owlsbooks Chapter 473: Arrested
Chapter 473: Arrested
"So he finally stopped spying on me," I sighed as I sensed the awakener from a distant city retreating. I had been aware of his presence from the moment he arrived, but I hadn’t bothered with him since I had trolls to deal with.
"Prime, absorb all the Yin Energy from the area," I ordered before stepping aside onto a nearby pebble.
Prime walked to the nearby corpses and opened his mouth wide. An abyssal black energy emerged from the corpses, flowing directly into his body.
In the meantime, I began absorbing the Yang energy from the Soul Stones, sitting cross-legged.
---
Five hours passed before I finally received the notification.
Ding...
"You have absorbed enough Yin-Yang energy for a breakthrough."
"Beginning breakthrough to the next realm..."
The debris around me began vibrating as my Soulforce surged higher, my skin radiating both dark and bright vapors simultaneously.
After the energy exploded outward from my body, another system notification appeared.
Ding...
"Congratulations! The Host has successfully broken through! The Host’s realm has increased.
Level three Awakened Sage → Level four Awakened Sage
All stats +50"
I rose from the debris and moved toward the crack at the crossroads, which was still slowly expanding, eating away at reality. It had already grown to the size of a multi-story building.
I moved my hand toward the absolute darkness leaking out of the crack. It immediately repelled my hand.
"So I cannot enter inside," I murmured. "Is it because the connection between the dimension these monsters come from and the earth has not completely stabilized yet?"
After one last glance at the crack, I turned back and returned to the building where Nymeria and Ume were resting.
"What took you so long?" Nymeria asked the moment I returned. "Wait, did you break through again?"
"Haha, it kind of happened," I chuckled before turning to Ume. "How are you feeling now, Ume?"
"I’m fine," she answered, rising from the floor. "Taranis, you need to be careful. I can sense that the Corruption of Death on you has increased from before."
"Don’t worry, it’s all under control. Death is not powerful enough to corrupt the mind of the Lightning God."
It really was more under control than before. All the trolls I had killed carried high negative karma. I killed most of them without even inflicting pain, given how fast my blade swung. As a result, I had not attracted the curse of their wraiths.
’Vivi, show me the corruption percentage,’ I asked inwardly.
"Current Progress: 92%"
:It really decreased by two percent,’ I whispered inwardly, satisfied by the number.
"All the monsters in the city are dead. As for the next horde, it will not appear until the dimensional gap stabilizes," I revealed to both of them. "Let’s move out. There is nothing more to be done here."
They nodded, and the three of us began making our way out of the city. I could have stayed to wait for the rift to stabilize, but since America was planning to nuke the city within the next six hours, there was no need for me to go out of my way and defeat the Death Knight. The quest had never explicitly mentioned that I should be the one to defeat it. It only said that the Dark Knight must die.
Besides, I had something more important to—
"Stop right there," a voice called out, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Taranis, what is going on?" Nymeria asked, completely confused.
"Hmm... I think we are in trouble," I answered, massaging the bridge of my nose.
Before us stood multiple tanks, jeeps, and a helicopter hovering overhead, their bright lights fixed on us with hundreds of soldiers aiming their guns at us as though we were criminals.
"Mr. Raj Singh, we have no legal records of you entering America. Please comply and surrender to avoid making this more difficult," the army general at the front said through a speaker.
"Maybe I shouldn’t have let that man go," I sighed, raising my hands.
"What are you doing?" Nymeria asked, confused.
"Just follow my lead. There is no need for us to run," I told her.
Ume and Nymeria followed, raising their hands as well.
One of the officers stepped forward after the general’s command and began putting handcuffs on me. He was visibly shaking as he secured the cuffs. The news of me clearing the Black Gate had been released only yesterday. People were already debating whether I was a hidden S-Ranker, so it was understandable that the officer was nervous while handcuffing me.
Once all three of us were handcuffed, they led us to an army truck. We sat along the middle bench, placed parallel to the walls, with soldiers filling the remaining seats.
The atmosphere inside the truck was obviously tense, yet the soldiers could not stop stealing glances at Ume and Nymeria every few seconds. It was a little annoying, but I had grown used to the stares people gave them. They were simply that beautiful, so one could hardly blame anyone for looking.
"Taranis, we saved their city, so why are we being treated like prisoners?" Ume asked, clearly confused. She seemed somewhat more stable than before, so I decided to keep her engaged in conversation.
"Think of it this way, Ume. What should a king do when a group of foreigners enter his land illegally but start beating bandits in one of his villages? Would he thank them for defeating the bandits, or imprison them for entering his land without permission?"
"Oh, I understand now. But I have another question. Are you not from this kingdom?"
"No," I shook my head. "I teleported here using your engagement ring."
A grin spread across my face as something suddenly occurred to me. I turned to Nymeria and asked, "When am I getting my engagement ring?"
"H-huh? Why all of a sudden?" Nymeria stuttered, slightly caught off guard by the unexpected question.
"Well, I have already given you my ring. It is your turn now."
"Not like this," she firmly refused. "I wish to have my engagement at a proper, elegant place. Once you ask for my hand on one knee there, only then will I give you the ring."
"Your hand? I have already taken all of yo—" She pinched my lips between her fingers and thumb and muttered with a sharp glare, "Shut your beak."
I tapped submissively on Ume’s lap, appealing for backup as Nymeria’s fingers were about to meet through my skin.
"Sister Nym, please don’t hurt him," Ume requested with a warm smile.
Nymeria gave me one sharp look before releasing me with a shove.
"Thank you for your help, my lovely Ume," I said, resting my head on her shoulder. "You are the only one who cares about me."
"Tch. Sister Ume, you are too soft on this jerk," Nymeria hissed, directing sharp glares at me. "He is getting spoiled and growing bolder because you never let me teach him a lesson."
"No, he is such a sweet boy," Ume shook her head, gently cupping my cheek. "There is no need to be so harsh on him."
"You heard it! You heard it!" I said with a mocking grin at Nymeria.
"You are just asking for it at this point," Nymeria snapped, launching her attack. Since her hands were cuffed, she struck me with both fists in rapid succession.
"Ume, protect me. The little hamster has gone mad again!" I gasped, clinging to her and going so far as to sit in her lap.
My overblown theatrics finally drew giggles from both Ume and Nymeria.
I could face an army of thousands without a trace of fear, but the sight of long faces on my twin moons was the one thing that sent anxiety coursing through me.
We three continued joking and laughing for the remainder of the ride. Strangely, none of the soldiers intervened or told us to sit quietly. It was already surprising to them that I had agreed to be arrested without any resistance, so they had no desire to push me further. Another reason may have been that they had requested the assistance of several S-Ranked Awakeners from India, and they clearly had no wish to offend the younger brother of the most influential S-Ranker in the country.
Though I did collect more than a few murderous glares for playing around with two women who looked no less than goddesses.
After about an hour that felt like mere seconds, the truck came to a stop.
From there, the three of us were moved to an interrogation room at the army base.
The army general, a broad-shouldered man with a scar on his left cheek and close-cropped ashen brown hair, entered the room.
"What is your true purpose for entering America?" he demanded, his tone cold.
"Well, I was testing a new teleportation ability and accidentally ended up here," I answered calmly.
"There is no use playing ignorant, Mr. Singh," the general said, his brows drawing together. "If you prefer directness, I am happy to oblige."
After a brief pause, he fixed me with a sharp look and demanded, "How are you able to communicate with and control the monsters from the gates?"
The playful expression left my face, replaced by the faint smile of mild surprise.
’Interesting... How much do they actually know?’