(3)

"Th-this... is the power of a god...?"

The three of the darkened yellow flames stage experts were the only ones who stood. The remaining five experts fell unconscious, getting caught in the impact of the lightning that is known to be the gods' punishment. I said while looking at those three on the tree branch, "Is this the so-called divine judgement that those fake gods came up with? They underestimated me way too much. It just tickled me. Haha...!"

I said it in the local tongue of zooviya. Those three got down from the tree branch and stood before me. The female elf, Sweyley, spoke to me, "Who are you? No, what are you? The system clearly mentioned you as an outsider to zooviya. But, not only are you familiar with our language, you are also using phrases that were used when zooviya was ruled by the previous deities. Tell us who you really are?!"

...

[So, these people are not as dense as I thought, huh? Not bad...

The glory of the local language in this world was completely ruined due to the dark crevasses' system. It didn't display complete zooviyan literature but involved some of the words from the origin tongue that is spoken by origin entities. The people understood those phrases as time passed on and on. But as a side effect, they started to use those unfamiliar words and messed up their own linguistics.

I have a lot to do. Killing the dark crevasses was just a fractional part of the task. If I have to complete the whole task, then I should reign supreme over everyone, bring them back to their former path, erase the whole system thingy and then turn every single man and woman on these planets back to how they were. That's the true meaning of a dark reigner and that's my creed.]

---step---step---step---step---step---

I looked towards the female elf and began to walk towards her. She yelled out, "D-don't come near me!!!!"

[This woman is scared down to her wits. Do I look that scary?]

The three of them held their weapons tightly. I had no choice but to let out my pressure once again. The surrounding air turned dark and my eyes omitted darkened crimson flames once again. The three were unable to move their bodies. I used my authority to 'understand' to pressure them into submission.

---tap---tap---tap---

All three of them fell to their knees. I asked whilst holding my pressure, "Do you want to go again?!"

Konan was the first one to respond, "N-no...!"

---flick---tap---

I released them from my pressure. They collapsed on the ground and coughed. I walked towards the kid and asked him, "Hey kid, I will ask you this question only one time and if I didn't get the answer I wanted, then you may prepare to die!"

The kid, Arun Ardemon, looked at me with fear. I asked, "How did you know that I was an evil god who descended to zooviya as the system mentioned? You attacked me as if you knew my facial features?!"

Arun Ardemon spouted, "We felt a powerful aura all of a sudden and looked towards the direction the aura was being emitted from. That's when we saw a black and crimson-red flamed sphere falling from the sky. Right after a few minutes, it fell on the ground and within a minute, the system tab told about a powerful evil god's descent. Later when we saw you, we felt the same aura. That's how we came to the conclusion that you are the evil god!!"

I attempted, "And you want me to believe that? There are cases where people with the same aura were born in different dimensions. Guess, I have to kill you!"

He responded quickly, "That might be the case. But, your aura was different from a zooviyan. And your dress code also seemed off. No one in zooviya would wear such clothes. In this world of martial arts, everyone follows the robes dressing culture since the era of the previous gods!!!"

[Now that he mentioned it, I almost forgot. This is a world that is filled with martial artists. But, can a fairy perform martial arts? I remember seeing one in between the other five infinitos. What he said makes sense, but that isn't enough to escape from my clutches.

Even if they saw me near the vicinity of the explosion. They would have spied on me to confirm their suspicion. But these people released bloodlust right off the bat. Instead of confronting me the moment I provoked them, they charged at me head-on without hesitation.

Guess I have to get the answer by myself.]

"So, you refuse to spill the beans, huh?", I said.

---clench---fwoosh---

I gripped his head and held him mid-air. I transmitted my dark energy to him to find out the answer by myself and activated 'understand' authority.

He yelled in agony since my power was too much for him to take in, "Aaaaaaaargh!"

Konan, who was still on the ground exclaimed while looking at my emanating darkness, "How can mere darkened crimson flames hold such refined power?!"

Sweyley responded, "He is so powerful right at his darkened crimson flames stage. Imagine what it would be like if he was in the darkened yellow flames stage?!"

Konan replied, "Even all the gods together in one place would die in less than a second!"

Sweyley exclaimed, "There's no doubt about it!"

I was able to hear their conversation but didn't care much about it. My dark energy came in sync with his body. And at some point, I found something obvious.

---beep---

[Got it.]

The system window appeared in front of his face. I wrapped my power on the system panel. Slowly, I understood everything behind the system's mechanism.

[The system particles travelled through the air and entered into the people's bodies. It read all their memories and set an individual status for everyone.

However, that's just the front page of it.

In truth, the system drove the mentality of a host. Instead of cultivating with a calm mind, the host got impatient and crazy to grow stronger. It's what made them greedy for strength. Soon, their ideal 'survival of the fittest', turned into 'survival of the strongest' due to the system's mind manipulation.]

...

"What should we do now? He is too powerful for those weaklings!", said a sudden voice inside my head.

"!!!!", I looked around without turning my head. The three experts lost their will to fight and the other five experts were still unconscious.

[Where did that voice come from? I surely heard a disgusting voice. But, it felt like I heard it while putting on headphones.]

My hunch gave me a slight push. I looked forward to it. The system tab that was on the kid's face glitched. I then used my 'understand' authority on it. My dark flames wrapped around it more intensively.

"But my lord, his power surpasses even that of a crook!", said the first voice.

"The power and prowess he displayed until now are on the level of a mutant asymmetron. This grand law is far too dangerous. His potential is even higher than the first grand law!", said the second voice.

"Our side at least needs three or four mutant asymmetrons to take him down. But all the remaining mutant asymmetrons are busy watching and enjoying the fights of the mortal figures inside their own jurisdictions.

It would take two days for all the lords to gather in one place. But, a grand law should not be taken lightly. We must take care of him as soon as possible!", said the first voice again.

...

---tap---

I released the kid from my grip and he fell to the ground. I retrieved all my power back to my body.

['Understand' is unfathomable. It gave me insight behind and also beyond the system's mechanism. To think I would hear the voices of those dark crevasses.

Well, since they are the administrators of the system, they are bound to be connected to the system. I can sneak up on them from time to time.

But, I have to do something about these eight experts. On the outside, it would seem like they attacked me. But in truth, it was the crappy system that manipulated their minds into thinking of me as their enemy and completely twisted their mentalities.]

I remembered the conversation I overheard from the backdoor of the system. The person with the first voice used the word 'lord'. He spoke in a polite and afraid manner. The owner of the second voice was demanding and arrogant.

[The first voice could belong to a loyal crook and the second voice could belong to a mutant asymmetron.

They said that the mutant asymmetrons would gather in two days. Right now, I am not strong enough to face all of them together head-on. I must immediately gain some experience and achieve the insights to assimilate up to forty-five percent of my darkness.]

I looked in the left direction. Earlier, when I was still standing on the edge of the cliff, I felt a weird sensation in my body coming from that direction.

[The weird sensation I felt back then... If I am not wrong, when I was the demon god, spiritual beasts like man-eating plants and mythical beasts like dragons gave off the same vibe.]

I then looked back at the three who were lying on the ground in front of me. I released my dark energy once again and transmitted it into their bodies.

---whoosh---

The three of them were rolling on the ground trying to resist my authority. I just interrupted the line of connection between them and the system. At once, I brought the system particles out of their minds and erased the presence of the system completely.

---sparkle---

The particles let out sparkles as they exploded. I let my energy stay inside them in order to make sure that the system particles wouldn't invade their brains again.

'Huh? Why do I feel so relaxed? My mind is calm and peaceful!', said Arun Ardemon.

It shook me because he was spouting those words in his mind and not outside. I chuckled at the advancement of my prowess.

['Understand', you are driving me crazy. First, reading the system's mind through its backdoor and now, reading the minds of people.

I was overpowered right from the start, and this authority is making me even more overpowered.]

Konan, Sweyley and Arun sat on the ground and looked at me for answers. I said, "Remember, achieving everything by yourself is different from achieving them forcefully. I freed you from the shackles of the system and locked a fractional part of my energy inside you. That would keep you safe from the system particles captivating your mind!"

---step---step---step---step---step---

I started to walk towards my destination. Suddenly, Sweyley shouted, "Wait!!!!"

I looked behind. She kneeled and bowed her head on the ground. She said, "I don't know what you did, but I thank you for making us realize the truth. Until now, we thought that being strong is all that we need, but we failed to realize that it was the system that manipulated our minds!"

She let out tears from her eyes. Konan was just smiling and Arun was sad. I cheered them, "Make good use of the power I imbued in you. Don't forget to master it. Make sure you transmit this power to everyone you know. It would free them from those fake gods!"

Konan said, "In the end, it is just a fractional part of your power. It cannot spread to countless people!"

I replied, "It can be manifested as per your martial arts cultivation. Its function is nothing much but to refine your body from impurities. Just like the crappy system!"

The three of them smiled as if they saw a sliver of hope. I turned around and carried on to my next destination. I waved my hand and then jumped high towards the sky.

---dash---