The V-Stream was showing that Viers was leaving Valkut city. He moved stealthily to avoid the detection of others.

“Fhuuu… Nothing happened. Thank goodness,” Paina sighed in relief.

“But why did Lord Viers tell Rose about Leon in the first place?” Farley pondered.

“Must be another Fable of his… He doesn't seem to want to talk about it this time,” Clarissa said.

Viers was aware of the three’s conversation in his soul space but he didn't explain anything to them.

Clarissa was correct, it was Viers’ genre-savviness that prompted his confession to Rose.

Why? Because the angel will tell her so there’s a revelation in the worst possible timing!

The angel was an unknown plot device that was out of Viers’ control!

Viers had seen too many instances where the bad guy’s hidden crimes came out into the light during important story points. Even though there shouldn't be any witnesses, Viers was certain the truth about Leon’s death would be found out by Rose in the future.

Or perhaps it will be Fate shenanigans. Whichever the case, coming clean is the best course of action.

Therefore he spilled the beans to Rose despite the risk.

If Rose didn't have an angel on her shoulder, Viers wouldn’t confess. There was no need for such a thing, just like he didn't tell his tenants about how he killed the families of the people he killed in the book world and censored relating information from getting to them in the V-Stream media.

Because they didn't have an angel.

The angelic power berserk that Rose manifested was a bit of a surprise. He expected that she would have something up her sleeve but it was far above Viers’ calculations. Against Rose’s sword of light back then, he didn't know if his contingencies would be enough. Rose’s angel had almost become Viers’ angel of death.

Some might call it foolish, and indeed, Viers had no strategic gain for telling the truth.

Viers only leaned on the clichés. A villain's past dark deed would get found out by the good guys at the most inopportune moment.

He prevented it by exploding the bomb early.

Did Viers make the right call?

Who could say.

***

At a place that seemed to have undergone a series of air raids, there was a pond. Not a pond of water but a pond of lightning. It was the size of a big bathtub, three people could go in at most but there was only one user at the moment.

Bathing in the electric current was painful but it was useful so Viers was doing it. The Electrolysis Pond -a custom name because the previous one was too long- was capable of improving the constitution of the body, making the bones stronger, skin more resilient to injuries, and so on. In xianxia terms, the pond was a body-forging method.

After separating from the people of the Church, Viers stayed at the Serene Thunder Aviary. Not much remained in the Aviary but there were two important sites that Viers focused on preserving. One was the pond for its effect on improving the body. The other was no less important, a cave capable of tempering the mind.

Viers had been going in and out of both places at intervals to get the most benefits.

As a soul Pathseeker, Viers had a method to train his own soul. With the other two strengthening methods, the holy trinity of body, mind, and soul was complete.

While his body was getting electrocuted, Viers used his soul method to detach his consciousness from the body, so he could do something else. He didn't like wasting time.

In the White Flower Meadows, Clarissa was sharing her perspective to Viers. Exchanging opinions and getting feedback was important for improvements, especially so since Clarissa was a former Level 5.

Farley and Paina were in the Grid, training intensely. Paina was especially motivated since this concerned her the most.

Viers’ three starter Poké-familiars were out and about. Futon and Faiya were enjoying their time out of the dimensional space badges. Dia was no longer in her chibi mode but in her ten-year-old girl form.

They too were getting stronger. Dia, who had gotten the gift from Mita at their first meeting, and Futon, who had eaten a special lightning part of the Doom of Roael’s inheritance, were already Level 3. The dryad and cloud elemental were having a mock battle to test their power. Only Faiya was still Level 2. It made him cry but the family consoled him. Viers promised he would get him something that would push him to Level 3 soon.

“This Soul Hack Arte of yours is quite good. Subduing their soul is equal to an instant kill. You can order the victim to suicide or whatever, just as Candice’s case but beware, at a higher level, it wouldn't be possible without overwhelming strength. Especially against Level 4s that have their Domain. You should not focus your effort on that.”

“I’m not. That’s why I’m refining three new Artes. All are water path.”

Viers was sitting in a lotus position in the middle of a patch of flowers. His eyes were still closed when Clarissa talked to him.

“Even against Candice, I must use soul brute force to subdue her mind. It’s useful for dealing with weaker opponents, saboteur purposes, and the like but stronger enemies close or above my strength remain my true obstacles.”

“Whoa, whoa, back up. Three new Artes? Since when? You’ve always been like this. How are you seemingly getting power boosts at random? Your improvement rate is crazy high compared to other Pathseekers. It's almost unfair,” Clarissa said while agitated.

“Someone that became a Level 5 in one year of cultivation accuses me of being unfair?” Viers smiled.

“That was back then, during the Age of Gods. Back on topic, making a custom Arte is difficult. Even I didn’t make Medusa Gaze easily. The way you acquire high-grade Artes left and right is as if you used monster cores or magic scrolls… but you did not. How can you create custom Artes without much effort? What sorcery do you use to pull that off?”

“Compounding advantages on top of advantages, that’s how I pull this off, Rissa,” he gave his signature smile. A smile with a touch of daredevilry.

Viers had many Artes, at least thrice above the average Pathseekers. Besides the difficulty of learning a single Arte, there was also the matter of improving said Arte.

The number of Artes in one’s possession were not equal to their battle strength.

Quality was more important than quantity so the logical approach people took was to polish the Artes that suited them, and utilized them as skillfully as they could.

There was nothing wrong with that but Viers’ variety of Artes gave him versatility.

Viers had two affinities so his Arte requirements were double that of other people’s, but as Clarissa had said, it didn't pose any trouble for him.

There were several reasons for this. First and foremost was the inspiration for the Artes.

From the Fables and Earth’s entertainment, Viers had all the inspiration he needed.

Next was the know-how to realize the Arte, the spell constructs to bring forth his imagination into reality.

Viers’ soul-searched victims helped tremendously in this. For example, the three new water Artes he was currently devising were overhauled from the techniques of a recently acquired Level 4 water Pathseeker soul from Lykin.

I exploited her soul so much that I feel bad. I almost want to let her go. Almost. Level 4 souls are too precious to let go so I’m gonna consume you but I’ll make it painless. Don't worry, you’ll still be able to go to the afterlife.

Although Viers had no soul Pathseekers to derive soul Artes from, he could still make use of other Pathseekers’ Artes as reference materials. With soul attainment on par with Level 5s, it wasn't impossible.

There was the Grid. A virtual simulation where he could test the Artes in the development phase without using any Victa. Without it, Viers would have to test them in real life, which would be a massive strain on his already Victa-intense lifestyle.

Lastly, there was Arsène.

Even when he was asleep, Arsène could be active! It didn't need to be outside of his body, Arsène could do things inside Viers. Creating or improving Artes was only one of the things Arsène was capable of. Soul searching, fighting other people in the Grid, training sword techniques, and so much more!

With Arsène, Viers basically had twice the learning ability compared to other people. When they synced, Arsène’s experience merged with Viers’.

If possible, Viers would keep Arsène active 24 hours every day but the Victa cost of doing that was unsustainable.

Victa was always an issue. The good news was the lack of serious battles of late allowed Viers to save quite a bit of Victa in the tank.

The more Victa spent during the training phase, the more you improve but it results in there being less Victa available during the actual battle. Balancing Victa's spending in training and battle is key. Minimizing useless Victa expenditure and maximizing Victa usage… All is resource management!

His time with the Church people was like a vacation, a change of pace. Now that he no longer needed to act amongst them, Viers had plenty of free time. The time that he used to improve his strength. An ethic of Viers Corporation, CEO or employees alike.

While Arsène is laying the groundwork outside, I must improve my strength. Every bit of improvement counts!

Viers’ consciousness returned to his body. He was almost at his limit in the Electrolysis Pond. Viers walked out of the pond, his body twitched from muscle pains and fell to the ground soon after. Black sludge poured out of his pores. It was his bodily impurities.

Dia put the unmoving Viers above Futon and carried him to the Thundering Mind Cave. While the body rested, the mind was getting a workout.

He had three days to get as strong as possible.

The third act of the Valkut arc was coming up soon.

***

It was a beautiful wedding, Rose thought.

Russ and Pinaca were splendid today. Their attire, the ceremony, and most importantly, their smiles. They looked genuinely happy, taking their wedding vows before Abbess Unem.

As an attendee, the happy atmosphere rubbed off on Rose. Good, she needed it.

Since that night, three days had passed and she didn't see Viers again. Now that master Mita’s Oath had been fulfilled, Bryan and Max were furiously eager to catch Viers. On the other hand, Rose was stuck in a mire of indecision. She was actually glad Viers left. She didn't know what she would do if she met Viers again.

Her heart was in turmoil as she looked at the rose hairpin cupped in her hands, a gift from Leon on her birthday. Not her true one since no one knew. So the day she was left at the orphanage was decided to be her birthday. She used to hate it, a reminder that she was an unwanted child.

Leon managed to change her mind. What was left was a glimmering, precious memory.

She should forgive, but her heart refused to say ‘oh yeah, I forgive you’.

There was a fire of hate burning inside her now and it was eating her from the inside. She didn't want to house this hate. It was nasty and toxic but the fire refused to go out.

Viers… Why did you kill Leon, damn you…

“Lady Rose, are you well?”

Rose was jolted to reality by the bride who had the same face as Paina.

“Eh? Oh, thank you for asking. I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind. Congratulations on the wedding,” Rose let out her practiced smile.

Talking helped keep her mind from thinking about Viers. After the official festivities, Rose gave Russ and Sullivan her sincere blessing of happiness for the young couple in private.

***

At night, at the Sullivan estate, Russ and Pinaca were about to have their first night as newlyweds.

“You’re so beautiful, wife…” Russ said softly to Pinaca who was lying under him on top of a flowered bed, giving gentle kisses on her neck.

“Aaah~ Russ… don't look at me so much. It’s embarrassing…” Pinaca said coquettishly.

“...I’ll begin, okay?”

“Nn,” Pinaca gave a small nod. “I’m ready.”

THWOCK! THWOCK!

Soul Hack! Black Out Down! Spirit Supremacy!

“Ghwack!?” Russ was out for the count, extremely so.

“Hyyiiick!?” Pinaca frothed from the mouth as her eyes showed their whites.

Simultaneously with a club to their heads, Viers unleashed multiple soul Artes. Russ and Pinaca didn't even realize what had happened before they lost consciousness.

Infiltration was Viers’ specialty. After Arsène’s scouting and arrangements, sneaking into the estate was not hard at all. Security was stretched thin with the wedding.

Ah, animals… They are so vulnerable when they are mating.

To Viers, humans were merely smarter animals. More or less.

Viers put Pinaca into something similar to a bodybag, tied it, and hauled it onto his shoulder before escaping the Sullivan mansion.