Congratulations! The host has developed the passive skill: Compulsion Magic Resistance. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Compulsion Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Compulsion Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Compulsion Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Compulsion Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.

'Holy shit. Compulsion magic, really?' Lone asked himself in shock as he watched the notifications continue to roll on it. 'I could always kill this guy immediately with Mental Destruction then have Saturn catch his soul, but it'll take ages for me to reach a point where I can extract info from a soul, won't It? So long as this fuckhead doesn't 'compulse' me to do anything strange, I may as well see how far this resistance can go, now shouldn't I?'

For a start, Lone checked the skill's information as the XXX-ranker in front of him slowly approached him.

Passive Skill: Compulsion Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of Compulsion Magic.

Compulsion Magic used on the host will be weakened by 5%.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 5

'Really? That's it?' Lone was honestly quite disappointed that this skill was the exact same as all of his other magic resistance ones were back when they were still at the beginner level.

'You'd think it'd be at least a little bit different for a magic that I've literally never heard of before,' Lone thought as he sighed mentally.

He very covertly tested every part of his body to see what he could and could not move. 'Huh. Just my left foot. I guess that's all five-percent's good for. Anyway, this guy's a triple-X-ranker like those Seekers were, right? Man, I really want him to give me a bunch of orders... If I can get this resistance to master rank like my Water Magic Resistance... That'd be pretty fucking sweet, especially since this compulsion magic shit seems really damned dangerous.'

The teens' kidnapper had finally reached Lone at this point. He chuckled faintly and then kicked him in the face, making him rocket back as blood shot out of his mouth.

Naturally, all of the damage done was healed practically instantly by Basic Regeneration. After that, as if on instinct, Lone's body returned to its kneeling pose.

"You know, I've heard about what you've done, Foxkin. I've heard about how you were 'falsely' accused of high-treason in Milindo since you killed their summoned hero. I've heard about how you helped the eastern world tree fight and kill the already dying Ancient Darkness Dragon, supposedly. I also heard about what you did with the church just yesterday morning," the masked assailant claimed as he grabbed Lone by his hair and then punched him in his ribs.

"Lies. Tricks. False glory. Powerful tools." There was an indescribable joy in the XXX-ranker's tone. "You're a skilled charlatan who somehow got a Divine artefact, nothing more. By the way, speaking of that, you are no longer allowed to use that artefact."

With that single use of compulsion magic, Lone's resistance shot all the way up to the Advanced level, so he immediately checked its effects.

Passive Skill: Compulsion Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of Compulsion Magic.

Compulsion Magic used on the host will be weakened by 30% [+25%].

[New!] The host has a 15% chance to completely ignore a command issued via Compulsion Magic.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Advanced Level 1 [Up by 16 levels!]

'Oh, sweet! It did get an effect! Still... why am I not learning any compulsion magic? Is it a bloodline-specific magic or something? I sure as hell hope not. It seems like a really useful magic branch to learn If I'm being perfectly honest,' Lone thought excitedly.

Lone only had three real hobbies which he'd developed since coming to Altros; first, cuddling Soph and Sophie, second, all things related to dwarven technology, and lastly, all things magic-related.

With the allure of such a powerful magic right in front of him, Lone couldn't help but get giddy at the thought of learning it despite how unlikely that was right now seeing as how he hadn't developed the skill being used on him already.

If he hadn't it earned by now, then chances were, he never would.

The compulsion magic user seemed to misunderstand Lone's unfocused gaze and his apparent calmness as fear and false-bravado respectively.

"You're boring," the man claimed as he kicked Lone in the chin once more, flinging him to the other side of the room and next to Scott's unconscious body. "I want you to scream. The boy over here put up a bit of a fight," he said as he gestured to George, "But the second I touched his eye, oh man, it was like a pig at the slaughterhouse. 'Waaa! Waaa! No, not my eye! Waaa!' Funniest thing I've ever heard in my life. He was brave for all of two seconds before he crumbled."

The man paced back and forth for a few moments silently until he looked at Lone again and smirked beneath his face-wrappings. "You know, they all crumble. He did, you will, everyone will. Here's what you're going to do for me, okay? I need to break you down since I can't compulse you to give me the baby on my own. I'm not talented with that kind of complex command. Emotions are tricky to bypass when it comes to things like that."

He shook his head sadly before he continued with, "Did you know though, it's actually very simple for me to specifically order people to hurt the people that they love? That's the only thing that I'm really talented with when it comes to compulsion magic. I'm still a step shy when it comes to getting them to murder their loved ones, but hey, no one ever said that a bit of elbow grease couldn't help you achieve your goals, right?"

While not worried about his own, George's, or Scott's safety, the man's words genuinely disturbed Lone. 'How many times has he been in a similar situation like this? How many people has he mutilated like George?'

"Anyway, I got off track a bit there. What I'm gonna get you to do is, hmm, a hand sounds good. Cut off that kid's fingers. All of the ones on his left hand. Once you're done that, chop the whole thing off at the wrist and then shove it down his throat. That should loosen you up a bit, no?" The XXX-ranker asked in an extremely condescending voice that was riddled with insanity.

Immediately, Lone's entire vision was filled with nothing but notifications screens. In less than a second, he dismissed them all and brought up the information of the Compulsion Magic Resistance skill.

Passive Skill: Compulsion Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of Compulsion Magic.

Compulsion Magic used on the host will be weakened by 95% [+65%].

The host has a 50% [+35%] chance to completely ignore a command issued via Compulsion Magic.

[New!] If the host successfully ignores a command issued via Compulsion Magic, then there is a 75% chance that the magic's caster will receive an incredibly violent backlash.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Master Level 5 [Up by 24 levels!]

"Hahahaha..." Lone cackled softly.

"What? Already broken, are we?" the masked man asked very hopefully and sincerely, which sickened Lone to his core.

He completely ignored the man as he moved every part of his body freely save for his right hand. "So just my hand, huh? I wonder what would happen if I stopped trying to resist? Would I just do what he asked?"

"You... You're not affected by my compulsion magic anymore?" the masked man asked in both surprise and rage. No one had ever resisted his magic when he had ordered them to hurt people that they cared about before. After all, he was a genius when it came to that, so them not doing what he had ordered was the more absurd outcome.

Lone snapped his head to glare at the XXX-ranker. "Kneel for me," he demanded arrogantly as he unleashed his Ascending Aura to its maximum force.

Dust scattered and the floor cracked as the kidnapper's knees rocketed to the ground. His power was so great that the force of his kneecaps hitting the hard stone split the rocks, wedging him in place.

"What... What is this?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Lone cracked his neck as he approached the man. "This, you piece of shit, is true authority. Now, if you'll excuse me for a minute," he said as he grabbed the man's head and pulled off his face-wrappings, revealing a pale-skinned and very handsome man who looked to be roughly twenty-five, but Lone was sure he was far older considering his power.

Disregarding the man's looks, Lone used his free hand to punch the man in the jaw so hard it dislocated it. He then shoved his hand into the man's mouth and ripped his tongue out. The next second he healed the injury and made it so that the man's natural state was one without a tongue. "That should do for now. I've got big plans for you."

Lone then kicked the kidnapper in his cranium with enough force to topple a skyscraper. Blood spilt out of the man's eyes, nose, and ears, but he wasn't dead yet.

"Still conscious? Fine, stay right there. You'll be wishing that you'd passed out soon enough," Lone coldly declared before he went over to George's side.

"Damn, he really fucked you up, huh?" Lone asked the passed out kid who was missing an eye, all of his fingers, his upper lip, both ears, his nose, and his left foot.

Editing the XXX-rankers tongue out of existence had been quite pricey, so Lone took a mana orb out of his Dimensional Storage and then healed George perfectly, resulting in the orb turning to dust. "There's no way he'll be fine after this... Scott probably will, but I wouldn't be surprised if George gets a massive fucking trauma from this..."

Lone was angry, but he wasn't without a solution. "I guess I'll be relying on Eolande."

He brought both George and Scott into The Glade and told Infa to look after them. He didn't want to disturb Swind with such a simple task, so he left it to the baby dragon.

Reappearing in the middle of the basement a few minutes later, Lone saw Saturn hovering with the Swordspear of Immortal Slaying pressed up against the kidnapper's neck while his presumed subordinates lay on the floor as they were barely clinging onto their lives. Clearly, the Divine Soul Prison hadn't gone easy on them.

Lone nodded approvingly before he went on to kill each and every one of the XXX-ranker's men. "I hope they didn't matter to you, Shithead, because most of them just had their souls destroyed."

The man being addressed had no sympathy in his eyes. In fact, beyond his shock at Lone's ability to resist his compulsion magic, he actually had an almost mocking expression on his face.

Lone backhanded him across the room before he picked him up and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of spuds. "I don't know if you're some massive big shot, but trust me, even if you're the son of the King of Felron, you're still going to die and have your soul used by me. I'd love to crush it, but an XXX-ranker's soul is pretty rare."

Lone didn't care for the man's reaction beyond that point, so he kept silent as he made his way back to his hotel to go talk to Eolande. On the way, he made sure to check his status.

Status Name: Lone Immortus Sex: Male Age: 27 Level: 2,580 [+195] Species: Foxkin Rank: SSS [Up from SS!] Race: Ascending Foxkin HP: 79,240/79,240 [+10,050] SP: 143,970/241,920 [+40,890] MP: 13,125/657,280 [+20,430] DP: 64,320/64,320 WF: 1,500/1,500 Basic Stats Strength: 10,615 [+900] Vigour: 7,924 [+1,005] Dexterity: 9,293 [+1,309] Agility: 10,042 [+1,760] Vitality: 24,192 [+4,089] Luck: 884 [+106] Secret Stats Charm: 564 Charisma: 116 Magic Power: 65,728 [+2,043] Divine Power: 6,432 Rage: 60 [+55] Control: 940

'As expected of so many S-rankers... Less levels than I was hoping for, but with this rank up, doesn't Soph finally have her Immortality back? The increase in rage is a bit worrying... Void had better not act up due to this.... incident,' Lone hoped as he finally arrived at his destination, Madam Cortelle's Palace of Rest.