Chapter 218 [Hated One]
Chapter 218 [Hated One]
As I was floating in endless space, a few words were hovering above me.
[Please wait for a while. The user will be teleported when the proxy agrees to the summon]
'She is doing it on purpose.'
The proxy should be referring to Administrator and considering that I destroyed an entire floor, it was understandable why she was trying to annoy me.
'Eth'
No response came. I tried going inside my soul but for some reason, I couldn't do it now. I was being stopped by some kind of interference. If I had to guess it was because of this place I was floating in.
Haaaa-
'Calm down. There is no need to panic, he isn't responding because we are in Resonance. This isn't the first time it is happening. I should check my status in meantime.'
Opening my status, I examined my titles. Originally, titles could only be checked after the status screen gets the 2nd upgrade when one reaches Sandra-rank, but it was different for weapons.
------
[Successor of the First King]
You have inherited the lifeblood of the First King. One of the pillars of the ancient society, the First King, reached the apex solely with his art. As his successor, you hold the key to [Eridu], the ancient city of Gods.
------
[■■■■■■■■■■■]
??????
------
[Ego Weapon (Cursed)]
Combining the Law of Human, Law of Demon, and Law of Weapons, you have become the first true ego weapon. You have managed to create a mix between true life and the true machine and transcended both.
------
[Overlord of Chaos]
!#@@#
------
[Hated One]
Born in the land of the living while carrying the seed of chaos, Universe has always rejected you since your birth. Nevertheless, you fought against the beings of chaos to protect the land of the living and thus declared war on the ones who might have called you one of their own. Rejected by both sides, you ■
------
I read the Title description one by one.
'Key to [Eridu]? I don't have something like that but maybe I'll get one after reaching higher proficiency.'
After all the art's name had 'Armory' in it. Although I was building a new armory, the previous owner of the art must have also left something inside it. From my speculations [God-Killing Spear] blueprint was only one of the few things the art had.
'This Redacted Title doesn't give any information.'
'Ego weapon title and Overlord of Chaos are also rather simple to understand. One gives a basic summary, the other doesn't explain anything.'
Lastly, my eyes fell on the title I received from eradicating the Abomination.
'Didn't the title Leon got was [Fated One] when he killed an Abomination for the first time? Why is mine called [Hated One]? And what is with this depressing tone and redacted information?'
Agonizing over unknown information wouldn't do me any good, so I decided to focus on other things.
'With this, I have 5 titles. It's a sufficient, no, it's a good number considering the Sandra-rank evolution is far away.'
Next, I checked my stats.
======
[Stats]
Attack Power: 3000
Durability: 1978/2500
Speed: 3000
Defense: 1500
Luck: (-13)
Ether: 5800/5800
Nether: 19000/19000 (Dormant)
Chaos: ??? (Locked)
======
'The [Attack Power], [Defense], and [Ether], stat increased. Also, the [Durability] has decreased but it is recovering on its own.'
[Durability: 1978/2500 --> 1980/2500]
There was a lot about the new stats I didn't understand. For starters, what I did know was these values were inflated, by a big margin at that.
For one, my Ether stat, although 5800 in value, was not 100 times my ether reserves from back when I was human.
'The stat inflation must be related to the difference between living beings and weapons. Since I am technically a weapon, my stats are now quantified by their standards.'
However, this wasn't the biggest news. It was something else.
'My new stats can increase by training and…'
'I can no longer level up.'
This was only a doubt, but I was convinced when I didn't receive any notification of receiving exp after killing the Abomination.
'No, this is for the better. Considering the name of the System I was told by Administrator, it is better this way. If I can get out of System's grasp, not leveling up is a small price to pay.'
Pandora
This was the name of the entity governing the System. Consequently, by completing my quest, I will get [Pandora's Heart].
Besides, if regression was real, then there is no way the System wasn't involved.
'Either way, there are ways to get stronger without System.'
Unlike leveling, ranking up was natural and not a System function. Although gaining levels was necessary to rank up, it was due to Law and since I was an Overlord now, it wouldn't be a problem for me.
'Well, looks like I need to go to Planet Delmond and get the Glyph before 2nd protagonist. I wasn't planning on doing it before because it was dangerous, but the situation is no longer the same.'
Thinking like this, I shook my head.
'Until I get a way to move between planets, I should focus on evolution.'
Evolution was a path with which the ego weapons grow stronger while Glyph could be used by anyone. As an Ego weapon, it was natural for me to focus on both.
======
Rating: 10/10
Evolution conditions:
-Consume 1 Tempter-ranked demon core.
======<.com>
'Ha?! I have to get a Tempter-ranked demon core for my first evolution?!'
If my body wasn't frozen in space, I would've made the stupidest expression of my life.
'…Isn't this too easy?'
By bloodline purity, Demons were ranked by the closeness of their birth location to the Tree of Damnation. There are 5 rivers that circle the Tree of Damnation called Rivers of Ruin.
Tempters
Minor Lords
Lords
Archdukes and Dukes
Primal Emanations
Depending on the river, demons have these five bloodline ranks.
The Demons born in the farthest river have the most impure bloodline. While the one born in the river closest to the tree had the purest bloodline.
Tempters were the weakest demons and were like insects, too many to count. Also, all the ranks above Minor Lords were Royal Demons.
While only 7 Primal Emanation-ranked Demons existed. They had many names, the 7 Demon Kings, the 7 Sins, or the 7 Monarchs.
'One Tempter ranked demon for my first evolution. How should I say, I expected a lot more?'
It was like going to market thinking of buying the most expensive gaming station only to know that it costs a lot less than you expected. You wouldn't this 'Wow, it's so cheap!' but 'So cheap? Is the product defective?'.
'Caim's clone I was planning on defeating will have a high bloodline-ranked core. Will that work? I guess I'll know later.'
As I was ending my inspection, the message floating above me changed.
-------
Permission granted. You are being summoned.
-------
And darkness again covered my vision.
*
"Congratulations, on defeating a D-grade Abomination."
"You don't look happy though."
Administrator congratulated me in a monotonous tone. Looking at her I inwardly clicked my tongue.
She then began explaining to me the details about my rewards but I interrupted her.
"About your rewards, you ca-"
"Why didn't you kill the Abomination? Isn't that a job that comes under your domain?"
Staring at me with suspicious eyes, she didn't speak anything for a good minute.
How did I know about it? Administrator must be questioning it. But although it was dangerous to show my cards I had to know the answers.
"I had to use a lot of [Authority] for preparing the special Trails. Because of it, I had to wait before descending to regain the lost [Authority]"
'Special Trials, so it means Leon also fought an Overlord. That would explain his growth.'
Surprisingly, Administrator answered but I promptly shook my head.
"I'm asking the real reason, not this bullshit."
"…What do you mean by that?"
"If it was only due to the loss of [Authority], you would've at least prepared a warp gate beforehand to descend as soon as you regained the [Authority], but you didn't. So, tell me why you didn't want to kill the Abomination."
A stifling pressure appeared in the room and she spoke in a cold, almost robotic, tone.
"You. Don't. Need. To. Know"
"Okay"
"Eh?" The pressure abruptly disappeared replaced by a startled expression on Administrator's face. "I thought you wanted to know the answer at any cost. Also, I can't answer this question even if you ask for it as a reward."
"It's fine if you don't want to tell me."
I nodded again but my thoughts were different.
'It's me. She wanted me to die at Abomination's hand.'
It might be a bit of a stretch to think like this but I had my reasons.
'Leon is a reincarnation of an ancient hero. Administrator wouldn't let him die so easily, nor would Raikou allow it.'
If they were ready to risk Leon then the reason must have been something big.
'Like a legacy carrier of Devil.'
[Mephistopheles Earrings], at first I thought they were a simple artifact of the Devil but maybe I was being too na?ve.
This was only wild speculation on my part, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.
'I need to look into these earrings more.'
"Is there anything else you want to ask?"
"Actually, yes"
Administrator's brows twitched. From her expression, it was clear she wanted to kick me out at the first chance but had to tolerate my existence.
I think I've been irritating a lot of people with my questions. I should do it more.
"Is Leon alive?"
"Why are you asking that?"
"Didn't the Abomination leave a piece of it in my soul core that Leon took?"
"!!!" She stiffened. "How do you know that?"
"A guess" I smiled. "Well, not entirely a guess. The monster was too smart and it already did something like that before so I thought maybe it might have done it. But your reactions affirm my doubts."
I couldn't help but narrow my eyes. If Administrator wanted to kill me with Abomination, why wasn't she going to save Leon, after all, he was now somewhere away.
Contemplating, Administrator ultimately sighed.
"You saw the [Miracle] ability in that grimoire, didn't you?"
I nodded.
"After you died the [Miracle] was activated. What do you think the [Miracle] was?"
"The summoning circle that saved Leon."
Administrator nodded.
"You are half-correct. The summoning circle was the help of the [Miracle] but that wasn't all."
[Miracle] was one of the ability of the [Grimoire of Hope] that Lark had on him.
"The other [Miracle] was you."