Then, he jumped back on Vyra and went to another place with no nightcrawlers around, just a desolate desert with a few dried, cracked mounds here and there.
He knew that the Eternal Empire had secured borders, and if those nightcrawlers saw him, they wouldn’t hesitate to give chase.
As he had assumed, the moment his presence neared the borders, it was already picked up by the border patrols...
"You saw that?"
"Yes... probably a human that knew no better."
"Wow... look at that speed, their nightmount doesn’t mess around."
Three nightcrawlers shaped like humanoid moths conversed amongst each other as they gazed at the speeding Vyra... Their eyes were glowing lavender, and they had slender limbs ending in clawed hands covered in dark scales.
"What do you think? Go abuse them a little?"
"Why not? I’m kinda bored."
"True... patrolling an Eternal Kingdom’s borders is like patrolling an isolated fortress... no one is dumb enough to invade it."
Once a decision was made, the three nightcrawlers snickered in amusement as they extended their wings with star-like patterns... then, with a faint smirk, they bolted in Levi’s direction. Their speed wasn’t as fast as Vyra’s, but it was damn close!
It was like they were competing on who would reach him first.
Unbeknownst to being turned into hunted prey to pass the time, Levi was just getting set up to test out Sun Jets... taking off his shoes and even his pants in case they were going to catch fire.
He was in the middle of nowhere under the soft illumination of a full moon night. He didn’t give a shit about being in his boxers.
"Alright... let’s see how bad this will hurt... hmm?"
Just as Levi was about to activate Sun Leap, his echolocation instantly detected the fast approach of three unknown grey auras from tens of kilometers away... Being so close to the Eternal Kingdom’s borders made him set his echolocation on a massive radius for extra safety.
"Will you look at that... they really were stupid enough to chase me down for tens of kilometers."
Levi was left speechless.
"Oh well... testing is always better with live subjects."
Soon, a wicked grin broke on his lips as he activated Umbral Crown to hide his identity... covering his clothes and face in shadowy mist, making it impossible to see past it.
...
"Wait? Where did he go? Did we lose him?"
"Impossible, V’eyriss... he was just there... he couldn’t have escaped in such a short window unless he teleported or something."
Meanwhile, the three moth-like nightcrawlers were left arguing amongst each other as they kept scanning the desolate desert beneath them with no results.
Levi’s presence was erased.
For Tier 4 nightcrawlers, who took pride in their scouting abilities as border patrols, this wasn’t a normal occurrence.
"Then, where did he g..."
Whoosh!!
Suddenly, the world slowed down for V’eyriss... before he could finish his sentence, his eyes caught a sight he could never explain throughout the full length of his life.
A humanoid man covered in shadowy mist, shooting through their formation at unfathomable speed, with one leg pointed into the sky, akin to a lance... a lance of pure concentrated sunfire, piercing one of his partners with fury!
His partner didn’t know how to react before he found his body turning to ash... ash that scattered like dust on the wind, leaving behind fiery sparkles as a trail.
V’eyriss froze... the smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils as he gazed at the space where his partner used to be, turned into a cloud of ash.
No thoughts, no words, nothing... V’eyriss’s survival instincts took over the wheel as he swiftly changed his flight trajectory and started flapping his wings with every ounce of strength in his body.
One order was leading him... RUN!
His partner was a split second late to make the same decision, and he paid for it almost instantly... Levi changed his trajectory midair by using Aetheric Chains on himself before he could pull away from them.
Levi spun sharply midair, sunfire flashing down his leg. In a single motion, he unleashed Solar Pulse... his kick bursting out in a blazing arc, slicing forward like a golden blade of fire!
Slice!
The second nightcrawler’s body was split in half like it was made out of a cardboard sheet... then both halves were engulfed in flames, letting him release a single harrowing screech before joining his partner into the aether.
’No, no, no, no, no, no... not like this... not like this...’
Hearing the brief screech, V’eyriss didn’t even dare to turn his head and look back... he kept flapping his wings like he had met the Grim Reaper himself, his heart beating out of his chest in pure dread.
He didn’t even know what had ambushed them, and he didn’t want to know... the only thing he wanted at the moment was to return to the safe embrace of his nest.
Alas... his body suddenly froze in place, his wings refusing to flap once.
’Please, please, please!! Please work!!’
No matter how much he begged, his entire body was stiffened in midair, leaving him incapable of even turning his head anymore.
Levi had used the full strength of his Aetheric Chain on him, catching him even while mid-flight!
Then, his body was yanked violently backward until his neck was caught in Levi’s grip... Levi leaned in close to V’eyriss’s right shoulder, his breath brushing against the moth’s skin.
Levi could feel V’eyriss’s heart beating so fast it was about to explode, yet he only showed a wicked smile.
"Coat of Darkness." He uttered.
Just like a royal decree, the dark mist surrounding Levi seeped into V’eyriss’s nose, mouth, and ears, reaching his brain in an instant... then, they rewired everything about him to enforce a single Will.
The Will of his new owner... Levi.
Meanwhile, the rest of the darkness engulfed his body from head to toe, turning him into a humanoid moth-like creature born out of pure darkness.
No more features... nothing. Just an Umbral subject with crimson eyes and a single purpose in life... to obey his master.
The moment Levi released V’eyriss from his neck, he flew in front of him and then immediately fell on one knee in midair, his head lowered.
"Master... your servant awaits your orders." He uttered, his voice devoid of emotions or his previous personality.
"A Tier 4 nightcrawler bowing to me..." Levi smirked coldly, "I can get used to that."
Levi never imagined a day when he would possess powers to enslave nightcrawlers, and possibly any other living creature... and he could already envision the insane utilization he could have with it.
’Don’t get too excited now,’ Ash’Kral said calmly, ’I admit the ability is indeed powerful... but it comes at a cost.’
"I know... the more I use it, the more corrupted I get." Levi wondered, "But I am using Umbral Crown, shouldn’t it protect me from said corruption?"
’Oh, you poor kid... You think the corruption is purely physical?’ Ash’Kral sneered, ’You are dealing with the Void Seed powers... the Anchor of Nothingness. The corruption is soul-bound. It twists your soul, your identity, your personality, your life... until it leaves nothing but an empty husk of nothingness.’
’Just like what happened to Ellina...’
Once Ellina was mentioned, Levi recalled the password she had for the Slime Syndicate... Life is just paint smeared on a rotten canvas... I wish it had stayed empty.
Such a bleak way of looking at life made him assume that maybe she was pessimistic or depressed by nature... but now, he knew that it was the corruption of overusing Darkness Coating, or possibly any other powerful Void-based ability.
’Wait... so am I f*cked if I overuse any decent void-based ability?’ Levi’s expression didn’t look so good. ’Is there any solution to this?’
’There are only two solutions: have the Ancient Oblivar Bloodline, which is a similar rank to the Radian Bloodline... the more you grow, the higher your resistance will get to such corruption, both physically and spiritually. Ellina used to have a Lowborn bloodline related to the Oblivar Bloodline, which helped her build some affinity with the Void seed, but it was not enough to help her survive the potent corruption... just delay it.’
’Ancient Oblivar Bloodline...’ Levi murmured, ’Isn’t that one of the infamous Royal Bloodlines in the Shadow dimension? How can I get something like this?’
’You can obtain a Lowborn bloodline related to it and then build your way up by upgrading it as you evolve... Lowborn, Highborn, and then Ancient Bloodline... or be blessed by the Void Origin seed... all it takes is one mutation related to their ancient bloodline.’ Ash’Kral said.
’Wait, I can become a half Oblivar from a single mutation?’ Levi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He could understand obtaining Lowborn or even Highborn, but a straight-out Ancient Bloodline from a mere mutation was something he didn’t dare imagine.
"Having a bloodline helps with the growth of the seeds and dealing with their influencing wills... and in the case of Shadowlife seeds, helps in getting better mutations related to either host’s bloodline... In simpler terms, Shadowlife seeds can never bestow old bloodlines, just create new ones." Ash’Kral shared, "But Origin seeds are different... they have their own will, and they can decide whether they want to bless you with a shitty mutation or a great one... bloodline or not... if you didn’t have the bloodline to wield such a mutation, they will give you one."
"I see... so that means the key to getting better mutations is the Resonance system," Levi murmured, recalling that Ash’Kral said that his friendly relationship was the main cause for the Nine Senses Seed to bless him with the best Auditory organ in the universe.
Although he didn’t tell him which race owned such an organ, he could tell that they must also have an Ancient Bloodline, or at least a Highborn one.
All in all, Levi knew that the first solution wasn’t accessible to him at the moment... the easiest way to obtain a genetic code of bloodlines was through using the Genie system, like what Shia did to obtain the Lowborn Bloodline of House Throgar. But, he knew that landing on such a genie in the games was purely based on luck.
As for the other methods? They involved Grandmaster alchemists and Evolutionists, whose focus centered mainly on genetic manipulation.
Levi was neither rich enough to afford a bloodline transplant nor daring enough to risk having his peculiar genetic code exposed.
Meanwhile, the Void Origin seed blessing him did seem like a plausible outcome, but it depended on his familiarity with it... at the moment, Levi didn’t think he had enough to receive such a blessing.
’What’s the second solution?’
’The second solution, and the best one is still The Soul-Split Theory... In the case of bloodlines, you won’t get immunity from the corruption or their aspects... it takes time and effort, too. But, if you were to split your soul and have a part of it fit to the Void’s persona and its corruptive nature for emotionless chaos and anarchy... each time you use its powers, your split soul will be the one corrupted, not you, since it will contain the Void seed.
The other must fit the Sun’s persona for order and justice... though, because you are Half-Radian, the influence on its soul wouldn’t be as heavy as the first one.’
He paused.
’Then, the Main soul will be neutral under the Nine Senses’ appreciation for staying true to one’s true identity.’ Ash’Kral said, ’After you succeed in pulling it off, once you attempt to break through Solarbound rank, you can unite them again... the two opposites will keep balance intact once merged with your main soul... at least, that’s my theory.’
’That sounds like a stretch...’
The Titan shook his head, knowing of the grave consequences for taking such a path... but, he also knew that the Three-Body Problem had no safe solution or any solution at all.
"Well, I knew it was too good to be true."
Levi chuckled in self-mockery, finding out day by day that those three seeds were genuinely gunning to kill him or twist him.