Chapter 559: The Strange Phenomena
"No, it\'s not that… it\'s just that… I\'m not pure. You\'re the first man I\'ve loved, but… not the first that…" Greed began, but Daniel silenced her with a kiss.
They kissed for several minutes before Daniel pulled back. "Do you think I care about that?"
"I know… but I just wanted you to know. It\'s not by my choice… so…" Greed tried to continue, but Daniel gently pressed his finger to her lips, stopping her.
He didn\'t want Greed to continue explaining. The moment he realized it hadn\'t been her choice, a surge of anger welled up inside him. He feared that if he listened any further, he might not be able to keep his anger in check.
Daniel didn\'t know what had happened in her past. He wasn\'t even aware of Greed\'s background before she became a witch, and he didn\'t want to pry. Everyone has secrets they\'d rather keep to themselves than share with others—this is a truth he respected. That\'s why he never pried.
But this… this was different. If Greed hadn\'t told him, he wouldn\'t have pried. But now that he knew, it was a different matter. If he didn\'t have the power to do something about it, that would be one thing. But since he did, not acting would be a disgrace.
Whoever had wronged her should pray they\'re already dead because if they aren\'t and he gets his hands on them… he\'ll make sure they don\'t die peacefully.
Daniel initiated another round of kissing, and Greed eagerly reciprocated. As their kiss deepened, passion took over, and they responded to each other\'s desires. They began to lust after each other\'s bodies, fully engaging in the act of creation.
True to her name, Greed greedily took in everything her beloved offered, her nature as the Witch of Greed asserting itself as she refused to let even a drop escape. She was vigorous and responded passionately to Daniel. She\'s more experienced than Koyuki, so she can reciprocate with anything Daniel wants from her body.
But Daniel didn\'t shy away. His toughness score that is off the charts, didn\'t fail him as he matched Greed\'s intensity, giving her more than she bargained for.
Their moans of pleasure and the sound of their bodies filled the room. It was fortunate that Greed\'s room was soundproofed; otherwise, their activities might have startled little Sylvana and brought her knocking to ask why they were so loud.
Eventually, Greed began to beg for her beloved to stop, panting, exhausted but still greedily taking in all the love and lust her beloved poured into her. With a final gasp of pleasure, she reached her limit and lost consciousness.
Daniel felt a little guilty for getting so engrossed in the moment of passion, so he stopped and kissed her forehead before they cuddled together.
In the middle of the night in New Atlantis, it\'s already past 2 AM. Most people are resting at this hour. The residential areas of the city are silent, with only a few homes still lit, indicating those who are awake deep into the night.
Meanwhile, the parts of the city still bustling with energy are the ones hosting nightclubs and late-night entertainment. Tourists and locals alike enliven the nightlife with laughter and alcohol.
Suddenly, the atmosphere shifts, and the air changes. Some people among the tourists enjoying the nightlife, along with those still awake in the residential district, notice the change. These individuals are mages, hidden within society, living behind the facade of normalcy.
They sense that the mana in the air has suddenly dispersed—no, it\'s more than that. The mana seems to have depleted to the point where they can barely feel it. The mages quickly try to contact one another to confirm the situation.
Those with connections realize within the first 15 minutes that this strange phenomenon is occurring only in Southeast Asia, where they reside.
People with enough resources and magical knowledge manage to pinpoint the source of the mana drain. Through scrying and investigation, they discover that the epicenter of this phenomenon is around the area where Astral Corp is located.
The mages living in New Atlantis are shaken. Mana is everything to them; it\'s what sets them apart from common folks, the prestige that makes them superior to ordinary people. If the mana in this area were to truly vanish, they wouldn\'t know what to do, especially since they\'ve already allied themselves with Astral Corp and don\'t want to jump ship again.
The sudden depletion of mana triggers alarms at the Atlanteus Base. Atlanteus and Hermes, who are managing the base while Penthesilea is temporarily retired due to pregnancy, run around checking if the ether power plant is malfunctioning or if something else is wrong.
Forty-five minutes after the phenomenon begins, they still don\'t know the source of the problem. To stabilize the situation in the base, as the mana depletion has caused all the machines relying on mana to enter a safety shutdown, they activate the Ether generator and use 30% of the reserve Chromatic Philosopher\'s Stone as fuel to replenish the base\'s mana.
The mana levels in the base begin to normalize, and everything returns to normal. The machines that supply the base with power and convenience, including those powering the residents and various facilities, resume operation.
The situation appears to stabilize for 30 minutes before suddenly, the people feel another shift in the mana levels. This time, the mana becomes denser and denser, to the point where it resembles the era of the gods when mana was most abundant.
To keep the mana levels in the base within safe limits, Nexus Prime quickly fixes the issue by channeling the excess mana into the Clockwork Enclosure, enriching it with mana and nourishing the mythical and magical creatures that roam inside, making them stronger.
Mages outside also feel the change in the air. They sense that the mana has become denser and richer in quality, with the epicenter still at the Astral Corp HQ.
Now, the mages speculate that perhaps Daniel has been experimenting with something, but they don\'t know for sure. All they can do is speculate, as anyone who tried to pry into matters they shouldn\'t have has already become a ghost, serving in the Whispering Hall.
At ground zero of the phenomenon, within Daniel\'s house, Mammon was stunned by the scene unfolding before him. He opened his cage door and immediately jumped from his perch to the end table near little Sylvana.
Sat, the dog, sprinted into the room through the dog door, drawn by the shift in mana and a strange fragrance detectable only by its keen nose.
Mammon remained in shock, watching little Sylvana as she rapidly grew. Her body, initially the size of a 5-year-old, quickly aged to that of a 6-year-old, then 7, and finally stopped at around 8 years old. A fragrance of fruit and flowers emanated from her body, escaping through the air vents and dispersing into the air.
Many mages with unusual bloodlines or those who had organs transplanted from magical beings or creatures caught the scent and were drawn toward Astral Corp HQ. Some felt an overwhelming urge to rush into the building, find the source of this fragrance, and consume it, but they still had enough rationality to resist such an obviously suicidal impulse.
However, others, whose bodies were heavily altered or who had undergone extensive magical organ transplants, succumbed to dark urges buried deep within their transplanted organs. They immediately rushed toward the building and attempted to intrude.
One security guard approached a mage and tried to stop him.
"Freeze… and show your employee identification. Cooperate for a security check…"
Boom!
With a sudden explosion, the security guard\'s body was flung against the building\'s metal shutter. The mage, who possessed a werebear bloodline, had unleashed enough power to decapitate a normal human, but the guard was no ordinary person. The mage stood in shock, staring at the security guard once more.
The guard\'s body was embedded into the dense metal, creating a human-shaped imprint. His face was partially torn, revealing not white bone but a shiny black metal—an adamantine steel endoskeleton. This security guard was a lesser model than Will, designated as the SD-800-I. Although its power and adaptability were inferior to Will\'s, its durability was on par with newer models.
"Threat detected. Requesting permission to use lethal force," the guard\'s robotic, cold voice intoned, as its glowing red eyes locked onto the mage.
[Lethal force approved. Stop the intruder by any means necessary.] Nexus Prime immediately granted permission to its minion, seizing the opportunity to collect data on the interaction between the mages of this world and its forces. .net
The security guard slowly stood up, running a systems check. Its durable endoskeleton had withstood the werebear\'s powerful blow, even though its weight didn\'t allow it to absorb such force.