"Your city?" the Prison repeated in a mocking tone.
"You live in hiding just like any other Specter."
"This is a city controlled by the humans."
However, the mouths just laughed.
And then, the amalgamation of mouths walked away from the wagon.
The Prison witnessed as the amalgamation of mouths walked out of the Prison's illusory domain.
At this moment, the amalgamation of mouths was walking through the Outer City without any disguise.
"Hey, Julian! Haven't seen you in a while!" one of the stall owners said with an excited smile as she looked at the amalgamation of mouths.
"I've been busy recently, sorry," one of the mouths facing the stall owner said with a friendly tone.
"Of course! I get it! Hey, congratulations on becoming a Specialist!" the woman said.
"Thanks, Charlotte," the mouth said.
It slowly became bigger until it eventually assumed the form of a tree.
The trunk, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits of the tree were made of laughing mouths.
The amalgamation of mouths flowed up one of the buildings and extended towards the sky.
It slowly became bigger until it eventually assumed the form of a tree.
The trunk, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits of the tree were made of laughing mouths.
At this moment, the tree could probably be seen from all across the Outer City.
"This is my city!" the mouths said in a special rhythm.
"If I want to be seen, I will be seen."
"If I don't want to be seen, I won't be seen."
"Everyone that I have talked to is under my control."
"And the few that aren't…"
The mouths chuckled as two people in the streets started to run away, shouting in panic that there was a gigantic monster on one of the roofs.
Yet, all the people just looked at the two of them like they were crazy.
The two of them kept shouting that the blue-haired man had turned into a huge monster.
"Julian? He's not a Specter!" everyone answered with dark tones, annoyed that some people were badmouthing their good friend.
Two of the mouths on the tree extended towards the two panicked individuals.
"You seem a bit confused," they said. "Hi, I'm Julian! I think we haven't met yet."
The more the mouths talked, the calmer the two people became.
Eventually, the two of them casually talked with the mouths.
"This city is mine," Julian repeated.
"You might be more powerful than me…"
"But are you more powerful than the city?" the mouths asked.
While the mouths were talking, more and more of them fell off the tree, traveling towards panicked and concerned people.
By the end, over a hundred mouths were flowing through the city, stopping occasionally to exchange a couple of words with someone.
The metallic figure on top of the cells looked with a neutral expression at the tree of mouths.
The Prison knew that it was much more powerful than Julian.
In a direct fight, the Prison could tear Julian apart like paper.
However, while keeping its illusions active in a calm scenario was easy, the same thing didn't apply when the Prison was in a battle.
With enough havoc, even the Heroes would come out of the Inner City to look at what was going on.
At that point, the Prison was bound to be found out.
While the chances of its escape were high, it would never be able to return to Crimson Fungus City, and even worse, Crimson Fungus City would warn all the other cities.
"You are putting on a strong front," the Prison said with its dark and metallic voice.
"While you can control these weak people, I am certain that you can't do the same to the Heroes."
"If we battle, you will also be found out."
"I have a shot at survival and even one at actually winning against the city."
"You don't."
The mouths kept laughing.
"Which is why I haven't sent Kugelblitz after you yet," the mouths spoke in unison.
"If they find you, they might become more careful, which will make it harder for me to stay hidden."
"We both have something to lose."
"And that is why you will leave my city and never return," the mouths spoke.
The metallic figure on top of the cells looked at the tree of mouths.
The Prison often received opposition in cities.
Surprisingly, it had far more conflicts with Specters than with humans.
Many of the cities were secretly controlled by powerful Specters, and these powerful Specters didn't want to share their food with the Prison.
And it almost always ended the same way.
"What do you want?" the Prison asked.
A trade agreement.
The Prison would deliver food and incredible goods that resulted in the production of more humans, which resulted in more food for the Specters.
"What do I want?" the mouths repeated with friendly laughter.
"I want you to go and never return," they said.
The Prison looked at the tree of mouths.
"You are not willing to compromise?" it asked.
"No," the mouths answered.
Silence.
"Fine," the Prison answered with a neutral voice, "but I have to take one last person."
"No, you won't," the tree of mouths said.
"This is not for me," the Prison said. "This is for-"
"Envy, yes?" the mouths interrupted. "You want Nick."
"The one with the power of the Null."
The Prison looked with a neutral gaze at the tree of mouths.
If it were human, it would have felt some shock and surprise.
"Yes," the Prison said. "Lord Envy desires the power of the Null."
The mouths chuckled.
"And why should I care?" they answered, throwing the Prison's words back at it.
"Because Lord Envy will kill you if you refuse to comply," the Prison said.
"Lord Envy is vastly more powerful than this puny little Crimson Fungus City."
"Lord Envy even has two Fallen as servants."
"You have no choice in the matter."
"Keeping the Null's power for yourself will only end your existence," the Prison declared.
Yet, the mouths just kept laughing.
"Theoretically, yes," the mouths said.
"Practically, no."
"Lucky for me, Envy and its most powerful servants are busy fighting Aegis at this moment."
"Why should I be afraid of a sharp knife in your hand when you are so far away?"
