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Chapter 169: The Darkness In All Of Us IV

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"I see..." Ian murmured, his smile vanishing from sight, "I told a person very dear to me something. 

It was a long time ago... Knowledge is very important, the most important. You know nothing about me, yet your desires led you here... What I want to say is that there is darkness in all of us, and I don't like your darkness."

"Wait!!" Gen screamed, getting an ominous premonition about what was just about to happen.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to react quickly enough. He simply didn't expect Ian's actions to be so extreme because the next moment, Gen found numerous yellow constructs surrounding him from all sides.

All the constructs were made of the energy of fear, his strongest emotion. They were all sharp and deadly, clearly letting Gen know of his intent to kill.

Ian however wasn't willing to wait for a reaction. He was playing dirty as he brought out Neptune's Trident, using the speed force to nail Gen right in the chest.

The numerous fear constructs left no way for the white Martian to escape as Gen realized their deadly potency. Just what kind of fear is strong enough to slice through a white Martian so easily?

A significant portion of the constructs followed along, nailing him to the ground. Ian then lifted his left hand high in the air, manifesting the staff of all things before bringing it down upon the creature.

Gen could only struggle in vain as Ian firmly nailed him to the ground, allowing little to no movement. He could only lie there powerlessly, feeling something being stripped away from him by the staff.

Ian was devouring him alive, "You didn't overestimate your worth, but you underestimated how dangerous you are... I guess I just can see your danger because I know..."

Because he knows just what the Anti-life equation is capable of, just how dangerous it can be in the wrong hands.

Now, Gen only discovered a small piece of the Anti-life equation, but that alone made him one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe.

"I... I," Whatever words he wished to speak were lost to Ian's cruelty as he sucked him dry in a pure kind way.

Ian was certainly not interested in leaving him alive any longer much to Harley's disappointment. That pale shining bald skull seemed quite tasty to her.

God Harley could imagine just how fascinating the sound of his skull getting crushed would sound, music to her ears.

"This..." Ian murmured, feeling thankful that he had taken this course of action because he just realized just how much Gen's energy supplemented the Psychic vessel.

Gen seemed to be an entirely different monster than the other white Martians, a threat to the entire multiverse if he continued to grow.

'So why have I never heard of him before?' Ian narrowed his eyes, contemplating all possibilities, 'Someone or something stopped him before he achieved anything...'

Ian shook his head, not dwelling on those thoughts for now. Instead, he cut off Gen's head with a fear construct and threw it to Harley, "Have fun."

"Yesssss!" Harley instantly jumped up in happiness after she took the head into her hands, uncaring about the strangely colored blood dripping from it.

"Such a sweet crushable bald head..." While Harley had her sweet time testing the mathematics behind skull crushing, Ian vanished ready to take care of another problem.

It was only a moment later before he found himself standing next to Ivy. This exact moment was why he gave her the black Rose ring, allowing him to teleport to her almost instantly.

"I hate this..." The moment he appeared, Ian heard Ivy's emotional tone, and he could see why after looking around.

They were in a strange realm, one Ivy sought to regain her real self, or at least isolate herself from outside influence, the influence of the Green.

It was an odd realm that went on to defy all common sense and laws of physics, filled with nothing but plant life.

It didn't have any gravity. Its structures were simple floating islands constructed of plants. Everything was planets, even the place's very air felt like the best breath one can ever take, so rich and vibrant with life.

The absence of gravity made it so Ian had to use magic to move around while Ivy felt right at home, the plants acting as bridges under her foot with unnerving servitude.

More interestingly, there were living moving creatures in the realm, and they were the source of Ivy's disgust. 

That was strange because they're also plant life, albeit there was something odd about them that disgusted her.

They were parasites in her eyes, and she felt an instinctive disgust towards them, but she controlled herself because what she hated wasn't those creatures, but the green's influence on her.

She hated it even more, realizing just how strong the green's influence is within its realm.

"Whatever these creatures are, they must've done something to get the Green's ire..." Ivy certainly seemed to be in a sour mood. 

It took her nearly a month to reach this place, and she certainly went through a lot of trouble to reach it, the reason for which was speculated to be these creatures.

That explains why she had no mercy on them as she unleashed her full force, breaking them like twigs while Ian just followed along, enjoying the exquisite scenery.

The realm was vast, but Ivy's current capabilities allowed her to sense things through a large portion of it, thus why she found a certain spectacle.

On a very small green Island, there was a statue, the only statue in the entire realm. It seemed to be made of stone, a statue of a giant creature.

Around the stature were about ten trees, just as colossal as the giant and they were all facing it, almost like a ritual.

Each tree was different than the other, but one thing they all had in common was the facial shapes on their trunk. Their faces weren't carved well, in fact, they looked quite sinister and odd.

"As I thought... It's all the Parliament of Trees' doing." Ivy murmured with a frown. She wasn't too surprised when those specific trees started moving, seemingly waking up from deep sleep.

"Parliament of Trees? What do you know about them?" Ian asked, curious. He had heard of them before, but he knows very little about these odd things.

"I only found out about them through my connection with the green. It all starts with Plant Elementals. They have existed on Earth long before humans. Born when an animal died in flames and merged with the Earth, the Elementals became protectors of plant life throughout history. 

When they had done their time, they would join the Parliament of Trees, a group mind of former Elementals. They then become the protectors of the Green, guarding its holiness, or at least that's how it's supposed to be..."

"Oh? Go on..."

"As of a while ago, I felt like the Green was trying to control me, to increase its influence on me. I think the only reason why I'm still the same old me is because of you because I would've certainly fallen under their control otherwise." Ivy explained, holding a bit of a grudge.

"They? So they're responsible, not the green?" Ian questioned though he added a second later, "I would find that hard to believe... The green wouldn't be so innocent to not do anything."

"The green wanted you, so it definitely influenced me. They, however, want me to destroy everything. They want to use my ever growing powers to destroy humanity... They were the ones influencing me in that direction."

Her words came to a halt as her lips trembled, seeming madder than ever, "They want to use you as a battery for that goal... At least, this is my assumption, but I am certain of it."

"Oh, that's rude," Ian frowned, feeling absolutely violated. He would've filed for sexual harassment if the Green had some system for punishments, "God like they could've just asked. I would've happily let them suck me dry for a very small price..."

"..."