Chapter 971: Alexia’s Investment [Monthly Bonus 1]
"My actions would depend on how much higher that chance of survival is," Alexia said. "I have invested quite a lot of time and resources into just you since you exceeded all my other options by around 23%."
In other words, the next best chance of survival after Arthur’s 85% was 62%, a significant gap.
However, Arthur was far more concerned about what she had said before mentioning the chance of survival.
"You have invested a lot of time and resources into me?"
Sure, Alexia had provided him with information that helped his ascension to power, but he had still been the one to expend the resources and effort to make use of that information.
For the Third Magic, he had been the one to have his subordinates in Hell search the entirety of the Crystal Realm for a planet-core law crystal that suited his needs. His subordinates, whom he paid, were the ones who rearranged the star system he used to cast the spell.
His parents had been the ones who helped with the energy gathering, and even in Varona, he had been the one to bring Lostvayne under his control.
She had indeed helped him, but Arthur didn’t consider this assistance enough to count as ’a lot of time and resources,’ especially given that Alexia’s perspective would be vastly different from that of any normal High-Tier Deity, considering the influence she possessed and the likelihood that she had entire universes under her control.
Arthur didn’t voice any of these thoughts, but they were clear to Alexia after the question he had asked. She didn’t seem to mind, instead turning her eyes to a streak of light moving through space, approaching the battleship they were standing on at immense speed.
"Remember when I said I’d been gathering oppressed children from different universes and training them?" Alexia asked.
Arthur nodded. "Yeah, I remember that. You mentioned it only a few minutes ago."
"Well, some of those children are on their way back now. Why don’t you come take a look?"
Arthur felt curious about why Alexia wanted him to meet these children she had been taking in from across different universes, and how that connected to their current conversation, so he followed her.
The two of them leapt off the hull of the ship, moving through space in a slight vertical arc toward the landing bay of the battleship.
The bay was open as the streak of light Alexia had been watching revealed itself to be a small exploration-type spaceship equipped with weapons. It flew into the dock, and Arthur and Alexia followed it into the hangar.
The moment they landed, the security systems immediately locked onto them, but upon identifying Alexia, the laser cannons redirected their aim to Arthur, who was an unknown.
With a snap of her fingers, the systems powered down completely, no longer categorising Arthur as a potential threat, and this activity alerted the personnel working inside the hangar.
Alexia wasn’t concealing her presence, and neither was Arthur, so even without the security systems activating, they would have been noticed anyway.
"What?"
"It’s Her Highness!"
"Lady Alexia?!"
Their superhuman ears picked up the surprised voices, and within seconds, several officers rushed over, saluting Alexia before lowering their heads respectfully.
Then the highest-ranked officer stepped forward and spoke.
"What brings you here, Lady Alexia?"
"Nothing serious. I just wanted to introduce an associate of mine to a few of our special soldiers," she replied while walking past the bowing officials.
However, when she noticed that Arthur wasn’t following, she stopped and turned toward him, seeing his eyes fixed on the ship that had just docked in the hangar.
"Oh, you can already tell from this distance?"
Arthur turned his narrowed eyes to her, his expression unchanged as he replied, "I noticed one godslayer on a planet with over four billion people before. I’m fairly certain I can notice twelve on the same battleship with me."
He continued walking forward, slipping his hands into his trouser pockets as he added,
"So the oppressed children you’ve been gathering from across universes are godslayers, aren’t they?"
Alexia nodded. "Indeed. I’ve been gathering your kind from as many universes as I can reach."
Hearing this, the officials present realised that Arthur was one of the godslayers Alexia had been gathering over the years, and they assumed he was the newest addition to their forces.
However, the next interaction overturned that assumption completely.
As the godslayers inside the ship stepped out, all dressed in spacesuits and holding their helmets, Arthur asked, "Do they know about my existence?"
"Yes. I’ve taught them about you," Alexia responded. "It’s part of their basic training."
"And do they know my name?" Arthur asked again.
"Of course."
Arthur nodded silently, moving his gaze from Alexia toward the docked ship. He took a step forward and vanished, reappearing 50 metres above, on the elevated boarding platform connected to the spacecraft’s entrance.
Naturally, his sudden appearance startled the godslayers.
However, they felt something far more shocking the moment they looked at him. Every one of them experienced an instinctive reverence rising within them, an overwhelming urge to bow before him that conflicted with their knowledge of whom they worked for.
They immediately went on guard, some even dropping their helmets as weapons appeared in their hands.
But Arthur completely ignored their hostility and conflicted expressions as he spoke.
"Hello there," he greeted casually. "I am Arthur Vaughn, and if your instincts haven’t already told you, I am the Origin of you godslayers."
The words Arthur spoke made one of them, the strongest among them, who was an Intermediate Mid-Tier Deity, widen his eyes in shock as he muttered, "Origin? Wait... Progenitor?"
Hearing him, Arthur turned his attention toward him.
"Indeed. I’m your Progenitor. If I didn’t exist, you wouldn’t be godslayers. That should be enough for an introduction, shouldn’t it?"
The godslayers were equal parts stunned and confused. Some of them noticed Alexia standing on the ground level and looked toward her, but she didn’t say a word and simply watched Arthur curiously, wondering what he was planning to do.
Her silence on Arthur’s claim to be their Progenitor, combined with the strange feeling within them, made them more inclined to believe him, especially since they’d been taught from day one that the reason they had all been gathered was because of said Progenitor.
Arthur, however, didn’t give them time to process their confusion as he clapped loudly to draw their attention and then spoke.
"Now then, let’s get straight to why I came up here. I couldn’t help noticing that all twelve of you are Elder-Breeds.
That’s rather rare. I haven’t encountered many of you around.
But even rarer is the fact that all of you possess something I had once believed to be unique to myself. You possess anti-divinity."
More than the fact that they were godslayers or Elder-Breeds, it was the fact that he sensed anti-divinity from them that captured Arthur’s attention.
He looked at the one who had spoken earlier and then spoke again in his True Voice.
|Show it to me.|
The moment he said those words, the godslayer’s body released a powerful burst of anti-divinity, the force knocking the others beside him to the ground.
Given the narrow path of the boarding platform, some were nearly pushed off, but Arthur wordlessly used his Spatial Authority to place them safely on the ground without even looking their way.
As for the unnamed godslayer who had unleashed his energy, he appeared shocked by what had occurred, which was expected since he never intended to release his anti-divinity simply because Arthur had instructed him to.
However, his body had responded to Arthur’s will before he could even think of resisting.
Seeing his evident confusion, Arthur glanced toward Alexia on the hangar floor.
"Did you not tell them about the abilities a Progenitor possesses?"
"Even if they know about your Race Command, experiencing it would still be surprising," Alexia replied, speaking slightly louder.
Arthur considered her words in silence for a moment before nodding.
"I suppose that makes sense."
He then addressed the godslayers again. "Anyway, you all should come down so no one falls off again. While a fall from this height would be unlikely to harm any of you, I’d rather you didn’t fall in the first place."
Arthur jumped down from the platform and landed on the hangar floor, and all the other godslayers still on the boarding platform followed him, even if they hadn’t intended to.
The strongest among them continued to radiate anti-divinity, and despite his attempts to suppress his energy, it inevitably erupted again as his body remained influenced by Arthur’s Race Command.
His expression toward Arthur became apprehensive once more, and noticing it, Arthur spoke.
"You’re worried, aren’t you? It seems I have the power to control your actions and make your body obey my commands against your own will."
The man was silent for a moment before finally responding.
"Yes," he said with a strained voice. "Wouldn’t you be concerned if another being could simply command you with their voice and make you do their bidding?"
Arthur chuckled at that.
"Indeed, I would be worried. But your concerns are misplaced, you could say. The things you’re probably afraid of, like the possibility of me ordering you to straight-up die, are impossible.
Progenitors are the Origins of races, not absolute rulers over them. At least, we are not born as absolute rulers over them."
Arthur shrugged at that last part, his hands slipping into his pockets as he continued.
"Though having near-total authority over the majority of my race across the Cosmos is something I would certainly like.
Millions of Progenitors before me have achieved that, and the result was the collective rise in the strength of their race.
I’ve been told by Alexia that most of you were oppressed in your home universes. Likely by gods, I guess.
The Progenitor of the gods is one existence who holds near-total authority over members of their race, and the outcome is the immense collective power and influence the gods possess across numerous universes.
This universe we’re currently in is one under the rule of dragons.
I’ve had a few conversations with the Progenitor of the Dragons and the most Ancient Dragons serving under him, and I must say that consolidating the power of a race under the leadership of its Progenitor is one of the best decisions that can be made, both for the benefit of the Progenitor and for the members of that race who will eventually come into existence throughout the Cosmos."
Arthur’s voice had a somewhat solemn tone as he spoke, his expression unreadable. However, he quickly returned to his usual casual demeanour and continued.
"But I’m getting sidetracked. We were discussing Race Command, weren’t we?
As I said, I can’t use Race Command to simply tell you to ’die’. I would need something on the level of your True Name to issue a command like that, to make you end your own life, and Race Command also cannot be used to demand you give me your True Name.
So no, I can’t simply command you to kill yourself. I can command you to attack someone, though, which is exactly what I want you to do right now."
|With that said, attack me.|
