My SSS-Rank Innate skill: Infinite Adaptation core

”What is the meaning of this, you insignificant insect?! Contacting me without my permission!”

The man in the projection wore a similar black robe, though without a hood. Instead, he had on a strange mask with red symbols etched across it. The number ”110” was clearly visible on his robes. Even though the projection wasn’t perfectly clear, Nova could still make out every detail.

The man quickly scanned his surroundings and immediately understood the situation. He saw his subordinate trembling on the ground and the other one lying dead with his head crushed. His gaze then shifted to Nova, who stood calmly, staring at the projection without saying a word.

The man spoke in a calm but icy voice, ”Are you the one who dared to disrupt my plan?”

”What if I did?” Nova replied evenly.

”You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. You shouldn’t have interfered with our cult’s matters. Now you will be hunted down no matter where you go.”

Nova chuckled. ”You don’t have to worry about hunting me down. Soon enough, I’ll come find you and everyone else behind your fucking cult... and slaughter every last one of you as painfully as possible.”

He continued, his voice cold and clear, ”Mark my words, ’110’ — if that’s what you like to call yourself. I am the Slaughter Monarch. I slaughter those who take the lives of innocents, whether they are humans, demons, or any other race. They will all meet their end by my hands.”

”In three years, I will go to the capital of this kingdom. If you want revenge, you’d better not die by the hands of the Twilight Order first. That would be quite shameful.”

The man in the projection listened silently. When Nova finished, he suddenly started laughing.

”You’ve got quite the fancy name there. Very well... I’ll wait for you, Slaughter Monarch. And please — kill that useless insect for me. He failed his mission.”

With that, the man ended the communication. The yellow stone stopped glowing.

The surviving cultist trembled violently. His boss hadn’t cared about him at all — he had even ordered his death.

Ironically, the man had completed his mission by informing his superior about the failed plan, and the culprit, yet he would still die here.

”You got such a pathetic pig as your master one who doesn’t care about your worthless lives at all. How sad is that?” Nova said mockingly.

”P-Please... don’t kill me... I have a wife and two kids,” the cultist begged, voice shaking like a lamb before slaughter.

”You think I care?” Nova replied coldly. ”You should have thought about that before joining a group of psychopathic demon-worshipping fuckers.”

With a wave of his hand, Nova used Voidborne Telekinesis to strip the man of all his belongings. He found only a bag of money. Then he summoned Rouve, transforming the weapon into a large, heavy hammer.

In one brutal swing, he brought it down. The cultist’s body exploded into a meaty paste, blood splattering everywhere as the ground beneath cracked from the force.

Nova’s clothes were soaked in blood, but they quickly cleaned themselves — a useful function of his disguise. He looked down at Rouve with a satisfied grin.

”Hell yeah... this is such a cool weapon.”

{Why do I feel like you’re becoming a psychopath?}

”Don’t say that. I was just testing my new weapon. Those pieces of shit didn’t deserve to live anyway,” Nova replied as he searched the second cultist’s body.

He found another communication stone and a bag of money. Checking both bags, he discovered nearly 10,000 gold coins inside.

”Holy shit! These bastards had so much money on them. They must have robbed someone... Now I’m rich, hehehe~” Nova laughed joyfully. In the system space, Liya rolled her eyes.

He then looked at the communication stones and asked, ”How do I use them for myself?”

{It’s pretty simple. Just pour your own mana into it. It will erase the previous owner’s mana code and create your own. You can also copy someone else’s mana code into the second stone so you can contact them from anywhere.}

”I see.” Nova followed Liya’s instructions and infused his mana into one of the stones, keeping the other for now. He planned to give them to his parents, Rieka, and Asia later when he finds more.

{Heh... You’ve already considered her your second harem partner?}

”Yeah, and I’ll confirm it tonight,” Nova said with a mischievous grin.

He then turned toward the two corpses and activated Monarch’s Requiem. In the next moment, both bodies transformed into Deadborns and rose before him.

Their forms had changed slightly — they looked more muscular and taller. Like Moonclaw and Chimera, their bodies became dark shadowy figures with glowing purple patterns. They bowed deeply before their Monarch.

”Hm... I wasn’t sure if it would work on humans, but it did. Now I have two Grandmaster-level Deadborns,” Nova said with a satisfied smile. ”Since you guys are my new elites... you’ll be called Alpha and Gamma.”

He glanced up at the sky. It was already getting late — evening would arrive soon. He needed to head back.

.....

Inside the Duke’s mansion, Rieka and Asia sat together in Asia’s spacious, elegantly furnished room. They had already toured the entire estate, and Asia had proudly shown Rieka around her family’s grand home.

Now they were relaxing with cups of fragrant tea, chatting joyfully.

”I never got to say this before, but I’m really sorry for calling you a bitch,” Rieka said in an apologetic tone. ”I just got jealous seeing Nova talking so casually with an unknown girl who was hiding her face under a mask.”

”It’s alright,” Asia replied with a rare, gentle smile. ”I didn’t take it to heart. Honestly... I would’ve been jealous too in that situation.”

”By the way, I’ve been wanting to ask — how did you and Nova meet?” Asia asked curiously. ”The last time I saw him, he wasn’t like this. He was handsome, sure, but he’s changed so much.”

”We met at the guild and went on a mission together,” Rieka explained, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red.

”A lot of things happened after that... things that would sound completely illogical if I told you. But those events brought us very close.”

Asia’s heart clenched strangely as she watched Rieka blush.

”As for how he changed so much... you can ask him yourself when you spend time with him,” Rieka added casually. ”Soon you’ll become his wife too, so it wouldn’t be right for me to tell you everything.”

Asia’s face turned bright red as she stuttered, ”W-What do you mean by wife? Don’t tell me you two have already gotten married?”

Rieka shook her head, her own cheeks flushing. ”No, not exactly in the way you’re thinking... But according to the traditions of my tribe, when a man and woman become very close like that, it’s considered as good as marriage.”

”...By ’close’ do you mean... you two have already...” Asia trailed off, realizing what Rieka was implying.

Rieka’s face turned an even deeper shade of red, and she stayed silent.

”....”

Asia was speechless. She hadn’t realized their relationship had already progressed that far. A sharp pang tightened in her chest.

She knew she had to do something quickly. Deep down, she had already accepted it — she was in love with Nova. She couldn’t wait any longer.

Rieka smiled softly and said, ”You should try talking to Nova and develop your relationship more. We’ll be leaving Frostholme in three years.

If you really want to be with him — and I’m sure you do, you should start being more forward from now on.”

Rieka smiled and extended her hand, showing Asia the beautiful ring on her finger. ”Look at this ring. This is the symbol of love Nova gave me — his proposal. I’m his first wife. So if you want to become his second, you need to act fast.”

Asia stared at the ring on Rieka’s finger, captivated by its beauty. Seeing how Nova had given it to Rieka as a proposal, she couldn’t help but wonder if he would one day do the same for her.

The thought lingered in her mind, filling her heart with quiet anticipation.

Rieka continued gently, ”You might have already noticed that Nova is a very mysterious man with many secrets. With his personality, there will likely be more women in his life in the future. If you don’t want to be left behind... then you know what you need to do.”

Rieka wasn’t trying to force Asia or anything. She could tell Asia was already in love with Nova, and she considered her a good person — the daughter her tribe’s benefactor. Since Nova also liked her, Rieka was simply giving her a little push.

”You don’t mind sharing him?” Asia asked, her expression serious.

”As I’ve already said — no, unless the woman is bad. I won’t let any bitch enter his life,” Rieka replied with firm determination.

Asia stared at her in silence. Just then, both of them heard a familiar voice from the doorway.

”What are you girls talking about?”

Thanks for reading....