After sleeping for several more hours, Rohan finally woke up. This time, he woke on his own, without Belluci's face hovering above him.
He rubbed his eyes and looked around. The interior of the church was now lit by several lightbulbs, floating quietly just below the ceiling.
After stretching for a moment, he rose to his feet. The pain that had weighed him down before was mostly gone. When he touched his face, he realized the bruises had already faded, leaving only a few small scratches behind.
But even though his face had almost fully healed, the remaining scratches still served as a reminder of Michael.
And of course, Rohan still hoped that one day, he would have the chance to take his revenge on him.
While his mind wandered through various thoughts, Rohan stepped outside.
As he passed through the door, he saw more than five skeletons working on a construction project, building a large house. The frame and foundation were massive. If completed, he felt it would be several times larger than the church.
Near the structure, Belluci, Luciana, and Arminius were also helping with the work.
For a moment, he simply stood there and watched them. But eventually, he turned away and walked toward a nearby lake.
As the Storm God, Rohan naturally had a strong affinity for water. He could easily sense nearby water sources such as lakes, rivers, or even the sea.
After walking for several minutes, he finally came upon a calm lake, its surface faintly glowing as it reflected the moonlight.
With a swift motion, he undressed and stepped into the water. As he washed himself, Rohan took some time to observe a few of his followers. Unlike before, he could no longer keep track of all of them. With more than 1,200 followers, doing so would take far too much time.
He decided to focus only on those who mattered most.
This time, he chose to observe David. It had been a while since he last checked on him.
As Rohan closed his eyes, a vision formed. He saw David sitting inside a crowded hall. After watching him for nearly an hour, Rohan finally understood what was happening.
David had not made much progress regarding Gherman yet, but he had made significant strides in his personal growth. Over the past few days, he had been working to take over several gambling groups and their territories. By now, most gambling houses in the western city district were under his control.
For a moment, Rohan felt a surge of surprise. To build, or rather seize, a gambling empire within just a few days was truly impressive. On top of that, David now had dozens of Blue Soul mages serving under him.
At that moment, Rohan realized that even without him and Edmund, David might be able to handle Gherman on his own.
However, Rohan knew he could not rely too heavily on him. If there was little progress within the next week or two, he would deal with Gherman personally, once he finished dealing with Sollo.
For now, though, he needed to resolve the issue with the permit. Tomorrow morning, he planned to meet Merlinda to fix that issue.
With that in mind, he left the lake and got dressed. Without another thought, he then walked back toward the church.
...
At the same time, in the Grand Palace of Lastbender.
Inside his private room, Michael was in the middle of stomping and kicking a girl his age.
"Come on now, sweetheart... it ain't even been five minutes yet. Don't you want the money? Huh?"
He gave her another lazy kick to the ribs. "Don't go losing consciousness on me just yet." He then nudged her with his foot, not even bothering to crouch. "Hey. Stay with me. Don't pass out. If you do, that whole 'help your mom' thing? Yeah, that's off the table."
And a moment later, the girl went completely limp.
Michael clicked his tongue and stepped back. "Man… that's just boring."
Around the room, several other teenagers stood at a distance, stiff and silent.
He rolled his shoulders, then glanced around until his eyes landed on a black-haired teenager.
He then pointed at him. "You. Yeah, you. Get over here. Your turn."
The boy reluctantly walked closer. And without warning, Michael kicked him hard in the face.
With a thud, the boy fell to the floor.
Without delay, Michael immediately started stomping and kicking him, ribs, stomach, head, face, legs, balls, every part of the boy's body.
"Don't you disappoint me, man," Michael said calmly as his steel boot crashed down again and again, each strike staining it with blood.
"A few days ago, I met this freak cultist who spoke all kinds of nonsense about some electric god or whatever the fuck. Can you believe that shit?" He laughed softly as he continued kicking.
"Kid was around my age too. Lasted nearly five hours. Five whole hours, man. That was fun. Real fun. Not like you boring pieces of shit."
"And of course, soon I'm gonna get my hands on him again. Just gotta wait for the right people. Once I do, even Diana and Tiara are gonna fall. They're all gonna fall."
When he finished talking, Michael noticed the boy had gone limp, with his body fully bloodied.
After a moment, he glanced at the remaining teenagers in the room. "Don't you guys worry," he said with a lazy grin.
"Tonight, everybody gets a share of my brand new boot, imported straight from the Eastern Empire. Yeah, you hear me? That's true. You better be grateful you can have my luxury boot right in your face."
He then laughed, like he'd just told a decent joke.
A moment later, the door opened. A man in a butler's uniform stepped inside.
Michael stopped mid-stomp and looked over. "Alfred. So? You got something for me?"
"Young lord," Alfred said calmly, "are you certain about this? Your mother has already warned you not to pursue the boy named Rohan any further."
At that moment, Michael's expression soured instantly. "Since when do you question me, Alfred?" His voice dropped. "You want me to start taking an interest in your daughter too? Huh?"
"Listen, old man, I don't give a damn what my mother says. I'm going to have my fun with that cultist freak. That's the end of it. You hear me?"
With a flat expression, as if the threat meant nothing, Alfred simply nodded. "Understood, young lord."
He paused briefly before continuing. "I have hired a mercenary. An elf from the far north."
Michael's face lit up. "Really? Damn!" He grinned wide, almost laughing. "You did a good job, Alfred! I might marry your daughter in the future if you keep doing a good job like this!"
Without another word, he turned back to the teenagers. The grin on his face widened as he resumed kicking the next one while he murmured, "Just a little more… just you wait. You must've missed my foot, huh? Cultist freak? Soon… we will meet again."