FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

Arlo pulled a sled, with Arianne and Anita following beside him.

He had tried convincing Arianne to let him un-summon Anita, however, no matter what he said, she vehemently refused.

The funny thing was that Anita also didn't want to return to the seal.

He could only swallow his grievance silently.

'There goes my secret weapon.'

Looking at the silent Arianne at his side, Arlo couldn't help but voice out, "What is it? Ever since we entered the city, you have been quiet."

Arianne who was caressing the little slime in her embrace responded, "I don't know. I feel uneasy all of a sudden."

Before Arlo could reply, someone else beat him to it, " Don't worry, As long as I am with you, you have nothing to fear."

A warm smile lit up Arianne's face and she rubbed Anita on her cheek, "That is true. With you, nothing can go wrong."

"Hehe."

Arlo's eyebrows twitched slightly, 'Hello! Who are you supposed to be protecting?'

Nearing the crawler shop, Arianne suddenly stopped.

Her eyebrows creased into a frown as she looked at an alleyway, her gaze unsure.

"What happened?" Arlo asked.

She didn't reply, and after thinking about it, she kissed the little slime before she voiced out gently, "Nita, stay with Arlo for a little while, there is something I need to check."

"Hmm," Anita responded and with a graceful arc, she jumped on Arlo's head.

With that Arianne moved toward the alley.

Arlo shrugged his shoulders before continuing towards the shop.

"Since you have been seen by almost everybody, no need to enter the seal."

"Yay!" Anita bobbed happily on his head.

With a wry smile, Arlo opened the door to the shop and entered.

A middle-aged man greeted him upon entering.

"Hey Marvin!" he greeted back, "What about the old man?"

"Master went to see the city lord."

"Oh!" Arlo exclaimed in surprise.

"The usual?" Marvin asked.

"Yes please," Arlo responded with a smile.

Meanwhile, entering the alley, Arianne saw several boxes packed in a corner.

Moving closer to the boxes, Arianne could feel her heartbeat speed up.

That feeling of unease was growing within her.

Reaching the corner, her jade-white hands sifted through the boxes until she found what she was looking for.

What appeared in her vision was some sort of peanut-sized seed.

It was just that it looked eerie.

There seemed to be veins coursing through it, however, what made it truly eerie was how the seed pulsed, almost like a beating heart.

Arianne stretched her hand towards it as she voiced out with curiosity, "What the hell is this?"

But her hand had not even touched it when her ruby-like pupils turned into slits, a feeling of danger overcoming her.

The seed suddenly stopped beating before….

*Boom!*

It exploded.

It didn't generate any shockwave but simply discharged a massive cloud of evil energy that covered the entire alleyway and even a few streets across from it.

However, that wasn't all.

Tens of booming sounds echoed around the city.

…..

In the crawler shop.

Arlo watched as the servant Marvin pulled down several crawlers hung above the shop.

Suddenly…

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Several booming sounds drifted into his ears.

"What the h…" before he could complete his words, thick clouds of energy sifted through the windows into the shop.

Arlo suddenly found himself surrounded by evil energy. He could feel it trying to corrupt his very essence.

<< What? >> Old bro screamed in horror. << Why is there evil energy? >>

He quickly dispelled such thoughts as he noticed Arlo struggling against the evil energy.

The two saber marks at the back of Arlo's hands released a bright glow and suddenly Arlo found himself free from the pressure.

Panting heavily on the ground, Arlo asked, "What is going on?"

<< Brat, you need to leave this city now…. No wait, you are not alone. The servant! >> Old bro screamed at the end of his statement.

'Marvin?'

Arlo shifted his head in time to see a shadow pouncing at him.

*Growl!*

Arlo struggled against Marvin lying on top of him.

He held both of his hands tightly as the other tried to struggle free and claw at him.

Looking at his eyes, Arlo found no semblance of his former self.

His entire eyes were red, and his hair was disheveled.

And unlike the characteristic two protruding fangs of vampires, his teeth were jagged as saliva dripped out his mouth.

The most noticeable change was the dark essence now surrounding his body.

While it looked the same as when vampires used darkness laws, the eerie cries like the wails of ghosts that emanated from it spoke otherwise.

*Growl!* The demonized Marvin tried to bite Arlo's neck.

Arlo quickly shifted his head to the side, evading the attack.

<< Brat, kill him! >>

"What are you saying?" Arlo's eyes widened in surprise.

Marvin might not be his friend, but, they had still interacted with each other whenever he came to the shop.

Aside from Scarlett and Arianne, Marvin and his master were the only vampires who treated him nicely.

Now, he was to kill him?

<< Foolish brat. He is already dead. He is nothing more than a lesser demon. Can't you see that he is trying to kill you? >>

"But…"Arlo felt like there was something stuck in his throat.

The entire situation left him in a state of confusion.

'A lesser demon?' This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

However, while Arlo was conflicted about what to do, a shadow suddenly appeared above the now-demonized Marvin.

The shadow seemed to stretch to accommodate Marvin's size and with a *Whap!* Marvin disappeared.

Arlo gazed stunned at Anita who fell on his stomach.

Anita's body shivered slightly as she seemed to be struggling against something.

After a short while, an eerie evil energy seeped out of her.

It wasn't until then that she seemed comfortable.

While she didn't have eyes, she still looked at Arlo who was looking back at her.

"He was trying to hurt you. Anita will kill anyone that tries to hurt you." It was a mystery whether she was trying to convince Arlo or herself, but her cute voice filled with resolve finally woke Arlo up from his stupor.

Arlo closed his eyes, as he used one of his arms to cover his face.

'This is the fourth person that died by my hands.'

When he was small, he killed a person. When he entered this world, he killed two of three brothers that kidnapped him, while he was involved in the death of the last.

He couldn't tell how he felt right now.

<< Arlo! >>

It was very rare for the artifact spirit to call him by his name.

<< Don't you want to save your parents? >>

Arlo's eyelashes trembled.

<< Then you must not die. And to do that, you will have to kill a lot of people today. It might be tens or even hundreds but just think about your goal. >>

'That is right!'

'Mother and father. I miss them so much.' A day had never passed that he didn't think of them.

'I need to save them, even if I need to kill thousands.' His eyes snapped open, as the light of resolve shined within them.

Looking down, he was about to thank Anita only for him to see something weird happen.

Anita was glowing bright blue.

"Arlo, the energy is a bit much for me to contain. I will share some with you."

Several streaks of blue energy left the slime seal on Arlo's upper arm and moved toward his hands and neck.

'What is happening?' Arlo thought.

<< All the mana she absorbed from the servant is being converted by her bloodline into Ki that can be used by her. And she is sharing some of that Ki with you. >> Old bro spoke before he continued, << Do you remember I once told you that when you awaken, it might not even take you a year to reach the Red-core stage? >>

"Yes."

<< Now, with this slime as your summon, it might not even take two months. >>

"What?" Arlo exclaimed in surprise. "Is that even possible?"

<< It is. If it wasn't that you are yet to awaken, the mana she absorbed would have been sent to you, helping you greatly in your cultivation. However, as the other is a mage and you are currently only a Ki user, she transformed the mana into Ki that can be used by you both. >>

However, Arlo found a loophole in what Old bro said, so he decided to ask, "Why can't I use the Ki to improve my Warrior's cultivation?"

<< Foolish brat. That would only work if she devours a Ki user. What she did was transform Mana into Ki using her bloodline. This means the Ki is impure and cannot be absorbed by your body. It can only be used during battle. >>

Arlo took a short moment to digest what Old Bro said.

Even though he couldn't absorb this Ki, he could still use it in battle.

Doesn't that mean he could theoretically fight forever as long as Anita devours bodies?

Checking his body, he found that a small part of his Ki reserve was used when Anita devoured Marvin.

Even though he didn't know Marvin's cultivation, Arlo was sure he was a late beginner mage at best.

However, what he gained after killing him was by far greater than what he lost.

"Are you alright?"

Anita's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

Arlo stood up before he carried Anita and with a smile, he said, "Thank you for saving me."

"Hehe. It is what I am supposed to do."

*Bang!*

The door of the shop was suddenly flung open with force.

A middle-aged man stood there with ten other people standing behind him.

As both parties stared at each other, the shop was suddenly enveloped in an eerie silence.

It was the calm before the storm!

*****

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