Lone: The Wanderer-Chapter 79Book 3: : Backlash and Terms

"What have you done to my brother?" Divine Dragonsworn said, caution in his tone.

He was clearly unfamiliar with what was happening to Lone right now and he wasn't rash enough to make any immediate moves.

"Darkness and Death gave me a little hand in warding off your brother's attempts to manipulate my mind with his..." Lone paused for a second to check his notification log, not forgetting to apply his Agility to do so.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 9.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 10.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Divine Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1.

Passive Skill: Divine Aura Pressure Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist the pressure of Divine auras, only earned by those lucky enough to earn the ire of a Divine but still be granted the mercy of life.

All Divine aura pressure applied to the host shall be weakened by 15% [+10%].

Cost:N/AMastery:Intermediate Level 1

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 7.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 8.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 9.

'A couple of seconds for an entire rank up and three levels in an expert ranked skill? Impressive,' Lone thought.

The host has developed the passive skill: Mental Subterfuge.

Active Mind Magic Skill: Mental Subterfuge

A masterful application of the mind magic school where the caster invades another's mind in a nigh undetectable manner.

If successful, the host will gain access to surface level thoughts of the target. If detected and actively resisted, the host will suffer a backlash equivalent in strength to the level of resistance.

Cost:200,000 MP.Mastery:Beginner Level 1

Congratulations! The host has developed an affinity for Mind Magic.

The host has developed the passive skill: Mind Magic Resistance.

Passive Skill: Mind Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of Mind Magic.

Mind Magic used on the host will be weakened by 5%.

Cost:N/AMastery:Beginner Level 1

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'No wonder Divine Tethered rated Haze's unique skill so highly. This fucker is expensive and doesn't even let you read the target's mind fully. It can clearly do a lot more when ranking up but I bet that's true of Mind Reading too, which is entirely passive.' Lone stopped applying his Agility and continued "... Mental Subterfuge."

Lone waved one of his hands as he held Breena and a sofa appearing in front of him. He laid the kid down on it carefully before returning to his seat.

Divine Dragonsworn growled as he replied, "His mana heart has been destroyed and his mana brain is crippled. He will never cast magic again and he very well may be permanently disabled physically, doomed the never reach Divinity and simply die of old age should this experience force him to awaken."

'Just as intended,' Darkness cackled from within Lone's mind.

Shrugging, Lone replied, "What a crying shame. Does that mean his Mental Subterfuge that he's been using on your great grandson for months now will fade since it can't be reinforced anymore?"

Gilbert jolted in place. "What? He's been doing what? To what end? Divine Dragonsworn, trying to mentally manipulate a guildmaster of The Adventurer's Guild will result in some very dire consequences for your clan. Don't even try to play it off as it being only his doing. I can tell truths from lies too, before you forget that."

Lone saw something dangerous flash in the handsome Divine's expression so he quickly tapped the table with his finger and said, "Divine Dragonsworn. Listen to my words and know they are true. If you do anything rash, anything at all, the world will know of this and I will make it my mission to have your clan erased from this planet. I am the joint avatar of four Primals. You do not want to see Void unleashed on what you've spent millennia building. Even killing me and Gilbert will not change this. You can do nothing to stop this if you decide force is you best answer right here and now."

Lone would never reveal Sofia's Minor Time Control but he sure as hell would let this cold and powerful man know just how powerless he was to stop the inevitable outcome of him resorting to violence in this moment. He could mull over how that was possible on his own.

Divine Dragonsworn's eyes narrowed dangerously. "... What do you want?"

"Some sincerity," Lone replied. 'I think that's enough. Can you two cancel this state I'm in? My voice feels so unnatural.'

'You're being directly empowered by two beings whose order is far greater than yours,' Death stated. 'You should be dead, but lo and behold, Darkness was right. Your unique self-healing skill is truly incredibly.' freewёbnoνel.com

'I know nothing if not my warden's capabilities. Hurry up and increase your order a couple of times and then maybe this form will be cheaper for us to activate and more empowering for you personally,' Darkness suggested before retracting its power alongside Death, returning Lone to normal.

Congratulations! The host's unique skill [Basic Regeneration] has levelled up! It is now Master Level 8.

'It really did a number on me, huh? Both the magic and that, what, joint-avatarification or whatever that was,' Lone thought as he felt an enormous sense of exhaustion consume him.

He ignored that. Basic Regeneration would fix it, surely. "Let's just be direct. No schemes. No mind magic. No fucky dancing around truths and lies. I pissed off Arch Devil Zel but also trapped him in a contract he can't possibly break that makes it so neither of us can hurt the other or those they consider companions. There is no punishment for breaking the contract as it is simply impossible to do so, however, others can act on our behaves if we're coy about it. What do you want in exchange for becoming my personal bodyguard for the foreseeable future?"

"Before I show you any sincerity," Divine Dragonsworn started, "tell me, how did you overcome Timos's magic? I feel no more traces of it within you. You said you are an avatar of four Primals yet you retain your mind. Explain that."

"I've been told my soul is the strongest that Darkness or Death have ever seen. As for the magic, I just healed it away. I can restore my own mana organs even if damaged and destroyed. I don't know exactly why my soul is strong enough to contain multiple Primals while allowing me to retain both control and my personality, but it is," Lone replied honestly.

"You can hear the voices of the Primals?" the Divine questioned.

Lone shrugged in response.

Divine Dragonsworn glanced at Gilbert who was staring back at him hatefully. "You can also heal the mana organs of others."

"I can, yes, but I will not heal Timos's," Lone stated plainly.

"Hmm. What of Sky and Void? You are their avatar also?" the bone-clad dragonkin questioned.

Lone nodded. "Yes, and if you're curious, Void is bound and restricted by the others. Sky is the most focused on that effort, but I can still use its avatar skill and just yesterday I employed it to permanently kill a sentient carnation flower who was an X-ranker with very little effort given the skill was beginner-level-one, so I don't think Void much cares for the difference in one's order of being."

Divine Dragonsworn narrowed his eyes. "You need not threaten me nor posture any further. I am already taking you as seriously as i possibly can. Very well. You want sincerity? My pact with the White Dragons, while granting immense power, damaged my soul to such an extent that I must spent at least 12 hours a day suppressing the side-effects of it and I am barely able to keep my order from collapsing. If I help you, can you fix this?"

'His pact left its scars, huh? Gilbert seems shocked at how long he spends keeping it in check but otherwise this doesn't seem to be news to him,' Lone noticed.

"Could I theoretically? yes. Will I do so immediately? No." Lone saw the Divine frown immediately but he continued, "Just last night I healed the tip of an X-ranker's claw and it cost me 1,600,000 MP. I only have 1,700,000 MP currently. Unless you have a mana orb with tens or hundreds of millions of MP sitting in it that can supplement the cost, I will not be healing you any time soon."

"You have so much now?" Gilbert muttered.

Orelia turned from Timos who was healing to stare at Lone in shock also.

Divine Dragonsworn's frown deepened. "You aren't lying. I could indeed feel an immense amount of mana within you, but I was blinded by that enormous sun of magical power that disappeared before we arrived to notice until now." His eyes flashed a profound shade of white before he demanded, "Explain."

It was Lone's turn to frown this time. "You're in no position to be making demands of me just because you're curious. You want me to heal you? I can do that, but only if you help me deal with Arch Devil Zel and then help me raise my order so I don't cripple myself undoing your crippled status. I'm a summoned hero and I possess a unique skill that will allow me to heal you, as I've explained and demonstrated on Gilbert, Lossa, and just now on Breena. Do you agree to sign a contract that will enforce this help from both you and me and that will also ensure secrecy? Your siblings will need to sign it too, as will Gilbert and Breena."

Divine Dragonsworn stayed silent. He glanced towards his XXX-ranked sister.

She nodded at him and said, "The decision is yours, Elder Brother."

The bone-clad man turned to face Lone again. "What would the secrecy entail, exactly? And how can you be so sure it will be maintained by a contract alone?"

Lone waved his hand, making a bucked of his blood, a quill, and a piece of parchment appear on the table. "As I said before, my contracts have successfully bound an Arch Devil to do as is stated within it, and they are beings of pure trickery and deceit. Evil fucking things, devils... As for secrecy, every detail you know about me and mine will be included as will me and Gilbert knowing of your state. We'll only be allowed to discuss these details with those who already know."

"Hmm..." Divine Dragonsworn rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Blood magic of some sort... Well, it's certainly more powerful than regular contract magic in regards to binding, but less so than scripture magic... And what of my exact responsibilities? I am mighty, but I am no match for an Emperor Devil or, the lords forbid, an Omni Devil."

"There's no way an Omni Devil will be allowed to break the veil between planes just to deal with me. The Ancients will stop that from happening. At most, they will give some of their influence to an Emperor Devil, maybe two. Still a headache, but far less of a hopeless situation given enough preparations." Lone had been doing his research on the subject so he wasn't clueless about this topic.

Being able to converse with Devil once every two weeks had been incredibly helpful. Her words alongside Monsieur Librarian's input in exchange for the answers to a couple of simple questions had broadened Lone's knowledge on all things devilish in nature immensely these past two months.

"... Very well. Let us write out this contract together then. Every details must be perfect and should you be trying to trick me as you have clearly done so to an Arch Devil if you words are to be trusted, then you will wish for death once I am done with you," the Divine dragonkin threatened.

'Yeah, yeah, and Soph will reverse time and I won't bother even meeting you in the first place if you don't sign it, asshole,' Lone thought, though he was very happy how this was all shaping up.