Chapter 14 Morning

Dawn breaks upon the drylands of the southern quadrant. In an abandoned building in these harsh lands, 10 people are gathered.

"Alright, it's time. "Are you guys ready?" The man with a scarf asked the others.

Yeah, everything is in place. All we have to do is wait. " One of them replied.

Okay, get in place. Report it if you see something out of the ordinary. Especially if it's linked to that man. " The man in the scarf said

All of them split up in different directions, except for the man with the scarf. He took a seat on one of the chairs by the wall and waited.

Almost an hour passed in silence until one of the people from before came back and walked towards the man with the scarf.

"He's here, on foot, and looks extremely pissed." He will arrive in 15 minutes. " They reported

"Alright, showtime! You guys stay in position till my signal. " The man in the scarf said

The person left, and the man in the scarf stood in the middle of the room waiting. The room is expansive with two entrances, one in the back and one in the front. All the windows are in hard-to-reach places, perfect for keeping someone in.

About 15 minutes later, the front door swung open. A man with black hair and golden eyes walked in. He wore a jacket with two strands attached to its back; it looked like it was meant to hold something.

"Well, well, well. It looks like we finally met Chrys Cheria. I hope you like my invitation. " The man in the scarf said

Chrys remained silent upon receiving the man's provocation.

Seeing as Chrys doesn't seem to want to speak, The man in the scarf continued. "How rude of myself. My name is Roads. Pleased to be in your presence. " The man named Roads performed a bow.

Chrys ignored him entirely and kept walking toward him.

"I would like you to stop there, or something might happen to your precious puppets." Roads spoke calmly.

Chrys stopped in his tracks and gave a blank but menacing stare at Roads.

"Hahaha! I think I would command a man such as yourself. If you told me a month ago that this would happen, I probably wouldn't have believed you. Hahahaha! " Roads laughed while taking a few steps away from Chrys.

"What? I heard you are quite good with your words. It's almost as good as your killing methods. Come on, speak! " Chrys mocked Chrys. Chrys just stood there in silence.

Don't even think about it. I know you are trying to sense where they are, but they are way out of your range. " Roads are proudly proclaimed.

Chrys seemed shocked but looked more curious about what he said. The Roads saw this. Now that he had his target's attention, he continued. "Hahaha, you think I wouldn't know." We were the ones following you yesterday. Well, maybe less following and more testing. "

Roads then began walking around the room, keeping his distance while carrying on a bit of banter, as Chrys just stood there in silence.

"By our little experiment from yesterday, it suggests your maximum range is a 300-meter radius around you." Roads added.

"Hahaha, what are you, speechless?" We know more about you. For example, you need to touch your opponents to be able to do what you want. "

"That is why we realized that we needed a countermeasure to that." That is why we took those girls. So if you kill me now, you can bet those girls will no longer be breathing when you meet them. "

"This also prevents you from taking control of your surroundings and making your signature earth spikes." Roads stopped for a minute to look for a reaction from Chrys.

"Who ordered you to do this?" Chrys finally spoke, in a calm and relaxed manner.

"Order me? No, no, no, no. No one ordered me. My accomplices might have been tempted by your bounty, but not me. I'm only here for the trill! " Roads answered, giving Chrys a toothy grin.

"Have you ever felt what it's like to kill a being with your own hands?"Roads asked, "out of the blue."

"Ah! I apologize for asking a stupid question. Of course, you know how that feels, don't you Golden Hands? Hahaha! " Roads laughed.

Within the span of a moment, the atmosphere in the room completely changed, as Chrys said with a proud look. "I see, it looks like you did your homework on me. Let's check for mistakes, shall we? "

Chrys then spoke in rapid succession.

"One, my range is a 300-meter radius around me. Wrong!"

My power allows me to feel my surroundings by letting my power bond with the air around me, almost like an echo. Its range is 400 meters around me. It is quite useful, but it requires a lot of attention to keep up.

"Second, the need for me to touch an opponent to make them subject to my power, correct!"

"Overload is what people tend to call it."

"I forcefully give my power to an opponent or an object to make them overload with energy, making them explode." It works the same way as overloading a battery, a balloon, or a body.

"Third, my ability to control things, correct!"

It's working the same way as Overload, except I only give it enough energy so it won't explode. I give my power to an object, making it under my control. It's like attaching strings to an object, making it do whatever you please. It can move through the ground and onto other objects. Its maximum range is also a 400-meter radius around me. "

Of course, I have absolute control of myself. If I want, I can use Overload, but I still can't believe someone has to name it, to just rip the skin off of your body. And I can do it as slowly or as fast as I want. "

"And lastly, what makes me so hard to kill my shield?"

"Aegis." I quite like that name.

All of my power starts from within me, encircling my entire body. It eventually reaches the top layer of my skin and creates an invisible shield around me. It is like an invisible armor with self-repair. Even unconsciously, it protects me from anything that might harm me. It tends to be difficult sometimes."

"I don't think you mentioned having a counter to Aegis, didn't you?" Chrys finally finished speaking and asked Roads.

"I do, actually," Roads, a bit dumbfounded, said as he pulled a spear from his back. It crackled with lightning.

"Even though you might always be protected by your shield, it can't last forever with sustained damage." Roads answered, with his voice seeming a little shaky and a bit nervous.

But still, to think you told me all your abilities, You might not be as sharp as they portray you to be. " Roads mocked Chrys for his recent actions, but sweat began to fall down the side of his face.

Yeah, I did tell you all of my abilities. What are you going to do with it? " Chrys asked, with his voice filled with seriousness and cold.

Roads felt an indescribable feeling crushing his body after he met Chrys' glare.

Roads took a deep breath and said "Nothing. You're already dead. I don't have a use for that information. Sweat poured down on Roads' back as his legs began to shake.

"Not going to try and run away? You know, make a run for your employers, and tell them what you know. "

Roads felt his heart almost jump out of his chest, but he remained calm and replied. "Employers? Who are you talking about? "

"Hmm?" Chrys fell deep into thought for a good minute, but to Roads, it felt like an eternity.

Chrys then opened his mouth and said. "The stubborn, lying type, huh?"

"You're the type of someone who will do what they want without any thought for others around you," Chrys added. Roads look on confused but kept his guard up.

You know, I'm the type of person with many skills. A couple of those skills are lying, pretending, manipulating, and getting information, just to name a few. " Chrys explained to the befuddled Roads.

"The moment before I entered this room, I touched the outside wall, and made this entire building soundproof and inescapable." Try breaking the windows if you want. " "Chrys," pointing his finger to a window that seemed to glow a yellow color.

"So you made the room like you said, 'soundproof and inescapable'. That doesn't make your situation better, now does it? " "Roads he said confidently, but inside he knew what Chrys was trying to say to him.

"It did make my situation better. You are now unable to escape and call for help. Not like any will come anyway." Chrys stated.

"I knew that you guys were the ones following us." I just simply didn't do anything, until you got closer. " Chrys added.

Roads then realized the situation that he was in, recalling his earlier words. He tightly gripped his spear and readied himself for a fight.

Chrys didn't spare Roads a thought, as he continued to talk.

"About what you said earlier, You said that my range is 300 meters. That's wrong. "

"About what I said earlier. I said that my range is 400 meters. That's also wrong. "

"My true range is 500 meters." If I may be so kind as to remind you. The girls you have captured are situated about 450 meters away from here since you probably wanted them close in case of an emergency. "

"There goes your bargaining chip," Chrys said, giving Roads a bone-chilling glare.

"I see, so that's how it is." "Roads she said, smiling helplessly. He lowered his weapon.

Roads finally realized what Chrys was trying to say. He already knew the location of the girls. This suggests that his accomplices are most likely dead if his range truly goes that far since he probably dealt with them remotely to the best of his ability.

Roads began to sweat as he realized that he no longer had leverage against the man in front of him. Chrys can now kill him with no problem.

Well, it looks like this is the end of the line for me. The end of the road. " "Roads I said in a relaxed voice.

"You are correct. Try as you might, but those doors, windows, walls, or even the roof won't budge. " Roads' assumption was confirmed, Chrys said.

"Hahaha! Not only can't I beat you in mind games, but even escape is impossible. Hahaha! " Roads laughed as he mocked himself for getting into this scenario.

I don't know if you know this but in this lawless land. Take everything with a grain of salt. Well, it's not like it will matter anyway since you will die soon. " Chrys said, keeping the coldness in his voice.

"Hahaha! "You're right, I'm sure I'm going to die soon, but..."Roads readied his spear and pointed it at Chrys.

"You can bet I will keep kicking till the end." Roads let out a defiant grin.

"Oh, that reminds me," said Chrys, acting casual and relaxed, but Roads didn't dare fall for his lies.

Your employers used these guns against me back when I was supposedly captured. I think they called them "Nova rifles." Chrys began muttering to himself, making Roads tilt his head to the side.

Roads then realized that Chrys wasn't convinced by his acting.

Roads gritted his teeth, as the plan that he meticulously crafted was falling apart in the grasp of the man known as the "Greediest man in the world."

Chrys raised his hands at his elbow level and said, "With a pondering expression." "I think they began by gathering air into a single point." When Chrys said that, a strong gust of wind began to form a vortex around both of Chrys' hands. They began to form into golden spheres of light floating on his hands.

"Then when it reaches a certain point, they release them towards the target." Chrys sent one of the spheres towards Roads without lifting a finger.

It hit him, sending him flying backward with a huge wave of energy. He coughed out a puddle of blood. His lungs had collapsed due to the force of the impact.

"No, that's not it. It didn't have a huge impact; instead, it cut like a heated blade. " Chrys began to talk to himself again, while Roads was still recovering from the impact.

It seemed like after a couple of moments of pondering, Chrys began to draw more air into the remaining golden sphere in his hand, making it glow brighter.

Chrys looked at Roads, who could barely breathe, with an insane smile on his face. He sent the remaining golden sphere towards Roads' left arm.

"Argh!" Roads let out a cry when his arm got cut off cleanly by the golden sphere. The ball of golden light cut his arm like a hot knife running through butter.

Roads' arms also got castrated by the heat of the golden spheres. The pain sent shivers down the entire body. He took a look at Chrys, who still had his insane smile on his face.

Seeing how it worked the second time, Chrys laughed. When he stopped laughing, he began to form more golden spheres in his hands. He formed three golden spheres around him.

"Hmm, it looks like three is my current limit, but it can probably still increase the more I train with it." Well, I guess I can call it Supernova for now for no reason. " Chrys began to talk to himself again without removing the smile on his face.

"Oh, it looks like you're still here." Would you mind being my target dummy? Well, it's not like you can say no. Hahaha! " After saying this, Chrys let out truly terrifying laughter, so insane, so evil, and so sadistic, that Roads felt daggers stab his heart.

Chrys then sent all three of these Supernovas towards Road's helpless body.

The last thing that was on Roads' mind was "So, this is the greediest man in the world."

A couple of minutes went by. Chrys seemingly regained his sanity, took the smile off his face, and looked around his surroundings. His eyes landed on Roads' messed-up corpse.

Chrys buried his face in his hands. He then lifted his head from his hands. Tears began to fall from Chrys' eyes.

"Hahahaha!" He then started laughing, instead of the joy-filled laughter from earlier. This one is filled with sadness, regret, and frustration.

The abandoned building was then filled with his muffled laughter.