"I need not take you as a follower."
As those words fell, Angel abruptly looked toward the Cruel Scholar.
Its statue's wings were spread wide, hovering directly before Angel as its majestic aura bore down like the sky itself. Its eyes, filled with wisdom and cruelty, looked down upon him.
"So long as you agree to one thing, I will spare you." The Cruel Scholar looked down at Angel from on high.
"What is it?" Angel watched the Cruel Scholar warily. He did not believe there was anything on him worthy of the Cruel Scholar's attention, except... his soul.
Naturally, Angel's thoughts could not escape the Cruel Scholar's senses.
As it happened, it was indeed very interested in Angel's soul. Yet having lived for so long, the Cruel Scholar knew very well the rules upheld by powerful beings across countless worlds. Angel's soul had clearly been claimed by a mighty existence. Under such circumstances, it did not even dare mark Angel as its follower, much less possess his soul.
Still, though it could not obtain Angel's soul, that did not hinder the Cruel Scholar's desire to study it.
After its earlier probing, it was clear that as long as his soul was not threatened, that existence would not appear.
The Cruel Scholar had even seen the Abyss Dragon's Flame Mark on Angel. This showed that Angel's physical body was not actually under that powerful existence's protection.
Going by that, it could have found a way to brand its own mark upon Angel's body. Yet the Cruel Scholar restrained itself. It had noticed that Angel's right hand was clearly strange, and the Green Patterns had also fused into that hand earlier. Evidently, both Angel's body and soul were connected to that great existence in some way. It was merely that, compared