The chilly morning air came through the window of Ali's bedroom in Obidos. He was now sitting naked at the edge of a king-sized bed with red covers. Ali looked behind him to see two naked beauties sleeping peacefully.
Eryndis and Melissa were sleeping on Ali's bed with marks of their lovemaking all over their bodies.
Ali stood up without waking them and walked to the open window, looking out to see the first rays of light cutting through the darkness. His ears picked up the sound of hooves striking the stone road as two groups of riders left the castle in different directions—on them were Ali's best fighters, out to complete their missions.
He left the bedroom with only a bathrobe covering him and walked to his office, which was empty at this hour. Ali stood before the mirror on the wall, and it automatically changed into a map of the continent. The map was now much more detailed, with Rook buying every map he could find in IronPeak and sending them over.
For me now, to get the highest grade from this world I must harvest a large amount of Origin in this war. And the easiest way to harvest Origin is to spread death across the continent… heh, Ali's fingers enlarged the map over the massive empire.
The priestess will control the beasts… the humans will fight in campaigns I send them to—that now includes a mage tower. Miles can operate all these fronts at the same time… and my biggest project is growing nicely. I heard she massacred a village up north, didn't spare anyone… Ali closed the map and turned to see the door to the office open.
Eryndis walked in wearing a thin nightgown. She walked up to him and hugged Ali with sleepy eyes. "I heard you leaving. Is everything okay, Master?" Eryndis asked, looking up at Ali with a loving face. She was in love with him—deeply, helplessly lost in his charm.
Ali didn't answer but looked into her eyes. Love… when was the last time I felt that emotion… Ali thought.
"Is it ready?" Ali asked.
"I have more than enough Spirit now…" she answered with a smile and kissed Ali's neck.
"Have the maids prepare breakfast for me," Ali said, and Eryndis gave him a hug before leaving the office.
I do wish I could feel it again. But would it stand in my way? In the past, it once held me back—but I'd say it was worth it… Ali thought, watching the door close.
BREATH.
He took a deep breath and calmed his mind. It was a bad habit of his to constantly evaluate himself mentally—testing, keeping himself in line. Was he afraid to step out of that line? Was he afraid to lose control?
They could never take my place… I am the final product after all… Ali thought, looking behind him as the world transformed into complete darkness and he stood on glass. There, he saw multiple shadows resembling him staring back.
One was nearly twice his size. One was chained, hands stabbed through him. One wore a shadowy heavy coat and had an arrogant, egotistical smile on his face.
Ali knew every single one of them well. His eyes drifted down the line to a shadowy throne that was empty. Then he saw a child with a backpack come from behind the throne and throw the backpack up before jumping onto the throne, swinging his small legs from the edge.
Then hands began slamming into the glass beneath him—mountains of hands smashing against the surface, hungry and desperate to break through and reach Ali. The slamming grew louder and louder until Ali turned his head again—and he was back in the office.
Hours passed, and north of Obidos, between the town and IronPeak, lay a massive valley called Eagle's Valley. It was named after the nearby mountain where giant eagles once terrorized the kingdom's army centuries ago when they marched through this place. Now the eagles had long been hunted out of the mountain.
Near the mountain's base, atop a green hill with short grass, a young man was kneeling with a blindfold covering his eyes and his hands chained behind his back. On the hill stood a small tree, and beneath its shade were three people.
A blonde stood beneath the tree, avoiding the bright sun, and a dark-skinned elf with her eyes closed was sensing the Spirit flowing through the human blood she had spread in the shape of a rune at the center of the valley.
Ali stepped out of the shadow and walked up to the young man with George's axe in hand. Ali was wearing his white dragon coat, but nothing underneath—his bare chest out in the open.
"My father will kill you. You are doomed…" the bastard said, staring up at Ali, smiling.
"Who said he was going to come after his bastard child? You don't know—maybe he'll be grateful I saved him the hassle of a bastard son like you," Ali replied, looking down at the chained young man.
His words hit deep. The bastard looked back down at the ground, his smile turning pitiful.
"Why me? Why always me? Assassins, my mother taken from me, hiding who I am, having to watch a dirty rat live in a castle while I sleep next to horse shit in the stables… TELL ME, WHY ME!" the bastard shouted, drawing the attention of the two under the tree.
"Because your mom was a whore who spread her legs for a married lord," Ali said coldly, stunning the bastard.
"W—W—What did you say?" the bastard's breathing quickened.
"AAAAAA—!" he screamed as he activated his level-three aura and lunged at Ali, his hands still bound behind his back. These were chains taken from the auction—ones used for locking down warrior slaves.
SMACK! BOOM!
Ali backhanded the boy, sending him crashing to the ground, his head buried in dirt as the chains activated, sensing aura and searing his body with pain.
"They're close…" Ali turned to the girls as his Force sense washed over an army approaching from behind the hill on the other side of the valley.
THUD.
Ali took out a metal container from his inventory and let it drop before Seraphina, who smiled at the sight of blood and raised her hand, controlling it to float up and enter her palm.
Ali turned toward the top of the opposing hill, sensing the huge killing intent emanating from it.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
More than two hundred knights, all using their level-three aura, marched to the hilltop. They were led by ten level-four knights—and leading them all was a knight without armor or weapon.
He was the Viscount, half-naked but radiating immense power. His hair floated up, and the earth beneath his feet cracked with every step. His aura-enhanced eyes locked onto his son from afar with ease.
"I'm here… LET MY BOY GO!" the Viscount's roar echoed through the valley and reached Ali.
"Finally." Ali cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, letting the coat slide off his back. His muscles gleamed under the sun as he stepped toward the bastard, who groaned and fought through the pain to look up, hearing his father's voice.
Ali opened his palm toward the bastard, pulling him up into the air until his neck was caught in Ali's grip.
"My name is Ali," he said aloud—but to the Viscount, it felt like slow motion. He could feel it.
"YOU—!"
BOOOOM!
The Viscount exploded forward, eating up the distance across the valley to reach Ali.
"—ARE HONOURED TO FALL BY MY HAND!"
The moment he said that, Ali released the boy. The bastard reached out toward his father with all his will, pushing his body to its limit to save his son.
But life was cruel, and even the strong would fall into the darkness they had cast others into.
The same Viscount who had turned countless children into orphans, wives into widows, and parents into mourners—this same famed knight could do nothing but watch as an axe ripped through his son and cut him in half.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
He lost his mind. He had never felt rage like this since his own father fell in battle.
His aura exploded, reacting to his fury. A yellow burst of energy surged outward, ripping through the earth and sending shockwaves that cracked the ground hundreds of meters around him.
He raised his empty hand, and from nothing, his aura condensed into a twenty-meter-tall spear made of pure yellow energy streaked with green and orange. He leaned back, the force of his movement blowing a trench behind him, before hurling the spear at Ali.
Time froze. The spear broke the sound barrier as it flew toward the hilltop where Ali stood.
Eryndis saw it, her eyes widening—she'd never felt such aura before. It was as if a mountain was falling on her body; she couldn't move.
Seraphina, on the other hand, was calm. The spear was nothing to her—she'd felt the aura of the human emperor himself, and this was insignificant in comparison. She was more interested in Ali's response.
ZZZZZZZZ.
In Ali's right hand, his lightsaber ignited—but he wasn't focusing on the world around him.
Near his Spirit Pond, Ali was reaching out with his right hand toward the handle of a black greatsword. The aura surrounding it had transformed into a black spiral—wild, untamed, desperate for Ali to finally unleash it.
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