Usurping Control

[ ~ Chapter • Start ~ ]

Right now, Satoru remembered something that would help him in taking control over the apostles.

And those were the upgraded form of the original drug he had created specifically for Hearst.

The drug was called "Nega-Slave". It was specifically designed to completely remove all restrictions that forcefully bind a "servant" to a "master" (e.g., hypnosis, love marks, slave curses, brainwashing, etc.). However, its quantities were very limited; there was only enough for 19 dosages. The only good thing about it was its quality and potency, which Satoru carefully maintained.

He temporarily stopped producing such drugs while he was in the Labyrinth, deciding to focus on his students first, before taking the drugs out of his pocket dimension and giving them all to Hearst.

"I'll only free 19 of your sisters, for now."

".... I understand. Though I'm sure once they're free, they'll immediately like you even more than the former master Ehitruje. His rule needs to be over, and I'd very much like to see how you will defeat him."

Hearst spoke with a light chuckle before she leaned towards Satoru, cupping his cheeks and kissing him passionately.

'If that really is true.... oh well, I guess I'm going back to playboy martial arts master again.' He concluded, accepting the fate he will soon have.

Instinctively Satoru's arm wrappped around the apostle's waist, pulling her closer and engaging in a love-making activity for a long time.

Everything about her was actually perfect, as if she had been created solely to be the perfect woman; even though her face was identical to her sisters, it was like an alchemist had spent years perfecting the art of creating Homunculi like her.

But realizing that Ehit was the one who created her and all the apostles, Satoru only thought of respecting that god in that aspect alone. There was no reason for him to praise him any longer.

Once they both finished, the apostle moved her head to align her mouth to his ear.

"Starting today, I am in your full debt." She spoke those words, ending with a smile that reminded Satoru of someone when he did look at her face another time.....

.... But who? Who was the girl?

He doesn't really remember yet, but the memory felt vague. Almost as if he was still missing certain memories.

It was at this moment that his students, along with Aletia had arrived, yet he kept gazing at the apostle's face for a few moments.

Sighing, he gave up on trying to remember what part of one of his past lives he had still forgotten and glanced at his students whilst letting go of Hearst.

Faking a cough, he casually fixed his current clothing, which was just his casual wear while he was on Earth as nothing significant would be done in this very time.

"Good morning, what brings you here?" Satoru asked casually, not minding what happened between both him and the apostle.

"Uhm.... Sensei.... we met Hiyama earlier."

"He's gone insane?"

One by one, they nodded, confirming Satoru's suspicions and observations through the stone eagles who were made to have limited lifespans.

One of them was still alive, eating monster meat and man cores to steadily sustain itself, and was constantly trying to stop Kouki from doing something foolishly insane.

"And Kouki, I don't know where he was, but from hearing the news alone, he will arrive in just several hours." Endou spoke next, before he approached Satoru.

"And, Sensei.... can you please give me an artifact that would disable my stealth? It's getting worrisome now that I intended to, you know...."

A light pause was made by the assassin, as his cheeks reddened the moment he glanced momentarily at Yuka.

"You wanted to take her out on a date? Hm, how the turntables." Satoru replied, giving him a gadget which does exactly that.

After thanking him, Endou and Yuka left with red faces to each other.

And as for Shizuku? She didn't really have anything to do, so she instinctively walked out, and began to interact with the children along with both Kaori and Hajime.

"Thank you again, Satoru. I'll be performing my duties soon, so I'll leave the orphans here." Hearst said in a serious tone, before leaving the Orphanage.

Satoru thought she was going to convince her sisters, and he's right.

But enough of that, Eri looked quite irritated at him as she immediately grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.

"Satoru, snap out of it! Has that woman brainwashed you?!" She was definitely worried about him, along with Aletia.

The teacher raised his hands to dent such a statement.

"No way! Well, we did immediately become friends, but that doesn't mean anything worse!" Satoru quickly admitted, and he was immediately believed by the two of them.

".... Even so, you definitely act and feel like a womanizer the moment we first met, Satoru. But that's fine." Aletia had spoken her share of words, as bluntly as usual.

The three of them, having literally nothing to do, decided to also interact with the children, play random games with them, and....

.... Now, the orphans have gathered around.

"I've got to make a good compensation about me leaving you all alone here, you know? And for that, a mere sorry wouldn't really work." Satoru explained to his orphans.

He will not beg, for he there was no reason to.

"Papa, it doesn't matter! I, Maria don't need to ask for your forgiveness!" One of the orphans replied, earning nods of agreement from the others.

"Is that so.... very well, you'll get gifts from me."

The gifts Satoru had given to them were simply teddy bears and sturdy, lightweight toys they would definitely cherish for a long time.

In the end, the day was long, and Satoru simply rested. His students are all around the city, yet it was strange for a certain hero to arrive hearing that his classmates were around but didn't bother meeting him made him think it was just a hallucination.

Kouki couldn't even bother trying to meet them at all, devoting himself to his ideal heroism while going to meet the King.

After being briefed with false information that he immediately believed in, he met the Royal Alchemist, Giftstern.

"Hero, the mission you are given with is dangerous, as the monsters there are many and are more intelligent. Please, take these drugs I made that will boost your energy and strength for a long time." Giftstern spoke, giving several large pills to Kouki.

Due to his naive nature, he easily accepted it.

"I recommend taking one when you're almost at the specified location, and taking another when you're very tired. Though, I do need money as a compensation when you do return."

Silently, Kouki smiled and thanked the alchemist before leaving, not noticing the evil smirk from Giftstern.

[ ~ Line • Break ~ ]

And sometime at night, in the Divine Mountain, several women with the same faces were in a circle. While it does seem like they were staring at each other from time to time, they were actually talking to each other using telepathy.

They were intent on listening to somebody.

One of them, Hearst, took out a box containing the drugs she had obtained from Satoru.

"Just like what we've talked, younger sisters. This will be for our future." Hearst said, opening the box and letting her sisters who looked exactly like her to take the vials.

"Are we really going to turn our backs from pir master and creator, after all he's done to us?" An apostle by the name of Noint questioned her eldest, unsure if she should drink what is on the vial she had.

Yet, Hearst glared at her, showing an expression of pure disbelief.

"After all he's done to our sisters once they defected, and the original one, my mother, and the sisters that came before me, the true first!?" Hearst almost yelled out, barely preventing herself from lashing out.

Hearst remembers, for she had seen everything for thousands of years. She remembered just being one of the copies of her "mother".

She saw Ehit in his madness, create and slaughter her own sisters, until he got bored and decided to create the new, strongest race now known as the Apostle race.

Still, after calming down by herself, she noticed that her sisters didn't hesitate to drink the vials by themselves. The effects might show up days after this night, but she knew she and Satoru were successful.

Now that she was done in her current task, she asked her sisters to proceed to do as they needed, under the guise of working for Ehit.

Hearst knew there were a few tens more of her sisters, and they were all around 45. Honestly, they would be trouble if they did find out.

[ ~ TO • BE • CONTINUED ~ ]

Fun Fact: While Satoru's clothing has pocket dimensions, he always keeps the most important ones inside his own pocket dimension.

Fun fact 2: Apostle harem incoming 🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿

[ OMAKE ]

Ehit usually never bothered checking on his apostles, but.....

He was too lazy to do so.

And while the lazy god whose boredom is growing was too preoccupied watching the Hero, Kouki from his sanctuary for entertainment, more of his apostles would slowly begin to decide on defecting from him silently, either to live as freely as they like, or maybe try to follow Satoru?

However, what Hearst didn't realize was that one of them had not decided to defect to prove her loyalty to Ehit and toss the vial away, going straight to the sanctuary days later.

"Lord Ehit! I have a report to make!" She yelled in a monotonous manner, which made the false god put his attention on her.

"What is it? Where are the other apostles?" Ehit asked, scratching his ears.

".... They've defected."

Silence consumed the sanctuary, as Ehit frowned in anger.

"This isn't interesting at all. Who took my apostles away?! I swear, who that person is will be someone interesting to destroy...."