Yarlyn sighed deeply with unbridled loathing burning in his eyes. After hesitating for the longest time, he said, “I need to know why you want it before giving it to you. After all, you’re still young. I know the extent of this magical core’s power, but that’s also why I can’t give it to you.”Immediately after saying that, he felt the power in his body vanish. At that point, he was unsure if he was still standing as every organ and body part felt disconnected from his conscience. His body soon fell to the ground. Then, he mustered whatever energy he had left to narrow his eyes at Darius, who held the magical core and stood aside as though nothing had happened.He frowned and shut his eyes, wanting to ignore what terrible things would come next.On the other hand, Darius did not pay the former much heed. His attention was fully on the magical core for an entirely different reason than the former believed. It was not because Darius had gotten bewitched. Instead, it was because he saw
Bridget turned to look at the barrier again. “Everyone’s life forces have different abilities,” she calmly explained, “I suggest you dig deeper into ways you can use your life force instead of copying other peoples’ abilities.”Edward’s eyes sparkled upon hearing that, and he exclaimed, “Oh! So that’s why you’re such a great martial artist!” Not a word more came from Bridget, as she did not want to confirm or deny that claim.“You genuinely are the best, most remarkable colleague I’ve ever had the pleasure of having!” Edward smiled broadly.Hearing that, Bridget turned to flash her pearly whites at Edward smugly. “Yes, you too. Not only that, but you’re also the most loyal subordinate among them all.”Edward’s smile immediately vanished when he saw her mocking grin. Likewise, he did not speak anymore and merely focused on the barrier, summoning his life force. However, he could not help but notice someone was glaring at him. Any martial artist would agree that it was unwise to igno
Pierce’s pupils constricted at Edward. His lips parted to cry out instinctively. However, his agonized scream only lasted a short second because he could no longer feel his throat.Edward watched as the former’s frightened eyes stiffened and turned dull. He then clapped his hands together, dusting them arrogantly. Edward eventually noticed Pierce was still in the same position. The latter was so stiff that his dead body slumped slightly. Raising a brow, Edward reached out to nudge the former. That was when Pierce’s body fell backward and crashed onto the ground. Pierce had not even made a sound. His eyes even remained wide open in fear.“There.” Edward wiped his hands before turning to look at Bridget. “Everything’s done and dusted. Let’s hope you stop flashing those awkward smiles again. They creep me out.”Bridget rolled her eyes and wanted to retort, but Edward interrupted her.“Something’s odd with the aura inside the barrier,” he said.Bridget immediately fell silent and shut he
Earlier, Darius was healing Yarlyn’s wounds with a golden sphere of life force. Yet, black and golden gasses suddenly appeared in Darius’ palm, indicating Darius could no longer control the life force in his body.Yarlyn was worried, but he was too weak to thank or save Darius because of the wound on his back. When he regained consciousness, all he knew was he had become a regular human being, but Darius was on the brink of death. “None of this should’ve happened!” he cried mentally. His chest aching like a thousand knives were stabbing him all at once. He could not stop the pain and wanted nothing more than to curl up and rip out his hair to distract the pain. Sadly, none of that would work; Darius’ life force kept seeping into Yarlyn’s body, healing it.In the end, the golden gas in Darius’ body lessened while the black gas grew. Yarlyn knew it was game over by then. He had tried mustering all his newly gained golden gas in hopes of taking the magic core from Darius, but he was a
When that thought appeared in Darius’ mind, he realized he could cultivate and refine the magic core’s black gas as the creature did with its enemies’ gasses. Once he absorbed most of the black gas, he gradually regained consciousness and could hear Bridget and Yarlyn’s conversation. That made his lips twitch; he had just refined all the black gas attacking his body, so he was undoubtedly too weak to absorb more gas from Yarlyn, who wanted to heal him with it now. There was no telling how long Darius would pass out should this happen. Plus, he had to consider that there was barely any gaseous life force left in Yarlyn. Frowning, Darius willed his body’s black gas to shield his body.…Yarlyn and Bridget finally arrived at a consensus. Annoyed, Bridget thundered at him, “Well? Why are you still standing around? Get to it!”A sigh came from Yarlyn, who then replied, “Jeez. Lady, you seem young, so why don’t you have any patience?“Quite your blabbering!” Bridget frowned. “If you don’t
It was a pained cry, which Bridget had never seen Darius make before. She tensed on the ground, her nose scrunching from her unbearable sorrow while tears flowed from her eyes. She had not cried in many years, but the situation now left her in a grieving stupor.Edward and Yarlyn watched from afar as Darius’ golden gas left his body with some of his torn flesh. The two froze for the longest time. That was when the Moore Group’s building collapsed, kicking up so much dust and debris that no one could see who was around them. Only after crashing into the ground did Edward snap to his senses. His brows knitted close when he heard the various screams and pained calls for help. He shut his eyes and sent out beams of his life force to communicate with everyone until everyone’s screams lessened. Instead of screaming, the people around him now exclaimed in shock, saying, “What?” Upon hearing that, Edward let out a sigh of relief and hovered in mid-air to examine the center of the building’
Yarlyn took his time pacing over before his eyes curved with joy at Darius. “Long time no see, Darius.”Edward took several steps backward before realization hit him, and his mouth rounded into a big O-shape. He pointed a trembling finger at Yarlyn, stuttering, “Y-You’re…”“Didn’t think it would take you this long to realize who I am.” Laughter rumbled from Shelvin’s throat. He placed his hands behind his back while walking toward Darius and sighing deeply. “Yarlyn Weiss sacrificed his life. He condensed his remaining black, gaseous life force and used it to heal you, Darius. However, you said you didn’t need it and stopped him. At the time, he still had a slight chance of retracting his life force to survive, but he gave it up—because he was more than ready to die when you first asked for his name. At that point, he’d decided he didn’t want to continue living in torment. Thus, when you said you didn’t need his life force, he immediately transferred it and every last drop of his stre
“Indeed, we all saw it happen, but we won’t feel sad over it.” The man gulped before carefully looking up at Darius through his lashes. He then spoke with the utmost caution, not wanting to upset Darius. “We were already upset long before today, as we knew this would happen—” His voice began to shake. “—He told us this was the likely outcome and said he would’ve ended his life with his bare hands even if you guys didn’t kill him.”His trembled so much that tears gathered in the brim of his eyes, and he quickly wiped them away. After that, he continued, “My boss said his presence would get in the way of us pledging our loyalty to you, and he couldn’t guarantee whether you’d accept all of us if he’s in the picture. Not only that, but he mentioned being alive was a painful chore anyway.”The man stopped crying at that point. He lifted his head to meet Darius’ gaze while explaining, “My boss said this is the best outcome, so we shouldn’t be angry at anyone.”With that, he turned to look
"If you hadn't picked on me, I wouldn't have ended up like this. No matter how wealthy I've become, I'll never be able to take these black robes off!" The mysterious man's voice was shaky. He was extremely agitated.James frowned at that. He said curiously, "You keep saying I've done you wrong, but everything I did to you was what you did to others. I only gave you a taste of your own medicine."The mysterious man's breathing sped up when he heard that. He barked out a laugh and sneered, "I'll be honest with you. I never thought I'd have the chance to meet someone as dumb as you again."He shook his head. "I find it hard to imagine what your grandson will do when he sees you like this." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the door was kicked open with a loud bang. The man was caught off guard. He looked at Darius as his body trembled violently.Darius frowned when he saw this. It was completely different from what he'd imagined. He narrowed his eyes at the mysterious man, his
Gabriel smiled and nodded. "Alright, then. I'll return to my workstation and prepare a proposal on what to do with Noah."Darius nodded and smiled. "Good. That's all I ever wanted." He turned to leave. "You need to get to work, and I need to return to my hotel to get some rest."Gabriel stopped. Darius' words made him hesitate. "I'm sorry to be asking this because I don't think it's my place, but it's probably better for me to ask anyway. I don't remember there being any hotels nearby."You should head home if you wanna get some rest. I don't understand why you're heading to a hotel to rest."Darius raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. He turned with his hands behind his back to look at Gabriel helplessly. "I don't know how to feel about what you've just said. You're making me think you're a little silly. Wouldn't I know how to search for a hotel?"It won't take you long to prepare a proposal, but it'll take me ages to get home from here." Darius turned and left.Gabriel's lips twitc
"Because you realized the risk was far greater than what you were comfortable with," Darius said calmly.But Noah started trembling. He looked at Darius in terror. He didn't expect Darius to see right through him after some simple back-and-forth. His eyes widened in fear.Everything that was happening now made him feel like he was dreaming. Noah had only been a step away from success, yet Darius had ruined everything.Tears filled his eyes as he gazed at Darius. "I've said everything there is to say. I'm the lowest rung on this ladder, and I only have one purpose for being here. It's to make you come under the authorities' control. Once you're here, my mission's accomplished."Someone else from the authorities will be here to deal with you, but that has nothing to do with me. They wouldn't have told me about it, anyway."Darius put his hands behind his back without saying anything. He turned to leave. Noah's eyes widened as he stared in fear at Darius' back.Darius didn't see this, bu
When Darius straightened up, his face became devoid of emotion. He said calmly, "I've wasted too much time on you. Now, I only want frank answers. Otherwise, I'll punish you for every lie that you tell me. I don't see any hope in your eyes, but let's see whether you prove me wrong."Darius paused, then continued, "I've already said something similar once. That was a chance I gave you. From this moment onward, I want you to know that I won't repeat myself because I believe you've had enough time to prepare yourself."Gabriel stood beside him and put his hands behind his back as his lips twitched. He'd thought about the various reasons for Darius repeating himself. But the one thing that hadn't occurred to him was that Darius had done it to give Noah time to prepare.Gabriel felt like applauding Darius, but the rational side of him stopped him from doing so. His rationality told him he'd be in for trouble if he were to do that, so he only looked at Darius with a smile.Darius sensed Ga
Darius raised an eyebrow and smiled. Then, he said, "You're too nervous, Gabriel. It makes it seem like you don't trust me. In truth, there's nothing for you to worry about."He stretched his neck and continued, "I know very well how bad the consequences of destroying this building will be. Aside from those silly regulations, I'll also need to pay for it. I might be wealthy, but that doesn't mean I'll enjoy forking out a huge sum of money as compensation."Darius spread his hands and shrugged. At the same time, he pointed at the window and turned to look at Gabriel. Then, he said, "Look. The windows are perfectly fine. They're not even scratched. That shows my life force is non-destructive."That's why you have nothing to worry about. You can put your heart back into your chest."Gabriel straightened up and sighed in relief. Then, he gave Darius an embarrassed smile.Darius grinned but didn't say anything in response. He put his hands behind his back and turned to look at Noah. He sai
"We're classmates from the same major, too! We were interns at Dream Investment Group, remember? And we got kicked out on our first day. You broke my legs because of a tiny argument we had outside the building! The surveillance cameras captured all of this!" Noah cried.Darius tucked his hands into his pockets and rolled his eyes. Then, he said mockingly, "You're the biggest fool I've ever met. Do you think you're the only one who can tamper with the surveillance footage? Any footage that can be tampered with can also be restored."Noah's eyes widened in shock. He gulped and tried to think of a way to explain away the injuries Darius had inflicted on him. Still, he couldn't think of anything. Before he had the chance to think any further, Darius spoke.He said, "There's one thing you got right, though. Gabriel is on my side, so he'll stand up for me no matter what you say."Gabriel's lips twitched at that. He subconsciously opened his mouth to say something in return, but Darius bea
"And I don't think it's my job to make you see sense," Gabriel continued. He put his hands behind his back. He gave Noah a look that was an odd mixture of gentle iciness. "I've given you more than enough time and chances."Gabriel sighed. "It's obvious that you don't care for that, though. And so I think it's time for me to treat you as an officer should." He sat down on the other side of the desk again.Noah's face was white with fear. Gabriel acted like he didn't see this, though. He smiled. "As I mentioned, I gave you plenty of time and chances, but you didn't appreciate them."His gaze turned frosty. "If that's the case, I'm sure you won't object to me doing this per our guidelines."Noah cried, "No, wait! I don't know what Darius has promised you to make you side with him unconditionally, but there's no way I'll let you two get away with this. You have to make sure you do everything by the book. It's a reasonable request, and you have no right to turn me down!"He trembled viole
Gabriel put his hands behind his back as he looked at Noah with a smile. "Now, you've piqued my interest."Noah looked up at Gabriel. His voice was deep and hoarse as he said, "If you help me, I'll give you half of the Reid Consortium's assets once I get my hands on them. You should know that without me, there's no way you'll get a dime from the Reid Consortium."Gabriel snorted with laughter when he heard that. He straightened up and slowly circled Noah. He sounded mocking as he said, "You've lost me there. I tried to puzzle it out, but it doesn't make sense at all."Why would I want to get my hands on the Reid Consortium's fortune? Even without it, I'm perfectly independent. I don't need it to survive."Gabriel crossed his arms and looked at Noah mockingly. "Or maybe you're different from the rest of us. Maybe you'll die without the Reid Consortium's wealth." He smirked and gave Noah a sharp gaze.Noah raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're the one making me laugh now. I don't know
Gabriel sounded gentle, but everyone knew that was far from the truth. This was especially true for Noah, who sat across from him. He felt incredibly nervous. He shut his eyes and breathed rapidly.Noah never would've expected to still be in danger after being taken in by the authorities. He frowned and looked up at Gabriel. "So, are you determined to help Darius now?" His voice was shaky, and his eyes were wide because of his nerves.His emotions were clear as he looked at Gabriel. Gabriel bit his lip, feeling like he was about to laugh. To stop Noah from noticing, he quickly exhaled and sat down with one leg over the other. At the same time, he leaned forward to place his hands on the desk.He tapped his fingers on the desk quickly but rhythmically. Gabriel's eyes were devoid of emotion as he looked at Noah. "Tell me, Noah. What happened between you and Darius? Earlier, you said he was the one who injured you. Do you have any proof?"Because we checked the surveillance footage, a