Deception III

A week later.

In an extremely luxurious room, a white-haired boy lay on a large bed. He seemed to be sleeping comfortably.

"I hope I don't regret my decision."

Seven days had passed since Angrod proposed that I work for the royal family. I didn't give him an answer; instead, I told him I would think about it.

- NEW FEATURES ARE READY.

- OUR CURRENT STATE IS PERFECT. WE CAN ENTER THE BATTLE AT ANY TIME.

- PREVIOUSLY CREATED EGOS HAVE REBELLED AND ARE TRYING TO TAKE CONTROL OF OUR BODY.

- THE ENTITY CONNECTED TO THE DARK HEART WAS THE CAUSE OF THE REBELLION. SOMEHOW, IT MANAGED TO INFLUENCE THE EGOS.

These past few days, I had been receiving these kinds of reports. It seemed that the thing behind that dark heart wanted to take control of my body and soul. With each passing day, that thing became stronger and more violent. I was already tired of hearing the voice coming from the dark heart; it was annoying. Now, sleeping was not an option because of that thing.

"Are you sure that's all you can get out of that dark heart?"

- YEAH.

"What happened to the four people locked up?"

- CURRENTLY TRYING TO ESCAPE.

A few days ago, D found the missing royal guard. They were inside the dark heart. I was very surprised when I received the news. It turned out that inside the dark heart was a prison, a very powerful one. According to D's calculations, if we were caught in that place, it would be impossible for us to escape. And to make matters worse, there was no time passing in that place and no mana existed. That place was a prison in every sense of the word. Every time D tried to check on these people, he would be chased away by a certain being. This was repeated hundreds of times, but he planned to end it today.

"It's more than clear that this dark heart is a force we cannot control, and possessing it is impossible. At this point, if I don't have it, no one will."

- WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?

"I want to destroy that power. Is it possible?"

- YEAH.

"What would happen to the people inside it?"

- THEY ARE LIKELY TO DIE.

"I understand. Do what you have to do. If an opportunity presents itself to take them out, you know what you have to do."

- UNDERSTOOD.

- THE 'ELIMINATE' FEATURE WILL BE APPLIED TO THE 'DEATH' AUTHORITY AND ALL THE DARK ENERGY IT CONTAINS.

"Dark energy, or rather, we should call it death energy."

- THE DESTRUCTION PROCESS HAS BEGUN. WE MAY RUN OUT OF VITAL ENERGY.

"It doesn't matter. That thing is not something that should be in anyone's possession."

- WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THE EGOS?

"Eliminate them."

- UNDERSTOOD.

"Instead, I want you to develop another 'artificial spirit', one that is unable to rebel against us and whose reason for existing is to fulfill my wishes."

- UNDERSTOOD.

"True, I need that 'artificial spirit' to be an existence separate from us."

- I'LL TRY.

"Take your time."

These past few days I hadn't been sitting still. Well, I spent them locked in my room for a very good reason. That dark heart... D managed to get quite a few powers out of it. Of all the powers he managed to replicate, there was one that caught my attention: it was a power that surpassed any other, although it was incomplete, but that wouldn't stop me from putting it to good use.

"D, give me a rundown of all our powers?"

- CHARACTERISTICS:

• ANALYSIS [AWAKE]

• UNDERSTANDING [AWAKE]

• AMPLIFICATION [AWAKE]

• EXTRACTION [AWAKE]

• REPAIRER [AWAKE]

• RECORD [AWAKE]

• TRANSFER [AWAKE]

• MOVE [AWAKE]

• COPY [AWAKE]

• PASTE [AWAKE]

• CUT [AWAKE]

• COMPRESS [AWAKE]

• MARKER [AWAKE]

• HIDE [AWAKE]

• DELETE [AWAKE]

• MISTAKE [??????????]

- SKILLS INHERITED FROM THE RECIPIENT:

• HEART OF ICE [AWAKE]

• BLESSING OF DARKNESS [AWAKE]

- REPLICATED SKILLS:

• INVISIBILITY CLOAK [AWAKE]

• IRON SKIN [AWAKE]

• SHOCK WAVE [AWAKE]

• REGENERATION [AWAKE]

• WIND CUT [AWAKE]

• WIND IMPULSE [AWAKE]

• IRON MAN [AWAKE]

• TRANSFORMATION [AWAKE]

- MUTATION TYPE CHARACTERISTICS:

• DEMON EYE

- MANA ARTS:

• MANA SHIELD

• ENERGY RAY

- REPLICATED AUTHORITIES:

[LIAR'S WORLD]

• MIND READING

• THE SINCERE

• RESTRICTION

• THIEF OF SOULS

• DISTURBANCE OF SOULS

• ILLUSION

• DOMAIN

[DEATH] WAS DEGRADED. IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO REPLICATE IT AT ITS FULL POWER. IT IS AT THE LEVEL OF A SKILL. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO USE IT IN BATTLE.

• RESURRECTION

• BARRIER OF LAMENTATIONS

• PRISON OF DARKNESS

These were all my powers. I was full of features, abilities, and authorities, but there was still one problem.

"I'm alone. I don't have a backup that can save my life."

I was alone; I didn't have any trusted person backing me up. That's why a crazy idea started running through my head when I heard about a certain power: 'resurrection', one of the powers D managed to extract from the dark heart. While it was useless in battle, it was still extremely useful. I had a fucking crazy idea in my head.

"I hope things turn out well."

- YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. IF YOU RETURN TO YOUR ORIGINAL FORM, WE WILL HAVE NO RIVAL.

"You have a lot of confidence in us."

- ACCORDING TO THE DATA I OBTAINED, THE BEINGS OF THIS WORLD ONLY HANDLE ONE LINEAGE ABILITY. IT IS RARE TO SEE A BEING WITH MORE THAN TWO.

"Why so much insistence on recovering our original form?"

- WITH OUR ORIGINAL BODY I CAN GET 100% OF MY CAPACITY.

"You will use that ability only when someone capable of cornering and killing me appears."

- UNDERSTOOD.

I was currently staying in a mansion. The reason for this was because Angrod's palace was not fit to stay in and they were investigating that place thoroughly for anything left behind by the perpetrators. Another thing to note was that my room was right next to the elf girl's room. It was more than clear what Angrod intended.

"Do you think I'm some kind of babysitter?"

These past few days I've only been able to see the maids. They come in from time to time to organize, clean, and bring my food. There's also a little girl who has tried to knock on my door at least 50 times, but each time she backed out and ran back to her room timidly.

"That girl was so pretty, and to think that those guys wanted to kill her."

Not only did I have the elf girl next to me; on the left side of where the elf girl stayed was Maedhros and Eryn's room, and next to them was Idril. Next to them was Angrod.

"Well, I guess having me as a guard dog isn't a bad idea. My sensory abilities are strong."

Another thing to note was that everyone believed that I had been injured. The reason for this was because my right hand was torn by that dagger. Angrod offered to send someone to heal my wound, but I refused his offer, telling him that this wound could not be healed with healing magic, and it was true: my regeneration was negated; I could not regenerate the damaged tissue.

"You should have listened to me, stupid dagger."

The dagger that had caused the wound on my hand had already passed away. Obviously, I wasn't going to let it go unpunished for having hurt me; although, to be honest, I could have used 'fixer' and it would be over, but I didn't. I wanted everyone to believe that I was weak and worn out.

"After all, the enemy is already in this mansion."