Galaxy's First Ruler

The smile on Aldrich's face was getting more devilish by seconds.

He took in the fairy's image with her mouth open in horror and bewilderment in its entirety. It was apparent that the Crawler, Anjana, couldn't believe the strangeness of the notification that was flashing in front of her. She had sacrificed not one but two Viscount Ranked Items, and they weren't just any ordinary Items.

Even Aldrich at a glance could sense that those Items had a strong sense of Justice. From the moment he had heard the language of LAWS out of Anjana's mouth, he could perceive their animosity towards him. It was the same as his Devil's Oldest Change, who tended to act out in the presence of Divine. The only difference was that the mask acted out by increasing his Stats.

"How… how is this possible?"

Aldrich heard the stagger in the fairy's voice and found her staring at him in search of some answers. But all she got in return was Aldrich's shrug and Sha's middle finger in Aldrich's mind.

Aldrich knew as soon as the fairy were to calm down, his last words would come rushing to her rational mind. And then the actual terror would kick in her consciousness.

Not getting any answer out of Aldrich, the fairy jerked her braids in anger and shouted.

"SO WHAT? You think by betting your blessings you can put me in trouble. Hmph! I still have many means."

Aldrich knew what blessings were. And he also knew the Black Veil he had wasn't a true blessing and hence, he wasn't a true Blessed One. But its presence made the RECORD and other Crawlers believe he was such a being. How could he even bet a thing which he didn't have in the first place? He just couldn't find a reason for the RECORD to not mention him as a God of Black and White to the fairy.

But Aldrich had confirmed a very crucial fact about the Crawler using his fiasco of attacking the Pillar from moments ago.

"Who are you fooling? You don't have any Viscount Ranked Skills."

Aldrich smirked and spoke with a tone of certainty, making the fairy snap her head towards him. From the way she wetted her lips and the movement of her throat, Aldrich got to know that he had guessed it right.

"Ignorant…"

The fairy tried to reject Aldrich's theory, but this time he didn't need to be asked to speak. Like teaching a student the principles of science, Aldrich calmly spoke.

"First, Skills are redundant in this Plaza. The 'RECORD' maintains and runs everything here, and you are just the executor. The hawthorn stick, wildflowers crown, and this Plaza is a product of your Legend. If you have a Skill, then it is only related to getting information on the Dreamer to gain some advantage. Isn't that the reason for your continuous attempts to agitate the other Party, so as to make them not step on the truth behind the curtains?"

Aldrich and the Crawler looked each other in the eyes. The fairy opened her mouth to retort, but soon shut it after not finding any plausible retort. Aldrich continued, seeing the Lady of Righteousness' loss of words.

"Second, if you had a Viscount Rank Skill, why didn't you use it to attack me?"

This question seemed to have ticked off a nerve, for the fairy's wings fluttered crazily as she acted out.

"Huh, presumptuous! Do I need to use Skills to kill you?"

Hahaha!

Aldrich let out a hearty laugh, but in the very next moment, he narrowed his eyes, as this behavior was not according to his personality. But a black glow fluctuated on his mask, and Aldrich forgot about this sudden realization. A devilish smile surfaced on his face, again, as he replied to the fairy.

"It seems your Skill related to the gathering of Data isn't even of Baron Rank. Didn't it mention what fields have I mastered? Tch! Your act of using an Item was an act of impulsion. Even I know that the use of Item-specific Skills is delayed because of transferring Mana from Dreamer to Item. At such a moment, filled with anger and rage, you didn't use a Skill. It just meant… You had never used one."

By the time Aldrich finished his explanation, the fairy's tight and small chest was already huffing and puffing in repulsion. Aldrich could only surmise the way she looked at him as a beast looking at prey to devour at the first viable opportunity.

But the RECORD wouldn't let her do so, and Aldrich had made sure of it.

Aldrich observed the Crawler taking a deep breath as if preparing for a battle-turning decision.

"You think you have figured everything out? But you know nothing, Aldrich Guo…

… I add all my levels to the bet as compensation."

[…

Anjana's 39 levels are accepted

…

The combined quality of the bet isn't enough

Crawler Anjana is advised to add more compensation…

…]

The fairy's eyes widened as if her soul had escaped out of them. Aldrich realized the shock had finally calmed her down, and it was time for his words to echo in the Crawler's mind. As he saw the fairy coming down on earth and her face getting paler and paler because of the sheer terror, Aldrich muttered to himself.

"Do you know who fears death the most?"

Aldrich's low words snapped the fairy out of her delusions, and she craned her neck up to look at him. Her mouth struggled to open, and Aldrich thought there was even a possibility of her choking on her own words.

"Impossible… Your life can't be compared to the existence of a Legend. Not even if you had bet your Eternal Death. No… not even…

… I… I add my life to the bet as compensation."

[…

Anjana's life is accepted

…

The combined quality of the bet isn't enough

Crawler Anjana is advised to add more compensation…

…]

Who could know better than Aldrich that even his Eternal Death wasn't enough compared to the existence of a Legend?

But Aldrich had something that was even more important than that.

A thing he knew that the RECORD abhorred.

A thing he knew was a stain on RECORD's Authority.

A thing whose value surpassed many legends.

It was the Skill, Shared Vision.