Finishing breakfast, I plopped onto the sofa, leaving Michelle to clean up afterward; I would've helped, but she's rather adamant when it came to refusing my offers to help. While lying on the sofa, Lazuli joined me, prompting me to wrap an arm around her as my hand settled upon her perfectly shaped butt.
"Alright, can you tell us what happened now?" Sitting in my seat, a reclining chair, Yuki leaned back, her eyes full of curiosity as she stared at me, causing me to sigh before nodding. "Yeah, sure, but it wasn't anything miraculous. I just fought, fought, and fought while trying not to die."
"Yeah, but we want details." "What kind of details? Do you want me just to retell everything I encountered? I mean, I can if you guys want. Not interesting though." Despite my warnings, everyone, even Michelle, who was still in the kitchen, eagerly responded, causing me to rub my face while kneading Lazuli's butt, giving me energy.
"Haa, alright fine." Muttering under my breath, I cleared my throat, preparing to start the 'story' from when Talis helped me lead the monsters away. However, before I could, someone knocked on the door. "Tsk, which bastard is visiting this early!?" Standing up, Yuki walked to the front door, clearly irritated as she opened the door while cracking her knuckles.
Instead of Yuki's loud and annoying voice, which we were all expecting, she sounded relatively subdued; I could even hear a hint of respect in her tone. "Um, c-can I help you?" "Alexander, is he present? I heard he… Returned alive." Hearing those words, I groaned; they've wasted no time in getting to me.
'Already? I've only managed to sleep with Vanye!' I was hoping to have at least some time to express my love to all my wives, but it didn't seem that was going to be possible. 'Maybe I should just start with Lazuli.' Narrowing my eyes at Lazuli, I had half a mind to lay her on her stomach and attack her from above, but I didn't allow the intrusive thoughts to win.
"Alex, um, the Branch Leader wants to speak with you." Glancing at Yuki, who was looking at me with an uncertain expression, I kissed Lazuli and sat upright before standing. Approaching the front door, I saw Niol, the branch leader; if it weren't for Duke Gorgan, Niol would be the strongest in Cassandra. After witnessing his strength during the battle, I completely believe it; all the other A-class adventurers had been pushed to their limits, and he still had more to give.
"You wanted to speak with me, Sir Niol?" Stepping outside, I closed the door behind me and looked at Niol, who quietly observed me before responding. "You may not know, but the guild and the kingdom, well, basically the entire continent, have been in uproar regarding the monster invasion. I'll spare you the details, but you're required to come with me." His tone was kind yet firm, and it was evident that I had no say in the matter, which I sort of expected.
"Can I at least change my clothes?" Softly sighing, I nodded while gesturing to my pants and shit, causing Niol to raise an eyebrow before nodding. "Be quick." As I opened the door, I saw everyone running to their seats, causing me to suspiciously eye them while closing the door behind me.
"Were guys eavesdropping on us?" "Eavesdropping? I wouldn't intrude on my friend's privacy." Smiling, Vanimo fixed his hair while dismissively waving his hand. "I wasn't interested in whatever you guys were talking about anyway." Yawning, Yuki leaned back and propped her feet up. Narrowing my eyes at them, Vanye, Lazuli, and Jasmine talked amongst themselves while avoiding eye contact, causing me to slowly head upstairs.
Changing my clothes, I headed back downstairs, waving at everyone as I grabbed the handle to the front door. "I'll be back soon. Hopefully. Love you guys, except you, Vanimo." "Mu, why did you exclude me? Guys can love each other." Tactically pretending I didn't hear Vanimo's crazy choice of words, I exited the house and closed the door behind me.
"Let's go." Without another word, Niol gave a single look before turning around, prompting me to follow. It took several minutes, but after a few turns and navigating a busy street, we reached the guild, and when we entered, the usual lively atmosphere was replaced with hushed whispers as everyone looked at me and Niol.
"I hope nothing bad happens to Alex. If it weren't for him, we'd all be dead." "Yeah, I'm the same, but who knows, he somehow managed to get the monsters to follow him, the guild might think he's somehow related to the incident." "You think Alex caused those monsters to attack Cassandra? Are you fucking crazy?" "Hey, I never said that, of course not, but he could be related to it." "And that's all the guild needs to make a move."
I couldn't help but twitch at some of my colleagues, as none of their words helped reassure me that nothing would happen; now I was concerned I was walking to my coffin. 'And [Rebirth] is still on cool down.' Brushing aside my hair, we headed into the back and took two flights of stairs up to the third floor before he led me to what I could only guess was his office.
When he opened the doors, it was nothing but a large office with a big, wooden desk filled with papers, a panoramic window behind the desk, and shelves. It looked like a basic office, nothing special or noteworthy to write home about. "Sit, it'll take a moment for them to arrive." Nodding, I sat down while curious about who 'them' were.
'Maybe they're the leaders of the Adventurer Guild? It's possible. Heh, watch it be Marlin?' It was just a passing thought, but if it were Marlin, rather than me being interrogated, it would've been him. Anyway, minutes passed as Niol and I silently waited for whoever they were to arrive, and in the midst of a yawn, I felt my heart rate subtly speed up, causing me to narrow my eyes as I used [Heroes Gaze].
'Did they arrive?' While searching, I noticed an increase in death mana within the atmosphere, causing me to slightly frown, only for it all to condense onto the floor, specifically in Niol's shadow, filling it. Once it had been filled, a thin, almost decrepit being emerged, causing me to raise my guard, as for Niol, he seemed entirely oblivious to the being's arrival.
The figure was covered entirely within death and dark mana, masking his presence from the living, though he couldn't evade my eyes; none could. As for the being, he or she was wearing a large cloak that completely concealed their appearance; even the hand holding a staff was covered by a black glove.
When they had fully emerged from Niol's shadow, they shifted their gaze towards me, causing my heart rate to further increase as they surged their deathly mana towards me, prompting Niol to finally notice something amiss.
"Who are you!? Reveal yourself!" Just as Niol summoned his spear from the wall, the being fully revealed themselves; instantly, forcing Niol to his knees as his overwhelming mana suppressed him. "Shh, quiet." The being's voice was no louder than a whisper as he brought a finger to the inky blackness of his hood, where his face was hiding.
As they approached me, I stood up. However, like Niol, I was forced to my knees; the sheer weight of that being's mana was overwhelming. 'I-It even surpasses, M-Masters!' Shocked was an understatement. Master was the strongest person I knew, but this being, even she couldn't compare to this 'thing'.
Stepping closer, I pressed my hands against the floor while gasping for breath, resisting the growing weight of his mana while my body constantly recovered from the rapidly aging. "Ugh, f-fuck!" By the time they were standing in front of me, I was struggling to keep myself from lying sprawled on the ground, as for my aging body, I was probably aging a decade a second, and even my healing was having trouble keeping up. If this continued for much longer, I might even die.
"W-What, d-do you w-want!?" Barely managing to spit out a mere four words, I couldn't even look up at the being's face, though, as if to help me, they grabbed my chin and raised my head. While doing so, I noticed how skinny their fingers felt, even through the gloves; they were so bony.
Staring into the being's inky black abyss of their hood, I gritted my teeth and analyzed their status.
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Name: Vecna
Species: ???Human???
Age: 1,943
Tier: 8
Level: 7231
Experience: [87%]
Class: Necromancer (Legendary)
Sub-Class: Dark Mage (Intelligence)
Sub-Class: ?????
Title(s): ?????, Queen Of The Dead (Epic), SSS-Rank Adventurer (Epic)
Lifeforce: ?????
Mana: ?????
Vigor: ????
Endurance: ????
Agility: ????
Dexterity: ????
Intelligence: ????
Perception: ????
Traits: ????, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????
Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????, ???? ,????, ????, ????, ????
Condition: N/A
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"So… Interesting." I felt no breath from her as she moved my head side-to-side, treating me like an object rather than a living being, though I was still in shock at her sheer status panel. Almost everything was a question mark, but even the things I could see were incredible, making me more nervous as it became apparent I was dealing with someone entirely out of my league.