Already thinking about which forms to use and what to say to the enemy leader, Thalion walked toward his home when an elf with a braun vest and long braun hair interrupted him.
"Sorry, sir. There are some items that were sent to you which formerly belonged to Ankhet." The elf lowered his head in respect.
"Excellent." Thalion grinned and immediately activated his movement skill, flying over to the portal. What he found there were several boxes covered in dust and spider webs. Right now probably wasn't the best time, but Thalion still wanted to take a quick look.
Excited, he hurried back to his room, carrying all of the boxes at once. Dust fell around him like rain, and Thalion had to use two vines to catch one of the boxes after it slipped from the pile as he entered through the door.
The boxes were filled with all sorts of things. There were books, but also ritual daggers, teapots, and a few stone tablets mixed in. Thalion began to skim through the books, which appeared to be records of experiments conducted in the past. Since they were experiments regarding the soul, Thalion was more than just a little excited.
The records themselves, however, were truly evil.
Slowly piercing the left eyeball with a dagger results in light fluctuations in the Thalamus section on the left. Soul weakens ten percent more compared to stabbing the shoulder, leg, finger, or chest.
Ankhet must have conducted countless experiments like these, as there were dozens of scrolls filled with similar observations. Thalion continued to skim through the material, and the more he read, the more he felt his own darker nature stirring. There were even detailed drawings explaining how to perfectly torture the soul—or, as Ankhet had called it, maximum stimulation.
When Thalion reached the stone tablets, he noticed that one of them appeared empty. In the middle of the stone rested a single drop of blood. He could see it clearly with his Blood Vision. The Bloodseed immediately wanted to consume it and tugged greedily at the blood. It seemed that tiny channels had been carved inside the stone, and only for Thalion did the blood form words across the tablet.
The system holds you through pain and spreads from there like a tumor with every evolution. Only with the system's mark gone can you be free... ... Freedom through pain. Only then can your soul be fully restored.
It was as if a lightning bolt had struck Thalion as he stared at the words before him. A hint. He had actually found a hint on how to get rid of the system's mark. Through the countless sketches of the human soul, Thalion knew exactly where the pain center was. The problem was that the tablet was still incomplete, and the whole procedure sounded more than just a little dangerous. But it was a direction.
The best part was that it sounded as though Ankhet had already succeeded in freeing himself from the system.
Countless theories raced through Thalion's mind, and he didn't even notice the hours slipping by. If the system's mark spread throughout the soul, removing it must have been nearly impossible and would likely come with tremendous damage and a very long period of weakness. What if Amun Ra had also destroyed the system's mark, which was the true reason his entire empire had fallen? The other gods might have sensed his weakness and seized the opportunity. There were still several pieces that didn't fit, such as why those gods had also disappeared and why nothing had survived what history called the Apocalypse. Still, this was finally a light on the horizon.
Thalion quickly began sorting out everything that seemed useful, especially the materials related to the system's mark. Just as he finished, someone knocked on the door.
"Thalion, are you still here? The teleportation circle is about to go online!" Jack and Josh shouted from outside, snapping Thalion out of his thoughts.
"Yes, I'm on my way." Thalion almost growled as he pushed the boxes aside and hurried downstairs. Now he felt bad that he hadn't spent more time thinking about how to intimidate the enemy leader. No... after reading all of Ankhet's records, he was ready to go full evil mode.
<--
Ter'tu stood atop the massive outer wall surrounding the fortress-city, a sprawling stronghold enclosed by towering fortifications. Within the walls lay a compact city filled with elegant mage towers crowned by glowing crystals and grand temples dedicated to forgotten powers, all connected by orderly streets that reflected centuries of careful planning. From his vantage point, he waited for more members of the human faction from the new universe to arrive. Like his elders had advised, they had captured the ones from the human faction and were now extracting information. So far, everyone had been remarkably stubborn, but the stone boy had begun to break. Just a few more hours, and the constant bone drilling and acid baths would take effect.
That this new faction had fallen for their trap so easily was astonishing. Now there was nothing this faction, ruled by Thalion, could do. Ter'tu began to wonder what made this man so special that all four prisoners had held out and refused to tell them anything about Thalion's origin, the tutorial, his forms, or his skills. One way or another, it didn't matter now.
They had far more D grades than this new faction, and these newly advanced D grades had no chance against the experience his warriors had gained through thousands upon thousands of battles. Still, he wondered what would happen next once the teleportation circle came online again. Either they would agree to his demands and send more D grades they could capture. Abandon their friends, which would reflect very poorly on them throughout the wider multiverse—or, if neither happened, they could simply continue torturing the prisoners for information.
Should they actually decide to attack outright, all of his of strongest warriors were already in position and every defensive formation had been activated. Any kind of assault would be complete suicide and the most foolish decision anyone could possibly make. For some strange reason, they had been unable to teleport the hostages to the capital of their A-grade faction. On the upside he could now simply threaten to kill them if Thalion and his faction dared to attack, which, once broadcast across the multiverse, would work even better against this new faction.
No matter what happened next, the result would be a massive reward for Ter'tu. Perhaps he would even receive more than one of the special magic crystals his faction was famous for.
"Boss, we've finished the preparations and relocated the portal outside the walls, well within range of all our weapons, just in case," Wer'ti reported from behind him. He was the second-in-command and Ter'tu's right-hand man.
"Excellent. I have to admit, in all my years, I've never looked forward to a confrontation this much," Ter'tu chuckled.
"True. This is almost too good to be true. Our second teleportation array is also ready to send the recordings if necessary," Wer'ti agreed.
Both stood atop the towering wall beside their warriors and watched as the teleportation circle slowly began to power up.
"I can't believe they're actually coming," Wer'ti said aloud, clearly unable to believe it.
It was a sentiment shared by all the warriors stationed on the wall. Just how stupid were those people from the new universe? They had hundreds of E grades inside the fortress and easily twice as many D grades as the enemy. That wasn't even mentioning the experience their army possessed. It would probably only be a handful of people coming to negotiate a deal, which, of course, would never happen.
No one expected what happened next.
First, a man wearing crimson robes stepped out of the portal. His face was hidden behind a mask, but the blazing red eyes left no doubt about who had arrived.
"Am I seeing ghosts? Can someone pinch me?" Wer'ti exclaimed as more and more figures stepped through the portal.
"Bring one of the hostages!" Ter'tu shouted to the soldiers.
While the army assembled below, the human named Kaldrek was dragged onto the wall and forced to kneel beside Ter'tu. His arms had been twisted behind his back and broken in several places. Blood streamed down his face from numerous cuts across his head. He wore nothing but a worn prisoner's tunic, and his entire body was covered in deep wounds, some so severe that parts of his intestines were beginning to spill out.
"I wonder how the newly integrated are handling this. They probably have never seen someone tortured like this before." Wer'ti grinned widely as the last members of the small army stepped through the portal and the arrivals finally stopped.
Those were Ter'tu's thoughts as well. It couldn't be much longer until they realized what a terrible mistake they had made.
Ter'tu used the moment to undermine their confidence.
"Greetings. I am so happy that you have come to pay us a visit. We will immediately give you your task so that you can make up for your allies' mistakes, but first, lay down your weapons."
Ter'tu deliberately tried not to sound too arrogant, since everything was being recorded. It was important that he made Thalion appear as evil as possible. Though, if anything, the situation for the newly integrated faction could hardly get any worse.
"We have only punished your fighters because of their transgression, and if you accept our demands, they will all be healed and returned."
Yep, now this Thalion was backed into a corner with no way to escape his fate. Ter'tu grinned inwardly. He could already picture the fool desperately trying to bargain for his friends' lives.
Yet that never happened.
Instead, the man simply stood before their walls, those crimson eyes glowing ominously. Thalion's aura was also unlike anything Ter'tu had ever felt before. Just what was that hunger? He slowly began to frown as Thalion remained silent while the others spread out slightly and a human clad in metal armor began setting up a small metallic pillar.
Just why wasn't he saying anything?
Finally, Thalion stepped forward. Everything about the man was predatory. Portraying him as the villain would be even easier than Ter'tu had expected.
"Looks like you haven't discovered my secret yet. How fortunate," Thalion said in a voice that sounded hungry, predatory, and utterly indifferent, as though none of the lives present held any value whatsoever.
Just what was wrong with that human...?
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when Thalion stretched out one hand. Suddenly, blood was violently ripped from the hostage's body and streamed toward Thalion. If Wer'ti hadn't been holding onto the prisoner, he would have been pulled straight over the wall.
"Activate the dome!" Ter'tu shouted, his mind racing. "Thalion didn't bring this army to negotiate or rescue the hostages. He came here to kill them."
The blue dome instantly shot into existence, cutting off the stream of blood and saving the hostage's life.
"Quick, get him to a healer. He must be protecting a major secret."
Even Wer'ti couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
"I can't believe those gods were thinking of portraying him as evil. What kind of misinformation was that? The man is clearly evil."
Ter'tu fully agreed, but before he could say another word, a massive explosion rocked the wall and completely shattered their dome. A split second later, multiple explosions erupted throughout the gigantic fortress as the magical crystals overloaded from the backlash.
The shield...
How could they destroy the shield so easily?
"Shield down! Don't let them get over the wall! Attack! Attack! ATTACK!"