Hmm... Neraxis floated around a fallen city, his thoughts swirling.
He had thought it would be easy to conquer this world and kill all the people within a week.
However, he hadn't even gotten off the first continent yet.
And now? Two weeks had passed.
He had been worried at first, but the Sun God had assured him.
That's good... Neraxis thought with relief.
There was only this single city remaining, but just as he'd thought, most people had already evacuated to the other continents, and those who stayed became blood for his constructs.
Neraxis had quite a few of them by now.
Over two million in total. As a result, conquering these cities had become a breeze.
Neraxis floated down to the last person remaining and was met with a look of absolute horror.
"S-Stay away, demon!"
"Sure~" Neraxis said playfully, and in the next moment, he used {Eve of Ruin: Gluttony}.
The moment he did, the person in front of him dropped to the ground, lifeless.
With that, he had decimated a single continent, and now, it was time to move on to the next.
But of course, his stats had increased drastically, to the point where even he was left surprised.
Stigmata: [Fragment of Calamity {100%} (Seals Unlocked: 4) {Unseal? Y/N}]
Affinity: [Eclipsed Abyss {SSS}]
Body Compatibility: 16% → 19%
[Aura of the Abyss] (Advanced)
[Unyielding Vitality] (Master)
[Cosmic Sight] (Master)
Intelligence: SS- → SS+
Mana Capacity: S → SS-
[Ancient Sun Vampirism {SSS}]*
[Ancient Moon Swordsmanship {A}]
[Stellar Dominion {A}]
[Restorative Cut {E}]
[Aegis of Eternity {C}]
[Body Manifestation {B}]
[Aura {B}] → [Aura {A}]
[Eyes of the Vampire {S}]
—Fragment of Calamity Skill Tree (4/???)
[Advanced Horizontal Slash]
He reached SS- rank before he even knew it, which was surprising, considering each time he killed people and used {Eve of Ruin: Gluttony}, his stats increased drastically.
That also meant the more people he killed, the stronger he would become.
Nonetheless, despite his stats rising, one thing had greatly startled him.
My luck stat increased... that's never happened before.
[I'm sure it's nothing... Body compatibility increased, though, which is alarming,] Evangeline commented, munching on snacks again. [But look on the bright side—when you come back, you'll be powerful, and you can start making moves on those who had wronged you.]
That's the thing... I doubt I'll have a lot of time since the first person to notice my return would likely be Delta. Neraxis replied with a sigh.
Delta acted like his mother sometimes, but she was also extremely stern and appreciated power more than anything.
Now what would happen if he was suddenly one of the strongest people in the entire organization?
Guess I'll find out later. I can definitely push through the continents now. Neraxis hummed as he wiped the blood off his sword and stashed it away.
Soon, Liza and Fiora appeared, their faces completely blank.
"Done?" Liza asked, her voice emotionless.
"We're done here. Let's move on to the next continent now," Neraxis replied with a nod, before turning to Fiora. "How are your injuries?"
Fiora raised her hand, revealing a nasty scar stretching from her shoulder to her wrist.
"It healed up, thanks to your blood... but it still stings a lot," Fiora replied.
After killing the old man, another protector appeared only a few days later.
He was much weaker than the old man, so Neraxis had no problem wiping the floor with him.
The only problem was, he had an annoying cloning ability and tried to eliminate both Liza and Fiora before Neraxis could react.
But he was able to react and saved Fiora from being severed in half.
Though... that sword was laced with a similar poison that entered my body, so despite the amount of blood I gave her, I couldn't cleanse it cleanly, he thought.
Nonetheless, these girls had gone through a lot these past two weeks, as unlike him, they still felt guilt after the mass killings.
"How do you do it?" Liza muttered, her hands trembling. "How do you live with the guilt of killing so many people? Day after day... I can't even sleep anymore."
"Guilt?" Neraxis tilted his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "What guilt?"
The moment his words fell, both Liza and Fiora froze.
"There's no need for guilt or remorse in this situation," Neraxis stated flatly. "Think of it this way—if we don't kill them, then they will eventually kill us. Yes, we could've likely stayed in this world and lived out our lives without killing anyone. But I, for one, don't share the same sentiment."
Neraxis waved those messages aside as he focused on the two girls.
"If you give up here, then everything you've done up until now would be pointless. So for your own sake, think about those you would come back home to."
With his rant finished, Neraxis turned to the map and crossed out the entire continent using a pen.
For a fact, he knew there wasn't anyone here—whether hiding or not—as he had nearly a million of his exploding ravens to kill all escapees.
Therefore, it was time to move on to the next continent.
Neraxis used his mana and summoned a massive pair of white frost wings before hovering slightly off the ground.
He approached the two girls and extended his hands.
"Make your choice. Come with me, or stay here, waiting for one of the protectors to come and get you."
Liza and Fiora looked at one another before nodding and accepting both his hands.
Their relationship was difficult, but they got along... somewhat.
Nonetheless, Neraxis shot up into the air and commanded all of his constructs to move toward the second continent.
And with that, he soon began flying—while also holding the girls in a frost harness he'd formed, making sure they wouldn't fall.
He took a deep breath as a resolute look appeared on his face.
Just two more continents...