A few hours later… after the earth-shaking battle between the mother and son pair was done commencing,
"My baby!!"
The wailing cries of a despairing old man resonated in the air, filling the sky with the sorrow and gut-wrenching pain he was feeling in the depths of his soul…
"Haha…"
Cecilia stood awkwardly while scratching her hair and beside her, Adam, wearing clothes weaved from his illusions was standing with an equally awkward expression on his face. Both of them did not know what to say in this situation as they were equally responsible culprits of this situation.
The two of them had been so deeply focused on their conversation that they had completely forgotten about the weapon Makarov and Viktor had created for Adam.
It was only at the very last minute that Adam was able to remember about the weapon, and the possible annihilation of it due to Cecilia's power, but by then it was already too late. At the very least, he was able to keep himself from being humiliated thanks to the power of his illusions but that wasn't able to salvage the weapon the mother and son pair had destroyed.
Right now, all that was left of the once beautiful and deadly weapon were just some broken bits of metal and charred pieces of sturdy materials that were able to barely withstand the hellfire of Cecilia's domain.
In a way, it was a testament to the durability of the prototype weapon that Makarov and Viktor had made for Adam. It was a testament to their skills. After all, he doubted that there would be many weapons out there that could even keep a semblance of their shape after being bombarded with Cecilia's hellfire.
"I am sorry. I was careless."
Makarov glared at Cecilia before sighing and then standing up from his crouching position. He couldn't touch the weapon for now as it was way too bloody hot.
"No, just forget about it. It's my fault for not taking into account the power of a brute like you. We gathered some good data from this bout between the two of you and so I am going to immerse myself in work with these data."
He tried to find solace in that reality. At the very least, he had managed to glean that just a weapon that was based on pure close-quarter combat won't do for Adam with all of his different abilities that were based on the supernatural forces of nature.
He needed a new weapon design that would be more suitable for Adam than mere dual blades. He also needed to make it malleable and far more durable than anything else, enough to withstand the most powerful waves of fire that Cecilia would be able to generate inside her domain.
He groaned for some time before finally shaking his head. Ideas were constantly streaming through his mind, ideas that could help him make the best weapon of his life for Adam, but he couldn't lose himself in the realms of his mind right now. He needed to focus on what was happening right now.
"Let's do a summary of the fight, shall we? This will be useful for all of us in the long run. After that is done, we will leave this plain."
"Hmm… What should we do with this place though?"
Adam looked all around, greatly embarrassed about the chaos they had wrought in the land of the dwarves. Nearly any distance the eyes and even his domain could witness, there were only the vestiges of annihilation and destruction… wrought about by Cecilia's hellfire…
"Don't worry about that, laddie. This place was created to welcome formidable warriors in the first place. I do not know if the Fairies saw us but if they did they would certainly be happy to see the battle that the two of you have enacted in here."
Fairies were strange childlike creatures who loved entertainment. As they were celestial is it was quite rare to see them on earth nowadays but it wasn't impossible.
"Is that so?"
Adam gave one last glance at the surroundings before finally leaving with the group. He also made sure to take the remaining of the weapon as he could simply transport it with his power with no fear of the heat.
———
After a long session of interrogation, as Makarov took all the information he could from him, Adam found himself inside the bathroom.
It was hard for him to relax, knowing full well what happened not long ago in this place but… The moment he entered the hot bath, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and relaxation as he felt the fatigue that had accumulated inside of his mind and body be washed away by the cozy bath.
His mind drifted immediately to the sensations and epiphany he had received the moment Cecilia had stopped holding back.
It had been so fast he could not even feel the aura of death touch his soul, nor could he feel the time pass as he was delivered to his death.
But doing so had allowed him to become certain of some information.
He was indeed immortal. He literally came back to perfect condition from being reduced to ashes. If this wasn't immortal enough then nothing would be; he was sure of that.
It wasn't as if he had been doubting this immortality but there was something different about personally treading the limits of his powers and thus learning what he could or could not do.
For now, there were many 'coulds' and a few 'could not dos.'
When he woke up, Cecilia told him that he had been dead for about 3 hours. From the small tears of relief, he could see in the corner of her eyes, it had become clear just how torturous those 3 hours must have been for her.
He could not even begin to comprehend the amount of anguish and apprehension she must have felt in the time he had taken to revive back to his optimal state.
But… Whether this had been worth it or not… was a really hard question to answer. Adam felt like he had grabbed hold of a new weird technique but he had not been able to completely grasp it yet. It was something related to the power of Thermodynamics he was recently pursuing…
He had also learned a humbling lesson from this fight. He hadn't ever been arrogant. But because of his recent experiences, he was somewhat made to believe that he could not lose.
This was a mindset that was born from all the victories he achieved non-stop since the day he had awakened. He had started to believe that he was somehow invincible and could win with just about everyone if certain conditions were to be met, or he could control the flow of battle.
How naive of him to think like that.
Thankfully, this naivety or, perhaps indeed, arrogance had passed away with the fight and now he could focus on the reality of his powers.
'Huff. Enough with the introspection.'
He stood up and looked at himself once again in the mirror. It was easy to see that the young man in front of him was quite a desirable piece of company.
His physical appearance was outstanding and he had the ability to give some small inducement to others with his charms alone.
He understood why so many women somehow fell in love with him even though he had not particularly tried to do much to seduce them.
ƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm This night, once again, he would put on the uniform of Prince Cinder and play the bad boy.
'I am sorry but….'
He had already made his decision and he would not hesitate in using that poor woman for all she was worth.
As for the new skill? He needed to work on it a little more and he was sure that someone would give him the opportunity to use the power on him or her.
There would always be people willing to come at him and engage in mortal combat.
.
.
.
Finally, when the night arrived.
"Well then… Shall we go?"
It was time to move indeed.
———
(AN: edit as of 30/05/23
AN: So, yeah it seems like I failed. I currently have 8.4K+ unlock and I need 1500 more. I have 250 priv. So I would need to write 6 chapters in 24h again and absolutely all Priv readers to unlock everything directly. The problem is we are reaching the climax of the volume and my brain is going mushy. I feel like the story quality dropped a bit since I pushed so many chapters so fast yesterday. I don't know, perhaps just stress.
Anyways guys, rant aside, you guys have been incredible. The failure is entirely on me since If I pushed a few more chapters earlier, I am sure we could have reached 10K. Not only did I go from around 190 Priv readers last month to 250 this month, but I also got 53 gifts out of which 3 were castles. Having your readers support your work always feels good. Even though failing so close to the goal is painful. Thanks for the support everyone
As such, I decided to keep the 99% off next month even though I didn't meet the goal. I don't know how many of you guys will come back as Priv Readers though I hope all of you will come back next month haha. I will try one last push today. Will most likely fail but at least I believe next month I can succeed if I plan ahead better.)
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