Galaxy's First Ruler

Hehehe!

A peal of shrieky laughter came out of Aldrich's mouth as he saw the warning mentioned by the RECORD.

The price of compensation wasn't just the bets added by the Crawler, Anjana, but it also was the Experience Points and the Rewards. The fairy's bet of all her levels had been confiscated, giving Aldrich no way to earn a single ExP. And she had bet her own life at the end, making Aldrich irrelevant to her death.

Aldrich shook his head and was about to go towards the portal when he suddenly remembered something. He looked at the nine pillars and the eight red papers containing his Sins. Aldrich knew the moment he left this plaza, this entire place would be scratched away, and a ditto copy of this plaza would appear in its place. The Viscount Ranked Anjana would respawn, but she won't have any memories of him, and even the Sins on the Pillars won't be his anymore.

"Towered towards heaven! Is that what she had said?"

Even though it was a fraction of an inch, Aldrich could notice that the first pillar had risen compared to the rest eight, when the red paper had vanished. It was like a compressed spring, but in the pillar's case, something was holding it back from reaching its original height and shape. And Aldrich knew who was the culprit.

It was his presence.

Hehehehe!!!

The laugh was getting sharper and eerier, as Aldrich's eyes kept fixating over the pillar. The black glow on his mask gained a tinge of slight purple and Aldrich took a step towards the first pillar.

"There is no way I am going empty-handed out of this place, humph!"

For a moment, after proclaiming out, Aldrich halted his steps, and his right hand glowed blue. But even before the Rumok could take effect, the process got cut off before execution. The purple tinge on the mask intensified, and Aldrich kept walking towards the pillar.

The pillar wasn't overly big, nor was it small. Its thickness was about Aldrich's waist, and despite the many engravings on its surface, it didn't have any protrusions. From top to bottom, the pillar was plain like a pole. Aldrich put his hand on the surface, and he could feel a wooden texture in it. But he wasn't sure what the actual material was, for it neither seemed wood nor metal. The runic symbols were also a mix of Rumoks and the Law of Justice, which Aldrich couldn't analyze yet.

Aldrich reached down to grab the thick pillar. The size of his hands wasn't even enough to wrap themselves completely around the pillar. Aldrich's eyes narrowed in a slit and he pressed his hands into the pillar to make a solid grip.

Aahhhh!

Aldrich put all his raw strength to pull out the pillar. His gray boots slid backward, and Aldrich's back twisted to give him an ideal position. His clenched teeth snapped open and he let out a shout, but even after giving it his best, the pillar didn't even budge. Aldrich let go of the pillar and looked towards the sky.

The smile that has surfaced on his face could have scared even a devil away.

Heh heh Haha HAHAHA!

"Daddy… You… scaring… me."

Aldrich spread out his arms, and his gray greatcoat fluttered with no wind. Sha's voice was like an incoherent buzz, and there was only one word in his mind that kept repeating itself.

"CHANGE!"

[…

Dreamer has used the Unnatural Lifeform to temper with the Attributes again

Adding 6% additional Penalty…

…

Strength: 170 (+70)

Perception: 280 (-70)

…]

Aldrich didn't realize the heavy penalty that RECORD had instated on him. The addition of this penalty brought down the previous 31% transferable Attributes to only 25%.

Strength coursed through Aldrich's veins as he again gripped the pillar.

AAAHHH!!!

The sheer vibrations from Aldrich's shout decimated the surrounding flowery field. The faraway birds flew away to the distant parts of the Plaza, and the placid lake churned as if a hurricane was about to come.

Aldrich's muscles bulged and his feet got buried in the earth. The white of his eyes became red from the rush of blood, and snake-like veins came popping on his face. Aldrich's teeth were clenched shut as he tried to pull the pillar out, but there was a smile full of mockery on his face.

"PUny ThIng, HAha! DOn't KNow My MIGht."

The voice that came out of Aldrich's mouth was like there were two different beings speaking at the same time. One was harsh, thick, and evil. The other was sweet, sultry, and full of emotions. But none of those voices felt like Aldrich's original one.

Trr-Trrrr

As Aldrich kept crazily trying to pull out the pillar, first his nails burst apart. Then his skin broke apart, and all the muscles in his body got ruptured soon too. His gray clothing got dyed red, but except for pulling the pillar out, Aldrich had nothing in his mind. The pillar, however, hadn't budged an inch.

"Daddyy… Daddyyy… Wake… up!"

Heh heh Haha HAHAHA!

The ghastly laugh again engulfed Sha's screams and a hollow muttering sound came out of Aldrich.

"SPawn of DARkness?! WHat a FLashy NAme?"

ROOARRRRRRR!

Aldrich let out a deafening roar, spitting out blood and saliva. The tinge of purple had now become gas and gathered on his forehead. A second horn erupted out of his mask and the purple gas turned into a tattoo of a horned goat's skull with a snake coiled around it. But this wasn't the extent of this purple hue.

His white hair seemed to put up a struggle but soon turned into purple too. The red color of his blood seeping out from the grievous wounds turned purple, and his white pupils also started to glow purple.

BOOM!

Aldrich's head got banged by an unseen force, and the Dark Sapling hidden in his forehead came rushing out from the security of that depthless hole. It towered behind Aldrich with only one leaf and swayed as if putting up a fight. Aldrich let go of the pillar and slowly turned his head to look back. As his eyes fell on the Dark Sapling, an ear-to-ear grin came upon his face.

"HEhe! DARKness, Oh DARKness! WHEre Are YOur DARKlings?"