As he explored the rubble around him, he recalled the Death Sect members who threatened him at the Adventurer Guild’s auction all those years ago. He did say he would come and teach them some manners in the future. Maybe that ‘future’ was now.

  His Scan detected a teleport system a few miles away; it was located in a building with the words “Death Sect” on them.

  He assumed that it must be the way to get into the Death Sect’s private planet, so he teleported and landed outside the building, making sure nobody was around before stepping onto the rune and disappearing.

  When he appeared, he was met by people wearing shiny armours.

  They were all pointing their weapons at him. John looked at each person until he spotted the only man without his weapon in hand.

  The Adventurer Guild’s people.

  “I suppose you’re the leader here?”

  What surprised John the most was that he knew this person. His name was Adam, the one who was in charge of his security when he was on trial as Jonathan.

  He was extremely relieved that he had changed his voice when disguised as Jonathan all those years ago.

  “Yes, I am. And who are you?” Adam was blunt, just like John remembered.

  “Who am I?” John laughed. “Don’t you recognise this outfit? My sect has decided to send me to help you deal with the remaining Death Sect members.”

  Adam did recognise the outfit, and he also knew that his higher-ups recently purchased information about the Death Sect’s hidden locations from the Rogue’s Sect.

  However, this was the first time hearing about getting help. Even if they did send help, could he trust this person who wouldn’t even show his face?

  He chose to compromise.

  “We’ve got the main headquarters covered,” Adam said. “So you can go patrol around the outskirts and kill any Death Sect members you find. If you’re not getting paid by your sect then bring proof of their deaths to me and I’ll personally reward you just like everybody else.”

  John nodded. “Deal.”

  Then, he disappeared before everyone’s eyes.

  Adam and his men quickly looked around, finding no one. It occurred to Adam that this person was an expert. He was suddenly glad that he was on their side.

  “Ignore him,” Adam instructed his men. “He’s working with us and not against us. All we have to do is guard the teleport rune, so make sure you don’t let any Death Sect members escape!”

  John didn’t go to the outskirts of the headquarters. Instead, he went all over the place by teleporting a few miles at a time while using his Scan. He was searching for something.

  He found a few members of the Death Sect that were hiding, but he ignored them. When he found some Adventurer’s Guild members fighting with Death Sect members, he shot some of his fire bullets at the Death Sect members’ legs to make sure they were on the losing end of the fight.

  After teleporting and searching through hundreds of miles, John felt he might have just found what he was looking for.

  The Adventurer’s Guild hadn’t reached this far yet and he could see Death Sect members lining up in a defensive formation, waiting for their enemies.

  Some elders of the sect were standing behind the disciples, shouting orders and telling them to wait. John even saw the person from the auction that he argued with all those years ago. He would have to come back later to deal with him.

  Within John’s Scan was an airtight area underground. He couldn’t see what was inside at all, so he used his teleport skill and teleported inside the airtight area.

  As soon as he was inside, he was gobsmacked.

  Before him were millions of Grade 8 and 9 Life Stones, rare herbs, mythical blank runes, weapons, armours, and an area of a few miles worth of bookshelves.

  John felt like a child in a candy shop.

  He plundered to his heart’s content. Everything went inside his Storage Space, he had room to spare!

  An hour later, he realised that he didn’t have enough room for everything inside his Storage Space, so he used thousands of storage bags that didn’t stretch when filled.

  He had found the bags inside the vault. These bags were precious to the sect, too, as they were at least Epic rank with three runes inside them. When the bags were full, he threw them inside the Storage Space.

  It took him hours to transfer everything.

  Finally looking at the empty room, John felt a profound satisfaction.

  The Death Sect has definitely been the most rewarding place to plunder so far.

  I don’t even need to farm for an income anymore. All these Life Stones are more than enough for me and Sarah to hit the maximum Toxin Power capacity.

  First, it was the Rogue Sect that betrayed me.

  Then, it was the Anti-Assassin Sect that betrayed Sarah.

  Now, it was the Death Sect that betrayed humanity.

  If this isn’t a lesson about not betraying people, I don’t know what is.

  Chapter 53

  Meeting Again

  I still don’t get why the Scan can’t go through airtight areas, but my teleport skill can.

  Then again, the time when the area was sealed by those runes at the Adventurer Guild’s auction stopped my teleport skill from working properly, too, but the system’s map was still working.

  Is it something to do with Life Power?

  Even in underground airtight areas like this vault, the Life Power still goes through the ceiling, headed towards the surface.

  Is that how my teleport works? It can go where Life Power can go?

  Shouldn’t the deflecting metal stop my teleport skill from working as long as it’s completely sealed, then?

  Even if I test whether the deflecting metal stops my skill or not, I doubt I’ll ever get the real answers to these questions. Might as well drop the subject, then.

  After making sure he didn’t miss anything in the vault, John teleported back to the surface and floated a few miles into the air.

  He used his Immortal Eye on everyone from the Death Sect. The person with the lowest amount of Sin still had over two million.

  Just as he was just about to start a massacre, there were shouts coming from the direction he’d come from. He turned around and saw thousands of people wearing different kinds of armours and holding all sorts of weapons charging towards the Death Sect’s defence line.

  Suppose I can’t kill them all. They might figure out I was here and suspect me of robbing the Death Sect’s treasury when they find it empty.

  With a sigh, he took out his nano short sword and teleported behind one of the commanders of the defensive line.

  Using one hand to cover the man’s mouth and another to drive the short sword through his back, stopping the man from moving, John teleported back into the air with the man.

  He used the hand that was covering the man’s mouth to crush the man’s neck before using his strength to rip the head off the body.

  John knew that Rank 9’s could survive without a body because of the vitality their Life Power produced. It replaced the oxygen and blood that the brain needed for emergencies, but they could not draw in Life Power from the air without a body.

  They would eventually run out of Life Power to produce vitality and die. However, a Rank 9 Level 9 could survive for years on the vitality they produced. That was why immortals usually said that the only way to kill a Rank 9 was by chopping the brain into little pieces.

  He let go of the body which began to drop just before he turned the Absorb option on. Within seconds, the man’s head shrivelled up until only the skin was left.

  John placed the skin inside his Storage Space because he didn’t want the Adventurer’s Guild finding it and linking him to Jonathan.

  Repeating this action, John took care of the commanders of the defensive line before the army of attackers had even reached the Death Sect members.

  The last man he targeted was the person from the auction years ago. After John decapitated him, he turned the head around so that the man could see him.

  John spoke slowly and made sure the man heard him. “I always keep my word.”

  The man’s facial expression turned to utter shock before John’s Absorb option took his life.

  I’ve done enough to help them here.

  John opened up the system to check his sin count from killing the six commanders.

  Sin: 1,192,320,082

  Damn, I wish I had more time.

  The sinners in front of me are almost too tempting to leave, but the longer I stay, the more dangerous it is for me.

  I better leave before I change my mind.

  John put away his nano short sword before teleporting away with the universal map.

  He arrived at the Sword Sect’s private planet the next second, then changed his clothes back to his eye patch and the Sword Sect’s white Daoist robes before heading home.

  He was in a good mood.

  On his stroll, he used the transfer option inside the system.

  1,192,320,000 Sin - 100:1 - 4mo 26d Time

  John laughed at the time. It only took him a few minutes to gain that amount of sin and it was almost enough to finish the last of the misc skills he had.

  Before he could arrive at his house, though, he heard someone behind him speak.

  “Hello, John.”

  Caught off guard, John spun around and snapped into a defensive stance. When John saw who it was, he was shocked. He genuinely didn’t know what to do.

  “By the look on your face, you remember who I am.” The man smiled.

  John nodded while using the Immortal Eye on the man.

  ???

  Rank: ?

  Level: ?

  Sin: 30,249,935,294,104

  Status: Sealed

  Impossible!

  Why can’t I see this man’s strength?

  The sin count is off the charts, too. And what does ‘sealed’ mean for his status? Is this why I couldn’t see his sin count when I last met him?

  The man in front of him was the guild master.

  He was the man who helped John become a Rank IG in the Adventurer Guild’s ranking system for immortals, back when he went on his first long-distance assassination mission for the Rogue Sect.

  However, at the time, John was not able to see his sin count. At that point in time, the man in front of him had only been a Rank 3 Level 7 immortal according to the system.

  John had even boasted about being able to see the man’s strength at the time. Remembering this, John wanted to smack his past self to death.

  The man saw John’s face turning pale.

  “I’m from the Adventurer’s Guild,” he said steadily. “I didn’t lie about that. What I didn’t tell you at the time was that I’d been watching you since you first registered with the guild. You know, back on the planet you were reincarnated on.

  “I hid my strength and took over the guild master’s position to talk to you a little back then, but as soon as you got what you wanted, you left. So I gave the guild master her job back before you killed her.”

  John was listening very carefully. He knew he had no chance of surviving if this man attacked him for revenge. Right now, he felt like a caged animal with nowhere to go. The only difference was that if John chose to attack, the man might go after Sarah to hurt him.

  The man continued on, as he didn’t care if John knew his secrets or not.

  “I’m like you,” he explained. “Aeons ago, I came to this universe from Earth and fought my way through the ranks of immortality. My gift is called the Manipulation System.

  “It’s a little special. It needs other people to help level up, so I left techniques all across the universe for people to find.

  “As I got stronger, the techniques I used got stronger, too. Eventually, the techniques I left across the universe didn’t matter to me anymore as they were too low to help me.

  “Many years later, I transcended. I didn’t need other people anymore. It didn’t take much effort to destroy all of the techniques I had left around the universe to my knowledge, but apparently, I forgot one. I discovered that the man called Jeremy May was using my technique for his own gains.

  “What I didn’t expect was your system learning this lower technique of mine and even changing the frequency and strength of it. Even I can’t get rid of it without destroying the brain of the person being manipulated. Watching you all these years has certainly been an experience, John.”

  The man lifted his hand and a medium-sized screen appeared, floating a few inches above his palm. It flashed a little before John could see himself on the screen.

  Smiling, the man explained.

  “Every now and then, a few of us transcendents will watch what you’re doing for entertainment. It’s how we know you were the one who destroyed the Anti-assassin Sect’s planet, went to prison as Jonathan, killed all the prisoners, and escaped.

  “I did help you a little there, though, because I was the one who went and investigated that prison for the Adventurer’s Guild. I reported that Jonathan had escaped with the other prisoners and left the real you out of it.”

  As the man finished his sentence, John’s system went off and forced a popup in his right eye which he unconsciously looked at.

  Congratulations on thinking up a valid new skill. It has been added to the list.

  Hide Option: Option to stop any technology or technique from finding your location or spying on you.

  Closing the system, John had many questions.

  “Have you ever spied on me and my wife when we were alone?”

  “We’re not interested in those things anymore.” The man laughed. “I can guarantee we haven’t. After trillions of years, you lose interest in the things you once thought were important.”

  “So... what do you want from me?”

  “Well,” the man said, pausing for a second, “I need you to do something for me. I’m not asking, though. I’m not your enemy, but you don’t really have a choice here.

  “If you don’t do what I’m asking, then the Adventurer’s Guild will learn about your other identity as Jonathan. You’d be hunted by everybody in the universe. I’ll even put up such a ridiculous reward for your death that even the evil immortals will shout for justice as they aim for your head.

  “To make sure that scenario doesn’t happen, you need to do what I say.

  “I don’t care how you do it, how long it takes, or even what it’ll cost you to complete my task. I want you to join the war against the beastmen and make sure humans win. That’s all. For a Demonic Sider like you, it shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

  Chapter 54

  Frank’s Scheme

  John thought about what the man had said quite a lot before replying more than a minute later.

  “Why do you want me to do this? You’re strong enough to go to that war and single-handedly slaughter all beastmen and win the war.”

  Shaking his head, the man spoke, “Due to certain reasons you don’t need to know about, I can’t.” He twirled his fingers around in a way that was so casual it was menacing. “So… do we have a deal?”

  Gritting his teeth, John caved.

  “Fine,” John muttered. “I’ll do it. But I’ll only go one year from now. I need to spend time with my wife. Unlike you, I still have an interest in women.

  “If you’ve been watching me like you said, then you must know I haven’t had any time with my wife for more than nine years. Surely, you won’t deny me this request?”

  “As I said, what you do is of no importance to me as long as you get what I ask done.” The man grinned. “But by your words, I’m expecting to see you headed towards the battlefield in exactly one year from now, little Sider.”

  The man chuckled darkly and then disappeared before John’s eyes.

  As soon as the man was gone, John felt like a mountain had been lifted off his shoulders. He thought he could go around unhindered in the universe now that he was a Rank 8.

  Of course, he was wrong.

  He got smacked down by reality once again. So much as a sneeze from that man could have very well ended his life. Rank 9 immortals were like helpless babies in comparison to him.

  After calming down a little, John teleported inside his house to check on Sarah. Seeing her sitting on the sofa relaxing, John relaxed a little, too.

  He walked over and sat down beside her. Trying to keep his cool, he explained what had just happened.

  Sarah opened her mouth to ask a question, but John knew what it was and stopped her from asking. Those people could be watching them at any moment.

  Instead, John asked his own question, “Have you ever registered with the Adventurer’s Guild?”

  Sarah replied with a no. When she arrived in this universe, she was inside a jungle. She made it to a small village which didn’t have an Adventurer’s Guild branch built in it.

  From there, she became an immortal and went with the Anti-assassins. She had never registered her Sider status to the Adventurer’s Guild, nor told anyone besides John.

  John wondered if that man and his buddies somehow knew. Were they watching when he and Sarah both shared each other’s identity? Were there any other moments that would have tipped them off?

  John wanted to ask the man all sorts of questions, too.

  What was the difference between a Sider who was a Demon and a Sider who was a Saint? The man had called him a ‘Demonic Sider,’ but what did that actually mean? Surely, there was another layer to it.

  He also wanted to know the man’s name and how to reach him. But John knew he didn’t even have the courage to ask any of his questions, even if they could contact each other freely.

  The man knew Sarah was important to him. He had to put Sarah’s safety above all else.

  John could tell that Sarah was worried and even on the verge of panicking, but he had already come up with a plan. He kept it to himself for fear of being watched as he explained it.

  John switched topics and asked Sarah to tell him about her adventures during the time he was asleep.

  When John heard of Lexis’ death, he comforted her a little. He knew that Sarah had already put Lexis’ death behind her, though.

 

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