Being escorted by Brigitta, the Executor was introduced to humanity in this era.
First and foremost, he was told that all of humanity has joined together under one banner called the Elpida Alliance, and Ratmawati City is one of the capital cities that hosted many Awakened and humanity's fighting forces.
It was weird for the Executor to listen to Brigitta explain it this way.
As far as he knows, back in the ancient era, humanity has always been under one banner. But it seems in this era, humanity was once split apart before an event called the Supernatural Emergence happened where the seal that restrain the Supernaturals was broken.
Just from knowing this alone, the Executor finds it natural for humanity to regress this badly.
But as he has taken the first step into Ratmawati City to see the condition of humanity and also meet the top leaders of the current era, his senses were ignited by some sort of connection with something or someone inside the city.
Due to how subtle the connection was, the Executor can't quite know where it comes from.
If he were to guess then the connection might be coming from an artifact that was buried somewhere in Ratmawati City, but he was now standing corrected. As it turns out, the connection wasn't coming from a buried artifact, it comes from John instead.
For a moment there, a spark of emotion can be seen in the Executor's cold expression.
Gazing at John without even appearing to listen to what he said earlier, the Executor's eyes glisten lightly as his eyes peered into the blood coursing inside John's body that gives a particular air about him.
"A Magus! What a pleasant surprise..." the Executor said out of excitement.
Upon seeing the change of tone, Brigitta raises her face with a hint of surprise. Since she was the one tending to the Executor the most, she knows that the Executor usually doesn't have this kind of friendly tone.
Most of the time, he was either cold or outright terrifying with every word he spoke.
Standing up from the throne with a wide smile on his face, the Executor spreads his arms to the side while descending from the throne. "With humanity rotting all over me, it's nice to see someone that's not corrupted" He said while fixing his eyes on John.
Realizing that the Executor is talking about him, John pointed at himself in confusion. "Me...?"
"Of course, I'm referring to you. Who else can I refer to aside from you in this room" the Executor replied, completely disregarding Brigitta's presence as if she was nothing but a maid that doesn't worth even a hint of his attention.
John was stunned for a second, and he can't help but cast a glance at Brigitta.
But even though the Executor is clearly disrespecting her verbally and doesn't give her any glimpse of respect as a ninth-rank Awakened, she doesn't seem to react to that comment, she's probably used to it by now.
The Executor stands in front of John, and the difference in height is still evident.
Although John is quite a muscular and tall man himself, rivaling that of Rex's body, he was still way shorter than the Executor that has a slender yet towering figure. It was almost a stretch calling him a human by modern-day's standards.
Putting his claw-like hands on John's shoulder, he then said, "I'm happy to meet with you"
"Forgive me for not following, but why exactly am I deemed uncorrupted by you?" John decided to ask, he was not following this conversation at all. It was mostly because of what Brigitta said before the two enters the throne room.
~
"I know you have the Ego of a ninth-rank realm Awakened, but I'll remind you to keep that to yourself when we enter the throne room. Out of everything, I don't want to see you die. 've seen enough people with enough potential die, so don't be the next" Brigitta said as she walked through the huge hallway with knight statues along the path to the throne room.
John was walking beside her, and he was confused by a sudden request for him.
It came from President Sebrof that has requested his presence.
Although he caught the news of the Executor's awakening, he thought that it was a good thing for humanity. But it seems he was wrong, " Is he really that bad? We should've thought this through first, President Sebrof is always hasty and has become unfit to lead the UWO anymore" he cursed.
"Trust me on this, King John. I'm being really serious" Brigitta replied with a grim nod.
Clutching her hands into fists which makes her shoulders tremble in response, showing the frustration inside of her, she then continues, "The man we are about to meet is not a human, at least I don't consider him to be human. But make no mistake, his power is boundless, he kills a ninth-rank realm Awakened as easily as killing ants"
Upon hearing this, King John frowns as if that is a feat that is worth being feared.
Despite not being a ninth-rank realm Awakened himself, he knows just how powerful someone like President Sebrof or Brigitta really is, and for the Executor to kill someone with similar power to them easily is a terrifying feat.
"Just introduce yourself and keep silent, say yes to whatever he wants" Brigitta added.
~
As soon as John enters the throne room, he expected to see a terrifying individual.
Of course, the corpses littered around the throne room is already matching his expectations, but the smile and the friendly tone coming from him completely caught him off guard. It was not something he expects.
Upon seeing John's confused expression, the Executor laughed.
"Don't mind me, I'm just happy to see someone with your kind of potential. I don't know if you know this, but you have the Ten Thousand Magus of Pride inside of you, and it's very pure without a single touch of corruption. If you had forced yourself in learning magic, your potential might be ruined but praise the Sovereign for this"
John was even more confused by that answer, but it seems he has a strong bloodline.
Before he can think or say anything else, the Executor pointed at the waving flag hung on the walls. He pointed at a particular golden flag at the center with an intricate sun design that pleases the eyes.
"You have Master Olek Blorax the Grand Magus's bloodline, many would be envious of you"
After saying that, the Executor retract his hand back while John was put in a trance of confusion inside his mind. More questions popped into his head from what the Executor said, and he wanted an answer.
It was immediately after he thought of that, the Executor walked back to his throne.
"Nobody might know this aside from you, but have you ever wondered why you can feel and see the mana in the world and yet you can harness them at all? It must've been frustrating for you to feel that" the Executor said before stopping when he reaches back to his throne.
From the side, Brigitta glanced at John to see if the Executor was right on the mark.
But from seeing the shocked expression John is wearing right now, it seems what the Executor said is true. "How do you know that? I also can feel a power inside of me that I slowly grasped with time, but I can't still use the full extent of this power"
"Well, that's because of your bloodline. Let me tell you the story of Master Olek Blorax the Grand Magus. The human that started the unique power in your bloodline, a unique power that some called Perfect Human" the Executor mutters before he sits back at the black throne while leaning his cheek on his fist, a peculiar light then glow in his eyes as he stares at John.
Reminiscing about the past, the Executor then recounted the story.
"Master Olek Blorax was born with the same condition you have, the difference is that his condition is really a sickness that allows him to see mana but he's unable to harness its power at all. A dream that he had to become a powerful Awakened and gain the Grand Magus title was burned just like that. Yet he thrives forward, and eventually finds a way to turn his illness into power"
"While others learn to control mana, he decided to embark on a new path of being controlled by mana instead of controlling it. As he went deeper into this path, he managed to turn his body into a magnet to mana, and fortify his body with the mana he accumulated and become stronger. An Awakened that can't use a single spell. It came to a point where he becomes very strong, beating other Grand Magus candidates in terms of power without needing to learn a single spell. Master Olek wanted the Grand Magus title but got denied. And thus, his unofficial nickname was born, Master Olek Blorax the Grand Magus"
John's attention was captivated by the story as he listens attentively.
Out of everything, he never thought that the unique constitution of his body that he desperately research a way to become stronger turns out to be the bloodline of an Ancient Human.
Now he knows that he was the direct descendant of this Master Olek Blorax.
Upon seeing that John was completely captivated by the story, the Executor smiled as he reaches out his hand forward, "I happen to know how to unleash your potential, do you want me to do that?"
"Y-Yes, help me unlock my potential" John replied without a hint of hesitation.
But then the smile on the Executor's face grows even wider, his eyes sparkling with anticipation, "If you really want it, then I'll help you. But before I do that, I want you to agree on something things..."
~
Back to the present.
Adhara and the others stood up in anticipation when they saw the second moon has started to shrink at a visible rate, Rex's attempt to break through into the eighth-rank realm seems to be finally finished.
"I can't believe it takes two hours longer than us for him to finish" Evelyn mused.
Upon hearing this, Adhara also nodded her head in agreement. Both of them have reverted back to their original form, wearing their new Spirit Gladiator Form is very taxing in terms of mana and spirit energy usage.
In about ten minutes, they were forced to deactivate their Spirit Gladiator Form.
But this was probably caused by their inefficiency in using the Spirit Gladiator Form. None of them were adept at using it yet, and thus it's natural for them to be exhausted in less than ten minutes of using the new transformation.
Gazing up at the shrinking second moon, they then turned to face the castle's entrance.
With each passing second, the anticipation inside of them keeps building up as they were very curious as to what Rex's Spirit Gladiator Form would look like. It wouldn't be surprising if it's more grandeur than Adhara and Evelyn's transformation.
Swish!
In a moment, the second moon finally vanishes into nothing.
Adhara and Evelyn canceled their Pneuma spells when they sensed no rampaging Lunar element anymore, the hellish flame alongside the purple fiery snake vanishes leaving not a trace of their existence.
Expecting Rex to come out of the castle, they were then caught in surprise.
Boom!
None of them expected something to fall from the sky and landed straight in the middle of the bridge in front of them, dust blew to their faces as their eyes fixed on the figure that fell from the sky.
Squinting their eyes, they slowly deciphered the figure that landed on the castle's premises.
Without even needing to properly look at the figure, Adhara, Evelyn, Gistella, and Naela are already expecting it to be Rex. It was weird though because he crashes in a not-so-cool way as his head was the first to make contact with the ground.
Just as the supposed figure stands up, the others' eyes completely widened.
"R-Rex...? Is that really you?"
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om