The Villain's Story

Chapter 966: Life-Core.

Alright, Alan had to admit that he had overdone this fight. He had simply used far too much aura than he had too, and also went overboard with the effects. He had gotten excited during the battle with the Terra King, and done more than needed.

If he rationed his aura, he could have defeated the Terra King with a lot less flashy effects and a bit more time, but in the end, did it really matter?

He had fun, and that was it. The core part of everything was that he had fun doing it! Nothing else mattered! He liked the fight, although a bit apprehensive of the start, he was happy about the end.

As he collected his breath, he asked Valus a question that had been on his mind since the start of this fight.

“Hey, so will this be a regular occurrence? Like, will my friends suddenly turn on me?”

Valus was silent for quite a while, which only increased Alan’s worries. With a sigh, he went towards the Ame-No-Sakahoko and retrieved his beloved forked spear. He didn’t put it in his inventory yet. It had been a while since he used his beloved spear, and he wanted to savor the feeling of the metal in his grip for a while longer.

Alan waited for Valus to respond, as he looked over at the spoils of war, primarily the Life-Core, and the seed dropped from the Terra King. High-Level existences would either offer spoils with their entire bodies, or crystallize their existence in a certain part of them, looking at the seed, it was the latter.

However, Alan was hesitant to pick it up, same for scanning it with the help of [Dragon Eyes], the Creator had messed with the Terra King to evolve him in some sort of way, primarily to mess with Alan, which was why he was hesitant to approach it without guidance.

What if picking up the seed, or even scanning it resulted in a virus of sorts? Something else even? Alan was fine with waiting for Valus’s input.

[He shouldn’t be able to.]

And lo and behold, Valus had finally responded, and the answer was clearly something Alan was unsatisfied with.

“What do you mean by shouldn’t be able too?”

[This is still his Universe, despite the pathetic state he is in, he can still exert influence on the average being. Although, all those close with you should have some resistance, considering their connections to other beings above the ranks of transcendence, you, and their own potential.]

Alan was about to say something, but Valus didn’t give him the opportunity to as he continued with a brief pause.

[Ultimately, the best way for them to escape influence is to step into the Epic Realm, which will register them as ‘semi-important’ in the Weave. The pathetic bastard won’t be able to do shit if that happens.]

Alan agreed with that statement. The Weave despised any and all attempts to mess with it. There was a good reason it had taken James such a long while to even attempt messing with the Weave, and although he had succeeded, the Weave had killed him in the process.

The fact that his ‘edit’ still remained within the Weave was because it acknowledged it. Even [Dominatus] wasn’t confident against messing with the Weave, evident of the fact that it had complied with it’s rules and stuck to changing other things to end the conflict.

As [Dominatus] himself, Alan knew how difficult it would be, even if he didn’t understand all of it. Alan sighed, worried that Alexander, Maxwell, or worse, Sabrina would suddenly turn on him.

[Don’t worry about the chosen of the wolf, and your girlfriend. The Witch is a special existence, and Almada herself has long cemented herself as a Unique existence within the Weave. Although the accountant is… debatable. It all depends if he succeeds in his endeavor.]

“What is that supposed to mean? Please explain more about this? The thing about Almada, and Maxwell?”

Valus didn’t elaborate further, only chuckling as he was content with Alan being in the dark.

[There’s no fun if I just tell you everything now, is there?]

“Rude.”

Alan sighed, and shifted away from the topic, aware that he wouldn’t get any answers.

[Now I see why Lanesha and Suleras always keep tabs on you, It’s fun watching you, especially after the long time we spent depressed from the threat of Aranus. Also explains why Lanesha and Suleras are so overprotective of you.]

Alan raised his brows.

“Overprotective? I get Lanesha, but Suleras? He hasn’t popped up in who knows how long… Where is he anyways?”

[The Abyss, where else?]

“Fair, I don’t know why I asked that question.”

In all honesty, he should have expected the only damn Chaos Dragon left to be in the Abyss, that was where he always was! Moving on, Alan addressed the more important issue at the moment, the one related to his spoils.

“So… uhh, is it alright to touch these two?”

He asked, poking at the seed dropped by the Terra King with his spear. Alan was interested more in the Life-Core than the seed, but if it could help him in improving the Jade Palace without adverse affects.

[It is alright, the effects of the Creator have disappeared, and the Weave would likely not tolerate anymore interference. Use the seed to improve your special domain, but save the Life-Core and deposit it in your inventory. It is far too valuable to use in your nascent domain.]

With joy, Alan activated his [Dragon Eyes] and scanned the odd seed on the ground. He had already scanned the Life-Core, and promptly deposited it in his personal inventory.

[Name: Crystallized Heart of a Terra King Elemental.]

[Rank: SS+]

[Description:

A crystallized mass of condensed Earth, Metal, and Life/Nature Essence, formed within the core of a slain Terra King Elemental. It contains the elemental’s immense connection to stone, soil, and the land itself.

A potent ingredient for alchemy, a valuable catalyst for Lesser World Attunement and terrain changing, and a source of concentrated Earth Essence that can be absorbed to strengthen the user’s Earth Affinity and physical foundation.]

It was relatively short, and Alan liked it. It kept to the point and also highlighted the immense power of the item. Hell, even if Alan was clueless about alchemy, even he knew Alice would hound him for the item, although he was a bit in the dark about the other two uses.

He didn’t care much about it, though. He could sell it, but chose to keep it hoping that it would introduce a positive change in the Jade Palace if sacrificed to the altar. Considering the affinity, perhaps it would make the Jade Palace more durable, introduce some earth related gimmicks, or even enhance the endurance of his soldiers.

Alan gladly picked up the crystallized heart and deposited it in his inventory, making a note in his mind to actually sacrifice it later when he was free. His memory had improved after he was unsealed, which shouldn’t make it a problem.

As Alan smiled to himself over his spoils, he heard an irritating noise in the air. He looked up, seeing a helicopter shine it’s light on top of him. Peering a bit further, he noticed Howard, Robert and Amanda within.

Howard especially was leaning outside the helicopter, with a megaphone in his hand. Before he could cause Alan’s ears to burst, he quickly used magic to form a telepathic connection with the three.

‘Don’t use that annoying thing. It hurts my ears. Anyways, why are you here?’

Surprised, almost to the point of falling out of the Helicopter, Howard quickly collected himself and explained the recent events. Apparently, all the elementals outside had vanished during his fight with the Terra King. Interestingly enough, they had left their cores.

Alan theorized that they were absorbed back into the core to provide enough energy for the Terra King, although it was all for naught. Alan quickly explained to them what happened, as he teleported in the skies.

Appearing beside the chopper, Alan stood on a mana platform as he slowly made his way inside. He had to push Howard in, who was spooked out by Alan suddenly appearing in the air beside him.

Alan shrugged it off and sat inside, aware that he could teleport to the camp outside. He just hadn’t.

Unfortunately, Howard and Robert had contacted Harrison the moment the ‘big divine hammer’ appeared in the skies, and Alan had to explain the entire situation to the big man himself, spending a few minutes recalling the battle.

[What of the spoils?]

Harrison asked through the communicator, to which Alan calmly responded.

“I’m taking them, what else? Ah, you can keep the cores of the other elementals.”

[Are you open to selling them?]

“Hmm… Wait, let me ask…”

[Ask who?]

Who else but Valus? Unfortunately for Harrison, Valus completely forbade selling the Life-Core, arguing that Alan would find a good use for it later.

“My guardian dragon said no.”

[Alright, Will the mission be delayed due to this or will it proceed as planned?]

Alan shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“I don’t know. I’m fine with continuing, you got to ask the rest though.”

Harrison cut the call after that, bidding him goodbye. Alan liked talking with Harrison, even if it was sometimes uncalled for. The man was always straight to the point and didn’t argue much, which he found pleasing.

He’d rather that than a bunch of other people argue with him more, or even berate him for his actions…

Sadly, just because Harrison didn’t want the Life-Core, didn’t mean everyone else was the same.