Chapter 214: Conversation, And Gluttony

Kareth let out a sigh as he picked up Rael by the collar, looking him dead in the eye.

“Okay… so let’s backtrack a little. Who are you?” Kareth asked flatly before suddenly waving his hand.

The moment he did, a translucent golden barrier appeared around them, followed by a single pop-up.

“Look, man…” Rael trailed off, meeting his eyes. “I’m just as confused as you are. Half of those feats, I don’t even remember doing… well… I do know most of them, except the last one.”

He didn’t understand what ‘possibility of being expelled by the world’ meant. And ‘survived the causality of inevitable death’ made even less sense.

But from Kareth’s not-so-minute reaction, Rael could tell that both of these things were pretty fucking massive.

“You don’t know…” Kareth ruffled his own hair out of frustration. “If you’re holding back some details, now’s the best time to tell me.”

Rael tilted his head. “Does being warned that I’m going to disappear in the future count?”

“No.” Kareth shook his head. “Future feats don’t count. This is something that has happened in the past.”

“Right…” Rael paused. “Care to fill me in on what the ‘possibility to be expelled by the world’ means?”

“Oh, that?” Kareth chuckled. “Once you accumulate a certain amount of negative karma, the world treats you as a parasite. But this is likely also related to your power. You do realize your stats don’t suit your level, right?”

“Sure?”

Kareth nodded before continuing. “The world scans all its inhabitants, and when it notices someone at level 363 fighting on par against a level 1349, what do you think it would think?”

“That the person at level 363 doesn’t belong here?” Rael mused as he suddenly froze. “But wait… if I just raise my level, won’t I close the gap without suffering this expulsion?”

“Yes.” Kareth affirmed. “That’s the main point of levels and Grades. If the world detects an imbalance, it will eliminate you.”

With those words, Kareth let go of Rael, causing him to fall to the ground.

But before he fell flat on his ass, he caught himself and glanced back at Kareth.

“Any ideas on the last part then?”

Kareth shook his head. “I have no clue why it says you survived inevitable death. It shouldn’t be possible, but that’s exactly why that feat is so important. When you realize the reason and explore the origins of that feat, you’ll grow exponentially stronger.”

He waited for Rael to absorb that before adding another bit of information.

“You see… when I was little, I used to play with toys a lot. They never had any emotions, so I called them my Hollowed Servants. One day, when I finally began wielding mana, I was able to use a skill similar to puppetry. The more I used it, the greater my feat of controlling the Hollow became. Fast forward a few million years, and I became the king of everything that is Hollow.”

With that, Kareth snapped his fingers, causing the temporal barrier to dissipate.

Time once again began to pass, and Reinhardt’s groans filled both their ears.

“Right… you said you needed a few bucks for a skill?” Kareth recalled. “I can give you that much, but in exchange, I want you to promise me you’re going to survive long enough to attend my Hollow Throne candidate selection.”

“Well, I don’t exactly plan on dying now, so sure. I accept,” Rael replied with a faint smirk.

Without another word, Kareth extended his hand and Rael accepted.

And in the very next moment…

Rael tilted his head in surprise. “3 billion?”

“I assumed your power is tied deeply to money,” Kareth remarked. “That’s the same assumption all the other ancient monsters came to as well. So if that’s the case, I want you to use the remaining billion to level up as much as you can. I do need you to survive after all.”

Rael chuckled. “I’m not one to turn down money.”

“Great.” Kareth wiped his hand on his clothing, causing Rael to raise a brow.

“What? Think you’ll get cooties or something?”

Kareth’s brows twitched. “I don’t want your terrible karma rubbing off on me.”

“Fair enough…” Rael turned to Reinhardt, who had finally gotten the rapier out of his eye.

Yet just as he was about to attack once more, Rael simply focused on him and used Premium Override.

<Ding!>

“Oho… so that’s how you do it,” Kareth remarked in wonder. “And that skill completely disappeared from this candidate’s arsenal… simply fascinating.”

Rael ignored the fancy talk and met Reinhardt’s shocked gaze.

“I really didn’t want to do this, Reinhardt,” Rael said. “I thought you could overcome your fear and deal with your father. That’s the main reason why you brought up the proposal of killing him in the first place, right? You thought I could help you, and I was actually ready to do just that.”

Upon not receiving an answer, Rael continued. “All you had to do was pick the right side, Reinhardt. And now, you’re going to die a dog’s death.”

With those words, Rael picked the bloody rapier off the ground and positioned it on Reinhardt’s neck.

And as a final courtesy…

“Any last words?”

“My mother…” Reinhardt muttered, staring at Rael’s eyes with determination. “17 years ago… she vanished into particles…”

A single tear streamed down his cheeks.

“…Do you think, I will too?”

Rael’s brows twitched. She disappeared into particles 17 years ago…?

“Is she dead?” Rael asked before facepalming. “Sorry… I meant to ask, is she still on your friend list perchance?”

Reinhardt’s eyes widened. “How do you…”

“She’s likely not dead yet…” Rael sighed, tightening his grip on the rapier and digging into Reinhardt’s neck.

“Once players die… they respawn at the nearest spawn point. But if they had designated a main city, then that’s where they’ll spawn. My best guess is, she’s still alive.”

Reinhardt stared at Rael blankly in silence before suddenly letting out a laugh.

“Ha… hahaha… she really is alive, huh?” Reinhardt muttered as his determination renewed. “Rael Sutekh… could you grant me one final request?”

Rael tilted his head. “What is it?”

A warm smile appeared on Reinhardt’s face.

“Could you please find my sisters and reunite them with Mother? In exchange…” Reinhardt trailed off, picking up his greatsword off the ground and holding it in front of Rael.

“I’ll give you this.”

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