Chapter 143 What did just Happen?
"Of course we will choose flight, dumba.s.s." Professor Frances said as she and her Companions started to prepare themselves. "We do not need to fight them now! All we have to do is just escape!"
"That is what I am thinking too. Good thing you"re not that pigheaded." Alex replied as he and his Companions stared at the Pantheon members warily.
Machi, Tetra, and Myth looked like they were all raring to go, but before they could make a move, Foresight raised her left hand, as if she was motioning for them to stop.
"What the h.e.l.l, Foresight?" Myth grumbled as she stopped on her tracks. "These guys just attacked us without any context! Dammit, we should beat them up now!"
"Foresight, I do not know what you are thinking, but I don"t think we should just talk to them." Tetra said as he seemed to glare at Foresight. "With that Cla.s.s SSS Threat alive, you will have a limited future sight regarding the Travelers and the Alchemists! Why are you risking yourself for something like that?"
"Hmm." Machi said, as if this "hm" was already enough to explain what he was thinking about.
"Just let me talk with them first, ok?" Foresight said as she stared specifically at Alex with her mesmerizing eyes. "I swear that we will be safe."
After saying these words, Foresight walked forward by two steps, before she started talking with Alex"s entourage.
"If you will give back Duplicator to us, I promise that we will spare you from any kinds of bodily harm." Foresight said before her eyes landed on Lauren"s unconscious body and the still affected Superhumans. "Oh, and if you will also release Signum and everyone here, we will allow you to leave this place without any kind of repercussions."
"Hmm…" After hearing what Foresight said, Alex suddenly cupped his chin, as if he was thinking of something interesting.
His eyes which looked alert before, suddenly changed as it suddenly looked sleazy and treacherous.
Professor Frances, who was standing behind Alex, let out a sleazy smile of her own when she realized what Alex was about to say.
"Ok, I will give back Duplicator to you, along with all of these Superhumans and Signum, if and only if you will give the Legacy of Tartaros to us." Alex said as he and Professor Frances started cackling merrily. "If you give that Legacy to us, we will give them all back!"
"No f**king way that we will do that!" Before Foresight could answer, Myth interjected her with her heated reply. "You want to get that? There is no way that we will allow that!"
"Hahaha! So the Legacy is indeed with you guys!" Alex said as he looked like he could not stop laughing. "Oh my! I just said that in order to get a reaction from you four. How could I have expected that one of you will actually confirm that you have the Legacy of Tartaros? Tsk, tsk, tsk, what an amateur move..."
"Eh?" It was only at this point that Myth realized her blunder. "Eh!!!"
"This is why I wanted to be the only one talking to them." Foresight said as she shook her head. "Now look at what you have done."
"But-"
"Leader, please let me deal with this." Foresight replied, this time with a little steel in her voice. "Please, let me do this."
"…." In response to what Foresight said, Myth only bowed her head down as she continued glaring at Alex.
"So, you want the Legacy of Tartaros in exchange for Duplicator and all the Superhumans here?" Foresight asked Alex as she tilted her head. "That is what you want?"
"Well, now that things have escalated to this, I suppose my answer to that is…Yes." Alex replied as he paced on his spot comfortably. "So what, will you bite or not?"
"Sorry, but I cannot give this Legacy that you are looking for." Foresight said with a light smile on her face. The smile might look innocent, but Alex felt a slight dread after seeing this smile. "That Legacy is something that cannot be obtained by anyone else, especially by people like you. Please change your demands. Demand something more… reasonable"
"She"s serious about not giving the Legacy to us." Alina whispered to Alex. "Foresight will not use the Legacy to save everyone here. I think she would rather use a different way to save them."
"Of course I already expected that to happen." Alex thought to himself as he looked back at Foresight"s smile.
Alex knew that Foresight surely is planning something in order to disable Alex and his Companions.
There is no way that Foresight will just talk to them here normally.
She surely is still scheming now. That is just how clairvoyants fight.
But, Alex is Alex. He already had a contingency for that.
"Oh, is that so? That"s too bad…" Alex drawled as he snapped his fingers. "If you do not want to negotiate with me now, maybe you will change your mind after this."
At the instant that Alex snapped his fingers, he activated his FED Manipulation once more, and this time, he used a different kind of attack.
Instead of fear or lethargy, what Alex made every Superhuman feel was an "Intense feeling of Loyalty towards Alex".
Every Superhuman around Alex, excluding the Pantheon members, all stood up as they formed a protective circle around Alex.
They gave Alex fawning expressions on their faces, as if they will sacrifice their life for Alex"s sake.
"…."
Alex felt bile in his throat, as he knew that what he was doing was slightly unethical, but he knew that he must do this if he wanted to gain a leverage against the Pantheon.
Besides, Alex will also put them back to normal once he was done with everything here.
For now, it was time for Alex to use his acting skills.
And his goal right now is to act as a fearsome Supervillain.
"So what, will you still not negotiate with me?" Alex said as he started taunting Foresight. "If you don"t, then all of these Superhumans will stay under my control! Do you want them to stay like this? Don"t say no, since Pantheon is all about saving those who need help!"
"Oh, and do not try attacking us right now." Alex said as he wagged his fingers. "All of these Superhumans around me are extremely loyal to me, and they will do everything that they can to protect me if you attack us. Please don"t do that. Some of them might die after all."
"….."
Even if Alex still felt bad with what he was doing, he was also somewhat amused, as he realized that he actually sounded like a Supervillain now.
Way to go, Alex!
"…" Foresight"s only reply to that was a silent stare, while Myth and Tetra looked like they were about to boil in rage.
"You… I trusted you before." Tetra said as lightning crackled around him. "I thought you were a good person… How could you do this?"
"I have to do what I have to do." Alex replied as he tried to make himself look dismissive. "You all know that feeling right? When you want to get something, but there are some obstacles that you have to topple in order to obtain what you want. Right now, you four are my obstacles, and what I am doing now is just my way to topple you all!"
That statement of Alex was the breaking point, as even Foresight"s calm exterior was replaced with an irritated expression on her face.
If the Pantheon were already reacting like this, Alex"s allies also had their own reactions.
"Hey, slow down, hooman." Asteria said as she pinched Alex"s cheek. "You are getting too immersed in your evil role now! I don"t want you turning real evil! That will hurt our Mission Grade!"
"Hahaha, I don"t care if Eldritch is just acting now. I like your Supervillain role! Keep it up!" Mephisto the little devil said as he gave Alex a thumbs up.
From the looks of it, Alex"s acting as a villain has impressed an actual devil.
"Eldritch, you really are one terrifying guy." That was what Professor Frances said as she looked at the affected Superhumans by Alex. "With just your Emotion Manipulation alone, you were able to do this! You… you have the real potential to be fearsome Supervillain! Oh right, you are technically one right now…"
"…I do not like what you are doing now, but I can understand why you did this." Asteria said to Alex as she let out a sigh. "Just… put them back to normal once we are done here."
As for Queen Mother, she only shrugged her shoulders, as if she just accepted what Alex did.
Well, Queen Mother has a whole race loyal to her before, so maybe the sight of countless creatures being loyal to a single creature was already normal for her.
"What, are you guys still speechless? I need an answer here!" Alex said as his loyal Superhumans tightened their ring around Alex. "Will you all just stay quiet there? h.e.l.lo?"
"There is still no way that we can give you the Legacy even with what you are doing now." Foresight replied with the same d.a.m.ned smile back on her face. "Please, don"t escalate what you are doing now. It will just not end well for you."
"This woman…" Alex thought angrily to himself as he realized that even with what he did, Foresight was still not budging even by an inch.]
Foresight really have some nerves of steel, but even steel will degrade as long as it was introduced under pressure.
So, Alex will just have to apply this pressure.
"Ok, since you are CLEARLY not in the mood to negotiate now, we have to just take our leave." Alex said as he let out a disappointed sigh. "Let"s just talk about this on another day."
Before Foresight could say something else, Alex"s loyal Superhumans flanked around him and his allies as they started to leave.
"My a.s.sociates and I… will wait until you"re already ready to give what we want." Alex said as he waved his hands, farewell style. "If you are ready to part with the Legacy, just call us, and we will be there!"
Alex"s entourage then all flew towards the horizon, leaving the Pantheon members all angry and confused.