Drake had left everyone rather speechless. He not only showed that Zephyr's soul was still fine, and even healing back to sanity, but he showed the amazing potential he held.
Of course, he was hiding the fact he had no power over his own Undead unless they were willing, these Undead were being held tight in place due to Kumo within his shadow, which was using her eyes of paralysis to keep them in place. If they were to move, it would be evident they don't obey him as they would attack anything on sight…
Well, there was also Benladann, her Charm could charm even Undead and make them obey her, but there was a limit of how many she could charm at the same time consecutively, and each charm costs a substantial amount of Mana, she had also never practiced charming an entire army of Undead before, and it might not work, or even give her a headache or even worse, fever and some sort of mana sickness by overexerting herself, which is something Drake doesn't want to because of her delicate soul.
"Hmm…"
Thaletus thought about it.
He couldn't help but feel a bit of a strange sensation besides him.
He felt nervous.
He had already heard what Drake intended to do, and Drake said it in front instead of saving it for later… this meant that he was so confident on himself he allowed himself to say his true intentions form the very beginning.
Can he even win against him?
Without knowing Drake's weakness with the Undead he made, he thought he would be ultimately overwhelmed by an army of ice golems created easily out of thin air.
He will not win.
Even if he could manage to poison them, he would still die… and everyone would die too.
But that would be because he wanted to fight and die, not because they came with such an intention.
Meaning that if he fought now, he would be wasting his won life and those of his disciples instead of taking the opportunity to resolve things peacefully.
"…If we join your Empire at the end, can we keep our territory and the name of our sect and bloodline?" asked Thaletus.
"Yes, you may keep anything you want, even your riches. What I want is simply a share of the resources you will produce in the future, and your alliance in future conflicts." Said Drake.
"Hmmm… Very well, you may pass." Said Thaletus.
Nobody argued with him because the rest were scared out of their shit when they saw the golem emerge… that thing was Rank 2 in power alone, and Drake created it casually in just 10 seconds.
Now imagine him going all out? He could make an army of thousands in minutes and overwhelm anyone.
And what did said he couldn't make stronger ones if he concentrated some more? The risks were too many.
Of course, if they were to know he couldn't control his creations, his threat level would decrease considerably.
Nonetheless, that wasn't the case. Drake was acting accordingly to how people reacted. He knew that in a world where dog eat dogs, the only way to gain people's trust or perhaps their respect is through showing off your power.
He certainly didn't had the power to win against anything…
But compared to everyone here? He was superior.
If he were to go into his Orochi Form… he would become even more formidable.
Such a powerful being… why was he so devoted to helping the weak?
Shouldn't the strong crush the weaklings and be an asshole to everyone? that was how it went in these stories! Where's the wish fulfillment and the dopamine rush of having an overpowered asshole assassinating everyone?
Well, Drake found that doing such a thing would only give him nightmares and even more, it would be boring. Without people at his side to make life interesting, an endless path to power with nothing else than slaughter would become fairly repetitive, and the boring type of repetitiveness.
It was better to interact with people, know their past, and find ways to unify them.
In reality, such a path was actually mor realistic than becoming a murderous psycho, because that was how they did it in ancient times in Earth, and Drake was a being from Earth, his perspectives and thought process was different from the people of this world.
Due to this, it went against his very nature as a person.
Yes, he was ruthless when needed, and he wouldn't falter if he had to kill an enemy that would threaten his life or that of anyone he cared for.
But otherwise? He would prefer to talk things out and only use his powers to help others, while also making of such actions benefit him in the future, allies were important, even if weaker than him, they could still be useful.
The gate of the sect opened as Thaletus and his wife greeted Drake, who walked up front.
"Now lower your weapons." Said Thaletus.
The people pointing the bows lowered their weapons as they suddenly felt a chill run down their spines.
"Unkgh?!"
"W-What?!"
"Agh!"
"I-I can't move?"
Suddenly, Thaletus noticed eight enormous crimson-red eyes coming out of Drake's abnormally large shadow!
"W-What is that?!" asked Thaletus.
"An insurance that you won't show arrows on our back." Said Drake, as he walked inside the sect's territory.
Thaletus was not attacked by this power, however.
But he began to fear Drake even more than before.
What was that thing he had inside his shadow?!
He had never felt such a dreadful presence on his entire life…
Such a monstrous entity…
It was as if behind Drake, there was a demon protecting him…
This was how fearful Kumo's presence was when she revealed herself.
She was a strong little big spider after all…
The entire group reached the palace of the sect and quickly found the people of the sect coming back from where they all had tried to escape.
