Unlimited Power 03: The Sinful Ruler

"That is exactly how he passed away…" Arilene said while frowning.

"All right, you have finished your job. You can go home now," Karina said.

"Karina…" Louise said and then sighed.

"Since I know that those who have been behind the attacks are so close, I can't leave now," Arilene said. "You are going after them, aren't you?"

Jake closed his eyes and wondered what he should do. Considering what Frederick said, chasing those guys might give him some of the answers that he wanted. He was particularly interested in what Hugo said about their existence in that universe and the fact that they have no place there. Considering that Jake knew about the existence of an Earth there, it made sense.

"Maybe not," Jake replied.

You received a new quest.

Quest: prevent the rebirth of the shadow.

Reward: have all of your questions answered.

"... Are you fucking kidding me?" ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" Jake shouted. "Show yourself, you motherfucker… do you think you can control me like that, huh?"

The others looked around Jake, completely surprised. It was the first time they saw him that pissed… still, they could understand the reason behind his rage. They also received the quest. It seemed that someone was trying to make them fight the same enemy, and as soon as possible…

"It seems that the others also received this quest…" Lan said while looking around. "I suppose we are in a race against time."

"Considering the contents of the quest and the past you mentioned, we can assume that the objective of the quest is to defeat the being that killed you, commander," Virgilius explained. "Even if someone is enticing you to move, finding that still is one of your goals."

"I know, but even so…" Jake said while clenching his teeth.

Despite his annoyance, Jake couldn't do much aside from accepting the quest… if the contents of the quest were true, then that shadow that destroyed countless civilizations and killed him was going to appear in that universe as well…

After thinking for a while, everyone around realized that Hugo's group was working for that thing for one reason or the other. They weren't supposed to know how strong that thing was since Jake killed them before it could appear on Earth. Come to think of it, Jake didn't know its true power either, but Hugo's group decided to work for the shadow in order to preserve the human race.

"I guess they are afraid of antagonizing it… since they somehow know what it can do at its full power…" Jake rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"That shadow was what killed you and destroyed the planet, but it lost its power when it came to this universe?" Lana asked. "Wouldn't that be the best chance to kill it?"

"True… but Frederick mentioned that Hugo looked weird when he revealed too much like he was about to explode," Jake said. "Usually, he wasn't supposed to know that thing, but if he knows it, there must be a reason like… they were bought here by that thing. Instead of something else… this something that starting to interfere more clearly by giving out these quests."

The others looked at each other, trying to see what they were thinking, and none of them seemed to be doubting that hypothesis. They were talking about being able to destroy entire planets… controlling humans should be something easy for the shadow. Even before it can obtain its full power.

"The enemy probably chose those five because they had a grudge agaisnt Jake, and he got their power and of many other people," Virgilius added. "Thanks to the system, all forms of beings using mana can become stronger by defeating others, but your essence grants you an even more remarkable progress."

"If that is true, then why did the shadow not put me among them?" Jake asked.

"I can think of a few possibilities… maybe that creature didn't realize about your essence until it decided to move to this universe, or there was something interfered with the shadow from doing that…" Virgilius explained. "I suppose the truth will only come out once we defeat it and get the rewards."

"You are too intertwined with this whole situation to ignore it," Arilene said. "Only a fool also would let his enemy do the same thing again."

She had a point, and Jake couldn't deny that. He truly hated the idea of doing someone else's bidding with those quests, but he couldn't ignore the shadow. He didn't know what it was yet, but that was probably his only chance of finding out before he got overpowered again. He was a lot weaker than he was before, so he didn't have much time left…

"With this quest, there isn't much that I can do to stop you guys from following me…" Jake said. "Anyway, this is a golden chance for me to get all the answers that I want, so I will ignore such problems."

"Try to make yourselves useful," Jake said.

"Why are you looking at me while saying that?" Lana asked while her eyebrows were twitching.

"You still have a long way ahead of you," Jake said.

"Since we are doing this, should we contact the other guilds?" Louise asked. "I think we should organize our forces and rest for a short while before heading to the enemy base."

"Virgilius…" Jake said while looking at the wounds on Julian and Karina's bodies.

"I will need a couple of hours to analyze the data obtained and pinpoint the location of the enemy base," Virgilius replied.

"All right, that will give enough time for the kids to rest," Jake said while thinking that it would be good to take a short nap until it was time to leave.

"You are only three years older…" Karina said and then sighed.

The enemies are other humans, and they greatly outnumber the remaining forces, so everyone would need to regain their strength before invading the enemy base… it was necessary in order to avoid any more deaths… if that was actually possible.