CHAPTER 81: | THE DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTIS | 2

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  My gaze was focused on the child in Solia's embrace.

  I shook my head, not in pity, but with a hint of amusement, wondering what this child would become after our conversation.

  Solia stroked the child’s hair-like tentacles as I extended my hand, then pressed my index finger on the child's forehead.

  I activated my authority, [Distorted Emperor Conversion].

  A soft, melancholic glow, the color of moonlight on still water, erupted in the dark corner of the slums.

  The inhabitants of the shantytown watched it with reverence, their bodies stilling as if a savior was coming their way.

  One of the Hobu, wearing a tattered shirt, knelt in reverence, bowing as he spoke.

  "A god has graced us!"

  Then, a young boy with shark-like features and a broken hand knelt as tears flooded his eyes.

  "God!"

  He shouted.

  His hand had been broken by one of the local rulers, the Red Fang Syndicate, a group that controlled these slums and was notorious for their cruelty.

  They spared no one, not even a child, and would execute those who interfered with their distribution of the Red Pill to the wealthy and nobles.

  The pill caused its users to hallucinate a utopia that existed nowhere.

  It was a legend even the children of the slums didn't believe, yet the boy shouted with desperation.

  "God or devil! Please grant me the power to protect myself!"

  But the Hobu sneered.

  "Disgraceful boy! Pray to God and stop desiring strength!"

  The boy turned his head and glared at the Hobu.

  Angered by the look, the Hobu kicked him to the ground.

  "How dare you glare at me! You ungrateful bastard!"

  He shouted.

  The boy coughed up blood and cursed under his breath.

  "Damned bastard!"

  Just as the light gave hope to the commoners in the slums, it vanished a second later.

  Those who had been worshipping it cried out in their despair, as the light of salvation they had believed in disappeared.

  I smiled, then gazed at the young krakenling before me.

  She was opening her eyes, and anticipation was rising in my throat.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if her innate potential would finally show after converting her.

  The child attempted a clumsy bow but lost her footing and tumbled to the ground.

  Solia hurriedly grabbed the child's waist, letting her sit on her lap as she embraced her and whispered into the girl's ears.

  "Greet your savior, child."

  Solia's voice carried a tinge of regret, but the child in her embrace clumsily smiled and muttered with reverence.

  "A-are you a god, mister?"

  I smiled at her response.

  It was expected for a child born in the slums to be without manners, so I asked.

  "Why do you think I'm a god, child?"

  The young girl's face broke into a bright smile.

  "Because you're so handsome, mister!"

  She muttered.

  There was no hesitation in her voice, nor did she stutter.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  She truly believed this man to be a benevolent person.

  Her smile was contagious, Solia smiled brightly, but I only chuckled at her answer.

  "No, I'm not a god. I am a handsome demon... or perhaps worse than a demon."

  The child's eyes, which seemed like starlight itself, gazed at me with warmth.

  She smiled and grabbed my hand.

  "Mister, you're a man of integrity. You follow what you believe, and you are kind since you've saved me! So how could you be a demon or something far worse?!"

  I smiled at her innocence.

  As I couldn't help but desire her eyes, which were as beautiful as the cosmos.

  But I shook my head, sensing that this child was special, someone who would become a judge of truth, since only those who possessed the Eyes of Starlight could see the essence of another.

  She hadn't lied about me not being a demon.

  She herself could see it, my twisted essence that none could fathom how it came to be.

  "Then, child, tell me your name."

  I asked.

  The girl smiled as she began to think in a cute manner, seemingly forgetting her name.

  She grunted, then raised her hand and shouted with confidence.

  "Mister, call me Ishtar Von Fai."

  'Hmm, Ishtar Von Fai? Quite a peculiar name. It feels familiar, like I've named someone of a similar name but forgot who she was or in which cycle that was.'

  I smiled at her likable personality and ruffled her hair.

  "Then, Ishtar it is... For now, you are to be my servant. Serve me well, Ishtar, in exchange for healing you."

  Ishtar smiled brightly.

  "I'm a servant, right uncle? But how does one serve?!"

  She shouted with enthusiasm.

  I smiled, then walked into the rundown house and muttered.

  "Follow me, Ishtar and Solia."

  Ishtar jumped into Solia's arms.

  Solia smiled and received her with warmth as she followed me into the shadow.

  "Ishtar, do you want to return to your mommy?"

  Solia asked softly.

  Ishtar scratched her head and nodded.

  "Really?! Then let us go, Mommy, for the last time."

  She muttered in her usual loud voice.

  I closed my eyes, spreading my field of perception everywhere, catching the movement of any creature for a mile as I looked around the empty inside of the house.

  I surveyed the room for a moment, then smiled as I lifted my foot to knee level before stomping it onto the wooden floor.

  The wood broke apart, sucking the currents from above as I smirked.

  "Wow! A hidden passage!"

  Ishtar shouted, excited by the discovery.

  Solia, meanwhile, tried to shut the girl's loud mouth as she followed me down the stairs like a shadow.

  As we descended, Ishtar asked.

  "Big sister, do you know how beautiful a starfish is?"

  Solia, confused by the question, scratched her head.

  "What's a starfish, Ishtar?"

  She asked.

  Ishtar closed her eyes and began to think, trying to come up with a way to explain what a starfish was.

  She smiled.

  "I don't know! But it's star-shaped, with countless suction cups, and it can regenerate if you cut its limbs!"

  Solia, still puzzled, began to imagine the starfish like some kind of abomination.

  She clenched her fist as her blood boiled, then she smiled brightly and shouted boisterously.

  "Is it strong, Ishtar?!"

  Ishtar was shocked to her core that her big sister Solia would ask if a starfish was strong.

  She gasped in her head, realizing her sister wanted to kill a cute starfish.

  'This must be stopped!'

  Ishtar shouted in her head.

  She shook her head and shouted, tears welling in her eyes.

  "No, it's not, you bad sister! It's a pet!"

  Solia smiled awkwardly as she rubbed Ishtar's hair-like tentacles and gently muttered.

  "My apologies, Ishtar... it's just that I'm, umm..."

  But before she could continue, Ishtar burrowed her face into Solia's chest as she scratched her nose, then yawned.

  "Starfish is a pet, bad sister..."

  She muttered, then was asleep.

  Solia smiled, then gently whispered.

  "Sleep well, Ishtar."

  I couldn't help but find their interactions amusing.

  It felt like I had gained a noisy child, with Solia acting as her nanny.

  "It seems that my lovely apostle has become a mother!"

  I remarked.

  I couldn't help but tease Solia, who was flustered by my comments.

  "No, I'm no..."

  She shouted, but realized her mistake and shut her mouth.

  She then glared in my direction and whispered.

  "I'm not a mother, okay?!"

  I chuckled.

  The stairs had been quite long, longer than I had anticipated.

  I shook my head, then closed my eyes as a flash of bright lights blinded me.

  "Damnit."

  I couldn't help but curse under my breath.

  Finally, we were entering the underground city ruled by an unknown syndicate of this empire.

  I smirked, then grabbed Solia's waist as I activated [Void Steps].

  I passed through the city's entrance and jumped onto the top of one of the tallest buildings, unchecked by anyone.

  Solia was right by my side, gazing at the dazzling underground city from atop the rooftop.

  She watched the bustling streets where crime and illegal activities flourished and beautiful, familiar people who had attended the banquet earlier were walking through the streets.

  Solia chuckled.

  "I didn't think that nobles of the great empire would gather in this rat cage."

  I smiled and closed my eyes.

  "It is what it is, Solia."

  She smiled, then whispered into my ears.

  "Master, we've only got seventy-eight stams right now."

  I sighed.

  "We're quite poor, Solia, don't you agree?"

  Solia, watching my smiling face that hinted at something, couldn't help but smirk as she grabbed the dual sword from her inventory.

  "I agree, Master. So, should we rob a bank?"

  I smirked, unable to disagree with her.

  But where was the bank in here?

  Would an underground city filled with rat gutters even have a bank after all?

  I shook my head, surveying the surroundings.

  I couldn't find anything similar to a bank, then shook my head again.

  "Sadly, there's no bank to rob... So, how about we search this place, Solia?"

  Solia bit her lips.

  She had been pretty excited about robbing her first bank.

  She waved her hand, storing her swords, and smirked.

  "It's 'we,' right, Master?!"

  I smiled.

  "Yes, it's 'we,' this time..."

  Solia sighed in relief.

  I pointed at the center of the expansive city where the biggest building stood tall.

  "Then let us meet there in four hours."

  Solia smiled as she jumped from the rooftop.

  Her body, along with Ishtar, turned into static electricity as they disappeared from sight, leaving me alone.

  I stretched my arms and hummed, then smirked.

  "Here they come."

  As expected, three muscular sharklings equipped with tridents and one krakenling with swords in each of his tentacles surrounded me.

  The sharklings demanded.

  "How dare you blatantly set your foot here!"

  The krakenling, radiating the aura of a king-class being, smiled with professionalism.

  He pointed his index finger at me.

  "Capture him!"

  Maybe give it a try? ??