Chapter 1175: Offered
Michael peered through the thick walls of the prison. And there, off in the distance above, he saw the same Light signature that came from the Tri-star Patriarch.
"So that’s where he ran off to," Michael said.
After destroying his company, Michael had always wondered where the patriarch had hidden himself. It wasn’t just a matter of curiosity, but also safety. On the back of his mind, he was always going to wonder whether the Patriarch would appear with a knife and strike him in the back.
But now, at least he knew where he went off to. Now with the Ersatz, having been blacklisted by the elites he called his friends. And not to mention, his territories and his treasures have all been bitten off the other lions and wolves of the Upper Echelons.
"He won’t be coming here until later this evening," Huntrax said. "But it’s still better for you to leave and wait until Eldea comes."
That was Michael’s first plan if there was truly no other way for him to release Huntrax.
However... that was not the case this time.
He looked at the manacles that bound Hunrax to the wall. The ’indestructible’ material that limited the Heavenly Knight’s power into that of a mortal.
Michael’s eyes glistened with recognition. He had seen this before. Once. Back when he was teleported into a strange castle that was located in the Elven region.
These manacles were the same one that bound Kuno in her prison.
It was the very same reason as to why the Original Vampire had disappeared from the world for thousands of years.
"Stand back," Michael said to Huntrax.
The Heavenly Shooter looked at Michael with a strange gaze. He didn’t flinch as Michael raised his hand, his index finger pointed towards the manacle.
The curious gaze on Huntrax quickly changed into one of surprise, shock, and disbelief once a prismatic light started to gather at the tip of his finger.
[Unity Gun] powered in Michael’s hands.
And with a calculated gaze, he shot the gun at the manacle. The beam shot perfectly into the inch-thick shackle.
And immediately, the manacle started to melt. It became like ice that was shot with a literal hot beam.
The power of the Unity Gun had seemingly turned the material into something more blood-like. Dark, deep, red liquid started to drip out of the manacle.
These Manacles were none other than Kuno’s original power. For some reason, the Progenitor of the Vampires had to seal her powers during the event that separated the Ancient Era and the Modern one.
And to do that, she sealed her own powers in these strange, blood-like solid materials all over the world.
Michael had only seen it back where he found Kuno. He would have never expected to see it here as well.
And now that he thought about it, this fortress looked the same as the gothic castle he saw back in the Elven region.
This prison, in particular, had the same gloomy, dark, appearance as that place.
This led him to believe that the Ersatz accidentally found this underground gothic castle and decided to build a fortress overground.
Kuno would be glad to hear about this.
...
Huntrax’s surprise couldn’t be more overstated. He watched as the manacle that had chained his peak Nascent Spirit power suddenly turned into a strange liquid.
He couldn’t believe it. Even at his full power, Huntrax wouldn’t even be able to make a single dent on the manacles. He tried.
In fact, he was sure that these manacles were indestructible. It was infamous for being so. After all, it was one of the artifacts that was left behind during the Ancient Era.
Soon, the manacles had dripped down into a blood puddle on the ground.
Huntrax felt his power returning to his body.
But even that could not overpower the surprise as he saw Michael raise his hand and start to absorb the red liquid on the ground.
Then, once the ground had become dry, the boy turned to him with a smile with all the casualness in the world.
"Ready to get out?"
...
Michael saved the blood in his inventory. After all, this would empower Kuno and let her return to her original state.
He watched as Huntrax started to get his bearings. Watching a Heavenly Knight, one at the peak of the Nascent Spirit power, start to gather Aubility around his body was a very intimidating sight.
Reality itself seemed to shift around Huntrax. It felt like it was bowing to him. When Huntrax stretched his hands, the world around him bent to his movements. When he breathed, air itself gushed into his lungs with naturality.
ChatJK6, are you watching this?
[Affirmative. The estimated time of completion for learning Nascent Influence is 1 minute and 26 seconds.]
"You’ll have to forgive me for taking my time in stretching," Huntrax said. "We won’t get out of this place without having to trudge a path of blood."
Michael smiled. "Take all the time you need."
With a Heavenly Knight by his side, Michael wasn’t all that worried about escaping.
Instead, he was more interested in shadowing Huntrax. It wasn’t everyday that he gets to watch a peak Nascent Spirit cultivator at his strongest.
"I think it’ll be best if you stay here," Huntrax said, lunging his legs in a stretch. "There are four Nascent Spirit cultivators here. And three are above the 6th stage."
Michael nodded. He can watch Huntrax through his Drones.
Just then, he suddenly heard something in his head.
"Master!"
It was none other than the mischievous slime.
Where are you?
"I’m assimilating with the Ersatz! They don’t know that I’m here!"
Michael couldn’t hold out his curiosity and looked through the Mini Drone in Fudge’s cape.
And there, he saw that the violet slime had taken over an unsuspecting Ersatz member. He had taken possession of a man’s body and was now among their kind!
...
...
...
"Bah! Those humans. They think of us as the villains. But little do they know. We’re the salvation!"
"Hear, hear! We long to live in peace, one that is not bound by the past. That is why we fight. That is why we wage wars! Ersatz forever!"
"Ersatz forever!" they all screamed. Fudge included.
They were in the middle of a war room. It looked like they were in the middle of talking about plans, one of which included the attack on New Sparta.
Right now, they were simply just talking with one another, raising morale and motivation for the fight. They all expected to die for the cause one way or another.
"These poor sheep!" Fudge said. "Whoever convinced them to die for such a bad cause is evil!"
Michael swallowed the retort he had in his mind about Fudge doing the same thing.
"What do you think, Master? Want me to sow chaos among them? I can make them all fight each other, easily."
Michael had no doubt that Fudge could do that. And with the Ersatz being responsible for killing hundreds of people back in New Sparta, and thousands more in other locations, he should have no qualms with their deaths.
But for some reason, he didn’t want to do that.
Seeing these Ersatz zombies talking with each other, drinking alcohol, cheering, bantering, he actually realized that they were still people.
They might have had that Artifice in their hearts, but deep down, they still had a heart.
He hadn’t seen that before. During all of his interaction with them, they all seemed cold and indifferent about the world. They looked like they were just made for killing and destruction.
But now, they seemed normal.
"Give them beer," he said. He wanted to give them a little bit of humanity before they turned back into those lifeless zombies whose only goal was to create chaos in the world.
...
...
...
Michael watched intently as Huntrax started to gather Aubility Power into his body.
The man had stopped stretching his body and had now turned to self meditation.
He had all the time to get ready before battle. Once he walked out of his prison, all hell would break loose. And he’d have to fight four Nascent Spirit cultivators all at once.
Not a hard thing to do for a man of his caliber. But something that would obviously need his full attention.
[Observation complete,] said ChatJK6.
And?
[I now have knowledge about Nascent Influence,] she replied, almost curtly.
How about my Nascent Influence? What is it?
[I cannot help you with that. You have yet to figure out your own Nascent Influence.
But once you do, I will know how to navigate it. I will be able to help you understand it better in order to sharpen it into a power like that of a Heavenly Knight’s.]
Michael was very much disappointed to hear that.
"Your power... that strange prismatic light."
Huntrax’s words brought Michael out of his thoughts.
"I don’t understand it, but I can see its power. Would you become my student?"
