Solitary Sword Sovereign Part 2

Modus Teaches Once More

"I am the fourth force."

Modus' arrogant declaration brought Will out of his Hou Yi stupor.

Odin's question was 'What is the fourth force', not 'Who is the strongest force'...'

Will could not decide on what was more ridiculous. The fact that Modus had called himself a force, or the fact that no one had spoken or acted in any way that disagreed with the statement bothered Will.

He could not believe his eyes and ears. The fact that Modus was by himself] equal in power to a faction like Olympus stunned Will. He still could not fathom the scope of the system or understand Olympus' standing in this structure, but it could not be small. But Will had misunderstood something. Modus did not equate himself to each of the forces.

"Don't get it twisted here son. Rather than saying there are four forces here, it makes more sense to say that there are two forces. Modus and the rest."

Odin's words were met with nods and grunts of approval. Modus was eyed wearily by the others, signalling the truth of the All Father's words to Will.

'Adelda said that Odin is equal to Modus in terms of status and ability, and even superior in certain fields like teaching. How the heck are they equal?'

Odin read Will like a piece of paper and said, "Don't misunderstand boy. Modus is indeed the greatest combatant here, but he is also a System Administrator with complete control of his sector. If this were the real Olympus, or if we were in Asgard, it would be a slightly different story."

Will nodded along to Odin's words, thinking that they made sense. Will had read enough about the system to know about the omnipotence of Administrators. Although not much was known about them, they were not to be capable of doing virtually whatever they wanted within their own area of control. This was the only information users had on the system or those behind it. The rest could only be accessed by those with proper clearance.

But Odin's last sentence caught the young man off guard.

'Only slightly?'

Will was horrified by this statement. Now he understood the severity of the issue. If Modus was that powerful yet his status was only equal to Odin, it could only mean there were extenuating factors that were involved.

'Status isn't just about strength.' Will said as he consoled himself.

'Perhaps being a loner is what limits his status.'

But Will's assumption was dashed by Jingsung Ha's words, "Interest is an even bigger factor when it comes to this mad man."

The 6 other beings nodded in agreement while spouting their own thoughts.

"I'm sure that's why most of his previous disciples have died. They were honourable deaths though."

"Didn't they mostly die from insanity or something like that?"

"I heard that some even killed themselves to escape the torture."

"The other day Loki said he saw a nutcase who blames Modus for his issues."

"Is he a former disciple?"

"No, he claims to be the descendant of a former disciple."

"Wait, don't tell me..."

"You guessed it. He said some in his family are born nuts. Apparently, after being taught by Modus, insanity became a recessive gene in their family."

This conversation made Will feel less confident about his future survival.

Modus laughed and walked to Will, placing his hand on the fearful Will. "He has something the others did not."

Modus' face came unnaturally close as the others paid attention, "He has entanglement."