He said that last sentence with his eyes closed and a look of pain on his face. His demeanor was that of someone who had been forced to do something unpleasant.
This made Skarg smile and say, "Don’t worry. If I can avoid destroying the effigy, I will. And if I do release the effigy to kill him, I will sell the zombie that it creates to you."
This promise made the death cultivator’s eyes widen in pleasant surprise. Then he smiled and said, "Nice doing business with you."
Skarg also said, "I hope we can do more business in the future."
Despite how pleasant they found this transaction, they didn’t hesitate to congratulate each other. The two of them kept a respectable distance between each other as if they would die if they crossed the line.
Skarg didn’t pay the death cultivator himself. As usual, he used another person to pay for him. But this time, this wasn’t about luxury. It was prudent to avoid any form of contact with a death cultivator.
Since he had gotten what he wanted, Skarg left with the effigy and his children for Earthly Battlefield E6-137. They left in a hurry and took the fastest ship that they could find.
Along the way, the effigy was still struggling restlessly to get out of the cage. But all of its struggles were always in a particular direction. This direction was the same direction as Earthly Battlefield E6-137.
This sight brought a smile to Skarg’s face. He nodded in satisfaction and said, "It seems Loki is indeed on that battlefield. This way, I can expedite my plans."
His daughter, Sophia, walked over to him before saying, "It is good that the effigy is paying dividends already. But what is the plan?"
To which Skarg smiled and said mysteriously, "Just wait and see."
Sophia didn’t like the reply that he gave, but she knew that it was prudent of him to keep his plans secret, considering that they were under constant watch by many people, so she didn’t insist that he tell her. But she did roll her eyes at him.
The matter of getting hold of Loki is important to Skarg, but it is also very important to her because she is also a rank 4 cultivator. She is not as strong as her father, but it is only a matter of time before she catches up to him.
It is a good thing to become as strong as her father, but it is not something that she is looking forward to because if she catches up to her father, it means that it is likely that she too will become stuck at the peak of rank 4 for a long time.
Her father is very rich and also highly talented, so the only reason she will be able to catch up to him is that he doesn’t have a way forward anymore. This is not something that she wants for herself at all.
So what she wants is for her father to advance to rank 5 as soon as possible. That way, it will be easier for her to advance to rank 5, too. This is why she agrees with Skarg, even if it means that she has to be kept in the dark about their plans.
Beside them, Serge said, "I hope that this will work. If it works, our family will be able to take a big step forward."
Skarg nodded in agreement and said, "Yes."
He said a single word, but behind that single word is all of his hopes and dreams for the future. Even as he said that word, he clenched his fist in determination and anticipation.
Their trip to the world barrier was uneventful and smooth. There were no problems along the way, even though Skarg knew that they were being followed and watched by many people. So Skarg sighed in relief when they arrived.
Just after they arrived at their destination, Skarg began employing more soldiers to enter the battlefield. But this time, he was paying them to find a way to force Loki off the battlefield.
He didn’t waste time doing this at all, and he did it secretly. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t keep what he was doing secret for long. Many people found out about what he was asking the soldiers to do and began employing their own men to do the same.
However, while everyone was doing this, Skarg employed a single person to send a message to Loki. This single action was lost among the multitude of his other actions, so no one knew about it.
After playing these two cards, Skarg smiled and said to himself, "Now we wait."
The Loki in question, whom everyone was looking for, was sitting on his airship, admiring his armor. His fingers caressed its smooth surface as he said, "Power and comfort in one magnificent package, what a prize."
He has been wearing this armor for more than a week since the attack on this fortress city began, but it hasn’t been uncomfortable at all.
He kept the armor on despite the constant energy drain because he was wary of sudden attacks. And his caution has proven to be the correct approach many times in a row.
The armor has saved his life many times, so he would have neared the strain of wearing it for so long if it had been uncomfortable to wear. But the armor had been the opposite of uncomfortable.
The structure of the armor was so perfectly aligned with his body as if it were made specifically for his body structure, which it was. So the armor was more like a second skin. And since the armor actually enhanced his power, it wasn’t a burden to wear at all.
As he thought of this, he smirked and said, "Then again, my body is metallic, so it would be very difficult for something to be uncomfortable to me. So maybe the armor doesn’t have all the credit for the lack of stress."
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A/N: Please, don’t forget to vote with your power stones and golden tickets. Thank you for your support.