Along with him, the whole group had finally broken their formation.

-You done?

-It appears so are you - he replied, squinting.

-Hm? Yeah, I did regenerate myself.

-Regenerate? More like infuse. You’re hard to look at.

-Mmm?

I glanced at my own body and sure enough, he was right.

I was used to my glow before, but right now my flame was definitely a lot more powerful. No wonder. I did drain quite a bit of mana.

-I might have overdone it a little bit - I replied.

-That is an understatement.

-Is that a problem? - I asked, unsure what to think of his comments.

He paused for a moment, thinking.

-No, I don’t think so. Should be fine.

-Yeah, speaking of. What should be fine? What are you intending to do?

-Right… I never told you… I suppose it’s time.

-Time?

-You probably noticed what I was doing, right?

-Messing with the consciousness' of those guys? - I replied, trying to underplay my observations from before.

-Yeah. Mostly. I wanted to take them over, you know that. But, my main idea was to reverse what they did to us.

-What they did to us?

-The way they were tracking us.

-Wasn’t that supposed to be via our friendly neighborhood janitor?

-Yeah. But that doesn’t mean I can’t do that using their own men.

-Elaborate.

-It’s nothing that complicated - he shrugged. - They came from somewhere, right? So I want to just return them. But, a bit modified.

-Don’t tell me you’re making suicide bombers…

-Er…

-Come on…

-Well, they aren’t suicide bombers.

-So what are they supposed to…

-Like me before - he explained. - I implanted them with some of my own consciousness, and going to give them a bit of a crystal. If everything works correctly, it won’t be easily noticeable, at least not until they will get back to their headquarters and then just trigger the miniature shower of shards that will implant some of my own essence in the rest of them.

-Hm. Didn’t you already have some of your “men” on the inside?

-I did in the MIRE. I don’t think that’s where those guys will go, though.

-Military base then or something?

-I assume so - he confirmed. - Stroke of luck.

-Stroke of luck?

-You have any idea how hard it is to get inside one?

-Er… I can imagine, but why the fuck would you want to even do that?

-I learned my lesson. I need to start acting sooner or later.

-Eh… I thought you were done with the whole “taking over the population” part when you got out of the prison island?

-I thought so too - he said. - But, as you can see, we are still wanted criminals.

-Your fault. Mostly. Besides, we escaped. Should be fine as long as we won’t go back to that city, right?

-Do you really believe that? Have you forgotten what times we are living in?

-...?

-Eh… I know, we were stuck in that place where information was barely moving, but here, technology exists. And it’s the same as it was, if not better. Which means escaping one city doesn’t matter.

-Then you shouldn’t have been so reckless! - I said, annoyed. - I know, having her back would be amazing, but…

-You think that they would’ve let us go? Don’t lie to yourself - he scoffed. - We are criminals. Doesn’t matter how long ago that was, we are going to be chased and prosecuted. There’s no place to escape.

-I guess the plan of holing up somewhere in the mountains wasn’t the worst one, then.

-Ha. Like you would’ve ever been able to keep to yourself for that long. Sure, we have endurance and time, but then what? You are essentially still a prisoner.

-At this point it sounds like staying back on that continent was the best scenario for us.

-Maybe for you. For me, I still need my freedom.

-But you said it yourself! It’s impossible! We are still in the same situation.

-For now. But I am planning on changing it - he said pointing to the men he “converted”.

-Sure, you got those guys. But that’s a drop in the ocean!

-I have time.

I rolled my eyes.

-Don’t you try and tell me you’re planning on fucking taking over the world. It’s not just some small place you’re talking to! I mean, sure, people died before and we probably culled quite a bit of the population…

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

-We managed to kill a lot more than just “quite a bit”, but I know what you’re getting at. Yeah, there’s still magnitudes more - he agreed. - That’s why I am here right now.

-What, you want to start converting remotely? Can you do that?

-That… huh.

He paused for a moment.

-I never thought about it, but no, that’s not what I intend to do. Think, what was the last time I used… We used a leyline for?

Okay, no.

I can be lenient. I can be apathetic to the point of it bordering on insane.

But I am not repeating this.

-Are you fucking insane?! - I barked at him. - Do you realize what you’re talking about?!

-Of course I do.

He seemed a bit taken aback by my sudden outburst.

-And here I thought you’re finally done with insane ideas!

-Insane! I will gladly be insane if I get to be back with her!

Oh, so it’s still about her?

-You should know better that it’s not possible! She is gone! All of them!

-Gone?! Gone?!

That, for some reason got under his skin.

-She will never perish! Not until one of us is alive! - he continued his delusions. - You should feel it! We all are the same!

-The same? Of course we are! And that’s why she is gone! You managed to destroy her!

-Me?! You’re responsible as much as I am!

-I was the one who have been absorbing people?! I was the one looking for her fragments?! If not for that, she’d still be here!

-In pieces! And none of those would be the same as her!

-And what, it’s better to have none?!

-THAT’S WHY I AM TRYING TO COMBINE HER!

-AND HOW?! BY EATING UP EVERYONE THAT IS ALIVE?!

-AND MORE!

At this point, the argument started devolving into stupid screaming contest.

It was a first one.

Since I’ve changed, I have not felt any strong emotions, yet now I was as livid as it gets.

Kind of refreshing.

But, that was not helping in the current situation.

I honestly was glad that we were just arguing and not flinging spells at each other. Even though he technically had a numbers advantage. Well, it’s not like they would do much, really…

Both of us knew that if it came to that, it would only have ended badly. Especially with a leyline nearby.

I think he finally gave up.

Not on his plan, no. On arguing with me.

-Whatever. I don’t need your presence. Go fuck off - he said, turning away from me, focusing again on the leyline in front of us.

Oh, I would love to, but I simply cannot. Let him do whatever he pleases? Hell no. Last time I did that, a certain place’s population got reduced to one digit number.

But, I was not going to tell him that. Instead, I intended to pretend and just leave.

In hindsight, it was pretty pointless. After all, he wasn’t that dense to just forget me. Besides, even if I was trying to hide, there was no actual way to do it. Sure, I could try and suppress my own mana, but that would not happen with my current overcharged self.

Probably should’ve thought about that fact before, but oh well.

In any case, it didn’t matter anyway.

Whatever the reason was, he didn’t let me leave, despite his own words.

Two of the men he controlled had stepped right in front of me, blocking my way.

I, of course, called him out on that.

-What, you changed your mind?

-Pfh. Stop pestering me, I am busy.

He was turned away, so he didn’t see the people stopping me.

Wait. That didn’t make sense. He was controlling them, right?

Not in the mood for his annoyances, I just shoved them away and wanted to walk past, but it was surprisingly hard.

I mean, I had a fully charged body that was definitely more resilient and stronger than just some random soldier, no matter how jacked.

But here, I actually had to put my weight into the effort, so they would actually step aside.

Hell, not even that. I literally had to move them, their feet leaving a very clear imprint in the ground.

-I swear, I’ll break your toys next time if you’re…

I didn’t get to finish the sentence.

The “toy” I was speaking of had suddenly turned on me and grabbing me he put me in a headlock.

He was trying to choke me out?

-The fuck are you doing!?

It, of course, was pointless. Both me talking and the guy choking.

Not like that was going to stop me, of course.

I instantly wanted to break out of his hold, but his technique was pretty good. Personally, I don't have much idea about those, but I know when I am struggling. And if that was happening while I was using a literal rock to force myself out; that clearly means the person in question is quite competent.

But, competent or not, it’s not like a good old rocky fist to the face won’t be able to fix, right?

Before I managed that, though, Mike finally noticed my struggle.

-The hell? What are you attacking those idiots for? I thought you were supposed to leave? - he asked, not hiding spite in his voice.

-I? You’re the one controlling them, aren’t you? Let me go! - I said with my fist frozen in mid-swing. - Or I’ll crack his skull open.

-Well, I don’t particularly care, one less or more, you should know that. You’re the one attacking, though…

I looked at him confused.

-The fuck are you on about?

-Huh?

He really didn’t know.

-I just went to leave. These idiots stopped me. You’re telling me you didn’t tell them to?

-Well, no… but they do have some autonomy.

-Autonomy? To try and choke me to death?

-We both know that won’t work. And no, to defend themselves. I mean, it’s not like I already had managed to break them completely, if someone tries to kill them of course they are going to react.

-Puppets, my ass…

-Okay, if you must know, they are more like animals now… - he said, annoyed. - Of course you can tame them, but what, you expect that they will let you kill them peacefully? Obviously not. That’s why I need to be a bit roundabout with things and…

-Okay, enough!

I had enough of both his ramblings and me being stuck in that weird position.

-Fuck. Off.

With two words, I punched the guy once in the dome and second time in the arm he was holding me.

Obviously, both cracked, leaving him bloodied and me free.

-There - I sighed. - Persistent little…

-And you say you weren’t threatening them… - mumbled Mike. - Whatever. Go. “Fuck off”, as you just said.

-It wasn’t… You know what? Yeah, I will.

If he was going to play dumb, so can I. Survival instinct, yeah fucking right, that’s the biggest bullshit I’ve heard so far.

But, my attempts at outplaying him at his own idiocy fell flat.

Because the moment I even took a step, another one of the soldiers have lept towards me.

-Being openly hostile, huh?- I barked.

I wasn’t going to let him jump me. I knew what was coming and one punch was enough for the guy to go down.

Trained professionals or not, when you know what’s going to happen, no amount of technique is going to help.

I looked directly at Mike, prepared to receive another attack…

But that was not going to happen. At least not from him. Not yet.

He looked… stunned.

Not by my display, of course. I haven’t done anything that he could even remotely think remarkable.

That look on his face made me think twice. Was he really not playing me this time?

I could ask… It’s not like my ability to tell lies from truth was perfect, but it would be better than nothing.

-Still think I am the one at fault? - I asked. - What are you doing!?

-That… that’s not me!