Chapter 346: Vinelord and Zeka

That’s right, Zeka had now fully recovered to his original state—both of his arms had returned.

In fact, he was even stronger than before—many times over.

Veins of glowing green light coursed across his body like creeping vines, spreading in all directions, as if actual tendrils were clinging to his skin.

Noan observed the space around Zeka. Clearly, his strength had grown immensely compared to before, and yet... it was still far too weak.

Zeka snorted in disdain.

He stood up, clenched his fists, and a harsh

"Crack! Crack!"

sound rang out.

"Violette... you slept with her, didn’t you?"

"Ah! How’d you figure that out?" Noan replied with a mocking smile in his voice.

"Huh!" Zeka scoffed. "She clearly liked me, but wouldn’t let me touch her. That leaves only one explanation... she’d already slept with someone else."

Noan: "..."

He sighed, confused. Just from such a small detail, Zeka had figured out Violette had lost her virginity—how could someone this foolish have been tricked so thoroughly?

Was all of Zeka’s intelligence solely dedicated to checking whether a woman was still a virgin?

"If you love her, does it really matter whether she was a virgin or not?" Noan frowned.

"Of course it matters!" Zeka snapped. "It proves whether she was faithful to me!"

Noan shook his head and said softly,

"You sound like a brat learning how to love—expecting the world to bend to your will."

"Before she met you, she might have loved someone else. That doesn’t mean she was unfaithful to you."

"I don’t care!" Zeka interrupted, his anger boiling over.

"I just want to know—are you the one who took her first time or not?"

"Yes." Noan answered directly, not dodging the question.

"Hahahaha..." Zeka suddenly burst into manic laughter.

"Perfect. Now I can kill you without hesitation—and after that, I’ll snap that bitch’s neck too."

"That’s the price of betraying me."

Noan felt that Zeka’s mind clearly had some issues—no, a

lot

of issues.

"She was never loyal to you. So it’s not betrayal."

"Shut up!" Zeka roared, and his body suddenly swelled in size. His muscles bulged, and the green patterns across his skin lit up with a blinding glow.

"Die!"

With a furious shout, Zeka shot toward Noan like a cannonball, at a terrifying speed.

BAM!

"What?!" Zeka was startled to find his body seemingly frozen midair. "You... what did you do?"

Noan let out a quiet sigh and spoke calmly,

"At first, I actually planned to work with you. But doing so would’ve been an insult to my IQ."

"That’s why... you may as well die."

"You bastard! You—" Zeka tried to speak, but his voice suddenly vanished. It felt as though an invisible hand had clamped down on his throat, cutting off his air entirely.

After returning from Khorvath’s Trial Space, Noan had realized that his spatial power could be used in far more ways than just teleportation.

Spatial Freeze.

One of the skills he had created to restrain enemies from a distance.

When space is frozen, anything caught within that frozen zone becomes completely immobilized.

Unless... Zeka was vastly more powerful than Noan.

"I had hoped to use you to absorb more buffs, but in the end, you chose

this

path." Noan said with a faint smile.

Though Zeka couldn’t speak, he could still hear what Noan said. His eyes widened in disbelief—his expression seemed to scream:

How do you know my secret?

"Surprised?" Noan sneered. "You’re like a chess piece in my hand. I could’ve killed you whenever I wanted. But I preferred to extract every bit of value you could offer first."

"In the end though... you disappointed me. You brought me no value other than the fact you carried countless buffs."

"Fine. Even without your buffs, I still possess power far beyond yours. But... Vinelord, are you really just going to wait around to die inside this kid’s body?"

Zeka was completely stunned now—and he understood. If Noan even knew about Vinelord’s existence, then

what secrets could he possibly still hide

?

"Ah... I didn’t expect to choose the wrong host." A voice echoed, layered like many people speaking at once.

The glowing green veins across Zeka’s body began retracting, converging toward his head. They then detached from his body entirely.

Only the tail end remained connected to Zeka’s head, where the vines twisted together—forming the face of a middle-aged man.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Vinelord. Or... you could call me the Heretic God."

Seeing Vinelord reveal himself, Noan smiled and replied,

"First time meeting, I suppose you already know who I am, don’t you?"

"Yes," Vinelord responded softly.

"I just don’t understand one thing... how are you so strong? Your power is on a completely different level from any Lord I’ve ever encountered."

"And more than that... I’ve never seen you use any Heroes or troops to fight."

"Who... exactly

are

you?"

Noan furrowed his brows and stared at Vinelord for a while. He didn’t answer the question. Instead, he asked back:

"Vinelord, do you really want to keep living like this?"

"What do you mean..." Vinelord asked, puzzled.

Noan smiled and said:

"It’s simple. Work for me, and I’ll give you a new body—one that allows you to fully resurrect."

"Um... ug... um..." Zeka struggled, his face and eyes filled with fear, as if silently begging Vinelord not to believe Noan’s words.

But Vinelord paid no attention to Zeka’s expression. He frowned, deep in thought for a long moment before speaking:

"How can I trust you?"

"I’m someone who specializes in hunting beings like him," Noan replied.

Just one sentence made Vinelord flinch. He narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Noan.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Very simple..." Noan shrugged. "Go kill a few Lords. I’ll support you. But... I’ll take half the benefits you receive. Understand?"

Vinelord immediately understood what Noan meant—buffs.

That was his unique ability. Only

he

should have known that. So how did

Noan

know?

But then, recalling that Noan specialized in hunting people like Zeka... he realized—it wasn’t surprising.

"Fine! But I have one condition."

"Hahaha..." Noan let out a cold laugh. "You’re in no position to negotiate. Because..."

Snap!

Noan snapped his fingers. Instantly, a vortex of flames appeared, and Malrik stepped out from within.

"Remember that blue-green firewall you approached earlier?" Noan asked with a smirk.

The moment Vinelord saw Malrik, an overwhelming dread surged within him—as if every instinct screamed that resistance meant certain death.

"Kekeke... insect, kneel before my power," Malrik laughed.

Noan: "..."

Noan put a hand to his forehead, clearly embarrassed by Malrik’s dramatic line.

But at that very moment, a wave of flame surrounded Vinelord, and his fear skyrocketed.

The fire wasn’t hot—in fact, it was cold. Yet Vinelord could feel his soul being viciously scorched.

"Becoming a part of hell is your greatest honor," Malrik said, the twin flames in his eye sockets dancing with excitement.

Vinelord trembled. For the first time, he had encountered a being this terrifying.

"What... what do you want me to do?" Vinelord asked in panic, his voice hurried.

Noan shrugged:

"It’s simple. Become my slave. Just like him."

He said, pointing to Malrik.

Vinelord took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe that such a terrifying being like Malrik would willingly serve as a slave to that young man.

Just how fearsome was this young man?

"Will I lose my freedom?" Vinelord asked.

"Of course. But in return, I can help you reach heights you’ve never touched before," Noan replied with a smile. "I don’t need to lie to you—because... I have the power to kill you."

As he spoke, Noan casually pointed his thumb at Malrik, as if to remind him of the threat.

"Ah! And besides, I’ll support you as well." Noan raised his hand, and a violet energy crystal appeared, hovering mid-air. It radiated a strange glow, accompanied by a kind of energy Vinelord had never sensed before.

"This thing... I believe you know exactly how valuable it is," Noan said with a grin.

Vinelord stared intently at the floating energy crystal.

Yes, it was a Void Crystal.

Vinelord seemed to come to a decision. The green tendrils began to spread throughout Zeka’s body, and then...

"Um... Ugh!"

"AGH! Ack!"

Zeka thrashed violently for a long while, his eyes gradually rolling back, and then... he stopped moving.

The vines slowly retreated, disappearing back into his body, and eventually vanished entirely.

[Ding! Zeka’s state has changed, but his role as ’Fate Holder’ remains unchanged.]

Seeing the system notification appear, a pleased smile formed on Noan’s face.

With a wave of his hand, the spatial freeze was lifted instantly.

Thud!

Zeka collapsed to the ground. But oddly enough, he slowly stood back up—and then knelt on one knee, bowing deeply:

"Master!"