Somewhere in the middle of the wilderness, a blue light flashed as a man with bloodied eyes and his summons appeared, still with a shocked expression on their face.

The young man looked around him vigilantly and only when he saw that there was no one around did he breathe a sigh of relief and looked at the limbless man that was teleported with him.

Tony’s prosthetic arms and legs that he made for himself have torn apart in a second, all his four limbs have been ripped apart, blood was dripping from the wounds, he seemed just like a ball of meat. only his face which was free of any beard that represented the Dwarfs was visible.

’That was the power of Ranker’

Shiva thought looking at the limbless Tony, In just a matter of seconds, that man managed to cut off all his four limbs without any difficulty.

’But, who was he?’ he thought as he remembered the scene of the clown cutting off the arm of a ranker just with the movement of his hand.

’ Why was he with me in the first place? what was his motive?’ he was thinking of various questions still looking at Tony absentmindedly.

"I don’t need your pity, just take me to my workshop"

It seemed like Tony misunderstood Shiva’s silence, Shiva who heard him just brushed it off.

Tony was asking for shiva’s help to take him to his workshop to reattach the prosthetic arms and legs that he prepared in advance in case any of them got damaged but Shiva was not a fool to help another person when he just got betrayed by someone.

"And why Should I do that?", He said looking down at Tony, his voice cold as ice.

"..." Tony became silent at his response, He too understood that Shiva was in no position to believe him but he needed to get to his workshop fast if he want to survive, blood was constantly oozing out of his body, and if that continued he would surely die.

"I will tell you where the Soul stone is ’Exactly’", Tony said biting down his lips

"...!"

Shiva who heard him got instantly enraged, "So you knew the exact location of it in the first place?" he asked while holding Tony’s collar.

His anger was rising just thinking that everyone around him was deceiving him when he genuinely trusted them.

"I...I am sorry, I needed something to guarantee that you won’t back down on your word"

He was right! If Shiva were to refuse to give him the Golem cores after he took the information from him, he had no way to get back at him, it was necessary from his perspective. In the first place he was someone who had no one to rely on, not even his friends or family.

But that didn’t soothe Shiva’s anger as he was boiling with rage. No matter the reason, all it mattered for him was that he was deceived.

"You all bastards are same!... You.."

He was getting emotional when Kapali interfered.

"Master, It is not the time for you to get worked up! Anna and that clown already know about the ’Soul stone’, if we don’t hurry, then you would lose an opportunity to gain one of the Origin stone"

Shiva listened to his servant as he calmed down a bit asked him, "But if we somehow end up facing him, we are dead for sure"

He was already powerless against the unknown ranker that appeared out of blue but to fight against someone who easily took care of a Ranker!! He would die without knowing what happened!

"The Origin stones are much stronger than you think master!"

Kapali said as if he knew something about it, That’s when Shiva reminded of his conversation with Kapali after the colosseum and he got silent for a movement. "...."

"And master here...."It was Virupa this time, He came forward holding a headless body in one hand and Karna’s head in another hand.

"Karna...He really died"

Shiva said seeing Karna’s body, he didn’t know what to feel at his death, his heart felt heavy thinking about him. he didn’t cry or rather the tears refused to come out. He felt like a fish out of water, he didn’t know how to explain that. The blood still dripping down his eye seemed to make up for the tears that won’t appear.

"We should return his body to Radha, at least...."

"Master! are you a fool?" Kapali outburst at him "Don’t be an emotional fool, there is no place for such thing in the Tower"

"Use that Skill, Master, Karna, he is worth it"

Shiva understood what he was referring to but he was reluctant. Karna was not like Kapali, Virupa, or any of his summons, he was someone who accompanied him by his side, he felt uncomfortable seeing his dead body. He at least wanted to give a proper burial for him who died because of him but now... he had to summon him? besides what is he going to tell Radha?

’When did I start caring for others?’ 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He suddenly realized, when was the last time he was worried about someone else other than himself, he couldn’t even remember it, he was selfish, he was someone who kept everything for himself not caring about another. ’That’s right, I am a Selfish being’ resolved his decision or maybe he was just trying to escape from reality?

Anyway, his head was clear now, he looked at the dead corpse of Karna kept on the ground with his separated head. Karna wasn’t weak by any means if he still had his class maybe he wouldn’t have died such death, He was someone who was chosen to be the representative of the Shadow but he turned it down to serve Shiva, ’it was worth it if it is him’ maybe he would be comparable to Virupa in power but his assassination skills will come in handy, not to mention that he had no way to contact all the shadow members dispersed throughout the tower. ’I will lose too much if I just let go of his body’ He decided to use the empty slot and cast his skill on Karna’s body.

"Heed my call and <Rise from the Dead>, Karna"!!!

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bonus Chapter~~

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