The Champion of Light looked with barely concealed jealousy at the Left Arm.
'Seriously? Is she trying to make the Champion jealous? I'm not sure that works. Although, this is the Left Arm…'
"The old Champion was powerful," the Champion said. "In the future, I hope to become as strong as him."
"You will," the Left Arm said, looking at him. "You are still new to this, and you have been doing a great job."
"You have worked so hard, and your presence has made it possible for the Technician and me to leave again."
"I don't like to say these things, but humanity is our main priority, and the Champion's old age was making things more difficult."
"If you hadn't appeared, humanity would be doomed."
"I'm sure, with time, you will become just as outstanding as the old Champion. As long as you keep growing and learning, I'm certain you will reach heights that he never reached."
"The Champion needed to work with the False Prophet to reach his power, which took many centuries. You have inherited this power, which means your starting position is already at the same level as the old Champion's peak."
'She keeps praising him in a way a mother would praise a child,' Nick thought. 'She's essentially saying that he will one day become a handsome man.'
The Champion's expression didn't change.
He had put himself in a dead end.
He was the one who brought up his lack of power, and the Left Arm was just agreeing with him.
The Left Arm also didn't demean the Champion in any way.
She simply agreed and said that he would become stronger in the future.
"Well," the Champion said after a while. "I believe a fight with the Envious Researcher would be good practice. While I can't assure success, I think positive things will still come of this opportunity."
"Even if we fail, I will have grown in power nonetheless."
'Of course this would fail,' Nick thought with annoyance.'He won't risk his job just because of the Left Arm's words.'
"I agree," the Left Arm said, having returned to her serious demeanor. "We should make use of this opportunity."
The Champion nodded. "I just hope that Death doesn't retaliate. We've already lost enough Protectors."
"Why would he?" the Left Arm asked calmly. "The Envious Researcher is working alone. It has always been working alone. I don't see why Death would do anything, even if we manage to kill it."
"You're right," the Champion said. "I've dealt with Death for too long and forgot that the Envious Researcher is not part of its camp."
Then, the Champion looked at Nick. "Julian Winter."
"Yes, Champion," Nick answered politely.
"I want you to focus on your power. If we want to make this work, we need you at your strongest. Your next job is to become a Peak Demon as quickly as possible. If you need assistance, ask the Left Arm." Ȑ𝘈𐌽Ȯ₿Ěŝ
"Yes, Champion," Nick said with a bow.
Then, Nick stood up and walked out of the office, leaving the other two alone.
'I'm not sure if this will work out,' he thought as he walked to the research and development department. 'While I can tell that the Champion has been riled up by the Left Arm, I don't think he will actually try.'
'Nevertheless, I have to do my best anyway. All of this might just be a show, but I should still treat it seriously.'
'I should take this opportunity and work on growing my power quickly.'
'The Champion said that I should become a Peak Demon as quickly as possible, and I intend to do just that.'
'My quantity in terms of inflicted suffering is definitely enough to become a Fallen, but I'm unsure about my quality. I might need to inflict suffering on very powerful humans, and this is the perfect opportunity.'
Nick met up with the Technician and told him about what was going on.
It seemed like the Champion of Light was preoccupied with something since he wasn't looking at Nick right now.
This gave Nick a rare opportunity to tell the Technician about everything that had been going on.
"You should trust the Left Arm more," the Technician transmitted rapidly. "She's the most intelligent and shrewd person I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, if she dedicated her life to research, I would only be the second-best researcher!"
The Technician sighed. "But she decided that strategy, logistics, and psychology were more to her liking."
"If she says that something is going to happen, it will happen."
"Take this situation seriously. The Envious Researcher might actually die when it is time," he transmitted.
Nick furrowed his brows.
He trusted the Left Arm, but he couldn't be sure if she could actually convince the Champion of Light to put in an actual effort.
"I will do my best," Nick answered. "Anyway, the reason why I am actually here is to commission something."
"Oh? What do you need?" the Technician asked.
Nick transmitted some schematics to the Technician.
"Why do you want that?" he asked.
"The Champion said I should focus on growing more powerful, and I am doing just that," Nick said.
The Technician's brows furrowed when he realized what Nick's plan was.
Then, he shrugged. "Sure, I'm not the one using it anyway. I might make your weapon, but you're the one killing with it."
"Give me a couple of hours."
Nick nodded. "Thank you."
Then, Nick waited for a couple of hours.
"Ten is a bit much, but since the Champion gave you his blessing, I won't disagree," the Technician said, pointing at the ten Containment Units he had just built.
Nick nodded and put the ten Containment Units into his Space Bag.
These were Containment Units designed to hold Fallen, and they had similar special settings to the unique Containment Units Nick used to grow more powerful.
One important difference was that the Containment Units also allowed Specters to absorb Zephyx from the outside.
Additionally,there was a finer sensor for controlling the density of Prephyx.
These Containment Units automatically adjusted their settings and didn't need any manual readjusting.
"Can you put the eleventh one in a free spot for a Containment Unit in headquarters?"
"No problem," the Technician said.
The author's patreon. If he gets more than 1000€ per month, he will increase the number of words in the chapter.
/user?u=27791050