He lets out a cold breath, feeling his body aching. It seems that even after recovering, the exhaustion from pushing himself too much still haunts his body.
*Sigh* He sighs as he knows that with the war still going on, he cannot rest, but unfortunately, with his current condition, he will definitely be put on bed rest.
He looks at his mother and can see that she has been crying for a long time. He cannot forgive himself for making her cry. Cleo, the true owner of this body, has already affected the way that he thinks; he is no longer feeling any awkwardness with them. It seems that after the evolution, he is no longer incomplete.
[That is true, host.]
'System! Have you finally recovered? ' He is, of course, relieved that his most reliable ally is no longer offline.
[Host, I must inform you of one pressing matter: you are no longer able to transfer into a different body; the heavenly punishment has forced your soul to be rooted into your current body; this was not done by the will of this universe but by the gemstone of life and the system.]
'What do you mean!? ' He is shocked, but he is appalled; he rather likes his current body, especially since he was the one that trained it to his current level.
[The heavenly punishment was actually trying to destroy the anchor point of the host, as you are considered foreign; your soul is what the will of the interdimensional realm desires—a foreign soul that carries some broken laws from your original world.]
'I am not surprised; after all, from some records that I have read, the Realm of the Thousand Worlds is actually expanding by devouring worlds that have life; it grows even stronger by absorbing both a world and sentient life.' He calmly stated.
[Affirmative: in order to protect itself, the gemstone of life has fused with your soul and has to cling to this body; that means that if you die in this body, there is no longer any chance of transferring to another, basically a true death.]
He takes a deep breath and exhales.
'I am not planning on dying anyway! ' He roars inwardly; he is determined to live his current life to its fullest, clenching his fist; he is not going to suffer a dog's death once again.
"Cleo, are you okay?" Seeing his expression, his mother becomes worried. Snapping out of his state, he smiles, indicating that he was fine.
"Are you angry that you were defeated?" Flare suddenly asks, thinking that the defeat in their battle has scarred Cleo a bit.
"Yes and no, I just did not expect that I would be defeated by an advanced-grade lifeform." He sighs after saying this.
"Actually, the Fallen Owl that defeated you is not what you think it was; that being is called the Wretched Flying Eye, a very special case of evolution from the species of the Fallen Owl; it can only be born after multiple Fallen Owls fight each other, devouring both their souls and flesh," Margaret suddenly explains.
"So that thing was a supernatural-grade life form?!" He is shocked; that thing just looks like a slightly larger Fallen Owl.
"Yes, that cunning creature actually disguised itself as it's lesser kind in order to ambush its targets; its true form is different, but it only shows it after using it's supernatural ability." Margaret seems to have fought against it as she knows a lot of information regarding that lifeform.
"That thing, huh? To think that it would show itself on the battlefield, you need to watch out for that thing; it does not fight like other lifeforms; it only attacks by ambush; if it fails, it would immediately escape," Arnold added.
"Well, considering that I am just a weak advanced gene warrior, I do not think that I would meet it anytime soon." He just shrugs even after hearing his father's grave words.
"Little brother, I am sorry to tell you this, but that thing will definitely hunt you if it ever discovers your presence, right, father?" Margaret shakes her head and looks at her father.
Arnold sighs and nods his head.
"My group and I first encountered this creature when I was trying to fill my supernatural gene; we were no match against it. That filthy thing is not only equipped with a powerful destructive arsenal of skills, it also has multiple mental and spiritual type attacks."
Rosenneta added.
"It is also a king-type entity capable of controlling its flock; with its disguise, it can blend with its flock and would attack you if it were given any changes at all."
Margaret shows him a screen; it records the information regarding the Wretched Flying Eye. It is stated in the final sentence of the introduction that it has a vindictive personality and will hunt any of its earlier targets as long as the target is alive; it will relentlessly pursue them.
Cleo can only smile bitterly after reading the introduction; it seems that he has to watch out for it if he ever returns to the Realm of the Thousand Worlds.
"Do not worry, little brother, I will definitely protect you from that thing! If it ever shows itself, I will kill it with my star sword," Margaret confidently proclaims.
Cleo believes this; he turns to Flare and asks.
"Cus, I mean, big sister Flare, how did we manage to escape that battle? I am certain that it was a hopeless battle."
Flare smiles sadly and sighs.
"Fortunately, your sister managed to arrive with reinforcement; in fact, you are one of the main reasons why we managed to survive that battle."
He is confused; he might have stopped the fallen owls, but he was still instantly taken out by the Wretched Flying Eye. How can he be the reason for their survival?
"Remember Miss Ersha and Chrystal? The two of them went with Sister Margaret; it seems that they are waiting for you. Sister Margaret invited them to come with her, and both agreed." Flare looks at him with bright eyes after saying this.