Bab 1541: -1522- Just you wait!
"Plop... plop, plop plop..."
In the dilapidated warehouse district of the Outer Edge, the bodies of several Variants still twitched, making a sound that would disgust anyone.
Rozen dispersed the spirit bow in his hand as though the surrounding Variants no longer existed in his eyes. He walked out from the center of the three Variants, heading toward River.
River, on the other hand, just stared blankly at Rozen as he approached, completely unresponsive.
Seeing this, Rozen couldn't help but chuckle.
"Why are you looking at me like that again this time?"
Upon hearing this, River still didn't respond for a long time.
It couldn't be helped.
Rozen's performance had truly shocked him.
What were those three Variants?
Those were beings strengthened by Collapse Force, powerful enough to rival large Variants like Shinjuku [2].
Back then, just a single Shinjuku [2] had nearly destroyed all of Mistgun. Surely, even a floating fortress city designed to battle the massive armies of Armored Beetles on the front lines wouldn't have fared much better against such a large Variant, right?
And now, three such Variants, all capable of matching Shinjuku [2], had been taken down by Rozen in under a minute. How could River even begin to react to that?
Surely, even the enemies hadn't anticipated that this trio of Variants would be so utterly helpless in Rozen's hands.
Is this what it means to be a Hero of Humanity?
Is this the Mage King?
This... is Rorelai Arneet?
River's mind went blank, filled only with these questions.
But eventually, his confusion turned into excitement, then exhilaration.
After all, the strength of the person in front of him was incredibly good news for humanity.
So, after snapping out of it, River's first instinctive reaction was to burst into laughter.
"Haha... hahahaha...!"
River laughed with pure joy.
But seeing River like this, Rozen couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.
Had he scared the kid silly?
If he had known this would happen, maybe he would have held back a little and not been so flashy.
But he had been holding back already.
After all, he hadn't summoned his Beast Vassals or his familiars, only using jujutsu. If he had held back any further, what would that even look like?
Surely he wasn't expected to disperse his High-Grade Mana and turn it back into ordinary mana?
In that case, the one acting foolish wouldn't be River but Rozen himself.
River had no idea that his actions had caused Rozen to think of him with the same care one would show a clueless child. After laughing, River immediately jumped up.
"Let's go, let's go! We need to leave now!"
River grabbed Rozen by the arm.
"Where to?" Rozen quickly shook off River's hand, looking at his excited expression and genuinely worrying about the kid's state of mind.
"To see the Pope!" River said excitedly. "I'm going to report everything to Her Holiness. She has to know that you're strong enough to lead humanity!"
"Really?" Rozen smiled, half-amused. "Aren't you worried that I might be working with Zeth? That if you take me to the Pope, I'll take her head?"
"No, you wouldn't." River, for some reason, was utterly confident. "If someone like you had already joined Zeth, humanity would have no hope left. So, I believe you won't."
In other words, if Rozen had really allied with Zeth, it didn't matter whether River brought him to the Pope or not—the Pope would be defeated sooner or later anyway.
In that case, it was better to trust Rozen.
It seemed a little blind and a little reckless.
But as someone who had witnessed Rozen's strength firsthand, River genuinely believed it.
With that in mind, all River wanted to do now was take Rozen to meet the Pope.
However...
"If Zeth's people knew we were meeting here, it's very likely they're still watching us. We need to be cautious, or we might expose Her Holiness' location..."
Before River could finish his sentence, Rozen interrupted him.
"No need." Rozen said, "I'll take you there directly."
With that, Rozen placed his hand on River's shoulder.
"Buzz!"
In the next instant, before River could react, space suddenly rippled and swallowed them both.
Rozen and River vanished without a trace.
But soon, another figure arrived at the scene.
"Broken... Orm... Livia... And my Asmods...!"
Leysritt Flowerchild appeared, looking at the three slain Variants and the scattered remains of the Asmods, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Waaah... my pets... they're all gone..."
Leysritt collapsed onto the ground, pouting pitifully.
But soon after, her sorrow turned to rage.
"That human...! It's all that human's fault...!"
Leysritt stood up, stomping the ground in anger.
"He killed all my pets, and Zeth won't even let me get revenge...!"
Just thinking about it made Leysritt fume.
As soon as she could no longer sense the Variants or the Asmods, Leysritt had immediately wanted to rush over, but Zeth had stopped her.
"You cannot face that human directly, Leysritt."
Zeth's voice had come through the communication crystal just as she was about to charge in.
"That human has shown me again that I underestimated him. He's no longer someone you can confront lightly. If you go, you'll be in serious danger. So, I forbid you from engaging him. Return immediately."
With those words, Zeth had cut off the communication.
Leysritt had been prevented from going, but after hesitating for a while, she noticed Rozen had already left. Only then had she hurried over.
Now, seeing all her pets dead, Leysritt felt like crying.
If it weren't for Zeth's orders, she would have rushed off to confront Rozen, not caring about anything else, to avenge her pets.
Of course, Leysritt knew Rozen was strong, even stronger than her.
But Leysritt wasn't afraid of Rozen.
It wasn't because she was ignorant of the danger—Leysritt simply had a unique power, and raw strength wasn't the only factor in play.
Therefore, Leysritt hadn't given up on revenge.
"Just wait until I find stronger pets. Then, I'll make you see what I'm really capable of...!"
Leysritt grumbled, full of resentment.
Once she found new pets and strengthened them, her combat power would soar again.
That was Leysritt's special ability, the reason Zeth valued her as one of his most trusted aides.
After all, Leysritt not only possessed powerful individual combat skills, but her ability to command forces in battle was also astonishing.
So...
"Just you wait!"
"Next time we meet, I'll make you my pet!"
"Hmph!"
With those words, Leysritt flew off.
The next time they met, she would understand what a true pet and real team battle prowess looked like.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone