With everything laid bare before her, the young child still uttered her desires. She still wanted to hold on to the belief that their familial bond wouldn't end like this. Sammuel could've chosen for him but he didn't, or at the very least, he didn't feel like he should.

I'm still just a spectator.

Marie clung to Fian as if her life depended on it. She didn’t let go.

“Sammuel, you've done more than enough.” Her words echoed within Sammuel's head. It kept ringing inside as the weight of the future burdened his very soul. "There's no need for you to go this far anymore."

“You’re still under my protection.”

Fian saw how conflicted Sammuel was. As such, she no longer wanted to burden him with this matter any longer. Yet with Sammuel's personality, he didn't feel it was right to leave so suddenly. He was determined to see this through to the bitter end.

“Very well. The amount of people who still value their word are too few and far between in this cruel world. But if you're really going to help us, all I ask is you help us until we leave Aganth's walls.” Fian’s stone-cold heart was genuine. She no longer held the same sentiment towards Marie as before but the memories she had were enough to bear responsible. Despite the struggle and burden this had on her decision making, this wasn't inherently meant to torture her.

The price Fian paid for breaking her contract was to sever all the emotional attachment she had towards Marie. And the person who would be affected by this the most was none other than the Hatchling herself, the offspring of the Supreme Dragon of Attachment.

“I’ve got Lawrence making something that’ll hide you away from anything mana-related. He's very skilled with stealth technology.” Sammuel was confident that things would turn out well. Unfortunately, things never work out as intended.

It was time for Fian to spill everything she knew. “Sammuel, it’s not as easy as you think it will be.”

“What do you mean? I can just get you to the border on the opposite side of where the battlefield is.”

And this was Sammuel's mistake, his lack of understanding of the current situation.

“The Genesis Foundation has two factions, one that you’ve already seen, the faction me and Ian are a part of, the ones that seek to ensure the future through world peace. And… the other faction, those who aim to ensure the future through an iron fist. They’re finally going to make their move now that I have defected.” Fian’s words finally made Sammuel feel the overarching threats looming everywhere.

“Not to mention the Angels and Devils that are out to cause as much disarray between humanity. It’s safe to say that other than the Dragon Clan, the world is our enemy. Many are out for Marie, running away under prying eyes would be difficult.”

Sammuel didn’t know it yet but there were far too many organizations after Marie’s life. The Monster Faction had sought after a Great Devil’s aid to survive the disaster, in exchange, Marie’s life was forfeit. Not only them, but even the Radical Faction of the Genesis Foundation will be sending out their people to try and kill Marie to try to cause as much chaos as possible. Adding on the fact that Jynnette has a blood feud with Marie, being the sole reason why her mother died, her agonized heart held the flames of vengeance. And it was as if that wasn’t enough, Sadin was still moving at breakneck speed towards Aganth to kill the Hatchling as he was forced to by a Great Devil. It was needless to say that Sammuel would be fighting against the very world itself to make this work.

Although Sammuel did not know it right now, the scale of which was enough to send Aganth to a one-way path of destruction. The war between Aganth and Alyur the Great Dragon of Moonlight, will soon spread out and branch off into smaller battles. The intensity of the struggles later on would soon reach the inevitable end of Aganth.

Marie looked up to Sammuel, hoping for the better. Sammuel squatted down to her eye level and rubbed her head, turning it into a mess. “Don’t worry Marie, nothing bad will happen. I’ll be right there as always.”

Touching Fian’s hand, Sammuel sent her a non-verbal message.

I’ll be communicating with Alyur just in case.

Fian agreed that this was the most optimal decision in such a situation. Both of them understood that if their plan didn’t work then the next best-case scenario was for Alyur to ensure Marie’s safety. Although they were hoping for the end where Fian and Marie could escape, contingencies were always a welcome addition.

This entire exchange occurred underneath Marie’s nose.

“Ian won’t be divulging my information for the time being. We have exactly 19 hours and 34 minutes before they find us. But Lawrence’s cloaking technology should delay that for an entire week. That’s as much time as we have left.” Fian no longer bothered to hide her understanding of the situation. By all the subtle clues that Fian showed and said, as well as those that were merely implied, Sammuel could tell that she was without a doubt someone who had once been a great person in the past. Possibility being one of the Genesis Foundation's higher ups.

“I’ll be setting up as much as possible…” The preparation against such a herculean task was no easy feat.

I’ll be fighting against everyone under the sun. But still... I have hope. I believe that I'll somehow manage to persevere through this.

“I’ll be trying to contact people on my side as well. They won’t be of help combat-wise but they could obscure certain details and provide support. Ha… I never thought that I would become so soft.” Fian snickered to herself. Looking down, Marie still held on. “We’ll make our move next week.”

“I’ll meet you by then.” Sammuel stood up and walked to the door and opened it. He turned back, “Let’s make sure nothing bad-”

Boom.

An explosion from a distance coming from deeper inside the residential area caused black smoke to stir up to the very skies. The small store that housed Fian and Marie's new life was suddenly shattered. The booming wave of sound crashed over the majority of the street they were in, no, the entire segment. Glass shards fell on the ground as not a single window could handle such force. The smell of ash was very prominent in the air, even causing the remaining survivors to recklessly cough out loud.

Sammuel immediately reacted.

[Switch Ego: Black Winged Albatross]

[Equipped: Ferverent Fang | Gain Combat Power: +20 | Sammuel: 599.61]

[Flowing Swordsmanship: First Form | Gain Combat Power: +454.42 | Sammuel: 1054.03]

With a single swipe of his sword, the incoming shockwave was fully nullified. Force was met with appropriate force, canceling each other. He barely had enough time to realize what had happened as his body moved on its own. Everything had happened so fast that the screams of those who died had been drowned out. Yet it still wasn’t enough.

Boom.

Another explosion appeared from the distance, this time further away. Screams of pure agony sounded out. Countless people have just died from that attack. Sammuel’s enhanced senses saw everything unfold. The amount of corpses he could see was obscene. He immediately placed his hand over Marie's eyes.

"Fian, snap out of it!"

Hearing this, Fian held her arms out and hugged Marie very closely. "It's fine. Just close your eyes, Sammuel will protect us."

The bitter taste of smoke on Sammuel’s tongue was awful. Even the thick ash in the air was starting to fill his lungs. A peaceful city had just turned into a hellscape in such a short amount of time. Pitiful sounds of parents finding their children dead before them. A fire raged on as people tried to desperately understand what just happened. It was peaceful and happy one moment, and a bloody sight in the end.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Slashing once again, Sammuel felt the incoming explosion appear again. As he had become much more used to the flow of the waves of sound, he became even more proficient in his swordsmanship. The next wave was leagues weaker than before yet it still wasn't something that Sammuel could just ignore.

Boom.

Defending Fian’s store, or what remained of it at least, Sammuel dissipated the very next shockwave. As the explosions continued, the shockwaves turned weaker and weaker until Sammuel no longer needed to defend against them. The onslaught of explosions that were enough to kill most citizens enveloped Aganth. It was a blatant attack towards everyone, not discriminating at all as this seemed to be an open attack. To fight the flow of the waves, Sammuel had appropriately met the waves with his own blade.

“Fian! They found us-” Sammuel shouted out before Fian grabbed Sammuel’s mouth and forced him to hide along the ruins of their store.. Fian placed a finger up her mouth and motioned Sammuel to quiet down.

“It’s the Monster Faction! They’ve gone- Eugh!” A man screamed out before getting brutally decapitated. His head rolled on the ground before the minotaur stomped down on it, rendering it into a bloody pulp. An entrance worthy for the savage beasts they were.

“Find the Hatchling! Kill everything on sight!” The monster yelled out. A series of even more shouts yelled out, completely rendering this residential area into a slaughterhouse. One of these monsters came up to Fian’s store and started wrecking anything it could see.

[Combat Power: 58]

If Sammuel wanted, he could flick his fingers and the creature before him would be rendered to paste. Yet it wasn’t a smart move, killing one here would only mean that even more would come. It was best for him to leave and give him an opportunity to escape the search.

Sammuel situated himself directly before it yet for some reason, this monster couldn’t see him at all. Looking back, it seemed to be one of Fian’s moves. The monster didn’t find anything sentient inside and quickly left the area, marking this house as seen by burning it.

Marie desperately wanted to yell out but Fian covered her mouth. “Don’t worry sweetie, as long as we have each other, we’re at home.” From Marie’s perspective, it was the words she desperately needed to hear. Yet for Fian, it was as if she was comforting a stranger, without the essence of sympathy.

The disjointed situation was the result of Fian breaching her part of the [Contract]. If even a formidable being like Vzella, the Great Dragon of Symphony nearly died to breaching such a [Contract] then such a price was small for Fian.

“What now?” Sammuel looked on ahead for Fian’s input. Compared to acting high and mighty, he would rather hear from someone who understood more than him. Pride mattered not when someone you valued was in danger.

“Ignore us, go save Lawrence. He’s our only ticket out of here. We can handle ourselves. Go!” Fian’s voice was frantic.

Sammuel didn’t even question her decision-making. Sammuel agreed that Lawrence needed to be safe as well. With [Ego: Black Albatross], Sammuel's speed was unparalleled. It only took him a mere few seconds to reach Lawrence’s laboratory. As expected, it was hell here as well.

Sammuel’s mood worsened as he saw one of the explosions was actually near Lawrence’s home. It was to the point that a few monsters frantically looked at Sammuel. They were angered that someone would actually be so blatantly disrespectful to the Monster Faction. Their twenty-man-strong group made them quite confident. Seeing a single human standing amongst his brethren's corpses, Sammuel looked a like simple lamb to the slaughter. It would be a crime for them to not play with him.

Sammuel was looking well beyond these monsters blocking his way. He took a single step forward.

“What are you doing here, human? Haha-”

That single step had let Sammuel reach Lawrence’s home in an instant. And right behind him, twenty standing corpses. Their expressions of mocking were still frozen on their faces as they didn’t even realize how they died. Without the burden of worrying about Fian and Marie, he didn't need to hide anything at all.

[Gain Ego: Mouseman | …]

[Gain Ego: Minotaur | …]

[Gain Ego: Naga | …]

Sammuel’s Card Drop Rate was currently 20% from doing so many [Conditions]. Out of the three [Ego], Sammuel only managed to gain a total of three, a little under the average. It was then Sammuel felt something was off. He hadn't really killed anything sentient before so this was a first for him.

[Learned Crawl]

[Learned Blessing of Domination]

[Learned Scrying Hook]

A series of five [Ego] had given five different [Skills]. Sammuel narrowed his eyes. “Even [Skills] have Cards…? I should’ve known. But Blessing of Domination? A Great Devil?” Sammuel clenched his fists, things were getting much more problematic than he had thought.

Sammuel had just gained [Blessing of Domination], once again completely stealing another Great Being’s blessing against their will. He ignored this for the time being and rushed inside Lawrence’s home.

Instead of Alyur’s [Blessing of Moonlight] which inversed a creature’s power, [Blessing of Domination] was a straight-up empowerment of the body. By filling up their body with an immense amount of bloodlust and will, they could bring forth a power greater than their own.

Going inside, he could see rubble situated directly above his basement. Lawrence's house had broken down alongside the rest of his neighbor's abodes. Through sheer force, Sammuel broke everything open only to see Lawrence still be safe and fine. As it turned out his basement was a shelter, able to withstand quite a lot of force. He wasn't a genius for nothing.

“Sammuel?!” Lawrence’s face was completely full of joy. He didn’t expect that he would be rescued so soon. He took out a few sets of cloaks and presented them to Sammuel. “I’ve done it! I finished my research! These cloaks are manaphobic. Whoever wears them has a certain amount of magical resistance and will almost be impossible to find using mana.”

“Wear one, we need to go.” Sammuel reached his hand out and took Lawrence away on his back. On the way, Lawrence was full of questions. Sammuel answered everything, quickly bringing Lawrence back up to speed.

After going back to Fian’s ruined store, they decided to relocate to a more satisfactory location. Just like when Ian led Sammuel into an unknown space, Fian had her own private area. In here, there was nothing that could enter or leave without her permission. Now that they were safe for the time being, they had settled down.

Marie and Fian wore these manaphobic clothes to make it harder for the Radical Faction of the Genesis Foundation to track them. Sammuel initially thought that it would hamper Fian's control over her mysterious ability yet somehow it didn't. It was as if it was a one-way defensive tool, a truly revolutionary invention.

“How safe are you here?” He already saw Ian's capabilities but Sammuel needed some kind of answer to satisfy him.

“Only Great Beings and those in the Genesis Foundation could track us down. So for an entire week, we have total safety. I just don’t know what we can do to finally leave.” Fian's expression darkened. "Just why did they suddenly act up all of a sudden?"

[Blessing of Domination | Gain Combat Power: +300 | Sammuel: 1354.03]

Although Sammuel could've just hidden this, he actively chose to do so. As Fian had trusted him with such important information, he felt that it was only right that he did as well. Instead of hogging the spotlight, it was better for him and Fian to think of a plan on how to get out of this situation. Besides, it would be faster for him to convince her with this.

Sammuel’s body had a vicious red tint to it. His eyes turned dark and grim as an overwhelming aura sprouted him within his body. “[Blessing of Domination] that’s what happened.”

Fian narrowed her eyes, “[Blessing of Domination]... a Great Devil has finally shown up on the chess board. Sammuel, how did you… get that?”

“That’s just my ability. I even have Alyur’s [Greater Blessing of Moonlight] but that’s far too taxing on my body to use simultaneously.”

“I trust you, no matter how absurd it is. An outsider should be special after all.” Fian came to comfort Marie once again. “You have Alyur’s [Greater Blessing of Moonlight], right? This should make things much more convenient for us. Instead of manually going up to her, you can just summon a phantom of her.”

“That’s convenient.” Sammuel was surprised that it was that easy.

“It only works if you have a Greater Blessing and if the Great Being accepts,” Fian explained.

Sammuel agreed with the notion of summoning. He understood that this was simply a contingency in case other problematic issues come up. It was better for them to gain as much leeway as possible so that they wouldn't get backed into a corner with no way out. With the sudden appearance of a Great Devil, the only other person that could possibly fight against it was Alyur the Great Dragon of Moonlight. If there ever came to a point where Fian would have to let go, she would rather let Alyur take Marie away as there would always be a chance in the future for them to meet once more.

“Let’s see what happens now.”

Sammuel switched over to a random [Ego] of insignificant worth. He only needed to use [Greater Blessing of Moonlight] for this to work anyway.

[Greater Blessing of Moonlight | ... ]

“Now, try to find the source of that power, try to call upon it. It should be the tread of power that Alyur’s giving you. After that, it’s only a matter of hoping.”

A white hazy matter escaped from Sammuel’s body. It was a white cloud that slowly started condensing into materializing into something that was akin to a Great Dragon. Forming the body, Alyur’s consciousness was bestowed upon it.

“Ah, the one who stole my blessing. I’m curious, why have you summoned me? Do you not fear my retaliation? Mocking a Great Dragon has severe consequences.” Alyur’s voice was cold and hollow. It was distant yet close, the serenity of nature itself.

“Alyur, we have the Hatchling you so desire to seek out. Marie, come up.” Fian was fully confident in negotiating with Alyur. Marie walked up only for Alyur’s figure to vigorously shake. Even from the outside world, the city of Aganth has felt this earth-shattering sensation.

With a firm grasp of the Hatchling’s condition, Alyur was completely agitated.

“Let’s hear your demands.” Alyur had taken a step back. “Do not harm the Hatchling.”

“I'll make this very clear. I’ll die before I let harm come to Marie.” Fian might not have the heart to for Marie anymore but her motherly instincts surpassed any feeling she had. To look forward to Marie’s happy future, this was the only thing Fian ever dreamed of. "Alyur, the Great Dragon of Moonlight, hear me and hear me well. I am now a traitor to the Genesis Foundation. So there's no need to worry about this being a scheme."

Alyur's cold voice caused everyone's spine a experience a chill. "I know. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so... understanding."