Nier was on edge at this very moment. He was strong; there was no doubt about it. However, even as he is, he still did not feel comfortable going up against Lady Blue, who is regarded as a commander within the association.

  Much less four more of them out there, all looking for him; it made him wonder if the Mimic situation was really so bad that the Association was going this far to catch him.

  But even then, he could not give up here; so far, the creation of the Cult was doing well. Although the progress was slow, Kaly said the growth was good in terms of quality at least.

  They have Tanya, their priestess.

  Imani is their first Bishop.

  Alle and El are Darkbornes of the Demi-God Css.

  Bel is well; nothing as of yet, but a work in progress nonetheless.

  Marcy was a little cunt, but with some discipline, Nier had big pns for her after he tamed her.

  They also have the Spawns as a result of Imani impregnating everything she touched.

  The skinwalker, who he himself also has big pns for.

  With him and Kaly at the forefront of the cult's leading body, although he, more than anything else, wants women in his cult; sure, men could be powerful, but he was a special case. Women would be easier to control due to his unique circumstances, like his mom always said, if someone isn't submissive, you're not disciplining them hard enough.

  In her case, she firmly believes it takes a bitch to beat a bitch, but in his case, nothing vitamin D deprivation couldn't fix.

  While those other male creatures could be offered up as sacrifice to increase Kaly's Waking some more, but honestly speaking, as a cult leader and as a man, he looks down on all creatures that are fellow males like himself, because realistically speaking, what sane man would want to share their woman? Then again, his dick is the only dick that matters; all things considered, it is his and his alone. Beyond that, the other male creatures could die for all he cared. Or better yet, they are all nothing but pawns, servants, expendables, or sacrifices as a whole.

  And what was even better, all these girls were his women, and the more they fucked and gave birth to his offspring, the stronger Kaly became.

  All this in a short time of two weeks, no less.

  They were not cking money in the slightest, either. So their expansion was going really well. However, with the association getting involved, and Public Safety getting too close for comfort, and being this close to his operation, he quickly realized if something was not done quickly, what he had built so far could be destroyed before it even had the time to bloom.

  Before it even has the time to rise.

  Before Kaly can return to her former state of power.

  Before he can even get his revenge.

  And if this fails, this would mean he would fail Kaly.

  Just the thought alone made him feel sick.

  In that moment, something snapped in Nier. Was it the pressure, the fear of disappointing Kaly, the very God he worshiped with his heart, his beloved, and the woman he loves the most?

  His eye began to glint a scary gre as he began to say to himself.

  'I can't have that now can I…? What to do, what to do… ahhh, in the end, I have to rely on that dreadful woman's teaching once again.'

  He said to himself as he looked at the beautiful woman in front of him.

  "Hey, are you good? You went silent on me all of a sudden?"

  Quick Feline said as she looked at Nier, who began to reply.

  "Ah, yes, my bad. I was just a little shocked by the news about the mimic."

  "Oh, well, I guess it would come as a shock to anyone. Hell, it even got me a little scared when I heard what they are capable of. I also have someone I want to protect too, so for that reason, I have taken down all my mirrors in my own house."

  Melody said with a smile as he looked over a small figure with a rge visor over his face.

  His small hands were inside the pockets of the trench coat.

  However, at the same time, he turned his head and smiled.

  But then Melody heard Nier begin to speak.

  "Yeah, I know the feeling all too well of wanting to protect someone. Most of my life, I have always only ever cared about myself, but in a short time, everything suddenly changed. I guess that is just life for you; you never know where it takes you until it's too te...well, not like that, I dislike where I ended up in life."

  "Ha, you really are an unc, aren't you? Those were some pretty wise words, also I still can't believe you're thirty-seven, though...you got me a little curious over there, what exactly are you hiding under that hood?"

  She smiled cutley and asked. While Nier began to smile and replied to her.

  "Hmmm, I guess I can show you."

  Nier said to Quick Feline while also speaking to himself internally.

  'I need a mole, and since this woman is Lady Blue's lieutenant, she would be the perfect person to corrupt to slowly do my bidding from within the association itself. My curse has already taken its hold on her; however, it can go even deeper. Eye contact is usually what activates it, however, it works better when the target has something they can imprint upon, as such, a face they can remember, a face that will become a center of their growing obsession.'

  For that reason, he shapeshifted his face back to normal. At first, Melody noticed, a lot of maroon-colored hair was coming out of his hoodie with glowing eyes.

  Then she saw the reason why, after he began unbuckling and loosening the straps of his hoodie a bit, it came undone.

  He pulled back his hoodie. In a way, this was a gamble, but he was done pying games, if the association was going to use this much force to apprehend him, he needed to pull all the stops himself as well.

  His hair flutters outwards, and it all drops downwards, surprising the others nearby, as they saw his face for the first time.

  From their point of view, with his hood on, he seems rather intimidating; with it off, what they now saw was a handsome young man, and with his earlier comments of being thirty-seven, Melody wonders if that was really true.

  "...b-Beautiful!!...”

  Quick Feline said with a shocked face.

  And even Lady Blue, who was watching quietly from the side in the observation room on the camera's dispy, could not help but open her eyes wide with surprise as she said to herself.

  "He looks a lot like his father, well, maybe with his mother's eyes and skin tone."

  Lady Blue said under her breath, Feline, however, was still haunted by the sight of him, but was taken off guard, as he extended his hand out for a handshake, or that was how it looked to them.

  Quick Feline, seeing the gesture as a harmless one, grabs his hand, but at the same time, Nier, being the genius he is, begins to create a new Spell, not with the use of his Authority, rather with Kaly's Divine nguage.

  Something that can't be simply undone, even with the power of Immutable magic.

  It was a new spell he gave birth to with his imagination as he began to fill in the details with the word born from the runes of his Goddess’ Divine Language.

  [Domination]

  A vast amount of Negativity leaves his body in that moment, as the Eldritch power of the spell was cast directly upon her soul, manifesting as a series of bck chains around it. As the Runes themselves from Kaly's Divine Language began to take their roots deeply.

  'Well, that should do it. This is the first step needed to eventually take on the association.'

  'However, the problem with the Domination Spell isn't like the Problem with my Collective Existence. With the power of Collective Existence, I can rewrite a person's entire will in accordance with my own desire, given that I have a stronger mind or will than them do, to begin with; however, I cannot afford a risk like that, for that reason, and that reason only, I had to use something of a more absolute nature.'

  'The Spell Domination is a form of Admission Magic; as such, it can only be undone or countered by another Apostle or Outer God, like Kaly, who are the only people in existence that can even use that kind of magic. In yman's terms, Melody is in my grasp, but the only problem with this, however, is the cost of command.'

  'Domination is a form of Direct hypnosis; depending on how strong the person is, it will depend on the cost and the command itself. Weak commands shouldn't cost much, but more detailed and complex ones are a different story. But once paid for in full, she cannot disobey them as her soul was under the direct influence of the spell.'

  So with that in mind, Nier began to work his magic, as he mentally said.

  'Well, first of all, let's use the influence of the curse to make this easier...so the first command will be to not resist my command.'

  Her head began to ache in that moment; however, it was only for a moment, but it stuck, and to Nier's surprise, that didn't cost much at all.

  'That was far cheaper than I imagined. As a Level 4 Hesta, I expected you to be far harder to control; only 2500 Units of Negativity was used to make that command settle in without struggle. Good now time for the finale command...

  'You will come to my house at this time.... Make sure to come alone, and while you are at it, bring the one known as Jeffrey Thomas with you.'

  It was a far more detailed command, and the cost was even more than the first one, whereby Melody felt another sting in her head. Nier began to feel that pain, but twenty times worse, but he fought through it, as he could feel the Negativity passively leaving his body after implementing that command.

  At first, it passed five thousand units, then eight, till it finally stopped at thirteen thousand; however, the order was given.

  'Ahhh, Damn the recoil I got from using this spell is a little annoying, but this much should be expected, now then, time to set her free.'

  In that moment, Quick Feline suddenly snapped out of her weird trance, as she realized she was still holding Nier's hand, and then she looked back at him, and said.

  "It was nice meeting you, Nier. I will see you ter, ok, just go and stand beside the others, I still have to make a speech before we start the exam."

  "Of course."

  As Nier said that, he slowly released Quick Feline's hand. She turned away from him and walked to the front of the group, as she prepared to make her speech.

  The air in the portal chamber was thick with anticipation. Thirteen silhouettes stood in a loose half-circle, the low hum of the gate behind them pulsing like a caged heartbeat.

  Quick Feline or Melody stepped forward, tail still, ears forward, every trace of her earlier pyfulness stripped away. The cat-girl lieutenant looked almost regal under the cold lights.

  "Listen up, rookies."

  She began, her voice crisp and serious, almost as if she was a completely different person.

  "In about ninety seconds, this gate is going to fre green. When it does, all you need to do is haul your asses through it. As for what happens when you do, it is simple: you'll be scattered across Random Point on a secluded Isnd. Two hundred square kilometers of jungle, cliffs, beaches, and whatever nightmares Public Safety decided to seed in there this year. The distance between spawn points will be anywhere from one to three miles. No two people will drop in the same pce."

  She swept her gaze across the thirteen faces. Some nervous, some hungry, a few already gring at the competition.

  "This is a free-for-all. The st one standing wins the single open slot immediate promotion based on your results; you'll get here, that is to say, the best of you will score under the top. But before any of you get cute ideas, killing is forbidden. That is grounds for instant disqualification and a lifetime ban from Association work. You want to break bones? Fine. You want to choke someone unconscious and drag them to an elimination zone? Also fine. You put someone in the ground permanently, though, and Lady Blue will personally drag what’s left of you back here in cuffs."

  No one really answered or even argued, as no one wanted to die, or rather face Lady Blue, she has a violent reputation after all.

  Then Melody continued.

  "Elimination happens one of three ways: you surrender verbally and loud enough for the drones to hear, you're too injured to keep fighting in the opinion of the medical overseers, or you get carried across one of the glowing red boundary rings on the isnd, which is considered an elimination zone. After that, you're out. No appeals, Am I clear."

  "Of course."

  "Whatever."

  "Loud and clear."

  "Mhm."

  "Yeah."

  A crowd of different replies came after the question, and Quick Feline nodded her head and folded her arms as she continued.

  "And before anyone asks, yes, even getting this far already puts you in the top one percent of this year’s rookie pool alone. Losing today doesn't mean you fail; being qualified for Special Admissions secures your position; however, it is needed to see where exactly you all truly stand in the pecking order of us heroes."

  Her gaze lingered on Nier for half a second longer than the rest. Something soft flickered behind the professional mask, gone as fast as it came.

  "Good luck, all of you, and don't hold anything back."

  She said, quieter now, as that was meant only for him.

  "Try not to make too much of a mess though. I still have to clean up after you people as well."

  The portal behind her began to shift from violet to a sickly, electric green.

  Melody spun on her heel, tail shing once.

  "Green means go. Don't trip."

  The gate was now open.

  One by one, the examinees vanished into the light, some sprinting, some walking like they had all the time in the world. Nier went third-to-st. The world dissolved into emerald lights as he made his way through, and then he was falling.

  He nded in a crouch on a sandy beach from high above the sky, the waves crashing twenty meters to his left. The isnd smelled of salt from the sea, and an earthy smell from the natural environment, almost like the smell of rain or wet soil. Somewhere far off, thunder rolled without clouds.

  Nier straightened himself, his hood still low, and his crimson eyes scanning the treeline, and both hands were in the pockets of his hoodie, as he said.

  "So this is the isnd Melody was talking about?"