyone else could speak,"that was¡­ Zero. He said that we looked like someone he knew and began talking with us. He was a bit funny, so we let him sit with us for the time being while we waited for you." Her eyes were concentrated on Isaac as she tried to understand more about the brother of the Rose sisters.


    "And you are?" with a cold gaze, Isaac spoke as he analysed Eliza from head to toe sending a slight chill down her spine before a cold expression formed on her face and she bent a bit forward with her smile vanishing as she put her forearms on the table before speaking,"Eliza De Wain, nice to meet you too Sir Isaac Rose."


    Looking at the change in her demeanour, Isaac blinked a bit before he realised that the environment was turning more chilly with every moment around him. Realising who was responsible for this, he once again looked at Eliza with his eyes wide open.


    Annabeth and Elizabeth too looked shocked as they observed the mana level of Eliza.


    "A-Rank¡­??" Muttered Annabeth as she observed Eliza with her eyes gazing at her. After that, the temperature returned to normal as Elizapletely ignored Isaac and said,"I will be focusing on eating now."


    Isaac kept observing Eliza and from his expression, it didn''t look like he was happy with the way Eliza threatened him. His eyes were gazing non-stop at her before,


    "Cough Cough¡­ brother. How is grandfather doing?" Elizabeth''s voice came from the front and he snapped back to reality. He looked at her and then adjusted his demaneor before speaking,"he is good and he wants you back at the mansion as soon as possible."


    Hearing his words, a shocked expression mars Elle''s face as she stands up and ms the table furiously¡­


    -Baam!!


    Creating a lot of sound as she speaks,"I am going to Arcadia City and no one! I mean NO ONE CAN STOP ME FROM GOING THERE!!!" with her mana swirling out of control.


    Looking at her mana surging, Isaac gulped a bit before he gave a fake smile and spoke,"but it''s grandfather''s order. You know how he is, don''t you? He really cares for you!!"


    "And exactly how I am?" An aged voice came from behind Isaac and he turned around, only to be dumbfounded by what he saw.


    A man wearing a ck suit, with short white hair, stood there with his blue eyes observing all the people present there. The man was about 60 years old, but he looked younger than his actual age with a height of about 6.2 ft tall.


    Elle and Anna''s grandfather, Williamson Rose, was present with about 4 men in ck suits right behind him and a certain white haired kid hanging by his cor in his hand. The kid didn''t look like he was amused being carried like that as he red at Williamson continuously.


    "Zero?!! Grandpa?!! What¡­??" Annabeth, looking at the scene, stood up and questioned with slight hesitation in her voice.


    "I am being kidnapped, against my wishes. That''s what''s happening, right now," Zero spoke with a displeased voice as he stood as Williamson let him go and he wiped his cloth as if trying to clean the non-existent dust there.


    "Grandpa!! What are you doing here?!!" asked Isaac with an even more baffled expression than before. He did not anticipate Williamson''s arrival this early. Even if he did so, he did not think he could find them right when he met them.


    "And why is it so hard for you to think about what I am doing here?" Questioning back, Williamson looked at Isaac with a slight re and Isaac shrieks back while everyone begins leaving the restaurant one by one.


    "You should ask that question to me!" Zero speaks with a half annoyed tone as he looks at the grandfather and grandson ''talking'' to each other. His eyes observed Eliza, who was making an expression of ''What should I do next?'' and Zero silently chanted a message to her as ''Don''t do anything yet. I will handle it. Just wait and watch for now.''


    Eliza then calmed down a bit before Wimson narrowed his eyes at Zero before speaking,"I am not a petty person, kid. Neither am I a fool to take you as a weakling and force you to do something. Who knows what might happen to me if I end up making the wrong enemy? I brought you here cause I don''t know when will be the next time I will see you again and I want to make a deal with you, and looking at the way you aren''t escaping, either you really can''t escape or you are interested in what I have to say, either way it''s beneficial for me."


    Zero then sighs a bit before he moves a little and speaks," I do want to make a deal with you, but it''s different from the one than what you want. But still, you should solve your internal matters first."


    He then observes the faces of Elizabeth and Annabeth, who were looking at him confused. Everything was too fast, too sudden for them and they couldn''tprehend what was going on at all¡­


    Though Williamson began speaking slowly and briefly as he looked at the confused faces of the four people in front of him.


    "After what I saw yesterday, I immediately boarded a flight to get here to make sure you both are alive and safe. It is my responsibility to make sure you don''t end up in any more danger. I also got into Isaac''s cellphone to trace your calls and found out that you would be here, and as soon as I reached here I found-"


    "You traced my call?" A bit shocked at the actions of his grandfather, Isaac looked at his grandfather, but Williamson looked back with a piercing gaze, making Isaac shriek back again.


    "So.. as soon as I arrived here, I saw this guy walking down happily, giggling andughing in between like a madman and I stopped the car before picking him up and bringing him here. Well¡­ he was also one of the secondary reasons I came to Bryxton, so in case I didn''t miss the chance as soon as I saw him I caught him. Surprisingly, he didn''t fight, but only acted like he was running away, so it was easy to get a hold of him."


    Among all the people here, Isaac was the only one left confused with the others more or less understanding the whole scenario. With Zero being Reaper, almost known to everyone here, except Isaac¡­ wait a sec..


    "How did you know it was me?" Finally realising an important detail, Zero looked at Williamson a bit dumbfounded. Until now, everyone who knew about both the identities of Zero was someone he knew about. Whether it was a special ability or something else, he kind of knew how the other person knew about both his identities but Williamson¡­ How did he know?


    "I got this thing called invariation. That allows me to mark a certain target, I see. So every time I see him again, no matter how much he or she is disguised, I could easily know it''s them," speaks Williamson with a smirk as he observes Zero with a look that spoke ''that''s what you get for showing off so much''


    It honestly ticked off Zero a bit, but he shakes his head before¡­


    "What am I missing here? Who is he?!" Confused by whatever was happening around, Isaac finally asked as he looked at me, wondering exactly who I was. Though before I could say anything, Williamson asked as he looked at me,"do you want me to tell him or should I make him leave for now?"


    Looking at Williamson¡­ he wasn''t joking at all.


    ''Are things between Williamson and Isaac not good? I thought Williamson treated all his grandchildren with extraordinary love and care, without differentiating between any of them.'' Zero wondered as he looked at Isaac before speaking.


    "Hmmm¡­ rather than moving him away, I want you to bind him here and make him unable to see or hear anything. Can you do that?"


    Williamson looked at me with a slightly curious gaze and Isaac made a face that was more of a smirk as he believed that his grandfather would never do something like that no matter who it was but¡­.


    "All right. [Prison Of Senses]" immediately Williamson chanted a spell at his grandson, rendering him unable to make a single move.


    Looking at the frozen Isaac, Zero finally sighed before speaking,"All right. Get these guards to move out. I guess you want to know about the curse, right? But let''s talk about something else first."


    Williamsonmanded, and the guards moved out as well, then Zero rxed against the seat before he stared deeply into the eyes of Elizabeth as he spoke,"Have you heard about the Pearl of the Moon Goddess?"

 Chapter 70 Planning For The Future#2

    While Isaac''s arrival was a bit surprising, Williamson''s arrival was totally within expectations. Elizabeth in the previous timeline told me about how Williamson arrived even before Viscardi left Bryxton.


    No way in hell he will leave his granddaughters by themselves in a foreignnd after witnessing what happened with themst night.


    Though, I would have preferred to meet him a bitter, but still it is not that bad I suppose. After all, I still have another hour before I need to meet us and his superior.


    ...


    Zero rxed against the seat before he stared deeply into the eyes of Elizabeth as he spoke,"Have you heard about the Pearl of the Moon Goddess?"


    Williamson, Elle, Anna and Eliza had a questioning expression on their face before Williamson inquired,"Is that an artefact? Does it have anything to do with the moon style?" with a bit of curiosity and Zero smiled a little before speaking,"do you know any ce where we could train freely without anyone noticing?"


    Williamson pondered before looking at me as he called someone,"do you have a training ce in this hotel?" and I looked at him with a bit of curiosity as I spoke,"do you know the owner of the ce or something?"


    He smirks at me before speaking,"I bought this ce." I looked at that old foggy, acting all smug at such a childish thing. I then shake my head with a wry smile then sigh before Williamson spoke"Hmmm.. Okay. Clear that ce in 2 minutes. We are heading there."


    He then cut the call before speaking,"Floor 34 has a free gymnasium that has a multipurpose base, so we can go there."


    I then nod at him as I sigh before walking towards the lift. Williamson took Isaac with him and the rest of the three girls followed behind me with curiosity consuming their minds.


    After a few moments, we reached the floor and we could see a huge empty floor all around us and then I signal them to wait before I move a bit farther from them.


    Reaching the centre of the room, I look around, stretch a bit before taking out a sword and then making a few shes in the air to get used to this sword, before I take a stance a bit simr to the Moon Style and make a few shes again.


    Watching my stance, Williamson''s eyes turned open wide and so did Elle''s and Anna''s. They felt something from my swordsman ship that they haven''t before.


    -sh


    -sh


    A smile forms on my face as I mutter,"Pearls of the Moon Goddess: Attack Form," before making a sh again¡­ without any mana.


    -SLASH!!!!!!!!!!!


    A sh urred that took almost half of my stamina and I stumbled on my knees as I began heavily panting, but looking at the broken wall right in front of me, it looked like I demonstrated the power of this skill well.


    Then I turned to them with a smile as I spoke,"so how about we make a deal with this skill as a bargain?"


    Williamson gulped as he looked at me before looking at the broken wall. While Zero couldn''t gather much sword skill with his stamina, it would be a different thing if Williamson could use this skill with his stamina pool.


    Anna and Elle too knew the importance of this manaless skill and they couldn''t help but be even more curious about the sword style. More than ever, it was too simr to the Moon Style, so it won''t be difficult to integrate it into their daily routine.


    It was as if it was custom made for the Rose family.


    ''I created it for me. After all, I needed a way of fighting with my blood sacrifice activated where my mana is useless.¡­ Now I am passing this on to you. I hope you can make good use of this sword style. Williamson Rose,'' Zero thought as he stood back up and then moved towards the people looking at him with astonishment.


    "There are 6 stances of the Pearl of the Moon Goddess'' Style: Attack, Defence, Hibernate, Strategize, Berserk and Sacrifice. I will be teaching you the basic three, if you can provide me with one thing when I ask for it," Zero speaks as he peered deeply into Williamson''s eyes, who was observing him with a serious gaze.


    "And what is it that you want?" Williamson asked with a questioning gaze and Zero replied,"I want you to support me unconditionally when I will ask you for it."


    "Too vague," spoke Williamson as he looked at Zero and Zero spoke again,"I won''t be using it to kill you or anyone from your family or any of your ally," and Williamson shook his head in slight dejection before speaking,"Until you tell me exactly what you want, I won''t be epting your deal."


    "Hmmm¡­. Then how about this? You will not kill a certain someone when I will ask you to? Due to certain circumstances, I can''t tell you anything more than this," Zero spoke again and Williamson didn''t look like he was satisfied with this answer, either.


    "I guess I will be leaving then," spoke Zero as he began walking towards the lift and Williamson arrived right in front of him as he spoke,"and what makes you think you can walk away from here?"


    ''So, is he going to force me? Now, what should I do? This is getting nowhere,'' I thought before turning back towards Anna and speaking,"I am giving you a chance to exin to Williamson what will happen if he doesn''t move from here."


    While Anna might have seen Zero''s Second Moon, it was quite sure that she did not know about this move being a sacrificial skill.


    "Grandpa¡­ you should ept Zero''s deal," spoke Anna with a half horrified face as she tried to muster some courage. Zero looked at him with a bit of a smile, as if everything was going ording to his n, and Williamson looked at Anna with a confused gaze as he asked," And why exactly should I?"


    "Well¡­ it is much better to be on his good side than to be on his bad side¡­ because if he gets angry, he has the power to kill you a thousand times over¡­" Anna spoke with fear as her eyes never left Zero, who was smiling at her with a bright expression as he thought,''perfect.''


    Williamson, a bit taken aback by her words, observed Anna''s face before asking,"did something happen while you were in the process of demonification?"


    Everyone present there was shocked, looked at Zero as if he were a monster before Anna replied, surprising them even more,"there was an enemy inside that dimension or something, which looked like a demon, a real one with horns and stuff. At first, I was hiding from the demon in hopes of survival, however just a few momentster¡­ Zero arrived inside that dimension¡­ and killed that demon easily as if he was killing a fly."


    Gulping in between and stopping to see my expression, she finally finished the telltale of what happened in the demon dimension. Funny how a small critical point can create such a misunderstanding.


    ''As long as it''s in my favour, I guess it''s fun,'' I thought as I looked at Williamson looking at me with a doubtful expression before he spoke," Are you sure that demon was strong? I do not doubt your words, but I don''t see anything special about his power level. As far as I can tell, he is only as strong as an E-Grade with the skills matching that of C-Grade. Maybe he has a few more skills to do what he can, but can he really defeat me?"


    "That demon¡­ was at least as strong as Lady Merlin," spoke Anna, making Eliza and Elle confused but an extremely shocked expression forms on Williamson''s face as he observes my nonchnt smile.


    "Are you sure? Are you talking about the same Merlin¡­?" Williamson asked with some doubt in his words and Anna nodded ever so slightly before speaking,"I am 100 percent sure about this. I have felt the danger equal, if not more, than that of Lady Merlin. If I had to say that if Zero and Lady Merlin fought in a one-to-one battle, using their most powerful move¡­ Lady Merlin won''tst for even a single second."


    Williamson looked at Zero with a deep gaze before he pondered over something and then brought out a Mana Contract in which he wrote only one sentence.


    [Zero shall answer one question of Williamson without hiding anything and that is,''How strong are you?'' "]


    And passed it to Zero, and he looked at it for a few moments before using his own blood toplete the process and then he looked at Williamson with a slightly dominant look as he spoke,


    "If I use my most powerful move without holding any kind of weapon¡­. I can obliterate 3 generation''s worth of your people in a single strike. Happy now?"

 Chapter 71 Planning For The Future#3

    Merlin Rose, her full name, Merlin Rosaline Luna, one of the SS-Rank in this world who is hidden from the world''s eyes. She is said to be someone who has arrived from the moon itself, which in essence is true, but overall an intricately fabricated lie. Her parents came from the moon and she was born on earth, though they died a few years after the war between Luna and Scarlet broke over a millennium ago.


    To be honest, it was more of a one sided annihtion than a war. Still, some strong ones did end up surviving from the losing race. That includes Merlin and a few more hidden ones throughout the world. They are still in hiding because the ancient surviving Scarlet''s are still on the hunt for them.


    Now, why are the Scarlets still hunting the Lunas even after millennia? That is because of the blood and mana pool. Does the blood of Luna taste good for the Scarlets? Ha! No, it''s just the opposite, it is a lethal poison to Scarlets. In other words, Lunas were a potential lethal threat to the Scarlet and will always be. Their blood burns the Scarlet''s blood, creating an explosion that is no less than a hand grenade. Though dwindled, the number of Luna is still in the thousands, currently, if I remember correctly.


    And other than Merlin, there is one more Luna with SSS-ss hiding in this world, living with the other Luna survivors, gathering strength to strike when the time is right.


    ......¡­..


    "If I use my most powerful move without holding any kind of weapon¡­. I can obliterate 10 generation''s worth of your people in a single strike. Happy now?"


    With these words, the atmosphere turned silent. Zero kept smiling at the others with a humble smile that looked more like a devil''s rather than a child''s. He then observed Williamson''s shocked and half panicking face before speaking,


    "That skill will be useful for your generation. I wouldn''t have shown it if I had the choice. Trust me, it is for the benefit of all of us if youply¡­ So would you like to make a deal?"


    Looking at his expression, he hesitated a bit before speaking,"Can I make a call and then respond?" And I nodded at him. I kind of knew who he would be calling, as there was only one person above him at this moment.


    After a few moments of silence, Williamson hurriedlyes back as he speaks,"we ept your condition, but we have an added condition of our own."


    Observing the traces of shock on his face, Zero observed him with a little bit of curiosity as his lips curled a bit upwards and narrowed at him. He took a step closer to Williamson as he spoke,"and what would that be?"


    Williamson observed him for a few moments before gulping and then speaking,"You have to meet Lady Merlin." Hearing his words Zero''s eyes opened up a bit with a sudden realisation as he looked at Williamson with a slight smile on his face despite him trying to keep hisposure.


    ''So she wants to take a risk, huh? Oh! How sweet the lives of Luna are! Revenge resides deep into their hearts, making them burn on the inside, until and unless they set themselves free from the curse of their oaths,'' Zero thought as he kept his focus on Williamson, who was waiting for his response.


    On the other hand, Annabeth had her eyes widened as she looked at Zero, while Elle had a slightly confused expression on her face. Eliza, on the other hand, just stood at a distance and watched the whole thing y out.


    In fact, she had a small smile as she saw Zero making the Rose dance within the palm of his hands without even a fight.


    "Well¡­ that shouldn''t be hard for me, all right? Then we will go with the first deal. You will provide me yourplete assistance when I ask you to do so," Zero spoke and then took out a mana contract before beginning to write on it. After a few moments, he threw the contract towards Williamson, who was still in his stupor. While Merlin did ask him to ept Zero''s condition. He did not know whether it was just for the second condition, that is to ''not kill'' a certain person, or for all the conditions which Zero mentioned.


    Though by the time he caught the mana contract, Zero had already vanished from there as if he had never existed. He tried to sense him but for some reason, his senses were partially blocked and from the looks of it they won''t be back to normal for another minute or so.


    Instead of finding out where Zero went, Williamson looked at the contract and began reading it over and over.


    Each and everything was more or less perfect. With the points mentioned in the contract, the Rose Family should not have any problems whatsoever. Though just for surety, he kept checking over and over until he was 100 percent sure about the whole contract being safe without any possible loopholes.


    Basically, other than the above-mentioned points, it also included the point of Zero having to teach Elle and Anna, the Pearl of the Moon Goddess, with some extra moves that could be beneficial to the Rose Family as well.


    "Annabeth," Williamson said as he turned to his granddaughter and continued with a serious voice,"I want to know everything that has happened without missing any detail."


    Annabeth nodded before


    -Tring


    A message came on Annabeth''s smartphone as [How about you start from looking into your brother on how he managed to get the Red Gem?]


    Annabeth''s face became shell shocked as she looked at Williamson, who, a bit curious about the message, moved closer to her before noticing the message. However, rather than a surprised expression, he narrowed his eyes at the message and then turned to Isaac Rose, who was still inside the trap.


    Williamson waved his hand, and the trap unlocked before he saw his grandson escaping out of the room and then ring at Williamson before shouting,"what the heck was that for?!!"


    His eyes were bloodshot, looking for an answer which he couldn''t get no matter how much he thought. He thought of certain possibilities of his ns being discovered before he dismissed them, as everyone involved in that n was dead except he himself.


    "Isaac¡­ why don''t we sign a mana contract and have a talk?" Williamson spoke and Isaac narrowed his eyes at him before looking at Annabeth and Elizabeth, who were also looking at him with doubtful eyes.


    Before anyone could react, Isaac spoke a chant,"[Selbstmord]" and Williamson arrived right before him¡­ however, his body began melting before turning hotter and hotter.


    "[Prison Of materials]" Williamson spoke and a transparent wall of prison formed all around the melted body of Isaac. Just after a few moments, the body exploded into pieces before everything evaporated into air.


    Williamson looked at that art and sighed before shaking his head as he said,"he escaped, huh? To think he knew that art at this age¡­ Let''s hope it doesn''t create any big trouble for us¡­" before turning to look at his granddaughters.


    "Let''s go, I will escort you to the Arcadia Academy from here onwards. Tell me the rest of the story on our way," Williamson spoke and began walking towards the lift and Elle, Anna and Eliza moved with him before Eliza spoke.


    "I am leaving now." as she moved inside the lift and then sighed as she waited for the lift to go down however¡­


    Williamson shook his head as he spoke,"young girl, you know too much. You areing with us."


    Hearing his words, Eliza''s eyes narrowed, and she turned to Williamson, who was looking at the door as he was in deep thought. She pondered over the decision on what she should do from now on. The lift reached downward, and the door began to open as she finally decided to make a run for it, however, before she could do so¡­


    -Ding


    The lift gates opened and a familiar face was standing in front of Williamson and the party¡­


    "I havee to pick you up," spoke the blonde haired middle aged man, William Laurentz, as he smiled at Eliza and then observed the face of Williamson, who looked like he was ready for a death battle.


    ''He is strong¡­ who is he?!'' Williamson thought, looking at the blonde man in front of him.


    "Now! Now! There are children here. Let''s do our own work and not interfere with each other, shall we?" William spoke before taking Eliza away from them and Eliza looked at him a bit surprised as she asked,"how did you know I was here?"


    William, not hiding anything, spoke in a slightly high voice so that Willianson could hear,"Zero sent a message about 10 minutes ago, saying it would be better if I were the one to pick you up from this ce. Though I did not know what it meant, I thought it would be important, so I came here as fast as I could."


    Williamson and the rest gulped as they heard his words, even Eliza was surprised before she smiled at the foresight and thinking process of Zero.


    Eliza and William soon left, leaving Williamson and his granddaughters in a stupor before all three sighed before moving towards their destination as Williamson spoke,"tell me how you met that girl too."


    Annabeth nodded on that too, as she couldn''t help but wonder if meeting Lucia was really just a coincidence. Was it Reaper''s n as well? Just how far has that guy calcted¡­ and what exactly is he nning to do?


    Her eyes were slightly shaken as she couldn''t help but think that whatever Zero was trying to do¡­ no way in hell it was going to be a small thing.

 Chapter 72 Planning For The Future#4

    "Thank you so much!! Thank you!! Thank you!!" She kept crying with relief as she bowed down to me and I sighed with a small smile as I looked at thedy in front of me.


    Currently, I was once again in the white dimension as I was on my way to meet us. It looks like there was another person whose fate I changed by the act I didst night. Her desire was quite simr to the previous boy with a small addition to wanting to see his husband even if it was through a screen. Though¡­


    "It hasn''t even been a day and there were already 2 murders, huh?" I thought as I looked at Elle inside the white dimension, who seemed to be lost in her thoughts.


    ''What is she thinking?'' a bit curious about what was going on in her brain, I looked at her and moved towards her, leaving thedy where she was. Though, finding me walking with curiosity towards her, it didn''t seem like she minded my behaviour.


    "Hey! What happened?" I asked her and then she snapped back into reality. She observed me with a nk expression before speaking,"You are still here?"


    I pondered over her words before turning to thedy who holds my exit ticket out of this dimension and reading my thoughts, she said,"I just thought you might need to talk about something."


    ''Thank you,'' I thought with a smile and she smiled back before I turned back to Elle and spoke,"So? What happened?"


    She looked at me with a deep gaze before she sighed and spoke,"no, it''s just that¡­ the current me and the Elle outside feel so different. It''s as if¡­ as if¡­ we areparing an adult to that of a child."


    Hmmm¡­ now that I think about it, it does seem true¡­ Does this dimension somehow increase the maturity level of people in it to that of the level of an adult? Because looking at it logically, it wouldn''t be the Elle outside in the real world who is abnormal but the one inside.


    [Bingo! That is correct. Your maturity does increase by a certain margin when you enter this dimension, but that also depends upon certain factors like your life choices and stuff, more on what kind of life you have lived. So rather than calling it forced maturity, it''s more of an elerated maturity. Also, it urs at the time when you die rather than in the white dimension itself.]


    "Guess so. You know, you could have asked that to Amon and he would have answered you, wouldn''t he?" I questioned Elle and she shook her head before speaking,"I just thought of it as soon as you entered. So, I couldn''t question Amon."


    "So what were you talking about?" Elle asked me, changing the topic and from her face she looks satisfied with the answer Amon gave her. I proceeded to exin everything to her from the start and then she nodded at it before speaking,"get used to it, I suppose. It won''t be thest time and soon it will only increase as you save more people."


    "Such a pain!" I wanted to rant, even though it is something that could potentially benefit me in many ways¡­ it clearly is a heavy piece of work.


    "Amon, I want to ask something else," I spoke and a nk screen arrived in front of me as if waiting for me to speak.


    "I met the original Rosalyn. I don''t know-"


    [I know. I saw. But I can''t tell anything.]


    I shut up at his message and sigh before pondering if I need anything else before I look at Elle and she shakes her head in a ''no'' as she reads my mind. I wanted to ask her if she has improved my skill, guess she still hasn''t.


    .......


    The area around Zero turns back to normal, and he returns to the cab, in which he was sitting before he entered the white dimension. Gazing outside the window, he saw that he had arrived at the gate of the Security Department. Asking the cab driver to move the car a few blocks ahead, he got out of the cab and chose a nearby ally before taking out hisputer and hacking into the security camera and editing a few scenes here and there into the recording to erase his traces.


    After that he changed into Reaper''s look and then vanished before carefully arriving into the main office where us along with a grey haired young man were waiting.


    ''Frey Linker,'' Zero recalled his name as he entered the room and Frey immediately got rmed as he watched the door through which Zero had entered.


    "Well, guess that''s what an A-Grade is for you," he said as he looked at Frey with his shining grey hair reaching up to his shoulder. His ck eyes looked at him with a deep gaze and he seemed to be analysing Zero to the best of his ability. Though, without a system rted to search and see through abilities, it would be near impossible for someone at that level to see through Zero unless he himself allows the  person in front to.


    "So we finally meet, huh? You look really young, to be honest," is what Frey spoke before gesturing to Zero to sit on the couch.


    Zero moved towards the couch as he answered,"looks like you were looking forward to this meeting. I feel honoured to be honest," Zero spoke as he smirked at Frey, making him feel a bit annoyed. Though honestly, if Zero had not any need for him, he might not really be here talking and wasting his time, would he?


    "Firstly, I would like to ask, what is your motive?" Frey asked without beating around the bush as he kept his eyes concentrated at Zero and Zero smiled at him as he positioned his index finger on his chin with question filled eyes and asked,"which motive? The one behinding here or the one behind ughtering that organisation?"


    "Both," Frey answered as he closed his eyes for a few moments and waited for Zero''s answer and Zero chuckled a bit before speaking,"Haha, I think it was more than clear why I ughtered the whole organisation. There is a limit to how inhumane you can be, after all. As for this meeting, I kind of need your help with something."


    At first he narrowed his eyes at Zero but the word ''help'' made him open his eyes a bit before he questioned,"what kind of help?" and Zero, with all honesty, told him what he wanted


    "Many crimes are beingmitted all over this city and honestly, I can''t watch over each and everything that has been going on in this city. So if I need your help with anything, however small, I will be asking you to do so, all the more so, since I will be leaving the city soon. Be my eyes and limbs, when I am not here or when I can''t reach everyone, that is what I want from your department."


    He looked at Zero for a few moments before he asked with a serious voice,"are you implying that we, the security department, arecking in our work?"


    "Well, that is more than given, isn''t it? Youck information, youck the support, youck manpower, youck a strong backing. The only thing that has kept this whole department standing was you, mister Frey Linker. If it hasn''t been for you, the security department would have long ceased to exist,"Zero spoke with a humble smile and his face turned a bit ashened at Zero''s words before he rxes back and then gives out a deep sigh as he massages his forehead with his hand.


    Then he looks at Zero and asks again,"so let me get this thing straight. You want to be a hero and save everyone, but since you can''t be everywhere, you want me to make my department do the work which we are supposed to do anyway?"


    A bright smile forms on Zero''s face as he nods at Frey, speaking,"exactly!!"


    He then looks at Zero dumbfounded before he shakes his head and speaks,"And exactly what do I, or perhaps the security department, get in return?"


    "Hmmm! I can give you a few training methods suitable for search and analysis to improve your overall basic structure while I can also provide you a strong backing by revealing that I am the one supporting you, though that is for you to decide. Maybe you can go and not tell people about me and have all the fame to yourself if you like? Is there anything specific you want? If it is not too much, maybe I can listen to your demands," Zero spoke as he pondered over it and Frey and us looked at him with their eyes open in somewhat disbelief.


    "Before we move on to the deal, I would like to know what mess I might be involving myself in. Can I ask you a question, Reaper?" Frey asked as he looked at Zero with a hint of fear in his voice.


    With curiosity in his voice, Zero aspoke,"Sure, go ahead."


    He looked at Zero¡­ gulped¡­ paused for a moment as his mana energy rose a little and then he asked,"Are you the owner of the System? Or¡­ is there any connection between you and the System?"

 Chapter 73 Quests

    In general, quests are rted to your system and the system will provide you with only those quests through which you can improve in the aspects rted to your system. A warrior system will givebat rted quests, or a cksmith will be given creation rted quests. Though at certain times, you may end up getting a quest not rted to your system, but rted to your work and other things. For example, you work in a school, but even if your system isn''t teaching rted, sometimes you might get a quest rted to teaching or something.


    Also, during emergencies there are quests given such as escaping, surviving, or fighting that are more of a self-sustaining quest that motivates you to survive and not die.


    Finally, there are event quests, which are more of a surprise quest and wille only if certain conditions are fulfilled. For example, you are in a fight against an opponent in a worldwide tournament and your chances of winning are less than 10 percent. In those conditions, you might get a quest to win and reap massive rewards, sometimes even a skill. It may or may not be rted to your system.


    Hmmmm¡­. Then there is another type of quest that not everyone one gets¡­ it would be really a massive event if anyone got that type of quest. They have a special name and an exclusive side of their own. They are known as¡­ The Conqueror''s Quest.


    As the name sounds, you will be given a time frame and an area to conquer. The major thing about this quest is that¡­ It sends you to another dimension for a definite time and the only way toplete this quest is either to conquer that area or wait for the given time to be over.


    .........¡­.


    "Are you the owner of the System? Or¡­ is there any connection between you and the System?"


    ''Huh? Wait! Wait! Wait! Does Frey have any ability that allows him to know other''s secrets or something? No, from what I remember he had an ability rted to leadership and security and nothing of that sort¡­ then¡­ what¡­ hmmm¡­ all right¡­ calm down¡­ Let''s see where this goes,'' Reaper thought with a smile on his face with no change in his temperament and asked,"I wonder what that means."


    Frey looked at him for a few moments before throwing a sheet in front of him and, looking at the sheet, Reaper saw that it was a survey sheet rted tost night''s event; the sheet showed the number of people who got a quest regarding those events.


    "What about it?" Reaper asked as he turns a little bit more serious and he sighs before observing us, who was also observing with a slightly frightful expression and then he began exining,


    "Although, we could make yesterday''s massacre as something more personal to you since you went all out. But we could still not understand the reason for everyone taking arms and attacking the organisation from all sides.


    It was as if everything was pre-nned so we thought you might have done something behind the scenes¡­ though when we asked the people who attacked about why they did so; we got something a bit more unexpected¡­ and that was that they got a mission rted to the organisation.


    Something along the lines of a lucrative reward in stat point, if they killed the organisation along with you. Now, it wouldn''t be noteworthy if it was just one or two people, but half of the city got that same mission¡­"


    Reaper observed us'' face with a smile as he thought ,''Holy F*ck! Amon¡­ are you the one responsible for this? If you are doing something like that, at least f*cking tell me beforehand, damn it. No sh*t they thought that I was rted to the system. Otherwise, who else has the authority to send quests other than the system itself?'' his smile looked quite humble over his calm and collected face.


    "It wasn''t me and also I did not know about the quest until you told me. Though it does make me curious¡­ why would everyone get the same quest.. Either it was to help me or¡­" he drifted off with his eyes turning red before turning back to normal and catching his words Frey spoke," or maybe¡­. it was specifically against the organisation."


    ''Good.. now with that thought process go dig up something useless and don''t bother me,'' Reaper thought before speaking,"So¡­ back to the main topic. Would you like to make a deal with me?"


    ? Frey snapped out of his thoughts and pondered over it for more than a minute or so before he sighs and answers,"I will add my own points into it," and Reaper nod at him.


    From there onwards, we formted the mana contract with the points that I will help him solve cases which he can''t and will also not misuse the department''s resources which I changed to, ''Reaper will not misuse the security department unless it is something that is very crucial to Reaper.''


    There were other simr points just to cover all loopholes and after everything was said and done, with pure curiosity Zero asked him onest time,"are you sure you want to work under me?"


    The fact that he built the whole organisation on his own made Reaper wonder why would Frey let him control it so easily and Frey answers with a slightly nostalgic face,"those bastards¡­ they took my wife and kid from me¡­ I racked my brains thinking of ways in which I could kill them but Icked the power to do so. You see, Reaper... This security organisation was made for the sole purpose to counter mafia organisations and keep them under check. It was built by my father because he lost his whole family except for me. He raised me to be strong enough¡­ only to result in history repeating itself, this time with me.


    Even though I wanted to kill them¡­ watching them being crushed like insects in that video was far more satisfying than you can imagine."


    Reaper saw Frey''s insane smile and that joy he had over his face when he recalled that video and the first thought that came into Reaper''s mind was,''he has lost it. Losing his family might have been the trigger¡­''


    He observed Frey with pity before both the parties signed the mana contract. Reaper then nodded at us before moving away from there¡­


    ''While I might need their help, I would rather try to make things work on my own,'' thought Reaper as he moved away from there.


    The only reason Reaper wanted to use them was because sometimes he might meet people in the white dimension, whose desire he can''t go and personally solve, because of various reasons. So at least he could use the security department at that time to make things smoother for himself.


    Reaper then moves out of the room and gets a cab to another part of the city after he changes his disguise and returns back to being Zero.


    He also erases his traces again as he begins thinking about everything that has changed and its impacts on the future. Looking at it, conclusively, it has shifted a few fragments of reality, but the others were still intact.


    ''Soon I will need to visit them too¡­'' Reaper thought as he smiled recalling the past before finally reaching the location where a woman was smiling happily with her husband. Reaper gets out of the cab and walks towards the couple and then speaks.


    "Excuse me, can you help me find a certain house around this part of the city?"


    The couple looks at Reaper and the husband observes him with a bit of annoyance before he looks at his wife who was chuckling and then turns at Reaper as he speaks,"well¡­ go on."


    Reaper smiles at him and then speaks,"This is the address," before taking out a paper on which an address was written, though looking at the paper the couple''s expressions immediately change as they turn to look at Reaper, who was gone from there.


    ''Well¡­ this should finish her work here,'' thought Reaper as he looked at the couple from the rooftop of a nearby building. The paper contained the name and number of an ount whose pin code stopped working a long time ago.


    It was the work of a highly influential mafia man who just wanted the family to suffer due to a personal feud against the husband. After mercilessly killing her husband and her child in front of her, he abused her while gloating over everything he did with them to f*ck them over.


    The woman in the white dimension was the same as this one and just wanted their life to be better, since she got a chance. She asked Reaper to give them the paper containing the ount details so that they can ess their savings, which would solve almost all of their problems.


    Watching them praying as if they had just seen a God, Reaper sighed before moving away from there.


    ''Now¡­ let''s train a bit before meeting Mark Leeway. Might as well prepare a few things for extra precautions before walking in the devil''s den.''

 Chapter 74 Volume 1: Epilogue

    A few dayster¡­


    Walking around the shopping centre, with heavy bags in their hands, Eliza and Cristine looked around with a smile on their faces. They kept going to one shop after another, with Lucia following them closely behind with a half tired expression.


    "How much more? We aren''t going on a vacation, you know?" Lucia spoke as she looked weirdly at the sisters and Cristine smirked in return as she spoke,"says the one who is taking the most time among all of us."


    "We are going to an unknown ce with ''Him'' and then we will be going to THE ARCADIA ACADEMY!!! Obviously we are going to shop to our heart''s content and it''s not like we have any more missions in Bryxton. Didn''t you see the news?" Eliza spoke as her eyes shone brightly at the thought of going to the Arcadia Academy while also keeping in mind about whatever was going on around the city.


    "Reaper killed another rapist, fugitive, murder and the security department''s sudden improvement in gathering and collecting information thanks to which they always end up arriving before the crime even takes ce? Sigh¡­ with him doing all that stuff, he ended up doing our side missions too. It''s frustrating that even after trying for two days and nights, I still can''t get even a single hint of what kind of person he is¡­" Lucia spoke as her half-tired expression turned into an exhausted one and she stopped to sit on a nearby bench.


    Observing Lucia sitting there, the sisters also sit on both the sides of Lucia with Cristine on the left and Eliza on the right.


    "Well¡­ at least he isn''t against us. Isn''t that a good thing already?" Cristine tried to cheer up Lucia, but she couldn''t help but sigh at her words as she recalled the message which she saw before.


    "Are you sure it is safe to travel with him?" asked Lucia as she turned to Cristine with a deep gaze and Cristine made a slightly relieving expression as she spoke,"mana contract."


    -Sigh


    A loud sigh escapes Lucia''s mouth as she then speaks,"I will being along with you guys," and Cristine ponders over it before speaking,"Well, I have to ask him about that."


    Then Lucia nods with a slightlyplex expression before she stands up and the other girls also begin moving behind her.


    .........


    Inside the Security Department, Frey was sipping coffee as he looked at the sudden increase of missions he had to assign to the people of his department. There was also a new structural design for the ranking and mission distribution chart, along with other details.


    The day after Reaper left, a message filled with a set of immediate actions came on Frey''s phone. There were also a couple of long-term ns to make the city more coordinated and peaceful. Frey couldn''t help but be astonished over all the nsid out by Reaper.


    -Knock knock


    "Come in," Frey spoke as he looked at the door in front and he saw using inside the office room as he spoke,"you called?"


    "Take a look at these," spoke Frey as he pointed to the papers and sheetsid out in front of him and us began picking them up before reading them.


    The more he read the more astonished he became before his eyes darted to Frey''s as if they were asking ''is it him?'' and Frey nodded in return at which he couldn''t help but close his eyes for a few moments before opening them in astonishment.


    "Tell me us. What do you see?" Frey asked as he sipped his coffee and us after reading the chart once again pondered for a few moments as he spoke,"If things work as it is written in this¡­ our department will became a supreme power in Bryxton, most likely within this year or the next¡­..which in return means, Bryxton will be under theplete control of Reaper."


    Both us and Frey looked at each other and they couldn''t help but wonder if it was the right decision to sign the mana contract or not¡­


    "Well¡­ it''s not like he is doing anything wrong¡­ in fact, he is beginning to be more like a hero in the eyes of themon man¡­ us. What do you think about him?" Frey spoke as he looked at us and he sighed as he spoke,"how many times are you gonna ask that question? I really do not know. Sometimes he feels like he is a hero upholding justice, other times he seems like a cunning strategist who just wants to get everything under his control¡­ and worst of all, it feels like he will be waging war against someone and he is trying to collect as many people at his disposal as possible."


    Frey then looks at theplex expression of us before sipping his coffee, only to notice it''s over and then he sighs before speaking,"Let''s get some fresh air. Do you know any coffee shops nearby?"


    .........¡­


    "Anything else you want from here?" ask ir as she purchased thevish dress and looked at her twin sister who had violet hair and violet eyes, differing from her orange ones. The other girl shook her head as they both headed to the reception and ir''s sister spoke.


    "Make the bill in the name of Emma Redfield and ir Redfield."


    "Now, where to next?" asks ir with a joyful face. However, Emma red at her before speaking,"Home. We are going home now."


    "Ehhh??!! But we have so much money right now? He even said that we can spend the extra money however we want and also clearly emphasised that, we must look like high-profile people and not just some country bumpkins," spoke ir pouting as she looked at her sister with a face that said ''I want to shop more. I won''t get another chance like this'' at which Emma sighs before repeating the same thing which she said a while ago in a slightly hushed voice,


    "I don''t trust him. I know he saved your life and the others¡­ and he also did many good things that he is being portrayed as a hero by Bryxton¡­ but all this hiding and faking his status and all? I can''t help but feel like he is trying to do something shady behind all the acts of heroism and someday he will turn out to be a devil or something. Do you know who will be the one with the most losses?"


    ir looked really exhausted with her sister''s behaviour but still asked, making a ''curious'' face,"who?"


    "US!!!" Emma shouted with anger as she looked at the dumb face of ir and couldn''t help but hold her head in disappointment. ''Just when did she get this dumb?'' thought Emma as she sighed¡­ ir held her hands and then dragged her towards another shop as she spoke,"at least it is better than our regr lives. Nobody knows what is going to happen in the future, even our regr life is no exception¡­ So why not enjoy the process and leave the future for when ites?"


    Emma looked at ir for a few moments before sighing and then moving inside the shop with a defeated expression.


    ..........


    "So you''re telling me he ising here in 3 days, huh? Isn''t that kind of¡­ earlier than expected?" spoke Mark Leeway as he looked at Rheo Dcruz, whom Mark sent to observe over Reaper.


    "He will be arriving here with some other guests," Rheo spoke with an awkward expression as he scratched the back of his head. Though, Mark didn''t seem like he was bothered by this¡­ instead, a joyful expression was present on his face. His daughter was going to be cured soon and, like any other normal father, he couldn''t help but feel happy about this. Still, he had something that told him that this visit of Reaper''s would be anything but normal.


    "Reaper has emphasised that he can only cure your daughter if you have the things he mentioned ready," Rheo spoke out and Mark nodded as he had already collected all the necessary materials, some by himself, on the day that Reaper told him about them.


    "Rheo¡­ tell me. What are the odds of him working with us?" Mark asked as he pondered over the situation of the Bryxton. Clearly, he can see that Reaper is taking over Bryxton all by himself, though it didn''t bother him much since he is nning to be an ally of Reaper''s rather than standing against him.


    "Will he work for us? No! Will he work with us? I guess, yes. From my observation, he seems to be gathering strong people and already has many of them in his pocket and since he has a fair deal with us without any twists and stuff, I guess he wants us to be his allies too," Rheo spoke.


    Mark pondered over it before he sighed as he spoke with dominance in his voice,"It is your responsibility to bring him here safely without any problems. I hope you understand that clearly."


    Rheo nodded with a serious face before hanging up on the call as he clearly knew what would happen with him, if something were to happen to Reaper right now.

 Chapter 75 Volume 2: Prologue

    Volume 2: Battle at the Iredale Castle


    ....


    "So it wasn''t you who gave the quest?" I ask Amon as I once again find myself back in the white dimension. I have already helped out over a dozen people, yet, there seems to be no stoppage in peopleing here.


    Further still, at least once in a while, the people give me a chance to talk to Amon and Elle, despite their own urgency, so it''s fine.


    [Nope. Quests are given for the benefit of a race as a whole in general, along with a logical path that doesn''t cause ack ofmon sense. Like the organisation belonged to Vampires and Demons in a way, so to get the best oue for humans was to get rid of that particr organisation.]


    "Couldn''t it have been done before I interfered or something? Why exactly at the same time when I was killing them?" I inquired a bit confused as I recall whatever happened back then and the answer came was¡­


    [Because it involved Demitri and the First Vampire Queen. If people had fought the organisation before, they might have lost brutally and even if by some stroke of luck they had defeated Demitri, it would have set Rosaline free, and that would have created chaos, and the whole of Bryxton could have ended up under her control, which all in all was detrimental to the humans]


    "So, you are telling me that all the quests are not given as individual quests, but over cumtive group quests that are aimed towards the betterment of an entire race?" I asked again to confirm as my eyes widened with the sudden realisation behind the workings of the system.


    Now that I think about it, it does make sense, especially whenpared with what happened after the second Cataclysm, when the parasites invaded.


    If I remember correctly, people did have a lot of quests all rted to one city at a time rather than being scattered all over the ce. It was as if the System wanted them to work together. Guess this was the reason¡­


    "Though it makes me even more curious. Why does the System work like this? What do you want to do exactly?" I ask Amon with a really curious expression and the answer I get is


    [I can''t tell you, yet. You are not ready]


    -Sigh


    After that, I asked a few more minor questions rted to the event that had transpired to make sure everything checked out and once I was sure that everything was fine, I moved towards Elle.


    "Why did you allow Lucia toe with you?" She asked me ringly. After hearing what Lucia did with me, she was really angry with her and I yawned before speaking.


    "If I don''t do it. Lucia will kill both Cristine and Eliza long before I could do anything. She has this habit of keeping her people close to her and anyone who strays too far dies. Though, it''s not all bad since William too will be joining us and I can use him to safeguard my life against Mark Leeway''s family when I will be in that castle."


    Elle looks at me with an analysing gaze before speaking,"was it necessary to save Cristine and Eliza? One or two less people should not change your ns by much, won''t they?"


    I observed her eyes, which seemed confused and irritated. Looked like she didn''t want me to take Lucia at all. I can more or less understand her behavior as I personally would have either killed Lucia or totally avoided her but¡­


    "Cristine had an ability called Soul Needle Darts, which she unlocked just a few months before dying. That ability was practically useless until the third Cataclysm came. After the third Cataclysm, some people could capture souls and trade them for money and other stuff.


    ? While I personally hunted those bastards, there was a certain person that had a special ability to cancel off the effects of soul capturing. It is more of a gamble, but if I am not wrong, the ability of Cristine, which she would unlock, will have a simr effect if not the same and I won''t give up on that ability no matter what."


    I told her my reasons, and she looked at me with a slightly shocked face. While I did tell her about the future, I skipped out a lot of information and hence her reaction was normal.


    -Sigh


    She sighs before she sits on the floor with her feet spread and then falls on her back as she closes her eyes. I look at her exhausted face as she asks,"Tell me Zero. What do you think about Lucia right now?"


    For a few moments I pondered over that question as I recalled whatever happened in the past and then a burning sensation creeped up from the inside and I said,"I think I hate her more than anything in my entire life."


    "I am not talking about that Lucia, but this Lucia. The current timeline, Lucia, has nothing to do with what the past Lucia did. How do you see this situation?" she asked again without opening her eyes and I came face to face with the question which I was trying to avoid ever since I came here.


    I hated the previous Lucia¡­ If I see her again, I will kill her even if it costs me my life maybe¡­ but this one¡­ I don''t know.


    "I hate her too and I will never get along with her¡­ but do I hate her enough to kill her brutally on the spot? I don''t know. Personally, I would like to keep her as a stranger and only use her when I can¡­ else, I would just prefer to be strangers. If she ends up meddling with my business too much, I won''t hesitate to kill her, I suppose. All this might sound confusing but¡­ this is what I feel about the Lucia of this timeline," I tell her my feelings honestly and Elle opens her eyes and she moves closer to me as she speaks,


    "Don''t worry. I will make sure you don''t end up with that manipting bitch ever. How does that sound?"


    I looked at her determined face and chuckled a bit as I answered,"all right, partner. As you say."


    "All right, so before you leave again. Look at this," Elle spoke as she creates distance between us and then took out her sword and spoke out loud,


    "[MOON GOD''S FIRST DANCE: SWORDLESS]"


    And then swords began forming all around her  and started swirling in a rapid circr motion. At the centre of the sword dance, there was Elle standing there as she spoke,"Half of the swords are created from skill bursts which cost stamina while the other half from mana."


    ''Hmmm.. a mana effective sword attack, huh? Not bad but still¡­ with the amount of stamina I have, it would still not be feasible to make this attack work,'' I thought and Elle nodded before speaking.


    "Rather than concentrating on stamina, I would like you to practise this move with regards to mana. Later on you can use these forms with blood sacrifice and stuff," she spoke and my eyes turned a bit wide as I looked at her with surprise in my eyes.


    "So it''s an escape move rather than abat one, huh?" I spoke, and she nodded before speaking,"Amon, can I ask you for something?"


    [Sure. Go ahead!]


    "Can you create an exact copy of someone? And can you make it so it can be a training partner for either me or Zero?" She asks again and understanding where she was going, my eyes turn wide open as I look at her smartness¡­ or maybe I was just an idiot to not realise it earlier.


    [There will be some minor limitations, but I guess I can. As long as it does not disturb the energies of this dimension]


    Looking at that message, a bright smile forms on Elizabeth''s face as she looks at me and says,"while it may not be exactly helpful in many real time situations, I think it will be helpful in more than one way."


    And hearing her words, all I answered was,"yeah. I understand itpletely. In fact, I think I can exploit this feature way more than you can imagine, Elle."


    My eyes then turn at the small kid of about 10 years old, sleeping a bit away from here. It was him who brought me this time to the white dimension and his desire was simple¡­ he wanted to see his helper, one of the SSS-sses who coincidentally saved him a long time ago, and also pass on a thank-you message to him.


    Before him, there were a few more women with simr conditions and a few old men with their small yet fierce desires. Though, rather than letting me stay here, they pushed me out of the white dimension immediately without giving me a chance tomunicate with Amon or Elle.


    I then turn back to Elle, who seemed to be waiting for mymand, and I nodded at her before speaking.


    "Amon, summon a clone of Mark Leeway at his prime power level."

 Chapter 76 Character Introduction: Mark Leeway; The Copy System User

    And there was him, standing, in his prime form, in front of me, Mark Leeway.


    The Copy System User.


    [Name: Mark Leeway; King Maker


    Level: 129


    ss:Undefined


    Mana Type: Water(Locked) Earth(Locked) Air(Locked) Fire(Locked)....


    Attack: 134


    Defence:78


    Strength: 192


    Wisdom: 89


    Intelligence: 102


    Mana: 164320/164320


    Stamina: 7086/7086


    Special Skills:


    Infinite Copy: Can copy any system which the user has seen.(No limit)


    Overdrive: Can use the most powerful moves of the System he copied for at least 2 hours. Cooldown: 7days.


    Multi Copy: Can use all the Systems the user had copied all at once for 5 mins straight. Cooldown: 5years.


    Alert: The user is under a curse which limits the user to use only one skill at a time before he recharges it. There also will be an additional cooldown of another 24 hours once the System cools down finishes. Forcefully using the skills during the cooldown period might kill the user.]


    I see the system panel of Mark Leeway disyed in front of me and yawn a bit before creating a steel sword in my right arm. If I need to survive fighting against him at my current power, I need to make sure I understand which system he is using.


    ''Luckily, the database had all the systems which this guy had ever copied or seen¡­ though that only makes him all the more dangerous,'' I think as I take a deep breath and then speak,


    "Unlock the ck Shadow System and Dark Mana Type."


    -ng


    I see himshing towards me as soon as I finish my words and I immediately move to block his shadow sword with my steel one. Currently, there are four major systems, one of which is most likely the one which Mark Leeway is using.


    The ck Shadow System


    The Poison God''s Heritage System


    Cure of All Healer God''s System


    Resurrection System


    While the first one has the ability to use shadows by manipting it in different ways, the others show his desperation in trying to save his daughter. Despite being one of the potential strongest men in this world, in front of the curse through which his daughter is suffering, he couldn''t be more ordinary than he already was.


    -ng


    -ng


    -ng


    ''Blood Sacrifice: First Moon,'' I chanted as blood fills my skin and my speed and strength increases and I began countering his attacks


    -ng


    -ng


    -ng


    "[Shadow Creation: One ne]" he spoke, and the ground turned all ck and immediately he vanished from my front and the next thing I found was myself dead¡­


    Before I gain my consciousness back as I get resurrected at a distance away from him. I blink with a slightly shocked expression as I observe his move¡­ he created a thousand shadow swords not just from below me but also above and all around me, leaving me no space to run away.


    I look at his emotionless face and once again begin moving towards him, this time with a different approach as I exchange my sword with a bow and arrow. While I am more proficient with my sword, it would be better if I used a more ranged weapon.


    "Begin,"


    -Swish


    I sense him behind me and I jump up and he raises his sword, creating a cloud of shadows and not even after a moment, a rain of ck shadows begins pouring down on me. Before I could even aim, the rain touched me and then¡­ I die.


    I get resurrected at a distance and then I crack my fingers before I move towards him again, with my bow and arrow.


    "Begin."


    This time, I ran towards him and let him attack me, but before he could reach to attack; I moved behind him using a sh step, making him jump a few steps ahead as once again the ck ne forms and, not caring about my life; I shot the already aimed arrow at him. Then¡­ I die.


    I resurrect, only to find that the Mark Leeway I just killed was a shadow, and I look around to see the real Mark Leeway in the air at a distance.


    Once again¡­ I take a step towards him¡­ and speak "Begin."


    While I know that the difference between an SS-ss and my current max power of A-ss is iparable, I still need to find a way out of this loop. I need to know all his moves and find ways to counter them.


    While I know that I might not even need to fight against Mark Leeway, I still need to make sure that I don''t die. Earlier I was nning to use some deals and ways to make sure he doesn''t attack me along with extra back up ns like emergency teleportation stuff. Heck, I even managed to get William along with me with some stroke of luck¡­ but if I could add anotheryer of protection, then why the heck not?


    I die again and then I start again, this time with a certain artefact which helped me increase my mana momentarily. It helped mest a few seconds more.


    Mark Leeway¡­ used to be a kind man before his own friends and histe brother tried selling him to his enemy in exchange for power and money. While they themselves could not control him, they took help from other people and even used some of his other family members to wrong him.


    When that did not work either, they sold his only daughter to the organisation as a bait¡­ however, that was a mistake. Mark Leeway used his newly found power to wipe out the entire organisation by himself. He was dubbed as a monster from that moment.


    To take control of him, another SS-ss, hidden from this world, moved and then used his special powers to stop his growth. He was going to kill Mark Leeway, but when he found out theplete truth, he was utterly shocked and he wondered if what he did with Mark Leeway was right or wrong. Though it was toote, since the curse had already been ced.


    Things took a turn for worse, when it was found out that Mark Leeway''s daughter, Bete Leeway, was suffering from a disease that is unknown to this world. In anger, Mark Leeway set out on a rampage, killing hundreds of people and monsters alike; he became more like a monster than the ones he killed. When he finally came back to his senses, he kept crying for weeks in regret before he stood up and was determined to find a cure for his daughter.


    But fate was cruel because the disease through which Bete was suffering was from outer space. It was one of the diseases which the parasites brought into Vermillion. Yeah¡­ the parasites, even though they attacked during the second Cataclysm, had started to leave their traces at a very miniscule level on Vermillion for a long time.


    During the first Cataclysm, Bete died a very painful death in front of his father who was killed by the Half-Elf King in a different country. It was a painful story that sent chills down to generations and also fanned the mes of hatred of humans against the half-elves.


    "Begin." once again I speak and run towards him with my bow and arrow intact. This time I am using light magic instead of shadow ones. While being more proficient in Shadow Magic, I could control even Mark Leeway''s shadows to some extent, it wasn''t really helping.


    -ng


    -ng


    This time, he blocked my arrows and took a few steps back. I see the ne turning ck again and I fill my feet with Light magic, erasing the shadow and then¡­ I die from the attack from the other side.


    "Isted a bit longer than before," I said as I looked at Elle, who was observing me with a slightly sad look on her face along with the kid who was awake now. I see their tear-filled eyes as they read my thoughts. I sigh before turning towards the emotionless clone of Mark Leeway.


    Those experiments which were done in the facility on humans and other races were mostly because of his desperation to find a way to cure his daughter. He had been termed as an inhuman animal who will do anything to achieve his goal. He wouldn''t care who you are as long as he thinks he may achieve his goal using you.


    If he thinks that killing you is going to bring his daughter''s health back to normal¡­ you are as good as dead.


    -Sigh


    I sigh before speaking again,"Begin," and then once again dash towards him as I narrowly dodge his attacks. I must find a way to make sure I survive more than just a few minutes against his attacks using the skills I have in my arsenal currently.


    After this, I also need to make sure I fight against the rest of the family members of Mark Leeway and then finally fight against all of them one by one. Since we are at it¡­ we might as well go all out on this one.


    And thus began my struggles of training for a fight, which if took ce, I am not supposed to survive.

 Chapter 77 Meeting At The Airport

    -And today we will be looking at the findings of the crash of flight no. 176 that was flying from Bluemoon City to Arcadia City. With 347 deaths and only 2 survivors, it was really tragic what happened to those people. The current¡­


    The flight to Iredale will take another hour before it takes off, still Zero was sitting in the waiting area at the airport. Wearing a thin ck coat over his white shirt and a ck jeans he was currently reading a diary which includes a number of things he needed to do in the Iredale Castle where Mark Leeway and his family resides.


    "Hey! Can I sit here?" a certain young woman of about 18 asked Zero as she pointed at the empty seat right beside his. Zero nodded before shifting a bit and then immersed himself back in the diary. The blonde-haireddy, a bit curious about what he was reading, took a peek in his diary and what she saw made her confused as she turned to Zero before asking,"What¡­ are you doing?"


    ? Zero turned to thedy and took a clear look at her. Blonde, green eyes with a mark of Profisportler that said that she was a pro athlete and a golden wristband with a white-coloured emblem embossed on it that showed that she was an alumnus of the Arcadia Academy.


    ''Hmmm¡­ nope, I don''t remember her. Well, I guess I could entertain her a bit to pass the time,'' Zero thought as he spoke,"I have an ink and a special sight customized exclusively for me that allows me to write with letters that only I could see and read."


    Hearing his words, a slightly amazed expression appears on the face of that girl as she exims while grabbing his arms,"that''s so cool!!" she had stars sparkling in her eyes as she shook Zero without caring about the looks the others were giving her and Zero.


    "What''s yo-Mmmph Mph.." Zero blocked her mouth with his hand as he red at her before speaking,"will you calm down? You are gathering unnecessary attention."


    "COUGH COUGH!!" A loud cough came from the side and both Zero and the blonde girl turned to the other side, only to find three heavenly beauties standing there.


    Looking at them, everyone at the airport was dumbfounded, as they couldn''t help but keep gazing at them. The blonde-haired girl even blinked a few times before Zero spoke.


    "You guys arete."


    Hearing his annoyed words, the blonde girl couldn''t help but shockingly look at him all over again. Zero looked good, and she was hoping to score with him for the time being¡­ but she didn''t think that herpetition would be these beauties.


    "Well¡­ we were in a bit of a pinch. Though it doesn''t look like you had any problem waiting for us. So, will you tell us who is she? Or¡­" Ask Cristine in a bit of an analysing and mischievous voice as she looked at the blonde girl. To be honest, she already understood what was going on, but looking at the way that blonde girl was trying to approach Zero, Cristine couldn''t help but think of having some fun with the situation.


    "She is Linda Brown. She is also going along with us to Iredale as a counsellor for a certain someone," Zero spoke as he closed his diary and looked around for a ce where enough space was present for all of them to sit.


    ''Mana sense,'' he spoke as he looked around to find William sitting at a distance and Rheo too. He looked in their direction one by one and both of them smiled at his ability before continuing to do their own work.


    "Let''s go," he said, but before he could move that girl¡­ Linda spoke with a deep gaze as she looked at Zero,"who are you?" There was slight fear in her voice and Zero spoke before anything could escte further,"I am Zero. Can you put your mana sense back to normal? There are children here who are getting nauseous because of the mana pressure generated by that. I just happened to read your name tag and I know a bit about the badges of Arcadia Academy, that''s all."


    Well¡­ Arcadia Academy did have multiple badges for different jobs and events, so much as to have one that differentiates between a guy who is both a guard and a student, against a normal student or a normal guard.


    Hearing his words, she looked at Zero with a surprised expression and a smile came on her face as the worrypletely vanished. Then, watching the rest of the gang moving towards the empty space, Zero also moves and Linda follows him instinctively.


    Lucia, who was watching everything unfold, kept quiet as she sat a distance away from Zero while she kept analysing him over and over. As for Eliza, she was busy ying a game on her smartphone while Cristine, feeling bored, kept racking her head for something mischievous, though it only made her expression seem funny.


    "So where are you going in Iredale?" Zero sits on the seat and asks as he looks at Linda and she sits before speaking,"Iredale Castle."


    Hearing her words, everyone from Zero to Cristine and William to Rheo looked at that girl with a slightly stupefied face before she spoke again with a bit of pride.


    "Don''t look at me like that. I just happen to know someone in that castle. She said that she wanted to enrol in the Academy along with a certain someone, so she needed a counsellor and here I am flying to help her out. You can''t miss a potential client like Leeway''s now, can you?"


    Her words reflected the joy she had on her face and Zero smiled back at her as a slightly mischievous smile formed on his face as he looked at Cristine, who seemed to be thinking the same thing which he did and then¡­


    "Hey Linda, can I ask you what you do in the Arcadia Academy? I want to enroll in the academy as well. Can you help me too?" Zero spoke with a smile and Linda observed his expectant face before she spoke whileughing,"Ah! Haha! It''s not that easy, idiot!" as she hit Zero''s back with a heavy pat as her eyes spoke,''don''t joke about it.''


    Though as she observed more and more, she saw the seriousness in his eyes not shaking at all and then after she stoppedughing she asked again,"you are joking, right?"


    Zero shakes his head and looks at Linda with a deep gaze as he speaks,"Linda. I am hundred percent sure about going to the Arcadia Academy. Aren''t you a counsellor? Surely you must have some ''tips and tricks'' to get into the academy, don''t you?"


    Hearing his words, a small sigh escapes her mouth, and she begins pondering about something really hard before she sighs and then speaks with a smile,"I need to go to the bathroom. Can you give me a minute?" before standing up and moving away from here.


    Cristine, who was observing everything with keen interest, hurriedly moved beside Zero and said,"What are the odds of hering back?"


    "Below zero," he answered her with the same smile before adding,"Iredale Castle won''t be that boring, I suppose," as he kept observing the back of Linda before she vanished. Cristine chuckled a bit before speaking,"Guess so."


    Lucia and Eliza sigh after observing the faces which Zero and Cristine were making before they looked at Linda with pity in their eyes. After that, everyone turned back to their own things.


    Time passes a bit slowly from there. During thest visit to the white dimension, Zero had fought over 1000s of times and, after struggling for so long, he was able to barely survive fighting against all the family members of the Leeway family all at once. Though the time of survival was merely 10 seconds. Still, it was better than definite death, which he had to go through countless times in the beginning.


    He also picked up a few tricks as he fought, while also getting more and more battle experience when fighting against a powerful enemy by 100s of folds.


    -Flight no. 12 is going to depart in 25minutes. Passengers are requested to start boarding the ne.


    -Flight no. 12 is going to depart in 25minutes. Passengers are requested to start boarding the ne.


    The announcement was made, and everyone soon moved inside the ne before sitting in their respective seats. The flight took off and not even an hour had passed until something happened¡­


    A couple of massive private jets arrived right beside the airne on both sides. Before people could realise, a pathway was connected between the private jet and that of the airne following which the emergency door of the ne opened and soon a man entered.


    While everyone was surprised yet terrified to see the man, Zero smiled as he expected this development to take ce before the flight even took off. Zero stood up and then began to move towards that man as he spoke with a slight smirk,


    "It is an honour to meet the SS-ss Ranked, Mark Leeway."

 Chapter 78 Shortcut To Iredale Castle

    Linda Brown was a counsellor that had worked hard striving to achieve the position she holds today. Currently she is in the 3rd year of the 5 year course, who specialises in both athletics andbat. While this was all true, the best thing about Linda was her A-ranked Haste Mage System that focused primarily on any speed rted abilities she had.


    Currently, single and in search of a fake boyfriend that would allow her to escape the lies she had told to her best friend, Irene Leeway, the cousin sister of Bete Leeway, she was slightly uneasy with the situation andck of time she had.


    She looked at the white-haired boy sitting a few seats ahead of her and sighed as she thought,''Just another poor soul that wants to get into Arcadia Academy using shortcuts.''


    If she had the ability to let him in through the backdoor, she might have tried it but honestly, even if he had entered the Arcadia Academy, with the poor mana level he had, he won''t even survive one month, forget about 5 years.


    The atmosphere of the academy isn''t forgiving to weak people with low mana potential. Someone like Zero would never survive that ce.


    -MMMMM!!


    A strange vibratory sound began echoing throughout and turning to the window, Linda was dumbfounded as, through the window, she saw a massive private jet flying beside their flight.


    ''Are we getting hijacked?'' She panicked as she thought of the events that might unfold and began thinking of ways by which she might survive. Besides her own survival, for some reason, she also thought about methods to save Zero as well (and not the other three girls).


    Though before she could do something, in an instant the emergency door opened and a ckish-orange haired man entered the airne and looking at him, his features couldn''t be more expressive than anything to show the identity of that man.


    ''Mark Leeway,'' tightening the grip on the handle of her seat, she stopped her breathing to make sure he did not notice her. Despite seeing him more than once, she was utterly terrified and scared of him. If she had the choice, she would never get even 100s of kilometres closer to him, but s, making Irene Leeway angry wasn''t the solution to it either.


    Much to her surprise, the white-haired kid, Zero, stood up without any trace of hesitation or fear on his face and began walking towards Mark Leeway.


    Linda wanted to stop Zero, but the fear that had rendered her motionless stopped her from speaking, moving, or perhaps even thinking properly. Though¡­


    "It is an honour to meet the SS-ss Ranked, Mark Leeway."


    Spoke Zero confidently as he looked at Mark Leeway and it made almost everyone on the flight gasp at the bravery of that boy. Mark Leeway, however, returned the greeting with a smile,"I thought you might get impatient waiting, so I came to pick you up."


    If it were possible, Linda''s eyes might have fallen down after jumping out of her sockets. Her mouth was already opened wide enough to fit a couple of eggs into them.


    It wasn''t just her but everyone else in the flight making the same expression. Even Lucia, Eliza and Cristine weren''t an exception to it. They had the expression of ''wasn''t it just a trip to purify Eliza? Why did nobody tell me about Mark Leeway?'' written all over their faces.


    "Is it me, or are you the one who''s getting impatient? Well.. I have brought some friends over. Hope you have some snacks over there," spoke Zero as he turned around and then said,e with me. We are changing flights and, yeah, don''t tell anyone about this, will ya?"


    He had a wide smirk on his face and many of the flight attendants were tempted to punch that smirk off his face, but the presence of Mark Leeway didn''t allow them to do so.


    The first one to stand was Rheo¡­ then William, Eliza, Cristine, and finally Lucia followed. As he saw all of them walking, his gaze turned to Linda, who was observing him like the other passengers. And he smiled before speaking,"Come with us. No point in wasting time, is there?"


    ''But there is that guy!!!'' she wanted to scream, but she just kept quiet after she snapped out of her thoughts and then slowly stood up before following Zero and the others. Though, from the point she stood up, her gaze never left Zero as she tried her best to understand who Zero was, though despite trying very hard, she can''t seem to remember if she had seen anyone like him.


    Once all of them collected near the emergency gate, Zero turned around to face the passengers and moved a few steps ahead as put his hands in his pocket.


    His eyes soon turn red as he mutters,''Charm of the Deep Sea: Transitional Memory nk'' and then everyone focuses into his deep red eyes and soon falls asleep. Looking at his spell, Linda was shocked while the rest of them were smiling at his act. Though¡­ Lucia had aplicated look on her face¡­ after all, it was one of her spells, which she had in her arsenal for special situations.


    Then everyone moved out of the flight, to the private jet of Mark Leeway. There Zero moves forward, even ahead of Mark, and steps into the private jet only to find a face that he had seen only in files, in his previous life.


    Red-haired, with two ponytails, a pale white face and dark ck eyes that looked more of a demon''s than that of a human. Wearing a ck one piece over her thin frail body, she was sitting there sipping something as she turned to the guests. Her eyes traced the guy who was supposed to save her and she pointed at the empty seat in front of her, asking him to sit there.


    Zero began walking as he spoke,"enjoy yourselves in the ne. I will be entertaining her for the time being along with Mark Leeway." Hearing his words, everyone peeked at Mark to see his reaction. However, he seemed to be calm about it as he nodded before walking behind Zero and sitting right beside Bete.


    Even though everyone was curious and wanted to hear what they were going to talk about, either out of fear or respecting their privacy, they let the trio talk all by themselves.


    Zero then looked at Bete before speaking,"whatever I am going to tell you today. You must not tell anyone, no matter who it is or what it is, is that all right?" Bete looked at her father, who nodded and in turn she, too, nodded at Zero.


    "All right, first thing first. Your disease isn''t a curse but a parasitic disease," he spoke and the duo simply looked at him as if waiting for him to finish his words and he looking at them turned a bit serious before he continued,


    "This parasite, in general, is from space. It honestly should not exist in this ce, not yet at least¡­ but still it does somehow. I have a way to extract the parasite out of her but once it is out, I will need you to kill that parasite and when I tell you to kill," Zero gazed deeply into the eyes of Mark Leeway and continued in a serious voice,


    "I mean, use everything in your arsenal to kill it. That parasite will almost be around an SS-ss grade monster type enemy. You will need William''s help too, along with your family''s. I won''t be able to join the fight for the first 5 minutes or so, because I will be curing the remnants of the damage that parasite had left inside your daughter."


    Zero stopped a bit, then filled the ss in front of him with water before gulping down a big chunk of it and then speaking again.


    "The whole process will take about a week. I will need the materials you have collected along with a wide open space to draw a massive circle. Though, don''t worry, I will be using my own power to charge it¡­ can you do that?"


    Hearing his words, Mark looked at Zero for a few moments before he sighs as he spoke,"All right. I will do it." Surprised at her father''s words, a smile blossoms on Bete''s face as she looks at her father.


    "You are using a truth identifier, aren''t you?" asked Zero without any surprise in his voice and Mark nodded. Though they are rare and costly, every high-ss person has one or other way of identifying the truth. It makes things easy in various ways¡­


    ''Though there are ways to bypass everything in a way,'' Zero thought as he recalled certain cases where people lost their ability to trust when someone lied and stole their everything as they bypassed the truth detector.


    "Though before all of that happens, there is another thing that I need your help with. How about we make another deal?" Zero asked with slight seriousness in his voice as he looked at Mark.

 Chapter 79 Another Deal With Mark Leeway

    "Though before we discuss more about all that, there is another thing that I need your help with. Mark Leeway, how about we make another deal?" Zero asked with a hint of seriousness in his voice as he gazed at Mark''s face.


    Hearing his words, Mark smiled at Zero as if he expected this to happen and in return he nodded at him, at which Zero continued before he got a bit closer to Mark and spoke in a slightly hushed voice,"I can remove your curse as well."


    Mark''s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Zero. Not because of the fact that Zero knew the solution to the curse which was put on Mark, but because Zero himself approached Mark first rather than waiting for Mark to approach.


    Normally, it should have been Mark who was supposed to approach Zero and ask for his help because¡­ well, it was Mark who was suffering. As he saw Zero''s serious face, a certain thought popped up into Mark''s mind, and that was that, the problem which Zero needed his help with, should at least be equal to his situation or perhaps maybe even higher.


    "What do you want in return?" Mark asked not only through a negotiation point of view but also from a curious mindset about what Zero needs him for. In fact, a small smile began to shape on Mark''s lips as he, for some reason, anticipated a wild adventureing into his life.


    "I want you to travel with me somewhere as my partner. Ummm¡­ in about¡­ 4-5 months from now," Zero said as he calcted the time when he will have some freedom in his schedule as he gazed at Mark, who narrowed his eyes at him before inquiring,"exactly where?" as he closed his eyes momentarily before once again focusing on Zero.


    "Hmmm¡­ even if I tell you now, you probably won''t be able toprehend itpletely¡­ " Zero spoke with a slightly awkward smile, but Mark''s face looked like he wanted to know, anyway.


    Observing the deep unwavering gaze which Mark was giving him, Zero sighed before questioning,"What do you know about Elves?"


    Confused at his words, Mark looked at Zero with a puzzled expression, making Zero breathe out another sigh, however before Zero could speak anything more, Bete joined in on the conversation with a question filled with curiosity,"aren''t they just a folklore?"


    Looking at Bete''s curious face, Zero pondered a little before speaking,"The Elves you might have read about in books are really folklore and nothing more. The real Elves are, in reality, quite different, to be honest. How should I exin it¡­ummm¡­ damn, it''s really confusing¡­ sigh¡­ all right. I will try to keep it as simple as possible, so listen properly, okay?"


    The curiosity of the father daughter duo increased by quite a margin listening to Zero and their bright concentrated eyes gawked at Zero as if they couldn''t wait to know more about Elves. Zero then shook his head, as he cleared his thoughts, and began exining.


    "Elves are or were a type of monsters that has evolved into a species of their own. First let me ask you if you have heard about the forest of Giza?" Zero asked as he looked at Mark and he nodded at it as if recalling the information about that ce.


    It is one of the danger zones where mostly bipedal forest monsters thrive. They are blessed with nature oriented abilities with their mana quite a bit more than what an average monster in general should have. It is one of the highly dangerous areas where only those at or above S ranked should venture. Located at the very northern corner of the eastern continent, it is one of the most difficult to reach areas of this world.


    "Elves have evolved beyond the ss of just monsters for quite a long time. To be honest, they are evolving even now. Living and thriving as amunity and gaining intelligence, they tend to keep themselves away from the sun as much as possible while making themselves stronger over time." Zero stopped a bit as he gulped down another chunk of water before Mark asked,


    "So what exactly are we going to do there? Are we going to wipe them out or make them our ally?"  Mark was having a hard time believing all this information but his truth identifier told him that all this information was 100 percent correct, though it only turned his expression moreplex.


    ''He is quite sharp but honestly neither of them is possible right now, so¡­'' Zero thought before speaking,"None of that. While you might not know, there are also a few more races that thrive along with the Elves and by the blessing of nature, or maybe because of some special evolution or something, the other races can copte with the elves. Hmmmm¡­ well, they can only copte with Elves and not with other races living within the vicinity."


    He paused and then looked at the slightly nk expression of Mark and Bete and he wondered what they were thinking, but still he continued because the main point was just after this one,


    "What we are going to do there is erase a certain race that is thriving there. Our work is topletely annihte that whole race before they be a nuisance in the future, and I need your help with that."


    Hearing the final words, Mark looked nkly at Zero before he spoke,"can I get some time to think about it? We can continue this conversation sometimeter," and then slowly stood up, leaving Bete and Zero on their own.


    Bete looked at her father hurriedly moving away from there and then spoke without turning to Zero,"are you sure it was the right idea to tell father about this secret?"


    "You speak as if you are on my side over your father in this matter," Zero spoke as he too stood up and Bete answered it immediately,"I am at my father''s side. Just that I wanted to know if there was more to your words and not just some child foolishly babbling about everything he knows."


    ''Aren''t you a child yourself?'' thought Zero with a wry expression before he too moved away from there as he answered her question with a  smirk,"who knows?"


    While it might have been important information for them, without Zero''s help, forget about finding and negotiating with the Elves and the other races, they can''t even hope to survive even an hour in that wilderness.


    To give a rough idea about the dangers of that ce, if all of the current 12 strongest persons try to attack that forest of Giza together, haha¡­ they won''t survive more than a week in there¡­ After all, it''s not just Elves and other races living there but a peak SSS-Grade monster too has made that ce as its home¡­ and sadly, it doesn''t like outsiders to intrude and neither lets the insiders get out. Also the reason, Elves or other races, haven''t ventured out of that forest. After all, they wouldn''t want to get eaten just because they were curious about the outside world, now would they?


    After walking away from Bete, Zero reached the area where Cristine, Eliza and others were sitting and talking about various things. Linda was just sitting quietly on her own in a corner while William and Rheo seemed to be talking about something.


    Zero observed the area for a few moments before moving towards Eliza, who was listening to the discussion of Cristine and Lucia, though watching Zero moving towards them, they turned at him with a face filled with questions.


    "Eliza,e with me," spoke Zero ignoring their gazes, before he walked to a distant table, and Eliza simply stood up and followed him under the narrowed gaze of Cristine and Lucia. William, Rheo and Linda also turned their eyes at Zero, wondering what he was about to do.


    Sitting on the table, Zero looked at Eliza and said,"Can you give me a detailed idea of your problem? I may have an idea about it, but it would be better if I look into it from all sides," before he leaned a bit forward towards Eliza with both his forearms on the table.


    Eliza, sitting on the opposite side, pondered a bit before speaking,"as far as I can tell, I was born with it. While the problem took a turn for the worse when I turned 8 years old, I only found out the real reason at the age of 12 when the system informed me about it."


    Hearing her words, Zero nodded before speaking,"What is the exact message that the System gave you?"


    "[You have been under the curse of Purple Mist. Remove the curse before you turn 16 or you will die. ]" she spoke with clear hesitation in her voice as she turned at her sister, who didn''t seem to be bothered with this revtion.


    Zero then immediately asks,"when are you going to turn 16?" and Eliza answers before calcting,"I turned 15 three months ago. So there are about 9 months of time left."


    Zero nodded at her words as he recalled the time frame when he joined Lucia''s mercenary group in the previous timeline. It was about a month after Eliza''s death that he joined, in that timeline, so it makes sense¡­ more or less.


    "All right. I guess I understand the situation but still, is there anything more you would like to add to it?" Zero asks again and Eliza begins thinking hard about everything that might have happened in regards with the curse and then she speaks,"well, there are a few minor details but I don''t know if they are rted to the curse or not. Should I tell them as well?" Looking at her expression, it was as if she doubted whether the curse was a part of those events or not.


    Zero nods at her and then she exins about each and every small event that urred or made her think, ''maybe it is the curse.'' Whether it was her sudden dizziness at a certain situation or other effects that she couldn''t understand,she exined everything. After hearing her words, Zero simply stood there watching her face for a few moments.


    "Was there¡­ anything helpful?" she asked and Zero nodded,"a few things were." He had a neutral expression at that point and the thought that was going on in his mind was,


    ''Well¡­ I didn''t expect that she would have more than just one curse at a time¡­ though it doesn''t matter much. After all, with the ritual I am going to conduct, it will erase all the curses she is under at once.''


    Zero then looked through the window and saw the Castle of Iredale where Mark''s family lived¡­ and looking closely at the castle¡­ the whole family of Mark Leeway was standing in front of the entrance, waiting for the guests to arrive.

 Chapter 80 The Leeways

    The private jet slowly descends down to the ground, reaching thending area and not long after the gate of the jet opens, making the exquisite scenery of the area visible. To be frank, the scenery was breathtaking. There was this magnificent and huge castle surrounded by hills on three sides and ake on the fourth side, making it look as if it were straight out of a fairy tale.


    Themps and yellow lighting all around the castle added a nice touch to it and since it was night time, their touch made the scenery look as if it were a painting.


    As soon as Zero stepped out of the jet, what greeted him first wasn''t the castle exactly, but the residents of that castle. Surprisingly, the whole Leeway family was waiting there to wee them.


    The Leeway family had 19 members in total living together in this enormous castle:


    Mark Leeway and his two older brothers, their wives and their children and the eldest brother''s two grandchildren. There were also fiancees of a few Leeways living together along with them. Other than the Leeway family, a few more people, Mark and his brothers'' henchmen, also were present there with a lot of butlers and maids.


    Zero moved down along with Mark and Bete with Eliza, Cristine, Rheo and the others following them behind one by one. For obvious reason, the whole family''s gaze was fixated on Zero as he walked with a confident smile on his face. A few children had confusion on their faces, while a certain young girl was a bit more shocked than the others. Following her gaze, she was gawking at Linda.


    ''That''s Irene Leeway, isn''t she?'' Zero thought as he chuckled inside before the two brothers of Mark came in front of him. Looking at Zero, they had a question-filled expression, and the smile looked more of a predator than that of someone who was here to greet his guests.


    Firstly, the man on the left, the middle child Cedric Leeway, orangish ck hair like Mark but a bit more thin looking. He has 3 children, one morepared to the 2 children of Mark Leeway. With an S-Ranked System, High Vanguard System, he was one of the strongest persons in this castle. Personally, I found him to be a trustworthy guy. After all, he has helped Mark till hisst breath.


    Then the other man on the right, the eldest child Elric Leeway, had his hair more on the ckish side with an orange hue to them. A father of 4 children and grandfather of two, he was one of the oldest members of the family. He too had an S-Ranked System, Half Decoy System, which was¡­ in a way, a really good System, to be honest. As for his trustworthiness¡­ he is okayish all right. He kind of dies first before the other people, so it is difficult to judge what kind of person he was. Though it was said that he loved his family as much as the other two brothers.


    "I am Elric. Nice to meet you. You must be Zero, quite the confidence you have there," Elric spoke as he moved a bit towards Zero and he smiled in return as he observed the former''s face.


    ''Is that the first thing you say to your guest? Well¡­ must be normal for the Leeways I suppose,'' Zero thought as he extended his hand for a shake and then both of them shook hands and Zero answered,"Nice to meet you too, Elric. Let''s have a nice chat sometime." and almost everyone''s breathing halted as they looked at Elric and Zero.


    "Oooh! Quite the guts you have there," Elric spoke, not minding thetter''sck of respect for him. ording to Elric, if Zero can do what he is supposed to do here, then he has earned enough right to speak with that guts and confidence. Though Elric''s wife and children did not like the way he addressed him.


    "What the-" One of the elder children began moving forward, but Mark, Cedric and Elric simultaneously shot a sharp look, making him stop in his tracks. This¡­ made everyone present dumbfounded. Zero wasn''t being treated as someone below them¡­ but Cedric, Mark and Elric¡­ all three of them were treating Zero as their equal. Just why? Most of them could notprehend while those who knew why¡­ still thought that this was kinda out of ce.


    "We should go in," spoke Mark and the rest of them nodded as they all began moving inside the castle. Their baggage was carried by the maids and butlers to their respective rooms.


    Under the gaze of everyone, Zero finally entered the castle and reached the office where only Mark, Cedric and Elric were present, with no one else to disturb them.


    Cedric''s gaze turned sharply to Zero as thetter smiled in return before speaking,"before cing traps, make sure that you understand who you are dealing with. While I do understand your urge to want to test me, it would still be better if you limit your approach."


    When Zero stepped inside the castle, he felt a certain circle built on the ground that decreased his mana level and made his mana control moreplex. While the effect was quite low, it was still there.


    ''At first, I thought it was the defence mechanism of the castle, however¡­ It was Cedric''s skill who was testing me. It was the pinhole effect of the mana skill that was fixated on me and not anyone else. Lucky, I knew how to expand my magic and cancel that effect right then and there,'' thought Zero as he observed Cedric, who seemed a bit irked.


    "Well¡­ well¡­ you aren''t normal either, young child. So it won''t exactly be unfair of us to test you, now would it?" spoke Elric as he saw the youngd, Zero, getting a bit irritated with their behaviour.


    ''Well..  their logic is quite on point I suppose, still I wonder if I could use this to my advantage,'' thought Zero as he looked around and then striked up a conversation since the others had turned quiet,"So what do you want here? I mean, right here, in this office. Why did you bring me here?"


    This time it was Mark who spoke up,"It was to tell you a few things regarding the castle and stuff you need to know. You can pass it on to the others," and Zero turned to Mark a bit curious as he smiled before his expression turned serious and he spoke,"this castle holds its own secrets. We haven''t ventured into this castle long enough to find out all the secrets of the castle."


    Hearing his words, Zero made a confused expression as he asked,"Exin it in a bit more detail."


    "While from the outside, this castle may look like a normal castle, but in reality, it is a magic castle. We should not be telling this to you, but the situation says otherwise. The basement of the castle is deep¡­ way more deep than you can imagine and the more you venture inside, the moreplex it bes¡­. On certain asions even monsters are found inside the basement at the very depth of it. All I want from you is to not to go towards the basement as we don''t want you to end up foolishly dying before you could even cure Bete," Mark spoke and Zero had aplicated expression on his face.


    ''Well¡­ this is new. Howe I haven''t heard of it in my past timeline? Interesting¡­ How very interesting¡­'' thought Zero before nodding and speaking,"All right, I will not go anywhere near that dungeon at all. I will also make sure none of the people who came with me enter that area either. Can you tell me anything else about that ce? For example, I am curious to know why are you living in such a ce if it is so dangerous?"


    Hearing his question, this time it was Cedric who moved forward as he spoke,"Well¡­ while that basement is dangerous, it has never created any problem as long as we don''t venture into it. The fact that the Leeway family has survived over a few centuries in this castle is the sure proof of it."


    He had a slightlyplicated expression, and I smiled at him before asking,"then is there anything about that ce that I should know?"


    After that, the conversation went through a few smaller questions and answers about the basement and other regions of the castle before Zero finally said that he needed to take a rest, as he was a bit tired from the journey.


    Bidding goodnight after asking for the directions to his room, Zero moved out of there as the only thought that upied his mind currently was¡­.


    ''Hmmm¡­ when should I explore that basement? Today would be a bit too early¡­ I will actually need more information on it. Let''s see what we can do about it. It would be too much of a waste to leave things without even trying, wouldn''t it?''

 Chapter 81 Irene Leeway

    After bidding goodbye to the Leeway brothers, I began walking towards my room. I enjoyed the castle''s old textured walls and the unique scriptures drawn on them, with pictures of their ancestors along with their numerous achievements.


    As I continued walking, I heard a murmuring from a bit ahead and I saw two shadows whispering to each other. Getting closer to them, I found a familiar face, along with an unfamiliar one.


    Bete was talking with a green-haired girl, who''s most probably Irene Leeway. There was another girl behind Bete, whom I saw clearly as I went a bit closer to them. The blonde-haired girl, Linda Brown, nced towards me first and as if she had seen a ghost¡­


    -eek!!


    ¡­.began shrieking as she took a few steps behind Irene. Irene, on the other hand, looked at me with pure curiosity in her eyes and began walking towards me. Watching Irene walk towards me, Linda tried her best to stop her, but her efforts were in vain as Irene ignored herpletely before arriving right in front of me.


    Green eyes, green long hairs that reach her waist, along with those circr sses that gave her a cute look like a child rather than an adult. She was a little bit taller than me and she looked at me with a curious look as she spoke.


    "Irene Leeway, 3rd daughter of Elric Leeway, cousin of Bete Leeway," she introduced herself in a calm andposed manner and I looked at her with a small smile shaping on my lips as I spoke,"Zero. The person who is going to cure Bete Leeway''s curse."


    Hearing my words, Irene nods before speaking,"well¡­ not a man of many words, I guess. Not really something I like to take fancy, but since you are the one who is going to treat my cousin, I think I can make an exception and not trouble you."


    "I am delighted to hear that," I say with a bright smile and she nods in return and speaks dominatingly,"you should be."


    Linda observed us with slight fear on her face while Bete was really amazed at the exchange that just happened. The reason for Bete''s reaction was because Irene didn''t really talk to anyone other than the people in this castle with Linda being the sole exception, that too because she had once saved Irene''s life on a fateful asion. Though this information was only revealed to meter on after I got to know Irene better.


    "May I know what you are talking about with my sister-inw?" A voiceing from a distance made all of us turn in its direction and I saw Rheo moving towards us with a slightly odd expression.


    "Sister-inw?" I questioned Rheo and this made Rheo a bit surprised as he spoke,"there is something you do not know?" and something changed in him as he observed me¡­


    "Well¡­ I have my limitations too, plus I don''t generally look into things that aren''t to my benefits in one way or the other," I rified his doubt, and he gazed at me with wide eyes as he spoke,


    "That is surprising¡­ I really thought you knew everything¡­"


    "Are you sure you should be telling that to me? The fact that you treated me like someone who''s invincible.. I could very well use that against you?" I spoke again, and a voice came from my front as Irene took off her sses to wipe them as she spoke,"the fact his opinion about you has changed from the initial one, means you can''t act invincible in front of him anymore. Rheo isn''t the kind of person who surrounds himself with people whom he can''t read or understand¡­ the fact you are ''readable'' to him now, means he finally has started feeling safe around you. Congrattions, you are one of the few people that have the potential of being Rheo''s friend."


    Confused at her words, I looked at Rheo first then at Irene but before I could question anything, Bete answered,"Rheo doesn''t trust people weaker than him. Neither does he consider himself to be worthy of being with people who are much stronger than him. He has an extremely thin line of people with whom he walks along. You are the 3rd person whom he has considered being within that thin line."


    I looked at Rheo for a few moments before asking again,"and what does it all have to do with me?" I was confused as to why they were talking as if I was jumping at the opportunity to be his friend and should feel proud of it. I did question him about using him but how did it drift to being friends and¡­ that tone is¡­ quite irking to say the least.


    "Even if I were to say anything, you won''t understand and I guess some things are better left to the future," spoke Irene before walking towards Rheo and then grabbing his hand as she took him away.


    "It''s not time and my sister and I still don''t trust him," she said as she took onest peek at me before moving away from there. I kept observing them until they were out of sight as I wondered what that was all about.


    I turned around to see Linda gone from there and I smiled a bit before observing Bete, who was standing there with a curious look as she spoke,"you are expert in curses, aren''t you?"


    I was already confused with the thing about Rheo and stuff, and now this question made me even more confused than before.'' Just how many curses have converged in this family?'' I thought as I looked at her before speaking,"more or less."


    While I am not an expert in all the curses, I guess I can handle most of the curses of this era.


    Nodding at me, she then spoke as her expression turned a bit more serious than before,"would you like toe with me somewhere?"


    I observed her serious face for a few moments before speaking in a mischievous tone,"your father would kill me if we do something like that-"


    -Bang!!


    She pped my face hard with an annoyed expression as she spoke,"it''s not that, you worm!" she red at me before sighing as she spoke,"all right. I guess I am too tired for today. You may go now."


    As I rubbed my cheek, I smiled at her before speaking,"Well... that piqued my curiosity¡­ so lead the way."


    Though she shook her head as she spoke,"No, I don''t trust you after that statement. We can discuss thister if and only if you have gained my trust," before annoyingly stomping away from there.


    I observed her for a few moments and decided to just sleep for now but then¡­


    "On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is that thing?" I asked just for the heck of it.


    She turned around as she stopped before speaking,"I don''t know. Depending on the situation, it could be 0 or maybe¡­ 20?"


    Her words made me look at her curiously before I pondered over something as I sigh once again before taking out a mana contract and then throwing it towards her.


    She catches the mana contract and looks at it for a few moments before she smiles and then pours a drop of her blood on it. The mana contract had one simple and fair statement.


    [Both parties won''t harm each other without their genuine permission, unless there is a life or death situation]


    After that, Bete walked closer to me and smiled as she spoke,"for a pervert, you are quite smart, aren''t you?" and then I looked at her with slight seriousness before I said,"show me the way."


    Bete nodded before she began walking in the opposite direction and I began to follow her slowly and slowly.


    "Can''t we run?" I asked as I saw her walk slowly and she shook her head as she spoke,"the curse will hurt." I thought of something and then sighed before moving towards her and then carrying her into my arms.


    "Wh-wha- what are you doing?!!" Surprised, she stuttered, over me carrying her in my arms and I kept walking as I spoke,"Just tell me the way."


    Her eyes were fixated on me asking,''why is the mana contract not working?'' and I sighed before speaking,"I am not harming you and even you know that. As long as both of us confirm that we are not harming each other, the mana contract won''t bind."


    She looked at me with a slightly surprised expression before she sighed as she spoke,"you don''t really need to do this; you know? I can bear some pain and walk faster, if that''s what you want. It''s¡­kind of embarrassing¡­ this position¡­" she spoke in a hushed voice and I ignored her words as I kept walking.


    ''It will be more embarrassing for me to put you down after you said that¡­'' I thought as I kept walking before we reached a certain room.


    "Put me down. We are almost there," Bete spoke before I put her down. Then slowly she opened the gate, and we both entered into a pinkish red room. From the looks of it, it looked more or less like Bete''s room and I wondered why I was here?


    Though not long after, she walked towards the other side of the almeera and then pointed at it as she spoke,"push this a bit to the left."


    Hearing her words, I couldn''t help but walk a bit faster, since I was really curious about what was there behind that and then I mumble in a low voice,''Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth Moon'' and push that almeera.


    Then I take a step back as my eyes turn back to green from the previous red. What came in front of me was something that I haven''t seen in a while, even if I include my previous timeline.


    "Do you know what this is?" Bete inquired cautiously and I couldn''t help but wonder if my luck was really good or bad at this moment. After all, the thing in front of me was¡­. one of the gates to Heaven, Avalon.

 Chapter 82 Avalon

    Avalon, the name given to the Kingdom of Gods by the residents of Vermillion, and that was because the ce has artefacts and magic that could possibly only exist in the realm of Gods. For starters, it had an altar that allowed you to change your System in exchange for something precious rted to your life¡­ a sacrifice of sorts.


    There are some ways that could increase your potential that was predetermined since birth¡­ However, the catch is also equally big. While the gate allowed multiple people to enter and try their luck, however only a couple of beings are known who had seeded in getting the rewards they desired. The fact that you can take on only one challenge and that too just once in your entire life added anotheryer ofplexity to it.


    Well¡­ I had never got the chance to use the Gates of Avalon because by the time I knew about their existence, they were far away from my reach, with each gate being kept in the securest of ces of the strongest ns.


    I was lucky enough to find the gate of Avalon out of nowhere¡­. However, that thing is more troublesome than one can imagine. Only after I get strong enough to defend myself against it, should I bring this gate in front of the world. Using it now would make a big spark in the sky, signing that the gate has been unlocked for everyone to enter¡­


    ......¡­.


    "I have seen something simr before¡­ though it isn''t within my capabilities to break the barrier," Zero answered as he looked at Bete, who was a bit surprised before she became disappointed as she heard Zero''s sentence.


    Zero then sighed before speaking again,"Well, I can feel a certain energy emitting from it which indicates that it has far more power than what it seems like. Ummm¡­ there is one thing I still wanna ask though, why show it to me?" He looked curiously at Bete, who pondered a bit before speaking.


    "Well, it was worth a try. Actually, this thing, as written in the notes I read, has been here since time immemorial and as to sate your curiosity, I don''t think I will have any problem regarding showing it to you," she spoke as she began walking towards her bed and Zero couldn''t help but ask,"why so?"


    "Because there is a curse ced on that seal that anyone who walks out of this castle will forget about the existence of this seal or something like that¡­ well not exactly the castle but about a few kilometres away from it," she speaks again as she rests her body on herfy bed before looking at Zero who was deep in thought,'' So that is why she has no problem asking for my help? Because I will forget about it as soon as I walk away from it, huh? Well¡­ surprisingly I could see the logic behind her actions¡­''


    Zero then pushed the wardrobe back to its original position and then began walking out of the room as he spoke while yawning,"good night, princess."


    Bete simply chose to sleep at that point because the small journey had already made her tired enough and her body didn''t have any more energy to carry on. Zero too was a bit tired, so he went directly to bed.


    He didn''t even have time to look at his room as he dozed off as soon as his body touched the bed, without even changing.


    .......


    "Good morning, youngd," an aged voice came from the surroundings as Zero wakes up in an unfamiliar environment and looked around him, only to findplete darkness as far as he could see.


    The only things visible were a street side bench with a yellow nightmp and a bunch of pink and blue flower bushes around that bench. Also, there was a cherry blossom tree whose branches were swaying above the bench.


    Although the scene looked iconic, it felt eerie to me, as I couldn''t sense anything here at all.


    "Don''t be scared,e sit with me," The same aged voice came again as I looked in front and there I found a man bing more and more visible as I focused at that area. He was hitting on that bench which looked empty before and his facial features were a bit ''not human'' to say the least.


    He had elf-like years, a pointed nose withplete white eyeballs and the head was more like a bulge than a rounded top. The fact that I couldn''t use my mana sense wasn''t making things better for me either, and looking at how things are, I believe my ticket back to the real world is that guy.


    After calcting all the things I could do, I cautiously moved closer towards that man and looked at him carefully before I spoke,"where am I?"


    Hearing my question, that aged man smiled a bit before speaking,"You are in the empty world of dreams. Though, not exactly the same as you are thinking, but more like, I have brought you into my dream rather than me getting into yours."


    "And who are you?" I asked again and his smile widened as he answered,"that is not for you to know¡­ but I like how you don''t bombard me with multiple questions at once but only one at a time." I looked at him grinning from ear to ear as he spoke again,"I suppose it would be better if I tell you why you have been brought here and send you back thereafter. That will save time for the both of us," and then the scenery changedpletely and what came in my vision was the Gates of Avalon.


    "Do you know, youngd, what that is?" He asked me with an eerily bright smile and I spoke,"I know a little about it. Though, I can''t open it right now." and he nodded at my words.


    ''While I can''t open it right now¡­ doesn''t really mean I can''t in the future as well¡­ thought let''s not go into details with that one,'' I thought as I paid attention to that gate.


    "It''s a dimensional gate to the prison of fallen Gods," he spoke and I almost lost myposure. The heck?! Prison? Fallen Gods? Bro, are you for real? Or wait¡­ all those things I heard in my previous timeline, were those lies? Aaaah!! It''s all so confusing right now¡­ let''s wait and see¡­


    "So this thing holds a fallen God?" I spoke with an ''amazed'' face as I hid myplex and confused expression and that aged man chuckled a bit as he observed me.


    ''Is my acting even working, or he is just ying with me? I guess I should just y along for now,'' I thought as I continued paying attention to his words,


    "Nope, the fallen Gods are long dead. What that ce holds now are the memories of the fallen Gods. If I tell you any more, ''they'' will sense us and we can''t have that now, can we? So I shall get directly to the point, youngd. There is a key hidden deep in the basement of this castle in which you have just entered. Retrieve that key and use it to enter Avalon through that gate. Once you have done that¡­ let''s meet face to face¡­"


    He stopped there, and I looked at his gaze focused on me while I sighed before asking,"And what do I get in return?" there is no free-


    "The other twin of ck sher," he spoke and


    -Hah!


    I woke up immediately as I began sweating all over my body. I literally felt goosebumps as I checked my whole body for any anomaly present in it, though after checking it over and over again, I finally breathed out in relief. Then I took a deep breath and recalled the whole conversation with that guy¡­ each and every detail¡­ .


    ''He knew me¡­ or more like he knew everything about me,'' I thought with a deep gaze. The fact he knew about my past self must mean that he is someone at the level of Amon¡­ I need to talk with Amon. Wait, a sec?! Howe I haven''t visited the white dimension for these many hours?


    The more I thought about it, the more grave my expression turned¡­ though the only thing that changed in my current n was¡­ the additional task of finding the key to the gate of Avalon.


    "The twin des of ck sher¡­ to think I would get the opportunity to actually make that de mine¡­ this is really amazing, isn''t it?" I spoke out excitedly, as I couldn''t contain the joy on my face.


    ck sher was alone worthy enough to be one of the top 100 strongest des of this world¡­ and along with its twin¡­ it had the potential to reach top 10 if not top 3. Sadly in my previous life I never found out where the counterpart of ck sher was¡­


    -Click


    The door opened and in came a young child with a pure smile on his face, standing in front of me he spoke.


    "Let''s go to the basement, Brother Zero."

 Chapter 83 Filling The Gaps Of Information

    "Let''s go to the basement, Brother Zero."


    I looked at that kid standing there with a bright smile on his face. Crimson red hair along with deep ck eyes which kept analysing my whole body from top to bottom. Though I knew who he was, I still asked anyway,


    "Are you Maxwell Leeway?"


    I had a bit of a questioning gaze and he, at my query, smiled at me with a bright expression before speaking with slight impatience,"that is correct, brother. I am Maxwell Leeway, pleasure to meet you. Now, can we please go to the basement?"


    He looked like he wanted to go to that ce as fast as he could, however,"Why don''t we talk a little first?" I asked with a smile as I took out a certain delicacy I had bought in Bryxton. It was more or less like a cake that is quite difficult to get your hands on even if you have all the money in the world¡­


    "NO! We must get there as early as possible," He looked at me as if trying his best to contain his anger and I smiled at him as I slightly tilted my head before inquiring,"why is that so?"


    He looked at me with a slightlyplicated expression before speaking,"Because¡­ because¡­ cous will die if we don''t do as he says¡­" he has a slightly teary expression. If he had the power, maybe he could have dragged me out of here, but maybe whoever asked Maxwell to get me to the basement, most probably that aged man, must have asked him to be careful with me or something.


    "Bete?" I asked with a little bit of curiosity and he nodded at me with a half teary expression as his eyes urged me to move and I sighed a bit before thinking,'' Oh you poor soul¡­ looks like you were about to do something that was going to be your family''s downfall or something¡­''


    "Tell me little Max, why do you think I am here currently sitting in this room, and in this castle?" I asked him and he answered me with a slightly proud face,"to help me find the cure for my sister!"


    With his ''I know it all'' smugness, he looked at me and I made a ''surprised'' expression before speaking,"Wow, you really know it, huh?! That''s amazing! Can you tell me how I am supposed to help you with my skill set?"


    He looked at my surprised expression before smiling proudly, moving closer to me and climbing up the bed, getting to my eye level and then speaking as he touched my chest,"Your skills that allows you to be strong even without using mana, is going to help us in getting through a very dangerous ce and then we will obtain the key to Avalon, where Dolos is waiting for us."


    I smiled at that naive kid with awe before making a horror-stricken face as I asked,"But I am scared of dangerous ces¡­ are you sure I will survive this? I don''t like painful things."


    He looked at my face with a slightly sympathetic face before speaking,"don''t worry; I understand now why you didn''t want to go to the basement this early. To tell the truth, my elder brother, even I am scared of that ce. But don''t worry, Dolos will surely have a way out of this situation."


    I was happy that I got promoted from brother to elder brother, but still this Dolos guy¡­ he is probably that aged man, isn''t he? Or could he be a different guy altogether¡­ more things to take care of?


    "To be honest, Dolos doesn''t talk with me as much¡­ Can you tell me what he said to you?" I asked, making an awkward face and Maxwell observed me with a piercing gaze before he sighed as he muttered,''well I know I look good, but Dolos shouldn''t y favouritism. It''s about cous after all,'' and then sighed again before speaking,


    "He said that if I want to save my sister, I will have to bring my sister to him because he is entrapped somewhere in the artefact present in my sister''s room. He also said that the key to opening the artefact is hidden somewhere in the deepest chamber of the basement."


    I pondered over his words before asking again,"and what did he say about poor old me?"


    "He told me that a strong person with the ability to survive in the deepest parts of the dungeon has arrived in the castle and, Dolos and him have made a deal so he, that is you, is going to help me now," Little Maxwell told me with a pondering expression as if trying to recall each and every detail he can.


    ''Well¡­ if Dolos is asking me to go to the basement to fetch the key¡­ he probably doesn''t have any idea about my past¡­ after all, if he knew about my past he wouldn''t have gone through such a tedious process¡­'' I think as I begin to question the whole scenario more and more¡­


    To be honest, I could see the loopholes in this whole theory, the more I think about it. Still, I can''t ignore the fact that everything I think isn''t necessarily correct, so let''s discuss this with Amon before arriving at any form of conclusion.


    Even if I were to rack my head, it will probably take a lot of time toe up with a definite n.


    "And I am pretty much sure we don''t have time here at all, do we?" I speak as I deliberate over things and Maxwell nods at me.


    "Yes, time is something, weck a lot and we must hurry as much as we can, elder brother Zero."


    "How did you know my name? Did Dolos tell you about me?" I asked again, and he looked at me, then shook his head as if pitying my stupidity before speaking,"Oh, dear older brother. When I heard that a person had entered the castle who could save my cousin, I searched for them and pestered my mother about it over and over, until she told me your name."


    His expression told me that I should have guessed it a long time ago.


    ''Well... sorry for not being smart enough,'' I thought as I shook my head apologetically before looking at Maxwell and asking again,"May I know how much time we have exactly?"


    Hearing my question, he began pondering before speaking,"About a month or two? We can start by going to the basement one step at a time to make you get ustomed to it, maybe? That''s how it is, so I don''t know if it will work for you or not¡­" he kept gazing at me as he spoke, maybe analysing how long it would take me to get used to the dangers lurking inside the basement.


    "Can we start it after a week, maybe? While I dide here for Dolos, there is one other thing which I need to do here¡­ Though, I really am sorry but I can''t tell you anything about it," I spoke in a humble yet apologetic voice and he smiled at me and patted my head saying,


    "Don''t worry, brother. All men have their secrets. You cane to me if you feel like you have no one to talk to."


    After that, he jumped off the bed and began walking to the door as he spoke,"It is time for milk or else mother will get angry. Before I go, brother, did you get everything correctly?" I observed his serious face and smiled as I answered him,


    "Sir yes Sir!"


    He chuckled loudly at that before walking out and shutting the door behind him.


    -Bam!


    Then the atmosphere began changing and a familiar screen, along with another familiar face, came in front of me.


    ''About time. I had started to get worried something might have happened,'' I thought as I looked at the smiling face of Elle in front of me.


    "That was good¡­ oh my god! He was so cute, I wish I could hug him!!! Damn boy, I didn''t think I could get so jealous of you!" She spoke up as she wiped her tears of joy beforeing closer to me. I smiled at her before I looked at the old man standing at a distance from me and spoke,


    "I know you must have something really urgent.. And I promise that I will do my best to get you what you want but¡­ can you give me some time to talk with them? It is kind of important for me."


    It was my heartfelt request to that old guy, who probably had brought me to this dimension this time. I don''t know, if I get pushed out now, when will I get the next chance to discuss this¡­


    "It''s okay, young one. I understand theplexity of your situation. Please feel free to take your time," he spoke with a smile on his face. From the look on his face, I knew he had a lot to tell, but the maturity in his voice and his bodynguage told me that he could wait a little.


    I then turn to Amon and speak in a serious tone as,


    "Did you see everything, or should I tell you about it?"


    I wasn''t sure about this one. Particrly to me being brought to another dimension where I couldn''t control myself¡­ and unfortunately¡­


    [No. There were many pieces missing. Tell me everything about it.]


    I sighed before starting to narrate everything that happened from the time I arrived in this castle and slowly got to this point where I am talking to Amon and hearing my story Elle had an expression that kind of made her eyes widen as she almost asked,''when did that happen? Or something like that happened?''


    Still, it wasn''t as shocking as this¡­


    [Zero¡­ I think it''s time, I tell you what I need you to do.]

 Chapter 84 Filling The Gaps Of Information#2

    [Zero¡­ I think it''s time. I tell you what I need you to do.]


    Looking at those words, I blinked a few extra times registering, confirming I was looking at what I was looking at.


    Wasn''t it supposed to be revealed a bitter than now, when I reach powers equivalent to my previous life?


    [Things have changed. I did not think you would make contact with one of them this fast.]


    The message came again and my expression took a serious turn as I recall my meeting with Dolos once more.


    [Before I tell you about what I want, it would be better if you hear a small story about the strongest people in this universe¡­ or to be exact, the 5 strongest people currently alive.]


    ...¡­..


    The battle to achieve the most superior power and perhaps rule all over the universe has been ensuing since time immemorial.


    And unsurprisingly, all over the ages, there were uprisings of a few races that were stronger than others.


    Even among those races, there were people who were exceptionally strong. They had the exponential power to conquers, create armies that could rule over an entire gxy and much more¡­ However, that wasn''t really a positive thing, because the more they created havoc all over the universe, the less inhabitables were left in the aftermath.


    Such beings who ruled over those strong races were given the name Primordials.


    Even after ensuing such terrible destruction, the Primordials weren''t showing any signs of stopping; they kept conquering different parts of the universe as they grew stronger, in the end, leaving only a very rare amount ofs in this universe on which life could thrive.


    It was at this moment that fate created their nemesis, The Seven Guardians. Each of the Guardians held powers that rivalled the Primordials.


    The Guardians fought with the Primordials through the course of a millennium in the darkest corner of the universe, ending the war, leaving only 5 Primordials alive.


    All the Seven Guardians were dead, entering the reincarnation cycle in order to rise once again and conquer the Primordials. However, this information somehow ended up in the hands of the Primordials and they frantically began rebuilding their army as well as searching endlessly for the premature Guardians, killing them before their power could mature and rival theirs.


    While it should have not affected me as much, until I, Adbaldar Amon Chancellor Rahl Gomer Stibbons, was chosen as one of the Guardians. I was born with a prophecy and a vision for the future. I was forced to walk down a path that I could never run away from¡­


    ...¡­


    [Zero¡­ I want you to take down all the Primordials for me. They didn''t just kill me¡­ they destroyed my, erased the existence of everything I had ever known and finally captured me before I could even kill myself.


    As ast resort, I used my most powerful move at the cost of my life. I kinda believed that I wouldn''t be able to kill that Primordial, so instead of using it on him, I used it on everyone around him. However, surprisingly, that power was extremely strong and it not only expanded outside that but also to each and every part of this universe¡­]


    I look at the screen and keep reading everything with as much concentration as possible before I inquire,


    "So what happened next? How did you arrive here?"


    [After that spell, I was brought into this world, this white dimension. I believe I wasn''t allowed to pass on before I could fulfill my task and kill all the primordials, but for some reason, most probably that spell, I couldn''t even reincarnate anymore.]


    "What was that spell?" I asked again with a bit of curiosity and he answered this time around without hiding anything, as,


    [It is a special spell that binds everyone around to the caster at once and the caster can control them and make it so that part of their existence kind of lives on in them. When I unleashed that curse, I thought I could reincarnate and connect with the rest of the world using that special mechanism while also passing my memories onto the next ''me''.


    It was a kind of spell that could manifest in different forms based on the nature of the, mana, and everything else. One such manifestation of the spell is what the people of Vermillion call the System.]


    For a good few moments I was nked out¡­ I looked at Elle and the old man and the child and they weren''t at all any different from me. To call it shocking, would be an understatement here¡­ So this is how the existence of the System came into y, huh?


    All right¡­ this makes my mind flood with a huge pile of questions starting with,


    "Why did you choose me?"


    I think I have already asked this question? But I don''t remember that well, so let''s ask again anyway¡­


    [Because you don''t have a System]


    Ah! I remember the previous conversation now. It puts a lot of things into perspective. Okay, we can skip a few questions here so onto the next one,


    "Is the child of Aelia Scarlet, Marielle Laurentz Scarlet, one of the Guardians?"


    While I kept it at the back of my mind, what the real Rosalyn said, kept bugging me for a long time, till this date. If he is one of the Guardians, then most of the things that the real Rosalyn said will be clear.


    [Yes. He is the Guardian of Khnum, the water controller. Though¡­ he isn''t as strong as he is supposed to be¡­ I was going to ask you to save him tooter, but you need to get a lot stronger.]


    Hmmmm¡­ this increases the priority of saving Marielle by a thousand notches, at least. He is the strongest asset we can have at this moment¡­ hmmm¡­ now that we are at this, let me try something¡­


    "Blood Summon," I speak as I channel mana into my right arm.


    [Only you cane here no-]


    Though the message halted in mid as a young female started forming right behind me as I sat there on the green grass. She came out yawning as if she woke up from a rxing afternoon nap and then looked at me before asking,"Did something happen? What did you summon me for?"


    I looked at her before pointing at the system screen before speaking to her,"Meet the Creator of the System, Amon. I thought I should introduce him."


    Hearing my words, Aelia silently turned a little before she looked at the screen. Only now did she realise that the area was a bit strange with only a couple of people present around us. Her eyes then focused on me before looking at the screen and then speaking.


    "Ah¡­ Hi?"


    "Pfft- Hahaha¡­" I beganughing at her strange actions before speaking,"well.. I know you have a lot of questions, but I will fill you inter. For now, I have some important information rted to Marielle."


    Hearing my words, she recovered from her previous stupor and turned serious as she looked at me and her eyes urged for me to speak and I told her about the whole Guardian and Primordial thingy and then got to the point about how his importance is ''a little bit'' more than what we initially thought.


    She looks at me for a few moments before speaking,"Is this all really true? You aren''t messing with me, are you?"


    I stood up from my position, and then stretched a bit before moving towards her as I stared deep in her eyes,"I need something from you before I start to use your son for my own benefits while also giving him a life that he deserves," and she takes a few steps back.


    "Kneel," I ordered her and sheplied. Then I take another step towards her,


    "I need you to fight for me at the end of the war without any hesitation. While I do believe in the very thing, I still can''t help but have anotheryer of surety in this whole ordeal," I speak without hiding any sort of emotions in front of her. Well¡­ there was no point in hiding anything, I guess.


    She then res at me before speaking,"as long as my son gets to live a life that is worth calling a happy life. I will do anything for you."


    Hearing her words, a smile came on my face as I moved a bit closer to her, one step at a time, finally reaching one breath away from her with her eyes at the level of my chin. I use my hand to hold her chin up, making her look directly at me.


    Her eyes red at me without an ounce of fear in them as I spoke,"Anything?"


    And she replied in a determined voice¡­ "As long as my son gets what he deserves¡­ anything."


    Her answer put a smile on my face, but before I could do anything¡­


    "Cough¡­ cough¡­ Zero.. we have elders and children here," Elle spoke with a bit of a reddened face and I moved away from Aelia with a slight smirk.


    Well.. I guess I can continue thister, for now let''s concentrate on more important things. After all, I have a hell lot of questions to ask from Amon this time, and lucky for me, he is more than willing to answer them unlike the normal¡­


    So the first question¡­


    "What do you know about Dolus?"

 Chapter 85 Filling The Gaps Of Information#3

    [Author''s Note: This chap will probably confuse a lot of people¡­ because there is a lot of missing and slightly confusing information in it( also in thest two chapters) but from the next chapters everything will start to get clearer as to why things turned so hasty all of a sudden. Hope you enjoy it.]


    From that point, I kept asking questions, from Dolos to the reason why I hadn''t entered the white dimension. Whether it was something natural or there was any other reason for the gap in between.


    The key things I got to know were,


    Dolos is one of the Primordials, the most cunning one among all the 5 Primordials currently alive. He is trying to gain more power, in the end trying to be the sole individual to reign at the top of the universe.


    He isn''t trapped anywhere, but is lying about the whole ordeal trying to collect the fragment hidden inside that gate of Avalon. He has been searching for the fragments for quite a long time.


    The fragments are pieces of the dead Guardians which are scattered all around the universe. Under normal conditions, fate guides each piece of fragment to the rest of the fragments, making them join back together, soon reincarnating the dead Guardian''s soul again.


    ? Dolus isn''t trying to erase the Guardians'' existencepletely, but rather is trying to get the reincarnated Guardian to be born under his spell from birth so that he could control such a powerful entity.


    Not only is he trying to get the Guardians, but also the other Primordials¡­ either trying to kill them or trying to make them his. Amon knew all this because Dolos was the one who had almost captured him and he bragged about this thing he was going to do before making Amon his own.


    ording to Amon, Dolus shouldn''t know anything about me at all, and neither should he be present on this. It must either be his clone or some sort of spell that allows him to put a small part of his consciousness to roam freely around this ce so that he could enter and exit people''s dreams at will.


    ''However, there must have been something restricting him to achieve his goals in this whole situation, otherwise he wouldn''t have been forcing a child to do all that stuff,'' I thought at that point before I moved to the next question.


    About the gate of Avalon, Amon doesn''t know which Guardian''s fragment would be there and ording to him, that spell is too powerful to break, and only the key can unlock that ce. Though this made me gaze a bit at Amon before sighing as I moved on to the next set of questions.


    When asked about the reason as to why I hadn''t entered the white dimension for quite some time, thest time being long before he arrived at the airport, the answer I got was that Amon and Elle have derived a way for the souls to fulfil their wishes as long as it does not require my direct involvement.


    They could simply watch the video or fulfil their materialistic desires and pass one, so as not to have mee here every other 30 mins or so, they proposed and propelled this n into motion without even telling me.


    This time around, the old man''s wishes required my direct intervention, so I had toe here.


    "Well¡­ I guess I can''tin with that line of thought," I muttered as I looked at Amon and Elle before sighing and turning to the old man.


    "Thank you for letting me talk to them. Can you tell me your wish?" I ask, and he nods before telling me about a small vige where his best friend lives. He wanted me to go there and ask for forgiveness from this old man''s side. When asked where that vige was, I found out that it was just on the outskirts of Arcadia City, so I guess it was pretty much doable.


    I nodded before speaking,"let me out of here, there is something I need to do," and that old man, a bit confused, nodded before sending me back to the real world.


    As soon as I get back to the real world¡­ I sighed before moving towards Bete''s room immediately as fast as I could.


    -Knock!! Knock!! Knock!!


    I knocked heavily at the door and Bete hurriedly opened up the door with a worried look on her face, wondering what all this was about. Looking at me on the other side of the gate, she had a wide-eyed expression on her face, but I ignored her and moved towards the almeera and pushed it aside, bringing the same scene in front of me all over again.


    ''Amon, didn''t know that I had seen that, until I had told him about it¡­ so it means that he can''t see me here¡­ Neither should be possible for Dolos to see me based on the information.. Also¡­ something is wrong with this whole ordeal¡­. Something is really really wrong with this.'' I got scared of the thing in front of me.


    I got a bit scared and confused about the whole thing that was going on¡­ there were so many gaps in this whole thing that my head almost began hurting.


    "What happened?" Bete asked with a worried expression as she observed my slightly terror filled face. I shook my head a little before speaking.


    "Bete¡­ Call your father, Lucia Scarlet and William Laurentz here¡­ right now."


    My eyes had that look of urgency that made Bete flinch a bit before she nodded and then used her smartphone to call Mark and then ask him to bring the others with him as well.


    A few momentster, not only those three but also Cristine and other people came running into Bete''s room. Looking at me standing against the cursed artefact, they couldn''t help but question what was going on.


    Lucia, William and the group were shocked while those that belonged to this castle looked at Bete as if questioning, ''Why is he here? In your room in front of that artefact?'' but all Bete could do was give a slightly awkward smile before turning to Zero, who was concentrating on that artefact, that gate to Avalon.


    "Is there anything special about this thing?" Mark Leeway tried to understand this situation but once again ignoring his questions I spoke,"William, give me your sword. Give me the Excalibur."


    Hearing my words William narrowed his eyes before speaking,"you do know that, this sword chooses its own master, don''t you?" and I simply looked at him for a few moments before the sword started glowing and itself rushed out of its scabbard and jumped straight into my hand.


    Not only it confused and shocked William but also Lilith and me¡­ for a proud sword like Excalibur to itself jump into someone''s hand¡­ was nothing short of a miracle.


    Though¡­ there was something much more important to focus on right now¡­ I then observe William before looking at Mark Leeway and say,"Mark copy William''s System and both of you pass your energy into this sword."


    Hearing my words, Mark hesitated a bit¡­ so did William but then I spoke again,"if you don''t do it¡­ there is a high chance that the world will copse very soon." and hearing my words, Mark, who was observing me keenly with his truth identifier, made a shocked expression before looking at William who had a simr expression.


    They both, though they did not want to do this, still looked at me before Mark spoke.


    "[Infinite Copy]" and touched William, which sent some vibrations all around him before he turned golden and then back to normal.


    William then pointed his hands at Excalibur before speaking,


    "[One with the Weapon: Power Transfer]"


    Mark followed him with a slightly scared yet surprised look as he analysed William''s System,


    "[One with the Weapon: Power Transfer]"


    I then observed the Excalibur turning more and more golden. I then hurriedly turned at Lucia before speaking in amanding voice,"Vampire, offer me your blood."


    With most of their mana present in their blood, vampires have the most mana rich blood among all the races. She looked at me a bit scared before she observed her surroundings and then slit her wrist and then I began drinking her blood, I sucked at least 25% of her blood.


    If the situation wasn''t as important, I might have not done this but unfortunately I didn''t have any other choice at the moment, I must face this one¡­ cause if I am toote¡­ things would be more than justplicated¡­


    Once all that was said and done, I immediately ran towards the artefact and shouted,


    "Sword God''s¡­.First sh!!!!!" before Excalibur illuminated a bright light and the artefact''s curse was shattered into pieces right in front of my eyes.


    While it looked like a normal sh with some shy lighting and stuff, it contained a few percent of my life force as well. While the curse did require a key to break open into it¡­ there was another thing that could let me pry open this¡­ or perhaps any curse in this world.


    The scene changed¡­


    I looked around only to find myself at the centre of a shallow waterbody, where the water reached my feet. There were white pirs all around the ce, giving the ce a heavenly look yet also slightly eerie.


    Though I was only concentrating on the three figures in front of me¡­

 Chapter 86 Filling The Gaps Of Information#4

    There was Dolos standing in front of me with a confused expression. His eyes, which were continuously analysing me, seemed to be getting more and more troubled by each passing moment.


    There was another guy on the right of Dolos wearing a grey robe. He had a bright smile, with a slightly darkplexion, on his face, that enhanced his beauty. He had dark short ck hair thatplimented his ck eyes, through which he kept gazing at me with warmth in them. Though it only sent chills down my spine.


    Thest guy on the right of the ck-haired guy had white hair with angel like wings and his white eyes which matched mine, looked at me with amusement in them. He was grinning widely as he observed me, as if he found this whole situation entertaining.


    The ck-haired guy who was wearing a grey robe moved a few steps forward as he spoke,"it has been a while, how are you young one."


    Looking at his bright smile, I kinda felt like I should stay away from him¡­ even though I would really like to not stay close to any of them¡­ specific parts of my memories which have fully returned right now told me that I don''t have any other choice¡­


    "It has been a while huh.. Janus¡­ howe you are still alive?" I asked ring slightly at him and his smile widened a little. Back there the white-haired guy started grinning even more while Dolos was a bit baffled at our exchange, his eyes were deeply focused on me.


    "Oh! I am fine. How nice of you to worry about me? I feel so touched! Really, I thought you would straight up jump at me trying to kill me without even listening to me," he spoke as his smile brightened step by step.


    "Worried? Ha! As if I will be worried about a monstrous guy like you. Back then I was just as crazy¡­ and now looking at you all healthy, kind of makes me wonder if you ever did die at all¡­" I trailed off my words as I recalled the memories of my previous life.


    "Haha! Monster! That''s a funny thing to say to someone whom you killed with your own two hands¡­ I wonder who the real monster among us is¡­" Janus spoke with the same smile and I sighed as I moved to ask something but before I could say anything¡­


    "WHAT?!!"


    "WHAT?!!"


    Both the white-haired guy and Dolos shouted in a dumbfounded voice, who were observing me with a shocked expression. Their eyes looked as if they were having a hard time epting that fact and they couldn''t help but look at Janus, trying toprehend what was going on.


    "Well¡­ it would be better if I showed you the past, shouldn''t I?" Janus asked as he looked at me as if asking for permission from me and I sighed before speaking," do whatever you want."


    ......¡­.


    After the second Cataclysm, there was quite sometime before the third would take ce.


    One of those days, I was simply fighting against Lucia. It was a death battle, as I called those, yet I doubt I had the courage to kill her.


    I could have won the battle, but killing her was out of the question¡­


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    Using my ck sword, I was continuously attacking Lucia, though I was giving my all she was catching up to me gradually and attacking me back whenever she could¡­


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    Our attacks coincided, and I finally managed to create a gap in this long tiresome battle. Using that opportunity, I moved to kick her as hard as I could.


    -Bang!!


    My kick pushed her quite a distance away before she became unconscious, as I couldn''t see her moving any more.


    A smile formed on my face as I began slowly moving towards her, though, all of a sudden, I felt a presence at my back¡­ a man wearing a ck robe was standing behind me.


    Turning around, I asked with clear caution in my eyes,"who are you?"


    I knew he wasn''t a human, because I already knew about all the humans that were currently alive on Vermillion.


    Even though he was so simr to a human, he wasn''t one¡­


    "I am Janus. One of the Seven Guardians," he spoke with a tired expression, as if he wanted to get over with everything.


    "Guardians??" Confused at his words, I asked again before getting my weapon ready though he spoke before I could even make a move,


    "I can atleast do one thing for you before I absorb you¡­ well, looks like you wanted to kill that girl. You might think that she is unconscious, but it''s just that I have stopped time consequently making her stop. Also, I sense a strong power inside her that far surpasses yours, so I guess I can do you a favour by killing her¡­'''' he spoke as he began moving towards Lucia and my eyes widened at his words before I red at him and moved in between Lucia and him.


    Finding me defending Lucia, an unamused expression formed on his face as he observed me and spoke again,"what are you doing? You clearly are going to die if you can''t even win against her. Why are you trying to save her?!"


    "It¡­ has nothing to do with you," I spoke with a little bit of frustration and he sighed before speaking,"for a mere fragment, you speak quite a lot. Anyway, I guess doing good would do nothing here. Let''s just get it over with," and then he immediately teleports behind me and kills Lucia in an instant.


    I observed the whole scene ying in front of me. I saw Lucia ageing spontaneously at a rapid speed and her whole body decaying instantly before it evaporated into thin air¡­ all of it happened so fast.


    At that moment¡­ something died inside me¡­ my hatred for Lucia was gone¡­ and I could only stare at that man¡­ Janus standing there as if his work was almost done here¡­


    "Sacrificial Layer: One Annihtion One Apocalypse," I mutter as I lose control of all my emotions and go berserk, and Janus looked at me once again unamused before speaking.


    "What are you tr-"


    -BOOM!!!!


    I punched him as hard as I could without holding back anything and he got pushed far, far away from me.


    He then immediately looks at me, trying to figure out what just happened but not giving him any chances I move in to attack him


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    As I kept hitting him over and over, he finally started to feel fear as he tried his best to find me before


    -BOOM!!!


    He hit me, pushing me away from him and looking at me as if I were some crazy animal.


    He finally sighed in relief as he used a time binding spell that would stop me from moving as well¡­ however¡­


    "What are you rxing for? This is not the expression you should be making¡­" I moved towards him without hiding my burning hatred as I moved.


    "Who¡­ are you¡­ even though you are just my clone with only about a percent of my power¡­ still to overpower me¡­ just who are you?!!!" He spoke with fear in his eyes for the first time since he arrived here¡­ but I couldn''t care less as I moved towards him as fast as I can¡­


    This time, before I could hit him, he teleported, but something inside me told me where exactly he was and I moved even faster behind him and¡­


    -BOOM!!


    Hit him again.


    My punches never stopped, and they kepting anding from all sides. Each and every attack of mine contained my life force and the more I hit, the more I erased his existence¡­


    He looked at me with a terrified expression before he spoke.


    "[Umkehren]" and the time stopped all of a sudden for both of us.


    I looked at him with a venomous re as I almost broke free from this spell as well, but his next words stopped me from making an attack.


    "This spell can reverse time and it will return you to the time before I came here, and that girl was still alive."


    He said that as fast as he could and I stopped and observed to see that it was indeed true, as things were returning to their previous state.


    "I don''t know¡­ how you got this power¡­ but can we make a deal?" Janus asked with slightplexity in his words as he looked at me and I just simply observed him.


    "You won''t remember anything that has happened here until we meet again. This current consciousness of mine will die right after using this spell, but my other consciousness won''t. Though they won''t remember anything unless you personally meet them. Also, try to hurry things up as you meet my other consciousness because if you don''t¡­ they might destroy everything you are trying to save¡­


    What I want from you is simple¡­ help me find all of my fragments¡­ that is all I want¡­ in return I can give you almost anything you want¡­"


    And then he vanished from there, and the time returned back to it''s previous state as if nothing happened.


    And just like that, my memories of the previous events were all gone¡­


    Then I moved towards the ''unconscious'' Lucia and picked her up¡­ before taking her to somewhere safe.

 Chapter 87 Guardians, A Primodial And Me

    Back inside the gate, I looked at the screen along with Janus and the others as it yed out everything that had happened before. Didn''t know Lucia wasn''t unconscious back then, had I known that I¡­.


    "What are you? And what was that energy? How did you do it? Man, you are a lot more interesting than William, far more than I could imagine. Why not take me along with you?!!" I saw the white-haired, winged guy standing in front of me with a smile as big as it could get. He observed me making a slightly agitated expression at his sudden words.


    -Ah!


    and he took a few steps back before speaking.


    "Ah! Haha! I should have introduced myself first. My name is Lucifer, the Angel of Light. The Guardian of Light, and the ruler of Spirits and Angels¡­ well, theoretical ruler since I had been missing for so long. Haha! But don''t focus on those minute details."


    For a few seconds, my mind went nk as I looked at this guy standing in front of me all over again, this time more carefully¡­ Guardian of Light? Lucifer? Rulers of angels and spirits? This guy?


    Observing the look of doubt on my face, he made a slightly irritated expression as he sighed before speaking,"look man! It''s fine if you are not gonna believe it but you-


    "It''s not just that," I cut off his words and spoke as I looked directly into eyes and answered,"I thought it was Lucas who was the Guardian of Light."


    He looked seriously into my eyes before looking at Janus and then pointing at me and asking,"how much does he know?"


    He had a slightly irritated expression on his face, though he then sighed before speaking,"forget it I might just as well kill him, no point in keeping unknown things that might alter the future¡­"


    -BOOM!!!!!


    And he kicked me¡­ well almost kicked me as there was someone standing in front of me, blocking his attack, with a really irked expression.


    It wasn''t Janus or Dolos¡­ it was someone I felt like I knew, but wasn''t sure if it was really him or someone else.


    The figure of apletely white coloured child that held Lucifer''s foot came in front of me. That child observed all of us with a really annoyed expression before Lucifer jumped back hurriedly as a grin began forming on Lucifer''s face.


    Janus and Dolos also took a cautious stance against that white child, and finally that child turned to me as he spoke.


    "You should trust me a bit more sincerely. We are basically partners in this whole ordeal."


    "I wanted to this one done on my own," I said as I looked at that guy, that child¡­ Amon, in front of me.


    Though¡­


    "How did you get here? I did my best to not let you know anything about it, even going as far as blocking my own thoughts so that you couldn''t know about it," I spoke without hiding anything about my intentions. Well it looks like I had been caught¡­ though the real reason I didn''t want to do it with Amon was because I wanted to make a deal with Dolos¡­ whom Amon would desperately try to kill.


    "That, huh? Your urgency kind of gave it away, so I observed you through other people''s systems. While I used the opportunity when you opened the gate using your rejection fragment to enter into this dimension without being noticed. Didn''t know you were like that," he answered my doubts as he sighed before continuing,


    "Making a deal with those primordials, especially like Dolos, will only result in you being killed."


    "You got me on that too, huh? Well, I just wanted to try to make a Primordial dance on the palm of my hands, that''s all. Is that too much to ask for?" I spoke, shrugging my shoulders as I looked at Dolos, who was narrowing his eyes at me before looking at Amon.


    ''Still¡­ Rejection fragment, huh? Guess it does fit in with the reasons for my being different from other beings,'' I thought as I looked at Janus.


    -p! p!


    Amon pped twice as he looked around with a smile on his face as he spoke,"now¡­ Who do we have here?


    Lucifer Morningstar, the Guardian of Light. Janus, The Guardian of Space.


    Dolos, the Second Primordial.


    I myself, Amon, the Guardian of Breath, and finally


    The rejection fragment that used to be a part of Janus, the Guardian of Space, Zero.


    How fascinating the collection of special people we have got here¡­ now¡­ what shall we do?"


    I looked at Amon, taking one step at a time towards Janus who was standing there, making a slightly twisted expression as he looked at Amon. Amon simply spoke as he looked at him.


    "Janus. My brother¡­ you are already dead. Can you let your previous life be done with and reincarnate already? You disbncing the threads of fate will only make things moreplicated for you. Why not just try to ept that you are dead?"


    I couldn''t even blink at the words of Amon as he began telling more and more about Janus.


    "Amon¡­ don''t-" but before he could speak anything, Amon looked at him with a piercing gaze and he shut up.


    "Don''t¡­ interrupt," Amon spoke dominantly before looking at me as he continued,"listen Zero, Janus had died quite a long time ago with his consciousness traversing throughout the universe searching for the newer fragments that would help him reincarnate without losing his memories.


    Hmmm¡­ Fragments can be people, artefacts or perhaps it could be anything. There are various ways of reincarnation for a Guardian, but the most natural way is for the death of other fragments or perhaps theirbination¡­


    To exin it in a better way would be to simply tell you that there are 5 to 7 fragments formed, which are dispersed throughout the universe, each time a Guardian dies that could help him reincarnate. Though the Guardians can also reincarnate through one fragment only ¡­ but the reincarnation doesn''t happen until only thest fragment is left alive while the others are gonepletely, or maybe when the other fragments are brought together by any means.


    Janus here is searching for all the fragments he can, absorbing their energy and getting his energy back. In the end, his goal is to get his energy back so he can return to his original form without losing anything and continue from where he left off."


    Amon paused as Janus kept gazing at me with a kind ofplex look on his face before he spoke,"I just¡­ want to save them from there¡­ I just want to save them¡­"


    Amon sighed before speaking,"you know the way you''re doing things, absorbing or destroying the rest of the fragments isn''t right? Just leave that to me, will ya? I am already trying my best to do that¡­ can''t you trust me, for once?"


    This means that you don''t need all the fragments, huh? As long as you have the remaining fragments while the others are gone, reincarnation is possible, I guess?


    Janus'' face said that he couldn''t trust anyone other than himself on this task. Though, I wondered who he was trying to save.


    "His wife and children," Amon spoke with a sigh as he read my thoughts and suddenly realising something, I narrowed my eyes at Amon and spoke,


    "Didn''t you say that you did not know about any other Primordials or anything about the other Guardians?" and he just made a slightly awkward expression.


    "I¡­ haha¡­ kind of forgot that¡­" he spoke with a slightly apologetic face before he spoke,"but hey! You too dide here without telling me anything¡­ aren''t we equal now?"


    I couldn''t help but sigh at him before speaking again,


    "I guess¡­. I can''t reallyin about that line of thinking."


    Amon nodded before looking at Janus again as he spoke,"So? Did you find the other fragments?"


    Janus looked at Amon and sighed before speaking again,"only one. In this ce, there is a gravity fragment deep inside this ce. Though, I haven''t found it yet, well¡­ because I was busy stopping Dolus from trying to get it."


    Amon narrowed his eyes at Janus before thinking about it and then looking at me as he asked,"Hey Zero, do you have any idea about your fragment?"


    "Eh me? I didn''t had any idea that I was a fragment until a few minutes ago, at least let me digest that fa-" I tried speaking, but Amon red at me and I closed my mouth shut before speaking again,


    "I think my rejection fragment allows me to reject anything I want as long as it''s my will. It also stops anything harmful from reaching me. No wonder I was unscathed even in the most potent curses¡­ though I wonder¡­ why was I still under some specific charms and curses despite being the rejection fragment?"


    Janus spoke this time a bit taken aback,"aren''t you really shocked to know that you''re a fragment?" he was really surprised at my attitude and I answered honestly,


    "Been through enough sh*t that nothing can surprise me anymore at this point¡­ at least as long it is with my own body. Did you know I used to think I am an alien or something, because of all the freaky differences between me and the others?" I spoke in a self-dejected tone, and he looked at me with a slightly stupefied face.


    "Well.. you are the previous Guardian of Space, Janus. Tell me, what do you think about what I said just now?? I asked with a curious mind and Janus pondered a bit before speaking,


    "Must be because you were fighting multiple curses at once? Like your rejection fragment was against the System and then there was this deadly atmosphere of your while also dealing with that girl, Lucia''s curse, for so long that you might have run out of power to reject?"


    ''Makes sense, I suppose,'' I shrugged before recalling back the idiotic me and I sigh before asking,"About my low mana in the beginning¡­ Was that also a side effect of the rejection fragment?"


    This time it was Amon who answered as he looked at me,"It wasn''t that your mana was low, but more like the others'' potential was unlocked without any efforts using the System. While the system was a type of bind, it also provided you with benefits. You are unlocking mana channels manually through conscious efforts, right? The System can actually do that without any effort¡­"


    I looked at him with slight jealousy at his words. While I can unlock all the channels with hard work, only I know how hellish the training it requires to unlock one channel at a time. It is during these times; I wished I had a System with which I could just use some stat points and increase mana without really doing anything.


    "Well, the potential would have been limited though," Amon spoke as he looked at my dejected face with an amused expression, and I shook my head before speaking.


    "True, I guess. No point in crying about things that aren''t even there."


    Amon then smiled before moving towards our next ''friend'' here¡­ Lucifer Morningstar.

 Chapter 88 Guardian Of Light: Lucifer Morningstar

    Fragments of dead Guardians materialize in various forms. While it may sometimes appear in a human form like Zero, it may alsoe as artifacts, weapons, spells or even energies.


    When a living form reincarnates, the reincarnated form inherits the important memories of the previous Guardian regarding their mission of existence.


    When a non living form is left, it may end up choosing a different path towards their original goals depending upon their forms.


    For example, when only the spell fragment or only the energy fragment is left, the person who has that particr spell or energy develops an alter ego, that soon takes over the owner before going berserk for sometime, before finally stabilizing and taking shape of a living robot whose sole purpose is to fulfill their mission handed to them by fate.


    When an artifact or a weapon is thest fragment left, they develop an alter ego simr to that of the first Guardian to be ever born. A good example would be Lucifer Morningstar, thest fragment of Guardian of Light, whose alter ego has been formed inside the Excalibur.


    He can choose its own owner and fulfill his mission by manipting his user, whom he chooses to nurture.


    ......


    Amon looks at Lucifer with a slight smirk and Lucifer only res in return before finally sighing as he speaks,"what is it that you want, Amon?"


    Amon simply smiles in return before speaking,"I am just surprised that you exist and are not dead¡­ in fact, it surprises me very much that 3 of the original alter egos are alive. Quite interesting, don''t you think?"


    I observed all these things with a slightly curious mind while Lucifer looked like he was taken back with that statement as he couldn''t help but stutter,"you¡­ you¡­"


    Amon just then turns around as he begins walking towards Dolos slowly and slowly while he speaks,"Well¡­ my consciousness is spread across all over the universe right now, so I can more or less see all around the world at once. This also helped me look through the information that is normally not avable, which somehow, by twists and turns, ended up helping me figure out the memories of the original Breath Guardian¡­ and also all the other predecessors of mine¡­"


    ''Okay¡­ now that''s a bit shocking,'' I thought as I stared nkly at Amon¡­ So Amon really is strong, eh? Then why is he not¡­


    "Then howe you are not taking revenge on your own if you are so strong?" Janus put forth the question that even I was curious about, as he looked at Amon. However, Amon makes a small sad sigh before speaking,


    "If it were that easy, I wouldn''t be here talking with you guys, now would I?"


    We all wait for Amon to continue his statement as he slowly roams around sighing for a moment as he then gazes at me and then speaks,


    "Zero¡­ you are smart, aren''t you?"


    ''No, I am not,'' is what I wanted to say, but I kept quiet as Amon kinda red at me before speaking,"Can you tell me the reason for me not to take actions despite having such a vast knowledge pool?"


    ''Cause you are a puss- I mean scared?'' I thought before shaking my head as I spoke with a smile at the irritated face of Amon, who looked like he wanted to hit me really hard ,"From what I understand I think knowledge in itself won''t be enough to fight against the Primordials. It must require power, an army, or maybe much more than just that¡­"


    Amon nods at that before adding," and it also requires thebined power of all of the Guardians. Without them, it is pretty much a lost cause¡­ " and then he looks at Janus and Lucifer as if wondering what he should do with them.


    "Let Janus live for the time being, since I am helping everyone. Might as well add him to the list. I can also use him along the way since he literally knows how to utilize my powerspletely," I speak, and Amon ponders for a few moments before speaking.


    "I don''t know Zero if it is a good idea or not. After all, he is an original Guardian despite being weakened. Are you sure we should take the risk?"


    I simply smile before speaking,"can we wait for the answer before I ask a few questions to Lucifer and Dolos?"


    Hearing my words, Amon narrows his eyes at Dolos, who was scared shitless of the whole situation. He just wanted to get away from here, but looking at Amon observing him, he shrieks before subconsciously taking a few steps back. Amon speaks without turning towards me.


    "Are you sure you want to talk to this manipting son of a b*tch."


    "Language Amon. I can see through his terrible acting, given the situation and all, so it''s fine, plus I also have you, so it''s fine, isn''t it?" I answer by scolding Amon, who looked like he would curse me too if I tick him once more but still nods as he doesn''t see any problem with my line of thinking.


    "Well¡­ I guess I will talk with Lucifer first," I speak as I move towards Lucifer with a pondering expression and Lucifer observes me with a keen expression in return.


    "You have quite a lot of guts for a mere fragment," he says, but in return I just look at him and answer,"I can kill both William and Lucas, you know? You sure you want to pick a fight with me?"


    There was a threat in my words, there was a warning¡­ and Lucifer kinda understood that I wasn''t joking about any of it. He just made a really furious expression at me before asking,


    "How do you know?"


    At his words, I smiled before turning at him as I speak,


    "It was more than expected that the guy who always turned the situation around no matter how many dire things were thrown at him must have something special with him to help him, wouldn''t he?"


    Though at my words he sighed before speaking," you are only half correct," and I looked at him a bit curiously before he spoke again,"he never used my power no matter how many times I asked him. Although I gave him a special system while unbinding him from Amon''s curse, he never used it except, of course, at certain times when he almost died and I forcefully activated the system. He was strong by himself¡­ though with me removing Amon''s System''s limiters from him¡­ could be counted as me helping him out¡­ but still the decisions he made were all his¡­"


    "So you removed Amon''s original System and gave him another System, especially custom made for Lucas?" I asked with a little bit of irritation, but Lucifer made a slightly awkward expression before speaking,"No, I never removed his System¡­ I just removed the limitations of the System¡­ also empowering him by giving him my own System along with it. So¡­ he had 2 Systems helping him out¡­ though like I said, he never used this other System I gave him on his own¡­"


    He trailed off but noticing what he was not saying; Ipleted what he was hiding,"just because he wasn''t using your System¡­ doesn''t mean that you can''t use it for him, does it? So more like you were manually helping him upgrade while simultaneously he was upgrading himself without any limitations?"


    He kept quiet at my words and I sighed¡­ just how much of¡­ fate was favorable to Lucas? To think he was fated to have so many amazing things, I can''t help but be jealous of him.


    "No wonder he was strong¡­" I muttered in a dejected voice as I sighed before looking at Amon as I asked,"why did you not reincarnate Lucas?"


    "Because he had a System," Amon answered again, and I looked at him with a bit of a confused look. It wasn''t the first time he had said this¡­ though this time I couldn''t understand the meaning behind it, so I asked to get rity,


    "What do you mean by that?"


    He pondered a bit before speaking,"one of the Primordials who took an interest in the System started studying it¡­ and he¡­ kind of took over a part of the System. Though he could look only at certain parts and not use itpletely but still for the sake of precaution. Now, if I had reincarnated a person with a System, there was a certain chance that he might have known about the whole time reversal thing, which isn''t really a good thing, is it?"


    I looked at him with a dumbfounded look and said,"is there anything which is as important as this and I should know about?" I mean,e on man, this is important stuff, don''t forget to tell me about it.


    Though¡­


    "Is it alright to say it all in front of him?" I ask as I look at Dolos, but Amon nods as he speaks,"he is just a trapped fabric of his original consciousness that has been cut off from the original Primordial. Even if we don''t kill him, there is nothing to worry about because he won''t be able to escape unless someone opens the gate from the outside."


    "All right," I then ignored Dolos before turning to Lucifer again as a serious expression forms on my face and I ask,"how about we make a deal, Lucifer?"

 Chapter 89 A Deal With Lucifer

    "What kind of deal?" Lucifer spoke as he analysed my face and tried his best to see through me.


    "I want you toe to me when I ask you to, no matter what the condition, no matter what the cost, no matter what the situation," I spoke as I peered deep into Lucifer''s eyes and he, rather than getting angry, asked with an amused expression,


    "And what do I get in return?"


    "What do you want in return?" I asked without beating around the bush and heughed at my words,"Haha, nobody has ever talked to me like that for such a long time¡­ even the people who used to travel with me treated me as if I were a God or something¡­ fascinating! How truly fascinating!" before his expression turns serious as he speaks,


    "All right, then I will tell you what I want from you. I want you to help me persuade that kid, Lucas, into using my system and bing more powerful than what he is supposed to be."


    I looked at Lucifer for a few moments before calcting something and then speaking,"All right."


    Hearing my answer, he made a surprised expression before he asked,"didn''t you hate Lucas?"


    I looked at him for a few moments before speaking,"I despise him, all right. I am jealous of everything he has and I couldn''t wait to thrash him over for taking what was supposed to be mine¡­ however¡­ I know¡­ I know what happened before. That is why I can''t bring myself to hate him¡­ despite him being my worst enemy, I can''t help but think it''s unfair, my pursuit for revenge."


    While it was true that Lucas took Lucia away from me, defeated me at the battle that took ce on the sky ship right before I died in the previous timeline, it does not mean that he did it out of jealousy or to win against me.


    His sister, Lucy Laurentz, was killed by the enemy''s leader in the previous timeline just a few days before the fight and he wanted to avenge his sister all by himself despite being weaker. While it is still unknown to the people of this timeline, Lucy was the most important person to Lucas after losing everything he had.


    The Vampire King then proposed something¡­ that was to get Lucia and Lucas marry. Supposedly, there was this bedridden ritual that allows female vampires to transfer half of their powers to anyone they will sleep with for the first time. Lucas was very strong enough on his own, but still nobody wanted to take any risks.


    Lucia was strong¡­ not as strong as Lucas, but still extremely strong, to say the least. People¡­ or perhaps the whole of Vermillion agreed to this proposal, because afterall¡­ it was better for the''s survival.


    However¡­ it killed me from the inside¡­ I knew I was jealous¡­ I harbored a deep hatred for Lucas¡­ Even though I understood him, I couldn''t just let this marriage happen. The worst thing was that Lucia agreed to it without showing even a shred of hesitation. I thought she was being manipted or something¡­ but oh well; I guess I was naive.


    When I fought with Lucas¡­ he wasn''t aiming to kill me¡­ he never was serious with the battle to begin with¡­ I knew killing him would be the only way to get Lucia back, but¡­ at what cost? At some point, I didn''t even remember why I was fighting with Lucas.


    Though, before I could do anything, Lucia pushed me off the sky ship as I was trying to protect myself from Lucas'' attacks. I kinda knew this was going to happen¡­ or maybe I just wanted to die at that point¡­


    The world was against me.


    Living again wouldn''t be worth it.


    Everyone I had ever cared for either hated me or was already dead.


    I couldn''t even get back to normal after that as I just couldn''t bear the thought of Lucia sleeping with Lucas¡­ it would make me go fight again¡­ then again¡­ at what cost?


    When Amon gave me a chance to go back to the past, it didn''t even cross my mind for a moment about making Lucia mine or killing Lucas. Lucia isn''t worth it and Lucas didn''t have a choice in all of that¡­ perhaps if I had been in his ce, I too might have made the same choices, though I will make him suffer a bit to quell my hatred.


    My work here is to save those who have helped me before, while I will kill those who need to be killed. I won''t kill them for something they haven''t done, but I will wait for them to repeat that act¡­ and I will stop them¡­ and then I will kill them brutally¡­


    "I will make him suffer¡­ in ways I can without disturbing the timeline," I spoke as I looked at Lucifer, who narrowed his eyes at me, wondering what I meant by those words.


    "Will you kill Lucas?" he asked again, and I shook my head as I spoke trying to be level headed,"I want to grow out of it. Killing a teenager just because he will try to take revenge, because his most beloved person was brutally killed in front of him? That too because I was jealous for a b*tch who doesn''t even give a f*ck about me? No thanks, that''s a hard pass for me."


    ''Even though I do want to kill him¡­ making him suffer¡­ damn it¡­ I wonder what will I do when I will face him,'' I thought as I pondered about Lucas before turning to Lucifer who was analysing me and then he nodded as he spoke,


    "So I can take that as a yes?"


    I then sighed before speaking," Yeah. I will nurture your young user in return for using you and your power whenever I want. Is that right?" and he nods at me before moving towards me with a serious face and moves his hand forward for a shake. I shake his hand and an aura of bright light surrounds my right hand before a white symbol forms on the back of my hand.


    "With this, you can call me whenever you want, as long as I am in close proximity of you. I hope you hold your end of the deal," Lucifer spoke with a piercing gaze and I nod before asking a simple question,


    "What is it that you really want?"


    Upon hearing my question he looks at me with a small smile before speaking,"I too¡­ have someone to save¡­ someone to kill¡­" and then his voice drifts off before another shocked voicees from the other side,


    "How¡­ How can you trust¡­ a mere human? I know he is a fragment¡­ but still? I don''t understand. You are a Guardian, for God''s sake? Don''t you have any honour?"


    Dolos, the second Primordial, spoke with a baffled expression, as if he could notprehend what was going on.


    Though nobody answered his question, Amon simply asked,"what are you going to do with him?" "I guess I can let the deal with him go for now. I wanted to make him dance on my palms, but he is too cunning to be manipted. He will always be ready to backstab me, and I would rather not ce a knife at the back of my neck," I spoke as I turned to face Amon.


    Amon nodded at me before moving towards Dolos as he sighed before speaking,"well¡­ I guess I can see what I can do with him. Janus and Lucifer can stay here to help me formte a special barrier to hold him, while Zero, I would like you to venture deeper into this ce. Go fetch the other space fragment and join with it. It will give you a boost."


    I ncee at the confidant face of Amon and I gave him a thumbs up before speaking,"all right partner. See ya in a few moments," and then moving towards the other side where a small building was visible at some distance.


    Janus looked at me go with a shaky expression but then turning at the smiling face of Amon, he sighed and then moved towards Dolos. Lucifer too began helping Amon to entrap Dolos, while Dolos tried his best to run away but failed anyway.


    "You guys are all crazy, aren''t you? Trusting such a weakling and even stooping so low as to make a deal with him? You must have all lost your damn mind!!" Dolos shouted as hard as he could, but the others didn''t pay attention to him.


    The reason they didn''t hesitate to strike a deal with Zero, even going as far as treating him as an equal, was because¡­ all three of them sensed something in him. He was special¡­


    And that was because¡­


    He not only had the fragment of rejection from the Guardian of Space, but also he could ept the fragments of other Guardians. When Amon sent him back through time, he did not know that Zero was a fragment of space¡­ so he added his own power fragments into him forcefully¡­ and rather than rejecting that fragment, Zero''s fragment merged with Amon''s.


    Lucifer too realised that as soon as he saw Zero, that is why he found him interesting and amusing, while also finding him dangerous.


    Lucifer didn''t have any fragment to give, but still he forced some of his power into Zero, that would help both Lucifer and Zero in times of danger and, surprisingly, rather than the power getting rejected, its power merged with Zero''s.


    They couldn''t let this fact be known to Dolos¡­ or perhaps even Zero, cause nobody knows what would happen if Zero ends up taking all of the power to himself.


    They could only try to watch over him to make sure he doesn''t be a threat to them. But for now, they need him to be strong¡­ strong enough to defeat the third Primordial¡­ the strongest among all the Primordials.

 Chapter 90 The Gatekeeper

    I walked for quite some time before arriving in front of some ce, which looked somewhat like a giant temple made up of gold and white marble. There were two massive pirs on both sides of a white staircase that reached the sky. At the end of the staircase, there was a double sloped temple that was shining dazzlingly like gold does against the sunlight.


    I then began climbing up as fast as I could, reaching the top in another 30 minutes or so, using the fastest speed I could. As I reached the top, I found a golden gate inside the temple with two golden golems standing in front of me.


    I looked at them, and ording to all the things I have known about dungeons and what not, I don''t think it would be easy getting through that golden gate in front of me. I sighed before moving forward slowly and slowly, taking caution with each and every step before¡­


    -Drdrdrdr!!!


    The whole ce shook violently as those 2 golems stood up, revealing a bulky rocky face with their eyes shining white as they looked at me. Moving one step at a time closer to me with their heavy steps, they created tremors with every move they made.


    -Quake!


    -Quake!


    -Quake!


    After getting closer to me, they both stood there for a moment, then a voice came from the golem on the right,"What is your purpose here, stranger?"


    "I have been sent here to im you and make you mine?" I spoke in a jolly mood as I kind of found it interesting to find something or someone that is actually talking to me.


    "You are not my type, go back." the voice replied, and I almost lost my bnce before blinking at the golems with an amused expression before speaking,"I am here for the fragment."


    The voice turned silent for a few moments before asking,"how do you know about that fragment?" and I smirked a little before speaking,"The owner of the fragment has sent me to collect the fragment. He was the one who told me about the fragment and what not."


    The voice once again paused before asking,"why is it that the owner of fragments isn''t here by himself but has sent a weakling like you?"


    ''Cause Amon doesn''t want him to? And yeah, I too don''t want him to be here¡­'' I thought with a smile as I spoke,"I do not know the real reason, he just sent me here. That''s all I know."


    The voice asked again,"and what makes you think you can get through me to get that fragment?" and instead of answering that robotic voice, I replied with a question,"who are you?"


    "Huh?! What do you mean by that?" That robotic voice, a bit taken aback by my question, blurted it out loud while I chuckled a bit before speaking,"I mean, I thought there would be traps and stuff but never would I have imagined I would be talking to someone here. So, I wanna ask, who are you?"


    The voice then paused again before speaking,"I am the guardian of this ce. I have been sent here to guard this ce and prevent unworthy ones from entering this ce."


    ''All right, this gives us two ways to direct this conversation to, one is that I can ask about what is a guardian and look more into it, or I could try to find out how to enter this ce¡­.Hmmm¡­ which should I ask?'' I pondered over it for a few moments before finally deciding and inquiring,


    "What is a guardian?"


    "Hmmm¡­ you ask a peculiar question¡­ well, a guardian is an angel sent from high ne to lower ones or special nes, like this one¡­. Wait a sec¡­ why am I even telling you about this?!!" The voice became a bit bbergasted, but the information I got was good enough to propel me from here onwards.


    "Oh! So you are Lucifer''s underlings or something, aren''t you?" I threw a bait and.


    -BAAAAM!!!


    An angel¡­ a literal angelnded in front of me. She was wearing a white robe, with golden white wings and a halo over her lustrous ck hair. She had her eyes closed, which she then slowly opened, revealing the golden pupil which peered at me with a questioning look.


    "What did you say?" she asks as if she would kill me if I didn''t repeat the same thing and I repeated the sentence again,"You are rted to Lucifer, aren''t you?"


    This whole thing was turning more and more interesting. I even wonder if she knows that Lucifer is just down below the temple¡­ though can she sense him? Doesn''t look like she can, ¡­ interesting.


    "How do you know our King?" She asked, and I smiled in return while thinking of some believable bullsh*t I could utter. Though, what she spoke did shock me a lot¡­ but my priorityy in having fun right now¡­ and getting the gravity fragment, too.


    After racking my brain as fast as I could, I finally concocted an interesting story,


    "The owner of the fragment and Lucifer are friends, while Lucifer is an acquaintance, who helped me sometimes here and there."


    "A weakling like you?" she questioned as she analysed my body again and I simply smiled before raising my hand and then speaking,"Long ago, Lucifer and I had signed a contract together. This is the proof."


    Observing the symbol on my hand, that angel jumped at me with a hurried look to observe that symbol and study the power hidden inside that mark. Unsurprisingly, the more she studied, the more shocked her expression became and the more she looked at me as if she was trying her best to not believe in me.


    Though in the end, she spoke out of disbelief,"this¡­ is the real deal¡­ it''s our lord''s.. energy¡­ This can''t be faked no matter what. Weakling¡­ who exactly are you?"


    "I am Zero, as they all call me. I am here for the fragment present inside that temple,"I spoke with a dignified and majestic voice and the angel looked at me with doubt in her eyes before she answered,"I am Hadraniel, Guardian of the Second Heavenly Gate. May I ask if it is Lord Lucifer, who wants that fragment?"


    I looked at her for a few moments before speaking,"no, he does not¡­" I spoke and she gazed at me, but before she could speak anything, I continued,"but he knows that I am here. Actually, this fragment¡­ I, myself, need it for something that is going to protect the whole world from grave danger."


    Hearing my words, a tense expression forms on her face as she asks,"what kind of grave danger?"


    I looked at her with an apologetic expression before speaking,"that I can''t tell. Lucifer, me and a few others are working in secret to increase our power as much as we can to defeat that enemy. I would be really thankful if you let me take that fragment inside that ce."


    Hearing my words, she fixed her eyes on me before once again asking a question,"did Lord Lucifer tell anything about us?"


    At her words, I wanted to smack her cause she was just dragging the whole conversation, but oh well.. I guess I could bear her a bit more,"no, I never asked anything personal, and neither did he."


    Hearing my words, she sighs before a beautiful smile forms on her face as she looks at me before speaking,"well¡­ if Lord lucifer doesn''t want people to know about his whereabouts then I shall not tell anyone about our conversation. Young weakling Zero, thank you for telling me about the wellbeing of our Lord. It eases my mind to know that he is doing fine. Though you can tell him that if he ever needs us, we angels are always ready to fight for the cause of our Lord."


    I nodded at her sentiment before sighing and wondering what exactly was going on with Lucifer. I saw the angel open the gate to the temple as she said,"I can''t help you inside that temple, weakling Zero, even then I shall pray that you seed in retrieving the fragment."


    I then sigh before nodding with a bright smile as I enter the temple gate.


    This was kind of sudden, but I think it makes me slightly assured that there are some more helpful hands that will help us in the war. Though, I wonder why Lucifer isn''t with them. I mean, they looked fairly strong to nurture as a vessel for the next Guardian of Light.


    ''I guess there is more to this angel and Lucifer thing. Well, I guess I could talk to Lucifer about it after I get that fragment,'' I thought as I walked inside the temple and the gate closed as soon as I entered. While the angel outside vanished with the golems returning to their original positions.

 Chapter 91 The Mechanical Angel

    ''Hmmm?! What just happened?'' I thought as I realised that I had suddenly stopped walking. This feeling¡­ it feels like I have been sleeping for sometime¡­ What is¡­ this strange sensation though?


    Trying to get a grasp of my own body, I slowly pry open my eyes as I feel the sun shining brightly and it''s light blinding my eyes . By reflex, I use my hand to shield my eyes from the sun.


    It takes a few moments before my eyes finally adjust to that bright light and then I notice the thick forest all around me. Not long after, I began hearing the cheerful chirping of birds, not only that¡­ I think I heard the roar of a few animals at a distance.


    I then push myself against the ground and stand up to check myself thoroughly. I was wearing the same outfit, white-coloured shirt over blue jeans, it didn''t seem like my clothes had changed. I then tried sensing my surroundings only to find that I could not use mana.


    ''To be precise, there is no mana around here¡­ in fact the amount of mana here is extremely low,'' I thought as I then changed my eyes'' colour from white to green as I activated my spirit mana regeneration.


    ''So spirit mana exists but not normal mana¡­'' I pondered as I observed the trees all around me flushing with greenery before I looked around and found¡­


    Nothing at all.


    Not really bothered about it, I began walking in a random direction as I analysed different nts and animals that I found around along the way. At first, what looked simr, turned out to be different from what I initially thought it was.


    Whether it is a nt or an animal, there''s something about them that separates them from what is a real thing.


    A three eared rabbit, an apple tree bearing oranges, or was it those circr mechanical rings in the sky that looked like clouds.


    I had to recheck everything to confirm what I was witnessing was true and not some illusion.


    I walked for another few hours before¡­


    -sh


    -sh


    -Boom


    I heard a strange sound, as if the air was being cut by a fast attack at a distance not far, before hearing the sound of an explosioning from the same ce.


    ''Is it a monster fight or something?'' I thought as I wondered whether I should move towards the explosion or not.


    But since everything was pretty much boring, I decided to move in that direction.


    "Mana enhancement," I mutter as I apply mana into my arms and legs before I¡­


    -Dash


    -Dash


    -Dash


    -Dash


    Began running towards the ce where the explosion took ce as swiftly as I could.


    I jumped at one of the tree branches and ran through the forest quickly as I jumped from one branch to another, and with each jump I made, I realised that these trees were really strong to be able to take the impact of my kick. Normal trees might have already broken into pieces if I had even applied half of the power I am using right now.


    ''The atmosphere and the environment must be really nourishing for everything around¡­ which in turn means that the animals or whatever is there must be strong as well¡­'' I pondered as I once again calcted if I should keep moving in that direction or turn around.


    Though in the end I kept moving cause well¡­ I might need to face itter anyway, so there isn''t much difference between checking it now and checking itter.


    "Worst case scenario, I could just run away,'''' I thought as I almost reached the ce where the explosion took ce and found a huge crater between the woods and examining the ce around, I found a massive red cat like monster, moving towards something.


    ''Mana sense,'' I thought as I tried to see through what was there. However, with all the dense spirit energy around me, I couldn''t see through it. Atst I just decided to run around that cat to see where it was moving.


    "Mana Enhancement¡­ Bifold" I mutter before my eyes turn into a darker shade of green and blue-coloured lines became visible over my arms and legs where I applied the spirit magic.


    -Swish


    -Swish


    -Swish


    -Swish


    Swiftly moving at a rapid speed, I finally reached the point where I could see what the cat monster was after.


    ''A kid?'' I thought as I looked at the young boy running away hurriedly with a look of desperation on his face.


    ''Hmmm¡­ interesting,'' I thought as I pondered whether it was him or the cat who caused the crater there.


    ''Only one way to find out,'' I thought as I began moving towards the boy¡­ However, before I could even take a step, someonended right in between the boy and the cat monster.


    It was too quick for me to even notice how fast she arrived there.


    ''An Angel?'' I thought as I looked at that girl from a distance, before I moved forward to take a closer look at her. Though, as I reached closer, I saw the cat ring at the girl for a second before the girl disappeared and appeared behind the cat, shing the cat at hundreds of ces simultaneously.


    ''Fast!!'' I thought as I observed the girl shing the cat down into bits before she put her light sword off.


    On closer look, I saw that it was not that the girl was an angel, but that she was wearing a white mechanical suit with a grey outline, with a halo-like thing on top and white mechanical angel-like wings. She had a mechanical, expressionless face with grey eyes pointed at the boy as she stood there without sparing a nce to the cat monster.


    I then observed the boy¡­ white hairs, white eyes with a fearful expression on his face as he observed that Angel.


    ''Is he scared of her?'' I thought as I observed the situation and then saw that Angel girl moved toward the boy one step at a time, while the boy was standing still, he couldn''t even move a muscle after being terrorised shitless.


    "Mana Blessing¡­ Spirit''s Blessing¡­ Body Enhancement¡­ 10 fold.." I muttered as I tried using the dense spirit magic around me and unsurprisingly it worked out as I could feel my body bursting with energy as the mana began coursing in it.


    Then I ran as fast as I could, cause¡­ well if I didn''t spend all this energy my body is taking¡­ I would burst before I could even control it.


    -Swish


    -Swish


    -Swish


    I moved near the boy in an instant as I caught him, and then in the next instant I reached at least a kilometre away creating air shock waves behind me. Not only did it confuse the boy who was in my arms right now, but also the mechanical suit wearing Angeldy who was standing there.


    Before she could react, I was already a dozen kilometres away, however¡­


    -Swish


    I dodged the attack at my neck by pure reflex as I stopped myself from falling, barely getting back my momentum as I saw her standing in front of me preparing for another attack.


    ''Shit!'' I cursed as I let the mana in my body fill my legs, and then¡­


    -Boom


    I kick myself away from the trajectory of her attack, dodging her attack before turning around and then jumping once again away from there¡­ However, this time, my body, which didn''t have the necessary amount of mana, took some damage against the air that hit me.


    Still¡­ I healed myself using health regeneration and then looked back at the Angel slowly walking towards me¡­ the boy in my arms was surprisingly¡­ conscious as he looked at me with slight amazement.


    I then sighed as I held my grip on the boy tightly and muttered in a low voice,"I am going to go even faster," and the boy widened his eyes at me before gulping and nodding before grabbing me more tightly.


    ''Honestly¡­ why am I even doing this? Oh! Yeah¡­ my soft part about children and the fact that I can use him to gain information much easier than by asking that killing machine over there¡­'' I clicked my tongue at my luck before I muttered again,


    "Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth Moon," My eyes turn red from green as I look at the front¡­ and I hoped that with all this dense spirit magic¡­ it better work, cause if it fails¡­ I might die even before it starts.


    "Spirit Summon: Asteria''s Blessing," I spoke out loud¡­ and then my eyes¡­ rather than turning green again¡­ they turned purple¡­ it was really odd¡­ because it wasn''t hurting using both the magic at once. I wonder why?


    -Dash


    -BOOM!!!


    I ran again¡­ this time with an unmatchable speed than before¡­ I was travelling about 40 times faster than my normal speed¡­ I was finally away from that Angel¡­ or so I thought before¡­


    I saw her standing right in front of me preparing for another attack with the same surprised expression on her face.

 Chapter 92 The Mechanical Angel#2

    I saw her prepping for another attack and then sigh a little before increasing my speed and dashing towards her this time. While I can''t run away from her, surprisingly I am able to dodge her attacks.


    -Boom


    I jumped at her at full speed and¡­ what?!... she immediately cancelled her attack and then proceeded to dodge me, rather than attacking me head on. As soon as I reach closer to her, I find herpletely vanished from there before appearing right behind me. Since she wasn''t that far, it was easy for me to sense her.


    -Boom


    I jumped sideways to take a closer look at her as she almost reached my head and I barely dodged her and then I swiftly moved behind her before¡­


    -BOOOM!!!


    I kicked her with all my might and unsurprisingly¡­ my attack connects, pushing her all the way away. A jittery grin forms on my face as I proceed to jump high up in the sky with all my might.


    -BOOOM!!!


    Though the impact created a loud sound grabbing the attention of that angel down there, I removed myself from her sight as she vanished from her original ce appearing a few hundred metres to the left of where she was, as she frantically tried to search around her.


    ''Well¡­ that clears things up,'' I thought as I looked at her teleporting again as she searched for me on the ground.


    Yeah, she had a teleportation ability, a high ranged one at that. No wonder she could reach me despite me running at such a rapid speed. My eyes then reached the boy, who was still looking at me with a surprised and shocked expression on his face.


    A smile forms on my face as I then begin to fall down due to gravity. I project myself in her direction. She was carefully observing everything around her, trying to assess the situation and after searching everything around, she finally looked at the sky¡­ only to find my handsome face smirking at her.


    -BOOM!!!!


    I punched as hard as I could, but missed her as she teleported just before the impact. This time, however, I just stood there and put the boy down slowly as I observed that Angel at a distance standing still, hesitating toe closer. I take my half torned shirt off, since it was more than just tattered, then using my space ring, I take out a battle gear white shirt that won''t be torn before wearing it.


    -Click


    -Click


    -Click


    I cracked my fingers, my neck and rxed a little as I stretched, while the boy and that Angel were wondering what I was doing. The boy was kind of amazed at everything I was doing,


    -Whoosh


    The mechanical Angel appeared right in front of me, as she tried to take the boy, however¡­ before she could actually touch the kid¡­


    -BOOOM!!!


    I kicked her again with quite a force. I saw her suit cracking into pieces as she fell far, far away.


    Yawning at the situation, I then took out a rope like object which was a bit wider than a normal rope and used it to tie the boy to myself. First, I asked him to tighten himself around me in afortable situation, which he did as he got on my back, and then I used that rope.


    Atst, we looked at the area where the Angel was sent flying. While I was focused on that Angel, all this time, I saw that the child wasn''t worried about it anymore and contrasting to the previous scared and horrified expression; he had a relieved smile on his face with a tinge of excitement hidden behind that smile.


    A slight smile forms on my face as I focus on the front and¡­


    -Dash


    Reach towards that ce in a matter of seconds and observe the destruction caused by my attack and the first thing I did was¡­ take out a cloth and cover that kid''s eyes¡­ after all, the mechanical Angel was all¡­ naked from top with only her suit remaining below, which too was breaking apart slowly.


    I then jump towards her, making her re at me with half scared, half furious eyes as she tries to stand up. I then sigh before I ignore her re and then move towards her and throw a binding cloth at her.


    I don''t know whether it will work or not, but since there is an abundance of spirit magic in this ce, I could possibly use this spirit plus blood mana mode of mine for another day or so, without really getting tired at all.


    That white cloth binds her, covering her upper body, but I observe that she isn''t really worried about her binding, as if it didn''t affect her at all. She must have already found a way out of that cloth¡­ though why is she still here? Is it something like she can''t teleport without using her suit? Or¡­


    My eyes then turned to the boy who was behind me.


    ''Now, isn''t this interesting¡­'' I thought before observing that the sky is beginning to turn darker, and I couldn''t help but consider whether I should interrogate this Angel simultaneously dealing with the dangers of the night, or should I just kill her to be safe.


    "The wolves¡­ areing¡­ Are you sure you should be worrying about me?" She spoke as she freed herself from the bind as her body began to heal at a rapid pace and then the mechanical suit which she had, breaks down, revealing a stark wless body of her. Her pure grey hair, previously not visible because of the mechanical suit became visible, gave a strange sense of beauty to her.


    She then takes out a strange device from the broken pile of machines. However, I sensed no danger from it, so I kept observing her. She takes out a set of clothes, which she wore right in front of me without showing any ounce of shame.


    ''By human standards, she should be around 23 years¡­'' I thought as I looked at her before I saw that the sun was almost down and an eerie atmosphere had developed around us.


    "Markeusnap aoiefale ansuaohe¡­." the boy began speaking in a strangenguage which made me feel confused, because I have never heard thatnguage before. However, the mechanical Angel, who kind of understood my confusion, smirked a little before getting surprised and confused, and looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.


    "You¡­ you were saving someone you didn''t even know how to talk to? Are you¡­ broken up there?" she asked without hiding anything.


    "Aren''t you getting too free in front of me? You don''t think I can kill you without any hesitation? Or do you think of me being a kid? I can''t kill you or something?" I ask with slight irritation, wondering if people think that I am that approachable. Even Cristine acts like she has known me for ages, despite not knowing me at all¡­


    Though, she made a slightly odd expression before narrowing her eyes at me and asking,"you¡­ aren''t from here, are you?"


    Her question made me realise that there was something about this situation that I misread. I then try sensing things around, only to get my senses blocked again with that dense mana. I sigh before answering her question.


    "Ie from a farawaynd in search of something¡­. Wait, a sec?! How can you talk to me without anynguage barrier¡­ do you ha-"


    Rather than answering my question, she looked around with a deep gaze as she spoke in a hushed sound,"They are here."


    At her words, I too got alert and sensed around as all three of us turned silent. The boy slowly took off the cloth from his eyes and then looked around without even caring about that Angel.


    ''So.. this situation¡­ is something where people erase their preexisting feud and focus on them¡­ the wolves¡­ or perhaps the monsters,'' I thought as I saw the eyes¡­ a pair of eyes¡­ then another pair.. A few more¡­ it turned into 10s¡­ then I stopped counting as I found them all around us surrounding us.


    "Compare them with that red cat monster that you killed before," I spoke and she looked at me with a slightlyplicated face before speaking,"there is no genuineparison. Individually, there is a difference between that of a small cub and that of a highly experienced and ferocious lion."


    Understanding her words, I understood that the monsters in front were at least¡­ S grade each¡­ however they did not have that aura of intelligence around them so it¡­ was¡­ fine?...


    As I was thinking and analysing, I saw some even stronger ones appear¡­ and I chuckled a little beforebelling them at SS-Grade.


    Individually, I could fight with one S-grade monster at a time¡­ but with this many and the addition of these SS-grade looking monsters¡­


    ''Aren''t I kind of f*cked up?'' I thought as I looked at those monsters, trying to find out the best possible solution out of here.

 Chapter 93 The Mechanical Angel#3

    Observing the situation


    Examining the things that were happening around


    Examining the things that weren''t happening


    The conclusion


    I need to find a path to run¡­


    Winning is impossible


    At least, without using any sacrificial moves.


    Is¡­ what I thought until¡­


    "There are three things that the blue wolves are vulnerable against," the mechanical Angel began speaking as she looked at those monsters growling at her,"light magic and anything rted to light. If you can use light magic, you have already won half the battle, no matter how powerful they are¡­


    The second thing is Leri, a material only avable on higher ground or at specific ces. Typically, Leri is useful for fending off all kinds of monsters, no matter what type they are or how strong they are.


    The final thing is the fire element. Although not as powerful as the light element, it is still considered to be one of the effective elements against the blue wolves."


    She spoke before charging her sword with that strange energy again and said,"I don''t have anymore Leri, stranger. So tell me before I keep my hopes up¡­ can you use fire or light magic, or not?"


    After her exnation, I recalcted everything all over again,''hmmm speed¡­ shouldn''t be a problem¡­ about defence¡­ I might need to leave that open and enhance my reflexes here¡­ stamina will be a problem if the fight drags for too long so I need to finish it fast¡­ as for the attack¡­''


    My left and right eye color then changes to silverish white and purplish orange, respectively. Honestly, using multiple channels and overusing them to their limits while forcing them to channel magic that I generally don''t use was putting a toll on me before the fight even began.


    Theck of mana in the atmosphere forced me to use my own mana which I am getting from mana regeneration using the spirit magic, which somewhat limited my recovery, too. This situation¡­ is kind of thrilling on its own¡­


    An ecstatic grin forms on my face as my hands begin glowing red with fire and light magic, making the Angel narrow her eyes at me and the wolves take a step back.


    Because of the light emitting from my hands, I could see the wolves pretty clearly now. They were blue all right, sharp fangs, deep red eyes, with a tinge of bloodlust oozing out from them. All right¡­ They are strong monsters¡­


    -Dash


    I made the first move as I saw an opening among the wolves and¡­


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    I take out my Scythe, channel my mana into it before shing those wolves with ease as if they were butter. Surprisingly, using light energy shifted the situation''s difficulty level from impossible to hard¡­


    ''This is good,'' I smile as I sh another one of those wolves.


    With my super light fire spirit blood energy mana mode¡­ I was kinda fast¡­ fast enough to match the S ss wolves around. The rest was a game of skills, as I needed to make sure to not get caught by the SS-sses and keep killing the S-ss ones.


    The SS-ss ones needed to be separated and then brought down without any disturbance from the S-ss ones.


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    I saw that mechanical Angel, hunting the wolves too, using her sword and speed. Seems like her strategy is the same as mine. I saw her swordsmanship for the first time and found out that it was quite simple without a touch of any skills.


    She was just using her teleportation ability on top of utilizing the property of the material¡­ what was it called again¡­ummm¡­ yeah¡­. Leranati.


    ''Such a waste of a such a nice sword,'' I thought as I observed her using the swo-


    -Boom!!!


    The SS-ss wolf attacked me and I barely dodged it as I sighed¡­ looks like I can''t get distracted too much. After all, bing puppy food wasn''t on my to do list.


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    Since that SS-ss was already in my range, I kind of attacked it immediately since it had limited momentum after that attack. Though, I could only cut him using the scythe and notpletely snap him into half¡­ well, guess I expected too much from that vulnerability¡­


    ''At least, it is strong enough to¡­.'' I thought as I


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    Made multiple shes and destroyed that SS-ss puppy from all around in a single instance.


    ''Guess, it shouldn''t take as long as I thought,'' I thought as I saw the Angel killing the rest of the monsters at a rapid speed. In fact, at this point, the number of SS-ss monsters was more than the number of S-ss monsters.


    I then got a little bit serious before sensing a certain danger that kind of creeped deep into the very bones of my body. Something ising¡­ and it''s strong¡­


    My eyes darted to that Angel, and she had the same look of urgency that I had. However, rather than running away, she started shing the other monsters even faster and looking at her strange actions, I too started doing the same.


    While it was risky, I left some small opening for the wolves to attack me as bait. They instinctively took the bait and attacked me¡­


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    Before getting shed down into pieces by my scythe. Hmmm¡­ one thing that confuses me is¡­


    ''Why are these monsters not using any ability? Is it that they can''t use an ability¡­ or they simply don''t know how to manifest one?'' Genuinely confused at their strange behaviour, I kind of ended up questioning thews that actually governed this ce.


    ''They are different from Vermillion''s. I can see that all right¡­ but how much? This is going to be painfully annoying, won''t it?'' I thought as I found that it wasn''t as ''easy'' as I thought this whole getting the fragment thing would be.


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    I kept shing each and every wolf as fast as I could and before I knew it all the monsters were dead in front of me and I saw that the Angel too was done with the wolves on her side. I observed her clean, spotless dress and couldn''t help but admire her swiftness in dealing with the wolves.


    ''Despite the clear power difference, she could easily handle them with the given weapon¡­ though her excellency in the usage of said weapon could be questioned. I guess, her skill proficiency is high enough to overshadow herck of skills,'' I thought before I saw her taking a nce at me before running in a certain direction and I, too, followed her.


    Whatever the thing was that wasing at us, isn''t good news and waiting for it toe would be equal to waiting for death.


    Running during the night was surprisingly easier using light magic, in fact, it was even better than running during the day. I kept following that Angel for about an hour or so, before a certain cave appeared before us.


    As I ran through the forest, I kept checking to see if it was following us, but luckily enough it did not follow us at all and left us for whatever reason it had. While it was good for us, this feeling felt alien to me.


    As I entered the cave, I saw the Angel was still moving at the same speed and I, too, followed her. While it could have been a trap to follow her, I certainly don''t have much choice in this matter, given how much Ick themon knowledge of this pce.


    After following for another hour or so, we kind of reached a wide opening within the cave filled with the same material as the one that mechanical Angel was using¡­ Larenati.


    She stopped at a ce where we could analyse most of the cave at once. I jumped and reached at a distance away from her and looked at her, wondering what would be her next move.


    "You aren''t from here, are you?" she asked again, and I sighed before answering,"yeah, I am not."


    I saw her making a sudden smirk before she spoke,"how about we make a deal?"


    Her expression was quite unreadable at this moment. While I could guess that it had something to do with the kid behind me, I thought it would be better to listen first than act.


    "What kind of deal?" I asked with a curious expression and she immediately responded,"Help me with a small task and in return, I will help you ovee thenguage barrier."


    At her words, I was a little stumped but still I curiously asked,"what kind of task?" She then smiled at me before speaking.


    "Let''s wait till tomorrow morning. I will need your help to kill a certain monster. As for the trantor, here catch," she threw a tiny ring-like object that made me question whether I should trust this or not.


    Though¡­ I wore it anyway¡­ if it creates a problem, let''s deal with itter and also because curses never worked on me anyway, I was more or less rxed in this situation.


    "Mr¡­ can you please put me down?" I heard the voice of the boy as soon as I wore the ring, only to look at the kid tied to my back.

 Chapter 94 We Are At Planet Vermilion

    "Mr¡­. Can you please put me down?"


    Untying the kid from myself, I put the kid down and then look at him, observing me with a kind of reverent look. I observed his face and found his features to be quite simr to mine in some aspects¡­ makes me wonder if there is anything peculiar about this simrity between him and I.


    ''White eyes, white hair and a face which looks like a younger version of me but with some obvious differences¡­ is it some kind of test?'' I thought as I observed the kid in front of me.


    "Thank you for saving me, mister. What is your name?" he asked with some curiosity, but tried to keep it as formal as a child could. I looked at him for a few moments before asking,


    "Shouldn''t the one asking this question need to be the one who tells his name first?"


    Hearing my question, he makes an ''oops'' sound before realising his mistake and then answering,"Sorry! My name is Dion."


    After telling me his name, he turned quiet, and I looked at him for a few moments before sighing and then turning to that Angel as I asked,"what about you?"


    She looks at me with a slight smirk as she remarks in the same tone which I used,"shouldn''t the one asking this question need to be the one who tells his name first?"


    I kinda got irked a little at her words before sighing and speaking with a forced smile on my face,"I apologise. My name is Zero. Would you be kind enough to grace me with your name, your highness?"


    She smirks again before chuckling a little at my small act and then speaks,"Zuriel." She then looks deep into my eyes before speaking,"you have a fascinating presence. What exactly are you?"


    I look at her with a confused expression as I ask,"what do you mean by that?" and then I nced at the ring on my finger and added one more question to my sentence,"and how does this ring exactly function?"


    "It''s a gift from a certain someone. There are only two of its kind, the one I have and the other one on your finger," she answers as she then takes out something from her storage ring.


    It was a small ball-like thing which she threw at a distance and in an instant a huge tent made up of metal appeared in front of us. It looked quite durable, to be honest.


    "Are you sure you should be giving me something so precious?" I asked again as my confusion only grew from her sentence, but she simply smiled as she looked at me,"it is okay as long as I achieve my goal here."


    "Well.. that was very helpful," I answered sarcastically as I looked at her going inside the tent and turned to the boy as I asked,"what do you say, partner? Shall we go in or shall we stay outside?"


    He looked at me with a slightly dumbfounded expression before looking around and then almost making a crying expression as he failed to get the correct answer.


    I sigh at his reaction and then ponder at the odds of going in versus staying out.


    ''First, this ce is unknown and there is no guarantee that I would be safe outside the tent and the fact she showed us the tent could be interpreted that there might be some possibility of danger outside. On the other hand, it could as well be a trap, but that wouldn''t make sense unless the deal which we made was fabricated as well. Again, why would she even give me such a special ring if this all were a trap?''


    I kept thinking over things analytically, but the fact that I was missing a hell lot of information was making things way more difficult than it should have been.


    I sigh before looking at the boy and then speaking,"let''s see for a while. If therees any danger, we will go in, else we''ll just stay outside as long as we can."


    He observes me as his expression brightens up as he looks at me before he nods cheerfully. I smile at him before asking,"hmmm¡­ just standing here and doing nothing would be boring, so let''s talk, shall we?"


    I ask him and he makes an understandable expression and then I observe him before asking,"so I have been wondering, what are you doing in this forest, in the middle of nowhere?"


    At my question, he makes a sad face before speaking,"I escaped from my home¡­ my family was at war against the lower ones¡­ and to protect me, they used a random location spell because they didn''t have any other options¡­"


    I looked at his sad face before asking,"they?" and tears started flowing out of his eyes as he answered,"my mother and father¡­ they sacrificed themselves to send me here¡­"


    I observed him as I could kind of understand the situation a little and then proceeded to ask,"did you see them dying with your own eyes?" and he looked at me with a slightly confused expression before he answered,"no¡­ I did not."


    "Then¡­ doesn''t that mean that they could still be alive?" I spoke, trying to cheer him up, but he shakes his head as he counters,"the lower ones never forgive, they are angry¡­ They wanted to kill them at all costs. I saw them¡­ they were very furious¡­"


    I then sighed a little before asking,"did you know what they wanted?" and he nodded before crying out loud as he spoke,"they¡­ they wanted to kill my mother, father and me¡­" I saw his sobbing face but did not proceed to calm him¡­ he needed to cry it all out before I could console him¡­ he needs to grow up a little¡­


    "I know you are hearing this¡­e out," I spoke as I didn''t shift my gaze from Dion. The gate of the tent opens and Zurieles out as she looks at me with a slightly serious expression and asks me,"what is it?"


    "What is your rtion to this whole situation?" I inquire with an emotionless voice and she then answers,"he has a massive bounty on his head. Everyone on Vermillion is searching for him¡­ it''s not just a couple of strong ones, but people that could topple the world upside down are searching for this kid. Now that you know what you are getting yourself into, what is it that you will do?"


    I could hear the peculiarity in her voice as I asked,"can you tell me the year in which we are right now?" and she looks at me with a slightly confused look as she says,"it is the 423rd year of the Light Bearer''s Foundation."


    ''Doesn''t ring a bell¡­ hmmmm, the records never said anything about the Light Bearer''s Foundation¡­ or anything rted to it¡­ The only thing we had was the System Foundation year. That too with a strangebination of letters and numbers, Year:23I12NMK. I wonder if it is the future or the past¡­ but then¡­ the spirit world died in the previous timeline, so does that mean it''s the past? Or is it a totally different timeline again?'' I kept racking my brain before asking,


    "Do you know why they were trying to kill him and his parents?" I asked to change the topic, but unfortunately Zuriel did not know the answer to it. She only shook her head before asking the question.


    "You do not belong to this timeline?"


    ''Well¡­ my question should have given the hint to her but honestly¡­'' I thought as I spoke,"Honestly¡­ I don''t know myself. All these things are foreign to me."


    She nods at this before asking again,"so, what are you going to do with this kid?"


    I look at the crying kid who has almost stopped crying and look at me with a slightly horrified expression on his face and I close my eyes as I give a deep sigh as I mutter in an extremely silent voice,"he is clearly rted to what I want in this world¡­ otherwise I wouldn''t have been so close to this kid¡­ well¡­ doesn''t look like I have much of a choice in these things, I suppose,'' I thought before smiling at him and then speaking,


    "Well¡­ I guess we can start by finding out if your parents are dead or alive."


    Zuriel makes a shocked expression as she looks at me and the kid makes a surprised face before smiling at me.


    "Are you crazy-" she speaks but I stop her from speaking as I start speaking in between as,


    "What is it that you wanted instead of this trantor?"


    She looks at me with a slightly stumped expression before speaking,"I.. Uh¡­ I need you to help me kill something¡­ or someone¡­ a group of people actually¡­ But wait! You did not answer my question¡­ hey are you listening? Hey!"


    I then pick up the kid as I ignore Zuriel for a moment and then move towards the tent and answer as I look deep into her eyes, making her close her mouth shut,"sure, I will kill them."


    She just stood there nkly with her mouth shut as she saw me walking towards the tent.

 Chapter 95 Getting Involved In A Civil War

    After I entered the tent, I saw that it had most of the basic amenities that one needs while travelling. Food, water, shelter, etc. It had almost everything that you could ask forfortable traveling.


    ''Isn''t this quite¡­vish? Just what is her background to be able to get her hands on something like this, or is it that things like this aremon in this world?'' I thought as I reached the nearest bed and helped Dion get on it.


    Zuriel followed me inside the tent and observed me sitting beside the exhausted and already passed out Dion on the bed. I used a little bit of charm magic to get him to sleep and it worked just fine as he was sleeping soundly with a rxed expression on his face.


    I then turn to Zuriel and then signal her to move outside the tent, since it would be better to discuss with her about what exactly she wants me to do¡­ or more like who exactly she wants me to kill.


    She follows me outside the tent without uttering a single word and I then stop before looking at her face, which was half troubled, half confused and I gazed at her before speaking,"don''t worry about me getting involved with the kid. It won''t be causing you any trouble."


    Hearing my words, her gaze deepened and her troubled expression told me that she was having a hard time believing my words. Well, I can''t really exin to her about my whole situation, so let''s leave it here and focus on what we can do.


    "Tell me about the people you want me to kill and also the reason why me?"


    Hearing my question, she looks at me quietly as if contemting over something before she finally makes up her mind and speaks,


    "I don''t know whether you are an idiot or there is some reason that is forcing you to do all this but since you have some ability to back up your im, also given the fact that I have nothing to do with you, I think I should just not get too much involved with why and how you will save the kid.


    As for our personal deal, it would be better if I brief you about my own origin a little. That would help you understand things better in various ways.


    I, Zuriel, along with my brother Raphael, were born in this world as special beings with special powers. While we were stronger than our peers, we were far weaker than the ruling forces of this world, and one of those forces, Azem, ruler of the city of wealth, Asul, found out about us and sent an army to capture not only us but also the other special children who were scattered all over the country.


    War took ce and we fought, but s, we lost in the end. I, using my special ability, barely managed to run away from their clutches, but others weren''t as lucky. I could only run away with a bitter feeling in my heart, as I didn''t even turn back to look at my own brother and the others who were left behind there.


    What I want is¡­ to save him from that ce. While I want you to help us kill Azem, we won''t be exactly doing it all on our own. There is a resistance force which is going to attack Azem in about a month or so. We will be using that confusion to save my brother while also killing as many people as we can. Also, we aren''t alone in this; I work with a small organisation with simr powers and simr goals to mine.


    Why I want you to help me is quite simple, actually. You are strong and special¡­ someone who''s able to use two elements is already considered strong¡­ but the fact that those two elements are Light and Fire makes you even rare among the rare ones, in fact there is no reason to not try to lure you to our side."


    I listen to her words attentively and ponder over things a little and then close my eyes as I recalcte a few things before I open my eyes as I look at her and ask,


    "Would you mind if I took over the country of Azem?"


    "What?!" She looked at me with a stupefied and stumped expression. She was questioning whether she had heard what she heard and it was not a mistake but I didn''t bother clearing anything as I ask,


    "Well¡­ can you tell me the power level of our enemy?"


    It takes a moment for her to register what I asked before she snaps out of her daze and then answers,"the enemy has one King level and four Royal levels with about a 100 people of Higher Guardian level strength. While they also have an army of people from Normal to Middle Guardian level."


    Her words confused me a little as I asked again,"what''s your level?" and she narrows her eyes at me before answering,"High Guardian level."


    ''If she is a High Guardian level, then the enemy isn''t really something I could scoff at,'' I thought as I asked again,"What is the difference between a High Guardian and a Royal?"


    And she rxed her guard as she finally understood that I wasn''t exactly checking her power level but asking about the power level in general. She then speaks without hesitation,"a Royal can take about 2 to 3 dozen High Guardians on his own in general, however situations may change that number a little. Nevertheless, overall, a Royal Guardian should win, no matter what the condition is."


    I look at her for a few moments before asking,"and what do you think my level is?" and she watches me for a few moments as she ponders before answering,"you are almost Royal level and given the right atmosphere you might even be a really strong Royal."


    ''Hmmm¡­ so if I were to pull myself to my best, then I can most probably take out all the 5 Royal levels at once¡­ though that is questionable and really depends on various other factors,'' I thought before asking,"What about the King level?"


    She looks at me with slight fury in her eyes as she speaks,"The ruler of Asul, Azem, the King level enemy we have is strong enough to take about 50 Royals on his own without even batting an eye. He is special even among the King levels. With his wealth, he had bought as many strong items as he could and he used them to increase his strength to a level that we possibly can''t reach¡­ that is why we will need the help of the resistance to weaken him."


    At her words, I got a little bit confused as I observed her face and she continued,"the leader of the resistance is also a King level. Although he isn''t as strong as Azem is, he is still strong enough to weaken Azem to a point where, if all of us give our all, we might really be able to kill him."


    I look at her furious yet focused eyes and feel a sudden chill in my spine before I ponder,''I guess I shouldn''t get too much involved in this. I will just make sure there is no disturbance when the others are fighting Azem. Whether they can win or lose depends upon how they y their cards.''


    "All right, I guess I could help you out. Though, don''t expect too much from me,"I answer her and she nods with a slightly joyful smile.


    "Well¡­ first things first, I want you to find a way to disguise Dion so that his presence wouldn''t create any disturbance in any of your ns," I said, and she widened her eyes as she realised that this too was one of the problems that we could face. She then sighs in defeat before speaking,"there must be something in the tent. Why don''t you disguise yourself too? While you aren''t exactly Dion, you still have features simr to him and people might mistake you for him."


    I smile at her as I answer,"don''t worry; I have my ways to disguise myself. Just help out with the boy," and then she nods at me before we both move inside the tent. I then wonder how long I would need to stay in this ce, in this world¡­. When I will get the fragment of gravity¡­ let''s just hope it doesn''t drag on for too long¡­.


    After that, I entered the tent and changed into casual clothing, which I had in my storage space. It was quite convenient that I had all my things from the storage ring which I carried over from the outside world. Meanwhile, Zuriel proceeded to help Dion disguise into something totally different with the help of an artefact that piqued my interest quite a bit. Soon¡­ I was fast asleep as I was quite tired after running around for hours and all that talk¡­


    It was going to be a long day tomorrow¡­ with so many things to n and so many things to do.

 Chapter 96 Towards Asul

    In the deep forest of the Lost Valley, Zuriel, Dion and I were walking towards our destination, the City of Wealth, Asul. ording to Zuriel, this Vermillion is covered 90 percent by thick vast forests and humongous seas leaving only ten percent of the upied by civilization.


    While it also meant that most of the was unexplored, with whatever civilization was there, they were barely managing to survive on this.


    I looked at Dion''s new look, grey hair and blue eyes with his facial features still cute but different from the previous one. There was a hint of maturity in his look, making it wonder if he was a child or merely pretending to be one.


    Meanwhile, I was in my Reaper''s attire, with an additional change in the facial features to make sure nothing seems inmon with the original look of Dion. I observed Zuriel walking in front of us as she calmly analysed the path ahead of us.


    Consequently, she was here in search of a certain herb that has specific healing properties. When I asked her if we needed to search for it, she simply replied that it was not needed anymore because the power of Light that I use is more than enough to heal the person which she needed to heal.


    "All right, this path is safe. It would take about a week to reach the location from here at normal running speed," she said as she looked at me and I nodded at her before proceeding to pick Dion up. However, to my surprise, Dion declined my help as he spoke,"I can run on my own," and I couldn''t help but look at him with a slightly questioning gaze.


    While we were not travelling at the speed where I exerted my full power but still we would be anything but slow. Though, since he has already seen the fight, it must mean that he knows what he is talking about.


    And honestly, the fact that he knew what he was talking about¡­ made me even more curious about him. So¡­


    "Okay, you start then. We will maintain our pace around yours," I spoke and Zuriel looked at me, wondering what I was on about. Not so smart in the head, is she?


    Dion nods before looking ahead and then¡­ his eyes turn slightly green¡­ the green was different from the one I have when I use Spirit magic¡­ it was more like a hue of mint green over his current blue eyes and then¡­


    -Whoosh


    I saw him vanish from there and reach quite a distance away from us while he was still running ahead¡­


    "Haha¡­" I chuckled out loud at this sudden surprise before a wide grin forms on my face as I mutter in silence,"Spirit Magic: Haste" and then¡­ my speed increases by a notch as I run behind the boy. Zuriel follows us with a slightly surprised expression, before she realises something and her eyes narrows at Dion for a moment before she observes me with an even more narrowed gaze.


    I, on the other hand, was so preupied with catching up to Dion that I did not pay attention to that gaze of Zuriel''s. I observed him carefully and what I found made me even more shocked than before.


    He wasn''t running, but walking¡­ extremely fast¡­ it''s as if the time was slowed for him. I observed him for quite some time before reaching closer to him and kept analysing him over and over.


    The more I analysed, the more I realised that the surrounding time was literally slowed down. I was baffled as I observed him, wondering what¡­ and how exactly is he doing this? Just what¡­ is he?


    At this moment, I finally recalled about him being wanted all over the world¡­ Does it have something to do with this? I analysed him for quite some time as I tried connecting the dots however I could¡­


    Currently, I have met only Amon who could turn back time¡­ while it looked like Lucifer, too, knew about the time reversal. And Janus¡­ Well, he knew it because of that spell he put on me in the previous timeline and Dolos has no idea about me, so he doesn''t know about time dtionpletely.


    ''So¡­ how many chances are there for this kid to be connected to a Guardian¡­?'' I thought as I observed him, and my interest piqued even more. I then turn left only to see Zuriel observing me and Dion with a curious face. I wanted to know what she was thinking, but respecting her privacy, I did not ponder over what she was thinking. Who knows, she might bring up another quest or something¡­


    From there onwards, all three of us kept running at a fast speed while maintaining our stamina intact. Ordinarily going at normal speed without any restrictions would have got us to our destination in about a week or so, but at this speed, it will take about 3-4 days.


    If we didn''t need to worry about the monsters and other disturbances in between our travels, the travel time could have been much shorter. Still¡­ it''s fine as the view wasn''t so bad with all these strange nts and animals all around us.


    After about a day or so, we finally stopped to eat and drink at a safe location. While we did encounter a few monsters along the way, they weren''t really strong. Zuriel herself was enough to take them out without any help from me.


    I saw her carving out the skin and monster cores from the monsters and storing it in her space storage. While she threw the meat to be left over¡­ though, I collected it, making her give me a piercing look. Her eyes were asking, ''what are you going to do with those?''


    Well¡­ ording to her, the only thing that the monster meat here can be used for is potent poison. I sighed as I couldn''t even begin to imagine what kind of delicacy she was missing.


    As we camped, I took out the monster meat and then first I set fire at a distance where I smoked the meat. After the meat was smoked, I purified it using a potion which I made before I came into this world to give it a better fragrance. Then I used my light magic to purify the meat before preparing it and use it as an ingredient for steak.


    I used a few vours I carried in my space pocket¡­ while I was going to use it in making potionster; I think it would be a good investment to cook something good and healthy in this unknown ce.


    I used my fire magic to cook it at some ce, while I kept my water magic hidden because if she knew that I could use water¡­ or perhaps all elements. It wouldn''t really be a favourable oue, would it?


    The savoring aroma of the meat spread out and reached Zuriel and Dion''s noses as they flicked their heads towards me. They had a questioning and surprised expression on their faces¡­ Well¡­ I did tell them that I would be cooking the monster meat¡­ doesn''t look like they really believed me.


    For the next 30 minutes, I kept cooking the dish, and those two kept their focus on me¡­ erm¡­ at the food that I was cooking. Though as soon as it was done, they turned their gazes away.


    I took the dish and brought it towards them as I saw them taking peeks at the dish. I chuckled as I ced the portions one by one in front of them and they looked at me with a really question-filled look.


    Rather than exining it to them, I began eating my portion to show them that it was safe to eat it. While Dion looked like he was about to eat it, Zuriel didn''t move an inch from her ce. I saw her just standing there, making a really conflicting expression.


    Though¡­ it doesn''t look like it was rted to the food exactly because she was looking at me deeply¡­


    "What is it?" I asked without twisting my words. I don''t barge into other people''s thoughts so often but all this analysing and observing doesn''t feel good, you know?


    "Zero¡­ who exactly are you?" she asks as she observes me and I sigh as I think,''this again?'' before I gaze at her and speak,"what do you think?"


    She then looks at me before sighing a little as she speaks," I don''t know¡­ you don''t make sense at all. It''s as if you don''t exist at all¡­" as she kept gazing at me before moving towards me closer and closer¡­ and closer¡­ finally reaching a few inches away from me with her eyes fixated on mine.


    I just let her look at me for a few moments without blinking at all before she finally speaks,"how can¡­ how can a human like you¡­ how can a human like you be able to use spirit magic? It shouldn''t be possible at all!!"

 Chapter 97 Towards Asul#2

    I just let her look at me for a few moments without blinking at all before she finally speaks,"how can¡­ how can a human like you¡­ how can a human like you be able to use spirit magic? It shouldn''t be possible at all!!"


    ''...'' I just nkly look at her registering her words into my brain and when I understood that what I heard was exactly what I heard, I spoke to her,


    "How did you know that I am using spirit magic?"


    ''Did I miss something once again? I tried using it as passively as possible though¡­'' I thought and Zuriel looked at me with a slightly taken aback expression before speaking,"you truly¡­ don''t know anything about this world, do you?"


    And then once again I was tempted to know what exactly I didn''t know that gave away the fact that I can use spirit magic¡­


    Understanding my confusion, she once again spoke,"let''s forget altogether about the fact that you can cook monster meat that is so deadly, even more than the deadliest artificially created poisons, and focus on the energies that exist on this.


    There are three primary energies which are geographically restricted to various nes of this world.


    At many ces you will find dense mana energy that existed long before the world came into existence and is a major part of its natural energy system, on other ces you will find unsustainable monster energy which can be converted and used to increase the efficiency of the artefacts and weapons made out of special materials like Leranati and stuff.


    While normal mana can be used by almost all the races, some races with low mana will mostly depend on special materials like Leranati and the weapons made out of them for survival and stuff.


    Thest energy is the spirit energy, created by natural beings, which doesn''t have any definite forms. They are called spirits by many and you can find them in the deepest of forests or the ces where energies are densely concentrated. Though, wherever they exist, they create their own energy system, pushing down the other energies, making it their domain where their energy is at peak."


    She finally stopped as she looked at my face, which was attentively listening to her words, and I could more or less make out what kind of ce this is. Then again, I still don''t get why and how she knew about me being able to use the spirit magic?


    "The reason I was able to figure out that you can use spirit magic was because of the way you use mana without any hesitation. Your power level rises abnormally high at times before starting from the state you are in right now. The only usible exnation which can be given to that is spirit magic," she speaks with a questioning expression as she wanted to know why I, not being a spirit, could use that magic which was only specific to Spirits.


    She continues again as she gulps a little before observing my face,


    "At first, I thought that it was some sort of your special characteristic that allowed you to reach higher power at the cost of something, but the more I observed you rising to a greater extent without any visible limits, I got terrified of you. It didn''t hit me before but then I recalled about this forest being a domain of a neutral dormant spirit of Serenity, which gave me a small hint.


    Even then, it was difficult toe to the conclusion that it is that magic you are using cause¡­ well.. It is notmon at all. Furthermore when the fight was over, I saw your power level going down again, simr to that of spirits.


    Afterwards I turned my focus on my own ns and how to strike a deal with you, and only until I saw you using the same power up magic to catch up to Dion, who was using god knows what kind of magic, I was finally sure that you were using spirit magic. That purifying magic which you used to cleanse the poison from the meat only further confirmed my theory."


    After she speaks, she finally takes a deep breath as she was tired after speaking for so long. I saw that she was more relieved and rxed after she had finished her exnation and I chuckled a little at her words before I pointed at the food I made.


    "Eat it first, let''s talk about it when we are closer," I spoke with a smile and she narrowed her eyes at me before sighing in defeat. She then proceeded to sit in front of the steak, cut a small piece of the meat and threw it at me as she spoke,"you eat it first."


    ''Makes sense. She won''t be eating it before she ispletely assured that it is safe'' I thought before chewing down the food. Then I saw her smelling the food for a few minutes before saliva started dripping from the corners of her mouth.


    Hurriedly she wiped the saliva before gulping a few more times as she stared at the food before¡­


    -Chew


    She bites the food slowly and carefully but moans loudly as soon as she eats with a blissful expression on her face. Dion, looking at Zuriel making such an expression, proceeds to take a bite from the food too and then¡­


    He, too, had the same blissful expression on his face. Soon, they both started chomping down on the food before they finally finished all of it and I could only chuckle out loud at their behaviour. It was amusing to see both the calm andposed one''s lose theirposure over just a piece of steak¡­


    After they finished their food, they both looked at the empty te with a gloomy expression and I smiled before speaking,"I have some more meat¡­ should I make some more?"


    The second they heard my words, they looked as if they had gained their life back with that one sentence. I smiled again before proceeding to make some more food. It was quite a lovely atmosphere, to be honest.


    After I cooked some more food, we all ate as we shared a few more details about the city of Asul and what kind of ce it is.


    ording to Zuriel, it is a ce located on the top of a mountain, with eachyer of the mountain carved out to hold a small vige or town. The mountain itself was humongous and would be visible a day before we reached that ce.


    The city of Asul is at the topmost point of that mountain, Mountain of Heaven, where the most powerful and the wealthiest among all the people lives. It has everything you can ask for, from the rarest of artefacts to insignificant expensive things, everything you could think of will be there, though the city wees only two types of people.


    First is the wealthy ss. It includes people who could buy mountains or expensive stuff just because they were bored and people wealthier than that.


    Second is the strong ss. People above the strength of High Guardian are allowed to enter and leave the city, meanwhile only Royal people are allowed to stay there.


    There was a castle at the topmost part of the city where Azem and his Royals lived with him. He had many wives and children, though the weaker ones werebeled outcasts if they failed to showparable strength. The Royal family wasn''t big but it was still powerful with a mix of wealthy and strong as they, mostly the rich ones, often mated their children with that of Azem''s family members.


    The area outside the Asul city wasn''t any different from the inside, given the fact that the amount of power or wealth you have determined whether you could stay there or not. It wasn''t as strict as the main city but you still needed to fulfill one of those.


    As you go down the power demand and the wealth demand decreases with the weakest ones living at the bottom most of the mountain. While this also means that the whole Mountain of Heaven was divided in nes by the amount of power and wealth people had. The higher you go up the stronger the people would be.


    One more important piece of information that I found was that the spirit magic is greatly reduced in that ce. Given that Zuriel asked me how much of an effect it would have on me and I ended up thinking over her words for a few moments.


    This new piece of information made me change my ns drastically, as I sighed before I told her that it would affect me depending upon what kind of ce Azem is. She didn''t ask me any more questions after that, as she then turned to her own work.


    While it was true that having no or very less spirit magic could hinder my power level¡­ it wasn''t necessarily true given that special weapon we have here¡­ Leranati was it? I think with a sufficiently powerful weapon, I could still take at least one Royal if not a couple. Still, that needs proper nning and strategizing.

 Chapter 98 Nyx

    I observe the huge Mountain of Heaven in front of me. It was so huge that even before it started rising it was already beyond the clouds. All this time while travelling with Zuriel, she never told me that the giant wall in the distance which I had thought to be some sort of a giant rock or something was in fact the base of the mountain.


    It was truly bbergasting¡­ I totally wasn''t ready for this¡­ it isn''t just a mountain, at this point, but a f*king faceless behemoth.


    In front of me was arge gate that led to the entrance of the foot of the mountain, where the poorest of the poorest live. I could see some people sitting on the side of the roads dilly dallying while some were working hard carrying some stones on their back. Though looking at their faces, everyone had the same terrorized expression; it was as if the whole town was carrying on waiting for their deaths.


    I, along with Zuriel and Dion, entered the town through the unguarded gate and made our way towards the top as we began running at our usual speed. While this ce was really suffering, there is little to nothing I could do about it. Even if I may try, in the end it will only make thingsplicated for me.


    I sighed as I kept running along with Zuriel and Dion towards the top.


    While making our way to the top, we came across various hoodlums and monsters, which thrived in the various corners of the mountain. ording to Zuriel, this ce was filled with people eating monsters that prey on the weak. Flying monsters would sometimes pick up a few men and women towards their nest as food. That''s how the thing works on this mountain: survival of the fittest.


    When asked why can''t they just leave this mountain and move to a safer location, she answered that on the outside it''ll be even worse than this. Also, the people will leave the town to go to the higher parts of the mountain as soon as they gain some money or power. This will increase their safety by a margin.


    After travelling for another few hours, the sun was now on the other side of the mountain and night fell earlier than usual. Luckily, we just reached another town whose condition was significantly better than the first one. In total, we have actuallye across 15 or 16 towns in the past 4 to 5 hours. They weren''t really much different from the first one, just that people were a bit more hopeful than those below them. I could only feel bitter as I turned a blind eye to them and hoped that my mission in this world had nothing to do with one of those ces.


    Entering the town, I saw barely built roads that connected various rundown houses. There was a pub and a small cabin to stay the night. I and Zuriel decided that we could find a ce within the town to stay the night. However, before we could do anything, an incident broke out in front of us.


    ¡­


    -POW!!


    A young muscr guy forcefully snatched fruits from a small kid before kicking him in the gut.


    "Marlees, you don''t belong here! Go back to the lower town! A weak and poor guy like you doesn''t deserve to be here," one of the hoodlums spoke out loud garnering the attention of everyone around. Though immediately after that, everyone just sighed before moving on to their own work.


    ''Looks like it is a normal urrence here,'' I thought as I looked at the exchange between the kid and the hoodlums. The young muscr guy, along with his friends, was standing in front of the kid, Marlees.


    Marlees had blue hair with ck eyes and strange tattoos on his arms. He was wearing ragged clothing, not much better than what everyone else was wearing. Though Marlees didn''t look like he had given up on the fruits or perhaps on surviving.


    "Yeah, you have managed to survive here only because of your dead father whose money you stole," the other hoodlum spoke, and I sighed before moving towards the hoodlums before¡­


    -Knock


    -Knock


    -Knock


    -Knock


    I hit the head of the hoodlums, knocking them unconscious as I simply took the fruits and threw it to Marlees. I then observed the eyes of Marless, ring at me and I sighed before moving away from there, not getting any further involved in this situation.


    My soft spot for children was abnormal¡­ Even previously in my past life, I had saved countless children out of a situation that had nothing to do with me. I always wondered if there was a curse on me regarding that, though I never bothered to do anything about it since it kept me humane till the very end of my life.


    I then turned to look at Zuriel, looking at me with a slightly unsatisfied look while Dion''s eyes were glittering. I chuckled at them before moving towards them though something unexpected happened.


    Someone else appeared in front of me and I couldn''t help but take a second look at the person who blocked my path. A young maturedy in her early 20s perhaps came in front of me, smiling with a joyful face. She observed me carefully, and I did too¡­ all the more because it was as clear as day that she did not belong to this shabby town but to a higher ce.


    Her stunning ck one piece dress made her look as if she was just going to attend a party, and her ck hair thatplimented her stark white body made me question if I was really awake or just dreaming.


    The red lipstick on her made her face even more lewd- I mean beautiful¡­. Even more beautiful. I kept observing her, wondering who she was, but before I could do anything, someone else chimed in.


    "Hello beautiful,dy? It doesn''t look like you ar-" spoke the man who approached the beautifuldy and the next second he was on the ground¡­


    -Thud


    I saw the whole process clearly¡­ she is a spirit user! That wasn''t mana¡­ that was spirit magic, extremely precise and powerful at that one¡­ now doesn''t this make things even more interesting than before?


    "Lady Nyx, what are you doing here?!!!" A bewildered voice came from behind thedy in ck and I saw Zuriel with a surprised expression. Her expression was really something, it was as if she saw a ghost.


    "I was moving back to Asul for the war. Fancy meeting you here Zuriel, looks like you have grown up enough to take care of yourself. You now have a man and a kid¡­ fufu.. I am so jealous of you," Nyx spoke making a slightly embarrassed look, and I gave a mischievous smile and chimed in as,


    "You can join us tonight if you want?" and that made Zuriel give me a piercing look before she shouted irritatedly,"It''s nothing like that! And you should stop adding more to it!!"


    Nyx then looks at me and I just make a glum expression before apologetically saying,"looks like it is going to be just us."


    Nyx observed my face for a few seconds before she chuckled a little before speaking,"haha¡­ you are a 100 years too young to be trying on me," and then looking at Zuriel who had a slightly defeated look on her face.


    "Zuriel, let''s go up. We need as much time as we can," she spoke as she took both Dion''s and Zuriel''s hands, then turned into a shadow that ran at a vibrant speed towards the top, while I just stood there.


    It looked like Zuriel wanted to exin something, but Nyx did not give her any chance to. I sighed as I thought,''I hate being tested¡­'' before I spoke,


    "You are here, right? Hygeia."


    And then after a few moments of silence, she appeared in front of me¡­ Hygeia¡­ or more like a child version of the Hygiea I knew. She looked like a 8 years old kid, with green hair and green eyes over her bright white skin. I sensed her presence when I was almost at the mountain''s foot. While the other spirit''s magic concentration was decreasing, her''s wasn''t. In fact, it only increased bit by bit every time we moved.


    "Who are you?" was the question she asked first and rather than answering her I spoke," In the name of Spirit God, I will answer all your questions if you help me to catch up to them," and there was a slight questioning and puzzled look on her face.


    But then she nodded as she observed me before I spoke,"Spirit Magic: Summon Combination: Hygeia," before she let me use some of her powers¡­ no, it was more than just some¡­ or maybe it wasn''t?


    More like, the amount of spirit magic that I received right now was way more than what I had received on Vermillion, ever.


    I could only smile at that as I looked forward before muttering,"Deep Charm of the Spirits: Disillusioned" and the people around me stopped looking at me as they fell unconscious before losing their memories of this incidentpletely.


    While I started running¡­ running in the direction in which Nyx took them.

 Chapter 99 Hygeia

    I noticed Hygeia''s presence, or more urately the Hygeia of this ce, when I was travelling out of the forest. I suspected that when I used the Spirit Magic of Life; she got alerted and searched for the one trying to use her powers. Then it must have been quite shocking to her, when she found out about the contract between us due to her mana signature or something¡­ though I was susceptible to it too.


    Using the contract, I tried to pinpoint her location and it was amusing that I found her exactly at a distance away from me. Before, if I had my suspicions that the increase of life spirit energy was due to her, now I was more than sure that it was exactly because of her presence.


    "Well¡­ to be honest, I am not from this world¡­ maybe I am, but not from this timeline," I spoke as I ran, following the life traces that Zuriel had left in her trail. With the help of Hygeia, I could more or less see the life forces of everyone around me, but that would require exceptionally precise concentration.


    "What do you mean by that?" Hygeia asked, a bit puzzled about my words and I pondered over a bit before speaking,"do you think that a mana contract with a spirit works irrespective of the timeline? Like if you made a contract with me in the future and then Ie back in time where you haven''t formed the contract with me, will the contract still work?"


    She looked at me as she sat on one of my shoulders after shrinking her body to that of about my head and then spoke with a pondering expression, "under normal condition that would be absurd¡­ but I guess¡­ looking at you it can''t bepletely impossible¡­" and then her eyes became wide open with shock as she looked at me again before speaking,


    "Wait! Doesn''t that mean that you are from the future?"


    "Duh! Isn''t that what I am trying to tell you?" I spoke with a slightly annoyed expression. Is she a kid or something? Oh wait, she is! Well¡­. Sorry, I tried exining things to you¡­


    I look at her with pity filled eyes before turning back to the trail and she narrows her eyes at me before biting my ear¡­


    "Ow!" It didn''t really hurt, but it pricked a little as I questioned her,"hey! What are you doing?"


    "I didn''t like the way you looked at me, that''s all," she answered with a little hump and I could only shake my head a little as I continued to move forward.


    "You came here 4 days ago, didn''t you?" Hygeia asks me as she looks at me with a curious smile on her face. I answered without turning to her,"yeah." and she nodded as she exined,


    "A few days ago, all of a sudden a contract appeared in my soul and I was quite bbergasted by it. It was really irritating and scary at the same time."


    "It was? Is it really that big of a deal? This contract thing I mean," I asked, a bit confused, and she nodded before speaking,"for a spirit, a contract means a lot of things. It means you are sharing a part of your life force with that person. It means that you are giving someone a chance to be able to kill you, or maybe even more. It is a sign of trust and soul exchange¡­ it means a lot more to the spirits than to those whom it is shared with typically.


    That is why I was confused why suddenly I had a contract with someone, much less a human so weak as you." While speaking, she did not conceal any of her thoughts¡­ Maybe this contract and the reason behind it cleared most of her doubts and made her trust me¡­ well, it does make things easy for me, too.


    "Can you tell me why my future self formed a contract with you?" She asked curiously, and I pondered over it a bit before speaking,"You do know about the Royal Dragon of Fire, don''t you? So... I saved you from him... More like¡­ both you and I were on the brink of death and then, out of nowhere you formed a spirit contract with me and well¡­ I kind of used a bit of my life force along with your powers to y that dragon."


    She looked at me with a really firm expression as she spoke,"but it can''t be true," and I looked at her with a question-filled expression as I asked,"why is that so?"


    "Because the dragons have signed a contract with the spirits that they won''t harm any of us unless we harm them and I being a life spirit, I don''t think I can harm anyone let alone a dragon," She spoke in a really perplexed tone and I sighed before muttering out in a low voice,"maybe it was them¡­"


    "Who?" she questions.


    "No one, or rather it is not something you should focus on, I will make sure it won''t happen, anyway so no point in worrying about things that are not going to happen," I spoke and she looked at me with a deep gaze before she asked,"what happened¡­ what is going to happen in the future?"


    I close my eyes a little before muttering slowly,"the spirit world will die in the future," before increasing my speed even more. My eyes get locked at the front as I run faster than before, using any extra energy I can muster, and I finally see the shadow of Nyx travelling at a fast speed ahead.


    ''Doesn''t look like she has noticed me,'' I thought as I kept running behind her. Well, at least I figured out a few things about this ce¡­ this, I mean.


    ''The past of Vermillion, huh?'' I thought as I kept following Nyx with a bit of distance between us. While Hygeia was shell shocked by my words, it looked like she had a thousand questions on her mind, but she was too scared to ask them.


    "It''s okay. I will save all of you. I promise," I spoke as I looked at her with a bright smile and she just stared at me before she puts her head down and then asks again,


    "So¡­ is that, saving the spirits, rted to youing back to the past here?"


    ? And I ponder a little before speaking,"no it is not. It is just a coincidence, our meeting, I mean. I am here for something else, though it is rted to saving the future in a way¡­ so I guess you can say that I am here to save the spirits, too."


    "There is one thing I want to ask," she asks as she narrowed her eyes at me before speaking,"what was our rtion in the future and also¡­ in the future do I survive or die?"


    ''That''s two questions¡­ well whatever,'' I thought before speaking,"Our rtionship wasn''t that great, but it wasn''t that bad either¡­ You hated me whenever I used my other powers but still helped me whenever you could. About you surviving or not¡­ from the timeline I came to, you were pretty healthy, to say the least."


    She sighs a breath of relief as she then looks at me before speaking,"All right¡­ since you are going to save the spirit world, I will help you out on your journey here¡­ not like I have much to do in the forest."


    ''Eh? That''s¡­ good I suppose.. But¡­'' I then looked at her with a really awkward look as I asked,"I mean I am grateful you will help me¡­ but still, are you really sure you want to do this?"


    She smiles at me before speaking,"Frankly¡­ Do you want to know the truth?"


    I look at her before asking,"who doesn''t want to?" and she observes me before sighing as she speaks,"I want to know about my contract holder. I want to know the reason why I made a contract with you¡­ while spirits have their own ce to manage¡­ choosing a contract is way more significant than that. I just want to know more about you¡­ I want to see what kind of a person you are."


    I looked at her with an understanding look before smiling at her as I answered,"sure. Take your time."


    Though all of a sudden she recalls something before speaking"hey! Wait a sec! What do you mean by other powers?" as I smiled at her before asking slyly,"are you sure you wanna know?"


    She res at me before speaking,"obviously I am¡­ I want to know. I don''t sense much power from you, but from the way you are speaking, it doesn''t look like you are talking about that small amount of power, are you?"


    I smile at her as I speak,"sure, as you wish," and then I look at the front before my eyes begin turning slightly purple.


    "Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth Moon."

 Chapter 100 Dangers Of Unknown Venture

    "Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth Moon," I mutter as I start running even faster than before. I wasn''t going to use it earlier for Hygeia''s sake, but after conversing with her, I guess I could try using it and see where it goes from there onwards.


    Hygeia looks at me for a few moments without uttering anything. She just sits there and observes me and then finally chants something in an unknownnguage before a calm and cool sensation engulfs my body. While I was still using Blood magic, it didn''t feel like it was the same thing at all.


    The difference between before and after the chant was apparent; before it felt like my body was on fire from the inside which was constantly draining my powers and after it that sensation hadpletely vanished. I guess Hygeia used her powers to heal me up to an extent where the side effects of using Blood Sacrifice are reduced to zero.


    The fact that she still isn''t responding was concerning, and it made me look at her even more intently than before. She gave me a piercing gaze before she finally speaks in a concerned voice,


    "Why do you have to harm your body like this?"


    And I answered it without any hesitation,"I didn''t have the luxury to worry about that, my life has always been either kill or be killed, it is way too different from what you can imagine¡­ though I would rather not talk about it unless necessary," and then I turned my focus at the front as Hygeia sighed a little.


    It was at this point that Hygeia slowly muttered in a silent voice,


    ''But it is not enough for me to get angry at you¡­ was there anything else involved with you¡­ maybe another girl?'' but I did not pay attention to her as I was too concentrated on following Nyx''s trail.


    "Do you have a girlfriend?" She asks out of nowhere and I almost tripped before gaining my momentum as I speak,"NO! And where did thate from?"


    I think I saw a sigh of relief on her face before she said,"nothing. Just asking."


    After that she turns silent for another few moments, but not long after she asks again,"do you have someone you love?" and I sigh at these dumb questions,


    "Why are you asking? Are you going to try on me if I don''t have anyone? Aren''t spirits and other races secluded from the rest of the world to even think about love and other things. Also, I have heard from someone that a spirit should never fall in love with any other being and live their life untethered."


    At my words, she once again narrows her eyes at me and I wonder if I said anything wrong. Though she doesn''t inquire about anything further and simply just sighs and looks ahead and I do that too¡­


    ''This is a bit weird¡­ I don''t even want to think about her falling for me or something¡­ damn, this is really weird¡­'' I thought as I kept moving forward.


    Nyx was not showing any signs of stopping. If anything, she was getting faster progressively and I kind of questioned whether she was really testing me or was running away from me?


    There are two possibilities here if looked from the two sides of right and wrong.


    One is that she is just checking my worth and seeing if I am worthy of being with her because she might have guessed that Zuriel wanted to bring me with her to their ce.


    The other is that she is running away from someone¡­ possibly someone strong¡­. Or maybe running towards someone or something¡­ something she holds dear. Hmmm¡­ but if she was running towards someone, I doubt she would be stopping to take Zuriel, let alone an unknown child like Dion, with her.


    Thinking along that line I tried sensing around the ce to see if anything was chasing us, but I could not find anything in close proximity to us. I tried sensing a bit far ahead too, however there still was nothing which I couldbel as ''dangerous''


    ''Hmmm¡­ is there something that only Nyx can see?'' I thought as I kept the whole thing at the back of my mind and made myself extra cautious of my surroundings.


    From this point, we travelled through various ces at an extremely fast pace. I was following her, and I saw her increasing her speed at every town or turn, getting faster than before and I did too.


    The faster she got, the more I checked my surroundings over and over, but still I couldn''t find anythinging towards us. Atst, because of the whole situation was irritating me, I called for help from Hygeia as I spoke.


    "Hygeia, check the surrounding perimeter¡­ as far as you can, and tell me if you find anything suspicious."


    Hygeia, without asking any questions, activated her spell to examine the surroundings, for a few moments she kept looking around¡­. And then¡­


    "AAAAAAAA!!!!!" I heard Hygeia''s loud scream as she almost fell off my shoulder and I caught her as I looked at her horrified face while I kept running¡­ With terror-filled eyes she looked at me and spoke slowly while catching her breath,


    "Wyverns¡­ a hoard of water wyverns¡­ they areing in this direction¡­"


    Looking at her shaken eyes, I could more or less make out that the wyverns are something of a dangerous monster and, ording to the legends, wyverns are smaller dragon monsters that have the ability to fly.


    ''So this is why Nyx is running up and above¡­ but what exactly did she do to make an entire hoard of wyverns follow her?'' I thought as I kept running ahead.


    I then look at the terrified face of Hygeia and smile at her before speaking as I try to cheer her up,"it is all right¡­ I have killed a dragon before. Killing a wyvern or two shouldn''t be that difficult."


    She stares at me before speaking,"there are about 500 wyverning in this direction¡­ are you sure you can deal with all of them?"


    "Eh? How many again?" A bit baffled at the number of the wyverns, I ask again to confirm that what I heard was in fact right. She looks at my baffled face as she slowly speaks again,"Five¡­ hundred."


    I then sighed before looking around once again as I tried to sense them, but failed to do so again. I then look forward to see Nyx go farther and farther before I increase my speed again as I look at Hygeia,"I should be able to kill them nheless¡­ though it will take more than power this time¡­ probably."


    Hygeia looks at me in a slightly new light as she gazes at me before nodding at me and then asking,"Is there anything I can do to help?" I look at her before speaking.


    "Yeah, just make sure I don''t die, okay?"


    From that point onwards, I kept running behind Nyx for hours and hours, wondering what her n was. If I can use her to save both of us, then it would actually save me a lot of trouble.


    After a few hours of running, I finally found Nyx stopping at quite avish town. I saw her stopping and then throwing out Dion and Zuriel, who seemed to be bewildered as to what was going on.


    The area where she threw them was an open altar-like a ce from where she could see the wyvernsing. It had a wide area with a few people sitting there enjoying the night view. Though looking at her aura, they immediately moved away from there.


    "Lady Nyx¡­ what''s going on?" Zuriel asks with clear worry and fear in her eyes. Nyx, however, didn''t utter anything as she moved towards the edge of the altar as she peered in the direction from where the wyverns were probably arriving.


    I jumped at a distance away from Nyx reaching behind her. Upon seeing me, she looked at me with a bit of surprise in her eyes before concentrating on those wyverns.


    She then raised her hand and pointed her ring finger in that direction as she closed her eyes.


    "[Disintegrate]" she spoke and a ck wave of air originating from the tip of her fingers began expanding outwards towards the wyverns. It wasn''t just one wave, but more and more waves began expanding out of her fingers. Because it was nighttime, I doubt many people could see therge dark waves of energy expanding outwards.


    I could only sense the intense magic that was screaming ''danger''. I then turned to Zuriel, who was looking at me with a slight relief before looking at Nyx and Dion was just confused at everything that was happening.


    And soon they became visible to the naked eye¡­ like glittering stars in the night sky, they start blinking at a distance. Making them visible from far away¡­ though something was wrong¡­ those didn''t look like they were normal water wyverns¡­


    They were skeletal wyverns¡­ who could use water magic¡­ just¡­ just what did I get myself into?

 Chapter 101 A Show Of Power

    Sigh¡­ Howe my adventures always have to go awry? One thing after another, gimme a break already, will ya fate?


    I saw the skeletal wyverns progressing towards us with their golden eyes and body made up of water. I saw them preparing to attack and saw Nyx making an rmed expression before she created a massive shield out of shadows. Hygeia has already concealed herself from the outside world using her magic.


    ''If their attack hits the ground below us, it would create more than just some problems,'' I think as I look at her, Nyx, hoping she knows what she is doing.


    Though¡­ she seems to be too concentrated on whatever she was doing and due to the gravity of the matter, I couldn''t help but ask,"hey¡­ what are you trying to do?"


    "Trying to protect your stupid as*," she spoke with clear irritation before creating more and more shields¡­ however she was creating the shield in front of us only¡­ the ne below was still exposed.


    I kept an eye on the wyvernsing towards us at a rapid speed while I moved forward to take a look below the mountain from the edge of the altar. I saw the steep cliff before it reached the forest down below. It didn''t exactly reach the base of the mountain, but a forest that was up the mountain.


    The wyvern finally began their attacks on us and for some reason, all their attacks were aimed at the shield and nothing below or above. I was a bit surprised with that, as I wondered if they did not have any intelligence or what.


    ''Fascinating¡­ despite being above S level, these monsters do not have even a bit of intelligence¡­ is there anything different from the future?'' I thought as I saw the shield breaking one by one while Nyx was trying her best to defend against their attack.


    "So¡­ what is exactly going on?" I asked again as I saw the struggling Nyx and she, a bit irritated by my casual behaviour, red at me before speaking,"I was trying to tame the dead dragons using my shadow powers. Now they are angry and out of control. Happy? Now step back and let me kill them before they cause any major damage and attract unnecessary attention."


    ''Oh! So that is what is going on, huh? Still¡­ if that is what it is, then¡­'' I smiled as I turned to look at the monsters using their physical attacks to break the shield. Nyx was also sending waves and waves of attacks using her powers to kill them, but damn¡­ there are freaking too many of them.


    "If that is all that you want then¡­" I muttered as I looked at Zuriel before speaking,"Can you pass me your Leranati sword?" and she looks at me for a few moments and then turns her attention back at the wyverns. Looking at her expression, she more or less figured out what I was trying to do¡­ yet she was having a hard time believing whatever I was going to do¡­


    She then takes out the sword and throws it to me. Nyx was too busy to see what I was doing, and I was d that she was busy¡­ cause, well¡­ I don''t want her to know what I was about to do anyway¡­


    "Hmmm¡­ nice sword.. I could feel my power getting sucked into it at a rapid speed." I speak as I make a few air shes to get used to the sword. I then focus at my front to pinpoint the exact ce where I could make a sh¡­ I could use this move only once after all¡­


    I begin to contract life spirit mana into the sword as I then jump up in the sky as high as I can. I ask Hygeia to heal me as much as she can¡­ specifically my hands.


    I then mutter,"Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth Moon, Blood point," as I concentrate all my blood mana to increase my arm''s strength. I take a stance as I almost reach the highest point¡­


    ''Since shadow style won''t work against undead¡­ let''s go with¡­'' I thought as I speak using both light and life magic at once,"Reverse Shadow Style: One sh"


    And then make an air sh brimming with light and life energy that took down as many wyverns as it could.


    I then came down half exhausted, half annoyed as my head was aching due to overexerting my mana and stamina both at once. If not for Hygeia, I would have already passed out by now. I could only be grateful that I have her by my side.


    I then proceed to look at my front¡­ about 70 percent of the dragons fell down in one sh¡­ though the strong ones survived.


    I then proceed to look at Nyx and the others, only to find them gawking at me with a stupefied face¡­ it wasn''t just them but I could feel Hygeia too looking at me as if I were a freak¡­ Zuriel looked like she had seen me for the first time.. wondering if she even knew me.


    I turned at the monsters still in the sky and I could feel the fear in them as they observed me. It actually made me curious about their behaviour because, from what I have heard, the undead shouldn''t feel fear.


    "How fascinating!" I spoke as I moved closer to the wyverns before standing up. My energy was constantly refilling with the help of Hygeia. The wyvern seemed to be pushing a bit back and Nyx too seemed to take a step back as she observed me with her eyes fixated on me.


    ''Honestly, it wasn''t as much of a big deal as they were making it out to be. I just used the special ability of the sword to enhance the spirit power. I already knew the perfect stance to make the most effective sh and used blood magic for the extra push at the cost of my hand muscles which previously tore, but now werepletely healed,'' I thought as I recalled what exactly I did to see if I could make any improvements in that.


    Maybe I could use it in the white dimension to see if I could make any alterations in it.


    "Will you kill the others, or shall I do that for you as well?" I spoke in a dominant tone, and Nyx gulped as she observed me with slight nervousness in her eyes.


    ''Though she is as strong as me¡­ no I believe she is stronger than me, if I don''t use any life-threatening move¡­ just the difference of how Ibine everything I possess and she using only raw power makes it feel like we are inpletely different leagues,'' I think as I try to use this bluff to make a clear stand. Still, I don''t want them to think I am too strong, cause it could get me in trouble that I probably can''t easily get out of¡­


    "I¡­ I will¡­ do it," Nyx speaks gathering some courage as she looks at me with a confused expression. Oh! I removed most of my spirit and blood powers returning my body to the previous state¡­ no wonder she got even more confused.


    ''This is sweet,'' I thought as I enjoyed the situation which looked so dreadful a few moments ago. The wyvern too looked like they wanted to go back home already¡­ well, not my problem, I guess.


    I sighed as I nodded before moving towards Dion and Zuriel, under the gazes of Nyx and the wyverns. Only then I noticed that there were a few people watching the whole ordeal from a distance. Must be townsfolk of this area.


    Well.. I wanted to wave my hand, but all I saw was them running away from there as soon as I nced at them, so I turned back to Dion. Walking towards him, the first thing I ask was,


    "Hey, you okay?"


    He looks at me and nods with a cheerful smile before speaking,"I was scared, but I believed that brother woulde save me." I smiled as I patted his head while he got a bit embarrassed at that, but still said nothing and continued smiling.


    I then moved towards Zuriel and then raised the handle of the sword towards her and spoke,"thanks. That was helpful," before she takes it absentmindedly as she looks at me. After a moment of silence, she finally gets out of her stupor and then speaks,"Ah! Zero¡­ I mean Reaper¡­ thanks.. I mean.. It is okay¡­ wait! I can exin¡­ I mean she can exin¡­ she is Nyx¡­ she is the right hand of our leader¡­ She is like an elder sister to me¡­ she has a reason¡­ for doing.. What¡­ she¡­did¡­"


    I only look at her with an expressionless face as she tries to exin the actions of Nyx, but honestly, I couldn''t care less about her actions. As long as she is not my enemy, and not a pain in the as* I don''t really care much about their stupid actions.


    ''After all¡­ my whole life, I have faced a simr situation of people holding prejudice against my power level and stuff¡­'' I thought as I sighed before looking at Nyx again who was clearing out the rest of the wyverns while half of them were trying to escape.


    I felt a tingling sensation in my heart and I felt like Hygeia was trying to speak something, but I thought it would be better to talkter than in front of them. I would like to have as many back up ns as I could possibly have. Showing only half of my cards is something that I have always done and I am not going to change¡­ probably.


    After a few more minutes, when everything was finished, I see Nyx walking towards me with a serious yet scared expression before speaking,


    "Why can you use sister Hygeia''s power?"

 Chapter 102 Companions

    "Why can you use sister Hygeia''s power?"


    She asked and there jumped out of my clothes the green-haired fairy-like girl with her mystical aura brimming with life. I looked at her increasing in size both quantitatively and qualitatively.


    A bit taken aback, I saw her features changing to that of a 16 years old,pared to the previously 8 years old with her body size almost equal to mine. She smiled at me before smirking at Nyx as she took my hand and stood beside me as she spoke.


    "Sister Nyx, he is my contract holder, the one I formed the bond with."


    I observed her joyful yet embarrassed face, as if she was introducing her boyfriend to her parents, and Nyx looked deep into my eyes with a glint of murderous intent in them before she recalled something and then looked at me with a different look than before.


    Her eyes widened in disbelief as she spoke,"but¡­ but¡­ isn''t he¡­ a human?" and her gaze kept shifting between me and her. Hygeia then looked at me once again, finally recalling the most crucial piece of information about this whole thing.


    Maybe because she is just a child or maybe she is an idiot? She didn''t realise this before¡­ I could only sigh at the words of Nyx as I then looked at Hygeia before speaking.


    "I am special¡­ I am not just an ordinary human but more than just that¡­ though I don''t know how to exin all that¡­ Can you not ask me about it, please? I will tell you everything when the time is right, I promise."


    Hygeia looks at me for a few seconds then ponders before asking,"do you have any ulterior motives towards me or spirits?" and then I could only smile at her as I answered,"not one bit. You have helped me more than you can think¡­ in fact so many times that I don''t know if I can ever repay you enough¡­ I have only gratitude towards you."


    She looks at me with a slightly embarrassed look before looking away as she speaks,"you idiot! Stop with the ttering lines," and I chuckle at her before speaking,"I was only telling the truth."


    Though, I then noticed the annoyed gaze of Nyx as she observed me and also¡­ Zuriel? She was looking at me with a little bit of irritation for some reason¡­


    I could only sigh as I then looked at Nyx before asking,"how do you know Hygeia?" and then Nyx finally realises what she has revealed before ncing at Hygeia and then Zuriel and Dion.


    Though she sighs before speaking,"I have known Hygeia for a long time¡­ she and I have helped each other a number of times. With my ability, I have defended her and with her ability, she has saved my life many times too" and then looking at Hygeia she inquires,"how are you sister, Hygeia? Everything okay with the forest?"


    I was kind of doubtful about this exchange as my senses were tingling, hinting that there was something more about this whole exchange than what it seems, but I kept quiet because I believed that forcing the truth was not the solution here.


    "Well¡­ now that we are done with that¡­ let''s get back to the main problem¡­" I spoke as I looked at Nyx with a serious expression and moved one step closer to her after I freed myself from Hygeia''s hold.


    Nyx, then remembering what she had done with me a few hours before, turned her gaze away with slight embarrassment. Looks like she was a bit sorry for what she did.


    ''Nice¡­ If she is really feeling guilty about it, I think I can use her,'' I thought as I smiled on the inside and kept walking towards her, finally reaching an arm''s length away from her.


    I looked at her hair falling down from both the sides as she looked at me with those mesmerizing ck eyes on her beautiful face. The expression that said that she just wanted to run away from this situation made her look a bit cuter than before.


    "Why did you take my brother away from me?" I reprimanded in a loud voice and she shrieks a little before looking at me and speaking," I was trying to save him¡­ I could only carry two people at a time and¡­and¡­ and¡­ I chose your brother¡­ instead of¡­ you¡­" her voice was getting quieter as she continued speaking.


    "And leaving me behind to die was the right decision?" I ask and she looks at me for a few moments before muttering in a low voice,"but.. I didn''t have many options¡­" and I spoke out loud,


    "What?! I cannot hear you! Can''t you speak any louder?"


    The fact that I thought she was a tough woman actually made me wonder if my sense of judgement was wed or something? Well.. looks like I need to be careful how I judge people based on the first meeting.


    "I¡­ I¡­ I-" she was almost on the verge of crying¡­


    "Leave her alone Zero. I don''t sense any anger from you¡­ stop toying with her," butted in Hygeia as she looked at me with a slightly irritated expression and I could only give a mischievous smile at both the sisters making one sigh out loud and the other one dumbfounded as she begins to cry a little.


    "Hey, look, you made her cry," Hygeia spoke as she moved towards Nyx tofort her and Nyx could only ask with confusion,"but¡­ but¡­ I left you to die there¡­ you are not angry¡­ how can you not be angry?"


    Her face told me that she couldn''t believe that I was not one bit angry at what she did¡­ Hmmmm.. Did she never meet people who have a right sense of judgement before?


    "I mean, I was irritated a little, but honestly, I don''t think it was much of a big deal. Getting angry will only make things worse when I can just peacefully make another ally," I spoke with a small smile as I thought,''to be honest, I prefer using people rather than getting angry at them¡­ but I am not going to tell that,'' and then continue to speak,"it is okay. I am still alive, aren''t I?" I spoke before looking at Zuriel and then speaking,


    "How far is your base from here?"


    Zuriel, who was dumbfoundedly looking at our exchange, just stood there without speaking anything. I looked at her, lost in her own thoughts, as she focused in our direction, trying to process what was going on here.


    Well¡­ to watch the guy whom you brought along with you to help, dominating one of your superiors like that¡­ I guess¡­ It can be a little shocking? Well, who knows? Not my problem, really.


    "Hey! Zuriel!" I spoke again a bit loud, and she finally snaps out of her daze and looks at me a bit dumbfoundedly as she speaks,


    "What?!"


    And I ask again with a little bit of patience,"How far is your base from here?" and she, hearing my question, ponders a little as she looks around before looking up and then calcting a little and finally speaking,


    "About 3 days at our full speed."


    I then nod at her before looking at Hygeia and Nyx, before speaking,"Let''s move, I guess. I heard you guys needed some life magic to save someone or something."


    Nyx and Hygeia were puzzled but Zuriel spoke out,"Sir Thyle¡­ he is actually extremely sick with the white disease," and that made Nyx worried before she finally looks at Hygeia and sighs in relief.


    "All right, let''s hurry up," she says before beginning to move towards Dion and Zuriel, but I called her out again as I spoke,"Try to keep everything about me and Hygeia a secret. Can you do that much?" and Nyx, a bit confused about it spoke,


    "I was never going to mention sister Hygeia to anyone. People would be crazy to know that a spirit hase outside of her domain¡­ though in return, I must also warn you not to use your spirit powers freely or else you might catch the attention of people you shouldn''t mess with."


    And then I could only nod at her words before I saw her moving away from us towards Dion and Zuriel. She once again took them and started to run away from here.


    I looked at Hygeia for a few moments, mulling over if I should really bring her with me or not¡­ though looking at her curious face, I thought it would be better to take her than leave her here.


    This would also save me the trouble of forcing her to go away from here cause she clearly doesn''t seem like she wants to be separated from me at this moment. Well¡­ I wonder how things will develop from here¡­ I hope I am strong enough to save her from all the trouble¡­


    ''No¡­ I guess I am strong enough to save her from all the troubles¡­ but I hope I don''t die here in the process¡­ Damn¡­ I really wonder¡­ How is the future going to be for us¡­'' I thought as I looked at her.


    "What are you thinking?" She asks curiously and I smile at her before speaking,"wondering what would I do if a dangeres and I can''t save you¡­" and she chuckles a little before speaking,"I can just go back to spirit world idiot, don''t worry about me."


    I could only smile at her words as I thought,''what if we are up against someone who blocks your way out of here? It''s far-fetched¡­ but I still don''t want to leave anything to luck or fate if I can do something about it¡­''


    Then I raised my hand, and she flew over to my shoulder after decreasing her size and I then began running towards the ce where Nyx went to, while also nning for the unforeseeable future.

 Chapter 103 Asul Extension

    For the next few days, we kept running without stopping, even for a few moments.


    Thanks to Hygeia healing me continuously, I wasn''t getting tired at all. As for Nyx, well¡­ I honestly have no idea why and how she could continue to run without getting tired at all. Maybe she is more stronger than me or perhaps her strong points fall on her magic capacity side? Who knows?


    After travelling for so long, we finally reached a point where the town was way better construction wise and alsorger than the others we had seen on our way. I saw Zuriel and Dion getting out of Nyx''s shadow and Nyx looking at me as if asking to move closer to me. Hygeia, on the other hand, hid inside my clothes and I stopped using Spirit Magic for the time being.


    I then began walking towards them and as I reached closer to them Nyx nodded before speaking,"From here onwards, keep following me. No matter what happens, don''t stray any farther from me."


    She had that grave look on her face that said that this matter was far more serious than it seems. I didn''t question her actions and only nodded at her before following behind her.


    We walked through the gates, under the gazes of the guards that kept our actions in check. They were not merely checking us but also analysing our power levels and other stuff like the weapons we were carrying and the clothes we were wearing.


    Maybe it was because of Nyx and Zuriel that they allowed me and Dion to enter the town. We could have been questioned about our purpose here or probably we could have been forced to disy our power levels and show if we''re worthy enough to enter this city.


    ''Or maybe wealth wise¡­ but since we don''t have any¡­ I guess it is pointless to even think about it,'' I thought as I kept observing the city.


    The city hadvish houses. They were decorated with various nts, herbs and shrubs on top of the gold and silver materials they had. The doors looked like they were newly installed and the streets were squeaky clean.


    The fact I found myself a bit shabby considering the tidiness of the city actually made me think if I should pay more attention to my dressing sense. Well¡­ we will seeter.


    ''Maybe Nyx could help me with this one?'' I thought as I gazed at her back. Now that I noticed it properly, she was wearing a backless dress showing her smooth white skin. Kinda makes one turn his head, to take another proper nce at it.


    After moving into the town, we kept moving for some time. I saw many people bowing slightly to Nyx before moving back to their own work. Some of them curiously looked at us too, but that was only for a brief moment before they went their own way.


    Not long after, we reached a huge building with a symbol made of dual swords imprinted on a shield. The aesthetically pleasing white shield and the aggressivebo of swords made quite a big impression on me. I observed the whole building carefully especially the symbol.


    The building was white coloured with 4 floors covering a wide area. The windows looked like they were furnished from the best wood out there, with a couple of them on the top floor literally having gold frames. Despite being a massive one, this building had only one entrance, a huge gate with the same furnishing as that of the windows.


    There was a small queue of people waiting to move into the building with each person being inspected by a couple of guards. The guards looked strong¡­ on the future Vermillion''s base, they should be around S level each. Though rather than waiting in the queue, we entered the building directly. Some of the people triedining but the piercing looks of the guards turned them quiet.


    Inside the building, the aesthetic value was enhanced by another notch. The flowers and the greeneryplimenting the wooden gold furnishing made the whole building feel aesthetically alive. Had it been present in the future Vermillion, it would have surely be a hotspot for people, who loved to take photos.


    The walls had a sporadic design of ck colour on white background which gave a bit of uniqueness to it. There were a lot of weapons disyed on those walls, some of them looking seriously potent. I observed that a few of them were quite rare and atypical, to say the least. Especially that chained reaper¡­ it caught my attention the most.


    I then turned to the people present there. Many of them were just looking at a board filled with papers, most probably a quest-like thing. There were also a few people chatting around the table at the corner.


    It was quite a lively atmosphere, that is until we entered and people started looking in our direction before¡­ each and every one of them began getting on their knees to bow down to Nyx. I saw them changing their stance of nonchnt behaviour to that of an extremely serious one.


    I turned to look at Zuriel. She too was doing the same leaving only Dion and I still standing. Dion peeked at me with a look of ''Should we kneel too?'' and I smiled as I shook my head slightly, telling him that it was fine.


    Though, looking at us standing there, some people made a slightly furious expression. I watch them being really irritated by our presence but honestly¡­ I could care less about such things.


    Nyx then spoke out loud,"get back to your work." and everyone moved back to their work. I slowly moved towards Zuriel as I looked at her with a slightly questioning look and she answered,"It is an etiquette. Don''t worry much about it."


    I only nodded before looking at Nyx, staring at me from a distance. She then began moving towards the stairs located at the right corner of the building hall and I followed her too. It felt quite awkward to walk under the gazes of so many people though.


    We soon reached the top floor without any kind of disturbances and then reach a particr room where a man was sitting on a chair beside a sick person who was white as f*ck. His hair, eyes, face, etc. everything about him had turnedpletely white. Heck, even the things he had touched were turning white.


    The man sitting on the chair had a muscr build, with short ck hairs and a single short sword on his back. He had a metal te armour that didn''t look really defensive. His jet ck jeans, though, were giving a deadly aura.


    Hearing our footsteps, he turned in our direction and we saw his pitch ck eyes. Not even a speck of white was present in them, and he smiled a little as he looked at Nyx before speaking,"You are home. How was the mission?"


    I observed Nyx getting a bit agitated as she tried to exin about what had happened, but in the end, before she could even speak, that guy just sighed before speaking,"Is there really any worth in keeping you here?"


    Nyx had a kind ofplicated look as she heard those words. Looks like the rtionship between the two is quite delicate, huh? I should probably¡­ stay as much away from this as I can. After a brief silence that man looked at us and asked,"and you are?"


    Nyx then spoke out for us in a slightly hurried manner,"I-I.. brought them here¡­" which made that man look at us with a bit of curiosity. He looked at Zuriel for a few moments before asking,"and how was your mission?"


    ''Did he justpletely ignore our existence?'' I thought, as I couldn''t help but feel a bit irked by his behaviour. Still, there was more benefit in not getting noticed, so it was fine.


    "Yeah¡­ I-I-...pleted it," Zuriel spoke with a slightly fearful expression as she stuttered. Her head was bowed down from the start and she couldn''t bear to face that man properly.


    "Good, now heal him. I already have a lot of work to do. I will be leaving for now. Also, try to throw the trash out as fast as you can," that guy spoke as he moved out of the ce without sparing a single nce at anyone.


    -Baam!


    The door closed with a loud thud before Nyx, Zuriel, and Dion calmed down and fell down to their knees. I just sighed at their behaviour before moving towards the man in white. While I am here, I might as well make myself busy¡­ or who knows when a war might start, I may end up massacring another empire¡­ not a nice ending that I wish for.


    I observed the man more carefully and found that he was looking at me with some curiosity before he spoke,"who are you, youngd?"


    "So you can speak, huh? Quite a peculiar disease you got there," I answered with a slight chuckle at the bearded white guy. He just smiled at me before speaking,"don''t worry about Favian. He doesn''t like when things don''t go as nned and things aren''t really the best right now. All I could say is wee to Asul Extension. Hope you enjoy your time here."


    Quite a nice guy, I suppose.


    "Hmmm¡­ it looks like a mana overdose done more than just a couple of times¡­ dude, just how many times did you take in mana forcefully to reach this condition?" I spoke, and he looked at me with a bit of pause. Not only him but Nyx and Zuriel too looked at me with a shocked look.


    ''Hmmm¡­ don''t tell me they can''t see such simple things?'' I thought as I observed their shocked faces¡­


    "Ummm¡­ Did I say something which I shouldn''t have?" I spoke with a puzzled look.

 Chapter 104 Living Magic

    "Ummm¡­ Did I say something which I shouldn''t have?" I spoke with a puzzled look.


    They looked at me as if I were a freak, leaving only Dion with the same puzzled expression as I. The white guy on the bed, ummm¡­ what was his name? I forgot¡­ If I remember it correctly¡­ Thyle.. Yeah, that''s what it was. So, Thyle, here lying on the bed, looked at me with a perplexed look before ncing at Nyx with a guilty expression before looking away with a slightly bitter expression, furthermore giving me a questioning look once again.


    "Zero¡­ Can you repeat what you just said now?" Zuriel asks with the sameplex expression which she had before and I sighed as I repeated the whole thing I said about Thyle, overusing his magic more than once which caused him to have a mana overload turning everything about him entirely white.


    "Can you¡­ exin more about it?" Thyle looked at me with the same guilty look. Looks like he had hidden this from others but oh well, I guess since the cat was already out of the bag, might as well tell them about it.


    "To be honest, mana is like air. If youpress it while applying pressure, it will turn into liquid form and on furtherpressing it''ll turn into solid form. It''s a process called condensation, which under normal circumstances is not possible¡­eh? Why are you guys looking at me like that?" I observed the faces of Nyx and Zuriel being taken aback¡­ this time Dion too was making an expression of fascination as he looked at me.


    "What do you mean by¡­pressing liquid will turn it into solid?" Thyle asks with a really puzzled and curious expression. I could look at him gulping as his throat was getting dry by the moment.


    "Hmm¡­. have you guys¡­ never thought about the reason why a water mage can use ice magic or reverse??" I questioned, a bit confused, and they looked at me as if I were a fool before Zuriel spoke,"that is¡­ not possible Zero. A mage can have only one attribute or at max two.. Any more is not possible¡­ Are you sure you know what you are talking about?"


    ''Are they retarded or something?'' I thought while contemting whether I should show another element that I can use, but in the end I decided not to. Rather than that, I thought of something else as I spoke.


    "Bring someone who can use water magic."


    Nyx, without wasting any time, instantly moved out and then brought in a young girl who seemed to be in the middle of something. At first, she was surprised and scared before she looked at Nyx and then sighed a little before asking,"Lady Nyx, what can I do for you?"


    There was slight irritation in her words, but she didn''t seem too bothered about her being brought here in the middle of her work¡­


    Nyx simply pointed at me as she spoke,"follow his orders for the next 5 mins no matter how foolish or absurd they might sound." and the girl looked at me with a bit of interest as she nodded at Nyx.


    She then moved towards me and bowed before introducing herself as,"I am Ariel Sphyne, nice to make your acquaintance. I will be working under you for the next 5 mins."


    I looked at her petite young body. She looked like a nerd with those huge round sses and her brown curly messed up hair. Wearing a dark green coloured robe she looked like a student of a magic school or something and I couldn''t help but wonder if she was really good at water magic.. But hey! Appearances can be deceiving so, let''s not think much about it.


    "Create a magic water ball in the air," I asked her and she didn''t even take a moment as a water ball appeared instantly. I looked at that water for a few moments and felt that there was something¡­ something different about it¡­so¡­


    "Water magic, colourless symphony," I created a circr ring around the water ball, not caring about the reaction of Zuriel¡­ or perhaps even Hygeia at this point. Thyle, Ariel and the others weren''t really shocked because¡­ well, they did not know about my other elements¡­ however¡­


    "Fire magic, silent fury of an elemental," I spoke again, creating another ring this time of fire between her water ball and mine and I saw that my water ring was starting to evaporate but hers isn''t changing one bit.


    At this point¡­ everyone in the room turnedpletely silent¡­ they didn''t have words to speak. It''s as if something caught their tongue and was preventing them from speaking. Ariel looked like she was more scared than mesmerised about this whole ordeal¡­ still she didn''t move from there.


    Though¡­ I wonder how long she canst¡­ after all¡­


    "Light magic, Purification syndrome. Dark Magic, Decay of time," I spoke and a cloud of dark magic formed above the water ball and simultaneously a cloud of light magic formed below it, while I connected them together. I tried to burn her water ball by enhancing the fire magic while maintaining its intensity with the help of light magic.


    Though after a few moments, it felt like there wasn''t any visible effect on the water magic at all. At worst, it just got cancelled at ces rather than being evaporated. I then close my eyes for a little before sighing and then speaking,


    "Elemental recapittion."


    It is one of the best spells I ever learned¡­ It allowed me to expand the basic structure of any spell Ie into contact with, thus allowing me to learn about them with more uracy.


    The water ball expanded, and I undid my other magic under the fixed gazes of everyone else in the room.


    "Make the ball smaller, apply lesser and lesser magic," I spoke and Ariel, despite being in awe of all that was happening, perfectly followed mymand.


    The water ball expanded up to a certain point before it stopped doing so as both my magic and her magic bnced out each other.


    After a few minutes I looked at her and said,"stop here." and she did so. I then looked at the basic structure of the water ball and found traces of magic condensation. These condensations¡­ these f*cking condensation was alive¡­???


    I just gulped as I observed the magic in front of me with exhration.


    "It is alive¡­ isn''t it?" Ariel spoke as she too was taken aback with what she saw in front of her, and I nodded at it before I spoke,


    "ck Shadow of Reaper, Miniature show of Elementals," and began using precise magic to control the movement of the alive magic particles and separate them into a corner. I saw them getting attached to each other and increasing their mass slowly and slowly.


    I slowly burned them from the side to check their reaction, but unfortunately I did not find them reacting to it. Then I tried pushing a condensed mana form towards them, s there was no reaction again as it simply floated there.


    "Try using condensed mana of water and fire both from one side, while also burning them with dark magic from the other," Ariel spoke with a slightly hushed voice and I followed hermand ever so slightly.


    What happened next bbergasted all of us at once, those beings rapidly started consuming fire and water mana particles when they were being burned by dark magic from the other side. I could only look at them wondering about what kind of effect they have on the magic here and if I could find out the reason behind it¡­ perhaps I could use this to my advantage.


    I then removed my magic and so did Ariel as we both fell down on the floor as we both saw each other sweating profusely.


    She looked at me and just chuckled a little before speaking,"what kind of monster are you?" and I could only sigh as I answered her,"I just function differently."


    She could only nod at her while Nyx and the others had a really tense face as they looked at Ariel and asked,"What¡­ just happened?"


    Ariel justughed at herself before speaking,"I would like to know that too.. Miss Nyx I would like to borrow this monster for a few days¡­ perhaps a week."


    Nyx just stared at Ariel, baffled a little before she spoke,"well¡­ you have to ask that monster yourself about it."


    "I don''t mind honestly. This whole thing has really piqued my curiosity as well," I answered as I smiled at Ariel who nodded with a gleeful smile before standing and speaking,e to my quarters when you are done here. We will start as soon as you get free."


    Then she darted out from there without speaking any further. Nyx just stood there stupidly before Zuriel asked out loud,"Hey! Wait, wait, why is no one questioning about him being able to use multiple elements at once?"


    Her question raised the curiosity of everyone in the room once again as they looked at me wondering the same thing Zuriel did. I could only sigh before speaking,"the answer lies in what you just witnessed right now."


    They looked at me for a few moments before recalling everything that had just happened. When they really thought about it, it kinda made sense¡­ even if they understood nothing about it. Still, I was not going to tell them that using two opposing elements at once was still something that I only possessed¡­ Not something they need to know.


    Dion had that look of admiration as always and I could only smile at him as my mind questioned once again,''He isn''t really normal, is he? To act so cheerful when his family was literally massacred less than a month ago¡­ among all the people I have met here¡­ he seems the most dangerous to be honest.''


    I then put this thing at the back of my head cause if it is really important, I will get to know itter¡­ or maybe it''s just how things function in this world?


    "Now that we are done with that, let''s cure him. We can discuss everything elseter," I spoke before moving towards Thyle. In all this confusion, I kinda forgot for a moment that I have to cure him too¡­

 Chapter 105 Getting Along With Them

    "Now that we are done with that, let''s cure him. We can discuss everything elseter," I spoke before moving towards Thyle. In all this confusion, I kinda forgot for a moment that I have to cure him too¡­


    Reaching towards him, I first concentrate Life magic along with Dark magic on the tips of my fingers. While I could take the help of Hygeia to make things easier, I would first like to try things on my own.


    Using my fingertip, I then proceed to touch him very cautiously, only to see that the magic has more or less started affecting me as well, but¡­ I used the dark magic to burn out the white condensation. Then I used dark magic to burn through the white condensation present on his hand which worked out fine except that it also burnt his skin and the surrounding area too. Looking at his face, yup it was definitely painful.


    Then I used the Life magic to heal the area where the burns urred, simultaneously also erasing the condensation slowly and slowly. In the next few minutes, I cleared out the condensation on his hand entirely while also monitoring the process carefully.


    Then¡­


    I elerated the process by increasing the amount of Dark magic and Life magic. It did be a bit difficult, but nothing out of control. If anything, it felt like I was draining a lot of mana at once, but that was all. Using Hygeia''s help, I also started to regenerate my mana.


    I kept healing him at this pace for the next few moments and adjusted ordingly, wherever needed. Finding no problem with the whole procedure in any sort of way, I then took a small breath before closing my eyes and concentrating¡­


    About a couple dozen small particles of Life and Dark magic began floating in the area around Thyle and I. Using each of those Life and Dark magic particles in a simr fashion, I proceeded to heal Thyle at other ces on his body, making the overall process faster than before.I could see him healing rapidly all over his body. The white area was getting eliminated at a rapid pace, but¡­ it was still rather slow.


    I saw his face, and it didn''t look like he was in pain anymore. Looks like the healing effect overtook the pain¡­well that is good, I suppose. I then closed my eyes before opening them again.


    I looked at him with a small smile as my eyes turned green, and then I increased the diameter of those particles along with the speed with which they were removing the condensation.


    The concentrated magic at my fingertips also spread out, covering both my palms, while I used water healing magic to heal my mental exhaustion and Light magic to increase my concentration.


    ''I am at my limit here¡­ I guess¡­ should I push it and try to achieve higher goals?¡­ hmmm.. Let''s not do it. Don''t want to end up ying with someone''s life here,'' I thought as I continued healing Thyle without exceeding the current pace.


    At this moment, I noticed his face, and it looked like the pain overtook the healing again, but I guess, no pain no gain. From there onwards, it took over an hour to remove all the condensation from the visible ces.


    I observed the actual face of Thyle, without any condensation. He had a fairplexion, and he looked like someone who''s in his early 30s. His bright red-coloured beard and hair gave him a vibrant look. He looked at me with those vibrant azure eyes and all I could see was gratitude in those vibrant eyes, at which I could only smile in return before speaking.


    "I have removed the condensations from the surface. About the condensation present inside you, I will be removing them slowly and slowly over the course of this week. It might be a bit painful, but please bear with me, okay?"


    He looked at me with a deep look before smiling wide and then nodding as he spoke,"I will."


    His face looked like he wanted to say something more, which I could tell that it would probably be filled with gratification and stuff, but honestly I would rather not hear it¡­ it is just not my style. Looking at him, he seemed to understand that too, hence he didn''t say anything at all.


    I turned to look at Nyx and Zuriel sitting in a chair along with Dion, ying with something that looked like a high-tech toy or something. Sensing me looking at them, Zuriel and Nyx turned at me and then at Thyle with a delighted look.


    Nyx stood up and moved towards Thyle and took a good look at his condition before sighing and then turning at me as she spoke,"Thank you Zero. I know it might not mean much to you, but I, Nyx, the right hand of the man who controls Asul Extension, give you my word that I will help you in anything as long as it is not against my principles."


    I could only smile as I saw the genuine look on her face, but honestly, I don''t think I have the capability of trusting any promises, unless it is someone I know everything about.


    "Is there any ce I could take a proper bath and sleep for a while? Because I have been travelling for quite some time, I think I would like to rx for now. Also, can youter send me a guide or maybe a book or something so that I could get ustomed to this ce? I would like to understand more about this ce where I would be staying for now," I spoke with a slightly awkward smile and Nyx nodded at me before speaking,


    "I will be personally arranging those things for you, so you need not to worry about anything. Is there anything else you would like to have? You don''t need to be shy, you know?"


    I saw her face, and it looked like she really was being genuine about this, so I only sighed a little before speaking.


    "I will inform you if anythinges up, okay? I kind of don''t have anything else. I just want to rest for now"


    She nodded at my words and then looked at Zuriel and Dion before speaking,"Zuriel, you will help Zero out as his guide. Since you are someone who knows about the ins and outs of this ce, along with the fact that Zero and you are already acquainted, I think you would be the best candidate for this job. About Dion, I guess you would be living with Zero, won''t you?"


    I nodded at her words and then looked at Dion, who seemed to be smiling at me. Hmmm.. this will also give me time to find out about what exactly happened with him. While all this, civil wars and curing people are good, I shouldn''t forget about the main purpose I am here.


    ''I just hope Dion really is the reason I am here or something¡­ or else, I might end up being trapped here for a really long time,'' I thought as I sighed inside about this whole gamble that I was taking.


    "All right then, we will be leaving from here then. Sir Thyle, I will beingter to examine you and treat you from here onwards. Every morning will be fine?" I asked Thyle, and he looked like he was alright with that.


    I then tried to recall if I was missing something, but since nothing came to my mind, I simply moved towards Zuriel and said,"All right, I will be in your care from now onwards. Can you please show me the way?"


    She looked at me and then nodded before speaking,"Follow me. I guess, right now, you would like to take a rest before getting to know everything about this ce?" and I nod at her suggestion.


    She then bids farewell to Sir Thyle and Nyx, and we both follow her outside the room under the gazes of Thyle and Nyx.


    A few moments after we all left, Nyx moved towards Thyle and sat in the chair on which Favian was sitting previously. Her previous look of gratitude changed to seriousness as she observed Thyle and asked,"How are things here?"


    Thyle looked at Nyx and sighed before speaking,"Not good¡­. Or I don''t know anymore¡­ with your new friend here¡­ maybe it will not be as bad."


    Her eyebrows rise slightly as she looks at Thyle and understanding her look, Thyle speaks with a slightly deliberating tone as,


    "To be honest, with me down and a few other things¡­ things weren''t really looking good. Though¡­ if I can get healed within a week, unlike the usual method where it takes about months to get healed¡­ I think we could more or less manage here. Though, the real reason I say things are fine is because¡­ well, you saw him, right? His knowledge¡­ his ability to use multiple elements at once¡­ and that power rise of his, from so low to such a high level¡­ Listen Nyx¡­ we must have that kid on our side no matter what the conditions¡­ Do you understand?"


    Nyx looked at Thyle with a slightly serious gaze as she nodded¡­in fact even she would be blind to not understand the importance of someone like Zero after witnessing everything that happened¡­


    It''s just that¡­ her instincts were telling her¡­ Zero wasn''t as simple as he looked. No, in fact, she felt like he was far more¡­ unique andplicated than what he has shown of himself.


    She couldn''t really decide whether having him on their side will be a good thing or a bad thing. She was scared of the unknown that Zero held¡­ and that child Dion¡­ he wasn''t as simple as he looked either.


    Nobody knew what secrets they held¡­ the least she could do was to follow her heart and hope that everything turns out to be fine. With all those emotions and thoughts in her mind, she simply walked out of the room under the gaze of Thyle, who could more or less understand her concerns...

 Chapter 106 Taking A Break From Work... [R-18]

    Following Zuriel outside under the gazes of people in the outer hall, I kept walking as if nothing was out of the ordinary. My gaze then reaches at a certain corner, where a man was intently looking at us with his pitch ck eyes. For the next few moments, we kept staring at each other before I reached the entrance of the hall.


    Zuriel looked at that man too before immediately turning her gaze away. She even started walking faster and so did we. While everybody looked at us with a strange serious look, we came outside and then I thought about asking what exactly is their problem but then decided to ignore it all together.


    ''If it is important, she will exin it to uster anyway,'' I thought as Dion and I followed her. We then kept moving for another few minutes or so and reached avish looking building. Watching her move inside,we too followed behind her and finally reached the reception. Zuriel takes out a silver card and talks with the receptionist, who at first seemed normal but bes quite shocked as she turns to look at us. Looking down on us as if we were trash, she then turned towards Zuriel again as she shook her head with slight irritation but then Zuriel spoke something as she red angrily at that receptionist.


    The receptionist gulps in fear as she looks at Zuriel carefully before observing us again¡­ and then curling her lips, making a disgusted expression and then turning back at Zuriel as she clenches her hand and reluctantly gives out the keys of the rooms and a paper.


    ''Didn''t know that power influences people here so much¡­'' I thought as I observed the behaviour of thatdy there. Though I could care less about people that I have nothing to do with¡­ yawning at the whole process, I then patiently waited for Zuriel to finish the paperwork.


    Hastily, she finished the paperwork before moving towards us as she apologised,"Sorry for the wait. Let''s go now," and then all three of us moved towards the room under the narrowed gaze of that receptionist.


    Following Zuriel, we reached in front of the room where I, along with Dion, will be staying for the time being. Zuriel opened the door, and we entered to find avish room filled with all sorts of machinery and artefacts.


    There were fancy lights and a huge bed which looked veryfortable. There was a small library and a study corner where you could peacefully study or research without any disturbance. Looking at the atmosphere, there probably was an artefact installed here to maintain the ambience and temperature of this ce. All in all, it was afortable ce where one could rx properly and replenish their energy.


    I then walked towards the bathroom and it had a small bathtub filled with a light red-coloured liquid with a sweet, soothing fragrance. The dim lights and the ck-coloured walls with gold lining gave a unique appearance to the bathroom.


    ''Guess I could finally enjoy a long and rxing bath,'' I smiled as I observed the whole bathroom before moving towards the inside of the room. The bedroom was an open bedroom with another door connected to it, that led to a small kitchen where one could cook and stuff.


    After that I checked a few other misceneous things and in the end I was totally satisfied with the services provided in this ce. There was little that I could ask for in this situation and all I wanted now was for Zuriel to go back so that I can enjoy my peace and quiet here for the next few hours.


    Zuriel looked at me silently without making a move and I too gazed at her. I was wondering what she was thinking right now, but before I could ask, she spoke first,"I guess I should leave now. You can call me using this." she gave me a device that looked like a ball with a strange property of absorbing mana into it.


    "Just apply mana to it and I wille here as fast as I can," she spoke before bowing a little and then disappearing from here.


    A mischievous smile formed on my face as I immediately applied mana into it and yup, she appeared right in front of me as she said she would.


    "What?" she asked, a bit confused, and I chuckled a little before speaking,"nothing¡­ I was just checking if it really works or not," and then making my way towards thefy bed. I could feel the piercing gaze of her before it vanishedpletely. Dion watched everything as he held his smile before moving with me.


    "Dion, go take a bath and then sleep. There is something I want to discuss with youter on," I spoke as I turned to Dion and he looked deeply into my eyes with a slight question filled expression.


    I didn''t exin anything further but directly went to the bed where I began unpacking a few materials that I brought from my world along with things I picked up in this world during our adventures.


    I heard the sshes of water indicating that Dion got into the bathtub and I nodded as I immersed myself in my own work. While I do need to talk with Dion, let''s not push things. All the more because we are dealing with a child here. I wonder what information he holds and how much I can use it to achieve my own goal.


    From there onwards, I began crafting a few small artefacts and stuff to initiate a small n, that I must push forward in order to avoid any unnecessary conflicts with the people present here, and that is to win the hearts of the people here.


    People literally look at me as if I were some trash and the fact that I don''t want to show my powers to the general public unless and until required was making things a tad bit more difficult for me.


    Though what I can really do is use my healing magic freely, all the more because it is considered a rarity here. Especially Light magic, which can make up for my ck'' of power. I should take it another step and create some artefacts and stuff, which aren''t present here in this world, so that my image could get even more better with them.


    ''Though this method has its own ws¡­ but if I could show them I can fight using artefacts as much as an average person here, I guess this would make things quite smoother for me,'' I thought as I ruminate what kind of artefact would be best here.


    From that point onwards, I got really engrossed in my work. While I did want to sleep, the fact that Hygeia was constantly healing me kind of washed away all the fatigue and if I were to sleep or rx at this point, it would just be for the sake of sleeping, I suppose.


    ''Should I call Hygeia and talk to her about Nyx? I kind of am interested in their rtionship and what exactly is the deal between them¡­. Hmmm¡­ let''s wait for sometime. I have ample time here,'' I pondered, and finally decided not to call Hygeia today.


    I don''t know how much time it took, but by the time I was done, I saw Dion was already sound asleep in the bed. Watching him sleep peacefully put a small smile on my face as I wondered if I had a little brother, would things be simr to as it is now?


    I could only think about it, though. Then I moved towards the bath and proceeded to take a rxing bath because I kind of wanted to take it despite not being tired at all at the moment.


    Inside the bathroom, I had just entered the bathtub before I felt a head falling on my shoulder as someone else joined the bath with me. I didn''t need to turn to see who it was, because I already knew.


    "You didn''t call me out here," she spoke in a halfining half sulking voice and I kinda felt odd as Ipared my time with the Hygeia of my world and this world.


    "I was thinking of doing that from tomorrow," I said without turning towards her and she then got up from my shoulder and walked to stand in front of me. I gazed at her stark naked body. She looked like she was in her early 20s and honestly, I couldn''t help but have dirty thoughts about her at this moment¡­ and honestly, looking at her face¡­ it didn''t seem like she''d mind if I did anything to her.


    "Well¡­ how about you do something today?" She licked her lower lip as she observed my naked body closely and I gulped a little at her bold moves which she was making one after another.


    ''Is she really¡­ in the mood right now?'' I thought, as I couldn''t help but feel the rush of adrenaline inside my body.

 Chapter 107 Taking A Break From Work...#2[R-18]

    Hygeia¡­ the amount of times she had helped me survive was something that I could notprehend. Whether it was regenerating my stamina or allowing me to use her powers at times, every time I thought I almost died, she was there to help me out.


    Even after she was gone, I could hardly imagine my life without the Spirit Magic that I have learnt to use from her. She was someone for whom I held eternal gratitude and I don''t think I could repay her enough even if I were to give my all.


    ¡­


    I stand up as I move closer to her and she too steps closer to me, all the while maintaining eye contact and our lips just a breath away. I could feel her slightly heated breath, which was filled with the spirit magic of Life, against my cold lips.


    "Are all the spirits like these with their summoner?" I smirked as I teased her while using my hands to grab her from behind and pull her even closer to me.


    Her soft breasts were pressed against my chest and I could see her eyes getting even more lustier than they were before. It did not look like she was going to answer, but then¡­


    "I don''t know how the future Hygeia left a candy like you¡­" she spoke before she moved forward and kissed me. I thought it would be a passionate kiss, but it was more of a gentle kiss that was filled with a warmth that felt like home.


    She then pushed herself a step back and looked at me with a slightly embarrassed look before speaking,"Sorry for suddenly pushing myself on-mmmhhh"


    Though before she couldplete her sentence, I brought her closer to me once again and kissed her¡­ passionately this time.


    For the next few moments, I kept kissing her passionately before separating a little as I took a look at her flushed face. She then looked away in embarrassment, still peeking nces at me; I used my other hand to hold her chin and make her look directly at me.


    "Stop me if you don''t want to go further¡­ I won''t be saying this again," I spoke, staring at her with a passionate gaze while my right hand moved towards her hips. I kept looking at her face waiting for her answer, but even after a moment, I didn''t hear a ''no'' so I kissed her again while I used both my hands to lift her and take her to the nearest wall in the bathroom as I kept kissing her.


    Pressing her against the wall, I kept kissing her and by this moment, she too started kissing me back with an extremely delighted expression on her face. I then proceeded to kiss her down the neck; gently kissing her while searching for her soft spots and not even a momentter I felt her grip on my back tightening and I smiled a little on the inside before slowly sucking and biting at that ce making her grip tighter and tighter.


    Her arms were wrapping all over me as she enjoyed every moment and I too moved down step by step¡­ as I kissed her cor bone proceeding down to her breasts. Her breasts were soft¡­ like a cushion that screamed to be yed with, holding her breast with one hand while kissing the other one. I kind of felt so ecstatic that I wondered if this is what heaven felt like.


    I could hear her muffled moans as she tried not to make a sound and hearing her trying not to make a sound, I felt an urge to tease her more, as I began ying with her breasts a bit roughly making her nipples erect, her moans became more and more loud with every move I made.


    After some time, I then let her breast go as I moved down slowly and slowly, reaching her stomach and then down to her belly button, then finally further down. I could feel her getting more and more heated with every inch I was moving down.


    Rather than going directly to her lower lips, I started going down from her thighs, slowly climbing back up. This time, I did it a bit more slower than before as I too savoured every moment I could before finally reaching the lips.


    As soon as my lips touched hers, I heard a loud moane from her mouth, but not caring about it¡­ or even getting more excited about it, I started using my tongue and lips more and more. Her moans kept growing louder and louder as she lost her leg strength and put her hands on my shoulder for support while I kept kissing her for the next few moments.


    The process continued for a few moments before I moved my face away from her lower lips and looked at her face carefully. I could see that she was in a euphoria as of this moment as she looked at me with those beautiful green eyes and then slowly muttered in a hazy voice,"kiss¡­me¡­"


    And hearing her weak voice, my instinct took over as I began kissing her lips intensely before we both tumbled to the ground and I slowly began moving my hand towards her lower lips.


    As of this moment, I was on top of her with both her legs spread around me and because I was getting too engrossed in this I moved my hand a bit away from her and looking at her I said,"I am going to do it." and she looked at me for a few moments before closing her eyes and then slowly muttering,"be gentle," and looking away from me in embarrassment.


    I could barely control myself before I slowly put it in as I kept observing her face for any signs of pain. Though, finding her still ecstatic and not in pain, for some reason, gave me a relief as I slid it in even more. Whilst it reachedpletely in, I could feel her happiness and something inside of me connecting with her¡­ it was as if my soul was being connected to hers as of this moment.


    Before I knew it, I started thrusting it in her and with each passing moment I increased my pace¡­ she was moaning loudly as of now, without any embarrassment on her face. Though she did look exhausted a little.


    "More¡­ more¡­ " I heard her speaking slowly in a raspy voice as I kept going faster and faster¡­ we didn''t change our position¡­ for god knows how long, we just kept going on and on¡­


    It felt¡­ good¡­ it felt¡­ beautiful¡­ I was happy¡­ I don''t know why¡­ but I felt happy¡­ I was really happy in this moment¡­ and looking at her face; it looks like she too was happy with how things have transpired.


    And from there onwards, before I knew it, I had already fallen asleep.


    ¡­


    Next morning, I woke up¡­ I was in the bedroom sleeping soundly, more freshened up than I had ever been in my entire life. I kind of wondered if it was Hygeia who brought me from the bathroom, but on second thought, she too was too exhausted to move. Forget about moving me, she didn''t even have the strength to stand properly.


    Though what I felt next made me think about my statement again. Because she was sleeping on me, I didn''t feel her before, maybe because I was too sleepy, but now that I waspletely awake, I could see a living naked body of Hygeia sleeping soundly on top of me.


    I thought she would go back to the spirit realm or something to rx, but it looks like she chose to sleep with me rather than going back to that dimension.


    Maybe I moved a little after waking up, because she too began waking up as she rubbed her eyes before looking at my face for a few moments and then smiling at me as she fell back to sleep again, once again filled with smiles.


    I observed her getting back to sleep and sighed before I too went back to sleep. Despite me being on a time limit, I wanted to enjoy this moment¡­ it felt like home¡­ something I haven''t felt for¡­ forever, perhaps.


    Though¡­ I knew¡­ I knew that I had to leave sooner orter. It kind of made me wonder¡­ if there was any way of taking Hygeia back with me¡­ Maybe I should try to look for something that could help me with that as well¡­


    After that, I slowly drifted back to sleep before I felt someone pinching my cheeks really hard and I immediately woke up, all alert, only to find Dion looking at me with fury in his eyes. For the next few moments, I couldn''tprehend what was going on here¡­


    ''What is Dion doing here?'' I thought before realising something and my question changed as a sudden thought crept into my mind¡­


    ''Did he¡­ did he hear everything that transpiredst night?''

 Chapter 108 Three Weeks In Asul Extension

    Strolling in the market, I looked at the guards who were smiling at me with a gratified expression, and I smiled in return as I continued strolling up the alley. There were some other people I had grown familiar with in these 3 weeks of living here and while I was here, I helped quite a lot of people which enhanced my image quite a bit. In fact, my image grew enough to make me one of the important persons here however¡­


    With famees jealousy and that creates unnecessary problems like¡­


    "You look so smug for someone who can''t even kill a mosquito," a bulky man spoke as he looked at me as if I were an insect. I observed his face carefully¡­


    Brown hair, ck eyes and clothing that had more gold than fabric, one of the high nobles of this area who had umted enough wealth to reach the main Asul city.


    He had an average build with a slightly bulky mass and the dense water mana around him that was apparently visible gave up the fact that he was a water element user.


    ''Though, he is only relying on artefacts and isn''t as strong as he seems,'' I thought as I looked at him while also wondering what exactly he was trying to aplish here. He smirked at me as he looked down on me and spoke,


    "I have set up a battle between you and me in about 2 hours from now on. Come to the arena or else¡­" he spoke before moving away from here. I looked at him a bit stumped, wondering what was all that about.


    About the arena, if I remember correctly Zuriel did tell me that it was a ce where people test their strength andpete against each other, while it is also one of the ways to enter Asul if you can win the battle royal and prove your worth.


    "Hey Zero, you okay?" I heard a voice of a young maning from behind only to find the old merchant''s son, Pleo, looking at me with a slightly worried expression. He had yellow hair with blue eyes and looked more like a hero out of a fantasy movie rather than the son of a local merchant.


    Pleo''s father was really sick with a   parasitic stomach disease that was curable, but the cost was too much to handle for them, even after being filthy rich. I helped out Pleo''s father while I saw him crying miserably a week ago all by himself.


    "Yeah¡­ I think so? He challenged me to a battle in the arena and threatened me to reach there in 2 hours or something," I said, recalling what he told me as I shrugged my shoulders a bit.


    I then turned to Pleo, who was pressing his lips together in annoyance as he looked in that guy''s direction that challenged me and narrowing my eyes at Pleo I asked,"What is it?"


    "Well, Zero. You are new here so you probably don''t know but there is this thing about the arena that only the locals know.." Pleo spoke and I smiled a bit as I understood what he was implying.


    "Something along the lines of.. the fights aren''t always fair and it is not just only a ce to rise through the ranks but also to thrash people legally?" I asked, and he nodded with a silent sigh before he began pondering about something as he spoke,


    "Maybe¡­ if I can talk to my father¡­ probably something can be done¡­" and I nced at his worried face as I saw him genuinely caring about me.


    "It is okay Pleo, I have my ways of solving this," I answered as I smiled, which made Pleo take a step back. He looked at me gulping,


    "Dont'' smile like that dude¡­ that''s scary." And hearing his answer, I ended up chuckling a little, which only made him more scared than before. I could only stopughing at this point as I smiled and spoke.


    "Don''t worry, I can handle this."


    He looked at me and then smiled as he nodded and spoke,"Okay, then I won''t press any further. But promise me if you need my help with anything, you''ll ask? I will be there for you if I can," and I nodded at him before beginning to walk away.


    He too left from there while I pondered how I should utilize this sudden development to my advantage. Setting aside that noble guy, I myself was thinking about going to the arena to prove my worth¡­ however, I should only use my own artefacts and not my full power topete in this.


    ''Showing off too much is never good,'' I thought as I pondered a little bit more before deciding that it is a good way to enter the arena this way as it wouldn''t draw as much suspicion.


    Right after that I saw a couple of familiar faces which made me almost run away from here, but still I did not do so¡­ because Dion was walking this way along with Zuriel who was showing him around the ce.


    These days, I couldn''t help but recall what happened three weeks ago.


    [It is okay. My mom and dad also did that a lot. I am used to ignoring it, but it would have been better if you guys had slept on the bed and not on the bathroom floor. I had to do so much to bring you both back from the bathroom¡­ I even asked sister Zuriel for help]


    And that way both Zuriel and Dion knew what happened¡­ I kinda felt like a lump had got stuck in my throat when I heard his words.


    Apparently, that day, after he and Zuriel took care of us, Zuriel decided it would be better for Dion to sleep in her room while I was with Hygeia. At first I wanted to say no, but after what had happened, I could only keep quiet.


    Zuriel was a bit angry at me but she sighed before muttering,"you are¡­" and trailing off as her face turned more and more annoyed. From that day, I had little interaction with those two, though I still kept checking up on them using my artefacts.


    I then braced myself as I walked towards them and, watching meing towards them, they smiled at me. Dion waved his hands, and I did too before we reached closer to each other.


    "Brother Zero, how was your day? I have been hearing quite a lot about you from the townsfolk. People even started greeting me with smiles rather than giving me the creepy looks which they did previously," Dion said excitedly, as he looked at me in amazement.


    Zuriel too looked amazed at what I did and I just smiled awkwardly before speaking,"Well¡­ all that fame had brought me slight trouble too, I suppose."


    At my words, Zuriel narrowed her eyes at me and her expression turned serious. I observed her face before sighing and exining what had just happened. A few moments after I exined what happened, I could see the fury in her eyes before she sighs as she looked at me and speaks,


    "Well¡­ what is it that you want to do? Should I kill him, or maybe I should ask Nyx to bar him from this town?"


    I saw the serious expression on Zuriel''s face and I kinda blinked a little dumbfoundedly as I took a step back at her statement. I then stopped her immediately as I caught her hand and said,"don''t do anything stupid, you idiot. I will deal with him in my own way. In fact, this arena thing is actually quite helpful for me."


    Hearing my words, she looks at me as she removes my hand and says,"Tell me about it."


    "No, I think I will keep it a surprise for now. Meet me in the arena in 2 hours and you will see," I spoke as I acted mysteriously and she red at me a little before speaking,"just don''t end up doing anything foolish and call me if anything is up."


    I nodded before waving at Dion and Zuriel as I walked towards the centre of the market. From there, I bought many different foods, metals and anything interesting I could find. In the beginning, I wasn''t even wee here, but after helping almost all the people here, I could say that I was more or less epted here. Not as much as Pleo respects me, but still enough to keep me from being boycotted.


    As I was buying the things from the market, I noticed the white mark on my left hand. Recalling it was Lucifer who gave it to me as a part of our contract, I wondered if I could still use it in this timeline or something¡­ then my eyes reached the green vines that almost reached that white mark. While they were only slightly visible on my left arm due to the sleeve, in actuality, they were present all over my left arm, originating from my heart on the left side of my chest.


    Like that white mark, they too were as if a part of my skin and I kind of understood that it had something to do with me having sex with Hygeia 3 weeks ago.


    I would love to ask her about it, but she still hasn''t gotten up from that day. Except once, when she woke up a dayter and entered into my chest, giving me these vines on my body. From that day, I could feel her sleeping inside me¡­.


    I could only wait at this moment for her to wake up and see what these vines exactly meant¡­


    Afterwards, I finished my work in the market and saw that it had already been an hour and a half. I couldn''t help but smile a little before walking towards the arena¡­

 Chapter 109 Fight In The Arena: Round 1

    I walked into the arena with all the stuff that I bought at the market and looked around to see if my name was up there on the uing matches and fair enough, there was my name against¡­


    Postini Krel¡­ the noble guy who challenged me out of nowhere.


    Looking at me entering the arena, a few familiar faces came into my view. There was Pleo, who was already there, and then there was Zuriel, Dion along with Nyx too.


    ''Looks like Zuriel informed Nyx,'' I thought as I saw them standing and conversing with each other. Thyle was also there, looking much better than when I first met him. Well, I have been healing him every day till now; even though I had healed his disease within the first week, I thought it would be better to regrly keep checking up on his health and help him gain back his health.


    ''I heard that he was training somewhere as exercise. To think it would be this ce,'' I thought before my eyes reached another man who was sitting there silently drinking on his own.


    ''Favian ck, the leader of the resistance army or something. From what Zuriel told me, he is nning to attack Asul sooner orter¡­ However, nobody knows when that will be. Well, I don''t want to believe it¡­ but this scenario reminds of something simr that happened in the previous timeline,'' I thought as I sighed a little before moving towards them.


    Well, actually in the previous timeline, the enemy we thought to be the leader always said that he would attack us, but never really did. At first we believed that he was just a coward or just bluffing, but honestly it was just that he wasn''t the actual leader, and because of the actual leader he never attacked us¡­ Kinda trippy if you ask me¡­


    "You really showed up, huh? You have guts, that''s for sure," I heard an annoying yet familiar voiceing from the back and saw the same noble guy standing there with a smug face. He saw the shopping bags in my hands filled with metals and foods, and ended up chuckling with a mocking expression on his face.


    This time he wasn''t alone but there were two simrly built men standing behind him, who looked like they were trying to curry favour of the noble guy. I could only smile on the inside at the situation in front of me as I spoke.


    "I do not have many options, do I?"


    He observed my face with the same mocking expression. Now I want to punch him so badly, and chuckled again before speaking,"Let''s see how long you can maintain that smug look of yours. I hope you don''t chicken out at thest moment."


    I saw him then walking away from there and decided I should ''make an example'' out of him this time. While I don''t want attention, I would rather not have any more people foolishly trying to disturb me because they think they can.


    "ZERO!!! COME HERE!!!" I heard Zuriel shouting from far away and began walking towards her. When I reached there, Dion and the others wished me luck while Nyx just kept looking at me with a narrowed gaze before asking,"what is it that you are trying to do here?"


    Favian didn''t seem interested in me, but still he was listening to our conversation anyway¡­ more like he had nothing else to do.


    ''Isn''t he the leader? Why not get busy doing some leader work?'' I thought as I answered Nyx,"I just want to step up a bit."


    Nyx, for the next moments, looked at me with a concentrated gaze and then making an understanding expression she finally replied,"okay. Just don''t end up killing that noble guy, he is still important to us."


    Hearing Nyx''s words, Favian turned to me, scanning me carefully again before looking at Nyx, wondering whether what he heard was real. Feeling Favian''s gaze, Nyx turned to him and said,"well¡­ I guess you will understand in a few moments anyway, so why not just watch the match?"


    Favian looks at me with his dark eyes and I smile at him, but even after analysing me for a few moments, he still found nothing, so he was really confused. Well, my artifact that hides my real energy is really helpful, to be honest. After I came here, I also kept on exercising and training hard whenever I could. Though there wasn''t any enormous boost, my power did rise quite a bit from what I had when I entered this world.


    I then talked a bit more with everyone as I passed the time asking how everyone was doing. Before I knew it, the time for the battle finally arrived, and I moved towards the centre of the arena.


    Under the gazes of thousands of people, I entered the arena where the noble guy was waiting with a smug expression. I looked at him as I entered the arena and noticed all the people cheering for that guy while Nyx and the others were sitting near the VIP seats.


    He looked at me for a few moments and then nced at the VIP seats as if he was trying to prove himself? Looks like there is more to the challenge that I thought.


    I too turned towards the VIP area and observing carefully I found a guy looking simr to the noble guy and finally I understood a few things about this stupid situation.


    ''Something along the lines of, someone in his family probably thrashed the poor guy saying that I was at least useful despite not having money or powerpared to him and that brought us here to him challenging me in front of everyone,'' I sighed at this really really stupid situation.


    "I guess wealth can''t bring you intellect," I muttered as I rolled my eyes in annoyance before moving towards him one step at a time.


    "It is about time I put you in your ce," that guy spoke as he looked at me in all seriousness. I wanted to say a few words, but then I decided to not waste time and just start the fight already.


    ''Since he uses water magic, I could use Light magic to heat things up,'' I thought as I took out a few white coloured small tennis ball shaped artefacts from my space storage.


    He observed those balls before moving towards me to create water balls in the air. The waiting time began ticking as soon as we both reached a certain distance from each other and I looked at it, counting down¡­


    10


    9


    8


    7


    6


    5


    4


    3


    2


    1


    0


    -Boom!!


    I heard a loud voice as he attacked me, throwing those water balls at me at an insane speed¡­ However, all of them missed me as I stood there carefreely with both my arms in my pockets. Looking at what just happened, the crowd turned silent for a few moments. The noble guy looked at me and then at his hands before creating and throwing another dozen water balls at me.


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    This time they were more fierce than before as I observed the water balls almost reaching me, missing me and then hitting the wall behind me. I sighed at his naivety as I began walking towards him slowly and slowly as he kept using his water attacks at me.


    What happened was, I used light magic, both my own and also the artefacts, to create a mirage that would look exactly like me. Simultaneously I hid myself using the same magic but I cannot go over 2 metres away from where my mirage was created or the artefact''s presence would give away my location.


    I also used some air magic to make the air denser, changing the direction of those water balls away from me. In the end, what you get is the phenomenal result of me walking through the attacks without getting scratched at all.


    I could see the tension rising on the face of that guy and not long after, he raised both his hands towards me before shouting out loud. The weather slowly began changing, and I looked above to see clouds surrounding everything before a heavy downpour began.


    -Swish


    I saw him vanishing from there without leaving a trace and I then stopped moving as I observed my surroundings. All this raining¡­ kind of¡­ were surfacing some terrible memories¡­


    "Let''s just¡­ get it over with," I thought as I sensed his attacking from the right.


    ''It''s a mirage,'' I thought as I let his attack hit me. Despite being a water mirage, it still hurt a little¡­ which I healed within seconds. Not even a momentter, another attack came from the left¡­ this too was a mirage¡­ I let him be this time too¡­


    All the experience I had fighting in the previous timeline¡­ My body knows when a real attack wille¡­


    "If you want to confuse me¡­. Try using at least a dozen mirages simultaneously¡­ things like this won''t even tickle me," I spoke before I saw a direct attacking from the front.


    ''This one is real,'' I thought as I swiftly dodged his attack and then touched his shoulders with my hand as I applied some Life magic on it that would partially increase the power of his right hand muscles at uneven ces.


    Then I saw him jumping away from me as he tried to raise his hands before-


    "AAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I saw him screaming like a madman. His weaker muscles and bones might have been crushed by the powered up muscles. The Life magic power was temporary, just one time use, so it too has vanished, leaving a broken arm behind.


    I just saw him screaming and crying like a baby as he tried to heal his hands, but it was badly crushed, so it would take some time to heal fully.


    -BAAM!!!


    I saw someonending in the arena from the spectators. It was the brother of the noble guy¡­


    ''Looks like it is going to escte from here,'''' I thought as I saw his face, which didn''t look pleased at all.

 Chapter 110 Fight In The Arena: Round 2

    I looked at that guy observing me with a furious expression before he gazed at his brother with a slightly saddened look. He chanted something and a water ball formed around the broken arm of his brother as his arm began to heal at a rapid rate.


    "If you cut your arm right now. I will forget that this ever happened," spoke that guy as he pointed towards me, more precisely towards my right arm. I look at him and at his unreasonable demands.


    Analysing his expression, it did not look like he was going to change his mind on this one. I sighed before turning to the VIP area as I nced at Nyx, who was looking at Favian. Zuriel, Dion and the others are observing me with a casual look, most probably wondering what I will do now. The only one who was worried about me was Pleo, who did not know much about me.


    ''Looks like I need to go all out with my artefacts and show my cards which I can afford to, using only Light and Life magic. Though, obviously I won''t be using Hygeia''s power,'' I thought as I then took out all the artefacts from my space storage.


    One¡­ ten¡­ hundred¡­ two hundred and thirty-four in total¡­.


    I just let them fly in the surrounding air, while controlling them with my Light magic. Everyone in the audience including Nyx and the others  looked like they were really shocked by what they were witnessing, even the brother of that noble guy looks shocked as he observes me.


    "Such precise¡­ mana control," spoke that guy as he looked at me carefully. This time, he didn''t have fury in his expression, but more like all that fury was reced by excitement or something.


    "I apologise for looking down on you, youngd. Looks like you have something that even the best one of us failed to achieve," he spoke as he looked at me like I was his equal. He then continued speaking.


    "Your reaction tells me that you are quite confused about what I am saying¡­ but it''s fine. For now, just fight me with your level best and I will exin everything after we are done."


    He spoke but honestly I understood everything, just that I was confused how things came to this? It''s kinda¡­ uninteresting to me, to be honest.


    He then looked at the VIP seats and Favian just nodded at him. I looked at Nyx, looking at me with slight worry in her eyes too¡­ sigh¡­ this is troubling in many ways¡­


    This guy is probably at the level of a High Guardian. Defeating him will inevitably gather unnecessary attention, but not doing it will also create some problems too¡­


    ''Hmmm¡­ Well¡­ let''s defeat him. I still have a lot of hidden cards so it is fine¡­ probably,'' I thought as I then looked at the counter, starting again as it began going down. I started analysing the situation carefully before formting a proper battle n.


    Not long before, the time hit 0 and¡­


    -BOOOOMMMM!!!!!


    I could see him almost reaching me and using my precise mana control, I enhanced my jumping ability and reflex muscles, which helped me dodge a powerful sword strike that came directly at me.


    I then used the artifacts to blend in with the surroundings and create an illusion in my ce.While it may not be helpful for long, it will give me enough time to analyse him and get a clear picture of his fighting style.


    He was using a sword made up of water, but looking at his posture and how he proceeded to sh me, I believe he is a dual sword user. Also, his main attributes are strength and mana along with some attack power too. While he depends upon his mana for his defensive ability.


    ''I guess, I can depend upon my reflexes and go for stronger shes one at a time instead of multiple shes at once,'' I thought before taking out the chained scythe, which I had bought earlier from the weapon smith.


    ''The one who paid for this was Nyx though,'' I thought as I wondered if there was anyway I could repay herter. I then see that there were a few people looking at me with a rather strange look than others¡­


    ''Is¡­ something else is going on here?'' I couldn''t help but think that way but¡­ oh well, whatever. Let''s deal with this first,'' I sighed as I shook my head and saw that guy approaching my illusion again. This time I made my illusion brilliantly dodge his attack, which I think worked quite nicely, because he was quite excited to hit my illusion as he kept usingbos one after another.


    I then began moving towards him as well, using my scythe, waiting for the right moment and just a few momentster I saw that chance that I was waiting for.


    First, I let his attacks hit my illusion, which kind of tripped him. Then, using that chance, I used another clone a bit away from him to hit him using a scythe, which he brilliantly dodged. Though, as he dodged, I concentrated all my power on the tip of my chained-scythe and hit him in his heart.


    I also took some extra efforts to sink in some Light magic in his blood vessels around the heart to make it over excited and tear enough apart to damage him considerably but not enough to kill him. And the result was¡­


    -Cough Cough


    I saw him coughing up some blood as he looked at me with a really puzzled expression as he fell down before losing his consciousness. The Light magic within him won''t disappear this time, unlike I did with his brother''s right arm. In fact, it will heal him making sure he doesn''t die and get him back to normal in about an hour or so.


    I looked around to see that the crowd had turnedpletely silent as of now.There gazes shifted from me to that guy and then once again back to me¡­ and not even a moment after¡­


    -WOOOOOO!!!!!!


    -That was AMAZING!!!!


    -HOW DID YOU DO IT?!!!!


    -ZERO!!


    -ZERO!!


    -ZERO!!


    The crowd began crazily cheering for me as a few men jumped down towards the guy and checked his vitals, only to be shocked before darting their gazes at me. At first, when they jumped down, they had a furious expression on their faces with traces of fear in them, but now they were looking at me with a gratified expression.


    They even bowed to me in front of the whole crowd and took not only him but his little brother too, who was shocked more than anyone else as he looked at me. One of those men who took the injured brothers, went up to Favian and spoke something, making everyone who heard it turn towards me with a bbergasted expression.


    ''I hope this makes things at least a little bit smoother for me.'' I kinda wished everything was settled now and some idiot wouldn''te knocking for revenge, which is really annoying, to be honest.


    The crowd, however, was still wild as they kept cheering for me over and over. Looks like I won some respect or perhaps a lot of respect here. Even those at the VIP stand were looking at me with a faint smile, and I could feel the change in the atmosphere around them. Heck, some were even happy enough to show joy, though whether they were happy about me winning or not was still questionable.


    ''More like they seem happy that they have gained another strong person to fight alongside them with the resistance thingy,'' I could only give out an awkward smile at them as I looked at Nyx and the others who kind of looked happy? Hmmm¡­ looks like I really did a good job here.


    After that I received some money and a silver badge donating that I had the power level of a High Guardian or something before they sent me off with a happy smile. The female receptionist even gave me her address as she winked before moving away while a few wealthy men tried approaching me as soon as I stepped out of the arena.


    Though, with the help of Nyx and the others, I swiftly moved from there and reached a particr house where windows were stacked with books, a lot of them. The door looked a bit old-fashioned with all those vines ced around the in design of that door.


    -Knock Knock


    I knocked on the door and not long after, the door opened, showing the features of a petite brown-haired girl with round sses and messy hair. She had a grey coloured in dress on and her green gem-like eyes looking at me with a smile as she weed me,


    "You arete. Did something happen?"


    Ariel Sphyne, the girl with whom I had been researching the magic of this world and how it works. Despite being careless, most of the time she is a finedy. She is mature enough to deal with her problems without asking for anyone''s help and she prefers a peaceful life with her books and research rather than adventures outside.


    Shecksmon sense, but her high IQ and intelligence make up for it. Few of her artefacts and magic theories had actually brought her enough wealth to let her live here in this Asul Extension, where only the wealthiest can stay.


    I had been visiting her since the first day and most of the time I am actually with her rather than in the city. At least one-third of my day is spent with her, to be honest. While there was some tension between us in the beginning due to ourck of information about each other, with time that too dissolved and we became fast friends and research buddies.


    It wasn''t just research that we did, but also shared some extra information about how things work on the Mountain of Heaven and stuff. While I also helped in cleaning the house, making things look much tidier than before and also bringing in some food to make the dinner.


    She kinda fell in love with my cooking skills, but I still haven''t told her about the meat that came from the monsters or else I don''t know how she will react.


    "Yeah, something happened," I spoke before actually narrating the whole thing that went down today and after everything was said and done, she looked at me with a narrowed gaze before sighing and questioning,


    "You defeated a High Guardian using only that much of your power? Damn kid! Didn''t know you were that powerful. I always wondered how strong you really are and what will be your most powerful form¡­ Tell me something, kid, are you strong enough to take on Azem, the ruler of Asul?"

 Chapter 111 Ariel

    I observed her curious face and just gave her a mysterious smile before speaking,"who knows?" as I then moved towards the kitchen as she kept looking at me without any change in her expression.


    Inside the kitchen, I cooked some meat jerky along with other simr dishes and brought it out and served it on the dinner table as I called out to her, "Dinner is ready!" and she responded from her research room,ing in 5."


    ''Why does it feel like we are husband and wife?'' I kinda wondered at the awkward stance I was in, but oh well, I don''t think there is anything to worry about here.


    A few minutester, I saw hering downstairs from the research room with the same smile she always had whenever shees for dinner.


    We sat at the table, said our prayers, and finally we began eating the food. With every bite she took, she had a blissful expression on her face and I could only chuckle a little at her reaction that hadn''t changed one bit from the reaction she gave on day one.


    "So, did you find anything?" I asked as I initiated the topic of the research on the various elements present in this Vermillion and she, hearing my words, looked at me as she swallowed the food all at once.


    Then she nodded with a thoughtful expression before speaking,"I actually did find something this time."


    I could see her mystifying look and I couldn''t help but get curious too as I asked,"Oh! Let''s hear it then, what did you find?" and she nods at me as she first questions,


    "Do you remember the theory you hypothesized when you first came here?"


    I recall the theory I told her when I first came to her home; it was a simple but quite a solid theory.


    There are elemental energies present in this world, which are normally termed as mana, which include Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Ice, etc. Under normal conditions these are readily interconvertible, though the process differs.


    Except that the mana which people use here is actually infected with some parasites that live off of the mana of the people. These parasites eat up mana and release even more mana of the same type, or perhaps not more, but same.


    There is one known con and one known pro about this situation.


    The con is that a person can''t change from one element to another because it might kill the parasites and not only that but also the parasites readily consume the mana of the person if that person tries to use any other element. Hence, the premature tiredness and mana exhaustion when Ariel did what I told her to do, that is to use another form of energy as if it is her own.


    The pro is that, since those parasites release mana readily, the amount of mana one can use is generally more than what it normally should be. All the more, since using the parasite generated mana can make up for the loss of mana if used the right way.


    Ariel and I, carried out many experiments and found out that the theory still holds true, howbeit, without a definitive proof, no matter what we do it will still be guesswork, and we can''t be hundred percent sure.


    "Today, I tried forcing mana of the opposite nature into the parasites. Normally that shouldn''t be possible, but with your artefacts, I was able to pull off something," Ariel spoke as she took another bite from the steak and then continued under my constant gaze,


    "Actually, I tried various things, first to remove the air and to do the experiment, the other was to forcefully remove the mana in which they were surviving. There were other conditions too, but directly getting to the point, it worked."


    As she finished her words, I could only look at her with my mouth slightly open as I asked her to reassure myself,"it what?"


    She smiled again as she spoke,"It worked. As long as you remove the already present energy from the ce, you can use the other element to kill the parasites and then use the desired energy."


    And then I saw tiny icicles floating all around her before they slowly vanished into thin air as her smile grew even more.


    I could only look nkly at her, as I couldn''t help but praise her as,"that is¡­ really¡­ something." She nods at me and I couldn''t help but ask again,


    "How did you remove all the mana from here?"


    While the other processes were cost effective, I don''t think removing the mana of the ce is an easy task. It would be no short of a miracle to actually remove all the mana present in a room, and only one particr mana at a time at that.


    She looked at me with another mysterious smile as she devoured her food and then said,"Leranati," and I felt like such an idiot for a moment to actually forget about that. Leranati, the metal that can absorb the magic of this ce¡­ but wait!


    "Doesn''t Leranati absorb all of the magic it can? How did you pull it¡­ like¡­ how were you able to use your magic in the presence of Leranati? And that fire magic from the artefact wasn''t an exception to Leranati''s properties," I asked with a really puzzled yet curious mind as I put my hand on my chin as I pondered over that.


    She then makes a slightly confused expression before speaking,"I don''t know what you know about Leranati, but if you fill it with a particr amount of mana, it won''t absorb any more mana of that type. I actually filled it with all the other mana except water mana to do the experiment."


    I just kept gazing at her and she really had a confused expression and I could only cough a little before speaking,"there are areas in which Ick knowledge too."


    At that, she just shook her head as she spoke,"it is one of the most abused properties of Leranati, as it helps in maintaining your own power while weakening your enemies'' power. If you are going to lie about something this simple, you should just keep quiet," before standing up from there and then moving away from the table.


    ''She is upset about me hiding stuff from her, isn''t she?'' I thought as I made a slightly apologetic expression as I looked at her back, walking towards the research room.


    ''Well, I can''t really tell everyone about meing from the future, can I?'' I thought as I too stood up and began cleaning the dishes. The fact that she didn''t invade my privacy and minded her own business is actually something I respect her for, but honestly, there is a limit to how close I will get to her.


    After finishing the minor household work, I made two cups of coffee and began moving towards the research room, where I saw her working with the elements. Not disturbing her, I ced her cup on the table and began drinking mine as I observed her work.


    She was repeating the same process once again, with a different element this time. Though, the fact that you can (normally) use only three or four connecting elements at once is something that I still haven''t told her. That too, depends on how much the other elements are rted to your original element.


    For example, a water user can use ice and smoke, while to some extent he can use steam and heat too. But ice and smoke will be less powerful than water and steam will be even less powerful and the effect of heat will be negligible.


    The only reason I can use all the elements at once is probably because of the Refractive Fragment of Space.


    I then saw her trying to use fire magic and waited for her to fail and yeah, not long after she failed at it miserably as her mana ran out even before she began. I then pick up her cup  from the table and walk towards her.


    She looks at me with a slightly angered and annoyed face. I kind of understood that the reason for her annoyance was me not telling about me¡­ or perhaps I was lying to her. Some people do ept truth over lies, no matter how absurd it sounds.


    "I have my reasons," I said as I brought her cup of coffee towards her and she looked at me with a deep gaze before she asked,"can I ask you a question?"


    I kept looking at her for a few moments before speaking,"I may not be able to answer it." She, hearing my words, smiles a little before asking,


    "How strong are you?"


    I looked at her for a few moments before pondering if I should answer it or not and after thinking it through properly, I said again,"it depends if I am prepared to die or not."


    She looks at me and then asks again,"without dying?"


    "I think I can handle Azem if I go all out with everything I have¡­ though I can''t really put it to test," I say as my eyes turn crimson and I use charm magic on her. While she will remember everything I told her, she will forget it as soon as she tries telling it to someone else.


    This is the least I can do for the trust she had shown me¡­ though, I found her smiling at me with such a beautiful smile that I have never seen since I met her.


    "Zero, can I ask you for a favour?" She spoke again and this time she had a really tense look on her face. I observed her face for a few moments before asking,


    "What kind of favour?"

 Chapter 112 Ariel#2

    "What kind of favour?" I asked as I looked at her with an expressionless face, though inside I was a bit¡­ not in the mood to listen to another over the top issue which isn''t isn''t my problem.


    "I need you toe with me on a small adventure," she spoke in a sheepish voice before she looked carefully at me and then continued,


    "There is this thing called Bregma, found in the forest located a few kilometres away from Asul Extension. The ce is quite dangerous, but not as dangerous for someone like you, to be honest."


    I kept gazing at her for the next few moments and then asked in a serious monotonous voice, without any change in my expression,


    "Give me a reason for helping you out."


    Although it may be quite tiring to add another side quest, whilst my main quest hasn''t even progressed much, I guess it won''t be really a bother if the rewards make up for the time lost.


    She looks at me and then nods with a serious expression as she then continues,


    "It would be better if I exined everything before telling you about the reward. Albeit it may alone not give you a definitive reason there are a few other things which might interest you."


    After speaking this much she hurriedly stands up and begins frantically searching for something within the shelves filled with numerous books.


    For the next few moments, she rummaged through every shelf one by one without any pause and finally, finding what she was looking for; she pulled out a book which was ced on one of the top shelves.


    It seemed more like an old diary than a book. From there, she went to her study table and from one of the drawers she took out an artefact that looked like a magnifying ss.


    Straight from there, she moved towards me as she huffed a little before speaking," Look at these notes. Read them carefully using this ss and after you have done so, tell me how much you have understood."


    I observed her slightly tired face as she caught her breath, before putting my cup down and beginning to read the book slowly and carefully.


    The book began from a theory about the existence of an elemental mass in this world at its centre, literally, and about its unique property to generate mana infinitely.


    Then it went on to describe its features and about the various advances and possibilities of being able to use such an elemental mass.


    Next was the elemental mass of space that allowed one person to travel from one ce to another instantaneously. There was actually something that was discovered near the Kunle Mountain of this world which had almost all the properties of this elemental mass but honestly, there was one problem¡­ it was too vtile and the amount was exhaustible.


    Heck, even a brutal war broke out over this, destroying a couple of nations. Too bad, the first person who got his hands on the elemental mass, ended up using or perhaps destroying all of it at once, all because he was furious. Well, he did lose everything because of the war so one couldn''t really fathom what he was going through.


    The list kept going on and on about another 4-5 elemental masses and their probable locations along with their properties and limitations.


    And finally, my eyesnded upon the elemental mass of Bregma. The metal of negative elements, the metal with the property of removing each and all curses, poisons or perhaps everything as long as it is rted to mana.


    ''This reminds me of my own Rejection Fragment¡­ interesting¡­ interesting¡­'' I thought as I read more and more about Bregma. In ancient times, it was something that was said to be a monster that eats everything¡­ down the historyne, it changed from being a monster to a metal and finally to an elemental mass. There were also various instances about the Bregma thing being used by different people over different time period however there was no definitive proof of it.


    There were many locations mentioned where Bregma could be present but most of them were ruled out except for three locations. The closest location was the one which Ariel told me about, a few kilometres south of Asul Extension, within the Hellfire forest, the elemental mass is supposed to be. However, anyone below the level of Royal Guardian is sure to die.


    After reading a few more details about the whole Bregma thing, I observed Ariel sitting in front of me holding a cup of coffee as she looked at me with impatient yetplex eyes. She was nervous as her hands were slightly shaking and I looked deeply in her eyes before speaking,


    "You are shaking."


    "Just tell me your answer," she demanded as she looked at me trying to get over it as fast as possible. I pondered over the whole situation before asking,


    "What do I get in return?"


    She looks at me before speaking,"If we find the Bregma, you can have half of it. If we don''t find it, I still have an artefact heirloom which I can give you to make up for your efforts."


    I observed her for a few moments before asking,"what makes you trust me so much? You don''t even know me?"


    While I had been spending a lot of time with her, it still wasn''t enough for her to bet on me like this. I wonder what is her reason for doing what she is trying to do¡­ Though she answered me immediately clearing my doubts,


    "Many reasons to be honest. First you are powerful yet you don''t have that pride that most of the powerful ones possess.


    Second is that, this is one in a lifetime chance where someone as powerful as you is so close to me without me getting killed or enved or something.


    Third is about me having less time and not as much of a choice as I¡­ Well, let''s just say that I don''t have much of a choice here.


    Then there is the fact that you don''t belong to any factions I have known, neither you work for Favian, nor you belong to Azem. I haven''t heard of anyone like you before too¡­ so most probably you aren''t from here¡­ from this ce¡­ from this¡­ from this timeline¡­ who knows?


    There are many more reasons, but I guess this much is enough¡­ or should I borate more?"


    I looked at her determinant face as she looked at me with those clear green eyes and I sigh before nodding and answering,"Yeah, that much reason is enough for me."


    She then looks at me before asking again,"So¡­ what is your answer? Will you help me out or not?"


    Hearing her question, I once again ponder over the pros and cons of this whole situation¡­. Hmmm I wonder how Nyx would react to me leaving here¡­ plus I don''t know how long it will take to return from that ce?


    ''Though I am interested in Bregma. Mostly because of its properties being simr to my own power¡­ Hmmm¡­'' I kept thinking and thinking before finally sighing anding to a conclusion,


    "All right. But I have a condition of my own," I spoke and with sparkling eyes and a bright expression, she smiled widely before speaking,"as long as it''s not too absurd, I am ready toply with anything."


    "Dion will go with us," I said my demand, and she made a slightlyplex expression before a sudden mulling expression came on her face.


    I can''t trust Dion being left here, when the entire Asul and Asul Extension might just explode into a civil war. I would rather keep him by my side and keep him protected than put him at a risk where I can''t do shit about it.


    "Is he really that important to you?" Ariel asks and I nod at her before speaking,"he is the most important piece of my life here."


    She smiles, making an understanding expression as a tear falls off her eye and she wipes it out before speaking,"I think I made the right choice in choosing you," and then patting my shoulders she smiled before moving downstairs as she spoke,"Don''t worry. I will find a way so that you can bring him with us while keeping him as safe as possible."


    I¡­. I kinda felt that she misunderstood my intentions towards Dion, but looks like it is going to work out just fine so I won''t be clearing this misunderstanding.


    I then proceeded to move towards the artefacts that Ariel used and recharged it slowly and thoroughly before looking at ces around me. This ce didn''t have those mana parasites right now¡­. I wonder¡­ I wonder¡­ I walked towards the window gazing at the sky and¡­.


    "Fire magic: Spark," I muttered and then¡­


    -BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!


    A humongous explosion urred right out of the minimum effort that I just put¡­


    I¡­


    "What the f*ck happened?!!!" I saw Ariel with a baffled expression as she looked at me wondering what I just did, while I just stood there¡­ looking at her with a slightly dumbfounded face.

 Chapter 113 Minor Inconvenience

    "So I was just testing my artefact that I created for special situations and it kinda went off¡­does that exin everything?" I exin everything as ''truthful'' as possible.


    Though the faces of Nyx, Ariel and the others, doesn''t seem like they were convinced with what I just said.


    Well¡­ the explosion was really loud and powerful, waking up everyone in the Asul extension. Thankfully, there were Nyx and the others calming the situation by telling them off, saying that a new member was just practising a powerful spell.


    "Where is the artefact?" Asked Nyx, as she looked deep into my eyes and I just smiled before speaking.


    "It vanished without leaving any trace."


    She then asked without skipping a beat,"How long will it take to recreate the artefact? Or do you have any more of them?"


    I then ''truthfully'' answered again,"1 month and no that was thest batch," at which she could only sigh with slight irritation on her face.


    She then closes her eyes and messages them a little before she looks at Ariel,"you tell me what should I do in this situation?"


    Ariel, hearing Nyx''s words, turns at me as she raises her eyebrows a little, signalling me ''what she should do?''


    I only shook my head before changing the topic,


    "I am going to the Hellfire Forest tomorrow for a personal venture. I''ll be returning within a week or two at Max."


    Hearing about my sudden departure, she made a wide-eyed expression asking," What did you say! Where?!"


    The others looked at me with a slightly narrowed gaze while Ariel was making a slightly nervous, slightly furious expression.


    I then yawned a little before speaking,"It is one of my objectives ining here. I also am going to take Dion and Ariel with me."


    Now this¡­ made everyone turn at Ariel this time, and she could only go sheepishly under the collected gaze of everyone present here.


    "Why her?" Nyx asks again, and I then speak,"there is something that I need from that ce. It also requires someone with a good grasp of elemental knowledge. Ariel, here is more knowledgeable in many aspects that I am not, hence having her will be quite helpful."


    Nyx looks at me with a narrowed gaze again as she moves a few steps closer, narrowing the distance between us to about a metre.


    "What are you trying to do here?" She asked, looking deep into my eyes and I look up to her and answer,


    "Too personal to answer."


    -Swish


    -Swish


    I then saw two guards moving behind me and putting a knife to my throat on each side, while I stood there with the same confident smile stered on my face.


    "It doesn''t seem like you understand the situation you are in, do you?" One of them threatened me as he looked at me with an emotionless face.


    Ariel was making a really scared expression, while the others had a rxed expression. They were even rxed and smiling as they saw me in the clutches of their ''One of the most powerful.''


    I yawned again as I look at Nyx directly into her eyes without giving a f*ck about the other two.


    "Is this how you treat your guests? Forcing them to tell everything they have?" I ask as my expression turns annoyed and I re at her a little.


    "I am going to kill this bastard," said one of the guys, who held the knife to my throat.


    I just turned to look at him with a half annoyed tone as my eyes turned deep red and I looked at that man''s eyes speaking.


    "Move back and kneel!"


    If my powers are boosted in the absence of those mana eating parasites, I wonder how much my charm magic can hold.


    Before in the Vermilion, it can charm an A-Rank at its full power. Here I used 75% power, and the guy is about lower SS-Rank probably¡­.


    He then moved as he lost the control of his knife and without making any unnecessary movement he kneeled right there.


    While I did lose arge amount of Blood in doing this, I guess this was enough to pull a bluff on the others as I turned to look at their slightly horrified face before speaking.


    "Tell me, Nyx¡­ what do you want?"


    Nyx looked at me with a scared face as she still turned at the other guy kneeling in front me.


    It didn''t look like she had anything that she could speak, while Ariel was getting even more tense. While the others had their eyes wide open as they were having a hard timeprehending what was going on here.


    ''While it worked here in the absence of those mana eating parasites, I doubt I can pull this off outside¡­ I must make an impact here¡­ or else I am f*cked,'' I sighed inside before speaking,


    "Forget what happened today. I am here because I made a deal with Zuriel. Don''t disturb me unnecessarily. You may leave now."


    The guy who was kneeling fell unconscious, making everyone look at him once again.


    I then looked at Nyx, making a slightlyplicated expression before she speaks out,


    "Are you with us or against us?"


    I pondered over this question before turning at her and answering,"I am with Zuriel."


    She for the next few moments turned silent and then sighed before moving away from there as shemanded,"let''s go. Nothing happened today," and everyone looked at her with aplicated expression before following behind her.


    I saw them leaving Ariel''s house and once I made sure that they were far gone, I finally sighed in relief and turned to Ariel, only to look at me silently without making any move.


    "Tell me exactly what you are thinking," I asked as I smiled at her before moving closer to her, one step at a time. She, watching me getting closer to her step by step, gulped a little before speaking.


    "Never knew you could be so scary."


    I chuckled at her honest response and said,"Am I still scary?" as I reach really close to her and she nods slightly as she answers,"yes¡­ yes you are."


    I then stepped back before moving ahead of her towards the research room as I spoke,"want to know what really happened?"


    Hearing my words, she turns at me immediately with a slightly shocked expression before she follows behind me towards the research room without making any sentences.


    Reaching the room, I pointed towards the centre of the room as I spoke,"this cecks those parasitic worms, right?" and she looks at me for a few moments before nodding as she observes the whole room once again.


    "It would be bad if I used the previous element¡­ hmm let''s see¡­ the element with the minimum damage would be¡­ Light Magic: Lesser Light show," I speak as a bright light covers the whole area as much as a light bulb. It would look ordinary, but honestly, in my Vermillion, this spell could only light as much as a tiny sparkle produced by light reflected on a sand particle on a scorching, burning afternoon.


    "This light¡­ in the presence of those parasites couldn''t even be seen properly," I answered her and she, understanding what it meant, looked at me with a dumbfounded face. Her face looked at me as if she was looking at a monster¡­ though she did not seem to be scared but fascinated by me.


    "You really¡­ are strong, aren''t you?" She asks again, and I chuckle at her words. Of all the things she could speak, this is the only thing she got to. Maybeter she will realise it, she will understand it slowly that¡­ I am not just strong¡­ In the absence of those Mana Parasites, I am good enough to y with a dozen of Azem¡­ probably.


    Though¡­ I wonder¡­


    ''How would you react if you got to know that I had been 100 times stronger than that in my previous time¡­'' I thought as I just smiled before speaking,


    "Let''s prepare for our journey, shall we? While I am helping you, I still need to return here to help Zuriel, too."


    She nods at me before suddenly asking out of nowhere,"Ummm¡­ Zero¡­ you won''t kill me will you?" and I turned to her, raising my left eyebrow as I looked at her speaking,"Now, why would I do something like that? Do I look like a maniac who kills people with no sense of justice or humanity?"


    She kept her eyes gazed at me and I sighed before rifying again,"No, I don''t have any reason to do so," before moving towards the other side of the Asul Extension using my Shadow Style."


    After traveling for a few more moments, I reached Zuriel''s house, where I saw Nyx standing alone in front of Zuriel''s door with a slightly nervous expression. I could more or less guess the intentions of Nyxing to meet Zuriel at such ate night.


    -Click


    The door opened and Dion was the one who opened the door, showing Zuriel in a casual dress with baking gloves in her hand at a distance within the house. Nyx looked at Dion and then at Zuriel before speaking in a low voice,


    "May Ie in?"


    Watching her behaving like that, Zuriel''s expression turned serious as she immediately moved towards Nyx and held her by her hands asking,"Lady Nyx?!! Are you okay? Everything is fine, right?"


    There was worry on Zuriel''s face as she tried to understand what Nyx was going through while Dion just stood there, confused at what he should do right now.


    "Zuriel¡­" Nyx tried speaking slowly before looking around, making sure there was no one around. I used my light magic to cancel her shadow sense, making sure she didn''t see me.


    "Yes, Nyx." Zuriel''s stance changed from someone below Nyx to a friend who had been with Nyx through her tough times.


    "Zuriel¡­ just what¡­ just what is he, Zuriel? I am scared¡­ His whole presence sends shivers down my spine¡­ tell me Zuriel, who is this Zero?" almost breaking down, she falls in the arms of Zuriel who seemed to be having a really tough time in understanding what is going on.


    "All right Nyx. First, I need you to calm down, okay? Take a deep breath in, then take a deep breath out¡­ calm down, first calm down. It''s all right. I am here with you. You can calm down," Zuriel tried her best to make Nyx calm, and it looked like it worked as Nyx''s emotions were getting better. Then Zuriel spoke again.


    "Let''s go in and we shall discuss what you want to discuss, okay? Tell me everything that has happened?"


    And then I appeared right in front of them as I join in,


    "How about I tell you what happened?"

 Chapter 114 Minor Inconvenience#2

    "How about I tell you what happened?" I speak as I emerge from the shadows and walk towards them. Nyx''s expression turns really fearful while Zuriel looks at me with a slightly serious expression.


    "Let''s go in," I spoke as I moved inside Zuriel''s house, under the silent gazes of the three. Dion was the first one toe after me, followed by Zuriel who dragged Nyx in. Nyx still wasn''t in her right mind and it kind of confused me, to be honest¡­


    ''I didn''t intimidate her to this extent, did I?'' I thought, almost reaching the living room.


    The room had a cozy atmosphere, with ck and white authentic wall design, with a matching ck sofa ced in the middle. There were three dual des disyed on the wall, with each being excellent in one aspect of their own. There were some fruits on the corner table and I moved towards it as I took an apple out of the basket and then sat on the sofa while eating it.


    Dion simply walked towards me and sat in myp without speaking anything. I then saw Zuriel bringing Nyx into the room, making her sit at a distance in front of me, while she herself sat beside her.


    "Do you need something to drink first?" Zuriel asked Nyx, at which Nyx shook her head, denying it before looking at me and then turning her head to Zuriel.


    Zuriel then gives out a deep sigh before looking at me and then ring a little as she inquires,"what did you do to her?"


    "Nothing in particr. They barged in suddenly and demanded I tell them about what I did¡­ threatening won''t work on me and that is something she should have known from the beginning," I answer calmly and Zuriel then turns at Nyx which made Nyx look away from her before speaking quietly,"my guards did not know about him being¡­ strong. So they¡­"


    Zuriel then kind of understood everything as she spoke,"this has to do with the st that happened a few minutes ago, doesn''t it?" and this made both of us nod in affirmation.


    "So what exactly was that? Is it too secretive to tell?" Zuriel asked, looking genuinely in my eyes and I then pondered over it for a few moments before I spoke out,"Not exactly. I can tell you about it, Zuriel, but honestly, anyone with whom I haven''t spent much time, I don''t think I can tell them. Even if it is someone close to you, Zuriel."


    Zuriel looks at me for a few moments before giving out another long sigh. I think I might be mistaken, but I saw a momentary smile on Zuriel''s lips before it vanished. Zuriel then turned to Nyx before speaking.


    "Is that all there is?"


    Nyx then shook her head before speaking,"that is not all¡­ not at all¡­ This guy¡­ those guards were High Guardians and this guy just ordered one of them using some spell, making him kneel effortlessly as if that guard was his most loyal subject¡­ Just what¡­ what are you?"


    This statement made Zuriel and Dion dart towards me with a confounded look as they observed me, as if I was the most peculiar thing they had ever seen. Though¡­


    "That was Charm Magic¡­ don''t you have anything simr here?" I spoke without really hiding anything. Not like they would know that I can use charm magic of that level only in the absence of those mana parasites.


    "What Charm Magic?" asks Zuriel with a confused expression and I look at both of them, observing me with a strange gaze. At this moment, my mind went into full thinking mode as I tried to connect the dots and not even a momentter I actually found the mistake I made here.


    "Have you ever made people forget what they had seen or heard?" I asked, and Nyx was the first one to nod before speaking,"Yeah. I have a few sets of magic that could make people forget what they had seen, but it only covers thest hour or so, nothing more."


    I nod at it before speaking,"well that forgetting magic,es under the category of Charm Magic. It will not only make you forget what you know, but also can be used to control anything mind rted. If used appropriately and strongly, it can actually make you believe things that didn''t even happen."


    Nyx and Zuriel looked at me with an rmed expression before Zuriel asked,"and such magic¡­ doest it exist?" at which I make a puzzled expression before asking,"what are you talking about? Don''t you see me in front of you who is an expert in Charm Magic¡­.wait!"


    ''If Charm Magic is something that does not exist in this world¡­ Then what did Ariel understand when I told her my theory?... I hope it''s not something troubling,'' I thought, a little embarrassed at it as I covered my face with my palms.


    Zuriel and Nyx looked at me, wondering what I was doing and I just shook my head before speaking,"It''s nothing. I was just saying that I am a Charm Magic expert and, yes, I believe people who can use Charm Magic do exist in this world other than me."


    Now that I know what was going on, I think I understood what Nyx was going through. I could literally turn the whole empire against her using this magic and she can''t do shit about it¡­ no wonder she was scared shitless¡­


    Now I kinda feel bad for her. Zuriel did tell me all the things Nyx had done to bring together people for the resistance she had built in order to achieve her goal. It wouldn''t really be amusing if someone like mees and destroys everything she worked so hard to build here.


    Though it''s ironic that those parasites stop people from extending magic from one person to another. No wonder Charm Magic is a rarity here. I guess I should keep myself more reserved with how much I use my powers.


    "I guess¡­ I can understand what went wrong there," I spoke up and Zuriel looked at me with a slight pondering expression as she asked,"you do?" and I nod at it.


    "I can make you both forget about what happened today and also the other people who were there¡­ no, in fact, make everyone who saw what happened forg¡­." I turned silent as I looked at their horrified faces and I sighed before speaking.


    "Then what do you want me to do? Do you have any better ns?"


    This made Zuriel look firmly in my eyes as she asked,"Zero¡­ answer me honestly. Have you ever used Charm Magic on me?"


    At her question, I started recalling everything that had happened from the beginning. After recalling each and everything in detail, I smiled sheepishly at her before speaking,"I forgot."


    She red at me and I just chuckled before speaking,"I really, really did forget though. Though, I doubt I might have done that¡­ unless it is very necessary, to be honest."


    She looks at me with doubtful eyes before sighing and shaking her head and finally speaking,


    "Zero¡­ What are you? Exactly what the f*ck are you? What are you trying to do here¡­ are you even our friend¡­?"


    And I make a confused expression again as I speak,"friend? No, I don''t think so¡­ but maybe we are close acquaintances¡­ isn''t that enough? Also, I haven''t forgotten the deal between us, so you should trust that at least."


    She looks at me before sighing and then speaking,"I don''t know Zero¡­ I don''t think I can trust you after knowing what you are¡­ capable of. It''s too hard¡­ "


    She looked extremely tired¡­ as if she wanted to believe in me, but no matter how she saw this¡­ she couldn''tpel herself to believe in me.


    ''Well¡­ I guess I can understand what she is going through. The first time Lucia¡­ She told me about her Charm Magic and how she used it on me¡­ kind of made me tear apart from the inside. I couldn''t believe any word she spoke from that point onwards, even to the point that it made me doubt everything that I had ever done. Wondering if it was me doing it of my own volition or was it just Charm Magic after all.


    I then looked at them for a few moments before sighing and then speaking,"Blood Magic: Charm of Tomorrow," and then both of them fell asleep in a few moments. I then turned to Dion and spoke,"Let''s take them to bed. It is better this way," and he nodded at me without making any sound.


    While it was easy to charm Zuriel, charming Nyx took a huge amount of my mana at once. I almost fell down but still got back up in no time. The fact Nyx was shaken actually helped me easily charm her.


    With the help of Dion, I helped them to their bed. By tomorrow, their memories will be reced with something sweeter. I then went off to find the others who saw me using Charm Magic¡­ of course, that includes Ariel too.

 Chapter 115 Hellfire Forest

    "You both packed everything you needed to?" I asked Ariel and Dion once again to make sure they had everything, as we reached the gate of Asul Extension. I saw Zuriel along with Nyx standing there with a strange expression as they looked at me, wondering what I was trying to do.


    ''Man, it gets harder to exin every time they ask more questions,'' I thought as I recalled a few moments ago where I had to exin to them why, how and where I was going and also with whom. To be honest, I wanted to use Charm Magic on them, but since Nyx was already back to normal, that option didn''t seem like a good one. So I had to make up shit in order to exin everything.


    ''Even so, they don''t seem to buy most of it¡­'' I sighed before waving to Zuriel before leaving from that ce. The guards greeted me as they opened the gate.


    The gates usually are closed at night and open early in the morning, so as to protect the city from monsters. We were leaving early in the morning at my sudden demand, no wonder it was a bit confusing for others as to why I was in such a hurry.


    The gate openedpletely and I, along with Dion and Ariel, left under the constantly narrowed gaze of Nyx and Zuriel. They kept looking at us for quite some time before finally leaving as we reached quite a distance.


    ''Last night was hectic too¡­'' I thought as I recalled how I had to backtrack everyone present in Ariel''s research room and then erase their memories, recing them with new ones. While also discussing with Nyx, Zuriel and others about me going to the Hellfire Forest¡­


    "I didn''t expect you would put so much significance in this," Ariel asked with a little bit of shy expression as she turned her head down and I made an awkward expression as I nonchntly replied,"Neither did I."


    "Huh?!" Ariel looks at me with a slightly confused expression as she tilts her head a little. I then shook my head as I answered her,"it''s nothing," before I moved on to check the directions towards the HellFire Forest.


    I kept reading through the map towards the HellFire Forest, the type of monsters it had, and the vegetation it had. I didn''t have time to do it before, so I was trying to grasp as much knowledge of that ce as possible.


    The HellFire Forest, as the name suggests, is a forest forged with fire. The trees, namely Fire Trees, growing there have the special property of absorbing fire mana and using them as nutrients to grow, ultimately bing fiery in nature. After growing enough, the leaves of those Fire Trees start burning themselves, making the whole tree turn into a Fire Tree.


    The trees which haven''t fully grown also start burning, however instead of adapting naturally to it, they die out much faster, with only a few exceptions which barely survive. The fire then gradually spreads all over the forest, burning most of it, whichter once again sprouts trees growing from the dead remains of the burnt out ones.


    The trees, which started burning on their own,ter develop a white me and are called Elder Trees. Those trees are quite a bountiful material and each of their parts sells for quite a high price. Those trees do not harm their own kin and the other Fire Trees grown around them actually benefit as they growparatively faster.


    Over the course of a millennium, repetition of this cycle has actually created a forest full of Elder Fire Trees, that are now converting the nearby trees of other species into their own. While it is also said that the centre of the HellFire Forest contains the very first Elder Tree and it is fairly different from the others.


    How is it different? Nobody knows. Also, the monsters only exist in the outer HellFire Forest with little to no monsters within the Elder Forest. Though the monsters outside the Elder forest aren''t really that easy to beat, too. In total, 5 types of monsters are found there, with each having their own specialty.


    The Fire Wolves, the ck Hawks, The Basilisks, The Red Giants and the me Minatours are the ones who are found there in the outer Hellfire Forest.


    Each monster has its own den and pack, with about 500 to 700 monsters of each variety. There is a hierarchy among each type, with the King sitting at the top, rounding it to 5 Kings ruling the surroundings of Elder Fire Forest.


    Those 5 Kings have their own area division and each area is said to have intelligence equal to a human. Though, the level of their power is still unknown, which is expected to be at least SSS+ ording to the System''s power structure.


    While that is all true, it doesn''t mean that people don''t venture into the forest. People with greed or ambition exist everywhere. There are adventurers strong enough to challenge the monsters of the outer forest and they venture into the forest in search of something from time to time. Needless to say, they have skills to back up their power as well.


    The best element to venture into the forest is Light, Life and Fire rted magic while also having the ability to defend yourself against the fire attacks. Needless to say again, that you need at least an ability or artefact to protect yourself from the fiery surroundings too.


    Water magic or anything rted to that is totally not allowed as it will not only make you a target of the forest but also give up your location to all the beings present within the forestbelling you as dangerous.


    I then looked through other things that the forest had to offer and a few things did excite me, before we finally reached the entry point of the HellFire Forest and it was quite¡­ beautiful, to say the least.


    "We need a porter of at least the level of High Guardian!! A STRONG PORTER PLEASE!! IS THERE ANYONE HERE WILLING TO JOIN US"


    "TWO HEALERS PLEASE!!"


    "WE NEED A PERSON WITH SCOUTING ABILITY!!"


    I saw multiple people shouting while about 50 to 60 people were selling the things that they got from inside the forest. There was a huge crowd trying to buy the stuff too, while there were adventurers who seemed to be getting ready for departure, too.


    ''Going alone is the best choice¡­ but I wonder if I could join a party that I can manipte¡­'' I thought as I looked around and not too far from us, I found a party of three. Three girls, to be honest, sitting as they sipped water and sobbing as they had a really scared and terrified expression on their faces. There were a couple of people who seemed to beforting them.


    A thought suddenly came into my mind as I moved towards them and Ariel and Dion followed behind me towards them.


    "It is okay, Iliara. This happens to the best of us¡­ I know re is-" a man was trying tofort one of the girls whose name seems to be Iliara but before he could say anything more¡­


    "re is not dead!! I will go in again. All I need is a new team and we will save re from those filthy minatours," spoke Iliara with a re as she looked at that man. That man, looking at that re, took a step back as he gulped, holding his crotch.


    ''That''s quite the control she got over her power,'' I thought as I looked at her crimson face. She had ck hair and ck eyes, with hair reaching her torso while she wielded a spear and from the looks of her strong build, she looked like she possessed some powerful skills of spearmanship.


    "HA! What are you?!! Are you crazy?! re is Dead! Nobody whom the minatour has taken evere back from that forest!! They are taken directly to the Minatour King¡­ even if she is alive now, do you think anyone would be willing to join your party now?" Spoke that man as he looked at Iliara. The other two girls were still crying as they nced at the surroundings.


    Looking at their expectant gazes, everyone turned their head away before slowly starting to disperse. Not even momentster, everyone had already left to do their own work, and I sighed as I moved towards the three of them.


    "I can help you three, but in return I want something from that forest," I spoke as I reached them. Nobody is easier to manipte than someone who has lost someone and is desperate to save them.


    "You¡­ are you mocking us?" asked Iliara as she looked at me, but before she could say anything more, the other girl stopped her from speaking anything and looked at us.


    "Hey¡­ this is Iliara and I am Iliana. We are sisters and this is Vatra. She is the sister of re, the girl in question. As you can see, we are already quite low on our luck, so can you please spare us¡­ we can''t handle any more¡­ humiliation¡­" spoke Iliana, trying to make as less of a mess as she can.


    Iliana looks the same as Iliara, except she seemed younger than Iliara. Iliara, if I had to guess, was about 25 to 30 years in age while Iliana looked about 20 years in age. They had an average height of about 5 feet 8 inches, with a muscr build.


    Vatra, on the other hand, had bluish purple hair with a pure white face. She looked about 16 years old and was the most timid of all. Her hair covered most of her head so her eyes weren''t visible, and she was holding a small wand in her hand. I saw her head filled with bruises left and right, wherever visible.


    I, instead of talking to Iliana, moved towards Vatra as I stood in front of her. She looked at me, lifting her head up and I saw her beautiful red gem like eyes before I slowly touched her head and spoke,


    "Light Magic: Healer''s Pity," and then¡­ her wounds began healing at a rapid pace, making her and the sisters look at me with a dumbfounded expression. The most shocked was Vatra herself as she kept gazing at me continuously. I could only chuckle a little at her reaction as I then healed her fully before taking a step back.


    Everyone who was looking at me had a shocked expression as they realised what I had done right now¡­ though I kept looking at Vatra only before I spoke with a humble smile on my face.


    "My name is Zero. A Light element user, who specialises inbat, healing, and scouting. I am in dire need of something in that forest so¡­ How about we make a deal, Miss Vatra?"

 Chapter 116 Hellfire Forest#2

    [Author''s note: A little rushed chap]


    "My name is Zero. A Light element user, who specialises inbat, healing, and scouting. I am in dire need of something found only in that forest so¡­ How about we make a deal, Miss Vatra?" I ask with a humble smile on my face.


    She looks deep into my eyes with a dumbfounded expression before she speaks,"Am I¡­ dreaming? A Light user¡­ is willing to help me out?" before she looks at her friends who had the same expression as her. Even people looking from far ahead kept peeking at me with a surprised expression.


    "Help you? Haha! I think you are mistaken. I am just here to achieve my own goal. I just thought making a deal with you will ease my travels, so I came forward to make a deal here. So let me ask this again, Miss Vatra. Would you be interested in making a deal?" I spoke with the same humble expression, this time with a tinge of dominance in it.


    Vatra kept looking at me for a few moments before answering,"ye-" though before she couldplete her sentence, Iliara interfered,"What is it that you want?"


    I looked at Iliara and then sighed before speaking,"I want you to guide me to the centre of the HellFire forest. Or at least show me the way," and they looked at me with a deep analysing gaze.


    The surrounding people started murmuring as they kept looking at me. I could more or less make out what they were talking about. Something along the lines of who I am and if anyone knows about me.


    "Okay, we have a deal. When should we leave?" Iliara asked as she looked at me and I made a slight nod before speaking,"if it does not bother you then can we leave immediately?"


    She nods at me before speaking,"given our circumstance, I would prefer to heal and regain our strength first. Healing can be done if you help us out, as for strength I think we don''t really have time for that right now. So¡­ I guess yeah.. Yeah we can leave immediately."


    I look at her tired smile before she stands up and picks up the bag ced beside her. While Iliana and Vatra also stand up and bow at me before moving towards the forest. Iliara turns at me as she keeps walking,


    "I can exin everything you want to know on the way¡­ for now can you heal us on the way too?"


    ''Not wasting any moment whatsoever, huh?'' I thought as I moved behind her, Dion and Ariel too followed them along with me. Not long after we had ventured quite a bit into the forest, I had already healed them back to normal and while I was doing so; we sensed someone following us, which made us stop and look behind.


    An old man with a long white beard and a silver sword was walking towards us. He had a white robe covering his body with his eyes silverish blue in colour gazing deep into mine. Before I could utter anything he spoke first,


    "Can I join your noble cause?"


    He had a cheeky smile on his face and I understood that he wanted to join us in venturing into the forest.


    "Yetris?" Iliara spoke as she gaped at that old man and I looked at her as I asked,"Acquaintance?" and she shakes her head signaling no before speaking,


    "He is one of the strongest adventurers. What do you want Yetris?"


    Yetris smiled before looking at me as he spoke,"I just want something from the Elder me Forest." and I looked at him before asking,"You are putting that much of a risk on someone whom you don''t even know properly?"


    Yetris'' smile deepened as he spoke,"I know a strong man when I see one. And you Mr. Zero aren''t ordinary by any means. My instincts are telling me that if I miss this chance, I probably won''t get any better chance than this in my entire life."


    ''Quite the instinct he got there,'' I thought as I sighed before speaking,"Just don''t do anything that might get you killed," and he gazed at me with a serious expression at which I simply smirked and he nodded before I spoke to Iliara,


    "Guess there is one more to us now."


    She looked at me before looking at Ariel and Dion as she said,"I did not notice them before, but are they with you?" and I nod at her, at which Iliara looks at them strangely before sighing and nodding at herself and then looking at me as she speaks,


    "Whatever. Let''s hurry now."


    Then she starts running immediately without waiting for us. The other two also start running and we too follow immediately. As we were running, I helped Dion and Ariel to maintain their strength and stamina, from time to time using Life magic. Though I did skillfully hide it from the sisters. Still, Yetris managed to see through me and was really surprised to say the least.


    However, he did not speak anything and just kept quiet on the fact that I could use Life magic too, or perhaps even more than that I think I saw him smiling a little as he pondered over something.


    ''It''s kinda creepy¡­ Man, did I make a mistake by letting him join us? I thought getting someone powerful to use for once will be a good thing¡­ wonder how things would turn outter on,'' I thought as I contemted my decision but since I had already made one I think there is little I can do about it.


    From that point onwards, we kept on running and running. Yetris tried to talk to me about where I was from or where I was going to but all in all, I dodged his every question by making up some sort of bullshit which he honestly didn''t buy at all.


    ''Maybe I should work on my bullshitting skill,'' I thought because really, all my lies are easily seen through¡­ or maybe I am not trying hard enough honestly.


    When he realised that he couldn''t see through me at all, he tried to talk to Dion and Ariel but honestly; they kept their mouths shut the whole time without speaking any word at all.


    As for Yetris himself, I did not get to know about him either¡­ or rather I did not try to find out about him, honestly. Though if there is one thing that I did find about him was¡­


    ''He f*cking talks too much,'' I cursed inside with an annoyed expression as I kept looking forward. Though not long after we started engaging with monsters on our way. While detouring around the monsters to reach the destination faster was the n ording to the sisters but with Yetris easily cutting down those monsters with his dual swords, we moved even faster.


    As we ventured deeper and deeper, the power of the monsters, the temperature of the forest, the eerines of the location was increasing step by step. Though, it was still under my control, as I could still keep using Life and Light magic together for as long as I wanted, this much heat wasn''t much for me.


    However, after a certain mark, we reached a point where fighting against the monster became difficult even with the help of Yetris. Every time we stopped to fight, it would take about 5 to 10 minutes to defeat the minotaurs and that too increased wave by wave and not long after, I even had to engage intobat and show some of my cards.


    Though it didn''t really sit well with the sisters that I was hiding my powers. They red at me and Iliara was even about to fight with me saying that if I had used my power before, we could have saved so much time.


    "My power is limited and takes time to recharge," I answered her and she looked at me with a slightly dumbfounded gaze before an embarrassed expression came on her face as she apologised for herck of understanding.


    I kinda felt bad for her but I was not going to correct her so it was fine. We then kept moving deeper and deeper into the forest, finally reaching a spot where it looked like we were at a stalemate. To be honest, it wasn''t a stalemate since I haven''t shown myplete powers though it wasn''t just me¡­ Yetris too hadn''t shown hisplete power as well.


    In fact, he kept his powers hidden till the very end and I had to trick him into revealing his cards in front of everyone which he kinda did¡­ and it was a dual sword skill using white fire magic which is¡­ not something I had seen before.


    ''It''s shy¡­'' is the only remark I could make. Though something happened right after it, which made me question whether I was looking at the real thing or was it all an illusion which I was witnessing?

 Chapter 117 Hellfire Forest#3

    I wasn''t sure before, but now that I understand what is going on here, I couldn''t be more sure than this.


    It was he who was constantly keeping an eye on me when we were near the Hellfire Forest''s entrance. At first I thought it was just the people''s gazes, but now that all those people aren''t here, this feeling of being watched still remains, I am sure that it was him all along.


    ''He was analysing me with an ability, or maybe he already did and now he was double checking to make sure he saw right?'' I thought as I looked at him fighting those monsters while also keeping his senses focused on me at the same time.


    The other thing I finally noticed is that when we were fighting the monsters, when he was trying to talk to me, when he was trying to talk to Dion and Ariel, every time, every single move of his was calcted.


    ''But exactly why?'' I questioned again as I kept watching him from a distance.


    Guys like them¡­ Yetris, that is. They don''t make mistakes¡­ They don''t just let things go with the wind. I know it because I have known people like him before, I have worked with people like him before, I even have been that person as well many times in my life.


    ''I know that kind of face way too well,'' I thought as I saw him making an agitated expression as he revealed his trump cards in front of me.


    Yetris is¡­ well, it would be better to start from the basics rather than jumping directly to the main point.


    So, there are many types of people in this world. Among all of them, there are certain ones who are¡­ challenged by fate¡­ much more than the others.


    In a good way? That depends upon the direction  they take their life in. Forget about being special, they evenck the power which ordinary people have, making them really pathetic¡­ enough to be looked down upon.


    While a huge number among them fall and die as nobody, some defy their fate with skill, hard work and a little bit of luck. They rise up in power and be strong without relying on any power other than themselves.


    I too was one of them, someone whocked power and rose up by luck, skill and a whole lot of hard work. It was tough, but considering my situation right now, I would say it was worth it.


    Yetris, a while ago, he acted confident about how everything was going on, now he didn''t look like he was sure if it was going ordingly. I saw him getting anxious with every move he was making.


    ''Sigh¡­ the fact I can easily read the whole situation¡­ is actually frustrating¡­ '' I thought as I saw him struggling slightly against those monsters.


    ''He came here to ask for my help. That is his main purpose ining here, isn''t it?'' I sighed as I looked at him, getting agitated more and more.


    "Life Magic: Healer of Hidden wounds," I spoke as I pointed my finger at him and then a ray of light fell on him, recharging his strength at a rapid rate, making him look at me with a slightly relieved smile and I sighed again as I looked at him killing all the monsters without holding back.


    ''It''s shy,'' I thought as I looked at him. I wonder if it was an illusion or reality, but I felt like he was trying to show off in front of me or perhaps trying to win me over? I feel like I am dealing with a child here¡­


    ''Or everything I am thinking could be perhaps just a mere assumption? Well, only one way to find out,'' I thought as I moved forward towards him and then reaching closer to him I said,"Once this is over, let''s have a proper talk." He looked at me with a slight smile before nodding at me.


    ''Yup, I am more or less certain now that he possesses a unique ability that allows him to either partially or perhapspletely see through me¡­''


    Well, not like I hadn''t thought of a scenario of meeting someone who can see through me, but to think and to see it happening are twopletely different things.


    I then sighed before looking at Iliara and Iliana, narrowing their gaze at me without speaking. I couldn''t read what they were thinking¡­ Neither does their thought-process really interest me, honestly.


    "Looks like we are almost there," I spoke as I looked at the distance where a massive settlement was visible not too far from us.


    Hearing my words, everyone nodded before Vatra spoke,"will it be okay to carry them with us?" as she pointed at Dion and Ariel, and I nodded in return before speaking,"It''s fine. They are stronger than they look, plus we only need to sneak in, take your sister out, and then run away from here, don''t we?"


    They kept looking at me for a few moments before nodding. However, before we could make a move, someone came walking toward us.


    There were a dozen minotaurs following behind two minotaurs and looking at the way they were walking towards us, they were probably patrolling the surroundings.


    The leading two minotaurs look a little bit different in appearance from the other minotaurs. One of them looked muchrger than the others, he wielded two twin axes and had a dominating aura, as if he could kill by merely looking at you.


    ''He is strong¡­ probably peak SS level,'' I thought as I looked at that minotaur before looking at the other minotaur who was theplete opposite of the huge monster. It was a female minotaur wearing a white dress and had the same pink coloured hair as that of Vatra and the build suggested something that I wished to be rather not true.


    "re?!!!" Vatra shouted as soon as her eyes fell at that female minotaur, gathering the attention of the other monster as well. I saw Vatra dashing towards the female minotaur with tears and fury in her eyes. She used her wand to chant a specific magic sequence, gathering the poisonous energy around us and firing it at all those monsters around them.


    Though, before she could reach the female minotaur, the strong male minotaur kicked Vatra back with a small smile as he looked at Vatra before observing the female minotaur.


    His smile widened before he spoke,"This is interesting."


    Hearing him speak, sent a chill down everyone''s spine¡­ except me cause¡­ I kind of expected that. His gaze never left Vatra as he continued speaking.


    "I thought teaching our new member to hunt would be a good decision to get her ustomed to us but¡­ to think it would be this interesting. I guess it is my lucky day."


    This statement made it clear to us a lot of things. re was gone, and she has most probably been forced to transform into a monster or something.


    ''Is that even possible? Guess I could research a few things here,'' I thought as I looked at that monster intently.


    "Young one, kill that girl and you will pass the test. I will make sure nobody else interferes," the minotaur spoke as he took out his twin de and jumped before reaching behind Vatra, making her scared shitless for a moment.


    "I won''t interfere with this sacred hunt. If you lose, you may get another chance, but that is all, so give it everything you got. Also, don''t worry about dying, even if you are at your worst, I will bring you back from your deathbed and get you back in tiptop condition," spoke that monster, setting the rules of their match.


    I saw the sisters'' reaction and surprisingly they weren''t scared¡­ They were really furious and determined. As for Dion and Ariel, they looked at me, wondering what to do next. Maybe their trust in my powers is really strong¡­ probably.


    As for Yetris¡­ he kept observing me without really doing anything. ''Bet he thinks that he can just run away if things go awry,'' I thought with a smile on my face.


    Though¡­ that smile kind of gave a different impression to the others. Ariel and Dion turned rxed while Yetris'' face suddenly brightened with expectation.


    The sisters too looked at me and they were a little bit confused at this situation while the minotaur just looked at me curiously before speaking,"have you lost it, human?"


    I then looked at Vatra before pondering something and then speaking,"What you do with your sister, is up to you. Since we have more or less a deal with each other, I guess I can give you a hand."


    Hearing my sentence, that minotaur looked at me a bit furiously. Looked like my words hurt his pride as an ugly expression formed on his face before he spoke,"Human¡­ looks like you don''t understand the state you are in right now. Do you even have any idea in front of whom you are standing?"


    Iliara and Iliana looked at me with confusion and tension in their eyes. They kept their narrowed eyes shifting between me and that minotaur.


    I then finally take out my scythe as I fill it with Light Magic as I move towards the minatour before pondering whatbination of magic I should use in this situation. Personally, I wanted it all to end it all as fast as possible. So maybe¡­ using Life Magic, along with Dark Magic, would be fine.


    If I use Blood Sacrifice and a little bit of Charm Magic, with fire absorption magic to enhance myself, I should be able to boost myself in this environment while also putting the guy at a disadvantage.


    For defence, I can use Light Magic to continuously heal myself at a rapid rate and also add some Life Magic to enhance the Light Magic. While I could also add my artefact to create illusions, that would give me an upper hand here.


    For attack, Leranati should be able to do the work, adding Dark Magic would overdo it, but¡­ let''s just add it for precaution''s sake.


    Finally speed and perception can be enhanced by using fire magic and the environment will favour it.


    "Vatra, you have 5 minutes to decide. After that we are leaving this ce," I spoke as I got closer and closer towards the superior minotaur, while also charging myself up furthermore, making the three girls look at me wide eyed. They couldn''t believe the sudden increase in my power out of the blue, while the superior minotaur too was surprised to say the least.


    Dion and Ariel smiled at me while Yetris was grinning. I then looked at Vatra again as I spoke.


    "You have 5 mins. Yetris, Iliara and Iliana, take care of Ariel and Dion, while also making sure to clean up the rest of the garbage."


    Hearing my words, the superior minotaur looked at me with a narrowed dark gaze and I simply smiled at him as I pointed my scythe towards him with my eyes turning whitish red as I speak,


    "Make sure tost long enough to entertain me."

 Chapter 118 Hellfire Forest#4

    -Dash!!


    I jump at him as fast as I can, making him look at me with a strange expression, before he easily dodges my attack. I then smiled before suddenly speeding up my hand movements and making a swing that almost nicked his neck¡­ he dodged it yet again though with little effort.


    I kind of grinned at him, making him narrow his eyes at me, though before he realised¡­ An invisible scythe almost shed his neck¡­ before he jumped sideways again to deflect, this time with a panicked expression.


    My illusion, at which previously people were focusing at, vanished and the real me, which almost shed that minotaur''s neck, came out of hiding making everyone look at me, with a bbergasted expression.


    The minotaur examined his neck and found it to be slightly scratched which kind of made him look at me with all seriousness before he spoke,"You are strong¡­ despite not being powerful at all¡­ you are strong. What is your name, weak human? I shall at least know the name of the one who has the ability to surprise me."


    He raised one of his dual axes at me, as if challenging me to a serious official duel and I simply smiled before speaking,"You are not worthy of knowing it," before my expression turned a bit more serious.


    He looked at me with a prideful expression and spoke in a loud voice,"that worthless pride of yours¡­ It will be worthwhile to crush it into pieces," before he bent a little forward and then dashed at me with all his might.


    ''Fast,'' I thought as I created another illusion that jumped in the opposite direction than I did, making him go a little bit away from me. He dashed through my illusion, tearing it into pieces, and I looked at him from a distance before enhancing my leg muscles and jumping the highest I was capable of.


    -Boom!


    Meanwhile, I created another illusion to jump at him, so it masks the explosion caused due to my jump, with which I was propelled high enough to look around and scan for the white trees and true enough, a massive white forest was visible from up this high¡­ though¡­ It was quite far away from our current location.


    I also scanned around for any iing danger, which I surprisingly did not find. The minotaur settlement wasn''t that big, with about a hundred or two minotaurs roaming in it, which made me believe that it wasn''t the main settlement but an outer settlement or something, with the main one hidden within the forest somewhere.


    ''Then doesn''t that mean this SS ss minotaur isn''t really strong among their forces? Or did we get ''lucky'' to encounter such a monster here? Well¡­ let''s hope that it is thetter and prepare as if it is the former,'' I thought as my eyebrows furrowed and I pondered before concentrating back on the fight.


    The minotaur has once again torn apart my illusion, and now he was searching for me. Observing his expression¡­ yeah, he was ticked off with my little y of hide and seek, so let''s end this, I suppose.


    I thought as I began descending faster and faster. However, this time, instead of hiding my presence, I increased my power enough to make everyone''s gazes shift towards me. I focused all my power on the scythe as I kept descending rapidly, which made the minotaur look at me with a slightly panicked expression as he began charging up his defence to brace for the impact.


    I smiled at him, trying his best, before I finally reached¡­


    -Boooom!!!!!!!


    -sh!!!!!


    Two loud noises ovepped each other and then what was left there was a half exhausted me, standing on my feet in a huge crater and the minotaur smiling at me with a nasty expression as if he had won.


    Did my attack fail to reach him¡­ or was he strong enough to hold up against my attack? Well.. the answer is none. The attack did connect¡­ however, to an illusion of that Minatour and not the real one¡­


    "Not fair," I spoke in a slightly annoyed voice, because illusion was one of my strong points too¡­ a little. Hearing my voice, that minotaur watched me as if he was trying to see through me.


    "You.. don''t look scared," he spoke, finally letting out his thoughts, and I sighed before my eyes scanned him as I analysed his current status.


    ''Still strong¡­ he might have used up about 5 percent of his powers only. Do I need to reveal more of my cards here?'' I thought before looking at his body again and concocted another n.


    ''Hmmm¡­ let''s try something unorthodox,'' I thought before I let that idea go¡­ cause it might create more trouble than I can handle right now. Maybe if we stumble upon someone too strong¡­ then I will use it¡­ for now, let''s not go too much off track here.


    "Okay¡­ let''s start round 2 then," I thought before I stopped hiding my powers and openly healing myself with Life Magic. If earlier I was concentrating on using all the magic at once, now I am using one at a time.


    While it may seem detrimental, it is actually beneficial in many ways. It will let me focus on solely one magic at a time, increasing its efficiency by many folds and also I won''t need to worry about bncing the elements, because two elements working together, even if they arepatible with each other, isn''t a good thing.


    If I use ice and water together, ice will try to overtake the water element while water will go in defensive mode, trying to protect itself from converting. Ice''s power will be more attack oriented and water''s will be defence oriented. Kind of rough to manage both of them at once, given how the scale of bnce shifts from ce to ce and position to position.


    The reason I still used multiple magic at once despite it being less effective than the other way around was because of training. Call me overconfident, but that is the real reason why I use a less efficient power always despite things going awry at times.


    ''Kinda helps me increase my control, efficacy and effect of more than one element at once,'''' I thought before I fully recovered myself¡­. Though in the meantime the minatour, too, got his powers back to full.


    I then changed my powers from Light to Dark, to which I was more ustomed to and it spread all over my body before covering the scythe as well. I then looked deeply at him, analysing with a serious gaze¡­


    "Shadow Style: Harvester of Night," I muttered before changing my scythe wielding technique from a freestyle to a definite and refined one.


    -Dash


    Reaching almost close to him, I sh him once¡­ twice¡­ thrice¡­


    -nk!!!


    Dodging the first two attacks, he parried my third attack with great skill of his own. I looked at him with a prideful look before retracting my steps and then regaining my momentum. He looked at me with an astonished expression, but before he could think anything further, I once again charged at him.


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    I was fast¡­ faster than before. He was fast too¡­ but he was on the defensive now. Using Dark magic¡­


    Using Dark magic has three benefits in totalpared to other elements.


    One is that you can gain much more enhanced power than any other element.


    Two is that you can use it to overpower all other elements at once, no matter which one is against you.


    Three is that you can use it to perform almost all the skills except those limited to Light magic.


    The cons, however, aren''t really something to scoff at either.


    Your body will deteriorate faster and faster, the more you use it. So using healing magic before or after you use Dark magic is rmended, that is, if you don''t want to lose a limb or two. The detrimental effects will be there nheless, just that the healing magic will prevent the chances ofplete deterioration of your body.


    The other thing bad about Dark magic is its violent nature. In other words, it is difficult to control¡­ if you depend on it too much, it will start consuming you, consequently making you go berserk.


    ''And that is why I need to finish it as fast as I can,'' I thought before charging at him as fast as I could while my power kept increasing every moment.


    Though that wasn''t normal either¡­ generally the power increase is¡­ slower than this. About 3 times slower honestly, but looks like¡­ the dark mana in this ce is much more concentrated than the other ces¡­ and the spirit mana being more than normal¡­. much much more.


    Yeah¡­ I was using spirit mana rather than the normal mana which I generally use¡­ cause well.. I can''t use that mana in this situation for two reasons.


    One is that I don''t have enough power in my body to utilize mana enough for this challenging fight. The other is that the normal mana here is too thin, and also the presence of mana eating parasites, making it even weaker.


    ''Never been more d that I can use spirit magic,'' I thought as I increased my pace more and more¡­ getting more crafty with my attacks. The minotaur was panicking with each move I was making. The speed of his parrying was increasing, but his bnce was weakening.


    I wasn''t winning this, but he wasn''t either. Though looking at how things are going¡­ I should be able to end this in about another minute or so.


    ''But what if he tries to escape during that time? It will be difficult to keep my mana in check while also simultaneously trying to kill him, when he will be utilising all his powers to run away,'' I thought as I looked at his agitated face before he kicked the ground creating a wave that pushed me away.


    ''Is he escaping?!'' I thought with a slight panic on my face¡­ but he was still standing there firmly before he roared loudly and red at me with fury as he shouted,


    "[Blessing of the Fire: Berserker]"

 Chapter 119 Hellfire Forest#5

    "[Blessing of the Fire: Berserker]" he shouted as he watched me with a furious re with his power exploding progressively. The fire mana around the area began swirling towards him and concentrating over and around his body.


    Before I could react, I saw res rising all around him, as if the wind itself was on fire around him while his eyes were deep orangish red, along with his hair that had turned charcoal ck with red endings down the neck.


    His body developed strange marks all over it, running from the neck down his back to his arms and legs, making him look even more ferocious than before while the axes he was holding in both hands first began melting before they too started burning fiercely.


    Meanwhile, my dark energy was rising at a rapid rate too. It won''t be long before I would start losing control over my dark powers¡­


    ''What should I do? Cancel this surge of Dark Magic and switch to another power with another card exposed or just continue like this and defeat him before I lose control?'' I pondered over it while looking at his power surging to its peak from the previous SS level to now SSS level.


    Though¡­ I wonder if I could handle this even with the best of my abilities¡­


    ''Just keep going.''


    I then heard a voice¡­ it was a familiar voice¡­ I had heard it so many times that I can never forget it¡­ and I was d I got to hear her voice once again¡­


    ''Hygeia,'' I thought before looking at that minotaur and then¡­


    -BOOM!!!!


    I dash right at him while creating another illusion right behind me before hiding my original self. He looked at me with fury and began charging as well before reaching almost closer to me and then shing me with his dual axes from both sides.


    I jumped high and my illusion slid down, though, rather than going for my illusion, his eyes darted in my direction and then made an air sh, creating a fire wave advancing towards me. I used Dark magic to create a barrier which cut¡­ huh?... Ah!... I am losing control¡­ I saw that I overused the power and attacked the fire wave instead with a powerful st. The dark energy consumed the power before reaching the minotaur. Though he dodged by jumping sideways before jumping towards me.


    -nk


    I used my scythe to block his attack, but fell down on the ground from the impact of that attack. Though, I immediately stood back up and saw himing at me once again, at which I narrowed my eyes and then prepared a counterattack.


    -nk


    Our attacks hit again and this time, we both cancelled each other''s attacks¡­ immediately gaining back the momentum and once again¡­


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    -nk


    It was a rapid battle that required both high skill and power. As the fight continued, I couldn''t help but look at that minotaur still going at it as if he had infinite power supply. I think¡­ I misjudged him and his power.


    ''I thought going berserk might make him susceptible to mistakes¡­ however¡­ however¡­ he is improving his skills¡­. at a rapid rate too¡­ is it instinctively? Scary!'' I thought as I kept countering his attacks while trying to find an opening in his attacks.


    I don''t know how long we have been going on for¡­ but this was getting exhausting for me. Right now, I couldn''t help but¡­gulp¡­ but look at him, still going at it without even breaking a sweat.


    ''Is this an SSS ss? Am I still weak, despite having so many enhancements?'' I thought with slight irritation.


    Not gonna lie, I can still defeat him¡­ but that would require me to go all out and that is something I don''t want to show to the others now. Also the fact that I had to use this much power this early makes me really wonder what I would do if someone much stronger than himes in front.


    ''I need to recalcte my steps here¡­'' I thought as I kept going on and on, not long after I finally noticed a decline in his power with every other move he was making¡­ I saw him going through a sudden change¡­ his expression was bing normal once again, while his body seemed to be getting weaker with time too¡­


    ''Does his ability give him power over a limited time and have side effects after the time limit is over?'' I thought as I saw him losing the battle. I saw him gradually gaining back his expressions and emotions. He looked at me¡­ with a smile? What? I almost lost my control before I immediately gained back my momentum.


    "Human¡­ You are really strong. Sorry for misjudging you, can I at least know the name of the person who is going to kill me?" he spoke, making me open my eyes wide and staring at him as I wondered what exactly¡­ What exactly was he thinking right now?


    "Zero¡­ Reaper¡­ that is what¡­ they call me," I subconsciously muttered, making him look at me with a bittersweet smile before he chuckled and spoke,


    "Fitting name for someone who is both at the same time-"


    And I cut his head without even realising¡­ I was¡­ no, I had already lost control of my powers. My powers had consumed me and now I was butchering the already dead minotaur¡­


    ''What¡­ What was his name?'' I thought for a moment before wondering¡­ if he was really an enemy¡­ maybe he was¡­ maybe he was not. In the end, he stood against me¡­ we fought¡­ and I won.


    ''But why do I feel so¡­ odd about this victory?'' I thought as I saw my Dark Magic expanding increasingly before Hygeia activated the green tattoo and the Dark Magic began dispersing from my body¡­


    It took a whole minute before the Dark Magic hadpletely dissipated, leaving a destroyedndscape in front of me. I still had my emotions in control and I was still fine¡­ looks like Hygeia saved me here a lot. I then looked around and found that the area waspletely destroyed with nothing really existing within 1000 metres of me. It was a disaster¡­


    I then looked at myself with my lower clothes almost burnt while my upper clothing waspletely gone. It took me a few moments to regain my proper emotions as I got back to my previous nonchnt expression.


    In the end, I even questioned¡­. What did I even fight for?


    I turned around to see the others gaping at me with a nk expression before I began walking towards them. Looking at me walking towards them, each of them, including Dion and Ariel, took a step back from me with an extremely terrified expression on their faces. They were looking at me as if I were more dangerous than all the monsters around them¡­ which was true in a way, to be honest.


    I just walked closer to them and looked at Vatra, who still hadn''t killed her minotaur sister¡­ heck, she didn''t even start the fight.


    ''Don''t tell me all of them have been watching my fight from start to end, without doing anything at all?'' I thought, with aplicated expression forming on my face.


    Analysing the expression of the people and the minotaurs in front of me¡­ I think that is exactly what happened.


    "Hmmmm¡­ something interests me actually¡­" I looked at those minotaurs and they all dropped to their knees as if they had lost their will to live. They looked at me as if I were a freak or something¡­


    I moved toward them slowly, making everyone look at me before gulping silently. I could be wrong, but my party members were probably feeling pity for these minotaurs right now. I looked at the minotaurs and they looked at me.


    "Is there anyone among you who can talk?" I asked as I looked down at them and they looked at each other before one of them turned and looked in the direction of the settlement. I thought about it a little before speaking,


    "Take me to him¡­ I think I can let you guys live if I can get what I want."


    They looked at me with aplicated expression. However, I red at them a little, which made them hurriedly move towards the settlement, and I began following them too slowly.


    Though before I began following them, I turned to everyone else present there. Ariel, Dion, Illiana, Illiara, Vatra, Yetris and the minotaur sister re, one by one, I looked at everyone present there.


    "You guys areing too, right?" I spoke with a slightly dominating tone, and they nodded hurriedly before moving behind me.


    ''While this development is unexpected, I wonder if I could find a method to harness monster powers¡­ that would be really interesting honestly,'' I thought as I smiled a little as I walked towards the settlement, where I saw an old-looking minotaur waiting with the other minotaurs.


    ''Well, let''s see if I can strike a deal with him,'' I thought as I walked towards him.

 Chapter 120 Hellfire Forest#6 Minotaur Settlement

    "What do you want from us, human?" the old minotaur looked at me with visible fury in his eyes. I looked behind him, into the settlement, and found out there were a few nonbat oriented minotaurs peaking at us from afar.


    ''Perhaps¡­ It is simr to how Elves are. Despite them being monsters, they had evolved enough to be able to be a species with intelligence and self consciousness,'' I thought before pondering a little and then speaking,"what was his name?"


    My question made everyone look at me with a puzzled expression. Illiara and the sisters were just looking at me without doing anything, while Yetris, Dion and Ariel seems like they were wondering what I was trying to do.


    "What?" The old minotaur, confused at my question, looked at me and I cleared his confusion,"he was strong. I enjoyed the fight¡­ at the very least, I wanted to know the name of the one I fought and killed in such a thrilling battle."


    My expression was prideful along with a smile on my face matching the words which I said and the old minotaur just kept looking at me for the next few moments before finally speaking.


    "Lrrise. That was the name of our chief."


    ''Chief, huh?'' I thought as I kept observing the scene around me.


    "Can I ask you something?" I spoke as I turned back to that old minotaur who looked at me with a confused expression again before nodding at me and I questioned just to sate my curiosity, as,


    "I heard that monsters work on instincts and are ferocious¡­ but that doesn''t seem to be the case here¡­ Can you tell me exactly what is going on here? It kind of interests me¡­ also that¡­ what is that and how it happened too¡­ I want to know it," I spoke as I pointed at re without hiding my curiousity.


    The old man looked at me with an emotionless gaze before speaking,"what will you do with that knowledge?"


    ''The fact that he knows he can die at any moment, yet he dares to ask me that question¡­ this must be something really important to them,'' I thought before speaking,


    "I want to see if I can use that knowledge for my own gain."


    At this point, I honestly felt no need to hide my feelings or thoughts here. It is either I get it or I don''t get it, either of which is fine I guess because even though I am interested in the research, it isn''t really that important.


    "And what do you want to gain?" he asked again and I kind of pondered hard at that question¡­ it was a really tough question but after I reached an answer I thought was the most appropriate, I answered,


    "To fulfil a promise, to gain power to protect those who need to be protected and to kill those who need to be killed."


    At my words, that minotaur narrowed his eyes at me before sighing as he spoke,"So you are a man on a journey, huh? I guess it was our bad fate to cross paths with you¡­ Young Human, can I ask you another question?"


    His words turned humble as he no longer red at me or looked at me with a threatening gaze. Perhaps he understood the situation and now is acting ordingly? Who knows¡­


    "Sure, go ahead," I spoke nodding at him wondering what he wanted to ask about and he simply asked,


    "What are your intentions towards this settlement?"


    ''Hmmm¡­ he did not ask about the whole minotaurmunity as a whole but only this particr settlement¡­ are they outcast among minotaurs or something?'' I thought before pondering a little and answering,


    "I want to know the process of how you transition other species into a minotaur and ask you a few questions about minotaurs as a whole. About your settlement, I don''t have any particr feelings, I suppose."


    While I did kill their chief resulting in removing their main pir of power, it was still a tough battle where one had to inevitably die. I am never going to take the responsibility for something I am not really responsible about¡­


    ''Plus, I don''t have time to waste here,'' I nodded at myself as I looked at the sighing face of that old minotaur before looking at the ugly faces of the other minotaurs.


    ''Doesn''t look like they are happy with my way of words,'' I thought before ignoring them and then speaking to the old minotaur again,


    "So, are you going to let us in, or are you not?"


    And he only chuckled a little, speaking,"do we have any other option? Well¡­e in, I suppose. I really wonder what fate has in store for all of us," before moving in as I followed behind him. The others also followed me inside the settlement as they got very close to me within that settlement.


    From the inside, I could now clearly see that the minotaur settlement was really¡­ primitive.


    They had huts over huts for housing and a few watch towers for scouting purposes. There were also barracks and small factories for welding and stuff, and the more I looked at it, the more questions filled up my mind.


    How did they survive with this? What are they trying to do with this¡­ are they really this primitive or is there more to it than it seems? A lot of questions came up, but I pushed them aside for now.


    Soon we reach arge hut at the centre of the settlement. The old minotaur entered that hurt and we followed him in under the gazes of everyone present there. Even though they were scared, they still kept looking at us without turning their heads, even for once.


    Entering the house, I found it to be empty and wide, with just a couple of bookshelves near the walls. I turned at the old minotaur with a confused look and he just simply smiled before speaking,


    "This ce is where we convert the other species into our own. If it is not too much, can I ask for your name, young man?"


    I looked at him before speaking,"just call me Zero," and he nodded as he continued,"Human Zero, would you like to hear a story?"


    I wanted to say that don''t call me Human Zero, cause it was a little bit awkward, but then I realised that it is at least better than Human Reaper, so I kept quiet before speaking,"Keep it brief."


    The old man smiled again before asking,"Do you know why we exist?"


    "The minotaurs?" I asked, a bit confused, but he shook his head before saying,"no¡­ I mean as a living being. Do you know the purpose of the existence of us living, surviving, and dying in this world?"


    I looked at him, wondering what he was trying to get at before I spoke,"I know mine and I guess that is enough," and then looked at him, at which he shakes his head once again as he continued,


    "I am asking the purpose of living beings as a whole. What do you think about it?"


    At these words, I gave it a bit of thought before reaching the conclusion and speaking in a confident manner,"I don''t know. Too much of a bother to think about, really."


    He kept gazing at me before he began pondering about something and when he was done with that; he looked at me again before speaking,


    "There is a rumour among the minotaurs¡­ that there exist beings much much stronger than us outside this world. They are capable of destroying this with mere thoughts and we are merely flies in front of them."


    ''There certainly exist species outside Vermillion but nothing that powerful as the rumours though,'' I thought before listening to him as he continued,


    "One of those beings came down to us minotaurs¡­ or I should say this forest called HellFire forest. He was the reason that the first fire tree appeared. He was the reason why the HellFire forest exists and also the reason the species with the power to use fire survived this ce over the others.


    With his presence, the power of fire increased much¡­ much more with time and 5 species got way stronger than they should be,ter on ruled the outer HellFire forest while that person ruled the Elder Fire Forest."


    "And what does it have to do with the purpose of the living beings?" I ask, a bit confused, and he smiles before speaking,


    "One day the King of Minotaurs met that personage to pay our tributes¡­ and despite being strong, that personage didn''t show any dignity whatsoever. Instead, he told us about the outer ce¡­ he told us how there is a ''survival of the fittest'' world outside this ce and how everyone is trying to reach the top of the world. The weaker ones strive to get stronger and the stronger ones get even more stronger¡­ that is the way of the world until one reaches the top so high that no one can reach them."


    I kept listening to him without speaking anything as he spoke,


    "He said that you have to choose whatever way you can to reach the top, without holding back. Whether it is an underhanded method, or something that is against nature itself¡­ as long as you can get to the top, it doesn''t matter how you do it."


    I just kept looking at him with an expressionless face as he continued,


    "That is the true purpose of all living beings. Don''t you agree Mr. Zero? As someone who is an anomaly among humans, surely you have done many things that shouldn''t be done to get that dark power of yours."


    His smile widened, and finally I saw his real face.


    ''A heretic,'' I thought as I looked at him before speaking,


    "Can I ask you more about that personage? What is his name and what else do you know about him?"


    The old minotaur, a bit confused, looked at me before speaking,"When we asked if he was a God, he just chuckled before saying,''No, I am just a Guardian. Guardian of Fire, Vulcan.'' "

 Chapter 121 Hellfire Forest#7

    There were loopholes in his story¡­ quite a few holes for it to be passable. His story was all over the ce, and so were his words and sentences; incoherent. If I try to make some sense from his words, then the only thing which I get from all that is¡­.


    ''The current Guardian of Fire, Vulcan, is residing in this forest and he is the reason for every change that has happened so far here. In addition to that, all the monsters look up to that Guardian, with their own twisted views, including these minotaurs. Although it was interesting to know that another Guardian is here, I am not really interested in him unless he interferes with my n anyhow¡­ what I want to know is,'' I thought before speaking,


    "Not to sound rude, but can you just tell me the method of how you convert a person into a minotaur?"


    I was initially intrigued to listen to his story, but now all I see is a bunch of nonsense which is only going to deviate to the point where he will try to recruit me or something.


    Looking at him, he didn''t seem really happy about me ignoring him, but still he spoke without changing his demeanor.


    "We ce the unconscious person in the centre of this circle, then we pour blood on the person. For the blood we use three sacrificial minotaurs and another one for its head to be reced immediately with the person who is to be converted," he said gesturing towards the carpet we were standing on.


    He spoke with a smile on his face, as if he was trying to boast about their method before continuing,


    "There is a circle here that helps to hold the minotaur blood and its mana from escaping and concentrate it all at its centre. The unconscious person''s head is reced during the conversion ceremony as swiftly as possible. The rest is just a blessing from the Fire Guardian Vulcan."


    I looked at him without turning back. I could sense the fury emanating from my party members as they looked at that minotaur with disgust. Even I felt like killing that old minotaur, for a moment, as brutally as possible before I calmed myself down cause there were two more things that I needed to know,


    "Can you show me the magic circle?"


    He looked at me and nodded with a bright smile and then removed the carpet from there, revealing a bright red magic circle etched on the floor. I observed it and pretty much as I guessed, I couldn''t understand even one bit of it.


    I then looked at Ariel, wondering if she understood anything, and she looked at me before speaking,"I can make out the letters, but I just know the alphabets and nothing more."


    "Copy it then. We can learn about itter," I spoke, and she looked at me with a scared look before she asked,


    "What are you going¡­" though she stopped in between as her voice got lower and lower and I sighed before speaking,


    "I just want to know the process and see if I can change it ordingly. I am not nning anything heinous, okay? At least trust me that much, idiot."


    Hearing my words, she became a bit calm, however she still was looking at me with doubtful eyes as she gulped a few times while looking at me. I, ignoring her, looked at that minotaur before I asked onest question.


    "How many in this settlement have the same mindset as yours? Do they know about the ritual?"


    And he looked at me with a confused expression as he spoke,"why, of course, they know all about it; and yes they are all the same as both of us. Why did you ask such a simple question?"


    I kept myself quiet before I looked outside where the children, men and women were and walked as I nced at everyone present in the settlement before speaking to the old man,


    "Can you show me proof of their loyalty?"


    I used blood magic to create a small red fire ball at which everyone began staring at me before I clicked my finger¡­


    -Click


    And erasing all the charm magic possibly present in the entire area. I then looked at that minotaur before speaking again,


    "Continue doing whatever you were doing," and he looked at me with aplicated expression as he hesitated before speaking loudly,


    "Friends and family, this young man here is just like us. A being that has obtained powers by simr means rising way above those of his kins and now this being is questioning our loyalty to the great cause. Tell him what do you live for?"


    "We live to be stronger!!


    "Tell him what do you live for?"


    "We live to achieve the highest power."


    "Tell him what you can do to achieve that?"


    "We will do anything as long as we can achieve that!"


    "Can you sacrifice yourself for the cause!!!"


    "We can!!"


    "Can you sacrifice your wife, your parents, even your children for the cause?"


    "We can!!"


    "Can you-


    I then cut his head in front of everyone as I couldn''t take it anymore. This is beyond reasoning¡­


    I saw the faces of the people, the children, the women and others, but¡­ they are beyond saving. Each of them was the same, with no exception whatsoever, not even the youngest ones¡­ they''ll do anything for the ''cause''.


    This was absolute madness¡­ damn! This is¡­ I guess, in the end, they are monsters, so I should have at least expected this from them¡­


    "Kill all of them except the children," I spoke and my party members, without any hesitation, moved towards those¡­ monsters.


    For the next few minutes, all I heard were screams. The monsters were dying, but it didn''t sound bad for some reason¡­ it in fact sounded pleasing¡­ Wait a sec?! Am I bing a sadist or something?! ¡­.


    After everything was done, I saw the children collected in one ce and I moved towards them with my eyes fixated on them. They looked at me with pure horror in their eyes and my party members were wondering what we should do with them. Though I already knew what I was going to do with them,


    "Blood Sacrifice: Disorientated Illusion," I spoke and then their eyes turned nk before I pointed at the gate beyond which the forest lied and they ran towards it.


    "What did you do?" Vatra asked as she looked at me with a bit of aplicated and confused look and I just sighed before speaking.


    "I changed them¡­ their nature, you can say? Like I made them into monsters as they should be, erased their intelligence whatsoever they had and now¡­ they will do everything solely based on their instinct¡­"


    Everyone looked at me before Ariel asked,"Was that the right thing to do?"


    "I don''t know. I just did what I was capable of," I spoke and they looked at me with an odd look before they sighed again. Illiara then spoke,"at least it is better than killing them. Despite being monsters¡­ I don''t know¡­ it didn''t feel good thinking about killing children."


    Yetris seemed like he was unhappy with my decision and I kind of wondered why before I thought¡­ perhaps he wanted to kill them?


    As for Ariel and Dion, they looked really d with what I did. In fact, they were smiling at me and I gave a tired smile in return before looking back at the main hut in the middle of the settlement before speaking.


    "Did you take note of that circle?"


    Ariel, who was looking in the same direction as me, adjusted her sses before speaking,"Yes, I got all of it, down to thest detail."


    "How long before you can crack it?" I asked as I kept observing the settlement around me and wondered if I could find something else of interest, but after a few moments of analysing, I stopped looking because I could not find anything here.


    "Well, then¡­ I guess that leaves us with her," I spoke as I looked at that girl in front of me with the head of the minotaur. Honestly, I have no idea what to do with her¡­ hmmm¡­ or actually there is something that I can do here perhaps¡­


    "Can I have some alone time with her?" I asked as I looked at Vatra and she was a bit scared at first, pondered over it before she nodded. Illiara and Illiana, though, moved in front of re with their weapons pointed towards me.


    I ignored them as I moved towards re before speaking,"if I wanted to kill her¡­ do you really think you guys could stop me?"


    My eyes were looking down on them while I passed them before reaching re and said,"let''s go."


    Illiara and Ina just stood there still in their positions. I didn''t look at their expressions, but most probably they were too scared to even move¡­


    re then followed behind me towards the forest as we reached a little distance from the settlement. I made sure that there was no one watching us and finally, when I was sure there was on one, I looked at re before speaking,


    "Blood Assimtion Magic."

 Chapter 122 Blood Assimilation

    "A thought is a weapon. Use it properly, you can save millions¡­ Use it wrong, even millions can''t save you."


    ......¡­.


    Previous Timeline.


    A few years after the 2nd Cataclysm.


    I, Zero aka Reaper, was driving down the empty barren wastnd, as usual. These days were quite boring as all I did was search for food, kill parasites, save a bunch of people and move forward; everyday on repeat.


    It has been quite a long time since I came across a living town or a city. Though, it wasn''t that odd since most of the towns had been ravaged by the parasites and even the other races had decided to hide to protect themselves.


    The only one who came out in the open were pilgrims like me, who travelled from ce to ce, or in search of desperate people with desperate needs. There are also some ill-fated ones who happened to be left behind by the masses for one reason or the other.


    ''I wonder if I could find something to eat in the next town,'' I thought as I drove down on my motorcycle with my scythe hanging on my back.


    I luckily found a ck jacket a few towns ago, which I took a liking to, and now I am wearing it all the time. It was a bitrger for me, but still it was fine, as I liked it more that way.


    Checking for the next gas station, it was still a few kilometres ahead. I still have enough gas for me tost at least a few days, so it''s fine. Learning how to create your own gas with the help of mana and real wood was a good choice, though¡­ Still, I would prefer to use real gas whenever I can.


    After driving for another hour or so, I passed by multiple barren gas stations and when I finally found one that seemed to be having some gas; I came across a minor parasitic nest filled with scout parasites with a scout leader watching over them.


    I parked my bike at a distance and got off as I saw them looking at me before they startedughing menacingly. I just sighed before moving towards them as they dashed towards me at full speed.


    "Blood Magic: ck re," I said as a small ck rope came in my hand and then I began rotating it a little by holding it from one side before I threw it at them. Most of them dodged the rope before I gave it a little jerk and the rope jerked towards one side, getting in contact with them and¡­


    -SCREAAAAAAACCCHHHHH!!!!!


    The parasite who got in contact with the rope immediately started shouting before he instinctively jumped away from the rope. Although, the part that got in contact with the rope was detached from the parasite''s body before itpletely burnt away.


    I had been told that my blood is quite¡­ dangerous for the parasites and it won''t just kill them but kill them excruciatingly. So I had been using it to fight against them whenever I could.


    ''Though, it had me on their hit list, making them search for me whenever they can,'' I sighed before continuing to attack the parasites using the rope.


    I skillfully dodged their attacks, made them separate whenever I could, and used the rope topletely destroy them if I got the chance to. For the next few hours, the battle continued, and I finally killed all the 17 parasites, including the leader who was, though strength wise as strong as all the parasites herebined, wasn''t really much of a threat since I was still much faster than him. Though it did take almost half of the time to kill him as much as it did to kill all the others.


    It wasn''t just my blood but many other things were there which were lethal for the parasites, like the grey stone made up of mana graphite or the special fire found in the tree of Yggdrasil etc, though they aren''t as reactive as my blood. Still, they are strong enough to kill the parasites if used inrge quantities.


    What happened next was me taking some pain killers to deal with the aftereffects of using Blood magic. It usually urs whenever I use Blood magic, especially when I use it for longer periods of time.


    ''I really wish I knew some regeneration magic¡­ man, why are they such a pain to copy?'' I thought as I made a slightly irritated face before sighing and then moving forward towards the gas station. Fortunately, I found some gas in it which actually made me happy¡­ It has been a while since I got some real gas for my bike and not a magically produced one using wood.


    -Bam!


    I heard a sound from the inside of the market near the gas station which alerted me, making me turn in that direction. I used mana sense, and what I found surprised me once again, as the source of the sound turned out to be a human¡­ a living human¡­


    ''Hmmm¡­ a girl of around 20, huh? But what is she doing here? Surviving? In a minor parasitic hive invested ce?'' the more I thought the more suspicious the situation looked so I wondered what exactly was going on here.


    I was deciding between going inside that ce or just moving forward while ignoring this all together, but in the end, letting curiosity get the best of me, I decided to go check it out.


    ''Too many weird things have been going on since the parasites came¡­ I don''t think it will be much of a problem for me given how much I have already dealt with,'' I thought as I moved towards the girl in the market.


    I opened the gate and instead of slowly approaching her, I immediately reached her where I found out that she was doing something odd¡­ or not, she was just trying to find her sses, perhaps?


    I checked around to see if there was something, and sure enough, a pair of sses were lying there on the floor at a distance. Picking them up, I brought it closer to her and handed it to her.


    rmed at first, she then immediately wears it before taking out her katana and pointing at me with a scared yet concentrated face. I looked at her grey eyes staring deep into mine as her ck hair reached down to her torso. She was wearing a white jacket over a grey full length suit and honestly; she looked more like a westerner than those of the eastern people.


    "What are you trying to do here?" I asked directly, without twisting the topic. Not including the part where she had pulled out a sword on me, the person who saved her, I wanted to know howe she was alive in a hive like this¡­ considering how she was right now.


    I tried to see if there were any signs of her turning into a parasite, but I could not find one, so I concluded she was still human. The signs that show a person is in the transition phase are usually severeck of mana for a few days along with extraordinarily mud coloured eyes and skin. There are also a few scar marks present on the forehead, telling that the parasite has entered the body, but with her, there was nothing wrong with anything.


    "I am¡­ Nina Grey. Who are you?" She asked with a fixated gaze as her sword shivered along with her hands, which made me sigh a little before I looked around as I spoke,"well, the name is Reaper. Nice to me-"


    "ARE YOU THE REAPER?!!!" she shouted out loud with her eyes fixated on me and a bright, unbelievable look on her face. She then analysed me from top to bottom once, twice and then again before she looked at me and spoke.


    "That scythe¡­ that hair colour and those white eyes¡­ How can I miss that?... You really are¡­ The Reaper¡­!"


    I looked at her face and looking at her bright face I felt goosebumps all over my body. Just what is the problem with this girl? Is she all right?


    "Do you know about me?" I asked with a bit of hesitation as I looked at her and she nodded heavily before speaking,"it would be more odd if I haven''t heard about you. The Lone Wolf Reaper, one of the strongest humans to have ever existed¡­ the parasite killer, the saviour in white-"


    "Okay, all right, all right. That''s enough," I spoke hurriedly as I felt embarrassed at all those words suddenly being showered at me. Honestly, I would rather have a ck profile than a white one¡­ it suits me better that way since¡­ I have already killed so many people before¡­


    "What are you doing here, though? It doesn''t look like¡­ you should be here, I suppose," I spoke as I looked at her and she makes a slightly awkward expression before speaking,


    "Well¡­ that is because¡­"

 Chapter 123 Blood Assimilation#2

    ording to her, she was here to help out a couple of trapped people, whose distress call she received a few days ago. Honestly, it was hard to believe but since she was really adamant about it; I decided to entertain her thoughts for sometime.


    The reason she survived here despite there being a bunch of parasites was because she had an ability to mask her presencepletely, which sheter on showed to me. It really was a very convenient ability, to be honest. Despite knowing that she was standing in front of me, I couldn''t even see her properly unless I really concentrated.


    She then took me towards the ce where she received the signal from. It was behind the marketce where there was one particr gate that looked somewhat different from the others. Curiously and cautiously observing that gate, we moved closer to it trying to see if there were any traps installed nearby. Though before we could move a bit closer


    -Click


    The gate opened and a young man with ck spots on his face opened the door. He had a crossbow in his hand which looked rusty yet deadly. He observed me with a deep look before looking at the girl as he spoke.


    "What''s your name?"


    "Nina Grey," she said as she took out a couple of food items and herbs and he examined them, nodding before pointing his crossbow towards me as he spoke,"who is he? Didn''t we demand you toe alone?"


    His re irked me and I spoke up before Nina could speak,"If you have any problems with me¡­" and then I vanished before appearing right behind him as I spoke,"Speak directly to me."


    There was a threat in my voice and he immediately reacted as he tried to turn his crossbow at me to shoot but before he could do so, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it a little, making him fall on his knees. He still didn''t scream but looked at Nina angrily as she was making a slightly anxious expression.


    "What is the meaning of this?" That man inquired and Nina looked at him before speaking,"well.. I just met this guy in the market as he saved me by killing those parasites¡­ his name is Reaper."


    "Reaper?" That man looked at me before speaking,"too many crazy psychopaths these days¡­ so? What do you want, Mr. Reaper?"


    Though his words were respectful, he wasn''t respectful even one bit. I twisted his wrists a little more, making him re at me even more fiercely and I sighed before leaving him all together. It was getting nowhere¡­ the best way to find out what was going on inside this door was to check it out myself.


    "Hey! Where are you going? STOP RIGHT NOW!!!" that man shouted with both fury and horror in his eyes as he pointed his crossbow at me once again. I saw the reddened wrists of his which looked really painful, but there was not even a glint of pain on his face.


    -Shoot


    He shot that crossbow releasing 4 arrows at once and I saw them slowly moving towards me as I spoke,"Shadow magic: Unlit Aegis," and a transparent veil came in front of me. The arrows touched the veil before immediately burning outpletely.


    I just smirked at him before moving inside that room, or more like inside that alleyway. The door was connected to an alley in which I walked slowly as I observed the walls and other things for traps and stuff, but fortunately there was nothing of sorts.


    Nina and that man followed me with that man threatening me at every step, but for some reason, he did not attack me again. Instead, he kept asking about me from Nina and the more she told him about me and what I have been doing for the past year¡­


    The hostility in his eyes vanished slightly and respect for me soared from 0 to 50 or perhaps more, however, he was still cursing me every now and then. Wonder what is going on in his mind right now?


    At the end of the alley, there was another door and two men were sitting there with an assault rifle each in their hands.


    Looking at meing at them, they got rmed and without any warning they started shooting at me. Though, dealing with them was equal to dealing with a bunch of kids, as I simply just moved past them and knocked them unconscious.


    "That''s one way of weing guests, I suppose?" I spoke as I looked at that man, making him re at me once again. It kinda made me grin a little as he red at me, which made him even more furious.


    "What''s behind the gate?" I directly asked him because I felt like it would be better that way, rather than barging in and he looked at me with a spiteful look before answering,"innocents and survivors. Since you are already at this point, can I ask you a question?"


    His spiteful look and polite words weren''t matching one bit, though benevolent as I was, I let this go as I spoke,"sure, go ahead."


    He then sighed before looking at me with a slightlyplex look and questioned,"what is your purpose here? What do you want?" and I kinda made an odd expression before speaking,"sightseeing¡­..?"


    My words made him and the already quiet Nina even more silent as they looked at me dumbfoundedly before I spoke again,"I just found it curious, so I thought I should check it out. That is all."


    He looked at me again with aplicated look before asking,"it might sound a bit odd but¡­ Mr. Reaper¡­ have you heard about the ck Blood Disease?" and I looked at him with a keen gaze before asking,


    "What''s that?"


    At this point, he and Nina looked at me, as if I were an alien or something. Well, that man looked at my face and analysed me carefully before speaking,"you really¡­ I don''t know, huh? I suppose I could¡­ All right,e in. It would be better if I showed you everything to make the exnation easier.


    That man, Zial, took me and Nina, leaving those unconscious men behind. Inside, I found a massive cavern, in which many camps were set up with people living in them. There were about 40 to 50 people in that cavern, and I couldn''t help but be astonished at that because it was rare for such a massive group to be together within the wastnd.


    Zial told me about the area and how it functions, along with the details of the ck blood disease.


    Basically, it was a disease that some cave workmen developed, which turned their blood ck and also made their health deteriorate over time, consequently resulting in premature death. There was a single doctor working on this disease as he too suffered with the same illness and almost everyone was pinning their hopes on him.


    He told me a few things about the doctor and other people here before getting to the main point.


    "That ck Blood¡­ can attract parasites. It makes them crazy for some reason¡­ and us.. Who are suffering arebelled as bait to catch parasite hives¡­" He had a dark look on his face as he spoke that and I too turned silent, as he just stayed there for a few moments before giving out a deep sigh and then speaking,


    "Now that you know about the situation, what are you going to do about it, Mr. Reaper?" he spoke as he looked at me with a gaze, then sent slight chills down my spine. It was the gaze of a man who isn''t afraid to die¡­ in fact, he is ready to die at the very moment.


    Turning at the people at this ce¡­. They too¡­ had the very same determinant look in their eyes.


    ''Would rather die than be treated as an item, huh?'' I thought before looking at him and then speaking,"can I meet that doctor of yours?"


    He looked at me for a few moments before nodding as he started walking and spoke,e with me."


    I kind of followed him along with Nina, and we kept walking for a few moments before we reached a camp on the other side of the cavern. It was a fairly big camp and there were some people sitting and talking around that camp.


    When I reached that camp, they looked at me with a curious but keen look. I saw them gripping their weapons even tighter than before, while I ignored them as I entered the camp.


    Zial then called out loud,"Doctor Pere, you there?"


    Not momentster, a man in histe 40s came out from the curtains as I looked at him. White hair and an exhausted look on his clean shaved yet tired face. His red eyes looked at me with an analysing look before he smiled at me as he spoke,"And who might you be?"


    Though the only thought that came to my mind was¡­


    ''He is a Vampire.''

 Chapter 124 Blood Assimilation#3

    It has been 3 months since I have been staying here in this camp. I just came here to see if there was anything interesting going on and  somehow ended up finding a half-vampire who was healing humans suffering from a blood rted disease.


    I tried asking for his reasons but all he said was,"Is there any reason for not doing a good deed when you are capable of doing so?" and I looked at his smiling face wondering if he was really that genuine or was making up that shit¡­ however it looked as if it was genuine so I decided to watch over him for the time being.


    ric Pere was his name, a half vampire born from the mating of a human and a vampire. Even though it was really hard to digest the facts about his origin, since the living proof was right in front of me, I couldn''t really deny it, can I?


    ''A Dhampir?'' I thought as I looked at him before I told him that I would watch over him and he simply agreed without hesitation. When I asked him how he could trust me that easily, he simply answered,"Some things¡­ are better left unsaid."


    After that I asked Zial to show me around, which he did. One thing led to another, and I ended up helping people here every now and then. It was a nice change from my usual mundane travelling and I was benefiting from it as well¡­


    ¡­


    "[Blood Assimtion Magic]" ric activated his spell from his system as he looked at that patient and connected his blood with that patient. His System allowed him to control and check the blood of others, as long as he can physically touch it.


    He had a vast knowledge about blood and when I showed him my blood magic¡­ he was more than just amazed by it. He asked me how I use it and other stuff, which I replied with an honest answer. Though that only made him more confused before he gave up on my blood magic and spoke if I wanted to learn about Blood Assimtion Magic, since I could more or less copy most of the magic, I readily agreed to it cause¡­ why not?


    He was a kindred soul, helping everyone whenever he could¡­ Watching him doing all the hard work, from healing the patients to teaching me blood magic, made me feel like that the world is still worth fighting for.


    So, for the past 3 months I have been helping people out here meanwhile also learning about Blood Magic and various properties of blood from ric. As far as teaching goes, he was an excellent teacher, and with his teaching, now I was helping people on par with him. I also helped him with his theories and stuff using my own knowledge and intelligence pool I had collected over the years.


    At times when I was not learning, I was helping people out while also training on my own whenever I could.


    ''We are almost there, aren''t we?'' I thought as I looked at the Blood Assimtion Magic of ric as he studied the changes in the blood of his patients there. I also helped him in that process wherever I could using the same blood Assimtion Magic he used, though it wasn''t as effective as his.


    "Reaper!! Look!!" ric spoke with excitement as he looked at those blood samples, and hearing his sudden excited voice, I too analysed it only to be dumbfounded by what I saw.


    "The ck blood is returning to normal?!! What did you do?!" I asked with the same enthusiasm he had as I looked at him with a bright smile.


    Maybe because I had been working on this for months that I was so d with the progress we made after all that effort¡­ or perhaps I was happy that ric is almost closer to his goal after putting in all that work.


    His face was beaming and then he spoke,"Your theory of using an alternate pathway to return the blood to its original state using a catalyst worked!! All this time I was so fixated on reversing the process¡­ but damn! To think it would be this simple¡­"


    I looked at him before asking again with a cheerful voice,"what is the catalyst?"


    It took us hours and hours of work to determine the right catalyst. Half the time, we chose the reversing theory to see if we could bring the blood to its previous state. Other times, we tried using various catalysts to change the properties of ck blood to something suitable to humans.


    ''The amount of time and patience it took for each experiment was not aughing matter,'' I thought with a slightly tired smile as I looked at ric as he kept smiling at me with his eyes glistening as he spoke,"it''s Red Monster Core¡­ it upgrades the blood when used after diluting it with white feathers of Pleuri Tree by thousand times."


    I looked at him with a slightly dumbfounded expression before recalling the properties of the objects he mentioned right now.


    Red Monster Cores are usually taken from the monsters who have used their berserk modes and then are killed before their berserk mode is over. It has the property of enhancing blood, muscle and skin, which is extremely beneficial for people whose abilities are more physically inclined.


    White Feathers of Pleura are actually the flowers of a tree that is found near high-density mana areas. It doesn''t get affected by the mana around it. In fact, it resists it to no end. The flowers, that is the White Feathers, have strong mana diminishing property which is beneficial for various alchemic reactions.


    ''If we reduce the property of Red Monster Core using the White Feathers¡­ surely it would be ideal to enhance the property of blood. Though wouldn''t it just increase the property of the ck part of the blood too?''


    "Did you forcefully enhance the original portion of the blood using the Red Monster Core so that it overpowers the ck parts?" I asked him as I looked at him with a deliberating look and he scratched the back of his head with a slightly awkward smile, as if the cat was out of the box.


    ''Though, even so, to finally get a thread of hope to get the sess to cure this disease¡­ man, that is really something,'' I thought as I looked at him, still beaming with that smile.


    "How many Red Monster Cores do we have left? What about the feathers?" I asked, and he looked at me with a sigh before speaking,"as for the feathers, we have enough of it right now. Though the Red Monster Core¡­ is something we severelyck. Sorry Reaper, Can I ask you for a favour again?"


    I saw him joining his palms together and bowing to me and I sighed before speaking,"All right. I need to get some Red Monster Cores, right? From what I remember, there is a Nest of Desert Harpies nearby-"


    "Thank you so much Reaper!!! You really are a saviour!!!" He spoke as he held my arms before hugging me tightly as he kept crying and thanking me at the same time.


    For a few moments, I let him cry before it kinda got annoying, and I had to forcefully separate him before I red at him. Even still, he got up with a cheerful smile and I couldn''t help but speak,


    "I will be leaving in about an hour or so. Still got some small business to finish here."


    He then wished me luck before sending me out and so I did, where I met a few more people and helped them as usual. They thanked me after I was done with helping them, before moving back to their work and I moved towards my house where I found about 20 to 25 people waiting there.


    ''Ah! Totally forgot about them,'' I thought as I looked at my students whom I have been teaching ways to protect themselves in times of danger. At first, it was really annoying, but then I found that almost all of them have a unique magic of their own. While I can''t really use them, learning about those abilities would be really helpful if I am in a pinch or something.


    "Well¡­ the ss is cancelled for today. I have some important work to do," I spoke before entering the room while they looked at me with a disappointed look before bowing and leaving from there.


    ''I wonder how surprised they would be when they realise that they are going to be cured soon¡­ maybe I would form my own travelling group or something?'' I kind of daydreamed with a bright smile on my face as I prepared for my excursion.


    It might be a day or two before Ie back, so I need to make sure I have enough for a long return trip¡­ I also tried recalling the Desert Harpies and their weaknesses and strong points, while I could.


    Later on that evening, I began moving towards the Harpies, looking forward to a better future¡­ for me and for the others.

 Chapter 125 Blood Assimilation#4

    Three dayster,


    Going opposite the sunset, I was driving back with about 50 to 60 Red Mana Cores in my hands. I was still about 30 minutes away from the cavern as I was riding my bike. In these three days, I had to n and strategize a way to kill those Harpies while also making sure they went berserk, otherwise killing them wouldn''t be fruitful at all.


    I was really cheerful today as we were getting closer to cure the ck blood disease and I couldn''t help but want to see the cheerful faces of those people I had been living with for the past 3 months.


    As I drove, I kept looking ahead and not too soon, I saw something that seemed out of the ordinary. A chill ran down my spine as the scene in front of me became clearer.


    ''Parasites?'' I thought as I looked ahead in front of me¡­ a massive herd of parasites¡­ about a hundred of them were at the gas station and more were still going towards it.


    I increased my speed to the max and after another 15 minutes or so; I reached the gas station, which was crawling with parasites wherever my eyes could see.


    While most of them were entering inside the market one by one, the others were just waiting for their turn as they waited in front of the gate looking at others passing. I¡­ couldn''t believe my eyes¡­ What is¡­ why?... Why is this happening?


    I questioned myself¡­ my fate¡­ why was this happening? I was scared¡­ not because of the parasites¡­ but the thought¡­ what if the parasites had already reached them?


    ''ric¡­'' I thought as I took out my Scythe and then used one of my critical skills,


    "Shadow Style: Blood Moon: shes of the Night"


    It was abination of First Moon and Shadow Style, along with an extension of my own blood. I had no idea how long I wouldst with this alone¡­


    I then took out a couple of grenades and other artifacts that I had. Those artifacts increased my strength and defences by some margin while also giving me light passive healing. The grenades were specifically designed to be used against parasites, they won''t kill the parasites though¡­ just weaken them enough for one to escape from them.


    -BOOM!!


    -SWISH!!


    -AAAAAAAAAAA!!


    Because my blood was etched on my scythe, it reacted with the parasite''s blood, killing them in one strike. Though the parasites who were killed were merely scout level¡­. the captains were still standing behind.


    For the next hour or so, I kept killing them as fast as I could¡­ the Scouts were fine, even though I had to take a break every now and then in between the fighting, it was still better than fighting those captains.


    When those captains joined, I had to give my everything to even stand against a chance in front of them.


    ''19 against 1 doesn''t seem fair to be honest,'' I thought as I once again dodged their attacks and countered them with pure skill. My power¡­ well I used it only half the time, trying to save it for the fight I might need to engage in inside.


    Time passed¡­ hours passed¡­ and then when I had finally managed to kill all the captains, I saw that it was already midnight. I saw the full moon before I nced at the gate of the market inside which a couple of scout parasites were visible.


    I moved hurriedly, and killed those parasites, before moving even deeper¡­ there was no end to those parasites as I kept going in. Though, I couldn''t care less that I kept brutally killing them one after another.


    Finally, I reached the inner gate¡­ I opened it¡­ and what I saw next¡­ almost took my soul away from my body; it was blood curdling. I, for a few moments, forgot to breathe. I was standing still. I kind of wanted to think¡­ but I could not¡­


    The whole ce was a colossal mess¡­ the parasites were killing everyone¡­ or perhaps they had already done so. I kept walking, subconsciously inside that cavern and saw the dead bodies of the people who had been brutally killed by the parasites. They were sucked dry¡­


    The fact that I knew each and everyone here¡­ makes me feel¡­ suffocated. At this point, I just thoughtlessly killed those parasites who wereing my way, while I moved forward towards where ric was supposed to be.


    I soon reached therge camp in which ric was living¡­ though the camp was torned apart into pieces with the dead body of ric lying right in front of the camp.


    -BAM!!!


    Something came behind me¡­ something strong¡­ before I could turn¡­


    -BOOOM!!!


    Whatever it was, it was kicked away by someone. I then turned to see a familiar face, which shocked me immensely.


    "ric?!!!!" I spoke out loud before checking the dead body¡­ which was gone from where it was. For a few moments I was confused but then a slightly happy expression formed on my face as I spoke,


    "So you are alive-"


    "Listen Reaper¡­ sigh¡­ all right, let me just get it done with this¡­" he spoke before I saw him vanishing from there and then all the parasites started screeching all at once. I just dumbfoundedly kept looking in that direction wondering what was going on.


    ''ric¡­ you¡­ who are you?'' I thought as I tried to figure it out. The thing that ric kicked before¡­ it came back¡­ and tried to attack me again. This time I saw it very clearly¡­ it was a Parasite General¡­? What is something like that doing here? They say¡­ that even 100s of captains won''t be able to deal with a single Parasitic General.


    -BOOM!!!


    Once again, ric just stood in front of me as he blocked that Parasitic General''s attack before pushing him away again. Though it looked like ric took a serious hit from this one. I just stood there watching the scene.


    "Listen Reaper¡­ I am using one of my life Sacrificial Skills right now so I don''t have much time left. Listen carefully to what I am about to say¡­" ric spoke as he focused on that parasite¡­.


    I¡­ couldn''t believe what he was saying right now¡­ he was joking right? What is he babbling¡­. I kept looking at him as he began speaking,


    "There is much more to Blood Assimtion Magic than what I have shown you¡­ also, the ck Blood disease¡­ Can you do me a favour? Can youplete the research on it for me? Not just for the sake of curing people but also trying to find out what exactly caused it¡­ I feel like there is more to that disease than it seems¡­ other than that, I have a family in the western continent¡­ Can you find them? I have some documents left, so use them. They might not be enough, but¡­ well, try to see what you can do. Also, all my locks have the same password¡­ Martha. Use it to open my belongings and you will find many things that will be beneficial for your journey,"


    He then attacked that parasite over and over and over¡­ ric fought for sometime before the parasite was finally dead. I just stood there¡­ weak¡­ useless.. Even if I wanted to do something, I still couldn''t do anything at all.


    "Reaper¡­ it was nice knowing you. I wished things could have ended differently though¡­ You were like a younger brother to me¡­ perhaps like a son¡­ I wonder if my son is fine. If you find him, can you take care of him¡­. and ¡­ if you survive to the bitter end then¡­ kill all of these f*king parasites please too?... If you can''t¡­ maybe let''s have a cup of sake in the afterlife¡­." I just stood there as I tried my best to speak something¡­ but words failed toe out of my mouth.


    I saw him vanishing from there as he spoke,"Goodbye¡­ friend." and then there was nothing left behind. All the parasites and the people were dead with only silence enshrouding me as I just stood there¡­


    It was a suffocating feeling¡­ yet I was calm for some reason¡­


    It was a calm feeling¡­ yet I was suffocating¡­


    I wanted to let my fury out¡­ yet there was nothing I could have done¡­


    There was nothing I could do¡­ yet I wanted to let my fury out.


    ''Would it have made a difference if I had stayed here? Would it have made a difference if I had gone a few dayster¡­ or maybe I hade a day earlier?


    Why did I take my time to kill those Harpies again? Why did I not rush back faster?'' the thoughts kept consuming me¡­ they made me doubt my decisions and before I knew it¡­


    Hating the parasites became like a second nature to me¡­ If earlier I was surviving and moving from ce to ce, while killing parasites whenever I needed to¡­ now I would be hunting them exclusively¡­ those fuckers¡­ each and every one of them fuckers¡­ they are going to die by my hands.


    ''Even if it takes a thousand years¡­ I will eradicate them all¡­'' I thought as I closed my eyes before preparing to walk on a path which willter on take me to be one of the strongest people alive on Vermillion.

 Chapter 126 Unexpected Return

    Back in HellFire Forest, Ancient times Vermillion, The Gate Of Avalon¡­. Current Timeline.


    re then followed behind me towards the forest as we reached a little distance away from the settlement. I made sure that there was no one watching us and finally, when I was sure there was on one, I looked at re before speaking.


    "Blood Assimtion Magic."


    While I did learn Blood Assimtion''s initial stages from ric, I modified it ording to my own needs. The original Blood Assimtion could control the blood flow of a person at the same time also maintaining the structural and functional capabilities of that blood¡­ it just wasn''t for me.


    ric had his own system helping him out, doing more than half of the work without him needing to do anything at all, while I needed to do everything manually. Though¡­ Now that I think about it, the fact I could control all the functions and structures properly was really something else¡­


    What I modified was I let my mana flow into the blood, along with the recipient''s, to see his or her blood flow. I could forcefully make changes in the blood flow but it would naturally result in a painful death of the person, so I generally prefer to keep it mana oriented only, that too at a low intensity just enough to know the way the blood functions in an organism, monsters and races alike.


    It kind of helped me understand their basic physiology and how they use mana, which in turn helped me find their weak/strong points which, sometimes, they themselves did not know about.


    I added one more function to it, and that was to change the constituent of the bloods ever so slightly¡­ mostly because it would help me set a charm magic deep within the very blood system of the person with whom I am dealing with.


    Looking at re, who was just timidly standing there, I proceeded to touch her shoulder, which I pricked slightly to let enough blood flow. I then, using shadow magic, pricked my own finger to physically connect some amount of my blood with hers.


    Closing my eyes, I traced the mana flow into her body and see if her blood is still flowing like a human or has it changed its direction to that simr to a minotaur.


    For the next 15 minutes¡­ I kept observing and analysing it from all the angles and after I was done observing and analysing, I sighed a little.


    ''Her blood flow is aplete mess¡­ it is neither properly a human''s nor it belongs to a minotaur''s¡­ it feels like the whole body was separated and thenbined with another body forcefully creating something else entirely¡­'' I thought with a reallyplex face as I looked at it.


    No amount of healing can settle this¡­ what this needs is a miracle¡­


    I¡­ felt odd again. I really thought I could save her to be honest¡­ if it was just a simple case of attachment of a Minatour''s head with a human''s body with a little bit of mess around the neck, I would have probably been able to set it apart and change her face using one thing or another. At worst, I could have carved her face with an artefact or something, resulting in her living a life close to that of a human, but now¡­ what should I even do¡­


    ''Do¡­ I have no option but to kill her?'' I thought as I separated my finger from her shoulders. I looked at her and wondered if I could do anything¡­ anything at all¡­ but no matter what I thought, I.. couldn''te up with a solution.


    ''Even if I create a charm circle on her face, making her seem like a human to anyone who sees her¡­ anyone above S level could easily see through the magic¡­ and that doesn''t change her ways of living and other stuff too¡­ '' I kept thinking of ways but still it wasn''t really something I could think of¡­


    ''Should I just kill her¡­ or take my time to create a charm magic that would allow her to live among humans without any problems¡­'' I thought and thought¡­. And in the end¡­ I decided that¡­


    ''It will be better to kill her,'' I finally decided after looking at it from every possible angle¡­


    I then looked at her Minatour face, which was curiously looking at me. She wasn''t doing anything but standing there watching me and I sighed before proceeding to take out my scythe¡­ however.. before I could do so¡­


    The scene changed suddenly¡­ everything turned white and then¡­ everything turned ck as I lost consciousness¡­


    ¡­.


    "Do you think he is dead?" I heard a slightly confused yet unamused voice. It sounded familiar¡­ Where have I heard that voice again?


    "If he was dead, he wouldn''t have been brought here but outside," a child-like voice answered the question of the first voice and once again I felt like I had heard this voice too¡­ somewhere?


    "Oh! Looks like he is waking up," the childish voice spoke and I slowly opened up my eyes, only to find a white floor and white majestic pirs all around me. There were two figures in front of me. One was a white-haired white-winged guy, who was looking at me with a slightly amused face as he spoke,"You are alive! Wow!"


    The child¡­ who was as white as possible, looked at me with a rxed expression as he spoke,"do I take it as you finished the job and acquired the Space Fragment?"


    Lucifer, the white-winged handsome guy and Amon, the white child¡­ too bright!


    For the next few moments, I focused on recollecting my thoughts as I looked at them while also recalling the past one month and whatever happened¡­ hmmm¡­ I guess I understand what just happened¡­ probably¡­


    "No, I didn''t even get to see the fragment," I answered Amon, whose expression turned a bit unsatisfied with my answer, but still he asked again,"can you exin what happened?"


    "Many things¡­ let''s just say that there is a time limit inside that gate¡­ exactly 1 month, to be precise. I was there for one month and as soon as the time limit was over, I was pushed out¡­ though I didn''t know about it beforehand," I spoke up my mind clearly because time was one of the factors I was meticulously calcting inside that Gate of Avalon.


    "Hmmm¡­ so did you find anything at all?" Amon asked again, a bit worried, and I nodded at him as I spoke,"two leads¡­ I think one of them will surely lead me to Space fragment. I was about to reach that lead when the time was up."


    Amon kept gazing at me for the next few moments, before he sighed and spoke,"all right¡­ that is better than you dying, at least."


    ''Trust me a little, you prick,'' I thought with a smile on my face and he red at me a little before sighing again.


    "I guess, I just have to enter that ce again," I said as I tried to see the entrance of the temple¡­ but it wasn''t there?! Huh?


    "True that¡­ but you need to find another Gate of Avalon for that¡­ Do you know of any other gate?" Lucifer chimed in as he observed me and I kind of looked at him nkly for a second as he asked,"you don''t know?"


    "I do but¡­" I stopped midway as I thought,''I do, but I didn''t know that you can enter one gate only once¡­ how much time does that give me? 3 months? That too if I got the chance to enter all the three gates, which I know of¡­''


    Lucifer looked at me and asked again,"but?"


    "It''s nothing. I know of another couple of gates so that should give me 2 more months¡­ hmmm¡­ I guess I will keep the time in mind next time," I spoke, and he narrowed his eyes at me again.


    "What?" I asked, a bit confused this time and he spoke,"no.. It''s just that¡­ you know a bit too much¡­ Just what kind of life did you live?"


    "I would rather not say anything," I spoke before looking at Amon, who was silently watching our interaction and then speaking,"what happened to Dolos and Janus?"


    "Janus is keeping hold of Dolos using his magic. Of course, we helped him to make that magic more secure. Enough tost for eternity unless someone equally strong as uses to break it," Amon answered with a smile and then spoke,


    "I guess you should be going back now. Is there anything else you would like to know?"


    I was irked by his sudden polite nature but still I spoke,"a few things¡­ but probablyter¡­ Ah! Can you do something about the people outside? It would be a pain to exin all the things I did, so that would be a great help."


    Amon looked at me for a few moments before pondering and then looking at Lucifer as he spoke,"is it okay if we do that?"


    Lucifer kind of got irritated at that before speaking,"if I wasn''t really involved in this mess so deep, I would have directly rejected it but¡­ well, I guess I can do it for once. How much do you want to do?"


    "Leave that to me," Amon spoke with a bright smile before he touched my right shoulder and Lucifer too moved and touched my left shoulder, then they both began chanting something. I wanted to ask what the f*ck were they both doing¡­ but for some reason, they were so deeply engrossed that I decided it would be better not to disturb them.


    After a few moments, Amon simply spoke,"you are smart enough to understand what is going on, so I won''t exin. Let''s meetter, okay?"


    Lucifer simply spoke,"don''t forget your promise, human."


    And before I knew it, the scene changed yet again as I found myself standing in front of another familiar person, in an oddly familiar ce as that person, Bete Leeway, spoke with a serious expression,


    "Would you like toe with me somewhere?"


    [Volume 2: The War of Avalon(Prologue) Ends here]

 Chapter 127 Back To Where It All Started

    [Volume 3: Battle at the Iredale Castle]


    "Would you like toe with me somewhere?"


    I saw her speaking to me in a serious tone as I dumbfoundedly looked at her before I calmed myself and said,"Can you give me a minute?"


    She looked at me a bit confused but still nodded anyway as I recollected my thoughts while surveying the area. I was back in the hallway where I was previously, going to my room after visiting Mark Leeway.


    If memory serves me right, Irene Leeway too passed me a few moments ago along with Rheo and Linda Brown. Though I don''t remember what we talked about¡­ let''s hope it was not something important. I sighed before looking at Bete and then my mind drifted to the Gate of Avalon present in her room.


    ''So Lucifer and Amon sent me back in time, just enough to save me from most of the trouble¡­ Though I figured it out myself, it would still have been better if they had exined it to me beforehand, rather than throwing me directly here,'' I thought as I sighed before speaking to Bete as,


    "So¡­ you were saying something?"


    She looked at me and nodded before speaking again,"Would you like toe with me somewhere?" and knowing where she wanted to take me, I nodded before answering her,


    "As long as it does not take much of my time."


    She calmly nodded before slowly beginning to move towards her room, and I followed her with an expressionless face. Though, inside my mind, I was genuinely curious if that gate would still be present inside her room.


    ''Not just the gate but also that key in the basement¡­ I wonder what would be the aftereffects on this castle now that I have used up that particr gate¡­'' I kept pondering as I reached her room.


    -Creak!


    The door opened and once again I saw her neatly designed pinkish-red room with a huge bed in its centre. She looked at the almeera on one side and I too looked at it with a really curious mind.


    She looked at me before speaking,"push that almeera, please?" and I nodded before pushing that almeera and what I saw behind the almeera was¡­ nothing but an ordinary wall. A red coloured neat wall without even a single scratch on it.


    "WHAT?!!!" An astounded expression appeared on Bete''s face as she moved towards that wall, almost falling due to her weak constitution. While Ipletely knew what was going on in her mind, I still asked, pretending to be oblivious,"What happened?"


    She turned at me, trying to speak something before looking at that wall again with her eyes widening in shock every time she looked at that wall. I could only sigh on the inside, before I moved towards her and then touched her forehead with the back of my palm.


    She watched me do that, turned a bit rmed as the mana around us rose to a degree, however before she could do or say anything, I spoke,"you look like you are having a high fever. Why don''t you take a rest for today?"


    She, for a moment, cked out as she looked at me before realising what she was doing. The mana around us began falling down before getting back to normal. Her eyes then be a bit less shaken than before and she slowly nods as she speaks.


    "Sorry for wasting your time¡­"


    Looks like she doesn''t have anything to exin her actions. At this I just sighed before speaking,"it is all right. I will just leave for my room, I guess."


    I wanted tofort her, but this situation was rather strange and if Iforted her¡­ it would probably make things more odd for me in many ways. So I just moved out of there silently without making any fuss.


    Reaching outside, I then tried to recall where my room was and¡­ I think I forgot where it was¡­ Hmmm¡­ Should I use Shadow Magic to search around? Well¡­ rather than that¡­ How about I take a look at the rooftop?


    ''Hmmm¡­ I guess it would be better to check it out for the time being¡­ maybe I will find someone tailing me and I can use them to reach my room back?'' I thought as I nodded before checking my body condition and¡­ it was quite bad.


    ''Spirit Magic: Regeneration,'' I activated my spirit magic before realising that I was back to my old world and this world has quite low Spirit Mana¡­ wait a minute?


    ''Where is Hygeia?'' I thought before wondering if I should summon her here to talk to her about everything¡­ then on second thought, I left it forter cause the amount of time I can call her is limited and if I called her now, I probably won''t be able to call her during the ritual.


    Though¡­


    ''They are still here, huh?'' I thought as I sensed those green vinesing out of my heart and spreading almost to my wrists. Though invisible under normal conditions, when I use spirit magic, they start faintly glowing¡­ my spirit mana is also about 5 times more than previously when I used it.


    ''Guess, all that time there wasn''t really wasted¡­ still I wonder¡­'' I was lost in my thoughts for a few moments before getting my stamina and body back to normal.


    Even though it doesn''tpare to the regeneration I had there, it still is much better than using normal mana to heal.


    ''About 20 percent? I guess that is the difference if wepare the regeneration intensity in both the ces. Well¡­ I guess I have another mystery to solve now,'' I thought before moving towards the stairs that were visible at a distance.


    I saw a few workers walking past me. Each of them were at least B-Rank and that is really quite something, given how many B-rank people are present currently among the human''s right now.


    ''Though it doesn''t matter much to me¡­ If I go all out right now¡­ I could probably handle an S-Rank all by myself¡­ and if I get time to prepare and strategize¡­ a peak SS rank is possible too¡­ though it would have its own risk factors too,'' I thought as I looked at the power level of this ce andpared it to mine.


    Despite having multiple assets and ways to get stronger, I still can''t hold a candle to the strongest ones, even at their lowest¡­ For now, that is.


    I then reached the top, where there was a man holding a ck sword in his hand. His eyes were sharp¡­ much sharper than the sword in his hand.


    ''He is skilled,'' I thought as I observed his ck eyes concentrated on his sword while he was standing there wearing only jeans and nothing on top revealing his slim yet ripped body. His ck hair with orange streaks that reached to his shoulder, kind of gave his identity.


    [Author''s note: Mark Leeway has two elder brothers. Cedric Leeway, middle child and Elric Leeway as the eldest child, Mark Leeway being the youngest.


    Elric Leeway has 4 children and 2 grandchildren. ]


    ''ric Leeway, Son of Elric Leeway,'' I thought as I looked at him practising with his sword with a concentrated gaze, under the moonlight. I remember him weing us with the rest of the Leeway family¡­ he was the one who got really shocked when the three Leeway brother''s weed me as an equal.


    ''The eldest son of the eldest brother¡­ It has a nice ring to it. He must feel a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, doesn''t he? And now that I, a person much younger than him, is getting respect way more than he can ever get from his parents and uncles¡­ I wonder what he is feeling right now?'' I thought as an amused expression formed on my face and I observed him with a ''humble'' smile on my face.


    I then began walking towards him as I spoke silently,''Shadow Magic: Mirage of the Night,'' and then vanished before appearing right in front of him. He, at first, a bit shocked, then gains hisposure back and looks at me with a serious face as he speaks,"you are that guy, Zero. Aren''t you? What are you doing here?"


    I observed him for a few moments before speaking,"want to fight? You look really eager to do that."


    His sword was pointed at me with his body in a fighting stance, which looked like he would jump at me any moment now. I would have talked with him but as they say, ''Men talk better with fists than with their mouth,'' ¡­though we will be using our weapons here.


    I had already decided on my weapon¡­ using a sword here¡­ won''t do me any good. I don''t n to kill him so I shouldn''t use that¡­ as for a scythe, I guess I should change it for sometime over something else like¡­ maybe a spear for now.


    ''Though it is my weakest weapon¡­ I hope you can have an edge on me with this,'' I thought as I saw him observing me with a keen expression. His eyes are fixated on me and seem to be getting rxed a littlepared to the stern face he had before. A few momentster, chuckling a little, he speaks out loud as,


    "You really are an odd one, aren''t you? I don''t know how you got them to respect you at that level¡­ but I guess it would be all cleared now. Zero, was it?" then his voice turned serious and so did his expression as he continued,


    "Yes¡­ I want to fight against you. Will you ept a duel with me?"


    ''Though he feels a bit hard-headed¡­ I guess he still has his manners,'' I thought as my smile brightens up before speaking,


    "Would love to do that."

 Chapter 128 A Small Brawl

    ric Leeway is a long sword user with the S-Ranked System, [Smoke Maniption System], though he focuses more on his sword skills rather than his System. If I remember correctly, currently he is strong enough to defeat a peak A grade despite being so old¡­ it has something to do with his past¡­ I don''t exactly remember why, but he has skipped many years of training in the past decade.


    In the future¡­ he survived for about a decade after the Second Cataclysm arrived, but in the end he sumbed to his own weaknesses. Though, that ric and this ric are way too different to be evenpared properly.


    I then took out my spear, which I had bought online when I was in Bryxton. It isn''t as excellent as the weapons I am used to, but still it should do the job for now.


    ...¡­.


    [3rd person''s Pov]


    The night time was favourable to both Zero and ric. ric with his smoke can easily make use of the darkness to his advantage, but in this regard Zero wasn''t much different from him either. In fact, living in the darkness all those years made Zero adapt to it as if it were his own. His shadow style yed a major role in it as well, along with his ability to use the Dark Magic.


    -Dash


    The first one to dash was ric. He swiftly and sharply moved towards Zero before Zero could even make a move, reaching extremely close to him and then¡­


    -nk


    The tip of the spear parried the long sword before the spear was hurled in the direction of ric. ric barely managed to dodge it. Once again, gaining back his momentum and attacking Zero from a direction opposite to the previous one.


    -nk


    Zero once again parries his attack and takes a step back. Once again, he hurled the spear artistically towards ric, making him look at Zero with a slightly horrified look as he jumped back.


    -sh


    ric, as he was jumping back, was pricked by the spear''s tip on his shoulder, making him bleed a little as he tried to hold it. ric used his smoke magic to form some kind of barrier on his wound, stopping the blood flow before it could flow even more.


    All this happened within a few moments and ric once again jumped back to his original position as he stared at Zero with a wide grin before he spoke,"You are strong¡­ no! Calling you strong would be an understatement¡­ you are a monster.. Just where did father and uncle find you?"


    Altough he was speaking clearly without his expressions changing, one could still find traces of pain in his eyes. Well, of course there would be pain because¡­


    ''Looks like the pain enhancer is working its magic,'' Zero thought as he kept looking at ric with a smirk on his face. While it could be considered cheating, in real battle anything goes, right?


    ric didn''t look like he minded what Zero did because he had witnessed Zero''s spearmanship with his own two eyes and he could tell that it was anything but simple. To easily counter the swordsmanship which he practised for years wasn''t something a simple man¡­ or perhaps a child in this case could have done.


    Still¡­


    -Dash


    Once again, ric moved as swiftly as he could, this time half of his body covered in smoke. He looked like he had used one of his skills this time¡­ going by his speed and strength¡­


    -nk


    He must have used a body enhancement skill that focuses on speed and power. Zero saw the change, not only in power and speed but also in his swordsmanship¡­


    ''Looks like he is finally getting serious,'' Zero thought as he too changed his stance and his eyes turned slightly darker from the previous bright green. He observed ric moving with a purely orthodox move before changing it topletely something else.


    It was like fighting a tamed monster that could turn into a wild monster any moment and then once again back to being tamed.


    While he waspletely orthodox, each of his moves were calcted, making it hard to counter them sessively as the fight progressed. Though as soon as you get adapted to that fighting style, he changes it to somethingpletely random, making it impossible to calcte the next move.


    -sh


    -sh


    Some of those attacks actually made it through Zero''s defence, making him bleed a little, but still he was able to heal back immediately using Regeneration Magic.


    Both Zero''s and ric''s eyes got more and more concentrated as the fight progressed, while ric was the first one to show his skills, Zero too disyed his Shadow Spear Style more and more, making the fight drag longer than it should have been.


    With Zero''s regeneration ability, a longer battle would only result in Zero''s inevitable win and ric knew it¡­ he had to do something about it to make sure he defeats Zero before it gets toote.


    ''Though I would rather not show myplete power,'' ric gazed at Zero before he sighed and then began chanting something once again.


    ''While this isn''t my strongest move, it still is one of my trump cards¡­ I wonder if you could take it Zero,'' ric thought before beginning to charge his long sword once again as he created some distance from Zero before


    -Dash


    The smoke began engulfing the whole area furthermore and the intensity of ric''s attack increased marginally before¡­ 4 clones of ric came into y from multiple directions, all of them lunging at Zero.


    Zero looked at those clones along with ric, before smiling a little before muttering,"Shadow Style: Spearmanship of the Blind God," and then¡­


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    -sh


    Zero did as many shes in every direction as possible at once, making all the clones take a step back. While this move wastes a lot of energy at once, it is actually a nice move for situations like this¡­


    ''Last time, something like this was used against me¡­ I almost died, didn''t I?'' Zero thought as he made a really bitter expression before analysing the clones. Though it took a few more seconds, Zero did figure about the real ric Leeway among those clones and¡­


    -Dash


    Dashed at him. ric, who was also ready to jump at him, saw Zeroing at him rather than his clones and realised that Zero had already figured out the real one among his clones. Though it made him quite shocked because it was extremely difficult to figure out even for his father which one of the clones is the real him.


    "I give¡­ up," ric spoke as he looked at Zero with his spear pointing at ric''s neck. ric, however, was more concentrated on the person who was holding the spear, Zero¡­


    He was smirking, without even a scratch on his body. Though, ric was sure, he had at least ''scratched'' Zero more than once in this fight¡­ and Zero must have some form of regeneration ability to heal himself during the fight.


    "Satisfied?" Zero asked with the same smirk as before, which made ric look at him with a bit of an annoyed look before he nodded,"yeah¡­ I guess."


    ric looked really tired as he let his power go and sweat began pouring out of his body as he tried his best not to shame himself further by falling on the ground in front of Zero. Noticing what ric was trying to do, Zero chuckled a little before moving towards ric and then touching his shoulders as he spoke,


    "Me too enjoyed this small brawl of ours¡­ heal."


    ric''s mana and strength began refilling in his body at a much faster rate, making him look at Zero with a slightly scared look. He gulped at least 3 or 4 times before realising that,''I had no chance of winning¡­ with this enhanced regeneration¡­ I could only have a chance of defeating him if I go all out and I need to finish the battle within the first 5 minutes or else, my own power will startckingpared to his. Though¡­ that is assuming that what he showed was his actual limit and there is nothing beyond that¡­ which I highly doubt.''


    Zero then looked at ric with a slightly awkward look before speaking,"with the fight and all, I kinda forgot to ask¡­ do you know where my room is?"


    He looked at me with a slight questioning look and I ''honestly'' answered him,"Actually, I thought of checking the rooftop once before I hit the bed, but then I saw you here and we started this brawl. While I know the way from the office to the room¡­ going back from here.. I think I might get lost."


    He looked at me with a slightly doubtful gaze before sighing and speaking,"well¡­ It is on the way to my room, so I guess you cane along with me."


    I just nodded at him with a smile on my really grateful face, at which he nodded back before he began walking towards the stairs.

 Chapter 129 Preplanning

    Next morning I woke up early without any disturbing dreams of Dolus or whatever. Looks like he was captured for good by Janus with the help of Lucifer and Amon. Though, I didn''t even have to visit the white dimension either¡­


    ¡­


    It was early in the morning and the sun wasn''t out yet and the whole castle was probably sleeping¡­ most of them, anyway.


    On the rooftop of Iredale Castle, a white-haired kid was currently walking in circles all around the rooftop. With his fixated gaze, as he calcted each and every inch of that ce, there was a slight irritation on his face.


    He just sat down on the floor as he began heavily pondering about something. Once again, he stood up and started analysing the whole area one step at a time. He moved towards the wall where he put his hands touching them as if trying to feel the depth before¡­


    "Shadow Style: Spear of the Devil," he punched the wall¡­


    -BOOOM!!!!!


    A loud bang was heard in addition to the wall breaking and an empty room came into view. He then proceeded to punch the walls around the hole he created slowly and slowly, creating more and more explosions in his way.


    -BOOOM!!


    -BOOOM!!!!


    -BOOOM!!


    -BOOOM!!!


    With each punch, he kept destroying the wall furthermore until he shattered it all, widening the hole he created even more than it was before. After he was done with breaking the walls, he turned around to find the half asleep Leeway family along with Lucia and the others gawking at him, wondering what exactly he was up to.


    "You could have asked me and I would have just sent some men to do this work," Mark Leeway was the first one to speak up as he looked at Zero. He didn''t think Zero would be doing something like this for no reason, and Zero answered him without much thought,


    "It all worked out anyway, didn''t it? It also saved me the time to go and call you. Can you give me the materials I asked for and also get your men to clean that?"


    Mark looked at him for a few moments with a curious gaze before speaking,"did something happenst night? You look a little different from before¡­"


    Hearing his words, Zero got a little curious before asking,"what do you mean by that?"


    "Before you seemed emotionless¡­ but now it feels like you have¡­ "Mark''s voice trailed off as he was speaking and Zero pondered a little as he thought,''must be because of the time in Avalon with Hygeia,'' and then sighed before speaking.


    "Just your imagination. Now, get back to work and let me do my part."


    Zero then ignored the curious gazes of all the people present there and focused on the floor of the roof once again. The other people who were there looked at Mark Leeway and then at Zero for a few moments before Mark Leeway shook his head and got to his work.


    Soon more and more people left, leaving only about 4 people there.


    ric Leeway, the guy with whom Zero foughtst night.


    Bete Leeway, the girl who was the reason that Zero was here.


    William, the guy who had a serious expression on his face as he observed the change in Zero.


    And finally Lucia¡­ who saw something she couldn''tprehend¡­


    [The person in front of you hated you to the core. Enough to kill you mercilessly.


    The person in front of you loved you to the deepest of his desires. Enough to fight against the whole world for you.


    He loved you before, but now he has begun moving on. The only feeling he currently bears towards you is bitter emotions that he wants to forget.]


    Something definitely happened, but she couldn''t understand what could happen in just one night? Because it was justst night that she had checked his emotions, making sure there was no change¡­ yet¡­


    She knew that the emotions Zero had towards her were strong, so they can''t be changed in just one night¡­ something big must have happened, but exactly what¡­? Though after thinking a bit about it she reached a conclusion¡­


    ''I am running out of time¡­ if I don''t hurry it up, I will lose a chance that I probably won''t get any time soon.''


    While Lucia was feeling the urgency of things going faster than she could predict, William had an expression that he wanted to know what had just happened to Zero.


    ? He looked like if he was given the chance, he could just barge in and forcefully make Zero tell him everything¡­ though he himself wasn''t sure if he was strong enough to do that¡­ forget about Mark Leeway''s wrath¡­ Can he take Zero out if he was given the chance one on one? Nobody knows.


    The amount of surprises Zero had was something only Zero knew and messing with him¡­ probably was not a good idea in any way.


    ''I guess, I will wait for now,'' William thought as he looked at Zero concentrating on the whole floor once again. Zero had a better expression, and he looked like had a satisfied smile on his face.


    William then left too, and not even momentster, Lucia hurriedly left as well. Zero did not know yet, but he just started another storm which wasing towards him rapidly. One that involved a secret so significant that it would jeopardize hisplete reality.


    ric and Bete stood there for a few moments before both of them moved down as well. They looked like they wanted to talk to Zero but looking at him, engrossed in his work; they decided that it wasn''t the best time to talk with him.


    A few minutester, a dozen people came with bags in both of their arms. They looked emotionless from top to bottom and if one wasn''t really paying attention to their life signs, they would have taken them for robots or something.


    Those men brought the bags filled with materials that Zero ordered and put them in a corner where Zero pointed them to. They then began taking care of the debris created by Zero in the process of breaking the wall.


    Zero then moved towards the bags and counted the materials one by one, ck Tulip and the Tears of Red Swan mixed with the spell [Foundation of Healing]... creating a strange syrup that was stored in ss bottles.


    There were about 300 such bottles and with that much amount, Zero made an awkward expression, wondering if Mark didn''t end up killing all the Red Swans or something in the process of securing these?


    "Well¡­ at least I have all the ingredients required so what happened to others shouldn''t bother me that much¡­ now that we are at this point¡­" Zero spoke as he turned serious as he took out one of the bottles and then took out a small basket and ced it beside him where he poured the liquid syrup into before¡­


    -sh


    He cut his own wrist along with activating his regeneration magic. The blood poured heavily into the basket where the liquid syrup was and they both started mixing vigorously.


    When the mixture reached the top, Zero enhanced his regeneration, healing himselfpletely. Normally the blood might have  clotted, but with that mixture, it could be preserved for another hour or so.


    Zero then began moving towards the centre of the rooftop, under the slightly shaken gaze of those emotionless men. Slight sweat was visible on their foreheads as they gulped, looking at the child who had just slit his own wrist and filled the basket with his own blood.


    But it wasn''t just that¡­ it was that carefree look on his face as if nothing happened¡­ that was the thing that sent chills down their spines. Then they began hurriedly moving on to do their own work¡­


    Zero moved to the centre and began painting on the floor with the blood mixture¡­ What he was drawing was a magic circle. It wasn''t a normal circle but a reverse circle he discovered during his days of travels¡­ this circle works on the principle of reversing the process of whatever took ce, which was actually what he aimed to achieve in this case.


    While he can''t exactly heal Bete, if he reversed the process he could bring out the parasite inside Bete which he could kill and thenter on heal Bete giving her a chance to live normally.


    The ck Tulip is there to inflict enough pain on the parasite while the Tears of Swan are there to heal Bete back up along with [Foundation of Healing] as a backup spell in case the Tears of Red Swan did not work.


    ''Though, with my regeneration capability now¡­ I think I could create another line of defence,'' Zero thought as he poured a little bit of regeneration magic on specific parts of the circle.


    And the process continued¡­ Zero slitting his wrists, pouring the blood and then drawing the circle with the mixture¡­

 Chapter 130 Preplanning#2 Magic Circle

    [Edited version will be published by tomorrow]


    Magic Circles are like sets ofmands that have various functions.


    While they themselves can''t create a new element, they can however be created to provide an independent functioning system of their own. They have this simple yetplex pathway that allows a user to freely chant magic without knowing the mechanism behind that.


    With the help of the System, one can use the given amount of Magic Circles, without really knowing about them¡­ it''s like a free magic circle provided to them. While they can acquire more magic circles from others or from ancient runes that allow them to enhance their own magic or add another skill to their arsenal, creating a circle from scratch requires an unimaginable amount of time and hard work¡­ that too will only work if you have the talent for magic circles.


    Creating a magic circle from scratch is extremely tedious because¡­ well, each element is different from each other and so does their circle. Even within a single element, different types of runes create different effects.


    One might need decades to even crack on how to create a circle, forget about making them actually work and not create something entirely out of control.


    ...


    "It''s like a horror movie¡­ what is he?" Bete speaks as she looks at Mark Leeway before looking at Lucia and others. Her eyes were shaken as she observed the white haired kid slitting his wrist, pouring the blood into the basket as if nothing at all.


    Lucia and the others, too, didn''t have any answer to this either¡­ They just kept looking at what Zero was gulping as they tried not to vomit looking at the gruesome scene in front of them.


    "Dad¡­ can you-" Bete tried to ask something but¡­


    "No. I am not that psychotic¡­ maybe if it was for you, I would have done it bearing the pain¡­ but to do it without even a trace of pain as if it were breathing¡­ I am not capable of that¡­ neither i want to be," Mark denied immediately making others nod at that.


    It has been three days that Zero has been doing this. In the beginning, the workers were the one to inform Mark Leeway,ter everyone in the family got to know what was happening and to say the least, they couldn''t believe their eyes even after watching it by themselves.


    "How long would he be doing it?" the white haired girl with a bowl cut, Cristine, asked as she looked at William who seemed closer to her than any other adult present here.


    William who was observing the scene carefully spoke,"about 2 more days, that is if this circle is all there is to it."


    The circle was about 60 percentpleted and looking at the depth of the circle¡­ it was way tooplex¡­ not something you can just know and remember¡­ so this could only mean one thing¡­


    ''He is creating it¡­. He is creating his own circle manually¡­ is that even possible?'' William had aplex expression on his face as he looked at Zero who was drawing the circle. What made William even more bbergasted was not the fact that Zero could behave¡­ like this? But more about his skill to create a manual magic circle.


    Lucia was still looking at that message which she saw a few days ago


    [The person in front of you hated you to the core. Enough to kill you mercilessly.


    The person in front of you loved you to the deepest of his desires. Enough to fight against the whole world for you.


    He loved you before, but now he has begun moving on. The only feeling he currently bears towards you is bitter emotions that he wants to forget.]


    However, contrasting to her previous worried expression, this time her face was filled with determination. She kept observing the face of Zero for about a few minutes with a thousand thoughts going on in her mind before she moved away from there.


    Others slowly left once again as they had seen today''s worth of their share on what Zero was doing¡­ which wasn''t any different from what he was doing yesterday.


    Though a few of them still remained as they just stood there watching him doing his work. Not a few moments after¡­


    "Is it painful?" asked a little white haired girl as she looked at Zero and Zero, without turning at her, spoke with a casual look,"not really. I have high regeneration powers so they make up for the blood loss. I do get the pain as much as you would get if you were stabbed by a knife but I guess you can get used to it as time passes."


    ''You don''t get used to being stabbed by a knife,'' thought Eliza as she sighed before shaking her head as she speaks,"Is there anything we can do?"


    By ''we,'' Eliza was speaking about Lucia, Cristine, Wim and herself. While they weren''t really close, they were at least closer to Zero, more than anyone else present here.


    "If I need you for anything, you probably won''t have to ask for it. Still thanks for the kind gesture¡­ now I would like you to refrain from any more questions as I want to concentrate back on the work here," Zero answered as he slit his wrists once again and then began pouring the blood.


    Eliza just looked at him for a few moments before leaving from there without uttering any other word. The others, that is, Cristine and William, went with her too as they sighed at Zero''s words.


    While Zero was doing all the work here, William and Lucia were checking out the castle without getting caught by Mark and his underlings. Eliza and Crisitne, started practising with ric and the others got to their own work.


    Linda Brown, the girl who came here to fill the paperwork for Bete, with regards to her admission in Arcadia Academy, was also busy with all the hectic work and she didn''t have a single moment of time to think or worry about other things.


    Things were going smoother for everyone and just like that another 2 days passed monotonously.


    After the two days were over, Zero began setting up artefacts all around the rooftop and even below the ground where the circle was. When Mark Leeway asked what he was doing, he said that he was just taking as many precautions as he could because even he doesn''t know what kind of enemy they would exactly face.


    This actually made Mark Leeway tense a little as he started getting a few rare artefacts for himself too. WHile he was strong, it could never be toote to be more prepared.


    Zero, after installing artefacts, took another 3 days to recheck each and everything multiple times over and over. He had to make sure, he didn''t miss anything at all or it would easily result in death of, not just him and Bete, but everyone involved here in this castle.


    As for people outside this castle, he had already made sure that as soon as Berentte died, the Parasyte died as well. Kind of cruel, but it is better than letting a parasyte so strong roam freely in this world before the predetermined time.


    While rechecking, Zero did find a few errors and aberrations, which he corrected with a sligh sweat trick on his forehead because¡­ well that could have really killed himter on and that kind of made him waste another few days to search for any other possible mistake.


    Another week passed, and Zero was finally sure that he had taken care of everything he could and now there was nothing more he could do about it¡­ within his possible limits.


    ''Let''s hope it is more than enough,'' he kept thinking that for a long time before he decided that it was finally time to meet Mark Leeway and tell him about his ns regarding what they would all be doing.


    It wasn;t just Mark Leeway but also his brothers and their children, along with William and unfortunately, even Lucia and the sisters who had to y the part in this uing battle. Though, before all this, he genuinely wanted to meet Amon¡­ or perhaps go to white Dimension and have a fight with that Parasyte based on the base information he had in his previous life.


    It has been more than a week since he had visited that dimension and one of the reasons that Zero took extra time to take precautions was so that he could get a visit to white dimension though unfortunately that did not happen.


    It was impossible for him to go there without using any outside means, and even if he called Amon, anyone could do it, given Amon does not control his exit and entry but the souls do.


    "I wonder if i should dy the fight for a few days," thought Zero for a few moments before a change urred in his surrounding finally letting his wishese true as¡­


    [Took your time, I suppose]


    Amon messaged him using the same blue screen while Elle was standing beside that screen ring at Zero for some reason¡­


    ''Did I¡­ do something?''

 Chapter 131 Parasite

    So what exactly is a parasite and where did ite from? Well¡­ despite it being our natural enemy, we could only collect so much information about them.


    First is the lowest of the lowest parasites, the Scout Parasites.


    They hunt


    They contaminate


    They take over


    They grow


    They divide


    They hunt again.


    They have only 3 purposes:


    One is to create inter-racial conflicts


    Two is to create intra-racial conflicts


    And three is to collect all the weaknesses and strong points about the races in question.


    The scout''s minimal power is SS level with the ability to fly with their insect-like wings and rip apart the flesh with their deadly sharp, long ws. Their main power, or perhaps their only power, not including the typical powers of contaminating and regrowing, is their physical prowess.


    They are too f*cking strong to be killed by merely using physical attacks.


    Scout parasites, like all parasites, have the ability to contaminate and grow by infecting any other living being in the vicinity. Even if they die, as long as a part of them is alive in another body, they could survive and regrow.


    In other words, they are fucking immortal unless they arepletely anhited, not leaving any trace behind.


    Like Zombies, they keep spreading but, rather than growing exponentially, their growth is more inclined to shifting with a limited number. In other words, the amount of parasites will always remain the same, though for every parasite killed, another will take over because usually every parasite has infected more than one living being and you never know if you are infected or not.


    There are many ways of killing them, with some working better than the others. Though my blood is still one of the best weapons, because it not only gives them an excruciatingly painful death, but it can also cut the connection of the parasite in question from their counterparts.


    What it means is that if I kill a parasite at one ce using my blood, even if it has another part living in another being, it can''t grow because the medium, which I still haven''t found out, but is supposed to be the connecting link between their two bodies, gets cut which luckily kills the counterpart as well.


    Whates after the Scout Parasites are Captain Parasites, which are nothing more than bigger and better scout parasites. They are exactly simr to scout parties with the only difference pertaining to their power level being SSS level.


    Above them are General Parasites, which are now much, much more dangerous than the Captain Parasites. While their physical prowess is the same, they have gained the ability to control an element. Depending upon the elements, they could be fire parasites, water parasites, or perhaps any other ability rted kind.


    Their elemental control is extremely exceptional too, with their mana level being as strong as their physical level, which makes them both scary and tricky opponents to deal with. They, for the most part, don''t have any weakness and are regarded as elemental cmity monsters of the SSSS grade or the S4 Grade.


    How to kill them? Haha! That''s something one should not think about until they have reached at least S5 or perhaps S6 level. Only then they could hope to kill¡­ or at times, survive the confrontation with the General.


    Whatester are the Count, Viscount, Duke and Royal Parasites with their Grading being S5, S6, X and XX level. Though, that is something we won''t need to deal with unless we are about to go to war with them on their own.


    ......¡­..


    "Where were you for the whole month? And that¡­ How could you harm yourself like that? What happened to you?" Elle asks with a re as she looks at me and I, a bit confused, turned to Amon who was still talking with the screen.


    "Can you exin¡­ what is going on here?" I asked Amon, a bit confused at her behaviour and Amon answers,


    [All the time you were in the Gate of Avalon, time was stopped for the outside world. However, inside here, time keeps on moving so¡­ you can understand the rest, can''t you?]


    Looking at that text on the blue screen, I pondered a little before nodding at it and then saw Elle making the same furious look before she spoke,"exin what is going on here?"


    I sigh before telling her the gist of the situation and hearing my exnation, she doesn''t speak a single word till the very end and patiently listens to me.


    Her expression changed at various parts of the stories but she kept herself silent until the very end of the story¡­ where we reached the part where I was about to kill that minotaur girl which made her close her eyes before sighing and then asking again,


    "Okay¡­ I understand all that. We will circle back to it with the minotaur girl and everything but tell me this first¡­ Why, in the f*ck''s sake, were you harming yourself like that?"


    I looked at her and she wasn''t just furious but was clearly mad at me¡­ she looked like she would kill me immediately if she had the chance to¡­ and now she is even more furious¡­ oh! She could read my thoughts¡­ maybe I should try hiding my though-


    -Bang!!!


    Not able to control herself, she punches me furiously, pushing me away before she vanishes and reaches behind me and then¡­


    -Bang!!


    She kicked me violently, however this time I caught her foot as I looked at her and said,"This was the fastest way," and she red again before punching me¡­


    -Bang!!


    I use both of my forearms to brace her attack and then she speaks again,"are you so low on time that you are hurting yourself without any concern for your safety?"


    And I look at her, getting a bit sad with the same fury as she looks at me. Her eyes just kept gazing at me with emotions which I failed to read¡­


    "Okay¡­ I won''t harm myself, unless it is extremely necessary," I said as I looked at her¡­

 Chapter 132 Parasite#2

    "Okay¡­ I won''t harm myself, unless it is extremely necessary," I said as I looked at her¡­


    Though I wondered¡­. When did I be so attached to people that I started caring about their emotions¡­


    ''The Life Magic!'' My eyes opened wide as I realised a few changes that have urred in me¡­ I no longer care about Lucia¡­ though I still hate her but¡­ I am not constantly gued by her thoughts as I used to?


    Did the Life Magic do something? That is the only answer I could think of¡­ otherwise, I had always been someone with minimal emotions. Hmmm¡­.


    "You won''t?" I looked at Elle who had a surprised expression as well¡­ looking at her, it doesn''t seem like she is reading my thoughts right now¡­


    "You don''t want me to?" I asked with a bit of confused expression at which she started stuttering as she looked at me again trying to speak coherently,"No, I mean¡­ yes¡­ you aren''t¡­ this doesn''t fit your character."


    I looked at her, trying to make up her mind to say the right words, and I then pondered again before speaking,"It is fine¡­ I think it has something to do with life magic and Hygeia."


    She looks at me for a few moments and makes a confused expression, but I ignore her before looking at Amon again and speaking.


    "Now that all has been more or less done¡­ there is something important that I want to ask of you, Amon."


    Elle wanted to speak something but looking at me with a serious expression, she shut her mouth immediately and then I saw another message from Amon.


    [First deal with that child]


    Which finally made me turn to look at the kid ying with his sword as he kept swinging it on his own. I then saw a few other new faces at a distance doing their own job without minding our business.


    ''Isn''t this rxing?'' I thought with an awkward expression, as I see the ce bing more and more crowded every time Ie here. I then concentrated back on the child as I moved towards him and he turned at me before pointing his sword at me.


    "Do you know what I want?" he asked with a serious face and I answered ying along with him, as,"no, I do not."


    "Then how are you going to solve my problems?" He asked again with his expression not changing one bit and I answered again,"I will think of a way that you can''t even think about even if it takes your whole life," which kinda made him smile a little before he nodded.


    "Save my dead sister," he spoke before he gazed into my eyes, while I kept looking at him, and then he continued again,"find her. Save her. I don''t know where she is. I have no idea where they have taken her or who has taken her. I don''t even know whether she is real or just a conjecture of my imagination¡­ but I want to save her. Though now that I can''t save her because I am here, I want you to do that for me. Can you do that for me?"


    I look at him before thinking about the situation,''to save someone who may or may not even exist? Now isn''t that interesting,'' and I smiled a little before speaking,"I will give my utmost best."


    He looked at me before nodding and then moving back as he spoke,"I will be watching over you. If you need any help¡­ you can ask me," and I kept looking at him before turning back to Amon and Elle, who were just observing me silently.


    While it may sound impossible¡­ there is no harm in trying¡­ Let''s do it when we return to Bryxtonter. For now¡­


    "What do you know about Parasites?" I asked Amon with a serious expression and a chart came in front of me showing grades and numbers of parasites..


    [Parasite King: 1


    Heaven''s Guard Parasites: 3


    Royal Guard Parasites: 8


    Duke Parasites: 250


    Viscount Parasites: 12782


    Count Parasites: 108979


    General Parasites:51089304


    Captain Parasites: 2786158134


    Scout Parasites: ???


    These are their current numbers in the entire universebined.


    If you want anything more specific, tell me the details and I will tell you about it briefly¡­ though not too much, cause it might alert a few primordials and that isn''t what we want right now]


    I saw the numbers and message with a nked out face¡­ while I knew about them being a lot in numbers¡­ but isn''t that like just too many? Just¡­ What kind of force did we end up fighting against?


    "What does that question mark denote?" I asked as I looked at it, at which another message appeared


    [Scout parasites have another form, called dormant form, where their system does not work. So I can''t count on them. For example, one of the dormant forms would be the one living inside Bete right now]


    I saw the message and sighed before pondering about something, and then speaking once again,


    "Can you tell me anything about the Parasite King?" at which Amon messages


    [I can''t give you any information on that right now]


    Which actually made me even more curious about the Parasite King¡­. Just who is he¡­ or what kind of entity is he?


    I then sat down on the ground as I closed my eyes before pondering over something deeply¡­.


    ''Hmmm¡­ There are multiple ways to fight against a parasite, but when we add Bete to the equation, this makes things much trickier than usual. What would be the best way¡­. to show as least power as possible while simultaneously also saving Bete and killing the scout? Is there any way I can use the scout? Nope, couldn''t do it before¡­ I don''t have the capability to do it now either¡­ '' and then I kept pondering over it¡­. again and again¡­ to make sure I missed nothing¡­


    And after I was done thinking¡­


    "Amon, create a Parasite Scout of one tenth of its power level."

 Chapter 133 Parasite#3

    An unconscious Scout Parasite clone was standing in front of me and looking at him resurfaced some nasty memories that I didn''t wanna remember. There was a time between the second and the third Cataclysm when these were one of the most dreaded creatures present on Vermillion.


    As time passed, all the races evolved enough to stand toe to toe against them,ter on became strong enough to defeat them even without blinking their eyes.


    Their existence was wiped out by the end of the third Cataclysm. And in the aftermath of it all that was left was a ck mark in the history of Vermillion that constantly reminded them about the horrendous things they did to us.


    The parasite in front of me made me recall all the assets that a parasite possesses. One of those was its insect-like body that was made up of a tough exoskeleton. Its eyes were ck-greenish, with its head shaped like that of an ant. It had wasp-like insect wings that were sharp enough to cut human flesh as if it were a piece of cake, if connected.


    Three pairs of arms, with all three of them having ws sharp enough to split hills down without much of a problem. The sharp ws were actuallyter used to create weapons and essories, because of their high durability.


    Their legs were grasshopper-like with the ability to jump really high, also equipped with minute des, so that if they hit something, it was sure to get cut.


    "One-tenth of an SS rank parasite should match my current maximum power, with all my limits kept in check," I thought as I then activated Blood Magic and Regeneration Magic along with it. I also activated enough power to envelope my arms and legs with the normal mana I had, along with an heightened sense of awareness.


    "Amon¡­ start," I spoke as I took out my sword and¡­


    I saw it slowly moving as it surveyed the surroundings and then it noticed me before its eyes turned a little more dirty leaf green, before


    -Swish


    It immediately reached close to me as it shed me without any warning or signs. I dodged it barely before¡­


    -nk!!


    My sword got connected to its two upper des and then I jumped back immediately as it used its middle and lower ws to cut me down.


    ''Just as I thought¡­ this is still too much for me¡­ to fight and win. Unlike fighting with Mark, fighting with it won''t get me anywhere¡­ Mark was a mana user so, I could have used everything including charm magic and opposing elements to barely survive and run away but with it¡­ I am not preparing to fight against it just to run away but to destroy it wholly¡­.'' I thought as I saw it getting unconscious again.


    I can create clones of Mark and others who will be fighting with me, but the real battle can go in so many directions that it might take eternity for all the possibilities to happen. Well¡­. that is, if we talk only about fighting with the parasite without any external aid.


    "Activate all the artefacts and the circle at 50% power," I said, and I saw a huge magic circle and multiple artefactsing in front of me, which activated immediately.


    I then look at that parasite gaining conscious again before


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    I moved closer to it and began fighting with it. I used everything I could and finally I had a clear edge on it¡­


    "Amon¡­ 25%" I spoke and the parasite''s power increased to 1/4th from the previous 1/10th¡­ it was a sudden increment in power but¡­


    "Blood Sacrifice:....."


    -nk!!!


    -nk!!!


    -nk!!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    "...First Moon," I said with my eyes turning deep red and my body beginning to crack¡­ though¡­


    "Regeneration: Healing of Hygeia" I spoke as I activated the maximum amount of Life Spirit Magic I could¡­ which lessened the pain from using Blood Sacrifice considerably and¡­


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    The fight got more intense with both of us at a steady pace. I still had a slight edge, but I needed another push¡­ something that I can use at this moment was¡­


    "Shadow Style: One Fateful Night."


    I changed my style to that of a berserker. My eyes were turning darker and darker by the moment, before I increased my speed again, pushing my body beyond what it was already capable of. My body began breaking faster and faster with blood gushing out from everywhere, painting me blood red¡­


    "Light Magic: Aurora of Joy," I spoke again, washing all the pain down before I looked at that parasite getting slowed down. While I wasn''t exactly healing, my pain was numbed and my senses were yet again brought to normal.


    I then sighed before finally speaking,


    "Amon¡­ 100%" I spoke and the magic circle and the power of the artefacts turned to 100% which made the parasite a bit slower than he was and I could see that I could win against it¡­ however it was just 25% of its power and not 100%...


    ''Should I use Aelia as well?'' I thought as I pondered over it before I shook my head and thought it would be better not to. It will create more problems that I don''t want to dwell on.


    I then finally created a chance, as I continued fighting with that parasite, and then shed its torso letting my blood finally touch it and¡­


    -BOOOM!!!!!!!


    An explosion urred, blowing up that parasite to pieces and pushing me away from it. I saw the reaction with a little bit of surprise, as I did not expect this reaction at all.


    I turned to Amon, but he didn''t say anything, which made me wonder what happened? I saw the blood on my sword, which looked just as normal as before¡­ just what?


    I mean, before, it could only harm the parasite to the point of burning them to ashes, but now¡­ It could straight away cause an explosion¡­


    "What is going on¡­ here?!!" I thought as I stood back up with a surprised expression on my face, healing my body back to normal.

 Chapter 134 Parasite#4

    "What is going on¡­ here?!!" I thought as I stood back up with a surprised expression on my face, healing my body back to normal.


    I nced at Elle and Amon but the screen was still nk, and I then sighed, wondering,''did something happen in Avalon?'' That is the only thing I can think of right now.


    I then turned towards the people present here and wondered if I could solve their problem here only. I tried checking each and everyone out, but even after trying for a few moments, I still couldn''t find anyone I could immediately help, so I just moved to Elle as I spoke.


    "In that one month, did you make any progress in that technique of yours?"


    She looked at me before shaking her head as she spoke,"I am still trying, but there''s not much I could do. I did get about a thousand ways you can fail, though? Wanna hear about them?"


    I looked at her with a confused expression for a few moments before asking,"what happened to you? Howe you are in such a good mood all of a sudden?"


    Though all I got was,"no¡­ it''s nothing," before she moved away from here, humming as she moved away. I, still a bit confused, looked at Amon, who was still using the screen tomunicate, and asked,


    "Why are you using the screen again? Not prying, just curious."


    [People here won''t be able to handle my presence¡­ that is all. You have your rejection fragment so you are fine]


    I saw the message and nodded before wondering if I should do anything else and I finally remembered something and took off my shirt, revealing my green vine tattoo that spread from my heart to all over my left arm.


    On the back of my left hand, there was still the white symbol that Lucifer gave me, while on my right arm there was the red coloured magic circle I got after forming the contract with Aelia.


    Elle was looking at me from a distance with a nk look. Her face was¡­ flushed red right now¡­


    I chuckled before concentrating on the red circle summoning Aelia. Not even a momentter, I saw Aelia in front of me, stretching her hands as if she was finally waking up from a long nap. Her long yawn kinda looked cute, to be honest.


    Aelia then looked at me before speaking,"what is it that you want, right now?" and I chuckled at her nonchnt behaviour. Every time I call her, she bes even more frank than before with me¡­ not that I mind much.


    I then told her about the situation about the minotaur girl and wondered if there was anything she could do about it, at which she made a pondering expression before speaking.


    "Rosalyn was the one who was an expert in these kinds of things. If you could get to her castle¡­ which is once again,.. you know where it is, you may be able to find the answer to it."


    I looked at her for a few moments before thinking about it and then speaking,"can we really not do anything about it?"


    "Hmmm¡­" she narrowed her eyes at me, as she looked deeply into mine, before asking,"are you really Zero, the Reaper? The one who made me his ve?"


    From her eyes, it didn''t look like she was joking at all. I looked at her for a few moments before speaking,"I am¡­ is there anything different about me?"


    She looked at me thinking something before speaking,"you are getting morepassionate? No¡­ Darling, it''s more like you have be more emotional now¡­ or maybe you are letting your emotions control yourself to some extent¡­"


    After that she pondered again before making a bit of an odd expression and I asked again,"what is it?"


    "Ah! No, Darling I was just thinking about if it is a good thing or a bad thing¡­ but honestly I don''t know. While emotions are a good thing to drive you to do stuff, having them can also lead you to your doom sometimes¡­so.. Well¡­ that summarizes all that I was thinking," she exins herself while also sharing her opinion.


    Hearing her words, I too pondered over what she said. I would be a fool not to notice this after clearly being pointed. Though¡­ I think it would be better to be somewhat emotional rather than not being emotional at all. After all, the only times I had ever been emotional was all rted to Lucia¡­ being emotional about something else¡­ is honestly, kind of refreshing.


    "Well.. back to the topic on hand, I don''t know if I could do something to reverse the whole process, all the more difficult with theck of power you or I will have in that ce¡­ but it won''t be exactly impossible to transfer her soul into something else, maybe?" Aelia spoke, and I understood where she was going and I stopped her at once,


    "No, I don''t want tomit a taboo for just a stranger that I won''t even know¡­."


    Listening to my words, she smiled again before speaking,"well¡­ that is all that I can do then."


    I heard her and then sighed before speaking,"I guess I will be leaving from here then. Not much more I can do about it¡­ Maybe I will see in the outside world¡­" My eyes were a bit sad, a bit reluctant, but there is only so much I can do.


    I then moved towards that kid and spoke to him about sending me back to the outside world and he nodded before the scenery began changing and I waved at the people watching me there.


    When I was gone, Aelia was gone too, with Elle once again left with the rest of the people there as she looked at that kid who seemed like he wanted to say something.


    "What is it?" She asked and the boy only replied,"you should speak your mind."


    "But I am not even real, am I? I shouldn''t interfere with his life too much, no matter how much I feel. I believe he understands that too¡­ hopefully," Elle spoke as she lightly pped her cheeks and then concentrated back on the spell on which she was working.

 Chapter 135 A Talk About What Comes Next

    There are times, no matter how much you n, you will always be dissatisfied. Psychology says that it is human nature to never settle for anything no matter how precious. In other words, humans will always be dissatisfied with something or the other no matter how aplished or great they are, most of their lifetime.


    At those times, it is better to take a deep breath and let fate y its part. It is better to lose after doing everything rather than losing something by not doing anything at all. The only oue can be either losing something with the thought that you gave your best, or winning it.


    ...¡­.


    Zero moved towards Mark''s office and, after walking a little, he reached the office where Mark Leeway and his wife, Britney Leeway, were discussing something in a serious manner, with a butler pouring tea for Britney.


    The office was simr to before, with a bookshelf at the corner and an authentic brown coloured wall. There were small green nts near the big bright window, opposite to the gate. The window was behind the table where Mark Leeway was sitting.


    The table was a bit arked than square shaped, with few books ced on it. Britney was sitting opposite to Mark and as soon as Zero entered, all three of them looked at him with a slightly serious gaze.


    Britney was a red-haireddy in herte 40s, though her appearance matched that of someone in their early 30s. Her eyes were ck, with her hair reaching down to her waist, and her face looked simr to that of Bete, except with a mature look.


    She, as far as Zero had collected information on her, was a maniptive yet caringdy. Maniptive because she didn''t want anyone to exploit her family, no matter what. She didn''t regard anyone, on equal footing with her family, even the other SS-sses, and openly looked down on them.


    Caring cause, she loved her family more than anything, despite failing miserably to show that. While her words can be misinterpreted at times, it was said that not once had she had any intentions of harming anyone from her family.


    She died when the parasite inside Bete took over Bete¡­ while Bete was trying to kill herself to kill the parasite with her; she was the one who gave up her life to stop Bete from doing so, ironically resulting in the death of Bete¡­


    The parasite died as it spread itsst bits of power, killing her as well.


    Her power level wasparatively weaker than the other Leeways, making her stay on A-Grade level, the reason being her reluctance to train in any physical or magical activity and focus on developing hermunication skills in order to deal with the social and political problems.


    "What happened?" asked Mark Leeway as he looked at Zero with a sudden serious expression and Zero spoke,"Can we speak alone for a few moments?" as he looked at Britney and the butler.


    While Britney wanted to stay, Mark followed Zero''s words and asked her to move out immediately. This kinda hurt Britney, but she did not go against his words, while only giving Zero a re as she moved out of the room.


    -Creak!


    -Thud!


    The door opened and closed before Zero turned at Mark Leeway before speaking with a rxed and casual expression contrasting to his previous serious expression,"nothing just that I have done my part of preparation and I wanted to discuss further on how we are going to proceed with the ritual."


    Mark looked at him for a few moments before speaking,"sure, go ahead."


    Zero nodded before beginning to describe the n to him,"firstly, I want to know the power levels of people here. Yours¡­ I already know, others¡­ I think I know most of their powers too. But still, I wanted to run a check on who is capable of what and then formte a n on how to deal with things ordingly.


    For starters¡­"


    Zero threw across a paper mentioning the strength and the weaknesses about the Scout Parasite andplications that may have resulted in that parasite merging with Bete. There was a possibility of the parasite being able to harness Bete''s power and that is surely going to make it an SSS ss grade threat¡­ though it is still just an assumption.


    "... these are the properties of the enemy that is residing in your daughter¡­ under normal conditions. There are a few possibilities that may result due to various reasons and I have mentioned them there as well," he finished speaking and Mark intently kept looking at that paper over and over before he looked at Zero. He had a doubtful look on his face, but Zero didn''t seem to care much about it.


    "Other than that, I also wanted to discuss our own personal deal regarding your curse, too. Would you like to do that now, or perhapster?" Zero asked making Mark turn at him with a slightly pondering look over his serious face before he spoke,


    "Let''s deal with this first. Once my daughter is saved, only then will I think about myself."


    Hearing that, Zero nodded at him because while he did want to make that deal and use Mark to achieve his own goal, he really can''t put it into motion unless Zero himself is at least SS level or more.


    Zero then ponder a little before speaking again,


    "About that basement¡­ Once all this is over, I will visit that ce so I would like to have some information about that ce¡­ whatever you can get me."


    Mark looked at him with a keen look before asking,"any special reason?"


    ''Because it is connected with the gate of Avalon,'' is what he wanted to say but,"It feels intriguing."


    He looked at Zero for a few moments before speaking,"if you can cure my daughter, I don''t have any problem with that. Though, I must warn you again, it is not a ce where you should go. You can never be sure that you will be able toe back if you go too deep down there."

 Chapter 136 Britney Leeway

    He looked at Zero for a few moments before speaking,"if you can cure my daughter; I don''t have any problem with that. Though, I must warn you again, it is not a ce where you should go. You can never be sure that you will be able toe back if you go too deep down there."


    Zero looked at his grave expression before looking down for a few moments as he pondered about his decision and then speaking,"I''ll think about what you said," and then Zero moved out speaking,"I will go through your family members one by one¡­" and opened the gate before walking out.


    ¡­


    As I walked outside, I found her standing there with her butler at a distance. The garden behind her, as she stared ahead with a worry-filled expression, gave an iconic scene that you only find in movies or perhaps paintings.


    "I don''t trust you," I hear her contemptful words as she speaks without turning towards me,"a child who isn''t even 18 yet is trying to save my daughter and my husband, the most level headed person in the family, is trusting that child as if that child was his savior or something? Haha! Just how ridiculous it can get¡­"


    I look at her for a few moments before I say,"it is not about trust," and then I begin walking as I continue,"I can save your daughter and she will be back to normal again¡­ perhaps even better than she had ever been¡­ isn''t that what a mother should want?"


    "And do you have proof? A proof that she will be able to live freely? A proof that she will be safe again? I have seen about a hundred different people trying their best or perhaps worst, both trying to save my daughter or manipting my husband¡­ do you know how much hard work I had to do to make sure nobody exploits him using my daughter?" Britney spears as she looks at me with a slight re as she continues,


    "And then youe¡­ a child against whom I can''t find even a speck of dirt, no matter how hard I try. In fact, what''s more frustrating is that Rheo, whom I sent to get dirt on you, actually started talking about you in a good light about how capable you are."


    Looking at her, I wondered if she had an issue with trusting strangers? Not just a normal issue, but something deeper behind that. Perhaps something might have happened?


    "I don''t want to get any more involved in this as much as I am, too, but one thing led to another I suppose¡­" I spoke and she looked at me with a slightly confused expression.


    "Well¡­ you might have heard how I got my life spared in exchange for treating your daughter using that contract, didn''t I?"I asked making her look at me scornfully for a few moments before speaking,


    "That is the exact reason I don''t trust you, honestly. It was the situation that had forced you and maybe you just used my daughter to your advantage?"


    I ponder over her words and speak again,"not really. I wouldn''t have made that kinda deal to ''The Mark Leeway'', now would I? It is not sensible in any way."


    She wanted to retort again but before she could speak again I spoke,"while we could argue for hours over this topic; I don''t think we will reach a conclusion ever. The fact that you don''t even trust a mana contract must mean that something huge must have happened to you to lose trust in almost everyone."


    She shut her mouth immediately and looked at me with a slightly open eyed expression and before she could speak or do anything, I once again continued,


    "Well¡­ I am not really interested in your past. I don''t even have anything to deal with rted to you but¡­ you are still the mother of the child I am about to save so the least I can do for you is to tell you that I will be saving your daughter for real without any trickery involved. While you may not believe it¡­ but I suppose¡­ I think it would be better if you wait and see everything for yourself?"


    ''Doesn''t make sense anyways¡­ to tell the person who doesn''t trust anyone, to trust me¡­ but still, with this, if everything goes well, I can make her believe me and in turn use her if I ever need to do that, '' I thought before walking away from there.


    It is not like she can do anything about it with Mark Leeway takingplete charge.


    She kept gazing at me for a few moments as I passed from there before she spoke in a low but audible voice,"if you do end up saving my daughter¡­ I''ll¡­ I will tell you something that you might find interesting."


    I halted midway at her words and turned back only to see her walking inside Mark''s office again, before pondering over her words¡­ while I don''t really want to know about her past and stuff¡­ the word ''interesting'' really caught my attention here.


    ''Maybe things are going to get a bit moreplicated¡­ or perhaps more interesting than I thought they would be,'' I thought as I moved forward.


    As I was walking down the side way, I admired the aesthetic beauty of the garden to my left. It was oddly satisfying and I can really rx here in times of distress¡­ like thatdy in the green dress was doing so.


    ''Irene Leeway,'' I recalled our interaction which urred when I first entered this castle. Looking around, it seemed like she was all alone by herself. Though, I thought Linda would be with her, given how close friends they are.


    Since I needed to get close to many of the Leeway members for a multitude of reasons, I think it would be better if I start talking to as many as I could.

 Chapter 137 Irene

    Irene Leeway, 3rd child of Elric Leeway, cousin of Bete Leeway and the younger sister of ric Leeway, the guy I fought on the rooftop after returning from Avalon.


    Her green long luscious hair that reached her waist gave her an ambient look when gazing at her from far away, sitting in this garden. Getting a proper look, her green eyes, behind those circr sses, were currently engrossed in the book in front of her.


    ''If I am not wrong, she is currently enrolled in the first year of Arcadia Academy and her exams are really close¡­ now that makes me wonder,'' I thought before speaking,


    "Shouldn''t you be in the Academy, studying for your exams?"


    She turned at me with a not so surprised look as she spoke,"Yeah. That is true." Her voice was tired, to say the least, as if she was in distress or something.


    "You don''t look as energetic anymore," I walked closer as I remarked before reaching closer to the bench on which she was sitting and sat beside her.


    She turned to me for a few moments before speaking,"Well¡­ you look unusually free for someone who has such an important task to do, " and I looked at her with a small smile before speaking.


    "I have my ways to create some time for rxation."


    She looked at me before speaking,"then have your break. I won''t be disturbing you anymore," and then moved away from there as I kept gazing at her.


    ''It won''t work, if I can''t even initiate a conversation¡­ is there something that I can collect based on previous memories? Hmmm¡­ now that I think about it¡­ there really is nothing that I know about her,'' I was lost in thought before I saw her vanishing from my eyesight.


    Well¡­ looks like I need to look up some information. Hmmm¡­ there must be something that I can use¡­


    I then stood up, sighing, before sauntering towards the outside area. Since there is nothing I can do here, I might as well go look at the town nearby. I heard there are herbs here that are quite rare¡­ maybe I can find something special¡­


    A few minutester, I reached the outside gate and bumped into Irene here once again as she was on her way out. Watching meing towards her, she narrows her eyes before asking in a doubtful tone,"are you by any chance following me?"


    I look at her and think a little before speaking,"does that bother you?"


    Her serious expression returns and she speaks in a dominant tone,"it does."


    "Then I am probably not following you," I spoke with a slight chuckle before moving towards the gate and then walking outside. The castle was a bit inside the forest with only one way towards the market, so all I could see was a single way out with forest all around.


    There was a car parked not too far from us and I saw Irene passing by me before reaching the car and leaving the castle. The car left in a few moments and I sighed before my eyes turns red as I mutter,''Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth Moon''


    Then I enhance the mana in my foot and around my eyes before taking a deep breath as I mutter again,"Shallow steps" as I begin walking as fast as I can without making even a single sound.


    And then¡­


    -Dash!


    -Dash!


    -Dash!


    -Dash!


    -Dash!


    -Dash!


    -Dash!


    I kept running as fast as I could. At first there were some instances of my steps leaving behind traces, butter on, even those vanished as I adapted to the road and its structure.


    It took me about 15 minutes and I saw Irene''s car almost reaching the town and I ran even faster before reaching the town''s gate where the guards were present. I stopped at a little distance from the guards and slowly began walking towards them from there onwards.


    The guards examining me were a bit rmed before one of them came and asked for my identity. I showed him my ID card, which I got from Bryxton, and he nodded before letting me in.


    ''Hmm¡­ they aren''t bothered by meing from the forest area¡­ or more like they aren''t really that interested, huh?'' I thought as I looked at the guards as they hurriedly approached the caring in their direction.


    Irene got out of the car and the guards bowed to her before letting her get in safely inside the town. I moved in silently as I saw the billboard of the town with ''Rosemary Town'' written on it.


    It had a western vige type look, with mostly wooden houses preserving the ancient beauty of this ce. Though that doesn''t really interest me, so let''s move to the herbs and see if we can find something that we can useter on.


    "Stop right there!" Though before I could even take a single step, I heard a familiar voice from behind and surely enough, it was Irene with a slightly shocked look before she moved towards me.


    The guards, hearing her voice, looked at me before they surrounded me immediately. One of the guards even tried to touch me, however,


    "What are you doing?!" Irene, a bit baffled at the guard''s conduct, shouted at them, making them take a step back with a confused look on their face.


    "You aren''t really familiar with how things work outside, huh?" I spoke with a slight smile as I looked at her half confused face before moving towards her and speaking,"for now, order them to go back to their own work. And let''s get something to eat nearby, all right? Is that fine with you?"


    Though a bit reluctant, she still nodded before ordering the guards to go back to their work. The guards, though a bit reluctant, still left without uttering a single word. Well, they were looking at me withplex emotions all right, so there was that too¡­


    Then Irene and I moved towards the nearest restaurant.

 Chapter 138 Irene#2

    Inside the restaurant, I see her sitting opposite to mepletely still. Her eyes were lowered before she slowly lifted them up and spoke,


    "I¡­ I am sorry for themotion¡­ what just happened?"


    Hearing her hesitant tone made me wonder whether she was the same person whom I met a few minutes back¡­ perhaps there is more to her than what it seems?


    "It is fine¡­ though, do you really not know what just happened?" I ask her with a bit of curiosity and she slowly nods. I then pondered a little before speaking,


    "Well, what happened was actually quite simple. When you shouted my name, the guards thought that I was someone who had offended you in some form, so both of them acted vigntly against me while also trying to win your favour, they basically took action without confirming anything."


    I spoke with her eyes turning wide-eyed before she spoke,"but that is¡­" She speaks and I finish her sentence as,"... absurd. I know. But this is how normal people think, miss smart ass."


    She looks at me as if to confirm my words before she sighs and then speaks,"but even still. They could have just waited a little bit more and not just immediately jumped to a conclusion? Wouldn''t it have made more sense that way?"


    "And let someone else snatch their chance to take advantage of helping a Leeway?" I ask with a slight smirk and she shuts up again as she mulls over something while looking at me with a keen look.


    "Then¡­ I suppose I owe you an apology-" she tries to apologise again but,


    "It''s fine. Though, if you really feel that bad about it, why not do me a small favour in return?"


    I wondered why she was fixated on apologising, but if it all works in my favour, then I guess I could care less about it. I looked at her expression turning slightly serious as she asked,"what favour?"


    "Show me around the town. I need to collect some herbs, so help me out with that¡­ also, if I am not intruding, what business do you have in this town?" I asked and saw her expression getting normal again.


    "I am here to meet someone. You already know her," Irene speaks, and I understood who she was mentioning.


    "Linda Brown?" I ask and she nods before speaking," do you want to eat something from here? The bill will be on me."


    I look through the menu before speaking,"I guess I can have some coffee. What about you? What will you take?" which made her shake her head as she speaks,


    "I don''t eat anything from outside. All my meals are prepared by my cook or my assistant with utmost cleanliness."


    "OCD?" I ask with a slightly raised eyebrow and she nods before I ponder over something before speaking,"how about if I prepare something for you?"


    "I wouldn''t even see it," she smiles before speaking as she chuckles a little and then continues,"thanks for the sentiment, though."


    "Not getting too personal. Have you ever thought about treating your OCD?" I spoke and she answered,"I have tried, but it doesn''t seem to be working. It''s not like I hate food or anything, but it''s my body¡­ if it senses anything dirty or even minute contamination it starts reacting to it¡­ While my OCD can be cured with some treatment, because my body continuously keeps rejecting the food, it hinders the treatment making my OCD recur."


    ''This¡­. sounds a bit too familiar,'' I thought before recalling some memories and then finally I sigh a bit before speaking,"all right then, I wanna check something. Would it be alright for you to take a minimal sip that shouldn''t create any problem for you?"


    At my words, she looked at me with a sudden serious expression, but I just called the waiter and ordered two cups of coffee. I then turn at her and speak as my eyes turn red,


    "You don''t have an OCD."


    I use slight charm magic to temporarily make her forget about the OCD. She looks at me strangely before speaking,"what are you babbling about?"


    "I am just trying something. Maybe I can provide you a temporary solution for you to ignore your OCD and bodily conditions," I answer and she res at me, but before she can speak anything, the waiteres with two  hot cups of coffee and ces in front of us.


    I then wave my hand towards her cup and mutter,"Life Magic: Purify, Light Magic: Purify," and then I pass it on to her. She looks at the cup for a few moments before shaking her head as she speaks,


    "I am not doing it. This is idiotic."


    Though I smiled at her before speaking,"Do you want to know why I came to the Iredale Castle? My real purpose?"


    I threw a bait, and she stopped as she turned to look at me. I looked at herplex expression mixed with seriousness as she asked,"What are you getting at?"


    At this I just pointed at the cup and she sat there a bit annoyed before she began pondering a lot about it. She then takes off her sses and presses her forehead as if her head was hurting from all this but in the end she just sighed before muttering,''Truth or lie, one sip won''t kill me,'' and then picked up the cup and took an extremely small sip. Her eyes turned a bit wide open before she took a bitrger sip and then finally a normal sip.


    A bit dumbfounded, she then puts the cup down before speaking,"now that I have drunk the coffee, tell me¡­? What happened to you?"


    While I just looked at her with a bbergasted expression before finally realising why she had that OCD and stuff. Her body¡­ okay, it does make sense now¡­


    "Well¡­ can I ask you, Irene, about your parents? Who are they? Is Elric your real father? Who is your mother?" I ask her and she looks at me with a slightly dumbfounded gaze before she speaks,"No.. Wait!! How did you know?!! Who are you?"


    Her eyes looked at me with a deep gaze and an extremelyplicated expression and I sigh before speaking,


    "Irene¡­ do you know about the Luna n?"

 Chapter 139 Irene#3

    Luna, as I have exined earlier, has its roots originating from the Moon, is a race specialising in magic exclusively of its own. Ummm¡­ how should I exin it¡­. Okay, listen here,


    There exists another form of magic, that is more niche towards the Moon, that is present on the Moon. While it is niche towards the Moon, in traces it is also present on Vermillion as well. That energy, let''s call it Lunar Energy, is something that only Luna, and those blessed by Luna''s can use without restraints in their lifetime.


    Now, back to Luna, they are a species with pure white skin, elf-like long delicate ears but without any natural affinity towards them; means that they can''t use the energy of nature, unlike Elves who can freely manipte it. Luna''s main powers are shown more at night than during daytime, that too maximises in the presence of the moon.


    Now, there is much more to their bodies and their energies, but the main thing about their body is that it is pure in several aspects. Their body rejects even small amounts of normal elemental magic present in the food and other stuff¡­ hence the problem Irene was facing. What I did was remove and rece that energy with my Spirit Magic¡­ Spirit Magic is almost as pure, if not purer than Lunar Magic.


    The energy they have inside their bodies, it never interacts with the normal mana present around us, but only with the traces of Lunar energy present around us. That is why they tend to be weaker in their physical attributes during birth butter on gain another way of absorbing the Lunar energy through breathing, which is taught to all the Lunas.


    Looking at Irene, she did attain some method, I presume, otherwise her getting into the Academy wouldn''t have been¡­ wait! Isn''t she just in the first year right now, about to give the exam? Don''t tell me she entered by an unorthodox method? Ah! Now it all makes even more sense.


    There are multiple ways of getting into the Academy. As long as you show your excellence in something that is worthwhile, you are allowed to enter the Academy but the second year requires you to at least be strong enough to defeat a C-Grade opponent¡­ hmmm¡­ now that I think about it, she isn''t that strong either¡­


    I guess she excels in something, and entered the Academy using that, but since she couldn''t up herbat skills no matter what she tried, because of her body nature, she decided to leave the Academy? Damn, that''s unfortunate¡­


    ....


    "Irene¡­. Do you know about the Luna n?" I asked as I looked at her face with a curious look and all I got in return was a puzzled expression on her face.


    I then sighed before speaking,"do you know the reason why you¡­ no wait! Hmmm¡­ okay. Can I ask you 3 questions? If you answer them honestly, I think I can help you find a way to get stronger in exchange for something that I need you to doter for me?"


    She looks at me with a serious expression before slightly nodding and I smile back at her before speaking,


    "You are leaving the Academy because of your weak constitution, right?"


    She looks at me, shocked, for a few moments before asking in a slightly raised voice,"How did you-" but she stops midway then looks around, and after making sure that no one was around us, she looks at me again as she gulps and speaks in a hushed manner,"I haven''t told  about this to anyone¡­ how did you know?"


    "Well¡­ I guess I was right," I spoke making it look like I guessed and she got a bit confused whether I really knew it or I just tricked her into telling me but she kept looking at me silently as I phrased my next question,


    "The more you try to train by normal method, the more your power decreases and you get sick or something like that?"


    And yeah, once again she looked at me with an extremely shocked look, as if her deepest secret got exposed. She gulped a little before speaking,"how¡­ who are you? How do you know so much? Zero¡­"


    Well, she being a Luna was equally shocking to me as well¡­ Damn! And the fact that a Luna without using Lunar energy could survive this long¡­ is also very shocking¡­ is she high in status or something?


    The reason her using normal energy deteriorated her health was once again the same, and that was her pure body and its tendency to reject normal mana.


    "My final question¡­ well, I have two questions, but I guess I will go with this one¡­ Do you have a tattoo on your back or something? Something that is a symb-" as I was speaking, she covered my mouth with her hands as she stared directly into my eyes with aplicated yet scared gaze before speaking,


    "What exactly are you? Those symbols¡­"


    ''Aren''t visible¡­ except to a Luna and those blessed by Lunas¡­ and me too,'' I thoughtpleting her sentence before she removes her hand from my mouth and I speak,


    "I can help you get stronger¡­ I think I can even tell you about your origin. Though I want something in return-"


    "Yes!" she speaks immediately, without any hesitation, as she looks at me resolutely. Her eyes were dead set and I kind of sighed before speaking.


    "At least listen before you agree."


    She, without any change in her expression, continues her words,"I don''t have any hope¡­ you have no idea what is going on in the Academy right now and now that I have a chance to change things¡­ I am not letting it go¡­ even if I have to¡­"


    Though she turns silent at the end as she looks at me once again with slight gulp and I chuckle a little before speaking,"I am not interested in young girls," and then I use fire magic to heat the coffee again before passing it to her as I speak with a really ''kind'' smile,


    "Well then. Let''s talk about the deal, shall we?"

 Chapter 140 Irene#4

    "Well then. Let''s talk about the deal, shall we?"


    I spoke, and she looks at me with a serious expression before she nods a little and I continue,


    "I need you to sign a mana contract that you will follow my threemands every month till you are enrolled at Arcadia Academy. Thosemands will have nothing to do with your personal life directly, nor will they have any particr effect on your life. Will that be fine?"


    She looks at me a bit confused before speaking,"Can I add my own conditions to the contract? There are some things I would not do even if it costs my life, so pardon my rigidity."


    I look at her and nod as I speak,"Let''s reach a reasonable conclusion," before handing a mana contract to her as I write the deal I have mentioned right now. What I had to do in return was to help her be strong enough to defeat at least an S-Rank opponent while also telling her about the secrets pertaining to Lunas which I could tell her without any problem whatsoever.


    She then looks at it carefully before adding a few points of her own and once she was done, I looked at the mana contract carefully for a few seconds before nodding at it.


    It was a bunch of things like I can''t make her do something that would get her punished by the faculty of the Academy, and something that would hurt her family and a few simr things.


    Surprisingly, she didn''t mention me getting¡­ or perhaps using her. Is she an idiot, or perhaps she is that determined? Whatever the case be¡­


    I then put a drop of blood on the contract to seal the deal and she does too¡­ and with this I just got another ally that I can manipte ording to my will. Perhaps this was fate, too? To get a Luna working under me¡­ that too Royalty? Damn, I must have used all my luck points on this.


    ''But to think she is Royalty? Wonder how high up into the royalty she is,'' I thought as I looked at her. How do I know about her being Royalty? Well, the answer is in the symbol, while normal Lunas are simr to Royal Lunas, Royal Lunas have a symbol etched on their back to show their higher status. That symbol is something they are born with and could not be replicated in any form.


    The reason I guessed her to have the Royalty symbol, was because of the fact she survived this long without depending upon the Lunar Mana, which a normal Luna couldn''t have really done¡­ unless of course they are really special; a Royal.


    "With this, we have a deal now. Though, I would love to help you out immediately. I guess it would be better if we could finish the business we have here in this ce," I say as I take a sip of the coffee, heating it once again.


    She too drinks hers slowly and slowly as she nods. Once we were done here, Irene decided that it would be better if we got to herbs first, as they were on the way to Linda''s house.


    So for the next hour or so, we kept thrift shopping for herbs and I did find a few herbs I was looking for, while also finding a couple of herbs I thought would be better to keep with me and see if I can use themter.


    And after I was done with all the herbs, I asked Irene to take me to Linda''s house. It won''t be proper to not meet a friend when you are so close to their house¡­


    Though Irene looked at me with a slightly odd look before shaking her head and then taking me to her. Irene made a few lefts and rights before reaching a rtively isted corner. There were a few hoodlums as well and looking at using towards them, they startedughing among themselves.


    One of them stood up and started walking towards us¡­ I saw his eyes that had nothing but pure lust in them. I sighed before moving forward and Irene, watching that guying toward us, made an odd expression, wondering why he was looking at her the way he was.


    In fact, she was a little scared too as she got a bit closer to me and a few momentster; he was standing in front of us.


    ''Looks like he finally noticed me,'' I thought as that guy then turned to me and then as he was about to speak something, his expression changed. His eyes turned half dead and his face¡­ well, it turned expressionless.


    He took out a gun and a knife before turning around and then looking at his ''friends'' and then¡­


    -Bang!!


    -Bang!!


    -Bang!!


    -Bang!!


    He started shooting at them aiming at their non-vital parts before running towards them with his knife, with the same expressionless look. His friends, confused and horrified, started frantically running away from him and he followed them as fast as he could.


    "What¡­ just happened?" I heard Irene asking in a low voice, as her eyes couldn''tprehend what they were looking at. Perhaps she didn''t notice it but she was subconsciously holding my arm¡­ looks like she was really scared there, I suppose.


    "Nothing¡­ just normal people doing ''normal'' things," I spoke with a smile as my eyes turned green again from the previous red.


    "I am¡­ not that much of an idiot¡­ that isn''t normal in any way possible¡­you did something again, didn''t you?" She asks as she turns at me with slight amazement in her eyes and I, turning at her, speak with a smile again,


    "Who knows?"


    I then started walking again, and she did too before we finally reached Linda''s house and she used her mobile phone to call her rather than ringing the bell saying,"she is somewhere in a corner of this house, with her earphones plugged in and knocking won''t do the trick."


    "Yeah, Linda. I am here¡­ okay," she then cuts the call and then a few momentster the door opens¡­


    "Hey, you arete-" Linda stopped in between as her eyes reached me and I simply smiled as I answered,"sorry, I was doing some work."

 Chapter 141 Linda Brown

    Blonde hair tied in a ponytail that reached a little below her shoulders and eyes filled with vibrant green. She was standing there with a shocked look as she saw Irene and I standing in front of the door with Irene holding my arm without any traces of hesitation on her face.


    Her mouth agape in shock, and it looked like she wanted to ask ''what the heck is going on?'' but words failed toe out as she just stood there trying her best to speak something.


    "Can wee in?" Irene asked a bit awkwardly about her situation. Irene then finally traces her line of sight in which Linda was looking at and realising what she was doing, Irene kind of made a slightly horrified face before hurriedly leaving my arm and taking a few steps away from me as she looked at her hands before looking at me.


    "I.. uh¡­ I.." she looked like she wanted to speak something but she couldn''t before I just chuckled and then spoke,"let''s go in," and moved inside Linda''s house under their constant gaze.


    ''Seems like Irene didn''t realise what she was doing,'' I thought as I turned to them before speaking,"you guys are gonna stand there forever or something?" and they snap out of their daze before moving inside as Linda closes the door behind her and I walk towards what I thought was the living room.


    It was a small room with the kitchen connected to it on one side with a single sofa and the floor space left a bit open. The space probably also served as a dining area, given how small this ce was.


    I saw two more doors. Out of them, one was probably the main bedroom, while the other was the bathroom.


    "So¡­ Can you tell me what is going on here?" Linda spoke as she was staring at Irene and Irene, a bit awkward for a few moments, then turns a little serious before speaking,


    "Linda¡­" and then a smile blossoms on her face as she speaks,"... I think I can continue in the Academy."


    Her smile was pure and innocent with pure bliss and joy in them as she chuckled a little at her words before straight away jumping to hug Linda, who was both confused yet happy as she tried to speak,


    "What¡­ What do you mean by that? What happened?!"


    Linda looked equally happy with what she heard and Irene then takes a step back and held Linda''s shoulders with her hands as she smiled and answered,


    "He knows¡­ he knows about the answers that I have been trying to find all my life."


    She points at me as she is speaking and Linda turns to look at me, once again gazing at me with surprise on her face. Then, perhaps she recalls what happened before with Mark Leeway and all, she makes a slightly worried and horrified face before turning at Irene and speaking,


    "Sweety¡­ are you sure about him? You know how it is, right?"


    ''Oi! Oi! What are you whispering to her about me?'' I looked at Linda, with my eyes narrowed but didn''t speak anything. I waited for Irene''s response, which came shortly after Linda''s question,


    "I know he is a devil, a freak I should never mingle with. Try to stay as far away as possible. He is dangerous and getting mixed with him will only put my life in danger and once I get involved, I might never be able to get out of it but ...."


    I almost stood up as I wanted to ask why the heck is she spewing nonsense about me? I mean all that is true, but still; it is not something you should just say because you want to¡­ that too in front of me.


    ".... if that is all I am risking, in return for what I have wanted all my life, I think it is fine. Don''t you agree, Linda?" Irenepleted her sentence, and I just stood there with words almost at the tip of my tongue, but I didn''t speak anything.


    Linda turned to me, with doubts still filled in her eyes, but in the end she just sighed before speaking,"if you have made up your mind on that¡­ I guess there is little we can do about it."


    Linda then turned to me again before speaking,


    "That apart. Why is this freak in my house right now?"


    ''Now, she is openly cursing me.'' I just looked at them, getting more and more frank with me, literally knowing how scary I can be.


    "He asked toe, and I thought if he wanted to reach you, I most probably couldn''t have stopped him, so I decided to bring him along with me," Irene said with an innocent smile that sent chills down my spine¡­


    Linda then turned to me as she asked,"well¡­ I guess I have a lot of questions to ask you, but first let''s start with the most basic one. Why did you want to see me?"


    I saw her expression carefully and saw that she didn''t have any fear in her eyes. For some reason, it felt off, so I directly asked,"you aren''t afraid of me?"


    "Hmmm¡­ well¡­ To be honest, is there a point?" She asked as she moved towards the corner where a bean bag was and sat on it before picking up something that looked like a toy and started ying with it as she continued,"I mean¡­ if you wanted to kill me. Would I still be alive?"


    Hearing her words, I kind of questioned if I had heard this statement before but couldn''t really recall, so I just let that thought go.


    "I guess that is one way to look at things," I said as I looked directly in her eyes, which were still focused on the toy in her hands. She then saw me looking at her and asked me again,


    "So¡­ why did you want to see me?"


    I then looked at her and inquired, directly getting to the point,


    "How are things going on at the Academy?"

 Chapter 142 Linda Brown#2

    "How are things going on at the Academy?"


    Linda looks at me with a casual expression before speaking,"Pretty much the same as usual. The teachers support the rich and strong guys in exchange for being backed up by the strong guilds. The dog vs dog fight among the students to reach the top of the food chain. One side winning one side losing miserably, with the winners living like kings and the losers being bullied on a daily basis.


    The Security Council and the Student Council, trying their best to stop the bullying and trying to make afortable environment for everyone, sometimes achieving their goal other times getting trapped in some or the other n.


    The tests are as brutal as they always were, and the criteria for passing still remain the same. Ummm¡­ ask me anything else, in particr. I can give you an ount for everything but it might take too much time."


    I look at Linda and observe the drastic change in her personality from someone who was trying on me to someone who was scared of me¡­ and then finally to this.


    It kinda amazed me a little, but not the first time I have seen something like this. Hmmm¡­ now to the questions I want answered,


    "What about the Principle? How is she dealing with all of this that''s going on in the Academy?"


    Linda thinks over my words for a minute before speaking,"I don''t know. The only time you will find her is during graduation or some important event, or maybe when she is giving the weing speech to the freshman? Other than that, nobody knows where she is or what she has been upto."


    After she is finished talking, I review her words as I find this piece of information quite interesting, to say the least. A principal about whom no one knows anything¡­ interesting! How very interesting! Amelia¡­ just what are you up to?


    "What about the leaders of the three ns?" I ask as I recall the information I have on the Academy.


    All in all there are three divisions of the Academy in which the students are divided ordingly, each ruled by the strongest individuals of the Academy. Lucas, however, wasn''t one of the leaders because he was still hiding his true powers.


    Though they all serve the same purpose, that is to give the neers a chance to interact with the seniors and grow up to be stronger in amutative environment, there are three of them because of their differences in ideals.


    One of them wants to rule everything solely with power.


    The other believes in the power of the society and individual power being a small part of it.


    Thest one being a neutral one where you are allowed to freely interact with anyone, but most people who want to learn things on their own without getting attached with anyone else, go there.


    Though, what exactly is the story behind them¡­ is something I would like to see with my own two eyes when I reach there.


    "The leaders are still fine and the groups are functioning the way they should except¡­" noticing the brief pause in her words, I gaze at her concerned face, which was looking at Irene.


    "Except?" I ask and this time Irene was the one to speak as she continues after Linda,"Except that one of the divisions, the Vanguards, is pressing the other division members to either join them or leave the Academy. They are even forcing the neers to join their division or else they will make their lives much more miserable than they can even imagine."


    I then close my eyes as I recall back what Elle (Annabeth) from my previous timeline had told me.


    [There was a time when Lucas had to single-handedly shut down the whole Vanguards. I don''t know what happened, but it was probably something rted to his little sister, and if it wasn''t for the principal¡­ the Vanguards would have vanished on that day once and for all.]


    Hmmm¡­. Looks like things will be more interesting than I had thought it would be in the Academy.


    "What about the Student Council? Are they doing fine?" I ask and Lindaughs out loud in sarcasm before speaking,


    "Tell me another joke, will ya? Them and fine? Ha! The only reason the Student Council is surviving is Adara Harriet. The President of the Student Council has solely kept the Student Council alive for the past 2 years or it might have gotten under the wraps of the strong ones long ago¡­ though things aren''t really that great either right now as the Vanguards are oppressing her these days¡­ a lot for some reason."


    I look at her for a few seconds before recalling another piece of information from my memory, which Elle told me¡­


    [Though, oddly enough, when Adara brutally butchered almost half of the Vanguards including all of the top 10 members, the principal didn''t even lift a finger¡­ wonder what was that all about]


    ''Hmmm¡­ Adara and Lucas¡­ I guess it won''t be long that I will be seeing them,'' I think as I can feel my heart racing at the thought of the intriguing things that are about toe, in future, in the Academy.


    "You are joining the Academy this year too, aren''t you?" Irene spoke as she looked at me with a deep gaze and Linda too, while I nodded at them before speaking,"have some business there."


    "Making more deals, I suppose?" Linda chimes again and I give her a wink as I speak,"isn''t that a given?"


    "You are not that hard to read but then again there will always be something that you will be hiding," Linda suddenly speaks as she looks at me with an analysing gaze and, taken aback by her statement, I ask,


    "What was that?"


    "Nothing, just trying to see through you¡­ though it isn''t working really I guess," Linda replies in a dejected tone before she stands up again as she speaks,"All this serious talk has made me hungry. I am gonna make steak. Do you guys want some?"


    I nod at her and then watch her humming as she walks towards the kitchen under our gazes.

 Chapter 143 Linda Brown#3

    I look at her, Linda Brown. Now that I think about it, do I know anything about her at all?


    She is in the third year of the Academy, studying along with Lucas while she is a pro athlete excelling in various forms of sports activities. Her system is rted to sports as well, though she doesn''t like to talk about it.


    Her stamina and endurance are actually on a higher level, making her equally strong to that of a B-Rank system user. While she has a good presence of mind with an above average battle sense.


    She is a spear user, also specialising in archery. Her archery skills are actually good for someone who is on a nonbat end of the poption, besting many of thebat oriented archers.


    Regarding her personal life, all I have collected is that her parents live overseas, and she has another sister who visits her once every year. It has been a few months since shest saw her sister and will probably meet her again next year.


    As for her counselling, she does it for two reasons. One is because of her rtions with the Leeway family and the other is to earn enough money to live a high-profile life, which she fancies a lot. Her counselling business runs really well, so she easily maintains her ideal life along with keeping up with her academy life.


    With her money, she lives in an apartment, rather than the dormitory, and doesn''t have much interaction with people in the Academy. The teachers don''t seem to be bothered about this or, rather; they are not even the least bit interested in her life¡­ on the surface, that is. Deep down, they resent her, all because of her rtions with Mark Leeway''s family.


    Though, nobody talks to her about it because¡­ well, they don''t want to anger Leeways for any reason whatsoever.


    As for Linda''s personality¡­ only she knows how it functions. On the surface, she is an easygoing girl with a free personality of sorts. She does whatever she wants without caring what others say about her, though she is cumtive with her days and weeks and would not tolerate anyone wasting her time when she is busy. As a matter of fact, even her free time is calcted.


    ...¡­.


    "All right. We will be leaving now," I spoke as I stood up after eating the steak which Linda cooked. It was quite delicious, to say the least, and when I was eating it with a blissful face, I saw a tinge of victory on her face, which was kinda cute in a way.


    "Where are you guys going?" asked Linda as she looked at me and then at Irene with a questioning gaze. I could notice the slight sadness in her eyes as she gazed at Irene, who, in turn, spoke,


    "I don''t know¡­ he is the one deciding for me right now."


    "I am taking her back to the castle. It would be better to tell her everything there for many reasons," I spoke and a disappointed look formed on Linda''s face, but before she could speak anything I continued,"you cane, if you want?"


    This statement made her a bit confused but happy as she looked at me before speaking,"Oh! I thought you were moving away from here because you did not want me to know about it."


    ? I looked at her sudden joyful face with an awkward face as I speak,"on second thought-"


    "Let''s go! Let''s go! What are we waiting here for? Every moment is precious," she kinda hurried us both and all three of us moved outside the house while I just kept looking at her, pushing us outside.


    Irene, however, found the situation a bit amusing as she smiled at the interaction which Linda and I had. Though I found Linda''s behaviour a bit annoying, I sighed before starting to think about the things I had to tell her.


    There is a way that one can use Lunar Energy present  in the atmosphere. It is a kind of a breathing technique that is especially designed for people with the blessings of the Luna Goddess and Lunas. I guess¡­ if Irene uses that method, she might get powerful enough to be a potential S rank within this year and an SSS by her graduation.


    Though that depends on her own approach to ''getting stronger'' if she doesn''t work hard, she might not even reach A rank and if she does it wlessly she might even reach beyond SSS rank.


    ''Whatever the case is, I think I have just gained another strong candidate, powerful enough to reach the 12 seats. If groomed properly, especially after the Second Cataclysm, I think she could really reach that point,'' I thought as I added Irene to the list of people that I need to make sure they survive to the very end.


    This made me think about Linda¡­ What should I do about her? Is there anything I can do to keep her alive without me or anyone strong around her during hard times?


    I kept my hands behind my head as I casually walked through the alleyway before reaching the marketce.


    While Linda and Irene were talking about this and that, I kept quiet and listened to their stupid conversation. Though after a few moments I ignored them and concentrated at the front.


    In the marketce there were a lot of people gathered near the centre and watching all themotion, I wondered what happened there. It wasn''t just me, but Irene and Linda too, saw themotion and moved towards the crowd.


    Watching Irene walking towards them, the crowd dispersed a bit to give her some space.


    ''Looks like Irene''s reputation precedes her,'' I thought as I saw the faces of those people looking awkwardly at her.


    "Reeve?!" I heard Irene''s surprised voice as she looked at the centre of themotions. A handsome guy was shoving an old man on the street with a prideful and angered look.


    I took a clear look at that guy and immediately realised who he was¡­


    ''Reeve Leeway, middle child of Cedric Leeway.''

 Chapter 144 Reeve Leeway

    Cedric Leeway has three children.


    Melisa, Reeve and rk, each of them being 26, 23 and 14 years old respectively; Reeve being the middle child.


    He had a slender yet athletic build, with short ck hairs with ck eyes that were always mncholic. He was someone who did not get involved in anything he found bothersome. He had a handsome face but with an equally aloof personality, he has this strange habit of wandering around the castle absorbed in his own thoughts.


    ''A hard to approach type of person,'' I think as I recall the details of Reeve as I observed him, wearing formals, standing amidst the crowd in front of an old man who was scared shitless.


    Reeve was strong¡­ in fact the strongest among all the children within his generation, with hisbat power reaching S-Rank quite early. His S-rank system, [Shadow of Death Goddess System], actually helped him reach this height despite his actual skills being not that great.


    "What are you doing, Reeve?!!" looking at Reeve standing against that old man, made Irene a bit dumbfounded as she walked towards him.


    Reeve saw Irene and his expression softened a bit before he looked at me, which made his expression change once again as he began to re at me. Looking at his cousin''s reaction, Irene red at him a little before asking once again,


    "Reeve. What is going on here?"


    Irene kept her gaze shifting between Reeve and that old man, but Reeve did not say anything and simply moved towards that old man. Watching Reeveing towards him, that old man, scared shitless, crawled behind Irene as he kept his face hidden on the ground, not trying to look up again.


    Though¡­


    "Ha! Now I have got you! You think I fear the Leeways? If I were really afraid, then I wouldn''t be here now, would I?" That old man suddenly grabbed Irene by her throat, shocking everyone except Reeve and I.


    ''He is a ve trader,'' I thought as my expression had already turned serious, the time I confirmed he was one. I then took a silent breath before muttering,''shadow style¡­ senseless,'' and moving towards him.


    Reeve, though acting calm, I could see his hands shaking ever so slightly. Perhaps Irene being taken as hostage made him a bit nervous despite his usual calm demeanour.


    "Do you¡­ really wish for a painful death?" Reeve spoke with an emotionless voice, sending chills down almost everyone present in this area. I wanted to smile, but the fact there was a ve trader in front of me¡­ kind of didn''t let me due to the slight fury I had.


    "You are bluffing. Let me go or el-mmmhhh" he was threatening and then¡­


    -AAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!


    I caught his hand which held the knife, making him look at me in slight terror and pain before screaming at the top of his lungs. I crushed his hand focusing all my mana on my fingertips and my fingertips on the pressure points present in his forearm.


    Watching meing there without making a sound made everyone gasp out loud and Reeve was looking at me with a serious gaze. I saw Linda with the corner of my eyes and she looked quite rxed, contracting to the emotions everyone else was showing.


    "Who¡­AAAA¡­Who are¡­AAA¡­you??!!!!" he was scared, he was horrified, he was crying¡­ that old man who had such an ugly look on his face before, was now looking at me as if I were the death reaper standing in front of him.


    "I am Zero¡­ a guest of the Leeways, I think that should be enough for someone like you to know," I said nonchntly as he retorted,"Do you know who you are messing with?"


    I saw his sudden confidence backing up, and I just answered without any hesitation in my voice,"For someone to go up against Mark Leeway without much fear for their life¡­ I am guessing¡­ either you are a colossal fool or you are working with Parax."


    Hearing that word, a slightly scared expression mars his face before he asks,"how¡­ how do you¡­ no¡­ it can''t be possible¡­ how do you know that name?!!!"


    This time he was genuinely scared with not just fear but something beyond fear that made him look like he had aged a thousand years in a second. I then got closer to him and spoke,


    "If you ever get the chance to meet him¡­ tell him that the ''kid'' ising back for revenge¡­ and the ''kid'' won''t forgive even if he begged for a thousand years."


    And then I leave his hand before looking at Reeve as I speak,"Let this man go while with the others¡­ you can do whatever you want," and Reeve, first a bit angry, then looked at me with confusion as he asked,"what others?"


    I then channel dark mana in my hands before muttering,"Necro Magic: Dein ube," and then a sudden surge of ck energy spreads from my fingers and spreads all over the ce before lighting a ck mark on the left arms of about 10 to 20 people around us including that old man.


    "Them," I spoke before sighing as I did not think that I would encounter them this early but¡­ well, it is what it is I think.


    Parax is¡­ one of the 12 strongest persons present in Vermillion right now. Ranked the 3rd strongest with an SSS rank system, he hides from the world and does all the dirty business without holding back.


    He survived until the very end, until the Elf Princess killed him brutally a decade after the Third Cataclysm. It wasn''t just her but about 3 dozen people, hunting him relentlessly for over 3 months until he was finally killed for good.


    Unfortunately, I had only heard of his death and could not confirm on my own, though I still believed he was dead because what he did to the Elf Princess was far worse than what he had done to anyone.


    ''He did torture the daughter of Veronica¡­ there was no saving him after that,'' I thought as I sighed before looking at Reeve, who was looking around with a really scary look on his face.

 Chapter 145 Reeve Leeway#2

    It has been 30 minutes since I let that old man go and looking at Reeve, he wasn''t really satisfied with what I had done, but¡­


    "You helped me find their hideout¡­ so I will let this go. Though I want to know something before I end this topic¡­ who is Parax?" he asked with a serious face and I looked at him for a few seconds before speaking.


    "Hit me with all your might at the centre," as I move my hands in front and apply earth mana on it. I also applied Life and Light magic into it, but only on the inside. On the outside, only a weak earth magicyer was present.


    To take extra precautions, I also added a bit of blood magic at that spot, strengthening the area around the centre to brace for the impact. Reeve, a bit confused, looked at me before he nodded and then prepared for a move, concentrating his magic on his left arm.


    ''So he is a lefty, huh?'' I thought as I saw him concentrating more and more mana into it, attracting the attention of everyone around us.


    People were slightly scared due to the energy surge making them take more than a couple of steps back, while Linda and Irene stood on their spots without any intention to stop us as they observed my face with curiosity.


    ''There trust in me¡­ is quite a lot, isn''t it? Or perhaps they don''t really care what happens to me? Wonder, which is it,'' I thought before I saw him shouting,


    "[Shadow Goddesses Sword]" and then moving towards me as he attacked the very spot where I asked him to.


    -BOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!


    A loud explosion urs, creating dust all around us. The dust took a few seconds to settle down, but after it did, what everyone saw made them dumbfounded as they were left speechless.


    I was standing there, holding Reeve''s head without moving even an inch. My expression was nonchnt as I just stood there looking at Reeve, who was gawking at me with his eyes wide open. He looked like he could not believe what he was watching and I just answered him,


    "You aren''t strong enough to know the answer."


    Well¡­ he is strong all right¡­ but with his pathetic mana control, all I had to do was segregate his powers over different points and cancel it with Light magic. I wasn''tpletely unharmed, I did take some damage, but it was mostly absorbed by earth magic and healed by Life magic, making it look like I just stood there with no damage taken.


    Blood magic also yed an important role in this, as it helped enhance my ability to think faster and segregate his magic not only just once or twice, but about dozens of times.


    I then put my hands in my pocket before speaking,"Well¡­ you are wee too, I guess," and then I looked at Irene and Linda as I spoke,"Let''s go."


    Though Reeve stopped me as he asked,"who¡­ who are you?"


    ''I think I heard this question quite a lot today,'' I thought as I sighed before turning to him as I spoke,"and what exactly would you do knowing about me?"


    At my question, he just turned quiet but his gaze did not separate from mine, instead it got deeper before he spoke again.


    "I have heard¡­ that you make deals with people a lot¡­"


    His expression was odd, and I tilted my head a little before speaking,"Everyone in this world has problems. You, me, and perhaps everyone in this world has it. There is no one who is spared from fate¡­ I just solve people''s problems in exchange for solving my own."


    While I do call it a ''deal'' but honestly, I just don''t have a better word to exin what I do. Telling people that I am helping them for a better future and for my own redemption¡­ sounds too cheesy, plus people get even more curious about my past trying to barge in my privacy no matter how much distance I try to maintain with them.


    "What do you mean by that?" Reeve asked, and I shook my head before speaking,"it''s nothing. Forget about it¡­ you tell me, do you want me to do something for you?"


    Hearing my words, he shuts up for a few seconds before speaking,"I would like to discuss that in private."


    I sighed before nodding and then speaking,"let''s meet at the castle tomorrow then. I have some work today."


    I then nodded at Irene and Linda, who nodded back before all three of us began walking. Reeve stood there not speaking anything as he just kept watching us moving farther away from him.


    A littleter he also began walking but in a different direction from us. Perhaps he had something to finish in the town. I believe it has to do something with those ve traders¡­


    "You are quite strong, aren''t you?" Linda speaks as he bends a little and looks at my face and I peek at her as I look forwards before speaking,


    "A little."


    At my words, she smirks a little before looking at Irene and saying,"Irene, what do you think Reeve wants from Zero? Oh wait! Now that I think about it, 4 people in your family are making a deal with him¡­ if it keeps on going like this, won''t he gain control of your family in a way?"


    Hearing her words, Irene suddenly stops as she looks at me with a wide gaze, finally realising what exactly I was trying to do.


    ''Damn you Linda¡­ you and your smart mouth,'' I thought as I red at Linda, making her chuckle at me. Irene wanted to say something, but before she spoke, I spoke again,"I am trying that exactly. Mark Leeway should have figured this out long ago too, and he doesn''t seem like he is backing out¡­ Though it concerns his daughter, so¡­ what about you, Irene? Now that you know what I am doing, are you going to back out now?"


    Irene looked at me with aplex expression before she started speaking.


    "I¡­."

 Chapter 146 Freya Leeway

    "I¡­ I¡­ I don''t know," Irene expressed her true feelings as she continued,"I do want your help at any cost but¡­ when I realise that my whole family might be under your control¡­ How do you expect me to be fine with it?"


    Well¡­ I never asked her to be calm about it. In fact, it would make me more ufortable knowing that she is calm despite her family being in my control in exchange for what she wants to know.


    "Well¡­ there is something I need your family and you to help me out withter," I looked at her before looking at Linda, who was keenly hearing everything I was saying. I don''t really mind her prying. In fact, I kind of expected this to happen sooner orter. People will always be curious about mysterious things and secretive individuals¡­ It fascinates them and deep down everyone is curious, no matter how uncaring he or she is.


    "It is not just you¡­ and I don''t know how much my words are worth to you, but¡­ I am not nning anything terrible. It is just my own selfishness but I promise you it is not bad¡­ that is all I have to say," I speak as I turn to Irene again and she stares into my eyes with a tense expression before nodding.


    "Okay¡­ if it doesn''t harm my family¡­ I think I can be satisfied with that. Even though I can never befortable knowing my family is under someone else''s control, if my family members themselves are giving you the control over their lives, just like I am, I guess there is very little I can do about it," Irene speaks as her expression rxes and then giving me a slightly sad but rxed smile.


    I could see her face refreshen and I smiled at her before giving Linda a slight re at which she chuckled before all three of us moved to Irene''s car.


    ¡­


    About an hourter, we finally reached the castle before moving towards the main gate. However, before we could even get out of the car, we saw another person going outside the castle.


    ''Not just one¡­ but there are two of them,'' I thought as I observed the coupleing towards us.


    Irene was the first one to get out and greet them with a smile while Linda slowly followed behind Irene. I was thest one to get out.


    Looking at me, one of the ck-haired men with azure coloured eyes smiled at me with a bright smile. He was wearing a sleek ck formal suit, as if going to attend a party with his partner.


    "How are you Zero? I see that you have bonded with Irene. I am really happy to see that, you know?" spoke Rheo as he looked at me with a bright smile and I smiled back before looking at the beautifuldy standing beside him.


    "Freya Leeway, daughter of Elric Leeway and fiancee of Rheo Dcruz," she said as she bowed to me with a kind and warm smile.


    ckish brown hair that reached upto her knees and tied elegantly making her look like a queen or perhaps a princess, along with that graceful green long one piece, that enhanced her already charming presence, she stood there beside Rheo with a smile ced on her small lips.


    She is the elder sister of Irene, and also the fiancee of Rheo, as she just said. The second child of Elric, younger sister of ric she was the most powerful person in the entire family after Reeve, within her generation.


    ''Though there is more to her than meets the eyes¡­ it was not the time to meet her,'' I thought as I looked into her deep red eyes that made my defence go up by two notches. While it was true that she was smiling brightly, I could sense a certain danger emanating from her, which made my instincts scream danger and I just thought that I should deal with her more carefully than the other members of the Leeway family.


    "I am fine. Miss Freya, nice to meet you. I am Zero, as you would have already known. Are you both leaving the castle?" I spoke with a humble yet formal tone, making Linda and Irene gawk at me nkly. Though Freya just chuckled a little before moving from there along with Rheo.


    Rheo looked like he wanted to speak something but in the end he decided not to say anything and just bowed as he bid farewell to us and followed Freya with slight hurried steps.


    We just stood there until the car taking Freya and Rheo left from there and finally I took a deep breath before looking at Irene as I said,"she is the most dangerous in this family, isn''t she?"


    Irene, who looked confused before, changed her expression immediately with a smile as she spoke,"you can tell?"


    I nodded, making Linda confused about it. Though I decided not to speak anything more about it as I just began walking inside the castle. Irene followed me and Linda, who looked like she wanted to ask what was happening, also moved behind us but did not speak anything.


    Inside the castle, I asked Irene to take me somewhere where no one would hear us and she said that her room would be perfect for it, as no one else would be there. I nodded at her before following her.


    We saw ric, who narrowed his gaze at me but did not speak anything. Thenter, I also saw Bete sitting near the veranda, who seemed to be thinking about something on her own. I kinda wanted to know what she was thinking but then I let that thought go as I saw Britney, her mother, approaching her from behind with a small smile as she hugged Bete from behind, making her smile as well.


    I could sense Mark Leeway somewhere around but couldn''t exactly pinpoint where.


    A few minutester, we reached Irene''s room and once the door was closed, Irene sat on her bed as she finally sighed before speaking.


    "So¡­ tell me everything."

 Chapter 147 Secrets And Mysteries

    I began by telling her about Lunas and their characteristic differences from normal humans. I told her about the reason why she could possibly be a Luna and the most probable reason her body rejects mana so much, including the reason why she can''t eat normal food at all.


    She was intently listening to each and everything carefully without making any sound. Even Linda, who was earlier in a mischievous mood before I started speaking, was now paying attention to each and every word that I was saying.


    Once I was done with everything rted to why she can''t get stronger no matter how much she tried, she just looked at me with a half nk expression that seemed like she wanted to say something but it was still quiet.


    "So¡­ Do you know¡­ how Luna can increase their power? Something that Irene can use?" Linda spoke with a slight pause in a low but serious voice and I nodded as I spoke.


    "Who do you think you are talking to? Obviously I know about it or else why would I be telling you about this and promise to help her reach higher heights in power?"


    I saw tears falling out of Irene''s eyes and she looked at me before she started speaking in a soft but resilient tone,"Zero¡­ please¡­ tell me how to get strong. I don''t know whether I am a Luna or a human, I just want to get stronger¡­ I don''t want to be a burden to others in any way," and I looked at her with a smile as I answered,


    "Why, of course I will do that. I have made a deal, haven''t I? Trust me sweety, I will make you way stronger than you can imagine. Just uphold your end of the deal, will you?"


    She looked at me as she wiped her tears and nodded with a slightly cheerful smile before speaking,"so.. What do I need to do?"


    At her words, I kind of wondered if I should tell her about her being royalty or not?


    If I told her about her being royalty, then that would only be for one reason and that is to let her train in a special way that only the Royals of Luna can. Theplications would start as soon as other Lunas find out about her and when that happens, they are sure toe and get her.


    If I do not tell her, I can still give her an ordinary way of practising, but that would make herparatively much weaker than what she has the capability to achieve in the future.


    ''But I need her to be there¡­ among the 12¡­ to help me fight the war against the Primordials¡­ so..''


    "There is one other thing I believe that I should tell you before I start your training," I said as I looked at her, turning serious and looking at my face, she, too, turned serious as she nodded at me.


    "You are¡­ if I am not wrong¡­ a Royalty of the Luna n¡­ I don''t know how high up you''re in the hierarchy¡­ but you surely are one," I speak and her expression which was mostly serious from the starting to the end turned dumbfounded as she asked,


    "Ah! Pardon! I don''t think I got what you were trying to say. Can you speak that again?"


    I, with the same serious expression, repeated my sentence as,"You are¡­ if I am not wrong¡­ a Royalty of the Luna n."


    Her already dumbfounded expression became even more baffled as she asked out loud,"are you serious?!"


    Her face was more worried than happy. I wonder what she was thinking¡­ in any case.. I then spoke,


    "That symbol on your back¡­ is a sign of royalty visible only to the Luna and their blessed ones."


    Linda, who was quick to catch on, asked,"and which one are you? The blessed ones or another Luna?"


    Irene, hearing her words, looks at me with a questioning gaze. The royalty thing was still on her mind but she still waited for me to answer this question first and I sighed as I answered,"I am neither a Luna nor I am a blessed one¡­ I.. just have special methods which allow me to see things, not visible to the normal people."


    After that, I looked at Irene and spoke as I pondered,"if it is not too awkward for you, can I see the symbol on your back?"


    This made Irene look at me for a few moments before she looked at Linda. Linda, who was observing Irene and me, nodded at Irene as she spoke,"it is fine. If we have reached this point, I think it would be better to show him."


    This made Irene gulp a little before she looked at me and then nodded as she began turning around and then slowly lowered her one piece dress until it reached the bottom bunching around her hip.


    From the tip of the cyx, a blue-coloured vine was flowing up the spine. It spread up to the abdominal region and stopped around the back near the heart. It had 13 small leaves, 4 big leaves and 2 flowers on each side, with the tip containing a bud.


    I saw it with an astonished look as I subconsciously moved closer to her and touched her back as I took a closer look at those flowers and those patterns¡­ I had seen this before¡­ Of course I had seen this¡­


    Irene¡­ is she¡­ that person? I don''t understand.. This person and that person are two different entities. Exactly what is going on here?!


    My expression was bing more and more astounded as I kept looking at those flowers and those leaves¡­


    "So, did you find anything?" I heard a low shivering voiceing from Irene as she started feeling a little cold. I saw her getting more and more embarrassed before I stepped back and spoke,"yeah¡­ you can put it back on."


    Hearing my words, Irene put her clothes back on and once she turned towards me, I spoke with slight hesitation.


    "You are most probably¡­ indirectly rted to the Queen of Luna."

 Chapter 148 Secrets And Mysteries#2

    Previous Timeline, Vermillion.


    A few yearster, after the Third Cataclysm.


    In the Country of Luna, Marama.


    ¡­


    It was during those days when I was travelling with Elle(Annabeth) to see the Queen of Lunas regarding some important event concerning the fate of the Vermillion.


    ''Not the first time we are doing something to save the now¡­ in fact everything we, the 12, are getting involved with is somehow rted to the fate of this,'' I thought as I looked at the mountain in the front.


    I was sitting at the top of the airship beside Elle, who was eating some popcorn while concentrating in front. It had been almost 3 years since Elle met the Luna Goddess and people there.


    "Are you feeling nostalgic?" I asked as I took some popcorn from her bucket, making her re at me for a few moments before I began taking a bit more.


    -sh


    She used her sword to almost cut my hands, but I swiftly pulled it back with a victoriousugh as I began eating the popcorn. She simply sighs before speaking.


    "I am just d that they are alive till now¡­ at this point, you never know whom you will be meeting for thest time."


    I just smiled back at her before speaking,"can you not be such a mood killer for sometime? Enjoy a little, will ya? Live a little, will ya? Our time is already limited in many ways, better to live whenever you can," and then take some more of her popcorn.


    She just kept gazing at me before sighing and then smiling back as she spoke,"guess so¡­"


    After that I asked her a bunch of questions and she answered half of them while ignoring the rest and just like that we reached Marama. Our airshipnded directly into the castle at a specific tform built specially for the ships tond.


    The Lunas there looked in our direction and watched Elleing towards them. All of them smiled ecstatically as they began running in her direction with a bright smile on their faces.


    I then see Elle smiling a little before jumping towards them and then hugging them while I looked at that sweet sight in front of me. There were other people with us too, who were mostly there travelling to this castle.


    The Luna looked like Elves, except their mana nature was different from them from their very roots. Some of them looked at me as well and I just smiled and waved my hands, making them wave back at me.


    Then, we moved towards the Queen''s chambers, which wasn''t that far from the airshipnding area. It took us about 15 mins of walking to reach the chambers.


    Reaching the chambers, I saw a bunch of guards near the gate, from where we were asked to move to the Throne Room.


    Since they were so polite, we too did not ask any more questions and moved along with the guards before we reached the Throne Room¡­ and in front of the Queen of Luna.


    There she was, sitting on that throne. Her hair was icy white and her powers were ice oriented, along with her special ability to look through a person''s heart. Her eyes, which were as blue as the winter sky, looked at me with an analysing gaze, turned a bit furious before she sighed.


    The reason she was a Queen was because of that blue flower that, probably originating from her back, had reached beyond her neck and took a turn to reach near her eyes, almost touching them. It looked like a peculiarbination with the flowers and leaves ced at odd ces, but I guess it was what it was.


    "Elizabeth. What business does a man like him have in this ce?" Queen of Luna, Kirsi Neve, spoke as she looked at me as if I were trash standing in front of her.


    "It''s the curse of ck Purple Mist¡­ I heard your daughter is suffering from it," Elle said as she looked at Kirsi and she, a bit dumbfounded, turned her eyes at me with aplicated look before she asked,"you.. have a cure?"


    It did not seem like she believed me¡­ or perhaps my low strength is the reason she did not keep me in high regard¡­?


    "He is¡­ the Reaper," Elle spoke, making everyone gasp at me before a murmur started and everyone began curiously looking at me. I red at Elle as I kind of threatened her not to tell her about me¡­ people who haven''t seen me, do not know about me being strong and with myck of normal mana, they take me as a weak person giving me an edge on themter on.


    "It was the only way of making her believe in you¡­ she is a fan of Reaper," Elle smirked at me and my eyes immediately rolled at her. I then saw the Queen avoiding me as she turned away before coughing a little and then slowly speaking,"I see¡­ so you are that human, huh? The one¡­ who killed the entire hive of those triple Duke Parasites all by himself?"


    Her eyes started sparkling once again as she looked at me with apletely different gaze than before. I sighed at her words as I recalled the madness I did¡­


    ''Well¡­ I would rather not remember it, though. It makes me recall An, my best friend.''


    "Well¡­ I guess it would be better if I take you to her," Kirsi spoke as she looked at us before all of us were taken to the Queen''s chambers where we previously came from.


    The Queen opened the gate, and I saw ady in white sitting there near the window observing the scenery. She looked simr to the Queen in every way, except there was no flower pattern on her skin near the eyes and it looked as pure as white snow.


    "This is Serina, my daughter. Can you take a look at her?" spoke the Queen, Kirsi, as she looked at me with a mncholic yet hopeful look.

 Chapter 149 Secrets And Mysteries#3

    "This is Serina, my daughter. Can you take a look at her?" spoke the Queen, Kirsi, as she looked at me with a mncholic yet hopeful look.


    Examining Serina carefully, I saw that she looked really thin and pale, and her eyes looked disoriented to a degree, which made me wonder if¡­


    "Can you see me?" I asked as I gazed at her, but she didn''t respond to me and just stood there without much movement.


    "Can you hear me?" I asked and still I got no response before her mother, Queen Kirsi, moved forward and reached her.


    It somewhat surprised me that even when she touched her, she still didn''t respond to it and only after Kirsi applied some ice magic on her body did she respond by turning towards her ever so slightly.


    ''So her senses have dulled down for some reason, huh? Well, that is really¡­ really¡­ problematic, I suppose,'' I thought before sighing and moving towards her.


    "If it is not too much, then can I see her vines?" I asked as I observed that girl and Kirsi, though a bit reluctant, still nodded at me and then began undressing her as she turned her back towards me.


    Vines, here, are a part of the blue coloured nt-like tattoo that all the Royals of the Luna n have. It represents their power and lineage and is connected to the Branch of the Moon Tree, Hoddm¨ªmis Holt, present on Vermilion.


    The more the vines reach up, the more power you can utilise from the moon through the tree branch. A Luna who doesn''t have these vines, in general, is not rted to the Royal Lineage in any way. The reason that person is still a Luna is probably because either they are blessed by the Luna Goddess or perhaps they are the young ones of the blessed ones who have awakened their hidden powers of Luna within them.


    "So¡­ what do you think?" Snapping me out of my thoughts, Kirsi spoke as she looked at me with a hopeful gaze and I turned to her daughter''s back, observing the pattern of the vines on her back.


    From the tip of the cyx, a blue-coloured vine was flowing up the spine. It spread up to the abdominal region and stopped around the back near the heart. It had 13 small leaves, 4 big leaves and 2 flowers on each side, with the tip containing a bud.


    The next thing I saw was the red-coloured vines or branches that stemmed from the centre of her back and reached almost everywhere, covering almost everything, including the blue vines.


    Though, a few secondster, I saw the red vines turning ck and that girl, Serina, started shivering before her mother, Queen Kirsi, covered her once again.


    "Sorry¡­ when exposed the vine starts reacting and turning ck, which is¡­ quite painful, to say the least." There was visible agony on Kirsi''s face before she sighed and put up a brave front and then spoke again.


    "Reaper, can you cure her?"


    "I will need a few items¡­ rare items," I spoke with a serious face and she nodded at me as she spoke,


    "Tell me what you need?"


    "These¡­" I handed her a list of things and when she saw the whole thing, she got confused at the items I asked to fetch her. Even still she nodded and spoke,"I can bring these by the following evening. While they may be rare for you, for us these things are sold inmon households¡­ but¡­"


    Her voice lowered as she reached the end and I smiled at her before speaking,"I guess I can count on you then."


    After speaking that, I turned to Serena and touched her neck before speaking,"Blood Assimtion: Purify"


    I spoke, connecting her blood with mine, immediately and then letting my blood filter her''s. With blood assimtion, I can control her blood flow and with my spirit magic and blood magic, I can more or less filter out her blood with mine and let her blood flow into mine.


    Using Blood Magic, I then enhanced her blood producing capacity so that healthy detoxified blood flows into her veins in the ce of the toxic blood.


    Her disease, the curse, which I just took in, travelled inside of me, almost killing me, but before it could do so my body automatically started healing itself, reverting the curse''s effects.


    I then removed my hand from her neck and saw that the red vein was almost all gone now, however, it still left its marks on her skin.


    Which was clearly visible on the side of her neck. Then¡­


    -Thud


    She fell due to exhaustion as I had used most of her mana as well and her mother just dumbfoundedly looked at me, wondering what I had just done.


    All this process of removal and purification actually took less than 10 seconds.


    "What are you doing to my daughter?!!!" Kirsi, still not being able to process what just happened, suddenly turned to me and I saw Elleing in between us but before anything could happen¡­


    "Mother?" She woke up and spoke with a dumbfounded and disoriented look. Serina first looked at me, then at her mother, before she turned to Elle.


    "Serina?!" Her mother, who was in a state of slight shock, couldn''t reallyprehend what just happened and was looking with an inconceivable expression for answers.


    Her gaze was so intense that I felt like if I didn''t tell her¡­ she would kill me ten times over before shuffling me into my grave¡­ Scary.


    I could only chuckle a little dryly before pointing my finger at Serina and speaking,


    "Ummm¡­ wouldn''t it be better¡­ if we took care of her first before getting to the exnation of what I just did?"


    At my words, Kirsi, who was a bit reluctant (which she should not be), turned to her daughter and then nodded before threatening me,


    "You won''t move over 5 metres away from me, you understand?"


    I could only give a small smile as I raised my hand in defeat before she nodded and then hurriedly helped her daughter to bed.

 Chapter 150 Secrets And Mysteries#4

    It wasn''t that hard to remove the curse with the advanced blood assimtion I can do now. It took me a long time to get to this point, but during that journey, I have learnt quite a few things.


    One of the things that I have learnt is the fact that my blood not only can cure almost all diseases but also all curses, whatsoever. I did not know about my being the rejection fragment beforehand, so I kind of always wondered what I am or exactly what my origin is.


    Sometimes I wondered if I belonged to a special race or something, or perhaps the experiments done on me during the time I was captured had turned me into what I am today. Still, whatever the reason be, I was d that I had this special ability or else half of the things¡­ Perhaps most of the things that I was capable of, would be impossible to do.


    Perhaps¡­ I would have long died too, if I didn''t have this speciality of mine.


    However¡­ this blood of mine.. If it gets out of my body, its ability works only for a fraction of a second or something and its properties be simr to that of a normal bloodter on, rendering it useless for experimentation.


    ¡­


    "Well¡­ my blood is special. You already knew about me being able to see the vines of Lunas, didn''t you? The others might have told you and my guess is that you think that I too might have got the blessing of the Luna Goddess but honestly¡­ that is not true," I spoke as I looked at the mother and daughter duo looking at me with theirplete concentration.


    "Basically¡­ It''s special¡­ as long it''s within my body, my blood¡­ can cure all diseases and curses. It can erase almost all magic charms of any type unless they are rtively high or something. I have tried my blood''s ability in the most treacherous ces and yeah, I still haven''t found any disease or curse that my blood cannot cure," I spoke before taking a small sigh as I observed them and they looked at me with a nk face.


    Ignoring them, I continue,"Well¡­ I have learnt an ability that made me capable of recing the blood in your daughter''s body with mine, in turn transferring the curse to me. My body then killed the curse while, with the help of the regenerative property of my blood, your daughter''s body produced more blood on its own, recing mine in the process¡­ it''s a bitplicated, but if you can understand¡­"


    I saw their faces turned a bit odd but then they shook their heads in disbelief as Serina spoke,"so you cured me with a magic that only you can do and a method that only you can use?"


    "In a way¡­ yeah," I spoke as I scratched the back of my head with a bit of an awkward smile.


    Serina then gets off from the bed before getting on her knees as she speaks with a diligent voice,"May I know the name of the angel who has saved me?"


    ''Calling me an Angel¡­ would be a bit too much¡­'' I thought as I felt embarrassed as I looked at her before speaking,"Reaper¡­ not in the least bit an angelic name but¡­"


    Though she did not mind my name and instead, she became ecstatic and spoke,"Reaper¡­ Reaper of Evil¡­ Mr. Reaper¡­ I, Serina Neve, will always be grateful to you. If you ever need my help, I have a whole battalion under me and I wille to help you, no matter what the situation is."


    I saw the Queen looking at her daughter with a slightly sad expression but still there was a fond smile on her face as she too looked at me before speaking,"Reaper¡­ I will help you out if you need anything. Not just as the Queen of Luna, I am going to help you out as a Queen anyway for bringing back our First Legion Commander, but also as a mother¡­ I will help you out personally."


    Elizabeth was simply watching everything from a distance, as everything was unfolding. Her expression was ''When will this drama get over?'' and she wasn''t even trying to hide her boredom.


    ''Well, she already might have predicted all this, so I guess it kinda makes sense,'' I thought before I saw the Queen reaching me and then kissing on my forehead as her eyes turned white as ice.


    I then felt a small chill inside my body¡­. Whichter dissolved inside my bloodstream. The Queen smiled as she spoke,


    "With this¡­ you cane for my help twice. I won''t do anything extreme, but for anything that is reasonable, I can help you out without giving it a second thought."


    I looked at her as I touched my forehead, wondering if my blood would ept this or not¡­ though for some unexinable reason I felt like it would, so I just nodded at the Queen.


    "Well¡­ if it is not too much¡­ Can I get the materials that I asked for? I kinda needed them for something," I spoke and the Queen looked at me for a few moments before she smiled,"sure. I will make sure that they reach you as early as possible."


    I smiled back before turning at Elle as I spoke,"let''s go, idiot. It''s your turn to finish your business as well," and she nodded before looking at the Queen with a serious face as she spoke,


    "We need to talk about something."


    Not trying to barge into their privacy, I just moved out of the room. Serina looked like she wanted to talk with me about something, but I could more or less figure it out already and honestly I don''t want to get involved in that kind of thing right now, so I just asked her to take a rest for sometime.


    After I moved out, I decided to check the ce out and see if I could find anything interesting.

 Chapter 151 Royal Luna

    Present Timeline,


    Irene''s room, The Leeway''s Castle.


    "You are most probably¡­ indirectly rted to the Queen of Lunas."


    Linda and Irene looked at me with a stunned look before Irene spoke,"you are lying¡­ right?!"


    I then sighed before speaking,"honestly, I don''t even know about it myself. In a way, it is good news, in another way it is bad news¡­ though it depends on how you look at it."


    Hearing my words, both Linda and Irene looked at me with a confused expression and I began exining it to her.


    "Because you have that particr pattern, I can give you a very special method, that''s exclusively for Lunas with that pattern, to train. It won''t just help you advance to the top, but someday maybe you can even surpass Mark¡­ though that still depends how well you can take it."


    "What?!!!" Linda shouted in bewilderment and Irene had the same expression as they both couldn''t believe my words, though Irene turned really excited after that as she couldn''t contain her smile, but before she could speak anything I continued,


    "And the bad news is¡­" I saw their expressions change as they stopped smiling and looked at me while I continued,"...that the Luna or perhaps the Royals of Luna who sometimes venture into human society, will end up finding you. That once again takes us to two different routes¡­ one is that you are really a Luna and they will find out about your origin, which will pull you into their country for god knows how long.


    The other is that you may not really be a Luna but somehow got this pattern, less likely to happen, but if it does, you will be kept captive there for an eternal time of experimentation."


    Hearing my words, a horrified expression marred her pretty face, which made her think twice whether to take this chance.


    "There is actually another way, and that is to use a method used by normal Lunas, but that would limit your growth by at least 10 times¡­ so what will you choose?"


    Hearing the second option, she turns a bit more rxed, but then she sighed as she let her body fall against the bed before she turned to Linda and said,"What should I choose?"


    Linda, who understood most of the situation, turned to me before asking,


    "Do you have any way to protect Irene from the Lunas if she chooses the first option?"


    ''She really is quick to catch on the important things,'' I smiled as I nodded before speaking.


    "But that is going to cost you more than what you can afford."


    ''Going against a Luna is no joke,'' I thought as I sighed before I heard,"Does it really have to be Irene to pay the price or I can do something in exchange for you helping her out?"


    Linda was really determined right now, which made me question,"what do you mean by that?"


    "I mean that is it okay for me to be a part of the deal in exchange for Iren-" She was repeating the same thing and I stopped her before speaking,"I understood that. What I am asking is, what can you give me?"


    She looked at me for a few moments before looking at Irene and then sighing as she spoke.


    "Irene. Since I am going to do this for you, you better do something for me as well," before she took a really long sigh again.


    ''Looks like she is still contemting before deciding what she is going to do,'' I thought as I looked at her making a troubled expression before finally muttering,"all right.. Whatever happens, I will leave it to fate," and then proceed to take out something from her space pocket.


    It was a small silver artefact with a green gem embedded in it. I looked at it for a few moments and then I heard Linda speaking,"this is a-"


    "A portal to the Netherrealm," I said subconsciously as I was immersed in observing the artefact before looking at the confused expressions of Linda and¡­ I made a mistake by saying that, didn''t I?


    "Ummm¡­ what were you saying?" I tried to change the topic but,"No.. You were saying something¡­ Netherrealms?" Linda caught on me and I sighed at my stupid mouth running off on its own before speaking,


    "You first."


    She looked at me for a few moments before hurriedly speaking,"It is a space eraser that will hide your presence no matter from where. Now you, what did you just say?"


    I kind of sighed before speaking,"It opens a gate to the Netherrealm. Though you can only exit or enter it if you are¡­ undoubtedly strong and weak ones can only stand in front of the gate ranging from a few minutes to hours based on their power levels."


    "How strong?" she asked, again catching the most important point of my words and I smiled before speaking,"very very strong."


    She narrowed her eyes at me before looking at the artifact and then said,"can I have that back?"


    But I just put it in my pocket as I spoke,"it is not safe with you¡­ get strong and I will return it back to you safely. I guess I can keep it with me till then."


    She red at me before taking a deep sigh as she pondered over and over for the next few minutes before speaking,"all right¡­ you can keep it. I feel like I have lost a lot of things, but I guess it''s worth it in exchange for what I am probably gaining."


    I looked at her and then at the portal before speaking,"where did you get it?"


    She looked at me before speaking,"can you tell me what kind of ce Netherworld is?" and I sighed before speaking,


    "Guess we both get to keep our secrets, I suppose."


    She made a small smile and nodded before speaking,"Since all that was said and done, can you help her out of her predicament?"


    I looked at Linda for a few minutes, wondering what was going on in her mind before I put that thought in the back of my mind as I spoke,"Sure."

 Chapter 152 Dimensional Introduction: Netherrealm

    In this universe, there exist special ces that are bounded by walls that you cannot transgress, meaning you cannot enter those ces by physically travelling there.


    Filled with Energy of Death, an eerie form of mana, the Netherrealm stores people who have died but didn''t pass on.


    It''s altogether different from the situation of the white dimension in a way that what manifests in the white dimension is not a real man or woman but their deep strong desires that were left unfulfilled.


    Think of it as a ce where all kinds of negativity lingers andbining together, it forms a mindless creature that crawls there.


    That was the foundation of that ce before it started evolving with the system, too. Those creatures I mean.


    With evolution, some of those negative desires ended up gaining back their original memories, or perhaps a fraction of it, which increased their innate desire toe back to this or perhaps to where they belonged.


    Those desires, though, theherrealm doesn''t allow them toe back here, it allows them to rebirth or perhaps transfer a part of them into Vermilion whichter forms the foundation of monsters in Vermillion.


    Yup, in a way, monsters are nothing but the very lingering desires of those who have passed on. Stronger desires form stronger monsters¡­


    A distinct proof of it was the King of Basilisks, who killed his murderer in front of the world while recalling everything that man did to him and his family. Kind of made people think who the real monster was, the man or the Basilisk?


    In any case, Netherrealm is the ce where it all starts and normally you cannot enter it, but there are special ways to go there.


    One of them is to use a special sacrificial move to permanently move there, though I would not rmend it, unless you are my enemy or something.


    The other is to use the portals which, though rare, aren''t as rare as people seem to think.


    Those monsters, outside the Netherrealm, who have been trying every way of opening a gate to the Netherrealm, have specially created this device to travel around the world for many reasons (getting back their power from Netherrealm and stuff).


    This device, though rare right now, will be extremely famouster after the second Cataclysm. The main reason for it being famous is that the normal power level of an individual at that time is much more than those at Netherrealm monsters can handle.


    And the fact that Death Energy lingered there for as long as we can think of, various rare metals and weapons have too been formed there.


    Though it wasn''t that easy to take it all at that time because there existed some monsters who didn''t choose rebirth and lingered there, getting more and more stronger, in the end creating their own kingdom.


    And it was this fact that made people from Vermillion hesitate topletelyb through the Netherrealm. Even when I died in thest timeline, I haven''t heard of the Netherrealm beingpletely explored.


    But right now, way before the first Cataclysm, I don''t think anyone has the capability to enter that ce and survive even for a second because even the weakest monsters are S-Grade and they always travel in groups with each group containing about 1000s of them.


    Wouldn''t wanna mess with a thousand S-Grade monsters at once, now would you?


    To open the portal, it requires two types of energies, or perhaps three sometimes. One is normal mana, the other is Death Energy. The final energy which can rece normal mana is Lunar Energy, though the amount of Death Energy required would be almost 3 times more with at least some normal mana in it.


    Strictly speaking, one may need at least an A-Grade human''splete mana sucked to fill 10% of the normal mana required, though a single B-Grade Luna canpletely fill it without much of an effort.


    As for Death Energy, it should be fine as long as you kill some monsters and then use their energy to charge it. The portal artefact had the property to actively absorb Death Energy from the surroundings.


    However, you may require about a dozen of S-Grade monsters to actually open it once, which means you will need about 2-3 dozen times the dark energy of an average A-Rank human''s mana in your bank if you want to have a return trip from Netherrealm.


    Which is another reason it isn''t really feasible for one to actually open this portal at this stage of power. If one mistakenly opens the Netherrealm portal, the entire Vermilion will end up dying even before the parasite can attack¡­. But the chances of that are less or perhaps none as of now.


    Because¡­ Well, it takes about a week''s time to open the portal with a huge amount of radiation of sorts produced to alert the world about its existence. People also get a system notification and a mission to close the portal before the time is up in exchange for a huge record.


    How do I know this? Well¡­ I was one of those idiots who actually opened the portal once and entered it in search of power. I mean, I was really crazy back then andck of rationality made me do it¡­ well whatever, I got something powerful so I guess it was worth it¡­


    Even if I had to kill about 10,000 people to make sure the portal opens smoothly. Which Iter closed as soon as I entered the Netherrealm.


    It took me sometime to return to Vermilion and by the time I returned people had¡­ kind of forgotten about me and what I did because the war among the species had reached quite a high intensity, along with the given factor of the SSS-Grade monsters taking charges, finally getting out of their dens and nests.


    What happened inside the Netherrealm is a story for another time. For now, the main question is, what will I do with this portal? Hmmmm¡­ All I can do is open my mana channels and reach the SS-Level without relying on Blood Magic and Spirit Magic. Once I can do that, I will enter that ce to take back what is rightfully mine.


    For now¡­ let''s wait.

 Chapter 153 Breathing Of The Night Goddess

    I look at Irene standing in front of me and I nod at her a little before speaking,"First, sit on the ground."


    Hearing mymand she proceeds to sit on the ground. Then I help her adjust her legs, cing one foot over the other leg along with positioning her fingers on the tip of her knees.


    "Take long deep breaths for the next few minutes," I spoke before moving behind her and pushing aside her hair, revealing the back of her neck.


    I then prick on her spine a little numbing her body slightly, before pouring my mana into her body. I see her struggling a bit in the starting but then she regains herposure. Once I confirmed she had adjusted, I started pouring more mana into her.


    In the beginning, I was pouring blood mana into her, as my own neutral blood mana is purified with the rejection fragment. That mana then purified her mana before finally removing it from her body from the same path, that is her neck, from where I pricked her.


    "You should be feeling ack of energy and mana right now, it is normal. I need you to remember this feeling, can you do it?" I asked as I observed her nodding slightly and then I poured some of my own Lunar Mana.


    Yeah¡­ I can use Lunar Mana too.. Though it doesn''t really have much meaning to me. I just learnt how to cultivate it on the passing, hoping I could learn something from it but with me possessing other forms of mana, it wasn''t really a good idea to use Lunar Mana with other mana.


    Plus, my body wasn''t made to fully utilise Lunar Mana so there was that as well¡­


    Still, I learnt all the methods Elle taught me, which she learnt when she was living with the Lunas, and now that there is finally a use of it, I guess no hard work goes wasted¡­ It just requires time to show its true potential.


    I used the special breathing method which Elle used, to take in Lunar Mana and directly transfer it to Irene without passing it through my own mana. It was tricky, but it was possible.


    Soon, I was able to let all the Lunar Mana avable within the room to enter into her body. I then used my Blood Mana to circte that Lunar Mana in all of her tissues and cells.


    Once her body gets the taste of Lunar Mana, I guess it would be easier for her to take in more Lunar Mana by herself and looking at her expression¡­ I guess she feels like that too.


    I then slowly remove my hand and heal her before speaking,


    "Sit in that position and utilise the mana I just gave you."


    There, it took about 30 mins for her to fully utilise the mana I gave her, which was really slow to be honest. Normally it should have taken about 2 to 3 minutes, but oh well, beggars can''t be choosers here.


    "Now, try to take a deep breath and absorb mana into your body slowly. That mana will contain normal mana along with Lunar Mana. Your body should now be able to filter out the normal mana and absorb only Lunar Mana. Once that happens, try to remove all the mana from your body.


    Absorbing will contain both Lunar Mana and normal mana, while at the time of exhaling only normal mana will be expelled. Try keeping it that way." I then moved closer to her as I touched over her spine at the points where the leaves, flowers and buds were present.


    I could feel the mana getting hurriedly absorbed into those parts, which was a good sign, and then I spoke to her,


    "Try to concentrate the mana into your back, spine, mainly at this¡­ this¡­ and this part¡­ especially this part where the bud is. Can you do that?"


    I didn''t see her moving at all, but still I understood she was concentrating at that part really hard, which made me smile a little before I moved forward and scratched my chin as I began recalling the other things I needed to tell her.


    ''Hmmm¡­ should I stop here, or should I tell her the next few steps as well?'' I pondered that before I saw her really concentrating and I decided that let''s wait a week or so before exining the next few steps.


    "Linda, watch over her. She may take a few hours to more before she gets out of her phase. Once she does that, let me know. I will then tell what to do from that point onwards," I spoke, as soon as I was finished¡­


    "I am done," Irene spoke, making me look at her with dumbfounded eyes. I saw her smiling a little before bringing out her System¡­


    [Name: Irene Leeway


    Level: 32


    System: nt Healer System


    ss: nt healer


    Mana Type: Life


    Attack: 14


    Defence:12


    Strength: 4


    Wisdom: 32


    Intelligence: 54


    Mana: 645/645


    Stamina: 88/88


    Stat Points: 11


    Special Skills(1):


    nt Growth(Level 2): The nts love your very existence, allowing you to use your energy to help them grow beyond their normal growth level.


    Effect: Increase the growth of nts by 50%


    Gic Skills(1):


    Night Goddess Breathing(Level Max): You have unlocked one of the most advanced methods of gaining the Lunar Mana. Lunar Mana is one of the purest forms of mana. Cultivating this mana will enhance your body capacities to its full potential. Using this breathing method, you can get the most out of the Lunar Mana around you with leaving minimum residue.


    Effects: You can activate one of the following options at one time:


    (a) Allows the user to increase all stats by one for every 7 days when the skill is used actively.


    (b) Allows the user to increase all stats by one every 21 days when the skill is used passively.


    (c) Allows the user to increase one particr stat every 24 hours when the skill is used actively


    (d) Allows the user to increase one particr stat every 72 hours when the skill is used passively]

 Chapter 154 Breathing Of The Night Goddess#2

    I looked at that skill again¡­


    [Gic Skills(1):


    Night Goddess Breathing(Level Max): You have unlocked one of the most advanced methods of gaining the Lunar Mana. Lunar Mana is one of the purest forms of mana. Cultivating this mana will enhance your body capacities to its full potential. Using this breathing method, you can get the most out of the Lunar Mana around you with leaving minimum residue.


    Allows the user to increase all stats by one for every 7 days when the skill is used actively.


    Allows the user to increase all stats by one every 21 days when the skill is used passively.


    Allows the user to increase one particr stat every 24 hours when the skill is used actively


    Allows the user to increase one particr stat every 72 hours when the skill is used passively]


    And I couldn''t help but curse the System¡­ what took me about 6 months of time was given to her in literally less than a f*cking hour. The world really is unfair, isn''t it? Damn sh*t!


    I turned to Irene, who couldn''t contain her amazement and shock, so she was reading the statement about that skill over and over. I felt that the skill was a bit of an overkill for what system she had but¡­


    "Well¡­ that-mmpphh" what happened next made me a bit shocked as I saw Irene jumping at me as she kissed me as hard as she could, making me numb for a few seconds before she separated herself from me. I could see her excitement and joy clearly in her eyes and her wide smile. I could even see tears of happiness flowing out of her eyes as she looked at me.


    "What are you-" she again lunged at me but this time hugged me tightly and then spoke,"Zero¡­ I don''t know how I can ever repay you for this. This is¡­ too much for something you asked in return¡­ Forget about 3 wishes. As long as it doesn''t involve my family and best friends, I can fulfil all the wishes you want."


    I looked at her for a few moments before turning to Linda, who was equally dumbfounded and happy. She looked at Irene with a bright smile that was no less joyful than Irene herself.


    Though¡­ I kind of made an odd expression because¡­


    "Something is wrong with this skill," I spoke as I analysed the skill once more and the twodies'' expressions turned a bit serious and worrisome. I just looked at the skill over and over but I still don''t get why was it like that? Was it my rejection fragment or was it Elle who was special?


    "What do you mean by that?" Linda asked in a heavy voice and I spoke,"this skill¡­ No, it is better if we do that. You will then understand what I am trying to say."


    I then moved closer to Irene and spoke again,"Close your eyes and sit in the same position you were in before."


    She didn''t understand what was going on, but still followed mymand. Linda too watched it from a distance and then I took out some needles from my space pocket and started pinning them ever so slightly at her mana channel points.


    I have helped out a few Lunas before, so it was easy for me to point where they take their mana from. I, when I was done with that, licked my lips with a slight smile before speaking,"try pouring mana into the spine by passing them through the points I have etched the pins into."


    And she did what I said and a few momentster, mana began surging into her body. We waited for about 3 hours as she continued her cultivation before finally letting the mana die down. She probably exhausted all the Lunar Mana I passed to her, so I guess this was expected.


    I then saw her opening her eyes and then I spoke in a slightly hurried manner,"show me your skill," before she nodded as she too wanted to know what changes had urred.


    [Gic Skills(1):


    Night Goddess Breathing(Level Max[Evolved]): You have unlocked one of the most advanced methods of gaining the Lunar Mana. Lunar Mana is one of the purest forms of mana. Cultivating this mana will enhance your body capacities to its full potential. Using this breathing method, you can get all the Lunar Mana around you without leaving any residue at all.


    Allows the user to increase all stats by one for every 2 days when the skill is used actively.


    Allows the user to increase all stats by one every 6 days when the skill is used passively.


    Allows the user to increase one particr stat every 12 hours when the skill is used actively


    Allows the user to increase one particr stat every 36 hours when the skill is used passively]


    I looked at that skill and finally nodded in satisfaction. The previous skill didn''t have what it takes to reach one of the Top 100, forget about reaching top 12. Those people were monsters, and to reach that point, Irene herself needed to be a monster.


    I will pass on other skills to her once she is capable enough to handle it, but for now, I guess I can leave her with this skill. Her getting stronger will benefit me as well as I can use her using that mana contractter on. I guess all''s well, so the end is well.


    I observed Linda and Irene''s wide open mouths that could probably fit an egg into it. Well¡­ I guess, skills like those are rare or perhaps extremely rare these days, thoughter on after Second Cataclysm, unless you have at least this type of skill, you probably won''t be able to survive at all. Given the atmosphere reduces your stats by more than 90% at almost all the ces.


    "I am not dreaming, am I?" Irene spoke and Linda wanted to know the answer to that question as well. Though I just looked at Linda and spoke,


    "Well, my work is done here. Make sure to not tell anybody about this method and grow silently. If anything happens, you can call me on this number."


    I then passed on a note with my number on it before walking away from there.

 Chapter 155 Choices And Effects

    [Wee back again]


    I saw Amon''s message and it kind of made me confused, wondering what happened in such a short amount of time.


    ''Didn''t I juste here this morning? Did someone ''special''e again?'' I thought as I looked around to see if there was anyone before I found a man at a distance sitting¡­ying in a fetal position. Because of the distance, I was unable to see him properly, but I could make out that he was someone really old.


    He was a thin old man who was probably crying? I heard some sobbing sound as I moved towards him, wonder what his story is. As I was walking, I finally noticed Elizabeth looking at me with a slightlyplex expression, which made me look at that man again, this time with a slightly serious gaze.


    If his presence can make Elle serious, then something must be about him that is really significant. I reached him and tried to look at his face, which he was trying to hide with his thin arms. Though, I still was able to take a peek at his face and then¡­ what I saw made my heart skip a few beats.


    I knew this man¡­ I¡­ what?!... just how?!... I was confused because¡­ this man was¡­ Reagan Wessex.


    [Author''s note: If you remember properly, Zero saved a bunch of people from the facility in the starting chapters. One of those guys ran a herbarium where Zero had stopped by to buy some herbs when he was in Bryxton. He had a daughter and a wife, with whom he was reunited after a really long time. Reagan Wessex is this same guy. Reference: Chapter 32- Calm before the Storm#3]


    ''I still vividly remember the smiling old man in histe 30s with his daughter behind him. Just what happened to him¡­ wait it''s not exactly him¡­ it is the man in the previous timeline who probably did not escape from that facility¡­ but to have changed him into something like this?'' I thought as I looked at the boney figure of the man in front of me with his skin almost adhered to them.


    He had white hairs on his head and only had undergarments on, which made him look nothing more than a beggar who hadn''t eaten for ages.


    Looking at him made me feel goosebumps all over my body, whichter turned into a slight fury that I developed for those inhumane workers at the facility¡­ I guess I need to have a talk with Mark Leeway again.


    "Amon¡­ heal him back to normal," I hurriedly spoke and then mana started surging in his body, getting back to normal at a rapid rate. I saw him turning more and more into what he actually looked like.


    After a few minutes of this and that, he was standing in front of me wearing proper attire and looking like a proper man. If he weren''t shivering like he was and looking at me with those frightened and lifeless eyes, I guess things would have been much better.


    I activated my charm magic and kind of erased at least a few months'' worth of memory, making him fall unconscious right there. Elizabeth was looking at me quietly with a sombre expression from a bit of a distance as everything was going on.


    I then waited for sometime before Reagen gained consciousness slowly by himself and looked around with a horrified face as he shouted with agony on his face,"did I die? Where is my family?!!! My daughter!!"


    And I simply spoke,"yes, you are dead¡­ but your family is fine. Both your daughter and wife are doing good," and hearing my words, he immediately turned towards me with focus in his eyes.


    "Really?" like a child he asked to confirm, and I nodded slowly before calming him down and handing him some water that I asked Amon to create in advance. He drank that water before turning silent for sometime and after he finished thinking whatever he was thinking of, he made a sad smile before turning to me.


    "I guess I couldn''t uphold the promise of returning to my family, huh?"


    I looked at him for a few moments before speaking,"well¡­ about that¡­"


    I then began exining everything that was going on here and from the starting to the end, he kept listening to me without uttering even a single word. To make things easier to exin, I told him about Elizabeth''s situation and also about the people here, along with introducing him to Amon, too.


    He was a little surprised, but that was all. And after I had exined everything to him, he just stood there for a few moments. Silence covered the area for a few moments before he finally spoke,


    "I¡­ I don''t know how to take all of this¡­ it is a bit overwhelming honestly¡­ I¡­ thank you¡­?"


    ? I looked at his confused expression and then sighed before sitting on the floor slowly before speaking.


    "I am not really someone who should be telling you to do this, but wouldn''t it be the best to just ept whatever happened?"


    He looked at me without any change in his expression and I continued,"I know it is hard but¡­ when your wife and children wille here, they will pass on too and honestly in a way everyone will be happy. You can''t change the past and what has been done has already been done. You can take it as advice or what not, but passing on will be better for you than letting your desires make you suffer."


    He looked at me with a slightly sad gaze before he muttered,"you are a kindred soul, aren''t you Zero?" and I looked at him with a confused expression before he continued again,


    "Well, my other half is taking care of his wife and children, and I am sure he will repay you with the best of his ability. You saved him and changed his fate, and I think I, too, will always be thankful for that. As for myself, pardon my stay, but¡­ I think I will stick around and wait for my wife and daughter. And this new timeline¡­ I don''t think it has anything to do with my timeline."


    I kept looking at him before my vision turned white again before I got back to where I was before I entered the White Dimension.


    ''Well¡­ that was something unexpected,'' I thought as I just stood there as I recalled whatever Reagen just spoke.

 Chapter 156 Dining With Leeways

    [Author''s note: I thought about introducing almost all the Leeways at once before proceeding to tell about them one by one. So even if you find any difficulty in remembering all the names and rtions at once, it is fine cause I will recall each of them along with their names and descriptionster on]


    I just stood there for a few moments in a daze before shaking my head a little and moving ahead. While I didn''t really need to worry about Reagen, I still wish I could have done something about his situation. But I guess leaving him on his own would be the best thing to do for him¡­ and for me as well¡­ for now, I guess.


    I looked up at the sky and saw that the night had already arrived before I counted another day passing. I should move up my game too. The time for the Academy''s entrance test was just around the corner, too.


    ''About 9 days left for that. If we calcte the time taken to put the Parasite down to be one whole day at max, I have about¡­ 5 days to get to know all the other Leeways. Well¡­ that''s not a lot of time, I suppose,'' I thought as I then began walking towards the dining area, where I should find the kids of the Leeway family. While I do not need to get along with them, I think bonding with them will help me in the long run¡­ let''s see, first there is¡­ Maxwell Leeway, the kid whom Dolos was trying to manipte into going down the basement.


    Then there is ke Leeway, the elder son of ric Leeway. If I remember correctly, Maxwell is 8 years old and ke turns 5 this year.


    The other child is the younger sister of Irene, Lia Leeway, who had left this castle two weeks ago to live in Arcadia City with Maximiliam Leeway, the younger brother of Bete. Lia and Maximiliam are the same age, each being 13 years old.


    Then there is the five-month-old daughter of ric, Iris Leeway.


    So in total there are 5 children: Iris(5m), ke(5), Maxwell(8), Lia(13) and Maximiliam(13).


    ''Iris being too young, the only ones I can interact with are Maxwell and ke,'' I think as I ponder a bit more.


    After recalling each and everyone''s name, I moved towards the dining area. It took me some time to reach the hall, but I still made it on time as the dinner was just being served there with some of the family members sitting around the table preparing to dine.


    I saw the main seat was empty, where Mark should be sitting, and on the two chairs on its left and right, Cedric and Elric. Cedric''s wife, Martha Leeway, was also absent from the dinner¡­ hmmm.. If I remember correctly, it was Martha who took Lia and Maximiliam with her to Arcadia City helping them prepare for the entrance test of the Academy which should be 3 yearster.


    There was Bete and her mother Britney sitting on the other side of the table and when my eyes reached them, they were already looking at me. I nodded at them, at which Bete nodded in return while Britney just ignored me and concentrated on putting food out on her te.


    The others still haven''t arrived yet, so I just moved towards ke and sat beside him, making everyone focus their gazes on me. Well¡­ it has been a while since I had sat together with them to have dinner¡­ wait! It''s actually the first time I am eating dinner outside of my room.


    ''Well¡­ I guess it would be more odd, if they didn''t look at me like that,'' I thought as I smiled before pouring some gravy into my te before proceeding to take something else. It was a bit awkward as everyone on the table was concentrating on me while I was helping myself to the food.


    "Hey fes! What''s the food for¡­ eh?" I heard a cheerful voice as I turned only to find ric along with his wife, Olivia Leeway, with their child, Iris, in their arms. ric just looked at me with a dumbfounded expression before both of them slowly and silently moved to the table to their respective seats.


    Not even a momentter, I heard another voice which sounded really grumpy for some reason¡­


    "I am home-" but that voice too stopped speaking as the person made eye contact with me. Unlike ric, who was dumbfounded, the new guy, Reeve Leeway, got confused as he looked at me. Then, he too silently just moved a little before stopping as he realised something.


    For the next few moments, he just stood there as he looked at me and I wondered what he was trying to do. He was just standing there looking at me without making any sound at all, though his expression looked like he wanted to ask something.


    "Ummm¡­ Zero¡­ you are sitting in his ce," I heard Bete speak with an awkward smile before I realised what was going on¡­ each ce here is fixed, eh? Ummm¡­ what should I do now?


    ''Hmmm¡­ getting up would be a really nice thing to do, so for now I decided to be a bad guy and not get up¡­ Sorry Reeve.'' I nodded at myself on the inside before proceeding to eat.


    Reeve looked at me and sighed. So did Bete and ric, as they gave a slightly pitiful look to Reeve before looking at him, wondering what he will do now.


    "Come sit here, Martha is not present so it should be fine," spoke Cedric as he smiled at Reeve and Reeve nodded before moving towards him. I kinda wondered what Reeve was thinking, but looking at him, it seems that he didn''t mind it much.


    A few momentster, I saw the other guys were still waiting and not eating anything, at which I turned to ke, who was sitting beside me and whispered in a slow voice,"why is everyone not eating?"


    ke was a chubby kid with ck hair and ck eyes and was currently wearing a formal white shirt over brown pants. His height was about half of mine, or perhaps a bit more, and looking at him, he was a bit scared. I believe he wasn''t really that good with strangers.


    Though before ke could speak anything, I heard a really stern voiceing from the opposite side,"What are you trying to do?!"


    Olivia leeway, the mother of ke and wife of ric, was looking at me with a stern gaze.

 Chapter 157 Dining With The Leeways#2

    Olivia Leeway was a beautifuldy in her mid-20s, and had been married to ric Leeway. She had ck colored hair with bluish strips in between them tied into a long ponytail. Her ck eyes looked really sharp right now as she red at me. She had a fairplexion and was someone well versed in interrogation and simr stuff.


    ''I am speaking to you through telekinesis, so don''t speak anything and answer only through your mind,'' Olivia spoke in her mind and I, a bit shocked, looked deeply at her.


    ''Didn''t she have a system rted to understanding one''s mind and presence? Does that system give her this ability?'' I thought as I observed her and she, without any change in her serious expression, spoke through her mind,


    ''You are quite knowledgeable, I see. Still, that is not my concern. Tell me, Mr. Zero, what exactly are you trying to do?''


    ''What do you mean by that?'' I spoke with a slightly confused expression before she red at me again and then sighed before speaking,


    ''I can see that you are trying to get close to my son. May I know the reason behind that?''


    I smiled a little before gulping down another piece as I answered her,''I am just trying to make the kids remember me before I move out of here.''


    She, hearing my words, looked at me with a sceptical gaze before sighing,''I guess I will get directly to the point then. Please, stay away from my son. I don''t want ke to be involved in whatever you are trying to do.''


    I looked at her and then pondered at her words before speaking,''Well¡­ okay. I guess I will keep my distance from him¡­ until I get my permission from you.''


    She, at my words, just kept gazing at me. Looking at her slightly annoyed expression, I guess she understood my intention. I could only chuckle a little before I hear ke''s voice,


    "Actually¡­ we are waiting for Aunty Freya and Uncle Rheo toe here. Also, Aunty Irene and her friend as well."


    Oh yeah, I did ask ke this question before I got talking with Olivia. I turned to ke, who was curiously looking at me, before turning at Olivia, who was observing my every move. I pondered for a few moments before muttering.


    "Irene and Linda are busy with the work I gave them, while Freya and Rheo are out for a party today. I guess you can start eating too, you know?"


    Hearing my words, everyone turned at me for a few moments before Cedric looked at me as he spoke,"Is that so?" and I nodded at him before he asked,


    "Is the work with which Irene is busy right now given by you?"


    I looked at him and casually nodded, at which he pondered something before he began praying. The whole family started praying along with him¡­ and I kinda felt out of ce there for the next few minutes as their prayer continued.


    After the prayer was over, they, too, started eating. The dining continued for another 30 mins as I just enjoyed my food slowly. Though, nobody spoke even a single word through the entire dinner, as they just kept eating. Once they were done, they started leaving one by one¡­ until it was just me and Reeve left. What was kind of funny was that everyone who was leaving looked at me at least once before getting out of my sight away from here.


    I turned at him for a few moments before asking,"Is this how you guys always eat? Silent all the time and keep analysing and observing your guest''s every move till the very end?"


    I had a slight sarcasm in my voice at which he chuckled before speaking,"nope. It is only for special people."


    "Anyways¡­ ahhh¡­ I guess it is about time I hear your problem as well," I spoke as I yawned before drinking a few gulps of water.


    Turning serious, he looked at me before speaking,"well¡­ What I want is not really that grand but¡­ can you help me out of a predicament? I know about your other identity¡­ and I notice that you can use shadow magic as well, so¡­ I really thought you could help me out of it."


    I observed his face filled with awkwardness and wondered if it really was this hard to ask for guidance from me? Or was it really that much of a secret?


    ''I guess I should see what it is all about before reaching a conclusion,'' I thought as I asked in a monotonous tone,"I guess there is still time before I hit the bed. Let''s see what problems you have."


    He then nodded before speaking,"can we move to the training grounds behind the castle?" at which I nodded because I didn''t really have any problems with that. In fact, now that I think about it, I didn''t visit the back of the castle yet and only ventured in the front part. Not that I really needed to.


    It took us a slow walk of about 30 mins to reach the arena. It was an open training ground with a lot of weapons ced in the corner stands. There was the castle on one side and a wide sea on the other side.


    ''Hmmm¡­ why was ric practising on the roof when there was such an excellent arena alongside a beautiful view here?'' I thought as I observed the arena loaded with various mana circles drawn on its floor. Those mana circles were essentially built for enhanced and proper training that would make any normal training maniac drool if they saw them.


    "Why does ric train on the roof?" I asked out my thoughts as I turned to Reeve and he pondered a little before speaking.


    "Because he is weak and did not or perhaps cannot keep up with the heavy training regime which the rest of us follow?"


    And I felt a bit dumbfounded at my own stupidity before I recalled back ric''s special condition¡­ well.. Sigh¡­


    "Anyways¡­ So what is your problem?" I asked as I looked at him, turning a bit more serious than before.

 Chapter 158 It Is This Easy

    [Name: Reeve Leeway


    Level: 59


    System: Shadow of Death Goddess


    ss: Swordsman of Darkness (+3 level for Sword Skills)


    Mana Type: Dark


    Attack: 78


    Defence:79


    Strength: 45


    Wisdom: 56


    Intelligence: 132


    Mana: 37456/38040


    Stamina: 1334/1334


    Extra Stats: 36


    Special Skills(2):


    1. Apostle of the Goddess of Darkness (Level 3): The Goddess of Darkness, Erebus, has given you a task, and that is to be the strongest user of Dark Matter and raise an army for her. Since you are pitifully weak, she has also given you her blessing and a Title.


    Effect: All of your stats will be 3 times more powerful in darkness. Your ability to manipte dark energy will increase by 50%. In sunlight you can forcefully activate the Apostle of Goddess'' Title for 30 mins but your stats will be halved for the next 24 hours.


    2. Blessing of Erebus (Level 1): Erebus asks for sacrifices and in return she will bless you with strength that you so much crave for.


    Effect: For every creature of Darkness killed, you will gain an extra point that will be added randomly to your stats.


    Acquired Skills(3):


    1. Eye of Darkness(Level 7): Your ability to see in darkness increases and now you are capable of seeing even what is not visible to the naked eye.


    2. Dark Matter Maniption(Level 1): You can bend dark matter ording to your will and use it to your advantage.


    3. Sacrifice of the Pawn(Level 1): For every dark creature that dies under you, you get a 10% boost in your stats.]


    Reeve first showed me his status, and I observed it carefully as I recalled Dark Matter and Dark Creatures of the Night.


    "Well¡­ I have these skills but¡­ honestly I don''t know what to say about them. Firstly, building up an army for the Dark Goddess¡­ I don''t know anything about it¡­ and then there is Dark Matter and Dark Creatures which I have no knowledge of. I searched as much as I could, but all I got were empty leads¡­ so I was hoping you would know something about it?" Reeve asked without much expectation in his eyes. Looks like he has failed too many times¡­ but this shouldn''t be much hard because¡­


    "Dark Magic: The truth behind the curtains," I spoke as I filled the whole arena with pure dark energy and erased every trace of other energy from the arena.


    Reeve was a bit taken aback by my sudden move but then he watched everything carefully as his eyes became wider and wider because¡­


    "They areing¡­" I spoke as I saw many ugly creatures moving towards us as fast as they could. They were flying, crawling and running as fast as they can and I could only look at them moving towards me.


    It should take about 15 to 20 seconds for them to almost reach me and looking at their numbers, it seemed like there were about thousands of theming at once.


    Reeve, as he kept looking at them and then at me, was turning more and more horrified though before he could speak anything I spoke,"Shoot your magic at them. You have 10s," and he hurriedly shot out energy made up of dark magic at them.


    He used all the mana he could all at once, shooting about hundreds of dark energy sts at them and soon 10 seconds were over and they almost reached us. I waited for them toe a bit more closer and Reeve was still attacking them without stopping, forcing out any extra mana he had.


    And when they reached within 5 metres from us I spoke once again,"Light Magic: Blinding Light," and reced my Dark Magic with pure Light Magic instantaneously. With my control over both the elements, I could easily rece the magic as if flipping a coin upside down¡­ at least when it''s just about presenting the magic and I am not using it for defence or offence purposes.


    As soon as the Light Magic came, I saw all the creatures dying at once without leaving behind a trace. Even those which were far away were hurt badly as they started running away. After this was over, I turned to find Mark and Cedric looking at me from the rooftop before they vanished without speaking anything.


    Reeve on the other hand,"What the heck was that?!!!" was really scared and terrified of them. His eyes were bulging out as he spoke again,


    "Each of them was at least an A-grade or something¡­ no some of them were even S rank or higher¡­ what the fuck was that?!!! Were they Dark Creatures?!"


    I just looked at him and nodded before speaking,"Look at your system."


    Hearing my words he then immediately brought his system and what he saw made him dumbfounded because¡­


    [Name: Reeve Leeway


    Level: 67


    System: Shadow of Death Goddess


    ss: Swordsman of Darkness (+3 level for Sword Skills) ; Nightmare of Nightcrawlers( +50% damage against creatures of the night)


    Mana Type: Dark


    Attack: 141 [+63]


    Defence:146 [+67]


    Strength: 123 [+78]


    Wisdom: 90 [+34]


    Intelligence: 258 [+126]


    Mana: 125/ 53240


    Stamina: 345/4830


    Extra Stats: 45


    Special Skills(2):


    1. Apostle of the Goddess of Darkness(Level 4[+1]): The Goddess of Darkness, Erebus, has given you a task and that is to be the strongest user of Dark Matter and raise an army for her. Since you are pitifully weak, she has also given you her blessing and a Title.(4/100%)


    Effect: All of your stats will be 4 times more powerful in darkness. Your ability to manipte dark energy will increase by 40%. In sunlight you can forcefully activate the Apostle of Goddess'' Title for 40 mins but your stats will be halved for the next 24 hours.


    2. Blessing of Erebus(Level 3[+2]): Erebus asks for sacrifices and in return he will bless you with strength that you so much crave for.(234/1000)


    Effect: For every Creature of Darkness killed, you will gain 2 extra stat points in a random stat. You will also gain a level up in a random acquired skill when you kill 100 dark creatures.


    Acquired Skills(3):


    1. Eye of Darkness(Level 7): Your ability to see in darkness increases and now you are capable of seeing even what is not visible to the naked eye.


    2. Dark Matter maniption(Level 2[+1]): You can bend dark matter ording to your will and use it to your advantage.


    3. Sacrifice of the Pawn(Level 1): For every dark creature that dies under you, you get a 10% boost in your stats.]

 Chapter 159 It Is This Easy#2

    Previous timeline, a month before the First Cataclysm.


    ¡­


    "So, I have to investigate this ce called Drake town, which is supposedly haunted by ghosts?" I spoke as I looked at Lucia with a bright expression and she looked at me as if a mother was looking at her non-biological child going to school. That is¡­ she wasn''t really interested in what I was doing at all.


    "Yes, you will be leaving in an hour. Make sure to collect all the information from there as precisely as you can," she spoke before moving into the car, which then drove off, leaving me standing on my own.


    I honestly did not mind her cold attitude, because she was still my saviour from that hellish facility and I doubt I could ever repay her. I then happily looked at the details of my next mission, provided on my tab.


    [Communication from the Drake town, located in the mountainous region of Kunlun, has been cut off and even the S-ranks sent for investigation haven''t returned for more than a week now. Report shows that there dwell monsters that were not on the database and those monsters be heavily active during the night.


    There is also a report of some survivors being seen during daytime, but they don''t seem to be escaping the town for some reason. Their status is still unknown whether they''re alive or dead.


    Difficulty: At least S-Grade


    Mission objective: Find survivors and interrogate what happened there. Report back to headquarters about everything that had transpired there.


    Reward: 5 A-Grade mana cores]


    I then sigh before turning to Cristine, who was as aloof as she always was. She turned to me before speaking,"you got another suicidal mission, huh? How many times has it been now¡­ I sometimes really pity you, you know?"


    Confused at her words, I looked at her before asking,"what do you mean by that Miss Cristine?"


    "Well.. Nothing really. Just¡­ do whatever you think is right," she spoke before vanishing from there and I just stood there wondering what she meant by that.


    I then shook my head before looking at the empty road around me and the cold night that emanated an eerie atmosphere. Vanishing from there, I then began moving towards my destination.


    It was kind of a long journey and took about 2 days travelling towards that area of the country and when I finally reached there; I found myself standing in front of the main gate of the town filled with dark miasma.


    Since I was at a mountain and it was still 30 mins before sunrise, the dark atmosphere around me gave me an uncanny feeling but I kind of ignored it? Well, I tried looking around to find something to start from, but outside the town, all there was, was pure forest and a lonely road that reached the main highway.


    "Hmmm¡­ this doesn''t seem like a good start to me," I said as I moved inside the town while keeping my surroundings in check. Currently, my power level is the base S-Rank of an average S-Ranked System user, so I should be able to handle the monsters, but being extra cautious wouldn''t hurt, I suppose?


    Within the town, I looked at the deste apartments and those empty streets. There were some vehicles left there but dead or alive, there was not even a single soul in sight in that ce. I could only look around as I searched random houses and shops in the hope of finding something, anything.


    The sun came, and before I knew it, it went out too. All day I was continuously searching for something and taking notes, but even after so long, I still couldn''t find anything. Though I guess it was fine because even if I could not find anything during the day, I believe something would surelye up during the night.


    And looking at those thingsing towards me, I guess I was right. I then took out some artefacts filled with UV-light in them along with Light Magic traces and threw them at them. Those creatures were as ck as charcoal and I just wanted to see how they looked in the light, but before I could take a proper look¡­


    -Scratch!!!!!!


    All of them died in an instant, making me dumbfounded a little at what just happened. I mean, if it was this easy, people wouldn''t have gone missing, would they?


    ''I guess something else must have been there that should have been much much stronger than these,'' I thought as I nodded before moving towards the area from where more of them kept emerging.


    I kept using my artefacts as I had brought a lot of them with me and before I knew it, I reached a certain broken building from where more of those monsters wereing out. I just looked at those monsters and then I realised something¡­ they were all at least S-Grade now, with some of them even SS-Grade¡­ which confused me, because if they were this strong, my handmade artefact would have not been able to kill them.


    ''Hmmm¡­ interesting,'' I thought as I moved inside, killing more of them from where they came. I reached inside that building and soon I found a small portal through which they wereing from.


    Just out of curiosity, I threw an artefact at that portal and well¡­ that portal¡­ vanished as well? Ummm¡­ am I doing this the wrong way or something?


    After the portal closed, I found that the area had turned quiet¡­ empty? There were walls around me with a single door leading outside; I checked those walls for a few days before leaving.


    I checked that whole apartment, and finally after trying for some time, I found something that should help me find out what exactly is going on in this cursed ce¡­ fresh footprints¡­


    They came from near the basement of this ce, and I, following those footprints, went downstairs slowly and slowly before reaching the bottom¡­


    There was a ck monster standing there¡­ and in front of him was a little girl standing with her eyes closed¡­ and honestly, I felt like the girl was far more dangerous than the monster¡­.

 Chapter 160 It Is This Easy#3

    "Who are you?" I heard the childish voice of the little girl standing there. It was not that bad to be honest, in fact, it was kind of sweet and cute.


    "I asked¡­ who¡­ are¡­ you?" She asked again, emphasising each word one at a time as she looked at me with her deep red eyes. She had short ck hair that reached her chin, with bangs and a strip of red hair on the left side.


    Her skin was white, pure white. I hadn''t seen someone as white as she was¡­ who was she?


    I tried recalling whether I was familiar with someone with her features, but nothing came to my mind.


    "You-


    "I am Zero. An investigator sent here to find out about whatever the shit is going on here." Before she could speak, I spoke as I looked at the monster behind her. It was shaped more like a scarecrow-like monster with long sharp ws. That scarecrow monster''s red glowing eyes looked like they couldn''t contain themselves from eating me.


    There was only one light bulb at the centre of the basement, because of which it was a kind of hard to make out the situation of the basement. Still, I could see some blood stters on the walls, with a few broken tables around us. I even saw a few tools present on the ground, which seemed to be have fresh blood on them.


    "How can you kill all my creatures with such ease? What is that weapon that you are using?" She asked again, and I looked at her slightly scared eyes, which were filled with confusion, horror, determination, and fury in them.


    "This weapon?" I take out the artefact with a slight smile before passing it on to her. Scared, she took a few steps behind and the artefact fell to the ground right in front of her.


    "Attack!" she spoke and the scarecrow monster, which was much stronger and faster than I could anticipate, reached immediately behind me. however¡­


    -sh


    The artefact that I threw activated before he could hurt me and almost evaporated him. What was left of that monster was¡­ a man''s body? I turned and analysed that body carefully to realise that it was one of the investigators that our team had sent before.


    ''Hmmm¡­ wasn''t he like.. An S-Grade too?'' I thought as I turned to her. Though she wasn''t there, and the basement waspletely empty. I turned around only to find her standing extremely close to me, observing me closely with curiosity.


    "What was that sh bomb? Where did you get it?" She asked as she kept gazing at me and I, not really bothered by her question, answered as I scratched my forehead,"I created it."


    "With your own energy?" She asked again, and I slowly nodded at which she observed me for a few moments before speaking again,"don''t you use Dark Energy? Where did the Light Energye from?" and I stopped scratching as I said,"I can use both the energies."


    At my words, she became dumbfounded a little before she said,"show me."


    ''Hmmm¡­ this is new. Thest time I told people I can use multiple energies at once, they onlyughed at me and took me for a fool,'' I thought before pouring Dark Energy on my one hand which was kind of easy to do and a minute amount of Light Energy with some effort. During the past few months, I have just started learning how to use Light Energy¡­ so I can at most use it in a limited amount per day. Still, I found its use in my grenades, which were quite powerful, to be honest.


    "This!" her mouth was opened slightly, and she just looked at those energies as her eyes couldn''t believe what they were looking at. Her eyes were beyond shocked as she spoke.


    "What is the name of the First Vampire¡­ just what am I witnessing right now?"


    At her words, I tilt my head a little and say,"what are you trying to do?"


    She shakes her head before observing my half confused face and speaks,"you do know about thews of energies, do you?"


    Getting more confused, I asked,"what is that?" and she closes her eyes for a few moments before looking at me nkly.


    "Are you for real?" She spoke before she grabbed my hand and then said,"Come with me."


    A portal opens all of a sudden and she, along with me, gets consumed by it, before we bothe out through the portal to the roof of a building¡­ I, a bit cautioned, look around only to find myself in the centre of the Drake Town.


    "Look around and tell me what you see?" she speaks and I look around more carefully. The more I look, the more dumbfounded I became¡­ those creatures were everywhere around us. The air, the road¡­ I could even feel them underground. From A-Grade to SS-Grade¡­ I could find multiple creatures moving all around.


    "A city filled with monsters?" I spoke whatever came first into my mind. I wondered what would happen if such monsters were toe out into the city and start attacking everyone? Will our world be able to hold them?...


    "Correct in a way¡­ but there is more¡­" she spoke as she kept gazing at me and I understood her intentions, started thinking more¡­ analyzing more¡­


    A few minutester, I finally noticed something. Those monsters seemed senseless¡­ purposeless.. It''s as if they have no will of their own. Hmmm¡­ is there anything else? I thought and thought, but in the end I didn''t get anything out of it.


    I then turned to that girl and spoke whatever I found at which she sighs before speaking,"You aren''t as smart as I thought you would be. Hmmm¡­ how about I give you a hint? See the ces where they are more concentrated¡­"


    Hearing her words, I analysed the scene in front of me once again¡­

 Chapter 161 It Is This Easy#4

    As I analysed the areas where they were concentrated, I found out that their numbers were directly proportional to the darkness, that is, the darker the area, the more the monsters were.


    ''So they are creatures of darkness or something?'' I thought as I turned to her and exined what I had analysed. She then nodded before chanting something, as dark mana orbs formed at a distance from us before¡­


    -Screech!!!!


    All the monsters started screeching and running towards that dark orb. That little girl then moves the dark orb left and right all around the area, and I find those creatures crazily running towards the orb.


    "They aren''t merely going to darkness, but it''s more like their whole life depends on it. Think of it as a drug to which they are extremely addicted." That girl spoke again, and I pondered over her words before speaking,


    "And light should be opposite to that? Something along the lines of darkness is their salvation and light is their worst nightmare?"


    She looks at me and nods before pondering and speaking,"ordinary light and darkness aren''t enough to give that effect, though. You said you used your own energy to produce those artifacts, right? Can you do me a favour and create a dark orb like I did and try using it to control them?"


    I heard her and then started contemting whether to do it or not. Though, after giving it some thought, I simply decided to follow her words as I channelled my dark energy into the tips of my fingers before¡­ concentrating on it.


    -SCREEEEEEETTCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    An extremely loud and shrill voice came, attracting not only those monsters in front of me but also those outside of my range. I couldn''t sense them, but my instincts were screaming that if I did not do something, I would die within moments.


    "Light Magic: Forced Guidance," I spoke as I used up all my light energy at once to create a small orb of light in the exact ce of the ck orb which I just removed¡­


    I didn''t see what happened, but by the time I noticed, all the monsters were gone from my vision. I¡­ a bit confused¡­ turned to the girl beside me¡­


    She was horrified¡­ far more scared, beyond what I have expected. She just kept looking at me for the next few moments and then, after she regained some of her senses, she spoke.


    "What¡­ are you?"


    Her eyes were wide open and looking at her expression, she wanted to run far away from me¡­ though, I desperately wanted to know what happened just now.


    -Swish


    I then saw her vanishing from my front, and immediately I activated my enhanced senses. I found her running at an insane speed away from me and noticing that I close my eyes before muttering,


    "Dark Magic: Assassin''s Silent steps."


    And then¡­ I ran as fast as I could. I felt like she was a peak S-ss and judging by her running speed, she should be more necromancy oriented so if I used all my strength, I should be able to catch her.


    -Swish


    I then ran as fast as I could towards her. Maybe because of using Dark Energy, those creatures also started running towards me, without wasting even a single second. I still had some of my artefacts, so I used them to remove the creatures from my front, not worrying about the ones behind me.


    It took about 15 minutes; I hade pretty far away from Drake town before I finally saw her. She was still running and I should be able to catch upto her in about 10 minutes, but¡­


    "Stop!!" I shouted and then I saw her stumbling a little before turning back with horror in her eyes as she started running faster than before.


    "I just need answers. I am as confused as you are!!!" I spoke as I ran after her, though there was no response from her. I just kept running after her until I reached really close to her. I saw her turning at me for a few times as she finally spoke two words,


    "Kill them."


    Hearing her words, I used my artefacts to kill those who were behind me and then I saw her stopping instantly before turning and taking out a sword that she positioned exactly against my neck.


    I saw my life shing before my eyes, before I spoke¡­


    "Blood Magic: First Moon!!" and then heightened my senses and reaction even more, as I barely dodged her attack. I saw her expression turning shocked as I dodge her attack before moving behind her and then positioning myself in a punching position.


    I saw her eyes widening even more, and I was irked by her trying to kill me. I did not hold back this time as I¡­


    -BOOOM!!!


    Punched her as hard as I could, pushing her far away from me. I then ran towards her and then punched her, again and again¡­ and again¡­ and again¡­


    Until I felt like she was weakened enough so as to not be a threat to me. I already believe she is a vampire, so she must have strong regenerative abilities, so I need to prepare for that in advance too.


    After beating the crap out of her, when I finally believed that she is no more a threat, I nodded at myself as I then tied her with a silver chain, filled with my own light magic. This chain should be able to hold properly for sometime¡­ probably.


    Once I had chained her, I then looked at the mess I have created behind my back¡­ most of thendscape was destroyed and after looking for a while,


    "Well¡­ whatever," I thought as I turned to her, looking¡­ no, ring at me with slight fear before speaking,"just what in the name of the First Vampire King, are you?"


    I looked at her for a few moments as she was cowering as well as ring before I spoke,"well¡­ First you answer my question and then I will answer yours. What the heck happened there?"

 Chapter 162 It Is This Easy#5

    I looked at her for a few moments as she was cowering as well as ring before I spoke,"well¡­ First you answer my question and then I will answer yours. What the heck happened there?"


    She looked at me with a deep gaze before she spoke,"first sign a mana contract with me that you will spare my life in exchange for the information that I provide you."


    I pondered a little before speaking,"well, that is fine and all, but I don''t have a mana contract on me right now."


    "Here," she then pulled out a mana contract in front of me and I looked at that contract and pondered a little before nodding. While I would really like to take her back to our organisation, my real work here is to collect information.


    Then, I began writing the terms and conditions, once all was said and done with the contract; she nodded before exining to me,


    "My system allows me to control the creatures of darkness. ording to what I havee to learn, those creatures have always been present around us but due to the presence of sunlight and other things like,ck of ability to see them through normal eyes, they aren''t known to normal people.


    They are powerful and everything, but they can''t harm anyone under normal conditions even if they are beyond SSS-Grade, because theyck physical attributes. However, they do have some effect on normal people.


    They feed on people''s emotions, and how much they can is proportional to their power and grade. If done in excess, they can even turn a proper, healthy person into a lifeless body.


    ording to my system, they are the manifestations of emotions from other dimensions that have escaped to our own but couldn''t take proper form. In other words, they are failed monsters that have nowhere to go. Their only source of power is darkness and without them, they would always be in limbo, that is, they would be neither dead nor living."


    I looked at her before I asked again,"and¡­?"


    She gulped a little before speaking,"so¡­ My system allows me to control them, enhance them and even get them to turn into powerful monsters which I can control at will¡­ and that is what I was trying to do¡­ Before you arrived¡­ your mana¡­ I don''t know if you know this but your mana¡­ is too pure. Not even going to the point where you have two opposites at once surviving together because I have no idea how that is possible, your mana is far purer than anything I have ever seen. Do you really don''t know what you are?"


    I looked at her for a few moments before asking,"I.. don''t know. I believe that I am human¡­ isn''t that fine?" as I smiled at her. She looked at me with a deep gaze before sighing and speaking.


    "I guess I told you everything I knew¡­ Can I go now?"


    I looked at her for a few moments before asking,"what are you trying to do? What is your goal?"


    She stood up as she spoke,"untie me."


    I looked at her for a few moments before speaking,"tell me and I will."


    She stared at me for a few moments and spoke,"isn''t that obvious? World Domination." I looked at her and it didn''t seem like she was joking¡­ in fact, her eyes were burning far brighter than before¡­.


    I, as promised, untied her. Partly because of the mana contract and partly because my work was done here. I have collected all the information I can¡­ From what I got from this girl, I think I can understand everything that happened.


    "By the way¡­ what is your name?" she asks and I look at her before casually speaking,"It is Zero. What is yours¡­ though.. Mind if I ask what you are, anyway?"


    She started moving away from me as she spoke,"I am Ascarate Rosalyn¡­ the first Damphir. Nice to meet you, Zero. Let''s meet each other at the top of the world," before vanishing from my sight.


    I just kept gazing in the direction in which she vanished and I kind of pondered over what should I do next? After thinking about it, I then raised my hand in front of me as I pointed my finger at a distance before beginning to concentrate magic at my tips¡­ this time much less than before¡­


    -Screech!!


    I heard a voice from a distance as I saw a creature of darknessing towards me rapidly. Then I saw a few moreing towards me. They weren''t as wild as before, and the numbers were less too¡­ so I took out my sword and filled it with minute light energy, enough to kill them only when the contact was made.


    I still had time till morning so I¡­


    Began fighting with those monsters as training partners. They weren''t harmful as Ascarate spoke and I kinda liked that part. Training with them would help me manage my dark mana control while also enhancing my sword style¡­


    It was a really nice method of training and I really liked it for the most part¡­ not including the fact that I could only use this method during the night¡­ I guess there is only so much that I can exploit.


    ¡­


    This was one of the reasons for my swords style, or perhaps all of my weapon skills were way stronger and refined than they could have been. I had practised almost all the time I could, fighting more than thousands of monsters at the same time¡­ it even helped me prepare to fight against monsters supposedly stronger, faster and sharper than me.


    About Ascarate Rosalyn, I never heard from her again and I think she probably died an unknown death. I wonder if I could save her in this timeline because she, too, is one of the reasons I was able to get stronger¡­ Wonder if I should visit Drake town sometime in the future¡­?


    Let''s leave that to the future, I suppose.

 Chapter 163 Trust Is All We Need

    [Name: Reeve Leeway


    Level: 67


    System: Shadow of Death Goddess


    ss: Swordsman of Darkness (+3 level for Sword Skills) ; Nightmare of Nightcrawlers( +50% damage against creatures of the night)


    Mana Type: Dark


    Attack: 141 [+63]


    Defence:146 [+67]


    Strength: 123 [+78]


    Wisdom: 90 [+34]


    Intelligence: 258 [+126]


    Mana: 125/ 53240


    Stamina: 345/4830


    Extra Stats: 45


    Special Skills(2):


    1. Apostle of the Goddess of Darkness(Level 4[+1]): The Goddess of Darkness, Erebus, has given you a task, and that is to be the strongest user of Dark Matter and raise an army for her. Since you are pitifully weak, she has also given you her blessing and a Title.(4/100%)


    Effect: All of your stats will be 4 times more powerful in darkness. Your ability to manipte dark energy will increase by 40%. In sunlight you can forcefully activate the Apostle of Goddess'' Title for 40 mins but your stats will be halved for the next 24 hours.


    2. Blessing of Erebus(Level 3[+2]): Erebus asks for sacrifices and in return she will bless you with strength that you so much crave for.(234/1000)


    Effect: For every Creature of Darkness killed, you will gain 2 extra stat points in a random stat. You will also gain a level up in a random acquired skill when you kill 100 dark creatures.


    Acquired Skills(3):


    1. Eye of Darkness(Level 7): Your ability to see in darkness increases and now you are capable of seeing even what is not visible to the naked eye.


    2. Dark Matter maniption(Level 2[+1]): You can bend dark matter ording to your will and use it to your advantage.


    3. Sacrifice of the Pawn(Level 1): For every dark creature that dies under you, you get a 10% boost in your stats.]


    "Zero¡­ what?! What is this?! What just happened?! Were those really¡­" Reeve was confused as heck at the sudden increase in his stats and his eyes were having a hard time believing what he was witnessing?


    I then spoke again,"Well¡­ what are you going to do in exchange for that knowledge?" and he looked at me with a stupefied expression before recalling about the deal and realising what I was getting at, as he spoke,


    "Yeah¡­ well¡­ I don''t know what I can give you though¡­ is there anything you really need?"


    Looking at his honesty, I wondered if he really was a good boy or was he pretending to be one? Or maybe he just started respecting me that much? Hmmm.. wonder which is it¡­


    "I guess¡­ I don''t really have anything at the moment that I really want," I spoke as I kept pondering if I can use Reeve in the future sometime.


    His Dark Mana could be really useful as I have a lot of skills in my arsenal that he could use, though¡­ he needs to improve in other aspects to be able to use them¡­ especially skills rted to mana control.


    In the future¡­ well, there are many instances where I could use him¡­ hmmm¡­ let''s see¡­


    "Hey Reeve¡­ want to be my puppet?"


    I spoke casually. At first I was going to talk him into bing my pupil¡­ but that made me recall some bad memories so I scratched that idea¡­ having a puppet would be easier cause even if I would lose him, I won''t really feel anything¡­ probably.


    "Puppet?" a bit confused at my words. He looked at me with his look turning a bit dark, and I continued speaking.


    "I can train you and help you grow stronger and in exchange, you will do the tasks I provide you? You can forfeit in the middle as well, if you don''t like my task, though I would stop teaching you after you quit."


    He looked at me as his expression turned a bit rxed before he muttered silently,"calling it a puppet¡­ well.." and then he shook his head as he looked at me before speaking,"well.. If those are the conditions then I don''t have much problems with that. So¡­ is there anything you want me to do right now in exchange for the information?"


    He spoke without any hesitation and I pondered a little before speaking,"can you arrange a meeting between Olivia and me? There is something I want to talk to her about," and he looks at me and turns back to nce at the castle before speaking.


    "I¡­ uh¡­ okay, I will try, right now."


    Though before he moved, I stopped him as I spoke,"well¡­ wait. I guess I can teach you something today. Even though I want to meet Olivia, let''s postpone it to tomorrow. I guess I need to go somewhere else tonight. As for the information¡­ all I can say is work on your mana control first."


    I felt Mark''s eyes looking at me from a distance and I felt like he wanted to see me, so I postponed what I was going to do tonight.


    "But man¡­ this was really something.. I should be a peak S-ss right now¡­ just who are you, Mr Zero?" I heard Reeve speaking as he was dumbfounded, looking at his system and before he could turn to me, I just vanished from there, leaving him all alone by himself.


    I then reached the rooftop where I saw the three Leeway brothers standing together looking at me with a serious gaze. I just observed them as they moved towards me one step at a time, making my guard go up a few notches as I analysed them.


    "What¡­ exactly are you preparing for?" Spoke Cedric as he observed me with a deep analysing gaze and I got confused a little before Elric spoke.


    "Cedric has¡­ a secret that allows him to see through a person''s heart and beyond that. We apologise for intruding on your thoughts but¡­ we can''t help but be terrified with what you are trying to do¡­" spoke Elric and I looked at him, wondering how much he knows¡­


    "We can see that something ising towards us and you are trying to¡­ change that¡­ I don''t mind you using us honestly. Cedric told us that you didn''t have even a speck of bad intentions towards us or our family¡­ you just need our help¡­ but honestly¡­ Zero¡­ can we at least know what kind of dangers we would be facing before wemit to it?" Mark spoke as he looked deep into my eyes and I observed him¡­ he was genuine with his feelings¡­ not anything like how the most dangerous man in the world would be¡­ but more like a man who wanted to protect his family from a danger that he had no idea of¡­

 Chapter 164 Trust Is All We Need#2

    Mark looked at me with aplex gaze and I sighed before speaking in a slightly annoyed tone,"You guys need to chill a little¡­ I did not expect you to find out what I am trying to do. I mean, I did expect, but not this fast. Maybe a little further in the future, a few yearster."


    ''After the First Cataclysm, that is,'' I thought as I looked at Cedric and he spoke,"How strong is the enemy? Can you at least provide that much information to us?"


    I shook my head slightly before asking,"what is the strongest level you have seen yet?"


    "SSS-ss. I have met that personage only once, but even looking at that gave me goosebumps," Cedric spoke before continuing with a gulp,"are they that much strong?!"


    His eyes were wide and Mark and the others too were afraid as well. I sensed Wim and Lucia at a distance, eavesdropping on our conversation, and I wondered what exactly I should tell them.


    "Damn! This is why I didn''t want anyone to know about them¡­ yet, at least," I spoke out to myself in the same annoyed tone.


    "What do you-" Elric tried speaking but¡­


    "Those are the weakest among them," I spoke and Elric turned silent as he looked at me with an expression of disbelief.


    "SSS-grade, SS-grade are their weakest ones. The real ones start from SSSS-Grade, and we call them S4. There are S5, S6, XX and beyond, their leader¡­ I, or perhaps any of us, haven''t yet met him. By the way, the difference between each of them is the same as the gap between an A and an S grade on average," I spoke without caring about what or how they would take this information as.


    Gauging their expressions, I found they were looking at Cedric who seemed beyond shocked¡­ I guess he has a way of verifying whether someone''s words are true or false.


    "And is there a way to fight against them?" William arrived behind me, along with Lucia. Lucia was looking at me with the same expression as Mark and the others were, while William looked like he was waiting for me to answer his query before deciding what to do.


    "Yeah, there are a few ways, but the most appropriate one, the one I am taking, is to bring together the strongest ones and make them even stronger. Create an army of people that can stand against the enemy," I shared my main ambition and William looked at me for a few moments in silence before speaking,


    "How many have you¡­"


    I understood what he was trying to say and I answered,"I have about 15 to 20 people on my list that I am trying to get on my side and make them stronger."


    He looked at me for a few moments before asking,"he is on that list?"


    "Isn''t that obvious? Of course he will be on that list," I answered, fully knowing about whom he was talking.


    "What about her?" William asked again as he pointed towards Lucia and I saw Lucia getting tensed as she looked at me. I shake my head before speaking.


    "What happens to her does not concern me."


    "Eliza," Lucia says without contemting my  statement about her and I ponder a little,"I haven''t decided about her."


    Hearing my answer, she gets confused a little but then Wim says,"It''s Cristine you want, isn''t it?" and Lucia''s eyes turn wide in realisation. I keep my silence on it before I turn to Mark Leeway, who immediately asks,


    "You want me, don''t you?"


    "Yes. You and Irene too, along with Reeve. I will be checking other members of your family as well," I did not hide from Mark Leeway and he looks at me with a slight sigh before speaking,


    "As long as it is for my family, I won''t hesitate to sacrifice myself. Though, Zero, if you try to put any member of my family in danger, I won''t hesitate to use everything in my arsenal to destroy you and everything you have."


    I gazed at him without speaking. Then, I just simply nod before speaking,"If that is all what you guys want, I should be leaving now. Also, yeah! Mark, I would like you to stop all the experimentation that you are continuing."


    "I was going to stop them after you save Bete and I will do that only after you save her," Mark made his stand very clear at this and I sighed before leaving from there.


    ''I guess¡­ I should just sleep for today. I wonder if the choices I made today are right or wrong,'' I thought before moving to my room where I slept as soon as I hit the bed.


    ¡­


    While I was sleeping, a lot of things began moving forward in a direction that wouldpletely alter the fate of Vermillion. While it was just a small piece of information about the future, what I just did not only was going to save millions, but perhaps 90 percent of the poption on Vermillion. Lucia passed on this information to the Vampire King, William to the Laurentz''s, Mark Leeway to his best friend¡­ another SS-ss that keeps himself hidden, Oliver Dcruz, the father of Rheo Dcruz.


    This small piece of information was too big to be kept hidden; the world started moving towards a new era, where everyone directly or indirectly started bing stronger and because it was about the fate of the, even the System''s quests were now oriented to bing stronger.


    Other than that, the name of the Reaper boosted even more from upholder of justice to someone who was on a journey to save the entire world. He is taking in people to make them strong enough to deal with the uing hurdles of this world. Though only a selected few knew about Reaper, while the others had no idea where he was or who he was.


    This was going to be both opportunistic and problematic for Zero. Only fate knew what the future holds for the man who was on a journey that even he considered almost impossible toplete.

 Chapter 165 Olivia And Elaric Leeway

    "So you wanted to talk to me?" Olivia spoke with all seriousness as she looked at me and I looked at her with a smile before turning to ric Leeway.


    ''While helping them through their ordeal would work as a deal, I don''t want that. Olivia''s ability tomunicate telepathically is way too useful than anything in this house. Even more important than Mark Leeway and Irene Leeway, no way I am going to let her go,'' I thought as I observed Olivia.


    While I can create another person as strong as Mark or Irene, the chances of me finding another telepathy user is zero to nil. Even in my previous life, the only other person who had the ability tomunicate through her mind, sadlymitted suicide after losing her family and lover in the first cataclysm.


    "I need your ability. I have taken a liking to your ability," I spoke as usual. If this doesn''t work, I will use charm magic, but for now, let''s try to be honest and see where it goes from here.


    "And exactly why do you think I would let my ability be used for your convenience?" She asks as she scoffs at me. I look at her with an objective expression before speaking.


    "You tell me. What is it that you want in return for letting me use your ability whenever I want?"


    She looks at me with her eyes narrowed at me before speaking,"And why do you think I, Olivia Leeway, would require anything more than I already have?"


    I observed her face but honestly, I couldn''t read her, no matter what. Is this another ability of hers, or is she just that skilled in masking her emotions?


    "Hey, you guys look like you are having fun! Can I join too?" I heard another voiceing from the entrance to this room. I turned to that voice only to find Freya Leeway, the wife of Rheo Dcruz and the elder sister of Irene Leeway.


    "Sister Freya?!" A bit shocked and confused, Olivia looked at Freya, fidgeting a little. Freya, on the other hand, had a smile on her face as she turned her eyes from Olivia to me and spoke,


    "Ah! Pardon my manners. May I sit with you guys here?"


    I nodded at her before she chuckled and sat right beside me and immediately started speaking,"I heard what you did with Reeve. Honestly, I still don''t trust you, but since you have helped that useless brother of mine to be way better than he was before, I think I should show some appreciation as well."


    She spoke all that with a smile on her face before changing her expression to a rather cold one,"though, first I would like to know what exactly do you want little Livia''s ability for?"


    She turned to me and bent a bit forward to take a clear look at my face and I looked at her before speaking,"There is someone I want to save and there is someone I want to kill."


    Freya turns silent for a few moments beforeughing out loud as she speaks,"Someone to save and someone to kill, huh? Don''t know about saving, but if you are going to take help from little livia to kill someone or perhaps anyone at all, I guess that person must be really special¡­? Isn''t it?"


    I slightly smile at Freya before speaking,"of course he is. He is someone I have a personal squabble with and I want to not only kill him, but thoroughly destroy him."


    Freya, hearing my words, suddenly turns dumbfounded before she startsughing maniacally. She just keepsughing for a few moments before slowly stopping and then turning at Olivia,"Livia, help him when he asks you to."


    "But sister-" Olivia wanted to deny, but Freya kept smiling at her and Olivia, sensing the meaning of her smile, stopped in the middle.


    Freya then turns to me as she says,"All I want in return is that when you go into the basement, take me with you. The family does not allow me to enter alone, but with you I believe they wouldn''t have much problem."


    I look at Freya for a few moments before speaking,"you are not going to doubt me?" But Freya turns a bit dumbfounded at my words as she speaks with a sudden smile,


    "You have no idea, do you?"


    I looked at her confused, wondering what she was trying to say, but then I recalled what happenedst night and¡­


    "Don''t tell me they¡­"


    "Well¡­ Zero is safe," spoke Freya with a sudden chuckle before turning all smiles, as if she was enjoying this. Though, I wasn''t happy with this¡­ wait.. Well.. damn! I guess it was just me getting emotional¡­


    "This is going to be both problematic and opportunistic, all in all it is going to be a pain in the as*," I groaned as I looked at Freya.


    She, hearing my words, started smiling even more widely before speaking,"I think I am going to enjoy watching you suffer." And I red at her before sighing as I spoke.


    "Is there anything else you want, Deviless?"


    "Nothing for now," she answers before standing up and slowly leaving from there in a jolly mood. I could even hear her humming faintly as she walked out of the room.


    Deviless, one of the most famous alias by which she is infamous among the people. Though based on what she does¡­ it is not too far off the mark.


    "Is there anything else you want?" Olivia speaks with a defeated expression and I pondered if there is any way I could help her protect herself. After thinking a little, I spoke,"show me your system. You too, ric, I would like to see yours."


    I helped them a little here and there, telling them various ways they can enhance their system and mana usage. I told them a few methods to enhance their mana usage and maniption. At first they weren''t as attentive, but by the end they were only looking at me as if I were a ghost or something.


    After I was done with telling them everything I could think of, I simply stood up and left from there, bidding them farewell, though they were too concentrated on their own work to even notice my absence.


    ''Now¡­ it''s about time I start the final phase of the ritual.''

 Chapter 166 The Battle Of Iredale Castle

    After I walked out of that room, I immediately made my way towards the rooftop where I had drawn the circle. Earlier, I thought it would take more time to get to know everyone, but by fate and twists; I guess I ended up knowing about almost everyone within a single day.


    Those I didn''t get the chance to make acquaintances with, I think I should be able to see them in Arcadia City. As for the ones I have left here, if I remember correctly, they don''t have abat oriented system. Except Freya Leeway, about whom I already have enough intel to understand her best strategic position.


    So that leaves me with about 6 people from the Leeway family, who would be participating in the battle.


    Mark Leeway.


    Elric Leeway.


    Cedric Leeway.


    Reeve Leeway.


    Freya Leeway.


    Rheo Dcruz.


    I kind of wanted Irene to participate in the battle, but the current Irene is too weak, so I guess we can''t have her putting her life in danger right now.


    Outside of the Leeway Family we have¡­


    Me, Zero


    William


    Cristine


    Lucia


    In total, we got 10 people participating in the battle along with my artefacts and magic circle that I drew.


    "I hope this is enough," I thought as I reached the top before beginning to check the circle onest time. It wasn''t that I wasn''t confident in my skills, but taking extra precautions is never a wasted effort. Especially in cases like these.


    It took about an hour this time to check through the entire circle and thankfully I did not find even a single error. I then nodded at myself before moving towards Mark''s office.


    ¡­


    -Knock Knock


    "Come in," Mark spoke from the inside of the office.


    -Click


    Entering the room, I almost began speaking about the ritual that I was about to conduct this evening but before I could speak even a single word, I saw the face of another familiar man that I have only heard about or seen in reports, but never actually seen in person.


    "Oliver Dcruz," those words automatically came out of my mouth as I saw that long ck-haired azure-eyed man who looked like who was in histe 30s despite being over 70-year-old.


    "..." That man, though, just stood there with a slightly nk expression as he saw me before turning to Mark, and Mark just smiled at Oliver with a slight chuckle.


    "It is him, isn''t he?" Oliver asked and Mark nodded before Oliver turned back at me and spoke,


    "You must be Reaper, right? I have¡­ well, I am here to see the person in charge of ''saving the world'' by myself."


    In his words, I simply sighed because I kind of knew this would happen sooner orter.


    "Though, I would have liked it more if it happened after the ritual and not before it," I grumbled a little before speaking.


    "Suit yourself, I suppose. Anyway, Mark. I have decided to proceed with the ritual this evening. I have done everything I needed to do. Is there anything you have today that requires your presence?"


    My eyes turned at Oliver as I spoke thest line, who was¡­ dumbfounded, to say the least.


    Perhaps he was surprised by the way I was addressing Mark, or maybe how casually Mark was taking my approach to him. In any case, he was really analysing me right now, trying to understand what exactly is special about me.


    "It might be a bit inappropriate but¡­ I can''t bring myself to believe all that bullsh*t that Mark has been telling me sincest night. And watching him being so intense about it was a little nauseating, so I came here to check on my own. Mr Zero, is there anything you have that you would like to show me to make me believe that whatever you said is actually true and not just a made-up story?" He was polite, he was honest, and he was direct with his approach.


    No sugar coating his statement and neither any sign of arrogance.


    ''Just like the reports said. A nice guy with a crazy personality,'' I recalled before sighing and speaking,"well¡­ it would be better if you stayed the night then. Since we are going along with my way of doing things, having another SS-Rank would really help us out. You might get a glimpse of our future enemy as well. How does that sound?"


    Hearing my words, Oliver just looked at me before pondering a little and then nodding at it. He then looked at Mark and said,"Well, we will continue our talkter than. For now, it seems that you have something more urgent to deal with." Perhaps it was because of Oliver, Mark was really rxed despite his daughter being about to go through the ritual. Though, honestly I too was thankful that Oliver was here, cause his system can be really useful in this situation.


    Oliver shook hands with Mark and then bowed to me before leaving the office.


    -Click! -Bam!


    The door closed, and Mark and I were the ones left behind. I then turned to Mark and spoke,"is there anything you want to add with the ritual or something?"


    Rather than answering my question, Mark threw a question at me,"You are not angry with me telling Oliver about your secret?" ''With the amount of secrets I have, getting one or two out shouldn''t be a problem. At worse, I can just use everything in my arsenal to use against those who trouble me,'' is what I was thinking but,


    "If I really wanted to hide it, I wouldn''t have told you anything, would I?" I spoke with a casual smile at which Mark first narrowed his eyes at me before chuckling a little as he spoke,"whatever you say." I then began discussing everything about the ritual and how I will proceed with it. He listened to every part carefully and since we have Oliver helping us too, I added him there as an extra line of defence. It was a long talk and took about another hour before we finally settled on everything.


    All that was left now, was to tell everyone their respective roles and unveil the curtains to the uing battle tonight.

 Chapter 167 The Battle At The Iredale Castle#2

    The stage was ready; the defences were set, and the people were ready.


    I, at the centre of the roof, looked all around me.


    There were two people sitting in front of me. Eliza and Bete.


    They were sitting with their eyes closed with a bit of tense expression. I would have liked them to be more calm but I guess there is little you can do to calm your nerves in this situation.


    My eyes drifted to the front, Oliver and Mark were there with a sword in their left and right hand, respectively. There was Reeve standing at the edge of the circle behind Mark and Oliver.


    I turned in the opposite direction to see William sitting on his knees, like a sage and Lucia standing right beside him with her eyes glowing a crimson red. She had already activated her second moon, huh? Guess that is to be expected from her.


    Then there was Cristine standing at a distance on one of the towers, watching the whole scene. I asked her to not get close, but she was adamant about watching the whole thing with her own two eyes.


    On my left there were Freya and Rheo standing with their respective weapons, a whip and a longsword. Looking at their smiles, it felt as if they were enjoying this whole tension.


    ''Freaks!'' I cursed a little before turning to my right.


    There were Cedric, and Elric standing with their arms crossed. They looked really determined, maybe determined even to put their lives on the line for this. Though I wonder what they would have done if I had told them the whole truth.


    My eyes then drifted up¡­ Amon, Elle, and others are probably observing me too. This is an important battle, I suppose. Then there are others from the Leeway family, like Irene and others who are watching the battle through the eyes of the camera.


    Not just them, but I suppose the Vampire king and William''s father, the King of the Western Continent, too, are currently watching


    ''I guess they are in for a ride,'' I smirked a little before turning back to Bete and Eliza. One has a parasite while the other is cursed. How fascinating!


    Ah! Did I forget to mention I was in my Reaper''s outfit. ck hair, ck eyes and a ck cloak that screamed death, both with its looks and aura.


    Though, this time I had a sword in my hand, instead of Scythe. Why, of course, I am going to kill the parasite, no need to hold back, do I?


    I then moved closer to Bete and touched her back, while touching Eliza''s back as well. I close my eyes and pour my mana into Bete''s as well as Eliza''s back before slightly piercing the ces where I touched them, with a pure dark aura.


    Blood started drifting out of their back and


    "Blood Assimtion Magic: Reverse Curse of the Night Reaper," I chanted one of my original magic that I created after the third Cataclysm, during the fight against Vengeance Hunter.


    -AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    A screeching sound came, and it was neither Bete''s nor Eliza''s, but something that had escaped up in the sky from Bete''s body. It was a small part of that parasite. The real one wouldn''te out this easily¡­ The real one would¡­


    -AAAAAAAA!!!!!


    I applied more of my blood to Bete and Eliza. Eliza''s curse was probably reacting strongly, and Eliza was having a hard time keeping her consciousness. Though after a few moments,


    "Blood Assimtion Magic: Reversal Curse Transfer."


    And then jumped out the real one. He tore apart Bete''s body into pieces with her hands, legs, arms and everything being scattered everywhere. He stood in front of me, standing with his body half matured, half destroyed but rapidly healing. His lower hands were smaller, with the upper hands as sharp as a newly shaped de. His brown eyes and ugly mouth were ring at me before


    -BOOOOM!!!!!!


    I saw Mark already activating his power and looking at his powers¡­ he is using ck Shadow System. He wasn''t scared of the Parasite even one bit, instead he was angry and really scared right now.


    -BOOOOM!!!


    -BOOOM!!!!!!


    -BOOOOOOOM!!!!


    -BOOOOM!!!


    He kept punching the parasite until the parasite started breaking into pieces. Mark''s blood covered his fist, and that blood reached the Parasites. I could see the Parasite smiling a little as he poured his clone cells into the ces where Mark was hitting and once those cells connected to Mark''s blood,


    -SCREEEAEATTCCCCHHHHHHH!!!!


    My blood, which was currently flowing in an extremely minute amount in Mark''s blood, entered in the Parasite''s body, which should have given him the pain of his life as he began fully dodging Mark''s attack and not taking them anymore.


    Meanwhile, I¡­


    "Reverse Blood Circle: Dark Assimtion: Fate Reversal," I muttered, using all the power I had umted in the magic circle all this time and started joining back Bete''s body parts one by one.


    I had no idea, but at this moment, I sent chills down everyone''s spine who was watching me. From Irene and Linda to the Vampire King and King of the Western Continent. Though, I wasn''t as great as they think I am¡­ I am tens of times better than this¡­


    "Summon Soul: Aelia Scarlet"


    I chanted calling forth Aelia, making everyone shocked once again as I had not told them about this. The ones who would be most shocked will be Lucia, William and Vampire King.


    "Use the Circle below to erase all his sources ofmunicating with his kind," I spoke as I knew that there was a way the parasite can signal to his kind, which wasn''t something even I can handle now.


    Aelia nodded before proceeding to do that, though..


    "AAAALLLLLL OOFFF YOUUU  DDDIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The Parasite spoke before changing his form into something more darker, more ugly and more dangerous.


    As soon as he did that, I cut off his connection with Bete, whom I had already joined back to normal. Though her heart wasn''t breathing and she was supposed to be dead. However¡­


    "Spirit Magic: Resurrection of the chosen one," I mumbled as I poured all the spirit magic that I had collected and concentrated till now into her.


    "Haaaaahhahaahaahaaaa¡­. Haaaaaa!!!!! Cough cough¡­ huf¡­ huf¡­. huff¡­" She started breathing as she rapidly exhaled and inhaled the air. Her face was pale, as if she had already seen death and I would have talked andforted her, but right now, I have something even more important to concentrate on.


    My eyes then turn to thepletely transformed Parasite, who was screeching extremely loudly and a scary look forms on my face as I recall some bitter memories looking at that.


    ''About time we start the real battle.''

 Chapter 168 The Battle At The Iredale Castle#3

    There were two reasons that I wanted for the Parasite to go berserk. One was rted to his increased vulnerability to physical and magical attacks. The other one was hisck of coordination to attack.


    While it did increase his physical capabilities to twice as much as before, also making him much more receptive to any soul or mental attacks. I guess I wouldn''t need to worry about it because¡­


    "Anti-Magic Circle," I muttered before unleashing the real potential of the magic circle.


    -SSSCCREAEATTTHHHH!!!!!!


    "Wh.. at.. Is¡­." Mark spoke, getting weaker, along with the others too. Including the Parasite, of course, who was screeching out as loud as possible. I saw him doing everything he can to prevent losing his power, but he was miserably failing to do so.


    Not caring about what others were feeling or doing, I proceed to the next spell,


    "Reverse Magic Engineering: Sorption of Mana."


    All the mana which was entering into the circle started flowing inside me¡­ I observed the whole process and also took notice of people in my surroundings.


    "This is really something to be honest," a feminine voice spoke from behind me and I turned around to see Aelia, looking at her power increasing with a bbergasted expression.


    "Don''t be surprised, just now," I muttered before letting the blood flow freely through my body to the circle and vice versa. Another function of the circle was to amplify the mana I had.


    And then I saw my powers increasing to its max potential it could reach without going beyond. If I had to guess now, then I was barely SSS-Level and since Aelia''s powers scaled along with me, she too must be at SSS-Level.


    "We have 60 seconds," I muttered before looking at Aelia, who dashed towards that Parasite. Normally, Aelia would have killed the Parasite in an instant, but with the Parasite''s regeneration capability in his berserk form along with his high tenacity and resistance to pain, he too was in SSS-Grade, albeit barely.


    ''Also Aelia, a blood user, is a bad match against him,'' I thought before looking at Eliza and Bete who were lying there. Since I was this powerful now¡­


    I rushed towards Eliza and touched her, immediately curing her with the level of powers I had. My deal with Cristine isplete, now toplete the other task. I thought before vanishing from there and reaching Cristine, who was literally shocked and nervous at the same time.


    I dumped the two girls on her, and she looked at them rxed a little, before turning at me, but I had already reached back to where I should belong.


    -BOOOOM!!!!!


    I punched the Parasite as hard as I could, making him reach the other side, but before he could escape the circle, I activated another defence mechanism of the circle using my power and created a wall preventing him from getting out of the circle.


    "Take everyone away," I said as I looked at Aelia and she nodded before using her area wide blood maniption magic to get everyone out of the circle towards Cristine on one of the towers.


    The others were too weak to do anything against this as they ''left'' the battle before looking at me and that Parasite. Now¡­ it was me vs it.


    "About time I get real, don''t you think?" I spoke as I saw him standing slowly and regenerating to its prime health before ring at me.


    "Blood Sacrifice: True Reaper," I muttered before blood started pouring out of my skin and my eyes were turning darker and darker. The blood creeped deep within the sword I was holding, increasing its size and slightly changing its shape.


    Even my hair, which was ck, had turned half red. I looked at that parasite with a creepy smile as I spoke,


    "Wee to hell!"


    And then I dashed towards him as fast as I could


    -Swish


    -sh!


    -SCREEEETTTTCCCHHHH!!!


    I saw him screeching with my one attack before proceeding towards me with a ferocious look and once again,I dodge him easily as I cut him again


    -SCREEETTCH!!


    Making him scream all over again. I knew it wouldn''t be enough¡­ no, it will be far from the damage it will take to kill him¡­ so I dashed again, shed again, turned around, dashed again, shed again.


    The process repeated 10s of times in the first seconds, 100s of times after 10 seconds, 1000 shed by the end where I shed each and every part of his body into a thousand separate pieces.


    After I was done with that, I saw him clearly andpletely, all his parts, his eggs with which he could reproduce. His mana core with which he drew his evolutionary power. His dark ck thread, specific to them, gave them their gic properties.


    "Shadow Style: One Hundred shes of Eternity," I muttered in a low yet cold breath before sending dark energy shes towards him¡­ from the front, from behind, front the sides, above, everywhere.


    Those hundred shes came instantly, went instantly, cutting thest bits of him. I saw him making hisst screech as I huffed, hoping it would end at this. My eyes observed it for the rest of the time and when he fell down and didn''t make a single screech even after the next few seconds, I finally concluded that he was dead.


    My eyes then turned to Mark Leeway and the others, who were looking at me with a deep gaze motionless. Reeve and the others who didn''t make any contribution to the battle at all were left wondering what was their role in all this¡­ which was, to be honest, to fill the magic circle with their power. Oliver''s addition was a really nice touch to it.


    ''Though, I doubt they would have epted this, if I had told them about it from the start,'' I thought before my consciousness faded slowly. I saw Aelia, slowly evaporating as well as she smiled at me while muttering something along the lines of ''Good job!''

 Chapter 169 Aftermath

    The battle had ended about 24 hours ago and Zero was still asleep as the Leeway Family took care of him, taking turns every hour. While Lucia and Cristine attended to Eliza as she, though now cured, was still weak. Her condition was stabilising, and she was recovering at a rapid rate.


    Bete, with the help of Mark''s connections, was cured by a high priest and she was as healthy as she could be. The only drawback was that her powers were considerably reduced, but ording to her, she will grow up fast as the previous event had given her a few new passive skills that should help her be strongerter on.


    Outside of the Leeway castle, few world powers were already in a panic regarding the Parasites and their powers. The tense fight between the Parasite and Reaper was leaked to almost all the world powers creating an uproar, making those who already knew to hurry up and those who got to knowter on, ced them in a tough situation.


    Watching the Parasite''s power made them realise that the enemy wasn''t anything to scoff at, and the fact that it was the weakest of their bunch made their fear and anxiety rise to a new level.


    As for Reaper, they didn''t dare to make any move at all. That was for three reasons. One is Reaper himself. He was f*cking too strong and too mysterious. Was he working alone? Was there anyone behind him? Who was supporting him? What was his power limit?


    All those questions consumed their minds and the decision to capture him or to negotiate with him came to a standstill. The other two reasons were Oliver and Mark. Those who knew about Oliver made their stance clear, as they won''t be getting involved. They might win against Oliver and get Reaper, but will it be worth the cost and efforts? They did not know the answers to that.


    As for Mark, those who knew who Mark was also stayed away for the same reason. Despite things being so stagnant on Zero''s end, there were a couple of people who actually moved forward to meet Zero in the near future.


    That included Merlin, the overseer of the Rose Family, and the Vampire King. The King of the Laurentz Family left everything to his son, William. It was the obvious choice, but the elder and younger brother of Wim weren''t thrilled with William getting all the chances to be the most favoured amongst them, so they started moving on their own towards this mysterious guy called as ''Reaper''


    ¡­


    [Zero''s POV:-]


    I woke up and found myselfying on a bed. Turning around, I found two figures chatting with each other in hushed voices and they looked quite serious.


    ''Mark and Oliver, huh? Looks like the fight was really over. That''s two deals taken care of,'' I thought as a smile formed on my face. Oliver was the first one to look at me as he spoke.


    "You are awake, huh?"


    Mark also turned, and a smile bloomed on his face before he moved towards me and checked my pulse. Finding it normal, he rxed a little before speaking.


    "You seem fine."


    Oliver, standing beside him, also moved closer and spoke,"Well, I shouldn''t be asking questions to a person who has just fought a life and death battle, but since I can''t contain my curiosity, I will ask. Was that thing the Parasite you were talking about?"


    "Wait¡­ a¡­ sec," I spoke as I used spirit magic to heal myself faster. Looking at me, healing at a rapid speed, Oliver''s eyes almost fell out of its sockets and Mark just shook his head in silence.


    "Well, he was a hatchling Parasite who went into berserk mode to be exact, but the power levels were equal to a fully transformed Scout Parasite," I spoke as I removed the nket a little and took a deep yawn as I stretched my arms.


    I turned around to find there was William reading a book on the other side and,


    "You are here too, huh?"


    "I shouldn''t be?" He asked and I replied,"nah! At this point, it doesn''t matter."


    "Hmmm¡­ can you tell me more about them?" Oliver was really immersed into the topic, wasn''t he? Well, it makes sense, I suppose. Who wouldn''t be anxious and curious after witnessing that, in any case¡­ if he wants to know that then,


    "We have 10 years before they strike. That too can change depending upon the circumstances."


    3 years before the first Cataclysm, when the other races came out to the surface, another 7 before the second Cataclysm. I guess, if everything goes ording to my previous timeline, then we still have 10 years¡­ However, I will prepare as if we only have 5¡­. reason¡­ I don''t know if things will really go down the way they are supposed to.


    "10 years is a short time to prepare for an army of SS-Grade. Do we need to depend upon powerful equipment?" Oliver asked again and Mark red at him as he spoke,"give the kid a break. He-"


    "Kid? Look Mark, I don''t know what you take him as but please, he is anything but a KID!! He literally took control of the whole fight in a second, made use of everyone present there and pounded the shit out of that deadly creature that could have wiped out countries if not the continent.


    You saw that too, right? That creature''s regeneration rate, his speed and power? And if this ''kid'' was correct, then they can infect others too? Say what you want, but stop taking him as a kid, okay?"


    I looked at the quarrel between the adults with a keen interest before speaking,"it is alright Mark. Oliver, as far as I have known, is a worrywart who always doubts things he cannot understand. You, being his friend, should already know that, don''t you?"


    Oliver turned at me, red a little before speaking,"and you, Mister Zero, should not know that. There are no files on me and I have secluded myself from the world long before you were even born. It''s the first time in 3 decades that I have surfaced ande here, that too, only on Mark''s special request."


    ''Not yet, yeah,'' I thought before smiling and speaking again,"but you are d that you did, right?"


    At my question, he just shut up, making me chuckle a little.

 Chapter 170 Aftermath#2

    "I do have some ways to make people, or perhaps everyone SS-Grade by the end of 10 years but as you know, the shitty government and selfish jerks who hold power, wouldn''t be really happy with this," I spoke pondering a little, garnering the three people''s attention in the room.


    "There are actually many things that are going to happen before the Parasites strike, and you three might already know a few, don''t you?" I turned towards William before turning to Mark and Oliver again, who stared into my eyes.


    Oliver was the one to speak,"the other races?"


    "Oliver!" Mark was shocked that Oliver actually revealed such a big secret to me, but,"yeah. That is one of the major events that is going to shock the worldter on."


    Mark then turned to me, as he blinked a few times, confirming he heard what I just spoke. Looks like he did not think that I knew about this, which was odd for some reason, since it was less of a secret than the Parasite.


    "True that, the Demons, Vampires and the Dwarves,ing to our world would be a really big thing, but hey! Looking at the bright side, I guess it is also great that we get stronger people to fight with. Also, the Luna''s will be there too, won''t they?" Oliver spoke as his eyes brightened up, but I looked at him dumbfounded with my eyes wide open.


    Oliver, looking at my expression, turned silent before slowly questioning,"did you not know that?"


    ''NO! That is not it¡­ it''s just¡­'' I turned around to see William, still looking at me silently, without any apparent movement. I then turned to Mark and Oliver, who were having a slightlyplex expression before I speak,


    "You guys really don''t have even an ounce of idea, do you?"


    Hearing my words, the expressions of all three changed once again. Even the expressionless William was now feeling that I was going to speak about something ominous.


    "Okay¡­ Listen. You know about the monsters and their dens, right? Dungeons and stuff?" I spoke, and they nodded before gulping and I continued,"there are, I don''t know if you know this but there are monsters with intelligence thriving there. Not just one or two, but about thousands and ten thousands. Some reach about to even millions within those dens. Vermillion is way bigger than people could imagine, and there are far more creatures and monsters than you can fathom."


    I took the ss of water from my bedside table and took a gulp before continuing," and all the races, known and unknown, all the monsters, known and unknown, three yearster, are going to attack the continent for supremacy. The cause is unknown, but the war is sure to ur among all the races. Among them, some would join forces with each other as well."


    Oliver, who seemed to have slightly lost it, spoke,"you are kidding, right? Do you know how many strong monsters are there out in the wild that I run away from half the time?"


    He spoke a piece of information that made William and Mark look at him dumbfoundedly, however I wasn''t shaken at all.


    "Well¡­ the total races that I know of, number in 18 and the total monster varieties will be 178 and above," I spoke, and a silence covered the room once again before William spoke,"do you have a n?"


    I turned at him and smiled a little before speaking,"of course, I do. Who do you think you are talking to?"


    "What do you want me to do?" Oliver was really desperate for some reason. I wonder, how did he end up bing so strong if he were that much of a worrywart? But okay, I will tell him,"trust me, I guess. I have decided to wipe out 7 of the races and make the rest 10 join us. As for the monsters, we don''t have to worry about all the monster races, and only 45 of them, out of which I am going to kill 34 and make the rest 11 work under me. I have ways and I guess I can make use of all three of you."


    "Are you sure you should be telling us about this?" Mark spoke, and I nodded before adding,"I have my reasons and ways, so it is fine."


    He looked at me for a few seconds before gulping and nodding and Oliver just stood there before taking a seat as he spoke,"this is a bit too much at once, to be honest."


    I looked at him before pondering and speaking,"I could be lying, you know?"


    He chuckled before muttering,"lying in front of three people who have the power to kill an entire nation if they go all out? Kind of a bad move, I would say. Thinking about it honestly, it wouldn''t even matter if you were lying. Because the end results would always be positive if we got stronger."


    I did not know what was going through his brain, neither did I want to know about it.


    "How are Bete and Eliza?" I asked and William was the one to answer," Eliza and Bete are fine, and they should be back to normal by the end of the night."


    I nodded at him before turning to the door, from which a few more people were entering. Reeve and Freya were the ones who came forward, and Irene and the others followed behind them. Soon the entire room was filled with the Leeway family, and I looked at them for a few moments before speaking.


    "What are you-"


    "Thank you for saving Bete," spoke all of them in a synchronised way before bowing a little and I just looked at them, baffled for a while. I turned to Mark, and he smiled a little before speaking.


    ? "You didn''t just save Bete, but also helped Irene and Reeve. If I am not wrong, you are going to help a few more of our members and honestly we couldn''t thank you enough. If you ever need our help in the future, which I am sure you would do, please don''t hesitate to call for us."


    ''...'' I just stood there for a few seconds, trying to register what just happened all of a sudden.

 Chapter 171 To The Basement

    It has been an hour since the Leeway family came into my room. Even though I felt a bit odd at first, I took control of the whole conversation and discussed whatever they wanted to talk about.


    However, it was mostly about how grateful they were to me and how they should have behaved better with me than they did in the beginning. Even Britney, Mark''s wife, was talking with a cheerful expression on her face. The difference between the woman I met outside Mark''s office, and her was that of heaven and earth.


    Everyone shared their own part of their story and how they wanted to send me back or whatnot with their reasons of their own, but in the end they apologised for that too.


    One thing which wasmon among all of them was their promise that if I ever needed their help, they would be there for me. They kind of repeated this promise over and over and it was a pain in the ass to exin to them that ''yes, I am going to use them whenever I want.''


    I then met Bete as well, who looked like a fairy after her health took a better turn. I smiled at her as I sighed thankfully before thinking,


    ''That''s another person I saved.''


    Looking at her all smiling, I guess it was worth saving her. I couldn''t help but recall the files and videos of the Bete who died in thest timeline. It was an odd feeling that slowly passed away, leaving only happiness in its moving.


    "Thank you Zero. I guess I will be meeting you at the Arcadia Academy. If it is not too secretive, can I know which name you would be using in the Academy? Or is that¡­ a secret as well?" Bete spoke with a slight hopeful yet sad gaze and I pondered over her words.


    ''I, sure, will be using another Identity. Hmmm.. but keeping it a secret would be near impossible if someone really wanted to dig into it,'' I thought before speaking,


    "I will meet you at the Academy after the admission procedures are over. I still have to look after Irene and Reeve as well."


    In my words, everyone turned at Irene and then at Reeve. They both, too, turned at each other with a slight shock before sparks began flowing into them.


    "Well then, I guess I should be leaving for the Academy as soon as possible too. It is only a week since the Entrance test. Irene, when is your test?" I asked and Irene turned at me suddenly with a slight stupor before speaking.


    "Uh! That¡­ I will be there by next week. My exams are in 10 days."


    I pondered a little and nodded at her. With that much time, I think she should be fine with the examination. I then turned to Reeve.


    "You shoulde with her. I will be leaving on my own," I spoke before turning at William,"about our dea-"


    "It is fine. I think I have gained more information than what I havee here for. If you want to fulfil your end of the deal, then do me a favour and keep in touch. Along with that, try looking after ''him'' every once in a while. I don''t think ''he'' will be needing anyone''s help, but when you are addicted, I don''t know what might happen at the Academy. So¡­ I guess you understand what I am trying to say, right?"


    I nodded as I recalled ''him''. Well, I really don''t think ''he'' will be needing my help, but I guess I can help him out if anything goes from worse to worse. My eyes then turn at the Oliver for a few seconds before I ask,


    "What are you going to do?"


    Oliver looked at me with a pondering look as he spoke,"I will be going to meet an old friend, before Ie to the Academy. That should take about 5 to 6 months before I arrive at your ce."


    ''I guess by that time I should get strong enough to handle Oliver, in case anything goes wrong, so it is fine,'' thinking that I nodded before moving off the bed.


    "Wim. Take the others with you. Our deal is over here and I will follow what you asked for. I will contact you by the end of tomorrow," I spoke before moving towards Freya Leeway and stood in front of her.


    "Let''s go," I said and she, a bit taken aback, asked,"Right now?"


    "Yeah. I want to finish all my business here as fast as possible," I spoke, and she nodded before sighing and speaking,"all right. Follow me."


    The reason I was rushing was simple: I did not have anything else to do. Talking with the Leeways was already done, Bete was already saved, Eliza too, as for the others like Irene and Reeve, their main training was going to ur when they would be in the Academy.


    I don''t exactly need to meet Elize and Cristine, cause from what I have collected, they, along with that b*tch Lucia, will being to that Academy as well.


    ''She is nning something once again, isn''t she?'' It made my blood boil, but I kept my calm. I want to see what she is trying to do, and what she is trying to achieve. I will break each and every move of her''s in the most vicious way possible. I will make her realise that messing with my life is thest thing she should be doing, and staying away from me is the only way she could be happy.


    It was another addition to the number of things I nned to do in the Academy, but it was going to be worth more than anything.


    I then moved behind Freya as the rest of the family followed me as well, and before I knew it, we reached the basement entrance. I turned around and looked at them before speaking,


    "This is something that I would like you guys to not¡­"


    And before I knew it, everyone left before letting meplete my sentence.


    ''Well, that was helpful,'' I thought, a bit amazed by their fast response.


    I then turned around to look at the basement gate, which looked¡­ quite normal. I expected it to give off some ominous feeling or something, but it was simply in.


    I turned to look at Freya, who kept her eyes narrowed at the gate before gulping and opening the gate with a sudden thrust.


    And¡­


    It was empty. It wasn''t a basement, but a room. A small room that looked more like a storeroom which is used for, obviously, storing different things.


    "What?!" Freya was stupefied, though. She moved into the small room and looked around and I too entered it, only to find an empty room with no windows or objects ced around. All there was, was dust on the walls and the door from where we entered.


    ''Looks like the basement got erased as well. Hmmm¡­ I guess, the sole purpose for the key was to open the gate to Avalon, but since the gate itself vanished, so did the purpose of the key. If I am correct, it was a dungeon created by the gate here that sent monsters around the area. The deeper you go, the more dangerous the monsters,'' I thought as I recalled back the information I had on here.


    "I¡­ do you know what happened here?" Freya turned to me with a questioning gaze and I just shook my head before asking,"you have to exin to me what is going on before I can tell you anything at all."


    She looks deep into my eyes before closing her''s and then sighing before speaking,"maybe it was rted to that parasite, probably. Hmmmm¡­ well, looks like my work needs to go another direction for now," and then looking at me as she speaks,


    "I guess I should exin to you what is going on here¡­ actually¡­"


    Then she proceeded to exin about the basement and how she captured a few monsters for the experiment, though there was no result. She exined to me about her adventures in the basement and her findings about this ce, before finally reaching the part on how the basement doesn''t exist anymore, of which she had no idea of.


    "Sounds like a dungeon to me, honestly," I said, gaining her attention in an instant.


    I exined to her about the basics of a dungeon like, how monsters are formed and how there is always a purpose, and once that purpose is fulfilled, the dungeon vanishes. I also told her about the illusionary monsters and their real purpose, that is the spirit stones, hearing of which her expression turns dumbfounded as she immediately grabs my hand and takes me somewhere¡­ probably her room.


    Inside her room she shows all the spirit stones she had collected over the years and looks at the number of spirit stones, which looked to be more than 10,000. I couldn''t help but rub my eyes to take a look at them once again.


    ''Is this for real?'' I questioned before turning at Freya in order to exin about the goldmine on which she was sitting.

 Chapter 172 [Epilogue] Spirit Cores

    Spirit stones or Spirit cores, were a type of green coloured course that is dropped by a monster in a dungeon once they are killed.


    Compared to the red coloured cores of the monsters outside, the spirit cores are green in colour and their quality depends upon their size.


    The most important difference between the normal cores and the spirit cores is that while mana cores help in gaining more mana and increase the maximum power temporarily when consumed in high amount,


    The spirit cores increase the potential of the System itself. It was a well known fact among the people during theter stages of the second Cataclysm and it was one of the reasons the dungeons were so popr.


    You can upgrade your system from A-Rank to S-Rank and beyond, and the very thought of bing a better rank was enough for the masses to give at least one try in these dungeons.


    Though things weren''t as easy as they seemed. The amount of spirit cores to upgrade the system increased drastically from one level to another and differed from system to system.


    While it may be in thousands for some, for others it may even turn out to be in billions or more. Overall, this too was dependent on luck.


    Coming to the part where one needs to absorb the spirit cores to upgrade a system, well there was only one way discovered so far, that too by a simple mistake of a curious scientist who was obsessed with them.


    It was to mix them with one''s blood and then circte your mana through it slowly and slowly. Once it enters your bloodstream you need to focus it on your body and spread the whole energy gained from the cores, all over the body.


    Though there remains one crucial step to actually let the system upgrade and that was to expel out any energy into your body and let it be defenseless for an unknown amount of time.


    ''Though, it is easy to figure out the time based one the Spirit core you absorbed,'' I thought as I recalled back the ways people calcted the time.


    Though their ways of calction failed half the times so you never know.


    ¡­.


    I exined everything about the Spirit cores to Freya and she looked at me with an expression of disbelief. I then pondered a little before muttering,


    "Want to make a deal with me?"


    While they are oh so precious spirit stones, I don''t have any use for them myself. I can sell it or negotiate with someone but that someone needs to be only A-Grade because above that level, I can''t determine whether they will be able to upgrade their system or not.


    Which brings me to Freya, an A-Grade System user, perfect to strike a deal with.


    "In return for the method to upgrade the system using these?" She asked with a dazed look and I nodded.


    "What do I need to do?" Looks like she was really encited by the idea of upgrading the system.


    "I need you to get yourself stronger to S-Level first. Then, I need you toe in Arcadia Academy, there I will tell you a few secrets of mine. Until then, all I want is for you to keep getting stronger," I didn''t exactly tell her what she needs to do and she, even though curious, silently nodded at my words.


    She was about to take out a mana contract but I stopped her before speaking," it''s okay. We can sign the contract after you reach Arcadia Academy."


    Well, I could have used the mana contract, but honestly after the first Cataclysm, with the entry of Halflings, a species extremely versed in binding magic, can easily cross out the mana contract.


    ''Since I need her after the first Cataclysm, I suppose I can just use this way to gain a bit of her trust,'' I thought as I looked at the smiling face of Freya as she just observed me.


    I then proceeded to tell her the method, which she wholeheartedly listened and followed before absorbing a small piece of stone. It should take about an hour or two before she gets the system message, so I just left her on her own before moving towards the main gate of the Leeway castle.


    ''Well, I would love to say goodbye another time, but I think it would be better to leave now,'' I then stepped out of the castle wondering if there is anything I had forgotten or not.


    Though, after pondering a little, I still couldn''t find anything so I just left from there. There were a lot of things which I needed to do in Arcadia Academy and the faster I reach there, I guess the better it would be.


    I turned at the castle in the distance and silently vanish from there without letting anyone notice me.


    ¡­.


    A few hourster at the Leeway castle,


    Freya came out running, trying to find Zero and tell her about her sess with a joyful face but even after searching the whole castle she still couldn''t find him.


    She went to Mark and Mark guessed that he might have left as his work was done here. Which kind of made her a bit sad.


    Later when everyone else found out about him leaving without telling anything, they were a bit sad but a few momentster they just realised that this is how he was, secretive and unpredictable.


    The family then began moving doing their own respective tasks, some given by Zero and some by their own self. They knew what was going toe and proceed to do things in which they can protect their family¡­ which now included Zero as well, despite him not being a blood rtion of theirs.


    William also moved along with Eliza, Cristine, and Lucia as soon as he heard that Zero left. They too didn''t have any work left there and moved without informing anyone at the Leeways.


    As for Zero,


    He was ready at the airport, sitting on the Airne about to depart to Arcadia Academy.


    "You must be Zero, nice to meet you. I am Parax, the-"


    "Parax, the SSS- Ranked Necromancer, I know," Zero spoke without turning at the bulky man sitting right beside him.


    [Volume 3: Battle of the Iredale Castle Ends here]

 Chapter 173 [Prologue] Arcadia City

    "Parax, the SSS- Ranked Necromancer, I know," I spoke without turning at the bulky man sitting right beside me.


    I saw his aura even before I entered the airport. Perhaps he was curious about me? Wonder how long he had been waiting for.


    "You are as he described you, mysterious and all knowing. Perhaps unfathomabl-" He began speaking in an elegant way but I interrupted him.


    "I am going to sleep now, if you want to talk, wait for me to wake up," I said as I shut my eyes and fell asleep fast. While I do want to kill him, let''s not get aggressive now. All the more when it''s just a clone sitting beside me and not the actual person. Actually we are both clones.


    ¡­.


    Sitting a few seats beside on the opposite row, I was sitting disguised, as I observed my clone going to sleep in ignoring Parax. Had it been the real Parax, he would have long figured it out about the Zero in front of him being a fake one, but since it''s just a clone, it was a piece of cake to fool him.


    I saw his face ashen before he muttered something and a swarm of flies from his hand entered into my clones and started eating it. Just a few moments after, the swarm of flies eat up all of Clone Zero as I simply watch it.


    I see Parax getting confused a little before acting smugly and then chuckling on his own before his clone vanishes as well. I kept my eyes narrowed at the ce from where he vanished. I tried sensing for any other death energy signatures, but this time there was none, unlike when I entered the Airport.


    I kept my senses up, for the whole flight before the flight reached the Arcadia Academy. Even now, I was keeping an eye out on everything around wondering if there is more Parax around, and also keeping an eye out on people around me, trying to see if there is anyone I had known before.


    I actually ended up finding some old faces but I had only seen them in files and nothing more. I might have even met them but only once or twice, nothing more.


    ''Now where to go first? Hmmm¡­ what''s the date today? Ah! Wait a sec! It''s that day,'' I thought as my eyes lit up and I began moving outside the Airport with a cheerful face. Reaching outside the ce, I hired a cab and asked him to drive towards the City Arc Graveyard.


    It took about 40 mins before I finally reached the ce where that guy was supposed to arrive. I guess, I could call myself lucky to arrive at this time of the world.


    Getting out of the cab, I moved towards the entry of the graveyard and what I saw at a distance was the reason I came here. He was there, standing with his sister praying for his dead mother.


    I moved forward towards him, one step at a time and even when I was as much as 500 meters away from him, he still ended up sensing me. Though, given it was him, I guess it was at least expected from him. Still, I kept moving forward and forward towards him, without hesitating a little until I reached at least 20 meters away from him.


    "You are the infamous Reaper, aren''t you? What business do you have with me?" he asked as he looked at me with those golden eyes. He looked really sad and tired, maybe the old memories have been haunting him and I wonder how he would react knowing that his mother is still alive, dying everyday.


    His yellow hair made his already handsome face even more majestic. His ck suit, which he dressed up especially for today, somehow enhanced his already present heavenly aura.


    Lucas Laurentze, the guy I owe the most. The one with whom I had always been jealous.


    "I am here to assess you," I said, taking out my scythe. Honestly, I just want to fight against him and win for once. Call it childish, call it immaturity, but I want to defeat him at least once. In my previous life, I didn''t even have the courage to stand up against him until everything was at stake.


    This time¡­ at least once,


    -Dash


    I dashed towards him, as his sister, Lucy, came in between and set up a barrier. My eyes looked at her with a solemn expression as I recalled some bitter memories. She was a beautiful person, inside out. I wish I could have protected youst time¡­ this time¡­ I promise, I will protect you to the best of my abilities.


    -Dash


    -Dash


    I ran on the side and then dashed back towards Lucas, ignoring Lucy, as I jumped at him. He was already ready with his sword and my scythe shed with his sword making a loud sound.


    His eyes were confused as he asked,"what do you want? Who are you?"


    "You will know soon enough. For now, focus on fighting or else," I spoke as I increased my pace and he did too. I took a peek at Lucy, who was trying her best to get in but with the intensity and the battle increasing with every second, she couldn''t help but gulp and stand back.


    Lucas was trying his best to best me, but I saw that despite possessing so much potential, he was still a youngling. I saw his weakness ever so clearly and once I realized that defeating him would be really easy¡­ my urge to fight died as¡­


    -Dash!


    -Boom!


    -Boom!


    -Boom!


    I hit him on three different spots at once, making him fall on the ground. I then ced the edge of my scythe on his neck and spoke,"well. I guess, this is what you amount for right now. Hmmmm¡­ " I then pondered a little before smiling widely at him as I spoke,


    "I am going to make your life a living hell from next week so enjoy this final week as much as you can."


    Turning around I saw Lucy gulping a little as I moved towards her. She was there standing with a little scared face and I sensed Lucas slowly standing up with a killing intent.


    "Don''t touch my sister," he spoke with  a threatening voice but I ignored him, moved closer to Lucy, patted her as I spoke,"nice to meet  you, I guess. Here is my number, if you ever need me for anything, you can call. See ya," and then moved away from there.


    "Huh?!" Confused Lucy turned at me immidiately and Lucas himself was wondering exactly what the f*ck was going on. Though by the time they could do anything, I was already gone from their sight.

 Chapter 174 Arcadia Academy

    Arcadia Academy, the best of the best academies, and the second best Human Academy in the entire of Vermillion.


    There were 57 people in this Academy that had survived till the very end of the First Cataclysm.


    Out of 57, only 14 survived till the Third Cataclysm and after the Third there were only 7 people who survived.


    Lucas Laurentz, the strongest backer of humanity or perhaps the strongest of the entire Vermillion. He was sharp, cunning, dangerous, sister-con, someone who would even fight against the King of the Entire Intergctic Alliance, just to show them who they would be messing with if they even looked at their sister.


    Elizabeth, or more urately, Annabeth Rose, the Lady of the Blue Moon. She was one of the strongest 12 in the end. Though killed by the Parasites, she still was feared even after death due to the nature of her magic. She had the ability to manipte the very night itself to her advantage.


    Lilith Berg, the subus in human form, the beast of Arcadia. She is a myth and legend within the Arcadia Academy, whoter on will be the myth of the entire Vermillion. Someone who excelled in illusion magic, and one of my mentors that helped me perfect my illusion magic. She wasn''t really a subus¡­ but a half subus whose subus genes were removed, making her a half human that fed on the emotions of other beings.


    Hera Beckameth, the vice president of the student council. I haven''t met her, but from what I have known, anyone who has met her except the strongest, doesn''t get to see the next day. She was someone who existed only in the files, and nobody knew about her real identity. Even now, nobody knows whether she exists or not. Adara, the president of the student council, is the sole person in this academy who knows about her.


    Armis Trevis, the Luna Royal, who mixed in among humans to collect information about them and learn their customs and how they cohabitate with each other. He was among the 5 Lunas that barely survived the attacks of those bastards. Excelled in almost everything, he was a force to be reckoned with. Even now, from what I have heard, he is as strong as theye.


    Adam ke, the ruler of one of the groups of the Arcadia Academy, was the only one among the whole group who managed to reach the top only to be killed in a fight against the Royal Parasite. He was a neutral guy, who didn''t go along with both right and wrong and did what he thought was best for him. His special trait was his lightning magic, which he evolved to the point where he could do almost anything he wanted ording to his will.


    Christian n, finally, the only teacher of the Arcadia Academy, that managed to survive to the very end. He did die within the first few years after the Third Cataclysm, but still his mana maniption was something that even the best ones had failed to achieve. One of the few that humanity actually felt bad about losing.


    These 7 were the ones I have on my list for now before I add another few. Though the others need to be assessed deeply even before they can be on the list. Except Elizabeth and Adara, of course. And also those two¡­ I need to make sure they both survive as well.


    About the Academy,


    As I have already said, there are 3 groups that rule the entire Academy. They not only make sure to keep the Academy running, not including the teachers, these are the ones that also teach the youngsters on how to actually survive in the world.


    Surely there is bullying, but even the worst bullies make sure to pass on some teaching to the fledglings so that they can be stronger than before. Different people have different views about them, and the whole reason people are actually not against the bullying is that what those bullies teach is many times better than what a normal person teaches in normal ways.


    Perhaps fear has its ways of unlocking the potential of humans, that they learn things in times of fear that they can''t in normal circumstances. How¡­ well it would be better to show you when I enter the Academy, cause this is moremon than you''d expect.


    While these are all true, there are also the departments, events, functions,etc. Those are present in this Academy, helping the Academy run throughout, since its years of foundation.


    Structure wise,


    The Academy was vast and magnificent. In order to amodate about 500 students and more than 1000 teachers, along with even more staff, the Academy has never beencking in providing anything that its people need. More like it has always overdone in providing what they want. Which is one of the few things that I like about the Academy.


    The other best thing about this Academy is the undiscovered dungeon which will unlock after the first Cataclysm. Though I am going to break its barrier a bit earlier this time to use its full potential in ways that humanity can''t even imagine, I suppose.


    Well, there are a lot more things¡­ but let''s deal with that one at a time.


    ¡­


    I reach at a distance away from the Academy. There were a few people who were ogling the two beauties who were standing near the park waiting for me. Ignoring those ogling men, I moved towards the beauties and spoke,


    "Hey! Did you follow through with everything?"


    "Zero!!" ir spoke with a really happy expression, and I smiled back at her before looking at the other girl beside her.


    "You must be Emma, right?" I spoke in a formal tone, and she nodded before analysing me thoroughly. My eyes analysed her back, and she took a few steps back and I stopped analysing her.


    "You can ask directly, you know?" I spoke to Emma, and she narrowed her eyes and asked me back,"can I?"


    I nodded at her and then turned at ir as I asked,"Nice to see you too, ir. So, have you done what I had asked you to do?" and she nodded at me.


    "It is just a few steps away from here," she spoke before pointing in a direction at a distance. My eyes observed that ce and nodded before beginning to move towards it. Emma and ir too followed behind me as she began exining about that ce, and not long before, I reached that ce.


    It was honestlyvish and beautiful. Looks like she hasn''t held back in buying the best one out here, which I really appreciated. Thinking that, I added a few more millions in her ount and turned towards her, while she looked at the message dumbfoundedly.


    "Take care of things around here. Have fun. This will be my rest house and I will be visiting here every once in a while. Emma, I have a job for you, if you don''t mind. ir you as well," I spoke as I looked at them and they turned their attention to me with a curious look.


    "Emma, you are a nurse, aren''t you? Can you get into the Academy and join their paramedic staff as a nurse? Also ir, you join as a librarian in the Academy. I will provide the other instructionster."


    "Why did you justmand me to do it while you asked Emma whether she could or cannot?" ir was being a bit salty, but looking at her carefully, she was just teasing me a little. I smiled at her before speaking.


    "Just cause you are special."


    Hearing my words, she blushed a little and sheepishly moved behind Emma, who just shook her head and spoke,"okay, I don''t mind doing that. In fact, I wanted to do that before you even asked me, just that I wasn''t thinking of working inside the Academy but outside of it."


    I nodded at her as I knew it would be difficult to get a job inside the Academy, but I guess I can pull some strings from the inside to help her gain the job there. Same applies to ir as well.


    I then exined a few basic rules of nursing and librarian to them, which I learnt from the inte. It wasn''t that hard, so they took all the information within a few minutes.


    I asked them to join their respective positions by tomorrow and also try to gain more information on their own on anything that they don''t understand at which they nodded.


    "Hey, can I ask a question?" Emma suddenly asked me out of nowhere, and I nodded at her to proceed.


    "Why are you helping us¡­ or perhaps ir? Do you like her or something?" She asked, and I smiled before answering,"she was the one who saved my life back at that ce when I was at my weakest (at the cost of her own life in the previous timeline). Of course I am going to help her out. As for like¡­ I haven''t really thought about it."


    "Well¡­ she has fallen in love with you. What are you gonna do about that?" She dropped a bomb at me out of nowhere.

 Chapter 175 Arcadia Academy#2 Fateful Encounter?

    "Well¡­ she has fallen in love with you. What are you gonna do about that?" She dropped a bomb at me out of nowhere.


    I saw ir making a stupefied expression before slight horror became apparent on her face as she shifted her gaze between me and Emma. Emma, on the other hand, was waiting for my answer to her question.


    For the next few seconds, a silence covered the entire house and after that I sighed with a little chuckle before speaking.


    "I¡­ don''t know. My life is tooplicated to have something like love in it," I spoke as I turned to ir who looked like she was about to cry but I continued,"maybe after I am done with nning most of the things or maybe when I feel like I can give myself a break from all the work I need to do¡­ I think we can work something out. Though that might take years, so I can''t really say ''wait for me'' either. It''s up to you from here because honestly¡­ even I don''t know my take on love is right now."


    ir looked at me with a slightlyplex expression before speaking,"I will wait¡­ for as long as I can," and that made me smile a little. I nodded at her as I spoke,"sure."


    I then began moving outside slowly cause I didn''t have anything left to talk about or maybe I had, but talking in this situation will make things unnecessarilyplicated.


    "Is there¡­ is there anything you like in a woman? Some quality or perhaps something that you find attractive?" She suddenly spoke in a fidgeting manner as she turned at me and I, hearing her question, pondered a bit.


    ''While boobs and booty won''t be the wrong answer, I doubt it''s what she is asking about,'' I thought with a serious expression before speaking,"Strong ones who don''t die easily."


    Well, that way I won''t need to worry about them all the time.


    After that, I moved out of the house, leaving the sisters on their own, and going to the nearest park around. I kind of wanted to take in some fresh air and also n my next move within the Academy.


    Reaching the park, I sat on a bench as I observed people ying around with their kids and couples cheerfullyughing around. There were elders and also a few other men who were exercising. It was evening time and looking at the sun, there was still an hour before it sets.


    For a few seconds, I closed my eyes and rxed there, yawning and stretching a little. Then, all of a sudden, someone put their hands on my eyes from behind. It was a soft hand of a girl and since I detected no threat or killing intent; I guess it was someone who was ying with me¡­ or perhaps someone who knew me?


    "ir?" I asked and the hand slowly moved back before a girl appeared in front of me from the back and sat on the bench beside me. It wasn''t ir, but¡­ Lucy?


    "What are you¡­ doing here?" I was he confused. How did she know about me? How did shee here? What is going on here? Did she figure out my identity that easily? Is it really that easy to figure out? Multiple questions consumed my mind as she chuckled a little before speaking,


    "I have my secrets but don''t worry, nobody knows about them," she spoke with a cheerful yet secretive manner. I kept looking at her and tried to recall if she had any fortune telling rted ability, but no, I don''t think she has anything like that.


    "Well¡­ I don''t really mind sharing this if you tell me what exactly you are trying to do," she made a serious expression. Though for a 15-year-old, she was quite mature, wasn''t she?


    "Hmmmm¡­ you go first then," I said, and she narrowed her eyes at me as she asked,"do I look like an idiot to you?"


    "Kind of," I answered without any hesitation. To meet someone who had just beaten her older brother, when not even a day has passed and acting all familiar with him¡­ if it wasn''t idiotic, I don''t know what was.


    "Sigh¡­ all right. I will tell you, I have a way of tracking people who have touched me. Though, only I know about it¡­ and now you as well," she spoke with a slight difort. Maybe she didn''t want to tell me about her secret¡­ Then why tell?


    "You are aplicated person, aren''t you?" I asked directly, and she smiled at me as she answered,"not as much as you are."


    A few momentster she continued,"beating my brother out of nowhere, warning him and the very next second telling his sister that you are going to help her out if there is any problem, as if you were looking out for his sister¡­ if that wasn''tplicated, I don''t know what was."


    I looked at her and pondered a little,''all right. It really wasplicated when you look at it like that.''


    She spoke once again,"you pique my interest, so I wanted to check who you are. Don''t worry, brother isn''t here, and neither is anyone else. In fact, my brother is right now training rigorously so that next time he will beat you to a pulp."


    She chuckled a little on herst line, and I observed her carefully before speaking.


    "Then you are an even bigger idiot. To meet someone like me all alone by yourself isn''t really something anyone would do, you know?"


    She immediately rejected,"I don''t think so. I did research on you and character vise, you are way better than many I have known. You are ''that'' person and anyone who knows about you or heard about you would never think of you as someone who will hurt the innocent¡­ probably."


    ''She is too naive, isn''t she?'' I thought before stretching a bit more than I stood up and asked,"So what is it that you want from me? My identity? My secrets? My reasons? Which one is it?"


    Watching me stand, she too stood up and spoke,"I want to say all of it but right now what I want to know the most is that look of yours that you gave me when you patted my head. That look didn''t have affection but pity in it. It was filled with sadness and hope, and a rxed and relieved smile that everything''s still fine now. I saw determination too in it¡­ just what is it that you know that made you look at me like that?"


    I saw her face with a slight certainty as I didn''t think she would be able to read my face to that extent with only one look that I gave her genuinely.


    "I don''t think I can tell right now. It''s something that won''t change that easily and telling you about it, might propel it in a direction that I can''t handle so no, I don''t think so that I will be telling about that right now," I spoke with a serious face and she, after listening everything attentively, nodded at me as she answered,


    "All right. Then tell me one thing at least: are you a friend or a foe? To my brother, I mean. I think your stance towards me is already pretty clear."


    "Foe probably. I am not gonna kill him or get in his way of bing strong, but I am gonna make things difficult for him in other ways," I spoke out my heart and looking at her, she wasn''t really happy with it.


    "Is there anything I can do to change that?" She asked, and I pondered a little beforeing to a conclusion as I spoke,"I don''t think so you can."


    After that I began walking away from there and asked onest thing to her," why don''t you join the Academy this year?"


    She was someone who could easily get into the Academy with her powers, but for some reason, she wasn''t joining. So I thought, if she joins the Academy, it would be easier for me to protect her there.


    "I don''t think my family would agree, in fact they would strongly disagree," she spoke, and I scratched my head in confusion again as I spoke,"but you have me now, don''t you? I think it is fine."


    She looked at me with a confused gaze and I just spoke,"join the Academy. If someone from your family creates trouble for you, you can call me. While you don''t want your brother to be in trouble, I think it would be fine if it was me, wouldn''t it? Plus, I don''t think I can be beaten down that easily, so that''s fine as well."


    Then, I vanished from there without much thought. While she still knew about my identity¡­ I don''t think she would tell anyone. The fact that she didn''t even tell her brother about it, the only one close to her right now. I doubt she would tell anyone else about anything at all.


    ''If she really joined the Academy¡­ it will be really a plus for me,'' I thought as I reached the park just on the other side of the previous one and began calcting about the future once again.

 Chapter 176 Arcadia Academy#3 Monster Generation

    The day of the entrance examination.


    In front of the main gate of the Academy.


    ¡­


    "Hey! Look. Are they?! They are, aren''t they?!!" With slight horror and an extreme surprise, a random person in the crowd speaks out loud, making others look at him before turning to look at the car out of which ''they'' wereing, one by one.


    A muscr build with slight ck orangish hair, a confident man with a smile on his face looked around the area with his family in tow with them.


    Mark leeway, Britney Leeway, Bete Leeway and other family members were standing in front of their car. In their eyes, there was a hint of curiosity as they looked around at the people as if trying to search for someone in the crowd.


    But after a few moments, the whole family entered the Academy with little words, leaving the rest of the crowd questioning what they just witnessed. Though, before they could gossip about it, another luxurious car came and a man with two girls emerged in front of the Academy in the ce of Mark''s car.


    The car opened, the girls moved out, making everyone gulp as they were stunned seeing the beauty of those two.


    "Ha! I would like to see you break my record!" Annabeth red at Elizabeth as she looked at her while Elle just smiled before moving forward without answering her.


    There was a smirk on her face with pride that knew no bound, which made Annabeth re at her even more. The guys looked at the sisters with drool dripping down, though when their eyes turned to Williamson, who was looking at the people with a re, they just turned their head away in fear and sweat trickled down their forehead.


    All three of them then moved into the Academy as the sisters continued squabbling without caring about the onlookers.


    After they went from there, the crowd finally rxed and this time they were too stupefied to even utter a single word.


    -Honk!!


    Another car came, garnering the people''s attention to it. This time they wondered who would be next and sure enough, it was another person they expected least to appear.


    "Lucy, are you sure about this? This could be really problematic, you know?" Lucas spoke as he followed his sister out of the car with worry in his eyes, but Lucy simply kept walking with a cheerful smile as she answered,"if anything would happen. You will protect me, right?"


    "With my life, yeah. But can you at least give me a break? Things would be much harder for me, protecting you and dealing with other stuff," Lucas spoke with slight frustration in his voice. When he had heard about Lucy joining the Academy, he kind of forgot to breathe for a moment.


    He then tried making her sister change her mind, but no matter what he said, Lucy was fixated on attending the Academy as if she had forgotten about all the problems they would have if they entered the Academy.


    "It is all alright brother. Everything would be fine, just trust me," she spoke with a smile that almost melted the hearts of the onlookers all around before she chuckled and walked inside the Academy. Lucas, who was helplessly watching her sister go to the Academy, then turned sharply at the crowd with a re that seemed he was about to kill everyone around.


    The crowd dispersed a little. However, they did not know that the anger wasn''t directed at them but towards a certain ''nice'' person who would join the Academy today.


    Though before Lucy can take a few steps in, another person came in front of them. A white-haired guy, who looked about 19 years old and his eyes were as blue as the deep sea. They looked at Lucy before turning to Lucas as he ignored Lucy and said,"you arete. I was wondering where you were." he then pointed at Lucy before asking Lucas,"is that your sister?"


    "Yeah. Are things all right?" Lucas spoke with a dejected tone before he looked at his friend and that guy, then shook his head as he spoke,"if by all right you mean everything going at a fast pace at which we are almostcking to keep up with. Then sure, it''s as ''all right'' as it could be."


    Hearing that, Lucas sighed before he turned to Lucy and said,"I will drop her at the test location and immediately report."


    The white-haired guy smiled before speaking,"sure," and vanished from there. Lucas and Lucy then moved to where the entrance test was going to be held.


    People looked at the trio as they held their breath. Who hadn''t heard about Lucas, the most handsome guy in the entire Academy, forget about the girls even some guys feel shy as they look at him.


    And the other guy was Dalton, Lucas'' one of the closest friends and the Vice-Leader of one of the major groups of this academy. For the Vice-Leader himself toe and get Lucas, indicates the importance of Lucas in the Academy.


    Even minutes after all of them had vanished from that ce, they kept looking at the empty entryway as if they were still dazed with what they saw. However, before they could settle their emotions, another luxury car made an entrance, making them really curious who it would be this time.


    It was a white car, and two white-haired girls got out of the car. Both looked extremely simr except that one was in her early 20s, mature looking while the little one appeared to be 16 or something around that.


    Their beauty didn''t fail inparison with the other girls whom they had seen earlier, though none of the onlookers knew who they were. From the car, they looked like someone from a prestigious family or something, but howe they have never heard about them?


    The sisters, Cristine and Eliza, way more confident now than they were in the Leeway castle, moved inside the Academy, ignoring all the stares they were getting. Though before they could enter the academy, another car pulled up behind theirs hurriedly and two girls moved out of the car.


    These two girls were beautiful as well, but not as much as those that have been here till now. Still, their beauty was way above the normal masses. One of them had blond hair and the other one had green hair, as both of them had a hurried look in their eyes.


    "Why do they have to call us on such an urgent notice?" Linda spoke with an annoyed look as she moved in front, and Irene followed her with the exact same look as before.


    "Well, to make them call even us, things must be really packed here," Irene spoke as her eyesnded on the girls at the entrance gate, making her stop for a moment.


    Linda found her standing still, turned the other way, she stopped as well. Cristine and Eliza looked at Linda and Irene in a surprised manner before Irene suddenly jumped at Eliza,"Hey! You guys here as well. Does that mean-"


    "Sadly, no. We don''t even know where he is right now. Though as far as we have guessed, he will be here as well. Probably disguised as someone else," Cristine spoke as she pressed her hands against each other and Irene upon hearing that looked at Eliza with a hopeful look but Eliza nodded, crushing Irene''s hope all at once.


    Linda then hurriedly pulled Irene away as she looked at Cristine and said,"we would love to chitchat, but we would be killed if we didn''t report within 15 minutes. So please pardon us," and then she led Irene inside the Academy.


    Cristine chuckled as she nodded before both the girls entered the Academy. Well, never in their life they would have thought that a Leeway would be acting so familiar with them and probably, it''s not just Irene but all the Leeways were going to treat them the same.


    Though the onlookers were really shocked to see the interaction between the four girls. Everyone knew that Irene was a Leeway and the fact that she knew those girls must mean that the two girls had some friendly connection to the Leeways. They noted in their minds to not to mess with them in any way possible.


    After the girls went their ways, a few more people came. Some rich, some powerful, but nothing aspared to those whom they had seen before. As time passed, people started to get busy with their own work before putting today''s morning shock at the back of their minds.


    Somewhere in the afternoon, a white-haired boy came walking into the Academy. His presence was so bleak that people failed to notice him even though they were a metre away from him. He walked into the Academy with a smile on his face and looked at the front as if he was looking at his own kingdom.


    His eyes were hopeful, and he had a slight tinge of excitement in his eyes as he muttered,


    ''Finally! It''s about time I put all my ns to action.''

 Chapter 177 Arcadia Academy#4 Test Of The Unorthodox

    There are two major ways to enter into the Arcadia Academy.


    First is a minimum strength requirement that you need to have in order to beat the test of the Orthodox method of examination. In this test, your agility, strength, intelligence, presence of mind, knowledge, etc. are tested, and a score is given based on how well you performed in the exams. It is also apetency-based examination where only the top 90 students are allowed to enter while the others are sent back.


    The second way is to go with the Unorthodox method. Made for those who excelled in one field much more than anyone else could have known or seen. Perhaps there is a limit to the abilities in questions, as not all abilities are epted. In this test, about 10 teachers test your limits in the ability which you registered.


    ¡­


    "So, your name is Aidan Williamson?'''' The teacher saw the namete before looking at me, and I nodded with a smile.


    "And your Unorthodox ability is extreme knowledge about monsters?" One of the female teachers spoke as she looked at me with a really curious expression, and I nodded. I had selected the Unorthodox method of having knowledge about monsters because over the years, I had collected knowledge about monsters who had existed before the Cataclysm.


    "Can you tell me why do you have possess knowledge?'''' Before even proceeding to the questions and answers, one of the male teachers who had a prideful face looked at me and I smiled before speaking,"I had my reasons. Plus, there is also something that I am trying to find." They looked at me, before nodding at each other and then one of the teachers began questioning about monsters. I answered it all perfectly, without missing anything at all and they looked at me dumbfounded before one of them shouted,"Stop!! How? People haven''t even advanced that far to know that many details about those monsters¡­ some of them are even ssified¡­ how do you know that?"


    There was a shocked expression on their faces and I smiled before speaking,"I figured it out while reading about those monsters. When I found out about their powers, I looked into their weaknesses, their evolutionary pathways, the habitat they lived in, how they lived, etc. One thing led to another, and I got what you are hearing about." They were bbergasted by my knowledge and they kept asking questions one after another, and from the looks of it, they weren''t taking my test anymore but satiating their own curiosity and knowledge pool.


    ''Talking with them about monsters¡­ They too are really knowledgeable in their own subjects,'' I too was taken aback with their profound knowledge in their respective subjects. Despite being limited by time itself, they actually figured out about the species that are going toe far in the future.


    It took about an hour, but the talk was really interesting as we kept going more into detail about how different monsters can be killed by methods that no one else has ever thought of.


    After some time passed, a man came in and everyone stood up with respect and a silence covered the whole area. Looking at the atmosphere, that guy must have a really high position in the Academy.


    "I am going to take him," that man spoke, and the others were really shocked at this before I stood up and slowly walked toward the man who had just came. It wasn''t really hard to figure out where I was being taken. As for being admitted into the Academy, I won''t really need to worry about it, to be honest.


    That man then nodded at me before we both began walking through the corridors. There were some people who passed us by, but nobody saw as if we didn''t even exist. Perhaps it''s this guy''s ability?


    We kept walking and walking without stopping and after about an hour of walking; we reached a deste ce, which looked like a garden. There was a small, withering tree in the distance, with orange leaves scattered on the ground below it. That man pointed in that direction and then vanished before my eyes.


    Ignoring that man, I moved towards that tree and behind that tree, there was a girl writing something on a drawing board ced on the ground. That girl had orangish hair, matching that of those leaves on the tree. Her eyes were simr to her hair, and her hair reached down to her back 2 inches above her waist.


    "Amelia Williamson?" I spoke with my eyes concentrated on her and she turned at me with a serious look. After analysing me for a few moments, she asked,"your name. Is it an alias or is there a meaning behind it?"


    "Both, I guess,'''' I said as I looked at her unchanging expression before speaking,"Aidan is dead. I have used this name to reach you-" -BOOOM!!!! I stopped her direct punch to my face, enhancing my hand to the best of my ability. Though, managed to stop her fist, mine was almost crushed.


    "There is something you need to know about Aidan, though." Not minding her attack, I continued speaking as she jumped back while the surrounding air started swirling faster and faster before slowing down a little. Her eyes turned pure orange, and she spoke.


    "Your next words might cost you your life, so be careful of what you speak."


    "Sure. The monster that killed Aidan has retained Aidan''s memories and is slowly transforming into Aidan. Someday in the future, he will transform into Aidanpletely, but right now, he is just going through the process. He is searching for you in the Valley of the Dead and is trying his best to reach you. Is this worth enough?" I spoke and her eyes narrowed at me before she speaks,


    "What if you are lying to me?"


    "I know things that themon masses can''t even fathom. I know almost everything about many things. Of course, that includes you, the Frozen Witch of Time, Principal of the Arcadia Academy, Miss Amelia Williamson. Want me to share them with you as well?" I spoke with a smirk before a calm expression forms on my face and I sigh before moving towards the dying tree.

 Chapter 178 Arcadia Academy#5 Outer Circle

    This withering white tree with orange leaves will die in about 5 years from now on, taking Amelia in the process as well. Long story short, her life was connected to this tree, or more like she wasn''t exactly a human but an embodiment of the tree.


    How can something like that exist? Well, the answer lies in the man who experimented on this particr tree. This tree, or also known as the Lignum Vitae, brimming with life energy and natural mana.


    That man, Aidan Williamson, found a way to create a natural body, however that required a lot of effort and the results weren''t fruitful either; albeit he was able to create a perfect body but he failed to bring it to life and Aidan was at a stump on what to do next.


    Somewhere along his journey, Aidan found this tree, and an idea came in his mind. He then connected a newly created body to this tree and, by some stroke of luck and nature, Amelia was born.


    However, despite looking human, Amelia was much different from the others. Her hair and eyes changed colours ording to the leaves of the tree and her age was¡­ well, her body never aged, it remained frozen in time. A normal 19 year old girl, who looked exactly like Aidan''s daughter.


    Her powers depended upon two factors: the trees'' strength and time. The more time passed, the stronger she became, though that was stunted when one day Lignum Vitae started dying and became reduced to what it was today.


    This secret waster revealed by Aidan himself, when he came back as a monster and was searching for the remains of Amelia. He told the secret to Lucas, whoter told Elle about it, from whom I got to know the story.


    Elle didn''t know Amelia that well, but Lucas kind of knew everything about her. Nobody knows how he ended up knowing so much, but it was probably rted to the time when the Vanguard was attacked by Lucas and Amelia came to stop him.


    ¡­


    Looking at me touching the tree, Amelia made a slightly horrified expression before I spoke,"Life Magic: Aura of Life."


    The tree slowly started healing as its life signature became better. It wasn''t really much or perhaps too less to be ounted for, but it should extend her life by a few months at least.


    "Looks like it did the trick,'''' I thought as I observed Amelia''s shocked face and smiled before walking away from there,"I am going to stay in this Academy for quite some time, so we will have enough time to talk about it. See youter, Amelia."


    Amelia just kept observing me nkly before she spoke,"what exactly do you want here?"


    At this I stopped and pondered a little before speaking,"I am going to collect some people and groom them. Hope you don''t have any problem with that?"


    She looked at me with a slightplex gaze before speaking,"as long as it is all that you do."


    I then chuckled a little before moving out of there under Amelia''s gaze. I moved outside, and reached back to where I came from, this time much faster as I was running and not simply walking.


    Reaching back to the entrance test area, I saw my name on the top of the Unorthodox list and looking at the score; I doubt many people could beat me to it. So that probably confirms my ticket into the Academy.


    ''The sses should start in about 3 days, so I have plenty of time to check around the perimeter,'' I thought as I observed everything around me before I decided to check up on some people whom I already knew here.


    ¡­


    Arcadia Academy is a massive circr academy with many activities promoted all around its corners. Everything you can ask for is avable here, given there are rules for everything. While the core of the Academy is allowed only for the students and selected staff members, the inner, middle and outer area is avable for the public. Though you need to have some authority in order to enter the middle or the inner area.


    For example, people who have a high position in the society can enter up to the inner area, while the guardians and parents can enter up to the middle area. As for the outer area, you need little authorization. As long as you are not a wanted criminal, you can freely enter or exit the outer area.


    Currently, the entrance test was being conducted in the corners of the outer area, before further evaluations were to be made. While the Unorthodox members were tested only once, unless and until there was a tie, the Orthodox members were tested three times in total and everyone from Eliza to Bete was going to take the three tests before they could enter the Academy.


    Describing the outer area would be exactly simr to describing a city made on a circr disk. On the inner side there is the middle area, on the outer side there is the outside world.


    Within the disk, from the outside to inside, the mana density increases, and so does the power level of people who stay there as guards and security members, which also includes the staff members. A cleaner with not enough skills in its abilities will be ced more towards the outer circle than the one with skills.


    Other than that, there is an increase in pricing of materials, hotel costs, entertainment costs, etc as well when you venture deeper into the circle. As for any other disparity with the inner circles, the outer circlecks regrity. It doesn''t have a definite ce where you can only stay, or where you can only train or only enjoy.


    Meaning, you can find an entertainment building 100 metres to your right and a training area to your left. There would also be an eatery, along with shoppingplexes and car showrooms, and a weapon shop right at the corner. Though, this irregrity in the cement of shops, hotels, etc actually attracts people more to the outer area. Cause well, everything is avable to you, no matter where you are staying.

 Chapter 179 Arcadia Academy#6 Bernette

    First, I will go where Bete''s test is going to be held. The Academy cleared out a massive training area and made it so that a test of physical and mental attributes was easily possible here.


    It wasn''t just about their Systems, but their depth of knowledge about monsters and other abilities and how they would deal with them. While Eliza, Elle and others would easily get through this one, I don''t know about Bete, hence I was there to check if she was doing all right or not.


    If she were to struggle regarding anything, I can give her some tips to gain an upper hand here.


    ''Now, where is she?'' I pondered as I scanned the crowd and after searching around for a few moments, I saw Mark and Britney on their own sitting at a distance. I looked around but found no one else there, which made me realise that her test might have already begun.


    "Shadow style."


    I took a deep breath and entered the test area without letting anyone else notice, and what I found inside actually surprised me. I saw Bete standing at the waiting area as her turn almost came, but what actually made my eyes widen were the instructors overseeing her examination.


    Slowly, I moved towards the area where the 4 instructors were standing and reaching behind them. I spoke with a questioning look,"should this be even legal?"


    "Whoa!" All four of them turned and were about to take out their weapons, however, looking at me, they only stood there with a dumbfounded expression as they stared at me.


    "Who are you?!!" Well, all except one of them, who did not know me, questioned. Ignoring him, I focused on the girl who was about to hit the punching machine, kind of missed it because of me, and I saw her score going down drastically.


    [123!]


    The average power level should be around 200 and one needs to have about 300 to even make it to the second round. Looks like I made a mistake by suddenly speaking and diverting her attention.


    She red at my side before looking at the scoreboard with a sad look. She then sighed before moving back and then, with a really scared yet determined look, she turned around and almost prepared for another punch.


    I erased my presencepletely in a second and moved towards her as I muttered,"sorry I made you lose some points, hope this would help," and then repositioned her body into an appropriate stance that would bring out at least twice the power which she should have taken out and¡­


    -Booom!!


    [671!]


    By the time everyone was amazed at this, I was already back with the four instructors. Everyone, including the girl who punched the board, was looking at the scoreboard with a dumbfounded expression.


    "Ehm!" Lucas, one of the instructors here, coughed out loud before speaking,"you pass. You may leave and wait for the announcement."


    That girl, amazingly looking at the instructor''s area, nodded a bit before moving out of there with a stupefied expression.


    "What are you doing here?" x 3


    The first two were Linda and Irene, looking at me with a curious yetplex expression. They wanted to know¡­ perhaps everything that I was doing right now.


    The third one was Lucas, who was ring at me, for reasons only we both knew¡­ in this ce at least.Thest one was Dalton, who was looking at the other three with a confused expression as he asked,"you guys know him? Lucas?"


    "Just came here to check up on someone, though I doubt I would be needing to worry about it," I spoke as I looked at Irene and she, knowing my intentions, made a slightly embarrassed expression before nodding at me. They were going to pass Bete anyway, even if she failed. This whole arrangement must have been made by Mark himself.


    I sighed before smirking at Lucas as I said,"see you around, kiddo. Hopefully, you enjoyed your ''vacation''" before vanishing from there.


    "Ummm¡­ can anyone exin what that was?" Dalton asked again, but nobody responded to that as they just stood there stupefied before Linda asked the next person toe and take their test.


    Though, as they proceeded with the test, Linda exined that¡­ that guy was someone who had helped Bete and was here to see if she was doing well or not. Though that did not exin his rtions with Lucas, which Lucas just kept quiet about.


    "Is he strong?" Dalton curiously asked and Irene, Linda, and Lucas sighed with a wry smile before Irene spoke,"he is."


    Dalton didn''t ask anymore questions as he saw that they were, for some reason, behaving odd whenever he asked questions about that white-haired kid.


    Meanwhile, I was outside standing behind Mark Leeway as I spoke without showing my presence,"I don''t think she would need a back door to enter the Academy."


    Mark wasn''t rmed, in fact, with the smile that formed on his face. It was as if he was expecting this before he answered,"it is fine. Just extra precautions so that my daughter gets what she wants."


    I kept silent for a few moments before speaking,"the next time we probably meet would be around the time summer vacation starts. I guess I will take care of your daughter as well, till then. Hopefully, she too shows some potential. Till then, goodbye Mark, see youter."


    By the time Mark turned, I had already vanished from there and my next point was somewhere around where I can rx a little. There was a good food centre at a distance and reaching there, I saw it bustling with people, not even a single seat was left.


    "I guess I wille back hereter," I spoke before I turned, though suddenly I felt someone watching me, and turning around I found a face which I thought I wouldn''t be meeting until the Academy starts.


    Former Subus and now half-human, Lilith Berg was working in the restaurant in front of me, looking at me with an expression of curiosity and yfulness.

 Chapter 180 Arcadia Academy#7 Lilith Berg

    Pink silky, wavy hair that reached down to her waist and eyes of the same colour. Her white skin and that beautiful curve she had made people turn their heads even when they were sitting quite far away from her.


    I saw her gazing at me, smiling a little before focusing back on the reception as she got back to her work. I, pondering a little about my next schedule, decided that I still have some time which I can utilise here.


    Thinking that, I moved closer to the reception area where she was taking orders. I observed her for a few moments and, turning to me, she smiled brightly before moving closer to me and asking, "May I have your order?"


    Looking at her for a few moments, I turned around, watching the res of everyone before sighing and turning at her with an awkward smile as I spoke,"Can I have some of your timeter, afterwards?"


    She just chuckled a little shyly before putting her hands on her lips as she spoke,"I am sorry, I did not catch what you just said." I saw some of the guards turning towards me and moving closer to me slowly and I chuckled and stepped back before I spoke,"haha, nothing. I just thought¡­" I then stopped and spoke loud enough to only let Lilith hear,"Lilith Berg can use a special magic that allows her to gain energy from not only humans but monsters and animals, perhaps all creatures¡­"


    Her smile vanishes for a moment, but before she makes a shocking expression, I said,"Can I have some hot coffee along with a te of white sauce pasta? Thanks!"


    Seeing my sudden tone change, she too changed her expression back to the one which she had a few moments before and spoke,"sure. That would be 120 Arcadia Coins," and I smiled before taking out a few monster cores and said,"will these be epted?"


    She looked at the cores, shook her head with a slightly awkward expression as she spoke,"while it is not epted here¡­ I guess I can treat you with my own money. Will that be fine¡­ Mr.."


    I spoke with a slightly cheerful smile,"Aidan. Aidan Williamson," and then nodded before moving to an empty seat¡­ which I couldn''t find because the whole ce was jampacked.


    "Get into the staff room," I heard a voice from behind and turned to find Lilith speaking with a slightly serious voice before she moved inside. I saw everyone was busy with their own work. Though the fact that was really interesting was that¡­ none of them could notice me, it''s as if I didn''t even exist.


    "Fascinating," I spoke before moving to the staff room which was just beside the counter. I opened the door to the staff room and saw it was all empty. Not thinking much about it, I just sat on the nearest chair and waited for Lilith to arrive.


    After a few minutes, I saw the gate opening and there was her, the real Lilith Berg, moving in front of me and analysing me with a serious expression. The previous cheerful expression was nowhere to be seen now, and looking at her now would make it hard for anyone to believe that it was the same girl who was working outside.


    "So¡­ who are you?" She asked, and I chuckled before speaking,"your saviour, to release you from your miserable life. Well, I have my secrets and you have yours¡­ for now, I am here with a small deal. Care to listen to it?"


    She looked at me for a few seconds and sat on the chair right in front of me and said,"I won''t jump in anything that is going to harm me."


    I nodded before speaking,"I just needed your help in a bunch of things. In return, I can help you gain a skill that will help you attain mana not only from emotions of other people but also from monsters and animals too. If youply with me and help me out perfectly, maybe I can give you something even better."


    She looked at me before speaking,"I have a few questions. First, how did you find me? Only a handful of people should know about me and half of them are already dead. So, how did you do it?"


    "I have an ability rted to knowledge. I know a lot," I spoke without even batting an eye and she nodded at it without much hesitation as she proceeded to the next question.


    "What do you want me to do, mister all knowing, and please do mention why it has to be me exactly and not anyone else?"


    "Because your ability to make illusions can be enhanced even still. To be frank, I don''t need the current you, but the future you who has much evolved her abilities. I am after that, so while I am going to help you be strong, I am going to use you in the future. As for why it needs to be you, it''s actually simple. You are a loner with little to no backing. You are all by yourself¡­ All in all, you are easy to use, easy to manipte, easy to see through, etc. There are many other reasons, but for now, it should suffice, doesn''t it?"


    She red at me before sighing and speaking,"other than bing strong. What else do I get out of it? Also, what are the dangers I will be facing?"


    "Not many dangers until you get strong enough. After that, I can''t really say exactly what kind of danger we will be facing. You can find outter on yourself and decide what to do. As for what else you gain is, probably an organisation that will back you up in case something goes wrong along with helping you out in case of great difficulty."


    "Okay. Onest question before I tell you my decision, how strong is the organisation backing me?" She asked, and I paused a little before thinking about it.


    ''I can call Mark Leeway and his whole family. Probably a bitter, I can call Elle and her family too. Then there is the Principal, Eliza, Cristine and William. If I do it properly, using Lucy I can use Lucas as well¡­ I should be able to use Bryxton City as well. Then there is Lucifer, Amon, the two Guardians. Oh! The spirits, Hygeia and Asterae, along with my ve, Aelia Scarlet, The First Vampire,'' I guess, I am strong enough to shake the major powers to its core right now so¡­


    "I don''t know about the strongest, but we are strong enough to take on at least half of the world, if we go all out right now," I answered with a smile on my face.

 Chapter 181 Arcadia Academy#8 A Small Commotion

    "Then it makes me even more confused. If you are really that powerful, then why do you even need someone like me, who isn''t even a proper human?" She asked as she stared into my eyes with all seriousness as she didn''t even blink as she kept observing me.


    "We all have our secrets, don''t we?" I smiled as I stood up before walking away from there continuing,"I will be meeting you more often now. Let''s talk about making you more powerful when the timees and you can think about the deal till we meet next."


    Slowly, I moved away from there as I sensed Lilith sitting there motionless, processing everything. She must be thinking about the deal I proposed and I wonder what decision she would make.


    ''For now, let''s eat something for real. All this aroma of food is making me hungry,'' I thought as I left the restaurant and looked around for another dining ce nearby.


    After a few minutes of looking around, I found another restaurant where I decided to go. But before going to that restaurant, I stopped at a nearby currency exchange station where I exchanged some Monster Cores for Arcadia Coins.


    From that point, time passed really fast and by the time I realised it was already evening. Bete, Eliza, etc. Everyone else passed well with flying colours. Meanwhile, I was taking a leisurely stroll, as I passed my time, simply looking around, enjoying the quiet time I had to myself.


    I went to various eateries, a bunch of entertainment areas and watched a few magic tricks which weren''t really that hard to see through. After I was done with everything, I bought an ice cream and then decided to advance towards the area where the final results of the Unorthodox division would be disyed.


    Though before I could do so, a ck-haired girl, who was probably running away from someone, suddenly came in front of me, almost crashing against me, though I swiftly stepped aside and let her fall.


    -Bam!


    She falls to the ground after hitting a few more people and hurriedly stands up as she looks around with a panicked face. I moved closer to her while trying to see whom she was running away from, but I did not find any face in particr.


    "Want some ice cream?" I spoke without really caring about the situation and she looked at me, a bit taken aback as she looked in the direction where she came running from before looking at me.


    I observe the urgency on her face before speaking,"doesn''t look like whoever you are running away from ising here. Why not catch your breath and have something to cool you down? This vour is nice. One of my favourites among the ones I tried here."


    Hearing my words, I see her calm down a bit before she looks around and apologises to those around her and then looks at me before speaking,"thank you, but I should be leaving now."


    Then I saw her moving in the same direction where I was going and I chuckled a little, soon mixing in with the crowd before hiding my presence and moving towards the ce where my ranking would be shown.


    After another 30 minutes, I reach the location and find the same girl there as well, looking at the board with a dumbfounded expression. She seemed like she couldn''t believe what she was watching.


    ''Judging by the smile that is masked by that stupefaction, I guess she made it into the Academy as well,'' I thought before moving towards her and asking,"did you make it?"


    "Aah!" A bit shocked, she turns around before she catches her breath and res at me as she speaks,"you? Look. I am not interested in you and I don''t have time for this. Can you please not follow me around?"


    The other people present there turned to me, with a look of slight disgust, before one of them came forward and spoke,"Excuse me, miss. Let me handle this."


    That man was around 20 years old and by the looks of it, he too hade here for an Unorthodox test and that confidence¡­ he probably made it as well.


    ''He doesn''t seem like a bad guy¡­ just a bit immature for his age, I suppose,'' I thought as I observed him before speaking,"I-


    Though before I could even speak, another man spoke from behind,"scum like you are the reason why girls can''t walk around safely in the streets these days. One day you are following, another day you are stalking them before you prey on them. People like you should be beaten down to the point that you won''t even look at girls."


    ''An esction? Is he someone who failed to enter the Unorthodox group and now is trying to take out his anger at me? Hmmm¡­ looking around, everyone else is almost the same as they are agreeing with him,'' I thought as I turned at that girl who looked like she had nothing to do with this.


    However, the first guy realised that it is going too far than what it should be¡­ Hmmm, I wonder what he will do now?


    The crowd started riling up against me and I just stood there eating another one of my ice cream, enjoying its vour. It was really tasty, maybe I should try to get the recipe for it.


    ''Maybe if I could add a bit of strawberry, it will be even better,'' I thought as I saw one of those guys touching my shoulder before proceeding to pull me, but before he could do so¡­


    "WHAT THE F*CK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!!!" a voice came from a distance and everyone turned to the source of the voice to find a blonde-haired girl looking at the crowd with fury in her eyes.


    Lucy¡­ and Lucas too, huh? There was also Dalton standing there observing me eating the ice cream. Everyone here knew who Lucas was, and I stood there wondering what they were doing here.


    "Calm down, Lucy. Do you really think he would need your help with this?" Lucas spoke as he looked at me with an apathetic and cold gaze. The crowd took a few steps back before I sighed and moved forward towards Lucy.


    She wasn''t looking at me but ring at the crowd who were literally scared of Lucy''s mana surge. I simply patted her and said,"it''s alright. Calm down, will ya? Getting angry for a stranger like me isn''t really normal, you know?" She, hearing my words, calmed down in a moment before looking at me and speaking,"you aren''t a stranger. You are the only friend I have right now, as my brother won''t allow anyone near me."


    "I am pretty sure he won''t allow me as well," I said as I observed the narrowed gaze of Lucas at me before Lucy spoke,"well, he can''t do anything about you, so it doesn''t matter. Plus, he knows that you won''t harm me anyway, so he doesn''t really mind you being around me¡­ or he does mind, but not as much as others."


    ''How does he know that I won''t harm you?'' I wanted to ask but let it go before turning around to see the same girl who caused all themotion to move forward with a shy face as she moved towards Lucas and spoke,


    "Sir Lucas¡­ I am Rita Cleve, I am the daughter of-"


    Though Lucas cut her off as he spoke,"I saw the wholemotion. You made my sister angry, I don''t think I have anything to talk about with you."


    Dalton, who was observing the situation, moved forward towards me and said,"My name is Dalton. May I know your name?"


    I nodded at him before answering,"Aidan Williamson."


    Hearing my name, everyone except Lucas and Lucy became dumbfounded before turning to look at the rankings of the Unorthodox division.


    [Rank 1: Aidan Williamson. Score: 234,425


    Rank 2: Sabrina Carter. Score: 56,234


    .


    .


    .


    Rank 10: Rita Cleve. Score: 48,340]


    Even Dalton kept staring at the scoreboard before finally paying attention to me as he asked,"is that¡­ you?" His eyes seemed really shaken and he couldn''t believe he was really looking at the score he was looking at.


    ''I think the highest anyone ever scored was 102,567 made by one of the fourth years, four years ago. His Unorthodox ability was to create artefacts with simple objects. The artefacts can''t increasebat ability, but anything else was possible,'' I thought before turning at Lucy as I ask,


    "What brings you here, though?"


    Lucy then realises what they came here for before Lucas speaks,"we were here to bring the Unorthodox ones to the facility. Since their test was already done, they can immediately shift. Though I didn''t think¡­"


    Lucas trails off in the end before I smiled at him as I thought,''you did not think that I would be in the Unorthodox rankings?''


    And then Dalton gulped a little before he started calling all the names before all 10 of the Unorthodox began walking towards the inner circle of Arcadia Academy, where we would be allowed to watch the final selection before we would be assigned our dorm rooms.

 Chapter 182 Arcadia Academy#9

    There were only three Unorthodox ones out of the top ten currently present here and together we were in a minivan of sorts with three rows of seats, with Dalton driving the car and Lucas sitting beside him. Rita and the other guy who was from the Unorthodox ones, Weber, was sitting in the back seat. As for me, I was sitting in the middle row with Lucy, who was just mindlessly observing the scenery.


    I, too, turned to look at the scenery, which was lined with buildings where either the rich stayed or students of the Academy came to practise their martial arts and enhance their skills.


    The more we moved in, the more I saw people wearing academic dresses. Most of them were staff members, with the others being retired professors and military guards.


    "Aidan¡­ if it is not too much-" Weber tried to ask a question, and I interrupted him before he couldplete his question.


    "You have to be worthy of being my friend. As for my ability¡­ it''s in-depth knowledge about monsters," I spoke without turning, as I already knew this would happen. I have decided that there would be two groups of people ssified by me.


    One that knows about me, they are going to be under my supervision and I will be watching over their growth. The others would never know about me, all their role is going to be: being stepping stones for the others.


    "We are the Unorthodox ones, our numbers are less¡­ we should get along," Rita spoke with a furious tone and simply ignoring her, I turned to Weber and spoke,"what''s your ability though? I never got to know about it."


    He was kind of confused if I was ignoring him or was showing an interest towards him, but not minding much, he said,"I know about swords and spears. My knowledge exceeds most of the swordsmen and spearmen, so I thought I could use it for humanity while earning a name for myself through it."


    I pondered a little before asking a question,"what should be the edge of a de that has to go through a battle of 10 days and 10 nights? Also, it can be sharpened only thrice with a whetstone which has already been used at least 100s of times."


    "Less than 0.5cm but more than 0.25cm. Any more than that and it will break-" Weber began seriously exining, but I stopped him before speaking,"that''s okay, I already know the rest. I was just testing your ability. Maybe we can be friends¡­ but that''s forter."


    Then I turned back to that monotonous scenery but someone was really upset by my rude behaviour,"You act like you already know everything. That atti-"


    "I know," I shut Rita up as she got even more furious before speaking,"then tell me the perfect de for someone with the height of 6 feet tall, 129 kg and almost bulky with 10% fat?"


    ''Hmmm¡­ that''s quite specific,'' I thought before speaking,"the sword should be 2.34 metres long, with the metal made of silver admentite weighing about¡­hmmm¡­ between 34 kg and 45 kg, depending upon the build of the body. As for the type and other things, I would need more information."


    For the next few minutes, a silence prevailed and I could feel the gazes of Lucas, Dalton, and Lucy on me. Weber and Rita were really astonished right now, before Rita spoke out loudly,"how did you know?!!!"


    But I wasn''t interested in exining it to her. Though that should give her a hint that there is more to me than it seems and hopefully if she ever goes against me, she would think twice before doing anything stupid.


    As for Weber, I wonder if this could peak his interest. It''s not a bad ability to have, to know about swords and spears, that is, maybe I can help him grow even more¡­ Hopefully that will give us another sword expert in the future.


    From that point onwards, nobody spoke and peacefully, we reached the inner circle where the tree of life was visible at the core of the Arcadia Academy. It was a special tree with special attributes thatid the foundation of the whole academy. One of the reasons I came here.


    ''It''s a nice ce to train and sharpen your skills,'' I thought before watching the minivan arriving at a reallyvish hotel. There were more minivans present there, so the other Unorthodox ones should already be here.


    I turned to Lucy, who was carefully observing the whole thing with a bright eyed expression before I asked,"don''t you have to give a test in the middle circle?" Before she turned and casually spoke,"they said I was too strong for the second test, so they directly sent me here."


    I nodded at it, but Weber and Rita looked at her as if she were a monster. They couldn''t believe their eyes as they assessed Lucy once more, especially Rita, who had already angered her once because of me.


    Slowly the van reached the spot and all of us began getting out from the van one by one and moving towards the hotel. Inside the hotel, there was a restaurant on the right, where I saw a bunch of people excitedly eating gourmet food and another bunch of them weirdly looking at them.


    The ones who were eating with pure bliss on their face were probably the newly admitted Unorthodox ones.


    ''If I am not wrong, the inner circle test will be held tomorrow evening, so we should still have time to do whatever we want,'' I thought before moving towards the restaurant as well. All this thinking and nning had made me hungry.


    "Aidan, wait, let mee with you," Weber spoke, and I turned to him before nodding and then moving towards the restaurant. For some reason, Lucas, Dalton, and Lucy followed us. Since Rita didn''t know anything about this ce, she too followed us before all of us sat at one of the tables.


    "Ummm¡­ what are you guys doing?" I asked as I looked at Lucas and Dalton, wondering why they were still here. Aren''t they busy with the selections or something?


    And hearing my question, it was Dalton who spoke up first,"it''s about¡­ Well, Lucas and the other teachers said that you could be helpful and after hearing about your ability¡­ I wonder if you were interested in striking a deal?"

 Chapter 183 Arcadia Academy#10 Deal

    "It''s about¡­ Well, Lucas and the other teachers said that you could be helpful and after hearing about your ability¡­ I wonder if you were interested in striking a deal?"


    ''A deal? Now, isn''t that interesting?'' I smiled as I looked at Dalton before grabbing a bite of my food. As I was eating, I said,"let''s hear it then," before focusing on my food again.


    "There was a dead monster we caught about 7 months ago. Its skin was white and harder than anything we have seen before and no matter what we did, it did not break. We have been trying everything we can, but we are really at a loss."


    I looked at him as I gulped down another bite and spoke,"so let me guess. You want me to figure out a way to break that shell or maybe find its weakness? So what do I get in return?"


    Dalton nodded in return before speaking,"we can provide you 4 Star ess in the Arcadia Library along with 100,000 Arcadia Coins to spend on anything you want. How does that sound?"


    Hearing that offer, a stupefied expression came on Rita and Weber''s faces, as they couldn''t believe what they were hearing, but I smiled before speaking,"I am not that cheap. I am sorry."


    The Library of Arcadia has 100 floors and with a 4 star ess, you can enter up to the 49th floor. Without any card, you can make it upto 9th floor and the more stars you have, the higher you can go with each star getting you ess to another 10 floors.


    Thest, the tenth star, allows you to enter into the 100th floor, where only the most prestigious and most meritorious ones can enter.


    As for the coins, one needs about 100 Arcadia Coins for its daily expenses, with no additional entertainment or requirement. So, with 100,000 Arcadia Coins, you can easily livevishly within Arcadia for a year or two. Or maybe you can just spend it all to gain some training from the teachers and get to learn about their legacy or something to get a head start over the others¡­ none of my business, honestly.


    ''If I start doing business, I can earn that much in less than a month, and about that 4-Star ess, I can easily get an 8-Star ess to the library with Amelia''s help,'' I thought as I continued chomping on my food before Dalton asks,


    "What is it that you want, then?"


    I smile with a slight grin before I put my spoon and fork down, finishing my meal and then, after cleaning my hands with a tissue, I slowly point my finger at him.


    For a few moments he was confused, but when it became apparent what I was trying here, he looked at me with a narrowed gaze as he asked,"May I know what you want from me?"


    I chuckled a little before speaking,"I need your help with something, but I guess we can discuss itter when we reach the point where the monster is. I need to see how much the monster''s worth is, before actually bargaining, don''t you think?"


    He looked at me before pondering a little before nodding and speaking,"sure, I guess. Honestly, it has really piqued my interest in what you need me for, but still, we can wait till then." After that Lucas began exining about what is going on around the Academy, its rules and other stuff, but since I wasn''t interested in it, I just stood up before speaking,


    "I will be back before evening tomorrow."


    They looked at me standing up and walking away from there, but nobody stopped me. Lucy looked like she wanted toe with me, but Lucas stopped her and soon I vanished from there.


    As soon as I moved out, I vanished from there to a higher ground on one of the buildings, and saw Dalton almosting out hurriedly as he looked around with a slight shock on his face.


    Lucas alsoes out and they both start talking about something before Lucas asks Dalton to go in which he unwillingly does.


    "What is it that you want from Lucy, exactly?" I hear Lucas'' voice from behind me and a smile forms on my face as I turn towards him and find him already there before I could even notice.


    "To save her from dying," I answered honestly, without hiding anything. The smile on my face was still there, and I just looked at his narrowed and half furious gaze before he asked,"who is going to kill her?"


    "That being is much stronger than you and I can imagine. If you want to talk about saving her, get more strong, much much more stronger than you are nning to be. Maybe someday when you are strong enough to take me on, making me use at least 20 percent of my power, I will show a glimpse of what we are about to face in the future."


    I spoke before reaching behind him and


    -BOOOM!!!


    Kicking him back down as he hits the ground, making everyone look at the ce where he crashed and I vanished from there.


    "And don''t get toofortable with me, will you?"


    I muttered using a small magic that made only him hear my voice. After that, I vanished from there before anyone would notice me. Honestly, after all that travelling, using my powers for the right reasons, felt beautifully amazing.


    My next destination was the Core Area of the Arcadia Academy, where she would be. It has been a while since I had seen her and I was really excited to meet her. One of my masters, who taught me about all the weapon skills, was here in this ce.


    It was a sad endingst time that she died in the war among the races during the first Cataclysm, but this time I am going to protect her to the best of my ability.


    Adara Harriet¡­ This time I will be protecting you to the best of my ability.

 Chapter 184 Arcadia Academy#11 Adara Harriet

    She was beautiful and breathtaking. If I were to remove Lucia from my past, then the only other girl that I really liked was her. My master, Adara Harriet.


    She had a system rted to shadow where she could erase her or other shadow at will¡­


    Yup, that''s all she had when I met her. Yet I could not defeat her without even using everything in my arsenal.


    It was her skills. She was a weapon master who had mastered all the weapons to its limit. She could kill you with a toothpick even if you used dual swords against her, though the only limit she had was exactly this. That''s all she had going till the very end, where she fought and killed a SSS-Grade monster, herself dying in the process.


    Within the Arcadia Academy, she was one of the orthodox ones who, purely on her skills, entered into the Academy,ter bing one of the pirs of the Student council. After the previous student council president retired, she was elected as the next president and that was during her 3rd year, that is 2 years ago from now on.


    I met her at the very end of this year when she had left the Student council, and we actually were enemies when we fought for the first time. However, not killing me, she started talking about me and my life.


    For some reason, I opened up to her quite a bit before she, out of nowhere, proposed to teach me her mastery in various skills. She said that these skills were like a legacy to her, but because everyone was limited by systems, nobody could really inherit it. Luckily, I was someone who wasn''t bound by the system, so I became the perfect candidate to inherit her legacy.


    ''Though, I never noticed the reason why she taught me her skills,'' I thought as I kept moving towards her. Back in the previous timeline, I was really devastated to hear that she had died. She was one of those people who I had always looked forward to meeting.


    ''Didn''t know fate would twist things and I would really get my chance to meet her again,'' I thought as a joyous smile formed on my face and I dashed even faster to the location where she was.


    ¡­


    About an hourter¡­


    In avish office near the window, a young girl of about 19 years old was reading a book as she looked at the moon that was slowly rising up. Her red eyes traced the night city in front of her, where the student body was focusing on their training and other mundane tasks. She brushed her brown hair with her silky white hands, as she sighed a little before she muttered,


    "Another tiring day¡­" as she turned away from the window.


    Then a sudden cooling sensation felt her body, and she regained her strength and energy before she realised that someone was standing behind her in the same window from where she was observing the scenery.


    Turning around, she found a white-haired kid of no more than 16 looking at her as if he were looking at his long-lost lover. Though she didn''t sense any ill intenting from him, so she didn''t proceed to attack and first asked,


    "Who are you?"


    Her eyes were narrowed, and she was looking around to find a weapon which she could use.


    "The name is Aidan Williamson, one of the Unorthodox ones that was admitted today," Zero spoke with the same smile which he had as soon as he saw Adara.


    "Your ability to sneak in here doesn''t seem so Unorthodox to me," she spoke as she gained herposure, finally reaching the knife on the wall and grabbing it in her hands. Now that she had a weapon, she was finally rxed.


    "Well, I have my reasons not to show my power," Zero spoke with a kind smile and she put her index finger on her chin before speaking,"let me guess. So that others won''t be harming you or perhaps harassing you? You must have something really special to make you hide your powers and stille to this Academy."


    Zero chuckled a little,"a little bit wrong there. I am not hiding my powers because I fear being harassed by others," and then he vanished before reaching behind Adara and grabbing her weapon, swiftly twisting it out of her grip and then speaking,"it''s because I don''t want them to annoy me enough to wipe them out of the surface of Vermillion."


    Adara proceeded to kick Zero, but he vanished again beforeing back to his previous location and passing the knife back to her. She catches the knife before narrowing her eyes and speaking,"and may I know why someone strong as you is telling me all this?"


    Zero chuckles a little before getting closer to her, one step at a time, before reaching extremely closer to her with their eyes about 2 inches away from there. Adara was holding her knife at Zero''s neck and Zero just smiled before speaking,"because I have fallen for you."


    For a brief moment, Adara just stood there and then Zero kissed her on the lips. It was a light kiss, without any force, and before Adara could realise what had just happened, he vanished and reached back to the window.


    "Look forward to seeing you again, love," he spoke before standing on the window and then pondering a little before speaking,"change thest digit of your number to 2 from 1 and you will get my number. Call me if you need anything and I will be there for you. Good night for now."


    Adara looked like she wanted to ask a lot of questions, but because of the events that happened all at once, she was confused how to approach it. In the end, she decided to look into this year''s batch of Unorthodox ones.


    Look into who this is, Aidan Williamson.

 Chapter 185 Arcadia Academy#12 Test Of The Orthodox Ones

    Time passed, and the next evening arrived. We were at a stadium at the northern intersection of the Core and Inner Circle. The 10 Unorthodox ones were made to be seated with the highly assigned teachers in a grand open area from where the whole field was visible and at a distance on the ground I could see Lucas, Irene and the others observing me rather than the uing match.


    It wasn''t just them, but I noticed Adara and, at a distance, Amelia too, looking at me, trying to analyse me. The teachers who were assigned to me also peeked at me whenever they could and not just them, but my own Unorthodox ssmates, were looking at me curiously.


    I stood up, garnering the attention of everyone at once as their eyes were focused on me before I moved closer to the railings to watch the match more closely and properly. cing my elbow on the railing, I rested my chin on my arm before taking a look at my buds that I nted to grow and bloom, finally taking their first step.


    Lucy, Lucas, Amelia, Adara, Dalton, Cristine, Bete, Eliza, Elizabeth, Annabeth, Irene, Linda¡­ Yup, that''s about them.


    A smile blossomed on my face as I looked forward to the future once again. The more things went ording to how I wanted it to be, the happier I became. Everything was going on smoothly and I will make sure it keeps on going that way.


    I saw another couple of faces that I needed to get into my pockets sooner orter. After concentrating enough, I found Lilith as well. She, too, at this moment, was looking at me and I smiled at her, making her look away before I saw that the match was about to start.


    It was a knockout type, with the rankings based on who attained the most points to the one who attained the least points. The match started with the lowest fighting the one just above them in ranking and slowly building up their points until they reached a higher height.


    Once the lowest gets defeated, and can''t move ahead, at some point, the next lowest starts fighting against the one just above him in ranking. If he fails to defeat the one adjacent to him, then he loses that match and gets eliminated.


    ''Generally, the lower ones get eliminated fast leaving behind only 90 people who make it into the Academy. Though, the fight still continues to determine their rankings,'' I thought as I saw people getting eliminated faster and faster.


    Total 345 people were qualified for the final test and with every match being only a minute long with minimum breaks, 40 people were eliminated within the first two hours and unsurprisingly the more the time passed, the elimination rate increased because of the difference between the power levels.


    Almost 5 hourster, only 90 people were left on the field with the others being eliminated and the matches were stopped because the batch had already been selected. As for the final rankings, those matches were scheduled tomorrow and for some reason, the Unorthodox were also included in those matches.


    Perhaps they wanted to establish a clear cut ranking of the whole batch at once? Well, doesn''t matter to me since I n to be thest anyway.


    ''Hmmm¡­ Everyone made it, I guess,'' I thought as I looked at the smiling faces of the girls, they looked really happy that they made it through. Though all of them were in the top 20 already, even before the matches began, their turn never came, except Bete, who was at 56th rank.


    ''Bete''s fighting capabilities are really explosive along with her sudden mana growth. Perhaps she would grow into a real monster as well¡­ I guess saving her had another benefit that I did not consider previously. Lucky me.'' I thought as I smiled before moving away from the railing, only to find two people standing in front of me.


    "Can''t even wait for a day to see me?" I asked as I winked at Adara who looked really irked by that and Lucas, who was standing beside her, observed my remark with a curious expression before speaking.


    "You surprise me every time I meet you."


    "Did you forget about the beating I gave youst time, lover boy? Why are you here again?" I spoke in a sudden cheerful tone, which made him take a step back and gulp before he shook his head and said,"I am here because ''She'' has asked me to fetch you."


    Hearing his words, I sighed a little before looking at Adara and asking,"and love, what do you want from me?"


    If eyes could kill, Adara might have killed me already, but she sighed before speaking,"there is something that I wanted to know."


    Hearing her words, I chuckled before speaking,"I will tell you about it in bed. Leave the private things for private times." There was a really mischievous look on my face, but her re became more sharp and Lucas, who was previously a bit curious now, was really, really curious about our rtionship.


    "Lucas, is it really important? The person who asked to meet Aidan. I want to have some time alone with him and it could be long, so if that person isn''t as much important, can you excuse both of us?" Adara spoke with a serious tone before moving towards me but Lucas spoke,"it''s the principal. She is the one who wants to meet Aidan."


    Hearing his words, Adara suddenly stops before sharply turning towards Lucas with a disbelieving expression as her eyes ask him,''are you sure it''s here? You are not mistaken, are you?''


    "Tell her I will be visiting herter on. For now, I will be with Adara or if she really wants to meet me, then she cane see me in the evening herself," I said before looking at Adara and continuing,"let''s go."

 Chapter 186 Arcadia Academy#13

    "Tell her I will be visiting herter on. For now, I will be with Adara or if she really wants to meet me, then she cane see me in the evening herself," I said before looking at Adara and continuing,"let''s go."


    Adara and Lucas were really surprised to see me walking towards Adara as I ignored Lucas'' words. However, Adara rejected my statement as,"I think it would be better if you go meet her."


    Lucas nodded at it as he spoke,"I don''t know what kind of person you are in reality, but in this Academy, it would be better not to go against hierarchy unless you have a very strong reason."


    I turned towards both of them, for a few moments standing silently, before asking Lucas,"can you at least tell me why is she calling me?"


    "The Starting Ceremony of the new batch. The top 2 Unorthodox and the top 5 Orthodox are asked to visit her and stand beside her when she would be giving the speech," Lucas spoke and I recalled whether there really was something like that. Though, I guess it would make sense given how this Academy works.


    I sighed before speaking,"sure." This time, however, Adara was the one who spoke out loud as,"but shouldn''t that ceremony be tomorrow after the rankings are finalised?" at which Lucas shook his head, saying he didn''t know anything about that.


    "Let''s go. We would get our answers there," I spoke before the two of them stared at me for a few moments before beginning to walk in the same direction as me. I looked around and saw Sabrina Carter missing from the area, the second ranked Unorthodox this time after me.


    It took us about 15 minutes to reach the other 5 Orthodox ones along with Sabrina, who was standing. Looking at those people, I found two familiar faces, one of which really surprised me.


    As soon as I entered, some of them looked at me with surprise while the others just ignored me, as if I didn''t exist in this ce. Ignoring them, I reached towards the ce where Sabrina was and stood beside her.


    Sabrina had orangish hair that reached down to her waist, and her blue eyes seemed quite vibrant. There was a tinge of curiosity on her face and she looked like a lively extrovert, who was both smart and mature for her age. She looked about 20 years old, with a thin but slightly athletic body.


    "Hey, you must be Aidan Williamson. Nice to meet you. I am Sabrina Carter. Hope we have a st in the Academy," she spoke as she turned at me with a cheerful smile. She was wearing a tight top with a short skirt. Her blue eyes'' vibrance was enhanced by her bright orange hair.


    I shook her hand, making almost everyone around look at us before she turned around and saw an olddy moving towards us who was analysing each and everyone of us.


    "Bow to the principal," one of the teachers spoke, and the others immediatelyplied. Both the teachers and the students had their heads down¡­ all except me, of course. I observed them all bowing silently with their heads down. Some were confused, some were curious, while people like Adara and Lucas were doing it with their hearts without any other thoughts.


    ''I guess she must have a reputation,'' I thought before moving a bit to the side and standing at the corner as I observed the rest of them.


    The Principal, Amelia Williamson, looked at me with a sigh before turning at the others and speaking,"Raise your heads."


    As soon as themand was given, all the teachers stood up and moved towards me before speaking,"Mr. Aidan Williamson, you are expelled from this academy." Though before I could do anything,"it is fine. We need him," Amelia spoke as she looked at me and then turned to the others. The teachers'' faces were already ashen and looked like I had already made some enemies here.


    ''I didn''t even bow in front of those monsters. No way am I going to bow in front of anyone I don''t even know properly,'' I thought as I sighed while the others just looked at me with pity.


    "Normally, I call people here after the final rankings are established, but since I have seen your strength personally, I can more or less see that there would be no change in the Orthodox ones. Hence, I called all of you here," she spoke before turning to Michael Laurentz, the top scorer of this batch.


    ''He is the cousin of Lucas,st I remember. The one Lucas killed with his own two hands a few monthster. Wonder what happened,'' I thought as I observed him looking almost as simr as Lucas except with a really arrogant look on his face.


    Looking at Michael, Amelia observed him carefully before turning to Elizabeth Williamson, sweet Elle, who made it to the second rank. The only reason she wasn''t at the first was because she wasn''t directly assessed; only her stats and skills were assessed and not her battle prowess.


    ''That too only those which she wanted the others to know,'' I thought as I observed Amelia smiling at Elle before moving to the third person. Klee, the 3rd ranked person, a blonde girl with an aloof personality and looking at the way she was ying with her hair¡­ she was going to be a handful.


    4th is Eliza¡­ younger Sister of Cristine. When I saw her skills, I was pleasantly surprised upon seeing them. What was even more surprising was that she wasn''t even 16 properly. This was really good news.


    ''Perhaps removing her curse¡­ was a really good decision,'' I thought as I looked at Amelia, really happy with all the three girls before reaching the 5th ranker, Peter Richard, the blue-haired, blind guy who had one of the most cursed Systems on this.

 Chapter 187 Arcadia Academy#14 Peter Richard

    Amelia looked at Peter Richard with a curious expression before she made a sad smile and then, for a brief moment, Amelia''s eyes caught mine before turning back to that kid.


    Amelia then moves from Peter to Sabrina and observes her keenly and then sighs for some reason before she ignores me and moves a bit away from us and speaks,"everyone except Michael, Peter, Sabrina and Aidan, leave from here."


    I was confused for a few moments, but then I saw the others leaving without speaking anything at all. A few teachers had their eyes narrowed at me before they left.


    Once they left, Amelia smiled as she looked at us and spoke,"you can all rx now. No need to be so tense. Consider this your own home for the time being."


    "They sure do follow yourmands like a dog," Michael spoke with an arrogant tone as he looked at the others leaving. Peter just stood there doing nothing while Sabrina moved closer to Peter and spoke,"can you really not see? Are you using some kind of special sense?"


    I, on the other hand, was keenly observing Amelia, wondering what she was on about. No way in hell this was a simple ''get to know each other'' meeting. I looked around, trying to see if there was anything wrong, but even after waiting for a while, I still did not find anything wrong.


    "What is your ability? Heard that you got 250 thousand points," I heard Michael speaking as he turned to me with a curious look and I answered,"knowledge of monsters."


    Hearing my words, he was really surprised before he offered,"want to join Laurentz? Your ability is unique and if the teachers had given you that score well, it must have been quite a feat."


    Though I rejected his offer as I spoke,"No, I need something from this Academy," and this made him look at me dumbfoundedly for a reason before heughed out loud as he spoke,"dude. You too! Damn! I thought I was the only one limiting myself to this Academy for a purpose," before he nced at Amelia, still smiling at him.


    He smiled andughed it off as,"sorry sorry; I was just joking. Don''t take it so seriously, Madam Principal." Though there was not even an ounce of sincerity in his words.


    Amelia then moved towards me one step at a time and, reaching closer to me, she observed me with a narrowed gaze. Then she turned to them, Peter, Michael and Sabrina, and said,"Can you help me fix them?"


    I looked at her for a few moments, and it didn''t seem like she was joking about it. The others looked at Amelia before looking at me and then they made a confused expression before I sighed and spoke,


    "Since you are asking for this¡­ you do know how I do stuff, don''t you?"


    She nodded at me before speaking,"will this be fine?" and then she gave me a card. A card, a 7 Star all purpose card. It was a ck card and with this, I can do anything I want in the entire Academy, except for a few restricted ces.


    It really surprised me that she is giving me such an important thing without batting an eye, though her next words made me think about this deal once more.


    "I will be sending a list of people to you that you can groom and take under your control. However, I will also be looking at things from my angle. If you do anything wrong with them, you will have to go against me. We both will be grooming them together and whether they stay here or go with you will depend upon how well you groom them," she spoke without batting an eye.


    ''Perhaps she had been thinking about it ever since I met her. I wonder what had she nned and thought about¡­ well, this is more interesting than I thought,'' I smiled a little before grabbing that card and speaking,


    "Sure, I will tame them to the point they will bark when you will ask them to bark."


    I then turned to Parker and moved towards him and looked at him for a few moments and spoke,"remove your eye cover."


    Hearing my words, he was confused before he turned towards me, who was looking at him all seriously. He then turned towards Amelia, who was just staring at him without any expression.


    "I have promised my father-"


    Listening to his words, I sighed before removing his cover myself, releasing the ck mist from his eyes. It was a purplish blue mist that immediately started spreading all around us at a rapid speed.


    Amelia just smiled and an autumn wind filled with orange leaves started blowing all around, erasing that purple blue mist. While I looked deeply into his eyes and applied Spirit Magic of Life and Light on my right hand before covering his eyes with that same hand.


    And not even a momentter, I see all that aura evaporating into nothingness before he stands there bbergasted. Removing my hands, I see his gem-like blue coloured eyes with a smile.


    He was dumbfounded as he looked at me with a sudden gulp but before he could speak anything I said,"it''s not permanent but it should hold for a week or two. Don''t worry, there are no side effects, and I know the permanent way to remove your curse as well."


    Though he wasn''t really happy with this oue and I understood the reason as I exined,"you can still use all the abilities with the help of the System. I just gave you a measure to control your ability. Try using that manually." Hearing my words he tried using that mist ability, and well enough he could still use it and this time he was way more dumbfounded than before which made me chuckle a little as I spoke,"Though, the permanent effect to control your ability¡­ I won''t be giving it for free."

 Chapter 188 Arcadia Academy#15

    "Though, the permanent effect, to control your ability,¡­ I won''t be giving it for free."


    Peter stared at me for a few moments and Michael looked at me with a stupefied gaze, along with Sabrina, who was shocked to no end. Her eyes almost came out of their sockets, and her mouth was agape.


    "What do you want from me?" He asked my favourite question with my all-time favourite grim expression, as if he was preparing to make a deal with the devil. Made me smile a little more deeply.


    "Wait a sec, will ya? I''ve got to make a deal with these two spies of the western continent," I spoke, looking at Michael and then at Sabrina. Their expressions turned ugly and both of them looked at me with an ashen face.


    They nodded at each other before Michael sent a light sphere attack at Amelia and then proceeded to run away while Sabrina covered his way, using a mana-filled whip trying to cover his escape.


    Though before he could escape,


    "Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth Moon," I muttered before appearing in front of Michael, turning his expression a bit surprised. Even still, he did not stop and kept running towards me with all he had.


    He used his lightsaber and tried to attack me, however, easily dodging it, I stopped his fist with my hand before casually punching him after concentrating my palm with dense mana.


    -Boom!!


    He gets pushed back before gaining back his momentum and stops on his feet, barely standing right in front of Sabrina. He held his stomach tightly with his hands, which were profusely bleeding.


    "[Healing of the Sun God]" he said, healing himself back to normal and then angrily ring at me. It only made me chuckle a little bit more than I looked at him, as if I were looking at a piece of shit standing in front of me.


    "It is going to be a pain in the ass so you better be ready for extra charges," I said as I looked at Amelia and she nced at them before speaking in a slightly mocking tone,e on. Don''t tell me oh so great Zero, can''t even change a bunch of kids when he managed to win over those monsters?"


    I shook my head as I spoke,"easier to manipte a person who is at their worst than those who are lost causes. It''s not impossible, but just a pain in the ass."


    Michael looked at Sabrina and said,"I will divert them and you escape." Though that made me chuckle out loud before I spoke,"if you are going to n something, it would be better not to announce it, you know?"


    Sabrina then started chanting something before a scroll appeared in front of her and Michael drew his saber and created a shield that covered the whole area around Sabrina.


    Without wasting time, Sabrina almost started chanting, but before she could even begin, I amplified my voice using Blood Magic and spoke,"stop."


    It was a type of Charm Magic utilising my voice, though it worked only on people much weaker than me. Still, observing Sabrina standing there without moving, I believed it worked perfectly fine¡­ so fine that it made me grin widely and I ended up speaking,"I am sorry Miss Sabrina and Mr. Michael but your departure from the Arcadia Academy has been dyed¡­ permanently."


    My eyes were red and Michael looked at me with a serious expression, as if he was preparing to fight with me to the best of his ability, as if he was prepared to die right here, right now.


    I saw Peter looking at me as if I were the devil as well and he was having doubts about the prospect of making a deal with me. Amelia was observing with a keen expression as she just stood there doing nothing. Sabrina had already torn apart that transportation paper and now was looking nkly at me.


    "Now, let''s calm down all of us, shall we?" I spoke as I started moving towards the nearest sofa and continued under the constant gaze of everyone present there,"first, what you do here has nothing to do with me or the Principal as well. We already knew about you and everyone from your n who is here to collect information, people, and other stuff. If I want, I can wipe all of you at once, foiling all of your ns you are making to conquer the eastern continent, but I am not doing it, am I?"


    Michael didn''t let his guard down, but he wasn''t attacking me. I continued,"there are many things that you need to understand, but first is that this world is about to go through a catastrophe in the uing future."


    Michael spoke,"You mean the prophecy that was revealed a week ago about the uing war that was going to happen and the alien race that is going to attack us?" Michael knew about it, but Sabrina and Peter had a shocked and puzzled expression before Michael continued,"I don''t believe it. It is just bullshit made up by that Reaper guy to gain the favour of the higher ones. All he did was find a strong monster and make everyone believe that it was an alien¡­ Mark Leeway must have been involved in this scheme as well, there must have been something profiting for him as well¡­"


    I chuckled a little before speaking,"that is an interesting way to look at things but¡­ why do you think everyone believed it then?"


    Michael looked at me and spoke with a slightly wide eyed expression as,"that¡­ I don''t know."


    I smiled again before looking at Amelia and speaking,"close the curtains," and the room was closed off from the outside world for a fixed amount of time. Looking at Amelia, you can never underestimate an SS-Grade, I suppose¡­


    "Now¡­ the reason why they are believing it is neither because there is a really strong monster, nor because it involves Mark Leeway¡­ it is because.." I spoke with my eyes turning dark red slowly and Asteriaing up right behind me as she stood there with my whole aura covering in darkness as I took out my scythe.


    "They had felt my power through that video. They had seen it and when theypared that to Mark and his best friend Oliver¡­ they saw something that sent shivers down their spines¡­" I spoke as I moved closer towards Michael, one heavy step at a time, with the suit of the reaper on and an angel right behind me.


    Michael was scared and so was Sabrina¡­ Peter at this moment, felt like he was trying his best not to faint while Amelia too looked a bit scared. Though I just continued,


    "They are preparing themselves to be strong enough to take me on. Cause they know that they have nothing against me¡­ not even an ounce of information about my weakness, my strong points, heck they don''t even know about my limits. They don''t even know whether I exist or not, as only those whom I have allowed¡­ know about me. They are scared about my mysterious nature and this is what is prompting them to get stronger and stronger."


    I reached closer and closer towards Michael, now almost a metre away and stared directly into his eyes before turning off my Blood Magic and Spirit Magic, and then using my Regeneration Magic, turning my eyes green again.


    "So when someone like me says that I am preparing an army¡­ you think they will just stand there and do nothing? They are preparing for a war against me, which they wouldter use against the Parasites that will invade from space. Michael Lorentz, this is what they are preparing against," I spoke as I sighed and patted his shoulders before speaking.


    "Michael Lorentz. I, Reaper, ask you¡­ what is that you want to do now?"


    He looked at me for a few moments, speaking,"why are you telling me this? What do you want from me?"


    I looked at him before turning to nce at Sabrina and Peter and spoke again,"is it really that hard to figure out?"


    This made all three of them simultaneously realise what I wanted from them and Peter spoke on behalf of all three of them,"you¡­ you want us to join¡­ your army?"


    I nodded before continuing," I won''t be harming you in any way, nor will I create any trouble for you. You can continue your spying, though how much you tell will have its consequence ordingly. I don''t mind sharing a few details that would make the King happy every now and then," and he looked at me with a narrowed gaze before speaking,


    "Don''t you think we can backstab you?"


    "Well, you can try that too, I suppose. It will have its own consequences, of course, one which I would rather not share right now." I narrowed my eyes at him with a cold smile before looking at everyone around me and then speaking,


    "So, what''s it going to be?"

 Chapter 189 Arcadia Academy#16

    "So, what''s it going to be?"


    Peter looked at the others, while Michael and Sabrina were looking at each other. Amelia was casually smiling at me as she observed the whole situation getting more and more under my control. Micheal, in the end, just sighed before speaking, "Do whatever you want¡­ if I don''t like it I will just run away."


    I see him walking away and Sabrina looks at him going before observing me and speaking,"I am with him," and then walking away as well. As for Peter, he was just standing there for a few moments, trying to understand the pros and cons of the whole situation.


    He then turns to me and says,"I will join your army¡­ but I have my own demands," and I nodded at him before speaking,"we can discuss thatter. For now, you should rx and I too have some things I need to discuss with the Principal."


    Peter nodded at me before leaving, and the only ones that were left were Amelia and I. She transforms herself back into her original form, the little girl, which I saw when I first met her here and moves closer to me.


    "You really are a scary person, you know?" she speaks with a mysterious smile on her face while I smirked at her before speaking,"says the one who manipted everything that happened in this room as if it were child''s y."


    Amelia had already set up a trap that anyone who walks out of this room without her permission would die. Despite the consequence of incurring the wrath of the Western King, she took the risk of almost killing Michael Lorentz.


    "In a way, Michael owes me now," I said before closing my eyes and saying,"I don''t think¡­" I then opened my eyes and stared deeply into Amelia''s as I continued,"you did this to test the others?"


    She chuckled a little before speaking,"you are really smart too, you know?"


    "Not the answer I wanted to hear," I spoke with a slight sigh before speaking,"so. Why did you call me here?"


    She looked at me with a mysterious look before speaking,"nothing. I just wanted to confirm something, and I have already done it. You may go now," and then vanishing from there without speaking any further.


    Silence covered the area as I was the only one left there for a few moments before I too walked back to where the others were. My next destination was to meet Adara.


    Walking out of the room, I turned towards the stadium where the others were supposed to be, however reaching there, I found no one there. In fact, it waspletely empty, so I moved towards the nearest teacher I could see.


    Though he looked at me as if he wanted to kill me¡­ perhaps not bowing was a really big deal for them. I then moved on my own and tried searching for the dorm room nearby or anyone I knew who could tell me where the rooms were.


    Lucky for me, I met someone I knew at a distance who was just casually walking with a bunch of fruits in her hand.


    "Eliza!" I spoke, and she turned at me before smiling wide and running towards me. I saw hering at me with incredible speed and then


    -Bam!


    "Oww!" I spoke as I saw her pushing me down on the floor and sitting on my abdomen. She was still smiling like crazy and then she spoke,"Zero! How are you?!!"


    "I go by the name Aidan here," I spoke as I looked at her for a few moments before continuing,"can you get off me first?"


    She nodded as she chuckled before moving off from me and speaking,"why did you leave all of a sudden? Everyone was really missing you, you know?" and I shook my head before saying,"there was little point in staying there, so I just left."


    "At least you could have informed us. Cristine was really mad when you left without telling anything but Lucia calmed her down by saying that we were going to meet you here anyway," Eliza spoke as she grabbed a bite of her apple and I too grabbed an apple from her basket and started eating it as well.


    "Well. I don''t think there was anything to get angry about there," I shrugged a little before asking,"so where were you going?"


    "To the dorms, I was actually buying some fruits and other midnight snacks before going to sleep. Cristine decided that we would explore the city after we get up," she said as she thought about it, and I nodded at that.


    While exploring right away is not entirely wrong, doing it one step at a time is actually better. Plus, you probably won''t be needing to use all the facilities in the Academy anyway but only those which suit your needs and wants. I believe it would be actually better to use the inte provided by the Academy to find out the best way to enhance your ability and skills, and also what form of training would be best for you.


    I gave a few pointers to Eliza, and she nodded, saying that William had already told the same to Cristine and her. Well, I asked her a couple of more questions and it looked like she already knew everything and how to proceed in the Academy as well.


    "Perhaps most of the high rankers would follow the same procedure as well¡­ hmmm that makes me think, when should I put my schedule out¡­ I guess I will see it ording to the sses I''ll have to attend," I thought before turning to the boys going in the same direction.


    ''Maybe the dorms are in the same ce,'' I thought as I turned to Eliza and said,"I guess I would be going my own way then," and she nodded before we both separated.


    After walking a few more minutes, I saw the dorms and nodded at it. I then moved back and started moving in the opposite direction as I vanished from there.


    It took me about 30 minutes but I reached the Student Council office, however it was empty. I checked a few more ces, but Adara wasn''t there, so I kind of just sighed before moving back to the dorm.


    ''Maybe I will see her tomorrow,'' I thought before moving towards the dorm. The dorms of the Arcadia Academy were reallyvish with one room per person and each room was really well furnished to the finest details.


    It had almost everything you can desire to the basics, and rather than giving an Academy vibe, it had this strange sensation of home in it. Probably the effect of an artefact to make people morefortable here.


    ''Arcadia Academy doesn''t pull its punches for nothing, huh?'' I thought as I moved towards the bed and started taking off my clothes before changing into my nightdress.


    -Thud


    I fell on the bed and let myself drown in the coziness as I enjoyed every bit of the feeling that I was getting from it. Calling it rxing would be an understatement. This was far cozier than anything I have felt since I arrived in this timeline.


    ''Wonder how the students get out of the bed?'' I thought before falling deep asleep and not waking up tillter afternoon. When I saw the time, I realised that I had slept for quite a long time today.


    ''Maybe all that working has drained a lot of my mental energy,'' I thought as I stretched a little and stood up before changing into my normal dress. Our academic uniform would be provided to us tonight before 8:00 PM or something, if I was not wrong.


    I got out of the dorm and reached the stadium where the ranking battles were taking ce and surprisingly or unsurprisingly, the Unorthodox ones were already done with my position in thest.


    ''Perhaps, they didn''t bother to call me after what I had done yesterday¡­ hmmm good for me,'' I thought as I observed the matches being held at full throttle as everyone was trying their best.


    Unlike yesterday, the matches today were randomised with each person fighting at least 5 matches before their rank was finalised. Later on, people would be allowed to challenge higher rank ones in a 5 round battle and have to win at least 4 of them in order to take over their rank.


    ''Though that would start from tomorrow,'' I thought as I observed the matches before my eyes turned to Adara, who was observing me from a distance. Slowly walking towards her, I reached her in a few minutes and I saw Lucas and Dalton, along with another guy, standing along with them. That guy, noticing me, made a really really curious face before ignoring me all together.


    I too ignored him before moving towards Adara and speaking,"Morning, Love. How are you doing?"

 Chapter 190 Arcadia Academy#17 Annabeth And Adara

    "Morning, Love. How are you doing?"


    The first one to turn towards me was the guy who ignored me previously. He had a really odd expression as he narrowed his eyes at me.


    Lucas and Dalton were observing me with a keen expression; and Lucas having a tinge of curiosity on his face asst time. Rather than observing the tournament, these idiots were watching me.


    "Hey Aidan. Can you please stop calling me that?" Adara asks in a really polite manner while this surprises Lucas, Dalton, and the third guy, they all observe Adara with a dumbfounded expression.


    ''Perhaps she is the type who stays cold with everyone?'' I thought before speaking,"well, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"


    "We can discuss thatter. Right now, I have to observe the matches. I am one of the referees here in case things go wrong," she answers before turning to focus on the matches and then asks,"you werete, though. Did something happen?"


    "Just woke up a bitte, that''s all," I answered as I began watching the matches as well, though she asked again,"well, there is a monthly stipend allocated to all the students of the Academy. Though, that is based on the rank which they have. Are you sure you didn''t want to secure a higher rank for a better stipend?"


    "That''s news to me. Hmmm.. since I am thest rank, what would be my stipend?" I asked curiously, and she answered immediately,"100 Arcadia Coins."


    This made me chuckle a little, gaining her attention before speaking,"not really interested in it."


    "The first rank in the whole Academy gets 10 Million Arcadia Coins at the end of the year," she says and I yawn a little before speaking,"doesn''t really interest me. I have enough to keep me going on my own."


    Adara then turns a bit quiet before another person joins the conversation,"do you both know each other?"


    I turn to the person and say,"And who might you be?"


    He bes a bit dumbfounded before speaking,"you must be really ignorant to not know me," and at his words, I look at Lucas and in turn he speaks up immediately,"what he does has nothing to do with me."


    I sigh and that guy makes a really surprised expression as he turns to Lucas as he speaks,"Lucas, you know this guy?"


    "Not really," Lucas replies, shrugging his shoulders a little before moving towards one of the matches that was going on at a close distance. Adara turns at the new guy and speaks.


    "He is ze, the Leader of the Vanguards, and that''s Dalton, the Vice Leader of the Vanguards."


    ''The guy that Lucas almost kills two yearster?'' I pondered before getting a clear look at him. From what I have collected about ze¡­ he was a pathetic guy who rose in ranks because his parents had a lot of money.


    He is strong because he had forcefully absorbed arge amount of monster cores. He is one of the strongest here. Sadly, he will always be as strong as he is right now.


    ''He is peak A-Grade,'' I calcted his strength before focusing on the match that was going on as I ignored him.


    "Aidan Williamson, the guy who broke the record of the Unorthodox by a huge margin. From my sources you are someone who has vast knowledge about monsters," I hear ze speaking out of nowhere and I sigh before thinking,''of course I know about them¡­ I have killed thousands of varieties and experimented on them to know about their strengths and weaknesses.''


    "Why don''t you join the Vanguards?" He spoke again, and I turned at him before speaking,"my talent is wasted there. I would rather sit in a library and hone my talent even more."


    He ponders over my words and sighs before speaking,"your choice. Still, you haven''t answered my question. How do you know about Adara and Lucas? Someone with that pathetic amount of mana shouldn''t have the capability to-"


    -BOOOM!!!


    -BOOM!!


    -BOOOM!!


    From multiple arenas in the stadium, several contestants suddenly started flying out. I turned towards that area, only to find Cristine, Bete, Eliza, Elizabeth, Lucy looking in this direction with a dangerous aura before turning back to their own battles.


    ''Hmmm.. were they listening in on us?'' I thought before sighing and turning at ze and speaking,"That is something that I cannot share with Mister ze."


    "Hey! Adara!!! How are you?!!" I heard another cheerful voice as a girl came running towards us before she hugs Adara tightly and then smiles cheerfully as she turns at me and speaks,"hey Aidan. Looks like you joined this year as well."


    I observed her¡­ Annabeth and smiled in return as I peeked to look at the ever so dumbfounded look on ze''s face before he angrily stood up and then left from there.


    Dalton too leaves from there as he looks at me before muttering,"just what were you trying there?" and then leaving without waiting for my answer.


    Annabeth then makes sure that no one unknown is around as she speaks,"Now exactly what are you doing here? Creating a scene in front of ze when everyone knows that he is trying on Adara?"


    "Oh! He is? Then he should give up, you know?" I speak with a slight smirk and she narrows her eyes at me before looking at Adara and saying,"how did you end up getting so lucky?"


    Adara gets confused even more and asks,"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! I don''t know what you are talking about and wait! You both know each other? Just what exactly is going on here¡­"


    Hearing her words, Annabeth turns to me and says,"the only one who can tell the correct answer is you."


    I chuckle a little before speaking,"what do you mean, exin? I was talking to my love when her one sided lover came and started interrupting us andter another acquaintance of mine came in between and started bbering."


    This made Annabeth growl a little in anger before sighing and speaking,"he saved our lives a month ago¡­ in ways that I can''t exin."


    Adara turned to me with a surprised expression before asking,"and then?"


    Though Annabeth just shakes her head and speaks,"a couple of things happened like he found out that my brother is a freaky psychopath who was the instigator behind the attack and a few other misceneous tasks. There were a few other things he did, but we only heard about itter on."


    Adara, hearing all this, makes a slightly confused expression before speaking,"looks like he left a big impact on you. Still, that doesn''t exin anything about him."


    "Sure doesn''t¡­ still, you tell me. How do you happen to know him?" Annabeth asks with a really curious face, especially with the word ''love'' involved in this. Though Adara makes a confused expression before speaking,"asks him, I have really no idea where all this started."


    This made Annabeth and Adara turn at me with a curious expression before I asked,"you guys too know each other, huh?"


    I already knew about their friendship because of the things I figured out,paring it to my past timeline. Last time, it wasn''t Elle who came, but it was Annabeth who was in the body of Elizabeth who came and probably asked for help from Adara.


    Even though Elizabeth told that Adara was her teacher whom Annabeth knew, this one meeting cleared all my doubts about their previous rtion.


    "Yeah, we have been friends since we first joined the Academy. Don''t tell me you didn''t know that?" Annabeth asks as she narrows her eyes at me and Adara, confused a bit, asks,"what do you mean by that?"


    Well, I think it was normal for Adara to be confused right now because she still doesn''t know about my knowledge pool, the way I function. As for Annabeth, I guess she started taking me seriously after I told them about their brother''s secret, which they even themselves did not know about.


    "Well¡­ If you ever end up dating him. There are many things you woulde to know about him¡­ but one thing which you should know first is that¡­ his knowledge pool is beyond scary. He knows things that normal people will consider a myth¡­ he is scary¡­ be careful with him," Annabeth speaks as if recalling old memories and I narrow my eyes at her before sighing.


    Well, it wasn''t like I was trying to hide or anything. I was just waiting for the right timing to tell her.


    Adara, hearing her words, narrows her eyes at me before turning at Annabeth, who had already started walking towards Lucas with a cheerful face as she hugs Lucas from behind and I hear Lucas shouting in frustration.


    I turn to Adara,"now that we have some privacy¡­ what was it that you wanted to talk about?"


    Adara just looks at me with a dumbfounded expression before muttering,"that¡­"

 Chapter 191 Arcadia Academy#18

    Adara just looks at me with a dumbfounded expression before muttering,"that¡­ is about the skill you used when you entered my office yesterday. Where did you learn that?"


    ''From you,'' is what I wanted to say, but it would have been awkward and raised a lot of questions, so I just said,"Well, my teacher taught me that. Why do you ask?"


    Hearing my words, her eyes widen a little before she speaks in a cheerful voice,"really. Do you know where he is?" though I just sighed before speaking,"my teacher is dead. Has been for quite a long time and it''s a ''she'', not he."


    This makes her nk for a moment before she processes my full sentence and rxes a little and speaks,"ah! So it''s a different person, huh?"


    I close my eyes for a few moments as I try to recall if there was any teacher that Adara had. Elle didn''t tell me about it, nor I had heard about it from Adara herself. Isn''t that interesting¡­ hmmm¡­


    "What is your teacher''s name?" I asked with a curious mind and she looked at me before smiling and changing the topic as she said,"what are you going to do next, now?"


    I observed her smile and sighed before looking at the battle going on around me as I said,"Well, I have some ns for the future which I willmence starting tomorrow."


    She made a bit of a curious expression as she asked,"what ns?"


    I turn at her and smile a little before speaking,"what are you going to do next, now?"


    Hearing my question, she chuckles before speaking,"I will be continuing watching over the matches for now, though hopefully I won''t be needed here."


    I nodded before moving closer to her and then gazing at her mesmerising face before I sighed and then spoke,"want to spar with meter on?"


    She looked at me and spoke,"sure," in a nonchnt manner before focusing on the matches and I then saw her slowly moving towards the referees before turning and speaking,"but we will fight after the matches are over."


    I nodded at her and then stayed around to watch a couple of matches as well. I saw Lucy performing her best and easily winning most of the matches. Michael was the same and so were the others. All the top 10 were winning without much effort and surprisingly, not one of the top 10 had fought with another.


    After watching for a few more minutes, I got bored and saw Adara still observing the matches with a careful and serious expression.


    After a few more minutes, I saw another girl entering the ce and moving closer to Adara. She was wearing a simr uniform as that of Adara and examining the way she was behaving made me think a little before I realised who she was.


    ''Hera Backmeth,'' I thought as I observed her¡­ the Vice President of the Student Council. However¡­ isn''t she can''t be seen or something? Why is she here?


    I was confused but as soon as I thought that, I saw her turning towards me and making a bit of a shocked expression before she moved one step at a time, reaching close to me and spoke up in disbelief,"you can see me?"


    I just nkly looked at her before nodding at her and she pondered a little before scanning through her System as she spoke,"but the Charm Magic is working properly."


    Her face was filled with confusion as she observed my face and I analysed her''s.


    Hera Backmath, the blue-haired girl who has a reallyplex personality and removes any obstacle that hinders her ns even from a faraway distance. Her blue hair reaches her chin, and she wears round sses with a ck tattoo on her left eye.


    Her height was almost an inch above mine, measuring about 5 ft 8 in and her  heterochromic eyes, one red and one green, gives her a very peculiar look. After a few seconds


    -sh


    I see her almost shing my neck, but I catch her sword. She was serious about killing me right here right now and if I hadn''t stopped her, I would have been dead by now.


    "You are strong¡­ but you have such low mana. How?" Even though she was questioning that, there was no surprise in her eyes. I let her sword go, and she pulls it back and sheaths it carefully and swiftly.


    "Well, if you are that strong. I guess you get to keep your life," she says before moving away from there. I just kept gazing at her for the next few moments as the only thing that I could think of was,"Crazy!"


    "So you can survive her attacks, huh? You must be crazy fast," spoke Adara as she moved towards me and I turned at her with a questioning look. She chuckles a little before speaking,"Her attacks are the fastest attack anyone can produce in this academy, presently. Also, if you see her and if you can dodge it even once, you get to live, otherwise, you die. Simple as that."


    "Wouldn''t 99% of the Academy be dead already?" I asked, and she nodded before speaking,"that is true, but there is a charm ced on her by the Principal herself. Nobody can see her unless Hera herself permits a person to see her. Though you seem a bit special to see through that charm without really getting permission from Hera."


    ''So that is why nobody had seen her, huh? Still, that doesn''t exin why she would kill anyone who sees her,'' I thought and reading my mind Adara speaks,"well, even I have no idea why she would do that. I was one of the few people that had sessively dodged her attacks¡­ in fact, you can say that to be the Student Council''s President, I had been given the task to dodge her."


    "Sounds like a pretty ''hard'' task," I thought as I recalled the sh Hera had made before. She was fast alright, but her sh and the timing and everything else were easily predictable. As long as you can read her bodynguage, anyone can not only block that attack but also use it against her.


    "You make it sound like it''s too easy," Adara spoke as she looked into my eyes and I turned to her with a curious mind as I asked,"how hard was it for you on a scale of 1 to 10?" and the answer I got was,"ummm about 8?"


    Hmmm¡­ well, let''s just say that she improved after continuously sparring with Elle in the previous timeline where she was strong enough to defeat my previous self because if this ''attack'' was that hard for her, then I think I might have been over estimating her.


    ''Doesn''t change the fact that I am going to help her be stronger anyway,'' I thought as I observed her before speaking,"Hey so, the matches are almost over, so how about we spar now?"


    ''It would be much better to see herplete ability and see how much skill she possesses before I can begin her training, I guess,'' I thought before she nodded and spoke,"sure, where do you want to fight?"


    Thinking about that, I had one ce in my mind.


    30 minutester¡­


    "Hey, so we will be using this ce to have a short spar. Is that fine?" I asked as I looked at the ring expression of young Amelia and Adara was looking around with a confused expression, as she wanted to know where she was.


    Despite being at the Academy, she had never been to this ce, and it really piqued her curiosity to see that such a ce existed in the Academy. Adara''s eyesnded on Amelia and she could sense that Amelia was really really strong¡­


    "Hey¡­ who is she? Is she your mentor?" Adara asks, and I answer,"she is the Principal''s real form."


    Hearing my words, Amelia res at me while Adara makes a dumbfounded face before she bows to her immediately.


    "Why did you bring her here?" Amelia asks, trying to maintain herposure, and I casually respond,"this is what you get for using me to manipte Michael, Peter and Sabrina at once. In any case, as I said, we needed a ce to spar, letting no one else know, and this was the only ce I could think of."


    Amelia looks at me before turning to Adara with a careful expression before speaking,"is she one of them? One of your army members?" and I nod before speaking,"yeah."


    Adara turns confused at that before I take a few steps away from her and say,"Which weapon do you want to use during this spar?"


    Adara analyses with a thoughtful gaze before choosing to go with a spear, and I nod at her before choosing the same. If I wanted to analyse as well as teach her at the same time, it would be better to use the same weapon as hers than using a different one.

 Chapter 192 Arcadia Academy#19 Adara V/S Zero

    Amelia used her magic to create a wide ring for us while Adara took her stance as if she was preparing to put her life on the line. Her eyes were concentrated on me, nothing like the nonchnt behaviour she had just a moment ago.


    I observed her face and smiled a little before loosening my shirt a little and breathing a bit as I stretched and then spoke,e at me with all you have got."


    Hearing my words, I see her vanishing from there and reaching right in front of me with her spear almost reaching my neck and I take a swift step to the left before parrying her attack with my own spear.


    Then I take a few more steps back and observe her speed increasing more and more as she decreases the gap I created within moments and I sigh before muttering in my mind,''Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth moon.''


    My speed increases and I vanish behind her, making her eyes open wide, but immediately after that her speed also increases, and she starts attacking me with her spear, which I dodge with little effort.


    I see her concentration increasing with every passing moment and the more she was fighting, the more she was adapting to my movements. Her speed was also increasing ordingly and I think¡­ I saw her smile a little.


    -Swish!


    -nk!


    Instinctively, I pushed my spear behind and blocked her attack, which I couldn''t really see with my own two eyes. I turned around only to find another couple of attacksing at me, which made me feel both shock and relief before I smiled and¡­


    -nk!


    -nk!


    -nk!


    I used the Reaper''s spear style to cancel all her attacks, making her feel more amazed at me before she smiled excitedly and then


    -Swish!


    -Swish!


    -Swish! The only thing that I heard was the footsteps of Adara moving around. Even with my Zeroth Moon, I still couldn''t see her moving around. I then closed my eyes and increased my already heightened senses to another level using Spirit Magic.


    For some reason, in the ce where Amelia lived, the amount of Spirit Magic was at least double of that outside.


    I rotated my scythe in the perfect position and¡­


    -nk!


    Blocked the attack of Adara from my front. Opening my eyes, I saw her making a really shocked expression before she vanished again, bing apparently more faster than before and I sighed before speaking,"I think it is about time we end this," and then


    My eyes turned ck


    My spear turned ck


    My clothes and my hair turned ck as well¡­


    "Shadow Style: Spear Art: Spearmaster''s Third Strike," I muttered, and Adara knew something was wrong with this attack.


    She stopped running around and moved in front of me with a defensive stance as she looked at me with a really analytical and calctive mind. Her eyes were really focused on my spear, but that wasn''t going to help her because¡­


    About a hundred spears out of Dark Magic had already been formed in the air above us. That was not all, I too moved towards her at a speed that she hadn''t seen me moving before¡­ it was at least 5 times faster than before, making it hard for her to dodge.


    She had already noticed the spears above showering down and was trying to find an escape route from them, while also trying to attack me¡­ however¡­ I was too skilled for her to escape from me.


    The spears soon reached her and before they could reach her, I kicked her, pushing down on the ground. She saw the spears moving towards her in a rapid space when one of the spears almost reached her eyes but¡­ It stopped.


    -Click!


    I then clicked my fingers before smiling and speaking,"I won."


    All the spears vanished from there as if they had never existed. Adara stood up with a defeated expression on her face before she looked at my appearance, which was changing from the ck hair to white.


    I turned to her with a smile as my eyes turned back to green and said,"You are strong but you have quite a lot of weaknesses."


    She looked at me for a few moments and acknowledgingly said,"I already know that."


    "I have ways with which I can help you get strong¡­ much stronger than you already are," I smiled at her, however instead of getting joyous, she was making a sad and confused expression as she asks,


    "Why?"


    I looked at her and sighed, as I knew what she was asking.


    "Why are you helping me? What did I do for you? I don''t like to take favours¡­ I am the type of person who can''t help but feel suffocated until I return the favour of someone¡­ But I want to get stronger as well¡­ I don''t want to be left behind, but I don''t know how I can do it when I can''t bring myself to take someone else''s help¡­" She spoke and I made a sad smile and she got angry again as she spoke,


    "There it is. That smile¡­ that pity stained smile¡­ the smile, the look that says that you are going to help me without taking anything in return but¡­. Aidan¡­ I can''t¡­ I have this disease¡­ this tendency¡­ this thing¡­ that unables me from taking help from anyone. Please tell me there is a motive behind you offering me to help¡­ Please tell me that there is something that you are gaining from it as well, that I will be able to help you in return and return the favour."


    It was an odd feeling. Even in the previous timeline, she never took my help, even in the most mundane tasks. If I forced her to do anything, she threatened to leave me, which was even more odd¡­


    "It makes me sad¡­ but I guess I can understand¡­ if it is a deal you want rather than a free help¡­ if it is a deal that is going to help you ept my help¡­ I have something for you," I spoke as I moved towards her as I observed her half teared, half saddened face.


    Perhaps she wanted help but she couldn''t take it¡­ perhaps she didn''t want help but was desperate to get strong? I don''t know¡­ but I am going to make her strong¡­ strong enough to take on the top 12 of the previous timeline all by herself. That is how I am going to repay the previous timeline, Adara. Even if I have to lie to her a little.


    "Yeah, so¡­ I need you to go on a mission for me this summer and the next and a few more¡­ I need you to finish a piece of work for me. Will that be fine with you? In exchange I will help you out and make you strong enough to defeat your current self with a single sh," I spoke, and she observed me for a few moments before nodding slightly and then smiling at me as she spoke,"Thank you Aida-"


    "Zero¡­ call me Zero," I spoke and her eyes widened even more than her eyes darted towards the Principal before turning at me as she asked,"by Zero¡­ do you mean that Zero?!"


    Have I already be this famous that so many people know about me¡­ then what is the point of keeping this second identity? Hmmm.. well since I already started using this one, I guess I should continue using this for now.


    "Which Zero are you talking about?" I asked, getting confirmation for one more time and she then narrated the whole thing about aliens invading and stuff, which made me chuckle as I nodded before asking,


    "How do you know about that incident? Wasn''t it kept a secret or something?"


    Though Adara shook her head as she spoke,"Hera told me about it. She said that she had a connection with someone in the higher ups and they told her about it."


    ''Hmmmm Hera again, huh? The Vice President sure is mysterious though,'' I thought as I turned to Adara and spoke,"well¡­ I guess I can ask that to her in personter on."


    Adara nodded before muttering,"but still¡­ to think someone as important as that is standing right in front of me. This is a bit overwhelming."


    I just chuckled at her before speaking,"is it really that overwhelming?" and she nodded before speaking.


    "I don''t know whether you know or not, but ording to Hera, you are currently considered as one of the strongest people in the entire world. In fact, the most dangerous as well. The most mysterious as well¡­ people are ready to pay billions and billions just to find out about your identity and location."


    I listened to her and thought about selling my Zero identity to them to earn some bucks cause in the end, Zero isn''t really all that special as well¡­ it won''t harm anyone knowing about my past¡­ in fact it would make them even more confused. Hmmm¡­ now that I think about it, it''s not that bad of an idea, is it?


    "Aidan¡­ I mean Zero, you are giving a really mischievous smile right now," said Adara as she looked at me with a slightly scared gaze.

 Chapter 193 Arcadia Class 1E

    "So today is the first day of your ss and I''m d to see the excitement on your faces. I am Professor Hoffman, a teacher of Arcadia Academy, skilled in Pure Martial Arts and my System is Martial Arts System. Since today is the first day, we will be starting with introductions and then you guys can decide what to do next," Professor Hoffman smiled as he looked at all twenty of us.


    The 100 selected people were divided into 5 batches of 20 people each, with each batch holding 18 Orthodox and 2 Unorthodox and this was based on the rankings with the strongest being ced in the A batch and the weakest in the E batch.


    "Since I am the homeroom teacher of this ss, I should start by introducing myself. While you may have heard of me, let me tell you myself, I am one of the teachers of Vanguard and about 12 years ago I joined Arcadia Academy just like you. Later on, I became the Vice-Leader of the Vanguards andter became an adventurer for the next 5 years. I became a teacher here 2 years ago and¡­.."


    He kept going on and on, describing himself and about his notary works and other stuff. His eyes were calcting each and every person''s worth in this ss as if he was scouting.


    He looked at me and then, after a few seconds, ignored me as if I were a pebble. Later on everyone''s turn came and everyone introduced themselves and I did find a few capable people within this ss that I could groomter on.


    Soon my turn came and¡­


    "My name is Aidan Williamson. Country of origin: ssified. Date of birth:ssified. Powers and skills: ssified. System: ssified. Parent''s name: ssified¡­" I kept on saying that everything was ssified except my name and then I simply walked back to where my seat was and sat there peacefully.


    Everyone just kept looking at me dumbfoundedly, including professor Hoffmann. Then professor Hoffmann coughed a little before resuming,"all right¡­ Next."


    There was a rule that if a person doesn''t want to share their exact identity or powers, he or she can do so as long as it is not against the Arcadia''s System. Though, you still have to register basic information, like your System and power level, within Arcadia''s System.


    The registration was going to take ce today after the sses and was totally private and secure.


    The seating arrangement was done with 5 rows of 4 students each in a small ss. I was sitting in the fourth row from the right on the 3rd seat. There was a purple-haired girl sitting in front of me, who looked too proud of herself for entering this ss.


    On my left was a kid with sses and a katana tied to his waist.


    On my right was a kid with a bulky figure that looked really serious and attentive. He had red short hair and, based on the scar marks on his neck; I guess he had been through a rough fight before.


    There were in total 7 kids I was interested in this ss that had the potential to be usable while the others¡­ they are going to be the stepping stone for those seven.


    "So, we are done with the introductions. What do you guys want to do next? There are many options to consider, you can learn about mana and other stuff. The Academy provides various skills and other artefacts for you to train with and you can also use the simtor system to see which weapon works better for you and the list goes on and on," Professor Hoffman spoke and I looked at him once again as he waited for the ss to answer.


    From the 2nd row from the right, the 2nd seat raised her hand and Hoffman nodded at her,"yes miss¡­ Melissa, right? Speak."


    Melissa was a brown-haireddy with her hair reaching down to her waist and was really furry. She looked at the Professor with her green eyes, as she adjusted her silver sses and said,"Can we visit the ce where we can learn skills? I want to look around and find if there are any skills we can use. Also, I would like to ask, when are we going to visit the Stairway of Knowledge?"


    ''The Stairway of knowledge, huh? It doesn''t have much use for me but¡­ If I were to have ess to it, I could get a lot of privacy,'' I thought as I recalled the Stairways.


    The Stairway of Knowledge was located at the centre of the Arcadia Academy and was one of the main attractions of the Academy. It was like a huge tree with an upward going stairway encasing the tree, where mana density increases with each step.


    How up you can go is determined by how much mana and will power you possess. It also has a special form of energy that tests the users will power, but that is only after the thousandth step.


    There were a total of 10 floors, with each floor holding sacred skills and each floor''s entrance was at every 200th step. Thest floor, or the top floor, is one of the most sacred grounds where only the highly respectable people of the Academy can enter.


    Namely only 5 people have the authority to enter that floor irrespective of one''s mana or will power. The Principal, the 3 Royal Professors and the 5th person was who actually built this whole Academy''s infrastructure and helped Amelia from behind the scenes.


    The 5th person is one of the SSS-sses, has been in seclusion at that Top Floor for over half a century now and is simply focusing on increasing his energy. It was said that he can see the future and what he saw actually made him feel threatened enough to cultivate for the rest of his life.


    ''It''s ironic that the guy who was preparing to fight against the Parasites,ter joined their numbers because he couldn''t bring himself to fight them,'' I sighed as I recalled the bits of information about that guy.

 Chapter 194 Arcadia Class 1E #2

    "Ah! The Stairways of Knowledge. Of course, you are going to be curious about that. Well, good news for you. You can visit anytime you want," Professor Hoffman spoke with a bright smile as he raised his both hands and continued,


    "Ever since all of you beat the rest of the world to enter this Academy, you have the privilege to use everything that this Academy has to offer¡­ Only if you have the power to handle it, that is."


    There was a strange smile and a sense of burning sensation in his eyes as he looked at the students of his ss. I looked around to see the same burning gaze in everyone''s eyes. They were motivated and their spirits were fired up.


    ''A Charm Magic that boost morale, huh?'' I thought as I looked at Professor Hoffman, who was using a skill to make the students more motivated to test themselves with that Stairway of Knowledge.


    "So, Professor, can we visit that ce now?" One of the students from the front seat, Imran Leer, was his name, spoke as he raised his hand with an enthusiastic smile and the Professor smiled as he observed him before speaking,"do all of you want to visit that ce on the first day?"


    Hearing his words, everyone from the ss nodded enthusiastically before he himself nodded in satisfaction and soon he began moving outside the ss as he spoke,"then follow me. Let''s go there and see what you are made up of."


    Soon, all of us moved towards the nearest metro station and took the metro directly to the core of the Academy. Our ss was located at the junction of the inner circle and the core, so it wasn''t that far from here.


    About 20 minutester, we reached the ce and a magnificently huge tree was visible in front of us. The tree was wide and tall, with its roots spreading at least 2 or 3 kilometres in diameter with its top lying at least about 10 kilometres up in the air.


    There was a stairway that looked like a stairway for giants and not humans, and well considering, this ce was built by a Giant, so one can''t reallyin about it either. Yeah, the guy up there on the top floor is a Giant¡­ in fact, he was a True Giant, unlike the mixed bloods that are spread all around the Vermillion.


    Each step was about 8-10 metres high and long, and one had to climb one step rather than walk over it. Though, with the mana and strength one possesses in this Academy, the average popce can easily walk over the steps as if it''s nothing.


    After walking for another few moments, I saw a few familiar faces at a distance and I understood what was going on here.


    There were students from the other sses here as well and they looked just as excited as the ones from our ss as well. All the 5 batches were here and obviously they were here to climb the tree on their first day.


    It wasn''t just our sses but the senior sses, 2nd years and 3rd years were here as well. Most probably came here for scouting students. I saw Dalton at a distance and he was scanning around hurriedly among all the sses as if he was trying to search for someone.


    We reached the other sses where I saw Eliza talking with Bete and Cristine just standing there, looking around as if she were feeling bored.


    There was Lucy scaring a few kids of her ss who were trying to approach her and at a distance I found Elizabeth and Annabeth standing there with sparks burning between them as usual.


    My eyes turned around, only to find Dalton approaching me with a relieved sigh. Professor Hoffman was about to say something but before he could even begin, Dalton came and spoke,"I will be taking this guy for now."


    And grabbed my hand and took me away from the group under the narrowed gaze of Professor Hoffman. It made everyone look at me with a confused look before they went back to their own work.


    "Ummm.. what exactly are you trying here?" I asked with a confused look, but Dalton didn''t stop for the next few seconds before we approached a woman who looked like she came here to observe this year''s batch as well.


    Watching me reaching there, the woman looked up at me from top to bottom before making a confused expression,"are you sure he is the guy?"


    Dalton nodded before awkwardly smiling and speaking,"he might look weak and pathetic, but he is the real deal."


    ''Oi! At least don''t trash talk me on my front,'' I red at him but he smiled a bit apologetically before speaking,"Aidan, this is Professor Lynn. She is in charge of handling all monster rted activity. In fact, she is the head of all the Professors who are rted with anything rted to monsters."


    With these words, it became clear what Dalton was trying to say. It was about that deal that he proposed to mest time. I think it was rted to finding out a way to break the shell of that monster that the Academy killed sometime ago.


    "Well, we can deal with that a bitter. Let''s see this year''s batch''s potential, shall we? We need more people for the Vanguard as well," Professor Lynn spoke as she ignored me before observing the people slowly entering the Stairway of Knowledge.


    ''If I remember correctly, Professor Lynn was actually a half Elf, who was hiding her identity. Normally a half Elf or Elf shouldn''t be able to cross the forest barrier toe in contact with the humans¡­ Is there anything that I did not know of? Hmmm¡­ interesting,'' I thought before I heard,


    "Well, I will be going to the fourth floor and watching everything from there. You guys can stay here till Ie back."


    And she vanished from there.


    Dalton was left dumbfounded before he looked at me and spoke,"ah! Aidan.. I apologise for her way of action¡­ Normally you need Professor Lynn''s permission to touch or even see a monster that the Academy has, and I thought this would be the best way to make the process faster and smoother but looks like¡­"


    "Hmmm¡­ it''s okay. Let''s meet her up there then," I said, not minding much of her action. Though Dalton turned a bit confused before he asked,"what do you mean by that? She might have already reached the second floor by now¡­ and scratch that, can you even make it up there?"


    At which I only smiled in return¡­

 Chapter 195 Stairways Of Knowledge

    "How high have you gone?" I asked as I looked at him and he, though a bit sceptical and confused, spoke,"about 7th floor max. Though, I am trying to reach the 8th floor by the end of this year."


    I nodded at him before looking around and confirming that no one was looking at me. Once I made sure that no one was watching, I muttered,"Light Magic: One''s Wisdom in God" and my face changed a little and so did my clothes slightly. With this now, I looked more like a 4th year than a first year.


    Dalton made a really shocked expression as he saw the whole process going so swiftly that he couldn''t even believe himself what was going on. Still, I just smiled and spoke,"since I am prepared¡­ want to race up till the 4th floor?"


    His mind hadn''t even registered the change before heprehends what he just saw before asking,"who¡­ are you?"


    I smiled before speaking,"Aidan Williamson. Now¡­ shall we go up or not?"


    He looked at me before sighing and nodding as he muttered,"I hope I am not biting more than I can chew. Lucas¡­ you better protect me if anything goes wrong."


    I heard him but didn''t pay much attention before I dashed from there as fast as I could and then I used Blood Sacrifice and a couple of other skills to run even faster. In the beginning, Dalton could easily run along with me, but now he had to pull everything he had to even manage to catch up with me.


    I can still go faster, but because I do not know the path to where Professor Lynn went, it would be better to let Dalton stay close. It took about 10 minutes before we both reached the fourth floor and when we reached there; I saw Dalton stopping and sweating heavily and huffing as he caught his breath.


    "I thought you were stronger than that," I spoke as I observed him and his eyes twitched a little before he answered with an annoyed face,"sorry¡­ huff¡­huff.. For not being a¡­ huff¡­ huff¡­ a monster."


    I chuckled at him as I walked towards him and touched his head and,"Life Magic: Aura of Healing," healed himpletely within the next few seconds. All his tiredness vanished, and he looked at me with an even more dumbfounded gaze than before.


    This time a sudden fear creeped inside him as his eyes looked at me, half shaken, and I smiled before asking,"are you sacred?"


    He nodded slowly, and I muttered again,"maybe you should be scared," before gazing deep into his eyes as I moved closer to him and said,"but there are a few monsters already around you. So something like this should be normal to you, shouldn''t it?"


    He looked at me before realising the meaning of my words. While I am a monster of my own, I still haven''t shown anything that should make me special. People like Lucas, Lucy and Elle will do things much better than me.


    -Whooosh!!!! -Whosssh!!!


    -Whooshss!!!


    "Talk of the Devils," I muttered as I turned around to see the three of them going all out as they ran up and higher. There was Eliza, Elizabeth and Lucy going all out as they ran through the 4th floor and soon they should cross this floor as well and reach the next one.


    In fact, Lucas made it to the 8th floor in one go before finally stopping.


    I observed them vanishing and soon Michael too followed them from behind with a really irritated face. Looks like finding other people above him isn''t sitting right with him.


    "Monsters¡­ just what kind of generation is this?" Dalton asked with his eyes really fixated on those students running up without any signs of stopping. I recalled their physical and mental state and realised that most of them would stop around the 7th floor. The only one who would be able to make it to the 8th floor should be Elizabeth.


    "Well¡­ Shouldn''t we be going to Professor Lynn now?" I asked, and he turned at me, stood up straight and looked at me for a few moments before sighing and speaking,"it''s nothing¡­. Let''s go."


    I was confused as to why he said that, but didn''t ask anything as I moved behind him. He was constantly looking back at the top, as if trying to see the ones who had just passed by. Maybe he was really shocked by the girls'' performance.


    ''It''s not just him,'' I thought as I looked around, finding everyone around making the same expression as that of Dalton. They were really shocked to find so many talents in a single generation.


    I could even see them drooling at them, as they couldn''t control themselves and would break any moment towards them, hoping to catch them.


    ''Recruitment can be a really ruthless bloodbath,'' I thought as I observed the ce around before Dalton and I finally reached where Professor Lynn was supposed to be.


    "Don''t tell me¡­." Dalton''s eyes shook as he looked around, trying to find the Professor who was nowhere visible.


    "If you are looking for Miss Lynn, then she already left¡­ she would probably be on the 7th floor right now," one of the Professors spoke as she looked at Dalton respectfully.


    "Well¡­ let''s go there then. No point in waiting here," I spoke as I started running towards the upper floor and Dalton, watching me already running, started running as well before he thanked that professor.


    "We are slow¡­ sigh¡­ " I sighed looking at Dalton getting slower before I reached him and muttered," Life Magic: Temporary Permanence," and he saw me with a really wide eyed expression before he adapted and began running much faster than before.


    Watching him going up fast, I myself increased my speed and followed behind him until we reached the 7th floor where Michael, Lucy and Eliza were huffing and trying to catch their breath. Though, Professor Lynn was still not there and I could only look at Dalton, who seemed equally confused at this.


    "Hmmm¡­. What are the odds she went up to meet Elizabeth?" I asked with a thoughtful expression, making him look at me with an expression of ridicule as he spoke,"what do you mean someone is already up there on their first try?"


    "If there is someone up, will Lynn be up there trying to recruit her?" I asked directly without beating around the bush and he first looked at my serious face, then gulped a little and finally nodded slightly as he spoke,"of course¡­ it would be a fool''s choice not to recruit someone like that."


    I nodded before looking up and mutterin,"Zeroth Moon. Asteria''s Regeneration. Hygeia''s Blessing," before I vanished from there and reached the next floor in an instant without much of a problem.


    As soon as I reached there, I saw a bunch of people circling around Elizabeth trying to talk to her, but she was too tired to even speak a single word.

 Chapter 196 Fight At The 8th Floor

    Total of three people standing in front of her going on about the benefits of joining their side. A few more people stood behind them, letting the three in front exin. Then there was Elizabeth, catching her breath, being exhausted after she ran through 1600 steps in one go as fast as she could.


    I saw Professor Lynn, standing behind as she observed the Professor in the front speaking to Elizabeth.


    ''Hmmmm¡­. Using Aidan''s identity will make thingsplicated and if I used Zero or Reaper, it will give away my location and might make thingsplicatedter on,'' I pondered over this for a brief moment before 5 more people arrived behind me and moved in front towards Elizabeth.


    "Let the girl breathe," Adara red as she looked at the Professors and so did Lucas. If I am not wrong, Annabeth might have asked for help from Adara in this matter, because despite being strong, theck of willpower didn''t allow Anna to enter the 8th floor yet.


    The other people were the leader of Vanguard, ze, and another aged guy whom I hadn''t seen here before. Hmmm¡­


    ''Green hair, brown eyes and a pure white robe. That Staff of Nobility¡­ He is Christian n, isn''t he?'' I thought as I recalled the bits of information about him.


    Christian n, the only teacher of the Arcadia Academy, that managed to survive to the very end. He did die within the first few years after the Third Cataclysm, but still his mana maniption was something that even the best ones had failed to achieve. One of the few that humanity actually felt bad about losing.


    He is one of the seven people that are on my list as a must have and I must protect till the very end. Though, for now, I think I will be watching the show.


    "Do not interrupt Adara. You too Lucas, this is something that we cannot let go at any cost," one of the Professor spoke as he tried to grab Elizabeth, but Christian was faster as he manipted the mana around and created a barrier between the Professors and Elizabeth.


    "What is the meaning of this Christian?" unable to grab Elizabeth, the Professor made a dark expression as he observed Christian.


    "Sorry Mr. Quint, I have made a promise to a friend that I can''t break," Christian smiled with a slight bow, as if he couldn''t really do anything about this situation. The Professor smacked the barrier as hard as he could but I guess it was too strong for him to break in a single punch, as the barrier was still intact without a single scratch on it.


    The other Professors also joined in and started breaking the barrier with as much force as they could muster and looking at how things were progressing, it didn''t seem like anyone was going to give up on Elizabeth.


    "At least ask the girl what she wants here," Lucas spoke with a dominant tone as he moved forward towards the Professors and the Professors too stood up as if they were ready to go all out as well.


    And soon enough, yeah¡­


    -BOOM!!


    One of the Professors actually attacked¡­ not at Lucas, but at Adara. I saw her moving in front, blocking the attack and counter attacking at the same moment.


    ''Wow!'' I admired the way she just did that. It was quite clean and too smooth for one to even notice. The attack reached the same Professor pushing him back.


    The Professor from Vanguard moved towards ze since he was their leader right now. I turned to see him enjoying the whole show as if he were a King watching a struggle among those below him.


    A few more Professors came forward and attacked Lucas, Adara and Hera and the fight started to get more and more fierce. I saw that despite there being 6 Professors and only three students; the fight was at a stalemate. As for Professor Christian, he was simply blocking any attacks directed at Elizabeth without getting involved in the fight.


    ''Perhaps he was tasked with protecting Elizabeth only?'' I pondered before looking at a couple of Vanguard Professor attacking Christian while ze moved towards Elizabeth one step at a time.


    With Christian busy defending himself against the other Professors, ze easily moved towards the barrier and used a couple of powerful attacks.


    -Crack!


    -Crack!


    -Crack!


    -Crack!


    -Shatter!!!!!


    And the barrier broke, revealing a weak Elizabeth behind it, who was looking confoundedly at all the things going on around.


    "Hello there. Congrattions, from now on you are a part of the Vanguard Group," ze spoke with a sincere smile. Elizabeth was confused about what was going on. She wanted to get up but because of the mana pressure from the 8th Floor, she was having difficulty even standing and forgot about defending herself.


    Adara and the others tried moving towards her, but because of the Professors, they couldn''t even move towards her. Those Professors, who were not from Vanguard, also didn''t bother going to Elizabeth and just focused on stopping Adara and the group.


    ''Hmmm¡­ interesting,'' I thought as I saw ze just observing Elizabeth as if he were looking at his most precious possession yet. He even began moving his hands towards Elizabeth, trying to touch her.


    From what I remember, ze was the kind of guy who would go to any length to achieve anything he wanted to do or anyone he wanted to get. He doesn''t care about the method being cheap or underhanded. As long as he could get what he wanted, he could kill his own siblings easily without much thought.


    ze tried touching Elizabeth, but before he could do so, something stopped him. He felt a fear creeping behind him as if someone wanted to kill him and he just stood there. Sweat began trickling down his forehead as he gulped before he looked around, only to find Lucas and Adara ring at him.


    I saw the eyes of Adara and Lucas¡­ they were saying that they would kill ze for real if he touched Elizabeth. I could feel the killing intentced in their re, Lucas and Adara, and it made me chuckle a little.


    ''Guess the show still isn''t over yet,'' I smiled as I decided to stay back and observe for a bit more.

 Chapter 197 Fight At The 8th Floor#2

    ''Guess the show still isn''t over yet,'' I smiled as I decided to stay back and observe for a bit more.


    Adara''s eyes were getting more piercing every moment and Lucas too started using more and more of his hidden skills, enough to break free from those Professors and dash towards ze.


    ze looked at those two charging towards him and narrowed his eyes at them before taking a few steps back as he realised that he couldn''t win against them.


    ''Or perhaps he thinks that he can win against them, but it won''t be worth going against two of the strongest and most influential people of the Academy at once,'' I thought as I observed and analysed his actions.


    Adara and Hera moved towards Elizabeth and helped her stand back on her feet while Lucas just looked at ze and spoke,"go back. If you want to recruit her, do it the legal way and nobody wouldin. Doing it this way¡­ consider it a warning, but you won''t be merely losing today."


    ze didn''t seem like he liked the way Lucas told him off and he was about to fight Lucas, but Professor Lynn and the others moved towards ze and whispered something in his ears, making him calm down a bit.


    "I already know that!" spoke ze in a loud voice before he red at Lucas and then moved towards the stairways as he stormed off and the other professors went down along with him. The professors were reluctant to let go of Elizabeth, but even ze had to back down. They couldn''t really hope to do much against Lucas and the others.


    Now, all those who were left were Hera, Professor Christian, Adara, Lucas and Elizabeth.


    I saw the others trying tofort Elizabeth and heal her using their magic, but because of the pressure of the 8th floor, unless she were to be healed with something really strong, I doubt it''s going to show any effects.


    Thinking that I moved out of my illusion and came in front of everyone. Sensing my sudden presence, everyone turned towards me with an rmed look before Lucas, Adara and Hera sighed in relief and observed me with a curious look.


    Professor Christian was still cautious towards me while Elizabeth had the exact opposite reaction, looking at me with a joyous look. I moved towards her with a smile on my face as Adara and Lucas made way for me.


    Initially Lucas was hesitating, but when he saw the smile on Elizabeth''s face, he rxed as he slowly gave way. Hera was already standing at a distance, curiously looking at me, but unlikest time, she didn''t move to kill me.


    Professor Christian was the only one sceptical about me getting closer to her and moved in between as he spoke,"who are you?"


    "He is a friend. Don''t block him," Elizabeth spoke immediately without hesitation as she looked at Christian with a slight re, making him more curious about me.


    "I am sorry, but your grandfather was strict-" he wanted to say something but¡­


    "We can talk with my grandfather right now and see what he has to say," Elizabeth once again spoke with an ever so serious expression as she looked at Christian.


    He was confused even more and looked at me and the others. He realised that everyone here was in favour of me and he was the only one standing against me and after analysing the situation a bit he spoke,"all right¡­ but if he dared to harm you in any way. I will immediately kill him."


    "You aren''t capable," spoke Hera as she looked at Christian before continuing,"he can kill you even in his sleep. I can vouch for his skills."


    This time I was a bit shocked as I observed Hera. How did she know about my strength? Or is she bluffing Christian? Doesn''t seem like it¡­ then how? Don''t tell me it took her only one failed attempt to kill me, to understand all that? Hmmm¡­ looks like I underestimated Hera.


    Christian stopped in his steps as he looked at Hera tensely before turning at me and then looking at Lucas and Adara, who didn''t seem like they were shocked by that.


    It was as if they too believed what Hera said. This made Christian to look at me with even more curiosity than before¡­ there was more of disbelief in his eyes than curiosity, with slight shock and other emotions mixed in.


    He then subconsciously moved aside as he kept observing me without letting me out of his sight.


    I sighed at his acts before moving towards Elizabeth, touching her forehead and chanting,"Aurora of Healing," which brought her enough strength to not only stand up but also to dash towards me and hug me as hard as she could.


    "Zero!! Thanks again for helping me out. Though, I would have appreciated it more if you had helped me out a bit earlier so that I could kick that bastard''s ass who was looking at me as if I were his trophy," she spoke all enthusiastically before letting me go and I chuckled a little before speaking,


    "Firstly, it''s Aidan, not Zero. Secondly, I don''t want to expose myself to those I don''t want to  know about me and finally, I don''t think you need any help from me with all these people around you." Speaking thest line I looked around at everyone who was there to help Elizabeth out for whatever reason of their own. While everyone just looked at me casually, Christian looked at me with a ridicule on his face as if he couldn''t believe what he just saw.


    "Curious about that magic?" I asked with a bit of a mysterious smile and he nodded and I spoke in return,"I can''t really teach you that same skill but I can teach you something simr. Interested?"


    Christian gulped a little before asking,"who are you¡­ no forget it, just tell me what do you want from me?"


    Perhaps it wasn''t the healing spell but the amount of mana maniption I just showed, was what he was interested in, but¡­


    ''I think I might have skipped a few steps and acquired Christian in my bag as well.'' A grin formed on my face, making Christian take a few steps away from me.

 Chapter 198 Future Planning

    I saw Christian taking a few steps back, and it made me chuckle a little before I spoke,"well, I need to be down there. I just came here because I thought Elizabeth might need my help, but looking at the rest of you now, that doesn''t seem to be the case. As for our deal, Professor Christian, let''s do it some other time. Not like you or I are going anywhere for the time being, are we?"


    Hearing my words, Elizabeth smiled brightly and Christian just kept observing me before I moved away from there under the constant gazes of the other people there¡­ though before I went down, I thought of something and then¡­ I looked up.


    ''Should I meet that giant right now, or meet him at ater time when he himself will descend?'' I pondered a bit before sighing as I decided to move to the 9th floor first. If I remember correctly, Amelia should be there on the 9th floor, watching over everything that is going on here.


    Thinking that, rather than going down, I started moving up one step at a time. Though, I felt a surge of mana pushing me down while the will power¡­ hmmm¡­ doesn''t seem any pressure of will.


    I then nodded before muttering,"Aesteria''s True Form," and then my aura changed and so did the colour of my eyes. They were white as snow, right now and all that pressure on me washed away as if it never existed.


    Then I began walking up, one step at a time.


    Lucas first narrowed his eyes at me before his eyes turned open wide as he saw me, easily going up without any difficulty at all. As for Adara and Hera, they were in disbelief from the point I moved up and not down.


    As for Elizabeth, she was simply amazed rather than shocked.


    Christian, however, was shell shocked¡­ it''s as if he couldn''t believe what he was watching. His expression said that he couldn''tprehend what he was watching.


    While it may not be known to the public, only 37 people in history have reached the 37th floor. Out of which, only 15 are present in this Academy right now.


    Still¡­ no one in the entire history of mankind has reached the 9th floor in just one go


    "His badge¡­ it can''t be forged, can it? It said that it was his first time in this ce¡­ and how old is he?" Christian asked as he still couldn''t believe what he was watching and then Lucas spoke with a sigh,


    "My intelligencework told me that he is no more than 16¡­ though I doubt it''s real for some reason."


    By the time they were going through a series of emotions, I reached the 9th floor and saw Amelia looking at me with a fixated gaze before she spoke,"who¡­ exactly are you?"


    A bit confused at her words, I tilted my head and asked,"what do you mean by that?"


    "The 9th floor¡­ it doesn''t just ount for Mana and will but one''s authority over his desires and mind. One has to reach a higher state of control over his emotions to even think about reaching here. Though that''s not all¡­ you also need experience that makes you worthy of being here¡­" she spoke a bit, lost in her thoughts as she kept gazing at me.


    "What kind of experience?" I asked, and she spoke,"one has to face death or perhaps give his own life to protect another. The one who has seen fear with his own two eyes or perhaps lost control of himself out of rage and then gained back control¡­ simr to those."


    ''Well¡­ I did go through something simr to those before¡­'' I thought before I spoke,


    "I am not here for that. I have a question for you."


    Snapping out of her daze, she looked at me for a few moments and asked,"what is it?"


    "I want to take control of the outer district in 3 months. Will that be fine?" I asked directly, making her eyes narrow at me and speaking,


    "Are you asking me to give 50% of this Academy to you?"


    And I nodded,"yeah that."


    She pondered over it a bit before she asked again,"two questions. One is what are you going to do with that and the other is what do I get in return?"


    While the outer circle is wider in area, it doesn''t hold much value to the Academy other than generating 10% profit for the whole Academy. Even still, 10% is really something, so one can''tin about it.


    "I want to build a barrier to prevent the enemies from entering outside. As for what you get in return, is a magic circle from my arsenal. I was thinking of drawing a particr circle which you can check right now, and then use it to ce all around the Academy so that the overall power of the Academy would be enhanced," I spoke with a thoughtful expression and Amelia just looked at me dumbfoundedly.


    Not even a momentter, she said,"Show me the circle."


    Nodding at her, I proceeded to draw the circle, which took about 20 to 30 minutes, given itsplexity, but I made sure it was finely done without anything missing.


    "Try standing within the circle and use any maniption magic that you are having difficulty with," I said, and then I saw her using wind magic¡­ with quite ease.


    It was as if she had naturally adapted to use wind magic and she herself couldn''t believe that she was controlling wind magic with this much ease. After a few minutes of trial and error, she moved out of the circle and spoke.


    "What is the functioning of this circle?"


    Well¡­ now that is a bit hard to exin. Still, let''s give it a try¡­


    "Exining it in the most basic form, it allows one to control the mana not only with their own mana but also through the natural mana around them¡­ doesn''t seem like you understand. Well, let''s just say that it makes controlling mana 5 times easier," I spoke with a smile on my face before asking again,


    "So, what do you think?"

 Chapter 199 Future Planning#2

    "So, what do you think?"


    She stared at me nkly before speaking,"so you''re telling me that you will be nting this circle in the outer circle-"


    I cut her off as I spoke,"in the entire premises, not just the outer circle." Once again, she turned quite before continuing,"okay the entire premises. So you''re telling me that you will be nting this circle in the entire Academy and with this everyone will be able to use magic freely and easily without much restrictions?"


    I nodded before speaking,"while it may look like it works only within the Academy. After one gets used to controlling a particr element, he shouldn''t have problems in controlling another element. However, like all naturalws, it can''t break the Law of Mana Control. That is, one cannot use any more elements other than those with which he was born."


    She looks at me for a few moments before muttering,"okay¡­ but I need something more. This circle will be used not only by the Academy butter on by the people who will be with you, so all in all, you are creating a ce that will fortify your army in the future. I need something that works only for me."


    I saw her firm gaze, and it seemed like she wasn''t going to bend from this one. At this, I just sighed before speaking, "Sure, I will find an Orb of Life before three month-"


    "What did you just say?!!!!!!" Her eyes were bulging as she looked at me. I saw her running towards me and grabbing me by my shoulders as if she still couldn''t believe what she just heard.


    "I said the Orb of Life¡­ I will bring one to you by the end of three months¡­ Is something wrong?" I muttered, and she just kept gazing at me before she let go of me with a dumbfounded expression as she spoke,"you¡­ you aren''t lying¡­ How is this possible? I thought.. All the Orbs of Life were already taken¡­ Zero, are you sure about what you just said?"


    ''What does she mean by all the Orbs being taken? There are about a dozen more out there undiscovered within the wild¡­ and the Orb of Life never came out in the human realm so¡­ how did she know about it in the first ce¡­ I was expecting her to ask what is an Orb of Life however¡­ seems like I can skip that part,'' I pondered a little before observing her face of disbelief before I asked,


    "I am sure about it, but¡­ what do you mean by all the Orbs being taken?"


    She looked at me for a few moments before she asked in slight confusion,"you don''t know?"


    ''No shit I don''t. Why do you think I would be asking that?'' I thought before I spoke again,"yeah. I don''t. Can you exin?"


    She then pondered a little before speaking,


    "The Demons took it. All of them to their demon realm¡­ about a century ago¡­ it was-"


    "Yeah, that clears everything up," I spoke, cutting her off again and sighed as I realised why the demon realm had trees despite there being only Death Energy.


    ''Hmmm¡­ If I were to visit the demon realm, maybe I should check it out for ces where the Orbs could be,'' I thought as I then looked at Amelia and spoke,


    "Hmmmm¡­ back to the point. What do you think about that deal? If I were to bring-"


    "Yes," she spoke hurriedly, this time cutting me off, and I just gazed at her desperate face. She looked like she was a maiden in love and I just nodded at her before speaking,"sure."


    For some reason, I felt like I should just go, and that''s what I did. I moved away from there, vanishing in an instant before I reached back to my homeroom Professor, Professor Hoffman.


    Watching meing towards him, he asked with a questioning gaze,"finished with your business, Mister Aidan?"


    I looked at him and shook my head as I answered,"Senior Dalton just vanished all of a sudden from there because of an emergency of sorts, and it took time to find my way back here."


    Hearing my words, he pondered a little before he nodded and spoke,"must be because of your fellow batch mates. So, do you want to try going up there?"


    He looked up the stairways, and I shook my head and spoke,"Ick the necessary mana to go up there. Plus, I already wasted some time because of Senior Dalton and if I go there, I don''t know if I could make it back here in time. Our after ss assessments are within an hour as well."


    Hearing my words, he nodded and spoke,"that is true; I suppose. Still, you are really impressive, I must say. I have heard about you from other teachers as well. Your ability rted to Monsters, I mean. I guess, as a teacher of Martial Arts, there is little to nothing I can give to you but follow the advice of this old fellow, will you, Aidan? Always keep yourself as a priority. Maybe you will find people who will be more important to you than yourself, but no matter what happens, don''t put yourself in second ce. No matter what happens."


    I looked at him, and it was as if he was telling this to himself rather than me and I simply nodded at him because I knew this better than anyone else¡­ while I may be able to create a strong army¡­ If I were to die, then all that hard work that I am about to do will be pointless.


    After a few moments, I turned to Professor Hoffmann and recalcted my thoughts about him. While he isn''t exactly strong, I guess I can help him out and take some help from him as well¡­


    ''Though, I should do a background check on this guy first,'' I thought as I decided to add this to the list of things I was about to do tonight.

 Chapter 200 Getting Along With Classmates

    After another half an hour or so, the others came back too. The highest floor they made up to was the 5th floor with the average people reaching the 3rd floor, my ss 1E, I mean.


    I nodded at it, as I expected it this much.


    I noticed that there were 2 people who reached the top. One was Gloria, the purple-haired girl who was sitting in front of me before. While the other one was a ck-haired guy named Razor Adam. I observed these two and nodded in my head to do a background check on them as well.


    ''Let''s see if I can use you or not,'' I thought before all of us began sitting in the metro, moving back one step at a time.


    "Aidan!!!" I heard someone calling me from behind and I turned around to see Dalton was running as fast as he could before he reached me. Professor Hoffman and the others also looked at Dalton before looking at me with slight curiosity in their eyes.


    "Did you meet Professor Lynn?" he asked in a slightly hushed voice and observing him catching his breath, I replied,"no. Stuff happened¡­ well, I guess. I will be meeting her soon, so it''s not that much of a problem. For now, I need to go take my test." From there I just moved towards the Metro, under the tired but fixed gaze of Dalton. Watching me walking away, the rest of the people also began moving with a few of my ssmates peeking at Dalton every once in a while.


    We entered the station, then the metro, and I chose a random seat near the window. Luckily, no one sat with me or disturbed me. They just kept being busy with their own life, with a couple of girls trying to talk to Razor, the guy who reached the highest in our ss, along with Gloria.


    It was the same for Gloria as well, as most girls were trying to befriend her and a couple of boys were thinking about whether they should make a move or not. As for the red-haired guy who sat on my right in the ss, he was sitting there beside a thin boy who was continuously talking with him. However, the red-haired guy didn''t reply even once and just kept quiet.


    Professor Hoffman had already marked people he would be focusing on helping to reach the next height. As for me, I thought about doing a background check to make sure I am not missing any potential candidate that I might have missed.


    About 130 people and 30 days¡­ It is a bit hard but not impossible to get in touch with everyone and see how I could use them¡­ after that I would be moving towards my seniors and soon the entire Academy.


    I kept pondering a little as I observed the whole ss before the metro stopped at our station. We moved out of the metro, reached the ss and sat in our respective seats. The ss was still gossiping continuously, without stopping.


    "I see that you guys have enjoyed your journey today. I am really d to see that all of you are enthusiastic as much and hence I will be sharing another piece of good news. After the tests are over today, we would be providing all of you a set of skills that will be based upon what kind of magic you use and what system you have. So be sure to stay here for the time being, okay?" spoke Professor Hoffman as he kept his nce shifting between Razor, Gloria and a couple of other students.


    My eyes then turned to the other people here as I just sat there doing nothing. I doubted anyone would be talking with me but,


    "What floor did you reach?"


    Asked the guy on my right, the red-haired muscr guy as he looked at me. All this time, this was the first time I heard him speak, and I looked in his eyes¡­ he was using minor charm magic.


    ''What kind of magic is he using¡­ hmmm¡­ something thatpresses one to tell the truth, huh? That''s something,'' I thought as I smiled at him before muttering,"be more honest and I will tell you."


    At my words, Gloria, who was sitting right in front of me, turned around a bit confused as he looked at me and then at that red-haired guy. Her eyes, which were confused before, narrowed at the red-haired guy and said,"You are Luverial Artemis, right? From the Artemis Family¡­?"


    "You can call me Verial, miss Gloria Treveri. The direct heir of the Treveri Family¡­ it''s an honour to meet you," Verial spoke as he looked at her and I could see some sparks in between. Though it did not matter much to me what rtions they have or not.


    "You still haven''t answered Aidan Williamson. What floor did you reach?" he asked as he looked at me and I smiled at him before speaking,"I was thinking of going to the 10th floor but I stopped at 9th. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"


    Hearing my response, he red at me, and I saw Gloria chuckling at my answer. Razor was observing from a distance while the rest of the ss was cursing me behind my back as to why I was so ''Lucky'' to sit behind Gloria and why was it not them?


    "Miss Gloria, what are you going to do tonight-" the blonde girl sitting beside Gloria tried asking her but Gloria ignored her as she spoke to me,


    "So, what are you going to do tonight?"


    I saw that her interest was piqued in me and now she wanted to know more about me¡­ which wasn''t really bad for many reasons¡­


    "I am going to meet a few friends after the test. As for the night, I am going to do a bit of research work. Why do you ask?" I asked and she pondered a little before speaking in confusion,


    "Isn''t there going to be skill distribution after the test? Are you not going to take a skill of your own?"

 Chapter 201 Getting Along With Classmates#2

    "Isn''t there going to be skill distribution after the test? Are you not going to take a skill of your own?"


    Gloria was confused and so was Variel and I just smiled before speaking,"with the amount of mana I have. I doubt the skills would do much good for me."


    It was an honest opinion as I was a master of all weapons, basic mastery skills of any weapon would do me no good. As for mana rted skills, I doubt I need to have them as what I have inparison is 10s of times better if not 100.


    Though, Gloria and Verial, confused for a second, understood myck of mana as they analysed the amount of mana I have.


    ''This reminds me that I need to unlock another mana channel or so¡­ while I had been concentrating on Spirit Magic and Blood Magic, I should use all types of mana I can. Who knows what I might need where,'' I thought as I pondered a little before speaking,


    "You made it to the fourth floor, didn''t you? That''s quite nice. Not as great as me, but still nice."


    ? Variel had an annoyed expression as he looked at my face while Gloria chuckled out loud before speaking,"well¡­ At least you have connections within the Academy. That can be counted as power as well. By the way, when you said you will be meeting someone, did you mean Sir Dalton? How do you know each other?"


    She was really curious about it, wasn''t she¡­ or perhaps most of the people were? I looked around to see everyone quieting down a bit, as they were all concentrating on our conversation, which made me smile a tad as I spoke.


    "It''s nothing, really. I just used my knowledge to strike a deal with him and it kind of worked¡­ though the details are ssified, so can''t really say much about it."


    Hearing my words, Gloria''s curiosity rose to another height as she asked,"you never told about your Unorthodox Ability. I heard from people that you broke all the records of Arcadia with the points you scored¡­ just what is your ability?"


    She wasn''t holding back in asking anything,  was she? But I guess revealing this much should be necessary if I need to be close to otherster on.


    "I have an ability rted to knowledge about monsters¡­ I know about various monsters from below F grade to S grade¡­ though anything more would require more research," I spoke with slight smugness and Gloria just looked at me, dumbfounded. The whole ss was silent for a few seconds and the Professor just observed me with a sigh, as if he was disappointed in me for revealing my ability.


    "Dude¡­ that''s really¡­ that''s an awesome ability. No wonder you got that many points¡­ if used correctly, you can open up a whole new branch of yours on monsters rted things or something-" it was the girl beside Gloria who was just as much in disbelief as the others were.


    Though Gloria cut her off as she spoke,"if you don''t mind, can I join you after the test?"


    I saw her face, and she was really serious abouting with me and I pondered a little,''I guess I can use somepany¡­ just that¡­ It wouldplicate things a little if I met someone¡­ someone like Lucas, Elizabeth or the others.''


    Though I still nodded as I spoke,"sure, but are you really fine with that? I mean, about that skill, you know?"


    Hearing my words, she turned to Professor Hoffman and asked,"Professor, is it okay if we collect our new skills tomorrow and not today?" and Professor Hoffman, though not really satisfied with where things were going, still nodded at that.


    Seeing that Gloria smiled as she turned at me, but before she could speak anything, Variel spoke,"then I would like to join as well."


    ''Why am I attracting so much attention all of a sudden?'' I was confused as I looked at the duo, observing me, and I just raised my hands and muttered," I give up. Do whatever you want, just don''t create trouble for me."


    They both nodded before returning to their own work. It wasn''t that I mind Variel and Gloria, just that there would be other people sticking like mud to them, that I don''t want around me.


    Soon the bell rang, and the sses were over, before we moved in line to take our individual tests. While we were tested on many things during the tests, it was the final test of registration as confirmation that everything that has been tested before ispletely valid.


    ''There should be no point in the test but then it also determines the potential of one''s capabilities using the mana sphere so I guess, there is some worth to it,'' I thought as I recalled the purpose of the test before proceeding into the test centre.


    Basically, when we came here, unlike me, who didn''t go through a single physical test, everyone had to fight and show his or her capability during the battles. The only thing that wasn''t tested was their mana potential.


    Mana Potential, as I had exined before, is the calctable amount of mana you may have in the future. It is generally determined by the amount of mana you have and the System Grade you possess, but honestly, there are many, many more factors at y here.


    The amount of hard work you put into it, the amount of skills you have, the amount of practice battles you''ve been through, real life battles where you had to put your life on the line, and many other factors.


    This particr test, though it will test everything all over once again, it will mostly be focused on Mana Potential only. With this, you will easily find your own path throughout your life, also helping you find what is the best path for you to take in the future. In fact, it is more like a guide than a test that will be with you throughout the Academy until you exit it.


    "Well¡­ let''s see my so-called potential, shall we?" I spoke as I entered the white room where my test was supposed to be taken.

 Chapter 202 Test Of Ones Potential

    [What kind of weapon would you be using?]


    ''Hmmm¡­ a spear would be nice to hide my power but¡­ If someone can actually get through the System to see my Stats, then honestly I would like to meet him¡­ and since I am only partially hiding my status, then¡­'' My eyes turn dark and I smile widely as I speak,"Single edged one sided sword."


    [With what difficulty would you like to start with?]


    A bunch of options were disyed in front of me as


    [Easy]


    [Medium]


    [Difficult]


    [Hardcore]


    [Insane]


    [Nightmare]


    Obviously, I chose nightmare, and then the System registered the information and began a simtion before a sword appeared in my hand. It was fascinating that I had such a real-like sword; it was so fake¡­ The scene changed and a lush of greenery spawned in front of me with a blue sky and a bright sun. The atmosphere was quite lovely, to say the least¡­ until¡­


    A giant monster spawned in front of me. It was a massive bear with glowing dark red eyes and skeletal wings that gave off a dark energy. It had a horn on its head and its teeth looked sharper than that of a carnivore.


    It looked at me and then


    -Swish!


    I saw it vanishing, and I too jumped in the air, using my energy


    -BOOM!!! I saw the bear jumping at my position before turning at me. Looks like he can sense me, even if he cannot see him¡­ now how do we go about defeating it?


    -Aaaaw!!! -Ca!!!


    I saw a couple of flying dinosaur type monstersing towards me as well¡­ whichter turned out to be a whole horde. Their numbers were somewhere between 40 to 50 and looking at their speed, they should be here in about a minute or less.


    -Bam!!!


    -nk!!


    The bear jumped at me and, using my sword, I attacked its head as swiftly as I could. While I wanted to cut it into pieces, it looked like the simtion didn''t allow me to cut it using the sword I was given.


    "Hmmmm. What is the purpose of this simtion, then? Survival¡­ Hmmm, it actually makes-"


    -Boom!!!!


    It actually punched, throwing me up above in the air and I used my sword to block, but the blow was too heavy, so most of my bones were crushed into pieces at once. Using Life Magic, I barely survived before I flew up and above in the air¡­


    While I was going up, I healed myself back to prime health and saw the whole simtion world. It wasn''t as big.. must be about a stretch of 10 kilometres with my position as its centre.


    After a few seconds, I stopped going up¡­ stopped in the air for a brief moment and then started falling down. Looking at those monstersing at me from below¡­


    ''Well¡­ I thought this would be fun but¡­ the parasites were more interesting than these,'' I thought as I positioned myself carefully in the air and waited till those flying monsters came close¡­


    And soon¡­


    "Shadow God''s First Strike: Judgement of Death," I spoke as I released all my dark energy at the sharp edge of my de and then¡­ I got in contact with the first monster.


    -sh!


    Then jumped on another¡­


    -sh!


    And another..


    -sh!


    And soon¡­


    -sh!


    -sh!


    -sh!


    -sh!


    .


    .


    -sh!


    I killed all of them in one sweep before reaching the ground.


    -Bam!


    My eyes then moved towards that bear monster who was looking at me with a concentrated gaze and I kind of felt bored.


    Despite how ferocious he looked, I had already figured out how strong he was, his weakness and strength and almost everything about it.


    "Well¡­ I guess I''ll enjoy my time ying with it. Getting out too early would be suspicious so¡­ Let''s enjoy, I suppose," I sighed a little as I looked at that bearing towards me.


    -Swish!


    Once again, he came at me and I dodged sideways as I reached just a metre away from his reach and


    -sh!


    The first cut was brutal. It was filled with dark and light energy that didn''t allow the blood to clot, meaning the wound won''t heal and it will continuously bleed, making it weaker as the time will pass.


    I saw him turning at me and then attacking again and I smiled as I dodge again and cut him again with the same type of attack.


    "Now, let''s see how much longer you can endure," I thought as I looked at it, trying to stand, but because of the pain, he was having difficulty doing so. He looked at me, red at me, and then roared ferociously.


    Then his eyes turned ck and the horn on his head started glowing dark as well, before he stood up and rushed towards me once again.


    "Berserk mode, huh? Well, it should give you a couple of minutes more¡­ or maybe take a couple of minutes from the rest of your life," I muttered as I jumped up enough to let him brush pass me and, using the exact timing, I made about


    -sh! x 7


    Seven cuts on its back and blood started gushing out from everywhere.


    From that point onwards, it was a matter of time before it started bleeding out and I just dodged its attack without doing anything.


    Honestly, I wasn''t really as fast as he was nor as strong as he was. Just that my skills were strong enough to deal impactful damage to it and win the fight without having the necessary power to do so.


    ''It''s not just power that will help you win the battle, sometimes you need to be sharp enough and you can even deal with enemies at least 10s of times stronger than you,'' I recall what Adara had told mest time in the previous timeline when I used to train with her.


    Time passed as I recalled the memorable times and soon the bear sumbed to its injuries, marking the end of my test.

 Chapter 203 The Librarian

    [Calcting the potential of the selected candidate]


    [Taking note of all the key elements]


    [Taking note of survival duration]


    [Analysing the battles]


    [Analysing the final health of the selected candidate]


    [Analysing¡­]


    .


    .


    .


    About a dozen messages came, mentioning all the factors on which my test was based and once that was finally done¡­


    [Calctions Finished]


    [Would you like to see your Candidate Grading?]


    [Yes/No]


    Observing the message, I pressed the ''Yes'' button and soon saw my grading.


    [Name: Aidan Williamson


    Skill Potential: SS+ Grade


    Mana Potential: SS+ Grade


    Calcted Stats:


    Strength: S+


    Agility: S+


    Intelligence: SS+


    Attack Power: SS+


    Defence: A


    Stamina: SS]


    I saw my grading and, I guess, it''s more or less understandable on how my stats were measured.


    I could easily dodge the monsters'' attack, kill them when they should be unkible and figure out their weakness without really any problem.


    I got an A in my defence, perhaps because I was easily pushed back by the bear before¡­?


    "Well, that is all I guess," I thought before moving towards the exit, but before I could do so¡­


    [You have been granted to choose one skill from the highest floor of the Skill Domain. Be sure to collect itter on]


    ''The Skill Domain, huh? If I remember correctly, then it was the skill building that Melissa asked Professor Hoffman in the morning today.


    Well, I wasn''t really interested in it so, I just kept it at the back of my mind before moving outside as I stretched a little.


    Outside, I found Variel and Gloria standing as they kept looking my way and observing meing out with an uncaring and casual attitude. They sighed a little before moving towards me.


    "Hey, how was your test?" Gloria asked, and I just waved my hand as I spoke,"so and so. Well, I have a question though¡­ Are they going as well?"


    I looked at a distance where the other ssmates of mine were and honestly they had a really eager and curious look in their eyes.


    "Frankly, no, I don''t want them toe¡­ but making enemies from the start wouldn''t be a good idea, I suppose?" She spoke as she pondered over the whole thing before looking at me as if asking what I wanted to do about it.


    "Well, I wasn''t going to have anyone else other than you two anyway, so it''s fine. As for anyone following us forcefully¡­ we can''t really do anything about them, can we?" I spoke and Gloria looked at me with a slight smirk as she spoke,


    "You have something nasty in that brain of yours, don''t you?


    "Why do you say that?" I asked, and she chuckled as she spoke,"it''s written all over that smug grin of yours."


    Wiping that grin of mine, I moved towards the Inner Circle Library. ir should be working there and I guess I should check up on her as well as Emma, too, while I have time.


    Variel silently followed me and so did Gloria, and yeah, the rest of the ss did as well ¡­ they didn''t get too close to us, but it was quite apparent that they were following us.


    In fact, it surprised me that most of the ss didn''t go to the skill department to get their skills. Kind of makes me feel bad about Professor Hoffman, who was so excited about it.


    It didn''t take much time, but we reached the library¡­ and¡­


    "What the fuck?! I wasted so much time visiting a library?!?!" An agitated voice came from one of the students who were following me and he moved towards me with a really furious look


    "What are you trying to do, Paul?" Asked Gloria as she moved in between as she red at that guy who was furious.


    Variel too stood beside me and was observing Paul carefully.


    Paul looked at the duo supporting me and then at the crowd at his back that were equally unhappy with using here.


    Looked like he was contemting between taking his chances against the duo to save his image or to be more ''wise'' and back off.


    Though his ego got the best of him and he moved forward instead as he shouted,"he is just a weakling. I don''t understand why you both are supporting him so much. He is not just going to waste our time, but yours, too."


    The amount of intelligence that guy had was hard to find at this moment, and I wondered if I should let him continue wasting my time or not.


    Though it doesn''t seem like I need to do anything here.


    "What is going on here?" A serious yet calm high pitched voice came as the young green-haired girl came out through the library gate.


    Perhaps she heard themotion outside? Well, if I remember correctly, then she is the head librarian''s daughter.


    "Hey Erfina, can you stop running outside on your own, please!!!" shouted a fear stricken voice, as another familiar face came in front of me.


    ir walked out running behind Erfina and caught her before she looked at the crowd of students present here.


    Her eyes traced the people at the back first before she asked," Are you guys here to attend the library?"


    "We are," Gloria spoke with her eyes calm a bit and she pointed at the three of us.


    ir then turned at the rest of the crowd and spoke,"and the rest of you?"


    The crowd was silent for a few seconds and that signified that they weren''t here to attend the library.


    "Then Leave!!!" A magicden voice came instead of ire''s normal voice as her eyes turned golden for a brief moment and the rest of the crowd turned slightly numb before everyone gulped.


    "Do I need to repeat myself?" ir spoke in a dominant voice, making everyone leave one by one. Paul gave me a nasty look before he muttered,"how long are you going to hide behind the strong ones, you pathetic weakling?"


    Then he, too, left from there, leaving behind only the three of us. Gloria and Variel''s eyes were still concentrated on ir, who¡­ probably used an artefact.


    ''Perhaps the Head Librarian provided her with one?'' I thought as I saw ir approaching us one step at a time, along with Erfina.


    "What do you need?" ir spoke with a bright smile as her attitude took a 180-degree turn.


    The previous strict and serious ir was gone, and both Gloria and Variel were shocked to see the sudden change in her behaviour.


    "Nope. Nothing this time. I thought I should just meet you since I have some time on my hands. So how is your new job treating you?" I asked with a casual smile but looking at her expression¡­ it''s as if I had given her the best gift ever.


    ''Girls in love can be really scary,'' I thought as I looked at that bright smile before she spoke,


    "Really!?"


    She even bit her lips before I coughed a little, bringing her back from her stupor. She then regained herposure and then spoke,


    "Well,e on in. Why are you standing outside, then?"


    Gloria and Variel, even Erfina, just kept observing me and then ir over and over.


    Ignoring them, I nodded at ir before moving towards the library. ir moved along with me and the rest three dumbfoundedly followed me inside the library.


    As soon as we entered the library,


    "Fancy meeting you here," spoke a certain woman sitting at a distance as she looked away from her book.


    I observed her and smiled before nodding,"I guess so. What are you doing here?"


    It was Cristine sitting all by herself reading a certain book concerning the ancient history of this world.


    Variel looked at Cristine with a slightly dumbfounded yet shy gaze, and ire and Gloria looked at Cristine with a narrowed gaze.


    "Just looking for something¡­ do you know about the race, Lyrica?" Cristine asked as she looked at me with a deep gaze and I tried recalling it.


    "Sis, I got some more books. Hopefully, we will find some¡­thing¡­ but it doesn''t seem like we will need it anymore. Hey Aidan, how are you doing? Still making deals as usual?" Eliza came out from behind with a bundle of books.


    "E-Eliza?!!" Gloria spoke out loud as she looked shocked, observing Eliza. Well, after getting into the top 5 and also reaching the 7th floor in one try, Eliza got a little too famous.


    "Yeah, I guess. Old habits die hard¡­ in any case, howe you ran across Lyrica? It''s not something a normal person should know, you know?" I asked with my interest piqued a little and I moved towards Eliza, taking some of her books and cing it on the table beside ir.


    I then pat Eliza a little, making her smile joyfully and chuckle before sitting on the chair.


    "Well¡­ we have our reasons to search for it. Would really be a favour if you could help us out again," Cristine made a puppy face, and I sighed before speaking,


    "Well¡­ it''s not that much of a secret¡­ so I guess I can shed some light on them."

 Chapter 204 The Librarian#2

    "Lyrica, as the name suggests, is a race adept in using sounds. Their way of talking and using magic are sound dependent, and most of their lifetime they live in ces which are extremely quiet.


    Though dependent upon sound, they are vulnerable to it as well because under normal conditions, a loud sound from a car crash or perhaps someone shouting really hard is enough to destroy an entire city of Lyrica.


    Henceforth the reason why they are found only in quiet ces. However, as they grow stronger with the help of their special System, they can adapt to loud sounds as well, but that is rare for the current situation in the world.


    Hmmm¡­ about their special features, they are adept in making sound artefacts and weapons rted to sound and they also are perfect assassins because of a special ability the stronger Lyrica possess," I recalled the information about Lyrica a little before turning at Cristine as I spoke,


    "The amount of information I have is a lot, so it would be better if you ask specific questions rather than me exining everything at once."


    However, rather than being asked any questions, all of them just stared at me nkly¡­.


    "You are making this up, aren''t you?" asked Gloria with a face of disbelief and everyone else just observed me with¡­ a dumbfounded face as well.


    "You really do know everything, don''t you?" ir spoke and Cristine nodded before Eliza asked,


    "Is there anything you don''t know, Aidan?"


    She was really polite with her words right now and Gloria, a bit taken aback with everyone''s statement, spoke out loud,


    "Wait! Wait! Wait! Why are you all taking his words as it is? None of us know about such a race, do we? And isn''t it all a myth¡­ isn''t it?"


    Though everyone sighed pitifully as they looked at Gloria, who wanted at least one person to take her side.


    She turned to Variel, who just looked at her with the same expression she was making, and then


    "He is right. But I do wonder how you know all that?" An aged voice came from a distance and everyone turned to the stairs from where a beautifuldy wasing down.


    "Momma!" Erfina moved towards that woman with a smiling face.


    "Head Librarian," ir stood up and bowed as she introduced her and Head Librarian nodded in return before she turned at me,


    "The information about Lyrica is highly ssified even to the most famous people of this world and looking at you, I believe you know why as well."


    I nodded as I answered," they are being hunted left and right¡­ might be extinct at this rate, won''t they?"


    She narrowed her eyes and said,"So may I ask why are you telling everyone all this without so much as a second thought?"


    "Well, I know about them, have met them as well. Kind of a deal, I made with them a long time ago, which allowed me to tell anything about them to anyone I want¡­ it was an interesting deal, you know? Wanna hear about it?" I spoke as I smiled at her and everyone turned at me and then at her as she spoke.


    "Would be delighted to hear the details."


    Hearing her words, everyone turned at me and I pondered a little before I muttered,


    "Hmmm¡­ I guess¡­ There should not be really much of a problem¡­"


    ''Since I could be meeting them within the next 2 months anyway,'' I thought as I looked at Variel and Gloria before sighing a little as I turned towards the Head Librarian.


    "Close the doors first. It may have looked like I was telling the secrets without any care in the world, but I kind of wasn''t¡­ so¡­ Close the doors of the library and create a secluded ce," I spoke and the Head Librarian nodded before creating walls of ck veil around us.


    If I remember correctly, this spell allowed the user to hear, see or sense anything on the outside, but those outside of the veil won''t be able to even feel this ce. It will look like an empty area for those who are outside.


    Everyone then turned at me, and I started speaking,


    "Illusion Magic: The Tell Tale''s Magic," and a bright multicoloured multidimensional hologram came in front of us, which felt more alive than those around us. Except Eliza, ir and Cristine. Everyone looked at me with a dumbfounded expression and I just sighed before speaking.


    "I have a few artefacts."


    That hologram then took the shape of a humanlike being with its skin blue and its eyespletely solid like a blue-coloured rock. It had strange fin-like structures all over its body and instead of ears, it had a small knob.


    "His name is Arice, a Lyrica I met a long time ago. Back in the days, there used to be war, of which I cannot speak, in which Lyrica took part in. Arice, was one of the farmers, whose son took part in the war, and Ari¡­ well let''s say he wasn''t in favour of that.


    Still, like a hot-blooded young warrior, he took part and gloriously died in the battle which kind of ticked off Arice¡­ he was mad furious¡­ he almost lost his sanity that day when he heard the news.


    And his anger¡­ opened up an evolutionary path for him¡­ which wasn''t really the best thing that happened to both Lyrica and their enemies¡­. The Song Dancer¡­ it''s what he evolved into¡­" I kept speaking as I changed the features of Aric.


    His blue coloured skin turned darker, his blue rock eyes turned pearly grey and the knobs like ears turned into pointed needles with a golden helical ring covering it. If the previous one was like a calm and coolke, then this new being in front of was like a storm that would engulf anyone in its way.


    "This one was the first Evolved Lyrica.. The one everyone feared¡­ because of whom the danger level of the entire Lyrica race reached a new threshold," I spoke as I recalled the next bits of information from my memories.

 Chapter 205 A Monster That Was Manipulated

    What basically happened was¡­ his son wasn''t dead. He was saved by another person, but that came with a price, he had to give up his freedom. It was a small contract that changed the future of an entire race.


    Arice''s son was alive, and it was onlyter in his life, he found out about it. For the first time, he heard about it, he didn''t believe it, but when he heard that again, from a more reliable source, he decided to check it out.


    It took him about half a year to finally meet the person who held the life of his son. Arice was angry, yet grateful.


    Grateful because it was this person who helped out his son, saved him from death and provided Arice with a hope that all is not lost. Angry because his son''s life was in someone else''s hands.


    When meeting that person, Arice wasn''t there as a warrior or as a Lyrica but as a father who wanted to save his son. He wasn''t here to kill someone but to bargain for his son''s life.


    "I want you to do something for me," the man who held Arice''s son as hostage spoke with a slightly serious voice, as if he were recalling someone.


    It was an arduous task, a task that a normal being couldn''t dream of doing. It was to kill the King of Lyrica with a blood stained de. Collect the King''s blood using that de and return with it.


    But Arice, the Song Dancer, epted it without any hesitation and set on the journey to kill his own King. There was no malice in his eyes, nor was there any vengeance¡­ it was purely out of hope and desperation that killing the King would save his son. In fact, if asked for, Arice would have killed the entire race, Lyrica, with his own two hands¡­ that''s how much he loved his son.


    ¡­


    "And then¡­ what happened next?" asked Variel as he looked at me and I made a sad smile before speaking,"While Arice killed the King, he too died in the process. The whole Kingdom was destroyed by a single man¡­ it was a really sad sight to witness." "What about the son?" asked Cristine, and I recalled before speaking,"he had been dead long before the deal was even made. That man who made the deal manipted Arice into doing whatever he wanted¡­ he had killed the son a long time ago, in fact, that man had saved Arice''s son before, all because he could strike that particr deal with him on that fateful day, that was to kill the Lyrica King."


    "You are telling as if that man knew that Arice would be a Song Dancer," spoke the Head Librarian, and I nodded as I thought,


    ''That guy is The Seer, Badeer of the High Elves. Of course I know him¡­ it was a pain to kill him as well.''


    "He had an ability rted to that," I spoke and then Eliza spoke,"you didn''t tell how you met Arice and also about how you know about that race."


    "I was¡­ well, let''s say I had met Arice after he died¡­ also his son, because of a certain incident that allowed me to meet the dead. As for knowing about the Lyrica, I learnt it from them as well," I spoke as I recalled whatever happened.


    Though it made everyone look at me as if I said the stupidest thing ever¡­ everyone except the High Librarian who spoke, who was shocked to her core¡­


    "Tell me the name of the ce¡­" she asked, and I sighed before speaking,"the Netherworld."


    Which made her narrow her eyes, before speaking,"who¡­ are you? How did you manage to enter that ce¡­ and more importantly, how did you escape that ce?"


    ''Escape? No¡­ the beings there made sure I left that ce¡­ but that is a different thing,'' I thought as I spoke,"Everyone has a couple of secrets, don''t they?"


    "Your couple of secrets doesn''t seem really small to me, though," spoke Cristine as she stood up and stretched a little before speaking to the Head Librarian,"it seems like the story is over. Can you put the veil down?"


    "I want you to do something," the Head Librarian spoke as she looked at me and I chuckled a little before turning at her and speaking,"poor choice of words."


    The veil disappeared as Cristine easily tore it down, and both Eliza and Cristine started walking outside. I looked at ir and said,"Let''s meetter, shall we? Take care, ir," and then began walking outside before speaking to Variel and Gloria,"let''s go. It was a nice break."


    Variel and Gloria, dumbfounded, looked at me before walking beside me. As for the Head Librarian,


    "[Gate of Oblivion]" she chanted, blocking the exit of the hallway and I simply walked towards it and observed it for a brief moment and then spoke,"Variel, attack the point I am showing you."


    I created an illusion magic which only Variel can see, and watching the red shining dots on the ck gate, she nodded before hitting it with hersso. It didn''t take much effort, and the gate came crashing down to tiny pieces and I turned at the dumbfounded yet scared Head Librarian.


    "If you want to see your other child¡­ you still have to wait for another year or so¡­ though I wonder how you will react at that time."


    After that I just moved out from there as I finally recalled who was the Head Librarian.


    During my travels after the Second Cataclysm, there was a certain woman, Erica, who specialised in magic rted to walls and chains.


    Though, it wasn''t the Head Librarian¡­ it was the other child of hers who stole her mother, Amina''s System, using a cursed technique. Looks like I found another piece of critical information on this visit¡­ nice.


    I then took another step outside the Library and¡­


    [Hey! Wee back! Thought you would be missing us, so called you up]


    Amon''s screen came in front of me, signifying that I was back in the White Dimension.

 Chapter 206 Felt Like I Lost Something Important

    [Hey! Wee back! Thought you would be missing us, so called you up]


    I looked at that screen before turning around to see a whole damn town in front of me. I saw hundreds of people busily moving around doing their own work, while there was a big screen in the sky above, disying what I was just doing.


    "What¡­ is this?!" my eyes opened up wide as I observed the whole thing..


    [Since you were gone, we kept collecting people whose purpose can be fulfilled without disturbing you. Then the number kept adding up and Elizabeth and I thought it would be better to create a ce for the people to go about their daily routine. Kind of going smoothly for now, I must say. All credit goes to Elle]


    I turned at the screen before asking,"what''s that?"


    My eyes narrowed at that screen that was disying everything that I was doing and Amon simply gave out one message


    [The credit goes to Elle]


    I sighed before asking,"and where would she be right now?" at which Amon pointed at the town using the screen and I nodded before walking towards it.


    As I walked inside the town, everyone began whispering to each other as they observed me before looking up at the screen. It was as if they were looking at a Higher Being or something¡­ it felt really odd.


    Not long before I reached the centre of the town where a circr hall was ced. It was simply an open area where a roof was ced, supported by a bunch of pirs. Though, since it was all white, it kind of emitted a heavenly look.


    There was a crowd in that circr open hall and as I moved towards it, people who were there turned to look at me and upon seeing me, they all cleared up a path for me with a look of shock and disbelief in their eyes.


    Ignoring them, I coughed a little before speaking,"excuse me. Will you please tell me what is going on here?" gaining the attention of a few more people as they turned, got scared and moved away from me.


    "Zero!!" I heard a familiar voice from the crowd and soon everyone turned to look towards me, got scared, and moved aside. As the crowd dispersed a bit, I found Elle sitting with another olddy who seemed to have lost her sanity as of this moment.


    "Zero!!!" spoke Elle with a bright smile on her face as she spoke,"it''s really you!"


    ''Well, I could havee anytime you wanted me toe, you know? It was your idea to give me some space,'' I thought, making her a bit embarrassed before speaking,


    "I missed you¡­ and I need your help."


    Her eyes turned solemn before she turned at that woman and I muttered,"me too, missed you, miss beautiful. Now, who de have here¡­ she looks like she was mentally dead for quite sometime before dying for real¡­ and she has been tortured quite a lot as well."


    The more I looked at her, the more solemn my eyes turned. I wondered what kind of person she was and how she would be in the current timeline¡­


    If she were still mentally dead¡­ I wonder what should I do¡­ though I really hoped for her fate to be changed for the better course for whatever I have changed in this timeline.


    "Amon¡­ turn the time back¡­ let''s get her sanity back and see from there," I muttered and a strange light came falling onto the body of that old woman and soon she started changing. At first, there wasn''t any change in her body but soon her white hairs turned back to orangish slowly and I felt a really bad omen.


    The colours changed more and more, and rapidly the state of that old woman changed into a young woman of about 18-19 years old. It wasn''t that Amon had reverted the time back to 40 yrs or something¡­ he barely reverted to about 3-4 months of time.


    It was the brutal torture that had transformed her into this old women which she was a moment ago, 4 months of continuous torture.


    That orange haired teenager¡­


    "ir¡­ who did this to you?" my voice was dry as I looked at her. ir Redfield of the previous timeline, who was lost after saving me and was stated as dead on the files.


    My eyes were filled with fury, yet I was calm right now. The surrounding people started to hide behind whatever they could find and only Elle was standing around me as she too looked at ir with a really heartbroken gaze.


    "Where am¡­ I? Did I die? Is that hell¡­ finished?" she asked a couple of questions in a broken voice and I moved close to her. Watching me moving close to her, she started trembling with fear, and I asked Elle for help here, at which she nodded and began exining things to ir.


    It took time, because the mental stability of ir still wasn''t restored. She was having a hard time concentrating on things and listening to them, but we still understood a few things left and right.


    "I¡­ why did I deserve this¡­? Emma¡­ My sister? Where is she¡­? Is she safe? And that kid that I save¡­ how is he? Is he fine?" she asked as she looked at me and I nodded as I exined that Emma was safe and happy right now and that the kid was fine as well. She listened to me and smiled with a bit of force before she muttered slowly," I¡­ am¡­ d!"


    And then her body started turning into golden traces¡­ slowly and slowly she started vanishing in front me and I just saw her evaporating in the air with a blissful expression as her only wish, the safety of her sister was fulfilled¡­ that was her deepest desire.


    My heart ached as I¡­ just what kind of failure was I in the previous life of mine? Tears began flowing out of my eyes as I soon returned to where I was... outside the library.


    "Why are you crying?" Gloria asked with a worry filled face and I turned around immediately, running straight towards ir and hugging her tightly from front. Watching me tightly hugging her, she felt a bit embarrassed but still asked,"hey what happened?"


    "Nothing¡­ just that¡­ it''s nothing¡­ Thanks ir¡­ Can I stay like this for a while?" I asked in a low childish voice and even though she did not understand anything, she spoke,"you can stay like this as long as you want."

 Chapter 207 Detour?

    "Well, let''s meet again when you are not busy?" ir spoke with a bright smile as she looked at me and I nodded at her,"sure," before leaving from there.


    "Don''t mean to interrupt but, what was that all about?" Gloria asked and I simply smiled at her before moving towards the dorm.


    "I will be going to my dorm from here. Where will you guys be going?" I inquired and Gloria answered first,"I will visit the Skill Domain to take my skills. Variel?"


    "I will be going there as well," Variel answered, and I turned to them for a moment before speaking,"Sure. See you tomorrow in ss then."


    From that point onwards, we went our separate ways, they went to get their skills each and I to my dorm. Since I had some time, I decided to take a walk to my dorm rather than booking a cab or something.


    Walking down the road, despite this being only student and staff restrictive, the amount of cars and bikes here was quite high. I guess, everyone preferred to take their own respective vehicles rather than depending upon others.


    My eyes observed the few little things like butterflies and squirrels, with small parks at a distance in between the houses and the buildings. It was a nice change of scenery.


    "Hey! Want a ride?" a boy at a distance stopped his car beside me and I turned at him with an analysing gaze. Observing the number dress he had¡­ he was a 4th year here.


    "Where are you going?" I asked to confirm if my dorm was in his direction or not and he spoke,"the Stairs of Knowledge."


    ''Hmmm.. I guess, it won''t be a problem to take a ride with him,'' I thought as I moved towards the backdoor of the car and entered it only to find another guy sitting and reading a book. He didn''t seem very interested in me so I left it at that.


    "Thank you. I was going to my dorm, so you can leave me at the intersection just before it," I spoke and he nodded before starting the car.


    "So where are you from?" he asked directly as he looked at me through the rear-view mirror. I kind of smiled at him before speaking,"shouldn''t you first introduce yourself before asking about someone else''s identity?"


    I saw him turning silent for a few moments before sighing and speaking,"sure¡­ the name is Ethan; I am from the Lewander Country. What about you?"


    "Aidan Williamson. As for my location, I am from Arcadia City itself," I lied through my teeth as I turned to look out the window. He kept asking me a couple of questions and I answered some of it, while the others I dodged.


    After a few more minutes, I saw him turning the wrong way and rather than correcting him I waited for a while to see if he really missed it or he took that turn on purpose. He kept going on and on, while taking more and more strange turns and it made me realise that he wasn''t taking me to my dorm but somewhere else totally.


    Though after another 5 minutes or so, we still hadn''t reached the location where he was taking me and I kind of got bored and said,"will you just reach there already?"


    I was annoyed, and it was clear from my speech that I was, which kind of irked him a little before he stopped the car and smiled with a really wide grin and spoke,"we are here."


    Observing him and the man next to me, I spoke out with slight ''hesitation'' "it doesn''t seem like we are at the dorm."


    "Because we aren''t, now get out or do I need to use force here?" The man beside me who was silent all this time spoke with a really irritated voice before he turned towards me. He then opened the door and signalled me to move towards him, which I did with a ''horror'' stricken face.


    Perhaps my acting was good, but they were satisfied with how I was behaving. They took me through a dark alley and then another and then another, before we came inside arge open factory, where you won''t find even dead people forget about the living.


    Still, there were a couple of idiots sitting on a chair waiting for me in this rundown ce. I saw them and they saw me, a smile bloomed on their faces and a grin formed on mine.


    I moved closer and one of the men who seemed like the leader spoke,"you are probably wondering why you have been brought here but don''t you worry. We are not here to harm you, we just want you to do a small task for us. Listen Aidan, I am a very direct person and I won''t beat around the bush. I want you to use your ability and help our team in hunting monsters and collecting their resources in the best way possible. Is that clear?"


    I looked at him for a brief moment before I asked,"and what do I get in return?"


    Though as I asked, everyone startedughing all of a sudden before the leader guy ordered them to be quiet. Then he spoke with a slight chuckle,"Mister Aiden¡­ you probably are finding difficulty in understanding the situation right now. We aren''t requesting you to make a deal with you here; we are ordering you and forcing you to do what we want you to do. If you are wondering what you get in return, then let me tell you Mister Aidan¡­ it''s your life. You get to keep your life in return. Isn''t that a beautiful thing to have?" I looked at those people around for a brief moment and sighed as I wondered if Amelia knew about them or not¡­ most probably she does but she finds it too bothersome to look into. Not that I me her¡­


    "I guess¡­ if you are talking about taking life¡­ you must havee prepared to give yours as well," I muttered as my eyes turned red and I looked at them.

 Chapter 208 Cleaning Up The Trash

    "What did you just say?" the guy in front asked with his eyes observing me with a serious expression and I sighed before ordering them,


    "Stand in front of me and make a line!"


    Using Charm Magic, I looked around and everyone, against their wishes, stood in front of me without wasting any time.


    "What¡­ What is going on here?" The leader spoke while the others were confused as to why their bodies were moving against their will.


    I charmed them so that their bodies follow mymand while letting them have their ability to speak freely and express their emotions.


    I yawned a little and stretched as I stood in front of them and began counting the total number.


    "8 people, huh? I believe there should be more of you who are not here?" I asked, looking at the person who was facing me directly.


    He tried controlling himself and not speaking anything, however,"there are about 157 of us scattered all around the Middle Circle."


    "What are you doing bastard??!!!" The leader guy was scared to his wits as he looked at his underling, revealing information about them.


    "I.. I can''t control my words¡­ they areing out on their own¡­ boss¡­ who is he? Boss who the FUCK IS HE?!!!" That man who just revealed their number was scared shitless as he stood there staring at me.


    "I¡­ I¡­ Don''t know¡­ I was just¡­" the leader tried speaking, and I said,"you were just?"


    I just asked casually with my Charm Magic on and he spoke out,"I was ordered to do so. I was told that it will be an easy job and I just need to make you submit to me before breaking you down both mentally and physically. Then, we were to send you to higher ups where they would make use of you." "Who are your higher ups?" I asked, but he shook his head and spoke,"I was not told any of that. Unless you are promoted, you aren''t allowed to have any information on the higher ups."


    I then looked at everyone present there and I sighed before asking,"what is the name of your syndicate?" and the men spoke in unison,


    "The Damned Ones."


    ''Them, huh? Well, I guess they would be interested in someone like Aidan, who has extreme knowledge about most of the monsters. Well, then I guess there aren''t just 157 but must be around 500 or something spread out¡­ and that''s just the lower echelon,'' I thought as I recalled some bitter memories.


    How do I know about the Damned Ones? Well, of course, I was the one who ruled over themter after the First Cataclysm till theter end of it before they were all killed at my own hands¡­ the entire organisation.


    The current Kings must be Molotov, Incendiary, Stun and ck Knife. If I remember correctly, they really had their names based on weapons¡­ I mean, I got my name Reaper because of that as well.


    ''I wonder if I can use them in any way,'' I thought before pondering over it a little¡­ They were all psychopaths in their own way and keeping them under their toes and expecting something to go smoothly would be the most naive thing to expect.


    "But their skills aren''t something to scoff at either," I muttered before I sighed before I turned at those men.


    ''If these men failed their mission, they would be killed and honestly, I don''t want to waste my time when I have other things nned,'' I thought before asking,


    "How many of you have killed people who were innocent?"


    All of them raised their hands in unison and then I asked,"Sure, one by one tell me what you did, why you did and also, of course, your worst nightmare."


    Following which, I created a soundproof barrier using an artefact that I created in my free time. The first one moved forward and began describing his crimes,


    "I have killed 12 people in total. 7 Average men, 5 women whom I r*ped before killing and 2 children. My worst nightmare is burning inva."


    I nodded at him before looking at him and then using my Charm Magic to make him believe that he is surrounded by scorching hotva all around¡­ as for the pain,"Fire of the Ash Phoenix,"


    -AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!! I wasn''t just burning him¡­ I was burning him at the worst point of his body possible. Since he had killed 12 people and I don''t have much time, let''s keep his punishment for 12 minutes¡­ for me, that is.


    For him, each second must feel like about an hour, so¡­ now, onto next.


    "I killed 23 people¡­ r*ped 23 women¡­ my worst nightmare is suffocating to death," he said, and I fulfilled his wishes. For the next 23 minutes, he will suffocate for the first 30 seconds and then die beforeing back to life and then dying again anding back to life again¡­


    Next¡­


    Next¡­


    Next¡­


    And then came the leader, who watched all that happened in here with a horror-stricken face. He knew what was going to happen to him, and he even tried to kill himself, but he couldn''t possibly win against my Charm Magic, can he now?


    "I killed 124 people-"


    "I don''t want to hear all that¡­ that will be forter. For now, I need you to do a couple of things for me¡­ Call your superior and say that all your men were killed by the Reaper. Reaper is protecting Aidan Williamson, and he has issued a warning to anyone whoes close to Aidan with malicious intent will be mercilessly killed in the worst way possible. Take these men with you there, after they die, and show them the proof.


    Once that is done, you will die the same way they died. You can do that much, can''t you?"


    I spoke, and he nodded expressionlessly before he sat on the floor and waited for his men to die and I pondered a little before vanishing from there.


    "I guess I should make some time to meet the old Kings," I mumbled as I moved back to my dorm.

 Chapter 209 Rheo Sherman

    Next morning, I woke up with a really rxed mind as I felt the warm sunshine hitting my face. My eyes turned at the apartment in which I was staying. It had a really cool and calm vibe, much better than the hotels avable outside.


    Last night, I collected information about everyone in my ss, my teachers and also about the Damned Ones and their current situation. It took some time to find each and every detail, but I guess I was more or less prepared to filter the people out into which I need to use and which to manipte. Luckily I found a few that I could help to get stronger.


    For this week, I was focusing on getting along with everyone. Hopefully, I won''t encounter any unnecessary trouble¡­


    "Don''t wanna kill a ssmate in the first week or something¡­ won''t be funny," I thought as I chuckled before moving out of my bed and began dressing up for the ss.


    From the dorm to the sses, normally I could just use my skills to reach there within 5 minutes, but I preferred walking slowly to my ss in about half an hour. I keep my mind busy meanwhile as I think about things I need to do in the present and in the future.


    30 minutester, I walked into the ss and Gloria and Variel turned at me with another new face sitting next to the ce where I was sitting.


    "Hey,e here. How was your work at night?" Gloria asked with a smile on her face and I smiled before speaking,"a few things came up in between, but it was all great." She smiled back, and I moved towards my seat, which was behind hers.


    I sat on my seat and looked at Variel on my right and pointed to the guy on my left as I asked,"what is Rheo doing on my left? Wasn''t he sitting in the front seat of the first row yesterday?"


    Variel looked at Rheo and said,"the guy who was sitting here previously was in the group of Paul and the others, and now he doesn''t want to sit next to you. And since Rheo was easy to bully, he took over Rheo''s seat."


    I smiled at Rheo and said,"It''s a bit forceful, but I guess, wee to the group."


    Rheo observed me with a dumbfounded face, and so did Gloria and Variel. Gloria put her hands on my forehead and looked at me carefully before asking,"you aren''t sick, are you?"


    I turned at her with a confused expression and asked,"not really why?"


    "You just¡­ are too normal right now¡­ it''s creeping me out for some reason, even though it shouldn''t," she said with her face making a weirded out expression and I ignored her as I spoke to Rheo,"do you mind if I ask you what your specialty is? You look really shy and weak for someone who has that many cuts on his hands."


    As I pointed that out, he tried hiding his hands under his sleeves. Variel and Gloria began looking at his hands and with Gloria moving and pulling his hand towards her, bringing out the innumerable cuts on his hands in the open.


    Looking at those cuts, both Gloria and Variel were shocked as they took a second look at Rheo and said,"dude¡­ just what kind of¡­ thing you went through?"


    Rheo turned a bit low and spoke in a low voice,"it is nothing. I probably should go sit in some other ce-" I caught his hands and spoke,"oh, please. You are already here and everyone else doesn''t seem to be epting you yet. In fact, even if you end up getting along with them, they would most likely use you for their own gains."


    He just stood there for a few moments before looking deep into my eyes and speaking,"and how are you different from them? Aren''t you three going to use me as well? Don''t think I would fall into your trap with your sugarced words." He tried getting his hand free from my grip but I applied more force to it and spoke with a slightly cold voice,"ohe on now. Don''t say that¡­ I insist you to sit with us, chat with us¡­ maybe you know? We can help each other out?"


    Gloria and Variel gulped a little as they looked at me, while Rheo just was trying to free himself and after applying a massive amount of strength¡­ he failed. Well¡­ it wasn''t that he was really applying his full strength. He was just under my magic, thinking that he was applying his full strength.


    After looking at the fact that despite using his full strength, he was unable to move even an inch¡­ he looked at me with a deep analysing gaze. He observed me for a few seconds without any words and the three of us just observed him before he spoke,"what do you want from me?" "Sit with us, chat with us¡­ maybe you know? We can help each other out¡­?" I repeated myself with a really warm smile that sent chills down his spine before he sat without speaking even a single word.


    "Who are you?" He muttered in a low voice as he saw the Professoring into the ss and I spoke in a really calm voice as,"Aidan Williamson. Everything else is ssified. Hope that rifies everything."


    Rheo Sherman, one of the Dark Skill Arts User, his family specialises in multiple Dark Magic and its rted aspects. His family isn''t that high in the hierarchy as there are about a dozen families who specialise in Dark Magic, in fact if there were a grading of families ording to their influence using the Dark Arts, they would be an A-Grade family, with the 13 Families at S Grade.


    Also, it would be better to mention that there are at least 50 to 60 A-Grade families who specialise in Dark Arts, in the entire world.


    Though Rheo was special... Because he was one of the 12 Dark Arts Users, who specialised in Weapon Manipting Magic¡­ with his specialty being de Maniption.

 Chapter 210 Manipulation Is An Art

    Other than Rheo, there were a couple of more people that I was going to ''get along'' with. Two of them were Nelson and Ross, whose expertise were in defence oriented magic and skill each. Perhaps their simr interests made them fast friends, and looking at their behaviour, their friendship is going to help them improve at a much faster rate than what they could have done on their own.


    ''Sadly, they are eyeing the same girl¡­ and one of that kind too,'' I thought as I observed Campbell, a very beautiful and bright girl. Though she is nothing but a sl*t and a f*cking maniptor. Leeching off of others, she bagged all the resources she could to be this strong, and now she was eyeing all the guys with potential in the ss.


    Then there was this guy, Paul, who was trying to attack me whenever he got the chance. If I am not wrong, he should be creating some trouble for me today¡­ Well, I could use that to my benefit¡­


    Paul Icer was a yellow-haired kid, about 17 years old and with a strong background. His eldest brother, Gerald Icer, was one of the fourth years here while his twin brother, Pleus Icer, was in the current year with us; just that he was in the top 25 and currently in the ss 1B.


    ''Well, he does have some family problems, but that has nothing to do with me¡­ neither he has anything that can be called as eye-catching except his falsely fed ego and that peanut size brain of his,'' I thought before looking at his two henchmen and the three b*tches in his group.


    Jenkins and Howard were the two henchmen of Paul while the three b*tches were Green, Cook and, of course, Campbell.


    The rest of the people were Razor, Melissa, Thomas, Russel, Peterson and Phillips. I had seen through their profile, but for now I would put them at the back of the list. For now, let''s concentrate on as many I can manipte as I am capable of.


    Professor Hoffman began teaching us about the very basics first, about the whole levelling up and System and how it affects our daily life. What are skills and various other things¡­ Since I already knew everything, I just observed the ss on what they were doing and how they were behaving.


    ''I probably won''t attend this ss after a week so, let''s make the most out of it,'' I thought as I began calcting the moves it would take to bring everyone under my control here.


    "Aidan, you look disinterested. Have you read everything already?" Professor Hoffman spoke as he looked at my disinterested expression and the whole ss turned to look at me with a keen expression, before I sighed and said,"yeah. I have been living my whole life under books-"


    -Pfft


    I heard someoneughing at my words, and I turned to find Jenkin and Campbell, two of the people who belonged to Paul''s group.


    "And I kind of know it already¡­ I didn''t mean to be disrespectful though," I spoke as I looked at him and he then asked me a couple of questions about the System and levelling up. After I answered it, he said,"meet me after sses today. Sit down."


    I nodded and sat down, before I turned at Rheo and muttered,"Can you do me a favour?" Rheo turned to me and, though sceptical a bit, he spoke,"what favour?"


    "Thest period is a free training period. Challenge Jenkins for a match, defeat him and then challenge Paul and defeat him as well," I spoke, and he turned silent for a few moments before whispering,"No. Why would I expose myself to the public?"


    "I will teach you a very special Shadow de Skill. One that can help you reach newer heights," I spoke with a smile and he turned quite again. For the next few minutes, the only one who was speaking was Professor Hoffman¡­ and then,


    "How would I know that it is useful for me? What if you are just bluffing?" He spoke in a low voice and I pondered a little before speaking,"all I can say is trust me. I don''t have neither the time nor the ce to show you the skill, so there is little we can do here."


    At my words, he was a bit shocked before he muttered,"what do you mean by show? Are you saying that you know someone who can perform Shadow de techniques?!!!"


    ''Perhaps he was looking for a proper tutor or something?'' I thought as I spoke,"yeah something like that."


    "Okay¡­ I will do as you say, but other than that de technique, I also want to meet that person who can use it," he spoke, and I pondered about it a little and then spoke.


    "It will take sometime, but sure¡­ though you aren''t doubting me now?"


    He was sceptical about it before¡­ I wonder what happened now¡­


    "No¡­ it''s just that I¡­ well I wanted to challenge Jenkins before, as for Paul I don''t want to get involved much as it would be too much of a hassleter on¡­ especially with his brothers being here in the Academy as well¡­ but I guess, I can take a risk a little, after all they woulde after me in the future as well," he spoke as he observed them before sighing and speaking,"so we have a deal then?"


    I turned to him, pondered a bit and then nodded,"sure. As long as they both get defeated."


    I then peaked on my right and whispered to Variel,"hey Variel. Can I ask you to do something?"


    Variel then looked at me for a moment before turning back to the Professor. He didn''t speak a word after that, so I just continued,


    "Can you beat the cr*p out of Howard if he tries to interrupt the match between Jenkins and Rheo? Also, make sure that he ends up in the hospital?"


    He turned at me, pondered a little and observing him, I added,"I will help you out to reach 5th Floor of the Stairways of Heaven faster," at which he nodded immediately but muttered,"but if I end up in any form of unnecessary trouble, you will be the one solving it."


    "Sure," I spoke as I smiled a little and continued focusing on the boring lecture.

 Chapter 211 Manipulation Is An Art#2

    The lectures were over and soon came thest ss. It was a sparring ss so that each of our ssmates would get familiar with each other''s strengths and weaknesses. ordingly, this would be useful in forming groups and hunting in an organised manner during theter part of the course.


    Of course, we moved out of the ss and were currently at the training area where we would be sparring. Since there were just 20 of us, with 2 unorthodox ones, I believe almost all the people will fight today, including me, of course.


    "Hey, I would like to spar with you?" I heard Rheo''s voice at a distance as he challenged Jenkins, one of Paul''s subordinates, which made Jenkins and Howardugh out loud at him before asking him to scram.


    "Chickening out? Well, I thought you had more guts than that," Rheo spoke with a smirk before he began to move away but Jenkins grabbed him by the shoulder and spoke with a serious yet cold smile,"if you are so desperate for a beating then you shall get it."


    My eyes turned to Gloria and Variel, who were eyeing me from a distance, asking what I was trying to do here, but I just kept quiet for the time being and observed the uing match.


    They both asked permission from Professor Hoffman and he smiled at them before speaking.


    "Until one person loses consciousness or gives up, the other person will not win. The time of battle is 15 minutes, after that the winner would be decided by the scorecard. Cheating is strictly forbidden and if I find things getting too serious, I will interrupt. If you both agree to the conditions, move up on to the stage."


    Hearing his words, everyone got excited as the anticipation for the uing match increased. Almost everyone believed that Jenkins would win this as his rank, 88th, was higher than Rheo''s, 94th.


    Both of them got on the stage. Rheo took out his des and Jenkins took out a staff which he was most familiar with and they both took their stance.


    "3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Fight!" Professor Hoffman spoke and the first one to dash was Rheo.


    Rheo used short des in this battle, so he needed to cover the distance in order to have an advantage against Jenkins, a staff user. Rheo added a small touch of Dark Magic in his weapons, which enhanced the weapon''s powers drastically.


    As for Jenkins, he just smiled as he saw Rheoing towards him. Preparing his staff and charging it with fire magic, he skillfully wielded it, attacking Rheo in the front. Rheo dodged to his left, and Jenkins immediately took a step back, rotated his staff, and attacked with the staff''s other end.


    Rheo looked at the follow up attack and used a bit of magic in his legs and swiftly dodged his attack once again and closed the distance. Jenkins, who wasn''t expecting Rheo to dodge his follow up attack, panicked a little and began moving back.


    However, Rheo was faster as he attacked at his chest, barely cutting it.


    -AAAA!!!!


    Though the magic being Dark Magic, this was enough to inflict a great deal of pain to Jenkins before he fell on his right knee and began using fire magic to evaporate the remains of Dark Magic on his chest.


    But it was enough for Rheo to get a wide opening to attack and he began attacking again. Between dodging, healing himself and finding a stable stance to parry Rheo''s attack, Jenkins was struggling against Rheo at every step.


    -BAM!!


    -BOOOM!!!!


    Everyone''s attention turned to their left to see Variel pitting down Howard, who was about to dash towards Jenkins. As I guessed, he was going to attack Rheo when he saw Rheo winning.


    I looked at the three girls with Paul looking at Jenkins with a scared gaze and Paul himself looked a bit shocked at what was happening.


    It wasn''t just him but almost everyone here¡­ nobody expected Rheo to be this strong. Well, it makes sense¡­ now onto the next move.


    "Gloria, can you do me a favour and fight with those three sl*ts there?" I spoke as I pointed at Green, Campbell and Cook, who were there standing with Paul. I needed to make sure they were broken a little before I could use them.


    "All three of them at once?" She asked with a questioning gaze and I nodded before speaking,"after you defeat three of them, whisper these words to Green,''I know your secret. What happened 8 years ago, I know everything about it,'' leave the other two as it is."


    She looked at me and then pondered a little before moving towards them. On the other hand, Jenkins had already given up and as he was ring at Rheo. Rheo turned around to move away from the stage, but Jenkins moved at a rapid rate as he moved to attack Rheo with a wide, mad smile.


    -nk! Though Professor Hoffman looked at Jenkins with a narrowed yet furious gaze. Jenkins saw Professor Hoffman and finally returned to his senses. I looked at Jenkins for a few seconds, before I smiled and then turned to see Rheo walking towards Paul.


    "Would you like to fight with me? Your henchmen are a¡­ bit too weak for me to practise on," Rheo spoke with an apologetic and mocking expression and Paul raised his chin as he looked down on Rheo.


    Paul scanned around to see everyone waiting for his decision. Though, before he could speak anything


    "Excuse me,dies¡­ I was thinking of fighting you three, if it is not a problem with you all?" Spoke Gloria with a humble smile as she looked at the three girls. Those three girls confused looked at each other before looking at Gloria and speaking,


    "Are you¡­ trying to take all three of us by yourself?"


    "Did I say something else?" asked Gloria with a bit of a confused expression as she looked at the three of them, before Campbell turned furious and spoke,"what exactly are you trying to achieve here?"


    "I just want to fight someone of equal standing. Variel seems busy with Howard. Rheo is dealing with Paul. As for Melissa and Phillips, they aren''t here right now¡­ so everyone is not just strong enough. So I thought about fighting multiple people at once, and given how close the three of you are here, I believe you would have developed some coordination to fight against me?" Gloria spoke and everyone started pondering about it for a moment¡­ Thinking about it, there was no problem with the logic itself¡­ just that you need to think a bit more in detail to find the hidden trap underneath these words.


    Those three just stood there before Green spoke,"well¡­ sure, we don''t mind. Isn''t that right, girls?" and the other two, a bit sceptical, nodded at themselves.


    ''Well, once this is done, let''s start the next phase as well,'' I thought as I observed everything around me with a calm smile. Perhaps I had started enjoying this for some reason¡­ manipting so many things at once¡­ it has been a while since I had done something like that¡­ I almost forgot about the feeling¡­ I sorta missed this feeling¡­ I guess I was a little excited too.

 Chapter 212 Manipulation Is An Art#3

    "So, Gloria will be fighting Campbell, Green and Cook all by herself. Is that correct?" Professor Hoffman spoke as he looked at the stats of three candidates. After confirming the overall situation and the difference between the two teams, he nodded as he spoke,"all right. It seems like there are no problems with this. You guys can move on the stage."


    All the four girls moved on to the stage and with Gloria ncing at Rheo, who was about to fight with Paul as well on the next stage.


    So, in total, there were two matches that were about to start right now, and I nodded at the situation before looking around and turning at Variel as he was looking at me. Jenkins had already been sent to the nurse, and Howard went with him.


    ''I guess I should pay them a visit after the ss is over,'' I thought as I looked at another ssmate of mine, Thomas Wright, who was observing the whole thing with a nervous expression. His eyes were partially red and green, with his ability to summon monsters to fight for him.


    ''His ability is quite peculiar¡­ while the summoners themselves aren''t really useful¡­ I wonder if I could form a team of summoners and use it in any way,'' I thought as I looked at him. If I want to start my experimentation on Summoner Magic, Thomas was the best candidate.


    -BOOM!!!!


    I turned to look at Gloria, kicking Cook out of the ring, making her hit the wall at a distance and falling unconscious without being able to resist. The other two girls wanted to quit, but before they could do so, Gloria dashed towards Green, without giving her any chance to flee.


    -Boom!!! And punched her hard making Green hit the ground.


    "I¡­"


    -BOOM!!!


    Gloria punched her again¡­ and again¡­ and again¡­ before turning her attention to Campbell¡­ Campbell just looked at Green with a scared face as she ran away shouting,"I give up! I give up!"


    Green looked at Campbell with a sad smile before she turned to Gloria, who was just looking at her without any particr emotions.


    "Aren''t you going to defeat me?" Green asked with a sad smile and Gloria went closer to her and muttered what I had asked her to. Green''s eyes opened up wide in shock as she looked at Gloria, as if her darkest secret was revealed.


    Gloria then moved out of the arena without speaking anything further and stood beside me with a casual expression. Professor Hoffman didn''t speak any words for the next few moments.


    "Ummm¡­ Miss Cook wins the match," Professor Hoffman spoke with an odd face. Well, ording to rule, Cook still hadn''t given up while Gloria just moved out of the ring on her own ord, so officially it''s Cook who has won the battle.


    ''Now, how are things faring there,'' I thought as I turned to the battle between Rheo and Paul, who were faring on equal grounds. Normally, Rheo could have easily won the battle, but because he had already used some of his energy in defeating Jenkins, plus given the fact he will still not use most of his skills, the chances of him getting a clean win decreased by a margin.


    Paul was a close range, fist fighter with the ability to enhance his fists simr to what I do to my muscles. He can enhance the power of his punches and kicks, while also being an expert in boxing and fist fighting.


    He is someone who had been given a lesser share of what the three Icer brothers got, putting him at a disadvantage against his brothers. Though, he kind of barely made up for it by training excessively. Though, because he didn''t even get a proper teacher, he could only develop his skills so much all by himself.


    I saw Paul dodging Rheo''s attack swiftly and counter attacking whenever he could. Unlike his rough behaviour, he was pretty calcted with his steps and attacks. He didn''t let his anger and pride get in between this fight and was really giving his all¡­ as for Rheo; he was smiling.


    Rheo was enjoying this fight a lot¡­ I don''t know what really happened, but Rheo was not fighting anymore to defeat Paul.. he was purely enjoying the fight for the heck of it.


    ''It''s not just Rheo¡­ but Paul too, huh?'' I thought as I saw the behavioural changes in Paul''s eyes as he began enjoying the fight¡­ though the fight didn''t take long as Rheo started using a few more skills and began taking over Paul at a much faster rate.


    While Paul could handle the pain from Rheo''s attacks, there was still a limit. Also, given how much ego Paul has, I doubt he was going to give up¡­ so the match would probably end when Paul would lose consciousness¡­


    Since this is settled here, let''s move to the next step,


    "Gloria. Tell Cook toe with us, after the ss is over¡­ that should be in about 15 more minutes."


    I spoke and then moved towards the exit as I spoke,"I probably won''t need to fight today, so I will be going. Meet me at the training area in about 5 hours. Tell Rheo and Variel toe as well¡­ See ya."


    It''s around 11 AM right now, so I still have time till 4PM¡­ I guess I could check out Jenkins and Howard, while I still have time. Also, it would be better if I could see other sses as well¡­ wonder how they are doing.


    "Exactly what are you trying to do here?" Gloria asked as she turned around and saw me leaving and I turned to her, smiled before speaking,"nothing special, just creating an empire. Hope that satisfies your curiosity."


    She looked at me for a few moments before speaking,"it just kind of raised too many questions," looking at me confusingly and I nodded at her as I spoke,


    "I guess so. Now, I should leave¡­ I have a couple of things I need to finish."

 Chapter 213 Manipulation Is An Art#4

    At the Arcadia Hospital Main Branch 3


    I moved inside the hospital and asked a couple of people about the freshly admitted students from my ss. While they hesitated at first, when I told them how much of a good friend I was to them, the staff told me the way.


    Moving towards the area I was headed to, I observed the ce around and found a couple of people from other sses as well. Perhaps they had a rough fight as well? Well, I ignored them and moved to the ce where Howard and Jenkins were and reached them.


    "What are you doing here, punk?" Howard spoke while Jenkins sighs as he looks at me and said,"don''t mind him. It''s how he speaks. In any case, did youe here to pity me? If that is so, then please leave¡­ I don''t have time for this bullsh*t."


    Howard was an orange haired kid with hazel eyes. He was the son of a builder and while his system was suitable for building purposes; he used the specific elements of his system to use it for fighting purposes. He didn''t have the necessary skills to use in battle, but he was like a tank, with high vitality and high toughness. Combined with his brawl skills he developed on the streets, he ended up getting here.


    As for Jenkins Carlson, the purple-haired purple eyed kid, he was an average athlete who got the specialised system rted to anything rod-like and long. It was an odd system, but after getting used to it, he was able to get strong enough to get into this academy. He had only one purpose to be in this Academy, his bedridden brother, whom he was trying to save.


    "A kid with family problems, who had lost everything because of one stupid mistake and another kid who wants to prove that he is worthy and wants to make his ex-girlfriend jealous, despite being cheated on. Quite an interesting duo I have in front of me," I spoke as I looked at both of them.


    Both of them looked at me with a narrowed and shocked gaze and spoke,"who are you¡­ and what do you want from us?"


    I smiled at them for a few moments before speaking,"I want you to work for me¡­ I want you to do what I ask you to do, without uttering anything."


    Hearing my words, Howard almost jumped at me, but Jenkins held him back. While Jenkins was furious as well, he observed me with a calm manner and spoke,"wait Howards. Why do you think we will work for you?"


    I looked at them for a few moments, before speaking,"I will help you get your revenge. Both of you¡­ actually it is too easy for me to do it right now¡­ Also, I will help take care of your family and friends¡­ especially your brother Jenkins¡­ I will help you cure him."


    Jenkins'' eyes turned open wide while Howard looked at me with a nk expression before he startedughing as he spoke out loud,"hahaha¡­. Do you even know what you are talking about? You think you can stand to help me out? Take revenge, huh? Tell me, oh so great Mister Aidan Williamson, how are you going to take revenge on a family like Ravens? They are f*cking God in their own hierarchy¡­ Tell me Aidan Williamson, how are you going to help me defeat them? If you can actually do it, I, Howard Writher, am going to serve you for the rest of my life."


    I smiled at him before speaking,"I know a few people who actually can do it¡­ Wait, I actually know a lot of people who can not just kill them, but obliterate their very existence. However, Howard, that''s not what I was talking about. I was talking about you defeating them by yourself. Kill them and wipe them all by yourself¡­ How does that sound?"


    Howard narrowed his eyes at me while Jenkins too looked at me with a suspicious gaze before Howard asked,"and you want me to follow, in return for what, huh?"


    "Is there anything that can help to convince us that all of the nonsense you are spewing isn''t just some bullshit but authentic?" Jenkins asked as he looked at me with a slight hopeful gaze.


    "Sure," I spoke and moved towards him and touched the area where he was cut by Rheo. Because of Dark Magic, the area would take at least 2 or 3 days beforepletely healing normally with the current healing technology this world has, but we don''t have time so¡­


    "Aurora of Heal," I muttered, healing him instantly, and both Howards and Jenkins turned at me with a dumbfounded expression.


    "It''s just an artefact. Don''t look at me like that¡­ Well, I have a couple of connections which can be useful to you as I said, so as for proof, I think it would be better to show you some of them, don''t you think?" I spoke and they both just kept looking at me for a few moments before Howard spoke,


    "I guess¡­. Sure¡­ Hey, can I ask you something?"


    I was about to leave from there, but hearing Howard, I stopped and nodded at him.


    "Why are you helping us? If what you said is true, then you won''t even need us. You can get much stronger people working for you¡­ heck, you can just use our enemies instead as they would be a much stronger force to use¡­ why us?" Howard spoke with a curious gaze as he looked at me.


    ''That''s quite a deep question for someone who is all brawns and no brains¡­ but I guess I understand where he ising from¡­'' I thought before answering him with a question.


    "Would you like to know the truth?"


    They both nodded, and I spoke.


    "I am preparing a force¡­ and I need some people for the force to have their training with. While you aren''t exactly as strong as being even the training dummies, with enough polishing, you should be able to be one. So, yeah¡­ I am using you as a stepping stone to train someone¡­ While this will also increase your strength, don''t ever think that I am giving you priority or importance¡­ I hope that answers your question," I spoke with my eyes turning red as I used Charm Magic.


    While they would remember what I just said, they won''t be able to tell anyone about it for the next few years¡­ after that they would be on their own¡­


    I sighed before moving away from there as I spoke,"I will message you a ce to arrive by this evening. Make sure to create some time."

 Chapter 214 Manipulation Is An Art#5

    Moving out of the area where Jenkins was admitted, I reached towards the main gate of the hospital.


    I wanted to meet Adara regarding something that I would need her help with, but before I could move out of the hospital, I saw another familiar face standing in front of me.


    "Hey, fancy meeting you here," I said with a smile on my face, observing the red-haired girl in front of me.


    "Hey, how are you doing? You kind of left without saying anything," spoke Bete as she looked at me with a shy face as she helped her new friend to the hospital.


    There were three girls in front of me, Bete and two others. The girl in the center seems to be injured and I suppose the other girl and Bete are here to get her admitted.


    "Been busy with work. Also, most of the things were done, so my presence wasn''t needed there," I spoke and Bete looked at her friends as she spoke.


    "Alveen, can you take Maria to the hospital? I''ll be there in a moment."


    Both of them looked at me with a curious gaze before they moved towards the hospital.


    "What happened in your ss?" I asked as I moved towards the hospital garden area and Bete followed me.


    "Maria, the weakest Orthodox in our ss, fought the Unorthodox girl trying to gain some fame or something, but was miserably defeated," Bete spoke as she looked at the sky and sighed as she looked at the scenery


    "Anything troubling you?" I inquired as I observed her.


    "Nothing just¡­ I thought that after all these years of suffering, I would finally get the life I wanted¡­ I would enjoy the Academy and stuff, make new friends and go on adventures but¡­" she spoke and I continued her words as,


    "But it''s kind of boring. Even though it''s just been two days, does everything seem not really worth it? Hmmm¡­ wannae with me for a few hours? I think I can ease your troubles."


    She looked at me for a few moments, then smiled brightly as she spoke,"then I''ll be depending on you once again."


    "So, you should go check up on your friends ande back. I''ll be waiting for you here," I told her with a calm smile as I moved to a nearby bench and sat on it.


    Though rather than moving towards her friends, she said,"Nope. I think they can handle themselves, plus we aren''t really friends, so it''s fine. We can leave immediately."


    "Hmmm¡­ sure, I guess. Let''s go." I stood up and began moving outside the hospital.


    Bete and I were silent for the most part. I asked a couple of questions and she answered. She asked a couple of questions. I answered.


    Honestly, even though we weren''t talking, we were both enjoying each other''spany. It was quitefortable, to be honest.


    We took Bete''s car, and I drove it towards the Student Council building. When we reached there, Bete was a bit skeptical about what I was going to do, but she still silently followed behind.


    We moved in and found a lot of people working busily and a few more who were there to fileints or for some other thing.


    Not that far, I saw a certain someone I knew and someone I least expected to be here.


    "Kiddo, is Adara inside?" I asked as I looked at Lucas and a few people turned at me with a half nk expression. They looked at me and then at Lucas.


    Lucas too looked at me but he wasn''t shocked¡­ just a bit tired.


    As for Bete, she wasn''t really surprised that I knew Lucas, all the more especially because she knows about my real identity and what I was capable of.


    "Yeah, she is a little busy, but¡­ take the stairs from the left. No, actually, let me take you there or they won''t allow you to go in," he spoke as he began walking towards Adara''s cabin.


    Bete and I followed him and the gazes of everyone else followed us and when we reached a little less crowded ce, I asked him,


    "What''s with the polite behavior? Can you drop it already? It''s kind of creeping me out."


    "Well¡­ I need your help and I know I don''t want to annoy you so¡­" He spoke with a smile and I looked at him with slight interest before I yawned a little as I spoke,


    "Depends on what the work is, honestly. Oh! looks like we are here."


    Outside the cabin, 2 people were standing and after Lucas talked with them, they allowed us to enter the cabin.


    Inside the cabin there were 5 people, including Adara, who was discussing something with a serious look.


    Adara and the others turned at us and one of the four people analyzed me and then looked at me with a slightly disgusted look before he spoke.


    "Lucas, I know you are close enough with President Adara to get in her cabin, but that does not mean you are allowed to bring about just anyone in here."


    "Everyone, please leave. We will continue the discussion within an hour," Adara spoke ignoring the words of that guy and everyone turned dumbfounded at her before a murmur began among themselves.


    "You heard her," I spoke with a smirk that irked him and he stood up and began shouting,


    "Is this how you treat your seniors?!!!"


    "Leave. I won''t be polite another time," Adara spoke again with a serious expression this time and everyone turned silent. At this moment, there was a pin drop silence within the room before one by one everyone left. The guy who was shouting at me was hesitant at first, but he too moved out begrudgingly in the end.


    Though he did give me a silent warning with his eyes before he left.


    "Well¡­ you look like you are having some troubles¡­ Do you need any help?" I asked with a slightly concerned face as I looked at her and Adara just spoke,


    "It''s nothing. Just the Inter Academy Tournaments areing up, so we were busy nning that."

 Chapter 215 Why Do You Hate Me?

    "Well, if you need me for anything, you can ask," I spoke before looking at Lucas and then Bete, who was a bit confused as to why she was there.


    "I brought someone that I want you to take in under your direct guidance," I spoke as I pointed towards Bete and the one to speak up wasn''t Adara or Bete but Lucas as he questioned,


    "You do know that Adara is already busy with enough stuff to deal with, don''t you?"


    I nodded before speaking,"I''ll help you solve most of the problems so that you can have room for breathing while also looking after her."


    Adara observed me before turning to Bete as she observed her carefully and then, after analyzing Bete from top to bottom, she spoke,


    "Well, she does have potential, I guess. Though, I don''t know whether I am a good mentor or not. Other than Hera, I have never taken anyone under my care, and you do know her condition, don''t you?"


    I nodded at her before speaking,"yeah. That is another reason why I want you to take her in. While you will be helping her gain skills and experience, she will also help you enhance your abilities to guide someone. I kind of need you to have that, so that you can take over my position when I am not in the Academy."


    I just dropped the whole thing casually, but Adara focused on me as she spoke with a serious expression,"once again, there you go, treating me like that. I don''t understand. What did I ever do for you to get so close to me like that? I don''t even know you. Not one bit."


    I smiled a little as I asked,"wanna know?" and she nodded


    I moved towards her one step at a time and reached close to her¡­ at least a few inches away before speaking in a whisper,"someday love."


    I then moved away from there as I saw Bete, a bit shocked at my interaction with Adara and I gently flicked on her forehead before speaking,"you will be under her direct care from now on. Make sure not to disappoint me."


    I then moved away from there as she was nkly staring at me before I stopped, turned around and spoke.


    "One more thing. I need your permission to use the basement below our sses. Just get me the authorization to that area for the next 12 hours. That shouldn''t be hard, should it?"


    Adara looked at me and then touched her forehead for a brief moment. Looks like she is still in a daze and I chuckled a little before looking at Hera, who was sitting in the corner, not visible to almost anyone in this room except Adara and I.


    Hera nods at me, and I smile before moving out of the ce leaving Bete behind with a nk expression.


    The authorization shoulde fast and meanwhile I decided to move out and get myself something to eat. It was afternoon and lunch time was near.


    Thinking that, I began moving out of the building faster, but before I could get out of the building, the 4 people who were in Adara''s room previously came in my vision.


    ? They were talking with someone from the reception and other people at the desks, and it seemed like a heated discussion was going on.


    I could have yed with them a little, but I decided to move out and enjoy my food a little over ying with a bunch of kids and wasting my time.


    Swiftly vanishing from there, without letting anyone notice me, I moved out of the building only to find Lucas waiting for me there.


    ''Hmmm¡­ what does he want¡­ oh there was something he wanted as well, wonder what that is,'' I thought as I moved towards him and spoke,


    "I''m gonna grab lunch. Do you know any ce nearby where I could get something delicious?"


    He looked at me for a few moments and then nodded before pointing at a certain building that wasn''t really far from here.


    "That ce has good choices for foods," he spoke before changing the topic,"about that help that I wanted-"


    But I interrupted him as I spoke,"let''s go there then. We will talk about it as I eat."


    He looked at me for a few moments with a little bit of surprise before he nodded and we both went towards that restaurant.


    Choosing a window side table, we sat against each other and I began ordering a couple of dishes that sounded delicious. The restaurant was quite peaceful and calm and the area had an aroma that screamed luxury, but since we were within the Academy, as a student, we got a few privileges regarding the food we can buy here.


    After the order was ced,


    "Can I ask you something?" Lucas spoke as he gazed at me with an odd expression and I kinda knew what he was going to ask. Still, I nodded at him and he spoke,


    "Do you hate me or not? And if you do hate me, then why so? I don''t think we have ever met before."


    Hearing his words, I smiled a little before asking,"if you are going to ask me that, then can you tell me why you trust me this much? I know how protective you are towards your sister and despite that, you are fine with her approaching me. Small things like I am stronger than you or there is nothing you can do against me doesn''t really make sense, all the more when it''s you, who can go to any length for his beloved sister. So why do you trust me?"


    I didn''t know for real. Whether it was his System or some other power that allowed him to see my intentions towards someone, I had no idea what it was that made him all trusty towards me, but I believed that it wasn''t that simple.


    Lucas observed me for a few moments before speaking,"if I tell you about it. Will you give me your honest opinion?"


    "I will give you a hint," I spoke as I looked at him and he pondered a little before nodding and speaking." I guess it''s better than nothing. I have an ability that allows me to see a person''s intentions towards my sister or perhaps anyone whom I am too close with and when I see you looking at my sister¡­ your intentions are more purer and intense than mine¡­ it''s so intense to the point that you could give your life for my sister if the conditions are dire¡­ and the fact it''s not out of love is something that baffles me even more. Well, that''s my reason for trusting you. You are someone who will protect the one I love the most and that too without any hidden agenda. Just what more could a brother ask for his sister?"


    Looking at him directly, I sighed before speaking,"I don''t hate you¡­ just that I hate someone who resembles you in a thousand ways¡­ or actually; I don''t hate him either. I am just jealous of that other person and you are the reflection of him so¡­"


    He looked at me and sighed with a really rxed smile. It was so beautiful that it would have surely made thousands of beauties go head over heels for him.


    "I am d that I haven''t done anything that makes you hate me¡­ I hope you find your own path in your journey. One that gives a future where we both may be more friendly with each other," he spoke and I narrowed my eyes at him before I gave a fake smile as I spoke,


    "Your words touched the deepest corner of my lungs. Now, I will be enjoying my food now, so stop talking."

 Chapter 216 Are You Serious?!

    Lucas waited for me to finish eating while he ordered himself a cup of tea. It took about 15 minutes, and ones I finished my te, I looked at him and spoke.


    "So, what is it that you wanted?"


    "It''s not me. It is Lucifer who wanted to talk with you," he spoke, dropping a bomb on me as I looked at him. How does he know about Lucifer¡­ or wait¡­ how did even Lucifer contact him-


    As I was thinking, I saw Lucas cing Excalibur on the table in front of me. He saw me and spoke,


    "I was given this sword about 2 days ago and since then, I have been in contact with that guy. He said something rted to you, that you will be helping me get stronger, clearly warning me that without your help I would not only lose my sister, but everything else along with it."


    I sighed a little before standing up looking around, finding the nearby waiter, calling him close and giving him the money that I owed for the food.


    "Come with me," I spoke as my eyes turned red and vanished from there and reached outside as I scanned for an isted rooftop around. Finding a particrly high rooftop, I vanished as I moved towards it, arriving there within a minute.


    Lucas followed me without any words as we both reached the top, where there were only us. I looked at the top of the Stairway of Knowledge, where the Giant was supposed to be residing, and sighed before muttering,"Geheimnis," as I blocked our presence, but I doubt it would have done anything here.


    Then I raised my hand as I tried calling the Excalibur to me, and sure enough, it flew towards me before a white-haired man with angel-like wings came into my vision. Looking at Lucas, it seems like he, too, can see him.


    Lucas'' eyes were a bit shaken as he observed Lucifer. Though, I narrowed my eyes at Lucifer as I asked,"exin what is going on here."


    Lucifer looked at me and smiled as he spoke,"when you killed that Parasite, it attracted the Parasite King."


    Hearing his words, my eyes went nk for a moment as I observed him and muttered,"but why would the Parasite King be interested in a mere Scout?"


    This isn''t how it was supposed to be¡­ if the Parasites were to strike earlier¡­ I doubt we can survive even for a day and forget about trying to put up an equal fight¡­.


    "Well, I don''t know much about that¡­ but I am here to warn you about that. Also¡­ next time you go into the White Dimension, you won''t be able to meet Amon. He has started conserving his power, he''ll only appear when he will be really needed," Lucifer spoke with a really sad gaze before speaking,


    "What do you think we should do?"


    ''Huh?!'' I looked at him, wondering what he was talking about? Isn''t he one of the Guardians? Shouldn''t he be telling me what I should be doing? Thinking about a way out of this¡­ it wasn''t even my problem to begin with¡­


    "Don''t look at me like that¡­ I did try my bestst time, and it didn''t work that time. Neither for Amon, Janus or even the other Guardians¡­ we were just useless. This time it is all on you, Zero. You are the one who calls all the shots¡­ we will be on your support," he spoke as he looked at me with a really odd gaze and I looked at him,


    "I am not a God, you know?"


    "You might just have to be powerful enough to defeat one, though. Just like Amon, I too would be going into seclusion¡­ so I thought I should pass on my powers to you as well. Give me your hand," he spoke as he moved towards me, but his words confused me a little as I asked,


    "What do you mean by ''as well''?" I narrowed my eyes, and he gazed at me and smiled a little before he caught my hand and began transferring his powers into me.


    "I have collected a total of three fragments. The Fragment of Brilliance, which I passed on to Lucas, the Fragment of Luminosity that I have kept for myself and finally the Fragment of ze, which I will be giving to you. Use it properly¡­ as for the other fragment which you have, but you don''t know, is Amon''s Fragment of Breath. I don''t know why he did not tell you that but¡­ I don''t think hiding it would do anyone any good," he spoke as he looked deep into my eyes, let my hands go and turned to Lucas.


    "The world may break any moment from now on¡­ I won''t be here to guide you, as I have already failed once. Follow him, for I am putting my trust in him as well," Lucifer spoke as he smiled and then turned at me and continued,


    "The next time we meet will probably be thest time. I hope you will prove me wrong."


    "Wait-" my eyes opened up wide as I looked at him vanishing immediately after that. I had a thousand questions racing in my mind¡­ I wanted answers to all of them.


    "So¡­ I guess I will be under your guidance? Though I don''t really understand what is going on," he spoke and I looked at him and passed his sword back to him.


    "Can I punch you?" I spoke in an irritated voice as I looked at him. His f*cking Guardian just dropped a bomb on me and now I have to solve the problems by myself?


    "And what the f*ck did he mean by I am by myself now¡­ Amon¡­ or Elle, call me back up if anyone newes out. I might have to recalcte everything once again," I spoke out loud in irritation as I circled around Lucas, who was just observing me with a small smile on his face.


    I looked at him and red as I asked,"what are you smiling about?"


    "No, it''s just¡­ you look more normal now. Much more approachable than before. Is this the real you?" he asked with the same smile on his face and I sighed before speaking,


    "Well, since it hase to this¡­ I guess it''s about time I put all my ns into motion at once. I will be needing your help as well as gotta call the others. If we are going to save this world from the Second Cataclysm¡­ I guess we will need to bring about the First Cataclysm faster."


    There was a devilish smile on my face as I thought about my uing ns for the future. I was about to bring chaos into this world¡­ literally.

 Chapter 217 Moving Too Quickly To Make Everything Stable

    "You are making a really scary face right now, you know that?" Lucas was still smiling as he looked at me before he asked again,"so, care to exin what is going on here?"


    I really want to be selfish here and not tell him anything, but the situation requires otherwise. Though, because I would like to get in touch with Elle first to confirm that Amon is gone and we are on our own, I think it would be better not to tell everything to Lucas.


    "You might have already known about the Parasites and stuff, don''t you?" I asked, and he nodded as he replied,


    "I don''t know the exact details, but someone defeated an alien, and he talked about a dangering in the future. What about it?"


    "I was the one who defeated that Alien, and the Parasites areing towards us¡­ Just that time frame of when they would being has been blurred," I spoke and he became dumbfounded as he observed me with a nk expression as he spoke,"Wait! Wait! Wait! Let me digest the information first. So you''re telling me that you are the one the entire world is frantically searching for? The person who holds the key to the future of the world is you?"


    I nodded as I observed him with a confused expression,"this should have been apparent with how Lucifer was behaving and all, no?"


    He shook his head and said,"I thought it was about something else totally. I didn''t think this and that would be connected¡­ So you are that guy, Zero¡­ as well as the Reaper¡­ as well as a candidate for the Guardian¡­ damn¡­ you are really something¡­"


    Hearing his words, I turned at him with a narrowed gaze as I recalled the previous Lucas. That f*cking monster¡­ I have to recreate that guy, but with this? This kid? Hmmmm¡­ if I had time, I would have helped him get more mature and strong but¡­ me and my shitty luck¡­


    "Just what did I get myself into?" I muttered in a low voice with a slight sigh before speaking,"well, about all that. It doesn''t really matter honestly. You can praise me after I finish everything that I want to do¡­ though it would be better if you know about what is going on here."


    I then told him about Primordials and their history, along with the Guardians and their history. I did not tell him about my regression or anything rted to me, just that he needed to know about what we would be facing in the future.


    Hearing my whole story, he turned silent, and I said,"If you go against us and join the Parasites. Just know that I will be the first one to kill you without any hesitation."


    I wasn''t joking about this, as I know anyone could betray anyone for any reason whatsoever. The previous Lucas was different, he had lost his friends in the Cataclysm against the Parasites, his sister was kidnapped by the Parasites so his hatred for them was genuine but this Lucas¡­ There is nothing that Parasites have done to harm him.


    "Why would I do that now? I am a Guardian, remember? Lucifer had already warned me about a Guardian siding with a Primordial and the consequences rted to them," Lucas spoke with a confused expression as he observed me.


    I just looked at him and then nodded slightly. I don''t know what Lucifer said to him. I pray that it works well and Lucas won''t do anything stupid. In any case, next is to move my future ns ahead of their time.


    "Let''s go meet Adrara. We need to talk about something," I said as I headed back to the student council building. With Lucas beside me, I moved along with him into the cabin where I found Adara and Bete talking with each other casually. Though looking at me arriving there once again, they turned confused.


    The previous 4 people were also there as they were talking among themselves this time, but looking at me entering the cabin once again, they narrowed their gaze at me. I observed them for a few moments before speaking,


    "Get out of here!"


    My eyes were red and like dolls, they simply stood up and left from there without making any noise at all. Adara saw all that, and she looked at me with a slightly serious expression as she asked,"what happened?"


    "Many things," I said as I moved towards the nearest sofa and sat there. In the room currently, there were four people not including me. Hera, Lucas, Bete and Adara.


    ''Now, where do I even begin?'' I thought as I sighed before looking at Bete and speaking,"call Mark. There is a change of ns."


    Bete looked at me and Adara made a dumbfounded expression as she observed me, casually calling out the name ''Mark'', as if I were his best buddy or something. Though before she can speak anything,


    "Adara call Amelia and Hera. Can you do me a favour and find out the exact location of Armis, Adam, Christian, and Lilith? You can use this card," I said as I threw the ck card which I got from Amelia before.


    Hera looked really surprised as she analysed the card and began using it with an excited expression on her face. I nodded before turning to Lucas and spoke.


    "Call Lucy here as well¡­ If I remember correctly, Elizabeth should be in her ss. Just tell Lucy that Reaper is calling and bring Elizabeth and Annabeth with them."


    Then I began calling Eliza and Cristine as well as I turned to Bete and spoke,"after setting up the call with Mark. Call Irene and Linda as well."


    Because I appeared to be in so much hurry, as I began calling everyone left and right, the atmosphere turned really grim as everyone, except Lucas, began wondering what was going on here.


    Though before anyone can do anything¡­


    I returned to the White Dimension with Elle standing in front of me with a serious expression. All the other people who were in there were standing behind her, looking extremely serious as well.

 Chapter 218 A Sudden Change Of Pace

    "What do you want us to do now?" Elle spoke with a serious expression and I looked at her and the others before asking,


    "Did Amon really go into istion?"


    She nodded as she spoke,"Amon went just a few hours ago and he was going to call you here, but as time passed and no one came so he left and asked me to pass you a note."


    I observed her and nodded before speaking,"I would like you guys to help me out in any way you can. Information, knowledge, any skill that is specific to you¡­ I want to learn that. I am sorry I am being a bit forceful here, but please understand. I would try to return the favour as soon as possible from now on, rather than leaving it to the future."


    They looked at me with a smile on their faces as they spoke,"no¡­ we would like to thank you instead. You kind of saved us and our families and we are really grateful for that. It is our desire to stay here and honestly, it is quite afortable ce to stay, that too rent free. Since we are given the chance to repay you, we shall do whatever we can."


    "Amon said to use everything you can. What weck is time¡­ we might not even have a speck of it¡­ so be prepared¡­ always," Elle spoke with a serious expression as she turned to the others before turning to me.


    I smiled at them before looking at them with a serious expression as I spoke,"then I won''t hold back."


    From that point, I asked Elle to teach me everything she has learned or nned to learn¡­ not just her, but also everyone else there.


    Since I didn''t have enough time, I used all I could, learnt all I could in the dimension in that time period.


    With theck of mana, I probably won''t be able to use it freely in the outside world, but if I could recreate it and enhance it using whatever I possess in my arsenal, maybe I could get something out of it.


    First it was Elle, and thenter came others, one by one. There werebat skills, knowledge about skills and some of the people had also told about peculiar dreams, which I listened to very intently.


    There were also nonbat skills, which I learnt as well, cause I wanted to take in everything I could. It had been a while, but this time I stayed in White Dimension for quite a long time¡­


    About a year or so, I still kept my mind intact, as I had grueling work to do in the outside world as well.


    After a year or so, I had a myriad of skills that were recreated in order to be used by me and from this point onwards, every time I enter the White Dimension, I must make sure to learn something new.


    I also checked my two other fragments and made sure I know how to use them. Honestly, they were nothing to scoff at.


    Breath fragment allowed me to breathe in any condition while ze allowed me to burn down almost anything and everything¡­ including fire itself.


    I called Aelia Scarlet in the White Dimension as well, to learn from her and teach her my own tricks.


    At the end, when I felt like I had nothing more to learn, I moved out of the White dimension as I bid farewell to everyone there.


    ¡­


    "So, why did you call us here?" Amelia asked as she observed me, and I turned at her before turning at everyone present in the room.


    "Before I tell you anything, it would be better to gather some ce where there is a lot of space," I muttered and Amelia used her magic to move all of us, at once towards an empty greennd where there was only grass as far as one can see.


    "You are in my private dimension of sorts¡­ so is this fine?" Amelia spoke as she turned at me and I looked at her dumbfoundedly before speaking,"yeah¡­ this is perfect."


    I then turned to look at everyone who was there.


    Lucy, Lucas, Adara, Annabeth, Elizabeth, Eliza, Christine, Amelia, Bete, Hera, Linda and Irene. There was also a screen showing Mark observing me with a serious expression.


    "I think almost everyone here knows about the uing dangers of the Parasites, don''t you?" I spoke as I observed them, and they nodded at me. Half of them had seen things with their own two eyes while the others had been informed about it.


    "Well¡­ Honestly, I thought that they would being in 5-6 years at worst, but my intelligence has told me that¡­ There is a change of ns. The Parasites areing here directly and that means that they could arrive any moment¡­ an entire army of what you saw a glimpse of at Iredale Castle," I spoke as I made a slight firm expression and everyone looked at me with a slightly terrified gaze before Mark and Amelia asked simultaneously,


    "Do you have a n?"


    And I pondered a little before speaking,"I had a n before, now I am just rushing it here. Nothing really changed for me but the things I was supposed to do over ten years, I need to finish it within a year¡­ that too, hoping that the Parasites don''t strike immediately."


    Mark closed his eyes for a few seconds before looking at everyone around the area before speaking.


    "I am assuming that you have a task for us all? What can we do to help you?"


    Amelia and a few others looked at the interaction between me and Mark with a surprised expression before they turned at me and I spoke.


    "Yeah¡­ I called you here for that purpose exactly. I don''t think I can do this all by myself anymore, so I will be needing your help."


    ''Honestly, it is more of a risk to actually let others do my work cause if weck in any of the areas, we might end up losing more than we can save¡­ I need to n this very very carefully,'' I thought as I began moving towards Amelia.

 Chapter 219 A Sudden Change Of Pace#2

    "Above everything else, we need two things to even start hoping for our survival against the Parasites. One is a safe haven, a ce where humanity can survive and build its defences and a ce where people can be stronger and have its hope pinned. I will be making Arcadia Academy as the base and set up enough defences to make it strong enough to stand against a full blown attack," I spoke as I observed Amelia who began pondering over the whole situation.


    She thought about it for a few moments before speaking,"I would like to know about it in more detail. What''s the other thing?" she asked as she looked at me.


    "A device that would give a warning prior to their arrival. While we can''t predict when they woulde precisely, an rm that would give us an idea of how much time we approximately have would be really nice," I spoke as I began pondering over this whole situation before looking at Amelia who spoke,


    "Sure. Just tell us what to do."


    I nodded before turning to Mark Leeway,"Send Reeve here, I would be needing him here as well. Alsoe meet me in 3 weeks here," and then I turned to Christine and spoke,"call William here."


    One by one, I tasked everyone within the room regarding the work they needed to do. Everyone had a specific role to y in the uing war and I needed all of them whom I had selected or was about to select, to be ready to fulfil their respective roles when the time would be right.


    As each of them heard mymand they looked at me with a pondering expression before nodding at me.


    While some were given minor tasks like training or watching over the others, others were given major tasks that could change the direction of where the world was going. For example, I asked Annabeth to call Williamson and tell him that I want to meet Merlin within this week in Arcadia Academy.


    While normally that personage won''t even waste time to even look at me, because of the situation, I believe she wille here at once. All the more as I asked Mark and Amelia to vouch for me.


    Then there was Lucas, whom I asked to take over Vanguards and join the three groups before passing it on to Adam ke, the leader of the Grey Rectifiers, the other group which existed along with Vanguards. The final group''s name was Light Bearers, which didn''t have one leader but a council of 5 people leading it.


    Lucas'' work was to make sure Adam joins him and tobine all the groups as one and while I wanted him to do it all by himself, I still thought about lending a bit of a help to him to make things smoother for him.


    Linda had an extremely special and difficult task of helping me out in opening the gate to the Netherrealms. Since, I will be going all out, it would be better if I get my own original weapon if I want to fight like how I used to and one of my original weapons, The Death of Duality, a set of dual chained ck swords, was currently residing deep within the Netherrealm.


    Once I had done everything I could do here, I decided to take on my ssmates whom I called a few hours ago in the school basement. Since I needed to bring someone along with me who can credit my abilities in front of my ssmates, I think bringing anyone present here would do the trick¡­


    "Adara, Lucas and Annabeth, minding with me somewhere. Hera, you take over Adara''s work for now," I spoke as I moved out of the room without wasting any time and those three followed me without uttering any word.


    We used Lucas'' car to reach our school area, where it was mostly empty except for a bunch of cars which probably belonged to the ones I called here. I, along with Adara, Lucas and Annabeth moved towards the ss and then towards the basement.


    In front of the basement gate, I found a bunch of my ssmates waiting for me as they checked the time. The first one to notice me was Gloria, and as soon as she saw me she began walking towards me but soon her steps halted as she observed the ones alongside me.


    "L-Lucas?!! Student Council president?!!!! And is that Miss Annabeth?!! What are they doing here?" The one who was shouting was Jenkins who stared at the three of them behind me with a nk expression.


    The others were equally shocked as well.


    Reaching closer to them, I turned at Adara and spoke,"unlock the basement gate," before turning to look at everyone present here.


    Jenkins, Rheo, Gloria, Variel and Green¡­ hmmm..


    "Where is Howard?" I asked with a serious voice and Jenkins turned to me , saying,"He is with Paul right now."


    "And where is Paul?" I asked as my voice turned a bit deep. The way I was looking at Jenkins, made everyone take a step away from me. Perhaps because things were already so off track that even a small deviation from my ns was enough to tick me off. Still I kept my cool enough to not do or say anything rash here.


    "Paul should be in his apartment¡­ it should be 15 minutes away from here," Jenkins spoke and I turned to Lucas and said,"Call Geralt Icer and ask him to talk to Paul and send Howard here. He has 5 minutes," I spoke before looking at Adara opening the gate to the basement.


    "The rest of youe inside," I said as I walked inside the basement. The others looked at each other as they had already sensed the serious atmosphere from my demeanour.


    "It is better if you guys follow him¡­ he is in a really bad mood. It would be better to not tick him off anymore," Lucas advised as he called Geralt Icer, the elder brother of Paul Icer and began conversing with him.


    Meanwhile the others, gulping a little, entered the basement room behind me. They didn''t know what was going on¡­ but they knew that it wasn''t simple at all.

 Chapter 220 Cook Flynn

    I walked towards the centre of the basement area. This ce was more of a used training area which wasn''t open to the new students yet because the runes present in this area were still discharged.


    It was a monster core powered rune and was designed, keeping in mind the safety of the students when they would train using their maximum power. It also had a special healing function that allowed them to recover faster so that the training efficiency can be enhanced to another level.


    "First things first, Rheo came here. Since I promised to teach you a new de technique, I think it would be better to show you first," I spoke, and it made Rheo a bit confused as he looked at me hesitantly.


    However, before he could speak anything, a ck de made of dark energy came into my hands and his eyes turned open wide. Adara, Lucas and Amelia also looked at me with a somewhat surprised expression.


    ''I kind of forgot that physical manifestation of a weapon isn''t possible right now¡­ not unless you have an extreme Mana Maniption capabilities,'' I thought as I spoke,


    "Think of this as your weapon and then focus on these areas." I then applied Light Magic, making everyone, including Adara and Amelia, observe me with an expression of disbelief. It was as if they were looking at something which they didn''t expect even me to do¡­


    ''Well, opposite nature shouldn''t even exist together to begin with¡­ let alone finding someone who existed who could control it both at once,'' I thought as I sighed before observing the de and positioning the Light mana at the spots where I removed Dark mana from.


    "Try creating this pattern with your Dark Mana and use a little bit of your blood," I said, and he was still observing my magic de with deep seated fear in his eyes. I then retracted my mana, erasing the de from there, at which he snapped back to reality before I exined,


    "I will be doing that again. You take out your de and try to create the mana pattern which I just showed you." He looked at me, nodded a little, with that stupefied expression still stered across his face. I observed him as he took out his de and he tried creating the same pattern by himself.


    Surprisingly, he was able to recreate the pattern by himself, but maybe due tock of precision, maintaining it was taking a toll on him, so I touched his de and helped him maintain its structure.


    Then I asked him to put a drop of blood in his de, which he did without much hesitation and then his eyes opened up wide as he looked at his de before looking at his system.


    [New Skill Acquired!]


    [Dark Mana de: Coated with the Ancient Ruins of the Azame Civilization. The de in your hands will gain the ability to cut through anything as if it was slicing paper.


    Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 2 hours]


    "Looks like you received it. I hope it satisfies you," I muttered, and he looked at me with a dazed expression before he muttered,


    "To give away such a terrifying skill without much hesitation¡­ just who exactly are you?"


    I sighed before turning at Cook and speaking,"Man! I wanted to control you indirectly, but I guess I should do it on my own.. Come here." Rheo, who just kept looking at me, then moved back without speaking anything else. Personally, I felt like the question was a bit ticking me off here¡­ I mean, I understand, but how many times has it been now that people have asked me who I am?


    ''Maybe I should carry business cards with me or something?'' I pondered before sighing a little and then looking at Cook, still standing at a distance with a terrified expression.


    Looking at her, I smiled a little and spoke,"I can bring back the Red Fairies and yeah¡­ they are still alive."


    Hearing my words, everyone was confused as their eyesight shifted between Cook and I, and observing her for more than a few seconds, I saw her expression changing from terrified to shocked and then to baffled.


    "What did you just say?" she asked with her eyes getting a bit teary as slight hope enters into them.


    "I said that, they are still alive¡­ and I can bring them back," I repeated and she observed me with a stupor as she asked again,


    "Red Fairies?"


    "Yes," I spoke.


    "They are alive?" She asked


    "Yes," I replied


    "And you can bring them back?" She hoped


    "Yes," I fulfilled that hope


    "Do you know where I sent them?" She inquired


    "Yes," I affirmed.


    "Are you sure you can?" she confirmed once again.


    "Yes."


    ...


    In the White Dimension, a few weeks ago.


    "She is Cook Flynn. She died in an ident a few hours ago, which was nned by Demetri in the previous timeline," Elle spoke as she looked at me and then Cook was confused about what was going on around her.


    [Author''s Note: Demetri was that traitor guy from Volume 1. He betrayed the Vampire King and stole the First Vampire Queen''s Amulet, whichter on was taken by Zero after killing him.]


    I looked at her and found her a bit familiar and asked,


    "What were you doing before you came here?"


    "Uh¡­ I was¡­ I was going to the Arcadia Academy for a test¡­ and then something happened¡­ something like a wide range fireball came from the front and then¡­ I was here. What happened? Did I die?" She asked with a really shocked expression as she realised her situation.


    I observed her and then calmed her down using magic as I began exining everything that had happened. The fact that she was dead, and about the timelines, everything else was told to her which she should know.


    I told her about the reason she was here, which was her deepest desire and stuff and the fact that she can''t pass on from here until I help her get what she wants, at which she then looks at me with a wide-eyed expression as I see hope filling in those eyes of hers.

 Chapter 221 Cook Flynn#2

    [Cook Flynn''s POV]


    About 4 years ago,


    I was among the prodigies in my school where the difference between the others and I was that of heaven and earth.


    People hated me more than they liked me and I had more backstabbers than real friends¡­ no, in fact, there weren''t any real genuine friends at all. Just people who used me and those who did not.


    Though I wasn''t alone. I couldn''t make friends with humans, but I found someone else to make friends with¡­ Ignis, A Fire Elemental.


    Normally, a Fire Elemental shouldn''t be visible to anyone, but for some reason, he was to me. On a random normal day, I found him half dead in a corner. Because of his elemental nature, he was visible even in the darkness and curious as I was; I went closer to him¡­ looked at him for a few moments before¡­


    [Fire of Life]


    I used my magic to heal him. With my System, [Fire Generation System] I was able to use fire as my primary element and air as my secondary element.


    I just thought that using fire would be helpful, so I did that. Surprisingly, it worked, and he healed up pretty quickly before standing up and looking at me with a deep analysing gaze.


    I would be lying if I say that I wasn''t sacred, but for some reason it didn''t feel like he was going to harm me. Which actually turned out to be trueter on as he began talking with me.


    Since we both had no idea how I could see him, we asked each other multiple curiosity filled questions which we could think of. The other mystery was about how I could understand him, even when he wasn''t speaking ournguage.


    ''Must be my System, I suppose,'' I thought as I put it at the back of my mind.


    From that day, everyday I kept meeting him after sses. We used to hang out, and I used to feed him using my powers, in exchange for him telling me ways to utilise my powers more strongly.


    I had a dream to attend the Arcadia Academy, and I wanted to fulfil that¡­ but I had heard that you need to be stronger even among the strongest to actually have a chance of getting to study there.


    Time passed on with our daily meetings, and soon he asked me if I would meet his elemental family. He said that he wanted to go meet them as he would fade and ultimately die if he stayed too far from them for a very long period.


    When I heard that for the first time from him, I almost screamed at him. I was really furious as he hid such crucial details that involved his life, but for some reason, he wasn''t as serious as he should be.


    Well¡­ in any case, as his best friend, I decided to help him get back to his family. It was quite an interesting journey, but by the end of the week, we actually ended up reaching there¡­


    Only to find myself standing in a circle, taken as a hostage against a certain monster who looked like a hybrid of human and wolf. There was something strange about it and its red eyes.


    "I brought a Human for you¡­ now leave my family," spoke the Fire Elemental¡­ the one whom I had thought of as my best friend¡­ the one with whom I fell in love with.


    The monster looked at me and then smiled with a really creepy smile before he spoke,"because you took too long¡­ One is not enough. Bring me another one and leave this one here."


    Well, that Fire Elemental, rather than getting angry at me, he just sighed as if he knew this was going to happen. He simply just moved in front of me and turned to that monster as he spoke,


    "I am really sorry that I used you. I will always value family over anything¡­ even if it means betraying someone''s trust. But I am really d¡­ d that he was just an immoral wolf breed, and had so much greed enough to go back on his own words. Cook Flynn, can you please hate me and run away from here?"


    I saw him standing in front of me, with his back much wider than before. It was as if the kid that I had known had suddenly grown up to be a man¡­ It was an odd feeling. He betrayed me, but I couldn''t bring myself to hate him¡­


    "Who said you are escaping from here?" that wolf breed vanished before moving behind me immediately as he continued speaking,"do you really think you can escape me with those pathetic powers of yours?"


    -Boom!!!!!!


    I then saw that Fire Elemental, Ignis, vanishing from there as he attacked that wolf breed, shocking all of us at once.


    ''Was he really this strong?'' I thought before realising that if he were really that strong, he wouldn''t have needed to bring me here. Looks like as he kept eating my powers, he got much much stronger. Somehow I felt happy thinking about that.


    However, that¡­ happiness didn''tst long as Ignis spoke,


    "More of them areing¡­ please run! I beg you!"


    "What about you and your family?!" I asked with tears threatening to flow, but in return he only sighed as he observed me and spoke,"I don''t think we have anywhere left to go. Perhaps this¡­ is going to be our grave¡­ it was a nice journey, Cook¡­ maybe in another life we could be together."


    Then he continued fighting against that monster, using all his powers while tears began flowing from my eyes as I kept thinking what I should do.


    And as if the System heard my plea, I got a new skill


    [Hellfire Transfer: Sumb those to that world]


    It was a skill with no exnation to anything¡­ and I¡­ I don''t know why¡­ why, but¡­ I thought that sending the Fire Elementals to a ce where there is fire¡­ would be a good option.


    So I did that¡­ only to find Ignis looking at me with a nk expression before crying tears of fire as he spoke,"why did you do that¡­?" and then he died before turning into ash.


    The wolf breed was dead, and the others wereing there, so collecting the ashes,I ran away from there.


    Later on¡­ when I searched about the Hellfire Transfer as I upgraded it more¡­ I found that it was an eternal very dimension where any and all beings once entered can never return, trapped to work there for all eternity.

 Chapter 222 There Is No Single Person Who Doesnt Have A Dark Past

    A few weeks ago in the White Dimension.


    [Zero''s POV]


    After hearing Cook''s story carefully, I began reviewing it. If I remember correctly, then Hellfire Realm is either Netherrealm or Demonic Dimension, but I am not sure which.


    ''Looks like I need to search about it,'' I thought as I observed Cook before speaking,


    "Well, your desire. Even though I can guess it, I would still like you to say it in your own words."


    She observed me and nodded before speaking.


    "I would like you to save Ignis'' family for me. I had already done what I shouldn''t have and I know this isn''t enough, but at least I could help them out a little."


    Hearing her words, I calcted a little before speaking," I guess so. Well, I would probably be visiting both Demonic Dimension and Netherrealm, so I guess I can help them out in the process. You can stay here with the others till then."


    Cook looked at me with a smile and her eyes were quite bright at this particr momentpared to a few moments ago.


    I saw a bit of reverence in her eyes and I smiled before speaking with Elle,


    "I guess I will be going now. If you need anything, just call me, okay?"


    She nodded and then I exited the White Dimension, returning to the real world.


    ¡­.


    Back to present.


    Basement of the ss 1E Building.


    "Do you know where I sent them?" She inquired


    "Yes," I affirmed.


    "Are you sure you can?" she confirmed once again.


    "Yes."


    "..." She analysed me over and over before looking at Adara and Lucas and then back at me.


    "You do know-"


    "Fire Elemental. Ignis. Hellfire World¡­ I know what I am talking about. I know the way to it and also have the way to save everyone ande back. Just that I need your help in the process as well," I spoke, and she looked at me with a deep gaze before she spoke.


    "I will do anything for them."


    ''Sure. I was searching for someone to sacrifice 90% of their power to open the Gates of Hell, anyway. I guess I can call myself lucky in this scenario,'' I thought as I observed her and nodded before looking at Gloria and Variel.


    Gloria had three elder sisters and except the second sister, the other three of them had a really strong bond.


    Her eldest sister was already married and studying abroad while also managing her husband''s business, while her second sister was a scientist who has always kept herself cooped up in theboratory doing all sorts of experiments rted to animals and monsters.


    The third sister, Gloria''s closest sister, was studying in another Academy named Red Rock Academy, the rival Academy of Arcadia, a few hundred kilometres away from here.


    Gloria''s family wasn''t rich from the beginning but was brought up thedder of society by the 4 sisters, each contributing in their own ways to the family''s wealth and fame. As for their parents, they were as average as they could be.


    Variel or Lavariel, was exactly the opposite of Gloria as he was the only son and all his fame, wealth and power came from his parents.


    He had an inted ego but his parents, being smart and mature, didn''t let him end up as a spoiled brat, instead focused on helping him in ways he needed and also promoting anything that would make him like that.


    They wanted Variel to be a strongbatant whom they could be proud of and since Variel liked to y with ropes and stuff; they manipted him into making rope as his weapon and used it to his advantage, which he wasn''t really against.


    "Gloria¡­ Variel¡­ Hmmm¡­ Let''s wait for Howard toe here. I would like all four of you to understand what is going to happen and what I need you guys to do," I muttered before¡­


    -Bang!


    The door of the basement opened up as we saw Howard arriving here. As he huffed a lot and caught his breath before slowly moving in while he was still catching his breath.


    "What is going on here?" A voice came from behind as a couple of people arrived behind Howard and looking at them¡­


    They were the three Icer Brothers and their goons.


    More and more people came flooding inside the basement and most of them were from 5th year and 4th year. About 40-50 people in total.


    Well, the area was big enough to amodate that many people without any problem. Standing in the forefront was Geralt Icer, as he moved in front with his hands inside his pockets as he observed Adara and then Lucas.


    Since he had probably not seen Amelia in this form, he won''t be able to tell anyone else apart here.


    "Adara Harriet and Lucas Laurentz are in the same room with a bunch of other kids. I see there is the genius Unorthodox Fresher here as well," Geralt spoke as he looked down on all of us.


    Paul was observing Gloria, Variel and mostly Rheo. They even looked at Howard with a slick smile before turning at me and chuckling among themselves.


    A few of them were worried as they observed Lucas and Adara.


    "I am¡­ not in a good mood. So, can you guys just leave from here?" I spoke politely, without any fury in my eyes.


    "Hmmm¡­ what did you say?" The middle brother, Pleus Icer, spoke in an arrogant tone as he looked at me and continued,


    "Brother, leave that punk to me. I will teach him some manners."


    A creepy smile formed on his face and I sighed before speaking to Geralt as Ipletely ignored Pleus.


    "I will tell you who killed your girlfriendst year with proof, but right now I am busy, so leave from here. I won''t rep-


    -Bam!


    I saw Geralt moving at me with a really shocked expression, but Lucas moved in between and pushed him back.


    The rest of the ss was shocked as they observed Geralt being pushed back with such ease¡­ though everyone''s eyes then turned at me with a curious expression.


    "Meet me in 2 hours right here. I will tell you everything, but right now, get away from here," I spoke as I looked at him standing back again as he observed Lucas and the rest of us.

 Chapter 223 Questions And Answers....

    Geralt stood up, looked at me with aplex expression before observing Lucas, Annabeth and Adara, and specifically observing Lucas with a serious expression.


    Pleus was about to shout something but Paul interjected and said,"we can''t win. Geralt doesn''t want to fight as well. If he really has the information regarding what happened to brother''s girlfriend, consider that we have already lost this round."


    Paul was observing me with slight fury in his eyes and, hearing his words, everyone turned to me.


    ''O! I thought Paul was a hard-headed kid with no brains, but looks like he got some, enough to read the situation,'' I thought as I looked at them while all of them were observing me.


    "Let''s go," Geralt spoke as he told everyone in his group to move out. Since it was just about a couple of hours, he decided to wait for it.


    I observed them sceptically as they observed each other before slowly moving out of there. It didn''t seem like they were happy with the oue, but since Geralt was their leader, they had to follow his words.


    "Next time, pray that you won''t meet us. I wonder how long you can hide behind others," spoke Pleus, the same thing which Paul spoke to mest time.


    Now that I have been warned by them twice, I actually wanted to see what they were going to do.


    ''Wish I could y with them, but thisck of time is really irritating,'' I thought as I saw them vanishing from there as the door closed.


    Even though everyone was gone, I sensed Geralt, Paul and Pleus still standing outside the building, waiting for the time to pass. Perhaps they didn''t want any of us to disappear on them or perhaps they thought to pass the time here by themselves rather than going somewhere else, but I guess they will be staying here for the time being.


    "Now that all of you are here, let''s get to the main point directly. I want you guys to control ss 1E. Annabeth, for the time being, I need you to watch over them, before passing the leadership to Gloriater. As for the reason why¡­"


    I began exining about the Parasites and their powers and how the world Apocalypse is soon approaching. It would have been hard to make them believe, but I had asked Mark to send me a video of what happened in Iredale castle beforehand.


    They kind of wanted to say that it was fake but when they saw Mark Leeway and I exined about how I was there at that time ''coincidentally'' as I was called to help Bete. I made a couple of videos when I was dining with the Leeways and showed it to them, which made them look at me with a nk expression.


    I then exined the ''Reaper''s n'', which I totally agree with and was helping him out in ways I can. That is to increase the overall power level of the students in this academy.


    After I finished exining things to them, they just nkly stared at me without speaking a word. There was a pin drop silence within the area as everyone just stood there trying to process everything that they had just learnt.


    "Fuck!" was the word that Howard spoke to tell everyone that he was overwhelmed.


    "Shit!" was the word that Jenkins used to express his dearest feeling.


    Well, everyone of them was feeling the same, Cook, Variel, Rheo and the two, all of them felt the same.


    "But¡­ aren''t we just a bunch of kids? Just how much can we hope to help?" Asked Cook as she looked at me with self doubt in her eyes.


    "Yeah, shouldn''t the adults be the one to handle this situation?" Howard was the same.


    "I¡­ this is too big for us," and so was Jenkins.


    I moved towards them one step at a time and spoke,


    "Once the war starts, it might continue for more than a decade, and that''s when we need to get everything under control, during those years. By that time, you too will be adults and while I am not insisting for you to fight, at least learn with me for the sake of protecting yourself and your families.


    What I really want from you is to create a path for the next generation to be stronger. While Reaper is collecting strong people, I have taken the task to help people get strong enough to teach the next generation to be much stronger¡­ if you have any questions, then you may ask anytime."


    As they heard me, their eyes be more rxed than before and then they observed me with a slightly odd expression and Jenkins spoke,


    "But why us¡­ There are tens of people in this Academy who are much, much better than us. Why not take their help but us?"


    "They too are included, but most of them will be tasked with fighting as well as assigned to our defence force, with the strongest one fighting at the forefront with Reaper and the others. Any other questions?" I answered as I looked at him and it was Cook who asked a question next.


    "About the Elementals. How are you going to find time for that if you are going to be so busy with all this?"


    "About that, it''s not just to you, but to everyone that I have promised something. I will help you all along the way. I have something to do in the Hellfire Dimension. Got someone to kill there and someone to save there, so not toote from now, I will be going there. While I will be there, I will save your Elementals," I answered as I pondered about it a little, while Cook asked again,


    "Are you sure you will be safe there all by yourself?"


    "All by myself? What are you talking about? I will be going with Reaper and a few others. I will also be taking your help in at least opening the Gates to Hell. I am not an idiot to dive into hell without any back-up n," I said as I shook my head before looking at Rheo again.

 Chapter 224 Plus And Minuses Of Life

    Observing Rheo, I pondered a little before speaking,"I''ll assign you a few additional tasks than the others and I will brief you about themter on. For now, I think you can leave, as it will take time dealing with the other stuff. Also, about what happened here¡­ it wouldn''t require a smartass to figure out what would happen if something about this gets leaked."


    Rheo observed me, reviewed the words and then left from there.


    I don''t need to worry about him telling anything to anyone cause, well; I am going to spread news about this to everyone by the end of the year, anyway. If it happens faster, then I will deal with it using force. If it goes smoothly, I can just manipte everyone, taking my sweet time.


    How it will reach the end depends on them, mostly.


    "Howard. Jenkins. This should be enough proof that I can deal with your problems. As for our previous deal, nothing has changed about it, except that, now you know the reason behind it as well. So, what would be your decision concerning this?" I asked and observed them.


    Jenkins looked at me for quite sometime before he spoke,


    "I don''t think I am worthy enough for this. All these tasks are¡­ too overwhelming for me."


    "So what will you do when the Parasites will attack? Cower behind others and hope your family stays safe with no idea where they are, how they are and what they are doing? Worst-case scenario, they are with you and you don''t have the power to protect them. Is that what you are hoping for?" I asked as I observed him and he turned silent.


    There was aplex look on his face, and Howard was the one to speak up here,


    "Can we really do it? We aren''t monsters like Sir Lucas or Miss Adara or even Mr. Reaper¡­ Compared to them, we are just¡­ trash."


    "Well, you are trash all right," I spoke with a bit of a dominant look and they turned at me as I continued speaking,"but you are my trash. Don''t think lightly of me, as you have no idea who I am and where Ie from. Just by bing my trash, your worth increases by 100s of times and you should understand that. Don''t worry about failing, since I am the one putting you in front. I will be the one correcting your mistakes at almost every point. If you have anything else troubling you, then do tell." Howard looked at me for a while as he tried analysing me and after a few moments he spoke,"can we get some time to think about it?"


    Looking at Jenkins, it looked like he had the same feelings as Howard, so I nodded as I spoke,"sure. I will give you time till tomorrow morning. I hope you have reached a conclusion by then."


    After that, both of them nodded and left from there. Cook Flynn was still there, and I turned at Adara as I spoke,"take her with you. She got some ability rted to fire and try training her on the side with Bete, since both of them have simr powers."


    Adara nodded as she began moving towards Cook and I spoke again,"I will be providing you a list of things that you need to share with others. Let Hera do the Student Council work for now and make some time to finish the tasks which I gave you first. You can take my help anytime you want and also, Amelia, I need you to provide extra help to Adara if I ask you to."


    Amelia, who was watching everything, silently spoke out,"what do I get in return?"


    "I will give you some information about ''him''ter," I said, and she turned serious all of a sudden before speaking,"Tell me now."


    "I will visit your ce tonight," I spoke with a slight wink, making her re at me a little before nodding and then asking,"anything else?"


    I pondered a little before speaking,"I want to meet that guy before summer starts. Make some arrangements."


    "It isn''t possible for me. He is in seclusion and if I disturb him, he will kill me without any hesitation," Amelia spoke and I sighed before speaking,"Well¡­ I guess I will meet him by myself then."


    The first ''him'' was Aidan Williamson, the creator of Amelia. As for the second ''him'' was the guy at the very top of the Stairways of Knowledge. I didn''t want to do any of the two things at least in the first year, but¡­ Oh! Well. Whatever.


    "Anything else?" Amelia asked again and I answered,"Well, apart from the task I asked you to do a few days ago, nothing more."


    She recalls the task, nods at me, and then leaves immediately. The task was to set up a magic rune all over the Arcadia Academy to help people get strong here. Though, now I was going to go all out on creating the rune and making it a full-fledged defensive barrier.


    If I can squeeze a bit of extra time, I will even add the whole Arcadia City into that barrierter on, but we wille to thatter when the timees.


    Adara too leaves from there with Cook, who follows behind her hurriedly as she tries to talk to her. Looks like things will proceed a bit more smoothly now. Next is¡­


    "Annabeth, sorry to put up with this, but can you watch over my ss? It''s a bit sudden-"


    "Sure," Annabeth replies immediately without any hesitation and I look at her with a wide-eyed expression before she speaks,"you saved me and Elle for this same thing, didn''t you? Plus, it is something that all of us have to faceter on, so if I can help you out to return the favour, forget about doing such small things. I could even fight against an entire army as long as it''s reasonable. If you need me for anything else, just ask me. Also, can you tell me exactly how you want me to watch over them? I might end up doing things differently than you are expecting me to."


    Hearing her words, I was a bit dumbfounded, but then a smile forms on my face as I said,"Thanks. I will be depending on you then. As for the way to handle my ss¡­"

 Chapter 225 Geralts Girlfriend

    There was Annabeth with me, and then there was Lucas, and since it was these two, I did not mind telling them the ns regarding my ssmates. It was all the more better because if Annabeth needed any help, Lucas could help her out at moments.


    I began exining about each and every student to Annabeth, their weaknesses, their strong points. Those who need to be helped out, those who need to be controlled and how to manipte them.


    "While you can do everything my way, you can still choose any other method to achieve what I want. In the end, I want at least half of the ss to reach up to my expectations and that means, I want to be at least S-Rank by the end of the year. As for the methods, I will pass on that to you by tonight," I spoke as I observed Annabeth looking at me with a dumbfounded expression and Lucas, too, observed me with a surprised gaze.


    As time will pass, things will get much more hazy and nobody knows where everyone will end up. Maybe everyone will die before the year ends or maybe all of them will be SS-Rank by the end? Nobody exactly knows.


    ''But at least they will be way stronger than they could ever be in their entire life,'' I thought as I looked at Annabeth before asking,


    "Any questions?"


    She looked at me for a few moments before asking,"Well¡­ where do I start from?"


    I pondered a little before speaking,"I was going to start with Paul and Rheo but since it''s you¡­ Take in Nelson and Ross, give them a week of training. They are easy to handle and would probably listen to you. Also, Nelson will start liking Campbell soon enough, so make sure to use that as a motivation too."


    She pondered about it a little and then sighed before speaking,"it''s kind of hard to figure out whether you are an evil person or a really nice guy, you know?"


    "True. Every time I meet you, either you are manipting someone or doing something that is going to help humanity in the future," Lucas said as he observed me with a slight chuckle before he continued,"I need to be somewhere, how long will this take?"


    "Aren''t they both the same?" I asked with a slight smile before speaking,"not too long. Just need to fix the three brothers and bring them under my control. While they have potential, they are more of a ticking time bomb and that may create problemter." Lucas and Annabeth nodded together before I spoke,"Annabeth, you may leave. Leave this to Lucas and I. Also send those three inside here. You will find them in the restaurant on the oppositene."


    Annabeth nodded before leaving from there and meanwhile I turned to Lucas before speaking,"If I kill Geralt and his brothers, what are the consequences?"


    Lucas turned to me for a brief moment before speaking,"if it was before Lucifer met me, I would have stopped you with all my might, but¡­ it involves my sister and I won''t lose any other of my family members anymore."


    ''Anymore, huh? This reminds me of ''Her''. I still have to save her,'' I thought as I recalled some bitter memories from my past timeline.


    "As for the current consequences¡­ I don''t think there is any. Given your connections and powers, I doubt anyone would lift even a finger if you were to do something to them and that too only after they find out who had done it," Lucas spoke as he thought about it and I nodded at his reasoning.


    "Well¡­ while that is all correct, there is one being that would kill me if I do anything to Geralt. She won''t just kill me, she will obliterate anything rted to me," I spoke as I saw Geralt and his two brothersing in as they observed Lucas and Istanding together.


    "Now tell me. Who did it?" Geralt spoke with an impatient and slightly furious tone as he looked at me with a dominant gaze, and I smiled before taking out an orb from my pocket.


    "While I was searching for your weakness using the security cameras a few nights ago, I had to dig deeper to find out about your life and things that happened to you. And after searching for it for over an hour, luckily I found something," I said as I yed the video which showed Geralt and his girlfriend walking together as a beautiful couple.


    Geralt''s eyes widened up as he looked at that and so did his brothers'' as they kept observing it with an attentive expression. Their previous casual gaze, filled with slight mockery, was wiped out by the seriousness as they focused on the screen.


    Geralt''s girlfriend, Alianna, then said goodbye to Geralt as Adam, his leader at that time, called him on short notice somewhere. Alianna then began walking towards her dorm room and the camera followed her for sometime.


    I fast forwarded a bit to the point where the incident happened. Soon, a man covered in ck cloth came out of the shadows and began following Alianna. Alianna, noticing someone following her, turned around and stopped.


    At that time, Alianna was a strong A-Ranked crossbow user, so she took out her bow and aimed at that guy as she began questioning him. An argument ensued and soon Alianna shot that guy, however, that guy easily dodged it and began moving towards Alianna.


    A small fight¡­ no, it was a one-sided struggle from Alianna''s side as that guy punched Alianna, beat her down to a puld¡­ took her in an alley, did whatever he could do to her. She could be seen screaming in the video, but perhaps because of some magic or artefact, her voice wasn''t heard.


    This continued for another hour or so, before that guy stood up and looked at the lifeless body of Alianna and put on his clothes. He then used a re artefact and burned Alianna''s bruised and battered body, not leaving anything behind; even her ashes were gone¡­.

 Chapter 226 Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold

    The guy in ck vanished from there without leaving behind any trace, and I changed the camera about a couple of kilometres away from there to the point where he came into vision.


    It was about a couple of kilometres away from the Stairways of Heaven, where there were little to no people. Since there were exams going on, people were busy preparing for them, either they were cooped up in their dorms or in the library.


    That guy came into vision in a dark alley as he took off his dark clothes and hence revealing his face, as it came into view.


    The 3 Icer brothers'' eyes turned wide open as they observed the face of that man. While Lucas made a scary face as he observed that man. It was the Current Leader of the Vanguard, ze Tyson.


    "ze¡­ why?! He didn''t even know me back then?!!! Then¡­WHY!!! WHY??!!! WHAT DID I DO TO HIM??!!! JUST WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO HIM TO DO THAT¡­ JUST WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HIM!!!!" with tears running down his face and fury in his voice, Geralt almost bolted towards the basement exit¡­


    -BOOOM!!!


    But he was kicked back and crashed against the wall in front of everyone. Paul and Pleus looked at Lucas standing in front of him and Geralt slowly stood back up, coughed blood as he held his chest, and then red at Lucas as he spoke.


    "Move or I will kill you."


    "Listen-"


    -Whoosh!!!


    -BOOOM!!!


    Once again, Geralt was pushed back to the wall by Lucas as he spoke with a slightly angered expression,"I know you want to have your revenge. I totally understand that-


    "THEN FUCKING LET ME LEAVE FROM HERE!!!!!! [ABLAZE DRIFT]" Shouted Geralt as he enhanced his speed and moved towards the side¡­


    -Whoosh!!! Lucas tried moving in the same direction where Geralt was escaping to, but Paul and Pleus came in between them.


    Finding an opening, Geralt increased his speed as he moved towards the exit, but before he could do so,


    -BOOOM!!!


    -BOOOM!!!


    -BOOOM!!!


    Lucas once again kicked him back after kicking his brothers, too. Once again, he was pushed against the wall, crashed and fell down on the ground.


    "First. Listen to him¡­" Lucas spoke as he pointed in my direction and the others red at me with a narrowed gaze. I looked at Lucas, nodded at him, before observing Geralt as I smiled and spoke.


    "Would you like to¡­ meet Alianna again?"


    Geralt''s eyes turned wide open in disbelief, and he wanted to speak something, but before he could say anything I continued,"no¡­ she isn''t alive¡­ She is dead. However, there is a way¡­ to bring her back. Want to hear it?" "What are you trying to do?" Paul warily looked at me with a re as he continued,"brother¡­ be careful. He could be trying to use your current emotional state against you and make you work for him. He is an expert in doing that¡­ he is dangerous." Geralt Icer, hearing Paul''s words, snapped back from his stupor and looked at me with narrowed gaze and spoke with a dominant tone,"Exin." "There is a world called Netherrealm, where the people''s souls travel to when they are wrongfully killed. The greater their emotional turmoil during their death, the greater the pain they must have felt at that time, the more powerful their soul bes.


    After some time, their soul bes powerful enough to take a physical form and soon it grows into their previous forms¡­ or into something that they desire. If I am correct, Alianna''s soul must be evolving inside the Nethearrealm and¡­ I will be visiting that ce soon. Want me to bring her back with me?"


    ''Honestly, it isn''t soul but emotions that take form in Netherrealm, with the original soul being already dead. But we don''t need to tell him about that, do we?'' I thought as I observed his hopeful expression as if he had found life.


    "What if you are lying?" asked Paul as he looked at me with a threatening look and I smiled before speaking,"Your brother can confirm thatter, can''t he?"


    At my words, everyone turned to Geralt as he slowly stood up and spoke,"I¡­ I think I can¡­ I can confirm. But can you¡­ can you really bring her back? When do we need to go?"


    I saw Geralt''s eyes shaking as he looked at me and I made a confused expression before speaking,"we? You won''t be going. If you were to leave, then you would die in a single hit from those monsters."


    "What about you then? Aren''t you weaker than any of us here?" Paul asked again, and I smiled at him before speaking,"I have my ways, also I won''t be going alone. There are a few powerful people I know who will be going with me." Paul then looked at Lucas before sighing and speaking,"If you are telling us all that, then you must have something in your mind that you want from us. Also, what about ze? I don''t think Geralt, Pleus or I will let him live any longer."


    "About that, I want you to kill ze but not right now¡­ if you charge right now, you will first get expelled and then die a humiliating death of a dog. If you think something like this happened to only you, then you couldn''t be further away from the truth, I must tell you. In fact, there are way more people who would be joining you guys in your revenge path¡­ but that needs to wait until the summer is over.


    I need ze for something, and once his use is over, I would give you both the time and ce to kill him.


    As for what I want from you. It''s quite simple, make up with Adam ke and help Lucasbine the three groups at once, under Lucas as the leader of thebined group. Though that needs to be done after ze dies."


    Adam ke was the leader of one of the three groups, Grey Rectifiers. Previously, because ze nned as such, Geralt thought that it was Adam responsible for Alianna''s disappearance. This led to a huge fight between them, but ording to my intel, Adam still considers Geralt as his friend.

 Chapter 227 Everything Has Another Side To It

    "That''s a bit¡­" Geralt, hearing my request, made a slight conflicted expression, but Paul spoke up for him again,"I will make sure he does that. Though, can I ask you for something?"


    I looked at Paul as he continued speaking.


    "I want to know¡­ are you with us or against us?"


    "I am not going to kill you, if that is what you are asking for. I still have a lot of uses for you three. Hope that answers your question" I answered, observing him and he asked again,


    "After our work is over?"


    I made an odd expression as I spoke,"Over? Oh! You don''t know, huh? I don''t think your work will be ever over from now on. I can''t tell you the details, but things will get more hectic as time passes. Annabeth will soon tell you a bit about it. As for your brothers, someone wille for them as well."


    "What do you mean by that?" Pleus spoke as he moved a step ahead, making a bit confused expression and I casually spoke,


    "Don''t worry. I will only use you as much as you are needed. Any extra work that you are tasked with, you will be doing that for yourself."


    "Get to the point," Paul spoke as he red at me and I answered after thinking it a little as,"A war ising. That is all I can tell you right now. You will be told of the detailster on by others. For now, you guys leave. I have some prior work to get to."


    Paul''s eyes widen as he connects the dots a bit before muttering,"you are creating an army¡­ what kind of war?"


    Though I kept silent at that and soon he too had a serious expression before moving towards Geralt and helping him stand and slowly taking him away from here. Pleus wanted to speak something, but he decided to keep quiet and slowly walked away with his brothers.


    After they were gone, Lucas looked at me,"what else ze did?" He had a dangerous look on his face and I just started walking away from there,


    "A lot more things than you can count¡­ he will die a death far more painful than you can imagine."


    ? "Was he nning anything against Lucy?" asked Lucas as he kept observing me and I asked,"what are you going to do with that knowledge?"


    Lucas had fury in his eyes as he dashed towards the exit, but¡­


    -BOOOOM!!!!!!


    I kicked him back as my eyes turned dark ck.


    ''That broke a couple of my bones,'' I thought as I healed them up before observing Lucas and speaking,"what are you doing?"


    I sighed before continuing to speak.


    "I know it''s about your sister, but keep your head calm about things that haven''t happened yet. And overall, at least trust me that nothing would happen to her as long as I am here." He looked at me with a slight re before he took a deep breath calming himself down,"sorry. I kind of lost my cool there and forgot that you are also there in this whole situation. Thanks for getting me to calm down."


    I nodded before analysing him for a few moments to see if he was really calm or not, before speaking,"since I am done here, I will be going now." Then I vanished from there.


    ¡­


    [Adam ke''s POV]


    I am the current leader of Grey Rectifiers. It was a group created to help out the people who have been abused by the people in the Vanguard in their lower ranks. People need enough power to have a standing in Vanguard, but not all can make up for it.


    Not all people suck up to others and prefer to work all by themselves. They don''t like crowds and would prefer if little to no people disturb them.


    Grey Rectifiers was made because people needed a ce to be themselves. Somewhere, they won''t face threats and bullying and work without any problems. It is a ce where people could safeguard themselves against the Vanguards.


    Vanguard has a dirty secret hidden deep within their higher hierarchy and it is my work to remove that from this Academy. This isn''t a ce where such activities should even exist.


    ''But it is easier said than done,'' I thought as I sighed before my secretary came in from the front and gave me some really surprising news.


    "The Icer brothers are here." "Which ones?" I asked, and she replied with a bit of a dumbfounded expression as,"all three of them."


    I narrowed my eyes as I recalled the event that happened two years ago. That was thest time I ever talked with any of the Icer brothers¡­ I wonder what happened?


    "Let them in," I ordered my secretary, and she went down to bring them up. Eventually, the three brothers came in.


    Geralt was making a bit of a sad andplex expression, and his two little brothers were observing me with a keen expression. If I remember correctly, those two have gotten admission to this Academy this year only.


    "How can I help you?" I asked, breaking the strange atmosphere and the first one to speak wasn''t Geralt but his younger brother Paul and what he said made me open my eyes wide nkly.


    "I am Paul Icer and I havee here to tell you something. Recently, we found out who was responsible for the death of Alianna, my brother''s girlfriend. We are here to apologise for-"


    "Who did it?" I asked, ignoring the rest of his words.


    A fury entered my eyes as I looked at Paul, waiting for his next words.


    "It was¡­ ze," Geralt spoke as fury engulfed his eyes and he looked at me and I¡­ wasn''t really surprised by that. I kind of knew it was him¡­ after all, he was the only person who knew about my rtionship with Alianna.


    Alianna¡­ She was my cousin''s sister. We were rted by blood.

 Chapter 228 Back To My Villa

    [Zero''s POV]


    Walking outside the area, first I moved towards the apartment which I had bought beforeing here. First thing is to collect more information about the whole situation, and the next is to make sure everyone I have talked with gets the intel files on what task they are supposed to do.


    I sat on the bed and took out myptop as I began working as I sat in afortable position.


    First there was Rheo, whom I need to send a training regimen to. Reeve Leeway should also arrive soon and I should make them help each other as Rheocks power maniption but has skills, while Reeve was exactly opposite of him, excelling in power maniption butcking skills.


    Then there was Amelia, whom I needed to give a bit of details regarding Aidan and what kind of monster he was. I can''t give his current location to her, as she will only be disappointed with what she will find.


    Also, I sent Annabeth the list of student details and how she could move forward with managing my ss. With the help of Amelia, she should be starting to teach my ss from tomorrow as an assistant teacher.


    I assigned a few more tasks to others, including Elle and Lucy''s current training regime. Since they both would be practising together, they should be able to make the most out of it.


    As for Eliza and Christine, I asked them to meet me tomorrow afternoon with William. They too have some extra work, hopefully which could go smoothly.


    Then I began collecting all the dirt against Vanguards. However, someone opened the door and entered the house. I sensed who it was and found out that ir had arrived here.


    ''That''s early. Did something happen?'' I thought as I sensed ir casually moving towards the bedroom where I was.


    Soon enough, she opens the door of this room and


    -KYaaaa!!!


    She screams before looking at me properly, almost taking out her weapon at me, but then she calms down a little as she asks,"what are you doing here?"


    "Well¡­ it''s my room, so¡­ shouldn''t I be the one who needs to be asking that?" I spoke, and she realises her mistake a bit before speaking with a slightly embarrassed tone.


    "Ah! That actually¡­ I¡­ Uh¡­ hehe¡­ I was¡­"


    It made me chuckle a little before speaking,"It''s okay. I don''t mind. Though, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?" and she turned at me with her eyes fixated on me before she snapped out of her momentary stupor and spoke.


    "Ah! That. The Head Librarian just gave me an early break cause she needs me to do the night shift today. I think she has to go to a sudden meeting called by the Principal. Happened like a few minutes ago."


    I looked at her and recalled that it was me who gave Amelia that task. My eyes then looked at the list of task that I need to finish by today and I pondered again as I spoke,


    "Well¡­ you can take your break, I suppose."


    She looked at me for a few moments, before her eyes turned a bit disappointed as she muttered in a low voice,"okay¡­" and then she began moving outside the room.


    "Though, you cane here to take a rest if you want," I said as I turned to myptop and began focusing on my work. I didn''t see what expression she was making, but I heard her steps stopping for a few moments.


    "I am not going to repeat what I said," I spoke again as I kept working on theptop and then, for the next few moments, I didn''t hear any noise. It was pin drop silence except for the clicking noise of theptop keyboard, which was echoing in the entire room.


    Soon I hear slow footsteps of ir walking inside the room as she takes one step at a time towards me and I turn to her, only to find her wearing a blue sleeveless top with a white miniskirt. Though, rather than a casual dress which you wear at home, it was as if she wore a dress which you''d usually wear when you go meet people outside.


    "You look beautiful," I said with a smile before turning to theptop andputing everything and sending people their respective tasks while also working on collecting additional information that I will be using in the future.


    She moved towards me and sat on the bed right beside me as she looked at myptop to see what I was doing. I nced at her and found her staring at theptop with a slightly fascinated gaze.


    "Curious?" I asked as I kept working on it and ir spoke,"mmhmm."


    I then brought out a new window and opened up the map of the entire Arcadia Academy and then began speaking,"this is the map of this Academy. I am nning to create a huge artefact filled rune that will have multiple functions including enhancing the performance of the students as well as giving this whole area a protection enough to take on an army of S-Grade monsters for more than an year or so."


    She was a bit surprised but wasn''t really shocked to hear that as she asked,"what are you going to do with that? Are you nning to build a kingdom or something simr?"


    "Something like that. A war ising towards me and I need to do everything I can to protect those who are around me. I have already lost people once¡­ can''t afford to lose them again,"I said as I sighed before turning to her, only to find her looking intently at me.


    At this point, I could hear her breath as she was sitting quite close to me. Her face was about a foot away from me, and both she and I were looking at each other.


    Slowly I moved towards her as she stayed still and soon¡­ I felt the sensation of her soft lips touching mine.

 Chapter 229 Feels The Same As Him

    [Author''s note: This is a short side arc, filled with Point of Views of different characters to exin their rtionship and current stand with Zero. Hope you will enjoy this.]


    ¡­


    [Amelia''s POV]


    ''How long has it been?'' I thought as I looked at the text that Zero¡­ no, Aidan sent to me regarding his future ns against the uing hurdle that the entire will be face to face with in the future.


    ''How long has it been since I felt sofortable?'' I thought as I recalled the time when I first met him.


    When I first heard the name Aidan Williamson as it was being ced on the list after the list had been finalised, I thought someone who knows about my past hase to make a deal with me or perhaps use me and manipte me using that knowledge.


    Had that been the case, I would have killed him long ago when I first met him, but¡­


    "Amelia Williamson?" he had asked me back then, which signified that he had not seen me before. After that, I concluded that he is not Aidan but someone else totally.


    ''Someone who just wants to use me, someone who knows about my past¡­ so I should kill him,'' I thought before I was almost about to use my special power but¡­


    "Life Magic: Aura of Life," he said as he increased my life span by a few years as if it were an everyday thing for him.


    I was really surprised¡­ not only with the fact that he can do that but¡­ I felt his aura. Anytime anyone touches my Life Tree, I can feel the aura of that being and Zero¡­ had the exact same aura that Aidan had.


    ''But he said that Aidan is really dead and I can''t sense any lies from him¡­ just what is going on here? Did he forget who he was? Yeah¡­ that must be the case¡­ So what should I do next? Tell him about his past¡­ but he won''t believe me¡­ and I don''t know what kind of truth he knows and¡­ how does he know about that monster Aidan who willter on have Aidan''s memories?'' I thought with a confused expression before I asked,


    "What exactly do you want from here?"


    "I am going to collect some people and groom them. Hope you don''t have any problem with that?" Zero answered me with a keen expression and I could only reply with,"as long as that is all you do."


    He then vanished from there, leaving me all by myself as my thoughts drifted back to when I was with Aidan.


    Because I was really curious and maybe happy, I started learning more and more about Zero and what I found really astonished me. This guy¡­. Was a monster¡­ When taken strength and magic in terms, Aidan was a monster among humans¡­ butpared to that, he was far more mysterious than that.


    The more I looked into him, the more mysterious he became. He helped people by striking a deal that he mostly loses but still fulfils in a way that the one who was being helped ends up respecting him. I don''t know whether he was doing that on purpose or not, but¡­ it was kind of scary.


    Iter met him when the top students were selected where he handled the situation rted to Michael and Sabrina perfectly, andter he brought the Student Council President here to strike a deal with her.


    It irked me a little. Why did he bring her here? Was she really that close to him¡­ I did not find in my files that Zero knew Adara but when I searched about what he did in the Academy, I found that Zero was quite fond of Adara. Though surprisingly, even Adara doesn''t know about that¡­ another mystery.


    ''It''s as if he knows things beyond any of us can imagine,'' I thought as I spent most of my time observing him.


    ''Why are you always around girls and that too a different girl each time?'' I narrowed my eyes on him whenever he met a new girl, who turns out to know him and acts all chubby and close with him. Kind of makes me jealous.


    First it was Adara, then his ssmate Gloria, then that librarian ir, then the prodigy sisters, Eliza and Christine. If I remember correctly, there were even more girls that he had been with in this academy before I met him¡­ is he a yboy or something? He doesn''t seem like one though¡­


    Aidan was one though¡­ that guy had more than just a couple of girls around him always. In fact when I first saw him, he already had 4 girls around him¡­ But Aidan loved those four girls andter me too¡­


    Hmmm¡­ I wonder what those four are doing right now¡­ Hygeia, Zuriel¡­ and the other two b*tches¡­


    The next time I met Zero was a few hours ago when he called me on short notice through Adara and notified me about the shift in his ns. It was shocking, but if it''s really the Aidan I know¡­ I think he will manage to find a way out of this.


    Currently, I was looking through his files and the work he has given me. As careful and thorough as he was, he had given the exact details of each and every move of his. From how to control the Academy concerning its future in the next 2 years.


    There were also a dozen of files about the circle which he had given me to check out and see if I wanted something to be added into them.


    "Awaaah! All this is making me tired¡­ I wonder what that guy is doing right now?" I thought before opening up the secret sneaking magic screen that I especially created to watch over everyone in this Academy without letting them know.


    The fact that even Zero does not know about it must mean that either he doesn''t have the capability to sense it or he just doesn''t care about it.


    Opening up the screen, I found out the ce where Zero was. He was currently in a vi on the outer circle of Arcadia Academy¡­ passionately kissing ir.


    "..."

 Chapter 230 Cat Fight

    [Christine''s POV]


    -BOOM!!!


    -Swish!!


    -sh!!


    -nk!!


    -nk!!


    -Swish!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOOM!!!


    I look at the fight between the two little monsters in front of me.


    "Heh, you are so slow. Is that all you are capable of?" smirked that blonde girl, whose eyes were beautiful enough to make even girls fall in love with them. However, her opponent didn''t seem to give two sh*t about them as she continued doing her best to poke them using her white sword.


    "Stop ignoring me, you robot!!" shouted Lucy again as she attacked the ck-haired, blue-eyed girl, Elizabeth Williamson, without holding back.


    It was a few hours ago that I was tasked by Zero, my sister''s saviour and partner in the Bryxton Massacre, to watch over the matches between these two.


    -Shwish!!!


    Elizabeth dashed towards Lucy, who was already moving for an attack and then she parried the attack with perfect skill and prepared for a counterattack


    -nk!!!


    But Lucy had already recovered from that and blocked Elizabeth''s attack as she held against her.


    Lucy was irked when she heard about Zero knowing another girl. What irked her out was the fact that the other girl in question was someone who was simr in age to her and equal or perhaps even better in both beauty and skills.


    "How did you meet him?" Elizabeth finally spoke as she looked at Lucy, trying her best to get an attack through.


    "He is going to save me¡­ without taking anything from me¡­ How do you think it is possible when my fate is sealed in heaven to die in the future? He just came¡­ and touched my hair, speaking, ''Nice to meet you, I guess. Here is my number. If you ever need me for anything, you can reach me here. See ya,''... and my fate itself changed," Lucy spoke with her eyes focused on Elizabeth as she asked back,


    "What about you¡­ how did you meet him?"


    "He saved my life too¡­ he said that he wanted something from me in return but¡­ just like you, I too know that he never willed to take anything from me," Spoke Elizabeth as she pushed Lucy back and started chanting her attack.


    Hearing their words, I narrowed my eyes at them before I began questioning things a little.


    ''He said the same things as he did to Elizabeth but¡­ he still hasn''t asked anything from us? If it is the same as them¡­ if it is like that¡­ does that mean that he would never take any help from us as well?'' I thought as I recalled all he did for both Eliza and I.


    "Do you love him?" Lucy asked again as she increased her pace towards her, while also chanting her own magic.


    "I don''t know¡­ Reaper was my idol after what happened in Bryxton¡­ how he massacred the mafia¡­ I became his¡­ fan. As for my current feelings.. I don''t think it''s love but more of an idolization," Elizabeth said as she attacked Lucy with a strange sword attack that filled water all around us.


    There were waves and waves that attacked Lucy from all directions, but Lucy''s body started glowing before she skilfully dodged all the wave attacks and moved towards Elizabeth.


    I saw her moving towards Elizabeth at an insane speed, but Elizabeth''s eyes started glowing silver and blue before she too matched Lucy''s speed and the fight grew intense.


    "What about you? Do you love him?" I heard the voice of Elizabeth echoing among the shes and water attacks.


    "I feel safe around him. My brother loves me too and I know that but he is too over protective about everything¡­ but with Reaper¡­ I feel safer¡­ freer, than I had been in my entire life¡­ Of course I am going to fall in love with him¡­ for he is the first person I had seen as someone capable of having me," Lucy spoke without any hesitation and I heard the attacks getting fiercer with every passing second.


    "Aren''t you going to stop them?" I heard the voice of my sister, Eliza, standing beside me as she observed them. Then rather than waiting for my answer she stood up as her eyes turned vermillion as did the colour of her hair, which was white before, now started burning a little and changed to red from the endings.


    "You guys¡­ don''t you feel embarrassed about those words?" She spoke in a bit of a loud voice as she distanced herself to get in a proper jumping position.


    "Eliza¡­ not you too¡­" I spoke out loud, a bit dumbfounded before I saw¡­


    -Swish!!


    -Swish!! -nk!! -nk!! Eliza jumped in the fray and attacked both of them at once, increasing the intensity of the fight for the next few moments before all three of them settled down and stood at a three point distance from each other.


    "We are here to train and be strong enough to help him out in the future. If you have time to fight and quarrel for your stupid love talk, then you can do thatter after you have helped him but now¡­ we need to train," Eliza spoke as she looked at the other two.


    I saw all three of them analysing each other with a serious expression before Lucy turned off her golden aura and returned to normal as she spoke,"well¡­ I guess you are right."


    Elizabeth too turned normal and so did Eliza as they both observed each other.


    "You too, huh? That''s already three¡­ hmmm what about you?" spoke Elizabeth as she turned at me and the others looked at me as well.


    ''How did ite to me?'' I thought before I pondered a little before speaking,"no. I don''t think I have any romantic feelings towards him¡­ just that I am fascinated by his weird and mysterious life and behaviour. The fact that you can never imagine what he will do next¡­ doesn''t it fascinate you?"


    "My sister is a fanatic lover of people who are shrouded in mystery and secrets. Don''t mind her," spoke Eliza as she looked at me before turning at Elizabeth as she spoke,"I don''t think it''s just us though¡­ with how he is, he probably has already had at least 5 girls fall for him."


    Lucy looked at me with a dumbfounded gaze as her eyes widened in realisation before Elizabeth spoke,"What''s even more funny is that each of these girls¡­ is probably a monster of her own."


    And all three of them sighed.


    I chuckled at them before pping at them as I spoke,"Okay, that''s enough chit chat for now. I have just got the files on your training, so let''s get started, shall we?"

 Chapter 231 Mentoring The Monsters

    [Adara''s POV]


    "Sigh¡­ how did he even find you two?" I spoke as I looked at those two monsters with such high hidden potential. It''s as if they were born to be swordmana enhancers¡­ the ss that were the rarest of the rarest to find.


    I looked at Bete Leeway, who was supposed to be sick, all healthy and strong as hell in front of me and then there was this girl¡­ Cook Flynn¡­ just what is she? How can someone be misguided so much¡­ but even still¡­


    "I just met him today¡­ but if he can fulfil the promise he said he will, I won''t mind dying for him," spoke Cook Flynn as she looked at me with determination in her eyes and I sighed as I spoke,"I guess this is why¡­ you are too easy to manipte. Huh?"


    The ''him'' we were talking about was Zero, the guy who stole my first kiss and, for some reason, not getting angry¡­ I felt it would be fine if it was him. Just what is this sudden trust that I have for him, even though I know literally nothing about him?


    "What do you mean by that, Miss Adara?" asked Cook, and Bete, too, made a curious expression as she looked at me.


    "With the way you are behaving, it''s too obvious that you have been used by a lot of people before and probably have ack of true or real friends?" I asked, and she nodded with a wide-eyed expression as she asked,"wow! Am I that obvious?"


    I sighed before speaking,"it''s not just that, but your mana and the way it binds around the edges of your weapon. Under normal conditions, you should have been a beast that is known around the world, but still nobody knows about it? Did someone steal your power for a very long time?"


    Hearing my words, Cook observed me with a wide-eyed expression as her eyes turned a little teary before a bitter look fell all over her expression as she spoke,"I have forgiven him¡­" Her words made me sigh again as I spoke,"so you are naive as well, huh? Looks like this is going to be harder than it looks."


    "Bete, is there anything you want to ask? If not, we can just go directly into the training before I tell you guys about how the Student Council works," I spoke as I looked at her and then Cook.


    Bete ponders a little before asking,"what is your rtion with Zero? If it is a secret, we won''t interfere, but... Still, I want to know."


    "Hmmm¡­ my rtionship with him, huh? I don''t know. At this point, I have no idea how to define what is between us or what is not. I trust him for the work he has done and for the work he is trying to do¡­ apart from that, I don''t know anything about him," I said as I looked at Bete.


    It was my honest opinion about Zero. That guy is special, and probably he loves me¡­ but he is tooplicated. His actions, his reasons, his ways of doing things, almost everything is shrouded in mystery about him.


    ''If I were to fall in love with him¡­ I don''t think it''s possible unless I be capable of understanding him,'' I thought before looking at Bete, who was pondering about something as she spoke,


    "Then can I have him?"


    Her eyes were looking deep into mine and I, even though a bit shaken by her question, spoke out as,"Sure, I guess."


    ''Though that is going to be hard, I suppose,'' I thought as I pondered about Zero again before taking Bete and Cook to the training ground behind the student council building.


    "Okay, first I would like both of you to fight without using any mana," I spoke, and they both nodded and moved onto the field.


    Bete positioned herself properly as she took out her sword and then faced Cook, who also took out her sword, but¡­ seems like Cook never had much practice with the sword as much as Bete did.


    "3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Go!" I spoke and both of them moved towards each other.


    Bete was much faster than Cook, who was trying her best to run towards Bete and soon¡­


    -Swish!


    -nk!


    Cook''s sword fell off in an instant as Bete pointed her sword below Cook''s chin, making her gulp a little.


    "Okay, that''s enough," I spoke as I moved towards the girls with their future training n in my mind. I already have the ns which Zero gave me, but I would like to add my own things in this since this seems kind of fun, honestly.


    "Bete, you are going to fight Cook daily, helping her reach the next level faster. As for Cook, other than fighting with Bete, you are going to do a lot of physical training. I won''t give you any council work unless I think you are ready to reduce your physical training. Also, wear these uniforms, they are especially made for physical training," I said as I took out those 10 kg uniforms and gave it to them to wear.


    Bete narrowed her eyes at those uniforms and Cook, as soon as she tried holding them, fell down as she looked like she would pass out at any moment.


    "Wee to hell, I suppose," Bete spoke as she held those uniforms in her hands. Even though she looked fine, she wasn''t making a delighted face, and she sighed before asking me,


    "Is that how you got strong?"


    "You can say that." I spoke with a smile on my face as I looked at Bete. Though I didn''t tell them that I was wearing 500 Kgs myself right now. Well, I guess they too should be wearing this by the end of the year¡­ especially given how Zero nned it for them.


    ''I should get some training as well,'' I thought as I recalled he gave one training schedule to me as well.


    "Are you sure I can handle this?" Cook asked as she looked as self doubt marred her eyes and I pondered a little before speaking,"If my eyes haven''t gotten rusty, then yeah¡­ you can easily handle this. It might be really hard at first, but yeah¡­ you can." She looked at me with doubtful eyes and stood up slowly, pulling up the uniform with all her might, and then all three of us began walking into the building.

 Chapter 232 Annabeth Rose

    [Annabeth''s POV]


    "Hmmm¡­ is this really written by a normal person? Just how can there be this amount of precision in the teaching methods, such that it''s enough to gain theplete trust of everyone in his ss? This is¡­ is this how he always does things?" I muttered with a baffled look on my face as I reviewed the n sent by Zero on how to manage his ss.


    "What are you looking at?" asked my best friend, Freeda, as she observed me with a curious look before looking at the notes on myptop.


    Currently, I was in my dorm room, where Freeda and I lived together. Previously, Adara too lived with us, but because of how hectic her work was, she started living in the Student Council building all day and night.


    All three of us, Adara, Freeda and I, joined the academy about 4 years ago and became fast friends.


    ''Time passes really fast, doesn''t it?'' I thought as I sighed before recalling some fond memories of all three of us together before andpared it to where we were today.


    "A friend asked me to look after a bunch of students," I said as I turned to Freeda and she turned to the list of students before she asked,"Adara?"


    "No, not her¡­ this one is a different person," I said as I looked at Freeda and she made a slight smirk as she spoke,"it''s a boy isn''t it?"


    Not really bothered by her idiotic smirk, I answered with a nod,"yeah. It''s a boy."


    Hearing my casual answer ignoring her antics, she turned a bit silent before speaking,"looks really serious to me. Need help?"


    I turned to her and smiled as she spoke,"If my institutions are not wrong, then he will approach you sooner orter. Perhaps with how much of in a pinch he is, he will approach you very soon."


    Hearing my words, her interest piqued as she spoke,"who will? That boy who gave you the task? Who is he?"


    There was a sudden smile on her face and I chuckled a little before speaking,"consider him, my boss, for now. Without his permission, I can''t really tell you about him at all. Well, now I am about to start the work given by him, so go practice somewhere in the gym. I will join you when I am done."


    Freeda looked at me with a slight re before she shrugged her shoulders as she spoke,"sure. Sure. I will learn about it sooner orter anyway, so I will go. Make sure not to overwork, cya."


    I saw Freeda leaving from there slowly and slowly as I smiled before I got back to the files and continued reading about every person in his ss. Though, as I read more and more, I became even more bbergasted¡­


    "FREEDA! COME HERE!" I shouted as I focused on the text that I read just now. Soon enough, Freeda came running as fast as she could with a katana in her hand as her eyes glowed green and she checked around, only to find that the area was safe.


    Then her eyes turned brown again, matching her waist long straight hair, which was tied in a pony. The green dress kind of enhanced her beauty, especially when her eyes were green before.


    "What is it?" She spoke really annoyed by my sudden shriek but as I pointed at the text on theptop, she proceeded to read it and soon enough she too made a shocked expression.


    [Hey Freeda, if you are reading this, then I have some work for you as well. Help me watch over ss 1B. You can use these files for easy management of that ss.


    In return¡­ I will help you find the person who stole your mother''s amulet? How does that sound?]


    "Anna¡­ who is he? That guy¡­ who exactly is he?" Freeda spoke as she looked at me again and I looked at her for a few moments before looking at the next text.


    [If both of you are reading this, then that means Freeda must be asking about me; and Annabeth, you must be really confused whether to tell her about me or not given the situation.


    So¡­ It''s fine. Tell her everything you know about me. I don''t think she will be telling anyone about it to anyone else. Perhaps there are a couple people she can tell, but¡­ I think it''s fine. They aren''t a threat to me]


    I looked nkly at the next few lines and so did Freeda, before I sighed a little before I began exining about the whole situation. Though, the more I told about it to Freeda, the more she began smiling.


    In the end, she startedughing crazily like a manic as she looked at me before speaking,"have you gone crazy Anna? Aliens areing? An apocalypse is arriving? Just how na?ve can you be? Just because he saved you and did something like removing the demon curse or whatever, you should not believe in any nonsense he spews."


    ? It doesn''t seem like she was going to believe it, so I did not know what to do. I looked at the text and wondered if there were any more messages for Freeda and sure enough, there were.


    [Freeda perhaps may not believe in the whole situation even then. I mean even most sane people won''t believe it as it is so absurd, but I guess this will convince her otherwise.]


    Then there was a certain image file with a message below it.


    Freeda narrowed her eyes at that message before asking me to open the message, which I did. Perhaps it was arge file, that is why it was taking time to download it, but after a few minutes, it waspletely downloaded and I opened it.


    -Thud!


    Freeda fell on her knees with an expression of disbelief as I found her trying to speak something, but words failed toe out of her mouth. She pointed with her shaking hand at the image, which was of a reallyplicated yet precise ruin art, and spoke,


    "That¡­ that¡­ is¡­ An Ancient Ruin from our Family''s Ancestral Tree, of which 75 percent was lost over the ages¡­ Annabeth¡­. Annabeth! Who is he?!"


    All I could do at this point was to look at the screen with Zero''s message on it¡­


    [I know how that works as well¡­ but fulfil my wishes before you speak anything to anyone about it.]

 Chapter 233 Saviour Of The World

    [Lucas'' POV]


    Walking down the empty road, I tried recalling about senior Alianna, Geralt Icer''s girlfriend. She was one of the few people I actually looked up to, despite our power difference.


    Always ready to help people whenever she can, she was the idealistic, generous person whom you can count on.


    When she died, a lot of us were not just sad but furious as well. All we knew was that her life signals suddenly went missing one day and then she was never found again.


    Some thought it was a monster, while others thought it was a human who killed her. There were many spections but no right answers were found. Except when that guy told¡­ no, he showed us everything that happened¡­


    ''Just who is he¡­ Reaper, Zero, Aidan¡­ Just who exactly is he?'' I thought as I looked back, trying to process everything, at what happened on the rooftop with that angel-like being, Lucifer.


    Two days ago, ''that man'' gave me his sword because of a prophecy or something. I wasn''t going to ept it, but because of one name, I decided to do so. It was my mother''sst wish to ept this sword and fulfil whatever work I was supposed to do.


    ''I wasn''t going to use this sword though¡­ I was nning to keep it around but¡­'' I recalled when all of a sudden I heard someone''s voice, Lucifer''s.


    ''Can you hear me?'' was the first thing he said. Back then, the voice felt so majestic that I wanted to kneel right that instant, but I stood my ground waiting for him to speak something more.


    I thought it would be rted to world destiny or perhaps going back and reiming the throne or something in that line of thought, but¡­


    ''Did you meet Reaper yet?'' he asked with a curious tone, as if he wanted to know the answer to something specific. Feeling like he was having a hard time waiting for my answer and a bit taken back by his sudden question, I ended up telling the truth as,"yeah."


    ''Nice¡­ it would be fun watching him from here,'' he spoke before his voice stopped from there. I didn''t know what he was going on about or what he was thinking¡­ and how he knew Reaper.


    A few secondster, a message appeared in front of my screen before another screen appeared in front of me.


    [Binding to the Golden Guardian System!]


    I saw that with a nk expression as my head went nk for a few seconds.


    ''What is this? Another System¡­ I have two Systems! Is that even possible?'' I looked at the screen,pleting its binding before a message came on it.


    [Quest: Follow Reaper


    Reward: ???


    Penalty: You will lose everything, including your sister and everything else]


    [You have been given the Fragment of Brilliance!]


    "What is this?" I questioned, as it was all too quick for me. Just what is this sudden piling up of iplete information?


    Though just a momentter, the information about the whole situation flowed inside my brain and I could make out most of the things, if not everything. I could only take a break and organise all the things that I have seen today.


    ''Though to forcefully make me follow that guy¡­ it''s a bit too much¡­'' I thought as I sighed before I questioned,"hey¡­ system guy¡­ Can you at least exin to me why I have to follow him? Is he really that special or something?"


    Soon enough, that guy answers,'' Call me Lucifer. About that guy, Reaper, yeah he is special all right. He is one of the candidates for Guardians like you except he is standing up for another Guardian and also¡­ he is even more than that¡­ but I can''t tell you about it because it''s ssified.''


    From that point onwards, I kept asking questions, of which I got a few answers, while the others I did not. Strangely enough, we both focused on Reaper, but never really spoke of anything exactly rted to him.


    The next day I got busy in my own work as if nothing happened, and when another day passed,


    ''Take me to Reaper. I want to talk to him.''


    Lucky for me, back then, he was just there when Lucifer gave me that task. As soon as I heard that Lucifer wanted to talk to him, I moved outside the Student Council''s building gate and moved in front of him to talk to him.


    He was annoying as always but he let me dine with him in a nearby cafe and when I told him about Lucifer¡­ he took me to a nearby rooftop before he raised his hand and¡­


    The sword flew right out of my sheath and was caught by him as if he was taking what was his.


    Then¡­


    The angel descended. It was a being from heaven¡­ I have never seen someone as beautiful as he was¡­ If I didn''t have my System, I would have fallen for him. However, what surprised me was Reaper.


    He talked to him as if he was talking to an old friend¡­ just who exactly is he? And what exactly is he?


    He kept surprising him over and over that day¡­ the apocalypse, Reaper being Zero, Zero being that guy whom the whole world was searching frantically¡­ It''s like the whole world was revolving around him¡­ and soon I found out why.


    He gave tasks to people¡­ everyone around him¡­ and in exchange he promised something¡­ or perhaps he had already done it for them¡­ I don''t know why, but almost everyone around wanted to help him. Just what has he done for them? Or perhaps what was he going to do for them?


    It wasn''t just that¡­ my System had an ability to see someone''s hidden motive at a certain cost and, yeah, obviously I looked into it and yeah, he had a motive behind his actions.


    [The person in front of you wants to save the entire world


    The extent of motivation towards his goal: enough to sacrifice his life for it without any hesitation]


    "..."


    Just what is he? But with this¡­ especially this¡­I too¡­ kind of¡­ felt like trusting him¡­ just like everyone else.

 Chapter 234 Arcadia Academy[Epilogue]

    Back in Zero''s Vi


    [Zero''s POV]


    I woke up a few hourster as I put on my jacket first before moving towards the bathroom as I looked back at the fast asleep ir on the bed.


    Before moving towards her, I took the nket and covered her stark naked body before taking her clothes with me towards the bathroom. I first put the clothes in the washing machine before hopping into shower; I took a bit of a warm, brisk shower as I cleaned myself up.


    Then I changed my clothes and went back to the bedroom where ir was sleeping and Emma, ir''s sister, was standing dumbfounded, observing her sleeping in the way she was.


    Emma was currently standing at the bedroom door and I, as I styled my hair, moved towards Emma and spoke,


    "Can you move?"


    "EEK-" Before she could scream, I blocked her mouth with the palm of my hand and pointed at ir before making a ''shhh'' sound as I put my finger on my lips.


    She nodded at me and then I let her go before moving inside the room, picking up myptop and moving towards ir. I briskly kissed her on the forehead before moving out of the room into the living room.


    Emma kept her eyes focused on me, as she followed me from behind as she carefully closed the door so as to not disturb ir and then began moving towards me with hurried steps before she inquired,


    "What are you trying to do?"


    I looked at her, confused at what she meant and not really bothered by my expression she said,"I thought you were going to slowly erase her love for you as you know it better than I do that your world and hers are miles apart. Then why are you doing this to her?"


    Hearing her words, I made a slightly odd expression before trying to understand what she was saying¡­ My world and her world are different?... Oh wait! It is¡­ at least in this lifetime it is. Kind of forgot, since I was taking her as my saviour even yet¡­ but does that really matter? I mean, in the end, I am going to make ir strong as well.


    "It''s fine¡­ ir is mine¡­ I don''t think it is going to be a problem," I spoke as I looked at Emma and she looked at me with a doubtful gaze before she asked again,


    "What about the other girls that are with you? Don''t tell me you are going to choose one in the end, leaving the others behind?"


    Her gaze was piercing me and I kind of pondered about this right now¡­ It wasn''t as if I nned to fall in love with another girl¡­ especially after Lucia but then¡­ I opened up about my feelings with Elle in the white dimension¡­ maybe it was because of the Elle that I knew in my previous life but whatever the case be, I did end up sharing my feelings with Elle.


    Then there was Adara¡­ I don''t know why, but I kind of just wanted to see her again when I came into this world¡­ All the more because of how happy I felt around her in my previous life. Perhaps because of Lucia, I never realised my feelings but I think I fell for herst time as well¡­


    Then there is ir¡­ I want to protect her¡­ Especially after what happened in the white dimension¡­ I felt like my heart was ripped into shreds when I saw what happened with her¡­ now I can''t help but feel uneasy when I don''t check up on her at least once in a while.


    Then there was Hygeia as well¡­ I don''t know about Lucy.. and Bete¡­ Eliza¡­ Wait, how many girls did I get entangled with?


    I shook my head as I sighed¡­ because¡­ because¡­


    There were 2 more girls¡­ minimum¡­ with whom I was going to be deeply entangled with sooner than I might believe.


    "I think I am going to make a harem or something. How does that sound?" I smiled as I daydreamed a little and then.


    -Bam!


    Emma hit me on the head with a really pissed off expression. I turned to her and spoke out groaning as,"What do you want me to do then? I already have so many of them on me and, given the situation, I can''t really let them go away from me."


    "You bast*rd¡­ " she was pissed off, but she ended up sighing as she sat on the sofa and let herself sink in the sofa as she spoke,


    "Then tell me about yourself. What kind of man you are¡­ if you are going to take my sister in your harem or something¡­ at least tell me who you are? You can do that at least, can''t you?"


    "I¡­ okay.. I guess I don''t mind telling you about my life, but I will use magic so that you can''t tell anyone else about it. How does that sound?" I spoke, and she pondered over it before she nodded as,"I kind of don''t like how you don''t trust me, but sure¡­ at least I will know about the mysterious guy my sister loves."


    ¡­


    [3rd Person''s POV]


    Perhaps things were going smoothly, or were they? There were hundreds of things that needed to be considered before another step was made.


    The Parasites were fast approaching, and the ones that wereing weren''t mere Scout Parasites or General Parasites but 12 Duke Parasites.


    Parasite King was interested in the person who caused a minor deviation in his conquest of taking over the entire universe and it wasn''t just him who was curious but another being, another Primordial, Kratos, who found about the whole ordeal through the Parasite King was moving towards Zero.


    What was going to be a war against species previously now had the potential to be a war among Gods¡­


    As if things weren''t bad enough, another being was moving towards Zero to make sure he suffers for what he had done to her. Zero had no idea who she was, and about her existence¡­ and why exactly this person hates him.


    Though¡­ it wasn''t all that bad because Zero still had time¡­ though the question of ''Will he be able to do it?'' was something to be pondered about¡­ How many will he be able to save and how many will die this time?


    Even if things were to go all ording to Zero''s n, will it really work when the ones he is fighting against are the strongest beings in the entire universe? Only fate knows the answer to it¡­

 Chapter 235 Neatherrealm [Prologue]

    [Volume 5: Netherrealm]


    [Zero''s POV]


    "You guys came earlier than I thought. Aren''t you, like, really, really busy or something?" I asked with a bit of surprised expression before I looked at that white-haired old man, observing me with a serious expression as he speaks,


    "Miss Merlin asked me toe take you there."


    Hearing his words, I ended up thinking a bit deeply about it. It has been just yesterday that I learnt about the Parasitesing earlier than when they are supposed to.


    ''I have a lot of work here¡­ but still my direct involvement isn''t required until a few months when the tournament begins,'' I thought before I recalcted things which I was supposed to do in this month.


    "Well¡­ I would go but¡­ keeping my safety in check, I would like to take a few people with me," I spoke as I observed Williamson Rose, grandfather of Elizabeth and Annabeth as he pondered about it before speaking.


    "It depends upon who they are." "Lucas Laurentz, William Laurentz, Reeve Leeway, Linda Brown, Christine and Rheo Sherman," I said as I counted the number of people I needed to have with me.


    "That''s quite specific," spoke Annabeth, who was sitting with the two of us as she sipped her coffee and I saw Freeda, Annabeth''s best friend, sitting at a distance, trying to get a clear look at my face.


    "Well, I have my reasons. So, you think they would be allowed?" I asked with a bit of a question filled face and Williamson pondered before speaking,


    "I think it would be fine."


    "So, when are we leaving?" I spoke as I began drinking my coffee and Annabeth was the one who answered first,"we can leave this evening if it''s fine with you. Though I wonder if you really have time with all the things you are trying to do at once."


    I took a small sip of coffee, gulped it down with a humble smile,"I think I have more than enough time on my te to meet the Queen Rose of the Rose Family, who is supposed to have died about a century ago."


    ''Never toote to meet a superpower, I believe,'' I thought as I stood up and continued under the constant gaze of Williamson and Annabeth as,"Annabeth you have to stay here while Williamson, can you pick me up from my dorm? We will leave this evening as soon as you are ready. For now, I have to settle a few things before I leave."


    Then I left from there as I peeked a little to see Freedaing over to see Annabeth.


    I looked at the time and it was 10:00 AM right now, so I should have about 8-9 hours to finish everything that I need to do right now.


    I sent the message to Lucas and moved towards the outer city gate, where Reeve was supposed to arrive.


    Taking a fast cab, I reached the ce within 2 hours. In these 2 hours of travelling, I finished organising a few things that I required to be done in the meantime I''m absent from here.


    If the Parasites were to happen within 2-3 months, then I have some contingency ns, but honestly, their chances of working were quite slim. Even if I am here with everyone, I doubt it would do little to change the destruction that they would be causing.


    ''I need to go to the Netherrealm soon enough,'' I made up my mind as I needed my weapon, Deaths of Duality, the chained ck dual swords.


    Though since I was going to the Netherrealm, I thought of taking Rheo and Reeve with me, all the more because they could train there with me. Dark energy is prevalent there, making it one of the scariest ces to lose your mind.


    I probably won''t be able to take care of everyone there, so I needed someone like Lucas or William, who has the power of light to help me on the journey. Well¡­ honestly, there was one more reason for me to take them with me on this journey.


    ''It''s about time I take Wim and Lucas to ''that'' ce,'' I thought as I moved out of the car and began looking around to see if I could find Reeve around here.


    "Is that Reeve Leeway? Oh! My! God! It''s really him!" a girl shouted with love-struck eyes, making me look at her before turning in the direction where she was looking.


    "Who''s with him?" I heard another statement from the crowd that began forming around Reeve, Irene and Linda Brown.


    "Isn''t that Irene Leeway? The girl who was deemed as a failure before, but now she suddenly started getting stronger out of nowhere at a monstrous pace?" another one spoke and I recalled the skill that I gave her before.


    Well, with that skill, she could easily surpass most of the people around here within months or so. I guess she has been diligently training.


    A smile forms on my face as I move towards her slowly and slowly, before she finally looks at me and smiles before moving towards me. Though the one who looked happier was Reeve himself.


    It was as if he couldn''t contain his excitement at meeting me and I smiled at him before speaking,"we will be going somewhere tonight and your training will start probably after I finish the meeting with that person."


    "At least ask about his well-being, you robot. He was so excited to meet you and here you are getting to the boring stuff directly," Linda spoke with an annoyed expression as she looked at me and I made a chuckle before speaking,"Maybe, I guess¡­ Linda. You too have toe with me, along with Reeve."


    "Huh? Me too? Why? What did I do?" She asked, making a slightly scared yet confused expression before I spoke.


    "I think it is about time I tell you about ''that'' ce."

 Chapter 236 The Future Is Dark But Its Less Darker Than The Past

    [Author''s note: I have already made a chapter about Netherrealm before so I am not going to repeat it. #Chap152]


    "Does that make everything clear?" I spoke as I looked at their faces, which were filled with the expression of disbelief, and I kind of smiled before looking at the vi where I brought the three of them.


    Reeve was the first one to speak,"you are telling me that there is a ce where the weakest monsters are around S-Grade level and we won''t survive even for a second there?"


    "Yeah. That is correct," I smiled as I nodded and then Linda spoke,"and you want us to go with you there?"


    "Yeah. That is correct," I smiled as I nodded.


    "You do know that this is a suicide mission, right?" Reeve spoke with a look that was trying to reason with me and I answered him with a smile and a nod as I spoke,"Yes. That is correct."


    "I was kind of sad that I wasn''t included with you two when he talked about going on an adventure, but¡­ good luck, I guess. I would be leaving now," Irene spoke with a really rxed smile as she stood up and proceeded to the kitchen.


    "Would you guys like something?" I hear the voice of Emmaing from the kitchen as shees out with a te of freshly baked pancakes and ces it on the table around which we were sitting.


    Irene follows Emma and sits beside Linda again while Emma, too, sits with us.


    Emma looks at me smiling and sighs before speaking,"at least tell them how you are going to survive there. I doubt you would be going without at least 10s of ns in your mind." Emma then proceeds to eat the pancakes, and so do Irene and I.


    As for Reeve and Linda, I guess their appetite was as good as gone right now, so I should tell them about the other side of the n.


    "Well, there are few reasons I am nning to go there right now and not in the future," I spoke as I raised my three fingers and then touched my ring finger with my other hand,


    ? "Reeve and another guy, Rheo, who would be going with us, have their special system that allows them to use dark energy and get stronger. In that ce, it won''t take even a week for you people to reach a higher level than others. The stronger you get, the more your chances to survive increases."


    I then touched my middle finger, and as I stated the second point,


    "Lucas and William will also be going with us. The dark creatures hate light, enough to even die at times from a mere speck of light. This should keep us alive there unless and until we end up meeting the Dark Royals of that ce, or perhaps one of the Kings themselves."


    Hearing the second point, both of them made a really relieved sound and I could only end up sighing on the inside as I knew that taking a light user would surely catch the attention of at least half of the Kings there if not all of them.


    I then touched my ring finger before I spoke.


    "I have a way to reduce their powers to make sure you guys could actually kill those monsters and earn something from there. No point in going there only to be unable to kill any of the enemies, isn''t it?"


    All three of them nodded before I saw Emma enjoying her food silently as she peeked at me before Irene asked,"what is that you get out of there? If you don''t mind us interfering in your personal matters." I shook my head as I ate another pie piece and then, after gulping it down, I spoke,"not really personal. Just taking something that is mine, bringing a couple of people from there to here and making them join my army. Kill a couple of special monsters and¡­ and¡­ and¡­ yeah! Making sure that we don''t die there. That''s all."


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    "Well¡­ didn''t expect anything less from you. Are you going to take ''those'' from there?" Emma asked as she looked at me with a bit of aplicated expression and I nodded as I looked at her seriously.


    "Be careful," she spoke again, and I nodded again.


    Looking at our interaction, the trio looked at us¡­ or more like at Emma, with a fixed gaze wondering who she was. They etched it in their mind to not go against Emma in any form or way and treat her with the same respect as if they were treating me.


    Well, after I told Emma everything about what happened in my life, the first thing that she said was,


    "I WILL F*CKING KILL THAT B*TCH LUCIA RIGHT NOW! RIGHT HERE! WHERE IS SHE??!!!! ZERO, TELL ME WHERE SHE IS??!!! HOW CAN YOU BE LIKE THIS?! ALL CALM AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED!!! ZERO??!!!"


    It was hard to calm her, and even ir woke up back then. Though, I charmed ir back to sleep before talking with Emma for the whole night yesterday. I told her about my idea at which she started getting angry at me too, but then she calmed down a little and then we focused on other things that happened in my life.


    It wasn''t really a pleasant story and obviously, Emma cried a lot yesterday. I had to use Aura of Heal on her to heal her pained heart before telling more about my story(on her demand, of course).


    After that she simply shook her head, hugged me tightly before speaking,"I know I can''t do anything to help you. Perhaps you are strong enough to deal with everything on your own, but¡­ You aren''t alone, Zero. There are a lot more people around you that care about you, that you can save. Even if the whole world turns against you, I will be standing with you, I promise with all my heart, Zero. I will be there for you."


    I smiled at her before patting on her forehead as I spoke,"I guess I will be depending upon you in the future if I ever feel lonely. Is that all right?" and she gave aforting smile before nodding at me.

 Chapter 237 I Will Return Soon

    I looked at the trio, observing both Emma and I, before I asked them,"do you have any more questions?"


    Their faces said that they had a lot of questions, but before they could ask any of them, I stood up and stretched a little before speaking,"I will answer all the questionster this evening. Linda, Reeve, both of you areing with me and Irene keep training harder. I have provided you with a study schedule and also¡­ take these." I took out a few mental enhancement lotions and gave her as I continued,


    "Apply this to your body and during the nights of the full moon, try to train as much as you can. As for the other days, train normally, as I told you to follow."


    Irene nods at me before focusing on the lotions I just gave her. As for Reeve and Linda, they kept pondering a little over something before Reeve stood up, spoke,"I will be meeting you in the evening then," and left from there.


    As for Linda,"why am I involved in all this? What does it have to do with me?" she asked with a really, really confused expression before I spoke.


    "Well. I have something which I would like to ask you aboutter on. Honestly, it is a hunch, but well¡­ We both will get to know that when timees¡­ For now, you can say that I am taking you there to confirm something."


    It was vague and it probably might have made her more confused than before, but I assured her that her life was not in any danger at all. Though, not really believing me, she signed a mana contract with me, making sure I wasn''t lying.


    Only after the contract was bound, she finally rxed before both of them left from there.


    I looked at Emma and said,"I guess I will be leaving from here now. I will see you in a week, then."


    Emma looked at me before she moved in close and hugged me tightly before speaking,"I will be going to work now. The hospital was understaffed today because some of the staff went on a group pic while a few others fell ill."


    I narrowed my eyes at her for a few moments before I said,"you should sleep."


    She shook her head and spoke,"It''s fine. You are doing so much for so many people so cking off on my own work which I should be doing, doesn''t seem a nice thing, does it?"


    For the next few seconds, I contemted whether I should force her to sleep or let her go to the hospital after healing her using my magic. Healing her would make her do all the work properly without much adverse effect on her body but¡­


    If she does not sleep, her mental state won''t exactly get the rest it requires. All the things she heardst night¡­ She needs at least some sleep to let that all sink in.


    "Well, after some consideration and thought I have decided that you won''t be going to the hospital today. I will make you sleep using my charm magic and we will meet after a week from now. Take care, Emma. Cya," I spoke with a smile as her eyes began to open up wide slowly.


    Then I used my charm magic to make her fall asleep before I took her to the bedroom where ir was sleepingst night and then put a nket on her.


    Having Emma with me kind of made me d that I met her. Maybe I wanted to tell all that had happened to me or perhaps I just wanted to have someone who could understand me even if just a little¡­ but I guess I am d that I did what I did¡­


    And with this, my work was done here.


    ''Now, to meet them,'' I thought as I moved towards the ce where I called Wim¡­ as well as Lucas.


    I moved out of my vi, took a car to the ce where I called both of them, and within 30 minutes, reached there. It was a fancy but empty restaurant run by Laurentz themselves.


    You can call it a Laurentz''s meeting ce, as most of their meetings happen here in this ce.


    Reaching the restaurant, I opened the entrance door and looked around to find a bunch of people sitting in the corner seat. Moving closer to them, I found another familiar face, which I was kind of expecting.


    "Hey Cristine, you are here as well?" I asked as I observed Cristine before looking at Lucas, who was there. Looks like William wasn''t here yet.


    "How can I miss something like this? Anyway, you are quite daring¡­ or I should say, it''s how you have always been. Doing things that no one expects," Cristine speaks with her eyes concentrated on me with a smile on her face as if she was enjoying this very much.


    Lucas looked at me with a re before he said,"you better have a good reason to do this." I smiled back at him with a chuckle before the restaurant''s door opened and the golden-haired, aged man walked towards all of us with a serious expression on his face.


    I observed him walking towards me and then sitting against Lucas as he observed Cristine first, then looked at me.


    William Laurentz looked at me and spoke with a slightly odd face,"you really do things that one can never anticipate. I thought I had started to understand you, but what you have done today makes me question what goes on inside that brain of yours."


    The man I first met in the facility where I was trapped, thepdog of Lucia and the Vampire King. Second son of King Laurentz of the Western Continent, William Laurentz, then turned to look at Lucas with a narrowed gaze as he finally spoke.


    "How long has it been that we have sat together like this? Perhaps it has been a decade already, hasn''t it? Lucas, my dearest son. Tell me, how are you?"

 Chapter 238 Cristine Sinus Petra

    "How long has it been that we have sat together like this? Perhaps it has been a decade already, hasn''t it? Lucas, my dearest son. Tell me, how are you?"


    "12 Years. 2 years before mom died," Lucas spoke with his eyes piercing William and William sighed without speaking anything.


    From what I have known up until now, William was away on a long mission and because of some unfortunate event, he couldn''te back to Western Continent. By the time he had returned, it had already been 2 years since Lucas'' mom died¡­ no; she was captured by that monster.


    ''Should I tell them now or should I leave it as a surprise when the timees?'' I pondered a little before looking at the situation.


    "You both will be apanying me on a certain adventure. It will be about 3 weeks long trip and we will be visiting a couple of ces," I spoke as I looked at Lucas and William and they both observed me for a few moments before William spoke,


    "I don''t mind it, but you have to convince him."


    I then turned at Lucas who looked at me as if he would kill me. He then asked,"is it really necessary and there is no other way to do it?"


    ''Well, honestly there are other ways but I don''t think I should take another person to save your mom so I''m gonna say ''no'' to it,'' I thought as I spoke,"If there were a way, I wouldn''t have proposed it."


    He looked at me for a few moments before standing up and beginning to leave as he spoke,"this better be really true."


    "Meet me at the outside gate at sharp 7 PM," I said as I recalled the message that Annabeth sent me a few hours ago.


    With this, all of my work was done and looking at the time, I still had about 2-3 hours left before our departure towards Merlin Rose. I then looked at William and spoke,


    "I saw that you gave your sword to him."


    "It was his to begin with. I was just holding on to it until the right time," he answered me before he asked,"is there anything else you called me here for?"


    "Where is your vampire master? I haven''t seen her in a while," I asked as I looked at William with a concentrated gaze.


    Ever since I came to this Academy, I had kept an eye out for Lucia, but surprisingly, she was not here at all. While I don''t care what happens to her, her hiding in the shadows kind of creeps me out.


    "Hmmm¡­ that is something you shouldn''t get concerned with. It has nothing to do with you," he spoke as he stood up before continuing,"I take it as there are no more questions left."


    He then began leaving from there and I turned to Cristine who was sitting there on the chair drinking a cup of tea and I pondered a little before asking,"you busy right now?" "I am busy drinking tea," she spoke with a slight smile as she took another sip and I chuckled before speaking,"Seems fair enough."


    "How is their training going on?" I asked as I observed Christine and she shook her head before speaking,"Those three are monsters¡­ I thought I had seen enough monsters in my life but they¡­ they are in a league of their own. I have heard about Elizabeth and Lucy a lot, but I didn''t think my own sister, Eliza, would turn into such a monster after her curse would be removed. Makes me a little jealous."


    I saw a tinge of bitterness in her smile but sheughed it off and I spoke,"you too have a hidden potential within you. One that rivals Eliza''s¡­. Wanna know it?"


    I saw her eyes widening as she looked at me before she hurriedly spoke,"what''s the catch?"


    I smiled as I observed the hurry on her face and answered,"none."


    "Huh?" she looked at me with a bit of stupefied expression before she asked,"what do you mean by ''none''?" and I smiled before speaking again,


    "I am just feeling charitable at the moment, so I thought about giving some tips for free." She looked at me and then smiled brightly before shouting excitedly,"Nice!"


    I then moved to sit at the seat and pointed at the chair against me as I looked at myself. Understanding my gesture, she hurriedly sat on the chair.


    "Your System is rted to souls, right?" I asked, and she nodded as she presented her System in front of me.


    [Soul Maniption System (Grade-A)]


    [Name: Christine Sinus Petra


    Level: 78


    System: Soul Maniption System


    ss: Assassin of life and death (Ability to kill all living and dead creatures)


    Mana Type: Light and Soul


    Attack: 103


    Defence:89


    Strength: 76


    Wisdom: 102


    Intelligence: 167


    Mana: 45040/45040


    Stamina: 12352/12352


    Extra Stats: 36


    Special Skills(3):


    (1) Soul Disturbance: By the help of Goddess Petra, the user can irritate the soul of another person, making it unstable.


    Cost: 0.33% Of one''s own soul [Soul Left: 96.33%]


    (2) Assassins Rage(Golden): Shift yourself in the soul realm where only you exist, along with the soul fragments of every other being. Allows the user to attack the other person''s soul and steal their fragment, filling one''s own.


    Cost: 1000 mana/second. May kill the user if the required amount of mana isn''t met, even for a millisecond.


    (3) Psyche''s Wisdom: Allows the user to check the state of another person''s soul]


    I saw her special skill before checking her other normal skills and stuff before moving towards her unique skill¡­ huh? She has a unique skill!!!


    [Unique Skill(1):


    Skill Devourer: Allows the user to take up all the skills of another person for an unknown amount of time temporarily after devouring his or her skill.]


    My eyes widened as I turned to her before she smiled a little before she asked.


    "So¡­ found anything interesting?"

 Chapter 239 Cristine Sinus Petra#2

    "Your Unique Skill¡­ have you ever used it?" I asked, and she looked at me before nodding casually as she spoke,"every once in a while during my missions, I end up using it against the strongest enemy. All the more, especially if there are more than one powerful person against me."


    "How many?" I asked with my eyes narrowed at her and she sighed before speaking,"about 40 or something¡­ it''s a pain to use that skill, but why are you asking that so seriously? You aren''t going to stop me from using that, are you?"


    As her words came out, she looked at me sceptically before I shook my head as I spoke,"no. I won''t stop you from using this. In fact, I want you to use it more and more¡­ just on the people I want you to use."


    Hearing my words, she looked at me with a really curious gaze as she asked,"do you know what happens when I use this skill? To the people I use the skill on, I mean."


    I nodded as,"probably an excruciating amount of pain before they try to kill themselves. You probably made sure they don''t do that so that you can absorb theirplete soul, don''t you?"


    "Wow. Man, you really are something. Even though I kind of know that you know everything, it still surprises me that you do. Sometimes I wonder if you are human or not? Or perhaps are you God or something?" She asked, all surprised, and I smiled at her as I spoke,


    "If I were a God, I wouldn''t be really asking for help from others, now would I?"


    "So. Tell me mister all knowing, what about the thing that you were talking about?" she asked with her eyes shining as she waited for me to tell me how I can help her get stronger.


    "I was going to help you gain a skill¡­ but looking at that Unique Skill, I think it would be better if I help you evolve it first. With evolution, the real potential of the skill shoulde out," I spoke as I pondered a little before speaking,


    "Soul Summon: Aelia." Before Cristine canprehend what I just did, Aelia manifests right beside me as she takes a deep yawn and looks at Cristine and then at me.


    Cristine looks at Aelia with a baffled look as her mouth opens up wide and she keeps observing her for a while. After a few moments of stupefaction, Cristine looks at me and asks,


    "How many girls are around you?"


    "..." I thought she would be curious about who she was or how she came here, but¡­ this?


    "A lot more than you can think¡­ There are about at least 6-7 you haven''t met yet," Aelia chimed in as she observed Cristine and then continued,"so what am I doing here?"


    I turned to Aelia and asked,"Do you have anything rted to Soul Magic? If I remember correctly, Rosalyn should have passed on some knowledge to you, no?"


    Aelia ponders over it a little and then nods before I turn at Cristine as I speak,"show her your Unique Skill."


    Cristine then brings out her status and shows us her skill again.


    [Unique Skill(1):


    Skill Devourer: Allows the user to take up all the skills of another person for an unknown amount of time temporarily after devouring his or her skill.]


    Looking at that skill, even Aelia had to blink a couple of times to confirm what she was looking at before turning at Cristine and then at me.


    "You really are something¡­ finding the unique girls and then having them entangled with you¡­ A thorough pervert, I see," she speaks and Cristine, who was hearing her words, ends up nodding at it.


    I look at these two idiots, who have never met each other, getting along so well right from the first meeting.


    "So, what do you want me to do?" Aelia asks and I speak,"I need you to teach her how to manipte one''s soul. Can you do it?"


    Aelia ponders about it before speaking,"I don''t think I can do it here. I need at least one person whose body I can take control of. If you can provide me with a body, or even better , about a dozen living people, I think I can show her how a soul works. Though, asking anything more is a kind of¡­"


    "Hard?" asks Crisitne, but Aelia shakes her head as she speaks,"no¡­ it''s time consuming. It took me about a decade to learn everything about Soul Magic, however that too was only basic knowledge and not the intermediate and advanced level." Hearing her words, Cristine turns silent and looks at me with a slight hopeful look and I ponder a little before speaking,"maybe not now¡­ but one month after I return, I think I can do something about it. As for the other thing that I was going to do, which wasn''t rted to that Unique Skill of yours¡­ Well, I think it would be better to focus on that right now."


    ''Wish I could talk to Amon, right now but¡­ oh well,'' I thought as I spoke to her,


    "Next time you get close to someone you are going to kill, rather than directly doing the deed, perform a certain ritual. These are the charts and directions of doing it. If I am correct, you should get a quest rted to that circle. However, there are a couple of people who will get a quest to kill you as well, so be careful with that."


    Hearing my words, she looks at me with aplicated expression as she asks,"what people?"


    "Well¡­ they are more like a group of people with a System rted to Soul System Hunters, that take and sell people with skills simr to yours. They have tracking devices and stuff for that¡­ you might find many in this continent itself. I will have sent the rest of the information to you by the end of the day," I spoke before I stood up and began moving from there.


    Aelia was already gone as I took my magic back and spoke,"See you in a week, then. Good bye," before vanishing from there.

 Chapter 240 Towards Rose Mansion

    I stand near the door where I was looking at the clock while waiting for William and others to arrive. Meanwhile, I once again recalled whether I had  missed anything and after looking through everything briefly, I couldn''t find anything, so I just put this at the back of my mind.


    "Looks like I made you wait," Williamson Rose arrived suddenly in front of me as I observed him wearing a ck suit over his white shirt.


    Soon enough, I saw Cristine and Eliza arriving as well behind as they wore matching pairs of blue-coloured dresses. Behind them, William and Lucas wereing towards us as well.


    "Looks like you called quite a force," spoke Reeve, who appeared behind me and I saw Linda arriving with Rheo, who was simply walking beside her, confused at what was going on and why was he called on such a short notice.


    Williamson, William, Lucas, Reeve, Linda, Rheo and Cristine¡­ I guess that''s all of them here. I guess Eliza came here to send her sister off.


    "That''s all of them I suppose?" Reeve spoke once again and I nodded before I saw a trioing towards me. Looking at them, I was a bit surprised because I thought they would be really busy or something¡­


    "Looks like you nned on departing without saying goodbye," spoke Annabeth as she looked at me with a slightly dissatisfied look. Elizabeth, who was strangely quiet today, was ncing over at me again and again before looking away.


    The third girl was Adara, who was observing Lucas and the others who were with me. There was a surprised look on her face as she kept changing her expressions every time she looked at them.


    "AH! I amte¡­ Linda!!! How dare you leave me behind- Eeeek!! What''s Miss Adara doing here?!!!" I saw Irene running towards us all huffing and puffing as she brought a bag which probably were filled with food and stuff for our journey.


    "Well¡­ We sure are gathering attention here," spoke William as he scanned around to see a crowd collecting around us. I looked at them and spoke.


    "If you guys are going to say goodbyes¡­ I give you 2 mins. We will be returning in a week, anyway." I observed them before moving to the side while the others began conversing with each other. Adara, Lucas and Annabeth were talking with each other, while Cristine, Eliza, and Elizabeth were busy with each other.


    William was just busy on his own, while Williamson had received a call and was busy on the phone. As for Irene, she started talking with Reeve along with Linda, who was scared for some reason.


    After 2 mins passed,


    "All right. Let''s leave," I spoke as I turned to Williamson, who was still talking to someone on the phone and asked,"shall we depart then?"


    He nodded before pointing at a couple of cars in the distance. One by one, everyone who had to leave got inside the car and I turned to find Rheo just standing there and asked,


    "Do you want to reach S-Rank?"


    He looked at me with a wide-eyed expression as he observed me before nodding as he spoke,"of course I do."


    "Thene," I said, and he hurriedly jumped into the car under the gaze of everyone there.


    It was a luxurious car, with Williamson and I sitting at the front two seats. Behind us, Linda, Reeve and Lucas were sitting together.


    As for the other car, William, Rheo, Cristine were sitting in that one with another driver from the Rose family who was taking them with us.


    The car started and soon we departed from the Arcadia Academy, towards our one week-long journey¡­ which in reality wasn''t really one week honestly but still.. One week in Vermillion''s time.


    ¡­


    [Eliza''s POV]


    I saw him leaving again.


    Cristine told me he was going to a dangerous ce to get something back.


    ''Wish he could take me as well¡­'' I felt sad.. It kind of hurts that he didn''t take me with him but took Cristine instead.


    ''Just what is it that Ick? Am I not strong enough for him? Or does he think I am too immature?'' I questioned his decision a lot. I really, really wanted to go with him¡­


    ''Thankfully, Cristine doesn''t like him¡­ but what about that other girl, Linda?'' I was getting jealous the more I was thinking.


    "Why does he have so many girls around him?" I muttered in an irritated tone as I observed Miss Adara, Miss Annabeth, Miss Irene in front of me and then sighed as I shook my head before wondering just howe I fell in love with that person?


    "Yeah¡­ right. He saved my life¡­ Without asking anything in exchange for," I muttered again in a defeated tone. ''That bastard¡­ he said it was a deal¡­ howe he still hasn''t asked for my help then¡­ I must be weak¡­ In front of him, I must be really weak,'' I kept thinking over and over before a voice snapped me out.


    "You got a lot on your mind, eh?"


    It had a melodious and soothing tone to it. It has been a while since I heard this voice.


    "Lucia, you are here, huh?"


    "Yeah. Yeah, I am here. Aren''t you going to kneel in front of me¡­ Hey! Hey! I was joking! I was joking! Don''t look at me like that, will you?" Lucia spoke as she observed me with a smirk, getting reced with a slightly scared look before she chuckled a little and I sighed as well.


    -Bam!


    I hit her head to channel the frustration I was having and it kind of felt better as I started smiling, too.


    "Oww!! What was that for?" Lucia spoke as she rubbed her head gently as she looked at me with a confused expression.


    "Nothing¡­ They just left from here," I spoke with a sigh and she observed me with a nodding expression as she spoke,


    "That they did. Though, I should start my own work here now. I am already a week behind schedule."


    "Where were you busy, by the way?" I asked curiously. The normal ns were to visit here as soon as the ss started but for some reason Lucia didn''te with us and her arrival was postponed¡­ I wonder what happened.


    "Oh that? Nothing.. Just that the Vampire King called me for something," she casually spoke before moving into the Arcadia Academy.

 Chapter 241 Character Introduction: Merlin Rose

    Voice 1: Who is Merlin Rose?


    Voice 2: The head of the Rose Family.


    Voice 1: And?


    Voice 2: The first ''Rose'' of the Rose Family.


    Voice 1: What! How old is she?!


    Voice 2: Hmmm¡­ About 700 years old.


    Voice 1: Damn man! How did she live so long?


    Voice 2: She had learned a special art beforehand. It''s called the Sacrificial Exchange of the Blue Water.


    Voice 1: Sounds Ominous! Did she like¡­ kill people to absord their lifespan?


    Voice 2: Ah! No. You misunderstood. Actually, it had to do with energy¡­ or more urately, the energies. There actually exist two special kinds of energies in this world. Honestly, what I know is purely a theory as there was no way of proving it, but ording to the book of 0th Knowledge about Death, there was a conjecture about life span rted to Two Special Energies.


    Voice 1: What were those energies?!!!


    Voice 2: Life Energy and Death Energy.


    Voice 1: Like Light and Dark Mana?


    Voice 2: No. These are different from normal Dark and Light Mana or even different from Life Mana, which is normally connected to the life span of many creatures. These energies governed the amount of life one person had and are generally present from birth.


    Voice 1: Not sure I get it, but okay, continue.


    Voice 2: Well, easily put. Merlin had the ability to absorb people''s Life Energy ever so minutely so that on one would notice and just like that, she was able to live longer than others.


    Voice 1: Hmmm.. so more or less, she stole something that people didn''t even notice and lived so long?


    Voice 2: yeah, that sums it up.


    Voice 1: Since she had lived so long, she must be a really mature and wise person.


    Voice 2: Yeah, I guess. However, she died within the next few uing years. At least in the previous timeline, she did.


    Voice 1: Howe?


    Voice 2: Her death energy ran out.


    Voice 1: ??


    Voice 2: Well¡­ death energy and life energy are like the two sides of a coin you need both to live normally in this world. If you don''t have any death energy left in your body, you will be deemed an abnormality and will be eradicated by nature itself.


    Voice 1: Sounds scary! But wait! Howe she died then? I mean, couldn''t she have just taken someone''s death energy and lived longer?


    Voice 2: Well, she did not know¡­ and even if she did, her skill, Sacrificial Exchange of the Blue Water, was only limited to Life Energy and not Death energy.


    Voice 1: It just got a bitplicated for me to understand.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Voice 2: Well¡­ There was a guy who had the ability to take Death Energy but he kind of died earlier than he should have so, it''s kind of-


    Voice 1: All right. All right. I understand. Back to topic. What kind of person is Merlin Rose?


    Voice 2: She is like a wise grandma, who wants her family to bloom and always smile and be happy. She doesn''t tolerate anyone poking their nose into her family and kind of is a¡­ scary psychopath if you stand against anyone in her family.


    Voice 1: Zero interfered with her family, eh?


    Voice 2: He sure did.


    Voice 1: What kind of power does she possess?


    Voice 2: She possesses the power of Aura of the Deep Sea that allows her to talk to beings of the sea or night. She has a widemunication with the fishpeople who live deep in the sea as well as powers rted to Night Mana Maniption, that is, to manipte the mana that exists during the night.


    Voice 1: Sounds powerful.


    Voice 2: That she is. Her power level scales SSS-Rank and before she died, I believe she did reach SSSS-Rank. I think it was just a few weeks before she died, as I remember a celebration being held for her advancement.


    Voice 1: Why is she hiding again?


    Voice 2: To hide her skill and be a trump card to the family. Though the real reason is, basically because people don''t know about her existence, that is, the real Merlin Rose. Their enemies and the allies, keep thinking that the Merlin Rose, who is within that ce, is either an Artefact that holds the soul of Merlin Rose, or maybe someone of a different species pretending to be Merlin Rose and controlling the family, etc.


    Voice 1: Does that change anything?


    Voice 2: Yeah. Kind of everything. It''s like the difference between knowing your enemy and just taking a guess. If you don''t even know whether your enemy is human or not, then you don''t even know what kind of strategy you should use against it.


    Voice 1: Like if it is an artefact, then what kind of artefact.


    Voice 2: If it is a different species, then which one.


    Voice 1: Like a weapon, then what kind of weapon!


    Voice 2: Now you are getting it! Anything else to ask?


    Voice 1: Hmmmm¡­ yeah! What does Zero want from Merlin? I mean, I know he is going to bring her to his side, because of all the Parasites and all, but I wonder if there is more to it than what it seems.


    Voice 2: You seem awfully keen today.


    Voice 1: So there really is something!!!


    Voice 2: Yeah. He wants to see if there is anything rted to Merlin and Luna or not. While Elizabeth was taken by Lunaster on, Zero thinks that there was more to it than what it seemed. He doesn''t believe that it was a coincidence that Elizabeth just happened to go to Lunas when Elizabeth''s brother obliterated the entire family.


    Voice 1: Seems like it. Though, will he be able to do that? I mean, it''s an SSS- rank we are talking about. As far as I know, Zero can, at max, go to peak S-Rank right now. Should he be really meeting her right now?


    Voice 2: Well¡­ He honestly doesn''t have time. If he doesn''t do this right now, he might never get the chance to do it again.


    Voice 1: Let''s hope he doesn''t anger Merlin or else that would make thingsplicated.


    Voice 2: Let''s hope he doesn''t.

 Chapter 242 Meeting Merlin Rose

    After travelling for 3 hours by car, 2 hours by a super-fast private jet we reached the right edge of the Western Continent where the Rose family resided.


    Yeah, we kind of crossed the continent within 5 hours and reached the destination¡­ though it was only possible because of the guy who was driving the other car. His special ability elerates anything he touches, allowing us to reach any ce much faster than we could have ever reached.


    Getting off the private jet of the Rose family, I saw the giant white coloured mansion in front of me. To be honest, I could have called it a castle, but because of how it was designed like a wide city-like area, I think calling it a ''city'' would be a better idea.


    It was a ''mansion'' spread across 570 kilometres in area. Though the main family lived in a mountain mansion, which was used as a vi before, where we justnded. They called it the High Vi because earlier it was built as a vi, butter, after a certain battle, it was damaged and was built again as a mansion without changing its name.


    Actually the battle tore down most of the buildings and most of the family had to hide here, where they rebuilt it ordingly once the battle was over, mostly because it was the only building half-intact at that time.


    The white mansion was in front of me, with a magnificent garden surrounding it and a wide pavemented path to take us to that mansion.


    Williamson walked out of the private jet along with the driver and then both of them moved forward, with the rest of us moving behind them. Because we were on another side of the globe, the sun was still a bit up in the air, lighting up the blue sky creating a cozy afternoon. All the more because it was a bit cold up here on the mountain.


    Walking towards the mansion, I saw gardeners, workers, and a few other staff looking at us with a deep look in their eyes. I saw the grip of their hands tightening around the working tools they were holding.


    A slight smile formed on my face before I kept moving, soon reaching the gate in front of which three people, two men and one woman, were standing, looking at all of us carefully.


    "I brought the guests," Williamson said as he looked at the two men standing there. The expressions of the three were serious as they nodded at Williamson, who too was serious as well.


    Entering the mansion, we walked for about another 20 minutes from one ce to another. At the end of our long walk, we reached the ce where a huge gate was present and about 12 guards were standing in front of it.


    Each of these guards were at least Peak A-Rank, with at least 4 of them were peak S-Rank. I sensed one of them releasing the aura of SS-Rank as well and I chuckled inside as I thought about the number of people in and above SS-Rank increasing from the previous 12 to 13 now.


    Though I doubt they are the only ones with SS-Rank hidden among their ranks. After all, it was only during these three years, when the number of SS-Rank increased a lot, especially since there were a lot of people in peak S-Rank.


    ''Some of them even reached SSS-Rank¡­ Hmmm if I remember correctly there was a rumour of someone reaching SSSS-Rank or, more properly, S4 Rank before the First Cataclysm urred. He wasn''t human for sure, but I wonder who he was,'' I thought as I saw the huge gate opening as the guards moved to the side.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    We entered through the gate with the guards and found another dozen people inside that hall. Looking at their faces, they were the elders of the Rose Family with¡­ a few people that I did not expect to see here.


    ''What are the Laurentz doing here?'' I thought as I turned to William, who was equally shocked to find his younger brother and his son among the crowd of people inside.


    Looking at their smirk and the way they looked down on Lucas and William, it seemed as if they knew about our arrival from before and were waiting for us¡­ perhaps this meeting wasn''t as simple as it looked.


    A smile formed on my face as I observed the whole scenario and Lucas, who was observing me rather than his cousin and uncle, said,"Your grin is beaming. Keep it inside or you will scare the Rose family."


    I looked at him and chuckled as I saw him not getting affected by the atmosphere at all. I think the only one who is affected here is Rheo and Linda¡­ huh? They seem fine too?


    ''Did I miss something?'' I thought as I observed their nonchnt faces, which should be filled with horror or something, but wasn''t. Hmmm¡­ maybe they shared their information about me? Who knows¡­


    "You are here, young prophet," spoke Merlin as she looked at me and I finally looked at her sitting on the massive throne in front of me. The others just stopped, but I kept walking towards her one step at a time. The guards were about to attack me, but Merlin stopped them as she kept looking at me.


    "Finally d to meet you, Merlin Rose. There is a lot I have to ask of you, but first," I moved towards her, touched her white hair that glistened like snow and looked at her eyes that were transparent as clear as water.


    My eyes turned red as I used my Blood Magic and spoke,"ept this."


    She saw her System popping with a small notification before she pondered a little and then nodded. I sent a minuscule amount of dark energy inside her body through her hair, turning it a bit ck before it turned white again.


    She looked at her status again and her eyes widened a little before she observed me again and then a slightly curious expression entered her eyes and she spoke.


    "Looks like you know my secret."


    "Youngdy. I think I know more than you about it," I spoke as I smiled before letting her hair go.

 Chapter 243 Dealing With The Queen

    What happened was quite simple, actually. Merlin, like many other strong people, can see if someone holds the intention of killing her or not and, given by that line of thought, she allowed me to get closer to her.


    When I touched her hair, I directed my dark energy into her, which included both Dark Mana and bits of Death energy of my own. She must have got a notification like


    [Death energy is being bnced with Life Energy. Would you like to proceed?]


    Obviously, she proceeded with it and let me do what I was doing. Honestly, there were two main reasons for her to do this.


    One is that she had no idea what would happen if she lost all her death energy. While I know that she will die, she, on the other hand, had no idea, hence a fear of the unknown developed inside her.


    The other reason was that she was losing her senses of pain and tiredness. I don''t know the exact details, but death energy promotes pain, sleep, tiredness and rted things. While it may be normally a good thing but Merlin''s instinct probably had told her that it wasn''t a right thing.


    All the more because she knows that pain is nothing but a defence mechanism of the body that tells where the injury is. One should strive to have the energy to deal with pain than to lose the feeling of it totally.


    I kept checking her eyes to see her life signs and made sure to bnce her Death and Light energy properly.


    I wanted to add a charm magic to make her under my control, but any and all ill intentions would be easily seen through by Merlin, so I didn''t do that.


    Once I was done, I spoke with a smile on my face as I let her hair go,


    "Youngdy. I think I know about it more than you."


    I wanted to know two things while also proposing a deal with her regarding the parasites and whatnot. However, I wanted to do that alone with her and not in front of so many people.


    "Is that so? Then it looks like we have something to talk about then. Shall I bring some tea?" she asked with a smile as she looked at me and I nodded as I spoke,"Lemon tea please."


    Then she looked around and spoke,"Everybody. Make sure to take proper care of the guest and provide them with anything they want. I will be leaving with this young one on higher ground."


    Everybody looked at Merlin with a stupefied gaze, but they nodded. It was a ce where only the high elders and the most trusted people of Merlin went with her, so obviously they would be surprised.


    ''Though it''s just a ce where she sucks people''s life energies while talking with them about the world and whatnot,'' I thought as I looked at the people''s faces.


    THe one whole were most shocked were the Laurentz as they couldn''t believe what just happened in thest few minutes.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    ''Perhaps things were supposed to go differently? Did they set up some form of trap for us or something?'' I thought as I looked at the people around. If that were the case, then the change in their expression from their previous smug face would make sense.


    Maybe the way I changed the energy and stuff changed Merlin''s thoughts about how to proceed with me? Maybe¡­ let''s see where this goes¡­


    I then turned to look for Merlin to stand up and walk through the gate behind her throne. As the gate opened, a blinding light came from it and Merlin spoke,e with me. The tea will arrive there."


    I turned to Lucas and said,"stay together and if anyone tries to kill or harm you in ways you guys can''t handle without killing, then¡­ Kill them. It''s fine. That goes for everyone here."


    Lucas nodded at me and so did the others before I turned to Merlin, who had her eyes narrowed at me and I just spoke,"let''s go. I was just making sure they get the best treatment they deserve, that''s all." Under the ashen gazes of everyone, I walked behind Merlin into the gate behind her throne and soon reached aplete bluish white area. Entering that ce, I felt like I was in a ce made up of clouds. The whole area was quite heavenly, to say the least.


    "So, shall we begin our talk?" Merlin asked with a serious expression on her face as the surrounding energy got denser, making sure that I didn''t escape from here. Though I yawned casually before speaking,


    "Well, I have a couple of questions to ask and a deal to propose in exchange for something you might like. Other than that, I will try answering all the questions you want to know."


    "I don''t think you understand the gravity of the situation. You are a captive here with me. Your friends are held hostage outside as well¡­ There will be no deal, and there will be no talking about it. I will simply ask questions and you will be the one answering it."


    -Sigh!


    A loud sigh escapes from my mouth as I thought that it was working really too well for some reason.


    Guess, I expected a bit too much from my own ability to persuade people by my actions and words¡­ though I haven''t really talked much... In any case,


    "(By the name of the Royal Luna, I hereby call upon the Goddess of equity)," I spoke as I just sat there making her look at me with a really scared expression before she almost moved to kill me but we were both teleported to another ce.


    I stood there in front of the two massive faceddies whose face was smashed into pieces and the other was barely thriving. Yet the aura of that two faceddy was far greater than anything one can ever imagine. It was like standing in front of God.


    "You havee here because of the injustices you havemitted! For I shall be here to judge you by thews of heavens!"


    The massivedy spoke holding a two ted weighing bnce in her hands as both of us looked at her.

 Chapter 244 Themis

    "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! What am I doing here? Howe you know the Royal Language, sacred to Lunas¡­ Who are you? What?!


    "SILENCE!!!" spoke the statue, the Goddess of Equity, as she observed us and I just stood there recalling the bits of information about the Goddess.


    There were 4 Broken Goddesses, but Elle told me that there were 6 in total, while Lucia spoke about the existence of a Seventh Goddess. Though honestly, I had never met one until now, forget about seven.


    ording to the legends, these Seven or four or whatever the number is, these Goddesses each belonged to a high faction each. For example,


    Lunas have the Goddess of Equity


    Scarlets have the Goddess of Fury


    Laurentzs have the Goddess of Victory and Defeat


    Elfens have the Goddess of Knowledge and Wisdom


    While the others I don''t know¡­


    Nobody knows about their origin or perhaps anything about them. The only few people who dide close to them, they could only look at them that too when they are called and other times these Goddesses juste on their own telling their n or a faction of the uing doom or something. That is all¡­


    However, Elle once told me something about the Goddess of Lunas after Luna vanishedpletely from the face of the Vermillion.


    ["Perhaps it''s fine if I tell you since it probably won''t change anything. You see Reaper, the Goddess of Luna was actually a powerful being who was banished from the world of Light and then she was given a task of finding herplete-self before she can have the purpose of living.


    ''Only a True Luna can receive Equity''s true blessing,'' was a famous quote which I have heard many times before. I didn''t get to meet the Luna Goddess, but I think I would have received that blessing if I had met her earlier.


    If you are wondering why, then that is because, after they died, I learnt the Royal Luna''s blessing just to check if I can meet the Goddess, which I actually did, however, she told me that she is going to die in a moment as she had already lost all her powers to a certain being. Made me quite furious as I learnt that the True Luna thing was just bullshit created by Luna. In any case, that made me think one more thing though,


    You see Reaper; I think there is more to us than just these Parasites and those bastards¡­ I think there is a bigger thing going on than we can imagine.


    Well, I tried visiting that ce again using the spell, but it didn''t work cause my System said as a non-Luna, I can only visit once. I wonder if you can visit there and find something to help us in the ongoing war?"]


    I did try to visit here before, and yeah, I seededst time as well. Though there was no one herest time. Later in the previous timeline, I asked Elle to teach me about thenguage and stuff about the Lunas and whatnot, which actually gave me a lot of helpful information.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "I see two non-Lunas here. How did you gain entry to this ce?" Asked the two faced women as she looked at us and I turned at her before speaking.


    "You have a Guardian Fragment in your possession, don''t you?"


    Yeah. That was the thing that came to mind when I connected the dots. The highest beings that I know of right now are the Primordials and the Guardians and with the blessing involved, I think it was fine to reach the conclusion that this goddess¡­ is actually a Guardian Fragment¡­ and most probably the others as well.


    The statue turned silent and then vanished before an exquisitely beautifuldy formed in front of it by overflowing water from the ground. Merlin was surprised by this, probably because she didn''t know about this piece of information.


    "Who are you?" The statue asked, and I looked at her before speaking.


    "I would like to know your name first."


    She pondered about it before speaking,"it''s Themis. Now your turn." Well, at least she didn''t show her ego and answered my question without any second thought. I looked at Merlin, who was getting more and more surprised as seconds passed, and it kind of made me chuckle before I spoke.


    "I go by many names. Reaper and Zero are the most frequent. Though you can call me the Guardian Fragment of Space."


    Her eyes widened, and a smile formed on her face as she spoke,"you are a Guardian Fragment as well!!!!" and then she hugged me as tightly as she could. I could have died from choking, but probably because of the environment which was hers, I didn''t.


    She then stepped back with a blossoming smile on her face as she spoke,"are you here to save me from them?"


    I kind of observed her for a few moments before I said,"them?" There was slight confusion on my face and hearing my question, her expression started getting worse but before she could misinterpret I spoke,


    "I know about the Primordials and stuff, but I don''t know about your situation honestly. I was here for a different task than that, but if you can tell me what is going on, maybe I can do something?"


    I was sceptical to where this was going, but if I can add another being like Themis into my side¡­ damn! Now wouldn''t that be something?! Though, first I need to find out what exactly is going on here.


    I turned to Merlin, who was just standing there with a look of stupefaction on her face. I kind of felt pity for her here¡­


    "Hmmm¡­ all right. At least it''s better than nothing. No. Actually, it is still significantly better than nothing. All right, I will tell you everything I know. You decide what to do with it," she said and created a bunch of tables and chairs as she sat on it and looked at me as if waiting for me to sit as well and listen to her.

 Chapter 245 Revelations And Revelations

    ''I don''t think having a great idea is enough. I believe that dedication and willingness to put in hard work are more important.''


    ¡­


    We, both Merlin and I, sat on the chair as we began listening to Themis'' story.


    It was a bit of a long story, but to sum it up; she was an Angel, before she became a Goddess, who was born with the Nature Fragment.


    ording to her, she used to see memories and prophecies regarding her task of saving the world and stuff, and I believe it is rted to Guardians and Primordials.


    Later on, she and her n was banished from the World of Angels because of a sin her grandfathermitted and it didn''t just end at that as her entire n was massacred by the Devils, since an Angel who was banished from theirnd doesn''t have much power, anyway.


    She was the sole survivor and the reason she survived was because of her Guardian Fragment, which kind of trapped her here.


    Her System told her that only another Guardian Fragment could save her or else she might die. Though the System also gave her a way out of here, if she could give up her fragment to another person.


    Though, that would mean leaving from here plus losing her special nature rted powers.


    So, in the end, she was waiting for a Guardian or a person strong enough to save her from the problems by having the fragment as a blessing.


    "Hmmm¡­ what''s your deal with Lunas?" I asked, and she answered after a bit of contemtion,


    "When I was escaping from the Devils, I ended up being saved by the Luna Princess. As a result, I helped them out with my powers, which were rted to vegetation and ntation."


    Hmmmm¡­.


    "Howe you are trapped here, then? I mean, when did you arrive here?" I asked because if she was with the Lunas, wouldn''t she be safe already? Why need to trap herself here¡­ or what happened to keep her here?


    "That, huh? Actually, it was the Devils again. They attacked the Lunas with whom I was staying and kind of killed most of them," Themis spoke with a sad expression as she felt really bad with what happened before.


    "Wait! Wait! Wait!... You are saying that the reason the Lunas were attacked and almost wiped out by the Devils in the previous millennia was because of you?!!" Merlin chimed in with a look of disbelief on her face.


    Soon her face turned ashen as she spoke." Do you know how many people died because of your selfishness? My father¡­ my mother¡­everyone died-"


    "They would have died anyway, though," I yawned as I spoke, cutting off Merlin.


    Merlin turned to me with a re, and I continued,<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Honestly, the Scarlets, when they found out about the opposite nature of Luna, kind of waged war anyway. Because I personally know their nature, if Luna would have been as strong as millennials ago, the Scarlets would have waged an open war rather than trying to hunt them every now and then."


    "..." Merlin looked at me, as if she wanted to speak something, but words weren''ting out of her mouth.


    "Well, that is my story. What about yours?" Spoke Themis and I nodded at her before turning at Merlin for a sec.


    "Should I kill her?" Themis spoke without any hesitation, which made Merlin look at me and Themis with a pale expression, but I spoke,


    "I need her. Well, I guess it can''t be helped in this case, so well¡­ whatever¡­"


    And then I began telling bits about how I met Janus and heard about the Guardian Fragment and how I hold one of the Space Guardian''s fragments and its effects.


    I told her many half truths and fabricated lies, which I wouldter reveal to herpletely once I start trusting her, but for now, I think I will keep them a secret.


    After all was said and done


    "Let''s see if I can get you out of here then¡­ but before that I have a couple of questions for her," I said as I looked at Merlin who just looked at me with a slight gulp making me chuckle at her.


    "I will be honest with you cause I really need to build a trust-based rtionship with you and not a business minded one here. Or else, all of us will die." My tone turned serious and so was her expression.


    "I need your help with dealing with the Laurentz andter on building a strong force to develop in the Western Continent. I will give you all the resources and paths to reach that goal, but in return I want to have equal power, which you will hold over the Western Continent in the end. I can''t manage both the continents at once, so I need you to do that for me," I spoke, and she looked at me with a little of a baffled look.


    "Other than that, I want to know exactly what is your rtionship with the Lunas right now? I know your blood rted elders were Luna and you are one of thest Luna bloodline holders despite being a human, but other than that¡­ what exactly is your current status with them?" I asked and this time her eyes opened up wide with her mouth wide enough to put an egg into it.


    "I.. uh.. how do you¡­. Who are you?" She tried speaking but in the end spoke only this much.


    "Well¡­ I really need to know Merlin¡­ It''s kind of important to me," I spoke again with a really distressed voice and she looked at me and then at Themis before sighing,


    "All right. I will tell you¡­ but then tell me, how do you know about me? Is it really this easy to get my information out?"


    I nodded at her before she looked at me with a bitter expression as she spoke.


    "The Current Royal Luna Queen is actually my cousin sister''s granddaughter. That is the rtionship I hold with her."

 Chapter 246 Another Fine Addition

    "The Current Royal Luna Queen is actually my cousins sister''s granddaughter. That is the rtionship I hold with her."


    I observed her for a few moments before giving out a really loud sigh as I spoke.


    "So you are Queen Kirsi''s distant aunt, huh? That''s quite something, to be honest."


    This solved most of the problems I was facing because¡­ it would make sense for the Queen to take in one of her own family members even when her own Kingdom was crumbling under the pressure of Devils and Scarlets.


    "You know the Luna Queen as well?" spoke Merlin with a surprised look on her face and I nodded before asking,"what is your current rtion with her?" "Bad. Very bad," spoke Merlin with a sad expression. When asked about why it was bad, she simply told her that the Lunas still don''t consider her as one of their own. Although there are a lot of people who epted Merlin as a part of Luna, most of the higher ups were against her getting along with the Lunas with Queen Kirsi being one of them.


    "Hmmm¡­ that is bad, honestly. Well, I guess I will do something about making them ept with you," I sighed as I rubbed my eyes with a tired look on my face. I thought that they would have some workable connections with Lunas and I could make them work with us but¡­ looks like we need to start from scratch.


    "You will what?" Merlin, shocked again, looks at me with a questioning gaze before I nod as I speak,"I kind of need their help as well, and you, being my only way to get through with them, I must make them get along with you."


    "Why? Are you doing this for me or perhaps Elizabeth?" She spoke some nonsensical words, and I turned at her with a really confused expression before I spoke.


    "I am doing this for myself. I have my reasons for doing this. Also, it has nothing to do with a single person or a single being, but more than that."


    When I spoke, both Merlin and Themis observed me, and I pondered a little before asking Merlin,"so. Would you like to add anything to the deal that would make you ept it?"


    I was really requesting this time because ofck of information. This was the max that I could persuade her. Any more and I might need to use brute force or charm maniption, which I kind of did not want to use on someone that Elle respected.


    "No¡­ it''s fine. This is already more than enough. If you can make the Lunas ept me.. Forget about sharing half, you can have all the control. All I want is to be epted back into my own family¡­ there is nothing more that I can ask for¡­ but can you really do it?" Merlin spoke, and I chuckled a little before speaking.


    "Yeah¡­ I think I can. In fact, with this girl here¡­ It should be a piece of cake to manipte them into epting you."


    "Me?" Themis spoke, a bit confused.


    "Manipte?" Merlin asked, a bit taken aback.


    "Oops," I realised that I spoke a bit too much before I smiled at them before I stood up and looked at Themis,"First thing first, let''s get out of here¡­ I think it should not be that hard."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Huh? Right now?" Spoke Themis with a surprised look before I touched the ground and was about to cut open my palm to release all the blood, however I stopped.


    ''Hmmmm¡­ what if¡­'' I thought of something and instead of cutting my palm, I simply touched the ground and tried forcing the rejection fragment onto it?


    Whenever I use my Blood Magic, I feel like a part of my body falls along with it¡­ this time I was trying to focus on that feeling alone and try pushing out the part of my body.


    "What are you trying to do?" Themis spoke, but I ignored her and kept concentrating there and soon enough¡­


    A silver-coloured line drew on my palm as it started flowing deep into the ground before it started travelling all around the white ce. It branched once, twice, multiple times over and over until it covered all over the surface, sky and everything else, and soon enough¡­


    It broke down.


    We were back in Merlin''s room and with me were Merlin and Themis, the Goddess of Equity. I looked at her for a few moments before speaking,"Wee to Vermillion. Miss Themis." She looked at me with a dumbfounded expression before she said,"you do know that the Devils are after me, right?"


    I nodded at her before smiling as I spoke,"yeah I know. Why else do you think I got you out of that ce?"


    "Huh? What do you mean by that?" Themis was confused. She looked at me with a questioning look and I stretched a bit before doing a bit of sit-ups and once I felt rxed,


    "Devils.. Or Demons to be honest, they are one of our many enemies and if I could kill them as early as possible. Wouldn''t it be a good riddance?"


    She looked at me with a horrified gaze before she calmed herself down and asked,"you do know that they are much more powerful than me?"


    I nodded as I spoke,"well. That is correct as well, but I think I can manage that. For starters, I am going to hide you from the world, meanwhile you''re also helping me out managing a couple of my works. Hmmm¡­ Now that I think about it, I think I can take out three birds with one stone, in this case here."


    Somewhere along the conversation, I started talking to myself and ignored the others. I didn''t exactly n this, but it worked out fine, anyway.


    Initially, I wanted to take Merlin there, and using the fragment''s knowledge make Themis take my side and help me form a deal with Merlin. Even if I were wrong and things didn''t go as nned, I still hold power enough to get out of that ce unscathed. If I remember correctly,st time I escaped from that ce using my blood to break through that ce just like this time, albeit without blood. So, even if I were to kill Merlin and Themia at the cost of my arm, I guess escape shouldn''t have been such a problem.

 Chapter 247 Departing From The Rose Mansion

    "What are you talking about?" Themis asked, and I replied with another question"do you have any skill that can make you invisible or hide your aura or something?"


    "Yeah. I do. You want me to hide myself?" she asked, a bit confused, and I nodded before she observed me for a moment before proceeding to speak.


    "[One with Nature]" and soon enough I saw the air surrounding herpletely before she started bing transparent. A few secondster, she vanishedpletely from there.


    "Merlin, can you check what is going on outside?" I spoke and Merlin looked at me before turning towards the exit and a wide expression appears on her face as she speaks,


    "My guards have surrounded your men, however, your friends don''t look tense. They are just sitting within a white circle ying some card games as if they were on a pic." "Did anyone die?" I asked, and she shook her head with slight relief as she spoke,"luckily, it is still all okay."


    "Then let''s leave then. Themis, stay close to me," I spoke as I began walking outside this room along with Merlin beside me.


    Perhaps things proceeded a bit too smoothly this time for some reason¡­ I guess I am luckier in this timeline thanst time. Had it been the previous timeline, Merlin would have gone against me, with Themis taking Merlin''s side and I might have needed to fight everyone within this mansion. Well, it doesn''t really matter though, since I would havee out unscathed, anyway.


    ''Now, what next?'' I thought as I moved down and then towards the throne room, along with the rest of the people here. Watching meing outside beside Merlin without any signs of damage or anything, all the people on the other side became surprised and shocked.


    As for people from my side, they just stood there with a smile on their faces, before Lucas spoke,"you took your sweet time in there. What took you so long?"


    "How long have I been in there?" I wondered how much time had passed and Lucas looked at his watch before speaking,"about 5 hours."


    ''Oh! That''s a lot. I was so busy talking with Merlin and Themis that I forgot to notice the time.'' I was a bit surprised, but I guess it was fine since the returns were equally good.


    ''Though, I need to watch over Themis¡­ it was kind of too easy for some reason¡­'' I sighed as even though I wanted it to, I couldn''t shake that feeling that it went awfully too smooth there.


    "Well, our work is done here. Miss Merlin, I expect a positive response from you within this month," I spoke out of nowhere, making even Merlin look at me with a confused expression.


    Though momentster, understanding my intentions, she made a serious expression and said,"You shall receive my response soon."


    I nodded at her before walking down each step as I observed Lucas'' cousin and uncle observing me with a focused expression. The other elders of the Rose family were observing me as well and ignoring them, I focused on Williamson Rose as I spoke,


    "I will be leaving from here. Let''s meet 4 monthster."


    Williamson looked at me and nodded before speaking,"I suppose you are satisfied with this visit." His eyes shifted between Merlin and I many times and I spoke,"yeah. Even though it looked like you guys had other ns for us, I am still satisfied with how it ended, so I will overlook it this time."


    Williamson kept his silence when I spoke and I really did not mind how things went because¡­ I would have nned at least 10 times worse than this.


    After that, all of us got out of that room and moved outside towards the jet ne, when Williamson asked,"where would you like to go next? At least we can help you reach there."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Without missing a beat, I said,"Take me to the ck waterke."


    Hearing my words, this time almost everyone, including Merlin, were shocked by this.


    Well, it was a ce filled with high death energy collected over centuries so anyone who approaches it gets killed immediately without even a moment to save themselves. So, I guess, them getting shocked was viable.


    "Are you sure you want to go to that ce?" Williamson asked, confirming once again as he blinked with surprise while observing my expression.


    "Yeah. Pretty much sure," I replied.


    "The ck Water Lake?" he asked again.


    "The ck Water Lake," I confirmed this again.


    "The ce where the death rate is 100%?" he asked again.


    "Yeah. Exactly that ce," I smiled at him and this time he took a deep breath before speaking,"I guess.. You must have your reasons to go there. Well, good luck with whatever you are trying to do. We will drop you about 10 kilometres away from thatke, though."


    I nodded at him before I saw the people who were with me, not really bothered by this information.


    ''Have they lost their mind or something?'' I really questioned their sanity as I looked at their faces. I mean, it would be much more normal if they were surprised, horrified, or maybe furious with my decision. At the very least, they should have asked questions regarding this decision of mine, but yet, they are acting so normal, as if we were going on a pic.


    ''Looks like I need to talk to find out exactly what is going on in that brain of theirs.'' I decided in my heart to ask that after we board the jet and it takes off.


    While my friends moved inside the jet, I moved towards Merlin, who normally should be hiding, was now standing out in the open without any care in the world.


    "Shouldn''t you be hiding?" I asked, and she pondered before asking with a confused expression,"won''t I need to fulfil your promise? Do you want me to do that without showing myself? That''s kind of too much to ask for, you know? Just how much do you want this youngdy to work?"


    I looked at her stupefied before speaking,"well.. You do you, I suppose. I will be leaving from here now. I will send you everything through Williamson soon enough," and then moving away from there under the nk gazes of the Rose Family.


    Sitting inside the ne, I saw everyone busy in their own work and after the gate closed; I pped to gain the attention of everyone before I asked,


    "There is something that I am curious about. Can you answer a few questions of mine?"

 Chapter 248 Black Water Lake

    "There is something that I am curious about. Can you answer a few questions of mine?"


    Everyone turned at me with a curious look on their faces and once I got everyone''s attention,


    "Since we will be going to ''that'' ce soon enough, my first question is about your thoughts regarding life and death? What do you think about the terms ''life'' and ''death''?"


    "A journey after birth and an end to that journey," answered Linda with a pondering look.


    "Life is what we make of it, death is when we fail to do things right," spoke Rheo as he looked outside through the window.


    "Life is a suffering filled with hope and death is a way to end that suffering," William spoke as he looked at me.


    "A cycle of birth and rebirth?" Spoke Cristine, pondering.


    "The most important things one can keep their eyes on," Lucas spoke after giving it some thought.


    I looked at Reeve, who was quite as he observed me with a curious look and I shook my head before asking,


    "How scared are you right now that we are going to a ce where the chances ofing back are below 1% ordinarily?"


    Lucas and William both contemted it, and the rest of them made a confused expression.


    "Don''t you have a n toe back alive?" William asked, and I nodded at him.


    I certainly do have a n toe back.


    "And you have considered most things from all angles?" Lucas asked, and I nodded again. I certainly did that.


    "Sir Lucas said that you can defeat all of usbined together and how much I have seen you dealing with things. I believe you really can do that?" Rheo was the one who asked this question.


    "If I go all out, yeah¡­ I think I can do that," I answered, making me wonder where this conversation was going.


    "You already have been to that ce and from that ce where the chances are returning below 1%, you most probably have returned too, haven''t you?" Asked Cristine with a smile, and I observed her silently before speaking.


    "Yeah¡­ "


    "Did you escape from that ce or came out without much problem?" Reeve asked with a bit of curiosity, and I shook my head as I answered.


    "None of that¡­ I was kind of kicked out of that ce."


    Their eyes widen before they made a slight sigh, and then Linda asked,


    "And I take it you will be protecting us and making sure that we will being back alive, unscathed¡­ or perhaps even stronger than before?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Yeah¡­ I will do that as well."


    "Then¡­ is there anything to be afraid of? I mean, it''s dangerous alright, but then¡­ isn''t everything already sorted? Is there really any need to be afraid of it?" Linda spoke and everyone just kept gazing at me for a few seconds as I stood there.


    ''They have be fanatics?! Man, it''s kind of scary¡­ I mean, I want them to believe in me, but still¡­ '' I looked at them and then sighed before speaking.


    "Well¡­ I guess. That is all, then."


    Everyone observed me for a few moments before they nodded and then returned to their own.


    "If you are confused why we¡­ or personally speaking, why do I trust you with my life so much then¡­ Because the skill you gave mest time¡­ that Ancient Rune Skill¡­ I don''t think a skill like that exists in this world anymore. I don''t know what you are or who you are, but if you wanted to take my life, I might have already been dead, though from what I have heard from Lucas you want to make us stronger to be a part of your force.


    Wouldn''t I be an idiot to not take part in something like that?" Rheo spoke as he observed me with a deep gaze and I observed him before asking,


    "What if I were to kill you? Or maybe use you as a sacrifice or something?"


    "Then you won''t be the first one. Though probably be the first one to seed¡­ however mind you, I won''t go down so easily," Rheo spoke with a smile.


    ''If I remember correctly, Rheo''s cousins have tried killing him before and it wasn''t just that, but his uncles have sent assassins to kill him too¡­.'' I recalled bits of information that I collected about Rheo.


    ''Hmmm¡­ now that I think about it¡­ almost everyone is simr in a sense, huh? All of them have genuine reasons to get stronger¡­ and not just strong but by a huge leap,'' I thought and thought before I sighed before muttering slowly,


    "I will just take it as they are ready to risk their lives in the den of monsters in exchange for real power."


    William chuckled a little before he began reading a book from the shelf and I too sat in my seat.


    About an hourter, we reached a town near the ck Water Lake, where that driver dropped us off before departing towards the Rose Mansion.


    "Themis, you cane out now but keep your Aura hidden," I spoke and a fairy-like girl appeared out of thin air right beside me.


    She had orangish yellow hair that felt like the autumn leaves shining against the sun and crystal blue eyes that felt like they held an entire gxy in them.


    Her white Angel-wings came into existence and wearing that white one piece dress, it felt as if a heavenly being had graced us with its presence.


    Goddess of Equity, Themis stood in our vision at this moment.


    "Is she one of¡­" Lucas wanted to ask something and I understood what he was saying before I spoke,"I will exinter. But for now, she will being with us to that ce. Her purpose is the same as that of Lucas and William."


    Even when I spoke this, the rest of the people here didn''t get out of their stupor. The only one who felt sane was Lucas.


    I turned to Themis, who had a slightly awkward expression before I sighed as I understood what just happened here.

 Chapter 249 Black Water Lake#2

    "Reverse Charm: Break!" I spoke, breaking everyone from the charm that enchanted everyone here under Themis'' aura.


    Then she erased her aurapletely and now looked like a normal person. Now¡­ that is, if we remove those wings.


    "Can you make them go away while you are with me?" I spoke, and she nodded before shrinking them to an extremely small size. They were still there but were too small to be seen.


    I looked at everyone observing Themis with a really cautious look and I turned towards the ck Water Lake at a distance.


    "We will be walking to that ce from here onwards," I said before beginning to move in that direction.


    While I could have cleared the confusion between them and exined things in more detail, I decided not to do that since I will need to repeat it, anyway.


    "Lucas, while we are walking, tell Rheo and Themis about what we are going to do there, also exin your role in this whole expedition so that she can have an idea of what she will be doing there," I spoke as I kept walking and the others who were looking at Themis, slowly turned at me and then began walking behind me.


    Lucas moved over to Themis without much thought and began exining about everything that we were supposed to do in the Netherrealm.


    Rheo too joined them and began asking questions about what exactly he was doing here. Though, even Lucas did not know why I called Rheo here, except that I will be helping him get stronger.


    Soon we reached about 5 kilometres away and the death aura began spreading more and more, but because we had Themis, Lucas and William with us, who had their life aura shining brilliantly against the death aura, we didn''t have much problem moving forward.


    The distance decreased and the death energy increased even more. We were about 2 kilometres away from there and, ordingly, the death energy started taking over William and Lucas'' Life Aura.


    "Rheo. Reeve. Come here," I spoke as I stopped and then waited for them to arrive closer to me.


    Positioning them in front of me, I put my hands on their back each before I mutter,


    "Try absorbing all that death energying towards you."


    As soon as I said that, even though both of them didn''t exactly understand what they had to do, they tried to absorb the energy however they thought they should.


    "Blood Assimtion: Mana Blood Maniption," I spoke as I let my own death energy into their body along with my arms shattering a bit.


    Though it wasn''t nothing I couldn''t bear. I just kept my face straight as I helped them absorb all that death energying towards them.


    Obviously there was going to be a limit to how much they can absorb but with this..hmm they can at the very least move to the next step¡­ and that''s learning how to repel death energy using their Systems.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    And soon enough, I saw them using their Systems to absorb more and more energy. Looks like they got a new skill rted to Dark Energy absorptions. Now onto the next task¡­


    "Try to fill up as much as you can and, once done, use the same energy to repel it. It''s like blowing air with air," I guided them as I calmed their mind using some of the Life Mana to make it easier for them to use it. Perhaps it came naturally for them, or perhaps me guiding them was really beneficial¡­ I saw them repelling the energy easily as soon as I told them to.


    Soon enough, the amount of death energying towards us decreased by arge margin.


    Almost half of them were repelled by the Light Aura and Magic of William, Lucas, and Themis. While the other half was continuously being absorbed by Reeve and Rheo, whatever was left, were repelled by them as well.


    We then moved forward again before reaching extremely close to the Lake.


    There was a big ck cloud covering the entire area and the death energy, which normally should have been barely visible, was as clear as day with its centre being around the centre of theke. Though, despite such dense death energy, we didn''t have a problem standing there.


    For the first few minutes, it was difficult for Reeve and Rheo to simultaneously absorb and deflect all that energy, but with my help, and some amount of time, they adjusted to it pretty fast. In fact now, they didn''t even need me to guide them how to do it as they can manage it on their own.


    ''I guess it was the right choice to bring Rheo along with us,'' I smiled before moving closer to theke as I took out the artefact which I got from Linda before when we stayed in Iredale. I turned to look at Linda once more, before I spoke.


    "I would like to hear more about how you got that artefact. Though only speak of it when we are in that realm and not here on this."


    She looked at me and nodded with a serious expression before turning at the huge mass of death energy in front of her. Honestly, that energy kind of sends chills down my spine as well and if even I am affected by it, then I could only imagine what she would be feeling right now.


    As for Cristine, she was the same as Linda here¡­ all this death energy was affecting her too.


    I then looked at that artifact carefully. It was like a pendant piece without the chains, and there was a red-coloured gem embedded in a silver coloured webbed covering.


    Behind it I saw the ancientnguage, spoken only in the Netherrealm. I then began murmuring as I looked at that pendant as,


    "(Long Live the King of Darkness, for once shall you rise the world may crumble and we will take back the glory that we lost once upon a time)"


    As soon as I said that, the pendant started shining and immediately after; I threw the pendant in theke in front of me.


    "Linda," I spoke again as I saw the dark energy beginning to swirl around the ce where I threw the pendant and I continued,"Do you want to know¡­ what Life and Death is?"

 Chapter 250 See You Guys Later

    "Linda," I spoke again as I saw the dark energy beginning to swirl around the ce where I threw the pendant and I continued,"Do you want to know¡­ what Life and Death is?"


    Linda observed me with a puzzled expression before seriously looking at me as she gulped and nodded.


    The storm kept increasing in diameter before it engulfed the entire area around us and the ce started turning darker and darker with each passing moment.


    "Aidan!" I heard Rheo''s voice from behind me as I observed him looking at his System.


    [Emergency Quest: The Gates to Netherrealm has been found to be open. The crack between the two worlds has begun to erge.


    Close the Gate to Netherrealm.


    Reward: +50 Stat points, [Title: Guardian of Humanity]


    Penalty: All stats will decrease by 10%]


    It wasn''t just him but everyone around me that had the same expression as Rheo.


    I then looked at the Gates to Netherealm forming in front of me as the storm kept getting bigger and ferocious.


    "Blood Sacrifice: Reaper''s Retribution," I spoke as I reverse channelled all the mana into my blood and sacrificed its temporary physical power.


    Then I began absorbing all the death energy around me before my veins started turning dark and so did my hairs and nails.


    My eyes were pitch ck before my clothes began to tear into pieces from the intensity and soon enough I lost my upper clothing, revealing the ck pattern that has formed on my chest and back.


    I then moved closer to the gate and applied dark mana into it, along with light mana that I generated from my body. Later I added even more light energy into it as the dark energy was absorbed from the surrounding as well.


    ''Normally it should have taken more than a week to break the gate but¡­'' I took out the pendant-like artefact, and ced it at the hole in the centre of the gate which formed in front of us.


    Soon enough, the artefact merged with the gate, and the gate began to open.


    "AIDAN!!!" Shouted Lucas this time as he saw the barrage of messages flowing in his System.


    I don''t know what the System told them, but they were looking at me like I was a madman. It felt like some of them were contemting whether to kill me or not, but before they could do so,


    "Life and death¡­ well¡­ They are the two pieces of a seven colored gem, said to be the gift of Gods to humanity. And we are going to the realm where one of those ''gifts'' rule."


    I spoke and they, barely keeping their hold, looked at me¡­ listened to me carefully.


    "Let''s go in. The others areing," I spoke before I looked at them.


    The first one to move was William¡­ then Lucas followed¡­ then Cristine did, and soon everyone except Rheo moved inside that gate.


    "Are you sure we should be doing this?" he asked with a horrified face.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Trust me. If I had a choice, I would have never done it like this," I spoke before vanishing behind him and then pushing him inside the gate as well.


    I looked at the people arriving towards me and one by one theynded in front of me with an angry expression on their faces. Some were curious, while the others were expressionless.


    ''I should be able to manage this power for another 5 minutes before it starts escaping¡­ should I fight them to make an impact on them and demonstrate the power difference or should I escape and move to Netherrealm,'' I thought a bit about it before speaking,


    "I will give 20 seconds before I move you out myself."


    Counting them, there were about 17 people in front of me, but they were mostly S-Ranked, with only 2 of them being SS-Ranked.


    "What do you want to achieve?" One of the old women asked as she observed me. She was one of the calm ones here and I didn''t need to ponder over it as I spoke.


    "Saving this."


    "By opening the pathway to that monstrosity?!!!" A furious man spoke as he moved towards me and tried attacking as fast as he could but before he could even touch me, I clicked my fingers and he was thrown away back to his original ce.


    ''I am barely SSS-Ranked here, but that isn''t all. The atmosphere here is making me stronger every moment, while it is draining the energy of others,'' I pondered before sighing and then speaking.


    "I would love to y more, but I need to go. Sorry for your stats that you may lose, I will make sure topensate you when I return. See you guyster," I spoke as I winked at them before smiling and moving inside the gate.


    ¡­


    After I was gone, the people gathered there just stood there as the storm began getting absorbed by the gate before all the dark energy entered into the gate and the gate closed.


    Soon, the gate vanished under the constant gaze of everyone present there, taking all the dark aura with it. All there was left was a silentke surrounded by dead trees.


    "Why did you let him go, Grandma?" spoke one of the younger guys looking at the old woman who asked me that question.


    "He was too powerful for anyone of us to handle. I could see that he would never kill us for some reason unless we really press him but¡­ we would be only making a fool of ourselves if we had fought him," spoke the old woman, and the others looked at her.


    "So what are we supposed to do now? Wait here for them toe back? Heck, we don''t even know if they areing back," spoke angrily one of the younger women wearing a ck suit.


    "Wait for him¡­ awaah¡­ toe back andpensate for the loss of our stats," spoke a middle-aged man as he stretched and then began moving back to his ce,


    "I will be informing the master about it and see how he deals with it. You guys see how to deal with your own factions."


    Soon enough, everyone started leaving as well, before there was only one person left there.


    She was a beautiful girl holding an umbre in her hand.


    "Such a peaceful atmosphere¡­ nothing like what the System messaged me. Did that guy know about this result? Or he simply didn''t care? Makes me curious¡­" she spoke before moving towards theke as she stared intensely at the bottom of it.


    And soon she too vanished from there, as if she didn''t even exist there.

 Chapter 251 An Old Enemy Of Mine

    Netherrealm.


    A few minutes before Zero and his party arrive.


    ¡­


    "(FIND THEM!!! THEY MUST BE HERE SOMEWHERE)" spoke a huge rhino faced monster as hemanded the other monsters around him to search for someone.


    The sky was white as always, with the sand covering the entirend.


    There were mountains and rocks scattered all over the ce as far as your eyes can see.


    Among the huge mountains, two human-like monsters with twin horns and blue-coloured skin were hiding from a battalion of Rhino headed monsters.


    The human-like monsters were siblings, brother and sister, who had escaped from the enemy''s camp and were now moving towards their home, but unfortunately, the enemy had caught up to them.


    -Boom!!


    Breaking one of the giant rocks, the leader Rhino monster revealed the location of the brother and sister.


    The brother takes out his spear and attacks the Rhino, though he is easily pushed back by thetter with an axe attack.


    While the sister, finding his brother getting hurt, uses her System to heal his brother,


    "[Dark Aid]"


    The wound vanished and the white blood that was gushing out of the shed chest healed at a rapid pace.


    Meanwhile, the other monsters, who were with the Rhino, moved around to cover the duo''s escape route.


    The brother stood up again and looked around with a re as he pointed his spear at the leader.


    "(You still haven''t given up, huh? Futile attempt,)" spoke the Rhino before he moved towards this duo, but before he could take more than two steps,


    A stranger appeared at a distance not far from there. It was a massive gate that could let an entire battalion move from one side to another.


    Both the Rhino monsters and the blue-skinned duo observed it with a confused yet scared expression as they stared at it.


    -Creak!!!!


    The gate opened up with a loud voice that reverberated throughout the entire grounds and soon shadows of a few young men and women appeared in front of everyone.


    "You better have reasons for pushing me here against the System''s quest. I f*cking lost 10% of my stats, you know? 10 f*cking percent!!!" One of the guys spoke out loud as he shouted looking at another man.


    The others were making slight ashen expressions as well, as they moved here.


    And then¡­


    The topless man with ck hairs, ck eyes and a ck-coloured tattoo on his body, moved forward towards us and asked,


    "(Can you tell me where we are right now?)"


    ¡­<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    [Zero''s POV]


    "(Can you tell me where we are right now?)" I asked the Rhino who seemed the leader here.


    ''These Rhino''s must be Wrath''s men while the others too¡­ Hmm, they seem to be Jealousy''s people. But weren''t they like¡­ enemies at each other''s throats?'' I pondered over it and looking at the situation, I think I could more or less make out the situation here.


    "(Who are you?)" The Rhino asked as he cautiously observed me before I thought of something and a smile came on my face and I turned at those blue coloured men and spoke,


    "(Wanna make a deal? I''ll escort you to back to yournd, but in return you have to answer my questions.)"


    Everyone from the battalion of the Rhinos looked at me with a baffled expression and the blue-coloured duo were surprised as well.


    "(Do I need to repeat myself?)" I spoke before I saw the Rhino using his attack at me with the best of his power.


    And I used a good amount of light magic on my arms, swiftly dodge his attacks and then¡­ shed his chest with my bare arms coated with light magic.


    Like a hot knife cutting through butter, my hand smoothly shed his chest before pouring more of light energy into his body.


    I saw his body falling into pieces as he died a gruesome death.


    I then moved forward towards the others as well and killed them using the same method. Even the difference of power was quite a lot, but with the light magic we can more or less kill anyone.


    Sadly, though¡­ they will return to life in about an hour because¡­ well, because people here cannot die no matter what¡­ They have only two options in their hands. One is to pass the wall of the living and be reborn as a weaker monster in Vermilion¡­ the other is to continue living in this damned dimension.


    "(They will revive soon, I think we should leave from here,)" I said, and the blue-coloured monster duo stood up and looked at me with a baffled look on their faces.


    "(Who are you?)" Spoke the blue-coloured girl standing in front of me with a curious gaze as she observed both me and those behind me as well.


    "(I am just a guest here. The name is-)" I was about to speak my name but someone else beat me to it¡­


    "(Reaper. You have returned?)" spoke another bright white girl, who came out of nowhere in front of me.


    "(Theia,)" word came out of my mouth as I nkly observed her.


    She shouldn''t know about my existence yet¡­ I was supposed to meet her on my second visit to Netherrealm, but yet here I am looking at her standing in front of me.


    The Goddess of Life and Light¡­ the overseer of the Netherrealm.


    "(Why did youmit suicide?)" She asked as she red at me. And it made me even more baffled.


    "(You have returned in time as well..


    But how is that¡­ possible?)" I muttered slowly and she, probably not hearing my words, cried out loud.


    "(Reaper, Netherrealm died. Your Vermillion died as well¡­ where were you?! I searched and searched only to hear that you were killed by Lucas!)"


    A strange turn of events urred as soon as we arrived in the Netherrealm¡­


    The Goddess, who once wished for my eternal doom, the one who''s always haunted me in the Netherrealm before¡­ was now looking at me as if I were her sole saviour.


    "(Just¡­ what happened after I died in the previous timeline?") I asked with confusion in my eyes and a strange sense of familiarity with this¡­ an old enemy of mine.

 Chapter 252 Character Introduction: Theia

    Previous Timeline


    Netherrealm


    Before Second Cataclysm


    Sometime before Reaper ''left'' the Netherrealm


    ¡­


    [Reaper''s POV]


    -BOOM!!!!


    -BOOOM!!!!


    -BOOM!!!


    -BOOOM!!!!


    Multiple shots of light were thrown at me with a lot of effort, but I dodged them all perfectly as I smiled andughed at her furious and mad face.


    "Darling, what''s the issue? Can''t you forgive me for a change? It wasn''t that big a deal, was it?" I spoke with a bright smile as I jumped and ran across the floating inds one by one, carrying my ck chained dual swords, Deaths of Duality in my hands and cutting half of her attacks and dodging the others.


    ? "You mean killing half of the Kings 100s of times, bringing doom to the 7 Inds, almost cutting the Chains of Darkness and making me feel pathetic in front of the masses? If you are asking if that crossed the line or not, then yeah, that f*ckery crossed the line a thousand times over," she spoke as she threw more and more attacks at me.


    "But it''s not like they all died for real, and you can easily fix most of the things with due time," I said, throwing another smile at her as I dashed towards her.


    "[Breath of the Dark Light]" she spoke as her wings turned a few shades darker and she flew towards me.


    "True Reaper: Second Moon," I muttered as I charged towards her, using all the energy I captured within the Deaths of Duality and then


    -sh!!!!


    -BOOOOM!!!!


    A couple of floating Inds broke down before crashing down into oblivion and I smiled cheerfully as I observed her ashen face who was ring at me.


    "You can add these two inds to my ount. Don''t me yourself for this, sweetheart." I winked at her and threw a flying kiss before stepping back and found her fury getting amplified before she cursed me and then began shing me with her spear at a rapid pace.


    I amplified my senses, ignored all defence and attack and focused on dodging her attacks as I kept moving back.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Then when I found her energy getting a bit lower than before, I channelled half of my mana into my reflexes, along with channelling the rest half into my swords.


    Swiftly dodging her attacks, I began parrying most of them now and slowly stopped moving back beforepletely stopping and then, finding the correct timing, I attacked her with all my power as fast as I could.


    Our weapons connected a thousand times over and the surrounding has already been dishevelled. Everything had broken down into smithereens, but we were still fighting.


    I was smiling as I looked at the ever so beautiful face of hers, who was quite calmer nowpared to a few days ago when we started fighting.


    "Why¡­ Why were you even here.. You were so weak¡­ yet you survived. You got stronger, made the dead energy your own without any problem¡­ something that should have killed you a long time ago; you are using it as your most powerful weapon¡­ just what are you?" She asked with an exhausted face, but her attacks were stilling.


    "I don''t know, honestly. I am different from others¡­ Maybe I am a secret child of God or something? Though, with all the bullsh*t I have been through my life because of this difference, I will surely kill my pops the first time I see him," I spoke as I returned her attacks.


    "What about you, though? Who are you? A Guardian? A Goddess? An Overseer?" I asked, and she sighed before attacking more and more.


    "I¡­ it''s a bit difficult to tell honestly," she spoke, and I attacked her again before speaking,"oh! Come on, you know that I can keep secrets too, don''t you?"


    Pissed off at my words, she shouted,"piss off!" and then continued attacking me for another few minutes and then spoke,


    "I am a Goddess, as the people here call me. Though, honestly I don''t know what exactly I am doing here. Among the people in the darkness in Netherrealm, I was born as a being of Light. Though, it didn''t stop me from using Dark Energy to get stronger. In fact, the more Dark Energy I absorbed, the more Light Energy I could use. Odd isn''t it? Well, long story short, I ended up bing so strong that I reached the top and then soon ascended to this form where I am watching over the whole Netherrealm by myself."


    "Hmmm¡­ what does it have to do with you not being able to harm anyone within this realm?" I was a bit confused.


    This was quite a strange fact, that Theia can''t touch or interfere with the beings present in Netherrealm, neither can she kill or save them. The least she can do is guide people to somewhere higher.


    "I don''t really know, but after a certain amount of time, when I broke through a certain limit of power, I realised that I can''t touch anyone new here. The old ones who were born before I ascended to that power, I can still touch, but others who were bornter were a different story. However, I realised that toote, when almost none of the people whom I can touch were left," she spoke with a sad expression and attacked me a bit slower.


    I got a few chances to counterattack, but I didn''t and just slowed my attacks before both of uspletely stopped attacking. I had known her for about a year or two now, and most of the time we were at each other''s throat, but today¡­ I think it was thest time we will be seeing each other.


    I wanted to make this day memorable and so I did by introducing her to the rest of the world as her saviour against me¡­ People''s morale was really boosted when they realised that I will be stopped now¡­ made me sad they looked at me like I am a monster.


    ''Though after all the things I have done, I guess they should be looking at me like that,'' I thought with an awkward expression before turning around to find the Gate of the Netherrealm connected to Vermillion.


    "I am still surprised that you found this," I spoke, and she shook her head before making a wry expression as she muttered,"took me an arm and a leg."


    Then she turned at me and spoke,"Reaper¡­ if youe back, I will f*cking kill you."


    "Love you too sweetheart, see youter," I smiled before leaving through that gate.


    "I would rather die," were herst words that I heard before I left from Netherrealm.

 Chapter 253 After I Died

    "(Just¡­ what happened after I died in the previous timeline?")


    "(Well¡­ You really have no idea?)" She questioned as her anger slowly subsided and she observed my face with an analytical gaze. Only after confirming that I really did not know what happened, she closed her eyes, with a crease forming on her forehead.


    "(Well¡­ It would be better if I tell you the whole thing at my pce)" she spoke as she transferred all of us to a different location.


    All my party members, and the two blue skinned human-like monsters, also came along with us. Compared to the sandy desert location, this ce was more like an abandoned forest. There were ck trees with ck leaves and the grass was brownish with grey-coloured ground.


    It had an eerie feel which actually suited the atmosphere of Netherrealm. The fact that we couldn''t see, hear or feel even a single living soul miles away from our location made things more ''charming'' than it already was.


    "(Where should I start?)" Theia asked, and I recalled the bits of information I had about what I just heard from Theia. Then, after pondering over it for a few more seconds, I turned at the blue-skinned duo and charmed them to sleep.


    "(Start with Netherrealm and reach to the point where you got to know about my death. Also, tell me how both Netherrealm and Vermillion got destroyed,)" I spoke as I turned to Theia, who nodded before she started narrating her tale.


    It was a long story, and it took about 2 hours to fully finish it in detail.


    The gist of it was as follows:


    Theia was looking after Netherrealm as usual and one day, out of nowhere, a bunch of Parasites starteding through the wall of the living. The wall of living is a wall through which monsters pass from Netherrealm and are reborn in the Vermillion as weaker versions of themselves.


    When someone from the other side came, it made Theia really curious about who he or she was, but before she could even meet them; they started attacking all the monsters here. At first, it was just a bunch of Parasites, but not even a dayter, more and more Parasites appeared. Both their numbers and strength increased progressively, and they didn''t evene to negotiate but pure destruction.


    Strangely enough, they can kill the monsters here for real¡­ and that ensued the destruction to another level as the wall of the living began breaking before itpletely shattered. Many monsters tried escaping to Vermillion, and even Theia escaped there only to find a cruel three way battle between the Intergctic King Alulim, The Light Bearer Lucas and the Parasite King.


    The battle, as she had heard before, had been going on for the past few weeks. Exactly the same time when the Wall of the Living was crumbling down.


    Theia was bbergasted when she saw the horrific battle, and at the scale it was taking ce. She tried asking around to see what exactly was going on and what she had heard was that all the 12 rulers except Lucas were dead and killed by Alulim, the Intergctic King. Since he had nothing left behind, Lucas used all of his energy and began fighting against the Intergctic King on his own without holding back, and the result was what she saw in front of her.


    She then recalled about me and asked around if they had heard about anyone named Reaper, to which everyone reacted really awkwardly before they asked how Theia came to know about Reaper.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    She exined her side of the story before they told her theirs. ordingly, once I died, my body vanished into thin air as if it never existed. There was a ntheora Monster sitting nearby, and some thought it ate my body or something.


    Lucas and Lucia then went back to the council of the strongest and talked about what to do next from here. Though as the conversation went on¡­ Lucia stood up and spoke,"this is getting boring. I''m out. You guys can handle this on your own," before she moved out.


    The next thing was that she was never seen again, no matter how hard they searched for her.


    People then cursed Lucia all throughout the decade for the f*ckery shemitted. Not only she left, chickening out at such a crucial moment, because of her Vermillion lost a strong member of theirs.


    After Theia looked more into it, she heard rumours about how Reaper could have escaped all that, but since he has lost everything, he actually decided to end his life in that battle. In other words, he was kind of backed into a corner to make such a decision, which Theia actually agreed to.


    Theia actually believed that the cockroach bastard who could give her such a hard time couldn''t be killed unless he himself wanted to die. But then, since his body wasn''t found, she kept the possibility of him being alive somewhere in the universe and began searching for him.


    Too bad before she could leave the, Lucas died along with the Intergctic King, and the Parasite King, simply killing everyone on the, destroyed the Vermillion and Netherrealm at once.


    The next thing she knew was that she woke up back in time where she was still working in the Netherrealm. She had no idea what was going on and neither she had known about anything that was happening.


    She actually regressed 24 years back and after she thought of all the possibilities of how things are going to y out, she decided to use all her cards to save Netherrealm. Though, she needed someone to help her¡­ someone who can help her from outside¡­ and that''s where my name came up in her mind again.


    That''s when she created an artefact, at the cost of half of her powers, that can open the Gate to Netherrealm from Vermillion, before she used the help of an enchantress monster to put a strange curse on it.


    That is that it will kill the one after binding with the one it was named after. It will find the one whom it has been named after, even if it takes decades and soon binds with him before killing him in the process.


    She did that because she knew that this was the strongest curse that could find me. Also, about that killing part, it was because she knew that the curse, or perhaps any curse, will not work on me. Evenst time this curse was ced on me only to be nullified by me without an effort.


    All that was left was for me to find that artefact by fate and with the way I was before, I was sure to use it however I can. Interestingly enough, I came here in my Reaper form, which I only learned here and not something that I had beforeing here in the previous timeline.


    Which actually gave her a clue that perhaps even I had regressed through time just like her.

 Chapter 254 It Wasnt Me?

    "(What about things on your side? Since you regressed as well, can you tell me how things fared on your side?)" Theia asked as she observed me with a curious look in her eyes and I smiled before speaking.


    "(Still have that stamina in me. I am eating good as-)"


    -Bam!


    She hit me hard on my head, throwing me to the ground before she spoke with an irritated sound,"(can you be serious for a moment? That carefree attitude is going to make someone kill you someday and me being probably the first one)"


    She spoke as she red at me before I spoke,"(would love to be killed by such a beautiful Goddess, but sorry dear, I already have a lot of things on my te here.)" And out of habit, I gave her a wink at which she red at me before¡­


    "Pfft¡­ hahahahaha¡­ hahaha.. (You bastard! You never change, huh? Hahahaha!!! Man, how long has it been that I had bickered like this¡­ damn it Reaper¡­ I missed you)" she spoke as she caught her breath and I saw her sitting on the ground with a cheerful smile as she wiped her tears and I looked at her with a smile simr to hers.


    "(Well, the Parasites areing earlier than before so I thought I should grab my weapon from here,)" I told her my intentions as I sat beside her and saw the rest of the people looking at us with a curious gaze.


    "(Yeah. Sorry about that. I shouldn''t have done that,)" spoke Theia as she looked at me with a slight apologetic expression and I turned at her with my eyes widening a bit as I observed her with a questioning expression.


    "(What do you mean by that?)" I asked with a deep voice and she immediately shut her mouth for a bit before she looked at my face and then turned her head to the side,"(Nice weather, isn''t it?)"


    "(Theia, answer me! Just what did you do?)" I asked again with my eyes turning more serious every moment and she gulped a little before she spoke,"(Reaper¡­ you are scaring me.)" I just kept observing her with the same look as before and soon enough, she spoke,


    "(Well¡­ when a decade passed by, of me waiting and doing nothing but increasing my power¡­ I actually went to the outside world once¡­ and I kind of killed a bunch of Parasites¡­ more like an entire battalion. I thought they would be weaker now, so striking would be a viable option. At least I could take a bunch of their power out¡­ you know, for the sake of a better future and stuff¡­ and then when I came back. I found a Parasite worm on my back.


    Since I had the Energy of Life with me, it didn''t affect me, but this gave up my location¡­ though I had a gut feeling that they would be moving towards me and might arrive anytime.)"


    I looked at her for a few moments as I pondered over her words and then asked,


    "(When did you kill that parasite worm attached on your back?)"


    "(About a month back¡­ it wasn''t even visible before that. I guess it took almost a decade to grow on its own¡­ as soon as I saw it, I freaked out so much that I killed it without any second thought. Only to realise that it can trace itself back and find my current location¡­ I am really sorry Reaper¡­ I¡­ I shouldn''t have done that)" She spoke with a scared yet apologetic expression and I could only sigh at this.


    -Thud


    I fell on the ground as my body rxed a little


    "So it wasn''t me, huh?" I spoke out with a wave of relief washing over me as I actually started doubting my own methods. Though, it doesn''t change the fact that I still have to fight those Parasites earlier than before¡­ however¡­<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "But¡­ If you are with me¡­ haha¡­ hahahahaha¡­.. Man, this couldn''t get better than this!!! Pfft hahahahahahaha," Iughed sinisterly making everyone look at me with a really strange gaze but I couldn''t contain myugh anymore.


    "If they areing to Netherrealm¡­ they are in for a damn f*cking surprise¡­. Oh, my god¡­ I could only imagine what expression would that person be making, who will be leading those Parasites," I spoke loudly as I just grinned evilly before turning at Theia as I spoke,


    "(Darling, I think I am going to fall in love with you for the door of choices you have opened for me.)"


    Hearing my words, Theia took a dozen steps back before she took out her spear and then pointed at me with a scared expression as she spoke.


    "(J-just what are you p-nning to do with m-me?)"


    I chuckled at her words before speaking,"Can you understand thisnguage?"


    She looked at me and nodded,"Y-yeah¡­ learned it when I was in Vermillion," before she lowered her weapon a bit and I turned to the group of people who arrived with me.


    "Well, I guess you guys must be wondering what is going on here¡­ though before that I think you should receive her blessing or else the Death Energy might kill you sooner orter," I spoke as I turned to Theia and continued,"Darling, can you see to it?" She looked at me for a few moments before nodding and then speaking.


    "[Blessing of Light: Protect the fledglings from the Dark Corners]"


    And a bright light began shining down on my friends who arrived here with me and I nodded in thanks at Theia, at which she smiled with slight pride at her work.


    "This is Theia, an old enemy turned friend of mine. I know she looks really good with all that looks and stuff, but please watch out cause she bites really deep, and may cut you in-"


    -Bam!


    Theia attacks me with a furious look on her face as she then turns to my friends and spoke,


    "You can call me Theia. I am the Goddess of Life and Light. This might not be the exact ce for a vacation spot, but please do enjoy your stay here. If you need anything, you can call me."


    I heard Theia as my face was buried under the ground with her feet still above my head and I spoke,"you have changed, Theia. Previously, you would just kill them without any warning or anything."


    "You should be thest one saying that¡­ tell me Reaper just what prompted you to attempt that suicide? I didn''t think the Reaper I knew was as weak as that," she spoke with her voice turning heavier every moment.


    I stood up to look at the people watching with a slight nk expression as they heard Theia''s words before turning at me and I sighed before speaking,"well¡­ that huh¡­ "

 Chapter 255 Monster Of The Previous Timeline

    I stood up to look at the people looking with a somewhat nk expressions as they heard Theia''s words before turning towards me and I sighed before speaking,"well¡­ that huh¡­ "


    "It was that girl¡­ I never understood her¡­ her purpose¡­ her reasons¡­ exactly what she was¡­ One time she hates me like I had taken everything from her, other times it feels like I am everything that matters to her¡­ Her purpose¡­ I don''t understand. Kill me already, why are you hurting me so much? Let me go¡­ why are you alwaysing back to me¡­ Giving me hope¡­ and then taking it away from me¡­


    In the end, I was drained. All my friends had been killed¡­ all my emotions were more or less numb¡­ I had nothing left to turn back to. At that moment, when I felt like I hadpletely lost her¡­ I had already given up on living. Though, at least I wanted to defeat that ''monster'' before I die¡­ however that was a futile dream," I spoke as I looked back at my past.


    I talked about Lucia¡­ been a while. I let my past feelings out¡­


    "Did you meet her here?" Theia asked again with a slight re in her eyes and I made a slight serious expression before sighing and speaking,


    "Yeah. As soon as I came here, I decided to kill her but when I met her again¡­ I couldn''t feel anything from her. I hated her but¡­ something felt off about her¡­ it was as if she wasn''t that same girl."


    My eyes were concentrated as I spoke and Theia spoke with her eyes narrowed,"you still love her?"


    "No. I don''t think I love her¡­ I don''t have any feelings left towards her. If anything, I don''t want to know anything rted to her at all," I spoke with a decisive tone and Theia closed her eyes for a few moments before speaking,


    "And if I kill her? What will you do then?"


    "..." I kept quiet as she asked that question. For a few moments, I asked that question to myself. What will I do, huh? Will I be angry at Theia? Will I be sad for Lucia? Or will I ignore her as if she were just another stranger? Or will I be happy that she is finally gone for good?


    "What should I assume from your silence?" Theia asked with a slight re as her expression turned irritated and I closed my eyes before finally deciding to speak,


    "You can do as you wish for it. I don''t care what happens to her."


    She looks at me objectively before she nods and says,"I will make sure she dies then."


    I then shook my head before speaking,<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Moving on from that topic¡­ I am here for Deaths of Duality. Is the dungeon still intact? Also one more thing. Do you still have the Gate of Avalon with you?"


    Theia looked at me with a slight confused expression before asking,"that broken Gate of Avalon? Yeah, I still have it with me. Though, without its missing piece, I doubt it is going to work. As for the Dungeon of Chaos holding, Deaths of Duality, yeah it''s still intact right now. In fact, it is in much better shape than it was before."


    Theia smiled at me before adding on,"The Life Bow of Agony as well as the de of Bane are sleeping peacefully there as well."


    My eyes open up wide as I look at her before asking,"you sure have maintained quite a lot this time. I heard the War of the Seven broke down all the dungeonsst time¡­ I guess you did something to stop it from happening?"


    She looked at me and said,"Yeah, when I sacrificed half of my power along with half of my life to create that dimensional gate for you, I reverted back to a lower form and was able to kill monsters of this realm again. Thus, I used my power to fight the Kings and keep them in check."


    "Did you try to beat any of the dungeons?" I asked with a deliberating expression as I wondered if she got something too but she shook her head as she spoke,"Those above S4 weren''t allowed to enter the dungeons."


    I nodded at her before looking at my friends whom I brought here to train and help them improve their powers¡­ I guess, rather than giving them free experience against the monsters, I suppose we need to give them proper guidance so that they can bloom.


    "Theia, I need you to help these monsters gain back their former powers along with those whom I found worthy enough to be trained," I spoke and Theia, hearing the word ''former'' turned at everyone there before her eyes fixated on one particr guy as she took a few steps back and fell down on her butt.


    Sweat marred her forehead and a fearstrucken look appeared on her face. Her eyes were shaking in slight disbelief as she muttered before looking at me,"don''t tell me it''s¡­ ''Him.'' "


    I only nodded at her and she took a good look at that yellow haired kid, Lucas Laurentze, once again.


    Perhaps she had seen his true power¡­ or maybe even more since he must have gotten even stronger after I died, Theia was in both awe and horrification as she observed Lucas and recalled the power which she had observed.


    To fight against the Parasite King as well as the Intergctic King, Alulim, by himself and giving both of them an edge, even enough to kill Alulim¡­ Lucas wasn''t a mere monster¡­ he was someone that could send chills down the spine of Primordials as well as Guardians alike.


    ''I still remember when Lucy, Lucas and I met Alulim first¡­ it was the day I finally realised why Lucas was both known as the psychopath as well as the most feared being of our entire gxy.''

 Chapter 256 Character Introduction: Lucas Laurentz

    Previous Timeline


    At the Summit of the Last World


    In front of the Council of 12 Rulers of the Universe


    And in front of the King of the 12 Rulers, Intergctic King, Alulim.


    ¡­


    I was standing there. In front of him, the so-called strongest being in the entire universe. We were here in hope of finding some help from someone who can help us out against the Parasites and also stop the unnecessary war against ''them''


    But as both Lucas and I had expected¡­


    "You want me to give you a portion of my army to help you stop a war among the insects as yourself?" spoke Alulim as he looked at us with a stare, as if he were looking at insects in front of him.


    "My lord, I know that we don''t even deserve this audience, but if you don''t help us out, then our entire will be wiped out by the Parasites. It would be only a matter of time before the Parasites aim next at your majesty. Wouldn''t it be better to remove the problem from the root before it bes a tall tree that one can only look at?" Lucy spoke as she observed Alulim with a determined gaze.


    "Insects," spoke one of the 12 Kings under King Alulim, as he observed Lucy with a re,"do you think just because species as low as you can''t handle them, we can''t either? Do you consider yourself equal to us Gods? Or do you¡­ consider us as mere insects?!!!"


    Even though there was a threat in his words, he still didn''t make any move and simply observed, waiting for Alulim to speak.


    "I see what your ego has done to you," spoke Alulim as he closed his eyes,"hmmm¡­. I can see¡­ why do you suffer from such a downfall¡­ When the whole should have been united, you were fighting among each other? One kills to please the Parasite King, while the others try to use the situation to their advancement.


    Hmmm¡­ they killed their best warriors because of insignificant fear, because of such small greed. I see¡­ so many lives you could have saved yourself, yet your futile ego let it all go into oblivion.


    In the end, there was nothing but despair left in your destiny¡­ So tell me young human, Lucy Laurentz, why exactly should we save such a race¡­ such a that brought upon its own downfall?


    Lucy bit her lips and her eyes shook as she observed Alulim as he threw the dark side of Vermillion in our faces. This made me smile a little, and it made Lucas chuckle a little.


    "Hmmm¡­ what are you smiling at, young humans?" asked Alulim with keen interest.


    While I thought that how the very own nature of humanity and other races, on Vermillion was going to close another hopeful door, Lucas on the other hand spoke,


    "Isn''t that all the same everywhere?"


    This made Alulim look at Lucas with a wide-eyed expression before he asked,"howe someone as insignificant as you are so sure of that?"


    "Well¡­ since the conversation is over, I think we will be leaving from here. Let''s go Lucy, Reaper¡­ no point in wasting our time here," he said ignoring Alulim and I, not caring much about it also moved away from there along with Lucy who still seemed to be hoping for a good oue.


    "I order you to wait or else I will personally annihte your entire," spoke the Intergctic King with a fierce tone as he stood up from his throne and all three of us turned to face him.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Lucy made a hopeless expression as she observed Lucas, while I made a serious expression as I red at Alulim.


    As for Lucas,


    "Why don''t you try to see the future oue of such an action? I heard that you can see bits of the future as well."


    He was both ring and smiling at Alulim at the same time. His hand was at his sword, Excalibur, while my Deaths of Duality were already out in my hands.


    Hearing Lucas'' words, Alulim first narrowed his eyes at him before his eyes turned bluish green for a few seconds.


    And then¡­


    ? -Thud!


    He fell on his throne as he observed Lucas as if he had seen his worst nightmare.


    "You are¡­ his sessor?!!!" his eyes were mostly shaken as he observed Lucas before he turned at me too as he muttered,"such great power¡­ such potential¡­ "


    His eyes drifted to Lucy as well as he spoke,"if only¡­ if only¡­ " then he turned quiet for a few moments as the whole area fell silent.


    I don''t know what he saw¡­ but his viewpoint about all three of us took a 180 degree when he saw our futures. I wonder what he saw¡­


    "You¡­ all are destined to be doomed¡­ unless the past itself is changed¡­ unless the fates themselves decide to change your destiny¡­ there is nothing you can do¡­ As for us¡­ We shall stay away from you or else we too might be engulfed in this armageddon you have started.


    Leave from here and never return¡­ and never show your faces here again¡­ from today, by the order of the fates, you are barred from entering this ce," King Alulim spoke as a heavy blow of air came hitting us and throwing us out from his mansion and before we could realise it¡­


    We were back on our, Vermillion.


    "What was that all about?" I asked a bit confused as I turned to Lucas and he too was confused at what king Alulim spoke as the lines on his forehead tightened and he spoke,


    "I don''t know¡­ what did he mean by that our fate is doomed? I was expecting him to get surprised after looking at our future, especially after fighting my sacrificial move¡­ but even though he was surprised, he was scared too¡­ but not of us¡­"


    Lucas spoke as the seriousness in his eyes reached a new height and I spoke with a slight contemting yet focused gaze,


    "He was afraid of us all right¡­ but I believe it wasn''t our power, but something else? Is that what you are trying to say?"


    Lucas turned at me and nodded before speaking,"that¡­ and probably something else, too."


    "You guys are too hot headed!!!¡­ Well, for now, let''s head back to our headquarters. Worrying about what is going to happen in the future is not going to solve anything. We should first deal with the issue at hand," Lucy spoke, trying to calm the situation. Lucas and I can see the tension in her eyes as well, but we ignored it as we nodded before moving towards the headquarters.

 Chapter 257 A Traveller

    "Don''t tell me it''s¡­ ''Him.''" Theia spoke in horror and awe, and I nodded at her as I spoke,"though they didn''t know about our secret, however, I found something interesting this time.


    Hearing my words, Theia calmed down a little before curiously looking at me. Her eyes were concentrated at me and I spoke with a slight smile,


    "Let''s talk about it privatelyter. For now, let''s deal with the problem at hand. The reasons that I came here for."


    She for the next few seconds kept gazing at me before she spoke,"reasons? There is more than one?"


    I nodded as I finally stood up and spoke,"I need you to train that guy and that guy. They have the potential to reach the strongest 100 if not the strongest 12. Along with that girl Linda, there is something that bugs me every time I see her. It''s as if she has something special about her, but I can''t exactly pinpoint what."


    Theia turns to Reeve and Rheo, at whom I just pointed before looking at Linda with a bit of curious expression. Her eyes were a bit fixated before she moved forward towards Linda, who made a bit of a stiff expression as she saw Theia approaching her.


    "(You are one of us aren''t you?)" Theia asked as she looked at Linda with a bit of cautious mind. Linda kept quiet as if she couldn''t understand anything, however¡­ it was easy to see through her bluff.


    Her eyes'' movements were enough to tell that she understands thatnguage. I observed her for a few moments with a slight surprise in my eyes.


    ''If she understands thisnguage, doesn''t that mean that she understood everything that I had talked with Theia about my regression and stuff?'' I gulped a little before wondering if I should kill her or charm her? Though, I don''t even know much about Linda here¡­. Will charm magic even work with her?


    "(You may be able to bluff me, but you can''t bluff that psychopath there. He is a freak when ites to manipting a person''s emotion, especially when he wants something. You can try all you want but he will be able to see through you in a mere moment,)" spoke Theia as she looked in my direction and it kind of made me re at her.


    "(Even though I can see through most people, and manipte people from time to time, I am not that excelled in this field. In fact, I have stopped doing that for sometime anyway,)" I spoke with my eyes narrowed at Theia before sighing and looking at Linda.


    "(Tell the truth and I will forgive you. I promise that,)" I spoke as I looked at Linda who seemed to be almost crying there but Theia rebutted again,"(Ha! As if your promise holds any meaning to it- All right! All right! I will stop! Man. You turned so boring¡­ why so serious?"


    Theia winked at me and I took out my scythe, making her smile at me while moving two steps back.


    I shook my head in dejection before turning to Linda with an awkward smile as I spoke,"(I have already been through a lot of weird shit after my regression, won''t be surprised to find another. It is okay, just tell me. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it a long time ago? Or maybe charmed you or something perhaps¡­ but I want you to tell me on your own and not by any other means. Can you do that for me?)"


    "(Cliche!)" spoke Theia as she sat down at a distance and watched the show with a bunch of snacks in her hands.


    What was she doing? Watching a drama?<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    I red at her again, making her giggle as she spoke."e on. Continue doing the shit you always do!! It was getting interesting.)"


    "(You guys are quite close, aren''t you? Makes me jealous)" spoke Linda as she looked away, tightly hugging her shoulders slightly as if she were feeling cold. There was a tinge of sadness in her eyes and I slightly smirked at her while Theia started munching on her snacks faster with slight excitement.


    "(I am someone who can enter or exit both worlds through my dreams¡­ I have been living two liv-)" as she was speaking Theia spoke with a bright face,"(YOU ARE A TRAVELLER!!!! DAMN!!! I FINALLY UNDERSTOOD WHERE THE PENDANT VANISHED TO ALL OF A SUDDEN WHEN IT FELL DOWN!!! IT WAS YOU, WASN''T IT?!!!!)"


    Though she was shouting, she felt really happy as she hugged Linda before she looked at me making a face as if she was saying ''She is mine!!!''


    "Okay okay, you can have her. Just make sure she gets stronger, okay?" I spoke with a chuckle before looking at Linda with a really surprised look on my face.


    Travellers, or more precisely, Travellers of Dreams, have the ability to travel through dimensions through their dreams. They can enter the Netherrealm, Demon Dimension, Angel Dimensions or God knows how many realms in their dreams. However, from what I have heard from a ''not so reliable'' source, a traveller can travel to only one ce all his or her life.


    It honestly doesn''t matter much to me, since I could enter Netherrealm anytime I want from now on, especially because of Theia, but for her¡­ this was a totally different thing.


    Linda was someone who can take her ce from time to time, making it easier for her to travel to Vermillion without losing her powers.


    "But sure dude¡­ you are really getting lucky this time¡­ first it''s that kid and then her¡­ I believe you got more of them back on your?" spoke Theia with a surprised look on her face and I nodded at her as I answered,


    "I do have a lot of new people with potential. However, almost all of them need training. Take Linda, Reeve and Rheo with you¡­ also take Lucas-"


    "NO!! I am not having that guy! You can have that by yourself!" spoke Theia with a decisive tone as her eyes seemed shaken and I just pressed my lips before I nodded,"Okay."


    I then turned to William, Lucas and Cristine."You three will be assigned a task for now. Cristine, I have a special method of training for you. For the next three months, you have only one task which I need you to do."


    I spoke and all of them turned to me with a surprised expression as Linda asked,"weren''t we going to be here only for 1 week?"


    "Ah! I forgot to tell you, huh? Actually, the time flow here is different. 1 day here is actually 1 hour outside, also we are going to stay here for 4 months utilising all the time we can¡­ just that your initial trainingsts for 3 months."

 Chapter 258 Training In The Neatherrealm

    "Ah! I forgot to tell you, huh? Actually, the time flow here is different. 1 day here is actually 1 hour outside, also we are going to stay here for 4 months utilising all the time we can¡­ just that your initial trainingsts for 3 months."


    "Huh? Wait a second! Doesn''t that mean we can train here for years and it will be only a month on Vermillion?" spoke Reeve as he connected the dots, but before anyone can entertain that idea, Theia spoke,


    "You can train for as long as you want, dear, but your soul has already started merging with the Netherrealm. 4 months is kind of a stretch, even with my powers, the most I can give you is 3 months here after that if you don''t leave, I don''t think you can ever leave from here¡­. Though you could be an exception, like a certain someone." Theia gave me a strange look before she asked,"did you figure out the reason for your strange constitution or is the search still on going?"


    I pondered a little before speaking,"yeah kind of did. It was quite something¡­ and I feel like I know about your origin as well¡­ probably-"


    "TELL ME!!!" With a really intent expression, Theia appeared in front of me as if she would kill me if I didn''t answer her. I could only smile a little before speaking,


    "Train them. I will tell you after you make them strong enough to overtake the previous me."


    For the first few seconds, she was angry, but then¡­ she was taken aback before she spoke.


    "Are you crazy?! You want me to make them that strong in just mere 3 months? I''m sorry but I could only promise so much¡­ what you are asking is too much, even for me." "Trust me, it is not that hard. They both have Systems rted to Darkness plus this ce is perfect for them to train. I had to start from scratch without any help, but they already have a road ahead in front of them. All they need is to learn how to walk on it without stumbling. Just try it," she looked at me for a few seconds intently before turning to look at Reeve and Rheo.


    She closed her eyes and appeared right in front of them before touching their heads and checked their power levels. Then she sighed before speaking,"I don''t know what you see in them, but okay¡­ I will try my best. As for that information, let''s hear it when you want to tell me."


    She spoke before she vanished along with Reeve, Rheo, and Linda. Well, I guess I am lucky that I won''t need to worry about their training now since I trust Theia can help them out properly.


    As for Lucas and William¡­ The reason I brought them here wasn''t exactly to get strong but to use them as a defence mechanism so that Reeve and the others can train, but now it doesn''t seem like they are needed as much.


    "Cristine, you received Theia''s blessing, right? The one that gives you protection from the Death Energy here?" I asked, and she nodded at me before I spoke out again.


    "Then it''s about time you get to work as well. I need you to polish your skills as an assassin."


    Hearing my words, she got confused at what exactly assassination has to do with all this.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "You see these two Romaninans? These blue colored monsters," I pointed at them and she nodded before I continued,


    "Hear their story. It seems interesting. Then I need you to escort them back to theirnd, then take a request from Queen Envy, earn her trust, and then start killing Wrath''s men. There are a few things you need to be cautious of,


    One, is that even if you kill them, they wille back to life in 24 hours and by the end of the three months, I need you to kill an entire nation by yourself.


    Two, each of those monsters are from SS rank to S7 Rank max. So killing them on your own will be impossible¡­. For that, use Lucas'' power coated on your weapon. How you do that depends upon you. A good coating can kill an S6 Royal Guard with a single sh.


    Three, you can die here¡­ however, with the Blessing of Theia, you will be saved moments before you die, so don''t worry about dying. However, the pain of dying will still be there. Also, she can save you once every 24 hours only, so be mindful of that as well. Also, Lucas and William will be there if things get worse, but they won''t be helping you.


    Four, there is more than one way of doing this, so I would like you to think outside the box as well.


    Five, I will reward you depending upon your efforts in the end and if you can kill the entire nation before 3 months ends¡­ I will give you a reward that you will remember till the end of your life.


    Do you have any more questions?"


    "What is my work here?" William was the one asking that and I spoke,"same as Lucas. Protect her and help with the coating. The reason I wanted you on this journey wasn''t because I needed you here, but somewhere else. This journey is a month long, Vermillion''s time, of course."


    He looked at me intently before nodding as he muttered,"it better be worth it," and I nodded as I spoke,"it surely will." There was a grin on my face as I looked at him before Cristine asked me,"how can Imunicate with them? I don''t even know theirnguage." "Try talking to them for a while and you will understand," I said as I looked at her before turning around to see where we were,"we are at the Steven Gate Forest by the way."


    "Themis, you can join them to watch the show. Help them only if they are in deep shit, okay?" I spoke to Themis, the Luna Goddess who was observing the ce with great curiosity. She turned at me, nodded for a few moments before turning to Lucas and others.


    And then I vanished from there without speaking anything more.

 Chapter 259 Forgotten Island: Dungeon Of Chaos

    My target was the dungeon of Chaos, located at the edge of Netherrealm and looking at the ce where Theia brought me. It didn''t seem too far from here.


    Walking towards the direction that I deemed correct, it took me about a couple of hours before my destination came into my vision.


    It was a floating ind bounded by chains from all directions, with the ne higher than where I was standing. It looked like a dark, ominous area where only death looms, but for me¡­


    "Home fucking sweet HOME!!!" I shouted as I jumped on one of those chains and ran towards the floating ind with a cheerful smile stered on my face.


    As I was sprinting towards the floating ind, minions like flying monsters noticed me and began flying towards me with a screeching noise, attracting the rest of the monsters around the area as well.


    Each of the monsters were at least SS-Grade, with some even being SSS-Grade.


    Made me chuckle a little as I kept sprinting as they flew towards me at an insane speed and reached closer to me before I realised. Watching them reach so close to me, I made a surprised look before my eyes turned white and a bright light came out of it, erasing all the monsters from my front.


    I then took out a sword from my dimensional pouch and coated it with Light and Life magic before I began jumping from the chains to one of those monsters, then to another and then to another¡­ I kept killing them one by one until most of them were either dead or just flew away.


    Once I realised that I can''t jump freely anymore, I jumped back to the chains and stood there for a few moments. Observing the monsters running away, I smiled a little before turning my eyesight back at the floating ind.


    My view then came back to the Netherrealm around me. I was halfway up looking at everything that was below me¡­ and honestly; the sight was breathtaking.


    I just ran my hands through my hair, settling them back down as the air was blowing quite heavily up here. I smiled even more before, once again, I began dashing back up to the floating ind.


    It took about 30 more minutes, but I sessfully reached the top of the floating Ind and as soon as I reached the top, I saw another forest in front of me, this one much more defined than the one below. I also saw a couple of broken buildings here and there¡­


    Even before, in the previous timeline, I wondered how all these buildings came here? Actually, I know where they came here from. It was from Vermillion itself. I mean, the records I found among the ruins told me the long-lost history of various races. There existed even some special races that could control the flow of space and time, which I believed was a bluff, to be honest.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Though how did theye here? That was the real question from my side. Still, if I couldn''t find the answer after living for months here, I doubt I could do it this time. This time, I just came here to grab what I believe is mine.


    Walking deep inside the forest, I soon reached the ce where the gate to the dungeon was located. It was a strange ce, where the central building, which held the gate, was floating in between broken walls like buildings. I looked around to see if there was anyone else here, but luckily, no one was here.


    Even the monsters weren''t here, which was both odd and nice. I then moved into the foot length deep water and kept walking towards the floating central building before I checked around to recall the mechanism to open the gate.


    It took about 15 minutes to actually recall how I opened itst time, and I sighed as I finally remembered everything.


    ''This damn puzzle¡­ well, at least it will be faster thanst time,'' I thought as I moved out of the area, into the forest and started channelling dark energy into the special orbs hidden within the forest.


    Actually, these orbs, and even some more levers, etc, were there connected to the main dungeon gate, which requires a lot of wits and running before opening the gate. Some required fighting, while others required pure wits. There were traps at most of the corners on this whole ind and even though it looked all random, there was a pattern to it.


    One by one, I moved from one ce to another, clearing all the obstacles and everything along with it. I made sure to not miss anything, and it took time honestly¡­ I kind of wasted about half a day to open everything that needed to be opened and close everything that needed to be closed.


    Once I was done, I reached towards the gate area only to find that the floating ind had a stair made up of lighting from its doorway directly to the bottom of my foot. I smiled with a chuckle as I moved inside, up those stairs one by one, while the dungeon seemed like a small building. In fact, it was a magic portal that took me to another special area.


    That area had a total of 100 floors, with more monsters, traps and special puzzles to solve before one can reach the very bottom of the dungeon where that old man is sleeping, guarding the weapons.


    Last time I visited this ce, it took me about 10 months to reach the bottom where I had to spend another 2 months before I finally realised how to clear it. I just hope I can do it in less than 3 months this time.


    "So close, yet so far," I muttered as I entered that gate which only someone below SSS-Grade can enter. Different dungeons had different requirements to enter, sopared to others, it was a bit more stricter¡­ however the rewards were equally worth it, so it was fine in the end.


    "Let''s begin then," I muttered before entering the dungeon.

 Chapter 260 Within The Dungeon

    A wide empty room, with only a single source of light, a small window. That is what greeted me as soon as I entered the dungeon. The room was dark, broken and spooky with a strange aura.


    There was no hint of how to proceed out of this room or move to the deeper floors of the dungeon. It was a simple four walled room, with one of the walls having a single small window.


    Does the room have any secrets? Yes.


    One window and a lighting into the room through it.


    Was there a way out of the room through the window? It may look like it but no, if you go through the window, you will return to the same room before you could even realise.


    So¡­ how do we solve the ''puzzle'' of floor one? It is actually easy.


    I moved towards the window and covered the whole window with a dark aura, stopping the only source of light that was making things visible here, and as soon as I seeded in doing that,


    A pair of dark red eyes emerged within the darkness. I observed them with a smile before I closed my eyes and started using my mana sense to sense the being of the darkness in front of me.


    It was Cerberus, who was preparing to jump at me but before he could even make a move.


    "Aura of Light,"I muttered, creating a bright light around Cerberus, making it sumb down to the floor. I saw its flesh burning all over as I took out my sword, coated it with light before moving towards it and¡­


    -sh! Killed it and its blood started flowing into the ground before it began to cover the entire floor, before moving up the walls and soon taking over the entire room.


    The blood filled room then started heating up slowly as strange juices started oozing out of the pores formed on the walls and the roof.


    "Aura of Life," I muttered again as I healed not only myself but also the very room in which I was standing. I don''t know the exact reason, but that Cerberus was a manifestation of the spirit itself.


    So when I cut down the Cerberus, the room started bleeding as well, and now that I was healing the room¡­


    -Growl!!


    I heard Cerberus growling behind me as he slowly stood back up and I smiled as once again I spoke,"Aura of Light."


    I killed it again, and then healed the room again, killed that guy again and healed it again. After I kept repeating the process over and over for about a dozen times,


    "Aura of L-"


    "Wait! That''s enough¡­ who are you?" Cerberus finally spoke as he looked at me and I answered with a deep gaze,"a challenger."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    He looked at me for a few moments before speaking,"then why did you attack me?"


    He was confused and quite scared as he looked at me and I spoke,"you were the one who almost jumped at me. I was just protecting myself."


    "I wasn''t going to jump at you to harm you but to get closer to get a good look," he spoke with a thin smile and I chuckled,"as if anyone is going to believe that."


    -sh!!


    I shed it again. I saw him almost going berserk mode right now and finally, when I had the chance, I killed it.


    Last time, it took me a few hours to close the door in darkness, a few more days to defeat the Cerberus, which slowly healed itself up in about 2-3 hours and I fought again and again repeating the process until when he started talking to me, foolish enough I started talking back too, enough to give him a chance to power up and almost kill me.


    Though the thing that I hypothesised was that the Cerberus can''t be killed in normal mode but only once it goes berserk. So one needs to kill it enough times to make it realise that it can''t defeat the challenger being only in normal mode.


    He will start talking with the challenger, to both heal himself up and get into strong berserk mode but since I knew what he was up to, I simply waited for him to initiate going into berserk mode and as soon as he did that, killing him was all that was needed.


    On the wall opposite to where the window was, a door emerged out of nowhere and I finally entered into it.


    Inside it there was a swarm of bees, that I simply evaporated with ze Fragment Magic, that I got from Lucifer. ordingly, you need to have at least a high-ss fire magic that can burn all the bees at once without leaving even a single alive or else they will regenerate. So having Lucifer''s fragment made things quite easy for me.


    Next floor was a never ending desert where there were two ways out. One was to dig deep enough to break into the lower dungeon or go high up in the sky to reach the clouds and wake up the monsters that are sleeping there.


    Killing those monsters will open up a portal to the next floor.


    As for me, I decided to dig deep using air and earth magic as it was easier for me¡­ it took me about half a day, before I broke into the next floor and soon into another floor, and another, and another.


    Some floors were pure puzzle based, while others werebat based. It took me about a day at some to a couple of days to another, while the least ones took about 3 to 4 hours.


    And soon enough, I reached the first boss of the dungeon.


    The Twin Headed Dragon.


    [Author''s note: Hey, so I have added a lot of illustrations rted to the dungeon, its location and monsters as well. If you want to get more immersive with the story, be sure to join the discord. There are character illustrations too.


    Discord link: https://discord.gg/NC22pTJvZe]

 Chapter 261 Twin Headed Dragon

    Floor 33. First Boss. Twin Headed Dragon¡­.


    There was a massive mountain in front of me, and examining the area around me, it seemed like there used to be a forest which had beenpletely burned down to ashes not so long ago. At a distance, I found a behemoth monster sleeping soundly, and I slowly and carefully walked towards it.


    Taking a look at the sleeping Twin Headed Dragon in front of me, I realised that¡­


    ''This is going to be a pain,'' I recalled as I observed that giant dragon in front of me.


    It was an S4 Grade Monster with at least 3 different modes. It had super regeneration ability along with dual energies, breathing fire from one and lighting from another of his heads.


    Unsurprisingly, it had fire and lightning resistance maxed out and no matter what kind of attack, if it is fire or lightning, it won''t do a dime against it.


    Though that wasn''t the main problem, the problems were the applications of such resistance,bined with the physical aspects of this guy, made it almost impossible to kill it.


    I mean like, because of the fire resistance maxed out, this guy had quite a solid resistance against dark and light magicbined, and because of lightning magic, which was actually a prototype of lightning added with ice, its ice and water resistance were quite solid as well.


    If that wasn''t all, because of its dragon nature as a ruler of the sky, this guy had a natural resistance against air attacks as well.


    ''Honestly, if it wasn''t for special elements like space, blessed light, death energy, it wouldn''t be a stretch to say that this guy hasplete resistance against every natural element that exists,'' I thought before I smiled as I recalled how I defeated this guy when I was merely an S-grade back then¡­ not that I am much different right now.


    "Well¡­ it took me two weeks of continuous fighting before I finally defeated it¡­ My blood is really strong though¡­ or more like, "My rejection fragment is really overpowered," I thought as I recalled how I had toce my weapons with my own blood and bring it down.


    ''His regeneration doesn''t work when I use my blood,'' I thought. I stretched my back a little before I moved towards him, taking out my sword.


    As I moved towards that behemoth, it noticed my aura and turned to look at me before its eyes locked with mine.


    "It had been a while since I saw another challengering here," the Twin Dragon spoke with slight curiosity as he looked at me and I nodded at him as I answered him,"the name is Reaper. It is an honour to meet the Great Dragon Fulminate and Great Dragon k."


    Hearing my words, the Dragon''s head turned at me with a surprised look on both of his faces.


    "Hooo! Have you heard of us?! That''s really surprising. Who are you, young challenger?" The Dragon spoke as he observed me with great interest.


    Of course, I knew him. Talked with him for months as I fought and he told me so many things about himself, which made me curious if all dragons talked as much as he did.


    "I guess, I did. There aren''t many legends since the records are more or less lost, but still I have heard bits about the Twin Dragon that ravaged the sky, protecting the Dragon King before they were lost somewhere in space and time," I entertained them a little as I thought it won''t be much of a difference if I took a few minutes here before I start the fight.


    "True! True! That was one of our best moments in our entire life!" the fire head spoke.


    "d that they decided to honour us enough to let our tale pass through time!" the lightning head spoke before fire spoke again,<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Tell me, youngster, how is the outside world?"


    "Netherrealm? I am sorry. I am from another world who came here to acquire the de hidden in this dungeon. Not much I can speak about this ce," I spoke fully knowing that they can see what happens in this realm. Perhaps they were testing me?


    "Idiot! Well, I guess it is my mistake that I didn''t specify. Of course you wouldn''t know," spoke the fire head before the lightning dragon continued,


    "We can actually see what happens in this realm. What we wanted to know was about the world you came from¡­ though what are you from? None of the challengers actually came from the sister of this realm."


    "Sister?" I asked with a lot of curiosity. Nothing like that was mentioned thest time I came here¡­


    "It is something that you should not know, young one," lightning head said politely and I didn''t pry any further before I spoke, Vermillion." Their eyes turned open wide before they nced at each other and it made me confused again. Last time, they¡­ no such situation ever came up where they asked me about my own. They just kept talking about me and themselves.


    "Is this fate?" fire head, k asked.


    "Perhaps it is?" lightning head, Fulminate replied.


    Then both of them turned at me with a really curious gaze at me.


    "If you don''t mind us prying," k spoke.


    "Can you answer a question for us?" Fulminatepleted the sentence.


    "Well¡­ Perhaps if you could let me pass to the next floor?" I joked with a smile, but¡­


    "Sure," Fulminate spoke with a smile.


    "As long as we get to hear what we want to hear," k continued.


    "You will get to pass from here," Fulminate finished.


    "Huh?! You will? Okay¡­ I may not be really omniscient but maybe my knowledge pool can answer your question," I spoke with slight excitement as I could skip so many days'' worth of time by just answering a question.


    Though it made me curious what the question was.


    "Okay. So tell me, young challenger, has our lord''s son, Dion Tempest, taken his rebirth on that yet?"

 Chapter 262 Unexplainable Event

    "Okay. So tell me, young challenger, has our lord''s son, Dion Tempest, taken his rebirth on that yet?"


    I looked at that twin headed dragon before rummaging through that name throughout my brain¡­ hmmm¡­


    "I only know one kid named Dion¡­ but I don''t know if it is the same person which you are talking about," I said as I looked at them and they observed me with a curious expression.


    I then began slowly describing that kid''s description and with each word that I spoke, they looked at me with a really bright expression.


    "Yes! Yes! Exactly that person. That power to manipte time, that uncaring attitude that masked the feelings he held inside." k spoke with an excited expression.


    "Reminds me of our King, dimir Tempest," Fulminate spoke with a pride filled expression.


    "Huh?" my body shook a little at that name¡­ and a tear came out of my left eye. For some reason, hearing that name made my heart ache¡­ there was a strange burning sensation in my stomach and I felt a strange hatreding out of nowhere¡­


    My breath became heavy and I couldn''t hear the dragon''s words anymore before I Was transferred to the next floor where I saw about a thousand S3 ss monsters standing in line in front of me.


    I was at the 34th Floor but my emotional state was in panic mode and I felt a suffocating feeling inside my chest. It hurts¡­ I looked at those monsters and my eyes turned deep red before I took out my sword and began moving towards those monsters without any n in my mind.


    I let my instinct take over me for a few moments and began the killing spree without heeding any warning to those monsters. I simply jumped and killed one¡­ another.. Another¡­


    They were attacking me and I was getting injured but for some reason I didn''t give a f*ck about the injury I was getting¡­ I was charging like a mad man killing every monster I could see¡­


    Perhaps I went berserk, but¡­ why? How?


    By the time I came back to my normal emotional state my eyes turned white as I lost most of my power¡­ the monsters were all dead and I was still at 34th Floor doing nothing but standing in an empty ne with where the bodies of the monsters were slowly vanishing.


    I was on myst leg with my powers at its lowest point¡­ What just happened?


    Soon the water started filling the whole area and before I knew it, I was deep into the sea with the light barely reaching the area where I was floating like a lifeless body.


    I was already on the 35th floor now.


    Because of the Breath Fragment, I was able to breathe freely without any restriction but¡­


    ''Those sea monsters should being anytime¡­'' I thought as I saw a shadowing towards me¡­


    ''What next? If I use any sacrificial move right now, I''m not sure I canst until the next floor¡­ wh-''


    But before I couldpletely think of anything, I saw the person appearing in front of me¡­ she wasn''t a sea monster¡­


    ''Who?'' I thought as I saw those scarlet hair on that pure white skin¡­ she was beautiful¡­ way more beautiful than anyone I had ever seen¡­


    "Not yet¡­ you haven''t suffered enough yet¡­ you can''t die yet," she said before I saw her kissing me and then filling my breath with hers and then taking me back¡­ back up to the shore¡­<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    I slowly lost my consciousness when she kissed me and by the time I woke up¡­ I was at the shore¡­ it wasn''t the 36th Floor¡­ it was actually the 40th Floor which was more like a safe zone.


    But it only made me confused¡­ who was she? I don''t remember anyone like her in my life?


    [You haven''t suffered enough yet, you can''t die yet]


    I recalled her words¡­ she didn''t save me because she wanted me to live, but because she wanted me to suffer? Did I hurt someone in this timeline enough to seep that deep sorrow?


    ''This is too confusing¡­ first, that Dragon''s King''s name¡­ hmmm¡­ what was his name again? Huh? I can''t remember! What?'' I thought as I tried recalling that name to the best of my ability, but I couldn''t¡­


    ''...''


    Then my eyes concentrated as I recalled my only clue,"Dion Tempest¡­ just who are you?" I mumbled, as I decided to look into him after I moved to Avalon at the end of Netherream''s journey.


    In any case, I hope not much time has passed since I was unconscious.


    Thinking that, I moved even faster than before. I realised that my powers were full and so was my health¡­ Did she heal me too? Or was it my own body to heal itself back up to normal? Nope¡­ I was in bits back then¡­ it would take years to get myself back into this shape and if that were the case, I would have either died or woke up somewhere in the middle where my health was still regenerating and not when it''spletely full.


    "What was on the 41st floor again? Hmmm¡­ yeah, it was another Puzzle Floor," I thought as I moved down another floor.


    From there, I kept moving down without much obstruction. Though even after beating another 10 floors in the next 2 weeks, I still couldn''t shake what happened on the 33rd, 34th and 35th floors. Those words, those sudden unexinable events¡­ they kept running inside my brain over and over.


    This whole thing, for some reason, really scared me.


    That girl¡­ I feel like I would have fallen in love with her if I had interacted with her even once¡­ It wasn''t just my feelings¡­ it felt like my body was craving for her¡­


    The feeling I had for her reminded me of¡­ Lucia¡­ the previous timeline Lucia¡­


    And it made me even more confused than before¡­.


    ¡­


    On another side of Netherrealm,


    Rheo and Reeve were practising to control the death energy.


    The same scarlet-haired woman who saved Zero moved towards Reeve and Rheo as she spoke with a bright smile.


    "Excuse me¡­ are you a friend of Reaper?"

 Chapter 263 Floor 51+

    After floor 50th, the types of enemies and puzzles were enhanced to the very next level. For example, the monsters, which I would like to call as Elite ss monsters, were each SSS-Grade with each having a mastery of the weapon they usually held. What''s more, they even had a strange aura made up of their respective element that they use, that was hard to prate even after using its counter element.


    As for puzzles, once would require a certain amount of genius to actually solve them and it was quite hard to solve them without having an expertise in that field.


    However, there was a plus point when it came to floors above floor 50th¡­ or more like a negative plus point honestly,


    "The reset button," I muttered as I called that feature of this floor. If you feel like you are losing, you can reset everything from the beginning and try again from the start. However, you can''t escape or return to lower floors. The only way was up.


    Though this feature was the reason, my weapon mastery reached another level. The reason I was excellent in weapons that I could even barely use before was this dungeon.


    If Adara was the one who taught me how to use all weapons and the struggle after the first cataclysm made me skilled in most of the weapons, the reason I was master of all weapons was this dungeon.


    Repeating each weapon''s movements over and over for a thousand times, I was finally able to defeat all the elite monsters despite being one step lower than them. Though, this time it should be easier than before¡­


    As for the puzzles, while they were extremely impossible, there was always a way to break through them, which, if you seeded in doing, will naturally increase your knowledge about that field on which that puzzle was based.


    Though you needed at least basic knowledge to even start somewhere. In that regard, I was lucky to have my hands dipped in almost all fields.


    This dungeon became my home once I realised how much I could exploit this feature. I thought as I wondered how much of this dungeon was custom made for the previous me.


    ''Makes me nostalgic,'' I smiled as I thought before moving towards the dozen elite monsters who were standing motionless at a distance.


    Time flew by as another week passed and I finally reached Floor 66th, where the second boss monster was standing there observing the sea sitting on a lonely swing.


    There were actually two swings, one of which was empty, and just likest time, I moved towards that man and looked at him. Though unlikest time, simply sitting on the swing, I spoke out,


    "Excuse me, can I sit on this swing at you?"


    Perhaps just like the Twin Dragon, we can talk this one out and reach a stable conclusion, saving a lot of time? How nice would that be! "Hmmm¡­ is this a trick of yours, strange one?Last time you just attacked me, this time however you are trying to talk," spoke that man as he turned around, making my eyes wide open.


    "You seem surprised¡­ and a bit different fromst time, too? Did something happen in the brief time that we didn''t meet?" he kept speaking as I observed him with a look of disbelief.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "I am sorry but¡­ isn''t that the first time we are meeting?" I asked with a curious look on my face, but he made an odd face before asking,"no. What are you talking about, strange one? We have already fought 675 times with my 675 wins and 0 losses."


    There was a smug in his smile, there was a disbelief in my eyes. I mean¡­ this was the number of times I fought him before I finally defeated himst time, but¡­ how?


    "You look like you have a lot of questions, strange ones. It is making me curious as well. Perhaps it would be nice to enlighten an old folk like me?" he spoke as he stroked his beard before he chuckled a little.


    "It is¡­ a long story. Would you like to hear that?" I spoke with a dumbfounded face before I saw him smiling as he pointed at the swing next to him and nodded a little.


    Moving towards the swing, I sat on it before slowly starting swinging back and forth. I turned at him and spoke,"before I begin¡­ Can I ask you a question?"


    "I don''t know if I am capable of answering it, but you may ask," he said as he looked in front of the Horizon.


    "What exactly is this dungeon?" I asked with a really curious face and he turned at me with his eyes widening a little as he asked,"Hoo! What prompted you to ask that question?"


    "It is not bound by time, is it? Or at least a part of it isn''t¡­ Also, based on the research I had done on this dungeon, this was a building that existed since ancient times¡­ Who are you¡­ at first I thought you were just monsters generated by the dungeon but¡­ that isn''t true is it?" I asked with a curious mind and his eyes widened a bit more¡­


    "So perhaps you have travelled in time, I may presume? Otherwise you wouldn''t have asked this question¡­" he reached that conclusion immediately, and I nodded.


    "Though, I am sorry, strange one. I really can''t give you an answer to that. I am bound by my ownws," he spoke with an apologetic expression and I sighed before smiling and then speaking,


    "Well¡­ I guess I should have expected that much. So, want to hear my story, old man?" I smiled cheekily as I looked at that old man and he chuckled as he spoke,"Haha! You brat! You haven''t changed one bit! How many times did I tell you not to call me that? I am still young as a 16-year-old kid."


    "Ha! I would rather believe that Devils have turned into Angels than that stupid lie. That too from a sickly pervert, old man!" I joked with a dramatic voice before he looked at me with an annoyed expression.


    "Che! Kids these days, no respect for their elders," he spoke before a slight smile escaped at the corner of his lips.


    "So, what happened to that always smiling kid? How did it turn into this serious, boring guy?" he asked with a curious expression.

 Chapter 264 Reaper V/S ????

    "Hmmm¡­ so many things happened, huh?" the old man spoke as he finished listening to my story before he stood up and stretched a little before he turned at me and spoke.


    "Come, let''s fight."


    I was confused at his reaction¡­ is that all? Won''t he say anything about my choices? Won''t he feel sad or perhaps get angry at me? Won''t he bash me or perhaps scold me?


    Confusion filled my eyes as I looked at that man before I stood up and observed him walking towards the ocean before walking on the water till a distance.


    "Perhaps¡­" I heard him muttering before¡­


    -BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!


    The water from all around started evaporating, before a strange cyclone developed all around us with that old man sitting at the centre. There were two energies that were colliding against each other. Air and Water.


    "Kid¡­ As the former holder of the Space Fragment, would you like to learn how to control your element?" he asked with a smile and my eyes opened up wide before I observed him¡­


    ''This¡­.'' I thought as my eyes opened up wide and I kept observing him¡­


    "I am ????, the former holder of Fragment of Space, The Fragment of Absolute Existence," he spoke with his height increasing slowly twice his original and the air and water around him swinging heavily.


    I could only gulp at him¡­ just how did I end up defeating himst time? If he had so much power¡­ then howe he didn''t use itst time¡­ so many questions filled my mind before I stood up subconsciously from the swing and walked forward with my own energy slowly sweeping out of my body.


    "I am Reaper¡­ the current holder of the Fragment of Space, Fragment or Rejection," I spoke as I took out my de and pointed at him and he smiled as he looked down on me as if he were looking at an insect yet his words contradicted his expression,"That is good¡­ that is how you should speak. As someone who wants to save the entire world¡­no, the entire universe perhaps.. This is how you should face your enemy."


    The difference between was that of heaven and earth¡­ even if I used my sacrificial move, I don''t know if I could kill him¡­


    "Reaper. Your journey might have been odorous and it might have been hopeless always but in the end I want you to believe in yourself¡­ for what you will face in the future you will need a brave heart¡­ or perhaps you can change fate again?" he spoke as he looked at me before he continued,


    "Destiny Zero.


    Destiny isn''t a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice.


    It is not a thing to be waited for, but a thing to be achieved.


    You have been given a chance to change the future,


    And since you are giving so much effort, perhaps¡­


    I will lend you a hand as well."


    He spoke before he vanished and then appeared behind me in an instant and before I could make any move,


    -Boom! He kicked me as he spoke,"for the first thing that you need to do is to face despair¡­ which you had already done."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Then he appeared behind me again,"and rage¡­ which you will do in the future."


    -Boom!


    "So if Despair is done and Rage is sure toe, then what is left is only one thing¡­" he mumbled before he appeared in front of me and spoke,


    "Love¡­ you need to be loved¡­ not by anyone but yourself¡­ or shall I call it eptance in your terms?"


    He spoke, and it made me confused¡­ Rage and Despair¡­ but howe Love is connected to that?


    "From what I have heard in your two timelines, you have always done things for others'' sake. Whether it was for Lucia in previous timeline where you made yourself strong enough to protect her, or to protect everything in this current timeline, not once I felt like you have done anything for your own sake," he spoke before he pondered with a slightly sad expression as he asked,


    "Tell me, Strange one, what would you do after you save everyone?"


    "I would probably kill myself¡­" I spoke out loud without hiding anything. Even with so many people with me¡­ I can''t help but feel that this timeline¡­ it isn''t mine. I should have been dead¡­


    "Is this because of that Girl Lucia?" He asked as he looked at me and I looked at him as I gulped a little before I sighed and spoke,"no¡­ it''s not because of her¡­ I just¡­ once I lost all my reasons to live¡­ all the reason that I needed to live in the previous timeline was gone. In this timeline, all I wanted was to save everyone and then use charm magic so that they forget about me¡­ before i kill myself too¡­"


    "Perhaps¡­ that girl has yed too much with your mind¡­ well she had her reasons too so I can''t really me her¡­ though I believe it is about time that your ''that'' emotion needs to be unlocked for I was always against her methods," he spoke as he blinked in front of me.


    ''Huh? Unlock emotions-'' I questioned, but before I could do anything, he touched my head and¡­


    -AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!


    I screamed loudly as a deafening pain entered my mind, and I almost lost consciousness. The pain continued for the next few minutes, that felt like eternity¡­ and after it was done¡­ my eyes opened up, confused, as I looked at that old man standing at me with a smile on his face.


    I was confused, but something¡­. Something felt different¡­ I looked at him with a confused expression¡­ before he spoke,


    "I have unlocked your ability to love, which has been locked for ages now."


    ''Huh? What does that mean?'' I questioned as I looked at him, but he only chuckled as he spoke,


    "Now that you have gained the ability to truly love someone¡­ Let''s start again. You have a lot of people to save¡­ perhaps¡­ you can even save me."


    He then looked at me with a pride filled expression as he spoke,"Kid¡­ try attacking me again."


    [Author''s Note: Hey so I am throwing a lot of unexined things, but I assure you this is worth it, or more like I am kick starting the story from here onwards, which may confuse you for a couple of chaps before you understand the reason behind it. Doing it slowly would have taken 1000s of chaps, which I don''t want. Also, about 40% of the story is done. The rest half would involve mostly parasites along with the greater plot behind everything.


    Hope you enjoy the story! Thank you for reading. See you at thetest chaps!]

 Chapter 265 Reaper V/S ?????

    "Kid¡­ try attacking me again."


    Standing on the water again, I looked at him with a concentrated gaze. I positioned myself properly.


    Hearing his words, I tightened the grip on my sword as I dashed toward him and began attacking him as skillfully as possible. Though he dodged my attacks with little effort as he chuckled before taunting,


    "Is that all you can do kid? This is what you call your de weapon mastery? I can dodge it even with my eyes closed"


    "I beg to differ," I spoke with a slight smirk as I increased the intensity of my attacks and repositioned my de ording to the moves he was making.


    Though it had little effect as he was still dodging my attack without much effort as before. Still, not minding much, I proceeded to increase the attack strength with the help of the Death Energy of the surroundings.


    He observed me with a smile as he muttered,"is that all you can do?" before he wiped all the Death Energy that I collected with a swipe of his hand but not giving up I collected the energy again only to be wiped out by that old man.


    "Try something else will ya? That trick is getting old," he spoke and I smiled before collecting Light Energy this time along with Death Energy as it made him really surprised before he looked at me and spoke,"now that''s what I am talking about. Do something that no one else can do."


    He then moved in front of me and looked at me carefully, meanwhile, I, finding him in front of me all of a sudden, lost my momentum and ended up using Fragment of ze making him dodge it cautiously before he looked at me with a surprised face as he looked at me with a narrowed eyed expression,


    "That¡­ that was¡­"


    "Here Ie old man!" I shouted as I dashed at him using ze Fragment on my right hand making myself bleed on my other hand as I coated my left hand with blood.


    I switched my de from my left hand to right as I coated it with my blood before charging it with the Fragment of ze''s power.


    That old man just kept looking at me with a narrowed expression as he muttered silently,"this¡­ this isn''t how it happened¡­ or did I fail to notice all this time?"


    "Stop daydreaming in the middle of a fight, you pervert old man," I smiled as I saw him not making that smug expression anymore before I started attacking him as fast as I could. At this point, I started using blood and charm magic as well to make sure I go all out without holding back.


    Though as soon as I moved closer to him and shed my sword towards him, he used his left hand to catch my de without much effort.


    "You have another Fragment¡­ that too of a different Guardian?" he spoke with a serious expression and I nodded before speaking,"I kind of do."


    "But that shouldn''t be possible¡­ just what in the name of the Dragon God¡­ just howe someone like you even exists¡­" even though he sounded confused, his expression was turning more and more happier.


    "Kid¡­ firstly stop using that other fragment¡­ also stop using the Rejection Fragment by making yourself bleed¡­ this is a disrespect to the Fragment itself," he spoke as he looked at me and I turned at him confused before a smug look came on my face and I asked,"need a handicap?"


    -Pow!


    He hit me in the head pushing me away and I spoke with an irritated face,"Che! Can''t even take a joke, huh?"


    ''So¡­ he wants me to use the Rejection Fragment without my blood, huh? Hmm¡­ if it''s rted to love¡­ or more like eptance then¡­ let''s see if it works, then,'' I pondered with a bright smile as I began thinking deeply about something and a sudden excitement came on my face¡­


    Perhaps¡­ maybe¡­<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    -BOOOOM!!!!!


    The area around me started to evaporate as I looked at the old man looking at me with a surprised face as he muttered,"what monsterous talent¡­"


    I smiled before I recalled all the happy memories that I had with Elle in the previous timeline, with my best friend An in the previous timeline, the happiness I felt fighting against Adara, sessfully saving ir from dying.


    I was epting myself more and more¡­ I was happy with myself¡­ I was proud of myself¡­ Even though I haven''t really saved everyone, what I had done up until now¡­ whether it was saving Bete and Eliza or beating Lucas¡­


    The satisfaction I felt when I was with Hygeia, when I kissed ir, the warmth I felt from Emma. The trust my team had shown me¡­ the familial feeling that Mark had given me¡­


    I began epting all of it¡­ and for some reason it was easier thanst time¡­


    "Fragment of Space: Rejection!!!!!" I shouted before looking at that old man with a pride filled face before I shouted again¡­


    "I reject your ability to dodge me!!!" I spoke as I felt like at least half of my energy was gone but¡­


    -Booom!!!


    I began attacking that old man again and as he began moving to dodge me¡­ he failed to do so¡­ it was as if his own body rejected that¡­


    -nk!!!!!!!!


    A loud sound came as my sword connected with his¡­


    "Finally you took out your weapon, huh? After all that time you used to call de art useless, haha¡­ such a hypocrite you are!" I spoke as I attacked him again with a blissful face.


    -nk!


    -nk!


    -nk!


    I saw his power was quite higher than mine and his skill was barely above me¡­ My smile deepend me as I spoke,"hah! Such pathetic skills!"


    My smile was deepening, for some reason I was really happy today¡­ I was feeling good with every strike I was making¡­


    So was it true?


    "Tell me, gramps¡­ was my emotion really locked?" I asked as I attacked him again.


    "You wanna know kid?" he asked as he stopped trying to dodge my attack and started parrying them as much as he could without really overpowering me.

 Chapter 266 Reaper V/S ??????

    "You wanna know kid?" he asked as he stopped trying to dodge my attack and started parrying them as much as he could without really overpowering me.


    "Sure I do," I asked as I felt like I was on cloud nine¡­


    "Well¡­ you sure did ept yourself fast for someone who was acting all hopeless just moments ago," he spoke and I replied,


    "Man I have been f*cked by life so many times that winning a few times made me feel good¡­ all those things started flooding back all at once¡­ I mean like really¡­ Everyone is alive and they will be alive till the very end¡­. I will make sure of it!!! How awesome is that??!!!"


    He chuckled a little as he spoke again,"for someone who has lived a life of his own, you sure are acting like a young teenager."


    "We are all young in our hearts, old men. Don''t you already know that?" I spoke cheekily as I continued attacking him again and again, and rather than getting annoyed at me he startedughing before he spoke,


    "Well¡­ I guess, that is true."


    "All right enough about that. Tell me old man, was it really blocked? And more importantly, do you have any idea about who could have done it¡­ though I believe I think I already know who did it but still won''t hurt to ask your opinion," I spoke as I saw him attacking me this time, and I began dodging his attacks now setting myself in a defensive stance.


    "Firstly, yeah your emotion was really locked and no, you are wrong. That girl, Lucia, wasn''t capable of doing that. It was someone else¡­ If I am not wrong, it was not done to harm you but to protect you because there was no hostility in that spell that I found," he said, making a pondering expression as he attacked me again.


    "Huh? It wasn''t Lucia? Then¡­ who could have harmed me¡­ or protected me¡­ Wait! Wait! Wait! You are confusing me, old man! Exin what you just said  in words that I can understand," I was kind of taken aback with what he just spoke.


    "Well¡­ skipping that, it''s not just your love that was locked but three other emotions that had been locked," he spoke as he looked at me with a pondering expression as if he was trying to recall the information.


    "Oi! Oi! Oi! Stop skipping important stuff. What are you even on about? And more emotions locked? Unlock them please¡­ though which emotions are we talking about?" I spoke with slight interest and he answered,


    "Fear. Sadness. And if I remember correctly, it was Empathy that was locked."


    I looked at him a bit confused before I asked,"wasn''t I just a free spirit thatcked all negative emotions and didn''t give a f*ck about what others feel? As for love¡­ I guess I just considered myself unlucky and the fact that I didn''t feel like deserving it?"


    Hmmm¡­ now that I think about it, I really never felt sad or feared anyone¡­ though about Lucia¡­.


    "If you are wondering why you had your emotions uplifted with Lucia then that was because she used Charm Magic on you¡­ not like using that charm to make you feel love, sadness and other emotions but to temporarily unlock those emotions. That was the reason you felt closer to her than to others. With her Charm Magic, being around her made you feel your real emotions and not just like an empty doll. The whole reason, why you fell so deeply in love with her," he spoke as he smiled at me before hitting me again


    ''So she was that powerful¡­ Did she know about my emotions being locked?'' I pondered before speaking,<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "So, what are you waiting for? Please unlock them."


    I spoke and he sighed before attacking me faster than before, while taking a deep breath and stopped breathing all together to boost my concentration. While normally, I could havested for about 30 minutes or so holding my breath, but now that I had Breath Fragment,


    I can go on forever.


    "YOU!!!" He was shocked beyond belief as he looked at me and I began attacking him faster and faster¡­. Though this is my limit right now. Anymore and I will need to y some sacrificial cards.


    "You have yet another Fragment.¡­ that too of apletely different Guardian?!!!" His eyes were still shocked as he stopped momentarily giving me a chance to attack him but before I could reach him, he snapped out of his stupor and parried my attack before kicking me away.


    "Firstly, stop you stinky brat! Tell me how many Fragments do you hold and how the heck did you end up gaining so many Fragments¡­ no, that''s not important, how the heck can you even use so many Fragments?" It was his turn to be confused and I smirked at him as I spoke with a grin forming on my face,


    "Wanna know?"


    Realising that I wasn''t going to tell him, he made an annoyed expression before sighing really loudly.


    Then I saw the storm calming down slowly and slowly, while that old man''s de also vanished from his hand. He looked at me with a really keen look as if he was trying to read me but after a while he made a giving up expression before he moved towards me and¡­


    -POW!!!!


    He hit me in the head really hard with an annoyed expression before speaking,"you deserve this one, you stinky brat."


    "I have a few questions, old man¡­ it feels like you know a lot about me-" I was speaking but he spoke,


    "You are going to face a lot of choices in the future, kid. I could only pray that you seed in whatever you are trying to do¡­ man I thought I knew everything but to think ''He'' outyed me even still¡­ I can figure out why he was chuckling back then¡­ that bastard!!!"


    He then sighed before looking at me and speaking,"try to use your Fragment from now on much more often. It is a really powerful asset but don''t over do it, okay? Also, someone is waiting for you at floor 99. Can you pass a message of mine to her?"


    And he spoke something before I vanished from there¡­ without getting a single f*cking answers out of him!!

 Chapter 267 A Familiar Feeling!

    Floor 67th


    Dungeon of Chaos


    Forgotten Ind


    ¡­


    Standing in front of the statue ced in the centre of the room, I observed it carefully. So, basically I should just keep defeating the statue one by one until I get to the 99th floor, where I would meet ''her'' again.


    I sighed as I looked at the statue in front of me. It was a human with scales on its back, more like lizard scales or perhaps dragon scales? In any case, the way to clear the dungeon was to move towards the door on the other side of the room and the statue will start attacking you, preventing you from entering it.


    Though, this time I just stood there for a few moments as I looked at those statues. Usually, the whole dungeon had a purpose, but this one required simple fighting. I mean, I did learn various ways to wield different weapons for each of these statues¡­ but.


    I touched that statue in front of me and I wondered if I¡­


    "Rejection Fragment: I reject all the curses ced on this statue," I spoke and about 5 percent of my energy was lost again. Because I waited a little before using the Rejection Fragment again, my power was full again.


    And just like I imagined, the statue started shaking before it started gaining back its colours. It took about 5 minutes but the statue was no longer stony, but instead a man with red scales on its back came in front of my eyes.


    It had an old style of clothes and there was a red band that matched its red-colored eyes.


    "Awaah¡­ so it''s finally time, huh?" spoke that man as he stretched his back before observing me and then speaking.


    "So, what are we going to do next?"


    I looked at him, a bit confused, as I tilted my head. It was as if he was asking me tomand him and I asked back,"Excuse me sir¡­ what do you mean by that?"


    " ''Sir?'' you are calling me sir¡­ wait! Wait! Wait! Oh¡­ I totally forgot¡­ oh! Yeah¡­ I might really die¡­ but I didn''t¡­ so it''s fine. Safe! Safe! Safe? Well, whatever¡­" he started mumbling then he realised something before nodding to himself as he spoke,


    "Well¡­ why was I here again¡­ yeah! Take out your spear, young man! I will bestow my skills upon you."


    Confused even more, I looked at him as I asked,"I don''t mind getting your teaching but can I ask why you are doing it?" Though I took out my spear, anyway.


    "Because I have been tasked to do that¡­ anyway, just do it," he mumbles silently before looking at me energetically and taking out his own spear.


    "First thing about the spear is¡­" he then started teaching me about spearmanship. At first, it was basic teaching but¡­ as I listened more, I got more profound knowledge in that art and then he asked me to spar with him.


    While I was easily defeated on the first try, as I sparred more and more, I started to understand his skill and after an unknown amount of time,"Alright¡­ I guess this much is enough. You already knew many things, so it took less time. Try to use it properly. You may move to the next floor now."


    I looked at him for a moment before I bowed to him as I spoke,"thank you sir."


    "Leave, I suppose. You bowing to me¡­ it kind of feels awkward now¡­ take care Zero, hope you achieve what you want too buddy," he spoke with a warm smile before he started turning to dust and thenpletely vanishing from there.


    Though I looked at him a bit confused as I tried recalling if I had told him my name or not¡­ but,"I don''t think I had told him my name¡­ and the way he was talking with me¡­ did he know me?"


    This was getting more and more confusing now¡­ first that old man and now this¡­


    However, this was only the beginning of strange things, from here onwards¡­


    Floor 68th<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "HO! My god you look so handsome now?! Did you get a new haircut or something?" an old woman spoke before she taught me how to make some potions that had no side effects whatsoever.


    Floor 69th


    "Hehe! So it really happened, huh? Looks like I will get my time to shine as well¡­ Zero, let''s learn how to use knives properly, shall we?" spoke a young kid as he smiled proudly before beginning to teach me how to use them.


    Floor 70th


    "Kid, you should work on your posture more."


    Floor 71st


    "Been a while, Zero."


    Floor 72nd


    Floor 73rd


    Floor 74th


    .


    .


    .


    .


    Floor 97th


    "You look quite pathetic, as usual. Let me tell you what it is to be a man," spoke a robust man as he smiled at me from ear to ear.


    Floor 98th


    "Hey, how are you? You look quite tired, huh? Must be rough around the edges with everything going on¡­ well, I don''t have much skills to give you since you already have everything¡­ but¡­" a young girl moved closer to me and kissed me on my lips. I felt a warm energy in my body and feeling embarrassed, she stepped back as she smiled brightly and spoke,


    "Save us Zero¡­ we will meet again¡­ see you soon."


    Then she vanished too, as I saw her turning to dust.


    It was odd¡­ every time I tried asking about them or if they knew me or anything, they wouldn''t answer. They simply focus on teaching me and if I try to reject their teaching, they get angry¡­ like really, really angry¡­ until they seed in teaching me.


    Just what was going on here?


    It took me about two and a half months to reach here, which was significantly faster thanst time, where it took me more than a year to get here.


    Though things werepletely different fromst time¡­ it felt like¡­ I visited my hometown or something? Did they really know me? Who exactly were they?


    All the thoughts were confusing me, and with those confused thoughts in my mind, I soon entered the next floor¡­ Floor 99th.

 Chapter 268 Ziana

    Floor 99th¡­


    In this blue tinted night¡­


    I saw her again¡­


    ck hair and a pure white face¡­


    She looked beautiful as always¡­


    Her crystal white eyes which were simr to mine¡­


    The ck dress she wore with a kind of ck tiara on her head¡­


    ¡­


    I observed her carefully with a special warmth in my chest


    "It has been a while, Zero. Did you miss me?" she asked with a chuckle as she turned to me before moving towards me.


    "Kind of¡­ how are you, Ziana?" I asked with a bit of a nostalgic smile as I looked at her.


    "I see that you have gone through a lot of changes," she spoke with slight sadness before moving closer to me and ced her hands on my cheeks as she spoke,


    "Sadness Sadness go away!" and then she gently kissed on my forehead before taking a few steps back and smiling brightly as she asked


    "Did that help a little?"


    I felt a strange energy inside my body that kind of made me rx a lot and I looked at her with a slight smile as I spoke,"it sure did. I actually have a message from someone."


    cing her index finger on her chin, she looked at me carefully as she spoke,"is that so? What would that be?"


    I began walking and passed from her side as I observed the area and spoke,"it was that old man from the 66th floor. He asked me to tell you that ''It is about time. We should do what we are supposed to do as well.'' "


    I told her what the old man asked me to tell her and peeking at her expression, I saw her making a really sad expression as she muttered,"why did I even choose to do that?"


    She was really sad and as she looked at me she said,"Well¡­ I don''t want you to die either¡­ " though she trailed off in the end.


    I could make out that she was contemting on something, and that something was probably rted to me. Though, I couldn''t really make out what was the thing that she was thinking about.


    However, not even a moment after, she turned to me and spoke,


    "Well¡­ I guess it is what it is then¡­ But still¡­ can you at least tell me how things were all this time you were outside?"


    I looked at her for a few moments before pondering and then speaking,"sure I guess¡­ After all you had done for me¡­ I think I can do that much, at least."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    From that point, she smiled as she hurriedly walked towards me on her tippy toes and grabbed my hand and dragged me on to a nearby bench where she made me sit before sitting in front of me and speaking.


    "Tell me then."


    She was really excited to hear my story and, not wasting her time; I chuckled a little before starting to tell her about what happened after I moved to the 100th floor.


    ¡­


    Back when I came herest time in the previous timeline, I thought she was a monster but honestly she was just a simple girl who wanted to talk to someone¡­ however this one¡­ damn, she was too interested to know about me.


    She asked me about my favourite colours, the type of life I lived, the girl I liked¡­ She was kind of judging the girls that I met in my life too. Surprisingly, she really likes Lucia¡­ for whatever reason.


    She kept talking to me about what I wanted to be if I had a different life and many more things¡­


    Since I had all the time in the worldst time, I kept talking to Ziana for a long time. Many things were repeated many times, yet she smiled and listened to it intently and provided her own view of them.


    When I ran out of things to tell Ziana and she too felt like she had heard enough, she spoke that she would wait for me to return and I promised to do so as well¡­ though I never got the chance to visit the Netherrealmst time¡­ however because of fate itself, here I was telling her stories again.


    ¡­


    I started from floor 100th, which she asked me to skip for some reason. Not minding her, I told her about everything that had transpired in my life, how Lucia used me, abused me and other stuff, though she only said one thing whenever I told her about Lucia¡­


    "Wish things could have been different."


    Though when someone else abused me or used me, she made the most angriest expression she had ever done¡­ Did she know Lucia? Why do I feel like there was more to it than I believe there is¡­ however, there was something she spoke in between which made me doubt my ears a little.


    "Poor Valencia¡­ sigh¡­ continue," she spoke with a sigh and then focused on me again. I kind of wanted to ask who Valencia was, but for some reason, I felt like I shouldn''t ask.


    Compared to Emma and Theia, who felt like they would kill Lucia the moment they would see her, Ziana was too calm with whatever she did.


    Anyway, I kept telling her about everything, including how I got the other Fragments and Amon, finally reaching the point where I was.


    Many times in between, she advised me on things which I should have done and which I shouldn''t except in Lucia''s case, where she kept her silence. Even how I dealt with Lucas. She told me that I should be more careful with Lucy, his sister and also Emma.


    Though in the end she just spoke,"well¡­ I think you did fine, though. Even though you messed up a lot in your previous life, you ended up learning a lot from that.


    Though, I didn''t like how you died, but still¡­ I think it was supposed to happen, too."


    She then stood up and spoke with a calm voice,


    "Well¡­ I guess now that I know everything about you¡­ I think I am quite satisfied with how you lived your life. I am proud of you ****", Ziana spoke a word, a name that I couldn''t hear. Though before I could speak anything, Ziana spoke,


    "You have received a lot of things from the floor below, so I guess it won''t be fair if I don''t give you something, too. As for what I will give you¡­ I will unlock your emotions¡­ your emotion of Sadness."

 Chapter 269 Sadness!

    "You have received a lot of things from the floor below, so I guess it won''t be fair if I don''t give you something, too. As for what I will give you¡­ I will unlock your emotions¡­ your emotion of Sadness."


    With my eyes wide open, I just kept looking at her for the next few moments. Words failed toe out of my mouth and I saw her moving towards me.


    She was smiling, but it was a smile of grief¡­ I saw her trembling a little before she reached closer to me and touched my cheeks gently with her hands.


    Her eyes were shaking and silent, then she muttered," Using the remnant power of the Former Fragment of Space¡­ I unlock your emotion of Sadness.."


    And then¡­


    -AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    It hurts¡­ not just my brain¡­ not just my head¡­ it was deep inside my heart¡­ it was emotionally draining for me¡­ I felt like dying, killing myself¡­ I felt like I had lost everything in my life.


    The time my best friend died¡­ that time Elle died¡­ that time Lucia betrayed me¡­ that time Lucas defeated me¡­ I should have done something¡­ I should have said something¡­ I should-


    She hugged me¡­ Ziana hugged me¡­ tears were falling from my eyes and I couldn''t control them¡­ I felt like breaking from the inside.. How many times had I lost people that I SHOULD HAVE SAVED!!!!


    I hugged Ziana back tightly and started crying like a baby¡­ everything hit at once¡­ I don''t know if my brain can take it or not..


    "Rejection Fragment: I reject-" I was about to reject all these emotions, but Ziana stopped me. She ced her hands on my mouth shushing me and slowly spoke as she looked at me with an emotional face,


    "It is all right. Take it in¡­ feel it¡­ don''t reject your own emotions¡­ ept it¡­ ****... I trust you¡­ I believe if it is you, then you can do it¡­"


    While I was the one who was feeling all the pain, she looked at me as if she were equally damaged emotionally. I looked at her for a few moments and nodded with a teary face as I was still crying¡­


    "But.. but¡­ but¡­ they died¡­ I could have saved them¡­ I should have been the one that had died-"


    "Hey¡­ you got the chance to save everyone again, don''t you? Trust me love, I will be there with you helping you out until you take control over your sadness," she spoke as she looked at me with a slight smile, but the tears on my face that kept running down made her heart ache.


    Continuously wiping my tears, I cried like a baby as I tried my best to speak,"I¡­ will save them¡­ I will save everyone¡­ for what the Parasites have done¡­ I will make them pay¡­ I will¡­. I will¡­ Awaah!!!!!!"


    It was hard¡­ I felt like I had lost everything at once¡­. All this time I felt like I was emotionless¡­ all this time, whenever I lost someone¡­ It didn''t hurt, but¡­ now it wasing back¡­ all of it¡­ at once.


    From the time where I couldn''t save ir to the time where Imitted suicide and let myself die¡­ It hurts¡­ I want to go back and save everyone¡­ undo the mistakes that I had already made¡­


    "But¡­ but¡­ they hate me¡­ I can''t¡­ I can''t bear to face them¡­ I betrayed them¡­ I killed millions¡­just why did I do that? What exactly made me a monster like that¡­ just why?!!!!! AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" I wasn''t a white paper or saviour of humanity¡­


    I have killed thousands of people¡­ I had betrayed hundreds of people¡­ I wanted to die¡­ I wanted to die¡­ I felt like a pathetic piece of sh*t¡­


    Ziana was there, gently patting my back as she hugged me tightly. Perhaps because she was there, I was able to control myself a little¡­ though not being able to take anymore; I lost my consciousness¡­<novelnext></novelnext>


    I had a dream¡­. I killed those I had saved in this timeline too¡­ Everyone was dead¡­


    And then I woke up again¡­


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" I shouted as I woke up before looking at the surrounding garden. Ziana was still there looking at me, trying to help me out, but looking at her, I recalled all the memories¡­ Everything came back¡­ and once again¡­ It started hurting¡­


    My brain was getting dizzy¡­ I started crying again¡­ I was shouting again¡­ it was aching all over my body¡­


    "It''s okay¡­ it is decades worth of pain¡­ it''s going to take some time to sink in¡­" Ziana spoke as she looked at me before I nodded at her with a tear filled fear stricken face¡­


    And then.. I lost my consciousness again¡­


    The nightmare came again¡­


    I woke up again¡­


    I cried again¡­


    I lost consciousness again¡­


    After an unknown amount of time, when I started gaining my sanity back as I fought with my own demons¡­ as I kept trying and trying¡­ as I epted my own faults¡­ I let it all sink in¡­


    I felt like a pathetic doll that had broken down into pieces¡­ but I was alive¡­ I was still living¡­


    "You look much better than before¡­ would you like to eat something? I made it with my own hands," Ziana spoke with a calm smile as she looked at me. She was there with me from the start to the end¡­ she helped me every time I was trying to kill myself¡­ made me feel better when I felt as low as it''s possible.


    She was there to pull me out of the darkness every time I felt that I was lost.


    I saw the food she prepared but honestly, my appetite was dead¡­ I felt like hurting myself more¡­ however she patted my head a little before running her fingers through my hair.


    "Open your mouth ****," she spoke, and I then opened my mouth and she fed me with her other hand as if a mother helping her child eat.


    I ate the portions of food she was giving me with a slight relief on my face¡­ it was delicious¡­ it had a feeling that I have never felt. It made me feel like I was sitting in a warm home where I belonged¡­


    Even though I felt like a rag doll a few days before¡­ I was much better now with a bit of my emotions bing normal


    "Ziana¡­ who are you¡­ if you don''t mind me asking¡­ who are you to me?" I asked in a dry voice as I looked at her with a slightly curious expression.

 Chapter 270 Craving To Meet You Again!

    "Ziana¡­ who are you¡­ if you don''t mind me asking¡­ who are you to me?" I asked i  a dry voice as I looked at her with a slightly curious expression.


    Perhaps things have been going on for a long time that I felt like there was more to Ziana that I have seen up until now. The way she took care of me as if I were her own child, the fact that she was the one who unlocked my emotion of sadness.


    It wasn''t just that, but¡­ she cried when I cried; she felt the pain that I felt¡­ I felt afort looking at her even in the most desperate times. I felt safer¡­ I felt better¡­


    I felt like I was fine here. Everything was fine here¡­


    "Well. Even if I wanted to tell you, you probably won''t understand. Though, you will understand everything and if I am not wrong, then that day is not far away either¡­ so all you need to do is to survive and one day¡­ you will find out everything," she spoke with a slight sad smile before she stood up and spoke,


    "Well, can I ask you something ****?" She made a request, and I observed her before nodding.


    "Can you hug me once more?" she asked and I, even though confused, nodded at her before standing up and then moving towards her, I hugged her.


    "Hug me tightly," she spoke, and I did that as she too hugged me back tightly. I wanted to know what she was trying but then she started speaking.


    "The future is going to be hard ****. Be more brave. Take care of your friends, find a good girl to marry, have a beautiful life. If you feel like it is too much, you can let go as well. Just take care of yourself better this time¡­"


    She started speaking, and I kept listening as she continued,


    "You are going to face a lot of difficult choices, so be brave and take more care of yourself. You might feel lost many times in your life, but be brave and trust yourself, okay?


    Many things will be revealed to you, so I want you to be calm about it too. Be careful how you deal with every situation¡­


    Take more rest. Eat more. Always have a good rest, okay? Try to be happier¡­ also, don''t fall for the wrong girl, okay?


    I will miss you, you know, and it is going to be hard to go on without you and I know that it will be hard for you as well, but it is fine¡­ this is how life works, I guess. Perhaps someday we will see each other again. Who knows?


    In any case, if you are going to have kids, then I want their names to be Azure if it is a girl and Dn if it is a boy. Say to your wife or wives that they better take care of you or else I will return just to haunt them as a ghost¡­" I noticed that her body was slowly vanishing and tears were running through my eyes as I realised something¡­ something very crucial¡­


    "Mother?" I asked, and she stopped speaking for a while¡­


    "Yes, son¡­ take better care of yourself, love¡­ " she spoke before she vanishedpletely and I just kept staring in space at the empty garden in front of me¡­.


    I¡­cked words to describe my emotions¡­ I felt not just empty but devastated¡­ how much of an idiot was I to realise this sote¡­


    ["You are going to face a lot of choices, so be brave and take more care of yourself. You might feel lost many times in your life but be brave and trust yourself, okay?"]


    Each of her words started echoing in my mind¡­ everything she ever spoke starteding back to me<novelnext></novelnext>


    ["Sadness. Sadness. Go away!]


    I felt like I was dying inside when I realised what I had just¡­


    ["Did that help a little?"]


    Why was it so hard to connect the dots? Why did I not realise it up until now?


    ["You look much better than before¡­ would you like to eat something? I made it with my own hands."]


    I looked around to see a bit more of the food she made and hurriedly ran towards it. I took it in my hands and looked at it as if it were the most precious thing that I had ever seen in my entire life.


    It was my mother''s cooking¡­ my own mother''s¡­ something that I had desired for all my life¡­ Something that I craved for¡­ my own mothers¡­ my mother''s.. My mother''s cooking¡­


    Tears began falling out of my eyes as I looked at that food and my insides felt like they were churning painfully¡­


    Slowly and Slowly I took a small bite out of the food and ate it, trying to feel the vour of it¡­ each and every bit of it¡­ I tried feeling and absorbing every bit of it¡­


    The rest, I kept in my dimensional storage safely in a corner before Iy on my back as I tried holding myself in this ce¡­


    "Should I kill myself?" I asked but¡­


    ["Well¡­ I guess now that I know everything about you¡­ I think I am quite satisfied with how you lived your life. I am proud of you ****"]


    ["It is all right. Take it in¡­ feel it¡­ don''t reject your own emotions¡­ ept it¡­ ****... I trust you¡­ I believe if it is you, then you can do it¡­"]


    ["The future is going to be hard ****. Be more brave"]


    ["I will miss you, you know, and it is going to be hard to go on without you and I know that it will be hard for you as well, but it is fine¡­ this is how life works, I guess. Perhaps someday we will see each other again. Who knows?"]


    I recalled what mother told me and I sighed as I realised how she knew exactly how I would react¡­


    "Perhaps¡­. I will see you again¡­ I wonder if I can find or create a spell to find you¡­" I cling to hope without any base or anything¡­ it was a simple small hope that was almost impossible to do, but¡­ maybe¡­ I wonder.


    Tears were still falling out of my eyes but I was better than before¡­ If I can meet my mother twice¡­ then I will meet her again as well.

 Chapter 271 Floor 100th (Past)

    PREVIOUS TIMELINE


    Floor 100th


    Dungeon of Chaos


    Forgotten Ind


    ¡­


    Walking through thest floor as I bid farewell to Ziana before promising her that I will return, I smiled as I wondered what kind of monster I wille across this time.


    Entering the 100th floor, I found myself on a small floating ind, and there was a temple-like ce in front of me. My eyes looked at the streams of water that were flowing from the sides of the temple before they went down the ind.


    The sky. It was dark with a scenic night view. Kind of fairnd-type if you ask me. A bit lonely, but still beautiful. I looked around before moving towards the temple one step at a time. It had been about 2 years since I entered this dungeon. The fact that I survived without eating or drinking was a miracle in itself.


    "I wonder if there is going to be a really scary monster this time¡­ or will it be like Ziana?" I questioned as I pondered before entering the temple. A row of statues facing the entrance as if staring; a row of statues on the other side of the temple.


    "What''s that?" I thought as I saw the water chalice ced in the centre of the room and moved towards that with a bit of curiosity.


    "A water monument¡­ you can drink water if you are thirsty," a voice came from behind me as I saw someone entering the room behind me. I turned around. My eyes widened as I observed the man in front of me.


    "You are¡­ me?!" I spoke out as I was bbergasted, looking at the exact copy of myself in front of me. Though¡­ there was something different about him¡­ I can''t exactly pinpoint it, but¡­ there is something different.


    "Kind of¡­ or maybe not. I don''t know at this point but well whatever¡­ I guess, I will begin exining things in simpler terms," he spoke in the same voice as mine, but in a manner that was way more refined than I could.


    "Are you my future or something?" I asked as I wondered cause I don''t remember looking that¡­ mature¡­ ever in my life. So, is it a representation of my future? That would make sense.


    "Future? Hmmm¡­ maybe¡­ or I think it is past¡­ Or maybe a bit of both. Well, I am both, your past and future¡­ would be correct. Though it won''t make sense, I suppose, would it?" he asked with a slightly awkward face and I nodded.


    Nothing he said made sense. He is my future AND past? What is it even supposed to mean?


    "In any case, it would be better if we start helping you out as well. We don''t have much time¡­ though doing itte won''t change anything either¡­ Well, whatever," he spoke as he sighed a little and I turned confused at his words.


    His eyes gazed at me. There was sadness in them. They felt odd. It was as if he knew me. But what exactly does that mean?


    "Who are you?" I asked as I was genuinely confused. He felt familiar. Not just because he looked and spoke like me, but¡­ it was as if he understood me.


    "Try drinking water from that chalice," he spoke as he looked at me and I gripped my sword before I asked,"what if I don''t?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Huh?!''


    I saw my sword broken into pieces before I could do anything, and a voice came from behind.


    "I can''t really force you now, can I?" he smirked as he sarcastically asked me, holding arge piece of my broken sword.


    I just looked at him with a bit of nk expression. Forget about breaking my sword and holding it in his hand. I couldn''t even see him walking past me.


    "You are strong¡­" I could only speak that before I asked,"can I know why do you want me to drink from that chalice? I won''t die, would I?"


    He chuckled a little before asking,"If I wanted to kill you, would I really need to do something like asking you to do it?" and I nkly nodded again.


    Then I looked at him, watching me, before I began walking towards the chalice as I cupped my hands and slowly took a few sips of the water from it.


    "Gulp," as soon as I drank the water, my eyes opened up wide as I felt like I had taken an elixir of life, before I started drinking more and more. I couldn''t stop myself from taking more and more¡­


    -Cough Cough


    Because I was hurriedly taking in the water, I started coughing a little, but then I felt a hand on my back, gently rubbing my back.


    "It''s okay, take it easy¡­ drink as much as you want," he spoke and I nodded before drinking more from it.


    It took about an hour as I continuously kept drinking it and once I found the big water chalice all empty, I finally stopped, gaining back my senses.


    "Now that you have drank that water, I guess I would help you out a little," he spoke before moving towards me and then taking out a strange purplish ck sword that oozed out a strange aura.


    -Stab! He then stabbed me with that sword, before it started sucking out all my energy¡­ I felt like my life force itself was being sucked out into the sword. He kept absorbing my energy for the next few hours before he finally let it go.


    I felt like my power¡­ it went down to 10 percent of what it should have been, which made me look at him with a slight ashen face as I asked,"what did you do to me?" Though the answer he gave me was something else,"I will return this energy when you will see me again next time. Until then, use those¡­ They are called the Deaths of Duality. They have the ability to take in Death Energy and also charge your own energy. Should be enough to bring your power back to normal.. Or perhaps even better. See you again, Reaper."


    He then vanished from there without really exining anything.The Deaths of Duality¡­ the dual chained des came into my vision as I looked in the direction where that guy was looking.


    It was a golden door which I believe wasn''t present until now¡­


    Slowly walking towards the door¡­ I opened it only to find a huge open altar in the center of which two dark des chained to each other from their handles floating in the air in front of me. My eyes looked at the amount of Death Energy those were giving out and as if I felt a sense of familiarity¡­ I raised my hand and they flew towards me before each of them settled in my hands.


    "Beautiful," I spoke with a smile on my face as I felt those des'' energy connecting with mine.

 Chapter 272 Floor 100th (Present)

    CURRENT TIMELINE


    Floor 100th


    Dungeon of Chaos


    Forgotten Ind


    ¡­


    I entered the 100th floor with a heavy heart as I looked at the same old floating ind with the temple in front of me. If all the things that had happened up untiling here hadn''t happened, I would have prepared to fight against that guy who looked and spoke exactly like me, but¡­


    "Well, he did say that he will return my energy when Ie back¡­ I wonder if it meant this time," I spoke out before I entered the temple again only to find that guy ying with the same purple ck sword.


    "Took your time, I see?" he asked with a slight smile and I nodded as I asked,"before we get to the procedure, Can I ask you something?"


    I wanted to know if he knew what was going on with the floors below and probably about what exactly is this dungeon? What is the purpose of all this? And most importantly, how am I connected to all this¡­ Who am I?


    "I am sorry but I can''t answer any of your questions¡­ I wish that I could but¡­ I am bound byws too," he spoke with an apologetic face before I pondered about something and began to ask,


    "Are you-


    "No, we aren''t the same. We are actually different persons, we aren''t connected," he answered before I could even ask the question. Though it made me a bit more confused¡­


    "I feel lost," I muttered as I felt a heartache. I wanted to take a rest¡­ I have to save the world, but I also wanted to know about myself¡­ I¡­ what should I do?


    "It is okay. You will find your answers soon. Trust the process,"he spoke with a slight smile and I looked at him before nodding and moving towards him and asking,


    "Can I have my des?"


    Though he shook his head as he smiled with a sad expression,"When you broke them, they were lost. Even time couldn''t bring them back because they aren''t bound by time or space."


    At his words, my eyes turn open wide and I looked at him with a stupefied face, but before I could speak anything


    -Stab!


    He stabbed me with that purple ck sword. Just likest time, I still couldn''t see himing at me. Though, unlikest time, the energy wasn''t being snatched from me, but it was being filled inside me.


    "You are going to need this. The Parasites will arrive in the Netherrealm first, in about 4 months'' Netherrealm time from now on. On Vermillion, they will arrive in about a year. That''s the max, I can tell. n carefully, make sure you don''t miss out on anything," he said as he filled my body with so much energy¡­


    I felt like my channels were opening at a rapid rate¡­ my base power was rising¡­ it was gradually increasing one level at a time¡­<novelnext></novelnext>


    Until now, I had unlocked 3 mana channels, but with this¡­ my base mana channels were unlocked up to 6, the max being 10¡­ bringing my base power up to S4 Level on its own¡­ though it wasn''t just that¡­ my Spirit Power, my Death Energy Power¡­. Everything was lifted to a whole new level.


    "With this-


    "You won''t be able to survive with only this much¡­ they are sending¡­ a strong force¡­ and you got two more problems to deal with as well," he cut me off with a worry filled face as he looked at me.


    "How strong?" I asked, and he shook his head as he spoke,"expect the worst."


    "What about the other two?" I asked, and he sighed really really loud at that one before speaking,"it would be better if you find out on your own."


    I looked at him confused before asking,"you are from my future, aren''t you?"


    He pressed his lips as he smiled a little before speaking,"both past and future."


    I saw him taking out his sword from my chest and beginning to walk away from me,"take everything you can from Neatherrealm. You will be needing more than that¡­ take everything from the Vermillion, too. If possible, take it from ''there'' as well.


    He turned at me as he ced his sword on his back and spoke,"the journey is going to be much harder. You are going to lose a lot of people too¡­ be prepared and¡­ don''t lose hope¡­ trust yourself¡­ trust the process."


    He then slowly vanished from there as if he had never existed. I just looked nkly at him, wondering exactly what he said¡­


    "So, was he from the future or not?" I was a bit confused as I looked around the ce. Last time, I got away from here as soon as I touched the Deaths of Duality, but this time there wasn''t anything like that, so how should I escape from here?


    I didn''t get the Deaths of Duality, but it wasn''t as if it was a fruitless journey¡­ in fact, I got a power that was equally powerful.


    ''Though I would have preferred Deaths of Duality more,'' I thought as I moved towards the golden gate where they were previously supposed to be.


    Hoping that they would miraculouslye back there again, I opened the door. However¡­ sadly, they weren''t there. It was an empty altar with an empty centre. I sighed before moving towards the centre as I looked around to find any mechanism to get out of here.


    "Hmmmm???!!!" I then felt a sudden strange energy¡­ it was as if there was something in this ce¡­ in this altar¡­ but exactly what? Calming myself down, I took a deep breath before concentrating on that strange feeling¡­ that strange energy¡­


    Slowly and slowly, I saw a few people standing on the altar stairs at a distance. They were covered with white robes from top to bottom, with not even a single body part visible.


    I looked at them with a bit of confused face whichter reced with astonishment as I realised who they were.


    One of them stood up, and then spoke out loud,


    "Tell me O Regressor! Quid tu hic!"

 Chapter 273 “Tell Me O Regressor! Quid Tu Hic!�

    "Tell me O Regressor! Quid tu hic!"


    I looked at him before answering that question,"I am here to change my fate¡­ but what do the Overseers of Fate want from a person like me?"


    "Ho! You have heard of us?" he asked with a surprised face and I spoke,"your brother, Alberthicus, died when he tried to kill me and take my powers for himself. He kind of exined how high and mighty you guys are."


    After the third Cataclysm, there was a man who appeared in front of me out of nowhere and demanded to surrender my body to him. He spoke something along the lines of how he determines the future and how can he set my future to doom, to which I only answered with two respectful words,"F*ck off!"


    They sounded surprised at my words before the front one spoke,


    "We know that you killed one of us. But we did not know that he broke a taboo and revealed about us¡­ now this changes many things¡­"


    He was surprised not to see the part where I killed an overseer of fate but about the part that the overseer had revealed about them.


    "Since you already know about us, telling you about us won''t be a taboo anymore. Despite the wrong that he has done, Alberthicus has actually given us a chance to change the fate of this universe. May the Overlord bless his soul with a lesser hell than what he deserves," he spoke, and I smirked at them as I spoke,


    "So much love among brothers, I see. I might actually puke."


    Though the one who was speaking turned silent before all of them vanished and then¡­ They appeared right in front of me. The one who was speaking moved forward and spoke,


    "Young Regresser¡­ our brother Alberthicus, controlled the fate Element of Death and since he has sealed your fate to die in the end¡­ we cannot change that. But wee here with a request¡­ an offer, if you would like to hear?"


    I looked at them for a few moments before I closed my eyes as I sighed deeply before I spoke,"is that so? That surprises me." My voice was low¡­ uninterested.


    To die in the end¡­ it sounds really scary but¡­ honestly, aren''t we all going to die in the end? What is so big of a deal about it?


    Then I saw the man in the front speaking,


    "We will change the fate of those around you¡­. We will make sure they survive¡­ though we can only interfere 3 times."


    He spoke, and I was a bit surprised as I looked at them before asking,"and¡­ what do you want in return?"


    "A promise¡­ that you will let him live," he spoke as they looked at me and I wondered what they were talking about¡­ It made me confused¡­ who exactly were they talking about?


    "Whom¡­ are you talking about?" I asked with a bit of confused expression, and they spoke.


    "Vulcan¡­ The Guardian of Fire¡­ please let him live. We beg of you¡­ when the timees¡­ please don''t let him die."


    I saw the Overseer of Fates¡­. On their knees as they looked towards me. It confused me¡­


    ''Why would I kill the Guardian of Fire? Aren''t the Guardian our allies? Why would I kill a powerful asset like him?'' I was confused as I looked at them.


    "I am sure you must be confused but¡­ If you can do that much¡­ we promise that we wille to your aid, when you require us," he spoke as he looked at me and I nodded at them.


    "I guess¡­ I will not kill him¡­ "<novelnext></novelnext>


    I was hesitating after I said that¡­ What exactly is in my future that will make me kill a Guardian? Shouldn''t the Guardian be fighting against the Primordials and not among themselves¡­?


    "We will trust you¡­ and we will remind you¡­ when the timees. For now, we shall leave¡­" they spoke before vanishing away from there¡­ However, one of them stayed behind.


    Covered with the same white cloth, he observed me for a few moments as he asked,


    "Killing brother Alberthicus. How did it feel?"


    "Nothing. Almost everyone was trying to kill me back then so¡­ it didn''t feel really anything," I spoke and he asked again,


    "Who attacked first?"


    I turned to him,"it was me. He threatened someone that I cared about."


    "How hard was the fight?" he asked again¡­


    "Hmmm¡­ hard, huh? If I were to set a difficulty, then¡­I had to bet my life on it," I answered and looked at him, turning silent. I observed him for a few moments and he spoke again.


    "Did he say anything in the end?"


    "You are a monster¡­ Please let my brothers live if you see them," I told him what he spoke, and he sighed in the end before speaking,


    "[Obscurum ferrum chaos]"


    And the space twisted itself before something familiar came in front of me, out of nothingness.


    "These are!!" My eyes opened up wide as I looked at them¡­ Deaths of Duality¡­ but shouldn''t they be gone?


    "I created the previous ones¡­ these are better. I liked how they were used before¡­ Use them¡­ you are going to need them¡­ if you want to kill the one you are going to face in the uing future. As for Vulcan¡­ I don''t think you will not kill him¡­ but try your best to find a path where you won''t need to kill him," he spoke as he looked at me and it made me look at him with a confused yet surprised gaze.


    "Why are you-" I was about to speak but he cut me off as he spoke,


    "Why am I doing this? I don''t really know¡­ maybe I can see your fate? Maybe I can see her future? Maybe I am pitying you? Maybe I am pitying her¡­ I wonder why?"


    Then he started walking away from there as he spoke,"We won''t meet again¡­ as I should be killed by my brothers after what I did just now¡­ but consider this sacrifice¡­ as-"


    Then I saw him vanish from there as those des kept floating right in front of me.


    "What just happened?" Confused, I looked at that empty space in front of me.


    [Author''s note: All right, these are the end of all the confusing things I added. From the next chapter, the story will go smoothly as things will be revealed once by one.]

 Chapter 274 A Bit Late Return

    After he vanished, I observed those Deaths of Duality before moving towards them and touching them with my hands. There was a slight confusion on my face as¡­


    ''That guy who looked like he was from my future was sure about me not getting the Deaths of Duality¡­ Or was he lying?'' I questioned as the surrounding space slowly began turning blurry before I found myself back at the centre of the floating ind.


    I looked back to find the Gate of the Dungeon of Chaos missing and I closed my eyes for a few moments before I sighed and then moved out of there, slowly reaching the edge of the floating ind.


    So many things happened in the Dungeon of Chaos this time that my head started hurting, even when I tried to think about it. All my skills were beyond polished and I gained an enormous boost in power level as well, along with the improved Deaths Of Duality.


    But why does it feel like I am still weak? Is that because of the enemies I am about to face? Or is it because of the emotions I gained back?


    ''So many questions and no answers, huh?'' I sighed before jumping off the ind and letting myself fall freely in the air. As I was falling, I recalled thest time I did this.


    I lost against Lucas¡­ then I chose to give up. I lost Lucia¡­ Or more like I finally realised that I had lost her. But¡­ What were those faces mom made¡­ Whenever she heard about Lucia, her face turned sad¡­ Even that old man spoke something about her¡­


    ["Perhaps¡­ that girl has yed too much with your mind¡­ Well, she had her reasons too, so I can''t really me her¡­]


    ''What reasons¡­ was there something that I didn''t know?'' I thought as I closed my eyes before I recalled a certain name from mom''s mouth¡­


    [Poor Valencia]


    ''Valencia¡­ who is she? Is it Lucia''s real name?... Damn it!'' I was getting annoyed. Even after dying once because of her, I still can''t get her out of my mind. Especially because of my emotions getting unlocked, I was getting more and more agitated whenever I thought of her.


    -BOOM!!! I fell on the ground, creating a huge crater before I let myselfy on the ground for a while. I justy there for the time being and I felt a couple of monsters moving in my direction.


    "Chains of Darkness," I muttered as the chains of Deaths of Duality increased in length before covering the whole area and then trapping the monsters around. Then they slowly started absorbing the monster''s energy before reducing their grade to below C-Grade.


    I then stood up with a jump as I patted myself to clear the dust that got on my clothes before I turned off my Reaper form. With my base strength, using this power would be overkill, so I shall just let it be this way.


    From there I moved towards the ce where Theia was supposed to teach the others¡­. I wonder how many days have passed and how much have they improved.


    Observing the surrounding scenery as I ran through the forest, I saw some unique sceneries that reminded me of my days in the Netherrealm in the past timeline. Despite being dangerous, it has its own beauty to it.


    Enjoying the scenery and absorbing the monsters that came along my way, I kept running from one ind to another. While Netherrealm was a dark ce, I never found it to be not lively. Except the Lower World, where the monsters are continuously taking birth. That''s a ce where it is always gloomy as you get to face what the desires might give birth to¡­<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Almost there,'' I thought as I looked at the castle at a distance where Theia was supposed to be. Running through the woods and the deserts, I finally reached that ce.


    Moving inside that castle, I slowly looked around, wondering where they should be, however it seemed I need not search for long as I found a familiar face walking towards me.


    "Linda. You look¡­ different?" I spoke as I observed Linda walking in front of me. There was no physical change, but¡­ she was much brighter¡­ and stronger than before.


    "Zero¡­ is that you?" a surprised expression formed on her face before a smile blossomed on her face as she spoke again,"you are back! Where were you all this time? Everyone kept waiting for you for a long time, you know?"


    I observed her with a curious expression before asking,"how much time has passed since I was gone?" and she pondered a little as she began calcting and then she spoke,


    "About 7 months, I think? Maybe 6? Well, it is more than 6 for sure."


    A surprised expression came on my face as I wondered exactly how much time I spent in that dungeon. I calcted that it took me about 3 months to reach the 99th floor.. Then I lost track of time on floor 99¡­


    ''So it took me 3 months to ovee all that sadness, huh? I wonder if it is too long¡­ or was it kind of lesspared to how much I had on my mind? Well, whatever,'' I sighed before asking,


    "Well, I guess that really was long. So, how is your training going on? You look quite strong now."


    I spoke as I observed her, making her chuckle a little as she nodded before speaking,"being a Traveller, I could harness energy from Netherrealm along with energy gained from Vermillion. With my System, it was easy to use both the energy in the best way possible so I kind of got a lot stronger in this short time¡­ though it seems like I still can''t hold a candle to you¡­ or more like your power is finally showing rather than being hidden."


    I nodded, as I knew that being an S4 Rank is going to be easily noticed here. Though her growth, the fact that she reached S-Grade, wasn''t something to scoff at either.


    ''Hmmm¡­ wait a sec¡­'' a sudden thought emerged in my mind before I asked her,


    "How did those guys leave? Did Theia help them?"


    It wasn''t really that easy to get out of here, you know? Even for me, it was almost impossible to returnst time¡­


    "Oh! That. Your friend Valencia helped them out," she spoke with a smile.


    "Huh?" I looked at her with my eyes widening slowly.

 Chapter 275 Prepare For The Worst

    "Oh! That. Your friend Valencia helped them out," she spoke with a smile.


    "Huh?" I looked at her with my eyes widening slowly.


    "Well¡­ You don''t know her?" asked Linda with a bit of a worried face as she observed me and I just closed my eyes for a few moments before I spoke,"what did she say?"


    Linda gulped a little before speaking.


    "She just came here and introduced herself as your close rtive and a good friend. Helping almost everyone, she won our hearts one by one. Even Theia, who was sceptical of her, started talking to her as if they were best friendster on.


    We actually waited for you for another extra month then the initially nned date but since you weren''t arriving and the Death Energy was taking toll over the others, she said that she will help everyone move out of Netherrealm including Theia too."


    I observed Linda before asking,"hmmm¡­ why did you stay behind?"


    "That''s because Theia needed a recement that would take over her job in this realm. Since I was improving at a rapid rate without any problem, I believed it would be better to stay here and get strong then move back and be a burdenter," she answered as she looked at me and I sighed.


    "What? Did we do something that we should have not done?" Linda asked with a worry filled tone and I shook my head as I answered,"no. You guys actually did the right thing. Though, can I ask you how that girl¡­ What does Valencia look like?"


    A bit taken aback by my question, Linda observed me with a careful expression before she spoke.


    "Red hair, with the most fair skin that I had ever seen in my life. There was a strange warmth around her and the atmosphere turned lively whenever she spoke. Her face is quite cute and her eyes¡­ they felt so pure with that fire in them."


    Linda spoke as she tried to describe Valencia and I recalled the face of that girl who saved me when I was drowning on the 34th floor¡­.


    I took a deep breath as I looked at Linda,"Can you contact Theia at least?" and she shook her head,"I lost my connection as soon as I connected with Netherrealm."


    I felt a strange feeling in my heart as I tried understanding what Valencia was trying to do. While she did take people away from here at the right time, as I initially nned, but taking Theia with her too¡­


    There are two meanings behind this action of hers.


    One, she was just trying to be nice and¡­ I kind of find it hard to believe. There is bound to be a catch¡­ and that brings us to the second option.


    She knew that the Parasites wereing¡­ and took everyone from here, leaving the weakest among us, Linda here all by herself.


    [The Parasites will be here in 4 months Netherrealm time]


    I recalled that guy who could be a possible future me though I am not much sure about it either¡­<novelnext></novelnext>


    Well, whatever she is trying to do, I would rify it after I meet her in Vermillion.


    About the uing Parasites¡­


    What''s the worst that I can expect, huh? A Royal Parasite¡­ that would be an overkill¡­ then¡­ A Duke Parasite? That''s like¡­ S7 Grade¡­


    ''X-Grade, huh?'' Should I decrease the difficulty and prepare ordingly or should I keep at it and think about how to deal with it?


    ''Though how much can I really deal with?'' I pondered as I reviewed the whole situation carefully. It''s not exactly impossible to deal with that too¡­ but I would need to be preparedpletely, along with being ready to lose an arm or two.


    ''Will the monsters of the Neatherrealm be enough?'' I questioned, before pondering about it a little.


    ''The strongest are S6 level and their total number is 7. As for the weaker ones¡­ Hmmm¡­ This is going to be a bit troublesome,'' I thought as I started calcting the number of enemies and allies I had here.


    If I remember correctly, then the Parasites had a way to kill the monsters here once and for all. Hmmm¡­ Well, I should prepare for the worst-case scenario as well.


    "Linda, I need you to do something for me," I spoke and Linda concentrated on me with an intent gaze as I continued,"Call all the Kings from different parts of Netherrealm. Use your powers as much as you want. If theye here on their own ord, then fine, else force them toe here."


    She looked at me and, though a bit confused; she nodded, and I looked at the Deaths of Duality in my hands.


    "With this and the Death Energy¡­ I should be able to hold against the S6 ones¡­ If I focus solely on the battle and ignore other things, then I could match against the Duke as well," I muttered as I started walking around the ce.


    "Hmmmm¡­ I will need more time¡­ more power¡­ Is there something that I am forgetting¡­ Umm¡­ Ah! That¡­ maybe that can help," I thought with a sudden realisation as I looked around the ce before entering the treasury of the castle.


    Since I knew my way around this ce, it was easy to break into the treasury. I entered the treasury and started searching for the thing I was looking for, and soon enough, I found it.


    A piece of half broken te.


    One of the broken pieces of the Gate of Avalon was in my hand.


    "Now let''s see if there is anything we can do to make you work," I thought as I started researching it. It took me about 4 or 5 hours to finally realise that I can''t do anything with this piece alone.


    "Sigh¡­ looks like it is going to need its other half to work. Well, it will be kept with me for the time being then," I muttered with a dejected look before I moved out, only to find Linda standing in front of the main gate with the 7 Kings of the Netherrealm.


    "That was fast," I muttered in surprise before moving towards them. It was about time we started making Netherrealm a perfect defence fort.

 Chapter 276 Prepare For The Worst#2

    "Why have you called us here?" The blue horned monster spoke as she looked around. She was the Queen of Envy. Her powers were to control the mist all around her and change its properties as she desired.


    "What''s the meaning of this? How can a light bearer exist here!!" A bit shaken, the King of Sloth spoke looking around, wondering what exactly was going on. He was the fastest among all the Kings, enough to destroy the whole Netherrealm by himself if Theia or the other 6 Kings didn''t exist to stop him.


    "I sense danger¡­ from you!" pointing at me, a thin old senile demon with two crimson horns spoke as he observed me. The King of Gluttony spoke as his body was slightly shaking. Holding the power to consume anything, this guy was a menace to defeat, even in my previous timeline. He could literally eat any attack I threw at him.


    "Who is this cutie?" The Queen of Lust spoke as she crossed her four arms before looking at me with an erotic look. Her ability to change forms into anything was quite dangerous. It wasn''t just limited to looks. If she is copying anyone on an equal level, she can even copy that person''s moves. Her most powerful move allowed her to use all the powers and forms she had ever used in her life all at once, without any limitations.


    "I sense a strange aura from him," the King of Wrath spoke as he keenly observed me. His eyes were quite sceptical of me and it didn''t seem like he liked me. Evenst time, he was the same as now. Well, he has his own uses. His specialty in learning almost any weapon he saw quite proficiently, allowed him to reign over Netherrealm as one of the Seven Kings.


    "Why am I even here?" spoke the child-like monster. The King of Greed as he looked at me with a not so interested face. His eyes were a bit tired, and it seemed like he had feasted on another monster today. His powers were special among all the Seven Kings. The ability to use other''s desires for his own containment. He can literally manifest what you want and use it for himself in front of you¡­ The only limitations are his own thinking ability.


    "I wonder why I have been called here," said a curious voice as the girl observed me with a small cute face. The Queen of Pride observed me with a slight smile. Her ability involved using any deep desires of her opponent to crumble their motivation, faith, or perhaps anything that might uplift them. She can literally erase your reason for living without blinking an eye.


    I observed all seven of them with a slight nostalgia before I looked at Pride first,


    "Le is going to die soon¡­ I came here with news and a story to tell."


    Pride''s eyes open wide as her smile vanished, and I turned to Envy


    "Your daughter is still alive. Living her life, saving everyone she can."


    Envy just looked at me nkly¡­


    In reality, all these Kings had a life on Vermillion before, which they left behind. Rather than taking rebirth, they decided to move on and live in Netherrealm by themselves. While fighting against them in the previous timeline, I kind of killed them thousands of times. Though, it wasn''t just fights that urred. They sometimes told me about their lives back when they were alive on Vermillion.


    Envy and Pride were human, so finding them was easy. In fact, Envy''s daughter is the current Saintess looking over the Church of Orion. Hmmmm¡­ I think I should visit Church of Orion soon as well.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Who are you?!!" Gluttony spoke with a shaken voice as he understood what I was getting at.


    "Your family heritage is dead, old man. Kind of wiped out by the Scarlets," I told him and he was first shocked, soon sighed as he spoke,"well.. That was inevitable, I guess."


    Gluttony was a vampire in his previous life.


    Soon, I spoke to Greed, Wrath, Sloth and finally reached Lust in whose eyes I looked directly, making her gulp a little.


    "What¡­ What about me?" she asked, a bit shaken as she stopped looking at me as if I were a toy. I sighed before shaking my head as I spoke,"he left you. He cried for about 3 years or so before someone else entered in his life. It was difficult for him to move on but he did¡­" I trailed off in the end, but she caught on to it as she looked at me with a slightly furious face.


    "He was killed¡­ or more like butchered by that girl''s family when they found out about their marriage. Their family killed both of them and threw them to ravens¡­ it wasn''t a happy ending but¡­ I guess it is what it is," I had a sad, apologetic expression on my face as I observed her.


    Just by recalling what happened to her most loved person, I kind of¡­ wanted to help her out. Though I still have a lot on my te, I don''t think I can help any more people here.


    -Phew!!! I saw her taking a deep breath before she asked me,"can I ask you what family was it? The one who killed my husband and hister wife?"


    I smiled before speaking,"Askerbans." She smiled a little before speaking,"I¡­ kind of want to die right now¡­ but it''s sad that we are not capable of doing that. So tell me young kid¡­ what do you want from us? There must be a reason that you came all the way to the Netherrealm. Though if it is too much, I am afraid that we can''t do anything about it."


    I looked at the others and they seemed to be having the same thought, or at least they wanted to know the reason why I was here.


    "Well.. to be honest. We have a tiny miny probleming our way," I spoke with a slight smile as I observed them, making them look at me with a curious face.


    It was about preparing for step one¡­ against the Parasites who were going to invade the Netherrealm.

 Chapter 277 Preparations In Netherrealm: Queen Of Pride

    "Can you not use your ability on me? How many times do I need to tell you that it doesn''t work on me? I am immune to it," I spoke nonchntly as I walked towards the Pride''s kingdom beside her.


    "But it is really baffling me, you know? I have seen no monster, forget about a human to actually repel my ability¡­ just who were you? Perhaps a God!!" she eximed as she observed me with a really mystified look. Perhaps the idea of me being a God was liked by her?


    ''Evenst time, every time we fought, she continuously tried using her ability on me¡­ heck, even if we didn''t fight, she was continuously trying,'' I sighed before observing her and speaking.


    "So¡­ you were about to ask something?"


    She looked at me and nodded before speaking,"you talked about La dying or something. At first I was baffled and a bit sad, but now that I think about it, you talked about the future. Same with the Parasitesing. Can you see the future or something?"


    Her serious gaze prated me and I clicked my tongue inwardly as I sighed before speaking,"something like that¡­ though it isn''t exactly precise. Also, I have a few other sources too¡­ so there is that."


    "Can I guess it?" She asked with a bit of a smile and I clicked my tongue again as I sighed before I spoke,"Do whatever you like."


    "Haha¡­ somehow I am finding it amusing how you are talking with me as if you know me through and through¡­ you are a regressor, aren''t you?" She spoke, making me almost trip on my feet as I turned to her with a bit of concentrated gaze.


    "Well, looks like I am more or less right. Is that the reason that my powers don''t work on you? Because you travelled through time or something?" She asked, and I asked immediately,


    "How?"


    She smiled at me before speaking,"I will answer, but on one condition."


    "I will save La," I spoke without any hesitation. In fact, that is why I told her about this. I wanted to strike a deal with her. Though she chuckled a little as she spoke,"not very bright minded, are we? Well what I want is not to save La. I want you to take me to La or else I will tell everyone about you being a regressor¡­ just kidding. Though I would still like you to take me there."


    I almost decided to kill her but¡­ sigh, this b*tch just doesn''t stop talking, does she? Even if her ability doesn''t work, her manner of talking and speaking are enough to manipte people into giving her what she wants¡­ Well, not that it matters much to me.


    "So¡­ Can you take me out of here?" She asked with a bit of curious expression and I saw a bit of hope in them. Though I sighed before speaking,"well¡­ I don''t have a way to do it¡­ for now that is."


    Though at first she was sad, hearing thest part of my sentence, her eyes lit up before she looked at me,"that means¡­"<novelnext></novelnext>


    I smiled at her as I spoke,"I will put some limitations on you and the others before I take you there. Don''t want you guys to create a mayhem there. But¡­ I will need you toe to my aid in the war against the Parasites on the Vermillion."


    "Sounds unfair but¡­ I guess beggars can''t be choosers," she smiled as she answered me and I sighed on the inside again.


    ''Knowing her and the others, they will surely prepare for a contingency n against my measures but¡­ I guess it is fine. I could always kill them if they be a threat to me,'' I thought as I looked at her before turning at the people around the area.


    They were all blue coloured like Pride and there was a single small horn on their left side. The people of Pride were looking at me curiously as they bowed to Pride.


    "There were three things that gave up your identity as a regressor," she started speaking as she looked up the way at her castle. I, too, looked at that castle intently with a bit of seriousness as she continued,


    "One is that you always acted as if you were familiar with me, or more like not just me, but all of us. I can more or less read the emotions of everyone around me. Just because you have an ability to reject my powers, doesn''t mean I lost my ways of reading people. Even before in my previous life as a human, I could read people as if reading the back of my hand."


    She yawned as she raised both her hands up and stretched a bit to the back and continued,


    "The second is the fact that you talked more about the future than the present. It''s as if you are living in the future that is toe, rather than in the present itself. You might be an overthinker, but honestly, you are more of a nner type than an overthinker. You just n enough beforeing to where you naturally belong, which should be the current time, but you actually don''t."


    I saw her receiving gifts from people and giving blessings to the children around her. If it wasn''t for the dark gloomy atmosphere, this was quite a beautiful sight to see.


    "The third and thest reason was your way of answering me. If you had answered the future being sure, I would have taken you as a time reader or someone with a foresight ability, but you weren''t sure of the future.


    Which made me 95% sure that you were a regressor. I mean, the sole reason you weren''t sure that things aren''t gonna be the way they are is¡­ because¡­ you have already changed a lot of things from your timeline and now you aren''t sure what''s gonna happen and what''s not."


    I couldn''t speak a single word in front of her as I looked at her, chuckling at my expression.


    "The rest 5% was all your reactions and the way you were baffled," sheughed out loud as I looked at her with a bit of stupefied expression

 Chapter 278 Preparations In Netherrealm: Queen Of Pride#2

    "Still¡­ that is really something. You are a kindred soul, aren''t you?" asked Pride as she observed me and I turned at her with a questioning gaze. She smiled before speaking.


    "You are trying to save even monsters like us. You could have left us for all the world''s care, but you did not."


    She then smiled as she focussed at me as she slightly bent forward and I looked at her and sighed before speaking,"just trying to get all the help I could."


    Though she smiled with a mischievous smile as she muttered,"is that so? Guess that is what we are going to go with then."


    I sighed before we continued walking towards her castle. She was curious about a lot of things, and I satiated all her curiosity, which made her giggle a lot before both of us reached her castle''s throne room and then she moved a bit forward and turned to me.


    "So¡­ I guess wee to my wondend. What are we going to do next?"


    "Your powers are rted to people''s emotions and desires and honestly, below Count Parasites, most of the Parasites have amon emotion. That is, to make sure their race survives.


    Some Count Parasites, almost 20 to 30%, end up having some desires of their own. Or more like in order to evolve to Viscount Parasites, they need to have at least a desire of their own. Well, that means that above Count Parasites, all the Parasites will surely have a desire which in turn means they can be manipted.


    That includes Viscount, Duke and Royal Parasites. So¡­ you can only fight against Viscount Parasites," I exined her the enemy which she should be concentrating at, using the best of her ability and she nodded before questioning,


    "What about the Duke Parasites? Why not them too?"


    I chuckled a little before patting her head slowly and speaking.


    "A Viscount Parasite has the same power level as a King of Netherrealm. Normally you won''t even be able to touch them, but with my help, I can decrease their power level by a grade or so. This way you will have a chance¡­ but with Duke Parasite¡­ I doubt you can even survive even a second on your own. Let me handle that one, will you?"


    At my words, a visible fear appeared on her face as she gulped as she asked,"you are not joking are you? Is that level even possible?"


    I looked at her and made a sad smile as I spoke,"yeah¡­ And there is someone above them as well¡­ and possibly someone stronger than them too¡­ We are lucky.. Or maybe I don''t know. Though, with a conflict of this level, I doubt they would send even a Duke Parasite, forget about those above them. But I am preparing for a Duke Parasite, just in case." She nodded at me, but there was a lingering fear in her eyes as she observed me and spoke,"what if we get a Royal Parasite or something?"


    "Then consider that we are dead even before the fight begins. I will run to Vermillion without any hesitation¡­ and if he follows me there too, I will use all my moves and sacrifice myself in exchange for providing the surviving races a chance to improve," I spoke with a decisive tone¡­ though¡­


    "Stop overthinking about it, okay?" I spoke, and she looked at me with a slightly fearful look but still nodded as she gulped before asking,"what is it that I have to do?"


    I saw her attitude changing when she heard the power level of our enemy and I smiled before speaking.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "First, we will need a rune that is ced not only on this castle but also in each and every building of this ind. Then we will ce sessive runes on them, also below and above the floating ind. Also, I will need you to go on an expedition for me. As the Queen of Envy, you have the perfect ability to do so¡­. What I want you to do."


    She made a bit of a curious face as she spoke,"what expedition?" and I looked at her before exining what I had nned for her.


    Hearing my words, a fear filled expression appears on her face as she shouts,"Are you crazy?!!!"


    Her eyes were wide open as she takes a couple of steps back and I try to exin,"listen to me-"


    "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! That is clearly suicide! There is no way I am going to THAT ce. That is clearly asking me to go and kill myself¡­ no, it is worse than that! No way I am doing th-" Rejecting me frantically she was continuously ring at me with fear and horror mixed in her gaze, though I threw a bait,


    "I will help you find a way to return to your previous form."


    "What?!" She looked at me as words failed toe out of her mouth and I smiled as I repeated my sentence again,"I will help you¡­ find a way¡­ to return to your previous form."


    By previous form, I meant the human form she was before she became a monster aftering to Netherrealm. I smiled at her as she made an expression of disbelief.


    "You are lying!!!" she shouted as her brain processed the information I just gave her and I smiled before speaking,"I can''t exactly return you to your previous form-"


    "See! I knew it! You are-" she cut me off as I was speaking, and I continued without caring,


    ? "BUT!! There was a way to create an artificial intelligence and transfer the monster''s intelligence and feelings into that artificial intelligence. Surprisingly, I knew the person who aplished it¡­ he used to work directly under me before." She looked at me with a dumbfounded face as her brain was confused at what to do now¡­ she just looked at me as her expression changed from hopelessness to defeated one and I chuckled out loud¡­


    "So, I take it as we will go with the initial n?" I spoke with a smile on my face and she red at me as she warned,"but if you are lying to me¡­ you know that I will haunt you, don''t you?"


    I could only chuckle as I spoke,"Trust me, will ya? Aren''t I a kindred soul?" making her re at me before she sighed as her body fell on the floor


    -Thud


    as she muttered,"Just what did I get myself into?"

 Chapter 279 Preparations In Netherrealm: The King Of Greed And The King Of Gluttony

    After I visited Pride, I decided to call the two of them here as well and..


    To be honest, I am craving to use Charm Magic on both of these idiots.


    But, let''s at least try for once,


    "Well. I had already informed you about Parasites and stuff, but I haven''t told you what your work will be in th-"


    "Your desires look delicious," said Greed as he observed me with a keen interest. Those bandages over his eyes weren''t really doing their job, as somehow I could feel his eyes and their movements.


    "Look deeper," I spoke with a smile and he did so¡­


    -Thud!


    He fell on the ground with a slightly shaken look on his face as he observed me and spoke,"how¡­ how can you be this calm¡­ yet in such chaos?!!!"


    I sighed before turning to Gluttony, who was just looking at me with cautious eyes. I could only sigh before speaking,"Well¡­ I am going to be direct here. Are you guys with me or against me?! I am powerful enough to kill you both for real, so keep that in mind before you answer."


    I bluffed a little. I couldn''t kill them for real. Don''t have that ability here. Might kill them for a temporary time, but because of the nature of the Netherrealm, they would simply revive the very next day. Kind of an odd thing, but yeah¡­ that''s how things function here.


    "I¡­ want to know something first," Gluttony spoke as he looked at me with a slight fear in his words.


    I nodded at him and he asked me,"What are your connections with the Scarlets?"


    ''Hmmm?'' I looked at him a bit confused before I asked,"what do you mean by that?"


    Though he just simply kept looking at me. After a few moments of silence, he answered,"you reek of the Scarlets."


    I pondered a bit about it before speaking,"maybe it is because I use the same ability as they do?" and he looked at me with a narrowed gaze.


    "Well¡­ it''s not exactly a secret, but I can use any ability I want as long as I work on it. So, I had spent a bit of my time with a certain Scarlet before and learnt how to use a few of their abilities," I answered without really hiding anything and he, at first surprised, then asked me again,


    "So you have no blood rtions with them?"


    I nodded at him as I recalled that Gluttony was a vampire before turning into¡­ this.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Also, his entire family was wiped out by Scarlets so there was that as well. Kind of rough¡­ feel sad for him. Anyway,


    "Nope. I don''t have any." He then ponders a little before speaking,"I guess,I don''t have anything against you then. Though there is something I would like you to do for me if we end up surviving this whole ordeal."


    "Tell me and I''ll think about it," I spoke nonchntly and he answered,"Bring the wife of the Vampire King. I want to **** her."


    I almost tripped at his words before turning at him with a bit of a wide-eyed expression¡­ his desires run that DEEP, huh?


    "Don''t get me wrong. I hate Scarlets but¡­ she is kinda hot," he spoke with a slight smile and a blush on his face and stupefied I looked at him. Even Greed was looking at him with pure stupefaction.


    "Well¡­ I can''t really promise that but¡­ I will take you to her and you guys can sort it out among yourselves," I spoke, and a bit surprised he looked at me and even Greed observed me with his eyes widening.


    ''Ah! I slipped up,'' I thought as I looked at them before speaking,"well¡­ I am nning to take you guys to the outside world. With some limitations, of course. So¡­ well, you can guess the rest."


    I didn''t tell them everything, but just confirmed their doubts. As for the Vampire Queen¡­ well, she is¡­ a b*tch honestly. If Gluttony takes over Vampire King and bes the new King, she will probably sleep with Gluttony without any hesitation. Though that''s a drama, I would rather not get involved.


    As for the Vampire King, for all the sh*t he had pulled at me¡­ I couldn''t care less what he doester on.


    "Greed. What about you? Are you with me or against me?" I asked, looking at Greed and he a bit cautiously spoke out,"at first I was confused, but if you can take us to the outside world. I want to visit my hometown."


    "Well, not trying to break your heart or anything, but your hometown has changed drastically in the past few centuries. Are you sure you want to go there?" I asked again because, well¡­ I don''t want to make a rtionship that will only breakter on. I would rather choose something that is solid to trust than a fragile promise that can break any moment.


    "Yeah. It is fine. As long as I get to go there, it is fine," Greed spoke as he smiled at me.


    Greed had an odd story. He had an abusive family that took everything from him. Didn''t have friends or perhaps anyone to trust¡­ and then he simply died. Normally, that would have let him move on without any desires, but then his desires took form in the Netherrealm.


    Since hecked desires of his own, he started eating other people''s desires. The more he ate, the more greedy he became¡­ eventually reaching the power he has today.


    His greed for desire is kinda scary but¡­ I wonder what exactly was that that prompted him to get into Netherrealm. Because as far as I know, without any strong deep desire, nothing can take form in this world.


    "You want to know why am I here?" Greed asked with a slight smile as he read my thoughts¡­ which were a form of desire as well¡­ and I nodded at him. I was really curious.

 Chapter 280 Preparations In Netherrealm: The King Of Wrath

    "Take me to my hometown and I will tell you about it," he spoke with a slight chuckle and I nodded at him before speaking.


    "Well, since you are both willing then-


    -BOOM!!!


    I stepped a few steps back as I saw ''him''ing at me with all his force as he used his wooden baton to hit me as hard as possible. The King of Wrathnded in front of me with a fiery re in his eyes.


    "You arete," I spoke with a serious tone as I looked at him, but it didn''t seem like he heard me. Instead, he just jumped at me, changing his weapon from the baton to an axe as he swung it at me.


    -BOOOM!!!!


    I used Deaths of Duality to not only cut down his axe but also his hand¡­ actually I was trying to cut him into pieces, but because he was too fast, I failed to pick up the appropriate time.


    He looked at me, holding his cut arm with his other arm as he tried healing it. My powers, which should have been S4 level, now that I had used Reaper''s true form, turned into S6 immediately.


    I could go one more level¡­ but that will be it. I want to get stronger faster¡­ especially when Pride started talking about Royal Parasites and stuff¡­ I feel like the faster I get strong, the more chances I will have to save the world.


    "You sure are fast. Do you want to-" before I even finished, he attacked again using all his powers at once and I just sighed before dodging him carefully and using the chains of the Deaths of Duality at him.


    Since he was fast, he easily dodged the chains and because I knew running after him would be a waste of time, I just kept waiting for him toe at me.


    Time seemed to pass slowly for the next few moments as he sent some energy projectiles from a distance without getting close to me. He was doing that while dodging my chains as well.


    "What exactly are you trying to do here?" I asked as I cut his projectiles before absorbing them into my Deaths of Duality. I wondered what happened to him.


    "Do you know how many times that I have been killed in the past 3 months?" He asked, and I wondered what he was getting at.


    "Zero," he answered himself, making me confused even more, but then he asked again,


    "Do you know how many times I have been killed in the past 4 months?"


    I turned my head curiously at him, wondering what he was going to speak next,


    "43 Thousand 2 hundred and 34 times," he said, increasing his intensity of projectiles before himself charging at me¡­ making me look at him wide-eyed as I wondered who killed him so many times but then¡­


    "AH!" I recalled who it could be¡­ but damn¡­


    "Doesn''t that mean¡­" Greed spoke as he looked at Gluttony as Gluttony answered,"he was almost killed every minute for that month?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    There was a surprise on their faces and so was on mine¡­ Cristine, whom I asked to kill Wrath''s men¡­ actually killed them that many times?!!! How did she even do it?


    "No wonder you and your men turned silent for that much time. I thought you were nning something but¡­ damn!" spoke Pride as she chimed in and looked at Wrath with a pitiful look.


    "Well¡­ I asked her to kill you a couple of times¡­ didn''t think she would be able to do it so many times by herself," I spoke with a bit of an apologetic yet prideful gaze at which he got irked even more as he sighed before speaking.


    "She¡­ she might have been able to do it a couple of times on her own, given how much capability she had. I was even enjoying her endeavours of trying to infiltrate my kingdom every time. Though something suddenly changed one day¡­ she started using a strange skill that allowed her to teleport multiple ces as much as she wanted¡­ and with the Light Energy¡­ Well¡­"


    He now had more of a tired expression than an angry one. Though his irritated look returned as he turned to me,"before I begin attacking again, I want to know. What exactly did I do to you that made me suffer so much?!!"


    Though I wasn''t hearing his words as all my attention was concentrated on Cristine. A teleportation skill? She didn''t have thatst time¡­ did I miss something? Isn''t her System rted to Soul rted abilities? Howe she has a teleportation skill?


    It was confusing me more and more.


    "Well¡­ I wanted to develop her assassination skills," I spoke with a bit of an awkward smile and he immediately spoke out,"by making her kill me every f*cking minute?!" Then he started attacking me again. I saw himing at me and honestly, I could have killed him seeing the gaps in his attacks, but I decided to dodge and parry him cause¡­ What happened to him was too pitiful.


    "Don''t look at me like that!!!" he shouted as he attacked faster and faster and I could only sigh before speaking,"how about I tell you something in exchange for all that misery you have been through?" He didn''t stop his attacks, but he did slow down.


    "Ummm¡­ she is the descendant of the Shadow n."


    And then¡­


    He stopped.


    And looked at me with a nk gaze.


    His eyes seem to be in disbelief.


    "Well¡­ I am not sure but¡­ I have found some records regarding them and I believe Cristine, that girl, is a descendent of the Shadow n," I spoke as I looked at him and he was still gazing at me dumbfoundedly,


    "How sure are you?" he asked without making any movements and I pondered about the authenticity of the records that I had collected before speaking,


    "About¡­ 80%?"


    Then¡­ I saw him dropping his weapon before falling to his knees¡­ as he spoke out,


    "Ah! So all this time¡­ what I took as a curse¡­. Was a blessing, huh?"

 Chapter 281 Preparations In Netherrealm: The King Of Wrath#2

    Shadow n is a n of assassins that take their origin way back to a certain race that lived in the darkness beneath the living ground. They were called Under Dwellers at first,ter on they were named Shadow Walkers, Night Walkers andter on their name changed to the Shadow Legion.


    While the original species still exists, over the course of time and evolution, some of their species reproduced with species of other races, including humans of course. Which let them get intermixed with other races quite smoothly.


    The offspring of a human and Shadow Being had the features of a human with the powers and System rted to that of Shadow Being. It was quite peculiar to say because the powers, though beneficial in darkness, had no value in the light.


    Still, they kept reproducing until there were a lot of what we may call as ''Shadow Humans''. When a Shadow Human reproduced with another Shadow Human, another Shadow Being was formed surely and not one human case had been noticed till now.


    Perhaps it is rted to the dominant genes of the Shadow Being that didn''t allow any human genes to dominate?


    In any case, when the Shadow Humans, the one with human features and Shadow System, reproduce with another human, the offspring carry both Human and Shadow powers. Which surprisingly is superior, and in fact I would say too much, powerful than either of the aforementioned beings.


    And the process doesn''t end there. When that particr offspring mates with another one simr to it, the result may vary from bad to excellent.


    What that created was a power-based society, whichter got divided into sections depending upon the power they had.


    What we are focusing here is the strongest ones that only mated among themselves and not with the weaker ones, soon creating a hierarchical society with the Alpha being the top n.


    Though they wereter dethroned because of the arrogance they possessed, by the second strongest ones, the Shadow n, which started ruling the entire Shadow Race in a direction different from normal. The path of assassination.


    Cristine as well as Eliza, both are part of the Shadow n and one at the highest level of hierarchy they have. You can say these two are the Princesses of the Shadow n.


    However, because of the curse that Eliza had been put under... She was more or less an outcast from the n along with her sister, Cristine, who decided to side with her.


    ........


    "Ah! So all this time... what I took as a curse.... Was a blessing, huh?"


    I looked at him with a sighing expression before I spoke,"you were one of the direct workers of the Shadow Beings, huh? The Shadow Elves."


    Wrath looked at me and nodded in agreement as he answered,"yeah. I was one of the Shadow Knights of my Elven Queen. Though... we were betrayed by those half bastards!!"


    His eyes were ring as he looked at me. I knew that the re was aimed at the Half Elves, who not only betrayed the Shadow Elves, but used them to kill one of the Elven nations before getting the Shadow Elves to be massacred by the other elves.


    It was a nasty n, to be honest... This reminds me that I have to kill the Half Elves as well.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You said that they were still nning something? Those half bastards were nning to take sides with the Demons and use the strange power to attack the High Elves?" Wrath spoke as he recalled what I had told him.


    I told him about what happened to Shadow Elves and other Elves, including what they were nning to do in the future, which made him both irritated and angry at once.


    "And you said that you are going to wipe those half bastards?" he asked again as he concentrated on me and I pondered a little before nodding,"yeah. I will wipe them outpletely, not leaving even a single one of them alive."


    "Women and children alike?" he asked, and I smiled as I answered,"them specially."


    "Uh? Am I missing something here? I mean, I don''t care about what happens to them or whatnot, but the way you phrased it... is there anything special about those children and women?" it was Envy who asked that with pure curiosity on her face.


    Wrath and I turned to her with an odd smile before looking at each other and sighing. Wrath then began speaking.


    "The children are the one who rule the entire nation of the Half-Elves, not the elders. They have reverse growth, with their memories and powers sharpest at age 5 and soon degenerating every year. As for the women... well, they are there only for one purpose: reproduction. Their lives themselves are more or less worthless." And then I added to it,


    "It''s not like people haven''t tried saving those women, but... they are kind of instinct driven. If they don''t get s*x from a male Half Elf, they start getting irritated, soon going berserk reverting back to their primal nature."


    "They be cannibalistic if you still feel bad about them... and even if their sanity returns... they don''t stop the cannibalism," Wrath added with a long sigh as he turned to me and spoke,


    "They did quite well, huh? To think even now the Royal Elves have no idea about their true nature."


    I nodded at him, as it was really something to hide such a dark secret that big for so long.


    "Well... What do you think about it, Wrath? Would you like to help me out here?" I asked because, well... I felt like the problem between us was more or less solved.


    "I have a small condition," Wrath added and I curiously wondered what that could be. Looking at me, he spoke,


    "After you are done with things here, can I see that descendant of Shadow n?"


    This made me chuckle a little, as I believe people would be terrified of the being who had killed them every minute for a whole damn month.


    "Sure," I smiled at him before looking at all four of them.

 Chapter 282 Preparations In Netherrealm: The Queen Of Lust

    After I exined to them about what they needed to do, each of them looked at me as if I were a freak. However, talking to them about the ways and how exactly they need to do the task that I provided them, I finally somehow managed to convince them.


    After I was done with that, I sighed before looking in a certain direction.


    "Good luck with her," spoke Greed as he chuckled before vanishing from there along with the rest of them and I sighed again as I observed in the distance.


    ''The Queen of Lust, huh?''


    I then began moving towards that ce with a sad look on my face. Earlier I would have ran towards her with a mischievous smile but now that I have my emotions back¡­ I could really see what she goes through every day.


    Slowly and slowly, I reached her kingdom and saw the castle in front of me. Lust¡­ doesn''t have even a single soul living in her castle or town, and the reason is¡­


    "AAAAAA!!!! GO AWAY!! NOOOO!!! GO AWAY!!!!" I heard the screams of Lust so far from the castle as I moved towards it. I saw the scenery around, and the beautifully crafted area around the castle.


    It was done by Lust herself, as she made sure to at least keep the surrounding area feeling better.


    "PLEASE!!! DON''T LEAVE ME!!! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOO!!!!!" I heard the screams again and sighed as I hastened my steps towards the castle.


    -THUD!!!


    Opening the throne room, I saw her sitting on her butt in the centre of the room with her hands crossed around her legs. She was shivering with a painful expression on her face.


    I walked towards her and hearing my steps; she turned to me.


    "Alph-... oh! It is you," first her eyes raised with a hopeful look, she then looked at me with a sad look before she stood up and looked at me with a smile. Her expression changed to that of a lovelydy with a bit of an erotic mind.


    The previously crying maiden look on her face vanished as if it had never existed. I could only look at her with a pitiful and sad look.


    "What are you looking at, cutie? Don''t tell me you already fell in love with me?" She spoke with a lusty gaze as she walked towards me as well.


    In her previous life, Lust was a demon subus, who fell in love with another demon who kind of¡­ used her¡­ abused her worse than a ve.


    Though she loved him, his treatment towards her was as bad as it could get. He didn''t pull any punches when it came to hurt her. That guy killed her best friends, her family and made her watch it with her own two eyes.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Then he charmed her into love again, which created a trauma in her mind that she could never forget¡­ even aftering towards her. Every day, once in almost 20 hours or so, she gets those traumas, those nightmares which almost kill her entirely. Those memories take over her and she loses her rationality.


    It''s a good thing that itsts only for 30 minutes or so. So that rest of the time, she could be sane using her ability to forget everything that happened to her, only for it to return the very next day.


    She reached closer to me with an erotic look in her eyes as she touched my face with one hand, her chin with another. Her third hand reached my shoulders and thest one over my pants.


    "You really look charming. I can almost not stop myself from jumping at you," she spoke, and I smiled at her before speaking,"I can free you from your trauma¡­ but I need something in return."


    I looked at her with the same smile and grabbed my pants a bit harder, she asked,"what trauma are you talking about, darling?" Her eyes were curious yet cautious, but I could read them easily.


    The whole Netherrealm knows that she erased her memories of trauma every time, but because I had fought for her over 100s of times, I had already noticed back then that she does indeed remember about it¡­ just that she erases her particr emotion towards it for a fixed time using a spell.


    What I mean is that she uses a spell to run away from the Trauma world for about 20 hours or so, before her trauma returns and she uses that spell again.


    "Man¡­ you remind me of myself so much. But still, I can free you from your trauma. You won''t need to use any temporary methods to fight against it," I spoke as I looked at her with a smile and she spoke,


    "I don''t know what you are talking about."


    This time, her expression turned serious as she grabbed my balls harder and looked at me with a threatening look. Though I only chuckled before speaking,


    "There is something that I need you to do." I then vanished from there before appearing behind her as I walked towards the throne at the end of the hall where we were. She was surprised at my speed as she hurriedly turned around. Though, watching me walking away from her, she just kept looking at me.


    "I need you to change into a certain person and use its certain ability on a certain object," I spoke with a smile as I walked up the throne before turning around and then sitting on it like a King.


    "Now¡­ Lust. You don''t have much to lose anyway, do you? In fact, I need you to think about it more properly. Don''t be a child, will ya?" with a slight dominant look I observed her.


    She looked at me for a few moments before she closed her eyes and began pondering,"you really know what you are talking about, do you?" she asked,


    I nodded before speaking,"I have a few ways."


    She then made a slightly uninterested look as she rejected me,"I don''t want to lose that trauma though. It is what makes me feel like I have emotions. Sorry, I don''t think I will follow your n."

 Chapter 283 Preparations In Netherrealm: The Queen Of Lust#2

    She then made a slightly uninterested look as she rejected me,"I don''t want to lose that trauma though. It is what makes me feel like I have emotions. Sorry, I don''t think I will follow your n."


    Well, it wasn''t as I did not anticipate this. Due to her trauma, there is this cautious behaviour of hers that makes her a hard person to deal with. No matter how many things you tell her, until you can show her a definite proof, she is not going to believe you.


    That too after a lot of talking and exining.


    "Well, I am not going to make you forget your trauma but instead I am going to make you strong enough to deal with that. I have a certain ability that allows me to do exactly that," I spoke as I looked at her with a smile.


    "What are you trying to say?" She spoke as she narrowed her eyes at me and I didn''t speak anything for a few moments as I gave her time to rethink whatever I just said.


    It was in her nature as well to recalcte things over and over before shees to a conclusion.


    "What if you are trying to fool me and ce a curse on me?" she asked as she red at me before I exined,"do I need to do that? With the powers I have I could easily do that without really needing to ask your permission. Shouldn''t it be clear that I am trying to be reasonable here?"


    I wondered if it is going to take a lot more time,''Maybe I should just use my spell¡­ Well, let''s wait a little. I shouldn''t stoop to my old ways this easily. Let''s try to be a little nicer.''


    After all the things she had been through, it won''t be nice to force her to do something she is sceptical about.


    "Well¡­ I still feel something is wrong about it. You are being too nice to a stranger you just met. I am sorry I can''t bring myself to trust you," she spoke and I stepped up from the throne making her shriek a little before she firmed herself and looked at me.


    "If I want¡­" I spoke as I moved one step at a time towards her. With each step that I was taking, I saw her shivering a little bit more and I sighed,"... I can not only solve your  current problem but also help you get strong enough to get out of here and visit the Demon Realm. Though, I am warning you that I am going to kill most of the Demons there so it won''t be a vacation. I just would take you there so that you can see that ce onest time. Though no one you know is alive there. Neither your first love, nor the one who enved you."


    Speaking that I looked at her a bit shaken as her eyes showed traces of horror and I spoke,


    "Looks like your measure to hide your trauma is failing."


    She knew what I said was true and it made her more afraid as the feelings began to take over. The trigger was the mention of the Demon Realm and visiting that ce once again.


    Though before the trauma could take over her


    "[Rejection Fragment: I reject your inability to defeat that trauma]" I spoke as I fell on the ground immediately coughing blood¡­. A copious amount of blood at once.<novelnext></novelnext>


    My eyes turned red and I felt like my body would explode from the inside. My head hurts and so does my stomach.


    "Aur¡­roa¡­reverse¡­ heal.." I muttered as I singalled my brain to activate healing which it did immediately. There was no Spirit Energy in the area, so this energy wasn''t going to work¡­ but I could use Death Energy to heal myself at the cost of some of my own powers.


    Normally I would have never used it, but with the sudden loss of power and blood, I had to use it or else I might have died.


    It didn''t take much time before I gained my powers back to normal. All my senses started working normally again and I got on my back. I peeked at Lust standing there astonished as she looked at me with a bit of a surprised gaze.


    "Well¡­. Looks like you are fine¡­ haha¡­ " I spoke with a slight chuckle as I realised that I still can''t use my fragment as freely as I thought.


    "It was a curse ced at the Sacrifice of an SSS-Grade Monster''s Life Force!! There were also a thousand monster cores that were used in this ritual¡­ he even sacrificed half of his soul to make sure I never get away from him¡­ just how¡­ howe you removed it so easily¡­ without any loss!!!!" she shouted in astonishment as she looked at me.


    Hearing her words I realised that it wasn''t my powers that I overestimated but it was her curse that I underestimated¡­ still..


    "Just what the f*ck was that curse? How can someone do that much to you? Just what exactly did you do to him?" I asked because I was really curious. To ce that much big of a curse for such a small thing¡­ Was he a psychopath or something?


    ? "Well¡­ since you saved me. I guess, it won''t be fair to hide things from you," she muttered before helping me stand up. She held me in her arms before walking towards the throne.


    ''It feels awkward¡­.'' I thought as I was held by her in her arms.


    "Well. The original curse was supposed to make him give all the powers. That SSS-Grade Monster''s power, that 1000 monster cores and also my own life force, everything was supposed to give him immortality¡­ though there was something else in that spell¡­" she became quite for a few moments before continuing,


    "You need the person''s permission to gain that immortality. Nobody anticipated that and¡­ I obviously rejected his im, thereby breaking the spell. Obviously he was fumed by that, so he used all that energy from that spell, rather than letting it escape he used that on me with whatever the first thought that came in his mind. The result was¡­ well you know the rest."


    She then ced me on the throne as she then stepped back and then bowed on her knees in front of me.


    "I, Princess Kurti of the Red Demons, pledge my life and loyalty to you. My lord, Reaper."

 Chapter 284 Preparations In Netherrealm: The King Of Sloth

    "I, Princess Kurti of the Red Demons, pledge my life and loyalty to you. My lord, Reaper."


    I observed her kneeling in front of me. I had an astonished expression on my face before that turned into a bright smile.


    "Excellent!! I will then give you your first task!" I spoke with an excited tone, making her look at me with a doubt-filled look before sighing and speaking,"yes, my lord."


    After that I began telling her what she needs to do and..


    "My lord. Pardon my bluntness but f*ck you!! No way am I going to do something like that!!" She spoke in pure annoyance as she looked at me with a bit of re.


    "Oi! Oi! Oi! Aren''t I your lord now?! Show me some respect at least!" I had a stupefied expression on my face.


    ''Shouldn''t she be following anything I say?''


    "You want me tomit suicide the moment I got my freedom? And that too at that ce? Why don''t you go by yourself and do all that work while I will do your work here," she spoke, and I shook my head with a sigh.


    "Well¡­" I then began exining a few things I am going to do here and her gaze turned bbergasted as she kept blinking at me in disbelief. She wanted to refute my words but with my solid reasoning she turned quite without much words.


    After I finished, she just kept quiet before speaking,"but I want something in return for going to that ce." Tilting my head a little, I looked at her with a bit of curious gaze as I heard her demand.


    She then told me about her demand, which surprised me at first, but as I understood what she wanted, I could only smile at her.


    "Sure. I guess I can do something like that," I answered her, and she smiled back before I stood up.


    "You should leave by today. Also take the things I asked you to take with you, I will see you in two weeks time then," I said as I moved away from there and she bowed to me before I saw her kneeling again with a slight smile on her face and I too felt nice before moving out of that castle.


    My next ce was King of Sloth''s Kingdom. Though, it wasn''t really a kingdom but an underground den, which actually was theb where Sloth researched the monsters and nts of Netherrealm.


    Even after running for a couple of hours, I was still only halfway to that ce. For Sloth, who was the fastest in the entire Netherrealm, this distance was quite short. Maybe about 15 minutes was enough to cross this distance.


    I took a break as I looked in the distance at the Dark Canyon of Netherrealm, also known as the Edge of the World. It was the only ce where I have not yet visited in the realm of the Nine Kingdoms.


    Hmmm¡­ that makes me wonder, how big is Netherrealm actually? Evenst time, people couldn''t really explore this worldpletely. Also, no one dared to enter the edge of the world¡­ actually some did apparently, forcefully that is, however they never returned from down there.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Wonder what''s there¡­'' I thought before stretching a little before running towards my destination.


    Another couple of hours passed, and I finally reached the Den of Sloth, where hisb was. Moving inside, I tried recalling the way through the area, which was a bit hard at first, but soon enough when I figured out the way, I reached that ce quite fast.


    "Hmmm¡­ how did you even figure it out? I thought it was more or less impossible for a normal person to enter this ce¡­ though are you even normal?" I heard a voice echoing through the ce before the voice''s owner came in front of me.


    With the aura of death surrounding his old bones, he walked slowly, as if an old man trying his best to walk around the area. Though it made me click my tongue inward as I remember the first time I met him.


    This bastard took me by surprise and almost killed me back then¡­ though this time


    -nk!


    I blocked his attack as I knew the weakness in his speed. In order to travel a distance, he needs to focus on the area where he wants to go. He can''t just freely run to that ce, he needs to concentrate on the destination, the way and how he will move to actually reach that ce.


    Simply put, if he loses the ability to think how to get to that ce or if he ends up believing that he can''t reach a certain ce, he can never reach that ce using his speed. He would need to walk slowly.


    "Ho! You can read my trajectory, huh? Perhaps you really are special. Though that Light Aura on you makes me want to kill you immediately," he spoke with a deep look and I smiled before removing thatpletely.


    "I won''t need it if I want to kill you. Though, you should already have an idea of why am I here, don''t you?" I asked, and he nodded before speaking.


    "It''s rted to those Parasites. I am assuming you have a task for me like you spoke before. About how you will give me a taskter on privately?"


    I nodded before taking out a note that I had. It was a recipe for something that I created in my previous timeline a few years before I died. It was a really special recipe that I specifically created with only one purpose in mind.


    "What''s this?" he spoke as he saw me taking out that note before passing it to him. Opening that note, he looked at that recipe.


    "What is this recipe?" he asked with a bit of curiosity, and I chuckled before exining that to him. It took me a couple of minutes to finish telling him about the recipe and the answer I received from him was,


    "You are even crazier than I am!"

 Chapter 285 Preparations In Netherrealm: Using The Rejection Fragment

    "You are even crazier than I am!"


    I smiled at him, and he looked at me as if I were a freak. He then turned around, observing the recipe I gave him once again.


    "But¡­ to think that something like this even exists¡­ You really are something, young Light bearer," Sloth spoke as he took that recipe with him inside theb.


    "I will be waiting for itspletion. I want it in batches of 10 total 100 batches by the end of 2 months," I spoke before continuing outside while he stopped and peeked at my departing figure.


    I could hear him sigh a bit before moving deeper into the den.


    Based on his personality, he couldn''t wait to try to test this recipe, which actually is a good thing for me. As for him using all of it for himself, I don''t think that is a problem either.


    More like it would be better if he uses it on himself. This would make things even easier for me.


    "Well¡­ now that things are done here, let''s meet thest Queen. She shouldn''t be that far from here," I muttered before starting to run again. My interaction with Sloth wasn''t as much as with the others because¡­ let''s say he was more business oriented than emotion driven.


    There was little in his previous life as a Dhamphir where he worked as ab assistant for a girl named¡­ Hmmm Ascarate Rosalyn¡­ yeah. Now that I think about it, I have met Ascarate as well¡­


    ''Drake Town, was it?'' I recalled the time I met her in the previous timeline.


    [Author''s note: Ascarate Rosalyn is mentioned in the chapter#162. She had been introduced in chapter#159-162.]


    Funny how fate works.


    I then pondered if I should tell him about this piece of information.


    ''Next time maybe,'' I decided before continuing to run towards Envy''s ce.


    Running through the forest, I finally reached deep into the dark forest of Netherrealm. It was one of the most beautiful and the most dangerous ces in Netherrealm. Here, the SSSS-Grade monsters roamed freely without any restraint. They have their own ego and hunt in groups over the other monsters.


    ''One of the battle zones for those who want to reach a higher height and get back to the real world after reincarnating as a monster,'' I thought as I walked through the forest, Forest of Death, wondering where Envy could be.


    Unlike the 6 kings, she was a weaker monster of base S6 Rank. Her motive was to gain a rank of S8 and then reincarnate into the real world as at least an A-Grade monster. That way, her chance of keeping her memory intact should increase by arge threshold.


    Envy had a simple story. She wanted to meet her family once again. Though the only one alive in her family right now is her daughter and she too turned really old as the time passed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Saint Merissa is around 103 years old right now, I guess. Though with the blessing of the Golden Grail, I guess she should have another 30-40 years in her hands," I muttered as I saw a bunch of minotaurs in front of me.


    "Hmmm¡­ who is he? Never saw him here before," spoke one of those minotaurs while the other one just kept observing me with a slightly cautious look.


    ''Hmmm I should recharge my weapon too,'' I thought as I dashed towards them faster and looking at me they tightened their grip on their weapons. I observed them with a calm expression before one of them charged at me at a rapid speed.


    "Rejection fragment: I reject his ability to stop charging," I muttered to check the effect and limitations of my fragment and soon I found a percent of my energy depleted while he kept on charging at the speed he was going on.


    Soon enough he reached closer to me, without being able to stop himself, giving me an open chance to kill him.


    -sh! I killed him in an instant, absorbing his energy without much difficulty. I then stopped as I saw the other minotaurs wondering what had just happened.


    "Hmmm.. this is quite a lot for such a simple task¡­ I wonder if there is any way to increase the efficiency without much movement," I pondered as I saw a few more monstersing towards me with others reaching this side as they might have heard themotion.


    "Rejection Fragment: I reject the existence of air around this area," I spoke as I found an equal amount of energy depleted from me. My body was fine because I had the breath fragment, but the other monsters weren''t faring so well. Half of them were on their knees, while some of them charged at me.


    ''So it is easier to control an inanimate object rather than an animate object?'' I wondered before taking a few steps back and dashing towards the closer monsters as I killed them one at a time.


    -sh! -sh! -sh! Once I was done with that, I stopped using the rejection fragment, making the air return to how it was before. Then looked around to see if there were more monstersing.


    I sensed some S5 monstersing at a distance from here and activated Blood Sacrifice: First moon


    "Rejection Fragment: I reject the ability of people to reach this ce," I spoke as I fell on my knees, breathing heavily. I just lost 70% of my energy with that one. Though, I quickly filled it back up using the energy I had in the Deaths of Duality.


    The effect was exactly how I wanted it to be. The S5 Ranks were unable to enter the surrounding area. They tried moving towards me but their body themselves turned around and started walking backwards without them being able to control it.


    It confused them and it made me smile as I stopped the effect before running towards them and killing those monsters as well.


    While there were limitations to using the Reject Fragment, if I could use it properly, it can easily be one of the most powerful assets I have. Though I wonder if there is a way to increase its power and make it so that I don''t have to risk my life and energy every time I use it¡­.


    ''Maybe I should talk to someone who knows about it,'' I pondered about it as a certain name came into my mind.


    Janus, the former Guardian of Space.

 Chapter 286 Preparations In Netherrealm: The Queen Of Envy

    As I was walking through the forest, killing monsters and testing my fragments'' powers and limitations, I soon sensed a strong energying from a distance from here.


    A smile formed on my face as I finally found her.


    The Queen of Envy, the loner of the Netherrealm, wasing towards me slowly and slowly. Her power of mist soon started spreading all around the forest, which made me smile a little as I stretched a little before looking in her direction.


    Soon she too came into my vision, walking with all that mist around her as she looked at me with a slightly tired look. Though her expression changed as she spoke,


    "Fight me before you talk to me." I smiled as I nodded. I knew she won''t allow anyone to do something if the other person wasn''t stronger than her. While there was also something rted to how she would rather kill herself than do an unreasonable demand, too.


    She then let all those mists flow towards me and I too walked towards it as I muttered,


    "Rejection Fragment: I reject the ability of¡­." My heart beat rose as I stopped speaking whatever I was saying. I felt like if I hadpleted my sentence, I would have died¡­


    ''Perhaps that mist is stronger than I believe. Well, it''s the most used ability of an S6 grade monster, so I guess there is that as well,'' I thought as I sighed before taking back all the energy I had lost trying to use my fragment.


    Then¡­ I decided to not use my fragment for a while.


    "Daydreaming in between a fight? I wonder if you are a fool or just an idiot,"she spoke as her mist reached all around me and I looked at her with a bit of a smile as I spoke,"I apologise for my misconduct. I was actually experimenting with something. Now, I will get serious with you." I then smiled before piercing my chest with the Deaths of Duality before pouring all the death energy inside my body. Yeah¡­ I was idiot enough to do that in thest timeline too¡­


    "BLOOD SACRIFICE: SECOND MOON!!!" I shouted with my body turning misty¡­ everything around me turned a bit reddish as my own blood started turning into red mist around the area.


    With this much dark energy inside me, the surrounding dark energy started shaking heavily as well before mixing with mine. I just smiled evilly before my skin began evaporating little by little. The blood contained the elements of the Rejection fragment, hence they had the ability to cancel any harmful effects towards them.


    So¡­ as soon as Envy''s mist touched mine¡­ It evaporated immediately into nothingness, making her look at me dumbfoundedly. My power reached S6 immediately from S4. If I hadn''t controlled my powers, I could have easily gone S8 or something, but then I wouldn''t have been able toe back to normal again.


    In other words, I would have died.


    Then, I started running towards her, reaching behind her in a sh as I asked,


    "Would you like to continue the fight, or we call it even?"


    There was a slightly mocking look on my face and she narrowed her eyes at me before jumping away from me as she released more and more mist around her, though with my mistpletely surrounding her and absorbing her powers, she was more or less lost.<novelnext></novelnext>


    She retracted all her mist that was left in the atmosphere and concentrated it enough to convert it into a dagger shape, which she took into her hands and began running towards me.


    I smiled at her as I use my own blood to make a blood dagger while my Deaths of Duality were still inside my chest.


    Using that blood dagger, I started parrying her attacks. It was easy because each time our daggers connected, my blood evaporated her mist dagger, making her force to use more of her mist.


    Still, it didn''t seem like she had given up as she kept attacking me faster and faster while I kept myself on the defensive as I looked at her, trying her best.


    Time passed, and I kept observing her for hours and hours before I saw her going down slowly and slowly, finally beginning to lose her consciousness. She was on herst legs as she stood there observing me.


    Then¡­ her eyes closed and her body began to fall to the ground.


    However, before it could touch the ground, I appeared right behind her, catching her before taking her into my arms.


    I saw her sleeping face, and I then looked at a distance at a massive tree branch where the moonlight was shining a bit brighter than in other ces. I undid my second moon and moved towards that ce with a slight emotionless face before Iy her on the branch beforeying her right beside me with her head on myp.


    I ran my fingers through her hair as I looked at the dark forest all around me. It was quite peaceful and nice around here as I recalled the memories I had made here. It was quite nostalgic to see the same scenery that I had seen in the previous timeline.


    "Mmmm"


    I hear Envy mumbling something before she began stretching a little as she stood up on her back and yawned a little before looking around with a slightly confused look on her face.


    "Hmmm.. how did I get here? My head hurts!! What¡­ Ah!" Looks like she finally recalled what happened as she stood up and started looking around cautiously as I kept smiling as I observed her with both my hands back, sittingfortably against the branch on which we were.


    She soon turned around with a sigh as she wiped her sweat in relief before her eyes turned on me and,


    "Kyaa!!!"


    I heard her shouting, which made me chuckle a little as I observed her observing me with an awkward smile before she raised her hand slightly and spoke,"Uh¡­ hi?"

 Chapter 287 Preparations In Netherrealm: The Queen Of Envy#2

    "Uh¡­ hi?" she spoke with a slightly awkward face as I looked at her. There was a slight tinge of horror in her eyes, but overall it looked like she was fine. More like she was nning her way to escape out of here at this moment, too.


    "You should rest a little. I am here to talk about something," I spoke as I looked at her and she, though notpletely convinced, still nodded before looking at me with a serious face.


    "Want to meet your daughter after all this is over?" I asked, making her narrow her eyes at me. She then asked,


    "What do you want in return?"


    "Build a force. I want everyone in the entire Forest of Death to be prepared for a war that is going to happen in 4 months time from now. Also, try to bring in monsters from other ces also," I spoke as I, too, turned serious.


    Hearing my demand, she closed her eyes for a few moments before speaking,"I have two questions."


    "Let''s hear them," I spoke with a bright smile on my face, at which she gulped before asking,


    "Why me?"


    Already knowing the question which she was going to ask, I answered with the same bright smile,"because the Forest of Death abides by thew of the strongest and you are the strongest that all the monsters know of."


    She kept her eyes concentrated on me before asking her second question,"what do you gain from all this?"


    "The enemies that are approaching here¡­ I have got a personal vendetta against them,"I spoke as my expression turned from a nonchnt one to a slightly furious one. Just recalling them and all the horrendous things they did makes my blood boil.


    Envy, observing my furious face, took a few steps back as she gulped and observed me. Though I sighed before speaking,"Any other questions you have?"


    "Yeah¡­ Why can''t you be the one ruling and gathering people.. You are clearly stronger than everyone else not just here but in the entire Netherrealm," she spoke a bit cautious, a bit curious.


    I nodded at her reasoning before exining,"I have two reasons for that.


    One is that I don''t have time to prove my strength and then force everyone to follow me. While I can ask everyone to prepare for war, I might have to waste a lot of time fighting them first to prove my strength. You are clearly better in this case.


    The other thing is, once again, time. I have something else I need to do while you are gathering all the people here. A solo trip of sorts."


    I exined my reasons to her, and she pondered over it for a few moments before asking,<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Back then you spoke something along the lines of my daughter being still alive. Can you exin how that is possible after almost a century has passed since I have been here?"


    I nodded at her before exining about the artefact that can increase one''s life slowly and slowly from an average span of 80 years to as much as 150 years. How she became a saint, how she survived all this time, I exined everything to her in detail and, listening to my story, she smiled frequently as she heard the tales of her own daughter.


    "Awaaah¡­" she stretched her back as she yawned loudly with a blissful face and spoke,"well. All that I need to do is to create an army of monsters here, right?"


    I nodded at her and she stood up before speaking,"Then I will start immediately. You better not forget about the promise you made. See yater¡­. Ummm.. what should I call you?"


    I chuckled at her change of behaviour before answering her,


    "I go by Reaper but¡­ Call me Zero. We are going to be sticking close together quite a lot when we leave to meet your daughter."


    She, though a bit confused, nodded at me before vanishing from there.


    I just remained there at the branch for a few moments before proceeding towards the closest dungeon nearby. While I did gain a sudden boost, it would be better to test and try my powers.


    I still needed a lot of training regarding how to best use my fragments. Not just the Rejection Fragment, but also the Aze Fragment and the Breath Fragment.


    ''I refuse to believe that allowing me to breathe and using a special kind of light are the only powers that these fragments have¡­ Using them right might make them strong enough to break into another level without sacrificing much,'' I pondered as I kept running towards the nearest dungeon.


    Actually, the nearest dungeon was within the Forest of Death itself. Or more like at the epicentre of the Forest of Death.


    ''The infamous dungeon, Dungeon of Death,'' I thought as I reached the entrance of that dungeon. It was a kind of mystical area with that tablet floating in front, bound by that ghost.


    Last time I came here, I did enter the dungeon, though I could only reach up to the 27th floor of the known 27th floor at that time.


    Though, unlike the Dungeon of Chaos, my home sweet home, this ce was more like a normal dungeon to me, which I was trying to venture deep into for the sake of adventuring andpetition against the rest of the monsters.


    Each floor had monsters and monsters and monsters. The difficulty kept increasing with each floor and at that time, I was about S4 level so the monsters on the 27th floor were around S6 or something. I had spent over weeks on each floor before I could clear them.


    ''I wonder if I could beat the floors below now. Also¡­ I wonder what kind of reward exists deep below there¡­ and¡­ if there is any secret hidden there, too?'' I thought as a smile formed on my face and I approached that dungeon''s gate.

 Chapter 288 Preparations In Netherrealm: Dungeon Of Death

    I moved towards that ghost and upon sensing my presence near him; he starteding down before floating towards me. Just likest time, a robotic voice was heard,


    "Young Traveller. Are you sure you want to proceed into the Dungeon of Death? You may not die, but the odds of winning against the monsters deep down below are near impossible."


    I nodded as I answered,"yes. I would like to try my luck here."


    "Very well then. ce your hand on the tablet and repeat after me. Arkame¡­" then he started chanting something in an unknownnguage and cing my hand on the tablet I started repeating the chanting after him.


    The more I chanted, the more intensely the tablet glowed and before I knew it, the scenery changed into a wide open grasnd. It reminded me of the area where I took my test at Arcadia Academy. Though the prevalent Death Energy around me told me that it wasn''t that ce.


    Soon a mild drizzle beganing down. Dark clouds covered the sky and the whole area turned dimmer as a single monster rose from the ground in front of me.


    It was a dark monster, with death aura oozing out of him and looking at him, I felt nostalgic as the scenery refreshed my memory.


    This was barely a SS Grade monster, with some skills with the longsword.


    "Let''s begin then," I muttered with a smile as I moved forward, holding my Deaths of Duality, and easily shed him into three pieces before absorbing him into my sword.


    The floor didn''t exactly change, but the atmosphere turned a bit darker with the rain nowing down heavier than before. Soon, two more dark knights rose in front of me.


    ''Floor 2, huh?'' I thought as I shed those monsters too and absorbed them as well. With each floor, the rain beganing down harder, and the area turnedpletely dark with anything barely visible around.


    On floor 5, there were 5 knights and even though the environmental factors were there, it wasn''t really hard to beat them as well.


    Floor 6 was different with only one SSS dark knight being there, though it wasn''t as hard as well. Easily killing and absorbing him too, I reached floor 7.


    The scene changed this time. There was no exact footing this time, as bits of ground were floating in the sky. Soon, a white knight simr to the previous ck one started rising from the clouds below and floated in front of me.


    ''SSS Rank, huh?'' I thought as I prepared myself to jump at him, observing him slowly moving towards me with his stance changing into an attack.


    -Boom!


    -sh! In a single jump, I shed him into two, before absorbing his energy as well. Even though he was a white knight, he too carried dark energy inside him; just like every being in the Netherrealm.


    The floating bits of inds started falling down as two more white knights started rising and just likest time


    -sh!


    -sh!


    I killed them as well before absorbing them. With my base strength at S4 level, monsters like them were not even worth sweating over.


    Floor 9 to 11 were the same as before, with monsters increasing and floating inds getting lesser and lesser before finally only a single ind was left to stand.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Floor 12.


    A stronger white knight with two wings on his back came in front of me. Judging by the dark aura he had, he should be around S4 level.


    ''Since I am just practising my skills here, I think I should start fighting without using any energy for the time being,'' I decided before jumping at him with pure strength and skills.


    He too flew towards me and I parried his attack swiftly, before using his body to jump back on the sole floating ground in the area.


    As soon as I reached back on the ground, I turned around to find him almost behind me and, using the Deaths of Duality, I parried his attack before trying to cut his body in two. It wasn''t possible with how much of a defensive armour he had on, so it basically just grazed him.


    ''Hmmm¡­ guess, I need to get in a direct attack on its weak spot to even have a chance here,'' I thought as I stopped and took a good look at him.


    After receiving the minor scratch over his armour, he turned around and started shing the air, sending waves of dark energy at me.


    Not much bothered by it, I began absorbing it using my des, until he decided toe at me himself.


    A few moments passed and soon I saw himing at me himself. This time, not letting the chance go, I took my stance and let hime extremely close to me. When he was just an inch away from me, I took one step to the side, used the chains of my de to bind him and then used my strength alone¡­


    "Hupp!!!" stopped him from flying. I wanted to kill him using my sword, but I guess I got bored by this and decided to end it in a less shy way. Normally he could have escaped the chains, but because the chains were rapidly absorbing his energy, he became really weak within moments.


    Then I simply tightened those chains around his neck, breaking it with a crisp sound and killing him then and there.


    Soon the ind began falling down as well, and I found myself falling in the air before¡­


    -Ssh!!!


    I hit the water soon drowning deep underwater.


    ''How many times has it been that I let myself drown freely in the water, huh? It''s three already,'' I thought as I recalled the first time when I died and thest time in the previous dungeon.


    The key to getting to the next floor is actually letting yourself fall freely before you reach the other side of the sea and the gravity turns upside down for you. Last time I kept fighting against drowning for over 3 days before finally giving up.


    Soon I reached the bottom of the sea and came out from the other side with the gravity turned upside down for me.


    Well, what I felt like was simply that I got out of water on my own. Nothing more than that.


    Soon, I saw a bare ind in front of me at a distance, I started swimming towards it.


    ''Floor 13, huh? Well, the real challenge begins from here,'' I thought as I kept swimming towards the ind.

 Chapter 289 Preparations In Netherealm: Dungeon Of Death#2

    After swimming for a few minutes, I reached the ind shore. The ind wasposed of various elemental parts.


    There was a region with heavy snow, while another ce filled with purely active volcanoes. There was a desert at one point and a waterfall on another. A forest. A den. Almost all types of elemental variation were found on this small ind.


    Currently, I was in a rocky area near the shore. It was quite a dead area with not even the wind blowing and not even a single being was visible in front of me.


    Not wasting any time, I then moved towards the deeper parts of the ind. After walking a kilometre, ake came into my vision and, looking at a distance, a waterfall too existed in this region.


    "We shall start now, shan''t we?" I spoke as I moved into theke one step at a time. Not even momentster, the water started circling around theke''s centre and a whirlpool formed in the area. It soon started expanding and a dragon''s head flew out of the whirlpool and I jumped at a nearby rock to get a clear view.


    Soon more and more heads of that dragon started appearing out of theke and all of them started roaring at me in a loud voice as I observed it with a casual look.


    "The 8 headed dragon? Or should I call it a Hydra? Well¡­ who knows," I muttered as I took out my chained swords and began circting its energy in mine, with my own energy flowing into the sword.


    With the energy travelling from my body to the des and back to my body, I felt connected to the de. Then I took a fighting stance as I saw it proceeding to attack me.


    -Dash! I first jumped at its head and cut it into pieces before moving to another..


    -sh!


    -sh!


    -sh!


    -Booom!!!


    I cut its three heads before its fourth head pushed me away from him. I flew towards the forest before hitting multiple trees, destroying the whole area in the process. After getting pushed back at least to the edge of the forest, I finally stopped before looking at it carefully.


    It had already regenerated its two cut heads and was proceeding to heal the third one. Though before it could do so, I once again jumped towards it¡­


    "Blood Sacrifice: Reaper''s True Form!!" I spoke with my grin widening as I ran towards it at twice the speed of before. Though, sensing my powers increasing, it too started using most of its power as all 8 of its head shot 8 different energy beams at me.


    ''Hmmm¡­ looks like I need to circle around to create a chance to attack,'' I thought as I ran towards it before dashing sideways as soon as I believed its attack woulde at me.


    -BOOOM!!!!!


    The whole area was burnt into ashes in an instant while I kept running around that monster. It too started turning its head at me slowly and slowly while it still kept throwing the beams at me. Hmmm¡­ let''s try something¡­<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Rejection Fragment: Reject all Iing attacks within 5 metres of me," I muttered before feeling that I lost about 20% of my powers.


    ''Well, that wasn''t much,'' I thought as I changed my direction before running towards it at full speed.


    Its attack came at me and while the surrounding area was torn into shreds, I kept moving towards it without receiving even a single scratch on my body.


    Before the Hydra could realise, I had already reached it. And before it could even process what was going on¡­


    "Reaper''s Night: The sh of the Night Crawler!!!!!" I shouted before spreading out a very thin but amplified energy out of my Deaths of Duality. The energy contained at least 25% of the energy I had and¡­


    -SLASH!!!!!


    I cut all the heads of the Hydra at once as it was still shooting the beams. The heads were cut off with the beams stilling out, and destroyed everything in its path, wherever the heads fell.


    As for my sh, it went beyond the Hydra''s body, into the mountain behind it, and much farther towards the high mountains, cutting them into pieces before finally stopping at the volcano region.


    I saw the Hydra still alive, albeit barely, trying to regenerate its body. Not minding much, I jumped into the cut body of the Hydra from where it was regenerating itself and pierced it with my Deaths of Duality.


    As if a thirst quenched man finding an oasis in a desert, the chains of duality began rapidly absorbing all the powers of the Hydra into them. Much faster than the Hydra can regenerate.


    At a distance, I found a dozen or so flying monsters in the air as they wereing at me with anger in their eyes.


    I could feel the ground rumbling as well, as more monsters were probablying at me from the ground, too.


    The flying beings became visible to me not that long after. They had bright features, with one of them burning as if the sun itself and the other one felt like it could freeze anything within its range. There were some around which the wind danced like crazy and some around which the rain wasing down incessantly.


    The one on the ground looked like the very earth itself, with a part of it having rocks on its back.


    ''More are probablying. If I am not wrong, there are a total of 24 of them on the entire ind,'' I thought as I observed all the monsters reaching closer and closer to me while I just kept observing them while absorbing one of their brethren in front of them.


    This ind¡­ has a special name to it. Every region on this ind has a ruler. A single entity watching over a specific region. Like this waterfall and thiske ruled over by the 8 headed dragon, there were more of them in different regions.


    This ind¡­ they also call it¡­ The Dragons'' Nest.

 Chapter 290 Preparations In Netherrealm: Dungeon Of Death#3

    -ROAR!!!!!


    I cleaned my ears with my pinky finger after hearing that loud roar and then took out my Deaths of Duality out of the almost vanished body of the water Hydra. Then I burned whatever was left of the Hydra, using the [Aze] Fragment.


    Soon I fell on the ground, but carefully using my Death Energy, I then stood on theke water before I did a sh in the air as if to stretch my back muscles.


    "Forbidden Magic: Demonic Angel''s Rebirth," I muttered as I used my half-sacrificial move.


    Wings of Darkness on my left and wings of Light on my right form sprouted, with my face and the right half of my body fully covered in ck coloured mana.


    Holding a bright white sword made of light energy in my right hand, I open my dazzlingly white bright eyes. Though not even after a moment, that white sword gets absorbed by the Deaths of Duality as I hold them in my hands.


    One of the three sacrificial moves I could use, including Second Moon, Demonic Angel''s Rebirth, converts my flesh into pure mana that I could use before the mana gets evaporated into the air, killing me in the process.


    While Second Moon helps me fight against abat oriented enemy, Demonic Angel''s Rebirth allows me to fight the enemy, which is proficient in area attack and ranged abilities.


    But that was when I didn''t have the Deaths of Duality. And I was much weaker before as well.


    With the Deaths of Duality, I could use the energy stored inside them to rece the energy lost from my body and slowly my flesh returns to original. The only drawback is that Ick even a percent of energy once the whole process is over.


    Though¡­ It''s fine¡­.


    "About¡­ 7 seconds should be fine," I thought as I looked at monsters all around me before I started flying in the sky above using those wings. These monsters, these Dragons were each of Grade S4, each while in my current form I was at least S7 Rank.


    ''I guess this is my limit¡­'' I thought as I dashed towards the first monster,


    -sh!


    And killed it in an instant before absorbing its energy into my body.


    -sh!


    -sh! .


    .


    It was a one sided annihtion from that point as I kept killing the monsters one by one. I wanted to check this power, and I believed this would be the best ce to do it since the enemies were averagely numbered. Not less than 10, not more than 50.


    Soon, 7 seconds passed and all the monsters were dead with my form slowly returning to my original. Because the monsters ruling over thend were dead, the ind started drowning in the water as well with only the peak of the ind left behind.


    The peak was a sort of altar where I flew towards beforepletely exhausting my powers. My body returned to its base form, and Inded on the altar before looking around at the statues present on that altar.


    I was already on floor 14¡­ and floor 15 now.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The floors 14 and 15 were the same, with the only difference in the settings of the monster. Well¡­. Better exin it when I reach floor 15.


    So, there were giant statues around me as I regenerated my power using whatever the Death Energy the des had. With what I got from the monsters and how much I used to retain my body after using the Forbidden Magic, currently I managed to get 10% of the total energy I had.


    -RTRTRTRT!!


    The ground began shaking as I saw a monster rising from the centre of the altar. It was barely an S-Grade monster and looking at it carefully; it was an armoured Rhino with a double axe.


    ''Well¡­ I feel bad for him,'' I thought as I looked at it before moving towards it.


    Just because it was S-Grade, one shouldn''t take it lightly. Because this monster¡­ well, how should I say, it had a certain power. The power to learn and grow.


    The more you hit him, the more it will learn, adapt, and grow. The only way to defeat this one was to use a power less strong than its power and use it to destroy it.


    What you needed to win this fight wasn''t merely skills or power, but a power that no one can copy.


    "Fragment of Light: Aze," I muttered as I swiftly dashed towards it and touched its head¡­ and then it started burning heavily¡­


    It tried saving itself but the fire was too strong for it¡­ it simply couldn''t take it and in the end died a simple death.


    Then¡­ another monster came¡­ It was the same as before. However, there was a difference between this one and thest one.


    This one had learnt everything that the previous monster had learnt and can use those skills and abilities at least 5 times better than it.


    Though¡­ I kinda feel sad for whoever created this floor level. I mean, it wasn''t bad or anything but¡­


    "Fragment of Light: Aze," I muttered as I set this monster to fire as well, simr to the previous one.


    Fragments of the Guardians aren''t something you can copy. Their powers, the way they function, everything is unique in the strongest way possible. These are something that are impossible to copy, even for the strongest being in the entire universe.


    "Well. I had expected this much. Floors 16, 17 and 18 should be a breeze as well," I muttered as I recalled thest time I had visited this dungeon.


    Last time, Deaths of Duality and my own Rejection Fragment were the reason I was able to cross floors 14 and 15. As for the next three floors, they were not thatplicated.


    Just time consuming.


    Why?


    Well, because you had to defeat an army of SS-Grade, SSS-Grade and S4-Grade in the sessive floors. On the floor 18, once you defeat all the armies, you should be facing an S5 Grade Behemoth but since it was just a single monster with only physical abilities, defeating it shouldn''t be much of a problem either.


    "The problemes on floor 19," I muttered as I sighed before the scene changed and floor 16 came in my view.

 Chapter 291 Preparations In Netherrealm: Dungeon Of Death#4

    Floor 16


    An army in front of me¡­ or more like four armies of SS Grade Monsters fighting amongst themselves. If I were to estimate, then the total number of monsters was around 40 to 50 thousand.


    "Well. Let''s recharge our power, shall we?" I smiled wickedly as I looked at my Deaths of Duality.


    Then¡­


    I began walking towards one of the soldier monsters before dashing towards it and shing it from behind as my sword began absorbing it.


    A miniscule amount of energy flowed into the sword, half of which I absorbed into my body.


    Then I moved on to the next¡­ and next¡­ and next¡­


    After about 15 minutes of continuous killing and absorbing, I finally ended up gaining the attention of all the monsters there.


    My strength was recharged to 20% from the previous 10% and since I had enough power¡­


    "Blood Sacrifice: First moon," I muttered as my eyes turned red and my skin turned a bit red. My eyes observed theplete area with a chilling look, making everyone take a step back away from me.


    -sh!


    I shed the air with a bit of my strength, killing 10s of them at once.


    "Hmmm¡­ Now that it''s at this stage," I muttered as I observed the area and spoke,


    "Breath Fragment: Absolute Breathing."


    I wanted to try it. I wanted to see it. How would Amon''s Fragment work¡­ though the only thing I can think of was¡­ to reduce the function of breathing from my body and let the fragment handle that.


    With my breath out of my way, the energy used by my body is decreased a lot. The concentration too increases, and so does precision.


    "Light Fragment: Aze Enchantment," I spoke as I tried to enchant the Deaths of Duality with a fire element.


    Normally it wouldn''t have been possible, but¡­ since we are talking about a Guardian''s Fragment, maybe¡­


    I then noticed my des glowing a bit before it turned dark again.


    ''So did that work or not?'' I questioned as I tried to take a good look at my des, but still couldn''t find any difference.


    "Well¡­ worth a try," I thought before giving myself onest upgrade.


    "Blood Sacrifice: Dance of the Death Reaper," I muttered as I began releasing a portion of Death Energy from the des as well.


    Taking my stance, I muttered,"Shadow Style: Curse of the Berserk," before I let my body run into the fray, in the army once again.


    -sh!


    I shed slightly and¡­ the effect was that¡­


    The entire area in front of me was raised in the air. Everything was burning with a dark fire and soon all the energy started flowing into my de.


    About 20% of the army was gone with a single attack¡­


    ''What did..?'' I thought as I checked my des.


    It wasn''t the Deaths of Duality''s ability. The Breath Fragment''s effect was to boost my concentration and it really did that. Though that shouldn''t have been enough to do this much damage.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "The Light Fragment," I muttered, as I believed only that could increase the strength of the des that much.


    ''With this¡­ I could at max take about 3 General Parasites at once¡­ Royal Parasite. I don''t think I can take on a Royal Parasite with this much upgrade¡­,'' I thought as a small smile formed in my face.


    This was a nice ''small'' upgrade.


    With that many monsters killed and absorbed, my powers rose to 40%. I then began to do a couple of more simr shes and¡­


    The entire army on the ground was erased in an instant. Soon, another army began forming out of the ground.


    And I saw multiple portals opening out of which thousands of soldiers were arriving.


    Another 10 thousand wereing from the sky above.


    "That''s a lot more than before¡­ hmmm, is it rted to me wiping the entire ground at once?" I questioned, as I couldn''t make any sense out of it.


    Last time, it was harder to kill the army but with time I ended up killing 80% of the army. At that time, as soon as the number fell below 20% or something, the floor changed.


    The SSS-Grade monsters beganing out of simr portals to this one. Though the monsters from the air,


    The S4 Grade Monsters.


    They only appeared after I killed the rest of the SSS-Grade Monsters.


    ''Hmmm¡­ seems like they are¡­ yup, they are. Guess I am to me myself for that,''I realized as I observed that all the armies wereing at me rather than fighting amongst themselves.


    "Well¡­ makes it easier for me," I smiled before I jumped at those monsters too with a slightly wicked grin.


    -Dash!


    They too came at me, both the SSS Grade and S4 Grade Monsters, though like moths flying towards me, they just burned before getting absorbed into my de.


    For the next 20 minutes, the massacre continued as I ended up killing each and everyone of those monsters.


    At the end of the fight, I was standing there at the center of the empty field.


    The entire army was massacred and there was nothing in sight as far as one could see.


    Dark Aura was overflowing out of my body and de as I had absorbed too much of Death Energy in this fight.


    "Rejection Fragment: I reject the wastage of the Death Energy from my body," I said, as a little less than half of the energy vanished in an instant.


    Though the rest half stopped overflowing from my body. While half of the energy was vanished, it was still at least 10 times more than I can store in my body.


    Though something happened¡­


    All that energy which couldn''t escape started flowing into the de slowly getting settled at the top. The energy slowly solidified, bing a part of the Deaths of Duality.


    "Hmmm¡­ never knew it was possible," I thought as I observed the Deaths of Duality.


    However, before I could concentrate on them, my eyes shifted to the 5 entities slowly descending in front of me.


    Each of them had a power of about S5, with the middle one looking like an S6 to me.


    ''Well, I guess¡­ I should have anticipated this as well,'' I muttered before preparing myself for another round.

 Chapter 292 Preparations In Netherrealm: Dungeon Of Death#5

    Last time, killing the S4-Grade Monsters was a bit of a hurdle, but still I was able to do it after achieving a breakthrough in between the battles. Though the higher monster, that is the S5 monster, arrived only after I killed all the SSS-Grade Monsters.


    This time, however, I saw 4 S5 Death Knight-like Monsters with an S6 Knight Monster in between. The atmosphere around the area too changed with the Death Energy flowing in excess than normal. Not minding much, I then dashed at them without taking a break.


    They too dashed at me at once with the two of them soon dashing to the side and two of them jumping up high in the air.


    The S6 Grade was still charging at me with all his force and pouring a bit of my own energy into the Deaths of Duality, I first reached that stronger knight and prepared to parry his attack.


    The other knights, noticing me running towards the higher grade monster, started dashing towards me. The ones who jumped up in the air also flew down at me at rapid speed.


    The S6-Grade Knight attacked me with his full might, which I had first parried a little. Then, realizing that I can''tpletely parry it, I dodged it swiftly, reaching beside him.


    One of the S5 Knight reached behind me and sensing his direction of attack, I first parried him with one de and then using the second de in my hand, I pierced its chest and absorbed about one-third of his energy before,


    "Light Fragment: Aze," I muttered, burning him into ashes and jumping away from the iing attack of the rest of the monsters.


    "1 down. 4 more to go," I smiled as I looked at the remaining 4 monsters making a formation with the S6-Grade in between and the rest S5 surrounding it from 3 sides.


    Then the two at the back began doing something, and a shield came up covering various areas of the S6-Grade Knight. The S6-Grade Knight then used his broadsword and pierced the chest of the monster in its front. His sword absorbed the S5-Grade Monster before a strange energy started flowing out of that S6-Grade Knight.


    "Let''s pretend that it''s S7 for now¡­ that should be about a General Parasite Grade, huh?" I thought as I realized that it would be a really good time to practice against a foe that could be equally strong as the iing enemy.


    "Forbidden Magic: White Knight''s First Breath," I muttered as I let all my Life Energy consume my Death Energy at once. Normally I should have died, but because I was currently connected with the Deaths of Duality, I was fine¡­ as long as the Deaths of Duality had that Death Energy stored inside it.


    My blood turned ck, so did my skin. Then ck lines started forming all over my body, from the very bottom to the tip of my head. My white hair grew up to my waist with my eyes turning deep white.


    Other than Blood Sacrifice: Second Moon and Forbidden Magic: Demonic Angel''s Rebirth, this was my third andst sacrificial move that, under normal conditions, would have killed me.


    This move was oriented to a one-on-one fight, as it required real focus and concentration to use the power to its maximum limit.


    Looking at that S6 Grade Knight preparing to fight me as he took his stance, I too prepared myself for a do or die kind of battle.


    -Dash!<novelnext></novelnext>


    -nk!


    I dashed first as I reached that guy and swung my swords at him, but he, too, changed his stance, parrying my attack before going for a counterattack. Though, immediately getting my momentum back, I parried his attack as well, creating a gap between us as I pushed myself away from him.


    Before I gained my momentum back, I saw that the knight was already reaching me and I took a deep breath before aiming at his sword rather than his body this time. I added a bit of extra Death Energy into my attack and the result was¡­


    -sh!!


    The S6-Knight''s sword was cut apart into two pieces before I took a step back, changed my stance again, and then pierced his chest with all my strength.


    Once the sword reached inside his chest, I absorbed a bit of his power, then took the sword out again immediately. Within the same moment, I used the power which I absorbed to pierce it again. Once again, I absorbed a bit of his power again and took it out again before piercing his chest once more¡­ and then again¡­ and again¡­ again¡­ and over a hundred times.


    Though I did about a hundred attacks, it took mere seconds because of the motion and speed I was using.


    Then¡­


    I stepped back as I was getting a bit sloppier for theck of stamina. Though¡­ he was mostly dead¡­ he had hundreds of holes in his chest, and it was a miracle that he was still standing.


    Not wasting my time, I jumped at him and shed him a couple of times before half absorbing him, while burning the rest half.


    Then I turned to the other two S5-Grade Monsters standing there as they fell to their knees with their weapons falling to the ground.


    I slowly walked towards them and observed them carefully. It didn''t seem like they were alive as well. So I just absorbed both of them as well, filling a bit of my power back as well.


    I saw that the Light Energy was slowly taking over my body as it started vanishing, so I used the Death Energy stored in the Deaths of Duality to bring it back to normal.


    "Now that I think about it¡­ without Rejection Fragment, this mode, White Knight''s First Breath, might have already killed me a long time ago in the previous timeline. It wasn''t just this but the Deaths of Duality too¡­" I recalled how much of an idiot I was in the previous timeline.


    ''Well¡­ desperate times call for desperate measures,'' thinking that I then moved towards the portal at a distance that would take me to the 19th floor.

 Chapter 293 Preparations In Netherrealm: Dungeon Of Death#6

    Floor 19.


    A simple yet cruel floor.


    All you need to do is defeat an elemental boss.


    Of S6 Grade.


    In its own natural domain.


    ''I am lucky that I have a Dark Element, with traces of Light Element or else getting trapped on one of these floors would have been inevitable,'' I thought as I moved between the cold mountains in front of me.


    This ce normally should freeze everyone within the area, but with my ze element this time, I could easily travel throughout the ne. Unlikest time, where I had to constantly use my des to heat myself up, this time it was rtively easier.


    As I observed the mountains, I tried searching for something that is supposed to be the ''core'' of this ce. It was hidden somewhere deep within the mountains in a certain cave.


    Last time, I stumbled upon it by chance as I kept dashing to any random location and ended up reaching there. The fight wasn''t quite easy to scoff at, either.


    I kept moving and moving and moving¡­ I kept looking around for anything that would give me even a hint of that den, at least. Though even after 3 or 4 hours passed, I still hadn''t found that den.


    However, as I was getting a bit impatient, I sensed something out of nowhere. Immediately, I closed my eyes for a few moments before sensing something strange at a distance where there was a frozenke and decided to check there.


    Took me 15 minutes to reach there, and I finally found the den. It was below the frozenke.


    ''Found it!'' I smiled as I broke the thinyer of ice with the Aze Fragment and jumped down the emptyke reaching the gate of the den.


    Soon entering it, I found a White Giant made up of pure Ice Elemental Energy sleeping there. Though as soon as I saw it, he woke up from his slumber and turned at me with a bit of an annoyed look. I saw his form changing into something that was more of a human.


    Then he moved closer to me and looked at me and spoke.


    "Who are you?"


    "A challenger," I spoke as I looked at him with a bit of curiosity. Unlike the rest of the floors, from this point onwards, the enemies actually engage in conversation and hoping to find something simr to that in Dungeon of Chaos. I too, started conversing with him.


    "Hmmm¡­ someone actually made it up to here. However, you don''t bear the mark of ice¡­ Is there anything that you can do to prove yourself?" he asked as he circled around me with a bit of curiosity.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Prove what exactly?" I asked with curiosity and he spoke again,"something that will allow me to give you my legacy, of course. Isn''t that why you are here?"


    ''Huh? Legacy?'' I looked confused and looking at my confusion, he made a bit of an exhausted expression before speaking,"do you have any power rted to ice?"


    I looked at him and then shook my head as I spoke,"as of now. No, I don''t possess any."


    Though this made him look at me with confusion in his eyes as he asked,"then why did youe here?"


    "What do you mean bying here? I justnded on this floor from thest floor. It wasn''t like I had any choice," I asked with confusion, and he made a bit of a baffled face before speaking.


    "How is that possible, then? If the dungeon itself sent you here, then there must be something in you that allows you to use Ice Elemental Powers¡­ Something that makes your Ice Elemental Powers stronger than your other Elemental Powers." ''Huh? What is he going on about?'' I questioned myself as nobody knows better about my powers than me and not once in my life have I used Ice Magic¡­ what is going on here?''


    "Hmmm¡­ this puts us in a dilemma, then. All right, there is another way we can look at this then. Let me check your body. I will see if you have any powers rted to ice or not. How about it?" he asked and I, although a bit sceptical about it, decided to let him check my body.


    The reason was, of course, my Rejection Fragment. If he was going to try anything funny, then he would be the only one to me for it.


    "Okay, check it," I spoke, and he nodded before checking my body as a strange aura flew into my body and a few momentster.


    -Dash! He moved back far away as he looked at me with a horrified face and I turned at him with confusion in my eyes. He just stood there nkly for a few moments before asking,


    "Are you sure you don''t have Ice elemental Powers?!!" He asked with a terrified voice and I, a bit confused, still nodded as I answered,"I had never really properly used it in my life."


    "Well¡­ then¡­ may I at least know your name first? Before I tell you about my findings," he spoke with the still feared voice and I nodded as I answered,"it''s¡­ Reaper. That''s what people call me."


    He gulped before speaking,"all right, Mr. Reaper. For whatever reason in your life¡­ I don''t know why your System never told you but¡­ Your potential in using Ice Magic is infinite¡­ Are you sure you have never used this power in your life before?"


    He spoke, and I looked at him nkly as I looked at my hands¡­ They were still normal. I didn''t know any ice spells to check it. Hmmmm¡­ the most I can do is to manipte the surrounding ice a little.


    Though I always thought about using Ice Magic if the situation demands it¡­ I never got in a situation to use it, did I?


    "Well¡­ how about I teach you a small spell of ice to you? This should clear the confusion for you," he spoke, and I nodded, since that would be the best thing to do right now.


    "This spell is called [Ice shards]," he spoke as he began showing me a simple Ice Magic.

 Chapter 294 Preparations In Netherrealm: Dungeon Of Death#7

    "Now¡­ you try it," he spoke as he helped me learn the basics of Ice Magic and nodding at him, I then tried using my mana cores to create a minute amount of Ice Mana around my hand.


    Concentrating that scattered Ice Mana in a confined space, I somehow managed to create a single small ice shard the size of a single toe nail before shooting it at a distance.


    The shard flew at a rapid speed before hitting the distant wall and vanishing there. I looked at him with a bit of confusion, but looking at him, it felt like he was smiling at me.


    "Good. That was excellent. Normally people, even elemental takes a few tries before actually creating an ice shard that fast," he spoke before speaking,


    "Since it was getting boring¡­ I guess this would be fine for a change. So Mr. Reaper, would you like to learn Ice Magic from me and receive the Legacy of the Ice Maniptor from me?"


    I looked at him for a few moments before asking,"How long will it take?"


    While I did want to learn Ice Magic, the amount of time I had was really less. The max I can spare here is¡­ about a week, I guess. Then I would need to go back outside the dungeon and prepare for my next move.


    "That depends upon your learning speed, honestly. With your monstrous talent, it should take quite less than usual, though how much less¡­ that is something that is hard for me to determine as well," he spoke, pondering about it.


    I spoke with a bit of sigh,"I don''t think I can spare more than a week here though¡­ Don''t know how much I can learn about here. Well, not wasting any time, let''s start immediately then." At least I should take whatever I could, though he spoke as heughed loudly at that,"What could be more important than having the chance to master aplete element, huh?" I made a small smile as I turned to him and said,"saving the on which I live."


    At my words, he first looked at me with narrowed eyes before asking,"you don''t seem to be joking about it¡­ Hmmm¡­ just what is going on in the outside world?"


    Casually waving my hand, I answered,"Nothing much, just a bunch of aliens trying to conquer our."


    I looked at his baffled face before he shook his head and said,"That doesn''t sound like ''nothing much.'' Well¡­ looking at how desperate you sound, it doesn''t seem like we have much time either."


    I nodded at him as I answered,"that is why I need to hurry."


    He then made an understanding nod before he moved towards me and spoke,"give me your left hand."


    Though confused, I showed him my left hand and after observing my hand, especially that mark given by Lucifer when he formed the contract with me, he narrowed his eyes at me.


    "You already have a contract with someone?" he asked with a serious expression, and I nodded as I spoke.


    "Yeah¡­ a remnant of someone''s wishes. It''s more of a deal, though."


    He then closed his eyes before speaking,"well¡­ show me your right hand."


    Not minding much, I then gave him my right hand, at which he began pouring a bit of his energy. Soon enough, a diamond shaped mark formed at the centre, at the back of my hand.


    "Well, since the Ice Magic wasn''t rejected, perhaps the other contract with that wish guy must be a rted element. You are quite lucky, honestly. If it had been a different element, forming a contract would have been impossible," he spoke, and I smiled at him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''I wonder about that,'' I thought with a smile as I asked,


    "So? What does this mark do?"


    He then nodded before vanishing away from my front. Then, soon enough, a small miniature elemental formed on my right shoulder. I looked at it for a few moments as he spoke.


    "With this, we are connected now and I can go along with you on your journey. We will learn about Ice Magic whenever we will get time. Now then, would you like to learn about Ice Magic now, or proceed on your journey first?"


    I looked at him, a bit baffled. This was actually the best option for me right now. This way I can learn Ice Magic along with continuing all my ns! "You look satisfied," the elemental spoke in a happy voice and I nodded at him as I really was.


    "While I would love to learn Ice Magic right now, I guess it would be better to clear this dungeon first," I said as I tried figuring out the best way from here onwards.


    He epted my choice before sitting on my shoulders and I then proceeded to go deeper into the cave where the door to the next floor was.


    One step at a time, I kept moving down. Though I wasn''t wasting any of my time as I went down. During the time I was walking, I kept asking about Ice Magic from the elemental.


    Though it made me wonder about something,


    "Hey, what''s your name, though?"


    He looked at me for a few moments and spoke in a pride filled voice,"Ymir. It''s Ymir."


    I peeked at him with a slight smile on my face before looking forward as I spoke,"that''s a really cool name."


    His face started beaming with happiness and I chuckled before proceeding deeper into the cave before a gate finally appeared in front of us.


    It was a giant gate made up of rocks, vines, wood and leaves with a forest visible on the other side. I then smiled before venturing deep into the gate¡­ to the 20th floor.


    Where the Nature Elemental was present. It was one of the easiest floors of the 6 Elemental Dungeons. Mostly because my Death Element could literally wipe out the entire forest at once, making it a piece of cake for me to reach the next floor.


    Though¡­


    This time..


    ''I wonder if things would be different.''


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