The Almighty Ring

As the Android retreated away from the thunderbolt, Jiang Fei leaped towards Isabella. Even though the hatred in him was so vile, Jiang Fei could not afford to fight him just yet. He immediately diverted all his energy to his legs to reach Isabella as fast as he could.

“Bella! How do you feel?” Jiang Fei cried out when Isabella was in his arms.

Unfortunately, Isabella was not herself. The poor girl’s eyes were rolled back as her entire body was convulsing without control. Jiang Fei could only imagine how much pain her own energy was causing her. The fact that she was still conscious proved that Isabella was trying her best not to give in.

Gritting through his teeth, Jiang Fei snarled, “Ariel, kill the robot!”

Ariel nodded, although she shared the same emotion with Jiang Fei, the girl was more composed than ever. There was nothing held back when Jiang Fei had ordered the man’s execution. Unfortunately, before Ariel could attack, the robot laughed maniacally and called Jiang Fei out.

“My dear guildmaster, you best get your head straight and not act too recklessly,” said the Android.

Thrown, Jiang Fei glared at the machine, wondering when it addressed him as guildmaster. Ariel was holding back her attacks as she recognized something that he was holding in his hands.

“Oh, my dear guildmaster. Could you have forgotten about me?” he said whilst playing with the tiara. The tiara that had the Core of Will engraved on it. The tiara that was supposed to keep Isabella in control of herself.

“Give that back.”

Jiang Fei was not playing anymore. His voice contained so much hatred that it could even send the most ferocious tiger running back to its den.

Jiang Fei had readied a new bracelet for Isabella and just when he wanted to put it on Isabella, he noticed the bracelet that she was already wearing still contained trace amounts of Valium. It was extremely little that it could be said that there was no more Valium. He stopped putting the bracelet when the Android playfully showed Jiang Fei the tiara that he stole from Isabella.

Right now, Jiang Fei was in a dire situation. He could not administer Valium to Isabella because the Android had taken away the one thing that could keep her from going out of control, or worse…

Everything had gone wrong in the worst possible way. Jiang Fei had miscalculated the rate of which Isabella consumed Valium. He should have long gauged the rate of Valium consumption when he noticed the rate of which Isabella grew stronger. The stronger she became, the more Valium she would consume. That was the first stroke of bad luck. After losing the ability to fight, Isabella grew weak but was still in control of her mind. She had merely lost her strength. In that moment of vulnerability, the enemy had stolen the tiara containing the Core of Will.

If Jiang Fei, at that very moment, had ignored the safety issue and administered Valium to Isabella, without the power of Will helping Isabella, the power of Berserk would instantly wipe Isabella’s consciousness out of existence. He would be killing Isabella if he had given her the new bracelet.

“Guildmaster. How sad this is. You had forgotten who I am!” said the Android as he paced slowly towards Jiang Fei.

“Don’t play games with me.”

“Games? I was playing a long time ago but who’s playing now?” said Android, laughing.

“Who are you? Why did you call me guildmaster?”

“Oh. I’m nobody. A nobody that once served under your flag!” said the Android before he unveiled his iron mask.

“You– Demonic Monarch?” Jiang Fei gasped. The unveiled appearance of the Android resembled a player that he once knew.

“Congratulations! You’ve remembered my name! Do you still remember what happened to me?” he said.

“That doesn’t make sense. You’re a human. How did you…”

“How did I became an Android? Is that what you wanted to ask? Heh! I was a human. A nobody, like how I was when I was serving under you! Now, I’m something else entirely! Even though I had to sacrifice so much, it was worth it! Now, with my new body, I can take over China entirely!” said Monarch.

“So, it was you who leads the rebellion!”

“Leads? I might have been something else entirely but a leader is not what I am! Hehe! I’m just helping the great master to take care of a few loose strings!”

“Master?” Jiang Fei muttered to himself. Was that the same person or thing that had made Monarch the… the machine he is now?

“Guild master… you said not to play games now. I’m only going to say this once. So pay attention!” Monarch stood in front of Jiang Fei and bent over to face him directly.

“If you kill me, I will do everything I can, including igniting my core to destroy this Core of Will. That be the last thing you would want since you’ll be needing this to save your pretty little gal.”

Monarch paced away, facing his back to Jiang Fei.

“Now, if you want this back…” said Monarch as he gestured to the tiara that he was dangerously dangling off his robotic finger, “I have a few conditions that I liked to be fulfilled.”

“Fine! Name your price,” Jiang Fei barked defeatedly. He had no choice but to give in to the demands of the Androids. Isabella’s life was at stake and there was no way Ariel could do anything to Monarch.

“Hehehe! All I ask is that you stay the f*ck away from me when this is over. Additionally, you are not to interfere with anything in China!” said Monarch. Based on his full-on conceited tone, he thought that he completely had Jiang Fei on the palm of his metallic hands.

“Fine! Give me back the tiara!” Jiang Fei roared.

“Hahaha! Now that’s a good lad. Do you see what this is?” Monarch gestured to his head.

“It’s your head…” said Jiang Fei, annoyed. Isabella was still convulsing and he prayed that Monarch was done with his games. There was no time to delay!

“Ding! Ding! Ding! Correct! My brain inside here, and if I die, I’d die for real. I’m not like the other Androids!” said Monarch, laughing as he kicked one of the lifeless Level 5 Android destroyed bodies.

“You see… I have to believe you. I really do but all I have is your words. As of now, your words of desperation mean sh*t! I mean, you could simple just kill me off later once I hand over this toy,” he continued.

“Show me a little bit more sincerity here. Perhaps…” Monarch paused and glanced at Isabella before smiling.

“What do you want!” Jiang Fei roared.

“I want all the Energy Crystals that you have right now!” Monarch roared back.

“Fine!” Jiang Fei agreed in a heartbeat. He had thought Monarch would demand something else entirely but all he asked was a few batteries.

Ever since he had turned on the backup Teleportation Core, Jiang Fei had managed to accumulate at least a hundred thousand Energy Crystals. Enough it seemed like a large number, it was only so little that Jiang Fei would not bat an eye to give it to Monarch. It did not matter since he would simply defeat Monarch after Isabella was saved and reclaim all that had been taken.

Jiang Fei had completely overestimated Monarch’s threat. In truth, Monarch was just a shut-in man without a job that loved playing games. Even after he had become something that resembled more of a cyborg than an Android, his way of thinking was still limited. His understanding of Jiang Fei was affected by it. He had no idea what was more valuable to Jiang Fei.

The reason why Monarch would demand Energy Crystals was because of all the information he had on Jiang Fei gathered by the military before the entire commotion about the Androids started.

A few moments later, Jiang Fei filled the entire floor with Energy Crystals. A hundred thousand Energy Crystals took up space even if they were already compact to begin with.