"Alright… someone tell me who this guy is?"
Inside the Secret Guardians' forest hideout, Jon stood slack-jawed, staring up at the towering creature before him.
The figure resembled a human but radiated a terrifying presence. A voluminous cloak draped over his shoulders, green flames licked up his arms and danced atop his head like a crown of cursed fire.
Jon narrowed his eyes.
No way… is that Malthus's new form?
But he was certain Malthus was still ruling the Blood Domain. So who was this?
"Master," the creature bowed respectfully, voice guttural and deep, "I am the Void Hunter. From this day forward, I pledge my allegiance to you."
Jon's brow furrowed. That voice…
"Wait a second," he said slowly. "Why do you sound so familiar?"
Before the Void Hunter could respond, a far more fearsome figure crept into view, twelve arachnid limbs clicking against the floor. It was Grimhilde.
She approached with a sly grin. "My lord, he's the test subject you sent me, the one named William."
Jon's eyes went wide. "William… Wait. That William? The Duke?"
His mind reeled.
William had been hailed as the kingdom's most handsome noble. Now he looked like something out of a horror film, twisted, mutated, and calling Jon "master." It was something only a true villain could orchestrate.
Then again, Jon mused wryly, I'm not exactly the noble hero either.
He motioned Grimhilde aside and leaned in.
"Be straight with me. Can we trust this 'Void Hunter'? I mean… is he loyal?"
Grimhilde didn't hesitate.
"Absolutely. I extracted a fragment of the black stone's power for personal transformation, then used it in William's modification. That same power, which breaks a witch's mind, I reverse-created into something that crushes human will."
She smirked proudly.
"William's psyche was shattered and rebuilt. He's completely loyal to you now. And thanks to his transformation, his strength is on par with the greatest of our forces. He's your new blade."
Jon raised an eyebrow. "That so?"
Grimhilde went on. "Before you returned, the Void Hunter even killed his own father to prove his devotion. He's now merged part of your Hellfire with his own power. He can reanimate corpses, not with their full combat abilities, but with undead resilience. A nightmare for your enemies."
Jon's thoughts flashed back. He had allowed Grimhilde to experiment with a fragment of his Hellfire… but he hadn't expected this.
"…So now I've got a loyal, daddy-slaying super soldier," Jon muttered.
He sighed. "Okay… and while I was gone, I heard you declared war on the Voidborn Clan?"
"Indeed," Grimhilde nodded, eyes burning with purpose. "Your enemies are our enemies. Our latest operations struck the Voidborn Clan hard."
She stepped closer, lowering her voice. "Remember that figure distributing black stones? We confirmed his identity. It's a dark mage named Lyman, once under the command of William's father, Fexius."
Jon crossed his arms. "Go on."
"Fexius came here looking for his son after hearing he was in danger. He brought his men—perfect timing. I had just completed William's transformation. So we used Fexius and his army to test our new weapon."
"What about Lyman?" Jon asked.
"He escaped," Grimhilde admitted. "But before fleeing, the Void Hunter reanimated Fexius' soldiers and extracted valuable intelligence."
She explained what they'd learned.
The Voidborn Clan was structured as secret family lines spread across the world. Fexius was the head of one such family, the Karnthos. The black stone was their project: a weapon designed to cripple witches.
"They feared the witches," Grimhilde continued. "Because when the monsters from the Void invade, witches are the greatest threat. So these traitors tried to develop weapons to corrupt or kill them first."
"But they didn't count on me. I reversed their research and created a new enhancement for witches, one that frees them from iron's touch and the forest's constraints."
Jon's expression shifted from disbelief to admiration.
He had to admit, even with all his power and multiverse knowledge, he was impressed. While he had Hellfire and a powerful system on his side, Grimhilde relied entirely on her intellect and grit. She was like a genius tactician in a spy thriller, outsmarting enemies far older and deadlier than her.
Saving her from that tower may have been his best decision yet.
He nodded in approval, then reached up, standing on tiptoes, to pat her shoulder.
"Excellent work, Grimhilde."
She bared a fearsome grin. "You flatter me, my lord."
With Grimhilde around, Jon figured he could step back from micromanaging. The one-month deadline in Dark Fairy Tale world was approaching, and he needed to tackle his next world.
He planned to return to the marvel world first, rest up for a bit, reset his mind, and then return for the next world. Like a gamer hitting "save" before diving into the next boss fight.
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