Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

[Wednesday — 4th December 2030 — 23:25 pm]

.

.

.

When Adam came out from his dream world, his expression was still giddy as his mind continued to expand on the potential that his brand-new skill presented him with.

It seemed like becoming a traditional necromancer would be difficult for him but at the end of the day, he was already a one man army and didn't really need an army of cannon fodders supporting him from the back.

Rather than leading an army of the undead, perhaps focusing on increasing the number of minds he had would be far more fruitful for him to expand his proficiency and mastery of his powers.

"Genesis, we have much work to do, don't you think?"

[We… Indeed do. We lack too much information on the full capacity of your powers.]

Hunters trained for years and had the advantage of having elders and teachers who walked in the same path as they did and were able to impart the knowledge they learned to them.

In case the teacher wasn't present, books and related information were still available for all hunters.

For him though, such a thing was impossible or rather very complicated and convoluted in the minimum.

'I need to visit Bridget and Lilith.'

This was something he kept pushing back further and further and he knew exactly why. This hesitation stemmed from his unease at meeting the woman and Lilith especially.

'But I want to meet Sae as well.'

The poor little ball of pure excitement and joy was someone he was missing quite a bit these days.

Though, it had only been around two weeks since he last saw her.

'Ugh… How should I organize myself?'

He wished he could split himself into many versions of himself and more than wishing, he really planned to do something like that in the future.

'Speaking of…'

But now, there was something he needed to test first,

"Move."

Adam focused and one of the souls inside of his soul space twitched before appearing inside of his body.

Looking at him, Adam still had a rather creepy impression, as rather than a body, it looked closer to how ghosts were depicted in the past.

Fully white— as if covered by a white sheet and floating with no legs or defined limbs for that matter.

'This is different from the soul of Hae-Won.'

What was the difference exactly? Was it because their memories had changed into a book?

Did it affect their sense of self as well?

Then this would mean that Souls are composed of multiple layers of beings and selves. Shedding a layer would mean the loss of existence and features.

'Ugh… I wonder if Google has an answer about this.'

Adam looked at the soul and could feel a connection with him through it.

'The sense of self of the soul is dreaming.'.

He frowned a little.

Truthfully speaking, the soul in front of him, while being that of Miguel, could not really be called Miguel anymore.

Rather it was something akin to a newborn who could give birth to a new sense of self, a new identity.

For now, he was suppressing this through the power of dream but it would probably be worth it to explore the growth potential of a soul.

"Anyways let's see."

Adam focused a little and—

When he opened his eyes.

"Hahahah…"

Adam laughed. There was nothing he could do but laugh.

"Beautiful."

He could see it.

A world entirely dyed in white and black.

As if he was looking at the world through his eyes of Death.

But this was different— there were no red lines mixed into it like before.

'I can even hear.'

How did a soul even have the ability to hear? He did not focus on this.

Sometimes, there was no need to know why.

90% of people used phones without knowing shit about what really made the phone work. Didn't stop them from using it now, did it?

He simply had to apply the same logic— at least for now.

"Move."

Adam controlled the soul and watched it as it left.

Slowly. Ever so slowly, Adam approached the limit of his domain.

'This is the time of truth.'

Nearly all the abilities he had were limited by the actual ranges of [The World] and while two kilometers was without a doubt a great range, it was not enough for what he wanted to see.

His heartbeat became faster as the soul finally reached the utmost limit and finally— left it.

"Ah…"

The speed of the soul immediately picked up under his orders.

Soon, the soul was already flying at more than the speed of sound.

There was no friction, no physical force stopping the ethereal being. Adam had the impression that the only thing limiting the speed of the soul was his own mind.

'Faster. Much faster.'

He thought and soon the soul was flying so fast that he had to use all of his skills of analysis and sensitivity to barely keep up with the speed of the soul and the changing surroundings.

Finally, though, the soul stopped, and Adam inspected his surroundings.

It was L.A. More precisely, the law company that was under Shuri.

Approximately 270 miles or 435 kilometers.

More than two hundred times the range of the domain and he had the feeling that he could bring the soul even farther.

Sigh~!

Adam took a deep breath before releasing a sigh of relief like no other.

'Finally…'

All this time, at the back of his head, there was always something worrying him.

What if something happened to Shuri when he wasn't there?

The more Shuri stayed with him and Yui, the higher the chances of her getting in contact with the supernatural forces of the world.

Adam was not omniscient. Neither could be everywhere at the same time.

—At least not yet.

He couldn't anticipate the future and he couldn't say with certitude that he could prepare for everything.

At the end of the day, no matter how much power he had, he was very limited by his human self.

But now…

"Now I can be sure to keep her safe."

He tried to use his different powers but at this distance, only the [Eyes of Truth] could be used but this was already more than enough for him.

Just by being able to see her, he would be able to protect her.

Though he had to sacrifice one mind to keep observing her, this was a sacrifice more than worth it and in the first place, he was already used to fighting with three minds. He had only gotten the fourth one today so missing it wouldn't be a shame for him.

Soon the soul moved through the buildings as if walls and windows were completely nonexistent and reached Shuri in her office.

He could see her typing on her computer. The fact that she was still working even though it was already nearly midnight showed just how much of a workaholic she was.

A habit he wished she would try to calm down, even if a little. After all, this was definitely very unhealthy for her body. She was not a supernatural creature after all.

"Good. Now, I simply have to keep the soul right next to her at all times."

He would be able to see everything she was doing and everyone that was approaching her.

'Though, keeping her under my observation 24/7 is a little creepy.'

Adam grimaced at that thought.

He was definitely breaching all measures of privacy and it was very stalkerish.

But— this was for her safety.

'Never thought I would one day be in 'her' place.'

He thought about the young girl who was once his girlfriend, giving the same excuse. Back then he had rejected her because he thought that she was crazy and a lunatic on top.

Now he could understand her emotions and thought process more as he was also going through something similar.

Though she was still pretty much a raving lunatic like no other.

'Sorry.'

He apologized inwardly for a while and pushed all shame to the back of his mind.

.

.

.

"Well then…"

Adam stretched slightly and thought about what he had to do now.

Logically, now all the members of the Fernandez brothers should know that the two of them had died.

It was a shame— losing possible control over them but it wasn't a problem.

The problem was the money he was missing.

Thankfully— he had everything in mind.

He did not hesitate for a moment before activating his communication com and called the one who would be the most helpful to him in this situation…

[Hello? What is the matter this time?]

"Oh? I am hurt, you know? Do you think I only call you when I need your help?"

[You don't?]

Adam could only give a sheepish laugh in response…

"Well, you aren't wrong. But this time, I have a good deal for you."

[You have my attention.]

"What do you say, we take all the money of a mafia boss who owns a casino?"

[I am in.] Her answer was instantaneous, [How much is the split?]

"60 for me and 20 for you, 20 for Yui and the organization. I already have all the codes in my head. I just need you to make sure it's untraceable to us."

[Just what the hell did you do?]

"Hahah… Let's just say that I have been quite busy lately."

In a great mood, Adam continued his deal, ignoring the bugs, scorpions, and— Arachnids that were doing their things all around him in the Mojave desert.

He was just happy that no scorpion stung him while he was asleep.

(AN: Heh, don't you think the end of this chapter is ironic?)