Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 197 Leading Everyone Astray

"...There are levels to this."

The temperature around the barren land started to rise and return to normal at the same time as Esme's breaths escaped her lips.

Levels — of course, Rhys already knew that — he had known it ever since his mother was violently murdered in front of him. Nobles are just different breeds altogether, even someone like Agatha who is completely untrained in battle made him run away.

But then again, Agatha's element was a completely violent one; mostly made for destruction. But if it was someone else…

"I know, Ma'am. Thank you for going easy on me," Rhys let out a short but very deep sigh as he turned to look at Esme. He once again tried to find any Hearts floating above her head, but they were still completely absent — why?

His powers, he understood them, but at the same time, he knew absolutely nothing about them still.

"I didn't go easy on you, black hair," Esme scoffed and smiled as she patted Rhys's shoulder several times, "If anything, I knew I had to go all in — you're strong, abnormally so. But as I said…

…levels."

"Levels…" Rhys then turned to look Esme in the eyes, "...Then, do you think I can take on Sylas West?"

"Sylas West…" Esme squinted her eyes before turning her head to the side; seemingly deliberating her answer, "...What do you think my chances are if I fight against him?"

"Hm," Esme smiled as soon as she heard Rhys's question, "Are you sure you should really be asking me that? If something happens to Sylas West, I will tell the authorities about this conversation. I have a certain… contract with the country I need to uphold."

"If something does happen to Sylas West…" Rhys shook his head, "...Then it was probably me who did it."

"You know, you're really amusing. Just where did you really pop up from, black hair?" Esme let out a small chuckle, "Sylas West. As I said, there are levels to this…

…You'll win."

"Even though he's a Noble?" Rhys looked Esme in the eyes.

"Just because one is a Noble, that means they're automatically strong, black hair," Esme shook her head before tapping Rhys's chest with her fist and walking away, "He spent his youth in prison, probably experiencing Zeus knows what. Right now, you can take him…

…but let it go for too long, he'll move past you faster than you can blink."

"Hm…"

"Unless, of course…" Esme smirked as she glanced back at Rhys, "...You suddenly gain another ability out of nowhere. You can do that, right?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Ma'am," Rhys also just smiled back as he walked with Esme and made their way toward the others.

"You know, Black Hair — you should stop playing politics," there was a sudden shift in Esme's tone as she slowed down her steps and waited for Rhys to walk right beside her, "You should also stop playing soldier. You're an Explorer, go explore."

"I'm—"

"It's obvious that being an Explorer is only just a means to an end for you — anyone with half a brain could figure that out," Esme stopped walking as she once again glanced at Rhys before turning to look at all the members of the Wilder's Harem who watched the brief skirmish, "But I am telling you now, that the people you are leading are following you because they see you as a beacon of hope — all of them."

"...I'll take that into consideration, Ma'am."

"You should," Esme breathed out, "You are fighting for something, Rhys Wilder, when you should be fighting for someone… remember that the next time you do something drastic. You're happy now, Rhys; or maybe you're pretending to… but they're not. This…

…isn't just about you anymore."

"You see, that is where you're wrong, Ma'am…" Rhys shook his head and sighed, "...It is about me, and it will end that way…

…no matter who I drag down with me."

"Even them?" Esme then gestured to Katarina and the others who were now approaching them since they stopped walking.

"They—" Rhys only stared at his women, "...They are here to pull me up."

"You got cucked, Recruit."

And almost as if to put an end to their suddenly serious conversation, Ayesha quickly and lightly hit Rhys in the stomach as soon as they were within arm's reach,

"But you're still the one with the most massive balls of all the people I've met. I mean, Zeus… I didn't even last that long when I fought with the Lady Boss; of course, I didn't have your bag of tricks too."

"You've fought with her before, Ayesha?" Rhys could not help but just look back and forth between Esme and Ayesha.

"The world at the top is small, Black Hair," Esme shrugged, "Everyone knows everyone. We—"

"Rhys…" And before Esme could even finish her words, she could not help but just shut her mouth as Lina suddenly embraced Rhys out of nowhere while they were still talking, "...It's okay, you fought well."

"I'm… fine," Rhys sighed, "I already knew I was going to lose… I think everyone here knew."

"That's because they don't believe in you as much as I do, the original wife."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Katarina then suddenly appeared beside the two and forcefully pried the two of them away, "Rhys, any injuries?"

"None that I didn't heal myself already, Kat," Rhys slightly raised his arm as Katarina checked on him despite his words.

"Hm… I think you're injured here, Blackie." All of a sudden, however, Agatha suddenly embraced Rhys from behind and started touching him everywhere, "Oh, see? This thing is swollen… maybe I need to suck—Kh!"

"Auntie!" "My god, you're so shamelessly horny!"

Both Lina and Vicky quickly tried pulling their aunt away from Rhys, but failed to do so as her grip was almost locked onto him. Fortunately for them, after a few more seconds, Agatha let go of Rhys before just walking toward Esme for some reason.

"You are unusually strong. I've never really seen my kind, our kind fight that way," Agatha's words were almost a hum as she looked at Esme from head to toe, "We've transcended our barbaric ways, you see. Became… complacent, as my dear little Linette would say. But what do you think?"

"Hm?" Esme raised an eyebrow.

"Since we're already out in the field like this," the air around Agatha started to distort, "I think it would be proper to test how much difference a trained Noble is compared to someone like me, innit?"

"Th—"

"That's not gonna happen, Your Highness," And before Esme could even give her response, Hannah quickly got in between the two; popping her bubblegum on her lips as she gave a bombastic side eye at Agatha,

"Icypops and that homo right there are with me," Hannah pointed at Cillian with her thumb, "And honestly, I'm about ready to go home now because I've wasted enough of my precious time here. Honestly, I don't even know what my purpose is here…

…that Rhys, Mr. Fuckboy right here isn't interested in being an Explorer at all and just using all of us to topple the current government."

"Wha…" Everyone just stared at Hannah as she said that; all of them, at a loss for words.

"Well… you didn't hear it from me," Hannah shrugged before clapping, "Let's go pack up, show time's over! Everyone can go home now!"

"I'm confused…" Vicky leaned closer to Lina and the others, "...Who is she? And why is she acting like she owns the place?"

"Don't mind the bitch," Lina rolled her eyes, "I think she's Kat and Maria's old friend, that explains everything you need to know about her."

"What does that mean?" Katarina scoffed as she raised an eyebrow.

"And you…" Hannah then stopped in front of Rhys and looked him in the eyes, "Don't forget — you owe my dad a few things…

…he's going to come and collect someday."

And with that, the members of the Wilder's Harem all returned to the HQ, while their guests all went away after one final smile and farewells. And of course, with Rhys's fight with Esme being streamed, he was once again the most talked about individual in the entire world — he may have lost, but everyone already expected that.

What they didn't expect, however, was Esme issuing the spar herself. And that only meant that she approved of Rhys's strength in the first place…

…and soon, the talk of Rhys possibly being included in the Top 15 Strongest Explorers in the entire world started to trend all over social media.

"A Lowborn… overtaking my position?" Somewhere in the Eastern parts of the world, in a small country called Luzviminda, a short and slightly dark-skinned man was sitting on a mountain of corpses… human. He was looking at his phone while smirking, and on it, was a photo of Rhys,

"Well, time to get a taste of the freedom they are all so proud of."

But while several unique people were taking an unhealthy interest in Rhys, Rhys was just busy sitting in the darkness of his office, with only him and Maria there.

Maria was not really saying or doing anything. She was just sitting on the sofa with her eyes closed while Rhys...

...Rhys was watching the video of his mother being murdered by Sylas over and over again on his phone.

"So, are we doing it, Master?" Maria then finally spoke up.

"Yes," Rhys breathed out as he closed his phone and stood up,

"Make sure everything goes smoothly."