CHAPTER 387: CHAPTER 387: BELIEVERS?

"Hmmm... It appears you do know him" Muku spoke as calmly as ever.

Completely uncaring about Spikes’ sudden explosion.

But then again. At that point, Muku was at the peak of R5 after some lucky encounters over the last month.

He had had so many encounters with R5s that he even wondered if something was drawing them over to that area.

After all, he had encountered over two hundred. Which he didn’t even know was possible when they were still technically the strongest on the planet.

Like, shouldn’t experts be rarer than that? Though he wasn’t complaining since he got to reach the peak a lot sooner than expected. Which was a good thing considering what was about to come...

Anyway, his PR5 strength was the reason Muku didn’t put Spikes in his eyes no matter what. After all, Spikes was only a MR5.

Hell, even if Spikes was PR5. Muku still wouldn’t think much of him. After all, with all his means. He could easily oneshot a PR5 of it didn’t know what to expect.

Which was always the case since Muku’s abilities were beyond uncommon. They were unheard of.

Like who knew there was someone who could erase your arm out of existence without you feeling anything?

Then, when he tells you about it and you start panicking, he sends an undetectable force your way which will make your head explode upon impact... So yeah, PR5s weren’t an issue for Muku let alone weaker ones...

"Know him? That bastard is the reason I’m in this pathetic state. The reason I’m not standing in front of you as a Rank 6 Beast. The reason trash as you dare look down upon me! It’s all that bastard’s fault!..." Spikes poured his heart out in pain.

Muku could clearly sense the indignation, feeling of betrayal, hatred, anger and a bunch of other negative emotions...

"Oh? Were you two friends before? I never took him for a friend-backstabber..." Muku asked calmly again.

"Friend? I’d never be friends with that trash even if he were the last beast in the world. We were never friends. We were always enemies. Or rather, I was his punching bag in human terms. But even then, we fought fairly even if I lost every time. But then one day. I had a lucky encounter which propelled me to the peak of R5 and beyond. In no time I was at the peak of Pseudo-R6 and ready to break through. In fact, it was during my breakthrough that he showed up and dealt me a serious blow. The blow messed up the delicate process and instead of advancing, I regressed into this pitiful state you see right now. Even worse was how I was almost done advancing too..." Spikes explained everything even though no one actually asked him to.

It was clear to see that the beast had been looking for someone to complain to all this while... It was such a human thing to do that Muku couldn’t help but be amused. But he didn’t disrupt him. He was curious to hear how it ended since it had already started...

"So... You’re saying that your enemy prevented you from gaining more strength than him? The kind of strength which would have allowed you to kill him whenever you felt like it?... I don’t know. Maybe I’m dumb. But I don’t see the problem with that. Hell, you’d have done the same if the roles were reversed right?" Muku tried to reason with Spikes with a few questions.

"... Tsk. You really are his friend. You even reason the same way... And let me tell you this like I told him. I don’t care about the reasoning. All that I care about is my suffering. No level of reasoning can change that. For that reason, I hate him. I will forever hate him. And now I also hate you. Maybe I wouldn’t have hated him so much if he had killed me after. But he dared say that I’m not worthy enough to be killed by him with my weak strength. The nerve of the bastard who did this to me to say such a thing..." Spikes replied with a voice dripping with hatred for both Scar and Muku.

"Oh.. he said that huh?.. Hehe. Hahahahaha. Bars! Bars! I tell you. What a cool line! As expected of my friend! As expected of the one who almost beat me! Hahaha," Muku began laughing hysterically while praising Scar.

He completely ignored Scar whose expression was darkening more and more as Muku continued laughing.

"Wait... Did you say you beat him?" Spikes was about to explode when he realised something.

Muku indirectly said he beat Scar...

"Yes? Is something wrong with that?" Muku asked.

"Haha. Hahahaha. That bastard actually lost? Hahahaha. Yes! Finally! I wish I could see his face when he lost! He always thought that he was unbeatable. Hahaha. I can die peacefully now... My Lord. Is there anything you want from this humble one? I’m willing to assist you in any way I can as a thank you for putting that trash in his place" Spikes completely changed his tune after hearing that Scar was defeated by Muku.

"Well... What an unexpected result. But hey! I’m not complaining. If you’re offering then I don’t mind receiving... All I want to know from you is how you managed to lend some of your power to those idiots from before. That’s something I’ve never seen before. So I’m quite intrigued. Honestly, this makes things easier for both of us because I was planning on torturing you until you spoke up. And I promise you, the process would be quite brutal..." Muku replied in his creepy voice.

However, at this point, it didn’t sound as creepy due to his tone of speech...

"O...oh. Then I’m glad I spoke up. As for what you want to know. The reason why you’ve never heard or seen it before is quite simple. It’s an ability one gets after reaching R6. I lucked out and got it despite failing at the end. Anyway, it allows one to share a little of their power with their believers through their blood essence. If I had successfully advanced. Just a drop of my blood essence would be enough to tether hundreds of "believers" to me. But since I failed and can barely use the ability. I needed more than half of it for the group you had wiped out. And with how slow the recovery process is. It will probably take me a few years to completely heal. Oh, even though I’m sure you’ve realised it already from what I said... R5s can’t do it. So don’t try it before reaching R6" Spikes was unexpectedly super generous with his explanation.

"Oh? How interesting. However, what’s the point? Wouldn’t it be quicker for you to take care of whatever business you want to take care of instead of sending"believers" who are a lot weaker than you?" Muku asked curiously.

"Yes. For the most part. Believers are useless when strength is needed. But that’s not their main use. From my understanding through the research I did. Believers are very important in advancing from R6 to the mysterious R7. They are so important that most R6s keep their believers a secret from everyone. Which is why most don’t even know that they exist. Anyway, I also heard that advancing from R6 to R7 isn’t as strict as before where one has to reach the peak then the pseudo-stage before advancing. I heard that even LR6s can advance to R7 with enough believers. Sure they would be weaker than other R7s who advanced further before breaking through. But they would still be way stronger than R6s. Which isn’t a bad deal if you ask me..." Spikes was again very generous with his reply.

"Wow. How insightful. And let me guess. You thought that you might as well try breaking through to R7 because you can collect believers? After all, that’s the deciding factor right?" Muku asked with keen interest in his voice.

"Yes... That’s right" Spikes didn’t try to hide it since it was obvious.

Plus he had been truthful up to that point. So he might as well continue being truthful.

High rank beings could easily tell when they are being lied to after all.

At the very least, when they were allowed to scan the one speaking they couldn’t be lied to. And that’s exactly what was happening with Muku and Spikes.

Muku was scanning Spikes’ every move and Spikes could only allow it because not allowing it might lead to death.

"I didn’t know beasts gambled as much as humans... I mean, do you even know what happens during the process of advancing to R7? What I mean is, do you know how the energy or whatever you get from believers is used? At the very least you must know that right?" Muku asked curiously.

"... I don’t. But I’m willing to risk it. It’s either that or being forever unable to take my revenge. I’d rather die trying to achieve it than forever live in shame..." Spikes replied resolutely.

"Oh. Okay. But didn’t you say you could die peacefully now that you know that Scar lost a fight?" Muku asked amusedly.

"I...ah... That was a figure of speech. You know, I’ve been studying humans for a while and I guess I might have picked up a few things from them without knowing..." Spikes replied with some embarrassment in his voice.

"Hmm. Makes sense. It’s human nature to speak bullshit you don’t plan on backing up after all... Unfortunately. It’s not up to you this time..." Muku spoke calmly.

"What do you mean, My Lord?" Spikes asked while feeling like something bad was about to happen...

"What I mean is... You’re about to die" Muku replied calmly.