Chapter 50: On Paper

"Are you sure you want to go through?"

Arthur asked me.

Around us were hundreds of monsters, mostly bronze cores. All of them were a step away from meeting their end.

Blood pooled under their bodies as each of them writhed in pain.

I had injured them just enough to stop any potential resistance, without actually killing them.

My idea was simple.

If I absorbed the mana essence from these monsters and then tried to transfer it to the egg before me, it wouldn’t have been the best solution.

Because if the essence was absorbed into my core, it practically became my own essence. And transferring that into something of mythical rank could be disastrous.

Mana essence is basically one’s life essence. And if too much is drained, it could, in the

best case

, result in my death.

So the most ideal solution that I had found by rummaging my brain was—

To kill these monsters while allowing their essence to flow into my body. Once it mixed with the mana in my meridians and also with my blood vessels, it would become similar to my own essence to a large extent.

But instead of absorbing it into the core to fully make the foreign essence turn into my own mana essence, I would simultaneously transfer it into the egg.

A perfect cycle would be formed, without draining even an ounce of my own essence.

Only profits with no losses.

"I still think this is too risky."

Arthur looked at me with concern in his eyes. His fears were valid.

My plan was perfect, but only on paper...

Even I didn’t know what would happen once I began the process. The risk was immense.

But I had to do it.

I was curious about the beast in the egg—its rank and the potential backup it could provide me.

I had Arthur, a peak Immortal, with me. He was the strongest card in my deck. Once I healed his core, he would continue to become even stronger.

He might even reach the Divine rank, something no one had ever been able to achieve. At least, that’s what the history of this world narrated.

But...

I couldn’t be satisfied.

I had to control this power before me. If I had something of Mythical rank serving me...

I would be unstoppable.

And beasts had something that humans lacked.

They were loyal. The type of loyalty that is etched in their blood.

Arthur was loyal. I knew his character—the only reason I trusted him to be my shield and my sword.

But his loyalty had limits. There might come a situation when he wouldn’t protect me.

Nothing was absolute. If sons could kill their fathers for the throne, what stopped Arthur from betraying me?

Arthur wouldn’t do it. He had his principles.

But the future was uncertain.

And most importantly—

I wasn’t invincible.

No matter how strong I grew, no matter how many people served me, at the end of the day, a blade was enough to end my life.

That was the hard truth of mortal bodies.

They could be harder than rocks, but at the same time fragile as glass.

And they say—

Betrayal always comes from the closest.

It’s at that very time, when you least expect it, that someone you thought was close enough would end up killing you.

"It’s fine. Trust me.

I know what’s at stake."

My bloody life!

Though I reassured Arthur to ease his concerns, I couldn’t shake the lingering hesitation in my soul.

Was I afraid to die?

Not quite.

But that didn’t mean I enjoyed getting killed.

There was a difference between the two.

Arthur didn’t seem satisfied with my response, but he agreed nonetheless.

I liked this thing about him. He would advise me when I went wrong, but wouldn’t stop me if I was determined to go through with the task.

Arthur knew I wasn’t stupid enough to risk my life for some... egg.

Even I knew that.

But if someone witnessed what we were doing and knew the results of failure here, they wouldn’t agree with our thoughts.

I indeed looked like a madman.

Maybe I was!

Haa...

"Let’s begin."

My voice was calm. There wasn’t a hint of panic.

Arthur nodded.

His job was to squeeze the life out of the monsters using his mana pressure alone. I could have asked him to kill the monsters.

But...

In my current state, I could only absorb the mana essence of the monsters I killed with my own hands. I might be able to do the same for kills done by other people, but that may require me to upgrade my existing mana control.

I didn’t have the guarantee that I would be able to do it in the future.

It was just a hunch.

Or in Arthur’s words—my instinct.

So Arthur would make the monsters suffocate to a near-death condition, and my work was to just apply a little bit of my own mana pressure to deal the final blow.

Within seconds, a suffocating pressure descended in the area around me.

I could feel every particle in the air vibrate under the immense strain it was put through.

The pressure wasn’t directed at me, yet I could feel a tingling sensation across my spine.

It wasn’t fear.

But something close to that. My body just knew in whose presence I stood.

The same couldn’t be said for the monsters around me.

The moment Arthur actively released his mana pressure, all of them were pinned to the ground.

Their limbs were pressed against the ground...

No, it felt more like they were being drilled into the land below them. Blood leaked from their bodies, adding to the injuries they had sustained earlier.

Taking advantage of the situation, I released my own mana pressure to kill a monster near me.

Tsk.

It didn’t die.

Not only that, but it didn’t even feel the pressure that I had applied. Arthur had made it look easy, but—

This...

It was too difficult.

Arthur might have sensed my intention to kill the monster, and seeing the creature still alive...

He increased his own pressure.

Zing...

The air vibrated again.