CHAPTER 46:

The man was surprised as he did not feel the sensation of claws piercing into his skin like he expected. He looked down and saw a palm holding onto his fist. Wallace smiled, and he suddenly felt a sensation of danger.

"Boom!" Fierce dark flames blazed on Wallace's body again, but they were flickering, and it was still enough to throw him back. The moment Wallace landed on the ground, his evolution had ended, and his aura started to spike again.

"Boom!" The air around them rattled endlessly, violently causing a vacuum in the space before Wallace reappeared in front of him again. Without any disturbance, his sword pierced into the man's body, causing the dark ink-like energy to make its way into his body, attacking the soul in him. Wallace's tentacles then pierced into his body.

The flames around Wallace went off again, and his aura weakened. "Did not expect that sudden turn, but it looks like you can't go on again," the woman smiled maniacally as she rushed towards him.

"Boom!" Wallace disappeared.

"Hmm," the woman's sense tingled as she felt danger. The next moment, a sword pierced into her body.

"I can't go on any longer, but I'm far stronger than I was some minutes ago," he answered.

"Ahh," he landed on the floor as his vision turned blurry. He felt weak. All his bones were very weak, with cracks spreading through them, while the mysterious energy in his body was at a minimum, and cuts spread through his chest. His innards felt as if they were on fire due to the essence flames burning him.

His vision turned darker as he saw the remaining evil spirits converging into him from all sides, but he smiled as he saw a familiar figure making its way towards him. He then drifted into darkness, Athena caught him quickly before he fell onto the floor.

"Sleep," she said with a familiar smile. She then looked around,

"Poof, poof," the evil spirits all started to explode one after the other, and tentacles extended from Wallace's body, absorbing all the remaining soul essence. She carried him into the car and took his hand.

"What are you doing?" Eve asked.

"I want to send a pulse of my energy through his body to determine his condition," she answered.

"He has not even started cultivating energy yet, so his energy organs are very weak; your energy will injure him more," Eve said.

"Let me do it," she said as she grabbed his pulse and closed her eyes. Seconds passed, and a minute soon passed.

"Why is it taking long?" Athena said, noticing the flustered look on Eve's face. Her face turned worried; Eve soon opened her eyes with surprise on her face.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"He has ninety-nine energy organs arranged in constellation format," Eve answered.

"No creature is said to ever possess the perfect energy organs," Eve said, surprised.

Athena laughed. "That's the man I love," she answered.

"Well, don't tell anybody; you know the implications," she said in a grave voice.

"Hmm," Eve nodded.

"He has a lot of secrets on him. Being able to develop essence flames and also being able to produce energy from his body. Let's all see what will happen in the future; he is outstanding, and that's the reason the treasure of creation chose him," Athena said with a smile.

"Let's leave," Athena said, and the car drove off, leaving the once-legendary place in Italy in ruins.

Wallace felt himself on a soft surface; the moment he opened his eyes, he met himself in the familiar room.

"You're awake," he heard the familiar voice.

"Don't you have anything to do?" he asked helplessly.

"Looking at you is a form of enjoyment," Athena answered.

"What do you really want?" he asked.

"Marry you," she answered.

Dark lines formed on his forehead as he rubbed it in despair.

"What's the time?" he asked.

"It's evening already," she answered.

"Can I go back to my place now?" he asked.

"Not good; you're now kicking me away after I've outlived my usefulness," she said.

"What do you want then?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Sleep with me tonight," she said.

Wallace's eyes widened immediately. "What!!!" he exclaimed, speechless.

"What?" Athena scoffed.

"It's not like we've never slept together before," she said.

"Oh, that," he visibly relaxed.

"What did you think I was saying before?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

"Do you want to do that with me?" she asked, moving towards his bed little by little.

"No," he answered forcefully.

"Don't worry; I won't be eating you up yet," she said.

"Let's go and eat," She dragged him out of the room. Just like that, Wallace ate and slept peacefully again that night.

The following day, at around noon, Athena's jeep pulled up in front of the Carlos mansion.

"Your mansion is quite nice," she said, but he did not answer. His mind was troubled as he looked at the lady; she was violent and just like a ticking bomb. He did not know her motive, and this was making him feel uneasy.

The jeep stopped at the park, and Lucia, Laura, and Antonio were already waiting for him. He got down from the car,

"Welcome, boss," they greeted him with a smile. Athena also got down from the car, and their attention was drawn towards her. Lucia and Laura felt a sense of crisis immediately.

"Hi, let me introduce myself," she said. Wallace felt a sense of foreboding again.

"I'm your boss...," she wanted to finish talking when Wallace grabbed her and covered her mouth immediately.

"She's Athena," Wallace said. He felt something strange and looked back at her; the position looked intimate. His right hand was blocking her hand while his left hand was on her stomach, making it look as if he was hugging her from behind. He quickly separated from her as she looked at him with a strange smile.

"I will be leaving then," she said. "Don't miss me too much, and don't fall in love with another lady," she told him with a smile and got into the jeep that drove out of the compound.

"Boss," Antonio called him. "She's very dangerous, so don't try anything with her," he said.

"Hope nothing has happened since I left," he asked.

"Nothing has happened, boss; everything is going according to plan," he answered.

"Great, just make sure to finish wrapping everything. I will be returning to L.A. tomorrow morning. You'll all come meet me there after you're done, then we will move to our next expedition after I've finished wrapping everything up," he said.

"Hmm," they nodded, and Wallace entered the house.

"Do you think the two are dating?" Antonio turned to the two and saw them glaring daggers at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked with a smile.

"There's nothing between them," Laura answered.

"Well, he came in her car, so it's obvious that they might have been together somewhere; maybe something might have happened," he analyzed.

"Well, I will go and inform him about your analysis," Laura said and stormed out with Lucia.

"What have I done wrong?" Antonio asked himself while scratching his hair.

The following day, after a six-hour journey, the private airplane pulled up at the airport. Wallace was woken up. He couldn't sleep the previous night; his mental demons came back, and as if to vent their frustration after being suppressed for two days, they attacked with much more ferocity than before, making him unable to concentrate on anything.

He just sat the whole night with eerie voices and screams inside his ear. By the time they disappeared that morning, he felt a violent headache hit him, making him feel as if his head was being split apart. He returned to his apartment to continue sleeping. And just like that, he spent the day low-key in his apartment, sleeping. Night came, and he spent it working.

The following morning, he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to discover it was Emilia looking at him with a smile.

"Welcome back," she hugged him. After a minute, they separated.

"How was the business you went for?" she asked. "Hmm, I've solved everything," he nodded. He felt a feeling of unfamiliarity with her after being separated for so long.

"I really missed you," she said as she went into the living room and sat down. "What about Joss?" he asked.

"He also missed you; he asked if you'll be available by noon so that he can schedule a lunch with you to catch up," she said.

"No problem," he answered. They talked, and before they knew it, it was already noon. The two of them left and made their way towards the restaurant where he met with Joss, and they spent their time catching up on work and other things.

By the time they finished talking, it was evening.