Chapter 360 - Subjugation (3)

Arnold was pacing back and forth at the place while Talos and Natasha patiently waited for him to say something. He had called them there and yet, he was lost in his thoughts. Although Talos wasn't an expert when it came to human emotions, even he could feel that something was off with his master.

He knew the situation was bad when even warmongers like Asterios, Grock and Bad-Breath were not being their usual selves. Even Dread realised something was seriously wrong when he saw their usually fearless master sweating buckets while shaking uncontrollably at the same time. At first, the summons thought Arnold was seething with rage, that's why he was shaking. But then again, nothing of the sort happened that would've sent him in a fit of rage. Enough rage that he would order them to kill innocents.

People like Xiaofan always tried to kill Arnold because they were intimidated by his existence. That was to be given. If someone who could destroy entire continents on a whim, would walk up to you, anyone would feel intimidated. Yet Arnold did not think of them as his enemies. For him, their existence or death didn't matter.

The summons knew that no one on the planet would be able to harm their master. Especially not after the crazy power spike all of them have had since clearing the dungeon. This was also a fact. Thus there was no reason for Arnold to kill anyone who went against him.

It might sound wrong and harsh to say this. But to them, the people all around the globe were nothing more than a bunch of Koalas. They were cute and all but their existence wasn't crucial for the ecosystem. No predator feeds on them, nor do they do much to contribute to the ecosystem either, but they do exist.

Here Arnold and his summons were the ecosystem who did not bother by their existence of Koalas, that is, useless people. Some could say the people were allowed to live just because they were cute. That's all. (Author's note: before bashing me for using such an example, please read Author's thought section at the end. Thank you.)

It was also the reason why they were surprised when Arnold asked them to kill everyone there. It just wasn't something Arnold would normally do. After all, Arnold himself had told Talos, after annihilating the subjugation squads who were stationed in front of the Lich dungeon, that he was going to minimize the killing from then on and asked his elite summons to do the same. 

It was also primarily the reason while Arnold told them to subdue the soldiers and not kill them while invading Chiang's mansion. However, the orders that Arnold gave them a few moments ago were in stark contrast with what he had been trying to do for a while. Thankfully, their master seemed to have changed his mind before they could put his words into action. Still, all of it was a bit... peculiar to say the least. 

"Master. you should sit down for a while. You're showing signs of having a panic attack." Talos requested but Arnold did not listen to him and kept pacing back and forth.

"Shall I use my powers to help master calm down a bit?"

Natasha whispered but Talos immediately shot the idea down. He vividly remembered the time he used his guns to wake Arnold up once long time back and did not think it was a great idea for Natasha to use her powers on their master in his current state either. If Arnold lashed out there, no one would be safe. It was better to let him handle his problems by himself. But if he asked for help, they'll readily do whatever they could to help him out. 

'Wait... What happened to me again?' Arnold asked the system once again. 

<Your heart stopped beating for 30 seconds straight. I was about to start the resuscitation process when all of a sudden you came back to life.>

'How is it even possible?' Arnold couldn't wrap his head around the fact, 'I was still alive and well, it was just like someone had pulled me away from my body and into an unknown domain...'

<...>

'So if my heart stopped beating, how the fck was my body moving on its own? I even gave my summons an order to kill thousands without even being aware of it! If I had not come back to my senses in time, there would a river of blood flowing here right now!'

<...>

For the first time, system-sama who apparently knew everything, could not give Arnold a proper answer. But it wasn't like there was no explanation for it. But there was no way 'that' could ever happen.

'What should I do?' Arnold was desperate to get some answers out of system-sama, yet he couldn't, 'I can't live on like this... not knowing when will someone else take over my fcking body and do something I would never even think about doing!'

Arnold wasn't panicking because of the people he almost got killed. But he was worried that he might be forced to do something he would never even dream about doing, like harming Nina or his unborn child. He wasn't scared for his sake. He never was and never will be that selfish. But he would never take the slightest bit of risk when it came to his family.

<For now, I'll force your body to produce more endorphins so you could calm down.>

'Yeah... you do that.'

<In the meantime, I'll search for answers. As for what you can do, try not to kill anyone. This situation could be related to your bloodthirst in some way.>

'Monsters or humans?'

<Try not to kill anything. Anything at all.>

'Got it.'

System-sama did what it said it would, and Arnold finally calmed down enough to think properly and make rational decisions. Now that his mind was clear, Arnold needed to do something now.

"Talos, listen very carefully to what I'm about to say." Arnold mumbled softly, "No matter what absurd order I give you guys, you will not kill any human until and unless I say this word..."