Chapter #56

AN: Sorry for not posting, I was sick last week and I have too much work to think about the novel.(End of the year stuff is killing me as a newbie accountant.)

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Zeno made sure there was no apparent harm done to Tetra before glaring at his newest addition amongst his personalities.

'Got that? If you ever try to pull something like that in combat or otherwise I will do much worse...'

<Got it boss... Though I advise you to relive some of your pent up urges. Not like she can say no...> The representation of his instincts answered.

'...' Zeno sighed and moved on without answering.

{...} Ouryuu on the other hand was wondering what went wrong with this bloodline.

How could a bloodline based off of Heavenly Dragon Ouryuu end up like this.

He eventually came to the conclusion that the dragons other than Hiryuu never lived like humans and they probably wouldn't be lacking in mates in heaven.

Zeno quickly created a clone connected with a long cable of biomass and sent it to extinguish the fires around the keep.

In the meantime, he took one of the dismembered hands of the mages and gave it a tentative sniff before consuming it.

It was okay at first, the feeling was the same but as the biomass was absorbed Zeno suddenly felt like he was being poisoned, his body naturally rejected the food it was given.

But he had already digested some of it, the Chaos that didn't belong to him clashed with Karmic Virtue like bitter enemies. Zeno could feel a new type of energy being born from this clash but he couldn't keep it in his body.

This energy just seeped out of his body, merging with the world, on top of this he actually got hurt. After all, the process is not peaceful.

Zeno even discovered that his total amount of Karmic Virtue has decreased a small amount... This means he can't consume people with controlled Chaos in their bodies.

{It is like mana poisoning that you might see in novels. The Chaos didn't belong to you and that caused the clash to be intensified. Since it wasn't yours, you couldn't keep the energy that was created either.} Ouryu summarized it.

'I probably need to become a source myself if that is possible, I doubt the Chaos drawn from outside sources would do either...' Zeno concluded

After all, Chaos people use are drawn from other planes of existence and they must be tainted by something as well.

{How about monsters?} Ouryuu asked.

'I will eat one of the monster corpses later.' Zeno grunted as another tentacle grew out of him and grabbed the nearby corpse of a villager.

He very much wanted to consume them to fill up his health bar but he still needed them to send a message.

He had made sure no one escaped, this means that the King of Kaedwen will soon send out scouts to look into what happened.

The message must be clear but it also needed to be just enough that the King wouldn't gather his army and send them to death.

"I thought I had slaughtered them all! Where the fuck did these bodies came from!?"

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She woke up naturally like she had gone to bed on a nice summer night without a worry in her mind.

However the illusion of comfort disappeared once she opened her eyes as Tetra found herself looking at the monster that violated her very being.

There he was stacking and positioning bodies to write something in the local language, sometimes muttering to himself about not being able to find a decent insult.

Just remembering the sensation of him being inside her made Tetra shudder and sniffle and remember the fact that she no longer feels a connection to Chaos.

She desperately reached out for the familiar feeling but she got nothing she tried again and again until her sniffles turned into quiet sobbing.

Hearing her, the monster stopped and turned towards her. Tetra began shivering uncontrollably and slowly backed away.

"Oh, good. I was wondering when you would wake up. Now that you're up pack some food for yourself and get the fuck out of my home!" He yelled at her before going back to putting a body while making sure it resembled a letter.

Tetra was dumbfounded, no it wasn't that. She was furious and indignant!

'After doing all that to me! My body! Now he throws me out like some common whore! Wait! I know his secrets, I must report this to the brotherhood.' A light bulb lit up in her head as she calmed down.

"I also need a horse..." Tetra muttered, she knew a witcher could hear her with their hearing.

"Nah! Your little king will send some scouts. Now shut up! I am making art." Zeno made a shushing gesture before going back to his work.

Tetra felt like ripping her hair off...

Soon the scouts arrived and took her with them, they also had to witness the colorfully prepared letter in the form of strategically placed corpses.

Zeno was dumbfounded, wasn't this location supposed to be hard to get in even for those living here?

The poor scout's hands were trembling with fear as he copied the words to a new paper since they couldn't take the original "letter".

Zeno didn't care about Tetra leaving, he didn't care whether she lived or died. He already messed with her brain after she lost the protection of Chaos, just enough to make sure his secrets remained secrets.

Still, Zeno hoped she'll live long enough to see the days of witch hunts of the future. She didn't have to be concerned about lifespan since he made sure she'll have a long one.

'Heh, I want to see her face when she realizes that she's the one that is impure in the future.' Zeno thought while noting down the newfound sadistic joy he was feeling. 'Well, let's hope it won't get out of hand.'

He just hoped that she wouldn't be killed, after all a mage without magic is practically useless. Still with her current savings she can live a frugal life for several centuries.

Seeing the scouts leave Zeno sighed before joining his clone to clean

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On the side of the kids, System who was carrying Illyana suddenly stopped prompting others to do as well.

"Didn't I say, don't stop, kid? Do you want to die?" Illyana said on his back.

"The fight is finished..." System said while putting her down.

"What do you mean Zeno?" Lambert approached him.

System didn't have to answer since Vesemir came and stopped his horse in front of them while throwing a bag of medallions in front of them.

Theirs had been left at the keep due to leaving urgently, only Zeno had his original medallion with him.

"This is the last time I'll let any of you hesitate, now choose." Vesemir said gruffly.

He was also looking at Zeno as if looking for an answer but System just gestured that he will explain later.

System inwardly sighed since he knew he couldn't make Vesemir believe him.

"But they hate us!" Geralt came forward and said.

"There will always be another monster, Geralt." Vesemir answered as the children took the medallions.

Roll credits! Ahem!

"Now that's over, I want to know who the hell are you!? I know that Zeno stayed over to fight. Are you a Doppler?" Vesemir drew his sword and put it on System's neck.

The rest screamed but they didn't move, as far as they concerned the friend in front of them might not be him.

"I am not a Doppler, We... have a particular set of skills that was unavailable before. Zeno just used it to save the keep but you know how that turned out." System explained not caring about the silver sword on his neck.

[Note for later, silver is useless against us.] System thought.

"Give me a reason to believe you. Isn't it convenient that you just got your conveniently locked powers?" Vesemir pushed further.

"I swear on Merlin!" System yelled indignantly, he wasn't angry at Vesemir. He was just pissed that he couldn't think of a better way out.

"Who the fuck is Merlin!?" Vesemir asked.

System didn't have to answer as all the medallions started vibrating and the sky literally split open revealing Avalon.

Merlin's tower slowly came close while the group stood motionless, they couldn't move. The being that came could kill them with a thought.

"Oh isn't that System-chan! I never expected to hear your prayers! How nice!" Merlin grinned.

Merlin being a ROB that is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent in his own Omniverse could naturally be present even when he actually went to die.

"Stop! Adding -chan to my name flowery bastard!" System yelled.

'oh shit we're fucked!' Was the thought going through the heads of everyone present.

"Sigh, why can't I be adored and loved by my creations? They are either scared shitless or too rebellious. Anyway, I'll vouch for him Vesemir-kun. You'll learn the whole truth once you go back to Kaer Morhen." Merlin clapped and Avalon vanished.

The only thing that remained was a purple flower that slowly drifted over to Illyana and went into her body as the rest watched helplessly due still not being able to move.

Soon a purple light covered her and by the time it died down, Illyana was young again.

'What happened?I sensed Merlin.' System heard Zeno's voice.

[I prayed to Merlin... He did his thing and gave Illyana her youth, refused to elaborate and left.] System summarized.

'...' Zeno.