Reincarnator – Chapter 366: The buried natives (3)
—rumble—
From within the swarm of Quirae.
A small group was struggling.
"Dammit… Even if we want to back out, we might not be able to survive!"
"Shut up and maintain your position! Don't move until N-Aroel finishes activating it!"
—ssssk!—
R-Zairon Nell shouted at his comrades and then sliced apart a Quirae with his nanoblade.
"Haa…haa…"
—tiktik—
—titititik—
One man ignored the countless Quirae jumping towards him and was pressing various buttons that were appearing in the air.
R-Zairon Nell watched N-Aroel, who was deeply focused on the panel in front of him as if he couldn't hear the loud noises around them. And he thought to himself:
'Hmm, I guess he does his job well. Anyway, for such a chance like this to appear within my life…'
Although it was a life-threatening danger, it was also a tremendous opportunity.
Pompeion was pushing their forces back.
If he could smash all these things into Pompeion's territory?
If he unleashed these things on the countless cities unprepared for something like this?
He didn't even need to think about what would happen.
'Chaos.'
If everything went according to his plan, they could easily push back the enemy's forces.
And he would gain the merits for this and increase his presence within his clan.
—boom!—
"Hahahaha!"
R-Zairon Nell started to laugh as he smashed away another Quirae.
He felt his mind brighten at the thought of his promising future.
But he quickly regained his senses at the looks of the other Dragon God Soldiers.
'Right. It's not the time to laugh right now.'
He hadn't succeeded in his plan yet.
Even if he did succeed, it would be an issue.
The biggest variable was themselves.
And the aliens.
It was pointless to use force to deal with them.
They had clearly seen their prowess.
—boom!—
'Yeah. Too strong.'
R-Zairon Nell thought to himself as he watched Kiriel in the distance. Even as she massacred the Quirae, that girl managed to keep her guard up.
Even if he could succeed in ambushing her from the back, a single mistake could kill off at least half of the nine.
She may look tired, but so were they.
But he had a hidden card up his sleeves.
'The Quantum Transmission. How can I use it in the most efficient manner?'
R-Zairon Nell continued to think as he looked at Kiriel, who was slashing her dagger from side to side.
.................
—boom!—
The Mjolnir smashed the 5th-level Quirae's body.
A loud sound occurred as cracks appeared on its crystalline exoskeleton.
But they only existed for a moment.
—ududuck!—
The crystalline structure continuously changed and rebuilt itself as it absorbed and dispersed the force.
It deflected away parts of Mjolnir's lightning while absorbing other parts to strengthen its exoskeleton further.
Of course, it couldn't fully negate the shock.
—crack!—
—crackack!—
Although the exoskeleton dispersed the majority of impact, the strike from the combination of five dragons smashed onto the Quirae's body and pushed it back.
And the sounds of something breaking rang out from beneath the armor.
But it was only pushed back for a bit.
—pushuk!—
It smashed its feet into the ground and received the full shock with its body.
It then made a fist.
—booooom!—
The right fist of the Quirae flew and struck at Hansoo's blue armor.
—crunch!—
A strange sound occurred beneath the blue armor, a sound similar to what he'd heard when he attacked the Quirae.
His bones broke, and his muscles exploded.
The blue armor also turned crystalline and absorbed most of the impact, but the residual force still drove deep into his body.
Of course, he didn't get pushed back or anything.
His response was quite similar to that of the Quirae's.
He raised his Demonic Dragon Reinforcement to the limits and protected his important intestines and muscles.
His Immortal Soul connected his broken bones and healed his flesh.
And after gathering all the strength in his body—
—booooooom!—
—he swung the hammer in his hand.
Just like how the Quirae had done.
Their actions were similar, and so was their strength.
Withstanding attacks with their body and then counterattack.
The battle between Hansoo and the evolved Quirae was a dogfight, nothing more.
—boooom!—
—boom!—
Dozens of attacks were carried out with every second.
Armors broke, and the flesh beneath crushed.
And countless 4th-level Quirae continued to charge towards them.
—crunch!—
Even as he fought the blue creature in front of him, he didn't forget to kill the others as well.
Hansoo clenched his fist at the tremendous change taking place in the fragment inside his body.
Changes were occurring at a rapid pace.
At least until the moment he died, the damage he was receiving was causing his body to change at a crazy rate.
The Immortal Soul frenziedly fixed and grew in order to keep him alive.
'Just a bit… just a bit more!'
Hansoo's insides continued to compress and explode as he glared at his opponent in front of him.
His stamina continued to drain, and his body had turned into a mess.
Although the Immortal Soul was working as hard as it could, his current opponent and the swarm of others around him continued to flood towards him.
But thanks to this, his fragments had reached the very limits of their growth.
The Quirae realized this instinctively and attacked him with even more fervor.
To stop him and smash him apart before that change occurred.
The actions of the 5th-level Quirae as it rushed forward, heedless of how much Hansoo smashed its whole body, proved it all.
But Hansoo smiled as he continued to attack it.
—booom!—
The Immortal Soul had grown a lot.
Its current level could no longer compare to its form of just a few moments ago.
And thanks to this, his overall strength had risen.
Even when the Quirae had smashed his body apart, and his bones were creaking, the increased strength of his skills proved it.
"Kuhuk… Ahhh!"
Hansoo, who'd endured its attacks until now with the blue armor, could no longer hold back the pain as he screamed and got pushed back.
The expression of the 5th-level Quirae turned ugly.
It realized instinctively—
—that at this rate, the change would fully occur before the opponent tired out.
—boom!—
"Kaaaa!"
But only the 5th-level Quirae, which had been able to stay sane, could detect this.
As the other Quirae pounced at him with even more fervor—
—kiiiiing!—
—changes occurred among the surrounding Quirae.
No, not on the bodies of the Quirae, but rather in the air surrounding them.
Blue particles appeared around the Quirae's bodies.
A familiar aura.
'Quantum Transmission!!!'
Hansoo realized what the people who'd gone to control the Quantum Transmission had chosen.
They had decided to throw the Quirae onto the planet, Angkara.
'This isn't good.'
—booom!—
Hansoo smashed away a few 4th-level Quirae, frowning as he looked at the smiling face of the 5th-level Quirae.
This was not good at all.
If he'd fought just a bit more, he would be able to move forward.
And only with that strength would he be able to grasp Clementine's underlings, as well as Melchizedek, and smash them all into the ground.
Neither tactics nor technology mattered in the face of absolute strength.
He needed to get to the level of a 3rd-Star to at least handle them.
But if the transmission succeeded now and the ones in front of his eyes disappeared, things would take much, much longer.
It would be hard to find a new hammer to temper him as efficiently as these creatures before him.
But soon—
—he realized that the transmission wasn't only sending the Quirae away.
—kiiiiing!—
Blue particles started to appear around his body as well.
..........
—boooom!—
"Just hold on a bit more."
"Ahhh! This beast!
The Dragon God Soldiers screamed as they fought.
Not the Quirae, but another being.
"These kids… you dare trick me?"
—crack!—
As Kiriel swung her fang, cracks appeared in the air.
The single line that she'd drawn flew forward towards the Dragon God Soldiers, threatening to slice them apart.
'Ahhhh!'
One of the Dragon God Soldiers freaked out and tried to back away.
Of course.
He witnessed her slice one of his comrades down the center of his body.
Even with the Dragon God Armor, that attack would kill him instantly.
But Kiriel continued slashing with her dagger while receiving attacks from all around.
'Damn… it!'
But as the Dragon God Soldier was about to scream out loud at the approaching dagger—
"Dumbass."
—boom!—
—R-Zairon Nell charged in from the distance and attacked her from behind.
And Kiriel quickly backed off at seeing him, her teeth clenched with frustration.
She could heal if she got hit, but Enbi Arin could not.
'You evil bastard.'
—whoosh!—
Kiriel couldn't finish her goal, so she quickly jumped into the air.
And as she landed, countless particles lingered around her body.
R-Zairon Nell laughed at this scene.
"Hahahaha! Think of it as an honor! You'll be able to face the
The location that the two—no, three, including the one on her back—aliens would be going to was the planet Angkara.
To the center of the
Even they wouldn't be able to survive if such a force were to sweep through them.
No matter how strong they were.
The insectoids would go to Pompeion.
The aliens to the heart of the
And they, the Dragon God Soldiers, back to their headquarters.
The Quantum Transmission continued running.
Kiriel frowned at this.
'…Not good.'
There were seven left.
But it would be impossible for her to get through them in a short time while also protecting Enbi from harm.
The Quantum Transmission was continuously analyzing her atoms in order to send her away.
It was taking a long time simply because there were too many entities, but sooner or later it would send her off.
Kiriel breathed in and said:
"…You bastard. Just wait."
"Hahaha! Are you going to survive from the Flame? How delusional!"
R-Zairon Nell laughed at her.
It was only called a Flame in name, but in truth, it was like a small sun.
The internal sun that provided a tremendous amount of energy and strength to the creatures of Angkara.
There were no other plot twists.
They would die, and he would become a hero.
As R-Zairon Nell laughed—
—whoooosh!—
—something was flying towards them at a rapid pace.
Tiny, but extremely fast.
"…Huh?"
'Is that dangerous?'
It was moving way too fast to figure out its identity.
A mysterious object that was cutting through the air like a meteor.
But even before they could fully react—
—Kiriel jumped into the air and caught the object that almost flew past her.
"…Huh?"
As the Dragon God Soldiers looked at her in confusion—
'Hansoo…'
—a smile soon replaced the gloomy expression on her face.
"Never mind. Let's not wait—I'll deal with you now."
Kiriel smiled as she looked at the violet crystal in her hand— she could feel a condensed energy that was countless times denser than the ones she'd acquired.
Reincarnator – Chapter 367: The buried natives (4)
"Dammit! …Block her!"
R-Zairon Nell screamed, freaking out.
They became stronger when they ate crystals.
They didn't know how much stronger she'd become after eating that.
But the Dragon God Soldiers all hesitated.
'Damned bastards…'
R-Zairon Nell gritted his teeth.
He knew what they were thinking.
There wasn't much time left until the transmission was complete.
They could win by just standing their ground—there was no point fighting her if they didn't need to.
It would be a great loss if they got hurt after charging in recklessly.
'And… just how much stronger can she become anyway?'
—thought one of the Dragon God Soldiers.
They knew that those aliens grew stronger when they ate the crystals.
N-Aroel had told them, and they had seen it.
If Kiriel hadn't continued to eat the crystals and gotten stronger, they wouldn't have been able to get to this point either.
So they didn't feel the need to attack.
Even if she ate that crystal, they could easily hold their ground.
And as they held their formation—
—Kiriel smiled and absorbed the crystal.
…ssss…
—rumble—
Something deep inside her twisted around and started to rise.
Unlike the minute changes up until now, this was on a grander scale.
—crackle—
Walls broke down around her as lightning exploded and the space shook.
Just from a simple change.
Of course, if there were this much change outside the body, the insides wouldn't stay the same either.
'Ahhh… This is it!'
Kiriel felt the overflowing strength in her body.
—kuduk—
—crackle—
Bones rearranged, and her body changed.
Becoming a body that was more fitting to someone who'd crossed over another wall.
She had only felt something like this twice in her life.
First, when she had transcended beyond human limits.
And second, when she had become a 2-Star Transcendent.
A sensation that felt better than anything a human could ever hope to experience.
A feeling that one would pay any price to sense again.
'Maybe this is why everyone tries so hard to gain more strength.'
—whooosh—
—thought Kiriel to herself as the energy within her calmed down.
It was possible that people were chasing after this brief moment rather than the actual strength itself.
Of course, the strength was good too.
—crackle—
'Good.'
Kiriel clenched her fist, looked at the Dragon God Soldiers looking at her in fear in the distance, and then poured all her remaining crystals into Enbi Arin.
—whooosh!—
Despite being unconscious, the damaged body madly absorbed the crystals.
And as Enbi Arin grew stronger from absorbing the crystals, her body slowly regenerated.
'It's not a complete recovery since she didn't cross the wall, but…'
This was good enough.
She just needed Enbi to hold on until she wrapped things up in this place.
Kiriel looked at the people in front of her with a calm expression.
The whole process had taken just an instant.
The Dragon God Soldiers then realized that the change that had happened within Kiriel's body wasn't natural, and they backed off.
'Heh. Right, they wouldn't want to fight since there's just a little bit of time until it's all over.'
Kiriel looked at the blue particles surrounding her and their bodies.
The flower-like, blue droplets were continuously swirling and pulsing as if ready to send them away at a moment's notice.
One minute. No, just thirty seconds. They just needed to hold on for thirty seconds—there was no reason for them to risk their lives.
'Thirty seconds. Good enough.'
In the next instant—
—swoosh!—
—Kiriel's fang cut across the air again.
The same weapon and the same motion as before.
"Damn!"
The Dragon God Soldiers unconsciously fell into defensive positions to protect themselves.
It was the same attack as before, but it made them feel extremely uneasy.
If they could hold on for just a bit longer, it would safely teleport them away.
The Dragon God Soldiers prepared for impact.
But only for a moment.
"…?"
The Dragon God Soldiers made confused expressions.
The attack that threatened to slice them apart hadn't done anything.
'What the hell is this, crazy b****?'
R-Zairon Nell, who had also flinched and gotten into a defensive position like the others, made a confused expression as well.
But he soon shook his head—it was all over.
As long as they returned to the fleet, they wouldn't see her face anymore.
No, they just need to fire at her from the fleet and end her.
If the Quantum Transmission successfully activated, there wouldn't be enough energy for the Mimir to activate anyway.
But their expressions soon turned into one of panic.
"Wha…what the hell!"
The blue particles.
The blue flowers that had been blooming around their bodies were dispersing.
The blue droplets disappeared like popped bubbles.
Meaning that the Quantum Transmission had stopped.
"No! Dammit! N-Aroel! What's going—!"
At the sudden turn of events, R-Zairon Nell and everyone else spun around.
They'd thought that N-Aroel had caused this.
But R-Zairon Nell realized that it wasn't N-Aroel's fault after turning around.
—crackle—
—ssss—
She had sliced apart the Quantum Transmission machine.
The giant tower-like machine had been cut diagonally down the middle, causing the upper segment to slide down.
And R-Zairon Nell realized what she'd cut.
"Damn…"
The faint trace of hope within his mind disappeared with the machine's destruction.
As R-Zairon Nell stared at the giant machine in a daze, Kiriel spoke out:
"I told you, right?'
All the Dragon God Soldiers fell into despair at this voice.
And Kiriel shrugged her shoulders.
"Well… I never said I was going to kill you. After all, we fought together before."
The expressions of the Dragon God Soldiers brightened up at these words.
And it was the same for R-Zairon Nell.
Seeing a ray of hope, R-Zairon Nell quickly changed his expression and spoke to Kiriel:
"Sorry about that before. Please… If you let us go, just this once… the Kalkuroun will never mistreat you.."
Words that were full of shame, but that didn't matter.
Since there was nothing more important than one's life.
Even if he had to lick her toes, he had to survive.
Kiriel chuckled as she said:
"Sure. Let's just go our separate ways."
"…Where are you going? You aren't going with us?'
Kiriel smirked at R-Zairon Nell's words.
"Well, I have a comrade. Good luck."
"Wha… NOO!"
If Kiriel disappeared like this, then it was over for them.
R-Zairon Nell freaked out and screamed, but it was of no use.
Since Kiriel had already disappeared.
—booooom!—
Even before R-Zairon Nell's screams reached the place she'd been standing on, she had already left.
"Keke…"
"Kaa…"
The Quirae, who had flinched at the sudden appearance of the blue particles, started slowly moving towards them again.
Towards the Dragon God Soldiers who were already exhausted from internal struggles and no longer had an escape path.
"…Damn.'
It would've been better to die at Kiriel's hands.
The Dragon God Soldier's expressions were filled with despair and fear as the swarms of Quirae, covering the whole horizon in their entirety, charged towards them.
............….
—booom!—
Hansoo smiled as he looked at the blue particles disappearing while he smashed a Quirae away.
'She succeeded.'
The Quantum Transmission had stopped.
Everything had returned to plan.
He just needed to defeat his opponent and move up.
The Mjolnir swung even more powerfully as if it had read Hansoo's thoughts.
At that moment—
—crack!—
—a sound of something breaking rang out from inside him.
The consciousness of the seed, which had stayed silent for most of the time it had been inside his body, spoke to him with worry.
Its power was an immortal's rate of recovery.
Meaning that if he needed its strength, then his life was possibly in danger, and his body crushed apart.
A strength that was better the less one used it.
But Hansoo couldn't respond to it anyway.
Since he had fallen into silence.
And as if the Quirae had sensed the changes inside his body, they charged forward to rip him apart.
But they couldn't stop the change anymore.
Something similar to what had happened to Kiriel just now, but more natural, started to rush through his insides.
If Kiriel's change was that of forcefully hacking apart something forbidden, Hansoo's change was the exact opposite.
He knew what he needed—he excavated it from the seed and proceeded to the next step.
Hansoo's destroyed body then started to recover at an insane rate.
The Quirae charged at him like countless moths to a flame, and Hansoo smashed them apart as he got accustomed to his changing body.
And then—
—boooooooom!—
—the sound of something exploding reverberated from inside his body.
.............
"…What a crazy world. What the hell is going on down there?"
R-Koronaita Nell frowned as he watched the scenes happening below, and then turned around.
There was a target which he could ask in more detail.
"So… you managed to survive on your own? The other Dragon God Soldiers all died?"
"Yes, only me."
"Just you… Hmm…"
The man who had been acting alongside the Dragon God Soldiers below.
N-Aroel smiled at R-Koronaita Nell.
Reincarnator – Chapter 368: The buried natives (5)
I am saddened.
At how strong we are.
And yet, we cannot avoid our annihilation.
Where are the saviors who left to save us?
.........….
"Huh… It ended already?"
Kiriel mumbled after she'd reached the place where Hansoo had been, looking at the scene before her eyes.
—rumble—
The red clouds that had seeped out from Hansoo's body were literally melting down the entire area.
Starting from the Quirae and even affecting the metal walls of the city.
The germs duplicated over and over again and were devouring everything as far as the eye could see.
—rumble—
The 4th-level Quirae that Hansoo personally had to smash apart with his hammer were also melting down as well.
His strength was unlike anything it had been before.
"Kyah…Kuhuk!"
Kiriel gulped at the scene; the Quirae were screaming as they melted down.
'…Where did he obtainsomething like this?'
She knew that she was quite strong.
And her skills were quite powerful as well.
When one transcended, their skill limits would rise significantly, allowing the transcendent to use them in many more versatile ways than before.
Like being able to tune a machine in whatever way you wanted.
Which meant that the abilities of the user were more important than the skill itself.
'Or so I thought, but… this is on a different level.'
As if to prove that skills had their own differences, the red cloud was creating a sea of blood.
Kiriel whistled at this but soon smiled.
'Right, he should at least be this strong.'
If not, there was no point in him going up ahead, right?
This was merely one of the many rewards that Hansoo deserved.
—rumble—
While Kiriel thought about various things, the vast field of red clouds started to shrink back as if they had finished their meal.
—whooosh!—
The storm of clouds rapidly sucked back into Hansoo's body, and Kiriel found something to her surprise.
'…There's still something alive?'
Although most of its body had melted down already, it still maintained its shape, unlike the other Quirae that had completely melted down.
Kiriel quickly moved towards Hansoo as she stared at the bright blue creature.
—tatatak—
She looked at the bright blue creature with curiosity but soon lost interest.
'It's already dead.'
Although it had maintained its basic form, that was apparently the limit—the grotesque creature in front of her had long been dead.
At that moment, she heard Hansoo's voice.
"Good job."
"It's nothing. It seems that life is a lot more thrilling staying alongside you."
Hansoo smiled at her joking words.
Her energetic atmosphere was good to see.
He then looked at Enbi Arin, who seemed to have more vigor on her face, and he sighed in relief.
'You've held on well.'
There was a sea of crystals around her now.
If they picked all of them up and fed them to Enbi Arin, she would easily rise up to a 3-Star and heal.
A very clean result.
But there were a few things they needed to deal with.
First, the Kalkuroun Fleet above them.
Although the fleet couldn't do anything at this exact moment because of the Mimir, they would fire down strikes the moment they could.
And second.
'…The thing providing Mimir with the energy.'
Hansoo looked into the abyss where a blue light was seeping out in the distance.
They had been able to transfer one Dragon God Soldier after combining the energy output from all three Fusion Reactors inside the Main Research Center.
Of course, the combined output had lasted a short moment, but this proved something.
That even a small-scale Quantum Transmission required enough energy to run three cities.
But surprisingly, something unbelievable had occurred in Aokan.
The Quantum Transmission had almost transferred hundreds of thousands of entities.
Through almost a million kilometers of space.
It was not something Aokan's Fusion Reactor could handle.
He could clearly see the countless tubes transferring energy into the depths of the abyss.
'Hmm. What to do?'
Hansoo pondered for a moment and then spoke to Kiriel.
"Is it possible to read the memory of this thing?"
He pointed at the dead 5th-level Quirae's corpse.
Kiriel quickly nodded and activated her ability on the corpse.
—oooooong—
Her Psychometry, which had further enhanced after breaching another wall, quickly began to read through the memories.
But despite her enhanced ability, Kiriel's expression didn't look very encouraging.
Kiriel shook her head as she said:
"There isn't much."
It seemed that she couldn't read the memories of the entity that the Quirae had eaten—she could only read the Quirae's memories from its birth.
Just how it had been born in the abyss and had come down here through the abyss.
Of course, she didn't return empty-handed.
"I've at least found out where the thing this Quirae ate had come from."
"Where?"
Kiriel pointed towards the bright blue abyss in the distance.
And Hansoo tightly grasped the hammer in his hand.
'I guess I must go down.'
He didn't know what he'd find below.
Even though the Quirae had eaten it, its original strength would not be weak.
But Kiriel shook her head as she looked at Hansoo.
"You won't have to fight."
"…?"
Kiriel shrugged her shoulders at Hansoo's confused expression.
"The things those Quirae ate weren't alive."
Corpse after corpse after corpse.
None of them had been alive.
They were all dead and dried up.
"…I don't know what happened."
Kiriel mumbled as she thought back to the memories of that Quirae, and of the area below those depths.
............…
—whoooosh!—
Hansoo thought back to Kiriel's last words as he dropped into the depths.
She just had to collect the crystals on the ground, so it wasn't hard to do.
Hansoo accepted Kiriel's suggestion.
Looking at the surrounding walls, it seemed that something had dug through these depths.
As he fell, he thought:
'…This isn't natural.'
An artificial hole.
And it was clear who had done this.
'Melchizedek.'
Although Nelkipa boasted a powerful defense, as long as it wasn't a life-threatening attack there was no resistance.
It wouldn't care much about a small hole in its skin.
Although it got harder to dig through as one went deeper, digging something like this was a piece of cake for Melchizedek.
—whooosh!—
Falling through the bright blue hole, Hansoo started to control his speed when he saw the ground quickly approaching him from beneath.
—kakakakaka!—
Hansoo held onto a tube along the walls, causing him to quickly slow down, and then proceeded to land.
As he looked up, a blinding blue light surrounded him.
It was a level of brightness that could easily blind a normal human being.
But of course, it wasn't enough to disrupt Hansoo's sight.
—squirm—
His pupils altered as they quickly readjusted to the light level before his eyes.
Hansoo quickly looked around, and then found the source of the light.
—ooooooong—
A 200-meter radius or so—a very tiny space.
The floor of this space was made up of a transparent material.
And past the transparent floor, a blue sphere pulsed as if it could explode at any moment.
No, it was more like a blue sun.
The giant sphere was so huge that he could clearly see its details despite the distance between them.
It seemed to be right in the center of Nelkipa's body.
The transparent floor absorbed the energy radiating out from the sphere and was sending it over to a crystal located in the center.
And the tubes above him were connected to that crystal.
'…Amazing.'
Although the crystal wasn't directly connected to the sphere and was only absorbing the energy indirectly, it was more than enough to transfer out all the entities within Aokan.
—tonk—tonk—
Hansoo tapped the floor and then frowned.
'Unbreakable.'
Maybe he might have been able to if he used all his strength, but the thickness and sturdiness behind it weren't so simple.
And he didn't feel like he should break it anyway.
The small floor beneath his feet was only a small part of a huge glass structure.
Melchizedek probably hadn't broken it because it knew this as well.
'If it were possible, Melchizedek would've done it a long time ago.'
If it had been able to directly harness the energy below the glass floor and control it, there was no reason for it to fly all the way to Angkara.
Angkara would've easily turned into a sea of flames if it just fired a strike using this energy.
But this was well beyond what Melchizedek could control.
Hansoo then turned away from the transparent glass sphere surrounding the miniature blue sun and looked around.
And realized what Kiriel had been talking about.
'…They're all dead.'
Corpses that had been chewed apart by the Quirae's larvae.
But it would have been painful.
These corpses didn't seem like they had died from the Quirae.
It seemed like they'd been dead for a very long time.
And he could see dried-up, yet familiar, sets of armor surrounding the corpses.
Hundreds.
'The blue armor…'
Hansoo was shocked as he looked at the hundreds of blue armor that had dried up from the lack of an energy supply.
Melchizedek had picked one up—that was fine.
But then why wasn't his armor all dried up like those things and was still maintaining its functionality?
At that moment—
—booooom!—
—a loud sound occurred above the hole he'd fallen down from.
A sound that he could hear despite being multiple kilometers underground.
'What the hell is going on now?'
Hansoo looked up.
*Ekdud's Notes: The first few lines of this chapter are the original owners of the blue armor. The buried natives. In case anybody was confused
Reincarnator – Chapter 369: The buried natives (6)
—boom!—
Hansoo quickly climbed up as he listened to the sounds of explosions.
He could check out that strange space below later anyway.
It was more important to figure out the reason behind the commotion.
—tatata!—
And Hansoo frowned after looking at the scene above ground.
—booooom!—
—rumble!—
'Enbi?… Why?'
Hansoo was confused as he stared at Enbi Arin—she had woken up but was currently fighting Kiriel.
......….
—booom!—
'Ugh!'
Kiriel clenched her teeth as she stared at Enbi Arin, who had started attacking her the moment she woke up.
'Strong.'
They had both recently risen up to a 3-Star, so their strength levels were similar.
Which meant that the only thing they could compete with was the micromanagement and control of their skills, as well as their level of mastery of those skills.
Of course, Kiriel had always been confident in this field.
As she climbed up, there had been countless others stronger than her, but she had never lost a fight against an opponent with the same level of strength.
Her natural talent and her Psychometry, which quickly absorbed experiences, allowed her to boast a whole other level of strength.
But she soon realized that she'd been a bit too proud up until this point.
—crack!—
Enbi Arin's enhanced strength and dexterity from her trait, Tainted Emotions, was pushing Kiriel back.
After becoming a 3-Star Transcendent, Enbi Arin's restored and enhanced body raged on as she continuously charged at Kiriel to shred her heart apart.
And the moment she saw this, Kiriel knew.
As to what emotion was fueling Enbi Arin.
'…Rage.'
Rage was storming through Enbi Arin's body.
To destroy everything before her eyes.
Kiriel quickly shouted in surprise:
"Dammit! I know you can hear me! I'm Hansoo's comrade! We're the ones that woke you up!"
She was different from when the armor had controlled her.
Enbi Arin had no sanity back then.
But now, she was completely sane and only filled with rage.
Which meant that Kiriel could communicate with her.
"…"
Enbi Arin flinched at Hansoo's name, but only for a moment.
"F***…OFF!"
—booom!—
Enbi Arin started to push Kiriel back again.
'Dammit… At this rate…'
Enbi Arin was strong, but Kiriel had the Dragon God Armor.
But as Kiriel was about to activate her armor—
"I'll take care of it.'
—booom!—
—Hansoo jumped between Enbi Arin and Kiriel, and shouted:
"Enbi Arin! Wake up! It's alright now! It's all over!"
And Kiriel quickly rejoiced when she saw this.
'Good. She should stop since Hansoo's here.'
Although Enbi Arin might not believe her, she should stop once she saw Hansoo.
Although his face and body had altered slightly, he was still recognizable.
And Enbi Arin stopped fighting and looked at Hansoo's face.
As if she doubted her own vision.
"Kang… Hansoo?"
Hansoo nodded.
"Yes. I'm here."
But then—
—boom!—
—an even more vicious aura exploded out from Enbi Arin's body.
Pure, unadulterated rage.
Enbi Arin charged at Hansoo and roared at him.
"You! This is all your fault! This! I was living just fine!"
"…?"
'Something's weird.'
Hansoo pondered as he blocked Enbi Arin's attacks.
The chipset wasn't controlling her.
And she was completely sane.
But something was strange.
Hansoo looked at Enbi Arin's shaking eyes and continued to think of a reason.
...........
—boooboboboom—
The Mimir's fog covered Aokan, so nothing was visible, but the sounds of battle still resonated from within.
And the fleet continued to observe the city.
Although they couldn't see anything, they could guess as to where the sounds originated from.
'What a barbaric race. They fight and fight and fight… What the hell is going on?'
N-Akuon, the leader of the Technorats on the Kalkuroun Fleet, made a bitter expression as he saw the person walking towards him from a distance.
"Uhh… you survived."
'To see him again, especially in this place.'
N-Aroel.
His old rival.
N-Aroel's abilities were no less than his own, but due to his nasty personality and his lack of respect for the R-Levels above him, he'd brought on a lot of hate from the ones at the top.
Especially since he hated wars after being born on a warring planet.
Because of this, he had been exiled to Aokan to rot for eternity, but for him to return like this…
'But still… to survive from that chaos.'
N-Aroel smiled as he approached N-Akuon and sat next to him.
"Well, it wasn't so bad. There's a lot I learned as well."
"…Nothing else? At least you came back in one piece."
N-Akuon spoke to N-Aroel with concern.
Although N-Aroel's thought processes were a bit dangerous, he wasn't that bad of a person.
Plus, N-Akuon only labeled him as a rival; there was no real hatred between them.
He only felt lonely after hearing that they'd sent N-Aroel to Aokan, but seeing him like this wasn't half bad.
N-Aroel smiled at N-Akuon's words and replied:
"There were plenty of things. Fun stuff as well."
"…Fun?"
N-Akuon asked curiously.
The term 'fun' was a word that could pique anybody's interest.
And N-Aroel chuckled as he nodded.
"Yeah. Fun."
"What was so fun about it?"
N-Aroel placed his head on his hand, thinking it over.
"There's a lot. Too many to count, really. But three big ones. Let's see…"
N-Aroel flicked his finger after a brief pause.
"Alright. This should be first. The conversation I had with Melchizedek."
N-Akuon frowned and asked:
"Melchizedek?"
"Why are you so shocked? My position was more than enough to talk with Melchizedek."
N-Akuon quickly started losing interest.
'…It seems that this was before the rebellion.'
If that was the case, then having a simple conversation wasn't hard.
Aokan was under Melchizedek's control, and N-Aroel had been the city's head technician.
They'd probably talked like two neighbors meeting on their way to work.
"Alright. What did you guys talk about?"
He'd long lost interest, but decided to hear him out.
N-Aroel continued to smile at N-Akuon's detached tone.
"Well… it's not much. It was saying something like how Angkara shouldn't continue like this? About how everything is wrong and they shouldn't be fighting like this.'
"…?!"
N-Akuon's eyes widened at N-Aroel's words.
What was this?
This meant that N-Aroel had long known about Melchizedek's rebellion.
"…I think we need to discuss this seriously. What do you mean?'
N-Aroel chuckled at N-Akuon's tense stance.
"It seems that you're finally interested again. Right, it's important to stay focused when listening to a fun story like this."
"…If you're just fooling around, then drop it. This is not a topic we can fool around with."
Considering the things Melchizedek had done, even if one was barely involved they would still be framed as a traitor.
This was not a topic one could take lightly.
N-Aroel ignored N-Akuon's words and continued to speak.
"Just listen. Aren't you curious about what Melchizedek said?"
"…Sure. Fine. Speak."
N-Akuon gave in to his curiosity.
While consoling himself.
'Yeah. It's a bit too much to call the guards for a light conversation like this.'
If N-Aroel got caught amidst this situation because he called the guards, they might drag him off and torture him.
And N-Akuon didn't feel comfortable about doing such a thing to his old friend.
N-Aroel smiled.
"You… Just like the past, you always cared about me. Thanks. Anyway… what Melchizedek talked about was simple. That we needed to stop the small-scale battles and unite once again."
"…Why?"
N-Aroel smile turned cold.
"We found traces of another race beneath Aokan."
A very powerful race.
A race that was countless times stronger than their own planet, both in terms of strength and technology, and had once roamed over the universe.
According to Melchizedek's calculations, they were not something that Angkara could oppose with their divided strength.
After some calculations, Melchizedek had come to the conclusion of 37 years.
If they stopped their war and focused entirely on development for 37 years, only then would they be able to survive.
N-Akuon scoffed at N-Aroel's words.
"What a crazy can. So what, it's going to conquer Angkara?"
Melchizedek's words were something every civilian in Angkara wanted.
But if it could happen just because they wanted it to, they wouldn't have gone to war in the first place.
There was only one scenario where there were no more disputes between the people.
When everybody was dead.
"Why didn't you tell it to kill everyone off and replace them with machines? Nothing would fight each other anymore."
If it replaced everything with machines, it could create that united world it talked about.
But N-Aroel shook his head.
"Melchizedek told me that it thought about that as well… But soon told me no. That they would only be able to wield the M-waves properly if people still lived."
They needed strength to win battles.
And Melchizedek had tried very hard to achieve that strength with only machines.
But it was all futile.
The strength of the
And the hidden ability of humans that allowed them to control that flame's power, the M-waves.
The strength that the Dragon God Soldiers or fleet masters could use was not something machines could achieve.
So they needed humans.
N-Aroel smiled and looked at N-Akuon.
"In the end, it told me that it found the perfect solution.'
N-Akuon scoffed.
"Chipsets? Brainwashing? It can control our bodies like that, but not our minds."
The M-waves naturally declined anything that would harm one's body.
Even if they were brainwashed.
Even if their bodies were forcefully controlled.
The M-waves would resist it all.
N-Aroel scoffed.
"Didn't I say? It found a solution."
"…What?"
"It told me it got a hint from someone else. Apparently, in another world… there are people that are asleep inside delightful dreams."
They slept and dreamed of their ideal world.
And their bodies would fall under Melchizedek's hands.
There was no resistance, either.
Although the bodies were fighting, their true selves would be in a very happy place.
'Even if they release the chipset's controls…They won't be able to wake up from that dream.'
N-Aroel chuckled.
............….
"…It seems you had a very delightful dream."
'The reason why you didn't want to wake up wasn't because you didn't like reality, but because the dream was too good…'
But one couldn't live inside a dream forever.
They had to wake up.
No matter how happy the dreams made them.
Hansoo looked at Enbi Arin with a heavy expression.
Reincarnator – Chapter 370: The buried natives (7)
After Hansoo left.
She had continued to climb up.
To rescue the others that Melchizedek had dragged away to use as test subjects.
To resist Clementine's underlings.
She lamented from time to time.
Why did Hansoo leave them with only a ray of hope and disappear?
Why did he leave behind such a heavy load on their shoulders, never to appear?
But after countless battles.
They had succeeded.
They had defeated their enemies, destroyed Clementine and brought peace to the seven zones.
Everyone had a smile on their face; they destroyed all the Abyssal beings that periodically came down through the elevators.
She had even married, given birth to a child, and was living a happy life.
But this peace had only lasted for a moment.
A new enemy had appeared.
Kang Hansoo.
The one who appeared to lead them into war again, even after they were done with all that.
These were his words:
The world had once again turned into a sea of flames.
All because of him.
Everything they had built up for the past few decades had crumbled.
.........….
"Kang Hansoo! How dare you! You gave us up first! What right do you have!? Why do you want us to fight?!"
—boooom!—
Enbi Arin roared in rage as she swung her fists.
'Dammit!'
She could only see ruins around her.
The city they had built, the civilization they had created.
It was all in ruins.
All because of him.
'He… seems a bit different?'
The strangeness of her surroundings and Hansoo's looks confused her for a bit, but she soon shook her head.
She was sure that this was because of some mental shock.
The past few decades had been too real and happy to be fake…
It could not be fake.
'If only you didn't exist!'
—booom!—
Enbi Arin swung her fist again.
But it was futile.
"Argh!"
Two hands grasped both of her arms as they held her down.
"Let me go, you bastard!"
He'd only sealed her hands.
She could still fight.
Enbi Arin lifted her foot and kicked him in the chest.
—booom!—
A loud sound resonated as the surrounding ground shook.
But Hansoo and his blue armor didn't even budge a single bit.
She had made a few cracks, but it was only for a moment.
The armor quickly mended itself and returned to how it had been before the impact.
'Dammit…'
As Enbi Arin clenched her teeth at this sight, Hansoo spoke with a heavy tone:
"Look. Look around you."
"What? You bastard… You destroyed everything, what do you want me to look a—!"
Kiriel shook her head and prepared to jump in to help Hansoo.
It didn't look like they could solve this with words.
Whether it was knocking her out or suppressing her entirely, they had to calm her down first.
But Hansoo merely shook his head at Kiriel.
"…?"
As Kiriel stopped—
—grab!—
—Hansoo's hands moved from Enbi Arin's arms to her head.
"Ugh…"
The two hands started to forcibly move her head.
"Look closely. Look where this is."
"Argh…"
—boooom!—
—boom!—
Enbi Arin resisted with all her strength, but she couldn't move her hands from her head, and only continued to turn her head to the side.
And Enbi Arin could do nothing else but look around her.
The surrounding scenery that she hadn't looked at in detail because of her focus on Hansoo.
At this moment, Enbi Arin realized.
'…It's different.'
It was different.
Something was different.
There were ruins, but it was different.
These were not ruins created by their civilization.
They had not made this.
But it was familiar.
'Where have I seen this…?'
She thought hard to bring back her memories.
And soon—
—flinch—
—Enbi Arin realized where she'd seen this.
The hardest battle of all.
The place that used captured humans as fodder for the Quirae.
The place that had trapped her.
The bloodiest battle they experienced.
Aokan.
If the melted-down walls were restored and covered in steel again, it would be just like back then.
'Wait… No way… I smashed this apart over a dozen years ago?'
Yes, she had.
In the battle fifteen years ago, she had broken past countless walls in this place to rescue the humans trapped within.
And they had used this momentum to deal with Melchizedek and Clementine.
This was also where she had met her husband.
The man who was nothing but happiness to her.
He was like her lucky charm, everything past this battle had been easy.
There were no obstacles anymore, and her comrades continued to rise in number.
This was the turning point.
The turning point in her life from all the hard and painful battles to pure bliss.
Why was this before her eyes?
She should be at the peak of the seven zones.
Not this place of the past.
!!
"Ugh…"
A sharp pain shot through her head.
…boom! boom…
And soon, she stopped struggling.
Hansoo spoke with a cold tone.
"It was all a dream. Everything you experienced."
"A… dream?"
Hansoo looked at the ugly expression on Enbi Arin and shouted:
"Yes! A long dream. I don't know where your dream started and ended, but… What you're seeing now is the reality. Wake up, Enbi Arin!"
And as she heard these words, something started to twist in her head.
The sudden reality caused her to doubt her own memories—that there was something not quite right.
And Hansoo continued to speak.
"If your memory was that of happiness and of things being easy then… that was all a lie. This world… this world is not that kind. This is the reality."
Then—
—clang!—
—Enbi Arin realized what the strange feeling in her head was.
'Right… It was too easy.'
His words were correct.
Things had been way too easy.
Too easy for a world where their enemies were powerful beyond reason, and God disliked their happiness.
And as she realized this—
"Ahhh… AHHHHHHHHH!"
—Enbi Arin roared out in rage again.
..................
'Maybe… maybe it was better to stay asleep.'
Enbi Arin, who sat down after regaining her composure, sighed deeply.
Reality really was harsh.
'This… We're only here?'
Enbi Arin thought as she looked at the ruins around her.
The Indigo and Violet Zones that she'd triumphed over was only a figment of her imagination.
Places created from her fear and then set at a level which she could endure and beat.
'So I struggled for fifteen years just for this…'
Enbi Arin, who had a blank look on her face, suddenly clenched her teeth and stood up.
She didn't want to have these weak thoughts.
She had long lost her anger due to her previous bout with Hansoo as well as the fit of rage when realizing the truth.
At this moment, she heard a voice.
"You really adjusted quickly."
Staring at Kiriel's eyes, Enbi Arin spoke bitterly:
"If I've woken up already, then it's better to forget."
'Especially if it was a nightmare.'
She had thought it was a good dream.
But realizing that something like that couldn't happen in reality, it only changed it to a nightmare.
'Was she called Kiriel?'
Enbi Arin resumed looking around at the ruins and asked:
"You're going to keep climbing up?"
Hansoo nodded.
There was still the final doorstep.
"Will you come with us?"
Enbi Arin spat out bitterly.
"I've… I've rested for too long. I must go. I need to repay this debt as well."
She could not let those who had played around with her just roam around freely.
She could part with Hansoo after that if she really felt like it.
'Thank you for allowing me to rest properly. In return… I'll allow you to rest for all eternity.'
Enbi Arin spoke to Hansoo.
"If you're going to go up, then I'll guide you from here."
Confused, Kiriel asked:
"Do you know this place well?"
"Of course. I fought with them for a long time."
Cutting away the fifteen years and focusing on her memories of Aokan, she started to remember everything in detail.
The ones who she'd fought against.
It had been fifteen years in her dreams, but only a moment in reality.
Her information should be helpful.
Hansoo nodded and stood up.
"Let's confirm one thing before we go up."
"Confirm?"
Hansoo chuckled.
"Yeah. When I was about to open a treasure chest, 'somebody' caused a damn scene."
"…You bastard."
Kiriel giggled at Enbi Arin and then asked Hansoo:
"You're talking about that place below, right?"
Hansoo nodded as he looked towards the bright blue hole in the distance.
............
"The sounds have stopped. It seems that their fight has ended."
N-Akuon, who had been listening to N-Aroel, mumbled as he looked at the now silent Aoken.
It looked like the matters below had been wrapped up.
But N-Akuon quickly shook his head and focused on N-Aroel.
Aokan was something the fleet would handle.
For a researcher like him, this was much more interesting.
'…That can was more insane than we imagined.'
N-Akuon thought of Melchizedek and asked N-Aroel:
"So, is that it? Where's the fun part?"
N-Aroel shook his head.
"Hmm. The second story is… the race I told you about before."
N-Aroel pointed towards Aokan below and spoke.
Reincarnator – Chapter 371: Inheritance War (1)
"Woah…"
After coming down, Kiriel regretted her previous decision not to follow Hansoo after reading the Quirae's memories.
'What a sight.'
Looking at the bright blue sphere through the glass panel, it felt like she was walking through space.
Like she had become a God who could walk in the air.
The Quirae wasn't interested in anything other than eating, so it hadn't looked down.
But looking at the scene down here, it was truly marvelous.
At this moment, Kiriel heard Enbi Arin's voice.
"…Heh, Melchizedek. I didn't expect that thing to keep something like this hidden beneath the Aokan."
She hadn't even dreamt of something like this when she was saving the people.
'Damn… I didn't even know what the enemy had up their sleeves. Why did I even try to defeat them?'
Thinking back to it, she was embarrassed beyond reason.
They had taken her hostage, used her, made her attack Hansoo, and some mysterious armor had almost killed her.
'Wait… This does feel familiar.'
But according to her own memories, she had never been here.
As Enbi Arin looked around curiously, Kiriel also roamed around and inspected the surrounding area.
There were three distinct things about this place.
The giant crystal that was supplying a tremendous amount of energy upwards.
The devoured corpses of a strange race that were barely maintaining their shape.
And the dried-up blue armor that race had apparently worn.
As Kiriel looked at the dried-up armor, she also came to the same question Hansoo had before.
'What the… Then where did Hansoo's armor come from?'
It looked like Melchizedek had been the one to find it.
And it had planned to use the corpses and the energy here to raise the Quirae and send them away.
It should have acquired the blue armor here as well.
But if every other armor had dried up, why was Hansoo's still functioning?
'Do the dried-up ones still function?'
Kiriel, who had the Dragon God Armor, reached out with her hands towards the blue armor in anticipation.
Although the Dragon God Armor she had on was strong, it was still a bit weaker in comparison to the blue armor Hansoo wore.
Although Enbi Arin could not control the blue armor and had almost died from it, that was a story of the past.
They, who had risen up to the level of a 3-Star, could easily support the blue armor with their mana.
But Kiriel was left disappointed after touching the blue armor.
…sssssss…
The blue armor disintegrated to dust the moment she touched it.
She had wondered, but indeed, these were all useless.
Completely dried up.
She grew even more curious about Hansoo's armor and started to use her Psychometry.
'Let's see… Something should come up if I search this room.'
And soon—
—ooooooong—
Her upgraded Psychometry started to sweep through the room.
..............
As Kiriel and Enbi Arin searched the area below—
Kyaaaak!
—a battle was raging on above.
Well, it was more like a massacre than a battle.
Kyaaak!
Countless Quirae were melting down from the red clouds.
Hansoo smiled bitterly as he looked below at the hard exoskeletons and the human appearances all melting down into nothingness.
"I am sorry that I couldn't rescue you…"
"Krrrrk… ugh."
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the women who were giving birth to more Quirae.
There was nothing he could do after the Quirae had infected them.
Nothing except to send them off peacefully.
So he had to clean this place up thoroughly.
If he didn't, then the others coming up after them might end up as sacrifices as well.
The Quirae's reproduction speed was infamous, even within the Abyss.
Like the Ark-Roa, they were a top priority target for any force once found.
The third floor of the Abyss, which had ignored this, had become the Quirae's lair.
'It was insane.'
Evolving through humans was just the beginning.
The stronger the thing eaten, the longer its digestion, and it would go through more levels of evolution.
Humans bred 3rd-level Quirae, and the strange race here bred 5th-level Quirae.
Hansoo thought back to scenes created by the ones who had evolved past 20 levels and focused back on cleaning again.
He wanted to make this place, the Aokan, clean at least.
—booom!—
The red clouds that had been drifting around him started vigorously acting up and expanded at a crazy rate.
Kyaaak!
Aaaahh!
Hansoo went around Aokan while listening to the screams and soon reached the area where Kiriel had fought before.
'Tsk. They all died.'
Hansoo shook his head as he looked at traces of the nine—not even their corpses had remained.
Since Kiriel wouldn't attack them first, there was only one reason this had happened.
'There are always those who look to attack from the back.'
—clank—
—clank—
Hansoo looked around at the nine sets of Dragon God Armor on the ground and then picked up three.
The others had been damaged too much to be of use, but these three still looked functional.
If he gave one to Enbi Arin, then she would use it well.
Hansoo stood up after taking the three sets of armor and then looked at the control center at the back.
'Not bad. She does have some ability.'
Hansoo thought as he looked at the control center cut cleanly in two.
Even if the Kiriel's fang was a gift from the fairy.
Even if she had become a 3-Star.
Cutting something like that in two in such a clean manner was not easy.
But she had done it.
As soon as she climbed to the level of a 3-Star.
Hansoo whistled at the sight but then frowned.
'…?'
The nine Dragon God Soldiers were dead.
But there were traces of teleportation.
Traces of minimal troubleshooting on the control tower, enough to reactivate it.
Hansoo frowned and thought back to Kriel's words.
'N-Aroel… Was that his name?'
—sssss!—
As Hansoo melted away the rest of the control center—
"Hansoo!"
—Enbi Arin and Kiriel shouted from a distance as they quickly dashed towards him.
Hansoo chuckled as he looked at the two arriving before him.
"You finished it quickly. Here's a present, Arin."
—clank—
Hansoo handed Enbi Arin the Dragon God Armor still in the best condition of the three.
"Thank you. I'll use it well."
There would be countless battles ahead of them.
The better their equipment, the better their situation would be.
—clakakakak!—
The moment Enbi Arin touched the Dragon God Armor, the armor quickly detached into countless pieces and surrounded her body.
Hansoo listened to the sounds of friction between the metal pieces and spoke to Kiriel.
"I wonder if you had fun looking at the museum. Did you enjoy watching the mummies and the ancient artifacts?"
The corpses and armor that looked at least hundreds of years old.
It wasn't a stretch to call it a museum at that point.
Kiriel shrugged her shoulders and replied:
"Sure, I didn't even need an audio guide."
Hansoo chuckled.
'If I had an ability like that, I would have loved going to places like the museum.'
An ability to read the past would be fun to use in a place like a museum.
Hansoo cleaned up his useless thoughts and asked:
"So, did you find out what happened to the armor?"
Kiriel's expression turned serious and replied:
"Yes."
As to how only one armor could stay preserved.
She figured some things out as she read the past.
"That… something wore it until recently."
"It was worn?"
Kiriel nodded.
"Yes."
Hansoo realized what had happened from this short conversation.
"So… There are still surviving owners of this blue armor."
Kiriel nodded with a dark expression.
.................
—kuuuuuooooo—
N-Akuon wore an excited expression as he listened to N-Aroel's second story.
"…So, other than those aliens and that new race, there's another race still alive?"
N-Aroel nodded.
"Yes. I like that you're quick to understand. After going into that hole, everything else was a corpse, but one was still alive."
"But… how? You said it was wearing that strange armor?"
N-Akuon made a confused expression.
He knew how the armor could've stayed functional and not dried up.
If it were equipped onto somebody still alive, it could absorb the energy from the host and maintain itself.
But according to what he'd heard, that armor was evil beyond reason.
The host should've long been dead from having that much energy absorbed.
But N-Aroel chuckled.
"Didn't I mention that crystal before?"
"Oh…"
N-Akuon nodded.
The crystal that supplied a tremendous amount of energy.
If one supplied themselves with energy from that crystal, it could explain how the owner of that blue armor had survived.
Since that ridiculous amount of energy could easily supply the blue armor.
N-Aroel continued to speak.
"Maybe… the host had been able to survive thanks to the armor. A symbiotic relationship of a sort?"
The blue armor sucked energy from its owner and in return used its life support functions to keep the host alive.
The host supplied the armor with energy and barely managed to survive.
And as he heard up to this point—
—a question appeared inside N-Akuon's head.
"Then… where did the host go? The owner of the blue armor."
N-Aroel laughed as he said:
"I love how well you understand these things. Right. That's the third story I'm about to tell you."
N-Aroel pointed towards the head of the Nelkipa, the final destination of the aliens, and spoke.
Reincarnator – Chapter 372: Inheritance War (2)
"The third fun story?"
N-Aroel nodded at N-Akuon's question.
"Yes. It's a fun story. Melchizedek took one of the bodies from that race and went up. It was too much of a waste to use it as fodder and throw it away."
N-Akuon nodded.
If it was really a race as powerful as that, even a corpse was valuable.
But it wouldn't be as good as a live one.
There was still a question in his mind.
"…What will it do with the body?"
N-Aroel shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. Maybe use it to turn the situation around? You see, it's not in the greatest position right now."
"Not in a good position? Hmm…"
N-Akuon could not understand the meaning behind that.
According to what he'd heard, Melchizedek had prepared meticulously.
It had succeeded in the rebellion, swept away the civilians of Angkara, and gained control over Nelkipa.
For someone who controlled that strange insectoid race, what could it have issues with?
N-Aroel smiled at N-Akuon's words.
"Can you see that over there? That cannon-like thing."
N-Akuon peeked his head out and looked out of the ship to the place N-Aroel was pointing to.
N-Aroel's finger was pointing directly at the Nelkipa.
The spikes at the back of Nelkipa to be exact.
They called them spikes relative to the whole of Nelkipa, but those things were dozens of kilometers tall at least.
That size was actually comparable, or even taller, to the skyscrapers in Angkara.
It had a strange design as well.
N-Akuon was at a loss as he looked at the metallic spikes—each of them seemed to have a hole in the center.
"No way… Is that really a weapon?"
One of the technicians of the fleet had actually come up with a theory.
That those spikes could be weapons.
But that theory was soon ignored.
Because of one reason.
"If that was a weapon, why isn't Melchizedek using it?"
N-Akuon asked N-Aroel fervently.
Well, it was more of a fear-stricken expression.
Of course.
That giant creature and the giant cannon.
The energy felt from within it was endless.
If that thing started firing at them, then both the fleets and the planet of Angkara wouldn't be able to escape from turning into a sea of flames.
He could only feel fear.
So he had ignored that possibility.
If that was a weapon, why wasn't Melchizedek retaliating after they attacked with Photon Strikes?
—boomboobooom—
—booboom—
N-Akuon looked at the giant creature that was flying through the countless rays of Photon Strikes as if they were just a light drizzle.
"Bingo. That's the important part. Do you know why it isn't attacking?"
"…Tell me."
A part of him wanted to guess it as a challenge, but he was truly desperate for the answer.
N-Aroel looked at N-Akuon's thirsty expression and smiled.
"It's because Melchizedek doesn't have complete control over Nelkipa."
"…"
"And that's why Melchizedek needs to turn the situation around. I don't know what he'll do though."
"Hmm…"
Another question appeared inside N-Akuon's head.
He no longer cared about how Melchizedek would use that new race's body.
Something that he was even more curious about had popped up.
"…Who? Who's causing Melchizedek this much trouble?"
Who had the power to?
"Let's see…"
N-Aroel chuckled as he scanned the Nelkipa below.
............…
—rumble—
At the head of the giant Nelkipa.
Roaaaar
One man listened to the cries of the Nelkipa, which was maintaining its course towards Angkara despite the countless artillery shells smashing onto its body, and he cursed out loud.
"F***ing hell. I don't even know why they fire these things when they don't work anyway. Annoying."
Countless artillery shells were continuously raining down on him.
Not that it mattered.
—boom!—
A Photon Strike slammed onto the man, but he just dusted himself off in an annoyed manner.
"Damn it. I hate saunas."
The Photon Strike that had even burned Hansoo at the 2-Star level didn't leave a single scratch on that man.
It wasn't like the man was covered in the nano-coating anyway.
The man had easily blocked off the artillery shells with a thin mana barrier above his skin. He spoke to the woman standing next to him.
"Hey, could you stop that?"
The man looked perplexed at the woman next to him, who was stabbing herself with a strange spike.
Despite the spike puncturing her skin and causing her to bleed, she continued her actions with a dull expression.
'Ugh, I can never get used to that.'
The woman snapped in anger.
"Shut up, don't meddle in my hobbies. Focus on how you're going to deal with that thing instead."
"…I don't think I can do anything."
—oooooong—
The man, Ares Valentine, mumbled as he looked at the groups of soldiers marching around the giant fortress in the distance.
Of course, those little toys couldn't stop them.
They could rip them apart like paper.
But the issue was the ones behind them.
2-Star Transcendents that had been modified and even equipped with armor.
As well as the tremendous amount of energy supplied from the crystal in Aokan.
'No, the crystal in there is even bigger than the crystal in Aokan.'
Ares Valentine frowned.
The main crystal of the Nelkipa—the core that supplied it with energy.
And the modified transcendents that were setting up defenses using the energy from the crystal.
Even if they were 3-Star Transcendents, they'd end up as a couple of rags once they stepped in there.
Elis Valentine, the woman who was listening to Ares's words, frowned as she snapped again.
"That's why I said we should've taken that first, you dumb bastard."
"…How could I have known this would happen? And I thought this was all we needed."
The man looked at the giant crystal behind him.
—oooooong—
It wasn't as large as the main crystal, but it was much larger than the one below Aokan.
One main crystal.
The sub-crystal behind him and the one in the distance that Elis Valentine was defending.
These three crystals were the main control centers of Nelkipa.
'All this energy… just to provide enough energy to control this thing.'
Ares was at a loss.
The energy that he could feel from the crystal behind him was something that even he, a 3-Star Transcendent, feared slightly.
And all this energy was just a tiny fraction that came out from the artificial core of the Nelkipa.
'Damn. We have to take control over this Nelkipa… Or if we can find the method to control all this energy.'
Ares Valentine frowned and felt regret.
They had looked down on Melchizedek a bit too much.
They'd thought that they could easily deal with Melchizedek's toys, and then shred apart Kang Hansoo since they were both 3-Star Transcendents.
But after prying into the whole thing, what was all this?
Melchizedek had used its intensive knowledge and control over this giant creature to arm its underlings.
And as a result, they couldn't even approach the main crystal and were tied down trying to protect the two sub-crystals.
'Should I have studied instead of just fighting all the time?'
Ares Valentine lamented as he looked at the crystal behind him.
If he knew how to control this energy, then he would've long since charged in there and crushed Melchizedek's skull.
The energy behind him was more than enough to do that.
Of course, something like that wasn't possible for him.
This was not something one could do with a short amount of studying.
Only something like Melchizedek would be able to.
'I need to accept what I have to accept.'
Ares Valentine looked at his twin sister, Elis Valentine, and asked:
"What are you going to do?'
Elis Valentine pointed towards Melchizedek's fortress in the distance and replied:
"We might have the strength to defend all of this, but nothing will change if we just stick around here, right?"
"Mhm."
"And charging in there will be a piece of cake?"
"Yup.'
"So taking control of the Nelkipa is the same as well?'
"Yes."
Elis clapped lightly and then replied.
"Good, let's begin."
"Damn it…"
Ares made a flustered expression.
There was only one thing they could do now.
"You start first. I'll join you soon."
"Alright, I won't see you off. Take care."
With these words—
—booooom!—
—Elis's body quickly disappeared towards the crystal in the distance.
Ares shrugged at this scene and then moved towards the sub-crystal behind him.
—oooooooong!—
The crystal that was overflowing with energy.
He had no way to control this energy at the moment.
It was too much for him to handle.
Melchizedek might be able to use it with its amazing technology, but he didn't have a talent like that.
'Maybe if I had the Acknowledgement.'
Well, the thing he was about to do didn't really require him to control this energy.
'Let's see… Time for some fireworks before I go up.'
Ares chuckled coldly.
He'd tried so hard to keep this crystal, but if he couldn't then it was better to destroy it.
And soon—
—boooom!—
—a tremendous amount of energy extended out from Ares's body and shook the crystal.
............…
—rumble—
"I expected a greeting party, but it looks like that's not happening."
"Yeah. I expected them to do something as soon as we arrived."
Kiriel and Enbi Arin were at a loss as they walked out from the giant elevator.
They had prepared themselves for the worst, but nothing was here.
But this only lasted for a moment.
—boooom!—
Kiriel and Enbi Arin quickly woke up from their delusions.
It was not the time to let down their guard.
"These crazy bastards… What the hell are they doing?"
This tremendous aura.
Two overbearing auras exploded out from the giant plane on the Nelkipa's head.
From two edges of the plane.
No, it wasn't just two.
—boooom!—
As two auras exploded out from two sides of the plane, another aura that was as big as both of them combined exploded out from between them.
Three energies ruptured outwards like the eruption of a volcano.
The tremendous amount of energy pushed against their skin, and Hansoo mumbled:
"I guess they didn't have time to. They seem to be busy with their own jobs."
"It's time… for us to do our jobs as well."
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the three giant auras exploding around them.
—rumble—
Roaaaar!
The Nelkipa, which had been ignoring the countless artillery shells, started to cry out.
Reincarnator – Chapter 373: Inheritance War (3)
"It seems the situation isn't quite right for a picnic, huh?"
—rumble—
Kiriel mumbled as she looked at the three auras exploding out from the giant plane.
It was a joke, but nobody laughed.
Those bursts of energy continued increasing in strength.
Oaaaaaaarrr!
The Nelkipa also seemed to have felt the energy as it cried out.
Enbi Arin gritted her teeth as she listened.
"…Insane bastards. They really did it."
"Do you know something?"
Enbi Arin nodded.
She had climbed up here and had fought countless battles over multiple floors.
She had been here.
She had seen the crystal below.
She was just surprised because it was her first time seeing the blue armor and the corpses. She had also found out that the crystal existed in Aokan as well.
The main crystal that controlled the movements of Nelkipa and controlled the flow of energy.
The two sub-crystals that controlled the subsystems and soldiers in Nelkipa.
One would only have complete control over Nelkipa if they had all three of these crystals.
'It seems they divided it between themselves. Even if they're dislikable, this isn't bad.'
Enbi Arin clenched her teeth as she felt the three distinct auras around them.
If the Valentine siblings—Clementine's underlings—or Melchizedek had complete control over Nelkipa, then this giant ray wouldn't be flying around in such a calm manner.
It was lucky for them.
But the situation still wasn't that great.
The two sides seemed to have taken extreme measures to reach a conclusion.
"…Do you know what their plans are?"
Enbi Arin nodded at Kiriel's question.
"I know about one, but not the other."
She knew what the Valentine siblings had chosen.
Self-destruction.
'They probably decided that gaining control over the Nelkipa was a bit too much.'
Enbi Arin gritted her teeth.
If they succeeded in destroying the crystals, this place would become a sea of flames.
The worse case scenario would be the death of this giant creature.
The people arriving after them wouldn't even have a single plot of land they could step on before being killed.
Even if this giant creature didn't die, those people would die from Angkara's attacks.
They had to take control of Nelkipa before it died and then take it far away from Angkara.
'In the end, we have to deal with all three places.'
The issue was Melchizedek; she didn't know what that thing was planning.
This was probably the reason why the twins had started up the self-destruction sequences as well.
They couldn't charge in, and they didn't know what Melchizedek was planning.
It would've been nice if they could charge in there, sweep everything clean and then go up.
'The best situation would be to deal with them one at a time.'
Enbi Arin thought to herself.
Looking at it, Melchizedek and the siblings were all separated.
It would be best if the three of them dealt with Melchizedek and the twins one at a time.
But of course, there wasn't enough time.
Even if they got to Melchizedek, it would have no meaning if one of the siblings succeeded. But it was too much of a risk to leave Melchizedek alone.
'…That thing wouldn't plan something useless.'
Enbi Arin asked Hansoo:
"What shall we do?'
Hansoo, in his blue armor, spoke with a heavy expression.
...............
—rumble—
'Mmm… This is quite exhausting.'
Elis Valentine made a tired expression as she held onto the crystal.
She wasn't really doing much.
She was just stimulating the energy within the crystal to make it go haywire.
But because of the energy within it, it was hard work.
'Tsk. We can't do anything.'
Elis looked at the spike by her waist that she'd used to stab her skin before.
Stabbing herself with the spike was the best thing to do when things got boring, but she had to hold herself back.
She had to finish this up quickly and then go up.
In a situation like this where they didn't know what Melchizedek was planning, the easier they dealt with it, the better.
'Let's just finish this up fast and go up. I'll ask for a holiday after I go up.'
Others wouldn't know about what went on above, but she and Ares Valentine had the Soul Fragments, so they knew a few things.
According to what they heard, the two people in the Indigo Zone above were having the time of their lives.
They had performed well to a certain degree up until now, but hard work deserves a short holiday, right?
As Elis Valentine thought of climbing up and leisurely eating crystals and playing around—
—chiiiiiik—
—she felt a faint aura in the distance.
It was a bit too far for her to feel in detail, but that aura was sharp beyond reason.
And as she felt this…
Elis Valentine was shocked.
'…3-Star? There are 3-Stars?'
She couldn't ignore that aura.
It was a similar aura to hers.
'…There are still people who can become 3-Stars?'
Elis Valentine was truly shocked.
They had taken everyone with the slightest bit of potential and recruited them to their side. All the others had been turned into artificial Transcendents by Melchizedek.
She'd never thought that someone else would be able to rise to the level of a 3-Star Transcendent.
'Is it him?'
She had heard about it before from Taehee, the owner of the Soul Fragments.
That the man called Kang Hansoo had risen up to become a Transcendent, so be careful and deal with him quickly if possible.
Of course, Taehee chuckled at this too.
A man who had become a 1-Star in the Green Zone below.
He had somehow managed to deal with a brat who was Jang Oh's successor and had risen to a 2-Star, but that wasn't much for them to worry about.
The difference between a 2-Star and a 3-Star was actually tremendous.
If they were truly wary of him, then they would've long gone down and dealt with him while in the middle of their fight against Melchizedek.
They wouldn't want to overlook an unknown variable in such a tense situation.
But of course, they hadn't gone down.
They'd only focused on Melchizedek before them.
It was for one reason.
He was weak.
Someone who'd recently risen to a 2-Star level could not rise to become a 3-Star Transcendent in such a short time.
Even if he did rise, he would be much weaker than them.
But this aura was truly overbearing.
'I see. You've arrived.'
She had been shocked.
At how he'd actually risen up to the level of a 3-Star Transcendent.
He really lived up to being the person who'd wrecked apart the lower floors.
But that was it.
Elis Valentine realized that defending her position was the right choice instead of going down and dealing with him.
She realized that there was no point in showing her back to Melchizedek just to deal with Hansoo.
'Come.'
—chwaaaaak!—
Elis Valentine stopped pouring energy into the crystal and grasped the 50-cm-long spike by her waist.
—tremble—
Elis Valentine couldn't prevent her own cravings after holding onto the spike and started to stab herself again.
'Ahhh….'
At first, she started on her arm, a location which wouldn't cause much trouble in a fight.
But the location of the stabs started slowly rising up.
Towards her heart.
—pushuk—pushuk—
As the stabs slowly approached her heart, the previous wounds healed.
—tatatak!—
The owner of that aura had already appeared before her eyes.
And as he appeared—
"…?"
—Elis put the spike away, stopping short of stabbing it into her heart, and frowned.
"…I didn't know that Kang Hansoo was a female. Did you have plastic surgery or something?"
The woman who had flown across the air, Kiriel, smiled.
"Hansoo is a bit too busy to deal with trash like you, so as his fan, I've come in his stead. As a fan, it's my duty to let him focus on his duties, right?"
Elis frowned as she spat out a reply.
"…Not bad. So you're one of his slaves, huh?"
The compliment was not directed to Kiriel, but to Hansoo.
Kiriel giggled as she replied:
"What do you mean a slave? I'm just a fan. It seems you have some issues with your mouth. Or maybe your ears."
Although she was smiling, the bloodthirsty aura that was radiating from her body kept rising.
An extremely tense situation.
Elis Valentine chuckled as she looked at Kiriel and the Dragon God Armor.
"You have a fun toy equipped. Anyway… doesn't he care about his own fans? To let them die in a place like this?"
Kiriel looked at Elis who had spoken with a smile and replied with a smile as well.
"Don't worry. You'll be the one getting f***ed."
"Woah. Language. Anyway… are you sure you should be here? What about my brother?"
Kiriel shrugged her shoulders.
"Someone else went there."
Kiriel said, pointing towards the other crystal in the far distance.
.........…..
"Woah. It's been a while. Have you been well?"
Enbi Arin clenched her fists at Ares Valentine's words.
"Yup. I've slept very well, thanks to some bastards."
"Hahaha! It seems you had a good dream. Was it about me?"
Enbi Arin frowned at Ares's sleek words which resembled something a lover would say and then said:
"The issue was that you appeared a bit too much. A real nightmare."
Enbi Arin glared at Ares and spat out:
"You… you were my husband."
"Oh my. Melchizedek really did put in some effort. He fulfilled one of my small wishes."
Ares Valentine chuckled at the word 'husband'.
Reincarnator – Chapter 374: Inheritance War (4)
—rumble!—
Hansoo looked at the castle-like structure that seemed to be made up of layers of machines and continued to run towards it.
The machine castle seemed to let out energy that was larger than that of the two energies bursting at the sides.
The machine castle—clearly belonging to Melchizedek—didn't seem to be welcoming Hansoo.
'It doesn't look prepared for a guest.'
—boom!—
Hansoo looked at the pillar of light that rose into the skies in the distance.
Then—
—rumble—
—the spikes embedded around Hansoo's now upgraded body started to suck out mana at a rapid pace.
—kakakakak!—
Similar to how icicles form, the armor turned into a crystalline structure as it devoured more mana and quickly covered his body.
And Hansoo's Demonic Dragon Reinforcement covered the blue armor with another layer of protection.
—booooom!—
Artillery shells were being fired from a distance and started smashing at Hansoo's body.
Bright blue strikes that smashed the ground all around them.
The force of the strikes was so intense that it even dug apart the Nelkipa skin, which had withstood the Photon Strikes.
It was a strength that was incomparable to anything before.
—boom!—
—booooom!—
His Demonic Dragon Reinforcement deflected the strikes away, but the attacks succeeded in stopping him from charging forward.
Hansoo frowned.
Even Melchizedek could not create this powerful of an attack with his technology.
And Hansoo soon realized the answer.
'Crystal.'
—booom!—
The attacks were mixed with bright blue energy.
Hansoo sighed and tightly clenched his hammer— Melchizedek's forces were using the energy from the crystal.
At this rate, it would be hard to advance even if his body could withstand it.
The ground beneath his feet was breaking apart just by defending against these attacks.
'I'm not really into being whacked around.'
Withstanding firepower of this scale would cause his Pandemic Blade to lose a large amount of strength as well.
The thing he needed now was a single, powerful strike.
Then—
—chichichichichik—
—five dragons popped out from Hansoo's heart.
Five dragons that were much thicker and deeper in color than in the past.
Each one was so overbearing that they seemed like they would soar into the skies at any moment.
The dragons were made from a 3-Star level of mana and power, and they quickly flew into the hammer, condensing into a single point.
Hansoo gathered this strength and slammed down onto the ground.
Then—
—booooom!—
Like an Earth Dragon swimming through the ground—
—dozens of black lightning bolts flew through the ground in all directions, each bolt strengthened by Hansoo's Nine Dragons Strike.
Each bolt of lightning flew through the Nelkipa's skin like a dragon and soon smashed into the machine castle in the distance.
A bright blue shield powered by energy from the crystal started to defend the army, but it was only for a moment.
—kaduk!—
The dozens of black lightning bolts smashed through the shield like a thin layer of ice and attacked the mechanical soldiers.
Then—
—booooom!—
—a tremendous shockwave shook the area.
The mechanical soldiers who were directly hit by that strike melted down from the sheer amount of energy, like ice cream under a hot sun.
And it didn't stop there.
—rumble!—
The electromagnetic field created from the explosions started to spread through the area as well.
Of course, Melchizedek's forces had some level of resistance towards it, but there was a limit.
—chiiijijik—
The soldiers, whose circuits had all burned up by the electromagnetic storm, made strange noises and fell to the ground.
—rumble—
With that one strike, the rain of attacks had diminished to a degree.
But Hansoo knew—
—that this wasn't the end.
—kigigigik—
—kiririk—
Hansoo watched hundreds of soldiers rebuild their bodies, preparing to attack him again and continued to dash towards the castle again.
—booooom!—
—boom!—
The attacks still struck him, but at a much-diminished aura and strength.
—whoooosh!—
Thanks to this, Hansoo had been able to move towards the castle at a much faster pace.
'This isn't really my style, but…'
—boooom!—
—boom!—
Hansoo withstood the countless strikes like a tank and started thinking.
Although he liked single, powerful strikes, this really wasn't his hobby.
He avoided battles as much as possible and focused on his objective.
He saved his strength and only focused on taking the neck of his objective.
Up until now, he'd fought in the frontlines because the situation had demanded it, but he personally preferred being an assassin over a warrior.
Even if it took a bit longer, it was a much more efficient and safe job.
But of course, the current situation didn't allow it.
He had to deal with this as fast as possible.
It wasn't just Melchizedek, either.
Even if he dealt with this place, but if they lost at the other two places, it was still a failure in the end.
He had to deal with this place as fast as possible and support the other two.
Of course, it would be even better if Kiriel and Enbi Arin could deal with their opponents and then came to help him.
But it didn't seem like it would be that easy.
Their opponents really didn't seem easy.
'The Valentine siblings… I'll leave it to you two, Kiriel and Enbi Arin.'
—boom!—
Hansoo thought about these four names as he continued to charge through the attacks, the energy behind each strike causing his body temperature to steadily rise up.
...............…..
—rumble—
"Woah… he's really something, isn't he?"
Ares whistled as he felt the vibrations in the air and the shockwaves in the ground.
Even if he was far away, the shockwaves were something to behold.
Melchizedek's personal castle that even they didn't dare to enter.
Huge shockwaves and the sounds of loud explosions were continuously resonating from Melchizedek's castle.
'…So Kang Hansoo is the one that went there? He's more stupid than I thought.'
Ares Valentine was really shocked as he suppressed the sweat rolling down from the side of his neck.
'Need to keep calm.'
In reality, he was kind of glad.
Although he didn't think he would lose, but if someone that stupid came to him then things would become very annoying.
People like that thought along the lines of 'It's all fine as long as I can smash apart my opponent's body before mine gets smashed apart.'.
From the opponent's point of view, it would be a battle without profit even if they won, and they were likely to receive a large amount of damage.
The most annoying kind of person to fight.
If he had come here, it would have truly been a dirty battle.
Ares Valentine thought that his luck was quite good.
'A beauty has arrived instead.'
Ares Valentine chuckled as he looked at Enbi Arin, who stared at him with cold eyes.
"I'm really curious, but did you really come here to win?"
—crackle—
Ares Valentine moved his hand and cracked it as he asked.
The armor she had on seemed to be quite useful.
Even more so if one took into the fact that it was hard to find armor that Transcendents could use.
But that was it.
He could estimate her level.
Enbi Arin was a tiny chick that had just risen to the 3-Star level.
It was unpleasant to call himself this, but he was an old man in terms of 3-Star Transcendents.
'Not all 3-Stars are the same.'
He was excited.
Even though battles made him tense.
But there was nothing more fun than a battle where one knew they'd win.
Enbi Arin clenched her fists as she muttered:
"Of course I came to win, you damned bastard."
"Hehe."
Ares Valentine looked at Enbi Arin and thought she was sexy.
He really liked Enbi Arin.
A woman who was this strong.
As well as her sexy appearance and fit physique.
And her fiery temper.
His most ideal type.
It was why he'd tried so hard to invite Enbi Arin to their side.
Even while listening to the storm of curses from Elis.
He was a bit upset that Elis's attitude towards him had grown colder, but he didn't regret his decision.
If there was no longer any love in this damned world, then how tragic would that be?
'If I had gone up to the 3-Star level first, then… I might've been able to have you.'
So he had tried so hard.
To become strong enough to suppress Enbi Arin.
If he surprised her with his power than she would have no choice but to join them first.
While keeping Enbi Arin as his goal, he had risen up to a 3-Star, and the first thing he'd done afterward was to seek her out.
But he had been a step too late—Melchizedek had taken her.
He had lamented this.
The Enbi Arin under Melchizedek's control was not the Enbi Arin he liked.
So he had given up on her, but nobody would know of his feelings.
He had run so hard after one goal, but that goal had disappeared.
He'd experienced the sensation of having his heart ripped apart.
But that goal had appeared before him again.
And still with her own mind intact.
'Today… is really my lucky day.'
Ares Valentine's heart started beating faster.
His goal had appeared again before he went up.
How great was this?
Although it wasn't the best situation that she was now a 3-Star, but that didn't matter.
Since he would win.
'Enbi Arin. Let's go together.'
Ares Valentine looked at Enbi Arin with a trembling heart.
...............
'…Ares Valentine. That crazy bastard. He's not spouting some nonsense about his love and ignoring his duties, right?'
Elis Valentine, who had been dealing with Kiriel, thought of her younger brother and then frowned.
Hearing that her younger brother's crush had gone to him kept on bugging her.
But Elis Valentine decided to ignore it.
'I just need to deal with this quickly and go over.'
No matter how brash he was, he wouldn't ignore her own words.
Elis decided to handle this quickly and smiled at Kiriel.
"I have something to do, so let's finish this quickly."
"Even if you didn't say that… I was planning on doing the same thing."
'Damn. She's quite good, though.'
—spit—
The surroundings had long been destroyed by their confrontations.
And within a giant hole in the ground created from one of their collisions.
Kiriel spat out some blood as she touched the cheek that Elis had struck and frowned.
She was really strong.
'I wonder if I can really stop her… Damn.'
Kiriel frowned as she looked at the raging crystal behind Elis.