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　　Hm……I think I need a haircut. Or on second thought, maybe not……it doesn't look too bad, I think this works for me. 

  　　I was currently checking out my reflection in a lake, which was near my current hiding place. I was in the area to the west of Liberty, deep inside a forest. 

  　　Twenty years had passed since my narrow escape from Abyss, it was currently the 29th of November, 1720.

  　　During that time, I'd been slowly but surely picking off Adventurers on Quests, and raised my base power level up to 150,940. My progress was at an absolute snail's pace, I've only been managing to snare about twenty to twenty-five people per year, and hardly any of them have been significantly powerful. 

  　　I've gained Obliteration Magic and two Extra Magics in that time, called Berserker and Mesmerize. And I've also gained a Support Magic ability called switch. 

  　　Mesmerize lets me control someone like a puppet by kissing them……don't really understand why that's necessary, but it is what it is, and so long as the victim has a significantly lower power level than mine, the mind control is effectively unbreakable. 

  　　It doesn't work on those with higher power levels than mine, and it's not very effective on those with power levels that are about more than a third of mine. 

  　　I haven't used it yet……because I gained it from my most recent victim, which happened yesterday. And it's a real game changer. Not to mention that, with my True Anima combined with Berserker, my power level will be over 600,000, while Shiro Blanc's maximum power level is below 400,000. 

  　　In other words……it's about time I finally make my move again. I've spend the last two decades as productively as possible, improving my mastery over my techniques and abilities as far as I can. 

  　　I've gotten quite good at combining my various healing techniques, and as a result, I've been able to slow down and stop my aging process. In other words, I'm effectively immortal, though I certainly can be killed, there's no one left in this world who's strong enough to pull that off. 

  　　And once I kill Shiro, I'll be well and truly unstoppable. I need to be careful though, Berserker isn't the most reliable technique……when it's active, despite the immense boost in power, it's absolutely impossible to keep a cool head while in that state. 

  　　No matter how hard I try, I feel irrationally aggressive when it's active, with constant violent impulses. And on top of that, it can only be used continuously for five minutes, and then can't be used again for another hour. 

  　　In other words, it's not a good option against an opponent of a similar power level, all they have to do is play it safe and wait for me to make a mistake. With that in mind, I should probably look to boost my base power level a little bit more before making a move. 

  　　The only problem with that is……I've had enough of living like this, damn it! Who knows how much this world has progressed in the last twenty years, I bet even the most normal people are living lives of extreme luxury now, and here I am, living in the wild, constantly on the move. 

  　　I haven't been anywhere near any of the nations or trade center towns since that incident in Abyss, and it's been awful. 

  　　Just look at me……my hair is long and unruly, going down past my shoulders, I've got thick, messy facial hair as well, which I've been using my trident to trim every now and then, but that weapon isn't exactly ideal for shaving. 

  　　I'm at my physical peak now, and I can maintain it indefinitely, so I could wait a while longer and get stronger……but enough is enough, I'm making my next move soon. 

  　　Like me, Shiro Blanc has also been halting his aging process, and for much longer than I have. I've been extracting as much information as possible from the Adventurers I've been preying on, and from what I've found out, it seems like Shiro has also been doing to the same to his wife, Minise Mefvis, they both haven't aged at all. 

  　　Additionally, Jhin from Abyss hasn't aged either, being able to manipulate his host body as a Demon. And from the sound of it, Rai Rumel and Key Angor have been aging, but very slowly. 

  　　And the Earth Sage, being a Dwarf, ages a lot slower than humans do. But she's no longer a real threat to me, I can crush her even without using Berserker. 

  　　Shiro is the only one left who's a threat to me, but unlike before, I have the advantage. So, yeah, I'll be making my next move soon. 

  　　Specifically, I plan to utterly destroy one of the trade center towns, and it doesn't matter which one. I'll eat as many hearts as I can from the most powerful people there, and then escape before anyone else shows up. 

  　　Sort of like a game of tag, a 'catch me if you can' type of thing. And if and when Shiro or someone else does catch up to me, I'll completely obliterate them. 

  　　If it works out well, I'll be able to power up while having fun, instead of continuing on with this sorry state of a lifestyle. 

  　　"Now, then……I'm almost done having my fun with you, so any last words?" I inquired with a smirk, as I poked my latest victim with my trident, drawing some blood. 

  　　A young woman Adventurer, she'd shown up in a group of three yesterday. One of the other two was a Reincarnator, from whom I gained the Support Magic switch and Extra Magic Mesmerize. 

  　　This woman was the weakest of the group, so I spared her for the time being and had fun with her, just like how I used to in my old life with my victims then. 

  　　She's quite attractive, so naturally, you can imagine how I toyed with her to start off with. And after I violated her to my heart's content, leaving her in tears with a broken look on her face, I switched things up to regular old-fashioned torture. 

  　　I did go overboard a few times, but nothing I couldn't heal and try again. She's almost completely broken inside now though, so not a very strong sense of willpower, which was disappointing. 

  　　Breaking people who are mentally strong, cracking through their egos bit by bit, that's so much more satisfying that breaking people who are fragile inside. 

  　　"P-please……just……kill me," Muttered the woman in response. 

  　　"Nah, I don't kill people who want to die. I'm nowhere near that nice," I replied with a grin before lifting her chin and pressing my lips onto hers, activating Mesmerize. 

  　　Now, become my puppet. 

  　　"Wha……?" She mumbled, as a dazed look appeared in her eyes, a blank expression on her face. 

  　　"Alright, you can go back to Abyss now. Pretend that you barely escaped from me, and then stir up some trouble. Kill the people who trust you the most," I commanded her with a smirk. 

  　　"Okay……I understand……," She responded with a nod. 

  　　With this technique, I'll be able to sense exactly where she is, and even from a distance, I can compel her to go wherever I want. 

  　　Unfortunately, I can't share her senses, as in I can't hear or see what she hears and sees, which sucks, but it's still a very handy technique. Using this, I can send back some of my victims every now and then, and have them rile things up in their nations or areas of residence, sowing unrest, distrust and fear throughout the population. 

  　　Those factors will bring out the worst in people, which will eventually well and truly shatter this peace that I've managed to crack and disrupt over the last two and half decades or so. 

  　　It's gonna be so much fun, I'm brimming with anticipation just thinking about it! 

  　　It may have been incredibly tedious and tiresome for the most part, but I have to admit, I don't mind the challenge. That'll make my successes all the more satisfying. 

  　　I won't completely destroy this world, of course, I just want to remove all serious threats to me, so that I can do as I please whenever I please. 

  　　Like I said, I don't mind a good challenge, but I also enjoy when things are easier and I can act freely to my heart's content. I have to be careful not to cripple this world to the point where it stops developing or progressing, or even worse, regressing. 

  　　Because once I've gotten rid of Shiro and any others with significantly high power levels, I intend to live a life of luxury, filled with debauchery and my darkest desires…… 

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  　　Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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