“How was it for you, young master, what did you feel?”
As he looked at me, Nihil asked me, the curiosity in his eyes shining as he focused on me, making me smile, my chair turning around to look through the glass wall, looking into the city as I spoke.
“For me, I understood how far I still have to walk to reach the goal I have in my heart.”
A simple answer contained many answers that even Nihil wouldn’t be able to get. The arrival of Lua didn’t affect me, for she made sure not even a bit of her aura went forth to make me intimidated. But her arrival also went forth with the changes that brought me a lot of peace and now a lot of understanding.
It has also shown me which path I would have to walk and also opened up a way for me to get back to my world to perhaps meet my family one more time. It’s a long way ahead, but it suits the goal that I am keeping my eyes on. Thus, with a relaxed gaze, I turned myself back to look at Nihil, who kept his expression tight.
“Go on, you can ask me.”
I spoke, to which, without holding back, Nihil asked.
“Just how far do you plan to conquer? What’s the end goal here?”
I didn’t answer that question directly. I held Nihil’s gaze a moment over it, the man trying to read my mind on the issue. Nihil is the kind of rigid soldier you will see in the army—a man who follows the rules, gives his loyalty, and will stick it through thick and thin to make sure things stay alright.
But he also has his own mind. He will question you, and he will try to find the bigger things in the smaller actions. While he hides it very well, there burns within his heart a flame that burns in the hearts of all men who go to conquer the world—a thrill and desire to be someone at the top, to reach that top only many could dream of.
And I like that in him, having a goal and working towards it. Nihil is a no-nonsense guy who walks forth silently, working hard to reach his goal. While he swears loyalty to me due to the succession of him taking the next seat of the Quiver Lord after his master, he also has his own ambitions too.
“Nihil, you haven’t reached my most inner circles for you to see all the fangs that I hide, but I don’t mind telling you some of the goals I have set forth…”
Saying till here, I pointed at the whole world outside, my hand pointing to the vast city as I spoke.
“I wish to make this association stay at the top of it all, to be at the top like a king. I wish to control many parts of this world and its power, and I am about halfway into my goal.”
I didn’t just say these words. As I spoke them, I influenced the whole aura around me, twisting it into something even more mighty, the tainted desire of corruption arising in my voice. Thus, the words hit deep within those hidden desires of Nihil, whose back straightened up with ambition as the words registered in his mind.
“I will take what I want, and I will build an empire in this world that will last far more than you can imagine. And if you work well, you will reach heights that you only keep dreaming of now.”
As I said this, I gave Nihil a certain look, my intention clear, as I could hear his heart skip a beat at the fact that I might know about the desire he keeps tightly locked up in his heart, a small gulp being taken by Nihil, my presence now waving forth to put pressure on him, giving him a glimpse that I lay at a power level far above him.
This made his eyes waver as his hands clutched together. With a hardened gaze, Nihil went forth to fall on his knees, the scene playing back in my mind to the first time I came to the academy—the time when he knelt at my feet. Now lay one of the leading youth of power and prestige as he spoke with conviction.
“I will serve you loyally!”
His voice resounded across the room as the power of corruption I used to pull his desire out slowly started to recede while my presence just went forth to be within myself.
‘This is more useful than I thought.’
I mused. Normally, it isn’t easy to bring Nihil down like this, but with the current combination of abilities I hold, it has only become easier to do stuff that wouldn’t normally be done to me before. Thus, a small level of clarity finally returned back to Nihil, and the question came of why he suddenly acted like this.
But the truth lay in the fact that he had done it, sworn his loyalty, and that comes with him now working fully under me. So, a small sly smile went to my face as I spoke.
“For now, keep up the good work. I will let you in on the more deeper stuff as you show me how well you deal with everything.”
At my words, Nihil rose up from where he kneeled, his eyes gaining that hint of fear and recognition as he nodded his head.
“I will not let you down,”
he said, making me just nod at him. Thus, without any further words, Nihil left the room, leaving me with my thoughts as Luna appeared back.
“He will be useful in whatever plans you are making.”
Luna spoke, to which I replied.
“That he will.”
With that, Luna jumped back into my embrace, snuggling in deeply with comfort as I, with a wry smile, spoke.
“Don’t you have some responsibilities to deal with?”
My words held deeper meaning, as I could feel the change taking all over—beasts of power that hid deeply in the world now surfacing back, all so that they could give back the loyalty they held for Luna all those years ago and new beasts that were unwilling to bend before slowly coming out in search of the legendary beast that was said to eat upon the Gods, hoping for a chance to work under her.
“It’s annoying to deal with all that,”
Luna replied with a huff as she twitched around in my lap, her actions being cute enough for me to poke at her as I saw through the marking that was placed within the inner depth of Luna—a marking that went forth to be placed on Luna during the time I was being raised into a divine, a marking that has placed her with corruption.
‘Looks like I unintentionally corrupted a part of her into making her own self into mine.’
Basically, it transformed her desires to just be forever focused on me. It also came with the marking of the yandere stuff that made her mad over me. Luna doesn’t know it, but her whole will have been transformed to live for me—a marking that makes it such that I will be able to command and do anything I want to do with Luna, quite a useful tool if you tell me.
It’s then my gaze travelled through everything, understanding it all as I spoke.
“You know it’s not good to leave all those ones that waited all this time for you waiting.”
I spoke with a calm tone, to which Luna snorted. I smiled at her cute side as Luna spoke.
“What should I do with that peeking tom? She is getting on my bad side.”
Her words made me more focused towards Aria, my second mother in a sense, seemingly travelling through the world, understanding it all. But what lies within that calibre is the fact that she can’t seemingly take her eyes off me, keeping a smart surveillance, and at times, she tries to meet with me but runs off at the last time, unable to take the final step.
It also seems that she hasn’t revealed herself to the world yet, which means I still have all the leeway I can use to get her on my side. For now, I let her be, but after some time, I will finally make my move on her. After all, I still have to give her a ‘true’ family, and with my current level, I can see the desire that is lusting for her true family life.
‘It also has come forth to approve of a certain thought that has filled my mind.’
With my ability now, I can see more than what others can touch upon. And what it shows me is the fact that everyone has a hint of corrupted aura within themselves. After all, this corruption comes from the desire you hold, which every living being has. But what is funny is the fact that the corrupted aura I see on the girls matches towards me.
And the difference in corruption I see on the capture targets—the whole scene paints another picture for me.
