Aftermath

We got to the hotel late, thanks to the little nuisance we encountered on our way there. I had Talia make arrangements with the hotel management for an additional guest, or rather, a member who would be staying with me from the moment onwards. That made us three registered in the hotel accommodation.

Shamac, my new slave, a hybrid shadow shifter and shape-shifter, Talia, the wingless fairy and myself, the rich mysterious person. We made up my group of three now. And if I included the Imperius Auction House and Julius, that would make it a considerable number. However, I still didn't consider Imperius under my control for the time being, even though they were as good as that. Still, my influence and reach was nowhere near satisfactory enough, but all in due time. I had enough of that at least.

I didn't need to change my suite though, since it was already the best from the start. Having one extra slave in it didn't pose much of a difference. After Talia dealt with the minor details we went to our suite and I crashed on a sofa. Talia, surprisingly, maintained her standing posture, same with Shamac. I ignored them and closed my eyes for a bit.

Not that I was exhausted or anything, but there was so much to think about. The entire apostle incident we encountered earlier, and the implications it would bring.

However, I could at least say that the entire saga actually benefited me since I had discovered even more about the present world. Not only that, but I also got my hands on the memories of an apostle, how fortunate. That way I would know who my current enemies were.

For now, the Primordials and gods were most likely unaware of my resurrection. But they would most likely begin to notice some glitches in the current world system, since whenever I used Hex it caused an imbalance. That was why I avoided using powerful Hexes.

However, it looked like I would have to up my game in the coming battles. The major reason for that was the troublesome art the gods themselves invented, grace.

That pesky art interfered with any imbalance my Hex created, rendering it null. In basic terms, my Hex was like a virus in a system. It manipulated the flow of Aspects and bent them to my will. However, since it was a foreign and unnatural element, it was bound to leave traces of corruption and imbalance wherever I used it.

Grace, however, was an antivirus, making it the perfect counter for Hex. It used divine power, a higher level of Aspects to intercept and fix any alteration my Hex made. As soon as Hex tried to manipulate an Aspect, this divine power flushed it out. How annoying.

It didn't seem though, that the gods invented grace as a method to deal with me. If I had been revived with my full abilities such minor tricks wouldn't even be in my notice. From what I had learned, Hex had gotten renown in the current world too. Humans with the ability to use Hex were able to alter Aspects to an extent, making them a threat to the gods.

In order to maintain the balance of power they created the farce called the apostles, making humans their pawns in exchange for a fraction of their power. Those humans believed themselves to be righteous, among the few chosen and those who were deemed worthy to possess power. What a joke!

Then there was the problem of the royal family. I had already killed a high ranking noble with ties to the royal family. Then with the abduction of this other one, that made it two times I'd gone against them. Normally they posed no threat to me, however, with this troublesome alliance the apostles had with them, things could go awry.

Traces of the use of Hex could be linked to me if I was careless. I guess that was enough messing around for now. It was time for business.

Apostles and royals. Those two were merely immediate threats. The primary goals were the gods, most especially the Primordials. Then, ultimately the world itself. However, at the moment it was too early to worry about the little ones sitting comfortably on my throne. I'd first need to solve the little things first. The existence of grace was unexpected for me, so I'd have to tweak my plans a bit.

"Well then, for the most immediate matter to attend to, Talia's Wings" I said aloud, heaving a sigh.

I sat back up, looking at my two slaves who merely stood and watched me. I expected this behaviour from Shamac, but Talia's attitude surprised me. Was she still hung up over what I told her earlier? It would be good to correct her misconception, but I'd have her think what she wanted. For now.

"Root" I commanded

My ring glowed purple, responding to my call.

"Bring forth the earlier collected fairy wings" I said.

Immediately, the purple ring spat out the wings from its subspace. The wings emerged from a purple portal until it was fully out and the portal faded. I looked at Talia to see her reaction. She gazed longingly at her wings, however she did her best to hide it.

I smiled.

Normally I preferred the expressive version of my fairy slave, however this expression of discomfort she had, coupled with her anxious behavior, also had its charms. However, now was not the time to indulge in entertainment.

It was now time for business.

"Talia, step forward" I told her.

She immediately stiffened and gulped. She hurriedly moved to my side, a little distance from her wings which floated directly in front of me.

"Do you want them?" I asked her.

"Y-Yes I do!" She said with all honesty.

Good to know she was still quick witted and hadn't lost her decisiveness. It would have been boring having slaves who only trembled at my every word. One of the reasons why the Heavenly Realm was so boring to me was that. The way they addressed me, while it was respectful, just made me uncomfortable.

It was always 'Great Lord Hexarion' this, 'Supreme One' that, 'Lord of Chaos' this and that.

It got tiring at a point. I eventually avoided socializing with anyone and secluded myself, burying my entire being into creating treasures, tinkering around with Aspects, and making fun little games known as dungeons.

Well, enough thinking about those fun times, now was the time to bear fruit to the entire reason we got ourselves into such a big mess. Restoring Talia's wings to her.

Attaching her wings was no big deal for me. However, I was thinking of trying something else. The fairy wings contained a decent amount of Aspect essence, however that much wouldn't be useful enough for me.

"Root," I said internally, "analyze data and essence acquired from fairy wings recently extracted from storage."

The ring glowed, and then seconds later it responded, showing me its usual window in front of me and answering to me directly in my mind.

"«Analysis Complete»"

"<<Now able to Replicate the entire structure of selected item>>"

As expected.

"<<Please Confirm commencement of Replication»" < p>

I smiled. Looked like the root's functions were still intact.

Basically, root retained the information of any object within it even if such item or object was removed. Using the vast resources within root, it was possible to analyze the entire components of the object as well as duplicate it. After all, it was ultimately made up of Aspects. All that was required was to configure the appropriate amount and voila, a perfect replica.

Of course, root couldn't make something from nothing. Other items would be sacrificed in order to produce the replica of another. Depending on the Aspect essence required, the quantity and quality of the items consumed also varied. Fortunately, I had a lot of items in stock. Also, the essence in the wings weren't too high in the first place.

"Confirm" I responded in my mind.

"«Select Amount of Copies»" It stated, displaying it in its usual icon in front of me.

"Let's start with eight" I said, confirming the production of eight more wings indistinguishable from Talia's wings.

"«Notice: Sufficient Resources Available for Replication»"

"<<No high grade object is required for catalyst»" < p>

"<<No problems encountered»" < p>

Anytime from now.

"«Replication Complete»"

Immediately eight purple portals opened up, bringing out eight wings similar to the original one of Talia.

Talia and Shamac were surprised by the sight before them.

"W-What are... These all look like mine." Talia gasped.

Well, technically, they kind of were.

"Lord Hexarion. What do you intend to do with these?" She asked me, still very stunned beyond words.

"I thought that would be clear by now" I said.

She still looked somewhat puzzled.

"You are going to merge with all nine of these wings. Or die trying" I said to her with my usual dark smile.

She lost the right words to say, completely shocked and caught off guard by my words.

"Now then, Talia, let me ask you again. Do you still want your wings?"