Moving on to the Unique Skills, Evan was puzzled when he noticed the question marks next to Arthur's 'Extreme Nothingness' skill, which only added to his confusion.
It was as if the system— not the Reincarnated Hero System but the Universe's Devour Class System—was uncertain about the true nature of the skill itself.
'He has two Pseudo-Authorities, and a Bounded Field? Bro's Bounded Field's so strong it became a Unique Skill on its own…'
Evan's analysis of Arthur's status took only a few seconds, thanks to his Time Difference skill, but those few moments felt like the longest in his life.
'He truly lives up to that Irregular title…'
Arthur noticed Evan's unconcealed surprise at his status and muttered something about 'switching off his ring'. Meanwhile, Alvey projected a detailed map of Planet Aramis onto his palm using light magic and began to speak.
"Evan. What if I told you that you are currently in one of the strongholds of Invaders of this World?"
Evan's inner response was a resigned, 'No kidding.' However, he kept his thoughts to himself and feigned surprise in his reply.
"…what?"
Seeing Evan's 'surprise', Alvey posed a question.
"Have you heard of Planet Gozon in the future?"
"…yes, I do know of Gozon."
"Good.
McEnda, Sigesi and I, are Gozonians. If you know of us, you should know that conquering planets is something we do a lot.
This World…Aramis is one of our current targets.
McEnda and I are High Ranked Demons and Generals of Gozon's Interstellar Army, and are the ones spearheading the Invasion on this Continent of Gledea."
Evan fell silent at Alvey's revelation. They felt his quietness stemmed from shock at discovering he was in a stronghold of invaders, but they couldn't be any more wrong.
'I pretty much figured that out from the start.
A younger Alvey, not yet a Demon King, clad in a uniform with a 'General' label. The location is a 'Prime World', something I know from experience Gozonians like very VERY much.
With those bits of info, it wasn't hard to deduce that I'd ended up on the side of this planet already under Gozon's control.'
As Evan thought this, Alvey's earlier words replayed themselves in his mind.
'Wait, did he just say he's a 'High Rank' demon?'
Before Evan could fully process that, Alvey continued speaking, not allowing him a moment to gather his thoughts.
"You are a 'Hero', one with special powers particularly effective against 'Invaders.
Typically, these abilities would be from your connection to your own world, but I doubt you still maintain that connection.
Your original planet surely exists somewhere out there, but at present, it has no connection to you.
This means you are currently a 'Rogue Hero' untethered to any World. Coincidentally, Aramis is a world that just so happens to be looking for 'Rogue Heroes'."
When Alvey spoke, Evan quickly checked his status and saw that his 'Second of Seven Heroes' and 'Leader of the Seven Heroes' titles had greyed out.
At the end of the title tab was a new title that confirmed Alvey's words.
Rogue Hero.
His connection to Aidos was missing, severed along with his contracts with his companion spirits and demons.
"From your status, I could see that your world had seven heroes. It's a funny coincidence, as that's the same number of this World's Heroes I eliminated."
Alvey spoke with a chilling calmness that made Evan flinch at the mention of Heroes being eliminated.
Years ago, Planet Aramis had boasted twelve Heroes. Heroes were integral to any planet's defence mechanisms, part of the overarching Devour Class System.
Planets had 'Hero Slots' that unlocked under specific conditions, typically when facing grave threats like planetary invasions. These slots were filled by indigenous inhabitants who met the criteria for becoming a Hero.
Chosen Heroes were granted Unique Series Skills, experienced accelerated levelling, and received significant damage bonuses.
Given the severe threat Gozon posed, Aramis had unlocked all twelve Hero Slots. Yet, the two Transcendents before Evan had killed ten of those Heroes.
"While strength may be a factor, specific conditions must be fulfilled for someone to be chosen as a Hero.
Fortunately for Gozon, none of the Aramisians have met these conditions since the deaths of ten of its Heroes.
However, a Rogue Hero is exempt from these requirements.
Regardless of their origin, whether from another planet or time period, all they need is a connection to the planet to become its Hero and reap the benefits of that title… including the 'Increased Effectiveness' of everything they do against 'Invaders'."
Having spoken this much, Evan had already figured out what Alvey was hinting at.
"You mean my arrival on Aramis, wasn't a coincidence like I believe, but part of a greater scheme by this Planet in an attempt to gain a Rogue Hero?"
Alvey nodded in confirmation and Evan remained silent. He knew this was NOT the case.
'I didn't come here by coincidence. There are at least Six reasons why I ended up here. You and Sigesi, are two of those reasons.'
Evan did not vocalize his thoughts, allowing Alvey to continue his theory.
"What I believe is that during your…journey through spacetime, your spatial tunnel entered this planet's Gravitational Field and the planet sensed you.
It then interfered, snatching you out of your original path and pulling you towards it, however, there was a mishap and you ended up on the Wrong side of the planet."
Even if he knew this theory was wrong, Evan placed a hand on his chin and acted like he was contemplating it.
"The consciousness of a planet can extend its influence throughout its gravitational field.
Given that these planetary consciousnesses operate with pure 100% logic, prioritizing their own survival above all else, it makes sense to think Aramis would pursue such tactics."
He muttered these thoughts under his breath, fully aware that they would overhear and assume he was buying into their theory.
Their surprise was evident—they hadn't expected him to be aware of the concept of planetary consciousnesses.
Alvey, who had led Gozon's armies to conquer two High-Level worlds which the Heroes remained unaware, was particularly taken aback. He was surprised that Evan, who had just discovered that 'World' and 'Universal' Laws were the same, was already aware of this more significant information.
Lower and Mid-level Worlds possessed only rudimentary 'Wills,' while Higher-level Worlds had Wills that had matured into full-fledged sentiences. This was one of the criteria for a planet to achieve High-level status.
As a Prime World, Aramis boasted Sentience, but its sphere of influence was confined to its gravitational field, just like other planets with sentience.
"Of course, my words are just my conjecture. But as far as that possibility exists, I'm afraid you would have to remain under our custody." —which was a fancy way of saying he was going to be detained against his will until further notice.
Alvey delivered his decision, and McEnda silently concurred. Meanwhile, Sigesi had already begun drafting a report about the situation to be sent directly to the Rulers of Gozon—the 72 Demon Kings.
Hearing Alvey's words, Evan sighed softly. Despite his reluctance to have his freedom restricted, he acknowledged that he posed a 'potential threat' to the invading Gozonians on Aramis.
In fact, he was happy that they didn't just outright try to kill him to 'nip the potential threat in the bud'. That was a very real possibility that he was honestly scared of.
He nodded to show his understanding and upon seeing his downcast demeanour, Arthur chuckled and offered some reassurance.
"Cheer up, you're not gonna be stuffed in a dark dungeon cell or something. But do know your movements and interactions would be monitored."
Turning to Alvey, Arthur asked.
"You plan to stick some of your shadows on him, right?"
Alvey, who was already devising strategies to utilize the Rogue Hero for the benefit of the invasion on Aramis, gave an absentminded nod.
"See? You'd just be under monitoring."
Arthur said, his eyes glowing faintly as he spoke and the eerie glow made Evan shiver involuntarily, as if Arthur could see right through him.
'He's doing something with his Pseudo-Authority…I'm sure of it.'
Despite knowing this, Evan had no way to prevent a Pseudo-Authority from activating, so he simply averted his gaze. His eyes inadvertently fell upon Artemisia and Beatrix, who were engrossed in a discussion while scrolling through a tablet.
'Come to think of it, why are they both here? I mean, this place is a Gozonian Demon Stronghold.'
Arthur, still focused on Evan, seemed to catch the unspoken question and addressed it.
"Oh, they're from Aidos. It's a different Prime World like Gozon.
Technically they have nothing to do with Aramis, but they're here because Beatrix is crazy enough to fall for a Demon and chase him across planets and Artemisia is unfortunately her caretaker."
"Arthur, what the fuck?!"
Beatrix had complaints about Arthur's description of her, but Artemisia spoke up, agreeing with him and shutting Beatrix up.
"What? It's the truth."
Evan's brow arched at Arthur's description of Artemisia and Beatrix's situation. He had heard a similar story before.
'This…it's the same scenario she told me she met the Progenitor godslayer in. So, this is the time period where it happened.
Seeing as Arthur is just 17, it makes sense why she said the godslayer race was young.'
[Refer to Chapter 701, 702]
Future Artemisia had told him that the progenitor godslayer—Arthur—was friends with the crush of 'someone' she knew and when she wanted to go see her crush, she dragged Artemisia along with her, leading to their inevitable meeting.
Now, Evan could fill in the gaps and know that Beatrix was that 'someone'.
'Who's her crush? Artemisia said Arthur is friends with them so it's not him. McEnda and Sigesi seem like they're already a couple so unless Beatrix is gunning for a heartbreak, it can't be McEnda.
That leaves…Alvey? She's crushing on Alvey?'
As Evan's gaze shifted between Alvey and Beatrix, the goddess noticed and deliberately avoided his eyes.
'How in the Universe did you fall for him?'
Beatrix could almost hear Evan's unspoken question. To avoid confronting it, she buried her face into the pillow on the couch where she was seated.
Meanwhile, Arthur continued to explain their situation, undeterred by the silent drama unfolding.
"Both of them are stuck here because I'm 'studying' them. They have nothing to do with the war, but they do occasionally join in the fights since while they aren't enemies with Aramis, they aren't exactly allies either."
Again, another surreal situation that made Evan wonder if this was reality or fantasy. To think the Artemisa he knew had once helped Gozon conquer another Planet.
When Arthur finished talking, Evan pointed at him and voiced his biggest curiosity.
"Where do you come in?"
"Me? I'm just the guy from another Universe who fell on this side of the planet. Some things the Aramisians did disgusted me so I sided with the Demons."
Arthur's reason for joining this war to conquer an entire planet seemed very…causal. It nearly threw Evan for a loop as he expected something grand.
"They did things that disgusted you?"
"Yes.
As you may have seen from my status when you appraised me some time ago, I am the Progenitor of a godslayer race.
Do you know what 'slayer races' are?"
"Yeah."
"Good. The Aramisians did some pretty nasty experiments.
They kidnapped babies from their mothers, killed their brains, extracted their Divine Factors and split it across other people to create 'Fake Divines'."
Hearing the explanation that Arthur gave, Evan's expression contorted into one of pure disgust. The Aramisians kidnapped babies and killed their brains?
"What the actual fuck?! That's messed up!"
Evan reacted in a way that was very similar to how Arthur had reacted upon this discovery, but there was still part of Arthur's explanation he didn't understand so he asked.
"Also, what do you mean by 'Fake Divines'?"
"Hmm, how do I explain this?
Let's use you as an example. You're a 'Draconic High-Human', aren't you?"
Evan arched his left brow, curious about how Arthur knew that his Human side was 'High-Human'. His status just shows 'Draconic Human' alone, after all. He asked Arthur this and the Progenitor kindly explained.
"Progenitors 101. A single glance is all we need to know whatever Race and Breed you are. If we know of that Race beforehand, we can identify you in a second."
Arthur's explanation caused Artemisia, who was nearby, to flinch slightly, nearly dropping the tablet she was holding and this reaction didn't escape Evan and Beatrix's notice.
Evan, familiar with Artemisia's tendency to hide things, narrowed his eyes at the teenage version of her who clearly wasn't as adept at concealing her reactions as her future self.
'She's definitely hiding something about her race. 100%'
Evan appraised Artemisia and scanned the goddess' status from top to bottom in an instant.
|Name-Artemisia Delgasso
Race- High-goddess
Gender- Female
Age- 17
Level- 605
Existence Level-Epic (Intermediate)
Titles: Valmone's Favourite, Queen of Evolution, Heir of House Delgasso, Daughter of the Benevolent god King, Loved by Mana, Loved by the Universe, Queen's Blood [...]
Class-Arcane Evolver
Health–SS+
Energy-SS+
Strength–SS
Agility–SS+
Durability–SS
Intelligence-SS+
Condition- Normal, Slightly Anxious.
Magic Tiers-Water Tier 4, Earth Tier 4, Fire Tier 4, Wind Tier 4, Lightning Tier 5, Light Tier 3, Darkness Tier 2, Space Tier 2;
Skills-Evolution Control, Energy Drain, Limit Break, Elemental Mastery, Lightning Strike, Thunderstorm Fury, Inferno Blast, Tidal Surge, Earthen Quake, Aero Slash;
Unique Skills-Queen of Evolution, Benevolent Lightning, Tempest Avatar. |