"So I was just testing my artefact that I created for special situations and it kinda went off…does that explain everything?" I explain 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 the last 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 in coming 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 place. 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 plastered 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 relaxed expression. They were even relaxed 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 glare 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 Planet 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 a large 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 time comprehending 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 slightly complicated 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 she commanded,"let's go. Nothing happened today," and everyone looked at her with a complicated 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 place lacks 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 Planet 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. Maybe later 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 play 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 clarifying 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 Nyx coming to meet Zuriel at such a late 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 I come 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?"
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