Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 918: Easy to forget sometimes

“I will go and speak with someone from Derick’s circle to ensure he gets the information. You don't have to come,” Tess says once we’re both further away.

Realizing that she’s doing this because she knows I dislike these kinds of things, I nod gratefully.

“If you need anything, send me a ping through my mark, and I will come help,” I tell her.

“I will,” Tess answers, and I watch her leave.

As I begin to walk, one of the people who’d been hiding in the shadows pushes herself closer to me and starts walking by my side.

Ruby takes off her mask, which has already been rendered useless anyway, without the array that once surrounded the mansion. She isn't even using her Handler identity anymore, instead, she has her red hair, yellow eyes with patterns, and true appearance on display.

And of course, I realize the implications.

“Not hiding anymore?” I ask.

“It was fun while it lasted, with all these aliases and identities. I quite enjoyed having people talk to me without the constant bowing and all that crap.” She smiles and waves toward the sky, aiming that smile at someone who’s probably watching us even now. “You don't have to worry about the consequences. I will deal with them.”

“What do I owe you?”

“There’s going to be a Beyond event soon. I want you to participate and give me the reward. But you’re also free to refuse, and I honestly won't mind. Me revealing my identity to help you will only put even more pressure on you. So as much as I'm helping you deal with the consequences, it might also cause you trouble and force you to grow stronger, which is in line with what I want.”

“Consequences,” I say.

“Consequences,” she repeats.

“I don't mind. I’ll give you that reward. Just let me know when I need to be back for the event.”

“We have a deal then. And now, a small piece of information and something that’s actually part of my job as your Handler, be careful with the 12th floor. It's not as simple as you’re currently thinking.” And with those words, she’s gone, warping away like she always does.

For a few moments, I try to find any signs of her departure, but her control is just way too perfect. I find nothing to track or learn from.

As I continue to walk through the city, I don't even bother hiding or avoiding anyone, nor do I make any theatrical declarations. I’ve always been of the mind that actions speak louder than words. Rumors spread very quickly here. In a few days, almost everyone will know what happened, and Talon, along with the others from the Primordial Knights, will ensure that the context behind it spreads as well.

If he’s as smart as I think he is, Talon is probably already proving to the information guilds that he was in the mansion when it happened, possibly by showing off his mask and selling the information.

I don't mind that at all. And I definitely don't mind that it will offer some extra protection to people from Earth. When there are any powerful S ranks in Beyond, guilds and attendees always think twice before messing with attendees from that person's planet.

That’s just how things work and always will. Even if you know you’re in the right, and even if you can be mostly sure that the S rank in question doesn’t care, you still think twice. Though that only applies if they realize the attendees are from that S rank's planet.

Throughout the rest of the night, I visit the shops where I placed my orders one by one. I pick up books, mana stones filled with information, conductive materials, and other interesting items. There’s also a huge order of vials made of many different materials, each of which I plan to test for the storage of manasol to see how the materials interfere with each other.

When I’m finally done, plenty of time still remains before my stay token expires. I teleport to my room in the headquarters of the guild, where I’ve been sending the items as I retrieved them.

Catching sight of myself in the mirror, I ditch the suit and leave it outside to be cleaned, then take a shower before putting on my normal clothes.

I am about to move to my bed to rest and train when I feel a tug from the mark I placed on Tess. A quick scan locates her near the entrance to the Primordial Knights' headquarters.

A single teleport brings me to her using the [Weave] I’ve built over the guild. Greeting the guard, I exit outside, where she sits on a bench nearby, already dressed in her Earth clothes, an oversized black hoodie and blue leggings.

When I sit next to her, she sniffs before saying, “You’ll have to tell me where you bought that shower gel, soap, or whatever you used. It smells nice.”

“I have several boxes of it waiting in the corner of my room, so I’ll bring some back with me when we return to the 12th floor.”

“Deal.” She nods, and as we sit together, we catch sight of Talon walking down the street. He hasn't noticed us yet, but he is walking in the guild's direction.

“I spoke to one of Derick's friends here in Beyond. He’ll pass the information on to him.” Tess says.

“I see.” I nod, and in silence we wait until Talon reaches us.

He has that smile on his rugged yet handsome face. Most of all, he reminds me of Aragorn from the movies.

"All went as intended?" I ask as he reaches us. I push closer to Tess so he can sit beside me, leaving the three of us squeezed onto the small bench.

It makes him slightly nervous, but he continues to sit on the bench anyway as he says, “I visited all five of the biggest information guilds and sold the information to each of them. I also stopped in a few bars where I threw in some select bits of information and misinformation.”

“Are the rumors spreading yet?” Tess asks him.

“Obviously yes,” he confirms. “Handler Virek isn't the most powerful Champion there is, but still, he is a Champion. Making him run away will cause quite an uproar. It’s already reminded people of what you did on the 5th floor, too.” Out of nowhere, he looks directly at me. “Is it true your Handler is the Ruler of Greed?”

“It seems like it.”

“She stopped hiding it?” Tess asks me curiously.

“Something about having to deal with the consequences, and how it’s going to put more pressure on me in exchange. I also need to win an upcoming Beyond event for her,” I explain simply.

Talon looks back and forth between us, absorbing the information. He isn't dumb, he knows there’s a line he can’t cross, and I am confident he will respect it.

“The next time you negotiate your salary, tell the Vice Guildmaster that I said to double it,” I tell him.

His eyes widen, but he doesn't question it and energetically nods in agreement.

As our Beyond stay token wears off, both Tess and I return to the 12th floor, bringing all the materials, food, and even soap, as promised.

Tess splits off from me, likely to go and inform the others about how everything ended, while I begin to sort through the piles of items we’re going to need to improve our thought acceleration. There is a small part of my mind that’s had a single job this whole time: to constantly recite to itself all the information I gathered from observing the way Lissandra used her thought acceleration. And I’ve already shared it all with Sophie, but I go over it again and again, comparing it to our current schematics.

Meanwhile, the rest of me thinks about the Ruler of Greed and what having her as a Handler might mean. For a long time now she’s just been Ruby to me, but that doesn't apply to the others.

The Ruler of Greed rarely takes on wards or serves as Handler, though who actually knows for sure? It’s possible that she’s had more wards than anyone ever suspected, simply by using other identities that were never revealed, unlike my case.

She’s a disciple of Lissandra Hawthorne, someone people often call The Absolute. I often just glance over that fact, but Ruby spent decades, maybe centuries, being trained by that woman.

Ruby also became a Ruler at an unusually young age, all things considered, and she’s held that title ever since, currently making her the third or fourth strongest Ruler, and one of the oldest.

It was she who, through her power and schemes, made the other Rulers cooperate with her and replaced the previous version of the tutorial with what it is now. Even now, it remains one of the greatest feats I’ve ever heard of. I can’t even begin to fathom how something like that could even be possible, or how much system access, planning, and knowledge it would require.

And that isn't even her main focus. The Ruler of Greed specializes in combat, and right now, she’s the single greatest battle mage known to the system.

Her battle against an Ancient Dragon, her escape from the Timeless Void's trap, her face-off against the gods, the destruction of the powerful planet known as Veridia by a single attack from her, the war she single-handedly launched against the Aurate Consortium when it rebelled against its task, her daring expedition into the depths of a wyvern nest and escape from dozens of wyverns, and her possession of the Staff of the Forgotten Incantation, one of the ten most powerful items in the universe.

Those are just a few examples among many. She’s just that ridiculous.

It’s easy to forget sometimes.

Packing up all the items, I take notice of the Kindred around the train, so I boost myself high into the air. For a bit, I float there motionless, spinning around to take in the destroyed landscape of this far-reaching, grass-covered flatland.

Then I turn back to the volcano and the enormous skeleton lying there, and fly off toward where we’ve scheduled our meeting. The first person I meet is Izzy, waiting near the door, and I immediately know that she’s still angry at me for calling her a moody, stupid teenager or some such.

Noticing me, she turns her head away and prepares to stomp off somewhere else, but I grab her and pull her into a hug.

She struggles to get out and hits me a few times, but it completely lacks any true effort.

“I meant it, but I'm sorry for calling you a dumb teenager,” I tell her.

Only then does she look up, allowing me to see her green eyes. “Just how lame is that apology?” she says as she stares up at me.

“At least it's an honest one.”

Izzy looks away, saying, “I'm sorry, too,” but only very, very quietly.

As she pushes to get away, I let her go, and Noodle coils around her shoulder and looks at me with all six of his eyes and gives a polite nod, which I return.

Everyone else is gathered around as well, but the mood is still a bit cautious, as if most of them don't quite know how to behave, or maybe they feel bad about being rowdy or bantering with each other.

“We did all we could,” Tess says simply, addressing everyone in the room. “But let's get stronger and ensure it doesn’t happen to any of us, or anyone else we might care about.”

She reaches out and offers me a hand, which I grab, letting her lead me to the middle of the room where she makes me sit on a stool and places a towel on my shoulders. I know it was my idea and that it’s going to make drawing the inscriptions simpler, but that doesn't make it any easier.

“Now then, who wants to shave Nathaniel's head?” Tess asks, much to the surprise of the others and to Lily's complaints.