"If I assimilate and convert my Source Energy and pledge myself to this world, will you spare my men from having that fate of being squeezed out of their life force?" The long-nosed Transcendent opened his mouth when my gaze rested on him.
I had them watch the Baptism after all. Being squeezed out of their life force. The feeling of it would be the same as when I tortured that one Dark World denizen using Psyche Energy, burning the life force in his fingers.
Although I was somewhat flirting with Reinys that I was holding in my arms, he completely ignored it and he went straight to the heart of the matter of why I had them brought here.
Ah. Pledge.
That's a nostalgic word.
Although I stopped using the Pledge after that second time with Avelin, that was still something that could be done by every world.
When someone broke that Pledge made to the World's Will, it would be that World's Will who would mete out punishment to the pledge breaker.
By pledging, the World's Will would plant something like a curse on the one making that pledge and even if he or she left that world, that curse would activate if the pledge he or she made wasn't fulfilled.
Moreover, even if one left the world where he did the Pledge, he still wouldn't be able to escape the punishment if he failed to fulfill it.
Naturally, the strength of that curse depended on the strength of the World's WIll itself. If one was sufficiently stronger than that World's Will then the backlash he or she would receive would be negligible or lesser in nature.
It's great and all for him to even mention Pledging to prove his sincerity. However… for the current status of the World's Will that was still recuperating to get back to its peak strength, the intensity of its Pledge curse wasn't strong enough yet.
And this guy most likely noticed the abnormality of the Earth's World's Will. Otherwise, it wouldn't be easy for them to gain entry to Earth without any obstruction from the World's Will.
He's trying to trick me into believing him…
He was most likely trying to gain my trust knowing that he could just escape Earth after pledging. His concern over his subordinate could be real but he was aware that if I accepted his proposition, I would also have his subordinates pledge.
Perhaps, only those who could endure the punishment from breaking a pledge would he take with him.
That's why… I called for a backup to intimidate this guy and crush his hopes of escaping Earth. And he's about to arrive any moment now.
This long-nosed Transcendent only had two choices. He could either become nourishment for our denizen or wholeheartedly serve our world as another fighting force.
Naturally… I would have him killed when we didn't need his service anymore.
With me here being a part-World's Will. I wouldn't tolerate those who would betray Earth and… whether that World's Will liked it or not, I would make use of my connection to him through World Assimilation to become something like a Warden for the Earthlings. As long as someone thought of betraying the Earth then he's not needed anymore.
Call me Tyrant or whatever but with our enemy being that Divine World or that Overworld Serpent… I'd rather have loyal soldiers than those who could change allegiance at any moment.
Warning those high-ranking officers of the EDA was also for this. I could tolerate their fight for supremacy among themselves but if they ever thought of jumping fences to an enemy world then… cutting them off wouldn't be a loss but a gain.
"What about you? Won't you say something?" Without answering the long-nosed Transcendent, my eyes shifted to the red-skinned Transcendent.
He couldn't look straight at me and only when I turned my attention to him did he raise his gaze. He was probably remembering how Irja and I made a short work of him that if he didn't surrender, his fate would be the same as that Rank 3 Transcendent Wind Elemental of the Xeno World.
"... If you can also spare my subordinates, we will convert to your Source Energy and serve you."
"Ah. I apologize but I won't be able to promise that. You see… Compared to you where you have to start from zero again, this one will still retain his strength and become even stronger after converting. And that will also be the case for his subordinates. Tell me which one will be more useful to us?"
I don't need a bunch of Mortals when we're already pressed with time. I'd rather develop the Earthlings than wait for these guys to regain their power. They would be better used as sacrificial lambs.
"... I understand. But what if… I give you a World Coordinate where you can plunder denizens for that Baptism..."
"A world?"
"Yes! It's a slave Mortal World wherein the denizens were being turned to… Energy commodities. Much like what you are doing now to our subordinates."
Ah. Right. There were worlds like that. Breeding grounds for Energy goods. Instead of absorbing that World, the World's Will would be restricted and their denizens would be harvested like crops.
Energy goods were like those balls of Energy created after putting the denizens inside a cauldron back in the World of System and World of Barbarian.
It has the same effect as an Energy Stone It could replenish one's Source Energy or use it for absorption. Just that, those Energy goods were mostly impure and would often lead to some side effects.
Nonetheless, it's a commodity that was well-received especially to those Worlds that were not producing Energy Stones or had their mines emptied.
Upon hearing what the red-skinned Transcendent said, the girls around me except Zerina all had shocked expressions on their faces.
Zerina already recovered some of her memories so it's not a surprise to her but for Reinys, Dannae, Noelle and Caila, it's the first time they heard of the term 'slave world'.
The four all turned to me, waiting for my answer.
Using a telepathic message to tell them what it means, all of them became even more shocked that Noelle who was usually quiet raised her voice.
"Slave World! That's cruel… How can you do that?"
"Daisuke, is it possible to save them?"
Reinys turned to me and asked. Being the princess of a kingdom wherein their citizens were turned to those balls of Energy for the Corrupted, she was most likely thinking that if we could save it then it's good.
However… Those worlds were already beyond saving. Rather, I don't see any point in saving them. I was ready to use anything and everything for us after all.
Even if we saved them and freed their World's Will, it's fixed to its location. Invasive Worlds would still target them sooner or later.
And with the current state of the Earth, we couldn't spare to send someone to guard it.
"It is possible but Reinys… we don't have the capacity to save it at the moment."
Upon hearing it, the girl's face fell as she lowered her head in contemplation. Noelle also did the same.
I'm not a messiah. I'm not a Hero. Telling them the truth, it might be harder to gulp down but they needed to understand that… we had limited strength.
I wouldn't promise them something I wouldn't be able to do.
Nonetheless, telling them why we couldn't save those kinds of worlds was a given.
While they were thinking about it, my eyes shifted back to the red-skinned Transcendent.
"As you can see. My girls are averse to the idea of using slave worlds."
Enemies were fine since we're all fighting to the death with them but for those unrelated to us… I guess it would take time for them to be accepting of slave worlds.
Besides, slave worlds weren't limited to Mortal Worlds, there were also Transcendent Worlds and although I hadn't encountered one during our past life, there's most likely a Sage World as well.
It might be called evil but… for those who wanted to continue progressing in their Pathways, it was always well-received.
Those 'righteous' worlds who were also aversed to slave worlds were also doing it anyway. Just that, they're targeting those guilty Invasive Worlds or their enemies.
The Universe is huge so… these girls will be able to experience a lot of things once we're out there. For now, I'll let them keep their beliefs and respect them.
"That… what about--"
"Stop that. I'll think about that suggestion of yours to also turn your subordinates into a pseudo-denizen of this world. For now, tell us everything about the Overworld Serpent. If your answer is satisfactory then that's bonus points for what you wanted to happen."
The backup I called still hadn't arrived so… let's just fish out answers for now.
As I scanned my gaze to the two Rank 3 Transcendents, this red-skinned one was already prepared to lose his current progress, he already lost hope of escaping. But this long-nosed, that glint in his eyes was telling me how he's trying to formulate more tricks for his escape.
Let's see if he can still do that when that backup arrives.
"Daisuke… I'm here."
Just when I was thinking that, my father, or rather my birth father in this timeline emerged from a portal. Looking him in the eye, I could see the awkwardness he was feeling now that I regained my previous life's memory.
Well, in a way, he's still my father so… I will give him the proper respect.
"Long time no see, dad. Mom was looking for you. Have you already seen her?"
When the girls heard my words, Reinys, Dannae and Zerina all stood up and bowed towards him, like proper daughters-in-law, before saying in chorus. "It's a pleasure to meet you, father."
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on fre ew𝒆bnovel.com