CH 45: The Plot Thickens Further

Alistair :"(I wanna play a game.)"

Natasha :"It's 3 in the fucking morning."

Alistair :"(And?)"

Natasha :"... Haaah, fine..."

Alistair :"(Knock knock.)"

Natasha :"Haaah, who's there?"

Alistair :"(It's.)"

Natasha :"It's who?"

Alistair :"(It's time to fucking sleep.)"

Natasha :"I will fight you."

--------------------------

Alarms went blaring in Greed's head. His body had tried to make it so he wouldn't be seen as prey in front of the real predator, but now that he had been recognized as such, it was either fight or flight.

And fight wasn't an option.

His sealed power surged through him as the youngster reached out. There was a rule set by the Three Eventualities on every habitable planet: no Gods allowed inside.

Because even the strongest mortals were nothing against gods, and could easily be taken advantage of greedy and evil gods. It was an absolute rule that gods couldn't enter planets, but they could destroy them from the outside since planets couldn't withstand their powers.

But although planets couldn't stand against the might of gods, fight them or kill them, the rule would work no matter what Class the gods were. If a god that had entered a planet without his powers unsealed his powers, he would be ejected instantly.

Faster than even God-Kings, the highest Class of gods, who the speed of light seemed like a joke to them, could realize it. Greed, although stupid, was smart enough to have a backup plan in case things went south.

And that was to take advantage of this fact about the rule. Just as the youngster's hand was about to reach him, his unsealed power caused the planet of Arcross to eject him. Completely teleporting him to outer space.

The youngster, whose hand passed through air, looked at his hand and rubbed his fingers leisurely :"Didn't expect him to actually be able to use his brain for once. But it's not like I'm like my brothers to show mercy."

His previously folded demonic wings spread out from his hoodie, his long horns stretching out and pushing back the hood covering his head as his thick and scaly tail passed through the gap between his pants and hoodie.

Greed, who found himself in the middle of space, gasped harshly :'Holy fuck, that was close... I hadn't experienced the feeling of being close to death so clearly for thousands of years...'

Gulping, he sighed in relief :"But I'm safe now. He shouldn't be able to-" However, the youngster's face appeared in front of him out of nowhere, glowing red sperm eyes wide and pupils constricted dangerously :"Where do you think you're going?"

Before he knew it, a punch slammed into his face. Causing him to be shot away towards an inhabitable planet that shattered into a million pieces when he crashed into it.

The force of the punch being enough for him to still be going uncontrollably even after that. Even though he was going at the speed of light, he was stopped abruptly when the youngster appeared beside him and grabbed him by the neck.

He was a God for a reason. His body didn't immediately deform into a horrendous shape because of the recoil of stopping so suddenly at such a speed. He didn't even look bothered because of it.

His nose crushed and bleeding, he looked fearfully at the youngster holding him by his neck and staring murderously at him :"Did you really think I would let you go?

Me? You're never going to get away from me, and I think you know what I mean by that. You're going to regret pissing me off for all eternity, God of Greed."

Even a cornered rabbit would bite an attacker. Gritting his teeth, Greed glared at him :"I... am the God of Greed! If I'm going to die today... I sure as hell won't let you get away without a scratch!"

Grabbing his wrist to not let him get away, his power concentrated on his right fist as he punched his chest, right where his heart was located.

The force of his attack and power traveling behind the youngster in a giant beam of dark light, bigger than a planet, and traveling towards a random planetary system, blowing it up completely with just the crossfire of the attack delivered by a God.

However, Greed's eyes widened in shock when the youngster, completely unscratched, just stared at him. His body glowing an evil red light, with the same energy leaving his eyes slowly.

He scoffed softly :"Is that the best you can do? Hmm, "he" would rate gods' attacks, so why don't I do the same since I'm playing with his toy? 3 out of 10. You're pretty weak for a 3rd Class God.

Considering how arrogant you are, I expected a lot more. You haven't been a 3rd Class God for a short time either, so how about you hit the grind again instead of fucking around all the time?"

Eyes bloodshot in anger, Greed glared madly at him :"Don't fuck with me!!!" His left hand leaving the youngster's wrist to attack him with all he had.

Punch after punch landed on him, the force of his attacks being enough to vaporize the surrounding planets and planetary systems. But the youngster simply stared at him in disappointment :"Alright, that's enough."

Easily slapping away the punches that were coming at him, startling Greed who stared at the monster in fear :"I've got better things to do, so I'd be thankful if you just died."

"I said, don't fuck with-" Greed was vaporized instantly as a surge of energy gently hit him from the youngster's hand. Humming to himself, he looked into his hand.

The soul of the god he so effortlessly killed thrashing around desperately to get away :"I told you, you're going to regret pissing me off by trying to harm my currently weak little brother for all eternity."

As his red energy covered the black glass ball with the screaming god inside, it disappeared entirely. The redhead dusted off his chest gently :'Haaah, they can be so annoying.'

Turning to look at the fragments of the destroyed planetary systems, he simply snapped his fingers. And suddenly, everything reappeared completely fine. It was as if nothing had happened. No battle had taken place, and no planets were destroyed.

'Alright, with that done, let's go back.' When he looked up, he was already in the forest he had sensed Greed in. A gentle smile appeared on his handsome face :'Hmm, since I'm nearby, I'll take a look at what "he" is doing.'

Kicking the ground, he disappeared from where he was standing. Coming to a small hill, his heart squeezed on itself at the sight. His smile growing fonder at the young dragon coiled around himself with the dark energy that he was so used to emitting from him, with a redhead watching over him.

'Glad to see he's doing fine.' His leg froze just as he was about to walk towards them :'No, I guess it's not the time for us to meet yet. Let's leave it to later for now.'

But even though he thought so, his heart still felt lonely. He sighed gently :'Damn, I hadn't realized I missed him so much.

Hahahaha, it did take a while for him to appear, I guess. Hmm... I should leave. I don't think I can stop myself from going to meet him if I stay for long.

At least I found out he's well protected. That girl... heh, she's quite a monster herself, huh? If I wasn't using my real power, she would have definitely sensed me.

... Haaah, alright, let's go before I ruin the fun for him.' Just as he turned back to leave, a gentle, sleepy voice sounded in his head :'H... Hell?'

His heart beat faster in his chest from happiness. Turning to look at the small dragon with fondness, he smiled gently, his voice sounding in Alistair's almost half awake head :'See you later, Abyss.'

He disappeared, leaving Alistair to frown while concentrating, coiling around himself unconsciously, as if missing a warmth.

Being a small village with no entertainment, people would go to sleep pretty quickly. Alistair, Natasha and Serenity had to do the same. So when the two went outside, Alistair managed to completely learn the technique before midnight, when the Talent Stats would reset.

As the dark energy surrounding him subsided, it went into his left wrist, where the Seal had been established. The closed eye mark and the tattoos of the monsters were apparent on the back of his wrist.

Natasha's Seal was black in color, but on Alistair's scales, which were obsidian and would blend with it, the tattoo had become dark purple. Making a beautiful painting on his black scales.

Alistair's eyes fluttered open, traveling to Natasha to see her smiling at him. She stroked his head gently :"Congratulations, Al, you've established the Seal of Lunacy.

Enjoying her touch, he smirked :"(Of course I have. Did you expect anything else?)" Causing her to chuckle :"Well, this isn't your average technique, so I did have some anxiety. But I'm happy you learned it smoothly."

He sat up, yawning as he covered his mouth out of manners :"(Fair enough. Hmm, what time is it?)"

"Don't worry, you still have time to use your Talent Stats."

"(Phew, thought they were wasted. So what should I do now? Do I go straight into pouring my Talent Stats into the Seal?)"

"Hmm, how about you check out your gains first? It won't take long either."

"(Hmm... sure. I'm curious about my Lunacy Skills too.)"

There was an interesting fact about the usage of Mana for the Seal of Lunacy. Instead of using Alistair's own Mana, its fuel was the Mana that was used to enhance it. It served like a Mana battery, it had its own Mana reserves.

So when thinking about it, needing such a ridiculous amount of Mana for each upgrade was a good thing, because it didn't go to waste. Having millions of Mana stored away to use in times of need was very useful.

After all, it would only be fair that way, considering every upgrade needed 1 million Mana. 1 million Mana wasn't a low amount, after all.

For comparison, an individual with a Rank-5 Job would only have 500,000 Mana at Lv 100. Meaning they would only be able to actually use the Seal of Lunacy after reaching Lv 200, which only sounded easy to do.

Which only begged the question, what Level was Natasha? Alistair already knew she must be extremely strong, but it only made him even more curious about how strong she was.

Concentrating on the Seal, the eye opened up menacingly. A black and purple energy escaping it as Alistair immediately felt a rush of power inside.

[Lunacy Skill: Lunacy Seals (Stats x100%)

Stats: 16k -> 32k]

All sleepiness left him entirely, leaving him grinning as he clenched his claws :"(Goddamn! You're right, Nat, I —do— love this!)"

"Heh, I told you. Lunacy Seals is very simple, but extremely useful. Just look at how much it enhances your Stats. But you'll only see its true power after upgrading it. That damn Lunacy Skill is the only reason why I've never been able to win a match against my mom."

He deactivated the Skill "(Right, your mom is the one who taught you this technique. By the way, how strong are you two then? Like, how many Stats do you have, what Level are your Lunacy Skills?)"

Natasha smirked :"I'm a battle junkie ever since I was a kid, and I've had this technique ever since I could remember. Does that answer your question?"

Alistair scoffed with a smirk :"(Seriously, who's the real monster here?)"

"Hahahaha, fair enough."

As she watched, he tried his other Lunacy Skills. The Lunacy Tentacles was pretty self-explanatory. Looking at the black tentacles with purple veins, the mischievously giggling Alistair's mind went down the gutter instantly.

Lunacy Domain was simply fantastic. It wasn't like the covered area was in 3rd person POV, but rather as if he was looking at everything directly. The 3D image of the area around him was sent directly to his head, allowing him to see everything, even the most minor details like the lines on the insects' wings, as if looking at them through a microscope.

But the real fun began with Lunacy Manifestation.

"(Come Forth.)"