S RANK MISSION— Swarming the Immortal King. The Immortal King is a century-old villain who betrayed the organization for the sake of his selfish desire to return to humanity. He is one of the organization's founding leaders.
"Yep, selfish desire to return to humanity. Very evil to the organization's eyes, heh~" Alfir vocally and sarcastically complains to non-sentient the wind. You know an organization is evil if such organizations deem 'returning to humanity' as some kind of unforgivable crime.
Well, that is how it goes 'publicly'. But Alfir knows better.
It doesn't matter though.
"You lot, I am the executive responsible for setting up this operation. You will hear the briefing from your squad commander on the way. Move out!" An executive, a level higher than a regular minion, descends from a podium as he finishes his pep talk. He wears a dark tunic paired with a cloak, the typical uniform of an executive.
Alfir can recognize this particular executive, he introduces himself as 'Palnes', a character that the protagonist defeats in the earlier chapters. Alfir already has met the guy, it is only now that he realizes that the person who pointed him where the mission hall was, is actually a relatively small bigshot.
"Hahaha, and here I am thinking he is a small-time minion like me. Fascinating..." Alfir snickers, not a word leaving his lips. Monologues like this from now and then are becoming frequent to him.
Since the short month of Alfir's life in the infirmary, this is the first time he sees a character from the novel itself. It is both exhilarating and interesting.
Palnes in the pecking order are far from the top, but as Alfir's superior, the guy clearly deserves the respect his position demands. Alfir hopes that the guy will not give him a hard time after what happened.
"Move, move, move!" A squad commander spurs the crowd of disorganized minions. It only takes a short time until a proper squad is formed.
The minions ride a military jeepney the organization is providing. It is a technology Zentury steals from Force, a giant conglomerate, holding influence over several kingdoms.
Alfir feels giddy and excited about this mission. Other than this mission being a freebie, he will also get to watch an impressive one-VS-one among the strongest of mutants.
As the travel continues, the jeep rumbles while black smoke intermittently escapes from its exhaust. It will take some time to reach their destination, so Alfir takes it upon himself to absorb the changing scenery from his seat.
There are trees, plains, ruins, and even a few monsters that Alfir recognizes such as goblins, trolls, and surprisingly... even stray wyverns. It is truly a medievalist fantasy world.
Though the presence of the jeepney and the paved asphalt road makes the experience feel disconnected, it is certain that this is unmistakably a different world.
Seeing his teammates wielding all kinds of steel both orthodox and unorthodox— basic swords, chains with a sickle, chakram, and so on— Alfir is reminded of the fact, that this world's trajectory of scientific advancement is incredibly skewed given the lack of gunpowder weapons.
Well, at least they look cool. Alfir miserably thinks to himself.
"Listen here. I am your squad commander. The mission details are divided into two parts. First is stealth and second is entrapment..." The squad commander wears the same outfit as the minions do. In essence, the 'squad commander' is an honorary title given to minions of relatively high authority levels.
Alfir listens without a care to his squad commander's words. The operation is too easily summarized, it is hard not to remember them even with lackadaisical effort.
Firstly, the different squads will be waiting in ambush at several distinct strategic sites. Then... Secondly, at the target's first sight, the minions will cooperate with each other to surround the Immortal King. Then…
That's it! Mission Complete!
Surrounding the Immortal King is a suicide, but meh... That's just the typical cannon fodder strategy to you.
All is well. Alfir consoles himself.
...
The Immortal King lives a long life. The closer he is to death, the more he can feel the future. It is a weird phenomenon that allows the Immortal King to see beyond the intangible. It is commonly believed that when a mutant hits its strongest, they become more sensitive to life. But the Immortal King is experiencing more than that— 'precognitive abilities that are not supposed to 'exist' exist. And on these rough mountain edges, he will meet his death.
"Not that I fear death." The Immortal King stands atop the ridge, observing all sorts of vehicles making their rounds around his mountain.
Wearing his trademark white robes embroidered with a golden dragon, the Immortal King waits in nonchalance, unafraid of his impending death. His dark hair, lace with a few streaks of white matches his weathered face, creating the persona of an old veteran warrior.
"Teacher, I am glad to see you." A pale young man makes his presence known to the Immortal King. With pale skin, bloody burgundy eyes, and hair as white as snow, the apparition of the ghostly youth flits in the surroundings as he runs in zigzags with impressive speed.
"Hmmm... Did you come to see your dear old man? Oh, my dear pupil." The Immortal King doesn't show any emotion to the said pupil. The Immortal King has always looked at Gavin as his son.
His gaze which used to be warm and full of love is now different. There are only the Immortal King's apathetic eyes.
Gavin, the pale young man, reveals himself by explosively increasing his speed to the point that he leaves distinct afterimages.
Too fast to be seen, after-images of him scatter everywhere like a mirage. When he suddenly halts his steps, the soles of his feet start digging into the earth causing debris, dirt, and dust to strew in the air.
"Die." Putting all his weight on his core and lower half, the earth crAcKs. Gavin with superhuman strength puts all of his strength into his every step.
An artificial earthquake is formed. It makes the mountain shudder. Gavin doesn't stop at that as he leaps forward seizing the Immortal King by his collar.
A streak of their shadow plummets from the mountain's peak triggering another earthquake. Downright crashing at the mountain's foot, the Immortal King offers no resistance as Gavin smashes him 6 feet under the ground.
Gavin puts more force in his palm, and with a boom, he pushes once more. This creates another tremor that seems to displace the mountainous terrain.
"Pupil, is this the best you can do?" Though he is removed from his high pedestal, the Immortal King remains unperturbed. None of Gavin's efforts to inflict damage is left to be seen. The Immortal King is unbreakable.
The Immortal King's skin remains flawless, and free of blemish.
Under the mask of stoicism, turbulent emotions continue to shake his heart.
Gavin, the Undying, is his only disciple. Gavin has white hair and red eyes, signs of albinism that many others see as the devil's mark. But the devil be damned, the Immortal King still decides to take the young Gavin under his wing despite Zentury's higher-ups' protests.
So, the sight of the two of them fighting is a wonder on its own. Where does their once amiable relationship go? Of the father and a son? Of a teacher and a pupil?
"You are surrounded by the organization. We have executives, slayers, and countless minions waiting to get a hit at you. Then there is me." Gavin defiantly stares at the man who used to be his mentor. Memories of his childhood flashes in his mind.
"…" The Immortal King chooses silence, but his intent is clear.
At this point, slaughter is inevitable. Gavin sees his ex-mentor and foster father exhibit a scary amount of fighting spirit.
"Pupil, receive my fist." The Immortal King says, his thoughts remaining hidden.
With one swift swing, a punch is made.
BAM! It is preposterous. Gavin sees the ground shrink in an instant.
For a second, he faints. When he wakes up, he is met with the unsettling somber clouds of dusk slowly approaching inch by inch. Mixing with the rays of the setting scarlet sun is his own blood sprinkling in the sky.
Gavin feels for his empty stomach, there is nothing there. His abdomen is clearly punctured, a hole the size of a fist could be seen
"Fuck, that old man actually tore my stomach." Rather than a hole, Gavin is almost torn in half. If not for his superb regenerative powers, he would be dead already.
The Immortal King silently stands in his place.
From the mountain's foot, he gazes at the human dot ascending to the sky. After his dear pupil reaches the peak of momentum, the said pupil then descends. Still, the Immortal King doesn't do anything. He continues to watch.
Aside from punching his arrogant pupil, he doesn't do anything else. He is patiently still. And…
With a disgusting 'squelch', something lands in front of him. It is an immensely disfigured Gavin with his meat and bones showing. Standing on his own two feet, the disfigured Gavin slowly regenerates back to life.
"Such impressive regenerative ability. As expected of my pupil."
"Fuck you! What pupil? I am just a fucking pig to you!! Don'T EVEN think that I don't know. I am aware of your greed, old man. The only reason you nurtured me is to get my ability. I am so mUcH aware of how close you are to dying."
"…"
"Fucking hell!! Why aRen'T YOU sAying anytHinG!?"
In his blind rage, Gavin rushes at his old man without consideration of his imperfect recovery.
The Immortal King dashes with superhuman speed delivering a body blow to Gavin.
Gavin successfully defends, raising his arms just to block in time, but the shock is too much for him to bear. His limbs break under pressure as the Immortal King unleashes blow after blow at him.
The Immortal King's powers function on indestructibility. Using crude words to describe it, it is toughness to an unimaginable extent. With this indestructibility, he is able to train himself in martial arts and the way of slaughter without fear of injury.
Gavin can perceive the Immortal King's movements with impressive intuition. His broken limbs heal at incredible speeds, their effects visible to the naked eye. However, because of his imperfect recovery, he is developing a gap in his judgment.
"Die! diE!! DiEEEEEE!" With his vision becoming disoriented, Gavin persistently lashes at the Immortal King. That is when…
The Immortal King has enough of it.
"My dear pupil, you are too weak."
Grabbing Gavin by his neck, the Immortal King raises the pale young man a head above his. Gavin can feel his toes leaving the ground.
The Immortal King has that pitiful look in his eyes.
"Though your application of cellular activity is monstrous, it's not enough. You will never penetrate my immortal flesh with just superhuman strength alone."
The Immortal King's tissue, fibers, muscles, bones, and even his very soul possess toughness like diamonds. In this world, souls have more of a scientific nature being the quantified representation of will, wits, and ego.
'To be truly unbreakable' is the Immortal King's mutant ability.
With a firm grip on Gavin's neck, the Immortal King smashes the pale youth on the ground once, twice, thrice... until finally, all that is left is the head. The Immortal King holds the head by its hair.
"Where did your spunk go?"
"I..n...yo.ur...a.ss..."
Gavin is reduced to a bloody head, but he is not dead yet. Gavin possesses superhuman cellular capacity that gives him tremendous vitality. Unlike the Immortal King, Gavin doesn't tire.
This is his only advantage and he knows it. Though the Immortal King may look calm on the surface, Gavin knows. With a wicked grin, Gavin utters the N-word.
"No," Just like that. "I. still. have. some. spunk." The body that is severed from the head and is left lying and embedded in the ground rises. It has mouths and teeth protruding from its skin.
It hugs the Immortal King, and with fury, it starts biting. A headless flesh with nothing but teeth from every inch of his skin. It is a fear-inducing sight.
Yet, it is futile as no wounds can be inflicted even with that many teeth. But that is enough as it is able to distract the Immortal King.
"What is this abomination?" The Immortal King drops Gavin's head.
Gavin's head rolls, but it as quickly stops for... flesh... and limbs grow from under him... and then there are stumps.
When Gavin is complete one more time, the Immortal King realizes how much his disciple has grown.
Gavin is a ghastly sight. For the most part, the finished product looks like a naked mummy dehydrated of any liquid and dried from the sun. Gavin lumbers forward, his every step makes him stagger.
He looks like he is in so much pain, and yes, he is... as every pore from his forcibly grown body is bleeding profusely.
The Immortal King attempts to pry himself from the headless aberration's embrace but it is useless.
Gavin mentally controls his headless flesh, and with a thought, he puts more effort into restraining the Immortal King.
"Is age catching up with you, teacher?" Gavin smugly says. Regardless of the enormous amount of pain he is enduring, Gavin smiles.
Restrained by the abhorrent limbs and teeth of superhuman aberration, the Immortal King helplessly watches Gavin's regeneration. After Gavin completely heals to the point that his body is no longer a bloody mess, it is already too late. The Immortal King foresees his death at that instance.
Gavin currently might not look too much as he remains scrawny from the forced stimulation of his cellular regeneration ability, but there is a dangerous light in his eyes... one desiring of murder.
"Huff... Huff..." The Immortal King's breathing gets heavier, and though he tries to suppress it, it doesn't escape Gavin's notice. Sweat trickles from the Immortal King's forehead. A flicker of doubt crosses the once-was-King's mind.
With monstrous perception, Gavin senses the unnatural beating of the Immortal King's heart. He also recalls the Immortal King's first punch, it is catastrophically powerful, but too overkill. Some might see it as a show of strength.
In Gavin's opinion, however, it looks like a desperate move, a final struggle.
"Looks like I am the true immortal between the two of us." The pale young man cackles like a madman, aware of the ailing Immortal King's plights. Gavin's headless flesh lets go.
The Immortal King sees it as an opportunity so he lunges forward. He grabs Gavin's neck. Attempting to replicate what he did a while ago, he raises Gavin into the air.
Contrary to what happened before, the Immortal King is not even able to move Gavin an inch.
Gavin snickers.
"What is happening? Already losing strength? Old age is really scary."
Gavin pries the hands holding his throat easily. For Gavin, it feels like moving paper. "I admit, I am still weak. There are so many Champions in the world after all... But you? You have become weaker." While at it, Gavin bends the Immortal King's finger at a strange angle.
cRAa-ack! It is a resounding crunch. For the first time, the Immortal King shows a trace of confusion on his unblemished face. It is an ugly sight, both the finger and the Immortal King who never know what pain is... create an interesting picture.
The Immortal King looks youthful, unlike Gavin's sudden wrinkly exterior due to his lack of recovery. His pale skin is now of a darker shade. To the observer's eyes, Gavin may appear to be on the precipice of death.
But he is not.
He is more alive than ever! The pain is keeping him awake, and his mind is more active than ever!
Gavin becomes like this because of the extreme use of his abilities. From the beginning, he looked so much younger but now, he looks like a grandpa.
"Old man, let me show you something interesting." With these words, Gavin's blood boils. It takes him only 8 seconds or less to fully regain his youth with minuscule concentration.
"That's better..." As if it is nothing but a trivial task, Gavin regains his peak vigor.
"Teacher, I am doing well, right? In the past, it took me ages to recover from near death, but look! See, resurrection isn't that hard, maybe you can do it too. Oh, dear teacher, I have more for you to see, so don't go dying on me okay?" He looks innocently at the Immortal King, seeming to ask for his praise.
BANG~!
There is an explosion as Gavin rapidly disappears from the Immortal King's sight. At that instant, Gavin's right leg shatters as he explosively arrives at the Immortal King's flank. With the same explosive strength, he punches.
With one swift swing, a punch is made. It is a punch reminiscent of the Immortal King's fist. However, unlike before, it is now Gavin who is doing it.
"OVERDRIVE!" Immense power surges from Gavin's blood. Because Gavin's limbs cannot endure the sudden explosive strength, his blood, and bones creak as he overclocks his body beyond superhuman.
Injury for injury.
Gavin's fist comes like a comet. Its speed and strength surpasses the Immortal King's perception… reaction… and defense.
At that moment, it is realized, that the Immortal King is not unbreakable.
BOOM! Airflow itself becomes erratic as Gavin's fist makes its presence known to the world.
The Immortal King that has never bled before finally draws blood.
Gavin's right arm up to his shoulder becomes a bloody paste. Pain courses through his very nerve endings, but Gavin is long used to pain. He endures its torturing sensation with gritted teeth and ecstatic eyes.
On the other side, the Immortal King stands, not showing an ounce of what he is feeling.
Despair? Fear? Even pain eludes him at that moment.
The Immortal King looks at the bloody hole in his chest; it is big, about the size of his head. A single punch punctures his indestructible body. That day, a myth ended, giving birth to a new one— Gavin the Undying replaces the Immortal.
Behind the Immortal King, a bloody trench stretches across the dirt and rocks. From where he stands, the Immortal King watches his heart as tough as diamonds continue to beat sporadically like a struggling fish absent of water.
Gavin arrives before the heart, he takes it by his hand to admire its beauty. It's like the purest of diamonds… of crystal red adorning a luminous blue that mysteriously dances in the air.
"Teacher, you don't mind me taking this for myself, right?"
The dirt is colored red, as the sun beautifully sets itself upon the horizon. The Immortal slumps on his knees, and death finally claims his life. Dusk comes with the death of a warrior.
Duel for Immortality, it is called. That event is forever etched into Zentury's archives, heralding a new era of evil,
Gavin takes out the robe of the dead Immortal King, and wears it for his own.
Alfir sees all of this, and not for the first time in his life— the events he just witnessed are something he wrote as a flashback to the story of how Gavin, the Undying becomes Zentury's top dog... or at least it is Gavin's start to becoming one.
The stench of blood spreads across the ravines as the news of the Immortal King's death unfurls to the world.
Alfir feels insignificant at the moment, reminding him of his bitter mob life.
And the thought occurs to him… "I don't want to live a mediocre life any more."
To seize this world by the center of his palm, he will start with this place. The future is his. That is when... the uNHinGed and aWful obsession finally takes root in his heart…
The question however is… who planted it?
...