Recruitment Pitch

As he was sifting through all of the notifications which he had received, Theodore suddenly paused, a faint light flickering in his eyes. Then, he continued working through his backlog, until he was finally left with only two remaining–he had singled them out earlier, and kept them behind for later, as he wanted to see how many of them there were.

Both of them came from a being which held just a singular Talent, and they were identical.

[ Parasitic Fly (Mythical):

• Depending on the target's Attributes and Talents, plus the Attributes and Talents of its creator, it can take complete control of a being.

• It can feed back all information perceived by the senses to its creator.

• Absolutely loyal to its creator. ]

This was one of the Talents which Theodore would most definitely never make his own, as they would burden him with a significant negative effect, practically turning him into a slave of whoever had created these flies. Of course, his own Talents would likely allow him to shrug off this influence with little effort, but why would he go through such an ordeal for no reason?

Instead of lamenting the fact of having missed out on a Mythical-grade Talent, he focused on the creator of these flies. He had already confirmed that they had come here with the Soul Sculpting Stage experts which had been recalled, therefore it was evident that two of them had been assimilated by these flies during their stay in other cities. Unfortunately, he had not paid close enough attention to all of the notifications when he had received them, so it wasn't possible for him to figure out where these flies originated from exactly.

'Still, none of that matters. Now I know that one of the Heaven's Chosen here is in possession of a Talent which allows them to take control of others via insects. I'll have to more thoroughly inspect everything I pick up or buy, and warn the girls.'

As he thought up to this point, he suddenly froze in place for a moment, then a slightly amused, impish smile stole itself on his face. There was a very simple way in which he wouldn't be the only one annoyed and disgusted by his enemy's means plus actions. It also nicely tied into an idea that he had shelved earlier and was still considering.

-----

Around noon the next day, Cheong Suhyeon's ever-growing flock arrived at a provincial capital. The city which they had been residing in previously, unfortunately, had been stripped of its Energy Veins, so its Energy concentration had rapidly declined after they had resided there for a few days.

Noticing this, as well as finding the root cause, Cheong Suhyeon led her believers to the nearest city with the same or a better Energy concentration–which just happened to be a provincial capital this time. Fortunately, she had become a lot stronger over these days, so she was confident in taking on the Imperial Han Family branches which held on to the more vital parts of Qinglong State.

It took her a while to travel here, considering that she wasn't moving around alone. When she arrived, instead of facing tough opponents for her to crush, she came across the scene of a recently-finished massacre eerily identical to the one which had claimed the last city that she had been to.

Whilst she incorporated all of the regular people who were left behind into her own ranks, she noticed something excessively unusual at the centre of the city. Heck, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't possibly have overlooked it!

An enormous holographic image was being projected into the sky by an Array below, displaying two separate 'pages' of information. The first one of these, the left one, was the one which instantly drew all attention towards it.

It depicted the upper body of a heavenly dashing young man with white hair and icy blue eyes, a somewhat cold and commanding, yet welcoming and confident expression on his face. He was leaning forward a little and staring straight ahead, right at anyone who looked at his image. His right hand was pointing directly at the viewer as well, making it intently obvious that the one he was addressing his message to was whoever was gazing at him.

Underneath this picture, in bold, upper-case letters of the most universally-used language of the Heavenly Court, there were the words: 'Theodore Winter wants you.'

With the corners of her mouth twitching in disbelief and a hint of mirth, Cheong Suhyeon reluctantly tore her gaze away from the handsome looks of the one so blatantly advertising himself, her heartbeat a little quicker than before. This couldn't be helped–everyone liked to see gorgeous people, and she was no exception.

Because she was aware of what the name 'Theodore Winter' represented, an amalgamation of various different feelings began to torment her, with both worry and terror, as well as hints of excitement shimmering in her eyes.

Finally, she put all of these distracting thoughts aside and focused on the rest of the first 'page' of information.

'As the heir of the Winter Family, a Supreme Pillar of the Heavenly Court, I have an opportunity for you. Are you a Heaven's Chosen? Then you may just be eligible to join me on my path to final victory. Whether it be as a Follower or a Retainer, should your qualifications be up to par, I'd be happy to let you become a part of my retinue.

In the name of the Winter Family, I promise that anyone who comes to apply will not be harmed by me, my people, or someone under the control of me or my Subordinates, in any way, shape or form. Therefore, even if your qualifications are not good enough, I will guarantee your safe withdrawal from our meeting place and will not bother you unless you stand against or attack my side.

What are you waiting for? Take the communication artefact below and contact us today! My secretary will answer any and all questions which you might have, and direct you to the place where we'll meet.

(Daily office hours: 8 to 11 a.m. plus 3 to 9 p.m.)'

Flabbergasted by what she had just read, Cheong Suhyeon stood speechlessly on the spot for a while, then she couldn't help but giggle to herself. She had never expected anyone to attempt to build their own force in such a manner, akin to a commercial advertisement. And for the prestigious, Heavenly Court-wide famous 'Winter Saint' to do so truly left her without words.

Naturally, she had considered that this information might be fake, and that someone was impersonating Theodore Winter, employing his likeness to lure in unsuspecting Heaven's Chosen. Yet, the seal of the Winter Family had been used to officiate this 'document'–and that one could only be utilized by its members. To someone from a Named Family, it was impossible to break a promise certified by the seal of the family. It was one of the most binding oaths that they could make, and only with their family's support could they possibly weasel their way out of it.

In conclusion: This was most definitely created by Theodore Winter himself, and he would not harm anyone who came his way whatsoever–unless they did so, or attempted to do so, first.

'I never thought I'd meet him here, especially considering I usually wouldn't even get the opportunity to attend the same events as him...'

Somewhat bitter about the vast chasm separating the statuses of their families, Cheong Suhyeon shook her head and put this matter aside for the moment. Instead, she turned to gaze at the second 'page' of information.

'Public Service Announcement:

Amongst us Heaven's Chosen, there is an insect controller with a Talent of at least the Transcendent-grade. They can use parasitic flies–or potentially other insects–to assimilate with their targets, gaining absolute control over them. As long as the controller's Attributes and/or Talents surpass those of the ones who they want to make their own, their targets will not be able to resist, turning into 'living dead' steered by insects.

Carefully inspect everything you eat, as well as the air you breathe. You never know where insect eggs might be hidden. Many of the Hans have already fallen victim to them, the strongest of which were at the peak of the Soul Sculpting Stage.

Beware.'

Her brows furrowed, Cheong Suhyeon felt a sense of danger in her heart. Although she was confident in being able to combat this control, even should that insect user be far stronger than her–after all, she had many trump cards in her hands–this news was still concerning to her. Fortunately, should any of the members of her flock be affected by such a thing, she would notice it almost immediately, so she was in a far better position than the vast majority of her peers.

'But what about those not as capable or fortunate as me? If they are unlucky, they can easily be controlled by this person. Not only that, but the sheer number of other experts which could become their hands and feet is concerning. It appears that I'm not the only one amassing an army. Our methods may differ, but at the end of the day, the essence of what we're doing is remarkably similar.'

She was under no illusion when it came to her own actions. The fanatic faith which her believers were inflicted with could be seen as a terminal affliction, one that brainwashed them to forever be absolutely subservient to her. Even after death, this wouldn't change–only once they were reborn would they escape from this influence.

As the one who knew exactly how overpowering and dangerous to others an approach like hers could be, the threat which she felt from this insect controller was only second to the pressure that the presence of an entity of Theodore Winter's calibre in this world had on her.

'... but with this action, Theodore Winter has clearly put himself on the opposing side of this person. After all, divulging so much information to the public is simply... ruthless. I could watch the two of them duke it out, hoping for them to weaken each other...'

At this point in her train of thought, a helpless sigh mixed with a chuckle escaped her lips.

'Yet who am I kidding? What does a Transcendent-grade–or even a Supreme-grade–Talent amount to in the face of someone like a regular Supreme Pillar's heir? Nothing. And Theodore Winter is at least one step above those.'

Contemplating her options further, she realized that not only would she stand no chance against him, but the mere fact that he had so openly revealed himself to the rest of the world meant that he was absolutely certain of his success here.

Nobody of his level would make a rookie mistake, especially after the incomprehensibly thorough and gruelling training plus education which they had to endure. The weak and unsuited had been weeded out long ago, with solely the truly unfathomably extraordinary ones left behind.

'Why do I have to be so unlucky? Even against a regular Pillar's descendant, I would have some confidence. But Theodore Winter? That's just... depressing.'

Other than escaping this world via using her sole single use life-saving item or giving up and attempting to join his side, there was only one more option: To band together with many others and try to force him to retreat. Not a lot of Named Family members worth their salt would be delusional enough to think that they could make someone of his calibre eat a loss, so a draw was the best which they could hope for.

'Is this encounter an opportunity, or a disaster? Should I escape, or should I stay? Well, I most definitely will not go against him, that much is for sure.'

Priding herself on her mental capabilities and always choosing the best option out of all that she was presented with, Cheong Suhyeon immediately threw out the most ridiculous one right from the start. After all, she didn't have a death wish!

As the fledgling saviour goddess pondered over her future path, in the following days, many other Heaven's Chosen came across Theodore's 'advertisements' as well.