Conditions

Looking deep into Eliotis' eyes, he saw a myriad of emotions.

Rage, sadness, shame, disappointment, and… joy?

Amon was slightly shocked seeing this, but he rapidly regained his bearings, his innate aether flowing into Eliotis to then freeze and tear apart his own innate aether.

Eliotis' body convulsed for a few seconds before he passed out and his form of blue and red fire faded.

'Anticlimactic, to say the least. What tier was he at? I didn't really care to check.'

[From his aether fluctuations, he must've been at the peak of the Adept stage, the very zenith of the foundational tiers of mortality. He most likely was holding himself back from breaking through to solidify his foundation and maybe upgrade his aether mark grade.]

'Oh? You can do that?'

[With enough resources and expertise, I'm not sure there's anything that can't be done. There are fruits out there that, upon consumption, would directly turn you into a God—no strings attached. We live in a large and wide universe, Father.]

Amon's gaze narrowed, and he thought back to the tattoos on his hands.

'Gods…'

[…]

BANG!

His thoughts were soon interrupted by a deafening wave of cheers and claps as a screen appeared before him.

<Welcome to the [ZZZ+] tier Dungeon, {Royal Infamy}!>

Amon's gaze widened, and his hands began to tremble, his previously contained aura suddenly erupting to drown the entire arena.

His heart violently slammed against his chest, and his breaths became short and labored. His palms sweaty, and his mind plunged into utter and absolute turmoil.

<Clear the three Origin Nexus of planet to return your home planet. The location each nexus is…>

Amon closed his eyes and began massaging his temples as his body became as still as an unmoved mountain and his aura as threatening as an erupting volcano.

Slowly, his previously broken perception of time returned in bits and pieces, and as that happened, his years of experience suddenly seemed to solidify and truly fuse into him, his presence entirely shifting, becoming more noble, refined, and perfect, and yet becoming fresher, younger, and purer.

Amon knew that he'd never regain his old perception of time, but truthfully, he didn't care. The feeling he was currently having was otherworldly.

The spectators, who'd been shocked into silence by his original outburst of power, all began to madly cheer and scream his name as the air was left trembling under the intense force of their voices.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, a sharp light leaking out of them to fuse into his already imposing aura.

'Finally…'

***

Within a darkly lit room, a veiled figure sat in front of a floating screen that projected all that had been happening.

Seeing Amon undergo what could only be said to be a breakthrough, the figure chuckled.

Suddenly, within this same dark room, a portal opened, and from this portal, the attractive Lich elder Amon had met eyes with during his judgment appeared, walking with unhurried steps and a form of majesty that couldn't be defined.

She looked at the screen as well and smiled.

"The little brat has potential, eh? Extremely rough around the edges and seems a bit mentally unstable, but a gem is a gem, hm?"

The veiled figure shrugged its shoulders as it spoke.

"Yeah, I guess, but it doesn't seem like he'll be very useful. He seems like those limit breakers that were forged by the flames of their own defiance, resilience, and madness. He won't be easily leashed. He's young, but I can already see a potent seed of madness in his gaze."

He sighed.

"If we let him grow, he'll become like that bastard Patriarch, and we surely can't deal with two monsters of their caliber at once. Aiya…"

The veiled figure sighed as the elder Lich laughed.

"Even more reason to take him in as one of ours. If we nurture him from the beginning, he'll be one of us. The boy has barely just entered the peak of the awakener tier and hasn't even awakened his affinities. He's as virgin as he'll ever be."

Hearing these words and her twisted smile, the veiled figure's face cringed, but remembering this was a smile of battle lust and not sinful lust, they sighed.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just don't do anything weird to him. Despite all this, he's just a kid. I'm fine with killing, but…"

The figure's gaze sharpened, and a terrifying aether pressure descended.

"…any of the other stuff you do to young men must stay out of this. Understood?"

Delilah, the Lich elder, laughed and turned back, nodding as she walked back into her portal and left.

Watching the portal close and her presence fade, the veiled figure's gaze couldn't help but narrow.

'This crazy whore…'

***

After Amon defeated Eliotis, everything had gone very fast.

His name had immediately replaced Eliotis' on the ranking of the Royal Seat holders and more importantly, he was given a royal ring, proof of his status.

After that, he embarked on another flying carriage, heading deeper into the city.

Beyond becoming a royal seat holder, he'd been granted an abode deep in the city, near the royal palace. He was a bit surprised by this, but it came at the right time, so he didn't refuse it.

***

Surrounded by a forest of purple trees, a dome-like mansion could be seen, entirely made out of thick white glass and covered in snaking runes of gold and blue.

Amon's carriage came down from the skies and softly landed near it. The doors opened, and he walked out, and as that happened, he was immediately greeted by two skeletons in armor.

Looking toward the gate that surrounded the mansion, he saw a woman standing, waiting for him.

Noticing him, Elder Delilah smiled and walked over, extending a hand to greet him.

"Hello, young man. I'm Elder Delilah, member of the royal council of the Undead-Lich sector and parliament member of the Beast Faction congress."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."