Monarch of Profound Toxin [Progression, LitRPG]

"Mass murder?" he repeated. He wish he could say that this was a surprise, but it had only been a matter of time before he was called in for questioning.

"Yes, according to witnesses, you were seen earlier today wiping out at least forty Gohkamorians in one of their compounds located on the outskirts of Gimleh. Are you denying these accusations?" the helmeted person asked him. Judging by the voice alone it was a woman.

"I would prefer to not make any comments at this time if you don't mind."

"Very well," she said with a nod. "Nonetheless I must ask you to follow me back to Gimleh immediately. I must advise you against resisting and to just follow along quietly."

"Sure," Eik said, holding the little blob of Profound Toxin behind his back. "I just have to feed my cat before we leave."

For a moment Eik could almost hear the officer think. "Excuse me?"

"I have to feed my cat before I can go. Give me a second," he said and went back into the house.

"Do not leave my sight!" she said and attempted to follow him inside, clearly nervous about whatever ability he might have that could allow him to escape.

"Relax. I'm just going to feed my cat and then we can go. You haven't been invited inside," he said as a shell of blue crystal shot up in front of her and shoved her back into the garden with force. In the same moment, the entire house was covered in the hardened barrier, shutting the arresting officers out completely.

Eik went to the kitchen counter and got out a bowl. He filled it with chunks of leftover meat from the previous day's meal and set it down below one of the windows where Mis always had her food. He also refilled her water bowl only to discover his cat suddenly back in the house despite the nearly impenetrable shell covering all points of entry.

"You know that I know that you have extraordinary abilities, right? I'm not an idiot. Cats can't teleport."

Mis meowed and started gobbling up the meat chunks as ravenously as if she hadn't had anything to eat in a week. For the record, she had eaten this morning. He plopped the slime down on her back as the sound of the armored officers beating on the shell from the outside reverberated through the space inside.

"Now, you have to take care of this little guy while I'm gone, all right? I'll write Ihasu a message explaining everything. Don't let it go outside, basically. Got it?" It would have been great to say that he saw some kind of subtle indication that she had heard and understood him, but that would have been a lie. She didn't even stop eating while he spoke.

To be honest, he hadn't expected the officers to show up this quickly. Otherwise he would have told Ihasu and his dad what had happened right away. He summoned a single Living Manifestation, gave it a handwritten note to hold and sent it out through a small hole he opened in the shell.

It would deliver a request to Michael to find Ihasu and Rasmus and explain what had happened. He didn't want any of them to find out from a note left on the table in the house.

The attempts to break through his barrier were incessant but to no avail. With nothing else to steal his attention, he could focus on only that, constantly supplying new toxin where they managed to break off fragments.

Walking back to the front door, he released the section of crystal covering the doorway and stepped through, just as the massive head of a war hammer came in for a heavy strike. Eik didn't bother to step aside and instead caught the head of the hammer in his hand before it could make contact with his face.

"Whoa, there," he said as the hammer wielder blanched audibly, the momentum of his weapon arrested completely. With no luck the armored officer attempted to pry the hammer from Eik's grip, his comrades moving into a rough semi-circle to surround Eik from all sides.

"Do not try to resist!" their leader shouted, some of Eik's neighbor now beginning to peek around walls and bushes to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

Great. More damn rumors.

"I told you I had to feed my cat first. That's what I did. If you hadn't tried to force your way into my house I wouldn't have had to lock you out so forcefully. My cat isn't Awakened, so I'm not about to have some rowdy brute like you stomp around in there."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

There was a moment's silence as the guards watched him, making no moves to sheathe weapons or spells. "Hands behind your back!" the leader ordered.

"No." Eik answered.

"Hands behind your back!"

"I'm not doing that. I have done nothing wrong and I have told you I will come along quietly. I will not have you haul me through my own city like some common criminal," he told her firmly.

He was probably being more combative that what was called for, but he was honestly pissed.

Although he had expected it to a degree, the Gohkamorians had lured him into an ambush and attempted to take his secrets, freedom, and probably his life. He had simply defended himself from a people that had murdered a majority of Earth's population. They were lucky it wasn't worse.

That was all and he wasn't about to have his reputation in Forest ruined just because of this crap. If those fuckers wanted to make it into a thing then it would be a thing.

"On the ground!" came the revised order.

"I'm not doing that either. As a matter of fact, I'll give you two choices. Allow me to walk quietly back with you without putting on this big, theatrical show, or get the fuck out of my garden. And by the way, asshole," he snapped at a swordsman on his right. "you're stomping around in my petunias."

The man looked down and took a careful step to the side to stand on the lawn proper. Good.

Eik refrained from mentioning the third and less pleasant option of attacking him now and going home crippled. Actually, maybe he wouldn't fight back at that point. Hurting Alliance officers wouldn't help anyone, and even with his reckless streak he wasn't that dumb.

The leader watched Eik Magnasen warily. Loyalty to her station meant that she had saluted curtly and accepted the order to bring in the rising star from Earth without any outward displeasure.

But on the inside she had sighed and shivered.

Every member of the squad, including herself, had heard plenty about Eik Magnasen and his absurd achievements both when it came to combat and alchemy. The man seemed to have little regard for political authority and refused to fall in line unlike most people.

It was rare to see someone who would eat the hassle and danger of sticking out just to do whatever they wanted. Eik Magnasen seemed like that type of person. If things didn't happen on his terms, he wasn't going to do it.

And yet here they were, hoping to bring in the guy.

He was nothing like a regular A-ranker, for fuck's sake! What the hell was she supposed to do if he said no? Knock him out throw him over her shoulder? Yeah, no, he had just caught Mo's war hammer with one hand like it was nothing!

Her trembling fingers gripped the handle of her sword even tighter. The man didn't give two shits about her authority, so where were orders going to get her when they couldn't even overwhelm him?

She eyed the destroyed plant bed. They were one transgression away from one of those big sky oceans he called an Apocalypse Canvas, or the boosted power state he had shown at his duel with Gilim. And that probably wasn't even his final form.

She had been there that day, watching it herself, expecting the Ougi heir to claim victory. Only after the fight had she heard of Eik Magnasen's extreme breaking of the high score in the A-rank Crucible test.

"If we allow you to simply walk between us, will you come along quietly?" she finally asked.

Eik blinked. "Yes, of course. That's what I've been saying this whole time."

The leader grumbled.

***

"This crap again?" Eik muttered as he stared into the cell. It looked a lot like the one Menka Tokanami had been sitting in when they had visited before her execution, albeit considerably cleaner.

"Just get in," his arresting officer ordered tersely. She had calmed down a lot since he did as asked without any resistance beyond general grumpy complaints. She had gotten some of her confidence back.

"Do I have to? This place kind of sucks."

She pushed him carefully in the back. "Mr. Magnasen, let's not make this more difficult for any of us than it has to be, please." Her tone was almost pleading.

Eik could obviously take her. Judging by her movements, she was a new A-ranker at best. If he so wished it, her and her whole squad would have been annihilated in seconds. But they had done nothing to him except follow an order by some bastard in an office.

That any authority had picked them to apprehend him was wild. It didn't feel too far-fetched to suspect that it was nothing but a cynical test of his character. Would he obey and follow or would he murder the herd of sacrificial goats sent for him?

"At least get me something to drink," he said and stepped into the cell. She shut the gate as a barrier sprung into life between them.

"I'll see what I can do," she said and turned on her heel and left.

He slid into a sitting position with his back against the wall. All that was left was to wait for whatever came next. What he had realized was that, for the Alliance's perspective, he was a nail that was sticking out too much. They despised his refusal to play by their rules. A fresh member civilization wasn't supposed to do whatever they wanted on a cosmic scale, and a single individual from a fresh world even less so. They were probably anxious to get him to fall in line and were taking drastic measures in the attempt.

At some point they would hopefully learn that the way to his cooperation was not cold authority and hostility, but genuine companionship and friendliness. There needed to be trust, not just mutual benefit. At least in a legitimate alliance. Atla and Mikla had done a better job of that than these different council members had.

It was hours later when the same arresting officer returned and stood in front of the gate to his cell. "They're ready for you."

"Wow, great," he drawled mockingly but got up nonetheless.

"Will you follow along quietly?"

He held up his hands. "Sure."

She unlocked the door and stepped aside so he could pass. She fell into rhythm behind him. He was getting tired of this kind of crap. There was no doubt that the past two years of anonymous bliss had come to an end…