Strings Of Domination

Time seemed to freeze for a split second in the eyes of Nash when he noticed the emerging arrow ready to pierce his skull!

The water that fell from the mountain top into the pond below slowed down, the arrow that was previously as fast as lightning now became akin to a crawling snail while at the same time his thinking speed and senses accelerated by at least twofold!

'Huh? What is happening?' Nash felt confused when he saw the strange changes taking place around and inside him but when he saw just how close the arrow was from piercing his head, his eyes narrowed and a pair of black wings emerged from his back!

Whoosh!

The black wings immidieatly engulfed Nash's body in its entirety and like a layer of armor, they protected him from the arrow!

Clank!

A sharp sound akin to metal striking another resounded in the air, but except that nothing else occurred; the arrows that were made out of ordinary silver were incapable of piercing through Nash's wings much less harm Nash himself.

"So I was right. There was really someone hiding behind this waterfall." Nash's cold voice sounded and the very next second his wings flapped toward the river fall, creating a powerful shockwave that forced the falling water to halt in mid-air before flying upward!

"And to think that someone was a human..." Nash revealed an amused grin as he watched that at the edge of the small cave that revealed itself in front of him, a human boy stood with a bow in his grasp, obviously the one that wanted to kill him just now!

"Come, let's have a little chat," Nash said calmly and without hesitation grabbed the boy by his collar before with a single flap soared a hundred meters high into the air, stopping just in front of the mountain's peak.

Although he wished to go higher to make the boy's Fear Level go higher and influence him, Nash feared if he goes any higher than he was the possibility of getting spotted from the distance by a patrolling or searching creature could become rather high.

But because he knew that the human boy in front of him was as fragile as a piece of glass without any Legacy to protect his body, this one hundred meters was more than enough to scare him which obviously showed on his ever-increasing Fear Level.

• Fear: Neutral Level - 3% --> 36%

• Fear: Chance Level - 36% --> 53%

• Fear: ...

"W-What do you from me?" the boy upon seeing that he was several feet above the ground turned deadly pale and looked at Nash as though he was the devil himself.

Nash upon hearing the boy's words glanced at him and instead of answering he examined his appearance in greater detail as now he had a chance.

Dark bronze skin filled with bruises and wounds, nut-brown eyes that had deep dark circles around its corner, messy black hair, a thin figure that looked as if it could collapse any given moment, and clothing that was severely ragged, torn, and dirty.

It was pretty apparent from a single glance alone that this boy experienced all the nine hells back and forth!

When Nash saw his appearance a hint of softness and anger flashed in his eyes, but only for a brief moment. The next, his complexion turned serious and slightly intimidating as he extended his arm, putting the boy further away from him and threatening to let him go.

"I will give you only one chance, so hopefully you won't be a fool enough to waste it," Nash spoke calmly and slightly loosened his grip on the boy's collar, immediately gaining the awaited effect.

• Fear: Chance Level - 82% --> 96%

"I-I will talk! Everything you want to know, I will tell!"

Nash smiled when he heard this and nodded, "This is what I like to hear. Then, first and foremost, what is your name?"

"M-My name is... Miles." Miles said with a shaky voice, his trembling hand clenching Nash's hand with all the strength he could muster from his weak physique.

"I see, so it is Miles then." Nash nodded again and asked, "Then Miles, why did you want to kill me? Remember, if you don't give me a satisfactory answer or dare to lie to me, I will let go of you without a second thought."

Nash's words were as cold as ice glaciers and as terrifying as ghosts, making Miles's body tremble uncontrollably while also forcing his Fear Level to increase an additional 2%!

"I-I thought you were... A Royal Servant sent to find me." Miles replied with his eyes fixed on Nash's face, not daring to look away.

'Royal Servant?' Nash raised a brow as this was the first time for him to meet with such a title.

When Miles saw the confusion in Nash's eyes, he felt tense but still collecting himself he asked, "Y-You are... You are not a Royal Servant?"

"Royal Servant? What the hell is that?" Nash asked as he began to descend slowly, knowing that Miles didn't attack him because he wished to see specifically him dead nor because he was sent by others.

It turns out things became slightly more complex than he initially believed.

Watching as they began to descend toward the ground, Miles sighed with relief and his tense body began to relax. Then, he quickly began to explain;

"Royal Servants are unique slaves of the royal family. All race has one or two royal families, and almost all of them possess Royal Servant that is usually human slaves trained to do all kinds of tasks, let it be one where the servant needs to do a dirty job or sacrifice his or her life in exchange for others."

Nash frowned when he heard Miles' explanation and asked, "These Royal Servants... Do they have their Legacy unsealed?"

"No, that is strictly prohibited. They are only given special Domination Arts that they can learn and use in battle without having the help of their Legacy." Miles replied calmly and another sigh of relief escaped from his mouth when he felt solid ground with his feet again.

"Hmm..." Nash let Miles go and once he glanced at the cave where Miles once stood, which now was hidden by the falling water again, he asked, "How did you escape? No, more importantly, how many of you have escaped?"

A glint of sadness which was unable to escape under Nash's watch flashed in Miles' eyes upon that question and with a weak voice, he said, "Only... Only me..."

"You have escaped alone?" Nash asked with surprise, but when he saw how rapidly was Miles's Sadness Level was increasing, he seemed to realize something and showed a smile.

"But before we continue our chat, I am starving. Let's find a place where we can eat to our fullest!"

"I... I can help you with that!" Miles seemed to regain his liveliness in a flash and quickly said Nash to follow him.

Watching as Miles was running toward the river fall, Nash smiled and gestured toward Amy to follow. As for the crates, he simply ordered his Souls to help carry them as leaving them outside would be an incredibly foolish choice.

And just like that, they quickly vanished behind the falling wall of water, without any signs they have been there just a moment ago.

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Several light-years away from Planet Nelea, on Planet Lark, Lord Ozren and Clavellina were standing next to a bed, looking at Erys' sleeping figure in silence, but with heavy expressions.

Behind them, Lord Amael was kneeling, his head so low that his forehead was touching the ground. Furthermore, his body was slightly trembling, an obvious sign he was far from calm despite having a tranquil complexion.

Silence and heavy but invisible pressure was the only thing that filled the luxurious interior of the room, and time seemed to crawl at an incredibly slow pace.

"So you tell me, that human, that slave was capable of breaking the seal on his Legacy and even were able to fight you on the same level despite being a whole Rank below?" after an indefinite amount of time, Lord Ozren's voice filled the room that held surpassed anger.

"A-Although I was not using my full strength, to not hurt the Young Lady accidentally because of the unpredictable nature of that ability, yes my Lord, he was able to fight me on equal grounds," Amael said, intentionally pushing his head stronger against the ground.

"And he was also able to escape right under your supervision without you noticing him, furthermore kill all your men on the spaceship you have sent after the rest of the escapees and escape once again? Did I understand it correctly?"

"...Yes, my Lord. I have no excuse, I have failed miserably. Please punish this lowly servant of your as you wish!"

'...'

Lord Ozren fell into silence and didn't talk. He glanced at Erys' seemingly sleeping face and only then did he start to speak in a cold tone, "I will decide on your punishment later. Now, you have only one thing to do which is to bring that human before my feet once and for all. Until then, don't even dare to show your face before me!"

"As you wish, my Lord!" Amael nodded and without daring to remain even a second longer, he vanished from the room like a ghost.

* * * * *

A/N: Thought about Miles? :)