The leader chortled as he saw the Elder Brother's face contorted into something ugly .. as he expressed the rage swelling inside of him ..
..
.. the latter picked himself up albeit in a slow and painful way ..
the more he struggled to stand up .. the more his body ached to the point where he released grunts of excruciating pain ...
the Disciples that took his side .. twitched as if they were trying to move ... but before the leader .. they didn't dare do anything ...
"I'm before you to bargain ..." Theo said as he walked towards the Elder Brother and crouched down to his level ...
Captain Rose watched him .. and was ready to step in if something happened again ..
the Elder Brother looked up at Theo with an intent to kill ...
he gritted his teeth as the red energy caused a turmoil inside his body causing him to scream in agony ...
the leader noticed the energy fluctuations inside his body ... and frowned .. although he did not like the Elder Brother ... he wasn't intending for Theo to keep torturing him ...
so he snapped his fingers as a strange white mist flowed into the Elder Brother's body ...
but in the next moment .. his eyes stiffened ..
his power was instantly destroyed the moment it got in contact with the red energy .
although he managed to hide his shock .. his face couldn't stop sweating .. he wasn't planning for the Elder Brother to suffer any more because the respect ... that his Disciples gave him would diminish ..
even amongst those who sided with him .. they wouldn't hold the same respect they held for him back then ..
'It seems like ... I was correct ... my cells are up to par with my previous strength ... my genes ... and added to the fact that .. my will of aura could still be brought out into such a horrifying power ... hmm .. I guess my will is very stronger even in my weakest form ... I should thank myself for that ... it seems that even the tunnel couldn't destroy my will and cells ... ' Theo thought as he saw a white mist trying to dispel the red aura ... which later got turned into nothingness by the red power ..
from the white mist presence .. he could already sense that .. it was a powerful will ... that even exceeded the strength and aura of the head General Brassard ..
and with this .. he knew that .. he can always be safe without any worries now that he has discovered that most of his powers weren't taken away from him ..
but he didn't dare get arrogant since he was someone's territory .. who was far stronger than the current him ..
so to ease the leader's worries .. he absorbed a little bit of his red aura inside his body ..
"Just so you know ... I won't let you kill yourself ... and I will make sure to torture you .. to the fullest of my abilities .. and trust me .. I'll make it even more painful .. with each second passing .." Theo threatened him with a hoarse deep voice ..
"Hehe .. it's only natural for me .. to stay true to myself ... so giving you my treasures will definitely be an insult ... " the Elder Brother said .. as he gritted his teeth ..
blood then escaped from his mouth and flowed down to the floor ...
"Dying is better ... I guess ... also .. if you kill me .. the leader will be forced to take matters into his own hands .. even if you contain the Old man's original power ... you'll still be killed .. you won't be an exception .." the Elder Brother said .. in a cocky tone ..
in the next moment .. he laughed and snickered to his heart's content ..
"It doesn't matter ... if you torture me .. pain is something I've always experienced .. even before you came into this village ... its not an uncommon thing for me to get brutally tortured .. hahahah ... your power is nothing ... compared to the things I've experienced ... you're like a butterfly with wet wings .. your will can crush my Rank but eventually .. I'll get it to its original state .. and also thank you in advance .. my potential might now be greater than before .. " he laughed and laughed .. and ignored his bones creaking and cracking ..
a laugh of hysteria ..
behind that laugh ... was a crazy lonely man ... a man determined to do everything in order to achieve his goals .. whether they were bad or good depended on his mindset ...
that Theo could understand ... behind that veil of laughter .. was a man captured in his own darkness ...
and Theo could feel some familiar aura inside that darkness ...
he didn't know what the man had gone through ... but even so .. he didn't care .. and for the fact that .. he disrespected him once ..and even mentioned his captain's name in a useless transaction .. gave him a reason to not feel pity for him ...
"Oh .. do you think you will get your Rank back ... think again ... " Theo said ..
although he was annoyed by the man's stubbornness ... he was not going to give up that easily ...
and unbeknownst to the leader and the Elder Brother .. Theo had discovered that the red energy ... didn't literally destroy the Elder Brother's Rank .. rather it was absorbed ... and was stored inside the thick red energy ..
with his entire progress in here .. Theo could reach at least Abomination Rank .. with his talents attached ...
but he decided to play with good cards ... right now .. they were gambling with people's lives and nature's destruction ..
naturally .. he wanted both nature and the villagers to live in peace with each other ..
although creatures were bothersome and needed to be killed .... he didn't think entirely annihilating .. a whole clan of creatures was a great thing ..
aside from balance .. he held a soft spot for creatures .. despite the many kills .. he cared for every living being ..
"You see ... your life is in my hands .. I have your Rank absorbed by my power ... so naturally .. when you try to cultivate yourself back to your previous peak .. you will get tortured ... and I think you're smart to guess the reason why .." Theo said with a cold smile ..
that's when the Elder Brother realised .. although he had stopped in the Silver Rank ... his aura was unnoticeable ..
he felt like a mortal ..
his power had vanished .. and all the things he had known throughout his years of living .. had completely been destroyed ... the only thing he had .. was a memory of Theo wanting Core Eggs and all of the emblems .. and all that happened a while ago ...
aside from that .. everything seemed blurry .. and he felt like he was dying ..
"You ... !!! what have you done to me ..!!!?" the Elder Brother exclaimed as he realised his unfortunate situation ...
the energy ... that was inside of him .. no longer existed .. all that was inside of him was a black abyss ... with no energy fluctuations ..
no element ripples in his veins ...
his Chakra channels had all lost vitality and power .. he now looked exactly like a commoner from the 'outside' world he constantly cursed ...
"Oh nothing much ... I just stripped you off ... your power .. and blocked every power and energy that would enable you to cultivate your power back .. and not only that .. but I placed a seal on your genes .. that would constantly attack .. you every fibre in your body ... oh and do not worry .. you're going to live .. long fruitful years of pain without anyone to kill you .. the seal will always protect you ..." when he heard this .. he subconsciously shuddered ...
'always protect you ..' with these three words he imagined .. what kind of protection it would give him ...
"And .. in simple words .. I'm not going to be arrested for anything since I didn't kill you .. hehe .. my power increased your lifeforce across leaps and bounds .. you will live to be an ancient relic and the witness of world changes ... no matter what help you will seek for .. you won't escape it .. " usually the Disciples wouldn't take anything serious .. but when it came to Theo .. they found it very terrifying for a person to contain that much power ..
even the leader was speechless .. his smile had fallen down by now .. and it was replaced with a gloomy expression ..
************
"This is like a treasure hall of emblems and core Eggs .. don't you think so .. captain ..." captain Rose's body stiffened as she glanced at Theo who stood with a carefree expression .. on his face looking at a hill of high ranked emblems and Core Eggs ...
after making their deal with the Elder Brother ... Theo promised he would give back his power and life ..
and he was standing right behind them .. with a pale expression as he was being held by the cold woman ..
"Just take all of it ... and step out of my residence .. " he said in an angry tone ..
"Don't be boring ... " Theo replied .. with a wave of his hand ..
he then walked towards a dark blue Crystal tablet ... and simply placed his hand onto it ..
in a swift .. everything disappeared .. and left the huge hall as empty as an abyss hole ...
countless notifications ran inside Theo's head ... and the later ... frowned before telling his A.I to turn them off for the time being as he would look at them a bit later ...
after he left the Hall .. Theo and the captain went straight to their residence .. alongside their new beast companion ..
it had its own exclusive space inside the house .. with a huge meal waiting for it ..