...While Ver Drilon was hurrying towards the adjacent city to aid the clone whom he was barely acquainted with, the man he called Sam was walking down a secluded alley of the town where his former base was.
At the end of that dark road awaited a person with tall but lean built. Half of this person"s face was hidden under a cap.
The system user in his middle-aged salaryman looked at him with surprise. He had been staring blankly ahead for some time now, busy visualizing what his future would become, yet even with being engrossed to that, he was fairly confident that no one would be able to escape his notice. At least not from where his eyes laid.
"I didn"t see him coming." The "uncle" watched the other person turned to him, his shadows that were barely noticeable on the ground elongated. His steps didn"t stop though despite feeling a bit of chill in his heart regarding this person"s sudden arrival.
"You come." The voice was quite higher pitched than most men. With that single line, it was pretty easy to discern that the voice came from someone way younger than him.
He chucked, attempting to chase the nervousness away, "I"m no more than a homeless man right now. Will you be really willing to take me in?"
The lean and tall guy wearing a cap snorted, seemingly put in a bad mood by that question. With that same boyish voice, he retorted, "It"s you who made contact with me wanting to go under that man"s wings. Let"s stop the chattering here. I just want this night to end already."
"Sam" had already talked with this person before and had an impression that he was a carefree and playful immoral host. Why was he suddenly so grumpy? He didn"t understand at all.
"Probably tired? But is he more tired than me whose home got raided by a traitor and probably burned into ashes by now?"
Shrugging, he introduced himself, "Just so we can officially be acquainted, my name is Samuel Lim."
The boyish guy"s eyes coldly glimmer a bit under the night sky when the stars peeked out of the clouds for a few seconds. "Yeah, h.e.l.lo. I"m Leo Jones. But before anything else, let"s just go and leave this place. d.a.m.n. You don"t know how it"s like to be everywhere against your will. I"ve been through that since this afternoon. I"m so tired that I just want to blow the whole world up with nukes."
Though confused, Samuel Lim nodded and accepted the black round device handed over to him by the teenage boy. While the teleportation to Country F" Southern Alina City was ongoing, he heard the other grumble, "I really hate this day... That clone is a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, that non-host is a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, and even that cloneless guy is a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Why are f*cking hateful b.a.s.t.a.r.ds everywhere?!"
Of course, the man didn"t get Leo"s grumbling at all, hence he remained quiet. After all, Leo seemed in a very bad mood, and given that he was a level below him, he deemed it wise to not add himself to whatever was making the younger boy upset.
"Better fix myself, I guess," Before the white light engulfed the figures of the both of them, he canceled the face-changer and reverted to a young man around Ver Drilon"s age. Now he was back to his gentle C Empire denizen"s features. Suppressing the nervousness in his heart, he thought, "I"ll be meeting that high person. I wonder just how large is the difference between my former Leader and Him? How otherworldly are those Legendary Level 9s?"
When he closed his eyes as to not them blinded by the sudden flash of lights, he felt extreme antic.i.p.ation surging from within.
...
In some of the texts uncovered the group of intellectuals immoral hosts mentioned to Sofony by the Blood Countess, those that could level 9 were usually referred by the ancient people as demiG.o.ds due to their strength, power, and aura that were so miles away from those at Level 8.
The greatest defining features of these people were there endless supply of points which would get everything they wished done within seconds. Apart from this, while Level 8 system users could barely kill a level 7 and level 8 due to some items that could still shield against Level 8 attacks, Level 9 system users were granted supreme control over one or more nature power. It differed from person to person, depending from their natural inclination or disposition. But each nature power could instantly obliterate many Level 8 immoral hosts at once.
Take Bathory for example. If her opponent, per chance, was that Mao fellow, the leader of the local organization of C Empire, there wouldn"t be any suspense in the fight. Once she used her other nature power, Blood Calling, that old guy would have surely exploded from within, turning into a mere puddle of blood and flesh. The Blood Countess was not merely a Seer; she also had complete authority over Blood. All beings with blood would tremble under her gaze once she was angered.
In reality, a while ago, this was the natural suppression Bathory"s aura emitted to make Sofony feel so uncomfortable and threatened.
The Countess was actually powerful enough to turn the woman into a b.l.o.o.d.y mess, literally. If not for her consideration of the girl"s father, she would have long enslaved the other. Though this was the case, when she lost her reason, she still ended up attempting to enslave Sofony, and she would have succeeded were it not for the presence of an enigma, Gio. – a mysterious young man claiming to be Sofony"s non-host.
"Why can"t I teleport?" Bathory"s eyes turned big at this discovery. "I can"t also start the healing... I don"t think even the strongest Level 10"s non-host can render someone like me this helpless..."
Gio suddenly said to Sofony who was still standing to his left side agape. "Sofy, give any sharp weapon."
It took the woman three seconds to get herself out of the daze. With furrowed eyebrows, interchangeably threw glances at the two. Only after that did she ask Gio, "What do you prefer me to get you?"
The guy simply replied, "Anything will do."
"He said anything sharp..." She pretended to think hard about it before talking to the system for a while and withdrawing the one she had chosen.
"Here!" Sofony mischievously threw the item to him.
Seeing what it was, Gio also couldn"t help but laugh. Bathory gritted her teeth after seeing the weapon, her face showing deep humiliation.
"They freakin" want to cut me through something used in tree felling?!!!"
When the weapon started creating rhythmic noises that could make even the strongest of hearts palpitate, Bathory felt that she had had enough. She wouldn"t simply watch Gio raise it and swing it to her. There was no way she would let a d.a.m.n chainsaw had its rotating teeth cut through her!
"I"ll start now. Sofy, if you want you can include this scene to your livestream. Just don"t forget to blur my image," said Gio as the red-haired woman struggled under his boot.
A second later, before the chainsaw fully descended, Bathory took a deep breath, her eyes held fire that badly wanted to condemn the two people to death. She spoke using a tone full of grudge and desire for destruction. "Sofony Mendez and Gio Albarez... You two are good. Hah. I"ll remember this humiliation!!! I"ll make sure to never forget!!! The next time that we meet, I"ll fully show you why an old monster like me is called a demiG.o.d!!!"
There was something weird with her shout. Not to mention those made from gla.s.ses that broke, the whole floor kept shaking and the walls had even cracked!
"What the h.e.l.l, not this again!" Twice this day, Gio got hit and startled by the same type of voice attack. Right. Bathory"s whole declaration was a mental attack. This time, the one who screamed with a disturbing noise frequency was on a much higher level than Leo. It was the type of roar that could kill even a true deaf!
At that moment, Gio once again felt the unfairness of being a host. People like them could possess means of a.s.sault like this which he really had no way of defending against! It was really p.i.s.sing him off!
"d.a.m.n!" He once again cursed out.
A moment of distraction allowed the enemy to get away from him.
Both Sofony and him got frozen for a couple of moments by the deafening scream. It was especially potent since it resembled a flock of bats". Too ear-splitting and dizzying.
When Sofony recovered from the daze, several seconds already pa.s.sed. Her eardrums still tingling uncomfortably, she panically asked, "Where did she go?"
A frown was on Gio"s face. The man was busy catching his breath so he only replied, "There is no way she can teleport. The ghost I have is precisely the Level 7 that she"s talking about. I made it employed a few high level barriers around. Even she would be delayed by ten or so seconds by these barriers since she would have to break them through sheer strength."
He didn"t continue saying that those precious ten seconds were enough for him to catch up on the enemy. He instead added, "It must be her escaping through a layer." Written in his face was his great annoyance at this kind of moves that coveniently allows extremely high level system users to tunnel through s.p.a.ce.
"How did he know so much more than me?"
Sofony was suppressing the desire to ask him this. She knew it was not a good time to inquire about those things now. In silence she contemplated, then remembered that she already encountered that term before. Moreover, she personally got into one through sacrificing so many items, rewarded pa.s.ses and tickets, and points to the system.
"Legends say the world is actually full of layers that mostly stay unseen by normal eyes. It"s such a wonderful concept... I didn"t imagine the Blood Countess will use it to flee... A mysterious realm similar to where that old freak brought you in that time..."
When Sofony muttered the latter to herself, Gio actually heard it. The overflowing hate lacing her soft voice did not go unnoticed by his sharp hearing...