Chapter 729 Cautionary Take
"Be very wary of that Familiar that you keep close. The one you trust so deeply and place in charge of your affairs."
As the blast erupted, Rey remembered one of the words that The Oracle said to him.
Back then, he assumed the one she was referring to was Ater, but… was that really the case?
She never mentioned a particular name, and kept referring to the Familiar in a non-binary manner. The way The Oracle framed the warning didn't make it exclusive to just Ater.
All along… it could have been Emil.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~
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The powerful blast of sheer Mana should have easily destroyed the entire Shrine and everything around it for at least a few blocks—if not more—yet nothing of the sort happened.
Instead, the incredible explosion was contained within a barrier that covered the explosion in its entirety.
As a result, only the interior of the barrier was affected by the powerful explosion.
"Haa…" A sharp exhalation rose from within the barrier as a naked figure stepped out, his flesh forming as he emerged from the smoke.
Bones, muscles, and every other aspect of his body completely regenerated from the blast that would have reduced anyone and anything in its vicinity into ashes.
Rather, due to immortality, the figure did not meet his end.
Instead, in about a minute, he had completely recovered from the damage caused by the eruption of his own Mana.
"... They're gone, huh?"
Rey looked around him, even going as far as spreading his senses to everything around him, but he didn't find a trace of both Adrien and Emil. It was clear that they fled the instant she shot him with the Mana Blast.
'If I didn't hesitate, I would have… no, there's no use thinking about any of that now.'
If what The Oracle said about his Familiar was true, then this was good riddance. Emil was going to be very problematic to deal with as a foe, but now that he knew exactly what she was, he wouldn't hesitate to use whatever means possible to eliminate her.
'Since Adrien sees no problem taking my Familiar, he surely won't have a problem with me destroying her.'
The real problem was information.
'Emil knows about [Doppel], as well as Ater, and a bunch of other secrets of mine. Now that she's working with Adrien, I've pretty much lost all my leverage.' Rey's frustration at his own hesitation only grew the more he considered the consequences of letting Emil go. He would have at least sealed her off somewhere, rather than let her get into Adrien's clutches.
'But… where exactly would I seal her?'
Emil already had the ability to eat through Skills, and she could transform into certain individuals—including himself—and also use their Skills.
She was his ultimate enemy, in a sense.
'I didn't realize her dissatisfaction with me had reached such a height, and I also didn't think Adrien would show up so soon. It's all so…' The more he tried to reason his way through it, the more annoyed he became.
In a flash, Rey summoned clothes for himself through Spatial Magic, making sure he maintained his black aesthetic.
'I guess my eyepatch was the only thing not destroyed. It's pretty durable…' Rey felt its texture above his eye. It was a shame he would have to stop using it soon since he had almost fully acclimated to his full vision. "Status Window."
[STATUS WINDOW] - Name: Rey Skylar.
- Race: Human (Otherworlder)
- Class: Singularity (S-Tier)
- Level: 270 (0.58% EXP) - Life Force: 13,000 - Mana Level: 7,000/39,000 - Combat Ability: 21,550 - Stat Points: 20,650
- Skills (Exclusive): [Doppel]
- Skills (Non-Exclusive): [Merger]. [Perfect Calm].[Sacrifice]. [Domain Of Man]
- Alignment: Neutral Good
[Additional Information]
You have done the impossible and stand at the precipice of power. As such, you now possess the interest of this World.
[End Of Information]
'Looks like I lost all the Skills that she got from me, which means she's no longer bound to me. It's a good thing I still have them in my [Doppel], though… so it's not really a loss.' Rey thought to himself as he looked at his Status Window.
He then shifted his gaze to the Stat Points left in his arsenal.
'Reduced by 10,000, eh? I guess that's how much I took to supplement my Mana.'
Thanks to his swift cognitive process, once the explosion occurred, he had to act and think fast, so he took some Stat Points and added them to his Mana. Afterwards, he used two Skills at consecutive times.
One was his [Perfect Divine Magic], which was used to send Esme away from their location so she wouldn't be affected by the blast, and the second was a barrier to protect the Shrine from the blast.
Perhaps this was just his sentiment, or a sense of responsibility, but he didn't want the place destroyed due to his irresponsibility.
'Now that I think about it, I should have used [Domain Of Man], but… Emil also had [Domain Of Man], so things would have gotten dicey if she ate through my Domain and trapped me in hers.'
Besides, he couldn't completely forget about Adrien, so he had to play smart.
'No matter… I know what Adrien is planning. I doubt he lied to me about it, considering he went through all that trouble.' Rey sighed to himself.
Besides, he also had 'that' Skill to help him out if push came to shove.
No matter how he looked at it, they were going to meet each other sooner or later, and Rey already knew what he would do once that time arrived.
'I'm going to beat him up badly… and eliminate Emil as swiftly as possible.'
This time, he wouldn't hesitate or try to rationalize the situation. The only problem was how to counter Emil, but that was something he would have more than enough time to think about and consider.
'For now, I'll have to attend to Esme and rest too…'
A lot was weighing him down—particularly thoughts that were layered in his mind, but he pressed on.
With a single Spell, he created a spatial rift and vanished to his destination.