Chapter 188: A fisherman's humble net

Mark felt cool water splash against his skin while the sun bathed him in its own light. Standing under a waterfall, the bloodstains on his body slowly cleansed itself and he felt his own mind become clearer.

The greenish water beneath him turned reddish as moments passed and after a while, he sighed, breathing out musty air.

I am slowly being surrounded, I can see some traces in the forest. They hadn't noticed me yet due to my appearance that resembles a Silver yet, though.

Should I leave a bait?

Now, he was in the center of a wide whirlpool of Golden Savages, all searching for him.

His Puppet was also nearby.

Or should I enter into the savage parties and act like one of them? I can mess with them from the inside while my Puppet messes with them from the outside.

When they enter into a state of chaos, he will take the opportunity to crush them entirely.

Hm, no.

The best outcome would be all savages coming close to him, attracted little by little, until he activated his Clown's Circus. Using that one chance, he would entirely stop all of them in their tracks and kill everyone in the 30 seconds of stopped time.

He sat down under the raging falls and closed his eyes. The waters filled his consciousness, burned the barriers of confusion, and opened his mind up to the world.

Somewhere else, his Puppet had just used his abilities and exhausted, he had absorbed more Mindpower from the Will of the Savage World.

A Golden Savage was quite weird. The Will of the World was letting them have as much Mindpower as they needed, and they had the powers of a Tier 2 creature right upon birth. Truly, they were blessed by the heavens.

But in a sense, they are parasites.

My Puppet could absorb as much energy as it needs from the Savage World to do whatever it wants. If he wants, he could go and betray the Savage World using its own powers to help demons. Like a child betraying its own mother who fed it milk as an infant.

A parasite.

Suddenly, Mark felt himself slightly resonate with another of his demonic tricks. At first, he had resonated and completely made Heart Input his own by understanding the base nature of the demonic trick.

The base nature of Heart Input was playing with the heart of others. Now, he could sense the base nature of Parasite.

Taking what was not his own, stealing.

I've stolen a lot of lives in my demonic life. I've stolen and destroyed others dreams as if they meant nothing. I've stolen opportunities, and I've stolen even destinies.

He felt the resonance between him increase. But the understanding he had regarding Parasite's true nature was incomplete.

What is it that I don't understand?

It is not merely stealing, he realised. It also had a sense of ownership. Making what was not his own be seen as his own in everyone's sight.

If you steal something, it doesn't become yours. If he stole others' life, it doesn't become his own. What matters is beyond just stealing, it is a stealing of ownership.

That was the base nature of Parasite!

It was yours?

Now, it belongs to me!

This is your Mindpower?

Sorry, not sorry, but now, it's mine!

It can help me absorb other's Mindpower and turn it into my own, and it can also help me turn an enemy with '0' Minpower into my Second Life.

It helped him make what was not his own into what was his!

Suddenly, he felt a sense of closeness to Parasite just as he felt to Heart Input. Now, it was his own in all sense. If he told it to jump, it would jump. If he told it to stop resisting fusion with other Demonic Tricks, it would also do that.

And now, I have two demonic tricks that are completely my own. Heart Input and Parasite.

He couldn't hide an excited grin from showing on his face.

What Ultimate Demonic Art could he create by fusing Heart Input and Parasite?

Mark stood up, opened his eyes, and walked out of the waterfall. He looked up at the morning sun. Clouds marred it as he turned and walked out of the water bed itself, and on shore, he stretched, yawning.

How many Golds are surrounding me now? More than 10 for sure, but not nearly 100. Hm, the chance of information regarding Clown's Circus being leaked is high if I use it and miss some small fry.

Mark took out his robes from his World Space and wore them with a swift move. He then leaned against a tree and entered his World Space.

"Any new information from the Gold corpse?"

Yuri was in her usual robes, but she also seemed to have just come out of a bath. Her short hair was wet, and she smelled like the unique bathing materials that Yasna's villagers used.

It had a certain flowery smell.

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"No," Yuri said, looking up from the impromptu lab table in her humble house. "I stopped researching it when I realized it's a waste of time. What's going on in your side?"

"Not bad on my end." He grinned. "Did you prepare what I told you to?" Searᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Yuri nodded and pointed at a closed glass jar. It had a red liquid within it, thick and colorful; its lid tightly shut.

Mark's eyes lit up.

"Why did you need it anyway?" she asked, stretching and yawning due to the morning lanquidity. Even though there was no morning in Mark's World Space.

"Well, do shake it before use," she added.

Mark walked up to her and asked, "Do you like red hair?"

"Not particularly." She squinted.

"Uh, I want you to use that hair coloring and deceive someone…" Mark rubbed his nose at her raised eyebrows. "Well, I just need you to look the part and just be around. My Puppet wants to see its sister, and I want to make it think you are the sister in question to fulfil that dream. It's a gamble of sorts that I want to win."

Yuri blinked. "I understand the mission but why do you sound irritated, hm, and a bit ashamed?"

He blinked. "I don't particularly like saying to one of you to look a certain way. I want you all to show up to me the way you like to be, so this appearance thing is just a temporary thing and you can return to normal after the mission's over."

She raised her hand and gently touched his cheek, but her hand just passed through him. Inside his World Space, he was just a soul after all.

"A pity," Yuri brooded, she had wanted a kiss. "But well, bad news for you, Demon. That hair coloring I made will not last for a long time even if I wanted to, so you only get what you already have. Of course, red hair and black hair are the same thing to me, in the end even if I could see colors now, they are in the end, just colors."

"I see." He also thought the same.

"So, aren't you busy, go do your own work."

He nodded. "Be prepared, I will help your disguise with a Savage Mask. Maybe, you can also become a Savage even though you are a Hunter, we should try at least. Anyways, be ready."

Yuri nodded and looked out through a small window. She yelled, "Dona, come help me color my hair!"

Mark chuckled, he could hear a curious yelp from the distance as a demoness stormed towards this area.

Coloring? Wow, interesting—that must be her thoughts, Mark laughed even harder as he disappeared.

"Coloring?" Dona shouted, entering the house, her mouth stuffed with sweet buns. Her eyes glittered beautifully. "Wow, interesting."

…

Mark's eyes flashed with a gleam of thought as he began walking. I should bait them all in, like a fisherman taking out his net.

He rubbed his masked face and looked up at the sky—no Eye of Heavens anywhere in sight.

Swoosh.

A massive form appeared beside Mark, towering over him like a giant shadow. It was one of Mark's strongest servants.

The Minotaur.

It loomed, like a small tower or a towering tree, and emanated an aura of utter, destructive indifference.

It bowed.

Mark smiled, but his face in the Silver Savage disguise was expressionless. "I don't have super complex orders for you, Minotaur. Make a mess, destroy, bring about chaos and confusion—but don't die. Attract attention."

Be you.

With that, he spread out his wings and rose to the heavens, hiding inside a layer of fluffy and familiar clouds. For a brief moment, a funny thought entered his mind.

Should I try eating the clouds?

Uh, why not?

He opened his mouth and breathed in, cold and moist air entered his mouth and he chuckled.

The Minotaur took a deep breath and suddenly, it began to thrum with…

...violence.

ROAR!

The Golden and Silver Savages around all found themselves turning their heads, feeling an ominous sensation in their gut before they began running towards the sound of that violent roar.

Mark hid, he waited.

Just as a predator waits for its prey.