Moments after drinking the blood, the blackish skin became slightly shiny, but the changes were not noticeable.
The blood was only from the silver class, so it didn't do much.
GRRAARRRRRRRR!!
The lights of the settlement had turned red, showing the highest level of danger, and everyone panicked.
When Cynthia's presence was revealed, the level of threat was the highest as well, though this time people were even more panicked.
Throwing the corpse away, Neil pounced onto the other guard, slashing down with his sharp, pointy claws.
BANG
The body was instantly torn apart, the demonic figure drinking more blood and going on a bloody rampage.
Now only the terrified humans and one of the Lizzard men remained.
He was at the 2nd Origin but was terrified, plus his domain was only silver class, which obviously made him weaker.
A person with a gold or diamond class domain could reach those classes too, while a silver class domain limited the class of the lord to silver.
So, the difference between lords increases with each evolution.
Two people who had just reached the fourth Origin, one with a gold class domain and the other with a diamond class domain—
Then if they fought, the diamond class domain lord would easily win.
And so, the difference between lords would keep increasing based on their domain.
The guard at the 2nd Origin was still more powerful than Neil; fighting across ranks was nearly impossible.
Letting out another terrifying roar, the phantom raised his hand and brought it down over his head.
The leader hurriedly jumped back, his body shivering, an instinctive fear slowing him down.
Holding onto his spear, the Lizzard man gave up the idea of escaping and moved forward, expertly stabbing the spear towards the monster.
CLANG
Neil struck the tip with his claws, his body moving on pure instincts and the need for more blood.
Yet the stab was powerful enough to push him back a couple of steps; even with this transformation, he was still a bit weaker.
If all his cores were saturated, meaning he was at mythic class, then he would definitely stand a chance against this leader.
And adding this transformation on top of that, it would be an easy victory.
But Neil's cores were far from saturated.
The two engaged in a bloody battle, the spear stabbing the abomination's body several times while Neil too managed to injure him.
Soon, the door opened, and the humans finally had their chance to run out while more guards charged inside.
This time, only a few were at 1st Origin while most were stronger.
The moment they entered, the blackish monster had just slashed at one of the leader's eyes.
But in the next moment, the spear pierced through his head, killing off the monster who had put various settlements on high alert.
[You died.]
[Would you like to start over?]
[Start again / Give up?]
Neil: "…"
He was just speechless.
Of course, it was completely different from the previous time.
'I really succeeded!! I did it!' The pain and hard work had paid off.
'Start over.'
…
Neil reappeared in his domain, the portal shining brightly before his eyes.
"So it is indeed possible." A big smile spread over his face.
He was still not a match for someone at the 2nd Origin, but this much was enough.
A dangerous plan instantly started forming in his mind.
It would need a lot of tries, but Neil was adamant about it.
Since it would also allow him to grow stronger, even if only by a little, and control himself better.
And thus, he began the cycle of death, every time being sent back to his domain.
If nothing really worked, then he would just not go there and hide as long as he could.
Growing slowly, though it would waste a lot of time and might still lead to failure.
***
After countless tries…
Back inside the hall, the monstrous figure was fighting against the same leader once again.
His movements were similar to before, just as mindless.
When the door opened, all humans ran away in fear.
More people rushed inside, seeing the terrifying figure.
Neil slashed at the guard's eye again, but this time, just as the spear thrust towards his face, he fell back.
The spear moved up and hit the ceiling as it plunged into a pipe.
Instantly, cold gas rushed out of the pipe, falling over the monster.
The leader was about to charge forward again, but then he paused.
Somehow, the cold gas had started to weaken him.
His body started shrinking, returning to human form.
"Quick, let's kill him!!" Several of the Lizzard men charged forward, many corpses already littering the hall.
"Wait!!"
Suddenly, a loud voice reverberated from outside, and several higher-ranked men entered.
The group saw the phantom and how the gas was weakening him, and they continued to observe him for a little longer.
"W- What is going on? I never heard liquid nitrogen is the weakness of a phantom… but forget that, how could the phantom be- be a human?!!" The new entries looked on in utter shock.
This scene seemed impossible.
"Maybe it is some sort of mutation or something far beyond our imagination. In any case, what are we to do with him?" one of the commanders asked.
"Hmm."
Killing him was an option, but that would be such a waste.
If they could control a phantom, how great would that be?
After thinking hard and observing him, he spoke:
"For now, throw him into the prison and put the suppressing shackles on him."
"Also, be equipped with liquid nitrogen in case he goes berserk again. No one is allowed to kill him. Find more about his real identity or whatever you can."
The higher-ranked officer ordered; if things went right, then they might have a monopoly over the entire planet.
Thankfully, they didn't lack that gas at all.
Neil's clothes were torn and barely hanging over his body.
His face was covered with bloody marks and was unrecognizable.
Several guards carefully brought his body to the prison.
They put the shackles over his wrists and even his ankles this time.
After locking him up, the security became extremely tight.
In the next prison cell, Cynthia had been curious since that red alarm went off.
She wondered if they had already discovered her, but it seemed there was another threat.
When Neil was put in the next cell, she was sure he was the reason for all this chaos.
'A person at the 1st Origin, not even a class, and he could cause so much trouble? What exactly did he do?'
The snake queen could tell he had just become a lord.
Maybe it really was him, the person with the special skill.
'I will need to check his skill first.'
But for that, she needed to first talk with him, even if just a bit.
But he was unconscious right now, so the queen could only wait.
Before long, a couple of Lizzard men entered cell number one and checked Neil's condition, trying to find more about him.
But they really couldn't find anything.
All information about him was hidden on the world server.
Even his face was all wounded up, so they couldn't match him with the teenagers they had kidnapped.
A big meeting was called by the Lizzard men.
All the important people of the settlement were summoned in a hurry.
And upon discussing the matter, people were divided into two sides.
One wanted to remove any future trouble by killing Neil right away.
The second side wanted to control the phantom and turn him into their weapon.
The phantom was too weak right now; he could be controlled and used against others in the future.
A couple of hours passed as Neil continued to play dead in his prison cell, while his slimes slowly made their way towards him.
Though this time, it was far more difficult.
All attention was focused on him.
Creating all sorts of distractions, Neil finally managed to retrieve his bracelet.
Keeping his breathing even, he held it tightly and began to converse with Nemo.
As his virtual assistant started doing the same tasks—finding the location of the orb and taking control of the cameras and monitors.
Soon, he pretended to wake up with a groan.
Slowly, he sat up, with his back facing the door, and started trying to remove the shackles.
Just then…
"Hello, neighbour."
The intoxicating voice of the queen sounded again.
❖❖❖
Thanks for reading...