The Rise Of A Porter

Arnold's grasp got tighter around Xiaofan's neck. Soon all of the people in the area had been gathered around him by his summons. Tiamut had even got the men who fired a bullet at Yu Zhung. All of these people were forced to bow in front of Arnold while looking at him with fear in their eyes.

Xiaofan helplessly looked at Arnold while desperately struggling to free herself from his grasp. She even tried to kick him in the weakest place of the male anatomy. But her attempt at freedom only got her a light slap that left a huge mark on her cheeks. It looked like nothing more than a friendly tap and yet her eyes were filled with tears the moment Arnold's hand touched her face.

But even through her tears, she could only think about her plan. The plan that had failed miserably. Not only did she not manage to kill Deathless and Yu Zhung but she also got innocents caught but Deathless, thanks to her plan. And now all of them were on a lunatic's mercy.

But after seeing the wicked smile on Arnold's face, it didn't look like there was a shred of mercy in that man's mind. This was the reason Xiaofan was completely against asking help from a foreigner like Deathless to help resolve the matter at hand. She did not know much about him initially. But when the whole dungeon problem began, Xiaofan did an extensive research on the man whom the world had known as Deathless.

She found whatever she could from the internet as well as private sources and things she found about Deathless got her on edge. She tried persuading Kang You to not seek help from the Deathless and instead ask the other emperors for help instead. But Kang You didn't listen. He was sure that Deathless and Yu Zhung were the only ones who could help him out of the crisis as they were the ones who had handled such a situation before and thus had experience.

Then there was also the issue of his pride. He had always taken pride in how his territory had the most successful subjugation rate among the other emperors. He wasn't the strongest among the other emperors but he was the most disciplined one.

So much so, his students were known to pay their respects to any and every opponent they went against. Let it be monsters or humans, they paid respect to everyone before starting the fight and after ending it. People used to come to him for help and now how could he go and ask them for help? No matter what, his ego could not take such a big hit.

In Kang You's eyes, it was better to beg an outsider for help than bow his head in front of people he had once looked down upon. So he went ahead and asked Arnold for his help in the subjugation of minotaurs. But Xiaofan did not give up.

She tried her best to persuade him to not go through with his plan. She even informed Kang You about everything she had found regarding the Deathless. His unpredictable moves and temperament were enough reasons to not seek his help. But Kang You had already made up his mind and once he did that, no one could change his mind. Not even the 'mind' behind his success.

That's when Xiaofan decided to take matters into her own hands. She came up with a plan to take down both Arnold and Yu Zhung in a swift manner. She even paid a hefty sum and hired Asia's most skilled snipers to take them out. But it was all in vain. In the end, the snipers were captured and her plan failed.

She could get by if Arnold was going to kill her but he had warned her he would kill everyone there if she did not tell him why she did it. That was something she couldn't allow to happen. After all, she was the one to bring them out of the overcrowded but safe underground camp to help her make the location look genuine and hence do not arouse suspicion. But in the end, she put them in danger of losing their lives.

"I... did it on... my own accord..." She barely managed to mumble in a squeaky voice as Arnold began squeezing her throat even tighter.

Even in her squeaking voice, Xiaofan spoke loud enough for everyone to hear her. But Arnold could not register her words. No one knew but there was a struggle going on in Arnold's head. A struggle that would either give the people their lives or take them away.

***

Arnold couldn't see anything. It felt like darkness had swallowed him. But then he remembered where he was. He was in his domain.

'No... this pace isn't my domain. Not by a longshot.' Arnold thought, 'But how did I get here? Wasn't I about to save Yu Zhung from a bullet? I used foresight... but that's the last thing I remember... just what the hell is going on here?'

Suddenly the vision of him grabbing Xiaofan popped up out of nowhere. Thousands of people had bowed their heads around him. He had even summoned all of his summons out of the void, and yet he had no recollection of doing something like that, whatsoever.

'Kill... them...' A feminine voice hissed in his head, 'They are ants who do not deserve to live... kill... them... now...'

"No!" Arnold yelled but no voice came out of his mouth, only the voice in his head could hear him. he didn't even ask who the owner of the voice was. The only thing that came out of his mouth was the intent to not kill so many people.

'Why not? You have the powers to rule the world... why not do it? Kill them... burn the entire world down... no one would be able to stop you...'

"If no one can, then I will stop myself." Arnold yelled back, "I'm not a mindless creature who will kill anyone and everyone who defies me!"

'How disappointing...' The voice hissed back, 'Sadly... I can't do anything to you. Not yet. But soon, you'll be forced to do my bidding... mortal...'

Arnold felt like he had heard this voice before. But he couldn't remember where. All he knew was that he had heard the voice sometime before... or at least someone he knew had. A moment later his vision got cleared and he was back in control of his body. The first thing he did after 'coming back' was to let Xiaofan go. Her face had turned red and his finger marks were clearly visible around her neck.

But the worst part was that Arnold couldn't believe what had happened there. For the first time in years, he was shaking in fear. Just thinking that someone else was in control of his body, sent shivers down his spine. No matter how short the duration had been, if he had not snapped back the moment he did, the results could've been catastrophic, to say the least. 

"Master, are you okay?" Talos was the first one to notice something wrong with Arnold as he was standing closest to him.

"Talos, Natasha come with me." Arnold yelled before storming off, "Alice take care of the woman and Asterios and Grock keep a watch over the snipers. The rest of you let the civilians go and protect them."

Everyone was confused with Arnold's sudden and contradictory remarks. Wasn't he the one who told them to kill everyone a moment ago? 

"His mood swings are getting a bit extreme don't you think?" Bad-Breath whispered int Alice's ears.

"Yeah..." Alice replied, "I just hope it's only that, and nothing else."