~Boom~
The night sky was laden with sparkling fireworks, and the entire Tower had turned festive. Mazton had opened the bar for free drinks for everyone regardless of their rank, talents and worth to celebrate the occasion.
It went without saying the bar was more crowded than ever. Ashton saw Vimur and Kass enthusiastically indulging in a drinking game from a distance. At the same time, countless others placed bets on them.
"Laihud, I didn't expect this from you!" Ashton playfully yelled as Laihud placed a bet on Vimur.
The healer shyly smiled and moved away from the crowd.
Usually, the dwarves were known for their love for alcohol, whereas the elves kept their distance from such substances. But the sight contradicted that belief.
Kass, an elf, was chugging all the booze she could get her hands on. In contrast, Vulcan was holed up inside his room, probably working on the gift he had promised Ashton following his victory over Phantom.
The party's objective was to make connections, and boy, did people want to connect with him.
Ashton couldn't decline them either for the Earth's sake, as he required all the help he could get to develop the planet. But that didn't mean his social battery couldn't run out.
'Thankfully, they took the hint and left me alone-'
While Ashton enjoyed his drink, he felt someone tap on his shoulder.
'Me and my cursed tongue-'
"Irina, Verina, what a pleasant surprise!" Ashton smiled before offering them his hand, "It's been a while."
Despite running in the same circle, it had been about a year since he last saw the twins, but they looked as stunning as ever. But not everything was the same as both had grown a lot while Ashton was preoccupied with Phantom and all that jazz.
"It has," Verina replied with a charming smile, "and you've become quite a hotshot, Mr Reaper."
"Heard you were on earth for a while," Irina muttered, "how are things back there?"
"It's all good now," Ashton replied, "You'd be surprised with the progress we have made there. That said, both of you should visit Alucard sometime, he won't admit it, but he misses you dearly."
The twins enthusiastically nodded, "We have been planning to for a while but never get the time to-"
"You can get there right now if you'd like."
The twins were confused by Ashton's words. Maybe he meant he could arrange a ship for them or something. Noticing their perplexed emotions, Ashton rephrased his words.
"You can return to Earth this very moment. Only if you'd like to, of course."
"How many drinks have you had so far?" Irina scoffed. Even Verina couldn't help but smile.
Ashton had to be drunk for spouting such nonsense. Even if they were to travel at lightspeed, it would take them six to seven weeks to travel to Earth, yet he claimed they could get to Earth instantly?
Before Ashton could prove them wrong, he saw Anna, and all his thoughts left his mind.
"Close your mouth. You're drooling." Irina playfully remarked, but Ashton paid no attention to her words.
"Can you blame him?" Verina chimed in, "She looks stunning!"
Anna was dressed to kill, and judging by every man's lust-filled eyes, just one word from her and the men would turn the entire Tower into a graveyard.
"Aren't you enjoying me a bit too much?" Anna whispered after planting a kiss on Ashton's lips.
"Oh, we're just getting started," Ashton replied.
Without taking his eyes off her, Ashton could feel the jealous eyes pointed at him. How can a man get so lucky in his life!? His limitless power was enough to make everyone cautious, but now he had to flaunt his one-in-trillion kind of beauty in front of everyone!
Preposterous!
[Ashton-]
'I know.'
The man they had been waiting for was finally there. Flintmace smiled in Ashton's direction, and he replied in kind. There was something different about him other than the colour of his skin.
Despite being a Xyran aware of his secret, Ashton couldn't feel a tinge of ill-will reflect from Flintmace's eyes. It honestly freaked Ashton, as he couldn't get a read on a person for the first time in his life.
[Relax, maybe we are being overly cautious of him.]
'You're kidding? That's an S-grade being! One wrong move, and we'll get wiped out in a second.'
[Exactly, and yet he hasn't. What does that tell you about him?]
Ashton went silent for a moment. Asta was correct; had Flintmace desired to kill him, not even a god could save him.
If Flintmace did that, sure, there'd be people who'll raise questions, but realistically speaking, would anyone even try to stand up against someone like him to avenge a B-grade nobody like him?
Yeah, not likely.
Unfortunately, that meant that Ashton would have to go along with whatever Flintmace had planned for him.
The crowd went silent as soon as Flintmace assumed the podium.
"I would like to thank everyone for joining tonight's festivities. But more than that, I would like to thank Reaper and the Ghosts for their extraordinary achievement."
The drunk crowd erupted into cheers. Even the VIPs didn't hold their tongues back, and who could have blamed them? With Phantom's death, a huge burden had been lifted off their shoulders.
Flintmace raised his hand, and everyone quickly settled down, not wanting to test his patience.
"But Phantom's defeat is old news and not the reason why I'm standing in front of all you wonderful and capable people." Flintmace smiled broadly, "There's another important announcement I would like to make."
Following Flintmace's words, everyone's attention was strictly on him.
"As all of you know, every Tower master has a right to pick their successor as never to leave the tower without a leader," Flintmace mumbled while walking up to Ashton, "It is my responsibility to carry out the tradition, and at this moment, it's my honour and pleasure to announce Reaper as my successor to the Tower!"
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