Quite literally, an hour passed as they continued hugging, chatting, and completely ignoring Rael, who by now was sitting inside their gazebo.
Iâm a busy guy too, you know? Rael grumbled and decided to check up on something.
<Rael Sutekh: Hey Karina, status update on my constructs?>
He waited for a few seconds and got a reply.
<Karina: Theyâre hiding in the sand right outside the city. Theyâre basically ready to attack whenever you are.>
Oho⊠good, Rael thought with a smirk and focused.
While he couldnât exactly feel where the constructs were, he knew he could communicate with them.
ThereforeâŠ
Invade the city. Immobilize all those who resist. Disarm the guards and throw them into cells. No killing. I repeat, absolutely no killing.
With that, he returned to the chat.
<Rael Sutekh: Did anything happen?>
<Karina: Hmm⊠no?>
<Karina: Oh wait, they suddenly started moving! Theyâre much faster than I thought, and theyâre heading straight for the Sunken Temple.>
He took a satisfied breath and turned the chatroom off.
But of course, since the father and daughter duo were still chatting, he decided to check out his second phase.
How do I enable it though�
Just as he had that thought, a pop-up appeared in front of him.
<Would you like to switch to Second Phase: The True Platinum Overlord? Yes/No>
âŠYes?
The moment Rael accepted, a sharp pain suddenly shot throughout his entire body, causing him to flinch and accidentally break the table in front of him.
But he ignored that for the time being as his vision began to expand, and then, his platinum hair grew much longer, all the way to his waist.
Even his muscles seemed to increase in volume. Since he was already pretty tall, his height didnât change much. Even so, he realized that the tips of his hair began turning pitch black.
And after a few more minutes of this pain, it was all over.
His muscles condensed back to what they were previously, yet his strange new vision and long hair remained.
Now, his hair had black outlines, and he felt much stronger despite his Strength stat not increasing by much.
But his HP?
Health Points (HP): [16,460B/16,460B]
It had gone up by a bit. But there was also the new addition he saw earlier.
<MP is converted into excess Trell for the duration of the Second Phase transformation.>
Excess Trell (ET): 1,287B
That, combined with his balance, brought the total toâŠ
Mana Trell Points (MTP): 1,801B / 1,801B (+1,287B Excess)
Hmm⊠so the excess is shown in parenthesis⊠Thatâs pretty simple to understand. If I go over the excess, Iâll start burning through my actual money. Definitely donât want that, Rael pondered over it.
Then, two people entered the gazebo, and they were none other than the Duke and Anath.
Yet when they noticed the broken table and Raelâs changed appearance, they froze.
âUh⊠Rael?â Anath tilted her head. âDid you⊠what happened?â
âLate puberty, probably.â Rael avoided the question, then turned to the Duke. âAnyways, sit down, we need to have a chat.â
âVery wellâŠâ the Duke nodded and sat down.
Yet as Anath was about to do the same, the Duke raised his hand.
âSweetie, I hate for us to part so soon, but I need to speak with Rael alone,â the Duke said. âThe maids who took care of you all those years ago are still alive and are currently working. You may visit them if youâd like.â
âFatherâŠâ Anath muttered. But since she was no longer a child, she soon complied and stepped out of the gazebo.
The Duke sighed and glanced back at Rael before bowing.
âThank you. I had lost all hope up until today. This is the single best thing that has happened to my family in this dreaded decade.â
âWell, Iâm glad you two are still getting along. You skipped her rebellious phase, after all,â Rael snickered. âAnyhow, how are you planning to deal with her passion? Alchemy, I mean.â
The Duke smiled. âIf she likes it so much, then Iâll build her an alchemy room.â
He narrowed his eyes. âThough she did talk about you quite a bit. Something about leaving a lasting impression?â
A faint smirk appeared on Raelâs face. âThat does tend to happen sometimes, doesnât it? Though Iâm not sure what I did this time aside from getting her home within a minute.â
âMe neither, kid.â The Duke chuckled. âIâve never really been an expert on women. It was a blessing my late wife and I even got together.â
âHmm⊠cheers to that,â Rael said with a warm smile. âThough I think itâs best we get back to the topic at hand.â
The Duke nodded. âIndeed. You want allegiance?â
âPretty much,â Rael replied, leaning in. âOnce Celestara wins the war, I want you to be the one behind the scenes who paints us as saviors, not tyrants.â
âWhy would you be painted as a tyrant?â the Duke asked, puzzled. âWar is war, people understand that. Aztera waged war first, so itâs them whoâd be considered the tyrants.â
âLook at it this wayâŠâ Rael trailed off. âThe Prince of Aztera, Reinhardt, is already dead. His sisters are in unknown locations. And as for the King himself? Heâs probably panicking. Enemies like that are much easier to deal with than ones who actually use their heads.â
âSo youâre saying the victory will be so overwhelming⊠people will thinkââ
âYes.â Rael cut him off. âSo thatâs where youâll come into play. The Duke of Valentine publicly supporting the new rulers, and exposing the dirty laundry of the former rulers, the Ashavirs.â
âAnd what happens after you solidify your position?â the Duke asked, leaning back in the seat. âWhat assurance do I have that I wonât be an expendable piece youâll replace with someone from Celestara?â
âWell, the short answer is: There arenât many people in Celestara I trust to handle such a high position,â Rael remarked. âBut the reality is⊠Iâm not a person who betrays those loyal to me. I only react if they show aggression first.â
âSo saving my daughter gives you assurance that I wonât betray you?â the Duke tilted his head. âThat is a naĂŻve viewpoint⊠one I hope you take into account for future reference.â
âNaĂŻve it may be, I prefer loyalty not through fear, but through mutual trust.â Rael chuckled, tapping the broken table in front of him.
âSo I ask you again. Will you cooperate?â
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