Chapter 32 - Escape!
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As Leon was hoping for the woman to quickly lose interest in himself and to find an opportune moment to escape, he found out that she had become even more interested in him instead.
'I'm sure that the System would have retorted upon my futile attempts to flee multiple times by now if it was still awake.' Leon thought to himself as he gave out a burst of light laughter and spoke to the Light Mage in front of him,
"Eh? Me? I.. am just a passerby. Just an everyday civilian, absolutely common! They call me Leon, so you are free to call me that way as well, ahahaha."
Although Leon was using a fake accent to fool the woman, he had to admit that he sounded moronic to even himself at that moment. Thankfully, his loved ones weren't around to see him acting like that.
The woman, however, seemed to be living within her own world, as she remained unaffected by such behavior. She muttered Leon's name multiple times under her breath to make sure that she would firmly remember his name.
Sister Casta smiled warmly at Leon and further asked him,
"Then, Mr. Leon? Do you live anyplace nearby? As per my knowledge, the civilians around here prefer to travel during the daytime. I am sure that it would be much safer for you to go back later in the morning. If you have any troubles with accommodation, then you could stay at the temple with me till then. I would love to discuss the teachings of the Holy Goddess with you."
Leon was feeling pretty weirded out at that point. He had absolutely no idea why the woman in front of him didn't seem to doubt him for an instant.
'Even if she worked at the temple, it's impossible for her to not be wary of strange men. Not to mention that according to the common sense of this world, it is generally unacceptable for men and women of a certain age to stay under the same roof, for any reason whatsoever. Just why isn't she letting me go away? D-Don't tell me that she still suspects me and is hiding it perfectly under the guise of her innocent smile?!'
Leon's body began to tense unnaturally, which, as much as he tried not to be discovered, still was noticed by the woman eyeing him so eagerly.
"Is something wrong, Mr. Leon? Did my words earlier make you nervous for some reason?"
'Oh no! Act Leon. I must make her believe that I am completely innocent!' Leon thought to himself as he began to look down at his feet and rubbed his hands uncomfortably.
"T-That's... I am.. not so good with women. Besides! It would be.. too embarrassing for me to stay together with such beauty for the whole night."
Leon had hoped for the woman to catch a clue and diss him for getting the wrong idea about her invitation.
Sister Casta, however, looked even more confused, as she looked at him helplessly and asked,
"But.. the people of the temple often stay together. Nobody is ashamed of being with anyone, after all, the Holy Goddess has created everyone with her own blessings! There is no way that something created by her would ever become a reason for embarrassment at all."
Although Leon had thought that meeting a cluelessly cute person like Benica was already a blessing, he never expected to face an even more clueless and ignorant person so quickly.
'Just what kind of things do they teach her over there?! They certainly forgot to teach her the chapters regarding the bee and the flowers!
Not knowing what to do anymore, Leon just bowed once deeply to the woman in front of himself, and then ran off to his destination. He had concluded that winning in an argument against this Sister would be like scaling the heavens with just one leap.
As Sister Casta stared at the man busy getting as far away from her as possible, she stood there confused, pondering upon the reason why the man took off so suddenly.
"Really strange. I wonder if he was offended somehow due to my bluntness. On the other hand, I don't think that I have ever cared to enquire about anyone's personal information ever before. So strange..."
Sister Casta took one last look at her surroundings, after which she turned around and suddenly disappeared from the vicinity.
The streets were once again left deserted, cleansed of the noises disturbing their long-held quietness.
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Leon continued to run away from the previous location, as he wanted to have as much distance between himself and the weird Nun.
Although he had known of many Dao fairies who attained high levels of cultivation and strictly pursued the path of righteousness, Leon could still see the hypocrisy of their ways.
In their own perspective, they were the bringers of justice wherever they went. In Leon's eyes though, they were just selfish bastards who used the cover of justice to fulfill their own desires.
After all, they didn't even believe in sparing the children or the elderly. Neither did they give any Demonic Cultivator a chance to correct their ways. They only knew one thing to do.
KILL.
While they lived and flourished in the light of the day, the Demonic Cultivators had to live a solitary life, within the shadows of darkness.
Even if they encountered any civilian, as soon as their identities got exposed, they would be treated as vicious scums and be sold out to the Righteous Sects in an instant.
Leon deeply abhorred such dual-faced characters, and couldn't help but want to smack their smug faces at least once.
However, he didn't feel the same way about Sister Casta. Her pure and holy presence seemed to be far above the realm of discrimination and selfishness. Instead, her spirit seemed more attuned to forgiveness and mercy.
It was as if her heart held love for all the creatures under the sun.
In contrast to his heart though, his instincts were screaming at him to get away from the Light Mage as soon as possible.
Although the pure Spiritual QI within his body had no trace of being affiliated to the Yin energy, his very being seemed to be rejecting her existence.
It was as if, his instincts were able to see some pictures that his heart was unable to.
When it seemed like the lady couldn't be reasoned with words, Leon's body reacted instinctively, as he ran for his life.
He just hoped that she didn't become even more suspicious of him due to his sudden behavior.
Leon continued to run, right until his legs almost gave out. After a while, he finally stopped near a riverbank and sat down.
"Ha... ha... oh... i-is she... still after... me...?"
Leon wanted to look around himself to become certain of this fact, however, his eyes refused to open, while he kept taking deep breaths in order to regain the composure of his body.
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After some time had passed, Leon's mind suddenly became awake when he heard the System's voice again.
[Congratulations User! You have successfully cheated death and have done something completely unbelievable.]
[In consideration of your strong will to survive, the Great and Mighty ftH System has decided to award you with this!]
[Your luck is marvelous, User. You have received the following item!]
[The Incubus Lord's Treasured Mask!]
[Taken straight out from the Incubus Lord's personal closet. The Mask helps the user to change the appearance of his face to any type that he desires.]
[NOTE- A clear picture of the person to be impersonated must be in the user's mind, otherwise a very sloppy and unreal face would be revealed.]
[How is it? Hm? How is it? It's great, isn't it? Only this great and mighty System knows how difficult it was to obtain this item. It now belongs to though. Use it as you see fit.]
[Also, this Item could be used an unlimited number of times without any restrictions. Just remember not to lose this precious item somewhere, alright?]
When Leon heard the System's explanation, he was reminded of the promise that the cowardly System had made before it made its escape.
Although Leon was yet to forgive the system for its unceremonious abandonment, he still wanted to know what kind of item would the System present to him for compensation.
He wasn't disappointed though. Since the item could be very godly when used in the right manner. Changing faces and body figures was something that high-level cultivators could do, however since there wasn't any monopoly on it, and the world was already aware of its existence, the counter method to dispel the technique was very widely distributed in the Cultivation World.
In the end, the technique became uselessly abandoned, since everyone would be sure to use it in front of a high leveled cultivator to see their true face.
In this new world though, no such item or technique existed, against which the residents of this world could be cautious.
His mind swirled around with ways he could use the item to his advantage. For instance, he could impersonate a high-ranking official and could reverse the judgments of any case.
Such a thing couldn't be done with just might alone. If he used it with perfection, then even the Emperors would become powerless against him.
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Although his heart was already very satisfied with the item, Leon wanted to torment the System even more.
He acted to shake his head in disappointment and began his one-man show.
"Haaaah. Just this? After I risked my life to save your existence.... you give me this? I don't know why, but.... I just feel like giving up on everything..."
The System immediately panicked upon hearing Leon's anguished tone. It quickly came up with further notifications.
[HEY! What do mean by giving up? Clarify! Clarify immediately!]
Leon sat up and began drawing circles on the sand next to the river bank. His hollow eyes stared at his feet in defeat, as he continued to draw upon the circle with his finger.
"Well... I just don't feel the drive to go on anymore. I am just... too tired. Maybe I should give up my life somehow..]
The System itself couldn't take it anymore, as it let out a cry of irritation.
[AAAHHH! N-NO!! Don't even think about it! How could you give up so easily?! Especially after coming this far! There is no going back, okay?]
Even if the System did its best to persuade Leon, his depressed form refused to budge. Instead, his body began to sway slowly from one side to another, as if his body was losing its strength by talking like this.
"Hmmm... no, I really feel like giving up now."
In desperation, the System did its best to come up with a solution. It had to make sure to get Leon to continue to grow under its guidance.
[Uhhh... t-then, how about this?! You should definitely find your drive to live with this!]
[Your luck is defying the heavens, User. You have received the following item!]
[The Cube of Confinement!]
[The target of this cube could be imprisoned for a maximum duration of three months. During this, the User could choose the inner effect of the cube on the target.]
[The effects range from- Calming and Healing to Freaky and Nightmarish.]
[This is the favored tool of interrogation used by the Demon General Xyte! No target of this ever kept their mouth sealed shut. This is the ultimate interrogation tool!]
[NOTE- The cube needs constant fueling of pure Yin energy to function. If the user fails to provide it, the target may die inside the cube.]
[Heh! There is no topping this, I tell you. Bow down. Bow down to the graciousness of this great and mighty System!]
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A/N: New update on Patr.eon Channel coming right up next. Pledge costs only $1.
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And, for all the kind people who gave their support in the last (now deleted) post, your words meant a lot for me. No matter if my back hurt like crazy or not, you guys motivated me to edit all the previous chapters and also motivated me to post this chapter today. A big THANKS to all of you kind people.
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