‘Power…’
As Renji spoke, images from Eileen’s life over the past decade flashed through her mind like a rapid slideshow.
Six years ago, when her father lost control and became a “Tainted Corpse” and was killed by the church, she was too young to understand what power meant. She only knew it as the demon that took her father away.
After her mother was expelled from the church and their wealth became worse by the time, during the days of poverty when she and her mother relied on each other, she began to understand her father’s actions. She realized the importance of “power”.
And when the latent danger from six years ago manifested with her mother falling severely ill due to the accumulated Tainted Miasma, Eileen felt her own weakness in the face of exorbitant medical bills.
In the Relic Cave, when Callewa’s gang aimed to kill her, the muzzle of the gun pointed at her, she yearned for power. When the Kobold’s surged into the cave, brandishing bloodstained spades at her, she yearned for power in that instant.
Because of this yearning, she had begged Renji for power, and he responded. At the cost of her freedom, she got what she desired.
It was this power that turned her from prey to predator, killing the Kobold’s in the cave. It was this power that allowed her to stand up against Callewa gang when they tried to take over the Sea Sand Bar, safeguarding what she held dear.
Now, her mother was embroiled in an even greater whirlpool of events, and Eileen found herself powerless again. If she had never seen the light, she could endure the darkness. But now that he had opened that door for her, she had to admit, it was addictive.
“I want it!”
Her response was resounding and unhesitant. The memory in her mind had been but an instant; in reality, Eileen answered almost as soon as Renji’s words hit the air.
To this, Renji felt both helpless and somewhat sad about her fast response.
If this “Eclipsed Essence” wasn’t damaged, he would’ve certainly saved it for a four-star Eclipse. The difference between advancing from four stars to five and from three to four was simply too great.
If this were a game, he could bear a 60% failure rate, since there’s always the option of save-load (SL).
Unfortunately, this is reality; there are no “what-ifs.”
“You need to think this through, Eileen. If you really want this, it won’t be so easy to let you go afterward. Our contract will have to be indefinitely extended. Your hopes for a peaceful and stable life as an ordinary person will likely be shattered”
Renji wasn’t joking when he said this.
Letting go of a three-star character was something Renji could accept, but if it were a four-star character, especially one that had consumed a damaged [Eclipse Essence] from him, he wouldn’t be able to shake off the feeling of loss easily, Even if Renji had vowed not to obsess over power before starting his second playthrough, he would still need to extract every last bit of value from the girl to settle his unease.
That’s why Renji needed to double-check with Eileen. He was concerned that her agreement was a momentary impulse, so he wanted to paint her a vivid picture of the miserable life she would lead working under him.
But Renji had underestimated Eileen’s determination.
She was clearly indifferent to it all.
Moreover, Eileen couldn’t tell if it was her imagination or not, but the “Crimson Star” that was now in Renji’s possession didn’t terrify her as it firstly did. Instead, she felt as if the “Crimson Star” also yearned for her, as if They both harbored the same feelings of anger and vengeance towards Callewa.
They would get along just fine; Eileen was very sure of it.
So, she simply said, “Give me”
It was just two words, but in certain contexts, they were two words that almost no man could refuse.
Renji wasn’t sure if this counted as a ‘special environment,’ but when he read the determination in Eileen’s eyes—a determination that seemed to say, “I’d give my life to work for you!”—he nodded.
“As you wish”
Some people like to be unparalleled and conquer thousands, while others enjoy lordship and character-development games. Renji was clearly the latter.
Many people dislike character-development games. They don’t understand the appeal of nurturing someone else. If Renji were to answer, he might say it’s the feeling of being needed. Being alone from birth, he found this fulfilling, filling the emptiness within him.
And he had simple tastes—he enjoyed nurturing only beautiful women.
As before, Renji tried to physically insert the [Eclipse Essence] into Eileen’s chest, but this time, he encountered a small obstacle.
[*Ding. Cannot use. Current Eclipse level insufficient. *] .𝒎
Seeing the pop-up notification, Renji almost forgot that the prerequisite for upgrading character’s star levels was to reach the maximum level for the current character’s star.
The maximum level for a three-star character is 30. Feeding the last of his [Small Tainted Crystals] would be more than enough, but any extra experience would just be wasted. Such are the downsides of low-star characters; they consume fewer resources, but their ceiling is also lower.
“Well, looks like you’ve drained me dry first,” Renji muttered, flipping his left hand to reveal three dark red crystals floating above it.
Eileen felt a warmth stirring in her lower abdomen. When the dark red crystals appeared, it started to become more active, as if she’d just seen a delicious feast, causing her to swallow audibly.
The atmosphere among the other people present, members of Callewa’s gang, was altogether different.
They were not like the young girl who had grown accustomed to Renji’s [Miasma Crystals], even having “eaten” one. The faces of the gang members, which had just started to recover from their previous shock, instantly filled with terror again. They looked at the dark red crystal in Renji’s hand with profound fear, much like their former leader, Grey Wolf. Anyone could feel the Miasma emanating from these dark red crystals.
It was Pure Miasma.
Concentrated to the extreme—Miasma!
“What—what is that? Dr. Roca! Answer me when I talk to you! What is that?!” Ajax took several steps back, yelling into the ear of the man in the gray coat.
As the leader of Callewa and a researcher of ‘relics’ Ajax was also an Eclipse. Precisely for this reason, he could sense the incredibility of the dark red crystal in the young man’s hand.
Dr. Roca, who had already been kneeling on the ground, completely ignored Ajax’s shouting.
Trembling, the man in the gray coat stood up. Roca started panting heavily, as if he had seen the most beautiful naked woman. His gaze was completely glued to the Miasma Crystal in Renji’s hand.
“It can’t be wrong. It can’t! That is a crystal—a crystallized Miasma! Ahhhh~~~!”
Roca started tearing at his own hair, clawing at his scalp like a scientist who had been researching his whole life without making a breakthrough, suddenly presented with the formula of the universe’s truth. 𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ
Yes, the truth.
In Dr. Roca’s mind, the crystallized Miasma was the truth he had been pursuing.
“So beautiful, it’s so beautiful. This can’t be wrong; it’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”
“I can’t believe I’m seeing it—in my lifetime, I’ve actually seen such a perfect Miasma creation—and three of them! Hahahahaha!”
“What a dream, what an utter wonder! I understand now; I must be in heaven, in heaven! Ahhhhh, hahaha!”
𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮
