3 Meeting The Leader Again

Smaller automatons powered by the magicians tirelessly guarded the underground prison. They roamed around without rest, patrolling every area and serving as the magicians' eyes and ears. Security was that tight. There was just literally no way for captives to escape. And even if they, through a miracle, managed to slip away, fierce beasts roaming the outside of the palace would greet them and make sure they pass away with regrets.

The hope of escaping through this method was bleak. This fact was making Alexei hate his own weakness. Nobody wanted their fate to be in the hands of others, but life was not a simple 1 2 3. Sometimes, the weak had no choice but to be subjected to the whims of the strong.

"I'll be taking him with me this time." Marlon's now familiar voice echoed.

Alexei was being escorted by one of the smaller automatons. But before he could enter the large room where magicians conduct their experiments, Marlon intercepted them. He looked up cautiously and saw the black-wearing man walking towards him with silent footsteps without sparing him a glance.

For every captive here, no magicians were human. Yet the same perception was held by the magicians. From these people's perspectives, no human rights apply to their prisoners. Like they ceased to be humans the moment they were taken to this place as experiment subjects.

The automaton obediently passed the chains to Marlon and because Alexei's handcuffs were attached to it, when the magician began to walk, he was also forced to follow. The path they took was different from usual, not leading to one of those messy laboratories. However, it was also not unfamiliar since it was the only staircase leading above ground.

Before they entered the throne room where the leader would meet them, Marlon finally turned to him. Alexei could not tell the other's current expression due to the hood. The gaze toward him was piercing enough though.

"You will be meeting our lord in a while."

Alexei remained silent.

"If you don't want to become a soul-fuel, you know what to do."

In other words, behave.

Alexei could guess a bit about Marlon's mood now. The latter could not help but speak to him because of nervousness. Usually, Marlon would ignore him as he did earlier. However, since he took an initiative to remind him not to be brazen in front of the leader, it just showed that even magicians feared the giant. That fear was strong enough to make Marlon cast away his pride for a moment in order to talk to an experimental subject.

'You are the one bringing me there, so you are afraid that I will create trouble and make your boss vent his anger on you?'

An unknown glimmer flickered in Alexei's eyes and it took some effort to stop the edges of his mouth from rising.

The upper ground was not as dark as the basement thanks to the pillars that were actually made of marble-like materials. When the two exited the basement, they were immediately greeted by a purple-robed lich holding a glowing ball. Alexei felt goosebumps when this legendary creature only heard from legends gestured with its bony hands. The direction pointed revealed the first person he saw upon transmigration here.

It was the giant man, sitting like a king on his throne. Or maybe he was really the king of this region.

'It had been almost two months. We meet again.'

Now that he could take a good look at the 'Leader', he was really impossibly handsome and overflowing with charisma and regal aura. Eyes were as blue as sapphire, hair was as black as the night. He wore black golden prince attire that Alexei only saw in movies. If not for his irregular size, anybody would have taken him for a human prince of medieval times.

However, the sense of danger he gave off was more prominent than his good looks. Alexei felt like it was hard to breathe in that giant's presence when the latter looked down at him emotionlessly. Were all kings like this? Or was the intense feeling of insecurity and fear coming from the naturally inferior genes of a weak human?

"I've brought him to you, milord."

Alexei's train of thoughts came to a halt. A sense of crisis overwhelmed him. Then before he knew it, his body was no longer under his control and his knees were aching from crashing violently against the concrete floor. Of course, he was already quite used to pain so he did not mind it much. But what made him alarmed was that his body was not listening to his brain's command anymore.

A powerless mortal could do nothing against a god-like being. Was it really necessary to do this?

'Patience, Alex. Patience.' He silently gritted his teeth and lowered his head, hiding his eyes that were glaring at Marlon.

"He's the oddity of this batch, milord."

The black-haired blue-eyed giant inspected Alexei from head to toe and then asked Marlon, "Is he the only one?"

To this, the magician replied in a nervous and apologetic tone, "Forgive our incompetence, milord. Only this person withstood it all. The rest broke down mentally or physically, showing no signs of adapting to the power of the abyss."

This was actually the first time that Alexei heard about the goal of the experiments that he and the other kids involuntarily participated. Power of the abyss? He thought he would have to wait for the elimination battle that the magicians mentioned before to make himself stand out. Yet unknowingly there was actually already a reason for him to be noticed by these people.

The Leader turned to him, observing him again. By his side, the lich also appeared. The latter commented, "Test him?"

A thoughtful expression showed on the Leader's face. Not long after, he slowly stood up from his seat and said, "Marlon, lead the way. I want to see this thing's compatibility with the power of the abyss."

"Yes." Marlon respectfully bowed and then walked in front, heading towards the basement.

When the Leader's eyes met his, Alexei then found himself freed from whatever magic Marlon had employed to control his body. However, he found that the chains Marlon used to hold were now in the Leader's huge hands. The sight made his heart contract for a split second.

With a tug, Alexei's entire person got thrown to the ground and rolled three times. Apparently, the giant had no plans to control his strength nor adjust his footsteps to make sure his captive would not be injured. Alexei was literally dragged across the floor.

Thankfully, the Leader did not take the staircase, thus saving the young boy's life in the process. Alexei's vision was blurred by his own blood though so he only remembered them riding a stone slab that moved down like an elevator. Afterward, they walked a little more to reach the magicians' spacious laboratory. The place just looked so evil and chaotic due to the horrible smell and sight of various body parts encased in jars, the screams from the children, and the eerie aura filling the air.

The magicians seemed to be unable to see the Leader since none of them came forward to greet him. Only Marlon kept a subservient attitude and led them to the adjacent room which the Leader silently opened. Alexei concluded that this was the place where underlings like Marlon showcase their findings.

The black-robed man flung the boy on the sole chair in the middle of the room before carefully taking out a charcoal-like object from a large crystal box container. It was a relic holding the power of the abyss.

Alexei had seen it a lot these past couple of weeks and experienced its evilness countless times. The feeling of his insides, organs, limbs, and bones being crushed repeatedly as if they were placed in a blender, was how it felt when its foreign and malicious power. Although he would sometimes succeed in brainwashing himself that he had adapted to the pain, in actuality, Alexei still always wanted to run away whenever he saw it.

However, reality had long shown him that because he was weak, there was simply no escape. This fact would not change even if the leader was not here.

But the giant called the Leader was here.

'This is a hard-earned chance.'

'I can't mess up.'

Alexei stole a glance at the apathetic face of the giant and steeled his resolve.

Ever since he realized that a forceful breakthrough was not yet possible in his current state, he hatched a plan to catch the eye of the highest authority in this place. Of course, today's meeting was not what he thought it would be. What he eyed was the elimination battle that would be hosted soon.

But if there was a shortcut, why would he not take it?

Before Marlon channeled his Gift's elemental power to the charcoal-like object, he said in a low voice, "Milord, I will have to apologize in advance. This thing might look very unsightly for the whole duration of the test."

An impatient nod came from the giant.